Officials say a medical emergency or an issue with the gas pedal may have led the driver of an SUV to accelerate into a neighbor’s yard and crash into a house in Mullica Hill, N.J., on Saturday, killing the husband and wife in the vehicle and causing a house fire.
Thomas Hengel, 72, and his wife, Lisa Hengel, 61, both died after their vehicle became trapped in the neighbor’s house on Banff Drive, according to Harrison Township Police Chief Ronald Cundey.
“The family in the house, by the grace of God, were in the kitchen, and they weren’t injured,” Cundey said. The home is uninhabitable as a result of the fire, and the family has been temporarily relocated, he said.
Officials are working to determine whether the driver suffered a “medical event” or if the gas pedal “got stuck,” Cundey added.
Harrison Township Mayor Adam Wingate and the police chief both applauded the quick response from the Harrison Township Fire District and other first responder agencies throughout the county.
“It’s a real shock, and it’s sad,” Cundey said. “I’m sure lots of people will have thoughts and prayers for both families.”
Thomas Hengel was a retired teacher from Clearview Regional High School, Cundey noted. He was also a longtime track coach, according to NJ.com.
“It’s just a tragedy,” said Wingate. He described the township, in Gloucester County,about a half hour outside Philadelphia, as a tight-knit community of about 14,000 people, where everyone knows everyone.
Wingate said at the high school,Hengel had a “Mr. Feeny way about him.” He compared him to the Boy Meets World character, played by actor William Daniels, because of Hengel’s passion for students’ success outside the sport.
“At the time, you might not have realized the lesson he was teaching, but even in gym class or as athletes on his teams, he pushed students to be the best version of themselves,” Wingate said. “Preparing them for success far beyond the classroom or track.”
Former student Kevin Walsh said Hengel was an “old-school coach,” who motivated and supported his student athletes even beyond their playing days. “He was almost like a second father figure to a lot of us,” Walsh said. “He really helped mold us during those impressionable years.”
Walsh recalled a time when Hengel showed up to his community college track meet on one of his days off from work. He remembers hearing Hengel’s motivational words from the crowd, pushing him past his physical limits — a moment and lesson he’s carried with him into adulthood.
Walsh said he and Hengel’s other students were “completely devastated” by his loss.
“It was just horrific, the nature of the accident. You just feel for him, his wife, and his family,” he said.
In a written tribute to the Hengel family on Facebook, Clearview graduate Andrea Eppehimer said, “Rest easy, Coach. You’ve earned it. And tell Lisa we’re grateful she was by your side every mile. We love you. We miss you. And we’ll keep running for you.”
Gus Ostrum, president of the Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame, where Hengel was voted into back in 2018, also expressed his condolences.
”We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Coach Tom Hengel and his wife Lisa on January 18,“ Ostrum wrote in a statement. ”Mr. Hengel was a highly respected coach within the South Jersey cross country and track communities who was elected to the Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. He and his wife will be missed greatly not only among their Clearview Regional High School colleagues but all around South Jersey for their wonderful commitment to our local students, athletes and their families.“
Staff photographer Elizabeth Robertson also contributed to this article.
St. Joseph’s fell behind in the first half and could not come up with enough offense Sunday in 66-59 women’s basketball loss to George Mason at Hagan Arena. The Hawks have lost two straight.
St. Joe’s (12-6, 3-4 Atlantic 10) never led. The Hawks cut George Mason’s lead to five points in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but the Patriots responded with five straight points and the Hawks never recovered.
“I thought we responded in the second half and did a much better job containing [Kennedy] Harris,” St. Joe’s coach Cindy Griffin said. “I was pleased with the second half. The way we came out and continued to fight and if we make a couple plays here and there, the outcome may be different.”
Guard Kennedy Harris led George Mason (12-6, 7-0) with 22 points. St. Joe’s had three players score in double figures, led by guard Rhian Stokes with 15 points.
Can’t stop Harris
St. Joe’s brought the second-ranked scoring defense in the A-10 into the game, but Harris had few problems cracking it. She poured in 12 points and went 5-for-5 from the field in the first quarter as the Patriots grabbed a 24-16 lead.
Harris got free at the top of the key for a three-pointer as the halftime buzzer sounded, which sent the Hawks to the locker room down 38-26.
“Kennedy Harris was really, really good,” Griffin said. “We had to make some adjustments and we did that much better in the second half.”
The Patriots went the first five minutes of the third quarter without a point before Harris made consecutive jumpers to push their lead back to 43-32.
Battle on the boards
George Mason entered the game with a rebounding margin of -2.3, while St. Joe’s had the fourth-best rebounding margin in the conference at 4.3.
However, the Patriots battled on the glass as each team finished with 33 rebounds. George Mason used the glass to stay ahead in the final quarter, outrebounding St. Joe’s by 9-4. Hawa Komara led the visitors with nine rebounds while Gabby Casey had 10 for the Hawks.
St. Joe’s guard Kaylinn Bethea (22) fights for the ball with George Mason’s Zahirah Walton.
The Hawks missed the presence of guard Jill Jekot, who averages 3.6 rebounds. The injured sophomore has not played since Jan. 3 but could be getting closer to coming back.
“I would love to have had her today,” Griffin said. “Hopefully as the weeks go on she gets stronger because it’s really not about the next game, it’s about the longevity of the season.”
Next up
The Hawks visit Duquesne (7-11, 0-7) on Sunday (2 p.m., ESPN+).
After starting out with three consecutive Atlantic 10 wins, La Salle skidded to its fourth straight conference defeat in women’s basketball with a 62-58 loss to Davidson on Sunday.
The Explorers (10-8, 3-4 A-10) never led in the game at John E. Glaser Arena. Sophomore guard Joan Quinn scored a game-high 19 points and redshirt freshman center Kiara Williams added 14 for La Salle. Katie Donovan scored 13 points to lead a balanced attack for Davidson (14-6, 6-1).
Containing Macktoon
With snow coating the outside of John E. Glaser Arena, La Salle started out cold. The Explorers mustered 10 points in the first quarter and trailed by 15-10. The Wildcats employed a full-court press early, leading to six La Salle turnovers in the first quarter.
Junior guard Aryss Macktoon came into the matchup averaging 15.5 points, but she went scoreless for the Explorers in the first quarter as the Wildcats routinely forced her into tough looks. She finished with eight points.
“I think they were fouling her a lot,” La Salle coach Mountain MacGillivray said. “We got switches with size advantages, and then they let them be really be physical with her. And you know, it’s tough.”
Macktoon finished with five steals, increasing her total for the season to 68, which ranks third in the country. Davidson made 13 turnovers in the first half but led by 25-18 at the break.
With La Salle trailing by 27-22 in the third quarter, Williams made a diving save as she crashed to the floor. Scrambling to her feet, she took a pass in the paint from Ashleigh Connors and sank a turnaround fadeaway jumper, making the shot despite being fouled. The Explorers bench erupted and Williams made the free throw as well.
“That’s the kind of stuff [Williams] does for us,” MacGillivray said. “She is willing to be physical. She’s willing to throw her body around. … She must have [hit the ground] five times today. She dove out of bounds for that one, but she’s on the floor all the time, scrounging for loose balls.”
La Salle Explorers forward Kiara Williams shoots during the third quarter.
The Explorers scored more points in the third quarter (21) than they did in the entire first half. But with 6 minutes, 14 seconds left in the game, Williams fouled out.
The Wildcats put the game away with free throws down the stretch.
Next up
La Salle visits Loyola Chicago on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).
First-place Florida Atlantic proved too much for Temple to handle on Sunday as the Owls dropped a 79-73 decision at the Liacouras Center, their second straight loss. FAU outscored Temple by 10 in the final 10 minutes of the game.
“FAU is a fantastic team. They’re super talented,” said coach Adam Fisher, whose Owls lost at Memphis on Wednesday. “They’ve won their last two [against Wichita State and Memphis]. They’re playing really good basketball, a super-talented group of guards.”
One of those guards, Josia Parker, led the visiting Owls with 22 points as FAU improved to 13-6, 5-1 in the American Conference. Aiden Tobiason finished with 23 points for Temple (11-7, 3-2), which shot just 36.8% from the field.
Temple’s defense delivered, clamping down on FAU’s two leading scorers, guards Kanaan Carlyle (seven points) and guard Devin Vanterpool (12). The visitors took control as Parker scored 19 points after halftime.
Turnovers were a problem for the Owls, who coughed up the ball a season-high 15 times. Guard Jordan Mason scored just five points and finished with one assist before fouling out.
Forward Jamai Felt had a problem pulling in passes in the first half, but Temple had a 34-30 lead at the break. Felt mishandled a pass from Derrian Ford that could have bumped Temple’s lead to six.
AJ Smith’s season over
Fisher said after the game that guard AJ Smith would miss the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury that requires surgery. Smith transferred to Temple this season after playing last year at Charleston.
The senior guard averaged 7.8 points for the Owls and was a key player off the bench. He has not played since Temple lost to Villanova on Dec. 1.
“He’s had some past history of it, I think at a previous institution, and tried to play through it at the next institution,” Fisher said. “They looked at it, and we tell him, just like we do anybody, ‘Hey, these are family decisions.’”
Temple coach Adam Fisher reacts as he watches a three-point shot in the second half against Florida Atlantic.
Next up
Temple will visit Rice (8-10, 2-3) on Wednesday (8 p.m., ESPN+).
At a charity concert Saturday night in Red Bank, N.J., rock legend Bruce Springsteen said ICE needs to get out of Minneapolis — only he didn’t say it quite that nicely.
Well into his set, Springsteen introduced the song “The Promised Land,” from his 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town, which he said he wrote “as an ode to American possibility.” Springsteen said American values and ideals of the past 250 years are being tested like never before.
“Those values, those ideals, have never been as endangered as they are right now,” Springsteen, 76, told the crowd at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in a video posted by NJ.com.
“If you believe in the power of the law and that no one stands above it,” Springsteen continued, “if you stand against heavily armed, masked federal troops invading an American city, using gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens, if you believe you don’t deserve to be murdered for exercising your American right to protest, then send a message to this president, and as the mayor of that city has said, ‘ICE should get the f— out of Minneapolis.”
To a cheering crowed, Springsteen dedicated the song to the memory of Renee Good, calling her “a mother of three, and American citizen.” Good, 37, was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis — a moment, widely seen on video, that has inflamed tensions over the Trump administration’s use of the federal agency.
High school students protest federal agents and the fatal shooting of Renee Good in St. Paul.
Springsteen was not on the official performers’ list for the “Bob’s Birthday Bash” concert, which raises money for research to help people living with Parkinson’s, ALS, and other diseases. But he’s been a frequent “surprise” guest at the annual event, as New Jersey music reporter Bobby Olivier noted.
Springsteen has long found himself involved in political discourse, including in 1984 when he called out Republican President Ronald Reagan for misunderstanding the point of his hit song, “Born in the U.S.A.” while on the campaign trail.
Kicking off his 2025 European tour in Manchester, England, he called the Trump administration “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous.”
That time around, President Donald Trump responded in kind.
“I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
An escalating management dispute and chaotic board meeting preceded Jeffrey Rosen’s departure as head of the National Constitution Center, according to a report from the New York Times.
The center publicly announced on Jan. 9 that Rosen had stepped down as president and chief executive after more than 12 years leading the private, nonprofit institution at the north end of Independence Mall. Rosen will remain as CEO emeritus; Vince Stango, a 26-year veteran of the center who has served as its executive vice president and chief operating officer, has assumed the role of interim president.
The Times reported Friday, based on interviews with people who spoke on the condition of anonymity, that friction arose over how Rosen’s and Stango’s roles intersected: Rosen was the center’s public-facing leader, while Stango handled day-to-day operations, according to the Times.
A spokesperson for the center declined to comment on the Times’ article and referred The Inquirer to a previous news release, which says Rosen’s new position enables him “to devote his full time and energy to his scholarship and public dialogue.” Rosen — a constitutional scholar, law professor, and author — did not respond to a request for comment via email.
The leadership system was breaking down, the Times reported, when board members Doug DeVos (former president of Amway) and Mike George (former president of QVC) “quietly intervened” in November, hiring an employment lawyer and pushing Rosen to cede the title of president to Stango.
According to the Times, Rosen reluctantly agreed in mid-December, but by late December, talks of compromise had collapsed. Rosen submitted his resignation, conditional on the full board accepting it, “while making clear he hoped the board would instead reject it,” the Times article says.
Then-National Constitution Center president Jeffrey Rosen (left) stands by as Ron Chernow (author of the biography on which ‘Hamilton’ the musical is based) shows off the 2025 Liberty Medal he was awarded at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
Rosen had the backing of board member J. Michael Luttig, a retired federal appeals court judge, who portrayed DeVos and George in emails to the board as trying to unfairly oust the center’s top executive, according to the Times. Luttig threatened to step down if the board accepted Rosen’s resignation, the Times article says.
The tension boiled over at a board meeting in early January. The Times reported:
Rosen wanted to address the board, but George prevented him.
Luttig sent an email to the board threatening to file a lawsuit for what he called a violation of Rosen’s due process rights.
The meeting then devolved into a debate over Luttig’s involvement and possible conflicts of interest.
Luttig continued to participate and withdrew his offer to resign.
As of Sunday, the center’s website no longer listed Luttig as a member of its board.
The alleged quarrel comes as the center prepares for the nation’s 250th birthday. The nonpartisan museum is known for awarding the annual Liberty Medal to notable figures such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; legendary boxer Muhammad Ali; and then-Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anthony M. Kennedy.
The center was also the stage for the only 2024 presidential debate between former Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
LAS VEGAS — As the Flyers try to work their way out of a six-game losing streak, they’ll have to do it without Rodrigo Ābols.
The fourth-line center and penalty killer was injured Saturday, 6 minutes, 10 seconds into a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Ābols appeared to get his right toe stuck in the ice along the boards in the offensive zone, and his ankle buckled.
One of the first players named to Latvia’s team for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, Ābols was unable to skate off the ice without help. Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said postgame, “It’s not good. I’m not going to get into it, but it’s not good.”
On Sunday, the 30-year-old was placed on injured reserve. He had three goals and 10 points in 42 games while averaging 10 minutes, 43 seconds of ice time leading up to Saturday. Ābols doubled his point total from last year in 22 games, one of which was his NHL debut.
In a corresponding move, Lane Pederson was called up from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. Although Pederson was not at practice on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena, as he made his way from Allentown after playing for the Phantoms on Saturday night, coach Rick Tocchet said he could get some time in the NHL with the center position now thin.
“We need a centerman, a quick centerman, some speed through the middle,” the coach said. “Can he supply that for us? Yeah, maybe he can. He’s looking for consistency, and so hopefully we can help him.”
Signed by the Flyers to a one-year, two-way deal worth $775,000 in the NHL on July 1, Pederson was centering the top line for the farm team — at one point between Denver Barkey and Alex Bump. Pederson has 13 goals and 28 points in 37 games, with three of his goals on the power play, one shorthanded, and two game-winners.
A career minor leaguer, the 28-year-old has played 71 NHL games across four teams: the Arizona Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, and Columbus Blue Jackets.
His tenure in Arizona crossed paths with Tocchet, the team with whom he made his NHL debut on April 2, 2021, during the COVID-19-shortened season. An undrafted forward, Pederson scored his first NHL goal in his debut.
And they worked together briefly in Vancouver. Tocchet was hired on Jan. 22, 2023, and Pederson was picked up on waivers by Columbus six days later.
“He’s a good skater,” Tocchet said. “The thing he’s been chasing is consistency. We had him for a couple of games, and then it’s a drop-off, right? So, he’s been around the block. Here’s a chance for him. We need him.”
McDonald is no longer on the farm
Hunter McDonald got a front-row seat to the Flyers’ recent woes on Saturday. The hulking 6-foot-4, 235-pound defenseman was pulled aside by assistant general manager Alyn McCauley after the Phantoms game on Friday and told to pack his bags. He watched the loss to New York from the press box before joining the Orange and Black on the flight to Nevada.
“Obviously, excitement. Called my parents right away and stuff like that. So just sharing the good news and more work to be had,” said McDonald, the Flyers’ sixth-round pick in 2022.
The recall became official Saturday night after Rasmus Ristolainen was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Although a team source said the early findings were positive and that they may have avoided the worst-case scenario, the defenseman did not make the trip west. He was placed on IR to give the Flyers a seventh defenseman.
Although his parents are on standby in Western New York, there are no guarantees McDonald gets into one of the three games on the road trip this week, beginning Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights (8 p.m., NBCSP). He skated with forward Nic Deslauriers, who was originally drafted as a defenseman, on the fourth pair at practice.
“He’s played better,” Tocchet said when asked about the reports he received on McDonald. “I think he had a tough start, from what I’ve heard, but I think the last couple of weeks, I think he’s finding his game a little bit.”
McDonald has five assists in 33 games and is plus-7 with the Phantoms. He has 61 penalty minutes but has been working at finding the line between being a physical defenseman and not getting sent to the penalty box. But don’t worry, the guy who was called a “throwback” to the Broad Street Bullies days by Jerry Keefe, his coach at Northeastern, is still there.
“I think a bit. Kind of, hitting people,” McDonald said with a chuckle. “I know that’s kind of like what it is, but coming near our net, I want to get a stick on you, ending plays. I think that’s a super important part of the game. If I can end these plays in the D zone, be a pain to play against, and then we can go play offense.”
Tocchet wasn’t one to shy away from the physical game during his days with the Flyers and called a player who can toe the line between physical and not taking penalties “the ultimate player.”
“I think like for him is just being a good first-pass D, being really good in front of the net,” Tocchet said. “And he skates pretty well for a big guy. Big guys, you get a guy that can skate, so there’s something there.”
Bobby Brink was a full participant at practice Sunday and skated alongside Matvei Michkov and Noah Cates, with whom he was on a line before suffering an upper-body injury. Brink has missed six games after a blindside hit by Jansen Harkins of the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 6. … Goalie Dan Vladař, who was injured against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, made the trip but did not participate in practice. … It looked like Tocchet mixed up the defensive pairings with Travis Sanheim and Emil Andrae together, and Cam York skating with Noah Juulsen. Nick Seeler and Jamie Drysdale were reunited. … The Flyers will not face former teammate Carter Hart in Las Vegas. The goalie suffered a lower-body injury on Jan. 8 and went on IR on Jan. 15.
Delicate snowflakes painted Philadelphia white Sunday morning, leaving icy roads and sidewalks to shovel. The storm will also leave behind a cold holiday.
“We have only seen round one; round two is on its way,” said Paul Fitzsimmons, a lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly.
Through Sunday, Fitzsimmons predicted a total of 2 to 4 inches of snow, with the second wave of flurries picking up after 1 p.m., possibly mixing with rain after 2 p.m.
Rain is not certain, but there is a 70% chance of showers, according to the National Weather Service. Couple that with a cloudy day, winds around 5 mph, and temperatures in the mid-30s (35 degrees being the warmest Philly will see today), and drivers are in for some hazy driving conditions.
“Roads are icy today: People should exercise extra caution, leave extra time to leave wherever they are going, and drive slower than normal,” Fitzsimmons said.
The weather prompted PennDot to advise drivers to avoid unnecessary travel. Commercial vehicles must stay in the right lane, PennDot said.
Stick to the speed limit even if the roads seem treated, because at the moment, PennDot’s main goal is to only keep them passable, not completely free of ice and snow, the department said.
PennDot’s crews will continue to treat roads throughout the day, but there is a slight chance of more snow coming before 8 p.m., with temperatures dropping as low as 20 degrees, and a 20% chance of rain, according to the weather service.
David Bond, of West Chester, walks his dog, Todd, in the snow at Okehocking Preserve in Newtown Square on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Monday arrives a bit sunnier, and with no snow, yet colder than Sunday, Fitzsimmons said.
Skies are expected to be fully clear, with a low of 14 and a high of 35 degrees. Do be mindful of the wind, as the National Weather Service expects gusts as high as 20 mph by Monday night.
That low would be the lowest of the season so far, with an even lower 10 degrees forecast for Tuesday.
“It’s going to be cold overall, so bundle up,” Fitzsimmons said.
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It wasn’t the most clever joke ever told on U.S. prime-time television — not even close — when comedian Nikki Glaser took a swing at CBS News while hosting Hollywood’s Golden Globe Awards, which were seen live by an estimated 8.7 million viewers and clipped on social media by millions more. But the blow still landed hard, especially since the awards aired on CBS.
“The award for most editing goes to CBS News,” Glaser quipped, in a seeming reference to the recent flap over a critical report on the Donald Trump regime’s use of a Salvadoran torture prison that was spiked by 60 Minutes. “Yes. CBS News: America’s newest place to ‘see B.S.’ news.”
Last Wednesday, the network rushed out a report — sourced only to two unnamed “U.S. officials” — that the ICE agent who fired the shot, Jonathan Ross, “suffered internal bleeding to the torso” in his Jan. 7 deadly encounter with the driver who was pulling away from the scene, Renee Nicole Good.
What that report from what was once the most trusted TV newsroom in America seemed to imply — even though it did not explicitly state — was that Good’s Honda Pilot must have struck Ross in the encounter that touched off days of protests in Minneapolis and around the nation. If that did happen, it would radically alter the debate about the shooting and the violent nature of ICE’s deportation raids — creating an argument that the use of deadly force was justified.
This superb video analysis by the New York Times shows that the ICE agent who killed Renee Good in Minneapolis was not hit by her car. He had stepped away after approaching her car and killed her needlessly. https://t.co/63lI5FUVI0
I want to be careful here, because the CBS story was so vague that it’s as hard to disprove as it is to prove. Medical experts immediately noted the report could have been misleading — at best — since “internal bleeding” could mean a bruise, which might have been caused in the chaotic situation by something besides Good’s vehicle. But two reports just hours after the CBS bulletin suggested something far worse — a whiff of the utter baloney that Glaser had just joked about.
First, the New York Times released an in-depth frame-by-frame analysis of the multiple videos of the shooting captured both by citizen observers and by Ross himself as he fired his gun. The Times concluded from the analysis that “the currently available visual evidence still shows no indication agent Jonathan Ross got run over,” and published a photo showing significant daylight between the SUV and the agent as he fired.
Second, a Minneapolis Police Department report on the shooting was released, stating that Ross — who was shown on video walking around in the aftermath without any overt sign of an injury — was not taken to a hospital, as Trump had told the nation in a Truth Social post on the day of the killing. The police said Ross was driven to a government building.
Or, a different way of looking at the CBS “internal bleeding” report is in the context of Sherlock Holmes’ famous crime-solving line about the dog that did not bark. An entire pack of hounds stayed silent on this one. The facts most editors would demand before airing such an explosive claim about the biggest story in America — a medical report, or a quote from Ross’ doctor, or even a family member or an ICE colleague — weren’t published. Just the unsupported words of two officials from an authoritarian U.S. regime with a growing record for lying.
Indeed, it didn’t take long for the dismay from actual professional journalists — the ones who still work at CBS after its late 2025 takeover by a media conglomerate owned by pro-Trump billionaires — to pour out in leaks.
Most of the journalists’ consternation centered on the actions of Bari Weiss, the conservative public intellectual who has been installed as the editor-in-chief of CBS News, despite possessing almost no previous breaking news experience.
Here's Ross walking away and checking his phone after shooting Good. Doesn't look like someone suffering internal injuries after being struck by a vehicle . . . because he isn't and wasn't. pic.twitter.com/ZApbsuoyLv
“There was big internal dissension about the ‘internal bleeding’ report here last night,” a CBS News staffer who was granted anonymity told the Guardian. “It was viewed as a thinly veiled, anonymous leak by [the Trump administration] to someone who’d carry it online.”
A second insider told the news organization that it “felt to many here like we were carrying water for [the administration’s] justifying of the shooting to keep our access to our sources.” The Guardian’s sources said Weiss had personally pushed to get the piece published quickly online.
So far, all the factual, on-the-ground journalism from Minneapolis suggests that CBS News, which has stood atop the pyramid of mainstream American media for decades, has just committed one of the worst acts of bad journalism in U.S. history.
The worst? That’s a high bar, considering other historic missteps like Judith Miller’s later debunked New York Times reporting on alleged Iraqi chemical weapons that bolstered the dishonest case for war, and which was also rooted in boosting government fictions.
But with approval for ICE, Trump’s immigration policies, and the president himself reeling after Good’s killing, and a flood of viral videos showing violent actions by government agents in Minnesota, any aid for a White House campaign to rewrite history is appalling. It could be used by the Trump regime to bolster a case for invoking the Insurrection Act and sending troops to Minnesota, which would cause the simmering crisis of American democracy to boil over.
A CBS News spokesperson told the Independent that the network “went through its rigorous editorial process and decided it was reportable based on the reporting, the reporters, and the sourcing.” It should be noted that ABC News ran a nearly identical story shortly after the CBS report. The parent companies of both CBS and ABC reached multimillion-dollar settlements of questionable lawsuits by Trump at the start of his presidency rather than fight them in court.
In this undated photo released by Paramount, one of the Free Press’s cofounders, Bari Weiss, poses for a portrait. Weiss is the editor-in-chief of CBS News.
The CBS report did not happen in a vacuum. There was a reason, after all, that Hollywood’s elites guffawed when Glaser told her “see B.S.” joke. And it went even deeper than the recent brouhaha over Weiss’ last-minute postponement of the 60 Minutes report on the mistreatment of U.S. deportees in the Salvadoran prison, supposedly because she believed it needed more reporting and more input from the Trump regime.
Critics noted the slow-motion impeding of that story that was so damaging to the White House was the polar opposite of the rushed Minneapolis “internal bleeding” story that was desired by the regime. It’s also come out that a second in-the-works 60 Minutes piece that could make Trump’s government look bad — about its preference for white South African refugees — has also been delayed by intense edits.
This is exactly what many feared last year when the Trump regime green-lighted the sale of CBS’s then-parent Paramount to Skydance Media, owned by David Ellison, son of Trump-supporting Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison, and when the new owner brought in Weiss, a former New York Times opinion journalist whose right-leaning site Free Press — also bought by Ellison — is popular with the superwealthy.
It became almost a cliché to point out how the new team has threatened the storied legacy of CBS News and the iconic moments its star journalists had questioned authority, including Edward R. Murrow’s 1954 takedown of red-baiting Sen. Joseph McCarthy, or Walter Cronkite’s 1968 call for a Vietnam withdrawal that infuriated Lyndon B. Johnson’s White House.
Variety's @DPD_ says that Tony Dokoupil is making "CBS Evening News" all about himself even in the wake of the Minneapolis shooting:
"The anchor who promised, as he prepared to launch his and his boss Bari Weiss’ reinvention of the newscast, to outdo Walter Cronkite had, in… pic.twitter.com/nk00sx3Yje
But already the new reality of CBS News as a kind of state media for the Trump era has been worse than anyone could have feared, now creating “fake news” in the term’s original clear-eyed meaning and not its bastardization by Trump’s MAGA movement.
Weiss’ handpicked anchor, Tony Dokoupil, set the tone when he declared the new CBS News wanted to listen to everyday Americans and not put so much stock in experts — presumably like the doctors who could have told them the “internal bleeding” story didn’t make sense. In the immediate aftermath of Good’s killing, Dokoupil delivered a mush-mouthed “both sides” monologue that surely set Cronkite and Murrow spinning in their graves.
That was almost as embarrassing as Dokoupil’s 13-minute interview with Trump in which the president said the quiet part about the new slant at CBS News out loud, telling the anchor that if Kamala Harris had won in 2024 instead of Trump, “You wouldn’t have this job, certainly whatever the hell they’re paying you.”
That was not edited out of the interview when it aired on CBS Evening News — perhaps because, it later came out, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Dokoupil and his crew that the president demanded all 13 minutes must be broadcast without changes or “we’ll sue your asses off.”
CBS clearly complied. Of course it did. In a matter of weeks, the storied CBS eye logo has become a knowing wink to an autocratic U.S. government. The changes at CBS, and their implications for American democracy, have somewhat been lost in the recent tsunami of unthinkable headlines like the unrest in Minnesota, the bombing and regime change in Venezuela, and Trump’s once-unthinkable threats against Greenland.
But we can’t ignore this. The four million or so Americans who watch Dokoupil and the CBS Evening News every weeknight might be a huge drop from Cronkite’s era when three TV networks dominated the landscape, but many of those folks — older, less politically obsessed, often swing voters — are vital to the future of democracy.
The success of Trump’s strongman project — just like the prior century of dictatorships that have paved the way for this — depends on creating alternative realities for the true believers and a cloud of uncertainty for the rest of us. The goal is to convince the masses of people that truth is fungible — except for what is dictated by the leader.
The only “internal bleeding” we can confirm with any certainty is the battered and visibly bruised reputation of a newsroom that was once a bulwark of press freedom, as well as America’s run-over democracy. OK, that’s kind of an obvious observation, but maybe Glaser can use it if CBS lets her host the Golden Globes again next year.
Entering this season, Penn was looking to break its yearly cycle of finishing fourth in Ivy League women’s basketball.
Now, with the team off to an 0-3 start in league play for the first time since Mike McLaughlin’s first season as head coach in 2009-10, the Quakers look ahead to an uphill battle.
On Saturday, Penn (10-6, 0-3 Ivy) got off to a 10-0 start against Harvard (9-7, 2-1), relying on high energy and pressing defense to control the pace. Once the game settled, Penn’s offense flatlined, with the Quakers scoring only four total field goals through the second and third quarters — leading to a 53-42 Harvard victory.
“Great start,” McLaughlin said. “Really proud of the way we came out. Obviously, get out on that type of lead. We just struggled. Struggled to score the ball. Score in transition was probably our biggest challenge.”
Next up, Penn will host Dartmouth on Monday (2 p.m., ESPN+).
‘Not where anyone wants to be’
After finishing their nonconference games on a five-game winning streak, the Quakers then dropped three straight against Princeton, Brown, and Harvard to fall to the bottom of the Ivy League standings, alongside Yale and Dartmouth.
“Playing against Princeton in the beginning,” McLaughlin said. “A tough road trip to Brown and a good Harvard team. You know, I don’t want to say it’s just the opponent. I don’t think we’ve played well enough the last two times on the offensive side to beat whoever in our league. Coming in after league play, I was expecting us to come out of the gate a little bit faster, to be honest with you. This makes a lot of pressure on Monday to have some success here, for sure.”
Despite being three weeks into league play, Penn finds itself searching for a must win this week. A loss to the Big Green on Monday would cement Penn at the bottom of the Ivy League standings.
“Oh-and-three in the league is not where we wanted to be,” McLaughlin said. “It’s not where anyone wants to be, but this team’s got a lot of basketball to go. Monday’s really vital for this program to get where we need to go, and we’ll respond.”
Not enough help
During its three-game skid, Penn has been overly reliant on junior guard Mataya Gayle, who led the team with 16 points against Harvard.
McLaughlin is aware of his team’s top-heavy disposition on offense and hopes other guards will step up in the coming weeks to alleviate defensive attention from Gayle, who shot 39.2% from the field over this three-game stretch.
Penn’s offense has relied heavily on Mataya Gayle this season.
“Unfortunately, Mataya has taken some really difficult shots,” McLaughlin said. “I see it. You see it. Everyone sees it. But I think not having other kids that are able to make a play at times [and] pushes the ball back in her hands. That’s a tough hill to get over. With good players you’re playing against, they’re the type of shots you’re going to get, and I don’t like that for us to win.”
‘Playing to exhaustion’
Meanwhile, the 2025 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Katie Collins, is carrying an even larger weight for the Quakers.
Ranked ninth in scoring, averaging 13.1 points, second in rebounds per game (6.4), and second in blocks per game (1.8) in the Ivy League, Collins, a sophomore, has excelled in a larger role after the departure of frontcourt partner Stina Almqvist.
“I do think Katie has definitely stepped up,” McLaughlin said. “I mean, this girl is, as you see her, she’s playing to exhaustion. She’s playing both ends of the floor at full pace. I think she’s taken that next step for sure.”
Katie Collins, a sophomore, is ninth in the Ivy League in scoring.
Collins also ranks third in total minutes (34.6 per game) in the Ivy League. Against Brown, Collins played 48 of 50 minutes in a double-overtime loss.
Collins transitioned from center to power forward in the offseason to fill Almqvist’s role in the lineup, which has left a gap at center. Tina Njike and Gabriella Kelley have filled that role, but with a lack of offensive production, McLaughlin has experimented with movingCollins back to center, while subbing in players like Brooke Suttle to boost the lineup.
“We need her,” McLaughlin said regarding Suttle. “She is going to be in the middle of the lane most of the possessions on both sides of the ball. But some opportunities around the rim, we need more out of her. She’s got to put the ball in the basket. She puts the ball in the basket there, things could change.”
