NPR News: 11-19-2025 5PM EST

Speaker 1 This week and up first from NPR News, the House votes on the Epstein files. President Trump reversed course and said go ahead, but his Justice Department may yet block the release of some documents.

Speaker 1 Also, we get key unemployment numbers from the government. A month and a half late, what do the indicators say? Listen this week and up first on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 2 Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton.

Speaker 2 Attorney General Pam Bondi says the Justice Department will comply with the law if President Trump signs the bill, as he said he'll do, to release files about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Speaker 2 NPR's Joe Hernandez reports.

Speaker 3 Bondi said at a press conference, officials would protect any information that could put Epstein's victims at risk before making the files public.

Speaker 4 We will continue to follow the law with maximum transparency while protecting victims.

Speaker 3 The Justice Department has released thousands of Epstein-related files to Congress already, but other documents, including witness interviews, have not yet been made public.

Speaker 3 Trump previously resisted the vote to release more Epstein files, but changed course over the weekend while claiming the push to release more Epstein documents is a hoax perpetrated by Democrats.

Speaker 3 Joe Hernandez, NPR News.

Speaker 2 Secretary of State Marco Rubio has not only removed diversity from performance evaluations at the State Department, he's now giving retroactive promotions to State Department employees who were passed over last year, as NPR's Michelle Kelleman reports.

Speaker 5 Under a Biden administration role, State Department promotion boards had to consider a staffer's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Speaker 5 State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggett calls that an ideological litmus test that penalized competent and deserving government officials. And he says the Trump administration rewards excellence.

Speaker 5 According to a cable seen by NPR, close to 300 State Department employees will be receiving pay increases and retroactive promotions, having been denied that under the Biden-era DEI rules.

Speaker 5 Rubio State Department replaced DEI with Fidelity in its list of what to consider for promotions. Michelle Kelleman, NPR News, The State Department.

Speaker 2 A new NPR PBS News Marist poll is out today. It finds that ahead of next year's midterm elections, Democrats have a big advantage.
NPR's Domenico Montenaro reports.

Speaker 6 The more than 1,400 respondents were asked if the midterm elections took place today, which party's candidate would vote for in their district. Democrats came out 14 points ahead.

Speaker 6 That's a whopping lead. The last time it was that wide was eight years ago during President Trump's first term.

Speaker 6 In 2018, when Democrats won 40 seats and control of the House, their edge was between 6 and 12 points. The only question is whether this advantage is coming too soon for the party.

Speaker 6 A year from now, the political landscape could look very different, but right now, Democrats have the upper hand. Domenico Montenaro, NPR News, Washington.

Speaker 2 Federal agents have arrested more than 250 people during an immigration crackdown in North Carolina centered on Charlotte.

Speaker 2 It's the latest phase of President Trump's mass deportation efforts in Democratic-run cities.

Speaker 2 The push to carry out arrests in North Carolina expanded to areas around the state capital of Raleigh yesterday.

Speaker 2 From Washington, you're listening to NPR News.

Speaker 2 Britain is warning Russia it is ready to handle any incursion into its territory after a spy ship was detected near its waters.

Speaker 2 Britain's defense secretary says the vessel directed lasers at pilots of surveillance aircraft monitoring its activities.

Speaker 2 He described it as part of a Russian fleet designed to threaten undersea infrastructure. Russia's embassy accused the British government of being russophobic.

Speaker 2 Immigrant physicians make up a quarter of all doctors in the U.S., but policies like higher visa fees are making it harder and less appealing to work here. NPR's Yuki Naguchi reports.

Speaker 7 Dr. Michael Liu says recent data show only 1% of physicians in the U.S.
have work visas known as H-1B.

Speaker 7 Those are for highly trained, highly skilled professionals, and those doctors work in some of the toughest communities.

Speaker 8 High poverty counties had a four times higher prevalence of H-1B physicians. We also saw that same pattern in rural counties or rural communities.

Speaker 7 Liu is Canadian and remained in the U.S. after training here and getting married earlier this year.

Speaker 8 But he says, it feels like my contributions just because I was not born in this country are less valued.

Speaker 7 Yuki Naguchi, NPR News.

Speaker 2 Haiti is celebrating its first World Cup qualification since 1974, momentarily setting aside recent gang violence and political instability.

Speaker 2 And the tiny Caribbean island nation of Curaçao has become the smallest country by population to qualify for the event. Curacao has about 156,000 people.

Speaker 2 It takes the record from Iceland, which has about 350,000 people and qualified for the 2018 Cup. This is NPR News.

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