Morning Announcements

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices