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.

CBS News [1/9/2025 8:39 PM, Kathryn Watson, 52225K, Neutral] reports President Biden announced Thursday that for the next six months, the federal government will pay for 100% of the disaster response costs from the wildfires destroying neighborhoods across the greater Los Angeles area. The president also said he’ll be asking Congress for more funding to help. Speaking from the White House during a briefing on the fires, the president said federal funding will cover things like removing debris, setting up temporary shelters, and paying first responders. Mr. Biden said he’s surging all federal resources possible to Southern California, including 400 federal firefighters and 30 federal firefighting planes, among other assets. "I told the governor and local officials, spare no expense," Mr. Biden said, calling the damage "catastrophic.” The 100% disaster response coverage from the federal government for the next 180 days is an increase from the current 75% the president previously allotted, and more than the 90% Mr. Biden said California Gov. Gavin Newsom requested. The damage is expected to be one of the most expensive disasters in California history. Three fires are still raging, the president said, and 179,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes. Congress may need to pass supplemental funding to buoy rebuilding efforts, and the president urged Congress to "step up.” "I’m going to make an appeal right now to the United States Congress," he said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been working with displaced locals to get them immediate supplies, like baby food. The president said the federal government will help people there not just recover, but eventually rebuild. The Los Angeles Times [1/9/2025 12:40 PM, Faith E. Pinho, 17996K, Negative] reports that the president said he is “surging all federal resources possible to Southern California,” including 400 additional federal firefighters and over 30 firefighting helicopters and planes. He said Canada also is providing firefighting aircraft. Biden urged those affected by fires to contact disasterassistance.gov or call (800) 621-3362. Harris, whose own home in the Brentwood neighborhood has been threatened by the wildfires, called the scenes in Southern California “apocalyptic.” “What we are seeing is a situation that is extremely dynamic, it is very much in play and, to some degree, unpredictable — because we are literally waiting to see which way the wind blows,” Harris said. ABC News [1/9/2025 5:34 PM, Alexandra Hutzler, 33392K, Neutral] reports that a major disaster declaration was approved by Biden on Wednesday, allowing victims of the fire to "immediately access funds and resources to jumpstart their recovery," according to the White House. Biden also directed the Pentagon to provide any firefighting resources the area needs, including helicopters to help suppress the flames. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized 500 wildfire ground clearing personnel to assist local first responders, Biden said on Thursday. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell was in Los Angeles on Thursday to meet with local officials and survey the damage. Government Executive [1/9/2025 4:42 PM, Eric Katz, 342K, Neutral] reports FEMA currently has 126 personnel on the ground, an agency spokesperson said, a number the agency expects to grow in the coming days. Administrator Deanne Criswell and Lori Moore-Merrell, chief of FEMA’s U.S Fire Administration, are also on site. FEMA currently has $27 billion in its Disaster Relief Fund after Congress just replenished it in December, which the spokesperson said has given the agency the funding and resources it needs to respond to the crisis. The president asked the Defense Department to send additional firefighting teams to the incidents, and the Navy and Central Command are deploying firefighting helicopters and planes. The National Weather Service has remained in close communication with local authorities to provide real-time weather updates, including wind patterns that predict fire movement. The Environmental Protection Agency has teams on standby to provide air quality assessments. USFS, meanwhile, has deployed five large air tankers, 10 firefighting helicopters and has dozens of fire engines deployed and ready for use. The agency is operating under a budget crunch, however, as Congress has failed to meet its funding requests and supplemental spending streams—most notably the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—have run dry.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [1/9/2025 5:42 PM, Alex Gangitano, 16346K, Negative]
ABC News [1/9/2025 4:31 PM, Luke Barr, 33392K, Neutral]
Washington Examiner [1/9/2025 6:10 PM, Naomi Lim, 2365K, Neutral]

The Hill [1/9/2025 11:32 AM, Lauren Irwin, 16346K, Negative] reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is working with families who lost their homes in the deadly Los Angeles wildfires, the agency’s administrator said. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told CNN on Thursday that the agency has yet to assess the damage, but more than 1,000 structures have been left destroyed or with damage from both the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires. "We know that there’s going to be lots of families that are going to be in great need," she said. On Tuesday, FEMA authorized the use of federal funds to assist California in combating the fires. The Fire Management Assistance Grant provides funds for up to 75 percent of eligible firefighting costs. FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund allows for assistance in fighting fires. Eligible costs can include expenses for field camps, equipment use, materials, supplies and mobilization activities for fighting the fires, FEMA said in a release. With first responders still battling the flames and officials assessing the damage to the area, Criswell told CNN that what affects her most about wildfire victims is that families have lost everything. "They’ve lost all of their memories, all of their belongings, nothing for them to really even sift through," Criswell said. "This makes the recovery process — both from a physical standpoint of having to rebuild but also the emotional standpoint — so difficult for so many people.” Criswell said FEMA officials are in Sacramento and working alongside California’s emergency teams. FEMA’s teams will soon begin moving into shelters to help survivors register for assistance from the federal government, the outlet reported.

NPR [1/9/2025 5:27 PM, Jason Fuller, Denise Couture, John Ketchum, Juana Summers, 35747K, Neutral] Audio: HERE reports NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly talks with Dr. Lori- Moore-Merrell, the Fire Administrator for FEMA, about fighting — and plans to rebuild after — the fires in Los Angeles.

The Washington Post [1/10/2025 12:44 AM, Brianna Sacks, 40736K, Neutral] reports that, as wildfires tore through greater Los Angeles this week, firefighters faced one of the most exasperating obstacles: hydrants with no water. In Pacific Palisades, hydrants failed after three tanks holding a million gallons each went dry within 12 hours, officials said. Across Altadena, residents used pool water and garden hoses in futile attempts to extinguish flames. The reports of dry hydrants sparked outrage and finger-pointing, with President-elect Donald Trump accusing California Gov. Gavin Newsom of depriving the region of water and demanding he "immediately go to Northern California and open up the water main." Experts dismissed Trump’s claim, with Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute calling the allegations unrelated to firefighting water issues. Firefighting efforts were hindered by an urban water system designed for small-scale house fires, not massive wildfires consuming entire neighborhoods. In Pacific Palisades, water demand quadrupled, depleting local tanks by early Wednesday. High winds exacerbated challenges, grounding aircraft typically used to drop water and retardant. Residents in Altadena used whatever resources they could, including buckets and puddles, as explosions echoed through neighborhoods. Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said, "If we don’t have water, we find water," but acknowledged the unprecedented scale of devastation. Critics like billionaire developer Rick Caruso blamed city leadership, calling it a failure of resource deployment. DWP officials defended their system, noting it delivered more than designed, but acknowledged it couldn’t handle such extraordinary demands. They have since deployed water tenders and directed firefighters to hydrants with strong pressure. UCLA’s Gregory Pierce doubted additional water supply would have significantly altered outcomes, citing the ferocity and speed of the fires. Traci Park, a Los Angeles City Council member, called for addressing chronic underinvestment in infrastructure, saying, "It’s on us to fix that." Amid the devastation, residents like Babroff, a Cal Fire volunteer, relied on shovels, dirt, and trickles of water to battle flames as resources ran dry. The New York Times [1/9/2025 8:45 PM, Tim Arango, Mike Baker and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, 161405K, Negative] reports Capt. Kevin Easton and his firefighting team faced multiple challenges as they battled the Pacific Palisades fire, which destroyed over 5,000 structures, including homes of Hollywood stars, and left hydrants completely dry. Officials revealed that water storage tanks and pumping systems in the high-elevation areas could not meet demand due to the rapid spread of the fire, which exceeded the capacity of municipal water systems designed for smaller fires. "We are looking at a situation that is just completely not part of any domestic water system design," said Marty Adams, former general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The tanks, filled to capacity before the fires, were quickly depleted, with firefighters relying on aircraft for water drops, which were initially unavailable due to high winds. Rick Caruso, a real estate developer, criticized the lack of preparation, calling the water shortage inexcusable, while Traci Park, a Los Angeles City Council member, cited the aging infrastructure as a major issue. Fire crews across Los Angeles County were overwhelmed, with erratic winds spreading embers miles ahead of the flames, contributing to the Eaton fire’s destruction of over 13,000 acres. Greg Pierce of UCLA highlighted the high costs of redesigning water systems for wildfires and questioned rebuilding near wildlands, as climate change increases fire risks. Despite efforts, firefighters faced delays in additional support and had to shuttle water from stationary tanks, which slowed progress. "That causes problems too, because you get 500 gallons of water and you’ve got a house that’s on fire, you knock it down a lot and then you’ve got to go back and get refilled," Easton said.

New York Times [1/10/2025 2:16 AM, Qasim Nauman, 161405K, Negative] reports a firefighting aircraft flying over the Palisades fire in Los Angeles collided with a drone on Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration said, warning that flying drones can disrupt firefighting efforts and endanger lives. The plane landed safely after the incident, said the F.A.A., which will investigate the episode. The collision damaged a wing and put the plane out of commission, said Chris Thomas, a Cal Fire spokesman. The blazes that broke out this week in Los Angeles and its surrounding areas were fueled by fierce winds that initially prevented aircraft from taking off safely. Once conditions improved, dozens of helicopters and planes joined the fight to contain the fires. More were on the way Thursday night, the authorities said. The F.A.A. has imposed temporary flight restrictions in the Los Angeles area while firefighters work to contain the fires. The agency said Thursday that it has not authorized anyone who is not involved in the firefighting operations to fly drones in the restricted zones. Despite the restrictions, many videos of the Southern California fires purported to be from drones have been posted on social media this week. Flight restrictions are often imposed by the F.A.A. when wildfires break out, and the authorities have warned for years about the threat posed by drones to firefighting aircraft. Authorities often ground firefighting planes if drones are spotted in the area. In September, at least two drone incursions were reported as firefighters battled the Line fire in Southern California.

Reported similarly:
Los Angeles Times [1/9/2025 8:28 PM, Terry Castleman and Grace Toohey, 17996K, Negative]

ABC News [1/9/2025 6:59 PM, Bill Hutchinson, 33392K, Neutral] reports as thousands of firefighters battled a series of raging wildfires across Los Angeles County, California officials warned the public that fire season should now be considered a yearlong event. Multiple fires destroyed thousands of homes and prompted some 180,000 evacuations in January demonstrates that the so-called "fire season" is no longer just a spring and summer event, they said. They also emphasized that homeowners outside of fire-prone areas should still be prepared. "Climate change has made fire season year-round and increased our ever-growing number of wildfires," the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in an online post. "Firefighters and residents alike are now constantly on heightened alert for the threat of wildfires.” The warning came just days after the National Interagency Fire Center released a report showing preliminary data on total acres burned in 2024 in the United States. It was 127% above the 10-year average of 55.9 million acres a year, the report said. While Los Angeles County fire officials said firefighters are ready to respond to wildfires, they stressed that it is crucial more than ever for homeowners to step up their efforts to help reduce deaths and property damage. "We can’t do this without your cooperation," fire officials said. "Preparation and prevention go hand-in-hand.” The notice went out even as Los Angeles fire officials said at a news conference that firefighters have had to rescue people who got trapped by the blazes because they did not heed mandatory evacuation orders.

ABC News [1/9/2025 5:46 PM, Julia Jacobo, 33392K, Neutral] reports a perfect storm of weather and climate conditions made the California wildfires nearly impossible to contain once they ignited, according to experts. In a typical fire management scenario, containing the fire by setting up a perimeter and trying to keep it from spreading further is often the first line of defense for firefighters to get the blaze under control, according to Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources’ team of experts on fire research in California. But a confluence of events -- hurricane-force winds, low humidity levels and dry conditions -- allowed the fires to explode after the initial spark, Rachel Cleetus, policy director for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told ABC News. The fires have prompted mandatory evacuation orders for tens of thousands of people and ripped through entire neighborhoods in a matter of hours. At least five people have died and several others were injured as a result of the fires, according to officials. Five separate wildfires in the same region is proving difficult for firefighters to contain as they battle the flames amid high Santa Ana winds. NPR [1/9/2025 4:25 PM, Chandelis Duster, Neutral] reports red flag warnings have been extended through Friday for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties as gusty winds whip across the area and multiple fires burn out of control. Another round of winds from the northeast are expected to develop Thursday, with winds strengthening and "another moderate to locally strong Santa Ana wind event is forecast," the agency says. Widespread wind gusts of 35 to 55 mph will occur before increasing by 10 to 15 mph overnight through Friday morning. This, combined with extremely low humidity, is conducive to fueling flames. Newsweek [1/9/2025 3:44 PM, Tom Howarth, 56005K, Neutral] reports a study published Thursday has put the blame for the wildfires ravaging parts of Los Angeles on an emerging climate phenomenon: hydroclimate whiplash. This latest disaster comes on the heels of years of unprecedented weather swings, where periods of above-average rainfall are followed by extensive droughts. Hydroclimate whiplash is a growing global threat, intensifying the extremes of flooding and drought. In California, this cycle creates conditions for wildfires, landslides and water management crises. The most recent blazes have already scorched nearly 30,000 acres in Los Angeles County, claiming the lives of five people. The fires remain largely uncontained.

Miami Herald [1/10/2025 2:13 AM, Darryl Coote, 6595K, Neutral] reports the death toll from the worst wildfire in California history continued to rise, with the Los Angeles medical examiner reporting Thursday night that 10 people have died as a result of the blazes. The medical examiner’s office said in a statement that it was notified of the 10 deaths as of 9 p.m. PST Thursday. Identification was pending and could take weeks, it said, as the examiner is unable to reach the locations of the deaths due to the fires. "The Department of Medical Examiner understands how important it is to identify those lost in the wildfires and is working diligently, while following safety protocols, to provide the information to the next of kin as soon as reasonably possible," the office said. The death toll had been at five earlier Thursday. Five blazes continued to burn early Friday in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, spanning tens of thousands of acres. Evacuation orders have been issued, affecting more than 180,000 people, with evacuation warnings in place for several zones near the fires. Dramatic video published online shows vast swaths of structures destroyed and damaged as the fires burn through affluent U.S. areas, some home to celebrities. The cause of each of the five fires is under investigation. The Palisades fire, the largest of the blazes at nearly 20,000 acres burned, has destroyed more than 5,000 structures, with over 13,300 more threatened, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Thursday night update. The blaze ignited Tuesday and was 6% contained. The Eaton fire, the second-largest fire at 13,690 acres, has destroyed at least 4,000 structures and claimed the lives of two people, Cal Fire’s update said. It also ignited Tuesday and had zero percent containment. The Kenneth, Hurst, and Lidia fires were all smaller than 1,000 acres. They were at zero percent containment, except for Lidia, which was 75% contained.

Reported similarly:
CBS Los Angeles [1/9/2025 5:26 PM, Marissa Wenzke, 52225K, Negative]

AP [1/10/2025 4:53 AM, Jaimie Ding, Julie Watson and John Seewer, 2212K, Neutral] reports the two biggest wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area have killed at least 10 people and burned more than 10,000 homes and other structures, officials said as they urged more people to heed evacuation orders after a new blaze ignited and quickly grew. The Kenneth Fire started in the late Thursday afternoon in the San Fernando Valley just 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from a school serving as a shelter for evacuees from another fire. It moved into neighboring Ventura County but a large and aggressive response by firefighters stopped the flames from spreading. About 400 firefighters remained on scene overnight to guard against the fire flaring up. Only hours before the Kenneth Fire roared to life, officials expressed encouragement after firefighters aided by calmer winds and help from crews from outside the state saw the first signs of successfully beating back the region’s two devastating wildfires. The Eaton Fire near Pasadena that started Tuesday night has burned more than 5,000 structures, a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings, and vehicles. Firefighters were able to establish the first bit of containment Thursday. To the west in Pacific Palisades, the largest of the fires burning in the LA area has destroyed over 5,300 structures and firefighters had no containment. All of the major fires that have broken out this week are located in a roughly 25-mile (40-kilometer) band north of downtown Los Angeles, spreading a sense of fear and sadness across the nation’s second-largest city. No cause has been identified for the largest fires. Firefighters made significant gains Thursday at slowing the spread of the major fires, but containment remained far out of reach.

Reported similarly:
AP [1/9/2025 1:11 PM, Staff, 47097K, Positive]

The Hill [1/9/2025 5:31 PM, Alex Gangitano, 16346K, Negative] reports President Biden said Thursday intentional power outages in the Los Angeles area that were administered in order to prevent more fires from starting were partially to blame for water shortages as officials battle historic wildfires near the city’s limits. In a briefing with administration officials from the White House, Biden said generators were on the way and that he talked to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) about the water shortages. He explained that utilities were shut off out of concern about sparking more fires that are devastating neighborhoods in and around Southern California. He added that Cal Fire, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, is bringing in generators to help with the shortage of water coming out of the hydrants.

USA Today [1/9/2025 8:52 AM, Natalie Neysa Alund, 89965K, Neutral] reports nearly 100,000 people and businesses remained without power Thursday as wildfires continue to rage across Southern California. As of about 5:30 a.m. local time, just over 91,000 outages had been reported, according to the USA TODAY power outage tracker. A majority of them were in northern Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s outage map shows. The deadly fires broke out Monday and have destroyed at least 1,000 homes, businesses and other structures, according to Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone. At least five fatalities have been confirmed, and more deaths are possible as the fires continue to expand and new ones ignite. California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency this week as more than 100,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and evacuate the area. President Joe Biden also approved Newsom’s request for a major disaster declaration and ordered federal assistance for response efforts in areas impacted by the fires. More than 7,500 state personnel are on the ground working with local and federal partners to in an effort to contain the fires, according to Newsom’s office. The fires − Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia, Sunset − have burned thousands of acres and continued to spread. As of Thursday morning, CAL FIRE reported the Palisades, Eaton, and Sunset fires were at zero containment, while firefighters had contained 10% of the Hurst fire. According to authorities, the culprits behind the wildfires are low humidity and dry vegetation caused by scarce rain and strong winds. Before the fire began, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned the affected areas in Los Angeles County of extreme fire conditions and the possibility of winds reaching 100 mph.

The New York Times [1/9/2025 4:55 PM, Karoun Demirjian, 161405K, Neutral] reports the Senate on Thursday came closer to passing a bill requiring the deportation of undocumented immigrants charged with minor crimes after most Democrats joined Republicans to advance it. All but eight Democrats and one independent voted to begin debate on the bill, easily exceeding the 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster. The legislation, which passed the House with bipartisan support earlier this week, appears to be on a smooth path to garnering the presidential signature of Donald J. Trump when he takes office this month. The vote reflected a major shift to the right among Democrats on immigration after their party’s considerable electoral losses in November against Republicans, who campaigned on a promise to crack down on illegal border crossings and carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. Republicans queued it up as the first of several border bills they hope to revive and enact when they secure their governing trifecta with Mr. Trump’s inauguration. The legislation instructs federal officials to detain unauthorized immigrants arrested for or charged with burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting, expanding the list of charges that would subject migrants to detention and potential deportation. The measure also would give state attorneys general the right to sue the attorney general or homeland security secretary if an immigrant who enters the United States illegally goes on to commit a crime that harms the state or any of its residents. The bill must clear another 60-vote hurdle next week before a final vote requiring a simple majority to pass and clear Congress. Roll Call [1/9/2025 5:21 PM, Chris Johnson, 440K, Neutral] reports that the legislation would require the secretary of Homeland Security to issue a detainer for undocumented immigrants arrested for or convicted of burglary, theft or shoplifting. It would also let states sue the federal government if they feel U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn’t enforce the previous component of the bill. The House on Tuesday voted 264-159 to pass that chamber’s version of the legislation. If it passes the Senate, Republicans say this could be the first bill President-elect Donald Trump signs once he takes office on Jan. 20. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., one of the leaders of the push for the bill in the Senate, said at a press conference after the vote that Republicans are open to amendments. Newsweek [1/9/2025 7:13 PM, Dan Gooding, 56005K, Neutral] reports that after the House of Representatives earlier this week passed the bill—which is purportedly designed to detain more illegal immigrants accused of crimes including theft and burglary—some pundits warned other elements of the legislation are dangerous, including handing over more immigration powers to state attorneys general. "I think there is a lot of confusion about this bill, which is frustrating considering it’s only eight pages long," Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, told Newsweek. "This bill does not make anyone newly subjected to deportation that isn’t already, and this bill does not make anyone newly subject to detention that isn’t already subjected to detention. "So far all of the discussion has been about a theoretical bill that doesn’t actually exist, rather than the actual bill sitting in front of them that may be signed into law in the next few weeks.” The Laken Riley Act is the first piece of legislation to pass through the new Republican-controlled Congress and comes as a statement of the party’s intent to tackle immigration quickly. The policy area was among President-elect Donald Trump’s key talking points while on the election campaign trail, promising to carry out mass deportations of illegal immigrants. USA Today [1/9/2025 6:53 PM, Sudiksha Kochi, 89965K, Neutral] reports that the bill passed the House on Tuesday, with 48 Democrats joining the Republican majority. It would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain and deport undocumented immigrants who commit theft, burglary, shoplifting or larceny, among other provisions. Senate Democrats who opposed advancing the bill told USA TODAY they think the legislation would take immigration reform too far. "I think there’s plenty of appetite for immigration policies that secure the border and to make sure there’s not disorder in our communities," said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. "But this bill is just not very well crafted, and I think we could do a bipartisan bill, but this is a talking point turned into a legislative action.” The Washington Examiner [1/9/2025 3:37 PM, Ramsey Touchberry, 2365K, Neutral] reports that democrats want to include exemptions for so-called Dreamers who were brought into the country illegally as minors by their parents. "Democrats want to have a robust debate, where we can offer amendments and improve the bill," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who was among the Democrats to vote in favor. "To remind my colleagues: This is not a vote on the bill itself. This is a motion to proceed, a vote that says we should have a debate and should have amendments.”

Reported similarly:
The Hill [1/9/2025 3:44 PM, Al Weaver, 16346K, Neutral]
Reuters [1/9/2025 4:19 PM, Richard Cowan and Bo Erickson, 48128K, Neutral]
NBC News [1/9/2025 12:27 PM, Sahil Kapur, Ryan Nobles, Julie Tsirkin, and Frank Thorp V, 50804K, Neutral]
FOX News [1/9/2025 3:38 PM, Julia Johnson, 49889K, Neutral]

CNN [1/9/2025 5:21 PM, Clare Foran, Lauren Fox and Ted Barrett, Neutral] reports a significant number of Senate Democrats voted with Republicans on Thursday to advance a GOP-led bill to require the detention of undocumented migrants charged with certain crimes – a key step that puts the legislation on the verge of passage. The bill would require the detention of undocumented migrants charged with theft or burglary. The legislation still faces hurdles ahead and it is uncertain if it will make it across the finish line in the Senate. While some Democrats have said they support the bill outright, others have said they want to make changes to it and are seeking a robust amendment process. One controversial but under-the-radar provision of the legislation would give state attorneys general the authority to sue in federal court over the decisions by federal officials, including immigration judges, to release certain immigrants from detention. They could also sue to force the State Department to impose visa sanctions against countries that refuse to accept nationals that are eligible for deportation.

Bloomberg [1/9/2025 4:38 PM, Nancy Cook, 21617K, Neutral] reports President-elect Donald Trump is planning a flurry of executive orders around immigration, energy, federal workers and regulatory reform in the early hours after his Jan. 20 inauguration, part of a sweeping effort to quickly implement his policy agenda upon taking office. The plans include immigration executive actions to tighten restrictions on border crossings; mandate the federal government to finish the unbuilt area of the border wall; set up the mechanics to carry out mass deportations; and deprive sanctuary cities of federal resources until they stop serving as a safe place for migrants. Axios [1/9/2025 6:35 AM, Stef W. Kight, 16349K, Neutral] reports President-elect Trump and top advisers previewed ambitious plans for 100 executive orders during a meeting with Senate Republicans on Wednesday night, Axios has learned. While Congress debates the next moves on their own aggressive legislative plans, Trump let them know he is ready to roll — especially on immigration. Senators were given previews of some of what they were told would be 100 executive orders, two sources who were in the room told Axios. Stephen Miller, Trump’s longtime immigration adviser, dove into how they intend to use executive power to address the border and immigration starting Day 1. It’s unclear if all will be technical executive orders, or more broadly executive actions taken by Trump or federal agencies. The pandemic-era public health policy cites concerns about spreading illness to allow for the rapid expulsion of migrants at the border — preventing them from even a shot at asylum. There were millions of Title 42 expulsions from early in the COVID pandemic until President Biden ended the policy in 2023. Other executive actions and plans that Miller outlined included: More aggressively using a part of the Immigration and Nationality Act — 287(g) — which allows some state and local law enforcement to assist in some of the duties of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Building the border wall, constructing soft-sided facilities to hold migrants and implementing other asylum restrictions.

New York Times [1/9/2025 5:05 PM, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz, 161405K, Neutral] reports President-elect Donald J. Trump is likely to justify his plans to seal off the border with Mexico by citing a public health emergency from immigrants bringing disease into the United States. Still, his advisers have spent recent months trying to find the right disease to build their case, according to four people familiar with the discussions. The plan to invoke the border restrictions based on sporadic cases of illness or even a vague fear of illness — rather than a major disease outbreak or pandemic — would amount to a radical use of the public health measure in pursuit of an immigration crackdown.

Washington Examiner [1/9/2025 6:00 AM, Hailey Bullis, 2365K, Negative] reports Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX), a freshman Republican, will introduce the REMAIN in Mexico Act of 2025 on Thursday, directing the secretary of homeland security to implement President-elect Donald Trump’s first-term Migrant Protection Protocols border policy, according to legislative text obtained by the Washington Examiner. President Joe Biden suspended Trump’s "Remain in Mexico" policy shortly after he took office in 2021, but the termination of the program was embroiled in legal battles after Texas and Missouri argued the Biden administration violated the law by ending the program. The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration in 2022, overturning a lower court’s decision that favored the two Republican-led states. Biden had campaigned on ending the policy, calling it "dangerous" and "inhumane" in a post to social media in 2020. Although it is unclear when the legislation will be voted on, House Republicans have pledged to crack down on illegal immigration now that they have unified control of Washington. The bill has 65 co-sponsors to date, including Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Riley Moore (R-WV), Chip Roy (R-TX), and Andy Harris (R-MD). "Over 60 of my Republican colleagues co-sponsored my REMAIN in Mexico Act. One thing is clear: Republicans are united behind the mandate that the American people gave us to close Biden’s open borders," Gill said in an exclusive statement to the Washington Examiner. "My No. 1 priority in Congress is securing our southern border and deporting as many illegal aliens as possible, and I stand by President Trump as he works to make American communities safer and more prosperous.” The bill, the full title of which is the Return Excessive Migrants and Asylees to International Neighbors in Mexico Act of 2025, would direct the Department of Homeland Security to restore the 2019 Migrant Protection Protocols. House Republicans impeached the current homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, over his handling of the border as record numbers of migrants crossed into the U.S. illegally. Mayorkas’s impeachment was the first time such a step had been taken against a Cabinet member in nearly 150 years. For his second term, Trump has tapped Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) to lead the agency. House Republicans passed the Laken Riley Act, named after a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student killed by an illegal immigrant, on Tuesday. The bill, now under consideration in the Senate, would allow federal authorities to detain illegal immigrants who have committed theft-related crimes and give states the ability to sue the DHS for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration.

Washington Examiner [1/9/2025 9:00 AM, Rachel Schilke, 2365K, Neutral] reports Rep. Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA) will introduce the FairTax Act of 2025 on Thursday. The bill, obtained exclusively by the Washington Examiner, seeks to abolish the IRS and repeal the federal income tax. If signed into law, the FairTax Act would levy a tax on spending itself, "capturing the underground economy, tourism dollars, and purchases made by illegal immigrants," according to a fact sheet from Carter’s office. "The FairTax will have widespread benefits throughout our economy, not the least of which is forcing illegal immigrants to pay their fair share in taxes," Carter said in an exclusive statement to the Washington Examiner. "This will eliminate instances of illegal immigrants using taxpayer-funded resources without paying into the system while also empowering Americans to choose their tax rate. "I’m all for the repatriation of illegal immigrants; but, as long as they’re here, they should be taxed," the Georgia Republican added. The bill joins several pieces of legislation targeting immigration or the border that are being reintroduced this Congress and have a shot at passing now that Republicans will have a trifecta. Under the FairTax Act of 2025, there would be a 23% national sales tax, with exceptions for used and intangible property, as well as property purchased for business, government, export, or investment purposes. "Lawful U.S. residents" would receive a monthly sales tax rebate based upon certain criteria related to poverty guidelines and family size. Carter introduced the bill in 2023 but it was never taken up in committee. The current co-sponsors of the 2025 bill are Reps. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), John Carter (R-TX), Scott Perry (R-PA), Eric Burlison (R-MO), John Rutherford (R-FL), Warren Davidson (R-OH), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Dale Strong (R-AL), Richard McCormick (R-GA), Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), and Andy Harris (R-MD). The debate for a FairTax and to repeal the income tax has been a decades-long fight. During the 2005 tax reform debate under then-President George W. Bush, experts warned that a FairTax would raise less revenue than the current tax system and force drastic cuts to the federal government.

San Francisco Chronicle [1/9/2025 7:00 AM, Ko Lyn Cheang, 4368K, Neutral] reports that, after he was deported to Mexico, U.S. Army veteran Juan Quiroz would sometimes be hit with a panic attack. His palms would sweat. His heart would pound. He’d think that somebody was about to shoot at him. "It was the fear of dying alone," recalled Quiroz, who was thousands of miles from his family in St. Louis, his home since he was 5 years old. He would call his wife, Marissa, who was with their three children — all of whom are American citizens. She would ground him by telling him to count slowly to 10. An Army mechanic honorably discharged in 2006, Quiroz was deported by the Obama administration in 2013 after serving a three-year prison sentence for a drug offense. Despite being a longtime green card holder eligible to get naturalized citizenship and despite having another naturalization pathway for serving in the military, Quiroz hadn’t become a citizen. He said he wanted to, but had delayed the process because of a DUI, which could have hurt his chances. He was allowed to return in 2022 under a Biden administration program called the Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative. Admitted under humanitarian parole, 138 deported veterans have been temporarily repatriated to the U.S. under this program, according to Immigrant Defenders Law Center, California’s largest provider of pro bono deportation defense. Advocates for deported veterans are beseeching President Joe Biden to grant them pardons for offenses that they’ve already served time for, while bracing for President-elect Donald Trump to end the repatriation program. Quiroz, alongside 26 other veterans, have pending federal pardon applications, according to the ACLU of Southern California. Along with commuting the sentences of almost 1,500 people, Biden has pardoned 40 people since Trump’s election, including his son Hunter Biden, but no deported veterans thus far. With Quiroz’s temporary admission set to expire in October, he fears the incoming Trump administration will once again separate him from his family and a country he took an oath to protect. "I wasn’t forced to serve this country. I did it to be a good man, to have my children look up to me," Quiroz, 46, said. "To not be able to live and raise my children here, it is hard to believe.” One third of American military veterans have been arrested, in part due to struggles with combat-related trauma and mental health or substance use disorders,the Council on Criminal Justice, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, found in a 2022 study. As of February 2024, more than 40,000 foreign nationals were serving in the U.S. military, which allows green card holders to enlist. An additional 115,000 noncitizen military veterans are estimated to be living in the U.S.

Atlanta Journal Constitution [1/9/2025 7:34 PM, Greg Bluestein, Neutral] reports Gov. Brian Kemp joined other Republican governors in a meeting Thursday with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss energy, immigration and other federal policies, the latest sign of the strengthening rapport between the two former rivals. The meeting took place late Thursday at Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago estate after Kemp, recently elected chair of the Republican Governors Association, attended former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral in Washington. Officials say Kemp will be back in Georgia later Thursday to prepare for wintry weather. Kemp spokesman Garrison Douglas said the governor and other state GOP leaders discussed with Trump how "states can partner with his administration’s efforts to unleash American energy, secure the U.S. southern border, foster economic growth and deliver opportunity for the American people.” It was only the second face-to-face meeting in the last four years between the two Republicans, whose up-and-down relationship has shaped Georgia politics for much of the last decade. Their first in-person meeting took place in October to discuss Hurricane Helene relief. Trump’s endorsement helped Kemp win the state’s top job in 2018. But Trump never forgave Kemp for refusing his demand to reverse his 2020 defeat in Georgia, and he recruited loyalists to challenge the governor and several of his allies.

Yahoo! News [1/9/2025 4:12 PM, Salvador Rivera, 57114K, Neutral] reports that, on a bluff just above the Pacific Ocean about 5 miles south of the border, the San Antonio de los Buenos sewage treatment plant is 97.5% finished. Its opening is widely anticipated by people on both sides of the border, as it was supposed to be in operation back in September. The construction is being supervised by Mexico’s Secretary of Defense, which says the plant is now in its "last phase of construction and about to begin testing." It is replacing an antiquated plant that had not been in operation for many years, allowing for millions of gallons of raw sewage to flow straight into the Pacific Ocean on a daily basis. On many days, prevailing currents pushed the effluent north of the border, forcing the closure of beaches in cities such as Imperial Beach and Coronado. "The installation hasn’t worked in several years. Governments came and went without fixing it until the current administration, headed by Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Olmeda, stepped in," said Víctor Daniel Amador Barragán, the person in charge of Mexico’s water supply. "They have literally built a new facility, now it’s time to activate it and start treating the water." The plant will be able to treat 235 gallons of water tainted with sewage per second, and Amador Barragán says it will greatly reduce the trans-border pollution problem. "It’s in the home stretch of construction and set up, all that’s needed now are the tests." While the plant is expected to reduce the amount of raw sewage that flows into the ocean, more needs to be done according to WILDCOAST, an environmental group based in San Diego. "The plant will only be able to treat half or three quarters of the water that will flow into it," said Fay Crevoshay, director of communications for WILDCOAST. "It’s going to be bad if you still have a river of pollution streaming into the ocean."

Yahoo! News [1/9/2025 8:00 PM, Noe Padilla and Ryan Murphy, 57114K, Negative] reports that four years to the day after a former Bloomington man participated in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Canadian officials arrested him on a ski slope in British Columbia. The man, Antony Vo, 32, fled the United States in 2024 after he was convicted for his involvement in the attack. Vo had failed to report to prison for his nine-month sentence and was seeking asylum in Canada. On Monday Vo, 32, was detained "without incident" in Whistler, British Columbia, as a fugitive from United States justice, according to a statement from Luke Reimer, a spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency. A federal jury convicted Vo of four misdemeanor charges in September 2023. Vo and his mother Annie drove from Bloomington to Washington, D.C., where the pair took a selfie inside the Capitol. The case against Annie Vo, of Fishers, remains pending. In April 2024, Tanya Chutkan, district judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, sentenced Vo to serve nine months behind bars, ordering him to report to prison on June 14, 2024. Instead, Vo absconded to Canada, where he made several social media posts about his quest for political asylum. In November 2024, Vo told WISH-TV he was seeking asylum in Canada because "Jan. 6 people have been held more than accountable." He also said he was the victim of a government conspiracy.

Wall Street Journal [1/9/2025 5:36 PM, Khaleda Rahman, 56005K, Negative] reports the politicians are blaming each other for the losses in the horrific Los Angeles wildfires, but the truth is that mother nature can be merciless. The stories about water shortages are conflicting and need more time to sort out. But it’s not too soon to note that California’s politicians have fueled a five-alarm insurance-market crisis that will hurt homeowners and taxpayers across the state once the fires have died out. Hurricane-force wind gusts are fanning fires across Los Angeles County, especially the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, where 2,000 structures had burned by Thursday evening, and counting. At least five people have died, and tens of thousands of buildings are at risk. California’s Southland has rarely experienced such strong winds, and the past two wet winters have produced loads of combustible vegetation that has became tinder after recent dry months. Such conditions have created a perfect storm that could become the most expensive wildfire disaster in U.S. history. The human tragedy is paramount. But the insurance losses will be in the tens of billions of dollars or more. The damage could topple the state’s undercapitalized insurer of last resort, FAIR. Private carriers are almost certain to increase premiums, cancel policies or withdraw from California. Insurers had already scrapped hundreds of thousands of policies and limited coverage in wildfire-prone areas. Democrats blame climate change, which has become an all-purpose excuse for any disaster-relief failure. But the real insurance problem is that state regulators have barred insurers from charging premiums that fully reflect risks and costs. California is the only state that heretofore hasn’t allowed insurers to incorporate the cost of reinsurance in premiums. Until this year, it had also prohibited insurers from adjusting premiums by using the standard industry practice of catastrophe modeling to predict a property’s future risk. Insurers could only assess premiums based on historical losses. As a result, insurers are paying out $1.09 in expenses and claims for every $1 they collect in premiums. This is financially unsustainable, which is why many have pared coverage in areas at high fire risk with expensive homes. State Farm dropped nearly 70% of policy holders in one Pacific Palisades neighborhood where the average home price is $3.5 million.

Washington Post [1/9/2025 7:23 PM, Catherine Rampell, 40736K, Negative] reports the bill was introduced last year as a messaging bill. It began with a preamble about why President Joe Biden was the absolute worst, followed by some bonkers anti-immigrant stuff that was unlikely to ever become law. Kinda similar to those grandstanding "repeal Obamacare" bills that polled well but didn’t get much scrutiny — until they nearly passed and blew up the health-care system. Riley’s murderer had been arrested for shoplifting, so this bill would require immigrants accused of shoplifting or petty theft to be detained indefinitely, without even the ability to apply for bail. This includes people whose charges were dropped or who were ultimately found innocent in court. In other words, the Department of Homeland Security would be required to jail even falsely accused people indefinitely, at taxpayer expense. The provision applies to immigrants considered "inadmissible" — or more colloquially, undocumented — for lacking an up-to-date visa or entering the country unlawfully. To some laypeople, an "undocumented immigrant" might conjure images of a hardened thug on the run from the fuzz. You know, like Riley’s killer. In reality, the category also applies to normal, law-abiding people whom the government already knows about and (critically) has granted permission to stay. For example, it includes "dreamers," the young undocumented people brought here as children. Dreamers can get work permits and are shielded from deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, but they lack a path to green cards or citizenship and exist in a sort of legal limbo. So, they’re technically among the undocumented, vulnerable to this dragnet. They — among other peaceful community members — would have to be jailed indefinitely should a vengeful boss, racist neighbor or abusive ex persuade police to arrest them for a petty offense. The bill would also allow states to sue the federal government to overturn individual detention decisions they disagreed with. For example, Texas’s virulently anti-immigrant attorney general, Ken Paxton, could seek an injunction to force Immigration and Customs Enforcement to lock up tens of thousands of asylum seekers, even those who have been diligently following the rules of the process and haven’t broken any law while in the United States.

Washington Post [1/9/2025 7:30 AM, Ramesh Ponnuru, 40736K, Neutral] reports no issue has done more for Donald Trump during the past decade than illegal immigration. As he starts this second term, this boon is about to become a serious challenge. The president-elect campaigned on promises of “mass deportation.” Asked recently whether that meant deporting “everyone who is here illegally over the next four years,” he responded, “Well, I think you have to do it” — while allowing that it would be “a very tough thing to do.” More like impossible. The federal government is not close to capable of carrying out such an ambitious project, and even people who sympathize with the goal would not enjoy living under a government that was. There are also more political constraints on Republicans than some of them realize. “Trump has a mandate to do whatever he wants on the border,” conservative pollster Patrick Ruffini recently opined. And it is true that during Joe Biden’s presidency, public opinion swung sharply toward a crackdown on illegal immigration — and even toward cuts in legal immigration. But during Trump’s first term, sentiment swung in a liberal direction. One reason Biden’s immigration policy proved politically disastrous was that Democrats took the public’s short-term reaction against Trump’s excesses as evidence of a permanent change in the national consensus. To assume the public will support draconian measures on immigration, such as large-scale family separation, would be to make the mirror-image mistake. The backlash to Biden’s policies could be seen in the exit polls from the presidential election, which showed an increase in the percentage of Americans who would deport most illegal immigrants. But a larger percentage still wanted to give most of them a chance at legal status.

FOX News [1/9/2025 8:46 AM, Michael Dorgan, 49889K, Neutral] reports the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is looking to expand its migrant detention facilities with the start of the new Trump administration just days away, according to a report. Trump has vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in the history of the U.S. and part of that program is expected to involve the use of ICE detention facilities, some of which the ACLU says raise concerns over migrant safety. ICE detains approximately 37,000 people each day via a network of more than 120 immigration detention facilities nationwide, per an ACLU Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, citing ICE documents. The ACLU says that the Trump administration plans to ramp up those numbers to 100,000 per day. Although ICE owns five detention facilities of its own, the ACLU says ICE relies on other entities such as non-profits and inter-governmental agreements with private prison companies to hold the majority of people in its custody. In the ACLU FOIA lawsuit filed in September, the ACLU sued ICE for information on a possible expansion of migrant detention facilities around the country. According to Border Report, citing documents received by the ACLU, facilities in six states responded to the ICE request, including facilities in and around Harlingen and El Paso, Texas, as well as in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Nevada and Salt Lake City, Utah. The facilities that are being considered in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley include the Willacy County Jail in Raymondville, which is run by the GEO Group; the Brooks County Detention Facility in Falfurrias; the Coastal Bend Detention Center in Robstown; and the East Hidalgo Detention Center in La Villa. ACLU senior attorney Eunice Cho told Border Report that it’s important for the American public to know exactly what ICE is planning to do, both in terms of enforcement and in terms of detention of people from our immigrant communities. The GEO Group and CoreCivic operated the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, which was shut down last year, but Cho says CoreCivic says it would be willing to reopen the facility, a potential move that worries migrant advocates who have alleged mistreatment of immigrants at the facility. "We have serious concerns about expanding immigration detention in South Texas. Many of these facilities… have very serious histories of conditions, violations and abusive conditions in those detention facilities," Cho told Border Report.

NBC News [1/9/2025 9:45 AM, Julia Ainsley and Laura Strickler, 57114K, Neutral] reports that acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director P.J. Lechleitner said in an interview that President Joe Biden should "absolutely" have acted sooner to tighten border security to reduce the flow of migrants into the United States. Lechleitner, who became acting director in July 2023 and is preparing to leave the job this week before the new administration brings in its own appointee, told NBC News on Wednesday that the number of incoming migrants meant his agency had to give staff to help Customs and Border Protection, leaving ICE unable "to do our own core mission adequately." He also said he was not alone in feeling Biden should have moved faster. "I think the career people in DHS would have liked that," he said. "And all of us in DHS, quite frankly, I don’t know if anybody in DHS wouldn’t have wanted that earlier.” Lechleitner was referring to executive action Biden took last June to restrict people who crossed the border illegally from claiming asylum. By September, the monthly total of illegal border crossings had dropped to 54,000, the lowest since Biden took office. The drop brought the numbers in line with pre-pandemic Trump levels from the fall of 2019. And the numbers have continued to fall, with only 46,000 migrants crossing illegally in November.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [1/9/2025 12:33 PM, Tara Suter, 16346K, Neutral]
CBS Austin [1/9/2025 1:32 PM, Jackson Walker, 581K, Neutral]

Washington Examiner [1/9/2025 3:39 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 2365K, Neutral] reports President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar, Tom Homan, denied a media report that said the transition team plans to carry out worksite raids targeting illegal immigrants in Washington, D.C., in the days following the inauguration. In a phone call with the Washington Examiner on Thursday, Homan said no such plans or talk of plans had been discussed and that he would be privy to that information given his role overseeing all immigration and border-related policy implementations.

CBS Austin [1/9/2025 7:09 AM, Staff, 581K, Negative] reports Carlos Serrano-Restrepo was charged in early 2024 and later indicted for possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully in the U.S. A plea agreement was entered on January 2, 2025, in which Serrano-Restrepo, after unsuccessfully trying to argue the 2nd amendment allowed him to have the weapons, agreed to plead guilty. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recovered 170 firearms, tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition, and smoke/marine markers from his home on Lynnbrook Court in Orient. One of the firearms was a .50 caliber Barret rifle. He moved to Orient in 2022 from Arizona. He told the court he last entered the country without authorization in 2008 and filed an asylum application, which is pending. He also owns a business that remediates fire and flooding damage. Court documents said Serrano-Restrepo reported on the federal firearms form that he was a citizen and not an alien on a visa. Prosecutors noted he bought more than 90 weapons at least six times between March 13, 2023, and January 10, 2024. Each time, he claimed he was a citizen on the form. Investigators also found he reported to the Ohio BMV that he was a temporary resident In order to get a state driver’s license so he could purchase firearms.

Yahoo! News [1/9/2025 6:03 PM, John Kingston, 57114K, Neutral] reports Daimler Truck North America last month informed its dealers in Oregon that it would not sell any new internal combustion diesel engine trucks in that state, a decision that is still in place though Oregon officials say the truck maker’s decision is the result of a misunderstanding. At the root of the dispute is the California Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which Oregon and several other states have decided to adopt. California sets most of the provisions, and a list of states that includes New York, New Jersey and Colorado follows most of the rules laid down in Sacramento. The ACT does have a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency, granted to the California Air Resources Board, to be implemented in California. Susan Mills, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Environmental Quality, which enforces the ACT in Oregon, said the DEQ’s understanding of the dispute involves Daimler’s interpretation of what a staff member told the truck builder about credits under ACT. Companies that manufacture and sell zero-emission vehicles in states that have adopted ACT generate credits. Those credits can be used to offset their own deficits that are created as a function of their total sales in a state, or they can be sold to companies needing to buy credits to make ACT targets. The issue as the state sees it, Mills said in an interview with FreightWaves, is that there was a misunderstanding of whether a ZEV sold by a truck manufacturer needed then to have that truck registered in Oregon to generate ACT credits. Mills said it does not, contrary to information provided to Daimler by the DEQ.

FOX News [1/9/2025 3:21 PM, Peter Pinedo, 49889K, Neutral] reports as whole neighborhoods in Los Angeles burn to the ground, city council members in nearby Long Beach voted to double down on their sanctuary city policies, vowing to resist President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations. Long Beach joins an ever-growing list of Democrat-controlled cities and states vowing to resist the Trump administration’s plans to crack down on illegal immigration. Among other provisions, the measure allocates an additional $200,000 in city funding to give immigrants facing deportation free legal representation. The measure also prohibits third-party city contractors from sharing city data with federal immigration enforcement and requests that other city authorities – including police oversight, the city attorney, city prosecutor and city auditor – formally commit to complying with the Long Beach Values Act.

Roll Call [1/9/2025 7:00 AM, Jessie Hellmann, 440K, Neutral] reports President-elect Donald Trump’s vowed crackdown on immigration could strain an already struggling elder care workforce that relies on foreign-born workers in nursing homes and home health settings. Industry players and experts argue that increasing the long-term care workforce requires more immigration, and Trump’s plans could further undermine efforts to shore up the workforce as need for services increases with an aging population. “Restricting entry of immigrants into the U.S. could really have a detrimental impact on long-term care for older adults,” said David C. Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. “They [immigrants] play a critical role in the delivery of long-term care broadly, but especially in nursing homes.” Home health aides, personal care aides and certified nursing assistants are considered the backbone of the long-term care workforce, helping people age in their homes and often making up the majority of staff in nursing homes and residential care facilities. There’s already a shortage of workers performing long-term care, and that shortage will worsen in the coming decades. People 65 and older are expected to make up more than 20 percent of the population by 2030; an estimated 75 percent will need some type of long-term care. In all, demand for direct care workers including nursing assistants, personal care aides and home health aides will grow by 35 percent to 41 percent between 2022 and 2037, according to projections from the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis published in November. But employment of home health and personal care aides is only projected to grow by 22 percent over the next decade. Analysts argue that immigration is part of the solution. “We’re really going to struggle to find sufficient numbers of workers to deliver high-quality care if there’s anything that threatens the influx of these workers,” Grabowski said.

Bloomberg [1/9/2025 4:38 PM, Nancy Cook, 21617 K, Neutral] reports President-elect Donald Trump is planning a flurry of executive orders around immigration, energy, federal workers and regulatory reform in the early hours after his Jan. 20 inauguration, part of a sweeping effort to quickly implement his policy agenda upon taking office. The plans include immigration executive actions to tighten restrictions on border crossings; mandate the federal government to finish the unbuilt area of the border wall; set up the mechanics to carry out mass deportations; and deprive sanctuary cities of federal resources until they stop serving as a safe place for migrants. The coming orders were described by people familiar with the efforts who requested anonymity to detail the plans ahead of their announcement. "The American people can bank on President Trump using his executive power on day one to deliver on the promises he made to them on the campaign trail," said Karoline Leavitt, a transition spokeswoman, in a statement. The Trump team also intends to try to shrink the federal workforce by putting a hiring freeze on the government and mandating federal employees to return to the office for in-person work, a position billionaire Elon Musk has been pushing as the head of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency. What is unclear is how these executive orders will work with the swathes of federal workers who are unionized, one person said.

Border Report [1/9/2025 4:52 PM, Dave Hendricks, 153K, Negative] reports Border Patrol arrested a former Russian mercenary on Saturday, when he illegally crossed the Rio Grande near Roma. Timur Praliev waded across the Rio Grande carrying two passports and $4,000. When agents questioned him, Praliev said "he was a citizen and national of Kazakhstan," according to a criminal complaint against him. In his backpack, agents discovered a drone. Praliev said he’d worked for the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organization affiliated with the Russian government. It’s not clear what, exactly, Praliev did for the Wagner Group or why he crossed the border carrying a drone. Border Patrol charged Praliev with illegally entering the United States, a federal misdemeanor. Praliev pleaded guilty.

ABC News [1/9/2025 5:05 PM, Armando Garcia, 33392K, Negative] reports immigrant communities in Kern County, California, are on edge as the U.S. Border Patrol has been seen conducting enforcement operations throughout the region this week. Videos and images that surfaced online appear to show Border Patrol agents apprehending people at various locations throughout the region. United States Customs and Border Protection has confirmed the operations, which officials describe as "targeted." However, Sarah Fuentes, a manager at a Chevron station in Bakersfield, told ABC News she saw Border Patrol officers and agents in plain clothes go up to several of her customers, ask them about their immigration status, and arrest multiple people.

CNN [1/9/2025 6:00 AM, Abel Alvarado, 987K, Neutral] reports that, when Altagracia left Honduras to embark on the monthslong journey to the US-Mexico border, she had two clear goals on her mind: reach the United States to claim asylum and reunite with her children living there. But after leaving her hometown of Siguatepeque, in Honduras’ central highlands, she learned that Donald Trump had won the US election touting a crackdown on immigration – one that she feared could shrink her chances of reaching the US after a nearly 3-month trip through central America and Mexico. Speaking from a shelter in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca in December, the 39-year-old told CNN she was racing against the clock to reach the US’s southern border with Mexico before Trump’s January 20 inauguration. "We’ve been told that when Trump starts, he won’t let us in," Altagracia, who asked CNN not to share her last name over fears it would impact her asylum claim in the US, said on a phone call. Altagracia is one of several migrants CNN spoke to who are racing to reach the US-Mexico border before Trump returns to the White House. Her concerns, she says, stem from Trump’s rhetoric around mass deportations and closing the border altogether. "On my first day back in the Oval Office, I will sign a historic slate of executive orders to close our border to illegal aliens and stop the invasion of our country," Trump said late December at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix, Arizona. "On that same day, we will begin the largest deportation operation in American history," Trump said amid cheers. Altagracia says she left her hometown in October after several members of her family were killed by local gangs, and having received death threats. She is currently traveling with relatives and is worried the setbacks will delay their arrival to the border. "We were robbed by cartels, now we don’t have money for food. We are now at the will of activists, shelters and good Samaritans," she said. She is not alone in worrying about a Trump presidency. "I’ve heard Trump is closing the border on day one and will carry out deportations, it worries me, but I am more afraid to stay in my country, I hope I make it in time," a migrant from Venezuela who asked not to be identified told CNN. "Everyone wants to arrive before [Trump] does," another migrant, from Cuba, told CNN. "I hope Trump understands that many of us have degrees" that could benefit the US, he said. Some are more optimistic about a Trump presidency. Adriana Robles, a 26-year-old Venezuelan migrant, thinks information about Trump has been "distorted" and hopes he will "do the right thing.” "Sometimes information isn’t true, it’s distorted […] I believe in God and I have faith that he [Trump] will make the right decision and help the good people with dreams, we know bad people have entered the US, but he will distinguish the good people from the bad ones," she told CNN from Huehuetán, a town in the Mexican southern state of Chiapas.

Federal News Network [1/9/2025 6:30 AM, Justin Doubleday, 470K, Neutral] reports TSA has expanded its use of facial recognition technology to more than 80 airports across the country in recent years. Top House lawmakers are asking the Government Accountability Office to review the Transportation Security Administration’s growing use of artificial intelligence and biometric technologies, including facial recognition. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fl.), chairman of the homeland security committee’s transportation and maritime security subcommittee, requested the report in a Jan. 8 letter to GAO. The request comes as TSA has been steadily expanding its use of facial recognition at airport screening checkpoints in recent years. "TSA must prioritize funding for emerging technology, effectively partner with the private sector, and safeguard the privacy of Americans as it works to modernize the airport screening experience," Green said in a statement provided to Federal News Network. "The traveling public and TSA employees deserve nothing less. We hope the GAO will provide the committee with a thorough review of the agency’s investments to ensure it can accomplish its no-fail homeland security mission amid evolving threats to air travel.” Green and Gimenez are asking GAO to specifically review the overall cost savings from TSA deploying biometric systems at airports compared to the costs of deploying more personnel. They also want to know how biometrics and AI are helping improve TSA’s "operational efficiency" at airport screening checkpoints. TSA officials say the agency’s use of facial recognition at some airports has improved passenger processing times and checkpoint throughput without the need for additional staff. GAO should also review the "specific privacy and data protection policies," the lawmakers write in the letter. That includes whether the policies sufficiently address the potential for data breaches or the misuse of biometric data. Green and Gimenez want GAO to consider how TSA’s use of biometrics and AI compare to that of other U.S. agencies, such as Customs and Border Protection, and international transportation security agencies.

Houston Chronicle [1/9/2025 10:09 AM, Octavia Johnson, 2315K, Neutral] reports that the Transportation Security Administration’s role in protecting air travelers is serious business. But, sometimes the agency likes to have fun. The TSA released a meme-filled video showing 2024’s top 10 best catches of prohibited items during searches, and Hobby Airport was crowned No. 1 after the staff found a handgun within a baby stroller. "TSA searching for the reason someone hid a pew-pew inside the baby stroller," TSA officials wrote in the video. The Houston airport wasn’t the only place where TSA found prohibited objects in a somewhat odd area. From vapes inside peanut butter to live snakes in pants, here are the top 10 catches in 2024, per TSA: William P. Hobby Airport - A handgun was found in a baby stroller. El Paso International Airport - A replicated improvised explosive device using a walkie-talkie. Miami International Airport - Live snakes wrapped in pants. Portsmouth International Airport - Methamphetamine was found in crutches. Portland International Airport - A handgun was found in a teapot wrapped in tinfoil along with some shot glasses. Chicago Midway International Airport - A vape was found inside of the toothpaste tube. Seattle Tacoma International Airport - A large knife without a handle was found inside of the laptop.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [1/9/2025 3:55 PM, Lauren Irwin, 16346K, Neutral]
NBC News [1/9/2025 2:20 PM, Terry Dickerson, 50804K, Negative]
Yahoo! News [1/9/2025 5:43 PM, Chris Malone Méndez, 57114K, Negative]

Newsweek [1/9/2025 6:24 AM, Flynn Nicholls, 56005K, Negative] reports winter storm warnings and freeze warnings are in place across 15 states due to freezing temperatures, snowfall, and hazardous road conditions. Vulnerable populations, including infants and senior citizens, are at heightened risk of health issues due to the dangers of freezing temperatures. Snow can also cause travel disruptions and hazardous driving conditions. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued the warnings as a powerful polar vortex continues to make temperatures plunge nationwide this week. Snow and freezing conditions are predicted across large regions of the South, the Southeast, and the Ohio Valley climate regions. A map released by the NWS shows the areas impacted. Pink means a winter storm warning is in place; and light purple means a less serious winter weather advisory is in place. Dark purple means there is a freeze warning, while sky blue means a less serious freeze watch. A winter storm warning indicates that heavy snow of at least 6 inches in 12 hours, or at least 8 inches in 24 hours, is expected. It can also be issued if sleet accumulation will be at least half an inch. A freeze warning is issued when temperatures are expected to drop below 28 degrees Fahrenheit for an extended period of time. Widespread weather warnings are in place in the South, with winter storm warnings affecting Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, as well as Mississippi and Louisiana, where freeze warnings are also in place. Parts of north-central and northeast Texas, including Dallas-Fort Worth, are under a winter storm warning from 6 a.m. Thursday to noon Friday. Snow and sleet accumulations are expected between 2 and 4 inches, with ice accumulations of up to one-10th of an inch. Portions of southern and southeastern Oklahoma, including Durant and McAlester, are under a winter storm warning from 6 a.m. Thursday to noon Friday. Heavy mixed precipitation is expected, with snow accumulations ranging from 2 to 6 inches and a light glaze of ice. Central and northern Arkansas, including areas near Fayetteville and Little Rock, face a winter storm warning from noon Thursday to 6 p.m. Friday. Snow accumulations may range from 3 to 9 inches, with ice accumulation up to a quarter-inch in some areas. Central and northern Mississippi, including Jackson and Tupelo, will experience snow accumulations of 2 to 4 inches and ice up to one-10th of an inch. The winter storm warning is in effect from noon Thursday to midnight Friday.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [1/9/2025 5:29 AM, Judson Jones, 161405K, Neutral]

CBS Austin [1/9/2025 9:13 AM, Neydja Petithomme, 581K, Neutral] reports that people gathered at Pack Square in downtown Asheville on Wednesday to demand Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend temporary housing assistance for victims of Helene. FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, which offers free hotel rooms, ends Jan. 10 unless FEMA grants an individual extension. There are three primary reasons for the potential end of eligibility: An inspection indicated their home is now habitable. The inhabitant declined an inspection. An inability to contact the applicant to update their housing needs, despite multiple attempts. Maryjo Tucker said she was displaced by the storm and has been waiting for the inspection from FEMA for quite some time now. "I’m still waiting on the inspection through FEMA and I called them yesterday as a matter of fact and she said, ‘Yes, you have an inspection due, don’t know whether they’re going to contact you. However, you need to be out by Saturday,’" said Tucker. "Come this Saturday, I’m going to use my paycheck Friday and I’ve already been in contact with the animal shelter to take my dog because I’m not going to put my dog out here in these streets, you know. I don’t even know what’s going to happen in two days, not to be able to sleep in a bed or be warm at night, you know.” According to FEMA, if a household has a pending inspection, they are still eligible for Transitional Sheltering Assistance. NC Newsline [1/9/2025 3:13 PM, Greg Childress, Negative] reports time is running out for residential property owners to respond to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s call to make rental housing available for Hurricane Helene survivors through the agency’s Direct Lease program. FEMA will close its solicitation process on Monday, Jan. 13. Under the agency’s Direct Lease program, FEMA leases existing, ready-to-occupy residential properties for survivors whose temporary housing needs cannot be met with other forms of assistance. FEMA pays property management companies/vendors the cost of rent, while survivors are responsible for utility costs and other expenses not covered in the lease. Nearly 200,000 homes were damaged in western North Carolina during Hurricane Helene and thousands of residents were displaced. Total damage to the region is estimated at nearly $60 billion. Gov. Josh Stein issued an executive order last week that allows the state to purchase up to 1,000 temporary housing units for Hurricane Helene victims without going through the regular, lengthy procurement process. The governor said the state will be reimbursed by FEMA for the temporary housing units.

Yahoo! News [1/9/2025 4:59 PM, Nicole Sanders, 57114K, Neutral] reports Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency for the state of Georgia as a winter storm is expected to impact the state Friday. This state of emergency is effective immediately and lasts through Tuesday, Jan. 14. "The State of Emergency authorizes the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) to activate the State Operations Center (SOC) and mobilize any needed resources to address potential impacts. GEMA/HS, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), the Georgia Department of Public Safety (DPS), and other state agencies are instructed to provide essential personnel to the SOC, which will move to a Level 2 Activation beginning tonight at 7 p.m.” According to Kemp, G-DOT and the DPS started treating roads earlier Thursday morning to prep for the storm. Kemp asks Georgians keep their travel as limited as possible due to the hazardous conditions, including ice and snow, that may develop.

Sarasota Herald-Tribune [1/9/2025 3:43 PM, Christian Casale, Earle Kimel, Positive] reports Sarasota County expects to receive about $210 million more in recovery funds from the federal government after a trio of storms brought devastating flooding and wind damage over the past two hurricane seasons. After jumping through the necessary bureaucratic hoops, the county expects the block grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in long-term recovery from Hurricane Idalia in 2023 and Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton in 2024. The new funding will come through Sarasota County’s Resilient SRQ program, which distributed similar federal funding for Hurricane Ian relief. The new block grant would be slightly more than Sarasota County received for Hurricane Ian.

St. Louis Public Radio [1/9/2025 6:00 AM, Mike Koziatek, 243K, Neutral] reports the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Tuesday that St. Clair County will get $89.5 million in grant money to help in disaster recovery from the flooding caused by 8 inches of rain that fell on July 16. The agency said in a news release the money could be used to rebuild homes, develop affordable housing, help small businesses, repair roads and support projects to reduce the risks of damage from future storms. St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern could not be reached for comment Tuesday about how the federal grant money will be spent. This Housing and Urban Development aid is separate from $30.5 million in assistance already provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for 7,340 households in St. Clair and Washington counties. The deadline to apply for aid from FEMA was last month. Relief funding from those two federal agencies totals $120 million in the Metro East. The U.S. Small Business Administration helps businesses after disasters but the amount of aid provided by this agency for the July storm in the Metro East was not available Tuesday. Preliminary damage assessments by local, state and federal officials show there was $9.8 million in estimated damages to households in St. Clair and Washington counties, according to a statement from FEMA. FEMA said the aid it administered can be used for temporary housing, home repair or replacement, moving and storage costs, vehicle replacement or repair, furniture and appliance replacement as well as medical, dental and childcare costs. The federal assistance occurred after President Joe Biden in September issued a federal disaster declaration for St. Clair and Washington counties. Ashlee Strong, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Tuesday the $89.5 million was allocated to St. Clair County, but the two counties "could possibly utilize the funding for joint (infrastructure) projects.” "This funding will be critical in rebuilding existing infrastructure and bolstering defenses against future storms and flooding," U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, whose 12th Congressional District includes parts of St. Clair County and all of Washington, said in a news release. "At a time when folks are working to restore their damaged homes and communities, I’m glad they will have the resources necessary to speed the process along.” A member of the Washington County Board’s Finance Committee, Larry Unverfehrt, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The Housing and Urban Development aid is classified as "community development block grant disaster recovery.”

Newsweek [1/9/2025 5:30 PM, Andrew Stanton, 56005K, Negative] reports that President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has "no money" as several wildfires have ravaged the Los Angeles area. However, FEMA said it has more than $25 billion in its disaster relief fund. FEMA will be among the federal agencies responsible for helping the recovery efforts for Californians affected by the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst and Lidia fires in the Los Angeles area. At least five people have been killed in the fires so far, the Associated Press reported. Over 100,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate as the blazes destroy parts of California’s most populous county. The fires destroyed thousands of homes and other structures, causing billions of dollars worth of damage. A FEMA spokesperson told Newsweek there is about $27 billion in the Disaster Relief Fund that will be available to help Californians recover from the fire after Congress passed a temporary funding bill that restored those funds. "Thanks to Congress’s recent passage of a disaster supplemental, FEMA has the funding and resources needed to respond to the needs of California. The current balance of the Disaster Relief Fund is approximately $27 billion," the spokesperson said in a statement. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, on CNN: "What we need to work on now from the FEMA perspective is how do we help those people who have lost everything? How do we help them understand what’s going to be the next step of the process? How do we help them understand how they’re going to jump-start their recovery now that they have lost everything?"

CNBC [1/9/2025 1:43 PM, Spencer Kimball, 36472K, Negative] reports that the wildfires wreaking devastation in the Los Angeles area could become the costliest blaze in U.S. history. The insured losses from this week’s fires may exceed $20 billion, according to estimates published by JPMorgan on Thursday. Those losses would far exceed the $12.5 billion in insured damages from the 2018 Camp Fire, which was the costliest blaze in the nation’s history, according to data from Aon. Five wildfires fueled by dry conditions and strong winds have burned through 29,000 acres of land around Los Angeles since Tuesday, according to Cal Fire. The two largest fires, Palisades and Eaton, are still completely uncontained. "The fires have not been contained thus far and continue to spread, implying that estimates of potential economic and insured losses are likely to increase," JPMorgan analyst Jimmy Bhullar said in a research note. Nearly 180,000 people remain under evacuation orders, according to the LA County Sheriff. The death toll from the fires is unknown, according to the sheriff.

AP [1/9/2025 7:32 PM, Staff, 2212K, Negative] reports massive wildfires burning in the Los Angeles area have filled the air with a thick cloud of smoke and ash, prompting air quality advisories across a vast stretch of Southern California. Three major fires broke out Tuesday amid dangerously high winds, killing at least five people and destroying more than 1,000 structures. Tens of thousands of people have been told to evacuate, many in harrowing conditions. In Altadena, where one of the major fires raged, the smoke was so thick a person used a flashlight to see down the street. A dark cloud hovered over downtown Los Angeles, and smoky air and ash drifted well beyond the city to communities to the east and south. Wildfire smoke increases tiny particles in the air known as particulate matter that can be harmful to people’s health. Children, the elderly, and people with conditions such as heart and lung disease are more sensitive to the effects. Dr. Puneet Gupta said wildfire smoke is known to cause heart attacks and worsen asthma, and burning homes can release cyanide and carbon dioxide. He noted sickened patients are showing up in emergency rooms already strained by flu season, with some hospitals facing potential evacuations. "We have a number of hospitals that are threatened, and if they have to be evacuated, it could become a crisis," Gupta said. U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra raised concerns about the smoke’s impact, emphasizing that toxic materials from burning structures exacerbate air pollution. About 17 million people are covered by smoke and dust advisories, with the worst conditions near the fires. In East Los Angeles, the air quality index hit an unhealthy 173, while areas like Long Beach and Rancho Palos Verdes also reported unhealthy air. Residents are advised to stay indoors, avoid strenuous activity, and use air purifiers or respirator masks if necessary.

AP [1/10/2025 12:32 AM, Jason Dearen, 2212K, Neutral] reports investigators are considering an array of possible ignition sources for the huge fires that have killed at least 10 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in the Los Angeles area. In hilly, upscale Pacific Palisades, home to Hollywood stars like Jamie Lee Curtis and Billy Crystal who lost houses in the fire, officials have placed the origin of the wind-whipped blaze behind a home on Piedra Morada Drive, which sits above a densely wooded arroyo. While lightning is the most common source of fires in the U.S., according to the National Fire Protection Association, investigators were able to rule that out quickly. There were no reports of lightning in the Palisades area or the terrain around the Eaton fire, which started in east Los Angeles County and has also destroyed hundreds of homes. The next two most common causes: fires intentionally set, and those sparked by utility lines. John Lentini, owner of Scientific Fire Analysis in Florida, said the size and scope of the blaze doesn’t change the approach to finding out what caused it. "This was once a small fire," Lentini said. "People will focus on where the fire started, determine the origin and look around the origin and determine the cause." So far there has been no official indication of arson in either blaze, and utility lines have not yet been identified as a cause either. While lightning, arson, and utility lines are the most common causes, debris burning and fireworks are also common causes. In 2021, a couple’s gender reveal stunt started a large fire that torched close to 36 square miles of terrain and claimed the life of a firefighter, Charlie Morton. The Eaton and Palisades fires were still burning with little to no containment on Thursday. "It’s going to go out when it runs out of fuel, or when the weather stops," Lentini said.

FOX News [1/9/2025 12:27 PM, Anders Hagstrom, 49889K, Neutral] reports that Los Angeles officials say multiple wildfires remain uncontained across the city and urged residents to comply with ongoing evacuation orders on Thursday. Mayor Karen Bass delivered the message alongside police and firefighting leaders at a press conference on Thursday. Police said they have already arrested 20 people for looting and burglary in evacuation areas, and more arrests are expected. "This is absolutely an unprecedented historic firestorm," Bass said. "But we are all hands on deck. We need to continue to cooperate. We need to evacuate when asked to do so. We need to help others, help our neighbors. And first and foremost, we need to stay united." The mayor faced sharp questions from reporters following the briefing, with inquiries highlighting that she was out of the country when the fires began. "Do you think your leadership was effective in responding to this disaster?" a reporter asked. Bass argued her focus was on saving lives, but said there would be time to investigate how Los Angeles was prepared for the crisis at a later date. Bass also responded to criticism of her slashing the fire department’s budget last year, saying "there were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation that we were dealing with over the last couple of days."

CBS Austin [1/9/2025 11:37 AM, Ray Lewis, 581K, Neutral] reports that President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday California Gov. Gavin Newsom should resign as wildfires burn across the Los Angeles area, claiming the fires are the governor’s fault. "One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground," Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social. "It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!". In a post earlier in the day, Trump said the governor refused to sign a "water restoration declaration" which would have allowed millions of gallons of water to flow into many parts of California, including areas burning in a "virtually apocalyptic way." "Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA!" Trump wrote. "He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!". Gov. Newsom’s press office posted on social media platform X there is no "water restoration declaration," calling it "pure fiction.” "The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need," the office said, adding there is no water shortage in southern California.

VOA News [1/9/2025 8:49 PM, Staff, 2717K, Negative] reports President Joe Biden said wildfires ravaging Los Angeles show climate change is real, days before President-elect Donald Trump is to take office. "Climate change is real. ... There is global warming, it’s real," Biden told a crisis meeting at the White House on the fires. "This is the most widespread, devastating fire in California’s history," Biden said as he convened the meeting. Trump has used the wildfires to attack Biden and California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on social media. The outgoing president canceled a trip to Rome to stay in Washington and coordinate the U.S. government response to the fires, which have killed at least five people. He said the federal government would cover 100% of the costs of dealing with the disaster for the first 180 days, at Newsom’s request. Biden said he was surging 400 federal firefighters and 30 firefighting planes and helicopters to Los Angeles, while the Pentagon will send eight large planes and 500 wildfire clearance personnel. Meanwhile, Biden sought to debunk claims pushed by Trump that there was a water shortage that left firefighters struggling to put out the inferno. Biden said the problem lay not with a shortage of water but with power cuts that took water pumps offline. Trump’s remarks on Wednesday and Thursday came as firefighters were trying to contain the blazes that have killed five people and destroyed more than 2,000 structures. "One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground," Trump said on his Truth Social network late Wednesday, blaming the fires on Newsom and calling on him to resign. Newsom strongly rejected Trump’s claims, calling them political. Trump accused Biden of diverting money to "Green New Scam" climate policies instead of FEMA, a claim Biden has repeatedly denied.

NBC News [1/9/2025 6:49 PM, Jo Yurcaba, 50804K, Neutral] reports according to some politicians and influencers, a small fish called the Delta smelt is to blame for the wildfires that have devastated the Los Angeles area this week. Prominent figures, including President-elect Donald Trump, said policies related to the endangered Delta smelt affect how much water can be pumped out of the fish’s habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. They added that’s the cause of water supply issues faced by firefighters laboring to stop the blazes. Three water tanks and some fire hydrants temporarily lost water because of high demand Tuesday, local officials said. The small fish isn’t alone in being the target of blame for the multiple wildfires that had burned across 45 square miles of the city as of Thursday, forcing more than 180,000 people out of their homes. Other people have criticized diversity, equity and inclusion, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s immigration policies or the influence of billionaires on climate change policy. It’s not clear what initially sparked the fires, and in the absence of reliable information, some of the allegations being made online are misinformed or wrong, experts say. All of them ignore the complexities that caused the fires to spread and the nuanced solutions that would be required to address similar urban wildfires in the future, they add. Trump was among the most notable leaders to call out the Delta smelt, writing Wednesday on Truth Social that Newsom "refused to sign the water restoration declaration" that would have allowed millions of gallons of water to flow into parts of California, "including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.”

NBC News [1/9/2025 1:13 PM, Daniel Arkin and Rich Schapiro, 50804K, Negative] reports that Los Angeles County public officials are vowing to crack down on people allegedly stealing from homes as devastating wildfires rip through the region, insisting that lawbreakers will face consequences. "In the midst of the emergency, we have all seen individuals who are targeting vulnerable communities by burglarizing and looting homes. This is simply unacceptable," Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger told reporters Thursday. Barger then addressed looters directly: "I promise you, you will be held accountable. Shame on those who are preying on our residents during this time of crisis." The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has made 20 arrests since the wildfires broke out Tuesday, Barger said, adding that law enforcement officers were "proactively patrolling to protect these communities from looting and any criminal activity." Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna offered a stern warning of his own in remarks to reporters, decrying any lawbreaking amid the wildfire crisis as "absolutely unacceptable." "I’m going to make this crystal clear to everybody out there," Luna said. "We are up to 20 individuals who chose to go into our areas and deprive these poor people, who have been through so much, of their property." He said he expected the number to grow.

New York Times [1/9/2025 6:05 AM, Isabelle Taft, 161405K, Neutral] reports that, with multiple wildfires raging in the Los Angeles area, some people fled their homes on Tuesday only to evacuate again soon after, as fast-growing fires in different parts of the county quickly turned safe havens into danger zones. On Wednesday, tens of thousands of people were displaced by several major fires fueled by strong winds. Some residents, including Rob Sherman and his wife, Cecilia Peck, have been displaced more than once. The Palisades fire forced them from their home in the Highlands area of Pacific Palisades on Tuesday. They drove through thick smoke and watched as flames blazed along Pacific Coast Highway on their way to stay with a friend in Eagle Rock, a neighborhood west of Pasadena. But by Wednesday morning, that home was also under an evacuation warning because of the Eaton fire. “If it weren’t so serious, I would have thought it was kind of funny,” Mr. Sherman said. “But it is so serious. It’s all happening against a backdrop of life and death. I just felt, Another day to soldier on.” The couple headed out again later in the morning, this time bound for a friend’s place in Temecula, Calif., about 90 miles southeast. Some people were trying to figure out where they could go that would be free of smoke — and accessible, given the active blazes. Rochelle Duffy, 79, and her husband were staying at a friend’s home in Altadena, Calif., for a week when the Eaton fire erupted. On Tuesday evening, they went to another friend’s home in Arcadia before leaving for a third home in nearby Monrovia around 2:30 a.m. The drive was short but eerie, Ms. Duffy said, because the power and all the lights were out. On Wednesday, the couple were trying to decide whether to go north to Santa Barbara. “We need to find out: Is the freeway available all the way?” Ms. Duffy said. “Because we’ve heard that there’s a fire.” Catherine Cowles, 69, lives on a quiet road in the foothills of Pasadena, Calif., where she enjoys occasionally glimpsing mountain lions or bobcats. Around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, a neighbor warned Ms. Cowles and her husband of a fire in the hills above the community. Ms. Cowles left a sheet of uncooked peanut butter cookies on the counter in her haste to flee. The couple went to her stepdaughter’s home in Sierra Madre, just to the east. But within 90 minutes, that, too, felt too close to the Eaton fire for safety, and they set out for a friend’s home in central Pasadena. Ms. Cowles has lived in Los Angeles for about 50 years, she said, but has never had to evacuate before. “It makes it more scary, more real,” she said of having to flee twice. “Like this fire is just going to chew through the entire foothills and then just going to gobble everything in its path. Because at 100 miles per hour, what’s to stop it?”

AZCentral [1/9/2025 7:25 PM, Staff, 6018K, Neutral] reports a Phoenix-based task force is poised to assist with search-and-rescue efforts as multiple wildfires decimate Los Angeles while overwhelming local fire crews. Speaking at a Thursday morning news conference, Deputy Chief of Special Operations Tim Jones said Arizona Task Force 1, which is managed by the Phoenix Fire Department, was ready and waiting to be called upon to assist with relief efforts in the region. "Los Angeles, as you know, there’s widespread devastation and wildfires impacting multiple structures and communities," Jones said. "So that’s what we know right now.” On Thursday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said it was too early to provide a death toll but said almost 180,000 people have been ordered to evacuate, and another 200,000 face evacuation warnings. As of Thursday afternoon, five active fires collectively burned more than 29,000 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The biggest fires, the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, remained 0% contained. The Hurst Fire is 10% contained, and the Lidia Fire is 60% contained. The Sunset Fire is 0% contained but at just 43 acres. Throughout Southern California, some highways were closed, and dozens of flights were canceled because of fires and/or winds. Weather forecasters expected winds as high as 100 mph could further fuel the fires. Meteorologist Ryan Maue said on the social platform X described the emergency as "a hurricane of fire.” Jones said the Federal Emergency Management Agency had reached out to determine the task force’s availability to assist if needed. Asked if he expected the 45-member task force to be activated, Jones said he didn’t know. Other Arizona fire agencies have already begun assisting in Los Angeles, including the Tucson Fire Department and Central Arizona Fire and Medical Authority. According to the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, 17 engines and 80 fire personnel have been sent to assist relief efforts in California, as of Thursday morning. The agency, which also has a team named Arizona Task Force 1 but is separate from the one managed by the Phoenix Fire Department, had sent members of its task force to California since Jan. 5 to assist in dealing with the high winds and now active wildfires.

Newsweek [1/9/2025 8:47 AM, Jess Thomson, 56005K, Neutral] reports that, as Los Angeles is scorched by the intense flames of several wildfires, destroying thousands of homes and having already claimed five lives, cell service has reportedly dropped out across much of the city. As a result, TV crews are using SpaceX’s Starlink to broadcast their coverage of the fire, according a live news report from FOX11, with Elon Musk having now announced that Starlink terminals will be provided to areas of LA with no service. "SpaceX will provide free Starlink terminals to affected areas in LA tomorrow morning," Musk posted on X last night. Wildfires can destroy cell towers, power lines and other critical communication infrastructure, which can cause service outages. Additionally, during emergencies like wildfires, surging usage as people phone for help or call to check on loved ones can overload networks, causing slower speeds or dropped connections. Starlink, developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is a satellite internet service designed to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband internet around the world, especially in remote or underserved areas. The system uses a "constellation" of thousands of tiny satellites in Low-Earth Orbit—about 342 miles above the ground—-which communicate with each other using lasers. These satellites’ have a lower altitude compared to traditional communication satellites—occupying geostationary orbits around 22,000 miles above Earth—affording them reduced latency, or the delay in data transmission across a network. These satellites beam data down to receivers on the ground, allowing people to access the internet. Unlike traditional cell towers or cables, Starlink relies on satellites, making it unaffected by terrestrial fire damage or power outages. This means that it can provide internet access to people who need it, including news outlets, emergency services and evacuation centers. Musk previously made the Starlink internet service free for people living in areas affected by Helene and Milton, but only until the end of 2024, and this access also hinged on having a Starlink receiver to access the Starlink network, which costs $349.

Newsweek [1/9/2025 7:51 AM, Joe Edwards, 56005K, Neutral] reports that, as firefighters worked to contain multiple wildfires throughout the city, a sixth blaze, dubbed the Sunset fire, broke out in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night, in the near-vicinity of numerous world-famous landmarks and tourist attractions. As several fires have raged through the built-up and populated region, hundreds of homes have reportedly been destroyed, with more than 100,000 people having been ordered to evacuate, per Reuters. At least five deaths have been reported. The loss of these landmarks would change the face of America’s second-biggest city. Several of the city’s prominent venues were located within or near evacuation zones put in place by authorities. These included the Hollywood Bowl, the Dolby Theatre—which hosts the Academy Awards—the TCL Chinese Theatre, and the Capitol Records building. The iconic Hollywood sign is also located to the north of the blaze and evacuation area. Images and video circulating online after the blaze broke out claimed to show the landmark wreathed in flame, though these were pointed out to be false and AI-generated. The Griffith Observatory is also located not far from the evacuation zone, and the fire was located close to Hollywood Boulevard and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The TCL Chinese Theatre said in a statement on Wednesday: "We have closed the theatre tonight and sent employees home. If you had tickets for tonight, please reach out tomorrow and we will issue you a full refund. Please stay safe everyone.” The Hollywood Bowl said in a statement: "Due to the Sunset fire, we have received evacuation orders and all Hollywood Bowl staff have safely evacuated the premises. "We extend our deepest gratitude to the firefighters who are working tirelessly to protect our community.”

Newsweek [1/9/2025 5:41 AM, Sophie Clark, 56005K, Neutral] reports the fires in Los Angeles County have grown so large they can be seen from space, as satellite images have revealed the impact of the devastating blazes sweeping across the area. Images taken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s GOES-West Satellite show just how much the county’s two biggest blazes, the Palisades and Eaton fires, which are burning in the Pacific Palisades and the Pasadena/Altadena regions of LA, have grown since they started on January 7. Firefighters are also battling several other fires in the county, including the Sunset, Hurst, and Lidia fires. LA County is the most populated county in America. So far, at least 70,000 residents have been told to evacuate due to these fires, and 1.5 million more were without power as of the afternoon of January 8. LA is used to wildfires, however these fires are occurring outside of "fire season," and are being fueled out of control by high Santa Ana winds and unseasonably dry conditions. California received a Federal Disaster Declaration on January 8 to allow for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aid in the area. There are now more than 7,500 local state and federal firefighters on the ground, as well as 1,162 fire engines, 23 water tenders, six air tankers, 31 helicopters, and 53 dozers fighting the fires. Where Are the California Wildfires Now? While firefighters were able to contain 40 percent of the Lidia fire, and 10 percent of the Hurst fire, another fire, the Sunset fire, broke out on Wednesday night prompting a new evacuation order in the Hollywood Hills. The two major fires from January 8, the Palisades and the Eaton fires are continuing to blaze. The Palisades fire was burning at 2,921 acres at midnight on January 8, and is now at 17,234 acres 24 hours later. Similarly, the Eaton fire has spread from 1,000 to 10,590 acres within a day. California Governor Gavin Newsom: "To the heroes, firefighters, and first responders battling these fires in Los Angeles: Your sacrifice and determination inspire the entire state. California is deeply grateful for your dedication and service.” President Joe Biden: "We’re prepared to do anything and everything, as long as it takes, to contain the Southern California fires and help reconstruct. But we know it’ll be a hell of a long way. The federal government is here to stay as long as you need us.” The California Department for Emergency Services has warned that Southern California is "not out of the woods," as the high winds and dry conditions are expected to continue fueling the fire through Friday. The Eaton and Palisades fires are still at 0 percent containment, despite the amount of personnel on the ground.

Newsweek [1/10/2025 4:30 AM, Khaleda Rahman, 56005K, Negative] reports police have detained a suspect allegedly responsible for starting one of the fires raging in Los Angeles. The suspect is a homeless man in his 30s, according to Fox LA’s Elex Michaelson. The suspect was initially detained "by citizens" in the Woodland Hills neighborhood not long after the Kenneth fire started on Thursday, Los Angeles Police Department officer Charles Dinsel told NewsNation’s Brian Entin. Newsweek has contacted the LAPD for further comment via email. The Kenneth fire started in the San Fernando Valley on Thursday afternoon and quickly burned through more than 1,000 acres. Firefighters are also continuing to battle multiple other large wildfires in the Los Angeles area fueled by dry conditions and powerful Santa Ana winds. The fires have burned at least 10,000 homes, buildings and other structures, killed at least 10 people, and forced tens of thousands to evacuate their homes. The LAPD has launched an arson investigation at Victory Trailhead, where the Kenneth fire began, according to Entin. "What we know right now is that the incident occurred, started here and about 20 minutes, 30 minutes later, a suspect was detained over in Woodland Hills area by citizens," Dinsel said. Asked if the Kenneth fire was intentionally set, Dinsel said: "At this time, that’s what we believe." He confirmed that the area has been designated a crime scene. Witness Renata Grinshpun told KTLA: "A few gentlemen surrounded him and got him on his knees. They got some zip ties, a rope and we were able to do a citizens’ arrest." Governor Gavin Newsom said the Kenneth fire is now 35 percent contained and praised firefighters for their efforts. The arson investigation remains underway, with police yet to provide further details about the suspect.

Washington Examiner [1/9/2025 12:04 PM, Emily Hallas, 2365K, Negative] reports that the Secret Service overrode strict federal regulations on using unmanned aerial aircraft in Washington, D.C., as it ramps up security measures for President-elect Donald Trump’s impending inauguration. As the clock ticks down to Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, a spokesman for the Secret Service confirmed that drones would be utilized as part of the amplified security presence in the nation’s capital. "… the U.S. Secret Service will use unmanned aerial vehicles as part of our security plans for this month’s National Special Security Events, and the public may see these assets operating both before and during these events," Nate Herring, Secret Service spokesman, told the Washington Examiner. While it is nearly impossible to fly drones in D.C. due to national security concerns, Herring said the "Secret Service and our local, state, and federal partners [will] employ a multitude of seen and unseen security measures operating in tandem to ensure comprehensive and seamless security plans." The Federal Aviation Administration has rigid rules surrounding the use of unmanned aircraft. The agency even implemented a temporary ban on some drones after mysterious flying objects were spotted flying in New Jersey and temporarily prohibited first responders from using drones to help conduct rescue and relief efforts after Hurricane Helene.

KATC 3 [1/9/2025 5:27 PM, Staff, 138K, Negative] reports Morgan City Police arrested a local man and booked him on multiple charges after they found he allegedly was printing money at his house. Jacoby James Chevalier, 39, was booked with monetary instrument abuse, theft and on four fugitive warrants from St. Mary and Lafayette parishes. The investigation began last week when detectives got information about counterfeit money being passed at a business on La. 182. They found that similar cases were under investigation by Berwick Police and the St. Mary Sheriff. The developed Chevalier as a suspect, and they got a warrant for him. On Wednesday they executed a search warrant on his Egle Street home, and allegedly found counterfeit money, printers, printing paper, and ID cards. When he was interviewed, Chevalier allegedly admitted to printing counterfeit money and passing it at businesses in Morgan City, Berwick and Bayou Vista.

Yahoo! News [1/9/2025 12:28 PM, Jim Walsh, 57114K, Positive] reports that a 623-foot cargo ship headed to the international port in Falls ran aground in the Delaware River near the Benjamin Franklin Bridge by Philadelphia, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Algoma Verity became stuck on Wednesday night approximately a mile north of the bridge, according to a Coast Guard statement. No injuries were reported as a result of the grounding, which occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m. As of Thursday morning, the vessel was outside the main shipping channel, it said. "There have been no reports of pollution at this time," according to the Coast Guard. "The vessel was northbound with a cargo of approximately 45,000 tons of solar salt when the incident occurred." No cash at Route 1 toll bridge : 4 Delaware River toll bridges including Route 1 Morrisville-Trenton to stop accepting cash. A Coast Guard team and the vessel’s representatives were on board, "monitoring the situation and formulating a plan to safely move the vessel to a nearby terminal," the statement added. It said ship traffic is being restricted between the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and the Tioga Marine Terminal in Philadelphia.

CBS Philadelphia [1/9/2025 8:38 AM, Joe Brandt, 52225K, Negative] Video: HERE reports a cargo ship carrying table salt is being dislodged on Thursday after it got stuck in the Delaware River in Philadelphia, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The ship was heading north up the river when it got stuck about a mile past the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The first reports of the ship’s grounding came in around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. No injuries have been reported. A Coast Guard spokesperson identified the ship as the Algoma Verity, which is sailing under the flag of the Bahamas. Records on Marinetraffic.com say the ship is a roughly 190-meter long, 32-meter wide bulk carrier, and it was headed to Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. An info sheet from Algoma Central Corporation said the Verity can hold 47,404 metric tons of cargo in its over 2.1 million cubic feet of storage space. It was carrying about 45,000 tons of solar salt at the time it ran aground, the Coast Guard said. The vessel will be evaluated for damage. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the ship to become stuck. Boat traffic is currently restricted between the Ben Franklin Bridge and the Tioga Marine Terminal. Vessels that need to pass by the area are required to contact the Coast Guard Command Center one hour before their travel. The National Weather Service released a statement Thursday morning warning of a strong northwest wind that could reduce water levels on the river, with levels as much as 2-3 feet lower at low tide. The low water level may cause navigation provlems, NWS said. Tide and current trackers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed multiple tidal stations in Philadelphia along the Delaware River were in "low water condition," meaning low tides were measured to be lower than normal. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

BorderReport [1/9/2025 7:07 PM, Julian Resendiz, 153K, Negative] reports the captain and first mate of a Mexican fishing vessel are in federal custody after slugging it out at sea with members of the U.S. Coast Guard trying to board their boat. The fracas unfolded last Sunday north of Mission Bay in San Diego, when members of a federal Joint Operations Center in Imperial Beach received information about a suspicious vessel. The boat had an "excessive number" of fishing poles deployed and only six occupants including the captain and the first mate. Federal court documents show U.S. Border Patrol agents deployed to an area known as the Dana Launch and watched several people get off the boat. The agents approached four passengers who turned out to be migrants from Mexico. Court documents show the agents told the four to sit down on the pier while they looked for the boat operators. The agents spotted two individuals trying to hide near public restrooms and began yelling for them to come out. Court documents show the two individuals sprinted back to the boat and got it out of its moorings before the agents could apprehend them. Staff at the Joint Operations Center remotely tracked the motorboat and dispatched a U.S. Coast Guard vessel to intercept. About 20 minutes later, the Coast Guard caught up to the boat, activated emergency lights and directed the occupants through loudspeakers to stop. The Mexican boat not only failed to stop but rammed into the Coast Guard vessel. When the Coast Guard maneuvered to cut off the boat, its two remaining occupants "began throwing metal objects" at members of the Coast Guard on deck, documents show. Coast Guard members boarded the boat and still "found the occupants non-compliant," so they used pepper spray on them before placing them in handcuffs. Court documents show Oscar Eduardo Audelo Rodriguez and Francisco Brado Cota were taken to Naval Base Point Loma for medical evaluation and discharged the same day. Audelo and Brado declined to make a statement regarding the migrants allegedly getting off their boat nor why they ran from Border Patrol or resisted the Coast Guard.

Yahoo! News [1/9/2025 7:53 AM, Carly Page, 57114K, Negative] reports U.S. software giant Ivanti has warned that a zero-day vulnerability in its widely-used enterprise VPN appliance has been exploited to compromise the networks of its corporate customers. Ivanti said on Wednesday that the critical-rated vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-0282, can be exploited without any authentication to remotely plant malicious code on Ivanti’s Connect Secure, Policy Secure, and ZTA Gateways products. Ivanti says its Connect Secure remote-access VPN solution is “the most widely adopted SSL VPN by organizations of every size, across every major industry." This is the latest exploited security vulnerability to target Ivanti’s products in recent years. Last year, the technology maker pledged to overhaul its security processes after hackers targeted vulnerabilities in several of its products to launch mass-hacks against its customers. The company said it became aware of the latest vulnerability after its Ivanti Integrity Checker Tool (ICT) flagged malicious activity on some customer appliances. In an advisory post published on Wednesday, Ivanti confirmed threat actors were actively exploiting CVE-2025-0282 "as a zero-day,” which means the company had no time to fix the vulnerability before it was discovered and exploited, and that it was aware of a “limited number of customers,” whose Ivanti Connect Secure appliances were hacked. Ivanti said a patch is currently available for Connect Secure, but that patches for Policy Secure and ZTA Gateways — neither of which have confirmed exploitability — won’t be released until January 21. The company said it also discovered a second vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-0283, which has not yet been exploited. Ivanti has not said how many of its customers are affected by the hacks or who is behind the intrusions. Spokespeople for Ivanti did not respond to TechCrunch’s questions by press time.

WOOD [1/9/2025 6:12 PM, Josh Sanchez, Negative] reports several school districts around Michigan are working with software company PowerSchool to assess the extent of a cybersecurity breach the company said happened last month. In a statement to News 8, a PowerSchool spokesperson said the California-based company became aware of the potential hack on Dec. 28. It involved unauthorized access to certain data from PowerSchool Student Information System through its customer portal, PowerSource. Schools were notified that the hack involved the use of compromised credentials and that no malware was found. Another PowerSchool spokesperson said staff are still working to determine the extent of the breach for each customer.

CBS News [1/9/2025 8:33 PM, Eleanor Watson and Robert Legare, 52225K, Negative] reports a plea hearing to enable alleged 9/11 terror attack mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to avoid the death penalty will not go forward Friday, after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Thursday to pause the proceedings to allow the court to receive full briefings and hear arguments in the case on an expedited basis. The court did not rule on whether Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has the power to reverse the plea agreements with Mohammed and other defendants, but instead said it needs more time to make that decision. The U.S. government had filed a motion earlier this week seeking to stop a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from accepting the plea agreements offered to three men accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, including Mohammed. According to the motion, the plea agreements reached over the summer, which are still under seal, would have the three defendants plead guilty to the seven charges against them for their alleged roles in the terrorist attacks, in exchange for allowing them to avoid the death penalty. The charges include murder, conspiracy and terrorism, as well as an eighth charge of intentionally causing serious bodily injury. Government attorneys also asked the appeals court to stay the proceedings — including Mohammed’s plea hearing Friday — while the request was being considered. Family members who travelled to Guantanamo Bay are devastated that the plea proceedings won’t go forward Friday. Eight of them were speaking to reporters when the court granted the administrative stay. All eight supported the plea agreements, though they acknowledged other victims’ families do not. The Washington Post [1/9/2025 7:34 PM, Spencer S. Hsu, Abigail Hauslohner and Missy Ryan, 40736K, Negative] reports that on July 31, U.S. military prosecutors reached a deal with Mohammed and two other defendants in the case that would secure a guilty plea in exchange for lifetime sentences, removing the possibility of the death penalty. The news angered victims’ families, Republican lawmakers and New York City’s firefighters union. Two days later, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin canceled the agreement, setting off a new series of court deliberations over whether the plea hearings can proceed and who has the authority to stop them. The judge in the Guantánamo case, Col. Matthew N. McCall, determined in November that Austin’s attempt to rescind the plea deals had come too late and was thus invalid; a ruling upheld last month by a Pentagon appeals panel. The administration, pushing for Austin’s decision to override the others, asked for more time. In a two-page order after 6 p.m. on Thursday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stayed Mohammed’s plea until further notice while it weighs an emergency appeal by the Justice Department and the solicitor general’s office. The court gave both sides until Jan. 22 to file written arguments. "Further ordered that proceedings before the Military Commission concerning pretrial agreements entered into by Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al Hawsawi be administratively stayed pending further order of the court," wrote Judges Patricia Millett, Robert Wilkins and Neomi Rao — two Obama appointees and a Trump appointee, respectively. The panel said the delay "should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits," but was intended to allow it time to receive full briefing and hear oral arguments "on an expedited basis." No hearing date was immediately set, and it will have to wait until Donald Trump succeeds Joe Biden in the White House on Jan. 20.

Reported similarly:
The Hill [1/9/2025 8:18 PM, Brad Dress, 16346K, Neutral]
AP [1/9/2025 6:32 PM, Ellen Knickmeyer, 12036K, Negative]
NPR [1/9/2025 1:13 PM, Sacha Pfeiffer, 35747K, Negative]
Newsweek [1/9/2025 1:48 PM, Shannon McDonagh, 56005K, Negative]

FOX News [1/10/2025 4:00 AM, Audrey Conklin, Garrett Tenney, 49889K, Neutral] reports dozens of victims of the New Year’s terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans are filing lawsuits against the city and its police department. Terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar of Texas killed 14 civilians and injured dozens of others when he rammed a Ford-150 through crowds of people celebrating New Year’s on the famous New Orleans street around 3 a.m. Jan. 1. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with police. One lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of seven victims by Morris Bart, LLC takes aim at the City of New Orleans, Hard Rock Construction and engineering firm Mott MacDonald, LLC, alleging they were negligent in providing security measures that could have prevented the tragedy. "We have done an extensive investigation and believe that the three defendants we have named in the lawsuit could have — and should have — taken steps to prevent this tragedy," Morris Bart said in a statement. "Our hope is that, through this lawsuit, we can help prevent future tragedies." The lawsuit says the defendants "had years of opportunities to fix this known problem," and "[c]ity contractors failed to live up to contractual obligations and perform work in the order and manner specified." "One scenario presented by Mott MacDonald eight months before this tragedy even involved a Ford F-150 truck specifically turning right on to Bourbon Street from Canal Street, a shockingly similar threat that was seemingly predictable before December 31." The complaint concludes that had "Mott MacDonald competently provided engineering services to the City that accounted for known threats, Mr. Jabbar’s access to Bourbon Street would have been prevented entirely." A second lawsuit is expected to be filed against the City of New Orleans and the New Orleans Police Department on behalf of at least two dozen victims. Maples Connick, LLC, a New Orleans law firm, has launched a civil investigation into the attack and is partnering with Chicago-based mass disaster law firm Romanucci & Blandin, which has represented victims in multiple recent mass casualty events and attacks.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel [1/9/2025 5:42 PM, Natalie Eilbert, 3377K, Neutral] reports more than three weeks after the deadly Abundant Life Christian School shooting rocked the Madison community, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes shared updates Thursday about its ongoing investigation. But the five-minute video offered little more than a peek inside the department’s lengthy investigation and why it will take weeks and even months before the public’s questions get answered. The shooting Dec. 16 left three dead, including 14-year-old freshman Rubi Patricia Vergara, 42-year-old substitute teacher coordinator Erin West, and the shooter, a 15-year-old freshman named Natalie L. Rupnow, who went by Samantha. Six others were wounded, two critically. Madison police have not identified any of the six non-fatal victims. No charging decisions are being made until detectives have time to review all physical and digital evidence, Barnes said, which could take several more weeks or months.

New York Times [1/9/2025 1:56 PM, Carol Rosenberg, 161405K, Negative] reports that the Pentagon’s detention operation at Guantánamo once held hundreds of men who were captured by U.S. forces and their allies in the war against terrorism. Now there are just 15 prisoners as the prison enters its 24th year. President George W. Bush opened and filled it. President Barack Obama tried to close it but couldn’t. President Donald J. Trump said he would load it up with “bad dudes” and didn’t. And President Biden said he wanted to finish the job Mr. Obama started but will not be able to do it. Unless Congress lifts a ban on the transfer of Guantánamo prisoners to U.S. soil, the costly offshore operation could go on for years, until the last detainee dies. The 15 remaining prisoners range in age from 45 to 63. They are from Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen. One is a stateless Rohingya, another is Palestinian. All but three were transferred to Guantánamo from the C.I.A.’s secret overseas prison network, where the Bush administration hid people it considered the “worst of the worst” until 2006. Five are defendants in the Sept. 11 case, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who is accused of planning the attacks. One is a Saudi man accused of orchestrating the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in 2000 that killed 17 U.S. sailors. These are capital cases that have never reached trial.

CBS News [1/9/2025 12:37 PM, Staff, 52225K, Neutral] reports that TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media site in the U.S. by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date of a law aimed at forcing TikTok’s sale by its Chinese parent company. In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court on Friday in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment and information. Working on a tight deadline, the justices also have before them a plea from President-elect Donald Trump, who has dropped his earlier support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach a "political resolution" and avoid deciding the case. It’s unclear if the court will take the Republican president-elect’s views — a highly unusual attempt to influence a case — into account. TikTok and China-based ByteDance, as well as content creators and users, argue the law is a dramatic violation of the Constitution’s free speech guarantee. The case represents another example of the court being asked to rule about a medium with which the justices have acknowledged they have little familiarity or expertise, though they often weigh in on meaty issues involving restrictions on speech. VOA News [1/9/2025 10:28 AM, Steve Herman, 2717K, Neutral] reports that Beijing’s potential access to all that personal data and the ability to shape public opinion for its American users prompted Congress to ban it, with a 352-65 bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives last March. That happened despite TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s appeal to American users to fight the legislation. "Protect your constitutional rights. Make your voices heard," Chew, a Singaporean with a Harvard MBA, said in a TikTok video prior to the congressional action. TikTok has repeatedly stated it has ensured the data of its American users is protected from outside influence and manipulation.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [1/9/2025 1:08 PM, Ann E. Marimow and Christiano Lima-Strong, 40736K, Neutral]
CBS 7 [1/9/2025 1:10 PM, Jon Decker and Priscilla Huff, 11K, Neutral]

The Hill [1/9/2025 6:06 PM, Brad Dress, 16346K, Neutral] reports House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who co-sponsored the legislation along with Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), made the bill a priority by bringing it to the floor quickly in the new Congress. Mast wanted to send a message that the U.S. would stand by Israel, a GOP congressional aide told The Hill earlier this week. "A kangaroo court is seeking to arrest the prime minister of our great ally, Israel, which is not only responding to an enemy, which conducted a genocide," Mast said Thursday on the House floor, "but an enemy who still holds 100 hostages.” The bill passed on a 243-140 vote, with one lawmaker voting present and 50 not voting. A similar measure failed last year, but gained the support of 40 Democrats. This time, 45 Democrats voted in support of it. The Washington Examiner [1/9/2025 1:53 PM, Rachel Schilke, 2365K, Neutral] reports Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) and Haley Stevens (D-MI) flipped their votes from no in June 2024 to yes on Thursday, and Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) voted yes after not voting in June. Ten new members voted in favor of the bill, as well. If approved by the Senate and signed into law, the ICC Act would impose sanctions on International Criminal Court officials who seek to go after U.S. citizens or allies, including Israel. It also condemns the international body for pursuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Washington Examiner [1/9/2025 2:04 PM, Jenny Goldsberry, 2365K, Negative] reports that Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) shared that conversations about the prospect of Greenland joining the United States are important from a national security perspective. President-elect Donald Trump is the latest U.S. leader to attempt to bring Greenland and its population of over 50,000 among its territories. As Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Waltz said this could be the latest move in a tug-of-war with Russia and China over the Arctic. "Look, this is not just about Greenland. This is about the Arctic. You have Russia that is trying to become king of the arctic with 60 plus icebreakers, some of them nuclear-powered. You know how many we have Jesse? We have two, and one just caught on fire. This is about critical minerals," Waltz said while on Fox News’s Jesse Watters Primetime. "This is about, as the polar ice caps pull back, the Chinese are now cranking out icebreakers and pushing up there as well. So, it’s oil and gas, it’s our national security, it’s critical minerals.” The minerals found in Greenland are used in the production of electric vehicles, wind turbines, and military equipment. In 2023, the most recent year the data was collected, mineral production in the U.S. alone made $105 billion.

Reuters [1/9/2025 4:57 PM, Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Louise Rasmussen and Stine Jacobsen, 2717K, Neutral] reports Denmark acknowledged Thursday that it had long neglected the defense of Greenland, a vast and strategically important Arctic island - and one that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has called vital for U.S. security. Trump, who takes office Jan. 20, said this week that U.S. control of Greenland - a sovereign Danish territory - was an "absolute necessity," and he did not rule out using military or economic action against Denmark to make it happen. "We have neglected for many years to make the necessary investments in ships and in aircraft that will help monitor our kingdom, and that is what we are now trying to do something about," Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told journalists. The U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen said earlier Thursday that the United States had no plans to increase its military presence in Greenland. "There are no plans to increase the United States’ current military footprint in Greenland," the spokesperson told Reuters. "We will continue to work closely with Copenhagen and Nuuk [Greenland’s capital] to ensure any proposals meet our common security needs.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said late Thursday that she had asked for a meeting with Trump but did not expect one to happen ahead of his inauguration.

FOX News [1/9/2025 2:33 PM, Danielle Wallace, 49889K, Neutral] reports that House Republicans on Thursday introduced a bill for the United States to repurchase the Panama Canal after President-elect Trump raised concerns that the critical waterway is under Chinese control. The bill, named the Panama Canal Repurchase Act, was introduced by Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., a member of the Select Committee on China and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. "President Trump is right to consider repurchasing the Panama Canal," Johnson said in a statement. "China’s interest in and presence around the canal is a cause for concern. America must project strength abroad – owning and operating the Panama Canal might be an important step towards a stronger America and a more secure globe." The bill has 15 other Republican co-sponsors: Reps. Dan Crenshaw, Randy Weber, Troy Nehls and Brian Babin of Texas; Mike Collins, Barry Loudermilk and Andrew Clyde of Georgia; Barry Moore of Alabama; Jack Bergman of Michigan; Mike Rulli of Ohio; Neal Dunn and Aaron Bean of Florida; Erin Houchin of Indiana; Abraham Hamadeh of Arizona; and Mike Lawler of New York.

New York Times [1/10/2025 12:13 AM, Keith Bradsher, 161405K, Neutral] reports the United States ambassador to China, R. Nicholas Burns, said the Biden administration is making a last push to try to persuade China to stop transferring equipment to Russia for the war in Ukraine. Mr. Burns, in an interview at the U.S. embassy in Beijing, asserted that nearly 400 Chinese companies have supplied Russia with so-called dual-use products, those with both military and commercial applications. He also said China has supplied 90 percent of the microelectronics used in the Russian war effort. With less than two weeks remaining before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office, Mr. Burns is raising the administration’s concerns about Russia, as well as China’s alignment with Iran and North Korea, with Chinese ministers in a series of meetings this week and early next week. More broadly, Mr. Burns said that China’s policies toward Russia, Iran and North Korea were inconsistent with Beijing’s desire to play a leading role in international initiatives of global order, like the World Trade Organization and the Paris agreement on climate change. “Their actions are disruptive because they’re aligning themselves with the most unreliable agents of disorder in the international system,” he said. He also said that China, which buys huge quantities of oil from Iran, should use its influence to insist that Iran stop the Tehran-backed Houthi militia from attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Chinese officials have denied supplying Russia or Ukraine with any dual-use products, like drones with military uses. “China never provides weapons to the parties to the conflict and strictly controls the export of dual-use articles, and China’s scope and measures of export control over drones are the most stringent worldwide,” Lin Jian, a foreign ministry spokesman, said on Dec. 17. Mr. Burns’s discussions with senior Chinese officials this week and next are part of a broader recent diplomatic effort by the Biden administration.

Washington Examiner [1/9/2025 6:00 AM, John Schindler, 2365K, Neutral] reports Pentagon thinkers who are briefed on our best intelligence about Beijing’s intentions assess that 2027 is the year that Chinese President Xi Jinping rolls the dice in an effort to reunite Taiwan with the mainland. Some defense pundits don’t think we even have that long. The odds of a war with the PRC during the second Trump administration loom large and ominously. I recently discussed conflict scenarios with a senior defense official who’s involved in highly classified war planning at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Honolulu. I learned that Pentagon planners aren’t excessively concerned about a direct invasion of Taiwan by the People’s Liberation Army. That’s highly risky for Beijing. A less risky option is a blockade of the island, which would represent an ambiguously packaged form of Chinese aggression. PLA warplanes and warships regularly surge toward Taiwan, provoking its response while testing reaction times. These are provocative military exercises. One day, it may be real. What happens then? Particularly considering that the blockade will be presented by Beijing as an internal Chinese matter, an argument that many United Nations members may accept. If Washington decides to break the PLA’s blockade of Taiwan, it will result in a shooting war within a few days at most. Each side brings strengths and weaknesses to that fight. China enjoys significant geographic advantages. The tyranny of distance is real, and the U.S. military will be operating far from its bases while the PLA in southeast China will conduct air and missile strikes on Taiwan and our forces at relatively close range. The F-35, which is employed by our Air Force, Marines, and Navy, is a highly advanced but relatively short-range fifth-generation fighter jet that requires more refueling assets than the Pentagon possesses. There’s also great Pentagon concern about Beijing’s long-ranged "carrier killer" missiles, the D-21 and D-26, that will target Navy "big decks" in the Western and even Central Pacific. Whether such untried technology works as advertised is another matter. Nevertheless, the Ukraine war has demonstrated the limits of U.S. military technology, too. Expensive Western precision munitions that are dependent on GPS for targeting are routinely jammed by the Russians, rendering them almost useless, and the Chinese have learned to do the same.

New York Times [1/9/2025 5:26 PM, Santul Nerkar, 161405K, Neutral] reports that for more than a year, U.S. Steel pursued an ambitious solution to its mounting challenges. Once a symbol of American industrial might, it had agreed to a takeover by Nippon Steel, a Japanese rival, in a bid to ward off obsolescence. Citing the need to finance a costly modernization of its mills, U.S. Steel warned that if the deal was foiled, it would need to shut down plants and lay off workers. Now, with the $14 billion acquisition blocked by President Biden on national security grounds — and President-elect Donald J. Trump outspoken in opposing it — the company has few easy alternatives. Without a merger partner, the company may be forced to shutter its traditional steel plants, threatening the livelihoods of the workers and regions that rely on them. An effort to combine with a different competitor could encounter antitrust concerns. And it lags behind in the technological transition from blast furnaces to electric furnaces. U.S. Steel is not conceding defeat on a takeover by Nippon Steel. The two companies are suing the federal government, contending that politics corrupted its review process. “Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel remain confident that the transaction is the best path forward to secure the future of U.S. Steel, and we will vigorously defend our rights to achieve this objective,” Amanda Malkowski, a spokeswoman for U.S. Steel, said in a statement.

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