Active hostage crisis as man claims bomb strapped to chest inside Chase Bank: reports

Ex-Trump insider delivers blunt diagnosis of what's gone wrong with American politics

A former Trump White House insider warned that voters should be cautious of the "rizz" of rising stars in the political scene right now.Anthony Scaramucci, one of Trump's former White House communications directors, spoke to CNN's Kasie Hunt about what it takes to win big elections nowadays."Are we at a moment where being famous is the thing you have to have if you want to be in politics?" Hunt asked.Hunt mentioned the rising popularity of Spencer Pratt, a reality star turned contender for L.A. mayor, and the resilience of Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who keeps weathering controversies."If you're making the point that we've lost the plot and we're no longer hiring people based on their credentials and what they could do for the country, and it's more about who's got the name recognition and the pizzazz or rizz on Instagram, yeah, we're definitely in that category," Scaramucci responded.However, for Scaramucci, that's not a good place to be."That's dangerous, and that's something I think we should be worried about," Scaramucci said, whose former boss, Trump, was a reality TV star.He explained that "the system has gone awry" by rewarding "self-aggrandizement," and "this is a problem for us," as "name recognition is number one" on the list of qualifications for politicians.

California: Bakersfield police respond to bomb threat as man barricades himself inside bank

People urged to avoid downtown as man, reportedly with bomb strapped to body, inside bank with number of peopleA man barricaded himself inside a bank in the southern California city of Bakersfield with an unknown number of people, police said on Tuesday.The unidentified man had a bomb strapped to his body, according to Bakersfield Now. Continue reading...

DOJ is investigating former congressman George Santos for insider trading on Kalshi

The disgraced former congressman allegedly bet on whether he would appear at the State of the Union address, prompting federal investigations.

WATCH: Dem senators excuse Platner's conduct at crisis huddle with embattled Maine candidate

Democratic senators express confidence in Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner despite alleged sexting scandals and resurfaced online posts controversies.

Trump DNI pick's real mission isn't what president is claiming: ex-GOP operative

Former GOP operative Tim Miller took a moment on MS NOW's "Deadline: White House" to lay into President Donald Trump's move to replace outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard with his controversial housing finance administrator Bill Pulte — a man often called Trump's "attack dog," and, Miller pointed out, has absolutely no qualifications to coordinate national intelligence."I'm going to start with you because there's nothing for an intelligence person to say about this person," said anchor Nicolle Wallace. "This is a political hack ... what happens next?"Miller agreed, saying that he is likely the most unqualified Cabinet-level nominee in the history of the United States, even including Pete Hegseth, who at least served in the military before being tapped for Secretary of Defense. "Bill Pulte has no experience by this at all. Calling him a political hack is even, you know, kind of too kind to him.""It's mean to us political hacks!" chimed in Wallace, to general laughter around the panel.Worse, Miller continued, "he was a corrupt grifter" whose main experience before Trump appointed him to head up housing finance was pushing "meme stocks" and "crypto rug pulls."Then, he said, at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, "The main thing he did was use his access to mortgage documents. He also made himself the head of Freddie and Fannie to go after Trump's political foes. I mean, that's like the extent of his political work actually, going after political foes with dubious attacks based on the way that they filed their mortgage documents." That, he said, is the extent of his experience in government operations.And that's probably by design, Miller added."I don't think that he's in this job to actually do the job of the Director of National Intelligence," said Miller, speculating that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other high-ranking officials will do that job for him. Rather, "I think he's in there to do the dirty work, to do the sole job of now using his expanded access to the information about Americans to try to go after Donald Trump's political foes. I think that will be basically his only duty there." - YouTube www.youtube.com

Trump Adviser Hassett Claims Americans Are “Optimistic” About State of Economy

Nearly 6 in 10 Americans say the economy is “getting worse,” according to recent polling data.

Trump Is Reportedly Reconsidering His Politically and Legally Contentious 'Anti-Weaponization Fund'

The Justice Department signals a retreat from defending the blatantly corrupt scheme, which provoked vigorous objections from Republican lawmakers.

Rubio Goes Nuclear on Democrat’s Absurd Iran Claim: 'You’re Just Making Stuff Up'