NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-19-2025 8PM EST

Episode Date: November 20, 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 in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. U.S. Border Patrol agents have now arrested more than 250 people in Charlotte, North Carolina, is part of a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration.

As Nick Dela Canal of Member Station WFAE reports, many immigrant families are on lockdown. Inside one East Charlotte apartment. A 14-year-old girl, Paloma, filmed herself hiding with family after spotting Border Patrol agents outside. NPR isn't using her full name because members of her family are undocumented.

My aunt called me and she was like, it's ice here. your dad because my dad is immigrant. So I was very scared. So I ran downstairs and I closed door. Then I went to my mom's room. Her dad isn't working this week and her brother isn't going to school. Officials say 44 people detained in Charlotte have criminal backgrounds. Two are suspected gang members. Others have no criminal history. For NPR News, I'm Nick Delacanel and Charlotte. Former FBI director James Comey was back in federal court today to challenge the Justice Department's case against him. Prosecutors are facing new questions about the grand jury.

process that led to Comey's indictment on false statements and obstruction charges, NPR's Ryan Lucas reports. At a hearing in federal court in Virginia, prosecutors acknowledged under questioning from the judge that the full grand jury never reviewed a final copy of the two-count indictment against Comey. The former FBI director's attorney, Michael Drebin, jumped on that irregularity to argue that that means there is no indictment and the case should be dismissed. An argument the government pushed back on. Much of the hearing focused on a separate legal challenge Comey has filed, arguing that this is a vindictive prosecution fueled by President Trump's animus for Comey, who is a sharp critic of the president. The judge did not

issue a ruling on what he called weighty and complex issues. Ryan Lucas NPR News, Washington. Food banks and pantries around the nation say they're still experiencing increased demand for food, even though food assistance has been restored since the government shutdown. NPR's Tovia Smith reports. Food banks have already seen significant cuts in federal funds that help them buy local food. Now they're bracing for federal snap spending to shrink by billions more as new laws begin to take effect. Factor in the holidays and changes to other safety net programs like Medicaid and health insurance subsidies and food bank executives like Eric Cooper of the San Antonio Food Bank are worried. I'm not sleeping, but, you know, naively maybe I hope that the demand

will lessen, but I'm still sending out more than what's coming in. Trump administration officials are downplaying any negative impact of snap cuts, saying they're cracking down on, quote, proven cases of waste, fraud, and abuse. Tovia Smith, NPR News. U.S. stocks made slight gains today. This is NPR News from Washington. The UN General Assembly is urging all nations to observe a truce during the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy. It says a halt to fighting during one of the world's premier sporting events can be a tool to promote peace, dialogue, tolerance, and reconciliation. Many countries in the past

have refused to heed the appeal. The Trump administration is proposing to significantly limit protections for wildlife under the Endangered Species Act. NPR's Nate Roth reports the changes are likely to be challenged. The rule changes announced by the Trump administration are similar to ones put in placed during Trump's first term. And the goal, Interior Secretary Doug Bergam said in a statement, is to restore the Endangered Species Act to its original intent by protecting species and respecting the livelihoods of Americans who depend on land and natural resources. Wildlife groups say the proposed changes to threaten species protections, to habitat protections, and a proposed cost-benefit analysis of listing a species will harm the countries already at-risk plants and

animals and are just another giveaway to fossil fuel companies and other extractive industries. They're promising to sue when the proposals are formalized. Nate Rot, NPR News. Archaeologists have identified more than a dozen ancient canoes that indigenous people apparently left behind in a prehistoric parking lot along a Wisconsin lake shore. The Wisconsin Historical Society says archaeologists found 16 canoes submerged in Lake Mendota in Madison. The discoveries began in 2021 when recently. researchers uncovered the remains of a 1,200-year-old canoe in the lake. The oldest canoe is about

5,200 years old. This is 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.