Jimmy Kimmel has apologized to Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson for his controversial Emmys stunt in which he played dead on the stage behind her while she accepted her award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
For those who missed it, Kimmel was to announce the winner of the category, along with Will Arnett. Instead, Jimmy pretended to be passed out drunk and was dragged onto the stage by Will. The late-night host remained lying on the ground for the entirety of her acceptance speech. Brunson had to step over Kimmel’s body to reach the microphone. Though meant as a joke, the gag had many people more miffed than amused, and claiming it was disrespectful of Brunson’s winning moment.
But Brunson got her own back during Kimmel’s monologue Wednesday night, when she interrupted — Emmy in hand — to ask him for “a favor.”
“You know how when you win an Emmy and you only have 45 seconds to do an acceptance speech…and you get less time because someone does a dumb comedy bit that goes on a bit too long?” she joked, before asking for a couple of extra minutes to thank some people she overlooked Monday.
Kimmel later apologized to Brunson, calling the stunt a “dumb comedy bit.”
“I’m sorry I did do that, actually. And also, the last thing I would ever want to do was upset you because I think so much of you. And I think you know that — I hope you know that,” he continued.
Brunson graciously accepted, telling Kimmel, “It is very kind of you to say that.” She went on to explain that she was so “wrapped up in the moment” that she didn’t give Kimmel’s antics much thought. “I had a good night,” she added.
(LONDON) — Prince William and Kate, the princess of Wales, made a trip to Norfolk, England, Thursday to view tributes left to Queen Elizabeth II, who died Sept. 8 at the age of 96.
William and Kate viewed floral tributes left by the public outside Sandringham Estate, the queen’s Norfolk retreat, where she and family members regularly spent time, including a decadeslong tradition of gathering there for Christmas.
The couple have their own ties to Norfolk, which is where they have their country home, Anmer Hall, where they spend down time as a family with their three children, Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte.
Norfolk is located around 100 miles from Windsor, England, where William and Kate now have their primary home on the grounds of Windsor Castle, where the queen also spent much of her time during her 70-year reign.
William and Kate’s visit to Norfolk came after an emotional day Wednesday when they joined other members of the royal family in a procession escorting the queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where it will lie in state until her funeral on Sept. 19.
Thousands of people have lined up in London to pay their respects to the queen, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
The queen’s daughter Anne, the princess Royal, traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, to view tributes left to the queen and to meet with representatives of organizations of which the queen was patron.
And tributes like those William and Kate viewed at Sandringham have grown across the U.K. in the week since the queen’s death.
Anne traveled with her mother’s coffin earlier this week on its journey from Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where the queen died, to London.
Prince Edward, the queen’s youngest child, and his wife Sophie, the countess of Wessex, spent time Thursday in Manchester, England, where they viewed tributes left at St. Ann’s Square and met with community members.
Members of the royal family and invited guests will gather on Monday for a final goodbye to the queen.
Her state funeral is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. local time Monday at Westminster Abbey, making the queen the first sovereign to have a funeral there since 1760.
(WASHINGTON) — South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s proposal this week of a 15-week national abortion ban — with limited exceptions — has drawn mixed reaction from other conservatives in the final eight weeks before the November midterms, after which Graham hopes to bring his bill up for a vote.
The announcement of the legislation was quickly seized upon by Democrats who see support for abortion access as a motivating issue for voters across the country, even in red states.
The potential ban also inspired a slew of questions for Republicans who had been assailing the Biden administration over high inflation numbers.
Graham defended the move to ABC News.
“I think that’s where the country is at. So, I don’t mind talking about pro-life issues,” he said Wednesday, adding, “I think my proposal over time will be supported by the public at large.”
“You need to stand up for what you believe, right? That’s a good thing,” he said.
With just about two months until the general election that will decide control of Congress, Graham’s proposal has splintered the Republican Party, which had worked to adopt mixed messages for different parts of the country since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June and ruled that abortion should be left up to individual states.
Graham’s proposal is the first GOP effort to ban abortion on a federal level since that decision and contains limited exceptions for cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is in danger.
Former Vice President Mike Pence said he supported a national ban, telling Real Clear Politics in a Wednesday interview that he believed “enthusiasm among pro-life Americans in states across the country is equal to, or greater than, any new motivation by people that support abortion rights.”
Pence said that barring access to most abortions after 15 weeks was “profoundly more important than any short-term politics.”
But other Republicans — some in difficult midterm races in battleground states — have distanced themselves from the proposed legislation, saying abortion restrictions should be up to individual states.
Blake Masters, Arizona’s Republican Senate nominee against incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly, avoided discussion of Graham’s abortion ban while at a Yuma border event on Wednesday, following his Tuesday remarks in support of the bill. He said Wednesday if Graham’s bill does not pass, Republicans should take up a “a third-trimester standalone bill.”
“Certainly we can all agree that in America, we shouldn’t tolerate late-term abortion like China and North Korea do,” Masters said in a statement to ABC News.
Masters — under fire in TV ads by Democrats for his anti-abortion stance — already supports a 15-week ban on abortion, with exceptions only for the life of the mother, soon to take effect in Arizona. He did, however, scrub his website of the topic after Roe was overturned, removing language that said “I am 100% pro-life.”
Abortion access has proven to be a driving issue for voters, demonstrated most strongly in Kansas, when the historically conservative state overwhelmingly rejected a referendum that would have stripped away abortion rights from the state constitution.
Abortion access has also been seen as an influencing factor in special elections in New York and Alaska, where Democratic candidates with campaigns focused on abortion won their races. Even Republicans in Graham’s home state of South Carolina are having trouble passing an abortion ban.
In Georgia, Republican Herschel Walker — locked in a tight race against incumbent Rep. Raphael Warnock — said the issue “should be decided at the state level, but I WOULD support” Graham’s proposal in the Senate.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, one of the party’s most vulnerable incumbents, up for reelection in Wisconsin, said “nothing is going to pass in Congress” and that the issue should be left up to states.
“It’s got to be decided in the states. I think that is the appropriate place for this to be decided,” Johnson told ABC News on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Dr. Mehmet Oz, the GOP candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania, made a similar point, suggesting he would not support the Graham bill but not directly commenting.
“Dr. Oz is pro-life with three exceptions: life of the mother, rape and incest. And as a senator, he’d want to make sure that the federal government is not involved in interfering with the state’s decisions on the topic,” his spokesperson said.
Don Bolduc, the Trump-endorsed winner of New Hampshire’s Tuesday GOP primary, said he would not vote for the bill.
“I believe the federal government should stay out of it,” Bolduc, who has campaigned as anti-abortion, told ABC News. “Let the states deal with it. That’s going to be my position in Washington, D.C.”
The Republican Senate candidate in Colorado, Joe O’Dea, said he supported a different position on abortion restrictions — not what Graham called for.
“America wants balance on the abortion issue, not a forever cold war between the far left and the far right. Congress should pass a bill protecting a woman’s right to choose early in pregnancy, whether a woman lives in Mississippi or Massachusetts, and there should be sensible limits on non-medically necessary late term abortion and parental notification for minors. I don’t support Senator Graham’s bill,” O’Dea said in a statement.
“A Republican ban is as reckless and tone deaf as is Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s hostility to considering any compromise on late term abortion, parental notification, or conscience protections for religious hospitals,” O’Dea said.
Ohio GOP Senate nominee JD Vance and Nevada GOP Senate nominee Adam Laxalt did not respond to requests for comment.
The candidates’ distance comes as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday threw cold water on Graham’s proposal. When asked if he would bring the measure to the Senate floor should the GOP retake the chamber, McConnell said “most of the members of my conference prefer that this be dealt with at the state level.”
Other Republicans have embraced the legislation.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is an original co-sponsor of Graham’s proposed ban. His support comes as his general election opponent, Democratic Rep. Val Demings, has levied campaign attacks on the incumbent’s anti-abortion views.
When asked if his position on the bill would influence support for him in his race against Demings, Rubio told reporters in Washington that he’d “never analyzed this politically” but that’s he’s staunchly “pro-life.”
“That has never been a mystery. I’ve never hidden that. And I’ll vote for any bill that helps it,” he said, noting that the legislation would not likely pass if voted upon.
“No, of course, this is going to be dealt with at the state level … If [Democrats] think this is such a big political winner, then they shouldn’t be worried about states deciding,” Rubio said. “They know it’s not going to pass here.”
A spokesperson for Demings told ABC News in a statement that Floridians will “hold Rubio accountable for his out of touch stance in November,” following news of his co-sponsorship of Graham’s ban.
Rep. Ted Budd, R- N.C., running in a competitive Senate race against Democrat Cheri Beasley, on Wednesday also signed on as co-sponsor of a House version of Graham’s Senate legislation.
Separately, big-name Republicans like Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina have backed the idea that states should dictate their position on abortion.
(NEW YORK) — It has been more than two and half years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and despite a return to a new form of normality for many people across the country, there are still hundreds of Americans dying from the virus every day, a grim reality of the pandemic’s continued destruction.
The U.S. is currently averaging just under 400 daily COVID-19 related deaths. Although the daily number of fatalities is far lower than it was at the nation’s peak — in January 2021, 3,400 Americans died of COVID-19 each day.
“The seven-day average daily deaths are still too high, about 375 per day — well above the around 200 deaths a day we saw earlier this spring and, in my mind, far too high for a vaccine-preventable disease,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House press briefing with the COVID-19 response team last week.
Over the last seven days, the U.S. has reported 2,500 deaths, and since the beginning of 2022, more than 221,000 Americans have died because of COVID-19.
The vast majority of Americans who are currently dying of COVID-19 are over the age of 75. Although more than 92% of Americans of the age of 65 have been fully vaccinated, many are not up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations, and are at a higher risk for severe disease due to the virus.
The persistently high death rate, alongside concerns over the potential threat of a COVID-19 resurgence, has reignited the call for all Americans to get vaccinated. It is particularly important for those older or more vulnerable to get vaccinated and boosted with the new bivalent shots, which target not only the original strain of the virus, but also the omicron variant, experts said.
“We’re calling on all Americans: Roll up your sleeve to get your COVID-19 vaccine shot,” White House COVID-19 Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said during a press briefing last week. “If you’re 12 and above and previously vaccinated, it’s time to go get an updated COVID-19 shot.”
As the vaccine rollout expands, Jha added the administration plans to put “special efforts” into reaching older Americans, people living in congregate care settings such as nursing homes, and others who may be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.
Throughout the summer, COVID-19 case and hospitalization numbers have oscillated widely across the country. Numbers appeared to be on the decline, but in recent weeks, the number of U.S. wastewater sites reporting increases in the presence of COVID-19 in their samples appears to be back on the rise, after declines seen throughout the latter part of the summer.
In the U.S., about 50% of wastewater sites, which are currently providing data to the CDC, have reported an increase in the presence of the COVID-19 virus in their wastewater, over the last 15 days, up from the 40% of sites reporting increases, last month, according to federal data.
Several sites across the Northeast, in particular, appear to be seeing notable increases. In Boston, wastewater levels had plateaued, after a spring and summer surge, but in recent weeks, data indicates that COVID-19 sampling levels have increased again to their highest level in two months.
However, it is important to note that data is unavailable for many areas of the country, particularly across much of the South and the West.
The U.S. is currently reporting about 70,000 new cases a day. This comes as testing levels have plummeted in recent months, with now under 350,000 tests reported each day — the lowest total since the onset of the pandemic.
However, hospital admission levels continue to fall nationally. About 4,500 virus-positive Americans are entering the hospital each day, down by about 8.4% in the last week.
There are currently about 33,000 virus-positive Americans receiving care in the U.S., down from about 37,000 total patients receiving care, one week ago. Overall, the totals remain significantly lower than at the nation’s peak in January, when there were more than 160,000 patients hospitalized with the virus.
(INDIANAPOLIS) — Indiana’s abortion ban went into effect Thursday.
The ban will limit access to more than 1.5 million people of reproductive age in Indiana, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.
Indiana was the first state to pass an abortion ban since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, removing federal protections for abortion rights.
This comes as a lawsuit filed by abortion providers challenge the legality of the law under the state’s constitution. The plaintiffs have asked the court to grant a preliminary injunction, temporarily keeping the ban from going into effect while litigation continues. A hearing for the injunction is scheduled for Sept. 19.
The lawsuit claims the abortion ban infringes on residents’ right to privacy, violating Indiana’s guarantee of equal privileges and immunities and violates the Constitution’s due course of law clause because of its unconstitutionally vague language.
The Indiana lawsuit filed against members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana and county prosecutors, was filed by Planned Parenthood, the Lawyering Project, the ACLU of Indiana and WilmerHale on behalf of abortion providers including Planned Parenthood, Women’s Med Group Professional Corp and All-Options.
While the lawsuit was filed on Aug. 31, two judges recused themselves from presiding over the case and a third judge only agreed to take up the case on Friday. The first two judges did not reveal why they recused themselves.
Plaintiffs had filed a request for a hold on the abortion ban since Aug. 31.
A second lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Indiana on behalf of Hoosier Jews for Choice and five women claims the abortion ban violates their religious freedom by limiting their ability to get an abortion under circumstances prohibited by the ban.
Indiana’s ban makes it a felony to provide abortion services and only allows for limited exceptions. It replaces a previous 22-week abortion ban with a near-total ban on abortion.
Abortions up to certain stages in pregnancy are permitted if the woman’s life is in danger, the fetus is diagnosed with a fatal anomaly or if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest, according to the lawsuit.
Providers who violate the ban will have their license revoked and could face between one to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
(WASHINGTON) — At a congressional hearing on Wednesday with the nation’s leading public health officials, senators on both sides of the aisle criticized the Biden administration’s monkeypox response.
The strongest rebuke came from North Carolina’s Richard Burr, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), who labeled the government’s handling of monkeypox a “catastrophic failure” reminiscent of the onset of COVID-19 and implored officials to “do better.”
“You repeated each of the mistakes from the early days of the COVID response, and the cultural arrogance from public health officials who are supposed to be at the forefront of our response let this country down again,” Burr told the officials: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci; Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf and Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell.
Burr listed off delays on testing, therapeutics and vaccines — all of which were, and in some cases still are, challenging to access at the beginning of the monkeypox outbreak — and he criticized government health officials for not issuing stronger behavioral guidance during the many Pride parades nationwide for a disease that’s largely infecting the gay and bisexual male community.
“It isn’t a question of money. You’ve been given astonishing amounts of money. It’s a question of leadership. It’s a question of focus. It’s a question of squashing the typical bureaucratic roadblocks, arrogance and ineptitude. You need to do better,” Burr said.
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, the committee chair, also had criticism of the overall monkeypox response — though she tempered hers with the news that access to vaccines, testing and therapeutics has increased while case growth has decreased.
Still, she called the response “unacceptable.”
“I know each of your agencies have worked relentlessly to respond first to COVID and now monkeypox. But I have to say, frankly, too many missteps were made early on in the response and a couple hundred cases turned into 21,000. It is unacceptable to communities who already experienced barriers to accessing health care, like the LGBTQ+ and the Black and Latino communities that are hardest hit by this outbreak,” Murray said.
For their part, members of the administration’s monkeypox response said that they had worked quickly to focus on key measures like testing and vaccines.
“On May 17, a case was reported in Massachusetts and was confirmed by CDC the following day. CDC immediately began its work searching for additional cases, educating clinicians and the public about this disease and supporting our state and local health public health partners in their response,” Walensky said.
“Over the last several weeks we’ve been pleased to see a decline in the growth of new cases here and abroad, though there are areas in the United States where the rate of rise in new cases is still increasing. We approach this news with cautious optimism, recognizing that we must continue to aggressively respond using our entire toolkit, including vaccination, testing and education about risk, to inform behavior change,” she said.
She said the U.S. has always had more testing capacity than testing being done and to date is still doing 14-20% of its total testing capacity. The underlying issue, she said, has been getting health care providers up to speed on a disease that’s not common domestically so that they quickly prescribe tests.
“There’s never been a shortage of tests, but there’s been a shortage of access to tests because of inefficiencies in the system,” said Califf, the FDA commissioner.
On vaccines, Burr pushed the officials on why vaccination rates aren’t higher — arguing that a lack of information on the new intradermal vaccination method, which is allowing the U.S. to increase its vaccine supply by up to fivefold, could be turning people off of the shots.
“We know that we have 13 to 15 million gay men in this country in the United States. … We have about 1.9 million HIV/AIDS positive gay men. There’s your immunocompromised population, 1.9 million; [and] your at-risk pool for sexually transmitted monkeypox [is] about 13 to 15 million. And somehow we’re cheering the fact that we put out 700,000 vaccines,” Burr said.
The administration has been doing some large-scale pop-up clinics at events like Atlanta Black Pride, Charlotte Pride, Boise Pride and Southern Decadence in New Orleans, Walensky said, and they had vaccinated around 7,200 people between the Atlanta and New Orleans events.
“What we need to do now is do those in smaller scale, and we’re actively doing that scale up … So rather than these big events, we need to meet people where they are with community-based organizations, trusted messengers,” she said.
O’Connell, who oversees the vaccine logistics within the Department of Health and Human Services, said the U.S. would be getting an additional 5.5 million vials of monkeypox vaccine in the coming months — which could be used as some 27 million doses, using the new intradermal approach — on top of the 1.1 million vials that have already been made available.
“Responses cannot be static. They must continue to evolve and calibrate to the current set of circumstances and regularly account for new information and evolving scientific understanding. This has been true of the monkeypox response thus far and will be true as it continues,” O’Connell said, defending the response.
But Walensky pointed out that there are holes in the administration’s work because of data hurdles.
The CDC does not have nearly the amount of information they need to design a more efficient testing and vaccination strategy, she said.
For example, “for monkeypox specifically, I can tell you that I don’t know the total number of people hospitalized with monkeypox,” Walensky said.
“It’s been hard, and it should not be this hard. And if we can’t make informed decisions, based on the best possible data coming into us, we’re not making the best decisions for the American people. The existing patchwork of data systems is not working. It’s not working to the best ability of the American people,” Walensky said.
She also said the CDC doesn’t know which people who are testing positive for monkeypox have been vaccinated or not.
While demographic data, such as race, ethnicity and gender, are reported in 91% of vaccinations, that data is only reported for 27% of tests and 47% of cases.
“We have been working closely, tirelessly, with state and local public health staff who have been doing the same to extract data on this outbreak specifically,” Walensky said.
(LONDON) — Questions around rare diamonds that are centerpieces of the British crown jewels have emerged in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death.
Two royal crowns and a scepter are adorned with some of the most famous diamonds in the world, obtained by the British empire over 100 years ago, and intertwined with its history of imperialism.
The 105.6-carat Kohinoor diamond — also spelled Koh-i-noor or Koh-i-Nûr — was mined in India thousands of years ago and is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world.
Rumored to be cursed for men, it was initially worn as a brooch by Queen Victoria and later mounted in the crowns of Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary. It is currently set in a crown that was created for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother for her coronation as queen consort in 1937. She wore it again at the coronation of her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953. It is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London and will reportedly be worn by Camilla, queen consort, at King Charles III’s coronation.
The Great Star of Africa is the biggest stone cut from the Cullinan diamond, which was discovered in South Africa in 1905 in a mine owned by its namesake, Thomas Cullinan, and is the largest gem-quality uncut diamond ever found. Also known as Cullinan I, the enormous, 530.2-carat drop-shaped diamond was added to the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross, a sacred object that dates back to the 1600s used during coronation ceremonies, in 1910. It also is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.
The second-largest stone cut from the Cullinan is set in the Imperial State Crown, which was made for the coronation of King George VI in 1937 and is worn by the monarch upon leaving Westminster Abbey after the coronation. The 317-carat Second Star of Africa, also known as the Cullinan II, is the most valuable stone in the crown, which is currently set atop Queen Elizabeth’s coffin as she lies in state at Westminster Hall.
Among the intrigue of the jewels is their value, which is unclear. Though their rarity and history would inarguably make them worth a fortune.
Following the queen’s death last week, there have been renewed calls on social media for the diamonds to be returned to their respective countries of origin; #kohinoor was trending on Twitter.
“Would now be a bad time to ask for the Kohinoor back,” one person asked.
“RIP Queen. Send back the Kohinoor,” said another.
British-Indian author and political commentator Saurav Dutt tweeted that the British Empire is a “vestige of a bruised and thankfully desiccated past,” and that the Kohinoor diamond “should be dispatched back to Indian hands with haste and alacrity.”
Meanwhile, Snopes investigated the claim that the Great Star of Africa was stolen. It concluded that “would appear to be a matter of opinion.”
According to Brittanica, the Cullinan diamond was purchased by the government in Transvaal, South Africa, where it was found, and “presented (1907) to the reigning British monarch, King Edward VII.”
The Royal Collection Trust states that the diamond was presented to the king “as a symbolic gesture to heal the rift between Britain and South Africa after the Boer War.”
The Kohinoor diamond passed through many hands over centuries. India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan have all claimed ownership and called for the British to surrender it. In 2016, the Indian Culture Ministry said it would make “all possible efforts” to have the diamond returned to India.
Historic Royal Palaces, which oversees the Tower of London, notes that the diamond has a “turbulent history” and is a “symbol of conquest.”
“The East India Company took the jewel from deposed Maharaja Duleep Singh in 1849, as a condition of the Treaty of Lahore,” it said. “The treaty specified that the jewel be surrendered to Queen Victoria.”
The British government has rejected pleas to return the Kohinoor; during a 2010 trip to India, former Prime Minister David Cameron said it was “staying put.”
While London institutions like the British Museum and Horniman Museum wrestle with contested artifacts, some experts, including Dutt, do not see the royal establishment relinquishing its jewels anytime soon.
The royals “would essentially be eviscerating themselves” if they turned over the Kohinoor, he told Time.
(WASHINGTON) — With his widow and former colleagues looking on, the late Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings had his official portrait unveiled Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol.
Cummings died in October 2019, at 68, after longstanding health challenges. He was first elected to the House in 1996 and served as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform until he died.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Majority Whip James Clyburn on Wednesday and delivered remarks honoring Cummings.
“He was a leader of towering integrity, everybody knows that. A man whose life embodied the American dream,” Pelosi, a Maryland native, said.
Cummings’ portrait was commissioned by his widow, Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, and was painted by Baltimore-based artist Jerrell Gibbs. It will hang in the Rayburn House Office Building Government Oversight and Reform Committee hearing room.
“This entire process has been a beautiful challenge,” Gibbs said Wednesday. “Being tasked with creating a painting of this magnitude for someone as important as the honorable Elijah Cummings to be permanently housed in a place of such significance as the United States Capitol building seemed like an insurmountable feat.”
Rockeymoore Cummings told ABC News that the portrait “is going to help keep his legacy alive, because that portrait is going to actually stand and look over the Government Oversight and Reform Committee members as they deliberate on all matters of issues.”
“And he’s going to be a reminder to them that we have to hold ourselves to the highest levels of integrity, that we have to hold ourselves to the truth,” she said.
(WASHINGTON) — As a onetime ambassador to the U.N. and an international hostage negotiator, Bill Richardson has often been on the front lines of American diplomacy. But after his high-profile trip to Russia amid efforts to secure the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, members of the Biden administration are now urging Richardson to take a back seat.
“Our message is that private citizens should not be in Moscow at all right now and that private citizens cannot negotiate on behalf of the United States government,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday.
But Richardson, a former New Mexico governor and energy secretary who now heads up an organization aimed at freeing Americans considered to be wrongfully held abroad, is not exactly an average citizen. When his plans to travel to Russia were first reported in July, Kirby said U.S. officials were in “constant communication” with him.
Richardson, for his part, told ABC News in August that he was “optimistic” about both Griner and Whelan, calling himself a “catalyst”: “I’ve been talking to the Russians. I talked to the White House.”
But the State Department’s receptiveness to help from outside the administration has chilled in recent weeks. Spokesperson Ned Price said Wednesday that anything other than government-to-government communication could be counterproductive.
“Our concern is that anything other than negotiating further through the established channel is likely to hinder the efforts that we have undertaken to see the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner,” he said.
However, when Richardson first became involved in Griner’s case at the behest of her family in May, Price struck a different chord.
“We welcome all of those efforts that are coordinated closely with us that might help to seek the safe release of any American who’s unjustly detained around the world,” he said then.
Asked about the apparent shift, Price denied there had been a change in the government’s approach, saying the channel through which the Kremlin and Washington are currently communicating was established back in 2021 when President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Geneva.
It’s unclear if the State Department was informed of Richardson’s latest travel plans in advance, but Price said the trip was not coordinated through the U.S. embassy in Moscow. ABC News independently confirmed Richardson’s visit to Russia and reached out to the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, but a spokesperson declined to comment or answer questions.
“Of course, families are perfectly free to engage in to consult with outside voices, with outside entities,” Price said Wednesday. “But again, we want to make sure that any outside effort is fully and transparently coordinated with us and, in this case, we believe that any efforts that fall outside of that officially designated channel have the potential to complicate what is already an extraordinarily complicated challenge.”
The shifting tone from members of the administration comes as its push to free Griner and Whelan plods along at a slow — but not atypical — pace.
In late July, Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the rare step of announcing that the U.S. had put forth what he called a “substantial proposal” aimed at securing the release of both prisoners. Sources later confirmed it was a proposal for a prisoner swap involving so-called “merchant of death” Viktor Bout, a convicted arms trafficker who is currently serving out a 25-year sentence in an Illinois penitentiary.
Although officials within the department say direct engagement between the U.S. and Russia has continued on a regular basis since then, there is scant evidence that an agreement is any closer. Some, including Richardson, say they believe Moscow will require parity for an exchange, giving the White House the difficult task of identifying another prisoner that is tolerable to release but still a valuable enough asset for Moscow to go through with the trade.
Still, other sources have expressed doubt that Moscow is approaching the talks in good faith and question whether the Kremlin is truly willing to cut a deal in the near-term.
Richardson, who has carried out diplomatic missions in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and North Korea, played a role in freeing another former U.S. Marine detained in Russia: Trevor Reed. He was released as part of a prisoner exchange in April.
The administration’s position against outside help has sparked backlash from some advocates, who believe other avenues may yield results.
Griner, who pleaded guilty to drug charges in early July — though she said she had only inadvertently brought illegal hashish oil into Russia — has been detained since Feb. 17. She was sentenced to nine years behind bars but is currently appealing the ruling.
The Phoenix Mercury center and Olympic gold medalist’s wife, Cherelle Griner, said in July that she would “not be quiet anymore” and publicly urged the government to do everything in its power to help Griner.
Whelan has been detained in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges that U.S. officials have called “trumped up.” His brother told ABC News the Whelan family is supportive of Richardson’s involvement in the case.
The wait is over for the return of the Mexican Pizza to Taco Bell’s menu — and now the wait is nearly over for the Taco Bell TikTok musical.
That’s right: On Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, fans can watch the Mexican Pizza TikTok musical, starring Dolly Parton and other celebrities. Dolly teased the event on her social channels, posting snippets of the musical — and a poppy background score — in her Instagram Stories.
For the uninitiated, Mexican Pizza was discontinued from Taco Bell’s menu in 2020, leading to general uproar from superfans of the product, including rapper Doja Cat and Dolly herself.
They weren’t alone. A petition to bring back the Mexican Pizza netted 171,000 signatures, and Taco Bell listened, vowing to return the item to its menu and to launch a TikTok musical celebrating it.
Dolly announced her involvement in the musical — which was also inspired by a song Doja Cat wrote and posted on TikTok — in May.
