Good morning and welcome to Fox News’ morning newsletter, Fox News First. And here’s what you need to know to start your day …

TOP 3

1. Education Department loses biggest budget item in Trump shutdown push 

2. Final moments of LaGuardia crash come into focus as black boxes recovered

3. Trump’s 5-day pause kicks off as Iran downplays claims of ‘very good’ talks

MAJOR HEADLINES

MISSION BEGINS — Mullin confirmed as Homeland Security secretary as funding fight drags on. Continue reading …

CAPITAL CHAOS — FBI Director Kash Patel vows justice after Park Police officer gunned down. Continue reading … 

GIVEAWAY GAIT — Illegal immigrant allegedly kills college student, blows cover with one mistake: docs. Continue reading …

COLD TRAIL — Sheriff defends handling of Nancy Guthrie case, pleads ‘just let her go.’ Continue reading …

POLITICAL GAMES — Rep Donald Beyer says ‘quiet part out loud’ on Virginia redistricting power grab. Continue reading … 

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POLITICS

PARTY LINES CRACK — House conservatives threaten to tank FISA vote in split with Trump, Johnson. Continue reading … 

‘FATALLY FLAWED’ — Key Newsom claim about California vs red state taxes shredded by expert. Continue reading …

BLUE SLIP — Trump mocks Schumer for Senate floor slip-up by saying ‘we must fund ICE.’ Continue reading … 

SHADOW PARTNERSHIP — Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says there’s evidence Russia is aiding Iran with intelligence. Continue reading … 

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MEDIA

POLITICAL MELTDOWN — White House blasts James Carville as a ‘stone-cold loser’ with a rotted brain. Continue reading …

VALUES UNDER FIRE — Gavin Newsom’s wife says evangelicals are ‘pulling us back as a country.’ Continue reading …

NO SHOT — Obama adviser reveals private conversations urging Biden not to run in 2016. Continue reading …

GOVERNOR GRUMBLING — Joe Rogan blasts Newsom for allegedly mocking YouTuber investigating California fraud. Continue reading …

OPINION

HUGH HEWITT — Morning Glory: Trump has restored the GOP as the party of defense and deterrence. Continue reading … 

LIZ PEEK — Voters tell Congress ‘do your job’ and end the DHS showdown. Continue reading …

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IN OTHER NEWS

WHISTLE BLOWER — Controversy erupts at Yale as damning letter from legendary coach leaks. Continue reading …

RISKY REVERSAL — Quitting Ozempic could leave a ‘lasting scar’ on heart health. Continue reading …

AMERICAN CULTURE QUIZ — Test yourself on Costco cravings and bridal blooms. Take the quiz here …

NO BEEF ABOUT IT — Texas chain beats McDonald’s, Burger King on value. Continue reading …

FAITH FIRST — Church becomes unlikely hub for community of young Americans. See video …

WATCH

DAN BONGINO — Democrats like to make people hurt. See video …

BRIT HUME — US has won Iran conflict militarily, but one question lingers. See video …

LISTEN

Tune in as the US weighs delaying strikes on Iran, raising questions about a potential deal and whether internal pressure could shift the regime’s future. Check it out …

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Usually, if a manager is coming out to visit a pitcher in the middle of his outing, it’s to deliver some kind of bad news.

Fortunately, for Carter Baumler on Monday night, Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker had something worth talking about.

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Pitcher Carter Baumler #68 of the Texas Rangers throws during the sixth inning of a World Baseball Classic exhibition game against Team Brazil at Surprise Stadium on March 4, 2026 in Surprise, Arizona. (Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

Baumler came into the Rangers’ exhibition game against the Kansas City Royals in relief of MacKenzie Gore in the fifth inning. He didn’t allow a run and struck out one batter. But Schumaker made his appearance on the mound even after Baumler didn’t meet the three-batter requirement before he would be allowed to be removed from the game.

Schumaker gathered the infield around him and told him he had made the major league roster to start the season. Baumler was beaming as the huddle broke.

“Somebody said, ‘I wish I got a picture of you when you turned around and saw him,’” he said after the game, via MLB.com. “Most of the time you see the manager come out, (it’s) like, ‘OK, you’re out of the game.’

WORLD SERIES CHAMP RECALLS TERRIFYING NEAR-DROWNING INCIDENT IN MINNESOTA

Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker (55) checks his line up card during the fifth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium on Feb. 20, 2026.  (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Imagn Images)

“I turned around, I saw him, I was just caught off guard and didn’t know what was going to happen. And then he told me that and it was just a really cool moment. I’m definitely not going to forget that.”

Baumler said he thought he was going to be taken out of the game. He had no idea Schumaker was going to tell him he made the team.

The Pittsburgh Pirates initially picked Baumler in the Rule 5 Draft before the Rangers traded for him in the offseason. Because he was a Rule 5 selection, it meant the Rangers would have had to keep him on the roster for the entire season if they chose to put him on the opening day roster.

Once the decision was finalized, Schumaker was able to deliver the good news.

Texas Rangers pitcher Carter Baumler during media day at Surprise Sports Complex on Feb. 17, 2026.  (Arianna Grainey/Imagn Images)

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Baumler has yet to make his major league debut. The Baltimore Orioles originally drafted him in the fifth round in 2020. He spent time in Baltimore’s farm system before he moved around teams following the 2025 season.

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People who stop taking popular weight-loss and diabetes medications may lose out on any heart health benefits the medications provided.

GLP-1 receptor agonists — such as semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy), and tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound) — have been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

A new study from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis explored the effects of quitting — particularly related to cardiovascular health.

NEW OZEMPIC-ALTERNATIVE DIABETES PILL BURNS FAT WITHOUT MUSCLE LOSS, STUDY SUGGESTS

“Many people are excited to start GLP-1s, but many stop within a few months,” Ziad Al-Aly, senior clinical epidemiologist at WashU Medicine, told Fox News Digital.

“Some research looked at weight regain after people stop — we wanted to know what happens to heart health when people stop.”

People who stop taking popular weight-loss and diabetes medications may lose out on any heart health benefits the medications provided, a new study says. (iStock)

While GLP-1 drugs lead to weight loss, they also reduce cholesterol, blood pressure, inflammation and insulin resistance, the researcher noted. “When people stop, these start going in the wrong direction.”

In the observational study, researchers followed more than 333,000 U.S. veterans with type 2 diabetes for about three years, comparing those taking GLP-1s to those taking sulfonylureas (oral medications used to treat type 2 diabetes).

“Protection that takes years to accumulate can vanish in a few months of stopping.”

They found that those who used GLP-1s continuously for three years had an 18% reduction in cardiovascular risk, according to the study, which was published in BMJ Medicine.

“We found that stopping erodes the heart protection these drugs provide,” Al-Aly said. “It took three years of continuous use to achieve an 18% reduction in heart attack, stroke and death — but that protection erodes fast.”

WHAT ARE GLP-3S? MEET THE NEW GENERATION OF WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGS WITH THREE KEY INGREDIENTS

Stopping for six months raised the risk by 4%, one year elevated it by 14%, and two years off the medication raised the risk by 22%.

The researchers were most surprised by how quickly the benefits were lost. “We expected some loss of benefit after stopping, but the pace was striking,” Al-Aly said. “Protection that takes years to accumulate can vanish in a few months of stopping.”

Stopping for six months raised the risk by 4%, one year elevated it by 14%, and two years off the medication raised the risk by 22%. (iStock)

When the patients started taking GLP-1s again after quitting, they experienced a partial but not full heart health benefit (a 12% reduced risk compared to 18% if they hadn’t stopped).

“Restarting helped, but it didn’t fully restore the protection of uninterrupted use,” the researcher emphasized. “Discontinuation leaves a lasting scar. That tells us the damage from stopping isn’t fully reversible, and that has real implications for the millions of people cycling on and off these drugs.”

OLDER AMERICANS ARE QUITTING GLP-1 WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGS FOR 4 KEY REASONS

Dr. Bradley Serwer, an interventional cardiologist and chief medical officer at VitalSolution, an Ingenovis Health company that offers cardiovascular and anesthesiology services to hospitals, agreed that the findings were not unexpected.

When the patients started taking GLP-1s again after quitting, they experienced a partial but not full heart health benefit. (iStock)

“When treating patients with chronic diseases, the primary objective is long-term success,” the Maryland-based doctor, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. “This is achieved through behavioral modification, lifestyle changes, improved heart-healthy diets and medical therapy.”

He added, “When a crucial component of the therapeutic plan, such as medications like GLP-1, is discontinued, the disease process tends to resume at a rapid pace.”

Study limitations

Because the study was observational in design, it could only prove an association, not causation, the researchers acknowledged.

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Al-Aly noted, however, that they used “target trial emulation, which applies the logic and rigor of a randomized experiment to real-world data,” and they adjusted for clinical conditions as they changed over time.

Also, because the study was done with mainly older male veterans, the findings may not apply to more general populations.

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“The patients in this study were at a higher risk of developing coronary artery disease,” Serwer pointed out. “Many individuals taking GLP-1 medications do so for weight loss, and may not necessarily have significant cardiovascular risk factors, such as diabetes, hypertension or hyperlipidemia.”

Other factors, such as medication adherence and reasons for stopping, could have impacted the results, the researchers noted.

‘Metabolic whiplash’

Based on the findings, the researchers say GLP-1 drugs should be considered as long-term treatments.

“When people stop GLP-1 drugs, it’s not just weight that comes back,” Al-Aly said. “They experience a resurgence in inflammation, blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin resistance.” 

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Unlike weight regain, the metabolic reversal is “silent and invisible,” he cautioned.

“It doesn’t announce itself until it surfaces in the ER as a heart attack or a stroke. We think of this as a form of ‘metabolic whiplash,’ and our data suggest it is detrimental to heart health.”

“It is essential to engage in a comprehensive discussion with your medical providers to carefully evaluate the potential benefits and risks,” a doctor advised. (iStock)

Serwer added that while GLP-1s are designed to enhance metabolic health, they should be combined with healthy behaviors to help ensure long-term benefits.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

“It is crucial to adopt a holistic approach that emphasizes lifestyle modifications, diet and exercise,” he said.

“All medications have their advantages and disadvantages. It is essential to engage in a comprehensive discussion with your medical providers to carefully evaluate the potential benefits and risks.”

As AI becomes more common, bad actors are working to take advantage of the technology in order to work smarter, not harder, when it comes to stealing data and money. Companies like OpenAI, however, are now deploying the same tools to fight back, launching efforts aimed at stopping scammers before they reach their targets.

“This is very much an evolution rather than a revolution in scammer activity,” OpenAI’s lead scams investigator Jack Stubbs told Fox News Digital. “The scams themselves are very much the same as they’ve always been.”

Scammers are still impersonating celebrities and making phony investment opportunities to lure victims with promises of funds or the use of emotional ploys, according to Stubbs. Now, AI is helping bad actors work faster, cheaper and more efficiently.

“The most common misuse of our models that we see by scammers is basic translation work,” Stubbs said. “They’re getting messages from victims, they’re translating it into a different language and then getting help from the AI in kind of crafting their next response.”

WHITE HOUSE PUSHES CONGRESS TO BAN STATE AI LAWS IN NEW FEDERAL FRAMEWORK

OpenAI joins the Global Anti-Scam Alliance as bad actors use AI to scam victims out of money and data. (Halfpoint/iStock/Getty Images)

While AI can clean up the grammar and spelling errors typically associated with scam emails or text messages, it still leaves hints that can help would-be victims spot a scam more easily. This, according to Stubbs, is because scammers still operate in a similar pattern even while using AI.

Stubbs broke down scams into three phases: “the ping,” “the zing” and “the sting.” 

The first phase, the ping, is the cold open, often an email or online message that opens communication between the scammer and the target. 

Next comes the zing. This is where the ask or the plea comes into play. In the “zing” phase, a bad actor could propose an investment opportunity that they say will multiply the victim’s investment, or they will give an emotional plea, saying that they need it for whatever reason. 

Finally comes the “sting.” This is where the scammer extracts data, money or both from the target.

There is no phase where it’s easiest to catch scammers, according to Stubbs. However, he emphasized the importance of trying to catch them in the initial “ping” phase.

Scammers are using AI to improve on old tactics, such as romance fraud. (Frank Brennan/iStock/Getty Images)

FAKE CHATGPT APPS ARE HIJACKING YOUR PHONE WITHOUT YOU KNOWING

“If we can intercept this type of criminal activity when it first makes contact with people, maybe when someone gets a weird, kind of suspicious text message, they encounter a website online that looks strange, that’s how we can reduce harm the most and help keep people safe,” Stubbs said.

In its effort to fight the misuse of AI for scams, OpenAI recently joined the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), an international organization that works to bring stakeholders from the public and private sectors together to fight scams. The group’s Global State of Scams Report 2025 estimated that $442 billion was lost to scams across 42 countries surveyed, with 23% of respondents reporting they had lost money in the past year.

OpenAI and GASA recently launched Scam.org, an AI-powered platform that offers support to scam victims in over 50 languages. It also provides educational materials on detecting, preventing and reporting scams.

“The really cool part is they can also report indicators or bits of information associated with the scam back to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, so they can share that with industry partners, maybe law enforcement, and we can all work together to help keep people safe,” Stubbs said.

When personal and billing information is exposed, the risk extends beyond one company to everyday customers.   (Pixelfit/Getty Images)

The launch of Scam.org came days ahead of the Global Fraud Summit in Vienna, Austria, where the Industry Accord Against Online Scams and Fraud was signed by several major actors, including OpenAI. Stubbs said that one of the biggest technical wins he thinks can come from the accord is increased information sharing.

“This is something that in the tech industry we’ve been working on for years, and we’re increasingly talking to folks in government, law enforcement, so that we can all come together, share the information we have about who these criminal actors are and how they’re operating,” Stubbs said.

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Even as scammers adapt and use new technology to their advantage, Stubbs said simple awareness, common sense and verification can still stop many attacks. He pointed out that if these scams were conducted in real life, such as a stranger approaching someone and claiming to have an investment opportunity, most people would know something was not right.

“The best defense that we all have to keep ourselves safe from scams is trying to keep the mental wherewithal to stop, to think and to check with a kind of trusted second source. And that might be a relative, it could be a colleague, it could be a really close friend, and in the case of AI technologies, it can be tools like ChatGPT, like Scam.org,” Stubbs said.