Furor grows over Cornell rape allegations

▪ FCC OK with Trump’s taxpayer-funded ads

▪ CNN blocked from White House press pool

Outrage over the handling of an alleged gang rape at a Cornell University fraternity in 2024 has reached a fever pitch this week, with Democrats calling for independent investigations as they slam the Trump administration for rolling back Title IX protections.

The investigation escalated Thursday night as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) appointed state Attorney General Letitia James (D) as special prosecutor to review the allegations.

A woman, identified as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit last month against several defendants, including Cornell, the fraternity, the plaintiff’s own sorority, the men allegedly involved in the incident and the bar that served her. The lawsuit accuses seven men of sexually assaulting the woman over several hours at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024 and includes a screenshot allegedly from that night of a man saying in a group chat that there is “free p‑‑‑‑ upstairs.”

Jane Doe went to the police nearly three weeks after the incident occurred, prompting investigations by the district attorney’s (DA) office and the university. Local prosecutors declined to press charges at the time, but the school kicked the fraternity off campus and doled out a range of punishments to the accused, including “expulsions and suspensions from Cornell.”

The DA’s office reopened an investigation Monday based on new information contained in the woman’s recent lawsuit. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has defended the office’s decision not to pursue charges at the time, saying the initial account from the woman didn’t include allegations that she was drugged, forced into sex or too incapacitated to be able to consent.

CBS News reported late Wednesday that it obtained a transcript of Jane Doe’s interview with a campus police officer weeks after the incident in 2024. The transcript revealed that the woman told the campus police officer that she could “say with 100 percent confidence I was raped,” and that she was “completely and totally incapacitated” before some of the sexual abuse occurred.

But she also appeared to differentiate between the initial sexual activity with two of the men, which she said, “I was pretty OK with,” and what happened later, when other men entered the room and allegedly became violent. She also said she had gaps in her memory and didn’t know how many people had sex with her that night, according to CBS News’s reporting of the transcript.

Van Houten told CBS News that he never saw the transcript of the woman’s interview when he declined to bring charges and instead relied on a statement written by a campus police officer that the woman signed.

But the handling of the case has left open some questions. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , a New York Democrat, said the allegations are “horrifying and deserve a thorough investigation that leaves no stone unturned.”

“There must now be a truly independent and exhaustive investigation — not only into what happened, but into how this case was handled from the moment she came forward,” he wrote on social media Wednesday.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) similarly called the allegations “extremely serious and horrific” but said she was happy the DA’s office was reopening the case.

Hochul called this week for an independent review of Cornell’s handling of the case to “determine whether Cornell met every obligation to protect its students and pursue justice.” That same day, James launched an investigation into Cornell’s response to the incident.

Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo condemned the school for its “appalling response” to the incident and for, at the time, having “failed to contact or coordinate any response with the Ithaca Police Department” and “hold the perpetrators to account,” he said in a statement .

Cantelmo announced an “immediate moratorium” on student event permits until Cornell “ conducts an accounting of its protocols to prevent and prosecute crimes of sexual violence and publicly releases new standards and practices to keep our community safe.”

On Capitol Hill, some Democrats have responded by criticizing the Trump administration, specifically highlighting the formal rollback this week of Biden-era Title IX protections, which included changes to rules governing the way schools address sexual assault complaints.

“The Trump administration has now made it harder for victims of sexual assault on college campuses to get justice with their cut to Title IX and their repeal of some of the Biden-era Title IX provisions,” Rep. Deborah Ross (D-N.C.), policy task force co-chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, told The Hill’s Sudiksha Kochi .

“I think that is where we need to shine the biggest light because this happened on a college campus, and if those new Title IX regs went into effect, and if the funding for Title IX enforcement went into effect, and if allowing dual prosecutions was continuing, that would give a remedy to sexual assault survivors,” she added.

▪ The Hill : Cornell under a microscope over handling of frat house rape investigation.

▪ NewsNation : Cornell will not release report from alleged gang rape investigation.

▪ The Cornell Daily Sun : Nancy Pelosi cancels Cornell event due to Chi Phi lawsuit.

Data centers became one of the sneaky political issues this year all across America. Above our skies yesterday, perhaps a way forward. SpaceX launched AI chips from Google into space, testing to see if one day we could see data centers in our skies . I asked renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson about that possibility.

“What matters here is if you generate heat how do you get rid of it? You can’t get rid of it if you’re facing the sun. This thing needs power from the sun to run the data center,” deGrasse Tyson told me. “It’s not something clever engineers couldn’t figure out, but the number of challenges involved relative to just making data centers work here on Earth is huge,” he added.

It seems like the possibility of data centers in space is still relatively far in the future. For now, the politics of how to deal with them on land continues.

Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. CDT on NewsNation.

The FBI arrested a Department of Energy employee at a nuclear site in Hanford, Wash., on suspicion of trying to aid the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, was accused of buying materials for explosives and trying to help the group improve its communications capabilities.

British authorities arrested a dual U.K.-Iranian citizen in connection to the thwarted alleged terrorist attack at a U.S.-operated base in the U.K. A second man, a U.K. national, has also been questioned by police. Five men initially arrested in connection to the incident were released on bail the next day.

Major League Baseball has abandoned its proposal to build a ballpark and host a game at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, The Washington Post reported . League officials had approached the Trump administration about the viability of hosting a game, but local leaders sent letters expressing strong opposition earlier this week.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr departs an event in the East Room of the White House, March 20, 2026, in Washington. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Associated Press)

TOTALLY NORMAL : Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr said he doesn’t see an issue with the taxpayer-funded ads that the president has been airing to promote himself and denounced communism and socialism.

The most recent in a series of government-funded ads came out Wednesday, touting the Iran war . Footage of U.S. military strikes plays while audio from President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is heard.

The ads have spurred the activist group Public Citizen and others to issue complaints, but Carr said the ad blasting communism and Marxism while praising Trump struck him as “normal course public service announcements you see all the time.”

“There’s nothing in there that strikes me as out of the ordinary or that would merit any sort of FCC review,” he said.

The ads have stirred controversy as federal law prohibits using federal funds for campaign purposes. Trump has said the ads aren’t for any candidate in particular, noting he isn’t running for any office.

▪ The Washington Post : Ads use money meant for border security, memorials.

▪ The Guardian : Critics say ads violate federal law.

ACCESS DENIED : The White House prevented CNN journalists from providing their previously scheduled television pool coverage of the president Thursday despite a federal judge’s order blocking their prohibition from White House grounds.

As a result, no pool camera traveled with Trump during his scheduled visits to Texas and Oklahoma on Thursday.

The move is the latest development in rising tensions between the White House and media outlets. Trump had banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House grounds due to the three media outlets publishing what he called “fake news,” but the trio’s access was restored as a judge ruled in their favor in a lawsuit.

But CNN was prevented from traveling with Trump on Air Force One last weekend during the president’s trip to Tennessee for a college football game. An attorney for CNN issued a new filing Tuesday asking the judge to issue a ruling on the pool dispute.

The administration is required to submit a response to the filing by today.

▪ The Hill : Trump says ‘MAGA and REAL Patriots’ will never like Fox News.

▪ The Wall Street Journal : What is the White House press pool?

WHAT’S MISSING : Texts obtained by The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch show former special counsel Jack Smith ‘s staff didn’t reference basketball team names in the messages obtained by Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), adding to the confusion of why he accused Smith of attending a game in Atlanta.

Schmitt received widespread scrutiny after he accused Smith of attending an Atlanta Hawks game in early 2024 in a seeming attempt to tie him to the separate prosecution of Trump in Georgia. Smith had been testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on his own investigations into Trump.

After Smith appeared confused by Schmitt’s implication, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) raised that Schmitt may have mixed up the Hawks with the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, who Smith had actually seen.

But a review of the messages from Smith’s staff suggests that wasn’t the source of the confusion, Beitsch reports. Schmitt’s team appears to have been focused on the date of the game in trying to figure out what game Smith was attending.

The messages also included signs that prosecutors on Smith’s team were Iowa fans, as they referenced then-player Caitlin Clark . Smith was attending a game between Maryland and Iowa.

▪ Politico : Schmitt aide’s move to White House in doubt after hearing.

▪ MS NOW : Schmitt was warned about the texts. He used them anyway.

HEADING TO COURT : The family and partner of Renee Good , the woman killed by an immigration enforcement officer in Minneapolis in January, have filed lawsuits against the federal government for damages over her death.

The lawsuits alleged the government is responsible for wrongful death. One names the United States as a defendant, while the other names various current and former Trump administration officials, including former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem , White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and former commander-at-large Gregory Bovino .

The complaint cites a Hennepin County medical examiner, who ruled Good’s death a homicide. The lawyers for Good’s partner argue the three shots that one of the officers, Jonathan Ross , fired at Good violated Department of Homeland Security mandatory policy.

The killings of Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota ignited tense protests in the state and backlash throughout the country.

▪ CNN : ICE issues new instructions on vehicle stops after shootings.

▪ Spectrum News : Not all ICE field agents trained on body cameras.

ON THE DOCKET : The Supreme Court announced Thursday that it will consider the legality of the president’s mandatory detention policy for those found to be in the country illegally.

The administration has pushed for a significant expansion of its immigration powers, allowing it to detain people without bond if they’re in the U.S. without proper documentation, even if they have been living on U.S. soil for years.

The court declined to take up a broader legal question on whether Trump’s policy violates constitutional due process protections, only evaluating if it follows federal law. The case is set to be heard during the court’s upcoming term, which starts next week, and a decision is likely by next summer.

Circuit courts have mostly ruled against the president, as did the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.

Meanwhile, the justices also agreed Thursday to hear a dispute over a local zoning ordinance in Kentucky that prohibited a Catholic church from building a religious shrine next to its property.

▪ The Hill : Appeals court rules Trump’s name can’t be carved in peace institute building.

▪ The Hill : Judge rules officers have no standing to sue over Jan. 6 plaque.

The president will receive an intelligence briefing at 11 a.m. He will travel to Mobile, Ala., to deliver remarks at 7 p.m. EDT and then return to the White House.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stands by as President Donald Trump speaks during a joint news conference at Gracie Mansion, Sept. 21, 2026, in New York. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Associated Press)

TRUMP’S NEW FRIENDS : The president’s appearances with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D), Chinese President Xi Jinping and top Silicon Valley leaders risk turning off key parts of his base just as the midterm season hits the home stretch, strategists say.

Trump has often enjoyed meeting with powerful individuals, including dictators like North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin .

He’s now had a few pleasant buddy-buddy interactions with Mamdani, a democratic socialist ideologically opposed to the president, as Republicans have sought to vilify the mayor. And he seemed to be getting along just as well with Xi during his state visit last week as tensions have cooled between the leaders.

The Hill’s Julia Manchester reports that many Republicans view the most recent meetings as a danger.

“You need to fire up your base and instead you’re kind of deflating them in the homestretch,” one Republican strategist said.

Trump also invited several Big Tech leaders to the White House on Tuesday for a luncheon on artificial intelligence before appearing with them for a press conference.

Polling has shown Trump’s base views China with skepticism, while influential figures in the MAGA movement like Steve Bannon have spoken out against Big Tech leaders, referring to them as “oligarchs.”

A White House official told Manchester that Trump is “always working on making good deals for the American people.”

▪ The Hill : Republicans warn Trump is hurting them with independents .

BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT : The botched execution of a woman on death row in Tennessee has renewed the debate about the ethics and efficacy of the death penalty in the U.S.

The execution of 50-year-old Christa Pike and the others on Tennessee’s death row have been suspended for at least the rest of the year while an investigation takes place into what happened during the failed attempts Wednesday evening, under an order from Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R).

Pike was administered two doses of pentobarbital, but she could still be heard breathing. She was taken to the hospital as attempts were made to save her life.

Attorneys for Pike said Thursday afternoon that she was in critical condition and receiving “lifesaving medical care.”

The incident quickly fueled backlash, particularly among activists against the death penalty, The Hill’s Niall Stanage reports .

“A death penalty process run by human beings has flaws at every stage, and what we have done is continuously ignore the flaws,” Laura Porter , the executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty, told Stanage.

Lee’s time in office is coming to an end as he’s term limited. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the GOP nominee for governor this year, called on the state to reintroduce the electric chair as a mode for execution in response.

“While there should be a thorough review of what happened and why the process failed, the answer is simple: bring back the electric chair and deliver justice for these victims swiftly,” she wrote on social media. “As your governor, I will do just that.”

▪ NBC News : Attempted execution ‘was a mess.’

▪ The Associated Press : The drug used has come under past scrutiny.

Maryland Democrats should reject gerrymandering and set a national precedent , Colin Pascal writes in The Hill.

Kaliningrad is just Putin’s red herring , Mark Toth and Jonathan Sweet write in The Hill.

Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers pull down a statue of Saddam Hussein in downtown Baghdad, in this April 9, 2003. (Jerome Delay, Associated Press file)

And finally … 👏👏👏 Congrats to this week’s Morning Report quiz winners ! They were perfect in their answers on one of the country’s longest foreign deployments.

Here’s who went 4/4: Carmine Petracca, Rick Schmidtke, Jess Elger, Ned Sauthoff, Jenessa Wagner, William Chittam, Savannah Petracca, Naomi Petracca and Pam Manges .

Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) was the only one listed who didn’t serve in Iraq, as he served in Afghanistan.

The U.S. has not had troops stationed in Iraq for roughly four years since the start of the 21st century. They weren’t stationed there in 2001 and 2002, before the initial invasion, and in 2012 and 2013, during the gap between the first withdrawal and the return to help with the fight against the Islamic State.

The hole where Saddam Hussein was found was known as a spider hole .

The Islamic State had lost virtually all of its territory in Iraq by 2017 after years of the Iraqi government fighting back with U.S. assistance.