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Columbia student detained by DHS worried citizenship appointment was a trap; Inside Franklin Roosevelt’s personal rail car

Faced with violent crime, growing homelessness and a stagnant economy, New Mexico’s Democratic governor has declared a state of emergency in the state’s biggest city of Albuquerque. Dozens of members of the New Mexico National Guard are being mobilized to help city police. CBS News correspondent Jason Allen reports.

Just one day before Mohsen Mahdawi was detained by immigration agents at what he was told was his citizenship interview, the Columbia student and Palestinian activist told CBS News he thought there was a chance the long-awaited appointment could be a trap.

“It’s the first feeling of like, I’ve been waiting for this for more than a year,” Mahdawi — a native of the Israeli-occupied West Bank who has held a green card for the last decade — told CBS News on the eve of his detention. “And the other feeling is like, wait a minute. Is this a honey trap?”

Mahdawi was taken into custody after arriving at his interview in Vermont on Monday. CBS News witnessed federal agents strapping on vests shortly after he walked into the building, emerging about an hour later with Mahdawi in handcuffs.

His attorneys say he was detained under a little-used law allowing foreign nationals to be deported if they pose “serious adverse foreign policy consequences” — making him the latest student to face detention, including fellow Columbia activist and green card holder Mahmoud Khalil. Mahdawi’s legal team has petitioned a judge to release him and alleged he is being punished for protected speech, in violation of the First Amendment and his right to due process.

Shortly after Mahdawi’s detention, federal Judge William Sessions ordered the Trump administration not to deport him or move him out of the state of Vermont while Sessions reviews the case, granting a request from Mahdawi’s attorneys.

The Department of Homeland Security referred a request for comment to the State Department, which declined to comment.

Mahdawi — who says he was set to receive his bachelor’s degree in philosophy in May — co-founded Columbia’s Palestinian Student Union in 2023 along with Khalil. Mahdawi was later active in protests on Columbia’s campus against Israel’s war in Gaza, which began after Hamas’ terrorist attack launched from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023. His attorneys said in a court filing that Mahdawi “took a step back” from organizing the protests in March 2024, before the protests escalated later that spring, with demonstrators forming encampments and occupying a campus building.

The nationwide wave of pro-Palestinian campus protests was a political lightning rod, with critics arguing the demonstrations — and their leaders — were disruptive and featured antisemitic rhetoric. Columbia is one of several schools to face a freeze in federal funding by the Trump administration, which alleges the Ivy League school “failed to protect students and faculty from antisemitic violence and harassment.”

Mahdawi told CBS News last weekend he faced “threats” and “intimidation” after speaking about the protests in a late 2023 “60 Minutes” interview. Shortly after President Trump took office, he also drew the attention of Betar USA, a controversial pro-Israel group that tweeted in January that Mahdawi was on its “deport list.”

The group’s former Executive Director Ross Glick told CBS News that Betar USA has collected information on thousands of pro-Palestinian activists and passed it on to the Trump administration. He said it’s up to the government to decide whether somebody actually supports Hamas: “Once information is handed off, we’re out of the process, right? It’s ultimately up to the government, the various officials.”

Mahdawi pushed back on Betar’s criticism, saying groups like Betar “manipulate information, create lies, and attach them to the profiles of those either students or activists.” Mahdawi has vehemently denied claims of antisemitism in the Columbia University protests more generally, calling them a “false accusation.”

He also told CBS News over the weekend that if he’s detained by federal agents, “I want people to know that my compassion extended beyond the Palestinian people. My compassion is also for the Jewish people and for the Israelis as well.”

After Khalil was detained outside his Columbia-owned apartment last month, Mahdawi feared he could be ensnared next. Khalil is currently held in Louisiana, and his legal future is uncertain: An immigration judge ruled last week the Trump administration can move forward with deportation but gave his lawyers until late April to file applications for relief. His lawyers have indicated they will appeal the ruling, and they are separately suing the government for his release.

Mahdawi told CBS News he began taking precautions for his own safety, including avoiding public spaces, after Khalil’s detention. Still, when he received word of a citizenship appointment, he chose to attend — though he suspected it may lead to his detention.

“It’s an irony. The irony of destiny. And I accept the outcome,” Mahdawi said a day beforehand. “If my story will become another story for the struggle to have justice and democracy in this country, let it be.”

Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike hit the northern gate of a field hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing a medic and wounding 10 other people, the hospital’s director said. The strike that hit the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in the Muwasi area was the second on a Gaza health facility in three days, coming after the last major hospital still providing critical care in the Palestinian enclave was hit Sunday in an attack the United Nations said had left it “out of service.”

Israel’s attacks in Gaza have continued for almost a month, since the country abandoned a ceasefire with Hamas that had been negotiated by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar. Efforts to strike a new ceasefire agreement have made little apparent headway since then, though Hamas has said it is considering a new proposal from Israel this week. 

Multiple news agencies cited Hamas officials as saying Israel had offered a 45-day halt in the fighting in exchange for the release of hostages. But Hamas officials cited by multiple news agencies reiterated that their would be no ceasefire agreement without a commitment by Israel to end the war and withdraw forces from Gaza. Hamas officials were also quoted as saying Israel had included a demand for the group to agree to disarm — something one representative was quoted as saying “is not up for discussions.”

Israel’s government had not confirmed the new offer to Hamas as of Tuesday afternoon.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had sought shelter in sprawling tent camps around the Kuwaiti Field Hospital, but the wounded from Tuesday’s strike were all patients and medics, including two patients who were left in critical condition, according to hospital spokesman Saber Mohammed.

There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces on the Tuesday strike. The IDF has bombed hospitals on several occasions during the 18-month war, accusing Hamas, which has long been designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and Israel, of hiding out in them or using them for military purposes. Hamas and Gazan hospital staff have denied the allegations and accused Israel of recklessly endangering civilians and deliberately gutting the territory’s health system.

On Sunday, Israel struck the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City after ordering an evacuation. The United Nations said a child patient with a reported head injury died while being evacuated, and the strike severely damaged the emergency room, pharmacy and surrounding buildings.

Al Ahli Hospital “is out of service,” Director-General of the U.N.’s World Health Program Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet, adding: “Hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law. Attacks on health care must stop. Once again we repeat: patients, health workers and hospitals must be protected. The aid blockade must be lifted. Ceasefire.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman echoed that sentiment, saying: “Under international humanitarian law, wounded and sick, medical personnel and medical facilities, including hospitals, must be respected and protected,” according to the Reuters news agency.

The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which runs the hospital, also condemned the strike.

Israel said it targeted a Hamas command and control center within the facility, without providing evidence. Hamas denied the allegations.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 51,000 people, according to an updated toll released by the Gaza Ministry of Health on Tuesday. That includes more than 1,600 people killed since Israel ended the ceasefire and resumed its offensive last month to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the agreement. The ministry is led by medical professionals but reports to Gaza’s Hamas-run government. Its casualty count is seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts, though Israel has challenged its numbers. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up more than half of the dead. The offensive has destroyed much of the territory and displaced around 90% of its population of roughly 2 million Palestinians.

The war was sparked by the Hamas-orchestrated Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel, which killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 others taken as hostages back into Gaza. Israeli officials say 59 of those hostages remain in Gaza, 24 of whom are still believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Game show host Wink Martindale, known for “Tic-Tac-Dough,” “High Rollers” and “Gambit,” has died, according to his official Facebook page. He was 91.

“Wink was amazing, funny and talented,” the post on his Facebook page reads. “Truly a LEGEND!”

The host, born Winston Martindale, had a 74-year career, according to Nashville Publicity Group, which also confirmed Martindale’s death. A cause of death was not given.

“The entire Game Show Network family mourns the loss of Wink Martindale, the host of the original “Tic-Tac-Dough” and a true legend of television game shows,” the Game Show Network posted on social media. “His charm and presence lit up the screen for generations of viewers and he will never be forgotten.”

Martindale’s professional career began when he was just 17, according to his Hollywood Walk of Fame biography. The Jackson, Tennessee, man worked as a disc jockey for several years and even had his rendition of the spoken-word song “Deck Of Cards” chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

His television career began at WHBQ-TV as the host of “Mars Patrol,” a science-fiction program for kids, according to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which Martindale earned a star on in 2006.

While at WHBQ-TV, Martindale began hosting “Teenage Dance Party,” where he was joined by Elvis Presley in one appearance. The two were long-time friends; Presley dated Martindale’s wife, Sandy, before they married.

In 1964, Martindale landed a job hosting NBC’s “What’s This Song.” Other hosting credits include “Words and Music,” “Can You Stop This” and “Headline Chasers.” He hosted more than a dozen game shows, according to his 2000 autobiography.

He hosted “Tic-Tac-Dough” on CBS from 1978 until 1985, according to IMDB. Martindale hosted 185 episodes of NBC’s “High Rollers” between 1987 and 1988. His show “Gambit,” based on blackjack, was produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions. 

“I remember that they auditioned practically every possible host. It came down to Dick Clark and me, and this is one time I beat Dick Clark,” Martindale told the Television Academy Foundation in 2018.

He also told the Television Academy Foundation that he liked getting to meet so many different people while working on game shows.  

“I enjoy finding out what makes people tick,” he told the Television Academy Foundation. “As you play a game, you see why one person is more successful than another. But I just love working with people, and I love talking.”

In recent years, Martindale made appearances on such programs as “Most Outrageous Game Show Moments,” “The Chase” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” according to his publicist. He also appeared in commercials for Orbitz and KFC.

Martindale is survived by his wife, his daughters and his sister. 

Lindsey Reiser reports on the latest in the case of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, how tariffs are leading to a target on a major U.S. company, and what can be done to help improve the country’s most endangered rivers.

Authorities on Tuesday released a lengthy investigation report detailing some of the last emails, phone calls and internet searches by Gene Hackman‘s wife, Betsy Arakawa, in the days before her death, indicating that she was scouring for information on flu-like symptoms and breathing techniques.

Arakawa died in February of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome — a rare, rodent-borne disease that can led to a range of symptoms that include flu-like illness, headaches, dizziness and severe respiratory distress, investigators have said. Hackman is believed to have died about a week later of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

According to the report released Tuesday, a review of Arakawa’s computer showed she was actively researching medical conditions related to COVID-19 and flu-like symptoms between Feb. 8 and the morning of Feb. 12. The searches included questions about whether COVID could cause dizziness or nosebleeds.

She also had mentioned in an email to her masseuse that Hackman had woken up Feb. 11 with flu or cold-like symptoms but that a COVID test was negative and she would have to reschedule her appointment for the next day “out of an abundance of caution.” 

Arakawa’s search history also showed a query for a concierge medical service in Santa Fe on the morning of Feb. 12. A review of her phone records by investigators showed she had a call with the service that lasted less than 2 minutes and missed a return call later that afternoon.

Earlier this month, a court cleared the way for the release of investigative records from the deaths of Hackman and Arakawa, as long as depictions of the deceased couple are blocked from view.

Body camera footage released by authorities Tuesday showed officers searching the couple’s Santa Fe, New Mexico, home on Feb. 26 and finding the partially mummified remains of Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, after maintenance and security workers showed up at the home and alerted police. One of the redacted videos shows one of their dogs sitting in the bathroom near Arakawa’s body. The German shepherd was “guarding her,” one of the sheriff’s deputies told another in the video.

As sheriff’s deputies and investigators tried to piece together what had happened, they walked around the house to where they said Hackman was found dead.

“Two totally separate areas of the house,” an officer comments.

“Mhm, it’s strange,” another responds.

The officers, worried about a possible gas leak, then began opening doors and windows around the house. Subsequent testing showed there were no leaks. 

Another video showed investigators searching through the house for the couple’s ID’s. 

Investigators also reviewed a call history to the Hackmans’ home phone along with voicemails and security footage from stores that Arakawa had visited on Feb. 11.

The footage shows them going through rooms of the home and finding nothing out of the ordinary and no signs of forced entry, with the couple’s art collection still adorning shelves and walls throughout. The investigators also can be seen counting cash that was found around the home and looking at the prescription medication on the bathroom counter as one of the couple’s dog barked in the background.

An earlier court order temporarily restricted the release of all photos, videos and documents from the investigation after a representative for the Hackman family estate urged a New Mexico judge to keep the records sealed to protect the family’s constitutional right to privacy.

A report by the New Mexico Department of Health showed an environmental assessment of the Hackman property found rodent feces in several outbuildings and live traps on the property. The inside of the home was clean, with no evidence of rodent activity.

Nestled among the piñon and juniper hills overlooking Santa Fe, the Hackman home is not unlike others in the area as mice are common within the surrounding landscape.

While hantavirus infections are rare, New Mexico’s chief medical investigator, Dr. Heather Jarrell, noted the strain in the Southwest has a high mortality rate of about 38-50%.

One of the couple’s three dogs also was found dead in a crate in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, while two other dogs were found alive. A state veterinary lab tied the dog’s death to dehydration and starvation.

An attorney for the estate, Kurt Sommer, argued during a hearing last month that the couple had taken great pains to stay out of the public light during their lifetimes and that the right to control the use of their names and likenesses should extend to their estate in death.

The Associated Press, CBS News and CBS Studios intervened in the matter, saying in court filings that they would not disseminate images of the couple’s bodies and would blur images to obscure them from other records.

Judge gives stern warning to Trump administration over mistakenly deported Maryland man; Reporter’s Notebook: Human rights abuses in El Salvador and the case of Kilmar Abrego García

Judge holds hearing on mistakenly deported man after Salvadoran president said he won’t be returned; What’s next for Kamala Harris?

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen is traveling to El Salvador on Wednesday, as Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who officials admitted was mistakenly deported, remains detained in a prison there.

On Monday, Van Hollen requested to meet with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele while he visited Washington, D.C. this week. The senator also said he was prepared to go to El Salvador if Abrego Garcia is not returned to the United States.

Van Hollen said he hopes to visit Abrego Garcia and “check on his well-being.”

“Following his abduction and unlawful deportation, U.S. federal courts have ordered the safe return of my constituent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States,” Van Hollen said in a statement. “It should be a priority of the U.S. government to secure his safe release, which is why tomorrow I am traveling to El Salvador. My hope is to visit Kilmar and check on his well-being and to hold constructive conversations with government officials around his release. We must urgently continue working to return Kilmar safely home to Maryland.”

In a letter, Van Hollen wrote that he “urgently” wants to meet with Bukele this week. He also said Abrego Garcia should never have been deported, and he should not spend another day at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador.

Abrego Garcia was arrested by ICE in March after leaving his job in Baltimore, according to officials. He was deported to a Salvadoran prison despite having a “withholding of removal” protection order that he received in 2019.   

According to court documents, ICE admitted that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was due to an “administrative error,” but initially did not take action to return him to the U.S. Abrego Garcia has no criminal record and has never been charged with a crime in the U.S. or El Salvador. 

ICE officials argued that Abrego Garcia was a danger to the community and was an active gang member in MS-13.

According to Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, the only evidence of his alleged gang ties stems from a confidential witness and the fact that he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie at the time of his arrest.

“Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia should never have been abducted and illegally deported, and the courts have made clear: the Administration must bring him home, now. However, since the Trump administration appears to be ignoring these court mandates, we need to take additional action,” Van Hollen said. “That’s why I’ve requested to meet with President Bukele during his trip to the United States, and – if Kilmar is not home by midweek – I plan to travel to El Salvador this week to check on his condition and discuss his release.” 

Court rulings on Abrego Garcia’s return

On April 1, Judge Paula Xinis ruled that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was illegal and ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return by April 7.

The Trump administration appealed the ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court, which upheld Xinis’s order. The Department of Justice then sought a Supreme Court Stay, which was granted by Chief Justice John Roberts, pausing the return deadline.

On April 10, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision, upholding Judge Xinis’s order requiring the Trump administration to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States.

El Salvador President: “I’m not going to do it”

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said during a visit to the White House on Monday that he won’t return Abrego Garcia to the United States.

Attorney General told reporters that “it’s up to El Salvador” to decide whether he is released from prison.

“How can I return him to the United States?” Bukele said. “I smuggle him into the United States or what do I do? Of course, I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous.”

According to CBS News, Bukele described Abrego Garcia as a “terrorist,” and added, “I don’t have the power to the United States.”