NPR News: 12-24-2025 10AM EST
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.
What are the tensions between Congress and the Justice Department regarding Jeffrey Epstein's documents?
Tensions are growing between Congress and the Justice Department over the release of documents tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The DOJ missed a deadline last Friday to release all of the files, instead posting them in batches over the past week. Now, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna says lawmakers are prepared to escalate the pressure.
We would give the Attorney General a 30-day grace period to continue to release documents to be in compliance. And after those 30 days, there would start to be a $5,000 fine on her personally for the documents that she is not releasing. We also plan to go to the Southern District of New York, asking the judge who ordered these releases to have a special master see what should be redacted or not.
How is the court case affecting housing programs for the homeless?
Lawmakers are now considering those options as they weigh how to hold the Justice Department accountable for the delayed release. New developments in a court battle between the government and housing providers. The case could force the Trump administration to fund permanent housing programs for the homeless for another year. Kelly Knoyer of member station WHQR reports.
What were the details of the plane crash involving Libyan military officials?
The case involves more than $3 billion in grant funding that helps house 170,000 disabled, elderly, and vulnerable Americans. The administration wants to take that grant funding and move it to transitional programs with expiration dates. But now, a federal judge has ordered the Department of Housing and Urban Development to maintain the status quo for renewing programs with its upcoming grant cycle. HUD still has the option to appeal to the Supreme Court. For NPR News, I'm Kelly Knoyer.
Senior Libyan military officers, including the chief of staff and a general who led ground forces, died in a plane crash south of Ankara. NPR's Aya Betraoui reports officials in Turkey say all seven people on board were killed.
What is the latest update on Johnson & Johnson's asbestos case?
The Tripoli-based Libyan government says the military's chief of staff, Lieutenant General Mohamed El Haddad, as well as two other top generals, an advisor and a military photographer, were killed in the plane crash. They'd been in Turkey for defense talks. Libya has two rival governments, with Turkey backing the government based in Tripoli. Turkey's interior minister says the private plane took off for Tripoli from Ankara just after 8 p.m. local time Tuesday. Turkish officials wrote on X the plane had requested an emergency landing after electrical faults and that contact was lost around 40 minutes after takeoff.
What legal actions are states taking against gender-affirming care restrictions?
The Turkish interior minister says the plane's black box and cockpit voice recorder were recovered Wednesday with an investigation ongoing alongside Libyan authorities.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week, remaining at historically healthy levels. The Labor Department says new jobless claims dropped by 10,000 to 214,000 for the week ending December 20. This is NPR News. A jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries to pay $1.5 billion to a Baltimore woman after finding the company liable for exposing her to asbestos through baby powder. Scott Massione from member station WYPR reports it's the largest win for a single person in a talc-related case.
The Baltimore Circuit Court jury found that the company knew that its baby powder products cause mesothelioma, an incurable form of cancer. Jessica Dean, an attorney on the case, says Johnson & Johnson consistently lied about the safety of the product.
The willingness to sacrifice future people's health to protect their pocketbook when they have unreal resources is gross.
The company says it will appeal the $1.5 billion verdict. About 67,000 people are suing Johnson & Johnson over cancer diagnoses. The company moved from talc to cornstarch-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020. For NPR News, I'm Scott Mascione in Baltimore.
A coalition of 19 states and Washington, D.C. is suing the Department of Health and Human Services over a declaration that could restrict access to gender-affirming care for minors.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:05
2
What are the tensions between Congress and the Justice Department regarding Jeffrey Epstein's documents?
0:05–0:53
3
How is the court case affecting housing programs for the homeless?
0:53–1:16
4
What were the details of the plane crash involving Libyan military officials?
1:16–1:58
5
What is the latest update on Johnson & Johnson's asbestos case?
1:58–2:31
6
What legal actions are states taking against gender-affirming care restrictions?
2:31–4:38