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DENVER — An alligator that appeared in numerous TV shows and films over three decades, most notably the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy “Happy Gilmore,” has died at a gator farm in southern Colorado.

Based on his growth rate and tooth loss, Morris the alligator was at least 80 years old when he died, the Colorado Gator Farm said in a Facebook post Sunday. He was nearly 11 feet (3.3 meters) long and weighed 640 pounds (290 kilograms).

“He started acting strange about a week ago. He wasn’t lunging at us and wasn’t taking food,” Jay Young, the farm’s owner and operator, said in a video as he tearfully stroked Morris’ head in an animal enclosure.

“I know it’s strange to people that we get so attached to an alligator, to all of our animals. … He had a happy time here, and he died of old age,” he said.

Morris, who was found in the backyard of a Los Angeles home as an illegal pet, started his Hollywood career in 1975 and retired in 2006, when he was sent to the Colorado Gator Farm in the tiny town of Mosca. He appeared in several films, including “Interview with the Vampire,” “Dr. Dolittle 2” and “Blues Brothers 2000.” He also appeared on “Coach,” “Night Court” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” featuring the late wildlife expert Steve Irwin.

But his most famous role was in “Happy Gilmore,” a film about a failed and ill-tempered hockey player who discovers a talent for golf. The title character played by Sandler confronts Morris after hitting a golf ball that ends up in the gator’s mouth.

Sandler posted a tribute to Morris on Instagram on Wednesday.

“We are all gonna miss you. You could be hard on directors, make-up artists, costumers — really anyone with arms or legs — but I know you did it for the ultimate good of the film,” Sandler wrote. “The day you wouldn’t come out of your trailer unless we sent in 40 heads of lettuce taught me a powerful lesson: never compromise your art.”

The Colorado Gator Farm, which opened to the public in 1990, said it plans to preserve Morris’ body.

“We have decided to get Morris taxidermied so that he can continue to scare children for years to come. It’s what he would have wanted,” the farm posted on Facebook on Monday.

BOSTON — Harvard University for decades assumed it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta in its collection, a stained and faded document it had purchased for less than $30.

But two researchers have concluded it has something much more valuable — a rare version from 1300 issued by Britain’s King Edward I.

The original Magna Carta established in 1215 the principle that the king is subject to law, and it has formed the basis of constitutions globally. There are four copies of the original and, until now, there were believed to be only six copies of the 1300 version.

“My reaction was one of amazement and, in a way, awe that I should have managed to find a previously unknown Magna Carta,” said David Carpenter, a professor of medieval history at King’s College London. He was searching the Harvard Law School Library website in December 2023 when he found the digitized document.

“First, I’d found one of the most rare documents and most significant documents in world constitutional history,” Carpenter said. “But secondly, of course, it was astonishment that Harvard had been sitting on it for all these years without realizing what it was.”

Confirming the document’s authenticity

Carpenter teamed up with Nicholas Vincent, a professor of medieval history at Britain’s University of East Anglia, to confirm the authenticity of Harvard’s document.

Comparing it to the other six copies from 1300, Carpenter found the dimensions matched up. He and Vincent then turned to images Harvard librarians created using ultraviolet light and spectral imaging. The technology helps scholars see details on faded documents that are not visible to the human eye.

That allowed them to compare the texts word-for-word, as well as the handwriting, which include a large capital ‘E’ at the start in ‘Edwardus’ and elongated letters in the first line.

After the 1215 original printed by King John, five other editions were written in the following decades — until 1300, the last time the full document was set out and authorized by the king’s seal.

The 1300 version of Magna Carta is “different from the previous versions in a whole series of small ways and the changes are found in every single one,” Carpenter said.

Harvard had to meet a high bar to prove authenticity, Carpenter said, and it did so “with flying colors.”

Its tattered and faded copy of the Magna Carta is worth millions of dollars, Carpenter estimated — though Harvard has no plans to sell it. A 1297 version of the Magna Carta sold at auction in 2007 for $21.3 million.

A document with a colorful history

The other mystery behind the document was the journey it took to Harvard.

That task was left to Vincent, who was able to trace it all the way back to the former parliamentary borough of Appleby in Westmorland, England.

The Harvard Law School library purchased its copy in 1946 from a London book dealer for $27.50. At the time, it was wrongly dated as being made in 1327.

Vincent determined the document was sent to a British auction house in 1945 by a World War I flying ace who also played a role defending Malta in World War II. The war hero, Forster Maynard, inherited the archives from Thomas and John Clarkson, who were leading campaigners against the slave trade. One of them, Thomas Clarkson, became friends with William Lowther, hereditary lord of the manor of Appleby, and he possibly gave it to Clarkson.

“There’s a chain of connection there, as it were, a smoking gun, but there isn’t any clear proof as yet that this is the Appleby Magna Carta. But it seems to me very likely that it is,” Vincent said. He said he would like to find a letter or other documentation showing the Magna Carta was given to Thomas Clarkson.

Making Magna Carta relevant for a new generation

Vincent and Carpenter plan to visit Harvard in June to see its Magna Carta firsthand — and they say the document is as relevant as ever at a time when Harvard is clashing with the Trump administration over how much authority the federal government should have over its leadership, admissions and activism on campus.

“It turns up at Harvard at precisely the moment where Harvard is under attack as a private institution by a state authority that seems to want to tell Harvard what to do,” Vincent said.

It also is a chance for a new generation to learn about the Magna Carta, which played a part in the founding of the United States — from the Declaration of Independence to the adoption of the Bill of Rights. Seventeen states have incorporated aspects of it into their laws.

“We think of law libraries as places where people can come and understand the underpinnings of democracy,” said Amanda Watson, the assistant dean for library and information services at Harvard Law School. “To think that Magna Carta could inspire new generations of people to think about individual liberty and what that means and what self-governance means is very exciting.”

FBI field offices around the country have been ordered to assign significantly more agents to immigration enforcement, a dramatic shift in federal law enforcement priorities that will likely siphon resources away from counterterrorism, counterintelligence and fraud investigations, multiple current and former bureau officials told NBC News.

The orders, given in a series of memos and meetings in FBI offices this week, come at a time when the Trump Administration is proposing to cut 5% of the FBI’s budget, and as the Justice Department is deprioritizing investigating certain types of white collar and corporate crime, according to a memo obtained by NBC News.

The new push is happening as FBI director Kash Patel also approved 667 requests for FBI personnel to take early retirement this week, two people familiar with the matter told NBC News.

“As you know, we have been actively engaged in immigration enforcement efforts in coordination with our DOJ and DHS partners,” said a memo obtained by NBC News from a senior FBI official to managers. “Starting this week, we will need to see an increase in operational tempo in your immigration efforts. DOJ expects a significant increase in the number of agents participating in immigration enforcement operations.”

One federal law enforcement official estimated that the vast majority of agents were uncomfortable with being a part of the immigration operations, saying ICE didn’t meticulously plan out arrest operations the way that the bureau does.

“This is not what we do, these are bad ideas,” said the federal law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation. “If this was a Democrat administration, I’d be saying this is bad, we shouldn’t be doing this.” 

FBI spokesman Ben Williamson defended the move. “The FBI has been committed to supporting our partners in immigration enforcement and will remain so.”

The stepped-up immigration enforcement initiative was first reported by Reuters.

Nationwide shift

The shift in resources spans the country, according to two FBI officials. In a major change, 45% of all agents in the 25 largest FBI field offices will be working on immigration full time.

The bureau’s Atlanta field office will assign 67 agents to work immigration “enforcement and removal operations” full time, seven days a week, the officials said. That is around half of all the agents assigned to the Atlanta Field Office headquarters 

In Los Angeles, the field office is creating 9 squads to address enforcement and removal operations full-time. They will pursue non-citizens who have overstayed their visas, even if they have no criminal history.

And the FBI’s Boston field office was ordered to assign an additional 33 special agents to immigration enforcement 

The FBI and Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The orders intensify what had already been an unprecedented push by the Trump Justice Department to get the FBI involved in immigration enforcement, a task traditionally handled by the Department of Homeland Security.  

One of the memos says the goal is to have 2000 FBI agents across the country working full time on immigration enforcement at any one time. 

Given that FBI resources are finite, current and former officials say a significant increase in immigration enforcement will draw agents away from what have long been top FBI priorities, including counterterrorism, counterespionage, fraud, and violent crime.

Trump and his top aides have been frustrated by the slow pace of deportations. Documents released in the Biden administration showed that hundreds of thousands or illegal immigrants with criminal records were living in the U.S. including more than 10,000 with homicide convictions. Many of those people are still here, according to NBC News reporting.

White collar crime

The moves also come as the head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division issued a memo this week ordering a new “appropriate balance” in enforcement of corporate crime. 

“Overbroad and unchecked corporate and white-collar enforcement burdens U.S. businesses and harms U.S. interest,” wrote Matthew Galeotti, the head of the criminal division, adding later, “Not all corporate misconduct warrants federal criminal prosecution.”

The memo orders prosecutors to prioritize schemes to defraud Americans, tariff evaders, sanctions violators, Chinese money launderers and foreign terrorist financiers.  

But it seeks to tap the brakes on what had been a major initiative in the Biden Justice Department to target corporate crime and to begin monitoring of companies found to have broken the law. 

Galiotti ordered prosecutors “to review the length of terms of all existing agreements with companies to determine if they should be terminated early.”

“The work of Criminal Division attorneys to investigate and prosecute white-collar crime is essential to the Department’s efforts to advance American interests, protect victims, and strengthen our national security,” the memo says. 

“But federal investigations into corporate wrongdoing can be costly and intrusive for businesses, investors, and other stakeholders, many of whom have no knowledge of, or involvement in, the misconduct at issue,” Galiotti wrote. “Federal investigations can also significantly interfere with day-to-day business operations and cause reputational harm that may at times be unwarranted.”

Jetlagged but excited, Pope Leo XIV’s brother, John Prevost, is catching up on daily life after a whirlwind few days in the Vatican.

Prevost is freshly arrived home after spending time with his brother following his election to the papacy. He said his priorities when he got home were mowing the lawn, enjoying a beer and letting a wild new reality set in.

“This is as life-altering event for everybody, not just for the Catholic Church,” he said. “I was stunned at how quickly the vote went.”

During his time in Rome, Prevost attended multiple events with his brother, going on two different church trips outside the Vatican, and he said the massive crowds were an incredible sight.

“It was supposed to be secret, but all the way there, both sides, jammed, four or five people deep,” Prevost said. “Screaming and hollering, ‘Papa! Papa! Papa!’ He rolled down his window and shook hands with as many people as he could. It just changed their facial expression.”

There’s been plenty of talk of what the pope’s philosophy will be and whether it will represent a departure from his predecessor or a continuation of his work, but Prevost said his brother recognizes that “people are looking for hope” and that he wants to focus on unity.

“I think he’ll be a second Pope Francis,” he said.

Prevost also shared photos with NBC Chicago of his parents and his siblings, and said he believed his brother was always destined for a critically important role.

“He’s a man of the world. And so what better person to be pope,” he said.

Unsurprisingly, Prevost said that things are still slowly sinking in.

“You also feel a sense of pride, a sense of, ‘Is this for real?’” he said. “It didn’t hit me until last night — that this is for real, life-changing, and then life will go on.”

Prevost also said there was a stack of mail at his home when he returned, but that plenty of it was meant for the new pope.

“People bore their souls, so I’m going to give them something back,” he said.

Prevost said he was amused by the White Sox’s reaction to the news that his brother was a fan of the South Siders, and also answered another critical question for a Chicagoan: thin-crust or deep-dish pizza?

“Thin crust, because that’s what I like too,” he said.

Prevost asked the public to continue praying for his brother, who will be formally inaugurated as pope in a Mass on Sunday.

“Keep watching and keep praying,” Prevost said. “I think this is going to be a great thing for the church and for the country and the world.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Six months after Missouri voters approved an abortion-rights amendment, Republican state lawmakers on Wednesday approved a new referendum that would seek the amendment’s repeal and instead ban most abortions with exceptions for rape an incest.

The newly proposed constitutional amendment would go back to voters in November 2026, or sooner, if Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe calls a special election before then.

Republican senators used a series of rare procedural moves to cut off discussion by opposing Democrats before passing the proposed abortion-rights revision by a 21-11 vote. The measure passed the Republican-led House last month.

Immediately after the vote, protesters erupted with chants of “Stop the ban!” and were ushered out of the Senate chamber.

The Senate then blocked further Democratic debate and gave final approval to a separate measure repealing provisions of a voter-approved law guaranteeing paid sick leave for workers and cost-of-living increases to the minimum wage. That measure does not go back to the ballot. It will instead become law when signed by Kehoe, who has expressed his support for it.

After taking the sweeping votes, the Senate effectively ended its annual legislative session — two days ahead of a constitutional deadline to wrap up work.

Democrats were outraged by the legislative actions and vowed to retaliate by slowing down any Senate work next year.

“Our rights are under attack,” Democratic state Sen. Brian Williams said during debate. He accused Republicans of “trying to overturn the will of the voters.”

Republicans contend they are simply giving voters a second chance on abortion — and are confident they will change their minds because of the new rape and incest exceptions.

“Abortion is the greatest tragedy in the world right now,” Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman said while explaining her efforts to repeal the abortion-rights amendment. If someone’s fine with “taking the life of an innocent, then probably you can justify whatever you want.”

Some GOP lawmakers said they needed to repeal the paid sick leave requirement, which kicked in May 1, because it’s adding costs that threaten the financial viability of small businesses. Republicans had been negotiating with Democrats over an alternative to exempt only the smallest businesses before scrapping that and opting for the full repeal.

Missouri lawmakers have a history of altering voter-approved policies. They previously tried to block funding for a voter-approved Medicaid expansion and wrote changes to voter-approved measures regulating dog breeders and legislative redistricting.

Missouri’s abortion policies have swung dramatically in recent years.

When the U.S. Supreme Court ended a nationwide right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, it triggered a Missouri law to take effect banning most abortions. But abortion-rights activists gathered initiative petition signatures to reverse that.

Last November, Missouri voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to abortion until fetal viability, generally considered sometime past 21 weeks of pregnancy. The amendment also allows later abortions to protect the life or health of pregnant women and creates a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” that includes birth control, prenatal and postpartum care and “respectful birthing conditions.”

A limited number of surgical abortions have since occurred in Missouri, but medication abortions remain on hold while Planned Parenthood wrangles with the state over abortion regulations.

The new measure seeks to repeal the abortion-rights amendment and instead allow abortions only for a medical emergency or fetal anomaly, or in cases of rape or incest up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. It also would prohibit gender transition surgeries, hormone treatments and puberty blockers for minors, which already are barred under state law.

Polling indicates “that most voters are opposed to most abortions in Missouri but do want to allow for abortions with limited exceptions,” said Sam Lee, director of Campaign Life Missouri.

The ballot title that voters will see doesn’t explicitly mention repealing Amendment 3. Instead, it says the new measure would “ensure women’s safety during abortions, ensure parental consent for minors” and “allow abortions for medical emergencies, fetal anomalies, rape, and incest.” It also states that it will “protect children from gender transition,” among other provisions.

Democratic state Sen. Tracy McCreery called the measure “an attempt to mislead and lie to the voters,” echoing similar accusations that Republicans had made against the original Amendment 3.

An abortion-rights coalition that includes Planned Parenthood affiliates, the American Civil Liberties Union and others planned a rally Thursday at the Missouri Capitol and vowed a vigorous campaign against the measure.

“Abortion rights won in this state six months ago, and mark my words: Missourians will protect reproductive freedom again,” said Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes.

A Victorville, Calif.,  couple and their adult daughter who fostered children were charged Wednesday with child abuse and torture stemming from what authorities described as years of physical, emotional, and mental abuse.

Tina Marie Sheffield Key, 60, Kenneth Michael Key, 60, and daughter Kaitlynn Marresa Key, 23, were charged with six counts of torture — one count for each of the six children in their care — and one count of child abuse.

Arraignment is scheduled for May 15. It was not immediately clear whether the three suspects have an attorney who could speak on their behalf.

Their arrests were announced Tuesday by the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, which said the children range in age from 4 to 16. They were booked at the Central Detention Center with bail set at $1 million.

In a complaint filed Wednesday, prosecutors said the children were subjected to years of abuse that included daily beatings and strangulation to the point of unconsciousness. Punishments included withholding food and water from the children for days, the district attorney’s office said.

Details about what led to the suspects’ arrests were not immediately available.

Anyone with information regarding the case was asked to contact authorities at 909-890-4904. If you wish to remain anonymous you may leave information on the We-Tip website.

ESPN has five doubleheaders on its 2025 slate.

The NFL released the schedule on Wednesday night, and the Monday Night Football schedule features several teams who each have two appearances.

Here is the entire Monday Night Football schedule:

Sept. 8 Vikings at Bears, 8:15 p.m. ET

Sept. 15 Bucs at Texans, 7 p.m. ET and Chargers at Raiders, 10 p.m. ET

Sept. 22 Lions at Ravens, 8:15 p.m. ET

Sept. 29 Jets at Dolphins, 7:15 p.m. ET and Bengals at Broncos, 8:15 p.m. ET

Oct. 6 Chiefs at Jaguars, 8:15 p.m. ET

Oct. 13 Bills at Falcons, 7:15 p.m. ET and Bears at Commanders, 8:15 p.m. ET

Oct. 20 Bucs at Lions, 7 p.m. ET and Texans at Seahawks, 10 p.m. ET

Oct. 27 Commanders at Chiefs, 8:15 p.m. ET

Nov. 3 Cardinals at Cowboys, 8:15 p.m. ET

Nov. 10 Eagles at Packers, 8:15 p.m. ET

Nov. 17 Cowboys at Raiders, 8:15 p.m. ET

Nov. 24 Panthers at 49ers, 8:15 p.m. ET

Dec. 1 Giants at Patriots, 8:15 p.m. ET

Dec. 8 Eagles at Chargers, 8:15 p.m. ET

Dec. 15 Dolphins at Steelers, 8:15 p.m. ET

Dec. 22 49ers at Colts, 8:15 p.m. ET

Dec. 29 Rams at Falcons, 8:15 p.m. ET

Jan. 3 TBD doubleheader, 4:30 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON — House Republicans are locked in a tense standoff over how to tackle the federal deduction for state and local taxes, or SALT, a sticky issue that could make or break the party’s big bill for President Donald Trump’s agenda.

The ongoing fight has not only pitted Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., the chair of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, against a determined bloc of House Republicans from high-tax blue states; it has also created divisions between the pro-SALT Republicans, undercutting their negotiating leverage and complicating the path to a deal.

While some of them are willing to accept an offer from Smith to raise the cap to $30,000, another faction flatly rejects that figure as insufficient. And they’ve grown increasingly frustrated with some of their colleagues for, in their view, settling for a low-ball offer.

Those tensions came to a boiling point Tuesday when pro-SALT Republicans met in Speaker Mike Johnson’s office to discuss strategy, and asked Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y. — a member of the Ways and Means panel who’s supportive of the $30,000 cap — to leave, according to two sources in the room.

“She wasn’t invited and is not part of our negotiation. That’s why she was asked to leave,” said one of the sources in the room, who described the moment on condition of anonymity. “Jason Smith said yesterday it wasn’t his job to negotiate with us, so no one understands why he sent her there.”

It was a jarring moment of distrust within the faction — a suggestion that Malliotakis was there not to advance their cause but to be a mole for Smith as they were staring him down in a high-stakes negotiation. Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., another SALT supporter who sits on the Ways and Means committee, remarked on social media that she also wasn’t invited to the meeting.

Hours later, Malliotakis voted in the committee for the bill with the $30,000 cap, saying in a statement that it will “provide much-needed relief for the middle-class and cover 98% of the families in my district.” Tenney also backed the bill.

Top House Republicans have highlighted their support for the $30,000 level to suggest that a quartet of other New York Republicans who want a bigger deduction — Reps. Elise Stefanik, Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino — are being unreasonable. But taxes vary by district, which explains why each member has a different level they are willing to stomach for the deduction. The 2017 tax law Republicans are now seeking to extend imposed a $10,000 cap for state and local tax deductions.

Those four New York Republicans are so far sticking together and have the power to sink the entire bill in the narrow House majority, where Johnson has just three votes to spare.

Stefanik, a member of Johnson’s leadership team who has had an icy relationship with the speaker as of late, has taken a lead role in the talks. Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., who represents one of the highest-taxed districts in the country, has also been aligning closely with the group of New York Republicans. Now it’s up to Johnson to cut a deal and appease the holdouts — many of them from swing districts that will decide which party controls the chamber in the 2026 midterm elections — on the House floor. 

Asked about the incident at the meeting Tuesday, Malliotakis told NBC News in a statement: “As the only SALT Caucus member on Ways and Means, all I know is they can sit and negotiate with themselves all they want but there will be no changes unless I and the committee agree.”

Malliotakis said that while everyone needs to advocate for their districts, her goal is to reach a resolution and “deliver the one, big, beautiful bill for America.”

Later, the Staten Island Republican said she huddled with Johnson, Smith and other Ways and Means Committee members “for hours” Tuesday night to try to find a path forward on SALT.

“I think there’s room for some better deal, but the window is closing,” Malliotakis told reporters. “The longer this takes and the closer to Memorial Day we get, the low-sodium diets of many of my colleagues on Ways and Means is growing.” 

Smith’s office and Johnson’s office did not respond to requests for comment. But the speaker has publicly insisted that they will reach a deal on SALT, although he acknowledged it may take the weekend to get there. Johnson said he is hosting a meeting Thursday morning between pro-SALT Republicans and some members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, who don’t want to raise the SALT cap any further unless they get steeper cuts to Medicaid in return.

Tensions flare 

As a deal has remained elusive, members of the SALT Caucus have been publicly aiming their fire at Smith, who they believe was trying to jam them by plowing ahead with the committee’s markup of its portion of the broader package, although it’s not unusual for hot-button issues to be punted to leadership. 

Still, some pro-SALT Republicans wanted Smith to delay this week’s markup to give them more time to work out a solution, and the speaker asked if Smith could accommodate that request, according to two Republican members and another GOP source familiar with the matter. But the markup proceeded as planned.

There was also another tense moment prior to the markup, when Smith briefed pro-SALT Republicans on his plan to move ahead with the $30,000 cap. During a Monday video meeting, Smith told his colleagues it wasn’t his job to negotiate with the SALT Caucus Republicans, but the speaker’s job, as NBC News previously reported. Smith explained that his bill reflects the will of his committee, not of the SALT Caucus, the sources said. 

“Someone should go ask the speaker how he would classify this as a negotiation when his own chair says: ‘I don’t have to negotiate with anybody, I just have to negotiate with my committee,’” Lawler told reporters. “His chair should be reminded that he wouldn’t have a f—ing gavel without the members of the SALT Caucus.”

The group is declining to publicly state its demands, other than wanting to raise the cap higher than the current proposal. Behind the scenes, though, multiple GOP sources said the group is pushing for a $40,000 cap for individuals and $80,000 cap for couples. But that would be expensive and steer funds away from tax policies with broader GOP support, both in the House and the Senate.

As negotiations drag on, SALT members have tried to draw more attention to their pet issue by handing out packets of salt outside the speaker’s office and wearing salt shaker pins that say: “Feelin’ Salty.”

“We’re going to continue to talk with the speaker, especially,” LaLota said. “Unfortunately, the Ways and Means Committee has refused to really negotiate with us in good faith. We’re discussing these matters with the speaker.”

It’s an uncomfortable situation for just about all Republicans involved. None of them wants to be seen as standing in the way of Trump’s agenda. But SALT is such a defining issue in their districts — a reason some of their predecessors lost re-election after imposing the $10,000 cap — that they could pay a political price if voters think they accepted a half-baked deal. Stefanik and Lawler are also eyeing runs for governor in New York, making it even more politically imperative to act.

LaLota said he isn’t concerned about the pushback outside Long Island. “I’m here to make my constituents happy,” he said just off the House floor. “That’s my priority.”

In another sign that GOP leaders are peeling off key votes, Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., who also represents a high-tax area, said he supports the $30,000 offer — and encouraged colleagues to be willing to compromise.

“They’re fighting for their constituents. I understand they have some very high taxes. So do we in New Jersey. I’m trying to be mindful of actually getting this big, beautiful bill done, and one of the ways is we’re all going to have to give in a little bit,” he said.

“So we have folks from red states that don’t want to do a penny, don’t even want to do the $10,000 that was there. We’ve got folks from other states that want $100,000 or $200,000. Neither extreme, in my mind, is where we’re going to go,” he added. “It’s going to be somewhere in between.

The SALT fight has also created tensions between more moderate Republicans and the far right of the conference.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., complained about the SALT push from her colleagues and singled out Lawler on social media, saying he “usually isn’t the guy in the conference with the best ideas.”

Lawler hit back at Greene on X, saying “shockingly, the ‘Jewish Space Laser’ lady once again doesn’t have a clue what she is talking about.”

He later told reporters he is not going to change his mind just “because Marjorie Taylor Greene throws a hissy fit.”

Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born Harvard scientist, has been charged with smuggling biological material into the United States — an escalation in a case that has already raised legal and civil rights questions over her detention.

Federal prosecutors allege that Petrova, 30, violated U.S. customs law by failing to declare preserved frog embryos in her luggage when she arrived at Boston Logan International Airport on Feb. 16 from Paris. She now faces a charge of smuggling goods into the United States.

According to a criminal complaint filed under seal this week and made public on Wednesday, a CBP canine alerted officers to Petrova’s duffle bag, which was later searched. Officers found clawed frog embryos, paraffin slides and other samples.

When first questioned, Petrova “denied carrying any biological material,” the affidavit says. After being shown a message from her phone advising her to “make sure you get the permission etc. like that link I sent to leon-/group chat about frog embryos because TSA went through my bags at customs in Boston,” she acknowledged the samples. Asked whether she knew they had to be declared, she responded that she “was not sure.”

Petrova described the incident differently.

“They asked if I have any biological samples in my luggage. I said yes,” she previously told NBC News from detention in Louisiana. She described confusion over the customs procedures and a lengthy interrogation by Customs and Border Protection officers.

“Nobody knew what was happening to me. I didn’t have any contact, not to my lawyer, not to Leon, not to anybody,” she said, referring to Dr. Leon Peshkin, a principal research scientist at Harvard’s Department of Systems Biology and her manager and mentor. “And the next day, they didn’t say what would happen. I was waiting in a cell.”

The document notes that Petrova told Customs and Border Patrol officers that she had protested against the Russian Federation and expressed fear about returning. She asked to go to France, where she held a valid Schengen visa, but was instead later taken into ICE custody where she remains detained at Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana.

During a habeas hearing Tuesday in Vermont federal court, U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss questioned the legality of the government’s actions. “Where does a Customs and Border Patrol officer have the authority on his or her own to revoke a visa?” she asked. “I don’t see anything about a customs violation.”

Petrova’s attorney, Gregory Romanovsky, argued that the government acted beyond its authority. “There is no corresponding ground of inadmissibility,” he said. “You cannot be found inadmissible because of the customs violation.”

“She was willing to go to Paris, but the government did not let her,” Romanovsky added.

Reiss scheduled a tentative bail hearing for May 28 and asked for further briefing on whether the court has jurisdiction to release Petrova.

The drummer of Texas rock band Lord Buffalo was removed from a flight headed to Europe and detained by immigration authorities on Monday, the band said in social media posts on Wednesday.

Yamal Said was “forcibly removed from our flight to Europe by Customs and Border Patrol” at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on Monday, Lord Buffalo, the Austin, Texas, band said in the social media posts. 

Said is a Mexican citizen and, as a green card holder, is a lawful permanent resident of the United States, according to the band. 

“He has not been released, and we have been unable to contact him,” the band wrote. “We are currently working with an immigration lawyer to find out more information and to attempt to secure his release.”

Said’s detention prompted the band to cancel its upcoming European tour. “We are heartbroken,” the band wrote.

“We are devastated to cancel this tour, but we are focusing all of our energy and resources on Yamal’s safety and freedom,” the post said. “We are hopeful that this is a temporary setback and that it could be safe for us to reschedule this tour in the future.”

The band said in an update to its post on Wednesday afternoon that Said had secured legal representation and “we are waiting to hear what comes next.”

“We want to reiterate that we truly don’t know what’s going on,” the band wrote. “We have more questions than answers, but we will keep you posted as much as we can.”

The Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Patrol did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.

Lord Buffalo also did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the social media posts.