Maine Senate debate centers on Trump; Student protests sweep across France

A key Senate race becomes a fight over President Trump

She stood with Donald Trump whenever he wanted that. 96% of the time she votes with him

When President Biden was in office, I voted with him 92% of the time

Susan Collins and Troy Jackson clash in their first debate. Plus, Krista Pike is awake and speaking after Tennessee's failed attempt to execute her

Now, her lawyers are heading to court for answers. and students take to the streets across France

More than a quarter million people join the protests as police fire tear gas and make hundreds of arrests

The stories that matter. The facts you can trust. From across the country to around the world

this is Unbiased Updates from Straight Arrow. Hey everybody, I'm Christian Bryant

Glad you're hanging out with us this morning. Let's get you caught up and ready for the day ahead

President Trump wasn't on the debate stage in Maine last night, but he was at the center of the fight

Republican Senator Susan Collins and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson faced off for the first time with Jackson going after Collins' record with the president

Collins said he was misrepresenting it. She stood with Donald Trump whenever he wanted that. 96% of the time she votes with him

We're in a Congress right now that's totally given up their authority to President Trump

I mean, there's all kinds of laws that he's not following, and Senator Collins is not forcing him to follow those laws

He has said that I vote with President Trump 95 percent of the time

He is using a study that looked at only 30 percent of the votes

If you look at the study that looked at 90% of the vote, you will find that drops to 72%

When President Biden was in office, I voted with him 92% of the time

So this is greatly misleading. The two also clashed over abortion with Jackson going after Collins for her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh

Collins defended that vote and pointed to her own breaks with Trump, including his war with Iran and tariffs on Canada

They also split sharply over immigration. Jackson wants to abolish ICE, while Collins says the agency needs to be reformed

Voting is already underway in Maine and the two candidates still have three more televised debates before Election Day Krista Pike lawyers say she now awake and speaking nearly a week after Tennessee failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection Her lawyers are due in court today trying to get more

information from the Tennessee Department of Corrections about what went wrong. The 50-year-old

Pike remains in the hospital after the state administered two doses of Pinto-Barbital last

Wednesday but failed to kill her. Her lawyers say she suffered severe damage to both arms and

remains handcuffed to her hospital bed. They say her prognosis is still unclear and they expect

at a minimum, a long recovery. Today's hearing centers on an emergency motion filed by Pike's

lawyers asking a judge to order the state to preserve all evidence from the failed execution

Pike's survival after receiving the state's full lethal injection protocol is believed to be

unprecedented. France is waking up to another day of deep unrest after more than a quarter million

people took to the streets Tuesday, backing a student protest movement that has spread

across the country. Students have been blockading high schools for more than two weeks, demanding

more funding, better school conditions, and more teachers. On Tuesday, they were joined

by teachers, other public workers, and supporters in cities across France. The French government

says 266,000 people marched nationwide, including 56,000 in Paris. Most of that march was peaceful, but small groups clashed with riot police in Paris and

officers used tear gas to control crowds. Nearly 500 people were detained Tuesday, and the police response is now part of the story

Thousands have been arrested since the school protests began, most of them minors, and a

15-year-old boy lost a hand Monday in an incident involving a police stun grenade

The protests are adding to the pressure on President Emmanuel Macron as France deals

with a budget crisis, higher fuel prices, and a presidential election next spring

Macron can't run again, and the fight over who replaces him is already underway

Recent polls have shown far-right leader Marine Le Pen ahead of her rivals as France heads

into what could be another day of protests. The U.S. is now formally pressing Russia for more information about the mysterious death of a worker at a plague research lab in Siberia

The State Department has issued a formal diplomatic complaint asking Russia to be more transparent about what happened That according to ABC News The 28 lab worker died last week from what Russian

officials have called pneumonia of unknown origin. Russia says no plague cases have been detected

and testing of people who had contact with her has not found plague or other dangerous

infectious diseases. But the World Health Organization is asking Russia for more details

including about reports of a second lab employee with pneumonia of unknown origin

The WHO also wants to know what caused the first worker's severe pneumonia

President Trump told reporters Tuesday he expects to speak with Vladimir Putin soon, possibly today

Mr. President, on the plague in Russia, have you spoken with President Putin

I have a call scheduled. When is that call scheduled for? Very soon

And now, is this the call this week? What are the intelligence agencies saying about the Russian playbook

So far, we're in very deep discussions. We'll be able to report about it probably tomorrow

British police have arrested a seventh person in connection with a suspected terror plot

targeting a U.S. airbase in the U.K. Police arrested a 22-year-old British man in London Tuesday on suspicion of preparing

acts of terrorism. They also searched a home in Westminster but have not released any other details

The arrest comes as a U.S. official tells the Associated Press the Trump administration believes Iran was behind the plot with the goal of killing American troops and destroying U.S. military aircraft

The U.S. has since pulled all of its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford

Iran denies any involvement. British police say the investigation is ongoing. Six of the other men arrested have been released on bail

Back here in Washington, the former Olympian falsely accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

now wants the Justice and Interior Departments investigated over how his case was handled

David Hearn's lawyers sent letters to both departments' inspectors' general Tuesday accusing government officials of rushing to charge him, even though evidence showed the pool liner was already failing

Hearn was arrested in June after touching a piece of pool liner he says was already loose

He spent five hours in jail and was later indicted on a felony charge

In the letter, they say that Mr. Hearn was deprived of his liberty, indicted for a crime he did not commit

threatened with incarceration of up to 10 years, and endured the defaming of his name and reputation

by high-ranking government officials. U Attorney Jeanine Pirro later dropped the case after saying the damage came from a contractor botched installation not vandalism Hearn lawyers now say prosecutors had evidence of problems with the liner before they took the case to a grand jury

The letter also points to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and President Trump, who publicly criticized Pirro for dropping the case

But last week, a judge dismissed it with prejudice, meaning prosecutors can't bring it back

In a statement, the Justice Department said the Office of the Inspector General operates

independently and makes its own decisions about what to review. Finally this morning, if you've ever wondered what a cat would make of an aquarium

we now have some answers. Take a look. Two dozen rescue kittens got a field trip to the Sea Life Aquarium at the Mall of America in

Minnesota. The Biddy Kitty Brigade, a local rescue group, brought them along to, quote

pass the time while they wait to get adopted. And for nearly two hours, the cats with

names like Turkey Leg, Lottie Dottie, Bendy Wendy, and Mouth Trap, bounced around the aquarium

checking out the fish. At least one of them apparently found the whole thing just a little

exhausting, but there is a reason for the field trip. The rescue says outings like this help the

kittens socialize and get used to new experiences before they're adopted. Before we head out

here's what we're tracking today, folks. At noon Eastern, a court hearing on Krista Pike's

emergency request to preserve evidence from her failed execution attempt. At one, President Trump

makes an announcement from the White House. At two, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth welcomes the

USS Lincoln home from deployment and speaks to the crew. And tonight, Trump delivers remarks in

San Antonio, Texas. Unbiased Updates gives you the headlines. Offscript gives you everything that

comes next. It's a new podcast where we talk to the straight arrow journalists behind our reporting

Watch Offscript tomorrow, only on SAN.com or our app. Before we go, feel free to get in touch

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I am extremely bias-sensitive and 99% satisfied with SAN Direction. best of luck many thanks john we really appreciate that we're glad you're watching that's unbiased

updates for this wednesday for the unbiased updates team and all of us at straight arrow

i'm christian bryant have a great one see you again soon