Body camera footage released in police shooting of woman who called 911 for alleged domestic incident

Oliver Helbig/Getty Images

(LOS ANGELES) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department released body camera footage on Friday of a deputy-involved shooting of a 27-year-old woman after they entered her home responding to a domestic violence call that she made.

Niani Finlayson was allegedly shot and killed in her home in Lancaster, California, after an officer fired four shots at her on Dec. 4, the LASD said. She called the police because she claimed that her boyfriend would not leave her alone, according to an LASD statement.

“It’s so unfair that we have to live our lives without Niani Finlayson,” Tracie Hall, Finlayson’s mother, told ABC News. “That was my best friend. I’m going to miss her so much. I miss her already.”

In the 911 call made by Finlayson for police to assist her, audio of which was released by LASD, Finlayson can be heard yelling for someone to get their hands off of her. She told the dispatcher she needed assistance getting a man out of her home.

Hall told ABC News that Finlayson’s daughter informed her that the estranged boyfriend choked Finlayson and would not get off her after she repeatedly demanded for him to. When Finlayson’s daughter tried to help her mother, the man grabbed the 9-year-old and forcefully threw her against a nearby dresser, according to Hall.

Three deputies arrived on the scene. In the body camera footage, yelling could be heard coming from inside of the apartment. After police tried to kick the door down, Finlayson answered the door and appeared to have a knife in one hand, according to the body camera footage.

In the body camera video Finlayson said, “I’m going to stab him.” Finlayson then disappeared off camera as she left the doorway and went back into her home. At this point, deputies had their guns drawn.

Deputies followed Finlayson into the home where she proceeded to yell at, who Hall says is, her ex-boyfriend to leave. Finlayson’s daughter could also be seen on camera saying, “He pushed me” or “He punched me.”

Finlayson then grabbed the alleged estranged boyfriend with one hand, as the knife was in her other hand. Deputy Ty Shelton then fired at Finlayson four times causing her to drop to the ground.

“No, no,” the alleged ex-boyfriend yelled at police after the shooting. “Why did you shoot?” Finlayson’s daughter also witnessed the shooting.

“We’re trying to, as a family, make her [Finlayson’s daughter] not feel guilty for helping her mother,” Hall said. “She was in no wrong. She did nothing wrong. And I want her to know that. I can’t express that enough to her.”

Deputies performed first aid until paramedics arrived and transported Finlayson to the hospital where she was later pronounced deceased, according to a statement from LASD.

After the shooting, the alleged ex-boyfriend became resistant to police and was arrested for child abuse and assault on a peace officer, according to a statement from the sheriff’s department. He was later released from custody pending further investigation.

Neither the police department nor Hall’s attorney, Bradley Gage, confirmed the identity of the ex-boyfriend to ABC News.

On Dec. 21, a claim was filed in court from Finlayson’s family asking for at least $30 million from LASD and Los Angeles County for the killing of Finlayson by an LASD deputy, according to Gage.

“The deputy involved in the shooting has been removed from the field pending the outcome of the Department’s critical incident review,” LASD said in a statement. “The Department will examine and evaluate every aspect of the shooting including the response, tactics, and background of the employee.”

The investigation will include a multi-level review process involving the Office of Inspector General, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Justice System Integrity Division, according to a statement from LASD.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Former Trump officials warn of a White House return

Lou Rocco/ABC News

(WASHINGTON) — Three women who served in the Trump White House are sounding the alarm on what a second Donald Trump term could mean for the country, with one saying it could “mean the end of American democracy as we know it.”

Alyssa Farah Griffin, Cassidy Hutchinson and Sarah Matthews sat down with ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent and “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl to discuss their roles in speaking out against Trump in an interview that will air Sunday on “This Week.”

It marks the first time Griffin, Hutchinson and Matthews, who each cooperated with the House Jan. 6 committee’s investigation of Trump’s conduct following the 2020 election, discuss their story together.

You can watch more of Jonathan Karl’s interview with Alyssa Farah Griffin, Cassidy Hutchinson and Sarah Matthews on “This Week” Sunday morning. Check local listings.

“Fundamentally, a second Trump term could mean the end of American democracy as we know it, and I don’t say that lightly,” Griffin said. “We all witnessed him trying to steal a democratic election before and go to historic and unconstitutional lengths to do so.”

“And that just shows that he’s willing to basically break every barrier to get into power and to stay into power,” she continued. “But also, I’m very concerned about what the term would actually look like.”

Griffin served as communications director in the Trump White House until she resigned in December 2020, just after the presidential election. She’s now a co-host on ABC’s “The View.”

Griffin sat for a private behind-the-scenes interview with the Jan. 6 committee, while Hutchinson, a former aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Matthews, a former White House deputy press secretary, testified publicly at televised hearings in addition to closed-door testimony.

Most transcripts of the Jan. 6 committee’s closed-door witness interviews were eventually published, but not all those involving Hutchinson.

“We don’t need to speculate what a second Trump term would look like because we already saw it play out,” Matthews told Karl. “To this day, he still doubles down on the fact that he thinks that the election was stolen and fraudulent. And then his rhetoric has just gotten increasingly erratic. I mean, he has literally called for things like doing away with parts of the Constitution, wanting to weaponize the DOJ to enact revenge on his political enemies.”

Hutchinson, who became a main target of Trump’s ire following her bombshell testimony, highlighted Trump’s recent remarks on whether he’d rule like a dictator if elected in 2024.

“The fact that he feels that he needs to lean into being a dictator alone shows that he is a weak and feeble man who has no sense of character and integrity and has no sense of leadership,” she said, a sentiment with which Griffin agreed.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing with regard to Jan. 6.

The Trump campaign responded to ABC’s interview with a statement calling the women “ungrateful grifters” who “used the opportunities given to them by President Trump” and had gone “full Judas.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Powerball jackpot rises to $760 million after no winners on Wednesday

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The Powerball jackpot has risen to an estimated $760 million after there was no winner in Wednesday night’s drawing.

The winning numbers drawn for Wednesday’s jackpot were: 4, 11, 38, 51, 68 and red Powerball 5.

The estimated cash value of the prize is $383.6 million. If a player wins the jackpot in Saturday night’s drawing, they will be offered the choice between annual payments worth $760 million — starting with one immediate payments and remaining payments over 29 years increasing by 5% each year — or a lump sum payment estimated at $383.6 million.

The next drawing is Saturday night. It is the last Powerball drawings remaining in 2023.

There have been 33 consecutive drawing without a jackpot winner. The last Powerball jackpot was won on Oct. 11.

This prize is the fourth jackpot this year to exceed more than $500 million. This year’s largest jackpot prize of $1.765 billion was won on Oct. 11 in California. The second largest prize was $1.08 billion that was won on July 19 in California, according to Powerball.

Powerball tickets are sold for $2 each.

The odds of winning the jackpot prize are one in 292.2 million.

The game’s largest price ever — of $2.04 billion — was won on Nov. 7, 2022.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Israel-Gaza live updates: Tunnels of Hamas’ general headquarters destroyed, IDF says

pawel.gaul/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.

The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Dec 30, 1:44 PM EST
Refugee camps hit in Gaza amid fierce fighting

Palestinians reported fierce Israeli tank fire and aerial bombing in Khan Younis in southern Gaza overnight, and strikes appear to be continuing this morning.

Israel said its forces in Gaza eliminated “dozens of terror operatives” in the past day. Planes also carried out a series of air strikes on the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, according to medics and Palestinian journalists.

Residents in the urban refugee camp of Bureij, a recent hot spot of combat along with Nuseirat, also reported Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Saturday. Israeli forces have been pounding Khan Younis in preparation for an anticipated further advance into the main southern city, swaths of which they captured in early December.

Israel said Saturday its troops have advanced further in southern Gaza, while raiding Hamas sites in Khan Younis, including the headquarters of the terror group’s intelligence division in the city.

According to Israel, the intelligence HQ was responsible for all of Hamas’s intelligence activity in the Khan Younis area.

Dec 30, 1:22 PM EST
Fighting continues on the border with Lebanon

Israel said that it struck three terror cells in southern Lebanon on Saturday. The IDF also said it carried out strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure and shelled areas in southern Lebanon.

The strikes came amid Hezbollah rocket, missile and drone attacks on northern Israel on Saturday, according to the IDF. According to Israel, 80% of the launches fired by Hezbollah toward Israel fell in Lebanon.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir

Dec 29, 3:24 PM EST
Israel says it destroyed tunnels where Hamas general headquarters were located

The IDF said it has located and destroyed a hideout apartment of Yahya Sinwar — a Hamas leader — near Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip.

IDF soldiers examined the apartment using additional technological means and found that a strategic tunnel shaft was located on the basement floor. The soldiers inspected the tunnel shaft and reached a 715-foot, tunnel with a depth of over 65 feet that was apparently used by the senior officials of Hamas’ Military and Political Wing, according to the IDF.

The IDF said that the tunnel had an electrical network, ventilation and sewage infrastructure, hideout materials, prayer rooms and resting rooms. The IDF said the tunnel was built so that it would be possible to stay inside it and conduct combat for long periods of time.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir

Dec 29, 2:47 PM EST
Gaza woman with cancer can’t receive treatment because of border closure

A 50-year-old woman who has been a cancer patient for three years says she has not been able to receive her continuing treatment in Jerusalem since the war began, she told ABC News.

Rida Kaskeen, who now lives in a makeshift tent in Rafah, had received chemical treatment for her cancer in Jerusalem before the war began. But since it started, border closures have kept her from being able to get her treatment.

“I am a cancer patient. I used to go every two weeks to take my dose in Al-Mutalaa Hospital. They were all there with respect and appreciation. They provided me with everything, from a hotel or in the hospital, to everything I wanted and needed. They were doing their duty and more,” Kaskeen told ABC News.

“My last dose was a week before the war. Every two weeks is the dose, and I have not taken the treatment for three months, and I know my end because I didn’t take the treatment and I lost weight and my situation is miserable,” Kaskeen said.

-ABC News’ Sami Zayara

Dec 29, 1:06 PM EST
Hamas leader will not travel to Cairo to discuss potential cease-fire deal

Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said he would not travel to Cairo on Friday to discuss its proposed cease-fire and hostage deal.

“There will be no visit by a Hamas delegation to Cairo today,” Hamdan said.

Another Hamas leader said the terror group would not negotiate while “under fire.”

“Any negotiations on the exchange of prisoners will take place after the cease-fire and the occupation’s withdrawal from Gaza,” Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzouk said. “We will not negotiate under fire.”

ABC News’ Nasser Atta

Dec 28, 3:44 PM EST
2 security personnel stabbed in Jerusalem

A man armed with a knife stabbed two officers working at the Mazmuria Crossing in southern Jerusalem on Thursday night, according to Israeli police.

The suspect stopped his car near the crossing’s inspection station and then got out and stabbed two security personnel who were on duty, police said.

One of the victims, as well as a border police officer, “confronted the terrorist, neutralizing him with gunfire,” police said.

The victims suffered “light to moderate injuries,” police said.

Dec 28, 3:13 PM EST
Refugee camp to be established in Khan Younis

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it’s working to establish the first organized camp for displaced people in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The camp would initially have 300 tents and later expand to 1,000 tents, the PRCS said.

Dec 28, 3:03 PM EST
Egypt puts forward proposal for new hostage, cease-fire deal

Egypt has put forward a new proposal for a hostage and cease-fire deal, Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s state information service, said.

The proposal “aims to bring viewpoints closer between all sides involved, in an effort to stop the Palestinian bloodshed, end the aggression against the Gaza Strip and restore peace and stability in the region,” Rashwan said in a statement Thursday.

Egypt said it has not yet received any responses to the proposed framework.

-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy

Dec 28, 2:31 PM EST
American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead

Judy Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Israeli-Canadian hostage, was confirmed dead on Thursday, Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement.

Weinstein was fatally wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and her body remains held in Gaza, the kibbutz said.

Her husband, American-Israeli Gad Haggai, was also killed on Oct. 7 and his body also remains in Gaza, the kibbutz said. His death was confirmed last week.

Weinstein, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, was an English teacher who specialized in helping children with special needs, Kibbutz Nir Oz said.

“For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza,” the kibbutz said. “‎‏Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region.”

President Joe Biden said in a statement that he’s “devastated” to learn of Weinstein’s death.

“We are holding Judith and Gad’s four children, seven grandchildren, and other loved ones close to our hearts,” Biden said. “I will never forget what their daughter, and the family members of other Americans held hostage in Gaza, have shared with me. They have been living through hell for weeks. No family should have to endure such an ordeal. And I reaffirm the pledge we have made to all the families of those still held hostage: we will not stop working to bring them home.”

Weinstein was the last American woman being held hostage by Hamas who had not been released, according to the Hostage Families Forum.

Dec 28, 1:58 PM EST
Netanyahu to hostage families: ‘We are not giving up’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with representatives of the families of hostages on Thursday and promised them, “We are not giving up.”

The families shared their concerns about the conditions of their loved ones and their questions about what will be done to promote their release.

“We are in contact, even at this moment,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of the meeting.

“I cannot detail the status,” he said, adding, “We are working to return everyone — that is our goal.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Dec 28, 1:50 PM EST
IDF publishes findings into investigation of accidental killing of 3 hostages

The Israel Defense Forces has published the findings of its investigation into the accidental killing of three hostages by IDF soldiers in the Shejaiya area of Gaza on Dec. 15.

The IDF Chief of the General Staff concluded that “the IDF failed in its mission to rescue” them and “the entire chain of command feels responsible.”

The three hostages — 28-year-old Yotam Haim, 26-year-old Alon Shamriz and 22-year-old Samer Talalka — were carrying a stick with a white cloth, and the IDF initially said its forces “mistakenly identified” the men as a threat. Soldiers opened fire, killing two of the men.

The third hostage, who was injured, ran back into the building where all three had emerged from, and someone cried “help” in Hebrew. The battalion commander ordered his troops to stop firing, but, despite the order, another burst was fired, killing the third hostage, according to the IDF.

The investigation “revealed that the command ranks had information about the presence of hostages in the Shejaiya area and even took actions to prevent strikes on locations suspected of having hostages inside,” the findings said.

But the probe also revealed that “IDF soldiers involved in the incident experienced complex combat situations in the days preceding the incident and were in a state of high alert for a threat,” the findings said. “During the battles, they encountered deceptions by the enemy and attempts to draw them into pits and buildings rigged with explosives.”

Days before Dec. 15, IDF soldiers heard cries for help in Hebrew.

“The forces interpreted this as a terrorist deception attempt,” the investigation said.

“Some of the forces heard the cries but suspected it was an attempt by the terrorists to draw the forces inside the building to harm them, as had happened in the past,” the investigation said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Dec 28, 11:01 AM EST
American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead

Judy Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Israeli-Canadian hostage, was confirmed dead on Thursday, Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement.

Weinstein was fatally wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and her body remains held in Gaza, the kibbutz said.

Her husband, American-Israeli Gad Haggai, was also killed on Oct. 7 and his body also remains in Gaza, the kibbutz said. His death was confirmed last week.

Weinstein, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, was an English teacher who specialized in helping children with special needs, Kibbutz Nir Oz said.

“For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza,” the kibbutz said. “‎‏Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region.”

Dec 27, 3:33 PM EST
Israeli forces destroy tunnel near Gaza hospital: IDF

Israeli forces have destroyed an underground tunnel near the Rantisi Hospital in northern Gaza, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a briefing.

The tunnel infrastructure, several kilometers long, “connected different locations in the Strip,” Hagari said. “[Israeli] forces uncovered three tunnel shafts in the area of ​​the hospital, with one of them coming out of a school.”

“The tunnel network included steel doors, command control rooms, emergency rooms, many weapons that were underground and other intelligence materials,” he said.

This comes as Israeli forces “are at a very high level of readiness for the expansion of the war” in northern Gaza, Hagari said.

“We are in the final stages of the attack in the Al Burj area in the northern Gaza Strip, where we killed many terrorists,” he said.

Hagari added that Israel is also “attacking all the infrastructure that Hezbollah has built near the [Lebanon-Israel] border.”

In southern Gaza, Israeli “forces are fighting in several areas,” Hagari said. “One in the area called Al Burj in the central [Gaza] camps, where we are attacking for a third day. The second is in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, a major terror center of Hamas. There we expanded the operation — today we added another division to this area and we continue to operate there with new combat methods above and below the ground.”

Dec 27, 1:54 PM EST
Egyptian president meets with King of Jordan, says ‘international community must push’ for cease-fire

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Egypt on Wednesday and said “the international community must push towards” a cease-fire.

“Both leaders affirmed their complete rejection of all attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue or to displace the Palestinians from their lands or their internal displacement, stressing that the only solution that the international community must push towards implementing is an immediate cease-fire, and the entry of relief aid in the necessary quantities and at the speed that will make a real difference in alleviating the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip,” according to a readout from the Egyptian spokesman for the Presidency Counselor Ahmed Fahmy.

“Talks also focused on regional developments, especially in the Gaza Strip and the humanitarian tragedy it faces, which resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries and the displacement of hundreds of thousands,” the readout added.

ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy

Dec 27, 1:43 PM EST
WHO delivers aid, supplies to Gaza hospitals

The World Health Organization said it delivered much-needed aid and supplies to Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza and the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s Al-Amal Hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday.

Palestinians mourn relatives, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 25, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.

Al-Shifa and Al-Amal hospitals are also operating as shelters for displaced residents, sheltering 50,000 people and 14,000 people respectively, according to the WHO.

Gaza has 13 partially functioning hospitals, two minimally functioning hospitals and 21 hospitals that are not functioning at all, causing the hospitals that are functioning to become overloaded with patients who need help, according to the WHO.

Displaced Palestinian children watch from inside a tent as a man mourns relatives, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 25, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.

“Today I repeat my call on the international community to take urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril facing the population of Gaza and jeopardizing the ability of humanitarian workers to help people with terrible injuries, acute hunger, and at severe risk of disease,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

Tedros said a cease-fire is needed “to spare civilians from further violence and begin the long road towards reconstruction and peace.”

Dec 27, 12:08 PM EST
20 killed in strike in Khan Younis

Twenty people have been killed in a strike on a building near the Red Cross Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. The death toll is likely to rise, the Gaza Ministry of Health said.

ABC News Nasser Atta

Dec 27, 11:07 AM EST
At least 241 killed in Gaza in 24 hours

At least 241 people have been killed in Gaza in a 24-hour period, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

This comes as Israeli forces expand their ground offensive to central Gaza, launching over 200 rockets in one day, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Dec 26, 4:36 PM EST
Gaza faces another telecommunications blackout: PRCS

Gaza is facing another telecommunications blackout, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

“This presents a significant challenge for emergency medical teams in reaching the wounded and injured,” the organization warned.

Dec 26, 4:27 PM EST
Israel’s war cabinet meets about possible hostage deals: Source

Israel’s war cabinet is meeting to discuss operational issues of the war as well as the hostages, according to an Israeli political source.

There are several hostage deals being discussed, the Israeli source said, including a proposal from Egyptians that would involve a cease-fire in exchange for the release of more hostages and lead to a broader agreement involving a permanent cease-fire, along with an overhaul of leadership in Gaza, according to an Egyptian source.

Dec 26, 3:00 PM EST
Israeli forces expand into central Gaza

Israeli forces have “expanded operations into central Gaza,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.

In Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the Israelis “are fighting with new methods” and “constantly adjusting our tactics based on the needs of the military operations,” Hagari said.

And in northern Gaza, Israeli forces have “attacked an array of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon,” he said.

Dec 26, 12:41 PM EST
80,000 vials of vaccines delivered to Gaza

About 80,000 vials of the measles mumps and rubella vaccine, also called the MMR vaccine, have been delivered to Gaza, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

The MMR vaccine is routinely given to children starting at 12 months old to 15 months old and again at 4 years old to 6 years old.

Dec 26, 11:47 AM EST
120 aid trucks enter Gaza on Monday

On Christmas Day, 60 trucks crossed into Gaza via Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, and an additional 60 trucks entered Gaza through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing, said Wael Abu Omar, the Palestinian spokesman for the Rafah crossing.

On Christmas Eve, the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted its seventh airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the U.S. Embassy of Jordan said.

Dec 26, 11:35 AM EST
Israeli defense minister: Israel ‘under attack from 7 different sectors’

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in a special discussion of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said Israel is “under attack from seven different sectors: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran.”

“We have already reacted and acted in six of them. And I say this in the most explicit way: Anyone who acts against us is a potential target,” Gallant warned. “There is no immunity for anyone.”

Dec 25, 4:36 PM EST
IDF says it found Hamas infrastructure in Indonesian Hospital in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers have discovered “evidence connecting Hamas’ terrorist activities” to northern Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital.

The IDF said a white Toyota truck “of the same type used by Hamas” in the Oct. 7 attack was found “in the inner compound of the hospital,” “along with additional weapons.”

The IDF also said that in the hospital’s inner compound was a Toyota Corolla belonging to the family of Samer Talalka, who was one of the three Israeli hostages held in Gaza who was mistakenly killed by the IDF. Bloodstains belonging to another hostage were found in the car, the IDF said.

“The finding of the vehicle directly links the hospital to the brutal events of October 7th,” the IDF said.

ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Dec 25, 3:34 PM EST
Netanyahu heckled by families of hostages: Report

Families of hostages reportedly heckled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he gave a speech in Parliament on Monday, according to Reuters.

The families, sitting in the chamber, held posters of their loved ones and interrupted Netanyahu as he spoke, per Reuters.

Netanyahu said in his address that military pressure is needed to free the remaining people being held hostage by Hamas, Reuters reported.

Dec 25, 11:11 AM EST
Lebanon carries out launches toward Israel, IDF says

Lebanon has carried out a number of launches toward several locations in northern Israel over the last few hours, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

“A short while ago,” Israeli tanks hit Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Lebanon “used for directing terrorist activity,” according to the IDF.

ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Dec 25, 10:55 AM EST
Hamas, Islamic Jihad reject Egypt’s proposal for cease-fire, hostage release: Egyptian security source

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have rejected an Egyptian proposal that they relinquish power in the Gaza Strip in return for a permanent cease-fire, an Egyptian security source confirmed to ABC News.

Egypt proposed a “vision,” also backed by Qatari mediators, that would involve a cease-fire in exchange for the release of more hostages and lead to a broader agreement involving a permanent cease-fire, along with an overhaul of leadership in Gaza, the Egyptian security source said. However, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad rejected the proposal, the source said.

The Israeli War Cabinet was planning on meeting to discuss this proposal Monday evening local time. It is unclear if they will still discuss the proposal.

ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy and Jordana Miller

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Holiday weekend forecast: Possible showers in Times Square, dangerous waves on West Coast

ABC News

(NEW YORK) — As the holiday weekend starts, New York City ball drop watchers can expect potential showers while California’s coast is continuing to experience extremely dangerous beach conditions with dangerously large waves, life-threatening rip currents and coastal flooding.

New York City may have showers in the area as the ball drops in Times Square. Spectators should be prepared for mist, sprinkles and potential showers.

Elsewhere, much of the country is looking dry, besides snow showers in West Virginia and western Pennsylvania and parts of western New York like Binghamton and Ithaca.

Temperatures will likely be in the upper 30s at midnight in New York City and will be hovering near the freezing mark for Kansas City, Chicago and most places in the Midwest and North. Temperatures will be in the 40s and 50s in much of the South.

The California coast remains lined with a High Surf Warning until Saturday evening.

Powerful waves and strong rip currents will pose an exceptional risk of ocean drowning and damage to coastal structures like piers and jetties. Large breaking waves can cause injury, wash people off beaches and rocks and capsize small boats near shore.

Waves will be highest and strongest Saturday morning and slowly go down — but remain dangerous — throughout the day.

From Big Sur to the Bay Area, the threat for high surf and coastal flooding is a dangerous combination. Dangerously large breaking waves of 28 to 33 feet with isolated waves up to 40 feet are possible, especially in the morning hours of Saturday.

Numerous roads may be closed in these areas and low lying property including homes, businesses, and some critical infrastructure will be inundated. Some shoreline erosion will occur. Life-threatening swimming conditions and significant beach erosion can be expected.

In Southern California, the highest surf will be likely across west-facing beaches such as Hermosa, Manhattan, Palos Verdes Beaches and Ventura County Beaches. Dangerously large breaking waves of 10 to 15 feet with max sets to 20 feet and dangerous rip currents. San Luis Obispo County Beaches and Santa Barbara County Central Coast Beaches could see swells up to 25 feet.

Over the last 24 hours, much of the coast has seen 1-2 inches of rain, with a few isolated areas reporting over 3 inches of rainfall accumulation.

There will be more rain in California on Saturday. It will move quickly so accumulations are not expected to be too impressive. Snow in Sierra Nevada is expected to add 3 to 6 inches in places Saturday.

Sunday and Monday are expected to be dry and calmer for much of California.

The next storm to hit the West Coast is expected on Tuesday, intensifying Tuesday night into Wednesday.

By Thursday, this storm will bring rain to northern Arizona and rain for southern.

Next Friday, the energy and moisture from this storm may move into Texas and combine with additional moisture from the Gulf to bring rain throughout the state and eventually to the entirety of the Gulf Coast before exiting through the mid-Atlantic next weekend. By that time, the next storm may have already entered through the Pacific Northwest setting up a potential cross-country swing with rain and snow for the second week of the new year.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Israel-Gaza live updates: IDF publishes findings after three hostages accidentally killed

pawel.gaul/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.

The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Dec 29, 3:24 PM EST
Israel says it destroyed tunnels where Hamas general headquarters were located

The IDF said it has located and destroyed a hideout apartment of Yahya Sinwar — a Hamas leader — near Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip.

IDF soldiers examined the apartment using additional technological means and found that a strategic tunnel shaft was located on the basement floor. The soldiers inspected the tunnel shaft and reached a 715-foot, tunnel with a depth of over 65 feet that was apparently used by the senior officials of Hamas’ Military and Political Wing, according to the IDF.

The IDF said that the tunnel had an electrical network, ventilation and sewage infrastructure, hideout materials, prayer rooms and resting rooms. The IDF said the tunnel was built so that it would be possible to stay inside it and conduct combat for long periods of time.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir

Dec 29, 2:47 PM EST
Gaza woman with cancer can’t receive treatment because of border closure

A 50-year-old woman who has been a cancer patient for three years says she has not been able to receive her continuing treatment in Jerusalem since the war began, she told ABC News.

Rida Kaskeen, who now lives in a makeshift tent in Rafah, had received chemical treatment for her cancer in Jerusalem before the war began. But since it started, border closures have kept her from being able to get her treatment.

“I am a cancer patient. I used to go every two weeks to take my dose in Al-Mutalaa Hospital. They were all there with respect and appreciation. They provided me with everything, from a hotel or in the hospital, to everything I wanted and needed. They were doing their duty and more,” Kaskeen told ABC News.

“My last dose was a week before the war. Every two weeks is the dose, and I have not taken the treatment for three months, and I know my end because I didn’t take the treatment and I lost weight and my situation is miserable,” Kaskeen said.

-ABC News’ Sami Zayara

Dec 29, 1:06 PM EST
Hamas leader will not travel to Cairo to discuss potential cease-fire deal

Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said he would not travel to Cairo on Friday to discuss its proposed cease-fire and hostage deal.

“There will be no visit by a Hamas delegation to Cairo today,” Hamdan said.

Another Hamas leader said the terror group would not negotiate while “under fire.”

“Any negotiations on the exchange of prisoners will take place after the cease-fire and the occupation’s withdrawal from Gaza,” Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzouk said. “We will not negotiate under fire.”

ABC News’ Nasser Atta

Dec 28, 3:44 PM EST
2 security personnel stabbed in Jerusalem

A man armed with a knife stabbed two officers working at the Mazmuria Crossing in southern Jerusalem on Thursday night, according to Israeli police.

The suspect stopped his car near the crossing’s inspection station and then got out and stabbed two security personnel who were on duty, police said.

One of the victims, as well as a border police officer, “confronted the terrorist, neutralizing him with gunfire,” police said.

The victims suffered “light to moderate injuries,” police said.

Dec 28, 3:13 PM EST
Refugee camp to be established in Khan Younis

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it’s working to establish the first organized camp for displaced people in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The camp would initially have 300 tents and later expand to 1,000 tents, the PRCS said.

Dec 28, 3:03 PM EST
Egypt puts forward proposal for new hostage, cease-fire deal

Egypt has put forward a new proposal for a hostage and cease-fire deal, Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s state information service, said.

The proposal “aims to bring viewpoints closer between all sides involved, in an effort to stop the Palestinian bloodshed, end the aggression against the Gaza Strip and restore peace and stability in the region,” Rashwan said in a statement Thursday.

Egypt said it has not yet received any responses to the proposed framework.

-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy

Dec 28, 2:31 PM EST
American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead

Judy Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Israeli-Canadian hostage, was confirmed dead on Thursday, Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement.

Weinstein was fatally wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and her body remains held in Gaza, the kibbutz said.

Her husband, American-Israeli Gad Haggai, was also killed on Oct. 7 and his body also remains in Gaza, the kibbutz said. His death was confirmed last week.

Weinstein, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, was an English teacher who specialized in helping children with special needs, Kibbutz Nir Oz said.

“For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza,” the kibbutz said. “‎‏Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region.”

President Joe Biden said in a statement that he’s “devastated” to learn of Weinstein’s death.

“We are holding Judith and Gad’s four children, seven grandchildren, and other loved ones close to our hearts,” Biden said. “I will never forget what their daughter, and the family members of other Americans held hostage in Gaza, have shared with me. They have been living through hell for weeks. No family should have to endure such an ordeal. And I reaffirm the pledge we have made to all the families of those still held hostage: we will not stop working to bring them home.”

Weinstein was the last American woman being held hostage by Hamas who had not been released, according to the Hostage Families Forum.

Dec 28, 1:58 PM EST
Netanyahu to hostage families: ‘We are not giving up’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with representatives of the families of hostages on Thursday and promised them, “We are not giving up.”

The families shared their concerns about the conditions of their loved ones and their questions about what will be done to promote their release.

“We are in contact, even at this moment,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of the meeting.

“I cannot detail the status,” he said, adding, “We are working to return everyone — that is our goal.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Dec 28, 1:50 PM EST
IDF publishes findings into investigation of accidental killing of 3 hostages

The Israel Defense Forces has published the findings of its investigation into the accidental killing of three hostages by IDF soldiers in the Shejaiya area of Gaza on Dec. 15.

The IDF Chief of the General Staff concluded that “the IDF failed in its mission to rescue” them and “the entire chain of command feels responsible.”

The three hostages — 28-year-old Yotam Haim, 26-year-old Alon Shamriz and 22-year-old Samer Talalka — were carrying a stick with a white cloth, and the IDF initially said its forces “mistakenly identified” the men as a threat. Soldiers opened fire, killing two of the men.

The third hostage, who was injured, ran back into the building where all three had emerged from, and someone cried “help” in Hebrew. The battalion commander ordered his troops to stop firing, but, despite the order, another burst was fired, killing the third hostage, according to the IDF.

The investigation “revealed that the command ranks had information about the presence of hostages in the Shejaiya area and even took actions to prevent strikes on locations suspected of having hostages inside,” the findings said.

But the probe also revealed that “IDF soldiers involved in the incident experienced complex combat situations in the days preceding the incident and were in a state of high alert for a threat,” the findings said. “During the battles, they encountered deceptions by the enemy and attempts to draw them into pits and buildings rigged with explosives.”

Days before Dec. 15, IDF soldiers heard cries for help in Hebrew.

“The forces interpreted this as a terrorist deception attempt,” the investigation said.

“Some of the forces heard the cries but suspected it was an attempt by the terrorists to draw the forces inside the building to harm them, as had happened in the past,” the investigation said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Dec 28, 11:01 AM EST
American-Israeli-Canadian hostage confirmed dead

Judy Weinstein, a 70-year-old American-Israeli-Canadian hostage, was confirmed dead on Thursday, Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement.

Weinstein was fatally wounded during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and her body remains held in Gaza, the kibbutz said.

Her husband, American-Israeli Gad Haggai, was also killed on Oct. 7 and his body also remains in Gaza, the kibbutz said. His death was confirmed last week.

Weinstein, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, was an English teacher who specialized in helping children with special needs, Kibbutz Nir Oz said.

“For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza,” the kibbutz said. “‎‏Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region.”

Dec 27, 3:33 PM EST
Israeli forces destroy tunnel near Gaza hospital: IDF

Israeli forces have destroyed an underground tunnel near the Rantisi Hospital in northern Gaza, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a briefing.

The tunnel infrastructure, several kilometers long, “connected different locations in the Strip,” Hagari said. “[Israeli] forces uncovered three tunnel shafts in the area of ​​the hospital, with one of them coming out of a school.”

“The tunnel network included steel doors, command control rooms, emergency rooms, many weapons that were underground and other intelligence materials,” he said.

This comes as Israeli forces “are at a very high level of readiness for the expansion of the war” in northern Gaza, Hagari said.

“We are in the final stages of the attack in the Al Burj area in the northern Gaza Strip, where we killed many terrorists,” he said.

Hagari added that Israel is also “attacking all the infrastructure that Hezbollah has built near the [Lebanon-Israel] border.”

In southern Gaza, Israeli “forces are fighting in several areas,” Hagari said. “One in the area called Al Burj in the central [Gaza] camps, where we are attacking for a third day. The second is in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, a major terror center of Hamas. There we expanded the operation — today we added another division to this area and we continue to operate there with new combat methods above and below the ground.”

Dec 27, 1:54 PM EST
Egyptian president meets with King of Jordan, says ‘international community must push’ for cease-fire

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Egypt on Wednesday and said “the international community must push towards” a cease-fire.

“Both leaders affirmed their complete rejection of all attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue or to displace the Palestinians from their lands or their internal displacement, stressing that the only solution that the international community must push towards implementing is an immediate cease-fire, and the entry of relief aid in the necessary quantities and at the speed that will make a real difference in alleviating the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip,” according to a readout from the Egyptian spokesman for the Presidency Counselor Ahmed Fahmy.

“Talks also focused on regional developments, especially in the Gaza Strip and the humanitarian tragedy it faces, which resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries and the displacement of hundreds of thousands,” the readout added.

ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy

Dec 27, 1:43 PM EST
WHO delivers aid, supplies to Gaza hospitals

The World Health Organization said it delivered much-needed aid and supplies to Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza and the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s Al-Amal Hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday.

Palestinians mourn relatives, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 25, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.

Al-Shifa and Al-Amal hospitals are also operating as shelters for displaced residents, sheltering 50,000 people and 14,000 people respectively, according to the WHO.

Gaza has 13 partially functioning hospitals, two minimally functioning hospitals and 21 hospitals that are not functioning at all, causing the hospitals that are functioning to become overloaded with patients who need help, according to the WHO.

Displaced Palestinian children watch from inside a tent as a man mourns relatives, who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, during a mass funeral at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 25, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas.

“Today I repeat my call on the international community to take urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril facing the population of Gaza and jeopardizing the ability of humanitarian workers to help people with terrible injuries, acute hunger, and at severe risk of disease,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

Tedros said a cease-fire is needed “to spare civilians from further violence and begin the long road towards reconstruction and peace.”

Dec 27, 12:08 PM EST
20 killed in strike in Khan Younis

Twenty people have been killed in a strike on a building near the Red Cross Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. The death toll is likely to rise, the Gaza Ministry of Health said.

ABC News Nasser Atta

Dec 27, 11:07 AM EST
At least 241 killed in Gaza in 24 hours

At least 241 people have been killed in Gaza in a 24-hour period, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

This comes as Israeli forces expand their ground offensive to central Gaza, launching over 200 rockets in one day, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Dec 26, 4:36 PM EST
Gaza faces another telecommunications blackout: PRCS

Gaza is facing another telecommunications blackout, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

“This presents a significant challenge for emergency medical teams in reaching the wounded and injured,” the organization warned.

Dec 26, 4:27 PM EST
Israel’s war cabinet meets about possible hostage deals: Source

Israel’s war cabinet is meeting to discuss operational issues of the war as well as the hostages, according to an Israeli political source.

There are several hostage deals being discussed, the Israeli source said, including a proposal from Egyptians that would involve a cease-fire in exchange for the release of more hostages and lead to a broader agreement involving a permanent cease-fire, along with an overhaul of leadership in Gaza, according to an Egyptian source.

Dec 26, 3:00 PM EST
Israeli forces expand into central Gaza

Israeli forces have “expanded operations into central Gaza,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.

In Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the Israelis “are fighting with new methods” and “constantly adjusting our tactics based on the needs of the military operations,” Hagari said.

And in northern Gaza, Israeli forces have “attacked an array of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon,” he said.

Dec 26, 12:41 PM EST
80,000 vials of vaccines delivered to Gaza

About 80,000 vials of the measles mumps and rubella vaccine, also called the MMR vaccine, have been delivered to Gaza, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

The MMR vaccine is routinely given to children starting at 12 months old to 15 months old and again at 4 years old to 6 years old.

Dec 26, 11:47 AM EST
120 aid trucks enter Gaza on Monday

On Christmas Day, 60 trucks crossed into Gaza via Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, and an additional 60 trucks entered Gaza through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing, said Wael Abu Omar, the Palestinian spokesman for the Rafah crossing.

On Christmas Eve, the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted its seventh airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the U.S. Embassy of Jordan said.

Dec 26, 11:35 AM EST
Israeli defense minister: Israel ‘under attack from 7 different sectors’

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in a special discussion of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said Israel is “under attack from seven different sectors: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran.”

“We have already reacted and acted in six of them. And I say this in the most explicit way: Anyone who acts against us is a potential target,” Gallant warned. “There is no immunity for anyone.”

Dec 25, 4:36 PM EST
IDF says it found Hamas infrastructure in Indonesian Hospital in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers have discovered “evidence connecting Hamas’ terrorist activities” to northern Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital.

The IDF said a white Toyota truck “of the same type used by Hamas” in the Oct. 7 attack was found “in the inner compound of the hospital,” “along with additional weapons.”

The IDF also said that in the hospital’s inner compound was a Toyota Corolla belonging to the family of Samer Talalka, who was one of the three Israeli hostages held in Gaza who was mistakenly killed by the IDF. Bloodstains belonging to another hostage were found in the car, the IDF said.

“The finding of the vehicle directly links the hospital to the brutal events of October 7th,” the IDF said.

ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Dec 25, 3:34 PM EST
Netanyahu heckled by families of hostages: Report

Families of hostages reportedly heckled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he gave a speech in Parliament on Monday, according to Reuters.

The families, sitting in the chamber, held posters of their loved ones and interrupted Netanyahu as he spoke, per Reuters.

Netanyahu said in his address that military pressure is needed to free the remaining people being held hostage by Hamas, Reuters reported.

Dec 25, 11:11 AM EST
Lebanon carries out launches toward Israel, IDF says

Lebanon has carried out a number of launches toward several locations in northern Israel over the last few hours, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

“A short while ago,” Israeli tanks hit Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Lebanon “used for directing terrorist activity,” according to the IDF.

ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Dec 25, 10:55 AM EST
Hamas, Islamic Jihad reject Egypt’s proposal for cease-fire, hostage release: Egyptian security source

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have rejected an Egyptian proposal that they relinquish power in the Gaza Strip in return for a permanent cease-fire, an Egyptian security source confirmed to ABC News.

Egypt proposed a “vision,” also backed by Qatari mediators, that would involve a cease-fire in exchange for the release of more hostages and lead to a broader agreement involving a permanent cease-fire, along with an overhaul of leadership in Gaza, the Egyptian security source said. However, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad rejected the proposal, the source said.

The Israeli War Cabinet was planning on meeting to discuss this proposal Monday evening local time. It is unclear if they will still discuss the proposal.

ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy and Jordana Miller

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Biden urges Congress to pass additional aid following Russia’s aerial assault on Ukraine

Rudy Sulgan/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Friday condemned Russia for launching its “largest aerial assault on Ukraine” since the start of the war, warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin “must be stopped,” and used the attacks to implore Congress to pass additional aid for Ukraine.

“Strikes reportedly hit a maternity hospital, a shopping mall, and residential areas — killing innocent people and injuring dozens more. It is a stark reminder to the world that, after nearly two years of this devastating war, Putin’s objective remains unchanged. He seeks to obliterate Ukraine and subjugate its people. He must be stopped,” Biden said in a written statement following the attack.

Russia launched 122 missiles and dozens of drones against Ukrainian targets in an onslaught that killed at least 30 civilians across the country, officials said Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed following the attacks that his country would “surely respond to terrorist strikes” and that “Russian terror must and will lose.”

Biden said that Ukraine was able to deploy their air defense systems to intercept some of the missiles, thanks to support from America and other allies, but warned that the help from the United States has run out, once again calling on Congress to pass supplemental aid for Ukraine in the new year, after they failed to pass to take action earlier this month.

“The American people can be proud of the lives we have helped to save and the support we have given Ukraine as it defends its people, its freedom, and its independence. But unless Congress takes urgent action in the new year, we will not be able to continue sending the weapons and vital air defense systems Ukraine needs to protect its people. Congress must step up and act without any further delay,” he added.

Senate negotiations on Ukraine aid tied to aid for Israel and border security continued Friday with no sign of any imminent deal.

Biden warned that the stakes of the fight in Ukraine will reverberate beyond its borders and “affect the entirety of the NATO Alliance, the security of Europe, and the future of the Transatlantic relationship.” He also warned it increases the risk of pulling the US into the fight directly.

“We cannot let our allies and partners down. We cannot let Ukraine down. History will judge harshly those who fail to answer freedom’s call,” Biden added.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Civil rights leader speaks out on AMC theater seating incident

Toby Scott/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

(GREENVILLE, N.C.) — Civil rights leader Rev. William Barber II spoke out in a press conference Friday after a Dec. 26 incident at an AMC theater in Greenville, North Carolina, in which he says he was escorted out of the theater.

Barber, a prominent activist in North Carolina who led the state’s large NAACP chapter for years, said he suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory disease that has prompted him to use a different type of chair to ease his pain.

He said he brought his own chair to the movie theater to watch “The Color Purple” with his 90-year-old mother. He said he placed it in a section specifically designated for guests with disabilities, which prompted safety concerns from theater employees.

According to Barber, he was threatened with trespassing charges when he refused to leave and was escorted out by local police officers.

“Our plans were interrupted when the managers of the AMC theater here in Greenville chose to call the police rather than accommodate my visible disability,” said Barber.

The incident later prompted a conversation about accommodations for disabled people and accessibility in public places.

“If I cannot sit in my chair in a theater in Greenville, North Carolina, there are thousands of other people who will be excluded from public spaces in this nation,” Barber said. “This is now about what systemic changes, policy changes, changes to training can ensure this happens to no one.”

In a statement to ABC-owned television station WTVD, AMC apologized to Barber for “how he was treated, and for the frustration and inconvenience brought to him, his family, and his guests.”

AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron has reached out to Barber and plans to meet with him to discuss the incident, according to the statement, which Barber confirmed in the press conference.

“AMC welcomes guests with disabilities,” the statement read. “We have a number of accommodations in place at our theatres at all times, and our theatre teams work hard to accommodate guests who have needs that fall outside of the normal course of business.”

AMC said it encourages guests who require special seating to speak with a manager in advance to see how the theater can best accommodate them. The company, which has 900 theaters and 10,000 screens worldwide, said it is reviewing policies “to help ensure that situations like this do not occur again.”

The NAACP North Carolina called for concrete steps to ensure accessibility in all AMC theaters across the nation.

“This incident serves as a powerful reminder that we must create spaces that are inclusive, fair, and respectful of the rights of every individual,” read a statement from the NAACP local chapter. “Discrimination based on physical abilities has no place in our society, and we must take decisive action to address this issue.”

AMC and the Greenville Police Department did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Michael Cohen admits fake cases in early release bid came from Google AI program

Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump’s onetime fixer Michael Cohen sent his attorney non-existent legal cases produced by the artificial intelligence program Google Bard as he sought to beef up his petition for early termination of his supervised release, according to a letter to the court made public Friday.

Cohen, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in 2018, sought an early end to his term of supervised release in a motion that included three cases he believed backed up his argument. His lawyer said Cohen mistakenly believed Google Bard “to be a supercharged search engine, not a generative AI service like Chat-GPT.”

That the invalid citations were included in Cohen’s motion his attorney insisted “was a mistake driven by sloppiness, not malicious intent” but Judge Jesse Furman is now considering whether to impose sanctions.

“As a non-lawyer, I have not kept up with emerging trends (and related risks) in legal technology and did not realize that Google Bard was a generative text service that, like ChatGBT, could show citations and descriptions that looked real but actually were not,” Cohen said in a sworn statement to the court made public Friday.

In his own letter to the court, Cohen’s attorney David M. Schwartz said he believed the legal citations came from a different attorney for Cohen, Danya Perry.

“If I had believed that Mr. Cohen had found these cases, I would have researched them. It was my belief, however, that Mr. Cohen had sent me cases found by Ms. Perry,” Schwartz said.

Judge Furman gave all parties until January 3 to submit additional comments about possible sanctions and whether Cohen deserves early termination of supervised release.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Over 4M portable blenders recalled due to potential fire, laceration risks

Thinkstock Images/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Over 4 million portable blenders sold across the United States and Canada are being recalled due to potential fire and laceration risks, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The agency announced a voluntary recall Thursday of BlendJet 2 Portable Blenders after over 300 reports of incidents ranging from overheating to the blades breaking while in use.

To date, there have been nearly 50 reports of “minor burns,” one report of a “laceration injury,” and property damage totaling around $150,000 caused by the recalled blenders, according to the CPSC.

The agency said the recalled blenders have the potential to “overheat or catch fire,” adding that the “blender blades can break off” as well.

The agency is calling on consumer to stop using the recalled blenders immediately.

The recall involves around 4.8 million blenders that have numbers between 5201 and 5542 as the first four digits of the serial number, located on the bottom of the base.

The recalled blenders, which retail for $50 to $75, were sold at Costco, Walmart and Target, as well as online at BlendJet.com, between October 2020 and November 2023, according to the CPSC.

Consumers can go to BlendJet Inc.’s website to identify whether their blender is part of the recall.

The California-based company notes on its website that BlendJet 2 blenders currently for sale are “not impacted by the recall,” as the recall only impacts blenders sold through November.

According to the CPSC, in order to receive a free replacement base for a recalled blender, consumers will need to follow several steps.

“Consumers will need to remove and cut the rubber seal from the base of their recalled blender into three or more pieces and upload or email a photo showing the serial number on the bottom of the unit and its rubber seal in pieces to BlendJet at www.blendjet.com/safetyandrecall or safety@blendjet.com to receive a free replacement base,” the agency said in its recall notice.

On its website, BlendJet Inc. also offers consumers a step-by-step process for disposing of the blender base and submitting a request for a free replacement.

Only the base of recalled blenders needs to be replaced, according to the company.

 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.