Morning Brief: Trump weighs new Iran strikes; Alaska and Mississippi Senate counts still razor-thin; Schumer vows to block Court picks
Hegseth faces a bipartisan impeachment push; Russia and Ukraine trade overnight drone strikes; oil jumps after Hormuz tanker fires.
6 AM CT video brief · 1:29Presenter voice and image generated with AI tools.Read transcript
I'm Nora Vale with your 6 AM World Brief for Friday, November 6. Alaska: Peltola +637. Mississippi: Colom ~+1,800; absentee ballots remain. Trump meets national security team on possible new Iran strikes. Hegseth faces impeachment threat; seeks $350B defense funding. Russia: 227 drones overnight; Rivne death; Afipsky refinery fire. Schumer vows to block Court picks. Monday: Nielsen v. Watanabe. In national weather, from the National Weather Service: A Slight Risk of excessive rainfall along the Mid-Atlantic coast to southeastern New England. Heavy rainfall threat gradually increases across South Texas during the weekend. Our opinion. Count every lawful vote. Clear Iran endgame. No Court packing. Full stories and sources at WorldBriefNow.com. I'm Nora Vale.
Fox News, citing Reuters, reported Brent crude settled up $3.67, or 3.88%, at $98.29 a barrel Thursday and U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose $2.40, or 2.72%, to $90.52 after fresh tanker attacks renewed supply fears; Iran's IRGC said two tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, with at least one blaze after a tanker struck an Iranian undersea mine. Tehran submitted a formal nuclear proposal to the United States through Qatari intermediaries Thursday, making further talks contingent on Washington addressing seven demands including compensation, an end to sanctions and the naval blockade, and a reduced U.S. military presence, Fox reported, citing officials and Reuters. Trump told reporters Iran needs U.S. approval for decisions on its nuclear future and described the American military presence as 'virtually an occupation.'
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 227 drones from Thursday evening into Friday morning and that air defenses shot down or neutralized 196, Euronews reported; Rivne Oblast head Oleksandr Koval said one man was killed in a morning attack, and three people were injured overnight in Kyiv Oblast's Boryspil district. Reuters reported that Russian attacks on energy infrastructure caused new power outages in seven regions — Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv — with Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov saying the capital region remains most difficult. Euronews said a fire broke out at Russia's Afipsky oil refinery overnight after a drone attack, a site Ukraine's General Staff says can process about 6.25 million tonnes of oil a year.
Fox News, citing the Associated Press and updating early Friday, showed Democrat Mary Peltola leading Sen. Dan Sullivan 102,962 to 102,325, a 637-vote margin, with about 74% of Alaska ballots counted. In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom led Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith 466,775 to 464,962, an 1,813-vote margin, with about 96% reporting, Fox said. The Daily Wire reported Thursday that Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson estimated about 3,600 outstanding absentee-by-mail ballots still to arrive by Nov. 10, a number larger than Colom's lead, with certification due by Nov. 13; Alaska's next major count drops are set for Nov. 10 and Nov. 13, with a final official count Nov. 18 that may trigger ranked-choice tabulation if no candidate tops 50%.
President Donald Trump said on Truth Social Thursday that vote totals for namesake challenger Dan J. Sullivan and another candidate he called a 'slug' 'should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan,' the Anchorage Daily News reported. Peltola led Sullivan by 637 first-choice votes in the latest preliminary results, ADN said, with tens of thousands of early, absentee and rural ballots still to be counted. ADN also reported that the U.S. 9th Circuit has set a briefing schedule into January on the Justice Department's appeal of a dismissed federal suit seeking to stop certification if Sullivan narrowly loses, after Alaska's planned Nov. 25 certification.
President Donald Trump met with his national security team Wednesday and Thursday to discuss whether to resume military operations against Iran, senior officials confirmed to Fox News. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Thursday that Washington would 'make a decision' on going further with strikes to ensure Iran's nuclear program is dead, adding, 'I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to. You'll know soon enough.' Officials told Fox that Nov. 9 marks a new moon in the Middle East, a condition favorable for operations, while U.S. Central Command is finalizing preparations but has not received a new directive, and Iraq's prime minister told Trump that Iraqi territory must not be used to launch strikes on neighbors.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing a bipartisan impeachment threat when Congress returns, Fox News reported Thursday, with several House Republicans telling Fox they believe a resolution could pass as early as next week. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) told Fox he intends to force a vote by filing a privileged resolution if Hegseth does not resign first; once filed, lawmakers have two legislative days to hold a vote. Hegseth, in a video posted Thursday, urged Congress to approve at least $350 billion in defense funding and called the impeachment effort political theater, Fox said, while White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis criticized 'sham investigations.'
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, likely to return as majority leader, told the Associated Press that Democrats will prevent President Trump from installing a 'right-winger' on the Supreme Court and will not allow 'crappy nominees' elsewhere in the federal judiciary or Cabinet; Democrats will hold at least 54 Senate seats. CBS News reported Friday that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in his speaker bid letter, wrote that Democrats must 'clean up the mess at the Supreme Court,' and that proposals under discussion include ethics rules, term limits and adding seats, though most Senate bills still need 60 votes. Next on the calendar: oral argument Monday, Nov. 9, in Nielsen v. Watanabe on Bivens suits against federal officials, with a decision expected next year, SCOTUSblog has reported.
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