More Hostages Go Free, Trump Halts Foreign Aid, RFK Jr.'s Confirmation

Up First from NPR

NPR

Daily News, News

4.5 • 52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 25 January 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hamas releases four Israeli soldiers as part of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. The U.S. State Department halts most foreign aid. Physicians line up against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination for health secretary.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The mosque releases four female soldiers as the ceasefire with Israel enters its second week.
0:07.4	In exchange, Israel will hand over a total of 200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
0:14.3	I'm Ayesha Roscoe.
0:15.5	And I'm Scott Simon, and this is up first from NPR News.
0:20.4	A crowd gathered outside in Tel Aviv cheered when a big-screen TV showed the Israeli
0:26.9	soldiers being handed over to the Red Cross.
0:31.6	We'll have more on that story also.
0:34.0	The U.S. State Department pauses most foreign aid programs. The Trump administration says it wants to
0:40.4	undertake a thorough review. And what's ahead is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces a Senate confirmation
0:45.8	hearing next week. So stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend. Hamas took the Israeli soldiers captive 15 months ago during its October 7th raid.
1:03.7	The Palestinian group held them as hostages ever since, and peers Greg Mirey is in Tel Aviv.
1:09.1	Greg, thanks for being with us.
1:10.7	Hi, Scott.
1:11.4	What was that moment like?
1:13.9	Yeah, Hamas presented this highly orchestrated handover.
1:17.9	The four Israeli women dressed in olive military uniforms and oddly wearing lanyards were paraded onto an outdoor stage in the center of Gaza City. Now, they were surrounded at all
1:29.4	times by Hamas fighters dressed head to toe in black, including bala-clavas. They also wore their
1:35.9	green headbands and carried automatic rifles. The women waved to the Palestinian crowd, and then they
1:42.1	were presented to the Red Cross, which drove them a short
1:44.8	distance to the Israeli military. The four women are now in a hospital outside Tel Aviv.
1:50.8	As you noted, all were seized at an Israeli military base just outside of Gaza back in October
1:56.7	of 2023 in the Hamas attack that ignited the war.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -17 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.