00:00President Trump in Asia dropping a big prediction on Air Force One, a trade deal with China just days away.
00:07Plus, American warships on the move. Trump's top allies talk land strikes. Is Maduro next?
00:14And Melissa is a monster. The Category 5 hurricane hammering the Caribbean. Jamaica, Haiti and the DR bracing for the worst.
00:22The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world. These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News.
00:36Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli. We begin with President Trump's high-stakes trip through Asia.
00:41He's in Japan today for the second leg of his tour and closer than ever to a new trade deal with China.
00:47On Sunday, Trump attended a regional summit in Malaysia, striking preliminary trade agreements with Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
00:56And witnessing the signing of a new ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia.
01:00On behalf of the United States, I'm proud to help settle this conflict and forge a future for the region where proud independent nations can prosper and thrive, safety, security and peace.
01:12Later today, Trump will meet Japan's new prime minister, the first woman ever to hold the office.
01:18He will also visit the emperor, speak to American troops and sit down with business leaders in Tokyo.
01:23But the real focus is China and a potential trade breakthrough.
01:28Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says a substantial framework deal is imminent ahead of Trump's Thursday meeting with President Xi Jinping.
01:35President Trump gave me a great deal of negotiating leverage with the threat of the 100 percent tariffs on November 1st.
01:45And I believe we've reached a very substantial framework that will avoid that and allow us to discuss many other things with the Chinese.
01:55I think we will be able to discuss them helping us get this terrible fentanyl crisis under control.
02:02I think we are going to be able to discuss substantial soybean and ag purchases for our American farmers.
02:10I think we are going to be able to discuss more balanced trade.
02:14Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One he expects to come away from that meeting with a deal.
02:20And he's also expected to finalize a separate agreement on TikTok by Thursday.
02:25U.S. military pressure on Venezuela is escalating and fast.
02:30A guided missile destroyer at the USS Gravely docked in Trinidad and Tobago Sunday,
02:35part of what the Trump administration calls a counter-drug operation, but one that's drawing outrage across the region.
02:41Venezuela is calling the move a hostile provocation after the U.S. also moved the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford closer to its coast.
02:50Asked on CBS Face the Nation on Sunday whether President Trump was preparing for land strikes, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said it's a real possibility.
02:59I think President Trump's made a decision that Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, is an indicted drug trafficker, that it's time for him to go,
03:08that Venezuela and Colombia have been safe havens for narco-terrorists for too long.
03:15And President Trump told me yesterday that he plans to brief members of Congress when he gets back from Asia about future potential military operations against Venezuela and Colombia.
03:30The U.S. insists it's targeting drug traffickers, not governments, but Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is warning the buildup could trigger what he calls a new eternal war in the Caribbean.
03:42Argentina's President Javier Malay is claiming a major victory this morning, winning key districts in midterm elections and securing what he calls a mandate to keep remaking his country's economy.
03:53Malay says his party and allies picked up 14 seats in the Senate and 64 in the lower house, enough to uphold presidential vetoes and block any impeachment attempts.
04:04The victory gives him room to press ahead with his plan to slash state spending and deregulate the economy, agenda items that have deeply divided Argentinians but impressed investors.
04:15With the win, the Trump administration is expected to follow through on a $40 billion financial lifeline, a deal that was contingent on Malay staying in power.
04:26Jamaica is now in the crosshairs of a monster storm, the strongest hurricane to threaten the island in decades.
04:33Hurricane Melissa exploded into a Category 5 storm this morning.
04:37You see the eye right there, with winds now topping 160 miles an hour.
04:41The National Hurricane Center calls it life-threatening and catastrophic as it slowly bears down on Jamaica.
04:48High surf is already pounding Kingston, waves crashing over seawalls, flooding streets, and people rushing to stock up on food, board up windows, and stack sandbags.
04:59NOAA satellite images show Melissa's well-defined eye churning about 130 miles south of Kingston, crawling at just 3 miles an hour.
05:08That's important because that slow movement means torrents of rain are pummeling Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, with flash flooding and landslides already reported.
05:19Melissa is expected to make landfall on Jamaica early Tuesday, then move across eastern Cuba and into the Bahamas by midweek.
05:27Forecasters warn of a storm surge of up to 13 feet along Jamaica's southern coast and up to 40 inches of rain in eastern parts of the island.
05:36Two French nationals are under arrest this morning, accused of taking part in the heist scene around the world at the Louvre.
05:43The big question? Did they have help on the inside?
05:47The arrests come less than a week after a team of thieves used what police call a mobile freight elevator, essentially a cherry picker,
05:54to reach a second-story window of the world-famous museum.
05:57They broke through the glass and made off with crowns, necklaces, and jewels, some once belonging to the emperor, Napoleon.
06:05Investigators say four suspects sped away on motorbikes through central Paris.
06:10Of the two men now in custody, one was arrested at Charles de Gaulle Airport, trying to board a flight to Algeria.
06:16The other was caught heading for Mali in West Africa.
06:20Police say DNA left at the scene helped crack the case.
06:23Two other suspects remain at large.
06:25France's interior minister praised the arrest, but said the investigation is far from over, adding, quote, let's keep going.
06:33Finally this morning, a farewell to a familiar face from a gentler era of television.
06:38June Lockhart, the calm, steady presence at the heart of Lassie and lost in space, died over the weekend at her home in California.
06:46She was 100.
06:48For millions of viewers, she was the wise mother figure, first on the farm, then among the stars.
06:53The woman who somehow made both a barking collie and a talking robot feel safe.
06:59Her career stretched from the golden age of Hollywood to the dawn of streaming, more than eight decades of storytelling and grace.
07:06She once joked that lost in space inspired astronauts, but Lassie never made anyone want to be a farmer.
07:12Lockhart embodied warmth across generations and galaxies.
07:15By the way, interesting factoid here, I looked it up this morning.
07:18Lockhart was interested in presidential politics and actually traveled with the campaigns of Dwight Eisenhower and Adelaide Stevenson in 1956 to get a better insight into the race.
07:29I'd like to think she would have liked straight arrow news.
07:32How about that?
07:33All right.
07:34May she rest in peace.
07:35Before we head out, here's what we're tracking today.
07:37At 10, House Speaker Mike Johnson holds a press conference on this day, 26, of the government shutdown.
07:44At noon, testimony continues in the wrongful death trial over Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs.
07:49His family says the team turned a blind eye to drug use that led to his fatal overdose in 2019.
07:55At 2, Tyler Robinson faces a preliminary hearing in Utah.
07:59Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
08:04And later tonight in Tokyo, President Trump meets Japan's new prime minister, part of his high-stakes Asia trip.
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08:16Go to san.com slash newsletters.
08:19Those are your Unbiased Updates for this Monday.
08:21We'll see you back here tomorrow.
08:22For all of us at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DeGrelly.
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