The Latest: Pentagon says firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter will be livestreamed
The Pentagon said Thursday the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution would be “public.” Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a shooting at the military base in 2009.
Hegseth, speaking to the conservative TV outlet Real America’s Voice News on Wednesday, said Hasan's execution will take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3.
Meanwhile, attorneys for three news organizations banished from the White House by the Trump administration are in court Thursday. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly is hearing arguments nearly three weeks after CNN, MS NOW and Politico were abruptly banned from White House grounds, with President Donald Trump decrying their “fake news.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is suspending tech giant Microsoft from a program to apply for green cards for workers who come to the U.S. to live and work using an H-1B visa. Vice President JD Vance accuses the company of fraud.
Here's the latest:
The congressman is following Trump’s lead blaming inflation on Biden administration policies, including spending measures that Ossoff supported as a senator.
Ossoff has repeatedly pushed Collins to justify his votes backing Trump’s tariffs.
Economists have affirmed that Trump’s tariffs have added to consumer inflation. Biden-era inflation was fueled by supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic but economists said some of Biden’s spending recovery measures was an additional variable.
Both Georgia candidates sidestepped pointed questions about votes they’ve cast that have contributed to rising national debt when their respective parties controlled Congress.
Collins justified his support for tax cuts that have added to deficits and debts by saying they keep more money “in people’s pockets.”
Ossoff highlighted infrastructure projects financed by a large spending package he supported under President Joe Biden. He used the questions about using taxpayer money to highlight an unresolved House ethics investigation into whether Collins paid a former aide’s girlfriend with congressional money for a job she did not do. Collins denied wrongdoing.
The Democrat used his opening statement to say Collins, a two-term congressman, has “brought dishonor to our state” with “his widely documented ties to white nationalists.”
He added that Collins has “sold out” Georgians with a “pathetic, childlike devotion to Donald Trump.”
Collins’ son-in-law has come under scrutiny for social media posts echoing white nationalist views, and the congressman has been a staunch Trump ally who got the president’s endorsement during the Republican primary.
Collins did not answer Ossoff’s accusations, instead repeating his argument that the senator is “a radical” and an “extremist who’s voted for men to go into girl’s sports.”
The Democratic incumbent and Republican challenger are squaring off in the first of two debates ahead of Election Day.
The debate is a rare opportunity for Collins, 59, to change the dynamics of the race. Ossoff, 39, began the election cycle viewed as the most vulnerable Democratic senator but he’s vastly outraised Collins, leaving the Trump ally to depend on outside money that still hasn’t matched Ossoff’s advertising deluge.
For Ossoff, it’s an opportunity to solidify his status as the once-unexpected favorite.
Kelly joined Sand in Des Moines, Iowa, to meet with teachers and encourage them to do all they can to get him elected.
Like Kelly, Sand would likely govern with a Republican Statehouse if he wins his November race against Republican Zach Lahn.
“None of it happened because one party got their way,” Kelly said of her state’s rebalancing of its budget after her predecessor’s tax cuts led to shortfalls. “I have to be incredibly clever to get things done.”
Kelly’s visit follows a recently released video of her talking about her “constituent” Lahn. Sand has criticized Lahn for seeking to lead Iowa when he has commitments that draw him to Kansas, where he lived before returning to Iowa. Lahn and his wife both have children from former marriages who do not live in Iowa all of the time.
In a debate this week, Lahn chastised Sand for lying about where Lahn presently lives.
Hasan’s would be the first military execution since 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was executed by hanging.
Hasan was an Army psychiatrist who held the rank of major when he walked into a medical building where soldiers were were waiting in long lines to receive immunizations and medical clearance for deployment.
He shouted “Allahu akbar” — Arabic for “God is great!” — and opened fire with a laser-sighted handgun.
During his trial it was revealed that Hasan spent weeks planning the deadly attack.
Hasan said it was an effort to stop them from going to Afghanistan and killing his fellow Muslims. A military judge barred him from presenting that as a defense during his trial. Hasan made almost no effort to defend himself in court, telling jurors when he acted as his own counsel that evidence would show he was the shooter and describing himself as a soldier who had “switched sides.”
The president at times used the possibility of protesters being killed by the Iranian government as a possible rationale for military action.
Those warnings preceded his ultimate choice to attack Iran at the end of February over its ballistic missiles and the risk of it developing nuclear weapons.
The White House on Thursday immediately referred questions about the execution plans to the Pentagon.
When asked if Hasan had made any final requests or reached out to the Trump administration, Hegseth simply replied: “Don’t care. We’ll see him on December 3rd.”
Experts on military law said Hasan could choose to resist execution and file a habeas petition in civilian court, which could significantly delay the execution.
“It frankly might outlast the current administration, and who knows if the next one will have the same penchant for executions,” Eugene R. Fidell, a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School specializing in military law.
Elected officials in Illinois are pushing back against Trump’s decision to deny the state a major disaster declaration for August severe storms, flooding and tornadoes.
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin accused Trump of punishing Americans who did not vote for him, “much like a toddler throwing a tantrum,” in a joint statement with Gov. JB Pritzker and 10 Democratic House representatives.
Pritzker said “Trump should never play politics” with recovery. He vowed to appeal the decision.
Trump approved nine major disaster declarations Wednesday, but rejected requests from Illinois, Tennessee and West Virginia. Trump rejected two disaster requests from Illinois in 2025 as well.
A July AP analysis found Trump has granted far more disaster declarations to states that voted for him in 2024 than ones that did not, though his approvals Wednesday included Democrat-led states.
FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Pentagon says the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution would be “public.”
Hegseth, speaking to the conservative TV outlet Real America’s Voice News on Wednesday, said the execution of Hasan will take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3. Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a shooting at the military base in 2009.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Hegseth said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency informed states Thursday that it was rescinding elections-related requirements in its security grants after a district court judge ruled them unlawful last month.
Cities and counties in Ohio, Tennessee and Texas sued FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security over new requirements placed in the $1 billion Homeland Security Grant Program, which helps states and other jurisdictions afford counterterrorism measures like SWAT teams and bomb squads.
The requirements mandated that states verify citizenship of voters and election workers, make a plan to transition to hand-marked ballots, and conduct post-election audits, among other measures. FEMA would hold back 20% of the awarded grants until a state proved compliance.
The ruling was a blow to Trump administration efforts to steer elections. But if the court order was later vacated, FEMA’s notice said, the conditions and 20% holdback “will immediately become effective.”
Whitmer, who is term-limited and leaving office this January, joined Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed for an event in Grand Rapids ahead of his debate against Republican Mike Rogers.
Whitmer endorsed his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, during the primary. She told reporters after the event that she’s supported El-Sayed and the whole Democratic ticket since the primary ended.
“I like Abdul. I respect Abdul,” she said.
El-Sayed, who rode to a primary win with help from top progressive leaders, has campaigned more heavy ahead of the general election with establishment figures such as Whitmer and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
The USS Abraham Lincoln has returned home to San Diego Bay Thursday after supporting the Iran war during a record long deployment of 265 uninterrupted days at sea that included reports of deteriorating conditions among its crew.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew out to the carrier on Wednesday to give the crew the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor a unit can receive that is typically reserved for significant achievement in combat.
Hegseth pushed back against what he said were efforts to turn the “Lincoln into some sort of a symbol, a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission.”
The carrier drew national attention following reports of stress among the crew and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products, during its Iran war mission.
Families and loved ones of the crew arrived hours ahead of the carrier’s arrival Thursday, waiting in line to get on the naval base in Coronado near San Diego.
A Maine attorney has filed an ethics complaint against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins following a news report that the FBI investigated how much she knew about illegal campaign contributions that sent one of her donors to prison.
Valeria Adams, a Democrat, filed the complaint Wednesday with the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee.
“If she has done nothing wrong, then she should not shy away from scrutiny,” Adams, who unsuccessfully sought Democratic district attorney nomination in Maine’s Cumberland County earlier this year, said in a statement. “And if she has engaged in a bribery scheme as alleged, then her constituents have a right to know.”
The ProPublica report states that the FBI in 2024 planned to launch an investigation into Collins’ dealings with Navatek, a Hawaii defense contractor and donor to her campaign. The investigation, which focused on an alleged pay-to-play scheme, failed to commence after President Donald Trump took office after winning the election, according to ProPublica.
Collins has called the reporting “absolutely outrageous” and has denied the allegations.
Collins is seeking her sixth term against Democrat Troy Jackson. Democrats have targeted the seat, in a state that Trump lost in 2024, as the party tries to win control of the Senate.
A recurring character in the president’s Thursday ceremony honoring current tech titans: his uncle, John G. Trump.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has spoken several times about his uncle, an engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology whom the president praises for his smarts.
Trump noted that his uncle received the National Medal of Science from President Ronald Reagan, the same award that was being given out during Thursday’s event.
The event even played a video tribute to his uncle, and Trump received the National Medal of Science that John G. Trump originally received.
“Some scientists transform medicine. Some help win wars,” the video’s narrator said. “John G. Trump did both.”
There was no mention by the president of the visa fraud allegations that his administration leveled against Microsoft earlier Thursday.
Rather, Trump’s comments were pure adulation.
“He had the vision to make Microsoft an early leader in super intelligence,” said Trump, using his preferred term for artificial intelligence. He noted that for more than 30 years, Nadella has been a “key figure in the transformation of Microsoft.”
The president spoke in especially warm terms about Musk as he honored him during the program, calling the SpaceX founder “a national treasure” and saying to him, “We’re so proud of you.”
“Elon is our modern-day Thomas Edison. And Elon, I want to congratulate you. You my friend and all of that. But you are a very, very special guy,” Trump said.
In 2025, Trump and Musk’s once-close relationship q uickly unraveled and they exchanged public threats and insults before making up months later.
The president is participating in an event meant to honor top tech industry officials.
It includes Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, just hours after Vice President JD Vance announced that Microsoft was being suspended from a program that allows companies to apply for green cards for skilled foreign workers with H-1B visas.
The Trump administration on Thursday sanctioned 17 tankers it accuses the Iranian government of relying on to move billions of dollars worth of oil and gas to foreign markets. The U.S. Treasury actions are the latest push as part of Washington’s punishing economic campaign against Tehran.
“Treasury is starving the tyrannical regime in Tehran of the money it uses to wage war in the region, and we will continue exposing those who enable the regime’s oil sales,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press release.
The U.S. has alleged that the tankers are part of a shadow network helping to fund Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard and its armed proxies in the region.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, nominated to the bench by Trump, didn’t say how he intends to rule but described key government arguments as an “uphill climb” and a “tough lift” at this stage of the litigation. The judge also challenged a government attorney to specify the national security concerns that the administration claims are at stake.
“We’ve always been clear that it’s not just national security,” Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik said, arguing that false reporting can impact policy and adversely affect national security.
“He doesn’t mind negative press stories if he deserves them. He has problems with trafficking verifiable falsehoods,” Velchik said of Trump.
Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., an attorney for the media plaintiffs, said the government was continuing to discriminate against viewpoints and reporting it doesn’t like.
“He doesn’t like scrutiny of his policies, he doesn’t like the reporting, he wants more good press,” Boutrous Jr. said in court. That’s a content-based restriction on speech and a clear violation of the First Amendment, he said.
While stumping for Republicans this week, the president hinted that he was confident that an endgame to the war could come in the days before or after the election, while also suggesting that he remained open to resuming full-scale military operations against Iran.
But Trump in a social media post on Thursday said the U.S. “will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd.”
Attorneys for the three news organizations have told a federal judge the Trump administration must be prevented from barring their reporters from the White House, saying the ban is a classic example of “viewpoint discrimination” that’s punishing people for what they say.
The case, which has First Amendment implications, has been going on since Trump banned MS NOW, CNN and Politico from the White House grounds, saying he objected to their reporting.
Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., an attorney for the media plaintiffs, said the government was continuing to discriminate against viewpoints and reporting it doesn’t like. The government countered, as it has before, that what it called false reporting can impact policy and adversely affect national security.
The news organizations want longer-term relief until the entire case is resolved, and a temporary restraining order expires Thursday. The arguments were still going on at midday.
That’s according to a Congressional Research Service report updated this week.
The downed aircraft include what the military has publicly acknowledged as lost — like those destroyed as part of the rescue mission to recover two downed aviators in Iran — as well as dozens of drones the military has refused to discuss.
The report says that among the 81 damaged or destroyed aircraft were 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones, 12 F-15E Strike Eagle jets, seven KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft and an F-35A Lightning II fighter jet.
It offers insight into the toll of the war because the military hasn’t released a definitive list or report on the damage that equipment and bases have sustained.
While the report draws some of its information from media reports and not government sources, prior versions of it have been cited by the Pentagon’s inspector general.
President Trump on Wednesday approved major disaster declarations for six states, one territory and one tribe, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Hawaii, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Utah, Guam and the Pueblo of Zuni tribe all received major disaster declarations, which unlock federal support and funding for disasters deemed beyond the capacity of the jurisdiction to handle on its own.
Trump approved two declarations for Hawaii for Hurricanes Lala and Lowell, which impacted the state just weeks apart. However, the approval only permits funding for repairs to public infrastructure, not the individual assistance that helps survivors with repairs and temporary housing.
Trump denied requests from Tennessee and Illinois along with West Virginia’s appeal of an earlier denial, all for summer storms. He hasn’t approved any requests for hazard mitigation assistance — which adds dollars to build back with more resilience — for more than a year.
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