Authorities made a horrifying discovery Wednesday after intercepting a small boat 14 miles west of San Clemente Island off the Southern California coast.
Officials with the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection found 21 illegal migrants packed onto the small boat.
Officials were notified of the boat by “a good Samaritan reporting a suspected alien smuggling vessel near San Clemente Island.”United States Coast Guard News
Officials with the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection found 21 illegal immigrants packed onto the small boat.United States Coast Guard News
As they boarded, authorities found an unresponsive 56-year-old man and performed CPR on him before a military helicopter flew him to a Los Angeles hospital.
“A Coast Guard Air Station Ventura MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew was diverted to conduct a medical evacuation,” officials said in a release. “The aircrew hoisted the patient and continued CPR while transporting him to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.”
Hospital staff had managed to restore the man’s pulse, but the man ultimately did not survive.
Images from the Coast Guard show a small vessel packed with several occupants wearing life jackets.
As they boarded, authorities found an unresponsive 56-year-old man and performed CPR on him before a military helicopter flew him to a Los Angeles hospital.United States Coast Guard News
Officials were notified of the boat by “a good Samaritan reporting a suspected alien smuggling vessel near San Clemente Island.” It’s unclear where the boat departed from.
The other 20 illegal immigrants were detained and transferred to US Border Patrol personnel, officials said.
The other 20 illegal immigrants were detained and transferred to U.S. Border Patrol personnel, officials said.UCLA Health San Clemente Island, part of California’s Channel Islands, is located about 78 miles west of San Diego.
For years, the men and women responsible for this nations’ disastrous COVID response have evaded the consequences they deserve. But the fog of confusion may finally be dissipating. The road to accountability is visible.
Dr. Anthony Fauci was the face of America’s pandemic response. His influence led to the draconian lockdowns, school closures, mask and distancing mandates and later the mass administration of experimental drugs by decree. All this showed blatant disregard for America’s “guaranteed” freedoms and encouraged a blind denial of truth.
I am named in that diary more than 60 times. When I encouraged President Trump to keep schools open, Fauci called my beliefs a “real problem.” He said I “spew forth nonsense” and that the White House letting me explain my plans “borders on criminal.”
Fauci pled the Fifth more than 100 times in his July 29, 2026, testimony to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Accountability.AP Photo/Allison Robbert As the 350 million Americas who were subjected to Fauci’s policies know, it was, in fact, his efforts that were egregious failures. Along with his underling Dr. Deborah Birx, he created the most destructive, unethical public-health fiasco in modern history.
Fauci’s lockdowns failed and led to huge collateral damage. An estimated 1.6 million extra American deaths occurred from 2020-2023, compared to what would have happened if we had performed as well as Sweden — which did not institute massive lockdowns and school closures. And nearly a million more deaths are estimated to come over the next 15 years due to the economic shutdown caused by the lockdowns.
Children were among the most damaged victims. Besides severe educational losses, lockdowns caused spikes in anxiety, depression, drug abuse, self harm, eating disorders and teen suicides. Many of these youth are still yet to recover.
Sen. Rand Paul plans to hold a contempt vote for Fauci.Getty Images
All this despite the fact that we knew children faced minimal risk of serious disease. Then there was delayed language development in toddlers, and skyrocketing child and spousal abuse. Many of these woes were worst among low-income families. By June 2020, 1 in 4 college-aged people were contemplating suicide.
Disregarding what Americans could see with their own eyes, the media elevated Fauci to rock-star status. They clung to an absurd, Kafkaesque hero-worship of the man who was destroying millions of lives. He accumulated dozens of national and international honors, awards and accolades, not to mention personal wealth, in celebration of his “accomplishment.”
At the same time that Fauci was pushing these sinful policies, I was advancing the alternative during spring and summer 2020 and then as adviser to the President in the White House: targeted protections. That meant increasing protection of the highest-risk people, reopening schools and businesses and allowing the low-risk population to reenter society, thus minimizing collateral destruction. That was rejected in task force meetings, despite existing evidence that months of lockdown-induced unemployment and foregone medical care had already lost substantial years of life.
Scott Atlas served in an official role on the Coronavirus Task Force from August to November 2020.AFP via Getty Images
The full scale of this destruction will take decades to measure.
Americans can thank Fauci and Birx for it.
When called to defend his decisions this past week, Fauci pled the Fifth. His refusal to testify cannot hide the facts.
Many vital revelations and admissions have come to light thanks to Sen. Rand Paul’s investigations into Fauci. We know now that Fauci personally persuaded government officials to close schools and businesses, despite denying that responsibility. In places where there is community spread, “CLOSE the bars, restaurants and places of congregations,” he wrote. “Close schools.”
Then, in October 2020, when he could no longer deny the truth, Fauci admitted I was correct in saying that school children weren’t driving the outbreak. But even then he did little to reopen schools. That allowed widespread harms to continue for years more. He also worked behind the scenes with the press to prevent written and verbal criticisms of his policies.
Fauci’s denial of evidence against his policies is inexcusable. So too is the behavior of the sycophantic media that turned him into a saint. Together, they abused the nation’s trust. With their suffocation of debate and refusal to admit failure, Fauci and the media destroyed trust in public health and science, and trust among our fellow citizens.
Deborah Birx has acknowledged that Americans are frustrated over “questions not being answered adequately” related to COVID.Getty Images
That trust is essential to the function of any free and diverse society.
Is there any value beyond political theater from this awful spectacle, a debacle created by the unsafe concentration of political power in one man’s hands?
Yes. There is much to appreciate here.
First, Fauci’s hearing showed that Congress is performing well one of its key responsibilities: informing the public with transparency on government actions. Because admissions of error by those in power remain extremely rare, the public still has little understanding of the motivation and outcomes of Fauci’s prescriptions. But Congress is working toward that discovery.
Second, at least some feeling of validation was given to the millions of ordinary Americans who had the courage and common sense to say no, to think for themselves, to fight and speak out for their own children. These brave citizens acted even when the risk was job-loss and ostracization.
This may be a small step toward closure. We know millions of families suffered irreparable losses — many could not say goodbye to dying elderly mothers and fathers, parents and children lost each other to suicide. But now, hopefully, we can avoid the policies that created such disasters in the future.
Most importantly, this is the first step toward public accountability — the critical deterrent in any ethical society against harms, injustices, and abuses of power.
Kudos to Sen. Paul. Onward.
Scott W. Atlas, MD is senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He served as special adviser to the president and on the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Syria informed Iraq that it had detected movements by Iran-backed militias near the border between the two countries, Al Arabiya reported Saturday, citing an unnamed Iraqi source.
The source said Syrian officials contacted their Iraqi counterparts directly and warned that any attack launched from Iraqi territory “would not go unanswered.”
The report came after Jordan warned Iraq that it would target Iran-backed militias if they carried out attacks against Jordanian territory.
There were no Friday night into Saturday morning US attacks on Iran, after President Trump warned he hasgiven an orderto hit Iran 'hard' - thoughdidn't disclose a timeline. Friday reports in The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Axios strongly suggested that large US strikes would commence at some point this weekend, as the region remains on edge.
The only new and recent attacks have been more apparent Iranian drone strikes on Kuwait. Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday has confirmed Iran’s "continued aggression" against it after a drone attack earlier targeted "vital installations".
The ministry called out the attacks as a "flagrant violation" of Kuwait’s sovereignty which reveal a "determination to persist in a hostile approach." It said the country reserves the right to “take all necessary measures” to protect its security and resources.
Iran fired a drone barrage into Kuwait on Saturday, hitting a U.S. ally following President Trump’s vow to intensify military strikes in a rapidly expanding Middle East war.
Kuwait said it shot down the Iranian volley, but the renewed fire added more tension to a region bracing for more conflict. Trump ordered the military to launch a fresh attack on Iran to bring Tehran to the negotiating table, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
U.S. embassies in the Middle East told Americans to consider departing the region. Airlines are extending flight cancellations to Arab Gulf states, which have spent decades building themselves up as international airport hubs. The U.S. warned airspaces may soon be closed.
Ahead of likely reviewed US attacks on Iran, which could possibly involve Israel too, the US Department of State has re-issued an urgent travel warning for the entire Middle East region, saying "Americans in the region should consider departing, or be prepared to depart should there be escalation."
"Americans outside the Middle East should seriously reconsider travel to and through the region," it said on X Saturday, adding that "Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other US interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world."
President Trump had made clear on Friday while at Camp David his view that the Iranians can't be trusted, are 'dishonorable' - and so he's not pursuing talks.
And then a late Friday CBS report sounded the alarm of more escalation, saying that "The United States and Israel are planning what would be one of the harshest bombing campaigns to date against energy infrastructure targets in Iran, multiple sources told CBS News, with strikes possible throughout the weekend."
The report added, "There was some discussion about trying to conclude by the time financial markets open Monday because of concern about how the bombings will affect the U.S. and global economy, but an end point wasn't locked in."
Earlier this week there were reports of Trump exploding at his own advisors amid ongoing debates about how the crisis should be handled, and finding an exit strategy. Likely the word 'quagmire' can increasingly be heard around Washington. Trump officials have sought to bat down criticisms of getting the US stuck in another forever war in the Middle East.
"Well, they always want to talk, but they break their words so often," Trump said Friday at Camp David of the Iranians, putting his frustration on display later adding: "All they do is make me angry."
Also, key line from a recent WSJ report points to where things are likely headed: "Some U.S. officials believe Iran will continue to drag out negotiations, banking that Trump will abandon his war efforts in the long term in the face of mounting domestic political opposition."
