Up First from NPR - More Epstein Files Released; Government Shutdown; New Winter Storm

Episode Date: January 31, 2026

The Justice Department has released its final tranche of the Epstein files - we'll look at what they have and haven't included. And, the U.S. in a partial government shutdown again, although this is one is expected to be shorter than the record-breaking shutdown that happened during the fall. Plus, another winter storm is hitting the U-S this weekend, this time, hitting parts of the Southeast.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Justice Department has released more of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Three million pages. What does the new trove of documents, video, and images reveal about the case? I'm Scott Simon. And I'm Aisha Roscoe, and this is up first from NPR News. Files related to the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were due to be released last month. Why the delay? We'll have more on that. And we're in a partial government shutdown.

Again, this time the fight isn't over health care spending. We'll tell you more about it, plus some parts of the U.S. brace for more winter storms. We'll tell you where that storm is heading and how they're bracing for it. So please stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend. The Justice Department says they are done with releasing files related to the case of disgrace financier Jeffrey Epstein. They say the delay in releasing the files had to do with particular. the victims of the convicted sex offender.

But NPR reporters reviewing the documents say that's not always the case. Political reporter Stephen Fowler is part of the team going through those files and joins us now. Stephen, thanks for being with us. Good morning. The deadline for sharing the Epstein files was over a month ago. Why this enormous amount release now? Well, the Justice Department said it took time for them to comb through six million documents and make sure that they complied with existing laws around

victim privacy and this new law's directive to share as much information as possible. That said, about half of those six million files will not be released because the Justice Department says they contain child pornography, deliberative internal process and attorney-client privileged information, duplicate information, or unrelated material. What has been released? There are more than 2,000 videos, 180,000 images. You've got internal files about Epstein's criminal cases and court documents, private files from his emails and text messages with people, and like the other releases, these files have no sense of organization or context and are often heavily redacted. That said, we did find examples of Epstein's victim's names and photographs being unredacted.

In some cases, texts that Epstein sent, his name was redacted, and we even found a picture of President Trump's in a news article hiding behind a black square. All of that being processed, anything new and noteworthy you found so far? Yeah, well, looking through the chaos, we did find new conversations with high-profile figures that are deeper and, in some cases, more recent than we knew before. People like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik, former Obama White House Council Kathy Rumler, Even Trump's new Federal Reserve chair pick Kevin Warsh shows up on an invite list for a Christmas gathering in 2010. This is important to note, though, the mentions and conversations in this file are not indications of wrongdoing or association with Epstein's crimes. That's also true for an email in the files that contain a collection of unverified allegations of salacious and inappropriate conduct by Trump and others.

The Justice Department pointed to a press release that says files may include, quote, untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump. Three million pages is a lot for you and other reporters to go through. What will you be looking for in the coming days? Our initial dive has found a trove of information that is already out there in court cases and early releases of the files, but there's so much left to explore from Epstein's private correspondence, financial documents, and other communications that widened the web of Epstein's associates. Beyond the files themselves, though, attention is turning to what isn't there.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act directs the Justice Department to share with Congress all of the redactions they made and why within the next two weeks, and they said that covers about 200,000 pages worth. We've also already seen displeasure from victims who say their names were exposed while other people who committed abuse were left protected, and from members of Congress who say the Trump administration has not followed the law, and in a way, publishing three million files like this in this manner just makes closure and finality even less likely for everybody involved here. And Pierre Stephen Fowler in Atlanta, thanks so much. Thank you. Well, Scott, here we are yet again. Groundhogs Day came early. Another government shutdown.

But there's a chance this one will be shorter than the one of the fall. that lasted a record 43 days. This shutdown comes as Democrats are pushing for more guardrails on the tactics used by federal immigration officers after they killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. And peer congressional reporter Sam Gringlass joins us now. Good to have you, Sam. Hey, Scott. Good morning. Well, most Americans even notice the shutdown. Probably not. You know, the Senate voted last night to fund large parts of the federal government that ran out of money at midnight. But the House still needs to greenlight this final deal, and that will not happen until at least Monday. So if all go smoothly,

this could be really brief, you know, not enough time for most federal workers to miss paychecks, though some might be furloughed or have to work without pay like TSA agents. And while some government services may be affected, other pinch points that we saw during the last shutdown, like food assistance, will not be impacted now because Congress managed to fund a few of these agencies through September since the last shutdown. And Congress just got through that funding standoff in November. How did they get to the same brink just a few months later? Congress had been on track to avert a shutdown,

but after that second deadly shooting in Minneapolis, Democrats pledged to oppose the Homeland Security funding bill, which includes funding for immigration and customs enforcement. But the money for the Department of Homeland Security was tied together with more than a trillion dollars for other departments, including defense, health, and housing, Republicans agreed to Democrats' demands to isolate DHS funding from the rest and only extend it for two weeks, giving them time to negotiate policy changes to restrain the actions of federal immigration agents. But, Scott, it's not clear that lawmakers can come up with an agreement on that.

What do Democrats want? And why have they been willing to risk another shutdown? Yeah. Democrats are. demanding a suite of changes like requiring judicial warrants for immigration raids, ensuring impartial investigations and accountability after incidents, and mandating immigration officers wear body cameras and remove their masks. Democrats like Chris Murphy of Connecticut feel emboldened because they think the public agrees with them. I think people want us to fight. People want us to act in an urgent way. So I think if we're fighting for these reforms, we're exactly where the American people want us to be. And even more than the last shutdown debate over those health subsidies last fall,

what's unfolded in Minneapolis maybe speaks to something more fundamental about the country at this moment. Last fall, six Senate Democrats broke with their party to reopen the government saying the consequences of the shutdown were just too much. This time, though, five of those six say that they were willing to risk another shutdown here. And Sam, what have you noticed in the Republican response this week? So we are in an era when, congressional Republicans rarely criticized the Trump administration. But the images coming out of Minneapolis have made even many Republicans uneasy. Republican Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina told reporters this week that immigration was an issue that helped Republicans win, and this was

undercutting all of that. It's making the president look bad on policies that he won on. He won on a strong message about immigration. And now nobody's talking about that. They're not talking about securing the border. They're talking about the incompetence of the leader of homeland security. These people are amateurs. We also heard some Republicans calling not just for an investigation or hearings, but also saying they're open to policy changes, though this is far from universal. Many Republicans like Senator Mark Wayne Mullen, Republican of Oklahoma, had praised the work of ICE and called the Minneapolis shootings an anomaly. We're not going to keep ICE from doing their job. The American people wanted the president to

enforce law and order. And ICE is doing their job. And what happens at the two parties can't come to an agreement on those restrictions. Okay, so I mentioned the House on Monday has to give this final green light, and that is not a foregone conclusion. House Democrats are saying they're still weighing this deal, thinking maybe their parties should hold up funding further to maximize their ability to extract policy changes. And then if this deal does pass funding for Homeland Security, it's just temporary. Congress will have less than two weeks to coalesce around policy changes. And that is a really tall order here, especially for this Congress, where bipartisan agreement has often proved so elusive.

NPR congressional reporter Sam Gringlass, thanks so much. Thanks, Scott. Another winter storm is coming. This time, striking parts of the southeast, bringing snow, strong winds, and possible flooding from New England to the Carolinas. And states including North Carolina, which is expecting a foot of snow, by the way,

have declared a state of emergency. Yes, and even ordinarily, you know, sunny and balmy South Carolina might get not just several inches of snow, but heavy winds and record low temperatures. We're going to hear how they're preparing for it from South Carolina Public Radio's Victoria Hanson, who's in Charleston. Thanks for being with us. You don't see a lot of snow there, do you? Oh, no, we do not. You know, if we see the snow they're talking about this weekend, in fact, this would be, we had a little last year. This would be consecutive years for the first time in decades that we have. So today, the entire state of South Carolina is under this winter warning.

We've been so since yesterday with a storm already beginning to dump some snow near the border of North Carolina. Here in Charleston, yeah, we're still waiting as the storm is expected to hit this afternoon. But we could see anywhere from two to five inches of snow throughout today and into tomorrow. And we should mention these winter warnings are extending all the way down the coast into Georgia. This is a rare experience for you, isn't it? Absolutely. We did not see any snow during last week in winter storm. We had, like I said, a little bit around this time last year, a dusting.

But in this area, there are numerous bridges connecting the peninsula to surrounding areas as well as several barrier islands. So that's why city officials have been reminding people. Those bridges can ice over long before the roadways. Here's our Charleston mayor, William Cogswell. Stay off the roads. Stay home. We don't really have the equipment to manage this kind of winter weather. So we just ask you to be respectful of that

and make sure that we're not putting our emergency personnel in unnecessary danger. Yes, this is the South. There aren't exactly a lot of snowplows around here. But the other problem is wind gusts, which could be quite strong and record cold, I should point out at least for here, in the teens this weekend, with feels like temperatures for us in the single digits.

How people they're preparing? I mean, emptying the shelves of grocery stores? Oh, yeah, I caught up with several folks at the grocery store. And, you know, it really depends upon who you talk to. We have a lot of newcomers here. This is one of the most moved to states in the nation. So when I talk to folks who've moved here from up north, let's say, like Monica Pepe, she's from Connecticut. She's found out the hard way that even a little snow goes a long way.

I caught up with her getting groceries. Even if it's a couple inches of snow, like you shut down for days here, they don't have the plows or the supplies to take care of it. I learned the hard way to stock up for a few days. I have two kids, so. Meantime, people who have lived here for most of their life, like 83-old John Radcliffe, they know the reality

of snow in the South, and I spoke to him after he just finished up stocking up at the store. So, by having enough food in the house so you don't have to get out in it, because that's dangerous, you know, with these people. Because we do not know how to drive in it, as you know. It's dangerous. These people, you mean yourself.

Exactly. I'm one of them. What about power outages? Not right now, but officials never say never. We need to remember that places like Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, they're still dealing with more than 100,000 outages from last weekend storm. Here in Charleston, though, hopefully, fingers crossed, we're expecting a powdery, softer snow that the kids can take their boogie boards out in and try to sled down any hill that they can possibly find,

which is quite difficult when you're in the low country. Victoria Hanson, South Carolina Public Radio. Thanks so much. Good luck to you. Thanks for having me. Yes, thanks. And that's up first for Saturday, January 31st, 26. I'm Scott Simon. And I'm Ayesha Roscoe. Dave Mistich produced today's podcast along with Samantha Balaban, Elena Tworick, and Margo Bauer Live.

Our editor is DeParvaz. She had help from Ed McNulty, Jacob Finston, Kelsey Snell, Megan Pratt, and Susanna Capoluto. And we could never forget Andy Craig, our fearless director. Working with us, a man has to be fearless. Our technical director has been David Greenberg with engineering support from Simon Laslo-Janssen, Tom Marquito, and Zoe Vangonhoven. Our senior supervising editor is Shannon Rhodes. Evie Stone is our executive producer, and Jim Kane is our deputy managing editor. Tomorrow on the Sunday story, you can tune in for a conversation between Ayesha and NPR labor

and workplace correspondent, Andrea Shue, about how President Trump stands on DEI's affecting women in the construction trains. And, you know, we always have so much more for you. All the latest news plus books, movies, music. We're overflowing. We can't wait. The cup overflows. That's what we do.

Sports, sports. Sports. Tune in to NPR. Find your local station at stations.mpr.org. please. We're waiting here. That sounds a little scary. We're waiting.

Yeah, and we won't leave until you tune in. But tune in.