NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-20-2025 1PM EST

Episode Date: February 20, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. After serving 40 years in Congress, former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has formally declared he will not seek reelection next year. Representing our Commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. After his speech, the chamber erupted in applause and tribute to the Republican lawmaker from Kentucky who turned 83 today. McConnell will leave the Senate as one of the most consequential and controversial legislators

who helped redefine the modern Senate. Last year, McConnell stepped down from his leadership role after questions were raised about his health. A plan joint appearance between Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky and the Trump administration's special envoy for the country was nixed at the last minute at the US's request according to the Ukrainian leader spokesman and NPR's Joannika Kissis reports from Kyiv that the U.S. is distancing itself from Ukraine and moving closer to Russia, which invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago. KK Keith Kellogg, the U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, is in Kyiv on his first trip to Ukraine in his new role. Kellogg and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were

scheduled to make joint remarks today at the Presidential Palace in Kiev after the two met. But as reporters from outlets including NPR waited to take their seats, Zelensky's spokesman Sergei Nikiforov said the press conference would not happen at quote the request of the American side. It was not immediately clear why. President Trump has been attacking Zelensky for the last week and blaming Ukraine, not Russia, for starting the war. Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Kiev. As the Trump administration works to shrink federal government spending on Air Force one today, the president shared his vision for the District of Columbia.

We should govern DC. I think the federal government should take over the governance of DC and run it really, really normally. And I like the mayor. I get along great with the mayor. But they're not doing the job. Well, Mayor Muriel Bowser noted DC home rule is not up to the White House. It's a congressional issue. Home rule is done by act of Congress, and it is in the hands of the Congress. In a statement DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton said, President Trump's call for a federal takeover is anti-democratic and belittling to the 700,000 residents of the nation's capital. That according to a

statement released today following Trump's remarks. US stocks are trading lower this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average down 642 points or 1.4% at last check at 43,985. This is NPR News. The administration's ordering New York City to halt its congestion pricing program. It charges drivers $9 to enter Manhattan during peak hours. Stephen Nesson with member station WNYC reports the Transportation Department is rescinding

approval for the toll. In a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the tolling program that was approved by the Biden administration should have never been given the green light. But Hokel says the toll has reduced traffic in the city, boosted local businesses, and that she vows to fight the administration. MTA officials filed a lawsuit against the transportation department, and for now, Hokel says the tolling cameras are staying on. For NPR News, I'm Stephen Nessen in New York.

Australia and New Zealand say they are monitoring the movement of three Chinese navy ships off Australia's east coast. Christina Kukulja has details. Australia's Defence Minister Richard Miles says Australian ships and aircraft are working with New Zealand's military to monitor the Chinese ship's movement. Miles told Sky News the vessels have not entered the country's territorial waters. They have been abiding by international law, but there is no doubt that this is not unprecedented, but an unusual event.

The development coincides with an official visit to Australia by the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and a week following the disclosure of an incident involving an Australian military surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea. For NPR News, I'm Christina Kukalja in Melbourne, Australia. It's NPR News.