Puck’s Dylan Byers continued his reporting Friday night on the fallout from Wednesday morning’s official announcement that Comcast would be shedding MSNBC and five other cable networks (including CNBC) to become its own company with the revelation that far-left pundit and heroine Rachel Maddow was putting the finishing touches on a new contract for a “new five-year deal” that included a $5 million per year paycut. It’s not all that bad for Maddow as the $5 million subtraction means her salary will still be a gargantuan and guaranteed $25 million a year to “still host just one night a week” and pop up for major events like election coverage. Byers explained Maddow’s agent Mark Shapiro and Comcast executives were working on this at the same time “MSNBC and CNBC employees were anxiously trying to make sense of Comcast boss Brian Roberts’ decision to cast them out into the wilderness as part of a stand-alone cable channel company.” While a paycut, at least Maddow has decided to stick around for the grift given the fact that others such as CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell and NBC’s Today co-host Hoda Kotb have decided to step down from their posts after they were reportedly invited to take pay cuts. Maddow’s deal also puts her on the same plane as the ludicrous $75 million combined for the liberal and superficial co-hosts of ABC’s Good Morning America (Robin Roberts, Michael Strahan, and George Stephanopoulos). Byers explained that, while it’s still “a staggering amount of money to confer upon a marquee talent while cutting costs elsewhere,” Maddow becomes, in the words of a Byers source, “more valuable than ever” in a post-Comcast MSNBC. He also got down to brass tacks about how the public views MSNBC and its current identity that they seem to at least keep (unless, of course, the new publicly traded company sees new shareholders — wink, wink) (click “expand”): Strategically, the MSNBC business essentially comprises just two franchises: Maddow and Morning Joe, both of which have endured a staggering ratings drop since the election...Still, NBC executives have been in this business long enough to know that this is a moment in time, and that Maddow, especially, is integral to the network’s identity (....) Maddow’s once-a-week deal belies her true value to the network: In addition to anchoring election coverage and other big news nights, her aura and imprimatur elevates the network’s primetime hours even when she’s not on the air. “People think she’s on more than she is,” one MSNBC insider said. Indeed, they think that because she is front and center in all of the network’s marketing collateral and creative. By retaining Maddow, the new “SpinCo” is fortifying the revenue stream of the entire bundle[.] Byers also dished on the future of MSNBC, predicting salaries continuing to shrink for talent with “much of the backend production” being “centralized, while fewer anchors will be required to work longer hours for less money, all while being judged according to a minute-by-minute cost-benefit analysis of their performance.” Early on, Byers predicted perhaps the biggest symbolic cut will be MSNBC “likely mov[ing] out of its historic 30 Rock headquarters, probably to Stamford, where NBCUniversal houses NBC Sports and its Olympics center, or to the Tech Center in Englewood Cliffs” in northern New Jersey, “which is already the home of CNBC.” He also doubled down on the prediction that MSNBC will “strike an affiliate-style” deal with NBC to continue using the big network’s correspondents, but expressed doubt it would last. In other words, buckle up, dear readers, because then all bets will be off!

Haitian immigrants are reportedly leaving Springfield, Ohio, "in droves" to pre-empt any deportation efforts under a second Trump administration.The Dayton-area city of Springfield recently came under the national spotlight after Haitian immigrants living there reportedly mistreated animals, both wild and domesticated. At the debate between President-elect Donald Trump and current border czar Kamala Harris in September, Trump famously asserted that Haitians in Springfield were eating family pets. Springfield residents have also reported horrific mistreatment of area wildlife to local police and their elected leaders.'While we understand there are concerns that some of our Haitian immigrants may choose to leave our community in the wake of the election, ... Haitian residents who have made community connections ... are not leaving their home.'Nonetheless, Springfield officials repeatedly insisted that they had not received any "credible" reports of animal abuse, and many legacy media outlets have relied on those official denials to characterize Trump's statements at the debate as "false" and "debunked."Springfield citizens and others in Clark County, Ohio, have since signaled their support for Trump's view of things, voting overwhelmingly earlier this month to send Trump — who made mass deportations a central campaign issue — back to the White House.In anticipation of Trump's inauguration in just a few weeks, some Haitian immigrants living in Springfield have already elected to leave the area, ostensibly in hopes of avoiding deportation.Margery Koveleski, who has spent years helping Haitians settle in Ohio, now finds herself helping them leave, the Guardian reported. "Some folks don’t have credit cards or access to the internet, and they want to buy a bus ticket or a plane ticket, so we help them book a flight," she said.Though these Haitians — many of whom are technically in the U.S. legally after the Biden-Harris administration liberally granted Temporary Protected Status to many immigrants who would otherwise be considered illegal — are leaving the Springfield area, they are not necessarily returning to their native country."The owner of one store is wondering if he should move back to New York or to Chicago — he says his business is way down," Koveleski told the Guardian.Others have mentioned Boston, a logical destination for migrants with dubious immigration status since Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, both far-left Democrats, have already promised to protect illegal aliens from deportation.Jacob Payen, co-founder of the Haitian Community Alliance, emphasized to the Guardian that Haitians are leaving Springfield as a direct result of Trump's pledge to deport illegal immigrants. "People are fully aware of the election result, and that is why they are leaving," he explained. "They are afraid of a mass deportation."In a press release issued on Friday, Springfield Mayor Rob Rue did not deny that some Haitians will probably opt to leave the area. However, Rue then also cryptically added that most had established roots and therefore would not be "leaving their home.""While we understand there are concerns that some of our Haitian immigrants may choose to leave our community in the wake of the election, as we know it today, Haitian residents who have made community connections whether through church affiliation, property purchases or have been contributing to our City through their employment or business ownership are not leaving their home," Rue wrote.After commending Haitians and their manifold "contributions" to Springfield, Rue's statement added: "The City of Springfield also will continue to comply with the laws and regulations set forth by the federal government. We remain steadfast in our commitment to upholding federal law, as we have always done in the past. As such, we will continue to monitor and await further guidance on this matter as the Federal Administration transitions."Blaze News reached out to the City of Springfield to clarify what Rue meant by Haitian migrants' "home" and his understanding of the federal statute regarding Temporary Protected Status but did not receive a response.In their respective articles about Haitians leaving Springfield, both the Guardian and CBS News shared stories that painted deportation efforts as inhumane or potentially devastating to the area."I'm scared because my business in Haiti was bombed, I lost my mom," Ketlie Moise, a Haitian immigrant living in Springfield, told CBS News. "Someone come in the business, they shoot my mom with a gun, bomb my business. ... If I get deportation to go back to Haiti, for me especially, I'm going to die, I'm going to be dead.""Because I work with Haitians to file their taxes — I see their W-2s and so on. If these people leave, that money is gone from the city and the local economy," Payen told the Guardian.Indeed, the Guardian noted that "the Haitians who filled thousands of jobs at area packaging and auto plants have helped rejuvenate once-blighted neighborhoods and contributed to the local economy in myriad ways."However, the outlet failed to mention that at least one area temp agency, First Diversity, is under fire for allegations of exploitation and even human trafficking, as Blaze News previously reported.Investigative journalist Asra Nomani reported in the Jewish Journal: "Some of the whistleblowers cried, recounting their experiences working at First Diversity. Workers spoke of paychecks that never arrived, long hours with no overtime and promises of stability that quickly turned to dust. Some, like the 24-year-old woman and her mother, had their Social Security numbers allegedly stolen, while others found their I-9 forms and drug test results faked to keep them in the system." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Citing "defense sources," the Times (U.K.) claimed in a report Monday that President-elect Donald Trump plans to issue an executive order booting transvestites out of the military on day one. A spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition team told Blaze News that the unnamed sources in the report whose claims have now been repeated by activists and other publications don't know what they're talking about. The Times' sources alleged that Trump is not only planning to oust those transvestic service members presently enlisted with medical discharges, stating they are unfit to serve, but is planning on altogether banning transvestites from joining the military. "These people will be forced out at a time when the military can't recruit enough people," said an unnamed source supposedly familiar with Trump's plans. "Only the Marine Corps is hitting its numbers for recruitment, and some people who will be affected are in very senior positions." 'These unnamed sources are speculating.' According to the Times, several sources said that Trump's order will be "wider-ranging" than actions taken in his first term and that even troops in the military for decades could be removed from their posts. Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to Blaze News, "These unnamed sources are speculating and have no idea what they are actually talking about." "No decisions on this issue have been made," continued Leavitt. "No policy should ever be deemed official unless it comes directly from President Trump or his authorized spokespeople." While the unnamed sources in the Times report might be of the unreliable variety cited by the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, Trump has taken similar actions in the past and promised on the campaign trail to do as much upon taking office. In July 2017, Trump announced that "the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military." Trump added, "Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail." Trump's concerns were reinforced in a Feb. 22, 2018, Pentagon memo from then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis, which stated that in "the Department's best military judgment, the Department of Defense concludes that there are substantial risks associated with allowing the accession and retention of individuals with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria and require or have already undertaken a course of treatment to change their gender." In 2019, the Trump Department of Defense established a policy permitting "transgender" troops to serve so long as they didn't attempt to masquerade as members of the opposite sex or invade their spaces. Accordingly, the could claim to be "transgender" but would have to use the pronouns, uniforms, barracks, and restroom facilities corresponding with their sex. After taking office, President Joe Biden reversed the Trump policy, stating, "America's strength is found in its diversity." In the years since, medical transvestites in the military have been provided with sex-change and cosmetic surgeries at taxpayers' expense, the opportunity to sit out deployments, and exemptions from uniform and fitness standards. Feb. 1, 2023, documents obtained last year by independent journalist Jordan Schachtel of the Dossier, entitled "Care of Service Members Who Identify as Transgender," revealed that the Pentagon funds transvestites' so-called care, including "speech/voice therapy, cross-sex hormone therapy, laser hair removal, voice feminization surgery, facial contouring, body contouring, breast/chest surgery (colloquially referred to as 'upper' surgery), and genital reassignment/confirmation surgery ('lower' surgery)." '[The DOD] committed a Bud Light.' Blaze News previously reported that whereas mentally ill recruits, individuals found to be on medications, women with abnormal uterine bleeding, men with deformed genitals, those with chronic anxiety, those who have committed self-harm, and those who have met in the past with psychiatrists are routinely barred from joining the armed forces, similar prohibitions appear to have been relaxed under the current administration for those claiming to be "transgender." Trump pledged to a crowd in New Hampshire in August 2023 that he would "restore the Trump ban on transgenders in the military" and promised to "ban the Department of Veteran Affairs from wasting a single cent to fund transgender surgeries or sex-change procedures." Rachel Branaman, an LGBT activist who heads the Modern Military Association of America, told the Times, "Should a trans ban be implemented from day one of the Trump administration, it would undermine the readiness of the military and create an even greater recruitment and retention crisis, not to mention signaling vulnerability to America's adversaries." "Abruptly discharging 15,000-plus service members, especially given that the military's recruiting targets fell short by 41,000 recruits last year, adds administrative burdens to war fighting units, harms unit cohesion, and aggravates critical skill gaps," continued Branaman. "There would be a significant financial cost, as well as a loss of experience and leadership that will take possibly 20 years and billions of dollars to replace." If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick to run the DOD, appears open to making quality, not diversity, the top priority at the Pentagon. "I think we're at a 's*** or get off the pot' moment. We are at a tipping point for total institutional corruption, and Trump has a chance to reverse that," Hegseth recently told the "Shawn Ryan Show." "[The DOD] committed a Bud Light. In search of a non-traditional constituency, they offended their core constituency." Hegseth added, "The Army that I enlisted in, that I swore an oath in 2001 and was commissioned in 2003, looks a lot different than the Army of today because we're focused on a lot of the wrong things." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A man was charged with murder after leaving his car running Friday while at an ATM in Philadelphia and shooting a male in the head who jumped into the car and drove off.Officers responded after 3 p.m. to a shooting call at Frankford Avenue and Pratt Street, which is in the northeast section of the city, KYW-TV reported.Police on Sunday said 39-year-old Sherwayne Garrison was charged with murder, KYW reported in a follow-up story.Police told the station that a man using the ATM left his car running, and a male jumped into the car in an attempt to steal it. According to WPVI-TV, the 48-year-old male who jumped into the car ended up driving off with it — and the car owner fired one gunshot and hit the male in the head.Police told WPVI the wounded male crashed the Honda into another car at Pratt Street outside the Frankford Transportation Center. Police added to KYW that the man who pulled the trigger is a licensed gun owner.The police homicide unit told KYW the male who was shot was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. the same day.Authorities said Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Police took the man who pulled the trigger into custody, KYW added.Police on Sunday said 39-year-old Sherwayne Garrison was charged with murder, KYW reported in a follow-up story. The deceased 48-year-old's identity isn't known at this time, the station also said.You can view a video report here about the shooting. It aired prior to police filing the murder charge.How are people reacting?As you might guess, the murder charges elicited strong reactions. Here are a handful of comments under a pair of KYW Facebook posts about the situation:"Saw this coming," one commenter said. "As sad as it is, he was under no immediate threat, and the guy was running away from him. Sad that the criminals have more rights than we do. Hope he has a good lawyer.""Stupid law...what [is] the guy supposed to do...let the criminal steal his car??" another user asked."So we can't defend ourselves and/or our properties now!" another commenter exclaimed. "This will open doors to criminals and push them to hurt good citizens more!""Not a surprise, always defending the criminals," another user noted.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) refused to let CNN tell only one side of the story.Last week, California police released a report accusing Pete Hegseth, the nominee for defense secretary, of sexual assault in 2017. Despite the suspicious timing of the report's release and its salacious details, Hegseth was never charged with any crimes because, as the report seems to indicate, there was not sufficient evidence to prove the allegations.'He wasn't charged. He wasn't even kind of charged in this. There was no crime committed.'And yet, CNN anchor Dana Bash tried to use the report on Sunday to smear Hegseth.Asking Mullin about the report, Bash — instead of framing the discussion around the lack of evidence and no criminal charges — centered the woman's allegations and claims against Hegseth. Mullin immediately shut her down."Dana, if we're going to get into that, let's talk about the whole police report," he interjected. "First of all, the police report, if you look at it, it's very clear that what Pete was saying, what his attorney was saying, was accurate," Mullin said. "There was no case here. He was falsely accused."According to Mullin, the police report fortifies Hegseth's innocence because it says that multiple eyewitnesses identified the woman who accused Hegseth of assault as the "aggressor." — (@) After Mullin told CNN's audience what the police report says, Bash tried defending herself. She said she "wasn't done" and was, eventually, going to explain why Hegseth was never charged with a crime.But Mullin wasn't buying it."I'm just saying that you told one part of this, Dana — that isn't accurate," he said.Surprisingly, Bash thanked Mullin for "giving that other side [of the story] for me." Still, she questioned how Mullin could believe Hegseth's story but not the accuser's."He wasn't charged. He wasn't even kind of charged in this. There was no crime committed," Mullin fired back. "The police dropped everything.""What is unfortunate, in today's world, you can be accused of anything, and then especially if it's something like this, you're automatically assumed to be guilty," he added. "If you read the police report from cover to cover, which I have, and I know every reporter has, too, it is clear there was nothing there. There was clear (sic) that there was no crime committed."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Last week, a new Blaze Originals dropped. Titled “Countdown to the Next Aviation Disaster,” the documentary exposes the internal rot of America’s aviation industry. The reality is, our skies aren’t as safe as they used to be. In the last year alone, the number of “close calls” — meaning that planes narrowly avoided crashing into each other — surged to three per week. What happened? While there are numerous factors contributing to this decline, there’s one issue that stands out among the rest — the Federal Aviation Administration has infused DEI into its hiring system. Stu Burguiere tells Glenn Beck just how insane the policies are. Because of DEI policies that unfairly weed out qualified would-be air traffic controllers, our current air traffic controllers are “overworked” because nearly every control tower in the country is severely “understaffed,” Stu explains. Further, these policies are specifically “blocking white males from getting these jobs,” he tells Glenn. Flying an aircraft “is a matter of life and death,” says Glenn. “This DEI stuff ... it's death! It should be [spelled] DIE.” “In the end, [death] is what happens when you have unqualified people building bridges, flying planes, being your eyes in the sky,” he adds. “I talked to a guy in the documentary who took the merit-based test to become an air traffic controller and got a 100 on it — a perfect score. Then they added another test called the biographical exam,” says Stu. “It had really weird questions,” like, “Did you perform well in science in high school?” and, “If you say, ‘Yes, I did well in science in high school,’ you get penalized,” he explains. “To [the FAA], you're less likely to be a minority if you did well in science in high school, so you get punished for doing well in a subject that obviously would relate to what you’re doing.” The man who made a perfect score on the merit-based test ended up “not getting the job,” likely because the biographical exam pinned him as a white male. “Now [he’s] suing the government over it,” says Stu. Glenn is horrified but not surprised by all of this. In fact, he was just on a flight that nearly crashed into another plane. To hear the harrowing story of how his plane suddenly “rocketed up” unexpectedly, watch the clip above. “Blaze Originals: Countdown to the Next Aviation Disaster” is available now on BlazeTV. If you’re not already a subscriber, go to BlazeOriginals.com and start a seven-day free trial. Use code DEI for $30 off your first year of BlazeTV+. Want more from Glenn Beck?To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

The Texas Department of Public Safety shared heartbreaking videos on Sunday showing dozens of unaccompanied children who had recently crossed the southern border into the United States.Among the group of 60 children was a 2-year-old girl who told law enforcement officers that she had journeyed alone and was hoping to be reunited with her parents in the U.S. In the video, the child clutched a piece of paper, which she extended toward the officers. Inscribed on the note was a name and phone number.'Regardless of political views, it is unacceptable for any child to be exposed to dangerous criminal trafficking networks.'An officer asked the child, "Did you come by yourself?"She nodded her head in the affirmative. "How old are you?" the officer inquired.The child held up a couple of fingers and responded, "Two."When asked where she was going, she replied, "With my mom and dad," who she stated were in the U.S.The heart-wrenching video was shared by Texas DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez, who also posted two other clips showing unaccompanied minors lined up near the southern border, presumably while awaiting processing. Going down the rows, the children shared their age, country of origin, and their intended destination in the U.S.Olivarez posted photographs of several "special interest immigrants" who appeared to arrive with the group of children.He wrote on X, "This morning, @TxDPS encountered a group of 211 illegal immigrants in Maverick County. Among the group were 60 unaccompanied children/minors ages 2 - 17 and 6 special interest immigrants from Mali & Angola.""This is a stark example of the precarious journey these children make from their home country & how criminal organizations traffic these children across the southern border & further into the interior," Olivarez continued. "Regardless of political views, it is unacceptable for any child to be exposed to dangerous criminal trafficking networks."He explained that "hundreds of thousands" of children have gone missing during their journeys to the U.S., noting that "no one [is] ensuring the safety & security of these children except for the men & women who are on the frontlines daily.""Despite the criticism over the years, the reality is that many children are exploited & trafficked, never to be heard from again," he added.Texas DPS has rescued more than 900 children as a part of Governor Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, Olivarez said.According to Customs and Border Protection data, more than 110,000 unaccompanied minors crossed the border in fiscal year 2024.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A new Intel Core Ultra CPU benchmark has just appeared in the Geekbench browser, potentially showing off the first real-world results of an unreleased Arrow Lake CPU, the Intel Core Ultra 5 225F. The leaked benchmark is the first result we’ve seen for this lower-spec gaming CPU, and judging from its specs, it could become a new budget-friendly option. That’s because this new Intel Core Ultra CPU looks to be a like-for-like successor to the Intel Core i5 13400F which, despite its age, is still one of the best gaming CPUs you can buy on a budget. Like the 13400F, we’re assuming that this new Core Ultra 5 225F CPU from Intel won’t come with an integrated GPU, thanks to the ‘F’ suffix. Continue reading There’s a new budget Intel gaming CPU coming, benchmark leak suggests MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Core i5 14600K review, Best gaming CPU, Core i9 14900K review

It is with profound sadness that we find ourselves reporting the death of our cherished colleague, Senior Staff Writer Alex McHugh, who passed away unexpectedly on November 17. Continue reading Remembering Alex McHugh - a cherished colleague

Spiritfarer is a game about letting go. It might be a cozy, hand-drawn management life sim on the surface, but underneath that warm exterior is an experience that asks you how you feel about death, losing the people you love, and what it means to move on. It was by far one of my favorite videogames of 2020, and every time I have an excuse to talk about it, I take it. So if you’re looking for one of the best management sims ever, made with some real meat on its bones (both in terms of content and themes), this new sale is the perfect time to try Spiritfarer. Continue reading Moving life game Spiritfarer is the cheapest it’s ever been, but act fast MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best story games, Best life games, Best upcoming games