These homemade sweet potato fries are the perfect addition to any meal. They’re crispy, warm and the best combination of sweet and savory.
Ingredients
2 lbs. sweet potatoes (3 medium-sized)
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
1 tsp. sea salt
(optional) 1/s tsp. smoked paprika or 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven Preheat the oven to 425 degrees f.
2. Prep the potatoes Wash and peel the sweet potatoes, then cut them into thin, even wedges.
3.Season the fries In a bowl, coat the sweet potato wedges with the oil and toss, then add the salt and/or spices and toss until they are evenly distributed.
4. Bake Line the fries up evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then, bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes and take them out to flip. Next, put the fries back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes, or until they are crispy.
5. Serve and enjoy Serve immediately with your favorite dipping sauce and enjoy!
Political analyst Matthew Dowd is out of a job at MSNBC after his on-air comment following conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing about “hateful words” leading to “hateful actions.”
MSNBC said Thursday that Dowd, a paid political analyst, is “no longer with the network.” Both MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler and Dowd issued public apologies following his commentary, which drew a heated reaction online.
Dowd said shortly after the shooting Wednesday that Kirk was a divisive figure “who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words which lead to hateful actions. And I think that’s the environment we’re in.”
Kutler posted an online apology for Dowd’s commentary, which she called “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.”
“There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise,” she said.
Dowd, on his Bluesky account, noted that he was asked a question by anchor Katy Tur about the nation’s political environment.
“I apologize for my tone and words,” Dowd said. “Let me be clear, I in no way intended for my comments to blame Kirk for this attack. Let us all come together and condemn violence of any kind.”
Dowd, once a political strategist for President George W. Bush, joined MSNBC in 2022 following a failed campaign for lieutenant governor in Texas as a Democrat. He spent nearly 15 years as an analyst at ABC News.
The NCAA is investigating potential violations of sports betting rules involving 13 former men’s basketball players who completed for six schools.
Cases include athletes formerly associated with Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley. The schools are not under investigation and are not at risk of being penalized.
The NCAA’s integrity monitoring program and network of sources flagged text messages and direct messages on social media platforms and revealed unusual betting activities around regular-season games. The violations include student-athletes betting on and against their own teams, sharing information with third parties for purposes of sports betting, manipulating scoring or outcomes and/or refusing to participate in the investigation.
The NCAA Committee on Infractions has resolved three similar cases, concluding that three men’s basketball student-athletes who played for Fresno State and San Jose State violated the NCAA’s rules against sports betting and manipulated game outcomes. In the case involving Fresno State and San Jose State, the enforcement investigation concluded that Mykell Robinson, Steven Vasquez and Jalen Weaver bet on one another’s games and/or provided information that enabled others to do so last season. Two manipulated their performances to ensure winning bets. Their eligibility was permanently revoked.
The NCAA said it will not name the athletes in the six cases until after the investigation. None of them are enrolled at their previous NCAA schools.
“The NCAA monitors over 22,000 contests every year and will continue to aggressively pursue competition integrity risks such as these,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement. “I am grateful for the NCAA enforcement team’s relentless work and for the schools’ cooperation in these matters.”
Baker said the rise of sports betting is creating more chances to commit violations.
“While legalized sports betting is here to stay, regulators and gaming companies can do more to reduce these integrity risks by eliminating prop bets and giving sports leagues a seat at the table when setting policies,” he said.
NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly a quarter century has passed since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but for many, the emotions of the day remain raw as ever.
On Thursday, America marked the 24th anniversary of the deadly attacks with solemn ceremonies at commemorations in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, punctuated by moments of silence, the tolling of bells and the reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 killed.
Jennifer Nilsen, whose husband, Troy Nilsen, perished in the World Trade Center, was among those wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with an image of a lost loved one as she attended the commemoration at ground zero in lower Manhattan.
“Even 24 years later, it’s heart wrenching. It feels the same way every year,” she said.
Michelle Pizzo, who also wore a shirt bearing the image of her late husband, Jason DeFazio, who died in the trade center attack, hoped more people could just take one minute to reflect on the day.
“Younger kids don’t realize that you have to remember,” she said.
The remembrances are being held during a time of increased political tensions. The 9/11 anniversary, often promoted as a day of national unity, comes a day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at a college in Utah.
The reading of names and moments of silence
Kirk’s killing prompted additional security measures around the 9/11 anniversary ceremony at the World Trade Center site in New York.
FBI Director Kash Patel was among the dignitaries in attendance. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, had planned to attend but instead are set to visit with Kirk’s family on Thursday in Salt Lake City, according to a person familiar with Vance’s plans, but not authorized to speak about them publicly.
Many in the ground zero crowd held up photos of lost loved ones as a moment of silence marked the exact time when the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center’s iconic twin towers.
Family members then read aloud the names of the victims, with many giving short remembrances, well wishes and even updates on their lives to their lost loved ones.
Zoe Doyle, daughter of equity trader Frank Joseph Doyle, said her family created a nonprofit in his honor that has built 16 schools in South Africa and feeds and educates thousands of children there each day.
Melissa Pullis, whose husband Edward Pullis died in the towers, said this year is more difficult than others because two of the couple’s three children are getting married.
“You can’t walk your princess down the aisle,” she said through tears. “You are missed everyday. We will always say your name, and we will always fight for justice.”
Ceremonies in Virginia and Pennsylvania honor victims
At the Pentagon in Virginia, the 184 service members and civilians killed when hijackers steered a jetliner into the headquarters of the U.S. military were honored in a ceremony attended by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
The president, in his remarks, recounted moments from that day, including snippets of conversations from passengers who were aboard the hijacked airplanes.
“Today, as one nation, we renew our sacred vow that we will never forget Sept. 11, 2001,” Trump said during the observance, which took place in an internal courtyard of the building rather than its traditional location outside its walls near the building’s 9/11 memorial.
“The enemy will always fail,” he added. “We defy the fear, endure the flames.”
The president, who was expected to attend a New York Yankees game in the Bronx on Thursday evening, also announced Kirk would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling him a “giant of his generation” and a “champion of liberty.”
And in a rural field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a similar ceremony marked by moments of silence, the reading of names and the laying of wreaths, honored the victims of Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed after crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit. Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins was among those in attendance.
People across the country are also marking the 9/11 anniversary with service projects and charitable works as part of a national day of service. Volunteers will be taking part in food and clothing drives, park and neighborhood cleanups, blood banks and other community events.
Reverberations from attacks persist
In all, the attacks by al-Qaida militants killed 2,977 people, including many financial workers at the World Trade Center and firefighters and police officers who had rushed to the burning buildings trying to save lives.
The attacks reverberated globally and altered the course of U.S. policy, both domestically and overseas. It led to the “ Global War on Terrorism ” and the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and related conflicts that killed hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians.
While the hijackers died in the attacks, the U.S. government has struggled to conclude its long-running legal case against the man accused of masterminding the plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The former al-Qaida leader was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and later taken to a U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but has never received a trial.
The anniversary ceremony in New York was taking place at the National Sept. 11 memorial and Museum, where two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets inscribed with the names of the dead mark the spots where the twin towers once stood.
The Trump administration has been contemplating ways that the federal government might take control of the memorial plaza and its underground museum, which are now run by a public charity.
In the years since the attacks, the U.S. government has also spent billions of dollars providing health care and compensation to tens of thousands of people who were exposed to the toxic dust that billowed over parts of Manhattan when the twin towers collapsed.
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Associated Press reporters Jake Offenhartz and Liseberth Guillaume in New York City, Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton, New Jersey, Michael Hill in Albany, New York, and Michelle L. Price and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this story.
By ERIC TUCKER, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press
OREM, Utah (AP) — The sniper who assassinated Charlie Kirk is believed to have jumped off a roof and fled into a neighborhood after firing one shot and has not been identified, authorities said Thursday in disclosing they have recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle they believe was used in the attack and are reviewing video footage of the person they believe was responsible.
The shooter appeared to be of college age and blended in on the university campus where Kirk was killed Wednesday, said Beau Mason, the commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety. It remained unclear how far the shooter has traveled, though law enforcement officials say nearby woods where the rifle was found have been secured.
An attendee of the event at a Utah university campus where Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and killed Wednesday, said “there wasn’t any security checkpoints.” (AP Video)
Even as law enforcement officials revealed new details about an attack they called targeted, much remained unclear nearly 24 hours later, including the sniper’s identity, motive and whereabouts. Two people detained Wednesday were released after neither was determined to be connected to the shooting, but by Thursday officials expressed confidence they had tracked the shooter’s movements on campus in the run-up to it.
Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was killed in broad daylight while speaking about social issues at a Utah Valley University campus courtyard. The circumstances brought renewed attention to the escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The killing drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.
The attack was captured on grisly videos circulating on social media that show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.
Trump said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., while Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting. Kirk played a pivotal role in setting up Trump’s second Republican administration, Vance wrote.
“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”
Kirk was taking questions about gun violence
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political youth organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, at the Sorensen Center courtyard on campus. Immediately before the shooting, he took questions from an audience member about gun violence.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” the person asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”
The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.
Then a shot rang out.
The shooter, who Gov. Spencer Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a building roof some distance away.
Madison Lattin was watching a few dozen feet from Kirk’s left when she heard the bullet hit him.
“Blood is falling and dripping down, and you’re just like so scared, not just for him but your own safety,” she said.
She saw people drop to the ground in an eerie silence pierced immediately by cries. She and others ran. Some fell and were trampled in the stampede.
When Lattin later learned that Kirk had died, she wept, she said, describing him as a role model who had showed her how to fight for the truth.
Trump calls Kirk a ‘martyr for truth’
About 3,000 people were in attendance, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety. The university police department had six officers working the event, along with Kirk’s own security detail, authorities said.
Trump announced Kirk’s death on social media and praised the 31-year-old co-founder and CEO of Turning Point as “Great, and even Legendary.” Later, he released a video in which he called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom.”
Utah Valley University said the campus was evacuated after the shooting and will be closed until Monday.
Meanwhile, armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for any information residents might have on the shooting. Helicopters buzzed overhead.
Wednesday’s event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
Condemnation from across the political spectrum
The shooting drew swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.
“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.
In a joint statement, the Young Democrats of Connecticut and the Connecticut Young Republicans called the shooting “unacceptable.”
“There is no place in our country for such acts regardless of political disagreements,” they said.
Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.
But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as an aide to Donald Trump Jr. during the general election campaign.
Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.
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Richer and Sherman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver; Michael Biesecker, Brian Slodysko, Lindsay Whitehurst and Michelle L. Price in Washington; Jesse Bedayn in Orem, Utah; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City; and Meg Kinnard in Chapin, S.C., contributed to this report.
This recipe is a quick and easy way to make great-quality bagels from your own kitchen!
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1 cups plain Greek yogurt
1 egg
seasonings of choice (everything bagel, cinnamon or garlic powder work great)
(optional) toppings: cream cheese, bacon, egg, or veggies
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven Preheat the oven to 375 degrees f.
2. Make the dough In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and Greek yogurt until a sticky dough forms. Then, put the dough on a floured surface and knead the dough until it is no longer sticky.
3. Form the bagels Separate the dough into 4 equal parts. Then, roll each part out and shape it into a circle. Make a small hole in the middle of each bagel.
4. Season the bagels (This step is optional.) Beat an egg and brush over top of the bagels. Then, add a seasoning of choice to flavor your bagel.
5. Bake and enjoy Bake the bagels for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Enjoy with your favorite spread or as a bagel sandwich!
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — If the Carolina Panthers had any questions about first-round draft pick Tetairoa McMillan’s abilities, they were answered in Week 1.
Coach Dave Canales said McMillan is who he thought he was when the Panthers drafted him No. 8 overall.
The rookie wide receiver didn’t put up a huge stat line on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, catching six passes for 58 yards, but the Panthers liked the way he handled his assignments and played at full speed — which isn’t always the case with some rookies coming into the league.
“I thought he played fast,” Canales said. “I thought he looked very comfortable out there one-on-one outside. We moved him around a little bit, and he showed an ability to be able to handle that. He and Bryce (Young) were on the same page timing-wise, so I was really pleased with the way he played.”
McMillan said he “didn’t do enough” because Carolina managed just one touchdown in a 26-10 road loss.
His numbers might have raised more eyebrows had it not been for a 16-yard reception down the left sideline that was negated because of offensive holding. He also drew a defensive pass interference, which resulted in a 22-yard net gain for the Panthers.
Neither showed up in his stat sheet, of course.
And then there was the one that could have been.
McMillan had a chance to pull in a one-handed grab in the end zone from Young on a crossing route. Instead, it appeared Jaguars defensive back Tyson Campbell prematurely grabbed one of his arms as the pass arrived, impeding his ability to extend both hands and made the grab in the end zone.
No penalty was called and the ball fell incomplete.
The 6-foot-5, 212-pound McMillan bypassed blaming the officials, saying it was a ball he should have caught despite the contact. He was known for his one-handed grabs while playing for Arizona, where he caught 213 passes for a school-record 3,423 yards in three seasons, along with 26 TD receptions.
“I got to come down with it,” McMillan said. “I feel like that’s a routine catch for me. Next time the opportunity comes, I’m going to make it.”
Said Canales: “I’d love for him to come up with a big touchdown in the end zone, but he ran a beautiful route on it, and he really gave us a chance to have some explosives down the field and to just have a consistent target.”
Still McMillan’s performance was on par with what Canales and his staff saw from him in the preseason, which afforded them the option of trading veteran Adam Thielen.
On Sunday, McMillan returns to his college stomping grounds when the Panthers visit the Cardinals and will look to build on Week 1.
“I feel like the whole week leading up to the game the coaches did a good job of just explaining the coverages, the different coverages they run, and it’s everything that we expected,” McMillan said. “I’m confident in my preparation that I’ve had these these last few months, and you know the DB corps on our team has been pushing me to make sure that I’m ready for anything I get thrown my way.
“So yeah, I feel like that game was a lot easier than I expected.”
NOTES: Panthers starting left tackle Ickey Ekwonu returned to practice after missing Week 1 following an appendectomy.
By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MARK SHERMAN Associated Press
OREM, Utah (AP) — Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in an act that the state’s governor called a “political assassination.”
A “person of interest” was in custody Wednesday evening, said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, though no charges were immediately announced.
“This is a dark day for our state,” Cox said, calling the killing a “political assassination.”
“We are actively looking for anyone and everyone who has any information related to the shooting,” he said.
Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, has died after being shot Wednesday at a Utah college event. (AP Video)
Utah authorities said the shooter wore dark clothing and fired from a roof on campus some distance away.
The death was announced on social media by Trump, who praised the 31-year-old Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, as “Great, and even Legendary.”
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account.
The suspected shooter has not been arrested, Orem, Utah, Mayor David Young said. A person who was taken into custody by law enforcement at the university where Kirk was speaking was not the suspect, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The AP was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions for an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience member asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”
The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.
Then a single shot rang out.
Utah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated and remained closed. Classes were canceled until further notice. Those still on campus were asked to stay in place until police officers could safely escort them off campus. Armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for information on the shooter.
Officers have been seen looking at a photo on their phones and showing it to people to see if they recognize a person of interest.
The event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit to Utah colleges was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
The shooting drew swift bipartisan condemnation, with Democratic officials joining Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last March hosted Kirk on his podcast, posted on X.
“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.
Though no motive has been disclosed, the circumstances of the shooting fueled concerns that it was part of a spike of political violence that has cut across the political spectrum. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year.
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at the event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.
“It seemed like it was a close shot,” Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.
He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.
“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”
Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.
But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.
Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.
__
Richer and Sherman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Michael Biesecker, Brian Slodysko, Lindsay Whitehurst, Michelle L. Price and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
