NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-19-2025 3PM EST

Episode Date: December 19, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Herbst. At the White House today, President Trump says more drug companies. Some of the biggest drug makers have agreed to lower drug prices for Americans. They've agreed to offer many of their flagship drugs, really all of their flagship drugs, at heavily discounted most favored nations prices. In other words, whatever the drug sells for over the world, in the world, whatever the lowest number is, if it's Germany, if it's in UK, anywhere, we will match that price. Trump says the companies include Santa Fe, Novartis, Beringer, Jiliard, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech,

GSC, Merck, and Amgen. He says other countries will pay more for U.S. drugs, and he says if they don't, he will implement more tariffs. Today's the deadline for the Justice Department to release files related to who convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Last month, President Trump signed a law, ordering the records to be released. But Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche tells Fox News, they will only release a partial batch of files today,

hundreds of thousands of them, and more over the next couple of weeks. He says that's to give them more time to redact names and identifying information about the victims. And Pierre Stephen Fowler has more on the files. Hundreds of gigabytes of digital and physical evidence that the FBI has. grand jury files, and other things that have already been made public otherwise. It's also worth pointing out the law gives this deadline of 30 days after Trump signed it as a deadline, but there is no enforcement mechanism or penalties or consequences written into the law for this time not being met or any improper redaction of information. And Pierre Stephen Fowler reporting.

Online video sharing app TikTok has reached a deal to sell its U.S. operations to a group of investors, including the big tech company Oracle run by billionaire Larry Ellison, who's a longtime ally of President Trump. And here's Bobby Allen has more. After more than five years of intense debate, TikTok's U.S. operations have been sold to a consortium of investors. That group includes software and data center company Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and MGC, investment company backed by the United Arab Emirates. Under the terms of the deal, which were confirmed by NPR, current Bight Dance investors will keep about a third of the entity, and Beijing-based Bight Dance will hold a minority stake. Backers don't expect American users of TikTok to notice any major changes.

China Hawks and Washington have been worried about Beijing using TikTok to influence the political views of the 170 million Americans on the app. Yet under the deal, BightDance will still own the app's algorithm with audits by the new American-led entity. Bobby Allen and P.R. News. And Oracle is a financial supporter of NPR. Dow's trading higher at this hour up 263 points. You're listening to NPR News. Australia's government says it will launch a national gun buyback program following Sunday's deadly shooting that killed 15 people.

Australia's Prime Minister says he expects hundreds of thousands of weapons to be surrendered. Christina Kukula has more. The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says there are currently more. than 4 million firearms in the country. That's even more than in the late 1990s when a mass shooting attack in Tasmania killed 35 people and prompted a major reform of gun ownership laws. Albanese says tougher action is needed today. The terrible events at Bondi show we need to get more guns off our streets. Funding for the buyback program needs to be legislated. Australia's government says the program will target surplus, newly banned and illegal

firearms and surrendered weapons will be destroyed. It also wants to limit how many guns a person can own and to make Australian citizenship a condition of holding a gun license. For NPR News, I'm Christina Kukala in Melbourne. President Trump's name has already been added to the Kennedy Center building in Washington, D.C. This, after the board he hand-picked, voted to add his name to the Performing Arts Center. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was built as a living memorial to the 35th President, and changing the name may require Congress.

congressional approval. Some of the Kennedy family are blasting the change. Carrie Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated as he ran for president, says Trump is repressing artistic expression, which she says is the core mission of the center. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.