NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-22-2025 10AM EST

Episode Date: February 22, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. President Trump has fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Charles Q. Brown, Trump saying he will nominate Air Force Lieutenant General Dan Cain to succeed Brown as the nation's highest-ranking military officer. NPR's Tom Bowman has details on the shakeup and the possible role played by the now controversial subject of diversity, equity and inclusion. has details on the shakeup and the possible role played by the now controversial subject of diversity, equity and inclusion. It's been talked for weeks that General Brown would be fired and a lot of this comes down

to a sense the general was chosen for the post because of the color of his skin, not his ability. Now, he's a second African American after Colin Powell to hold the top military job, but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in his book, War on Warriors, that Brown should be fired because he was pushing diversity programs and also wondered whether Brown got the top job because of the color of his skin or his skill. NPR's Tom Bowman, the Defense Department,

announced Friday it's cutting 5,400 probationary workers starting next week and will put a hiring freeze in place. Meanwhile, several hundred employees at FEMA were fired this past week, part of the Trump administration's layoffs of federal employees, and a judge has blocked President Trump's executive order seeking to remove DEI programs from the federal government ruling that some of the proposed actions violate the Constitution. President Trump's moves to slash the federal workforce, make diversity policy-related changes in military leadership, as well as his handling of foreign policy and the economy are having

some impact. NPR's Domenico Montanaro has details. The bottom line is that it looks like that the honeymoon for Trump appears to be over. The country has largely always been split on Trump, slight majority disapproving. And that's what we saw in back-to-back polls with CNN and Washington Post Ipsos. People were split on Trump's approach to the presidency, approach to immigration rather, but both polls found a majority think that he's exceeding his power as president. CNN's poll also found that 62% think that he hasn't done enough to reduce the price of goods.

NPR's Domenico Montanaro reports on consumer sentiment and home sales came in weaker than expected yesterday, leading Wall Street to its worst day in two months, the Dow closing down 748. Carnival season is officially underway in the city of New Orleans amid multiple new security measures to keep Mardi Gras celebrations safe. Traffic obstacles have been augmented after a New Year's Day attack. New Orleans Police Superintendent Ann Kirkpatrick explained. It's weaving around barricades that will slow anybody down who thinks they're going to use

a vehicle as a weapon. The National Guard will be standing by for the popular Mardi Gras festivities as well as bomb sniffing dogs. The city's emergency operations center will be open around the clock. This is NPR News in Washington. A 27-year-old man from New Jersey has been found guilty of attacking writer Salman Rushdie in 2022. As NPR's Mondalit Del Barco reports, the verdict came down at the end of a two-week trial.

Hadi Matar faces a sentence of up to 32 years in prison for the 2022 attack of Indian-born British novelist Salman Rushdie. Matar declined to testify in his defense before he was found guilty of attempted murder and assault. During the trial and in a memoir about the attack, the 77-year-old Rushdie recalled being on stage at the Chautauqua Institution preparing to deliver a lecture about how the U.S. had been a safe haven for artists in exile. Rushdie recalled seeing a masked man with what he described as ferocious eyes rush up to him. Prosecutors say Mattar stabbed and

slashed him about 15 times. Rushdie ended up blind in one eye, his liver damaged and one hand paralyzed. Rushdie has been living in the US for many years after Iran's former leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordered Muslims to kill him for his 1989 novel, The Satanic Verses. Mandelit Del Barco, NPR News. Citing the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech, the Associated Press is suing Trump administration officials over access to presidential events. For almost two weeks, the AP's journalists have been blocked from White House access because the news organization uses the name Gulf of Mexico instead of President Trump's new name for it under an executive order, Gulf of America.

The AP is seeking relief in U.S. District Court in Washington. I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.