NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-22-2025 6PM EST

Episode Date: February 22, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. President Trump used a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference to tout his agenda one month into his second term in office. Speaking to CPAC attendees, Trump said he wants something in return from Ukraine for the billions of dollars the US spent helping the country defend itself against Russia. Europe gave it in the form of a loan. They get their money back. We gave it in the form of nothing. So I want them to give us something for all of the money that we put up. And I'm going to try and get the war settled. And I'm going to try and get all that death ended. Russian state media say preparations are underway for a face-to-face meeting between Trump and

Vladimir Putin. Former Republican U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez says President Trump's decision to pardon January 6 rioters is a betrayal of the American justice system. NPR's Sarah McCammon reports Gonzalez made the comments during a gathering of anti-Trump conservatives in Washington, D.C. Alberto Gonzalez served as White House counsel and then United States Attorney General under President George W. Bush. Speaking at the principal's first summit in Washington, D.C., Gonzalez criticized several

Trump administration decisions. It is a betrayal to the men and women at the Department of Justice who were fired because they participated in the prosecution of the January 6 rioters. Gonzales went on to criticize Trump's decision to pardon some 1,500 people convicted in connection with the attack on the Capitol in 2021. He said the president has that power under the law, but said it was quote, the wrong thing to do. Sarah McCammon, NPR News, Washington. Voters in Germany will head to the polls tomorrow. NPR's Rob Schmitz reports from Berlin. On the minds of German voters this time around are an economic slump, an immigration crisis and the lifting of a security blanket provided for decades by the United States.

The general election of the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, was supposed to come later this year. Last November, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired his finance minister over how to revive Europe's largest economy. That led to the collapse of Scholz's three-party coalition government and the call for an early election. Latest polling data shows the center-right Christian Democratic Union party alongside its Bavarian sister party and their candidate for chancellor, politician and lawyer Friedrich

Maertz, is the most likely to emerge as the top vote-getter and thus be in the position of forming a coalition government with one or two other parties. Rob Schmitz and PR News, Berlin. Pope Francis remains hospitalized and critical condition. The Vatican says the 88-year-old pontiff experienced a respiratory crisis today. Francis was admitted to a hospital in Rome last week. This is NPR News. An outbreak of cholera has killed nearly 60 people and sickened about 1,300 others in

Sudan. Health officials say the outbreak in the city of Kosti was traced back to contaminated drinking water. The city's water plants stopped working after it was attacked by a paramilitary group. MBC has settled a defamation suit filed by a Georgia gynecologist who had been falsely labeled a uterus collector. NPR's David Fulgenflick reports the segments aired on the shows of MSNBC. The coverage at issue kicked off in September 2020 after advocacy groups presented a whistleblower

complaint to federal authorities. The whistleblower was a former nurse at a facility run by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. She alleged the doctor had performed mass hysterectomies. The presiding judge ruled in June that, quote, the undisputed evidence establishes that multiple NBC statements are false, and found that the plaintiff, Dr. Mahendra Amin, had performed only two hysterectomies there. NBC was not protected by the fact it was relaying false claims by others, the judge noted. The announcement in court papers of the settlement follows a number of high-profile NBC was not protected by the fact it was relaying false claims by others, the judge noted. The announcement in court papers of the settlement follows a number of high-profile settlements

of cases by media companies, several involving President Trump. David Folkenflick, NPR News. The Associated Press has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for banning it from major presidential events. The move comes after the news agency refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. AP says the ban violates the First Amendment. I'm Windsor Johnston and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.