00:01President Trump slams the door on Canada, ending all trade talks after Ottawa airs an ad using Ronald Reagan's own words on tariffs.
00:09Plus, a legendary name caught in a massive gambling ring. The Fed say it involved poker, payouts, and organized crime.
00:17And a high-stakes getaway straight out of a movie, The Jewel Thieves' Cherry Picker Escape, now caught on video.
00:23The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world.
00:31These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News.
00:37Good morning, I'm Craig DiGrelli. President Trump this morning cutting off trade talks with Canada all over a television ad.
00:45In a post on Truth Social, Trump blasted a Canadian ad campaign that uses old Ronald Reagan video and audio,
00:52warning that tariffs, quote, hurt every American worker and consumer.
00:56He called the spot fraudulent and accused Canada of trying to interfere with the U.S. Supreme Court,
01:02which we'll hear a case next month on whether his global tariffs are even legal.
01:06Here's a snippet.
01:07High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars.
01:14Then the worst happens.
01:17Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down,
01:20and millions of people lose their jobs.
01:23The Reagan Foundation confirms the audio was used without permission
01:27and claims the ad misrepresents the original radio address,
01:31an address they encourage people to listen to in full that the former president gave in April of 1987.
01:38It all comes a day after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his country will double non-U.S. exports
01:44over the next decade, saying Trump's tariffs left them no choice.
01:48Carney met with President Trump earlier this month to try to ease trade tensions.
01:53Canada remains America's second biggest trading partner behind Mexico,
01:57with hundreds of billions in goods flowing both ways each year.
02:01This morning, the fallout continues from a shocking NBA scandal.
02:06A coach, a player and the mob.
02:08Portland Trailblazers head coach and Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups
02:12and Miami Heat Guard Terry Rozier have been released from jail
02:16after being indicted in two separate federal gambling cases linked to organized crime.
02:21They're among 34 people charged, including suspected members of New York's Bonanno,
02:26Genovese, Gambino and Lucchese crime families.
02:30Billups is accused of using his celebrity status to draw high rollers into rigged poker games,
02:35games that prosecutors say used fixed shuffling machines,
02:39even x-ray tech to read cards.
02:42The operation stretched from the Hamptons to Las Vegas and pulled in at least $7 million.
02:47When players could not pay up, the mob allegedly turned violent.
02:51Rozier and former player Damon Jones are charged in a related case,
02:55accused of illegal betting on NBA games.
02:58Rozier's lawyer says he's been cleared before and plans to fight back.
03:03What I can tell you is there's a lot of people that are very close-lipped about what happened in 2023,
03:07but what I was told is there was an investigation, they interviewed him twice,
03:11they took his phone, downloaded everything, and at the end of the day,
03:14they said there's nothing to see here and cleared him.
03:16But, you know, we got a trophy hunt, so we're going to fight it.
03:19FBI Director Cash Patel says the charges include wire fraud, money laundering, extortion,
03:25and illegal gambling, calling it one of the largest sports betting rings in recent memory.
03:30President Trump heads to Asia tonight, his first trip there since returning to office.
03:35A high-stakes swing that could reshape global trade and test relations with China.
03:42White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt confirmed the president will meet with Xi Jinping
03:46next week in South Korea on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
03:51On Thursday morning local time, President Trump will participate in a bilateral meeting
03:56with President Xi of the People's Republic of China before departing to return home to Washington, D.C.
04:02The two leaders met in 2017 at Mar-a-Lago, then again two years later in Japan.
04:08This time, the stakes are even higher as the full-blown trade war erupts over rare-earth minerals and magnets,
04:15new 100 percent U.S. tariffs, and China's role in fentanyl exports.
04:20Trump says that will be his first question for Xi, calling the issue right at the front of the list.
04:25The president will also stop in Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea before returning to Washington next week.
04:32A diplomatic clash is brewing between Washington and Israel, right as Vice President J.D. Vance
04:38wrapped up a high-profile visit to the country.
04:41The Knesset, which is Israel's parliament, passing a symbolic vote to annex part of the West Bank.
04:48The move caught the White House off guard and clearly struck a nerve.
04:51The vote came while Vance was still in the country, and U.S. officials say it undercut the administration's push
04:57to lock in a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
05:01On the tarmac in Tel Aviv before departing, Vance did not hide his frustration.
05:06I mean, look, if it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt,
05:10and I personally take some insult to it.
05:13The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel.
05:15The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.
05:20That will continue to be our policy, and if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that,
05:25but we certainly weren't happy about it.
05:27President Trump asked about the issue back in Washington, snapping at a reporter's question.
05:33Don't worry about the West Bank.
05:34Israel's not going to do anything with the West Bank, okay?
05:38Don't worry about it.
05:39Is that your question?
05:40They're not going to do anything with the West Bank.
05:42Don't worry about it.
05:42The administration is now trying to keep its peace effort on track,
05:47with a new U.S.-Israel Coordination Center opening in southern Israel
05:51to serve as a hub for stabilization efforts in Gaza.
05:55And Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Israel,
05:58meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to continue negotiations.
06:03Wait till you see this.
06:04New video this morning and a bizarre twist in what's being called the heist of the century.
06:09A surveillance video making the rounds online shows two of the Louvre thieves
06:14making their getaway not on foot, but look, on a cherry picker.
06:19One wearing a motorcycle helmet, the other a yellow construction vest.
06:22The pair lower themselves from a broken window, then take off on a motorcycle into the Paris night.
06:28Investigators say the entire operation took just seven minutes,
06:32from the moment they cut through the glass to the moment they vanished.
06:35They got away with eight imperial jewelry pieces worth more than $100 million.
06:40The Louvre's director admits security weaknesses, including a camera,
06:45pointed the wrong way, failing to capture the very window where the thieves got in and out.
06:54Finally this morning, you spoke and we listened.
06:57Every week we pull your best comments and questions from our YouTube community.
07:01And this week, one topic towered above the rest.
07:05This is straight from you, where your curiosity drives the conversation.
07:09We break down fact from fiction, minus the spin.
07:12This week, the one topic that stood out above the rest, the demolition at the White House.
07:18This viewer asked,
07:19Many presidents have renovated the White House.
07:21Why is that a bad thing?
07:23A lot of you have strong feelings about this, so let's dig in.
07:27First, on the plans.
07:28No comprehensive plans have been made public.
07:31Construction is already underway without a formal sign-off from the National Capital Planning Commission.
07:37The commission's Trump-appointed chair says its authority applies to rebuilding, not demolition.
07:43That's according to PBS and the AP.
07:45Renderings released by the White House show a ballroom inspired by Mar-a-Lago.
07:50But President Trump insists it will pay total respect to the existing structure.
07:54Until plans are filed, no one really knows how connected or how intrusive the addition will be.
08:00Now, why the backlash?
08:02History shows renovations have rarely been controversy-free.
08:07The White House Historical Association notes Thomas Jefferson's East and West colonnades drew criticism for aristocratic optics.
08:16Andrew Jackson's North Portico triggered cost complaints during an economic downturn.
08:21The price tag, about $850,000.
08:24Teddy Roosevelt's 1902 overhaul that created the West Wing upset some lawmakers over the expense and the loss of conservatories.
08:33Franklin D. Roosevelt added the East Wing and an indoor pool amid partisan pushback.
08:38And Harry Truman's 1948-1952 renovation, rebuilding the interior walls behind the original walls, was fiercely debated at the time.
08:49But this current project stands out for its scale, speed, secrecy, and funding.
08:54The new ballroom is 90,000 square feet, big enough for nearly 1,000 guests.
08:59A former chief historian for the White House Historical Association told The Hill,
09:03there's never been anything like that before.
09:06ABC News adds that this is the first major construction on the grounds in nearly 80 years.
09:12On money, the White House says private donors will foot the bill, not taxpayers.
09:17Estimates are now up to $300 million.
09:20One report says $22 million of that comes from a YouTube settlement tied to a Trump lawsuit.
09:26Late yesterday, the White House released a full list of donors, including Amazon, Apple, Coinbase, Comcast, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and T-Mobile.
09:36All right, there's a lot there.
09:38Hope that helps.
09:40Keep those comments coming.
09:41We read them, we track them, and we answer them right here.
09:44We'll tackle the biggest ones again next week.
09:46By the way, check out more of our stories on the app where unbiased is not a tagline, it's certified.
09:52All sides calls us unbiased.
09:55NewsGuard gives us a perfect score for reliability.
09:58Facts first, without the spin.
10:00Those are your unbiased updates for this Friday.
10:02We'll see you back here on Monday.
10:04For all of us here at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
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