Hegseth Impeachment Blocked, Mississippi Senate Cliffhanger & Ole Miss Fallout

Mimi Brown (0:05)

A Republican takes on Trump's Defense Secretary, but the battle in Washington is far from over.

Pete Hegseth (0:11)

Well, he's right about one thing. I'm a defeated congressman. I'm not disgruntled.

Mimi Brown (0:17)

Then a Senate race in Mississippi could make history, and it's coming down to the final votes.

Scott Colom (0:22)

The reality is she can't point to a direction where she has a possibility to win.

Mimi Brown (0:27)

And a viral video at Ole Miss leads to a major development, but the families involved say this isn't over.

SPEAKER_4 (0:34)

For her piece, I feel like it was a good option for her.

Mimi Brown (0:38)

It's Thursday, November 12th.

From The Black Effect Podcast Network, I'm Mimi Brown, and here are the day's biggest stories. Stay with me.

We begin in Washington where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is keeping his job, but the effort to impeach him is raising some bigger questions about the war in Iran. And here's what's making this interesting. The push to remove Hegseth did not come from a Democrat. It came from Republican Congressman Thomas Massey of Kentucky. Massey introduced eight articles of impeachment, accusing Hegseth of serious wrongdoing, including launching military operations against Iran without congressional approval, the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and deadly strikes against suspected drug boats. But the House never actually voted on whether Hegseth should be impeached. Instead, lawmakers voted 211 to 204 to send the changes to a committee. What that means is the impeachment effort has been put on hold. Massey was the only Republican to vote against the move siding with Democrats. Hegseth addressed the controversy at a news conference.

Pete Hegseth (1:48)

We will not apologize for stopping the flow of drugs that kill our citizens. We will not apologize for destroying the capabilities of a regime that chants death to America. And if that regime makes one wrong move, as the president said, we remain locked and loaded with the full weight and lethality of central command. We will not apologize for restoring a military that recruits based on merit, restores real standards and fights to win. These resolutions are a farce. They mock the Constitution, they attack the chain of command, and they criminalize the warfighters who execute lawful orders. So to the troops, as I've said before, don't blink, ignore the noise, never hesitate.

This is all politics. You do real things, stay the course.

Mimi Brown (2:38)

And here's why this story matters beyond the impeachment vote. At the center of this fight is a question about who has the authority to take the country to war. The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, while the president serves as the commander-in-chief. Amassi argues the administration has gone too far without congressional authorization. He's now planning a separate vote that would force lawmakers to take a public position on the war in Iran.

Meanwhile, Democrats say the impeachment fight could return when they take control of Congress in January. So Hegseth may have survived this round, but the debate over the war and his leadership is far from settled.

Now to Mississippi, where one of the closest Senate races in the country could produce a historic result.

Democrat Scott Colom is leading Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by nearly 3,000 votes with about 98% of the ballots counted. And this is a state where Republicans have dominated statewide politics for decades. So the fact that a Democrat is this close to winning a US. Senate seat is a major political development. But the race hasn't been called and much of the attention is focused on Hines County, which includes Jackson. It's one of Mississippi's largest Democratic strongholds, and election officials are still working through outstanding ballots. Both candidates insist they can win. But Colom challenged Hyde-Smith in a news conference, questioning where she expects to find enough votes to erase his lead.

Scott Colom (4:09)

The reality is she can't point to a direction where she has a possibility to win, right? I mean, if she thinks she truly has the ability to win, explain how. Because I can tell you, I'm very confident, based on the performance of the ballots in Hines County election day, once these affidavit ballots come in from Hines County, the lead is going to be insurmountable. I mean, you know, you look at Tishamico County, that was a county that voted pretty Republican. She gained one vote from the affidavit ballots. I mean, at some point, you know, we have to put the people of Mississippi above our personal feelings and partisan politics. I'm also concerned at this point that we're not gonna, that there may be some disadvantages to our potential to lead in DC as a result of not being in orientation and as a result of not being able to, you know, make sure we can fight to get what we earn and deserve. So at this point, I think that the Julian Senator has to look out for her state, right? She's a Mississippian. There's things she's done well.