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NPR News Now

NPR News: 11-18-2025 3PM EST

18 Nov 2025

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

1.297 - 20.508 Lakshmi Singh

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The U.S. House has approved a bill compelling the Justice Department to release all documents on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The vote was 427 to 1. Today's outcome marks a rare moment of unity between Republicans and Democrats.

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Chapter 2: What recent legislation regarding Jeffrey Epstein was passed by the House?

20.909 - 37.596 Lakshmi Singh

It's also an important moment for Epstein's accusers who'd spent years fighting for justice. Before today's vote, Jenna Lisa Jones railed against President Trump, who'd long resisted the House vote, then did an about-face over the weekend, and accused Democrats of fueling a hoax targeting him.

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38.017 - 60.747 Unknown

I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political. It is not about you, President Trump. You are our president. Please start acting like it. Show some class. Show some real leadership. Show that you actually care about the people other than yourself. I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment.

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61.868 - 84.794 Lakshmi Singh

President Trump maintains he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes. Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, is in prison on sex trafficking charges. The measure that passed the House today now goes to the Senate, where some lawmakers are pushing for amendments to put further guardrails around what information can be released. Meta has prevailed in the government's antitrust lawsuit. Today, a U.S.

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84.814 - 99.972 Lakshmi Singh

district judge ruled the Federal Trade Commission failed to show that Facebook's parent company tightened its dominance of social media with the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp in 2012 and 2014, respectively. The FTC had argued in favor of breaking up META.

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100.713 - 117.859 Lakshmi Singh

A federal court has blocked Texas from using the congressional map that Republican lawmakers passed over the summer at the urging of President Trump. The map would give the GOP an edge in winning five more seats in the U.S. House. Today's development is a major blow to Trump's effort to maintain the GOP's narrow hold on the U.S.

Chapter 3: How did President Trump's actions influence the Epstein bill vote?

117.879 - 135.853 Lakshmi Singh

House in next year's midterm elections. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several other prominent Israeli officials condemn violent settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, which have been on the rise in recent weeks. NPR's Kat Lonsdorff reports such attacks rarely face legal consequences.

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136.053 - 147.81 Kat Lonsdorf

Israeli settlers stormed a village outside the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, torching cars and homes Monday evening. In another part of the West Bank, in the town of Sinjil, settlers shot live ammunition at several people, according to the mayor.

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148.431 - 165.829 Kat Lonsdorf

They're the latest in what the UN says is now an average of eight settler attacks a day in the territory, an all-time high that has coincided with the Palestinian olive harvest. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz condemned the violence, saying he gives, quote, full backing to security forces in the West Bank to act against the perpetrators.

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166.429 - 176.925 Kat Lonsdorf

Netanyahu also gave his full support to law enforcement and the military to counteract the attacks. Still, such settler violence is rarely prosecuted. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv.

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177.526 - 198.45 Lakshmi Singh

This is NPR. Researchers say early vaccinations of infants against measles surged in Texas in the first few months of the year amid a record outbreak that quickly spread statewide. NPR's Maria Godoy reports on a new analysis published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

198.43 - 217.755 Maria Godoy

Children usually get their first dose of the measles vaccine between the ages of 12 and 15 months. But in March of this year, as a massive measles outbreak spread rapidly in Texas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that infants in the state get their first dose early, between 6 and 11 months of age.

217.735 - 243.153 Maria Godoy

Now, an analysis finds that in the months after that recommendation, early vaccinations among Texas children spiked by 20%. By contrast, less than 1% of kids in the state got an early first dose in prior years. In a related commentary, researchers say this rapid early uptake of the vaccine likely contributed to the slowing of measles transmission in Texas by May of this year.

243.854 - 245.937 Maria Godoy

Maria Godoy, NPR News.

246.895 - 267.819 Lakshmi Singh

Amazon's Zoox RoboTaxis will be giving free rides in parts of San Francisco as it attempts to compete with Waymo's progress in the arena of self-driving taxi service. The Amazon Zoox service is expected to be restricted to a handful of major neighborhoods in the city. It will also be limited to people who put their names on a waiting list for the RoboTaxis.

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