Former cartel leader nicknamed ‘The one who kills his friends’ released from US prison
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, a former drug cartel leader described as having “generated a new era of organized crime” in Mexico, has now been released from U.S. prison and may be heading back over the border, reports say.
Cárdenas Guillén, the past leader of the Gulf cartel who created the Zetas — a gang of former Mexican special forces soldiers who became his private army and hit squad — was transferred into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, officials told Reuters.
In 2010, Cárdenas Guillén was sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges including threatening to assault and murder federal agents and was ordered to forfeit $50 million from his criminal enterprise. It’s unclear why he did not serve his full sentence. However, the move into ICE custody suggests he will be deported to Mexico, where an official says he faces two arrest warrants, according to The Associated Press.
Leo Silva, a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who previously worked in Mexico to combat the Zetas, told Reuters that the Cárdenas Guillén “generated a new era of organized crime” and “unleashed this mentality of creating fear in the country.”
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The news agency cites Silva as directly blaming Cárdenas Guillén for the rise in grisly cartel-related violence in Mexico over the last 20 years.
The Zetas that he created committed acts of terror that regularly involved slaughtering dozens of people, decapitating them or dumping heaps of hacked-up bodies on roadways, The Associated Press reports.
Cárdenas Guillén’s own nickname was “El Mata Amigos,” or “The one who kills his friends,” and the 57-year-old once moved tons of cocaine and made millions of dollars through the Gulf cartel, based in the border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros.
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He was eventually captured in 2003 and extradited to the U.S. four years later. By 2010, the Zetas had formed their own cartel, spreading terror-style attacks across Mexico as far south as Tabasco until their top leaders were killed or arrested in 2012-2013.
The AP reports that one of Cárdenas Guillén’s most brazen acts was when he surrounded and stopped a vehicle carrying two U.S. DEA agents and one of their informants in 1999 in the border city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas.
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His gunmen pointed their weapons at the agents and demanded they hand over the informant, who would almost certainly be tortured and killed. The agents toughed it out and refused, reminding him it would be a bad decision to kill employees of the DEA. Cárdenas Guillén eventually called off his gunmen, but not before reportedly saying “You gringos, this is my territory.”
Bill Maher gives his blunt reaction to VP Harris, Walz’s first interview
“Real Time” host Bill Maher shared his own mixed reactions about Vice President Kamala Harris’ CNN interview, offering both praise and criticism for the Democratic nominee.
“I thought she did great. I thought she did fine,” Maher began the panel discussion Friday night. “I don’t know why we ever thought she was as bad as people thought she was. It was like Biden had that one bad night, she had a bad three years.”
Maher suggested that both Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was also present at the interview, were “insulting [his] intelligence” by the things they chose to be evasive about. The host called out Walz’s comments suggesting he speaks the way normal people speak.
“No, you don’t. You’re a huge liar, like all politicians are,” Maher reacted. “I don’t give a s— what you did during the Iraq War. You were in the Guard- I don’t understand why they just can’t-” he broke off.
The host added, “They’re just insulting my intelligence.”
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“When [CNN anchor Dana Bash] said what did you say when Biden called you and said he wasn’t running. ‘Well, I immediately thought of him first,'” Maher said while rolling his eyes. “I mean fracking… Dana Bash had her dead to rights. It was like ‘You said this, I have the quote. I’m reading it to you. You said there should be a ban on fracking.’ Why can’t they just go, ‘Yeah, you know what? I got it wrong.’”
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The HBO host gave Harris high marks for not “taking the bait” when she was asked about former President Trump’s comments about her race.
“That was just so great,” Maher said. “She said ‘same old playbook.’ And Dana said, like, ‘That’s it?’ ‘That’s it. That’s my answer, that’s all you’re getting.'”
Maher went on to express how puzzled he is about Harris’ messaging, particularly when she repeatedly talks about finding a “new way forward.”
“It’s an odd thing to say when you’re in the present administration, is it not?” Maher reacted.
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He also repeatedly mocked the interview set-up with Harris and her “emotional support VP.”
“It was a little odd. He was just sitting there for a very long time without saying anything. He was just nodding while she did all the talking. The women’s focus groups said he must be a wonderful husband,” Maher quipped during the opening monologue.
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Maher later said the Democratic ticket looked like “when Dad comes along” to help a young woman buy a car.
“Maybe that’s the strategy. They look like a married couple. They look like every interracial couple in every commercial,” Maher joked.
LeBron James sends Caitlin Clark critics four-word message after career night
LeBron James has been among Caitlin Clark’s biggest supporters in her rookie year, and after a big night for the Indiana Fever star, he took to social media to address her critics directly with a four-word message.
Clark scored a career-high 31 points and 12 assists in Indiana’s final regular-season matchup against the Chicago Sky on Friday night.
Clark shot 8 for 14, including 5 for 9 from 3-point range, in her 11th double-double as the Fever took the series 3-1 with a 100-81 win over Chicago.
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Despite being away, Clark received a loud roar of cheers from fans as she exited the game in the fourth quarter with just under four minutes remaining.
She also received a nod from NBA great LeBron James, who directly sent a message to the “haters” on social media.
“CAITLIN CLARK!!!!! HI HATERS,” his post on X read.
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James also reposted a post from the NBA highlighting Clark’s stats, which included another record for the former Iowa standout.
Friday marked Clark’s fifth game this season with at least 20 points and 10 assists, the most in a single season in WNBA history.
“I’m just proud of this group,” Clark said after the game. “I thought we battled, and we didn’t let it get close at the end, and that was kind of the problem last time we were here. We let them come back, we know they’re a really good fourth-quarter team, but we battled and figured it out.”
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As the Rookie of the Year debate heats up, Clark still remains the clear favorite.
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Pelosi praises controversial California bill giving home loans to illegal immigrants
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., appeared to express support for her state’s controversial bill that would provide financial aid for illegal immigrants to buy homes.
California lawmakers passed AB 1840, which would require the California Housing Finance Authority’s home purchase assistance program, or California Dream for All Program, to include undocumented migrants, meaning those seeking to become first-time homeowners would be eligible for taxpayer loans.
During the same discussion, the former Speaker advocated for making these illegal immigrants legal: “What I would like to do is move them to documented. One of the best things we can do for our economy is pass comprehensive immigration reform.”
During Friday’s appearance on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Pelosi was asked to react to the bill’s passing.
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“That’s kind of a different place than the Democratic Party used to be on immigration, is it not?” host Bill Maher asked.
“Well, let me just say, immigration had always been a bipartisan issue,” Pelosi responded.
“But not free housing,” Maher interjected.
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“Well, that’s not free housing. It’s the American Dream being available to more people,” Pelosi pushed back. “But understand this about immigration. The best speech when immigration was by President Ronald Reagan. ‘This is the last speech I will make as President of the United States. I want to communicate a message to the country I love.’ And he talked about the Statue of Liberty and the Beacon of Hope it is to the world and what America was preeminent to the world because our door was always open. And we will cease to be preeminent when we shut the door.”
“Now, I don’t do justice to the Great Communicator. Google it. It’s a fabulous speech, and George Herbert Walker Bush continued in that respect for the diversity of America and the rest. California is always in the lead. Maybe others will follow that lead, but that’s up to those states. But we are very blessed here with beautiful diversity,” she continued.
“So you’d vote for this law?” Maher then asked.
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“Well, I’m not familiar with exactly what that is, but making the American dream of homeownership available to all people is something we have to do for people who are here now,” Pelosi said.
“This is before you’re a citizen. This is for the undocumented,” Maher stressed.
“Well, what I would like to do is move them to documented,” Pelosi responded, adding “One of the best things we can do for our economy is pass comprehensive immigration reform.”
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Trump cracks up social media with impression of ‘super genius’ Musk
Former President Trump offered his impersonation of SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk at an event in Washington, D.C., this week, drawing laughter from a crowd as he pretended to be talking about the development of rockets.
Trump told an audience at the annual Moms for Liberty conference Thursday that Musk gave him a “tremendous endorsement” and described him as a “very different kind of a guy as he thinks [when] he talks.”
“With Elon, it’s like, ‘well, you know, I’m doing a new stainless steel hub that can get us around the engines much quicker,’” Trump said. “’Because there’s a problem with the type of engine going into space nowadays.'”
“’But in the end I think we can have a good hookup because of the new foils that are coming up,'” Trump joked.
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“And I’m hearing everything that’s going through his mind. But he is like, he’s a super genius guy,” Trump added.
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The former president recently did a lengthy interview in mid-August with Musk on X and said Thursday that “I think we are going to do another one too.”
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“I’m a huge fan of his electric car, I think it’s incredible, his car,” Trump also said. “I think of he does and I’m a big fan of electric, but they don’t go far and they are expensive.”
Joe Rogan unloads on Oprah, Michelle Obama after DNC speeches: ‘You’re rich…’
Podcaster Joe Rogan accused TV personality Oprah Winfrey and former first lady Michelle Obama of brazen hypocrisy in their DNC speeches Thursday.
Oprah slammed former President Trump at the convention while saying the work of maintaining a democracy “requires standing up to life’s bullies” and describing how she has seen and sometimes been on the receiving end of “racism and sexism and income inequality and division.”
Shortly after, the Trump campaign posted a thank-you letter Winfrey wrote in 2000 suggesting that he would be a good president. “Too bad we’re not running for office,” Winfrey wrote. “What a team!”
Likewise, the former first lady spoke about how her mother showed her “the meaning of hard work and humility and decency,” and added, “She and my father didn’t aspire to be wealthy. In fact, they were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed. They understood that it wasn’t enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning.”
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But on Thursday, amid a conversation recalling how prominent public figures turned against Trump in recent years, Rogan mocked how both of these women have become fabulously wealthy in their own right.
“How about Oprah?” Rogan said. “Oprah was talking about her and Trump running together, and now she’s speaking to the DNC that he’s a threat to democracy and she’s up there talking about income inequality, like, ‘Hey lady… you’re rich as f—.’ I’m like, ‘How is that equal?’”
The podcaster then added, “And also when Michelle Obama was saying, you know, I think she was saying her mother or grandmother was always suspicious of people who took more than they needed, like, you are worth so much money. That’s so crazy. You did it on a civil servant’s salary which is insane.”
Rogan was not the only public figure to call out Oprah’s hypocrisy. The major media mogul’s denunciation of income inequality rang hollow to people who pointed out her current enormous net worth, which Forbes estimated is $3 billion.
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Conservative radio host Dana Loesch wrote, “Kinda weird for Oprah, with her Hawaiian estate and multiple homes, expensive wardrobes, frequent luxury vacations, etc., to talk about income inequality.”
Meanwhile, Trump War Room, the official account of former President Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, shared a clip of Michelle Obama’s speech and commented, “Michelle Obama says her parents ‘were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed.’ She has a net worth of $70 million and lives in a mansion in Martha’s Vineyard.”
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‘Good Times’ actress and mother of ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ star dead at 83
Betty Bridges, Todd Bridges’ mother, has died. She was 83.
“Betty Alice Bridges… passed away peacefully two days ago,” a rep for Betty confirmed with Fox News Digital, Friday.
Betty was in hospice care at Todd’s home in Phoenix, Arizona, prior to her death. On Thursday, the actor took to Instagram and shared a photo of his mother with “1941-2024 Betty Bridges” written on top of the image.
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He also shared a collage of images made into a video to honor his mother with “I Love You Always Forever (Acoustic)” by Everly Fair playing.
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Fellow stars were quick to offer their condolences to Todd. Lenny Kravitz wrote, “Rest in power Queen.” Yvette Nicole Brown wrote, “Oh Todd, I’m so sorry for your loss!”
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She played a crucial role in Todd’s recovery from addiction, Betty’s rep shared. “Her tough love and unwavering support highlight the profound impact of family and friends in overcoming life’s toughest battles.”
Betty was a prominent actress, most remembered for her roles in “Good Times”, “ER” and “2 Broke Girls.” She also made appearances in “Quincy M. E”, “Diff’rent Strokes” and “Wonder Woman.”
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She was a Hollywood manager and acting coach. Betty co-founded the Kane Bridge Academy, an acting school. She eventually moved the school to her home in Los Angeles and would give free lessons to the kids in her neighborhood.
Nia Long, sisters Regina and Reina King and Sanaa Lathan were some of her students.
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Betty is survived by her sons Todd, Jimmy Bridges and Zerondrick Hubbard, daughter Verda Bridges Prpich and her 12 grandchildren.
Historic American town is paying people $20,000 to move there
The town of Cumberland, Maryland, is making an intriguing offer to attract more residents.
Through a new program, Cumberland is offering an incentive to attract families to live inside its city limits.
“The package, offering up to $20,000, is comprised of $10,000 in relocation cash, PLUS up to $10,000, dollar-for-dollar match, for approved renovations on an existing home, OR for a down payment on a newly constructed home within City limits,” the Cumberland town website advertises.
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Cumberland puts emphasis on the “location, lifestyle, and value” of the town.
“Cumberland’s history is built around a location in close proximity to Pittsburgh, D.C., and Baltimore,” it also says.
The town is located on the Potomac River in Allegany County.
It is two hours from Baltimore.
Allegany County, also known as the Mountainside of Maryland, comprises 70,000 acres of nature for outdoor adventure.
“With 95% broadband connectivity, plus interstate highway and rail access, 19,000 Cumberland residents can choose their own lifestyle. The downtown is retooled for modern use,” it added.
In 2022, the town had a population of 18,769 residents, dropping 12% since 2020, according to city data.
“Cumberland has a strong and growing sense of place, big enough to provide services and infrastructure, small enough that everyone matters.”
The town website touts its walkable neighborhoods and “professional around-the-clock” fire, police and emergency services.
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“A quarter million visitors annually choose Cumberland’s amenities as a travel destination. Public investment created for this industry provides upgraded entertainment and cultural options unique in a Mid-Atlantic small-town setting.”
There are limitations for applicants, as they must purchase a home and live in it as their primary residence for no less than 5 years.
If a newly constructed home is purchased, the value must not be less than $150,000.
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To be eligible, applicants must be at least 18 years of age, be eligible to work in the U.S. with full-time employment, existing local employment, proof of self-employment — or be in the process of accepting a job in the area.
FOX Business reached out to town officials in Cumberland, Maryland, for further comment.