NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-12-2025 8PM EST

Episode Date: November 13, 2025

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Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theshmit.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. House Democrats released emails between Jeffrey Epstein and his confidants suggesting President Trump may have known about Epstein's sexual abuse of underage girls. As NPR's Stephen Fowler reports, the White House denies he knew about Epstein's crimes. Trump, the White House's assertion that the emails exonerate Trump hinges on the identity of an unnamed victim mentioned in the email, which has not been made public. The House is debating a bill to reopen the government on the 43rd day of the government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history. A large majority of Democrats are expected to vote no because it doesn't further extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, which expires.

at the end of the year. That was Democrats' main demand as they withheld support for previous Republican Republican Party proposals to reopen the government. Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalese blamed them for scaled back and shuttered federal programs during the shutdown. I urge my Democrat colleagues who have voted relentlessly to shut this government down and to impose this suffering on the American people to stop. Stop imposing the suffering. Let's open the government. Let's get back. to the work of the American people. The measure temporarily funds the government through January.

If it passes, President Trump would have to sign it to become law. After seven weeks of delays, Representative Adelita Grihalva has been seated as the newest member of Congress. NPR's Claudia Grisales reports the Arizona Democrats' first official act was signing a bipartisan petition demanding the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Congresswoman Griehalva provided the final signature needed to force a disqualification. vote to release the files tied to the disgrace financier and convicted sex offender. Just this morning, House Democrats released more emails showing that Trump knew more about Epstein's abuses than he previously acknowledged.

Four Republicans joined House Democrats weeks ago to sign on to the petition, which has been led by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massey and House Democrat Rokana. Now, President Trump is working to flip one or more of those Republicans to prevent the release from happening. Claude Riesales, NPR News. As NPR's Stephen Fowler reports, the White House denies he knew about that President Trump knew about Epstein's crimes. On his true social account, he once again called questions around Epstein a hoax and said that, quote, only a very bad or stupid Republican would fall into that trap. here's what White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said today in a press briefing.

These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong. And what President Trump has always said is that he was from Palm Beach and so was Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein was a member at Maralago until President Trump... This is NPR. President Trump is urging Israel to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a corruption case In a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Trump called the case a political, unjustified prosecution. Concerns about American influence in Israeli politics are growing. Netanyahu is the only sitting Israeli prime minister to be indicted.

The northern lights may be visible over much of the U.S. tonight, possibly even as far south as Alabama. NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boys reports, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued an alert for a severe geomagnetic storm. NOAA's space weather prediction center has been tracking the impact of an eruption of solar material and magnetic fields. It's the kind of space weather that can potentially mess with electrical grids or satellites. But fans of the Aurora Borealis are hoping for a repeat of Tuesday night when Skywatchers saw ghostly reds and greens as far south as Texas and Florida. If you want to try to catch them, go to a dark spot and a digital camera can be more sensitive to light than your naked. eye, so you might want to try snapping some images of the sky. Nell Greenfield voice, NPR News.

Researchers have found that shouting is more effective than speaking when trying to scare off seagulls. The study published today tested how European herring goals reacted to different sounds. The goals tended to walk away from the speaking voice but flew away from shouting. The experiment showed you don't need to lash out at birds to frighten them, but you shouldn't try to reason with them either. They also indicate Roman song and man's voice speaking in a man. voice shouting were more effective. This is NPR News.

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