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Republican revolt over Trump ‘weaponization’ fund stalls ICE funding vote

2026-05-21T20:17:01.227Z / Reuters

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Republicans abandoned plans to vote on a bill to fund U.S. ​immigration enforcement operations on Thursday in a political revolt against one of President Donald Trump’s priorities: a $1.8 billion fund for victims of government “weaponization,” including those ‌convicted of violent crimes during the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

The Senate walked away from a planned vote on a $72 billion bill funding Trump’s massive migrant deportation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, delaying the vote at least until June, when lawmakers return from a one-week Memorial Day holiday recess.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune had sought to focus the legislation narrowly to secure the money intended to fund ​ICE and Border Patrol through the end of Trump’s presidency. But at Trump’s behest, the $1.8 billion “weaponization” fund and another $1 billion for building a White House ballroom became ​sticking points.

“It was something that was supposed to be very narrow, targeted, focused, clean, straightforward, and it got a little bit more complicated ⁠this week,” Thune said, expressing his frustration. “It makes everything way harder than it should be.”

The battle over the partisan ICE funding bill came after a Trump-backed challenger unseated two-term Republican ​Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, and the president endorsed a primary challenger over veteran Republican Senator John Cornyn in Texas.

Presidents usually back their party’s incumbents. Republicans said Trump’s opposition to Cassidy ​and Cornyn added to the mood of acrimony surrounding the debate.

“He’s lost some support in the Senate,” said Nebraska Republican Don Bacon, who predicted that Senate Republicans would have to impose curbs on Trump’s fund, which the Justice Department announced as part of a court settlement between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service.

“He’s the plaintiff and the boss of the defendants. So just on the surface, it smells,” he said.

ACTING ATTORNEY ​GENERAL SUMMONED TO CAPITOL HILL

Against that backdrop, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche was summoned to Capitol Hill to face questions from angry senators when he made his case for ​the $1.8 billion fund designed to compensate Trump allies and other victims of government “weaponization.”

During Blanche’s meeting, several senators insisted the money not be used to compensate people convicted of assaulting law enforcement during the ‌Capitol riot, the ⁠person said.

Trump had already pardoned many of those convicted for crimes they committed during that deadly assault.

“I think there are people who are concerned about public relations,” Senator Todd Young, an Indiana Republican, told reporters about the meeting.

Emotions were so raw that a planned White House meeting between Trump, Senate Republicans and House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson was canceled, according to a source familiar with the arrangement.

BIPARTISAN RESISTANCE TO BALLROOM FUNDING

The resistance against Trump became evident late on Wednesday when Senate Republicans said “no” to $1 billion in new security funding for the 90,000-square-foot (8,360-square-meter) ​ballroom Trump wants to build on the ​site of the White House East Wing ⁠that he had razed last October.

For months, Trump has said no taxpayer dollars would be needed for the project. Nonetheless, a $1 billion tab to be picked up by taxpayers stared senators in the face as an add-in to a $72 billion bill for Trump’s migrant deportation program.

Bacon ​said the White House failed to communicate that most of the $1 billion ballroom money would fund needed security upgrades across the ​White House complex. “The ballroom was ⁠rolled out so badly that I’m not sure it can be recovered in the near term,” he said.

Democrats hammered away about a “glitzy,” “gauzy” “vanity project,” a preview of their midterm election pitch addressing voters’ worries about the high prices of food, housing, healthcare and particularly gasoline, which skyrocketed after the February 28 U.S. attack on Iran.

Thune, who started the week with a tense phone call with the ⁠president over ​his endorsement against Cornyn, told reporters after Thursday’s meeting that his party “will pick up where we left off” ​after the holiday recess.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who is not running for reelection, did not hold back in criticizing Trump.

“I think it’s stupid on stilts,” Tillis said of the “weaponization” fund in an interview with Spectrum ​News. “The American people are going to reject this out of hand.”

Reporting by Richard Cowan, David Morgan, Bo Erickson, Jacob Bogage and Katharine Jackson; Editing by Caitlin Webber, Rod Nickel and Michael Learmonth

Trump lawyer-turned-critic Michael Cohen says he’s applying for “anti-weaponization fund” claim

May 21, 2026 / 7:41 PM EDT / CBS News

By Jacob Rosen Justice Department Reporter

Michael Cohen, a Trump lawyer-turned-critic who served prison time due to his work for the president, is planning to apply for money from the Justice Department’s new “anti-weaponization fund,” he told CBS News on Thursday.

“I am working through the process on my own and will submit the letter directly to the DOJ once completed,” Cohen told CBS News in a text message.

The controversial $1.776 billion fund was announced earlier this week, offering financial compensation to people who allege the legal system was “weaponized” against them. It’s part of a settlement between President Trump and the Justice Department to resolve a lawsuit brought by the president against the Internal Revenue Service over the leaking of Mr. Trump’s tax returns.

He said he is applying because he believes the issues that prompted Mr. Trump to sue the government are “identical to what had happened to me.”

“The basis for which Trump instituted the $10 billion action are the same causes of action that have affected me as well—has cost me my law license, my businesses, finances, family happiness, business relationships and opportunities,” Cohen said.

Cohen said that he is still working on a draft of his letter seeking relief. In a portion of his draft obtained by CBS News, Cohen wrote: “If the weaponization fund truly exists to support individuals destroyed by politically motivated law enforcement tactics, selective prosecution, government leaks, abuses of power and intentional destruction of reputation then there is perhaps no clearer example than what happened to me.”

NBC News was first to report on Cohen’s plan to apply for the fund.

Cohen was among Mr. Trump’s most trusted legal advisers before he became president in 2016. He was often referred to as Mr. Trump’s personal “fixer,” and once described himself as “the guy who would take a bullet for the president.” He is now a loud Trump critic.

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after he pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations related to payments he arranged to women alleging affairs with Mr. Trump. He was also sentenced to two months in prison for lying to Congress over a proposed Trump Tower Moscow project, a charge brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. At his sentencing, Cohen claimed his loyalty to Mr. Trump led him to “take a path of darkness instead of light.”

“My weakness can be characterized as a blind loyalty to Donald Trump, and I was weak for not having the strength to question and to refuse his demands,” Cohen said at his sentencing.

In 2024, Cohen testified in a New York state criminal case against Mr. Trump, who was later convicted of falsifying business records related to the same payments to women that were at the center of Cohen’s criminal charges. Mr. Trump has long denied having affairs with the women and denied any criminal wrongdoing.

Cohen testified at trial that the president received regular updates on efforts to cover up salacious stories about him when he ran for president in 2016 and personally signed off on a scheme to falsify records related to them.

This would not be the first time that Cohen has sought relief for what he views as mistreatment by the government. Five years ago, he sued the federal government and Mr. Trump, alleging he was abruptly taken out of a COVID-era home confinement program in 2020 and forced to return to prison in an act of retaliation due to his criticism of the president. A judge dismissed his lawsuit, citing prior court precedents.

Cohen is among the first known Trump critics to signal plans to apply for the “anti-weaponization fund.”

The Justice Department said in a statement Monday that “there are no partisan requirements to file a claim,” and decisions on who will get relief will be determined by a panel of five people appointed by the attorney general.

Many of the other figures who have taken an interest in applying are Trump allies, including former Trump adviser Michael Caputo, who became the first known applicant when he asked the Justice Department for $2.7 million on Tuesday. Some Jan. 6 riot defendants have also suggested they may apply.

The fund has drawn criticism from members of both parties and from ethics watchdogs. The progressive Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called it “the most brazen act of self-dealing in the history of the presidency.”

The Justice Department has defended the fund, with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche comparing it to other settlement funds created by the government and arguing it would remedy “years and years of weaponization.”

Lawmakers react to “anti-weaponization fund”

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/republican-lawmakers-seek-clarity-trumps-anti-weaponization-fund/

Republican lawmakers seek clarity on Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund”

(04:31)

Trump ups Reflecting Pool renovation projections to ‘less than $20 million’ amid court fight

2026-05-21T20:48:17.042Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/21/politics/reflecting-pool-20-million-lawsuit

President Donald Trump said Thursday the price tag for his Reflecting Pool renovations in Washington, DC, will be “less than $20 million” after he decided the exterior needed more work.

“I originally thought I’d do it for $2 or $3 million,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “Just do a base. But now we are fixing up the exterior of it so we will probably be in it for less than $20 million.”

Trump’s comments came as a federal judge heard arguments by a nonprofit suing to stop the project in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The judge did not immediately rule on the motion.

Trump said the exterior work was not included in his original numbers.

“When I went there last week, I saw the exterior was in very bad shape, as well as the interior, so I said, ‘We’re going to fix that too,’” he said.

“The key is to have it done before July 4,” Trump said, adding that the project is “probably at three quarters done.”

The president had initially said the renovation would cost $1.8 million. But federal records show the price tag is already up to $13.1 million for the project, CNN reported.

Trump on Thursday touted the economic efficiency of his renovations, repeatedly pointing to previous repair estimates of $350 million that he said would’ve taken longer.

“It was going to take four years, $350 million. I’ll be doing it in basically a couple of months for less than $20 million dollars.”

The project has been a priority for the president, who has repeatedly disparaged the state of the Reflecting Pool, saying it is feces-infested and in disrepair. He has zeroed in on the color, which he claims no one likes. And he contends that previous administrations failed to repair leaks and other problems.

The color has been a particularly thorny issue in Washington. Historians, including the foundation suing to stop the renovations, say Trump’s choice of a dark blue that he calls “American Flag Blue” will make the site look more like a swimming pool.

Meanwhile, a federal judge in Washington, DC, appeared torn on Thursday over what to do with a request from a non-profit for an order halting work on the Reflecting Pool while their legal challenge to the project plays out.

US District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, asked tough questions to attorneys representing the Cultural Landscape Foundation about how the ongoing work amounted to an irreparable injury that warranted his intervention now. Courts are typically reluctant to issue injunctions like the ones sought by the group unless they can be persuaded that a challenged action cannot later be undone.

“It seems to me that if there is any harm to be done it is both reparable and temporary,” Nichols said during a hearing.

The judge, who did not rule form the bench, pushed a Justice Department attorney to concede that while it’s not possible to remove the paint, it could be painted over in a way that brings the color back closer to how it was before work began this year.

That reality appeared to ease concerns from Nichols that if he didn’t intervene now, but later decided that the government violated federal law in how it carried out the project, his ruling would still have an impact on the ground.

https://www.cnn.com/

“Putting the pool back entirely to the way plaintiffs want — we can do that now and later,” the judge said.

The case, which was brought earlier this month, is the latest challenge to Trump’s effort to remake a slew of cultural and historic institutions and sites in the nation’s capital. Other groups have asked federal courts to stop the president from moving ahead with work on a massive new ballroom at the White House, construction of an arch similar to Paris’ Arc de Triomphe and the painting of a historic federal office building adjacent to the White House.

In the Reflecting Pool case, the plaintiffs contend the project violates federal laws requiring the Interior Department to complete a consultation process that includes notifying the public of the plans and getting input from other federal agencies before beginning the work.

“The new coloration will cause the pool to resemble a large swimming pool rather than the reflective civic landscape it was designed to be, distorting the experience of the site for the millions of visitors who come to it each year,” lawyers for the group wrote in their lawsuit.

The group also says the project runs afoul of a federal law requiring the department to issue an assessment of how the paint job would impact the environment.

“As we speak, the government is defacing a historic treasure,” Alexander Kristofcak, an attorney for the challengers, told Nichols on Thursday.

The Justice Department, however, said both on Thursday and in court papers filed ahead of the hearing that no federal laws were violated because a determination was made to exclude the project in full from an environmental assessment.

As for the winding review process ordinarily required to be undertaken per the National Historic Preservation Act, they said the project underwent a “streamlined review” that can sometimes take place when officials decide work on a site amounts to “routine maintenance.”

鲁比奥5月21日说，外交途径仍是美国的首选，但针对古巴，这种可能性不高。（法新社）

美国国务卿鲁比奥指古巴对美国构成“国家安全威胁”，和平解决的可能性“不高”。

英国广播公司（BBC）报道，鲁比奥星期四（5月21日）飞往瑞典出席北约外长会议前说，华盛顿倾向于外交解决手段，但他警告说，特朗普总统有权也有义务保护美国免受任何威胁。

他说，对于古巴，“外交途径仍是我们的首选”，但他补充说：“老实说，考虑到我们目前打交道的对象，这种可能性不高。”

古巴外长罗德里格斯指责鲁比奥“撒谎”，并表示古巴从未对美国构成威胁。

鲁比奥还指责古巴是“整个地区主要的恐怖主义赞助者之一”，罗德里格斯在X发帖强烈否认这一说法。

延伸阅读

传美国着手拟定针对古巴军事行动方案 美媒称特朗普对古巴“动武”可能性在增加

美国20日宣布以谋杀等罪名起诉古巴前领导人卡斯特罗和另外五人，涉嫌在1996年古巴流亡分子所乘飞机被击落事件中，犯下谋杀四人和破坏飞机等罪行，引发了特朗普要推翻这个共产主义国家的揣测。

同一天，鲁比奥向古巴发布一段西班牙语视频，将古巴的燃料和食品短缺归咎于古巴政府。鲁比奥还说，若古巴采取开放政策，美国将提供1亿美元（约1亿2700万新元）的援助。

Judge dismisses charges against ex-school official accused of neglect after 6-year-old shot teacher

May 21, 2026 / 1:57 PM EDT / CBS/AP

All charges against Ebony Parker, the former elementary school assistant principal accused of ignoring repeated warnings that a 6-year-old student had a gun hours before the child eventually shot and seriously wounded his teacher, were dismissed Thursday.

The ruling from Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson, in Newport News, Virginia, came on the fourth day of Parker’s trial in response to a motion filed by the defense team for the former Richneck Elementary School administrator. She was facing eight counts of felony child neglect for her alleged actions around the shooting, but Robinson said Thursday that the court “is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime.”

Parker was charged in the January 2023 shooting in Newport News that left teacher Abby Zwerner wounded. Prosecutors had said the charges were for each of the bullets in the gun brought into Zwerner’s classroom. Each count could have carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction.

Special prosecutor Josh Jenkins did not immediately return an email and a telephone message left at his office on Thursday. During opening statements earlier this week, Jenkins had sought to paint a picture of Parker as dismissive when employees at the school approached with concerns that a gun may have been inside the 6-year-old’s backpack.

Defense attorney Curtis Rogers told the judge in making his motion that Parker’s decision on the day of the shooting “wasn’t an act of neglect.”

“Her actions in no way indicated that she believed there was a firearm in the possession” of the child, Rogers said.

Ebony Parker looks on during jury selection for her trial at the Newport News Circuit Court in Newport News, Va., Monday, May 18, 2026. Peter Casey/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, Pool

Another defense attorney, Stephen Teague, said outside court that “we believe that the right outcome was reached and we’re thrilled for Dr. Parker. It was a great relief for her and we’re just happy that we were part of her journey.”

Parker was not called to testify during the trial. On Wednesday, a video interview of Parker conducted three days after the shooting by a school district human resources officer was played in the courtroom for the jury.

Parker said she was told about reports that the student had a gun in his backpack, but said she could not leave her office due to ongoing testing. A reading specialist who first reported the concerns then searched the backpack, but no gun was found, Parker said.

Parker then said the student’s mother would arrive to pick him up and go through the rest of his belongings.

Zwerner testified earlier in the trial that during recess on the school playground, the student wore an oversized jacket and kept both of his hands in his pockets the entire time. Zwerner said she sent a text message with that observation to the reading specialist, who had been tipped off earlier by students about the gun and reported it to Parker.

After recess, the student continued to wear the jacket in the classroom, where Zwerner was shot at a reading table. Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, required six surgeries and does not have the full use of her left hand. A bullet narrowly missed her heart and remains in her chest.

Criminal charges against school officials after a school shooting are quite rare, experts say. The shooting sent shock waves through this military shipbuilding community and the country at large, with many wondering how a child so young could gain access to a gun and shoot his teacher.

A jury awarded $10 million to Zwerner in a civil trial last November, where Parker, who no longer works at the school, was the only defendant.

The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges.

Some Fed officials and staff are fretting about state of financial markets

2026-05-21T16:19:00.894Z / reuters.com

• Summary

• Latest Fed meeting minutes show staff and some officials worried about market risks
• Minutes show some Fed officials also want fresh tweaks to liquidity tools
• Market anxiety comes as Kevin Warsh nears control of Fed

NEW YORK, May 21 (Reuters) – When Kevin Warsh takes command of the Federal Reserve, he will do so as some central bank officials and staff have become increasingly anxious ​about the state of the financial markets and the risk that presents to the economy.

Meeting minutes for the central bank’s late-April Federal Open Market Committee showed that ‌staff as well as a number of policy makers are showing some anxiety about the state of finances, as they wonder how they can shore up the already expansive suite of tools the Fed has in place to deal with market woes.

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Even as the war in the Middle East has darkened the outlook, stock markets have booked strong gains that many struggle to square with economic fundamentals. Bond markets around the world have seen big ​rises in yields as investors fret about inflation and the government financing outlook. There’s also increasing concern about how artificial intelligence investment is financed by debt, which increases the ​risk of market trouble should problems arise.

That conversation, which transpired at the Fed’s April 28-29 meeting, took place under the shadow of a looming ⁠changing of the guard at the central bank: Warsh is set to be sworn in as Fed chair on Friday, succeeding Jerome Powell, who will stay on for a time as a ​governor.

Warsh comes to the Fed as a critic of some of its key work over recent years, such as using aggressive asset buying as a tool to help calm markets in times of stress ​and to augment the stimulative power of its short-term interest rate target.

Warsh has also leaned toward a greater coordination with the Treasury Department in matters outside of monetary policy, which suggests possible changes for how the Fed uses its various liquidity tools to address financial stress.

Some fear the Fed will be less willing to step in in times of trouble and that the likely path toward accomplishing Warsh’s desire for a smaller Fed balance sheet ​would actually increase risk in the financial system.

NOTABLE VULNERABILITIES

In the meeting minutes, Fed staff “on balance continued to characterize the system’s financial vulnerabilities as notable. The staff judged that asset valuation pressures were elevated.” ​Fed staff seemed relatively sanguine on the state of household balance sheets but were worried about borrowing, most notably by hedge funds active in the government bond market.

Meanwhile, unnamed Fed policy makers shared at least some ‌of that ⁠assessment.

“Several participants noted that asset valuations remained elevated and that such conditions heightened the possibility of sharp corrections should adverse developments materialize,” while “many” officials noted concerns about private credit markets given the opacity of the sector.

The minutes said some Fed officials discussed “ongoing and potential operational improvements related to various liquidity tools” used by the central bank, including the discount window facility, standing repo operations and arrangements to provide dollars to other major central banks.

The minutes, in noting that officials voted to affirm the current currency swap lines, said “a few” Fed officials were interested in extending that arrangement beyond the ​current year, saying “a longer extension would be beneficial ​for financial stability.”

Fed officials have been pressing ⁠for some time to get more deposit-taking banks prepared to use the discount window lending facility, its long-running and frequently stigmatized tool to extend fast credit to banks.

The Fed has also been tinkering with various arrangements for its repo operations, which loan cash to eligible financial firms. The Fed ​has encouraged eligible firms to use the discount window as needed, with the same guidance extended to the repo operations, which tend to ​see elevated demand during ⁠calendar-based market liquidity challenges.

Fed liquidity tools are aimed at stabilizing markets during times of stress and ensuring the Fed retains firm control of its interest rate target. Variations of these tools and policy strategies have gotten notable workouts in recent years, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the banking crisis that happened in the spring of 2023.

While the Fed has defended its tool kit—New York Fed System Open Market Account ⁠Manager Roberto Perli ​said on Tuesday that the current system “is demonstrably very effective”—others have criticized the entire regime and it’s unclear where ​Warsh stands on the matter.

The interlinkage between the Fed’s various tools, which help bind short-term rates, would be hard to dismantle piece by piece, and a return to the system the Fed used before the start of the financial crisis ​nearly two decades ago would be very challenging and take a long time to accomplish, in the view of many observers and current central bankers.

Reporting by Michael S. Derby; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama

“Survivor 50” finalists discuss how they planned to win the record prize

May 21, 2026 / 12:26 PM EDT / CBS News

By Mark Osborne

If you thought Aubry Bracco came out of nowhere to win the historic “Survivor 50” title on Wednesday night, you’re not alone. That was exactly the point, she said.

“When you have 23 incredible players, you have to know when to put your foot on the gas, when to slow down, and there are a lot of times when I go, ‘Oh, this is happening over here, let the attention go there.’ … You remain in the pocket and wait to strike when it is your moment,” Bracco told “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King on Thursday.

The New Hampshire native, who initially starred in season 32, took home the record $2 million prize on Wednesday night’s finale. Bracco made it to the final three in “Survivor: Kaôh Rōng,” but came up short in the final vote.

“I’m always having an out-of-body experience on ‘Survivor,’” Bracco told “CBS Mornings.” “Jeff Probst can attest, it has been 10 years and I came up just short, and you always taste it when you get that close.”

Winner Aubry Bracco, front right, attends the “Survivor 50” Live Finale with her fellow contestants at the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles, on May 20, 2026. Robert Voets/CBS via Getty Images

On Thursday’s episode of “CBS Mornings,” the five finalists and Probst, who has hosted all 50 seasons of the show, discussed in-depth their strategy of how to win the show, which featured contestants from previous seasons, on Thursday.

“It is ultimately a game of social politics, and the big twist of ‘Survivor’ is you are getting rid of people that then in the end you have to persuade to give you $2 million,” Probst said. “That’s a tough thing do.”

Tiffany Nicole Ervin, who orginially appeared on season 46, said she thought she was voted out because she had “too many friends” on the jury, which made those still in the game concerned she would earn their votes if she made the final three.

“I think that’s why I was voted out, because I was friends with everybody on the jury,” Ervin said. “I think that’s a part of what makes you a threat.”

While Bracco tried to stay out of everyone’s minds, Jonathan Young wanted everyone to underestimate him.

“I thought about ‘Survivor’ every day for four years,” Young, who initially appeared on season 42, said. “Because I played a game, I knew if you watched me, you didn’t see any strategy. I was just the big guy. So, if I wear the same clothes, if I act similar, then nobody would believe I had any strategy — and most people didn’t.”

Ervin, a New Jersey native, said she looked at “Survivor” as an “athletic competition” and had total confidence in her strategy.

“I absolutely thought it was going to be me [who won],” Ervin said. “You don’t play a game like ‘Survivor 50,’ coming in not thinking you will be the winner.”

Joe Hunter, Jonathan Young and Aubry Bracco attend the “Survivor 50” Live Finale at the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles, on May 20, 2026. Robert Voets/CBS via Getty Images

On falling short again

Rizo Velovic had a very different experience than most of the other contestants. He appeared on season 49, and had only nine days in-between seasons, he said.

“Falling short twice obviously sucks, but to know that I’m a part of history is something that I wear as a badge of honor,” Velovic said.

Velovic, the New York native who crowned himself with the nickname RizGod, finished fourth in the last season and repeated the finish in “Survivor 50.”

Ervin, who finished eighth in season 46, was fifth in this year’s all-star show. But she had no regrets about how she played the game.

“It is so hard to regulate your emotions when you are playing a game like ‘Survivor,’” Ervin said. “You are hungry, you are tired. You are giving your literal blood, sweat and tears into these challenges.”

“I love this game so much. It is so hard not to get emotionally invested, and above all else we are passionate,” she added. “It is so difficult not for that passion to ooze out of my pores when something is going on or whether something is going good.”

Probst explains live TV mistake

Before chatting with the contestants, King asked Probst about what happened when he accidentally revealed Velovic had lost a challenge during the live show before the taped segment had aired.

As Velovic stood next to him on stage, Probst commented that he hadn’t managed to light a campfire in the challenge that would determine the final three contestants.

“I don’t know if there’s something in there to think about,” Probst said on the finale. “Anyway, Rizo, you’ve become the final member of our jury. Take a spot over here.”

The entire cast of the show immediately flagged Probst had messed up and the taped segment from the island hadn’t aired yet.

On Thursday’s “CBS Mornings” interview, the host explained why the mistake happened.

“What is happening when you are doing a ‘Survivor’ finale is two things: You are running the show, the episode, and then doing the live hits where I come out and talk to one of the players,” he said. “I’m not watching the show. I’m backstage getting ready for my funny question with Rizo about if only he had practiced fire-making.”

“So, I come out. We are all set up on the stage. We have an empty seat for Rizo. I don’t think anything is weird. It wasn’t until I started talking to Rizo about losing in fire that I’m telling —we had 1,200 people there — I could collectively feel the energy go to an emoji like this,” Probst said, mimicking the shocked-face emoji.

“What happened, I’m still not sure. We have a big team, mistakes happen. But we got ahead of ourselves,” he said.

Probst relayed that Rizo later told him he was confused what was happening as well. The host said Rizo told him, “I don’t know why he is sending me to the jury, I haven’t lost yet.”

“Live TV,” Probst said.

Democrats release ‘autopsy’ on 2024 US election loss but reject findings

2026-05-21T18:02:45.343Z / Reuters

Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris participates in a “town hall” with radio host Charlamagne Tha God, in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., October 15, 2024.REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• Report cites underfunded state parties, weak outreach
• It says party lost ground with men, non-college, rural voters

May 21 (Reuters) – Bowing to pressure from within its ranks, the Democratic National Committee released on ​Thursday its long‑withheld “autopsy” of Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race — only ‌to quickly disavow it.

The report found that Democrats have ceded ground to Trump’s Republicans through under-funding of state parties and a “persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters.”

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In particular, Democrats underperformed among male voters, non-college voters, irregular voters and rural voters, it said. The report ​was released less than six months before November’s midterm congressional elections.

In a statement accompanying the release, DNC Chairman ​Ken Martin said it “does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards,” but ⁠he said it was being published to restore trust in the party.

The 192-page document includes a disclaimer at the ​top of each page stating that it “reflects the views of the author, not the DNC,” and notes appended throughout highlight inaccuracies ​as well as conclusions offered without evidence.

The report was written by Paul Rivera, a Democratic consultant, who could not immediately be reached for comment. It was completed late last year, and some Democrats were angry it was being kept secret.

While Democrats appear well-positioned to make ​gains in Congress in the November vote given Trump’s declining popularity, they are still searching for a unifying message ahead ​of the 2028 presidential campaign.

A New York Times/Siena College poll this week found widespread frustration among Democratic voters of all stripes, even ‌as the ⁠party appears to have a sizable advantage over Republicans heading into the election, the newspaper reported.

Martin had initially promised to release the report but changed his mind in December, saying he did not want to encourage Democrats to engage in finger-pointing about 2024 rather than focusing on the future. The turnabout caused some party supporters to question his leadership.

He wrote ​that he had withheld the ​report after last November’s ⁠Democratic victories in Virginia and New Jersey to avoid distraction, but acknowledged the decision only created a larger one. “For that, I sincerely apologize,” he said.

Both major parties have in the ​past commissioned autopsies following losses to explore what lessons should be learned, including interviewing party ​leaders, activists ⁠and donors and analyzing spending and messaging.

The report notes that 2024 was quite close, which might convince Democrats they only need to make minor changes.

But that approach is “denialist at its core,” according to the report, which said the party “has vacillated between stagnation ⁠and retrogression” ​since Barack Obama’s landslide White House win in 2008.

The autopsy also blamed ​Democrat Joe Biden’s White House for failing to set Harris up for success when she was his vice president, leaving her in a weakened position ​when Biden abruptly dropped his reelection bid in July 2024.

Reporting by Joseph Ax, editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller

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U.S. doctor with Ebola feared he “wasn’t going to make it” before evacuation from Congo

May 21, 2026 / 12:21 PM EDT / CBS News

An American doctor who was infected with Ebola while working with a medical missionary organization in Africa said in a statement that he is feeling “cautiously optimistic” as he fights the deadly virus.

Dr. Peter Stafford was working with the missionary group Serge in the Democratic Republic of Congo when he was infected with the virus, the group said. He was evacuated to a hospital in Berlin, Germany, to receive care, the group said Tuesday.

“Before I was evacuated I was feeling really concerned I wasn’t going to make it. And now I’m cautiously optimistic,” Stafford said in a statement shared by Serge.

Stafford’s wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, who also works with Serge, and their four children were also evacuated to Germany, Serge said. They are asymptomatic and are being isolated and monitored, the group said Thursday.

The Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak in Congo, which has spread to neighboring Uganda and South Sudan, is likely larger than what has officially been reported, health officials have warned. There are so far nearly 600 suspected cases, including 139 suspected deaths, the World Health Organization said.

Stafford was exposed to the virus while doing a surgery at Nyankunde Hospital in Bunia, a city in eastern Congo, Serge said in an earlier statement. He has worked at the hospital since 2023, according to the group. Ebolaviruses are transmitted from person to person through bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen, and medical personnel can be at high risk if exposed to sick patients.

Dr. Peter Stafford is isolated during his evacuation from Africa. Serge

This is only the third known outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain. There is no known vaccine or treatment for it, health officials have said. The first symptoms are typically fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and a sore throat. Symptoms then can progress to vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, rash, organ dysfunction and less frequently, internal or external bleeding. The fatality rate of the Bundibugyo strain is about 30 to 50%, according to the WHO.

Dr. Scott Myhre, the Serge director for East and Central Africa, described Stafford as “critically ill but not acutely deteriorating.” Myhre said Stafford reported feeling better Thursday than the day before, and said that the infected doctor had been able to eat small amounts of food as he experiences Ebola symptoms including vomiting, rash and diarrhea.

While there is no treatment for this type of ebolavirus, patients can receive supportive care including rehydration and specific symptom treatment. Stafford’s medical labs are “trending slightly in the right direction,” and he has received intravenous treatments “designed to improve Ebola outcomes,” Myhre said.

Hospital staff briefly allowed Stafford to see his wife and children through a hospital window, Serge said.

Matt Allison, Serge’s executive director, told CBS News on Tuesday that Stafford is “doing well, all things considered.”

“He’s sick. He’s sad to be away from his family, but he’s getting the best care available to him,” Allison said.

Dr. Rebekah Stafford and her four children evacuate Africa. Serge

A third Serge doctor, Dr. Patrick LaRochelle, was also potentially exposed while working in a DRC hospital. He is in quarantine at Bulovka Hospital in Prague, according to Serge. He remains asymptomatic so far, the organization said.

The State Department announced Thursday that any U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents returning from the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan who had been in those countries within three weeks of entering the U.S. had to fly into Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia. The same restrictions apply to any non-citizens, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Minnesota hunger non-profit leader gets 41 years in prison for $250 million fraud scheme

May 21, 2026 4:56 PM UTC / Reuters

U.S. flag and Judge gavel are seen in this illustration taken, August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

May 19 (Reuters) – The leader of a Minnesota ​non-profit group was sentenced to 41 years in prison ‌on Thursday after she was convicted last year of being the ringleader of a $250 million scheme to defraud a federally funded child nutrition program.

Aimee ​Bock, 45, was charged in 2022 with using her ​non-profit group Feeding Our Future to enact what the ⁠Justice Department said was the largest known fraud against the U.S. ​government’s relief programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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More than 70 other ​people have been charged alongside Bock. The fraud has been often invoked by U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, as part of his rationale for ​targeting Minnesota, led by Democrats, for an aggressive surge in ​arresting and deporting immigrants earlier this year. On the same day as Bock’s sentencing, the ‌U.S. ⁠Department of Justice announced new charges against 15 people accused of defrauding Medicaid and other welfare programs in Minnesota of $90 million.

Bock cried as she addressed U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel at the ​federal courthouse in ​Minneapolis, the ⁠Minnesota Star Tribune reported: “I don’t have the words to express just how horrible I feel. I ​know I’m responsible.”

Federal prosecutors had sought 50 years ​in ⁠prison. In sentencing Bock to 500 months, or 41 years and eight months, Brasel said a lengthy sentence was necessary because of ⁠Bock’s ​central role.

“This is a vortex of fraud, ​and you were at the epicenter,” the judge said, according to the Star ​Tribune.

Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.