Thursday, December 4th, 2025 - Epstein files update;, Hegseth drama; Trump’s surprise pardon; Immigration pause; ICE needs warrants; Cheese recall

Today’s Headlines: The House Oversight Committee dropped another batch of photos and videos from Jeffrey Epstein’s island, but honestly, this is not a “paint me a picture” situation — Google is your friend. Meanwhile, Pete Hegseth’s Signalgate drama is heating up: an inspector general report says he put troops at risk, and Rep. Shri Thanedar is already drafting impeachment articles over both that and the whole “blow up random boats” era. Trump surprised literally everyone — including GOP leadership — by pardoning Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, who was awaiting trial for allegedly taking $600k in foreign bribes. And the administration announced a pause on immigration applications from 19 “high-risk” countries, with no timeline for resuming them, while a judge ruled that ICE actually does need warrants to arrest people in DC. Trump also claimed Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff had a “very good” meeting with Putin on a Ukraine peace plan (sure), as European leaders slammed Putin for wasting everyone’s time. And in a peak bit of irony, the former U.S. Institute of Peace has now been renamed the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.Finally, the FDA recalled more than 250,000 cases of shredded cheese sold nationwide due to possible metal contamination — a divine sign to stop buying store-brand cheese before it saws your intestines in half. Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode: CNN: New images and videos from Epstein’s island released CNN: Watchdog finds Hegseth risked endangering troops by sharing of sensitive war plans on Signal, sources say Axios: Democrat announces articles of impeachment against Hegseth Axios: Scoop: Johnson blindsided by Trump's Cuellar pardon MS Now: Trump administration pauses immigration from 19 countries Axios: Federal judge restricts warrantless immigration arrests in D.C. Axios: Trump says Witkoff and Kushner had "a very good" meeting with Putin AP News: Europeans accuse Putin of feigning interest in peace after talks with US envoys Axios: Trump's name added to US Institute of Peace AP News: Shredded cheese sold in dozens of states recalled due to potential for metal fragment contamination Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices