Americans clash over Supreme Court expansion as fight over 9 justices heats up: ‘Let’s pack it now’
As lawmakers spar over whether to expand the U.S. Supreme Court beyond nine justices, Americans interviewed by Fox News Digital on Capitol Hill had competing views on whether the nation’s highest court needs a shake-up at all. “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” Tim from Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital. “If you had more justices, you could have more differing opinions there,” Derek, also from Washington, said. “So you’d have to have more of a consensus on whatever they’re voting on.” The debate comes after a Republican-backed constitutional amendment to permanently fix the court at nine justices failed in the House in September, falling short of the two-thirds majority required for passage. MORNING GLORY: DSA DEMOCRATS’ RADICAL PLAN TO RESHAPE AMERICA STARTS WITH THE SUPREME COURT Democratic lawmakers have also introduced proposals to reshape the court, including legislation to expand its membership, establish term limits and impose additional ethics requirements. ” If we’re gonna change the size, we need to do it now,” said Carl from Texas. “If you’re going to pack the court, let’s pack it now.” One person Fox News Digital spoke with questioned the motives behind efforts to increase the number of justices. “I think those who want to increase the size, maybe just have a bias to it, if it be Republican or Democrat,” Tim said about the idea of expanding the number of justices. “I say just leave it as it is, man.” JOHN YOO: THE LEFT’S SUPREME COURT PANIC COLLAPSES UNDER THE WEIGHT OF THE FACTS Democrats have become increasingly angry over many of the court’s votes, and many have alleged their rulings to be rooted in politics rather than law. “The more people weigh in, the more accurate the results would be, right?” an interviewee said. One also argued that while he would be in favor of potentially expanding the Supreme Court, it would be dependent on how many additional justices were to be added. “It depends on how much more they add,” Derek said. “One or two more doesn’t seem like it’s that much, but if they’re like, ‘Double it.’ Well, starting to just kind of go overboard at that point.” REPUBLICANS SOUND ALARM OVER HIDDEN MIDTERM STAKES THAT COULD RESHAPE SUPREME COURT FOR DECADES Several proposals by Democrats have been introduced to reshape the court, including legislation from Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, to expand the bench from nine to 13 justices, and a separate measure from Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to establish 18-year terms of active service for newly appointed justices. “I think that more substantial change would be putting in term limits,” Mark from Washington, D.C., said. “The size would allow for the next several presidents to appoint more people. I don’t know that it changes the political bent of the current situation, whereas a term limits might be more effective.” Other Democratic proposals would impose enforceable ethics standards and require greater transparency surrounding the court’s emergency rulings, often referred to as its “shadow docket.” Republicans argue Democrats’ proposals to overhaul the Supreme Court are a reaction to the party’s anger at rulings not being in their favor. LIBERAL JUSTICE HAMMERS SUPREME COURT FOR FAST-TRACKING EMERGENCY DOCKET CASES House Republicans sought to permanently cap the court at nine justices, casting their proposed constitutional amendment to reject Democratic efforts to expand the court. It failed to secure the required two-thirds majority needed to pass the House. Amending the Constitution would then also require a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate and then ratification by three-fourths of the states. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court but does not specify how many justices should serve on it, leaving Congress with the authority to determine its size. Congress initially established six seats under the Judiciary Act of 1789. The court’s size changed several times throughout the 19th century, reaching as many as 10 justices before Congress established the current nine-justice structure in 1869.
Senate Republican settles six-year-old campaign bill after being called out on social media
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., paid a six-year-old campaign bill after a bakery owner called him out on social media for allegedly failing to pay for cookies and other treats ordered for a 2020 election watch party. Holly Thomas, a bakery founder, said in an Oct. 8 Facebook post that she would never vote for Marshall because his campaign had failed to pay a $678.75 bill despite her repeated attempts to collect the money. Thomas shared an image of the invoice and a photo that appeared to show custom cookies made for Marshall’s campaign. “Do you know why I will never vote for Roger Marshall? Because six years ago, when I was a brand-new small business owner, his campaign ordered cookies and treats from my bakery for his primary election watch party. And I never got paid. For nearly a year, I made repeated attempts to collect payment, reaching out by phone and email. I never received a return phone call, and the invoice was never paid,” Thomas wrote in the post. SLEEPER SENATE RACE EMERGES AS UNEXPECTED HEADACHE FOR REPUBLICANS AHEAD OF MIDTERMS “Not only was I just starting out, but we were also in the middle of COVID, when small businesses everywhere were struggling just to keep their doors open. Every single dollar mattered. Those cookies and treats cost money to make, employees’ time to prepare, and resources that my little business couldn’t afford to give away,” she explained. “Six years later, I haven’t forgotten. This isn’t about political parties or policy disagreements. It’s about my personal experience as a small business owner and the importance of honoring financial commitments. That experience is why Roger Marshall will never get my vote,” Thomas concluded. Marshall — who had been serving in the U.S. House of Representatives when he won election to the U.S. Senate in 2020 — addressed the issue on Oct. 10, sharing a screenshot showing a $1,300 payment to the establishment. GOP SENATOR ALLEGES SCHUMER BEHIND ‘HIT JOB’ REPORT ON FORMER PATIENTS “As some folks may have seen, there was a post on social media regarding an unpaid 2020 cookie bill. We have absolutely no idea how this happened, but rest assured as soon as it became known to us, we immediately attempted to contact the business in order to apologize, and we have repaid the bill from 2020, double,” Marshall’s post on X noted. POWERFUL UNION LEADER BACKS REPUBLICAN IN KEY SENATE SHOWDOWN Thomas confirmed that the bill had been paid. “But I can officially confirm that Roger Marshall has paid his bill! Better late than never, right? Six years later, I guess we can finally mark that invoice PAID!” she wrote in part of a Facebook post. “Thank you all for the overwhelming support! Now, back to doing what I do best!” Marshall is seeking re-election this year.
EXCLUSIVE: Inside LA’s homeless hellscape — unlikely critics blast Dems as GOP hopeful tours Skid Row
LOS ANGELES — Surrounded by sprawling homeless encampments, drug use and trash-strewn sidewalks in the heart of Los Angeles’ Skid Row, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton blasted California’s homelessness crisis as a “political scandal,” accusing Democratic leaders of spending billions in taxpayer dollars while allowing the streets to deteriorate. “‘The homelessness crisis,’ as if it’s some kind of natural disaster that can’t be helped,” Hilton told Fox News Digital, referring to how politicians and others describe the conditions as he surveyed the sprawling encampments. “No, it is not a crisis. It’s actually a scandal. It’s a political scandal because the people in charge, they’ve caused this with their policies.” Skid Row, the epicenter of California’s homelessness crisis, is facing renewed scrutiny after a sweeping federal drug raid Thursday. The crackdown came as voting gets underway in the Nov. 3 governor’s race, with Hilton challenging Democrat Xavier Becerra in a contest where homelessness and billions in taxpayer spending have emerged, yet again, as key campaign issues. HOUSING FIRST IS A DISASTER. I SAW SACRAMENTO’S HOMELESS CHAOS FIRSTHAND Fox News Digital observed sprawling homeless encampments, Narcan distribution points, human feces on sidewalks and piles of ash from what people in the neighborhood said were fires lit earlier that morning to keep warm. Hilton accused years of Democratic leadership of failing to solve California’s homelessness problem despite billions in taxpayer spending, while taking aim at government-funded nonprofits and developers he claims have financially benefited from the crisis. “The real estate developers, and it’s a real crony game now, which I’ve been told about many times,” he continued. “We’ve got a small number of real estate developers who are in on this, and they get all the contracts to build these apartment units for people that don’t help them at all, because the other part of it isn’t being done in terms of drug addiction or whatever.” TAXPAYER-FUNDED ‘METH MANSION’ UNDER FIRE AS CRIME CONCERNS MOUNT AROUND HOMELESS CAMPUS “The point about these nonprofits is that they’re part of this philosophy, the ideology of harm reduction, all the things we’ve talked about, which means that they are not actually trying to solve the problem,” Hilton said. “Because if they solve the problem, they don’t get paid anymore. So they have an incentive to keep it going.” In September, federal prosecutors charged the founder of a Los Angeles-area homelessness nonprofit with wire fraud, alleging he misused taxpayer funds, including nearly $50,000 for a trip to Tahiti, after receiving more than $118 million in public funding through government contracts. Federal and local authorities, including the FBI, DEA and LAPD, arrested 23 of 28 defendants charged in a sweeping drug trafficking investigation Thursday, targeting alleged gang-affiliated dealers and independent operators accused of selling fentanyl, methamphetamine and other drugs in and around Skid Row. Hilton argued that addressing homelessness begins with enforcing existing laws and removing encampments from California’s streets. KAREN BASS GRILLED OVER BROKEN HOMELESSNESS PROMISE, BLAMES BUREAUCRACY FOR SLOWED PROGRESS “My plan is very simple. How we get clean streets in California. Number one, enforce the law, get people off the streets,” he said. “Letting people live like this, and not just the people who live like this, but all the people who aren’t living like this who have to experience this every single day. The collapse of civilized life in their city,” Hilton said. “It’s the opposite, it’s cruel.” As Hilton walked through Skid Row with Fox News Digital, one woman living on the streets offered a candid admission about her drug use. LA REAL ESTATE VET COMES AT MAYOR BASS WITH RECEIPTS OVER DAMNING HOMELESSNESS REPORT: ‘SHE DOESN’T GET IT’ “I like being on drugs, but if I have to quit, then I most definitely will,” she told Hilton when he asked whether she wanted to stop using drugs. The woman, who said she had been living on Skid Row for five years, described moving to Los Angeles from Syracuse, New York, in part because she had heard about California’s methadone clinics. She also said a former boyfriend had planned to find housing. “I heard about the methadone clinics,” she explained, saying she wanted access to methadone treatment. Despite her admission about drug use, the woman said she was considering entering a treatment program in Tarzana, where she had heard patients could stay for a year or longer and receive methadone twice a day. STEVE HILTON LAUNCHES AD MOCKING XAVIER BECERRA’S ’36 YEARS’ AS A CAREER POLITICIAN IN CALIFORNIA GOV RACE Venus, a Skid Row volunteer who helps distribute food, blasted Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass over the handling of homelessness, even as Bass joined local law enforcement officials Thursday to announce the results of a sweeping drug crackdown in the neighborhood. “We all loved her from the beginning, but she lied about the homeless,” Venus said, pointing to the conditions surrounding her on Skid Row. “What is going on, Mayor Bass? We voted for you.” Venus later added, “She didn’t do her job,” and said Bass’ pledge was “getting rid of the homeless. She never did nothing. Nothing, nothing at all. Shame on her.” Hilton also took aim at his Democratic opponent, Becerra, accusing the longtime politician of taking California voters for granted while failing to offer solutions to the state’s mounting problems. “If you can’t be bothered to earn people’s vote, then you don’t deserve people’s votes. He’s not campaigning. He’s backing out of every single debate. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s complete contempt for the voters and for California,” said Hilton. Hilton, a former Fox News host, argued that Californians are growing fed up with years of Democratic leadership, pointing to homelessness, high taxes and the soaring cost of living as reasons voters may be ready for a change. “I know everyone says, well, it’s California, Republican can’t win. I don’t know. I think people are sick of all this,” Hilton said. “And they’re sick of Becerra just taking them for granted, and I think we
Blue-state governor’s race defies expectations as Republican closes in: Power Rankings
Republicans are gaining ground in blue-leaning Oregon, where Fox News Power Rankings have shifted the governor’s race toward the GOP as Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek faces a competitive rematch with Republican Christine Drazan. The shift from Likely Democrat to Lean Democrat reflects a competitive political environment in Oregon, where concerns over homelessness, housing, taxes, schools and the cost of living have created an opening for Republicans to end a more than four-decade losing streak in gubernatorial elections. Republicans are gaining ground in Oregon even as they face a rough national political environment marked by high gas and diesel prices, what polls show is an unpopular war in Iran and President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings. “This is something historic we’re trying to pull off,” Drazan said in a Fox News Digital interview. “It’s been a long time, and we’re due we win.” CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS Then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried Oregon by 14 points in the 2024 presidential election, and Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden won his 2022 re-election by 15 points. But gubernatorial showdowns in the northwestern state have traditionally been much closer contests. Drazan, a former GOP leader in the Oregon House, lost to Kotek by less than four points in 2022. After her defeat, she won a state House election in 2024 and returned to the legislature, serving again as minority leader before being appointed last year to the state Senate. “It’s good to stay in the fight. I think Oregonians … recognized that I didn’t leave, I didn’t move to a different state, I didn’t go hide. I got engaged again, went back into the legislature to serve my community,” Drazan emphasized. “I think that that matters to people, that I am committed long-term to our state.” The latest public opinion polls indicate a margin of error race in the Kotek-Drazan rematch. “People are starting to get to know me a little bit more and my leadership, and they’re taking a closer look at whether or not Oregon is uniquely bad right now. It’s not a national issue, it’s here at home,” Drazan said. “We’re struggling right now locally. So, that’s making this race tight.” While Drazan is trying to keep her focus on Oregon and local issues, the Kotek campaign is aiming to anchor the GOP challenger to Trump, who is very unpopular in the state. DEMOCRATS THINK A BLUE WAVE IS FORMER – HERE ARE THREE FACTORS THAT COULD STOP IT Kotek communications director Federico Araujo told Fox News Digital, “There are still many undecided voters ahead of November. But when the choice is clear in an election, they always show up. And the choice couldn’t be any clearer in this race: Christine Drazan is ready to open the door to Trump’s agenda and Governor Kotek is fighting every day to protect Oregonians from federal overreach and harm.” But Drazan said that “Oregon needs change. Oregon needs to be done with one approach to the world. Single-party control has not been good for us in my home state. And we need that balance.” “We need people to be at the table that have been ignored in the past to be able to turn our economy around, frankly, and turn our schools around and serve the people that are facing addiction and slowly dying on our streets. Those are significant challenges, and Tina Kotek doesn’t have the answers to solve them,” she charged. Four years ago, Drazan received plenty of support from national Republicans as her party benefited from a more favorable political environment. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB This time around, national Republicans are facing stiff headwinds as they work to hang on to their fragile congressional majorities and governors’ offices across the country. But the Drazan campaign says it’s now landing financial support from the Republican Governors Association. “I am grateful to have the Republican Governors Association as a partner in this race. They are investing in this race now,” Drazan said. But she noted “the sitting governor has a fundraising advantage that’s significant today,” and added, “I could always use more support.” Democratic Governors Association spokesperson Johanna Warshaw spotlighted the competitive nature of the Oregon gubernatorial showdowns, but told Fox News Digital, “Governor Kotek has the advantage, and we’re confident she’ll win. “Clearly, the RGA agrees as they’re leaving Christine Drazan’s broke campaign out to dry,” Warshaw claimed. Drazan highlighted that she’s “actively fundraising all the time and encouraging folks to get involved in this race right now. We have no limits in Oregon, and that allows me to be able to compete head to head.” And pointing to her campaign, she said, “I want to achieve something extraordinary.”
Trump and Rubio weigh firing Kimberly Guilfoyle as misconduct and donor bailout allegations mount
U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle may soon be fired amid reports she sought a six-figure credit card bailout from a Trump donor while offering access to administration officials, adding to mounting allegations over her conduct in Athens. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s reported conduct and are weighing her removal, The Associated Press reported Sunday, citing a senior U.S. official. The official told the AP that a decision on what action to take would likely come this week after Monday’s Columbus Day holiday. No departure has been confirmed. Guilfoyle, onetime fiancée of Donald Trump Jr., came under scrutiny this week after The Wall Street Journal reported that she asked Trump donor Eric Deters to pay off a $100,000 American Express bill shortly before her Senate confirmation hearing. MARCO RUBIO ANNOUNCES SWEEPING FINANCIAL SANCTIONS AGAINST THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT According to messages reviewed by the Journal, Guilfoyle urged Deters to wire the money directly to American Express, saying the transaction would not leave a paper trail, while offering to help him gain access to senior Trump administration officials. Deters said he never made the payment. Guilfoyle’s attorney, Jesse Binnall, disputed the authenticity of the messages. The allegations followed an earlier Journal investigation into Guilfoyle’s conduct in Greece, including claims that she promoted the interests of Greek construction and energy company Aktor Group and allowed its registered lobbyist, Christos Marafatsos, to accompany her to private diplomatic meetings with senior officials. FORMER TRUMP CABINET OFFICIAL HAD ‘INAPPROPRIATELY CLOSE’ RELATIONSHIP WITH BODYGUARD, IG FINDS The Journal also reported that Guilfoyle suggested at a dinner with Greek officials that the U.S. would undermine their government, citing political developments in Romania. Greece’s foreign minister has since said there was no need to summon Guilfoyle for an explanation because the country’s energy minister denied that any threat had been made. Separately, the State Department‘s Office of Inspector General opened an investigation into allegations involving Guilfoyle’s treatment of embassy employees, private travel, acceptance of gifts and relationships with business interests, according to a report from the Daily Mail. 3 SECRET SERVICE OFFICIALS UNDER INTERNAL INVESTIGATION FOR POTENTIAL MISCONDUCT Sources described a hostile workplace in which Guilfoyle allegedly threatened to fire employees. They also claim that she demoted members of her security detail over minor incidents, including an officer who reportedly failed to answer a 4 a.m. request for ice while she was vacationing in Mykonos. The inspector general’s office declined to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. Binnall told the Daily Mail that “any implication of wrongdoing by the Ambassador is unsupported.” The allegations have drawn scrutiny from congressional Democrats, including Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., who have called for a review of Guilfoyle’s conduct. Meeks urged her removal if the allegations were substantiated. Vice President JD Vance addressed the controversy Friday, cautioning against rushing to judgment while acknowledging that misconduct should carry consequences. OHIO BAKERY WORKERS RECOUNT SURPRISE JD VANCE ENCOUNTER THAT TOOK AN UNEXPECTED TURN “Let’s actually see what the facts are. Let’s see what the truth is,” Vance told reporters in Ohio. “And obviously, if there was something bad that happened, then people have to suffer consequences for it.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who visited Greece this week and delivered remarks with the backdrop of Acropolis, declined to address the allegations directly. SEC MARCO RUBIO: THE WEST FORGOT WHAT MADE IT GREAT. WE MUST REDISCOVER OUR ROOTS BEFORE WE LOSE THEM “You guys walk around thinking that because some source told you something and you reported it, it’s the gospel. It’s not the gospel,” Rubio told reporters Thursday. Rubio had defended Guilfoyle’s performance a day earlier, saying, “Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.” FOUR AMERICAN TOURISTS AMONG 6 KILLED AFTER EXPLOSION LEVELS BUILDING NEAR ATHENS’ ACROPOLIS Trump nominated Guilfoyle to the diplomatic post in December 2024. A former California prosecutor and Fox News Channel personality, she previously served as a prominent surrogate and fundraiser for the president. DONALD TRUMP JR AND BETTINA ANDERSON CELEBRATE PRIVATE WEDDING IN BAHAMAS, SHARE SWEET PERSONAL PHOTO Guilfoyle was almost Trump’s daughter-in-law. She was engaged to Don Jr. for four years, but the two publicly split in Dec. 2024 — the same month the president nominated her to be the ambassador to Greece. The president’s eldest son married Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson in May of this year. She was also previously married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, from 2001 to 2006, when he was serving as mayor of San Francisco.
Quiet part out loud: Anti-Israel mobs want one state called ‘Palestine,’ erasing Israel
WASHINGTON, D.C. — This weekend, millions of anti-Israel activists marched through the streets of cities in coordinated actions from America’s capital to London, Paris, Madrid and Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia, chanting the familiar refrains of “Free, free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” But for the first time, communicated frankly in exclusive interviews with Fox News Digital, three anti-Israel leaders acknowledged the goal: one state called “Palestine” encompassing modern-day Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, with a Palestinian “right of return” to the new country and equal political, voting and citizenship rights for Palestinians alongside Jews currently living in Israel. Most significantly, in the political vision they described, Israel would legally cease to exist as a separate Jewish nation-state and Jews would be quickly overwhelmed demographically. INSIDE THE PROTEST PLAYBOOK TO VILIFY ISRAEL ON ‘GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION’ The current population of Israel is about 10 million, including about 7.8 million Jews, 2 million Palestinian Arabs (including Palestinians and most of them Muslim), and 200,000 people from other communities. There are another estimated 10.2 million Jews worldwide. There are about 5.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and about 8 million Palestinians in the diaspora, totaling about 13.5 million. The candor of the anti-Israel leaders lays bare the political conclusion of an argument that activists have spent years advancing on the streets, through sympathetic media outlets and in legal forums: that Israel is a “settler colonial” state practicing “apartheid” and “genocide,” and therefore should not continue to exist in its current form as a Jewish state. Israeli leaders have fiercely rejected those allegations, disputing accusations of “genocide” and “apartheid” and maintaining that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people with equal civil and political rights for citizens that include Jews, Christians and Muslims. Advocates for Israel note that the nation’s critics rarely apply the same historical lens of human-rights analysis to Arab and Muslim-majority states, many of which emerged from the collapse of empires, wars and population upheavals that displaced millions, including Jews expelled from their countries, today often restricting political, religious and minority rights. NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AWARDED TO UN JURIST WHO ACCUSED ISRAEL OF COMMITTING GENOCIDE IN GAZA In Chicago, Hatem Abudayyeh, the Palestinian-American founder of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network and a Muslim, said the new nation would be “one democratic secular state of Palestine.” Jewish Israeli-born community leader Miko Peled, founder of the Palestine House in Washington, D.C., said “the proper name would be Palestine.” And Maryland congressional candidate Sam Husseini, a Palestinian-American Christian, floated another name for the vision of the one state: “1948,” marking the year Israel declared independence and Palestinians commemorate as the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, but he said even Israeli Jews would one day accept another name: “Palestine.” Their answers provide a striking interpretation from inside a movement where activists have traditionally danced around their demands with euphemisms about “liberation” and media outlets have obscured their answers even when they have been transparent. On Washington, D.C.’s First Avenue SE, Fox News Digital asked Olivia DiNucci, local coordinator for CodePink, a far-left nonprofit, what her group sees as a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In her work for CodePink, DiNucci disrupts hearings, restaurant meals and town halls to shout at lawmakers and policymakers who support the state of Israel. ‘TROJAN HORSES’ IN AMERICA: CONGRESS PROBES INFLUENCE NETWORKS TIED TO CHINA, IRAN AND CUBA “Palestinians in Palestine will decide, DiNucci said. Asked if “Palestine” includes modern day Israel, she spun around and walked away. Later, she posted a message on social media, saying she was asked “gotcha questions.” This weekend, protesters signaled their position with certainty, explicitly rejecting the two-state solution that has dominated international diplomacy for decades. In New York City, the Party for Socialism and Liberation circulated video of protesters marching through the streets chanting: “1-2-3-4. Occupation no more. 5-6-7-8. Israel is a terrorist state.” ISRAEL, JEWS TARGETED WORLDWIDE AS WELL-FUNDED LEFTIST, ISLAMIST GROUPS JOIN FOR ‘NAKBA 78’ PROTESTS Then came the point: “We don’t want no two state!” In London, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign promoted a 15-second video of a woman with a megaphone shouting: “There is only one state!” “Palestine, ’48!” protesters responded. “Say it loud, say it clear!” she continued. “Palestine, you make us proud!” Back in Washington, D.C., protesters carried signs declaring, “LAND YOU HAVE 2 KILL FOR IS NOT YOURS,” a message that challenged Israel’s claim to the land itself, while a banner proclaiming, “THE FIGHT FOR LIBERATION IS OURS,” framed the struggle as one for the territory. The demonstrators yesterday didn’t address the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but many have called them justified. ANTI-ISRAEL GROUPS RALLY ACROSS US ON OCTOBER 7 ANNIVERSARY, CHANTING ‘LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA’ The one-state demand is being amplified within a powerful protest infrastructure. The broader “red-green” alliance brings socialist and communist groups together on the streets with Palestinian and Muslim activist organizations, while organizations including the Democratic Socialists of America and nonprofits in the network funded by Neville Roy Singham, an American-born tech tycoon living in Shanghai, help organize, promote and amplify anti-Israel demonstrations. Singham, has poured $278 million into a pro-communist network, including CodePink, the People’s Forum, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, BreakThrough News and the ANSWER Coalition, which have become major organizing, media and logistical hubs for the protest movement. The result is a powerful infrastructure amplifying slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “from the river to the sea,” even when the organizations and activists doing the amplifying don’t themselves explicitly spell out the one-state political vision described to Fox News Digital. From Chicago, Abudayyeh told Fox News Digital that the U.S. Palestinian Community Network advocates for one democratic state across the territory that today encompasses Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. “Our points of unity, from the very beginning of our existence, included one democratic secular state of Palestine,” he said. “And for decades and decades, we’ve been saying that…the only true solution that
Hurricane Isaias’ devastating aftermath comes into focus in striking images
Communities are beginning to assess the damage left behind by a powerful hurricane that tore through the region, leaving homes damaged, roads flooded and neighborhoods littered with debris. Photos from some of the hardest-hit areas show the scale of the destruction as residents and emergency crews begin the long process of cleaning up and rebuilding. HOW THE VIOLENT CATEGORY 2 STORM UNFOLDED ACROSS FLORIDA AND GULF COAST Isaias slammed into the Florida Panhandle near Destin on Friday, Oct. 9, as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, bringing destructive winds, dangerous storm surge and widespread flooding. The hurricane tore roofs from buildings, uprooted trees and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers across Florida and Alabama before pushing inland. STUNNING FOOTAGE CAPTURES HURRICANE ISAIAS FROM INSIDE THE STORM’S EYE Isaias marked the first hurricane to make landfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast since Hurricane Milton battered Florida in October 2024, nearly two years earlier. The storm also became the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season, ending an unusually quiet stretch that saw no hurricanes develop until October. DESANTIS DEPLOYS AN ARMY TO CLEAR ROADS, RESTORE POWER AFTER ISAIAS’ LANDFALL As Isaias moved inland and weakened, the full extent of the hurricane’s destruction began to emerge. Stunning images from across the Gulf Coast capture what the powerful storm left behind.
Rescue expert warns FlyDubai hijacking attempt shows US, allies are ‘playing checkers’ against terror threat
The FlyDubai attempted hijacking shows the U.S. and its allies are still using outdated counterterrorism assumptions against increasingly sophisticated enemies, a U.S. rescue expert and 9/11 first responder warns. “They’re good at chess,” Bryan Stern, chairman and CEO of Grey Bull Rescue, told Fox News Digital on Monday, saying the radical ideology behind the FlyDubai attack is a ringing “bell” for global aviation security and Western counterterrorism strategy. “And we’re, if we’re lucky, playing checkers – if we’re lucky – and I would argue we’re not even playing checkers that well.” TERROR CELLS INSIDE FOREIGN AIRLINES ‘CERTAINLY A POSSIBILITY,’ RETIRED PILOT WARNS Stern, whose global nonprofit conducts evacuations from war zones and hostage situations, said the thwarted FlyDubai attack by “an angry, radicalized, Sunni bad guy” is showing just how far behind our enemies we are in this post-9/11 world. “They understand us significantly more than we understand them,” Stern, who has been “hunting the bad guys” for 30 years, said. Stern said the U.S. has to understand the “asymmetric warfare” as well as the increasingly sophisticated enemy does. “The reason why a football coach watches game tapes is not to watch his own team play, it’s to watch the bad guys play,” he said. “We gotta start watching some game tapes.” AMERICA BUILT A FORTRESS AFTER 9/11. THEN THE THREAT STARTED HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT Stern is intimately in tune with the playbook on the ground in war zones, including the Middle East and Iran. “We conduct these operations in these places still to this very day,” he said. “We’re actually on the ground, meaning I know people in Hezbollah, I know people in the Taliban. I know people in ISIS. I know people in ISIS-K. I’ve met with radical jihadi weirdos and whack jobs personally.” United Arab Emirates investigators have described the incident aboard FlyDubai flight FZ1073 as an attempted terror attack after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and tried to hijack the plane, which was carrying more than 170 passengers and crew, most of them Israelis. Australian authorities have also said a counterterrorism unit is investigating the co-pilot’s links to Australia. INTEL CHIEF WARNS OF ‘EVOLVING’ THREATS AS TERROR GROUPS NOW ‘RECRUIT THEIR AGENTS ONLINE’ “The bad guys are completely not afraid. They’re completely emboldened. They have got the whole world to hate Israel, the whole world to hate us,” he said. “It’s a tough problem.” Since the incident, there has been renewed vigilance in aviation and foreign airline security. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his national security council to review security procedures for foreign civil aviation to Israel, while Vice President JD Vance said Monday that flight security procedures are also under review in the U.S. IRAN COULD MOVE SHADOW WAR IN A DANGEROUS DIRECTION, EXPERTS WARN ON BACK OF TWO POSSIBLE TERROR ATTACKS “I was asked years ago when I was still with the government,” Stern said. “A team was put together and the question before the court was, if you were al-Qaeda, what would you do?” “What I came up with was … I would get 19 hijackers, and I would hijack four airplanes, and I would fly them into buildings in America, and then issue a communique that said: 20 years of war, you are no safer today than you were before – that for TSA, and Homeland Security, and Iraq, and Afghanistan and all the different things, you are actually no safer, America, today than you were before,” he said. “We’re seeing, sadly,” he lamented, “that academic hypothetical situation has now become a reality, or certainly a possibility.” Despite President Donald Trump and the War Department’s best efforts to rid the world of terrorist groups – and Iran of nuclear weapons aspirations – “you can’t bomb your way into peace,” Stern claimed. ‘CRAZY’ FLYDUBAI LANDING EXPLAINED BY ISRAELI PILOT, WHO OFFERS STEPS TO PREVENT FUTURE CRISES “They have been in holy war against us,” he added. “We have now engaged in a holy war against them.” “On Ramadan, the holiest month of the year in Islam, on the first day, which is the holiest day, we detonated the leader of the Shia faith, the Ayatollah,” he said, likening it to “if somebody assassinated the pope on Easter Sunday while he’s giving mass at the Vatican.” Stern explained that rooting out ideological terror in the U.S. is more complex than ever, because even if the border is not open any longer under Trump, the terrorist networks might be infiltrating America with U.S. passport holders – making them tough to investigate, if not impossible to spot before an attack. NETANYAHU PRAISES HEROIC BYSTANDER IN BLOODY COCKPIT ATTACK FOR PREVENTING ‘ANOTHER 9/11’ Stern likened it to the release of the suspects in the RAF Fairford investigation – potential terrorist passport holders walking free. “Until I actually squeeze the triggers, I haven’t committed a crime yet,” he said. “Now give me an airplane.” “That’s the problem.” Stern noted that the nature of America’s adversaries in the current conflict is unlike what the U.S. faced in places like Afghanistan. “We need to remember we are very used to shooting people like the Taliban who don’t know what plumbing is – who literally for years lived in caves until we showed up and gave them stuff,” he continued. “The bad guys that we’re talking about today are extremely sophisticated. They are extremely resourced, extremely resourceful. They’re very intelligent, they’re very smart, and they’re very good at what they do.” IRAN UNDER SCRUTINY AFTER PLOT FOILED NEAR UK BASE USED BY US MILITARY “The Persian Empire is the only empire of empires who have been all the way on top and all the way defeated at the bottom – six times,” he said. “They’re looking at us going, you’re 250 years old. How adorable. You’re cute, America.” Stern predicted that some day even 9/11 — which he survived as a first responder — is ultimately going to be dwarfed. “What will happen, probably is we’ll get
WATCH: CDC director discusses US government response to Russian plague concerns: ‘We are protected’
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is coordinating with federal agencies to monitor travelers entering the United States from Siberia amid concerns about a possible pneumonic plague outbreak in Russia, the agency’s director revealed Wednesday. CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz said the Trump administration is working across multiple agencies to identify travelers arriving from the region following the mysterious death of a Russian laboratory worker, while emphasizing that the risk to Americans remains minimal. “We are very confident that the threat to the United States is extremely low,” Schwartz said during a Wall Street Journal health forum Wednesday. MOTHER OF DEAD RUSSIAN ANTI-PLAGUE INSTITUTE WORKER: ‘I KNOW THE TRUTH’ The concerns stem from the Oct. 2 death of Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia, whose death has fueled speculation about a possible pneumonic plague infection. Russian authorities have maintained that Shipilova died from pneumonia of unknown origin and have not confirmed that she was infected with Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes pneumonic plague. Schwartz said the CDC is working with the departments of Homeland Security, State and War, among other federal agencies, to track potential arrivals from the region. “There are about 200 flights that come into the United States from Siberia, that region,” Schwartz said, adding that those flights typically arrive at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. “We have a port health station set up in JFK so that we can do appropriate surveillance and screening if anyone from that area comes into the United States,” she continued. The CDC director stressed that while pneumonic plague is a serious bacterial infection capable of spreading between people through respiratory droplets, early detection and treatment can prevent deaths. TRUMP RESPONDS TO CONCERNS OVER SUSPECTED PLAGUE CASE IN RUSSIA, SAYING US ‘WILLING TO HELP’ “The one good thing, if I could say there’s a good thing, is that it’s a treatable, highly treatable bacterial disease with common antibiotics that most physicians within the United States can utilize,” Schwartz said. The illness is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and is considered the most serious form of plague, according to the CDC. Symptoms can include fever, chest pain, coughing and rapidly developing pneumonia. Without prompt antibiotic treatment, the infection can be fatal, the agency warns. The World Health Organization (WHO) has pressed Moscow for additional information about Shipilova’s death. Russian authorities placed approximately 200 people who had contact with the deceased laboratory worker under quarantine, according to Euronews. On Thursday, Irkutsk Gov. Igor Kobzev said preventive measures had been completed and roughly 5,000 laboratory tests had detected no pathogens, according to the Associated Press. RUSSIAN RESEARCHER’S MYSTERY DEATH COULD BE ‘FAR WORSE’ THAN THE PLAGUE, FORMER SENIOR TRUMP OFFICIAL WARNS However, Russian officials have not publicly identified the pathogen responsible for Shipilova’s pneumonia or definitively ruled out pneumonic plague as the cause of her death, according to The Associated Press. Asked whether Moscow was being sufficiently transparent with American authorities, Schwartz indicated that the administration was still seeking answers. “We are still having those conversations about what exactly happened in Siberia,” she said, adding that U.S. officials were working with information about an unconfirmed case of pneumonic plague.
Trump announces immediate energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine
President Donald Trump announced an immediate energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, saying both countries have agreed to halt attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure after weeks of escalating tensions over strikes on oil refineries and power plants. “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The announcement comes as Trump has intensified pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop targeting Russian oil refineries, arguing that the attacks have disrupted global diesel supplies and contributed to higher fuel prices for American consumers. The issue has become increasingly urgent as diesel prices weigh on American farmers, truckers and businesses that rely on the fuel to transport goods and operate heavy equipment. RECORD GAS PRICES SQUEEZE AMERICANS AS MIDTERMS LOOM AND WAR IN UKRAINE AND IRAN WAGES ON Trump has repeatedly criticized Ukraine’s strikes on Russian energy facilities, even as Kyiv maintains that targeting Moscow’s oil industry is a legitimate strategy to weaken Russia’s ability to finance its war. The announcement follows a contentious week in U.S.-Ukraine relations after Trump struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow Russian diesel exports to reach American and global markets. Under the agreement announced Friday, Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, with additional shipments expected in November and beyond. The Treasury Department also authorized temporary sanctions relief to facilitate Russian diesel supplies. Trump argued that the agreement would help bring down fuel prices, while Zelenskyy criticized the decision as a concession to Moscow that could provide additional revenue for Russia’s war effort. The dispute escalated Saturday when Trump suggested Ukraine should replace Zelenskyy with a leader more willing to negotiate an end to the war. “I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal,” Trump told reporters. ‘OUR POSITION IS CLEAR:’ ZELENSKYY AND EU DISMISS CEDING UKRAINIAN LAND TO RUSSIA Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has maintained that Ukraine would be willing to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries if Moscow agreed to stop targeting Ukrainian power plants and other critical infrastructure. The two countries have increasingly targeted each other’s energy systems throughout the war, although the consequences have differed. Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid have left civilians facing electricity disruptions and damaged infrastructure needed to heat homes and sustain businesses. Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, meanwhile, have disrupted fuel production and exports, putting additional pressure on global energy markets. The Trump administration has spent weeks attempting to negotiate a reciprocal halt to energy attacks as part of broader diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the war. In September, Trump similarly announced that both countries had agreed to an energy ceasefire, although Moscow did not publicly confirm the agreement and attacks continued. The latest announcement raises the possibility of renewed diplomatic progress, but an energy ceasefire would not amount to a comprehensive agreement to end the fighting. It was not immediately clear how the agreement would be monitored or enforced. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News Digital reached out to the Ukrainian and Russian embassies in Washington, D.C., seeking confirmation of the ceasefire but did not immediately receive responses.