Republican lawmakers have spent the week sharpening their attacks on Saturday’s nationwide day of protests against President Donald Trump, which many GOP leaders dismissed as ‘Hate America’ rallies.

Cities across the country are expected to see hundreds of thousands of people come out for the ‘No Kings’ movement, and several congressional Democrats have even said they will attend.

Republicans have seized on the protests as a product of far-left activism, while at the same time arguing Democrats have held firm against the GOP’s plan to end the government shutdown in a bid to please that far-left base.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox Business Network he hoped that Democratic leaders who attended would be more willing to accept the GOP’s plan after the demonstrations were over — but he did not sound overly optimistic.

‘It’ll be a collection of wild leftist policy priorities, and that’ll be on display for the whole country. After that’s over, I hope there’s a few Democrats over here who will come to their senses and return to governing the country,’ Johnson said.

‘Right now, I don’t think— it’s my assumption and all of ours that they would not make that concession before that rally’s over because they don’t want to face the angry mob. I mean it’s sad, but that’s where we are.’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., dodged a question on whether he would attend one of the rallies on Friday, telling reporters, ‘I haven’t finalized my schedule for the weekend given, you know, the sensitivities around the government shutdown. I’m still very hopeful that Republicans will decide to show up for work so we can get the government back open.’

‘But I support the right of every single American to participate in the rallies that are going to take place this week and showing up to express dissent against an out-of-control administration,’ he said.

However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would attend one of the protests, as did House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.

Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, predicted more top Democratic figures would go but, like Johnson, signaled hope that they would acquiesce to Republicans’ demands when it was over.

‘My guess is if they don’t want a primary from the left, they’ll probably find a way to sneak it into their schedule. The real question that’s going to be is, do they have the fortitude after Saturday to come back and open up the government?’ Nunn told Fox News Digital earlier this week.

‘They should be doing it today. But if they feel like they’ve got to appease their base, then they better come to Jesus on Sunday and figure out a way to help them get back to the business of taking care of the American people.’

House GOP leaders also criticized the rallies at nearly every one of their daily shutdown press conferences this week.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday that Schumer was ‘more concerned’ with ‘impressing the ‘Hate America’ rally crowd that’s coming up here tomorrow than he is about not solving all of our problems tomorrow.’

And House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday of the rallies’ place in the shutdown fight, ‘The rumor is that they can’t end the shutdown beforehand, because a small but very violent and vocal group is the only one that’s happy about this.’

‘If they shut it down beforehand, then they’ve got to deal with that group beforehand. If they make it through that, then at least they’ve made it through their Hate America rally, and then they can get this thing done,’ Emmer said.

The House passed a bill to keep the federal government funded at current levels through Nov. 21, called a continuing resolution (CR), mostly along party lines last month.

It’s since failed 10 times in the Senate, with a majority of Democrats rejecting any spending deal that does not also include an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that will expire at the end of this year without congressional action.

Israel announced Saturday that the latest remains handed over by Hamas via the Red Cross were that of a deceased hostage.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) identified the deceased hostage as Eliyahu Margalit, known by many as ‘Churchill,’ who was murdered during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. It also underscored that ‘Hamas is required to fulfill its part of the agreement and make the necessary efforts to return all the hostages to their families and to a dignified burial.’

Israel said Margalit was killed at the horse stables in Kibbutz Nir Oz and that his body was then taken into Gaza, where it was held for more than two years. The IDF initially confirmed Margalit’s death in December 2023.

Margalit’s daughter, Nili Margalit, was also taken hostage but was released during the brief November 2023 ceasefire. He leaves behind a wife, three children and grandchildren.

‘The government of Israel shares in the deep sorrow of the Margalit family and all the families of the fallen abductees,’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. ‘The government and the entire Israeli Public Security Bureau are determined, committed and working tirelessly to return all of our fallen abductees for a proper burial in their country.’

Margalit’s loved ones said he went to feed his beloved horses early in the morning on Oct. 7 and that the horses were taken along with him, according to The Times of Israel. The outlet added that Margalit was responsible for the kibbutz’s cattle for many years.

‘Our beloved Eli has returned home, 742 days after he was murdered and kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. We thank the people of Israel and the Hostage Families Forum for their support in the long struggle for his return, and promise that we will not stop or rest until the last of the hostages is returned for burial in Israel,’ the family said in a statement, according to The Times of Israel.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which was established in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre, expressed condolences to Margalit’s family.

‘The families of the hostages and the released embrace the family of Eliyahu ‘Churchill’ Margalit at this difficult time, following the return of their beloved Eliyahu z’l to Israel last night for a proper burial,’ the forum wrote. ‘Alongside the grief and the understanding that their hearts will never be whole again, Eliyahu’s return brings some measure of solace to a family that has lived in unbearable uncertainty and doubt for over two years. We will not rest until all 18 hostages are brought home.’

The forum noted that Margalit was ‘a cowboy at heart’ and was linked to an organization known as ‘Riders of the South,’ which has been bringing horseback riding enthusiasts together for more than 50 years.

Margalit is the 10th deceased hostage to be returned to Israel, while the remains of 18 others are still in Gaza. Two of the deceased hostages whose bodies have not been returned are Itay Chen, 19, and Omer Neutra, 21, both of whom are U.S. citizens.

Tomahawks, Tomahawks, Tomahawks. That’s the word buzzing in the ears of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as President Donald Trump weighs providing America’s precision strike missile of choice to Ukraine.   

Since May, Trump has bombed the Houthis in Yemen, obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities and hit narco-terrorist drug boats in the Caribbean.  Putin has to realize that Tomahawks could soon be in the skies over Russia.

What can Ukraine hit with the 1000-mile range Tomahawks? Start with the Shahed drone factory in Tatarstan, and at least 67 Russian airbases. Tomahawks in Ukraine’s hands rip open Russian energy infrastructure to precision attack with no warning.

If Ukraine launches Tomahawks, they’ll be flying as low as 100 feet, hugging the terrain, evading radar. TLAMs can each take separate routes at 500 mph then meet up over the Russian target for a coordinated strike.

Trump is baiting Putin. ‘Hopefully, they won’t need it,’ Trump said of the Tomahawks at Friday’s lunch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House. Trump said he’d like to ‘get the war over without Tomahawks’ but then went on to describe the missiles as ‘very dangerous’ and ‘incredible.’

Here’s the backstory on the Tomahawks, and why Trump is keeping them on the table to pressure Putin.  

Built for the Russian target set

First tested in 1972, the Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missile or TLAM was actually developed by the U.S. Navy during the Cold War to attack targets on land in the Soviet Union. In case you haven’t seen one up close, the Tomahawk is 20 feet long but just 21 inches wide.  It looks like a white pole with wiglets, but inside is a powerful turbo-fan engine and sophisticated guidance. Today’s Block IV Tomahawks can be retargeted in flight, and loiter over a target for hours, taking electro-optical scans and waiting for other missiles to arrive before detonating. They carry a unitary warhead for harder targets, or dispense cluster munitions over a wide pattern to hit airfields, for example. (Yes, there was once a nuclear TLAM variant with a 200 Kiloton warhead, but they were placed in storage in 1991 and eliminated in 2010.) 

Air Defense Nightmare 

The presence of Tomahawks in Ukraine will set up an almost insoluble air defense problem for Putin. No way can Russia place air defenses at every remote gas pipeline point or cover all the airbases where planes park out in the open.  

Fast delivery

TLAMs could be in Ukraine in 24 hours. The Army Mid-Range Capability missile system is a tractor-trailer missile launcher that can be driven onto a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane. The Army deployed TLAM launcher 8,000 miles away to North Luzon in the Philippines in under 15 hours last year for a wargame. Trump has plenty of time.  

Deterring Putin. The brutal escalation of mass attacks by Russia led Ukraine to ramp up its drone strikes on Russian energy starting in August. According to a Reuters study, Ukraine’s drones have hit 18 pumping stations, plus 32 strikes on refineries. Ukraine’s Liutyi drones have a range of about 600 miles and carry warheads of about 50 pounds. Mixing in TLAMs would intensify pressure on Russian energy, Putin’s single biggest source of government revenue. Zelenskyy has called Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian energy ‘the sanctions that work the fastest.’

Don’t worry about depleting TLAM inventory

The U.S. still has about 4,000 Tomahawks in its inventory, and new missiles like the U.S. Navy’s SM-6 are already in action. The U.S. Army deployed its new Dark Eagle long-range hypersonic weapons to Australia in August and will have its first full battery by December. By the way, last year Japan bought 400 Tomahawks for targeting China and North Korea.  

Combat Record

Tomahawks have piled up an incredible combat record since Jan. 17, 1991, when 122 TLAMs hit Iraqi oil and command and control targets at the start of Operation Desert Storm. Eight-hundred TLAMs were fired in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Over the years, Tomahawks have hit targets in Iraq, Serbia, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen and, of course, Iran. On June 22, TLAMs hit above-ground ‘key surface infrastructure targets’ in the nuclear complex at Isfhahan, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. The TLAM strikes left the sprawling site visibly damaged and blackened. ‘We gave it a capper with 30 TLAMS,’ as Trump said Friday. 

Putin may yell and scream about Tomahawks for Ukraine. Pay no attention. He’s grumbled about each weapon system, from F-16s to Patriots. And no, Putin does not dare escalate with nuclear weapons in Ukraine, because the wind patterns blow radiation clouds back into Russia.  

As Trump said Friday: ‘Yeah, its escalation. But we’re going to talk about it anyway.’  

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a new investigation into 2.88 million Tesla vehicles running ‘Full Self-Driving’ (FSD). Officials say the system may be breaking traffic laws, and worse, causing accidents. According to Reuters, 58 reports describe Teslas blowing through red lights, drifting into the wrong lanes and even crashing at intersections. Fourteen of those cases involved actual crashes, and 23 caused injuries.

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Red lights, train tracks and trouble ahead

In one striking pattern, six Tesla vehicles reportedly ran red lights before colliding with other cars. One driver in Houston complained that FSD ‘is not recognizing traffic signals,’ saying the car stopped at green lights but ran through reds. The driver even said Tesla saw the issue firsthand during a test drive, but refused to fix it. The agency is also reviewing new reports that some Teslas using FSD failed to handle railroad crossings safely, with one case involving a near-collision with an oncoming train.

Mounting legal and safety scrutiny

This is far from Tesla’s first brush with regulators. The company is already facing several investigations tied to both its Autopilot and FSD systems. In one high-profile case, a California jury ordered Tesla to pay $329 million after an Autopilot-related crash killed a woman. Another investigation is looking into Tesla’s limited Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, where passengers reported erratic driving and speeding — even with human safety drivers onboard. Meanwhile, Tesla is still fighting a false advertising lawsuit from California’s DMV. Regulators say calling the software ‘Full Self-Driving’ is misleading since it requires constant driver supervision. Tesla recently changed the name to ‘Full Self-Driving (Supervised)’ to reflect that reality.

Regulators say more crashes may come

Tesla’s latest FSD software update arrived just days before the investigation began. But the NHTSA says the system has already ‘induced vehicle behavior that violated traffic safety laws.’ This investigation, now in its early stages, could lead to a recall if the agency finds Tesla’s self-driving software poses a safety risk.

What this means for you

If you drive a Tesla with FSD enabled, stay alert. The system isn’t fully autonomous, no matter what the name suggests. You should:

• Keep your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road at all times.
• Manually override the system when approaching intersections, crosswalks or railroad tracks.
• Check for Tesla software updates regularly — they may include critical safety fixes.
• Report any unsafe FSD behavior to NHTSA.

For everyone else, this investigation is a reminder that ‘self-driving’ still means supervised driving.

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Kurt’s key takeaways

Tesla’s dream of a fully autonomous future keeps hitting speed bumps. With safety regulators circling and lawsuits piling up, the company’s next moves will shape public trust in AI-driven transportation. Still, the push toward automation isn’t slowing down; it’s just under heavier watch.

How much control would you give an AI behind the wheel? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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