(Worthy Watch) – A March 2021 clip of CNN’s Brian Stelter is drawing fresh scrutiny after President Donald Trump barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists from the White House.

In the footage, Stelter asked whether Fox News—described during the segment as increasingly political—should remain in the White House press pool and receive “the privileges that come with news gathering.” Guest David Zurawik went further, arguing that Fox should lose access.

Stelter struck a markedly different tone after the Trump administration deactivated credentials belonging to reporters from the three organizations. He called the action a First Amendment violation and “a direct threat to press freedom.”

The resurfaced exchange has prompted critics to accuse Stelter of applying different standards depending on which outlet faces exclusion. Still, the two situations are not identical: Stelter raised a question about Fox in 2021, while Trump’s administration actually revoked credentials and denied reporters entry in 2026. The affected organizations have filed a federal lawsuit challenging that decision.

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy Watch) – House Speaker Mike Johnson says roughly 700 bills passed by the House are awaiting Senate action. With the House leaving Washington, he argued that further work would be “spinning our wheels” until the Senate moves legislation forward.

Johnson said House members are on 48-hour notice to return if needed. He put the House’s total at roughly 900 bills passed and urged the Senate to take up measures already before it.

Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed a drone that entered Mecca’s airspace. The Saudi-led military coalition said the “attempt to target Mecca with a drone will remain a black mark in the record of Houthi violations,” adding that the holy sites in Mecca and Medina are “a red line.”

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy Watch) – A Massachusetts Catholic couple is fighting to regain custody of their 17-year-old daughter after a conflict over gender identity drew the state’s child-welfare system into the family’s home.

Joseph and Arlene Kutzko told Fox News that the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families removed their daughter in December 2024, when she was 15. They contend the dispute began after staff at Algonquin Regional High School started treating the girl as a boy without informing them.

The parents say they objected because of their Catholic faith and their belief that their daughter needed careful psychological care—not encouragement toward a medical transition.

Their account raises a grave question now confronting families across the country: When a child struggles with gender identity, who has the primary responsibility to decide what care serves that child—the parents who have known and loved the child from birth, or government agencies acting under state policy?

For the Kutzkos, the legal arguments are inseparable from a simpler plea: They want their daughter home.

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON (Worthy Watch) – Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said federal officials had thwarted a “real” threat against the United States, stating, “today, we stopped something today,” but he did not disclose its nature, target, or timing.

Speaking during a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Mullin cited the undisclosed operation as evidence that serious dangers remain. He praised the men and women working behind the scenes to protect the country and warned that America cannot afford to lower its guard.

Mourners invoke Khaybar and call for Al-Qassam “revenge” after Israel kills senior Hamas commander

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

GAZA STRIP — A funeral for Muhammad Abdul Salam al-Yazouri, commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, erupted in chants threatening Israel and openly declaring that another October 7 attack would come.

According to a translation accompanying video from the funeral, the crowd chanted: “Jews, remember what Mohammad did to you in Khaybar,” “October 7 will come again,” and “Al-Qassam Brigades — revenge, revenge.” The reference to Khaybar invokes the seventh-century defeat of a Jewish community in Arabia, imagery that has long appeared in radical Islamist anti-Jewish rhetoric.

Hamas confirmed Friday that al-Yazouri had been killed in an Israeli strike. Reuters reported that he was a senior figure in Hamas’s military leadership and played an important role in organizing the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The IDF and Shin Bet said al-Yazouri had also been responsible for advancing dozens of attacks against Israeli troops and was involved in efforts to rebuild Hamas’s military capabilities in Gaza. Two additional Hamas operatives were killed in the same strike, according to the Israeli military.

The funeral chants offered a stark answer to the continuing debate over whether Israel should halt military operations before Hamas is dismantled. Even as international pressure grows for an end to the fighting, voices in the crowd were not calling for reconciliation or coexistence. They were openly invoking October 7 and promising another attack.

For Israel, the message coming from the funeral was difficult to misunderstand: Hamas and its supporters were saying openly what they intend to do if given the opportunity again.

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

NEW YORK (Worthy Watch) – The Twin Towers appeared once again over the New York skyline this week—not in steel and concrete, but in thousands of points of light honoring those who were killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

A breathtaking aerial installation titled “2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor” sent 2,977 illuminated drones into the night sky Wednesday, with each light representing one of the lives lost on 9/11. As seen in video of the tribute, the drones initially moved like a constellation above the harbor before assembling into the unmistakable outlines of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers at full architectural scale.

The illuminated towers appeared alongside New York’s traditional Tribute in Light, creating a striking scene over Lower Manhattan as America prepared to mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks. Organizers said the installation was developed with input from 9/11 victims’ families, survivors and first responders and was sponsored through the New York Foundation for the Arts.

For a generation that remembers exactly where it was that September morning—and another generation born afterward—the display offered a powerful reminder that behind the numbers were 2,977 individual lives, families and stories. Twenty-five years later, the message rising above New York remained the same: America remembers. Never forget.

(Worthy Watch) – Democrat Sen. John Fetterman appeared by video at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday, September 9, praising fellow Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick and promising to work with President Donald Trump to protect the steel industry.

The brief message put a Democratic senator before a Republican gathering as the parties prepare for November’s congressional elections.

“I’m always going to stand with America,” Fetterman said, rejecting extremism and socialism. He introduced McCormick as “a great American.”

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Worthy Watch) – President Donald Trump predicted Wednesday that the war with Iran will come to a rapid end once the U.S. midterm elections are over, arguing that Tehran is attempting to prolong the conflict in hopes of influencing the November vote.

“I think the war’s going to end immediately after the election because they can’t hold out any longer,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing for the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas. Trump said Iran was “desperate to try and affect the election” and suggested mounting U.S. economic pressure would eventually force Tehran to relent.

The war has now entered its seventh month amid another sharp escalation in the Persian Gulf. Iran said Wednesday it attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz following U.S. strikes that sank five Iranian oil tankers. The renewed fighting helped push Brent crude above $100 a barrel, while Trump predicted oil prices would fall sharply once the conflict ends.

(Worthy Watch) – Prescription drug prices in the United States have posted their steepest annual decline in more than six decades, according to CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, who credited the Trump administration’s Most-Favored-Nation pricing agreements and TrumpRx initiative. Oz said roughly 90% of branded drugs sold in America are now covered by the pricing framework, which is designed to bring U.S. prices closer to the lowest rates paid by other developed nations.

Oz also said the administration’s pharmaceutical policy is helping bring drug manufacturing back to the United States, generating billions of dollars in new investment and an estimated 100,000 jobs. “For the American consumer,” Oz said, “it means the drug prices you’re getting now on TrumpRx are the best that you’ve had in 63 years.”

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

SLUISKIL, Netherlands (Worthy Watch) – Europe’s largest industrial carbon capture facility has officially opened in the Netherlands, launching a cross-border system designed to capture carbon dioxide from heavy industry and permanently store it beneath the Norwegian seabed.

Operated by Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara International at its massive ammonia and fertilizer plant in Sluiskil, the facility can capture and liquefy up to 800,000 metric tons of CO2 each year. Specialized ships will then transport the liquefied gas to Norway, where Northern Lights will inject it about 2.6 kilometers — about 1.6 miles — beneath the seabed for permanent storage.

Yara expects the project to capture and store roughly 12 million tons of CO2 over the next 15 years. The project represents the first complete cross-border European chain linking industrial carbon capture, maritime transportation, and offshore underground storage.

European governments increasingly view carbon capture and storage, known as CCS, as a major component of plans to reach the European Union’s net-zero emissions target by 2050, particularly for industries such as fertilizer, cement, chemicals, and waste processing where eliminating emissions remains technologically difficult.

Critics, however, have long questioned the cost and economic viability of large-scale CCS and argue that the technology can prolong reliance on carbon-intensive industries rather than forcing deeper changes in energy production.

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

JERUSALEM, Israel — More than 50,000 Jewish worshippers gathered Thursday night at the Western Wall, below Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, for a central Selichot prayer service, crying out for God’s mercy and forgiveness ahead of the Feast of Trumpets and Yom Kippur.

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation said more than half a million worshippers have taken part in Selichot services at the Western Wall Plaza since the beginning of Elul, the Jewish month traditionally marked by repentance, prayer, and preparation for the High Holy Days. During the gathering, prayers were also offered for Israel’s soldiers and security forces, along with appeals for national unity and the peace and security of Israel.

The scene carried deep biblical weight. Thousands stood shoulder to shoulder in Jerusalem, facing the stones nearest the ancient Temple courts, seeking mercy before the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For generations, the Western Wall has remained a place where Jewish hearts return in sorrow, hope, and longing.

The prophet Zechariah speaks of a coming hour, when the Lord will pour out “the Spirit of grace and supplication” upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. What was seen last night in prayer may be only a shadow of the day when Israel’s tears will become a fountain of cleansing, and Jerusalem will no longer be known for war, but for the mercy of God and the return of the King.