00:00A secret meeting in the Middle East. The U.S. sitting down with Russia again. New details on the back channel push to end the war. Plus, cases closed. A federal judge tosses the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James. But the White House vows an appeal and Comey is responding. And a rough start to the Thanksgiving rush. Fog, snow, even tornado damage. Where it's a mess and where it's about to get even worse.
00:31The stories that matter, clear and credible. From across the country to around the world. These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News.
00:43Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli. We begin this morning with a secret high-level meeting between the U.S. Army's top civilian leader and Russian officials.
00:51Army Secretary Dan Driscoll meeting with members of the Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi today to try to hammer out a peace deal with Ukraine.
00:59He's there for a second round of closed-door talks after spending several hours with a Russian delegation on Monday night, according to ABC and CBS News.
01:09These newly revealed talks come on the heels of weekend negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, between Ukrainian officials and a U.S. team led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Driscoll.
01:22ABC News reports that after those meetings, President Trump's original 28-point peace plan, developed with Moscow, has now been cut down to 19 points.
01:32Among the provisions removed, a proposed amnesty for wartime actions and limits on the future size of Ukraine's military.
01:40Ukrainian President Zelensky said in his address Monday night that the plan still needs significant work.
01:45And all of this happening as the war grinds on.
01:49Overnight, Russia launched a wave of strikes across Ukraine, killing at least six people and hitting city buildings and energy infrastructure.
01:58Ukraine, meanwhile, carried out an attack in southern Russia, killing three and damaging homes.
02:03New reaction this morning from the White House after that major legal setback.
02:08A federal judge tossing out the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
02:16In her 29-page ruling, Judge Cameron McGowan-Curry ruled the indictments were invalid because the prosecutor who brought them, Lindsay Halligan, was unlawfully appointed, writing,
02:26All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan's defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr. Comey's indictment, constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside.
02:39There is simply no alternative course to cure the unconstitutional problem.
02:44In plain English, Halligan never had the authority to take these cases to a grand jury, meaning the charges cannot stand.
02:51A former Trump aide with no prior prosecutorial experience, Halligan was installed after career prosecutors reportedly pushed back on filing charges.
03:00She then single-handedly secured both indictments, which became the basis for the judge's ruling.
03:06Comey reacted to the ruling Monday night in a video on Instagram.
03:10I'm grateful that the court ended the case against me, which was a prosecution based on malevolence and incompetence.
03:17And a reflection of what the Department of Justice has become under Donald Trump, which is heartbreaking.
03:23At the White House, Caroline Leavitt gave President Trump's reaction to the ruling and made it clear this is not the end of the road.
03:30His reaction was, we've seen this before.
03:33We've seen partisan judges take unprecedented steps to try to intervene in accountability before, but we're not going to give up.
03:40And I know that the Department of Justice intends to appeal these rulings very soon if they haven't already.
03:45And that appeal is key.
03:47For Letitia James, the government could still try to refile charges under a lawfully appointed prosecutor.
03:53For Comey, the timing is much tighter.
03:56His case bumped right up against the statute of limitations, and Judge Curry signaled that window has likely closed.
04:04The fallout is growing from that video posted by six Democratic lawmakers telling U.S. troops they can refuse illegal orders.
04:11The Pentagon confirming Monday it's now conducting a formal review into Senator Mark Kelly, the only member of the group still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and says his comments may have, quote, lent the appearance of authority by using his rank.
04:28The White House leaning into that scrutiny.
04:29And I think what Senator Mark Kelly was actually trying to do was intimidate the 1.3 million active duty service members who are currently serving in our United States Armed Forces with that video that he and his Democrat colleagues put out.
04:45They knew what they were doing in this video, and Senator Mark Kelly and all of them should be held accountable for that.
04:50Kelly fired back with a lengthy statement detailing his decades of service from missions in Desert Storm to commanding the space shuttle, saying the administration's response amounts to intimidation.
05:02Quote, if this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won't work.
05:10He wrote, I've given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.
05:17The video message angered President Trump, who posted repeatedly that the lawmakers committed seditious behavior, in one post saying it was punishable by death.
05:27Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is defending the Pentagon Review, calling the Democrats' message, quote, despicable, reckless, and false.
05:35But legal experts say actually prosecuting a retired officer for political speech would be unprecedented.
05:41We're learning this morning that President Trump's announcement on extending Obamacare subsidies, expected this week, is now delayed amid Republican pushback.
05:51The slowdown comes as millions of Americans face steep health care costs increases when current Affordable Care Act tax credits expire at the end of the year.
06:00The president's draft proposal reportedly includes a two-year extension of those subsidies with new eligibility limits.
06:07Multiple reports on Monday said the announcement was imminent, but both CNN and MSNOW report it has been delayed amid Republican pushback.
06:17But not all Republicans are reflexively opposed.
06:20We've got to quit pointing fingers. We've got to start doing something with this thing.
06:25At least Trump's proposal does something over a two-year period.
06:29It keeps people from losing their insurance, and it verifies that it's not a bunch of frauds going on.
06:34So, anyway, I think it's something we ought to be looking at, but we probably won't.
06:41We'll probably kill it in the press and everybody, anonymous sources.
06:48But it gets us to the dadgum table.
06:51Look, I don't like the thing, but at least he's proposing some changes.
06:55And we haven't done anything in, what, 15 years?
06:57Everybody's griping and moaning about it.
06:59At least Trump's got the guts to do something about it.
07:02I said we ought to take a look at it.
07:03For now, it's unclear if or when any subsidy extension will move forward.
07:09Senate Republicans promised Democrats a mid-December vote on ACA subsidies as part of the deal to reopen the government.
07:16When senators return from the Thanksgiving recess, that deadline will be just days away.
07:22It's another busy travel day as millions hit the roads and skies ahead of Thanksgiving.
07:27And Mother Nature is not making it easy, more like old man winter.
07:30From the southeast into the Carolinas, thunderstorms, fog, and rain-soaked highways could slow you down today.
07:37Farther north, parts of the upper Midwest, including North Dakota and Minnesota, are dealing with blowing and drifting snow, plus low visibility.
07:45As we get into Wednesday, bands of lake-effect snow off Michigan, Erie, and Ontario will bring gusty winds and more snow to cities like Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland.
07:55So expect some flight delays.
07:57Meanwhile, in Texas, a much more dangerous scene.
08:00Look, a tornado tore through a community outside Houston late Monday, damaging more than 100 homes and knocking out power to thousands.
08:08Wicked winds ripped apart roofs and sent debris flying.
08:12Amazingly, no one was killed.
08:14Finally this morning, proof that sometimes the real treasure isn't buried under the house, it's buried in the attic.
08:21Listen to this.
08:22Three brothers, cleaning out their late mother's San Francisco home, stumbled onto what looked like an old cardboard box full of newspapers and dust.
08:30Under all of it, a pristine copy of Superman No. 1, the 1939 debut of the Man of Steel's very own comic book.
08:39Look at that thing.
08:40It turns out it wasn't just rare, it was record-breaking.
08:44Get this, the book just sold for $9.12 million, making it the most expensive comic book ever auctioned.
08:53And I think what actually really added to the story was how it was found that this was, you know, a new find that no one had ever seen before.
09:04Hey, lucky them. The family says their mom always claimed she had valuable comics stashed away.
09:11Good thing they finally checked, right?
09:13Because Tuck Behind the Dust and Cobwebs was a $9 million superhero.
09:19That'll buy that family a really nice Thanksgiving dinner.
09:22And then after that, likely lots of nice Christmas presents as well.
09:25Oh, by the way, I have a coin collection and a stamp collection in my basement.
09:29Boxes of baseball cards, no idea what they're worth, but no comic books.
09:36Rats.
09:37All right, before we head out, here's what we're tracking today.
09:39President Trump and the First Lady take part in the annual turkey pardon at the White House.
09:44That's at 2 o'clock.
09:45In Madison, Wisconsin, Morgan Geiser, one of the teens in the infamous Slenderman stabbing case, is back in court
09:51after fleeing a group home over the weekend and getting caught near Chicago.
09:55And later this evening, the president heads to Palm Beach, where he'll spend the week at Mar-a-Lago
10:00with no public events on the schedule.
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10:12Those are your unbiased updates for this Tuesday.
10:15We'll see you back here tomorrow.
10:16For all of us here at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
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