00:00HHS Secretary RFK Jr. in the hot seat on Capitol Hill.
00:05Vaccines, firings, COVID numbers, and a hearing that blew up.
00:09That's what this conversation is about, Mr. Chairman.
00:12Senator, they deserve the truth, and that's what we're going to give them for the first time.
00:17Plus, Venezuelan fighter jets buzz a U.S. warship.
00:20The show of force after a deadly drug boat strike.
00:24And alligator Alcatraz gets a legal lifeline.
00:27Why a court says it stays open.
00:30At least for now.
00:32The stories that matter, clear and credible.
00:36From across the country to around the world.
00:38These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News.
00:44Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
00:46It was a heated day on Capitol Hill.
00:48A Senate hearing that quickly turned into a political brawl over vaccines.
00:52Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
00:56faced calls to resign, with Democrats slamming his moves to fire top scientists and restrict access to COVID shots.
01:04Republicans joined in, too, questioning why he canceled Myrna research and replaced the CDC's vaccine advisory panel with skeptics.
01:11Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor himself, accused Kennedy of breaking promises he made during his confirmation.
01:18And Senator John Barrasso warned that decades of vaccine progress could be at risk.
01:24Kennedy, though, pushed back hard, insisting agencies have been dishonest and claiming he's the one restoring trust in science.
01:31The tense back and forth led to some of the day's most explosive exchanges.
01:37There's a big difference, Senator, between established science and the scientific establishment, which has been co-opted by the pharmacy.
01:45So you're telling me, you're telling the American people that the American Medical Association,
01:50representing hundreds of thousands of people, have been co-opted and that they should not trust their doctors?
01:56Everybody is corrupt, but you?
01:59Do you think the vaccine did anything to prevent additional deaths?
02:04Again, I would like to see the data and talk about the data.
02:09You have had this job for eight months and you don't know the data about whether the vaccine saved lives?
02:14No, and that's the problem.
02:15The people that you have put on that panel after firing the entire-
02:20You're evading the question.
02:23No, I'm asking the questions here, Mr. Kennedy.
02:25You're evading that question.
02:26I'm asking the questions, Mr. Kennedy.
02:28I ask your question.
02:29I'm asking the questions for Mr. Kennedy on behalf of parents and schools and teachers all over the United States of America
02:38who deserve so much better than your leadership.
02:42That's what this conversation is about, Mr. Chairman.
02:46Senator, they deserve the truth and that's what we're going to give them for the first time in the history of that agency.
02:53Yeah, it was fierce.
02:55Vice President J.D. Vance took to X afterwards, blasting senators who grilled Kennedy saying they were trying to lecture and gotcha Kennedy and are, quote, full of blank and everyone knows it.
03:07The Pentagon is calling it highly provocative.
03:11Defense officials say two armed Venezuelan fighter jets buzzed a U.S. Navy warship in international waters, a blatant show of force.
03:20The DOD says the jets flew directly over the USS John Durham, a guided missile destroyer taking part in counter-narco-terror operations.
03:28In a statement on X, the Pentagon called the maneuver, quote, an attempt to interfere with our mission.
03:34This comes as tensions with Caracas escalate.
03:37President Nicolas Maduro, who you see right there, has ordered drones and warships to patrol the coast, calling American ships a criminal and bloody threat.
03:45Earlier this week, the U.S. military sank what it says was a Venezuelan cartel drug boat, killing 11 suspected members of the Trendy Aragua gang, one the Trump administration has labeled a foreign terrorist organization.
03:58This morning, Vladimir Putin is issuing a new warning to the West.
04:03Any troops sent to Ukraine, he says, would be legitimate targets for Russian attacks.
04:07The remarks follow French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement that more than two dozen countries have pledged to provide security guarantees for Ukraine once the war ends, including a multinational force operating by land, air and sea.
04:22Putin brushed that off, saying NATO has no place in Ukraine if a peace deal is reached.
04:27But, he added, if troops arrived now, in the middle of the war, Russia would consider them, quote, legitimate targets for destruction.
04:35President Trump, for his part, has repeatedly said there will be no U.S. boots on the ground.
04:40As for peace talks, Putin claims he's willing to host Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in Moscow, but nowhere else.
04:48Zelensky again says he's ready to talk, but meeting in Moscow is a non-starter.
04:52A high-stakes fight is intensifying over the future of the Federal Reserve.
04:58The Justice Department has opened an investigation into Fed Governor Lisa Cook, examining allegations of mortgage fraud tied to properties she bought back in 2021.
05:08The probe was triggered by a referral from Federal Housing Chief Bill Pult, a Trump loyalist, who alleges Cook improperly claimed two primary residences to get better loan terms.
05:19This really has nothing to do with the Fed. It has much to do with public officials.
05:23If you're going to be in charge of the Federal Reserve, damn, you better sure know how to fill out a mortgage application.
05:29And, boy, it's awfully weird that she potentially saved a lot of money by making so-called clerical errors, which were not clerical errors.
05:36Cook, who's been challenging President Trump's move to oust her from the central bank, says the charges are political,
05:42designed to give the White House control over an institution meant to be independent.
05:46The Justice Department is pushing a judge to allow her immediate removal.
05:52Cook's lawyers argue she can only be fired for cause and that she never committed fraud.
05:57This morning, new life for the so-called Alligator Alcatraz.
06:01A federal appeals court has cleared the way for the migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades to stay open.
06:08In a two-to-one decision, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the site falls under state, not federal, jurisdiction.
06:14That means its legality cannot be challenged in federal court.
06:19Environmentalists had argued the Trump administration skipped required impact studies when it opened the facility,
06:25and a lower court had ordered that operation stop.
06:28But the appeals court said keeping the site open is in the public interest.
06:32Florida officials say the facility was nearly empty by the end of August.
06:36It is unclear if more migrants will be sent there before deportation.
06:40Finally this morning, some inspiration to start your Friday.
06:44Proof you're never too old to reach new heights.
06:46Just ask Kokichi Akuzawa.
06:49This guy's amazing.
06:50He's 102 years old, and he just summited Mount Fuji.
06:54Japan's highest peak soars more than 12,000 feet.
06:58Akuzawa admits he almost turned back, but kept going,
07:01climbing alongside his 70-year-old daughter, his granddaughter, and friends from a local hiking club.
07:06He spent three months training, waking up at 5 a.m. for long walks, and scaling one mountain per week.
07:13And this is not the first time he's in the record books.
07:15He was 96 when he first earned the title of oldest person to climb Fuji.
07:20Now he's crushed his own record.
07:23That is amazing.
07:24And you thought you had big plans for a long walk this weekend with your Fitbit on?
07:29That guy pretty much just told all of us that we belong on the bunny hills, right?
07:34Wow.
07:35All right, a busy Friday ahead.
07:37Here's what we're tracking.
07:38Starting at 11 o'clock, Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey holds a news conference in Boston
07:42calling for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign.
07:47And then at 3 o'clock, Democratic lawmakers in Georgia speak out against the National Guard
07:51being deployed to assist ICE.
07:54And at 4, all eyes on the White House.
07:56President Trump is expected to announce that he's renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War.
08:01He will make it official in an executive order signing at 2 o'clock.
08:06Wake up with your brain already caffeinated.
08:07Wouldn't that be nice?
08:09The Unbiased Updates newsletter delivered right to your inbox each morning.
08:12Go to san.com slash newsletters.
08:15Those are your unbiased updates for this Friday for all of us here at Straight Air News.
08:19I'm Craig DeGrelli.
08:20Have a fantastic Friday and a great weekend.
08:23And we'll see you next week.
08:26Bye.
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