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The Pentagon confirmed Monday that it has launched a review into Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly after receiving what it described as “serious allegations of misconduct.” The announcement follows a video released last week in which Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers urged members of the military and intelligence community to refuse unlawful directives from the Trump administration.

Defense officials said the inquiry will determine whether further steps are necessary, noting possible outcomes could include recalling Kelly — a retired Navy captain — to active duty for potential court-martial proceedings or other administrative actions. The department emphasized that the process would follow military law, adding that public comment will be limited to protect the integrity of the case.

Kelly, who spent more than 20 years in the Navy as a combat pilot and instructor before serving as a NASA astronaut, said he first learned of the investigation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s social media post. “If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work,” he wrote, adding, “I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.”

The lawmakers’ video in question featured Kelly alongside Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire — all veterans or former national security officials. In the clip, they told service members that “you can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders.” The message drew intense criticism from Republicans, including Hegseth, who labeled the video “despicable, reckless, and false,” arguing it undermined military discipline. The Pentagon also referenced federal statutes barring efforts to disrupt the loyalty or morale of U.S. forces.

President Trump escalated the dispute in a post on Truth Social, calling the group “traitors” and accusing them of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” before later saying he was “not threatening death” but believed the lawmakers were “in serious trouble.” Several participants in the video have since reported receiving threats, with Kelly warning that Trump’s rhetoric “could have serious, serious consequences.”

Hegseth noted that only Kelly remains subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Supporters, including fellow Arizona Democrat Sen. Ruben Gallego, defended him, saying Kelly has served the country honorably and was reiterating long-standing legal obligations. Kelly has maintained that the video simply reinforced the oath shared by service members, stating, “All we said is we reiterated what basically is the rule of law that members of the military should not, cannot follow illegal orders.”

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A federal judge has dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that the indictments were secured by a prosecutor who lacked lawful authority to bring them.

U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie found that Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan — installed after the Trump administration forced out her predecessor — was unconstitutionally appointed and therefore unable to present cases to a grand jury. Currie wrote in her 29-page ruling that “because Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr. Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment without prejudice,” adding that “all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr. Comey’s indictment, were unlawful exercises of executive power.” A similar order tossed the case against Letitia James, with the dismissals issued without prejudice, leaving open the possibility of refiling (although the statute of limitations in Comey’s case may have already expired.) The Department of Justice also can appeal to a higher court.

Halligan, a former insurance lawyer with no prior prosecutorial experience, was a member of Mr. Trump’s defense team in one of the criminal cases brought against him by former special counsel Jack Smith. Attorney General Pam Bondi tapped Halligan as interim U.S. attorney shortly after her predecessor, Erik Siebert, abruptly left the post and appointed Halligan under Section 546, the federal law that governs U.S. attorney vacancies and allows the attorney general to select an interim U.S. attorney, who can then serve for 120 days. The Trump administration has invoked that law and another measure to install temporary prosecutors in New Jersey, Nevada and Los Angeles, though three different federal judges have all found they were serving unlawfully.

Halligan pursued the indictments after career Justice Department lawyers reportedly objected, bringing charges accusing Comey of making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding tied to his 2020 Senate testimony, while James had been indicted on bank and mortgage fraud allegations involving a Virginia property. Both pleaded not guilty. The judge rejected attempts by Attorney General Pam Bondi to retroactively validate Halligan’s actions, writing, “That cannot be the law.”

In a video statement, Comey said “the message has to be sent that the president of the United States cannot use the Department of Justice to target his political enemies. I’m grateful that the court ended the case against me, which was a prosecution based on malevolence and incompetence, and a reflection of what the Department of Justice has become under Donald Trump, which is heartbreaking.”

James celebrated the ruling, saying, “I am heartened by today’s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country. I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day.”

According to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the Justice Department will appeal the decision.

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Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said on Monday that quarterback J.J. McCarthy has entered concussion protocol after reporting symptoms on the team’s flight back from Green Bay on Sunday, after the Vikings’ 23-6 loss to the Packers.   McCarthy went 12 of 19 for 87 yards and had interceptions on the final two series.

O’Connell said of McCarthy: “[He] reported some kind of symptoms in regards to his head, and we wanted to get back here once we kind of heard he was evaluated last night. After completing those tests, our training staff and doctors and medical team have decided that the right place for him is to put him in the protocol for now, and he’ll go through that process this week.”

O’Connell said that he did not have any additional updates on McCarthy’s condition, but said that the quarterback has been in the building for meetings on Monday.

McCarthy is off to one of the worst career starts of any NFL quarterback in the past decade, with a 24.9 QBR after six starts.  With his status for Minnesota’s Week 13 matchup vs. the Seattle Seahawks in jeopardy, the team will begin preparing Max Brosmer to be the backup QB, and potential starter.

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Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Monday he expects that quarterback Joe Burrow will playing Thursday night against the Baltimore Ravens.

Taylor stopped short of officially announcing Burrow will play but said the quarterback has done “everything he could” to work his way back from a turf toe injury that has sidelined him since September. Taylor told reporters that Burrow will continue to work through the week before he makes an official declaration that the star quarterback will return from his injury: “I anticipate him playing, but we will continue to work through the week. I’m not going to declare that definitively. … Coming off an injury, he’s done everything he could. He put himself in position to do his best to play yesterday. We will continue with that mindset. He looks like he’s in good shape right now to be ready to go.”

Burrow sustained turf toe in his left foot during a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 14. He landed on injured reserve two days later and missed the Bengals’ next nine games. The Bengals first turned to backup Jake Browning to replace Burrow before trading for Joe Flacco. Browning went 0-3 during Burrow’s absence, while Flacco led the Bengals to a 1-5 mark over his last six starts.

Burrow was a full participant in practice on Wednesday and Thursday last week, but was limited on Friday; Taylor went with Flacco as the team’s starting quarterback in Sunday’s 26-20 loss to the New England Patriots. Taylor said that if Burrow starts Thursday night, Flacco will be the backup.

Flacco completed 61.6% of his throws for 1,636 yards, 13 scores and four interceptions this season for the Bengals. Burrow, who led the NFL with 4,918 passing yards and 43 touchdowns in 2024, completed 58.3% of his throws for 189 yards and two scores through his first two starts of 2025.

In other injury news, Taylor ruled out WR Tee Higgins for Thursday night’s game after the wide receiver suffered a concussion in Sunday’s game. He also ruled out pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, who has missed the past three games due to a hip injury, and running back Tahj Brooks (concussion) will also not play against the Ravens. DE Cam Sample (oblique) and running back Samaje Perine (ankle) will be assessed throughout the week.

The Ravens (6-5) will host the Bengals (3-8) at 8:20 p.m. EST Thursday in Baltimore.

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Lil Baby has been releasing new tracks every week on his “WHAM Wednesdays” campaign (named after his January album, WHAM).

The Atlanta rapper promised to drop a “Song & Video Every Wednesday For The Rest Of The Year,” kicking-off the campaign with “All On Me” featuring G Herbo, continuing with “Plenty” featuring YTB Fatt and YFN Lucci, “Try To Love,” and “Otha Boy,” and now dropping his latest track, “Real Sh*t,” produced by4 3Juice and SouliMadeIt.

Take a look at the video for ‘Real Sh*t’ – HERE.

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Jennifer Hudson has released the extended version of her holiday album The Gift of Love (2024), which includes her cover of “Mary, Did You Know?;” the original version of the song debuted in 1991, cowritten by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene.

The Gift of Love debuted in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums chart when it was released in 2024. The album featured 17 songs including classics such as “Carol of the Bells,” “Little Drummer Boy,” “Winter Wonderland,” “O Holy Night,” and “Auld Lang Syne” alongside original songs such as “Santa for Someone,” “Find The Love,” and “Carol of the Bells” featuring The Joy.

The extended holiday edition of the album incudes “Mary, Did You Know?” and “Let There Be Joy,” an original song heard in Hallmark’s 2024 Joy to Your World campaign.

Hudson said on Instagram: “I could not be more excited to share this news with you! The extended edition of my GRAMMY-nominated holiday album “The Gift of Love” is coming your way and this time I had to include another one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs, “Mary Did You Know?” This song has been close to my heart for years, and I cannot wait to share my version with you all! #TheGiftofLove ”

Stream ‘The Gift Of Love (Extended Holiday Edition)’ – HERE.

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is pushing back against reports that she’s eyeing a future White House bid, days after revealing she will leave Congress early next year. The Georgia Republican, who announced Friday she will resign in January following a public split with former President Trump, said online speculation about a 2028 presidential campaign is unfounded.

TIME Magazine and NOTUS reported that Greene had privately discussed running for president, but she dismissed those accounts in a lengthy post on X, calling the reporting a “complete lie.” She added, “I’m not running for President and never said I wanted to and have only laughed about it when anyone would mention it.”

Greene — once one of Trump’s most visible allies — has recently broken with GOP leadership over issues including health care costs, spending negotiations and the government shutdown. Trump has since withdrawn his support and publicly criticized her, fueling questions about her political future. Her resignation announcement on Friday surprised colleagues and immediately triggered speculation about potential Senate, gubernatorial or presidential ambitions, all of which she has rejected.

Greene posted her resignation message on Friday, stating she ran for Congress in 2020 believing “Make America Great Again meant America First” and she asserted she’s had one of the most conservative voting records in Congress. “However with almost one year into our majority, the legislature has been mostly sidelined, we endured an 8 week shut down wrongly resulting in the House not working for the entire time, and we are entering campaign season which means all courage leaves and only safe campaign re-election mode is turned on,” she said.

Responding to the latest reports, Greene argued that pursuing the presidency “requires traveling all over the country, begging for donations all day everyday to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, arguing political talking points everyday to the point of exhaustion, destroying your health and having no personal life in order to attempt to get enough votes to become President all to go to work into a system that refuses to fix any of America’s problems.” She said she is “not motivated by power and titles,” contending that the “Political Industrial Complex has destroyed our country and will never allow someone like me or you to rise to power and actually solve the crises that plague all of us.”

Since entering Congress in 2021, Greene has built a national profile as a staunch conservative firebrand. Her decision to depart — and her sudden fallout with Trump — has reshaped her political trajectory and left supporters in her northwest Georgia district expressing disappointment. Greene has not indicated what she plans to do after leaving office, insisting only that she is not preparing for a presidential run.

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As officials from the United States, Ukraine and Europe continued intensive negotiations in Geneva this weekend over the peace proposal from the U.S. aimed at halting the nearly three-year war in Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the latest round as the most “productive” to date.

Rubio said the delegations were working through revisions in hopes of narrowing remaining disagreement, with top U.S. officials — including Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, envoy Steve Witkoff and senior national security advisers — meeting with Kyiv’s representatives as President Donald Trump signaled that further bargaining was still possible.

Rubio said that “I think this was a very, very meaningful – I would say probably best – meeting and day we’ve had so far in this entire process, going back to when we first came into office in January. But there’s still some work left to do and that’s what our teams are going to be doing right now … We’re making some changes and adjustments in hopes of further narrowing the differences and getting closer to an outcome that both Ukraine and the United States can be comfortable with,” Rubio said, promising updates after additional meetings.

Similarly, Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, said after meeting with Rubio that “We have very good progress and we are moving forward to the just and lasting peace.”

Following a call with French president Emmanuel Macron later on Sunday, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy posted that “our teams in Geneva are working with partners, and it is very important that there is a practical result and that it brings Ukraine and all of Europe closer to reliable peace and security.”  Zelenskyy also addressed the U.S. and Trump, saying in part “we count on our partners to hear our arguments. The leadership of the United States is important, we are grateful for everything that America and President Trump are doing for security, and we keep working as constructively as possible,” writing in part that “the crux of the entire diplomatic situation is that it was Russia, and only Russia, that started this war, and it is Russia, and only Russia, that has been refusing to end it throughout the full-scale invasion.”

The draft 28-point peace plan shared with both Ukraine and Russia includes highly contentious measures: ceding additional territory in the Donbas, recognizing Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk as Russian, sharply reducing Ukraine’s military and blocking any future NATO membership. It also calls for Moscow’s reintegration into global institutions, including a return to the G8. Critics in Washington and Europe have warned the terms resemble Russian demands rather than a balanced settlement.

Confusion over the proposal’s authorship deepened the debate. Some lawmakers said it reflected a “wish list” from Moscow, but the State Department insisted it represents the Trump administration’s position, informed by input from both Kyiv and the Kremlin. Ukrainian officials have struck a cautious tone, saying the plan contains elements aligned with their priorities but still requires significant changes.

Despite public friction — including Trump’s criticism of Ukraine and European allies —  Zelenskyy has emphasized continued engagement, urging partners to strengthen air defenses amid ongoing Russian strikes and stressing that any agreement must provide durable security.

Moscow, meanwhile, has publicly acknowledged receiving the proposal. Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Security Council, “I believe that it could also form the basis for a final peace settlement, but this text has not been discussed with us in detail,” adding, “I believe the reason is the same: the U.S. administration has not yet managed to secure the agreement of the Ukrainian side, as Ukraine is opposed to it.” He also claimed, “Apparently, Ukraine and its European allies are still under the illusion that they can inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield.”

U.S. officials say additional meetings — including one with Russian representatives — are expected as diplomacy accelerates. Whether the proposal can be reshaped into a mutually acceptable agreement remains unclear, but negotiators on all sides say time and battlefield realities are tightening the pressure for a breakthrough.

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Florida State confirmed on Sunday that head coach Mike Norvell will return for 2026 football season, despite two turbulent years that have left the program fighting for bowl eligibility. The decision comes two days after a 21-11 loss at NC State dropped the Seminoles to 5-6 and extended their road losing streak to 10 games (they have not won away from Tallahassee since Nov. 25, 2023).

Per Yahoo Sports Ross Dellenger: “Mike Norvell will return as Florida State’s coach in 2026, sources tell
@YahooSports. The university president, AD and board are aligned in support of Norvell, who has pledged to make changes in areas of recruiting and player evaluation to enhance FSU’s roster.”

The mounting speculation about Norvell’s job status came after a stretch in which Florida State has gone 7-16 overall and 3-13 in ACC play, including six losses in its past eight games. The Seminoles must win at rival Florida next week to avoid missing a bowl for the second straight season.  However, it should be noted that Norvell signed a lucrative extension after the 2023 season, and firing him next year would cost the university more than $50 million — roughly $72 million including his staff. Had Florida State made a change, it would have entered a crowded coaching market that already includes Florida, LSU and Penn State.

University President Richard McCullough said in an announcement:“FSU Board of Trustees Chairman Peter Collins, Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford and I are in complete agreement that changes are needed for our program to improve. Coach Norvell embraces our support in that process and agrees that success must be achieved. He continues to demonstrate an unwavering belief in this program’s future, and so do we. This decision reflects a unified commitment to competing in the rapidly evolving landscape of college football, while maintaining continuity within the program … In addition to addressing the reality that on-field results have been far from acceptable to the FSU standard, we also realize our responsibilities as stewards of program revenues and how to best allocate those dollars to compete at an elite level – something we will not compromise.  Throughout the assessment, one goal will remain beyond all others – achieving sustained championship-level success. We will address performance deficiencies in the program. These deficiencies may include structural changes to the very large and complex program FSU football has become, and these areas are where we will focus and invest.”

Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford said: “Our responsibility is to do what gives Florida State the strongest competitive position – not just today, but for years to come. Florida State has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in its football program over the past few years with high expectations. Chairman Collins, President McCullough and I are aligned in partnering with Coach and improving our ability to compete for championships. Our mission is unwavering in putting Florida State football at the forefront of college athletics.”

Norvell led the program at FSU to a 13-0 regular season and ACC championship in 2023, but the College Football Playoff committee excluded the Seminoles from the four-team field after quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending leg injury. A wave of opt-outs followed, and a depleted roster was crushed 63-3 by Georgia in the Orange Bowl. Most of that roster departed for the NFL, and FSU stumbled to 2-10 in 2024 — its worst finish since 1974.

Norvell acknowledged frustrations during his time with FSU, but emphasized his commitment to rebuilding:  “This program has been built on belief, sacrifice, and putting the team first,” he said. “The driving motivation behind this is to make certain that we are doing everything properly to obtain and retain elite players, add critical pieces, and sustain long-term success. I love Florida State, and I am fully committed to this program, and our shared goals.”

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Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon will miss at least the next month after being diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain in his right hamstring, per a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania. The injury occurred early in Friday’s road win over the Houston Rockets, and an MRI on Saturday confirmed the severity. The team expects to re-evaluate him in approximately four to six weeks.

Gordon, 30, had already been managing hamstring issues and played only a few minutes Friday before exiting. He also sat out two of Denver’s previous three games and did not suit up for Saturday’s loss to the Sacramento Kings. The setback is another blow for a short-handed Nuggets roster, which recently lost fellow starter Christian Braun to a left ankle sprain that will keep him out at least six weeks.

The forward was off to the most productive start of his career, averaging 18.8 points per game while shooting a career-best 44.4% from beyond the arc. He opened the season with a 50-point performance against Golden State and is one of seven players currently averaging at least 15 points on 50-40-85 shooting splits. Gordon also played through a left hamstring strain during last season’s Game 7 loss to Oklahoma City in the Western Conference semifinals.

Denver, who are second in the Western Conference behind the Thunder, will now lean on its expanded depth: Peyton Watson, Cameron Johnson and newly added veterans such as Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valančiūnas.

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