Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou bring you up to date on the ceasefire deal seeking to end the Gaza War. President Trump delivers ironclad guarantees preventing Israel from abandoning the ceasefire, with U.S. officials revealing a pivotal U.S.-led military task force monitoring violations—exposing the moral bankruptcy of those who claimed the U.S. could not control Israel. Similarly, food aid will now flow into Gaza, belying Israelis who kept claiming they were not keeping it out.

Also: New York AG Letitia James faces bank fraud charges, judges shield Chicago journalists and protesters from DHS riot weapons, New York City's mayoral race tightens post-Adams' exit, and Peru's Congress impeaches President Dina Boluarte.

• How Trump Leaned on Israel: President Trump issued personal guarantees securing the Gaza deal, establishing a 200-soldier U.S.-led task force with Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and UAE officers to monitor compliance. IDF withdrawal begins at noon local time and Hamas' hostage release—20 alive—will occur Monday, as eyes turn to two questions. Who will rule Gaza? How low will Israel’s reputation sink when the world gets to see the full scope of its genocide?

• Indictment Letitia James: A Virginia grand jury charges NY AG James with bank fraud and false statements for claiming her $137,000 Norfolk home as a secondary residence, actually an investment yielding $19,000 in interest savings. This second high-profile foe indictment in weeks follows Comey's charges, with probes into Schiff and Cook amid Trump's retribution push.

• Judge Tells ICE To Stop Brutalizing Journalists: Judge Ellis temporarily bans DHS agents from targeting journalists or protesters with riot weapons at ICE sites, requiring two audible warnings and visible IDs unless undercover. Force, arrests, or dispersal apply only with probable cause unrelated to orders, protecting First Amendment amid "extreme brutality" claims.

• Cuomo Losing By Less: Quinnipiac's October 3-7 survey shows Mamdani leading 46-33% over Cuomo, gaining no new ground but sustaining enthusiasm post-Adams' September dropout. Cuomo absorbs most ex-Mayor Adams support, up 10 points in four-way race with Sliwa at 15%, margins at ±3.9%. Mamdani, sole favorably viewed, eyes debates without hitting 50%.

• Peru President's Impeached: Congress ousts Dina Boluarte 122-0, citing moral incapacity after Wednesday's Lima cumbia concert machine-gun attack wounds four band members. Extortion explodes to 2,000 monthly cases, killing bus drivers and bombing businesses, dooming her 2-4% approval despite emergency decrees. Protesters rally outside Ecuador embassy on asylum rumors; Congress president assumes interim role until April elections.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou, dissect the shocking new deal for Gaza, which appears to hand Hamas a major win over Israel, as well as other stories you need to know about.

• Gaza Deal: Brokered by a Trump increasingly disgusted by Netanyahu, Israel and Hamas negotiate a hostage-prisoner swap that seems to favor the Palestinians, exchanging 20 Israeli captives for 250 life-sentence Palestinians and 1,700 jailed Gazans,. Netanyahu convenes his cabinet today to ratify the deal, risking his fragile coalition. Israel is required to withdraw and finally allow aid—an admission the Jewish state was blocking it—while Hamas still hasn’t agreed to disarm. Palestinians cling to fragile hope, awakening to news of potential truce, even as Trump makes clear Israel’s attack against Qatar pushed Trump to pressure the Israelis to make peace.

• Americans Like Deportations, But Not These Deportations: It’s not what, it’s how. Trump's mass deportation campaign deploys agents to snag immigrants at courthouses and streets, flying them to unfamiliar nations and stripping humanitarian shields, sparking clashes with activists—and angering American voters. A New York Times/Siena poll finds 54% of voters support removals of undocumented arrivals, but 53% decry the process as unfair, ensnaring U.S. citizens, parents of American kids, and vendors in a spectacle of force across Chicago and D.C.

• Corrupt Homan Gets to Keep His Bribe: Echoing Wreckless Eric’s old song, “Take the Kash,” border czar Tom Homan is being allowed to keep $50,000 he collected from FBI undercover agents in a corruption probe—delivered in a Cava bag during a 2024 taped meet—leaving the "buy money" untraced and undeclared. AG Pam Bondi dodges Senate queries, as experts warn commingled funds evade forfeiture, complicating IRS tax pursuits or ethics probes in a Justice Department shielding insiders.

• Sortor Spins His Portland Arrest: Fox News regular Nick Sortor, with 1 million X followers, faces disorderly conduct charges after police swarm a brawl outside Portland's ICE building Thursday night, cuffing him alongside two others amid Antifa clashes. Released Friday, a wildly spinning Sortor blasts Portland PD as "corrupt" puppets of "violent Antifa thugs" on X, vowing the incident spotlights street terror instead of the far more likely possibility that the cops abuse protesters.

• Pentagon Kirk Purge: The Defense Department opens investigations into nearly 300 personnel for online insults about Charlie Kirk, under SecDef Pete Hegseth's edict branding Kirk critics as unfit for service. Disciplinary ripples spread, echoing Hegseth's purge threats against generals opposing Trump's "regressive" military overhauls, while Trumps decries mockery as "domestic terrorism" celebration. This loyalty litmus test subverts constitutional norms.

• Kirk Statue Frenzy: Republicans rally to put up Charlie Kirk monuments all over the place, from Capitol statues to state university mandates in Oklahoma and Texas, with New College of Florida unveiling an AI-rendered effigy amid artist bids. This push—reminiscent of Lincoln!—revives clashes over who merits commemoration in public spaces.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou look at the Trump administration's plan to mint a $1 coin with the president's image, his messaging to furloughed government workers that they may forfeit back pay, Colorado's conversion therapy ban, and CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis demotion of the acting general counsel—a career lawyer—and assuming the role himself.

• Trump $1 Coin Controversy: The Treasury Department defends minting a $1 commemorative coin bearing President Trump's image for the nation's 250th birthday, citing the 2020 Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act to override a 1866 law prohibiting living portraits on currency and quelling monarchic vibes. Draft designs show Trump's profile dominating the obverse, with the reverse side showcasing him fist-pumping before the American flag under "Fight, Fight, Fight.” This echoes Trump's past currency clashes, like delaying Harriet Tubman's $20 bill.

• Back Pay Dispute: President Trump says that furloughed federal workers—nearly 750,000 affected—might not receive back pay post-shutdown, contradicting the 2019 Government Employee Fair Treatment Act he signed and the Office of Personnel Management's explicit guidance promising retroactive compensation. A circulating White House memo argues that only essential employees like military and air traffic controllers qualify outright, requiring congressional approval for others, fueling union leaders' cries of legal misinterpretation and threats of lawsuits as the impasse hits day seven.

• Conversion Therapy: The Supreme Court's conservative majority signals opposition to Colorado's 2019 ban on conversion therapy for minors, viewing it as viewpoint-discriminating speech regulation during oral arguments in Chiles v. Salazar, where therapist Kaley Chiles claims First Amendment violations in her faith-based talk therapy. Justices like Alito and Roberts probe the state's conduct-versus-speech distinction, drawing parallels to 2018 anti-abortion center rulings and recent gender care bans, potentially invalidating similar prohibitions in over 20 states while liberals like Jackson question inconsistent deference. Pro

• CIA Deputy Director's Power Grab: Michael Ellis abruptly demotes the acting general counsel—an unnamed career lawyer serving since January—and installs himself in the role, retaining his No. 2 position and prompting ethics red flags over inherent conflicts in self-advising on agency actions. This "bizarre" arrangement, approved by Director John Ratcliffe, unfolds amid Trump's nomination of Joshua Simmons for permanent counsel, whose Senate hearing looms Wednesday, while Ellis— a 40-year-old Yale Law alum and Trump loyalist—navigates past scandals like Nunes' surveillance briefings and Bolton memoir battles. Current and former officials voice alarms at the consolidation, violating professional conduct rules against self-interest judgments, as the demoted lawyer takes brief vacation.