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On the streets with Dr Oz as surprise fraud crackdown sends daycare directors scrambling

The CMS administrator questioned staff about inflated attendance records and wheelchair charges during a fraud crackdown

October 20, 2026 2:47pm EDT / Fox News

By Ashley J. DiMella, Hannah Brennan

Dr. Oz confronts workers at New York City senior day care centers during a federal fraud crackdown, questioning suspicious patient records as some employees attempt to leave and others struggle to explain check-ins dated in the future.

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FLUSHING, N.Y. — Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz confronted employees at two New York City senior care centers over suspected Medicaid fraud, challenging their billing practices as Fox News Digital got an exclusive look at the crackdown in action.

Oz, accompanied by senior federal health officials, delivered warning letters to Kent Senior Care and Evergreen Adult Day Care in Flushing, Queens, during a broader fraud crackdown that involved the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the NYPD and other agencies.

The letters notified the facilities that their billing practices had raised concerns among federal authorities. The two visits by Oz were part of a broader crackdown in which CMS officials conducted more than 80 visits and delivered warning letters to providers across New York City on Tuesday.

Fox News Digital accompanied Oz as he pressed employees about questionable billing records and challenged their explanations for how taxpayer dollars were being spent.

DR. OZ NAMES 5 STATES IN FRAUD CRACKDOWN AS TRUMP ADMIN TARGETS MEDICAID ABUSE

CMS administrator Dr. Oz, FBI, NYPD and other agencies delivered letters and conducted searches at Social Adult Daycares across New York City on Tuesday, Oct. 20.(Ashley J. DiMella / Fox News Digital)

“The whole experience was suspicious,” Oz told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview following the visits.

Oz said federal authorities were conducting a broader crackdown that included arrests, search warrants and efforts to stop certain operators from billing Medicaid, although Fox News Digital did not independently witness those enforcement actions at either Queens facility.

Kent Senior Care declined comment during a phone call with Fox News Digital on Tuesday. Evergreen Adult Day Care did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Oz questions senior center director: ‘We don’t believe you’

The first stop came around 8:30 a.m. at Kent Senior Care, where Oz entered the facility and personally handed its director a letter from the federal government notifying the business that its billing practices were under scrutiny.

FBI LAUNCHES ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST AS DOJ CHARGES OHIO DEFENDANTS IN $30M MEDICAID SCHEME FOR KIDS

CMS administrator Dr. Oz, FBI, NYPD and other agencies delivered letters and conducted searches at Social Adult Daycares across New York City on Tuesday, Oct. 20.(Ashley J. DiMella / Fox News Digital)

“The bills are much higher than they should be,” Oz told the director. “The billing is for more people. It doesn’t look very crowded here.”

The director pushed back during the exchange, explaining that it was still early and additional seniors would arrive later in the morning, as Oz questioned whether the facility’s Medicaid billing records accurately reflected its actual attendance.

The occupancy of the space was 70 persons, according to an observe posted maximum occupancy sign on the wall.

“The bills we’re getting are as though it’s completely full all the time,” Oz said.

FBI ADDS 2 FUGITIVES TO ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST AMID HISTORIC $6.5B HEALTHCARE TAKEDOWN: PATEL

The director maintained that the facility billed only for seniors who actually attended, and that it required participants to sign attendance sheets.

“You’re getting this letter from the U.S. Government because we don’t believe you,” he told the director.

During the exchange, Oz also questioned why the center’s billing records appeared to reflect seniors attending five days a week when the director acknowledged that many participants typically attended only two or three days.

The director insisted the facility billed for actual attendance and said some seniors attended more frequently than others.

The confrontation intensified when Oz and other federal officials raised questions about specialized transportation services billed for seniors using wheelchairs.

DR OZ SAYS 800 HOSPICE PROVIDERS SUSPENDED IN CALIFORNIA OVER ALLEGED $1B MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME

CMS administrator Dr. Oz, FBI, NYPD and other agencies delivered letters and conducted searches at Social Adult Daycares across New York City on Tuesday, Oct. 20.(Ashley J. DiMella / Fox News Digital)

“I don’t see any wheelchairs here,” Oz told the director.

Fox News Digital observed seniors inside the facility, including individuals using walking aids, but did not see anyone using a wheelchair during the visit.

Another official said billing records included charges for specialized wheelchair transportation, raising questions about whether the services had been provided and which company was responsible for submitting the charges.

The director said some seniors had mobility difficulties, including those recovering from strokes, and that the facility had wheelchairs available. He also said that workers could have copied information from previous files instead of properly updating the billing codes as it applied to wheelchair use.

“Probably he just copy and pasted,” the director said.

MEDICAID PROVIDER ALLEGEDLY BILLED $165K FOR DEAD PATIENT’S RIDES AMONG FRAUD EXPOSED IN EXPLOSIVE REPORT

CMS administrator Dr. Oz, FBI, NYPD and other agencies delivered letters and conducted searches at Social Adult Daycares across New York City on Tuesday, Oct. 20.(Ashley J. DiMella / Fox News Digital)

During the visit, Oz walked over to several mahjong tables set up inside the facility, questioning whether taxpayer dollars were being properly spent on the recreational activities offered through the Medicaid-funded program.

“Should the American taxpayers be paying so folks can play mahjong?” Oz asked the director.

The director defended the activity, explaining that mahjong helps seniors exercise their fingers, socialize and improve their memory, particularly those experiencing cognitive difficulties.

“It’s free for them, not free for the taxpayers,” Oz responded. “Is that what our federal tax dollars for Medicaid is supposed to go to? Or is it life-saving heart surgery? Or, you know, new therapies for cancer?”

Oz raises concerns over seniors entering without signing in

Oz raised additional concerns about the facility’s attendance records after observing seniors entering without signing in, despite the director’s insistence that participants were required to document their attendance.

“People were just walking in there without signing anything,” Oz said. “And then after I showed up and he saw what we were doing with my team, he started collecting these documents to be signed.”

Oz said the apparent inconsistencies raised further questions about whether the facility’s attendance records accurately reflected the services being billed to Medicaid.

Fox News Digital also witnessed several seniors enter Kent Senior Care without immediately signing attendance sheets. Additional seniors who arrived later were instructed to sign in.

Social adult day care programs can provide eligible seniors with structured activities, supervision, meals and social support. Medicaid reimbursement depends on applicable program rules, individual eligibility and documentation of services provided.

TREASURY HAILS SUCCESS OF ANTI-FRAUD PROCESS THAT FLAGGED AND PREVENTED $99 MILLION IN PAYMENTS TO DEAD PEOPLE

At the second stop, Evergreen Adult Day Care, Oz confronted a floor manager over another set of billing discrepancies before examining the facility’s attendance records.

The manager told Oz that approximately 200 seniors attended the facility on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, compared with about 150 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, although it was unclear whether those figures represented total daily attendance or the number of seniors present at one time.

But Oz questioned those numbers after walking through the facility and observing significantly fewer people.

“So I look at maybe 25 people in the whole space now,” Oz said.

The manager disputed that estimate, explaining that some seniors were participating in classes while others had left to shop, visit a pharmacy or attend medical appointments.

“The numbers don’t seem to add up,” Oz responded.

Oz also questioned the manager about wheelchair-related billing, asking how many participants used wheelchairs.

TRUMP’S WAR ON FRAUD EXPANDS AS TREASURY LAUNCHES NEW SITE WITH WHISTLEBLOWER INCENTIVES

Oz asks director to call his supervisor.(Fox News Digital)

The manager initially indicated that none did before acknowledging that a small number of seniors used them.

“But you said there weren’t any, were you?” Oz pressed.

He subsequently discussed the apparent discrepancy with other federal officials accompanying him.

“I’m struck by how few people are here as well,” Oz said. “This makes me wonder how they sustain these billing levels.”

The visit took another turn when Oz examined the facility’s attendance books, which he said contained “fraud.”

Fox News Digital observed sign-in sheets that appeared to contain names entered for Oct. 22, and Oct. 23, dates that had not yet occurred at the time of the visit.

The entries dated Oct. 22 and Oct. 23, both after the visit, raised questions about whether the facility was documenting attendance in advance, although Fox News Digital could not immediately establish whether the entries were completed attendance records or advance schedules.

Oz alleges organized crime ties to NYC Medicaid fraud

Fox News Digital goes inside New York City senior adult day care centers during a coordinated federal fraud crackdown alongside Dr. Mehmet Oz.(Fox News Digital)

Oz said federal authorities believed organized criminal networks were exploiting the Medicaid-funded programs by offering seniors money to attend facilities and then billing the government for services that were not actually provided.

Oz alleged that individuals he described as being connected to the “Chinese mafia” were paying some seniors between $1,000 and $1,200 to participate in fraudulent billing arrangements, though the administrator did not identify a specific criminal organization or provide supporting evidence during the interview.

Oz said the federal government had identified significant spikes in billing across the industry and claimed that annual spending on the programs had approached $1 billion.

“We know from the billing here that there’s no way this business is running in the way that they claim to be running without something being wrong,” Oz told Fox News Digital.

“Is it an innocent mistake? A hundred times in a row, I don’t think so.”

Oz alleged that proceeds from fraudulent Medicaid billing schemes were being used to finance other criminal activities, including money laundering and human trafficking, although Fox News Digital had not independently verified those connections or established any such link to the two facilities visited.

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“It’s really a clubhouse for crime,” Oz said while describing the alleged broader scheme.

He said fraud accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic and criticized the previous administration for failing to address what he described as rapidly rising spending and suspicious billing.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul acknowledged the crackdown on Tuesday, calling it part of a “massive effort to combat fraud and abuse” in Medicaid and confirming that state health officials had joined federal and state law enforcement in targeting suspected fraud at social adult day care programs.

While Oz personally delivered warning letters to the two Queens facilities, state, local and federal law enforcement officials were simultaneously conducting searches at other locations across New York City as part of the coordinated crackdown.

Specific details about the facilities targeted, individuals involved and evidence recovered were not immediately available as the investigations remained ongoing.

Ashley J. DiMella reports on politics for Fox News Digital.

Bruce Blakeman hammers Dem Gov Hochul, Mamdani over subway safety during NYC campaign ride

2026-10-20 12:35pm EDT / Fox News

Blakeman calls Gov Hochul ‘the most pro-criminal governor in the United States of America’

By Eric Mack Fox News

Published October 20, 2026 12:35pm EDT | Updated October 20, 2026 1:54pm EDT

Blakeman blasts Hochul over NYC subway crime: ‘You’ve made it less safe’

The Republican gubernatorial candidate says seven subway murders show New Yorkers are less safe under Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

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Striking a Make America Safe Again tone, Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman blasted Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul as the “most pro-criminal governor” during a Monday campaign event riding the New York City subway system, which has been plagued by violent crimes and commuter safety fears.

“I have not heard from one person, and from all the people, that it’s safer on the subways and public transportation in New York,” Blakeman said as he rode the subway. “I’ve heard just the opposite. Everybody says they feel less safe.”

“So we want them to feel safe,” he said.

VIOLENT TRANSIT ATTACKS IN ATLANTA, NEW YORK AND CHARLOTTE FUEL CALLS FOR TOUGHER TRACKING OF REPEAT OFFENDERS

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman paid a campaign trip to the New York City subway system, lashing out at Democratic policies that have reduced public safety confidence for commuters and tourists in the state’s largest city of long reliably blue voters.(WYNW)

Blakeman, a Nassau County executive, is a former commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Now running for governor, he was campaigning Monday in the densely populated city, which is overwhelmingly a Democratic stranglehold.

“Hire more police officers, hire more conductors, clean up our subways and get help for those who are emotionally ill – get them help that they need; not have them roam around our subways,” Blakeman told reporters as he rode the subway, targeting both the governor and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the deep-blue area.

MAMDANI UNVEILS SWEEPING NYPD USE-OF-FORCE REVIEW, BUT STOPS SHORT OF FULFILLING KEY CAMPAIGN PROMISES

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6406849836112

“The crime in the subways has gone up tremendously under Kathy Hochul and Zohran Mamdani,” Blakeman lamented. “They are not committed to public safety. I will be committed to public safety. I will make sure that our public transportation is safer and cleaner for the traveling public.”

“That’s how you get more people back in public transportation, not by putting a tax on them with congestion pricing, which is nothing more than a tax on the middle class,” he added.

NEW YORKERS TAKE ZOHRAN MAMDANI FREE BUS PROMISE LITERALLY AS MTA LOSES MILLIONS IN SKIPPED FARES

Image 1 of 2 next NYPD Crime Stoppers released photo of suspect after a man was shot and killed in the New York City subway on Saturday.(NYPD Crime Stoppers)

Image 2 of 2 prev NYPD Crime Stoppers released photo of suspect after a man was shot and killed in the New York City subway on Saturday.(NYPD Crime Stoppers)

Blakeman hit Democrats for being negative influences on public safety, and Hochul specifically, for having “reduced the number of conductors on our trains and subways.”

MAMDANI CLASHES WITH DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS’ PUSH TO ABOLISH POLICE AND PRISONS

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman sparred over her support for NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a contentious debate last week.(Anna Connors – Pool/Getty Images ; John Nacion/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust)

More police patrolling the subways and improving the lighting in dimly lit subway systems are on Blakeman’s priority list, but he also discussed having more conductors manning the subways.

Hochul vetoed Albany legislation that would have required conductors on more subway trains, leaving the MTA’s one-person train operation program in place versus the June 2025 state-passed bill requiring at least two-person crews — an operator and conductor.

SHOCK POLL: POWERFUL BLUE STATE GOV’S LEAD SHRINKS TO SINGLE DIGITS WEEKS BEFORE ELECTION

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6404992054112

Hochul vetoed that bill on Dec. 5, 2025, arguing it would restrict MTA modernization efforts and cost up to $10 million annually.

“Police are very important, but I think people feel very comfortable and very safe when they see a conductor,” Blakeman said. “I want to increase the numbers so that people feel safe.”

Blakeman called Hochul “the most pro-criminal governor in the United States of America,” citing several criminal-justice and immigration policies.

HOCHUL BOASTS ‘I JUST BANNED IT’ AS NEW YORK OUTLAWS LOCAL POLICE PARTNERSHIPS WITH ICE

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6404150087112

“Whether it’s cashless bail, Raise the Age, the HALT Act, Clean Slate, or refusing to cooperate with ICE and federal agents, she has made us less safe,” he said, striking at Democrat-backed legislation long rebuked by police groups and Republican public safety hawks.

Cashless bail limits when judges can require defendants to put up money to be released. Raise the Age generally keeps 16- and 17-year-olds out of adult criminal court, while the HALT Act limits solitary confinement and changes prison disciplinary practices. The Clean Slate law seals certain criminal convictions from public view after a designated waiting period.

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“People feel less safe in every community that I go to in New York State,” Blakeman said.

Eric Mack is a breaking news reporter and writer Sunday through Thursday, 6 a.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET, with a particular interest in stories that lead the news cycle on politics, elections, foreign affairs and government.

Ohio governor’s race roiled by new viral video featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother

2026-10-20T19:38:54.871Z / CNN

The Ohio governor’s race is being roiled by a new video in which the estranged mother of the Democratic nominee, Amy Acton, urges people not to vote for her.

The video – which was shared widely on social media, including by the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. – harks back to a painful chapter in Acton’s life. She has said she has not seen her mother since she was about 12 years old, when a man her mother married abused her and faced criminal charges.

It drew strong condemnations from Acton’s brother and Ohio Democrats, while the campaign of her Republican opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy, said Ohioans “deserve to know” what Acton’s mother says about her. The campaign did not say whether it was involved with the ad.

“She’s lied her entire life,” Donna Arthur says in the minute-long spot. “My daughter needs help, and she can’t help you if she needs help herself. People can change, but first they have to tell the truth, and my daughter still isn’t doing that.”

The video was first published on Monday night by an Ohio political blogger, D.J. Byrnes, who is known as “The Rooster.” Byrnes told CNN he obtained the video from a voter who saw it as part of a poll and recorded it.

On Tuesday morning, Acton’s campaign released a statement from her brother, Philip Stearns, denouncing the video and linking it to Ramaswamy.

“It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point,” Stearns said. “After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died.”

The video did not have the standard disclaimer that political ads carry saying who paid for or authorized them, nor did it show up Tuesday morning as a paid ad in the race on AdImpact, the political ad-tracking service.

Ramaswamy’s campaign issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon that did not address whether it was responsible for the ad. However, the statement from Ramaswamy spokesperson Connie Luck suggested voters should consider the message from Acton’s mother and repeated her attack, asserting that “we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of before deciding who to entrust as governor.”

The statement went on to argue that people who know Acton well — including “her own mother” — “are clearly warning Ohioans not to vote for her.”

“Ohioans deserve to know that,” Luck said.

An official with V-PAC, the main super PAC backing Ramaswamy, said it did not make the video. CNN has attempted to contact Arthur for more information about how the video came together.

Acton herself weighed in during an interview with WOSU Public Media.

“It’s awful to see her this way, and it’s even more incredible to see that my opponent (Ramaswamy) has taken advantage of someone who’s clearly not well, who is older, and this is totally in line with who he is,” Acton said.

Sherrod Brown, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Ohio, said on X that the video was “disgusting” and that his opponent, GOP Sen. Jon Husted, should condemn it. The Democratic Governors Association said in a statement that the video was part of a “relentless smear campaign” that Ramaswamy has waged against Acton.

Acton and Ramaswamy are locked in one of the most competitive governor’s races in the country, vying to replace term-limited Republican Mike DeWine. The ads in the race have been especially nasty, fueling a controversial decision by Acton to decline to debate Ramaswamy.

Acton, the former Ohio public health director, has spoken before about her estrangement from her mother and hardscrabble childhood. In a 2019 interview with the Youngstown Vindicator, she said her mother married a man when she was between ages 9 and 12 who abused her and who faced criminal charges. The family was living in a tent at a campground outside Youngstown at the time.

“I was lucky that it got bad enough, because it got me out of there,” Acton told the Vindicator.

She said the last time she saw her mother was at the courthouse when she tried to give her a kiss and Acton rejected her.

CNN’s Lauren Fox contributed to this report.

Exclusive: FEMA scrapped plans for high-tech jets to transport senior officials

2026-10-20T16:13:18.304Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/20/politics/fema-planes-dhs

The Federal Emergency Management Agency sought to acquire two executive jets upgraded with military technology for agency leaders even as the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, has struggled to put multiple planes it has purchased to use.

FEMA’s plan to lease two jets with advanced capabilities like laser mapping was quickly withdrawn just hours after a public notice soliciting contracts for them was posted on a government contract website last week.

The proposal had called for planes that would be available 24/7 to support rapid response but would be primarily used to transport FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton and other senior officials during disasters or regular travel, sources told CNN.

FEMA already funds various types of aerial assets such as search-and-rescue teams and often uses military planes for logistics.

Hamilton’s team solicited the jets without approval from DHS leadership, according to three sources who spoke with CNN on condition of anonymity. It quickly drew scrutiny from other department leaders, partly due to controversy over the agency’s aircraft purchases.

“It’s probably not the time to be soliciting planes at DHS,” one of the sources said.

DHS has been accumulating aircraft faster than it is able to put them to use, according to flight records and aviation sources, at the expense of taxpayers. The latest FEMA plan was drawn up as DHS has already spent hundreds of millions on aviation contracts and aircraft, including a fleet of 10 planes the agency said was intended for the department to operate its own mini deportation airline.

But many of those planes have remained parked at a maintenance hangar in Louisiana, and there are no plans to use most of them for deportation operations, CNN has learned.

In recent weeks, two of DHS’ aircraft were moved to a different maintenance facility, in Greensboro, North Carolina, while one of the planes — a Gulfstream jet — has been used to transport administration officials, according to flight-tracking data and members of Congress.

These flights have been used by the likes of FBI Director Kash Patel and members of the first family, according to Democratic members of Congress.

One plane was used for a trip from Washington, DC, to Dallas, on the same dates as the Republican midterm convention in that city last month, the flight-tracking data shows, though it is unclear who was onboard.

Soon after the FEMA leasing plan emerged, DHS leaders quickly demanded agency leaders slam the brakes, the sources said. A spokesperson for DHS told CNN: “This was an unauthorized post by an unauthorized individual and disciplinary action will be taken.”

The administration vowed last year to eliminate FEMA, portraying it as wasteful and unnecessary and pushing states to shoulder more responsibility for disaster response and recovery.

FEMA has not responded to CNN’s request for comment.

The FEMA procurement plan drew scrutiny from DHS leaders who demanded Hamilton’s team reverse course, sources said. Public records show the contract solicitation has been taken down from a government contracting website.

The proposal is the latest instance of President Donald Trump’s DHS pursuing taxpayer-funded aircraft while the administration pledges to cut federal spending and eliminate waste.

Since 2025, DHS has spent heavily on both aviation assets and contracts tied to the Trump administration’s unprecedented deportation effort.

The agency spent $464.5 million to purchase eight Boeing 737s and two Gulfstream G-650 jets as part of a plan to fly its own deportation flights, something the agency for decades has relied on charter airline operators for. In May, some critics told CNN the agency’s purchase price for its fleet was well above the market value.

While those planes remain largely unused, the agency also spent $885.6 million in the last year for contracted charter airline services for Immigration and Customs Enforcement flights.

And now, the agency has awarded a contract worth $380 million to Eastern Air Express — a charter airline — to fly and maintain the “government furnished aircraft,” referring to planes in the DHS fleet that have not carried out a single deportation flight since they were purchased between late 2025 to early 2026.

Federal contracting records show that agreement began in August 2026 and runs through February 2028. It’s unclear what the cost per flight hour the contract calls for or what other aspects of the operations Eastern Air Express will be responsible for.

Neither Eastern Air Express CEO Jeff Conry nor DHS responded to CNN’s request for comment regarding the contract.

Taken together, DHS’ costs for its fleet and contracts with charter airlines for ICE flights exceed $1.6 billion.

But,DHS has told lawmakers privately it is expecting to use only three of the seven Boeing 737 aircraft for deportations. The others would be left for members of Congress and other government officials, according to a congressional source with knowledge of the matter — a departure from the reasoning given for buying the planes, and a significant scaling back on the number of planes the agency initially planned to use for deportations.

There is skepticism among some lawmakers about the plans for these planes and whether they will be used for shuttling members of Congress.

“No one asked for ICE planes for CODELs,” the congressional source noted, referring to an acronym for official travel taken by lawmakers. Transport for these trips usually relies on commercial aircraft or a charter, but “never via ICE planes,” the person said.

“They bought these planes, they paid a ridiculous price for them, they’re trying to find a solution for it, but no one knows how it’s going to work,” one aviation insider familiar with the governments charter operations told CNN.

After DHS halted FEMA’s bid for the jets last week, Hamilton sent a memo to his agency reiterating its role to “support, coordinate and supplement” local efforts and “not replace” these during and after disasters, saying it should “apply sound judgment, fiscal responsibility, and accountability when directing readiness resources.”

FEMA leaders have traditionally relied on aircraft from the Federal Aviation Administration, Air Force or Coast Guard to reach disaster zones, while flying commercial for routine travel.

The agency has considered getting a jet of its own before. During the Biden administration, then-FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell briefly explored buying a plane for travel during disasters, but the idea never got far.

“We just could not find a true cost-benefit,” Criswell told CNN recently. “The purchase of two dedicated jets is an unnecessary expense and a poor use of taxpayer dollars.”

Hamilton served as FEMA’s acting administrator at the beginning of Trump’s term until then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and her chief adviser, Corey Lewandowski, abruptly removed him after he told Congress he did not believe the agency should be eliminated.

During their tenure, Noem and Lewandowski repeatedly assailed FEMA and took steps that slashed the agency’s workforce, battered morale and weakened federal disaster readiness, CNN has reported.

After ousting Noem, Trump nominated Hamilton to return as the agency’s permanent leader, and the Senate confirmed him in August. Sources familiar with Trump’s decision said Hamilton was brought back largely to steady the agency and keep it out of damaging headlines. Since returning, Hamilton has tried to reorganize parts of FEMA but has taken few major steps to advance the administration’s effort to shrink its reach.

Meanwhile, the administration has not confronted a catastrophe on the scale that has tested past presidencies. Career FEMA leaders — including many who have left amid the administration’s cuts — worry the agency may no longer have the people or capacity it will need when that test comes.

Can Democrats win a Senate seat in deep-red Mississippi? They’re spending like they think so

2026-10-20T17:24:25.226Z / CNN Politics

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 1:24 PM EDT, Tue October 20, 2026

https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/20/politics/video/inside-politics-democratic-superpac-spending-mississippi-colom-hyde-smith

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Can Democrats win a Senate seat in deep-red Mississippi? They’re spending like they think so

Inside Politics

Democrats’ top Senate super PAC is buying its first ads in a Senate race in one of the deepest red states: Mississippi. Prosecutor Scott Colom has his party dreaming of defeating GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, but are the resources better spent elsewhere? The Inside Politics panel breaks it down.

2:44 • Source: CNN

Sea mine crisis re-emerges in Strait of Hormuz as Tehran urges Washington to accept deal

October 20, 2026 2:26pm EDT / Fox News

The International Maritime Organization told Fox News Digital it cannot guarantee that vessels transiting the waterway will avoid striking mines

By Emma Bussey, Fox News

UN maritime chief warns Strait of Hormuz mine threat persists

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez says ships risk hitting mines in Strait of Hormuz as Iran’s temporary route lacks international approval

Sea mines have resurfaced as a threat in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran claimed Oct.17 that two oil tankers caught fire after striking the explosives, raising fresh alarms over the safety of one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.

This came as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) warned that sea mines pose a serious threat to vessels navigating the strategic waterway and while Tehran continues to maintain its own unauthorized shipping corridor inside its territorial waters.

“The traffic separation scheme, the information that we have is that they still have mines. And of course, whilst the conflict is ongoing, it’s very difficult for us to use third parties to verify that it is clear of these hazards,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told Fox News Digital.

INSIDE THE DANGEROUS US MISSION THAT CLEARED IRAN’S MINES FROM HORMUZ SHIPPING LANES

Mine countermeasures ship USS Dextrous (MCM 13) (not pictured) sails with ships participating in the Oman-led exercise Khunjar Hadd in the Gulf of Oman. Dextrous is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East Region.(U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet/Handout via REUTERS)

“So in the meantime, we cannot guarantee that a vessel that intends to transit that route will not be hit by a mine.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy said Saturday that two oil tankers caught fire after striking naval mines while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported, citing Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

State media also said both tankers were carrying about 2 million barrels of crude oil, according to Reuters.

IRNA also reported that the vessels had switched off their positioning and radar systems and attempted to use a route through the strategic waterway that Iran had not authorized.

IRAN WARNS SHIPS OF ‘FORCEFUL RESPONSE’ AS US-BACKED HORMUZ ROUTE CHALLENGES TEHRAN’S GRIP

Smoke column rises from tanker El Gaia after incident in Strait of Hormuz

The second tanker was left immobilized after striking a mine, according to the Reuters report.

The alleged strikes came as Tehran continued to maintain its transit passageway inside Iranian territorial waters, imposing tolls and safety fees administered by the IRGC — a framework rejected by Washington and the IMO as inconsistent with international maritime law.

International shipping through the narrow chokepoint has historically relied on an IMO-approved traffic separation scheme adopted in 1968.

“Right now there’s only one route that was adopted back in 1968 that is approved and recognized for IMO and that appears in all the charts for the vessels to operate,” Dominguez explained.

IRAN FAILS TO STRIKE DEAL WITH US AS DEADLINE PASSES AND TRUMP CALLS FOR ‘WHITE FLAG OF SURRENDER’

Attacks on vessels around the Strait of Hormuz have surged over the past two weeks. Senior Iranian officials also told Reuters that Tehran has shifted its strategy for attacking commercial vessels during that period.(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“There’s only one route that should be used for transit, but it’s not clear of mines right now, so it’s not safe.”

“We have received confirmation from Iran about the establishment of its temporary route in the waters,” he added before stating that the route was not provided with “an official confirmation or a decision of the organization.”

“Any other route needs to actually be sent to the organization to go through the processes, and we have not received that.”

“We have received communication from Iran to use that route because of the conflict,” Dominguez clarified.

“That’s the way that it’s been presented. But anything for us to approve needs to go through the mechanisms at the international maritime organizations and the member states need to review it.”

The developments also came amid stalled negotiations between Washington and Tehran over ending the conflict and restoring maritime traffic.

DISTRESS CALL CAPTURES TANKER UNDER FIRE, IRAN SHUTS HORMUZ TRAPPING THOUSANDS OF SAILORS

Basij paramilitary force speed boats are sailing along the Persian Gulf near a general cargo vessel(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a former Revolutionary Guard commander, said Tehran considered Washington’s latest response to negotiations “insufficient,” Reuters reported, according to IRNA.

Rezaei said the U.S. had accepted some of Iran’s seven conditions but that other issues remained unresolved, adding that Tehran was no longer responding to Washington and that the U.S. needed to clarify the outstanding matters.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran had submitted a proposal to Washington through Qatar, which is mediating the negotiations, outlining conditions under which the Strait of Hormuz could reopen and normal maritime traffic resume within seven days.

“Our situation is clear and based on ⁠the seven-day proposal presented to the US. They shared comments which ​we are reviewing, but our proposal is still on the table ​and if there is any honesty on the US part, which there isn’t, the way to reopening the Strait of Hormuz is obvious,” Araqchi said in ​Baghdad, Reuters reported

IRAN REQUESTS TALKS WITH US AS WHITE HOUSE WARNS ‘VIOLENCE WILL BE MET WITH VIOLENCE’

As U.S.-Iran talks opened Sunday in Switzerland, a dispute over who controls and monitors billions of dollars in potentially unfrozen Iranian assets emerged(Fabrice Coffrini/Pool via REUTERS)

Meanwhile, attacks on commercial vessels around the Strait of Hormuz have surged over the past two weeks.

Senior Iranian officials also told Reuters that Tehran has shifted its strategy for attacking commercial vessels during that period.

For commercial shipping operators, Dominguez warned that the continued threat of mines and attacks means the waterway has yet to return to normal operations.

The Strait of Hormuz is “not open for business in the way that it was before the conflict started,” he said.

“Our role right now is to prepare for when we have the opportunity to go back, resume the operations, follow all the procedures at IMO, but not until the root causes are addressed and those are beyond IMO.”

Fox News Digital reached out to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) for comment.

Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture.

Could France’s riots happen here? Experts see parallels in socialism, immigration — and key differences

Riots over education and economic hardship merged with immigration tensions as Trump warned France was ‘burning’

October 20, 2026 2:45pm EDT / Fox News

By Charles Creitz

Tablet Magazine contributor Marc Weitzmann analyzes the involvement of communist groups and labor unions in the ongoing French riots during ‘America’s Newsroom.’

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Violent riots sweeping France have exposed a far-left network of communist groups, labor unions and political activists mobilizing around student grievances, raising questions about whether similar political and immigration tensions could ignite unrest on American streets.

A Fox News Digital investigation identified 50 organizations involved in France’s student protest movement and its broader network of supporters and international amplifiers, including communist and socialist groups, labor unions and political parties.

The American parallels extend beyond political rhetoric. Fox News Digital previously reported that agitators at Delaney Hall in Newark used encrypted Signal chats to coordinate transportation, supplies and demonstrations before clashes with federal agents.

Santiago Vidal Calvo, a researcher at the Manhattan Institute, singled out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, arguing that their approaches to immigration enforcement could move the United States closer to conditions he associates with France’s crisis.

RO KHANNA SPARKS BACKLASH OVER FRANCE RIOT COMMENTS AS CRITIC SAYS HE WANTS TO ‘RIDE THE RAGE WAVE’

This photograph shows a fire burning and destroying the city hall after a group of individuals forced entry into the building during ongoing protest action against the “high cost of living”, in Limoges, central France on October 17, 2026 as part of a nationwide call for mobilisation bringing together various groups expressing their anger: former “Yellow Vest”, secondary school and university students, climate activists and even farmers. After weeks of student protests, France faces broader, nationwide demonstrations on October 17, 2026 over the cost of living, setting up a potentially fraught six months heading into a presidential election. A police source told AFP that authorities estimated nearly 200,000 people could take part, with 40,000 in Paris.

“I have absolutely no doubts that if we had Mamdanis or El-Sayeds or AOCs in charge of immigration policy, our immigration landscape would be very different today than what it currently is,” Calvo told Fox News Digital.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has made a similar argument, explicitly tying France’s violence to the stakes of the 2026 midterms.

“France is descending into chaos because they wanted OPEN BORDERS — just like the socialist Democrats in America,” Johnson wrote on X. “What we are witnessing is a chilling warning for all Americans of what happens if the radical Marxist insurgent left gets their way.”

Johnson argued that a Democratic victory in November would lead to more permissive immigration policies, casting the election as a choice between the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the approach favored by Democrats. President Donald Trump similarly posted on Truth Social that “migrants have taken over France,” urging the country to “CLOSE THE BORDERS, FAST!”

The immigration debate is also playing out directly in the 2026 midterms. In Michigan’s closely watched Senate race, Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed has made abolishing ICE a campaign position, arguing that the agency cannot be reformed. His Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, has sought to portray El-Sayed as an ideological extremist as the two compete for a seat that could help determine control of the Senate.

In New York City, Mamdani signed a February executive order reinforcing sanctuary protections and restricting federal immigration enforcement on city property without a judicial warrant. Both Mamdani and El-Sayed frame their policies as safeguards against abusive enforcement, while critics warn they could weaken immigration controls.

The unrest began with students protesting conditions in France’s education system before labor unions, political activists and groups with separate grievances joined the movement. Fox News Digital’s investigation found that 15 of the 50 organizations identified in the broader network were student or youth groups.

Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, described a convergence of frustrations over school funding, rising costs, France’s stagnant economy and longstanding tensions surrounding immigration and assimilation.

FRANCE IS DEVOURING ITSELF AS SCHOOL RIOTS REVEAL A CRISIS FAR BIGGER THAN BROKEN CLASSROOMS

Tens of thousands of secondary school students and their supporters march from Republic to Nation square on Oct. 6, 2026, in Paris, France. Nationwide student protests and violent school riots have disrupted over 700 secondary schools and led to roughly 5,000 arrests across France. What began in late September 2026 as peaceful blockades in the low-income Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis has rapidly escalated into a major public order crisis for President Emmanuel Macron’s government.(Guy Smallman/Getty Images)

“You’ve got the simple educational one which is partially economic, you’ve got the larger economic one and on top of that you have the assimilation issue,” Arthur said.

But Arthur expressed skepticism that the United States would experience nationwide riots on the same scale, pointing to differences in immigration patterns and assimilation.

“Now can we see mass protests like this in the United States? I don’t think so,” Arthur said, noting that protests over urban ICE operations have not escalated into a comparable nationwide movement.

Nathalie Szerman, a Europe-based researcher with the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), pointed to another potential factor: The demonstrations intensified around the 65th anniversary of the Oct. 17, 1961, massacre of Algerian demonstrators by Paris police.

“October 17 is a very symbolic date for the Algerian-ethnic groups,” Szerman told Fox News Digital, describing demonstrators memorializing a deadly 1961 crackdown by Paris police on Algerian demonstrators.

“The first protest groups were not ideologically aligned with ‘political Islam’ but were students from immigrant suburbs, driven by education concerns. Agenda-driven, organized ‘Political Muslim’ groups used the momentum of the protests for their own ends,” Szerman said.

“It’s a lot of things together, the resentment towards France and the political agenda,” she said.

Alan Mendoza, executive director of the U.K.’s Henry Jackson Society — named for the late Washington Sen. Scoop Jackson — argued that the far-left movement led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon helped encourage broader mobilization ahead of France’s next presidential election.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu blamed Mélenchon and his party for the unrest, according to Le Monde, while Mélenchon fired back after Lecornu demanded that LFI “choose a side” between France and the rioters — calling the either-or “detestable.”

Mendoza warned that similar political tensions could surface in America, citing backlash against socialist New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani from anti-Israel activists who had previously supported him.

“What was interesting was the sight of him being turned on by the pro-Palestinian protesters the other day, when he was acknowledging October the 7th, the loss of human life on his radio site, he was turned on by the very hard left people who had helped propel him to power,” Mendoza said.

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“What that shows you is that it is very real a possibility at the hard left who are never satisfied and actually want chaos more than anything else,” Mendoza added.

Arthur said France’s far left can openly champion expansive immigration policies, while American Democrats face a different political reality: They cannot publicly embrace open borders without risking backlash, he argued, pointing to the Biden administration’s tendency to portray illegal immigration as a problem it could not control rather than a policy it actively supported.

“Riot is to France what football is to the United States,” said Arthur.

Szerman, however, said comparable unrest was possible despite differences between the two countries.

“I definitely think that what’s happening in France could happen in the United States,” she said, while noting that the more accommodating U.S. education system and different approach to immigrant integration could reduce the severity of any such violence, making a French-style nationwide crisis less likely.

Calvo, meanwhile, warned that adopting more expansive immigration policies without adequate screening and integration safeguards could create pressures similar to those he believes contributed to France’s unrest.

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“France is in this mess because of the horrible policies they had in immigration over the last years,” he said, warning that importing similar approaches could bring unrest to American communities.

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani, El-Sayed and Ocasio-Cortez for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Ashely DiMella contributed to this report.

Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, worked in both the New York and Washington bureaus for Fox News since 2013.

Sam Forstag responds to GOP attacks on trans issues: ‘We don’t have to throw our friends under the bus to win elections’

2026-10-20 1:24 PM EDT / CNN

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 1:24 PM EDT, Tue October 20, 2026

https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/20/politics/video/montana-house-candidate-dem-sam-forstag-midterms-ip

Sam Forstag responds to GOP attacks on trans issues: ‘We don’t have to throw our friends under the bus to win elections’

Inside Politics

Montana Democratic House candidate Sam Forstag talks to Dana Bash about Republican campaign attacks on trans issues. “Government is not here to impose a worldview on us one way or the other,” he says. “That tired old message is not working anymore.”

1:33 • Source: CNN

Democrats fear slippage with Black voters makes Michigan Senate race feel ‘far closer than it should’

2026-10-20T19:29:33.230Z / CNN

Detroit—

Abdul El-Sayed often talks about building a new and broad coalition of Michigan voters. A looming question in the state’s pivotal Senate race is whether he can keep the old one intact — particularly with the Black voters who are pivotal to any Democratic victory.

The Republican nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers, has spent months working to make inroads with traditional Democratic constituencies that did not support El-Sayed, a progressive former public health official, in his bitter primary battle against Rep. Haley Stevens.

And even though more than $280 million has been spent on television advertisements in Michigan since the 2026 midterm election cycle began, with billboards and campaign yard signs dotting the landscape alongside the fall colors, some political leaders wonder whether there is sufficient enthusiasm among Black voters for El-Sayed at this late stage.

“It only takes this much of Detroit to defect. It only takes this much of Flint to defect,” said the Rev. Charles Williams II, pastor of the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit, holding his fingers about an inch apart to drive home his point. “If even a sliver of people don’t turn out, you run into a huge challenge in trying to get your candidate over that line.”

Michigan is crucial to Democrats’ hopes of the net four-seat gain the party needs on November 3 to win control of the Senate. If the party fails to retain the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, its path to a majority would grow much more difficult — and would run almost exclusively through much redder states than this upper Midwestern perpetual political battleground.

El-Sayed defeated Stevens in the August primary by just 1 percentage point — a narrow victory fueled by his strong support among Arab American and Muslim communities, young voters and progressives in college towns.

But Stevens had clear strengths, too: Black voters in and around Detroit largely aligned behind her, as did Jewish voters who have long expressed deep concerns with El-Sayed, who is Muslim and a strident critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Rogers has made reaching those constituencies a central focus of his campaign in the race’s closing weeks, as he looks to assemble a coalition of voters more favorable to Republicans than in 2018, the last midterm election with President Donald Trump in office. That year, Democrats won four statewide races in Michigan, all by a range of about 7 to 9 percentage points.

At a Detroit Economic Club forum on Tuesday, Rogers bragged that he has “built coalitions that really are very untraditional for a Republican candidate.”

He pointed to plans to incentivize new home construction in Detroit, connect those construction efforts to high school apprenticeships, and eliminate “food deserts” in the city. He also said many Democrats have told him they fear the rising influence of democratic socialists within the party.

“We’ve spent a lot of time here in Detroit, Flint, Pontiac,” he said, listing cities with large Black populations. “I think if we’re going to get our state right, we have to have everybody included in its forward progress.”

In a bid to ease lingering Democratic doubts about El-Sayed, former President Barack Obama is set to visit Michigan, where he’ll attend a Saturday rally in Detroit with El-Sayed and the party’s nominee for governor, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

Other prominent Black Democrats have visited Michigan in recent weeks, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, who held a roundtable focused on Black maternal healthcare with El-Sayed. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia is also set to campaign with El-Sayed, as are several members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“As much as he thinks he’s making inroads, folks are smart,” El-Sayed told CNN. “Mike Rogers is simply a rubber stamp on what Donald Trump wants. They understand exactly who Mike Rogers is.”

While conversations with Black leaders and voters across Detroit show widespread support for El-Sayed, quiet concerns emerged about whether questions pertaining to the nominee’s background could dampen support. Historic tensions between Arab American and Black communities also were raised as points of anxiety.

“In a close race, even a sliver of doubt about Abdul could lead to defeat,” one prominent Black leader told CNN, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss concerns frankly. “And this race feels far closer than it should.”

Even as prominent Black Democratic leaders in Michigan express concern about the Senate race, El-Sayed — who spent recent days campaigning in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a sparsely populated region where he hopes his populist pitch will chip away at the GOP’s traditionally strong margins — is downplaying and even mocking Rogers’ efforts to win over Black voters.

At a campaign stop in Flint, a majority-Black city, a few hundred supporters turned out for an El-Sayed rally on Sunday afternoon. Only about a dozen members of the audience who packed into a large hotel conference room were Black, which was striking for a Democratic campaign event two weeks before the election.

As he spoke to reporters afterward, El-Sayed said he saw no reason for concern.

“Look, one of the hardest things about this economy is that too often folks are having to work multiple jobs and having to work on weekends,” he told CNN. “We know because of exactly the policies architected by folks like Donald Trump, that falls hardest on Black folks.”

He was joined at the rally by Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, one of several Black members of Congress who have traveled to campaign alongside him.

“We feel really strong about the relationship we’ve built and will continue to build,” El-Sayed said of his outreach to Black voters.

When asked about the Rogers campaign opening a storefront office on Livernois Avenue in Detroit as part of its effort to win over Black voters, El-Sayed answered with a laugh.

“I saw he opened a cute little office in Detroit where he brought all his friends from the suburbs to come clap him in. It was nice, yeah,” El-Sayed said. “He’s got no actual message for anyone who is struggling to make ends meet.”

Marcia Turner, who attended the Flint rally, said she was optimistic about El-Sayed, who she called “the right person at the right time.” But even her kind words underscored a history of some tension between the Black and Arab communities of Michigan.

“I love that he’s running,” Turner said. “I think people are looking past his religion and seeing him as a man who wants what we want for our children and grandchildren.”

Naura Evans, a teacher and mother of two from Sterling Heights, is a proud Black Republican. She appears in a television commercial, saying: “I voted for Barack Obama, but this year, I’m voting for Mike Rogers.”

She said she grew up in a Democratic family but has become more conservative since her 2008 vote for Obama. She said she thinks schools and neighborhoods haven’t improved under Democratic rule and believes in Rogers’ plans for both.

She said she feels that Democrats have taken Black voters for granted over the years, so she spends time going door-to-door in Warren, Troy and Sterling Heights, trying to persuade voters to join her in supporting Rogers.

“It’s very important that we elect the right people,” Evans said. “As Blacks in our community, we show that our vote matters. We’re not just giving the vote away.”

She said the Rogers campaign should get credit for opening an office in Detroit.

“I’ve seen Mike Rogers definitely step out of his space and go into the Black community,” Evans said. “I think it’s practical and I think it’s also symbolic that he cares about Detroit. He could have opened an office anywhere and he chose Detroit.”

She dismissed one of the biggest pieces of criticism she hears from Democrats about Rogers — that he would be a rubber stamp for Trump.

“This is not a presidential election, it’s a senator’s election, and ultimately Mike Rogers will be the one making his own decisions,” Evans said. “I’m sure that his decisions will not be influenced by someone else.”

Quentin Murray listened to the full slate of Democratic candidates speaking at a carpenters’ union hall on Sunday in Detroit. He said he was just beginning to learn more about El-Sayed’s candidacy but liked what he heard.

“I like what he’s bringing to the table — something new, something different,” said Murray, a carpenter. “His culture is different, but when you see somebody like that, it’s good to know that we have the same interests and values.”

Yet even in his praise, Murray casually brought up El-Sayed’s culture, which has been at the center of the campaign in bitter attack ads about his upbringing and beliefs.

El-Sayed, a doctor and former public health official whose parents immigrated to the US from Egypt, was born and raised in Michigan.

At nearly every campaign stop, he briefly explains his family history and pushes back at some of the racially charged conversations about his name, which has been regularly belittled by Trump, who has taken to calling him “Mohammed Abdul El-Sayed.”

Rogers has attempted to connect El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood — which El-Sayed has denounced — and cast him as sympathetic to interests connected to Islamic terror. The GOP has pointed to old tweets from his sister describing El-Sayed’s birth mother’s activism with the Muslim Brotherhood while she was in college in the early 1970s. In a recent debate, Rogers also pointed out that El-Sayed’s mother worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency, a nonprofit that the Treasury Department in 2004 designated as an organization supporting terrorism. El-Sayed was primarily raised by his father and stepmother in Michigan.

“My name and my faith are not the reason you can’t afford your gas. My name and my faith are not the reason you cannot afford your groceries,” El-Sayed told supporters in Flint. “My name and my faith are not the reason you can’t see a doctor. I mean chances are if you’re seeing a doctor, they might actually have my name and my faith.”

Charity Dean, who owns a Detroit coffee shop and is president of the Michigan Black Business Alliance, said she has been pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm for El-Sayed in her city.

“Detroit is more conservative than folks would think — a lot more moderate,” Dean said. “I think his campaign has done a phenomenal job of really busting out of the box and saying, ‘Are you happy with how things are now? Are you happy with forever wars?’”

Since finishing a distant second in Detroit in the August primary, Dean said, El-Sayed has listened to voters — supportive and skeptical ones alike — and has worked to build a campaign to win them over.

“One of the things that’s gained him a lot of ground is his ability to respond to criticism and questions,” Dean said.

While Dean said she has seen many signs that Rogers is trying to expand his outreach to Black voters, including television ads and opening an office in Detroit, she questioned whether the Republican nominee’s policies followed suit with the actions of his campaign.

“Everything should be taken seriously. This is not a year where we take anything for granted,” Dean said, noting that she is carefully watching what the Rogers campaign is doing. “He seriously wants to win their vote, but he doesn’t want to make life better for Black people. That’s what really matters.”

Trump says U.S. will compensate fraud whistleblowers, and he’ll decide who gets paid: “I will be very generous”

October 20, 2026 / 3:34 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington— President Trump on Tuesday announced the federal government will compensate whistleblowers who report people defrauding the U.S. government and taxpayers, but said he will decide who gets paid.

“I will be the arbitrator of all of these decisions,” the president said during his Oval Office announcement with Vice President JD Vance, who heads up the administration’s fraud task force, beside him. “In other words, I’ll determine whether or not the person is deserving and I’ll determine — and I will be very generous, believe me.”

Through the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, Mr. Trump said whistleblowers, who can be ordinary citizens, will be eligible to receive 1% of the amount of fraud they report, even if the reported fraud is $100 billion. America.gov/fraud, however, says successful whistleblowers will be paid up to $30,000, dependent upon the report resulting in criminal charges. Asked by CBS News for clarification, Mr. Trump said there is no limit to whistleblower compensation, and criminal charges aren’t necessary.

“That’s the answer. I quit while I’m ahead,” Vance joked.

The president promised to be “fair” in his decisions.

“You’ll get your money immediately, but I’ll make the determination,” he continued. “So if two people are fighting over it, maybe they’ll split it or maybe whatever, but I’ll make that determination.”

The America.gov/fraud website says reports are encrypted and will go directly to the Treasury Department. It’s not immediately clear who reviews reports, although the Department of Justice will administer the program.

The first person to benefit from the program is Nick Shirley, a 20-something YouTuber who published a video alleging fraud at childcare centers in Minnesota. He stood alongside Mr. Trump in the Oval Office Tuesday.

Some whistleblowers can already receive compensation from the False Claims Act, which allows some whistleblowers to be entitled to up to 25% to 30% of proceeds recovered. But the requirements are stringent. Vance said “99%” of the fraud they’re finding isn’t covered by the False Claims Act.

Jennifer Jacobs contributed to this report.