Americans overwhelmingly reject Democrats’ strategy in budget standoff: poll
Nearly two-thirds of American voters say that the Democrats in Congress shouldn’t force a federal government shutdown if their demands are not met, according to a new national poll.
But a New York Times/Siena poll also indicates that voters would blame Republicans and President Donald Trump, as well as Democrats, if the government shuts down at midnight Tuesday.
Currently, there’s no indication either Trump and the Republican majority in Congress or congressional Democrats are willing to lower the temperature, with both political parties at odds over a temporary short-term spending plan to avoid the shutdown.
Democrats are insisting that any agreement to prevent a government shutdown must extend tax credits for the popular Affordable Care Act (ACA) beyond the end of this year. Those credits, which millions of Americans rely on to reduce the costs of healthcare plans under the ACA, which was once known as Obamacare, are set to expire unless Congress acts.
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But most Republicans oppose the extension of the credits and argue that the Democrats’ demands would lead to a huge increase in taxpayer-funded healthcare for migrants who entered the country illegally.
Sixty-five percent of those questioned in the poll said Democrats should not shut down the government even if their demands are not met, with 27% disagreeing.
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But many Democrats appear eager for a fight.
By a 47%-43% margin, Democrats said the party should vote to shut down the government if their demands are not met.
Only 32% of independents and just 5% of Republican respondents said the Democrats should vote to shut down the government.
Meanwhile, the poll also indicates that independent voters are twice as likely to blame Trump and congressional Republicans than Democrats if the government shuts down.
Trump, speaking to reporters Tuesday morning, reiterated his warning that “a lot” of federal workers may be fired if the government shuts down.
And speaking Monday night with Politico, the president once again argued that the Democrats would be blamed for a government shutdown.
“People that are smart see what’s happening. The Democrats are deranged,” he claimed.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the lower chamber, responding to a fake and derogatory video posted on social media by the president on Monday evening, said in a social media post that “Bigotry will get you nowhere. Cancel the Cuts. Lower the Cost. Save Healthcare. We are NOT backing down.”
The New York Times/Siena poll indicates that the president’s overall approval ratings remain underwater.
Trump stands at 43% approval and 54% disapproval in the survey, which was conducted Sept. 22–27.
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While Trump’s approval rating is well into negative territory among Democrats and independents, he retains the support of roughly 9 out of 10 GOP voters.
The poll was conducted among 1,313 registered voters nationwide.
Chicago mayor fumes as feds swoop in on Venezuelan gang members in his city
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson appeared on CNN Tuesday, asserting President Donald Trump is an “unstable human being” who must be “checked” on his use of the military in U.S. cities.
“This president is an unstable human being, and it’s right for this moment to check him. And we’re calling on Congress to do its job,” Johnson told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
After watching a clip of Trump speaking to senior U.S. military officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., on Tuesday, Blitzer asked what Johnson thought of Trump’s speech saying the National Guard would be “going into Chicago very soon.”
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Johnson called Trump’s comments “appalling” and argued that both citizens and military personnel should be against the president’s move to send troops to U.S. cities.
“There’s no way that anyone in this country should be okay with armed militarized troops being sent to cities,” he said. “These individuals, these brave women and men who signed up to serve and protect this country, they do not do it with being deployed against American citizens and residents in mind.
“This is not only appalling, but this is, quite frankly, an egregious attempt to undermine the sanctity of our democracy.”
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On Tuesday, hundreds of federal agents carried out a “targeted immigration enforcement operation” in Chicago against suspected Tren de Aragua gang members.
The FBI confirmed the operation to Fox 32 Chicago, noting that its agents assisted the U.S. Border Patrol in the city’s South Shore neighborhood. The operation — which involved almost 300 agents — targeted six people associated with the Venezuelan gang, according to Fox News senior correspondent Mike Tobin.
Footage of the operation showed agents converging on an apartment building in the area. At one point, a helicopter lowered snipers onto the building’s roof.
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The development comes a day after Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced that the Department of Homeland Security is “seeking the deployment of 100 military troops to Illinois.”
Two dozen people were taken into custody over the course of Tuesday’s operation.
The Trump administration has deployed the National Guard to cities such as Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., to address crime and assist with deportations.
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World’s tallest bridge opens, cuts 2-hour mountain journey to just 2 minutes
The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge opened to traffic for the first time on Sunday — and now claims to be the world’s tallest and largest span bridge in a mountainous area, according to Chinese state media.
Located in China’s Guizhou Province, the bridge hangs over the Beipan River and crosses through the Huajiang Canyon.
The bridge is reportedly 2,050 feet above the river. It stretches nearly 10,000 feet long, with a main span of about 5,000 feet.
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Guizhou Highway Engineering Group Company’s chief engineer, Zhang Shenglin, said the bridge spans “earth’s crack.”
The bridge, he added, “will showcase China’s engineering capabilities and boost Guizhou’s goal of becoming a world-class tourist destination,” the China Daily reported.
After three years of construction, the newly opened bridge successfully cuts two hours of travel drive time down to two minutes, according to Reuters.
University of Calgary civil engineering professor Mamdouh El-Badry told several outlets a project of this scale would typically take at least five to 10 years.
He said that time frame included everything from “groundbreaking to completion, depending on environmental, political and logistical factors.”
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The previous tallest bridge in the world, the Millau Viaduct in France, stretches 8,070 feet long and sits nearly 1,000 feet above the Tarn River.
It is supported by seven concrete pillars that are each 1,125 feet tall — “taller than the Eiffel Tower,” according to the European Space Agency.
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The Canakkale Bridge in northwestern Turkey is the longest suspension bridge that stretches over a mile.
Taliban plunges Afghanistan into darkness as UN issues urgent warning
The Taliban shut down internet and telecom services across Afghanistan on Monday, plunging the country into near-total digital darkness and drawing a UN warning of “significant harm” to citizens.
The blackout is said to have come after Afghanistan’s 9,350-kilometer fiber optic network was disabled, leaving flights grounded, banks frozen, and millions of citizens and businesses cut off.
Kabul International Airport has seen all commercial flights canceled or marked as “unknown,” leaving the country’s main air hub virtually deserted, per Reuters.
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Monitoring group NetBlocks also confirmed to Reuters that traffic levels had dropped to around one percent of normal, underscoring the unprecedented scale of the disruption.
According to Reuters, the Taliban ordered internet and mobile data services to be cut across the country, with diplomatic and industry sources confirming cellphone connectivity had collapsed.
NetBlocks also confirmed connectivity was cut in phases starting on Monday, with the final stage also affecting telephone services, which share infrastructure with the internet.
The nationwide blackout appears to be part of a phased campaign led by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada in Kabul. Earlier in September, he directed the dismantling of fiber optic networks in many provinces.
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Officials have defended the move as a way to curb “immorality” online, echoing earlier statements from provincial governors.
Reuters reported that Afghan telecom companies said they were “managing this sensitive and complex situation” under Taliban directives, while hoping to restore services soon.
Private broadcaster Tolo News, also cited by Reuters, reported that authorities had set a one-week deadline to shut down 3G and 4G internet services for cellphones, leaving only 2G active.
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In a statement, the United Nations mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) urged the Taliban to immediately restore access and warned that the blackout “has left Afghanistan almost completely cut off from the outside world, and risks inflicting significant harm on the Afghan people.”
Reuters also quoted UN officials as saying the blackout has crippled humanitarian operations.
Arafat Jamal, the UN refugee agency’s country representative, told reporters how it could no longer reach frontline aid workers, including those responding to a deadly earthquake in the east.
“It is another crisis on top of the existing crisis,” he said via satellite link from Kabul.
Rising star entrepreneur busted for massive fraud against major bank
Charlie Javice, the founder of the student loan startup Frank, was sentenced Monday to more than seven years in prison for cheating JPMorgan Chase out of millions by inflating user data.
Prosecutors said Javice, 33, duped JPMorgan Chase into buying her company by exaggerating its student numbers, leading to her March conviction on bank, securities, and wire fraud, as well as conspiracy charges.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court handed down her 85-month prison sentence, followed by three years of supervised release.
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Javice must also hand over $22 million in salary, stock, and bonuses tied to the $175 million sale of her company, and jointly pay $287.5 million in restitution with her co-defendant, Olivier Amar, Frank’s former chief growth officer.
Founded in 2017 when Javice was in her mid-twenties, Frank was promoted as a tool to simplify federal financial aid processes for students and parents. The platform was to revolutionize the way college students apply.
The startup gained attention and landed Javice on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list while attracting JPMorgan’s interest.
In 2021, the banking giant acquired Frank for $175 million, with CEO Jamie Dimon personally meeting Javice as they negotiated the purchase.
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But prosecutors said the business was built on lies, because while Florida-based Javice claimed Frank had more than 4 million active users, the true number was closer to 300,000.
To support her claims, Javice allegedly worked with a college professor to fabricate user data and purchased names from commercial data brokers.
When JPMorgan attempted to contact Frank’s supposed customer base after the acquisition, the lies unraveled.
Prosecutors argued the bank had “acquired a crime scene.” JPMorgan’s Dimon later described the purchase as a “huge mistake.”
“I accept the jury’s verdict and take full responsibility,” Javice told the court at her sentencing.
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Her defense team argued she had made a terrible but isolated mistake, pointing to her history of good deeds and fertility struggles in hopes of leniency.
“Your crimes required a great deal of duplicity,” Judge Hellerstein said: “You are a good person who has done good deeds. But others need to be deterred.”
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Javice, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, plans to appeal her conviction but will be required to report to prison once the process concludes.
Halle Berry flaunts curves in string bikini: ‘just going my own way’
Halle Berry wowed fans with a new bikini picture on social media.
The 59-year-old “Monster’s Ball” actress shared a cheeky photo on Instagram, featuring her in a black-and-white string Monday Swimwear bikini as she walked away from the camera toward a hillside.
“Looks like I’m going the wrong way, but I’m not…just going my own way !” she captioned the photo.
Fans were quick to flood the comments section with praise for the actress, with one writing, “After all these years this woman is still the finest woman in the world🌹😍.”
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Another added, “A true timeless beauty that will never age in Ms @halleberry.”
Others were happy with the message the star left for her fans in the caption. “Big Leo Energy! We are going to It our ‘own way’ for sure. 🔥,” one fan wrote, while another added, “Heavy on ‘own way’ not their way ❤️✨✨.”
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Berry recently celebrated her 59th birthday while vacationing on a tropical island, marking the occasion with a series of bikini pictures. She posted multiple photos in a gold two-piece, including some of her sipping a drink out of a coconut, and another of her smiling from ear to ear.
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Other photos from her vacation feature her with her boyfriend, Van Hunt, whom she has been with since 2020. In the photo, the two can be seen lying in bed together and eating a bowl of chips, as she sports a white bikini.
“The minute I started to feel like I understood myself and what I had been doing wrong, Van’s brother, who I had known for many years, came to me and said, ‘You should meet my brother,'” she told Marie Claire in September 2024. “The nature of the way this happened, I have a real belief that this is it. This is my person.”
Hunt and Berry confirmed their relationship through a social media post shared on Berry’s Instagram, in which she wore a black T-shirt with Hunt’s name on it, captioning the post, “now ya know… ♥️🦶🏽.”
Prior to her relationship with Hunt, Berry was married three times. She married former professional baseball player, David Justice, from 1993 to 1997, and later Eric Benét from 2001 to 2005. She was then married to French actor, Olivier Martinez, with whom she shares her son Maceo, 11, from 2013 to 2016. She also shares daughter Nahla, 17, with her ex-boyfriend, Gabriel Aubry.
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“I’ve heard people say, ‘Something must be wrong with Halle Berry, she can’t keep a man.’ Who’s to say I want to keep a man?” she said on “The Drew Barrymore Show” in February 2025. “I don’t want to keep the wrong man. Like, I’m not crazy, right? So when you find that you make a mistake — we all make mistakes. We have a right to say, ‘Oh God, this was a mistake. Let me start again.’ We have the right to do that.”
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‘This is ridiculous’: ESPN analyst blasts officials during Monday night NFL game
The Denver Broncos soundly defeated the Joe Burrow-less Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night.
Longtime NFL analyst Troy Aikman was in the broadcast booth for the Broncos’ 28-3 victory. While the Bengals faced challenges in Denver, Aikman criticized the officiating.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer particularly took issue with the volume of penalty flags thrown during the second half.
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Denver took an early lead Monday and later entered the locker room for halftime with a 21-3 lead. After the teams emerged from their respective tunnels, seeing yellow flags falling onto the turf seemingly became a reoccurring theme of the third quarter of the lopsided affair.
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Broncos lineman Alex Palczewski was flagged for an illegal block in the third quarter. The call appeared to be the tipping point for Aikman’s frustration.
“I’m not going to keep my mouth shut,” Aikman said in jest to his broadcast partner and play-by-play voice, Joe Buck.
Aikman then argued the penalty calls were negatively impacting the flow of the game.
“That’s a good call. Just not a necessary call … Nothing brings a broadcast to a screeching halt more than these yellow flags.”
Aikman chimed in again after Broncos offensive lineman Luke Wattenberg was flagged as an ineligible man downfield.
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“The product’s just not very good. I’m gonna be honest … I mean, this is ridiculous,” Aikman added.
Of the 22 penalties called on Monday, 18 were accepted.
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‘Jon & Kate Plus 8’ star hospitalized for medical emergency, asks for prayers
Kate Gosselin asked for prayers after revealing that she had been hospitalized due to a medical emergency.
On Monday, the 50-year-old reality star-turned-nurse shared a TikTok photo from a hospital bed in which her arm was seen hooked up to an IV with a pulse oximeter clipped to her fingertip.
“Please pray for me tonight and tomorrow. I will be fine, but I’m scared and would appreciate prayers!” Gosselin wrote with a prayer hands emoji. “Thanks, guys.”
In the caption of her post, the “Jon & Kate Plus 8” alum did not provide details about her health issue but promised her fans that she would share more information later.
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“Emergencies don’t care about schedules! Please DON’T worry about me! Please pray instead!” Gosselin wrote. “Please pray for me tonight and tomorrow? Don’t worry, story time to follow when I’m able!”
“Love you guys! I’ll be back as soon as I can!” she added.
Fans quickly flocked to the comments section of Gosselin’s post to express their concern and support for the mother of eight.
“You are a strong woman who can do hard things! Praying to Jesus for your comfort and healing,” one TikTok user wrote.
“Thank you! I had to call upon that strength that I know I have deep down tonight! And I appreciate your prayers!” Gosselin replied.
Gosselin also reassured another fan who wrote,”Omg…I hope all your loved ones are safe.”
“Yes! They are…just me…thankfully!” Gosselin responded.
“Sending love and positive energy! I hope you are okay! You are loved by so many,” another follower wrote, to which Gosselin replied, “Aww omg thank you.”
The former “Dancing with the Stars” contestant also liked several supportive comments and replied to other fans to thank them for their well-wishes.
On Tuesday, Gosselin shared an update, posting a TikTok photo in which she was seen intubated while lying in a hospital bed.
“Update: I had surgery this morning and have five different pain meds on board (top 3 most painful surgery),” she wrote on the image. “I am not in a position to go into details but only bc I can’t focus. I did well. Details coming soon.”
“I CANNOT thank you enough for all your prayers!” Gosselin added. “Love you guys!”
In a follow-up post n Tuesday, Gosselin said that she realized she had “scared” some of her fans and explained that she would be hosting an Instagram Live session later from her hospital bed in which she would share the full story behind her hospitalization.
While Gosselin has yet to disclose the nature of her medical emergency, she previously detailed the lasting effects that she has experienced following her pregnancy with her sextuplets.
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Gosselin and her ex-husband Jon Gosselin welcomed sextuplets — Collin, Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Leah and Joel — in May 2004. The former couple are also parents to twin daughters, Mady and Cara.
In a TikTok video earlier this month, Gosselin candidly opened up about how her body has been affected by her pregnancy with her six children.
“When I was pregnant with them, my stomach was squished up here, like 1 inch. You can see it on an ultrasound,” Kate said in the video as she pointed to her midriff. “And my bladder was squished way down here, compressed the whole time with baby weight. Compressed, compressed, compressed.”
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“And so when I had my c-section, obviously they put a full-length catheter in,” she continued. “Like the long-term, in-dwelling catheter. I think they went to remove it maybe like the next day. And all day I could not pee. And I had this pain that kept growing and growing and I was in horrible pain. I was nauseous, my stomach hurt. It just kept getting worse and worse.”
Gosselin recalled that her doctor finally ordered her to get a foley catheter, a tube that is inserted into the urethra to drain urine from the bladder.
“And it filled one and a half times. Which a foley catheter bag is huge,” Gosselin said. “I’m telling you, that is a humongous amount of pee. And I’m telling you, it filled one and half times.”
“Turns out that my bladder was so compressed that it lost its ability to do what a bladder is supposed to do. It’s a muscle,” she continued. “And it lost its elasticity or whatever.”
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Gosselin explained that she used the catheter for a week before returning to the hospital to have it removed.
“So that time I actually did pee, my bladder had a chance to like, you know, chill out and rest, and, but ever since then, my bladder has never been right,” she said. “I can’t exactly explain it, or put my finger on it, but it just is very different after that.”
Yelling match breaks out in Senate hearing with former Biden official over ‘two spirit’ safe spaces
A yelling match between Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and a former Biden administration official broke out in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing over the need for “two spirit” safe spaces to combat gun violence.
Hawley challenged Gregory Jackson Jr., who served as deputy director of the Biden White House’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention and, more recently, as the head of Community Justice Action Fund (CJAF), over the organization’s policies on creating safe spaces for “two spirit” individuals.
Hawley was grilling Jackson over a CJAF report published while he led the group, titled “A Policymakers’ Playbook to Reduce Gun Violence Without Policing Communities,” which he said “advocated for defunding the police” and instead investing in “programs that acknowledge the need for safe space initiatives led by lesbian, gay, bisexual, two spirit, trans and gender-nonconforming people.”
“What’s two spirit?” Hawley asked.
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In response, Jackson said, “Well, I don’t know exactly.”
Jackson went on to say, “If you look at the report, the focus is on investing in violence intervention, outreach workers, victims’ services.”
“You say that we shouldn’t invest in the police, but we ought to invest in two spirit community programs that acknowledge two spirit individuals. What is that?” Hawley shot back. “I just want to know. I don’t know what that is. I have no idea what that is.”
After Hawley repeated the question, Jackson admitted, “I’m not completely aware of the language. I feel like I’m looking at a two-faced individual because you talk about reducing violence but also speak out against violence reduction programs.”
“Oh no, sir, you’re looking at somebody who’s reading you your own words, and I’d like to hear an answer,” retorted Hawley.
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“Here’s the answer,” Hawley added. “The answer is you don’t have any solutions. You want to invest in gobbledygook and take away money from police officers who actually keep our community safe, and when you’re called on the record, you deny it. It’s all there in black and white, and your record is there in black and white, and it’s a disgrace.”
Raising his voice, Jackson, who was seriously injured in a Washington, D.C., shooting in 2013, answered, “As somebody who’s been shot and nearly killed, I take offense that you would think that the last 13 years were not focused on reducing violence.”
Hawley shouted back, “I take offense that you do not answer my questions, that you deny your own words and that you are leading this committee astray. And, frankly, sir, your policies are absurd, they’re absurd.”
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After this exchange, Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, slammed his gavel, saying, “I don’t think we’re getting any place.”
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“Oh, I think we’ve gone a long way, senator,” Hawley answered.