Judge targets DHS over migrant flights, Trump shifts on boat strike video release

Straight Arrow News

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00:00Did Homeland Security ignore a federal judge and deport more than 100 migrants anyway?

00:07The new timeline and where those planes actually went.

00:10Plus, will America ever see the full video of that follow-up boat strike in the Caribbean?

00:15Why Trump now seems to be backing away.

00:17And months after that high-profile suspension, Jimmy Kimmel just got a new deal.

00:24The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world.

00:30These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News.

00:36Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli.

00:37This morning, a federal judge is turning up the heat on the Trump administration,

00:41saying he still doesn't know whether Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem

00:45defied his order to stop a mass deportation flight.

00:49But he's now taking extraordinary steps to get answers.

00:53U.S. District Judge James Bosberg has ordered a top Department of Justice attorney

00:57to take the witness stand, a rare move to explain how more than 100 men were deported in March

01:03under the Alien Enemies Act, despite his attempt to halt the flights.

01:08Bosberg wants testimony next week from Drew Ensign, a deputy assistant attorney general,

01:13and from former DOJ prosecutor Arez Ruveni, who has accused the administration of dodging court orders.

01:20The deportations, two planes sent to El Salvador's notorious Seacott mega-prison,

01:25took off before the judge could issue his temporary restraining order.

01:29That timeline has triggered a full-blown contempt inquiry

01:32into whether the administration deliberately made sure the planes were gone

01:36before the court could intervene.

01:38In a new filing, Judge Bosberg said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's sworn declaration

01:44does not provide enough information to determine whether she willfully violated the court.

01:50Noem says she moved forward only after receiving legal advice from DOJ leadership.

01:56In a separate immigration fight, an immigration judge has ordered the release of Bruna Ferreira,

02:01a Brazilian woman and the mother of White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt's nephew.

02:07Ferreira, who once held DACA status and is seeking a green card,

02:11had been in ICE custody as she fought possible deportation.

02:14She will now be allowed to continue that case outside detention.

02:18A walk back from President Trump on that controversial boat strike video

02:23after saying last week he had no problem releasing the unedited footage.

02:27Now he's flatly denying ever making that promise.

02:29When pressed by a reporter asking again if he'd release the full video,

02:33here is what Trump said.

02:35Mr. President, you said you would have no problem with releasing the full video

02:38of that strike on September 2nd off the coast of Venezuela.

02:41Secretary Hegseth now says...

02:43I didn't say that.

02:44You said that. I didn't say that.

02:46This is ABC fake news.

02:47You said that you would have no problem releasing the full video.

02:49Okay, well, Secretary Hegseth...

02:51Whatever Hegseth wants to do is okay with me.

02:53He now says it's under review.

02:54Are you ordering the secretary to release that full video?

02:57Whatever he decides is okay with me.

02:59That shift comes as pressure builds in Washington.

03:03Lawmakers, Republicans, and Democrats are now using the massive 3,086-page defense policy bill

03:10to force the Pentagon's hand.

03:12About 800-plus pages in, they've tucked in a provision with real teeth.

03:17A quarter of Pete Hegseth's travel budget is frozen until Congress gets the unedited video of American strikes

03:24on suspected drug smuggling boats, including the September 2nd operation that left two survivors dead in a follow-up attack.

03:32Top Pentagon officials have already shown the footage to a small group of lawmakers behind closed doors,

03:37but they sharply disagree on what it shows.

03:40Some Republicans say it vindicates the military.

03:43Democrats say it raises serious questions and want it released publicly.

03:48That defense bill is expected to clear the House this week and move to the Senate without changes.

03:53The Supreme Court looks poised to hand the Trump administration a major win,

03:58one that could give the president far more power to remove top officials from independent agencies,

04:04even for political or policy reasons.

04:07The case centers on Trump's firing of federal trade commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Democrat, earlier this year.

04:14Under a 1935 federal law, presidents can only remove leaders of independent boards for cause.

04:21Slaughter's ouster was a direct challenge to that rule,

04:24and analysts say it's part of Trump's broader push to exert more control over independent agencies.

04:30Inside the courtroom, the conservative majority appeared ready to back the president,

04:34Justice Brett Kavanaugh noting that these commissioners, quote,

04:38are not elected and exercise massive power over individual liberty and billion-dollar industries.

04:44The impact could be sweeping, potentially ending the independence of more than 20 bipartisan agencies

04:49that oversee everything from monetary policy to consumer safety to broadcast licensing.

04:55But the liberal wing warned of a constitutional earthquake.

04:59Justice Sonia Sotomayor told the Trump administration's lawyer,

05:02you're asking us to destroy the structure of government.

05:05A final decision is expected by June.

05:08Now to a major shakeup inside the Justice Department.

05:11Alina Haba, the former personal attorney to President Trump,

05:14and his hand-picked U.S. attorney in New Jersey is out.

05:18She resigned Monday, just days after a federal appeals court ruled she had been serving in the role unlawfully.

05:25Haba was one of Trump's most high-profile U.S. attorney appointments,

05:29installed after her Senate confirmation stalled.

05:32But last week, a unanimous three-judge panel said

05:35the administration's workarounds violated federal vacancy law,

05:39effectively stripping Haba of authority and freezing parts of New Jersey's federal docket.

05:44In a statement on social media, Haba said she's stepping down to

05:48protect the stability and integrity of the office, adding, quote,

05:52this decision will not weaken the Justice Department and it will not weaken me.

05:56She will now serve as a senior advisor to Attorney General Pam Bondi,

06:00overseeing U.S. attorneys nationwide, while the DOJ prepares an appeal.

06:05Trump was asked by reporters on Monday his reaction to it all.

06:08You've got a blue slip thing that's horrible.

06:11It's a horrible thing.

06:12It makes it impossible to appoint a judge or a U.S. attorney.

06:17And it's a shame.

06:18And the Republicans should be ashamed of themselves that they allow this to go on.

06:22Because I can't appoint a U.S. attorney that's not a Democrat.

06:26Because they put a block on it.

06:28The president there blaming the Senate's blue slip tradition,

06:31which lets the two home state U.S. senators block nominees

06:35for why Haba and dozens of his picks have been tied up.

06:38I guess I just have to keep appointing people for three months

06:41and then just appoint another one, another one.

06:44And it's a very sad situation.

06:46We're losing tremendous, we're losing a lot of great people.

06:50We have about seven U.S. attorneys who are not going to be able to keep their jobs much longer

06:55because of the blue slip.

06:57Haba's exit comes as several Trump-appointed U.S. attorneys

07:00have also been found to be serving illegally under similar appointment maneuvers.

07:05New Jersey will now be run by a three-prosecutor team

07:08until the White House names a permanent nominee.

07:11President Trump says he's green-lighting NVIDIA to sell its high-end AI chips

07:16to certain approved customers in China,

07:19a significant shift in tech policy with major national security stakes.

07:24In a post on Truth Social, the president said he told China's Xi Jinping

07:28he would allow NVIDIA to sell its advanced H-200 AI chips,

07:33but only under a deal where the U.S. government takes a 25% cut of the profits.

07:39Trump also said the sales would happen, quote,

07:41under conditions that allow for continued strong national security,

07:45though he offered no details on what those safeguards are.

07:48He added that Intel and AMD could be part of a similar arrangement.

07:53The Commerce Department is still hammering out the final terms,

07:56including who in China qualifies as an approved customer

07:59and how the profit sharing would work.

08:01Finally this morning, Jimmy Kimmel isn't going anywhere.

08:05The late-night host just locked in another year with ABC.

08:09Kimmel signed a one-year contract extension that keeps Jimmy Kimmel live on ABC

08:13through May of 2027, marking nearly 24 years behind the desk.

08:18The new deal comes just months after ABC temporarily pulled his show from the lineup,

08:23a suspension over comments tied to the death of political activist Charlie Kirk,

08:28which sparked a national debate over comedy, free speech, and the role of late-night TV.

08:34Kimmel, who first launched his show in 2003, remains one of the longest-running hosts in late-night,

08:40and now he's guaranteed at least one more lap.

08:43By the way, I looked it up this morning.

08:44Jimmy Fallon is on through 2028, Kimmel now 2027,

08:48and Colbert is out in early 2026.

08:52So there's your scorecard for late-night TV, which happens after this morning anchor is fast asleep.

08:59All right, a busy Tuesday on the political calendar.

09:01Here's what we're tracking.

09:02Opponents of the Trump-backed redistricting effort in Missouri

09:05could file enough petition signatures today to force a statewide vote.

09:09At 10, the Supreme Court hears a Republican-led challenge tied to Vice President J.D. Vance,

09:15arguing that limits on coordinated party spending violate free speech rights.

09:19At 3 p.m., the Vice President hosts a Christmas reception at his residence.

09:24President Trump is expected to attend.

09:27And at 6, the President delivers an address in Monroe County, Pennsylvania,

09:31to spotlight his economic agenda amid concerns about inflation and affordability.

09:36There are headlines worth reading and emails worth opening.

09:39Sign up for our Unbiased Updates newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox each morning.

09:43Go to san.com slash newsletters.

09:46Those are your Unbiased Updates for this Tuesday.

09:48We'll see you back here tomorrow.

09:49For all of us here at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DiGrelli.

09:52Have a great day.

Judge targets DHS over migrant flights, Trump shifts on boat strike video release

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