(KEY WEST, Fla.) — Two Cuban migrants landed at Key West International Airport on a motorized hang glider Saturday morning, authorities said.
They were taken into U.S. Border Patrol custody after landing at approximately 10:30 am. local time, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, which has deputies assigned to the airport.
No serious injuries were reported, authorities said.
The sheriff’s office and Chief Patrol Agent Walter Slosar shared images of the powered hang glider following the incident.
ABC News has reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for more information on the incident.
“Cuban migrants arrive in all manner, typically in makeshift homemade boats,” Monroe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Adam Linhardt told ABC News. “This is not a typical event, but it’s not completely unusual.”
Chris Ferrara, a Key West local and self-proclaimed aviation buff, told ABC News he was driving his golf cart nearby when he heard the distinct noise of the hang glider engine hovering above him.
“I looked up and just knew that it shouldn’t be there,” Ferrara said.
(WACO, Texas) — Former President Donald Trump will address supporters in Texas on Saturday as he faces a possible indictment.
The rally at Waco Regional Airport is being billed by his team as the first of his 2024 campaign, though he’s held smaller events in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina since launching his White House bid back in November.
It will be Trump’s first campaign event since he claimed last weekend he would be arrested this past Tuesday in connection to a $130,000 payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential race.
The campaign won’t be deterred by the prospect of charges stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation, those in Trump’s orbit told ABC News, adding it may be an opportunity to rile up his base.
The former president has taken on a defiant attitude as he assails Bragg and encourages protest on his social media. In one post, he warned of “potential death and destruction” if he were to be indicted. As ABC News has previously reported, the DA has been presenting a case for some time and the grand jury is expected to reconvene on Monday.
The tone of Trump’s posts makes Waco a noteworthy backdrop for Saturday’s rally. The Texas town was the site of the 1993 face-off between government agents and the Branch Davidian religious sect. The 51-day siege resulted in the deaths of 82 Branch Davidians — at least two dozen of whom were children — as well as four federal agents.
The campaign stop is coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the deadly standoff, which lasted from Feb. 28 to April 19, 1993.
“Waco is kind of the genesis of a lot of the discontent about government and the use of violence to be able to react to it,” Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston, told ABC News.
Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s spokesman, told the New York Times the location was selected “because it is centrally located and close to all four of Texas’ biggest metropolitan areas — Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio — while providing the necessary infrastructure to hold a rally of this magnitude.” The statement made no mention of Waco’s history.
When asked by Newsmax whether he was “stoking the fire of Waco” by holding his rally there Saturday, Trump dodged.
“I hear there’s tens of thousands of people,” Trump told the rightwing outlet Friday night, though it is unclear how many participants are expected to attend. “The line is already miles long trying to get in.”
“We’re gonna have a great time in Waco,” he added.
Musician Ted Nugent, who said he will be performing at the rally, tweeted he’s going to “unleash a firebreathing Star-Spangled Banner” and referred to McLennan County, where Waco is located, as “the epicenter of conservative American Dream spirit/values.”
But Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, noted the choice of Waco for the rally’s setting in her effort to undercut the rally by encouraging people to register but not show up.
“Donald has a rally in Waco this Saturday. It’s a ploy to remind his cult of the infamous Waco siege of 1993, where an anti-government cult battled the FBI. Scores of people died. He wants the same violent chaos to rescue him from justice,” she tweeted Thursday, encouraging her followers to reserve tickets and “make sure most of the seats are empty when the traitor takes the stage.”
Amid the chatter over Waco’s history, Rottinghaus noted the city also encompasses the traditional traits for a campaign stop: It’s located in a county Trump won by 23 points in 2020 and is close enough to urban areas to potentially draw a large crowd that is favorable to the former president.
“Donald Trump needs to defend the South and Texas is fertile ground for a stand,” Rottinghaus said.
The Lone Star State will play an important role in the Republican primary, as it has the second-highest number of delegates. Republicans in Texas will cast their votes for the party’s presidential nominee on March 5, 2024, alongside several other states as part of the cycle’s Super Tuesday.
Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley are so far among some of the candidates to officially throw their hat in the ring for the party’s nomination, but others — including former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — are considered likely contenders.
ABC News’ Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.
(WINONA, Miss.) — As a deadly tornado barrelled toward Winona, Mississippi, late on Friday, one local family scrambled for safety inside their home.
“Obviously it was coming right behind us because as soon as we got in there, we heard a big boom and didn’t hear anything else for a little while,” a local man told ABC News affiliate WTVA.
He added, “So we walked out and then just came out to about 10 trees down in our yard.”
The strong and deadly tornado cut eastward across the state, destroying homes and ruining infrastructure. It touched down in cities 100 miles apart within about an hour. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said at least 23 people were dead. Four others were reported missing.
First responders on Saturday morning searched through the destruction, looking for victims. The United Cajun Navy President Todd Terrell said the town of “Rolling Fork is leveled. It’s pretty much devastated.”
In an interview with “GMA” on Saturday, Edgar O’Neal, a storm chaser who was on the ground in Rolling Fork, described the scene as “complete and utter devastation.”
“Houses gone. Gas stations destroyed. Trees, power lines blocking entrances everywhere,” he said. “Stray animals, people wandering the streets clearly in shock. Lots of people out there in the community helping.”
One Rolling Fork resident told WAPT that residents lost a lot more than their homes.
“I thought I was dead,” Rolling Fork resident Shanta Howard said.
“We had to help dead bodies out of the house, so that is very disturbing,” Howard said. “Actually seeing people losing their lives over a weather incident.”
Yazoo County Coroner Ricky Shivers, who is leading the response team of six corners in Rolling Fork, told ABC News he is anticipating a “really severe” death toll.
“It’s going to be catastrophic,” he said.
When asked about the damage to the town, his response was two words: “Completely devastated.” He said his team of six corners “will be prepared to get in high gear at daylight.”
The strength of the tornado, as well as its path, created a devastating result, he said.
(NEW YORK) — The banking crisis that erupted earlier this month elicited some predictions of a halt in interest rate hikes, since previous borrowing cost increases garnered blame for the financial distress.
Instead, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday imposed another hike, extending a yearlong blitz of rate increases that risks further banking woes and squeezes a different group: consumers in need of a loan.
The supercharged rate hikes have ballooned loan costs for mortgages, car loans and credit cards, weighing on the budgets of U.S. households or forcing them to delay buying big-ticket items.
However, some loan costs have ticked down slightly since the onset of the banking crisis in response to renewed recession fears, suggesting that relief for borrowers could arrive in the coming months but alongside a possible economic downturn, experts told ABC News.
“For ordinary families who need a new car or need to move, when the Fed hits the brakes hard and loan rates go up, that really constrains them,” Andrew Levin, an economics professor at Dartmouth College and a former Federal Reserve Board special adviser, told ABC News.
The Fed has put forward a string of borrowing cost increases as it tries to slash inflation by slowing the economy and choking off demand. That means borrowers face higher costs for everything from car loans to credit card debt to mortgages.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate stands at 6.6%, a sharp increase from a year ago, when it registered at 4.6%, a Bankrate analysis found.
Each single percentage point increase in a mortgage rate can add thousands or tens of thousands in additional cost each year, depending on the price of a house, according to Rocket Mortgage.
Consumers tempted to offload heightened costs onto a credit card have encountered skyrocketing rate increases for that debt, too.
The average credit card interest rate offered in the U.S. over the last three months of 2022 stood at 21.6%, according to WalletHub, a jump from 18.2% a year prior.
“Higher interest rates mean you really can’t spend as much on big-ticket items,” Derek Horstmeyer, a finance professor at George Mason University’s School of Business, told ABC News. “There’s a direct connection.”
To be sure, the Fed has raised interest rates as part of an assault on sky-high inflation, a separate source of financial angst for U.S. households.
Inflation has fallen significantly from a summer peak, though it remains more than triple the Fed’s target of 2%.
“When you raise rates a lot it can feel like slamming the brakes and be pretty uncomfortable for passengers,” Levin said.
“On the other hand, families have been hit really hard in recent years by high inflation,” he added. “Passengers don’t want to go down a mountain at high speed either.”
While loan costs remain well above where they stood a year ago, the recent banking crisis has delivered a burst of unexpected relief, experts said.
Mortgage rates inched downward for the second week in a row, according to data released by Freddie Mac on Thursday.
The fall in mortgage rates owes to a quirk in the relationship between interest rates and home loan costs.
Mortgage rates track closely with rates for 10-year treasury bonds, which themselves correlate with expectations for the Fed’s benchmark interest rate over the next few years, Levin said.
If investors think interest rates will soon reverse downward, a drop in mortgage rates often precedes the interest rate pivot.
The financial distress has heightened recession fears, prompting investors to expect a significant lowering of interest rates over the next 12 to 18 months, which in turn has pushed down mortgage rates, Levin said.
“If that expectation continues, then the 10-year treasury rate will drop quite a bit,” Levin said. “Then it pulls down mortgage rates and that improves the affordability of families looking to move or first-time homebuyers looking to buy a house.”
Car loans will likely experience a trajectory similar to that of mortgage rates, though credit card costs should lag behind, Levin said.
“There might be a glimmer of hope,” he added.
Tempering such optimism, however, is the economic force that would push down interest rates: a recession.
“This crisis where we broke a few banks – that’s probably going to push us into a recession,” Horstmeyer said, noting that the adjoining job losses and decline in demand should bring down inflation and allow the Fed to ease interest rates.
“That kind of did the Fed’s job for it,” he added.
(WEST READING, Pa.) — Two people are dead, five are missing and multiple others are injured after an explosion at a chocolate factory Friday in West Reading, Pennsylvania, police and city officials said.
One person was found alive overnight in the rubble. Eight people are in the hospital but their conditions are unknown, according to officials.
“Rescue workers continue to search for any other possible survivors. The discovery of life overnight … provides hope that others still may be found,” Mayor Samantha Kaag said at a press conference Saturday.
Officials do not yet know what caused the explosion.
The explosion occurred around 4:57 p.m. at the RM Palmer Company in West Reading, located about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
Teams are still searching through the rubble, according to West Reading Police Chief Wayne Holben.
The explosion caused destruction to one building nearby and damaged another.
Kaag, a former volunteer firefighter, called the incident “pretty scary,” adding that the explosion was so strong it pushed a building back four feet. She said the factory building was “pretty leveled” and crews will “probably” be working through the weekend to clear the debris.
Images of the scene showed smoke and flames billowing from the factory on Friday evening.
(NEW YORK) — Gordon Moore, the co-founder and former chairman of tech giant Intel, died Friday at the age of 94, the company and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announced.
A press release stated Moore died “surrounded by family” in Hawaii.
Moore and Robert Noyce founded Intel in 1968. Moore initially served as executive vice president until 1975, when he became president. In 1979, Moore was named chairman of the board and chief executive officer, positions he held until 1987, when he stepped down as CEO and continued as chairman.
Moore became chairman emeritus of Intel in 1997, stepping down in 2006.
“Those of us who have met and worked with Gordon will forever be inspired by his wisdom, humility and generosity,” said foundation president Harvey Fineberg in a statement. “Though he never aspired to be a household name, Gordon’s vision and his life’s work enabled the phenomenal innovation and technological developments that shape our everyday lives. Yet those historic achievements are only part of his legacy.”
Pat Gelsinger, the CEO of Intel, said, “Gordon Moore defined the technology industry through his insight and vision. He was instrumental in revealing the power of transistors, and inspired technologists and entrepreneurs across the decades.”
Prior to Intel’s founding, Moore and Noyce were involved in the founding of Fairchild Semiconductor, where they played central roles in the initial commercial production of diffused silicon transistors and later the world’s first commercially viable integrated circuits.
“The world lost a giant in Gordon Moore, who was one of Silicon Valley’s founding fathers and a true visionary who helped pave the way for the technological revolution,” Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted. “All of us who followed owe him a debt of gratitude. May he rest in peace.”
Along with his wife of 72 years, Betty Irene Whitaker, he established the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which has donated more than $5.1 billion to charitable causes since its founding in 2000, according to the foundation.
Moore received the National Medal of Technology from President George H.W. Bush in 1990, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2002.
In addition to his wife, Moore is survived by his sons, Kenneth and Steven, and four grandchildren.
(UVALDE, Texas) — “Numerous” migrants were reported injured in a train car in Uvalde County, Texas, on Friday, police said.
Medical helicopters responded to the scene in an area on US Highway 90 near Knippa, Uvalde police said on Facebook.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin told ABC San Antonio affiliate KSAT that people inside the train car called 911.
The incident was not a derailment, a source told ABC News.
The portion of the highway, which runs parallel to train tracks in the area, was closed between Uvalde and Sabinal but reopened Friday evening, police said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating the scene.
Knippa is located about 70 miles west of San Antonio.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the world is “on thin ice” and called for “climate action on all fronts” earlier this week while revealing the latest U.N. climate report.
The report said that greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow as chances of slowing climate change shrink — unless those emissions are cut drastically by the 2050s.
Ford CEO Jim Farley unveiled the company plans to reduce those emissions, including its new green manufacturing plant and the plant’s first vehicle, an electric truck codenamed Project T3. Farley joined “GMA3” to discuss the plans and what they mean for the future of manufacturing.
DEMARCO MORGAN: The U.N. secretary general says it will take a quantum leap and climate action to mitigate global warming. Can you tell us about the BlueOval City plant behind you and how it’s a game changer in your eyes?
JIM FARLEY: It’s a game changer for us. And good afternoon to you. Game changer for us, because we’re really starting to scale EVs. We’re number two in the U.S., and with this plant, we’re adding not only 6,000 American jobs, but, you know, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of capacity and the plant will be completely green. All the electrons that power the plant will be green electricity. So it’s not just a story about an electric vehicle. It’s actually a much bigger story about modernizing and decarbonizing our American manufacturing industrial system.
EVA PILGRIM: And today, Ford’s announcing the first vehicle to be built at that plant you’re at today, an electric vehicle codenamed Project T3. It’s a truck. What are we going to see that we haven’t seen yet in other EVs? And when will it roll out?
FARLEY: Well, you know, our Lightning is the best-selling electric pickup in the U.S., but this will be its successor and it will be fully software updatable. So over the air we’ll be able to change and improve the truck every day for our customers. And we think it’ll be the first technology we’re going to land where on a sunny day in the highway, you’ll be able to go to sleep in your Ford truck. So we don’t have autonomous features for commuters where you know you’re going to get the most precious thing in your life back, which is time.
MORGAN: And Jim, it is no secret that Ford has clearly embraced the electrical vehicle market as have others, and yet EVs have faced their share of problems. About 18 Ford F-150 Lightnings had to be recalled for a battery fire issue earlier this year. There have been Tesla battery fires, GM, BMW, Volvo, all had recalls due to EV fire risks. How can you assure people that your EVs are safe?
FARLEY: Well, I mean, I’m so proud of the Lightning team. They stopped production. We stopped the battery production. We did everything we needed to do. We found that fire. It happened at Ford, not in customer’s hands. We did exactly the right thing. Unlike other brands, we stopped the production. None of them got out in customer’s hands. And that’s exactly what we have to do to build a trusted brand on EV. We’re also going to diverse battery chemistry that has less risk, like the LMP battery plant we’re building in Michigan.
PILGRIM: We have to talk about money. EVs are expensive, more expensive than traditional cars. So if this is supposed to be better for our planet, how do you make these vehicles affordable so everyone who wants one can actually have one?
FARLEY: Yeah, great question. And that’s a big part of Ford, obviously. You know, we democratized affordable vehicles, so that’s a big part of our DNA. I think the first part is we have to design the vehicle differently to be a lot simpler. We have to scale to hundreds of thousands from tens of thousands. Like today, we’re going to have a more efficient distribution without inventory like we have today with our dealers. And we’re going to have to build it with less labor content. So we have to change everything, basically.
MORGAN: Jim, before you go, the U.N. climate report says we have to cut global emissions in half by 2030 and net-zero by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Are you optimistic that the world can reach that goal? Is it possible?
FARLEY: It’s possible if companies like Ford do what we’ve got to do. It’s absolutely possible.
(SALT LAKE CITY, Utah) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed two bills into law on on Friday that seek to limit the harm caused by social media to children and teens by requiring parents and guardians to consent to their children having accounts and by prohibiting social media companies from designing addictive features.
“Our administration is very concerned about how social media is affecting our children. Youth rates of depression and other mental health issues are on the rise, and social media companies know their products are toxic,” Cox said in a recording posted online. “As leaders and as parents we have a responsibility to protect our young people.”
As of March 1, 2024, social media companies will be required to verify the adult age of Utah residents seeking to open or maintain social media accounts. Those under the age of 18 will need the consent of a parent or guardian.
Social media companies will also be required to allow parents full access to their child’s account, create curfew settings that blocks access overnight, prohibit direct messages from anyone the child hasn’t followed or friended and block underage accounts from search results.
Social media companies will also be prohibited from collecting a child’s data or target their accounts for advertising, according to the law.
Violations may be reported to the Consumer Protection Division, which can fine social media companies up to $2,500 per violation and can seek additional remedies through courts.
A second law, which will go into effect on Dec. 31, will implement penalties on social media companies that target users under the age of 18 with addictive algorithms. Social media companies will be prohibited from “using a design or feature that causes a minor to have an addiction to the company’s social media platform,” according to the law.
Violators could face a fine of $250,000 and a penalty of up to $2,500 per child who is exposed to an addictive feature. Companies that perform quarterly audits and address addictive feature violations within 30 days could avoid the fine, according to the law.
Parents will also be able to sue social media companies directly for the financial, physical or emotional harm to their children. For those under the age of 16, harm would be presumed under the law and social media companies would have to prove otherwise.
“Utah’s leading the way in holding social media companies accountable – and we’re not slowing down anytime soon,” Cox said in a tweet.
(LONDON) — The Rwandan government announced Friday that Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the acclaimed 2004 film Hotel Rwanda, will be released from prison nearly three years after he was captured and detained.
The 68-year-old Rwandan hotelier-turned-dissident, who is a lawful permanent resident of the United States, was tried and convicted on a slew of terrorism-related charges in Rwanda’s High Court in Kigali in 2021. He was sentenced to 25 years behind bars.
Rusesabagina’s prison sentence was commuted by presidential order on Friday after consideration of requests for his clemency and approval by the Cabinet, according to Rwandan Minister for Justice and Attorney General Emmanuel Ugirashebuja.
“Under Rwandan law, commutation of sentence does not extinguish the underlying conviction,” Ugirashebuja said in a statement. “If any individual benefitting from early release repeats offences of a similar nature, the commutation can be revoked and the remainder of the prison sentence will be served, in accordance with the conditions specified in the Presidential Order. Other penalties imposed by the Court, such as compensation owed to victims, are not affected by this commutation and thus remain in force.”
Rwandan government spokesperson Stephanie Nyombayire confirmed to ABC News that Rusesabagina would be freed within 24 hours.
When asked for comment, Rusesabagina’s family told ABC News in a statement on Friday: “We are pleased to hear the news about Paul’s release. The family is hopeful to reunite with him soon.”
Last year, the U.S. Department of State determined that Rusesabagina, who has maintained his innocence, had been “wrongfully detained.” The U.S. House of Representatives subsequently passed a bipartisan resolution calling on the Biden administration to demand Rusesabagina’s release on humanitarian grounds. As U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Rwanda in August 2022, members of Congress sent a letter urging him to push for Rusesabagina’s “immediate release” and “safe return to the United States.”
Rusesabagina was the manager of the Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when divisions between Rwanda’s two main ethnic groups came to a head. The Rwandan government, controlled by extremist members of the Hutu ethnic majority, launched a systemic campaign with its allied Hutu militias to wipe out the Tutsi ethnic minority, slaughtering more than 800,000 people over the course of 100 days, mostly Tutsis and the moderate Hutus who tried to protect them, according to estimates from the United Nations.
More than 1,200 people took shelter in the Hotel des Mille Collines during what is often described as the darkest chapter of Rwanda’s history. Rusesabagina, who is of both Hutu and Tutsi descent, said he used his job and connections with the Hutu elite to protect the hotel’s guests from massacre. The events were later immortalized in Hotel Rwanda, with American actor Don Cheadle’s portrayal of Rusesabagina earning an Academy Award nomination for best actor in 2005.
Rusesabagina, who fled Rwanda with his family in 1996 and later settled in San Antonio, Texas, rose to fame and was lauded as a hero after the movie’s release. In 2005, he was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor given by the American president. He also wrote a book, gave paid speeches and became an outspoken critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who has been in office for the last two decades.
In August 2020, Rusesabagina traveled to Dubai to meet up with a Burundi-born pastor who Rusesabagina alleges had invited him to speak at churches in Burundi about his experience during the Rwandan genocide. The pair hopped on a private jet that Rusesabagina believed would take them to Burundi’s capital, according to Rusesabagina’s international legal team.
Rusesabagina did not know that the pastor was working as an informant for the Rwanda Investigation Bureau and had tricked him into boarding a chartered flight to Kigali. He was subsequently arrested and charged with several terrorism-related offenses, with Rwandan prosecutors alleging that Rusesabagina wanted to go to Burundi to coordinate with rebel groups based there and in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Rusesabagina’s family and lawyers have repeatedly expressed concern over his condition and treatment while under detention in Rwanda’s capital. The married father of six is a cancer survivor and is prescribed medication for a heart disorder. He was held in solitary confinement for more than eight months after his capture and has been denied proper medical care, according to his international legal team. The U.N.’s Nelson Mandela Rules state that keeping someone in solitary confinement for more than 15 consecutive days is torture.
