Stella News - Hosted by Stella Escobedo

Enes Kanter Freedom was thrown out of the Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky game for wearing a shirt that read "WOMAN — Noun — Adult Human Female." He says he was simply celebrating a Sophie Cunningham basket when Sky guard Natasha Cloud confronted him mid-game — and security escorted him out before the final buzzer.

In this video, I break down exactly what happened, why Kanter Freedom has declared for the WNBA Draft as a protest, and why Sophie Cunningham says the league needs "bold leadership" at the top. The bigger question: the WNBA has stayed silent for weeks, holding closed-door meetings with no answers — so will it actually be the NBA that ends up defining what a woman is, simply because the WNBA has refused to?

I also sit down with attorney Kim Hermann, President of the Southeastern Legal Foundation. We talk about the WNBA being "a hot mess" . Hermann breaks down what this silence could mean for Title IX protections. We also dig into whether the Trump administration could step in at all — even though the WNBA is technically a private entity — and what that would mean for the future of women's sports nationwide.

The WNBA has a "W" in front of it. So why can't it define what a woman is?

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Has the Democratic Party been fully swallowed by the DSA? That's the question Stella puts to author and journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon in this episode, and Batya doesn't dodge it. They dig into the rise of Abdul El-Sayed, senate candidate in Michigan, as a case study in just how far the party has drifted. She breaks down why opposition to Israel sits at the heart of the DSA platform, calls out El-Sayed's celebrity-driven approach to politics, and unpacks how anti-Zionism has become almost indistinguishable from anti-Semitism in parts of the modern left. The conversation moves through Jewish voting patterns, the role social media plays in amplifying these narratives, and how economic populism and Marxist ideas have found real footing inside a party that used to keep them at arm's length.

Batya also doesn't let the right off the hook, pointing to a rise in anti-Semitism on both sides of the aisle. She notes that while most of the Republican Party has been willing to publicly push back on Tucker Carlson, Vice President JD Vance has stayed conspicuously silent, and she says that silence worries her.

From there, Stella and Batya widen the lens to talk about the bigger picture: whether America's two-party system can survive this kind of ideological capture, Trump's approach to the US-Israel relationship, and the growing influence of Islamic and American Muslim voting blocs. Batya makes the case that despair, not any single ideology, is the real threat facing the country, and she lays out what it will take to strengthen American institutions against a worsening affordability crisis and rising political extremism. They close on the future of Jewish political support, the uncomfortable truths about Jew-hatred on both sides of the aisle, and why political courage and moderation matter more than ever as this realignment plays out. It's a candid, no-filter breakdown of whether the Democratic Party as we knew it is already gone.

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Zohran Mamdani and 9/11 are at the center of a growing controversy ahead of the 25th memorial of September 11, 2001. Stella Escobedo sits down with Jeannette Pick, whose father Joseph Pick was killed on 9/11, to discuss why she and thousands of other 9/11 victims’ family members are asking the New York City mayor to stay away from this year’s 9/11 memorial ceremony singing a petition with over 100,000 signatures.

Jeannette shares her father’s story, the final phone call her family received, and what it has meant to carry the loss of a loved one for 25 years. She also explains why she signed a petition calling for the 9/11 memorial to remain focused on honoring the victims and their families.

The conversation examines Zohran Mamdani’s record, his past associations and statements surrounding 9/11, terrorism and Israel, as well as the larger debate over how September 11 should be remembered.

As the 25th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, Jeannette makes a deeply personal appeal: remember the victims, listen to their families, and don’t allow the human cost of September 11 to get lost in political debate.

Sign the petition: https://tinylink.net/y1yoT
Please support honoring the memory of those lost on September 11th with dignity.


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Chapters:
0:00 A Daughter’s Plea for Respect
0:46 Remembering Joseph Pic
1:43 The Day the World Changed
3:54 The Final Phone Call
7:16 Why the Mayor Must Stay Away
16:51 Living in the Shadow of 9/11

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New pressure is building in the Russia collusion story that dominated headlines for years. The Southeastern Legal Foundation has sent a follow-up letter demanding the Office of Special Counsel investigate whether records tied to the Steele dossier were withheld from the public and from federal courts.

The Steele dossier was a set of unverified, Clinton campaign-funded claims linking Trump to Russia. It helped fuel the original FBI investigation, even though agents reportedly knew key parts of it could not be verified.

SLF's letter alleges these agencies didn't just lose the records that have been sought for years — the letter claims records were intentionally withheld. The letter was sent directly to Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, DNI Jay Clayton, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, putting national security leadership on notice over evidence SLF says has been available for years.

In this episode with Stella, you will from the attorney who signed the letter — Kim Hermann, President of the Southeastern Legal Foundation.

In this episode:

What the letter asks the Office of Special Counsel to do
How FOIA requests and whistleblower reports uncovered the withheld records
Why the letter went to the Attorney General, FBI, DNI, and CIA directors
What accountability could look like going forward
Next steps in the ongoing push for transparency

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Candace Owens just banked $300,000 for her marathon four-hour debate with online streamer and debater Andrew Wilson, but the real story here isn't the payday, it's what she admitted on camera once the cameras were rolling. In this video, I break down the entire Owens vs. Wilson debate, moderated by Patrick Bet-David on the PBD Podcast, covering the Charlie Kirk , the Tyler Robinson case, TPUSA, Erika Kirk and Owens' ongoing theories about Israel's alleged involvement in Kirk's death.

I start with how this debate deal actually came together — from Wilson's original $300,000 offer to Owens on Joe Rogan's show, to Owens firing back with a $500,000 counteroffer and a list of conditions, all the way to the two of them settling back on the original $300K. From there I walk through some of the most explosive moments of the debate itself, including Owens admitting on camera that she has "no direct evidence" tying Israel to Charlie Kirk's death — a stunning walk-back after months of insinuating exactly that. I also break down the moment Owens accidentally reveals that Joe Kent, the former Trump administration official who resigned in protest over the Iran conflict, has reportedly been feeding her information behind the scenes. And later in the debate, she goes even further, claiming she's "100 percent confident" that both Israel and France were involved in Kirk's death — without offering a single shred of evidence to back it up.

I also get into the uncomfortable moments where Owens turns her attention to Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, and why critics say her relentless targeting of Erika says more about Owens than it does about the case itself. By the end of the debate, Andrew Wilson delivers what might be the most memorable line of the night, calling Owens a "contradiction machine" — and after watching this breakdown, you'll understand exactly why.

If you've been following the Charlie Kirk case, the Tyler Robinson trial, or the ongoing fallout within TPUSA, this is the full breakdown you need to understand what actually happened — and what it means going forward.

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Is AOC running for president in 2028? She was asked directly on ABC's "This Week" — and she didn't say no. "I haven't ruled out the possibility."

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is now leading Gavin Newsom on Polymarket for the 2028 Democratic nomination. She's at 20 percent. Newsom 17. Jon Ossoff 15. Kamala Harris — the party's last nominee — all the way down at 7. President Trump says she's running. Even Hunter Biden is backing her.

But here's the part nobody is covering.

On July 12th, the leadership of the Democratic Socialists of America met to decide how they'd endorse a 2028 candidate. It became the most contentious fight they had all year — over her. By a vote of 14 to 13, they blocked their own 120,000 members from voting on it. One faction calls AOC "milquetoast" and beyond their control. The woman the rest of us call a radical isn't radical enough for her own movement.

And they've dumped her before. In 2024, national DSA pulled her endorsement over Israel.

In this episode I break down why I think she's running, how she plans to mobilize Gen Z and millennial women, why the egg-freezing announcement is a campaign platform on affordability, and what the DSA will demand before they back her.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is running for re-election as he's being accused of sabotaging a voter ID initiative just days before it went to print. Bonta's office swapped the original ballot language - "establishes voter ID and citizenship verification requirements" for the more loaded phrase "prohibits citizens from voting unless they present ID." Over a million Californians signed petitions to get this initiative on the November ballot, and critics say the last-minute rewrite is a deliberate attempt to sway voters against it.

In this episode, I sit down with Michael Gates, former Huntington Beach City Attorney, DOJ attorney, and Republican candidate challenging Bonta for California Attorney General to break down what really happened with Prop 39, why it matters, and what's at stake in one of the most powerful legal offices in the state.

We also dig into Bonta's lawsuit against a San Diego hospital over pediatric trans procedures, his fight against the Trump administration to keep gender-affirming surgeries funded statewide, and growing criticism that he's been soft on crime and slow to address Medi-Cal fraud while California ranks among the most dangerous states in the country.

Gates shares how he turned Huntington Beach into one of the 10 safest cities in California out of 500, despite 15 million annual visitors and lays out his plan to work with all 58 counties to restore public safety, crack down on fraud, and reform California's lengthy concealed carry permit process.

TOPICS COVERED:

Bonta's last-minute Prop 39 ballot language change
Voter ID and citizenship verification requirements
California's ranking in violent crime
Medi-Cal fraud and government accountability
Bonta's lawsuits over pediatric trans procedures
Second Amendment rights and concealed carry reform
Michael Gates' record in Huntington Beach and the DOJ

0:00 Controversy Over Ballot Language Changes
2:00 Deceptive Tactics in State Politics
6:36 Weaponizing the Office for Political Ends
11:21 The Second Amendment Under Siege
13:59 A Vision for a Law and Order State


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The WNBA is set to hold a meeting this week with the Commissioner, team presidents, and general managers to answer one question: what is a woman? This comes after former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White both declared for the 2027 WNBA Draft, claiming they meet the league's eligibility rules simply by identifying as women.

In this video, I break down Enes Kanter Freedom's official letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, Royce White's interview announcing his own draft declaration, and Sophie Cunningham's ongoing fight to protect girls and women in sports. I also get into the DiJonai Carrington flagrant foul on Cunningham, her "white privilege" comment afterward, and how she's now backpedaling following backlash from Emmanuel Acho and others online.

Plus, Fever coach Stephanie White's response, Caitlin Clark's reaction, and what Clay Travis and Outkick had to say about the WNBA calling this whole situation "complex and nuanced."

It's not complex. It's not nuanced. Watch the full breakdown of the biggest week yet in the women's sports eligibility debate.

Dr. Anthony Fauci just testified on Capitol Hill, where he invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times. Back in 2022, there's a clip of him on CNN saying he'd be happy to testify before any congressional oversight committee because he had nothing to hide. He did the exact opposite.

As someone who worked in mainstream media during COVID, I watched newsrooms take everything Fauci said at face value. If you questioned the narrative, you were iced out. You were not allowed to ask the right questions. And even now, the mainstream media is ignoring this hearing. They've spent very little time mentioning it, on par with what they do. The same outlets that gave Fauci wall-to-wall coverage for years can barely spare a segment now that he's the one refusing to answer questions. It's the kind of silence that only shows up when the story doesn't fit the narrative they spent years building.

There were people pushing back on this from the West Coast to the East Coast, including Natalya Murakhver, a mother and filmmaker whose documentary, 15 Days, looks at what really happened behind America's pandemic school closures. In this episode, I sit down with Natalya to talk about the pandemic, school closures, and the search for accountability. We discuss the impact on families, the role of media, and why critical thinking matters more now than ever.

You can watch the documentary at 15daysfilm.com or here https://restorechildhood.substack.com/p/watch-15days?r=3s3k07&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

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A man in Berlin attacked Europe's largest Pride celebrations , leaving one woman dead and 29 others injured, and German authorities are investigating it as an Islamist attack carried out by 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, a man previously flagged for radicalization who had attempted to join ISIS in Lebanon.

Stella sits down with comedian and writer Daniel-Ryan Spaulding, who lived in Berlin for five years before relocating to New York right after October 7, 2023, to ask the question no one in the mainstream media wants to touch: why do so many in the gay community keep aligning themselves with a "Free Palestine" movement that offers them no protection at all.

Spaulding traces the crisis back to Angela Merkel's immigration policies and what he argues has been the slow unraveling of Germany's social fabric in the years since. The conversation moves through the unlikely alliance between Islamists and the radical left, the infiltration of Berlin's cultural institutions by anti-Israel activism, and the strange marriage between queer activist spaces and Islamist politics, groups whose worldviews are, by any honest measure, incompatible. Stella and Spaulding also get into German guilt versus German responsibility, the stark gap between the number of Germans who saved Jews during the Holocaust and the number of Gazans who have done the same today, and how media distortion across Europe has obscured all of it from public view.

The two also connect the dots back to New York City, where Spaulding watched Zohran Mamdani build support inside the gay community alongside Cynthia Nixon, and what that infiltration signals for American politics moving forward. This is a wide-ranging, no-holds-barred conversation about multiculturalism's failures, the war on reality in Western media, and the future threats Spaulding believes Europe is sleepwalking toward.