News – Page 216 – 105.7 WDNY

‘I don’t have any strategy’: Speaker Johnson still backs GOP’s clean CR as shutdown drags into 3rd week

October 14, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed the possibility he could change his strategy to end the government shutdown by negotiating legislative changes with Democrats, telling reporters on Tuesday that he doesn’t “have any strategy” to end the impasse in place of the GOP’s lackluster pressure campaign to pass a “clean” continuing resolution.

Johnson on Tuesday pushed Democrats to support the House-passed funding bill and slammed the Democrats’ $1.5 trillion proposal, which extends health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and reverses cuts to Medicaid.

against Democrats has so far failed to break the standoff, Johnson reiterated that the House-passed bill is a “clean” continuing resolution — free from legislative gimmicks or political games.

“Why don’t I change my strategy? I don’t have any strategy,” the speaker told reporters. “I’m doing the right thing, the clearly obvious thing, the traditional thing.”

Asked whether he may consider a different negotiation track as the pressure campaign against Democrats has so far failed to break the standoff, Johnson reiterated that the House-passed bill is a “clean” continuing resolution — free from legislative gimmicks or political games.

“Why don’t I change my strategy? I don’t have any strategy,” the speaker told reporters. “I’m doing the right thing, the clearly obvious thing, the traditional thing.”

The Senate is set to vote Tuesday night — its eighth time — on the GOP-backed “clean” continuing resolution that would fund the government. It’s expected to fail again as the shutdown enters its third workweek.

Congressional Democrats representing Maryland and Virginia — where a significant number of federal workers reside — criticized Republicans over the shutdown on Tuesday morning and supported the workers.

“What we have seen happen to our federal employees we will continues to speak out against,” Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, a Maryland Democrat, said. “We want them to know we appreciate them, we appreciate your service to our country, we still need you, we still need what you offer our country and we will continue to work until you can be able to offer it.”

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said President Donald Trump and Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought are “viscously” attacking federal employees.

OMB is working on ways to get paychecks to federal law-enforcement officers amid the ongoing shutdown, according to an OMB official. This comes after recent moves to pay members of the military and fund the critical Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children program.

Trump said he’s directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use “all available funds” to pay members of the military on Wednesday, Oct. 15 despite the shutdown.

A senior Trump administration official said on Tuesday that the military pay will come from the Department of Defense’s research and development funds — winning approval from Speaker Johnson.

“Look, my understanding of this is they have every right to move the funds around, duly appropriated dollars from Congress to the Department of Defense,” Johnson said Tuesday. “If the Democrats want to go to court and challenge troops being paid, bring it. OK?”

OMB said on its X account on Tuesday that the Trump administration is “making every preparation” to ride out the government shutdown without caving to Democrats’ demands. The agency said they’d continue cutting the federal workforce in the meantime.

“Pay the troops, pay law enforcement, continue the RIFs, and wait,” the post said.

Lawmakers are still in a stalemate with negotiations at a standstill.

“We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history,” Johnson said on Monday.

The record is 35 days and that was set in Trump’s first term.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said during an MSNBC interview Monday that he does not believe the American people will allow the federal government shutdown to proceed much longer because they’ll pressure Republicans to negotiate with Democrats.

Jeffries said Republicans remain unwilling to negotiate over health care as the shutdown continues.

“House Republicans have actually canceled votes for the third consecutive week because they’d rather keep the government shut down than deal with the cost-of-living crisis that exists in the United States of America,” Jeffries said.

Isabella Murray contributed to this report.

Mental health, substance abuse staffers fired amid government shutdown: Sources

October 14, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Dozens of employees at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration were laid off in the wave of government shutdown firings last week, multiple sources told ABC News.

Best known for overseeing the rollout of the 988 suicide prevention hotline, SAMHSA works with state and local governments on mental health and addiction initiatives and gives out billions in grants.

The firings, which began Friday, include widespread layoffs of staff that oversee child, adolescent and family mental health services, sources told ABC News.

Roughly one in 10 of SAMHSA’s 900 staff were fired in the spring Department of Government Efficiency cuts. Other staff were recently transferred to other programs in the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees SAMHSA.

A HHS spokesperson told ABC News that employees who received a Reduction in Force notice “were deemed non-essential by their respective division.”

While the impacts of these latest firings are still being determined, a source tells ABC the agency was “hard hit.”

ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide — free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call or text the national lifeline at 988.

Supreme Court rejects Alex Jones’ appeal of $1.4 billion Sandy Hook judgement

October 14, 2025 by WDNY Radio

Supreme Court rejects Alex Jones’ appeal of .4 billion Sandy Hook judgement

Supreme Court rejects Alex Jones’ appeal of $1.4 billion Sandy Hook judgement — Alex Jones speaks to protestors gathered outside the Texas State Capitol during a rally calling for the reopening of Austin and Texas on April 25, 2020 in Austin, Texas (Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal from conservative commentator and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has been ordered to pay $1.4 billion in damages to the families of victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The court did not explain the denial.

A Connecticut jury in 2022 awarded $965 million in damages to 15 plaintiffs defamed by Jones when the Infowars host called the 2012 mass shooting, in which 20 young children and six adults were killed, a hoax. Later, a judge added an additional $473 million in punitive damages.

Attorneys for Jones contended the sum is an “amount that can never be paid.”

“The result is a financial death penalty by fiat imposed on a media defendant whose broadcasts reach millions,” their petition to the court read.

The Supreme Court also rejected several other hot-button cases in its order list released Tuesday.

The justices declined to hear an appeal from a group of Colorado parents seeking to sue their public school district over a policy that allegedly allows children to pursue gender transitions, and be supported by school staff, without any parental notification.

In a statement, Justice Samuel Alito concurred with the decision, saying the case was an imperfect “vehicle” for examining the core legal question; but he urged the court to look for other opportunities to take up the “troubling — and tragic — allegations in the case.”

In another case, the court rejected an appeal from a group of unnamed minors and their families who had sued the app Grindr for marketing to children, recommending them to nearby adults for sex and allegedly facilitating trafficking.

Plus, it declined to take up a closely-watched California case challenging Food and Drug Administration regulations governing the use of stem cells to promote healing through new forms of treatment as well as a conservative group’s challenge to Department of Homeland Security’s authority to issue temporary work permits to immigrants who entered the country unlawfully without express consent from Congress.

Man pleads guilty to arson attack at Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro’s home, gets 25 to 50 years

October 14, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The man who firebombed the official residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro pleaded guilty on Tuesday and was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Cody Balmer pleaded guilty to charges including aggravated arson, arson and the attempted murder of Shapiro, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office said.

Prosecutors released surveillance video on Tuesday capturing the attack as it unfolded.

Balmer climbed a fence at the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg, broke a window and hurled a Molotov cocktail inside, prosecutors said.

Video showed Balmer walking through the house, hitting at doors, “including a door leading to where the Governor’s family and guests slept, but could not break through,” prosecutors said in a statement.

Balmer then ignited a second Molotov cocktail in the dining area, prosecutors said, and the fire it sparked was caught on surveillance video. Balmer then fled the scene, prosecutors said.

The attack occurred in the middle of the night, hours after the Shapiro family hosted more than two dozen people for the first night of Passover. At the time of the attack, the governor, his wife and three of their children were in the house, as well as 15 of their guests and two Pennsylvania State Police troopers, prosecutors said.

Balmer called 911, identified himself and confessed, allegedly telling the dispatcher that Shapiro “needs to know that he ‘will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.'”

Balmer allegedly told police he would have attacked Shapiro with a hammer if he happened upon the governor inside the residence, according to court documents.

Balmer was a mechanic who may have been experiencing financial and mental health problems, sources previously told ABC News.

Balmer, who was arrested at 38 years old, will first be eligible for parole when he is 63, prosecutors said.

Suspect in arson at Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro’s home to plead guilty

October 14, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The man who allegedly firebombed the official residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to plead guilty on Tuesday.

Cody Balmer was charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson and other crimes after the April arson attack. It was not immediately clear to which crimes he would plead.

Balmer allegedly hopped a fence at the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg, broke windows and hurled Molotov cocktails inside he made from beer bottles and gasoline, police said.

The attack occurred in the middle of the night, hours after the Shapiro family hosted more than two dozen people for the first night of Passover. The family was home at the time, but no one was hurt.

Balmer allegedly told police he would have attacked Shapiro with a hammer if he happened upon the governor inside the residence, according to court documents.

Balmer, 38, is a mechanic who may have been experiencing financial and mental health problems, sources previously told ABC News.

Police looking to identify apparently abducted woman and possible kidnapper in video of possible abduction

October 14, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Police in Kansas are asking the public for help in identifying a woman who was seen on surveillance video being taken by force by an unidentified man, according to authorities.

The Wichita Police Department said that the incident happened early Sunday morning at approximately 2 a.m. in the 1400 block of North Volutsia in Wichita, though the circumstances that led up to the abduction are currently unclear.

“At this time, we have not been able to identify the female and male seen in the video,” the Wichita Police department said on social media. “Exploring all options, we’ve reached out to our regional and federal law enforcement partners for additional assistance.”

Authorities also processed the audio and reduced the background noise in hopes that someone will recognize her voice.

The Wichita Police Department is now asking for the community’s help in identifying and locating the female and anybody that recognizes her or might have any information about her identity or whereabouts should reach out to the Wichita Police Department immediately.

Trump set to posthumously award Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom

October 14, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday is expected to posthumously award conservative activist Charlie Kirk the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Kirk was fatally shot on Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University on the first stop of his The American Comeback Tour, which invited college students to debate hot-button issues.

Trump was the first to announce later that day that Kirk had died, and the next day said he would be be awarding Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom as he hailed the Turning Point USA founder “a giant of his generation.”

The ceremony comes after Trump returned back to Washington in the early hours of Tuesday morning from a trip to the Middle East to celebrate a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that he helped broker.

Oct. 14 is Kirk’s birthday. He would have turned 32. The House and Senate previously approved a resolution to mark the date as a “National Day of Remembrance.”

Trump said last Friday that he was coming back from overseas for Kirk, who called “a friend of mine, a friend of all of us.”

“It’s the greatest honor,” Trump said of the award. “And Erika, his beautiful wife, is going to be here, and a lot of people are gonna be here.”

The president and Erika Kirk shared a heartfelt moment on stage at Kirk’s memorial service in Arizona, where tens of thousands of people gathered to pay tribute to Kirk, a key ally to Trump and a friend to many inside his administration.

The two hugged after Trump’s closing remarks and after Erika Kirk said she’d forgiven her husband’s killer.

Kirk was influential in building Trump’s movement and was particularly influential among young conservatives. But some of his comments on gun violence, LGBTQ issues, race and more drew criticism from liberals and others.

At his memorial service, Trump and other leading conservative figures embraced Kirk as a “martyr.”

“I know I speak for everyone here today when I say that none of us will ever forget Charlie Kirk, and neither now will history,” Trump said at the time. “Because while Charlie has been reunited with his creator in heaven, his voice on earth will let go through the generations, and his name will live forever in the eternal chronicle of America’s greatest patriots.”

Powerful storm leaves over 130 displaced in Tempe, Arizona

October 14, 2025 by WDNY Radio

A powerful “microburst and thunderstorm” pushed through Tempe, Arizona, leaving more than 130 people displaced Monday afternoon, officials said.

Several apartment buildings were “severely” damaged during the storm, according to the City of Tempe.

The storm, which began around 1 p.m. local time, lasted a little over three hours and knocked out power for at least 34,000 customers.

A microburst is described as “a small concentrated downburst that produces an outward burst of strong winds at or near the surface,” according to the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory.

A microburst is usually less than or equal to 2.5 miles in diameter, according to the National Weather Service.

As of 8 p.m. local time, a flood watch remains in effect in the area and 10,000 customers are still without power.

The Phoenix Zoo was heavily impacted by the storm that swept through the Phoenix Valley, sustaining damage in and around the zoo.

Despite many toppled trees and walkways being covered by downed objects, no animals, guests or staff were harmed, the Phoenix Zoo told ABC News.

The Zoo will be closed for the next two days as it focuses on cleanup and restoration efforts.

Former student stabs 3 staff members, plants 2 pipe bombs in California attack: Police

October 14, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — A former student at a school in California allegedly stabbed three staff members and planted two pipe bombs before being arrested, police said.

The Torrance Police Department is investigating the incident that occurred on Monday at approximately 8:15 a.m., when, they said, a former student from the Switzer Learning Center allegedly stabbed a total of three staff members and attempted to stab a fourth before fleeing the scene.

“Two of the victims were quickly transported to Harbor General Hospital and are currently receiving treatment for non-life-threatening injuries,” the Torrance Police Department said. “Third victim was treated on the scene by Torrance Fire Department.”

Following the incident, the suspect was taken into custody by law enforcement officials, which is when he told them that “he had placed two pipe bombs in the vicinity of 208 Street and Amapola Avenue,” according to the Torrance Police Department.

“Two devices were located, and they were determined to be incendiary devices, which were rendered safe by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad,” police said in a follow up statement later Monday. “Following a thorough investigation and assessment of the area, we are pleased to report that there is no ongoing threat to the public. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad completed its investigation and determined the area safe.”

Police did not reveal the name, age or potential motive of the attack but did say that their investigation is currently open and ongoing.

“The safety of our community is our top priority, and we appreciate the public’s cooperation during this ongoing investigation,” police said.

“The Torrance Police Department would like to thank the community and the media for its cooperation and understanding during this situation,” authorities continued. “The safety and security of our community members is our utmost priority, and we also appreciate the prompt response from all assisting agencies involved.”

Trump implies Hamas given approval to act as police force for ‘a period of time’

October 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — President Donald Trump implied Hamas has been given approval to act as a Palestinian police force in Gaza “for a period of time” in the wake of implementing phase one of the ceasefire agreement.

While en route to the Middle East early Monday aboard Air Force One, Trump responded to a question from a reporter about reports of Hamas rearming themselves.

“Well, they [Hamas] are standing because they do want to stop the problems, and they’ve been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time,” Trump said.

Trump continued that Palestinians are returning to buildings that have been destroyed, after two years of war, and “a lot of bad things can happen.”

“We want it to be safe. I think it’s going to be fine. Who knows? Who knows for sure?” he said. “But I think it’s going to be fine.”

ABC News has asked the White House for further comment and has not yet received a response.

The first phase of the U.S.-brokered peace deal went into effect on Friday, calling for the return of all living and dead hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of scores of Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from the area.

While Trump’s overall 20-point peace plan proposal calls for the disarmament of Hamas and stipulates the militant group cannot play a role in the future governance of Gaza, these points are not covered by the initial phase of the agreement.

The final 20 remaining living hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, were returned to Israel on Monday as part of an exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, officials said.

On Monday, Trump said negotiations on phase two of the peace plan for Gaza had “started,” though he did not specify what that entailed.

“I mean, it started as far as we’re concerned,” Trump said during remarks in Egypt, where he attended a signing ceremony after addressing the Israeli Knesset earlier in the day. “Phase two has started. And, you know, the phases are all a little bit mixed in with each other. You’re gonna start cleaning up. You look at Gaza — it needs a lot of cleanup.”

ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston contributed to this report.

+ More