(NEW YORK) — King Charles III is heading home after undergoing a procedure to treat an enlarged prostate, according to Buckingham Palace.
Charles, 75, was photographed leaving The London Clinic on Monday afternoon with his wife, Queen Camilla, by his side.
“The King was this afternoon discharged from hospital following planned medical treatment and has rescheduled forthcoming public engagements to allow for a period of private recuperation,” the palace said in a statement. “His Majesty would like to thank the medical team and all those involved in supporting his hospital visit, and is grateful for all the kind messages he has received in recent days.”
Charles was released from The London Clinic on the same day that his daughter-in-law Kate, the Princess of Wales, was released from the same hospital.
Kate, 42, went home from the hospital privately Monday after a nearly two-week stay following a “planned abdominal surgery” that took place on Jan. 16, according to Kensington Palace.
The surgery was “successful,” according to the palace. Kate, who is married to Prince William — Charles’ son and heir to the throne — and is a mom of their three young kids, is now recovering at the family’s home in Windsor.
The palace did not provide further details on the type of surgery Kate underwent, but said she is not likely to resume her public duties until later this spring.
Charles is expected to resume public engagements after a “short period of recuperation.”
The palace first shared the news of Charles’ medical condition on Jan. 17, announcing that he would be hospitalized for a “corrective procedure.”
The king’s condition is said to be benign, meaning it is non-cancerous.
A palace source told ABC News previously that Charles wanted to share the news of his enlarged prostate diagnosis publicly to help raise awareness.
A man’s prostate tends to increase in size with age, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An enlarged prostate can then lead to compression of surrounding structures, including the narrowing of the urethra, which can cause decreased urine flow or difficulty urinating.
The medical procedure Charles underwent for his prostate marks his first public health issue since ascending the throne.
Charles became king in 2022, following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history.
The coronation ceremony for Charles and his wife Queen Camilla was held last May at Westminster Abbey in London.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm addresses Americans’ concerns about owning an electric vehicle in an interview with ABC News’ Morgan Korn. — ABC News
(NEW YORK) — You’ve seen them on the roads, at the local Walmart, maybe in your neighbor’s driveway.
Electric vehicles are proliferating across the nation, yet so many Americans still have questions about these battery-powered trucks and cars: Where do I charge them? What if I run out of range? Can I afford one?
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, a two-term governor of Michigan and longtime EV owner, recently sat down with ABC News to address the many concerns and anxieties surrounding EVs. She offered a clear message for Americans still deciding whether to buy or lease one: They’re better for the environment and your pocketbook. And building them in the U.S. will produce jobs and reduce the dependency on Chinese-made parts.
Still, Granholm said there’s work to be done to make charging more accessible around the country.
The interview below has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: Electric vehicles are a hot topic in Washington and around the country. Range anxiety is a real concern for drivers who are new to this technology. How do we solve this problem – is it building vehicles with more than 300 miles of range or is it putting charging stations in every town and on every highway?
A: It’s both actually. So the range anxiety issue — I totally get this. I mean, who wants to buy a car if you can’t fill it up in whatever way, right? So that’s why the Biden administration has put $7.5 billion into building out these charging stations in places where the private sector is not already going. We’ve got about 170,000 charging stations across America right now. They’re adding about 900 per week. With the money that has come from the president’s agenda … we think we’re going to get to 500,000 by 2026. And more after that.
I think it’s important for people to know that if they have a garage, they have a charging station. Just plug it in at home. I think a lot of times people who are considering buying EVs aren’t aware that is an option.
Q: Skepticism over public charging availability is the primary reason consumers reject EVs, according to J.D. Power. You personally experienced charging difficulties this summer on your EV roadshow. The Department of Transportation recently said it was granting $149 million to repair or replace non-operational EV chargers. What are you doing to hold private charging companies accountable for these offline and broken chargers?
A: First of all, that funding goes to states to make sure they identify which chargers are out and put in ones that work. We do not want to see having spent all the money to install a charger … and it not be working. Now let me just say this, we are trying to fill in all of these gaps. And we know that right now there aren’t enough chargers in the United States.
And the whole goal of the president was to add 500,000 chargers just from the public money in places where we don’t already have them. And it also means replacing those chargers that don’t work. But if you are able to park along a street and pull down a charger from a lamp post and plug it in, if you don’t have other options, if you’re able to just go to a Walmart and plug in and go shopping and come out, you can imagine that the accessibility of chargers will be more abundant than if you drive a gas-powered vehicle and have to find a gas station.
If you can charge in convenient places — at a library, at a park – you will see this range anxiety issue dropped. But I understand that it’s there right now. And that’s why we’re working very fast to get these chargers out right now.
Q: What type of chargers are we talking about? Are they Level 2? Level 3?
A: Along the freeway, we want them to be high-speed chargers. We want people to know that because of the federal funding, they will be every 50 miles, not more than one mile off of the freeway or a transportation corridor. We are very focused on fast charging so that people feel comfortable.
Also, kudos to those entities in the private sector who are actually putting electric vehicle charging stations at gas stations because they see that as an opportunity, especially if they got a snack store. If you’re charging, you might spend a little bit of time in the snack store while [the vehicles] is charging to be able to get whatever Kit Kats you need.
Q: President Biden said he’d like EVs to make up at least 50% of new vehicle sales by 2030. Last year, EVs accounted for 7% of the U.S. market. How is the administration going to accomplish this goal in six years?
A: Last year, the number of sales were 1.4 million — a record — and it was 50% more than the year before. Last year, I think, the EV revolution launched across America. This year, you’re gonna see it spread all across.
I mean, honestly, it’s not about what the president says. It’s about what people who buy an EV say. The satisfaction rate of EV owners is through the roof — like 95%. People who have driven an EV won’t go back because it’s so better. It’s so much cheaper to operate. I mean, if you fill up your average gas tank today, an average car, it’s about $49. If you charge and go that same distance, it’s about $15. If you fill up every week, that is a huge savings for your average citizen.
So just on the savings of operating an EV alone, they’ve become more affordable. I think that as people decide to replace their vehicles, EVs will become something that more people will look at once they’ve heard their neighbors say, ‘You know what, this is really great.’
Q: The Inflation Reduction Act drastically reduced the number of EVs and plug-in hybrids that were eligible for the full $7,500 federal tax credit. Moreover, the average price paid for a new EV was nearly $51,000 last year. How can middle and low-income Americans afford an EV when they’re so expensive and so few meet the revised federal tax credit requirements?
A: A couple of points on this. The reason why the types of models available was reduced was because we also want these vehicles to be made in America. There’s a great opportunity to bring back manufacturing to this country so that people can qualify for a fully American-made vehicle. And that is actually what’s happening.
We see now a build-out of these EV companies, of battery companies — it is so exciting the manufacturing revolution that has been triggered by the incentives associated with it. So right now, yes, there are fewer models. But there will be many more EV models available this year, next year.
You can get an EV tax credit for a used electric vehicle as well, which is $4,000. The dealers have all registered now to take the tax credit at the dealership, which is very, very important. You can lease an electric vehicle and you don’t need to have it all made in America. It’s a question about whether that’s a loophole or not, but the fact is, if you lease you can still qualify. So many states have tax credits on top of the federal tax credit.
If you bought a car in Maine, for example, you’d have the $7,500 tax credit and you would have another $7,500. Last year, the low-end Bolt was less than $30,000. If you have $15,000 off from state and federal tax credits, you’re now financing a $15,000 car. That is totally affordable. So there are options and many of these tax credits are all income dependent [and] geared toward middle and lower-end folks.
Q: The White House said it would provide a tax credit to help reduce the cost of home chargers. What is the White House doing to help Americans who want an EV but don’t own their home or live in urban areas?
A: This is why the funding for charging in places along the street is very important. The funding for putting charging near or at multifamily dwellings, apartments, etc, is very important. And then, of course, the funding to put charging where people normally spend a little bit of time, whether it’s at rest stops, or stores, or parks or anything like that.
We want charging to be more accessible than what it would be if you had to go fill up your tank. And let’s just say, if you have to fill up your tank, you’re not filling that up at home. And if you can ‘fill up’ your car at home, that’s a convenience that we want people to enjoy.
Q: So which pockets of the country need these chargers most? Obviously not California.
A: Well, California has got a plan. In fact, all 50 states have a plan for installing EV chargers based upon the president’s funding. But the plan is to fill up the gaps. So there are a lot of states where there isn’t a lot of EVs at all. And so those states have a plan … and they’ve gotten their funding to be able to build out these EV chargers.
You know, we’re particularly concerned about those travel corridors. And we’re particularly concerned about rural areas where there are not a lot of EVs and urban areas where people can’t afford an EV or where there just isn’t a big uptake. So those are the gaps that this funding from the National Electric Vehicle [Infrastructure] initiative is attempting to fill. And people are going to really start seeing these EV charging stations pop up in places where they have not been before.
Q: Ford and GM have both pulled back on their EV targets. Production of the Silverado EV, for example, was moved to late 2025. Ford said it was scaling back plans for an EV battery plant in Michigan and is moving workers at its F-150 Lightning plant because demand for the truck is dropping. What’s your reaction to these announcements?
A: They may have over projected where things were going to be. But this movement toward electrification, I think, is inexorable. It is happening. If you just look at the 50% increase year-over-year in EV uptake, the automaker CEOs will tell you they’re not pulling back or reversing trend in their investments. They may be slowing a little bit, but honestly, I think this is a snowball that is only going to accelerate.
Q: You’re a longtime EV owner. So when people stop you and say, ‘What’s your experience like in the Bolt or Mach-E’, what do you tell them?
A: I tell them I love it, I love it. I leased two different Chevy Bolts. Great car and it was so cheap to operate. Now, I also lease solar panels. And so I was just driving my Chevy Bolt on sunshine. But that was because I had a garage, not everyone can do it, I totally understand that. But even going to a charging station and filling up even with a fast charger is so much cheaper than operating. I love that these vehicles are so quiet. Even with a Chevy Bolt, which was, you know, not a luxury vehicle … the quietness of it makes it feel sort of like a luxury vehicle, like you’d be inside of a Cadillac or something like that, because it was so quiet.
Q: Have you experienced any of these charging anxieties that so many Americans have experienced?
A: Oh, sure, I have. We did a road trip earlier this year where we had difficulty accessing charging in the South where there wasn’t enough charging stations. That goes to the point of us really accelerating the buildout of these charging stations.
Q: Do you think electric vehicles will be a topic on the campaign trail this year?
A: It could be. All of those factories that I was talking about — building electric vehicles and electric vehicle batteries — 60% of them are going into red states. So, you know, people in red states love their EVs, too, and are working at these factories. So I think, again, I just think that over time, the political nonsense about it will die down and people’s experience will speak much more loudly.
I think it’s important, you know, for those who care about global warming, climate change, and doing their part, EVs are a solution for them. For those who care about cost, EVs are a solution for them. For those who care about power, EVs are a solution for them. I mean, people just have to get used to it and understand it.
Q: What else would you like Americans to know about electric vehicles?
A: I think people need to understand that the whole supply chain for building these electric vehicles is coming back to the United States. And there’s a lot of talk, I know, in the political space about EV batteries being made in China, etc. That’s the whole point of these tax credits — to incentivize bringing back that full supply chain in the United States. And so whereas China has had domination over batteries, and that’s true, whether it’s a gas-powered vehicle or electric vehicle, we are now bringing this back.
The Department of Energy is funding companies to fill in the gaps in the supply chain to build that full system here. And that means jobs. People are going to have jobs doing responsible extraction of minerals, they’re going to have jobs processing those critical minerals, they’re going to have jobs building the batteries — the anode, the cathode, the separator material — all of those are businesses that go into a battery. Then they’re going to have jobs assembling the battery into the vehicle.
It’s really a huge manufacturing and jobs win for the country to be able to build this ecosystem here. That, to me, is a very important benefit of the president’s agenda.
Catherine, Princess of Wales greets well-wishers after attending the Christmas Morning Service at Sandringham Church on December 25, 2023 in Sandringham, Norfolk. (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Kate, the Princess of Wales, has been discharged from the hospital after undergoing a “planned abdominal surgery,” according to Kensington Palace.
“The Princess of Wales has returned home to Windsor to continue her recovery from surgery. She is making good progress,” a Kensington Palace spokesperson said. “The Prince and Princess wish to say a huge thank you to the entire team at The London Clinic, especially the dedicated nursing staff, for the care they have provided.”
The spokesperson added, “The Wales family continues to be grateful for the well wishes they have received from around the world.”
Kate, 42, was admitted to a hospital in London on Jan. 17, for the surgery, which the palace described as “successful.”
The palace did not provide further details on the type of surgery Kate underwent, but confirmed to ABC News that the princess’s medical issue is non-cancerous.
At the time of her surgery, the palace said Kate was expected to remain hospitalized for 10 to 14 days before returning to the family’s home to recover.
She and Prince William live in Windsor, England, with their three children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
Kate is not likely to resume her public duties until later this spring, according to the palace.
“The Princess of Wales wishes to apologise to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements,” the palace said in a statement on Jan. 18. “She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible.”
While Kate recovers, William has postponed his engagements to help care for her and their kids, according to the palace. Neither William nor Kate will undertake any international travel in the coming months as well.
Kate’s last public appearance was on Christmas Day, when she joined members of the royal family for their traditional Christmas morning service at Sandringham, the royal family’s estate in Norfolk, England.
Kate was seen walking to church alongside royal family members, including William, George, Charlotte and Louis.
(WASHINGTON) — Congressional leaders on Sunday mourned three American service members killed in a drone strike in Jordan and called for retaliation against the Iran-backed militants whom the U.S. says is responsible.
The deadly drone strike marks the first deaths of U.S. troops in the line of fire since the Israel-Hamas war broke out after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack.
The White House is supporting Israel against Hamas but has tried to contain the conflict out of concern for sparking a broader war in the Middle East, even as the U.S. has said that various fighters, aided by Iran, have carried out attacks on U.S. forces and others in opposition to Israel.
Until Sunday’s strike, the U.S. had undertaken a series of retaliatory operations on the Iran-linked groups.
Iran has not publicly commented on the strike in Jordan.
Gen. CQ Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz in an interview that he believes Iran, a regional power with major rivalries in the Middle East, does not want a war with the U.S.
But Republican lawmakers on Sunday spoke out to criticize President Joe Biden’s approach to Iran and some called for direct action against the country.
“We are saddened by the loss of three American heroes in Jordan last night, and we are praying for their families and for the … other service members who have been injured. America must send a crystal clear message across the globe that attacks on our troops will not be tolerated,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“Heartbroken and outraged by the death of three U.S. service members and the wounding of many others during the horrific terrorist attack in the Middle East. Praying hard for all affected,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., also wrote on the platform. “Every single malignant actor responsible must be held accountable.”
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, noted in his own statement that the strike was just the latest by Iranian-backed proxies across the Middle East, including in Iraq and Syria, by Hezbollah in Lebanon and by the Houthis in Yemen.
He pushed for a broader policy realignment, contending that the White House had “failed.”
“We need a major reset of our Middle East policy to protect our national security interests and restore deterrence,” McCaul said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed that, with the Kentucky Republican saying in a statement, “Last night, the cost of failure to deter America’s adversaries was again measured in American lives. We cannot afford to keep responding to this violent aggression with hesitation and half-measures.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the Pentagon should respond by targeting Iran — a major move that could trigger further consequences and involve the U.S. more deeply in the region.
“The Biden Administration can take out all the Iranian proxies they like, but it will not deter Iranian aggression. I am calling on the Biden Administration to strike targets of significance inside Iran, not only as reprisal for the killing of our forces, but as deterrence against future aggression,” Graham said in a statement. “The only thing the Iranian regime understands is force. Until they pay a price with their infrastructure and their personnel, the attacks on U.S. troops will continue.”
U.S. officials said that the one-way drone strike happened early on Sunday at the Tower 22 outpost in Jordan, near the Syrian border.
According to a defense official, at least 30 U.S. service members were injured in the attack in addition to the three killed.
In a statement, President Joe Biden honored the slain service members for being “unwavering in their bravery. Unflinching in their duty. Unbending in their commitment to our country” before offering a warning of his own.
“Have no doubt — we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing,” he said in a statement.
Later Sunday, in South Carolina, he vowed that “we shall respond.”
ABC News’ Shannon K. Crawford, Fritz Farrow, Mariam Khan and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
A Palestinian elderly woman crosses a street which has been bulldozed by the Israeli forces during a raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on January 29, 2024 amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — More than 100 days since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip.
The conflict, now the deadliest between the warring sides since Israel’s founding in 1948, shows no signs of letting up soon and the brief cease-fire that allowed for over 100 hostages to be freed from Gaza remains a distant memory.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 29, 7:00 AM
IDF general answers questions about alleged war crimes in southern Gaza
ABC News embedded with Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus, commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ 98th Division that currently controls the southern Gaza Strip, and questioned him about alleged war crimes, the recent killing of an unarmed Palestinian carrying a white flag and the controversial buffer zone.
On Saturday, ABC News met with Goldfus in what looked like a post-apocalyptic neighborhood in Khan Younis, where machine guns chattered, detonations thundered and the blasts of tank fire rang out. Some of the explosions were so powerful that they blew in the curtains of the commandeered Palestinian home that the general and his staff have turned into a temporary headquarters.
Outside the headquarters were a series of arena-sized basins. One was about 60 feet deep and larger than a football field. A month ago, it was a multi-acre cemetery. Flanking the destroyed cemetery was the remains of a mosque — half of a dome listing on its side like a sinking ship. Goldfus told ABC News that his troops had dug up most of the cemetery looking for tunnel shafts belonging to Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza. The general pointed out where he said they found tunnel shafts, but ABC News could not visually verify due to the depth of the pit.
When asked what his troops do with the bodies if they dig up graves while hunting for tunnel shafts, Goldfus told ABC News: “We’ll put them aside.”
The intentional destruction of religious sites, such as cemeteries, without military necessity violates international law and could amount to war crimes. But Goldfus said he’s not concerned because Hamas had turned the cemetery and the adjacent mosque into a “military compound” that was “used to attack my forces again and again and again.”
“I’m not digging up a cemetery, I’m digging up a military compound,” he added.
When asked what he would say to the families of the people who were buried there, the general told ABC News: “I’m very sorry about it. Your relatives are being used as a human shield.”
Last week, British television network ITV captured what it said were Israeli snipers in Khan Younis gunning down an unarmed Palestinian man carrying a white flag who had moments earlier told the news team that he was trying to cross the battle lines to reach his family. At the time, Israel claimed the ITV video was edited and that there was no way of telling who fired the shots. However, while speaking to ABC News on Saturday, Goldfus appeared to take responsibility for the incident.
“Yes, it was my troops and I’m investigating that incident,” he told ABC News. “That is not the way we carry out rules of engagement. No, we don’t fire people waving white flags. We don’t fire at civilians.”
When pressed on the fact that Israeli troops have killed civilians in Gaza, the general said: “They are mistakes. It is war.”
Asked whether Israeli soldiers could face criminal charges for the fatal shooting, Goldfus told ABC News that “it depends.”
“We investigate every mistake that is done,” he added.
The general also answered questions about the buffer zone the IDF is creating inside Gaza along the coastal enclave’s border with Israel.
“This is part of the area that will become a buffer zone … to dismantle Hamas and prevent any entity that will try to carry out any terror attacks against our people,” he told ABC News while looking at a table-sized aerial map of the Gaza-Israel border.
Goldfus said the buffer zone will create an area inside Gaza that is under Israel’s control.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman and Sohel Uddin
Jan 28, 2:24 PM
‘Constructive meeting’ with officials but ‘gaps’ remain, Israeli PM’s office says
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office released a statement on Sunday’s talks between CIA Director Bill Burns, the prime minister of Qatar and intelligence officials from Israel and Egypt.
The meeting was “constructive” but “significant gaps” remain, the statement said, adding that more meetings are expected this coming week.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Jan 28, 4:40 AM
UN chief appeals for continued UNRWA funding
The secretary-general of the United Nations appealed on Sunday for continuing funding for the U.N. aid agency responsible for Gaza.
Nine countries, including the United States, paused their funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees after Israel accused 12 of its employees of being involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
Mark Regev, an Israeli spokesman, told ABC News in a phone interview Sunday that Israel gathered intelligence about the alleged connection to terrorism through videos released by Hamas and others during the Oct. 7 attack and claimed there’s “clear unrefutable evidence that U.N. paid staff were involved in crimes against humanity.”
About 2 million people in Gaza depend on the agency for daily survival, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement Sunday.
According to Guterres, “Of the 12 people implicated, nine were immediately identified and terminated by the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini; one is confirmed dead, and the identity of the two others is being clarified.”
“The abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences,” he said in the statement.
He added, “But the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalized. The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met.”
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Edward Szekeres and Kevin Shalvey
Jan 27, 5:13 PM
9 nations suspend contributions to UNRWA due to Oct. 7 allegations
The number of nations pausing funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East has risen to 9 — an unprecedented number for a UN agency. This withdrawal of funding comes amid allegations from Israeli officials that some of the agency’s staff were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
On Saturday, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland joined the U.S., Australia and Canada in pausing funding to UNRWA.
“UNRWA lifesaving assistance is about to end following countries decisions to cut their funding to the Agency. Our humanitarian operation, on which 2 million people depend as a lifeline in Gaza, is collapsing. I am shocked such decisions are taken based on alleged behavior of a few individuals and as the war continues, needs are deepening & famine looms,” the commissioner general of UNRWA said in a statement.
“Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment. This stains all of us,” the statement said.
(PHILADELPHIA) — A teenage murder suspect who escaped from a hospital Wednesday has been captured, the Philadelphia Police Department confirmed Sunday.
Shane Pryor, 17, who was in custody for a 2020 fatal shooting and who had escaped from the Juvenile Justice Services Center staff at a hospital on Wednesday, was taken into custody “without incident” by the U.S. Marshals Service, authorities said. He was being taken to the Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Unit, police said.
No further information is available, authorities said.
At a news conference Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner of Investigations Frank Vanore said Pryor escaped from the emergency room parking lot of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia shortly before noon on Wednesday after he was transported there from the Juvenile Justice Services Center for an apparent hand injury.
“He was able to escape from staff and run from this area on foot,” Vanore said.
According to court documents, Pryor was being held on murder charges for the October 2020 shooting of Tanya Harris. He was 14 years old at the time of the alleged shooting, which occurred in an alleyway in the Holmesburg neighborhood of Philadelphia. In December 2023, the courts decided to try Pryor as an adult.
At the time of his arrest, Pryor told police he solicited the victim for sex but that the woman was shot by another man, according to court documents.
Pryor’s defense attorney, Paul DiMaio, said his client “has always maintained his innocence,” and pointed to the December 2023 court decision as a motive for his escape. “He may have felt he wasn’t going to get a fair shake,” DiMaio told WPVI.
On Friday, police arrested the alleged accomplice of Pryor — 18-year-old Michael Diggs.
Diggs was Pryor’s alleged getaway driver, police said. Diggs was detained several hours after the escape and now faces multiple felony charges, authorities said Friday.
Following his escape from custody, Pryor was observed on surveillance footage entering a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia building, where he asked an employee to use her cellphone but was denied, Clark said. He left and was able to use a civilian’s phone to allegedly call his “associate,” Diggs, according to U.S. Marshals Deputy Rob Clark.
Diggs arrived around 12:30 p.m. and allegedly picked up Pryor in a cream-colored Ford Fusion and left the University City neighborhood, Clark said.
Diggs has since been charged with hindering apprehension, escape, use of communication facility and criminal conspiracy in connection with Pryor’s escape, police announced on Friday. Attorney information for Diggs wasn’t immediately available.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso, Chris Donato and Leah Sarnoff contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Fifteen million Americans are under flood watch and eight million are facing winter and snow alerts Sunday as a coastal storm drenching the Northeast is predicted to downpour for most of the day.
What’s falling from the sky depends on where you are and when. The dynamic storm is running into just enough cold air to help change the rain to wet snow, especially in the higher elevations.
Winter weather advisories are in effect for several locations in the Northeast with an upgrade to winter storm warnings for parts of Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.
While some parts of the Northeast will see a few breaks in rain during the day, weather forecasters predict a cloudy, rainy and snowy day for millions of people.
A photo taken at Lake Michigan this week shows a man walking through a thick sheet of fog along the shore near Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium.
Monday morning, the storm will be just about gone in the East, but there still could be a few leftover snow showers making for a slick Monday morning commute.
Over the weekend, much of America was hit with severe weather as heavy rain, gusty winds and frequent lightning threatened southwestern states while Alabama, Georgia and the Florida panhandle were at risk of isolated tornados.
In the West, record warmth settles in across much of the coast today and tomorrow. Temperatures are soaring into the 60s and 70s from San Francisco to Seattle, with more than a dozen cities looking at record-high temperatures into the work week.
However, the beautiful weather is predicted to come to an end by the middle of the week, as the next storm system is predicted to arrive on the West Coast on Wednesday and Thursday.
(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans on Sunday released two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — accusing him of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and “breach of public trust” and taking another step toward a historic attempt to remove him from office while he denies wrongdoing.
“These articles lay out a clear, compelling, and irrefutable case for Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ impeachment,” House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., said in a statement.
Green went to allege that Mayorkas “has willfully and systemically refused to comply with immigration laws enacted by Congress. He has breached the public trust by knowingly making false statements to Congress and the American people, and obstructing congressional oversight of his department.”
Though Mayorkas has long been a focus of Republican criticism of the White House’s border policies — testifying multiple times before Congress — the Department of Homeland Security maintains that no high crimes or misdemeanor have ever been committed under the Biden administration.
DHS officials in a new memo dismissed the GOP-led investigation in the House as unconstitutional and “evidence-free” and sought to rebut the allegations in detail.
Administration officials also point to a number of legal experts, some brought forward by the House Homeland Security Committee, who say the constitutional grounds for impeachment have not been met.
Green said on Sunday that Mayorkas had to be held accountable.
“The results of his lawless behavior have been disastrous for our country,” he said, in part. “Empowered and enriched cartels, mass fentanyl poisonings, surges of terror watchlist suspects, more criminal illegal aliens causing harm in our communities, and traumatized and exploited migrants will be Secretary Mayorkas’ open-borders legacy.”
The new articles of impeachment are set to be reviewed in committee on Tuesday and then would need to be adopted by the full chamber in order to put Mayorkas on trial in the Senate and potentially remove him.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that such a vote will occur “as soon as possible.”
Only one Cabinet secretary has ever been impeached by the House: William Belknap, who resigned as then-President Ulysses Grant’s secretary of war shortly before the House voted against him in 1876.
Belknap was accused of “corruption blatant even by the standards of the scandal-tarnished Grant administration,” according to Senate history, but didn’t receive the two-thirds majority of senators needed to convict.
The first of the two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas accuses him of facilitating a “catch and release scheme,” arguing that he allowed migrants to be unlawfully released into the U.S. without ensuring processes were in place for deportation.
While immigration enforcement has been strained in recent months by large numbers of migrants crossing illegally, the Biden administration has responded by returning or removing more migrants than any prior administration, according to DHS.
The Border Patrol has made significantly fewer apprehensions along the southern border in recent weeks, a decline from record-setting levels seen in December.
The first impeachment article goes on to accuse Mayorkas of having circumvented the law by paroling migrants into the U.S. “en masse in order to release them from mandatory detention.”
Although the Biden administration has significantly expanded the use of humanitarian parole, the authority has been used by several prior administrations, DHS maintains. For example, the U.S. offered parole to Vietnamese refugees after the fall of Saigon in the 1970s and to Iraqi Kurds in the 1990s.
Democrats say Republicans are trying to impeach Mayorkas over policy disputes, which legal experts have said are not grounds for impeachment.
“Legal disputes over the exercises of executive authority are a commonplace in every administration,” University of Missouri School of Law professor Frank Bowman told the House Homeland Security Committee at an impeachment hearing earlier this month. “And every president wins some and loses others. If the mere existence of such disputes were impeachable, every president and every Cabinet officer would be impeachable many times over.”
No prior administration has ever detained every unauthorized border crosser, DHS has noted, and even hard-line restrictions like those implemented under former President Donald Trump were bound by resource limits that resulted in many getting temporarily released into the U.S.
“What is glaringly missing from these articles is any real charge or even a shred of evidence of high crimes or misdemeanors – the Constitutional standard for impeachment,” the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, Bennie Thompson, said in a statement. “That should come as no surprise because Republicans’ so-called ‘investigation’ of Secretary Mayorkas has been a remarkably fact-free affair.”
House Republicans in the second article accuse Mayorkas of lying to Congress and obstructing congressional oversight, claiming he lied when he said the border was “secure” and that DHS had “operational control.”
DHS officials said that while the definition of “operational control” under federal law means zero illegal entries into the U.S., that standard has never been met by any administration and Border Patrol has sought to redefine it instead as “the ability to detect, respond to, and interdict border penetrations in areas deemed as high priority.”
The Biden administration also maintains that Mayorkas has complied with the House committee’s requests.
The second impeachment article goes on to accuse Mayorkas of rolling back a series of Trump-era policies including the controversial “Remain in Mexico” program, construction on the southern border wall and international agreements that pressured Central American countries to hold asylum seekers.
ABC News’ Luke Barr and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
(COLUMBIA, S.C.) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a new interview that Democrats are right to fear the possible reelection of former President Donald Trump as he and other allies of President Joe Biden seek to create a clear “contrast” heading into November’s general election.
Speaking to ABC News “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl in an interview that aired Sunday, Newsom both lambasted Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election results and praised Biden’s record since taking office — a strategy the Biden campaign is expected to highlight in the months ahead as the president confronts persistently low approval ratings and poor early polling against Trump.
“Here’s a guy who lost the election — Trump — and tried to wreck the country. He’s lighting democracy on fire, he’s making democracy a partisan issue. I never imagined that in my lifetime,” Newsom told Karl in South Carolina, where he was stumping for Biden.
“So the consequences are profound and pronounced,” Newsom said, “and that’s why I’m down here because this race is started.”
That’s also why, Newsom said, “We need to lift up the issues, the successes, these extraordinary successes of the last three years, the Biden-Harris administration. And then we drive contrast. It’s not even a complicated campaign.”
Nonetheless, Karl pressed Newsom on why, if Biden’s record is as strong as Newsom feels it is, Biden’s approval ratings remained mired in the 30s in most polls.
“Look, it’s been hard globally, the last six, seven years.” Newsom responded. “But again, America stands tall. We’re the tentpole of the world economy — no peers economically, again a masterclass of delivery. The economy is booming, inflation is cooling. … He’s delivered.”
Still, the governor acknowledged the polls and said, “I’m not naive about this. I take the threat of Trump and Trumpism very seriously.”
But Trump’s legal challenges, including 91 charges, all of which he denies, could harm his standing in the eyes of the general electorate, Newsom said.
He pointed to some polls that indicate voters will be turned off if Trump were to be convicted.
“This is the weakest candidate to run a major party in my lifetime. He’s coming in deeply damaged. Democrats, we win. We keep winning. We’ve won all of these elections, post-Dobbs different world,” Newsom said, referencing the 2022 Supreme Court decision that eliminated constitutional protections for abortion and gave new political importance to abortion access.
Trump “is weak,” Newsom contended. “He is more unhinged than he’s ever been. He’s less disciplined than he’s ever been. He’s less interesting. I find him just less interesting. He’s not even as entertaining as he was in 2020 and 2016.”
On the other hand, Newsom also sought to swat away worries over Biden’s age (at 81 years old, a consistent sore spot for voters), pointing to the president’s increasing travel schedule.
Newsom did voice concerns over the potential impact of third-party candidates in the 2024 race, like from a hypothetical bipartisan ticket by the group No Labels. But he said Democrats should address any worries by ensuring that their own voters turn out later this year.
“We have to be worried. But you know what? You got to control the controllables. You got to control what you have to control. And right now, it’s getting the vote out,” he said.
Newsom, a border-state governor, lambasted the position of many Republicans in Washington who say that Biden has badly mismanaged immigration and the southern border and, as such, is not a viable partner on enacting any border reforms despite Biden asking for more resources and being open to some changes.
“They refuse to act,” he told Karl. “They’re just promoting an agenda to disrupt and find a crowbar, to put in the spokes of the wheels of the Biden administration to disrupt any progress on this, because they don’t want progress — period.”
(WASHINGTON) — South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is playing down the potential political fallout from former president Donald Trump’s latest legal setback — after the 2024 candidate was ordered by a New York jury to pay writer E. Jean Carroll $83 million for defaming her when she said he sexually assaulted her decades ago.
Scott, in a new interview with ABC News “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz, said voters will have other concerns and that average Americans are “not talking about lawsuits.”
“The one thing I think the electorate is thinking about most often is how in the world will the next president impact my quality of life? How will America regain its standing in this world? They were better off under Trump,” Scott said.
Trump continues to deny Carroll’s account but, after a jury trial last year, he was found liable for sexually abusing her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s.
After another trial, jurors last week found he had defamed Carroll in the way he denied assaulting her. He has said he will appeal.
“Does that give you any pause in your support?” Raddatz asked Scott on “This Week.” The Republican senator endorsed Trump earlier this month after ending his own 2024 campaign.
“Myself and all the voters that support Donald Trump supports a return to normalcy as it relates to what affects their kitchen table,” Scott told Raddatz.
He went on to contend that the “perception that the legal system is being weaponized against Donald Trump is actually increasing his poll numbers.”
In addition to various lawsuits, Trump is charged in four separate criminal cases. He denies all wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty.
Despite what Scott said, past polling has found Americans believe some of the accusations against Trump are serious: 63% said last year in an ABC News/Ipsos survey that the charges he faces in a Georgia election subversion indictment were serious or somewhat serious; and 65% felt the same in another 2023 ABC News/Ipsos poll about Trump’s federal indictment related to Jan. 6 and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
On “This Week,” Scott was also pressed about Trump’s continued embrace of 2020 election denialism, which Scott has not echoed.
The lawmaker, who was present during the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks at the U.S. Capitol where Congress gathered to certify Trump’s election loss, has said publicly that although he believes there was “cheating” in the last presidential election, he does not “believe the election was stolen.” (No widespread evidence of fraud has ever been found.)
Raddatz pointed to Scott diverging from Trump and some other conservatives. “Does that concern you for the Republican Party, that they’re denying something you said was true?” she asked.
“The American people are more concerned about tomorrow than they are yesterday. And because of that, the race that we’re seeing coming to light today is [President] Joe Biden’s four years versus Donald Trump’s four years,” Scott responded. “We don’t need to litigate what happened in 2020. What I’m focusing on is what’s going to happen in 2024 and beyond.”
Scott’s endorsement of Trump was seen as something of a snub to Trump’s 2024 rival Nikki Haley, who appointed Scott to the U.S. Senate in 2012 when she was governor of South Carolina.
Although Trump easily beat Haley in the first two contests for the Republican presidential nomination, in Iowa and New Hampshire, exit polls indicated he had some issues with independent and college-educated voters and Haley has vowed to stay in the race as the last major opponent to Trump.
Asked why he believes Haley should end her campaign, Scott said, “My theory is a simple one.”
“When I dropped out of the race in November, it was because the writing was clear on the wall then,” he said. “It is now more clear that what Republicans, conservatives and a lot of independents want today is four more years of Donald Trump.”
Still, Scott repeatedly dodged Raddatz after she pressed him on how Trump will win over independent voters in the general election despite the exit polls showing most of them backed Haley in New Hampshire.
Scott instead pointed to what he said was Trump’s relatively notable support among women as well as Black and Hispanic voters. And he went on to attack Haley for her criticism of Trump’s mental competency rather than defend Trump for calling Haley a “bird brain” and falsely claiming she can’t be president because her parents were not yet American citizens when she was born in South Carolina.
“Both candidates, and all candidates, should focus on the issues without any question. But Nikki Haley talks about the president’s age and a competency test. I think that turns off senior voters,” Scott said.
Haley has said Trump’s recent gaffes — apparently confusing the former ambassador for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Biden for former President Barack Obama — should be a “warning sign” about his mental fitness.
In response, Trump said on the trail that he feels like his mind is “stronger now than it was 25 years ago.”
Scott focused on Haley’s attacks when Raddatz asked about Trump’s insults of her.
“His language is far more provocative than mine,” Scott said. “But this is not about simply my opinion of one candidate. I also think that talking about someone’s age is inappropriate when, especially, they are competent, qualified and ready to go to be the next president of the United States.”
The focus, Scott said, should be on the general election: “This race is over from a primary perspective, OK. We should turn our attention to Joe Biden.”
