As the Vikings geared up for kickoff against the Bears last weekend at U.S. Bank Stadium, veteran running back Aaron Jones Sr. stood at midfield for the coin toss for the first time since being named a team captain.

He had no choice other than to switch up his pregame routine. It was a direct order from the man in charge: His 5-year-old son, Aaron Jones Jr.

Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr. (33) dances with his son Aaron Jr. before the start an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

They were recently walking around inside TCO Performance Center when the kid known affectionately as Junior spotted his dad’s picture on the Jim Marshall Vikings Captains Legacy Wall near the player entrance. He’s been around long enough to know some of the responsibilities that come with such an honor.

“We were standing there,” Jones said with a hearty laugh while he set the scene. “He goes, ‘Why haven’t you been out there for the coin toss?’ I’m like, ‘I’m on the sideline trying to get guys going.’ He goes, ‘Well I think you earned it, so you should go out there.’ I’m like, ‘OK Dad.’ He sounds exactly like my dad.”

That’s not something Jones takes for granted. The unique opportunity of Jones getting to share his NFL dream with his son has also helped him navigate the greatest loss he’s ever experienced.

To fully know Jones is to know his dad, Alvin, and his mom, Vurgess. They both served in the U.S. Army and retired as sergeant majors. They built a life together along the way, making sure all of their kids, including Aaron and his twin brother Alvin, had a clear distinguishing between right and wrong.

It was a strict household that was simultaneously filled with an undeniable love, regardless of where the family was living on assignment.

“If I could be half the man my dad was for me, then I know I’ll have done an amazing job,” Jones said. “I’m relying on the foundation he gave me while I’m trying to raise my son to be a good person.”

There’s a reason Jones is using past tense. He lost his dad due to complications with COVID-19 in the heart of the pandemic. As he reflected on that unspeakable tragedy, which he’ll never completely shake, he tried to put it in perspective as best he could.

His son was born on April 17, 2020. His dad died on April 6, 2021.

“It’s almost like God gave a life to me and took a life from me,” Jones said. “Maybe that’s the way it is for some of us.”

The grief hit Jones like a tidal wave. He struggled to move on. He was playing for the Packers, and while he was entering his prime, there were prolonged stretches where he’d rather have been anywhere else. He was numb to the outside world.

The only part that kept Jones going some days while he mourned was having his son by his side. He poured all of his attention into Junior. He remembers his dad being strong for him. He vowed to be strong for his son.

“He definitely got me through it,” Jones said. “I think that’s why our bond is the way it is.”

He eventually started to bring Junior to work with him. It started when he was with the Packers. It’s continued with the Vikings.

“It goes back to me sharing the military life with my dad,” Jones said. “I was 5 years old running with the soldiers. I liked the exercise and my dad always had me right there with him. I’m kind of like that with my son where I have him everywhere with me.”

It’s helped Jones stay committed to the grind. At least a few times per week, he will return home from TCO Performance Center, eat dinner with the family, then head back to work because, well, Junior wants to go.

“He loves it,” Jones said. “He’ll be like, ‘Can we go to the practice facility? Can we go to the practice facility? Can we go to the practice facility?’”

Most of the shared trips to TCO Performance Center after hours usually feature Jones spending some time in the sauna followed by bouncing back and forth between the hot tub and the cold tub. There’s a life vest for Junior in his locker. He doesn’t need it anymore, because he recently learned how to swim.

“He holds me accountable,” Jones said. “Let’s say we’re up there and I don’t want to get in the cold tub or something like that. He’ll go in the cold tub and do a lap and be like, ‘Alright it’s your turn.’ It kind of gives me no excuse.”

The relationship Jones has with his son hasn’t gone unnoticed by his teammates.

“He acts just like his dad,” receiver Justin Jefferson said. “He’s always carrying the football around. You can definitely tell Aaron got him into that running back mindset. I’m looking forward to him being a running back coming soon.”

“He’s a good kid,” tight end T.J. Hockenson said. “He’s a lot of fun to be around. He’s definitely got a little bit of juice to him. He sees us messing around in here and he wants to be a part of it.”

“I envy their relationship,” defensive tackle Levi Drake Rodriguez said. “I can’t wait to have my kids and have them in the building and have them around all my brothers. To be able to be a part of his life is really cool. I’m always trying to let him know he’s seen.”

It’s rewarding for Jones that his son is finally at the age where he’s starting to make his own memories. He won’t have to tell Junior what life used to be like when he was in the NFL, because he will be able to remember it for himself.

“He’s out here calling these guys his uncles,” Jones said. “I’m trying to get through his head how special that is, because I want him to have gratitude. I’m also trying to get him to understand that we’re blessed because of hard work. I’m hoping it it makes him be like, ‘I’ve got to work hard in whatever I do if I want to be successful.’”

As much as he loves taking his son to TCO Performance Center, Jones also relishes the time they get to spend together at U.S. Bank Stadium. He always carves out time for Junior as a part of his pregame and postgame routines.

“I come home and I’m like, ‘How did I play?’” Jones said. “He tells me what he thinks.”

It’s the same conversation he had with his dad countless times throughout his life. And while he’d give anything to have it with him once more, Jones is grateful he now gets to share that moment with his son.

“He’ll be like, ‘I’m proud of you Daddy,’” Jones said. “He lets me know that every time I come through the door. It’s special to be able to share this part of my life with him. It’s made us that much closer.”

Yes, when the Vikings gear up for kickoff against the Packers this weekend at Lambeau Field, Jones will stand at midfield for the coin toss. He will do so with his dad watching from above, and his son watching from the stands.

“I’m blessed that he’s been here with me,” Jones said. “I think God knew I needed him.”

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By ALI SWENSON, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. personally directed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update its website to contradict its longtime guidance that vaccines don’t cause autism, he told The New York Times in an interview published Friday.

His comments provide clarity into who directed the CDC’s website change, after many current and former staffers at the agency were surprised to see new published guidance on Wednesday that defies scientific consensus. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, has upended the public health agencies he oversees and pushed for and enacted changes that have unsettled much of the medical community, which sees his policies as harmful for Americans.

“The whole thing about ‘vaccines have been tested and there’s been this determination made,’ is just a lie,” Kennedy said in the interview, which was conducted Thursday.

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The CDC’s “vaccine safety” page now claims that the statement “vaccines do not cause autism” is not based on evidence because it doesn’t rule out the possibility that infant vaccines are linked to the disorder. The page also has been updated to suggest that health officials have ignored studies showing a potential link.

Public health researchers and advocates strongly refute the updated website, saying it misleads the public by exploiting the fact that the scientific method can’t satisfy a demand to prove a negative. They note that scientists have thoroughly explored potential links between vaccines and autism in rigorous research spanning decades, all pointing to the same conclusion that vaccines don’t cause autism.

“No environmental factor has been better studied as a potential cause of autism than vaccines,” the Autism Science Foundation said in a statement Thursday. “This includes vaccine ingredients as well as the body’s response to vaccines. All this research has determined that there is no link between autism and vaccines.”

Kennedy, a longtime leader in the anti-vaccine movement, acknowledged to The New York Times the existence of studies showing no link to autism from the mercury-based preservative thimerosal or from the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. But he told the newspaper there are still gaps in vaccine safety science and a need for more research.

The move creates another disagreement between the health secretary and Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician and Louisiana Republican who chairs the Senate health committee. During his confirmation process, Kennedy pledged to Cassidy he would leave the statement that vaccines do not cause autism on the CDC website. The statement remains on the website but with a disclaimer that it was left there because of their agreement.

Kennedy told The New York Times he talked to Cassidy about the updated website and that Cassidy disagreed with the decision.

“What parents need to hear right now is vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B and other childhood diseases are safe and effective and will not cause autism,” Cassidy posted on X on Thursday. “Any statement to the contrary is wrong, irresponsible, and actively makes Americans sicker.”

The updated website comes as Kennedy has taken other steps as health secretary that sow doubt in immunizations. He has pulled $500 million for their development, ousted and replaced every member of a federal vaccine advisory committee and pledged to overhaul a federal program for compensating Americans injured by shots. He also fired former CDC Director Susan Monarez less than a month into her tenure after they clashed over vaccine policy.

Dr. Sean O’Leary, head of the infectious diseases committee at the American Academy of Pediatrics, told reporters in a briefing Thursday that the CDC’s website update was perpetuating a lie.

“This is madness,” he said. “Vaccines do not cause autism, and unfortunately, we can no longer trust health-related information coming from our government.”

The Department of Health and Human Services, which didn’t make Kennedy available for an interview with The Associated Press this week, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

By JULIE WATSON, Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Trump administration has sued California for providing in-state college tuition, scholarships, and state-funded financial aid to students who aren’t legally in the United States.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, alleges the practice harms U.S. citizens and encourages illegal immigration. Among the defendants are the state, top state officials, and the state’s two public university systems, the University of California and California State.

President Donald Trump’s administration has filed similar lawsuits against policies in other states, including Illinois, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Kentucky and Texas. Half the country now has similar laws to California’s.

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In June, after the administration sued, Texas ended its decades-old law. And Florida last year scrapped its law that allowed in-state tuition for high school graduates who weren’t in the country legally.

Supporters of the state tuition breaks argue that they don’t violate federal law if they provide the same rates to U.S. citizens in the same circumstances — meaning they are residents of the state and graduates of one of its high schools. The California Dream Act also allows such students to apply for state-funded financial aid.

Many of the students were brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were children, and supporters of the laws say they are as much a part of their communities as U.S. citizens.

It is the latest action by Trump’s administration since he issued executive orders in February directing federal agencies to stop public benefits from going to immigrants living in the U.S. illegally and to challenge state and local policies seen as favoring those immigrants over some citizens. The lawsuit argues that the Republican president’s orders enforce federal immigration laws.

“California is illegally discriminating against American students and families by offering exclusive tuition benefits for non-citizens,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “This marks our third lawsuit against California in one week — we will continue bringing litigation against California until the state ceases its flagrant disregard for federal law.”

The Justice Department also recently sued to block new congressional district boundaries approved by California voters, and over California’s new laws banning federal agents from wearing masks and requiring them to have identification while conducting operations in the state.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said in a statement: “The DOJ has now filed three meritless, politically motivated lawsuits against California in a single week. Good luck, Trump. We’ll see you in court.”

The University of California defended its decades-old in-state tuition policy.

“While we will, of course, comply with the law as determined by the courts, we believe our policies and practices are consistent with current legal standards,” it said in a statement.

The lawsuit comes weeks after the California Supreme Court let stand a lower-court ruling that the University of California’s policy barring students without legal status in the U.S. from campus jobs is discriminatory and must be reconsidered.

University system officials had warned that the decision would put them in a precarious position as they negotiate with the Trump administration after the withdrawal of federal research funds.

The UC is dealing with federal grant suspensions and a White House demand that it pay a $1 billion fine over allegations including antisemitism and the illegal consideration of race in admitting students to its Los Angeles campus.

The California State University system is the nation’s largest and among its most diverse, with more than 460,000 students. More than a quarter of undergraduates are first-generation college students, according to the university system.

The University of California serves about 300,000 students.

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press

The fallout from Jeffrey Epstein’s transgressions spans oceans and continents, from the vulnerable girls he exploited to the privileged people and institutions that chose to associate with him, cover up his activities — or look away. No one has paid a higher cost than Epstein’s victims, who number more than 1,000, according to the Justice Department.

The world will soon have more information. President Donald Trump, friends with Epstein for years before he says they had a falling out in the early to mid-2000s, signed a bill late Wednesday forcing the Justice Department to make public many of its files on Epstein. The president’s reversal was a rare bow to the fact that his fight to quash the files was doomed in the Republican-led Congress, a development noted in foreign news outlets as a moment of exposure on the home front for the brash American president who had dominated geopolitics all year.

It’s worth noting that elected representatives of a nation bitterly divided on so much else at least could agree that the web of Epstein’s sex trafficking must be exposed. Yet even that has limits, because the legislation shields some of the case files from public view. Trump has insisted throughout that he has done nothing wrong and did not know of Epstein’s activities.

But even in death, Epstein bedevils not only the president but academics, government leaders, royalty, journalists and banks, across borders and parties. Public trust has suffered, too. Here’s a look at the escalating cost of the truth in the ongoing scandal.

Epstein friendship upends a pillar of academia

Economist Lawrence Summers has bounced back before after falling from the pinnacles of academia, government and punditry. That’s not likely for now, in the face of newly released emails showing that Summers stayed in touch with Epstein years after the disgraced financier pled guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.

This combo shows Jeffrey Epstein, left, and U.S. economist Larry Summers. (New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP/Michel Euler)

The letters reveal that Summers appeared to ask Epstein for advice about women — and Epstein dubbed himself Summers’ “wing man” — as late as 2019. That has cost the economist his positions with OpenAI, the Center for American Progress, a think tank, and the Budget Lab at Yale University. At first, Summers pledged to keep teaching classes at Harvard, captured in an eyebrow-raising video Wednesday in which he opened a class by noting his shame about the relationship with Epstein. Then he stepped away from that job, too, the university said.

The 70-year-old Summers, a former treasury secretary and onetime contender to lead the Federal Reserve, has had to give up responsibilities at Harvard before. In 2006, he stepped down as president of the elite school after a speech in which he suggested that women were less represented in math and science fields because of “intrinsic aptitude.”

This week, Harvard said it was conducting its own review. In 2020, the elite school reported that Epstein visited its Cambridge, Mass., campus more than 40 times after his 2008 plea deal. It said he was given his own office and unfettered access to a research center he helped establish. It also found that Harvard accepted more than $9 million from Epstein during the decade leading up to his conviction but barred him from making further donations after that point.

A former prince loses royal title, duties, castle home

A well-documented connection with Epstein has cost Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor his home on castle grounds and his title as prince of the realm.

FILE – Britain’s Prince Andrew speaks during a television interview at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge in Windsor, April 11, 2021. (Steve Parsons/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Revelations about the king’s brother trickled forth for years and left little doubt that Mountbatten-Windsor, as Prince Andrew is now known, not only was involved in Epstein’s sex crimes against minors but stayed in touch with the disgraced financier after his conviction.

The evidence against Andrew grew increasingly hard to ignore even by his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who was said to consider Mountbatten-Windsor her favorite child and may have shielded him from the full consequences of his scandals.

That became impossible after Andrew gave a disastrous interview to the BBC in 2019. He was widely panned for failing to show empathy for Epstein’s victims and for offering unbelievable explanations for the friendship.

In her posthumous memoir, Virginia Giuffre said she was only 17 when she was trafficked to Andrew and that Epstein took a now-famous photograph that showed the then-prince with his hand around her waist.

FILE – Virginia Giuffre speaks during a news conference outside a Manhattan court in New York, Aug. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

Andrew denied ever meeting Giuffre, did not recall the photo being taken and committed no crimes. But he did reach a settlement with her. Giuffre died by suicide in April.

“I can’t take any more of this,” a sender identified in Epstein’s contacts as “The Duke” wrote to him in 2011 of the scrutiny of their friendship, according to the partly redacted emails released by the House.

The flood of tawdry stories threatened to undermine support for the British monarchy at a time when Charles, 76 and in cancer treatment, is seeking ways to buttress the institution for his son, Prince William, to inherit.

Charles stripped Andrew of his title and forced him to move out of Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion near Windsor Castle where Mountbatten-Windsor has lived for more than 20 years. Mountbatten-Windsor is banished to Sandringham, the king’s remote and private estate in the east of England.

Trump’s image of control took a hit

This time, the president failed to control a crisis of his own making — then claimed credit for resolving it.

In fact, Trump signed the bill to release files only after he’d lost a highly visible political fight, including with some of his fiercest MAGA defenders. That started a 30-day clock ticking for the release.

President Donald Trump speaks at the McDonald’s Impact Summit, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

But six years after Epstein’s death, his friendship with Trump continues to chip away at the president’s time, attention and support.

Trump increasingly began paying those costs in July, when the Justice Department abruptly reversed course and announced that no “further disclosure” of the Epstein files would be forthcoming. MAGA supporters, expecting Trump to make good on his campaign promise to release the files, edged toward rebellion.

Trump claimed he no longer wanted the support of such “stupid people” and “weaklings” — but that didn’t quiet them. He tried lashing out at reporters who asked about Epstein, but they kept doing so. A White House effort to lean on key Republicans supporting the files’ release didn’t work.

Major developments that Trump has trumpeted as achievements didn’t quiet the Epstein issue for long. Democrats made sure of that, releasing their choice Epstein emails on Nov. 12, the same day Congress and Trump ended a record 43-day government shutdown.

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The president thundered on social media that Epstein’s email claiming that Trump “knew about the girls” was a “hoax.” At another point, the president was forced to respond to a Wall Street Journal report that he’d written and signed a bawdy birthday note to Epstein that referred to secrets. Trump denied writing the note and filed a $10 billion defamation suit against the news outlet. Earlier this month, the president directed the Justice Department to investigate Democrats linked to Epstein.

Then, faced with the fact that all but one Republican in Congress would vote to release the FBI files, Trump abruptly backtracked.

“I DON’T CARE!” Trump wrote in a social media post. “All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT.”