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New Epstein files mention Trump. And, SCOTUS rules on National Guard in Chicago

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New Epstein files mention Trump. And, SCOTUS rules on National Guard in Chicago

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Today’s top stories

The Justice Department yesterday released about 30,000 pages of new documents, including flight logs, memos and letters, related to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The files contain hundreds of references to President Trump.

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Dec. 15.

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  • 🎧 It’s well established that Epstein was well-connected and knew many influential figures, including Trump and former president Bill Clinton, NPR’s Sarah McCammon tells Up First. She emphasizes that Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but notes that the documents continue to highlight the relationship between Trump and Epstein, raising questions about how much Trump knew about Epstein’s activities. She adds that it’s unclear which documents are credible and which aren’t. On social media, the DOJ has claimed that one of the files — a letter from Epstein to convicted sex offender Larry Nassar — is fake.

The Supreme Court has ruled that National Guard troops must stay out of Chicago — for now. The decision is one of several “emergency docket” cases in which the conservative majority court has ruled against Trump since he began his second term as president. The justices ruled 6-3, stating that the president failed to explain why the situation in Chicago warranted an exception to a law called the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the military’s ability to execute laws on U.S. soil.

  • 🎧 Because the ruling came through an emergency decision, it does not set precedent, NPR’s Kat Lonsdorf explains. The decision applies only to this specific case in Illinois, not to troop deployments elsewhere. But deployments in other cities are currently tied up in litigation in lower courts, and Lonsdorf says lower court judges tend to look to these emergency decisions for guidance.

The U.S. economy grew faster than economists expected from July through September, according to a delayed report from the Commerce Department on the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). The agency usually releases this report in October, but it pushed it to this month due to the government shutdown.

  • 🎧 Two factors helped drive the growth, NPR’s Alina Selyukh reports. The first was people and companies spending money on artificial intelligence and other technologies. The other is what Selyukh called the “perpetual motion machine” that is the American consumer. Americans are continuing to spend, despite recent polling showing growing uncertainty about their financial prospects. A new Conference Board report on consumer confidence found that sentiment declined for the fifth consecutive month, as Americans worry about inflation, the political landscape, and the labor market.

Today’s listen

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” first hit No. 1 in 2019 and has topped the chart every holiday season since.

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” first hit No. 1 in 2019 and has topped the chart every holiday season since.

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Christmas stirs a mix of joy, anticipation and … yearning. That tender longing runs through holiday classics like Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and Judy Garland’s version of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” Slate music critic Carl Wilson speaks with Morning Edition about why the holiday evokes this sense of yearning, and why these songs still resonate. Listen and grab some inspiration for your Christmas playlist.

Picture show

Mason "Bric" LaDue, a hip-hop music industry professional turned cattle rancher, takes the reins off of his horse, Valero, on Feb. 5, 2025, at his family's ranch in Marquez, Texas.

Mason “Bric” LaDue, a hip-hop music industry professional turned cattle rancher, takes the reins off of his horse, Valero, on Feb. 5, 2025, at his family’s ranch in Marquez, Texas.

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As the year comes to a close, NPR photojournalists are sharing a collection of images that defined 2025. The photographs capture the biggest headlines and quiet, powerful human scenes across the U.S. They’re representative of the fact that journalism not only documents factual events but also conveys the experiences and emotions felt in the many places we call home. Here’s a look at some of the images that resonated with the photographers this year.

3 things to know before you go

A family at their Victorian-era Christmas dinner, circa 1840.

A family at their Victorian-era Christmas dinner, circa 1840.

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  1. Today, the word “yule” conjures up images of cozy Christmas cheer. But Yuletide traditions got their start in wild parties and animal sacrifice. On this week’s Word of the Week, dive into the pagan origins of Yule festivals.
  2. The Middle Collegiate Church, a centuries-old space in New York City, will hold its first Christmas Eve service tonight after a six-alarm fire destroyed the building in 2020. The church officially reopened on Easter this year.
  3. At the Ground Zero Hurricane Katrina museum in Waveland, Miss., an exhibit showcasing letters written to Santa in the wake of the storm tells stories of resilience and recovery. (via New Orleans Public Radio)

This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi. Brittney Melton contributed.

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Map: 4.6-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Northern California

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Map: 4.6-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Northern California

Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 4 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “light,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown.  All times on the map are Pacific time. The New York Times

A light, 4.6-magnitude earthquake struck in Northern California on Thursday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The temblor happened at 1:41 a.m. Pacific time about 1 mile southeast of Boulder Creek, Calif., data from the agency shows.

U.S.G.S. data earlier reported that the magnitude was 5.1.

As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.

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Source: United States Geological Survey | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Pacific time. Shake data is as of Thursday, April 2 at 5:41 a.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Thursday, April 2 at 6:11 a.m. Eastern.

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Appeals court rejects HUD homelessness overhaul saying it would be “disastrous”

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Appeals court rejects HUD homelessness overhaul saying it would be “disastrous”

Tents are lined up on Skid Row Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Los Angeles.

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A federal appeals court late Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s push to impose new conditions on homelessness funding, saying implementing them “would be immediately destabilizing and disastrous.” The ruling upheld a lower court’s preliminary injunction, the latest rebuke to a major shift that advocates warn would push 170,000 people in federally subsidized housing back into homelessness. That would include many who are disabled, elderly and veterans.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development wants to slash money for permanent housing and shift it to transitional programs that require sobriety, mental health treatment and other conditions. HUD Secretary Scott Turner has said this would nudge people toward self-sufficiency. The agency did not say whether it would appeal the ruling, but said in a statement that it “remains committed to reforming the misguided ‘Housing First’ approach that for years funded the self-serving homeless industrial complex, rewarded activists, and ignored solutions.”

The change in how to spend nearly $4 billion dollars a year would upend two decades of bipartisan federal policy, an approach the appeals court ruling said “has proven effective.”

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The mere threat of losing funding as this case plays out has already had “serious real-world harm,” the ruling noted. Citing evidence from plaintiffs, it said multiple local homeless services providers had stopped accepting new clients, and “stopped referring new clients to certain permanent housing programs … because of the planned [funding] cuts.”

A coalition of non-profit homelessness advocacy groups, local governments and mostly Democratic-led states brought the legal challenge, arguing the last-minute overhaul announced last fall was unlawful.

“We are relieved,” the coalition said in a statement, and “remain dedicated to protecting proven solutions to homelessness.”

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Judge delays Luigi Mangione’s federal trial by about a month but won’t push it to next year | CNN

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Judge delays Luigi Mangione’s federal trial by about a month but won’t push it to next year | CNN

A federal judge on Wednesday declined to delay the federal trial of Luigi Mangione until next year, denying a request by his attorneys who had expressed concern they couldn’t prepare for trial while simultaneously defending the 27-year-old in state court.

US District Judge Margaret Garnett instead slightly modified the dates of the federal trial in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, pushing the start of jury selection to October 5 – four weeks after it had been previously scheduled. Opening statements in the case are now scheduled for October 26 or November 2, Garnett said.

“I am skeptical of moving the trial wholesale into 2027 when the state trial has not been adjourned, and I think it’s a little bit of the tail wagging the dog,” she said. “I don’t have any control over the state’s schedule.”

The judge’s decision means Mangione is expected to stand trial in federal court about four months after the scheduled start of his trial on separate charges in New York state court – although she indicated the new dates of the federal trial could be revised.

The December 2024 fatal shooting happened on a Midtown Manhattan sidewalk outside a hotel where Thompson, 50, was set to attend an annual investors conference. Mangione’s arrest five days later at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, ended a multi-state manhunt.

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Mangione pleaded not guilty to two counts of stalking in the federal case, and second-degree murder and eight other counts in the state case. If convicted of the most serious charges, he could face up to life in prison.

Mangione’s attorneys had asked Garnett to delay the federal case to January 2027, expressing concern it would overlap with the prosecution in state court, complicating their ability to adequately defend their client.

“Realistically, defense counsel cannot be defending Mr. Mangione in state court on second-degree murder charges that carry a maximum sentence of twenty-five years to life while, at the same time, also reviewing 800 questionnaires for a federal case that carries a maximum life sentence,” defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo wrote in a March letter to Garnett.

Prosecutor Dominic Gentile, who argued against a delay, said Wednesday the public has a right to a speedy trial.

“Your Honor need only look out the window to see the people that follow this defendant and believe that what he did was right,” he said at the hearing, referencing those who support Mangione based on their own anger and resentment toward the American health care system.

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“This case is ready to move forward,” he added.

Gentile suggested the defense was seeking a delay in part because the law firm represents another high-profile client – Harvey Weinstein, who faces a retrial for an alleged sex crime in New York state court later this month.

The defense, however, said that played no role in their decision to ask for the delay.

“That is not a factor whatsoever,” Friedman Agnifilo told the judge.

Garnett brushed the matter aside, saying other cases are not her concern. Rather, the judge is most worried about Mangione’s state case impacting the federal jury selection process, she said. Potential jurors would be filling out questionnaires while “there’s a massive press pool and a lot of attention on the state trial which is ongoing just two blocks from here,” Garnett said.

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It is unclear if the scheduling change in the federal case will impact Mangione’s state trial, which is set to begin with jury selection on June 8. New York Judge Gregory Carro previously indicated he would move the state trial to September if federal prosecutors appealed Garnett’s ruling removing the death penalty from Mangione’s federal case. In February, prosecutors indicated they do not plan to appeal the ruling.

Mangione’s defense attorneys – who have repeatedly said they will not be ready for the state trial to begin in June – referenced Carro’s possible delay in court Wednesday in an attempt to sway the federal judge.

Friedman Agnifilo said they are asking the state judge for additional time to conduct investigations in support of their defense.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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