NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-12-2025 9AM EST

Episode Date: November 12, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington on Corva Coleman, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released several emails from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The emails refer to President Trump, including before he won election to the White House. The emails raise new questions about Trump's relationship with Epstein. NPR has not independently confirmed the veracity of the correspondence. NPR Stephen Fowler has more. These new Epstein emails appear to reveal more connections to the disgrace. It's part of a 23,000 document release turned over from Epstein's estate to the House Oversight Committee.

There's a 2015 email thread between Epstein and author Michael Wolfe where the pair discuss a potential question from an upcoming CNN interview with Trump about Trump and Epstein's personal ties. A section from Wolf reads in part, quote, I think you should let him hang himself. If he says he hasn't been on the plane or to the House, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency, end quote. NPR Stephen Fowler reporting. Trump has consistently denied any meaningful connection to Epstein. The House is scheduled to vote today on a spending measure that could end the government shutdown. NPR's Windsor-Johnston reports, even if it does end, the nation's airports won't bounce back right away. The government may soon reopen, but the nation's air travel system will need more time. Former FAA administrator Randy Babette tells NPR that it's not just the control towers,

feeling the pressure. The TSA is equally burdened and there'll be a surge of traffic, of course, and that'll challenge their system to get people through security into the boarding. So I think just patience and take as much caution as you can to keep in the information loop as to the status of your flights. Babbitt warns that longstanding staffing shortages mean it could take days, maybe longer, for schedules to stabilize. According to flightaware.com, more than 9,000 flights have been canceled since last Friday. Windsor Johnston, NPR News, Washington. Israeli settlers have attacked the biggest dairy farm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In a rare move, Israeli police say they've arrested four Israelis for extremist violence,

as NPR's Lauren Freer reports. Footage from the scene shows burned trucks smashed windows in a warehouse blackened and looted. The Israeli military says the perpetrators were masked Israeli civilians, who, after injuring Palestinian staff, turned on its own. Israeli soldiers and attacked them damaging their vehicles. The United Nations says settler violence hit a record high last month during the Palestinian olive harvest with an average of eight attacks per day. Most go unpunished by Israel. In this case, a senior Israeli military commander called on soldiers to, quote, not stand idly by. The Palestinian Economy Ministry is urging other

countries to place perpetrators on international terrorism lists. Lauren Freyer and PR News Tel Aviv. This is NPR. The International Chess Federation has filed a formal complaint against former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik. He's accused of harassment and of insulting the dignity of fellow players. Kramnik is accused of making unproven cheating allegations against Daniel Nareditsky. Naradzky denied the cheating allegations he died last month at the age of 29. NASA says it will try again today to launch a pair of spacecraft. designed to explore the atmosphere and weather conditions on Mars.

Joe Palka explains. It's taken a while to get the Escapade probes started on their journey. They were supposed to be carried into space a year ago by the new Glenn rocket made by Blue Origin. But a variety of factors led NASA to scrub those plans. For a while, it wasn't clear how or whether Escapade would get to Mars, but ultimately NASA decided to put the probes back on the new Glenn rocket. Once at Mars, Escapade will make measurements

that will help scientists understand how charged particles from the sun affect the thin Martian atmosphere. The twin probes will let scientists create 3D images of how those particles are deflected around Mars by the planet's magnetic field. For NPR news, I'm Joe Palka. Federal weather experts and officials at NASA are warning of severe solar storms today. These could interrupt some radio and GPS communications. They are also triggering the brilliant northern lights in some areas. These are usually spotted in Alaska and Canada, but the colorful displays were seen last night as far south as Alabama and Florida.

I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.