The Latest: 08/20/2025 08:58pm ET

All the latest national and international news. Topics also include finance, weather and entertainment.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is your twenty four to seven use update the
latest use this hour in just four minutes. Texas Souse
Republicans have passed a plan to redraw congressional maps in
their favor. The state House reconvened today after protests from
Democrats that saw them leave this state to break quorum
and delay a vote. The bill now heads to the

(00:23):
GOP controlled state Senate, where it's sure to pass. The
new congressional map would create five more Republican leaning districts.
North Carolina's outer banks are in for severe weather as
Hurricane Aaron moves north. A state of emergency has been
declared as the storm's outer bands are expected to bring
storm surge flooding to the region soon. The Jeffrey Epstein

(00:45):
Grand jury records will remain sealed. Kristin Marx reports.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
A Manhattan judge Wednesday denied the Justice Department's bid to
get the records unsealed that led to Epstein being indicted
on sex trafficking charges. Public interest in the case reignited
after the DOJ announced that Epstein did not have a
client list and confirmed the convicted sex offender's death was
as suicide. Evidence so was seen and heard by Grand
Juries is not allowed to be released without approval from

(01:12):
a judge. Last month, President Trump ordered Attorney General Pambondi
to get court approval to release the grand jury material.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
The Federal Reserves Conference in Wyoming kicks off Thursday. That's
where Jerome Powell will likely deliver his last address as
FED chair. Powell's speech on Friday will be dissected for
any hints on possible interest rate cuts. A newly passed
Texas law that requires public schools to post a picture
of the Ten Commandments in classrooms is now on hold.

(01:41):
A federal judge agreed with the ACLU, which argued that
it's unconstitutional. The Ten Commandment the slaves are likely to
pressure the plaintiffs into religious observance and into suppressing expression
of their own background. That's ACLU attorney Tommy Busser Clancy.
Judge Fred Berry wrote in his ruling that exposing kids
to a state approved Christian version of the Biblical document

(02:04):
was coercive. I'm Brian Shook. The US Supreme Court is
preparing to hear a major free speech case out of
Colorado involving the state's ban on conversion therapy for minors.
The case was brought by Colorado Springs councilor Kayleie Chiles,
who says the loss censors heir conversations with young clients

(02:24):
about gender identity. Americans confidence in the government's ability to
ensure food safety is hitting a record low. Tammy Trehillo
has more.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
Jallup's latest survey of consumer habits found that fifty three
percent of Americans say to have at least a fair
amount of faith in federal regulators, but confidence was previously
around seventy percent from two thousand seven to twenty nineteen,
before falling below sixty percent for the first time last year.
Researchers say the drop is driven largely by distrust among Democrats,
with seventy four percent expressing confidence in federal food safety

(02:56):
oversight in twenty twenty four compared to forty eight percent
this year.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
The ghost plate crackdown at New York's bridges, tunnels, and
some roadways has resulted in a twenty percent drop in
toll evasion and is intensifying. Seah Lee Kessler has the story.

Speaker 4 (03:13):
Drivers with ghostplates, license plate covers, and unpaid tolls are
being put on notice that they'll be ticketed, their cars seized,
and in some cases arrested. MTA President Catherine Sheridan says
the program, which launched in March twenty twenty four, has
resulted in fifty thousand summonses, thirteen hundred arrests, and fifty
three hundred cars taken.

Speaker 3 (03:34):
Many of these cars were not just tolevators. They were unregistered, uninsured, stolen,
and used in more serious crimes, including those involving firearms
and narcotics.

Speaker 4 (03:44):
Sheridan his warning would be tolevators, pay your fair share
and don't let this be you. I'm Sarah Lee Kessler.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
The second season of Fallout officially has a release date.
The Prime Video series release the first trailer for the
upcoming season on Tuesday, along with the release date of
December seventeenth. I'm Brian Shook.