NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-02-2025 11AM EST

Episode Date: March 2, 2025

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Planet Money is there. From California's most expensive fires ever. That was my home home. Yeah. I grew up there. It's ashes. To the potentially largest deportation in U.S. history. They're going to come to the businesses. They're going to come to the restaurants. They're going to come here. Planet Money. We go to the places at the center of the story. The Planet Money podcast from NPR. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noura Rameen. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hosting an emergency summit in London today. Invited leaders from the European Union, as well as Canada and Ukraine, will discuss the

next step in ending the war in Ukraine. Allies were rattled by last week's White House meeting with President Trump and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky that ended in shouting and no resolution. In the U.S., House Speaker Mike Johnson says a solution must be found. We have to bring about an end to this war in Ukraine. Putin is the aggressor. It is an unjust war. We have been crystal clear about that. But now is the time to bring it to an end. Johnson was interviewed on CNN. Federal employees are again weighing how to respond to an email from Elon Musk asking them

to detail what they accomplished during the past week. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, it's part of Musk's White House initiative to root out government inefficiencies. Federal employees have begun receiving an email with the subject line, what did you do last week, part two? The message, like one sent a week ago, instructs government employees to offer five bullet points highlighting their work. President Trump is supporting Musk's push to try to remove low performing or what they

deem unnecessary federal employees. Trump and Musk have also claimed without without evidence, that some federal workers receiving paychecks are dead or non-existent. Critics of Musk's strong-arm tactics say it's a mostly performative gesture to put civil servants on notice that their jobs are now vulnerable. Meanwhile, leadership at agencies have provided mixed guidance on whether workers should reply or not to the emails. Bobbi Allen NPR News. A federal judge in Washington has ruled

that President Trump acted unlawfully when he fired Hampton Dellinger as head of the Office of Special Counsel. That office enforces ethics laws, the employment rights of military veterans, and protects whistleblowers. Judge Amy Berman Jackson held the special counsel can only be

removed for cause such as neglect of duty or malfeasance of office. She will delinquent must remain in the job. Three years after resigning in disgrace, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced he's running for mayor of New York City. Bruce Kynweiser reports. With wide name recognition in New York and backed by deep-pocketed supporters, Cuomo becomes the front-runner in a race that includes the incumbent Mayor Eric Adams. Cuomo grabbed national attention during the early days of the COVID pandemic, seeming to strike all the right notes during daily press briefings.

But within months, his political career crashed and burned amid multiple sexual harassment allegations. In the run-up to the June primary, New York City is beset by sky-high housing prices and crime concerns. Cuomo will face a stiff challenge from a class of political newcomers, as well as from the current mayor, who is mired in his own political scandals. For NPR News, I'm Bruce Convyser in New York. This is NPR News in Washington.

A U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea today. The South Korean Navy says the USS Carl Vinson is there to demonstrate the military alliance between the U.S. and South Korea in the face of threats from North Korea. It was accompanied by a guided missile cruiser and a guided missile destroyer. This comes days after North Korea test-fired strategic cruise missiles to show its military readiness. A Texas-based company has successfully landed a robotic probe on the surface of the moon, the first private company to do so without it crashing or falling over. As NPR's Jeff Brumfield reports, more landings could be coming soon.

The small probe was built by Firefly Aerospace. Early Sunday morning it left its orbit around the moon and began its descent to the lunar surface. After a nail-biting few minutes, mission control confirmed touchdown. IMU reports lunar gravity and it is stable. Y'all suck the landing. We're on the moon. The landing makes the company the second commercial venture to land on the moon, and more private

probes are on their way. In just a few days, the firm Intuitive Machines is set to make a landing attempt near the South Pole, and in May a Japanese company will also try to get its probe to the surface of the moon. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. Hollywood honors its own tonight at the 97th Academy Awards. It takes place in Los Angeles where parts were devastated by wildfires this year. The producers say the show will raise money for relief efforts. The hit film Wicked is nominated for 10 Academy Awards.

I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.