(STERLING, Va.) — A firefighter was killed and 10 others injured when a house in Virginia exploded while they were responding to a gas leak, authorities said.
Firefighters responded to the home in Sterling around 7:48 p.m. Friday after a resident reported smelling gas, according to Keith Johnson, chief of the Combined Fire & Rescue System in Loudoun County.
A 500-gallon underground propane tank on the side of the house was leaking gas into the home, he said.
Nearly 40 minutes after arriving at the scene, there was a “catastrophic explosion” while firefighters were inside the house working the emergency, Johnson said.
“That was somewhat chaotic as we tried to figure out how many firefighters were trapped under the debris,” Johnson said at a press briefing on Saturday.
A volunteer firefighter was pronounced dead at the scene. He was identified as Trevor Brown, 45, with the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company.
He had been with the company since 2016 and is survived by a wife and three children, the fire company said.
“We lost a family member,” Johnson said.
The fallen firefighter from last night’s home explosion in Sterling has been identified as Firefighter Trevor Brown, 45, of the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company. He has been affiliated with the LC-CFRS since 2016. @Chief600KJpic.twitter.com/1olm23ySdX
Ten firefighters were transported to local hospitals, including to the Washington Burn Center in D.C., Johnson said. Four firefighters remain hospitalized with varying levels of injury and are expected to survive, he said.
The two occupants of the home and several pets had been evacuated, Johnson said. The two residents had minor injuries and have been treated and released, he said.
The exact cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
“We can assume it was propane related but no complete cause has been initiated,” Johnson said.
The investigation will also seek to determine how the leak occurred and how the gas got into the home.
The Loudoun Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are aiding in the investigation, according to Loudoun Fire-Rescue Assistant Chief James Williams.
The large debris field stretched into the street and into the vicinity of neighboring homes. The house that exploded is destroyed, the assistant chief said.
“This is the worst call that we can respond to,” Williams said.
The chief said he is proud of the firefighters’ response and credited it with limiting the number of fatalities in the incident.
“Our folks did their job, they showed up and they did what they had to do,” he said. “We prepare for this. We have a full plan for dealing with line-of-duty deaths. We hope you never have to use it but we’re using it today.”
(LEWISTON, Maine) — Three months before the alleged Maine mass shooter would open fire at a bar and a bowling alley, killing 18 people and injuring 13 more, Robert Card told police in New York he was “capable” of doing “something,” as they coaxed him to go for psychological treatment and evaluation, police body camera shows.
New York State troopers were called by members of Card’s Army Reserve unit out of concern for his mental decline in July, as ABC News previously reported, after an incident the night prior with some of his fellow Reservists. Card was taken that day to an Army hospital at West Point before being transferred for further treatment at a civilian facility. He was released after 14 days. The body camera, obtained via a records request by ABC News’ affiliate WMTW, shows the moments before Card was taken in for treatment.
“Our concern is he is going to hurt himself or someone else,” one Reservist told New York State troopers in July, standing in the parking lot outside the facility they were staying at near West Point, before Card would go for what would be two weeks of psychiatric evaluation and treatment.
Though Card hadn’t explicitly threatened self-harm or harm to others, “He said he was going to ‘take care of it,'” one Reservist told the troopers, another chiming in that he was being “combative” toward the other men.
Card had “never been like this,” the reservists said multiple times – and they weren’t sure whether the behavior and hearing voices had been triggered by his new hearing aids, or something else. The night prior, Card had wheeled on his longtime colleague while on a beer run and “he clenches his fist and comes at me… I’m like, ‘Woah’ and just kind of backed up… was trying to fight me… I was like, this is crazy… he’s like hearing voices, it’s like paranoia… it’s weird,” one reservist said.
Card had lost so much weight in recent months that “his face is sagging, he took his shirt off at the pool and he’s like all skin and bones. I couldn’t believe how much weight he’s lost.”
“I’ve known him for a decade,” the reservist said. “I’ve been in this unit for ten years, he’s never been like that…”
Card was hearing voices that he had a “small d*ck” and that he was a pedophile, as ABC News has reported – to the point where he took a picture of his genitals and “showed the people at work,” the reservists told the troopers, adding, “His boss was like, ‘yo man, you can’t do that.'”
“On its face, it’s obviously weird behavior but the more concerning part is that he was never like this,” another reservist said.
“And he’s a gun nut too, he has a lot of guns,” one reservist said. “He spent 14 grand on a scope too so he’s like … I don’t know, I don’t know what he’s capable of, I’m not insinuating anything but – I’m just saying – he does have a ton of guns.”
Three months later, Card would allegedly open fire at a bar and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, in back-to-back shootings that rocked the city and ricocheted across the nation.
The body camera footage from July shows troopers knocking on Card’s door, which he answers shirtless after some delay, his head shaved and wearing shorts with “Army” printed in yellow on one leg.
Card wordlessly leaned an arm with a bicep tattoo against the door frame as troopers said they wanted to speak with him, asking that he put a shirt on. Card, with a slight eye roll, let them in. He pulled on a black shirt with “Army” across the chest, and sat on an unmade bed. A picture of the Statue of Liberty hung on the concrete wall above his head.
Card said he understood the reason the police were called, because he “flipped out on someone” who “messed around with me and they’re cowards and ran away… I didn’t do anything wrong, I haven’t been physical with anyone.”
According to the footage, Card said people have been “saying sh*t” behind his back – as ABC News previously reported, he thought people had been saying he’s a “pedophile,” and that when he confronts people, “they pretend like I’m hearing stuff,” and that “it’s happening everywhere.”
“The staff here was concerned about you to the point that they have command directed you to talk with a counselor, okay?” One trooper asks, to which Card answered, “Alright.”
When asked if he’s willing to go for evaluation, Card shrugged, and said, “I have to if it’s command directed, obviously. But, is it going to help anything? No…” adding, he would “rather have people stop talking and stop looking at me, I’m a f**ing private person.”
“I can absolutely understand that,” one trooper responded.
Attempting to remind Card that his fellow Reservists were, until recently, his friends, Card responded “I don’t have any real good friends, obviously.”
“I hope you understand that they’re concerned enough about your welfare that they called us,” one trooper said.
Card responded riled up, “Oh, because they’re scared … ’cause I’m going to, friggin, do something. Because I am capable!” he said while rubbing his hands together.
“What do you mean by that?” The trooper asks.
“Huh?” Card responds, the trooper asking again – “What do you mean by that?”
Card answered, “Nothing.”
The newly released footage comes just as the independent commission investigating what led up to the Oct. 25, 2023 mass shooting is kicking into high gear.
This week, the commission has officially been granted subpoena power for its probe, which will allow the commission to compel documents and witness testimony from individuals and entities who would otherwise opt not to cooperate. Importantly, this power will include seeking compliance in any state, federal or military court or tribunal – relevant here, given the investigation involves not only Maine authorities but also New York, New Hampshire – and the US military, whose inspector general has launched a separate investigation into the Army’s role into what led up to the shootings.
The commission told ABC News they have received a response from the Army that they will allow some of their personnel to testify. That response comes after months where the commission has said there have been attempts to work with the Army, but as of late January, they had run into some “issues” with the Army, their executive director told lawmakers in lobbying for subpoena power.
“Commission members have always said that they hope and expect people will cooperate with this independent investigation and having the power to subpoena should only be necessary in circumstances where the investigation could be delayed or impeded without it,” a spokesperson for the commission told ABC News, adding they’re “pleased that the Army has agreed to make individuals available” so that it “can continue its important work gathering the facts and evidence it feels it needs to help provide answers for victims, their families, and the people of Maine.”
The Army has been invited to testify before the commission on March 7. Who will participate – and how much cooperation they will offer – remains to be seen.
(SAINT PAUL, Minn.) — Each year, winter sport enthusiasts flock to cold weather states where higher levels of ice and snow create the ideal environment for activities like skiing, skating, ice fishing and more.
The winter sports industry contributes over $12 billion to the U.S. economy every year, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Protect Our Winters.
But as climate change driven by global warming prompts shorter and less predictable winters, winter recreation is changing and places that count winter as part of their tourism strategy, like Minnesota, are having to pivot.
“We have put more money into our winter budget over time, but really, as we saw this winter weather not showing up this year, we have sort of shifted some of our advertising focusing on outdoor activities,” Explore Minnesota executive director Lauren Bennett-McGinty told ABC News.
This winter is the warmest on record for Minnesota and the Twin Cities going back to the earliest records kept in the 1870s.
The state climatology office reported Friday that the “Lost Winter of 2023-24” now includes the longest “January Thaw” on record for the Twin Cities, with daytime high temperatures above freezing from Jan. 22 to Feb. 14.
“What we’re noticing here in Minnesota is that it’s getting warmer, particularly in the wintertime,” Luigi Romolo, State Climatologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, told ABC News. “And so what we’re seeing in the wintertime is an increase in the minimum temperature. So, the coldest temperature of the day is the minimum temperature and those are rising.”
Romolo explained that some other observed climate change impacts in the state are an overall shortening of the winter season and more extreme storms.
“We’ll get calls to our office from people who make a living off winter recreation here in Minnesota, whether it’s through ice fishing, or snowmobiling, or snowshoeing, and they’re calling us like, ‘Where’s winter? What happened to winter? This is how we eat.’ And so winters like this do have a major impact on our economy,” Romolo explained.
Several winter sports and recreational events have been canceled in Minnesota so far this year due to a lack of snow or ice. The Minnesota Ice Festival and the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon were just two such casualties of the unseasonably warm weather.
Romolo said this winter is even more unusual because, in addition to the effects of climate change, the state is also seeing effects from El Nino and drought.
This weekend the COOP FIS Cross-Country World Cup is headed to Minneapolis. A break in the recent warm temperatures means this event should be unaffected, but the colder temperatures and snow are not expected to last.
Jared Shumate, a professional cross-country skier and ski jumper based in Salt Lake City, Utah, told ABC News that more volatile winters are impacting his sport and others that typically take place during the winter months across the country and around the world.
“I started noticing climate changing before I understood it at all, like there were years when I was a little kid, like an early teenager, where the snow just stopped coming as early,” Shumate said. “And then, as an athlete, when I started competing internationally, I started having events and trainings get canceled or delayed or postponed due to lack of snow or warm temperatures.”
Shumate is a member of the Athlete Alliance with the climate advocacy group Protect Our Winters, which brings together athletes, scientists and outdoor enthusiasts to promote action on climate change.
Some events for sports like cross-country skiing can be held with man-made snow, Shumate explained. While he said professional athletes prepare for all sorts of snow conditions, but man-made snow doesn’t always behave the same way natural snow does, adding risk for those competing on it.
As the world moves toward warmer and shorter winters, Shumate said he’s not aware of any long-term plans to address that change.
“I feel like we’re all aware that that’s where we’re headed, but I don’t know if there’s been any like fundamental changes to address that or handle that,” he said. “It’s hard because we’re all experiencing it, and we know — we can see what’s happening, but there doesn’t seem to be like a plan necessarily to adapt to it. It kind of seems like we’re just gonna ride it as long as we can until we can’t anymore and then figure it out, instead of trying to plan accordingly for it.”
In Minnesota, state officials tell ABC News they’re working to adapt to the changes they’re seeing.
“I would say that more unpredictable weather has kind of become more the norm,” Bennett-McGinty said, explaining that last year the state actually saw a lot of snow.
“So yes, [this year] it’s been a really big struggle for a lot of people just not knowing what they were going to do,” she added. “But I think we’ve seen some real good, sort of pull up your bootstraps and make sure that you can make the best of it. But I think what that’s going to lead to is how do we keep having these conversations about making sure you’re covering up on every contingency not knowing what the weather’s gonna be like the following year.”
In 2019, Minnesota created an interagency effort across the state government to drive the state’s response to climate change.
Kate Knuth, Climate Director at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, told ABC News that the state is trying to lead the country in terms of climate change resilience efforts.
“The winter recreation is a sub-component of a bigger thing,” Knuth said. “So we’re taking the chance now before we see even worse impacts of climate change to make sure that Minnesota is leading across the country in terms of preparing for and adapting to climate change.”
“That looks like making sure our stormwater systems can handle bigger rain events. That looks like planting more trees in our communities because it’s hotter in the winters and we need to take care of the urban heat island effect,” she explained. “And that makes sure that we’re supporting them and helping them be adaptable and creative in the face of changing with winter recreation reality. So there’s not one thing we’re doing as a state but I think overall, we are trying to make sure that Minnesota is really leading across our country in terms of addressing the impacts of climate change and preparing for what’s here and what’s to come.”
(NEW YORK) — Influential comedian, co-host of “The Breakfast Club” radio show and New York Times bestselling author Charlamagne tha God sat down with ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl for an exclusive interview airing Sunday.
Lenard McKelvey, who goes by Charlamagne tha God has harshly criticized Donald Trump, calling him a “fascist” and a “threat to democracy.” But Charlamagne, who endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020, has also been especially critical of the administration in recent weeks, calling on President Joe Biden to step aside to allow other Democrats to run, and saying he won’t endorse Biden in 2024.
“Do you get blowback from the White House because you, even now in this conversation, you’re very tough on Biden?” Karl asked.
“Yeah, and I think that’s the stupidest s— ever,” Charlamagne replied. “Because I feel like you should be able to criticize whoever your elected official is, right?”
You can see more of Jonathan Karl’s exclusive interview with Charlamagne tha God Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
Charlamagne went on to tell Karl he criticizes the administration, and the Biden reelection campaign, because he feels they aren’t acting with a “sense of urgency.”
“You keep saying that there’s a threat to democracy, and democracy as we know it is going to be gone, but not act like it,” Charlamagne said.
(WASHINGTON) — The House has embarked on a 12-day winter recess, joining the Senate’s two-week recess and leaving a long list of critical unfinished business on Capitol Hill.
Navigating a three-vote majority, Speaker Mike Johnson rejected pressure to consider the Senate’s bipartisan $95 billion national security supplemental. That move leaves not only aid for Ukraine dangling on a branch, but also funding for Israel and Taiwan — not to mention emergency legislation to address the migrant crisis at the southern border.
As these challenges only grow, Johnson says he is turning his attention to the looming government funding deadlines. And rightfully so: when the House returns to session on Feb. 28, they’ll have just three legislative days to pass legislation to avert a partial government shutdown. A secondary government funding deadline strikes a week later on March 8 — potentially shutting down the rest of the government.
Johnson has repeatedly depended on Democrats to help keep the government open, passing short-term funding bills under suspension of the rules — requiring a two-thirds majority for passage. While the two-thirds majority is a higher threshold for passage, Johnson is able to overcome hurdles placed by members of his own majority and allow Democrats to freely help him keep the federal government open.
Those stop-gap measures — the last signed into law on Jan. 19 — were supposed to buy lawmakers additional lifelines to pass the rest of their appropriations bills. But Republicans have failed to demonstrate any substantial progress on that front since the last short-term funding bill kicked the can down the road. While lawmakers wrestle over the FY2024 funding gap from March to Sept. 30, soon the appropriations committee will begin work on FY2025 — further complicating the fight over government spending.
Cognizant that legislation did not yet have enough votes to pass, Johnson also yanked a FISA bill from the floor earlier this week — the second instance where he’s withdrawn consideration of FISA legislation in order to go back to the drawing board.
During the legislative break, the House will still focus its attention on the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and conduct a closed-door interview with James Biden, the brother of the president on Feb. 21. A week later, on Feb. 28, they’ll conduct a private deposition of Hunter Biden, the president’s son.
Also, Biden special counsel Robert Hur is scheduled to testify in a public hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on March 12, according to sources familiar with the matter.
After hiding his cancer diagnosis, prostate surgery and subsequent hospitalization from not only the public but also Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is also scheduled to testify at the House Armed Services Committee on Feb. 29.
This Congress remains one of the least productive sessions in U.S. history, sending just 39 bills for the president’s signature.
With divided power on Capitol Hill, legislation typically passes one chamber, but dies in the other.
The House overwhelmingly passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, which temporarily expands the child tax credit while renewing some corporate tax cuts. But the Senate has not yet considered it yet and it’s unclear if it enjoys the same level of bipartisan support in the upper chamber.
Lately, the big-ticket votes in the House have either failed (Israel suspension vote), taken two attempts (impeachment of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas) or will take a third attempt (FISA reauthorization).
That’s not to overlook the impasse between the House and Senate over border security, Ukraine and Israel. While House Republicans passed H.R. 2, Secure the Border Act of 2023, they also passed Israel aid months ago, but tied it to IRS cuts. After the speaker eventually dropped the cuts from the bill, the president issued a veto threat and Democrats helped defeat an attempt to pass the stand-alone Israel aid.
The Senate meanwhile sent the House a massive $95 billion aid package to address Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. It passed the upper chamber this month with strong bipartisan support — nearly half of the Republican conference backed it — but that support does not appear to be enough to sway Johnson, whose conference has largely soured on Ukraine in recent months.
The Senate has refused to put the GOP’s border bill up for a vote, attempting to tie the funding to Ukraine and Israel before that proposal collapsed.
Those stalemates — which enjoy broad bipartisan support and could potentially pass if brought up for a vote — may be intended to protect vulnerable incumbents from casting tough votes in an election year – but with inaction, the crises only grow as does the dysfunction on Capitol Hill.
(WASHINGTON) — The State Department has received multiple warnings from its posts in the Middle East during recent weeks about the lasting impact from U.S. messaging on the conflict in Gaza, triggering a meeting in Washington with intelligence agencies to evaluate the fallout, according to internal communications reviewed by ABC News and officials familiar with the matter.
One cable from the American mission in Morocco said that former collaborators in the country asserted that the U.S. had become “toxic” because the administration’s support for Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack had been widely perceived as a “blank check for the Israeli response.”
“Criticism of the U.S. position has proven unshakeable despite significant adjustments to U.S. messaging to highlight the need to protect civilian lives,” the document, labeled sensitive but unclassified, continues.
The message also noted that Moroccan mass media has rarely covered U.S. initiatives to help Palestinians “including the movement of aid into Gaza or diplomatic pressure for Israel to avoid civilian casualties,” and that the mission’s social media accounts have been continuously flooded with “waves of unfollows or negative and abusive comments.”
Diplomats at other posts in the Middle East have voiced similar concerns, according to an official, who said posts in Muslim-majority countries in other areas of the world, such as Indonesia, have also voiced misgivings.
An enduring hit to U.S. popularity in the Middle East could have extensive implications for American diplomacy, including efforts to build a coalition of countries to help rebuild Gaza after the fighting subsides and encouraging the normalization of ties with Israel.
Additionally, the surge of anti-American sentiment could have negative impacts for U.S. businesses operating in the region and potentially inspire extremism, experts say.
But an official told ABC News that the White House and the intelligence community remains unconvinced that the response will persist, even as some State Department officials say it may take a generation to rebuild U.S. standing in some countries.
The department has also had to cancel multiple outreach events and in at least one instance, an honoree refused to accept an award from the administration due to the response to the conflict in Gaza, they added.
The White House has quietly ramped up efforts to address the domestic backlash to the war in Gaza during recent weeks, attempting to mend ties with Muslim and Arab American voters that could determine whether President Joe Biden wins a second term in office.
The White House deployed senior aides to Dearborn, Michigan, last week to meet with prominent members of the community last week, including Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, and John Finer, a deputy national security adviser.
Sources familiar with the engagements said the officials struck an apologetic tone, but that many local leaders still expressed anger towards Biden’s handling of the conflict.
On the international stage, the administration has slowly softened its vocal and unequivocal for Israel’s campaign as it has pressed on, frequently emphasizing the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza caught in the crossfire.
“The past four months, as the war has raged, the Palestinian people have also suffered unimaginable pain and loss,” Biden said during remarks at the White House with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Monday.
“Too many of the over 27,000 Palestinians killed in this conflict have been innocent civilians and children, including thousands of children,” he added.
President Biden. CREDIT: Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz
(EAST PALESTINE, Ohio) — President Joe Biden is visiting East Palestine, Ohio, on Friday to mark one year since a train derailment spilled hazardous materials and toxins into the environment that forced many residents out of their homes.
Biden was briefed by officials and gave remarks on the need to hold Norfolk Southern, the railroad operating the freight train, accountable for the Feb. 3, 2023, spill.
“While there are acts of God, this was an act of greed that was 100% preventable,” Biden said. “Let me say it again: an act of greed that was 100% preventable.”
Biden praised the town for its “herculean efforts” in the wake of the tragedy and pledged to continue to support residents.
“I want them to understand that we’re not going home, no matter what, until this job is done and it’s not done yet,” he said. “There’s a lot more to do. The vast majority’s been done but we’re going to stay until the very end until every need is met.”
Biden faced intense scrutiny for not going to the Ohio-Pennsylvania border town in the immediate aftermath of the derailment. Upon his arrival in East Palestine, Biden was met with some signs that read, “Go home, sleepy Joe” and others requesting he “declare the emergency,” according to reporters traveling with the president.
Former President Donald Trump toured the area just weeks after the incident. He was flanked by East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway and local first responders as he distributed water and supplies.
Trump had already announced he was running for the White House again and throughout the trip sought to paint Biden as ineffective in responding to the crisis.
“Unfortunately, as you know, your goodness and perseverance were met with indifference and betrayal in some cases,” Trump told residents.
Trump earlier this week again took aim at Biden, writing on his conservative social media platform: “Biden should have gone there a long time ago — for him to go now is an insult to those who live and work in East Palestine.”
Conaway, who has endorsed Trump in the 2024 race, invited President Biden to East Palestine this month. Conaway told the Associated Press he did so, despite political differences, for the benefit of the community.
“This is a trip that he has been wanting to make but wanted to make sure that it was the right time to do,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday.
President Biden and the White House said after the spill he would visit East Palestine at some point but nothing was scheduled in 2023. Conaway heavily criticized Biden for visiting Ukraine last winter instead of East Palestine, calling it a “slap in the face.”
Biden on Friday emphasized that federal responders were on the ground within hours of the toxic spill, and many of them remain there today. He also called on Congress to enact reform to bipartisan rail safety legislation.
There were no injuries reported from the derailment but 11 of the cars were transporting hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, ethyl acrylate and isobutylene, some of which are considered to be toxic and possibly carcinogenic.
The EPA has maintained confidence that residents of are not at risk from impacted surface water, soil or air from the derailment.
But many families left out of fear for their health. Ashley McCollum told ABC News that she would rather be homeless than return to East Palestine, saying her family has experienced health issues like ear pain, hair loss, rashes and more since the derailment.
Norfolk Southern says it has invested more than $100 million into East Palestine’s recovery, including millions in direct payments to individuals impacted and town projects.
But EPA Administrator Michael Regan told ABC News earlier this month that the company still “must clean up their mess.”
“Let me be clear — Norfolk Southern is not cleaning up this mess and doing it following their own guidelines,” Regan said. “We have layers and layers of protection to ensure that they’re cleaning it up to the standards that we request.”
Biden echoed that sentiment during his visit, telling residents what Norfolk Southern can’t make whole the government will.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re Democrat or Republican or independent, what matters is we’re all Americans, everyone, everyone,” Biden said. “We look out for one another. We leave no one behind and we come back stronger than before. That’s what you’re doing here.”
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump has privately expressed support for a 16-week abortion ban in conversations with allies and advisors, two sources told ABC News Friday.
Those sources indicated the former president supports exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.
The New York Times was first to report the news. Sources caution that this is just one idea Trump has floated and point out the former president frequently changes his mind.
Trump has gone through great lengths to avoid publicly stating his position on this issue since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. He has repeatedly declined to say whether he would support a federal ban, but has signaled he believes from a legal standpoint “it’s probably better” to be handled at the state level.
Trump has also stated the six-week abortion law that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law was too harsh.
“I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in September 2023.
But of course, Trump also appointed three Supreme Court justices who cleared the path for Roe v. Wade to be overruled — a decision widely celebrated by the Republican Party.
The Trump campaign, which did not deny the reporting, issued a statement that said Trump would work to find middle ground on abortion.
“As President Trump has stated, he would sit down with both sides and negotiate a deal that everyone will be happy with,” said Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for the Trump campaign. “President Trump appointed strong Constitutionalist federal judges and Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and sent the decision back to the states, which others have tried to do for over 50 years.”
President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday via his reelection campaign that he is the only thing standing in the way of a national abortion ban.
“Donald Trump is running to rip away your rights. Kamala and I are running to protect them,” the statement said.
ABC News’ Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa, Libby Cathey, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — After former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi won the special election in New York’s 3rd Congressional District this week by campaigning on more border security, other Democrats are saying the takeaway message is that their party needs to go “on the offense” on immigration.
The issue was a flashpoint of the special election, especially as migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border reached a record high of 302,000 in December and apprehensions hit a historic peak of 2.2 million in fiscal year 2022. Over 100,000 migrants have been transported to Democrat-led cities like Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.
Some point to other factors that helped Suozzi — such as his name recognition in the district — but say his win still might offer a playbook for the path forward for Democrats on an issue the party has struggled with.
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., appearing on a press briefing Wednesday with Democratic strategists, called Suozzi’s victory “a sign that the best defense is a strong offense … speaking right in front of it directly through the center and talking about not just border security, but opening up pathways to legal migration … is an argument that the American people will embrace,” Espaillat said.
Facing attacks from his opponent Mazi Pilip over what she called Democrats’ failed border policies, Suozzi stressed during his campaign that he supported both tightening immigration laws and finding a bipartisan compromise, including supporting a failed deal recently announced in the Senate.
“With immigration, with me, it’s about pushing for a bipartisan compromise that’ll will actually address the problem we face of closing the border, trying to stem the tide of what’s happening, and [to] treat people like human beings,” Suozzi said at a news conference two days before the election.
“Ducking the issue is a mistake. Suozzi hit it head on,” said veteran New York Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf.
Mo Kanter, senior director of policy and research for nonprofit research and advocacy group American Immigration Council pointed to Suozzi’s win as proof that “immigration doesn’t have to be a wedge issue; one can stand for an orderly, efficient process at the border that is also fair and humane.”
Kanter also added that the topic of immigration goes beyond just border issues, saying that “Every state in the country is impacted by immigration,” he said.
And Democrats in Washington are taking a similar tone.
The Democratic National Committee, in a memo released after the election, pointed to the results as showing that Democrats “are winning on the issues that matter to voters,” including the border, pointing to Donald Trump’s criticism of the border deal that helped sink its support in Congress.
“From rooting for the economy to crash to tanking the border deal, Trump keeps showing the American people that his only real priority is helping himself — and voters will hold him accountable come November, just like Trump himself admitted they should,” DNC National Press Secretary Sarafina Chitika wrote in a statement to ABC News.
The House Majority PAC said in a memo released Wednesday about the special election results, was more explicit about how Democrats should campaign about immigration.
The group said that its internal research showed that Democrats did better “when they went on offense” to speak about the economy during the 2022 midterm elections. “Democrats must do the same on immigration,” the group wrote, adding that Democrats should “hammer” Congressional Republicans over the failure of the border security bill.
The House Majority PAC spent around $7 million to support Suozzi’s bid, according to an analysis of Federal Elections Commission records by OpenSecrets.
Sen. Chris Murphy D-Conn., in a memo to Democratic colleagues on Wednesday obtained by ABC News, said that Suozzi’s win “can serve as a roadmap for Democrats. Suozzi messaged aggressively on the issue … and [he] turned what could have been a devastating political liability into an advantage.”
“Quite simply, we risk losing the 2024 election if we do not seize this opportunity to go on offense on the issue of the border and turn the tables on Republicans on a key fall voting issue.”
Suozzi’s success may be tied in part to local factors that would not be the case nationally, both in terms of and separate from immigration issues.
“It’s the political equivalent of what the weathermen call a wintry mix,” Lawrence Levy, executive dean of Hofstra’s National Center for Suburban Studies, told ABC News.
Suozzi may have succeeded thanks to many local factors, Levy said, including his longtime record of being a moderate on many issues, his name recognition – having served in the seat before and in local office – and that he managed to bring together a variety of different groups within the Democratic voting bloc to support him.
Sheinkopf, too, warns about the White House and its orbit mining too much meaning from Suozzi’s win.
“Democrats shouldn’t generalize from this outcome. Suozzi had 100 percent name recognition. He won handily. It was about him, not about issues. Advice to Democrats: every district race will be different. Trends matter less than candidates and their individual relationships with the communities they serve or hope to serve,” said Sheinkopf.
That’s a sentiment acknowledged by some Democrats as well, even when they discuss immigration’s role in the race.
“Tom Suozzi worked on immigration issues with me when he was a county executive … he knows this issue and he knows his district better than anybody else. And so whatever political decisions he made, I’m sure took into consideration the realities of his district,” Espaillat said on the press call.
Levy also highlighted that those realities in the district include how there is a “gap between perception and reality” regarding the reality of migrants in New York’s 3rd Congressional district, which has not seen an influx of migrants – but people have seen news stories on New York City media market television or have seen migrants when they commute into the city.
“The Republicans had been pretty adept…at widening that gap between perception and reality, and exploiting it by tying immigration to an issue that had worked very well for them the last few election cycles, which is crime,” Levy said, until Suozzi started “punching back.”
But regardless of what’s happening on the ground in the district, Levy said that in districts similar politically to the relatively suburban one that Suozzi won, being on the offensive as he was on border issues could “play well.”
“But in addition to a message, you need a mouthpiece,” Levy said. “Somebody who is able to sell it; who has the credibility with the voters, someone who they know. someone who they respect; even if they disagree.”
(WASHINGTON) — The House Ethics Committee has issued a subpoena for the testimony of a former girlfriend of Rep. Matt Gaetz as part of the panel’s ongoing investigation into the Florida Republican.
The committee is demanding Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend appear before the committee over a Zoom call on Feb. 29, according to a letter sent to the woman’s lawyer.
The woman, who ABC News is not identifying, had previously been contacted by the committee about voluntarily sitting for an interview and had informed the committee that she had planned to “plead the fifth” on any questions related to the former congressman, a source familiar told ABC News.
“Of course we will comply with the subpoena and we will appear before the committee,” the woman’s lawyer, Tim Jansen, told ABC News.
“I can confirm I received a subpoena on behalf of my client. We will certainly appear before the committee as required. However, we have informed the Staff that my client will be invoking her Fifth Amendment right before the Committee,”
The House committee has not responded to a request for comment on the matter.
Sources familiar with the committee’s work tell ABC News that House investigators are interested in speaking with the ex-girlfriend about allegations that Gaetz paid for sex, and about allegations of drug use, and potential lobbying violations.
Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend, who previously worked on Capitol Hill, allegedly has knowledge not only regarding the congressman but also the one-time minor at the center of the sex trafficking investigation eventually closed by the Department of Justice without charging Gaetz. The ex was also one of the women who was allegedly on a 2018 trip to the Bahamas with Gaetz and others, including the minor, which the House ethics committee is also investigating, sources said.
ABC News previously reported that since the start of the year, the committee investigating Gaetz had also reached out to numerous other witnesses, including the woman who allegedly had sex with the congressman when she was a minor, and Joel Greenberg, the one-time close friend of Gaetz who was sentenced to 11-years in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges, sources told ABC News.
Gaetz has blasted the Ethic Committee for “trying to weaponize their process.”
“The Ethics Committee is engaging in payback against me for ousting the person who singularly appointed every Republican – Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz said in a statement to ABC News Thursday night when asked about the latest development.
“I see through this sham and the American people will too,” Gaetz added. “Exposing witch hunts is kind of my thing around here.”
