--:-- Tracy Mumford: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Friday, November 22nd.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Here's what we're covering. Matt Gaetz is out. The former representative from Florida abruptly pulled his name from consideration for attorney general after his prospective nomination ran into trouble in the Senate.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Gates has faced allegations of sex trafficking and illicit drug use. And while he's consistently denied any wrongdoing, many senators had questions about confirming someone under that kind of cloud.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: I know enough people that were a hell no in the conference to know that the path would have been very, very difficult, if possible even. And I doubt it was.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Senator Kevin Kramer of North Dakota, a Republican, said Gates stepping back was a relief.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Gates announced his decision on social media, where he said he didn't want to be a distraction to the Trump transition.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: From the reporting of my colleagues, it looks like he took even the Trump team by surprise. It came after he spent an entire day on the Hill meeting with Republican senators.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Annie Carney covers Congress. The Times has learned that Gates told people close to him he determined there were at least four Republican senators who were strongly opposed to him.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and the newly elected John Curtis of Utah.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: There's a question of if there will be such backlash from the MAGA wing of the party against these Republican senators who expressed concerns about Gates, that they will harass them or blame them for not giving Trump the cabinet he wants, and therefore they're going to feel too much pressure for them not to do it again to another nominee.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: That's an open question.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Meanwhile, the Trump team wasted no time replacing Gates. Within hours, Trump said he plans to nominate Pam Bondi for attorney general instead.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Bondi previously served as the state attorney general of Florida. In that position, she focused on addressing drug abuse and child trafficking, but also embraced partisan legal fights, including trying to overturn the Affordable Care Act.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Bondi was part of Trump's legal team during his first impeachment, And she's been an outspoken critic of the criminal prosecutions against him.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Trump posted on social media that, quote, Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting crime.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Last night the full count of the Republicans majority in the Senate became clear It will be 53 to 47 after Senator Bob Casey a three Democrat from Pennsylvania conceded to his Republican challenger, David McCormick.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The extremely close race, where McCormick won by less than half a percentage point, had triggered a recount.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The expanded Senate majority, along with Republicans' control of the House, will give Trump more flexibility to pursue his agenda.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And while some votes are still being counted, a tally used by the Times of the nationwide popular vote shows Trump will land at 49.997 percent, about 1.6 percentage points over Kamala Harris.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: His campaign has been calling his victory a landslide, and Trump himself said it gives him a, quote, unprecedented and powerful mandate.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But as the full count has become clear, his lead in the popular vote is one of the smallest in the last 150 years.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Newly released data from the federal government shows a remarkable trend. For the first time in years, the number of drug overdose deaths in the U.S. has been falling.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Preliminary data shows a drop of about 15% in deaths nationwide.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: That's for a number of reasons. Overdose reversal medications like Narcan have been widely distributed.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: There have been public campaigns warning people about counterfeit pills contaminated with fentanyl.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And the fentanyl on the streets is actually getting weaker.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Federal officials say that's because they've been cracking down on Mexican cartels and the supply chains that feed their operations.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: At the same time, experts say there's another, more concerning explanation for the decline in overdoses.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: A change in drug users' habits. Fentanyl is now often diluted with xylosine, an animal tranquilizer that can cause horrific skin ulcers.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But people who use the mixture often pass out for hours, essentially stopping them from taking more fentanyl.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And in places where meth use has surged, some drug users say they get high enough or distracted enough by that drug that they're also using less fentanyl.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Still, overall, drugs continue to take a brutal toll on the U.S.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The most recent data suggests that about 97 Americans a year are dying from overdoses
--:-- Tracy Mumford: What in God's name are they talking about in The Hague?
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing back forcefully after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest, saying he's responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Israel will not recognize the validity of this decision. We will continue to do everything we must do to defend our citizens and defend our state.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The court found that Netanyahu, along with Israel's former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, intentionally used starvation as a method of warfare, killing Gazans, including young children, by cutting off food to the territory.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Netanyahu and Gallant were also accused of numerous other crimes against humanity.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The Israeli prime minister's office called the charges false and absurd, and said the court was motivated by anti-Semitism and hatred of the Jewish state.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Netanyahu is now one of a handful of sitting leaders the ICC has issued warrants for, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was charged with war crimes after invading Ukraine.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Netanyahu could now be arrested if he travels to any of the 124 countries who are members of the court.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The list does not include Israel or the U.S.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The ICC also issued a warrant for the military leader of Hamas, Mohammed Daif, for crimes against humanity, including murder, sexual violence, and taking hostages.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Israel claims it killed Daif in an airstrike, but the court has not verified his death.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In Russia, the Kremlin has sharply escalated its showdown with the West.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: On Thursday, the Russian military fired a newly developed intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine, a type of weapon that's capable of carrying a nuclear payload.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The missile didn't have any nuclear warheads on board, but analysts say the strike was designed to intimidate Ukraine and its allies and show that Russia could strike with a nuclear weapon if and when it chooses.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Ukraine has no way to track or shoot down this type of missile, which flies at hypersonic speeds.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Hours after the launch, Vladimir Putin said Russia has the right to strike the military facilities of any country that lets its weapons be used against Russia.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: It was a clear warning to the U and Britain who recently gave Ukraine permission to use weapons they supplied to strike deeper into Russia
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And finally. Somewhere right now, there is a movie theater packed with people watching Wicked.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And I'm fully aware I am saying this at 6 a.m. Why couldn't you tell me? This is your moment.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: I'm coming.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: There were midnight screenings, early morning screenings. Some theaters have screenings basically 24-7 this entire weekend for the film version of the Broadway musical starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: First, please know I'm speaking as a theater kid myself.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And some fans are warning that you should know what you might be getting into.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Because if you think you're going to sit in that theater and hear Ariana Grande singing to you, you are not, okay?
--:-- Tracy Mumford: You were going to hear the girl two seats over that didn't make it on Broadway that still has a lot to give and it is about to come out.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Fans in some of the early screenings of the musical have been belting it out.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Don't say I didn't warn you.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But the idea of an impromptu sing-along is not universally popular.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Please do not sing during the movie.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: I don't want to hear a single none of it.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Some theaters are planning to let moviegoers channel their enthusiasm into especially designated sing-along screenings, where you're encouraged to try your best take at Defying Gravity.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But those are not scheduled to start until Christmas.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: So if you are less into singing and more into swords...
--:-- Tracy Mumford: This is your gladiator.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: It is.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Gladiator 2 is also opening this weekend, and there will probably be no one trying to hit any high notes in there.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Some have dubbed the double feature Glickid, speculating that the two movies could bring the kind of crossover enthusiasm and box office profits that the Barbenheimer phenomenon delivered last year.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Those are the headlines.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Today on The Daily, a deeper look at how Matt Gaetz's push to be attorney general fell apart.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: That's next in the New York Times audio app, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: This show is made by Robert Jemison, Jessica Metzger, Jan Stewart, and me, Tracy Mumford, with help from Isabella Anderson.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Original theme by Dan Powell.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Special thanks to Larissa Anderson, Jake Lucas, Zoe Murphy, Sean Paik, and Paula Schumann.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The headlines will be back on Monday.
