A Wisconsin teacher accused of sexual misconduct with an 11-year-old male student traded more than 33,000 "explicit" text messages with the victim, according to a KARE-TV video report.As Blaze News previously reported, Madison Bergmann — a 24-year-old former teacher at River Crest Elementary in Hudson — was accused last spring of engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a 5th-grade student.The accusations against the teacher reportedly came just three months before her wedding. The alleged illicit relationship came to light when the boy's parents saw eyebrow-raising text messages from Bergmann to their son. Texts reportedly mentioned the teacher and student "kissing, touching, and making out."The boy’s father went to the school with printouts of the conversations to notify school administrators, who then involved law enforcement. Police launched an investigation and reportedly discovered a folder with the alleged victim's name on it. The folder contained handwritten notes detailing how the boy and the teacher kissed and fondled each other, according to the criminal complaint. When questioned by investigators, Bergmann reportedly told police that the student's mother gave her the 11-year-old's phone number when she accompanied them on a ski trip over winter break. The accusations against the teacher reportedly came just three months before her wedding. Bergmann was arrested and initially charged with one count of first-degree child sexual assault. However, Bergmann was hit with nine additional felonies in August: one count of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, one count of exposing a child to harmful materials, two counts of child enticement causing mental or bodily harm, and five counts of sexual misconduct by school staff.The preliminary hearing of the case began Monday at St. Croix County Circuit Court. Bergmann's attorneys argued that their client had been overcharged. But school resource officer Traci Hall told the court that Bergmann and the victim exchanged "approximately 33,000" text messages in the early part of this year, adding that the relationship became more sexual and explicit over time, the New York Post said.Prosecutor Karl Anderson read some of the texts in court and pointed out that the messages became sexual on April 27. Anderson said to Hall, “There’s a conversation about the victim being hard, and if she felt that during their hug,” he said. “Did she acknowledge that she felt it?”She responded, "Yes." Anderson then asked, “What else did she say?” Hall replied, “That she would wear dresses more often because she liked how he touched her leg.”According to the Post, Anderson asked Hall, “Does Ms. Bergmann ever allude to being sexually aroused in the text messages?” Hall replied, “She talks about being wet in the classroom.” Bergmann's attorneys argued that the text messages alone don't support five charges of sexual misconduct."There is never any language where she says ‘I want to have sex with you,' or that he says, ‘I want you to do this with me,'" attorney Joseph Tamburino stated. Tamburino contended, "They talk a lot about kissing, and lips, and cheeks, and touching legs, but nothing like ‘this is what I want you to do to me,’ or ‘this is what I will do to you.'"However, the judge disagreed and declared that the text messages were admissible evidence of sexual misconduct."It’s clear to me that the state has met its burden to find probable cause that the defendant has committed a felony," the judge ruled, which moves the case forward. "Clearly, there was probable cause presented by the detective today. The case is bound to go for trial."You can view a video report here about the case.Bergmann has pleaded not guilty to all charges.She was released from jail on a $25,000 signature bond. The Hudson School District sent a statement to parents regarding the alleged teacher sex scandal. "Learning about a school staff member and alleged inappropriate conduct that breaches trust is deeply troubling for all of us," school officials stated. "We understand the gravity of this situation and are committed to providing the necessary support for any child who may be impacted."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter made himself the target of mockery on Monday for constructing a false equivalence to attack Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).While discussing the erosion of "trust in institutions" and "decades of lying about government" with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, Stelter suddenly attacked Rubio — despite the lawmaker not being a topic of discussion — for what Stelter suggested was hypocrisy.'The jobs numbers were consistently revised downward over the past few years. The chances of the hurricane missing his state is basically zero. Do you see the problem?'"Marco Rubio, the senator from Florida, who, on Friday, was tweeting about the 'fake' jobs report, sowing doubt about the government statistics," Stelter said. "Today, he is imploring his constituents to believe the government forecast, to take the government information seriously, to believe the government data."What a difference three days makes for Marco Rubio — and he's supposed to be one of the more responsible ones," he sneered.Stelter, drawing attention to his false equivalence, added on X, "See the problem?" — (@) The problem with Stelter's juxtaposition is threefold.First, Stelter appeared to be suggesting that if someone believes one government agency about one thing, he must believe every government agency about everything.Second, meteorological forecasts from government agencies are perhaps one of the last areas of government not to be infected by hyper-politicization. Meteorologists aren't concerned how their forecasts impact politics; they're trying to save lives and keep people informed to the best of their abilities. On the other hand, the monthly jobs report is one of the most politicized government reports.Third, Rubio called last week's job report "fake" because he recognizes the pattern of jobs reports under the Biden administration: The preliminary report shows positive numbers, only for those figures to be revised later, showing that job growth wasn't actually as good as first claimed.Stelter was quickly called out on social media, and his question — "see the problem?" — was turned around on him:"Yes Brian, but you don’t. The NOAA hurricane alerts have been accurate, they have not yet been politicized, so they can be trusted. The jobs reports have been revised down for at least 8 months, don’t accurately represent the real state of jobs in the US. They cannot be trusted," one person pointed out."You can’t possibly be serious… There is no history of every weather forecaster faking hurricane predictions for some sort of mysterious political gain. There is with the jobs numbers, and the political motivation is obvious. Also, no lives are at stake with the jobs numbers!" another person replied."So the rule is that if you ever believe any government agency on anything you must believe all government agencies on everything," one person responded."Holy hell Brian this is dumb even by your nonexistent standards," another person noticed."No. The jobs numbers were consistently revised downward over the past few years. The chances of the hurricane missing his state is basically zero. Do you see the problem?" one person responded.Stelter rejoined CNN last month, two years after he was fired from the network.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

In a week punctuated by disastrous interviews, Kamala Harris' interview with Bill Whitaker of CBS News' "60 Minutes" was perhaps her greatest train wreck. It turns out that the full and unedited version of the vice president's conversation with Bill Whitaker was actually far worse than what the sympathetic network ultimately decided to air Monday evening. President Donald Trump's campaign has demanded that "60 Minutes" release the unedited transcript of the interview, suggesting that CBS News is covering up the Democratic presidential candidate's latest blunder. Keen observers were quick to notice something amiss about the interview, namely that it was heavily edited. These edits appear to serve a singular objective: spare Harris, who is notorious for her word salads, yet another embarrassment and help her come across as coherent. Critics noted a major difference between Harris' response shown in a preview of the interview and the one presented in the final. 'The word salad was deceptively edited to lessen Kamala's idiotic response.' In one preview, Whitaker asked Harris whether America lacks influence over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his strategic decisions in the Middle East, prompting a meandering response from the vice president. Whitaker then states, "It seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening," to which Harris replies: Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region. Harris' word salad was replaced in the final so that it would appear as if she responded by saying: We're not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end. The Orwellian revision is also reflected in the official transcript of the interview on CBS News' page. Karoline Leavitt, press secretary for the Trump campaign, said in a statement Tuesday, "On Sunday, 60 Minutes teased Kamala's highly-anticipated sit-down interview with one of her worst word salads to date, which received significant criticism on social media. During the full interview on Monday evening, the word salad was deceptively edited to lessen Kamala's idiotic response." 'It is the very definition of FAKE NEWS!' "Why did 60 Minutes choose not to air Kamala's full word salad, and what else did they choose not to air?" asked Leavitt. "The American people deserve the full, unedited transcript from Kamala's sit-down review. We call upon 60 Minutes and CBS to release it. What do they and Kamala, have to hide?" CBS News did not respond to Blaze Media's request for comment. Absent a meaningful response from the liberal news network, President Donald Trump wrote Wednesday morning, "I've never seen this before, but the producers of 60 Minutes sliced and diced ('cut and pasted') Lyin' Kamala's answers to questions, which were virtually incoherent, over and over again, some by as many as four times in a single sentence or thought, all in an effort, possibly illegal as part of the 'News Division,' which must be licensed, to make her look 'more Presidential,' or a least, better. It may also be a major Campaign Finance Violation." Trump has previously suggested that propaganda networks should have the licenses for their individual broadcast stations revoked by the Federal Communications Commission. "This is a stain on the reputation of 60 Minutes that is not recoverable," continued Trump. "It will always remain with this once storied brand. I have never heard of such a thing being done in 'News.' It is the very definition of FAKE NEWS! The public is owed a MAJOR AND IMMEDIATE APOLOGY! This is an open and shut case, and must be investigated, starting today!" Senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller noted, "As uniquely disastrous as Kamala's 60 minutes flaming train wreck of an interview is, remember that this is the *most* favorable edit the CBS partisans could make for her." Donald Trump Jr. tweeted, "Everyone has seen the clipped version of Kamala Harris' on 60 minutes and it's a catastrophe. Imagine how bad the actual interview was before they edited and cut the hell out of as only today's media would!!! We saw the best of the best and it was a disaster!" CBS News failed to edit out Harris' claim that she owns the same kind of firearm she has tried to ban as well as Harris' defense of her abysmal record on the border. The final interview also includes Harris' desperate on-camera attempt to talk around the question of whether democracy was best served by her making a mockery of it. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

UFC No. 1 contender Sean Strickland delivered harsh comments toward Chechnya-born UFC fighter Khamzat Chimaev.Strickland has typically been an open book in terms of his political views and opinions throughout his career, which have included derogatory statements and claims about Chimaev.Chimaev, on the other hand, has seemingly enjoyed playing the bad guy role and at times riled up the crowd with his antics."I'm the most dangerous guy here, I'm coming for everyone, I kill everybody! Allahu Akbar!" Chimaev told Joe Rogan in a post-fight interview at UFC 279 in 2022.'You should not be allowed in this country. You [sold] your soul to a terrorist dictator.'In a recent Instagram post, Strickland lashed out at Chimaev and questioned whether or not he should be allowed in the United States due to his apparent ties to unsavory figures."I love how the world just over looks this guys past... Builds a life in Sweden, goes and becomes best friends with an absolute monster who pretty much bought him like a W.. then when the leash got too tight he fled to the middle east," Strickland said, per BJPenn.com."You should not be allowed in this country. You [sold] your soul to a terrorist dictator... You are not compatible with America. Thank god we don't do drone trikes in that part of the sand pit," the middleweight continued. "Sick of the UFC forgetting it's an American company," Strickland added.Strickland is perhaps making reference to Chimaev's relationship with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who has received sanctions from the United States over the years for alleged human rights violations.In 2020, the State Department prohibited Kadyrov, his wife, and his two daughters from traveling to the United States.Kadyrov, a supporter of the region's MMA athletes, has written about his conversations with Chimaev about the sport and at times seemed like he was dictating his moves."During our conversation, Chimaev realized how important his career is for every Chechen and promised to make every effort to recover as soon as possible," Kadyrov wrote in 2021. "In the near future he will fly to the republic, where he will complete a rehabilitation course, hold a training camp and start training."In a separate statement on Instagram, Strickland also said, "Lmao 'now buy a crypto scam with my name on it.'"This was in reference to an ordeal in July in which Chimaev was accused of a cryptocurrency pump-and-dump scheme with a coin called Smash. Chimaev's manager denied any connection to the coin after accusations started surfacing, despite Chimaev making a video to promote it. Following the manager's statements, a man claiming to be involved in the crypto team for the Smash coin said he never spoke directly to Chimaev while admitting his team owned 80% of the coin's supply.Strickland said at the time he has received similar offers that he turned down."I've been offered a ton of money to do this same exact thing...... Crazy man you're rich and still try to scam your fans," he wrote. "That was 100 percent to scam his fans."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Trump Lashes Out at Antisemites, Vows to Remove 'Jew-Haters' If Elected

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Image: Nintendo Nintendo just announced its new Alarmo clock with a motion sensor, and even though we’re still soaking in the $100 device, the company also shared a look at some interesting early prototypes that reveal how the project changed during its development. While the Alarmo is round and an eye-catching red, one “early” prototype Nintendo showed in an “Ask the Developer” interview had a more boxy shape and came in gray. This prototype did have an interesting feature in its dot matrix LED display (similar to the now-discontinued Echo Dot with Clock), but Nintendo ultimately went in a different direction because “we felt that this display system wouldn’t be able to communicate the instructions sufficiently,” says Nintendo’s Yosuke Tamori, who... Continue reading…

The excellent Roomba j7 is down to $400 this Prime Day. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Robot vacuums are some of the most useful smart home gadgets you can buy. Small, circular home helpers that clean areas you can’t reach and work hard so you don’t have to, these little suckers are life-changing. As The Verge’s resident robot vacuum expert, I’ve tested dozens of different models over the last five years and have always highly recommended only buying robot vacuums when they’re on sale. This is because: (a) they’re expensive, and (b) they're almost always on sale — if not today, then likely tomorrow. And today, the last day of the October Prime Day event, is a very good day to pick one up. There are some excellent deals to be had — over 50 percent off in some cases. Here are my picks based on price and prowess: iRobot’s R... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Amazon is continuing many of its best headphone and earbud discounts on the second day of its October Prime Day sale. If you want to get a jump on your holiday shopping — or just treat yourself to a new upgrade — this is a great opportunity to do so. Apple’s AirPods Pro, which are about to receive significant hearing health features, can be had at a great price, but there are also excellent options from Sony, Bose, Samsung (like the Buds 3 Pro I just reviewed), Sennheiser, and other mainstays in this category. If you want to take out the guesswork, check out our best earbuds buying guide, and you’ll find that many of my favorite picks are available at tempting prices. Apple / Beats The Beats Studio Pro noise-canceling headphones are... Continue reading…

Image: Zoom Zoom is getting one step closer to letting AI avatars attend meetings for you. As part of a broader AI expansion, Zoom announced it will soon let you create an AI avatar of yourself that you can use to send brief messages to your team. To create a digital avatar, you’ll need to record an initial video of yourself that Zoom’s AI will use to make an avatar that looks — and even sounds — like you. From there, you can write the message you want your AI avatar to say and then have it do all the talking for you. This feature will only work with Zoom’s Clips feature, allowing you to record brief video updates for your colleagues. Zoom is taking the possibility of deepfakes into account. Smita Hashim, Zoom’s chief product officer, said during a... Continue reading…