NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-18-2025 1PM EST

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

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This message comes from Bayer. Science is a rigorous process that requires questions, testing, transparency, and results that can be proven. This approach is integral to every breakthrough Bayer brings forward. Innovations that save lives and feed the world. Science Delivers.com Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is visiting the White House for the first time since the 2018 killing of Washington Post. Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

While taking questions from journalists a short time ago, an ABC news reporter asked President Trump if this visit to the White House that's expected to include announcements of defense, energy, and AI deals is a conflict of interest due to the Trump family's business with Saudi Arabia. I have nothing to do with a family business. I have left and when I've devoted 100% of my energy, what my family does is fine.

They do business all over. They've done very little with Saudi Arabia. Arabia, actually. I'm sure they could do a lot. And anything they've done has been very good. That's what we've done. We've built a tremendous business for a long time. I've been very successful. I decided to leave that success behind and make America very successful. The same reporter asked the Crown Prince, his thoughts after U.S. intelligence concluded he had approved Khashoggi's murder in 2018. Being painful for us in Saudi Arabia. We've did all the right steps of investigation, et cetera,

in Saudi Arabia, and we've improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that, and it's painful, and it's a huge mistake, and we are doing our best, but that this doesn't happen again. Prince Muhammad has denied involvement in Khashoggi's killing. President Trump railed against a reporter for the question describing it as disrespectful to his guest. Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sex trafficking network spoke out on Capitol Hill today with a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

NPR, as Claudia Gris-Aless reports, This comes as the U.S. House is on track to take up a bill to date a force the release of government files tied to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. Survivor after survivor told harrowing stories of the abuse they suffered, and many asked President Trump to stop injecting politics into their fight. Jenna Lisa Jones said pushing for the release of the Epstein files has been distressing as Trump has gone back and forth on supporting it. I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment. Trump had fought the House vote to release the records but reversed course this past weekend to say Republicans should vote for it. Now the GOP-led House is on track to approve the plan with near-unanimous support, sending it to the Senate. Claudia Diceles, NPR News, the Capitol.

A judge has approved a settlement of thousands of opioid-related lawsuits against Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. And under the agreement, members of the Sackler family who own the company will contribute up to $7 billion over time and give up ownership. The opioid epidemic has been linked to more than 900,000 deaths in the United States since 1999. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down 538 points. This is NPR News. The one big beautiful bill passed by Congress included a provision designed to defund Planned Parenthood. done by cutting it out of Medicaid. NPR Selina Simmons-Depin reports on the impact on sexual health clinics in Maine where abortion is legal.

Medicaid already does not pay for abortions in Maine or anywhere else in the country. Now Maine Family Planning's network of 18 clinics cannot bill Medicaid for any services, including fertility treatment, birth control, and more. Vanessa Shields-Hoss, the nurse practitioner at the Thomaston Clinic, says half of Maine Family Planning's patients are on Medicaid. We've been seeing all of those patients for free. We haven't been turning them away. That has meant a 20% cut to Maine Family Planning's annual budget, and three clinics have had to end their primary care services. Selina Simmons-Duffin reporting. Well, with Thanksgiving around the corner, shoppers are bracing for higher grocery prices. Here's NPR's Lydia Kali-Tree. Wholesale turkey prices jumped 40% from last year, largely due to outbreaks of bird flu hurting the country's supply. The Trump administration canceled some tariffs on items.

like beef and coffee last week to combat high prices. David Ortega, a professor and agricultural economist at Michigan State University, says this move won't lower prices, but rather slow their growth. So while we may not see prices go down for the holidays, it helps in terms of moderating the price increases. Ortega recommends shoppers plan their Thanksgiving meals in advance and shop early for certain items to take advantage of sales or promotions. Lydia Kletrie, NPR News. It's NPR. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR NewsNow Plus at plus.npr.org.

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