NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-21-2025 4AM EST

Episode Date: February 21, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shae Stevens. The Trump administration is halting efforts to increase flu vaccination. NPR's Will Stone reports that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already been notified of the decision. It was called the Wild to Mild campaign. It featured juxtaposed images of wild animals, such as a lion, with cute counterparts like a kitten. The idea was to draw an analogy for how immunization can help tame symptoms.

Two current employees who are not authorized to speak publicly told NPR the Department of Health and Human Services advised CDC the campaign would end and that ad-bys have stopped. A website with the 2024 images is also offline. A spokesperson for HHS told NPR that, quote, officials inside the CDC who are averse to Secretary Kennedy and President Trump's agenda seem to be intentionally falsifying and misrepresenting guidance they receive, unquote. The Trump administration's decision to pull the campaign comes in the midst of a brutal flu season that's still raging. Will Stone, NPR News.

As many as half a million Haitians could be deported from the United States this summer. This after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reversed an extension of their temporary protective status, which had been set to expire next year. Meanwhile, an immigrant advocacy group is asking federal courts to block the administration's effort to halt TPS status for 600,000 Venezuelans facing deportation. Many of the 178 Venezuelan migrants recently sent to Guantanamo Bay have now been repatriated. More from NPR's Jasmine Garst.

A spokeswoman for DHS said 177 migrants have been sent back to Venezuela and one brought back to an immigration facility in the US. The move to hold migrants at Guantanamo was controversial. In recent days, immigrants' rights lawyers went to court to seek access to the detainees. The Trump administration alleged that many were members of the international criminal organization Tren de Aragua, which has been recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

But in an official statement from the colonel running the operation, it is now revealed that 51 of the detainees were considered low threats. Jasmine Garst, NPR News, New York. President Trump says that his administration has made record progress during its first month in office. Trump told a group of Republican governors gathered outside of Washington, D.C. that the best is yet to come. My administration will be fighting to help your states succeed and prosper, and together we're going to bring back the American dream, something nobody talks about anymore.

Trump says he's getting calls from many corporate leaders wanting to make it happen. He also told the governors that their political futures rest with him, Trump says he's getting calls from many corporate leaders wanting to make it happen. He also told the governors that their political futures rest with him and predicted a GOP victory in the 2026 midterm elections. U.S. futures are flat in after hours trading on Wall Street. This is NPR. A U.S. envoy to Ukraine canceled a planned press conference with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Thursday amid rising tensions.

The decision came after retired General Keith Kellogg met with Zelenskyy in Kiev. The Ukrainian leader called the gathering productive. He also said his nation is ready for a strong and effective investment in security agreement with the Trump administration. Canada's hockey team has upset the U.S. in a four-nation face-off championship game with political overtones. Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in overtime, as Steve Futterman reports. It was a hard-fought game between arguably the best two national teams in the world.

It wasn't the Olympics, but it had an Olympic flavor. Hanging over the match were the ongoing political tensions between the two countries. Before the game, President Trump on Truth Social wished the U.S. good luck and referred to Canada as possibly being the 51st state. The Canadians jumped out to a 1-0 lead. The U.S. scored the next two goals. Canada then tied it 2-2. That was the score at the end of regulation. Then in overtime, the call on ESPN as Connor McDavid scored the

winning goal. After the game, Justin Trudeau tweeted, you can't take our country and you can't take our game. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman. So, sibling movie producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson are giving up their creative control over the James Bond movies franchise. They've reached a roughly $1 billion deal with Amazon MGM Studios. This is NPR.