00:01Israelis head to the polls with Benjamin Netanyahu fighting to stay in power.
00:05After three years of war, will voters give him another term?
00:09Plus, a third criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, what prosecutors now accuse him of leaking.
00:16And a setback for the Trump administration in its fight over California mail-in ballots,
00:21why a federal appeals court refused to step in, and where the case goes next.
00:27The stories that matter. The facts you can trust.
00:32From across the country to around the world. This is Unbiased Updates from Straight Arrow.
00:40Hey everybody, I'm Christian Bryant. We're glad you're hanging out with us this morning.
00:43Let's get you caught up and ready for the day ahead.
00:46Israelis are heading to the polls today, deciding whether to keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power after three years
00:53of war.
00:53Netanyahu is facing several political rivals, with polls showing former military chief Gadi Eisenkot and his Yashar party as his
01:01biggest challenge.
01:02But neither Netanyahu's coalition nor the parties trying to oust him appear assured of a majority in parliament.
01:09That could mean weeks of negotiations before Israel has its next government.
01:12The vote is Israel's first national election since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.
01:20Families of some of those killed in the attack, along with former hostages, gathered in Tel Aviv before polls opened
01:27to hold a moment of silence.
01:29And tensions with Iran are also weighing on the election.
01:32Netanyahu has stepped up his warnings to Tehran, threatening a devastating response to any attack on Israel.
01:39He's been in power for much of the past three decades, and the election is widely seen as a referendum
01:44on his leadership.
01:46Tens of thousands of Israelis living overseas have reportedly flown home to vote.
01:50And President Trump has again thrown his support behind Netanyahu, praising him as a key ally against Iran.
01:57Former FBI Director James Comey is facing federal criminal charges again.
02:02And this time, prosecutors accuse him of leaking national defense information while he was running the FBI.
02:08The Justice Department says Comey directed someone to share sensitive information with a reporter back in 2016.
02:14He's charged with unlawfully disclosing national defense information and conspiracy.
02:19It's the third criminal case brought against him under President Trump.
02:23One was dismissed. Another involving this alleged threat against Trump using seashells in a social media post is still pending.
02:31Comey responded to the latest charges in a video posted to his substack.
02:35Well, they're back again. It would almost be funny if it weren't such an appalling abuse of the Department of
02:41Justice.
02:42One that we cannot become numb to. Nothing's changed with me. I'm still innocent.
02:47I'm still not afraid of these people. And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary.
02:51And in a separate case Monday, a federal judge ruled the Trump administration illegally fired Comey's daughter Maureen from her
02:59job as a federal prosecutor.
03:00She'd worked on the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases before being fired last year without an explanation.
03:07In a 55-page ruling, Judge Jessie Furman found that the firing violated federal law and the constitutional separation of
03:14powers.
03:15The administration had argued that the president has broad authority to remove federal prosecutors.
03:20But Furman said accepting the government's argument, quote, would be to unsettle the very equilibrium established by this nation's constitutional
03:27system.
03:28The judge ordered her retroactively reinstated with back pay through December.
03:33She now works in private practice. The Justice Department says it will appeal that ruling.
03:38A federal appeals court has rejected the Justice Department's emergency bid to set aside thousands of mail-in ballots in
03:45California.
03:45In a two to one ruling, the judges said the appeals court didn't have the authority to step in before
03:51a lower court had ruled.
03:52That court has a hearing scheduled for this afternoon.
03:55The Justice Department wanted a faster decision, arguing that California should set aside roughly 20,000 ballots from voters it
04:03suspects are not U.S. citizens.
04:04But the two judges in the majority said the government was partly responsible for its own urgency.
04:10They called it a, quote, self-constructed emergency, pointing to the DOJ's delay in filing the lawsuit and asking for
04:16an emergency order.
04:18California officials have disputed the government's list, saying it includes people who appear to be U.S. citizens.
04:24The Justice Department is also asking Washington State to set aside ballots from more than 400 registered voters it suspects
04:31are non-citizens.
04:33Washington's Secretary of State says his office is reviewing the request, and President Trump is now offering a million-dollar
04:39reward for tips about voter fraud in next week's midterms or past elections, though he hasn't said where the money
04:45would come from.
04:46But he wrote on Truth Social that payments will be made upon the, quote, arrest and conviction of those that
04:51created the fraud.
04:53Authorities in Tennessee are still searching this morning for a convicted murderer who escaped from prison and apparently stole a
05:00truck to get away.
05:0028-year-old Jacob Morley is serving a life sentence for killing a co-worker in 2022.
05:06That man's body was found beneath Morley's home.
05:09Morley was reported missing from prison late Sunday night.
05:12Security cameras showed him getting through a perimeter fence, still wearing his prison uniform.
05:17He's now on Tennessee's Most Wanted list.
05:19He escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex about 90 miles north of Memphis.
05:24State troopers are helping with the search, including from the air.
05:27And investigators have released this image of a truck they say Morley stole early Monday morning.
05:33It's a white Ford F-350 with a company name on the side and an air compressor in the bed.
05:38Authorities are offering up to $2,500 for information leading to his arrest.
05:43They warn he should be considered dangerous and anyone who spots him should call 911.
05:49Back here in Washington, a federal judge has extended her block on the Trump administration's plan to cut down trees
05:55at a historic public golf course.
05:57Judge Ana Reyes ruled Monday that the government can't remove or damage any more trees at East Potomac Golf Links
06:04while a lawsuit over the renovation moves forward.
06:07Hundreds of trees have already been cut down.
06:09And in her ruling, Reyes even brought back a Dr. Seuss reference from an earlier hearing.
06:15She wrote, quote,
06:16The court earlier stated, I am not the Lorax.
06:18I do not speak for the trees.
06:20The court still does not speak for the trees.
06:22It only speaks for the rule of law.
06:24The judge also ordered the government to give 10 days notice before making any irreversible changes to the course.
06:30President Trump called the ruling unconstitutional and said his administration would appeal.
06:35He also said the course will still close November 15th as planned.
06:41Finally this morning, the next Super Bowl halftime performer has been announced.
06:45And when he takes the stage, he won't have to reintroduce himself.
06:48Jay-Z is headlining Super Bowl 61, a show his own company Roc Nation will help produce.
06:54The announcement came with a video of the rapper sitting at SoFi Stadium surrounded by actual goats.
06:59The caption, goats out of the bag.
07:03Roc Nation has helped produce the halftime show since 2019.
07:06And NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says he had one request when that partnership began.
07:11That Jay-Z eventually take the stage himself.
07:13Funny enough, Jay-Z wasn't interested back then.
07:16He told Goodell that if the partnership was about him getting to perform, they could end the conversation.
07:22Seven years later, here we are.
07:23Jay-Z just wrapped up his Jay-Z 30 concert run,
07:27celebrating three decades since his debut album, Reasonable Doubt.
07:30That album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame last year.
07:34No guest performers have been announced yet.
07:37Super Bowl 61 is February 14th at SoFi Stadium in Englewood, California.
07:42Alright, busy day ahead.
07:44Here's what we're tracking for you.
07:46The parents of Alex Preddy, killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis, speak out at noon after accusing the Justice Department
07:52of violating their rights.
07:53That same hour, Vice President J.D. Vance rallies supporters in Michigan.
07:57And President Trump holds two campaign rallies in Texas.
08:00First in Corpus Christi, then this evening in Lubbock, where Democrat James Tallarico also holds a rally just an hour
08:07later.
08:07Less noise, more news.
08:10Watch unbiased updates at san.com or our app, or join our growing audience on YouTube, Spotify or your favorite
08:17podcast app.
08:18We're glad to be a part of your morning routine.
08:21And a reminder, you can email us here anytime.
08:24We actually read those emails.
08:27So hit me up, unbiasedupdates at san.com.
08:30We love hearing from you.
08:32That's unbiased updates for this Tuesday.
08:34For the Unbiased Updates team and all of us at Straight Arrow, I'm Christian Bryan.
08:38Thanks so much for watching.
08:39Have a good one and we'll see you again tomorrow.
