New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin announced on Thursday that 55-year-old Joseph "Little Joe" Perna, of Fairfield, along with his sons, stepson, nephews, wife and ex-wife were all charged with various crimes

New Jersey

New Jersey authorities have arrested 14 people in connection with an alleged illegal sports betting ring that targeted Gen Z gamblers, particularly college students and student athletes. The operation reportedly involved a network of sub-agents and was allegedly financed by Joseph M. Perna, identified as a member of the Lucchese crime family, along with several family members and associates.

Among those arrested were two former Rutgers University wrestlers, though the university itself was not implicated. Officials allege that the ring recruited younger players who could pay or be pressured for payment. Attorneys for some of the accused have denied the allegations and stated their clients look forward to contesting the charges in court.

14 people arrested in multimillion-dollar sports betting ring

New Jersey led the way in a landmark decision to make sports betting legal and yet this afternoon the state is at the center of a firestorm that sounds more like a modern mafia movie as our Tony Caputo reports accusations of an illegal Gen Z focused ring with several arrested including two ex-rutgers wrestlers. This operation relied on Gen Z gamblers and a network of sub agents. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Plattken announcing the arrests of 14 people in New Jersey and around the country charged with running illegal sports books focused on younger gamblers. The financier according to the AG identified as 55 year old Joseph M Little Joe Perna of Fairfield who officials say is a soldier in the Lucchese crime family. Others charged include various family members of Perna including his current wife his ex-wife and his biological son 25 year old Joseph R Perna of Oakland whose attorney tells us by email that his client looks forward to confronting these false allegations against him but officials say the younger Perna conducted daily operations of the sports books and oversaw subordinate agents. They effectively recruited younger gamblers or players that they knew would be able to pay up or those that they could leverage payment from namely college students and student athletes. Also arrested 23 year old Michael Sita of North Haldon whose attorney declined comment this morning and 25 year old Nicholas Ramo of East Hanover. According to multiple published reports both were recent students at Rutgers University and members of the school's wrestling team although the university or its sports programs were not mentioned by the attorney general in any way during Thursday's news conference. Yes it's 2025 and organized crime may look differently there may be new technologies they may operate in different ways but our commitment to enforcing our laws is unwavering. Tony Caputo News 12 New Jersey. News 12 spoke with the attorney for Nicholas Ramo who told us Mr. Ramo is completely innocent he looks forward to his day in court he is an outstanding young man.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced "Operation Southern Spear" in the Western Hemisphere as U.S. strikes continue in the region near Colombia and Venezuela. CBS News' Eleanor Watson reports.

Hegseth announces 'Operation Southern Spear'

The U.S. has approved the sale of $330 million worth of weapons to Taiwan as tensions rise in the region with China. CBS News' Nancy Cordes reports.

Taipei City

U.S. approves massive sale of weapons to Taiwan

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin successfully launched its New Glenn rocket on Thursday with NASA twin spacecraft destined for Mars aboard, and in a breakthrough nailed the landing of its booster.

Cape Canaveral

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket deploys Mars satellites

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Rise of AI

Anthropic says Chinese hackers used its AI chatbot in cyberattack

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Washington

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Trump avoids media’s Epstein email questions

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China's factory output and retail sales grew at their weakest pace in over a year in October, piling pressure on policymakers to revamp the $19 trillion export-driven economy as mounting supply and demand strains threaten to further curtail growth.

Beijing

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Germany's government plans to bring back military service, to boost troop numbers to deal with the perceived threat from Russia. But voluntary conscription could become compulsory, if not enough recruits come forward.

Berlin

Germany outlines potential shift to compulsory conscription

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Pentagon preparing for possible military action in Venezuela

President Trump's name appears hundreds of times in the newly-released batch of 23,000 pages of records and messages from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, raising questions about their relationship. Mr. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has called the scandal a "hoax" perpetrated by Democrats.

Trump named hundreds of times in newly released Epstein files

A federal judge has ruled that hundreds of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during "Operation Midway Blitz" in the Chicago area must be released. CBS News immigration and politics reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez has more.

Chicago

Judge finds ICE illegally arrested hundreds of people in Chicago

For the first time in six weeks, the U.S. government is open. President Trump signed a bill last night to fund the government through the end of January.

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U.S. forces have killed four people in the latest strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean. CBS News national security coordinating producer James LaPorta has more.

Caracas

U.S. forces kill four in latest Caribbean drug boat strike

Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in the West Bank on Thursday (November 13) and sprayed racist slogans on its walls, Palestinian residents said.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Israeli settlers torch mosque in West Bank, residents say

Thailand-Cambodia border tensions escalate days after a US-backed ceasefire agreement breaks down.

Bangkok

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With the Amazon nearing a tipping point, Indigenous voices are demanding immediate action at COP30, with campaigners saying their protests are a stark reminder that time is running out to stop catastrophic climate change.

Belém

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Washington County

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New York

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Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the G7 summit to discuss defense, trade, and global security cooperation amid growing geopolitical tensions.

Kananaskis

Canada meets with U.S. counterpart Rubio at G7 summit

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The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a long-awaited bill to end the government shutdown. CBS News congressional reporter Taurean Small has more from Capitol Hill.

House of Representatives ready vote on ending government shutdown

Warning: Some details are disturbing. An Army OB-GYN in Texas is accused of years of sexual assault and abuse of women on multiple bases, according to a recent lawsuit.

Killeen

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U.S. House Democrats on Wednesday released emails from Jeffrey Epstein referencing President Donald Trump, who has denied any knowledge of the convicted sex offender's crimes. In a 2019 email, Epstein said Trump "knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop."

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Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz was arraigned on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to allegations of taking bribes to rig pitches. CBS News' Shanelle Kaul reports.

Breakdown