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‘Die Hard’ actor Robert Davi blasts Mamdani after NYC map omits Little Italy

‘Die Hard’ actor Robert Davi blasts Mamdani after NYC map omits Little Italy

“Die Hard” actor Robert Davi blasted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani Friday after a city map highlighting immigrant enclaves omitted Little Italy. The “New York City Immigrant Enclaves” map resurfaced on social media earlier this week after users pointed out it omitted Little Italy, as well as historically Jewish and Irish neighborhoods, despite highlighting 30 immigrant communities across the five boroughs. Following criticism from Italian-American groups, the city said it plans to update the map to include Little Italy. MAMDANI DEFENDS CONTROVERSIAL NYC MAP AFTER OMITTING ICONIC LITTLE ITALY, JEWISH AND IRISH NEIGHBORHOODS Davi, who was born in Astoria, Queens, lashed out at Mamdani in a video posted on X, calling him a “jerk” for snubbing Little Italy. “I hope every New York Italian American and Irish American spits on you when they see you,” Davi said. “I would spit on you if I saw you. Shame on you, you garbage man. Shame on you. Respect the city you’re in and understand the people who helped build it.” “My grandparents came from Sicily and Naples and they taught me, speak the English. This is America. God bless America,” the 75-year-old “Licence to Kill” actor said. ZOHRAN MAMDANI PRAISED FOR ‘FANTASTIC’ QUESTION-DODGING ON PRESIDENTIAL ELIGIBILITY “My grandfather enlisted in World War I and got wounded three times … he helped build New York City as an immigrant, an Italian immigrant,” he continued. The veteran actor also suggested the mayor, whom he described as a “leftist Marxist Communist,” leave the United States. “Go back to where you were born, Mamdani,” Davi said. “You don’t belong in America.” MAMDANI BLASTS ICE AGENTS, ELON MUSK AND ‘SUPREMACY’ IN AMERICA 250 SPEECH AHEAD OF JULY 4 WEEKEND Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, and moved to the United States when he was 7 years old. Davi also suggested there should be a constitutional amendment preventing Mamdani from running for public office. “You should spend time in America, at least a generation, especially those of you that come from a country that has a totally different philosophical ideology bent,” he said. The mayor’s office previously directed Fox News Digital to remarks Mamdani made during an unrelated press conference Friday, where he defended the map and said it had originally been created under the previous administration in 2023. “This map was initially created by the prior administration in 2023, and when we inherited it, we added a few additional neighborhoods,” Mamdani said. “It’s clearly not an exhaustive list of the more than 200 ethnic communities that call our city home, and we’re going to be making additional changes in the future to reflect that and that includes Little Italy.” Fox News Digital has reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment. According to the Library of Congress, more than 4 million Italians immigrated to the United States between the 1880s and 1924, with roughly one-third settling in New York City. Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller contributed to this report.

Dem governor escalates McConnell health demands, cites response to past Trump health concerns

Dem governor escalates McConnell health demands, cites response to past Trump health concerns

Democrat Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear escalated his pressure campaign against Sen. Mitch McConnell on Saturday, demanding the longtime Republican senator from the Bluegrass State reveal his undisclosed medical condition as questions mount over the 84-year-old’s ability to serve. In a post on X, Beshear connected his recent push for the lawmaker’s transparency to past national debates, writing, “I publicly and privately urged the last administration to address the public’s concerns with the former president’s health. I’m calling on Sen. McConnell to do the same and provide voters an update on his own health.” Beshear ended the post by urging McConnell to “end the crazy speculation” and “just tell us what’s going on.” MCCONNELL FACES FRESH CALLS TO COME CLEAN ABOUT HEALTH ISSUES The governor’s public comments follow a formal letter he sent to McConnell on Wednesday requesting a full health update on behalf of constituents who are “increasingly concerned” about the senator’s wellbeing and “ability to hold office in the United States Senate.” Beshear argued public officeholders have a commitment to represent constituents with “clear communication about one’s ability to serve.” MCCONNELL WAS FOUND ‘UNCONSCIOUS’ IN HOME LAST MONTH AS CONDITION REMAINS UNKNOWN McConnell has been absent from the Senate for three weeks and was first hospitalized in early June for an undisclosed condition. His office has declined to release specific details or a timeline for his return, though leaked emergency dispatch audio from a June 14 call revealed he was seemingly found unconscious at his home and may have suffered a heart attack. McConnell’s wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Beijing following the hospitalization, and her office claimed his condition “did not warrant an immediate return to the U.S.“ Both Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso said they have since spoken with McConnell at length about Senate business, recent Supreme Court decisions and the ongoing Graham Platner campaign scandal. However, when asked about McConnell’s condition aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said, “I have no idea how he’s doing.” The White House and McConnell’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Trump-aligned House holdouts accused of holding ‘life-saving’ veterans bill ‘hostage’ over SAVE America Act

Trump-aligned House holdouts accused of holding ‘life-saving’ veterans bill ‘hostage’ over SAVE America Act

A sweeping veterans package supporters describe as the largest expansion of veterans’ health care and benefits in more than a decade is expected to return to the House floor when lawmakers return from the July recess. But backers warn the legislation could once again become collateral damage in the Republican standoff over the SAVE America Act. The Take Care of American Veterans Act rolls roughly 60 veterans bills into a package that would dramatically expand veterans’ health care and benefits. At its core, the legislation would cement veterans’ access to community care outside the VA while increasing benefits for combat-wounded veterans, caregivers and Gold Star families, expanding mental health services and enacting dozens of additional reforms. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., told Fox News Digital he intends to bring the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act back for a vote as soon as the House reconvenes next week. HOUSE CONSERVATIVES DERAIL GOP AGENDA IN SAVE AMERICA ACT SHOWDOWN The legislation was held up last month after a group of House Republicans joined Democrats to defeat a procedural vote, stopping the House from taking up the bill. “I’m feeling good as long as my members stay with us on the rule,” Bost said. “Right now, there’s some politics being played, not about this bill, but just in general.” The bill became entangled in a broader House Republican fight over the SAVE America Act, legislation championed by President Donald Trump that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. On June 30, the House voted on H. Res. 1398, the procedural rule governing floor consideration of several bills, including the National Defense Authorization Act and the Take Care of American Veterans Act. The rule failed after 14 Republicans joined Democrats in opposition, preventing the House from taking up the veterans package and bringing floor business to a standstill.  Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., claimed to have voted against the rules vote in protest against House leadership’s handling of the SAVE America Act. As a result, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson sent the members home early. Bost accused the holdouts of effectively putting veterans legislation on hold. ‘IT’S A MESS’: GOP TURNS ON HOUSE CONSERVATIVES AS VOTER ID BLOCKADE STALLS TRUMP’S AGENDA “They’re holding all bills hostage,” Bost said. “They’re not voting for any rule. Any bill that has to pass a rule before it comes to the floor — which this bill does because of its size — can’t move.” Although Bost said he supports the SAVE America Act and has voted for it three times, he argued the Senate’s failure to act should not stop the House from advancing unrelated legislation. “I agree with that bill,” Bost said. “But the Senate still has to do their work. We don’t stop our work because the Senate isn’t doing it.” With 23 legislative days left in the congressional session, Concerned Veterans for America Strategic Director John Byrnes, a supporter of the bill, said time is of the essence. “There are lots and lots of things that have to get done,” Byrnes told Fox News Digital. “There’s also the National Defense Authorization Act, which is a must pass every year, so these things eat up time. There’s requirements to have debate on these, which eat up session time.” Byrnes argued that every procedural delay pushes other legislation further down the calendar. “This bill will save lives in 2027,” Byrnes said. “If we lose veterans because they could have had faster, better access to health care, we’re never going to get those veterans back.” TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT SHOWS SIGNS OF LIFE IN THE SENATE DESPITE REPUBLICAN REVOLT But Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who also voted no on the procedural vote, told Fox News Digital he has concerns about how the bill is financed. “I appreciate what the chairman’s trying to do in some respects, but there’s a few issues,” Roy said. Among them, Roy pointed to provisions offsetting new spending through changes affecting other veterans. “You’re taxing certain veterans to provide some sort of benefits and changes to other veterans,” Roy said. “There are concerns about some of the pay-fors.” Veterans of Foreign Wars has also taken issue with Section 108 of the bill, warning that it would codify changes to future disability ratings for tinnitus and sleep apnea to help finance other veterans’ priorities. But Bost said this is inaccurate. “No veteran is going to have their benefits reduced,” Bost said. “If you’re receiving a benefit right now, that’s not going to be reduced at all.” Roy, who previously served two years on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said he supported a lot of what the bill was seeking to accomplish but said other pieces of legislation are priorities, too. “There is a block of us for whom border security, the SAVE Act and demonstrating our leadership on major issues is critical,” Roy said. “Some of these other bills may or may not get hung up based on a desire of many in the conference to see movement on other things.” Fox News Digital reached out to Luna’s office and the White House for comment.

Harvard astronomer tapped to lead White House UFO council says US government ‘baffled by what they are seeing’

Harvard astronomer tapped to lead White House UFO council says US government ‘baffled by what they are seeing’

Avi Loeb, the Harvard astronomer chosen last month by the White House to lead a UFO advisory council, believes he was brought on because federal officials are “baffled” by the many unidentified objects the U.S. military has captured over the past several decades. Loeb, known for arguing that alien spacecraft may have already reached Earth, said his newly formed team of more than a dozen scientists is combing through four batches of public UFO sighting disclosures released by the Trump administration in recent months. His mission began in early June when an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) visited his home and asked him to form a group of experts to make sense of UFOs, now referred to by the U.S. government as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). This is an umbrella term that accounts for objects seen zipping underwater and in space. “The U.S. government had me at hello,” Loeb told Fox News Digital in an interview Saturday. “The fact that they are reaching out to scientists like myself indicates, in my mind, that they are baffled by what they are seeing, and they think that maybe it’s not human-made.” NASA CHIEF CONFIRMS AGENCY HAS UNEXPLAINED UFO IMAGERY: ‘WE DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS’ Loeb’s council will report its findings to the UAP Governing Board, a recently established body under the direction of ODNI. According to the council’s website, Loeb and his colleagues will only be reviewing already-declassified materials on UAPs. However, Loeb told Fox News Digital he has asked the Pentagon and other agencies for 50 videos, images and other documents related to known UAP incidents. Those materials haven’t been given to him yet, with the custodian agencies citing national security concerns. “It’s not so much the targets that are the issue. It’s that the sensors that were used were for national security purposes. The U.S. government doesn’t want to reveal to adversarial nations the kind of sensors being used. So, that’s the main obstacle right now,” Loeb said. NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON DARES GOVERNMENT TO ‘JUST SHOW THE ALIEN,’ AS DISCLOSURE FERVOR CONTINUES TO GROW Loeb’s goal is to figure out whether UAPs that have been captured by the U.S. military originate from other nations or if they don’t come from humans at all. “In the second case, if it’s not human-made, then that’s the biggest discovery ever made by science, and the U.S. government has the privilege of ushering in this new realization that we have a neighbor visiting us,” Loeb said. Loeb sought to temper expectations, saying that many of the phenomena they are studying could turn out to be mundane. Often, he said, the strange looking objects people see in the sky are merely space junk or broken satellites. “Unless they maneuver in ways that cannot be explained by gravity, you should assume that they are space junk,” Loeb said. DECLASSIFIED APOLLO MISSION UFO FILES CHALLENGE LONG-RUNNING MOON LANDING CONSPIRACY THEORIES Nonetheless, he praised the White House for its push for transparency on this issue. In February, President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon and other agencies to declassify files related to aliens and UAPs because of “tremendous interest.” One of the most important aims of Loeb’s council is to recommend better sensors so that the government can capture UAPs with more confidence in the future. “If we are dealing with drones of some unusual qualities that the Chinese are using, it’s good for the U.S. to have better sensors that can help it identify those. Right now, they are reported as orbs. They may not be drones, but I’m saying that, at the very least, we will help national security,” Loeb said. Loeb made the remarks after the Department of War on Friday released the fourth and latest batch of UAP materials to the public. Loeb commented on one of the most sensational releases from the first batch, which were photos from the Apollo 12 mission on the Moon in 1969. One of the photos has five “unidentified phenomena,” but Loeb said federal authorities have now officially concluded that those blue flashes are most likely cosmic rays. Until 2020, Loeb headed up Harvard University’s astronomy department, where he studied black holes, the formation of the universe’s first stars and extraterrestrial life. In 2017, when scientists discovered a remnant of a Pluto-like world in the solar system, Loeb disputed those findings, arguing that the object was possibly a light sail from an alien civilization. After this claim earned him widespread respect in the UFO community, Loeb founded the Galileo Project at Harvard to search for artifacts from extraterrestrial civilizations.