Laura Coates Live

Initial findings from preliminary autopsies performed on Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, show there was “no external trauma to either individual,” the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said. The couple was found dead in their New Mexico home on Wednesday along with their dog, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office told CNN. He was 95. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Most of the Senate-confirmed, top-ranking agency heads sat around a table mostly silent during the more than an hourlong Cabinet meeting, even though some of them had come prepared to make brief remarks. Elon Musk, the billionaire tasked with reforming the government, is now without question Trump’s most powerful adviser. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amy Gleason is the acting administrator of the US DOGE Service, the agency that houses the temporary Department of Government Efficiency, a White House official told CNN on Tuesday. The announcement, after weeks of questions about Elon Musk’s official role and authority over DOGE, reveals the technical leader of the Musk-driven initiative tasked with reconfiguring the federal government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Federal workers spent Monday trying to figure out how – or even whether – to respond to Elon Musk’s weekend email blast telling them to explain their work last week or risk losing their job. A day of confusing and often contradictory guidance left many federal workers still unclear ultimately how to handle Musk’s request. Some were told to comply, others were advised not to, and still others were awaiting instructions from their agency’s leaders until late in the day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Trump makes an unprecedented shakeup at the Pentagon as he carries out a promise from Pete Hegseth before he even became the Secretary of Defense. In an unprecedented purge of the military’s senior leadership Friday night, President Donald Trump fired the top US general just moments before his defense secretary fired the chief of the US Navy and the vice chief of the Air Force. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During an appearance at CPAC, Elon Musk used a chainsaw as a prop to tout his efforts to shrink the federal workforce in the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Donald Trump falsely called Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky “a dictator,” escalating a public war of words between the two leaders that started when Trump falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war with Russia. Trump’s accusation, posted on Truth Social, came just hours after Zelensky accused him of repeating Russian disinformation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump is revealing more about Elon Musk than ever before and why he sees him as critically important to his administration. Trump says Musk is not officially running the agency taking a sledgehammer to the government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stiff winds blew over Canada’s Toronto Pearson Airport Monday afternoon as a slim aircraft, cleared by air traffic controllers to land, and its 80 passengers and crew moved to land on the tarmac as snow whipped in the air. But within moments, the plane crashed into the runway, sending fire crews scrambling to extinguish the rising flames around the overturned jet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The morning after the mass resignation of prosecutors sparked a crisis inside the Trump Justice Department, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove led a meeting with the Justice Department’s public integrity section. His message: they had to choose one career lawyer to file a dismissal of the corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, according to three people briefed on the meeting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Three senior Justice Department officials in New York and Washington resigned Thursday instead of complying with orders from the Trump administration to dismiss the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mass firings have begun at federal agencies, with terminations of probationary employees underway at the Department of Education and the Small Business Administration, federal employees and union sources told CNN. The mass firings mark the first from the Trump administration as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency aim to dramatically shrink the federal workforce. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained for more than three years in Russia, was welcomed back to the US by President Donald Trump on Tuesday night after the White House secured his release in an “exchange.” Fogel arrived at the White House late Tuesday draped in an American flag and was greeted by Trump, who said it was “an honor to have played a small role” in his release. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Department of Justice is moving to drop the federal corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, according to a memo obtained by CNN. The memo instructed the acting United States attorney for the Southern District to dismiss the charges “as soon as is practicable”— subject to several conditions, including a review by the Southern District after the November mayoral election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the past couple of weeks, DOGE staffers have appeared without warning throughout the nation’s bureaucracy, seeking access to sensitive files, databases and computer systems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The federal courts put an electric shock collar on DOGE, but will it be enough to stop Elon Musk? Plus, a look at the viral conspiracy theories about celebrities getting paid millions of dollars from USAID. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After nearly three weeks in the minority, Democrats have finally settled on a target to rally against: Elon Musk. The party and allied groups this week have shown up at the doors of agencies impacted by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, held rallies and press conferences calling the president’s ally an “unelected billionaire,” and introduced legislation to push back on the administration’s efforts to eliminate agencies and force out federal employees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the United States “will take over” the Gaza Strip — possibly with the help of American troops — while the Palestinians who live there should leave, a stunning proposal that would dramatically reorient the Middle East and subject a population of more than a million to further displacement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elon Musk is officially serving under President Donald Trump as a special government employee, according to a White House official. That designation means Musk – the billionaire tech entrepreneur who has been a force within the new Trump administration – is not a volunteer but also not a full-time federal employee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A twin-engine medevac jet carrying a child patient and her mother crashed in a neighborhood in northeast Philadelphia Friday night, causing a fiery explosion, according to authorities and video from the scene. On board was a pediatric patient and her mother, returning home to Mexico after the child had been treated in Philadelphia, said Shai Gold, spokesperson for flight operator Jet Rescue Air Ambulance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Donald Trump said there were no survivors after last night’s midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter in the Washington, DC, area — the deadliest since 2001. Trump also, without evidence, placed blame on Democratic policies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Trump order to freeze federal aid is sparking nationwide confusion and now a legal intervention. Is a constitutional clash on the horizon? Plus, the Trump White House says what was really going on over New Jersey. But, is the public buying it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Career officials who prosecuted Trump got the axe. The firings come as the Trump administration is taking concrete steps to investigate prosecutors who oversaw the criminal cases against January 6 defendants after Trump vowed to seek retribution as a key pledge of his campaign, according to multiple sources who have seen an internal memo on the matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Senate earlier this evening narrowly voted to confirm the embattled Pete Hegseth. Vice President JD Vance cast the 51-50 tie-breaking vote after former GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine joined Democrats to oppose Hegseth’s nomination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Donald Trump has revoked the security detail for his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had received ongoing protection due to threats from Iran after taking a hardline policy toward the country during Trump’s first administration, three sources familiar with the move told CNN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

he fire threat remains critical in Southern California, where thousands of residents were under evacuation orders Wednesday as fire crews battled the out-of-control Hughes Fire near Castaic, a suburb in the foothills and mountains of northern Los Angeles County. As of 5 p.m., the fire impacting both Los Angeles and Ventura counties had burned more than 9,000 acres and was 0% contained, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Republican senators struggled to defend Donald Trump’s decision to commute and pardon hundreds of January 6 protesters, including those who were charged and convicted of crimes against police officers, just hours after the president entered office Monday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the first day of his second term, Trump signed actions that remove the US from the Paris climate agreement, freeze hiring in the federal government and require federal workers to return to the office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A law that requires TikTok to find a new, non-Chinese owner or face a ban is scheduled to go into effect Sunday — and there is little indication the company is set to pull off a sale before then. That means 170 million Americans could lose access to a platform they use to find entertainment, news and community, or even run a business, after TikTok became the first new platform in years to pose a real competitive threat to A merican social media stalwarts like Instagram and YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump continues to see some of the most positive ratings of his political career, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, which finds the president-elect poised to enter his second term with far more positive sentiment behind him than when he last occupied the White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After four years in the White House – and a half-century in Washington – President Joe Biden has said farewell. Sitting behind the Resolute Desk on Wednesday evening, the one-term Democratic leader used a 19-minute address to frame his four-year presidency on his own terms – and to appeal for a brand of politics that he sees as rapidly disappearing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Firefighters are facing challenging conditions in their battle against the Los Angeles wildfires, with powerful winds forecast over the next 24 hours that could cause extreme fire behavior in the blazes or turn any new spark into a raging inferno. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Firefighters are in a critical stage of their almost week-long battle against deadly Los Angeles blazes. Crews report progress, but the National Weather Service has issued an expanded warning about winds that could gust up to 70 mph, causing extreme fire behavior in ongoing blazes or possibly turning any new spark into a raging inferno. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Total of 11 reported dead In L.A. County inferno. Local Palisade resident describes saving homes. A plane fighting L.A. fires collides with civilian drone and Trump sentenced on hush money case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The fifth Los Angeles fire, the Kenneth Fire, is inching closer to homes in the area after rapidly growing in just the last few hours. There are now 10 fire-related deaths across L.A. country and 10,000 structures destroyed. CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr.Sanjay Gupta, explains how to stay safe in hazardous air conditions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Six major wildfires are burning across the Los Angeles area. All but one are 0% contained. The newest one, the Sunset Fire, has broken out in just the last few hours and is burning on the top of the iconic Hollywood Hills. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An apocalyptic, hellish scene as a rapidly growing wildfire tears through the Palisades neighborhood and threatens other parts of the city. High winds are fueling the blaze, and it’s spreading extremely fast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump is trying to block the release of the final report from Special Counsel Jack Smith. His lawyer sending a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, after they were able to review Smith’s draft report on the two dismissed federal cases against the President-elect. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The sentencing before the inauguration - the controversial move by a New York judge to formally make President-elect Donald Trump a convicted felon. Plus, forget all the what-ifs; the gavel still belongs to Speaker Johnson. And dramatic new revelations about the troubled veterans behind the separate attacks in Las Vegas and New Orleans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a series of videos, the man responsible for the deadly New Year’s attack in New Orleans discussed planning to kill his family and having dreams that helped inspire him to join ISIS, according to multiple officials briefed on the investigation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The latest plan would extend government funding into March and includes disaster relief and farming provisions, but does not include a suspension of the debt limit, which President-elect Donald Trump has been demanding that Republicans address. This was “Plan C” for GOP lawmakers. Trump torpedoed a bipartisan deal earlier this week, and then a Trump-backed plan that would have suspended the debt limit also failed in the House on Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The House failed tonight to pass a new Donald Trump-backed GOP proposal to fund the government into March, intensifying the threat of a shutdown ahead of a Friday night deadline. The GOP inserted a 2-year suspension of the debt limit into the legislation after the president-elect on Wednesday demanded that any deal also address the looming debt limit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President-elect Donald Trump delivered a missive to Capitol Hill that significantly ratcheted up the chances of a government shutdown just before Christmas, while sending the clearest signal yet that he is seeking a dramatic showdown with Democrats over spending. Trump and Vance slammed the bill for including what they see as Democratic priorities but also injected the politically fraught issue of the US debt limit, which the country is on track to hit after it is reinstated in the new year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Manhattan grand jury indicted Luigi Mangione for murder as an act of terrorism in the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to newly released court documents. Mangione faces 11 counts, including one of murder in the first-degree and two of murder in the second-degree in Thompson’s killing on December 4 in New York, along with other weapon and forgery charges, the indictment says. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The shooter who opened fire at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, was a 15-year-old female student, Police Chief Shon Barnes said Monday. She died of a self-inflicted gunshot, he said. The shooting left one student and one teacher dead and six injured, including two people who are facing life-threatening conditions, Barnes said. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Federal agencies are facing intense pressure Friday to give the public more details on unexplained drone sightings in the New York City metropolitan area that have been going on for weeks over residential neighborhoods as well as restricted sites and critical infrastructure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Weeks of unexplained drone sightings in New Jersey have left residents, politicians and public safety officials scratching their heads, prompting security concerns. With residents and multiple public officials calling for a response to the drone activity and experts working to uncover exactly what’s going on, White House national security communications adviser John Kirby on Thursday sought to assure the public there is no threat to public safety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Corporations are scrambling to protect their senior executives as police warn of an elevated near-term threat against business leaders. Boards are reassessing security budgets. And CEOs are being told to delete their digital footprints. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is fighting his extradition to New York, where he faces a murder charge. He was denied bail during a court appearance in Pennsylvania. As he entered the courtroom Tuesday, the 26-year-old could be heard yelling, in part, “it’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It’s lived experience!” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with murder in the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, hours after he was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Plus, Daniel Penny, the former Marine charged in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway last year, was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide by a Manhattan jury. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices