Travelers wait in a line that stretches to the parking garage at the Philadelphia International Airport on March 28, 2026, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Philadelphia is facing a second possible measles exposure, the city’s Department of Public Health warned over the weekend.
Health officials said an individual with measles passed through Philadelphia International Airport and that the case is not connected to the recent exposure that occurred at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health said the exposure occurred in Terminals B and F, as well as areas used to connect to other terminals in C, D and E from 7:25 p.m. ET on Sept. 13 to 12:05 a.m. ET on Sept. 14.
The individual was passing through the airport and did not leave the premises, according to the health department.
“This week’s measles exposures are a reminder of how important it is for all of us to be up to date on our vaccinations,” Dr. Palak Raval-Nelson, health commissioner for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “Every Philadelphian who is fully vaccinated has little to fear from the situation at CHOP and the airport. Even more importantly, every one of those people is doing their part to help protect our most vulnerable from measles.”
The exposures come as the number of measles cases continues to rise across Pennsylvania. As of Friday, 767 cases have been recorded so far this year, according to the state Department of Health.
There have been 150 hospitalizations so far and four measles-associated deaths, state health department data shows.
The last time the U.S. reported four measles deaths was in 1992. Last year, Texas reported two deaths and New Mexico reported one.
In the U.S., measles cases have surpassed 3,000 so far in 2026 with cases confirmed in 45 states and Washington, D.C., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.
However, CDC data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years. During the 2025 to 2026 school year, 92.4% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 95.2% seen in the 2019 to 2020 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Video tripods sit empty on the White House grounds on Sept. 21, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Reporters from MS NOW, CNN, and Politico have been blocked from accessing the White House since September 19th after President Trump said he was banning the three outlets from the property. Those news organizations are now suing President Trump, alleging that it violates the First Amendment. (Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The three news outlets banned from the White House by President Donald Trump on Monday filed a First Amendment lawsuit to restore their access, according to a joint statement published by CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
“This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” the outlets’ joint statement said.
“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference,” it added.
Trump said in a social media post following the news on Monday that the barring of journalists was not “an assault on the Free Press” but instead “an assault on the FAKE NEWS,” which he claimed was a national security “threat.”
Trump said in a post to social media on Friday, “Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America.”
At an event in the Oval Office shortly after he posted his message, the president suggested there may be more restrictions on other outlets. Trump told reporters he supports a free press, but that “you need a fair and honest press.”
“It’s sick. I mean, there’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stuff. Now, if they want to write them, that’s fine. But I don’t have to let them into my, into the people’s house,” Trump said.
Journalists from the three outlets were turned away from the White House over the weekend. A reporter from CNN said on air that she was told by a Secret Service agent that her badge had been deactivated.
The three outlets are challenging the legality of the president’s ban on multiple fronts, according to the lawsuit, a copy of which was shared in Politico’s morning Playbook newsletter on Monday.
According to the document, the lawsuit will argue the ban violates the outlets’ reporters’ due process rights, that it unlawfully retaliates against their protected speech and that it violates the First Amendment by barring them from a nonpublic forum for unlawful reasons.
“This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles,” the news outlets wrote.
The lawsuit warns of a cascading effect for other news organizations should Trump seek to expand the scope of the ban, as he said he may do in his Friday remarks in the Oval Office.
“The ban is already severely impeding the ability of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO to cover the President and his administration,” according to the lawsuit. “Every day, critically important news is breaking at the White House and in the press pool: President Trump is the commander in chief of a country at war; he is traveling to New York today to address the United Nations General Assembly tomorrow; he is meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping at the White House on Thursday; and he is steering national policy on the ever-advancing technology of artificial intelligence. And the ban inflicts an injury on all news media organizations—who now risk a similar fate if they engage in reporting the President deems insufficiently favorable.”
The full D.C. Circuit and the Supreme Court have yet to establish settled precedent in the wake of Trump’s earlier attempted ban on The Associated Press from being part of the press pool and attending certain White House events last year.
While a D.C. District court judge backed the AP, a three-judge panel with the D.C. Circuit put the ruling on hold and later wrote that “restricted presidential spaces are not First Amendment fora opened for private speech and discussion.”
Monday’s lawsuit is expected to cite a 1977 ruling in which the full D.C. Circuit found that the White House cannot arbitrarily deny a journalist a press pass without due process.
“As the D.C. Circuit has long held, the interest that members of the press have in their White House hard passes is ‘protected by the first amendment’ and ‘undoubtedly qualifies as liberty which may not be denied without due process of law under the fifth amendment,'” the attorneys wrote, according to the court papers shared by Politico.
ABC News’ Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
Detainees are transferred from buses operated by the GEO Group to a plane chartered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at King County International Airport on April 15, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court ruled Friday that immigrants facing deportation to third countries must be given sufficient notice before being sent to nations where they have no ties.
The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit struck down a Department of Homeland Security policy that allowed the swift deportation of immigrants to third countries.
“An individual’s right to contest removal to a country based on a fear of persecution in that country means little if one does not receive prior notice of the intended removal destination and a meaningful opportunity to contest that destination,” wrote Circuit Judge Seth Aframe.
The ruling on Friday allows migrants to contest deportations to countries other than their place of origin.
According to the lawsuit, immigrants were routinely transferred to third countries with little to no notice when the administration cited “diplomatic assurances” that the receiving nation would not mistreat them.
ABC News previously interviewed a group of Latin American men who were deported to the Central African Republic and were not informed of their destination until several hours into the flight.
“I feel kidnapped,” one of the men, Aristides Fernandez Garcia, said. “They have violated all the rights that exist in life, because we are human beings.”
In recent months, the administration has expanded third-country deportations after securing formal deals with 35 countries, including Liberia, Ghana, the Central African Republic and Sierra Leone.
Savi Arvey, director of policy for refugee and immigrant rights at Human Rights First, said the U.S. has spent nearly $50 million on these deportation agreements.
“I think the fact that the administration is sending refugees to the most dangerous countries in the world, to countries run by corrupt autocrats where they’ve been arbitrarily detained and sent back to persecution and torture, shows that the administration has a complete disregard for due process, for international law and for human dignity,” Arvey said.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on September 23, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is set to visit the U.N. General Assembly next week, where he will address the international organization and meet with global leaders, according to U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz.
Trump will address the assembly on Tuesday and then have meetings with global leaders, Waltz said. Most notably, the president will meet face-to-face with Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez in a pull-aside meeting.
It will be the first time that the leaders will meet since the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured then-President Nicolas Maduro earlier this year. It also comes weeks after Trump announced that the U.S. and Venezuela reached a deal that he said would give the U.S. majority control of billions of barrels of oil reserves in the Caribbean country.
Other leaders Trump will meet with include United Kingdom Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and, in a multilateral meeting, the leaders of Gulf countries including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to Waltz.
On Trump’s meeting with the Gulf leaders, a senior administration official told reporters that the president will hear concerns from Gulf countries about the Iran war directly.
“In one way or another, we expect the Iranian regime to abandon its pursuit of a nuclear weapon, so I think just continuing to have that engagement and that diplomacy with our Gulf partners in that meeting will be incredibly important,” the senior administration official said. “But also, as you all know, the president truly values hearing from them and hearing their concerns. His engagement with them is ongoing and important, but hearing from them as a group will be incredibly important.”
The official said Iran would be a “key topic” in Trump’s conversations at the General Assembly.
Trump’s address to the U.N. on Tuesday will highlight how his administration has “confronted complex problems head-on,” Waltz said.
“We expect the president will highlight how he has, in his administration … confronted complex problems head-on around the world, many of the peace deals that he has driven to conclusion or is in the process of driving to conclusion,” Waltz told reporters.
“He will touch on the importance of ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear weapon, which is not only demanded by the United States, has been demanded by the U.N. Security Council and repeated resolutions, and he’ll talk about some of the United States’ accomplishments in over the past year, since the last time he was here, including in the Western Hemisphere, progress on the president’s 20-point peace plan in Gaza, and more,” Waltz added.
During his hourlong address at the General Assembly last year, Trump lambasted the leaders gathered in the conference hall, saying, “Your countries are going to hell,” while touting the work of his administration.
The president also accused the U.N. of not living up to its promise.
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” Trump asked. “It has such tremendous, tremendous potential. But it’s not even coming close to living up to that potential.”
Journalists gather in the Brady Press Briefing Room before going into the Oval Office at the White House on September 18, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Reporters for CNN, MS NOW and Politico say they were denied access to the White House grounds Saturday a day after President Donald Trump said the two news organizations and Politico were banned from the location.
“Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America,” Trump said in a social media post Friday.
ABC News observed a CNN reporter and photographer being turned away from the White House security booth on Saturday.
The CNN photographer told ABC News that their passes were confiscated as he and the reporter exited the booth. The reporter flashed her now-empty ID card sleeve.
CNN later reported on air that a photographer and reporter were refused entry Saturday morning, with a reporter saying on CNN that she was told by a Secret Service agent that her badge had been deactivated.
In a statement, CNN said that it has “a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right.”
MS NOW released a statement Saturday that said some of its journalists were barred from entering the White House grounds.
“MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy,” the network said in a statement. “We stand firmly behind our anchors, our reporters, and our newsroom.”
An MS NOW correspondent reported on air shortly after being denied that one MS NOW producer was able to enter the grounds.
“I asked, ‘We are both with the same network’ and [Secret Service] took a look at their computer — the two officers — and they said they weren’t sure what was going on, but at the end of the day they had to take my badge because it was disabled,” she said.
Politico’s Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Greenberger put out a statement Saturday that said a reporter was denied entry to the White House by Secret Service and her press credentials were taken away.
“We stand by her and all reporters here covering the White House. As we said yesterday, we will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights,” he said in his statement.
The White House did not immediately comment about the reporters’ access being denied.
MS NOW, CNN and Politico had earlier pushed back against the president’s move and vowed to continue their coverage.
The president said restrictions on other outlets would follow.
At an event in the Oval Office shortly after his post Friday, the president told reporters he supports a free press, but that “you need a fair and honest press.”
“It’s sick. I mean, there’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stuff. Now, if they want to write them, that’s fine. But I don’t have to let them into my, into the people’s house,” Trump said.
In a statement Friday, CNN said it “stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting. We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government. Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally-protected right.”
Politico said Friday it “will continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones. We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them.”
It also said that Trump’s claim Friday that the outlet received government subsidies “are false and have been thoroughly debunked.”
White House Correspondents Association President Jacqui Heinrich said in a statement Friday: “The president said it plainly in the Oval Office, describing his own planned action as a ‘ban on the free press.'”
“This is about more than the rights of journalists. It is about the right of the American people to receive a full and independent account of the activities, policies and decisions of whoever occupies the nation’s highest office,” she wrote.
Trump said he decided to make the announcement on Friday citing “cumulative stories.”
It is still unclear what exactly the ban means in practical terms.
Trump insisted he’s not trying to intimidate the press. “No, no, no, no,” he said, reiterating “I like to see honest press.”
The White House tried to ban then-CNN reporter Jim Acosta during Trump’s first term. CNN sued to restore Acosta’s press credentials and the White House later dropped its effort.
Earlier in this term, the Trump White House banned The Associated Press from participating in the pool that covers the White House because it refused to comply with his edict renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. That case remains in litigation.
Workers walk past newly installed fencing outside the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington, DC. The new fencing composed of “bike rack” and barricade material was installed a day after the Kennedy Center Board voted to close the venue for repairs. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Several hundred activists are expected to gather at the Kennedy Center on Friday in opposition to President Donald Trump’s attempted takeover of the presidential memorial and threats that he will close and demolish it.
Activists are expected to gather Friday evening to link hands and form a human chain outside the Washington venue, demanding Trump be removed as its chairman for failing to protect and manage it. Trump installed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center last year after removing its previous leadership and replacing board members with his own appointees.
“The demonstration opposes the recent sudden closure of the facility, the installation of security fencing, and political efforts to alter or demolish portions of the presidential memorial,” the group said on its website.
The Hands Off the Arts organization behind the rally and protest said they expect hundreds of people to gather on the center’s steps for musical performances, testimonials and speeches before forming a human chain around the building. The group has held various protests outside the performing arts venue this year.
Earlier this week, Trump said the Kennedy Center could be “ripped down” if his administration doesn’t receive recognition on the performing arts center as tensions over his name being removed from the venue mount.
“I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down,” the president told reporters.
The activist coalition said its goal is to reclaim the Kennedy Center from “authoritarian overreach and protect other arts and cultural institutions from similar fates,” according to the group’s website.
“This is not the Kennedy Center you know and love. It’s not the Kennedy Center you deserve,” the group said on its website. “We know what the Kennedy Center is meant to be, and can be again — the nation’s cultural center, active with life, joy, and incredible art.”
The group says it formed after leadership changes at the Kennedy Center in recent months.
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it as Trump has threatened.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper issued the order after lawyers for Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the board, cited Trump’s warning that the center could be “ripped down” and submitted photographs appearing to show the Trump examining a placard labeled “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED” on Wednesday night. The photos were taken Wednesday night through a cabin window on Air Force One.
The venue “cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Cooper ruled.
The judge earlier this week ruled that Trump’s name could not be added to the center’s exterior without congressional approval. The board previously placed his name on the facade, and removed it in June after an earlier ruling.
Trump has argued that the center is in poor condition and requires substantial government support to remain open.
“It’s in very, very bad shape, very dangerous shape,” Trump said Wednesday. “You see steel falling down. You see plaster falling off ceilings. You see a lot of dangers.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gives the keynote address at a Children’s Health Defense event in Washington, Sept. 17, 2026. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the vaccine-skeptic group Children’s Health Defense on Thursday they have “a friend in the White House” in President Donald Trump.
Kennedy delivered the keynote address in Washington, D.C., at a conference hosted by the group, noting that Trump has given directives to strengthen research, transparency and parental choice around childhood vaccines.
“Let me be clear. You have a strong and steadfast friend at the White House,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy also said he wanted to make more sweeping changes on “day one” but couldn’t do so due to “procedures.”
“In government, a bunch of things have to happen before something else happens or you get sued,” he said. “It’s a very laborious system and there’s a lot of inertia built in that … if we were able to overcome it we would have changed things on day one, but those would have been short-lived and I would have been out of a job because I have to manage my agency competently according to the law and according to procedures.”
Children’s Health Defense, which advocates against the recommended vaccine schedule for children, was co-founded by Kennedy. He resigned from the board ahead of his confirmation as HHS Secretary.
The group described the conference as a “timely conversation [that] will take place against a backdrop of unprecedented opportunity and risk for the health freedom movement.”
Also scheduled to appear were Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky, as well as Republican Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
Dr. Fiona Havers, an infectious diseases physician and a former leading vaccine expert at the CDC, said the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) has spread false and misleading information “that has contributed directly to declining vaccination rates across the country.”
“Americans are now tragically experiencing the direct consequences of this, with more than 3,000 measles cases this year and four measles-related deaths reported in just the last few weeks,” Havers told ABC News in a statement. “By speaking at CHD’s conference, RFK Jr. is using his position as the U.S. government’s top public health official in a way that legitimizes CHD’s anti-vaccine message and undercuts efforts by CDC, state health agencies, clinicians and others to get these outbreaks under control.”
The HHS did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment.
Kennedy said that Trump asked him to “vigorously investigate the potential contribution of childhood vaccines to the chronic disease epidemic.”
Kennedy claimed that children went from receiving three vaccines when he was a child to 94 doses of 18 vaccines currently. Doctors have previously told ABC News that excluding annual flu and COVID-19 shots, children generally receive roughly 30 vaccine doses — many in combined injections — before the age of 18
“The question is … should we be looking at the potential that some of these chronic illnesses are associated with vaccines?” Kennedy said.
“As you can see, many of these adverse events [from vaccines] include diseases, chronic illnesses that are part of the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy said later in his speech. “In other words, illnesses that became suddenly epidemic in our kids after 1989.”
The year 1989 was also when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians recommended children receive a second measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) dose, although Kennedy did not mention that specific vaccine.
Extensive scientific research has shown no causal link between the MMR vaccine and the development of chronic diseases.
During his confirmation hearings in 2025, Kennedy said he wouldn’t prevent access to vaccines, saying that he supports vaccines. Since then, he’s also said he believes the choice should be left up to parents.
Last year, Kennedy dismissed all 17 members of the ACIP and appointed his own hand-selected members.
The committee then voted to remove the universal recommendation for the hepatitis B shot at birth and to narrow existing recommendations for the combined MMRV shot that protects against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox.
The group also voted against recommending flu vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, which is used to prevent microbial contamination of vaccines. Most flu vaccines currently used in the U.S. contain little to no thimerosal, but both the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC say there is no evidence that low doses of thimerosal in vaccines cause harm other than minor reactions at the injection site, such as redness or swelling.
Additionally, at the beginning of this year, Kennedy made changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, reducing the number of recommended shots from 17 to 11.
In March, a federal Massachusetts judge blocked changes to the vaccine schedule, suspended the appointments of the 13 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee and stayed all votes taken by the Kennedy-nominated members.
Kennedy said during his speech that he would not comment on the judge’s ruling because the case remains in litigation.
Toys R Us Grand Opening at Macy’s Herald Square on Oct. 13, 2022, in New York City. (Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Macy’s, Inc.)
(NEW YORK) — Toys R Us is planning a major expansion in the U.S. with the addition of 120 new standalone stores by the end of 2026.
The toy retailer, which currently has 40 standalone stores and Toys R Us shops inside Macy’s stores across the country, announced the strategic move, which is being carried out in partnership with Go! Retail Group, on Thursday.
“This is a major moment for [Toys R Us] as we significantly expand our presence across the United States,” Jamie Uitdenhowen, executive vice president of Toys R Us at WHP Global, said in a statement. “Together with our incredible partners, we are growing Toys R Us in unique ways to meet customers wherever they are, whether that’s at a standalone store in their hometown, inside Macy’s, at the airport or at a Navy Exchange.”
The statement continued, “Toys R Us has always been a place for discovery, and we’re building on that legacy by bringing customers the hottest toys, biggest trends and experiences that make the brand unlike any other.”
In addition to established toys such as LEGO bricks, Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars, Toys R Us said it will stock popular new toys from “KPop Demon Hunters,” Pokemon and more.
Select new Toys R Us stores will feature “Creator Studios,” described as “dedicated spaces where influencers, creators and toy brands can create content, unveil new products and host toy reveals, launches and special events,” the company said.
Select stores will also have candy shops and cafes inside for customers.
The new plan is a dramatic transformation for Toys R Us, which filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and closed most of its U.S. stores nearly a decade ago.
Private equity firms had previously acquired the retail chain in 2005 for $6.6 billion, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Toys R Us returned briefly with two new brick-and-mortar stores in 2019, however, those locations were shuttered not long after.
WHP Global acquired a controlling stake in the retailer in 2021, and the company launched a new two-story global flagship store at the American Dream shopping mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey, that December.
The retailer subsequently opened several additional standalone locations and “shop-in-shop” locations inside Macy’s stores in several U.S. states, as well as a second U.S. flagship store at Mall of America in 2023.
Warren Buffett attends ‘Becoming Warren Buffett’ World Premiere at The Museum of Modern Art on Jan. 19, 2017, in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK ) — Warren Buffett has stepped down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the company announced in a statement published early on Friday, having served in the role since 1970.
Buffett, 96, is now chairman emeritus of the company and will remain a director, Berkshire Hathaway said.
His son, Howard Buffett, will take over as Berkshire Hathaway’s new chairman, the statement added. Howard Buffett has been a member of the company’s board since 1993.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The U.S. Department of Justice Building on Aug. 17, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge overseeing a lawsuit against the Justice Department said at a hearing Friday that she remains skeptical that the Trump administration won’t move forward with improperly compensating allies of President Donald Trump who were prosecuted under the Biden administration, despite the DOJ’s repeated statements that the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is dead.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates
