Trump revives 2020 election claims in speech; Wildfire smoke spreads across US

President Trump says foreign governments are targeting U.S. elections, and he wants to make it much harder to do

Plus, the meeting one senator demanded before backing Todd Blanche, and why it did not win over everyone in the room

And the smoke is spreading, the air is getting worse, and millions of people are being urged to take precautions

The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world

These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow. Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli

We begin this morning with President Trump's primetime address, where he unveiled newly declassified intelligence he says exposes major election security gaps

while again pressing Congress to pass the Save America Act. Every American deserves to know that when they cast their vote

that vote will be counted accurately in a system, and that is to make that system secure

One where cheating and interference are not just difficult, but virtually impossible

Unfortunately, the system we have today falls catastrophically short of that standard

Trump claims China bought, stole, or hacked tens of millions of voter files across 18 states

and accused a deep state conspiracy of keeping that information from the public

But much of the material he cited describes China's use of publicly available voter data

to influence public opinion, not change vote totals. This evidence shows that the election system we have dangerously exposes

and really exposes, like levels never thought possible, to hacking, exploitation, and foreign interference

just as disturbingly this vital information has for many years been covered up and hidden from you

Trump said the declassified documents prove America's election system is vulnerable to foreign interference

But one of those documents, a 2020 National Intelligence Council assessment, reached a different conclusion

saying vote tabulation systems would be difficult to manipulate on a scale large enough to change an election

The president is using the documents to build support for the Save America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and would sharply limit mail-in voting

But most importantly, addressing this crisis of election security demands that Congress must pass the Save America Act

How easy is that to do unless you want to cheat? The only reason you wouldn't do it is you want to cheat because your policies are so bad and your candidates are so pathetic that you can't get away or can't get elected any other way

Democrats say Trump is revisiting false claims about the 2020 election to justify changes they believe would restrict voting ahead of this year midterms This is not about 2020 It is about

2026. The president is rehashing his demented fantasies about an election being stolen in 2020

as a pretext for interfering in the election in 2026. He knows that he is on course to lose in 2026

And instead of doing something for the people, he's trying to interfere in our elections

Senator John Ossoff said the speech was an attempt to undermine confidence in future elections

saying he heard, quote, a president signaling his unmistakable intent to attack these elections and our voting rights

just as he tried to throw out our votes and seize the presidency in 2020

While Michigan Senator Alyssa Slotkin warned, she fears the administration could use the military to interfere with voting

What if they send in the military and they say, you know what, we're coming into this voting location

We're going to seize machines. What will we do? What if they don't have a warrant

The war between the U.S. and Iran is spreading farther across the Gulf this morning

with Kuwait now reporting damage to critical infrastructure after an Iranian attack

Kuwait's electricity, water and renewable energy ministry says an Iranian strike hit a power station

that also houses a major desalination plant, sparking a fire and damaging multiple electricity generation units

Crews extinguish the fire and are assessing the damage. Desalination plants provide most of Kuwait's drinking water

The attack came as U.S. forces completed a sixth night of strikes inside Iran

CENTCOM says American forces hit dozens of Iranian military targets overnight. Iran fired missiles toward U.S. allies in the region

Qatar twice warned residents to take shelter, while Kuwait and Bahrain issued their own emergency alerts

The Strait of Hormuz remains the center of the conflict as U.S. forces continue to disrupt Iranian shipping

CENTCOMP says American forces have now redirected three commercial vessels, disabled an oil tanker, and boarded another ship since the blockade began

Back in Washington, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's path to become the nation's top law enforcement officer

may now hinge on a meeting he's now had with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse

Blanche returned to Capitol Hill Thursday for a second day of his confirmation hearings, where Republican Senator Tom Tillis said

he won't vote to advance the nomination until Blanche meets face-to-face with Epstein's survivors

Tillis says he's, quote, trying to get to yes, but called the meeting essential

before the Senate Judiciary Committee takes up the nomination in the coming weeks

And because it seemed to me that Mr Blanche was willing to say that he would meet with them and counsel I understand the restriction that council has to be present I expect that meeting to occur before I willing to vote out of this committee And I trying to get to yes but this is a very important part of getting

to yes. The issue gained new attention Thursday after Epstein survivor, Danny Benski, testified

that she and other victims repeatedly asked to meet with Justice Department leaders

but never received a meeting. After leaving the hearing, Blanche told reporters he rearranged his

schedule to meet with survivors, though an earlier attempt to get together did not work out

Because the Department of Justice will always meet with victims or their representatives

And if those victims or their representatives have evidence that anybody committed a crime

whether it has to do with Jeffrey Epstein, anybody else that was associated with Jeffrey Epstein

or anybody else, we will of course move forward and investigate and prosecute. So

that's what we're going to do. I expect that there'll be a time that works for their

representatives, and we'll go from there. That meeting was later held Thursday afternoon at

Justice Department headquarters, where Blanche met with survivors, their attorneys, FBI agents

and victim services representatives for about an hour. Afterwards, the Justice Department called

the discussion productive and said Blanche encourages anyone with new evidence to come

forward. But several survivors said the meeting left them disappointed, with Danny Benski calling

it, quote, a check-in-the-box exercise, and Annie Farmer urging senators to vote against his

confirmation. If you step outside this morning and the sky looks hazy or the sun has an orange tint

you're not imagining it. Wildfire smoke from Canada is spreading across the eastern half of

the country, and for millions of people, today could be the worst of it. From New York City to

Chicago, which you're looking at, people are masking up as thick smoke from Canadian wildfires

pushes air quality to unhealthy and in some places hazardous levels. I was a bit surprised

I live down in Miami, so we don't really get that much wildfires happening and it's a bit

overwhelming. I had to run to the store and buy myself a mask and a emergency inhaler and I was

not expecting this. The smoke, as you see here, is pouring south from hundreds of active fires

burning across Ontario and British Columbia, where crews continue to battle large out-of-control wildfires

The smoke has also turned skies hazy across the Midwest and Northeast

and triggering air quality alerts from the Great Lakes to New England. Come out the subway, chest started to give me some issues, nose was burning, I can taste it

So I'm just sitting here like, wow, I really need a mask. One pilot flying near Thunder Bay, Ontario

thought he was looking at a line of thunderstorms until he got closer and realized the massive plume below

was smoke pouring from active wildfires. In fact, some pilots are now reporting ash buildup

on their plane windshield while they are flying Health officials are urging people especially children older adults and those with heart or lung conditions to limit time outdoors if they can Forecasters say conditions should start to improve across parts of the Northeast later today

though smoke could linger into the weekend in some areas as new plumes continue to drift south

And this is getting a lot of attention this morning. a longtime member of President Trump's staff is now on unpaid leave after allegedly using inside access to the president's speeches to make more than $100,000 in bets

Federal regulators say Gabriel Perez, who has operated President Trump's teleprompter since the 2016 campaign

placed bets on whether the president would say certain words or phrases during more than a dozen speeches

Calci, the prediction market where the bets were placed, flagged the trades earlier this year

froze Perez's account and referred the case to federal regulators after suspecting he may have used non-public information

Investigators believe Perez made more than $100,000. And ABC News reports he is now in talks to settle the allegations

Well, the White House has extremely strict ethical guidelines with respect to issues like this

And as I just told you, this individual will no longer be here

The administrative leave is unpaid, to be very clear. That was a decision by the president, so I think that speaks for itself

According to investigators, Perez had access to draft speeches before they were delivered

and in some cases even changed his bets mid-speech when the president went off script

Federal regulators are now working toward a civil settlement that could require Perez to give up his profits

and bar him from making similar bets in the future. Finally this morning in Great Britain, they're still getting over a heartbreaking World Cup loss

England fell to Argentina 2-1 in the semifinals this week, and even King Charles is feeling it

King Charles and Queen Camilla visited a brewery in Dorset Thursday to help celebrate its 250th anniversary

While sampling a couple of pints, the king joked that it was a good day to drown a few sorrows

The royal family also posted a message on social media telling England's team

you remain the pride of the nation and will rise again. As for the World Cup final, defending champion Argentina will face Spain on Sunday afternoon

at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. Eastern

Should be a good game. Tune in and see if, well, Messi scores. No noise, no sides

Unbiased updates gives you the facts straight. You can watch us anytime at san.com or on the app

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Sign up at san.com slash newsletters. Those are your Unbiased Updates for this Friday

We'll see you back here on Monday. For all of us here at Straight Arrow, I'm Craig DeGrali. Have a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend