By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 1:42 PM EDT, Tue May 5, 2026

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Indiana primary tests Trump’s grip on the GOP

President Trump’s approval rating is at a near-record low and his power over the Republican Party is being tested in Indiana. The president backed Republican challengers to seven state senators who bucked his redistricting efforts last year.

6:57 • Source: CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/05/politics/video/inside-politics-indiana-primary

How hantavirus may have spread aboard a cruise ship, according to health experts

May 5, 2026 2:26 PM EDT / CBS News

By Emily Mae Czachor News Editor
Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She typically covers breaking news, extreme weather and issues involving social justice. Emily Mae previously wrote for outlets like the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.

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A suspected hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean has raised questions about how the rare, often fatal illness could have spread among passengers and crew, and whether it may continue to infect some 150 people now stranded aboard the vessel after three already died.

While typically transmitted to humans through contact with contaminated rodent waste, health officials say it is possible for transmission to take place between people, albeit on a very limited basis. That may partially explain what occurred in this instance, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention.

“We do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that’s happening among the really close contacts, the husband and wife, people who’ve shared cabins,” Van Kerkhove told reporters at a news conference Tuesday, referencing a couple who died from suspected hantavirus cases after spending time on the MV Hondius, a Dutch ship that became the focal point of the apparent outbreak while charting a weekslong polar expedition.

An investigation, quarantine protocols and contact tracing efforts were underway in hopes of pinpointing the origins of the suspected outbreak and staving off further spread, but exactly how it may have emerged was not yet clear, WHO said in a statement. At the news conference, Van Kerkhove suggested the husband and wife may have contracted the virus while exploring wildlife in Argentina, before they joined the cruise. She said the U.N. health agency is generally operating under the assumption that the virus came from outside of the ship.

“The cruise did stop at many different islands up the coast of Africa, and, again, seeing a lot of different wildlife on those islands. There are birds. Some islands have a lot of rodents. Others don’t,” said Van Kerkhove. “So, there could be some source of infection on the islands as well for some of the other suspected cases.”

One known hantavirus strain spreads between people

Hantaviruses are a family of diseases that can cause severe respiratory symptoms, and even death, in people worldwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People usually contract the virus after coming in contact with airborne particles from rodent droppings, urine or saliva. But, as WHO said in a statement about the latest outbreak, there have been reported instances of human-to-human transmission of Andes virus, a specific strain of hantavirus that is responsible for most cases of the illness in South America.

“This cruise ship took off from Argentina, which is why we’re wondering, is it the usual kind [of hantavirus], or is it a kind that can be transmitted person-to-person?” said CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Céline Gounder on Tuesday.

The largest outbreak of the Andes strain was in Argentina in 2018, leading to 34 cases and 11 deaths, Gounder said. But, human-to-human transmission requires “prolonged close contact,” she said, adding, “this is not a pandemic kind of virus.”

She also emphasized that hantavirus remains rare, with fewer than 900 cases over 30 years in the U.S.

The cruise operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, said a 70-year-old Dutch man died on board the ship on April 11. The man’s 69-year-old wife died about two weeks later in South Africa, after disembarking the ship, officials said. According to South Africa’s Health Ministry, the wife’s blood tested positive for hantavirus. A British passenger evacuated from the Hondius to South Africa on April 27 also tested positive, authorities said, and health officials have described him as critically ill.

There are at least four more suspected cases, said Van Kerkhove, including another fatal infection in a German passenger whose body was still on board the ship. At least three others were sick, according to Oceanwide Expeditions and Ann Lindstrand, a WHO representative for African island nation of Cape Verde. On Monday, Cape Verde sent medical teams to assist the Hondius crew but prevented the ship from docking at its ports because of health concerns.

Lindstrand told CBS News that officials strongly believe the three sick people had contracted hantavirus and said all would be evacuated from the Hondius by helicopter on Tuesday.

She agreed the virus was likely contracted off the ship and said no rodents were found aboard the Hondius. Traps on the ship would show signs of them if they had been there, she said.

Lindstrand sought to assuage fears of cruise ships, which are seldom linked to hantavirus despite being frequent sites of other kinds of disease outbreaks, like norovirus. Asked to what extent hantavirus is a pandemic-level threat, she said: “It’s not.”

Aerial photo of the cruise ship MV Hondius off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 4, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

“We hear you”

The ship was expected to make its way toward Spain’s Canary Islands after the sick passengers are evacuated. The Spanish Ministry of Health told CBS News in a statement that its epidemiologists would conduct a review of the ship Tuesday afternoon “to assess the condition of the people on board, determine whether there are more individuals with symptoms, and identify any high-risk or low-risk contacts,” which “will help inform decisions regarding repatriation processes and the ship’s route.”

The passengers and crew could potentially be kept on board for up to eight weeks, said Lindstrand, since the virus’ incubation period can be that long. However, she acknowledged the psychological toll such “distressing” circumstances could take.

One passenger, travel blogger Jake Rosmarin, touched on that in an emotional social media video shared Monday, saying, “There’s a lot of uncertainty, and that’s the hardest part. All we want right now is to feel safe, to have clarity and to get home.”

Officials recognized that the situation is frightening for those on the ship.

“We have heard from quite a few people on the boat,” said Van Kerkhove at Tuesday’s news conference. “We just want you to know we are working with the ship’s operators. We are working with the countries where you are from. We hear you. We know that you are scared.”

Edited by Nicole Brown Chau

Ramy Inocencio contributed to this report.

Walz removes top Minnesota official on eve of ‘gauntlet’ hearing over fraud scandal

May 5, 2026 12:05pm EDT / Fox News

Walz ridiculed for taking credit for Minnesota fraud investigation

Minnesota senate candidate Michele Tafoya discusses Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., skipping a hearing on alleged fraud and criticizes his handling of the issue on ‘The Story.’

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz removed and reportedly demoted the head of the state agency that oversees disbursement of social services program funding like Medicaid and housing assistance, after a months-long firestorm over hundreds of millions lost to fraud.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (MNDHS) was cast into the national spotlight after citizen journalists uncovered a massive, wide-ranging alleged fraud network connected to the Somali community in Minneapolis, where businesses were taking state funds without evidence of actual childcare or other services being provided.

MNDHS Commissioner Shireen Gandhi was booted from her leadership role on Monday, one day before she was set to face an official confirmation hearing local reports described as a “gauntlet,” given the towering fraud scandal gripping the agency.

Gandhi had been an acting commissioner since early 2025, until Walz tapped her as the official head of MNDHS in February.

‘SCHEMES STACKED UPON SCHEMES’: $1B HUMAN-SERVICES FRAUD FUELS SCRUTINY OF MINNESOTA’S SOMALI COMMUNITY

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390751805112

After being returned to a deputy commissioner role within MNDHS, Gandhi oversaw an agency that drew immediate federal attention after news of the wide-ranging fraud scandal affecting her and other Walz administration departments broke.

Under Gandhi’s leadership, MNDHS shut down its Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program in October as ballooning year-over-year payouts led to findings of fraud, with providers using names of eligible beneficiaries to obtain funds through inflated or fake reimbursement claims, according to a Minnesota House probe.

Originally estimated to cost under $3 million, HSS disbursements totaled more than $100 million in 2024, which federal officials considered the “vast majority” to be fraudulent.

A state auditor also alleged that MNDHS had fabricated or backdated documents going back to before Gandhi was commissioner that exacerbated the daycare scandals. In an interview with Minneapolis’ NBC affiliate, Gandhi admitted that MNDHS had not acted fast enough to quash the HSS scandal.

Gandhi also appeared to criticize federal Medicaid administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and the administration after MNDHS created a fraud “fact-check” website that the Washington Examiner reported at times tried to dispute the existence of a fraud issue in the state.

Following her demotion, Walz came out swinging against the White House, blaming Oz and President Donald Trump for playing “politics with Minnesotans’ health care.”

“[W]e are focused on stability and results,” Walz told Minneapolis’ FOX affiliate.

“Today, we’re building on our success by putting an even stronger structure in place; adding leadership, improving oversight, and ensuring these programs are managed with the discipline and accountability Minnesotans expect. That’s how we protect care and deliver for families,” Walz told the outlet.

TIM WALZ FIRES BACK AT TRUMP ACCUSATION OF ‘INCOMPETENCE,’ DODGES ON RESPONSIBILITY FOR FRAUD IN MINNESOTA

Gov. Tim Walz testifies during a House hearing examining alleged misuse of federal funds for Minnesota social services and Medicaid programs, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 2026.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

In a separate release, Gandhi said she remains honored to have led the agency under Walz and to have overseen “aggressive and proactive work to protect Minnesota’s Medicaid program for Minnesota’s most vulnerable people, to detect and prevent fraud, to prevent federal cuts to funding, and to improve internal culture at the agency.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz and MNDHS for additional comment.

When Walz made her commissionership official in February, he called it the “hardest job” in the state and said Gandhi could have decided to retire but did not.

Minnesota Republicans also responded by blasting Walz for shuffling the deck versus providing “steady leadership” in fighting the statewide fraud scandal.

“We could have avoided this entire circus had Gov. Walz seriously considered who was best-equipped to lead DHS in the first place; someone who denies the existence of fraud was never fit to lead the agency experiencing the most fraud our state has ever seen,” state Sen. Paul Utke, R-Park Rapids, said in a statement.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6394301715112

“Keeping [Gandhi] on board as a deputy commissioner does a disservice to every single taxpayer that has lost money to the fraud she has totally failed to address.”

The MNDHS deputy administrator in charge of Medicaid, John Connolly, will fill Gandhi’s old role.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.

Alito and Jackson’s fiery debate over the Voting Rights Act exposes Supreme Court tensions

2026-05-05T18:45:18.483Z / CNN

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PUBLISHED May 5, 2026, 2:45 PM ET

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Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

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The November election is still a long way off, but patience is already running thin at the Supreme Court.

An explosive exchange between three conservative justices and liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson late Monday underscored a tension that has developed in voting cases as the court runs headlong into an election-heavy docket that will have far-reaching implications for the midterms.

Jackson accused the court of rolling over its “principles” in pursuit of influencing the November election.

Justice Samuel Alito fired back, calling that “insulting.” The conservative justice said Jackson’s dissent raised “trivial” and “baseless” arguments.

The heated back-and-forth over what amounted to a technical question about Louisiana’s congressional map comes as the high court is already juggling other appeals that could have consequences for this year’s election – not to mention a flood of short-fuse litigation expected this summer and fall.

“To avoid the appearance of partiality here, we could, as per usual, opt to stay on the sidelines and take no position,” Jackson wrote in a scathing dissent on Monday. “But, today, the court chooses the opposite. Not content to have decided the law, it now takes steps to influence its implementation.”

“What principle has the court violated?” Alito fired back in a concurring opinion joined by conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. “The principle that we should never take any action that might unjustifiably be criticized as partisan?”

Within the world of the Supreme Court, those words were unusually harsh, but it’s the latest example of tension behind the curtain slipping into public view.

Related article Anti-abortion activists participate in the annual March for Life rally on January 23 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images The Supreme Court may force Trump to take a position on mifepristone 6 min read

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court’s senior liberal, issued a rare public apology last month for suggesting earlier that Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s privileged upbringing influenced his approach to an emergency immigration case last year. A day earlier, Jackson spent more than an hour lambasting the court’s conservative majority for its handling of quick-turn cases.

More election decisions incoming

For decades, the Supreme Court cautioned courts against changing the rules of an election at the last minute. The “Purcell principle,” rooted in a 2006 Supreme Court decision, warns federal courts to avoid making late changes to the status quo.

But in the coming weeks, the court will rule on a Republican push to lift caps on how much money political parties may spend in coordination with candidates – a decision that could benefit Republicans by offsetting the advantage Democrats have typically enjoyed in small-dollar donations.

The court will also decide before June whether states may receive mail ballots that arrive after Election Day – a case inspired by baseless allegations from President Donald Trump about widespread vote-by-mail fraud. In March, the court indicated during oral arguments that it was prepared to side with Republicans in that appeal.

More immediately, the justices are being asked to decide in short order what to do with a request from Alabama to throw out a lower court decision that barred that state from redrawing its congressional maps before 2030.

The Yellowhammer State made that request following a blockbuster 6-3 decision last week that gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, enacted in 1965 to root out discrimination in redistricting and other voting practices.

That decision, too, drew a vigorous dissent from the court’s liberals. Justice Elena Kagan, writing for her colleagues, said that the ruling represented the “latest chapter in the majority’s now-completed demolition of the Voting Rights Act.”

The decision has sparked a chaotic rush by several Southern states to redraw their maps in a way that would benefit the Republican Party while almost certainly limiting the number of minority members of Congress.

It also prompted the snarky exchange between Alito and Jackson.

Avoiding chaos in elections?

Just four months ago, in a case about Texas’ congressional map, a majority of the justices shot down a lower court decision against the state for “causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections.”

Though the court didn’t cite Purcell in the opinion directly, it was clearly a reference to the notion that courts should avoid injecting uncertainty into the process.

“When an election is close at hand, the rules of the road must be clear and settled,” Kavanaugh, a member of the court’s conservative wing, wrote in a 2022 decision allowing Alabama to vote on a map the court would later find likely violated the Voting Rights Act. “Late judicial tinkering with election laws can lead to disruption and to unanticipated and unfair consequences for candidates, political parties, and voters, among others.”

But in the Louisiana case, the court handed down its decision after mail ballots had already been sent out to voters.

Spike Lee laments Supreme Court ruling on voting rights: ‘It’s an attack’

1:15 • Source: CNN

Spike Lee laments Supreme Court ruling on voting rights: ‘It’s an attack’

1:15

And in the wake of the decision, Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, announced the state was suspending the May 16 primary election for House races. Other states – including Florida, Alabama and Tennessee – have already carried out a redrawing of their maps or are considering plans to do so.

“It strikes me as completely irreconcilable and inconsistent,” said Davin Rosborough, deputy director of the ACLU Voting Rights Project, who filed a lawsuit Monday attempting to stop Louisiana from suspending the congressional primaries. “I don’t know how the three of them can reconcile what they said with what the court has said over the past six years.”

Those decisions have spurred a glut of new lawsuits, including Rosborough’s, some of which may wind up at the Supreme Court before November.

In her dissent Monday, Jackson zeroed in on the apparent contradiction of a court that has for years urged caution in election matters suddenly upending elections in multiple states.

“There is also the so-called Purcell principle,” she wrote, “which we invoked only five months ago to chide a federal district court for ‘improperly inserting itself into an active primary campaign.’”

The tension evident in the Alito and Jackson opinions Monday was surprising given what was a relatively low-stakes issue. Usually, the Supreme Court issues its “judgment” 32 days after handing down the decision. That procedural step hands the case back to the lower court – in this case, allowing a special district court to dictate the next steps for Louisiana’s redistricting.

A group of White voters who challenged Louisiana’s map made the unusual (but not unheard of) request to expedite the handing down of the judgment. A majority of the court granted that request in a brief and unsigned order, but not until tensions spilled out onto the page.

“The dissent accuses the court of ‘unshackling’ itself from ‘constraints,’” Alito wrote in the final sentence of his opinion. “It is the dissent’s rhetoric that lacks restraint.”

Meanwhile, the fight over finalizing the Supreme Court’s decision continued Tuesday. A group of Black voters who defended Louisiana’s map filed a long-shot motion urging the high court to revoke the judgment to reconsider its decision in the case.

Brazil’s Lula to raise organized crime in talks with Trump this week

2026-05-05 18:39 UTC / Reuters

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U.S. President Donald Trump listens to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speak as they meet on the sidelines of the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 26, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein Purchase Licensing Rights

SAO PAULO, May 5 (Reuters) – Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da ​Silva will bring up the topic ‌of an agreement to combat organized crime in his meeting with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump this week, ​Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said on ​Tuesday.

The two countries can do “important work in ⁠combating transnational organized crime,” Alckmin told ​news channel GloboNews, adding that Lula has ​already raised the agreement with Trump and will do so again at their meeting.

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Lula and Trump are ​expected to meet on Thursday, after a ​previously planned visit to Washington by the Brazilian ‌president ⁠did not occur.

Brazil and the U.S. announced in April a joint initiative to combat organized crime, involving the integration of data from Brazil’s ​federal tax ​authority ⁠with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The initiative aims to integrate intelligence ​efforts to intercept illicit shipments ​of ⁠weapons and narcotics. It comes amid Lula’s efforts on public security, a key issue ⁠in ​Latin America’s largest economy, as ​he seeks a new term in October’s general election.

Reporting ​by Isabel Teles; Editing by Mark Porter

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Delta ending food and beverage service on shorter flights

May 5, 2026 / 1:45 PM EDT / CBS News

If you’re flying Delta Air Lines this summer, you may want to pack your own snacks.

Delta on Tuesday said it is ending food and beverage service on shorter routes beginning May 19.

The move is aimed at creating “a more consistent experience across our network,” the airline said in a statement to CBS News.

Passengers on the airline’s shorter flights — or those under 350 miles — will no longer receive any food and beverage service unless they are seated in first class, “which always receives full service,” Delta said.

A flight from New York to Boston is under 300 miles, while passengers on flights from Los Angeles to San Francisco would still receive food and drinks. With the change, about 9% of Delta’s flights won’t offer food or beverage services.

The airline is adding food and drink options for some customers, including Delta Comfort and Delta Main passengers traveling 350 miles or more. This means 14% of the airline’s daily flights will gain full service, according to the airline.

“Even on the small number of flights without beverage service, our crew will continue to be visible, available, and focused on caring for our customers, like they do on every flight,” Delta said.

The change aligns loosely with other airlines’ food and beverage service policies. American feeds passengers on flights over 250 miles, as does Southwest.

United offers food and beverage service on flights that are 300 miles or longer.

Airlines are also raising fares and cutting routes in response to rising jet fuel costs related to the Iran war. With fuel accounting for up to 30% of an airline’s overall operating costs, carriers are looking for ways to offset the expense. Industry analysts say Spirit Airlines’ recent collapse could also lead to higher fares for travelers, as the budget airline helped keep a lid on fares across the board.

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Publishers, author Scott Turow accuse Meta and Mark Zuckerberg of training AI on copyrighted works

May 5, 2026 1:07 PM EDT / CBS News

By Mary Cunningham

Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. She previously worked at “60 Minutes,” CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program. Read Full Bio.

A group of publishers and bestselling novelist Scott Turow are suing Meta and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, alleging that the tech giant used copyrighted material to train Meta’s artificial intelligence technology.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in a federal court in New York, was brought by Turow and publishers Cengage, Elsevier, Hachette, Macmillan and McGraw-Hill. The plaintiffs allege that Meta scraped millions of copyrighted works from across the internet —including from “notorious pirate sites”— and used the content to train Llama, Meta’s suite of AI models, without permission.

Meta also removed copyright management information from the works to hide the fact that it was training its AI on stolen materials, the lawsuit alleges.

Like other chatbots, Llama generates text outputs in response to user prompts. The complaint claims that the AI tool is reproducing versions of original works from novels, journal articles and textbooks, and in some cases recreating verbatim copies. Llama also mirrors certain authors’ personal style in its responses, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs say Meta’s actions are robbing authors and publishers of revenue they would otherwise receive.

The suit assigns blame to Zuckerberg, claiming he “personally authorized and actively encouraged the infringement” by sidestepping normal licensing procedures.

“As a result of Zuckerberg’s day-to-day involvement in Meta’s AI development, including his authorization for Meta AI to torrent pirate collections to train Llama, Zuckerberg’s net worth recently climbed to over $200 billion,” the lawsuit says.

A Meta spokesperson told CBS News in an email that the company plans to “fight this lawsuit aggressively.”

“AI is powering transformative innovations, productivity and creativity for individuals and companies, and courts have rightly found that training AI on copyrighted material can qualify as fair use,” the spokesperson said in an email.

The literary world has previously clashed with AI companies over copyright issues. In a case last year, Anthropic, maker of the AI chatbot Claude, agreed to settle with hundreds of thousands of authors for $1.5 billion, the largest payout for copyright infringement in history, according to The New York Times.

The plaintiffs in Tuesday’s suit said they are seeking damages.

Edited by Aimee Picchi

Are military dolphins working in the Strait of Hormuz? Probably not, but they have been part of the US Navy for decades

2026-05-05T19:11:49.691Z / CNN

By Haley Britzky

19 min ago

PUBLISHED May 5, 2026, 3:11 PM ET

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Sadie Steinheimer, right, and and Tristan Smith, interns at the Navy Marine Mammal Program (MMP), care for Navy dolphins at Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific on May 5, 2025.

Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael T. Eckelbecker/US Navy

With concerns about Iran laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was asked Tuesday whether Iran might turn to dolphins to help confront the US Navy.

He said that he could “confirm” that Iran didn’t have dolphins to deploy as part of operations but said he would neither “confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins.”

One source familiar with US operations in the Strait of Hormuz told CNN that the US military isn’t using dolphins as part of its efforts in the Strait. But the US Navy does, in fact, have a decades-old program to train dolphins to help detect mines.

The Marine Mammal Program is a part of the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Department within Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific. The department’s dolphins are not kamikaze dolphins in that they do not sacrifice their lives to detonate mines. Instead, they’re focused on detection.

“We use marine mammals to help detect objects under water and to protect ports by detecting intruders,” Scott Savitz, a senior engineer at RAND who previously worked with the now-decommissioned US Navy mine warfare command, told CNN. “So it’s not ‘The Day of the Dolphin.’”

The US isn’t alone in using dolphins for military purposes — Russia has used them to guard ports, and Iran purchased dolphins in 2000, according to the BBC. Those dolphins would likely be too old to be used today, and there is no indication that Iran has an active dolphin program, though the Wall Street Journal reported last month that Iran was considering mine-carrying dolphins as a novel way to combat the US efforts to open the Strait.

The question to Hegseth on Tuesday comes amid questions about the ceasefire between the US and Iran, after shots were fired by both sides as tensions escalated in the Strait of Hormuz. CNN reported in March that Iran had started laying mines in the Strait; Hegseth said in April that laying mines would violate the tentative ceasefire agreement and that the US military would “deal with that.”

US Navy teams work with specially trained dolphins during an exercise to detect underwater explosives left over from war near Montenegro.

US Embassy in Montenegro

The US Navy’s dolphin program has been around since 1959, focused on training bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to detect and recover objects underwater. According to the Marine Mammal Program’s webpage, dolphins “possess the most sophisticated sonar known to science,” and underwater drones are “no match for the animals.”

“Both dolphins and sea lions have excellent low light vision and underwater directional hearing that allow them to detect and track undersea targets, even in dark or murky waters,” the website says. “Dolphins are trained to search for and mark the location of undersea mines that could threaten the safety of those on board military or civilian ships.”

During a detection mission, the dolphin would typically travel with 2-3 handlers in a small boat. To indicate if they’ve found something, the animal will tap a paddle at the front of the boat, and tap a back paddle to indicate they haven’t, according to the Naval Undersea Museum. The dolphins drop “marker buoys” near mines they’ve located to help human divers find and disable them.

But dolphins are not typically used in an active combat environment like what exists in the Strait of Hormuz currently. Instead, dolphins have been used to detect mines after fighting has finished, Savitz said.

Savitz pointed specifically to when dolphins were deployed in 2003 to detect any mines leading to the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr after the US and coalition partners had captured southern Iraq.

“Hostilities had basically ceased,” he said. “You’re not trying to fight your way in with dolphins.”

A key aspect of the program, Savitz explained, is that the dolphins and sealions have the opportunity to leave every time they go out into the open waters for training or operations.

“They choose to come back because they like the free fish; they like the game of can you find this on the sea floor, can you find the person trying to swim close to the piers; they like the protection from predators,” Savitz said. “There are always questions about animal welfare, but these animals actively choose to stay in the program when they could just join the wild.”

CNN’s Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.

Judge who apologized to WHCA shooting suspect was appointed by court full of anti-Trump judges

2026-05-05 14:10 EDT / Fox News

Faruqui said he was disturbed Allen was put in five-point restraints, comparing treatment to Jan. 6 defendants

By Ashley J. DiMella Fox News

Published May 5, 2026 2:10pm EDT

A federal judge’s apology to the accused White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner shooter ignites controversy, with critics citing his past anti-Trump rhetoric. Judge Zia Faruqui previously slammed the Justice Department’s handling of Trump-related cases, once describing their efforts to prosecute a threat against the former president as ’embarrassing for the government’ during a September 2025 hearing.

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A federal magistrate judge who apologized to the suspect accused of plotting an assassination attempt against President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner has a history as a sharp critic of Trump-era federal prosecutions, a Fox News Digital review of his background found.

“To me, it’s extremely disturbing that he was put in five-point restraints, a person with no criminal history. It’s troubling,” said Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, referring to suspect Cole Allen’s jail treatment on Monday. “I never heard of one Jan. 6 defendant who was put in five-point restraints or in a safe cell. If the only way to keep him safe is the most punitive thing, that’s a problem.”

“At a minimum, I should be apologizing to him. We are obligated to make sure he’s taken care of. Mr. Allen, I’m sorry that things have not been the way they are supposed to,” said Faruqui.

Faruqui, appointed as a U.S. magistrate judge in 2020, has previously clashed with federal prosecutors in Washington over Trump administration law-enforcement surge cases, accusing U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office of overreaching by bringing some matters in federal court that he said belonged in local court.

COLE ALLEN CHARGED IN TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN FIRST COURT APPEARANCE AFTER WHCA DINNER SHOOTING

“To me, it’s extremely disturbing that he was put in five-point restraints, a person with no criminal history. It’s troubling,” said Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui speaking about alleged shooter Cole Allen on Monday.(Dana Verkouteren)

Faruqui was selected by judges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to serve an eight-year term as a magistrate judge in 2020. At the time of his September 2020, appointment, the court’s active Article III bench was composed of 15 judges — 11 appointed by Democratic presidents and four appointed by Republican presidents.

He was sworn in by then-Chief Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee who has faced ethics complaints and criticism from Trump allies over her handling of Trump-related matters.

Trump and his allies have repeatedly cast the D.C. federal bench as hostile terrain for the administration, accusing judges in the district — including Chief Judge James Boasberg, who has drawn Trump’s ire in high-profile immigration litigation — of anti-Trump bias in politically charged cases.

The Allen hearing was not the first time Faruqui’s handling of a Trump-related threat case drew backlash from federal prosecutors. Last year, he clashed with Pirro’s office amid the case against Edward Alexander Dana — who was accused of threatening to kill Trump while in police custody on vandalism charges — before it was dismissed.

Pirro issued a statement at the time accusing Faruqui of having an “allegiance to those who violate the law.”

FEDERAL JUDGE RIPS DOJ PROSECUTORS, DISMISSES TRUMP THREAT CASE: ‘THERE’S NO CREDIBILITY LEFT’

“This judge took an oath to follow the law, yet he has allowed his politics to consistently cloud his judgment and his requirement to follow the law,” Pirro wrote last year. “America voted for safe communities, law and order, and this judge is the antithesis of that.”

“At a minimum, I should be apologizing to him. We are obligated to make sure he’s taken care of. Mr. Allen, I’m sorry that things have not been the way they are supposed to,” said Faruqui.(Craig Hudson/The Washington Post)

At the time, Faruqui said the government owed Dana an apology, arguing the department’s rush to charge and its repeated dismissal of cases showed “too many misfires.” Faruqui used the moment to preach about equality, adding the message that “people who look like Mr. Dana” is to “be very afraid” saying the country is “past the point of constitutional crisis.”

Faruqui also played a role in Jan. 6, 2021, cases, when protesters breached the U.S. Capitol. Lawmakers and political figures called out Faruqui, saying that he did not show the same level of concern for the Jan. 6 protesters as he did for Allen.

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“Strange that not a single judge in DC had a thought anywhere close to this for any of the Jan 6 people they maliciously prosecuted,” wrote Donald Trump Jr. on X.

“As a former judge for over a decade, I am appalled by this judge’s condemnation of law enforcement and prosecutors who were simply doing their jobs to address the safety of this would be Trump assassin,” wrote Republican Florida Sen. Ashley Moody on X.

Allen faces federal charges including attempted assassination, firearms offenses, and could face life in prison if convicted.(Donald J Trump via Truth Social/Handout via Reuters)

“Apologizing and coddling the man who attempted to kill the President of the United States and his cabinet is embarrassing to the entire judiciary,” she added. “This judge has no business being on the bench let alone on this case.”

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“I thought perhaps the article with its headline about the judge apologizing to the assassin was from The Babylon Bee,” wrote former Clinton pollster Mark Penn on X.

“What planet could this judge possibly be on? Does he not remember what happened to Lee Harvey Oswald? Does he not realize that mixing him at this point would be a danger to him? And not realize that putting him on suicide watch was a perfectly realistic action given Allen never expected to survive the attack? Sometimes it just seems like an upside down world,” Penn added.

Allen faces federal charges, including attempted assassination and firearms offenses, and could face life in prison if convicted.

Fox News Digital reached out to Faruqui’s chambers on Tuesday.

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