00:01President Trump is changing who pays for those ads promoting his administration, the backlash and the millions already spent, plus
00:09a mysterious death at a Russian plague lab, why U.S. health officials are now watching closely, and Trump approves
00:16a firing squad for the Fort Hood shooter, the historic execution that could still be years away.
00:23The stories that matter. The facts you can trust. From across the country to around the world, this is Unbiased
00:33Updates from Straight Arrow.
00:36Hey everybody, I'm Christian Bryant. Glad you're hanging out with us this morning. Let's get you caught up on the
00:41news so you can get on with your day.
00:42We begin with President Trump changing course on who pays for a series of ads promoting his administration. After days
00:50of bipartisan pushback, Trump now says taxpayers won't foot the bill going forward.
00:55Trump says his super PAC, MAGA Inc., will now pay for the campaign-style ads instead. At least $1.5
01:02million in federal money has already been spent on them.
01:05Trump is still defending that spending. In a Truth Social post, he called using taxpayer money for the ads, quote,
01:12a rather standard thing to do, and called them a positive promotion for our great U.S.A.
01:18He blamed the radical left for the criticism, though some Republicans have also objected to taxpayers picking up the tab.
01:25Earlier Monday, Vice President J.D. Vance defended the ads as public service announcements.
01:30I don't think there's anything unusual or unorthodox about it. I'm sure that some people probably don't like it. But
01:36if you look at the message of those advertisements, they're not partisan. They're not, you know, it's not like we're
01:41advocating for a particular candidate. We're trying to tell a story, I think, about how great the United States of
01:46America is.
01:47The Department of Homeland Security had set aside $20 million for the ad campaign. The White House has not said
01:53whether MAGA Inc. will reimburse taxpayers for money that's already been spent.
01:58This morning, U.S. officials are closely watching a mysterious death at a Russian plague research lab and trying to
02:05find out exactly what happened.
02:07A 28-year-old lab worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute in Siberia died last week after developing severe
02:14pneumonia.
02:15Russian authorities say the cause is still unknown and say testing hasn't found evidence that her illness was caused by
02:21any of the pathogens she worked with.
02:23But local reports have raised the possibility that she contracted pneumonic plague.
02:28One Russian outlet reported that the worker, identified as Daria Shipilova, may have broken a test tube containing the bacteria
02:36before she became sick.
02:38That has not been confirmed.
02:40The Kremlin is pushing back on what it calls rumors and speculation, telling people to rely on information from Russia's
02:47public health agency.
02:48Russian authorities have quarantined the hospital where Shipilova was treated and are monitoring people who had contact with her.
02:55Russia says nearly 200 people have been tested and so far, no dangerous pathogens have been found.
03:01President Trump said Monday the U.S. would help if needed.
03:05U.S. officials say they're trying to get more information from Russia.
03:09Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the U.S. is watching closely.
03:13There's very limited travel between the U.S. and Russia, obviously, but like anything else, something like that gets out,
03:19it could quickly spread.
03:20So we're watching and monitoring it closely.
03:22I don't think it's cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause to just keep an
03:27eye on it, and we're doing that.
03:28Pneumonic plague can spread from person to person through respiratory particles, but it's treatable with antibiotics when caught early.
03:36Back here in the U.S., Cornell's Faculty Senate is preparing a rare vote of no confidence in the university's
03:42leadership as anger grows over its handling of a 2024 alleged gang rape.
03:50The largely symbolic resolution would put new pressure on university leaders who are already facing calls for change over how
03:57the school handled these sexual assault allegations.
03:59The vote is expected October 14th. It comes after hundreds of students, faculty, and community members protested on campus late
04:08Monday.
04:09Cornell's main administration building was also found covered in graffiti and damaged.
04:14Protesters accused the university's president and trustees of putting Cornell's reputation ahead of student safety.
04:21Some are now calling for President Michael Kotlikoff to resign and for the university to ban fraternities.
04:28Now to another major criminal case.
04:31President Trump has approved the execution of the former U.S. Army major who killed 13 people in the 2009
04:37mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.
04:39Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced last night that Trump approved the execution of former Army psychiatrist Nadal Hassan by firing
04:48squad.
04:49Hassan opened fire at Fort Hood on November 5th of 2009, killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others.
04:56He later said he carried out the attack to stop U.S. soldiers from going to Afghanistan and killing Muslims.
05:03Hassan was shot during the attack and left paralyzed from the waist down.
05:06At his court-martial, he acknowledged he was the shooter and made almost no effort to defend himself.
05:12He was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to death.
05:15If the execution goes forward, Hassan would be the first person put to death through the military justice system since
05:211961.
05:23He's one of four men currently on military death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
05:28Trump's approval starts the process, but an execution may still be a long ways off.
05:34Hassan can challenge his sentence in federal court, which could delay it for years.
05:39A former American Idol contestant will spend the rest of his life in prison for murdering his wife, but Caleb
05:46Flynn is still insisting he didn't do it.
05:48Flynn broke down in an Ohio courtroom Monday as he apologized to his family, starting with his two daughters.
05:55But when it came to the murder of their mother, Ashley Flynn, he said this.
05:59But as I stand here before God, who is my ultimate judge, I am not quite what I say I
06:10did not kill my wife.
06:12The judge sentenced Flynn to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
06:17A jury convicted him last week of murdering his 37-year-old wife at their home in Tip City, Ohio.
06:23Prosecutors say Flynn shot Ashley twice in the back of the head while she was asleep, then staged the house
06:29to look like someone had broken in.
06:31Flynn told investigators he was in another room when she was killed.
06:35Prosecutors said data from his devices showed him moving around the house when he claimed he was asleep.
06:41The jury also heard from Aaliyah Botner, who testified she had been having an affair with Flynn.
06:46Prosecutors showed jurors a text Flynn sent Botner the night before the murder, saying actions will come tomorrow.
06:54Judge Jeanine Pratt addressed Flynn directly before sending him to prison, saying,
06:58The layers of deceit, manipulation, and cruelty that you have shown are quite honestly impossible to fathom.
07:04And frankly, sir, you used your faith to manipulate the lives of others.
07:10Now to some news just in this morning.
07:12Televangelist Jim Baker, one of the biggest names in Christian television before scandal brought down his empire, has died.
07:19He was 86 years old.
07:21Baker and his then-wife Tammy Faye became TV stars in the 1970s and 80s with the PTL Club.
07:27At its peak, their ministry was bringing in more than $128 million a year,
07:32and they built Heritage USA, a Christian theme park that drew millions of visitors.
07:37Then it all fell apart.
07:38Baker resigned in 1987 amid a sex and financial scandal.
07:43Two years later, he was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 45 years in prison, though he served just under
07:49five.
07:50Baker eventually returned to television with a new ministry and a new show.
07:54His wife, Lori, announced his death Monday night, saying he had spent 66 years preaching the gospel.
08:00No cause of death was given.
08:03Finally this morning, the Nobel Prizes are being handed out this week,
08:06and the first winners are three scientists who found a way to use light to help us understand how the
08:12brain works.
08:13Karl Deseroth, Peter Hageman, and Georg Nagel won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on optogenetics.
08:21It's a technique that allows scientists to use light to turn specific nerve cells on or off and then study
08:28what happens.
08:29That's given researchers a new way to study the brain and better understand conditions including blindness and neurological diseases.
08:36The Nobel Committee says their work has, quote,
08:38laid the foundation of a new era in neuroscience.
08:42The three scientists will split 12 million Swedish kroner, about $1.2 million.
08:48Chemistry follows Wednesday with literature, peace, and economics still to come.
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09:57That's Unbiased Updates for this Tuesday.
09:59For the Unbiased Updates team and all of us at Straight Arrow,
10:02I'm Christian Bryan.
10:04Have a great one.
10:05See you again soon.
