NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-19-2025 3AM EST

Episode Date: November 19, 2025

NPR News: 11-19-2025 3AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay Stevens. Congress has approved a bill to force the release of government files on Jeffrey Epstein. Over the weekend, President Trump reversed course and urged Republicans to support the measure. But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says he's not certain that Trump will keep his promise to sign the bill. We know there's a corrupt Justice Department. We know that Bondi and Cash Patel do just what the president has. and wants. And we Democrats, I just had a meeting of 10 of my colleagues, are going to do everything we can to make sure all of it, all of it comes to life. A group of Epstein accusers gathered outside of the U.S. Capitol ahead of Tuesday's vote, some of them holding photographs of their younger

cells when they were abused. NPR has been speaking with U.S. citizens who've been swept up in President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. Their stories are getting attention in Washington as NPR's Adrian Florido reports. Javier Ramirez says when Border Patrol agents raided the auto junkyard where he works near Los Angeles, he heard one say to another. I just hear him like, hey, just get him. He's Mexican. That's when they threw me down to the ground.

Andrea Veles says the ICE agents who arrested her on an L.A. street kept addressing her in Spanish even after she declared her citizenship in English. Like, they had not heard me before speak English. and then I was like, I speak English too. Both say they were racially profiled. They may testify when congressional Democrats kick off a series of hearings later this month, probing the treatment of U.S. citizens caught up in the government's immigration dragnet. Adrian Fledito, NPR News.

A federal court panel in El Paso has blocked implementation of a newly redrawn congressional map for Texas. The judges agreed with opponents that the rare summary districting effort would harm some voters. The Texas legislature created a new map after President Trump requested five additional seats to protect the Republican majority in the U.S. House. The first doses of a highly effective HIV prevention drug have arrived in two African countries. NPR's Jonathan Lampert has details. Zambia and Eswitini each received 500 doses of Lenna Capovir, the blockbuster HIV drug that can provide near total protection against infection with just two shots a year.

It's a very small but important start, says Mitchell Warren. He's executive director of AVAC, an HIV prevention organization. This is somewhat unprecedented to see an innovation in global health move this fast into low and middle income countries. U.S. State Department officials say the goal is to deliver up to 2 million doses to hard-hit countries by 2028. But some HIV experts worry that U.S. cuts to foreign aid have damaged the health systems necessary to get the drug to the people. who need it most. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News. This is NPR. The National Transportation Safety Board has approved the report on the collapse of Baltimore's key bridge last year. NTSB investigators found that a loose wire caused a power outage aboard the massive cargo ship that crashed into the bridge,

sending six workers plunging to their deaths. They also concluded that the ship's crew did not have enough time to recover because the vessel was too close to the bridge. when it lost power. META has won an antitrust case brought by the Federal Trade Commission. A federal judge has rejected the FTC's claims that META's acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp created a monopoly in social media. A six-foot-tall Gustav Klimt portrait has been sold at auction for $236.4 million. That's a record for modern artwork. Details from NPR's Giles Snyder. Gustav Klim's portrait of Elizabeth Lederer was sold at Sotheby's in New York, coming to auction from the collection of the late cosmetics air, Leonard Lauder.

He died in June at age 92. Clint painted the Lederer portrait between 1914 and 1916. It's one of only two full-length Clint portraits that remain in private hands. The auction also included works by Vincent Van Gogh, Henri Matisse, and Edvard Monk. One of two 18-carat-gold toilets by the Italian artist Mauritius. Catalan also hit the auction block. The other was stolen in 2019 while on display in England. Two men were convicted earlier this year. The toilet, however, was never recovered. Investigators believe it was probably broken up and melted down.

Trial Snyder, NPR News. You're listening to NPR. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit wise.com. T's and C's apply.