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BYU has thrived in an NIL era that many expected them to falter in, NFL legend Steve Young says

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 07:02:21 -0500

"How is BYU gonna do this, right? How in the world?"

That was the question NFL legend and BYU great Steve Young had when name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation transformed college football in 2021.

Instead? It’s been the opposite. Since 2021, BYU is tied with Boise State for the ninth-most wins in college football. The Cougars are currently No. 7 in the AP poll and reached No. 2 after beating Notre Dame. With a win over No. 3 Utah in the Holy War on Saturday, BYU has an opportunity to once again reach the top of the polls.

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NIL didn’t shut BYU out but instead gave the school an opportunity to get into the recruiting game.

"I'm not throwing anyone under the bus," BYU Vice President of Advancement Keith Vorkink told OutKick. "But there's rumored payment of players long before NIL. We're a university that does our best to adhere to whatever the policies are at the time. We're grateful for the avenue that opened up for us to participate in that space and do so in compliance."

But how does BYU, a private university sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Provo, Utah, assimilate into the NIL world without losing the institution's core values?

Simply, the school doesn't stray from the culture that makes BYU what it is.

"Our work was to figure out our play in the NIL space, but in doing so to never displace the primary role of our mission. Our football coach, as an example, Kalani Satake embraces the distinctive role of the university and the athletic department. We want student athletes coming because of, for example, in football, the culture that Kalani brings to that that aligns to the university and the church," Vorkink said.

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Vorkink said BYU doesn’t want to lead the NIL market. The school wants students to come for the culture, not primarily for the money. Young praised Sitake for building such a strong culture despite college football being littered with players who want to play for top dollar and nothing more.

"It's hard to build affinity," Young told OutKick in a recent interview. "And that's why I say what Kalani's done is what is, I think, impossible, nearly, I think he is doing it, so it's not impossible. He's doing it in a really complex environment that works away from affinity, works away from spirit of abundance."

"Right now, it's a zero-sum game, right? It's, I'm a mercenary and just pay me. And, and he's built something. He's like, oh, no, we recognize you need to be paid. We recognize that this is part of the system, but can we put that aside, take care of that, and now build something that is unified."

The culture at BYU has resonated with some of its star players. Vorkink said five-star freshman small forward Bruce Branch and star quarterback Bear Bachmeier could have left for more money but chose to stay.

Vorkink said NIL and the ability to compensate players have allowed the school to recruit athletes it might not have been able to recruit before, including students who aren't members of the faith but find their way to campus and thrive.

He mentioned 2026 NBA Draft No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa as an example of a player who came to love the university despite initially knowing little about it.

"AJ didn't know much about BYU. A lot of that was because (head coach) Kevin Young came from the NBA and he wondered, could Kevin help him prepare to play in the NBA. That got him here. There were other schools who are offering him more compensation than he received here, which is consistent with our philosophy. But he thrived," Vorkink said.

"He spoke publicly about his love for BYU and how much he enjoyed being here. That helped gets the word out to other people who are like, well, is BYU too weird or not? Can I thrive? And we believe that student athletes, if they understand the mission, accommodate or embrace it, they can have a good experience here."

At BYU, all students must sign an honor code requiring them to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, vaping, marijuana and other prohibited substances, as well as sexual relations outside of marriage between a man and a woman. Young said the uniqueness and counterintuitive nature of the honor code can actually be a draw in recruiting.

"It's counterintuitive in a way, but because you lead with the honor code, you lead with the uniqueness of BYU. By definition, the conversation is different than any other, like a lot of the conversations. And so, when you lead with it, but you lead with it with an openness and an invitation, and you can be your whole self. You don't have to conform," Young said.

"There's certain behaviors that we're going to ask from you, but as far as who you are, you can express that, and you can be, you can feel, and I think that there's a lot of players, non-LDS players on the team, and that's true when I played, that felt like this is awesome being here."

Young gives much of the credit to Sitake for maintaining the school's identity despite NIL and the money that comes with it threatening to tear it apart.

"There's big money involved. Money is, we all know money is dangerous, man. There's fits and starts to it too, trying to figure it out. It is the wild west, and it's not simple," Young said.

"Why I give Kalani so much credit in, in kind of holding up, like taking the spirit of what was, has always been here. And then applying it to these, and I guess in some ways, that's the magic, is that with an infrastructure of what I call the law of love, where like, we see you. We want all of you, like the whole self, and we want you to feel welcomed and, and here's the rules of the road."

"We think it's good for you. We don't think it's bad. We don't think it's restrictive. We think it's actually expansive in ways that maybe be counterintuitive, but it's awesome."

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While BYU has found a way to thrive in the NIL era without compromising its values, both Young and Vorkink believe the system needs regulation to provide greater stability.

"I think every university would want more stability, more of a solid framework around the compensation of student-athletes," Vorkink said. "I think we all realize the value that they bring economically to the athletic department and the university and they should be able to participate in it. But legislative solutions like protecting college sports, it's not perfect, but it really goes a long way in providing stability, and some governance in this world that we're supportive of."

Young, like Vorkink, believes student-athletes should be paid as well. The former San Francisco 49ers star said he heard rumors that schools were considering hiring student-athletes as employees and even having them attend classes.

He said Congress is the only entity that can balance the competing interests of student-athletes getting paid and graduating while not restricting their ability to transfer between schools in a free market.

"Congress is the only one that can put that back together. I hope that all those competing interests can find a place where the players aren't the ones that lose. Cause I think that was what started the whole problem before is so much money was coming into the system, and the guys playing the game were, were making $50 in stipend." Young said.

Regardless of what comes next, Young said BYU has hit on NIL and done it their way.

"Hold on, you're supposed to be flailing in this system, and I think we've hit on it. We've looked it in the eye, right?" Young said.

"We'll compete, but we're going to compete in (what) I call it the BYU way."

Navy veteran blindsided as attacker could land parole hearing months after sentencing: ‘Where is my justice?’

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 07:00:31 -0500

For 33 years, Amy has lived with the trauma of a 1992 Valentine's Day rape in Virginia, a cold case that finally cracked last year when DNA evidence linked the crime to a convicted rapist.

In September 2025, Anthony Favors, 57, who initially faced six indictments, including abduction and burglary, took a plea deal for two counts of rape to secure a 24-year prison sentence. Norfolk Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. ordered 12 years for each count to run consecutively.

Months later, Amy received an automated VINE text that Virginia’s parole board planned to review Favors’ case for possible release.

"I finally get some sort of closure and justice. And then I get a text," Amy told Fox News Digital. "Nobody yet has told me how he's even eligible for parole."

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Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi confirmed to Fox News Digital that Favors will likely have a "discretionary parole hearing" within the next few months.

Fatehi explained that a bureaucratic overlap triggered the hearing: the parole board previously considered Favors for release on a previous rape conviction but never granted it, legally opening the door for the upcoming review.

"It’s discretionary because he had been locked up for so long. He is theoretically eligible," Fatehi said.

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Favors was serving a 60-year sentence for a separate March 1992 rape when a 2024 DNA hit linked him to Amy’s case. Since he committed his offenses before Jan. 1, 1995, Virginia's old sentencing laws authorized the Virginia Parole Board to consider him for release.

Fatehi said that there is a "slim chance to zero" of actually releasing Favors, but the possibility of an impending hearing left Amy reeling.

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"The only word I can think of right now, honestly, is disgusting," she said. "It's wrong. How can you do that? Where is my justice?"

The attack altered the course of Amy's life. Favors beat and assaulted the active-duty Navy sailor for hours at her Norfolk apartment. Despite the trauma, she reported directly to her shift on a Navy ship immediately after the attack.

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Decades later, the psychological scars have dictated her daily routine. She battles severe PTSD, chronic sleep deprivation, and hypervigilance that forces her to constantly check and recheck her door locks.

"Some of the things that I did that I thought were normal, were not normal. And I still do," Amy said. "Check the locks, recheck the locks, check the locks, recheck the locks. I'm not sleeping again because... it's the unknown."

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"If you took the Amy before my rape and the Amy after my rape, I am two different people."

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Heather Keeley, director of the nonprofit advocacy group Stand Tall, said survivors already carry the weight of their past assaults. By granting Favors a future parole hearing, she argued, the justice system actively expands that trauma by forcing victims to endlessly relive it.

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"He was sentenced to 24 years in prison, which wouldn't even put him up for parole 12 years later," Keeley told Fox News Digital.

"And here it is less than six months later, and she's calling us all that she just received a text message that he's going before a parole board... how is that even possible?"

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A new hearing means Amy will detail her nightmare to the parole board to justify her own safety, risking the progress she made during months of intensive trauma therapy.

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She plans to ask the parole board for a three-year deferral so the state does not force her to relive the attack annually.

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"I now have to explain myself again as to why he shouldn't get out... It's too much. But I gotta speak for me, and I gotta speak for these other victims who can't speak for themselves. So, I gotta do it."

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Amy also fears the board's actions will destroy the public's trust in the system.

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"If you're paroling these people, what incentives does that give somebody else?" she asked. "If they've been raped or sexually assaulted, what gives them the incentive to go and report it?"

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The Virginia Parole Board does not publicly list its full hearing schedule, but it posts monthly parole decisions on its official website.

Favors' defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Abigail Spanberger's office for comment.

Why Larry David never wanted this biography made and how a George Costanza scheme won him over

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 07:00:30 -0500

Larry David spent decades making millions of Americans laugh through his hit television shows, but when it came to his own life story, the comedy legend wasn’t eager to see it in print.

Author Blake J. Harris, who spent six years researching Larry David's life and writing his biography, "Emperor of Nothing: The Making of Larry David," told Fox News Digital that the "Seinfeld" co-creator and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star had a blunt reaction after reading the manuscript.

"I wanted him to reflect on his career, you know, the 75 years that are in the book. And so I said, ‘Larry, you know, it's been six years. Do you have any big macro thoughts?’" Harris said of the conversation with David.

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"I thought that he would maybe say like, ‘Yeah, it's really so unlikely that I succeeded’ or ‘I really was so unprofessional.’ The things that he had sort of talked about in the book already. But instead, he took the question a little bit differently, and he said, ‘Yeah, if I could do it over, I wouldn't do it.’ Meaning the book, he wouldn't do the book," Harris said.

Despite David's response, Harris said the comedian quickly realized his comment had hurt the biographer's feelings and tried to reassure him.

"The real-life Larry David, who is a pretty sweet guy and has compassion, he noticed that that made me feel bad, and he didn't intend for me to feel bad. So he said, ‘No, no, Blake, not because of anything you did, you did a great job, you did a great job.’ He repeated that, which I appreciated. He said, ‘I just don't want people knowing about me,’" Harris said.

David, 79, co-created "Seinfeld" alongside comedian Jerry Seinfeld in 1989, serving as a writer and executive producer for the show's first seven seasons. The sitcom ultimately ran for nine seasons, with David returning to write the series finale. David later starred in HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which ran for 12 seasons. The Emmy-winning comedian is widely regarded as one of television comedy's most influential figures.

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But when Harris first set out to write the biography in early 2020, getting David on board was not an easy task. Harris said he initially reached out to David’s longtime collaborator and executive producer, Jeff Schaffer, but David was far from enthusiastic about the idea.

"Larry’s initial response to Jeff Schaffer about me doing the book was, ‘Oh my God, are you kidding me? Why would somebody do this to me?’" Harris recalled. "He was very, very unhappy about this prospect of a book being written about him."

Harris said he believes David's hesitation stemmed from both his desire for privacy and his humility.

"In his mind, he just doesn't see himself as book-worthy," Harris said. "He sees there’s politicians and founders and great world leaders and scientists and all these people who deserve to have books written about them, and he doesn't see himself as one of those people."

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To break the stalemate, Harris said he took a different approach, one he described as "George Costanza-inspired." After being introduced to David through comedy writer Alan Zweibel, Harris asked Zweibel to tell David he wanted their first phone call to follow one strict rule: He wouldn't ask about either of David’s hit shows. Instead, they would talk exclusively about the New York Yankees.

"Larry and I spoke two days later about the New York Yankees for 45 minutes," Harris said. "And I guess I passed the test, and we started speaking regularly."

Although David began speaking with Harris, he was still hesitant about having a biography written about him.

"I reflected with Larry, who doesn't really reflect all that often. And I said, ‘Is it true that when Jeff Schaffer first told you that I want to write this book about you, that you were not very happy?’ And he said, ‘Oh no, I was so angry. I was so unhappy,’" Harris said.

"And I said, ‘Larry, well, it's, you know, midnight, New York time. It's nine o'clock LA time. Why are you on the phone with me then? No one's holding a gun to your head.’ And he said, the greatest words I've ever heard. He said, ‘I kind of like you.’ And so, Larry David kind of liked me and that sort of gave me the green light to keep moving forward," he added.

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Over the course of researching the biography, Harris spoke with hundreds of people, including David's family, friends and longtime collaborators. Among them was "Seinfeld" co-creator Jerry Seinfeld. Harris described the duo as the "Paul McCartney and John Lennon of television."

"In Larry and Jerry's relationship, it was very clear to me, and Jerry conveyed this, that Larry was the pessimist and Jerry was the optimist," Harris said.

Harris explained that while the two were working on "Seinfeld," David would often stare at a whiteboard used to map out episode ideas, worrying that they wouldn't be able to fill it or come up with jokes as funny as those from the previous season.

"This is a thing with Larry even to this day. He's always worried that he's not [going to] be able to come up with as good of ideas as he had in the past, and Jerry would say to Larry, 'Larry, don't worry about 22 episodes,'" Harris said.

Harris said Seinfeld encouraged David to focus on one episode at a time rather than worrying about the entire season.

David expressed gratitude in the book for Seinfeld's ability to "talk him off the ledge" when those doubts surfaced, Harris said. He also learned that the two never had major fights, only minor disagreements over comedic details, including a playful argument over whether former New York Yankees players Moose Skowron or Hank Bauer had the funnier name for a "Seinfeld" script.

"You could just hear Larry and Jerry shouting at each other, 'Moose Skowron!' 'No, Hank Bauer!' in the office. And it was heated in the sense of just joking," Harris said.

"But then at the end of the day, unsurprisingly, they found a way to get both names in the script and both of them got to put their imprint on this. And they never really had any actual fights," he added.

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Beyond David's professional relationships, Harris said one of the biggest revelations from his years of reporting was discovering just how different the comedian is from his selfish television alter ego, particularly when it comes to his family.

On "Curb Your Enthusiasm," David plays a fictionalized version of himself who has no children, a decision Harris said reflected the comedian's belief that parenting was too serious a responsibility to be funny. In real life, however, Harris said David's two daughters are his greatest source of pride, surpassing even his accomplishments on "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

"There's that famous adage to not meet your heroes. I met mine and I left more impressed than when I started," Harris said. "The part of him that we don't see on the TV show is that he's actually kind of a sweetheart. He has a lot of human compassion that’s not expressed on the show. If you were to spend time with him, the very first thing that he would talk about, or the thing that he'd be most proud to talk about, is not ‘Seinfeld’ or ‘Curb’ or even the New York Yankees. It would be his daughters."

Although David was initially reluctant to participate in the biography, Harris said the comedian's objections to the finished manuscript had little to do with unflattering portrayals. Instead, David took issue with passages where he believed he wasn’t funny or came across as too nice.

"The only times that he really had a problem were where he wasn't funny and where he thought he came off as too nice," Harris said.

Ultimately, Harris described David's journey as an unlikely American success story.

"It’s really not just a story about Larry David, it's a story about the 1970s and 1980s comedy scene, it's a story about television and, above all else, it's the story about how this guy who was so unlikely to succeed, but in America, this land of opportunity, somehow, someway, his talent rose to the top, and he was really a late bloomer. So, I think it's really inspiring in that regard."

Democratic senator-elect calls Trump 'unserious fool' while defending combative political style

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 07:00:11 -0500

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic senator-elect from Michigan, leaned into accusations of acting cocky on the path to victory over Republican candidate Mike Rogers, citing a need to push back on President Donald Trump’s manner of communication during an appearance on Pod Save America.

"Long ago, you predicted that you would win this race by seven points, which at the time seemed like a pretty cocky and ill-considered thing to say. Then you won the race by seven points. People are still calling you cocky," podcast host Jon Favreau said during his interview with El-Sayed.

"How do you see yourself?"

"I think there is a responsibility that we have to engage with [Trump] as the unserious fool that he is," El-Sayed replied.

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El-Sayed’s response sheds light on his view of his own campaign and the tone that he believes Democrats need to adopt to counter Trump’s presence in American politics. It also raises questions of whether El-Sayed’s campaign strategies will yield results in Congress.

In his view, Trump has changed the style of acceptable communication. In turn, he accused Democrats of being hesitant to abandon a kind of decorum to fight fire with fire.

"I just think there’s a responsibility for us to walk out of 'The West Wing' episode that our politics used to feel like and into the reality of where we are," El-Sayed said, referring to a a television drama known for its idealistic portrayal of American politics.

"I say that because if you’ve ever watched a bully in a room, if you don’t stand up to the bully, it’s not like the bully will just go away. The bully just gets stronger," El-Sayed said.

During his campaign, El-Sayed repeatedly pointed a finger at Trump for, in his view, ushering in a new age of political rhetoric. But that view also preceded his Senate bid.

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He once accused President Donald Trump of inciting terrorism in a 2020 interview, citing a foiled plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

"These are terrorists; we have to call them that. We have to recognize that that is what the face of terrorism looks like right now. We have to step up against it," El-Sayed said.

"We gotta ask: why are these people getting radicalized? Well, there must be some radical, extremist cleric out there who may be tweeting up a storm about all the things that they think need to be done, like liberating Michigan."

Although President Donald Trump did not call for any kind of violence against Whitmer, El-Sayed said he believed the president was at least partially responsible, pointing to a tweet Trump had made six months before the discovered plot.

"LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" Trump wrote in a post on Twitter, the social media platform now known as X. The post was one of a series calling to "liberate" Virginia and Minnesota from COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Democratic governors.

According to FBI comments to local media, the plot originated before Trump's post.

Even so, El-Sayed called the posts emblematic of a cultural toxicity that had made violence more likely.

"The idea that people would threaten her safety because she was willing to stand up to keep us all healthy is, to me, the example of what the kind of toxicity that we see out of Donald Trump creates," El-Sayed said.

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A spokesperson for El-Sayed did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether he believed in a red line for what kind of rhetoric Democrats should refrain from using.

Having won his U.S. Senate election, El-Sayed will be sworn into office on Jan. 3, 2027, the start of the 120th Congress.

TREY GOWDY: The midterms were a painful lesson that Republicans can't skip learning

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 06:50:42 -0500

PROGRAMMING ALERT: Watch Trey Gowdy discuss this topic and more on "Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy" on Nov. 8 at 9 pm ET.

Losing is the toughest teacher; so tough, you only want to take the class once. For Republicans, Tuesday night was excruciating. Yes, history said, "Be prepared for losses." Yes, the mood of the voters was anger and uncertainty. But I did not talk to anyone who was prepared for what happened, either in terms of the sheer loss or the margin of the loss.

Senate candidates in red states lost by unheard-of numbers. Long-serving and hard-working Republican House members like Virginia Foxx, Mike Turner and Richard Hudson were caught up in the tidal wave. South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Kansas and Ohio are red states in most presidential cycles. Not last Tuesday night. It was as thorough a whipping as I can recall in my lifetime. So why? What are the lessons to be learned, and what are the cautions for the Democrats? As it turns out, there are parallels between the two.

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How do you go from winning the Electoral College and the popular vote in a presidential race and being trusted with the gift to govern to historic losses in a relatively short period of time? President Trump did so and easily could claim a "mandate" on certain issues when he was victorious in November 2024. People want a secure border. People want violent offenders deported without delay. People want a rational immigration policy that rewards the right people and is rooted in fundamental humanity. By humanity, I mean showing dignity to those women and men who have been cutting the lawns, cleaning the hotel rooms and working in service industries while also abiding by our criminal laws. By humanity, I mean protecting American citizens from violent criminals – legally here or otherwise.

President Trump’s first DHS secretary wrote last Tuesday night, "We lost because we were ‘too successful.’" It is that type of thinking that turns a one-cycle loss into decades of minority status. When people voted for border security, they were not including glitzy, self-serving ad campaigns focused on boosting personal political ambitions. When people chose Donald Trump in 2024, they gave not one thought to the possibility that Americans would be shot in cars or on the street and labeled domestic terrorists before even an initial investigation was conducted. It is absurd to assert Republicans lost in South Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina and Michigan because "we were too successful." Losing can teach you. But only if you bother to show up for class.

Every win is not a mandate. Every mandate is not a license to do whatever you want, regardless of the issue. President Trump was elected in 2024 because he promised to make life more affordable and safer for hard-working Americans who need not worry about the California billionaire tax. They are simply trying to raise families and meet their societal and familial obligations. There was not even a whiff in the 2024 exit polls about voters clamoring for those in government to engage in more self-enrichment, pursue naked personal political ambition, or use public office for anything other than true public service.

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The forensic pathologists were up early Wednesday morning performing their autopsies. Some blamed the war in Iran for being deeply unpopular. Good. War should be unpopular and rarely waged. But being unpopular and being incorrect are two different things. There was no war with Iran. There were nights of strikes, a heroic pilot rescue, and blockades of the Strait of Hormuz. American service members lost their lives as a direct consequence of Iranian action, but that has been the case for decades. Iran has been killing Americans and giving aid and comfort to those who do so for nearly 50 years. That is precisely why the president insisted, "No more" and "No nuclear Iran."

People can take whatever position they like on those issues, and reasonable minds can differ even within the same political party. But let us not forget that Iran has been a global pariah for nearly half a century, and I have yet to meet the person (outside of a few terrorist groups) who thinks it is a good idea for theocratic despots to have nuclear weapons.

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What is just as plausible is that voters got vertigo from all the fits and starts. War was on and then off. There was peace but then missiles. There was an MOU that took longer to draft than it lasted in effect. Was it possible Americans needed to be convinced that all other means of reining Iran in had been explored and exhausted?

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What is just as plausible is that the American people coveted a deeper explanation of why engagement with Iran was necessary now. Perhaps Iran was a drag on the election, but not nearly as much as perceived corruption, higher gas prices, and a sense that no one was listening.

And that leads to the cautionary tale for Democrats. Winning does not equal a mandate. Sometimes it simply means voters hated you slightly less than the other team. With the right candidates, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Ohio, and Georgia can easily be red again.

Failing to heed the lessons of why you lost, casting blame in all the wrong places, and not engaging in serious self-reflection will most likely prolong that color change.

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Americans who 'screw up' their eating should use a simple fix, says Stanford scientist

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 06:00:32 -0500

Living a healthy lifestyle is not as complicated as many Americans make it out to be, according to a nutrition scientist, who says people shouldn't try to be perfect but should focus on gradually improving their diet day by day.

"It is simpler than people think," Christopher Gardner, Ph.D., a nutrition scientist at Stanford University and author of the book "Food Sense: What to Eat and Why," told Fox News Digital.

He believes that the 80/20 rule is a solid framework for a healthy diet. The approach encourages people to make nutritious food choices about 80% of the time while allowing flexibility for indulgences the remaining 20%.

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Gardner also works with the Stanford Prevention Research Center, where a big part of his role is trying to figure out how to get people to follow guidelines that "everybody knows" but doesn't necessarily follow, such as eating a healthier diet, exercising more and smoking less, he said.

He advises against trying to follow all the latest wellness trends because, sometimes, they're not based on factual information.

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He doesn't recommend cutting out an entire food group or following a strict diet. Rather, he encourages a gradual approach.

An easy way to start improving an unhealthy diet is to incorporate more vegetables, fruits and minimally processed foods.

He emphasized the importance of eating legumes, adding that he feels they're an underutilized component of a healthy diet.

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"Asian cultures eat a lot of tempe, tofu, edamame and soy, and Latin American cultures eat a whole bunch of bean and grain dishes, and Indian culture eats a lot of lentil dals," he said, noting that legumes are usually inexpensive and versatile.

They're also a great source of protein, Gardner added, as well as fiber, which many people don't consume enough of, he pointed out.

Americans also eat too much junk food, he said, adding that people often know what the healthier option is, but they still choose the "chips and candy and cake and snacks and mocha frappé frappuccino instead of black coffee."

"I don't think the ultra-processed thing is like, oh, we never understood it before, and now we do. I don't really think people know that it's 200 cosmetic additives," he said.

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Context matters when determining the "healthier" choice, Gardner noted, using the example of coffee versus tea.

Coffee and tea by themselves are unproblematic, he noted. The issue lies in the sugar, dairy and other ingredients that might be added.

"I can show you volumes of studies that both are good for you," Gardner said, noting that both contain antioxidants, but the additives are what determine which is "healthier."

Ultimately, different things work for different people, Gardner said, and he stays open-minded.

What people eat is much more than just science, he acknowledged, adding that "food is comfort and food is culture and food is other things."

"Whatever you screw up today, you get a do-over tomorrow and the day after," he said, so "give yourself a little grace, a little patience, a little love."

GOP eyes Senate comeback after Democratic bloodbath, but another political nightmare could await

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 06:00:22 -0500

Republican control of the Senate could return as soon as the 2028 general election, but only if the party can pull off a series of crucial victories in competitive races, a possibility that seems distant following Tuesday night's devastating Democratic sweep.

As of publication, Democrats and independents who caucus with them have secured 54 Senate seats, a total that could grow to as many as 56 pending election calls in Mississippi and Alaska. Assuming Republicans hold the vice presidency in 2028, far from a guarantee, they would need to flip at least four seats during that election cycle to win the Senate back.

While there are ample pick-up opportunities for Republicans in 2028 if the party can return to its typical national performance benchmarks, several vulnerable GOP-held seats could complicate their efforts to retake the upper chamber.

DEMS FLIPS YET ANOTHER SENATE SEAT IN TRUMP COUNTRY AMID SWEEPING GOP UPSETS

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, for instance, turned 93 in September and faces a decision about whether to seek another term in 2028, when Republicans will be defending his seat in a state where Democrat Josh Turek just defeated Republican Ashley Hinson by roughly four percentage points. His departure before then could also give Iowa's incoming Democratic governor the opportunity to appoint a temporary replacement.

Another possibility that could make the GOP's path back to a majority even more uncertain is the admission of Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., to the union as full states. Such a move would likely require the Democratic-led Senate to abolish or overcome the legislative filibuster, something lawmakers representing more moderate or competitive states may balk at, as well as support in the House and either presidential approval or enough votes to override a veto.

CHUCK SCHUMER AFTER SWEEPING DEMOCRATIC MIDTERM VICTORIES: 'I'LL BE RE-ELECTED AS MAJORITY LEADER'

Even if the filibuster is done away with, President Donald Trump could veto admittance bills. Democrats currently lack the numbers to override such a veto.

If Republicans lose the White House in 2028, however, Democrats could have a clearer path to advancing statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., a move that would add four Senate seats and potentially complicate Republican efforts to win back the chamber, though significant political and legal obstacles would remain.

Assuming none of that happens, Democrats will be defending six Senate seats that could offer Republicans potential pick-up opportunities in 2028.

Republicans will have pick-up opportunities in New Hampshire, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Ohio that year. They will, however, be forced to defend vulnerable Senate seats in Wisconsin, Iowa and North Carolina. Indiana, which saw a significant blue shift, also has a Senate seat up for contention in 2028, while Nebraska, where independent Dan Osborn mounted a competitive but unsuccessful challenge to Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts on Tuesday, will not hold another regularly scheduled Senate election until 2030.

While 2028 could deliver Republicans a majority if they play their cards right, another defeat on the scale of 2026 could put the Democratic Party dangerously close to the 60-vote threshold necessary to invoke cloture and counter a filibuster.

"It may be unlikely, but I do think it's feasible," Heritage Action government relations director Chip Wyatt told Fox News Digital. "We're just as capable of having a night like the Democrats had on Tuesday in 2028. If anything, that election, the election we had on Tuesday has shown us that two years is a very, very long time in politics. think if you had told anybody in 2024 that this is what happened in 2028, they probably wouldn't believe you."

For Republicans to have a good night in 2028, Wyatt argued that conservatives would have to focus on affordability issues while Democrats overstep their mandate by allowing the fringes of their party to dictate its policy agenda.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took a similar line in reacting to Tuesday night's election results.

"We will rebuild as a true blue-collar party, not by embracing socialism, but by being real free-market conservatives. The way we built the Texas economic miracle in the first place, and we will build and rebuild America as well," he said. "When the zealots overreach, and they will, we will stand ready to lead in the direction of freedom, of prosperity, of safety and security and common sense. We will return to a new dawn of freedom in America."

2030 features slightly fewer pick-ups for the GOP with a comparable number of states to defend. While Republicans will have pick-up opportunities in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and Michigan, they will also be forced to defend seats in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

MAJORITY LEADER THUNE SAYS SENATE GOP WON'T 'STAND IDLY BY' AS DEMOCRATS TAKE CONTROL OF CONGRESS

The 2032 election will feature the same regularly scheduled Senate seats contested in 2026, giving Republicans another opportunity to retake deep-red states they blundered this year, such as Kansas and South Carolina. Historically, however, some moderate Democrats have managed to hang on to state-wide offices in typically red states, making a reversion far from a certainty.

Former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, for instance, managed to survive multiple GOP challenges in the deep-red state. Kansas and Kentucky, similarly, have Democratic governors that survived Republican challenges in races that received national attention.

While many Republicans, and even some Democrats, have suggested liberal pick-ups in deep red states could be one-cycle wonders, Wyatt cautioned against complacency.

"We should always assume the politicians want to get re-elected and so the senators in the deep red states that have been recently elected as Democrats are going to want to keep their seats and so they're going to be very strategic in how they vote and in what kind of bills they're introducing," Wyatt said. "In some of these deep red states, it's going to be difficult for [Democrats] to hold on to these seats ... Now granted, I've already said two years is a long time, six years is an even longer time. So who knows what kind of political landscape we're looking at in 2032 but Republicans should definitely start off with a strong advantage in many of these states ... But it's never wise to counter chickens before they hatch."

Electoral politics is famously unpredictable. Nobody in 2024, for instance, envisioned South Carolina or Kansas sending Democrats to the Senate in 2026. It is possible that the Republican path to a Senate majority, or lack thereof, will be comparably surprising.

Meghan Markle's estrangement from father Thomas Markle: From royal wedding fallout to his arrest

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 06:00:14 -0500

Meghan Markle's father, Thomas Markle Sr., has spent years in the public eye following his highly publicized falling-out with the Duchess of Sussex ahead of her 2018 royal wedding.

Now, the former Hollywood lighting director is facing an entirely separate legal battle after being arrested and charged with possession of child sexual abuse material.

Here's a look at the key moments in the Markle family's public history, from Meghan and her father's estrangement to the criminal investigation that led to Thomas' arrest.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE 'BLINDSIDED' BY THOMAS MARKLE ALLEGATIONS AS HARRY, MEGHAN FACE NEW FAMILY TURMOIL: EXPERT

Meghan's relationship with her father deteriorated publicly in May 2018, as she was set to marry Prince Harry. Just days before the royal wedding, he became embroiled in a controversy involving staged paparazzi photographs.

Markle Sr. initially denied staging the paparazzi photographs and later said he had suffered a heart attack and needed medical treatment, preventing him from traveling to England for the ceremony.

In August 2018, Meghan wrote her father a deeply personal letter asking him to stop discussing their relationship with the media. The following year, Britain's Mail on Sunday published portions of the handwritten letter after Markle Sr. shared it with the newspaper. Meghan subsequently sued for misuse of private information and copyright infringement.

Their estrangement continued in the years that followed, with Markle Sr. publicly expressing disappointment over their lack of contact.

PRINCE HARRY, MEGHAN MARKLE ACCUSED OF STAGING 'ROYAL THEATRE' AS KING CHARLES FACES NEW DILEMMA: EXPERT

In October 2026, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that they had received a letter in January 2019 "containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom."

Police said that while officers shared the letter with Harry and Meghan's office, they did not share the allegations with other law enforcement agencies. On Oct. 29, 206, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that they had referred their handling of the letter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the U.K.'s police watchdog.

Meghan's father pleaded to meet his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, and said he was "very concerned" that he wouldn't live long enough to meet them.

"We’re at a point where, I think both of us, we should grow up, talk, make up for the sake of the children," the former Hollywood lighting director said during an appearance on "Good Morning Britain." "This is ridiculous. Almost four years. It’s crazy."

"My message for the kids is that they have two loving families," he said at the time. "… I think it’s important for them to know that they have two families, and eventually they’re going to grow up, and they’re going to want to know more about them."

PRINCE HARRY MAKING 'BIG MISTAKE' THAT COULD DESTROY CHANCE OF ROYAL RECONCILIATION: EXPERT

Markle Sr. underwent a "life-or-death" leg amputation in 2025 and spoke to the Daily Mail about wanting to reconcile with Meghan.

"I've always said I am open to reconciling with my daughter," he told the outlet. "I have never stopped loving her. I don't want to die estranged from Meghan. I want to meet my grandkids. It might be nice to meet her husband too."

A spokesperson confirmed to People that the Duchess of Sussex had contacted her father.

"I can confirm she has reached out to her father," the spokesperson said. Meghan's representative did not share any further details about her contact with her father.

Thomas Markle Jr. told the Daily Mail his father's leg was amputated Dec. 3 in the Philippines, where the pair had been living since the beginning of 2025. According to Thomas Jr., a blood clot in his father's thigh cut off circulation to his leg, leading to the surgery.

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The Sun reported that Meghan's half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., found "hundreds, if not thousands" of images depicting child sexual abuse in boxes at his father's former home in Cebu, Philippines, while clearing out the property.

Markle Jr. told the newspaper that he reported the images to police in the Philippines and contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the U.S.

Philippine authorities confirmed they were investigating the allegations against Markle Sr. National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag told The Associated Press that the FBI had requested the agency's assistance in investigating allegations made by Markle Jr. against his father.

Philippine Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla separately told the AP that the national police, which he helps oversee, were also investigating Markle Jr.'s allegations, without elaborating.

Markle Sr. denied the allegations against him in a statement to the Daily Mail.

"I’m shocked, I’m hurt, and I’m very upset that my son is making these accusations against me," he was quoted as saying. "I could never do what I’m being accused of. It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of."

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Meghan condemned the alleged abuse and explained her decision to cut ties with her father.

"I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed," she said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital at the time.

WATCH: BUCKINGHAM PALACE REPORTEDLY ‘BLINDSIDED’ BY ARREST OF MEGHAN MARKLE'S FATHER

"I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications' distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them," she wrote. "I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.

"Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children."

SEE PHOTOS OF MEGHAN MARKLE GROWING UP WITH HER FATHER THOMAS MARKLE SR.

FBI agents searched two storage units registered to Markle Sr. in California, according to the criminal complaint obtained by Fox News Digital.

Authorities recovered approximately 78 items — including film negatives, slides and books containing suspected child sexual abuse material — from the two storage units rented by Markle Sr. in California. Investigators said Markle Sr. had rented the units since 2008.

A longtime acquaintance identified Markle Sr. as the adult man appearing with a prepubescent girl in two photographs recovered by investigators. Authorities also traced details in some photographs to a hotel in the Philippines.

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Authorities searched a storage unit rented by Markle Sr. in Mexico and recovered another cache of suspected child sexual abuse material, according to a report from The Sun.

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Markle Sr. was arrested in Florida on Friday. Federal prosecutors charged him with one count of possession of child pornography in a criminal complaint filed Nov. 5.

After appearing in federal court, Markle Sr. was released without bond. He was placed on home detention at the memory care facility where he had been arrested. A judge also ordered a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he could understand the proceedings and assist in his defense.

Markle Sr. has denied the allegations against him. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison if he is convicted, according to the Justice Department.

WATCH: MEGHAN MARKLE'S FATHER ARRESTED IN FLORIDA OVER CHILD PORN

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Newsom orders California’s most reviled killers off death row – 10 of the worst who could benefit

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 06:00:06 -0500

Thanks to a Nov. 5 action by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, 548 inmates on the state's death row will have their sentences commuted to life in prison, as he moves to clear death row.

"I have decided to commute every death sentence," Newsom wrote in an open letter, acknowledging that he understood that the decision would anger people and hurt the victims' families who oppose it.

"I will therefore issue the same commutation to every condemned person — life without the possibility of parole, the most severe punishment I can lawfully impose and the state of California can ethically enforce," he added.

MICHAEL RUIZ: CALIFORNIA PROSECUTORS REVOLT AFTER NEWSOM ORDERS STATE'S WORST KILLERS OFF DEATH ROW

Newsom’s announcement doesn’t automatically remove every inmate from death row. State law would require the Supreme Court’s approval to commute sentences for inmates with numerous felony convictions. This includes hundreds of inmates currently on death row.

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom's office for comment.

California is home to some of the most notorious child murderers and serial killers, including the following 10:

In 1993, Richard Allen Davis broke into a Petaluma residence and kidnapped 12-year-old Polly Ann Klaas, who had been having a sleepover at her home with two friends. Davis strangled Polly and left her body in a remote area in Cloverdale.

In 1996, a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge sentenced Davis to death. His previous crimes helped prompt California’s "Three Strikes" law.

Polly’s father, Marc Klaas, later founded the nonprofit organization, KlassKids Foundation, which ran for 30 years and assisted in the search for millions of missing children.

Between 1977 and 1994, Joseph Naso killed at least four women in Contra Costa, Marin, and Yuba counties. He became known as the "Alphabet Killer" after choosing women who had the same letters in their first and last name.

INDIANA, FLORIDA AND ALABAMA CARRY OUT RARE US TRIPLE EXECUTION DAY

In 2013, a Marin County Superior Court judge sentenced Naso to death.

In February 1999, Cary Stayner killed four people near Yosemite National Park.

Stayner, a handyman at the nearby Cedar Lodge, murdered Carole Sund, 42. He also murdered and sexually assaulted her daughter Juli, 15, and killed family friend, Silvina Pelosso, 16.

Months later, he beheaded a 26-year-old nature guide identified as Joie Armstrong.

MULTIPLE DEATH SENTENCES IN DIFFERENT STATES ARE SET TO BE CARRIED OUT WITHIN 24 HOURS: 'NOT VERY COMMON'

In 2002, a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge sentenced Stayner to death for the murders of Sund and the teen girls. He was already serving a life sentence for murdering Armstrong.

Stayner first became notable as the older brother of Steven Stayner, who escaped a 1972 kidnapping in 1980.

'THRILL KILLER' AND DESERT EXECUTIONER — MEET THE DOZENS OF CRIMINALS DEM AG BACKED FOR PAROLE: 'NO BRAINER'

Between 1987 and 1998, Chester Turner raped and murdered low-income women in South Los Angeles, often abandoning their bodies in dark alleys or vacant lots.

Authorities arrested Turner in 2003, following a DNA database matching him to the victims. He became known as the "Southside Slayer" after targeting women in the South Figueroa Street corridor, between Gage Avenue and 108th Street in Los Angeles County.

FLORIDA PUTS 77-YEAR-OLD MAN TO DEATH FOR DEPUTY'S MURDER AS STATE CLOSES IN ON EXECUTION RECORD

In 2007, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sentenced Turner to death for killing 10 women. In 2014, he received another death sentence for the killings of four additional women.

In 2011, Christopher Cheary murdered, raped, and tortured Sophia Acosta, identified as his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter. The incident happened while he babysat Sophia and her sister at an Exeter apartment.

The child’s mother, who was not charged in the case, reported the crime after finding Sophia unconscious with head wounds. Medical staff later testified finding internal trauma on the victim, including signs of sexual torture.

Following a 2016 conviction, a Tulare County Superior Court judge sentenced Cheary to death in 2017.

Between 1971 and 1983, Randy Kraft raped, tortured, and killed at least 16 hitchhikers and young men across Southern California, although authorities believe he murdered over 60 people.

He became known as the "Scorecard Killer" after investigators found a scorecard in his vehicle, listing victims with the locations of bodies written in code. Kraft’s killing spree ended in 1983, when California Highway Patrol officers pulled him over and found deceased Marine Terry Lee Gambrelin in his vehicle, in the front passenger seat.

Authorities linked 43 victims to coded handwriting on the scorecard, but chose to charge Kraft with 16, to narrow the burden of proof.

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In 1989, an Orange County Superior Court judge sentenced Kraft to death.

In 2013, Isauro Aguirre and his girlfriend Pearl Fernandez killed 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez after torturing him for eight months in a Palmdale residence.

The torture, in part, included depriving Gabriel of food, beating him, forcing him to eat cat feces, and locking him alone in a cabinet, with a sock shoved inside his mouth.

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In 2018, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sentenced Aguirre to death, while Fernandez received life in prison without parole.

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Between 1983 and 1985, Charles abducted, tortured and murdered at least 11 people. The murders took place at a remote cabin, known as "The Castle" in Calaveras County.

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In 1989, an Orange County Superior Court judge sentenced Ng to death. Leonard Lake, a co-conspirator who committed the crimes with Ng, died by suicide during a police stand-off in 1985.

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Between 1980 and 1981, David Carpenter, also known as the "Trailside Killer," raped and murdered at least seven hikers in Marin County and Santa Cruz.

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In 1984, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sentenced Carpenter to death for the Santa Cruz murders. In 1988, a San Diego County Superior Court judge sentenced him to death for the Marin County crimes.

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Cherie Rhoades, the former leader of a small Northern California Indian tribe, fatally shot four people and tried to kill two more at a tribal meeting over her eviction in 2014.

She was sentenced to death in 2017.

American war hero details dire living conditions US troops face as Hegseth taps him to 'fix' it

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 05:30:57 -0500

Some troops have gone a year without hot water. Others are sleeping in their cars to escape barracks without air conditioning. And some are asking for little more than drywall, spackle and paint so they can make repairs themselves.

Those are among the conditions Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer says he has encountered while touring military installations on a mission from War Secretary Pete Hegseth: Fix a barracks system plagued by decades of neglect.

"I would tell you that there's only a couple that I've seen that are good," Meyer told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday.

Meyer, who serves as senior adviser to the Pentagon's Barracks Task Force, has visited more than eight installations across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps since taking on the assignment and plans to visit 30 before the end of the year.

"What I thought was gonna be a professional job very quickly turned into personal," Meyer said.

DAKOTA MEYER TALKS SERVICE, BLASTS CONTROVERSIAL DESIGN FOR GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR MEMORIAL

At one installation, Meyer recalled asking a 19-year-old service member what she would change about her living conditions if she could "wave a magic wand."

"If she could just have a hot shower," Meyer recalled. "It's absolutely heartbreaking."

The Pentagon's barracks problems long predate Hegseth and have survived repeated attempts at reform.

A sweeping 2023 Government Accountability Office investigation documented serious health and safety hazards and found that the department lacked reliable information about the condition of its own barracks, could not determine how much of its facilities spending went toward them and provided insufficient oversight.

Congress and the military services have since committed billions toward improvements, including initiatives ranging from the Marine Corps' "Barracks 2030" to a Navy overhaul of unaccompanied housing. Yet serious problems persist. As of this year, 12 of GAO's 31 recommendations remained outstanding.

Hegseth has sought to centralize the effort under a department-wide task force and accelerate improvements, with Meyer saying the secretary has made clear that identifying problems is no longer enough.

"The secretary has made it clear to me he doesn't expect me to observe this, study it, or to make it better. He expects me to fix it," Meyer said. "And that's exactly what we're going to do."

Meyer, the only Medal of Honor hero to reenlist after receiving the award, said one of his first requests was for Hegseth to give the task force an "authoritative role," rather than simply create another layer of oversight.

The goal, he said, was to give the team the ability "to go out and make decisions, to be able to have impact, to be able to make change, and to be able to direct where that funding goes and how fast it gets to our service members."

EXCLUSIVE: HEGSETH TO DOUBLE CUTS TO GENERALS, ADMIRALS IN MAJOR PENTAGON SHAKEUP

Meyer argued the problem is not simply a lack of money. Funding shortfalls, continuing resolutions and years of deferred maintenance have all contributed, he said, but so have layers of contracting rules and bureaucracy that can slow even relatively basic repairs.

A separate watchdog review found the Pentagon facing a $285 billion maintenance backlog across its broader military facilities' portfolio, underscoring the scale of the department's infrastructure challenges.

"When you look at the contracting aspect, it's easier for people to say no," Meyer said.

Funding is also part of the problem, according to Meyer, who pointed to Congress' failure to enact full-year defense appropriations for fiscal 2027. The Pentagon is currently operating under a continuing resolution through Dec. 11, which generally funds ongoing programs at prior-year rates while lawmakers negotiate a broader spending package.

"When you can't get a budget, when you're waiting on Congress to pass a budget, to be able to get the funding there, I mean, that is a huge issue," Meyer said.

But he also argued that the Pentagon has too often measured progress by how much money has been obligated or put under contract, rather than whether troops actually see improvements in their living conditions.

"Our service members don't, they don't live in our budget lines," Meyer said. "They live in the rooms that those budget lines are there to impact."

For Meyer, that has meant getting out of Washington and hearing directly from the troops living with the consequences.

"You can't fix these problems or understand these problems by standing on the carpet of the Pentagon," he said. "You've got to go out there and talk to these service members."

What he has heard, Meyer said, is striking partly because of how little troops are asking for.

"They're asking for a hot shower. They're asking for a place to wash their clothes. They're asking for a door that locks. They're asking to be able to go to sleep in a place that doesn't have mold. I mean, they're asking for light bulbs."

"They're willing to be part of the solution," he added.

Meyer stopped short of placing the blame solely on installation commanders, saying many want to improve conditions but have been constrained by a system that has normalized poor barracks for years.

"I think this is a multidimensional problem, and it's complex," he said. "I think that you have commanders out there that want to take care of their service members. I've seen that across the board. But ... they still have to have the ability to do that."

Meyer was far less forgiving of previous Pentagon leadership, arguing that years of investments and reform initiatives had failed to translate into adequate living conditions for troops.

"Don't kid yourself," Meyer said. "In the past ... it wasn't a priority to the leadership."

Previous administrations and military leaders did launch barracks improvement efforts and devoted billions of dollars to construction, renovation and maintenance, even as government watchdogs continued to document serious deficiencies.

Meyer said Hegseth has made the issue a personal priority.

"We have the Secretary of War who is putting people first, and he's not just saying that, he's doing it through his actions," Meyer said.

Meyer has put his own name on whether the latest effort succeeds, saying previously that if the barracks aren't fixed, there is "only one person to blame" — himself.

Asked what "fixed" would actually look like, Meyer offered a simpler standard than any Pentagon metric.

"People are living in places that I would be okay for my daughters living in," he said.

4 of nation's largest cities now led by socialist mayors after Tuesday's election, affecting tens of millions

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 05:00:54 -0500

Two socialist mayors were elected in the United States on Tuesday in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. which now means that four of the top 20 largest cities in the country have socialist leaders at the helm.

Los Angeles Councilwoman Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) defeated incumbent mayor Karen Bass and will take office in December as mayor for the roughly 4 million residents of Los Angeles proper.

Also victorious on Tuesday was DSA member Janeese Lewis George who coasted to victory to become mayor-elect of Washington, D.C., a city of roughly 700,000 residents.

The list of socialist mayors in the top 20 most populous U.S. cities stands at 4, as George and Raman join Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST SWEEPS INTO DC MAYOR'S OFFICE, SIGNALS OPENNESS TO WORKING WITH TRUMP

In total, the four cities are home to roughly 14 million people. That figure does not include neighboring suburbs, which could still feel the effects of policies enacted within city limits through crime, real estate values and the broader business climate. Problems in a city can spill over into surrounding communities, while suburban residents who work in the city may also be directly affected.

Counting the population in the metro areas of those four cities, roughly 44 million people could be affected either positively and negatively by the socialist policies enacted by the four mayors.

DSA LEADER DISMISSES $49T COST ESTIMATE FOR SOCIALIST POLICIES AS A 'MADE-UP NUMBER'

"This makes LA the fourth large city that will now have a socialist mayor, joining New York, Washington DC and Seattle," Heritage Foundation fellow Mike Gonzalez posted on X Thursday. "Chicago's mayor is a buffoon, but he doesn't identify as DSA. America used to be an impregnable fortress against Marxism, then Marxists took over universities."

The socialist victories were not limited to city halls. Voters also elected seven DSA-backed or affiliated candidates to the House: Claire Valdez, Brand Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier of New York, Chris Rabb of Pennsylvania, Melat Kiros of Colorado, Donavan McKinney of Michigan and Angela Gonzales-Torres of California.

Several other candidates associated with socialist policies also entered Congress or were re-elected on Tuesday.

A recent Fox News national poll indicated 32% of voters have a favorable view of socialism, with 64% seeing it in an unfavorable way. But the favorable rating matches an all-time high, first reached five years ago, since Fox News first began asking the question in 2019. And a September Gallup poll found that 43% of Americans had a positive image of socialism, the highest level since the polling organization began tracking the question in 2010.

The Fox News poll found that 51% of voters had a favorable view of capitalism, compared with 32% who viewed socialism favorably. Another 46% had an unfavorable view of capitalism.

Border Patrol seizes nearly $10M in cocaine during back-to-back California stops

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 04:45:21 -0500

U.S. Border Patrol agents seized nearly $10 million worth of cocaine during two vehicle inspections just three minutes apart at a Southern California checkpoint, authorities said.

Agents discovered more than 1,435 pounds of suspected cocaine valued at $9.8 million during inspections at the San Clemente Border Patrol checkpoint last month, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

On Oct. 25, agents assigned to the San Diego Sector referred the two vehicles for additional inspection after observing "suspicious behavior," including one driver attempting to reverse out of the checkpoint.

A Border Patrol canine alerted agents to both vehicles, leading to the discovery of 550 vacuum-sealed packages concealed inside black garbage bags.

CBP OFFICERS SEIZE OVER $2.8M IN COCAINE AND METH IN BACK-TO-BACK BUSTS AT CALIFORNIA PORT OF ENTRY

Field tests yielded presumptive positive results for cocaine, CBP said.

"With this seizure, we are heading for a record year in narcotics interdictions here at the San Clemente checkpoint," San Clemente Station Patrol Agent in Charge J.D. Scott said in a statement.

"A few years ago, our agents were deployed to the immediate border and processed hundreds of illegal aliens," Scott continued. "With illegal border entries in San Diego at all-time lows, we now have the agents needed to keep our checkpoint open longer and to maintain a strong Border Patrol presence along our I-5 corridor."

CBP OFFICERS SEIZE $67 MILLION IN ILLEGAL DRUGS AT SAN DIEGO BORDER PORTS, DHS SAYS

Both drivers were arrested, and the Drug Enforcement Administration took custody of the suspects and suspected narcotics pending federal prosecution.

The seizures come amid the Trump administration's broader crackdown on drug cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations and human smuggling and drug trafficking networks.

In a separate case in May, authorities in the Southern District of California uncovered more than a ton of cocaine worth an estimated $45 million linked to an alleged cross-border drug tunnel.

Democrats set sights on Elon Musk probe after midterm wins, but Pritzker draws a surprising line

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 04:00:43 -0500

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill., are calling for an investigation into the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), previously led by Elon Musk, as talks have heated up among Democrats to launch a probe into the multibillionaire.

"I had no specific plan," Raskin told Fox News Digital about the potential investigations. "Look…DOGE was a catastrophe for America, and at least one committee, I feel pretty certain, will investigate it. It needs to investigate it."

Musk has emerged as a potential target of Democratic oversight, with some lawmakers calling for scrutiny of his time as head of the DOGE.

The calls for an investigation come as Democrats have started rallying the party to look into corruption under the Trump administration after coming out victorious in midterms.

SCHUMER, JEFFRIES SIDESTEP QUESTIONS ON NUKING FILIBUSTER, LAUNCHING ELON MUSK PROBE AFTER BLUE WAVE

The tech CEO helped launch DOGE at the start of President Donald Trump's second term to root out waste and be more transparent about the federal government's spending.

DOGE's efforts included deferred resignations and buyouts of employees at federal agencies and contributed to a significant downsizing of the federal workforce, which contracted by about 250,000 employees during 2025, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Calls for investigations into DOGE also started over concerns about the department allegedly having access to Americans’ sensitive information.

"I mean the whole thing was premised on a lie, and our private information was completely compromised by it," Raskin said.

Despite Pritzker saying he had never "heard anything like that" about a potential probe of Musk and DOGE, he agreed that DOGE is worthy of an investigation.

PROGRESSIVE GROUP'S 182-PAGE BLUEPRINT MAPS OUT POTENTIAL DEM INVESTIGATIONS INTO TRUMP, CORPORATE ALLIES

"I think there should be a lot of inspection of what DOGE did," Pritzker told Fox News Digital. "I think that was pretty awful. "

But Pritzker didn’t seem so sure that needing an investigation into DOGE also warranted an investigation into Musk himself.

"I don't know about focusing on one person," Pritzker said when asked about investigating Musk.

ELON MUSK BLAMES TRUMP, US MILITARY FOR SPACEX RESTRICTIONS UKRAINE WARNS COULD HAVE DEADLY CONSEQUENCES

Democratic lawmakers have also suggested looking into Musk’s companies' multibillion-dollar contracts with the federal government and, more recently, his role in cutting internet access to the Ukrainian military.

After the midterm elections resulted in a sweeping blue wave, Democrats in both chambers of Congress have vowed to use investigative committees and subpoena powers to probe not only Musk, but Trump and much of his administration — including trying to impeach Trump.

Fox News Digital’s Eric Revell contributed to this report.

Top Gulf official offers glimmer of hope on Trump-Iran nuclear talks as threat of war hangs over region

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 04:00:39 -0500

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A senior United Arab Emirates official says he is cautiously optimistic about negotiations between the United States and Iran, citing progress through Qatari mediation over the past days, even as fears of renewed military confrontation continue to grip the Middle East.

"We see some progress. … We hope that both sides will be able to reach a point where they will start building trust and engaging in a way to avoid the war, to find a political solution. … I am a little bit optimistic, but I don't exclude the other option," Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, chairman of the Defense, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee of the UAE's Federal National Council, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.

His remarks came as Reuters reported on Nov. 5 that Iran had submitted a new nuclear proposal to Washington through Qatar. Tehran, however, continued to insist that the U.S. meet seven conditions before negotiations could proceed, including sanctions relief and an end to the American naval blockade.

IS THIS TRUMP’S LAST ‘LAST CHANCE’? CEASELESS STRING OF BROKEN CEASEFIRES FUELS DOUBT OVER IRAN DEAL

President Donald Trump has not ruled out further military operations, while Iran has threatened broader retaliation if fighting resumes.

For the UAE, which endured thousands of Iranian missile and drone attacks earlier this year, the possibility of a diplomatic breakthrough offers hope. But its leaders are making clear that hope cannot replace preparedness.

"We plan for the worst. We hope for the best. … We always make sure that we are ready to deal with all the challenges or the threats," Al Nuaimi said.

That combination of optimism and caution was evident during Fox News Digital's reporting trip across the Emirates, where daily life appeared remarkably normal despite the uncertainty surrounding the country.

On an evening in downtown Dubai, restaurant terraces were packed, tourists filled the streets and crowds gathered around a fountain show set to music that moved between Arabic songs and Western pop hits.

Businesses were operating, international visitors were arriving and the city continued to project an image of prosperity and openness.

IRAN’S STRAIT OF HORMUZ SCHEME COULD DERAIL ONE GULF NATION’S BRIGHT FUTURE

The contrast was just as striking in Abu Dhabi, where Fox News Digital attended the opening of ADIPEC 2026, one of the world's largest energy conferences, against the backdrop of continuing tensions with Iran and the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz.

Days before the conference, ExxonMobil and Chevron executives had canceled their planned appearances because of security concerns, Reuters reported on Oct. 29.

Yet inside the exhibition halls, delegates from around the world gathered to discuss investment, announce partnerships and explore technological solutions to the energy crisis.

It was a demonstration of the UAE's determination to keep its economy moving while preparing for a security environment that has changed dramatically.

TRUMP ADMIN THREATENS IRAN WITH 'CONSEQUENCES' AS ALLIES CONVENE AMID THREATS OF POST-ELECTION ESCALATION

The UAE has already paid a significant price for its proximity to the conflict.

More than 3,000 Iranian missiles and drones targeted the Emirates during the war, according to figures cited by The Associated Press on Nov. 2. The attacks caused casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure.Although no new Iranian attacks had targeted the UAE since May, the threat of renewed confrontation has kept the country on alert.

Al Nuaimi emphasized that while the UAE considers itself a nation committed to peace, it will not hesitate to protect its population.

"Every nation, when it is attacked, [has] the right to defend their people, their sovereignty, their nation," he said.

But he also drew a clear distinction between the Iranian regime and the Iranian people, who are repressed by the regime. "The Iranian people deserve to be respected, accepted. They have great values, great civilization, and they are our neighbor."

MIDDLE EAST TAKES CENTER STAGE AT UN AS REGIONAL LEADERS CONFRONT IRAN WAR, GAZA AND HOUTHI THREAT

Despite the confrontation with Iran, Al Nuaimi rejected the suggestion that the UAE's relationship with Washington should be judged primarily through the current conflict or any particular U.S. administration.

"We don't see our relationship with the United States through these conflicts, through security and defense. No, it's a partnership. It's a strategic partnership. It is a sustainable partnership. … Our main partnership is with the United States as a nation, with the American people."

He emphasized that the relationship extends across education, medicine, technology, energy and investment, and is intended to endure political changes in Washington.

"We don't look at the United States through a certain administration. Our engagement and partnership with the United States ... [is] with the nation. It's with the people. ... We have the flexibility and the ability to [adapt] and engage with any administration."

The comments come at a sensitive time for Gulf governments, whose security relationships with Washington have become more consequential as Iran threatens regional infrastructure and international shipping.

At ADIPEC's opening ceremony on Nov. 2, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE's minister of industry and advanced technology and chief executive of state-owned energy giant ADNOC, emphasized that the country's ability to withstand the crisis was the result of years of preparation. "We did not write our resilience playbook during this disruption. We wrote it years before," Al Jaber told the audience.

The message was consistent with what officials and analysts repeatedly emphasized during Fox News Digital's visit: the UAE intends to remain a reliable international partner despite the possibility of another regional escalation.

GULF COUNTRIES STRONGLY CONDEMN IRAN'S DRONE ATTACK ON BAHRAIN AS RISING TENSIONS THREATEN MOU

In a separate exclusive interview with Fox News Digital in Dubai, Mohammed Baharoon, director general of the Emirati research center B'huth, argued that the confrontation with Iran has fundamentally expanded the meaning of national security.

"Our resilience now becomes our deterrence," Baharoon said.

The UAE's security strategy, he explained, involves far more than intercepting missiles and drones. It also means ensuring reliable energy supplies, food security, functioning infrastructure and the ability to maintain international commerce during a crisis.

For Baharoon, the conflict cannot be understood as a single confrontation between Washington and Tehran.

He described three interconnected wars: the initial American-Israeli campaign against Iran, Tehran's subsequent attacks on Gulf states and Iran's disruption of international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

"The second war was Iran's attack on the GCC, because that attack was also unprovoked," Baharoon said, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council.

He described the disruption of shipping as a separate confrontation with the global economy, arguing that the consequences extend to countries far removed from the Middle East.

Despite his criticism of Tehran, Baharoon rejected the idea that Iran should permanently be treated as an enemy. Its population, economic potential and geographical importance, he argued, could make it an important contributor to regional prosperity if its leadership shifted away from confrontation.

For the UAE, the challenge now is to prepare for the possibility of another confrontation without abandoning the diplomatic and economic relationships it has spent decades building. The crowded streets of Dubai and busy exhibition halls of Abu Dhabi reflect a country determined to move forward, even as the threat of war remains close. Whether the latest negotiations with Iran lead to a breakthrough or another round of fighting, the Emirates is betting that its resilience will allow it to weather the next crisis without losing sight of the future it is trying to build.

DeSantis blasts Washington Post over report he's preparing 2028 presidential bid

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 00:09:45 -0500

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fired back Friday at a report that he is preparing another White House bid in 2028, accusing The Washington Post of fabricating claims that he has started reaching out to political consultants about a potential campaign.

"The Washington Post is fabricating this out of whole cloth," DeSantis wrote on X. "I have not reached out to anybody about running for anything."

"Just another pathetic attempt to garner clicks. Using anonymous sources of course!" he added.

The Post reported Friday, citing three people briefed on his plans, that DeSantis was preparing to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2028.

VANCE, CRUZ AND DESANTIS DIAGNOSE GOP'S MIDTERM DISASTER AS BATTLE OVER PARTY'S FUTURE BEGINS

The newspaper reported that DeSantis, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2024 and is term-limited after 2026, had already reached out to at least one national political consultant about working on a prospective campaign.

A federal super PAC tied to DeSantis also sent out a fundraising text earlier this week, The Post reported.

DeSantis continued pushing back against the report in exchanges with social media users.

When one user expressed hope that The Post's reporting was accurate, the governor replied that he was "sorry to disappoint."

DeSantis also responded to another user who suggested political consultants may have been using his name to attract attention.

"Probably the case. But maybe just made up by WaPo," he wrote.

FIRST MUSLIM SENATOR, FIRST BLACK FEMALE GOVERNOR: 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION RESULTS MAKE HISTORY

Speculation surrounding DeSantis' political future comes just days after Republicans suffered sweeping defeats in the midterm elections, losing control of both chambers of Congress and several traditionally Republican strongholds.

The Sunshine State, however, remained a bright spot for the GOP, with Republican Byron Donalds winning the governor's race.

"This is close to an extinction-level event for Republicans," DeSantis said Wednesday, warning that among the nation's 10 most populous states, Florida would be the only one with Republican control of its government.

DESANTIS CALLS GOP MIDTERM LOSSES 'EXTINCTION-LEVEL EVENT' — AND EXPLAINS WHY FLORIDA SURVIVED

DeSantis previously sought the 2024 Republican presidential nomination but suspended his campaign in January 2024 after the Iowa caucuses and endorsed Donald Trump.

The governor, who will leave office in January, has previously left open the possibility of another presidential campaign.

Fox News Digital has reached out to DeSantis' office and The Washington Post for comment.

Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

Rams safety Quentin Lake apologizes to Justin Herbert for 'deli meat' comment, even though he has a point

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 22:15:45 -0500

One of the weird things about modern sports is that current athletes will gladly hop on podcasts. Of course, that sometimes makes things awkward, as was the case for Rams safety Quentin Lake.

Lake went on the "St. Brown Podcast" hosted by Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and his brother Equanimeous St. Brown.

On the show, Lake talked about an interception he made on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers and was not complimentary of quarterback Justin Herbert's play.

JUSTIN HERBERT, MADISON BEER GRILLED BY NFL LEGEND MICHAEL IRVIN AFTER EMBARRASSING CHARGERS LOSS

"He was throwing deli meat out there," Lake said on the St. Brown Podcast. "He's seeing ghosts. I don't know what's going on, but we knew we were gonna get a couple. At least one."

Alright, just a couple of guys being dudes, talking smack.

Also, have you seen the 0-7 Chargers this year? "Throwing deli meat" might be a compliment compared to what they've done at times during the season. Seeing ghosts would actually be a welcome explanation.

So, no harm, no foul. Nothing wrong with a little smack talk in the NFL.

Oh, wait. He apologized?

CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE

According to The Los Angeles Times, Lake sent an apology to Herbert over text message, but had not heard back.

"I don’t know if he read it," Lake said. "He probably says, 'I don’t care about it anymore. I’m not trying to see this. It doesn’t matter. You said what you said.' But at the same time I … felt like it was right for me to at least say, 'Hey, man, I didn’t mean it in any disrespectful way.'"

Come on, Justin: He meant you were throwing deli meat in the most respectful way imaginable!

Good on Lake for apologizing. But let's be honest, there's nothing wrong with a little off-field smack talk.

And if Herbert is offended by his passes being compared to someone flinging some Boar's Head around, then maybe work on not leading the league with ten interceptions.

That should be the rule: as long as you're at the top of the picks-thrown leaderboard, everyone gets to say you're throwing deli meat.

Tiger Woods and ex-wife Elin Nordegren reunite to celebrate son Charlie's college golf commitment

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 21:50:40 -0500

It was a family reunion for Charlie Woods on Friday, as both his father and mother, whose divorce was highly publicized, were together again to celebrate his college commitment.

Woods, the son of 15-time major winner Tiger, announced earlier this year his commitment to play golf at Florida State University.

The Woods family, including Tiger's ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, were on hand at Charlie's high school to celebrate.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE

Tiger and Elin got divorced after the former's infidelity had been exposed.

Charlie announced the commitment in February.

"Excited to announce my commitment to play golf at Florida State University — go Noles!" he wrote.

"Congratulations Charlie. I'm so proud of you on entering this next chapter of your life," Tiger commented.

It is a rare public appearance for Tiger, who has remained out of the spotlight most of the time since he was arrested in March.

LIV GOLF IS OFFICIALLY OVER AFTER ANNOUNCING PLANS TO 'WIND-DOWN' OPERATIONS AFTER FAILED RESCUE DEAL

He was arrested on charges of DUI following a car crash in which police later found hydrocodone pills in his pocket. It was his second DUI in less than a decade. Woods previously told law enforcement prior to the field sobriety tests that he underwent seven back surgeries and "over 20 operations on his leg." He told law enforcement that "I take a few" prescription medications.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital, deputies with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office reported observing several signs of impairment at the scene, noting that the golf legend was "sweating profusely" and that his movements appeared "lethargic and slow." Law enforcement proceeded to perform field sobriety tests because of their suspicions. Woods was instructed to remove his eyeglasses, and the deputy conducting the tests stated that his eyes appeared to be "bloodshot and glassy" and "extremely dilated."

Shortly after the arrest, Woods announced he was seeking treatment.

Nordegren was reportedly "concerned" after the legendary golfer’s arrest.

Tiger's return to the golf course remains to be determined — he has not played since the 2024 Open Championship. When he was arrested in March, he said he was "hoping to" play in April's Masters, but he ultimately missed the entire 2026 season.

Denver man found dead at bottom of national park canyon beneath steep drop-offs

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 21:34:59 -0500

Colorado authorities on Wednesday said a man was found dead at Gunnison National Park last week after deputies discovered an abandoned vehicle near the park.

The Montrose County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) said the body was found on the floor of the park’s Black Canyon, where many trails run along steep 2,000-foot drop-offs and access to the inner canyon is limited.

The hiker was identified as John N. Countryman, 57, of Denver, officials said in a post on Facebook.

BODY OF MISSING HIKER FOUND IN OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK THANKS TO CRUCIAL CLUE

The sheriff's office said deputies were first notified Oct. 27 around 5:30 p.m. of an "abandoned vehicle parked near mile marker 10 along the South Rim of Black Canyon."

Personal belongings were also discovered near Devil's Lookout, one of the park's steepest viewing points.

VIDEO SHOWS HIGH-ALTITUDE RESCUE OF HIKER WHO FELL HUNDREDS OF FEET DOWN UTAH'S MOUNT TIMPANOGOS

The sheriff's office drone team was then called in to search the canyon for a possible missing person connected to the abandoned vehicle.

However, the team was unable to locate anyone before nightfall due to "diminishing daylight," authorities said.

After a search at approximately 6:30 a.m. the following morning, the drone team "confirmed the presence of human remains on the canyon floor."

Countryman's body was recovered two days later and transferred to the Montrose County Coroner's Office.

The cause and manner of death remain under investigation.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in western Colorado features steep, narrow gorges carved by the Gunnison River with dramatic drop-offs and rugged terrain that can make search and rescue operations challenging.

US offers $20 million reward for information on Iran's nuclear program

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 21:03:34 -0500

The U.S. is offering up to $20 million to anyone with information on Iran’s nuclear program.

"If you have information on Iran’s nuclear program, assets, or associated individuals, send it to us via Signal or our Tor-based tip line. You may be eligible for a reward and relocation," the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program said in an announcement posted to X.

The State Department said it was seeking information on "nuclear scientists and staff, nuclear program-related technologies, and capabilities, associated organizations and personnel."

EXPERTS ‘DEEPLY’ CONCERNED OVER IRAN’S WORK AT UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR SITE

"The U.S. government remains committed to countering any attempt by Iran to develop a nuclear weapons program," the agency added.

The announcement comes as President Donald Trump considers renewed military strikes against Iran while Washington and Tehran continue negotiations over the country's nuclear program.

IRANIAN NEGOTIATORS KICKED OUT OF US AS TALKS STALL; TRUMP LAYS OUT 'POSSIBLE' TIMELINE FOR MORE STRIKES

Trump reiterated Friday that Iran would never be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon, pointing to previous U.S. military operations targeting Tehran's nuclear facilities.

The president met with his national security team Thursday to consider renewing military strikes against Iran after Trump promised to wait until after the midterms.

TRUMP ADMIN THREATENS IRAN WITH 'CONSEQUENCES' AS ALLIES CONVENE AMID THREATS OF POST-ELECTION ESCALATION

Nov. 9 marks a new moon in the Middle East, meaning little to no moonlight, a condition favorable for military operations, senior U.S. officials told Fox News.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier Thursday that Washington would "make a decision" on resuming the war.

TRUMP'S MOAB THREAT COULD PUT IRAN'S DEEPEST BUNKERS IN AMERICA'S CROSSHAIRS

"Do we want to go further" with strikes to ensure Iran's nuclear program is dead and that "it will never happen again?" he added.

US EMBASSIES IN MIDDLE EAST WARN AMERICANS OF 'UNFORESEEN ESCALATION' AS LATEST STRIKES HIT IRAN

"I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to. You'll know soon enough."

U.S. Central Command is finalizing preparations for a potential resumption of major operations in Iran but has not received a new directive from Washington, according to reports citing a U.S. official.

Fox News' Emma Bussey and Brittany Miller contributed to this report.

Trump highlights NASA nuclear-powered Mars spacecraft mission planned for 2028

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 20:54:19 -0500

President Donald Trump highlighted NASA's ambitious plans to launch its first nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars within the next two years, reaffirming his administration's push to expand American space exploration and eventually send astronauts to the red planet.

Speaking at the UP Summit at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Trump touted the mission as part of his administration's broader ambitions to expand America's presence beyond Earth.

"Within the next two years, NASA will launch the first-ever nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars," Trump said.

The president described the mission as a step toward eventually sending American astronauts to the planet.

TRUMP CALLS ISS CREW FROM HOUSTON TO PRAISE SPACE PIONEERS AND OFFER 'OVAL OFFICE TIME'

"We're going to be paving the way for astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the red planet," he said.

The planned mission comes as NASA's Artemis program aims to establish a long-term human presence on the moon before eventually sending astronauts to Mars.

Earlier this year, astronauts completed a lunar flyby during the Artemis II mission. Artemis III is scheduled to test spacecraft and landing systems in Earth orbit in 2027, while Artemis IV is expected to attempt a lunar landing in early 2028, before the end of Trump's presidential term.

PETER NAVARRO: TRUMP'S ARTEMIS VISION IS NOW FLYING — AND CHINA IS PAYING ATTENTION

Trump also outlined his administration's plans to accelerate space exploration and establish a lasting American presence beyond Earth, saying the U.S. "will establish a permanent presence on lunar soil."

The president pointed to his recently issued American Declaration of Freedom in Space, which asserts the right of Americans to explore and settle beyond Earth under U.S. law.

"Just this week, I issued the American Declaration of Freedom in Space, proclaiming all of space opened for American settlement, American civilization and American freedom," Trump said.

Before introducing the president, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman also discussed the space agency's Mars ambitions and long-term goals.

CHINA IS RACING TO THE MOON, AND AMERICA MUST CLEAR THE PATH FOR SPACE INNOVATION

"We are going to venture farther into the solar system and move closer to that next giant leap," Isaacman said.

He described the administration's ultimate goal as the day "American astronauts plant the Stars and Stripes on Mars."

The administration has previously outlined broader space ambitions, including plans for a U.S. Space Academy, which Trump announced in August. The proposed institution would train students for careers in the Space Force, NASA and the civilian spaceflight industry.

Trump also emphasized his broader vision for American space exploration.

"Our calling is to explore. Our purpose is to build, and our aim is always to win," he said.

49ers coach gives blunt reaction to disgruntled Brandon Aiyuk's return to team: 'I could care less'

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 20:38:06 -0500

Brandon Aiyuk returned to the San Francisco 49ers facility on Friday, but it did not appear as though he was very welcome.

The rift between Aiyuk and the Niners has gone on for well over a year now after the team voided the remaining guaranteed money he was owed on his extension. The 49ers did so after Aiyuk didn’t participate in rehab sessions for a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus he suffered in his right knee during the 2024 season, which he still has not returned from.

Members of the Niners weren't exactly thrilled about him coming back, and head coach Kyle Shanahan made his feelings well known.

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"I could care less," Shanahan said when asked about a potential meeting with Aiyuk and Niners brass.

"It’s been over for our football team for a long time," Shanahan added. "I don’t hear much except questions about it today. But it’s not too big of a deal for me to answer."

"I’m feeling great, feeling healthy. Long recovery process, long rehab process," Aiyuk said as he arrived at the Niners' offices. "But I’m back to 100 percent and looking to get reinstated into the National Football League."

BROWNS TO START SHEDEUR SANDERS AT QUARTERBACK AS DESHAUN WATSON REMAINS IN CONCUSSION PROTOCOL

Aiyuk will remain under contract with the 49ers after he is reinstated by the NFL. General manager John Lynch previously has said he doesn’t expect Aiyuk to play for the Niners again.

The 49ers placed Aiyuk on the reserve/left team list back in December after he stopped showing up to the team facility.

Before getting injured in 2024, Aiyuk tallied 24 catches for 374 yards that season. He broke out with 1,342 yards on 75 receptions and seven touchdowns during the 2023 season for the 49ers, helping them reach the Super Bowl.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bernie Sanders thinks Medicare-for-all bill could pass, 'not absolutely certain' Trump would veto

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 20:00:48 -0500

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in an interview Thursday he wasn't "absolutely certain" President Donald Trump would reject Medicare-for-all legislation, despite skepticism from MS NOW host Chris Hayes about the proposal's chances of becoming law.

"Healthcare is a human right. We need Medicare-for-all, which is now supported by over 60% of Americans, probably 80-90% of Democrats," he said.

Hayes interrupted.

BERNIE SANDERS ADMITS DEMOCRATS FAILED WORKING-CLASS VOTERS ON ECONOMICS, DRIVING THEM TO DONALD TRUMP

"But let me just stop you there, senator, because, I mean, obviously, I know you believe in this. I've looked at the polling. It's very clear polling on Medicare-for-all has gone up," Hayes said.

"It was very interesting that Abdul El-Sayed was attacked for a million things in that race, but not for that.

"But, I think you and I would agree, the odds of Donald Trump signing that into law, pretty small. ... You're going to have Senate and House, right?"

Sanders disagreed and pushed back at Hayes.

"Hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it. Two points. Point No. 1: Trump has the constitutional right to veto if he wants to do it. But we have the constitutional right to represent the American people and to pass the damn thing and to show the American people that we are sick and tired of maintaining a broken system.

"No. 2. You know what? Donald Trump may be a bit crazy, but he is not stupid," Sanders continued. "And he is a good politician. And if this guy looks out all over the country, and he says, 'Oh my God, everybody knows the system is broken. You know what, what do I got to lose?' So, I am not absolutely certain that Trump would not sign it.

"But whether he would or not, our job is to produce it. He wants to veto it, Republicans want to sustain that veto, that is their responsibility. The American people will see it."

Sanders has been pushing for Medicare-for-all for years, and support for it has become more mainstream in the Democratic Party.

TRUMP PLEDGES TO VETO 'INSANE' DEM BILLS, PINPOINTS ISSUE PARTIALLY TO BLAME FOR REPUBLICAN LOSSES

Psychotherapist and author Jonathan Alpert told Fox News Digital in a statement that Sanders had been "giving the same speech for decades."

"He knows how to tap into people's frustrations, but calling health care a human right doesn't automatically make Medicare-for-all the answer," Alpert said.

"Now, Bernie is saying Trump 'may be a bit crazy, but he is not stupid' and calling him 'a good politician.' That's quite a compliment coming from someone who's spent years attacking Trump. Even Bernie seems to recognize what many Democrats refuse to admit: Trump is a skilled politician who knows how to read the public.

"And Bernie knows exactly what he's doing," Alpert continued. "He's appealing to Trump's ego, dangling the possibility of a historic political victory. It's a clever bit of psychological maneuvering. Bernie may think Trump is crazy, but apparently he's smart enough to know that flattering him might get him further than attacking him. Other politicians may want to take a cue from Bernie."

TRUMP CONGRATULATES DEMOCRATS AFTER DOMINANT MIDTERMS, SAYS HE LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING WITH THEM

Sanders made the comments after Democrats' wave of huge victories in Tuesday's midterms, winning back control of the House and the Senate.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

MLB catcher who was behind plate for alleged rigged pitches testifies in Guardians pitchers' gambling case

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 19:50:11 -0500

Bo Naylor, who was behind the plate for allegedly rigged pitches by Cleveland Guardians pitchers, testified in a New York court on Thursday.

Naylor was a member of the Guardians from 2022 through this past trade deadline, when he was dealt to the eventual World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers.

Naylor was shown dozens of clips of pitches thrown by Clase and Ortiz in 2025 when he was questioned first by defense lawyers for the pitchers.

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The catcher testified that he appeared to call one of the allegedly rigged pitches, saying that a slider away to St. Louis Cardinals player Pedro Pages was a weakness.

Naylor also said he was unaware that bettors could wager on specific pitches.

Naylor said catchers and pitchers develop a strategy during pregame meetings of how to best pitch to each opponent to get an out based on an analysis of the weak spots in the hitting habits of each batter. He also acknowledged that pitchers, even the best ones, cannot be sure that each pitch will go where it is aimed.

Clase, a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year, had "pretty good command" of his pitches, Naylor said, but his command on his fastball was better than his offspeed.

Attorneys elicited from Naylor that he had frequently seen Clase on his cellular phone in the locker room. Prosecutors have alleged that Clase sometimes broke Major League Baseball rules by communicating with gamblers during games.

TREVOR BAUER SAYS 'PLAYOFF TEAMS' WANTED TO SIGN HIM BUT TEAM OWNERS, MLB HAVE BLOCKED EVERY MOVE

Bettors allegedly won $400,000 from betting platforms on pitches thrown by Clase between 2023 and 2025. Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme in June 2025.

In one instance, the indictment alleges, Clase used his phone in the middle of a game to coordinate with a bettor on a pitch he would throw.

Clase turned himself into arguably the game's best closer, pitching to a 1.21 ERA in his last full season in 2024, which was good for a third-place finish in the American League Cy Young Award vote. His 2025 ERA was 3.80 by the time he was investigated. Ortiz boasts a lifetime 4.36 ERA, with his best season also coming in 2024 with a 3.32 ERA.

Clase inked a five-year, $20 million deal just before opening day in 2022, a few months after finishing fifth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. Ortiz was making the veteran minimum of $782,600 last season because he was not yet arbitration eligible.

OutKick’s Ryan Gaydos, Jackson Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NYU professor and podcaster calls Elon Musk a 'traitor,' compares him to Soviet spies excuted during Cold War

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 19:41:23 -0500

NYU professor and podcaster Scott Galloway called SpaceX CEO Elon Musk a "traitor" Tuesday and compared him to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The Rosenbergs were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union in a case involving U.S. atomic secrets and later executed.

On Election Day, Galloway laid out an alternate history scenario on his "Prof G Podcast" to draw a comparison between Musk's actions and a hypothetical World War II scenario involving aviator Charles Lindbergh. Galloway was referring to reports that SpaceX restricted Starlink satellite internet speeds in Ukraine last month, reportedly disrupting Ukrainian military operations during the country's war with Russia.

"I want to propose a scenario," Galloway said. "It's the '30s, we're contemplating reentering Europe. Paid a huge price in World War I. It's a very unpopular idea to go back where it feels like we just left, and this innovator, Charles Lindbergh, is saying, ‘No, we should partner with the Germans.’

ELON MUSK LANDS NEW TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ROLE SHAPING FUTURE OF AMERICAN WARFARE

"Imagine, if you will, that Lindbergh was able to raise a ton of money and buy McDonnell Douglas, an aircraft manufacturer, and put in place this unbelievably innovative guidance system and FDR decided to loan to the RAF (Royal Air Force) B-17s, an amazing bomber in defense of Europe as this fascist begins to invade Europe," he said.

"And then the CEO of McDonnell Douglas, Charles Lindbergh, decides mid-flight, to turn off the guidance systems. And, as a result, the blitzkrieg increases in fury and U.K. citizens are killed.

"I believe that has almost exactly played out in the last few weeks with Elon Musk throttling back Starlink," Galloway said. "And my question is, or my thesis is, we took the Rosenbergs and put them up against a wall and executed them for being traitors. And I realize this is an incendiary statement, but I'll make it, and I believe it. I think Elon Musk is a traitor to the West."

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in 1953 after being convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union in a case involving U.S. atomic secrets.

"And I think what is even more dangerous is this zeitgeist within America that the idolatry of innovators and money has created a cloud cover such that traitors to the West are not seen as traitors to the West," Galloway further argued.

"That if this had happened in any other age where we were not obsessed with innovators and money, a much different reaction would be playing out for Elon Musk."

Musk said Ukraine was using Starlink in violation of the service's restrictions, saying, "Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed."

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On a recent episode of the "Pivot" podcast with co-host Kara Swisher, Galloway made similar comments, saying, "We lined up the Rosenbergs against a wall. This is a traitor to the West, and he should be held to the same standards as every other traitor in the West."

"Comparing Elon Musk to the Rosenbergs is ludicrous," Theo Wold, a former White House deputy assistant for domestic policy during President Donald Trump’s first term, said in a statement to Fox News Digital about Galloway’s rhetoric.

"Elon Musk is an innovator who epitomizes the technological advances and optimism that are at the center of Western civilization, which, incidentally, Democrats loved, that is, until Musk exercised his First Amendment freedoms to support Republicans.

"That is no crime, and the only thing Scott Galloway is pushing for is a nakedly partisan witch hunt and the endorsement of violence against the Antifa Democrats’ political enemies."

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Fox News Digital reached out to Elon Musk for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Miami Heat finally unveil 'Grand Theft Auto VI'-themed jerseys and social media is loving them

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 19:10:22 -0500

With the much anticipated release of "Grand Theft Auto VI" right around the corner, the marketing strategy for the game has reached a fever pitch.

Cities around the globe are emblazoning the sides of their buildings and public transportation with "GTA VI"-themed wraps, but nowhere else is receiving the kind of attention from Rockstar's marketing arm than The Magic City.

Miami is the inspiration for Vice City, the fictional setting of "GTA VI," and the South Florida metro area has seen everything from blimps to billboards getting slapped with a "Vice City" logo or design.

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Even the Kaysea Center, where the Miami Heat play their home games, has a giant "WELCOME TO VICE CITY" sign on the roof of the arena, which makes the team's next move make that much more sense.

Feast your eyes on the limited edition "A Night in Vice City" jersey.

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The Heat will be rolling these out during their November 18 matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, just one day before "GTA VI" is set to drop, and they look awesome.

I may be biased, considering I am a native South Floridian and a fan of the "Grand Theft Auto" series, as well as a very casual Heat fan, but it seems like a majority of the internet is on board with these being insanely cool.

Not only are the Heat dropping their Vice City themed jerseys that night, but the concession stands in the Kaseya Center will be GTA-inspired as well.

Fast food joints like "Burger Shot" and "Cluckin' Bell" that show up across the entire series will be featured in different sections of the arena in lieu of their usual vendors.

The court will even have a special Vice City design to it, meaning the Heat are really going all in with the "GTA VI" aesthetic.

Unfortunately, from what I could tell on the team's official website, you need to actually go to the game on November 18 to receive one of these special jerseys.

No sweat, though, as I'm sure some influencer who went to the game and didn't even watch will try to resell the threads for the price of some family's mortgage.

Start pinching your pennies now, gamers!