(NEW YORK) — In a special council report released last week, President Joe Biden was described as an “elderly man with a poor memory,” but doctors say it’s impossible to use isolated examples to diagnose a memory problem, as memories can be impacted by more than aging, and memories don’t solely determine a person’s cognitive fitness.
The president has a team of medical professionals from a number of subspecialties including neurology who evaluated him last year and deemed him “fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.”
“There are different variables that have to be taken into account when you try and understand whether a slip up is worrisome or not,” Dr. Leah Croll, board-certified neurologist, and assistant professor of neurology at Temple University, told ABC News.
This report has since sparked criticism of Biden’s memory, to which Biden has responded in an interview that, “my memory is fine.” Adding that the most recent interviews with the special council were also in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel when Biden said he was “in the middle of handling an international crisis.”
ABC News spoke to several doctors in the field of medicine, neurology and psychiatry to understand how memory, aging and executive functioning relate, and they all agree that simply forgetting dates or timelines in the past does not imply anything specific about a person’s level of cognitive fitness, decision-making, judgement or executive functioning.
Doctors say a number of factors influence memory, independent of aging
“There are so many different factors that affect how well your memory and cognition are working in any given moment,” Croll said.
These include things like stress, sleep, hunger, multi-tasking and situational circumstances that can act against someone’s memory, independent of their age.
“When we think about how someone’s memory and cognition function in any given moment, the reality is that they don’t function at a constant level,” Croll said. “They’re always changing and fluctuating depending on what factors or variables are on board at that time.”
Dr. Louise Aronson, board-certified geriatrician, and professor of medicine at UCSF, told ABC News that internal processing functions like recalling specific memories naturally decline to an extent with age but can also be impaired by high-pressure situations.
Dr. Yalda Safai, a board-certified psychiatrist, told ABC News that memory lapses are different that memory problems and even in cases where memory problems exist, this cannot be used alone to determine cognitive fitness.
“Just because somebody has problems remembering things from the past, it doesn’t mean they don’t have the ability to make good decisions or it doesn’t mean that their executive function is impaired with aging,” Safai said.
Memory and cognitive evaluation require more extensive assessments
Doctors say isolated examples of memory lapses can’t replace more in-depth assessments of memory and cognitive functioning, and it’s more than just one assessment at one point in time and there is no one test to determine if a person is fit to hold office.
“If we could [just use isolated examples] we wouldn’t need the detailed neurocognitive testing,” Aronson said.
These assessments are extensive, may take multiple visits to fully complete and require a detailed history to fully understand and assess someone’s level of function.
Dr. Richard Isaacson, a preventive neurologist at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases Florida, told ABC News, “it’s impossible to accurately judge whether a brain change may be due to the normal aging process versus compared to a neurodegenerative disease or just due to a disease without a formal evaluation, examination, cognitive assessments, and when needed, brain imaging.”
In these assessments, doctors are evaluating for any warning signs that show patterns of behavior or memory lapses that prevent them from carrying out their daily responsibilities.
“Things like being unable to do your finances and stay on top of your monthly bills or consistently having a pattern of memory problems that pose safety concerns,” Croll said.
Doctors say there are some cognitive benefits of aging
“When people are younger, [in their] 20s and 30s, they often have worse impulse control and ability to integrate information,” Aronson said.
Doctors say as people age, impulse control tends to improve, and they may better integrate more information into their decision-making.
“As we age, there are aspects of cognitive function, specifically related to judgment and wisdom that actually improve over time. And you know, when a person is seasoned and has experience dealing with complex problems, that experience may come in handy when either dealing under pressure or having to make a decision,” Isaacson said.
“These [traits] can manifest as having a better handle on your reactions to various situations and being able to think before you act which can be extremely useful as we get older,” Croll said. “Having wisdom from many lived experiences, of course, is another form of knowledge and cognitive fitness.”
(NEW YORK) — Super Bowl viewers could hardly miss an ad blitz from e-commerce company Temu promising low prices that allow customers to “shop like a billionaire.”
The company’s app vaulted to second place among the most downloaded free apps on Apple devices, Apple rankings showed Monday.
The platform sells competitively priced versions of everything from sneakers to jewelry to drones. However, Temu has faced concerns of customer dissatisfaction, data risks and lax oversight over the potential use of forced labor in its supply chain.
Temu did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
On its website, the company says it “cares deeply” about data privacy. “Temu does not ‘sell’ personal information in the traditional sense,” the company adds, acknowledging that it does share some data with third parties to improve service.
In a statement to Time in 2022 about its operations, the company said its low prices are made possible by a “deep network of merchants, logistic partners and [Pinduoduo’s] established ecosystem built over the years.”
Temu is a United States-based offshoot of Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, which boasts one of that country’s most popular apps, selling a wide range of products to more than 750 million users each month, according to a 2022 earnings report.
Launched in 2022, Temu mimics the business model of its sister company, offering just about everything at discounted prices. Even more, customers earn store credit for promoting the company on social media or playing games hosted on its website.
A four-pack of “Oprah-style reading glasses” costs $13.97; a men’s collared shirt bearing the American flag runs $8.90; and a pair of hook earrings costs $3.14, according to the company’s website.
Since many of Temu’s suppliers operate overseas, the company offers standard shipping times of up to 23 days, Temu says on its website. Express shipping, which costs an extra $12.90, promises delivery within 12 days.
Since local carriers may handle a portion of the delivery process, customer tracking may not be available for every step of the shipping period, Temu says.
The Better Business Bureau slapped Temu with a C+ rating, noting 1,625 customer complaints closed in the past 12 months.
Since Temu is privately owned, the company does not regularly disclose details about performance, such as its scale and revenue.
The company ships tens of millions of packages to the U.S. each year from roughly 80,000 sellers who list products on its website, according to a report in June 2023 from the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
The House report also raised concerns about the potential use of forced labor in the company’s supply chain.
Temu’s delivery network includes more than 80,000 suppliers, the report found. The company told House investigators it does not explicitly prohibit sellers on the platform from using suppliers based on their origin in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, an area known for the exploitation of Muslim-minority Uyghurs in forced labor.
“American consumers should know that there is an extremely high risk that Temu’s supply chains are contaminated with forced labor,” the report said.
(NEW YORK) — A major winter snowstorm is hitting the northeastern United States on Tuesday and could wreak havoc on roadways from New York City to Boston.
The fast-moving storm is expected to last only from Tuesday morning to Tuesday afternoon, but it could bring up to 1 foot of snow to parts of the Northeast.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Feb 13, 7:12 AM
Over 1,000 flights canceled
More than 1,000 flights have been canceled Tuesday, with airports in New York City and Boston hit the hardest.
Feb 13, 5:52 AM
50 million Americans on alert for heavy snow
Some 50 million Americans are on alert for heavy snow in the northeastern United States on Tuesday, as a storm is forecast to hit the region in the morning hours before exiting by the afternoon.
It’s the first time in two years that the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for New York City.
Rain began changing to snow early Tuesday and much of New York City was already under snow by 5 a.m. ET. The freezing line hadn’t quite made it to Philadelphia at that time but was expected to soon.
Since this is a wet snow falling into temperatures that are generally at or above freezing, the initial accumulation on the ground will melt before it starts to stick.
Snowfall rates are expected to be moderate, from 1 to 2 inches per hour, with heavier bands mixed in at times.
Winds are forecast to gust 20 to 40 miles per hour, blowing the snow and reducing visibility. However, due to the wet nature of the snow, blizzard-like conditions were generally not expected and should only be short-lived if they occur at all.
Coastal flooding was also expected to be an issue from Washington, D.C., to Delaware to New Jersey and Long Island and then from Cape Cod to Boston and Portland.
Feb 13, 4:00 AM
New York City, Boston close schools
New York City’s public schools, the largest system in the country, will be closed Tuesday, with classes moving to remote learning, Mayor Eric Adams announced.
This marks the first time in two years that New York City has been under a winter storm watch.
Boston Public Schools will also be closed Tuesday.
(WASHINGTON) — A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine, setting up a showdown in the House of Representatives where Republican leaders have resisted such legislation.
The Senate voted 70-29 to approve the bill early Tuesday, with 22 Republican senators supporting the final passage. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., praised the upper chamber of Congress for approving “one of the most historic and consequential bills to have ever passed the Senate.”
“These past few months have been a great test for the U.S. Senate, to see if we could escape the centrifugal pull of partisanship and summon the will to defend Western Democracy when it mattered most,” Schumer said in brief remarks on the floor of the Senate in Washington, D.C. “This morning, the Senate has resoundingly passed the test.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who voted alongside 21 of his GOP colleagues to advance the bill, issued a statement praising the passage as an affirmation “reaffirming a commitment to rebuild and modernize our military, restore our credibility, and give the current Commander-in-Chief, as well as the next, more tools to secure our interest.”
“History settles every account,” McConnell added. “And today, on the value of American leadership and strength, history will record that the Senate did not blink.”
The successful vote in the Senate follows months of wrangling over if and how to approve more overseas funding, with conservatives initially saying U.S. President Joe Biden’s request for that money had to be tied to an overhaul of border and immigration policy.
However, a deal in the Senate that was negotiated between Democrats and Republicans to seriously tighten border security along with the new aid was quickly criticized by some in the GOP as insufficient and weakened by loopholes. Instead, the Senate then moved forward with the current legislation, which removed the immigration provisions.
It’s unclear what fate the bill will face in the lower chamber of Congress, which recently tried and failed to pass stand-alone legislation just to send aid to Israel in its war against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules the neighboring Gaza Strip. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has suggested the Senate proposal is not likely to get a vote or even be brought up for debate in his chamber.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks about security during a news conference ahead of Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Feb. 7, 2024. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — House Majority Leader Steve Scalise plans to return to Capitol Hill this week in time to help his fellow Republicans try again on Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — after an embarrassing failed vote last week to impeach him over what they say is his failure to enforce the law on the southern border.
Scalise, who was undergoing treatment for blood cancer, was absent from last week’s vote to impeach Mayorkas — one of the reasons the GOP-led effort failed.
Scalise’s office said in a statement Thursday that he “successfully completed his autologous stem cell treatment and has been medically cleared to resume travel.” The Louisiana Republican is in “complete remission,” the statement said — clearing the way for Scalise to vote with the fellow Republicans to impeach Mayorkas, a historic move.
With Scalise, Republicans could finally have the votes they need to impeach Mayorkas, whom they accuse of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and “breach of public trust” amid a surge in unauthorized migrant crossings, according to the articles of impeachment. The vote failed last week with a final tally of 214-216 — a crushing defeat for House Republicans.
The impeachment vote is scheduled for Tuesday night, but could change if member attendance is poor.
If the vote is put off, another potential curveball could come with Tuesday’s special election to fill the vacancy left by former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
If former Rep. Tom. Suozzi, D-N.Y., prevails over Republican Mazi Pilip for the seat and is sworn in before a second impeachment vote, the impeachment effort is likely to fail again, provided all lawmakers are present and vote the same as last week.
Last week, Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado voted against Mayorkas’ impeachment, telling ABC News’ Jay O’Brien that the secretary had “not committed a high crime or misdemeanor.”
“There is a policy difference,” he said.
Buck was joined by fellow GOP defectors Reps Tom McClintock and Mike Gallagher, who announced over the weekend he won’t run for re-election. They are still expected to vote against impeaching Mayorkas.
If the vote succeeds, it would mark just the second time in U.S. history a Cabinet official has been impeached. The issue would then have to go to trial in the Democrat-controlled Senate, where a two-thirds majority vote would be needed to convict.
On NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Mayorkas repeated that the Republicans’ allegations to impeach him are “baseless.” He said the flood of migrants has been a problem for years and that legislative action is needed to fix the system.
“The system has not been fixed for 30 years. A bipartisan group of senators have now presented us with the tools and resources we need — bipartisan group — and yet, Congress killed it before even reading it,” Mayorkas said.
This past December, there were 302,000 encounters along the southwest border — the highest monthly total ever recorded.
Moderator Kristen Welker pressed Mayorkas on whether he bears the responsibility for the flood of migrants crossing the border — something President Joe Biden called a “crisis.”
“It certainly is a crisis, and, well, we don’t bear responsibility for a broken system, and we’re doing a tremendous amount within that broken system. But, fundamentally, fundamentally, Congress is the only one who can fix that,” Mayorkas said.
Last week, the Senate’s vote to advance a bipartisan foreign aid bill with major border provisions failed — a blow to the Senate negotiators who worked for months with Mayorkas to develop the border deal.
(WASHINGTON) — New York’s 3rd Congressional District is hosting the first closely watched contest of 2024, with political experts saying that the results of Tuesday’s special election could offer some early signs of how swing-seat suburban voters are feeling as the presidential race begins to ramp up.
Former Rep. Tom Suozzi, a well-known Democrat in the area who used to represent the district before leaving for a failed gubernatorial bid in 2022, is facing Republican Mazi Pilip, a Nassau County legislator with a smaller profile.
The race, which has attracted millions of dollars and major New York politicians, is playing out on Long Island, a key battleground for House control later this year and a barometer, experts said, for messaging on crime, immigration and more.
Who’s running — and how are they doing it?
Tuesday’s special election was triggered by disgraced Republican Rep. George Santos’ expulsion in December.
There wasn’t a primary, and Suozzi and Pilip were both essentially handpicked by their respective parties to run for the seat.
Suozzi, a former three-term representative, mayor and county executive, boasts broad name recognition in the district — an asset for him as he seeks to run on his own brand rather than that of a national party led by an unpopular president.
Pilip, meanwhile, is an Ethiopian-born Jew who served in Israel’s military, a high-profile resume given the current war against Hamas in Gaza. While a current officeholder herself, she cuts a lower profile than Suozzi and has made less campaign stops than him.
Suozzi has sought to distance himself from President Joe Biden, who has long been grappling with poor approval ratings nationwide. He’s especially cast himself as tough on illegal immigration, fighting back against attacks from Pilip that he supports more lax border controls. The issue has become a local flashpoint as New York City sees an influx of immigrants and asylum-seekers.
Suozzi has particularly hit Pilip for opposing a recent bipartisan immigration bill in the Senate that would tie foreign aid to heightened border security, noting he would have supported the legislation, which also won the endorsement of the union that represents front-line Border Patrol agents. (That same union is supporting Pilip over Suozzi.)
Suozzi has also gone after Pilip for, he said, dodging on abortion access in order to appeal to voters. The issue took on heightened importance in races across the country after the Supreme Court revoked constitutional protections for the procedure in 2022.
At their only debate, last week, Pilip described herself as “pro-life” but also said she opposes a national ban and maintained that “I’m not going to force my own belief on any woman.”
Suozzi is backed by abortion rights supporters.
Pilip has sought to center the race on local issues of public safety and immigration, arguing that she would be a vote for tougher restrictions on the southern border and address concerns over violent crime, which remain high despite dropping levels in New York.
She’s also worked to tie Suozzi to Biden, underlining Suozzi’s past voting record.
Why is this race happening?
The unusually timed race is taking place because former Rep. Santos was expelled from the House in a historic vote in the wake of various scandals over lies or fabrications about his background and after he was indicted on a slew of charges, including wire fraud and campaign finance violations. He has pleaded not guilty.
Santos hasn’t been brought up extensively in the race, but outside allies of Suozzi, including the House Majority PAC — House Democrats’ main political group — have highlighted past supportive comments of the disgraced former lawmaker by Pilip, whom Suozzi has labeled as a “Santos 2.0” because, he claims, she is “utterly unvetted” and “lying about her record.”
The current special election is being held to see who will serve out the few months remaining in Santos’ term — it will not decide who will serve a full two-year term starting in January.
What are the stakes?
While Tuesday will see results from just one local congressional race, it has attracted outsized attention from both parties and has real political consequences for Washington.
In the short term, the election will impact House Republicans’ wafer-thin majority, either adding a seat to their current three-vote cushion or helping Democrats cut into it further.
The narrow hold that the GOP has on the House has already been an obstacle to attempts at passing legislation.
Beyond that, operatives of both parties are looking to the race to discern what strategies work and don’t work to inform their playbooks for later this year, including gauging Biden and former President Donald Trump’s unpopularity, the issues of crime and immigration and where the winds are blowing in New York City’s suburbs — a region that alone could determine next year’s House majority.
Still, Democrats are hoping to implement an entirely new congressional map across the whole state — and given this race is just to finish Santos’ term, the seat could ultimately look very different when the next term starts in 2025.
(NEW YORK) — The past of Genesse Ivonne Moreno, the suspected Lakewood Church shooter, includes a turbulent marriage, a contentious divorce, allegations of child and spousal abuse, a checkered criminal record and a well-documented history of mental health issues, according to an ABC News review of documents and records.
Moreno is accused of entering the Houston megachurch with her 7-year-old son before opening fire as hundreds of people were taking their pews before a Sunday afternoon service, according to police.
Moreno, 36, has used “multiple aliases,” including “Jeffrey Escalante,” Christopher Hassig, heading the investigation for the Houston Police Department, told reporters Monday. Although it appears she has gone by “both male and female names” in the past, investigators’ interviews and documents connected to her life so far show Moreno “has been identified this entire time as female,” Hassig said.
A turbulent marriage flecked by abuse, mental health issues
Moreno was previously married to a man named Enrique Carranza III. It ended in a contentious divorce and bitter custody battle; their divorce was finalized in 2022.
Carranza, in court papers, described a turbulent relationship and separation from a severely “abusive” relationship on Moreno’s part. In an affidavit he filed in 2020 related to divorce and custody proceedings, he described Moreno’s mental health issues and violence towards him and their son (in a later filing, Moreno herself pushed back, saying it was her husband who had “physically assaulted” her.)
They first met in 2015 while working at the Spaghetti Warehouse in downtown Houston, according to Carranza’s affidavit — a “family-friendly American-Italian restaurant,” according to the restaurant’s website.
“As soon as we married, my wife became abusive,” Carranza said in his affidavit, adding she was “a diagnosed schizophrenic, so daily it was a new battle or fight in her realm” and that he let her put him “through hell to appease her delusional thought pattern.”
Carranza described being physically battered by his wife, whom he referred to as “Jeffrey.” He said she would “hit me with keys” and “cans of beans.” He said she “ripped a layer of my eye out once” because of impatience with the “interview process” for his job prospect and that she “also stalked me, getting me fired from jobs.”
During a three-week Christmastime visit in 2019 with his estranged wife and their son, Carranza said Moreno “called the cops on me twice and both times she had a gun and my son in her hand,” according to his affidavit.
“She is a diagnosed schizophrenic and [Child Protective Services] has told her that she cannot have a gun,” he said. “I am afraid of her having my address. She has guns and she brags about it while having my son in the car.”
“I strongly believe because of my wife’s schizophrenia, she does not have the capacity to discern reality from fiction,” Carranza’s affidavit said, adding “she is irrational and unstable” and “grabs the baby by his arm to pull him where she is to where his shoulder is out of socket.”
He described Moreno as willfully negligent towards their son: refusing to take him to the doctor and confining him to “one area.” He also said she “abuses her meds” and lets their son “stay up all times of the night.”
An affidavit from their child’s paternal grandmother, Walli Carranza, submitted during the couple’s separation fight echoes concerns over “complaints of child abuse and neglect, as well as reckless endangerment.”
In January 2020, Moreno “pulled an unlocked and loaded gun from underneath a seat in the car and pointed it at the head” of Carranza, “only hours after a first unlocked and loaded handgun was found” by their then-3-year-old son “in his own diaper bag,” according to the ex-mother-in-law’s affidavit.
When Carranza attempted to unlock his son from the car seat and remove him from the situation “as planned” with local authorities, Moreno “drove off” with the back door still “open” and their son not in his car seat, the affidavit said. Moreno “was stopped by Texas State Patrol after eluding them on back roads and then refusing to heed lights and sirens. Thus she had placed Samuel in imminent danger.”
The mother-in-law’s affidavit also suggests that Moreno should not have been able to own a gun, claiming that under an alias, Moreno had been under involuntary psychiatric commitment at least four times. She also claimed Moreno “filed a fraudulent birth certificate” for the child and “refused” to correct it and told hospital staff that the father [Carranza] was “dead” and, alternatively, that he was “homeless” and unknown.
Her son “has been reticent to file the criminal charges against his wife; now his former wife because, as she is not a US citizen,” the mother-in-law’s affidavit said, and “as she already has had criminal convictions, she would likely be deported if convicted of the 3rd degree felony that stems from filing a fraudulent birth certificate. He told [Houston Police] detectives this is not what he wants for the woman he loved and married and the mother of his child. He wants her to live, he told police, where she can get quality mental healthcare. He doesn’t hate her; he hates her mental illness and her refusal to treat it.”
The mother-in-law’s affidavit elaborates on the abuse allegedly inflicted by Moreno on her infant son.
The child “was drug exposed by his mother’s intentional use of illegal substances and legal” and “illegal substances were found in [the son’s] blood and urine at birth. His mother refused to allow a toxicology screen on her own blood and urine before birth; further jeopardizing her son.” The affidavit goes on to say Moreno kept her son “in diapers,” even at four years old, saying “‘its too messy to have to toilet train him. This is easier,'” dresses him only “in baby clothes” and “she dresses him in [girls’] clothes.” The affidavit also alleges that in December 2019, on a Christmas visit, Carranza caught Moreno putting “what appeared to be adult cold medicine” into their son’s feeding tube, saying, “‘this is the only way I can get him to sleep.'”
A day after Sunday’s shooting at Lakewood Church in Houston, Moreno’s former mother-in-law posted a lengthy statement on Facebook asking “that this be a wake-up call.”
“[M]y daughter-in-law when she was taking medication for schizophrenia was a very sweet and loving woman,” Walli Carranza wrote in the Facebook post on Monday. “But mental illness is real illness and when family members seek emergency protections they’re not doing so for their own sake but for the sake of the person who is ill….. And to protect her child and society.”
In a Dec. 2021 affidavit filed by Moreno under the name “Jeffrey Moreno-Carranza,” she told a different story, alleging that she has “personal knowledge” that her estranged husband was “a convicted sex offender” and had “multiple” DWI charges. She also alleged that during the marriage “he physically assaulted me on numerous occasions that made me fear for my safety and the safety of my son.” Carranza was found guilty by a Florida jury of Failure to Comply with Sex Offender Requirements in March 2023, after having been previously convicted of Attempted Sexual Assault on a Child in Colorado, according to the State Attorney for Florida’s Fourth Judicial Circuit and Texas DPS records.
“I have always been the primary caregiver for my son,” Moreno said in her 2021 affidavit, and that her husband “has never cared” for him “by himself and furthermore, he is not capable of caring for a child with special needs.”
Suspected shooter’s criminal history
Moreno was put under an emergency detention order in 2016 by Houston police officers and is believed to have a “mental health history that is documented, through us and through interviews with family members,” Hassig said at Monday’s briefing.
Moreno had a string of arrests in Texas over the last two decades.
According to ABC affiliate KTRK-TV, Moreno’s criminal history dates back to 2005, with the latest case coming during the summer of 2022.
Among her charges are an August 2009 assault, for which she was sentenced to 180 days in Harris County Jail for kicking a detention officer; a May 2010 charge for forgery, for which she was sentenced to two days in Harris County Jail for trying to use a counterfeit $100 bill; a November 2010 charge for theft, for which she was sentenced to 30 days in Harris County Jail for stealing hats and makeup; a December 2010 charge for evading arrest, for which she was sentenced to 75 days in Harris County Jail; and a June 2022 charge for unlawful carrying of a weapon, which is still an active case.
The hunt for a motive
Authorities are now poring over all possible evidence to understand Moreno’s motive and intent — from raiding a Montgomery County home under her name and a “dark in color sedan” that is registered to her and parked at the home to forensic analyses of her digital devices, and data and images stored on them, according to a police search warrant affidavit.
The warrant includes approval for police to search for any “ammunition, firearms, explosives, materials used to make explosives, cell phones, computers, and any evidence tending to connect Moreno with the commission of the offense of aggravated assault, possession of prohibited weapons, and/or hoax bomb” that might be found.
Authorities are also investigating a YouTube page called “Genesse Moreno Investor,” according to a source briefed on the probe. That page portrays Moreno as involved in real estate investments, posting one video with the description, “We Buy Commercial Residential Multifamily Properties.”
Police said Monday the investigation is still “very new” and ongoing, and they’re urgently pushing to understand why this person chose to open fire at the megachurch Sunday. That process will “take time,” officials said.
“We’re in the infancy stages of this. I completely understand. We want to know the motive. How she got the weapon. Why she did this. We’re not there yet,” Doug Williams, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI’s Houston field office, said.
But even in these first 24 hours, authorities have already recovered some “anti-Semitic writings” which they believe might have contributed to Moreno’s actions, noting the contentious relationship with her ex-husband and his family.
“We do believe that there was a familial dispute that has taken place between her ex-husband and her ex-husband’s family,” HPD’s Hassig said. “And some of those individuals are of, are Jewish. So we believe that that … might possibly be where all of this stems from.”
“There was a sticker on the buttstock of the rifle” that Moreno used at Lakewood, Hassig said. That sticker “simply stated ‘Palestine.'”
Moreno’s ex-mother-in-law, Walli Carranza, who identifies herself as a rabbi, wrote in a Facebook post on Monday that despite Morreno’s apparent antisemitic utterances, “this has nothing to do with Judaism or Islam.” Carranza pointed, instead, to Moreno’s untreated mental illness and a lack of “strong red flag laws that would have prevented her from having a gun.”
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks alongside Eric and Lara Trump during his primary night rally at the Sheraton on Jan. 23, 2024 in Nashua, N.H. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Michael Whatley for Republican National Committee chair and his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, for co-chair.
Trump announced his endorsement in a statement Monday night, citing Whatley’s commitment to “election integrity.” Whatley was an ardent supporter of Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump also endorsed one of his senior advisers, Chris LaCivita, for chief operating officer.
“This group of three is highly talented, battle-tested, and smart. They have my complete and total endorsement to lead the Republican National Committee,” Trump said in a statement to ABC News.
The news of Trump’s endorsements comes as Ronna McDaniel, the current chair of the Republican National Committee, and Trump have discussed the possibility of her resigning, according to multiple people familiar with their conversation.
However, the RNC issued its own statement following Trump’s endorsement of new party leadership, stating that Chairwoman McDaniel would not step down from her post or announce future plans until after the South Carolina GOP primary on Feb. 24.
“Chairwoman McDaniel has been on the road helping elect Republicans up and down the ballot and she will continue working hard to beat Biden this fall. Nothing has changed, and there will be no decision or announcement about future plans until after South Carolina,” the RNC spokesperson said.
Trump’s endorsements come amid the RNC’s slow fundraising ahead of the 2024 election cycle, entering January 2024 with just $8 million in the bank, while its Democratic counterparts had $21 million on hand.
This is partly because the Democratic National Committee has a fundraising advantage over the RNC due to its joint fundraising capability with the reelection campaign of the sitting president, Joe Biden.
During the 2020 election cycle, the RNC and the Trump campaign boasted a massive joint fundraising operation — raising more than $1.6 billion throughout the two years. Currently, the RNC and Trump raise funds separately.
Trump’s endorsement of his close allies to the national party leadership suggests that efforts to integrate the campaign and the RNC are imminent, which would allow them to raise money together.
Joint fundraising also means the RNC could potentially begin footing Trump’s legal bills, which it did for many years when he was president and after he left office until he declared his candidacy for the 2024 race.
Trump seemingly alluded to a potential joint fundraising operation in announcing his endorsements, stating, “Every penny will be used properly. New Day.”
President Joe Biden shakes hands with King of Jordan Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein after giving remarks White House, Feb. 12, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — As the U.S. attempts to push Israel and Hamas closer to an agreement that would see all remaining hostages in Gaza freed in exchange for an extended truce, U.S. officials say CIA Director William Burns will travel to Egypt for negotiations — but that his Israeli counterparts had not yet committed to participating in the talks.
The trip will be Burns’ fourth known trip abroad for face-to-face negotiations on the matter, but it would be his first where neither of the main players is directly represented.
A U.S. official familiar with the matter said Burns would press on with the agenda regardless of Israel’s participation in the talks and meet with intelligence officials from Qatar and Egypt, two countries that have served as effective intermediaries with Hamas through the conflict.
At a White House press availability with the King of Jordan on Monday, President Joe Biden said he was continuing to push for an agreement.
“There are gaps that remain, but I’ve encouraged Israeli leaders to keep working to achieve the deal. The United States will do everything possible to make it happen,” he said.
Even if Israel ultimately participates in this latest round of negotiations, its apparent reluctance to participate in the discussions could be a bad omen overall for the prospects of reaching an agreement.
Roughly 100 hostages may still be alive inside Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. U.S. officials say that figure may include as many as six Americans.
Israeli forces conducted a successful rescue operation in Rafah early Monday, recovering two Israeli men, Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Luis Har, 70, who were abducted by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
But while Israel might conduct similar missions in the coming days aimed at freeing some of the detainees, a U.S. official says the vast majority can be recovered only through a diplomatic agreement.
The official also said that although high-level American and Israeli officials are regularly engaged in discussions about a host of topics, the Biden administration did not have a clear idea of Israel’s red lines for a potential deal — highlighting another disconnect between the U.S. and its closest ally in the Middle East.
After Israel signed off on a framework for a hostage exchange in January, officials from Qatar and the U.S. expressed optimism that a deal was within reach.
But last week, Hamas replied with a counterproposal laden with conditions untenable for Israel, including demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners convicted of serious offenses and a full withdrawal of Israel troops from Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly rejected Hamas’ offer, slamming it as “delusional.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged there were “clear nonstarters” in the group’s proposal, but instated there was still “space for agreement to be reached.”
The evident schism between the U.S. and Israel on hostage negotiations is far from the only area of tension weighing on the relationship.
After the State Department said the U.S. had not seen “any evidence of serious planning” for an Israeli incursion in Rafah, a city in Gaza where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering after Israel directed them there, Netanyahu ordered his military to prepare for a potential a mass evacuation of civilians while simultaneously intensifying strikes on the area.
On Monday, the department’s spokesperson, Matthew Miller, downplayed the latest round of military action in Rafah.
“It is not our assessment that this airstrike is the launch of a full-scale offensive happening,” he said.
But when it comes to military strategy, Israel has maintained a wall of separation with the U.S., and Miller acknowledged that the administration currently had little insight into Israel’s plans for avoiding a new humanitarian catastrophe while conducting a possible incursion into Rafah.
“We look forward to being briefed on it,” he said.
At the White House, Jordan’s king, standing next to Biden, was blunt.
“We cannot afford an Israeli attack on Rafah. It is certain to produce another humanitarian catastrophe,” he said. “The situation is already unbearable for over a million people, who have been pushed into Rafah since the war started. We cannot stand by and let this continue. We need a lasting cease-fire now. This war must end.”
(WASHINGTON0 — House Republicans will seek testimony from special counsel Robert Hur in addition to requests made Monday for documents, including transcripts and audio recordings, stemming from Hur’s report released last week on the investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents, multiple sources told ABC News.
On Monday afternoon, after ABC News reported the developments, the GOP-led House Judiciary, House Oversight and House Ways and Means committees released a letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking for the transcripts and audio recordings, saying they were needed for their impeachment inquiry into Biden, claiming that he, among other things, “may have retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his family’s foreign business dealings.”
Although Hur decided that no charges against President Biden were warranted, the White House has forcefully pushed back on assertions made in the report related to Biden’s mental acuity.
White House counsel’s office spokesman Ian Sams did not give a definitive answer when asked last week about releasing the full transcripts of Biden’s interview with Hur, saying “its a reasonable question” while noting “there were classified stuff and we have to work through all that.”
When asked if Biden would support the release, Sams said, “We’ll take a look at that and make a determination.”
According to his report, Hur considered charging Biden’s ghostwriter who deleted audio files of interviews with Biden after the special counsel was appointed but ultimately decided against it. The FBI was able to recover the deleted files from the ghostwriter’s computer, according to the report.
However, some legal experts say it could be more difficult to obtain these records from the Justice Department, given there are no charges. The DOJ could also potentially claim it is investigative material as a reason not to disclose any audio recordings or transcripts.
Prior to the report’s release last week, Republican House Oversight Chairman James Comer sent Hur a letter last October seeking documents and information related to the investigation.
President Biden on Monday declined to answer reporter questions about he wanted the transcripts made public.
