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NPR News Now

NPR News: 02-02-2026 5PM EST

02 Feb 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What recent changes have been made to federal agent operations in Minneapolis?

0.031 - 21.054 Ryland Barton

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. Homeland Security Secretary Christine Noem says federal agents deployed to Minneapolis will wear body cameras effective immediately. In a statement on social media, she says the program will be expanded nationwide as funding becomes available. The move comes after federal agents shot and killed two U.S.

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21.074 - 40.686 Ryland Barton

citizens during President Trump's immigration crackdown in Minnesota. Bystander video has been an important part of documenting agents' actions. Meanwhile, immigration agents in Minnesota have arrested more than 100 refugees despite their legal status. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports it's part of a larger administration plan to reexamine refugee cases.

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40.666 - 62.877 Jennifer Ludden

When ICE agents arrested one 20-year-old refugee, his mother says she felt the same fear her family had fled in Venezuela. Their masked paramilitary groups kidnapped people, she says. She did not want to use her name for fear of retaliation. The Trump administration says it's reviewing refugee cases for potential fraud.

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62.857 - 82.262 Jennifer Ludden

But Jane Grotman with the International Institute of Minnesota says they are already intensely vetted. You know, the FBI has already checked them. They've had biometric screenings. Many have been detained in Texas, then released with no charges. A class action lawsuit calls arresting refugees unlawful, and a judge has ordered them stopped while the case plays out.

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82.723 - 84.946 Jennifer Ludden

Jennifer Ludden, NPR News, Minneapolis.

85.146 - 105.389 Ryland Barton

President Trump is urging House Republicans to back a spending package that passed the Senate last week. The measure would fund most of the government and keep the Homeland Security Department funded through next week. Trump said on social media that, quote, there can be no changes at this time. Democrats are demanding reforms to immigration enforcement after the fatal shootings in Minneapolis.

105.529 - 107.351 Ryland Barton

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

107.692 - 117.282 Hakeem Jeffries

ICE and the Department of Homeland Security need to dramatically change. And absent that, then a full year appropriations issue.

117.751 - 142.171 Ryland Barton

But Republicans are making their own demands in support of President Trump's crackdown. NASA has run into a leak while fueling its new moon rocket in one final make-or-break test before sending astronauts on a lunar fly-around. The launch team began loading the 322-foot rocket with super-cold hydrogen and oxygen today, but quickly encountered a hydrogen leak.

Chapter 2: How are immigration arrests affecting refugees in Minnesota?

149.847 - 174.615 Ryland Barton

And homebuyers got a huge discount in 2025, the biggest in 13 years. Homes that sold below the asking price were discounted nearly 8% on average, about $32,000. That's according to real estate site Redfin. But many homeowners are still reluctant to sell after locking in mortgages during the COVID-19 pandemic, well below what's available today. U.S. stocks rose today.

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174.655 - 196.345 Ryland Barton

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq added half a percent. This is NPR News. Medical evacuees from Gaza are entering Egypt as the Rafah crossing reopens, but only a few Palestinians and no goods are allowed to cross in either direction daily. The opening is a key but mostly symbolic step in the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

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196.365 - 213.117 Ryland Barton

About 20,000 Palestinians needing medical care hope to leave the enclave, according to Gaza health officials. A recent poll shows an increasing number of Ukrainians are skeptical the war will end this year. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports a large majority of Ukrainians say they are willing to keep fighting.

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213.317 - 233.818 Eleanor Beardsley

Some 43 percent of Ukrainians do not believe the war with Russia will end in 2026, up 14 percent from December. This, according to a poll out Tuesday by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology. 65% of respondents said they are determined to endure the war for as long as necessary, compared with 54% in March 2025.

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234.939 - 256.604 Eleanor Beardsley

The rising numbers indicate skepticism about President Trump's ongoing peace talks. Russia has so far refused to back down from its maximalist demands and continues to strike Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure. Last week, Russia struck a passenger train killing five people, and yesterday, a Russian drone strike on a bus killed 15 miners. Trump said nothing about these attacks.

256.905 - 258.667 Eleanor Beardsley

Eleanor Beersley, NPR News, Kyiv.

258.947 - 279.366 Ryland Barton

Scientists on a research vessel off the California coast are marveling at a rare find, a waved albatross soaring over the Pacific. It's only the second time the species has been recorded north of Central America. The yellow-billed bird can have an eight-foot wingspan and spends much of its life airborne over the ocean. This is NPR News from Washington.

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