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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. The top federal prosecutor in Delaware is resigning as questions about how the Trump administration is installing U.S. attorneys continue. NPR's Kerry Johnson reports that courts across the country are considering challenges to those prosecutors on the grounds that they were not lawfully appointed.
Julianne Murray says she's leaving her job as U.S. attorney in Delaware because she doesn't want the office to become a, quote, political football. A federal appeals court recently invalidated the appointment of a Trump prosecutor in New Jersey, and the same reasoning could apply in Delaware, too. Murray's a former leader of the state's Republican Party.
She says she will continue to serve the Justice Department in a different role. Delaware's two Democratic senators would not support Murray for the job, so any nomination for her to serve permanently was going nowhere on Capitol Hill. Carrie Johnson, NPR News.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released two rounds of photos Friday that came from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. President Trump was asked later about the photos. He described them as no big deal.
Well, I haven't seen it, but I mean, everybody knew this man. He was all over Palm Beach. He has photos with everybody.
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Chapter 2: What recent changes are happening with U.S. attorneys in Delaware?
I mean, almost there are hundreds and hundreds of people that have photos with him.
The photos were a small part of more than 95,000 photos released to Congress by the estate. The Trump administration, meanwhile, faces a deadline of next week to release the Epstein case files being held by the Justice Department. Iran has arrested one of that country's most prominent activists, who's a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
She was among several activists and lawyers detained during a memorial service on Friday. NPR's Jackie Northam has more.
53-year-old Najez Mohammadi is widely known for her fight for women's rights and democracy in Iran. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 while she was incarcerated at Iran's notorious Evin prison. A year ago, the Iranian authorities granted Mohammadi temporary leave from her 13-year sentence for health reasons. She suffered multiple heart attacks in the past.
Mohammadi continued with her activism while out. Her supporters say Mohammadi was at a memorial for a human rights lawyer when police re-arrested her. It's unclear whether she will be returned to prison. Jackie Northam, NPR News.
The union representing TSA screeners at airports says a new effort by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to end their union contract is illegal. They say it violates a preliminary injunction issued by a judge the first time Noem tried to end the contract. The deal was scheduled to end in 2031. Noem says the screeners are involved in national security, so should not have union representation.
Stocks finished down across the board on Wall Street Friday. The Dow was down 245 points. The Nasdaq down 398 points. This is NPR News. Millions of Americans will see another round of extreme cold over the coming days. As NPR's Matt Bloom reports, a mass of Arctic air is forecast to move south from Canada.
A deep pool of frigid air currently building over northern Canada is set to surge into large portions of the central and eastern United States this weekend, bringing some of the coldest temperatures of the season so far.
Meteorologists say this motherlode of Arctic air could drive daytime highs into the single digits across parts of the Midwest and overnight lows well below zero with dangerously low wind chills. Forecasters warn that more than 200 million people could experience below-average temperatures, with a one-two punch of Arctic blasts tracking from the northern plains into the northeast.
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