Student gave Cornell police leads in alleged rape and thought it was ‘in good hands’

Jane Doe’s lawsuit has sparked uproar and criticism of Cornell University and the DA’s handling of her allegations. (Heather Ainsworth for NBC News)

A Cornell University student gave campus police leads in the alleged rape of Jane Doe in 2024 but expressed dismay over how the authorities handled the case.

The student, who spoke to NBC News on Sunday on condition of anonymity over concerns about repercussions, said she first heard about allegations that Doe was raped as a rumor on campus about 24 to 48 hours after the incident. Doe, who filed a lawsuit last month, claimed she was plied with alcohol and ketamine and gang-raped at the Chi Phi fraternity house the night of Oct. 19-20.

The student recalled rumors that Doe was planning to have a threesome but that it had “gone off the rails,” and she remembers being “really horrified by it.”

“From that night, I think, we just kind of started, like, hearing more,” the student said.

Talk of the alleged sexual assault became widespread on campus after the school issued a crime safety alert about a report of a sexual assault at a fraternity.

“The thing I think we all feel, like, betrayed in regards to is that, like, it wasn’t handled,” she said. “When we got the police report, I think we all assumed it was being, you know, it would be, like, handled properly, yeah, and it was, like, in good hands.”

The student, who discussed details corroborated by documents reviewed by NBC News, said she and a friend initially gave a tip to authorities after the crime alert was issued. Police later called her and asked her to come in and speak with them days after Doe reported the incident to Cornell police on Nov. 8.

Police records obtained by NBC News showed that Cornell police spoke to multiple witnesses and fielded anonymous tips about the allegations of a gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house — but that the information wasn't referred to the local prosecutor for review in his deciding whether to bring charges. (Heather Ainsworth for NBC News)

The student said she decided to go to police after she saw screenshots of a Chi Phi group message on Snapchat and because “it felt like the right thing to do if we could help this girl.” Doe’s lawsuit included a screenshot of a Chi Phi Snapchat group message that said there was “free p----” in a room in the frat house where Doe was the night she alleges she was assaulted.

“That was, like, when I kind of internally made the decision. OK, like, I’m taking this all in, and then I’m going to the police tomorrow,” the student said.

She recalled sitting with one or two officers for about half an hour during her interview with police.

“They seemed fairly competent. It seemed like a normal interview process to me,” she said.

She said she walked them through everything she knew, including that fraternity members were messaging about the events of that evening with Doe and about potential witnesses. She also gave police secondhand information about drug use at Chi Phi and said she is familiar with the frat house and believed she knew where ketamine was alleged to be kept.

“I guess I assumed that, like, I wasn’t enough,” the student said.

Cornell did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday on the student’s account to police. In a video statement Saturday, President Michael I. Kotlikoff called the allegations “deeply disturbing” and said they raise questions about the investigations that were conducted. He said he welcomes an independent review of how the university handled the matter, which will be conducted by an outside law firm.

Police records obtained by NBC News showed that Cornell police spoke to multiple witnesses and fielded anonymous tips about the allegations of a gang rape at the fraternity house — but that the information was not referred to the local prosecutor for review in his deciding whether to bring charges.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten told NBC News on Friday that the interviews that were flagged “were each of the frat members declining to speak on the advice of their attorney.” He did not respond to a follow-up request asking whether he was told about interviews with other fraternity members in addition to tips from callers.

Van Houten ultimately determined the allegations did not warrant charges because of a lack of criminality.

Doe’s suit has sparked uproar and criticism of Cornell and Van Houten’s handling of her allegations. Van Houten has since agreed to reopen his inquiry into Doe’s allegations, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last week named state Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the matter.

The student who spoke with campus police criticized how the department handled the matter. While students believed there was an active investigation into Doe’s claims, people continued going to Chi Phi, including the room at the center of the allegations.

Within Greek life at Cornell, “rumors spread fast,” the student said, and even if you did not know Doe or the men, “you knew someone who did.”

Doe’s lawsuit named Cornell, Chi Phi and the seven fraternity brothers among the defendants. None of the seven has been criminally charged. The fraternity was suspended from campus, and it remains barred.

Cornell said in a statement Sept. 28 that it conducted a thorough, monthslong Title IX investigation that handed down “a range of sanctions which included expulsions and suspensions” from the university.

Attorneys for two of the seven men have denied to NBC News that they sexually assaulted Doe. An attorney for a third man denied the allegations to ABC News. NBC News has not received responses to requests for comment from the five other men.

Chi Phi’s national fraternity condemned sexual assault and drug and alcohol abuse in a statement Wednesday. It said that the fraternity members Doe named were kicked out of the organization and that the national fraternity permanently expelled the chapter.

“At every level of Chi Phi, we will take steps like these whenever they are needed to protect the integrity of our fraternity and the safety of our communities,” said Trey Robb, the national fraternity’s interim executive director.

Some of the men faced backlash as talk spread on campus.

Two of the Chi Phi brothers named in the suit were kicked out of their rugby club after the allegations came to light, a former teammate told NBC News.

“We kicked [them] off the team immediately before the school expelled them,” said the teammate, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The teammate said he has participated in discussions among a group of current and former rugby players about responding publicly to Doe’s lawsuit.

“As a team, it was important for us to support this victim,” he said. “We are extremely, extremely distraught.”

Cornell Rugby said in a statement that it was “deeply disturbed” by the allegations and that its thoughts were with Doe.

“Players who were known to be connected with the alleged events were permanently removed from the team and alumni network as soon as their affiliation with the incident was established,” it said.

No current members of the team have been affiliated with Chi Phi, the statement said.

As news of the allegations spread, some discussions were supportive of Doe, but others shamed her in conversations, a former member of Doe’s sorority, Delta Delta Delta, told NBC News.

“Some people were sympathizing with Jane Doe, but also, people didn’t know details,” said the former member, who has graduated and requested anonymity out of a concern for privacy.

Another student and former member of Tri Delta told NBC News that she recalled learning about the incident through rumors and described the student body as “really pissed off about it.”

That student said that she was at the same sorority-hosted event the evening of Oct. 19 that Doe attended and which was referred to in her lawsuit but that Doe disappeared during the evening.

A few days later, the student said, Doe said people were spreading rumors about her and she was not sure what to make of it, “and it just seemed like everybody was very confused at the moment.”

A third former Tri Delta member told NBC News that the campus learned of the incident from the university alert and described students feeling “shock” and “really appalled.”

She, too, is critical of how Cornell handled the matter.

“I think that shows a lack of respect for their female students and kind of makes it less enticing to attend the university,” she said.

Today, within the sorority there is a resounding wave of support for Doe, she said, as well as “frustration and anger.”

Tri Delta said in a statement on behalf of its national organization and its Cornell chapter, “As an organization, we are committed to supporting women and victims of sexual violence.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), can put you in contact with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN’s online chat service at https://ift.tt/qUglrML.

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U.S. monitoring suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia, official says

The State Department is monitoring reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia and is urging Moscow to share accurate information quickly as details remain unconfirmed.

A State Department official told Fox News that the U.S. is aware of reports of a death in Irkutsk Oblast, a region in southeastern Siberia, and is watching the situation closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies. The official stressed that many details have not been confirmed and called on Russian authorities to reveal what they know.

Former CIA officer Dan Hoffman told Fox News Digital that the U.S. intelligence community is likely to be collecting all-source intelligence on the incident.

Scientists Crack The Code On New Vaccine For Deadly Plague Bacteria

FILE - A man has his nose swabbed. The State Department is monitoring reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia.

"I would also expect our embassy in Moscow to be engaging with their diplomatic counterparts at an official level because we might have people in Russia who might be at risk," Hoffman warned.

"Washington will be speaking to all of our allies and partners in the region and sharing what we know."

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Deadly Bacteria That Doomed Napoleon's Army Discovered 213 Years After Russian Retreat

Plague bacteria (Yersinia pestis) causes bubonic plague and is carried in the pathogen of rats and there are still many regions of the world where the disease occurs.

Pneumonic plague can be treated with common antibiotics, especially when treatment begins early, the official said. Appropriate therapy should begin as soon as plague is suspected, and patients can be treated with intravenous or oral antimicrobials depending on the severity of illness and other factors, according to the CDC.

FILE - A State Department official says the U.S. is tracking reports of a suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia while pressing Moscow for timely, accurate information.

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Cases of pneumonic plague occur naturally in many parts of the world, according to the State Department official.

The official said the safety and security of U.S. citizens remains the department’s top priority and encouraged Americans traveling overseas to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP, to receive updates.

Original article source: US monitoring suspected fatal pneumonic plague case in Russia, State Department official says

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Immigration, AR-15 bans and climate lawsuits land before the Supreme Court

Immigration, gun rights and climate change are on the Supreme Court docket (Stefani Reynolds)

The US Supreme Court opens its new term on Monday with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, gun rights and the fate of climate change lawsuits on the docket.

The session opens one month ahead of a crucial midterm vote that could see President Donald Trump's Republican Party lose its majority in the House of Representatives and possibly even the Senate.

Losing control of Congress would force the president to have to rely even more on the conservative-dominated top court to push through his policies.

Not that it has always been in lockstep with Trump.

Trump suffered stinging defeats this year over his tariffs and bid to restrict birthright citizenship, sparking tirades by the president against the court, particularly the three justices he appointed during his first White House term.

"I gave them the position of a lifetime, and they vote against me often," he told Time magazine in a recent interview.

At the same time, the 6-3 conservative majority has allowed Trump to vastly expand his executive powers and handed him a number of victories on what is known as the emergency docket, where cases are fast-tracked without oral arguments.

At the end of September, for example, in an immigration case in which the three liberal justices dissented, the court allowed the administration to continue for the time being to deport undocumented migrants to countries that are not their own.

The court will hear oral arguments in that case during the fall term and a ruling in the administration's favor could open the floodgates to more so-called "third country" deportations.

More than 25,000 people have been sent to third countries since Trump returned to office after reaching secret agreements with some 35 nations, most of them in Latin America and Africa.

- 'Concerned about the future' -

In another immigration case, the court will weigh a new practice of automatically detaining undocumented migrants -- even those who have lived in the United States for years -- instead of releasing them while their cases are being adjudicated.

"The Trump administration is interpreting that mandatory detention statute in a way that no administration has ever done in the 30 years since that statute was enacted," said Cecillia Wang, the national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "It's to pressure people to, as the government puts it, self-deport."

The opening case of the term may decide whether climate suits brought by local governments against oil companies for their role in global warming can proceed or whether federal law should prevail.

On the election front, the Supreme Court will take up an Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

Trump and fellow Republicans have baselessly claimed for years that many non-citizens vote in US elections but studies have shown the actual number is insignificant.

Gun ownership returns to the court in a case challenging state or local bans on certain semi-automatic weapons such as AR-15s.

The role of religion in public education will be tested when the justices hear a case involving a Catholic preschool in Colorado that denies admission to children of LGBTQ+ parents.

The question in the case is "whether they have a right to receive taxpayer dollars without following the non-discrimination rules that apply to everyone else," said Dan Mack, director of the ACLU's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.

On the eve of the new term, Justice Samuel Alito, a staunch conservative, gave a rare public interview in which he told Fox News Sunday he was "concerned about the future of the court."

"There has been a concerted effort to intimidate the court and justices on the court to try to influence us to decide cases," the 76-year-old Alito said.

A recent Gallup survey found that Americans' views of the Supreme Court are at their least positive since the organization began polling on the institution in 1972.

Only 34 percent of US adults approve of the job the court is doing, essentially unchanged from the record-low 33 percent approval tallied in July, Gallup said.

sst/cl/sla

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Trump predicts a ‘big surprise’ for Republicans as he rallies voters in Ohio

VANDALIA, Ohio — President Donald Trump rallied Saturday for Republicans in Ohio’s competitive races for Senate and governor, predicting that the party will defy expectations in a choppy midterm election climate.

“I think we’re going to have a big surprise, because they don’t know what’s happening,” Trump said while speaking onstage inside a high school gymnasium near Dayton.

“Just get out and vote,” Trump added. “If you do that, we’re going to win, and we’re going to win big. And we’re going to shove it up their ass.”

The visit, part of what White House officials have told NBC News will be a push through at least 17 states between now and Nov. 3, was aimed at boosting Sen. Jon Husted and GOP gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy.

Trump, who won Ohio three times by comfortable margins, opened his speech with praise for both before moving into broader remarks to promote himself and his administration. He also offered support for local Rep. Mike Turner and for several House candidates in attendance, including Derek Merrin, the Republican running against longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in northwest Ohio.

Husted’s bid to keep the Senate seat — which he was appointed to after JD Vance was elected vice president — has become a subject of concern among Republicans in Ohio and Washington. In August, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in a memo that Husted’s past enthusiasm for building data centers was hurting his campaign. Others have expressed worries that Husted, who has long wanted to be governor, has not put his full heart into the race.

The battle is one of the most expensive and competitive Senate races in the country this fall. Along with a handful of other key contests, the clash between Husted and Brown could determine partisan control of the chamber. This week, the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, poured another $14 million into Ohio to prop up Husted, bringing the group’s investment in the state to $93 million.

“Sen. Jon Husted votes to put Ohio first, and he votes all the time,” Trump said before relating conversations he’s had with Thune and others: “They think he’s phenomenal.”

The high school gym where Trump spoke Saturday night was a smaller venue than has been typical for his rallies. The home court of the Butler High School Aviators seats up to 5,000. There were several stretches of empty seats in upper bleachers as Trump took the stage — and many more by the time he finished speaking 93 minutes later.

In Ohio and elsewhere, Republicans are wrestling with how to win at a time when polls show Trump and the war with Iran are highly unpopular and when voters most loyal to Trump might stay home because he’s not on the ballot.

“As a lifelong Republican who’s voted in every election since I was 18 and in every primary election as a Republican, I have real concerns that we’re going to be able to turn out the every-four-year Trump voter,” Nick Owens, a former GOP chair in Ohio’s Brown County and former member of the state Board of Education, told NBC News last month. “I have real concerns that those voters just will not come to the polls.”

Trump acknowledged that dynamic explicitly Saturday and repeated an argument he’s been making on the campaign trail this fall.

“When I run, we win,” Trump said. “But for some reason, when I don’t run, they draw 44% less people. So what I’m going to do is ask you to just pretend that I’m running, because if we do, and if you draw the people, you’re going to win, and we’re going to win big.”

Husted, speaking to reporters before the rally, described Trump as a unique asset in his race.

“Well, he won Ohio by 11 points in the last election, and if we get those same voters to turn out in this election, we’ll win,” Husted said.

Alex Triantafilou, the Ohio GOP chair, told NBC News that the rally was “hugely important” in the effort to motivate those low-propensity, Trump-loyal voters.

“We know in Ohio that if we turn out the same electorate that we turned out in 2024, that we’ll win every race,” Triantafilou said in an interview. “Nobody speaks to that crowd better than President Trump.”

The Saturday rally included a cameo from Jon Gruden, the former NFL coach who years ago was a teammate of Husted’s on the University of Dayton football team.

“Jon Husted is a lot more than my friend,” an animated Gruden told the audience. “He was a great player. … He will never quit on you or anybody.”

Trump marveled about Husted’s football-playing days, of which he said he was unaware until hearing about them from Gruden.

“Nobody told me you were a great athlete,” Trump said, before taking a jab at his Democratic rival: “And Brown was not — he was not an athlete. That guy can’t tie his shoes.”

For its part Saturday, the Brown team sent a mobile billboard linking Husted’s support for the Iran war to higher gas prices through Dayton and on the streets near the rally.

“Jon Husted has turned his back on working families — he’s only looking out for his billionaire buddies and special interests,” Brown said in a statement from his campaign.

Ohio also is home to what polls show is a close race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Ramaswamy faces Democrat Amy Acton, a physician who served as the state’s health director under DeWine. Ohioans have not elected a Democrat as governor in 20 years, but at a time when high prices are top of mind for voters, there are questions about the billionaire Ramaswamy’s appeal, especially in rural parts of the state.

Ramaswamy, like Husted, addressed the crowd early during the rally, and Trump invited both to return to the stage during his speech. Trump introduced Ramaswamy by noting how he had briefly run against him for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

“He was a nasty guy,” Trump said of Ramaswamy. “But you know what? He was smart. He loves the state. He’s actually got a great heart.”

Compared with Husted, Ramaswamy was otherwise less of a focus of Trump’s remarks. Trump, for example, criticized Senate Democrats who this week blocked Husted’s Ratepayer Protection Act, which aims to rein in higher utility costs associated with power-hungry data centers.

Republicans, Trump said, are “taking historic action to ensure that Big Tech data centers benefit local communities.”

Trump then made the argument for data centers, despite the fears it could be a losing issue for Husted.

“We want them,” Trump said. “Look, there’s so much money to be made for Ohio. You can’t just turn them off. They’ll go to China.”

Trump also recited the lyrics to the 1968 Al Wilson song “The Snake” — a recurring, crowd-pleasing bit in his rally speeches — with a new, localized twist. Trump dedicated the song, which he uses as an allegory for trusting communities that welcome immigrants, to nearby Springfield, Ohio.

The city became a flashpoint in the 2024 presidential election after Trump repeated the unsubstantiated and racially charged claim that Haitian immigrants in the city were eating pets.

At another point, the crowd broke into chants of “four more years” for the term-limited president.

“I’d love to do the four-more-year thing,” Trump responded in a teasing tone before suggesting that the press would overplay his remarks.

“We’re driving them totally crazy,” Trump said, referring to the media. “But I love doing it. I love being with you. I really do.”

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U.K.-Iranian national released on bail after arrest in security incident near U.S. base

A dual U.K.-Iranian national who was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plotting a terror attack following a security incident at the U.S.-run RAF Fairford air base in England that British authorities have linked to Tehran was released on bail Saturday.

The 25-year-old man was arrested in London on Thursday, and police have searched two properties in the U.K. capital, Counter Terrorism Policing said in a statement. 

On Saturday, Counter Terrorism Policing announced that the man had been released on bail. 

"The investigation into the circumstances surrounding events in Gloucestershire is continuing," the agency said in a new statement. 

British police also initially reported that a second 26-year-old British national had been interviewed by investigators "under caution," meaning the interview was recorded and could be used in future prosecutions. However, they later disclosed that this was "not correct and has been removed" from their statement.

On Oct. 27, five men, all British nationals in their 20s and from London, were also arrested on suspicion of explosives and terror offenses close to the RAF Fairford air base, which has been used by American bombers to strike Iran. The suspects have also since been released on bail.

Their quick release drew criticism from President Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But it also prompted questions in the U.K. as to whether the authorities had overreacted.

Police say they found a quantity of an accelerant – gasoline – in three vans linked to the five suspects, but no explosives.

Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for counter terrorism policing, said the investigation "is hugely complex, and our specialist teams are interrogating multiple lines of inquiry."

"As we've made clear, we're looking at all possible angles - including possible foreign state involvement," she said.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the U.K. sees "strong indications" that Iran played a part in the incident. Iran denies involvement.

"There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford, but of course it remains an ongoing, complex and serious police investigation, and of course we are working closely with our colleagues in the United States of America," the prime minister told the BBC. 

The base 100 miles west of London has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East, including this year's war with Iran.

Iranian authorities have warned that any bases used to attack the country would be considered legitimate targets, but the Iranian Embassy in London said in a statement shared Monday on social media that the regime "categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations published by some British individuals and media outlets attempting to link Iran" to the incident.

Burnham said authorities have the investigation under "the strongest grip and the closest control," and British officials had been "talking to counterparts in the United States all week to explain what is happening here, how things are being done."

U.K. officials say proxies linked to Iran have been behind a string of arsons and other attacks in Britain and other countries, many of them targeting the Jewish community and intended to sow fear. They have previously warned that Tehran could expand its targets in the U.K. if conflicts in the Middle East continue.

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Flydubai copilot attacked captain with crash axe, UAE official says

TEL AVIV — A Flydubai pilot attacked his fellow pilot using a crash axe and tried to take control of the aircraft’s flight controls in an attempted terrorist attack, an official in the United Arab Emirates said Saturday.

The name of the alleged attacker is Omani citizen Hamam al-Hammami, multiple sources from three agencies briefed on the investigation, and a diplomat in the Middle East, told NBC News. Authorities have not officially released the identity.

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that al-Hammami had “previously been banned from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted radical ideological views.”

Oman Air did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he previously worked for them.

Emirati officials are leading investigations into the mid-air incident, which occurred Wednesday on a flight carrying 174 mostly Israeli passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv. A crash was averted, according to eyewitnesses and Israeli officials, when crew and passengers were able to enter the cabin and subdue the alleged attacker.

“Investigations into the incident aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 revealed that the co-pilot attempted to carry out a terrorist act,” UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al Shamsi said in an update on Saturday.

“The co-pilot began executing his plan during the flight, attacking the captain inside the flight deck using a crash axe and attempting to take control of the aircraft’s flight controls,” he said.

Al-Hammami was transferred from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi on Thursday, the Saudi Interior Ministry said. The statement said his health had “improved,” but his medical condition was unclear.

Al Shamsi said investigations were ongoing to “establish the full circumstances, motives, and any links related to the incident.”

Israeli Government Spokesman David Mencer said Friday that Israeli investigators would “join their Emirati counterparts in investigating this attempted mass murder and establishing precisely what happened, his motives and background.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday: “As time passes, the picture becomes clearer: the attacker had undergone Islamist radicalization. He came to crash the plane, along with its passengers.”

He did not say how he reached that conclusion, but added: “We are investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price.”

Netanyahu’s spokesman Doron Spielman told NBC News that the alleged attacker “talks on his social media about killing Jews.”

The alleged victim of the axe attack, Indian national Capt. Smit Machchhar, spoke for the first time Friday from a hospital in Abu Dhabi.

Machchhar was widely praised for his efforts to prevent the plane from crashing, opening the cockpit door and allowing passengers and crewmembers to rush in.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Machchhar said he had been “severely injured” and “could sense that the aircraft was going down.”

“I was acting for my own life, but at the same time, I knew I couldn’t let all of them die,” he said on a video call released by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding that he told himself to “give just one last push” to the cockpit door.

The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi called Machchhar the “Indian braveheart,” saying in an X post Saturday that he “remains under excellent medical care & is recovering well.”

Ayelet Epstein, a 47-year-old Israeli, told NBC News that her 14-year-old daughter asked if they were going to die when they heard shouting and “a huge fall started.”

“I told her, no, I don’t think so, we’re going to be OK,” she said, adding that “I was trying to rationalize things in a hopeful way for her.”

Epstein thanked Machchhar “from the bottom of my heart” for saving their lives, lauding his bravery.

A Flydubai spokesperson said Saturday: “We recognise that there are many questions at this stage; however, the circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation. We are therefore not in a position to comment further beyond our published statements.”

The spokesperson added: “We remain fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation and are in close coordination with the relevant government authorities and regulators.”

President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that there would be renewed strikes against Iran if it was behind the attack.

“You just ask them,” he said. “They know what happened. They’ll be hit very hard.”

There are no indications that Iran directed or was involved in the attack, a senior U.S. official briefed on the Israeli investigation told NBC News.

Raf Sanchez and Shira Pinson reported from Tel Aviv. Freddie Clayton reported from London. Tom Winter and Jonathan Dienst reported from New York.

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Ohio factory layoffs test Trump's economic pitch in a working-class stronghold

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sipping tea from beer mugs with his coworkers, Kyle Bos listed the ways his life is changing.

Bos has two daughters, with a third due in January. At the grocery store, five items cost as much as a full cart once did. And on Wednesday, Bos and nearly 1,400 other people were laid off from their jobs at what had been the Navistar truck factory in southwestern Ohio.

The layoffs — occurring just three days before Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday at a nearby high school — were large enough to basically erase an entire year of job growth in the greater Dayton, Ohio area. And they are one reason why Bos, 30, plans to spend the final weeks before the November election canvassing votes for Democrats.

Asked how many times he voted for Trump, Bos held up three tattooed fingers. But he said he’s done with the president.

“Something has to change politically in this country,” said Bos, a member of the United Auto Workers who identifies as a centrist.

Trump is campaigning in this area on Saturday

This year’s election is a test for the working-class coalition that lifted Trump into the White House and gave majorities to Republicans in the House and Senate. The outcome will be decided in places like Dayton, which once sprouted factories but shed about half of its 90,000 factory jobs since 1990 after the North American Free Trade Agreement and trade with China made it cheaper to buy auto parts from abroad.

Trump’s blunt talk and status as a celebrity businessman initially helped him around Dayton, where voters sensed that politics as usual had failed them. But voters this year are disgruntled about inflation and the war in Iran.

An Ohio race could help determine control of the Senate. Republican Sen. Jon Husted is facing a challenge from former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is trying to harness that disenchantment as he attempts a comeback two years after losing his seat.

Trump’s visit to the Dayton area is one of what he says will be a 32-day marathon of rallies to try to convince the public that the economy is better than they think.

“All over the country, they’re building factories, plants, manufacturing’s coming back,” Trump said on Thursday. “The only thing we’re doing badly at is public relations.”

Americans increasingly blame Trump for the high cost of living, though Trump has largely sneered at concerns about affordability. However, he has promised to give people $5,000 checks if Republicans win the House and Senate next month— something Bos said he found offensive.

“It feels like a bribe, a slap in the face, and, like, that we’re all ignorant,” Bos said.

When factory work moved abroad, Republicans gained traction

In the 1990s, as steady paychecks vanished, drug addiction and crime increased. Things seemed to hit bottom after the 2008 financial crisis, prompting Phil Plummer — who was then Montgomery County Sheriff — to enter politics.

“My jail was 40% drug addicts, 50% mental health patients, 10% criminals,” said Plummer, the Montgomery County GOP chairman who has been a Republican state representative since 2019. “We got it upside down — that’s what drove me to the state house.”

Plummer, the Montgomery County Republican chairman, is now on the ballot for the Ohio state Senate and said he thinks Trump is what keeps the GOP’s coalition of businesses and working-class families together.

In recent years, the local economy has improved as the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base steadily added government workers. The base has drawn new aerospace companies to the area such as Joby Aviation, Electra and the Sierra Nevada Corporation.

“In economic development, it takes time, and you have got to give it a little bit of time to bake, and then once it does, then you’re going to have something special,” said Jeff Hoagland, CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition.

No tax on overtime doesn’t help these factory workers

The White House pointed to the $850 million investment by aircraft maker Electra — along with announcements in Ohio from Honda, Stellantis and others — as evidence Trump’s policies were creating jobs.

But at the former Navistar plant, Trump's broad tariffs never boosted demand and the plant’s former owner, International Motors, chose to offload the facility.

Trump’s major legislative achievement — the One Big, Beautiful Bill — contributed little to people’s take-home pay, even as it temporarily stripped taxes from tips and overtime.

“We weren’t getting a lot of overtime because of the economy,” said Marianne Donnelly, who drove a forklift at the factory. “There just wasn’t any to be had, very little to be had.”

Laid-off workers like Donnelly say they expect to be rehired in six to 12 months by Roshel, a Canadian manufacturer of armored vehicles, which is buying the plant. Roshel said in a statement that it’s “working with everyone involved not only to protect the current workforce, but to more than double it over the coming years through a phased process.”

Laid-off workers are looking for hope

On the Monday before the layoffs, Morgan Hughes and JoJo Burkhard were knocking on doors in Kettering, a Dayton suburb. They were trying to convince union members and retirees to vote for Democrats.

The Navistar job had helped Hughes, 35, buy a house at age 21 and work alongside her father. Burkhard said inflation had made it easier to swing voters to their side.

“It isn’t a hard pitch at all,” she said. “And even if they don’t want to stay Democratic long term, they’ll at least give the candidates a chance this election, which could be a turning point for us.”

After a morning of talking to voters, the pair settled down at a Chinese restaurant for some potstickers and the weight of the week hit them.

Burkhard cracked open a fortune cookie and tears began to well up. The layoffs meant no work for her, her boyfriend and her mother — and the words in small print almost seemed prophetic.

Her fortune read: “You’ll find your inner strength to overcome challenges.”

This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://ift.tt/5bauzYZ

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