00:01Canada gets an invitation to move closer to Europe.
00:04President Trump's response?
00:05If they do that, if I think it's at all a hostile act,
00:08I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe.
00:12Plus, a sweeping new crackdown on Russia now headed to the president.
00:16The new power it could give him over countries still buying Russian energy.
00:21And the Fed does exactly what Trump did not want.
00:24Raising interest rates for the first time in three years.
00:27What the move could mean for your money.
00:32The stories that matter.
00:34The facts you can trust.
00:36From across the country to around the world.
00:40This is Unbiased Updates from Straight Arrow.
00:44Hey everybody, I'm Christian Bryant.
00:46Glad to have you.
00:47Canada just got an invitation to move a lot closer to Europe.
00:50President Trump's response?
00:51He says that could be a hostile act and he's threatening Europe with more tariffs if that happens.
00:57And right now, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is addressing the European Parliament.
01:03The European Union has invited Canada to become its first ever associate member
01:07as Canada looks to reduce its economic dependence on the U.S.
01:12And this would be something entirely new.
01:15Associate membership doesn't currently exist in the EU,
01:18so the two sides would have to negotiate what it actually means.
01:22But Europe is already talking big.
01:25EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says she wants to take the relationship with Canada
01:30to the highest level possible with closer tides on trade, technology, energy, critical minerals, and defense.
01:38Trump called the idea laughable and said what happens next depends on Europe's intentions.
01:43If they do that, if I think it's at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs
01:49or stop trading with Europe on many things.
01:53So, if they do that, if Europe does that with a bad intention, if it's a good intention, that's fine.
01:59If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe.
02:03Canada is already in a trade war with the U.S.
02:06and roughly 70 percent of its exports still come here.
02:09Carney has been pushing to change that and build much closer economic and security ties with Europe.
02:16The next big step comes next month when Canada hosts EU leaders for a summit in Montreal
02:21where this new relationship is expected to be on the table.
02:25Before the House left Washington last night, lawmakers sent President Trump one more big piece of business,
02:30a sweeping new sanctions bill aimed at Russia and the country still buying its oil and gas.
02:36The House passed it 262 to 159 with 58 Democrats joining most Republicans in support.
02:43The bill targets Russian government officials, oligarchs, and financial institutions,
02:48and it gives Trump the power to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the biggest buyers of Russian
02:54oil and natural gas,
02:55including potentially China and India.
02:58Some Democrats oppose the bill because they say that gives Trump too much new tariff authority.
03:04The Senate passed the measure 86 to 11 last month.
03:08It's now named for the late South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham,
03:12who spent more than a year pushing the legislation before his death in July.
03:17Graham's successor, Senator Darlene Graham, called the final passage a big step toward ending the war.
03:23Congress has spoken with one voice and passed the Lindsey O'Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026,
03:34a critical piece of legislation that will assist President Trump in his noble efforts to bring the Russia-Ukraine war
03:42to a close
03:43and allows President Trump to continue to apply economic pressure to the Iranian regime.
03:49Appeasement is not a strategy, and this bill is about imposing costs and making sure that America's strategic interests are
04:01protected.
04:02It is our national interest that is served by this bill, but it's also our values and our vision as
04:09Americans.
04:10And as that bill heads to Trump, Russia launched another major attack on Ukraine overnight.
04:16Missiles and drones hit Kyiv and other cities, injuring more than two dozen people across the country.
04:22Ukraine says its air defenses destroyed or suppressed 131 Russian targets, with strikes reported at dozens of locations.
04:31Wall Street opens soon after getting something yesterday it hasn't seen from the Fed in three years.
04:37An interest rate hike, and possibly another one before the year is over.
04:42The Fed raised rates a quarter point Wednesday, putting its benchmark rate between 3.75 and 4 percent.
04:50The vote was unanimous.
04:52Stocks fell after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh made clear why he thinks higher rates are needed.
04:58Yet for more than five years, inflation has been running above target.
05:03So our predominant focus is on the price stability side of our mandate.
05:09The plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long.
05:15Inflation hit 3.4 percent in August, with the Iran war helping drive energy prices higher.
05:21The Fed's target is 2 percent, and most Fed officials now see another rate hike before the end of this
05:27year.
05:28That is definitely not what President Trump wanted from the man he picked to run the Fed.
05:33After the decision, Trump said on Truth Social rates should be, quote, 1 percent or less, and told the Fed
05:40to lower the rates and lower them fast.
05:43By the way, Warsh was asked by a reporter what he'd say to the president.
05:47His answer, I've got nothing for you.
05:50The House was supposed to be working today, and it isn't.
05:55As we mentioned at the top, lawmakers wrapped up their business last night and headed home early for a seven
06:00-week break before the midterms.
06:02And that means a Republican effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is on hold until after the election.
06:10Kentucky Republican Thomas Massey surprised his own party Tuesday, introducing eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth.
06:16Massey accuses him of abusing the powers of his office, with much of his case centered on the U.S.
06:23war with Iran.
06:24And because Massey filed the resolution as privileged, House leaders would have had to act on it by today.
06:31Then, Speaker Mike Johnson canceled today's votes and sent everyone home.
06:35Massey says that was done to avoid the Hegseth vote.
06:38Johnson says it wasn't.
06:40He told reporters, quote,
06:42It is a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention.
06:46It will immediately be tabled, of course, but we probably won't do that today.
06:50We will do it when we come back.
06:52We should not be playing games with national security.
06:56That won't be until after the midterms.
06:59Hegseth has defended the administration's handling of the war in Iran,
07:03and Attorney General Todd Blanche says the Defense Secretary has followed the law.
07:08So, for now, no vote. The House is gone, and the Hegseth impeachment fight waits until November.
07:14Before lawmakers left Washington last night, they took one more step in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation,
07:20and this one was unanimous.
07:23The House voted to hold billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt of Congress
07:28after he refused to comply with subpoenas to testify and turn over documents.
07:32Black had a long business relationship with Epstein, paying him $158 million between 2012 and 2017 for financial services.
07:42He sat down voluntarily with the House Oversight Committee back in June,
07:46but walked out after lawmakers started asking about nondisclosure agreements.
07:51The committee then subpoenaed him to come back under oath, and he didn't.
07:55Instead, Black sued the committee, arguing the subpoenas go too far and seek private information
08:01that has nothing to do with Epstein.
08:04When he failed to show up earlier this month, Oversight Chair James Comer said getting him back
08:09before the committee was the priority.
08:12This is the first time of all the people we've brought in,
08:16of all the powerful billionaires and political people we've brought in for interviews and depositions,
08:23this is the first time anyone's filed suit.
08:26The most important priority is to get Mr. Black in to answer questions.
08:31Black has denied any wrongdoing and said he didn't know about Epstein's crimes while the two were working together.
08:37His attorneys call the House vote outrageous and say lawmakers are looking for information that does not exist.
08:45The House has now sent the matter to the Justice Department.
08:48It'll be up to the DOJ to decide whether Black is prosecuted for contempt of Congress.
08:54Finally this morning, NASA just found a pretty big new dent in the moon.
08:59And big is not an exaggeration.
09:02The crater is more than 700 feet wide and nearly 150 feet deep, bigger across than the Roman Coliseum.
09:10NASA says it's the largest new impact crater discovered anywhere in our solar system in modern times,
09:16three times bigger than the previous record holder.
09:19An impact this size is estimated to happen on the moon only about once every 132 years.
09:26And NASA scientists are pretty happy they found it.
09:30The crater gives them a rare chance to study what happens after a big impact.
09:35Useful information as NASA prepares for a long-term human presence on the moon.
09:40NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter first spotted it in May of 2024 on the side of the moon that faces Earth.
09:47Scientists think a piece of an asteroid or comet slammed into the surface, but nobody actually saw it coming.
09:54The object was never picked up by a telescope.
09:58Very unnerving.
10:00All right, before we head out, here's what we're tracking today.
10:02At 10.30 this morning, House Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries, Catherine Clark, and Pete Aguilar hold a press availability a
10:10day after the House left Washington for its midterm recess.
10:14At 1.30, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. keynotes a conference for Children's Health Defense, the group he once
10:20led.
10:21And later, at 6 Eastern, President Trump participates in a tele-rally, followed by a Rose Garden dinner at 7.
10:28We give you the headlines here. Offscript gives us a little more room to talk about everything else.
10:35It's our new podcast where we sit down with the journalists behind the reporting and go deeper into the stories
10:41they're covering.
10:42Simone del Rosario hosts this week's episode. You can find it right here on the site later today.
10:48And I'll be taking over as host soon, so I hope you'll join me.
10:52Offscript Thursdays at Straight Arrow.
10:54And that's Unbiased Updates for this Thursday. We'll see you back here tomorrow on Friday.
11:00Don't forget, get in touch with us. I'd love to hear from you.
11:04I'm Christian Bryant. Have a great day.
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