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Trump says he will attend Alabama vs Georgia college football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he plans to attend next week’s marquee college football matchup between No. 7 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia.
Trump revealed his plans during a midterm campaign rally at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. The president is expected to be at Bryant-Denny Stadium when No. 7 Alabama hosts No. 2 Georgia on Oct. 10.
Both teams are undefeated and considered national championship contenders. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET and air nationally on ABC.
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The SEC rivals met twice last season. Alabama earned a 24-21 regular-season victory in Athens before Georgia responded with a dominant 28-7 win in the SEC Championship Game. Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart improved to just 2-7 against the Crimson Tide with the conference title victory.
Trump also attended the teams’ memorable 2024 meeting in Tuscaloosa, when Alabama built a 28-point lead and held on for a 41-34 victory. He watched that game from a suite alongside several prominent Republican figures.
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Next week’s visit will mark Trump’s third trip to Bryant-Denny Stadium for a football game. He also attended Alabama’s 46-41 loss to LSU in 2019 and returned to the university to deliver its commencement address in May 2025.
Trump has made frequent appearances at major sporting events throughout his second term. His Alabama visit will come only two weeks after he attended Texas’ 20-17 victory over Tennessee at Neyland Stadium, where Air Force One performed a low-altitude flyover before kickoff.
Trump also attended the College Football Playoff National Championship in January, Game 3 of the NBA Finals in June and the FIFA World Cup final in July, where he participated in the trophy ceremony.
In 2025, Trump became the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl. He also appeared at the Daytona 500, the U.S. Open men’s final, the Ryder Cup, the Army-Navy game and multiple UFC events.
Penguins forward Andrei Kuzmenko changes jersey to honor late father killed in bear attack
Pittsburgh Penguins player Andrei Kuzmenko returned to the team on Friday after taking some time in the wake of his father's tragic death in a bear attack last month in Siberia.
Now, the 30-year-old, who is in his first season with the Penguins, has decided to honor his father, Alexander, by switching his jersey number.
Kuzmenko addressed the media at the team's practice facility ahead of Saturday's game against the Montreal Canadiens.
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An impressively composed Kuzmenko, given the circumstances, told the media that he wanted to speak to them because he understood that reporters have a job to do.
From there, he explained the circumstances of his father's death, which occurred on a fishing trip.
"My father go permit fishing with friends, and he stayed in the water," he said. "And bear (stand) behind him and attack. And my father fight (the) bear one hour, 10 minutes and he still lived after two days."
He also thanked everyone for the support he received in the wake of the tragedy.
As for his sweater number, Kuzmenko had worn No. 96 in all of his previous NHL stops with the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings.
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Upon signing with the Penguins, Kuzmenko was preparing to use No. 10.
Now, he will wear No. 62, which, according to the Associated Press, carries a lot of personal significance.
His late father was 62 years old at the time of his death, while his mother was born in 1962.
Kuzmenko spent time in the KHL before arriving in the NHL ahead of the 2022-23 season, and has gone on to play in 271 games. In that time, he has racked up 182 points (85G, 97A).
Blue state councilman mocked after claiming self-driving cars are 'murdering' pets: 'Hide your cats'
One Minneapolis city council member prompted widespread mockery on social media after going to bat for "cat lovers," claiming Waymo cars are killing cats and urging officials to require humans in the self-driving vehicles.
"I will say cats have been killed and cats have been killed by these autonomous vehicles," Jason Chavez told fellow council members. "I have a cat. I don't want my cat getting killed because of these autonomous vehicles.
"So, to those cat lovers out there, just know that these Waymo vehicles, these autonomous vehicles have killed cats and that's unfair.
"I just watched a video sitting here from the dais, and it was really hard to watch. Literally, cats being murdered by these vehicles."
The ordinance, which narrowly passed Thursday, would mandate a human operator and a special license for all autonomous vehicles. But its future remains uncertain.
Mayor Jacob Frey announced he plans to veto the proposal in a statement to multiple Minnesota outlets, saying it "doesn't make sense," and the city will continue its efforts to embrace "innovative technology," including transportation options. Despite acknowledging the safety concerns, Frey added he would not support a "backdoor ban" of the vehicles.
As Waymo vehicles with rooftop sensors and empty seats become a more common sight, supporters argue requiring a human operator would effectively ban autonomous taxi services and result in higher fares, while opponents insist the technology poses safety risks and takes away jobs.
Social media users were quick to pile on Chavez's remarks about the potential threat to cats, accusing him of blowing the issue out of proportion and shifting focus from more pressing priorities in Minneapolis.
"The Minneapolis City Council wants to require a human in driverless vehicles because cats are being 'murdered' by them," Townhall columnist Dustin Grage posted on X. "This guy's salary is $110,000/year, by the way."
Grage took more swipes at Chavez in separate X posts, writing, "They're calling it the cat genocide" and, "Hide your cats. The Waymos are coming."
In another post on X, conservative commentator Gunther Eagleman wrote, "LOL! MINNEAPOLIS HAS FOUND ITS REAL CRISIS, AND IT'S ROBOT CARS 'MURDERING' CATS."
Eagleman also argued the city should be addressing larger issues such as crime and fraud, describing the situation as a sign of failed leadership.
"A council member in a city that let rioters burn down a police precinct and watched a $250 million fraud scheme happen under its nose now wants a human in every driverless car to protect the cats," he wrote.
"He's pulling down $110,000 a year of taxpayer money to say this with a straight face. Minneapolis doesn't have a driverless car problem. It has a leadership problem."
"They're driving over the cats, they're driving over the dogs!" Fox News Digital columnist David Marcus posted on X.
"Why is a city council member making 110,000 when families and seniors are getting priced out of their homes in Minneapolis and taxes are sky rocking????? That's absurd - where is the equality in that???" Three Rivers Park Commissioner Jennifer DeJournett posted on X.
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"Fwiw I've been in a self-driving Tesla that stopped for cats to cross the road and Waymo is a lot more advanced," journalist Zaid Jilani posted on X.
"My FSD Tesla avoids animals on the road. He is full of it," Dealer Teamwork CEO and co-founder Sean Stapleton posted on X.
Fox News Digital reached out to Chavez for comment.
Tennessee fans drank $1.3 million worth of alcohol before, during Texas game attended by president
It seems Tennessee’s athletic department has a very good reason to continue its "Happy Hour" promotion for the remainder of the 2026 football season.
Last weekend, as the Vols were preparing to host No. 1 Texas, it was announced that President Donald Trump would be making the trip to Knoxville for the top-15 SEC showdown inside Neyland Stadium.
In the days leading up to the game, the school knew that there would be a massive influx in traffic around the stadium due to heightened security measures that are put into place when the President is attending an event.
So, the school announced it would open the gates to its gigantic stadium an hour earlier than usual, allowing fans to enter at 9 a.m. ET and avoid security lines that have caused some fans to miss kickoff at previous events attended by the president.
Given that this was a 12 p.m. ET start time in Knoxville, that meant parking garages and stadium traffic were going to start picking up around breakfast time. For me, I decided to show up at the stadium around 8 a.m. ET knowing what my previous experiences were like in Miami for the CFP title game and Tuscaloosa for Donald Trump's visit in 2024.
In hopes of enticing fans to arrive earlier than their normal time, Tennessee announced that they would be slashing concessions and alcohol prices by 50% for the first hour, which ran from 9-10 a.m. ET to give fans a reason to sit inside Neyland Stadium for upwards of three hours before kickoff.
Turns out, the move paid off in multiple ways. Not only was this the largest crowd I've ever seen 120 minutes before the first play, it sounds as though there were plenty of fans that took advantage of the discounted beer.
According to a University of Tennessee spokesperson, the school ended up selling 95,000 units of alcohol over the course of the game, which generated $1.3 million in sales for the school. Also, the first beer purchase came at 9:02 a.m. ET, which means one fan decided to bolt straight from the metal detectors to the beverage line in a very impressive time.
Also, in breaking down the numbers, that is 13,571 alcoholic beverages per hour sold inside Neyland Stadium, given the game ended around 4 p.m. ET
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Seeing that this was a massive success, and even though it's unlikely the school will see those type of early attendance numbers moving forward given the tailgating scene, Tennessee athletic director Danny White announced on social media this week that the school would continue this promotion for the remainder of this season.
"Should we make it a thing? Feels like we should make it a thing," White announced on X. "Inspired by Vol Nation’s incredible response to unusual pregame circumstances last week, Happy Hour at Neyland Stadium will be in effect for the remainder of the season! Gates will open three hours early, with half-priced concessions available for the first hour.
"I hope this is a small way we can show our appreciation to the best fans in the country. See y’all Saturday!"
Tennessee will host Auburn on Saturday afternoon, with gates once again opening three hours before kickoff, for the 3:30 p.m. ET start time on ESPN.
Now, let's get other schools who have not already embraced this type of monetary/alcohol promotion to join the party.
Nothing screams college football like 9:00 a.m. half-priced beers.
Mamdani says it was 'strange' getting called out by Netanyahu after calling for his arrest
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani told podcaster Theo Von Thursday he found it "strange" to be called out by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in late September.
"And he called you out too," Von recalled. "Was that weird? Was that scary?"
"It was strange," Mamdani said. "I mean, I was — I was having a meeting with the prime minister of the Netherlands at the LGBTQ center in downtown Manhattan," Mamdani recalled. "Then I get back from that meeting, and it's like, ‘Oh, by the way, here's what he was saying at the U.N.’"
Netanyahu had criticized Mamdani directly during the speech, accusing him of spreading "lies" about Israel and trying to prevent him from speaking in the city.
WATCH: MASS WALKOUT BEFORE NETANYAHU SPEECH PROMPTS FIERY RESPONSE FROM ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER
"So, to all those spreading these lies about my country and about our brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the antisemitic mayor of New York, I say this: Shame on you," Netanyahu said. "Shame on you for distorting the facts. Shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth, Mr. Mamdani."
Mamdani initially promised to have Netanyahu arrested during his mayoral campaign and later called on the federal government to execute an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) if the Israeli leader visits New York.
The ICC issued the warrant in November 2024 over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Netanyahu and the Israeli government have rejected the allegations and challenged the court's actions.
Von asked the mayor, "But if you had your say, we would have arrested the guy, you think?"
"If I had my say, the U.S. government would have joined the ICC, honored every single warrant that they've issued," Mamdani said.
"It's so bizarre," Von said, referring to Netanyahu mentioning Mamdani by name. "Did it feel personal then?"
"All of this is an attempt to distract from responsibility, name as many people as possible, try and make it into a back and forth," Mamdani said.
"It's not about me and him. It's about the fact that he's the architect of a genocide," he added. "And it's like, ‘Yeah, if I was the architect of a genocide, I would probably talk about anything but that.’"
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Fox News' Emma Bussey and Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report.
EXCLUSIVE: Michael McDonald’s long-lost son reveals stunning moment he discovered famous father after 58 years
EXCLUSIVE: Michael Goessling always knew he was adopted. But what he did not know for nearly 58 years was that his biological father had one of the most recognizable and beloved voices in American music.
The St. Louis man learned recently that his father is five-time Grammy winner and Doobie Brothers singer Michael McDonald, a musician Goessling had admired since childhood and had unknowingly paid to see perform twice as a young man.
But even after receiving the letter that began it all, meeting his biological mother and learning his biological father was a mysterious musician named "Mike," Goessling still had no idea who was waiting on the other end of the phone.
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The answer finally came during their first conversation, when "Mike" mentioned he was touring and would be stopping in St. Louis on Sept. 4 at a venue he believed was called "Hollywood."
Goessling thought of the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater and, puzzled that his biological father was apparently still a touring musician at his age, began searching the venue's concert schedule as the two men spoke.
The Doobie Brothers were playing in concert Sept. 4.
Suddenly, the pieces began falling into place: "Mike." Musician. That unmistakable voice.
"Are you Michael McDonald?" Goessling finally asked.
McDonald chuckled. "Yep, afraid so."
"Oh my gosh, this is getting crazier by the second," Goessling recalled saying. "I can't even, I can't get my head around this. This is too much."
"I know," McDonald replied. "Take a minute."
"I thought I was being punked for a second," Goessling told Fox News Digital. "It's like, 'No, this can't be real. This is impossible. What is going on here?'"
More than a year later, he said the discovery can still feel unreal.
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"I still wake up sometimes and my first thought is, ‘Oh my gosh, that was a crazy dream,’ only to realize that here we are."
The extraordinary phone call came just days after a letter ended a mystery stretching back to Goessling's birth. On May 6, 2025, an attorney representing his biological mother contacted Goessling to explain that she believed he was the son she had placed for adoption through Catholic Charities nearly 58 years earlier.
Goessling had always known he was adopted, but the adoption was closed. He knew nothing about his biological parents, and they knew virtually nothing about the life he had gone on to live.
His biological mother, he learned, had spent roughly 30 to 35 years searching for him. Both biological parents hoped he might be willing to communicate, Goessling recalled, but above all, they wanted to know that he was well.
"It was a wonderful surprise but quite a shock," he said. "It felt like a tsunami hit me."
Goessling called his biological mother that evening. Although he had never actively searched for his biological parents, he had long hoped he might someday have the opportunity to thank them.
"I just want you to hear from me that I got nothing but love for you," he recalled telling her. "This is such an amazing gift, that I get to thank you personally. … They were always heroes in my story," he said.
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Their first conversation lasted about 90 minutes. Goessling eventually proposed meeting for lunch that Friday, prompting his biological mother to remind him that Friday was his birthday.
"Yeah, yeah. You've waited long enough. I think I've waited enough," he recalled replying. "Let's meet on my birthday, 58 years to the day."
After a three-hour lunch and nearly six decades apart, Goessling learned there was someone else anxious to speak with him. His biological father had deliberately remained in the background so mother and son could have their reunion first.
"He really wanted the mother-son thing to happen first, which is just true to his character," Goessling said. "He thought that was very important, and he wanted to take a back seat so that could happen."
Before father and son connected, McDonald left Goessling a voicemail. That unmistakable voice immediately struck him.
"Whoa, what a voice," Goessling recalled telling his biological mother.
"Yeah, he gets that a lot," she replied with a chuckle.
The voice seemed strangely familiar, but Goessling still didn't make the connection. When the two men finally spoke, he began by telling McDonald what he had already told his biological mother.
"Thank you for giving me a shot in this world," Goessling recalled saying. "I've had a charmed life. And it all started with you guys."
Then he asked what his biological father did for a living.
"I'm a musician," McDonald told him.
Goessling, a lifelong music obsessive who once worked in the music business, thought that was terrific. It wasn't until the conversation turned to McDonald's upcoming tour stop that he finally put it together.
The revelation contained another coincidence almost too remarkable to invent; Goessling was already a huge fan.
The Doobie Brothers had been among his favorite bands since childhood, alongside The Who and Journey. He vividly remembers first hearing "Takin' It to the Streets" after McDonald joined the group and insisting to the person playing it that there had been some mistake.
"I know the Doobie Brothers and that is not the Doobie Brothers," Goessling remembered declaring as a child.
He soon learned about the band's new singer and became a McDonald fan, too. He remained one.
In fact, Goessling had already watched his biological father perform in concert twice, once in the 1980s, and again in the early 1990s, without ever imagining that the man onstage was the father whose identity he did not know.
When Fox News Digital pointed out that meant he had actually paid twice to see his own father perform, Goessling laughed.
"I should get reimbursed for that."
There were other clues hiding in plain sight. After Goessling grew out his hair and white beard during the COVID-19 pandemic, people began telling him they liked the "Michael McDonald thing" he had going on.
"Little did I know, five years later that that would resonate even so true," he said.
After the families met, the similarities became even harder to miss. During a visit with McDonald, Goessling said McDonald's wife, Amy, and his newfound half-sister would watch him do or say something and suddenly burst out laughing.
"Your dad does the exact same thing," they would tell him. "They couldn't take their eyes off me," Goessling said. "They're waiting to see what I would do or say next because there was so many just natural similarities."
Yet, for Goessling, the remarkable celebrity connection is not the part of his story that matters most.
Learning where he came from also meant finally understanding what his biological parents had faced nearly six decades earlier, when they were just two 14-year-old eighth-graders confronting a pregnancy that would change all three of their lives.
According to Goessling, the teenagers' initial reaction was that they would marry, raise their baby and rely on their families to help them. Their parents concluded they were simply too young at the time.
"They were just far too young to be married and to have a child," Goessling said.
Their families ultimately determined that adoption would be best, he said, although relinquishing their son had not been his biological parents' first choice.
Nearly six decades later, Goessling sees what happened through the lens of both gratitude and faith.
"Mike, I mean, he wasn't Michael McDonald [then]. He was Mike from the neighborhood," he said, imagining how differently life could have been had two 14-year-olds attempted to raise a child together.
"I have to believe that it all worked out as it was supposed to because, certainly, when I see us all now together, it's just the greatest joy," Goessling said. "I think this was the plan. And I think it was a beautiful plan."
That plan, as Goessling sees it, led him to Paul and Kay Goessling. He grew up in a family of four children. Three were adopted before, against the odds, Kay became pregnant with their youngest daughter, Linda.
Goessling describes his childhood as "charmed" and said he could not have chosen better parents himself.
"If I could go back and pick two folks, I would pick them and do it all over again," he said. "They were just the most wonderful blessing in my life."
His father, Paul, died shortly before Christmas 2024 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease, and Goessling said the two were extremely close. Six months later, another father entered his life.
"After losing my father, I get a letter, and Mike pops up," Goessling said. "Another father enters my life, my world."
Kay's reaction to the discovery was immediate. When Goessling showed her the letter, he said his mother began crying and declared what had happened "a miracle."
She asked whether he had met his biological mother, and he had.
"Oh my God, go get her," Goessling recalled Kay saying. "I have to meet her. I've got a million questions. What's she like? I gotta give her a big hug."
Goessling said his mother has embraced his biological family from the beginning, and the once-separate branches of his family came together with surprising ease.
"Everybody's in love with everybody," he said.
Father and son now speak frequently and text "all the time," according to Goessling.
And while the identity of his biological father is what thrust his story into the spotlight, Goessling hopes the attention gives him an opportunity to talk about adoption as a blessing.
A practicing Catholic who was raised in the faith and adopted through Catholic Charities, Goessling said his parents taught him from childhood to understand his adoption not as evidence that he had been unwanted, but as evidence that he was deeply loved.
Even before he was old enough to fully understand what adoption meant, he knew how his parents viewed it.
"It was a miracle," he said. "It was the greatest thing. It was a gift from God."
Only when Goessling grew old enough to understand where babies came from, he said, did he fully appreciate the significance of the decisions that had been made before his birth.
"Obviously, we all know there are choices in this world, and I am so grateful and fortunate for the choices they made on my behalf," he said. "Adoption has been absolutely nothing but a blessing for me. … I celebrate adoption and I always have. It's always been a big part of my life story."
Now, nearly six decades later, Goessling has been able to thank the biological parents he once could only imagine, and discovered that they had spent those same decades wondering about him.
He hopes the unlikely circumstances that brought attention to his family can help "elevate" the conversation surrounding adoption.
"I want this to elevate the narrative, the adoption narrative," he said. "I want that adoption gets celebrated more in this country. If my crazy story can be true, Lord knows anything is possible."
And if Michael McDonald is watching? Goessling doesn't need an interview to deliver the message. He said father and son already talk regularly.
"I just tell him that I love him, and I tell him thank you for everything," he said.
After 58 years, the man who says he never felt deprived of a family has somehow ended up with an even larger one.
"My cup overflows," Goessling said.
WNBA playoffs preview: Golden State Valkyries look to close out Dallas Wings in Game 3
If you haven't been paying attention to the WNBA Playoffs, you are missing out. Honestly, if you like basketball at all, this is the only thing going on, and the series, although short, has been awesome. We've already seen the Las Vegas Aces beat the Indiana Fever last night in Game 3, and we saw the Dream and Liberty sweep their series. The Liberty knocked out the top team from the regular season. Chaos at its finest. Tonight we have the other top team on the ropes as the Wings look to upset the Valkyries.
The Dallas Wings are built on star power. They have two of the brightest young stars in the league, with Paige Bueckers in her first playoff games. They also have Azzi Fudd, but she has been out with an injury for the majority of the season. When the Wings received the #1 overall pick for the past two years, this is what they envisioned and what they were looking to build. However, it really isn't Bueckers, and certainly not Fudd, who is making the impact in this one.
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Instead, this series was extended by Arike Ogunbowale. If you haven't watched her play, I compare her to Jamal Crawford, Lou Williams or Jordan Clarkson. She is a starter, and most of those guys were role players or sixth-man candidates. Ogunbowale has been a starter, but can't really carry a team on both ends. She certainly put the team on her back in Game 2, dropping 45 points in 42 minutes of action. She was incredibly efficient as well, shooting 52% overall, 63% from deep, and almost 90% from the free-throw line.
The Golden State Valkyries are built on being a deep, well-rounded squad. That can't always work in the postseason. If you haven't noticed in basketball, you need stars to win. It isn't like the best player always wins, but just because you are a deep team doesn't mean you're the best team in the postseason. We've seen it over and over — you need a deep team to keep from getting too tired, and you need role players that can contribute, but you also need a guy (or in this case, a woman) to take over a team when you need a bucket.
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To her credit, Gabby Williams is having a fantastic series for the Valkyries. In Game 1, she dropped 20 points in 27 minutes while the team blew out Dallas. In Game 2, they lost on the road to the Wings, who put up a historic performance. Williams was equally impressive in that game with 36 points in 37 minutes. She continues to facilitate and be involved in rebounding as well. She has four other teammates averaging over 10 points per game, so she is getting help. The question is whether Williams can be the go-to scorer they need tonight when Dallas has both Bueckers and Ogunbowale.
Being at home should certainly help the Valkyries, who have gone 17-5 at home this season. Dallas was just 11-11 away from their home floor. I do expect Bueckers to be more involved in the scoring tonight, but she might not be enough. This Golden State team knows they need to avoid a collapse. They also know that their defense can win them games. I lean to the under on this one, but will play Valkyrie -4.5 in the first half as I think the home crowd will give them the boost needed to get going early.
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
Inside explosive Cornell rape allegations: 7 men accused, conflicting accounts and a political firestorm
A sexually charged case that roiled Cornell University two years ago has exploded onto the national stage, fueling a fierce debate over sex, consent and criminality in college hookup culture.
Seven former Chi Phi fraternity brothers are accused in a lawsuit of drugging and raping a female Cornell student during a night of drinking, drugs and group sex at their fraternity house in October 2024.
The accuser, identified in court papers by the pseudonym Jane Doe, alleges the men sexually assaulted her after she arrived intoxicated and was pressured into taking ketamine and other substances. The men have denied wrongdoing, with some maintaining the sexual activity was consensual and others denying they participated in it. No criminal charges have been filed against the seven men.
The case has now erupted into a political and legal firestorm, with New York Attorney General Letitia James announcing Friday that her office is conducting an "active criminal investigation" after Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed the Office of the Attorney General as special prosecutor. Cornell has separately agreed to retain outside counsel to conduct an independent review of the university's handling of the allegations.
At the center of the controversy are sharply conflicting accounts of what happened that night, including differences between what Doe said in the weeks afterward, what prosecutors say they received from Cornell police and the explosive allegations contained in a lawsuit filed nearly two years later.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who initially declined to pursue charges, has said Doe's November 2024 sworn statement did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped and instead described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as "voluntary, conscious, and consensual."
Doe was 20 years old and a Cornell undergraduate when the events at the center of the case unfolded on the night of Oct. 19, 2024.
According to her lawsuit, Doe began the evening drinking vodka at her Tri Delta sorority house before attending a sorority social event at a downtown Ithaca bar. She later went to a second bar before leaving alone around 11 p.m. and walking to the Chi Phi fraternity house to meet a friend who was a member.
By the time she arrived at Chi Phi, Doe was visibly intoxicated and had consumed roughly 10 standard drinks over three hours, according to her own complaint.
Once inside, Doe alleges, a fraternity member gave her another beer before proposing a threesome with another fraternity brother. The lawsuit maintains that Doe was already too intoxicated to consent.
Doe alleges she was then taken upstairs, where two fraternity members pressured her into snorting what they said was ketamine, a drug she says she had never previously taken. She alleges they also gave her marijuana and high-proof liquor before engaging in sexual acts with her without her consent.
The lawsuit alleges other fraternity members entered the room as the night progressed. At 1:42 a.m., according to a screenshot reproduced in the complaint, one member posted "free p----" in a Snapchat group for active Chi Phi members. The complaint alleges the message encouraged other members to go upstairs.
CBS News reported Friday that it had obtained additional Snapchat messages from the fraternity group, including a photograph of Doe with another man that was shared with dozens of Chi Phi members that night. Just before the photo was posted, one participant wrote, "Like you can walk in and whip it out," while another subsequently asked, "Shop still open?" and received the reply, "Yeah."
Attorneys for several of the accused men have denied criminal wrongdoing by their clients. An attorney for one of the men told NBC News the lawsuit was "intentionally dishonest" and maintained his client had engaged in immature and inappropriate Snapchat messages but committed no crime. An attorney for another said the public narrative was "incomplete" and inconsistent with evidence developed during Cornell's investigation, including Doe's own statements.
Doe alleges she became increasingly impaired and eventually "completely incapacitated" as the encounters continued. The complaint says the final alleged assault ended around 5:45 a.m., when Doe lost consciousness.
Contemporaneous texts, interviews and university records show Doe described different portions of the encounter differently in the days and weeks that followed, while also expressing distress about what had happened.
When she returned to her sorority house around 11:15 a.m. on Oct. 20, Doe told her roommates she had taken ketamine and had sex with multiple men, according to records from Cornell's Title IX proceedings obtained by The New York Times. One roommate said Doe did not initially describe what happened as rape or sexual assault, while another recalled that she appeared to be "in shock" and did not seem to understand the gravity of what she was recounting.
The following day, one of the men Doe would later accuse apologized to her for how the night unfolded, saying he felt terrible that he and another fraternity member had been too intoxicated to stop things before they got "way out of hand," according to text messages reviewed by the Times.
Doe responded that "none of the sexual stuff was illegal" and said she had enjoyed being with the two men.
Other contemporaneous evidence suggests Doe was already struggling with the encounter. On Oct. 22, she visited Cornell Health seeking treatment for a urinary tract infection and testing for sexually transmitted diseases, telling a doctor she had contracted the infection "in a traumatic way," according to university records.
Doe also became increasingly distressed as word of the encounter spread around campus. A roommate told Cornell investigators that Doe initially described it as a "crazy thing that she had done," but that her understanding shifted over the following days. The roommate said she discussed portions of the encounter with Doe and told her that some of what she described could constitute rape.
About a week after the encounter, Doe discovered an anonymous online post claiming Chi Phi members had been "gang banging" and that a sophomore had been gang raped. Doe later told Cornell investigators that seeing the post marked a turning point in how she viewed the night.
"That's the first time I had ever heard the narrative change that I wasn't a whore and that I was assaulted," she said, according to the university records obtained by the Times.
Doe nevertheless remained in contact with fraternity members and planned to attend Chi Phi's Halloween party, according to the records. After initially being told she was welcome, the fraternity's president uninvited her, prompting Doe to accuse the men of "covering your asses."
By Nov. 3, however, Doe was explicitly describing most of the encounter as nonconsensual. In a text reviewed by the Times, she wrote that "90% of what happened that night was not consensual," adding that she had been given more ketamine than she could remember and had felt uncomfortable around people she did not know. Four days later, she went to an Ithaca emergency room and requested a rape kit.
Doe was interviewed by Cornell University Police on Nov. 14 and Nov. 15. A transcript obtained by CBS New York shows that she distinguished the initial sexual encounter, which she said she had been "pretty OK with," from what she said happened later in the night.
"I can say with 100% confidence I was raped," Doe told investigators, according to the transcript. She also described later sexual activity as coercive and said she had been "completely and totally incapacitated."
During those interviews, the campus police investigator prepared a six-page written statement that Doe reviewed and signed. That document — rather than the complete interview transcript — was what Van Houten says his office received before deciding not to pursue charges.
According to Van Houten's account of the signed statement, Doe said she agreed to the initial threesome out of attraction and "drunken curiousness," was "pretty ok" with it and voluntarily took ketamine later in the night.
The district attorney said multiple prosecutors and investigators reviewed the statement, assumed Doe's account was true and concluded that the facts contained in it did not establish a crime under New York law. Van Houten said her credibility was "never in question."
When CBS presented the full transcript to Van Houten this week, he said it had never been provided to him.
"That wasn't information that I had," he said, later adding that its existence "changes the landscape for me."
For nearly two years after the alleged encounter, no criminal charges were filed against any of the men.
The case burst into the national spotlight Sept. 16, when Doe filed a sweeping 101-page lawsuit in New York Supreme Court laying out in graphic detail her allegations about what happened inside the Chi Phi house.
The lawsuit accuses the seven former fraternity members of sexual assault and rape and seeks compensatory and punitive damages. But it casts a far wider net than the seven men.
Doe also sued Cornell University, Chi Phi and affiliated entities, her own Tri Delta sorority and Moonies Bar & Nightclub, among others, alleging that institutions around her failed to protect her before, during and after the events of that night.
The complaint alleges Doe had already become intoxicated while drinking at the Tri Delta house before a sorority housemother accompanied her to Moonies. There, according to the lawsuit, a bouncer marked both of the then-20-year-old's hands with an "X" signifying she was under 21, but she was nevertheless served alcohol.
The graphic allegations prompted immediate questions about why no one had been prosecuted in 2024. Van Houten said he first learned of the lawsuit on Sept. 18, two days after it was filed, and that his office was subsequently inundated with calls and emails, including threats, demanding answers.
Van Houten publicly defended his original decision. He also reopened the investigation, met with Doe and her attorneys and announced plans to put the matter before a Tompkins County grand jury so it could consider her testimony and any new evidence raised by the lawsuit.
The controversy intensified after CBS reported that Van Houten had never received the full transcript of Doe's November 2024 interview with Cornell University Police. Van Houten said that if relevant information had been omitted from the signed statement provided to prosecutors, the circumstances should be investigated by someone outside Cornell.
Cornell has separately agreed to retain outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation into the university's handling of the allegations, according to Hochul. That review is distinct from the criminal investigation now being led by James' office.
Cornell, meanwhile, reached its own conclusions through the university's disciplinary process. University President Michael Kotlikoff said two of the accused students were expelled, two were suspended for at least two semesters, one had graduated before discipline could be imposed and two were found not responsible for sexual misconduct.
Those university findings were reached through Cornell's disciplinary process, which is separate from the criminal justice system and applies different standards and procedures.
Cornell has rejected allegations that it imposed only minor consequences, saying its Title IX process resulted in expulsions and suspensions. The university said no student was offered the opportunity to write essays as the sole consequence for their involvement and called suggestions that it failed to impose consequential punishment "false."
Cornell said in a statement to Fox News it "fully support[s] the appointment of a special prosecutor" and is committed to "an independent external review of all aspects of how Cornell has handled this case."
The case has also drawn renewed attention to Cornell's campus climate after more than 35% of female undergraduates responding to a 2025 university survey reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact involving force, threats or incapacitation, up from 23% in 2023. Although Cornell said 926 of 6,000 students invited to take the survey responded, a participation rate of about 15%.
Gov. Kathy Hochul intervened Thursday, signing an executive order appointing the Office of the Attorney General as special prosecutor in the case.
James said her office would lead an investigation guided by "the facts and the law."
Jared Kushner scolds CNN over 'deeply misleading’ report, says key info buried behind paywall
Senior Trump advisor Jared Kushner accused CNN of publishing a "deeply misleading story and headline" suggesting his "diplomatic work in the Middle East somehow benefited investments in Israeli defense companies" in a fiery social media post on Friday.
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who rarely criticizes the media publicly, took to X to scold a paywall-protected CNN report headlined, "How Jared Kushner’s firm’s investment in an Israeli company could be a major conflict of interest," that was published on Thursday.
The report noted that Kushner acted as a key negotiator regarding the war in Gaza while his company, Affinity Partners, "held the largest stake in an Israeli firm backing businesses involved in Israel’s military campaigns."
KUSHNER GIVES HAMAS STARK ULTIMATUM: DISARM OR ISRAEL GETS US BACKING TO ‘FINISH THE JOB’
Kushner argued that CNN’s own reporting contradicts the headline, but said readers without a paid subscription to the website were left in the dark.
"Buried behind a paywall, it acknowledges: ‘CNN found no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly affected the investments reviewed,’" Kushner wrote.
Indeed, CNN said it found no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly impacted the investments, but that point was buried 10 paragraphs deep and only visible to paid CNN subscribers.
The lengthy report said, "CNN used Israeli financial transparency laws to trace some of the military-linked investments of Phoenix Financial, a Tel Aviv-based firm that Kushner’s investment group doubled its stake in last year, shortly before Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office."
"Those records, which include only a fraction of Phoenix’s holdings, show Phoenix has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems. Phoenix also holds stakes in at least eight other companies providing equipment for the Israeli military ranging from drones to warships to demolition machinery, CNN found," according to the report.
"All nine companies identified by CNN saw their stock value climb last year, with many stating the war in Gaza had driven demand for their businesses," the CNN report continued. "Affinity doesn’t directly hold a stake in the nine companies CNN identified — but it does stand to reap rewards when Phoenix makes a profit."
CNN also noted that Kushner described Phoenix as a strong investment for Affinity.
In his response, Kushner said that Phoenix is not a defense company, despite CNN’s framing, and defended his company’s investments.
"It is one of Israel’s largest publicly traded financial institutions, highly regulated and managing approximately $220 billion across thousands of investments," Kushner wrote.
"Think of Phoenix as the Israeli equivalent of Vanguard or Fidelity. It manages the retirement savings of millions of Israelis. The savers don’t choose the individual investments, and neither do I," Kushner continued. "I have no role in deciding what Phoenix buys or sells. It has performed very well for Affinity and our investors, up more than five times since our initial investment."
Kushner added that Affinity is an SEC-registered investment firm.
"Our investment in Phoenix is public and dates to before President Trump was re-elected, and before I returned to public service. Affinity does not own the defense companies highlighted in CNN’s story," Kushner wrote.
"Those facts make for a less provocative headline, but a much more accurate story," he continued. "Misleading stories will not distract me from the work President Trump asked me to do: help end wars, bring people together and pursue peace. That work is too important."
A CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital that "we stand by our reporting."
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In a separate post, Kushner said he has ignored "false and misleading stories" for the past decade, but "the cycle has gotten out of control where old lies get repeated as fact, new ones get added, and the record becomes increasingly distorted," so he felt a need to respond.
CNN published a statement from Kushner's attorney, which was also hidden behind the paywall.
"Any suggestion that Jared’s diplomatic work influenced Phoenix’s investments in the companies you identify, or vice versa, is incorrect," the attorney told CNN.
A White House spokesperson also told CNN the suggestion Kushner’s personal business activities have anything to do with his diplomatic engagements is a "tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family, and his administration for a decade."
Miami Heat tease release of new 'Vice City' jerseys on the night before 'Grand Theft Auto VI' release
November will see the launch of what is easily the biggest video game release of all time, and maybe the biggest entertainment release full stop, when "Grand Theft Auto VI" hits shelves.
Or hits the PlayStations of those of us who pre-ordered it (*raises hand*).
The game takes place largely in "Vice City," a fictionalized version of Miami, and it looks like the Miami Heat are getting in on the promotion.
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The team announced on Friday that they will debut their new "Vice City" jerseys on November 18 against the Milwaukee Bucks (which is a notable matchup for another reason), the night before GTA VI's big November 19 release.
According to the team's website, the Heat's new duds will be "new, completely reimagined" getups for the occasion.
The video also shows the roof of the Kaseya Center, which has a big "Welcome to Vice City" sign with the game's Roman numeral "VI" logo next to it.
That night, the team will use a special "Vice City" court, and, as is the case for any good promotional endeavor, there's plenty of merch to be had.
As far as I can remember, there has never been a sports/video game tie-in like this, at least for a non-sports game.
NBA PLAYER PREDICTS AMERICAN ATHLETES' PERFORMANCES WILL DIP IN NOVEMBER WHILE THEY PLAY GTA
This isn't going to just be a video game release. It's going to transcend a whole bunch of different pop-cultural avenues, and here's one of them.
Good luck escaping the "Grand Theft Auto VI" barrage that we're going to face for the next couple of months.
Personally, I'm all about it. Like a lot of folks, I've been waiting for this thing to come out for well over a decade. It's going to be wild to finally dig into it.
Now, if they could just get to work on a sequel to "LA Noire," that would be greatly appreciated.