Wednesday, July 16th, 2025 - Inflation up; Epstein files update; ICE Ends Bond Hearings, GOP state AG vs AI chatbots; Northeast floods

Today’s Headlines:  June’s inflation rose by 0.3%, putting the annual rate at 2.7%—slightly up, but still within forecasts. Meanwhile, House Republicans voted down Democratic efforts to release Epstein case documents, despite GOP leaders publicly claiming to support transparency. Trump praised AG Pam Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files while denying any link to the case, but new metadata shows nearly 3 minutes are missing from recently released prison footage. A lawyer for Epstein’s victims claimed there’s far more unreleased evidence, including thousands of hours of video. ICE has issued a new memo eliminating bond hearings for undocumented immigrants already living in the U.S., affecting millions. A federal grand jury indicted Vance Boelter for the politically motivated killing of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman. Two people died after record-setting flash floods hit NYC and New Jersey, where over two inches of rain fell in one hour. The DOJ appealed a ruling halting race-based immigration arrests in California, and Missouri’s Republican AG is threatening OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Microsoft with legal action after a blog claimed an AI ranked Trump worst on antisemitism—despite Microsoft’s bot refusing to rank the presidents at all.

Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode:

• CNBC: Inflation picks up again in June, rising at 2.7% annual rate 

• WaPo: Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans break with Trump on Epstein 

• NYT: House Democrats Push for Hearing on Jeffrey Epstein Case Amid GOP Rift

• PBS: WATCH: Asked if his name appears in Epstein files, Trump claims Comey, Obama and Biden made them up

• Wired: The FBI's Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Had Nearly 3 Minutes Cut Out

• WPBF: Attorney: Epstein’s black book and secret tapes hold powerful names

• WaPo: ICE declares millions of undocumented immigrants ineligible for bond hearings

• Axios: Vance Boelter indicted on six federal charges for Melissa Hortman's killing

• NYT: Two Dead After Heavy Rains Swamp Roads and Rails in New York Region

• The Verge: A Republican state attorney general is formally investigating why AI chatbots don’t like Donald Trump

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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