Latest news with #October2023
CBS News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
When a U.S. senator's husband landed on a travel watchlist, a phone call had him removed
A U.S. senator's spouse was placed on a government watchlist in 2023 after a surveillance program flagged his travel profile, but he was removed after the senator back-channeled with administration officials, sources familiar with the situation told CBS News. Shortly after New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen met with the Transportation Security Administration about her husband, William Shaheen, TSA officials removed him from a list of people subjected to additional scrutiny under TSA's "Quiet Skies" domestic surveillance program. William Shaheen, an Lebanese-American attorney active in the Arab-American community, was then placed on a different list, which excluded him from any future advanced screening, including random checks at airport TSA checkpoints, two of the sources said. File: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) (R) and William Shaheen arrive for a State Dinner in honor of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mrs. Sophie Trudeau at the White House on March 10, 2016, in Washington, DC. Photo by Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images The episode took place in a heightened security environment in October 2023, days after Hamas attacked Israel and killed more than 1,200 people. TSA's surveillance efforts have long attracted criticism for tracking U.S. citizens not suspected of any crimes. The circumstances that land an individual on a list — or what gets them removed — have been mostly concealed from the public. Quiet Skies, which began in 2010, employs analysts and undercover air marshals to monitor people in airports and during flights, using outstanding warrants, facial recognition software, identification of suspicious travel patterns and behaviors and other data to try to prevent terrorist attacks. Some Americans undertake exhaustive efforts to get themselves removed from the Quiet Skies enhanced screening list — with some even engaging in protracted legal fights. Republican Tulsi Gabbard spoke out in 2024 after she was placed on the Quiet Skies list and subjected to searches and monitoring by federal air marshals. Gabbard, a former presidential candidate and Democratic member of Congress, has since been confirmed as the director of national intelligence. Shaheen's husband, according to sources, was removed from Quiet Skies two days after she contacted David Pekoske, then the TSA administrator. Pekoske served in the post under both Presidents Trump and Biden. The decision to then shield the senator's husband by putting him on what TSA calls the "secure flight exclusion list" marked an unusual step in a system meant to operate outside of political interference. A spokesperson for Sen. Shaheen told CBS News on Tuesday that she contacted TSA after her husband was subjected to several extensive, invasive and degrading searches at airport checkpoints – and was seeking to understand the nature and cause. Sources told CBS that in July 2023 William Shaheen was pulled aside for extra screening at the Boston airport ahead of two flights. Officials said at the time that the security agency randomly selected travelers for additional screening, and William Shaheen had been randomly chosen. Three months later, William Shaheen was flagged by the transportation security agency because his travel companion on two flight reservations was a person listed by the FBI as a "known or suspected terrorist," or KST, a broad designation that covers a wide-ranging risk profile. A federal air marshal was sent to covertly travel near them on a flight on Oct. 18, 2023, one source said. Sen. Shaheen spoke with Pekoske to ask about the situation regarding her husband. On Oct. 20, 2023, her husband was added to the "secure flight exclusion list," a VIP list that exempts a traveler from the security agency's vetting and surveillance programs, including random screenings. An order from TSA headquarters was sent to make sure the safeguarded status for William Shaheen was signaled when his future boarding passes were presented at airports. The spokesperson for Sen. Shaheen said she wasn't aware that her husband had been monitored under the Quiet Skies program, or that he had later been given preferential treatment by being specifically excluded from enhanced screening, The person William Shaheen traveled with, whose identity could not be confirmed by CBS News, was removed from the FBI terrorism watchlist later in 2023, sources familiar with the matter said. It was not clear why the person was placed on the list, though a host of factors including visits to hostile countries, certain suspicious travel patterns, or contacts with designated terror suspects can all contribute to the listing. The spokesperson for Sen. Shaheen declined to identify her husband's travel companion other than to say the person was an Arab-American attorney. The senator was not given any indication the person was designated as a known or suspected terrorist, the spokesperson said. William Shaheen was recently removed from the list of people excluded from any enhanced surveillance, a Department of Homeland Security official told CBS on Tuesday. Mr. Trump has criticized what he refers to as the weaponization of state power and the use of government levers to go after political opponents, but since his reelection, has sought to settle scores with those he perceives to have wronged him. Sen. Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and a frequent critic of Mr. Trump and his policies, has announced she will not seek reelection in 2026. Her eldest daughter, Democrat Stefany Shaheen, is running for a seat in the U.S. House.
CBS News
28-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
A fatal flood prompted Kaufman County dam repairs. Then, the federal government froze funding.
The rain that fell in October 2023 inundated Kaufman County. It was still dark when 23-year-old Angel McKnight took off to check on loved ones. The water had reached the top of a bridge along FM1390, and as she drove across it, a passing car sent a wave of water crashing toward her, sweeping her off the road. She called her aunt, Joy Collins. "She called me Mama. 'Mama, I'm stuck in a ditch,' and she asked me about a tow truck," said Joy Collins. "I told her, 'Baby, if you're stuck, get off the phone with me and call 911.'" That 911 call captured McKnight's final moments. "Okay, I'm trying to get out of the car. It's quite literally filling up as we speak… yeah, filling up…" she can be heard saying before the call abruptly disconnects. Her car had fallen into 12' high flood waters rushing through the hidden underpass below the bridge. She was one of two drivers who died in the floods that morning. Family members said it took nearly 12 hours to find her body. "I can't imagine the fear that she went through by herself,' said Joy Collins. Six months later, Kaufman County began work to replace a nearby dam. Rated "high hazard" by the state, the dam had been overwhelmed by the torrential rain and failed to hold back the flooding that claimed two lives that October. The $14 million renovation, though, is more than Kaufman County can afford, which is why it relies on federal and state funding. The US Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service agreed to reimburse the county for 65% of the cost. The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board agreed to cover the remaining 35%. In February, though, as work was already well underway, the NRCS announced it was suddenly "unable to make payments." The funding, it seems, had become a political target of the new White House administration. Money for the dam renovation had come from the $1 trillion authorized by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a key piece of President Biden's domestic agenda. Trump administration pauses funds On President Trump's first day in office, he signed an executive order to "immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through… the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act." "I thought maybe for a month or two they'd stop the payments, review and see that this is a critical infrastructure project, and then start back up," said Kaufman County Emergency Management Director Steve Howie. For months, he said, the state stepped in to cover the difference. By April, though, the TSSWCB reported it was owed $4,256,998 after it said the federal government "simply stopped paying the bills" for various infrastructure projects. It notified Kaufman County that if there was no resolution by May 31, it would need to find "other sources of funding" or "shut down the construction". "I'm thinking, this is nuts. They're putting people's lives in danger, and we can't be doing that," said Howie. Howie said the county would never have begun construction if it didn't think it had the funding secured to get the job done. "It's more dangerous now because literally the dam that was in place, even though it was high hazard, was not in any imminent state of breach," said Howie. "If we get into the heavy rainfall where we get six or more inches, this thing could overtop and going downstream that way, there's about 75 homes, between 125 and 160 people whose lives will be in danger." In mid-April, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to resume payments, and by early May, the state told us reimbursements had begun. Howie still worries that the funding could be jeopardized by federal spending cuts. The White House recently released a proposed budget that, among other things, calls for cancelling over $15 billion in what it calls "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act green new scam funds." "While I don't disagree with what they're trying to do to eliminate fraud and waste, they're not looking at the trickle down and what it's doing to the local jurisdictions," said Howie. "It seems like we're fighting an endless battle," said Joy Collins. "Something needs to happen so that nobody else loses their mother, father, brother, sister," Jamie Collins, McKnight's mother and Joy Collins' twin sister, said just after McKnight's death. Jamie Collins had terminal cancer and died last December, having spent the last year of her life looking for ways to improve FM1390. "Jamie was trying to get this safe for other people. Of course, it hurt her. That was her only daughter. She just did the best she could. In pain all the time," said younger sister, Danna Williams. The sisters still hope to see the problem resolved and said there's no sense withholding funds for a project that could save lives. "I hope nothing like this happens to your family member because of ignorance like this," said Joy Collins.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk Says The Idea Of Creating A Phone Makes Him 'Want To Die' But He Will If There's A Need — Although He's 'Got A Lot Of Fish To Fry'
It's not every day a billionaire says a product idea makes him "want to die." But leave it to Elon Musk to put a stake in the smartphone hype—while still keeping one hand on the shovel. At a Pennsylvania town hall in October, someone cut straight to the point: "I want to know when the X phone's coming out." Musk didn't hesitate. "Man, I sure hope we don't have to make a phone. That's a lot of work," he said. "The idea of making a phone makes me want to die. But if we have to make a phone, we will. But we will aspire not to make a phone." Don't Miss: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. The crowd laughed. Musk didn't. He made it clear this wasn't about competition—it was about pressure. Specifically, pressure from tech giants like Apple and Google. "They need to make sure they don't have a heavy hand in the App Store... or they will create a forcing function for there to be a competitor." This wasn't the first time Musk toyed with the idea. Back in November 2023 at the New York Times DealBook Summit, he gave the same energy when asked if he'd ever make a phone—especially as rumors swirled about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman teaming up with legendary Apple designer Jony Ive on a sleek AI-powered device. "I don't think there's a real need to make a phone," Musk told Times journalist and CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin. "If there's an essential need to make a phone, I'll make a phone. But I've got a lot of fish to fry." Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — And if you're wondering what a Musk-designed phone might look like? Don't. He's already mentally past it. "You've got basically a black rectangle. How do you make that better?" His answer: skip the screen altogether. When asked what the future of communication looks like in his head, he pointed there literally. "Yeah, good phrase—in the head. A Neuralink." "The best interface would be a neural interface directly to your brain. So that would be a Neuralink." So no, Musk doesn't want to build a phone. He thinks it's a "black rectangle" dead-end. He'd rather hook your brain up to a chip than join the smartphone war. But if Apple picks a fight? He'll sigh. He'll grumble. And then—he just might build it. Read Next: The team behind $6B+ in licensing deals is now building the next billion-dollar IP empire — Image: Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Elon Musk Says The Idea Of Creating A Phone Makes Him 'Want To Die' But He Will If There's A Need — Although He's 'Got A Lot Of Fish To Fry' originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Associated Press
23-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
FTC abandons Biden-era effort to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard
The Republican-controlled Federal Trade Commission is abandoning a Biden-era effort to block Microsoft's purchase of 'Call of Duty' video game maker Activision Blizzard. In an order issued Thursday, the FTC said it had determined that 'the public interest is best served by dismissing the administrative litigation in this case.' It was the second time in one day that the FTC pulled out of litigation begun during the Biden administration. Earlier Thursday, the FTC said it was dismissing a lawsuit against PepsiCo that was filed by the Democratic-controlled FTC in January. Microsoft announced a $69 billion acquisition of Activision in January 2022. It's one of the most expensive tech acquisitions in history and was designed to boost sales of Microsoft's Xbox gaming console, which has lagged in sales behind Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo. In December 2022, the Federal Trade Commission – then led by Democratic Chairwoman Lina Khan -- sued to temporarily block the acquisition, saying it would let Microsoft suppress competitors who want access to Xbox and its subscription content. In July 2023, the U.S. District Court in Northern California denied the FTC's request to pause the acquisition, but the FTC appealed. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court also denied the FTC's request. In the meantime, Microsoft completed its purchase of Activision in October 2023 after it won approval from Britain's competition watchdog, which had also considered blocking the merger. Brad Smith, Microsoft's vice chairman and president, said Thursday in a statement on X that the decision is a victory for video game players and for 'common sense in Washington D.C.' 'We are grateful to the FTC for today's announcement,' Smith said. Khan stepped down from the FTC when President Donald Trump took office in January, and Trump fired Democratic Commissioners Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya in March. Bedoya and Slaughter have sued the Trump administration, saying their removal was illegal. Right now, the FTC is made up of three Republican commissioners, and it's unclear when the two Democrats on the commission will be replaced. A message seeking comment was left with the FTC. In the PepsiCo case, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said the Biden-era FTC rushed to authorize a case just three days before Trump's inauguration. He said Thursday that the case, which alleged that PepsiCo was violating the law by giving unfair price advantages to Walmart, was a 'dubious political stunt.' But the FTC hasn't stood in the way of some Biden-era policies. Earlier this month, a rule the FTC announced in December requiring ticket sellers, hotels, vacation rental platforms and others to disclose their fees up front went into effect.
BreakingNews.ie
22-05-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Richard Satchwell was 'obsessed' with and 'possessive' of his wife Tina, her half-sister tells trial
Richard Satchwell was "obsessed" with and "possessive" of his wife Tina, her half-sister told his murder trial on Thursday, with the witness also giving evidence that Tina had confided that she "couldn't get away from" her husband. Lorraine Howard (50), who is the first and only witness to give evidence on behalf of the accused man, told the 12 jurors on Thursday that Mr Satchwell was: "obsessive, wanting to know where Tina was all the time, who she was speaking to all the time, where she was going all the time". Advertisement Ms Howard said every friend Ms Satchwell would meet, the accused would find "some fault" with, while Tina's "friendship circle was getting smaller and smaller". Tina's half sister told defence counsel, Brendan Grehan SC, that she thought the way Mr Satchwell acted was "controlling and just odd". The witness also told defence counsel that she'd told gardaí that Tina Satchwell had a "vicious temper". The trial has heard that on March 24th 2017, Mr Satchwell told gardaí that his wife Tina had left their home four days earlier but that he had no concerns over her welfare, feeling she had left due to a deterioration in their relationship. Advertisement The accused formally reported Ms Satchwell missing the following May, but her body was not discovered for over six years, when gardaí in October 2023, conducting "an invasive search" of the Satchwell home, found her decomposed remains in a grave that had been dug underneath the stairs. When re-arrested on suspicion of Tina's murder after her body was removed from their Cork home, Mr Satchwell told gardaí that his wife "flew" at him with a chisel, that he fell backwards against the floor and described her death after he said he held her off by the belt of her bathrobe at her neck. In her evidence, Ms Howard told Mr Grehan that for a long time she thought Tina was her aunt, but she found out at an early age that she was her biological half-sister. The witness said she and Tina shared the same mother [Mary Collins] but had different fathers. Advertisement Ms Howard told counsel that Tina found out the truth "at her confirmation age", when she went looking for her birth certificate. Asked how Tina had reacted, Ms Howard said: "Shock I suppose, and [she] felt maybe she had been lied to for a long period of her life" Ms Howard said her grandmother, Florence Dingivan, who is now deceased, had raised Tina, and she [the witness] saw them as mother and daughter. Half-sisters Ms Howard said she and Tina, who was three years older, were not raised in the same house but lived across the road from each other. "We would have been over and back to each other every day..... We were best best friends". Advertisement Asked whether their relationship changed when Tina became aware they were half-sisters, Ms Howard said it had. "I think she felt resented and hurt, and in her eyes she was given away - that's not actually what happened - and I was kept," replied the witness. Ms Howard said this had caused big distress for Tina, and sometimes she [the witness] "bore the brunt" of that. "We had years of being friends and would then fall out, nearly always about small things, her being given away and she would take her mother's side, who was in fact her grandmother [Florence], and I would take my mother's side," she continued. "We had a very unique family set up and it caused problems in our always came back to this issue that Tina felt somehow abandoned," she added. The witness began to weep when Mr Grehan brought up their brother Tom taking his life in 2012. She said his death affected Tina as much as herself. Advertisement The witness cried as she told the jury: "Tina had two families, even now we have her remains back, half her ashes with my grandmother and half are with my brother Tom". Ms Howard said she first met Mr Satchwell in her grandmother's house when she was 15 years old. Asked how she would describe the relationship between Richard and Tina, Ms Howard said the accused used to call Tina his "trophy wife and girlfriend". "I didn't like that as a comment, I didn't think it was right to refer to someone as a trophy". Mr Grehan asked the witness about a statement she made to Detective Garda David Kelleher in August 2020, before Tina's remains were discovered and Mr Satchwell was charged with his wife's murder. Ms Howard said she believed Tina to be alive at the time and was angry with her, as she believed she was putting the family through "untold stress" and having "taken off with money". She said she gave the statement in hurt and anger, saying: "I should have aimed this anger at Richard Satchwell". The witness agreed that her views have been "revisited" since she discovered Tina was dead and buried, and Mr Satchwell was calling to her house "telling me all these lies". Ms Howard agreed she recalled telling the detective in her statement that Richard was obsessed with Tina and knew she was "above his league", when asked to describe their relationship. She told gardaí that Mr Satchwell had told her that if Tina came back through the door, he would still take her back; "that's how he liked it, just the two of them". Spending money Asked whether she had said anything about the balance in the relationship, Ms Howard, who was reading at times from her statement, told counsel: "I said Tina wore the trousers, which would be correct". The witness agreed gardaí had asked her about Mr Satchwell spending money on Tina, and Ms Howard had said he would spend "every penny" on his wife "to dress her up". "Was that a hard job to keep her?" asked Mr Grehan, to which the witness replied "absolutely". She also agreed she had used the phrase "high maintenance" in her statement to gardaí to describe Tina. Mr Grehan also put it to the witness that she was asked about whether Tina might have depression. Ms Howard said she had mental health concerns about what had happened with her own brother taking his life, and that Mr Satchwell had tried to portray Tina as depressed, showing her photos with Tina's hair not brushed and her eyes looking sad. "I came to the conclusion that maybe she had some kind of mental health issue". Ms Howard said she had never seen any "violence" between the couple, despite her and her sister having "many arguments". "She never once went to put a hand towards me," the witness added. She agreed she had described Tina's "Jekyll and Hyde personality" to gardaí - as they had "a dynamic relationship"; sometimes they would be friends and then wouldn't be. Ms Howard said she told Det Gda Kelleher that Tina had a temper, but so did she. She agreed with Mr Grehan that she had also told the officer about observing scratches on Mr Satchwell's back, but clarified on Thursday that she had no idea where they came from and had never said Tina had given them to the accused. Ms Howard agreed she had also told gardaí about walking in on a conversation between Tina and her grandmother, when she [the witness] was 15 years old. "Tina was laughing and she said 'I slapped Richard on the face'". "I didn't know the context and didn't hear the start or end of that conversation," Ms Howard told counsel. Mr Grehan put it to the witness that she was asked about a comment Mr Satchwell had made - that if Tina ever left him and he came after her, she [Tina] would call the gardaí. "She knew she couldn't get away from him. She would confide in me he would follow her to the ends of the earth and she had no way of getting away from him," said the witness. "You were also asked about having been told that Tina changed her Littlewoods account from her name to his name?" asked counsel. Ms Howard said Mr Satchwell had told her this. "What was your comment in relation to that?" he asked. "I wouldn't say Richard was controlling but definitely possession. I didn't see him as controlling at the time but have since changed my opinion," she said. "You were asked at the very end, would Tina take her own life?" asked the lawyer. Ms Howard said she had concerns based on her family history and the narrative Richard fed her. She also agreed she said Tina had loved herself. Counsel told the witness that gardaí had asked her about scars the accused had on his head. Ms Howard said she had told gardaí that Mr Satchwell had shown her every scar on his body and blamed Tina for it. "If he had a paper cut he would blame Tina". She said before Tina went missing, Mr Satchwell had never once described his wife as violent or aggressive in any form and then suddenly she was "violent and causing all kinds of damage to his person". "That was why I was so worried for her wellbeing, thinking she'd had some kind of mental breakdown to be subjecting him to this because that wasn't Tina," said the witness. Ireland 'Very strange': Tina Satchwell's cousin says murde... Read More "How did you describe her temper?" asked Mr Grehan. "I said she had a vicious temper and so did I," said Ms Howard. The witness agreed with counsel she hadn't had a conversation with Tina for 15 years before she disappeared. The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women, when closing speeches from counsel will begin. Mr Satchwell (58), with an address at Grattan Street, Youghal, Co Cork has pleaded not guilty to murdering his 45-year-old wife Tina Satchwell - nee Dingivan - at that address between March 19 and March 20, 2017, both dates inclusive.
