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Inside the Senate's chaotic all-nighter that left Trump's SAVE America Act on the shelf
During the long night to send the Senate home, deals were brokered, major legislation was punted and promises were extended.
The SAVE America Act never made it off the shelf, despite promises up and down from its biggest proponents to thwart any attempt to leave Washington, D.C., without trying to pass it. And the vehicle to blast through Democratic objections and pass parts of the bill never left the garage, either.
But it all nearly fell apart before lawmakers ever got a chance to hit the Senate floor for an early morning round of votes. Here’s what happened in the dead of night, and how Republicans are readying for a busy stretch when the Senate returns in September.
The sun was about to rise in Washington, D.C., as the Senate tidied up last-minute work, but no lawmaker ever made an objection to adjourning for the rest of August.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, empowered by President Donald Trump, vowed that he would object and force a floor vote to keep lawmakers in Washington to find a way to pass the SAVE America Act.
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO WHAT THE SENATE DID AND DIDN’T DO OVERNIGHT
He even stood in the way, along with several other Republicans for differing reasons, of the deal concocted by Republican leaders to get major items, like averting a shutdown, agreed to and sent to Democrats for their approval in a bid to get a guaranteed floor vote.
But the promised objection never came. A roll call vote didn’t happen. And Lee and others settled for a voice vote, responding "no" to the Senate adjourning for recess. They weren’t successful.
Another issue that played out during the night was over the budget blueprint designed to sketch out how to pass pieces and parts of the SAVE America Act without fear of Democrats blocking the process.
It was destined for failure, and Trump pushed Republicans to pull the plug.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who is now at the helm of the Senate Budget Committee, plans to go back to the drawing board with his budget resolution and beef it up to include more funding for the Pentagon.
"We're, obviously, with the president at his direction. This is what he wants to do," Johnson said.
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But the slowdown serves as another blow to the SAVE America Act and vastly lowers the possibility that Republicans can get another budget resolution and forthcoming reconciliation package, passed before the lame-duck period after the midterm elections.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged that "we’re going to need to do another reconciliation bill," but wouldn’t say just how soon the Senate could make it happen.
"We'll see," Thune said. "I mean, I think that Ron's gonna work on it over the break, and his team, and we'll see what they come up with."
A major reason that the night dragged on as long as it did was because of a massive college sports bill to redraw the boundaries of the big money tied to name, image and likeness (NIL).
The package, pushed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, faced pushback from several Republicans over bringing it to the Senate floor. It prompted Trump to call on the Senate GOP to move the bill in a Truth Social post, but it wasn’t enough to kill the resistance.
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A source familiar with negotiations told Fox News Digital that things had become bleak as the night went on.
"We are pretty much at a standstill and could be here through Monday or Tuesday," they said.
Ultimately, the bill was stripped from the larger floor deal and delayed until September after Cruz and Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., huddled with Thune in his office.
"We will get the bill to President Trump’s desk and deliver results for hundreds of thousands of student-athletes and bring stability to college athletics," Cruz said in a statement.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation almost didn’t happen, not because of Republican defectors, but because of tired lawmakers.
When it finally came time to do back-to-back votes to officially lock him in as former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s replacement, it was just past 3 a.m. And senators were ready to go — Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., had his suitcase ready just outside of the Senate floor.
But two key votes, Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., had missed the preceding votes. The late night had gotten to them, and Republicans needed them to confirm Blanche.
They were eventually roused and voted to confirm him, handing Trump one of the narrowest confirmation wins in history at 50-49.
Adam Vinatieri shamed into offering apology and explanation for Hall of Fame speech that was epic
The speech Adam Vinatieri delivered at the Pro Football Hall of Fame upon his induction was touching, insightful, emotional, and comedy-act funny. It was easily the most memorable speech at that venue in recent years so, of course, it turned off some critics.
It caused some people to want him to apologize because, they contend, it was not respectful enough or fitting of a Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremony. (If they only knew some of the stuff that happens in NFL locker rooms).
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Anyway, Vinatieri heard some of the disapproval the last few days.
"I wanted it to start sentimental," Vinatieri said during a guest segment on "The Dan Patrick Show" on Monday. "I wanted to make people laugh, and then I wanted to end it with a bang at the end.
"So hopefully I accomplished that. But if people got offended or thought it was inappropriate, I apologize to you guys."
There is no apology necessary. Because Vinatieri took what is typically a ceremonial assignment and made it entertaining. He turned yawns to guffaws. And tears.
Consider:
In addressing former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, for whom Vinatieri played six years, the former kicker said ....
"Your preparation, discipline, and attention to detail shaped far more than my football career. Unfortunately, Bill couldn’t make it here today. There is a LOT going on at UNC right now. He may be on a recruiting trip looking for the next Lawrence Taylor. I thought it was because training camp had already started.
"But in truth it's because he is judging his girlfriend's cheerleading competition!"
And with that the speech turned into something of a roast.
"I was lucky enough to play with the greatest quarterback in Patriots history," Vinatieri said, redirecting the bullseye. "Unfortunately he wasn’t able to make it today …. Drew Bledsoe."
Ziiiing!
"I had a few more Tom Brady jokes but I was afraid he would run up on stage and 'Will Smith' me like he did to Logan Paul," Vinatieri added.
The crowd roared.
Vinatieri played his final 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. So they didn't escape the jocularity, either. He addressed Peyton Manning as the camera cut to the former Colts quarterback.
"Thank you for generously donating your forehead for today’s teleprompter," Vinatieri said, repeating a joke about Manning's large forehead that was for years whispered in the Colts locker room.
"Hey, Pat McAfee is here today, great to see you brother!" Vinatieri continued as we watched McAfee acknowledge his time as the Indy punter and holder on extra points and field goals.
"The only person who enjoyed holding my balls more than my wife!" Vinatieri exclaimed before a pause.
"She held for me in the offseason when everyone else was gone," the kicker then added.
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The speech resembled a two-drink minimum Las Vegas act for a while, but it also had its stirring moments – like when Vinatieri addressed the game of football as if it was an old friend.
"I loved you with everything I had," Vinatieri told the game. "There was a time when I thought I wanted you more than air. But I was wrong. You were the air. You gave me purpose. You gave me direction. You gave me a life I could have never imagined.
"The beautiful thing about our relationship was that the more I gave to you, the more you gave back to me. The more I devoted myself to you, the more you rewarded me. The more I committed to you, the more you committed to me.
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"I tried to honor you every single day because I knew you deserved nothing less than my very best. I gave you 38 years of my life, and in return, you gave me a lifetime of memories. I gave you points, you gave me friendships. I gave you countless hours of work, you gave me the opportunity to travel the world, experience different cultures, and meet extraordinary people.
"Every sacrifice became an investment, and somehow, football, you always gave me back more than I put in. Looking back, I realize I was never just playing football. We were building a life together."
This speech doesn't need an apology to a thinned-skinned crowd of critics. It needs a replay in front of every future Hall of Fame speech writer, as a lesson on how it should be done.
DiJonai Carrington dismisses Sophie Cunningham's notion that flagrant foul was 'intentional'
Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington threw herself into the flames of controversy on Saturday when her flagrant foul left the Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham bloodied, leading to an ejection and a subsequent social media post that read "WHITE PRIVILEGE."
Cunningham said after the game she believed the foul was "intentional," suggesting that the foul could have been a receipt from when she clobbered Connecticut Sun guard Jacy Sheldon during a regular-season game early last year. Carrington played for the Dallas Wings in 2025.
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On Monday night, Carrington seemingly dismissed the notion that the foul was intentional. The Sky lost to the Seattle Storm 97-88.
"It was unfortunate that I made contact with her in the way that I did, but it was never intentional," she told reporters after the game, via the Chicago Sun-Times. "And, look, it might happen again. That’s just how I play. I’m gonna always go all out. I’m not gonna just let an open layup happen. But like I said, I’m never intending to hurt anybody, regardless of the outside noise or whatever the situation may be."
Carrington said she wanted "consistency across the board" when asked whether Cunningham should have been ejected for the shove she gave her after the foul.
"Whether it’s the foul that I commit, whether it’s the reaction or retaliation, I would just love for it to be consistent across the board, regardless of the name on your jersey or your skin color or the score of the game, whatever.
‘‘I don’t think we’re there yet. That’s something that I’ve talked to the league about, as well. I think that will eliminate a lot of frustrations we all have."
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Carrington attempted to explain away the "White privilege" post she made after the Fever game, responding to criticism from sports media personality Emmanuel Acho.
Though she said there was evidence to back up her post, she failed to provide any.
"I’ve never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege (that was your assumption). Try exercising your critical thinking skills, I know you studied psych," she wrote in a post on X.
"Furthermore, I’m the LAST thing from ignorant or asinine when it comes to speaking on "white privilege", do ya research on that one. I actually went to school, one of the top universities might I add, to educate myself on this exact subject. I would never use that term as a rhetorical weapon knowing the historical and social weight it holds without having the proper evidence to substantiate it."
She said she raised concerns to the league.
The WNBA has not responded to multiple requests for comment about the post.
Actress Swell Ariel Or takes advocacy for Israeli women further in new film ‘Tankistas’
Israeli actress Swell Ariel Or has long cared about championing Israeli women and Jews, but her new role playing an Israel Defense Forces unit captain during the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attacks has her taking her advocacy to the next level.
Since the Tel Aviv-born star of Netflix’s Israeli television series "The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem" hit Hollywood’s radar in 2021, she’s been on a mission — and it doesn’t involve chasing award nominations or lucrative brand endorsements like many rising young actresses in Tinseltown.
Instead, Or told Fox News Digital, her mission focuses on authentic storytelling and meaningful narratives that accurately represent her people.
"I think that, of course, the Oscars matter and Hollywood, I mean, like, it's like the Olympics for films and TV, right? But I've seen what it does to the industry to be driven by getting an award or getting accepted to an elite circle of intellectuals and art people," she said. "I just feel as a storyteller that it hurts — that's not what we’re telling stories for."
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The 27-year-old actress recently went viral for echoing that sentiment on Instagram for ARISE for Israel, an alliance whose mission is to "reinforce Israel’s security and economy," while promoting her new film, "Tankistas." The plural form of "tankista," the title means "tank crew members" or "tankers" in several languages.
"I don’t care about the Oscars. I don’t care about Hollywood. I don’t care about doing the biggest, greatest career… I care about honest representation of who we are," Or said about her upcoming film, which wrapped production earlier this year and is being edited in both English and Hebrew versions and is set for release next year.
The war drama, directed by Ayelet Menahemi ("Seven Blessings") and inspired by true events, follows the IDF’s first all-female tank unit and its 17-hour defense during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. As the unit’s captain, Or’s character leads three armored vehicles and engages Hamas militants in battle.
Or served in the IDF in real life before moving to Hollywood to pursue an acting and modeling career. She, along with fellow cast members, spent a good deal of time with the real-life women of the combat unit on which the film is based.
She also spoke about why the movie stands out among other combat films and female-focused superhero movies.
"The world is obsessed right now with female heroes, but so often, I feel like it's from the wrong reasons, because it sells or whatever," she said. "This film is very unique because if it was an American film about an all-female team company in World War II or whatever, it checks all the boxes of everything the world wants to see. But this is a feminist film written by women, based on a true story that actually happened, but it's Israeli."
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"It's not a typical war film, thank God, because unlike so many films that try to bring a female hero to the front, the characters here are based on real women," she continued. "They are diverse and human and complex, and it captures what the world so often fails to understand about Israeli women, especially about Israeli women in combat."
Or has made a habit of sharing her convictions while appearing prominently on podcasts and in viral clips of media commentary, where she’s addressed antisemitism and the importance of authentic representation for Jewish and Israeli women in entertainment.
She’s appeared on the "Stars of David with Elon Gold" podcast and "Reel Talk," and joined Tablet Magazine’s "Unorthodox Podcast" to discuss relocating to the U.S. shortly before Oct. 7 and what it’s like to be an Israeli artist abroad.
ARISE for Israel called her "one of the most powerful voices for Israelis and Jews in Hollywood."
Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO of the international, nonpartisan Israel education organization StandWithUs, called her an "important voice for a new generation at a time when too many Jews feel pressure to hide their identity, soften their connection to Israel, or remain silent in the face of antisemitism."
"Swell is standing tall and using her platform to tell the diverse stories of the Jewish people while encouraging others to do so," she added.
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"I feel like this community — it's so misunderstood," Or told Fox Digital about portraying Israeli women in a combat role. "You don't have a lot of stories who portray so many layers at the same time of a woman who's a commander in combat — the values, who they are, their humanity, the profound gap between how the world sees them and what their motives are and what they carry with them."
Besides "Tankistas," the actress can be seen in a new season of her Netflix show, which she said focuses heavily on the year 1948 and the Israeli War of Independence.
"This is a year that is very much relevant for people to learn more about," Or said.
She also recently finished shooting her first short film, "The Divide," which she said is being developed into a feature.
Despite her representation of her homeland, Or said she’s no stranger to facing backlash or listening to those who raise concerns about the tragedy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Last week, I walked in LA and a person approached me, and she's like, ‘I watched ‘Beauty Queen.’ I have to tell you, I define myself as Palestinian, but I watched the whole thing because I wanted to see Jerusalem of that day because my family came from there too’," Or recalled.
Regarding Oct. 7, Or said she knew six people who were murdered at the Nova music festival that day.
"You can have debates from here ‘til Russia and back about what happened on October 7. But the festival, it's like something that you can't debate about," she said.
"Growing up in Israel, you are born at a crossroads of so many identities and histories of your own people, so you got to love storytelling because your family's going to tell you all of them, and for me, it's my passion, and it's like my purpose in life," Or continued.
"It's been my goal even before October 7, but especially after, when I saw that it’s not just a passion of mine, but a necessity," she added. "That's the difference. Now it's a necessity."
Pentagon races to buy 10X more missiles as Iran war dwindles arsenal, threatens readiness for China aggression
The Pentagon is preparing a dramatic course correction after years of purchasing key missile-defense interceptors in relatively modest numbers — even as China built up the world's largest arsenal of conventional ballistic and cruise missiles and the U.S. increasingly focused on the threat of a conflict in the Indo-Pacific.
Following a string of missile-heavy conflicts, U.S. air defenses have been used repeatedly to protect Israel, American forces in the Middle East and Navy ships in the Red Sea, drawing down some of the Pentagon's most sophisticated and difficult-to-replace munitions.
The Pentagon's abrupt course correction raises a question that has taken on new urgency after years of missile-intensive warfare: Why did the U.S. wait so long to build deeper interceptor magazines?
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The Army's fiscal 2027 budget, reviewed by Fox News Digital, calls for a massive increase in purchases of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors, part of a broader effort to rapidly expand a munitions industrial base that cannot be scaled overnight.
The shift is particularly striking when compared with what the military was buying only a few years ago.
The budget documents show PAC-3 MSE procurement at 230 missiles in fiscal 2024 and 214 in fiscal 2025. The same FY2026 budget book shows the Army Requirements Oversight Council had increased its acquisition objective for the missile from 3,376 to 13,773 in April 2025 — more than quadrupling the requirement.
"The problem is 25 years of not buying enough munitions," retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.
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PAC-3 MSE and THAAD are among the military's most important defenses against ballistic missile attacks. Patriot batteries provide shorter-range protection for troops, air bases and other critical assets, while THAAD is designed to intercept ballistic missiles at higher altitudes and greater distances, giving commanders another layer of defense against incoming attacks.
Reuters reported this week that the Army has used "virtually all" of its ATACMS and Precision Strike Missile inventories in just five months of conflict with Iran, while also drawing heavily on Patriot and THAAD interceptors.
The rapid expenditure, coupled with years of relatively modest procurement, raises a broader question: What would happen in a longer conflict against a near-peer adversary like China?
"The shortage was entirely foreseeable, and there have been arguments surrounding interceptor and munition procurement numbers for decades," Jim Fein, a defense industrial base researcher at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. "Ultimately, budgetary tradeoffs were made, and those arguing for other programs won out.
The Pentagon budget documents reviewed by Fox News Digital show years of relatively modest procurement for some of the military's most important missile-defense interceptors.
Army budget documents show PAC-3 MSE procurement fell from 328 missiles in fiscal 2022 to 252 in fiscal 2023, 230 in fiscal 2024 and 214 in fiscal 2025. The fiscal 2026 request began to move higher, with funding for 320 PAC-3 MSE missiles.
THAAD procurement was even smaller. The Missile Defense Agency bought 11 interceptors in fiscal 2024 and 12 in fiscal 2025. Its fiscal 2026 base request called for 25, while an additional $317 million in mandatory reconciliation funding added 12 more, bringing the total to 37 interceptors.
The procurement history broadly aligns with the findings of a new Heritage Foundation analysis, which estimates annual production capacity at 620 PAC-3 MSE missiles and 96 THAAD interceptors. Much of the difference between U.S. procurement and total production was accounted for by foreign military sales, according to Fein, who authored the report.
Lagging U.S. purchases were the byproduct of decisions made across both the Pentagon and Congress.
"Budget tradeoffs obviously lead to hard choices, and it now looks like many of those past decisions were wrong," Fein said. "That includes decisions by the Pentagon in what they request, but ultimately what Congress appropriates."
"The shortage was entirely foreseeable, and there have been arguments surrounding interceptor and munition procurement numbers for decades. Ultimately, budgetary tradeoffs were made, and those arguing for other programs won out."
By fiscal 2027, the approach had changed dramatically. Responsibility for THAAD procurement had shifted to the Army, and the Army request supports production of 857 THAAD interceptors: 27 through discretionary funding and another 830 through mandatory Munitions Acceleration Council funding.
But ordering thousands more missiles on paper is only the beginning.
The new production plans will require Congress to provide the money and industry to build the additional manufacturing capacity needed to deliver them. Fein called the administration's new agreements with defense companies "the most significant effort to address munitions shortfall in, at a minimum, decades."
"The trick will be obtaining the funding needed to turn the framework agreements into actual production," he said.
Even with the money in place, replenishing U.S. magazines will take time. Advanced interceptors rely on specialized production lines and a network of suppliers producing rocket motors, seekers, guidance systems, energetics and other components that cannot be expanded overnight.
That means the dramatic increase in planned procurement is less an immediate refill of depleted inventories than an attempt to build the industrial capacity needed to sustain much higher production over the coming years.
The stakes extend well beyond the war with Iran, the Heritage report argues.
A conflict with China could place far greater and more sustained demands on U.S. missile defenses, particularly if Beijing struck American bases and forces across the Indo-Pacific with large salvos of ballistic and cruise missiles.
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"Interceptor inventory is not a supporting detail in a China contingency—it is what allows the Joint Force to survive long enough to win," Fein wrote.
The report estimates the United States would require 7,082 PAC-3 MSE interceptors and 1,394 THAAD interceptors for what it considers a minimum viable inventory in a conflict with China—several times the inventories it estimates the U.S. currently holds. Actual U.S. stockpile levels remain classified.
At current production rates, Heritage estimates it would take between roughly nine and more than 80 years to build the interceptor inventories it believes are needed, depending on the missile system. "The window of opportunity to bridge the interceptor gap is closing," Fein wrote.
GOP senators rally behind 9/11 families in push to ban Mamdani from anniversary ceremony: 'He's a disgrace'
Republican senators are rallying behind the petition from families of 9/11 victims to block New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani from attending the 25th anniversary remembrance ceremony of the attacks at Ground Zero.
Several families of 9/11 victims launched an online petition calling on the National September 11 Memorial & Museum to not include Mamdani in the commemorative events honoring those who lost their lives in the terror attacks 25 years ago.
Fox News Digital asked senators on Capitol Hill about the efforts to ban Mamdani from attending the memorial, and whether it would be appropriate for him to show up given claims that the democratic socialist has failed to adequately condemn Islamic extremism.
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"It might be appropriate if he goes while wearing a paper bag over his head," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News Digital.
"I mean I can't defend anything that guy says or does," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said.
The petition cites eight specific concerns about Mamdani, including claims he has never directly condemned the phrase "globalize the intifada," allegedly associating with extremist and anti-American individuals and claims that his beliefs are shaped by his father, who called for destigmatizing suicide bombers and drew comparisons between the United States and al-Qaeda.
"His opinions on America's place in the world are pretty different than probably most of those families feel," Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital.
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The families’ plea also points to claims of Mamdani praising and appointing people linked to radical Islam, his comments blaming the United States for the radicalization of al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki and his recent endorsement of democratic socialist Darializa Aria Chevalier.
"He's platformed Islamic extremism, and he openly supports Hamas, as does his wife," Sheehy claimed. "And Hamas is not just an adjacent organization to all the other Muslim extremists, they're one of the core members of it."
Mamdani has taken fire from many GOP lawmakers over his refusal to call for Hamas to lay down its weapons during an interview last year, as well as for other claims of ties to Islamic extremism and alleging the NYC leader of antisemitism.
"Given these concerns, we respectfully ask that the organizers carefully consider whether Mr. Mamdani’s participation would align with the intention of the ceremony and the expectations of the families most directly affected by the tragedy," the petition states.
NEW YORK GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE URGES 9/11 ATTENDEES TO TURN AWAY FROM MAMDANI DURING CEREMONY
"I think he has said some pretty disgusting things and seems to be on that trend line that he's going to talk like that more and more," Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said. "And so I certainly can understand why some of the families feel that way."
As of Monday evening, the petition currently has over 82,000 signatures in support of the efforts of the families to bar Mamdani from the event.
"As far as I'm concerned, he's a disgrace and an embarrassment to the country, but we'll see if he shows up, right?" Sheehy said.
After hearing of the petition, Mamdani shared that he still plans to attend this year’s 9/11 commemoration, according to CBS News.
Mamdani’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
"At the end of the day, those families should have the say who's going to show up and honor the memory of their own families," Sheehy said.
Prince William, Kate Middleton could seek 'gentleman's agreement' to protect Prince George at Eton: experts
Prince William and Kate Middleton could use a "gentleman's agreement" when Prince George starts Eton College in the fall — and it could face the ultimate test in the smartphone era.
Vanity Fair reported that the Prince and Princess of Wales could forge an agreement with the British press to limit intrusions into the life of their eldest son. Royal author and former broadcaster Simon Vigar said it’s the same approach that protected the early days of their romance at the University of St. Andrews.
Fox News Digital reached out to Kensington Palace for comment.
"Prince William and Princess Catherine are realistic enough to know that they cannot completely control the environment around Prince George," Kinsey Schofield, host of YouTube's "Kinsey Schofield Unfiltered," told Fox News Digital. "Most people have a camera in their pocket now, and one photograph can be online and around the world before the palace even knows it exists."
"What they can do is establish very clear boundaries with the British press," she said. "There is a huge difference between legitimate coverage of Prince George carrying out public engagements and somebody photographing a teenager going about his public life at school. The palace cannot police every teenager with an iPhone, but the press can make a conscious decision not to create a market for those intrusive photographs."
In June, Kensington Palace announced that George, who turned 13 on July 22, will attend the prestigious boarding school where his father and uncle, Prince Harry, were educated.
WATCH: PRINCE GEORGE EARNED ETON COLLEGE SPOT WITH NO SPECIAL TREATMENT: EXPERT
Eton College, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI, has educated generations of leaders, including 20 British prime ministers. George, who is second in line to the throne, will likely meet many of his future peers there.
British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital that the "new age" of smartphones and social media is one of the many reasons Eton College is chosen "among the elites."
"Many classmates are from extremely wealthy and well-connected families," she said. "Within this circle are unwritten rules of conduct. Throwing a pupil to the media risks being ostracized from the inner circles."
Eton College is known for fiercely protecting its students from prying eyes, creating a world within its walls where they can simply be pupils.
"For Prince George and every high-profile teenager, everything could become international news within minutes," royal broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital.
"We're in a better place," she said. "Years ago, after Princess Diana's death, I believe Prince William and Prince Harry forced positive change. The old paparazzi harassment was replaced with something somewhat controlled and truce-like."
When William and Harry were in school, an informal agreement was reached between the palace and the British press: As long as the brothers were pursuing their studies, their privacy was to be respected, Vanity Fair reported.
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According to the outlet, this media truce allowed William and Kate to quietly build their relationship outside the public eye when they were students.
William and Kate met in 2001 at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. They were close friends before they began dating more than a year later. Their romance remained a secret for nearly two years before becoming public. That level of discretion, Vanity Fair reported, was made possible, in part, by the informal agreement with the press.
Vigar told the outlet that William and Kate want to offer the same level of privacy to their three children. Their children's first romantic relationships as they grow older "are already the subject of careful consideration," according to Vanity Fair. If the press respects George's privacy while he's in school, it could set a precedent for his siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, to enjoy the same discretion.
"The 'gentleman's agreement' is more than necessary now," said Chard. "Prince William knows firsthand what privacy during school gave him. This handshake is perceived as a little fragile now and not necessary due to traditional paparazzi. Friends at school with their smartphones can become instant paparazzi."
"George will have mentors, both family and at school, to guide him through pitfalls. No one wants him to feel burdened at 13. He should have space to grow, to be with friends, to be pain-free at Eton."
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The Prince and Princess of Wales are also navigating what it's like to raise a teenager.
During the Commonwealth Games in Scotland, cycling champion Laura Kenny invited the couple to "come and give it a go" on a tandem bike, The Telegraph reported.
When Welsh TV presenter Gethin Jones asked the royal children if they would like to see their parents "on a tandem in the velodrome," George quickly said, "No."
"We embarrass you enough as it is," said William.
When the royal family received their own Welsh cycling outfits, William joked, "You know me, Lycra!"
"I won't whip the shorts out," the prince promised.
Royal experts told Fox News Digital that the privacy challenge could become more complicated when George starts dating.
"George understands why people are interested in him," said Schofield. "A teenage girlfriend may find herself facing international attention simply because she sat next to him or was photographed leaving the same place. But Prince William will remember exactly what Catherine experienced. Her family, her friendships, her background and, eventually, almost every aspect of her life became subjects of enormous public interest."
"I would expect William and Catherine to be fiercely protective when the day comes," said Schofield. "Especially while George and whoever he's dating are still minors. And I think the media has to exercise some common sense. A teenage romance involving Prince George is not automatically a royal courtship. Hopefully, we will all give him that space."
Royal broadcaster Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital it's also likely William will remind his eldest son not to cause "mischief" while at Eton.
"George has been very family friendly, so I don't envision major changes in the dynamics," said Turner. "He must remember William knows every trick in the book."
"Eton was also picked due to its proximity to their home at Windsor," Fordwich pointed out. "Prince William credits his afternoon teas with his beloved grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Sundays. It was just a short walk from Eton. George will likely stay close to both his parents and spend time with them."
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Schofield told Fox News Digital that the Prince and Princess of Wales are determined to let George enjoy his school years and make new friends in private, without the added pressures of royal life.
"Teenagers naturally want independence," said Schofield. "Prince George is going to want to make his own decisions and develop interests that have nothing to do with becoming king. At the same time, public curiosity about him is only going to increase.
"These years could be enormously important in shaping the king he eventually becomes. William and Catherine had introduced royal life gradually rather than overwhelming him with it. We've seen George at family engagements, but he has still been allowed to be a schoolboy first."
"The goal shouldn't be to manufacture the perfect future king at 13," she continued. "It should be to produce a confident, grounded adult who understands the institution but has also experienced enough of ordinary life to understand the people he will one day serve. Giving Prince George a genuine adolescence could ultimately be one of the best preparations for kingship William and Catherine can give him."
California sued over policy that could free serial killers as Laci Peterson's friend sounds alarm
The family and friends of Laci Peterson are among the advocates of California murder victims opposing a new parole board policy that would open a path to recommend resentencing or clemency for serial killers, mass shooters and other convicts serving sentences of life without parole when it goes into effect later this year.
"We're talking about people that would have been qualified for the death penalty, OK? So they are the worst of the worst," said Anne Marie Schubert, a former Sacramento District Attorney who is now the president and CEO of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation (CJLF), a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that filed a lawsuit over the new policy.
"We are talking about cop killers. We're talking about baby killers. We had a family at our press conference of a six-week-old that was tortured to death by her father over a week-long period of time, all of which, what I understand, was on video — and so you talk about baby killers. We talk about mass shooters, there's a case out of Fresno that happened in the early '90s where a guy killed 10 people and he pled to life without parole. He would potentially be eligible."
Schubert singled out some high-profile prisoners serving life without parole:
Scott Peterson was convicted of killing his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn son after she vanished on Christmas Eve in 2002. Gang member David Hill fatally shot San Francisco Police Officer Isaac Espinoza in 2004 and wounded his partner. Darryl Lamar Collins was 24 when he killed two people in 1995 but was granted early release in 2017 thanks to changes in California's youthful offender parole law — only to kill his girlfriend Fatima Johnson less than a year later. They are among thousands who could potentially benefit from the new regulations, Schubert said.
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According to Schubert, the board exceeded its statutory authority by using the bureaucratic rulemaking process to create a resentencing and clemency review system for prisoners sentenced to life without parole, a plan that California's Office of Administrative Law approved on July 9.
"The main primary arguments deal with the fact that one, they don't have the legal authority to do this, that this is an administrative bureaucratic agency that's trying to rewrite the legislature, that they're trying to rewrite sentencing laws that came out of ballot initiatives," she said. "And really, this is a violation of what we call Marsy's Law, which is a constitutional provision that supports the finality of judgments for victims in California."
The CJLF, along with a coalition of victims' families and nonprofit groups, filed the lawsuit in an effort to stop the board's new policy before it goes into effect in October.
"The Board...has taken it upon itself to expand this recommendation authority into a full-blown system of reviews and hearings paralleling and resembling the system of parole hearings — the system that the people of California voted to curb in Marsy’s Law, Proposition 9 of 2008, due to the prolonged suffering it imposes on crime victims and their families," reads the petition, filed in Sacramento's Superior Court on July 15.
"The Board has extended this parallel system to include inmates convicted of first degree murder with special circumstances sentenced to life without parole, despite initiative statutes mandating life without parole as the minimum sentence for this crime and forbidding the striking of special circumstances."
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In addition to alleging the new regulations run contrary to California law, the petition raises concerns that the new process would force victims' families to repeatedly relive traumatic cases that were supposed to be over.
CJLF is working with the victims of some of California's most notorious murder cases, including Sharon Rocha, the mother of Laci Peterson.
"My daughter, Laci, was eight months pregnant when she and my unborn grandson, Conner, were murdered," Rocha said in a statement. "Scott Peterson was initially sentenced to death. After his death sentence was overturned, he was resentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Our family believed that sentence would finally bring some measure of certainty. Victims should not have to spend the rest of their lives wondering whether the person responsible will receive another opportunity for release. Justice demands finality."
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Peterson has maintained his innocence for decades and is still fighting his conviction in court. The California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence but has upheld his murder convictions. Prosecutors have opposed his claims and say the evidence against him is "overwhelming."
When Peterson's death sentence was reduced to life without parole in 2021, Laci's close friend Kim Juarez said she reluctantly accepted it because she believed it still meant he would never walk free.
"The only certainty that we had when Scott was put away was that he wasn't ever going to get out," she told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. "That's what, to me, is aggravating."
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Juarez described the last two decades as the repeated removal of scabs as Laci's friends and family have watched appeals, a resentencing and now another potential avenue that could eventually lead to Peterson's freedom.
"In a world where nothing is guaranteed and in something so big, we are guaranteed to never see Laci and Conner again. That's never going to happen," Juarez said. "The person that took her away — we just want to stick to what was handed down to him. This isn't about punishing him further. It's just about sticking to what was handed down to him."
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Juarez described trauma that extended well outside of the courtroom and the legal process. Years after Peterson's conviction, she was pregnant with her own first child. But she found herself gripped by the fear that what happened to her friend could happen to her.
"I was about six months pregnant and I said, 'If you decide that this isn't the life you want, don't kill me. Just let me go,'" she told her husband, a firefighter she'd met while handing out missing person flyers.
Laci Peterson was eight months pregnant on Christmas Eve in 2002, when she went missing from her Modesto home. Peterson was charged with killing her and their unborn son, Conner, when their bodies washed up months later in the San Francisco Bay.
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"There was life before this happened and there's life after this happened — this will always be a part of our lives," Juarez said. "Every Christmas, my family decorates a miniature Christmas tree for her."
But Juarez said Scott Peterson continues to cast a shadow over those close to Laci.
"She's never forgotten, and we want to make her the focus of all of these memories, but it's like he's the cloud that hangs over it," Juarez said. "The likelihood of him getting out, I don't know what the likelihood is, but the fact that it's on the table, that it is a possibility, is scary in itself."
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The dispute is also playing out against the backdrop of an unsuccessful effort in the California Legislature last year to expand parole eligibility for some younger inmates serving life without parole.
"Last year there was a bill, it was called SB 672, that... tried to achieve a similar goal of letting life without parole out, but they limited that to people under 26," Schubert said. "They could not get that bill through the legislature.... So in lieu of that, they backdoor it, and they go through a bureaucratic process that's not just under 26, it's everybody."
The board, in public filings, countered that there's nothing in existing state law that blocks it from doing so.
"Penal Code sections 1172.1 and 4801 do not exclude individuals sentenced to life without the possibility of parole from consideration by the Board for recommendation of commutation or resentencing," the board wrote in response to a concerned citizen who protested the new policy on inmates serving life without parole.
"Rather, these statutes grant the Board discretion to evaluate these cases and determine whether referral to the sentencing court or the Governor is appropriate. Had the Legislature intended to bar this population from consideration under either statute, it would have done so."
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Schubert, however, disagreed with that interpretation.
"The law says in California they can write regulations related to parole," she told Fox News Digital. "That's the word, 'parole.' Well, they don't get parole for life without parole."
Neither the parole board nor the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation responded to a request for comment.
Can you bring a birthday cake to a restaurant? Viral pizzeria dispute reveals the rules
A viral confrontation at a New Jersey pizzeria over a child's birthday cake has put a spotlight on the unwritten rules surrounding outside food at restaurants — and what both diners and restaurant operators should do when those rules collide.
The controversy began after a family celebrating a 5-year-old's birthday at Joey Tomato's in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, brought a cake into the restaurant and later asked for a knife to cut it. Family members said they had called ahead and received permission, while the owner said Joey Tomato's has a policy prohibiting outside desserts.
A heated exchange with owner Doreen Sullivan-Karcich was captured on video, prompting Joey Tomato's to defend its position and argue that the viral footage lacked the context of what happened beforehand.
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"We are a pizza restaurant. Not a party venue, not a bakery, not a rental hall," Joey Tomato's said in a social media post responding to the controversy.
The pizzeria said it has policies governing outside food for reasons including "food safety, liability" and keeping operations running smoothly. Joey Tomato's also pushed back against criticism of its stance.
"These policies aren't up for public vote just because one moment enforcing them got recorded," Joey Tomato's said, while adding in jest that it was considering a new tagline: "We don't do cake. We do pizza."
So, what is the proper etiquette?
"In terms of someone bringing in food from another restaurant or even from home, it's always best to ask in advance," according to etiquette expert Diane Gottsman, owner of the Protocol School of Texas in San Antonio.
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Restaurants that allow outside cakes may charge a cutting fee, Gottsman noted.
"All in all, I think there's nothing wrong with bringing something in as long as you get permission first," she said.
If a customer gets it wrong, however, restaurant employees can enforce the policy without escalating the situation, Gottsman said. She recommended having a manager approach the table rather than putting the responsibility on a server.
"A manager could come up and say, you know, 'If you'd excuse me, I just want to let you know it's our policy not to let outside food come in,'" Gottsman said, noting there could be health or allergy concerns behind such rules.
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The manager can then politely ask that the food not be served while offering an alternative.
"'I apologize. May I get you something? May we bring you something?'" Gottsman said. "All of these kindnesses really go a long way."
Robert Mahon, managing partner of Mahon Hospitality Group in New York City, said his restaurants allow customers to bring birthday cakes, preferably with advance notice.
"Even in cases where they haven't called ahead, we certainly wouldn't want to cause a scene or take away from someone's celebration," Mahon said.
The restaurant owner lost her credibility by reacting the way she did, Gottsman said.
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"You can do it. You can just do it with some decorum," Gottsman said. "Sometimes we have to set our boundaries, but we set our boundaries with professionalism, with kindness, with compassion and consideration."
For Mahon, whatever pressures a restaurant is facing should remain out of public view.
"Customers come to enjoy themselves and celebrate special occasions, and whatever is happening behind the scenes shouldn't affect their experience," he said.
The Medicare for all trade-offs socialists aren't talking about, according to experts
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is one of several socialist candidates making Medicare-for-all a centerpiece of their midterm campaigns, defending the policy even as El-Sayed acknowledged Sunday that it would require Americans to pay more in taxes in exchange for coverage untethered from employment.
The stakes extend beyond who pays the insurance bill. A nationwide single-payer system would substantially change how healthcare is financed, what providers are paid and the role of private insurance, while potentially affecting employment and access to care under a framework radically different from the existing "Medicare" model its name invokes, according to experts.
Cato Institute health policy studies director Michael Cannon and Heritage Foundation health policy expert Ed Haislmaier, who has worked with lawmakers on ObamaCare alternatives, argue those trade-offs are often obscured by the "Medicare-for-all" label.
"As the late P.J. O’Rourke liked to say, ‘if your healthcare is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when its free,'" Cannon said.
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In his NBC interview, El-Sayed defended Medicare for all by saying that the average person's second-largest W-2 deduction "is [paid] to your health insurance company."
"So imagine, instead of paying that to your health insurance company, whose CEO makes $20 million a year, instead, you paid a little bit more in taxes for healthcare that you wouldn’t lose if you lost your job or turned 26 or got married or got divorced."
One of the central questions is how much providers would be paid. Medicare currently pays hospitals and physicians substantially less than private insurers for many services, while a single-payer system would dramatically expand the number of patients whose care is financed at government-set rates.
Cannon warned that policymakers could face a choice between raising substantially more federal revenue and holding down payments at the risk of some providers reducing their participation.
Canada and England have long been cited by critics as cautionary tales against implementing socialized medicine because of concerns about long wait times, including waits of weeks for MRIs in Canada, limited access to prompt care and well-to-do Westerners seeking care in the U.S. to avoid waiting at home.
Still, Cannon argued the U.S. system is critically flawed and that market competition, including taking employers and the government out of the equation and putting spending choices in patients' hands, could provide the closest framework to universal healthcare.
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Haislmaier dubbed single-payer Medicare-for-all a "solution in search of a problem."
"[Medicare-for-all proponents] haven't got a solution for the real question, which is not the coverage, but the cost. Are we going to force competition so that people who provide better care at a lower price get more of the business? That's our vision," he said of conservatives.
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Instead of giving the government more authority, President Donald Trump "stumbled onto something that might work," in Haislmaier's words, by proposing a shift away from letting health insurers manage the pool of money for each American and instead depositing funds into a restricted personal account that could be used only to buy or retain insurance.
Meanwhile, several pieces of the current American system can be found within the various "socialized" models that El-Sayed, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and others want to replicate in the U.S. Socialized healthcare also does not describe a single international model.
The Department of Veterans Affairs draws parallels to the British NHS, while employer-sponsored insurance is a key feature of the German system, Cannon noted. And Obamacare's framework for ensuring eligibility for care is similar to systems in Canada and Scandinavia, he said.
But the U.S. may already have the developed world beat on socialized medicine, the experts said. Cannon argued that the Medicare system for seniors referenced in the left's platform is unique to the U.S.
"When Medicare-for-all supporters say that they want a European-style Medicare system, they're already telling you they don't know what they're talking about because no European nation has something like [our] Medicare Program," he said.
Cannon also resisted labeling Medicare-for-all supporters socialists, arguing the existing U.S. system already contains extensive government intervention through Medicare, Medicaid, employer-sponsored insurance tax policy and Obamacare.
In that way, he said, the far-left Medicare-for-all crowd and Republicans appear to be vying for the title of who cares least about healthcare.
"If you think this is a question between should we have a government controlling our healthcare sector or not, you've already missed the boat. The government already controls the U.S. Health sector."
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The Medicare model outlined in the socialists' platform is also not "free" healthcare because beneficiaries face premiums, deductibles and cost-sharing.
Some current Medicare-for-all proposals discourage or appear to prohibit private insurance coverage, which could affect physicians' ability or willingness to provide access to all patients, particularly if demand increases as out-of-pocket costs decline, according in part to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.
Maintaining such broad access to care while creating a one-size-fits-all model or keeping provider payments near current Medicare rates could cause hospitals to reduce participation, Cannon warned.
Financing is the other side of the equation. Moving most healthcare spending onto the federal government's books would require an enormous increase in federal revenue, even though some of that would replace premiums and other healthcare expenses currently paid by employers and households.
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Cannon said that would double or triple federal taxes.
If Medicare for all proponents want coverage to be as close to universal as possible, the model should remove, not add, government barriers, Cannon said. He noted that Americans one year away from Medicare eligibility and those in their first year of eligibility each spend twice as much on healthcare as people in other developed countries.
"Medicare is not the solution here," he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed for comment but did not immediately receive a response.