NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-20-2025 4AM EST

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

NPR News: 11-20-2025 4AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shay Stevens. President Trump has signed the bill ordering the Justice Department to release all files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Attorney General Pam Bondi says DOJ will follow the law and encourage more Epstein victims to come forward. Anti-trafficking advocate Liz Stein tells NPR how she and other Epstein survivors are coping. Some of us are feeling a little bit of whiplash. the position that the current administration has taken has been flip-flopping back and forth and back and forth. And so I think that we are cautiously optimistic about this, but we definitely have feelings about it.

Stein says Epstein's survivors are crime victims who've been waiting through five administrations for justice. In Charlotte, North Carolina, many residents are voicing opposition to the immigration raids on their city, WFAE's Julian Breast. Berger reports on a protest outside of a popular retail outlet. Ice, ice! Ice! Home Depot! Holding signs like ICE out of Home Depot, and we stand with immigrants, protesters stood outside of Home Depot in East Charlotte, where CBP agents have been spotted many times this week.

Former Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts says agents have to go. We need business to get back to normal. We need our schools to be able to educate our children. But other public officials say they welcome CBP. Here's U.S. House Representative Mark Harris. The city of Charlotte is going to be safer because these criminal illegal aliens are being taken off the streets. CBP said Wednesday morning that over 250 people have been arrested so far in Charlotte. For NPR News, I'm Julian Berger in Charlotte.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has removed diversity from performance evaluations. As NPR's Michelle Calliman reports, he's promoting State Department workers who were passed over. Under a Biden administration role, State Department promotion boards had to consider a staffer's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggott calls that an ideological litmus test that penalize competent and deserving government officials, and he says the Trump administration rewards excellence. According to a cable seen by NPR, close to 300 State Department employees will be receiving pay increases and retroactive promotions, having been denied that under the Biden-era DEI rules.

Rubio State Department replaced DEI with fidelity in its list of what to consider for promotions. Michelle Kellerman and PR News, the State Department. Several high-ranking Army officials are in Kiev to kickstart talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Army Secretary Jan Driscoll is set to meet with Ukraine's president during the trip. A U.S. plan to end the war would require Ukraine to give up some of its territory and weaponry. This is NPR. President Trump says you'll meet with New York Mayor-E-Lex, Zora Mamdani on Friday in the Oval Office. Trump has criticized Mamdami over his declaration as a socialist Democrat.

Mandami has criticized Trump's policies, but has promised to work with anyone if it would benefit New Yorkers. Multiple companies are testing driverless big rigs on highways in Texas. Software controls the truck's speed and steering. while there's a human behind the steering wheel, although in some cases they're not doing much at all. NPR's Camilla Dominovsky went for a ride-along with one of those vehicles from a company called Aurora. A.J. Jenkins was in the driver's seat of the truck, but his only job was to watch what it did. And on this particular drive, explain the truck's decisions to me. So the truck just slowed down a little bit? Why was that?

We had somebody next to us. The truck gave them room to pull in front of us if they wanted. Lots of companies are testing tech like this, mostly in Texas, which has lots of long highways and friendly regulations. Critics, including truckers unions, have raised questions about the safety and security of this kind of software. Jenkins, who used to be a driving instructor, says he's confident the tech is going to make roads safer. Camila Dominooski, NPR News. NASA is sharing up-close images of the interstellar comet that recently visited the solar system. The comet dubbed 31 Atlas is only the third confirmed odds.

to visit from another star. It zipped past bars last month getting some 18 million miles away from the red planet before returning to interstellar space. This is NPR News. 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 Cs apply.