NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-24-2025 2AM EST

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

NPR News: 12-24-2025 2AM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Roman. The Justice Department has released another batch of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. These contain hundreds of references to President Trump. The DOJ says the nearly 30,000 documents contain untrue or sensationalist claims about Trump. More from NPR's Luke Garrett. In a 2020 email on unidentified federal prosecutor said flight logs show Trump had flown on Epstein's private chat, quote, quote, many more times than previously reported between 1993 and 1996. Another file shows a 2021 subpoena to Mara Lago for employment records during the investigation into Galane Maxwell, Epstein's co-conspirator and a convicted sex offender. Other documents include a 2019 letter supposedly sent by Epstein to convicted sex offender, Larry Nasser, the U.S. gymnastics team doctor. The letter mentions, quote, our president, though it's unclear whether the DOJ verified,

whether this was in fact written by Epstein. These documents continue a piecemeal release by the DOJ, despite Congress requiring them to make all the files public last Friday. Luke Garrett, NPR News, Washington. Two people, though, reported dead as Pennsylvania's governor says as many as 21 were injured, this after a suspected gas explosion at a nursing home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia. An unknown number of people were trapped inside the rubble. Governor Josh Shapiro spoke with reporters. We believe preliminarily that it was a gas leak that led to that. The explosion was really quite catastrophic.

Crews say they are still in a rescue mode searching for victims using dogs, earth-moving equipment, and sonar to locate potential victims. A local fire official says at least five people still made me missing. The explosion took place Tuesday afternoon shortly after Cruz responded to a report of a gas leak. In Ohio Democrat is suing President Trump for adding his name to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The lawsuit also names Trump appointees to the Kennedy Center board. NPR's Chloe Vettman reports on Representative Joyce Beatty's lawsuit, alleging the new Trump Kennedy Center name, is unlawful. Joyce Beatty's federal lawsuit argues that rechristening the Kennedy Center requires an act of Congress.

One of Beatty's councils, Norm Eisen, says the former name was established through legislation, in 1964. The law is very clear. The Kennedy Center is to be named after John F. Kennedy and only John F. Kennedy. New signage bearing Trump's name appeared on the center's website and facade late last week. In a written statement to NPR, the center's vice president of public relations, Roma Derravi, blamed critics like Congresswoman Beatty for having, quote, sat idly by while America's cultural center slowly crumbled.

and justified the change of name by pointing to the millions of dollars she says Trump has raised to... This is NPR. Israeli airstrikes killed three men in southern Lebanon, among them a Lebanese soldier, according to statements from both Israel and Lebanon from Beirut. NPR's Jawud Rizcalo reports. The Israeli military says the three men were members of Hasbullah and attempting to re-establish the group's infrastructure. And that a review found one of those killed, quote,

simultaneously served as a Lebanese army. soldier in an intelligence unit. The Lebanese army mourned the fallen soldier as a first sergeant in the military's anti-tank regiment. Hezbollah confirmed only the two others as members of the group. Lebanon's defense minister said any claim of ties between soldiers and armed groups is slander that undermines the military. And despite the ceasefire reached last year, Israel continues to strike areas of southern Lebanon

as it and the U.S. seek Hezbollah's disarmament. Jouad Ruskallah, NPR News, Beirut. CBS and management at 60 Minutes are now trying to get copies of the canceled story about the Trump administration immigration policies taken off numerous internet sites. The story went viral after the Canadian television network, Global TV, which broadcast 60 Minutes in Canada, received a copy of the story before it was to air in the U.S. The new leadership at CBS pulled the story just hours before it was to air on the network's flagship news program saying it was not ready for broadcast. However, the correspondent on the piece Sharon Alfonzi in an email to colleagues insist the story was cleared by CBS management and she says it was canceled for political and not editorial reasons. I'm Dan Ronan, NPR News, Washington. Support for 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 Cs apply.