Bill Murray challenged Kevin Hassett on CNBC, and Trump offered Dana White the press secretary job. The other stories cover Israel’s government formation, data center votes, a fatal cycling crash, foster care scholarships and Richard Lloyd’s death.
7. Bill Murray challenged Kevin Hassett’s smile on CNBC
Bill Murray asked Kevin Hassett to say, “My dog just died.” The Oscar-nominated actor wanted to find out whether President Donald Trump’s economic adviser would keep smiling while saying those four words on live television.
Hassett responded with a laugh and asked whose dog Murray meant: the actor’s or his own. Murray chose Hassett’s dog, and the adviser changed his expression to a frown before saying the words Murray had requested.
CNBC’s “Squawk Box” aired the exchange on Monday, with Murray at its New York studio and Hassett connected by satellite from the White House. Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, had been scheduled for an interview with co-anchors Joe Kernen and Becky Quick.
Murray questioned Hassett about his persistent smile and said his reaction was concern, rather than worry. NBC News reported that CNBC had not immediately answered its request for comment.
Murray’s appearance was a promotional visit for “A Course Called Ireland,” a Paramount+ documentary series exploring Irish golf courses.
Source: NBC News
6. Herzog chose Eisenkot to try forming government
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a “national unity government” and warned against “hastily swearing in a government with terrorist supporters” in a video statement. Shortly afterward on Saturday night, Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced that former military chief Gadi Eisenkot would get the first chance to form a governing coalition after the Oct. 27 elections.
Eisenkot ran as Netanyahu’s main challenger, but neither man’s bloc won a parliamentary majority. The Associated Press reported that Eisenkot had up to six weeks to assemble a coalition, after representatives of most major parties recommended him in talks with Herzog.
CBS News reported that Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 of parliament’s 120 seats, while the four-party bloc opposing him won 48. Arab-majority parties won the remaining 19 seats, making their support necessary for either bloc to reach a majority without another arrangement.
Both AP and CBS News reported that Eisenkot had indicated willingness to work with Arab-led parties under conditions that included calling Hamas a terrorist group that needed to be destroyed. AP reported that some members of his bloc opposed even a minority government backed by Arab parties outside the coalition.
In his response on X, Eisenkot called for a national emergency government. His party, Yashar, also urged members of Netanyahu’s Likud party to end their alliance with parties it described as radical, AP reported.
Netanyahu would remain caretaker prime minister until a new government was formed, CBS News reported. If coalition negotiations failed, another election would be required, with Netanyahu remaining in office in the meantime.
Sources: CBS News, PBS NewsHour
5. Voters approved local restrictions on data centers
Harwood, North Dakota, was the only town where voters said yes to a data center, according to Redbud Consulting. The firm found that restrictions won overwhelmingly in the local referendums it examined.
Redbud studied 47 ballot questions across 12 states and 44 municipalities, with Ohio accounting for 21 referendums. Its tally as of Wednesday afternoon listed 38 successful measures limiting data centers. Redbud also reported that 45 contests had finished counting, with restrictions prevailing in all but one.
Resistance extended across party lines, CBS News exit polls found. Nationally and across the Senate battlegrounds, opponents substantially outnumbered supporters; more than half of voters said data centers played a major role in their decision.
In The AP Voter Poll, reported by ABC News, about a quarter of voters called the issue crucial when choosing congressional candidates, a smaller share than those assigning high importance to corruption or living costs.
AdImpact put campaign television spending on ads discussing data centers above $380 million. Democrats accounted for more than three times as much spending on the topic as Republicans.
Georgia Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms told CBS Mornings on Wednesday that she intended to order a pause in new data center construction and then assess what additional administrative steps were needed. She also said she would examine Georgia’s tax incentive agreements and determine what options were available to put the pause into effect.
Sources: CBS News, ABC News
4. Trump offered Dana White press secretary job
Dana White’s Instagram picture showed him at the White House briefing room podium with the caption, “On to the next chapter.” President Donald Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social that he wanted the Ultimate Fighting Championship chief executive to become his press secretary and had made him an offer.
CBS News reported that it was unclear whether White had accepted. NBC News reported that whether Trump intended the offer seriously was also unclear when he posted it.
White, in London on Saturday to promote a boxing event, told reporters he had a meeting with Trump on Monday and expected to have more to discuss afterward.
Trump’s post also called for several UFC fighters to join White as assistants, naming Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje and Amanda Nunes among them. “Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!” Trump wrote.
CBS News and NBC News reported that the press secretary position had remained empty since Katie Zacharia’s departure in October, five days into her tenure. Her predecessor, Karoline Leavitt, had announced in August that she would leave to spend more time with her family.
The offer followed Democrats’ midterm victories, which gave them control of both chambers of Congress, CBS News and The Associated Press reported. The AP said neither the White House nor a UFC spokesperson immediately answered its requests for comment Saturday.
Sources: CBS News, NBC News, PBS NewsHour
3. Driver charged after crash killed cyclist
The car crashed into a ditch about half a mile beyond where it struck the cyclists, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said. Troopers said the 76-year-old driver kept going after hitting the group Saturday morning in Wake County, North Carolina.
The Highway Patrol said the collision happened on Optimist Farm Road when a westbound black Infiniti crossed the center line into cyclists traveling east. Authorities said the group included more than 40 riders, and troopers arrived shortly after 9:30 a.m.
The Highway Patrol said a 63-year-old cyclist was killed and roughly a dozen other riders suffered injuries, including some serious ones. Holly Springs Fire Chief LeRoy Smith reported a different total: seven people needed hospital care for major injuries, while another 15 had minor injuries.
The Highway Patrol said officers arrested the driver and charged him with eight hit-and-run counts and seven counts involving serious injury by vehicle. Additional charges included death by vehicle, reckless driving, driving while impaired and driving left of center, the agency said.
The Highway Patrol said suspected impairment was a factor in the crash. NBC News reported that the driver was being held at the Wake County Detention Center with bond set at $1 million.
Sources: CBS News, NBC News
2. Melania Trump announced LSU foster care scholarships
First lady Melania Trump said Saturday at Louisiana State University: “The foster care community doesn’t need words.” She announced that LSU had raised $7.2 million for a scholarship endowment benefiting students who had been in foster care, in partnership with her Fostering the Future program.
MMR Group Inc., a Baton Rouge electrical contractor, committed $5 million, according to The Associated Press and FOX Local reporting. LSU Foundation members contributed another $2.2 million before Saturday’s announcement, increasing the fund beyond its expected total.
Trump said adults needed to act on their obligations to children, particularly those in foster care. LSU President Wade Rousse said the university was responsible for ensuring that circumstances students could not control did not prevent them from getting a college education.
Across 26 participating colleges and universities, Fostering the Future supported 100 students that semester, according to AP and FOX Local reporting. LSU enrolled 14 of those scholars, while Alabama enrolled nine. Rousse also presented her with an LSU helmet carrying the Be Best logo.
Earlier that year, Trump told the House Ways and Means Committee that difficulties with housing and transportation affected foster students’ academic performance and future financial independence. Legislation expanding access to foster care services had cleared the House and awaited Senate action, according to AP and FOX Local reporting.
Source: Fox Television Stations
1. Television guitarist Richard Lloyd died at 75
Richard Lloyd’s wife and his dog, Willie Mays, stayed beside him at the end, his family told Rolling Stone. The family announced that the Television guitarist and co-founder died at 75 on Saturday morning, November 7, at his Chattanooga, Tennessee, home. Billboard reported that the cause was bile duct cancer, known as cholangiocarcinoma.
Lloyd’s guitar work appeared on “Marquee Moon,” Television’s first album, in 1977. Billboard said critics praised its complex arrangements and the way his playing worked with Tom Verlaine’s, though early sales were limited.
Billboard reported that Lloyd spent his childhood in Greenwich Village and first studied drums, then took up guitar. Following periods in Boston and Los Angeles, he came back to New York in 1973 and helped form Television with Verlaine, Richard Hell and Billy Ficca. The group played regularly at CBGB.
According to Billboard, Television’s second album, “Adventure,” arrived in 1978, the same year the group broke up. A reunion produced the album “Television” in 1992, followed by occasional performances. In 2007, Lloyd announced he was leaving the group to give his solo work more attention.
Billboard dated his solo debut, “Alchemy,” to 1979 and his last solo studio release, “The Countdown,” to 2018. Beyond those records, he contributed guitar to recordings by Matthew Sweet and John Doe, taught the instrument and toured. His memoir, “Everything Is Combustible: Television, CBGB’s and Five Decades of Rock and Roll,” came out in 2017.
Sources: Billboard, Inquisitr, Paste Magazine
Photos: Timelessblue, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών (Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs), CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons; John Salvino from Toronto, Canada, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons; Toglenn, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Elmschrat, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Elad Malka, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Avi Ohayon, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Missvain, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Z22, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Justin Moore, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons; Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Kkmurray, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
For the previous day’s political roundup, see Top 7, November 7: Trump picks Miller, Democrats win six state trifectas. For more entertainment stories, read how James Stewart left Hollywood for combat and discover five unreleased Britney Spears songs.
