Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The Trump administration is freezing child care funds to Minnesota following a string of alleged fraud cases in recent years. Minnesota Public Radio's Clay Masters reports the move comes just days after a video from a right-wing influencer went viral.
The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jim O'Neill, made the announcement on the social media platform X. He writes the step is in response to allegations of blatant fraud in Minnesota, and his agency has, quote, "...turned off the money spigot and are finding the fraud."
The announcement follows a viral video from a right-wing YouTuber that featured Minnesota daycare facilities that have been part of a state-administered child care program using federal money. Some of the centers recently had operations or payments suspended.
In a statement, Democratic Governor Tim Walz tells NPR he has been combating fraud for years, and this is a, quote, transparent attempt to politicize the issue to hurt Minnesotans and defund government programs that help people. For NPR News, I'm Clay Masters in St. Paul.
President Trump has vetoed a bill to fund a drinking water pipeline project in rural Colorado. Alejandro Alonso-Galva with Colorado Public Radio has more.
The bipartisan Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act passed unanimously in both the House and Senate. It was meant to help finish a project that's been decades in the making and would bring clean water to 39 communities in the southeastern plains of the state. It was designed to eventually stop groundwater withdrawals in the area, which can produce water tainted with radioactivity.
The veto is notable because it's in a rural portion of GOP Representative Lauren Boebert's district that voted heavily for Trump. The project would also provide badly needed jobs for the area. While she did not threaten an override vote in a statement Tuesday night, the Republican lawmaker expressed her displeasure.
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Chapter 2: What recent actions did the Trump administration take regarding child care funds in Minnesota?
with the president's decision. For NPR News, I'm Alejandro Alonso Galva in Denver.
A U.S. official tells NPR that a CIA drone strike hit a dog facility on Venezuela's coast. So far, the military has mostly targeted boats in international waters suspected of carrying drugs, but this marks a ship to land. NPR's Tom Bowman reports.
An official not authorized to speak publicly says this drone strike was carried out by the CIA, not the military, as we've seen so far with the attacks on some two dozen alleged drug boats, often using drones as well. And those military strikes are continuing. Another boat was hit just yesterday, killing two people on board.
But this is the first strike on land, clearly ramping up pressure on the Maduro regime. President Trump has already indicated the fight would move to land, so this could be just the first one.
That's NPR's Tom Bowman reporting. This is NPR News. Tatiana Schlossberg has died at the age of 35. She was the granddaughter of John F. Kennedy and was an environmental journalist. NPR's Julia Simon has this remembrance.
Last month in The New Yorker magazine, Tatiana Schlossberg wrote about the rare and aggressive blood cancer that was discovered hours after she gave birth to her daughter. She also described how the health care system she relied on felt, quote, strained and shaky because of the actions of her cousins. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Schlossberg worked as a science reporter for the New York Times, covering climate solutions like seagrass meadows that protect coastlines and store carbon dioxide, and the urban planning concept of sponge cities, which soak up water in floods. She also wrote a book about climate solutions.
Tatiana Schlossberg is survived by her family, including two small children, whose faces, she wrote, live permanently on the inside of her eyelids. Julia Simon, NPR News.
A blast of Arctic air is sweeping through the Great Lakes and northeast, bringing strong winds, heavy snow, and bitter cold. It follows a bomb cyclone that hit the northern U.S. earlier this week. Tens of thousands of people lost power on Tuesday, with Michigan among the hardest hit. There, snow piled up fast, while high waves on Lake Superior forced cargo ships into harbor.
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