NPR News: 03-17-2026 10PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche, me tomorrow, with the GOP-led House Oversight Committee behind closed doors in the Jeffrey Epstein probe. And here's Claudio Grisallis has more. The voluntary briefing comes nearly a month ahead of Attorney General Bondi's testimony under a congressional subpoena. Bondi is said to formally appear before the House Oversight Committee on April 17th, a bipartisan group of members have demanded Bondi explain why the Justice Department has yet to release all the files under a new law past last year. In a letter to Bondi, committee chairman James Comer said the panel is investigating the possible mismanagement of the government's Epstein probe. Comer said they also want to talk to Bondi about questions still facing the report of Epstein's death by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. That and more could also come up in this closed-door briefing. Claudio Grisallis, in peer news, the Capitol.

1:01Iranian state media confirmed that Israel killed two top Iranian leaders in overnight airstrikes, dealing another blow to Iran's remaining leadership. One of the men, Ali Larajani, is thought to have been directing the current war effort since the assassination of Iran's supreme leader in the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. The other man assassinated by Israel today was the head of the Bashis paramilitary forces, Ghulim Reza, Soleimani. He headed the feared plain-close police. These are the forces that headed that violent crackdown on protests earlier this year that killed thousands of Iranians, and that's according to U.S.-based human rights groups. He has run that repressive militia for seven years. Israel says the airstrike that killed him was on a makeshift tent headquarters for the besiege and other commanders were also killed in that attack. In Pierce-Karikhan reporting, Iran hit back again today, sending missiles and drones into Israel and other Gulf states. Prosecutors in Arizona filed criminal charges against the popular bedding site, Kalshi.

2:06In Pierce-Babialan reports, it's the latest legal fight against the booming prediction market industry. Kalshi and Polly market, absolutely can bet on just about anything, are facing more than 20 lawsuits over their legal status as a futures contract, not gambling sites. And now Arizona's Attorney General is accusing Kalshi of operating an unlicensed gambling operation involved in criminal wagering on sports and elections. It's the latest sign of a growing riff between states and the Trump administration, which supports the prediction market industry. Donald Trump Jr., the president's son, is an advisor to both Kalshi and Polly market. Kalshi says the charges are seriously flawed and meritless. Kalshi says it's billions of dollars in weekly bets fall under exclusive federal jurisdiction. Well, straight higher by the closing bell, the Dow up 46, Nassdaq up 105. You're listening to NPR News. In Chicago voters went to the polls today in the Illinois primary election to choose nominees for an open U.S. senate seat and four Chicago area U.S. House seats.

3:12Former Illinois representative, Jesse Jackson Jr., son of the late civil rights leader, lost his bid to return to Congress, this after he resigned more than a decade ago amid a federal corruption investigation. He was defeated by Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, according to a race call by the Associated Press. Many Americans who use marijuana say they do so for mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. Impires Will Stone reports on a major review published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry that concludes there's little evidence that actually works. This is the largest effort to date to pull together all the data from high quality trials on cannabis and mental health. The researchers at the University of Sydney concluded there was no indication cannabis is effective for anxiety, depression, PTSD and other conditions. It found limited support for a few areas like insomnia, autism, and Tourette syndrome. Ziva Cooper is a cannabis researcher at UCLA who was not involved in the new paper.

4:13I would say that there are significant limitations with these types of studies. She says yes, there is a need for more well-controlled trials on cannabis. But the new review excluded other evidence that does show certain compounds in the plant can be beneficial for anxiety and other symptoms. Will Stone and PR News. US Features Contracts are trading higher at this hour. I'm Jeanine Herbst, NPR News in Washington. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a Prime Membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.