NPR News Now - NPR News: 07-24-2025 1PM EDT

Episode Date: July 24, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, who helped turn the WWE into a global phenomenon and became one of the most recognizable figures in pop culture, has died. He was 71 years old. The Clearwater Police Department in Florida confirmed his death on Facebook, writing that paramedics were dispatched to Hogan's home this morning in response to calls reporting a cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Under MAGA pressure for more transparency on the Epstein files, Trump

administration allies and critics are looking to Ghislaine Maxwell for answers. The former associate of the wealthy businessman who was found dead in his jail cell in 2019 is serving a 20-year sentence in Florida for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. The chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer, says the congressional panel plans to depose Maxwell. I told Speaker Johnson last week, if we were in session this week, that Republicans on the Oversight Committee were going to move to be more aggressive in trying to get transparency with the Epstein file.

So we did that and I think that's what the American people want. Speaker Mike Johnson adjourned the House yesterday pushing out any action on the Epstein matter until after the August recess. Meanwhile, Comer says his committee is also moving quickly on formally issuing a subpoena to the Justice Department to release the full Epstein files following a subcommittee vote yesterday. President Trump is set to visit the Federal Reserve this afternoon, this coming amidst a campaign from the president and his allies to actor Fed

chair Jerome Powell about interest rates and a major renovation of the feds Washington DC building and PRS Tamara Keith reports. Trump has repeatedly charged that the Fed chair is too late in lowering interest rates. And then there's the renovation, which Trump allies suggest could be grounds for firing Powell. Here was Trump. No, we're not planning on doing anything. We're very concerned.

He's doing a little renovation for 2.5 billion of the Fed. It is over budget. And it's a shame, but the biggest cost overrun is the cost overrun for interest rates because we should be paying three points lower. The Fed chair, whose term ends next year, says he has no intention of quitting. This visit amps up Trump's pressure campaign which threatens the Fed's independence. Tamara Keith, NPR News. Russian aviation authorities are reporting the crash of a passenger plane in a remote

region of the country's far east. All of the nearly 50 passengers on board are feared dead. The commercial plane was en route from the far eastern city of Blagoveshnik to a remote town in the Amur region bordering China. The Dow is down more than 200 points at last check. This is NPR news. Israel is signaling optimism about the chances of reaching a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. NPR's Danielle Lesterin says this follows Hamas' response to mediators about a proposed 60-day ceasefire.

Daniel Lesterin In a statement shared with NPR, an Israeli source involved in the negotiations said the Hamas response is workable for Israel and that Israeli negotiators are studying what Hamas is proposing. The source spoke on condition of anonymity in line with protocol discussing the closed-door negotiations. Hamas has been negotiating an Israeli troop withdrawal from parts of Gaza, commitments on humanitarian aid into Gaza, and international guarantees that the ceasefire will continue and Israel will commit to holding talks about a final end of war.

U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet Israel's top negotiator in Italy today, a sign of progress toward a Gaza ceasefire deal. Danielle Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. A new poll of health care workers across the U.S. finds nearly two out of five people thinking of leaving their jobs. Here's NPR's Ritu Chatterjee. Seventy percent of health care workers surveyed by the Harris poll said they'd experienced or witnessed threats and aggression from patients, and over half said they felt threatened by their

patients or their families. The survey also found that nurses were twice as likely as doctors to be physically assaulted at work. Despite the growing concerns around workplace safety, nearly three quarters of those surveyed said they see no change in security in their workplace. The new poll confirms previous research showing that workplace safety is one of the main reasons for healthcare workers leaving the workforce. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.