Cornell's Sweeping Changes, AI 'Worm' Warning & Flag Football Boom - Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Erica Mandy (0:00)

Today is Wednesday, October 14th. We'll tell you about Cornell University sweeping new response to sexual assault concerns on campus from what's now banned to a change in who will investigate these cases and why it's already dividing some students. Also, why a well-known American diplomat is stepping down and how your smart home devices could become part of a new AI security threat. Plus, what's driving a shortage of skilled workers? What NASA hopes to find is it logs more miles on Mars and which sport is suddenly taking off with high school girls and some big-name athletes. Those stories and even more news to know coming up.

Welcome to The NewsWorthy, all the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this.

Cornell University is trying a sweeping new approach to its handling of sexual assault allegations. For starters, it's suspending all fraternity parties for the rest of the school year. While the university conducts a wider review of Greek life on campus. Of course, this comes as Cornell continues to face scrutiny over its response back in 2024, when a woman says seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity drugged and raped her. The New York Attorney General is still leading the reopened investigation into that case. But Cornell says even before that investigation wraps up, it wants to address what it considers to be a deeply disturbing culture of drug and alcohol abuse, as well as a rise in sexual violence on campus.

Beyond banning frat parties, Cornell says it's also bringing in New York State Police to help investigate possible sexual assaults on campus rather than relying solely on its own police department, the way it did in 2024

Plus, it plans to add staff to its civil rights office to help survivors report what happened and navigate the process. And it will expand training to help students step in when they see someone at risk. So far, reaction to the new approach has been mixed. Some are praising the changes, including the lawyer for the woman who made the 2024 allegation. He says the reform could help prevent what happened to his client from happening again. But some students and a lawyer for one of the accused men say banning all fraternity parties punishes people who had nothing to do with the allegation and could just push parties off campus where Cornell has less oversight. Separately, today, Cornell's Faculty Senate is set to consider a vote of no confidence in the university's leadership.

Texas prosecutors are now considering criminal charges against an ICE agent who hit a man with his SUV in Houston. It happened over the weekend. Miguel Parra-Hernandez is a Mexican national who was on his way to his construction job when ICE agents tried to pull him over. The agency says they were after another man who was traveling in the same pickup truck. Both men got out and ran in different directions. ICE says Parra-Hernandez ran in front of one of the agency's vehicles and was hit. But now, the local district attorney says surveillance video tells a different story. He says it seems pretty obvious that the ICE officer purposely ran him over, and his office is now considering criminal charges. The DA also says ICE is not cooperating with his investigation. ICE is conducting its own internal investigation, but the agency is strongly denying the DA's version, calling it reckless and false. In the meantime, Parra-Hernandez is still in the hospital with several broken bones and other injuries. His family says he's lived in the Houston area for more than 30 years and has no criminal record. By the way, the Trump administration is ramping up its efforts to get immigrants in the US illegally to leave the US on their own. In fact, it just started offering some unaccompanied migrant children $3,000 to self-deport. The administration says it wants to protect children from exploitation and reunite them with their families. But immigration advocates say these incentives raise concerns about whether vulnerable children understand their options and whether they're being pressured to give up their chance to stay in the US. Adults who qualify can also get a $3,000 payment and a free flight home by signing up to self-deport through the government's CBP Home app.

President Trump has pushed out one of his longtime political allies. We're talking about Kimberly Guilfoyle, who has been serving as the US ambassador to Greece. Remember, reports said Guilfoyle asked a Trump donor for $100,000 to help pay her credit card bill and allegedly offered access to top administration officials in return. The Wall Street Journal has also reported that Guilfoyle promoted a Greek energy company and had close ties to its lobbyists, raising concerns about whether she used her diplomatic position to help private interests. President Trump told reporters he didn't like what he was reading about her. And the White House says it asked Guilfoyle to resign. The State Department's watchdog is also reviewing allegations of inappropriate behavior by Guilfoyle's staff, though it's unclear whether a formal investigation has begun.