What to expect from the Epstein files once they become public. An investigation uncovers the deadly conditions pregnant women face in jail. And a long-delayed September jobs report will offer a snapshot of the state of the labor market.
Here's what to know today.
What's in the Epstein files — and when they might become public
The Justice Department’s records related to Jeffrey Epstein will soon become public after President Donald Trump signed the "Epstein Files Transparency Act." Speculation has been rife about what they contain, so when could the public actually see them?
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The bill requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all unclassified records related to Epstein within 30 days. The law permits Bondi to withhold or redact information that could jeopardize a federal investigation.
Documents scheduled to become public are from the FBI and the Justice Department's investigative files into Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison term for conspiring to sex traffic minors.
The bill also calls for information on people named or referenced in connection with Epstein's criminal activities, settlements, and investigations, as well as entities "with known or alleged ties to Epstein's trafficking or financial networks."
There's also an exception for information to be kept secret "in the interest of national defense or foreign policy."
The Epstein files and the president's handling of the controversy have sparked rare disunity among Republicans in Congress and Trump's supporters. The legislation was co-led by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and garnered vocal support from Democrats and several Republican lawmakers including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga, who had a public falling-out with Trump.
The fallout from the files has already begun, with former treasury secretary and ex-president of Harvard, Larry Summers, announcing that he would step aside from his teaching duties at Harvard University while the school investigates his ties to the convicted sex offender.
More politics news:
- The DOJ admitted that not every member of the grand jury in former FBI Director James Comey's case saw the final version of the indictment.
- A former U.N. investigator said she was "shocked and angry" at Trump's dismissal of intelligence that said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
- Trump said he will meet with Zohran Mamdani on Friday, days after the New York mayor-elect reached out to the White House to arrange a sit-down.
- Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., was indicted on charges she stole and laundered $5 million in federal relief funds and used the money for her congressional campaign, the DOJ said.
Jailed and pregnant
A yearlong investigation from Bloomberg Law and NBC News found that dozens of pregnant women who are jailed, often for petty crimes, are miscarrying or giving birth in excruciating pain into cell toilets or onto filthy jail floors. They said their cries for help went ignored. Newborns are suffering from infections and long-lasting health issues. Some babies died.
Reporters combed thousands of pages of lawsuits, jail and medical records, deposition recordings and body camera and surveillance videos, and interviewed more than a dozen formerly incarcerated women and their attorneys. Among the tragedies:
- In Kentucky, a woman chewed through her umbilical cord after she gave birth alone on a dank county jail floor.
- In Georgia, a woman said she begged for 13 hours to be taken to the hospital before delivering her son in her cell; he died four days later.
- In Mississippi, a woman died of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy after complaining for days about abdominal pain.
Women's health advocates and some law enforcement officials have offered a solution: Fewer pregnant women should be jailed, particularly for nonviolent offenses. But reforms at the state level remain rare.
Read the full story and watch the video from the NBC News Digital Docs team.
What the September jobs report says about the U.S. labor market
A long-delayed September jobs report from the federal government will be released this morning and will offer a snapshot of the state of the labor market at a crucial time when many U.S. households are worried about higher costs and large-scale corporate layoffs are frequently making headlines.
Analysts expect the report to show a gain of 50,000 jobs in September, as cost-of-living issues and reduced consumer spending stalled companies’ hiring plans. While this would represent an improvement from the 22,000 jobs added in August, it would remain well below the 2024 average monthly total of approximately 168,000.
Today's report was originally slated to be released Oct. 3 but was shelved due to the government shutdown. A series of economic reports delayed over the past six weeks has made it difficult to accurately assess the current state of the jobs market. But data from private and alternative sources paint a worrisome portrait amid signs of softening consumption among many households and still-stubborn price increases.
Marjorie Taylor Greene voters speak about her Trump feud
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's 14th Congressional District likes Trump, but it likes her, too.
Not many Republican politicians have dared criticize Trump — and some who have tried have seen negative effects on their careers. Greene is now facing the president’s wrath, but in a sign of broader fissures within the MAGA movement, she just may survive the blowback, interviews with about 20 of her constituents suggest.
Trump approves Russia-Ukraine peace plan, senior official says
Trump approved a 28-point plan for peace between Russia and Ukraine that top administration officials have quietly developed in consultation with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Ukrainian officials, a senior administration official said. But some sources told NBC News that the plan does not include input from Ukraine.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were involved in formulating the plan, the official said.
The official would not outline details of a plan they believe is still up for some degree of negotiation with the key parties involved.
Read All About It
- Computer chip giant Nvidia reported earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street estimates, a signal to investors that the AI boom most likely has more room to run.
- An insurance company repeatedly denied a Wisconsin woman coverage for a medication her doctor prescribed to treat her multiple sclerosis, demanding she try a cheaper drug first.
- A former Olympic snowboarder, who officials said runs one of the most violent drug-trafficking organizations in the world, faces new charges related to the murder of a federal witness in the case against him.
- Jets cornerback Kris Boyd said he’s feeling "grateful" as he recovers in the hospital after he was shot in New York City.
- A measles outbreak in Arizona and Utah shows no sign of slowing, putting the U.S. dangerously close to losing its elimination status for the vaccine-preventable disease.
- Pfizer's mRNA flu vaccine outperformed the standard flu shot in a Phase 3 clinical trial, according to results published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Staff Pick: Guess who's coming to dinner? A swarm of Hornets
What do you serve to feed the appetite of a team of NBA players? The parents of Charlotte Hornets rookie guard Kon Knueppel asked themselves the same thing last week.
His family had asked Knueppel if he could have dinner with them during Charlotte's road trip to Milwaukee, where Kon grew up the oldest of five boys. What his mother and father didn't expect was that a dozen of his teammates would be joining them — and quickly, they whipped up 25 pounds of chicken fajitas.
I've covered the NBA for years and have been in five-star restaurants where players and coaches eat in private rooms. Eating a home-cooked meal, though — complete with a tour of a teammate's childhood bedroom and basement — is out of the ordinary. Could it start a trend? — Andrew Greif, sports reporter
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
The NBC Select team pulled together the best Black Friday discounts, including picks from REI's winter sale and Amazon's early holiday offers. Plus, what experts say to buy and what to skip.
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