(NEW YORK) — Kathleen Buhle was married to Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, for over two decades and raised three daughters with him before their divorce five years ago.
Now, Buhle has penned a memoir, If We Break: A Memoir of Marriage, Addiction and Healing, sharing the first glimpse into her experience in their 24-year marriage.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Amy Robach, Buhle opens up what it was like to watch her husband disappear into drug and alcohol addiction.
“I think with addiction especially, there’s so much shame surrounding it that it becomes something that we don’t talk about,” Buhle told Robach in an interview airing Tuesday on Good Morning America.
Tune into Good Morning America on Tuesday, June 14, between 7 and 9 a.m. EST, to watch Amy Robach’s full interview with Kathleen Buhle.
(DUNCANVILLE, Texas) — Police shot and killed a suspect Monday morning after he entered an athletic complex where summer camp was taking place in Duncanville, Texas, allegedly armed with a handgun, authorities said.
No children were harmed after camp staffers ushered them to safety when the man entered the building.
Police shot and killed the suspect at the Duncanville Fieldhouse within minutes of arriving at the scene, Duncanville Mayor Barry Gordon said, according to ABC Dallas affiliate WFAA.
“Our officers did not hesitate,” Gordon said. “They did what they were trained to do and saved lives.”
Families of kids wounded in Uvalde school shooting sue suspected gunman’s estate
A camp counselor confronted the suspected gunman in the lobby of the indoor sports and fitness center.
Upon hearing the gunshots in the lobby, staff members moved the kids to a safe area and locked the doors, preventing the suspected gunman from getting inside, Duncanville Assistant Police Chief Matthew Stogner, said.
“[He] did fire one round inside the classroom where there were children inside,” Stogner said. “Fortunately, no one was injured.”
Stogner praised the police officers for quickly dealing with the situation and utilizing their active shooter training.
The incident comes weeks after 19 kids and two teachers were killed in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Uvalde law enforcement has been heavily criticized for their handling of the May 24 shooting, which included waiting for more than an hour to confront the suspected gunman while students were inside.
(WASHINGTON) — Now that a tentative deal on trying to curb gun violence has been reached in the Senate, negotiators are working to make the proposal a reality — and fast.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the lead Republican on the gun talks, said Monday he would like to see lawmakers finish the bill’s legislative text sometime this week ahead of what Democrats have said would be a quick vote on the finalized bill.
“My hope is that we can complete that job in the next few days, hopefully by the end of the week, so that the bill will be available for all senators — indeed all the world — to read,” Cornyn said on Monday in a lengthy floor speech.
Such a timeframe would set up a possible vote on the Senate floor next week.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., vowed Monday to hold a vote “quickly” once the legislative text was finalized, but acknowledged there was still more that needed to be done before a bill reached the floor. The framework of the agreement has 10 Republicans in support — enough to avoid the threat of a GOP filibuster that has stymied past gun laws. But Republican aides told ABC News the bipartisan deal was on the principles and not the details, which are still being worked out.
“Make no mistake about it, we have a lot of work left to do before we actually pass a bill. But yesterday’s announcement was a positive and necessary step in the right direction,” Schumer said.
A group of 20 senators — 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans — announced on Sunday they had reached a broad agreement after working for weeks following the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 young children and two teachers dead.
The outline of the deal includes funding for mental health and school safety; incentives for states and localities to pass “red flag” laws to take away guns from those deemed a danger to themselves or others; and strengthening the federal background check system, especially for potential gun owners under the age of 21 and for people convicted of domestic violence — closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole.”
Cornyn emphasized Monday that the proposed reforms would not add any more restrictions upon “law-abiding gun owners” but said he believed they will “save lives.”
“This is not an easy debate,” Cornyn said. “It’s emotional. It can be divisive. But it is also very important that we act.”
The agreement doesn’t include everything Democrats, including President Joe Biden, have called for in the wake of the latest onslaught of mass shootings across the U.S. This weekend alone there were at least 10 such killings.
In a nationwide address earlier this month, Biden urged Congress to ban assault-style weapons — which were previously outlawed in the 1990s and early 2000s — and high-capacity magazines, repeal immunity for gun manufacturers and more.
“We spent hours with hundreds of family members who were broken, whose lives will never be the same,” Biden said then. “They had one message for all of us: Do something.”
ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday if the tentative gun deal delivered on what those parents said they wanted.
“What he heard and all of you may have heard from the folks in the community, as well, is to do something,” Jean-Pierre replied. “The president has called on Congress to do something. They are doing something.”
Biden wants to see the gun safety reform bill “on his desk to sign as soon as possible,” Jean-Pierre added.
Cornyn himself admitted the delicacy of delivering on anti-gun violence legislation in such a closely divided Senate.
“Most often we hear people say, ‘Do something.’ Well, they don’t give you a lot of guidance on what that something looks like — and when you begin to dig down into the details, you find out there is not a lot of consensus about what that something should look like,” he said in his speech on Monday.
He said he believed focusing on keeping guns away from “criminals and people with mental health problems” was a winning formula.
“I’m hoping that 10 Republicans supporting the bill is not a ceiling but is the floor,” he said.
If passed, the deal would be the first major piece of gun control legislation to make it through Congress in three decades.
“I urge my colleagues to think of all the lives we can now save by turning this framework into law,” Schumer said on Monday. “Americans have waited long enough for us to take action. Too many lives, too many have been already lost.”
(YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK) — All Yellowstone National Park entrances have been closed in the wake of “unprecedented” rainfall causing “substantial flooding, rockslides and mudslides on roadways,” the National Park Service announced Monday.
Some roads have been washed out and others are covered in mud or rocks, according to the park service. Power has also been knocked out in multiple parts of the park, officials said.
More rain is in the forecast for the next few days, according to park officials, who said they don’t want anyone to get stranded.
The park service didn’t say when Yellowstone would reopen but noted that officials need time to assess the damage and wait for conditions to stabilize. The park service warned that many roads could be shuttered “for an extended period of time.”
“We will not know timing of the park’s reopening until flood waters subside and we’re able to assess the damage throughout the park,” Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement. “It is likely that the northern loop will be closed for a substantial amount of time.”
The massive national park spans 2,219,789 acres, mostly in Wyoming but also in neighboring Montana and Idaho. Summer is the park’s busiest tourist season.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — An Ohio law that allows those 21 and older to no longer carry a permit or complete the eight-hour handgun training course to carry and conceal a firearm went into effect on Monday.
The law, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in March, also ended the requirement for gun carriers to inform police officers if they have a concealed weapon on them unless specifically asked.
SB 215, referred to as the permitless carry or constitutional carry law, passed through the Ohio House and Senate without any Democratic votes.
The law does have some criteria for who is allowed to follow permitless carry. It says you must be 21 years of age or older, be a legal resident, not be a fugitive, not be the subject of a protection order and not have been hospitalized or adjudicated as being mentally ill.
Further, one must not have been dishonorably discharged from the military, not have a conviction or delinquency for a felony, a drug offense or domestic violence.
Those who do not have a conviction of a violent misdemeanor within the last three years, do not have two or more convictions for violent misdemeanors within the last five years and are not forbidden to carry a firearm under state or federal law are now allowed permitless carry under the new law.
The law allows those within these criteria in Ohio to skip the eight-hour training, submit an application through their local sheriff’s office and pass a background check in order to obtain, carry and conceal a firearm.
The Buckeye Firearm Association director Joe Eaton said the organization has been working for almost two decades to get permitless carry enacted in the state.
“The Buckeye Firearm Association is very excited to finally see permitless carry,” Eaton told ABC News. “It gives crime victims one more alternative for how they choose to protect themselves.”
Michael Weinman, governmental affairs chair of the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, said the organization has been fighting this law and is still opposed to it.
Weinman said permitless carry will make it easier for people who don’t know how to safely use guns to have them.
“When we did have a conceal carry permit, thousands were revoked or suspended each year. That means that every year, there are law-abiding people that become not law-abiding people,” Weinman told ABC News. “[With this law] there are just more guns on the street and less laws with them.”
Weinman said the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police is in favor of having permits and requiring background checks.
According to the Ohio Attorney General’s office, 2,300 concealed carry licenses were suspended or revoked in 2021, and 2,047 were revoked or suspended in 2020.
The office reports that the number of concealed carry licenses across Ohio went from 54,426 in 2019 to 94,298 in 2021.
More than 108,000 licenses were renewed in 2021, a 50% increase from 2020, according to the office.
However, there was also a 50% increase in the number of licenses denied in 2021 from 2020.
According to Everytown, an anti-gun violence organization, Ohio is ranked 30th in the country for gun law strength, citing incidents of gun violence and the lack of gun control laws in the state.
Ohio is now the 23rd state in the U.S. to allow permitless carry.
(NEW YORK) — Brooklyn Pride held its first-ever youth-exclusive pride event yesterday. Children and young adults showed up decked out in pride flags of all kinds, many jumping up and down with excitement.
Vee Lin, 12, who goes by all pronouns, waved a Progress pride flag that they had just bought just before entering the event. They expressed excitement about the chance to meet other LGBTQ+ kids.
“Not everybody is always cool with people being like gay and trans, so it’s cool having a bunch of people who are around who are queer,” Lin said.
Sunday marked six years since the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. The anniversary comes amid an uptick in violence towards people at pride events nationally. Over the weekend, 31 alleged members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front were detained and charged with conspiracy to riot while heading to a pride parade in Idaho.
Instead of expressing defeat or fear, parents and performers have shown up to support the future of the LQBTQ+ community. Organizers Cam and Victoria Moore said this youth pride event offers a safe space for queer youth in a world where the political climate is ever-changing.
“To me, rules are changing, laws are changing, and you know we can’t stop everything,” Victoria Moore said. “It takes time, and this, I feel, is just a part of that. We want to show the kids come on out, have fun with their peers, and we adults care about you.”
The two hope to give a voice to teenagers like Desmond Napoles, 15, who goes by she/they pronouns. Napoles performed her original song “Be Amazing” at the event, hoping to empower the teenagers in the audience. After her performance, she approached the microphone with this request.
“Make sure to fight for your rights and be yourself always no matter what anyone says, because we have gone too far to have our rights taken away.”
(NEW YORK) — At least 10 mass shootings occurred across the country between Friday and Sunday night, making this the fourth consecutive weekend in which U.S. law enforcement officers have responded to multiple incidents, each involving four or more victims shot.
Shootings this weekend have left at least 10 people dead and 42 injured in 10 cities, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a site that tracks shootings across the country. The website defines a mass shooting as a single incident involving four or more victims, which differs from the FBI’s definition as a single incident in which four or more people, not including the suspect, are killed.
The string of consecutive weekend mass casualty incidents began over the Memorial Day holiday, when at least 17 shootings left a total of 13 dead and 79 injured in cities across the country, including Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Memphis and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Last weekend, at least 11 mass-casualty shootings erupted, leaving a total of 17 dead and 62 injured across the nation.
Since the May 14 suspected racially motivated attack at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket left 10 Black people dead and 18-year-old white teenager charged with multiple counts of murder, there have been at least 68 mass shootings nationwide, including the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Adding to the carnage, were mass-casualty shootings this weekend in Los Angeles, Denver, New Orleans, Detroit, Louisville, Kentucky; Decatur, Georgia; South Fulton, Georgia, Antioch, Tennessee; Gary, Indiana; and for the third straight weekend in Chicago.
The shootings this weekend came as a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators announced Sunday that they have reached agreement on the framework of a plan to curb what Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., described as “the gun violence epidemic that has plagued our country and terrorized our children for far too long.”
Seven shot, three fatally, at Los Angeles warehouse party
A shooting erupted at a party held at a Los Angeles warehouse early Sunday, leaving three people dead and four others hospitalized, police said.
The Los Angeles Police Department said officers responded about 12:30 a.m. to a report of a person shot at the warehouse in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, where they discovered three people dead and one person suffering from a gunshot wound. Police later learned that three other gunshot victims were taken to hospitals in private cars.
An LAPD spokesman said the shooting broke out during “some sort of party or event.”
A motive for the shooting is under investigation and no arrests have been announced.
Indiana nightclub shooting leaves two dead, four injured
A man and a woman were killed and four patrons were injured when gunfire erupted early Sunday at a nightclub in Gary, Indiana, according to police.
The shooting unfolded around 2 a.m. at the Playo’s Nightclub, the Gary Police Department said in a statement.
When officers arrived at the nightclub, they found a 34-year-old man near the entrance unresponsive and suffering from gunshot wounds, authorities said. Inside the nightclub, officers discovered a 26-year-old unresponsive woman, who had also been shot, police said.
The two mortally wounded victims were taken to Methodist Hospital Northlake, where they were pronounced dead, according to police. The Lake County, Indiana, coroner’s office identified them as Jah’Nice Quinn, 26, of Merrillville, Indiana, and Jonte Dorsey, 34, of Joliet, Illinois, according to ABC station WLS-TV in Chicago.
Four other people were shot in the incident, including one who was critically injured, police said.
No arrests were announced and a motive for the shooting remained under investigation.
Four injured in New Orleans street shooting
At least four people were injured when a shooting erupted on a street in New Orleans early Sunday, authorities said.
The shooting unfolded around 4 a.m. at an intersection in the Mid-City section of the New Orleans, leaving four men with injuries to the neck, knee, elbow and hand, the New Orleans Police Department said in a statement. The victims were all taken to hospitals in private vehicles, police said.
No additional information on the shooting was released.
Denver party shooting leaves two dead, four injured
Two people were shot to death and four others were injured when gunfire broke out early Sunday at a house party in Denver, according to the Denver Police Department.
Police said the shooting occurred around 1:19 a.m. When officers arrived, they found two victims dead and four others suffering from gunshot wounds, authorities said.
The names of the deceased victims were not immediately released.
A motive for the shooting remains under investigation. No suspects have been identified, police said.
Five teenagers shot near Louisville bridge
Five teenagers were injured Saturday when a barrage of gunfire was unleashed on a group of people gathered near the Big Four Bridge in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, according to the Louisville Metro Police Department.
The shooting occurred just after 9 p.m. and arriving officers found three teenagers suffering from gunshot injuries, including one critically wounded, LMPD Maj. Brian Kuriger said at a news conference Saturday. Two other teenagers with non-life threatening injuries were taken to a hospital in a private vehicle, he said.
No arrests were announced.
Seven injured in shooting at suburban Atlanta house party
At least seven people were injured when gunfire broke out at a house party in suburban Atlanta Saturday night, authorities said.
The shooting occurred around 11:15 p.m. at a residence in South Fulton, the South Fulton Police Department told ABC affiliate station WSB-TV in Atlanta.
A preliminary investigation indicates a gunman, who has yet to be identified, showed up at the house and started shooting partygoers, officials said.
Police said all seven victims were hospitalized with gunshot wounds, including one who was critically wounded.
A motive for the shooting remains under investigation and no arrests were announced.
Four shot, two fatally, at Tennessee pool party
Two men were killed and two others were wounded when gunfire broke out at a pool party in suburban Nashville, Saturday night, police said.
The shooting occurred just after 10 p.m. at the Hickory Hollow Apartment complex in Antioch, Tennessee, roughly 11 miles southeast of Nashville, police said.
Police sources told ABC affiliate WKRN-TV in Nashville that an exchange of gunfire broke out during a birthday party that was going on at the apartment complex’s swimming pool.
Officers responding to calls of shots fired found one victim, whose name was not immediately released, dead at the scene and others wounded, according to police. A victim, identified by police as 20-year-old Kalem Burford, was taken by private car to Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, where he was pronounced dead.
The two wounded victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Homicide investigators are working to identify a suspect or suspects and a motive for the shooting.
Five injured in Chicago drive-by shooting
Five people were injured, one critically, in a shooting Saturday afternoon on the South Side of Chicago, authorities said.
The episode unfolded in an alley in the Gresham neighborhood, where a group of people were gathered, according to an incident report from the Chicago Police Department. Around 3:20 p.m., a car drove up to the group and at least one occupant opened fire, police said.
One victim was shot multiple times and was taken to a hospital in critical condition while three men ranging in age from 24 to 42 were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.
No arrests have been announced.
Four shot at Detroit bachelor party
At least four people were shot Saturday during a bachelor party at a short-term rental house in Detroit, police said.
The shooting erupted around 12:25 p.m. in the Davison-Schoolcraft neighborhood on the west side of the city. Police said they are searching for a black SUV that witnesses said drove up to the front of the home and at least one occupant opened fire.
All of the victims were treated at hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
No one has been arrested in the incident.
One killed, three injured in Georgia restaurant shooting
A 48-year-old man was killed and three other men were injured when a shooting broke out in a restaurant in Decatur, Georgia, according to police.
A preliminary investigation indicates that a fight over a woman escalated into a shooting at about 11:30 p.m. Friday at Fletcher’s Place, a restaurant in the Gallery at South DeKalb shopping mall, according to the DeKalb County Police Department.
All four shooting victims were taken to area hospitals in serious to critical condition, including the man who was pronounced dead, police said. The slain victim was identified by police as Daletavious McGuire.
Police told ABC affiliate station WSB-TV that they suspect the shooting started when an intoxicated customer got into an argument over a woman with either another customer or employee.
(NEW YORK) — Power demand reached a new record in Texas on Sunday as a June heat wave persisted in the Southwest, according to the state’s grid operator. Temperatures are supposed to soar into the triple digits again on Monday.
Despite the record-high power demand, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, said it had enough supply and did not need to call for any conservation to maintain electricity.
At around 5:15 p.m., power demand in the state reached 74,917 megawatts, which was a record-breaking electric demand for Texas. The previous record was set on Aug. 22, 2019, when power demand reached 74,820 MW, according to ERCOT.
Despite the fact that power stayed on, the demand for electricity this weekend was unusual. The highest demand for electricity usually happens later in the summer, during the hotter months of August and September. Plus, major electricity demand is more likely to happen during a weekday, when more office buildings are at capacity.
The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for 246 of the state’s 254 counties on Sunday afternoon. A number of counties were also under an excessive heat warning, as they experienced heat indexes over 105 degrees for at least two hours.
Just last month, ERCOT issued a statement asking residents to conserve energy by setting their thermostats to 78 degrees or above and to avoid using large appliances, such as dishwashers and washers and dryers, during the hours of 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The request came after six power generation facilities tripped offline and lost approximately 2,900 MW of electricity on May 13, according to ERCOT.
However, no such request has been made this month, and no loss of power was reported despite higher heats.
Since June 1, cities across Texas have faced abnormally high temperatures, with San Antonio and Abilene both having daily temperatures 5 to 15 degrees higher than their average.
The heat is expected to continue into this week. Temperatures on Monday were projected to be 105 in El Paso, 104 in Laredo, 101 in Dallas and 96 in Houston.
ERCOT has not always been so reliable for Texans.
In February 2021, over 200 people died after a winter storm led to widespread and long-lasting blackouts in Texas.
After ERCOT lost control of the state’s power supply, millions were left without electricity amid the unusual weather conditions.
(NEW YORK) — Some of the most important water sources in the Western U.S. are drying up as a decades-long megadrought continues to intensify and temperatures steadily rise as a result of climate change.
And as the commodity becomes more precious, residents could soon see an uptick in their water bills, experts tell ABC News.
Water levels have gotten so low in Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, that human remains have been discovered among the receding waters. The Colorado River, a major freshwater source for more 40 million people in seven southwestern U.S. states and parts of northern Mexico, has lost 20% of its water levels over the past 22 years, making it the most endangered river in the country.
As global temperatures continue to rise, causing the drought conditions in the West to persist, ensuring an ample supply of water to sustain communities will continue to be a challenge, experts say. Temperatures are currently at the hottest the planet has experienced in the past 2,000 years, according to NASA.
The first step in conserving water is for water utility companies to implement drought plans in stages, the first being asking for voluntary restraint by residents, Ed Osann, director of national water use efficiency for the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, told ABC News.
Calls for cutbacks on household water usage are getting louder. Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom implored the state’s largest water suppliers to combat drought and better engage their customers to ensure all Californians are doing their part to save water. Beginning June 1, Los Angeles residents were limited to two-days-per-week outdoor watering schedules.
On Thursday, the city of San Diego implemented new water-saving restrictions, which include prohibiting irrigation during and within 48 hours of a rain event and prohibiting the washing of vehicles at residences, although washing is still permitted at commercial car washes.
The conservation actions are part of Level 2 of the water shortage contingency plan that all urban water suppliers must implement, following Newsom’s announcement on May 23. But, the repeated warnings in recent months do not seem to be resonating. In coastal Southern California, water use had increased by more than 25% in April, according to data released last week by the California State Water Resources Control Board, the Los Angeles Times reported.
If those calls for conservation continue to go unheeded, utility companies could have no choice by to raise the rates of water, Newsha Ajami, hydrologist and director of urban water policy for Stanford University’s Water in the West initiative, told ABC News.
Water prices have been rising steadily for the past 20 years, Osann said.
But, water is still “underpriced and undervalued,” Ajami said, adding that the increase in cost could prove to be the most effective deterrent for using an excess of water. With more than 85% of the West experiencing drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, officials can not continue to hope for such conditions to dissipate, year after year, she said.
Ajami described the current water sector as “antiquated in many ways,” because the business models, many implemented in the 1900s, were created “during a different time, under a different reality.” A time when there was not only a lot more water, but when decision-makers had a “very limiting understanding” of the consequences of the laws and infrastructures they were creating, Ajami said.
“We build all these dams and infrastructure, assuming the hydroclimatic conditions would withhold, right?” Ajami said. But the water authorities of the past did not foresee droughts that continued for decades on end, she added.
This is why before water utility companies begin to raise rates, they need to “figure out how we create a business model that is sustainable in this day and age,” Ajami said.
“Because if we don’t do that, by raising rates and not having the right business model in place, we can actually leave some people behind,” she said.
Raising water rates is especially controversial for low-income communities, who may not be able to afford the most water-efficient appliances, such as dishwashers and washing machines, Pablo Ortiz, climate and waters scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told ABC News. Rate increases, and whether there are programs available to help those who cannot afford their bills, will vary among utility companies, the experts said.
Another concern for researchers, as water supplies in reservoirs are depleted, is that municipalities may return to groundwater to fulfill their water needs, Ortiz said.
“Groundwater is often used as a buffer when there is not enough available surface water,” Ortiz said, adding that California’s century-long relationship with extracting groundwater has left well levels at the lowest they have ever seen.
However, raising prices is more than a deterrent, but a way for utilities to maintain a cashflow throughout a period where there is an intentional decline in use, Osann said.
That way, utilities can ensure operations during a time when revenue is down, he added.
“That helps manage water during the drought; it helps maintain the fiscal soundness of the utility system, and it protects the customers against getting a ‘gotcha rate’ increase after a drought is over,” Osann said.
