Shutdown Nears Record as Crucial Week Begins

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Caitlin McCabe (0:33)

Congressional scrutiny over the Trump administration's lethal strikes on alleged drug smugglers heats up. Plus, Democratic senators call for the president to join talks as the shutdown nears a record.

Tim Kaine (0:46)

If the president engages, we will find a deal, I think, within hours.

Caitlin McCabe (0:50)

And we take a look at why the countries once praised for their fiscal discipline are now becoming Europe's new problem cases. It's Monday, November 3rd. I'm Caitlin McCabe for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM Edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

We begin in DC where Democratic senators are urging President Trump to engage directly in talks to end the government shutdown, which is nearing a record 35 days, the longest lapse ever. Lawmakers last week made progress on talks to reopen the government with a possible deal on health care, which is the main condition for Democrats to vote on ending the shutdown. Democratic senators came out in force over the weekend, urging the president to get involved. Here's Virginia Senator Tim Kaine on ABC's This Week.

Tim Kaine (1:43)

We're asking the president to simply sit down and do what all presidents do. We can find a budget deal that puts us on a path to a health care fix. I don't need all the I's dotted and T's crossed. I just want to be on a path so that people's bills don't spike. And I want the president to agree, stop the wrecking ball.

Caitlin McCabe (2:02)

Trump in recent days has urged Republicans to change Senate rules to bypass Democrats, potentially upsetting the delicate negotiations. The White House gave no indication Sunday that Trump would jump into the talks.

Meanwhile, we're reporting that the White House believes it can continue its lethal strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats without congressional authorization. Even as lawmakers from both parties grow increasingly frustrated by the lack of legal justification for the attacks. A senior official says the administration doesn't believe these strikes count as hostilities under the War Powers Resolution. That's the 1973 law requiring presidents to end any military action after 60 days, unless Congress approves it. But the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, isn't convinced. Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation over the weekend, he criticized the administration for only briefing Republicans on the strikes.

Mark Warner (3:05)

I got an aircraft carrier from Norfolk that's in the Caribbean right now. How do I answer the families of those sailors about whether this operation is even legal? This document needs to be shared with every member of the Senate this week so that as we get into this discussion about war powers, we've got the basis of how the administration is claiming that it's legal.

Caitlin McCabe (3:26)

GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed back on that assertion on Fox News Sunday.

Mike Johnson (3:31)

We had a gang of eight briefing with the Secretary of State himself about a week and a half ago, and you had Republicans and Democrats there, the top leaders on both sides in intelligence and in elected leadership. We have exquisite intelligence about these strikes, and I can't get into the classified parts, but that information is well known and is very reliable. And what the president and the administration are doing is protecting the homeland.

Caitlin McCabe (3:55)

The US military has killed roughly 65 people in 15 airstrikes in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean so far. And President Trump is threatening potential military action in Nigeria, as well as halting aid, citing the perceived targeting of Christians by Islamist terrorists. Violence against Christians has escalated in Africa's most populous country, with Islamist extremist group Boko Haram responsible for 43,000 deaths between 2009 and 2021, according to a Nigerian nonprofit. Posting on social media over the weekend, Trump said the US could go in, quote, guns a blazing with the goal of wiping out Islamist militants in the country. Nigeria's president pushed back in a post on X, rejecting claims of religious intolerance and stating religious freedom is a core national principle.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reported quarterly results over the weekend, including a 17% increase in earnings thanks to a pickup in its insurance business. But as the journal's Heather Gillers explains, it's unlikely to boost Berkshire stock, which has trailed the S&P 500 as shareholders have wrestled with the news that Buffett will be stepping down as CEO at the end of the year, handing the reins to his successor, Greg Abel.