The executive producer of "60 Minutes" reportedly told colleagues on Monday that she "had to comply" with CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss's widely criticized decision to pull a segment about the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador, despite the producer's efforts to defend the piece.

"In the end, our editor-in-chief had a different vision for how the piece should be, and it came late in the process, and we were not in a position to address the notes," the program's executive producer, Tanya Simon, told staff, according to a transcript of a meeting obtained by the Washington Post. "We pushed back, we defended our story, but she wanted changes, and I ultimately had to comply.”

Read more at the Washington Post:

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The federal judge overseeing Kilmar Abrego Garcia's immigration case ruled on Monday that immigration agents cannot re-detain the Salvadoran native through the Christmas holiday.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered Abrego Garcia's release from federal immigration detention earlier this month after finding the government had detained the Maryland resident "without lawful authority."

Her ruling on Monday came after Abrego Garcia's attorneys sought a temporary restraining order that would prevent him from being brought back into federal custody while the Trump administration continues its efforts to deport him to another country.

Former President Bill Clinton’s spokesperson called on the Justice Department to release the “full and complete” records related to the late financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, including any that feature the former president.

“What the Department of Justice has released so far, and the manner in which it did so, makes one thing clear: someone or something is being protected,” spokesperson Angel Ureña said in the statement. “We do not know whom, what or why. But we do know this: We need no such protection.”

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Vince Zampella, a video game developer and studio head of Infinity Ward, which developed Call of Duty, was killed Sunday in a single-car crash in Los Angeles.

According to NBC Los Angeles, Zampella's car veered off the road and hit a concrete barrier, and a passenger in the car was ejected. The car caught on fire, and Zampella became trapped inside. He died at the scene, and the passenger died at the hospital. Zampella was 55 years old.

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One of the largest makers of bourbon in the world will pause production at its main distillery for one year.

Jim Beam, owned by Japanese drinks giant Suntory Holdings, announced a halt will start on Jan. 1 at the flagship Clermont, Kentucky, facility.

“We are always assessing production levels to best meet consumer demand and recently met with our team to discuss our volumes for 2026,” the company said, per CNN.

The shock move by the 225-year-old producer comes as Americans drink less alcohol and Trump's trade war batters exports of U.S.-produced spirits, with exports to Canada plunging by 85%, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Kentucky warehouses hold an all-time high of aging barrels of bourbon, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association said in October, underlining the challenge the industry faces of massive supply and dwindling demand.

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Kat Abughazaleh, the former journalist and progressive underdog running for Congress in Illinois, announced on Monday that she will no longer be using X, citing the social platform's enabling of misinformation and right-wing extremism under Elon Musk over the last two years.

While it is unclear what specific event led her to make Monday's announcement, Abughazaleh said that moving off the platform formally known as Twitter was a long time coming. Since Musk's takeover of the site, the activist said she's refused to buy a verification checkmark or advertise her campaign to avoid giving money to the billionaire.

While the platform at one point served as necessary for those in journalism and politics, she said, that is no longer the case. Abughazaleh encouraged other candidates, including her opponents, to leave X with her.

"Inaction is complicity and I am sick of my own. And if we wanna set a new standard, we have to actually do it," she said. "Let's be better and stand up for what we believe, because Elon Musk needs us. We definitely don't need him."

Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, a member of Democratic leadership, is looking at legislation to regulate sports prop betting, according to a report from sports journalist Pablo Torre.

Schatz is talking to leagues, players and sportsbooks about legislation to regulate prop bets, which usually focus on individual events in a game rather than the overall outcome. For example, a prop bet would look at whether an individual baseball player might hit a home run in a given game or whether an NFL quarterback will throw for more than 300 yards in one game rather than betting on who will actually win the contest.

Prop bets have been linked to recent betting scandals in the NBA, MLB and college basketball.

"When every in-game moment and outcome can be wagered on, it creates real risks," Schatz told Torre, who hosts the popular podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out. "We're working on legislation to stop the kind of prop betting that gives a single bad actor the ability to manipulate a specific, singular outcome for a big payout."

Have you ever wondered which members of Congress blab the most on the House floor? C-SPAN has released stats on the top ten lawmakers who spoke the most in 2025, measured by the number of days they made at least one set of remarks for the record.

It was a strongly bipartisan affair, with five Republicans and five Democrats making the list.

Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) takes first place, talking for 91 days on the House floor out of the 164 days the House was in session this year. Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) was a close second, blabbing for 86 days, followed by Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), who yammered on for 81 days.

Stunningly, Thompson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, despite his clear affinity for talking.

You can see how much (or how little) every member of Congress spoke on the House floor here. Nine members didn’t make any remarks on the House floor in 2025 (?). We see you, Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.).

Among its other stats for the year, C-SPAN found that retirements in the House are at an all-time high, with 33 lawmakers announcing their impending departures. It also found that the number of public laws enacted by the House and by the Senate are at an all-time low.

The New York Times has identified a slew of previously unreported donors to President Donald Trump's controversial ballroom project who gave a combined $55 million to the effort.

Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson's foundation gave $25 million; security contractors Lockheed Martin and Palantir each gave $10 million; crypto company Ripple gave $5 million; and Parsons, another government contractor, gave $2.5 million.

Dozens of major corporations and wealthy Trump backers were already known to have donated to the ballroom effort, which is housed in the Trust for the National Mall, a previously existing nonprofit. Many of those companies have also dodged questions from Senate Democrats investigating the project.

The revelations about the new donations are in a lengthy Times story about how Trump has collected unprecedented post-election sums and how the administration has rewarded many of those donors.

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Betty Reid Soskin, the country's oldest park ranger who dedicated her life to preserving the history of Black Americans and women, died on Sunday at 104 years old. She died peacefully surrounded by family, according to the National Park Service.

Soskin, who retired from the NPS at 100, was instrumental in helping develop the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park in California, making sure that the experiences and contributions of Black workers – especially Black women – in that era were included in the narrative.

Soskin's passion to amplify Black storytelling began before the NPS. During the war, she worked as a file clerk for the U.S. Air Force until she discovered she was hired under the assumption she was white. She then worked for a segregated unit of the Boilermakers union, where she witnessed the discrimination Black workers faced even during war.

"What gets remembered is a function of who's in the room doing the remembering," the activist would say, according to KQED's obituary.

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Singer Barry Manilow said an MRI found a cancerous spot on his left lung that needs to be surgically removed.

"The doctors do not believe it has spread and I'm taking tests to confirm their diagnosis," Manilow wrote Monday on Instagram. "So, that's it. No chemo. No radiation. Just chicken soup and I Love Lucy reruns."

Manilow's doctor ordered the MRI to make sure everything was okay after the singer had bronchitis for multiple weeks. Manilow said it was thanks to "pure luck" and a "great doctor" that the cancer was found so early.

Manilow, who just wrapped up his Christmas concerts in Palm Desert, California, said he is rescheduling his January shows to accommodate for his month-long recovery from surgery.

Members of Congress condemned CBS News for pulling a “60 Minutes” story about the migrants the Trump administration sent to a notorious El Salvador prison.

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss reportedly defended her decision as the segment “wasn’t ready,” despite acknowledging Venezuelans held at the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, are “subjected to horrific treatment.”

“What is happening to CBS is a terrible embarrassment and if executives think they can build shareholder value by avoiding journalism that might offend the Mad King they are about to learn a tough lesson,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said on X. “This is still America and we don’t enjoy bullshit like this.”

Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) said that if the Trump administration “can send these men to a torture prison [with] no due process they can do it to anyone,” adding that's “the truth they don’t want told.”

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At least 18 survivors of abuse by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein released a statement condemning the Justice Department for failing to fully release the files from its investigation into the convicted sex offender in accordance with the law.

In the statement obtained by CBS, the survivors also called out the department for its inconsistent and extreme redactions in the disclosure that blacked out entire documents without explanation, while still exposing victims' identities.

"For documents that are publicly released, careful, lawful redaction is essential," they said. "Transparency must focus on institutional failures, enablers, financial records and government conduct, not on further endangering survivors."

The survivors demanded the DOJ explain to the public why they've missed the legal deadline, and to inform the women how they can privately get copies of documents that name them. They also urged Congress to conduct immediate oversight over the process.

"Survivors deserve truth. Survivors whose identities are private deserve protection," the statement read. "The public deserves accountability. And the law must be enforced."

The Heritage Foundation, once the standard for conservatism but which has now become a top apologist for President Donald Trump's personality cult, has suffered mass defection to a group founded by Mike Pence, the former vice president who saved American democracy during Trump's 2021 coup attempt.

A total of 13 staff members are leaving Heritage to join Advancing American Freedom, founded by Pence in 2021 as he began laying the groundwork for an ultimately unsuccessful run for president in 2024.

"AAF is honored to welcome these principled conservative scholars to the team," Pence said in a statement. "They bring a wealth of experience, a love of country, and a deep commitment to the Constitution and conservative movement that will further the cause of liberty."

The news comes after two Heritage board members announced they were leaving because of director Kevin Robert’s defense of conspiracy theorist Tucker Carlson's defense of Nick Fuentes, who has expressed views admiring Adolf Hitler.

Heritage did not immediately respond to a HuffPost query.

One Heritage researcher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that the departures were not normal. “It’s an unusual situation, to be sure,” the staffer said.

Heritage was the group behind Project 2025, described by critics as a playbook to advance autocracy, which Trump disavowed during his 2024 campaign to reclaim the White House, but which he has largely followed since taking office.

Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, said the U.S. government's threat to ban TikTok nationwide unless its parent company agreed to sell its U.S. business allowed the platform to fine-tune its algorithm.

Mosseri told Semafor in an interview published Friday that TikTok is better at "breaking" new videos to its users but said he felt like Instagram was better at monetizing, adding that TikTok has become "too complicated" for Western users.

He gave TikTok its flowers, saying the app had faith in short videos before anyone else, but he added that super apps, which is a single app with multiple services, isn't as popular in the U.S. as it is in China, where its parent company is based.

"Are they overly projecting one win on the next, or am I just a naive out-of-touch Westerner who’s underestimating where the future’s gonna be?" Mosseri asked. "That’ll be interesting to see how that plays out."

Jimmy Kimmel won't be having a silent night on Christmas. He'll be condemning fascism and perhaps President Donald Trump in a Yuletide address on British TV’s Channel 4.

According to outlets, the annual “Alternative Christmas Message” from the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" host will air after King Charles' traditional royal speech.

Read more here:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday introduced a resolution to initiate legal action against the Trump administration after the Justice Department did not release its full trove of files on late sex predator Jeffrey Epstein Friday, adding that he will force its consideration once the Senate reconvenes next month.

"The law Congress passed is crystal clear: release the Epstein files in full so Americans can see the truth," Schumer said in a statement. "Instead, the Trump Department of Justice dumped redactions and withheld the evidence-that breaks the law."

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Singer Chris Rea, best known for his song “Driving Home For Christmas, died Monday, a family spokesperson said, according to multiple reports. He was 74.

The spokesperson added, “He passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family.”

FBI Director Kash Patel recently urged the agency to buy a more modern jet for him, but the plan was dropped over its high cost, MS NOW reported Monday.

The network also noted that the agency bought new BMW X5 cars after he requested the upgrade to be less visible in his outings.

FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson said the agency was already planning to upgrade the vehicles and this was the most cost-efficient option available. But Williamson declined to provide documentation to support his claims, MS NOW said.

Read more at MS NOW:

CNN's Brian Stelter reported that Bari Weiss "got personally involved" with "60 Minutes" segments focused on politics after President Donald Trump ripped the network's new owners over the newsmagazine's interview with his once-close ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

“My real problem with the show, however, wasn’t the low IQ traitor, it was that the new ownership of 60 Minutes, Paramount, would allow a show like this to air. THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP," Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this month. "Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE!"

Paramount, the parent company of CBS, is led by Trump ally David Ellison.