Tuesday morning news: November 12, 2024

Trump appointments » President-elect Trump has named several new leaders for key posts in his administration.

They include former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin, who would head EPA with an eye on scaling back regulations in an effort to boost the economy.

ZELDIN:  I'm excited to get in a work to implement president Trump's economic agenda. And I think the American people are so hungry for it. It's one of the big reasons why they're sending them back to the white house.

The Senate will have to confirm Zeldin.

Trump has picked Congresswoman and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stafanik as Ambassador to the UN. And he has reportedly offered the role of National Security Advisor to Florida Congressman Mike Walz.

The Senate would have to sign off on those picks as well. But a couple of other new appointments will not need its approval including his new border czar.

That will be former acting director Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Tom Homan, who said every day he feels anger.

HOMAN: … about what this administration did to the most secure board in my lifetime. So I'm going to go back and do what I can to fix it.

He’ll be tasked with overseeing what Trump has called the largest deportation of illegal immigrants in US history.

The president-elect is naming longtime adviser Stephen Miller to be the deputy chief of staff.

Miller was a senior adviser in Trump’s first term and was a central figure in many of his policy decisions.

GOP Senate leader race / House election update » President Trump will rely heavily on a new Republican-majority Senate to help carry out his agenda. And several lawmakers are vying to replace outgoing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

KENNEDY:  President Trump is going to do things differently, and we will pick, pick a leader who will help him do that.

Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, is not running for the leadership post and hasn’t publicly endorsed anyone.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune might be the frontrunner right now, but there’s no consensus. He’s up against John Cornyn of Texas and Florida’s Rick Scott, who has the endorsement of numerous key figures within Trump’s inner circle.

SCOTT:  I'm very optimistic that I'm going to win because I'm representing Trump's agenda and what my colleagues want.

Republican senators will vote tomorrow by secret ballot.

Senator-elect Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania is not allowed into the freshman orientation until Democratic Sen. Bob Casey concedes. But Republicans will allow him to vote in the leadership race.

FEMA scandal » Republican lawmakers in both chambers are sounding off about a scandal within the ranks of FEMA.  In the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, a FEMA supervisor told relief workers in Florida to skip over houses that had Trump campaign signs in front of their homes.

Florida Congressman Greg Steube:

STEUBE:  If it was happening in Lake Placid, I can guarantee you it was happening in other places all across the great state of Florida and the country.

That supervisor has reportedly been fired, but Steube says he wants the Oversight Committee to subpoena her and ask her under oath whether those orders came from higher up the chain.

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell says it was an isolated incident. She’ll be called to Congress to testify about the matter next week.

Israel-Hezbollah » Israel’s new foreign minister Gideon Saar says there has been some progress toward a cease-fire with Hezbollah. He says Israel is ready to halt the fighting, provided

SAAR:. If we'll know first of all, that Hezbollah is not on our border, is North and to Del Litani River and that Hezbollah will not be able to arm again. With new, uh, weapon systems.

But a spokesman for the Iran-backed terror group in Lebanon said it had not received any official proposal and was prepared to wage a long war.

President-elect Trump has reportedly spoken to multiple leaders here in the Middle East over the past couple of days, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about working toward ending conflicts in the Middle East. That according to Fox News.

Haiti PM » More upheaval in Haiti where lawmakers have ousted the country’s prime minister just six months after he was appointed. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council on Sunday fired interim Prime Minister Garry Conille … and named businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aime to replace him.

Conille called his removal unconstitutional, saying only parliament has the authority to dismiss him.

The council currently exercises the powers of the president until one is elected and inaugurated.

An anti-corruption group last month accused three council members of demanding hundreds of thousands in bribes from a bank director.

Council members had appointed Conille in May … marking the second time he has held the position.

Conille previously served as prime minister in 2011 but resigned just four months later following tensions with then-President Michel Martelly.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

China aircraft carrier » China may be building its first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as it works to build a navy capable of rivaling the US Navy.

The Chinese military appears to have completed a land-based prototype of a nuclear reactor that could be used to power carriers in the future.

The world’s second-most powerful military already has three conventionally-powered carriers.

But adding nuclear-powered vessels to its fleet would be a major step in realizing its ambitions to build a force capable of operating around the globe in a growing challenge to the United States.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: voters in seven states removed protections for the unborn in recent elections…what’s next for pro-lifers? Plus, a trip underground in Houston, Texas.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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