Minneapolis gunman's hate-filled manifesto, Border Patrol arrests firefighters: Unbiased Updates, Aug. 29, 2025

This morning, chilling new revelations. The Minneapolis gunman obsessed with killing children and idolizing mass murderers

Plus, a new director named at the CDC, but the fired leader says she's still in charge

And put down your hose. Border agents yanked two firefighters off the front lines. The backlash burning hot this morning

the stories that matter clear and credible from across the country to around the world

these are your unbiased updates from straight arrow news good morning i'm craig degrelli this morning we're learning more about the shooter who killed

two students and wounded more than a dozen others at a catholic school mass in minneapolis

authorities identified the gunman as 23 year old robin westman a former student at annunciation

Catholic school. Investigators say he was obsessed with the idea of killing children

They've uncovered hundreds of pages of writings in which Westman expressed hate toward, quote

almost every group imaginable, including black, Mexican, Christian and Jewish communities, even President Donald Trump. There appears to be only one group that the shooter didn't hate

One group of people who the shooter admired. The group were the school shooters and mass murderers that are notorious in this country

The shooter idolized some of the most notorious school shooters and mass murderers in our country's history

Investigators say Westman wanted to kill defenseless children and, quote, watch them suffer

But despite the writings, authorities say a clear motive for the attack remains uncertain

Nine of the victims are still in the hospital, one child in critical condition

The community is coming together to grieve. Mourners placing flowers and teddy bears at a memorial outside Annunciation Catholic Church One child seen embracing an adult after laying down a bloom Also worth noting this morning the gunman mother Mary Grace Westman

who used to work at the school, has hired a high-profile attorney and, according to the Minneapolis chief, is refusing to talk to police

This morning, the CDC has a new acting director after the White House fired Susan Menares just weeks into her new job

The Trump administration has tapped Jim O'Neill, a top deputy to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr

O'Neill will keep his post at HHS while running the CDC, a move that gives Kennedy even more influence over federal vaccine policy

The shakeup has already rattled the agency. Four top officials resigned after Menardus got ousted

And staffers gathered outside the CDC in Atlanta Thursday to say goodbye

A somber clap out to see them off. This is unprecedented. There has never been a CDC director fired

And it appears that she was fired for standing up, for saying things that are true

What we're seeing is an assault. It's an assault on science. It's an assault on CDC

And it is making Americans less safe. On Capitol Hill, Senator Bill Cassidy, who chairs the health committee

is calling for next month's vaccine advisory meeting to be postponed, warning any decisions made amid this turmoil would lack legitimacy. Kennedy defended the shakeup

There's a lot of trouble at CDC, and it's going to require getting rid of some people

over the long term in order for us to change the institutional culture

and bring back pride and self-esteem and make that agency the stellar agency that it's always been

Meanwhile, lawyers for Menardes insist she's still the legal director, arguing that only the president can remove her That sets up a possible legal fight even as O takes over Lawyers for a man at the center of a high immigration case want the judge to

gag the government. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a father from El Salvador living in Maryland

is in custody facing federal human smuggling charges. But his attorneys say the Trump

administration's constant name-calling is jeopardizing his right to a fair trial. This week, after he reported to jail in Baltimore, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blasted him online

calling him an illegal alien, gang member, human trafficker, domestic abuser, and child predator

President Trump has previously referred to him as an animal. His lawyers say those claims are baseless, and the public attacks are meant to vilify their client before he ever sees a jury

They argue it risks, quote, prejudicing the proceedings and want the judge to shut it down

In Washington state, controversy is flaring on top of a raging wildfire

Two firefighters were arrested by Border Patrol while battling the state's biggest act of blaze

The Bear Gulch fire has burned nearly 9,000 acres in the Olympic National Forest

Border agents confirm they detained two crew members after verifying identities on site

saying, quote, several discrepancies were identified and two individuals were found to be present in the U.S. illegally

one with a previous order of removal. Other crew members said they were shocked to see arrests

in the middle of an active fire response. Federal officials insist the operation did not interrupt

firefighting efforts, but Senator Patty Murray blasted the move, writing, Trump has undercut our wildland firefighting abilities in more ways than one to now apparently

detaining firefighters on the job. This administration's immigration policy is fundamentally sick. We'll call it Fight Club Senate edition. Mexico's upper chamber turned

into mayhem and a brawl hall after a heated debate over drug cartels and whether the United States should get involved Watch this Senator Alejandro Moreno leader of the opposition PRI party marching to the podium and shoving Senate President Gerardo Fernandez

even whacking him on the neck. There they go right there. When another man tried to intervene, he got knocked down

I mean, all you needed was Michael Buffer, the guy that goes, let's get ready to rumble

Yeah. Well, the scuffle capped off a session where opposition parties were accused of calling for

U.S. military intervention against the cartel, something they deny. The dust-up comes as President

Trump has ordered the Pentagon to target cartels as terrorists. Mexico's President Claudia Scheinbaum

insists there will be, quote, no U.S. invasion. But on this day, the real battlefield was on the

Senate floor. Finally this morning, a dinosaur straight out of Jurassic Park, but it's not your

typical Hollywood version. Researchers in Morocco have uncovered what they call a jaw-droppingly

weird dinosaur. It's the Spichamelis, the oldest known Ankylosaurus, dating back at this 165

million years. Now, this creature was a showstopper, heavy body armor with spikes up to three feet

long. The fossil turned up, by the way, in the Atlas Mountains, adding a new branch to the

Ankylosaurus family tree. Scientists say they were slow, plant-eating tanks of their time

using their armor to survive among predators. A reminder that even after millions of years

nature still has a few surprises to dig up. I can tell you that my ankle is a sores

after playing about an hour and 15 minutes of hardcore tennis yesterday

But hey, that's my problem. All right, it's news without the spin, like your laundry on delicate

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Those are your unbiased updates for this Friday. We'll see you back here next week

For all of us here at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DiGrelli. Have a fantastic holiday weekend