DMV Zone: November 10, 2026

Policy on school starts. So we'll have much more. We're going to have a reaction coming up in the show. So interesting. And this is one of those things that really gets people riled up, and for right reasons. So we'll see what Fairfax County does with all that in the end. Good to see you guys, as always, on this Tuesday. Give us a call, 202-895-3200. Let us know what you are talking about. Let's hit the new hour with everything that's coming into the newsroom. You're in the zone. Welcome into the DMV zone. Let's get you behind the scenes on all the stories we're working on here in real time. I'm Marina Morocco. A busy day as we kick off with a Fox 5 news alert. The Naresh Bhatt. Murder trial is now in the hands of the jury. After weeks of testimony, the defense and prosecution making those final arguments, jurors begin deliberations in the case that has drawn national attention. Bhatt accused of killing his wife, Mamta, who disappeared from their Manassas Park home back in 2024. Her body has never been found in a stunning turn. During testimony, Bhatt admitted to dismembering and disposing of her body, but claims that she died. By suicide, trial attorney Dimitri Pikelis is with us here with the latest from court. So everybody has rested here. The jury will get this case. Not tomorrow. Court has closed, but that will be come Thursday. What do you make of closing arguments where the prosecution painted Bhatt as a liar and the defense said this is all he had to do? Well, I mean, the prosecution's still got the burden of proof and they're going to use every fact. At their disposal, what they want to focus everyone on is the whole picture and not individual facts. And that's what they honed in on today. Is there that reasonable doubt on that murder charge that he obviously on the stand admitted to the two lesser charges here, but on the murder charge, that is what the government has to prove to your point beyond a reasonable doubt. Did he murder his wife? And she said, he says that she committed suicide. Well, here's the situation, and this is very important for the viewers to understand. We're not asked, the jury's not being asked if Naresh Bhatt is a sympathetic man. It really doesn't matter if he is or isn't, okay? What the jury's being asked is to determine whether the prosecution has proven him guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. And if so, was it premeditated or unlawful? That's it. He's not a sympathetic man. By most accounts, however, that does not absolve the prosecution of their duty to prove him guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. That's a big distinction. There were suspicious Google searches that had happened, and obviously unclear who had searched them, but the prosecution alleging that it wasn't Naresh Bhatt, but including what happens if a spouse disappears, can I divorce a wife who is lost, what happens to the dead of a person who's died. To your point, maybe he wasn't sympathetic, but those searches, does that aid the prosecution here in closing the gap on the doubt? Well, taking the whole picture, it doesn't prove anything because we don't know that he did it. And again, that's a legal analysis. But then you've got the converse side that this is enormously an emotional case. And jurors are human. So they're going to take their life experiences and their beliefs into the jury room. But they're being tasked with jury instructions that they need to follow. So, yeah, you know, did he kind of do it? Well, that's not really enough. It depends on how strict the jury sticks to the instructions. But listen, let's face it. There's a practical, which is enormously emotional, than the legal, which they have to follow very strictly. How much leeway does the jury have in convicting someone who's charged of murder on the count? Is it a homicide one situation where it's premeditated or is it second-degree murder? And how much does that play when they're behind closed doors deliberating? Well, it's up to whether they believe the Commonwealth proved him guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt, and what were the circumstances. If it was premeditated as if he was planning it and planning it and planning it, well, then that would be murder one. If it just happened unlawfully, and they believe that's all the Commonwealth has proved, then it would be murder two. So that's the distinction. Yeah, they did start deliberating about two hours ago. I know that it's always one of these things, like if the jury comes back quickly, then this is a slam dunk for the government. If they take long, there's a potential there for that seed of doubt to have been planted. You can never really decide what a jury is going to end. We saw, obviously, with some of the cases that have captured national headlines, including the Lindsay Clancy trial. This could take days, weeks. We just don't know. Is there any way to kind of assess, other than being in the courtroom as an attorney, can you read faces? Can you kind of get a sense of where the juries stand? I mean, I don't look at the faces, and I'll tell you why. Every jury is like a fingerprint. It's a unique, unique specimen. I will say this much. Every jury I've ever been before, and my observations when I'm not trying a case, is that the jurors, no matter what walk of life they come from, take their duty extremely seriously. It's really easy to sit back here, watch your program, watch court TV, and make assessments. But when you're in the spotlight and you're the juror, you take those jury charges very seriously. So don't make the mistake of thinking, oh, they're coming back, they're going to fry him. No, they take their job very seriously. They want to give it the requisite focus. Look, they have other things going on in their life. They're going to probably immediately take a poll. They'll elect a foreperson. You know, there's dynamics there that are in play. There's also fatigue. I mean, they're listening to powerful testimony and then argument. And you're tasked with a man's life and a family who's now we know has lost their daughter, their sister, family member. That's enormous. They will take it very seriously. I've tried cases in Prince William. I've tried cases before this judge. These folks, I'm very confident, will take their job seriously. Demetri, we appreciate the legal insight. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me on. Topic number two here is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing an impeachment push from Capitol Hill with the House set to take the measure up today, at least for that procedural vote, which will happen in the next couple of hours here. Republican Congressman Thomas Massie introducing eight articles of impeachment, accusing Hegseth of abuse of power and unlawful military actions, including his role in the war with Iran. The effort comes as Republicans now face internal divisions following those midterm election losses. This is Hakeem Jeffries pushing back, calling the impeachment effort a, quote, Political spectacle and insisting he has done nothing wrong. It tells our enemies, Iran, the cartels, every adversary watching that the United States will actually punish its own warriors and its own civilian leadership for successfully executing lawful military operations. The president also coming to his defense. We've got national security reporter for The Washington Post, Dan LaMotte, with us here. Dan, this seems as though at 530, I believe, there will be at least a first procedural vote here in the House to see if there's a coalition of votes to get this to proceed. Any sense of where things stand at this hour? I think it's possible this passes, but it's by no means a certain certainty. I think there are people who have concerns about some of the issues Secretary Hegseth raised, particularly on the Republican side. The Republicans still have the majority, so we're very much waiting to see how many of those seats may flip and actually vote in favor of at least advancing this to the Senate. Because when it was presented yesterday by Massey, it seemed as though he was the lone Republican who was looking to push this. Could he have cajoled one or two more potential congresspeople who may be on their way out that are Republicans to join him on the efforts? I think that's hard to say. I mean, he came into this with a unique perspective. He obviously tried to bring this up in September. It was tabled back then. He held true to his word and followed through now. So I think part of the factor here is really whether or not there are enough Republicans who are willing to vote. One way or the other on this, who's in town, who's willing to put their name on the line during the lame duck, especially those lawmakers who may otherwise just be going home in a few weeks and done with public service. Right. We've certainly seen presidents be impeached, especially in recent memory. However, this could be historical. No sitting U.S. defense secretary has previously been impeached. What does this look like? Because there are eight articles of impeachment. It's not just over the war in Iran. This is widespread what the allegations are. Yeah, I mean, this ranges from the Iran war, but also some of the earlier issues. Congressman Massey raised the boat strikes, you know, the strikes on these alleged drug boats that occurred pretty regularly at one point earlier in the administration. Thank you. You know, there were questions whether all of those boats were as presented by the government, whether or not there was fishermen on some of them. Whether or not they had followed all of the legal boxes that they would need to check to do that sort of thing, that has never really received the scrutiny in Congress that I think a number of people assumed it would. So it's going to receive that scrutiny in the new Congress, but this is maybe a preview of that to come. All right. We will see what happens at 5.30, and then we'll go from there. Good to talk to you, Dan. We appreciate it. And check out Dan's reporting there with The Washington Post. Topic number three here is Fairfax County Public Schools considering changing school start times for students across the district. The biggest goal there is getting middle school students into the classroom at 8 a.m. or later instead of their current 7.30 a.m. start time. District officials say that research shows that later start times can improve students' sleep, academic performance, and overall well-being. We've got Fairfax Now reporter James Cullum with what this schedule could look like. And it's kind of all over the place. There's a myriad of options here from Fairfax County, including one that would just move everybody back by 30 minutes. Yeah, I mean, this... Conversation about school start times was held off for a year. Last year, Fairfax County Public Schools, they talked about... changing these school start times, but then they kind of put it on the back burner because they had to deal with redistricting. Now we're looking at secondary and high schools and elementary schools. They start between 8.10 and 8.30. Like you said, Fairfax County's 23 middle schools start at 7.30 a.m. So we have a proposal that's going to be unveiled. There is a public hearing and Thursday public hearing at Luther Jackson Middle School. This is going to give the public a chance to kind of, you know, address their concerns, look at logistics, infrastructure challenges, kind of shift in schedules. And in January, this full proposal should be going to the school board for consideration. It could potentially go into effect as early as, you know, August 2027. So next school year, it could start, we could start seeing middle schoolers getting up a little bit A bit later than that, starting at 7.30. 7.30 a.m. at school, that's pretty tough. Yeah, for elementary school students where that start time, I believe, is already 7.30, would that be moved back? Elementary school students start school between 8.10 and 8. 8.30. I must have misread that. And so this, going back to 2015 when the school board made changes to the high school, high school start times back in 2015, they were at like 7.20 a.m. That shifted to now after 8.10, 8.30, same conversation is going to be happening with middle schools. We're not going to have an answer until probably January. Alright, we'll see what happens and what comes of it. James Cullum there with Fairfax Now. We appreciate Thank you. We're taking a quick break and we'll be right back here on the DMV Zone. News Five The pushback against massive data center projects gaining momentum and one Maryland woman helping lead that fight after losing her home following a pay cut. She became an unexpected leader in a community movement that successfully has blocked a proposed five billion dollar data center. WAMU reporter Jenny Abamu with this story. And, you know, she's not like dislike, unlike many other Americans who have really been politically awoken by these data centers that are looking to come straight into their backyards. Yeah, I think one of the things that I've noticed reporting this story for the last year is just how many people have, who are really not paying attention, but have become involved in local politics in particular because of what is going on with the data centers. I mean, we live close to Washington, D.C., so a lot of people kind of focus their energy sometimes on what's happening nationally. But what I've seen, particularly with the data center issue, is that it's very, very local. And that is true. Drawn a lot of people into local politics, paying attention to their county councils, showing up at those meetings who haven't been there before. Yeah, let's talk about Taylor Frazier McCollum, because it's truly remarkable what she's been able to do, really charged with what you're talking about that so many people can understand. She gathered 25,000 signatures to get this thing to stop. And if anybody who has tried to lead a petition knows, it's not just the 25,000 signatures. It is so much more than that. But that tells you the power in community and in a grassroots movement that she has embarked on herself here. What was fascinating when I first started reporting on this story, I followed Taylor for the better part of a year on this story. And she is not the type of person that you'll go into the room and first notice her, right? Like you will go into the room and she'll be in the room, but she doesn't sit in the front. She's not loud. She's very quiet. But watching her throughout this time period, she has really put herself out there in the front. And when it is her time to speak, she does get noticed. And I think one thing that really helped her off, put herself in motion. Well, she does have support from community groups. There are some community groups that said that they were trying to get attention to this data center issue, and it just didn't resonate enough coming from them. But because it was right in Taylor's grandfather's backyard, you know, where she was living at that time, you know, this has been an issue where she's been able to speak to in a way that resonates with ordinary residents. And I think that's all part of the story. Certainly. I think it charges people and it gives them purpose to fight for something they know they do not want. We've had the council member, Edward Burroughs, here with us on the DMV Zone. I asked him if he was committed to bringing data centers and it was something that he tiptoed around. He wouldn't say yes, he wouldn't say no. And that has been the story of Prince George's County. They've got a lot of vacant land, including here, the site of the Landover Mall, 80 acres to be exact. You've got Northwest Stadium where the lease will soon end. And the problem for Prince George's County being, what are we going to do with tax revenue? Can we bring it in? And they've got this fear project, which looks like is onto a positive track, at least economically speaking. But then all this other land with a huge question mark, could it be data centers? What do we know about this Landover Mall site and the potential in Prince George's County for data centers? Now, what we know right now is that there's, you know, the moratoriums, right? There's both the county executive's moratorium, and then there's also the council's two-year moratorium, and they're writing the rules for data centers now. So they're passing legislation that will define... If data centers can go into certain areas and essentially what they would need to bring when they go into those areas. Right now, some of the rules don't look like it'll allow the land over site to become a data center. But I always say with these data centers, you're kind of like, I got to think of it like. I call it like the zombie situation, only because, you know, you think it's the project's dead and then there's some loophole and or something else that happens and is suddenly revived again. So I will say I'm generally watching to see what happens. I'm not a lawyer per se, but the way it's looking, it didn't look like it was going to move forward. But we never know these, you know, there's always these loopholes in the way things are written or the things the way laws may be written today and change tomorrow that could change that. Yeah, certainly. And to your point, they've got a lot of legal minds that are being paid a whole lot of money to figure out how exactly to make them happen and to revive them. So there's a $5 billion project. Yeah. And I had one guy say at one point, do you think they'll let go of a $5 billion asset? That was an interesting question from a developer. Yeah. That's a great point there. I know you'll be doing more reporting on there. Good to talk to you, Jenny. We appreciate it. Thank you. And you can catch Jenny's reporting there with WAMU. Let's move on here. As legislation to bring driverless taxis to D.C. Getting a major rewrite, but it's a far... From being a done deal, a proposed bill that would allow companies like Waymo to offer commercial robo-taxi rides in the district, facing opposition on the D.C. Council to put its future in doubt. D.C. Council member Charles Allen making concessions to robo-taxi companies and labor unions, which warn the technology could put ride-hailing drivers out of work. Supporters say self-driving cars could expand transportation options, but opponents want more safeguards before the technology hits city streets. We've got a reporter for The Washington Sun, Zara Norman, with us. Yes, the bigger question here being, are we getting any closer to driverless taxis, or do we see it like we're taking a couple steps back here? This definitely has felt like a step back in the last week. I think the universal message from council members and everyone is that they see potential in this tech. They want autonomous vehicles to come to the district. It's a matter of when, not if. And right now, it seems like council members are trying to pump the brakes and slow things down. And things are about to change, right? I mean, this is a council where the makeup is about to be very different to what we're used to. There's a new executive that has voted no on this as a sitting council member is now going to be the mayor of the city. What's Waymo saying? Because I imagine so much like the data center conversation, they, too, have to be looking for a workaround here. Right. I think Waymo, for now, is still hopeful that this is going to pass. I mean, there is still, you know, a markup on this bill with its new concessions due maybe as soon as this week. But yeah, certainly, I mean, they've started mapping in Virginia. I know they see potential in the capital region. So certainly, if not in D.C., the idea is that they'll most likely probably take that tack to surrounding states. All right. We'll wait and see. Is there a scheduled new vote or date or what's next for the bill? I guess what's next is to see if these concessions land with labor unions, if council members are convinced by them. I think the idea is that, you know, Alan wants to get it done this session. That leaves us only a couple weeks. He wants to mark it up this week, I know. Whether that actually happens remains to be seen, and whether, as you said, you know— People kind of want to wait until the new administration comes in at this point, new council members who might have different ideas about how they want this to go. So it definitely is a TBD situation. Zara Norman with The Washington Sun. We so appreciate it. Thank you, Zara. We appreciate it. Thank you. We'll be right back. The FDA adding a new warning to popular weight loss and diabetes medications like Ozempic and Wegovy. Regulators say the GLP-1 drugs carry a potential risk of a rare condition which causes reduced blood flow to the optic nerve and can lead to sudden permanent vision loss. The risk remains low, but health officials urge patients who experience any vision changes to contact their doctor immediately. Chief Medical Officer for HealthTrack, Dr. Steve Goldberg, joining us here. And this is something rare, but nonetheless, for years now, since the inception of these drugs, it has been raised as a serious consequence. It has. And it's so serious, you know, to lose your vision. It is rare, very rare. But because of that seriousness, the FDA directed manufacturers to add a statement in the warning and precaution section for attention to practitioners. And I'm getting a lot of calls today about it. Here's what I would say. If you're on the medication now. Don't stop it. But if you haven't had a recent eye exam to check that your eyes are good and you don't have any risks that lead to blindness, such as cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy, any concerns about that, go get an eye exam. Then after that eye exam is done, call your practitioner and say, what do I do about this medication? Like anything, it's benefit and risks. And for most people... Although this is terribly serious, they probably will want to stay on the medication. Who's at most risk? Most risk are folks with the same risk factors that got them on the medication in the first place. Cardiovascular risk, kidney risk, profound obesity. So that's what makes it so difficult. That said, we're talking about numbers like 6 in 100,000, so they're small. But again, it's a very serious occurrence to lose your vision. It's an irreversible occurrence. Now, the study showed an association. Not a causation. You and I have talked to that before. But because there was a clear association, but small, but a very serious event, that's why the warning and precautions had to be updated. And when we talk about those who are at elevated risk here, right, usually, to your point, people who are suffering from high blood pressure, but also diabetes, which there are people who experience vision loss in the trajectory of these diseases. You're absolutely right. Again, that's why the action I am suggesting is if you haven't had a recent eye exam, go get one and confirm you don't have cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy. Those are much more likely to cause the vision disturbance that we're talking about. That said, if you have any questions, have a chat with your practitioner. They have new There's new information that they're talking about. That the FDA is insisting on. And that's why we like talking to you. Thank you so much, Dr. Goldberg. We appreciate it. You bet, Marina. We'll be right back. It has been a beautiful, beautiful day. Hard to believe that it is fall. And, of course, we have a little bit of that snow scare potential for the weekend. Let's get you outside and see what our conditions are at this hour. 3.30 in the afternoon, Reston Station. Beautiful blue skies there. And the bigger question is, did we hit 70? Let's check in with meteorologist Jennifer Delgado for a little bit of an answer there. Yeah, that's right. You know, Marina, I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but we're looking at a really early sunset. And so, as the president said, by this Saturday, We're going to have a sunset at 4.55. Now, for tonight, we're at 4.59, so just get ready for those very dark skies early. But the good news is we've got lots of sunshine out there. And as we look ahead for us tonight, we're looking outside. This is our camera, and we're looking at Fredericksburg. It is a beautiful day. You still see a lot of green, orange, and yellow showing up as we speak. But our temperature right now is 66 degrees, but we already have 70s across the region. And with those 70s around, it's all thanks to those. Those southerly winds that are in place right now we have a wind sustained at eight miles per hour. And as we look at temperatures to the north and west like Martinsburg, 70 degrees for you, 72 in Culpeper and then 71 degrees down in Fredericksburg. It's hard to believe that we're looking at the 70s when we're talking about later on this week, some areas and the higher elevations and the Alleghenies getting there. First snowfall of the season. Well, we're not going to see that, but we are going to get cold and windy conditions arriving for us. By the time we head into your Thursday and Friday, those temperatures will be going down. But right now, they're going up. Our numbers are almost 10 degrees warmer in some locations, especially to the north and west. As we look at satellite radar, we've got high pressure and control for us. Nothing is happening for us. Because we're under that dome of high pressure, you look down towards the south, the rain affecting parts of So Texas, and that is where it's going to stay our next system. We'll get its act together, and as I said, it's going to arrive here on Thursday, but at least for Veterans Day, we will be nice and dry. There's our boundary system. There's our ridge of high pressure in place. And as we look at this low-pressure system developing, it's eventually going to be going offshore, but those winds behind that are going to be strong. So we're going to be looking at wind gusts as we go into later this week, 35, 40 miles per hour. Pulling in that colder air is certainly going to feel like fall. Fall 50s is what you expect for the start of December. This is Wednesday, dry for Veterans Day. Then we jump ahead to Thursday. Here comes some of that rainfall. Earlier models were showing... Healthier amounts of rainfall sticking around a little bit longer. Now we know it's going to be winding down on Friday, but on the backside, some areas to the far north of Pennsylvania, New York, they will be looking at some more snowfall as we go into the Friday. But for us, no snow, but again, along the Alleghenies, they're going to be looking at potentially a couple inches of snowfall, which is good, of course, for this ski resort. So we look at the amount of snowfall that we are expecting for those snow resorts. New York, maybe you're ready to get out there and hit the slopes It's a little early for that, but we're looking at 2.84 Elkins as well as into Beckley, about a third of an inch. So here's your seven-day forecast for the veterans. Don't forget to honor them with the nice weather around in dry conditions, high of 67 degrees. And then we look ahead to Thursday, 62. We're going to be stuck in the 50s for Friday and Saturday, windy conditions. I'll tell you what, Marina, we're also going to see those leaves going away. And then as we look ahead for next week, we're still going to be stuck in the 50s as well. Well, we're gonna talk more about our... temperatures for this weekend and how do you know really just wrap your mind around going from 70 today to 50s to the end of the week? It's hard for the mind, right? So we did hit 70. Well, we aren't 70 here yet in D.C., but we're at 72, 70 everywhere else. Okay. We're getting robbed, Marina. Listen, it's close enough. That sun was shining. The mountains are really getting it. Okay, that's great. Hopefully, we'll keep the leaves on. No more wind gusts for a couple more days. It's been beautiful out there. Thank you Jen, leaf peeping is over. Okay. That is reality. In the meantime, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger and Democratic legislative leaders. In Richmond today, unveiling their Moving Virginia Forward agenda, legislative blueprint centering on economic affordability ahead of the 2027 General Assembly session. The plan targeting rising consumer costs by introducing medical debt forgiveness, controlling energy rates, and implementing statewide regulations to hold the fast-growing data center industry financially accountable. The governor trying to capitalize on the momentum of the Democrats on the Hill for that affordability. Push that she made to get her in office in the first place. Yeah, she kind of blazed the trail here on affordability and she's still taking action on it. So she rolled out her agenda for the upcoming General Assembly session, along with other Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, mainly on affordability issues and cracking down on AI. So on affordability. One of the key things, I think we're going to hear a lot of discussion about this in the upcoming General Assembly session, is medical debt forgiveness. So medical debt can often derail people financially. And so the plan here for Virginia is to do an economy of scale so the state can buy. And by... This medical debt for pennies, really, because it's buying so much of it at such scale and so help people forgive their medical debt so it doesn't follow them around. I think that's going to be at the top of the agenda. It's also kind of complicated, so it's going to take a lot of Committee work and, you know, wordsmithing the legislation, also on affordability, transit oriented development, affordable housing, expanding solar energy and where you can put solar panels and the kind of permitting that's necessary on that. And on AI accountability, some interesting things. Ban non-disclosure agreements. So like these AI companies, when they come into a small town, they'll make the city council or the town council all sign non-disclosure agreements. They'll make the town manager sign a non-disclosure agreements. We're going to the the proposal here is to ban these non-disclosure agreements. Also eliminate by-right development of the data centers, mandate water usage. And then also this was new. They prohibit employers from using AI algorithms to figure out what salary to offer people, like essentially using AI algorithms to offer them the lowest possible salary that they will take the job. So, yeah, these are all things that will be discussed when the General Assembly starts as the General Assembly session starts in January. How successful can the governor be with this agenda? And how much of a roadblock are Republicans going to be, who I'm sure are asking, a lot of this sounds great, but how are you going to pay for it? Yeah, the Republicans are already being critical of the Moving Virginia Forward plan. I heard from a Republican who said that he listened to what the governor's outlined and said, I'm not hearing about any tax cuts. And the Republicans aren't really hearing anything about lowering power bills. Everybody's freaking out about their power bills going up. We didn't really hear a lot from the governor on lowering power bills. Also, nothing really for young people. So we heard a lot of talk about young people being swing voters in this election. And the Republican criticism, what the governor says, is there's nothing really for young people other than live near a metro station. OK, well, that's going to be a big ask, especially for people outside of Northern Virginia and much of the Northern Virginia region. There's only so much of the Silver Line can extend. So certainly a big question to be filled there. Michael Pope with a breakdown of the governor's agenda there. We appreciate it. Thank you, Michael. Moving on now to a fraternity at Ohio State University that has been temporarily suspended following a disturbing incident caught on video. You may have seen it. Online, we're not going to show it, but that footage appears to show two men catching fire during a weekend gathering as onlookers watch others rush to help. The university has placed the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter on interim suspension, referred the case to campus and Columbus police. We've got a reporter for The New York Times, Neil Victor, with those details now. And it appears to be hazing. I mean, that's what the allegations are here and what the investigation is. This is something that we've seen across college campuses and not to make comparison here to what's happening at Cornell, but certainly disturbing to see that these behaviors continue and that obviously what we've seen online is disturbing. Hi, Marina. Thanks for having me on. So we asked Ohio State yesterday whether this was being investigated as a hazing ritual or not. You know, they've declined to address that question. You know, this happened at a gathering of SAE on Saturday. You know, there was a big college football game that day. With Ohio State hosting Oregon and then this video started making the rounds and it has brought more scrutiny to Greek life at a major college campus. You know, obviously there's this reckoning going on with what's happening at Cornell and also at the University of Arizona placed a number of fraternities on suspension in October. And, you know, You know, this is just another incident that has brought unwanted attention to Greek life on college campuses. And, Neil, to piggyback off that word that you just said, reckoning, right, at large, big picture here, is there... Kind of this vision or really not an assumption, but just the prediction that potentially Greek life could be, you know, on the possibility that it may cease to exist at some of these universities that have relied so heavily. I mean, is that something that's starting to kind of talk, be talked about? Like, do we need Greek life on these big college campuses? I mean, I think certainly many colleges and universities are having this conversation, you know, with each time there are accusations of misconduct and, you know, students, you know, there's a lot of pressure at colleges to assimilate socially and for students, you know, joining a fraternity or sorority becomes a vehicle for that. But then at the same time, You know, you have... You know, incidents of hazing, accusations of sexual assault, rape, and so a lot of college administrators are grappling with this right now. Yeah, as it relates to OSU, what do we know about the victims and where does this investigation stand? Is it criminal at this point? So the division of police in Columbus, they said that this was referred to them and that they are investigating this. Yes. The university has not said whether the two young men who were shown in that video, whether they are pledges. Uh, or, uh, members of the, of SAE and, you know, most importantly, we want to know, you know, how badly were they injured? I mean, uh, this video goes on for 20, 30 seconds when, uh, their, you know, pants are on fire and then you, you see, uh, somebody try to maybe use a fire extinguisher, uh, to put it out. It's completely idiotic, and I know you will all continue to report on this, but we appreciate at least the inception of where things stand right now. Neil Victor with The New York Times, thank you for that breakdown. We'll be right back here on The New York Times. Thanks for having me on. The president has declared an end to major combat operations in Iran, but the conflict is now spreading beyond the Middle East. The Pentagon reportedly evacuating American aircraft from a second base in the U.K. following a new Iranian threat. Follows similar moves at a different base last month and several British residents who were arrested in connection with an Iran-based plot. President Trump acknowledging these hybrid attacks remain a threat to the U.S. and its allies. They're still the bully of the Middle East a little bit, and I see that. We want to make sure they're okay. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says U.S. combat operations have ended in Iran. The U.S. plans to escalate its economic offensive against the country. We've got senior advisor for the Quincy Institute, Kelly Vlahos, with more. Kelly, we're eight months into this thing. Obviously, now Hegseth faces the possibility of impeachment. The president saying we're done with strikes, no more strikes. The Department of State saying another thing. And then you've got Iran with propaganda that they're still building missiles. This sounds like a mess. Where are we? Well, I mean, I would have to say, and thank you for having me again, I would have to say it's probably very good news that the administration is announcing the end of these combat operations. There's a little bit of a disconnect in the reality. We are still engaging in a major blockade of the Hormuz Strait, which is... Bringing in the Iranians and their retaliation for that, they are still hitting. At least three oil tankers a day. So there is kinetic action in the Hormuz Strait. And without the Navy being used to shuttle ships through that strait, which is very expensive for both the Navy and for the ships themselves in terms of the insurance, without that shuttling, no ships would be getting through the strait. So the reality is much different than just saying, We've ended the combat operations. So you're still gonna see the high prices. You're still gonna see the shipping disruptions because of the blockade, because of the Iranian attacks on the tankers in the straits. So a lot needs to be resolved there. There is no deal. So he can declare the end of combat operations, but in effect, there's still conflict. Right, right. Politically speaking, How do you interpret this? Because a lot of people were hoping, right, especially on the Republican side, that there would be more of a diplomatic approach leading up to the midterms and maybe if that had happened instead of strikes just 48 hours prior to the midterms, there may have been some salvaging. Of this blue wave, if you want to call it that, in the potential for Republicans and for what happened on the midterm elections. And yet we're seeing it on the backside. On the other side, is it so sort of an admission of defeat here from the Republicans, or at least from the administration, looking to change tactics in these last two remaining years of administration? Politically speaking, how do we define this moment? I mean, you can see the struggle and the conflict and the things that the administration officials, including the president, have been saying over the last few days. On one hand, there is an acknowledgement that the Iran war and the anger over it was a motivating factor for the way people voted and for this blue wave. So on one hand, there's an acknowledgement of that. On the other, Trump, Vice President Vance. Secretary of State Marco Rubio have all said, well, we'd still do it all over again because Iran is a threat. Iran is a bully. And then on the other hand, you hear Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, say this morning that we have eliminated this threat from Iran. Ron. So I. I feel like they're still working it out. As far as the politics, yeah, you're absolutely right. They are responding to the politics of the moment. The American people have spoken. They don't wanna be in this war anymore. They're bringing in the biggest new freshman class since 1933 in a blue wave of members of Congress, many of whom are going to be responding to that anti-war mandate. So I think The fact that they are declaring combat operations over and a willingness to talk is great. It's a little too late, I guess, for the politics. But you know what? We should celebrate the fact that there won't be any more kinetic action. And maybe there could be a deal in the offing here, something that we were hoping for. Quite a while ago. Absolutely. And to that point, it seems as though Qatar is in talks, as they have been for much of this, to try and broker that deal, and they continue to be. What does the off-ramp look like now to secure the end of this? Is it, in fact, a concession by the United States? Is that the only thing at this point that would appease the Iranian regime? You know what, you and I have talked about this before. I feel like they, meaning the United States, was in a much better position in June when there was a memorandum of understanding on the table that did demand concessions from both sides. The Iranians have retained a lot more leverage over the last several months. And so I think it's going to come as a cold splash of water that the Iranians are going to get more out of us than they probably would have several Months ago. And I think it's a bitter pill to swallow. But if we want an end to this war, we're probably going to face the facts that the Hormuz Strait will never be entirely open to us again without some sort of toll structure. That's one. And we might have to go back to putting some restrictions on there. Uranium enrichment and not do this whole like, they're gonna have all the uranium out of that country forever. I just don't think we're gonna get that real categorical win that Trump had promised over the last several months. All right, Kelly, we will continue to have these talks in another wait and see moment here. We also appreciate the insight. Thank you so much. Thank you. Take care. Producer Chris, what's cooking? Not necessarily going to cash in on my free Chipotle, but I might need to look into it. I appreciate the shout-out and the two o'clock. I'm surprised that you have not already caved and gotten, like, a Chipotle forever. Well, I already basically look like the bag, so I don't need to add necessarily a burrito to it. So wait a second, you've got an and pizza tattoo? I do, yes. Any other, like, brand that promised you something? No. No? No. Well, because even and pizza, you did it on your own. We're cognizants, right? This is not like a... They came to the studio. The original plan, I mean, the long... This was like 10 years ago now, as a matter of fact. Oh, so you did it on air? Yeah, I was in the control room producing at the same time because originally our plan was to go to one of their locations where they were tattooing customers who wanted to get it or employees. I don't remember which, but then ended up, for whatever reason, we couldn't spare a crew. So they came to you. So they came in studio, and I was volunteered. To accept the tattoo. Oh, right. It was such a hard volunteer. I mean, to be, again. Did you get anything out of it? They did. I got a hat. I got a sweatshirt. And they loaded the app with money for me, which I then, I would go to the store and I would buy pizza for everyone in line behind me because I did not. I just didn't love having the... All the money that you had agreed to be sent a tattoo. Wow, what a selfless person you are. Okay, so... We got like 10 seconds. How often do you go to the bank in person anyway? Never. Yeah, exactly. So we don't do in real life errands anymore, and apparently that's making us lonely. We're going to talk about it tonight at 7.30. No, I don't want to be talking... You can just push a button and... All right, guys. Here we go. I know, terrific Tuesday. It's on the way. Day number two, Monday.