Democrats in the Minnesota House plan to boycott the state Capitol Tuesday by walking out of the first day of the legislative session. This after Republicans say they hold political control.
Frantic 911 call captures moments after North Carolina sledding accident
A family’s idyllic day enjoying the newly fallen snow in North Carolina was shattered after their toddler son tragically died in a sledding accident.
Ayden Sasser was playing outside in Whitsett, North Carolina on Saturday when his sled plunged into a nearby pond, and he became trapped under the ice, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office said in a release. Police declined to provide Sasser’s age.
Hysterical audio from 911 calls captured the frantic seconds following the freak accident in the small town.
“Please please please,” an unidentified woman is heard telling the operator. “There is thin ice, and they’re trying to get to him. They’re trying to help.”
TENNESSEE MAN ARRESTED AFTER SHOOTING AT FAMILY SLEDDING IN SNOW, DEPUTIES SAY
LISTEN TO 911 AUDIO:
The caller said that the little boy was near the middle of the lake and two people jumped into the water to assist.
“I think they got him. It’s really cold though,” she said. “I don’t know. He was in there for a good minute. He’s probably freezing cold.”
“I don’t think he’s okay. I’m scared. I don’t want him to die,” the caller is heard saying, between sobs.
Bryan and Angel Sasser with their son Ayden. (Angel Sasser/Facebook)
While the child was successfully rescued from the water, investigators said that Sasser later died at the local hospital. Authorities said that they are waiting for the official cause of death from the medical examiner.
Police said two first responders and three other people who helped with the rescue were also taken to the hospital for medical examinations. They were all released from the hospital after being examined, police said.
TEEN DEAD AT ASKI RESORT NEAR POSH MOUNTAIN TOWN
Aside from Guilford County sheriff’s deputies, the Whitsett Fire Department, Guilford County Emergency Medical Services and three other agencies responded to the call.
Family friends launched a fundraiser after Ayden Sasser’s sudden passing. (Angel Sasser/Facebook)
The boy’s mother, Angel Nicole Sasser, shared a fundraiser on her Facebook page to support her family in the wake of their son’s death.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“My life…my baby…I don’t know how to move forward…” the grieving mother wrote on social media the days following the heartbreaking accident. “I just don’t have words..no energy… nothing… this is all I have at the moment… I love you all. We just want lots of love… hugs… kind words.”
Investigators in South Korea Attempt to Detain Impeached President
Criminal investigators began a second operation early Wednesday to detain the impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, for questioning in connection with insurrection charges.
How Marco Rubio's roots could impact his approach if confirmed as secretary of state
During his political career, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has focused his attacks on countries with communist governments and improving relationships with Latin America.
Palisades home saved from wildfire in part due to swimming pool pump system
A Los Angeles family in the Palisades Highlands shared this week how they used their swimming pool, a generator, sprinkler, pump and a fire hose to save their house from the wildfires, which have destroyed thousands of homes.
The system is “very budget friendly and easy to operate,” Instagram user Cali_._love wrote along with a video showing them pumping water out of their pool and spraying it on vegetation around their hillside home.
“There is no doubt in my mind that this generator, pump, pool, sprinkler and fire hose contributed to saving our family home,” Cali_._love wrote. “My dad was so adamant about all the neighbors having one. He was correct as he has been so many times in his career.”
They said they drained two swimming pools — theirs and their neighbors — running their equipment for 10 hours over two days, soaking the plants and their roof “just to come back the next day to find the bottom half of the palm tree burnt along with the whole hillside.
LOS ANGELES COUPLE’S HARROWING ESCAPE AS EATON FIRE APPROACHED THEIR HOME CAUGHT ON VIDEO DOORBELL
A Los Angeles family shared how they used their swimming pool, a generator, sprinkler, pump and a fire house to save their house from the wildfires, which have destroyed thousands of homes. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
“Without this, there would be no more house and possibly no more neighbors. Were we lucky? Extremely. Were we prepared? Yes. Were there things we would have done differently? Absolutely,” they wrote.
Seeing that their house didn’t burn down, they said they’re “adamant” that everyone who has a swimming pool should use their system.
They said even without a pool there are other water storage solutions.
The system is “very budget friendly and easy to operate,” Instagram user Cali_._love wrote along with a video showing them pumping water out of their pool and spraying it on vegetation around their hillside home. (cali_._love/Instagram)
“Since we were in the area we did our rounds on the neighbors’ homes and our dear family friends,” they added. “We encountered a lot of threatening embers and live fire. It was a challenge to put them all out but we did the best we could with buckets and their pools. If they had this, we would have been 100x more efficient.”
A home reduced to ashes during the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Michael Nigro/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
They also offered a demonstration for anyone interested in using the system to protect their home.
Wednesday Briefing: A Major U.S. Senate Hearing
Trump’s defense pick faced a divided Senate hearing
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, faced hours of questioning yesterday during his Senate confirmation hearing. A vote to decide whether he will lead the Pentagon — a department with three million employees and an $849 billion budget — could come as soon as Monday. Read more.
Republicans largely defended Hegseth. Democrats questioned him about sexual misconduct allegations — Hegseth was accused of rape in 2017 — and his drinking habits. They also called him unfit to lead the Pentagon, and grilled Hegseth, a former Fox News host, on his long history of disparaging comments about women in the military.
A key Republican, Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, a veteran and a sexual assault survivor, appeared satisfied with his responses to her questions about the role of women in the military and sexual assault prevention. Ernst, who is seen as critical to Hegseth’s confirmation chances, spent much of her time focusing on their agreement that the Pentagon should be audited.
Quotable: Hegseth described himself as a changed man and a redemption story, and he dismissed the allegations against him as a “smear campaign.”
“Have you overcome personal issues or are you the target of a smear campaign?” Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a Democrat, asked. “You can’t be both.”
What’s next: It was unclear whether Hegseth left the hearing with the votes he needs to be confirmed. If all Senate Democrats oppose him, Hegseth will have to secure the backing of at least 50 of the 53 Republicans in the chamber.
Related: A report was released yesterday that detailed the special counsel’s investigation into Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Here are four takeaways.
Strong winds threatened to spread new fires in L.A.
Officials urged residents of Los Angeles County to brace themselves for potential power outages and to be ready to flee, as expected gusts and dry vegetation could create conditions for new blazes across Southern California. At least 24 people have been killed, about two dozen others are missing and thousands have been displaced. Follow our live coverage.
Firefighters already battled and contained a new brush fire yesterday, but officials were worried it could break free again in windy conditions. The largest blaze, the Palisades fire, was still far from contained. The Eaton fire, which has killed multiple people, was also not contained. Track the fires here.
A cultural loss: The scope of valuables destroyed by the blazes is only beginning to take shape. One resident lost about 30 works by Andy Warhol — and dozens more by other artists — when his Pacific Palisades home was destroyed. “It’s dust at this point,” he said.
Seeking a safe haven: Tens of thousands of evacuees were scrambling to find temporary shelter, exacerbating the housing shortage in one of America’s least affordable cities.
Israel and Hamas appear close to a cease-fire deal
Israel and Hamas are “on the brink” of agreeing to a cease-fire in Gaza and to the release of the hostages held there, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday.
Neither Israeli nor Hamas officials have publicly confirmed their position on the proposal. On Monday, a Hamas official said a deal was possible in the coming days as long as Israel didn’t change its positions, and an Israeli official said yesterday that Israel was ready to close the deal and was waiting on Hamas. Mediators, which include Qatar, Egypt and the U.S., warned that negotiations could break down at any moment, as they have so many times in the past.
The toll in Gaza: Deaths from bombs and other traumatic injuries during the first nine months of the war may have been underestimated by more than 40 percent, according to an analysis published in The Lancet.
The Maha Kumbh Mela festival in India begins this week, and it is expected to draw up to 400 million Hindu pilgrims to the banks of the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers in what would be the world’s largest human gathering. The ceremony, which happens every 12 years and centers on a series of holy baths, has also become an important political event.
This is the first festival since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party took power. It is a chance for him to promote his right-wing party.
Lives lived: Oliviero Toscani broke advertising boundaries with his Benetton campaigns that delved into AIDS, and racial and sexual diversity activism. He is dead at 82.
CONVERSATION STARTERS
Mapping ‘The Lord of the Rings’
Karen Wynn Fonstad, a cartographer, connected so deeply with the world depicted in “The Fellowship of the Ring” that she called J.R.R. Tolkien’s publisher in 1977 to pitch a dream assignment. Much to her surprise, an editor agreed.
The result was “The Atlas of Middle-earth,” a tome with 172 maps that renders Tolkien’s world in astonishing detail, including the bedrock morphology of the Shire, settlement patterns in Gondor and plate tectonics in Mordor. Poring over her work, you “feel like you can get dirt under your nails exploring a place,” one contemporary mapmaker said.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Democrats question Pete Hegseth's qualifications at Senate confirmation hearing today
Pete Hegseth appeared before a Senate Committee for a public hearing on his nomination to be the next Secretary of Defense.
California wildfires prompt House Republican talks on conditioning aid: ‘A pound of flesh’
As wildfires rage in California, Republicans in Washington have begun discussing whether to condition federal aid on changes to policies they blame for the blazes.
“It’s part of the discussion right now,” Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital. “People are unwilling to just stroke a check for something that, quite honestly, they still have a lot of questions. And obviously, the fires are still burning, so we don’t even know what the total is going to be at the end of the day.”
The Los Angeles area has been grappling with multiple deadly wildfires in recent days, with nearly 100,000 Californians under evacuation orders.
Officials are far from knowing what the final damage estimates will be, as well as how much additional funding will need to be approved by Congress.
ESSENTIAL PHONE NUMBERS FOR LOS ANGELES-AREA RESIDENTS AND HOW YOU CAN HELP THEM
Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans are discussing whether to condition aid for the California wildfires. (Getty Images)
But a broad cross-section of Republicans are already blaming the Democratic stronghold state’s policies and management for exacerbating the issue.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of questions raised about it, but we also want to work cooperatively with, you know, everybody on both sides of the aisle,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said when asked about conditioning aid. “But I think that’s just the reality. There’s gonna be some questions we’ll be asking.”
Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee’s subcommittee on housing and insurance, said it was too early to be discussing possible specific conditions but criticized California’s home insurance policies.
“I think there’s real issues… For far too long, California state laws have been pushing out insurers from that state, making it even harder to get home insurance,” Flood told Fox News Digital.
POWER GRID FAULTS SURGED RIGHT BEFORE LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES BEGAN: EXPERT
“I think California’s got to do a couple of things. They have to demonstrate that they are going to create an environment where home insurance, housing insurance, is reflected in the risk, that they understand the risk, and they are pricing accordingly. And then, as it relates to forestry management, I think there’s a lot of members of Congress who will wanna say, ‘How did this happen? What kind of policies led to this?’”
Meanwhile, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, who typically are adamant about steep cuts to offset any supplemental government spending, are no different on California’s fires.
Rep. Ralph Norman called for a “pound of flesh on any dollar spent” on California (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s got to be more than paid for. They’ve got to own it,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told reporters. “California has never been exactly the most conservative state in terms of spending. We’ve got to get a pound of flesh on any dollar spent on California, in my opinion.”
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., who also sits on the House Appropriations Committee, told Fox News Digital, “Why would we continue to fund the same policies that caused the problem? I mean, seriously, why would you do that?”
California Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., did not explicitly rule out conditioning aid but said people needed help as soon as possible.
“California needs to change the way it approaches issues of water, forest management, and not to mention a lot of other things. I think that absolutely we need to demand those changes take place. At the same time, folks who are suffering, who have lost everything, lost their homes, lost their communities, we need to get them help, and we need to get them help… as soon as possible, and we shouldn’t let anything stand in the way,” he said.
Not all Republicans are on board, however. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., whose own home state has seen a fair share of natural disasters, told Huffington Post, “I think we ought to do aid the way we do everybody else.”
But the idea has gained traction with the highest levels of GOP leadership — including Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who first floated conditional disaster aid to reporters Monday.
Rep. Kevin Kiley did not endorse conditioning aid but did not rule it out either, while criticizing his home state’s progressive government. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
“It appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty. And in many respects, and that’s something that has to be factored in,” Johnson said. “I think there should probably be conditions on that aid. That’s my personal view. We’ll see what the consensus is.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Democrats, meanwhile, have vehemently attacked the idea.
“Conditioning aid for suffering people who have paid beyond their fair share in federal taxes is uniquely reprehensible, even for my colleagues across the aisle,” Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., wrote on X.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday. “I just want to say it is outrageous for Speaker Johnson to try to tie conditions onto this disaster relief or to tie disaster aid to unrelated concepts like the debt ceiling. We should not be leveraging the pain and suffering of our fellow Americans to try to force through policy changes.”
Investigators, With Reinforcements, Try Again to Detain South Korean Leader
Criminal investigators armed with a court-issued warrant prepared a second, much-anticipated operation early Wednesday to detain President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning in connection with insurrection charges that stem from his short-lived imposition of martial law last month.
Police buses began massing before dawn outside the hilltop presidential compound where Mr. Yoon has been holed up since he was impeached — and suspended from office — by the National Assembly on Dec. 14. He was the first South Korean leader to place his country under military rule since the country began democratizing in the late 1980s.
When the investigators first visited his residence to serve a detention warrant on Jan. 3, they were outnumbered by presidential security agents. They were met by barricades of cars, bodyguards and soldiers and had to beat an embarrassing retreat after a standoff that lasted five and a half hours.
On Wednesday morning, with Mr. Yoon’s attorneys, lawmakers from his party and personnel from the presidential security service standing outside the compound gates, it appeared that he and his supporters were gearing up to resist the renewed effort for his detention.
The investigators have regrouped since their initial failed attempt to detain Mr. Yoon, renewing their warrant and saying they would bring in more police officers the next time they visited his residence. Police officials said they planned to deploy 1,000 officers, including units specializing in targeting drug and organized crime gangs.
For their part, Mr. Yoon’s security guards have since fortified the compound by deploying more buses and razor wire to block gates and walls. Mr. Yoon has vowed to “fight to the end” to return to office and said he won’t surrender to a court warrant that he considered illegal.
The effort to take in Mr. Yoon is the first time in South Korean history that the authorities are trying to detain a sitting president. The unfolding events have gripped the country, with news and social media channels livestreaming coverage. There are fears of a violent clash if neither side backs down.
A day before, the Constitutional Court began a hearing on whether to unseat Mr. Yoon, who did not show up. His lawyers said he feared the investigators would nab him if he left his presidential compound.
During the last attempt to serve the warrant, the Presidential Security Service, a government agency assigned to protect the president and his family, outnumbered the Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials, or C.I.O., which sought to detain him with the help of police. It deployed 200 bodyguards and soldiers to block 100 C.I.O. agents and police officers.
It was unclear how much manpower the presidential security team could muster in the new attempt to detain Mr. Yoon.
A military unit guards the perimeter of the presidential compound. But after the first standoff, the Defense Ministry told the presidential security service that it could no longer use the soldiers to block the serving of the warrant, saying this was not part of the soldiers’ duty.
Cowboys’ Dak Prescott reacts to team parting ways with Mike McCarthy
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott isn’t happy about head coach Mike McCarthy being let go.
“Bummed, because we built some things,” Prescott told ALL DLLS about McCarthy’s departure.
“But I guess they couldn’t reach an agreement. SMH.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy and quarterback Dak Prescott during the San Francisco 49ers game at Levi’s Stadium. (Kyle Terada-USA Today Sports)
McCarthy went 84-49 over five seasons as the Cowboys’ head coach, including three consecutive 12-5 seasons.
Despite the regular season success, McCarthy only had one playoff win over his five years with Dallas.
The Cowboys went 7-10 last season despite many key players missing significant time with injuries, including Prescott.
Prescott spoke in December about his belief in McCarthy.
“Your coach seems like he’s playing on his last contract and [I’m] almost feeling helpless like I can’t help him in this situation, especially a guy you believe in so much and you believe in being your head coach,” Prescott told Yahoo Sports. “Control what I can control, help and support Mike to every extent that I can.”
Prescott only played in eight games due to season-ending surgery on his hamstring.
DEION SANDERS, JERRY JONES TALK COWBOYS’ HEAD COACHING JOB: REPORTS
Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy after the Washington Commanders game, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
“I believe in him wholeheartedly. I don’t want to necessarily get into the nuts and the screws of it all obviously, but I think he definitely deserves a chance – another contract and a chance to coach this team among more influence. ‘On his terms’ may be a good way to say it,” Prescott said.
In Jerry Jones’ statement about not bringing McCarthy back, he talked about how complimentary he was of McCarthy.
“Throughout Mike McCarthy’s tenure here, including the last several weeks, I have been very complimentary of the job he has done,” the statement read.
Jones cited a joint review that led to the team parting ways with McCarthy.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and head coach Mike McCarthy before the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. (Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images)
“Over the past week, Mike and I had the opportunity to conduct a joint review of all aspects of the past season, our players and staff, and also spent considerable time discussing the road forward for the team.”
“Prior to reaching the point of contact negotiations, though, it became mutually clear that it would be better for each of us to head in a different direction.”
Once the Cowboys hire a new head coach, Prescott will be entering his 10th season with the third head coach of his career.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.