Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

The New York Times [2/9/2025 6:45 PM, Charlie Savage161405K] reports a federal judge barred the U.S. government on Sunday from sending three detained Venezuelan men to the Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, according to a lawyer for the migrants. Lawyers for the men, who are detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in New Mexico, asked the court on Sunday evening for a temporary restraining order, opening the first legal front against the Trump administration’s new policy of sending undocumented migrants to Guantánamo. Within an hour of the filing, which came at the start of the Super Bowl, Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales of the Federal District Court for New Mexico, convened a hearing by videoconference and verbally granted the restraining order, said Baher Azmy, the legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is helping represent the migrants. Immigration and human rights advocates have been stymied in immediately challenging the Trump administration’s policy of sending migrants to Guantánamo, in part because the government has not released the identities of the roughly 50 men it is believed to have flown there so far. But the three Venezuelan men were already represented by lawyers, and their court filing said they had a credible fear that they could be transferred. According to the filing, the men are being held in the same ICE facility, the Otero County Processing Center, where previous groups of men who were flown to Guantánamo in recent days had apparently been held. The men recognized the faces of some of those detainees from government photographs provided to the news media, the filing said. The filing also said that the men had heard rumors that more such transfers were coming, and that they “fit the profile of those the administration has prioritized for detention in Guantánamo, i.e. Venezuelan men detained in the El Paso area with (false) charges of connections with the Tren de Aragua gang.” The AP [2/10/2025 9:35 PM, Staff, 2717K] reports that during a brief hearing, Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales granted the temporary order, which was opposed by the government, said Jessica Vosburgh, an attorney for the three men. “It’s short term. This will get revisited and further fleshed out in the weeks to come,” Vosburgh told The Associated Press. A message seeking comment was left for U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. The filing came as part of a lawsuit on behalf of the three men filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, and Las Americas Immigrant Advisory Center. The Tren de Aragua gang originated in a lawless prison in the central Venezuelan state of Aragua more than a decade ago and has expanded in recent years as millions of desperate Venezuelans fled President President Nicolás Maduro ‘s rule and migrated to other parts of Latin America or the U.S. Reuters [2/9/2025 11:03 PM, Brad Brooks, 48128K] reports President Donald Trump said in late January that his administration planned to create capacity to house up to 30,000 migrants at the U.S. naval base, best known for a separate high-security prison used for foreign terrorism suspects. The Trump administration last week moved to end protections against deportation for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S. "I fear being taken to Guantanamo because the news is painting it as a black hole ... I also see that human rights are constantly violated at Guantanamo, so I fear what could happen to me if I get taken there," Abrahan Barrios Morales, one of the detained Venezuelan men, said in the written statement put out earlier Sunday by the Center for Constitutional Rights. Axios [2/10/2025 12:22 AM, Rebecca Falconer, 16349K] reports Baher Azmy, the Center for Constitutional Rights’ legal director and a lawyer for the men, on X called the ruling granting the temporary restraining order a "small but important win for clients otherwise bound to the latest iteration of the legal black hole." Representatives for the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement and the Center for Constitutional Rights did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment in the evening.

Reported similarly:
FOX News [2/10/2025 1:10 AM, Landon Mion, 57114K]

Newsweek [2/9/2025 11:10 AM, Rachel Dobkin, 56005K] reports U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday morning that she would tell President Donald Trump to abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) "the way it exists today.” Newsweek reached out to FEMA via email for comment outside of business hours on Sunday. Trump has repeatedly spread claims about FEMA’s response to Hurricane Helene which devastated western North Carolina and Florida’s Big Bend region and the California wildfires that burned through Los Angeles County during the latter part of the Joe Biden administration, including that the agency was biased against people in Republican-led areas. Meanwhile, FEMA and other officials denied Trump’s claims and provided evidence to the contrary. He also has proposed getting rid of FEMA altogether, preferring that "the states take care of their own problems" as he put it during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity last month. During a Sunday appearance on CNN’s State of The Union, Bash asked Noem, former South Dakota governor, if Trump could, and if he should, shut FEMA down. "He can and I believe that he will do that evaluation with his team," Noem said. "He’ll work with Congress though to make sure it’s done correctly and that we’re still there to help folks who have a terrible disaster or crisis in their life.” Noem said Trump still believes in some kind of federal government intervention when it comes to disaster relief, "but there’s a lot of fraud and waste and abuse out there and since President Trump has taken over and come back into this administration, we’ve seen incredible change.” Noem did not go into detail about her claims of FEMA’s fraud, waste and abuse. Bash then asked: "If the president came to you and said, ‘You’re my DHS secretary, do you think I should get rid of FEMA?’ What would you say?". "I would say ‘yes get rid of FEMA the way it exists today,’" Noem said. "We still need the resources and the funds and the finances to go to people that have these types of disasters like Hurricane Helene and the fires in California, but you need to let the local officials make the decisions on how that is deployed so it can be deployed much quicker and we don’t need the bureaucracy that’s picking and choosing winners.” The Washington Post [2/9/2025 2:41 PM, Ian Duncan, 40736K] reports that the Trump administration has been weighing the future of the disaster relief, and Washington Post has reported that a small team from Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service has gained access to sensitive data to carry out a review of FEMA’s grants. Noem’s comments are similar to what Trump said last month after touring communities in North Carolina and California that were devastated by floods and wildfires. Trump said at the time that he expected his team would ultimately recommend that the disaster relief agency “go away.” In late January, he signed an executive order creating an advisory council to conduct “a full-scale review” of FEMA to recommend improvements or structural changes to the agency. The White House and FEMA did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the status of the review or Noem’s latest remarks. The agency typically provides billions of dollars a year in aid to communities. Trump administration officials have suggested that FEMA’s job could be replaced by providing block grants to states. It is unclear how different that would be from its current role, which leaves state and local officials in charge of decision-making after they face disasters. And it’s not clear if the executive branch can legally shut down an agency without congressional approval. The Hill [2/9/2025 5:42 PM, Lauren Irwin, 16346K] reports that after last year’s hurricanes swept through Florida and North Carolina and the recent fires in California, much conversation has centered on the federal aid agency. Since taking office, Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have examined federal spending and have begun making cuts. Leading the Department of Homeland Security, Noem oversees FEMA. Trump has been sharply critical of FEMA and has suggested that the individual states should handle their own responses to natural disasters while still being funded by the federal government. Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) had a heated exchange about conditioning aid to Hollywood after the destructive fires. "FEMA has not done their job for the last four years," Trump said in January. "FEMA is gonna be a whole big discussion very shortly, because I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems.”

Reported similarly:
Axios [2/9/2025 10:45 AM, Avery Lotz, 16349K]
NBC News [2/9/2025 2:33 PM, Alexandra Marquez and Owen Hayes, 50804K]
CNN [2/9/2025 12:17 PM, Dana Bash, 22417K] Video: HERE

The Hill [2/9/2025 11:34 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 57114K] reports Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she’s confident that steps the government is taking to deport certain migrants from the U.S. mainland to Guantánamo Bay are legal. In an interview on CNN’s "State of the Union," Dana Bash acknowledged that Guantánamo Bay has been used in the past to house deported migrants but said she does not believe the prison has housed migrants who were detained on U.S. soil after crossing the border illegally. Asked if she’s confident she has the legal authority to do so, Noem said, "I am, and the president’s comfortable with that, and his legal scholars are.” "And obviously there’ll be people that will be critics of that, but we are standing up the operations, believing we have all legal right and authority to do so, and that facility has been used for migrants in the past," Noem said. "The direction that they’re flowing, and the agreements that we have with their home countries, will continue to keep that population changing," she continued. The president in late January signed a memo directing the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security to prepare a 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantánamo Bay, a facility in Cuba that has been used to house military prisoners, including several al Qaeda operatives linked to the 9/11 attacks. The order did not outline any specific timeline for establishing the facility, but U.S. troops arrived at the base earlier this month to provide support in constructing tents near an existing migration detention facility. And within a week of the executive order, the Pentagon confirmed that officials had flown 10 migrants described as "high-threat individuals" to the facility in Cuba. On Sunday, Noem said "several planes" of migrants have arrived at the facility this past week.

CNN [2/9/2025 11:02 AM, Josephine Hitchings, 987K] Video: HERE reports Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem told CNN’s Dana Bash about the first migrants arriving to Guantanamo Bay and what future plans are to house migrants in tents.

FOX News [2/9/2025 11:07 AM, Staff, 49889K] Video: HERE DHS Secretary Kristi Noem joins ‘Fox News Sunday’ to discuss her priorities and President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration policies. FOX News [2/9/2025 1:04 PM, Danielle Wallace, 57114K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the U.S. Secret Service, which is tasked with protecting President Donald Trump while he makes history Sunday as the first sitting U.S. president to attend the Super Bowl. The Secret Service falls under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security. Asked if she’d had sufficient time to get into the department and investigate the lapses leading up to the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Noem told "Fox News Sunday" host Shannon Bream that DHS was "moving in the right direction," while stressing that hundreds of other DHS personnel outside Secret Service alone would be deployed during the game. "And I’m proud of Secret Service and all the work that they do every day. They make incredible sacrifices to keep people safe, and on the investigative side, have a lot of that training as well," Noem said. "But for this event, we’ve deployed many other assets as well. We’re obviously working with the local authorities, with the governor and with his agencies that he has that he’s detailed to this." "But we have several different agencies under the Department of Homeland Security that have put hundreds of individuals, investigators and military police folks that are used to these kinds of crowd control and security operations in their other departments that are focused on today to make sure that this big event is going to be safe and that we’re going to make the right decisions in these situations that could arise and get everybody home safely," Noem added.

Reuters [2/9/2025 9:40 AM, Katharine Jackson, 48128K] reports U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is working with Elon Musk to improve the department’s efficiency, as the billionaire and his team of aides conduct efforts to overhaul the U.S. government. CNN [2/9/2025 3:43 PM, Aileen Graef and Veronica Stracqualursi, 57114K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday acknowledged that Elon Musk’s government efficiency team, which has been tasked with slashing federal spending, has access to her agency’s data, including that of federal disaster aid recipients’ personal information, as part of an “audit” she welcomes. Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Noem said that President Donald Trump had “authorized” Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team to gain access to DHS’ network, adding that she was “absolutely” comfortable with that. The Musk-led DOGE team has attempted accessing government data from other federal agencies as it tries to root out what it deems wasteful spending — efforts that have raised privacy concerns and prompted a flurry of lawsuits. “Well, we can’t trust our government anymore,” Noem told CNN’s Dana Bash in defending DOGE’s access to the data system. Reminded by Bash that she and her agency are part of the government, Noem replied, “Yes, that’s what I’m saying, is that the American people now are saying that we have had our personal information shared, and out there in the public.” “Elon Musk is part of the administration that is helping us identify where we can find savings and what we can do,” she said, insisting that DOGE is zeroed in on DHS grant programs and isn’t focused on Americans’ personal information. The Washington Examiner [2/9/2025 1:23 PM, Jenny Goldsberry, 2365K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem dismissed concerns surrounding Elon Musk’s access to her department, citing his authorization from President Donald Trump. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has begun its probes into the federal government with some obstacles. While a lawsuit attempting to keep DOGE out of the data from the Labor Department was dismissed, another U.S. district judge ruled against DOGE accessing the U.S. Treasury. "We’re working with [Musk and his team] at the president’s direction to find what we can do to make our department much more efficient. So, I think it’s important," Noem said on CNN News’s State of the Union. "This is essentially an audit of the federal government, which is very powerful and needs to happen.” "I remember a time when Republicans were very careful about and worried about the government, particularly unelected people, having access to personal data," host Dana Bash said. "But Elon Musk is part of the administration that is helping us identify where we can find savings and what we can do. And he has gone through the processes to make sure that he has the authority the president has granted him," Noem said. "His information that he has is looking at programs, not focusing on personal data and information.” "Not focusing on it, but he has access to it?" Bash asked. "You know, we’ll be continuing to talk to him about what all he has access to," Noem said. "But this audit needs to happen to make sure that we are going through a process that adds integrity to these programs.” DHS notably encompasses the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which often includes personal data from victims of natural disasters. FEMA was under fire late last year for its lack of funding, which won’t last through the end of the season that typically ends around Nov. 30, according to Noem’s predecessor Alejandro Mayorkas. Meanwhile, the agency reported there were twice as many disasters in 2023 than in 2016. Last year, Congress did not opt to add $10 billion toward natural disasters in the continuing resolution to fund the government that September.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [2/9/2025 10:37 AM, Sarah Fortinsky, 57114K]

FOX News [2/9/2025 7:04 PM, Staff, 57114K] reports Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem called the FBI "corrupt" and appeared to accuse the bureau of leaking plans for "large-scale" immigration enforcement plans in the Los Angeles area. The LA Times published an article Friday that said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would lead the operation, focusing on those without legal status in the U.S. or who have pending orders of removal, according to an internal government document reviewed by the publication. The document was reportedly circulated among some government officials last week. The Times also reported that a federal law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal said LA FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration officers and agents are being called in to assist. Noem shared the article on X, taking a dig at the FBI. "The FBI is so corrupt," Noem wrote. "We will work with any and every agency to stop leaks and prosecute these crooked deep state agents to the fullest extent of the law.” ICE sources told Fox News they do not know where Noem got the information or what she is basing it on. Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment, but did not immediately hear back. The FBI had no comment on the matter. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined an ICE raid in New York City. Noem said communities will be safer because of targeted raids that go after criminal illegal immigrants. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi joined "Fox Report" on Sunday, where she discussed immigration enforcement and was asked about leaks within the government. "Well, you know, if anyone leaks anything, people don’t understand that it jeopardizes the lives of our great men and women in law enforcement, and if you leaked it, we will find out who you are, and we will come after you," Bondi said. "It’s not going to stop our mission. It’s not going to stop the president’s mission to make America safe again.” Anti-ICE protesters blocked traffic on both sides of the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. She also said if people do not want to follow the law, the Department of Justice will prosecute them. Bondi was then asked about an operation in Denver, Colorado, where individuals used bullhorns to let people know that ICE was coming, advising illegal immigrants of what they should and should not do if approached by agents. In cases where people inform illegal immigrants that they are in danger, Bondi was asked if anything could or should be done to stop it. "It very well could rise to the level of obstruction, and we will be looking at every single case where someone jeopardizes the lives of the great men and women in law enforcement, and they will be held accountable," Bondi said. "If you leak, if you do anything, like you said, if you come out with bullhorns that could jeopardize their lives, we will investigate it, and we will come after you.” Original article source: DHS Secretary Noem appears to accuse ‘corrupt’ FBI of leaking LA ICE raids.

Washington Examiner [2/9/2025 7:00 AM, Robert Schmad, 2365K] reports an immigrant group behind a major lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship receives millions of dollars in government funding annually, a Washington Examiner analysis of public records has found. CASA, an organization that helps migrants find work regardless of their legal status, filed the lawsuit alongside the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project and five pregnant noncitizens in January, arguing that Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. The pro-immigration group received roughly $5 million in government grants and $7 million in government contracts between July 2022 and June 2023, according to its most recent tax disclosures. Tax filings from prior years show that CASA has long relied on millions of dollars in government funding to keep its programs running. In a review of federal spending records, the Washington Examiner identified grants from the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Justice, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security funding a variety of programs offered by CASA. Some of the grants to CASA are even ongoing, per federal records. HUD, for instance, granted CASA $1.5 million in 2023 as part of its "economic development initiative" program to fund a project that will stretch well into 2031. Grants offered under this program cover a "wide variety of projects such as housing, homelessness prevention, workforce training, public facilities, parks, resilience planning and other critical infrastructure and services," according to the agency’s website. CASA provides services such as those to both legal and illegal migrants. In addition to the grant from HUD, CASA has roughly $2 million worth of ongoing grants from HHS, DOL, and DHS.

CBS Austin [2/9/2025 4:27 PM, Anissa Reyes, 581K] reports the opioid epidemic cost the U.S. $2.7 trillion in 2023 in expenses related to loss of life, loss of quality of life, loss of labor force productivity, crime and costs to the healthcare system, according to a study obtained by Fox News Digital shows. The Council of Economic Advisers, an agency within the executive office, released these findings on Friday. The opioid epidemic has been an issue in the United States for years. There are claims that it has worsened by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid with roots in China and comes to the U.S. over the Mexico border. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has been in the works of leveraging tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China as part of his plan to close off the border and reduce the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. Critics say that these tariffs will lead to higher costs for U.S. consumers purchasing goods from those nations. The study argues that the costs of the opioid epidemic "dwarfs even pessimistic estimates of the effects of tariffs," according to Fox News Digital. "Ever since his first entry into politics back in 2015, President Trump has been committed to tackling the opioid epidemic that is destroying American lives, families, and communities," White House deputy press Secretary Kush Desai told Fox News Digital on Friday. A second component in this study was crime. The report found that "police protection, court proceedings, correctional facility use and property loss stemming from opioid-related crime cost the U.S. $63 billion," Fox reports. "The enormous economic cost of the illicit opioid epidemic to Americans, estimated at $2.7 trillion in 2023 alone, underscores the urgent need to control the flow of lethal drugs pouring in from foreign countries. The human suffering and financial burden inflicted by this epidemic are unsustainable," the study stated.

Bloomberg [2/9/2025 4:10 PM, Zoe Tillman and Erik Larson, 21617K] reports judges are putting the brakes on some of the most dramatic moves of President Donald Trump’s first three weeks in office, slowing actions targeted at migrants, federal workers, government spending and transgender Americans. According to a Bloomberg News analysis, more than 40 lawsuits have been filed challenging the barrage of activity by the new administration. Trump could eventually prevail, but judges have halted some of his most aggressive moves to carry out his policy agenda as they weigh whether they’re lawful. “There’s a bunch of judges hearing a whistling noise like flying artillery fire as cases land on their desks,” said Dickinson College President John Jones, a former federal judge in Pennsylvania appointed by George W. Bush. The US court system will be “tested like it hasn’t ever been.” Hours before more than 2,000 US Agency for International Development employees were set to be placed on leave Friday, US District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, paused it. The government had shown “essentially zero harm” if it had to wait a little longer, he said. A day earlier, a Boston federal judge delayed a deadline for a federal worker buyout program to allow “proper consideration.” Other judges across the country have criticized Trump for trying to overturn what’s been considered settled law on US citizenship for more than a century, forced a retreat on a chaotic funding freeze and ordered the administration to agree to temporarily place some restraints on Elon Musk’s government efficiency team. It’s a similar dynamic to Trump’s first term, when judges blocked or slowed some of his policies. Several courts halted his ban on US travel from certain majority-Muslim countries, but nearly a year later a divided Supreme Court let it take effect. This time, the measures are larger in volume and coming more quickly from the White House. Advocacy groups and Democratic state officials are trying to keep pace challenging them in court. White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement that the “lawsuits are nothing more than an extension of the Left’s resistance — and the Trump Administration is ready to face them in court.” A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.

New York Times [2/9/2025 3:45 PM, Charlie Savage and Minho Kim, 161405K] reports Vice President JD Vance declared on Sunday that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” delivering a warning shot to the federal judiciary in the face of court rulings that have, for now, stymied aspects of President Trump’s agenda. The statement, issued on social media, came as federal judges have temporarily barred a slew of Trump administration actions from taking effect. They include ending birthright citizenship; giving associates of Elon Musk’s government-slashing effort access to a sensitive Treasury Department system; transferring transgender female inmates to male prisons; and placing thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development employees on leave. Mr. Vance, a 2013 graduate of Yale Law School, has repeatedly argued in recent years that presidents like Mr. Trump can and should ignore court orders that they say infringe on their rightful executive powers. While his post did not go that far, it carried greater significance given that he is now vice president. The post may also offer a window on the administration’s thinking toward the orders against it as Mr. Trump has openly violated numerous statutes, like limits on summarily firing officials and effectively dismantling U.S.A.I.D. and folding it into the State Department. It also raised the question of whether the administration would stop abiding by rulings if it deemed them to be illegitimately impeding his agenda. Mr. Vance’s post did not cite any specific ruling. But many of Mr. Trump’s allies have denounced an order early on Saturday prohibiting Trump political appointees and associates of Mr. Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency initiative from gaining further access to the Treasury Department’s payments system. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday as he went to New Orleans for the Super Bowl, Mr. Trump said the judge had overreached, calling the Treasury ruling a “disgrace.” But he appeared to be contemplating appeals, saying the court case “had a long way to go.” Mr. Trump added: “No judge should, frankly, be allowed to make that kind of a decision.”

Reported similarly:
AP [2/9/2025 4:54 PM, Jill Colvin, 17996K]

Newsweek [2/9/2025 11:37 AM, Natalie Venegas, 56005K] repots the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) social media account has taken to X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday to boast about the removal of an LGBTQ+ page from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) website. Since beginning his second term, President Donald Trump has taken steps to unravel protections for LGBTQ+ people as their rights have been under scrutiny since his 2024 presidential campaign. On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order titled "Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government." The order mandated that his administration would use "clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male." The federal government will also use the word "sex" instead of "gender" with all official documents, including passports, visas and Global Entry cards, "accurately reflect the holder’s sex.” Since then, several websites related to topics of gender identity and sexual orientation have been taken down. In a Saturday evening post on X, DOGE pointed towards the removal of the LGBTQ+’s webpage on the DHS’ website. "Adjustment to DHS website," DOGE wrote, attaching screenshots of the before and after of DHS’ LGBTQ+ website page that spoke about how the LGBTQ+ community faces violence. Although it’s unclear when exactly the webpage was taken down, as of Sunday morning, when visiting the "LGBTQI+ Community Resources" page on the DHS website, visitors are now taken to a page that states: "Page Not Found. It looks like K-9 Scout wasn’t able to find the page that you are searching for. The page may have been moved, deleted, or is otherwise unavailable.”

AP [2/9/2025 1:31 PM, Chris Megerian, 63K] reports Elon Musk made a clear promise after Donald Trump decided to put him in charge of making the government more efficient. "It’s not going to be some sort of backroom secret thing," Musk said last year. "It will be as transparent as possible," maybe even streamed live online. It hasn’t worked out that way so far. In the three weeks since the Republican president has been back in the White House, Musk has rapidly burrowed deep into federal agencies while avoiding public scrutiny of his work. He has not answered questions from journalists or attended any hearings with lawmakers. Staff members for his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have sidelined career officials around Washington. It is a profound challenge not only to business-as-usual within the federal government, which Trump campaigned on disrupting, but to concepts of consensus and transparency that are foundational in a democratic system. Musk describes himself as "White House tech support," and he has embedded himself in an unorthodox administration where there are no discernible limits on his influence. Donald K. Sherman, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Trump has allowed Musk to "exert unprecedented power and authority over government systems" with "maximal secrecy and little-to-no accountability.”

The Hill [2/9/2025 4:34 PM, Tara Suter, 16346K] reports tech billionaire Elon Musk called for the annual firing of judges following an early Saturday decision from a judge stating that the Treasury Department should bar access to its payment systems to anyone besides "civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties.” "I’d like to propose that the worst 1% of appointed judges, as determined by elected bodies, be fired every year. This will weed out the most corrupt and least competent," the tech mogul said in a post on his social platform X. The order halts special government employees and those detailed from outside the department from getting into the systems, which includes Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk was seemingly infuriated by the order and took to X on Saturday to make a few posts. "A corrupt judge protecting corruption," Musk said in an early Saturday X post. "He needs to be impeached NOW.” In recent weeks, Musk, DOGE’s leader, has dispatched staff to multiple agencies and has been able to access databases at the Office of Personnel Management and the Treasury Department. David Lebryk, a top Treasury Department nonpolitical career official, retired recently in the wake of him butting heads with Musk allies on government payment systems, a source previously told The Hill. Lebryk’s retirement followed a clash over a request from DOGE for access to a payment system used by Treasury Department officials to disburse funds.

Yahoo! News [2/9/2025 6:04 PM, Stuart Dyos, 57114K] reports President Donald Trump said Sunday that Mexico’s and Canada’s actions to stave off his steep tariffs are not sufficient. After announcing tariffs on the two countries last weekend, he agreed on Monday to pause them for 30 days, citing pledges he received from Mexico and Canada to boost border security. When asked in a Fox News interview if that was enough, Trump replied, "No, it’s not good enough.” "Something has to happen. It’s unsustainable, and I’m changing it," he said after being asked if more has to happen in 30 days. The Canadian and Mexican embassies in the US didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. On Monday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 troops to the border, and in return Trump said he would work to limit the influx of American guns into the country. Additionally, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to appoint a fentanyl czar to collaborate with the U.S., launch a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force to fight against organized crime, and invest $200 million to gather intelligence on organized crime. In the Fox interview, Trump also doubled down on his aspirations for Canada to become the 51st state. "We lose $200 billion a year with Canada, and I’m not going to let that happen. It’s too much," he said. "Why are we paying $200 billion a year essentially in subsidy to Canada? Now if they’re a 51st state, I don’t mind doing it.” In 2024, the U.S. had a $63.3 billion goods trade deficit with Canada, narrowing from the year prior when it was $64.2 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Wall Street Journal [2/9/2025 8:00 PM, Ryan Dubé and Ingrid Arnesen, 57114K] reports President Trump has pledged to crack down on migration and go after violent drug cartels, putting a renewed focus south of the border where he had also threatened to take back the Panama Canal and prepared to impose tariffs of up to 25% on imports from Mexico. Yet security officials say some moves—chiefly the administration’s decision to freeze aid that helps Latin American governments take on criminal groups—could undermine the White House’s plans in the region. And, in the worst-case scenario, they could enable the gangs to expand their territory, traffic more cocaine and fentanyl, and prompt more people to migrate, possibly to the U.S. In Haiti, the United Nations said Tuesday the Trump administration put a hold on $13 million to help a multinational security-support mission to fight gangs that killed more than 5,000 last year and have uprooted more than one million people. Security experts say the gangs could easily expand into powerful regional crime organizations. “That would be detrimental for U.S. interests,” said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a Brookings Institution scholar on organized crime. In Colombia, 18 Black Hawk helicopters used for antinarcotics operations were grounded for lack of U.S.-funded fuel and maintenance amid a recent surge in drug violence. And in Honduras, prosecutors tracking the notorious MS-13 gang were told that U.S. training on new software to help track illicit money and fight drug trafficking had been suspended. “This is going to impact investigations, it is going to have consequences,” said Luis Santos, Honduras’s top anticorruption prosecutor who survived an assassination attempt in 2008. Suspending security assistance is part of a broader move to slash billions of dollars in foreign aid that the White House says wastes taxpayer money. “I have long supported foreign aid. I continue to support foreign aid. But foreign aid is not charity,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday in Costa Rica. “Every dollar we will spend…is going to be a dollar that’s advancing our national interests.”

CBS 7 [2/9/2025 7:16 PM, Thanh Truong, 11K] reports that, normally, when air marshals are mentioned, you think of covert officers protecting passengers on flights. But during Super Bowl LIX weekend, some of those air marshals will be seen on the ground at the Union Passenger Terminal, which is the main bus and train terminal for New Orleans. The presence of air marshals is part of the surge of security for an event that now involves a visit from President Donald Trump. Kate Romberger and Jason Goff are Assistant Supervisory Air Marshals in Charge. Goff says wherever there will be passengers in New Orleans, air marshals will likely be close by. “Our core mission will always be our critical in-flight security mission, but we at TSA have a mission that protects all modes of surface transportation,” said Goff. Due to the Super Bowl’s “SEAR 1″ security designation, the TSA already planned to have air marshals supplement police presence. But the deadly terror attack on Bourbon Street has only added more urgency and personnel to their mission. “After that event occurred, a request came in asking for more personnel to be deployed. So, we took a look at what our original plan was going to be and determined it would be in our best interest and everybody’s best interest, particularly the city of New Orleans, to increase that presence here,” said Rombeger. Romberger says through Super Bowl Sunday, air marshals will be posted at airports, ferries, bus and train terminals. Romberger wasn’t able to disclose how many air marshals will be working the Super Bowl, but considering President Donald Trump plans to attend the game, it’s safe to say their numbers are sizeable. “We’ve been working on this for 18 months and we feel this will be the safest place on earth,” said Jason Goff. The Federal Air Marshal program has grown exponentially since 9/11. On that day, there were only a total of 33 air marshals. The current number of air marshals is classified, but according to TSA officials, that figure is in the thousands.

Yahoo! News [2/9/2025 9:55 PM, Jorge Ventura, 57114K] reports that, since President Trump’s inauguration, Mexico has received nearly 11,000 deportees — 8,425 of which are Mexican nationals, according to data from the Mexican government. Those numbers are part of the first results from Mexico’s "Operativo Frontera Norte," or Northern Border Operation, which launched on Feb. 5 following an agreement between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Since that agreement, Mexico has made 139 arrests, confiscated 82 firearms (28 were traced back to the U.S.) and seized nearly 1,000 kg of drugs. Roughly $90,775 pesos, or $4,400 USD, has also been seized. Despite these efforts, Trump made it clear in a pre-taped interview for Fox this weekend that he’s not happy with Mexico and Canada’s actions so far, saying: "It’s not good enough. Something has to happen. It’s not sustainable. And I’m changing it.” His 30-day pause on a 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian imports was meant to give both countries time to act on border security and drug trafficking. Meanwhile, a U.S. official confirmed Friday that the Pentagon will deploy approximately 1,500 more active-duty soldiers to the southern border to support Trump’s expanding immigration crackdown. This would bring the total number of active-duty troops at the border to around 3,600.

The Hill [2/9/2025 1:00 PM, Annie Chestnut Tutor and Wilson Beaver, 57114K] reports President Trump recently announced $500 billion worth of investment in new data centers, known as the Stargate deal. But this investment may prove useless unless the federal government works to strengthen data centers’ protection from critical threats. Emerging technologies such as AI that require vast computational power are driving demand for new data centers. The Stargate deal reflects that demand, securing non-federal funding for 20 new data centers in Texas to power AI technology. Data centers like these are integral to the international economy and to our nation’s security — meaning it’s crucial that data center operators be prepared to counter adverse events. That’s not to say data center operators don’t already prepare for contingencies. But when security failures could pose such dramatic consequences for the country and the world, it’s worth taking every step possible to prevent those failures. The threats faced by data centers include both malign cyber activity and conventional kinetic attacks against infrastructure. However, data centers are also vulnerable to geomagnetic disturbance events and electromagnetic pulse attacks. A natural geomagnetic disturbance event is the unintentional, uncontrollable ejection of charged material from the sun. In contrast, an electromagnetic pulse attack is an intentional attack via a specialized conventional munition, high-altitude nuclear detonation, or a directed beam from a non-nuclear energy device. Without security protections, either of these events would shut down and wipe out all electronics, power systems and information systems in its path. Currently, there are over 5,000 data centers in the U.S., and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration estimates that demand for these centers will grow 9 percent annually through 2030. By that projection, the U.S. will have over 9,000 data centers by 2030 — all of which will be vulnerable to geomagnetic disturbances and electromagnetic pulse attacks. To protect these data centers, Congress should consider imposing a statutory security requirement in the National Defense Authorization Act during its annual review.

FOX News [2/10/2025 5:00 AM, Staff, 49889K] reports it’s a new day in America. For four years, Americans watched as the Biden administration pointed the finger at everyone but themselves for the messes they created — including the worst border crisis in our nation’s history. While Biden administration officials tried to hide behind a smoke-and-mirrors illusion that our border was secure, reality told a different story. I serve Texas’ 23rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. From San Antonio to El Paso, our corner of the country spans 823 miles of the Texas-Mexico border. Eagle Pass, Del Rio and El Paso, all within my district, were among the border communities hit hardest by illegal immigration surges. During the first year of President Joe Biden’s tenure, I shook his hand, offering him an olive branch and the opportunity to find a way forward to not only safeguard our borders but to lay the foundation for an immigration system that is orderly, lawful and puts the best interests of the American people first. Instead, the opposite happened. At every turn, each proposed solution was met with resistance and bureaucratic grandstanding or was tossed aside as it became evident that those in the West Wing had no interest in solving the problem at hand. A few months after I spoke with the former president, we received the first taste of what would come under the Biden administration’s broken border agenda. In 2021, thousands of Haitians flocked to Del Rio, a border community shy of 35,000 people. The days that followed were nothing short of a nightmare. Del Rio’s resources were quickly drained, forcing the caravan to wait in a makeshift camp for days on end. Illegal border crossings began to rise sharply over time in Eagle Pass and El Paso, and in 2023, both communities reached a breaking point. Pedestrian bridges and rail crossings were forced to suspend operations to pull agents out of the field to process the sheer number of people coming into the country illegally. Meanwhile, the federal government focused its attention on major cities with sanctuary policies, all while border communities were left in the dust to fend for themselves. After four years of policies that tore the fabric of our immigration system, rewarded those who broke our laws and attracted criminals from across the globe to seek entry into the United States, Americans can take a breath.

CNN’s State of the Union With Jake Tapper and Dana Bash [2/9/2025 12:39 PM, Staff, 556K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is back from Guantanamo Bay. Security Noem and President Trump have repeatedly said that the worst of the worst will be held at Guantanamo. There are a few dozen people already there. They’re right now being held in cells formally used to house terror suspects. Security Noem is asked, can you give more specifics about who’s there right now, what crimes have they committed, and how long you’re going to detain them? "So, there are several planes that have transported individuals to the base. And they are in the system and the facilities that a lot of our worst terrorist criminals have been incarcerated for many years. These individuals are the worst of the worst that we pulled off of our streets. Murderers, rapists. When I was there, I was able to watch one of the flights landing and them unload about 15 different of these criminals. Those were mainly child pedophiles, those that were out there trafficking children, trafficking drugs, and were pulled off of our streets and put at this facility. So, very thankful that they are off the streets of the United States and that we have safer communities." Security Noem stated. Security Noem says that the individuals have due process as is their right.

CNN’s State of the Union With Jake Tapper and Dana Bash [2/9/2025 12:39 PM, Staff, 556K] reports on X this morning, Elon Musk said -- quote -- "FEMA is broken," and he said so in response to the suggestion that he shut down FEMA entirely. FEMA is, of course, funded by Congress, has repeatedly been authorized in statute, including by laws Security Noem voted for when she was in Congress. Can and should Donald Trump shut it down? "He can, and I believe that he will do that evaluation with his team, and he’s talking about it, which I’m grateful for. He will work with Congress, though, to make sure that it’s done correctly, and that we’re still there to help folks who have a terrible disaster or crisis in their life. It’s -- he’s been very clear that he still believes there’s a role for the federal government to come in and help people get back up on their feet. But there’s a lot of fraud and waste and abuse out there. And since President Trump has taken over and come back into this administration, we have seen incredible changes." Security Noem stated.

FOX News Sunday [2/9/2025 12:20 PM, Staff, 5617K] reports DHS Secretary Kristi Noem joins ‘Fox News Sunday’ to discuss her priorities and President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration policies.

FOX News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo [2/9/2025 12:20 PM, Staff, 5617K] reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on President Trump’s plan to pursue a military deterrence similar to Israel’s Iron Dome, defense spending audits and military innovation.

NPR [2/10/2025 4:00 AM, Martin Kaste, 35747K] reports the DOJ’s lawsuit against Chicago’s sanctuary laws is the most visible effort to force local police to help with immigration enforcement. But the more serious pressure is coming from states. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

CBS New York [2/9/2025 7:05 PM, Lisa Rozner, 52225K] Video: HERE reports New York City Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos released a video Sunday urging immigrant families not to keep their kids home from school. The message came as advocacy groups are accusing Mayor Eric Adams of creating confusion as to whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can come to schools, churches and hospitals. New York is a sanctuary city, which is supposed to limit its ability to cooperate with ICE, but some are suggesting a memo sent to city agencies goes too far. The New York Immigration Coalition and Make The Road Action joined around 20 lawmakers on the steps of the Tweed Courthouse on Sunday. "This mayor has been running amok of this city for too long, all for his own self interest," said Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition. "He’s enabling Trump’s mass deportation machine by sowing confusion.” They say the confusion stems from an internal memo CBS News New York obtained last week. It was sent by the mayor to city agencies before President Trump’s inauguration and says if federal immigration agents -- ICE -- come knocking, it directs employees to ask officers for their name and badge number, ask for a warrant or subpoena, and call their agency’s counsel. A City Hall spokesperson said Sunday, in part, "Prior to and following the issuance of this guidance, we had been in constant communication with our city agencies, where we discussed numerous hypotheticals, including if law enforcement were to be in pursuit of a violent criminal, and used this guidance to inform how to respond.” On her video released Sunday, Aviles-Ramos says, "Our policies have not changed. As always, non-local law enforcement is not permitted in any of our school buildings without a judicial warrant or unless there are exigent circumstances. We encourage all parents to have their students to continue to attend school.” However, Make The Road Action’s Manuel Ordonez said the encouragement is not enough, saying in Spanish, "It’s impossible that my community is going through this difficult time, that they can’t even go to church, they can’t take their kids to school, they can’t shop at supermarkets because of fear of being arrested and deported.”

Miami Herald [2/9/2025 5:14 PM, Jeff Gammage, 6595K] reports authorities have charged the two other men believed to have posed as ICE agents while disrupting a business on the Temple University campus this month. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office said Friday that it had approved charges against Alexander Javaheri, 19, and Mory Fall, 20. Warrants have been issued for their arrests. Javaheri is a Temple student, now placed on interim suspension, and Fall is a former student. Both have been charged with impersonating a public servant, conspiracy, defiant trespass, and harassment, according to the District Attorney’s Office. The new arrests come amid alleged ICE impersonations in two other states. In the Temple incident, Philadelphia police earlier arrested Temple student Aidan Steigelmann, 22, of the 1400 block of North Fifth Street, who was charged with conspiracy to impersonate a public servant. Shortly before 10 p.m. on Feb. 1, authorities said, the three entered Insomnia Cookies on the 1300 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue. Two of the men wore shirts with "ICE" and "Police" in white lettering, while a third videotaped the disturbance, authorities said. Temple officials said the trio disrupted the store but they did not provide specific details of what they allegedly said or did. The incident occurred as reports of ICE activity have increased in the region, driving anxiety in migrant communities, and only days after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided a North Philadelphia car wash and arrested seven men.

FOX News [2/10/2025 4:00 AM, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, 49889K] reports a Florida sheriff said that federal immigration authorities need to remove the "shackles" from local law enforcement agencies so they can work hand-in-hand to make their communities safe from illegal criminal migrants. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told Fox News Digital that local departments could be the "biggest assets" for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations in carrying out President Donald Trump’s promise to deport illegal immigrants. He highlighted the need for infrastructure to house migrants, saying federal authorities need to "take the chain off" local municipalities. "There’s got to be an infrastructure at the federal level to house these folks because we can scoop them up in large quantities because they’re here illegally committing crime and or they already have," he said. "There’s 1.4 million with a federal warrant or a removal order. If we can identify them, put them in the computer, we can go pick them up." "You can’t just flip the switch on and off. You’ve got to put infrastructure together. But we will be an ally at an even greater level than we already have been," he said. "We’ll load up ICE with illegal immigrant criminals." Polk County, which is located between the Orlando and Tampa metro regions, signed a memorandum of agreement in 2019 – during Trump’s first term – to work alongside ICE officials. "And they [ICE under the previous Trump administration] came and got a lot of people from us that we had arrested on other criminal charges. But we saw those numbers diminish under the Biden administration," he said. "You know, quite frankly, they thought it was better to keep criminal illegal aliens in this country so that they could victimize people than to get rid of them."

Yahoo! News [2/9/2025 4:48 PM, Jim Weiker, 57114K] reports more than 200 people gathered at the Ohio Statehouse Sunday afternoon to support the Latino community and demonstrate concern over President Trump’s immigration policies. Carrying signs blasting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, protesters marched around the statehouse before congregating on the High Street side as passing drivers honked horns in support. Chanting slogans including "No way, no fear, immigrants are welcome here!" and "No one is illegal on stolen land!" protesters also carried signs such as "Immigrants Make America Great," "Humans are Not Illegal," and "Love Builds, Hate Destroys." Angel Cruz, with the LaRazaMovement, which organized the protest with other groups including Alianza 614, said the protest was designed to show support for Hispanic and related communities in light of the Trump administration’s effort to deport some immigrants. "We’re here to show the Hispanic community not to be afraid of ICE," Cruz said, adding that fear is already in the community. Cruz, who lives on the West Side, said traffic at central Ohio Hispanic markets and stores is already down, for example, because shoppers fear immigration raids. Cruz said the protest, which was the latest in Columbus against Trump’s immigration policies, won’t be the last. Those at the protest said they felt a need to show support for their community. "It’s important we fight for our families," said Jade Posadas of Columbus, who brought her extended family to the gathering. "I don’t want anyone to live in fear." Janet Romero of Columbus said she was here on behalf of her husband, who is afraid of being deported to his home country of Mexico after more than 30 years in the United States. "My husband has been here his whole life," she said. "He doesn’t want to go back to Mexico."

Miami Herald [2/9/2025 10:54 PM, Daniel Beekman, 6595K] reports Erik Molina and Elena Verduzco were headed to McDonald’s in their Dodge Ram with their toddler son when they realized they were being followed by a pair of unmarked trucks with tinted windows. "I think that’s ICE," Verduzco told Molina, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency responsible for deporting immigrants. Here were U.S.-born citizens driving an American pickup to America’s most popular restaurant. Yet on a chilly Sunday less than one week into President Donald Trump’s second term, Verduzco had a weird feeling about the trucks. She was right. They cornered Molina’s pickup after he pulled into a gas station parking lot, and a couple agents jumped out. Verduzco started recording the encounter on her cellphone. "Do you have your ID?" one agent asked Molina, whose hands were shaking. The agents let Molina and Verduzco go a minute later, attributing the stop to a case of mistaken identity. But Verduzco’s Jan. 26 video of the stop spread quickly after she posted it on social media and, along with other ICE sightings, raised fears in the Yakima Valley’s Latino communities. In Granger, the small town where Molina and Verduzco live. In Sunnyside, where agents arrested a farmworker couple outside a Latino supermarket. In Yakima, where hundreds of protesters rallied against ICE a week later. While large raids have not yet been reported and while some voters say ICE can make the area safer by removing dangerous criminals, recent events are reminding residents of Trump’s promises to carry out mass deportations, putting people on edge and changing the complexion of their daily lives. Some are getting groceries delivered, rather than venturing out to stores. They’re arranging guardians for their kids, in case their families get separated. They’re working to educate neighbors about their rights, like which documents you can demand to see before ICE agents can enter your home. These stories are playing out across the U.S., but especially in places like the Yakima Valley, with major concentrations of Latino and undocumented residents. Places with traumatic histories of deportations and separations.

Los Angeles Times [2/9/2025 9:30 AM, Andrew J. Campa, 17996K] reports even before the Trump administration came to power, there were already U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “raids” that made headlines in early January in Bakersfield and this week in Denver and Aurora, Colo. Los Angeles County, home to more than 800,000 undocumented residents, according to USC’s Equity Research Institute, did not draw the early ire of ICE officials. That, however, may be changing. My colleagues James Queally and Brittny Mejia reported that federal law enforcement agents are planning a “large scale” immigration enforcement action by the end of the month, according to documents reviewed by The Times. Los Angeles is a city Trump repeatedly criticized throughout his multiple presidential campaigns. The operation would be spearheaded by ICE and would focus on people who do not have legal status or who already have pending orders of removal, according to the document. A federal law enforcement source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said agents with the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles field offices are being called in to assist. “They needed more bodies,” the official said. A former federal law enforcement official, who said they had been informed about the recent preparations but spoke on the condition of anonymity fearing retaliation, also said FBI agents were being ordered to participate in pending ICE raids in Los Angeles. Neither official provided a date for the potential actions.

San Diego Union Tribune [2/9/2025 8:00 AM, Gary Warth, 2212K] reports after scraping a resolution addressing the role local police can play in assisting federal agents enforcing immigration laws two weeks ago, the El Cajon City Council will consider a similar, but revised resolution on Tuesday. The new resolution declares the city’s "intent to comply with the enforcement of federal immigration law to the legal extent permissible for the sole purpose of removing those that have committed violent criminal offenses, as defined by California Penal Code Section 1192.7(c), from our community." The resolution, proposed by Mayor Bill Wells and Councilmember Steve Goble, also states El Cajon is not a sanctuary city and seeks assistance from the U.S. Attorney General’s office to indemnify the city and police officers for assisting or cooperating with federal immigration authorities as permitted by law. In a telephone interview Friday, Goble said the resolution seeks to protect police officers who are doing their job from having their credential suspended by the state if they are perceived to have assisted ICE while doing their duty, such as chasing someone who ran a red light. "We’re not allowed to join a Border Patrol chase if they come into our city," he said. "However, if that person violates a city law such as speeding or running a red light, we are allowed to join that chase. I don’t want the state to say, ‘No, you shouldn’t have joined that chase.’ And I can say we’d lawfully joined that chase because it was not about immigration at that point. It was about running a red light." The group Latinos en Acció has announced a press conference at noon Tuesday in front of City Council chambers at 200 Civic Center Way, El Cajon, in opposition to the resolution. A flyer announcing the event states that California law already allows police to transfer violent criminals to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and expanding local police cooperation would mostly affect non-violent offenders and could lead to racial profiling.

Newsweek [2/9/2025 5:17 PM, Mandy Taheri, 56005K] reports Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, said on Sunday that he supports an exception to President Donald Trump’s refugee freeze for the resettlement of thousands of Afghans who aided the U.S. during its 20 years in the country. Newsweek has reached out to McCaul’s press team for comment via email on Sunday. U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, ending a 20-year military presence that began as part of the War on Terror following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. After the U.S. left, the Taliban quickly regained control, prompting tens of thousands of Afghans to flee, especially those who worked with the U.S. government and feared retaliation. Shortly after taking office last month, Trump signed an executive order pausing the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), freezing refugee processing across visa categories. Afghans who worked with the U.S. can also apply for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), which were affected by a separate executive order pausing foreign aid. Following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, then-President Joe Biden directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to coordinate and support the resettlement of "vulnerable Afghans, including those who worked alongside us in Afghanistan."

FOX News [2/9/2025 5:00 AM, Brie Stimson, 57114K] reports President Donald Trump on Friday said that he isn’t interested in deporting Prince Harry, who famously left Britain with his wife, Meghan Markle, in 2020, eventually settling in Montecito, California. The Duke of Sussex is in hot water after conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation filed a lawsuit last year against the Department of Homeland Security to have his immigration records released following Harry admitting to illegal drug use in the past in his 2023 memoir "Spare." "I don’t want to do that," Trump told the New York Post on Friday after being asked if he would deport the royal. "I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible." Markle has criticized Trump in the past, calling him "misogynistic" and "divisive" during a TV appearance ahead of the 2016 election. In 2019, before a state visit to the U.K. during his first term as president, Trump called the Duchess of Sussex "nasty" over her remarks about him. He then went on to meet with the royal family during the visit, minus Markle, who was with newborn Archie at the time. He also told Piers Morgan in 2022 that Harry was "whipped like no person he had ever seen." The Heritage Foundation in its lawsuit says that Harry may have lied on his immigration forms about his past drug use or was given preferential treatment by the government and called on the records to be released. "I’ll be urging the president to release Prince Harry’s immigration records and the president does have that legal authority to do that," Nile Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation previously told the New York Post. "It’s important because this is an issue of the rule of law, transparency and accountability. No one should be above the law," Gardiner added. "Donald Trump is ushering in a new era of strict border control enforcement, and you know, Prince Harry should be held fully to account as he has admitted to extensive illegal drug use." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reuters [2/9/2025 4:25 PM, Staff, 48128K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump’s offer to rehouse white South Africans as refugees fleeing persecution may not spur quite the rush he anticipates, as even right-wing white lobby groups want to "tackle the injustices" of Black majority rule on home soil. Trump on Friday signed an executive order to cut U.S. aid to South Africa, citing an expropriation act that President Cyril Ramaphosa signed last month aiming to redress land inequalities that stem from South Africa’s history of white supremacy. The order provided for resettlement in the U.S. of "Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination" as refugees. Afrikaners are mostly white descendants of early Dutch and French settlers, who own most of the country’s farmland. "If you haven’t got any problems here, why would you want to go," said Neville van der Merwe, a 78-year-old pensioner in Bothasig near Cape Town. "There hasn’t been any really bad taking over our land, the people are carrying on like normal and you know, what are you going to do over there?" The law seeks to address racial land ownership disparities - which has left three-quarters of privately owned land in the hands of the white minority - by making it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest. Ramaphosa has defended the policy. White people represent 7.2% of South Africa’s population of 63 million, statistics agency data shows. The data does not breakdown how many are Afrikaner. South Africa’s British rulers handed most farmland to whites. In 1950, the Apartheid-era National Party seized 85% of the land, forcing 3.5 million Black people from their homes. Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC), the biggest party in the ruling coalition, says Trump is amplifying misinformation propagated by AfriForum, an Afrikaner-led group. Newsweek [2/9/2025 5:43 PM, Rachel Dobkin, 56005K] reports Trump’s executive order, which also cut off foreign aid to South Africa, was made in response to the country’s new law allowing the government to take away land from people in instances where it is not being used or where redistributing it would be in the public interest. The law is meant to right some wrongs of the country’s apartheid past when Black people’s land was expropriated and they were forced to live in designated non-white areas. Trump also cited in his order South Africa’s undermining of U.S. foreign policy like when it accused Israel, a U.S. ally, of conducting genocide against the people of Gaza in its war with Hamas in the International Court of Justice in January 2024. In the order, Trump accused South Africa of "government-sponsored race-based discrimination," which he said includes the confiscation of property from Afrikaners without compensation. White people, including Afrikaners of mainly Dutch descent, and white South Africans of British or other origins, comprise roughly 7 percent of South Africa’s 62 million population. Dirk Hermann, chief executive of the Afrikaner trade union Solidarity, said at a press conference on Saturday, "Our members work here, and want to stay here, and they are going to stay here.”

Reuters [2/9/2025 4:34 PM, Jonathan Landay, 48128K] reports a group representing U.S. veterans, service members and others is warning the Trump administration of severe impacts on U.S. security unless it exempts tens of thousands of Afghans – many at risk of Taliban retribution – from the president’s foreign aid and refugee freeze that has stranded them worldwide. Possible consequences include a loss of trust that could impair local support for U.S. troops in future wars, said a letter sent on Saturday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio by Shawn VanDiver, the head of #AfghanEvac, the main coalition working on the resettlement of Afghans with the U.S. government. Denying the exceptions, it added, also will show foes like Islamic State that "the U.S. abandons its allies," and endanger active-duty Afghan-American U.S. military members’ wives, children and parents who are stuck in Afghanistan. Among President Donald Trump’s first acts upon taking office were to order a temporary halt to foreign aid and refugee programs, pending 90-day reviews. Rubio issued waivers for what he called "life-saving humanitarian assistance," but aid workers have said those waivers sparked widespread confusion. "We are asking for relief in the form of exemptions," said the letter, reviewed by Reuters, which also went to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who served in Afghanistan during the 20-year U.S. war. The Republican president ordered the refugee freeze as part of an immigration crackdown that he said is needed because of high levels of illegal immigration, but from which he exempted white South Africans on Friday. The foreign aid freeze has stalled flights from Afghanistan for some 40,000 Afghans approved as refugees or for Special Immigration Visas.

AP [2/9/2025 7:40 PM, Llazar Semini, Farnoush Amiri and Munir Ahmed, 17996K] reports they helped the U.S. military order airstrikes against Taliban and Islamic State fighters and worked as drivers and translators during America’s longest war. They were set to start new lives in the United States. Then President Donald Trump issued executive orders that put an end to programs used to help Afghans get to safety in America. Now those same Afghans, who underwent a yearslong background check, find themselves in a state of limbo. “I was shocked. I am still in shock because I have already waited four years for this process, to get out of this hell and to get to a safe place and live in peace and have a new beginning,” said Roshangar, one of the Afghans whose life was upended by Trump’s action. Roshangar requested that The Associated Press only use his first name because he was afraid of Taliban reprisals. He spoke in an interview from Afghanistan where he, his wife and son live in hiding, fearing punishment or even execution by the Taliban for his more than a decade-long partnership with American forces. Roshangar served as a legal adviser to the Afghan Air Force, helping U.S. officials review and eventually approve airstrike packages that were used against the Taliban and the Islamic State group from 2007 until the fall of Kabul, the Afghan capital, in 2021. “This was an unexpected move from Mr. Trump and everything went wrong and against us and leave us in severe danger under the Taliban regime,” he said. His family’s experience is just one aspect of the fallout from Trump’s orders, many of which were implemented without broad consultation with experts in the areas affected. “It’s an absolute stain on our national honor that we’ve pulled the rug out from under people who have patiently been awaiting relocation and those here in the US who have recently arrived,” said Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and head of #AfghanEvac, a coalition supporting Afghan resettlement efforts. “This is an imminently solvable issue and our national security demands we fix it.”

CNN [2/10/2025 5:00 AM, Avery Schmitz, Katie Bo Lillis, Priscilla Alvarez and Natasha Bertrand, 987K] reports the US military has significantly increased its surveillance of Mexican drug cartels over the past two weeks, with sophisticated spy planes flying at least 18 missions over the southwestern US and in international airspace around the Baja peninsula, according to open-source data and three US officials familiar with the missions. The flights, conducted over a 10-day period in late January and early February, represent a dramatic escalation in activity, current and former military officials say, and come as President Donald Trump directs the military to secure the border and deter cartels’ drug smuggling operations. The Pentagon has historically flown only about one surveillance mission a month around the US-Mexico border, according to one former military official with deep experience in homeland defense. Typically, officials instead focus these planes on collecting intelligence on other priorities, such as Russian activity in Ukraine or hunting Russian or Chinese submarines. The activity highlights how the military has already begun shifting finite US national security capabilities away from overseas threats to focus on the southern border, where Trump has declared a national emergency. At least 11 of these recent flights around the US have been by Navy P-8s, a particularly prized plane with a sophisticated radar system that specializes in identifying submarines but is also capable of collecting imagery and signals intelligence. One nearly six-hour flight on February 3 was conducted by a U-2 spy plane, one of the US military’s most venerated reconnaissance aircraft, designed during the Cold War for collecting high-altitude imagery of the Soviet Union. Current and former military officials with deep experience in counternarcotics work on the border said they could not recall a U-2 being used for this purpose before.

ABC News [2/9/2025 11:23 PM, Ayesha Ali, 33392K] reports an American Airlines flight was delayed last week after the crew alerted authorities about suspicious activity on the plane "regarding the name of a WiFi hotspot involving the word ‘bomb.’". American Airlines Flight 2863 was scheduled to travel from Austin, Texas, to Charlotte, North Carolina, with a planned departure time of 1:42 p.m. Bruce Steen, 63 years old, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was one of the passengers aboard the flight amid the incident at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Steen told ABC News that he was traveling home from a meeting in Austin on Feb. 7 when the incident occurred. He said that he was seated toward the front of the plane and saw a young man walking up to a flight attendant with a tablet to show her something. The flight attendant immediately called the cockpit, Sheen said, and soon the pilot announced that the flight would be returning to the gate due to an "administrative issue.” In the meantime, the crew had reported the incident to the Austin Police Department and the Department of Aviation. Steen said that after a few minutes, the pilot came back on and announced that "somebody renamed their hotspot ‘there is a bomb on the flight.’". A lieutenant from Austin PD then came onboard and told passengers the renaming was not funny, Sheen told ABC News, recalling that the official said: "If this is a joke, please raise your hand now, because we can deal with the practical joke differently than if this, if we have to do a full blown investigation of what’s going on here.” Steen said no one raised their hands -- and everyone was escorted off the plane in groups by the Austin PD. At one point, every passenger had to show their hotspot to police officers, Sheen said. The Transportation Security Administration said in a statement to ABC News that the agency and its partners in the transportation sector "take bomb threats very seriously.” "All passengers and their checked baggage were rescreened," the TSA confirmed. Dogs sniffed all the luggage and the police checked the baggage compartment on the plane, Sheen told ABC News. After the aircraft and luggage were swept for explosives, the aircraft was cleared by the Austin PD. The flight departed around 6:15 p.m. local time, according to airport officials. Austin Airport said there were no significant impacts to airport or airline operations, other than the delayed flight that was involved in the incident. The Austin Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

New York Times [2/9/2025 9:47 AM, Ken Bensinger and Jeremy Singer-Vine, 161405K] reports that, As the chief executive of the crowdfunding site GoFundMe, Tim Cadogan is no stranger to disasters. But until the Eaton fire forced him to evacuate his own home in Altadena, Calif., last month, a crisis had never landed on his actual doorstep. He was in his home office, wrapping up work on the evening of Jan. 7, when he heard the thump of helicopters. He drew back the curtain and was greeted by a terrifying line of orange fire marching down the hillsides above his house. Moments later, Mr. Cadogan and his family evacuated. Although their home was not burned, they cannot return there for months, if not longer. That left Mr. Cadogan scrambling to file insurance claims and find a new place for his family to live, all while managing one of the biggest surges in donations ever made through his company’s platform. “I had a mission, which is help people, help each other,” Mr. Cadogan, 54, said about his company. “I felt like it was really deep in my core. But like, now it’s like in the bones, you know?” Since the fires broke out, people have donated more than $250 million to victims of the Los Angeles fires as well as to charities working on relief efforts through GoFundMe — $20 million more than the company helped collect for all natural disasters worldwide last year, according to the company. More than a million donors in 160 countries have contributed to that total. Those donations, impressive as they are, cannot begin to cover the formidable costs of rebuilding Altadena, the Pacific Palisades and other areas devastated by the fires. That task, conservatively estimated in the tens of billions of dollars, will instead fall largely on insurers, private developers and the government. And crowdfunding efforts have been the subject of frequent criticism, in part because their free-market approach tends to reward those with wealthier networks of friends and family. Still, at a moment when President Trump has threatened to completely shut the Federal Emergency Management Agency and life-altering natural disasters appear ever more frequent, the need for an efficient pathway for financial support for people who need to find shelter, clothing, food and transportation after a crisis has never seemed more urgent. Crowdfunding platforms — of which GoFundMe is by far the largest — are aiming to fill some of that need.

Newsweek [2/9/2025 10:49 AM, Jordan King, 56005K] reports President Donald Trump has told the Secret Service to give him "every bit of information" about the two assassination attempts he was victim to, saying the agency has "held it back long enough.” The president made the comments in an interview with the New York Post. The Secret Service Chief of Communications, Anthony Guglielmi, told Newsweek: "Any information held by the Secret Service will be provided to the president, without exception.” The Secret Service has faced intense scrutiny since the attempts on Trump’s life, with the congressional task force probing the assassination attempts calling for reforms to the Service in its final report released in December. The July incident in Butler, Pennsylvania, raised significant concerns about coordination between local and federal law enforcement. Critics pointed to failures in communication that allowed the gunman to position himself on a rooftop undetected, opening fire before a countersniper could neutralize the threat. Trump made the order on Friday, saying, "I’m entitled to know.” "I want to find out about the two assassins," he said, "Why did the one guy have six cellphones and why did the other guy have [foreign] apps?". "No more holding back because of [Joe] Biden," he added, "I’m entitled to know. And they held it back long enough. No excuses.”

The Hill [2/9/2025 7:10 PM, Tara Suter, 16346K] reports the Secret Service has unveiled a Super Bowl advertisement titled "A History of Protection.” "If you weren’t able to attend tonight’s big game, you missed a jumbotron highlight!" reads a post on the social platform X on Sunday afternoon from the Secret Service. "For 160 years, our agency has been a witness to history; and since 1901 we’ve protected the most important people and events, including #SuperBowlLIX.” Also in the post is a video that references multiple parts of American history, including former President Lincoln, notable comments from former Presidents Kennedy and Reagan, the 9/11 attacks and the July assassination attempt against President Trump. "America was founded on an idea of freedom. America’s always stepped forward in time of need throughout our short but powerful history," says a voice-over in the video. The video ends with the URL for a webpage on careers at the Secret Service displayed on the screen. The advertisement was first reported by CNN and also highlighted by Mediaite. CNN also reported that sources said director Michael Bay was enlisted by the Secret Service for work on the ad.

Reported similarly:
CNN [2/9/2025 5:25 PM, Whitney Wild, Jamie Gangel and Elizabeth Wagmeister, 987K]

UPI [2/9/2025 7:12 PM, Mark Moran, 6595K] reports Donald Trump has made history as the first sitting U.S. president to attend a Super Bowl, as the Philadelphia Eagles took on the Kansas City Chiefs at the Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans Sunday. "I guess you have to say that when a quarterback wins as much as he’s won, I have to go with Kansas City," Trump said during an interview with Fox News Channel on the Super Bowl pregame show, referring to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He "really knows how to win. He’s a great, great quarterback," Trump continued. Trump also mentioned Mahomes’ wife Brittany during the interview. Brittany Mahomes was openly supportive of Trump during the presidential campaign. "I watched this great quarterback, who has, by the way, has a phenomenal wife," he said, referencing Patrick and Brittany Mahomes. "She’s a Trump fan. She’s a MAGA fan, so I happened to love her, but she’s a great person.” A portion of the interview aired at 3 pm EST Sunday prior to Super Bowl LIX and the remainder is scheduled to air on ‘Special Report with Bret Baier’ Monday on Fox. While he gave the Chiefs a slight edge in the game, Trump said he is a fan of both teams and mentioned Eagles running back Saquon Barkely as a potential difference maker. Trump said he chose to attend the Super Bowl because the country is headed in a different direction following his election and that he thought it would be a good thing to have the president at the game. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglilelmi said extensive security measures were enhanced at the Super Bowl this year in light of the historic appearance by Trump and staff had been in New Orleans for days preparing for Trump’s attendance at the game. "Security measures have been further enhanced this year, given that this will be the first time a sitting President of the United States will attend the event," Guglielmi said. The Secret Service is taking advantage of the captive audience by running a recruitment ad inside the Superdome during the Super Bowl.

Washington Examiner [2/9/2025 12:28 PM, Asher Notheis, 2365K] reports Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem assured that the agency’s security for Super Bowl LIX will be paramount on Sunday, citing how President Donald Trump’s attendance reinforces this message to other game attendees. Trump is set to become the first sitting president to attend the annual big game on Sunday, which will see the Kansas City Chiefs square off against the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans, Louisiana. Due to a terror attack that occurred in the city last month, the event’s security has been the focus ahead of kickoff, with Noem acknowledging it is "a big job.” "But it is so special that the president, the first time in history, is going to the Super Bowl," Noem said on Fox News’s Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream. "So while we have been focused on security operations there for many, many months and have been preparing for this day, to have President Trump be there just amplifies the message that a great game means that everybody got to go celebrate, support their team, and leave and get home safely.” Trump’s Super Bowl visit comes less than a year after the president narrowly survived an assassination attempt during a presidential rally. Noem assured that the investigation investigation into the failures of that rally’s security is "definitely moving in the right direction," and that the president’s security at the big game is not being taken lightly. This year’s game will see 2,000 law enforcement officers on patrol, along with 350 National Guard troops to assist with security. Noem also said on Monday that there are "no credible threats" to the game ahead of Sunday. Ahead of kickoff, Attorney General Pam Bondi has praised Noem’s work on securing the Super Bowl, stating that everyone involved in the event’s safety is "crushing it." . It is unclear if Trump is rooting for either the Kansas City Chiefs or the Philadelphia Eagles at Sunday’s game, though he did congratulate the Chiefs after it bested the Buffalo Bills in a score of 32-29 last month. Meanwhile, he did not offer a similar congratulatory message to the Eagles who beat the Washington Commanders 55-23.

Yahoo! News [2/9/2025 1:37 PM, Nathan Diller, 57114K] reports the U.S. Coast Guard is investigating after tar balls were seen washed up on southeast Florida beaches. The substances were reported in the Palm Beach, Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach areas on Saturday, Petty Officer Diana Sherbs told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. “At first light (Sunday) morning, Coast Guard personnel assessed the area to find the conditions remained the same, if not improved,” the statement said. “We are collaborating with local government agencies to prepare for future cleanup operations in specific areas.” Tar balls are solid or semi-solid “fragments or lumps of oil,” according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. They are sticky and can range from pinhead size to around 30 centimeters – nearly 12 inches – in diameter. Sources may generally include offshore petroleum production, discharges during marine transportation and naturally occurring seepage from the ocean floor, the Florida DEP said. “A Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 crew and Coast Guard Station Fort Lauderdale boat crew deployed to investigate a potential source but did not find where the tar balls came from,” Sherbs added. Beaches monitored by Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue are currently open, according to the county’s website. Pompano and Deerfield Beach did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s requests for comment on potential closures. The Florida DEP described tar balls as a "nuisance." Those who find residue on their body can rinse the area with fresh water and scrape it off. The agency recommended using a mineral oil or grease removing agent, and then rinsing the affected area again.

Newsweek [2/9/2025 5:37 PM, Mandy Taheri, 56005K] reports all of the passengers aboard the Bering Air flight that went missing on Thursday and later crashed have been recovered and identified by the Alaskan authorities. The single-engine Cessna Caravan aircraft, operated by Bering Air, initially vanished from radar Thursday afternoon while en route from Unalakleet to Nome, Alaska. The wreckage was found on Friday in the Bering Sea after an extensive search effort involving local, state, and federal agencies. The Alaska Coast Guard found the crashed plane on Friday, about 34 miles southeast of Nome. On Saturday afternoon, a team of pararescue people recovered the victims and transported their bodies to Nome for identification by Alaska state troopers. All the victims are Alaskan residents, hailing from Nome, Wasilla, Anchorage, Unalakleet, and Eagle River. Their families have been notified and the Alaska state troopers said all of the bodies will be transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage for autopsies. The victims of the crash are: Chad Antill (34), pilot, Liane Ryan (52), Donnell Erickson (58), Andrew Gonzalez (30), Kameron Hartvigson (41), Rhone Baumgartner (46), Jadee Moncur (52), Ian Hofmann (45), Talaluk Katchatag (34), Carol Mooers (48).

Miami Herald [2/9/2025 8:28 AM, Matthew Frankel, 6595K] reports San Juan Cruise Port in Puerto Rico suffered damage to one of its piers (Pier 3 West) in April 2024 when MSC Meraviglia collided with it. Specifically, the massive ship hit a structure known as a Berthing Dolphin, causing "catastrophic damage," and requiring extensive (and costly) repairs before it can be used. As the name "Pier 3" implies, this is only one of several piers in San Juan that can accommodate a cruise ship. So, to be clear, the San Juan Cruise Port is still operational. However, Pier 3 is capable of accommodating larger vessels, including Royal Caribbean’s Oasis Class ships, and this has caused several cruise ships to change their itineraries and skip San Juan entirely. Although progress has been made with the repairs, the pier still isn’t ready to receive cruise ships. And it could take longer than expected to restore service, especially considering a recent development. San Juan Cruise Port recently filed a lawsuit against MSC, as well as its insurers, to attempt to recoup some of the cost of the damages. MSC is being accused of negligence for operating its ship with excessive speed and failure to follow several proper docking procedures, including not using available tug assistance or aligning the ship with the mooring dolphin properly, according to the lawsuit,. The lawsuit also names Hartford Underwriting Agency, which is San Juan Cruise Port’s insurance broker, Steamship Mutual Underwriting Association, which is MSC’s insurance carrier, and insurance broker Willis Towers Watson. I’ll spare you any further technical details of the lawsuit, but the bottom line is that San Juan Cruise Port is attempting to sue for the costs to repair the pier, as well as for lost business from not being able to accommodate many planned cruise ships. It’s unclear exactly how many ships have canceled stops in San Juan, but in Royal Caribbean’s case, one example is that the Oasis-Class Symphony of the Seas hasn’t been able to complete planned visits. The latest update from the cruise port (from November) is that it was working to restore service and needed the U.S. Coast Guard to complete assessment studies to determine whether the pier is safe to use. And local media reports had hoped the pier would be ready to receive ships by late January, but that isn’t the case. While Royal Caribbean has been substituting other ports in itineraries, cruisers aren’t all happy about the unexpected changes.

New York Times [2/9/2025 1:28 PM, Amanda Holpuch, 161405K] reports newspapers across the country owned by the news media company Lee Enterprises were unable to print, had problems with their websites and published smaller issues after a cyberattack last week, the company said. In a statement emailed on Sunday, Lee Enterprises said that the company was facing disruptions to its daily operations because of a “cybersecurity event,” and that it had notified law enforcement. Lee Enterprises is the parent company of more than 70 daily newspapers, such as The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and nearly 350 weekly and specialty publications in 25 states, including Alabama, New York and Oregon. The company did not say how the attack happened or who was behind it. “We are now focused on determining what information — if any — may have been affected by the situation,” the company said. “We are working to complete this investigation as quickly and thoroughly as possible, but these types of investigations are complex and time-consuming, with many taking several weeks or longer to complete.” Newspapers published by Lee Enterprises reported on the cyberattack and said that most of the problems began on Monday morning. Each newspaper included details about how the attack had stifled their operations. It was not clear if the issues had been resolved on Sunday. The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, Va., and The La Crosse Tribune in La Crosse, Wis., both said on Friday that they had not been able to print newspapers since Monday. The Press of Atlantic City in New Jersey said it had not printed a newspaper since Feb. 1 but was working to print and deliver back issues. All of the newspapers were still able to publish articles online, though some subscribers had problems gaining access to their accounts. On Sunday, the websites for many Lee Enterprise newspapers, including The St. Louis Post-Dispatch in Missouri and The Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming, had a banner on their home pages that said, “We are currently undergoing maintenance on some services, which may temporarily affect access to subscription accounts and the e-edition.”

FOX News [2/9/2025 5:00 PM, Emma Colton, 49889K] reports President Donald Trump kicked off his fourth week in office by attending the Super Bowl in what is expected to be another action-packed work week that could include a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump will land back in Washington, D.C., late Sunday evening after attending the Super Bowl and spending the weekend at Mar-A-Lago. The 47th president hinted that he could hold his first meeting with Zelenskyy since his Jan. 20 inauguration later this week to discuss the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. "[Zelenskyy] may meet next week, yeah. Whenever he would like. I’m here," Trump told reporters while hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday. Trump has already met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose nation is in the midst of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas following more than a year of war, and has vowed to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths for both nations as war continues. "I will probably be meeting with President Zelenskyy next week. And I’ve… I will probably be talking to President Putin. I’d like to see that war end for one primary reason: They’re killing so many people," Trump said during the press conference on Friday. "You have 8 or 900,000 Russian soldiers are dead, and very badly wounded. And the same thing with Ukraine, you have probably 700,000 with Ukraine. The numbers they gave are a little bit lower than that. But I believe those numbers aren’t correct. I’d like to see it just on a human basis. It’s terrible what’s going on," Trump added of the ongoing war during his comments Friday.

The New York Times [2/9/2025 1:37 PM, Erica L. Green, Hurubie Meko and Alan Feuer, 161405K] reports President Trump will revoke the security clearances of several current law enforcement figures and former national security officials, White House officials confirmed on Sunday. In an interview with The New York Post published Saturday, Mr. Trump said he would withdraw the clearances of former Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and others who served in top positions under former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. The president also said that he would be stripping clearances for Letitia James, the New York attorney general, and Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, both of whom have brought cases against him. Ms. James is also leading a group of 19 attorneys general in a lawsuit to stop Mr. Trump’s administration from allowing Elon Musk’s cost-cutting initiative from gaining access to the Treasury Department’s payment and data systems. The new list of targets is the latest round of retribution Mr. Trump has lodged against his perceived political rivals and others who participated in high-profile legal cases against him. For many of those identified, it would be a largely symbolic action, but it could prevent the officials from getting into federal buildings or retrieving classified materials. Mr. Blinken, the highest ranking official targeted, did not respond to a request for comment. Mr. Trump did not provide specifics about what he sought to restrict from the officials. Mr. Trump called Mr. Blinken, the former secretary of state, a “bad guy” and said he wanted to “take away his passes.” Of others, Mr. Trump said his intent was “to take away every right they have.” Taking questions from reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Mr. Trump confirmed his decision, and denied it was a form of retribution. “If there are people that we don’t respect, if there are people that we thought that were breaking the law or came very close to it in previous years, we do it,” he said of stripping clearances. “And we’ve done it with some people, we’ve done it with Biden himself.” The Hill [2/9/2025 6:04 PM, Alex Gangitano, 16346K] reports that the president argued that there is no need for Biden to receive a security clearance and aimed to stop him from receiving daily intelligence briefings. He had referenced former special counsel Robert Hur’s 2024 report, which offered insights into Biden’s handling of classified materials. Trump also ended the Secret Service protection for his former national security adviser John Bolton last month and pulled security protection for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, The Hill reported.

Reuters [2/9/2025 4:08 PM, Gram Slattery, 30936K] reports U.S. President Donald Trump said he expects Elon Musk to find hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse at the Pentagon during an audit that the billionaire will lead. "I’m going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education. ... Then I’m going to go, go to the military. Let’s check the military," Trump said in a Super Bowl interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, an excerpt of which was aired on Sunday morning. "We’re going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse," Trump said of the largest federal department. The Pentagon’s budget is approaching $1 trillion per year. In December, then-President Joe Biden signed a bill authorizing $895 billion in defense spending for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Musk, who the White House says is a special government employee, has been tasked by Trump to lead an effort to slash the size of the U.S. federal workforce. As part of that initiative, Musk aides have sought access to confidential information in computer systems at various government agencies. Critics say the efforts are likely illegal, risk exposing classified information and in practice are gutting entire agencies without congressional approval. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz suggested in a separate interview on Sunday that the Pentagon’s shipbuilding processes could be an area of particular interest for the Department of Government Efficiency, and he characterized the Pentagon in general as full of unnecessary bloat. "Everything there seems to cost too much, take too long and deliver too little to the soldiers... We do need business leaders to go in there and absolutely reform the Pentagon’s acquisition process," Waltz said in an interview on NBC’s "Meet the Press." "There is plenty to look into in shipbuilding, which is an absolute mess," Waltz added. Leaders from across the political spectrum have long criticized waste and inefficiency at the Pentagon. But Democrats and civil service unions say Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency lacks the expertise to restructure the Pentagon, and their efforts risk exposing classified programs. Musk’s companies also hold major contracts with the Pentagon, which has raised significant conflict of interest concerns.

Washington Examiner [2/9/2025 6:10 PM, Asher Notheis, 2365K] reports national security adviser Mike Waltz argued the U.S. Department of Defense is desperately in need of reform by the Department of Government Efficiency, which has begun implementing cost-cutting measures across the federal government. Following DOGE’s exposure of wasteful spending by the U.S. Agency of International Development last week, the agency, headed by X owner and billionaire Elon Musk, is seeking to help the Trump administration find similar wasteful spending within the DOD. Waltz argued the DOD needs to be looked at by DOGE, as everything at the agency seems to be too expensive and also "deliver too little" to the nation’s soldiers. "I, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, held up a bag of bolts that would cost $100 in a hardware store that cost $90,000 to the U.S. Air Force, and the American people have said ‘enough,’ enough with the bloat and the waste and the debt," Waltz said on NBC News’s Meet the Press. "And when we have $1 trillion of interest in our debt that’s exceeded our entire defense budget, we do need great minds and we do need business leaders to go in there and absolutely reform the Pentagon’s acquisition process.” When pressed about any conflicts of interest that could be at stake with Musk’s investments in contracts with the DOD, Waltz contended that the "appropriate firewalls" would be set in place to prevent this. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth expressed excitement to work on cutting waste at the DOD, as it is "long overdue." An audit on the department and the Pentagon would provide "simple accounting" on where the taxpayer money is going, he said. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem similarly dismissed concerns about Musk having access to her department, as a proper audit of the government "needs to happen.”

Newsweek [2/9/2025 4:03 PM, Natalie Venegas, 56005K] reports National security adviser Mike Waltz was confronted on NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday about President Donald Trump’s desire to annex Canada. Canada is one of several foreign entities that Trump has said the United States should acquire, along with resource-rich Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, and the Panama Canal. The president has also suggested that Canada could become the 51st state of America. The leaders of Canada and Greenland have been dismissive of joining the U.S. Waltz was asked by Meet the Press’ host Kristen Welker if Trump is serious about planning to annex Canada following reported remarks from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in which he told a closed-door meeting of business leaders last week that the Trump administration "keep[s] talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state." Waltz said while he doesn’t think the president has "any plans to invade Canada," he believes many Canadians "do not like the last 10 years of liberal, progressive governance in Trudeau." "I think the Canadian people, many of them, would love to join the United States...What you’re seeing is a reassertion of American leadership in the Western Hemisphere, from the Arctic all the way down to the Panama Canal," he added. "And that’s what we’re talking about, from Greenland, to Arctic security to the Panama Canal coming back under the United States. America has avoided our own hemisphere—where we have the energy, the food and the critical minerals—for way too long, and you’re seeing a reassertion of President Trump’s leadership." In a Sunday interview with Fox News’ chief political anchor Bret Baier, Trump responded to Trudeau’s remarks stating that making Canada the 51st state is a real thing. "Yeah, it is. I think Canada would be much better off being the 51st state, because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada, and I’m not going to let that happen too much. Why are we paying $200 billion a year, essentially in subsidy to Canada? Now, if they’re a 51st state, I don’t mind doing it."

Miami Herald [2/9/2025 1:16 PM, Sara Lemel and Ramadan Al-Fatash, 6595K] reports following the latest hostage-for-prisoner exchange under the current ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli military has withdrawn from the strategic Netzarim Corridor in the Gaza Strip, according to media reports on Sunday. This corridor divides the coastal strip into northern and southern halves. Israeli Army Radio reported that the military had completely left the area, though there has not yet been any official confirmation. Israeli security sources stated only that preparations were underway to implement the agreement. Hamas has called the withdrawal a victory. Israel had already begun withdrawing from parts of the Netzarim Corridor after the current ceasefire with Hamas took effect on January 19. Under the agreement, the army was expected to vacate the area entirely, except for a one-kilometer-wide buffer zone along the Israeli border. This withdrawal is meant to facilitate the return of displaced Palestinians from the south to their devastated northern home towns in larger numbers. Meanwhile, Egypt said on Sunday it would host an emergency Arab summit later this month, after U.S. President Donald Trump floated a plan to takeover the Gaza Strip and displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the war-devastated territory to other countries. The summit will be held in Cairo on February 27 to discuss the "latest and serious developments" of the Palestinian issue, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement.

Reuters [2/10/2025 2:53 AM, Sarita Chaganti Singh, Shivangi Acharya and Shivam Patel, 48128K] reports Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing additional tariff cuts ahead of a meeting this week with U.S. President Donald Trump that could boost American exports to India and avoid a potential trade war, government officials said. Modi’s two-day U.S. visit from Wednesday comes as Trump plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on many countries, including tariffs of 25% on all steel and aluminium imports by largest trading partner the United States. Trump has previously called India a "very big abuser" on trade and urged it to buy more American-made security equipment to move towards a fair two-way trading relationship. India is considering tariff cuts in at least a dozen sectors, from electronics to medical and surgical equipment, and chemicals, to boost U.S. exports in line with New Delhi’s domestic production plans, three government officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media. India’s trade and foreign ministries, and the prime minister’s office, did not respond to requests for comment emailed outside official work days. Trade ties between the two nations have grown steadily over the last decade, with Washington increasingly viewing New Delhi as a counterbalance to China’s growing regional influence. In a statement on Monday, Modi said, "This visit will be an opportunity to build upon the successes of our collaboration in his (Trump’s) first term." He added that technology, trade, defence, energy, and supply chain resilience were areas in which the partnership could be elevated and deepened. The officials said concessions were being considered on items that India primarily sources from the United States or has more potential appetite to buy, such as dish antennas and wood pulp. Two-way trade exceeded $118 billion in fiscal 2023-2024, with India posting a surplus of $32 billion. Modi is expected to discuss tariffs with Trump and India is open to discussing a possible mini trade deal, two government officials said. His early visit aims to avoid a "trade war-like situation that is happening between the United States and China," said a third official, who also sought anonymity.

Reuters [2/10/2025 3:02 AM, Hyunsu Yim, 30936K] reports South Korea’s spy agency has accused Chinese AI app DeepSeek of "excessively" collecting personal data and using all input data to train itself, and questioned the app’s responses to questions relating to issues of national pride. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it sent an official notice to government agencies last week urging them to take security precautions over the artificial intelligence app. "Unlike other generative AI services, it has been confirmed that chat records are transferable as it includes a function to collect keyboard input patterns that can identify individuals and communicate with Chinese companies’ servers such as volceapplog.com," the NIS said in a statement issued on Sunday. Some government ministries in South Korea have blocked access to the app, citing security concerns, joining Australia and Taiwan in warning about or placing restrictions on DeepSeek. The NIS said DeepSeek gives advertisers unlimited access to user data and stores South Korean users’ data in Chinese servers. Under Chinese law, the Chinese government would be able to access such information when requested, the agency added. DeepSeek also provided different answers to potentially sensitive questions in different languages, the NIS noted. It cited one such question as asking for the origin of kimchi - a spicy, fermented dish that is a staple in South Korea. When asked about it in Korean, the app said kimchi is a Korean dish, the NIS said. Asked the same question in Chinese, it said the dish originated from China, it said. DeepSeek’s responses were corroborated by Reuters. The origin of kimchi has at times been a source of contention between South Koreans and Chinese social media users in recent years. DeepSeek has also been accused of censoring responses to political questions such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, which prompt the app to suggest changing the subject: "Let’s talk about something else." DeepSeek did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. When asked about moves by South Korean government departments to block DeepSeek, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told a briefing on February 6 that the Chinese government attached great importance to data privacy and security and protected it in accordance with the law. The spokesperson also said Beijing would never ask any company or individual to collect or store data in breach of laws.

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