The A.M. Update

Aaron McIntire covers Harmeet Dhillon's resignation as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, the first senior departure since the midterms, with Dhillon telling Fox News she submitted her resignation three weeks earlier and agreed to wait at the White House's request, and Attorney General Todd Blanche thanking her for her service. He covers Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass conceding to Councilmember Nithya Raman, and California Governor Gavin Newsom commuting the sentences of all 548 death row inmates to life without parole, the largest mass commutation in modern U.S. history. Aaron plays Florida Governor Ron DeSantis saying Republicans spent hundreds of millions of dollars on transgender ads while fighting yesterday's battles, and notes that voters in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska and Washington approved or appeared likely to approve limits on transgender athletes in girls' sports, with Arizona also covering bathrooms and locker rooms. He covers comedian Russell Brand's conviction in London on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, acquittals on two other rape counts and an attempted indecent assault charge, and sentencing set for Monday. Aaron closes the week with a reflection on faithfulness and persistence after the midterms, including a viral X post from a man who vowed to quit drinking and doomscrolling.

Aaron McIntire breaks down Vice President JD Vance's lengthy X post-mortem on the midterms, in which Vance wrote that the reason Republicans lost is the Iran war, and that a pollster found disaffected 2024 Trump voters wanted the war ended, a focus on cost of living and inflation, an America First agenda and a changed relationship with Israel. He plays President Trump telling reporters at the White House ballroom construction site that Vance's assessment was largely true because the war drove gas prices up, while saying he would do it again, and notes Trump's Election Day announcement that U.S. military aid to Israel will end at year's end. Aaron reacts to Democrats winning both chambers in a historic wipeout, and to Trump touting the new ballroom the morning after the election, which Aaron says is not going to cut it. He argues the administration should get out of Iran, end tariffs as they are being used, focus on the cost of living and drop the ballroom and reflecting pool talk, and predicts Democrats will overreach. Aaron closes by saying his benefit of the doubt for the administration is running out, while still holding out hope for good things from the White House.

Aaron McIntire breaks down election night, saying Republicans lost ground nearly everywhere they were in competitive races, with Democrats winning the House, James Talarico winning the Texas Senate race and Sen. Darline Graham losing in South Carolina. Recording Wednesday morning with votes still being counted, he says Democrats also led or won in races including Iowa's Senate and governor contests, Georgia's Senate and governor races and Ohio, while Republicans held Kentucky, and he calls Florida the lone Republican firewall. He says the margins were too lopsided to blame cheating and argues the causes were high gas prices, tariffs, the Iran war and a lack of an affirmative Republican message. Aaron credits Governor Ron DeSantis's Florida Republicans for giving voters reasons to turn out, and says Republicans must deliver on promises like limits on eminent domain at the state level. He closes with a call to resist despair and demand that elected leaders follow through.

  Aaron McIntire covers Election Day 2026 and the last-minute news before the polls, including a limited U.S. "defensive" strike on Iran's Qeshm Island, the Supreme Court's rejection of the Trump administration's bid to set aside 20,000 California mail ballots, and the Florida Learjet crash that killed nine people. He notes the Learjet crash near Greenacres involved a Texas family of four and a 20-year-old co-pilot and is under NTSB investigation, and that officials called the Qeshm strike a response to Iran firing at a U.S. aircraft rather than a return to major combat. Aaron breaks down what he is watching tonight, including independent voters in Iowa, where he says early Republican voting is up sharply from 2022, and whether a younger generation of voters could be a wild card in states like Texas. He shares his predictions, not results, including Republican holds in Ohio, South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Iowa and Kansas, Democratic wins by Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota, Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and James Talarico in Texas that he says he hopes are wrong, Zach Lahn winning Iowa's governor race, and roughly a 60 percent chance Democrats win both chambers of Congress. He closes by urging everyone to vote and says he will stay up late for the results.

Aaron McIntire covers reports that the Justice Department has intensified a criminal investigation into Alaska's second Senate candidate named Dan Sullivan after a New York Times report on Mary Peltola's campaign, plus President Trump's call for prosecutions, while Alaska's Supreme Court has already ruled the candidacy can stay on the ballot. He plays Barack Obama's campaign pitch on child care and health premiums, and covers the death of actor Patrick Stewart, 86, who died Wednesday after a brief journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. Aaron also highlights former NFL quarterback Alex Smith telling the Bussin' With the Boys podcast how rehab at the military's Center for the Intrepid helped him overcome shame over his leg injury. In AOTMA, he answers listener questions on YouTube video quality, whether young voters are skipping polls, how likely Republicans are to hold both chambers of Congress, the America Next PAC ad, and the courts, and closes with a faith montage from the World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers.

Aaron McIntire covers a New York Times report that staffers for Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola were told in 2025 to find as many people named Dan Sullivan as they could, ahead of a second Dan Sullivan appearing on the ballot against Republican Senator Dan Sullivan; Peltola's campaign denies recruiting him, and Attorney General Todd Blanche says the Justice Department is suing over the ballot. He covers ICE arrests of two more Haitian nationals in Ohio accused of fraudulently collecting SNAP benefits, and Vice President JD Vance's Kinston, North Carolina rally for Michael Whatley, where he blamed Roy Cooper for the killing of Iryna Zarutska, a claim Cooper's campaign disputes. Aaron also covers Hennepin County's felony charges of unlawful voting and identity theft against James O'Keefe and Cam Higby over their August primary polling place stunt, in which prosecutors say they gave election judges the names of real registered voters, while the pair says they were testing Minnesota's vouching law. He plays New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's early voting video saying voters need not bring ID to the polls, which Aaron compares to the Minnesota case. Aaron also marks the Spanish high-speed train collision south of Madrid that has killed at least 68 people, which Spain's transport minister blames on an inexplicable control center decision. He closes with his mixed reaction to America Next PAC's "Full of Hate" ad, which aired during sports broadcasts, and previews Friday's Ask Or Tell Me Anything.

Aaron McIntire covers President Trump's Corpus Christi rally for Ken Paxton, where Alexis Nungaray, mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, spoke about her daughter's 2024 killing by two Venezuelan men who entered the country illegally, and Trump's claims that Democrats cheat in elections. He covers Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro reportedly leaving for the United States two days after losing the runoff to Lula, despite a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports in a money-laundering probe, as the State Department says it will issue visas to him and his family. Aaron also covers U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz's shouting match with Cuba's foreign minister during a General Assembly embargo debate, and former FBI Director James Comey's response to a third federal case over alleged leaks to the New York Times. He plays House Speaker Mike Johnson urging Christians not to sit out the midterms, and Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon's answer on whether Cuba is a dictatorship, which drew criticism from Republicans and some Democrats after CBS deleted and corrected its initial post about it. Aaron breaks down Israel's election exit polls showing neither Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc nor Gadi Eisenkot's reaching 61 seats, and Pakistan's Supreme Court upholding the death sentence of Christian Qaiser Ayub in a blasphemy case while acquitting his brother. He closes with DHS General Counsel James Percival's pushback on a 60 Minutes question about law-abiding immigrants and his argument against sitting out the election.

Aaron McIntire covers President Trump's Truth Social pledge of $1 million to anyone who reports voter fraud leading to an arrest and conviction, a plan with no details yet on funding or who would administer it. He covers Trump calling Brazil's runoff "another rigged election" after Lula beat Flávio Bolsonaro 51.8 percent to 48.2 percent and Bolsonaro refused to concede, and he questions the vote swing between rounds, though Brazil's electoral court certified the result and no fraud evidence has been presented. Aaron also covers Barack Obama's Saddam Hussein Cheesecake Factory joke about Trump's gold-accented White House renovations and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's lunchtime response outside a Cheesecake Factory. He plays House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries telling MS NOW that Democrats will hold Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accountable if Trump does not push him aside, ahead of an impeachment resolution expected after the midterms, and a new Gallup survey in which 46 percent of Republicans and 6 percent of Democrats named patriotism among the values the country needs most. Aaron reacts to newly circulating remarks from a 2023 speech by Texas Senate nominee James Talarico on what Jesus would say to the Texas legislature, and Vice President JD Vance's Montana campaign stop, where he said Democrats will bend the knee to Pelosi and Schumer. He closes with Microsoft's voluntary buyout offer to about 60,000 employees, roughly 27 percent of its workforce, which the company ties to its AI spending and which Aaron suspects could signal offshoring.

Aaron McIntire covers President Trump's Michigan rally for Mike Rogers, where he attacked Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who denies claims of Muslim Brotherhood ties, and a viral Oval Office exchange in which Trump snapped at reporter Andrew Feinberg over a golf course question. He breaks down the Pentagon's FORTRESS initiative requiring major U.S. military bases to sustain essential operations for 90 days without outside power or supplies, a planned requirement rather than a forecast of a nationwide blackout. Aaron also covers the full Fifth Circuit's 10 to 7 ruling that immigrants who entered without inspection have no constitutional right to bond hearings while detained, ahead of a related Supreme Court case. He covers Rep. Ilhan Omar's first TV interview since the search of her home, where she said "not to my knowledge" when asked if she is related to her former husband, and a New York Post report on her sister's 1997 marriage certificate listing the surname Elmi, which does not establish whether the two are related. Aaron plays former President Barack Obama's Detroit rally pitch for El-Sayed, the Coast Guard rescue swimmer who saved 16 people from a capsized boat off Baja California where 11 others were never found, and a tally of 64 bear attacks across North America this year.

Aaron McIntire covers the AI-assisted discovery of two critical flaws in PHP, the programming language behind a large share of websites, which led European governments and U.S. organizations to take sites offline Wednesday while the FBI and NSA urged immediate updates. He covers Rep. Ilhan Omar breaking her silence with a fundraising appeal after the search of her home, and a court filing listing her as "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar," which some conservatives read as evidence of a false identity though prosecutors have not said so. Aaron also covers the Supreme Court leaving in place an injunction that blocks the Bureau of Prisons from ending so-called "gender-affirming care," with Justices Alito and Thomas dissenting. He plays Vice President JD Vance telling Republicans to stop whining about Vivek Ramaswamy's ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged mother, which Ramaswamy has taken responsibility for, and Senator John Cornyn's CNBC remarks on low-turnout primary runoffs. Aaron covers Elon Musk's claim that the March Austin bar shooter was fired from Tesla after assaulting a coworker, details that match a lawsuit filed in March, and polling firm Wedgewood's admission that it fabricated its poll data. He closes with his weekly poll results and his midterm outlook.