NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-20-2025 6AM EST

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

NPR News: 11-20-2025 6AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, on Corva Coleman, the Department of Justice now has 30 days to make unclassified Epstein files public. Last night, President Trump signed a bill calling for the release. NPR's Marie Andrusovich reports. Trump announced the signing in a lengthy truth social post, saying that it was because of his influence that the bill passed so decisively. House Speaker Mike Johnson had lobbied for amendments to the legislation, saying that he and the president had concerns about protecting the victims. I'm glad that, you know, we've been able to. we reflected. All of us were always for maximum transparency. We wanted to do it in a responsible manner. And I'm really hopeful that the victims and survivors get to take some comfort

of that. The bill as passed allows for redaction of victims' identities as well as withholding information that could jeopardize ongoing federal investigations. Marie Andrewsovich, NPR News, Washington. A federal judge is sharply questioning government lawyers who are prosecuting former FBI director James Comey. The prosecutors are facing new questions about the grand jury. jury process. NPR's Ryan Lucas explains that process led to Comey's indictment on false statements and obstruction charges. 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 and PR News, Washington. The Israeli military carried out deadly airstrikes in Gaza last night, despite the shaky ceasefire, health authorities in Gaza say more than 30 people were killed. Israel says gunmen opened fire on its forces. The U.S. government will release its overdue report this morning on employment numbers for September. This was held up by

the federal government shutdown. NASA has released new images of a comet that is zipping through our solar system. Researchers say it's only the third time observers have spotted an object from another solar system, making it interstellar. UCLA astronomy professor David Jewett says the comet is from somewhere else in the Milky Way galaxy. This thing, we think, was ejected from another planetary system around another star. Again, we don't know where, but billions of years ago,

probably long before the solar system and the sun existed. The comet will not threaten Earth. It flew by Mars in October. But researchers at NASA could not immediately, immediately released the images of the comet that was because of the federal government shutdown. On Wall Street and pre-market trading, Dow futures are higher. This is NPR. The National Weather Service has issued flood watches and advisories for central Texas. A heavy storm is moving across the state, pouring heavy rain that will last to early tomorrow.

Some Texas areas could get between six and eight inches of rain. New research from Brown University finds that Merrill Juana use leads people to cut back on alcohol consumption. NPR's Willstone reports it's one of the first rigorous studies to test this idea in humans. In an elaborate and provocative experiment, scientists doled out joints and constructed a fake bar in the laboratory. They recruited about 160 people and found those who smoke the higher potency cannabis ended up drinking 27% less alcohol and the lower potency about 19% less compared to the placebo. Jane Metrick at Brown University led the study. It is telling us that cannabinoids could play potential therapeutic role in

alcohol use disorder. Metric and other researchers acknowledge cannabis itself is not harm-free and concerns about the drug also need to be weighed and that more research needs to be done before making any kind of recommendations. Will Stone and PR News. One of the self-portraits of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo will be auctioned today in New York. Kalo painted herself asleep in a bed with with a yellow coverlet and a skeleton lying above her on top of the canopy. The 1940 painting is called El Sweena La Cama, and it could fetch between $40 and $60 million at Sotheby's. That would make it the most expensive artwork created by a female artist.

This is NPR.