JD Vance in Israel: “Pray that the Prince of Peace can continue to work a miracle in this region of the world”

The vice president made clear that this trip was planned prior to the breaches of the cease fire committed by terror group Hamas. More from Vance: As a Christian, I think the world’s Christians will know that this country, that this region of the world means a great deal to me. And … at some point in the next couple of days … I hope to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which Christians believe is the site that Jesus Christ was crucified in. And I know that Christians have many titles for Jesus Christ—and one of them is the Prince of Peace. And I’d ask all people of faith, in particular my fellow Christians, to pray that the Prince of Peace can continue to work a miracle in this region of the world. I think that we have made incredible strides over the past week. We’re going to have to make a lot more, but I think with your prayers, with God’s providence and with a very good team behind me, I think we’re going to get it done. Thank you all. Take care. Thank you (Vance).

US Remains Deeply Committed to Trump’s 20-Point Plan

The broader message from the administration and the visit to Israel was clear: The U.S. is not going to stand back and cross our fingers in hopes that this effort is successful. The U.S. is deeply engaged. YNET: The Americans are making it clear: they are fully engaged and not letting go. Since the cease-fire took effect a week ago, senior White House officials have been in Israel, effectively managing the operation. Alongside President Donald Trump’s visit, his envoys—the “deal architects”—toured Gaza, met with released hostages, and even joined a meeting at IDF headquarters, an unusual move. Vice President J.D. Vance arrived Tuesday to oversee operations, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected in Israel in the coming days for a two- to three-day stay…. Behind the scenes, Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, and U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper are directing the mission—first, the recovery of fallen hostages, then the creation of the stabilization force, followed by reconstruction. Progress will take time, but U.S. officials remain optimistic (YNET).

Trump Meets With GOP Senators as Government Shutdown Hits Three-Week Mark

CBS News: Senate Republicans met with President Trump over lunch at the White House on Day 21 of the government shutdown, where they presented a united front to call for Democrats to vote to extend funding. The president said Republicans “will not be extorted” into giving in to Democrats’ demands, an indication that any end to the shutdown remains far off. Democratic leaders called the lunch a “pep rally” and said they reached out to the president in the hopes of kickstarting negotiations over a potential deal to extend health care tax credits…. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune both said Tuesday morning that the Nov. 21 funding deadline in the GOP bill might need to be extended if the shutdown drags on. Johnson said Democrats are “eating up the clock” (CBS).

Leader Thune on Democrats Amidst Schumer Shutdown: “They're so scared of their hardcore base”

Fear seems to be the primary motivating factor for Democrats. And no—it’s not a fear of Trump. Leader Thune, with Hugh Hewitt: … there really isn’t any other explanation. I think they’re so scared of their hardcore base…. I think they are so fearful, so afraid, so running, scared from that far left base, which is where the money and Democrat politics is the small donor stuff. It’s where the activists, it’s where the energy is, and frankly, that’s where a lot of people end up getting primaried. And I think these Democrats here in the Senate are afraid of that (Hewitt).

Hugh Hewitt on New York Mayoral Race: “Republicans should hold their noses and vote for Andrew Cuomo”

The prospect of an Islamist communist as mayor of New York City has pushed a number of conservative voices to make clear how they hope voters will act in what is—admittedly–somewhat of a Hobson’s choice: New York City is home to 8.5 million people; 4.7 million of them are active registered voters and over another 700,000 are “inactive” voters. Democratic Party registrants make up the largest bloc, at nearly two-thirds of the electorate. Unaffiliated voters are the second-largest group, accounting for 21.1% of registered voters. Republican Party registrants make up a mere 11.0%…. Even an eighth grader with decent math skills should be able to recognize that Sliwa cannot win. It is not possible. There aren’t enough Republicans for Sliwa to even be competitive. But, Sliwa can hand the leadership of the world’s greatest city to Mamdani, who is, in my opinion, an obvious antisemitic communist. Reasonable and even activist, hard-core conservative Republicans should hold their noses and vote for Andrew Cuomo (Fox News).

For Sale: CNN

And the news has got to be making Christiane Amanpour, Abby Phillip, Jake Tapper and friends pretty nervous. New York Sun: Fear is growing among liberals and opponents of President Trump about the future of CNN as its corporate parent, Warner Bros. Discovery, says it is open to a potential sale of some or all of its properties, which could lead to dramatic changes at the beleaguered news network. Earlier this year, staffers at CNN braced for dark days as WBD announced plans to spin off its declining cable properties from its lucrative streaming and studio business, which was expected to lead to harsh cuts at CNN. However, staffers and liberal commentators received what they may consider worse news: Skydance’s CEO, David Ellison — the son of the world’s second-richest man, Larry Ellison, a strong supporter of Israel and Mr. Trump — wants to buy WBD (New York Sun).

Progress in War on Drugs 2.0: Fentanyl Seizures Down 50 Percent

You can imagine that the crew of willing and eligible boaters ready to volunteer for the next drug run has suddenly dried up. Free Beacon: Cartels have severely pumped the brakes on trafficking fentanyl into the United States, and experts say that’s thanks to the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown. Fentanyl seizures year-over-year at the southern border have been cut roughly in half almost every month since President Donald Trump took office, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. In June, it was only a 42 percent decrease, but there was a 70 percent drop in May. According to experts, the plunge isn’t because authorities are catching less fentanyl—it’s because cartels simply aren’t trafficking as much (Free Beacon).

US Special Forces’ “Night Stalker” Helicopter Regiment Deploy Near Venezuela

And the elite unit of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment is just one piece of a growing U.S. Military presence near Venezuela and strongman and drug lord Nicolás Maduro. New York Post: An elite Army unit capable of inserting some of the American military’s most deadly special operations forces into a fight has been deployed to the Caribbean as President Trump exerts an increasing show of force in Venezuela. The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the vaunted “Night Stalkers,” operates attack helicopters like the Army’s MH-60 Black Hawks and small transport helicopters into the most perilous situations (New York Post). The AP looks at our maritime assets in the region: The Navy has eight warships in the region — three destroyers, three amphibious assault ships, a cruiser and a smaller littoral combat ship that’s designed for coastal waters. The three amphibious assault ships make up an amphibious readiness group and carry an expeditionary unit of Marines. As a result, those ships also have on board a variety of Marine helicopters, Osprey tilt rotor aircraft and Harrier jets that have the capability of either transporting large numbers of Marines or striking targets on land and sea (AP). Mary Anastasia O’Grady in the Wall Street Journal: The Trump administration has at least two reasons for wanting Mr. Maduro gone. His drug trafficking is the one that gets more ink…. The second defense of the high-risk use of force against Venezuela is that Mr. Maduro’s military dictatorship, financed by drug trafficking, exports revolution. Large waves of migration are destabilizing in themselves (Wall Street Journal).

Faith Division of TPUSA Doubles in Wake Kirk Death

Andrew Kolvet: There’s so many anecdotes and so many people that have come to us send us emails. You see it in the social media comments saying, “Charlie, re-inspired my faith.” “I’m going back to church.” “I’m praying for my husband.” “Our marriage has been saved because of the legacy that just the way Charlie lived his life.” And I love that one speaker that was at that event with Russell Brand: “It’s the way Charlie would integrate the message of faith into everything that he did.” He’d get a question about—regardless of the topic—he would get a question and he would find a way to integrate his faith just seamlessly into that…. So just to put it in perspective, we had about 4,000 churches in the network before 9/10. We have added over 4,000 more, so we’ve doubled it. We have 8,000 churches in our network at TPUSA faith, we’ve seen almost a thousand percent growth across all social media platforms and get this: We’ve had over 200,000 people sign up to become a part of TPSA faith. So: What we’re doing in the faith space has more than doubled. And it’s again, what a testament to the legacy that Charlie Kirk has left. There’s just so much more good than there is bad, and it’s important for us to remind everybody about that (Kolvet). 

Bible Sales Soar

The anecdotes of new or renewed spiritual interest and commitment after Charlie’s passing have been abundant. But the anecdotes are supported by trends in the broader economy as well. Wall Street Journal: Sales of Bibles soared in the weeks after the fatal shooting of conservative political activist and author Charlie Kirk. There were 2.4 million Bibles sold in the U.S. in September, a 36% jump over the same month of 2024, according to book tracker Circana BookScan. It marked the biggest month of Bible sales so far this year…. Bible sales have been strong over the last two years, but Kirk’s death in particular “awakened a lot of people,” said Mark Schoenwald, president and chief executive of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. “They started to think about what they believe and why,” Schoenwald said. Interest is particularly high among people in the 18-to-34-year-old demographic—a group that Kirk engaged with on college campuses (Wall Street Journal).