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Nov. 4, 2025, 9:03 PM ESTBy Dennis RomeroTwo people on board an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Eastern Pacific were killed by a U.S. military strike, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday.Hegseth said on X that the boat was targeted in a “lethal kinetic strike” in international waters and killed two “narco-terrorists.” He also included video of the strike in the X post. “Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” he said.The term kinetic strike can generally describe deploying launched or fired munitions, but can also mean a strike from a moving aircraft, such as a drone.Hegseth did not provide the exact location of the strike or the evidence of the trafficking operation claims. The Trump administration has provided more information about the groups involved or the origin country of crew members in previous strikes.The vessel was being operated by a “Designated Terrorist Organization,” Hegseth said Tuesday.”We will find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens,” Hegseth said. “Protecting the homeland is our TOP priority. NO cartel terrorist stands a chance against the American military.”The strike was at least the 16th on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean, Eastern Pacific, or off the coastline of Latin America since President Donald Trump returned to office. The strikes have killed at least 66 people.Tuesday’s strike was carried out at President Donald Trump’s direction, the defense secretary said. The president has previously said he won’t seek congressional approval or issue a declaration of war against cartels, which his administration has designated as foreign terrorist organizations.“I don’t think we’re necessarily going to ask for a declaration of war,” he said last month at a White House roundtable on homeland security. “I think we’re just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. We’re going to kill them. They’re going to be, like, dead.”Also last month, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a request to obtain the White House Office of Legal Counsel’s guidance on the strikes.The groups contend the strikes are not legal because those on board are civilians and no war has been declared against the alleged drug organizations.“In a constitutional system, no president can arbitrarily choose to assassinate individuals from the sky based on his whim or say-so,” Baher Azmy, legal director of Center for Constitutional Rights, said in a statement. “The Trump administration is taking its indiscriminate pattern of lawlessness to a lethal level.”Dennis RomeroDennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.Mosheh Gains and Gemma DiCasimirro contributed.

- Latest News - November 5, 2025

Two people on board an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Eastern Pacific were killed by a U.S. military strike, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday

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Nov. 4, 2025, 8:36 PM EST / Updated Nov. 4, 2025, 9:07 PM ESTBy Jane C. TimmPennsylvania voters approved the retention of three state Supreme Court justices, NBC News projects, preserving Democrats’ 5-2 majority on the battleground state’s high court.Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht all survived an up-or-down vote to keep their seats on the bench. Dougherty and Wecht each won another 10-year term, while Donohue will serve until 2027, when she’ll reach the mandatory retirement age of 75 for justices.Pennsylvania judges and justices must stand for retention every 10 years, when voters can vote “yes” or “no” to keep them on the bench. Very few Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices have lost their jobs this way, as retention elections are typically low-profile affairs. But with Democrats’ majority at stake in one of the country’s premier swing states ahead of the 2026 and 2028 elections, this year’s races drew outsize money and attention on both sides. Democrats and their allies spent aggressively in the final stretch of the race, pouring more than $13 million into TV ads since October 1st, compared to the $2.8 million spent on the Republican side. In one TV ad, the trio of judges appeared together to tell voters “we protected access to abortion. And your right to vote. Even when the powerful came after it.” Prominent Democrats backed the incumbent justices, who appeared on the ballot without any party designation. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who faces re-election next year and is viewed as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, appeared in an ad on the justices’ behalf. And former President Barack Obama posted on social media urging Pennsylvanians to vote “yes” on retention.President Donald Trump also weighed in at the last minute, urging Pennsylvanians to “Vote ‘NO, NO, NO’ on Liberal Justices Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht” in a Truth Social post on Sunday night. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has decided several big cases in recent years, particularly related to elections. The Democratic-controlled court struck down a GOP-drawn congressional map in 2018 and upheld a mail voting law four years later. Last year, Democratic justices overturned a precedent upholding Medicaid’s ban on covering abortions.If all three justices had lost, Pennsylvania’s high court would have been deadlocked 2-2 through the end of 2027, threatening the high court’s ability to decide major cases and set legal precedents, which require agreement from four justices.“It would be disastrous,” Wecht warned of such an outcome in an interview with NBC News ahead of the election. “Precedent is the whole reason for our court. We’re not just deciding Smith versus Jones, we’re deciding a question of law that applies for now and in the future throughout Pennsylvania for everybody.”Jane C. TimmJane C. Timm is a senior reporter for NBC News.

- Latest News - November 5, 2025

Pennsylvania voters approved the retention of three state Supreme Court justices, NBC News projects, preserving Democrats’ 5-2 majority on the battleground state’s high court

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Nov. 4, 2025, 8:41 PM ESTBy Alexandra MarquezVirginia state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi on Tuesday became the first Muslim American woman elected to statewide office in the U.S. with her victory in the state’s lieutenant governor’s race, NBC News projects.Her historic victory comes the same night that former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, whom NBC News projects as the winner in Virginia’s governor’s race, became the first woman elected governor in the state.This is the second time Hashmi has made history in an election; in 2019 she was the first Muslim American woman elected to Virginia’s state Legislature. Since then, Hashmi has served in the statehouse representing a district southwest of Washington, D.C.Last month, Hashmi told The Washington Post that she hoped voters would send a message showing that they’re “not divided” on “lines of bigotry.”“We’re really showing the rest of the country that Virginia is in a position where we embrace diversity,” she said.Spanberger and Hashmi, both Democrats, ran alongside other members of their party seeking statewide office in Virginia, but governors and lieutenant governors are elected separately in the state. Ghazala Hashmi won the election to be Virginia’s next lieutenant governor, NBC News projects.Caroline Gutman for The Washington Post via Getty ImagesVirginia’s lieutenant governor holds few official responsibilities, but the person can serve as a crucial tie-breaker in the state Senate and is first-in-line to succeed the governor in the case of death or resignation.Several lieutenant governors in the state have used the position as a launching pad for gubernatorial campaigns, including Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee for governor this year.“Lieutenant Governor-elect Hashmi ran a brilliantly focused campaign all about lowering costs, growing Virginia’s economy, and ensuring our kids have access to high-quality child care and education,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. Alexandra MarquezAlexandra Marquez is a politics reporter for NBC News.

- Latest News - November 5, 2025

Virginia state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi became the first Muslim-American woman elected to statewide office in the U.S. with her victory in the lieutenant governor’s race, NBC News projects.

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What the margins show in VA governor race

- Latest News - November 5, 2025

As NBC News projects Democrat Abigail Spanberger has defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears in the Virginia governor’s race, NBC News’ Steve Kornacki broke down the margins in the race.

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