NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-14-2025 6PM EST

Episode Date: November 14, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. President Trump has removed tariffs on a lengthy list of items. The reversal of some of his sweeping import taxes comes after Democrats won big in last week's elections, with many candidates focusing on affordability. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben has more. The long list of items that tariffs will be removed from includes foods like fruits and vegetables, beef, and coffee. American importers paid those tariffs, with many passing costs onto U.S.

consumers. Removing these tariffs could therefore lower the higher prices the tariffs caused. The tariffs that will be removed are the sweeping country-by-country tariffs, Trump first introduced in April, calling them reciprocal tariffs. Recent polls have shown Americans' approval of Trump on the economy, typically a strong issue for him, has slipped. Consumer confidence has also declined. Danielle Kurtzleben and PR News. Attorney General Pam Bondi has tapped a senior federal prosecutor to look into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's ties with prominent Democrats, banks, and institutions. This comes after President Trump publicly called on the Justice Department to do so.

NPR's Ryan Lucas reports. In a post on social media, President Trump accused Democrats of using the controversy over the Jeffrey Epstein files to deflect from their own actions in the recent government shutdown. He also called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate former President Bill Clinton and other prominent Democrats whom Trump alleges were involved with Epstein. In her own social media post, Bondi said she's tapping the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Jay Clayton, to take the lead on the matter. The moves come as Trump continues to face questions about his own ties to Epstein, particularly after House Democrats released a batch of emails this week that raised questions as to what Trump knew about Epstein's activities with underage girls. Ryan Lucas NPR News, Washington.

A judge says he will approve OxyContin maker Purdue Farma's deal to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids on victims. The deal would require members of the Sackler family who own the company to pay up to $7 billion and give up ownership. The agreement replaces one the Supreme Court rejected last year, finding it would have improperly protected the family against future lawsuits. People affected by the fires in Los Angeles earlier this year are now bracing for possible debris flows as a large storm bears down on the area.

Jacob Margolis with LAist has more. The period of greatest concern is early to midday. Saturday, when the heaviest part of the storm is expected to press up against the mountains, essentially squeezing out a whole lot of moisture in a short period. Evacuation warnings have been sent out in anticipation for those in and around the Eaton and Palisades fire burn scars. Marinefall totals could be close to record setting. This storm might also cause delays at LAX and even generate some small tornadoes.

Luckily, those don't usually cause much damage here. For NPR News, I'm Jacob Margolis in life. Los Angeles. This is NPR News. Federal health officials say 23 babies in 13 states have been sickened in a growing outbreak of infant botulism tied to by-heart baby formula. By heart recalled all of its products sold in the U.S. No deaths have been reported. Botulism is a rare but serious disease that can cause paralysis and death. Symptoms can take weeks to develop. South Korea and the U.S. have finalized the terms of a broad economic and military deal. Our's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul.

That fits in with U.S. efforts to have allies spend more on defense. The agreement was reached between President Trump and South Korean President E.J. Mion at a summit in South Korea last month. It includes South Korea's pledge to invest $350 billion in the U.S. in exchange for lower tariffs. Seoul says it will also boost defense spending from its current 2.3% of GDP to 3.5% as soon as possible. It'll purchase $25 billion worth of U.S. military hardware by 2030 and pay substantially more to host the roughly 28,500 U.S. troops currently based in the South. The fact sheet adds that the U.S. has agreed to let Seoul

enrich uranium, reprocess spent nuclear fuel, and build nuclear-powered submarines, which Seoul says will happen in Korean shipyards. Anthony Kuhn in PR News, Seoul. What's thought to be the world's largest known spider's web has been discovered in a cave on the Albanian-Greek border. published their findings in the journal Subterranean Biology of two different spider species peacefully cohabitating in the giant colony nestled in a pitch-black sulfur-rich cave. This is NPR News.