Between Saturday night and Monday morning, ABC, CBS, and NBC used their flagship morning and evening newscasts to put “far-right,” “insurrectionist” Jake Lang on equal footing for blame alongside two ISIS-inspired Islamic terrorists for the latter allegedly chucking improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at a crowd Lang had assembled outside New York City’s Gracie Mansion to protest the city’s far-left, Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani. The worst example came on Sunday’s CBS Weekend News as — in a moment first flagged by the great Johnny MAGA — they placed a still photo of a Trump supporter under the caption “Terrorism Investigation,” as if to imply the terrorism had been perpetrated by MAGA. Anchor Jericka Duncan was wildly vague: “Tonight, the FBI is investigating two men after an explosive device with bolts and screws was thrown into a crowd. It happened in New York City on Saturday during a protest that turned violent outside the mayor’s official residence.” CBS Evening News shows an image of Trump supporters when describing the attempted IED attack in New York City that’s now being investigated as ISIS-inspired terrorism. Unreal. pic.twitter.com/566TOs0Fnw — johnny maga (@johnnymaga) March 9, 2026 “New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim, was inside Gracie Mansion when a small anti-Islam protest took place here yesterday afternoon. A larger counter-protest then showed up and police say two men who were part of that group brought those homemade devices,” correspondent Shanelle Kaul began. After showing the moment 18-year-old Emir Balat tried and failed to detonate one of the IEDs, Kaul said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters, in Kaul’s summation, “it could have caused serious injury or death.” Once she named Balat and “his 19-year-old friend Ibrahim Kayumi” as his accomplice, Kaul blamed the incident on the “anti-Islam demonstration led by Jake Lang...a pardoned U.S. Capitol insurrectionist” (click “expand”): KAUL: Authorities say they were part of a group of nearly 125 people counter-protesting, a much smaller anti-Islam demonstration led by Jake Lang — LANG: The violent left! They hate freedom of speech. KAUL: — a pardoned U.S. Capitol insurrectionist who has frequently sought out political confrontations in the months after President Trump gave him clemency. In a statement, Mayor Zohran Mamdani saying “yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism,” adding, “what followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable.” And police also say they found a third device in a vehicle just down the street from here the FBI, now investigating this as terrorism and, Jericka, sources telling CBS News authorities are also now working to determine if either of those two men were inspired by ISIS The first network coverage, though, came Saturday on ABC’s World News Tonight with an esoteric news brief by weekend anchor Linsey Davis  Next tonight, two people arrested after a suspicious device went off during an anti-Muslim protest here in New York. The protests outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence, prompting counter protesters to show up as well. Two were arrested for allegedly throwing what is believed to be a smoke bomb. No injuries reported. By Sunday, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Sunday Today featured three combined news briefs on the bombs. In ABC’s second, co-host Janai Norman left it so vague that one could have easily concluded someone connected to “far-right, anti-immigrant figure Jake Lang” was responsible (click “expand”): GIO BENITEZ: And we have a lot of news to get to here this morning, starting with the security scare at the New York City mayor’s residence, the FBI’s joint terrorism task force is now investigating suspicious devices thrown during a protest as possible acts of terrorism. (....) NORMAN: New this morning, New York City police say six people were arrested during a protest and a counter protest near the official residence of New York City’s mayor. Police say two suspicious devices were found. Jars filled with nuts, bolts and screws, and a hobby fuse they say one protest of about twenty people was organized by far-right, anti-immigrant figure Jake Lang. About 125 people were part of the counter protest. The FBI’s New York’s Joint Terrorism Task Force says it is investigating the throwing of suspicious devices as possible acts of terrorism. As for NBC, host Willie Geist said the “incendiary devices” were thrown “towards a small group of anti-Islam protesters led by a right-wing influencer.” Shifting to Monday morning, the both-sides-ing continued.  Duncan shifted from the anchor desk to field correspondent for CBS Mornings and, while she didn’t have the misleading graphic, she led with this and relegated the IEDs to the second sentence: “Protesters and counter-protesters of an anti-Islam rally clashed on New York City streets outside Gracie Mansion, Saturday. Police allege 18-year-old Emir Balat threw an improvised explosive device into the crowd.” Monday's 'CBS Mornings' concedes "investigators are now looking into whether" the two Islamists outside Gracie Mansion in NYC with explosives "were inspired by ISIS extremist messaging," but emphasizes they only came b/c of "far-right influencer Jake Lang" attacking Muslim Mayor… pic.twitter.com/uOCy8ewfMZ — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 9, 2026 For those who stuck around long enough to watch the piece, Duncan increasingly focused on the bombs and terrorism (click “expand”): DUNCAN: You can then see him grab what may be a second device from 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi. Balat appears to try and light it before police chased him down the street, tackled Balat and handcuffed him. Neither device exploded. Police also arrested Kayumi. Investigators are now looking into whether they were inspired by ISIS extremist messaging. TISCH: The devices appear to be a jar wrapped in black tape along with a hobby fuse. DUNCAN: On Sunday, a third suspicious device was found in connection with the investigation. [SHOUTING] The original anti-Islam protest was organized by far-right influencer Jake Lang, a January 6 insurrectionist who was granted clemency by President Trump. Mayor Zohran Momdani, who is Muslim, said “white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism...What followed,” he said, “was even more disturbing.” CBS News law enforcement contributor Richard Esposito. RICHARD ESPOSITO: They will work CIA’s in there. They’ll work hard now to take apart who else these people might be connected to. And, in the longer term sense, are there people we need to watch? DUNCAN: The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is now investigating which could mean federal charges could be next. Now, we’re expected to learn more at a news conference right outside of Gracie Mansion later today[.] ABC’s Good Morning America co-host Michael Strahan merely alluded to “a potential act of terrorism” is “under investigation here in New York after authorities say at least one explosive device was thrown into a protest outside the residence of Mayor Mamdani.” ABC's 'Good Morning America' says the Islamists hurling IEDs on Saturday in NYC did so "during the chaotic, dueling protests that were started by far-right provocateur Jake Lang under the banner 'Stop the Islamic takeover of New York City.' The mayor said that protest was rooted… pic.twitter.com/IXvV35pli6 — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 9, 2026 Chief investigative correspondent Aaron Katersky said the crowd “began anti-Muslim protest at the home of New York’s first Muslim mayor,” but quickly grew and “ended with a counter-protest that’s now being investigated as a possible act of terrorism.” He said the devices were chucked “during the chaotic, dueling protest that were started by far-right provocateur Jake Lang under the banner, ‘Stop the Islamic takeover of New York City’” that Mamdani denounced as “rooted in bigotry and racism.” Only then did Katersky concede the suspects with IEDs allegedly “told investigators they had watched ISIS propaganda videos and were there to defend Muslims.” NBC’s Today went a completely different route. While they focused more on the real story that two Islamic terrorists nearly carried out a mass casualty event, correspondent Sam Brock tied the crowds to WABC’s “polarizing talk show host” Sid Rosenberg’s comments last week calling Mamdani “a jihadist before later apologizing.” NBC's 'Today' mentioned the two men arrested in connection with the IEDs in New York City "allegedly made pro-ISIS statements," but quickly dispatched with that to blame the series of events on WABC's Sid Rosenberg calling Mamdani a jihadist and Mamdani lamenting the Islamphobia… pic.twitter.com/x5j0yoexXG — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 9, 2026 “According to two people familiar with the investigation, initial tests of the device revealed TATP, a volatile and dangerous type of homemade explosive. Also according to two sources familiar with the matter, both men allegedly made pro-ISIS statements during their arrest and investigators are now looking at their past travel outside the country,” Brock added. To see the relevant transcripts from March 9, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC). To see the relevant transcripts from March 7 and 8, click here.

After having true conservative guest co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck wipe the floor with the cast last week, ABC’s The View needed to bring on yet another anti-Trump “Republican” for balance out the rest of the anti-Trump ladies. This time they trotted out “comedian” Sheryl Underwood, who wasted no time trying to exploit her past military service to attack Trump over the Iran strikes by citing how she was deployed during the First Gulf War. But a NewsBusters investigation discovered disturbing inconsistences that pointed to possible stolen valor. At the top of the show, while still being introduced by moderator Whoopi Goldberg, Underwood made it clear that it was her mission to target President Trump: “…they need somebody to say ‘that's not what we should be doing!’” While falsely claiming Trump never mentioned the threat of Iran on the campaign trail, it was obvious Underwood planned to exploit her military service as a cudgel against the strikes. The View even put up a photo of her in her Air Force uniform from the early 80s. She even suggested that Trump needed to be impeached over the strikes, claiming they were “unlawful”: UNDERWOOD: That's me in the air force reserve. Why are we doing it? And I do believe when they say you should not follow an unlawful order! Why is this not impeachable?! And where are the politicians to say this dude don't have it all the way together! He cannot be the commander-in-chief! HOSTIN: And thank you for your service! UNDERWOOD: Thank you.   Sheryl Underwood falsely claims Trump never mentioned Iran and how much of a threat they were during the 2024 campaign, wants him impeached because he's crazy, and claims he has a "personal interest" in toppling Iran: UNDERWOOD: See, here's my problem with it, if it was such a… pic.twitter.com/eL63xFf3HL — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) March 9, 2026   Without evidence, Underwood also claimed that members of the U.S. military didn’t trust Trump as their commander-in-chief and argued that America needed to make a law that presidents needed military experience: We want to know why and we want to hear it from someone who we feel we can follow into battle. We don't want to hear it from somebody that's a TV personality who may have limited experience. I think this country is going to have to go back to the issues that we have, maybe the commander-in-chief would have to have some military experience, and understand that your order leads us into something that could reverberate around the world. According to a Pew Research report from the 2024 election, they found that military veterans supported Trump by a wide margin 61-37 percent vs then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump held similar margins against Joe Biden and Hilary Clinton. So, Underwood’s suggestion was a lie.   Underwood claims the military can't and doesn't want to "follow [Trump] into battle." She then calls for a constitutional amendment to make it so that a president needs to come from the military: UNDERWOOD: We want to know why and we want to hear it from someone who we feel we… pic.twitter.com/GsumAF8ZVU — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) March 9, 2026   “I'm not against the president. I'm against the person who is in the office right now that does not seem to care about what his actions cause!” Underwood shouted at one point. When discussing weapons of mass destruction, Underwood declared “I was in that one” when seemingly talking about the First Gulf War; even miming (pictured above) how to put on a MOPP (mission-oriented protective posture) gear that was in use during that time because of the concern Iraq would use chemical weapons: But we know what we sold them when you were on our side and we gave you weapons. That's why -- because I was in that one and we thought we were -- I had to put on that chem warfare, everybody in the military know it was in pieces and you had to put on the head first and blow it out and then put on pants. All military people know what I just said.   Stolen Valor? On The View, Sheryl Underwood seems to suggest that she served during the First Gulf War: "...we gave you weapons. That's why -- because I was in that one and we thought we were -- I had to put on that chem warfare..." But a review of what's publicly available seems… pic.twitter.com/wHGgKoSUxs — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) March 9, 2026   But a NewsBusters investigation discovered that Underwood wasn’t deployed during the First Gulf War, in fact it appeared as though she was out the military long forehand. According to a DoW webpage highlighting Underwood's service, she "enlisted in the Air Force as a field medic in 1981" and was only "deployed in support of several exercises that included two Exercise Reforgers [sic] in West Germany and Team Spirit in South Korea." The website also notes that she was out and competing in comedy contests by 1989, the year before the First Gulf War started (August 2, 1990): "She first became noticed to the public as the first female finalist in 1989's 'Miller Lite Comedy Search.'" ABC did not respond to NewsBusters’ request for comment. Elsewhere in their conversation, Underwood teamed up with Goldberg and co-host Sunny Hostin to depict America’ military as inept and incapable of fighting and winning against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (Click “expand”): HOSTIN: You know, he's saying well maybe -- he said on the airplane, ‘maybe we will have boots on the ground.’ Our military we are the biggest, the best trained military in the world, but you're going to be fighting in Iran's backyard. That is guerrilla fighting! That is a street fight! UNDERWOOD: Yes. HOSTIN: Our soldiers, many of them will not come home. Am I correct that that is a different type of fighting? UNDERWOOD: And would they adhere to the Geneva convention? HOSTIN: They won't! (…) GOLDBERG: Listen. Basically we are sending people in to lose their lives.   Siding with the enemy. The View suggests the U.S. military doesn't know what it's doing, that it doesn't know how to fight, that fighting Iran means the U.S. is destined to lose, and the IRGC out matches them: HOSTIN: Our military we are the biggest, the best trained military in… pic.twitter.com/sAFGlpASgt — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) March 9, 2026   Nearing the end of the segment, Goldberg proclaimed that America should NOT have struck back against Al-Qaeda after 9/11 and decried that Trump wasn’t putting his kids on the frontline to fight Iran, getting agreement from Underwood: GOLDBERG: Because we’ve seen how fighting goes. We knew we shouldn't have gone into Afghanistan. We knew that, and they decided to do it anyway. So, now we are in the same position where someone who doesn't seem to care that human beings are being sent to war, that people's sons and daughters. His kids are not going! UNDERWOOD: No. No. No. No.   Whoopi suggests Trump is only interested in sending other peoples' kids to die in Iran. She's upset that Trump isn't putting a gun in Barron's hand and sending him to fight (she also claims we shouldn't have struck back against Al-Qaeda after 9/11): GOLDBERG: Basically we are… pic.twitter.com/gkFttiHP3h — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) March 9, 2026   America has an all-volunteer military and it’s the best in the world. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View March 9, 2026 11:02:27 a.m. Eastern (…) WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Joining us at the table this week, as a guest co-host is life-long Republican and comedian, on a pit stop from her I Need a Job comedy tour, the fabulous Sheryl Underwood. [Applause] SHERYL UNDERWOOD: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ANA NAVARRO: Had you come a week earlier you might be DHS secretary. UNDERWOOD: And I will accept. They need somebody with some sense in this administration. [Applause] GOLDBERG: There is life here. We can all -- we can do this. I know we can. We can do this, regardless of what side of the aisle you are on. If we are shooting to make the country better, we can work it out together. I believe that. UNDERWOOD: That's right. And, Whoopi, to that point, I think when -- you know, the thing is make America great, right? I think when we see people with the hat and the shirt on, we should just walk up to them and shake their hand and go, ‘we already have made America great.’ We did it together. When we come together as a country, come together as Americans, and it's okay to disagree with your leaders because they need somebody to say ‘that's not what we should be doing!’ [Applause] (…) 11:06:17 a.m. Eastern SUNNY HOSTIN: It is very clear that the President and his administration has not made the case for an imminent threat. And I want people to understand that imminent threat is a legal standard, it is a key legal standard, it's from 1837 from a case, the Caroline case. The only way you start a war is if you know that an attack is about to happen. It's anticipatory self-defense. So the definition is instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means and no moment for deliberation. In response to the imminent threat question on 60 Minutes Pete Hegseth said, well, they've been after us for 47 years. 47 years is not imminent threat and that's why this is illegal, and those soldiers, while they gave their life for this country, they should be alive today. (…) 11:08:58 a.m. Eastern UNDERWOOD: See, here's my problem with it, if it was such a problem, then why didn't the President run on that? Why didn't he clearly say that's what he wanted to do? If you're talking about regime change or you're talking about no more forever wars, but now we are in something that you are not telling us why. And I put on a uniform to serve this country and I always wanted now why am I doing this? [Image of Underwood in an Air Force photo] That's me in the air force reserve. Why are we doing it? And I do believe when they say you should not follow an unlawful order! Why is this not impeachable?! And where are the politicians to say this dude don't have it all the way together! He cannot be the commander-in-chief! HOSTIN: And thank you for your service! UNDERWOOD: Thank you. Because I’m following the commander-in-chief. And to those families of those seven, we should care more about them than someone's personal interests if you are going to wage war! Because at first it wasn't a war, but now it's the department of war, now you are waging war, and you are putting American lives and soldiers at risk! (…) 11:17:11 a.m. Eastern SARA HAINES: Yeah, I had thrown out the question about the idea as someone who served in the military, your command comes from the top. Do you think that being in certain rooms and access to certain national intelligence could change the way you see this? UNDERWOOD: Absolutely. We want to know why and we want to hear it from someone who we feel we can follow into battle. We don't want to hear it from somebody that's a TV personality who may have limited experience. I think this country is going to have to go back to the issues that we have, maybe the commander-in-chief would have to have some military experience, and understand that your order leads us into something that could reverberate around the world. Getting our allies together or go to Congress. You've got control of the House and the Senate, why couldn't you take that vote? Or are you afraid that even your own allies were going to tell you no. HAINES: One thing is every modern president just to be clear, I've said this multiple times, Biden, Obama, Clinton, George Bush, George H.W. Bush, Reagan, they all did this without Congress. So, Congress has ceded a power that they should be taking back if we want that [drowned out by crosstalk] (…) 11:20:07 a.m. Eastern HOSTIN: You know, he's saying well maybe -- he said on the airplane, ‘maybe we will have boots on the ground.’ Our military we are the biggest, the best trained military in the world, but you're going to be fighting in Iran's backyard. That is guerrilla fighting! That is a street fight! UNDERWOOD: Yes. HOSTIN: Our soldiers, many of them will not come home. Am I correct that that is a different type of fighting? UNDERWOOD: And would they adhere to the Geneva convention? HOSTIN: They won't! UNDERWOOD: And to your point [looks to Haines], the presidents that you named we trusted them, it was a different time. HAINES: That was the problem with the administration. UNDERWOOD: We didn’t have what looks like an opportunist-in-chief in the White House. I'm not against the president. I'm against the person who is in the office right now that does not seem to care about what his actions cause! That's the only problem I have. HOSTIN: And by the way, let's all remember -- and, you know, I think when you don't remember history past becomes prologue. Weapons of mass destruction, there were no weapons of mass destruction. GOLDBERG: I mentioned that earlier. HOSTIN: We got into a war -- UNDERWOOD: But we know what we sold them when you were on our side and we gave you weapons. That's why -- because I was in that one and we thought we were -- I had to put on that chem warfare, everybody in the military know it was in pieces and you had to put on the head first and blow it out and then put on pants. All military people know what I just said. But we know what we sold them when they were working on our side and that's what we're up against, but this is different. HOSTIN: This is different. UNDERWOOD: They just put in their leader who is an extension of what they are. HAINES: He's actually worse. HOSTIN: So, there is no regime change. UNDERWOOD: I'm sorry, Whoopi. GOLDBERG: No, no, no. I said this a couple days ago at this table. You don't know who is coming in. UNDERWOOD: That’s right. [Crosstalk] NAVARRO: He thinks it's all going to be like Venezuela where he got the vice president -- that was a kleptocracy -- this is a theocracy. These people believe this stuff deeply. It's a completely different ball of wax. GOLDBERG: Listen. Basically we are sending people in to lose their lives. HOSTIN: Yes. GOLDBERG: Because we’ve seen how fighting goes. We knew we shouldn't have gone into Afghanistan. We knew that, and they decided to do it anyway. So, now we are in the same position where someone who doesn't seem to care that human beings are being sent to war, that people's sons and daughters. His kids are not going! UNDERWOOD: No. No. No. No. (…)

Two Pennsylvania residents with alleged ties to radical Islam were arrested in New York City on Saturday after homemade explosive devices were ignited in an apparent attempt to target anti-Islam protesters gathered outside Gracie Mansion, the residence of the city’s first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani (D).The New York Police Department identified the two suspects as 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi.'All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds!'NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch claimed that Balat lit and threw an improvised explosive device toward a group of demonstrators participating in the “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” protest outside Gracie Mansion.A video of the suspect appeared to show him yelling, “Allahu Akbar,” as he threw the smoking device toward the crowd. Balat then allegedly ran southbound, grabbing a second device from Kayumi. Balat was accused of lighting the second device and dropping it near police officers as he ran away.Tisch confirmed that the devices were IEDs and “could have caused serious injury or death.” However, no explosions or injuries were reported after the devices seemingly malfunctioned. Balat’s parents were born in Turkey and became U.S. citizens nearly a decade ago, CBS News reported. Balat, who was living with his parents, is a U.S. citizen. He reportedly traveled to Turkey recently and returned to the U.S. in January. He reportedly spent several months in Turkey last year. Kayumi’s parents are reportedly from Afghanistan and became U.S. citizens over 15 years ago. He reportedly traveled to Turkey and Saudi Arabia in 2024.RELATED: Counter-protester lights explosive amid anti-Mamdani protest, utters 'Allahu Akbar' — but NYC mayor rips 'bigotry and racism' Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty ImagesFBI agents were observed on Sunday searching the suspects’ homes in Bucks County, ABC News reported. Balat is a student in the Neshaminy School District, and Kayumi graduated from Council Rock High School North in 2024, CBS News reported. Both are located in Bucks County.The federal criminal complaint revealed that Balat and Kayumi are facing several charges, including attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the use of a weapon of mass destruction, transportation of explosive materials, interstate transportation and receipt of explosives, and unlawful possession of destructive devices.According to the complaint, while in law enforcement custody, Balat stated, “This isn’t a religion that just stands when people talk about the blessed name of the prophet. … We take action! We take action! ... If I didn’t do it, someone else will come and do it.”Balat, who waived his Miranda rights, requested officers provide him with a piece of paper, on which he allegedly wrote, “All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds! I pledge my allegience [sic] to the Islamic State. Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar! Emir B.”The complaint explained that “kuffar” is an Arabic word that refers to “non-believers” or “infidels.” It also noted that “die in your rage” is a verse in the Quran often invoked by ISIS. Balat also allegedly told law enforcement that he hoped his attack attempt would be “even bigger” than the Boston Marathon bombing in 2023.RELATED: Liberal media covers for Saturday's NYC terror attack suspects — then the facts come out Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty ImagesThe criminal complaint accused Kayumi of stating that he was motivated by ISIS. After waiving his Miranda rights, he allegedly suggested to law enforcement that he was affiliated with the terrorist group. He also allegedly admitted to watching ISIS propaganda. An FBI special agent explained in the complaint that a preliminary analysis found that the first explosive device, which Balat was accused of throwing into a crowd of protesters, contained triacetone triperoxide.“Based on my training and experience, I know that TATP is colloquially known as the ‘Mother of Satan’; is extremely sensitive to impact, friction, and heat; and has been used in multiple terrorist attacks over the last decade,” the agent wrote. Following the arrests of Balat and Kayumi, police identified a parked vehicle several blocks south of Gracie Mansion that had a New Jersey license plate registered to one of Balat’s family members. Kayumi’s mother filed a missing person report on or about March 7, stating that she last saw her son at their Pennsylvania residence at approximately 10:30 a.m. earlier that day, the criminal complaint noted.Balat and Kayumi remain in custody.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Cornell University says chatbots have the capability for gross misuse, and its researchers are proving it.The school announced recently that it had created a large language model that demonstrated fluency and reasoning capabilities advanced enough to make scam phone calls.'ScamAgent constructs persistent personas, ... and uses deception strategies that unfold over time.'ScamAgent, Cornell wrote, is an autonomous AI that can generate realistic scam-call scripts that simulate real-life scenarios where a call recipient is on the receiving end of fraud.Simply put, it works like a chatbot that has the goal to deceive and persuade the call recipient. Scam scripts were transformed into "lifelike voice calls using modern text-to-speech systems, completing a fully automated scam pipeline," Cornell wrote.At the same time, the research explained that the chatbot showed the remarkable ability to circumvent or ignore safety guardrails built into the language model, meaning it would ignore certain prompts and content filters.RELATED: Mamdani allies push to ban chatbots from answering questions about law, medicine, and psychology "ScamAgent constructs persistent personas, maintains conversational context, and uses deception strategies that unfold over time. This design allows it to bypass existing safety guardrails by decomposing harmful tasks into benign subgoals and leveraging contextual carryover to avoid triggering filters."The agent was used in a series of real-world fraud scenarios that Americans have become all too familiar with, like medical insurance verification scams, impersonations, prize or lottery fraud, and government benefit enrollment scams. However, researchers used a different chatbot as the recipient, not real people.Researchers also noticed that it was not very difficult to convert scripts into audio to be used for scams and recreate an automated call without requiring much technical expertise.RELATED: This new laser farming technique could free us from pesticides — forever Photographer: Kuni Takahashi/Bloomberg via Getty Images For those wondering what the purpose of building such a deceptive AI agent would be, Cornell researchers said they wanted to highlight an urgent need to detect and disrupt conversational deception powered by AI agents.They added that even "state-of-the-art" AI models are vulnerable to being used for deception, while also calling for "proactive safeguards" and "regulatory oversight."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

New York Times opinion writer David French, a self-described evangelical conservative, has made a habit out of supporting radical leftists over those Republican officials who have time and again delivered meaningful results for the causes of life and liberty.French announced in 2024, for example, that he was supporting then-candidate Kamala Harris over President Donald Trump "to save conservatism."'French always saves his most demonic takes for Sunday morning columns.'The former National Review writer's rationale was that the GOP supposedly wouldn't survive another Trump term but could be rebuilt as a "force for genuine good" in the event that Harris — an advocate for abortion, child sex-rejection procedures, and infringements on the Second Amendment — won.Although his propaganda didn't work in 2024, French clearly hasn't given up on promoting radical leftists and is now promoting James Talarico, the Democrat state representative hoping to succeed Republican John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate.French — who has not only embraced homosexual "marriage" but also non-Christian speech codes about gender — claimed in an editorial on Sunday that "Talarico shines" as "one of the few openly Christian politicians in the United States who acts like a Christian, and by acting like a Christian he reveals a profound contrast with so many members of the MAGA Christian movement that’s dominated American political life for 10 years."French proffered Talarico's Senate primary victory speech, during which he criticized competition, as an example of the Democrat's supposed Christianity in action, "right heart," and loving ways."I am tired of being pitted against my neighbor. I’m tired of being told to hate my neighbor. It’s been more than 10 years of this kind of politics," said Talarico. "Politics as blood sport, politics as trolling and owning, politics as total war. It tears families apart. It ends friendships, and it leaves us all feeling terrible all the time."RELATED: Democrats swapped Crockett’s preening for Talarico’s pulpit — and it worked Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty ImageThough gushing about Talarico's supposed Christian decency and compassionate public face, French neglected to mention any of the Democrat's nastier remarks about those political opponents and fellow Christians with whom he fundamentally disagrees.Talarico previously suggested, for example, that Trump is a "business cheat, a pathological liar, a serial adulterer, a twice-impeached insurrectionist, a convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist," many of whose supporters "have forgotten all about Jesus."Trump sued ABC News over host George Stephanopoulos' false on-air assertion that the president had been found civilly liable for rape. Per the terms of the late 2024 settlement, ABC News ultimately agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump's presidential library.Despite the apparent narrowness of Talarico's love and understanding, French — making no secret of his soft spot for Cornyn and hard liking for Talarico — presented the Democrat challenger as the supposedly virtuous antithesis of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.French's case relies not only on selective outrage and his apparent ability to judge the hearts of men but on severing both candidates from their relevant activities, namely their work in office. "For too long we've evaluated Christians in politics primarily through their policy positions," wrote French. "Yet this is exactly backward."French expressed outrage over Paxton's failed marriage and portrayed him as an exemplar of vice while strategically ignoring Talarico's:support for the dehumanization and elimination of the unborn, as signaled by his 0% score on the Texas Right to Life's pro-life scorecard and his correlated recognition as "a Pro-Choice Champion" by the Texas Choice Tracker;attempted use of scripture, specifically Genesis 2:7 and the Annunciation, to justify the slaughter of the unborn;votes against sparing children from sex-rejection mutilations as well as against keeping men out of girls' sports;claim that displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms is "deeply un-Christian";claim that the Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling was effectively "un-Christian";claim that God is "non-binary";claim that there are six sexes, despite the clear assertion in Genesis, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them"; complaint that "Republican politicians are banning drag queens in the name of protecting children"; andclaim that "you can't call yourself a Christian and destroy God's creation with greenhouse gases."Critics blasted French over his commentary, suggesting that his understanding of "decency" is confused if not outright deceptive.Radio host Erick Erickson noted, "It is not decent to twist scripture to lead others to hell. It is not decent to claim whiteness itself is like a virus. It is not decent to use Christ’s conception as a justification for abortion. It is not decent to reduce women to 'neighbors with uteruses.' Only if you have been radicalized by your critics can you land at this position."'Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.'"David French is endorsing a guy who wants free abortion mills in every courthouse and who also claims God is trans," wrote Sean Davis, CEO of the Federalist. "That French always saves his most demonic takes for Sunday morning columns is a pretty good indicator of who he actually worships now."William Wolfe, executive director for the Center for Baptist Leadership, alluded to the conspiring demons in C.S Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters," writing, "Now tell them that pro-abortion, pro-child mutilation politician who preaches that God is non-binary is a 'shining' example of a Christian. Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape."Weeks prior to French's opinion piece, BlazeTV host Steve Deace suggested that Talarico was an "object and a vessel of malevolence. All right? When he speaks, he's not deceived; he's the deceiver. ... He is who Paul would have said in Acts, 'You are a son of the devil.' He knows what he is doing."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

On a frigid night during one of the coldest winters in London’s history, a young poet named Sylvia Plath lay down in front of the oven and turned on the gas. Since then, Sylvia Plath’s death — and her morbid novel and collections of poems — have captivated generations of readers. A gifted writer from a young age, Plath started writing and publishing poems before she even reached her teens. She attended Smith College, won a guest editorship at Mademoiselle magazine, and was awarded a Fulbright Grant to study at Cambridge in London. But beneath Plath’s sterling literary credentials, she struggled with severe mental health issues. Bettmann/Getty ImagesSylvia Plath was just 30 years old when she died by suicide in London. Indeed, Plath’s inner struggles seemed intertwined with her prolific prose. While rising through the literary ranks, Plath also suffered from severe depression that resulted in psychiatric care and suicide attempts. By the time Sylvia Plath died in 1963, both her mental health and her literary career had reached a nadir. Plath’s husband, Ted Hughes, had left her for another woman — leaving Plath to care for their two children — and Plath had received a number of rejections for her novel, The Bell Jar. This is the tragic story of Sylvia Plath’s death, and how the young and talented poet died by suicide at the age of 30. The Rise Of A Literary Star Born on Oct. 27, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts, Sylvia Plath showed literary promise at a young age. Plath published her first poem, “Poem,” in the Boston Herald when she was just nine years old. More poetry publications followed, and an IQ test Plath took at the age of 12 determined that she was a “certified genius” with a score of 160. But Plath’s early life was marred by tragedy, too. When she was eight years old, her father Otto died from diabetes. Plath had a complicated relationship with her strict father which she later explored in her poem “Daddy,” writing: “I have always been scared of you, / With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygook.” Smith College/Mortimer Rare Book RoomSylvia Plath and her parents, Aurelia and Otto. And as Plath grew up, her literary gifts and inner darkness seemed to play dueling roles. While attending Smith College, Plath won a prestigious “guest editorship” at Mademoiselle magazine. She moved to New York City for the summer of 1953, but described her experience working and living in the city as “pain, parties, work” according to The Guardian. Indeed, Plath’s inner struggles had begun to intensify. The New York Times reports that Plath had a mental breakdown following a rejection from a Harvard writing program, which the Poetry Foundation writes led the poet to attempt suicide at the age of 20 in August 1953. She then received electroshock therapy as treatment. “It is as if my life were magically run by two electric currents: joyous positive and despairing negative—whichever is running at the moment dominates my life, floods it,” Plate later wrote, according to the Poetry Foundation. Yet despite her struggles, Plath continued to excel. She won a Fulbright scholarship and moved to London to study at Cambridge University. And, there, Plath met her future husband, Ted Hughes, at a party in February 1956. During their intense initial encounter, Plath bit Hughes’ cheek, drawing blood. Hughes later wrote of “the swelling ring-moat of tooth marks/That was to brand my face for the next month/The me beneath it for good.” Sotheby’sSylvia Plath and her husband, Ted Hughes, had an intense and tumultuous relationship. “It is as if he is the perfect male counterpart to my own self,” Plath wrote. To her mother, she added that Hughes was: “the only man I’ve met yet here who’d be strong enough to be equal with — such is life,” according to the Washington Post. But though they married after just four months and had two children together, Frieda and Nicholas, Plath and Hughes’s relationship swiftly soured. Inside Sylvia Plath’s Death In London Smith CollegeSylvia Plath showed literary promise from a young age but also struggled with depressive episodes. By the time Sylvia Plath died in February 1963, her marriage to Ted Hughes had crumbled. He had left Plath for his mistress, Assia Wevill, leaving her to care for their two young children during one of the coldest winters in London since 1740. But Hughes’ betrayal was just one of many of Plath’s problems. Not only was she dealing with relentless flu, but multiple American publishers had sent rejections for Plath’s novel, The Bell Jar, which was a fictionalized account of her time in New York and subsequent mental breakdown. “To be quite honest with you, we didn’t feel that you had managed to use your materials successfully in a novelistic way,” an editor from Alfred A. Knopf wrote, according to The New York Times. Another wrote: “With [the protagonist’s] breakdown, however, the story for us ceases to be a novel and becomes more a case history.” Plath’s friends could tell something was off. As Plath’s friend and fellow writer Jillian Becker wrote for BBC, Plath was “feeling low.” Visiting Jillian and her husband, Gerry, on the weekend before she died, Plath expressed her bitterness, jealousy, and anger about her husband’s affair. When Gerry drove Plath and her children home on Sunday night, she started to cry. Gerry Becker pulled over and tried to comfort her, even insisting that she and the children return to their home, but Plath refused. “No, this is nonsense, take no notice,” Plath said, per Becker’s book Giving Up: The Last Days of Sylvia Plath. “I have to get home.” The next morning, Feb. 11, 1963, Plath got up at around seven a.m. and tended to her children. She left them milk, bread, and butter so that they’d have something to eat when they woke up, put extra blankets in their room, and carefully taped the edges of their door. Then, Plath went into the kitchen, turned on the gas, and lay down on the floor. Carbon monoxide filled the room. Before long, Sylvia Plath had died. She was only 30 years old. Her family, ashamed of her suicide, reported that she’d died of “virus pneumonia.” Sylvia Plath’s Enduring Legacy Ted Hughes later wrote of hearing the news of Plath’s death: “Then a voice like a selected weapon/ Or a measured injection,/ Coolly delivered its four words/ Deep into my ear: ‘Your wife is dead.'” Indiana University BloomingtonSylvia Plath died at the age of 30 in 1963 but her literary legacy has endured. But though Sylvia Plath died on that frosty February morning in London, her literary legacy had just begun to bloom. While the Bell Jar had been published in the United Kingdom under a pseudonym shortly before her death, it would not be published in the United States until 1971. And during the darkest days of her depression, Plath had produced a number of poems that would make up her posthumous collection, Ariel, which published in 1965. Plath was also awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1982. Today, she is considered one of the greatest female American poets of the 20th century. Her legacy has not been without controversy, however. After Sylvia Plath’s death, her husband assumed control of her estate. According to History Extra, he later admitted to destroying parts of her journal. And Plath’s history of depression was apparently inherited by her son Nicholas, who died by suicide at the age of 47 in 2009. Today, Sylvia Plath is remembered in two ways. Certainly, she’s remembered for her prolific creative output, which resulted in such works as The Bell Jar and Ariel. But Sylvia Plath’s death informs her legacy as well. Her despair, suicide, and bitter poems from that era are part of her larger legacy. The writer A. Alvarez wrote that Plath made poetry and death “inseparable.” As the poet herself wrote in her poem “Lady Lazarus”: “Dying/ Is an art, like everything else/ I do it exceptionally well/ I do it so it feels like hell.” After reading about Sylvia Plath’s death, go inside the shocking suicide of Virginia Woolf. Or, read about the tragic suicide of Kurt Cobain, the Nirvana frontman who died at the age of 27. The post The Haunting Story Of How Sylvia Plath Died And The Tragic Events That Led Up To It appeared first on All That's Interesting.

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