Christa Pike on a ventilator and unconscious after failed Tennessee execution, attorneys say
Christa Pike was placed on a ventilator and remained unconscious in a hospital in the hours after her failed execution in Tennessee, her attorneys said in a court filing Friday.
Hospital staff, her lawyers said, were working to save Pike’s life and as of late Thursday were trying to clear the two doses of the drug that the state uses to execute prisoners.
The stunning failure in Tennessee’s execution chamber on Wednesday has left both sides of the death penalty debate demanding answers. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has ordered an independent review.
The court filing offered the first detailed account of Pike’s condition after an ambulance carried her away from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on Wednesday night. Her attorneys said a day earlier that she was in critical condition.
Pike’s attorneys said they believed problems with the IV lines caused the pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream.
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NY governor says Cornell rape accuser was 'failed' by people obligated to protect her
NEW YORK (AP) — The woman who accused members of a Cornell University fraternity of gang rape was “failed” by people obligated to protect her, including campus police and the county prosecutor, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday.
Hochul said at a news conference that she decided to appoint Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor to take over the investigation after learning “troubling details” about how authorities have handled the woman’s claims thus far, including that the district attorney closed the case without having anyone interview the accuser or anyone else involved in the alleged attack.
“In what world does the district attorney not even interview her, or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript?” Hochul said. “This woman, this young woman, had already endured something that is utterly unspeakable. And then at every turn, she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her.”
She also assailed the Cornell University Police Department for not fully conveying the woman’s story to prosecutors.
“After this young woman came forward, she spoke to the police. She sat for hours and told them exactly what happened to her. And according to new reports, she could not have been clearer that she was 100% confident that she had been raped," the Democratic governor said. "Yet, shockingly, those words never made it into the account that the Cornell police sent to prosecutors.”
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G7 nations will release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel fuel after prices soar
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Group of Seven wealthy democracies said Friday that they plan to release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products in the coming weeks, starting with “substantial” amounts of diesel after the fuel recently hit record high prices in the United States.
President Donald Trump said the diesel release would happen “immediately,” echoing a G7 promise to start “immediately” with a “frontloaded substantial release” of diesel within the next 20 days and the rest over four months.
Trump and his Republican Party face pressure to address surging prices ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, and Trump announced the action Friday on social media. The president's approval ratings on the economy hit a new low, according to an AP-NORC poll, as the Iran war and his trade battles have increased U.S. prices for oil and other goods.
Gas prices in the U.S. and abroad have soared during the eight-month-long war, a cost Trump has repeatedly said is worth it for making sure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons. The national average for a gallon of diesel in the U.S. was $6.37 on Friday, according to AAA, after hitting a record $6.52 on Sept. 22. Diesel prices have hit records in Europe, too.
The release of diesel in Europe might mean less exports of diesel from the U.S., which could lower prices by 25-50 cents per gallon after a few weeks, said Michael Lynch, distinguished fellow at Energy Policy Research Foundation, a non-partisan research institution focused on energy and economics.
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Kennedy Center Honors to be held at Capital One Arena amid fight over adding Trump's name
This year's Kennedy Center Honors will be held at Washington's Capital One Arena, not the riverfront building that's been at the center of a legal fight over adding President Donald Trump's name to the building.
The 49th annual awards are set to take place at Washington's downtown arena, a Kennedy Center spokesperson said Friday. Few other details were immediately available, and an explanation for the change wasn't given.
The center's board voted last month to close the iconic performing arts venue along the Potomac River waterfront after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning Trump's name to the building.
Trump has said in social media posts that the center needed to close for safety repairs. But he said the repairs would only happen if the board was allowed to move forward with plans to add his name to the building.
A federal judge has twice said that can’t happen without the approval of Congress, which has allocated $257 million for repairs.
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Trump stumps for candidates in deep red Alabama and says he'll be back again next week
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — President Donald Trump rallied supporters in deep red Alabama Friday, returning to the place where he drew his first mega crowd, but a state that is hardly considered a top midterm battleground.
With just weeks to go before elections that will determine control of Congress, Trump urged his supporters to back Republicans including Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for Alabama governor, and state Rep. Rhett Marques, who is seeking to flip Alabama’s newly redrawn 2nd Congressional District.
Trump’s decision to spend so much time in deep red states that have garnered relatively little attention during the critical final stretch underscores his party's uphill climb and the electorate's broad disapproval of his performance as president. The event at the University of South Alabama gave Trump the chance to be surrounded by some of his most loyal supporters as he confronts dismal poll numbers and growing pessimism from his party about their chances of holding onto the House and Senate in November.
“I’m here really because, you know, sometimes, even though you don’t have to come here, you gotta pay respect to the people that have loved you right from the beginning,” he told the crowd a day after visiting another red state, Oklahoma.
And he announced that he would be returning to Alabama again next Saturday for the college football game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide.
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FBI has commissioned a classified and internal 'Patel Report' about times when it 'fell short'
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI is issuing a classified report to its workforce examining what it says are chapters from the bureau's history “where this institution fell short,” according to an internal message obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
It was unclear what episodes from the FBI's past are chronicled in the new “Patel Report.” But the document's existence is in keeping with Director Kash Patel's vocal criticism of the leaders who preceded him and with his determination to rid the FBI of agents he contends have politicized the bureau in the past. Patel's critics say he is the one who has weaponized the FBI and that his scrutiny of his predecessors and their decision-making is part of an effort to rewrite history in favor of President Donald Trump.
Patel pledged at his confirmation hearing last year that he would not look “backward," but as director, he has encouraged investigations of former senior officials and presided over sweeping terminations, including of employees who participated in years-old investigations of Trump, were photographed taking a knee during a 2020 racial justice protest and contributed to a disputed analytical memo about Catholic extremism.
“The Patel Report looks backward because accountability demands it,” says a message to the workforce signed by the FBI's co-deputy directors, Christopher Raia and Andrew Bailey. The message describes the report as marking the “closing of one chapter in our history and the beginning of another complete with a brighter future ahead.”
Bailey announced his resignation earlier this week, and his last day is Friday. The FBI declined to comment on the report.
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Former GOP Rep. David Rivera sentenced to 10 years for secret Venezuela lobbying
MIAMI (AP) — A former Miami congressman and longtime friend of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison in connection with a secret $50 million lobbying campaign on Venezuela’s behalf during the first Trump administration.
Republican David Rivera has been jailed since jurors found him guilty in May on all counts, including failing to register as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of his work for former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ’s government.
Rivera, 61, appeared stone-faced as Judge Melissa Damian denounced him for betraying his life’s mission, saying he would surely have been judged harshly his many friends had the millions of dollars come from the Cuban regime instead of its allies in Caracas.
“Nobody would accept that’s ok and I don’t think this is different,” the judge said. “There’s no dispute this money came from the Maduro regime.”
The seven-week trial offered a rare glimpse into Miami’s role as a crossroads for foreign influence campaigns aimed at shaping U.S. policy toward Latin America, highlighting the city’s reputation as a magnet for both anti-communist crusaders and corruption among its sizable exile population.
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Police bodycam footage of Luigi Mangione’s arrest released
NEW YORK (AP) — Police bodycam footage released Friday shows the moment officers located and arrested Luigi Mangione at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s in connection with the shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan.
In one video, officers ask Mangione to lower the face mask he was wearing to hide his identity.
“That’s 100% him,” one officer says eagerly as they step outside to speak out of Mangione’s earshot.
“I told you, man,” another responds off camera.
Later, an officer searches Mangione’s belongings and smiles widely as she pulls out a gun cartridge, seemingly confirming they’d found their suspect.
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US stocks rise near their record after the latest jobs report eases worries about inflation
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed near their all-time high on Friday after the latest update on the U.S. job market cooled worries that a potentially hot U.S economy could make inflation much worse.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and pulled within 1% of its record set in August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 250 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.2%.
All of Wall Street got a jolt after the U.S. government said employers across the country added 29,000 more jobs to their payrolls than they cut last month. That was fewer than economists expected and a slowdown from August’s net hiring rate of 133,000.
More importantly for financial markets, it tamped down concerns that the U.S. economy could be so strong that it could fuel inflation even higher. Inflation has remained much worse than anyone would like, and the Federal Reserve recently raised its main interest rate for the first time in three years to try to rein in the painful increases for the cost of living.
Even though Americans are feeling more frustrated about inflation and their finances, the overall U.S. economy has been chugging along. Earlier this week, the U.S. government said the economy’s growth in the spring was better than earlier thought, driven by businesses building AI data centers and spending by consumers.
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CBS announces Tony Romo's permanent exit following arrest for operating a vehicle while intoxicated
CBS Sports and Tony Romo have officially parted ways, one month after the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback pleaded no contest to charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Romo had been on leave since his July 23 arrest in Wisconsin. He had been the lead game analyst for CBS’ NFL coverage since 2017.
“CBS Sports and Tony Romo have mutually agreed to part ways,” CBS Sports said Friday in a statement. “We thank Tony for his contributions over the past nine years and wish him the best moving forward.”
Analyst JJ Watt had joined play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson on CBS Sports’ lead NFL team during Romo’s absence. Watt will continue in that role now and all other CBS teams will remain the same.
“I’m proud of what I accomplished at CBS Sports over the last nine years," Romo said in a statement. "I approached my role as a game analyst the way I’ve approached everything in my life — with a desire to win and be the best that I can be. I’m going to use this time to take a break, something I’ve never done before, and focus on my health and my family before moving on to my next opportunity. I am grateful for my time with CBS Sports and for the continued support of my family and friends, as well as the NFL community and fans.”
