NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-20-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: February 20, 2025

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SHAY STEPHENS, MPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, MN, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, CES, C massive tax cuts and he says fully supports his America First agenda.

Majority leader John Thune says the Senate will proceed with its smaller budget blueprint for now. The question right now again is a tactical one. The strategic objective is still the same and that is to extend the tax policy, strengthen the economy, rebuild the military, create energy dominance for this country and secure our border. Thune says the Senate is prepared to work with the House on finalizing a measure that supports President Trump's legislative priorities.

A Senate panel questioned Labor Secretary nominee Lori Chavez de Riemer Wednesday about her views on unions, the minimum wage and more. More from NPR's Joe Hernandez. Chavez de Riemer is a former Republican congresswoman from Oregon. While in Congress, she co-sponsored legislation called the PRO Act, which would make it easier for workers to unionize. Under questioning from Republicans, Lori Chavez-DeRemer called the legislation imperfect and said she supported the ability of states to pass right-to-work laws, which limit union efforts.

Asked by Democrats whether she thought the federal minimum wage should be increased, Chavez-DeRimer said she recognized it hadn't been raised in over 15 years, but that some jurisdictions might need to have a different minimum wage than others. Joe Hernandez, NPR News. Hundreds of current and former federal workers rallied outside the Department of Health and Human Services Wednesday. They denounced the firings at HHS, cuts in funding to the National Institutes of Health, and the Doge team that's ordering the dismissals.

Thousands of current and former government workers and their supporters rallied in cities across the nation on Monday to protest mass firings at federal agencies. For the second time this week, French President Emmanuel Macron has hosted a video conference on the war in Ukraine and growing diplomatic tensions with the U.S. Wednesday's gathering involved 20 nations, as NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports from Paris.

Macron said the allies want a solid and durable peace in Ukraine with robust and credible security guarantees, and that Ukraine must be part of any peace talks. Macron will meet with President Trump next week in Washington. Trump is also meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. European leaders defended Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after Trump called him a dictator. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Trump's comments were false and dangerous, and Germany's foreign minister called them completely absurd. Starmer said it was perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during a war, just as Britain

had during World War II. Eleanor Beardsley in Paris. This is NPR. The National Weather Service says around 40 million Americans are under some type of weather advisory. A winter storm threatens to dump heavy snow and ice from Texas to North Florida. An Arctic air mass is causing record low temperatures from the northern plains to Maine and the Gulf region.

Heavy snow pummeled areas of Kentucky that are still reeling from heavy rain and flooding that claimed 14 lives just last week. Seven Chilean men are facing federal charges in Florida, stemming from a string of burglaries at the homes of professional U.S. athletes. The story from NPR's Bill Chappell. Federal prosecutors allege that the Chilean nationals worked together to steal Rolex's designer luggage and jewelry from six NBA and NFL athletes since last October.

Court documents don't name the athletes, but some details align with burglaries targeting two NFL quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City and Joe Burrow of Cincinnati. In total, the theft snagged millions of dollars in goods and cash. The Chilean Embassy says it's been sharing real-time criminal background data with the U.S. since last fall, and that more people are being denied travel access as a result. Bill Chappell, NPR News. Retired ocean liner SS United States has begun its final voyage. The 1,000-foot vessel is being towed from Philadelphia to Mobile, Alabama, where it

is to be prepped for to become the world's largest artificial reef. It eventually will be sunk off Florida's Gulf Coast. USS United States shattered the transatlantic speed record during its maiden voyage in 1952. This is NPR News.