00:00A new kind of war on drugs. President Trump now says the U.S. is in armed conflict, targeting cartels like terrorists.
00:09Plus, a fireball at a West Coast refinery lights up the night. What's contained and what's still burning.
00:15And a nearly 90-year mystery may be cracked. New images from the South Pacific could pinpoint Amelia Earhart's final flight.
00:24The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world.
00:32These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News.
00:38Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli. We begin with a stunning shift in U.S. military posture.
00:43President Trump has declared the United States is now in armed conflict with drug cartels, according to a confidential notice sent to Congress.
00:51The memo states, cartel members, now designated as terrorists, can be targeted as unlawful combatants, similar to ISIS or al-Qaeda.
01:01It follows a series of U.S. military strikes on Venezuelan boats, supposedly carrying stashes of drugs and cartel operatives,
01:09as well as a growing buildup of American naval forces in the Caribbean.
01:13But the move is facing pushback.
01:14Members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, say Trump should seek war powers approval.
01:20And some legal scholars warn the strikes may violate U.S. law by using the military for law enforcement.
01:27In a new escalation, Venezuela's defense minister claims five U.S. F-35 fighter jets buzzed its Caribbean coast Thursday in what he calls a provocation.
01:38Day three of the government shutdown and the Senate is set to reconvene this afternoon in hopes of getting a deal done.
01:45Meanwhile, the White House is sounding the alarm.
01:48Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says the threat of mass layoffs and canceled federal programs is very real.
01:54Look, it's likely going to be in the thousands.
01:56It's a very good question.
01:57And that's something that the Office of Management and Budget and the entire team at the White House here, again, is unfortunately having to work on today.
02:04These discussions and these conversations, these meetings would not be happening if the Democrats had voted to keep the government open.
02:11President Trump said on Truth Social that he's meeting with Russ Vogt, known for his role in Project 2025, to decide which, quote, Democrat agencies should be cut.
02:21Levitt added that thousands of federal workers could be let go.
02:25As for a path out, senators remain split over a House pass plan to extend funding for seven weeks.
02:31Democrats are demanding guarantees on health care tax credits tied to Obamacare and curbs on the president's power to slash already approved funds.
02:40They say they're ready to make a deal, but only if it's the right one.
02:44Republicans have shut the government down because they don't want to provide health care to working class Americans.
02:54House Democrats continue to be here on duty.
02:59House Republicans are on vacation.
03:01We are ready.
03:02We are willing.
03:03We are able to sit down with anyone, anytime, anyplace, including the president and the vice president.
03:09A massive fire at an oil refinery lit up the Southern California sky.
03:13Wait till you see this.
03:15Sending flames soaring, smoke billowing, and neighbors indoors.
03:19Look, the fire broke out around 930 last night at Chevron's El Segundo Refinery near L.A.
03:24A fireball erupting right there into the night sky.
03:28Chevron called it an isolated incident.
03:31And this morning, firefighters do have it contained.
03:34The company says all employees and contractors are safe and accounted for.
03:38There were no evacuation orders.
03:40But Manhattan Beach officials did urge residents to shelter indoors as a precaution.
03:44The El Segundo facility is the largest refinery on the West Coast with more than 1,000 miles of pipeline and the capacity to process nearly 300,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
03:56Again, the fire is contained and investigators are working to determine what sparked it.
04:00A replica sword, a royal gift, and a career in public service suddenly cut short.
04:06Ahead of President Trump's recent state visit to the U.K., the administration wanted a symbolic gift for King Charles, specifically a sword once owned by Dwight D. Eisenhower, honoring his role as Supreme Allied Commander in World War II.
04:22The Eisenhower Presidential Library houses several of those swords.
04:27Here, you're about to see, Eisenhower is seen receiving Napoleon Bonaparte's sword in 1945.
04:33Wow, amazing.
04:34But when a State Department liaison emailed about borrowing one using a personal account under the name GiftGirl2025, the library said no.
04:43The artifacts, he explained, belong to the American people.
04:47That director, Todd Arrington, says he was forced to resign this week.
04:52After 30 years of government service, he tells the New York Times and CBS News that he was told he could, quote,
04:58no longer be trusted with confidential information.
05:02Arrington denies ever criticizing the Trump administration, but believes the sword standoff may have cost him his job.
05:08Instead of the real deal, Trump ultimately gifted King Charles a replica, a cadet saber from West Point.
05:15Well, this is fascinating.
05:17After 88 years of speculation, could the mystery of Amelia Earhart finally be solved?
05:23A team from Purdue University says there is very strong evidence they have located Earhart's long-lost plane,
05:30pointing to this satellite image of a visual anomaly in a lagoon on a remote South Pacific island.
05:36The object, dubbed the Tariya object, has appeared in photos as far back as 1938,
05:43just a year after Earhart and her navigator vanished.
05:46Researchers plan to head to Nikumaroro Island next month to scan, lift, and possibly identify what they believe could be the famed Lockheed Electra.
05:57Earhart had planned to return that very plane to Purdue, where she worked before her final flight.
06:02If this really is the lost Electra, her final mission may still land where she hoped, in a truly roundabout way.
06:15Finally this morning, we're turning to your questions and comments.
06:18This is Straight From You, where we fact-check claims, separate fact from fiction, and call out what's murky.
06:23So here's what stood out this week.
06:25First, the government shutdown. Everybody's talking about it, right? Or he's paying attention.
06:29A viewer put it bluntly.
06:31ICE works unpaid. The military works unpaid. Congress still gets paid.
06:36Well, you're not wrong, but there is some nuance. Here's the deal.
06:39When funding stops, federal agencies activate shutdown plans. Simple enough.
06:44Civilian workers may be furloughed.
06:46Accepted staff, like ICE, TSA, and Border Patrol, keep working without pay until the funding resumes.
06:52The same goes for active-duty military.
06:55A 2019 law now guarantees back pay for both groups.
06:59But members of Congress, they still get paid.
07:02That's because their salaries come from a permanent appropriation in the Constitution.
07:07Yep, shutdown or not.
07:09Next up, the story of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announcing strict changes in the military this week.
07:15A viewer said they once saw a soldier refuse a uniform order and flash a yellow stress card.
07:21So here's the reality.
07:23Stress cards that allow troops to skip orders?
07:26Not a thing.
07:28Snopes traces it to the 1990s, when the Navy briefly gave out cards with hotline information.
07:34However, they were not excuses, and the practice ended quickly.
07:38The Army had tools to measure stress, not stop training.
07:42The Defense Department has debunked this myth for years.
07:45Why are we hearing about it again?
07:47Because Hegseth and President Trump just pushed a tougher warrior ethos at Quantico.
07:52Fitness tests, grooming standards, and tougher training.
07:56In making the case that training got too soft, Hegseth invoked stress cards on Fox News with Laura Ingram, which keeps the legend alive.
08:04By the way, the producer of this segment is a U.S. Marine.
08:07And he has never seen a stress card.
08:09All right, number three.
08:11A lot of you are asking about the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey.
08:15A viewer put it this way.
08:16Here's the question.
08:17With a grand jury vote of just 14 out of 23, how can prosecutors possibly get a unanimous 12 out of 12 jurors to convict at trial?
08:27That's a sharp and good question.
08:29It gets to the heart of the legal hurdle.
08:31Indeed, the vote to indict was 14 out of 23.
08:34That clears the probable cause bar, but just barely.
08:37To get a conviction, prosecutors need all 12 trial jurors to agree beyond a reasonable doubt.
08:44A much higher standard, obviously.
08:46That narrow grand jury margin?
08:48Legal analysts say it's a red flag.
08:50A tough road ahead, for sure, for the government.
08:53Keep dropping comments on our YouTube, asking questions, and we'll tackle the biggest ones next week.
08:59Before we go, here's what we're tracking today.
09:01At 10, Sean Diddy Combs is set to be sentenced for two felony counts of prostitution.
09:05He faces up to 10 years for each.
09:08At 11, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune hold a press conference on day three of the shutdown.
09:15Later this morning, the man accused of breaking into Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's mansion will be formally arraigned.
09:21And at 1, Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt holds a briefing at the White House.
09:26Hey, we can't help find your phone, but we can help you find the facts.
09:29Sign up for our newsletter.
09:30Go to san.com slash newsletters.
09:33Those are your unbiased updates for this Friday.
09:36We'll see you back here next week.
09:37For all of us at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
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