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Subject to change. It's 505 and welcome in to a Thursday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Stock 1110-993 WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. We start with huge breaking international news this morning being announced by President Donald Trump last night.
Hamas has agreed to a peace deal that was brokered by President Donald Trump and his envoy of individuals to end a war that started two years ago this week on October the 7th. With the peace deal being announced by the President last night, it will also include the return of hostages two years after that attack. The president took to Truth Social, his social media platform Wednesday night, and wrote, quote, I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first phase of our peace plan. This means that all of the hostages will be released very soon and Israel will withdraw their troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps towards a strong, durable and everlasting peace. All parties will be treated fairly.
This is a great day for the Arab and Muslim world, Israel, and all surrounding nations. As well as the United States, and we thank our mediators, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this historic and unprecedented event happen. In all caps, blessed are the peacemakers. The president was obviously talking about this Wednesday night. He did call into the Sean Hannity show on Fox News, and the president had this to say.
Thank you very much, John. Honor to be involved in it. We had some tremendous help, as you know, with everybody from Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Marco and that we had everybody. J D, the whole the whole group was to amazing and The military was As you know, very instrumental in getting this done. We have a great military with Great leadership.
Uh the whole world came together, to be honest.
So many countries that wouldn't have even thought of it and they they came together the world has come together around this deal. And that's something I would say that without that, Uh wouldn't happen. Uh Yeah.
So many countries that you wouldn't have thought of have wired there. Best wishes and their commitment to do whatever is necessary. The country surrounding of all sides. I mean, they're all signed up and It's been really an amazing period of time. And So great for Israel.
So great for Muslims, for the Arab countries And so great for this country. for the United States of America.
Okay, and that. We could be involved in you know, making a deal like this happen because it was many years they talked about peace in the Middle East. This is More than Gaza, this is peace in the Middle East and it's An incredible thing. That's President Donald Trump on the Sean Hannity television show on the Fox News channel last night, just a couple of hours after, about two hours or so after making the announcement on social media. Moments before the president's announcements, photos emerged from the negotiation room where this was taking place in Egypt throughout the entirety of this week, showing senior officials embracing and shaking hands as reports indicated significant progress towards a hostage release deal.
That was the first sign that that was going on. Israeli media reported that Israel and the terror group will sign the deal on Thursday at that Egyptian resort. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said in a statement: With God's help, we will bring them all home. The prime minister added in a statement in Hebrew converted to English, a great day for Israel. Tomorrow I will convene the government to approve the agreement and bring all of our hostages home.
I thank the historic soldiers of the IDF and all security forces. Thanks to their courage and sacrifice, we have reached this day. I thank from the bottom of my heart President Trump and his team for mobilizing this sacred mission of freeing our hostages. With God's help, together we will continue to achieve all of our objectives and expand peace with our neighbors. The terrorist organization in Hamas announced an official statement and released this as well, saying, quote, after responsible and serious negotiations conducted by the movement and the Palestinian resistant factions regarding President Donald Trump's proposal with an aim of ending the war of extremism against our Palestinian people and the withdrawal of the occupation of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas announced the reaching of an agreement that ends the war on Gaza. Provides for the withdrawal of occupation and allows the entry of aid and implements a prisoner exchange. End quote there from the Hamas terror group that does operate in the Gaza Strip.
So, obviously, as you would imagine, a lot of reaction coming in, not only here in the United States, but across the globe, as President Donald Trump noted in that Sean Hannity television interview last night.
Some of the details as we are expecting them right now, according to Israeli officials, the living hostages, which there's only expected to be somewhere between 20 and 40 that are still living, are expected to be released in a single phase, sometime coming up within the next 72 hours. With the release of the alive hostages, there will also be the return of bodies of deceased hostages, but however, that will take a little bit longer.
However, Israel insists that that is part of the deal and that will take place. Hamas reportedly backed by some Israeli sources, claims that part of the deal stems from the fact that. That some of the bodies are not located in areas under control.
So that will be part of the process that we see unfolding over the next couple of days. Following Trump's announcement, the hostages' families' headquarters released a statement saying, The hostages' families wish to express deep gratitude to U.S. President Donald Trump and his team for the leadership and determination that led to this historic breakthrough, an end to a war, and a compassionate agreement to return all of the hostages. There are currently 48 hostages in Hamas captivity. Our moral and national commitment is to bring them all both home alive and fallen alike.
Their return is a condition for the peace agreement and the Israel society as a whole. We will not rest or be quiet until the return of the last hostage.
So there's also some rumors this morning flowing around that the president of the United States in Donald Trump will be traveling to the Middle East potentially as early as Monday. Obviously, that would be a very last-minute trip in terms of the president's prep travel schedule, which, as you can imagine, there is a lot that goes into not only the president traveling anywhere across the United States, but a last-minute trip over to the Middle East. You can imagine that if some of those rumors are true, officials within the administration have been working all night feverishly to try and lay out all of the plans and details that it will take to get President Donald Trump over to portions of the Middle East, potentially coming up here in the next couple of days. Of course, earlier this week, back on October the 7th, we marked the two. Two-year anniversary, unfortunately, since Hamas's deadly attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 people dead and more than 251 hostages taken by the Hamas terror group.
That anniversary happening earlier this week. A couple of days later, a peace deal agreement coming out, being announced by President Donald Trump. We continue to track all of the details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. And of course, you'll hear continuing coverage throughout the day right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3WBT. Member Week is back at Lowe's with big savings for pros.
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Free standard shipping not available in Alaska and Hawaii. Exclusions and more terms apply. Loyalty program subject to terms and conditions. Details at lows.com/slash terms. Subject to change.
It's 521. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. Turning our attention to some statewide news this morning. There's been some rumors and some rumblings over the last couple of weeks about some potential congressional redistricting in North Carolina.
However, legal experts say that potential redrawing of any congressional maps here in North Carolina, predominantly North Carolina's first congressional district, would pose severe litigation risks. This issue arose after an anonymous source told left-wing advocacy group Carolina Forward that state Senate leader Phil Berger from Rockingham County, the Republican there, had asked President Donald Trump for his endorsement in a tight primary challenge in his legislative district in exchange for redrawing lines of the first congressional district. Berger took to social media a couple of weeks ago to shoot down that rumor, saying, Quote: I've been watching what's going on in California with Gavin Newsom trying to steal the Republican majority in Congress. We have drawn four congressional maps in the last six years in the redistricting fight with Democrats because of their Sou-Till Blue strategy. If we have to draw new maps, we will.
However, Berger said that he has not had any conversations with the president or anybody associated with the president. Berger, a member of the state senate since 2000 and the leader of the Senate since 2011, faces a primary challenge from Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page.
However, redrawing Congressional District 1 would be a significant move since it's the only competitive district in the state. Democrat Representative Don Davis is the current incumbent. He sits in that seat. He won in 2022 by a 52.4 to 47.6 margin over his Republican challenger.
However, his victory in 2024 was much narrower at 49.5 to 47.8%. Jeanette Doran with the. Jeanette Doran from the John Locke Foundation told the Carolina Journal, quote, I would expect any new district maps to be a subject of litigation. North Carolina has seen lawsuit after lawsuit over redistricting, and I'd expect more if the General Assembly redraws maps now. Whether any such lawsuit would have merits remains to be seen.
Dr. Andy Jackson, the director of the Civitas Center for Public Integrity at the John Locke Foundation, notes that North Carolina One, or the first congressional district, has become less secure for Democrats in recent years. Jackson said, quote, the John Locke Foundation analyzed the new congressional districts when the General Assembly passed them in 2023 and found that the first district is a D plus zero, meaning that Democrats have less than a half a point percentage advantage over Republicans. As rural North Carolinians shift towards the GOP, I expect that this district to lean Republican by the end of the decade, even if its borders remain unchanged. Jackson also said since the 2024 election, the first district has shifted from a 0.4% Democrat advantage to a 0.3% Republican advantage, noting that the small shift is probably not enough to overcome the advantage that Don Davis would have as the incumbent in that race, especially in a midterm election when the president's party tends to suffer losses.
A potential challenge in redrawing the lines for North Carolina's first congressional district is the district has a majority-minority designation under the Federal Voting Rights Act. That means that a majority of the district's voters may be from an ethnic or racial minority. Jackson noted one of the potential problems facing the General Assembly and did note that Voting Right Act and some of the federal designations there saying, quote, roughly 40% of the district is black. Any change that significantly drops that number, especially if it negatively affects the district, Compactness and splits more counties will make it less likely to survive an inevitable lawsuit. He also pointed to a recent United States Supreme Court decision from 2023, Allen v.
Milligan, that reinforced the components of the Voting Right Act. Dr. Andy Jackson said that case should give legislators pause before making significant changes to the first congressional district.
Now, I'll note, again, all of this is stemming from anonymous sources talking to a left-wing advocacy group here in North Carolina. The state Senate leader and Phil Berger, who was the subject of that anonymous report, has denied any involvement.
However, the discussion is continuing across North Carolina this morning. And Governor Josh Stein commenting as well, calling the idea of redrawing the maps, quote, ridiculous. His comments were in response to that post from Senate leader Phil Berger, who dismissed those rumors that he planned on redrawing those maps. Stein told members of the Council of State after their meeting last week, quote, we just redistricted for a second time last cycle.
So every two years is the theory that we're going to redistrict so we can maximize the political advantage to stick it to one party and enhance another. That is not how redistricting works. You do it once a decade, unless you're ordered by the courts to redraw because your first effort violated the law. Then you wait till the next census and then you redistrict again. Stein, of course, referencing some of those comments on social media.
The Democrat governor of California and Gavin Newsom, also commenting on the, again, rumored report, not verified or backed up by anybody report as well, saying, quote, Donald Trump is swapping endorsements in exchange for rigging elections, and it's barely making the news. The governor also said, quote, it will destroy the politics of this country. You have to be able to recognize sometimes you win in an election and sometimes you lose an election. When you lose, you gather your forces, you work harder, and you try and convince the voters next time. When you win, you work your tail off to deliver on the promises that you made to people so they'll re-elect you.
That's how it's supposed to work.
So that is some of the commentary coming in across the state of North Carolina on the possibility of redistricting. And again, all rumor, no action has been taken by the General Assembly at all. They were back in Raleigh just a couple of weeks ago, and we did not hear any commentary or comments from Senate leader, Senate Majority Leader and Phil Berger. Nothing from any of the other leaders on the other side of the chamber as well in the House. No comments from him.
Lawmakers, however, are expected to be back in Raleigh coming up here on October the 20th. And so if maps were going to be redrawn, again, no indication that they are, but if they were going to be redrawn, it would have to happen pretty quickly. Candidate filing for the midterm elections coming up in November of next year do open up in early December. December of this year. That's when candidates, all the candidates will file.
We will then head into a March primary in early 2026. And then, of course, a major general election coming your way in November of next year.
So it is something that we will keep an eye on. We've got details on this, some of the back and forth from Phil Berger and Governor Stein. All of that available over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Two stories there. Redrawing of NC's first congressional district could pose litigation risk.
And the other, Stein redrawing maps for 2026, ridiculous. Both of those stories over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. This goes out to all you finance folks. You're under a lot of pressure to save money, but the best finance leaders focus on more than that. Brex knows you want to drive growth, change the game, and win.
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Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. News Talk 1110-99.3 WBT major. A huge breaking international news this morning. Hamas has agreed to a peace deal pushed by President Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza and return hostages. This comes just a couple of days after the two-year mark, October the 7th, 2023, in which more than 1,000 individuals lost their lives and were killed by the Hamas terror group, the Iranian-backed Hamas terror group operating in the Gaza Strip after their attack on Israel.
The president took to Truth Social Wednesday night to make the announcement, writing, quote, I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first phase of our peace plan. This means that all of the hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their troops to an agreed-upon line as the first step towards a strong, durable, and everlasting peace. All parties will be treated fairly. This is a great day for the Arab and Muslim world, Israel, all surrounding nations, and the United States of America. And we thank our mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey who worked with us to make this historic and unprecedented event happen.
Blessed are all the peacemakers. Moments before the president's announcements, photos emerged from the negotiations on social media showing senior officials embracing and shaking hands as reports indicated significant progress towards a hostage peace deal. The president was actually on camera at an event earlier in the day at the Oval Office when his Secretary of State and Marco Rubio leaned in to whisper something into his ear, letting him know that the negotiations were coming very close to concluding. We would then find out just a couple of hours later that that in fact has happened. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, With God's help, we will bring them all home.
A great day for Israel. Tomorrow, meaning today, I will convene the government to approve the agreement and bring all our dear hostages home. I thank the historic soldiers of the IDF and all security forces. Thanks to their courage and sacrifice, we have reached this deal. I thank from the bottom of my heart President Trump and his team for mobilizing this sacred mission of freeing our hostages.
With God's help, together we will continue to achieve all of our objectives and expand peace with our neighbors. The Hamas terrorist group also released a statement as well talking about. The release, and even in this case, talking about the movement that went on and some of the negotiations that took place, talking about how it is a huge win for various Palestinian groups throughout the region. This plan and hostages are expected to be released in a single phase within about 72 hours.
So, that clock is running as of this morning. Rumor on social media indicates that President Donald Trump could be traveling to the Middle East, could be heading to Israel as soon as Monday.
So, you would imagine that plans are underway right now to set that up and make sure that the president can have a safe visit over to the Middle East. This is a major historic deal for President Donald Trump. Things are still a little bit in limbo. We know the deal has been agreed to, waiting to see when that hostage release, all hostages release will take place. And then, of course, we'll be watching some of those IDF troops pull out of the Gaza Strip and continue to.
To keep an eye on everything going on there, you'll hear a continued coverage throughout the day right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3 WBT. We'll also keep an eye on the details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, where it's now 5:40, News Talk 1110, 99.3 WBT. If you are someone who has needed to go to the North Carolina DMV over the last couple of years, you know that that has been a very frustrating process, months-long appointment wait times when you get there, hours-long lines. It has been a major frustration for citizens across the state of North Carolina. This morning, however, we do have some new legislation passed by the North Carolina General Assembly, signed by Governor Josh Stein, that hopefully can alleviate another trip to DMV for some citizens across the state.
To walk us through some of those details this morning, Teresa Opaca, CarolinaJournal.com, joins us on the news hour. Teresa, you and I have chatted about the DMV a couple of times over the last six or seven months. It is a major headache for citizens here in North Carolina. Yes, good morning, Nick. Thanks for having me.
Yeah, we chatted a few times, just a few, about the DMV. Considering, like you just said, all the problems that Many North Carolinians have had over the past several years, whether it's trying to book an appointment online and there's no available appointments. Or, if they do get an appointment, they're standing in line, maybe waiting forever. They get to the end of the line and they say, Nope, sorry, time's up. Nobody else is coming in today.
So, there's been a myriad of problems over the last couple of years.
So, hopefully, this alleviates some of them. She mentioned it's Senate Bill 245, expand remote driver's license services, which will now allow those without a real ID. To renew their driver's license online for a second consecutive time. Specifically allows for remote renewals of driver's licenses, eliminates the driving log requirement. And authorizes remote issuance for full provisional licenses.
So that is some good news for people out there this morning.
Now, Teresa, I don't know about you, but I know a bunch of people that still have non-real IDs. They're still valid driver's licenses. Many of them expire over the next couple of years that folks just have not had the time, or if we're being honest with each other, frankly, haven't wanted to deal with the headache that it is to go through the process of getting a real ID.
Now, obviously, getting into federal buildings and going through TSA and airports, all of that does require real ID or a passport or some other sort of federal documentation. But I would imagine there's still millions of people across the state that have not upgraded to a real ID yet. I imagine so for the reasons she was just just named, you know, it's just it's uh You know, it's a real hardship when some people are taking vacation days to go stand in line. You've heard of that. Other things, you know, to wait and get that renewal.
So, who wants to go through that trouble to do that?
So, yeah, I'm sure there's many, many people without real IDs right now in the state, and this will be a welcome news for them.
Now, for this renewal of a non-real ID in this process, you do have had to have had a new picture taken over the last couple of years. What are the details on who is eligible for this? It's not everybody, correct? Correct, so it only applies again to non-real ID driver's lines. This is not to state ID cards.
Provisions of the law, they let me just go through, also allow the real ID driver's licenses to be renewed on. Second time, if the customer has had an in-person transaction where a new photo was taken since their last renewal, so that is correct. But in many cases, those in-person transactions were to obtain a real ID outside of the customer's renewal period and also include maybe some name changes, in-state address changes, and duplicates.
So, NCDMB expects these additional renewals to be available in the next several weeks. Also, as we mentioned, about one of those. Driving logs, remaining provision of the law, allows teen drivers to upgrade from their level two limited provisional license, they call it before nines, to the level three full provisional licenses after nines online. That will also be available in the next several weeks, and teens can already upgrade from a level three full provisional license to a regular Class C license online on their 18th birthday.
Well, I'm glad you bring up those teen drivers in some of the commentary and reading some comments online, Teresa. That seems to be a group and families that have been hit really hard. It's something like two or three visits to DMV over the span of 12 to 16 months for 16-year-olds that are going through the process of trying to get their license. Most folks don't want to do it, but every four or five years, I can't imagine trying to schedule a couple of appointments within a calendar year. That sounds like total chaos.
It does, it does, and they probably age out before they get to their appointment. You know, it just seems like that would happen, right? You're trying to schedule that. It's hard enough for anybody, you say, a couple of years to schedule their next appointment. Imagine these teens, you know, who are trying to get their first driver's license, and yeah, it's a real hassle.
So, this is some good news for them as well. Recapping some of our past conversations, it's not a new discussion. It's not a new story. It's not a new conversation here that folks have had frustrations with the DMV. That criticism has been mounting over the last couple of years.
Teresa, let's be honest about it. The state of North Carolina is growing rapidly. You've got a lot of new people moving into the state, getting a state driver's license for the first time.
So you would expect an increase there.
However, state auditor Dave Bullock, who actually campaigned on this issue, has now been in the office for a little over 10 months. He released a massive DMV audit back in August. He seems to be holding those DMV folks' feet to the fire on some of the ongoings in the office. Yes, he has. And the audit that he did, it showed that.
you know, a lot of this is really Common sense from a knowledge standpoint, because we've heard it in the news over and over again. The audit showed customer experience is deteriorating worse than they expected, especially over the past five years. You got DMV employees grappling with the growing workload due to staffing issues, which also hurts customers. And there's also outdated technology. I don't know if it's specifically DOS, but it's it's Computers back from say the 80s or so, really, really outdated technology.
But what Bolick said in that audit: the biggest issue affecting the DMV, what he considers is a systematic breakdown. In the historically fractured relationship between the DMV and Department of Transportation, where the DMV is housed, he issued a recommendation that they would separate.
So, but leaders from both of those entities, not too crazy about that suggestion, as we heard.
So, but getting back to this. this new law that was passed, when combined the three provisions of the law, will allow for up to four hundred thousand more transactions to occur online instead of in person at a driver's license office.
So that's a major, major help. No question about it. This is a pretty lengthy discussion and conversation overall about DMV. You can read some additional details on this new legislation, Senate Bill 245, again passed by the General Assembly back a couple of weeks ago and signed into law by Governor Josh Stein by visiting our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com. We appreciate the update this morning.
Teresa Opeka from CarolinaJournal.com joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. This is the story of the one. As a maintenance supervisor at a manufacturing facility, he knows keeping the line up and running is a top priority. That's why he chooses Granger. Because when a drive belt gets damaged, Granger makes it easy to find the exact specs for the replacement product he needs.
And next day delivery helps ensure he'll have everything in place and running like clockwork. Call 1-800 Granger, clickGranger.com or just stop by. Granger for the ones who get it done. It's 5:53. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993, WBT, and some statewide news this morning.
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is opposing efforts by DuPont and Camours to pause an environmental lawsuit that they are currently appealing to the North Carolina Supreme Court. The company seeks to delay a scheduled October the 30th, 2025 business court hearing by arguing that the Attorney General and Jeff Jackson lacks the authority to continue the case. Jackson's office, in a filing earlier this week, argued that the case, which I'll note was filed nearly five years ago, should not be stalled. The lawyers for the Attorney General's office and the attorney general himself state that the lawsuit aims to hold companies accountable for contaminating North Carolina's natural resources. Resources, including things like drinking water, and that delaying proceedings would only extend the harm to the state and to its residents.
Jackson's filing claims that the company's main goal is to avoid the cost and effort of preparing for a trial, calling their claim irreparably harmful and insufficient justification for pausing any ongoing legal action. Jackson further argued that the defendants' request for what they call a short stay would actually amount to an indefinite delay, preventing the state from protecting its environment and citizens.
So this lawsuit originated back in 2020 under then Attorney General Josh Stein, who of course is now the governor. In August of this year, business court judge Michael Robinson ruled that the current Attorney General and Jeff Jackson does have the authority to continue pursuing the case and DuPont and Comors, the chemical manufacturing company that is being sued by the state. appealed that decision on September the 26th. contending that the Attorney General overstepped his legal powers by acting independently of the Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, which had already filed related PFAS contamination lawsuits. The company's Supreme Court, a state Supreme Court petition argues that Jackson's lawsuit duplicates one that DEQ already has, calling him an unaccountable second regulator.
The chemical companies assert that DEQ already has a consent order with Comoz to fund cleanup and environmental progress related to PFAS pollution from its Fayetteville Works plant. Pollution at that site was taking place for the better part of 40 years and did allow thousands of gallons of PFAS to flow into the Cape Fear River basin, contaminating water all the way from Bladen County down to the Wilmington area.
So they are looking, that lawsuit has been ongoing and they are looking for a stay in this case. Jackson maintains that his office remains the common law authority in North Carolina to protect the property and resources of North Carolinians and is independent of statutory language. Judge Michael. Robinson's earlier August the 7th ruling supported Jackson's position, citing the state's. Power that grants the Attorney General the ability to act on behalf of the sovereign people of North Carolina.
At the time, Robinson wrote that the Attorney General can pursue actions necessary to protect the state's natural resources, even without the Department of Environmental Quality's explicit request, especially since DEQ lacks statutory authority to seek some of the damages at issue.
So that is some of the latest in this ongoing, very lengthy legal challenge that has been ongoing between what is now a spin-off of DuPont in the Camours Chemical Company. They do operate a site over in Bladen County that is called the Fayetteville Works Site. That facility produced a variety of chemicals for DuPont and now Camours and questions over contamination of PFAS into the Cape Fear River Basin has been the subject of not only numerous legal challenges, not only by DEQ, but by local municipalities. And hundreds of millions of dollars worth of water filtration systems being put up by local water utilities up and down the Cape Fear River basin. We've got some additional details on this story this morning.
You can visit our website and read those details at CarolinaJournal.com.
Well, that's going to do it for a Thursday edition. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning, BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5-6, right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3, WBT.
