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Tag: missing

Tulsi Gabbard is missing critical GOP support to advance from Senate committee

Tulsi Gabbard doesn’t currently have enough votes to advance out of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Fox News Digital has learned.

The former Democrat representative’s nomination to be director of national intelligence (DNI) under President Donald Trump is in danger as she lacks enough Republican support on the committee, sources confirmed.

Before heading to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote, Trump’s picks all have hearings and their nominations are voted on at the committee level. Gabbard’s confirmation hearing will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday.

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Gabbard’s nomination could be in danger if she doesn’t get enough votes to advance. (Getty Images)

So far, no Trump nominees have failed to advance out of their respective committees.

A senior Intel Committee aide confirmed to Fox News Digital that Gabbard does not currently have a majority of its members’ votes, which are necessary to move to the full Senate.

According to the source, half of the Republicans on the coveted committee are not sold on Trump’s DNI pick.

A Senate source familiar told Fox News Digital, “Some members are undecided.”

“Not true that [they] are NOs,” they clarified.

The source confirmed that the undecided senators in question are Republicans.

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Trump picked Gabbard to be director of national intelligence. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for Gabbard told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Anonymous sources are going to continue to lie and smear to try and take down the President’s nominees and subvert the will of the American people and the media is playing a role in publishing these lies. That doesn’t change the fact that Lt. Col. Gabbard is immensely qualified for this role and we look forward to her hearing.”

The senior committee aide shared that the reasons for GOP uncertainty include her previous Section 702 stance, her past meeting with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and her past defense of Edward Snowden.

“It’s about judgment,” they said.

Gabbard will likely need every Republican vote to move past the committee, assuming Democrats will vote against her.

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Cotton is chair of the committee. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., serves as chair of the committee alongside other Republican members Jim Risch of Idaho, Susan Collins of Maine, John Cornyn of Texas, Jerry Moran of Kansas, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Todd Young of Indiana.

Lankford recently came out in support of Gabbard after she reversed her position on a controversial intelligence gathering tool known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Neither the White House nor Cotton’s office provided comments to Fox News Digital in time for publication.

Fox News Digital reached out to multiple Republican Senate offices for comment.

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Lankford said he supported Gabbard after her 702 stance changed. (Reuters)

As Gabbard’s confirmation fate hangs in the balance, there is reportedly a push by some Trump-aligned Republican senators to waive the committee’s rules in order to open the vote on Gabbard’s nomination, as Politico reported. This would mean each senator’s vote is accessible to the public.

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The Intel Committee’s rules stipulate that the vote is conducted in a closed meeting and a tally is released afterward. The vote is expected to go forward in a closed manner, in accordance with the rules.

Julia Johnson is a politics writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business, leading coverage of the U.S. Senate. She was previously a politics reporter at the Washington Examiner.

Follow Julia’s reporting on X at @JuliaaJohnson_ and send tips to [email protected].

January 30, 2025
South Korean airliner’s final 4 minutes of recordings are missing after crash that killed 179: investigators

The first report on last month’s Jeju Air crash in South Korea confirmed the plane’s two black boxes stopped recording about four minutes prior to the crash that killed 179 people on board.

The preliminary accident report released by South Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board on Monday said the flight data and cockpit voice recorders on the Boeing 737-800 had stopped working, confirming what the country’s Transportation Ministry initially said earlier this month.

South Korean officials had sent the devices to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board for closer examination after discovering that some of the data was missing. It remained unclear why the devices stopped recording.

The report also found traces of bird strikes – feathers and bird blood stains – in both the plane’s engines, though officials have yet to determine what caused the crash.

“The samples were sent to specialized organizations for DNA analysis, and a domestic organization identified them as belonging to Baikal teals,” the report said, referring to a migratory duck.

SOUTH KOREA PLANE’S FINAL MOMENTS CAPTURED ON VIDEO BEFORE HITTING CONCRETE BARRIER, TRIGGERING EXPLOSION

The wreckage of a Boeing 737-800 plane operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air lies at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

The plane skidded off the runway at Muan International Airport on Dec. 29, 2024, after its landing gear failed to deploy, slamming into a concrete structure and bursting into flames. Only two of the 181 people on board survived.

Experts from the NTSB and joint investigation team between the U.S. and South Korea check the site of a plane crash at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on Dec. 31, 2024. (Son Hyung-joo/Yonhap via AP, File)

The flight was returning from Bangkok and all the victims were South Koreans except for two Thai nationals.

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Investigators earlier said that air traffic controllers warned the pilots about possible bird strikes two minutes before the aircraft issued a distress signal confirming that a bird strike had occurred, after which the pilots attempted an emergency landing.

The preliminary report said the pilots also noticed a group of birds while approaching the runway at the Muan airport and that a security camera had filmed the plane coming close to birds during an aborted landing.

The report said authorities will disassemble the engines, examine their components in depth, analyze the black box and air traffic control data, and investigate the embankment, localizer and bird strike evidence to ultimately determine the cause of the crash.

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Officials said the report has been sent to the International Civil Aviation Organization, Thailand, the U.S. and France, adding that the aircraft was built in the U.S. and its engines in France.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

January 27, 2025
Heat suspend Jimmy Butler again after missing flight for road trip: report

The Miami Heat’s rollercoaster saga with All-Star Jimmy Butler continues, as they are reportedly suspending him two games for missing a team flight for a road trip, per ESPN.

The Heat were heading to Milwaukee on Wednesday for their nationally televised game against the Bucks on Thursday night, but Butler was not on the flight.

ESPN adds that Butler intended on making his way to Milwaukee another way, but the Heat are expected to suspend him for the road trip, which includes a Saturday game against the Brooklyn Nets as well.

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Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat prepares to shoot a free throw against the Washington Wizards on February 2, 2024 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. (Kenny Giarla/NBAE via Getty Images)

This is the second in-house suspension for Butler this season, which only adds to the turmoil that was highlighted by him requesting a trade a few weeks ago.

Butler also served a seven-game suspension for “multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team,” though he remains a member of the Heat.

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Butler continues to play, but he noted over the weekend that the “whole truth will come out” after making his trade request.

“Sooner or later, the whole truth will come out, but until then, we’ll continue to let people talk. And if I’m here, I will get out there to play,” Butler told the media after playing in the team’s loss to the Denver Nuggets at home.

Bulter also seemed to be frustrated with the reports that said his relationship with Miami players and the front office were tense.

“I expect for people to talk,” Butler said. “Half the reason is because don’t nobody ever know what I’m really doing, so you just make up stuff, which is fine. And, honestly, I really don’t pay any attention to it. But I’ve got people telling me, ‘Oh they said this. They said that.’ So, I guess it’s really all good. I don’t have to clear anything up.

“So more power to you. Keep talking, and we’ll see where we end up.”

Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat reacts against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on February 2, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, the 35-year-old sparked some social media controversy as he was spotted wearing Phoenix Suns-themed sneakers on Tuesday night, with many believing it was done purposefully as his desired trade destination.

It also came just hours after the Suns acquired three future first-round picks from the Utah Jazz in exchange for another first-round pick.

Phoenix could use another star, as the Kevin Durant-Devin Booker-led roster is only 21-21 this season.

Heat president Pat Riley said back in December, “We are not trading Jimmy Butler.” However, the team’s stance changed after that seven-game suspension.

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) walks off the court after the game against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. (Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images)

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The Heat said they would “listen to offers” on Butler after announcing his suspension.

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Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

January 23, 2025
Mother of missing Marine veteran calls Trump admin a ‘breath of fresh air’ as she continues 12-year search

Debra Tice has spent more than 12 years searching for her son, Austin Tice, a Marine veteran and journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in August 2012.

Through four presidential administrations, she has not lost hope that her son will come home alive. In fact, she calls the new Trump administration a “breath of fresh air.”

“They are thinking about what they need to do, making suggestions, standing ready, having ideas. The burden isn’t on me the way it has been in the past,” Tice told Fox News Digital, referring to the Trump administration.

The Marine veteran’s mother’s first trip back to Damascus, Syria, in over 10 years comes on the heels of a revolution within the war-torn country. Debra Tice has been in Syria for only a few days, but she has already managed to meet with the country’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad.

“It was really quite a surprise that we were able to get a meeting with al-Sharaa. It was a very good meeting,” Tice said.

SYRIA RESCUE-MISSION OPERATOR BELIEVES AUSTIN TICE IS ALIVE AND WILL BE FOUND SOON

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, meets with Debra Tice, the mother of American journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, and Nizar Zakka, head of non-profit Hostage Aid Worldwide, center, in Damascus, Syria, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (SANA via AP)

Hostage Aid Worldwide, a non-profit organization coordinating Tice’s visit to Syria, was able to take her inside some of the prisons that have been abandoned since the fall of Assad. She said that seeing the conditions in these prisons was “really challenging,” but that she appreciated getting a sense of “what Austin was up against.”

Tice also issued a challenge to those in the U.S. government who “feel like Austin can wait” to go see the prisons for themselves.

“I think if they had to come over here – and I wouldn’t even ask them to spend the night in one of those prisons – but I think if they had gone to see what he may have gone through, maybe they would’ve been more motivated to get Austin out of there.”

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Debra Tice, mother of missing U.S. journalist Austin Tice who disappeared while reporting in Syria in August 2012, attends a press conference as she urged President Donald Trump to help reveal her son’s fate in Damascus, Syria, on Jan. 20, 2025. (Bekir Kasim/Anadolu via Getty Images)

During a press conference on Monday, Tice offered praise for the incoming Trump administration and confirmed that they have “already reached out” regarding Austin’s case.

“I haven’t experienced that in the past four years, but I am optimistic about their help and involvement. I believe they will act quickly,” Tice said.

Tice also used the press conference to send an emotional message to her missing son. “Austin, if you can hear this somehow, I love you. I know you won’t give up, and I won’t give up either,” Tice said.

Tice added she has “never had any doubt about the fact that Austin is going to walk free. It’s a matter of time, and in my faith it’s God’s timing.”

When speaking about her hope and optimism about finding her son, Tice credited her faith as “100 percent.” She added that, “if I didn’t have my faith, I just think I would crumble into a bunch of really small pieces.”

COLLAPSE OF SYRIA’S ASSAD REGIME RENEWS US PUSH TO FIND AUSTIN TICE

The State Department’s Reward for Justice program is offering $10 million for information relating to locating Austin Tice. (The State Department’s Reward for Justice)

A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “intensive efforts are still underway to find Austin Tice.” Additionally, the spokesperson said that the department is “working to get U.S. officials into Damascus” to aid in the search but is waiting for confirmation that the”conditions are safe and local authorities can accommodate the visit.”

“We have used relevant information, as well as declassified intelligence, to inform the search efforts of Syrian and international partners on the ground in Damascus who are searching for Austin every day,” the spokesperson added.

“They have visited and searched numerous now-uncovered secret prisons, but to date they have not found Austin or any additional information that would help us locate him.”

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Last month, after receiving a letter from Debra Tice, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to ask Assad for help finding Austin. However, as of now, there are no signs that this has happened.

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

January 22, 2025