1 US And Iran Exchange New Attacks In Persian Gulf
Israel and Hezbollah continued trading attacks yesterday despite President Trump announcing Monday night that both sides had agreed to stop shooting. Trump said he held a "very productive" call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had threatened to strike Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's Dahiyeh district, and also reached Hezbollah through what he called "highly placed representatives," with both sides agreeing to a mutual halt. But the Israeli military launched new strikes in Lebanon yesterday after accusing Hezbollah of overnight attacks, and Hezbollah claimed multiple operations against Israeli targets, including a rocket attack on an Israeli tank. Trump described Monday's Lebanon flare-up as "a little glitch”… on the U.S.-Iran peace talks front, Trump told CNBC the talks were getting "boring" and that he didn't care if they collapsed, then almost immediately posted that they were continuing "at a rapid pace."
2 Election Results - Los Angeles Mayor, California Governor, And More
It was a big primary election night in several states last night, with some returns continuing to come in. As expected, vote tallies were slow to come in for some California races; state law usually leads to longer times before close elections are called. As of 1 am Eastern Time, Republican Steve Hilton was in the lead for Governor of California with 1,144,075 votes, followed closely by Democrat Xavier Becerra with 1,097,863. For mayor of Los Angeles, as of 1 am Eastern Time, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass was in front with 136208 votes, while Spencer Pratt was second with 111,021 with 47.3-percent of the vote counted. Democrat Scott Wiener was called as the winner of the Democratic primary to replace former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In the New Jersey Senate primaries, incumbent Democratic Sen. Cory Booker had no opposition, and Justin Murphy was called as the winner of the Republican nomination late last night by the Associated Press.
3 President Names Controversial Housing Official Bill Pulte As Acting Director Of National Intelligence
President Trump announced yesterday that he is naming Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director of national intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard, who announced last month she is resigning after her husband was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. Pulte is one of the administration's most controversial figures: while at the FHFA, he sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department alleging mortgage fraud by several prominent Democrats and Trump critics, including New York AG Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff; all denied wrongdoing. The GAO launched an investigation into whether Pulte misused federal authority in doing so. Trump said Pulte will continue running the FHFA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac simultaneously while serving as acting DNI, a job that oversees all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.