Epstein files, gerrymandering and AI!

President Donald Trump signed a bill forcing the Justice Department to release its files related to Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days. Some of the documents, including ones related to active investigations or ongoing prosecutions, will still be confidential. In a joint statement, Epstein survivors urged the Justice Department to “not rely on loopholes. Release the truth.”

Trump signed the bill a week after the House Oversight Committee released over 20,000 pages of documents from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, including emails to or from Epstein. Some of the emails suggest or outright say that Trump knew about Epstein’s abuse toward underage girls.

In another email, Jeffrey Epstein’s brother, Mark Epstein, asked about “photos of Trump blowing Bubba.” “Bubba” is a nickname for former President Bill Clinton. Mark Epstein has denied that “Bubba” refers to Clinton but has offered no further clarification. (And no, there’s no evidence that it’s a horse.)

After publicly feuding with Republicans who pushed for releasing the Epstein files, and as the number of Republicans calling for this grew, Trump changed his position and supported the files’ release.

Conservative political commentator Megyn Kelly said on her Sirius XM podcast that she’d heard Epstein was into “the barely legal type. Like, he liked 15-year-old girls.” Although she called this “disgusting” and said she was “not trying to make an excuse for this,” she also said, “I think there is a difference. There’s a difference between a 15-year-old and a 5-year-old.”

Kelly’s comments have sparked widespread backlash. Activists and actresses posted photos of themselves at age 15 on social media to stress the fact that 15-year-olds are children. Some Sirius XM subscribers have cancelled their accounts over Kelly’s remarks.

Kelly’s views on protecting children are all over the place. Weeks before defending Epstein, who was convicted for sex trafficking underage girls, Kelly derided gender-affirming surgery for minors (which is incredibly rare) and spread misinformation about other forms of lifesaving gender-affirming care for trans kids.

A federal court blocked Texas from gerrymandering to boost Republicans’ chances in next year’s midterm elections. “Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map,” U.S. Judge Jeffrey Brown wrote in his ruling.

Texas appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, whose conservative majority has recently seemed open to gutting voting rights. But time is running short for the justices to weigh in: Texas candidates only have until December 8 to file to run for office, and to do that, they need to know what congressional map the state is using.

Meanwhile, in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) successfully pushed for the state’s own redistricting to favor Democrats and counteract Texas’ redistricting. Although a federal court struck down Texas’ redistricting, California’s remains intact.

Other red states have also taken up Trump’s call to redraw congressional maps that favor Republicans ahead of the midterms.

The Trump administration made a deal with drug manufacturers to lower the cost of weight loss drugs and offer them through Medicare.

People who qualify will pay a $50 monthly copay for these medications. Only about 10% of Medicare enrollees will be newly eligible for the drugs. Officials from the Trump administration and the drug manufacturers expect the new rates to take hold in mid-2026.

This could add $35 billion to federal spending in the next 9 years. Research also shows these drugs could prevent costly and tragic health complications.

This video is part of Dave’s partnership with Free the Facts, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that empowers young Americans to learn and lead.

The Trump administration is putting together an executive order to combat AI regulations. The order would tell the Justice Department to sue states that pass laws regulating AI.

This comes nearly five months after the Senate nearly unanimously voted against a provision that would’ve blocked states from regulating AI over the next decade.

People who advocate for more regulations on AI cite the technology’s negative impacts on mental health, the environment and more.

Why would Trump want to give AI companies free reign? Critics say the order will financially benefit Trump backers profiting off of AI. In other words, they say that by signing this order, Trump is putting money in the pockets of people who in turn give money back to him.