Geoff Bennett:
We start the day’s other headlines with a rare Republican rebuke of one of President Trump’s priorities.
Indiana’s Republican-led Senate voted this afternoon against a plan to redraw its state’s electoral map.
Man:
Nineteen ayes, 31 no’s. This bill has been defeated.
Geoff Bennett:
Twenty-one Republicans joined all 10 Democrats in voting down the measure. Outside the chamber, critics of the redistricting plan celebrated.
The vote comes after months of pressure from President Trump, who has been pushing Republican-led states to redraw their maps ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
A grand jury in Virginia has again refused to bring a new indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud. It’s the second time in about a week that the Justice Department has failed to resurrect its case against James.
Last month, a judge threw out an original indictment, finding that the prosecutor in the case, Lindsey Halligan, had been illegally appointed to her role. A similar case against another of President Trump’s perceived foes, former FBI Director James Comey, was also dismissed last month for similar reasons.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia has left an immigration detention center in Pennsylvania after a federal judge in Maryland ordered his release, saying his monthslong detention was troubling. The native of El Salvador and Maryland resident was mistakenly deported by the administration this past spring and then returned to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges, which he denies.
The White House says it will appeal his release. It comes as the administration’s immigration policies were under scrutiny by lawmakers today.
Kristi Noem, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary:
Joe Biden left us…
(Crosstalk)
Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY):
I’m not asking about Joe Biden. I’m asking you a specific question.
Geoff Bennett:
In a contentious House hearing, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies.
Kristi Noem:
We’re ending illegal immigration, returning sanity back to our immigration system. We will never yield. We will never waver. And we will never back down.
Geoff Bennett:
And there was also this moment when Secretary Noem was asked how many U.S. military veterans her agency has deported.
Kristi Noem:
Sir, we have not deported U.S. citizens or military veterans.
Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI):
We are joined on Zoom by a gentleman named Sae Joon Park. He is a United States Army combat veteran. Will you join me in thanking Mr. Park for his service to our country?
Kristi Noem:
Sir, I’m grateful for every single person that has served our country and follows our laws and knows that our law is important and every one of them needs to be enforced.
Rep. Seth Magaziner:
And can you please tell Mr. Park why you deported him?
Geoff Bennett:
Meantime, the Senate Armed Services Committee questioned top military officials over the legality of troop deployments to U.S. cities. The White House says the deployments are necessary in fighting lawlessness, while critics describe them as an abuse of military power that violates states’ rights.
The oil tanker that was taken yesterday by U.S. forces off the coast of Venezuela will make its way to an American port, where authorities will seize the oil on board. That’s according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. This afternoon, she described the tanker as a sanctioned shadow vessel carrying what she called black market oil, which she said justified.
Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary:
The United States currently has a full investigative team on the ground, on the vessel and individuals on board the vessel are being interviewed, and any relevant evidence is being seized. The vessel will go to a U.S. port, and the United States does intend to seize the oil.
However, there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil and that legal process will be followed.
Geoff Bennett:
Also today, the U.S. imposed sanctions on three of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s nephews, among others, as the Trump administration continues to increase pressure on that country.
Meantime, the face of Venezuela’s resistance movement, Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado, waved to a cheering crowd in Oslo late last night, where she is being celebrated as this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner. It was her first public appearance in 11 months.
Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela Opposition Leader:
Venezuela will be free.
Geoff Bennett:
At a press conference today, Machado vowed to keep fighting for her homeland’s democracy and credited what she called the decisive actions of President Trump for weakening the Maduro regime.
Here at home, state health officials are reporting rising cases of the measles in two separate outbreaks in the Eastern and Western U.S. New cases are cropping up along the Utah-Arizona border, as well as in South Carolina, where more than 250 people have been quarantined.
Arizona has logged 172 measles cases since August and Utah has seen 82. In South Carolina, 111 people have been sickened in just the last two months. Nationwide, the number of measles cases is nearing 2,000, the highest number since 1992.
Days of relentless rain have sent rivers rising toward record levels in the Pacific Northwest. The National Weather Service says the atmospheric river began to subside today, but not before dumping more than a foot of rain in some areas. Washington is under a statewide emergency, with tens of thousands under evacuation orders, especially around the Seattle area.
Those who’ve stayed are doing what they can to keep the floodwaters out.
Man:
We’re just trying to build a wall, like a little island perimeter around the property here, to keep the water out from the house.
Geoff Bennett:
Meantime, in parts of Western Washington, rivers are continuing to swell, prompting numerous water rescues and road closures.
Disney announced a billion-dollar investment in OpenAI today to bring iconic characters like Mickey Mouse and Luke Skywalker to the Sora video tool. The three-year licensing deal will allow fans to create and share videos with more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said the agreement will “extend the reach of our storytelling through generative A.I. while respecting and protecting creators and their works.”
The deal comes as Hollywood tries to navigate the opportunities and challenges that generative A.I. presents.
Artificial intelligence is also gracing the cover of “TIME” magazine, which named the architects of A.I. as its person of the year for 2025. That includes Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI boss Sam Altman, among others. The publication said this was the year when the potential for A.I. — quote — “roared into view” and that there will be no turning back or opting out.
An A.I. boom has, of course, been driving a long-running rally on Wall Street. And, today, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped more than 600 points to a new all-time high. The Nasdaq lost ground, giving back about 60 points. The S&P 500 managed a modest gain.
