- Tuesday June 9th, 2026
- "It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
- --Geoff Metcalf
- Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
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World & Nation
Trump vows to retaliate against Iran after revealing US AH-64 Apache helicopter was shot down over Strait of Hormuz
President Trump confirmed Tuesday that Iran shot down the American
Apache attack helicopter that crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, vowing
to respond to Tehran’s latest act of aggression.
“I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the
Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters
while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” the president wrote on
Truth Social.
“There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured.
Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this
attack,” he added.
Trump says Iran responsible for shooting down Apache helicopter, says US must respond
President Donald Trump blamed Iran for shooting down a U.S. Apache
helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night, vowing to respond
in a Tuesday post on Truth Social.
"I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the
Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters
while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz. There were two pilots
involved, both are safe and uninjured," Trump wrote.
"Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this
attack. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump concluded.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced a historic rescue mission for
the helicopter pilots Tuesday morning, while officials confirmed to Fox
News that the downed pilots were rescued using an Unmanned Surface
Vessel (USV) sea drone in a first-of-its-kind mission.
Energy Secretary: Hormuz Ship Traffic Rising 'Very Meaningfully'
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Tuesday that ship traffic through
the Strait of Hormuz is rising "very meaningfully" as the conflict with
Iran continues.
"I would say rising very meaningfully," Wright said when asked how
ship traffic is flowing through the Strait compared to a week or two
ago. Wright made the remarks during an Atlantic Council conference and
added that it would take many months to get back to normal flows of
energy once the war is over.
Vessel movements on the strait have been largely blocked since U.S.
and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, interrupting around 20%
of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
Ukraine war latest: Russia issues nuclear weapon threat to NATO
Russia has issued a nuclear weapon threat "to ensure security" in response to Nato strengthening its eastern flank.
Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin has said Russia and
Belarus are constantly ready to use all available means, including
nuclear weapons.
Nato yesterday announced that its Forward Land Forces (FLF) Finland,
including the Alliance’s newest multinational battlegroup, led by
framework nation Sweden, began operations in Finland and Sweden to
support the defence of Nato’s northeastern flank.
"We remain in a constant state of readiness to employ all means,
including nuclear ones, to ensure the security of the Union State," Mr
Galuzin said, referring to the political, security and economic
alliance between Russia and Belarus.
CBS News boss Bari Weiss poised to oversee CNN editorial operations: report
CBS News boss Bari Weiss is likely to gain editorial oversight of CNN
if and when Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery
is approved, according to a report.
Paramount executives are said to have held preliminary discussions with
several candidates who would come in and run the business-side
operations next to Weiss while she continues to oversee editorial.
The company is considering several big names, including current CNN CEO
Mark Thompson, NBCUniversal News Group chairman Cesar Conde and former
NBC News chief Noah Oppenheim, Axios reported.
CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss could see her influence expand
significantly once the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger
is approved, according to a report.
Ex-Epstein assistant Lesley Groff needed a two-person escort to face grilling before the House
Lesley Groff, a longtime personal assistant to convicted sex offender
Jeffrey Epstein, needed to be physically supported as she appeared
Tuesday on Capitol Hill for an interview with House lawmakers.
Groff seemed visibly emotional as she entered the Oversight hearing
room with lawmakers and staff, propped up on either side by a man and a
woman who were walking with her — and later noted in the interview that
the “scarlet letter” she bears to this day is her links to the 2008
plea agreement that kept Epstein from being federally prosecuted.
A source familiar with Groff’s interview told The Post that she worked
for Epstein from 2001 until resigning after his arrest on sex
trafficking charges in 2019, but saw their relationship as being
“strictly business” for a man she had believed to be a wealth manager
for Victoria’s Secret owner Lex Wexner, the Rothschilds and others.
US Navy uses cutting-edge new drone boat to rescue Apache pilots who crashed near Strait of Hormuz
A US drone boat conducted a first-of-its-kind rescue mission to save
the crew of an American Apache helicopter that crashed near the Strait
of Hormuz on Monday, the military said.
The unmanned vessel, powered by artificial intelligence, located the
crew who had been stuck for two hours in the waters off the coast of
Oman, bringing them to shore, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The operation marks the first time a high-tech US Navy drone deployed to the Middle East was used to conduct a rescue mission.
The military is currently investigating if the helicopter was shot down
by Iranian forces as tensions remain high along the Strait of Hormuz.
Bombshell claims by former campaign director rock Platner’s campaign hours before polls open
Genevieve McDonald wrote in an op-ed that she was one of the 'first gaslighting casualties' of Platner's campaign
Graham Platner shouldn't be elected to represent Maine in the U.S.
Senate, a former high-level staffer for the embattled Democratic
candidate told voters just hours before polls opened in the state's
Tuesday primary.
Genevieve McDonald, once a Maine state representative who worked
briefly as Platner's campaign director last year, warned in an op/ed in
The Washington Post on Monday evening: "Graham Platner is not someone
who would be good for Maine or for the country."
While she overlooked his Nazi-linked tattoo and possible cheating
scandal, McDonald said in the piece titled "I know firsthand why Graham
Platner shouldn't be a U.S. senator" that she couldn't ignore how "he
exhibits a pattern of dishonest behavior," and ultimately quit the
campaign after just two months.
Trump's SAVE America Act shows signs of life in the Senate despite Republican revolt
A late-night Senate vote breathed new life into Trump's SAVE America Act, despite being blocked by filibuster
Senate Republicans have struggled to move the ball on President Donald
Trump's voter ID and citizenship verification bill, but a late-night
vote in the upper chamber breathed some life into an issue once thought
dead.
During the Senate’s marathon "vote-a-rama" to advance the GOP’s $70
billion immigration enforcement package, Republicans tried twice to
attach the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act
to the massive bill.
They failed both times, with a cohort of Republicans joining Senate
Democrats to stymie the effort, which was destined to fail either way
given that the amendments from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Mike
Lee, R-Utah, had to break through the filibuster.
Texas’ largest school district sees test scores soar after state takeover despite racism claims
A-rated and B-rated campuses more than doubled from 93 to 197 across the school system since 2023
The Houston Independent School District (HISD), the largest school
system in Texas, has seen dramatic improvements in student grades and
test scores across its more than 270 campuses in the years since a
state takeover. The sweeping intervention followed years of academic
underperformance and drew ongoing accusations of racism and unfairness.
Across the district's elementary and middle schools, students in grades
3 through 8 showed substantial improvements in reading and math scores
on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests
in the three school years since the Texas Education Agency (TEA) took
control.
Furthermore, students in HISD high schools made significant
year-over-year improvements from 2023 to 2026 in algebra, English,
biology and U.S. history, effectively narrowing performance gaps
compared to state averages, according to data provided to Fox News
Digital.
Johnson to Raise GOP Pulte Concerns With Trump
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., reportedly will suggest to President
Donald Trump that he choose a different nominee than Bill Pulte to fill
the director of national intelligence role permanently.
The recommendation comes as Democrats threaten to block reauthorization
of a key foreign surveillance program unless Pulte, a close Trump ally
with no national security background, is removed from his temporary
post as acting director of national intelligence.
According to Politico, congressional Democrats have united around a
demand that Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
not be renewed while Pulte remains in charge of the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence.
NRCC Chair: Trump Deeply Cares About Midterms, Americans
President Donald Trump "cares deeply" about the midterms and what
Americans are enduring while he focuses on securing a deal with Iran,
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson,
R-N.C., said Tuesday.
Hudson pushed back on media interpretations of Trump's recent comments
about the 2026 midterm elections, arguing that critics have taken the
president's remarks out of context as he works to prevent Iran from
obtaining a nuclear weapon and stabilize a volatile Middle East.
Speaking at Axios' AM Live event, Hudson said Trump's statement that he
does not "care about the midterms" was directed at Iran's belief that
domestic political pressure would force him to back down during
negotiations.
Vance Refers Minnesota Gov. Walz, AG to DOJ for Fraud Probe
Vice President JD Vance referred Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state
Attorney General Keith Ellison to the Justice Department for a criminal
fraud investigation involving social services programs.
"Minnesota state officials are not above the law, and if they
facilitated fraud, lied under oath about what they knew, or harassed
and intimidated whistleblowers, they must face justice," Vance wrote
Monday on X.
Vance said the referral was prompted by a letter and report from the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, reports NBC News.
EU Proposes 21st Package of Sanctions Against Russia, Targeting Banks
The EU has proposed a 21st package of sanctions against Russia for its
war in Ukraine, heavily targeting the country's banks and crypto
networks as well as drone production, oil traders and refiners, EU
chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday.
The new package will propose listing 170 individuals and entities.
These include close to 90 banks - the biggest in one go - and would
take the total number of listed banks to over 100, or more than half of
Russia's 213 internationally connected lenders.
The banks will come under the full weight of EU sanctions including
asset freezes, travel and transaction bans. The package will be
presented to EU ambassadors on Wednesday for negotiations. Sanctions
require unanimity to be adopted.
The countryside versus the capitol part I
The beltway versus the rest of the country
By Hugh Hewitt
Who can handle "the pressure?"
The new film "Pressure" is an accurate retelling of the fateful days
leading up to the Allies’ invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. The
success of the D-Day landings were far from a forgone conclusion either
as to the date of their launch or its chances of success.
Then General Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower had to make the decision to "go-no
go" in the early days of June 82 years ago, and the pressure on "Ike"
was enormous and unrelenting. Tens of thousands of soldiers’ lives hung
in the balance, as did the fate of millions under Hitler’s evil rule.
The film provides a superb lesson on such moments and Ike’s (played by
Brendan Fraser) willingness to make the final decision amidst the
uncertainties of weather and Wermacht deployments is a testament to the
granite from which he was made.
California proves voters get the government they tolerate
One-party dominance has created passive voters who expect little from government and receive even less
By Jonathan Turley
This week, the nation watched as California grappled again with the
ordinarily straightforward task of counting votes in an election. While
large states such as Florida declare election winners within 24 hours,
California may take up to two weeks to count all the votes.
Even Los Angeles cannot count its votes in the time of large states
despite giving the Clerk an annual budget of $336 million and a
$448,179 a year salary with the help of 1,100 budgeted positions.
In most states, voters would be outraged by the incompetence, waste and
inefficiency. However, in the Golden State, voters shrug, as if they
can demand no more from their elected officials than subpar performance.
Call it the Politics of Low Expectations and California is the model for the nation.
