Crime Stoppers New Orleans and the FBI on Thursday announced that they have both upped their rewards for the apprehension of the two remaining escapees from the May 16 jailbreak from the Orleans Justice Center as the men approach three weeks on the run.The bounty for Derrick Groves and Antoine Massey is now $20,000 from the FBI, and $20,000 from Crime Stoppers.The ATF is also offering a $10,000 reward for the arrest of each fugitive, bringing the total potential earnings for assisting in the capture up to $50,000 each.LOUISIANA AG CONFIDENT REMAINING JAILBREAK FUGITIVES WILL BE RECAPTURED AFTER OFFICIALS MAKE 14TH ARRESTGroves pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in unrelated cases thereafter, and was scheduled to be sentenced in July.Massey, a known escape artist, also remains on the run. He was in jail and awaiting trial on charges of domestic abuse involving strangulation, theft of a motor vehicle and a parole violation.Before busting out of the jail, he had escaped custody three times. He was no longer eligible to be released from jail with an ankle monitor due to his habit of cutting them off, only for police to have to track him down.The law enforcement agencies involved in the hunt, including the Louisiana State Police, the FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals and the New Orleans Police Department, are scheduled to hold a joint press conference on Thursday to address the status of the escapees.Cameron Lindsay, a former federal prison warden, was befuddled that Massey was locked in a first-floor cell of the facility, saying that his past warranted far more attention from corrections staff.4 ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY AIDING ESCAPED INMATES IN NEW ORLEANS"He would be housed in the most secure location within the jail," Lindsay told Fox News Digital. "All staff would be apprised of this individual, and given his incredibly high risk for escape, I would require documented frequent checks at least once every 30 minutes on an irregular schedule.""I would also insist on documented correctional supervisor rounds, ensuring line staff are strictly following guidelines for inmates of this caliber who present the greatest threat to the community," he said.The other eight prisoners who escaped from their cell and hopped the barbed wire fence to freedom have all been recaptured.So far, 14 people have also been arrested for allegedly aiding the fugitives either before or after the escape.

Longtime Democratic Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer has yet to announce whether he will seek re-election next year for a 24th two-year term in Congress.If he does, he will face a primary challenger who is making Hoyer's age the congressman turns 86 next month and would be 89 at the end of his next term a centerpiece of his campaign.Harry Jarin, 35, a volunteer firefighter and emergency services' consultant, said Thursday in a new video announcing his candidacy, "If you live here in southern Maryland, I want to ask you a tough question. Do you really think that Steny Hoyer, at 89-years-old, is the best person to represent us?"Jarin argued that "we're in a moment of real crisis. Radical Republicans are burning down our country around us. Our friends and family who work in the government are losing their jobs. We keep sending politicians like Steny Hoyer back to Congress again and again. Tired politicians like Steny can't put up a fight that we need."PARTY VICE CHAIR IGNITES FIRESTORM WITH PUSH TO PRIMARY CHALLENGE OLDER HOUSE DEMOCRATS"Here's the bottom line: you don't put out a fire by sending in the same people who let it spread. Send in a firefighter," Jarin said. "Maryland deserves a new generation of leadership, and I'm ready to take up the fight."And in an interview with Fox News Digital, Jarin said: "I think were facing a really serious constitutional crisis.Congress has really declined as an institution over the last three or four years. Congress has surrendered a lot of its legislative power under the Constitution over to the executive branch. I think thats been very corrosive to our political system."Asked about his motivation to primary challenge Hoyer, Jarin said, "Its not just about getting someone younger and fresher in. Its getting someone in who understands the need to revitalize Congress as an institution."Fox News reached out to Hoyer's office for a response, but a spokesperson declined to respond.Hoyer, who first won his seat in Congress in a 1981 special election, from 2003 to 2023, was the second ranking House Democrat behind Rep. Nancy Pelosi. He served as House Majority Leader from 2007-2011 and from 2019-2023, when the Democrats controlled the chamber.Along with Pelosi, Hoyer stepped down from his longtime leadership position at the end of 2022 but remained in Congress. DEMOCRATS PREDICT HOUSE REPUBLICANS WILL PAY PRICE FOR PASSING TRUMP'S BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL"I think all of us have been around for some time and pretty much have a feel for the timing of decisions. And I think all three of us felt that this was the time," Hoyer told CNN at the time, as he referred to the moves by the top three House Democrats - Pelosi, Hoyer and Rep. Jim Clyburn - to step down from their leadership roles.Hoyer has long been a major backer of the Democrats' top issues, and during his second tenure as House Majority Leader, he played a crucial role in the passage of then-President Joe Biden's so-called American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.He represents Maryland's Democrat-dominated 5th Congressional District, which covers a region known as Southern Maryland, and includes the suburbs south and east of Washington D.C., a sliver of suburban Baltimore and Annapolis, as well as rural areas farther south.Hoyer, who suffered a minor stroke last year, is the latest high-ranking House Democrat to face a primary challenge from a younger opponent.Pelosi and Reps. Brad Sherman of California and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois have drawn primary challenges, with Schakowsky later announcing that she will no longer run for re-election.Jarin told Fox News that when he spoke with voters in the district about Hoyer, they had concerns about the incumbent's age."The main reaction I got when I asked people about Steny Hoyer was first and foremost his age," Jarin said. "The idea that he would be close to 90 years old at the end of the next term is just a little bit nuts for people. I think people are starting to process how extreme a situation that is."The primary challenges come as Democrats are still trying to regroup following last November's election setbacks, when the party lost control of the White House and their Senate majority, and came up short in their bid to win back the House.The party's base is angry and energized to push back against the sweeping and controversial moves by President Donald Trump in the four months since he returned to the White House.Additionally, while much of that anger and energy is directed at fighting the White House and congressional Republicans, some of it is targeted at Democrats whom many in the party's base feel aren't vocal enough in their efforts to stymie Trump.Concurrently, other longtime and older House Democrats in safe blue districts are facing the possibility of primary challenges.This, after newly elected Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg last month pledged to spend millions of dollars through his outside political group to back primary challenges against what he called "asleep at the wheel" House Democrats lawmakers he argued have failed to effectively push back against Trump.The move by the 25-year-old Hogg, a survivor of the horrific shooting seven years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida, to spend money against fellow Democrats ignited a firestorm within the party.Jarin said that "we have reached out to David Hogg. Weve been in communication."As for his ability to raise money for his campaign, Jarin said, "I do come from a political family."He noted that his husband was a major donor and bundler for former President Joe Biden's successful 2020 campaign and also served as a DNC finance director, and that his uncle had "been a big bundler for Democratic causes for a longtime.""I think a lot of donors realize that this is a problem but may not be able to say it out loud for fear of repercussions," he argued.Jarin said that he's received "some pushback from donors for concerns of prioritizing more marginal districts" instead of pouring resources into swing seats as the party aims to win back the House majority in 2026."My message to them has been that putting extremely elderly politicians like Steny Hoyer back into office for a 24th term sends a message to voters across the country that Democrats are just the party of status quo and clearly that message has not been working," he highlighted.

The Florida Panthers advanced to their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final with a 5-3 victory in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night at the Lenovo Center.It was also the second consecutive year the team did not touch the Prince of Wales Trophy, which is awarded to the Eastern Conference champion.It worked for the Panthers last year, as they went on to defeat the Edmonton Oilers in seven games and won their first championship in franchise history.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMWhile the Panthers ended up winning Game 5, it did not start out well for them. The Hurricanes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period as they capitalized on Panthers giveaways.The Panthers responded with three second-period goals to take a 3-2 lead. Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis tied the game 3-3 in the third period as they looked to extend their season, but they would not find the back of the net again.After a sensational individual effort along the boards behind the Hurricanes net, Panthers center Aleksander Barkov found Carter Verhaeghe with a slick pass, and Verhaeghe buried the puck into the net and gave the Panthers a 4-3 lead."He took on one guy, then two guys and then gave the puck to me with a pretty open net," Verhaeghe said of Barkovs key assist. "So it was an unbelievable play by Barky at a critical time."IOC UPHOLDS BAN ON RUSSIAN TEAMS AHEAD OF 2026 WINTER OLYMPICSSam Bennett clinched the win for the Panthers with an empty-net goal with 54 seconds remaining in the game.This was the second time in three years the Panthers had defeated the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals, but the Panthers' celebration after the win this time was much more subdued."I remember a few years ago, it felt like such an accomplishment (making the Stanley Cup Final) from where we were at one point," forward Matthew Tkachuk said, adding, "It's all business and we've got a bigger goal in mind."Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said his team overcoming the early two-goal deficit is what makes hockey great."That was all the elements that make our sport great," Maurice said. "They're all over us. And were serving up pizzas, and we don't look like we shouldve made the playoffs, and then the next thing you know we look pretty good."The Panthers will play the winner of the Oilers and Dallas Stars series. The Oilers hold a 3-1 lead over the Dallas Stars with Game 5 coming on Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET.If the Oilers end up defeating the Stars and advancing, they have a chance to get revenge on the Panthers for last seasons Stanley Cup Final defeat.The Associated Press contributed to this report.Follow Fox News Digitals sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has amassed some 50,000 troops on Ukraines northern border despite a united push by the U.S. and Ukraine to get Moscow to enter into "meaningful" ceasefire negotiations.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday warned that Putin is preparing a massive summer offensive in a move to push Ukraines troops out of Russias Kursk region, and to launch a new invasion into Ukraines Sumy region a mere 200 miles from the capital city of Kyiv.Zelenskyy reiterated this week that he is ready to hold direct negotiations with Putin and suggested that if the Kremlin chief is uncomfortable with a bilateral meeting, a trilateral meeting could be held with President Donald Trump.TRUMP SAYS HE WILL MEET WITH PUTIN, ZELENSKYY 'IF NECESSARY' AMID NEGOTIATIONS TO END WARTrump on Wednesday said he would meet with both world leaders "if necessary" but the Kremlin again rejected the suggestion.The U.S. president said he was "very disappointed" at Russia's continued bombardment of Ukraine during negotiation attempts, but he has refused to hit Putin with more sanctions, telling reporters "I think I'm close to getting a deal, I don't want to screw it up by doing that."Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesman for Ukraines Ministry of Foreign Affairs said during a live chat on X, Thursday, that since the May 16 meeting in Turkey, Russia had launched 120 missiles, more than 1,500 Shahed drones and more than 2,500 guided bombs on Ukrainian cities.The Sumy regional governor confirmed on Monday that Russian forces had officially taken over four Ukrainian villages near the Ukraine-Russia border which were previously evacuated, and which sat in a "gray zone" that has long been militarily contested following Russias Feb. 2022 invasion.TRUMP WARNS PUTIN IS 'PLAYING WITH FIRE' AFTER DECLARING THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT HAS 'GONE ABSOLUTELY CRAZY'The movement of Russian troops comes as Putin looks to create a roughly 6-mile wide "buffer zone," which Moscow reportedly has been attempting to carry out since 2024, but which was thwarted by Ukraines Kursk invasion.Implementing a buffer zone on Ukraines northern territory will likely be used as a bargaining chip if Moscow engages in ceasefire negotiations, which Kyiv has said Russia has failed to do in good faith after delegations from both sides met in Istanbul earlier this month, but failed to advance peace talks.Russia late on Wednesday suggested a second Istanbul meeting where it said it would present its "memorandum" of ceasefire terms.Ukraine has thus far not accepted another meeting with Russia and on Thursday said Moscow "promised" to supply its memorandum ahead of any future talks."They are scared to share it because they filled the document with ultimatums and demands," Tykhyi said Thursday."They understand this document is needed not to advance the peace process but to stall."Tykhyi argued that "If they have nothing to hide, if this document is workable" then there "should be no problem in sharing the document," which he said is needed to ensure the negotiating parties can achieve a "meaningful result."Ukraine has already submitted their ceasefire terms.

The FBI is ramping up its investigation into pipe bombs planted in Washington, D.C. on the eve of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots in 2021.One top official is now suggesting that after four years, the bureau is getting close to a major break in the case."I want answers on this, and I'm pretty confident that we're closing in on some suspects," FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino told "Fox & Friends" Thursday, noting the case is a top priority.The FBI renewed its focus on the unsolved case earlier this year. In January, investigators released new video footage showing the person who planted the bombs outside the headquarters of both the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C.FBI RELEASES VIDEO SHOWING JANUARY 2021 PIPE BOMB SUSPECT PLANTING DEVICE OUTSIDE DNC, RNC OFFICES IN DCBongino criticized what he described as a lack of attention to the case during the Biden administration, despite the broader focus on the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, for which over 1,000 people were arrested and convicted."We were told by partisan actors out there, this was the insurrection, the world was [going to] fall apart, and no one seemed to show any interest in this case," he argued, adding that he and FBI Director Kash Patel have made the pipe bomb investigation a priority for their department.THE 6 BIGGEST FBI SCANDALS UNDER THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATIONBesides the video footage, in January the FBI also released more details about the suspect's physical characteristics. They believe the individual to be about 5-foot, 7-inches and to have worn a grey hoodie, face mask, black gloves and Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes.Investigators claim theyve followed hundreds of leads, reviewed thousands of video files, and conducted over 1,000 interviews in the case. Bongino emphasized the importance of public involvement and said social media is a vital tool for generating new case leads.FBI REOPENING INVESTIGATION INTO COCAINE FOUND AT BIDEN WHITE HOUSE"Every time I put a tweet out, we get tips. We got a fascinating tip on one of these cases. One of the three," Bongino said, referring to three high-profile cases: the 2021 pipe bombs, the 2022 leak of the Supreme Courts Dobbs decision on abortion and the cocaine discovered in the White House in 2023.'WHEN THEY FAIL, AMERICANS DIE': TRUMP SOURCE BLASTS FBI, URGES SWIFT CONFIRMATION OF KASH PATEL AS DIRECTOR"I dont [want to] say which one, but I'm pretty confident that were going to close out one of them, hopefully, soon."Although no one was injured in the 2021 pipe bomb incident, authorities say the attack could have been deadly.Then Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was inside the DNCs offices when the pipe bomb was discovered. Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also passed by the bomb before it was discovered and safely removed by authorities.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe FBI is offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

A chilling discovery made over Memorial Day weekend in the quiet town of Davidsonville, Maryland, a short ride from the state's upscale Eastern Shore, has confounded the community.On the night of May 24, Anne Arundel County Police and fire crews responded to a vehicle fire in the parking lot of 600 West Central Avenue in the tiny town, according to a press release.Davidsonville is located 25 miles east of Washington, D.C., in the Annapolis area.POLICE TAKE DOWN STABBING, ARSON SUSPECT AT MARYLAND'S NATIONAL HARBORAfter extinguishing the engulfed vehicle, police say they found human remains inside. They are treating the death as "suspicious" and working to identify the victim as well as the cause of the vehicle fire.The human remains were sent to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore.MARYLAND FUNERAL HOME MASS SHOOTING LEAVES AT LEAST 1 DEAD, 9 INJUREDAnne Arundel County police spokesman Justin Mulcahy told WJZ News that police are investigating people who were in the area of the business around the time of the car fire, and those who frequented the store. He also asked the public to come forward with information."Certainly, any surveillance footage would be part of the investigation as well, or anything we can gather to assist our case right now," he said.Fox News Digital reached out to Anne Arundel County Police.

The moment that Elon Musks most ardent critics have been waiting for has finally arrived as he exits the Trump administration and hands over control of the Department of Government Efficiency. They will assure us that the results have been an embarrassing failure, but they could not be more wrong.Musk has forever changed how Americans look at federal spending, and that is a wonderful thing.WHAT'S NEXT FOR DOGE AFTER ELON MUSK'S DEPARTURE? 'ONLY JUST BEGUN'First of all, DOGE estimates that it has saved taxpayers $160 billion. A sneering NPR claims that there is only data to prove $63 billion, but even if that is true, thats an enormous amount of waste being cut.Was Musk shooting for a higher number? Sure. This is, after all, a guy who is literally trying to get to Mars. But the savings DOGE has already found and will continue to find until it sunsets in July of next year are nothing to sneeze at.The impact of Musk and DOGE also goes well beyond the mere grand total dollar figure. It is the speed with which they identified wasteful spending and the absurdity of many of the programs they uncovered and cut that has proven to be a game-changer.Whocan forget the discovery that we gave a former Taliban member $132,000 to promote peace, or $20 million for Sesame Street to be broadcast in Iraq, along with boatloads of dollars for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs throughout our government and around the globe?Over the first 60 days of the Trump administration, it seemed like every hour some new and ridiculous spending was being identified. What Americans had felt as a vague sense that the federal government is wasteful became one concrete example after another of blatant and frivolous waste.These revelations have moved the Overton window in American discourse around spending. We will no longer accept blue-ribbon commissions with no power studying the problem for years on end, only to do nothing. We want action now.And while DOGE still requires approval from cabinet secretaries to finalize its cuts, they have generally been willing and able to do so.Musk and DOGE have also shown that it is OK to make mistakes when zealously safeguarding the taxpayers dime, because errors can be quickly fixed.For example, when funding for the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md., was cut early in the administration, officials appealed to Homeland Security Secretary Kristie Noem, who recognized the importance of the program which trains100,000 firefighters a year. Funding was restored.Slashing federal spending is not like a haircut. You can put back things that are wrongly cut, so there is no reason to be paralyzed by fear when trimming.Perhaps more than anything else, what Musk has succeeded in doing with DOGE is to open up the hood of federal spending and give us all a sobering look at the engine.This is very similar to what he did when he bought Twitter and allowed journalists to produce the Twitter Files, revealing many shady secrets that proved the platform had been harshly censoring conservative viewpoints.This kind of radical transparency is anathema to a deep state that demands to be like a black box, where our money flows in, never comes out, and we dont get to look inside.Bureaucrats have clearly been treating the federal budget like a slush fund for all manner of pet projects and silly endeavors, and boy do they hate having any light exposed on their massive contracts to export condoms everywhere or study trans animals.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONFor decades, federal spending has been like a giant Rock of Gibraltar that nobody could get their arms or heads around. But now, instead of focusing on the gigantic forest of spending, Musk has found ways to identify the dying trees.It is natural that Musk and his supporters feel some measure of disappointment that more could not have been cut, and that some Republicans in Congress dont seem eager to codify cuts to what has been found. But politics is, as they say, the art of the possible.Today, thanks to Musk, there are far more possibilities out there, far more programs that bring little value to be exposed, far more opportunity for the American people to see the senseless spending in black and white.Finally, and it's an important point, federal bureaucrats, the people who spend our money, suddenly have to look over their shoulder and be prepared to justify that spending, and when they glance up to see who is peeking at their work, it's not just Musk, it's not just DOGE, it is the American people.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM DAVID MARCUS

FIRST ON FOX:Agents and directors at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received an email from leadership on Thursday instructing them not to participate in Pride Month in their professional capacity, a departure from the tone of the Biden administrations bureau."Ive received several questions about the FBIs stance on Pride Month and what related activities FBI divisions and employees should or should not participate in," FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs Ben Williamson said in an email obtained by Fox News Digital addressed to assistant directors in charge and special agents in charge on Thursday morning."So, I want to take the opportunity to make FBI leaderships expectations clear: There should be no official FBI actions, events, or messaging regarding Pride Month."The email explains that employees are "free to do as you like" in their "personal capacity" or "on your own time."'RADICAL' FBI PRACTICES ON DEI 'ENDANGERED' AMERICANS, BLACKBURN SAYS IN LETTER DEMANDING ANSWERS FROM WRAY"But on FBI time, using FBI resources and your Bureau affiliation, you and your divisions are expected to take no official actions or issue any specific messaging," Williamson said, adding that the "stance in no way lessens the FBIs commitment to serve and protect every American in our country or welcoming colleagues from all walks of life.""What it does mean is ensuring that the American people see we are focused only on our core mission."TRUMP DOJ MOVES FUNDS USED FOR TRANSGENDER PROJECTS, DEI TO SUPPORT LAW ENFORCEMENTThe FBI did not respond to a request for comment.Shifting away from official celebrations of Pride Month represents a shift from messaging during the Biden administration, which saw several examples of the bureau promoting the month, includingtaking part in a Kansas City Pridefest and mentioning Pride Month inpress releases.The Biden administration faced criticism from conservatives in recent years after the White House and departments vocally supported Pride Month, which is observed for the month of June, with formal celebrations.Then-President Joe Biden hosted a "Pride Month 2023" event on the White House lawn, decorating the area with rainbow motifs and the "Progress Pride flag.""Today, the #FBI raised the #pride flag at our headquarters in support of our #LGBTQ colleagues," the FBI posted on social media in June 2021. "We thank them for their contributions to the FBI and the country. #PrideMonth."CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe email comes after the Trump administration has shifted away from diversity, equity and inclusion messaging and programs in federal government, instead focusing on meritocracy and the individual missions of departments."Let good cops be copsand rebuild trust in the FBI," FBI Director Kash Patel said in his first statement after being sworn in to lead the bureau.

Only a single member of former President Joe Biden's cabinet responded to a massive outreach effort from Fox News Digital asking if the more than two dozen cabinet-level officials stood by previous remarks that Biden was mentally and physically fit to serve as president.And even that lone statement, from former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, skirted addressing head-on whether he had witnessed instances of Biden's now widely acknowledged cognitive issues."I met with President Biden when needed to make important decisions and to execute with my team at HHS," Becerra said. "Its clear the President was getting older, but he made the mission clear: run the largest health agency in the world, expand care to millions more Americans than ever before, negotiate down the cost of prescription drugs, and pull us out of a world-wide pandemic. And we delivered."Roughly four months after Biden's Oval Office exit, a handful of political books detailing the 2024 campaign and Biden administration have hit store shelves and are painting a bleak picture of Biden's health. Adding fuel to the fire, audio recordings of Biden's October 2023 interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur showed the former president tripping over his words, slurring sentences, taking long pauses between answers and struggling to remember key moments in his life, including the year his son Beau died of cancer.BIDEN'S WOES CONVERGE: LAST-MINUTE PARDONS UNDER FIRE, CALLS FOR PROSECUTION MOUNT FOLLOWING HUR TAPE RELEASEFox News Digital has written extensively dating back to the 2020 presidential campaign about Biden's cognitive decline and his inner circles role in covering it up.BIDENS CABINET OFFICIALS STAND BY STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT AS TERM DRAWS TO A CLOSEBecerra's statement stood in marked contrast to the silence emanating from the rest of his former colleagues. Fox News Digital reached out to 26 Biden administration officials with cabinet-level positions from former Vice President Kamala Harris to former Chief of Staff Jeff Zients asking whether they still believe that Biden was fit to serve as president, or whether they've had a change of heart amid the cascade of damning evidence and anecdotes portraying a mental decline.If a majority of those cabinet-level officials believed Biden to be unable to perform his duties, they could have attempted to remove him from office through the 25th Amendment. Instead, those officials repeatedly said at the time that Biden was competent and in command.That talking point hasn't abated among the former officials.Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg weighed in on Biden's presidential health earlier in May during a town hall with veterans and military families in Iowa.When asked during the event whether Biden experienced cognitive decline, Buttigieg told reporters that "every time I needed something from him from the West Wing, I got it.""The time I worked closest with him in his final year was around the Baltimore bridge collapse," he added. "And what I can tell you is that the same president the world saw addressing that was the president I was in the Oval with, insisting that we do a good job, do right by Baltimore. And that was characteristic of my experience with him."Buttigieg did not elaborate when responding to a separate inquiry from Fox News Digital.Biden's office recently revealed that the former president was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer that had metastasized and was undergoing treatment.The diagnosis sparked an outpouring of well-wishes from political leaders across both aisles, and shock from some doctors who said such cancer should have been caught before it advanced and metastasized.None of Biden's annual physical health reports as president tested for prostate cancer, Fox News Digital previously reported, with a representative confirming Biden's last-known prostate blood test was conducted in 2014.The 2024 presidential debate between Biden and President Donald Trump opened the floodgates of criticism surrounding Biden's mental acuity after the 46th president's poor performance, which included Biden losing his train of thought and stumbling over his words.CRITICISMS MOUNT THAT BIDEN IS A 'SHADOW' OF HIMSELF AFTER DISASTROUS DEBATE: 'NOT THE SAME MAN' FROM VP ERAConcerns over Biden's mental acuity had simmered for years among conservatives, but it wasn't until the June 2024 presidential debate that traditional Democrat allies and media outlets began questioning Biden's health and openly called for him to drop out of the race.Despite mounting concerns, members of Biden's cabinet vowed he was of sound health and mind.Then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement in September 2024, for example, that he has"full confidence in President Bidens ability to carry out his job."BIDEN'S PRESIDENCY WILL BE REMEMBERED AS THE MAN THAT WAS TOO OLD, SAYS BYRON YORK"As Ive said before, I come fully prepared for my meetings with President Biden, knowing his questions will be detail-oriented, probing, and exacting," he said. "In our exchanges, the President always draws upon our prior conversations and past events in analyzing the issues and reaching his conclusions."Conservatives in 2024 floated calling for the invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove Biden, which would have required Harris and the majority of the cabinet to declare him unfit to lead. Harris and the cabinet did not take such steps during the administration, and instead defended his health.BIDEN'S PRESIDENTIAL HEALTH REPORTS SHOWED NO SIGN OF RECENTLY REVEALED AGGRESSIVE CANCERIn July 2024, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo called Biden "one of the most accomplished presidents in American history and continues to effectively lead our country with a steady hand.""As someone who is actually in the room when the President meets with the cabinet and foreign leaders, I can tell you he is an incisive and extraordinary leader," Raimondo said at the time.Since Biden's exit from the White House in January, political journalists have published a handful of books arguing that, behind the scenes of the administration, staffers were concerned about Biden's health."Biden's physical deterioration most apparent in his halting walk had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn't do so until after the election," according to a new book written by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.""Given Biden's age, (his physician Kevin O'Connor) also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery," the authors wrote.While another newly released book by longtime D.C. reporters Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, "Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House," investigated Biden's mental decline in the lead-up to the general election, calling him a "shell of himself.""All of them," Parnes told Vanity Fair in April of who in Biden's inner circle was most to blame for covering up his mental decline when he was in office."Its pretty remarkable how they kept him very closed off," Parnes said. "He was a shell of himself. When he entered the White House, he was so, so different from the man who I covered as vice president, a guy who would hold court in the Naval Observatory with reporters until the wee hours."HUNTER BIDEN PARDON: MEDIA TAKES LATEST BLOW TO CREDIBILITY WITH BOTCHED COVERAGE OF BROKEN PROMISE"Wed been watching Bidens decline for a long period of time and, honestly, thought he had lost his fastball some when he was running in 2020," Allen added of Biden's mental decline. "And it was still so shocking to see the leader of the free world so bereft of coherent thought."Earlier in May, hours of Biden's October 2023 interview with Hur's office were released to the public and underscored the president's apparent mental decline from his days as a senator from Delaware.Hur led an investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents after Biden's departure as vice president during the Obama administration. The then-special counsel announced in February 2024 he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, saying Biden is "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."Hur came under fire from Biden, Harris and other Democrats in 2024 for suggesting in the report that Biden could not remember when his son Beau died. Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015.In February 2024, following the release of the report, Biden shot back at Hur: "Theres some attention paid to some language in the report about my recollection of events. Theres even a reference that I dont remember when my son died. How in the hell dare he raise that?"BIDEN STRUGGLES WITH WORDS, KEY MEMORIES IN LEAKED AUDIO FROM SPECIAL COUNSEL HUR INTERVIEWHarris called the report "gratuitous, inaccurate and inappropriate."The recently released audio recordings show it was Biden who brought up his son and could not remember when Beau died."So, during this time when you were living at Chain Bridge Road and there were documents relating to the Penn Biden Center, or the Biden Institute, or the Cancer Moonshot or your book, where did you keep papers that related to those things that you were actively working on?" Hur asked Biden in the interview."Well, um I, I, I, I, I don't know. This is, what, 2017, 2018, that area?" Biden responded."Yes, sir," Hur said."Remember, in this timeframe, my son is either been deployed or is dying, and, and so it was and by the way, there were still a lot of people at the time when I got out of the Senate that were encouraging me to run in this period, except the president," Biden continued. "I'm not and not a mean thing to say. He just thought that she (Hillary Clinton) had a better shot of winning the presidency than I did. And so I hadn't, I hadn't, at this point even though I'm at Penn, I hadn't walked away from the idea that I may run for office again. But if I ran again, I'd be running for president. And, and so what was happening, though what month did Beau die? Oh, God, May 30th."Others present during the interview responded that Beau Biden died in 2015.Trump has called an alleged cover-up of Biden's health a "scandal" and has argued that White House staffers were controlling the administration through the use of an autopen.WHAT IS AN AUTOPEN? THE SIGNING DEVICE AT THE HEART OF TRUMP'S ATTACKS ON BIDEN PARDONSAutopen signatures are automatically produced by a machine, as opposed to an authentic, handwritten signature. The conservative Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project first investigated the Biden administration's use of an autopen earlier in 2025 and found that the same signature was on a bevvy of executive orders and other official documents, while Bidens signature on the document announcing his departure from the 2024 race varied from the apparent machine-produced signature.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP"Whoever had control of the 'AUTOPEN' is looking to be a bigger and bigger scandal by the moment," Trump posted to Truth Social in May.

The Louisiana rapper who was pardoned by President Donald Trumponce said "F--- Donald Trump" in a 2017 song.NBA YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, has been thanking Trump for the reprieve, writing in a recent Instagram post that the president is "giving me the opportunity to keep building -- as a man, as a father, and as an artist."However, in his song "Red Rum," the 25-year-old Gaulden once rapped "And f--- Donald Trump b----, that NBA s---."Pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson was asked about the remark during an appearance on "Fox & Friends" earlier this morning.RAPPER THANKS TRUMP FOR PARDON ON GUN CONVICTION"So a couple of rappers have come out or lets say one in particular -- YoungBoy. One of his lyrics in 2017 that he put out is "F Donald Trump" and some more disparaging things to say. He had a violent past of assault and battery. Multiple cases of that, andfirearm, drug and fraud charges. What sold you on him getting a second chance?" co-host Brian Kilmeade asked her."I looked at the age and how this young man grew up. He grew up in a very impoverished neighborhood. And the things that he had to face, NBA YoungBoy growing up. Most of those were gun charges without the guns being discharged," she said."But I also looked at what happened to him on a set where he was filming a video and he had a prop in the set. Thats really where this came from. He didnt come out of prison. He was given a pardon so he could have a new beginning. And the officers who in this particular case they came at him as though he was a terrorist and he was on a set, filming for a video. They gave him a gun charge for that... the officers who did this were all investigated and fired. So I look at the elements of what happened to this young man," Johnson added.Last year, Gaulden was sentenced by a federal judge in Utah after he acknowledged possessing weapons despite being a convicted felon. However, he reached an agreement that resolved Utah state charges against him and settled two sets of federal charges against him -- one carried a 23-month sentence and the other ordered five years of probation and a $200,000 fine. TRUMP PARDONS EX-CONNECTICUT GOVERNOR ROWLAND AND COMMUTES CHICAGO GANG LEADER HOOVER'S SENTENCE "I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and for giving me the opportunity to keep building -- as a man, as a father, and as an artist," Gaulden, whose stage moniker stands for "Never Broke Again," wrote on his Instagram. "This moment means a lot." "It opens the door to a future Ive worked hard for and I am fully prepared to step into this," Gaulden added. Gaulden was released from federal prison in March and sent to home confinement after receiving credit for time served, his attorney Drew Findling told the Associated Press. With home confinement finished last month, the pardon means he won't have to follow the terms of his probation, including drug testing, he said.The rapper has acknowledged that he possessed a Glock 21 .45-caliber pistol and a Masterpiece Arms MPA30T 9mm handgun while filming a rap video in Baton Rouge. He has also said he had a Sig Sauer 9mm semi-automatic pistol at his home in Huntsville, Utah. He had agreed to give up the guns. Gaulden had previously been convicted in Louisiana of aggravated assault with a firearm. He had also pleaded guilty in November to his role in a prescription drug fraud ring that operated out of his home in Utah. He had to pay a $25,000 fine and was given no prison time.The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The deadly shooting outside Washington, D.C.s Capital Jewish Museum has added to an ongoing conversation about antisemitism after Hamas brutal Oct. 7 massacre. Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were killed when leaving an event at the museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC). The suspected shooter, Elias Rodriguez, has since been charged with their murders.Rep. David Kustoff, R-Tenn., is one of only four Jewish Republicans serving in Congress, placing him in a unique position when it comes to assessing antisemitism in America and how it has been politicized.ADL URGES AMERICANS TO FIGHT HATE AFTER DEADLY SHOOTING IN DC"We know that antisemitism has been around for a very long time, and obviously, after October 7, 2023, it came to the forefront. It came out as strongly as it did, in part because colleges and universities allowed some pro-Palestinian and frankly some pro-Hamas protesters to preach hate and antisemitismand they didnt do anything to stop it," Kustoff told Fox News Digital.The Tennessee congressman condemned the shooting in D.C., calling it "a horrific act of antisemitic terrorism.""Antisemitic violence has no place in our society. We must remain united in calling out and confronting this rising tide of hate," Kustoff wrote in a post on X.Kustoff said that in his district, which he described as "strongly Republican, strongly pro-Trump," there arent many Jewish people. In fact, according to World Population Review, just under 30,000 Jews live in Tennessee, which has more than 7.3 million residents. Despite the small Jewish population, Kustoff told Fox News Digital that people in his district are "very supportive of Israel, very supportive of the U.S.s relationship with Israel, and they love the Jewish people."However, Kustoff also said that Jewish people in his district have "real concerns about going to synagogue." Jewish institutions and community centers have had "to go above and beyond" in terms of security, according to Kustoff.WITNESS RECOUNTS CHILLING MOMENT DC JEWISH MUSEUM SHOOTER CONFESSED 'I DID THIS FOR GAZA'The congressman spoke about an incident in 2023 when a man opened fire outside the Margolin Hebrew Academy-Feinstone Yeshiva of the South. The suspect was later identified as Joel Alejandro Bowman, who faces several charges, including attempted second-degree murder.Kustoff sees the issue of combating antisemitism as one that has received bipartisan support in Congress. He praised Democrats like Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill. who are Jewish for their support of Israel and its relationship with the U.S., calling them "true leaders." Kustoff also noted that, while they are not Jewish, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., have been vocal about their support for Israel.While Kustoff praised colleagues on both sides of the aisle, he also criticized members of Congress who have made "incendiary" remarks about Israel, saying such rhetoric "in effect helps to breed antisemitism."Kustoff spoke to Fox News Digital shortly after a video of outspoken Israel critic Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., refusing to condemn the murders of Lischinsky and Milgrim went viral. When asked about the incident, Kustoff said that "We get asked easy questions and difficult questions all the time as members of Congress. That was clearly an easy question to answer, and her constituents can make their own decisions."As chairman of the House-Knesset Parliamentary Friendship Group, Kustoff has had a close-up view of U.S.-Israel relations. He recalled his July 2024 trip to Israel, where he toured the site of the Nova Music Festival and a kibbutz that was attacked on Oct. 7, and met with Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."[Netanyahu] told me that he knows that the American people are still very supportive of Israel and the Israeli people know that," Kustoff told Fox News Digital. "We talked about the instances on college campuses. In closing, his feeling was that a number of these students probably couldn't look at a map and know where Israel is located."

Nearly two years after passengers screamed while sparks flew down a runway during the landing of an Alaska Airlines flight, the cause has been revealed.A final report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released on Tuesday points to "incorrect" maintenance work.The flight, which departed from Seattle, Washington, made a hard touchdown in Santa Ana, Calif., during Tropical Storm Hilary after the left main landing gear collapsed on touchdown.Video recorded by a passenger captured the plane slamming into the ground at high speed. Sparks were seen flying as the plane appeared to drag its left wing along the tarmac.ALASKA AIRLINES PASSENGERS SCREAM AS PLANE MAKES HARD LANDING AMID TROPICAL STORM HILARY: 'SPARKS OUTSIDE'Investigators revealed that the incident was caused by a "fatigue crack" of a metal trunnion pin, which is part of the left landing gear. The fracture formed from excessive grinding during a 2018 maintenance overhaul, which introduced heat damage to the metal. While the crack was initially not visible, it grew over time and ultimately "caused the pin to fracture during landing," the NTSB report said."Results of this examination and previous NTSB investigations demonstrate that even relatively mild heat exposure from grinding and/or machining during overhaul can lead to cracking, which can lead to fatigue crack growth and failed landing gear components, as occurred in this accident," the report stated.DELTA PLANE'S LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED DURING TORONTO CRASH-LANDING, INVESTIGATORS SAYThe report added that the pin had endured more than 4,000 landing cycles since undergoing the 2018 maintenance work. The crack itself had likely been present for approximately 800 landing cycles, the NTSB found.Although the aircraft sustained substantial damage from the hard landing, all 112 passengers and crew members were able to deplane safely and without injury.Alaska Airlines previously said,"our focus is taking care of our guests who were on board, including retrieving their checked bags.""We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate their patience during this situation."Alaska Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.