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NFL legend Drew Brees reportedly almost pulled off a shocking comeback for Broncos' AFC title game
Hours before the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos kicked off on "Monday Night Football", NFL insider Adam Schefter dropped a stunner ... that 47-year-old Drew Brees nearly came off the couch to start for Denver in last season's AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots.
After Broncos quarterback Bo Nix broke his ankle in overtime during the divisional round, Denver was forced to turn to backup Jarrett Stidham. That led Broncos assistants Joe Lombardi and Pete Carmichael, two former Saints coaches, to quietly reach out to Brees.
Head coach Sean Payton was kept in the dark until months later. Brees reportedly took the offer seriously and held a private throwing workout to test his arm.
However, wrist discomfort during the session killed the idea. Realizing his body could no longer execute, Brees allegedly called off the comeback.
Had Brees returned, it would have been one of the craziest one-game comebacks in sports history. He had not taken an NFL snap in five full calendar years after retiring in 2021.
SEAN PAYTON WIPES AWAY TEARS AFTER DREW BREES ASKS HIM FOR INCREDIBLE HALL OF FAME HONOR
Throwing a 47-year-old into a freezing, snowy AFC title game with zero practice reps was a massive physical gamble.
Plus, taking a single active snap would have reset his five-year retirement clock, pushing his Hall of Fame induction from August 2026 back to 2031.
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On the "New Heights" podcast with Travis and Jason Kelce, Brees recalled how the Miami Dolphins rejected him in 2006 after team doctors gave his shoulder a 25% chance of recovery. Nick Saban spent years regretting that failed physical, admitting it prevented his Dolphins from reaching new heights and pushed Brees to New Orleans.
In the end, Stidham started, the Broncos lost 10-7 to New England, and Denver was left wondering what if.
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UK breakup push escalates amid historic pact after Trump backs reunification of Ireland
The leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland called Monday for the British government to "prepare for, plan and facilitate" constitutional change that could lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom, with the remarks coming days after President Donald Trump said he would "love to see" Irish reunification.
"Westminster’s time is coming to an end," Scottish First Minister John Swinney, Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill said in a historic joint declaration issued in Cardiff.
The nationalist party leaders had met Monday to strengthen cooperation among Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and advance what they described as "constitutional change."
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The declaration, signed during the summit in Cardiff, signals an unprecedented challenge to Prime Minister Andy Burnham and the U.K.’s constitutional settlement.
Trump spoke about the status of Northern Ireland over the weekend, saying Saturday during a visit to Dublin: "It’s going to happen eventually. It might as well happen now."
On Sunday, Trump repeated his support for a united Ireland, saying it made sense to merge the Republic of Ireland with Northern Ireland.
"It just seems to me that you have Northern Ireland and you have Ireland, and it would seem to me that one of the naturals of all time is put them together," Trump said in Doonbeg.
NIGEL FARAGE RESIGNING FROM UK PARLIAMENT
"You asked about Scotland. That one I won't talk about yet. I'll save that for another day," he added.
By Monday, the nationalist leaders had released a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to drive constitutional change.
They said no Westminster government has the right to block democratic decisions made by Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
"Each of our nations has the right to determine its own future, through democratic means and in accordance with the wishes of its people," the three leaders wrote.
"For the first time ever, people across these islands have First Ministers in Scotland, in Wales and in the North of Ireland who are all committed to independence from the United Kingdom. For people watching across these islands – for people watching around the world – there could be no clearer sign that Westminster’s time is coming to an end," the statement continued.
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"We call for the British Government to prepare for, plan and facilitate constitutional change in each jurisdiction," the memorandum said.
According to GB News, Burnham was told Monday that he could not stop the breakup of the U.K.
Sinn Féin, the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, issued the warning after signing the memorandum with the SNP and Plaid Cymru.
O’Neill said the three nations shared a "common cause" because "Westminster does not and will never serve our people well."
She added during a news conference that Burnham would not be able to "hold back the tide" of nationalism.
"We’re certainly living in times of enormous change, change that is unstoppable, change that, no matter what is said by any British prime minister, will not be able to hold back the tide of what’s happening in front of our eyes right now.
"Our common cause here is the understanding that Westminster does not and will never serve our people well," she added.
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The memorandum commits the parties to cooperation on economic policy, renewable energy and rebuilding ties with the European Union, among other areas.
It also calls for greater self-determination and states that the nations should work together as equals.
A spokesperson for Burnham said: "The Prime Minister is committed to delivering change across all four nations of the United Kingdom and believes strongly in the Union.
"The United Kingdom is at its best when people come together around our shared values and problem-solving, rather than division, and the Prime Minister will continue to ease pressures on household finances and delivering greater economic security, rather than engaging in constitutional debates or further referendums."
Fox News Digital has reached out to 10 Downing Street for comment.
Oklahoma State might have known which plays Oregon Ducks were running during upset win
While Week 2 of the college football season was filled with drama, the typical chaos, and the game of the year with Texas-Ohio State, the most shocking result of the weekend was Oklahoma State's upset win over the Oregon Ducks.
This preseason, most analysts expected the Ducks to be one of the top few teams in the country. Oregon was once again a playoff team in 2025, with their only losses coming to eventual National Champion Indiana. They had another typically excellent recruiting class, with four five-star high schoolers joining an already loaded roster.
Quarterback Dante Moore surprisingly returned for another season, and while head coach Dan Lanning had to replace two coordinators, expectations were that the transition would be seamless thanks to picking internal promotions.
Through two games however, no team has been more disappointing. Oregon struggled to put away Boise State in Eugene in week one, ultimately winning 34-27. Week two was far worse.
Several turnovers forced by the Ducks' defense papered over what was a dominant performance by the Cowboys. Oklahoma State ran a whopping 83 plays for 554 yards, a solid 6.7 yards per play. They averaged nearly six yards per carry on the ground, good for 237 total rushing yards.
NEW AP POLL TOP 25 PUNISHES OHIO STATE, OKLAHOMA, OREGON, TEXAS JUMPS TO NO 1 AFTER BIG COMEBACK
Meanwhile, Oregon could never get much going offensively. The Ducks' vaunted offensive line was frequently overwhelmed, leading to an anemic 3 yards per carry and just 281 total yards with 4.8 yards per play. Sometimes upsets are fluky, with some pivotal breaks going the underdogs' way. Not this time. The Cowboys dominated and deserved to win. If anything, the ultimate final margin was misleadingly close.
Beyond the shock of a team that had lost 12 straight games, that lost to Tulsa in week one, dominating an opponent that had national championship aspirations, it raised several questions. Namely, how the heck did this happen? And according to a postgame report out of OK State, the Cowboys might have had some help from the Ducks themselves.
"We were noticing earlier in the week that their (Oregon’s) offensive line had tendencies that helped us key into run (or) pass and a couple areas we could take advantage of," said linebacker Tate Romney. "and obviously our defensive line was keyed into that. That was one big thing that gave us a big advantage."
Well then. That's interesting, isn't it? It's like in baseball, when a pitcher tips his pitches and lets hitters know what's coming.
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That might not have been all their telegraphing either. Landon Tengwall on his show this week added to what Andrew Nemec found on quarterback Dante Moore.
Essentially, Moore against Oklahoma State had two different stances in his pre-snap setup, using the same configuration before runs, and then a different configuration against the pass.
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It's not clear whether the Cowboys were aware of that "tell" too, or if it was just the offensive and defensive line movement that tipped them off. But it presents an interesting possibility: is Oregon's poor performance due, at least partially, to giving the defense free clues as to what's coming?
Maybe. But it's always easy to point to these types of things when you're losing. And even if they were telegraphing their plays, individual Oklahoma State players would still have to win their battles against their matchups. You can know a pass is coming, but if your defensive line is overmatched, there's no guarantee you get to the quarterback. Not to mention that the Cowboys offense moved the ball seemingly at will against Oregon's defense. And nobody's said anything about the Ducks "play tipping" their coverages and blitzes.
Oregon plays Portland State this coming weekend, so any "corrections," or lack thereof, won't matter given the massive talent gap. But with a massive game against the now No. 12 USC Trojans at the Coliseum looming on Sept. 26, Lanning and the rest of the coaching staff will be combing the tape to fix their predictability.
Ole Miss and LSU will deliver cinema, but the next week for each team could be their most pivotal tests
The most-anticipated game of the college football regular season will take place in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday night, with a gold-and-purple-clad Lane Kiffin returning to town to take on the team and fanbase he abandoned just 10 months ago.
On paper, the LSU-Ole Miss matchup features everything a college football game could ever want. For starters, it's a historic rivalry matchup featuring two Top 10 teams with huge SEC Championship and College Football Playoff implications on the line. You add in the Kiffin of it all, and the contest goes from just a great college football game to a full-blown spectacle.
If Kiffin's first game against Ole Miss as the head coach at LSU were being held in Baton Rouge, it wouldn't have nearly as much of a mystique around it. Thankfully, the football gods had it made that this game would be played in Mississippi.
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If you're an LSU fan, there has to be something at least slightly unsettling about Kiffin and his $50 million Tigers roster coming to Oxford to take on an Ole Miss team headlined by quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy, two players Kiffin and his staff fought to come join them on the bayou. Leaving Oxford without a win would deliver a dose of reality to both Tigers fans and Kiffin himself that perhaps things aren't quite as they seem, at least not yet.
On the other sideline, you have an Ole Miss team that not only lost key pieces from last season, but is also being coached by a man in Pete Golding, who is entering just his sixth game as a head coach. You also have a fanbase foaming at the mouth to see Kiffin squirm on the opposing sideline inside the stadium he coached in for six seasons.
In terms of question marks, Ole Miss has the most between the two teams heading into Saturday, but they could also have the answers in the form of Chambliss and Lacy, two Heisman Trophy candidates.
The angles of what makes Saturday's game simply so massive are virtually endless, and while the game itself will undoubtedly deliver, the contests that both teams will have to play in just seven days later could very well be the most pivotal ones of their respective seasons.
Ole Miss travels to Gainesville to take on Florida in Week 4, and if the Gators take care of Auburn on the road this Saturday, The Swamp will be absolutely jumping when the Rebels arrive. That statement will be true whether Ole Miss beats LSU or loses by three touchdowns. Florida head coach Jon Sumrall will be looking to catch an Ole Miss team at the right time, with the Rebels coming off an unbelievably emotional week.
LSU has the luxury of returning home to Death Valley in Week 4, but has to welcome Texas A&M to town. The Aggies play Kentucky at home in Week 3, meaning they'll likely arrive in Baton Rouge unbeaten and as a Top 10 program in the nation. Many would argue that Texas A&M is the most overlooked team of the young college football season up to this point, but taking down LSU in Baton Rouge would certainly flip that narrative.
In a world where college football chatter has become more focused on court cases and NIL money, it's these sets of factors and matchups that still make the sport so great. The SEC adding an additional conference game to the slate this season is also being felt in this particular scenario, and it's going to be fascinating to see how teams respond to an extra, very stiff test.
Nothing would be more college football than seeing the winner of the Ole Miss-LSU throwdown turn around and lose just seven days later. Whatever happens, we'll all be watching.
‘Trojan horses’ in America: Congress probes influence networks tied to China, Iran and Cuba
Last Tuesday, at the corner of Church Street and 16th Street NW, blocks from the White House, Christine Balling, a former advisor to U.S. Special Operations Command South, led a panel discussion on the national security threat that communist-run Cuba poses to the U.S.
Suddenly, a fresh-faced former college basketball star, Olivia DiNucci, stood up to steal the stage at the Institute of World Politics, yelling as she clutched a hand-painted banner: "SANCTIONS KILL IN CUBA."
"There is global solidarity with Gaza and Cuba and ICE here," DiNucci shouted breathlessly, as security officials grabbed her banner and pushed her out a side door as she kept yelling, "because the liberation of our people is rooted in our neighbors!"
In small print, the banner had DiNucci's organizational and ideological affiliation: "CODEPINK."
DiNucci is a D.C.-based political organizer with CodePink, a left-wing political agitation group, spending her days and evenings as a professional protester and a regular gadfly, disrupting dinners, hearings and conferences as a sidekick to CodePink co-founder Susan Medea Benjamin. Their group supports the Communist Party of Cuba and has led caravans to the island nation, as Treasury Department officials investigate whether they violated any laws barring Americans from doing business with the communist regime.
For Balling and her co-panelist, Michael Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a Cuban American firmly opposed to the communist government of Cuba, DiNucci's political theater wasn't the benign act of an "anti-war" group, as CodePink describes itself.
"CodePink – and other organizations like it – essentially act like Trojan horses. They burst in onto the scene, and they're meant to disrupt and destroy from within," Balling told Fox News Digital.
"They're really interested in dividing America and, in doing so, weakening it," she continued, "and increasing the friction between Americans by convincing some Americans that the American idea, the American dream, the freedoms we enjoy, all that sort of thing, that they are lies and they're not worth fighting for, and that our enemies are our victims."
The confrontation comes as House lawmakers convene a hearing on Tuesday, titled "Trojan Horses: Covert Foreign Malign Influence Operations in America," to examine a broad question: how do American activists, nonprofit organizations, media operations and social media influencers, like Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, advance the interests of adversarial nations, including China, Iran and Cuba, inside the United States?
Piker joined CodePink's delegation to Cuba earlier this year, posing for a photo in Havana with CodePink cofounder, Jodie Evans, both of them also drawing Treasury Department scrutiny.
"Adversarial nations like China, Russia, and Cuba conduct malign influence operations here in the United States by utilizing social media influencers such as Hasan Piker as proxies to promote communism and push their false propaganda," Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, told Fox News Digital.
"My goal is to raise the curtain to expose these operations and stop them from undermining our national security, capitalism and the American Dream," Huizenga said.
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The hearing will bring together several strands of alleged foreign influence that Fox News Digital has documented over the past year through investigations into money, political organizing, overseas travel, media operations and relationships between American activists and foreign entities and interests. Most of the groups fall into the "red-green alliance" of socialist and communist groups, symbolized by the color red, working closely with Islamist groups, such as the anti-Israel organization Students for Justice in Palestine, reflected by the color green, a symbol of Islam.
The largest financial network examined in Fox News Digital's reporting centers on Neville Roy Singham, an American-born tech tycoon who lives in Shanghai, late last year standing on a stage at the Golden Tulip Hotel during a conference on the "Global South," delivering a speech supporting the Chinese Communist Party, China's leader, Xi Jinping and China's "new world order."
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A five-part Fox News Digital investigation published earlier this year examined 223 transactions totaling $591 million across five continents between 2017 and 2025, tracing the flow of money through multiple layers of organizations and into a transnational network estimated at approximately 2,000 organizations.
In 2017, Singham married Evans, the CodePink co-founder, in a ceremony in Jamaica attended by Benjamin and other pro-communist leaders. The Fox News Digital analysis documented $278 million flowing from Singham into six core nonprofit organizations that promulgate anti-America, pro-China propaganda, beginning in 2017: BreakThrough BT Media Inc., CodePink Women for Peace, Justice and Education Fund Inc., People's Forum Inc., People's Support Foundation Ltd. and Tricontinental Ltd.
The organizations and their executives have denied any wrongdoing and allege they are the target of anti-communist "witch hunts." Singham hasn't responded to repeated requests for comment.
Huizenga and the hearing's witnesses say Congress must examine whether adversarial governments are influencing American political discourse through domestic messengers while keeping the foreign power itself at arm's length.
Fox News Digital's reporting followed the money to the six nonprofits:
That was only the first layer. The six nonprofits that directly received Singham money subsequently distributed approximately $163 million to 52 organizations — including themselves — and five geographic regions identified in financial records.
Eleven groups at another layer distributed approximately $150 million into four nonprofits and five geographic regions, including $23 million directed to Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Fox News Digital analysis.
The financial architecture has been accompanied by political organizing, media operations and ideological activity that includes the fresh example of political theater that CodePink unleashed at this week's disruption at the Institute of World Politics' panel on Cuba.
Balling, the former advisor to U.S. Special Operations Southern Command, used the opportunity to illustrate exactly the point that the Heritage Foundation's Gonzalez and she were arguing.
"Their method of operation," she said, "is to disrupt, of course, to get the soundbites on Twitter or Instagram or what have you, but they are not ever interested in a respectful dialogue."
"What was extraordinary is I was actually about to talk about CodePink and the Democratic Socialists of America, the DSA, as both being members of the largest pro-Cuban regime organization in the United States, called the National Network on Cuba," said Balling.
"And so the fact that she stood up and tried to disrupt the event was just a wonderful example for the audience," of the antics of CodePink. "They are actually really a mouthpiece for anti-American causes, which happen to be very pro-Chinese Communist Party causes and...the Castro regime."
On cue, at 6:42 p.m., less than an hour after the event had ended at about 6 p.m., CodePink posted a carefully curated and captioned 1-minute-35-second video of the DiNucci outburst on X. The same video went up on CodePink's official YouTube channel.
Balling said CodePink's messaging promoted "the interests of, frankly, our enemies, the Chinese Communist Party and then the Cuban regime."
"Their method of operation," she said, "is to disrupt, of course, to get the soundbites on Twitter or Instagram or what have you, but they are not ever interested in a respectful dialogue."
Sure enough, CodePink posted the video on its official Instagram account, tagging DiNucci.
"Frankly, had she been willing to stop screaming," said Balling, Gonzalez and she "would have actually been thrilled to have a debate with her, but that's not their way of operating."
By the end of the night, the disruption had also become a press release on CodePink's website, listing DiNucci herself as the "media contact" and offering journalists "unbranded video footage."
Fox News Digital's Jesse Watson and Brooke Curto contributed to this report.
House Dems face Trump tariff dilemma as major Russia sanctions bill heads to floor
House Democrats will soon have to grapple with a decision over whether to give President Donald Trump more tariff authority or potentially block Congress from cracking down on Vladimir Putin's bloody war in Ukraine.
The House Rules Committee has teed up votes on several bills this week, including the Senate's legislation aimed at sanctioning Russia and Iran.
That bill was named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a massive supporter of Ukraine who died unexpectedly at the age of 71 in July.
And while the majority of Democrats support action to help Ukraine against Russia's invasion, they'll also be forced to reckon with the legislation's language giving Trump additional authority to punish Russia and its allies with significant tariffs.
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Democrats have long been critical of Trump's unchecked use of tariffs against U.S. allies like Canada and Mexico, which have also been subject to a slew of court battles.
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It's part of why senior House Democrats said earlier this year that they would oppose the bill.
"House Democrats are rock solid in our support for Ukraine, but the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia And Iran Act would do more harm than good. This bill would dramatically expand presidential tariff authorities while failing to mandate sanctions on Russia, both of which are unacceptable," Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., Ranking Member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., said in a statement.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., did not give up his position on the bill during a Monday press conference, telling reporters, "We're going to continue to stand by the Ukrainian people and find a path forward to get a sanctions bill done while addressing the very real concerns that [Democrats] have raised about giving Donald Trump authority that the Supreme Court recently made clear he does not currently have, and should not have, because it belongs to the Congress pursuant to the Constitution."
The bill would direct the president to hike up to 500% tariffs on Russia and up to 100% on countries buying Russian energy.
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Trump would also be directed to impose significant sanctions on Russian officials and others responsible for continuing the war on Ukraine.
The bill advanced through the House Rules Committee on Monday night, setting up a House-wide procedural hurdle called a "rule vote" on Tuesday afternoon.
If passed, the full House will vote on the sanctions bill on Wednesday afternoon, according to a preliminary legislative schedule obtained by Fox News Digital.
And with an increasingly vocal isolationist wing permeating the House GOP Conference, at least some Democrats will be needed to help the bill pass.
The package, pushed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Graham, was in purgatory for nearly two years as the lawmakers and administration went back and forth to find a compromise that Trump and Congress could stomach.
Blumenthal defended the tariff language in the bill to Fox News Digital, "If Donald Trump wants to break this law, he will be restrained by the courts, just as when he broke the law on tariffs previously."
And Senate Democrats largely voted in favor of giving Trump limited tariff authority in exchange for the bone-crushing sanctions against Russia, despite raging against duties for years.
Though some raised concerns, like Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., most Democratic caucus members gave a thumbs-up to the tariff power.
That all came after Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., received guarantees from U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that the tariffs baked into the sanctions package would just be limited to the top five energy trading partners with the Kremlin.
Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to revive strict mail-ballot rules before midterms
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s emergency bid to enforce new U.S. Postal Service (USPS) restrictions on mail-in ballots ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, leaving a lower court’s nationwide block in place.
In a brief order, the court said the government was "unlikely to succeed on the merits" for purposes of obtaining emergency relief and had not shown that the legal and practical considerations warranted a stay.
The rules would require federal ballot mail to be sent in envelopes bearing an election-mail logo, capable of being scanned by high-speed equipment and carrying a barcode unique to each voter.
State and local election officials would also be required to submit envelope designs to the Postal Service for review and upload basic voter information to an online USPS portal.
USPS PUBLISHES RULE TO BLOCK MAIL-IN BALLOTS FROM STATES THAT DON'T PROVIDE VOTER LISTS
Under the USPS rule, mailings that failed to comply would not be accepted and would instead be returned to election officials to correct and resubmit.
FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FROM RESTRICTING MAIL-IN BALLOTS AHEAD OF MIDTERMS
A federal judge previously blocked the USPS from implementing the rules, including the online portal that could be used to track millions of mail ballots.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with the Supreme Court’s decision but indicated the USPS may ultimately have the authority to impose the requirements.
TRUMP SCORES SUPREME COURT WIN ON MAIL-IN VOTING RESTRICTIONS BEFORE MIDTERMS
"In my view, based on the briefing the Court has received at this interim stage, there is at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service’s statutory authority," Kavanaugh wrote.
However, he said attempting to apply the rules during the 2026 elections would be "arbitrary and capricious" under the Administrative Procedure Act because state and local election officials do not have enough time to reasonably implement them.
JACKSON RIPS INTO SUPREME COURT COLLEAGUES' 'SERIOUS LEGAL ERROR' ON TRUMP MAIL-IN VOTING ORDER
Justice Samuel Alito dissented from the decision, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas.
Alito argued that some of the plaintiffs lacked legal standing and that the remaining challengers were pursuing what the court has previously called a "Hail Mary pass" that "rarely succeeds."
ALABAMA AG MARSHALL FIRES BACK AT USPS MAIL-BALLOT ORDER CRITICS: ‘THIS IS ABOUT SECURING ELECTIONS’
"The Government has made the showings necessary for a stay, so I respectfully dissent," Alito wrote.
Alito said the USPS has broad authority to regulate the collection, handling, transportation and delivery of mail. He also argued that the government would suffer irreparable harm because any reversal of the lower court’s injunction would come too late for the midterms.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office helped lead the legal challenge, celebrated the decision as a victory for voters.
"Today, the Supreme Court protected one of our most fundamental, inalienable rights – the right to make your voice heard at the ballot box," James said. "This last-minute change could have thrown our elections into chaos, and I am truly relieved the Court granted this reprieve."
"Voters should never have to wonder whether a ballot they legally cast will be counted because the federal government suddenly changed the rules," she added. "We will keep fighting to make sure every eligible ballot is counted come November."
FEDERAL JUDGE AGAIN BLOCKS TRUMP'S MAIL BALLOT ORDER JUST BEFORE MIDTERMS
President Donald Trump directed the USPS earlier this year to develop new standards for handling election mail. The agency finalized the requirements in late August.
The administration and the USPS then asked the Supreme Court to intervene after a federal judge converted a temporary restraining order into a nationwide preliminary injunction.
The decision leaves the preliminary injunction in place, preventing the USPS from enforcing the new requirements for the 2026 elections while the litigation continues.
Robert Kraft, Gillette Stadium boot Macklemore from Ed Sheeran tour over ‘Free Palestine’ rant
Macklemore is learning the hard way that concertgoers paying top dollar for stadium shows do not want a lecture on Middle Eastern geopolitics from the guy who wrote "Thrift Shop."
Macklemore was kicked off Ed Sheeran’s U.S. stadium tour after multiple venues refused to host him following his pro-Palestinian speeches and performances at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The fallout escalated when New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft barred him from performing at Gillette Stadium, where Sheeran is scheduled to play Sept. 25 and 26.
The rapper opened Sheeran’s shows at MetLife on Sept. 4 and 5. Macklemore wore a keffiyeh, showed footage of destruction in Gaza, performed "Hind’s Hall" and led the crowd in "Free Palestine" chants. The song includes lyrics accusing Israel of genocide.
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Macklemore said the tour gave him a massive platform to promote his political message. He also claimed Sheeran told him Robert Kraft had rallied other stadium owners against keeping him on the tour.
Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, cited the rapper’s stage behavior and what he called a "broader history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and imagery."
"Gillette Stadium has a longstanding commitment to providing a welcoming environment for all guests and ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech," Kraft shared in a statement made to ESPN.
"Based on Macklemore's recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran's shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th shows would not be permitted."
Tour promoter Messina Touring Group confirmed Macklemore’s removal from all remaining U.S. dates after multiple venue operators refused to allow him on the lineup. Eight of the remaining 10 tour stops were scheduled for NFL stadiums.
Macklemore’s controversial history includes a May 2014 performance in Seattle, where he took the stage wearing a bushy black beard, a dark wig and a large prosthetic nose. Civil rights groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, condemned the outfit as resembling historical anti-Jewish caricatures. Macklemore claimed at the time that the costume was a random coincidence.
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That controversy resurfaced with the release of "Hind’s Hall," a song referencing student activists who occupied Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall. Critics argue that Macklemore routinely condemns Israel from the stage while ignoring the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks by Hamas that sparked the current war.
Kraft, who founded the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism in 2019, also addressed what he viewed as Macklemore’s selective presentation of the conflict.
"This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf," Kraft stated. "But that advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas, a designated terrorist organization whose horrific actions have caused immeasurable suffering."
Kraft added that supporting innocent civilians while standing firmly against Hamas and antisemitism should not be mutually exclusive.
"I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts, because ultimately our goal is the same: peace for all people, an end to suffering, and an end to all hate," Kraft said.
Macklemore responded in a social media post blaming venue operators and Kraft for his removal while acknowledging that Sheeran had been placed in a difficult position. He did not accept Kraft’s characterization of his comments as hate speech and insisted that losing his tour spot was a price he was willing to pay.
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White House denies Trump influenced by 'pardon brokers' after '60 Minutes' investigation
A White House spokesperson denied the suggestion that President Donald Trump's administration could be influenced by "pardon brokers" an issue examined by CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday.
During the show's season premiere, the long-running news program ran a segment on lobbyists reportedly negotiating for presidential pardons for particular clients based on alleged connections to the president.
"Presidents have been pardoning criminals since George Washington," correspondent Lesley Stahl said. "It's a constitutional power. No explanation needed. The Department of Justice does screen applicants and typically only recommends those who remorsefully seek mercy. But that's not always been the process. President Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. President Clinton, Marc Rich after donations. President Biden, his son Hunter, and Anthony Fauci."
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"President Trump, he's developed his own vetting system, pardoning political allies, including all of the January 6 rioters, as well as a string of unrepentant financial conmen who argued, just like him, that they were wrongly prosecuted," she continued. "How did these people get their grievances in the president's ear? Donations appear to help and those who can pay hire pardon brokers, lawyers and lobbyists who sell their ties to the president for exorbitant fees. It's a marketplace of money and mercy."
In a comment to Fox News Digital, White House spokesperson Lauren Bis denied that Trump was influenced by any "lobbyist" regarding his presidential pardons. She further criticized past presidential pardons by former President Joe Biden, pointing out that many of his pardons released violent criminals.
"Anyone spending money to lobby for pardons is foolishly wasting their money and the President doesn’t even know who these so-called ‘lobbyists’ are. The Trump Administration has a robust pardon review process which includes White House counsel, the Department of Justice, pardon czar Alice Johnson, and ultimately, the President himself as the final decider," Bis said.
"The only pardons anyone should be critical of are from President Biden, who pardoned and commuted sentences of violent criminals including child killers and mass murderers, and extreme liberal Democrat Governors who pardoned illegal alien child rapists and attempted murderers in attempts to allow them to remain in our country," she added.
Fox News Digital reached out to CBS News for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The latest season of "60 Minutes" came amid mass firings of longtime producers and correspondents as the network's editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, attempted to reorganize the program. One former producer and managing editor, Guy Campanile, suggested in a private Facebook post last week that the firings were because they refused to compromise with "White House talking points."
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"We would not compromise our principles or reputations by jamming unverifiable notions or White House talking points into our reporting," Campanile wrote. "We objected when told to conduct interviews arranged by the administration. We insisted on asking the most challenging questions to business and political leaders without fear or favor."
Mamdani blasts feds for waging 'campaign of violence and terror' against NYC's immigrants
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday blasted the federal government for waging a "campaign of violence and terror" against the immigrant communities he described as the backbone of the city.
He made the statements during an announcement that he and five other sanctuary jurisdictions are suing the Trump administration over a new rule expanding how immigration officials determine whether applicants are likely to become a public charge.
"The federal government has waged a campaign of violence and terror," Mamdani said.
"ICE has broken into our neighbors' homes, work sites and schools. And it has targeted those who have come to our country in search of refuge and in search of opportunity. These actions are an assault on our civic fabric, on our shared values. And no matter how much destruction they have already caused, it continues."
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Mamdani further credited immigrants from around the world with helping build and sustain New York City, including by contributing to its infrastructure and public services.
"Immigrants from every country, from every continent, who speak every language and worship in every conceivable way, drive our buses and our trains, teach our children how to read, and tend to us when we are sick," Mamdani said.
"Immigrants fought for the 8-hour workday for fair pay and workplace protections that deliver dignity into the lives of so many," he added.
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The city will lead a coalition of five other sanctuary jurisdictions, including Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Santa Clara County and King County, in challenging the Trump administration’s stricter version of the public charge rule, which is set to take effect Friday.
The changes, issued in July by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), will expand officers’ discretion to weigh noncash benefits, such as Medicaid, SNAP and housing vouchers, when determining whether an immigrant is likely to become a public charge.
Under the previous guidelines, established in 2022 under the Biden administration, officers’ discretion was narrowed to consider only whether applicants were likely to become "primarily dependent" on government assistance based on cash benefits, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
In response to New York City filing the lawsuits, the White House on Monday blasted Democrats for seeking to provide illegal aliens with support at the expense of American taxpayers.
"Extreme Democrats are once again fighting to give benefits to illegal aliens at the expense of American taxpayers. Immigrants must be able to support themselves and not depend on hard-working American taxpayers. President Trump and this administration will always put American citizens first," spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement.
Mamdani described the changes as a "gross illegality" that will cause "irreparable damage."
"Make no mistake, this is an undisguised effort to strip New Yorkers of the services they rely on, the public benefits they are entitled to. Families, including those with children who are U.S. citizens, have already begun to forego essential services like SNAP, Medicaid, and affordable housing out of the fear that if they use these programs, immigration officers could use it as justification to deny them a future in our country," he said.
USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler previously said the move is intended to safeguard the financial well-being of American taxpayers.
"The Trump administration is upholding the rule of law and protecting American taxpayers from subsidizing aliens who may become dependent on public benefits. USCIS is committed to safeguarding the safety, security, and financial well-being of Americans," Kahler said in a statement.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.