US midterms 2026 latest: A warning from the White House

The White House is saying that any attempts by Democrats in the new Congress to investigate the Trump administration will amount to blatant criminality. It is another warning shot in this new power struggle that is gripping Washington. Now the Democrats are set to take control of both chambers of Congress in January. Democrats have said that they will make corruption a top priority as they push to retake the White House in the next election cycle in 2028. Although the Trump administration says, of course, it hasn't done anything wrong. Here's what Democrats say they will investigate. They plan to look into ICE and immigration enforcement operations, as well as the investigation into the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. They'll also be looking at construction projects under the Trump administration, like the White House ballroom. Also, the Trump family businesses, like their dealings in minerals and cryptocurrency. I want to go up to Capitol Hill where we have our Manuel Rapallo. Manny, Democrats haven't even taken control of Congress yet. That's still about two months away. But the White House is already warning that some of these planned investigations could actually amount to criminal conduct. That's their argument. But what is behind this confrontation? Alex, you're absolutely right. We can't lose sight of the fact that Democrats have not even taken control of Congress yet. That doesn't happen until January. So what's happening now could reasonably be seen as a preview of the sort of legal battles and tensions that we're likely to see over the course of the next couple of years. Democrats are being very clear that they're. That the investigations into President Trump and the Trump administration are going to be a major priority starting in January. All of this, of course, stems from a note, a letter involving Congressman Robert Garcia. He is a Democratic lawmaker who is expected to take. To lead the House Oversight Committee, he has warned the Trump administration that to quote unquote lawyer up. And as you mentioned in your introduction, there is a long list of potential targets for Democrats, not least of which the immigration enforcement operations, the handling of the. Jeffrey Epstein investigation, as well as President Trump's personal and family business interests here. There is another side of this coin as well, which is the fact that the White House is not staying silent about this. They are pushing back. We've heard from White House counsel Will Sharp, who has warned that any investigations that could be perceived as being intimidation or going after Trump administration officials could be skirting the line into what he's described as, quote unquote, Blatant criminality. So again, we can't lose sight also of the fact that this is all playing out even before Democrats take control of Congress. Yeah, lawyer up is not exactly mincing words. Manny, when it comes to Congress, oversight is at the core of what they do. It is a fundamental part of this American system of checks and balances. So a big question, can the White House actually prevent, stop Democrats from carrying out these investigations? Yes and no. The answer there is not quite clear. You're right in the sense that Congress does have broad constitutional authority to investigate any presidential administration. They have the authority to issue subpoenas, to demand documents, to demand testimony here on Capitol Hill. And Congressman Garcia is saying that in that letter as well, that Congress does not need the permission from the White House to. What's interesting here is that we're also hearing from U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche who has acknowledged that Congress has this authority, this oversight authority, and he's saying that the Department of Justice is going to continue to cooperate with lawmakers. Have a listen. Congress has, you know, oversight authority. It always has. It always will. The Department of Justice, the federal government works with Congress to address questions they have, whether it's through subpoenas or letters. And so we're not going to stop working with Congress or allowing them to conduct their oversight responsibilities. And nothing I've said this weekend or in the past should suggest otherwise. So the real test here, Alex, is going to come in January when Democrats take control of Congress. They begin issuing those subpoenas, begin making those demands. But the White House does have a few tools up their sleeve. They could push back on some of those demands, challenge some of those subpoenas. But the scenario there would likely look like a lengthy legal battle between the executive and legislative. Legislative branch, but politically, what we could expect to see is lawmakers doing more to investigate the White House than to advancing the president's legislative agenda. Yeah, those Democrats are going to be off to the races very quickly in January. Manuel Rapolo on Capitol Hill, thank you very much. Now, President Donald Trump says that the U.S. has a lot of work to do when it comes to rebuilding Iran. In the midterms, many voters said that the war in Iran and the consequences on the cost of living here in the U.S. were a major reason not to support Republicans. There's a new poll that just came out on Monday from Reuters and Ipsos, and it just shows how unpopular the conflict is. 71 percent of Americans, a clear large majority, want the new Congress to pass legislation. To force an end to this war in Iran. But Trump also insists that the U.S. wants what he calls total victory. Here's what he said earlier today at a Veterans Day event at Arlington National Cemetery. America did not start a war with Iran. Iran has been waging war on America since 1979. This should have been taken care of a long time ago. Under this administration, and it was about time, somebody fought back. All of us fought back. We fought back. And we seriously fought back, and we won. It's just a question of when we want to end it. We want to make sure we have a total victory, not a 93% victory. It's going to be total. It'll take them 25 years to rebuild back what we have destroyed, and hopefully we won't have to destroy any more of that country. We've got a lot of work to do to put it back. And now just over a week from election day, the Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi remain too close to call. But the clock is ticking down for the Magnolia state that's down in the south. All Mississippi counties have to submit their results by this Friday. Our Alex Baird is tracking where we are. Alex. Yeah. And Alex, I have to keep looking back at this board to see if Mississippi changes from gray, because this could really change at any time. The votes. ...have been counted to 98%, still not calling this state because it is just so close. You can see there, though, that the Democratic candidate, Scott Colome, he is leading now by a few thousand votes. This has been a lot slimmer and it's slowly widening, so you could well see Scott Colome take this home. We are expecting, when you look at the state here, that Hinds County, which has the biggest population of any county in the state, They're expecting to... Call the last remaining 800 or so votes by the end of today. So that could well push this race over the line. And by the end of today, to be honest, you could see a result out of Mississippi. Now, if Scott Colome takes this home, let's assume he does because he's currently leading. If he takes this home. He will be the first black senator from Mississippi since 1871. That's just after the Civil War. It's been an awfully long time, especially for a state which has the highest proportion of black residents of any state in the country. So keep watching here. Even if we don't have something by the end of the day, by the end of the week on Friday, Mississippi law means there has to be a result. So keep watching this. It could flip at any time. Yeah, we cannot overstate just how stunning it would be if a Democrat were representing Mississippi in the United States Senate. Alex Baird, thank you so much for breaking that down for us. Now, thank you for watching. I want to hand it back to our global headquarters in Doha.