NationalWatch

The Department of Homeland Security has revealed the identities of the four migrants who escaped a Newark ICE facility on Thursday night, identifying all four as “public safety threats” who are still at large.

The agency is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the four migrants who broke out of Delaney Hall, a privately run ICE detention facility on Thursday night, amid chaotic scenes both inside and outside the facility.

According to DHS, “the four criminal illegal aliens currently evading federal law enforcement are public safety threats.”

DHS identified the four escaped migrants as Honduran illegals Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes and Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez and Colombian illegals Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada and Andres Pineda-Mogollon, each of whom has previously been arrested for felony offenses including aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a handgun and terroristic threats.

RETURNED SALVADORAN MIGRANT KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA ARRAIGNED ON FEDERAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING CHARGES IN TENNESSEE

Amanda, only one name available, shouts slogans as her husband is held inside the Delaney Hall Detention Facility during protests over federal immigration enforcement raids on Thursday, Jun. 12, 2025, in Newark, N.J.  (WNYW and AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)

Bautista-Reyes illegally entered the U.S. in 2021 under the Biden administration and was arrested by the Wayne Township, New Jersey, Police Department on May 3 for aggravated assault, attempt to cause bodily injury, terroristic threats, and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.

Sandoval-Lopez illegally entered the U.S. as a minor in 2019 and was arrested by the Passaic Police Department in October for unlawful possession of a handgun and again on February 15 for aggravated assault.

Castaneda-Lozada entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was arrested by the Hammonton Police Department on May 15 for burglary, theft and conspiracy to commit burglary.

Pineda-Mogollon entered the U.S. in 2023 and overstayed his tourist visa. He was arrested by the New York City Police Department on April 25 for larceny and again on May 21 by the Union, New Jersey, Police Department for residential burglary, conspiracy to commit residential burglary and possession of burglary tools.

ICE OFFICERS ASSAULTED DURING RAID THAT NABBED 70 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AT MEAT PLANT: DHS

Left: Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes illegally entered the U.S. in 2021 under the Biden administration and was arrested by the Wayne Township, New Jersey, Police Department on May 3 for aggravated assault, attempt to cause bodily injury, terroristic threats, and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes. Center left: Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez illegally entered the U.S. as a minor in 2019 and was arrested by the Passaic Police Department in October for unlawful possession of a handgun and again on February 15 for aggravated assault. Center right: Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was arrested by the Hammonton Police Department on May 15 for burglary, theft and conspiracy to commit burglary. Right: Andres Pineda-Mogollon entered the U.S. in 2023 and overstayed his tourist visa. He was arrested by the New York City Police Department on April 25 for larceny and again on May 21 by the Union, New Jersey, Police Department for residential burglary, conspiracy to commit residential burglary and possession of burglary tools.

Immigration attorney Mustafa Cetin told NJ.com that around 50 detainees at the private facility pushed down a dormitory wall after becoming agitated when meals were delayed. 

“It’s about the food, and some of the detainees were getting aggressive and it turned violent,” Cetin said. 

He added that his client reported the wall was “not very strong” and described detainees hanging bedsheets in what may have been an escape attempt. The client also said he smelled gas during the incident.

By 6 p.m., dozens of officers from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office and Newark Police were present, according to Rutgers University-Newark professor Whitney Strub, who posted images of the police presence and said he and others outside the jail “were all coughing at the same time,” after being exposed to what they believed was “some kind of gas,” NJ.com reported.

DEMOCRAT ACCUSES TRUMP OF UNLEASHING ‘CAMPAIGN OF TERROR’ ON ILLEGALS AS LA RIOTS RAGE

A Special Response Team (SRT) with Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrives at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility during a protest over federal immigration enforcement raids on Thursday, Jun. 12, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)

At approximately 9 p.m., a group of protesters blocked an SUV from exiting an ancillary gate at Delaney Hall, forcing it to back into the facility.

PIX11 News reported that the escapees were seen running near Turnpike 78 and Delancey Street.

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DHS contested reporting that there had been widespread unrest at the facility, saying “this privately held facility remains dedicated to providing high-quality services, including around-the-clock access to medical care, in-person and virtual legal and family visitation, general and legal library access, translation services, dietician-approved meals, religious and specialty diets, recreational amenities, and opportunities to practice their religious beliefs.”

In a Friday statement, a senior DHS official said that “DHS has become aware of four detainees at the privately held Delaney Hall Detention Facility escaping” and that “additional law enforcement partners have been brought in to find these escapees and a BOLO has been disseminated.”

The senior official encouraged the public to call emergency services or the ICE tip line with any relevant information on the four escapees.  

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report.

Sen. Alex Padilla’s, D-Calif., forcible removal from a press conference held by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem triggered a firestorm in the media and on Capitol Hill, unleashing a wave of scrutiny against both the lawmaker and the Trump administration.

The tense scene came in the midst of the ongoing anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles, which began last week in response to ICE raids in the area. The violent protests and unrest triggered President Donald Trump to mobilize the National Guard in response and for curfews to be enacted in the city.

‘SPECTACLE OF HIMSELF’: SENATE REPUBLICANS BLAST ALEX PADILLA AFTER HIS FORCIBLE REMOVAL FROM DHS PRESSER

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was interrupted during a press conference by California Sen. Alex Padilla. (Getty Images/Fox News)

Below is a breakdown of events between Noem and Padilla, and the reaction on Capitol Hill. 

In the Room

Fox News first reported that the secretary would be holding a briefing, with guidance making the rounds at roughly 9 a.m. Pacific time. By roughly 11 a.m. Thursday, the press briefing at the FBI headquarters in L.A. began with Noem, local officials and press.

Padilla, however, was also in the building receiving a separate briefing when he caught wind of Noem’s press conference. The lawmaker had been in Washington the entire week prior, only missing votes on Thursday.

Five minutes into her prepared opening remarks, Padilla burst into the room. Videos of the incident showed that he did not immediately identify himself, and was quickly swarmed by Secret Service and FBI agents, who bellowed “hands up.”

“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla,” he said amid the scuffle. “I have questions for the secretary.”

DEMOCRAT SENATOR FORCIBLY REMOVED AFTER CRASHING DHS SECRETARY NOEM’S PRESS CONFERENCE

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to the media at the U.S. Capitol on May 22, 2025, in Washington. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

He was later taken from the room and brought to the floor where he was briefly handcuffed while the press conference continued.

Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who was in the room, said on X that Padilla entered the briefing “without identifying himself,” nor did he have “his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem.”

“Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated command,” she said. “[The Secret Service] thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”

The pair later met and spoke for 10 to 15 minutes and had a good dialogue where Padilla laid out his concerns with the ICE operations, and they even exchanged phone numbers, Noem said.

But afterward, Padilla shared a much different sentiment with reporters.

“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California,” he said. “We will hold this administration accountable.”

Noem scoffed at his remarks and suggested that “perhaps he wanted the scene.”

“I think the American people are tired of this,” she said. “They just want the truth, and they just want to know what’s happening, and that’s what we were trying to provide.”

Meanwhile, in Washington

The video of Padilla quickly spread on Capitol Hill, where members of the House were gearing up for a vote, and some senators watched the spectacle unfold on the Senate floor.  

The scene triggered a firestorm in the media and on the Hill, where lawmakers rushed to either condemn the treatment of Padilla or blast him for trying to attract the spotlight in the midst of the ongoing anti-ICE riots.

“I think [Padilla] should have been here in Washington voting,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who had yet to see the video. “He has a responsibility to his constituents, to show up at work, not to go try to make a spectacle of himself.”

Democratic lawmakers staged a march to the offices of both House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., in protest and arguments erupted on the House floor.

Democratic lawmakers universally condemned the level of force used to remove Padilla, with some calling for investigations into the matter. Others demanded that Noem resign from her post.

“We need an independent investigation of this,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told MSNBC. “It is also time for Kristi Noem to resign. She needs to resign.”

CONSERVATIVES ERUPT AFTER DEM SENATOR’S ‘TEMPER TANTRUM’ SENDS DHS PRESSER OFF THE RAILS

Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington on Jun. 2, 2025.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Johnson called for Padilla’s censure.

“We’re not going to have branches fighting physically and having senators charging Cabinet secretaries,” he said. “We got to do better, and I hope that we will.”

Thune, however, took a more cautious approach when hounded by reporters for a reaction to the incident.

He said that he spoke with Padilla, the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, and had been working to contact Noem.

“We want to know the full scope of what happened,” he said. “And do what we would do on any incident like this involving a senator, to try to gather all the relevant information.”

Money-Maker

Less than 24-hours after the incident, Padilla, who is not up for reelection until the 2028 cycle, and Senate Democrats were already fundraising off of the chaotic scene.

In a fundraising email sent at roughly 9 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, Padilla recounted the events and issued the same warning he made hours earlier.  

“Trump and ICE are terrorizing immigrant communities,” the email read. “Targeting schools and workplaces. Deporting people with no due process.”

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The Democratic National Committee also jumped into the fray, sending their own fundraising email just minutes after Padilla’s.

The organization accused the Trump administration of taking “steps toward authoritarianism” and requested a contribution that would be split between Padilla and other Democrats so that others would have “the resources to keep fighting back against Trump.”

“This is not only an attack on a sitting senator — it’s an attack on freedom of speech and expression in our country,” the organization said. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Padilla’s office and the White House for comment on this article.

Iran has initiated a forceful counterattack on Tel Aviv, just as the dust had begun to settle on Israel’s first round of strikes on Tehran, an operation to wipe out the Iranian regime’s nuclear capabilities. 

Tel Aviv residents were instructed to remain in bomb shelters Friday evening until further notice as the Israeli Defense Forces intercepted an onslaught of missile attacks from Tehran. 

The U.S. is left to wonder whether it will be drawn into the conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at first insisted the American government was not involved in the strikes, but President Donald Trump’s comments Friday suggest he didn’t oppose them. 

Iran claimed that Israel’s “aggression against Iran could not have been carried out without the coordination and approval of the United States.”

GLOBAL CALLS TO AVOID ESCALATION POUR IN AFTER ISRAELI STRIKES ON IRAN

Israel struck 100 sites around Tehran on Friday. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

If Iran is acting rationally, it has no reason to provoke America into joining offensive attacks on behalf of its ally Israel.

But what if it isn’t?  

“I hope and pray the Iranians don’t hit Americans but …  it’s going to be very hard for the regime to not hit back and not hit back big,” one former Pentagon official said. “All indications are they feel like they’re going to have to hit back hard.”

Another analyst echoed that point but emphasized the emotional toll on Iran’s leadership. 

“You’re talking about human beings who just watched their country get attacked, and a lot of their close advisors, confidants, probably friends get killed, right?” said Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities. “That’s a tough thing for Iran to actually muster to do, but that’s clearly the right move for them strategically.”

Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei vowed to bring Israel “to its knees” as his nation accused the U.S. of helping with Israel’s attack.  (Khamenei: West Asia News Agency, ReutersTrump: Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Iranians haven’t been afraid to attack the U.S. before: they tried to kill Trump and his former advisors Mike Pompeo and John Bolton over the Qassem Soleimani assassination for years. 

Iran’s ability to strike U.S. targets in the region is no secret: It has missiles and drones capable of reaching American bases in Iraq, Syria and the Gulf. And, as Gregg Roman, executive director of the Middle East Forum, noted, it has already demonstrated a willingness to use them.

“Iran has the ability to use its missile program and its drones to strike at the United States and its bases in the region and in Israel,” Roman said. “It has threatened to do so.”

But a bigger concern is sleeper cells – Iran’s ability to operate through proxies even within the U.S. 

“That’s what I’m most worried about,” said Roman. 

TRUMP FACES CRITICAL DECISION AS MIDDLE EAST TEETERS ON BRINK OF WAR

Iran claimed Israel’s “aggression against Iran could not have been carried out without the coordination and approval of the United States.” (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

“Iran has demonstrated… that it has the capability to establish infrastructure here in the United States,” said Joe Truzman, senior research analyst with FDD’s Long War Journal. “Whether that’s through agents they hire, a proxy force like Hezbollah, or sleeper agents… it’s definitely a possibility.”

A former Pentagon official pointed to Iran’s massive missile arsenal – including more cruise and ballistic missiles than the U.S. has interceptors globally.

“If Iran really decides to throw in its missile force, … they could really do a lot of damage,” one former official said. “Particularly in Iraq and Syria, where a lot of our smaller bases are not well defended … not covered by Patriots or THAADs.”

Iran has a chokehold on Iraq’s Shiite military forces: They are the regime’s strongest proxy at the moment. The U.S. has around 2,000 forces stationed in Iraq to fight terrorism and this week evacuated non-essential embassy staff and their families from the embassy there.

“Iran may choose to direct its proxy forces in Iraq or Yemen to begin increasing pressure on the U.S. by attacking American targets,” said Truzman, “to build up enough pressure to compel the U.S. to stop carrying out attacks.” 

HOW CLOSE WAS IRAN TO A NUCLEAR WEAPON BEFORE ISRAEL’S STRIKE ON TEHRAN?

For now, Iran appears to be aiming its retaliation primarily at Israel – not the U.S. “Right now, most of Iran’s violent rhetoric and their attention is on attacking Israeli targets,” said Truzman. “At this point, I don’t think Iran wants to provoke the U.S.”

Still, the situation remains fluid. “A lot depends on how Iran perceives the United States’ involvement in this conflict right now,” he added. “The longer this conflict drags on, it’s very likely the U.S. military will get more involved.”

Beni Sabti, Iran expert at the Institute for National Security Studies, said that right now, “it’s convenient for Israel, Iran and for the U.S. for Iran to leave the U.S. alone.” 

Kelanic warned that Israel may have made a grave miscalculation. “I think this is a huge strategic mistake by Israel,” she said. “I’m worried they’re going to drag the United States into this giant mess.”

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The U.S. is all but guaranteed to get involved at least in a defensive posture to help Israel repel Iran’s countermoves, and Ayatollah Alli Khamenei has vowed to bring Israel “to its knees.” The U.S. coordinated closely with Israel to fend off Iran’s last two counterattacks in April and October last year. 

“The Zionist regime will not escape unscathed from this crime,” Khamenei threatened in a televised address on Friday. 

EXCLUSIVE: A senior lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives said the current conflict with Israel and Iran could be a singular opportunity for Iranians to overthrow their authoritarian Islamic government.

“Now that their top leadership has been taken out, if there’s ever a time for the people to rise up against this theocracy, I would think the conditions are set,” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital on Friday.

McCaul was part of a group of lawmakers in the Middle East late last month. Part of that trip was in Israel, where the congressional delegation met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others.

“I think this is the perfect opportunity – it would have been better if, I don’t know what level of coordination took place, but I mean, when an event like this happens – to have this theocracy that’s in power, out of power, and liberate the people of Iran,” McCaul said. “The majority do not like the Ayatollah. There’s a real opportunity for that to just end.”

TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ CRACKS DOWN ON BIDEN’S STUDENT LOAN ‘SCHEME,’ TOP REPUBLICAN SAYS

Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, spoke with Fox News Digital about Israel’s strikes on Iran. (Getty Images)

Israel unleashed a barrage of airstrikes in and around Tehran beginning Thursday night Eastern Time. The Israeli government said the strikes were pre-emptive, and that Tehran was approaching nuclear weapon capabilities. 

“They were very close to a nuclear bomb,” McCaul said.

Israel said it hit Iranian nuclear sites, and that its strikes killed multiple senior Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists. Iran responded by launching missiles toward Israeli territory on Friday afternoon.

McCaul said it was a “major setback” for Iran but that he was sure that officials in Tehran would respond.

“When we were in the region, they felt certain that Iran would strike our military sites in Saudi, Jordan and the UAE,” he said.

“The big talk also at that time was, give CENTCOM time to get prepared in the region to get all of its strategic assets in place for a response. And my understanding is … all of our bases and military sites and embassies are on high alert.”

The Texas Republican also recalled what he now believes were telling signs that some kind of military operation was imminent. 

McCaul met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent weeks. (Israeli Government Press Office via AP)

While in Israel last month, McCaul said he asked Netanyahu about reports that Iran was preparing a nuclear strike.

“And he said, ‘If you don’t fight, you die,’ He said that several times in the context of striking Iran,” McCaul said. “He said that, ‘I will strike Iran with or without you.'”

“I said, ‘Well, sir, we need you to coordinate with us. Whether or not the president decides to do this with you, you need to coordinate with the United States, our allies and partners in the region.’”

Indeed, President Donald Trump told Fox News Channel’s chief political anchor Bret Baier on Thursday he had prior knowledge that Israel was going to conduct pre-emptive strikes on Iran.

“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership in Iran that will not be coming back,” Trump said.

REPUBLICANS CHALLENGE ‘IRRELEVANT’ BUDGET OFFICE AS IT CRITIQUES TRUMP’S ‘BEAUTIFUL BILL’

Firefighters and people clean up the scene of an explosion in Tehran, Iran, following Israeli airstrikes on Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

Trump said the strike happened on Day 61 after Iran had a 60-day window to make a deal with the U.S. to contain its nuclear enrichment. He also said he hoped Iran would come back to the negotiating table after the attack.

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But McCaul was not optimistic Tehran would agree to sufficient standards.

“I just, I have little faith in the negotiations, to be honest with you,” he said.

It’s not clear as of now whether those talks will resume. 

But if they were to fall through again, McCaul said, Iranians would have incentive to push for a new government “once and for all.”

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has promised a “legitimate and powerful response” to Israel’s strikes.

The forcible removal of Sen. Alex Padilla of California – as he attempted to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a news conference – instantly made national headlines.

But Thursday’s incident, in which Padilla was handcuffed and briefly detained by officers as he aimed to speak out in opposition to Trump administration immigration raids that sparked unrest in Los Angeles and smaller protests across the country, may also pay off for the senator and fellow Democrats.

Padilla, along with fellow California Democrat Sen. Adam Schiff, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), on Friday sent out fundraising emails to supporters highlighting the incident.

SENATE SHAKEN: BIPARTISAN WORRIES AFTER INCIDENT INVOLVING CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT

Sen. Alex Padilla was temporarily detained after approaching Sec. Noem’s podium at the news conference. (Bill Melugin/Fox News)

“If that’s what they do to a United States Senator with a question, imagine what they do to farm workers, day laborers, cooks, and the other nonviolent immigrants they are targeting in California and across the country,” Padilla said in his email to supporters, repeating his remarks from Thursday following the incident.

Schiff, in his fundraising email, called Padilla “one of the most decent people I know.”

PADILLA CUFFED, MCIVER INDICTED: CAN CONGRESS COME BACK FROM THE BRINK? 

And the DNC charged that the senator’s forced removal was one of the Trump administration’s “steps toward authoritarianism.” 

Videos of the incident showed Padilla attempting to walk up to Noem while she was speaking at a podium during a press conference. Padilla simultaneously attempted to shout over Noem, but law enforcement stepped in and forcefully stopped Padilla’s advance. 

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla is pushed out of the room as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds a news conference regarding the recent protests in Los Angeles on Thursday, Jun. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Padilla was eventually taken to the ground and handcuffed, the videos showed. Fox News reporters who were present at the news conference said Padilla appeared to be detained for a period of time.

Democrats quickly united in support of Padilla and condemned the Trump administration, while some Republicans accused the senator of grandstanding.

The incident came amid a week of protests in Los Angeles sparked by immigration raids carried out by ICE at the Trump administration’s direction.

The president sent in National Guard troops and even mobilized Marines in an attempt to quell the unrest.

President Donald Trump points to a reporter for a question during a signing a bill event, in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Jun. 12, 2025, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump is also fundraising off the unrest in Los Angeles.

The Trump National Committee JFC, which is one of the joint-fundraising committees set up by then-former president during his successful 2024 campaign to win back the White House, sent out a fundraising email on Thursday.

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“The American Homeland is under attack! Cities across the country are on FIRE! Radical Lunatics in masks are HURLING CINDER BLOCKS at our great Cops and Troops! President Trump will not allow it,” the email stated.

Former Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., said China might be the voice of “moral authority” following Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and military leaders. 

During a “What’s Next: Conversations on the Path Forward” event hosted by the Center for American Progress (CAP), Walz responded to a question from CEO Neera Tanden about the “escalatory” nature of the strikes. Walz said, “Iran has to retaliate, in their mind,” and the “Middle East is back on fire in a way that has now expanded.”

“Now, who is the voice in the world that can negotiate some type of agreement in this? Who holds the moral authority? Who holds the ability to do that? Because we are not seen as a neutral actor, and we maybe never were,” Walz said of the United States’ role in de-escalating tensions in the Middle East. 

According to Walz, the United States once attempted “to be somewhat of the arbitrator” in those negotiations during the Iran Nuclear Deal, but he said Americans must face the reality that the “neutral actor” with the “moral authority” to lead negotiations in the Middle East “might be the Chinese.”

WALZ RIPPED FOR ‘SICKENING’ USE OF NAZI-ERA LANGUAGE DESCRIBING TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION POLICY: ‘ANTI-AMERICAN’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to delegates at the South Carolina Democratic Party Convention on May 31, 2025, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

Walz didn’t elaborate on why China would be that world leader. 

WALZ SAYS HARRIS PICKED HIM FOR VP TO ‘CODE TALK TO WHITE GUYS’

The Democrat’s ties to China took center stage during his brief time as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate during the 2024 presidential election. 

During the 2024 campaign cycle, Fox News Digital reported that Walz had been a longtime vocal supporter of a medical research institute in his home state with a long track record of collaborating with a firm labeled by the Pentagon as a “Chinese military company” and with Chinese officials with controversial ties to the CCP.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a town hall event at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa, on March 14, 2025. (AP/Matthew Putney)

And in a letter unearthed by Fox News Digital, Walz boasted about Minnesota hosting several top Chinese leaders. The Minnesota International Chinese School showcased a 2021 letter from Walz on its YouTube channel celebrating the 10th anniversary of the school’s Chinese New Year.

CAP, who hosted the conversation with Walz, has its own questionable ties to China. 

Fox News Digital reported in 2024 that CAP Founder John Podesta, a former Obama and Clinton administration official who was tapped by the Biden administration to serve as senior advisor to the president for clean energy innovation and implementation, has close ties to Tung Chee-hwa, a top CCP official. 

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Tanden did not follow up on Walz’s claim that China might be the world leader on peace negotiations, saying sarcastically, “Well, I definitely rest easy knowing Pete Hegseth is the secretary of defense.”

An appellate court in New York on Friday rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to toss out a jury’s verdict that the president sexually abused and defamed former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll.

The full panel of judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit declined to hear Trump’s arguments, leaving Trump the option to turn to the Supreme Court as the last form of relief in a yearslong case that stemmed from Carroll’s shocking claim in 2019 that Trump raped her in a dressing room three decades ago.

In his appeal, Trump challenged evidence that Carroll’s legal team introduced to the jury during the civil lawsuit, including the Access Hollywood tape that surfaced during Trump’s 2016 campaign.

US APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS TRUMP VERDICT IN E JEAN CARROLL CASE

E. Jean Carroll leaves the courthouse on Sept. 6, 2024 in New York City. Both parties appear in court today as President Donald Trump’s lawyers fight to overturn the jury’s finding that he sexually abused E. Jean Carroll. (Alex Kent/Getty Images)

Two Trump-appointed judges on the appellate court dissented and said they would have granted Trump’s request and reconsidered the verdict.

The pair of judges said the Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump lewdly spoke about making passes at women, did not offer relevant context in relation to Carroll’s claims. The tape functioned as “propensity evidence,” which is typically inadmissible in court, the judges said.

“If the panel opinion remains a precedent of our court, a future plaintiff or the government will be able to introduce evidence of prior conduct in which a defendant went on a mundane outing and sometime thereafter made a sexual advance,” they wrote in their dissent.

TRUMP SCORES ‘UNEQUIVOCAL VICTORY’ AGAINST PULITZER PRIZE BOARD MEMBERS, COURT DENIES REQUEST TO DISMISS SUIT

Then-President-elect Donald Trump speaks at AmericaFest on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix. (Rick Scuteri)

Carroll sued Trump, a one-time New York real estate mogul, twice after she released her book in 2019, which claimed Trump raped her during a brief encounter with him in a department store dressing room in the 1990s.

Trump vigorously denied the claims, saying he had never met Carroll, that she was not his “type” and that she fabricated the incident to sell books. His vocal and repeated criticisms and denials led to Carroll’s defamation allegations.

E. Jean Carroll is seen outside the State Supreme Court on March 4, 2020 in New York. (Alec Tabak for New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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The appellate court’s decision on Friday relates to a lawsuit Carroll brought in 2022, in which a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded Carroll $5 million. The jury also found Trump did not rape Carroll, as Carroll had alleged. 

Carroll brought a second lawsuit right after her book release, alleging Trump defamed her in the aftermath of the book being published. A jury in that lawsuit awarded Carroll $83 million. Trump is also appealing that decision.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian migrant who was erroneously deported to El Salvador before being returned to the U.S. to face federal prosecution last week, was arraigned Friday in Nashville on human trafficking and conspiracy charges.

Abrego Garcia is expected to enter a plea as he faces charges for the transport of undocumented migrants, and for conspiring with others to do so, that stem from a 2022 traffic stop.

The criminal case against Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 member, comes after a high-profile, protracted legal fight over his deportation and the Trump administration’s efforts to delay his return to the U.S., even after the Supreme Court ordered the administration to “facilitate” his release earlier this year.

US JUDGE BLASTS TRUMP LAWYERS FOR 11TH-HOUR TACTICS IN MS-13 DEPORTATION CASE

In this handout provided by Sen. Van Hollen’s Office, U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) meets with Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia (L) at an undisclosed location on April 17, 2025 in San Salvador, El Salvador.  (Sen. Van Hollen’s Office via Getty Images)

His case has become a national flashpoint in the broader fight over Trump’s hard-line immigration policies in his second White House term.

In a court filing Wednesday night, lawyers for Abrego Garcia urged U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Holmes in Tennessee to release their client from custody while awaiting trial, arguing that the government’s grounds for a detention hearing – and his alleged status as an MS-13 gang member – are meritless.

“Mr. Abrego Garcia asks the Court for what he has been denied the past several months – due process,” his lawyers said, adding that there is no evidence their client is a flight risk, or that he has “systematically engaged in international travel in the recent past.”

TRUMP’S REMARKS COULD COME BACK TO BITE HIM IN ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION BATTLE

Demonstrators gather outside the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., in May to protest the detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who has since been returned to the U.S. to face federal criminal charges. (Breanne Deppisch for Fox News Digital)

Federal prosecutors disputed that and have urged the judge to keep him in custody, saying in a filing of their own that Abrego Garcia “would have enormous reason to flee” if he were not immediately detained by ICE. 

Court documents show the Justice Department filed the charges against Abrego Garcia on May 21– prompting a flurry of questions as to when the investigation and impaneling of a grand jury would have taken place. 

Kilmar Abrego Garcia listens to court arguments during his hearing in Tennessee in a courtroom sketch from last week.  (Paul Collins)

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Abrego Garcia’s family sued the Trump administration in March after the Salvadoran man, who entered the country illegally around 2012 and was living in Maryland, was abruptly deported to El Salvador in March. An immigration judge had ruled in 2019 that he could be deported, just not to El Salvador.

Upon being returned to the U.S. last week, Abrego Garcia was immediately sent to Tennessee to face federal charges related to transporting undocumented immigrants.

This is a developing news story. Check back for updates.

A second federal judge on Friday blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at overhauling elections in the U.S.

Trump’s March 25 executive order sought to compel officials to require documentary proof of citizenship for everyone registering to vote for federal elections, accept only mailed ballots received by Election Day and condition federal election grant funding on states adhering to the new ballot deadline.

Citizens go through the voting process at Scheig Center & Gardens on Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, in Appleton, Wisc. (Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Fox News talked to lawmakers from both sides of the aisle who are rattled by the incident with Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.

Padilla was forcibly removed from a press conference as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem held a news conference regarding the recent protests in Los Angeles earlier Thursday.

Even some Republicans are privately concerned about how Padilla was treated, although they concede his tactics were aggressive. 

This is where some GOPers believe this is theatrical, as Democrats struggle to find a message against the Trump administration that resonates.

PADILLA CUFFED, MCIVER INDICTED: CAN CONGRESS COME BACK FROM THE BRINK? 

Sen. Alex Padilla speaks during a press conference at the Wilshire Federal Building on Wilshire Blvd. on Thursday in Los Angeles. (Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Senators are particularly shaken. The Senate is a body of equals. And if this can happen to one of them, well, there’s a worry they could be next. 

Democrats demand a full-blown investigation. 

California Democrats and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus hectored House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in the hall yesterday, accusing him of lying. 

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP LAWMAKERS PREPARE TO SLASH $9.1B FROM USAID, NPR, AND PBS IN RARE VOTE 

Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, departs after speaking to reporters outside the Wilshire Federal Building, after he was forcibly removed after interrupting a news conference being held by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in Los Angeles on June 12. (GETTY IMAGES)

Johnson believes Padilla should be censured. 

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., said she had a private conversation with Johnson on Thursday. She wants to lower the temperature but said only President Donald Trump can do that. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., spoke to Padilla and Senate Sergeant at Arms Jennifer Hemingway about the incident. 

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“I remain hopeful that Leader Thune and other Republicans can walk us back from the brink. But I am not so sure anymore,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.

California GOP gubernatorial candidate, Steve Hilton, and former Democratic state senate leader Gloria Romero spoke to Fox News Digital outside a graffiti-covered Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) station as anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) riots ravage the streets of LA. 

“I’ve been here for days, seeing what’s going on with these riots. One of the most shocking things is the scale of the graffiti,” Hilton told Fox News Digital. “Everywhere you go in downtown LA, every surface is covered in vile, disgusting graffiti. And to me it is a really vivid symbol of the total collapse of law and order of civilized values, that they just let this happen. All of this could have been prevented.”

MARINES TO BEGIN OPERATIONS IN LOS ANGELES FRIDAY, AHEAD OF NATIONWIDE ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTS

Hilton, who declared his candidacy for governor in April, has not shied away from critiquing Gavin Newsom’s leadership in the Golden State. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom is being mocked online for an “embarrassing” televised address Tuesday night that experienced several technology meltdowns, resulting in the governor not being audible for parts of his speech. (Getty Images)

But with the nation watching the battle between the sitting California governor and President Donald Trump over squelching the riots and ICE deportations, Hilton went as far as to say that “Newsom is a total joke.”

“He’s shown in the last few days he is not fit to be governor of this state,” Hilton explained to Fox. “He is certainly not fit to be President of the United States, which is the only thing he seems to be focused on, which is why right at the beginning of all this, instead of acting immediately to make sure that things didn’t get out of hand and to protect communities, to protect small businesses and to prevent law and order and uphold civilized values.”

LOS ANGELES RIOTERS DELAY HUNDREDS OF LEGAL MIGRANTS FROM RECEIVING CITIZENSHIP: DHS

Hilton was joined in the interview with Fox News Digital by Gloria Romero, a former Democratic California senate leader turned Republican who previously represented East Los Angeles. 

Steve Hilton is joining the race to succeed California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.  (Fox News/Screenshot/Tayfun Coskun/Getty Images)

“For years and years, I tried to fight for reform within the party,” Romero told Fox. “Finally, like my friend[s] Leo Terrell, Bobby Kennedy, Tulsi Gabbard, I said, the [Democrat] party left me. It is so woke. It is gone.”

“Today we are looking at what happens then when those who are unvetted come in, and we’re looking at not only just the Maryland man as they described him, the California man, but we’re looking at rapists, convicted rapists, sex traffickers, murderers,” Romero added.

LIBERAL MEDIA DOWNPLAYS LA RIOTS, DISMISS VIOLENCE AS ISOLATED WHILE TOUTING ‘PEACEFUL’ ANTI-ICE PROTESTS

Newsom has stood firm in refusing to back down from Trump as riots raged on, and some see his rhetoric and decision-making as a means to propel himself as the leader of the anti-Trump movement as well as possibly the Democrat party as a whole. 

National Guard are deployed around downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following an immigration raid protest the night before.  (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Speculation that Newsom could make a run for the Democratic ticket for president in 2028 heightened during his national address this week, where he said “California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next.”

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Newsom is termed out as California governor, giving Hilton and other GOP hopefuls a chance to flip the state red for the first time since Arnold Schwarzenegger over 14 years ago. 

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

President Donald Trump promised that Israel’s next round of attacks on Iran would be “even more brutal” in a Truth Social post pressuring Iran to cut a deal on its nuclear activity. 

“There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,” Trump said. 

“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”

Trump said he warned Iran that “the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it.”

“Certain Iranian hardliner’s spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!”

Rescue teams work outside a building damaged by Israeli strikes in Tehran, Iran. (AFP via Getty Images))

ISRAEL LAUNCHES SWEEPING STRIKE ON IRAN WHILE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SEEKS DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION

The U.S. and Iran have another round of nuclear talks scheduled for this weekend in Muscat, Oman, while the two sides remain on opposite ends over whether Iran should have the capacity to enrich uranium at all, even for civil energy purposes. 

It is not clear whether those negotiations will carry on in light of the attack. Trump had urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to let talks play out before launching any strikes. 

 “I think it would blow it,” Trump said earlier yesterday of the prospect of a premature Israeli attack. But then, he mused, it “might help it actually, but it also could blow it.” 

TRUMP AWARE OF ISRAEL STRIKES ON IRAN BEFOREHAND, SAYS THERE WERE NO SURPRISES

President Donald Trump speaks during an “Invest in America” roundtable with business leaders at the White House on Monday, June 9, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

After the attack, Secretary of State Marco Rubio put out a statement insisting the U.S. had no part in the strikes and urged Iran not to attack U.S. positions. Earlier, non-essential embassy staff in Iraq had been evacuated in light of the prospect of an attack. 

Tehran fired over 100 drones toward Israel on Friday morning in a counter-move, which Israel intercepted. 

Israeli says it struck 100 sites in Iran in the first wave of attacks. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

This Image shows a residential building that was destroyed in Tehran, Iran, during the attacks. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Netanyahu revealed the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) struck a key nuclear site, Natanz, during the attack on the regime.

Among those killed were top nuclear scientists and top military leaders: General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s highest-ranking military official and chief of staff of the IRGC, along with most of the IRGC air force high command, who were convened in an underground bunker at the time. 

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The first wave of strikes hit over 100 targets with 200 Israeli fighter jets dropping “330 different munitions,” the IDF said, adding the strikes will carry on for days. 

It appears that the group of American voters who have shifted in large numbers from Democrats to Republicans in recent years on the combustible issue of immigration are actually the nation’s immigrants themselves.

A look at pre- and post-election surveys from the 2020 and 2024 cycles indicates a 49-point swing by voters born outside the United States – the vast majority of whom are considered immigrants – on which major political party would do a better job handling the issue of immigration.

American National Election Studies (ANES) data from the 2020 presidential election indicates voters born in another country said they favored Democrats rather than Republicans on the issue of immigration by a 58%-24% margin.

TRUMP DEPLOYMENT OF TROOPS TO QUELL LA RIOTERS LATEST PAGE IN PRESIDENT’S POLITICAL PLAYBOOK

Data from pre- and post-election surveys from the 2020 and 2024 cycles indicate a 49-point swing by voters born outside the United States on which major political party would do a better job handling the issue of immigration. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Four years later, the data indicated 45% of voters born in another county who cast a ballot in the 2024 presidential election said the GOP would do a better job handling immigration, with 30% pointing to the Democratic Party.

There was a smaller but still prominent shift from the Democrats to the Republicans by all voters, according to the data from ANES, which is the oldest election study in the world (dating back to 1952) and is often referred to as the gold standard for election surveys.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING

Daron Shaw, who serves as a member of the Fox News Decision Team and is the Republican partner on the Fox News poll, said the large shift toward the GOP on the immigration issue by those born outside the U.S. is “reflective of the fact that immigrant voters started so pro-Democrat. There’s more room for them to shift.”

Shaw also noted that before President Donald Trump first ran for the White House in 2016, immigration and border security were generally seen as separate issues.

President Donald Trump (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“Since Trump has come on the scene, those issues have really melded to the Republican advantage,” Shaw said.

Shaw, a politics professor and chair at the University of Texas, also said “you’re seeing a movement towards the Republican Party on immigration because it’s been largely focused on border security. That’s true with non-immigrant populations as well as immigrant populations.”

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING, ANALYSIS, AND OPINION ON THE ISSUE OF IMMIGRATION

Immigration and border security were key issues that Trump spotlighted as he campaigned to win back the White House in last year’s presidential election.

Republicans won back control of the presidency and the Senate and defended their small House majority in the 2024 elections. And Republicans made gains among Black, Hispanic and younger voters, all traditional members of the Democratic Party’s base.

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Border security and immigration have remained in the nation’s political spotlight in the nearly five months since Trump returned to the White House, thanks to the president’s sweeping and controversial moves on the two issues.

Aiming to extinguish escalating protests in Los Angeles sparked by immigration raids carried out by ICE at his administration’s direction, Trump sent in National Guard troops and even mobilized Marines. The unrest and the moves by Trump have dominated national headlines for nearly a week.

Fox News’ Dana Blanton and Victoria Balara contributed to this report.

When it comes to the nation’s federal government, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is “not a fan.” 

He believes that it “causes or exacerbates more problems than it actually solves,” telling Fox News Digital during an interview on Wednesday that the bulk of his oversight is “to expose how awful government is” in order to obtain “public support for reducing it, limiting its size, limiting its cost, limiting its influence over our lives.”

“As our federal government grows, our freedoms recede,” he said. “You see what the federal government does, how it wastes money.”

TRUMP ALLY STANDS FIRM AGAINST ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ DESPITE PRESSURE: ‘IT’LL COMPLETELY BACKFIRE’

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., arrives for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

The national debt has ballooned to the eye-watering sum of more than $36 trillion, with lawmakers and presidents from both parties presiding over the deficit spending that has led the nation to this point. 

Johnson said he’s “trying to force reality” upon everyone in the nation’s capital, regardless of whether they want to face that reality.

He said for decades the nation has been suffering a “chronic debt crisis,” illustrating the dramatic decline in the value of the U.S. dollar by noting that “the dollar you held back in 1998 is now only worth $0.51 cents,” while “a dollar you held in … 2019 is only worth $0.80 cents.”

The senator referred to inflation as “the silent tax.”

But he’s certainly not staying silent.

Johnson indicated that the elected leaders are mortgaging the future of American children, but “don’t talk about it.”

“I’m forcing everybody to look at it,” he said, noting that his “primary role” is to force “acknowledgment of our problem.”

A burning US dollar bill, London, 8th August 2011.  (Tom Stoddart/Getty Images)

But as keenly as Johnson advocates the idea of slashing the sprawling tentacles of the massive federal bureaucracy, right now he’s just pushing to pare spending down to pre-pandemic levels.

The conservative fiscal hawk has been making headlines for taking a stand against the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act that cleared the GOP-controlled House of Representatives last month. 

But Johnson told Fox News Digital that he actually likes a lot of the measure.

“I’m really not critical of the bill as far as it goes,” Johnson explained, noting that he’s a “big supporter” of much of what’s in it, though he noted that has not read all of it — the measure is more than 1,000 pages long. 

REPUBLICANS CHALLENGE ‘IRRELEVANT’ BUDGET OFFICE AS IT CRITIQUES TRUMP’S ‘BEAUTIFUL BILL’

“My main beef is it just doesn’t go far enough,” he said, noting that after the COVID-19 pandemic Democrats failed to return to pre-COVID spending and deficit levels.

The Congressional Budget Office’s estimated budgetary impact for the measure indicates that the net effect on the deficit would be a more than $2.4 trillion increase over the fiscal years 2025-2034.

But White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought has said the measure would decrease deficits.

“The bill REDUCES deficits by $1.4 trillion over ten years when you adjust for CBO’s one big gimmick–not using a realistic current policy baseline. It includes $1.7 trillion in mandatory savings, the most in history. If you care about deficits and debt, this bill dramatically improves the fiscal picture,” Vought said in a post on X.

US OFFICIALS DELAYED WARNING PUBLIC ABOUT HEART INFLAMMATION RISK FROM COVID SHOT: REPORT

Johnson also noted during the interview that there has not been a “reckoning” regarding the “abuse” at all levels of government during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted that he does not refer to the COVID-19 jab as a vaccine. Instead, he referred to it as an “injection,” asserting that it is “not a vaccine,” and that it caused injuries and death.

The senator said that he thinks the shots should have “black box warnings.” 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website states that the “CDC recommends a 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine for most adults ages 18 and older” and claims that the “vaccine helps protect you from severe illness, hospitalization, and death.”

Johnson isn’t necessarily interested in another term in office.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

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Johnson, who has served in the Senate since 2011 and won election to a third term in 2022, said he’d prefer not to seek another term in office.

“I don’t covet this job,” he said, noting that he wants to leverage his post to help save America and aid those who are “ignored by the system.”

While he’s not ruling out another run, Johnson, who turned 70-years-old earlier this year, said he’d “be happy” to return to Oshkosh and “live a nice, peaceful life.”

Elmo has a friend, indeed.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., brought along a stuffed friend to help make a point on the House floor Thursday.

Jeffries held up a stuffed Elmo doll while accusing Republicans of targeting beloved children’s shows like “Sesame Street” in their push to slash federal spending.

“Today, we are on the floor of the House of Representatives debating legislation that targets Elmo. And Big Bird. And Daniel Tiger and ‘Sesame Street,'” Jeffries said, waving the puppet as he railed against the GOP-led rescissions package.

TRUMP SENDS $9.4 BILLION DOGE CUTS PROPOSAL TO CONGRESS, TARGETING NPR, PBS

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., holds a stuffed Elmo doll while speaking on the House floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jun. 12, 2025. Jeffries used the prop to criticize the Republican-led rescissions bill, accusing the GOP of targeting Sesame Street and children’s programming by cutting funds to public broadcasting. (Pool)

The moment, widely circulated online, came during debate over the Republican-backed Proposed Rescissions of Budgetary Resources from President Trump, which would eliminate over $9 billion in unspent or low-priority federal funds.

Among the targeted programs: $3 million in taxpayer support for an international version of Sesame Street in Iraq.

Democrats objected to what they characterized as cultural and humanitarian vandalism disguised as fiscal responsibility. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., delivered one of the sharpest lines of the day: “While you all have killed off Elmo, I urge my colleagues to vote no on this trash and I yield back,” Garcia said.

Republicans dismissed the theatrics and defended the package as a commonsense rollback of bloated, ideological spending. The bill also includes broader cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports PBS and NPR, long-time targets of fiscal conservatives who argue the taxpayer shouldn’t subsidize public media.

Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., rebutted, “I never realized Elmo was more important to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle than the American people.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., pushed back forcefully: “The Minority Leader held up a Sesame Street character here on the floor as if Sesame Street’s somehow going to go away,” Scalise said. 

SESAME STREET’S PRIDE MONTH POST SPARKS BACKLASH FROM REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS AMID PBS FUNDING THREATS

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., responds to Jeffries’ remarks on the House floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jun. 12, 2025. Scalise defended the $9.4 billion rescissions bill, rejecting claims that it would eliminate Sesame Street, and argued the program thrives on private funding. (Pool)

“I was watching a commercial on TV yesterday where the Cookie Monster was actually doing an advertisement for Netflix because a private company is paying money to run Sesame Street. It’s not going away. It’s doing just fine. Very lucrative.”

Scalise argued the bill doesn’t threaten Sesame Street’s survival, only its taxpayer subsidy, and called out what he described as “far-left, radical views” being promoted through outlets like NPR and PBS.

“There is still going to be a plethora of options for the American people,” he said. “But if they are paying their hard-earned dollars to get content, why should your tax dollars go to only one thing that the other side wants to promote?”

He concluded bluntly: “They can still watch Sesame Street in Iraq. But let the Iraqi people pay for it — not the taxpayers of the United States of America’s children.”

Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., delivers remarks during House debate on the GOP rescissions bill at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jun. 12, 2025. Kamlager-Dove echoed Democratic outrage over proposed cuts to public media, accusing Republicans of “killing off Elmo” and calling the legislation “trash.” (Pool)

Even more eyebrow‑raising was the inclusion of taxpayer‑funded global health spending for procedures like circumcisions.

Among the line items flagged by GOP lawmakers: $3 million to subsidize circumcisions, vasectomies and condoms in Zambia, alongside similar grants for transgender surgeries in Nepal. Republicans contended that pulling back these types of low-impact or ideological slush funds was a logical first step toward returning more than $9 billion to the U.S. Treasury.

The bill passed the House Appropriations Committee earlier this week and Senate Democrats have signaled strong opposition.

The bill passed the House in a 214–212 vote. Four Republicans, Reps. Mark Amodei, R-Nev.; Mike Turner, R-Ohio; Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.; and Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., broke ranks to vote against the bill. All Democrats voted no.

No word yet from Elmo. But with Congress in session, the puppetry continues.

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The Office of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Ahead of the second New York City mayoral debate, former New York Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitted that, despite previous testimony to Congress to the contrary, he did see the report detailing the number of COVID nursing home deaths and that he may have altered the report.

Speaking with local outlet PIX 11 News on Wednesday, Cuomo said, “I did not recall seeing the report at the time. I did see the report, it turns out.”

He also said, “I’m sure that if I read the report. I made language changes.”

Despite this, Cuomo said the published report “was accurate” and that “this has been politicized from day 1.”

BILLIONAIRE EX-MAYOR BLOOMBERG ENDORSES CUOMO IN NYC DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY SHOWDOWN

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Getty Images)

Cuomo, who resigned his governorship in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations, is the leading candidate running for New York City mayor. However, he continues to face criticism over the misconduct allegations as well as claims that he altered a report to undercount the number of COVID-19 nursing home deaths.

During the first New York mayoral debate last week, fellow Democrat opponents blasted Cuomo for allegedly lying to Congress, an allegation pushed by Republicans that the Trump administration is currently investigating. 

The Trump Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation in May to get to the bottom of whether Cuomo lied to Congress about the decisions he made during the COVID-19 pandemic while serving as governor.

CUOMO LINKS LA VIOLENCE TO TRUMP AS HE COURTS NYC VOTERS AHEAD OF PRIMARY

Andrew Cuomo (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Cuomo repeatedly dismissed questions throughout the debate about whether he lied to Congress about his role in drafting a New York State Department of Health report that officials determined had undercounted the number of nursing home deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Cuomo blasted the current investigation as a symptom of partisan politics and insisted the report in question “did not undercount the deaths.”

Though he admitted on Wednesday to incorrectly testifying about not seeing the report and possibly making changes, Cuomo continued to maintain the accuracy of its numbers.

“Let’s just be clear for the record, because a lot of misinformation has been spread, New York always followed the federal guidance on what to do with nursing homes from the best federal medical minds available,” he said.

DOJ SUES NEW YORK FOR SANCTUARY POLICY ‘UNDERMINING IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT’

Andrew Cuomo (REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs)

He noted that the federal guidance “changed over time as the federal officials learned more,” saying that “the state and other states followed the federal guidance.”

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“When all is said and done, New York state is No. 38 in the rate of nursing home deaths. Think about that, 38 out of 50 states. Only 12 states had a lower rate of death than New York,” he said.

Cuomo is expected to again face intense questioning from opponents and moderators about the report during the second mayoral debate on Thursday night.

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that he was the reason President Donald Trump never sent the National Guard to New York City amid the violent George Floyd riots of 2020.

Cuomo’s comments came during the second of two Democrat primary debates for New York City mayor after he was asked how he would handle the current situation around the anti-ICE protests and the president’s decision to involve military personnel.  

“President Trump did this, and Trump won. He did it a number of times. He sent troops into cities all across the country. This is him being macho, authoritarianism; he’s the commander in chief,” Cuomo responded. “He never sent them into New York because I said to him, ‘You better never send troops into New York. We don’t need them. It would be a hostile act. It would be a problem.'”

CUOMO LINKS LA VIOLENCE TO TRUMP AS HE COURTS NYC VOTERS AHEAD OF PRIMARY

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says President Donald Trump never ordered military troops into New York City amid the violent George Floyd riots of 2020 because he told him not to. (Associated Press)

Trump ordered thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines to go into Los Angeles over the weekend and help quell the unrest and assist federal immigration authorities in their efforts to deport illegal immigrants. During the similarly violent 2020 George Floyd riots, Trump directed federal troops to Washington, D.C. and Portland, Oregon, in an effort to end the destruction, danger and chaos.   

New York City saw some of the greatest violence during the Floyd riots, but Trump never deployed any federal agents there, as Cuomo noted during the debate.

Protesters march in downtown Brooklyn on June 5, 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s death by police. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

TRUMP SENDS CLEAR MESSAGE FEDERALIZING NATIONAL GUARD FOR LA RIOTS: THIS IS NOT 2020    

New York City, similar to Los Angeles, is a self-proclaimed “sanctuary city” that protects illegal immigrants from deportation or prosecution by federal authorities.

Cuomo says Trump never sent troops to NYC during the George Floyd riots in 2020 because he told him not to. (GETTY IMAGES)

During Thursday night’s debate, Cuomo said he, too, would defend New York City’s sanctuary city laws as mayor. 

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“Right now, in this situation, we’re going to protect our immigrants. This is a sanctuary city, and we are going to defend the laws of the sanctuary city,” Cuomo said. “We have an NYPD that is the largest police force in the United States of America. Donald Trump only picks fights that he can win. He cannot win a fight with me as mayor of New York.”

Conservatives on social media lambasted Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., for interrupting a Department of Homeland Security press conference in Los Angeles Thursday despite the Senate being in session.

Padilla was kicked out of the event, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said she does not know him personally. 

“This is embarrassing [Padilla] spare me the fake outrage. Where were you when LEOS were being pelted with bricks? Hiding along with puppet [Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna]? #FactsMatter,” former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva posted on X.

REP. NADLER CONDEMNS TRUMP ADMIN AFTER STAFF MEMBER HANDCUFFED DURING CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE SECURITY SWEEP

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was interrupted during a news conference by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif. (Getty Images/Fox News)

“Whoa!! A sitting US Senator, Alex Padilla, was just shoved and forcibly removed from a press conference with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Reports are he’s been arrested. No one is above the law. It’s about time these Democrats stopped acting like they are,” Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk tweeted.

“Sen. Padilla missed Senate votes all week, only to throw a temper tantrum, rush the stage where DHS Secretary Noem was speaking, and get forcibly removed by security. Good on security to quickly address the threat,” conservative communications operative Steve Guest posted on X. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

The political tensions between California leaders and the Trump administration mounted with Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the city, which have prompted protests and riots in the area. 

President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to guard ICE officers despite Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass adamantly opposed to it. Newsom said the move was “unprecedented and threatens the very core of our democracy.”

“Donald Trump is behaving like a tyrant, not a President. We ask the court to immediately block these unlawful actions,” he added.

NOEM DISMISSES JEFFRIES’ WARNINGS AS DHS CONSIDERS ARRESTS OF DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS AFTER ICE FACILITY CLASH

Sheriff Alex Villanueva speaks at a news conference Aug. 12, 2020, in Los Angele to give an update on the fatal shooting by a deputy of Andres Guardado near Gardena. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

“Senator Padilla is currently in Los Angeles exercising his duty to perform congressional oversight of the federal government’s operations in Los Angeles and across California,” his office said in a statement.

“He was in the federal building to receive a briefing with General Guillot and was listening to Secretary Noem’s press conference. He tried to ask the secretary a question and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed. He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information.”

DHS CHIEF NOEM ACCUSES LAWMAKERS OF ‘COMMITTING FELONIES’ AT NEWARK ICE FACILITY: ‘THEY SHOULD BE CENSURED’

Riots in Los Angeles have caused extensive damage. (Getty)

After the incident, Padilla’s office said he is not in police custody. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed Noem and Padilla had a meeting after the scuffle. The secretary confirmed to Fox News that the meeting went well, and the two exchanged phone numbers.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

“During a press conference today held at the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, Senator Alex Padilla was detained by members of the U.S. Secret Service assigned to Secretary Noem’s detail when he became disruptive while formal remarks were being delivered,” the FBI said Thursday. 

“Secret Service agents were assisted by FBI Police who are in Los Angeles at this time. Senator Padilla was not wearing his Senate security pin; however, (he) was subsequently positively identified and released.”

You have lots of places to choose from to get your message out to the press if you’re House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

It’s best to get your message out succinctly, clearly and free of interference.

So when Johnson decided to boast about the House making good on the first bill to codify DOGE cuts and slash $9.4 billion from USAID and public broadcasting, he stepped just outside the House chamber and into a throng of reporters gathered by the Will Rogers Statue.

“Republicans will continue to deliver real accountability and restore fiscal discipline,” said Johnson.  

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But the Will Rogers Statue area is a major thoroughfare in the Capitol. At the moment Johnson spoke Thursday, dozens of House Democrats were headed toward the office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. They were demanding answers about why federal agents tossed Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., to the ground and handcuffed him during a press conference in Los Angeles with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

When Johnson finished talking about reeling in the money for public broadcasting and USAID, reporters only wanted to ask about Padilla.

Yours truly included.

Despite all the talk of Republican spending cuts, there was only one thing on the minds of reporters in the halls of Congress on Thursday: what had just happened to Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

“Did the federal agents go too far,” I asked. “Was that a bridge too far?”

A long line of angry House Democrats squeezed past Johnson in the Will Rogers corridor. But because Johnson chose to speak in such a heavily-trafficked locale, Democrats hectored Johnson as they marched to the Senate.

“Yes it was!” shouted an unidentified Democrat as she strode past the scrum, answering my question for Johnson.

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But Johnson immediately pivoted to what Padilla did, standing up at Noem’s press conference to holler questions at her from the back of the room.

“It was wildly inappropriate,” said Johnson of Padilla as he spoke to the Capitol press corps. “You don’t charge a sitting cabinet secretary…”

“That’s a lie!” shouted another unidentified Democrat.

“A lie!” yelled someone else.

Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-Calif., was among the members of Congress who appeared to heckle House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. (Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)

Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-Calif., stopped to snarl something at the Speaker. But it was impossible to hear over the din.

“He was acting like a senator,” charged Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y. “Why don’t you stand up for Congress!”

“Can you respond to these people heckling you Mr. Speaker?” I asked.

“I’m not going to respond to that,” replied Johnson.

The Capitol was pulsing at this point. The crush of House Democrats barged into the office of Thune, who was at the White House.

Lucky him.

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The Democrats then trooped back across the Rotunda and poured into Johnson’s office.

“When the Speaker of the House refers to a sitting Member of the U.S. Senate who simply tried to exercise his First Amendment rights as acting like a thug, we’re very concerned about that,” said Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y. “Both the Speaker and Leader Thune should step up to the moment and preserve the institution of Congress, which are a balance in democracy and important balance in democracy.”

One lawmaker who didn’t join the angry Democratic mob was Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa. Dean stood apprehensively just beyond the wall of reporters and outside the invisible bubble created by Johnson’s security detail. When Johnson concluded speaking, Dean tried to pierce the security ring to have a civil conversation with the Speaker.

Johnson’s talks of spending cuts were quickly dashed by reporters demanding an explanation about Padilla. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“Mike! Mike!” said Dean, trying to capture Johnson’s attention. “It’s Madeline.”

Johnson finally realized that “Madeleine” wasn’t some reporter trying to squeeze in an extra question for the Speaker. But someone he obviously knew. A fellow lawmaker. Someone from across the aisle with whom he must have a friendship and working relationship.

Johnson and Dean spoke in hushed tones as they walked quietly across Statuary Hall. Some in the press corps followed, trying to divine what they were saying. This wasn’t an offstage chat back in the Speaker’s Suite or on a private telephone call. But it went down in a very public part of the U.S. Capitol.

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The conversation continued as the duo stopped adjacent to the “British Steps” near the Speaker’s Office. Dean clenched both of her hands into fists as she and the Speaker were about to part ways. She lightly touched Johnson on the right arm as he ducked into the Speaker’s Office.

“Thank you, sir,” said Dean.

“What were you speaking to the Speaker about?” I asked the Congresswoman.

“I just want to keep that to myself,” answered Dean. “But the one thing I wanted to say is that it’s up to the President to turn the temperature down. Everyone is inflamed. And agitated. But it starts with the President. He said ‘I’m talking to the President,’” said Dean.

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., told me “it’s up to the President to turn the temperature down” after a quiet conversation with Johnson in Statuary Hall. (Andrew Harrer/Pool via Reuters)

But other Republicans may have tried to dial up the temperature by blasting Padilla.

Padilla left Washington earlier in the week to be in LA during the riots. The senator was supposed to start at first base for the Democrats in the Congressional Baseball Game on Wednesday night.

Republicans charged that Padilla should have stayed moored in Washington.

“He has a responsibility to show up at work not to go make a spectacle,” said Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo.

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“The fact that he’s in California and not in D.C. while the Senate is voting means he’s not as concerned about doing his job here,” said Senate Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.

Scalise conceded he had gone home to Louisiana when hurricanes threatened the state. He argued that he “wouldn’t go back home to try to stir angst against the federal agents that were coming and help us get back on our feet.”

Outraged Democrats thundered on the Senate floor, railing against the plight of Padilla.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Padilla’s plight “despicable” and “disgusting.” (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“This is the stuff of dictatorships. It is actually happening,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.

“It’s despicable. It’s disgusting. It is so un-American,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

“I think it’s unprecedented,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. “It’s obnoxious, and it’s rather escalatory.”

But the outrage wasn’t limited to Democrats.

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“I’ve seen that one clip. It’s horrible. It is shocking at every level. And it’s not the America I know,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski,” R-Alaska.

The band of Democrats who ran over to Thune’s office never did find him. But by nightfall, Thune said he spoke to Padilla, Senate Sergeant at Arms Jennifer Hemingway and tried to contact Noem.

“We want to get the full scope of what happened,” said Thune.

This falls against the backdrop of the feds charging Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., for assaulting federal agents at a Newark detention facility earlier this spring. These episodes have shaken Congress. 

Lawmakers wonder what would happen if the shoe were on the other foot. And despite the partisan chasms, they’re all lawmakers. They know that if something like this can happen to Padilla, well, they could be next.

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Confidence and trust are waning.

“I remain hopeful that Leader Thune and other Republicans can walk us back from the brink,” said Schatz. “But I am not so sure anymore.”

FIRST ON FOX: Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins sent letters to California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass this week alerting them to the impact the anti-ICE riots there are having on the city’s veteran community.

The letter cites the “violent” riots as the reason why the VA decided to close its Los Angeles Ambulatory Care Center for at least five days. It stated that local agency leaders made the “difficult decision” after the building’s outer walls were defaced with graffiti threatening the lives of federal immigration officials.

In total, more than 600 veteran appointments were affected.

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Graffiti with profane language and threats to federal officials was seen sprayed all over a Department of Veterans Affairs community care center in Los Angeles.  (Dept of Veterans Affairs)

Graffiti with profane language and threats to federal officials seen sprayed all over a Department of Veterans Affairs community care center in Los Angeles.  (Dept of Veterans Affairs)

Graffiti with profane language sprayed over the Department of Veterans Affairs community care center in Los Angeles.  (Dept of Veterans Affairs)

“In other words, your state’s failure to maintain law and order in Los Angeles is coming between Veterans and the healthcare they have earned,” the letters, signed by Secretary Collins, stated. “What has struck me the most about the city and state’s response to this ordeal is that your primary concern seems to be virtue signaling your opposition to President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to restore law and order throughout the city rather than protecting the hardworking Angelenos who are being victimized by violent rioters and other criminals.”    

Collins added that the city and state’s “lackadaisical response to the riots” raises questions about the safety and security of veterans, particularly those who benefit from federal VA programs, after the National Guard and other federal law enforcement leave the area.

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Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins (RIGHT) and the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles (LEFT) (Getty/Reuters)

The letter requested both Newsom and Bass respond with specific steps they are currently taking to restore law and order in the area where the VA care center was shutdown. It also requested a status update on state and local investigations into the defacement of the care center that was closed, and requested that state and local authorities pay to repair the damage to the building since, according to Collins’ letter, it was their lack of police presence that led to the defacement.

Both Newsom and Bass opposed any federal intervention to quell the riots, calling it unconstitutional and an overreach. Eventually, Newsom, with support from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking an emergency restraining order to block National Guard and other military personnel from assisting federal agents with immigration enforcement. 

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“Defendants, including President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have sought to bring military personnel and a ‘warrior culture’ to the streets of cities and towns where Americans work, go to school, and raise their families,” Newsom’s lawsuit states. “Now, they have turned their sights on California with devastating consequences, setting a roadmap to follow across the country.”