By Arlette Saenz, CNN

(CNN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton deployed his daughter to vouch for him Thursday after a scathing attack ad released by Sen. John Cornyn in their increasingly contentious Republican Senate primary race.

Paxton’s campaign released a video from his daughter Mattie Hayworth in which she says: “My dad is a really good guy. Loves God. He loves his family and he loves this country.”

She also wrote a column for the conservative publication Texas Scorecard published Thursday.

“My dad is not perfect; none of us are. But he is a man of deep faith, genuine love for his family, and an unrelenting commitment to doing right by the people of Texas,” Hayworth writes.

The family support comes as the contest between Paxton, Cornyn and Rep. Wesley Hunt has grown increasingly heated leading up to the March 3 primary. It’s particularly notable given past claims that Paxton asked a campaign donor to hire someone with whom he was having an affair, allegations that were cited by the Texas House in impeaching Paxton in 2023. He was later acquitted by the Texas Senate.

His wife, Angela Paxton – a state senator and longtime political adviser – accused him of adultery and filed for divorce last year on “biblical grounds.”

A Paxton adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy, said the ad featuring Hayworth was filmed before Cornyn released an ad that has drawn wide attention, though Paxton’s campaign intended for its video to respond to Cornyn’s.

The Cornyn Lonestar Victory Fund, a joint effort between the Cornyn campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, leveled a series of attacks against Paxton. CNN could not verify all of the ad’s claims.

“It’s voting time, so let’s cut through the bulls**t,” the ad’s narrator begins. “Crooked Ken Paxton cheated on his wife. She’s divorcing him on ‘biblical grounds.’”

“Now, think of the Paxton dirty deeds we don’t know about yet,” the narrator adds.

In the op-ed published Thursday, Hayworth accused Paxton’s opponents of “ugly attacks” on her father.

“When his opponent can’t win on policy, he goes after character,” Hayworth wrote. “But anyone who has spent real time with my dad knows that the attacks bear no resemblance to the man they claim to describe.”

Paxton has survived a series of controversies throughout his time as the state’s attorney general, including a felony securities fraud investigation that was ultimately settled.

“We overcame them all,” he told reporters last week.

Cornyn and his allies have warned nominating Paxton to the top of the Republican ticket in November would endanger GOP chances in the traditionally red-voting state.

“We will have an election day massacre,” Cornyn said earlier this month. “If Ken Paxton is at the top of the ticket, we risk losing the Senate seat, losing the majority in the House of Representatives, and it will take a toll on everybody in the ballot.”

In a statement, Paxton said, “Unlike John Cornyn, who’s become a desperate shell of a man clinging to power, my campaign is not about attacking someone else’s family. It’s about protecting America.”

The three-way GOP field could result in a late May runoff between the top two finishers if no candidate is able to cl

By Morgan Rimmer, Lauren Fox, Ted Barrett, Ellis Kim, CNN

(CNN) — Despite President Donald Trump demanding that Majority Leader John Thune find some way to pass a voter ID bill in the Senate, Republicans in the chamber maintain they do not have the support to change Senate rules to bypass the filibuster.

The predicament for Republicans highlights the limits of their narrow majority on Capitol Hill, and the constraints the party faces in enacting Trump’s agenda even with control of Congress and the White House.

Most legislation in the Senate requires 60 votes to advance, which means Republicans would need some Democratic support to pass the voter ID bill. But Democrats are opposed to the package, as is GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Trump’s push for the voter ID bill has ramped up pressure on Thune. The Senate GOP leader supports the bill and has said he’ll bring it up for a vote, but has warned that Democrats will block it.

And as some conservatives push for the Senate to nuke the filibuster to give the bill a real chance at passing, Thune has said he does not have the votes to take that step.

Asked by CNN if he’s surprised by the pushback from some on the right, Thune on Thursday said that a social media “ecosystem” has created an “echo chamber” on the issue.

“They aren’t going to, you know, tell us how we’re going to run the Senate,” he said when asked about pressure from some in the House.

In addition to requiring voter ID to vote in federal elections, the bill, called “the SAVE America Act,” would require documentary proof of US citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.

Republicans say the bill will safeguard elections and prevent non-US citizens from voting in elections, which is already against the law and experts say rarely happens. Democrats and opponents of the legislation argue it would effectively disenfranchise American citizens who cannot easily access their birth certificate or other citizenship documentation.

Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, has proposed the “talking filibuster,” meaning Democrats would have to hold the floor to block the bill, not just say they object to moving forward. But Senate leaders are concerned that the process they expect would play out on the floor, if that were to happen, could take weeks or months to deal with the bill.

“The conference is not unified on an approach on that yet,” Thune said about the “talking filibuster.”

Lee said on Thursday “we’re a few votes shy” when asked about the SAVE Act, adding, “we need the support of the conference.”

During his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, Trump demanded that Thune take action and push the bill through the Senate.

“I’m asking you to approve the SAVE America Act to stop illegal aliens and others who are unpermitted persons from voting in our sacred American elections,” said Trump. “That cheating is rampant in our elections. It’s rampant. It’s very simple, all voters must show voter ID. All voters must show proof of citizenship in order to vote.”

There is no evidence that voter fraud is “rampant,” as Trump claimed.

Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who faces a contentious primary next week and has so far been unable to secure the president’s endorsement, refused to say if he opposes gutting the filibuster in order to pass the bill in the Senate.

“There’s not the votes in the Republican conference to chang

Por Jennifer Hansler, CNN

Un ciudadano de EE.UU. murió y otro resultó herido en el tiroteo entre una lancha rápida y autoridades cubanas ocurrido este miércoles, dijo a CNN el jueves un funcionario estadounidense.

El ciudadano de EE.UU. herido está recibiendo tratamiento médico en Cuba, de acuerdo con el funcionario.

Una tercera persona en la lancha tenía una visa K-1, también conocida como “visa de prometido(a)”. Según el funcionario, otras personas a bordo podrían ser residentes legales permanentes en EE.UU., pero eso aún no ha sido confirmado.

De acuerdo con funcionarios cubanos, un total de cuatro personas murieron y otras seis resultaron heridas después de que una lancha rápida registrada en Florida intentara ingresar a aguas cubanas y disparara contra personal fronterizo, lo que derivó en un enfrentamiento a tiros. Las autoridades cubanas los acusaron de intentar “infiltrarse” en el país.

El funcionario estadounidense dijo a CNN que el propietario de la lancha afirmó que la embarcación fue robada por un empleado.

Axios fue el primer medio en informar los detalles sobre los ciudadanos de EE.UU. afectados.

El miércoles, el secretario de Estado de EE.UU., Marco Rubio, dijo que la Embajada de EE.UU. en La Habana estaba trabajando para obtener acceso a quienes iban en la embarcación.

“Vamos a averiguar exactamente qué ocurrió aquí y luego responderemos en consecuencia”, dijo.

Consultado por CNN sobre cómo podría responder EE.UU. si hubiera ciudadanos estadounidenses afectados, Rubio dijo que no especularía.

“Lo que les estoy diciendo es que vamos a averiguar exactamente qué sucedió, quiénes estuvieron involucrados y luego tomaremos una determinación con base en lo que averigüemos”, dijo en una conferencia de prensa en St. Kitts.

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By Kyung Lah, Rachel Clarke, CNN

(CNN) — Singer d4vd has been named as the “target” in a murder investigation surrounding the death and mutilation of a 14-year-old girl.

d4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, “may be involved in having committed the following criminal offenses against the laws of the State of California, to wit: One Count of Murder,” according to the court papers obtained by CNN.

The young victim, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, was found in a black Tesla registered to Burke on September 8, 2025. The car, apparently abandoned in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, had been towed to a police impound yard.

Detectives opened the front trunk of the car and saw a cadaver bag covered with insects, the documents say. There was also a “strong odor of decay,” according to the statement from Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman.

According to Silverman, the officers unzipped the bag and saw a decomposed head and torso.

Specialists from the medical examiner’s department were then called in to process the remains.

“Upon removing the cadaver bag from the front storage compartment, it was discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body,” the court papers detailed.

“A second black bag was discovered under the cadaver bag. Upon opening the second bag, the dismembered body parts were discovered.”

The records of the medical examiner have now been sealed. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office has not responded to CNN inquiries about the case.

The court papers are contained in records from Texas, requesting multiple members of Burke’s family appear for questioning by a Los Angeles grand jury. A Texas judge ordered them to attend.

CNN twice contacted Burke’s attorney, who declined to comment. We have also reached out to Burke’s management company Mogul Vision multiple ways but have not heard back.

A US tour by d4vd had continued last September after the discovery of the girl’s remains, but dates were then canceled. CNN understands from a source that Burke has left the rental home in the Hollywood Hills where he had been living.

Burke, 20, became well-known in 2022 on TikTok and in Fortnite and then on more mainstream media, with songs including “Romantic Homicide.”

Celeste’s body was discovered the day after her 15th birthday, but the court documents say she was killed when she was 14.

The Associated Press reported that she had been listed as missing in 2025.

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SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – On Thursday, a 23-year-old Oxnard man was arrested for multiple felonies including sexual battery and traveling to meet a minor for lewd acts after contacting a minor through social media.

In November of last year, patrol deputies spoke with a previously missing minor after she had returned to her home in Carpinteria stated a press release from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.

Detectives investigating the case learned that a 23-year-old Oxnard man using a fake name on Snapchat and Instagram had been in contact with the girl and was aware of her age noted the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.

Multiple search warrants were obtained to verify the man's true identity and on Feb. 26, he was arrested at his home in the 400 block of Grant Avenue in Oxnard detailed the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.

According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, the 23-year-old was booked for multiple felonies including assault with intent to commit a sex crime, traveling to meet a minor for lewd acts, sexual battery, and furnishing alcohol and marijuana to a minor.

He is being held on a $100,000 bail added the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.

Detectives are sharing two of the no longer active social media profiles used by the Oxnard man so parents can check their children's social media accounts for any contact with "justreelingby" or "goshboyyyy_lol" that are pictured below.

Anyone with more information is asked to contact Detective Kiesow at 805-681-4150.

You can also share information while remaining anonymous by visiting the Sheriff's website or calling the Sheriff's tip line at 805-681-4171.

"It is critical that both parents and children understand that individuals online are not always who they claim to be," shared the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office Thursday. "Child predators often use false identities, fake profiles, and manipulation tactics to gain trust and exploit young people. Teaching children to be cautious about who they communicate with, what information they share, and to report suspicious behavior can help prevent exploitation and keep them safe."

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