--:-- Corva Coleman: This message comes from Progressive Insurance and the Name Your Price tool. It helps you find car insurance options in your budget. Try it today at Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.
--:-- Corva Coleman: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released several emails from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The emails refer to President Trump, including before he won election to the White House. The emails raise new questions about Trump's relationship with Epstein. NPR has not independently confirmed the veracity of the correspondence.
--:-- Stephen Fowler: These new Epstein emails appear to reveal more connections to the disgraced financier. It's part of a 23,000-document release turned over from Epstein's estate to the House Oversight Committee. There's a 2015 email thread between Epstein and author Michael Wolff, where the pair discuss a potential question from an upcoming CNN interview with Trump about Trump and Epstein's personal ties. A section from Wolff reads in part, quote, "I think you should let him hang himself. If he says he hasn't been on the plane or to the House, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency" end quote.
--:-- Corva Coleman: NPR Stephen Fowler reporting. Trump has consistently denied any meaningful connection to Epstein.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: The House is scheduled to vote today on a spending measure that could end the government shutdown. NPR's Windsor-Johnston reports even if it does end, the nation's airports won't bounce back right away. The government may soon reopen, but the nation's air travel system will need more time.
--:-- Randy Babbitt: The TSA is equally burdened and there'll be a surge of traffic, of course, and that'll challenge their system to get people through security into the boarding. So I think just patience and take as much caution as you can to keep in the information loop as to the status of your flights.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: Babbitt warns that long-standing staffing shortages mean it could take days, maybe longer, for schedules to stabilize. According to FlightAware.com, more than 9,000 flights have been canceled since last Friday.
--:-- Corva Coleman: Israeli settlers have attacked the biggest dairy farm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In a rare move, Israeli police say they've arrested four Israelis for extremist violence, as NPR's Lauren Frayer reports.
--:-- Lauren Frayer: Footage from the scene shows burned trucks smashed windows and a warehouse blackened and looted The Israeli military says the perpetrators were masked Israeli civilians who after injuring Palestinian staff, turned on Israeli soldiers and attacked them, damaging their vehicles.
--:-- Corva Coleman: The United Nations says settler violence hit a record high last month during the Palestinian olive harvest, with an average of eight attacks per day. Most go unpunished by Israel. In this case, a senior Israeli military commander called on soldiers to, quote, "not stand idly by".
--:-- Lauren Frayer: The Palestinian Economy Ministry is urging other countries to place perpetrators on international terrorism lists.
--:-- Corva Coleman: This is NPR.
--:-- Corva Coleman: The International Chess Federation has filed a formal complaint against former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik. He's accused of harassment and of insulting the dignity of fellow players. Kramnik is accused of making unproven cheating allegations against Daniel Naroditsky. Naroditsky denied the cheating allegations. He died last month at the age of 29.
--:-- Joe Palka: NASA says it will try again today to launch a pair of spacecraft designed to explore the atmosphere and weather conditions on Mars. It's taken a while to get the Escapade probes started on their journey They were supposed to be carried into space a year ago by the New Glenn rocket made by Blue Origin But a variety of factors led NASA to scrub those plans For a while, it wasn't clear how or whether Escapade would get to Mars, but ultimately NASA decided to put the probes back on the New Glenn rocket.
--:-- Joe Palka: Once at Mars, Escapade will make measurements that will help scientists understand how charged particles from the sun affect the thin Martian atmosphere. The twin probes will let scientists create 3D images of how those particles are deflected around Mars by the planet's magnetic field.
--:-- Corva Coleman: For NPR News, I'm Joe Palka.
--:-- Corva Coleman: Federal weather experts and officials at NASA are warning of severe solar storms today. These could interrupt some radio and GPS communications. They are also triggering the brilliant northern lights in some areas. These are usually spotted in Alaska and Canada, but the colorful displays were seen last night as far south as Alabama and Florida.
--:-- Corva Coleman: I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.
--:-- Corva Coleman: This message comes from the Council for Interior Design Qualification. Safety matters. That's why NCIDQ-certified interior designers meet rigorous standards to protect health, safety, and welfare. Learn more at cidq.org slash NPR. Thank you.
