TV News LIES

The White House has fired six members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the independent federal agency that advises the president and Congress on design plans for monuments, memorials, coins and federal buildings. The seven member commission is made up of experts in architecture, art, urban and landscape design. Since its creation in 1910, the commission has reviewed plans for everything from Arlington National Cemetery to Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

As first reported by The Washington Post, the commissioners who were terminated are Bruce Redman Becker, Peter D. Cook, Lisa E. Delplace, William J. Lenihan, Justin Garrett Moore and vice chair Hazel Ruth Edwards. The chair position, now vacant, was held by Billie Tsien, one of the architects working on the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Lenihan confirmed in an email to NPR the six were terminated "effective immediately."

In an email to NPR, the White House said it is "preparing to appoint a new slate of members to the commission that are more aligned with President Trump's America First Policies."

The commissioners would have advised President Trump on his anticipated White House ballroom and his plans for a monument similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which he says will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. In an email to NPR, architect Bruce Redman Becker, one of the commissioners who was fired, wrote that "Neither project has been submitted for review yet."

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Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, is urging the state’s universities to stop hiring international employees through the H-1B visa program.

DeSantis said he wants the Florida board of governors “to pull the plug” on the practice. Nearly 400 foreign nationals are currently employed at Florida’s public universities under the H-1B visa program, reported the Orlando Sentinel.

“Universities across the country are importing foreign workers on H-1B visas instead of hiring Americans who are qualified and available to do the job,” said DeSantis in a statement. “We will not tolerate H-1B abuse in Florida institutions. That’s why I have directed the Florida Board of Governors to end this practice.”

However, it’s unclear how such a move could be carried out. States do not have authority to revoke federal visas, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services regulations prohibit firing employees based on immigration status.

Last month, Donald Trump raised the H-1B visa fee from $215 to $100,000, a decision likely to face legal challenges. He also issued a proclamation alleging “systematic abuse” of the program.

The H-1B program permits employers to hire skilled foreign professionals for specialized positions that are difficult to fill with US workers. Across Florida, more than 7,200 people hold H-1B visas.

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It was, on occasion, used by presidents to rehearse important speeches such as the State of the Union address; and at other times, as a spot for visitors to dump their hats, bags and coats. But for more than 80 years, the White House movie theater was mostly a place where the first family and their guests went for entertainment.

Demolition began this week of the White House Family Theater — along with the rest of the White House's East Wing where the snug, shoe-box-shaped auditorium was located — to make way for a new $300 million ballroom. It marks the end of an era in American movie theater history.

Since its conversion from a cloakroom by Franklin Roosevelt in 1942, the private, 40-ish-seat theater has screened everything from newsreels and documentaries to westerns and musicals. It has been through several facelifts, most recently ditching cream and red floral curtains, and beige walls and seating for all-round "movie-palace red" ornamented with goldSince its conversion from a cloakroom by Franklin Roosevelt in 1942, the private, 40-ish-seat theater has screened everything from newsreels and documentaries to westerns and musicals. It has been through several facelifts, most recently ditching cream and red floral curtains, and beige walls and seating for all-round "movie-palace red" ornamented with gold molding and dark wood trim following a renovation overseen by first lady Laura Bush in 2004. molding and dark wood trim following a renovation overseen by first lady Laura Bush in 2004.

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Lately, on any given day, you'll find Leann Villaluz knocking on doors around Kansas City to get people to sign a petition that would let voters decide the fate of the state's new congressional map.

"There's a sense of resentment, even to regular voters who aren't as involved," Villaluz says. "We have to pick up the slack for representatives who have been elected to do their simple duty and carry out the will of the voters. Instead, they think that we don't know what's best for ourselves."

Missouri is the second state in the country, alongside Texas, to gerrymander its congressional map after President Donald Trump set off a nationwide redistricting battle in July to try to maintain control of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterms.

Multiple other states, including North Carolina, Indiana, Florida, Ohio and Kansas could soon follow. California is trying to counter the Republican effort by redistricting in favor of Democrats, if voters pass a constitutional amendment next month.

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President Donald Trump commuted U.S. Rep. George Santos’ seven-year prison sentence, releasing him from jail on Oct. 17.

Santos, a 37-year-old Republican from New York, reported to the Federal Correctional Institution Flatiron Satellite Camp in New Jersey on July 25 to begin a seven-year prison sentence for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. As part of the plea, he admitted to filing false campaign finance reports, charging donors’ credit cards without authorization and fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits, among other acts that began years before he ran for Congress in 2022.

Santos represented parts of Queens and Long Island for 11 months. He recently published an open letter directly appealing to Trump in fawning language.

“George Santos was somewhat of a “rogue,” but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” wrote Trump in a Truth Social post. “At least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN! George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated. Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!”

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Zohran Mamdani, the leading candidate to be the next mayor of New York, stepped into the lion’s den on Wednesday when he sat for an interview with Fox News, the rightwing news organization that has spent weeks demonizing him and his democratic socialist goals.

Speaking to host Martha MacCallum, Mamdani was asked about funding for his proposals, which include freezing increases on rent-stabilized apartments, providing free buses and offering free childcare – and whether other services would be cut to achieve those goals.

“I don’t think we have to cut,” Mamdani said. “I’ve spoken about raising taxes on the wealthiest. And, frankly, this is an issue that we have here in New York City, and, frankly, even across this country.”

Mamdani said he had spoken to people who voted for Donald Trump in New York who told him it was the “cost of living” that “drove them to vote” for the president.

Mamdani said that, despite that, “what we’re seeing time and time again is we’re more focused on the question of billionaires and the most profitable corporations than we are on people who can’t even afford to make ends meet in the city”.

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