Morning Headlines - Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

4 Things To Watch For In The Fourth Republican Presidential Primary Debate

The stage is shrinking just weeks ahead of the first contests of 2024, as four of the Republican Party’s contenders gather in Alabama for their fourth presidential primary debate.

The candidates set to take the stage Wednesday night are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Skipping, as he did the first three clashes, is former President Donald Trump, the dominant front-runner in national and early-state primary polling less than six weeks from Iowa’s January 15 caucuses.

Here are four things to watch for in Wednesday night’s debate in Tuscaloosa, which starts at 8 p.m. ET on NewsNation:

Intelligence Report Warns Of Rising Foreign Terror Threats

A new joint bulletin from the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice to local, state and federal law enforcement warns that groups like al Qaeda and ISIS will likely use the Israel-Hamas war "to increase calls for violence in the U.S. during the holiday season compared to prior years." It says the most likely "primary targets" could include churches, synagogues and members of the Jewish community.

With the Israeli military bearing down on southern Gaza and Hanukkah only days away, the new intelligence report reviewed by CBS News warns of increased threats from foreign terrorist groups. It mirrors FBI Director Christopher Wray's testimony Tuesday on Capitol Hill, during which he told the Senate Judiciary Committee, "I see blinking lights everywhere I turn," in response to a question from Sen. Lindsey Graham about possible warning signs.

5 Takeaways From Trump’s Town Hall With Sean Hannity

Former President Trump participated in a town hall hosted by Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday, a night before the fourth Republican primary debate that the GOP frontrunner is once again skipping.

The former president was asked questions by only Hannity on a variety of topics, from reports that cast his second term as a dictatorship, President Biden’s age and health and Trump’s stances on foreign policy and energy issues before a friendly crowd that largely cheered Trump on when he took the stage.

The event comes just weeks ahead of the Iowa caucus on Jan. 15, 2024, the first in the nation caucuses in the primary calendar and in a state Trump is leading his main GOP rivals by double-digits, according to recent surveys.

Here are five takeaways from Trump’s town hall with Hannity.

Biden To Sign Executive Order On Federal Funding For Native Americans

President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday during a tribal nations summit that aims to make it easier for Native Americans to access federal funding and have greater autonomy over how to invest those funds.

“Tribal nations still face unacceptable barriers to fully exercising their inherent sovereignty, and really too often that occurs because of the way we are administering federal funding programs," said Neera Tanden, White House domestic policy adviser.

Historically, Tanden said, federal policies attacked Native people's rights to self-governance and caused lasting economic damage. The Biden administration is working to undo that damage, she said.

2023 Is Officially The Hottest Year Ever Recorded, And Scientists Say "The Temperature Will Keep Rising"

After months of expectation, it's official — 2023 will be the hottest year ever recorded. The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service announced the milestone after analyzing data that showed the world saw its warmest-ever November.

Last month was roughly 1.75 degrees Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial average, Copernicus said, with an average surface air temperature of 14.22 degrees Celsius, or about 57.6 degrees Fahrenheit. And now, Copernicus says that for January to November 2023, global average temperatures were the highest on record — 1.46 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average.

Dane County Judge Reaffirms Ruling That 1849 Wisconsin Law Does Not Ban Abortion

A Wisconsin judge on Dec. 5 reaffirmed her previous ruling that state law permits consensual medical abortions, handing abortion rights advocates a massive victory but opening up appellate options for conservatives.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the court’s landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion, in June 2022 reactivated an 1849 Wisconsin law that conservatives interpreted as banning abortion. Abortion providers ceased operations in the state out of fear of violating the ban.

GOP Lawmakers Introduce Legislation Proposing A Constitutional Amendment To Ban Ranked-Choice Voting

Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban the possibility of ranked-choice voting in Wisconsin elections, a process that allows voters to rank candidates in order of their preference. The legislation comes in response to a separate bipartisan "final five" bill that aims to change how Wisconsinites would cast their ballots.

The "final five" voting bill would remove the process voters currently use to select from their party's list of candidates in a primary and vote for the party's leading candidate in the general election. Instead, voters use a single-ballot primary to pick their top candidate overall, and the five candidates receiving the highest number of votes in the primary advance to the general election. The system then uses a ranked-choice system for voters to rank their preferred candidates based on the five candidates running in the general election.

Republican Bill Would Abolish Wisconsin Elections Commission

A group of Republican lawmakers is advancing a bill that would abolish the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the bipartisan body that oversees how elections are run throughout the state.

The bill backed by Sen. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, who chairs the Senate's elections committee, Rep. Ty Bodden, R-Hilbert, and 9 other Assembly Republicans began circulating for co-sponsorship this week.

The move comes less than a year before the November 2024 election in a battleground state where the margin of victory in the last presidential election came down to less than a percentage point.

Under the bill, the Elections Commission would have until July to transfer duties to Wisconsin's secretary of state. But the bill also grants expanded oversight of how elections are run to Wisconsin's Republican-controlled Legislature. It specifies that the secretary of state cannot take any action on the administration of elections without first getting approval from the committees overseeing elections in both Wisconsin's Assembly and Senate.

Wausau Man Indicted For Drug Offenses In Two North-Central Wisconsin Tribal Communities

A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Charles A. Parham a/k/a “Red,” a/k/a “Cuzzo,” with drug crimes taking place on the Menominee Indian Reservation and at a tribal casino on land owned by the Ho-Chunk Nation.

According to filed court documents, on or about September 29, 2023, Parham distributed heroin to another person at a location on the Menominee Indian Reservation. Count Two relates to Parham’s possession with intent to distribute at least 40 grams of a mixture and substance containing Fentanyl, which was at a tribal casino in western Shawano County.

Keshena Man Indicted For Theft On Menominee Indian Reservation

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Merwin J. “Pete” Wynos, Jr., a 35-year-old man from Keshena, with theft on the Menominee Indian Reservation.

The indictment charged Wynos with Theft in Indian Country, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 661 and 1153(a). If convicted, Wynos would face a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

According to filed court documents, on or about September 23, 2023, Wynos stole more than $1,000 worth of property belonging to four separate companies from a construction site on the Menominee Indian Reservation.