NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-24-2025 8AM EST

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The Justice Department says multiple documents its release related to the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are fake. NPR Sarah McCammon reports the department is required to release the files under a law recently passed by Congress. The DOJ missed a deadline to produce the files on Friday when officials published just a portion of them. More documents have been trickling out in recent days. The latest back. includes multiple references to President Trump. He's mentioned in a letter purportedly from Jeffrey Epstein to another convicted sex offender, former Olympic doctor Larry Nassar. In posts on X, the Justice Department says that although it was released by them, that letter is fake. The

post highlights several apparent inconsistencies. In another post, a DOJ official says the department is required under law to release the documents in its possession, but cautions that many involve, quote, sensational tales and lies by random people. The files include letters, flight logs, and other documents accumulated by the Justice Department over many years. Sarah McCammon, NPR News. The Department of Education is preparing to resume wage garnishment for some student loan debts. NPR's Sequoia Carrillo reports the move comes after a years-long pause due to the pandemic. The Trump administration says it will resume seizing pay from student loan borrowers in default in January.

The administration previously said it would resume garnishing business. tax refunds and social security benefits from qualifying borrowers last May, but backtracked a month later. A department spokesperson says the first notices will be sent out the week of January 7th to approximately 1,000 defaulted borrowers. The notices are expected to increase on a monthly basis throughout the year. Student loan experts say the timing of the move, colliding with rising health care costs, will put added strain on low and middle income borrowers. Sequoia Carillo, NPR News. Powerful winter storms are sweeping across large parts of California.

Flood and high wind alerts are in place across the Sacramento Valley and San Francisco Bay Area through Friday. Steve Fetterman reports, Southern California is facing its wet as Christmas in years. Forecasters here say some foothill and mountain areas could receive more than 10 inches of rain, but all areas are going to be hit. The National Weather Service is labeling it a long-duration atmospheric river. Flash flood warnings are already being issued among the areas on high alert, Pacific Palisades and Altadena, which were hard hit in the January wildfires. That's Steve Fetterman, reporting from Los Angeles.

Tonight's Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $1.7 billion. It's now the fourth largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history. The cash value for tonight's prize, 780. $81 million. This is NPR News. Dozens of temperature records could be broken during a late December heat wave. Forecasters say temperatures on Christmas Day are expected to reach the 70s across parts of the south and southeast, with highs climbing into the 80s and parts of Texas. Some areas could see temperatures as much as 30 degrees above normal. Meanwhile, temperatures are expected to stay closer to average across the northeast. Whether Other officials say the unusual warmth is being driven by a high-pressure system pushing warm Gulf air into the southern U.S.

baking cookbooks saw a boom in 2025 within 80% growth over the past 12 months, and PR's Netta Ullaby has more on what's driving the sales. No one expected baking cookbook sales to rise like a yeasted donut in 2025. The double-digit growth surprised me. Brenda Connor analyzes the U.S. book market for the research company Sircana. 80% growth certainly exceeded my expectations. Hi, my name is Sarah and I love dessert. In 2020 during the pandemic, bread cookbooks led sales. Now the biggest selling baking cookbook of the year is called Sweet Tooth by online influencer Sarah Fennell. This right here is

my favorite holiday snack. It is a salty sweet white chocolate, cammering orange popcorn. The baking cookbook boom is especially notable because cookbooks as a category have gone down in sales this year. Netta Ulibe, NPR News. Stocks closed mixed across Asia today with shares trading higher in China. On Wall Street, Dow Futures are trading lower at this hour. I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News, in Washington.