Democratic congressional hopeful Aftyn Behn did not hold back when describing how she really feels about Nashville — the city she’s now running to represent — in a 2020 podcast that’s resurfaced just days before the Dec. 2 special election.

“I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music, I hate all of the things that make Nashville apparently an ‘it’ city to the rest of the country. But I hate it,” she said in the podcast.

Behn, a Democratic state representative and former healthcare community organizer, is running against Republican nominee Matt Van Epps to represent Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District. The winner will succeed former GOP Rep. Mark Green, who resigned from office in June to take a private sector job.

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The district, which is located in central and western Tennessee and stretches from Kentucky to Alabama, is solidly red. President Donald Trump carried the district by 22 points in his 2024 White House victory.

But the district includes parts of the Democratic stronghold of Nashville, Tennessee’s capital and its most populous city, and a major national center for the country music industry. The district encompasses parts of north and west Nashville, including the downtown area which has long been a very popular tourist destination.

“The Democrat running in a special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, Aftyn Behn, is running on the message: ‘I hate this place, elect me!’ Tennessee deserves better,” the Republican National Committee (RNC) argued in a social media post on Thursday.

Republican groups are pouring plenty of resources into the special election to avoid the possibility of a major upset and protect the GOP’s current razor-thin 219-214 majority in the House.

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Democrats, energized after their sweeping victories earlier this month in the 2025 elections, are optimistic about their chances in the special election. Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin, who campaigned with Behn recently, argued that she has “an excellent shot to win.”

Behn is considered by many Democrats as a rising progressive star who some have dubbed the “AOC of Tennessee.”

Republicans are also taking aim at Behn over an op-ed titled “Tennessee is a racist state, and so is its legislature,” that appeared in a 2019 edition of The Tennessean newspaper.

The RNC, pointing in a social media post Wednesday to the six-year-old opinion piece, asked, “If Behn hates Tennessee so much, why is she trying to represent it?”

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Kate Briefs, campaign manager for Aftyn Behn for Congress, told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Republicans are panicking and in a last ditched attempt, they are distracting from the fact that Washington Republicans and Matt Van Epps are raising costs on Tennessee families and ripping away their health care while Aftyn Behn will lower Tennessee families’ costs and make groceries more affordable by eliminating the state’s grocery tax.”

Van Epps, the former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, was endorsed by Trump, which boosted him to primary victory last month in an 11-candidate race for the Republican congressional nomination.

Last week, Trump hosted a tele-rally for Van Epps in which he claimed Behn was a “Marxist” and linked her to Zohran Mamdani, the socialist mayor-elect of New York City, whom Republicans are aiming to make the new face of the Democratic Party.

The Van Epps campaign is asking the president to campaign in person in the district ahead of the special election.

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Meanwhile, Republican-aligned outside groups are spending big bucks to run ads targeting Behn. As Fox News Digital first reported this week, the Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc. launched spots backed by a seven-figure buy.

A Democratic strategist familiar with the race touted that “this is already a win. The fact that Republicans have spent over $2 million trying to hold a seat that Trump won by 22 points. Whether or not Aftyn Behn wins, overperforms, or loses, this is a win for us because Republicans know just how in trouble they are when they have to fight tooth and nail for a seat like this.”

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — As the FBI investigates the mysterious death of an 18-year-old Florida cheerleader aboard a Carnival cruise ship, her stepmother’s courtroom fight with an ex is exposing new details — and may force her to testify against her son.

Friday marks two weeks since the aspiring Navy sailor Anna Kepner was found dead in her room aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship.

Authorities have not yet announced a cause and manner of death or an arrest, but a court battle between her 16-year-old stepbrother’s parents revealed that he is a suspect.

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Krystal Wright, Anna’s aunt, confirms to Fox News Digital that Anna was found “wrapped in a blanket, covered in life jackets and stuffed under the bed.”

“It’s all just so crazy because this is in Florida, and I’m in Oregon,” she said. “Anna’s dad won’t say anything to me. I think it’s bulls— that he says he doesn’t know what’s going on or what happened because he absolutely does know.”

Two vehicles, a Dodge truck and Chevy SUV, were parked in the Kepners’ driveway Thursday, but no one answered the door, and her father and stepmother have not responded to other attempts to reach them.

One of the Kepners’ neighbors told Fox News Digital Thursday that their street has been quiet since Anna’s death. He said the Kepners are a friendly family.

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Kepner’s stepmother, Shauntel Kepner, asked a judge overseeing a custody dispute between her and her ex-husband, Thomas Hudson, to delay a hearing in that matter until after the criminal investigation comes to a close.

That dispute could put the stepmother in a legal bind, according to Donna Rotunno, a Chicago-based criminal defense lawyer and Fox News contributor. Shauntel’s Fifth Amendment defense could disappear if prosecutors offer her immunity while going after the teen.

“The mother does not have any privilege to not testify against her son,” Rotunno told “FOX & Friends” Thursday morning. “So, a court could compel her to testify, or she could be held in contempt. And if they believe the mother was involved in any way, they could give her immunity in order to get her to speak.”

Hudson accused Shauntel of alienating their two younger children from him, including the 16-year-old. Their oldest son, 18, went to live with his father after an alleged “violent altercation” involving Shauntel and Kepner’s father, Christopher Kepner.

“The [16-year-old]’s future has been put in jeopardy because of the choices made by [Shauntel],” Hudson wrote to the judge Monday.

The teen’s current whereabouts are unclear. According to the filing, he has been released from custody and is staying with an unnamed third party.

Shauntel, in a filing of her own, denied that their oldest son had been involved in any altercation with her new husband but conceded “there is an open FBI investigation involving” the 16-year-old.

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A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital Wednesday that authorities have recovered surveillance video from the cruise ship showing Kepner with a “suspect” and that the FBI is reviewing hours of additional footage from the cruise before her death. Authorities also have access to records of room key swipes aboard the vessel, the source said.

The FBI’s Miami office is handling the investigation.

Nicole Parker, a former Miami-based FBI agent and Fox News contributor, used to handle maritime cases.

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“One thing that I realized as an investigator is that people think, ‘Oh, you know, if I commit a crime out at sea, no one’s ever gonna find out,’” she told “FOX & Friends” Thursday morning. “And little do they know and many times they’re shocked. It’s actually FBI’s jurisdiction.”

Before the ship returned to port, she said, the cruise line’s own security team would have secured the scene after Kepner was found dead Friday at around 11 a.m.

“Our evidence response team would be boarding that ship — in this instance, it would have been that Saturday morning and multiple interviews would be conducted,” she said. “I would be first asking for, I want all the CCTV, I want all the video surveillance footage. I also want the key-lock records, which indicate who went in and out of that ship cabin at the time that the potential crime may have occurred.”

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Agents would also interview everyone in the surrounding rooms, she said.

A memorial service for Kepner is scheduled for Thursday evening in her hometown of Titusville, Florida.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently released photos of the deadly Nov. 5 plane crash at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) in Kentucky, capturing the moment a UPS cargo plane’s engine fell off and burst into flames shortly after takeoff.

The images were released in the NTSB’s preliminary report, which notes SDF surveillance video showed the left engine and pylon separating from the wing shortly after airplane rotation, with a fire igniting on the left engine.

The left engine then crashed onto the ground, and a fire ignited near the left pylon attachment to the wing, which continued until the plane plummeted into a nearby storage yard and two buildings, according to the report.

The MD-11 has three engines — two on the wings and one on the tail. Each wing engine is attached by a pylon connected to the wing through forward and aft mounts.

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During the incident, the left pylon’s aft mount broke when both supporting arms snapped, causing the engine to detach, according to the report.

Investigators found the failure began with hidden internal cracks that spread until the metal broke apart.

The NTSB also found tiny cracks that grew over time around boltholes in the mount, until investigators said it failed under normal stress.

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Black box data showed the plane only reached about 30 feet above ground level prior to the crash, which killed 14 people, including the three pilots, and injured 23 others.

The report noted a similar failure happened on May 25, 1979, when American Airlines Flight 191 crashed at Chicago-O’Hare International Airport.

Officials determined the 1979 crash was caused by the separation of the engine and pylon, which also led to catastrophic loss of control, according to the NTSB.

Flight 191 crashed into an open field, and the wreckage scattered into an adjacent trailer park, killing all 271 people onboard the flight and two people on the ground and injuring two others.

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Two days after the Nov. 5 crash, UPS grounded its entire MD-11 fleet.

An FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive issued a day later grounded all MD-11/MD-11F aircraft until inspections were completed.