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Friday, November 6th, 2026 - Path to Ending Electoral College, Hegseth Becomes the Fall Guy, Russell Brand Guilty Nov 06, 2026

Show notes

Today's Headlines: Democrats will dominate the next Congress, but about 30 House races are still uncalled, and Mississippi’s Senate race is a nail-biter, with Scott Colom leading Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by under 2,000 votes while 3,600 mail ballots could still arrive. Alaska could take days or weeks, and while Mary Peltola leads Dan Sullivan by roughly 600,000 votes, Trump posted that the “fake Dan Sullivan’s” votes should go to the “REAL” one and the election is over, though the other Sullivan only got about 3,600 votes. Elsewhere on the ballot, Nithya Raman ousted Karen Bass in the LA mayor’s race, ten of ten states with data center measures voted to restrict them (and only one of 41 local initiatives was pro-data-center), and Democrats’ six new trifectas could push the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact past 270 electoral votes, meaning the next presidential election could be decided by the popular vote. Trump, meanwhile, is responding to the biggest rebuke in decades by obsessing over decor, signing an order to preserve his Oval Office gold moldings as a national monument so “stupid people” can’t touch them, while Pete Hegseth looks like the fall guy for the unpopular Iran war and Democrats’ first impeachment target, though Trump says he has “every intention” of keeping him, WaPo says he’s not in the running for Tennessee’s Senate seat, and Axios reports a decision on restarting major Iran strikes is “coming soon.” Markets had one good day before reality hit: the Nasdaq lost about $2.5 trillion (including $1 trillion from the Mag 7) and the S&P 500 fell 4.4%, and the WSJ reports Anthropic’s IPO is wobbling as investors doubt its $1.5 trillion valuation, which may drop by roughly half a trillion (it’s still reportedly eyeing the week before Thanksgiving). Meta, TikTok, and Google sued California over its Digital Age Assurance Act, which bans “addictive feeds” for under-16s and takes effect January 1, while LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 and is shutting down. The DOJ is also reportedly pursuing a criminal investigation into who leaked the Dobbs decision in 2022, with grand jury subpoenas out and Judge Pirro reportedly overseeing it, even though it’s unclear what law was broken, and civil rights chief Harmeet Dhillon became the first post-midterm resignation. Finally, a London jury found Russell Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault after 8.5 hours of deliberation, and the judge promised “significant custodial time” and denied bail.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

The Hill: Mississippi has an unexpectedly close Senate race but no recount procedure

Politico: Trump: Alaska’s incumbent GOP senator would ‘easily’ win if given ‘fake’ challenger’s votes

LA Times: Mayor-elect Raman will lead L.A. at a pivotal moment

WaPo: A nationwide backlash against data centers erupts at the polls

Mother Jones: America Finally Has the Votes to End the Electoral College

NYT: Trump Moves to Make Oval Office a National Monument

The Hill: Trump defends Hegseth but acknowledges easier path to replacing him before new Congress

Axios: Trump meets with national security team, says Iran war decision coming "soon"

WSJ: Wall Street Gets $2.5 Trillion AI Reality Check With Historic Rout of Tech Stocks

WSJ: Major Investors Are Skeptical Anthropic IPO Can Achieve $1.5 Trillion Valuation

The Hill: Meta, TikTok, Google sue California over child online safety restrictions

Axios: LIV Golf collapse imminent after BC Partners withdraws

NYT: DOJ Steps Up Leak Investigation on Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade

MS Now: Harmeet Dhillon resigns as chief of DOJ Civil Rights Division

NYT: Russell Brand Is Found Guilty of Rape and Sexual Assault

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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Thursday, November 5th, 2026 - Post-Midterm Report: Democrats Take 55 Senate Seats, Subpoenas Incoming, Trump Ends Israel Aid Nov 05, 2026

Show notes

Today's Headlines: Democrats are on track for 55 or 56 Senate seats, which means Trump can’t confirm any more Supreme Court justices or federal judges, and in the House they’re headed for the largest popular vote margin since 1974, the first midterm after Watergate, with over 100 women serving in the House for the first time (none of them Lauren Boebert, who is on the verge of losing her seat) and surprise flips in Utah, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Montana, North Carolina, and more. Late Senate results added to the pile, as Susan Collins’ Reign of Concern ended with a loss to Troy Jackson, Abdul El Sayed beat Mike Rogers in Michigan (where Jocelyn Benson will be governor), and Pete Ricketts beat independent Dan Osborn in Nebraska, while Alaska and Mississippi are too close to call, with Democrats leading both by less than half a point and recounts possible. On the governor and statehouse front, Katie Hobbs beat insurrectionist Andy Biggs in Arizona, Deb Haaland became New Mexico’s governor (the first Native American woman to hold the job in any state), and Aaron Ford flipped Nevada to become its first Black governor, while Democrats swept statewide offices in Georgia, Texas, and Ohio (minus one office), flipped both statehouses in Georgia and Texas, ended GOP supermajorities in Missouri and Florida, and now have trifectas in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. So what’s next? Incoming House Oversight chair Robert Garcia tweeted “lawyer up” and says investigations will start day one into Epstein, ICE abuses, Elon and DOGE, and Trump family finances, and incoming Senate Finance chair Ron Wyden tweeted just “Subpoenas.” Markets liked what they saw, with the Dow jumping nearly 1,600 points (3%), the S&P having its best day in three months (up 1.6%), the Nasdaq rising 1.4%, and oil falling below $95 a barrel for a two-month low, though Trump Media plunged 24% to a record low of $4.49 and Tesla and SpaceX fell 3% and 4% after Elon vaporized $500 million losing the midterms, and he was reportedly spotted panic-deleting tweets, apparently spooked by the subpoena talk, while Trump coped by giving reporters a tour of his ballroom construction site. Over in Europe, hybrid warfare is on the rise, with cyberattacks on supermarket refrigerators in Sweden, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Estonia, and the Netherlands spiking temperatures past 100 degrees and causing fires and food losses, following a similar incident in France last month, and no one has claimed responsibility, while France also reported a cyberattack on blood banks that tried to overheat storage systems but was thwarted before damaging any blood products. Finally, Trump announced the US will stop giving Israel $4 billion in annual military aid starting in 2027 while continuing arms sales.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

AP News: Democrats win full control of more state governments and the Texas House

The Guardian: Top Democrat tells Trump and Republicans to ‘lawyer up’ after US midterm defeats | US politics

AP News: Stocks surge, and the Dow soars 1,500 points as oil prices tumble following the US midterm elections

NYT: Trump Media’s Shares Fall to Record Low After Midterms

NYT: SpaceX and Tesla Stocks Tumble After Elon Musk-Backed Candidates Lose in Texas

NYT: Trump Emerges After the Midterms: ‘Did You Guys See the Helipad?’

NBC News: Supermarkets across Europe hit by new fridge cyberattacks

AP News: Cyberattack hits French blood bank site but no blood products are compromised

AP News: Trump says US will halt $4 billion in aid to Israel

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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Wednesday, November 4th, 2026 - Blue Wave, DOJ Sends Target Letters, US Strikes Iran’s Qeshm Island Nov 04, 2026

Show notes

Today's Headlines: Democrats wildly overperformed, winning the House and the Senate as of just after midnight, with Hakeem Jeffries becoming Speaker and a Black woman becoming governor of a former Confederate state in the same night. In Georgia, Jon Ossoff won reelection easily over Mike Collins, and Keisha Lance Bottoms flipped the governor’s seat to become Georgia’s first Black governor, which also means Ossoff and/or Raphael Warnock could run for president without costing Democrats a Senate seat. Texas turned too, as James Talarico beat Ken Paxton and Gina Hinojosa unseated Gov. Greg Abbott for Democrats’ first statewide wins since the 90s. The Senate flips kept coming, with Dr. Annie Andrews taking DarLindsey Graham’s seat in South Carolina, Adam Hamilton ousting Roger Marshall in Kansas, Josh Turek beating Ashley Hinson in Iowa (where Rob Sand also flipped the governorship), Chris Pappas beating John Sununu in New Hampshire to become the first openly gay man in the Senate, and Roy Cooper moving up to senator in North Carolina, while in Ohio, Sherrod Brown beat Jon Husted as Amy Acton beat Vivek Ramaswamy for governor. Republicans’ best night was in Florida, where Ashley Moody held her Senate seat by a much smaller margin than expected and Byron Donalds won the governorship, though Republicans lost their legislative supermajorities. Elsewhere, Democratic incumbents including Booker, Warner, Hickenlooper, Luján, and Merkley held on, and Phil Weiser (Colorado), Xavier Becerra (California), and David Crowley (Wisconsin) are new Democratic governors. In the House, final counts will take weeks, but Democrats are projected at 248 seats or more, with flips including a longshot Kentucky seat (Zach Dembo), Pennsylvania (where Janelle Stelson ousted Scott Perry), New Jersey, and North Carolina, while Senate results in Michigan, Maine, Nebraska, Mississippi, and Alaska are still pending. As for Trump, he posted, “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE,” and told the NYT he’s “absolutely willing” to accept the results, though the DOJ meanwhile sent target letters to 20 Democrats in its Alaska Senate probe over alleged “ballot stacking,” or recruiting spoiler candidates, which isn’t illegal, on Election Day itself. On the Iran front, the WSJ reported US “defensive strikes” on Iran’s Qeshm Island as Trump reportedly weighs full-scale war after the midterms, with Netanyahu pushing and JD Vance sent to revive talks, and Trump even said that if people tire of him, “I’ll move to Israel and become prime minister.” Finally, Google announced AI tools for schools, but blocking its AI features means losing regular Google Search too, with an employee telling the NYT there’s “no google search without AI” (anything for the shareholders).

Resources/Articles mentioned:

NYT: 2026 Midterm Elections Live Updates: Democrats Win the Senate in Rebuke of Trump

NYT: Trump Says in Interview That He Will Accept Election Results

NYT: Justice Dept. Sends Target Letters to Democrats in Escalation of Alaska Inquiry

WSJ: Exclusive | U.S. Strikes Iran’s Qeshm Island as Trump Talks Down War Risks

Yahoo: Trump says he’d move to this country ‘if people ever get tired of me in the US’

CNN: Google will let schools turn off AI, but they may also lose Search

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026 - Election Day, SCOTUS Rebuffs Trump on Ballots, Habba’s $50 Million Pardon Deal Nov 03, 2026

Show notes

Today's Headlines: It's here, Election Day! Early turnout is already beating 2022 in 23 states, including Texas, Delaware, Georgia, and North Carolina, and polls have Democrats leading every major Senate race, with shots in Kansas, South Carolina, and Kentucky. Meanwhile, Trump wrapped up his campaign with a surprise Election Eve speech at the renovated reflecting pool, spending nearly an hour on its pipes, resodding the Mall, and cleaning up graffiti, and he “joked” about renaming it the Trump Reflecting Pool. Speaking of his renovation obsessions, his administration also submitted a 55-page East Potomac golf course overhaul plan with no cost estimate, no timeline, and no word on who gets to play, though it does include over $300 million for a seawall. On the legal front, a judge ordered the administration to stop demanding that California set aside 20,000 supposedly noncitizen ballots, so it ran to the Supreme Court, which rejected the request almost instantly. Clearly worried about the results, Trump promised to protect Elon if Democrats take Congress and investigate SpaceX and Tesla, and floated preemptive pardons for his staff, while the NYT found that none of the nine law firms that struck deals with Trump have taken cases checking his administration’s midterm meddling, with some scrubbing voting rights work from their websites and even firms without deals turning down such cases. On the pardon beat, Trump is reportedly “furious” that Alina Habba was allegedly paid $50 million to help secure a pardon for a Venezuelan billionaire and he didn’t get a cut, since he wanted some for his presidential library (spoiler: the billionaire did get the pardon). On the foreign front, Trump said “no” when asked whether he’d resume Iran strikes after the midterms and that he’s “in no rush,” which is better than usual, though Netanyahu reportedly wants strikes so he can throw Israel’s post-election process into chaos and force another election, and Iran promises a “powerful response” to any new attack. Finally, pro-Putin Iliana Yotova won Bulgaria’s presidential runoff with over 57% to Andrey Gyurov’s 39%, becoming its first elected female head of state on just 29% turnout, and while Bulgaria is in NATO, she opposes military aid to Ukraine and thinks talking to Putin will change his mind.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

WMTW: 2026 Midterm Election: How many people have voted early in the US?

NYT: Democrats Show Strength in Final Days of Race for the Senate, New Polls Find

WSJ: Trump Surprises Republicans With Election-Eve Speech About Reflecting Pool

WaPo: Trump administration lays out plan to overhaul D.C. golf course

NYT: Supreme Court Rejects Trump Administration Request to Intervene in California Ballot Case

Axios: Trump vows to protect Musk, floats pre-emptive staff pardons

NYT: As Midterms Near, Top Law Firms That Capitulated to Trump Are on the Sidelines

NYT: Trump Erupted After Learning of Alina Habba’s $50 Million Deal

Axios: Trump to Axios: "No rush" to decide on bombing Iran again

ABC News: Iran live updates: Tehran warns of 'powerful response' to any renewed attack

Yahoo: Pro-Putin candidate wins Bulgaria presidential run-off

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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Monday, November 2nd, 2026 - 54 Million Votes Are In, Trump Loses Twice In Court, Private Jet Crashes Near Mar-A-Lago Nov 02, 2026

Show notes

Today's Headlines: With the big day tomorrow, 54 million Americans have already voted, up 8 million from this point in 2022, and in the 27 states that report party affiliation, Democrats are outpacing both Republicans and unaffiliated voters, while in the 14 states that report by age, voters over 40 account for more than 80% of early votes. Meanwhile, Trump’s attempts to influence the results hit a wall when a federal judge dismissed his lawsuit to block certification of Alaska’s results if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, calling it “infeasible” because ballots are already cast and the government had no workable plan to segregate votes for the other Dan Sullivan while preserving voter secrecy, though the DOJ says it will appeal, naturally. The other big midterm drama came out of Michigan, where Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost the Senate primary, switched her endorsement from Democrat Abdul El Sayed to Republican Mike Rogers after insisting to colleagues as recently as the day before that she’d stick with El Sayed, and instead of attending a unity event with El Sayed at a Black church in Detroit, she popped up with Rogers at a different Black church, leaving her own staff to show up at the El Sayed event. Drama. On a more worrying note, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, 53, suffered a stroke Saturday but is reportedly awake, alert, and being treated at Johns Hopkins. In a first, ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales was indicted in Texas for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly ramming his car into a Mexican construction worker in Houston, leaving the man with a broken leg. Meanwhile, Trump had a rough Halloween when a federal judge threw out his $10 billion lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over the Epstein birthday book drawing, saying he was “grasping at straws” and dismissing it with prejudice so he can’t refile. Finally, a private jet from Austin to the Bahamas crashed near Cresthaven, Florida, reportedly not far from Mar-a-Lago, killing nine, with videos showing it nosediving into a fireball near a highway.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

USA Today: Early voting surges past 54 million, topping 2022 midterm total

AP News: Judge dismisses lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska Senate race

AP News: El-Sayed's primary opponent stuns Democrats by endorsing Republican opponent in Michigan Senate race

Politico: Haley Stevens' bombshell sends Michigan Senate race into chaos

NYT: Senator Chris Murphy Is ‘Awake and Alert’ After Suffering a Stroke

CNN: An ICE officer has been charged after striking a man with a car in Houston

AP News: 'Grasping at straws': Judge dismisses Trump suit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein letter

CNN: Learjet plane crash in Palm Beach County, Florida kills 9

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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Friday, October 30th, 2026 - Trump’s “Telerallies,” Alaska Probes Peltola, $1.7B Binance Hack Oct 30, 2026

Show notes

Today's Headlines: Trump canceled a bunch of his remaining pre-election rallies in favor of “telerallies,” and when asked why, he said “I don’t feel I have to go to Kansas,” then called the reporter disgusting and told them to “put yourself in shape, you look like hell.” Meanwhile, in Alaska, Gov. Mike Dunleavy ordered a criminal investigation into Mary Peltola’s campaign over its role in recruiting the other Dan Sullivan and suggested the state could withhold certification if Peltola wins, and the DOJ escalated with grand jury subpoenas and records preservation demands (fun detail: the incumbent Sullivan was himself recruited from Ohio to run against a different Dan Sullivan). The DOJ was busy elsewhere too, expanding its effort to prove thousands of noncitizens are on California’s voter rolls by issuing grand jury subpoenas to local election officials. On the foreign front, Ukraine agreed to pull back strikes on Russian oil refineries until after the midterms, just as Donald and Putin would like, while Russia keeps hitting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and cities and Trump keeps calling for Zelensky’s ouster. Back at the White House, the NYT reports Natalie Harp has moved her operation into Trump’s private dining room off the Oval Office, which might explain the extra unhinged mood, and he’s also trying to evict the press corps and turn the briefing room into an indoor swimming pool, following those gilded “FDR pool” renderings. On the security front, the NYT reports US intelligence sees Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as the target of a Chinese spy plot via a Singapore data center executive who was allegedly passing info to Beijing, and Trump was told and took no action against Huang, Nvidia, or China, while Hegseth told a judge that Trump’s DC arch is a “generational national defense opportunity” because you can deploy drones and snipers from it. Turning to capitalism, Alphabet had its worst day ever, losing roughly half a trillion dollars in market value after weak revenue drivers, higher costs, and cash worries during the AI transition, while DoorDash is buying Instacart for $17 billion and Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital is buying ADT for $7.6 billion. Finally, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao says hackers stole at least $1.7 billion, the largest crypto heist ever, though he insists “user funds are safe.” Ok.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

The Independent: Trump cancels final Kansas and Iowa rallies before Election Day — and unloads on reporters asking about it

NYT: Alaska Governor Orders Investigation Into Peltola Campaign Over Second Dan Sullivan Recruitment Claims

NYT: Trump Administration Pressures California With Expanded Voter Fraud Investigation

WSJ: Ukraine Pauses Strikes on Russian Refineries After Pressure From U.S.

NYT: As Trump Faces Down the Midterms, a Grim Mood Takes Over the White House

NYT: Trump Pushes to Evict White House Press Corps

NYT: Nvidia Chief, Jensen Huang, Is Seen as Target of Chinese Spy Plot

WaPo: Hegseth tells court Trump’s arch needed for national defense

WSJ: Alphabet Sheds Half a Trillion in Market Value in Stock’s Worst Day Ever

CNBC: DoorDash to acquire Instacart for $17 billion

WSJ: Josh Kushner’s Thrive to Buy ADT for $7.6 Billion

WSJ: Binance Suspends Transactions as It Probes What May Be Biggest-Ever Cyber Heist

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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Thursday, October 29th, 2026 - Brazil Probes JD Vance’s, Iran War Cost $47B, Labor Icon Huerta Dies at 96 Oct 29, 2026

Show notes

Today's Headlines: Flavio Bolsonaro arrived in Miami under the protection of our own president after missing Brazil’s Supreme Court deadline to surrender his passport, and the Trump administration, voted in to be tough on immigrants and crime, has given this criminal immigrant and his family visas, though Brazil’s Supreme Court isn’t backing down, with a justice ordering a police investigation into a donor network co-founded by JD Vance and its ties to Flavio’s campaign, which is a crime in Brazil if the money is foreign and should make things awkward with Lula. Speaking of Vance, he reportedly reached out to a powerful Iranian hardliner at Trump’s direction to revive peace talks, a classic good cop/bad cop while Trump threatens to restart the war after next week’s midterms, and the Pentagon told Congress the war has cost more than $47 billion so far. Meanwhile, Israel is still pending, since we technically know the results but not whether Gadi Eisenkot can form a coalition. Back home, Trump posted that the Alaska Senate election should be canceled and Sen. Dan Sullivan handed another term automatically, and he also called for Democrat Mary Peltola to be prosecuted after the NYT reported her campaign staffers helped recruit the other Dan Sullivan onto the ballot to siphon votes. On the health front, RFK Jr. announced he’ll use “enforcement discretion” to let companies sell unapproved peptide injections without FDA review, even though reporting says FDA scientists advised against widespread use and weren’t included in the decision. In economic news, the Fed held rates at 3.75 to 4% despite persistent inflation, with Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack dissenting in favor of a quarter-point hike. Finally, labor icon and United Farm Workers founder Dolores Huerta died at 96, leaving a legacy of fighting for immigrant, labor, and women’s rights, and 14 children.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

WaPo: Flávio Bolsonaro lands in Miami, declares himself Brazil’s true ‘leader’

WaPo: Brazilian judge orders investigation into JD Vance donor network

WSJ: Vance Reaches Out to Iranian Hard-Liner in Bid to Restart Peace Talks

AP News: Iran war's cost to American taxpayers grows to an estimated $47.1 billion

AP News: Takeaways from Israel's inconclusive election

WSJ: Trump Calls for Alaska Democratic Senate Candidate to Be Prosecuted

NYT: RFK Jr. to Allow Broad Use of Unapproved Peptide Injections

WSJ: Fed Holds Rates Steady but Two Officials Sought Another Increase

NYT: Dolores Huerta, Who Founded United Farm Workers With Cesar Chavez, Dies

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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Wednesday, October 28th, 2026 - Netanyahu Loses 14 Seats, Flavio Bolsonaro Flees to the US, Hackers Hit the FEC Oct 28, 2026

Show notes

Today's Headlines: Netanyahu’s party failed to win a majority in Israel’s election and, per exit polls, came in second behind opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, with Netanyahu’s coalition losing 14 seats from its 64 in 2022 to land around 50, while Eisenkot’s bloc has 52 or 53 and the two Arab parties hit record representation with 17 or 18 seats, which means Eisenkot would need them to form a government, and while final results are due in two days, a coalition could take weeks, and if no one reaches 61 seats, there’s another election. Over in Brazil, the just-defeated Flavio Bolsonaro fled to the US, fearing arrest after police asked for his passport in a billion-dollar money laundering probe, and the State Department says it plans to issue visas to him and his family, so happy to help, apparently. Back home, hackers targeted the FEC’s website a week before the midterms, knocking its campaign finance filing system offline during the most expensive election in history, with the FEC saying “we have a bad actor attempting to breach FEC systems,” which doesn’t exactly narrow it down, and meanwhile Trump posted a $1 million reward for tips on voter fraud, past or future, that lead to convictions, without saying where the money comes from. At the Pentagon, Hegseth ordered a one-day “stand down” so troops can vote, so here’s hoping they vote based on their experience with this war, and he’s also pressing Congress to formally authorize renaming the Defense Department the Department of War, which has so far only been done by executive order, at up to $125 million for new signs, websites, and uniforms. In Texas, a judge ruled that Gov. Greg Abbott must let his opponent, Democrat Gina Hinojosa, review over a thousand pages of unredacted communications with Elon Musk, a major Abbott donor, though Abbott is appealing. Finally, the FT reports that Don Jr. went on a two-day hunting trip in remote Mongolia with the Russian oligarch who paid for one of his Bahamas wedding parties, where he killed an endangered sheep with valuable horns, and afterward he had dinner with Mongolia’s president to discuss US-Mongolia relations and business opportunities.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

CNN: Netanyahu suffers rebuke in Israeli elections, exit polls indicate

NYT: Flávio Bolsonaro Leaves Brazil for the U.S. After Election Defeat

Axios: U.S. granting visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and family

Reuters: Hackers target US FEC system, disrupting campaign finance disclosures days before midterms

NBC News: Trump offers $1 million reward for voter fraud tips that lead to convictions

MS Now: Hegseth gave troops a day off to vote, but those votes may not break the way he hopes

The Hill: Pentagon presses Congress to keep measure changing name to ‘Department of War’

Bloomberg Law: Abbott’s Elon Musk Records Can Be Seen by Election Opponent (2)

The New Republic: Don Jr.’s Hunting Trip Reveals He’s Closer to Putin Ally Than We Knew

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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Tuesday, October 27th, 2026 - Flavio Bolsonaro Concedes, Comey Indicted Again, Anthropic Goes Public Oct 27, 2026

Show notes

Today's Headlines: Flavio Bolsonaro refused to concede to Lula and said he’d seek an annulment, and after Trump called the result “another rigged election,” Flavio conceded minutes later, though he still plans to sue over Lula’s “abuse of incumbency” (he’s also under investigation for corruption and money laundering, police ordered him to surrender his passport, and a source told the Washington Post he’s terrified his father will die in jail and that he’ll be jailed this week, so like father, like son). On the strongman beat, the WSJ reports the Trump administration is pushing Hungary’s ousted Viktor Orban for UN Secretary-General and trying to get Russia and China to “joint nominate” him, which would make it very likely. Meanwhile, Trump’s DOJ charged James Comey a third time, with two counts of leaking sensitive info to a New York Times reporter in 2016, which we only know because Comey asked a judge to unseal the indictment, and it was signed by specially appointed deputies of Todd Blanche rather than career prosecutors (the seashells case is delayed until 2027 while a judge weighs dismissal), and in what looks like a bizarre coincidence, just hours earlier a different judge ruled the DOJ wrongly fired Maurene Comey, the Epstein prosecutor and Comey’s daughter, and ordered her reinstated with backpay, which matters for the other prosecutors fired the same way. On the Epstein front, House Judiciary Democrats released a 50-plus page report on Trump’s documented ties to Epstein and are calling for an independent special counsel, also to look at Blanche’s conflicts and why the DOJ won’t release all the files. In tech news, Anthropic filed IPO paperwork, with a listing possible as soon as the week before Thanksgiving, and its 400-page filing shows it isn’t really profitable in the technical sense, though it earned over a billion dollars in interest on its cash and forecasts outcomes ranging from curing cancer to humans losing control of AI, while the FTC also demanded Anthropic executives testify in a consumer harm probe similar to its OpenAI investigation, with more subpoenas coming. Speaking of AI’s costs, Microsoft offered voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees, 27% of its workforce, as part of an “AI efficiency push.” Finally, Halloween candy prices are up 7.7% over the past year, more than twice overall inflation, and while the National Retail Federation forecasts record spending of $13.5 billion, NielsenIQ says candy sales are down almost 7%, and today is also Israel’s election day, so stay tuned.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

Reuters: Trump says Brazil election looked 'rigged' as Bolsonaro refuses to recognize Lula win

WSJ: Viktor Orbán, U.N. Secretary-General?

WaPo: Justice Dept. charges James Comey, ex-FBI director, for a third time

NBC News: Judge orders DOJ to reinstate former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, daughter of ex-FBI director

MS Now: House Judiciary Democrats release 50-page report on Trump’s alleged involvement in Epstein files

WSJ: The Biggest Takeaways From Anthropic’s IPO Prospectus

Axios: FTC demands Anthropic execs testify in expanding AI safety probe

CNBC: Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts as AI leads to efficiency push

WaPo: Halloween candy is more expensive than ever

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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Monday, October 26th, 2026 - Kushner’s Slush Fund, Trump’s Deposition, Preemptive Alaska Lawsuit Oct 26, 2026

Show notes

Today's Headlines: Vanity Fair excerpted a bombshell book alleging that in 2017, MBS and MBZ gave Jared Kushner a $750 million slush fund (reportedly stolen from a charity) to influence his father-in-law, with the Russians and the Dutch allegedly knowing for years after the Dutch flipped a dark web hacker working for Russia who handed over screenshots from a live feed of Kushner’s phone showing the fund and an Israeli account holding a billion dollars, and while the UAE allegedly funded it on the condition that Jared push Trump to kill the Iran deal (which happened a month later) and the money reportedly went to mercenary groups, a warlord, and a hitman, Kushner and his lawyers dispute all of it and are threatening to sue, which backfired when Simon & Schuster released the book two days early. Speaking of awkward legal positions, a federal judge ordered Trump to sit for a deposition in his defamation suit against the BBC over how it edited his January 6th speech in a 2024 documentary that never aired in the US, the first time one of his media lawsuits has forced him into discovery, and he’s trying to wriggle out of it. Meanwhile, Musk admitted on HIS little social media app that he cut off Starlink in Ukraine, blaming a loophole he says was Ukraine’s fault (they dispute that), and Reuters reports that both the Biden and Trump administrations have previously haggled with him over turning Starlink on or off. Over in Europe, more than 400,000 people protested in France for a second weekend, starting peacefully and getting less so, with demonstrations also in Madrid, Lisbon, Rome, Turin, and Milan, and in Albania government buildings were set on fire with 2,500 police deployed, and while it’s unrelated, fire also nearly destroyed Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in the Bavarian Alps in an arson attack, with a 33-year-old arrested who showed signs of mental illness, though prosecutors are checking for a political motive. Back home, midterm ad spending has passed $10 billion and is projected to hit a record $11.5 billion, with the Texas Senate race alone topping $500 million (much of it Elon’s), followed by Ohio at $450 million and Maine at $200 million, and Obama campaigned in Cleveland with Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton, while on the other side, the Trump DOJ sued Alaska to preemptively delay certifying results if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, citing the two Dan Sullivans on the ballot even though Alaska’s Supreme Court already let the second one stay, with Trump saying “I’m the one that said do it” and AG Todd Blanche defending it by saying “there could be a crime.” Elsewhere, strongmen are having a rough time, as Serbia’s Vucic conceded to the Students’ List after 14 years, Lula beat Bolsonaro’s son in Brazil’s runoff, and Israel votes tomorrow with Netanyahu reportedly begging Trump for more vocal support. Finally, Apollo’s chief economist found “zero payoff” from AI in productivity outside the Mag 7, and even there it’s mostly those companies paying each other, while the rest of corporate America is pulling back and treating token spending as a cost center.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

Vanity Fair: The Art of the Deal: Jared Kushner’s Hacked Phone Revealed His Secret Negotiations—Including More Than $700 Million in Transfers | Vanity Fair

WSJ: Trump Must Sit for Deposition in BBC Lawsuit, Judge Orders

NBC News: Elon Musk says SpaceX closed Ukraine Starlink ‘loophole,’ while Kyiv denies breaching terms

Reuters: US has for years asked Musk to alter Starlink service in Ukraine, Middle East, sources say

NPR: Soldiers guard center of Milan as thousands of protesters march in cities across Europe

AP News: A fire devastates the Eagle's Nest retreat built for Hitler in Germany. A suspect is detained

Time: Midterm Ad Spending Has Surpassed $10B. Where Is the Money Coming From?

C-Span: Fmr. President Obama Campaigns with Ohio Democratic Candidates in Cleveland | Video

PBS: Trump says he ordered suit to block Alaska Senate results if GOP loses

WaPo: Todd Blanche defends DOJ lawsuit over Senate election in Alaska

AP News: Serbia’s strongman leader Vucic concedes defeat to student-led movement in seismic political shift