>> greg: we are out of time! thanks to tommy, julie, kat, tyrus, our studio audience. i'm greg gutfeld, and i love you, america. >> trace: good evening. i'm trace gallagher. it's 11:00 p.m. on the

east coast, 8:00 here in los angeles, and this is america's late news, "fox news @ night." breaking tonight, police now believe they have a killer in custody, saying that 22-year-old laken riley, a nursing student at the university of georgia, was murdered by a 26-year-old who is not a citizen of the united states, and very well might be from venezuela. though we do not know if he belongs to one of the venezuelan gangs that had been wreaking havoc across the country. but we do know that president biden gave 500,000 venezuelans protected status, and work permits. the senior national correspondent kevin corke is live in d.c. with late-breaking details on this. good evening. >> good evening to you. this story is obvious they both heartbreaking and infuriating in so many ways. tonight the university of georgia police have charged a non-u.s. citizen who goes by the name of jose antonio ibarra with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated

assault, false improvement, kidnapping, hindering on 911 call, and concealing the death of another in the death of laken riley. she's a nursing student found dead near a lake on campus yesterday after she failed to return home from a morning jog. georgia police say the evidence in this case is robust thanks to an extensive campus security camera system. >> right now i don't know his full status, but he is not a resident. he has an apartment here in athens, but as far as undocumented, i'm not sure and that hasn't been confirmed. i just know he's not a citizen of the united states. >> there is reporting that he may be from venezuela. but they are trying to sort out his status as the investigation continues tonight. for now, back to you. >> trace: will go back to you if you get more information. let's bring in gabriel in their

own along with criminal defense attorney and federal litigator vik bajaj. thanks for coming on. do you first. i want to put this up because university of georgia police said this about the evidence. watch, and i will get your response. >> the evidence is robust, supported by key input from the community, physical evidence, and expert police work. importantly, we were assisted by video footage from our campus security cameras network, which have proven vital in many cases. >> trace: it feels like the evidence is robust. that's a good sign, vik. you go back to 2015 and the kate sign the case when she was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant, and he was acquitted because california must've that case along the way. what you think about the evidence, vik? >> i think it is very simple and leads to a clear theory.

this was a crime of passion, a criminally motivated passionate crime where an individual could not control his lewd and lascivious desires. we have heard from the chief of police at the university of georgia talking about witness statements, he called it community input and he also talked about other elements. enclosed cameras there with that really robust, as he called it, surveillance system. it is an uncontrollable, dangerous individual, and the question everyone is now asking is, hey, this is not the last -- god rest her soul and her family that has to go through it, but unfortunately we may be hearing about this again. understand, trace, in the criminal world, this is what we look at. do you have connections to the community, a reason to be law-abiding? if that component is missing, a crucial factor which could ensure the safety of our community is no longer with us. >> trace: it's a very good

point. to you now, because we see the video all the time, the cops beaten in times square, the mopeds, people being dragged, there while it's being stolen. these venezuelan gangs, and we don't know if that person is part of it, have been wreaking havoc across the country. but if this person is part of that, and he's from venezuela, it changes this whole border crisis narrative, slips and on its head. >> particularly about venezuelan policies, about 350,000 venezuelans came over the border last year, and only about 800 of them were actually deported. that is one of the lowest ratios for any country of origin that we have seen here, and it is part of president biden's strategy towards venezuela. he is giving them sanctions relief, he tried to release flights to venezuela without much cooperation for the regime, so what we are seeing here is this pattern. a story earlier in chicago, as well, from venezuelans attacking

individuals on the subway. americans aren't going to stand for it, and the president that he heads into the election will see a political price here. >> trace: i want a quick answer on this, is this the biggest case you have heard of since the case almost ten years ago, nine years ago now? >> regarding these factors of immigration, undocumented individuals and gratuitous violence, absolutely yes. i hope and pray to god it is the last. >> trace: to you, gabriel, the same question. is this a big case and a game changer as far as this whole debate goes? >> the system failed laken and it'll fail someone else if we don't stop this. >> trace: thank you both. we appreciate it. political reaction now. bringing in fox news contributor steve hilton, and we thank you both are coming on here. katie pavlich wrote the following. she wrote this, by the way, in july of 2015.

"the men identified, talking about kate, didn't know mike slipped through the cracks. he was allowed to stay under the protection of liberals think you're a city policies backed by a open border administration." he was deported five times before he was finally acquitted. and there were so many things that worked in his favor because of the sanctuary status. do you think this is happening now to politically affect president biden? sorry, steve. go ahead, madison. >> and well enough be enough? we look across the country and see what's happening. it is technically worse today than ten years ago. the reality is democrats and republicans should have addressed this issue decades ago, and i we are seeing the impact, the joe biden is certainly to blame when it comes to what's happened over the past three years. 7.2 million people have come across our border. this is an unsustainable number. a lot of great people have come

with legitimate asylum claims. for every person who comes across that is a criminal, who we not able to vet as a result of these reckless policies, ending catch and release right away and stopping construction of the border wall, and we are losing lives as a result. this is unacceptable and i pray for what her family and what they're going through right now. to lose a loved one is a very difficult thing. >> trace: steve, when kate steinle was killed back in 2015, donald trump tweeted, "build the wall." he became a movement. kate steinle's killer came back over the border, and he ends by saying build the wall, it created a movement back then, steve. and it seems like there's going to be repercussions about this. what do you think? >> you took the words right out of my mouth. the first thing i thought of, as many people did when we saw the details of this appalling case, was kate steinle. 2015, that case. donald trump elected the

following year. and this absolutely irresponsible, reckless open border policy at the heart of his pitch to the country. i think you are seeing that again, and that is why the white house is in a panic. who knows what's going happen with this particular case? the fact is, when you allow millions of unvetted people across the border, this is what's going happen, and you have political accountability for that. and it's going to come for joe biden. >> trace: you know, madison, as well as i know, president biden will blame this on the republicans, but could look with that. that's not going to carry a lot of heft. >> and it's an election year they want to change the narrative, that you look back immediately after taking office, the ended remain in mexico, they restarted catch and release. he halted construction, sold off materials we had already purchased with our taxpayer dollars for $0.03 on the dollar,

and predicted the world that our border is open, welcoming criminals to come across. we need to fix the negation system in the first step is securing the border, and having congress passed legitimate legislation. because right now, even doubling the amount of judges we have on immigration cases, we would be lucky if we were to get to the court backlog by 2032. this is unacceptable. >> trace: i want to get your comment on this, steve. the administration has allowed 500,000 illegal venezuelans to stay and work here. >> yes, and these people who are unvetted should not be here in the first place. the fact that they are throwing it open to millions, 500,000 venezuelans but all the other countries, and the crimes being committed across the country, it's an absolute scandal. they shouldn't be here. this shouldn't be happening. it is clearly the responsibility of joe biden who announced he wanted a surge at the border, and he's put in place the policies bring that surge, and

now we are. >> trace: he did say bring 'em on. we appreciate your time. the illegal crossings now surging at the california border, and fox news cameras were on the ground new san diego to capture a wave of mass migrant releases by the border patrol. matt finn, live with those details tonight. good evening. >> one of our fox news cameras new san diego today captured border patrol mass-releasing an estimated 200 migrants right onto the streets. most of those migrants were headed over to a nongovernment charity organization that assists them in getting to the e next destination somewhere in the united states. >> [speaking spanish] going to new york. >> atlanta. >> new jersey. >> chicago. >> new york. >> the mass release in southern california today came just hours before governor newsom was one of the few governors set to meet with

president biden. fox news digital contacted newsom about today's mass release, and his office blamed republicans, writing in part, "when it comes to border security, republicans in congress have done nothing but create chaos and sabotage any attempts at progress." fox news caught up with the mayor of el cajon, california. the mayor and republican candidate for congress tells us he is bracing because his town will become a designated drop-off center next week for migrants, and he is expecting up to 1,000 a day. >> all our centers at capacity. our hospitals are at capacity. our homeless shelters are at capacity. and you are going to add a lot more burden to it. so i'm concerned. >> president biden has reportedly been considering taking executive action all in all this illegal immigration, trace. >> trace: that's a big part of the story, matt. it's great to have you on the show, darrell fulton. you look at what's going on around the country in the bus coming off, as they were being dropped off in san diego, we asked them, where they going?

here's what they said. watch. >> going to new york. >> atlanta. >> new jersey. >> chicago. >> new york. >> trace: and new york is one of the destinations, which means they are coming your way, more of them coming your way, and they keep crossing and keep crossing. your thoughts? >> actually, because they are already here, we need to focus on what we are going to do. how we are going to handle situations and programs as necessary. as organizations we have out in harlem, silent voices united, others that can help. we can't be too focused on them coming over. the fact that they are here, we need to find how to deal with it. >> trace: what is the something? that's the whole question here. what is the something? you are giving away free cash and food and it is costing the

city of new york hundreds of millions of dollars to take care of these people, and they simply do not have the resources. people in harlem and in different areas are bearing the brunt. >> that may be the case, that we have to come together as a community, the people in power need to get together with the community and we need to come both ideas on how to deal with this crisis. we are focusing too mention how they're getting here and why they are here instead of trying to find a solution on dealing with the matter at hand. >> trace: so as far as solutions, do you think there is a remedy or a fix here? >> absolutely. we just have to get together with the people in authority. we are pointing too many fingers about why this is happening. >> trace: where should the fingers be pointed? >> at the people in authority. nevertheless, we should not be blaming them so much on that they are here, but how to remedy the matter. >> trace: how not to blame, if you've gone to stop the problem? how do you not blame somebody

for the problem? the border has been wide open for three and half years, and somebody has got to take the blame for that. >> absolutely. people are taking the blame but we are focusing too much on blaming that they are here instead of trying to find a solution. i think we should be mindful of that. >> trace: mr. fulton, thank you for your time. we very much appreciate it. fulton county district attorney fani willis and the prosecutor she hired to manage the election interference case against former president trump now facing new concerns that their personal relationship did not begin until early 2022. it turns out there are new cell phone records that could disprove that. ashley strohmier is live with those details. good evening. >> hi, trace. the new filings by donald trump's defense team went through a major mention to the case if the judge decides to admit the cell phone data into evidence. follow along with this -- the data suggests the fulton county defense attorney, fani willis, and the prosecutor she hired to take on trump, nathan wade,

began their romantic relationship earlier than they both claimed in court last week. so willis and wade said the relationship started in 2022, and therefore had no bearing on wade's hiring in 2021. the data, however, shows a lot of munication between the pair, according to the filing, 2,000 voice calls in just under 12,000 text messages exchanged over an 11-month period in 2021, and most of those calls were made and evening hours. it also appears to show that wade visited willis' condo at least 35 times before he was hired. wade said he did not visit the condo more than ten times. the state responded late tonight saying, if the cell phone data is allowed into evidence, they should have a chance to offer contradicting evidence, which would show that willis was not home at the relevant dates and times. so this really is giving, at the crux of the claims, that willis benefited financially from

hiring wade and should be disqualified. it will be pretty interesting to see what the judge ultimately decides to do. >> trace: getting a bit more difficult to believe. actually, thank you. let's bring in seattle talk radio host and the author of "what's killing america," jason rantz, and judicial watch president tom fenton. i want to play with nathan wade said on the stand on february 15th, and then we will move on. >> when i say frequent, do you think prior to november 1st of 2021 you were at the condo more than ten times? >> no, sir. >> so less than ten times? >> yes, sir. >> so the phone records of like you were making phone calls from the same location as the condo before november 1st of 2021, and it was on multiple occasions, the phone records would be wrong? >> if the phone records reflected that, yes, sir, they'd be wrong. >> trace: of the phone records now say, in the first 11 months of 2021, he apparently was in that condo 35 times.

not ten times. and then he keeps saying, no, i don't believe those lying phone records. >> one of them, he leaves the condo or leaves the area, gets home, and then texts fani willis at 4:00 in the morning or something like that. it is powerful circumstantial evidence that we just saw perjury on the screen. to me, this is now frankly a criminal case, and the court obviously has the opportunity to remove them from the case, maybe throw out the prosecution entirely. but they have got some criminal liability here. it is increasingly clear. >> trace: i think that is a fair point, and you talk to people who know this case and they keep saying, you know the judge is not going to do anything to them. what do you do with all this evidence? what happens then? >> it plays into the narrative coming on the trump team. this is very clearly driven by

politics and a political vendetta. they are out to get him. i don't know anyone who can trust this process given the fact that we have so far. anyone who watched any of that testimony, you just watch an episode of law and order any of a better sense of where things are going. when you are giving three specific questions about number of times he might have been somewhere, or phone records, you are kind of foreshadowing the fact that you have the data. for them to sit there and push back is either a complete fabrication from the trump team, which i sincerely doubt in this case, or they are operating under the facts, to your point, nothing will get done and they don't really care. >> trace: we move on now to the bidens in the tony bobulinski mess. when this fell apart, we said the case is over. guy benson writes, even if you fully discard all of alexander smirnov's claims, the bank records show huge payments filling into multiple accounts from overseas sources via numerous shell corporations. so does the consistent and

unchanged testimony of various business associates including devon archer and especially tony bobulinski. but, tom fenton, if you don't have a written check from xi jinping to joe biden, there is no crime here. >> well, it is circumstantial evidence, and also direct evidence. when you have witnesses testify who said he was involved in the business, and i also see them take steps to cover up that involvement, that's pretty powerful testimony. he's a veteran, an honest guy, and they try to destroy his credibility. maybe give the justice department a few more weeks and they will figure out a reason to arrest him, too. >> trace: if you don't have a smoking gun, they are not going to believe you. they are going to spin it out. >> let's use the democrat standards against donald trump, because they are rehashing russiagate. we have some documents and data. we can accept dots, they have literally nothing and they are

telling us, vladimir putin must have something on donald trump. using their own standards, biden is guilty as hell. >> trace: it is laughable. thank you both. we are live on the ground in south carolina ahead of the republican primary just hours away. and later, an exclusive look on board and navy strike group in the red sea. mike tobin says, quoting here, "the images you will see and the sounds you hear make top gun look like a b movie." in the nightcap, research company ssrs tracking america's favorite athletes for decades. you should be this year? the top spot has been held by people like michael jordan, tom brady, tiger woods. he was america's favorite athlete right now? don't look it up. x and instagram, let us know. we will be the best responses in the nightcap coming up. mr. clean magic eraser powers through tough messes. so it makes it look like i spent hours cleaning, and you know i didn't. it makes my running shoe look like new!

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♪ ♪ >> trace: republican primary voters in south carolina will start heading to the polls and just hours, and the stakes cannot be higher for homegrown candidate nikki haley in her struggle to put a dent in former president trump's nomination momentum. alexandria hoff is live in columbia, south carolina, with more on tomorrow's big contest. good evening. >> good evening, trace. nikki haley has never lost an election here in her home state, and former president trump is promising to make it a first tomorrow. despite minimal spending here in south carolina, and a little physically spent here, the polls have consistently been on trump's side. he held a get out the vote event earlier today in rock hill, and just about an hour ago, wrapped up rocks at the black conservative federation honors gala. remarks lasted about an hour and half and it's clear he's already

looking beyond this race to the one against president biden, but he did say this. >> we will see how that all turns out, that we have a big deal tomorrow, and it is so important that everybody get out and vote, because we want to enact by big margins. the big day is november 5th. >> south carolina is a win or take all state. neither is close to the 12-15 needed to enact the nomination but trump could get there quickly. haley also held events today, when in mount pleasant, and she has kept a demanding schedule of stops while vowing to stay in the race beyond her home state, hoping for at least a competitive showing tomorrow. >> we want to go and make sure we are competitive they are. this is not about who should be the nominee. this is about who should be the nominee that can win a general election. because nothing gets fixed if we lose. >> so south carolina's primary is open, anybody who didn't vote

in the democratic primary early this month is able to cast a ballot tomorrow. and former president trump has been highly critical of nikki haley for saying she welcomes all voters. trace? >> trace: alexandria hoff live for us in columbia. thank you. the chicago school board just voted to remove uniformed police officers from schools in a city already beset by gun violence and a growing migrant crime crisis. matt finn back with that story. >> the chicago board of education voted to remove the last of uniformed police officers in 39 city schools, arguing in part that the money could be better spent. some students told the school board the officers scare them, and supporters of the move claimed the uniform chicago police officers targeted minorities and did not make schools safer. opponents say the officers did indeed improve safety at the schools and ultimately individual schools should have been able to decide whether they want an officer on site. one mother tells fox news that there are parents who are not

happy with this decision. >> i constantly say my prayers as i drop off my children, and it's very disappointing. it is unfortunate, because not everyone is in agreement to this result. >> the school board says it is in favor of a new whole school safety policy which in part uses security officers and metal detectors, trace. >> trace: let's bring in california have policy julie hamel, and chino valley sony shock, and pete peterson that's a good one, i like putting that up there. do you first, the kids are literally saying the cops scare us so we have to take them off campus. it really seems like when we sensing the kids can decide who can be here and who's not? >> this is really upsetting to me, because chicago is not a safe city, and the schools are a safe space for kids and teachers. they are softening this target

and taking away a sense of security from people who need it. it's not a safe place to be. >> they have fought and fought to get these officers in these schools, to take care of their kids, and now they are like, get them out, because the kids don't like them. >> one of the things we teach our future policymakers at pepperdine's reflexive policy is bad policy. after the death of george floyd, you saw a number of school districts make this decision to defund the police in the schools, and what chicago is doing flies in the face of what a number of school districts who originally defunded the police are now putting the police back. denver, their school district is put police back in the schools a couple months ago. pomona unified, just a few miles away from here, did the same thing. it really comes from parents that are coming back to the school board and saying we need our kids to be safe in the schools. so we see this break once again between school districts and

parents. and parents oftentimes begging the schools to put the police officers back. >> trace: you got to believe at some point down the road they will beg again to put those police officers back. a big victory for two macula valley school district tonight. a judge ruled that the schools are prohibited from teaching critical race theory, and they affirmed that parents must be notified if their child is changing gender. robert tyler, quoting here, "this is a win for common sense, parents, and the safety of students." and you believe that same thing, correct? >> absolutely. this is a we are willing to die on. the political cartel's addenda is coming before their eyes, because it's not unconstitutional fiscal board members to put policies in place to protect students. they are trying to continue to fight us, but we are going to win. we have a lot of large victories around here to make sure that our kids are safe and protected. >> trace: and if you are an attorney like julie hamill, sometimes the skeptics in california think there is no way

a judge -- no possible way in california. and it here we are. >> it was the most refreshing judicial decision i've read in a very long time, but on that note, i want to point attention to the fact that this is part of a widespread strategy by the teachers union in california. it wasn't just -- this was a lawsuit brought by teachers on behalf of the teachers union, and what they are also doing is trying to recall three of those board members. one of them has already been bullied out of town and move to texas. they are doing this up and down the state. anytime anyone disrupt their control and their power, they go at them full bore with l'affaire, political attacks, all sorts of things, as sonja will knows. >> trace: i want to put this up, because i thought it was fascinating. in san francisco there's a hardware store, and they want to now guide people around the store. you can't just walk in and shop. watch. >> we weren't really given a choice. we have to keep our employees safe and customer safe. when they are coming into do

snatch and grabs, that was the final straw. >> trace: if i can't walk into hardware store, i'm not walking in there. it was someone walking me around me around. >> this is absolutely ridiculous. at the next election they better fill these people out that put them in this position, because they are creating an environment where you can't even go shopping without an escort, that we have people filtering in from our border causing more chaos. it is chaotic. >> trace: i want to get your take on this, pete, because i know you're a college administrator. the death of laken riley, a nursing student, university of georgia, killed allegedly by 26-year-old illegal immigrant, likely from venezuela. this is going to change the loan narrative. we saw this with kate steinle in this state. this is going to be a big story in the next week. >> it really is. and this is the great fear that any college administrator has. at pepperdine we had four young women killed in a traffic accident on pch just a few months ago, but to see something

like this, where you know this person, the murderer, did not belong in this country, this is a real policy failure that has resulted in the death of this student. and it really is going to have reverberations throughout that community in athens, georgia, but also across the south, i'm sure. >> trace: pete, sonja, julie, thank you. veteran war correspondent mike tobin takes us to the danger zone, literally, on board the u.s. aircraft carrier taking the site to the houthi rebels, next. ♪ every sign ♪ ♪ just seems unclear ♪ ♪ ♪ and i, ♪ ♪ i wish i was here ♪

♪ ♪ >> trace: the political satire website come of the babylon bee, is asking the supreme court to uphold recently passed laws in florida and texas that banned the alleged censorship of conservative viewpoints by social media companies. let's begin board certified medical doctor houman hemmati, babylon the ceo seth dillon, and first liberty institute senior counsel jeremy dice.

gentlemen, thank you for coming on. the babylon be and not to be are asking the supreme court to uphold laws banning social media censorship, quoting here, "the two sites argued that major social media platforms like facebook and youtube assert the unlimited and unilateral right to censor, deplatform, shadow ban disfavored users, content, and viewpoints. to you, seth dillon, what is it exactly that you are looking for? what is the cause? >> i would like to see an end to viewpoint discrimination on these platforms. they originally sold themselves to us as platforms of free expression without barriers. that is a direct quote from twitter's old mission statement. that's how they position themselves, that you run into all these barriers. we have been censored for hateful conduct and misinformation when really it is just the content of the speech that they don't like. they built their ideology into the terms of service and

enforced it as if it is objective and fair when it is really not. it comes down on one side and affects one side of the equation. so i would like to see an end to viewpoint's cremation. >> trace: i think it's a fair ask. you mention twitter, first liberty press release, "nowhere in twitter, facebook, or instagram's user agreements will one find a provision announcing their standards will be applied one way for conservatives and another way for everyone else. systematically inconsistent censorship under cover of supposedly neutral standards is dishonesty plain and simple." jeremy, this is exactly where you come in. we learned a lot about this in the twitter files. >> we have got a great tradition in this country of having a form for free speech really almost everywhere you go, except if you happen to go on social media. if social media companies want to be able to censor viewpoints they don't like, like seth was talking about, they should at least be up front about that until you they're going to do

that very thing. the fact that they don't tell you that and then go about censoring speech that they don't like, particularly religious speech, it seems, is a real sincere problem we have in this country. i am eager for the supreme court to hear these arguments, over two laws florida and texas have passed that are just trying to say, look, be up front with everybody and apply these policies fairly. that seems to be the american way. >> trace: you are a doctor by trade, but you were a big advocate of fighting for free speech and to limit and get rid of censorship. it worked. listen, there was a lot of things that we learned in covid and beyond. >> there was, trace. the problem with censorship when it came to health care decisions during the pandemic was that people, as i've said before many times, began to believe they are the only person that shares that viewpoint. people began to say, i'm the only person that thinks children as young as six months old maybe shouldn't get the vaccine

because there isn't evidence. i don't see anyone else saying it. because anyone else saying it was censored, and it creates the self-fulfilling the ocean and gets people to actually believe that they are crazy. it is gaslighting, almost come of yourself, and it worked to a great degree. a lot of doctors completely change their viewpoints because they thought they were absolutely alone and shifted their recommendations against their own best judgment. when that happens, you create harm. and that was totally inappropriate. >> trace: seth, you've talked about this, that a couple of states are getting this right and maybe we need to follow that path. >> yeah, texas -- i like the texas law and the florida law. they are trying to eliminate viewpoint discrimination by saying this needs to be done fairly, and i agree. censorship, one of the main problems with censorship is that it prevents debate, it prevents you from getting to the truth but actually having a battle of ideas play out in the public square. he shut it down and decide one side is right, covid was a great

example because he had a situation where they were saying we censor based on what we know at the time. if that's true, if knowledge changes over time, then you can't ever -- it's a knockdown argument against censorship. in any sense it when people are saying, you might find out tomorrow that you censored the wrong thing. so knowledge changing over time as an argument against censorship. >> trace: this administration has fought against religious freedom again and again. >> over and over again. if you look through social media's censorship over the last couple of years, you'll find everyone from john piper to franklin graham to seth dillon being censored on social media for things they've said from a religious point of view. that goes, again, against everything this country has stood for. we have long been a country that has promoted the idea that more speeches better than less speech. so why social media companies continue to push against that notion, i just don't understand. >> trace: we have said robust debate, conformity is the enemy of science and a lot of things.

wrap us up, 15 seconds. >> science happens, as seth was saying, only through debates. we have to decide the challenging each other what is true and what is not. when he shut down that debate, the truth about science gets shut down and people begin to believe things that are factually wrong. >> trace: it's a very strong argument. thank you all. in a fox news exclusive tonight, we take you on board a u.s. navy carrier strike group and the red sea trying to keep crucial maritime trade flowing despite the ongoing attacks from the iran-backed houthi rebels in yemen. he is the senior correspondent mike tobin. >> and f-18 super hornet launching from the uss dwight d. eisenhower on the red sea. for the first time in decades, a u.s. carrier strike group operates from the center of the threat, while houthis fire on cargo ships and u.s. warships. >> we are in constant self-defense out here when it comes to threats that can be shot at us.

>> still, ciders go on the offensive, with the goal of degrading the houthis' ability. >> by targeting their ability to see us, we are primarily focused on their military capabilities. >> every launch off of this carrier is a launch into combat. what these sailors and pilots cannot do is get comfortable, because the houthis, despite u.s. contact, have gotten more bold, and there's no room for error. they wounded pr drones and ballistic missiles. this is the sentinel for the strike group, with layers of sailors on watch to detect and respond in seconds to the deadly threats. >> it depends what the threat is and what's coming at us that we have to react in self-defense. >> what are you ready for? >> anything they can throw our way. >> the shot for drones and

anti-ship missiles preparing to launch. today they shot three drones out of the sky. all of it with a goal as old as the navy itself, securing safe navigation for maritime trade. trace, back to you. >> trace: thank you. coming up, america's favorite athlete. who should it be this year, and why? the nightcap crew is next. ♪ ♪ crushed by a baby grand piano. you're replacing me? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ hey, jen. i need skin advice. sure. am i ready for retinol? neutrogena® retinol? yes! it evens skin tone, and smooths fine lines, with visible results in just one week. sounds like you've said that before. once or twice. neutrogena® retinol

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♪ ♪ >> trace: we are back with the nightcap crew. kevin corke, ashley strohmier, matt finn, jason rantz, julie hamill, sonya shaw, dr. houman hemmati. the top athlete spots have been held by people like michael jordan, tom brady, tiger woods, it goes on. so this year they picked somebody, and not who i thought. do you think is america's favorite athlete this year and why, kevin corke? >> i still say it's got to be tom terrific. i love tom brady. i know other people say -- i love terrific tom. i think he's great. he would still be my athlete of the year. >> trace: ashley strohmier? >> i'm going patrick mahomes. i'm a chiefs fan, so i'm kind of partial, but it's hard to not like the guy because he is such

a good guy and he's good at what he does. >> trace: can't stand the cheese because i'm a chargers guy, but they are great athletes. julie hamill? >> i don't watch sports, so i asked my 9-year-old, and he said jared goff. >> trace: you tell your son that wasn't on the list. sonja shaw? >> asked my daughters, and they went with riley gaines. they love her and what she's doing. so that means the world to a lot of kids. >> trace: matt finn? >> maybe at the taylor swift effect with travis kelce. >> trace: no. that's a wrong answer, as well. houman hemmati? >> this guy still my answer. that's what i was going to say. >> trace: andy reid loved travis kelce before that fit. jason rantz, do you have a favorite athlete? >> i do, and i'm glad you went to me last. it is tukwila washington's very own backup goalkeeper for the

seattle sounders, jacob castro. tell me that's number one and ended right now. >> trace: get this, everybody was wrong. the nightcap answer was lionel messi, and the folks said brock purdy, who did really w well. travis kelce, because his girlfriend. shohei ohtani because he's an other real talent, bill slaughter, patrick mahomes, damar hamlin for what he went through and his comeback, which is also a very fair point. lionel messi? i mean, he's a great athlete, but it's the united states athletes, and a soccer player has never been picked. just wanted to put that out there. wasn't the top choice for a lot of people. thank you all for joining the nightcap. thank you for watching america's late news, "fox news @ night." i'm trace gallagher. have a good weekend. we will see you back here on monday. south carolina primary!

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