Triple murder suspect arrested after fleeing Utah in victim’s car: Officials

Triple murder suspect arrested after fleeing Utah in victim’s car: Officials
Triple murder suspect arrested after fleeing Utah in victim’s car: Officials

(TORREY, Utah) — A suspect in a triple murder investigation was taken into custody Thursday morning after investigators tracked him in one of the victim’s vehicles, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety.

Three women were found murdered on Wednesday in two locations.

The suspect — 22-year-old Ivan Miller from Blakesburg, Iowa — is believed to have had no prior relationships with the victims or prior ties to the area, Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Cameron Roden said at a press conference Thursday.

The victims in this case are not related and investigators are still looking into the suspect’s criminal background, according to Roden.

Two of the victims were found dead on a hiking trail and a third victim was found dead at a Wayne County residence during the investigation, according to Utah DPS.

The husbands of two of the victims found their bodies on a trailhead near State Route 12 in Torrey, Utah, and reported it to the dispatch center on Wednesday evening, according to Roden.

Investigators then found a suspicious vehicle near the trailhead and tracked it to a residence in Lyman, Utah. Investigators found evidence that led them to the body of the third victim on Wednesday — who was the registered owner of the vehicle — according to Roden.

The identities of the victims have not been publicly released. Investigators believe the ages of the victims are in the 30s, 60s and 80s.

Investigators tracked the vehicle the suspect tried to escape in through southern Utah into northern Arizona and eventually Colorado. Colorado law enforcement then located the vehicle abandoned in Pagosa Springs and took the individual into custody shortly after, according to Utah DPS.

Investigators were searching for a 2022 white Subaru Outback in connection with at least one of the murders, according to Utah DPS. This vehicle belonged to one of the victims found on the trailhead, Roden said.

A representative with the FBI Salt Lake City field office told ABC News Salt Lake City affiliate KTVX they are aware of the investigation and are “prepared to assist our law enforcement partners, if requested.”

Multiple counties were on high alert as officials searched for the suspect. All residents were advised to take extra precautions, including keeping lights on and locking all doors, but now investigators said they have no outstanding suspects and there is no ongoing threat to the public.

Schools in the Wayne County School District are closed on Thursday and Friday, according to the Wayne County School District. 

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says company doesn’t ‘get to make operational decisions’ on military’s use of its tech: Source

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says company doesn’t ‘get to make operational decisions’ on military’s use of its tech: Source
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says company doesn’t ‘get to make operational decisions’ on military’s use of its tech: Source
Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (Ruhani Kaur/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees at an all-hands meeting that the company doesn’t “get to make operational decisions” about how its artificial intelligence technology is used by the Pentagon, according to a source familiar with the meeting.

“So maybe you think the Iran strike was good and the Venezuela invasion was bad,” Altman said in Tuesday’s meeting, according to the source. “You don’t get to weigh in on that.”

The comments came days after OpenAI announced they had reached an agreement with the Pentagon to deploy their models on their classified network, hours after the deal between Anthropic and the Pentagon fell apart.

OpenAI is best known as the company behind generative AI chatbot ChatGPT, while Anthropic is responsible for the chatbot Claude.

At the center of the fight between Anthropic and the Department of Defense is the question of who gets to control how AI is used by the military: the companies that make the technology or the government that deploys it?

Anthropic was the first AI company to be used on classified networks and its technology is widely considered the most advanced. The talks fell apart over Anthropic’s red lines: they were against their models being used for fully autonomous weapons or mass surveillance of Americans. The Pentagon argued they needed its technology for all lawful use cases.

The department, which was informally renamed as the Department of War via executive order last year, addressed the red lines in a social media post last week.

“The Department of War has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans (which is illegal) nor do we want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human involvement,” spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote. “Here’s what we’re asking: Allow the Pentagon to use Anthropic’s model for all lawful purposes. This is a simple, common-sense request that will prevent Anthropic from jeopardizing critical military operations and potentially putting our warfighters at risk.”  

The Pentagon set a deadline of 5 p.m. last Friday for Anthropic to acquiesce to its demands or be essentially blacklisted. With negotiations at an impasse, Trump ordered the government to stop using the company’s products and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared Anthropic would be designated a “supply chain risk”, essentially cutting the American company off from government work.

According to a source, Anthropic still has not received a notification from the government about being designated a supply chain risk, outside of Hegseth’s tweet announcing it.

The breakdown in talks came hours before the U.S. launched strikes in Iran. According to multiple reports, Anthropic’s AI models were used for the U.S. operation in Iran.  

Anthropic is not commenting on those reports. In response, a Pentagon spokesperson tells ABC: “The Department declines to comment citing operational security.”

When OpenAI announced its deal with the Pentagon, Altman said it shared the same red lines as Anthropic.

“Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems,” he said in a statement. “The DoW agrees with these principles, reflects them in law and policy, and we put them into our agreement.”

Days later, amid an onslaught of criticism, Altman said in a post this week that the company “shouldn’t have rushed” its deal with the Pentagon, saying that “it just looked opportunistic and sloppy.”

Altman unveiled an adjusted agreement with the Pentagon that he says provides stronger guarantees that the military won’t use OpenAI’s systems for domestic surveillance.

“We are going to amend our deal to add this language, in addition to everything else: ‘Consistent with applicable laws, including the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, National Security Act of 1947, FISA Act of 1978, the AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals,'” he wrote in a statement.

“There are many things the technology just isn’t ready for, and many areas we don’t yet understand the tradeoffs required for safety. We will work through these, slowly, with the DoW, with technical safeguards and other methods,” he added.

OpenAI says they believe their contract has even “better guarantees” than what Anthropic had originally signed with the Pentagon.

“This language makes explicit that our tools will not be used to conduct domestic surveillance of U.S. persons, including through the procurement or use of commercially acquired personal or identifiable information,” the company wrote in a statement. “The Department also affirmed that our services will not be used by Department of War intelligence agencies like the NSA. Any services to those agencies would require a new agreement.”

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Noem’s testimony on contracts ‘false,’ Democratic senator claims

Noem’s testimony on contracts ‘false,’ Democratic senator claims
Noem’s testimony on contracts ‘false,’ Democratic senator claims
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on March 04, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — A Democratic senator says Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem provided false testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In her appearance before the committee on Tuesday, Noem was asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., whether her adviser Corey Lewandowski, who is serving as a special government employee, has any role in approving DHS contracts, and she said no.

“Evidence suggests that your testimony was false. Internal DHS records show that Mr. Lewandowski has personally approved contracts at DHS, including, but not limited to, a multimillion-dollar contract,” according to a letter Blumenthal sent to Noem on Wednesday. “And current and former DHS employees have stated that Mr. Lewandowski’s signature is a green light for money to be transmitted to contractors.”

Blumenthal sent the letter on Wednesday night, after Noem’s testimony in front the House Committee. 

In a follow-up appearance before a House committee on Wednesday, Rep. Jared Moskowitz asked Noem if she would like to correct her answer from Tuesday.

“What I would say is that he is an adviser to the Department of Homeland Security,” she said.

Sources have told ABC News that Lewandowski is Noem’s de facto chief of staff, despite having a 130-day cap on being able to work at the department, due to his status as a special government employee.

According to multiple sources, Lewandowski and Noem both approve contracts and “nothing” gets to the secretary without Lewandowski’s approval.

“Mr. Lewandowski is a Special Government Employee,” a department spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News. “Mr. Lewandowski’s time is kept by a career DHS employee who submits the paperwork on a bi-weekly basis. He has completed all of the required Office of Government Ethics forms, including full financial disclosure and any investments by his family. Mr. Lewandowski does not receive a salary or any federal government benefits. He volunteers his time to serve the American people. He serves as an advisor. The Secretary, like all previous Secretaries, has various senior advisors.”

Oftentimes, Lewandowski travels with the secretary to her public events, and on multiple occasions ABC News has seen Lewandowski behind the scenes at events where the secretary is speaking.

Asked by two Democratic representatives if the two were romantically linked, Noem did not deny it and instead called the two Democratic members’ line of questioning “garbage.”

Lewandowski and Noem have both previously denied any romantic relationship. Both are married to other people. 

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Investors send stocks tumbling, Dow plunges 900 points

Investors send stocks tumbling, Dow plunges 900 points
Investors send stocks tumbling, Dow plunges 900 points
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on February 24, 2026 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 900 points on Thursday as the war with Iran escalated and oil prices continued to climb.

The Dow fell 908 points, or 1.8%, while S&P 500 dropped 1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 0.9%.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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House primed to vote on Iran war powers resolution

House primed to vote on Iran war powers resolution
House primed to vote on Iran war powers resolution
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to members of the media during a news conference on Capitol Hill on March 4, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — As lawmakers debate the legal basis of President Donald Trump’s decision to launch strikes against Iran, the House is primed to vote on a war powers resolution Thursday afternoon that attempts to curtail military action.

The resolution, which only expresses the sentiment of Congress, calls on the president to terminate the use of U.S. armed forces in hostilities against Iran or any part of the Iranian government or military unless a declaration of war or authorization to use military force is enacted.

It comes after recent U.S. strikes on Iran that killed several Iranian leaders, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran.

The measure is non-binding and not subject to the president’s signature or veto.

Nevertheless, passage remains an open question in the closely divided House and could depend on attendance Thursday.

Speaker Mike Johnson argued Wednesday that the United States is “not at war” but only engaged in a “defensive operation” in Iran. 

“We’re not at war right now,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. “We’re in — four days into a very specific, clear mission and operation.”

Later on Wednesday, Trump contradicted Johnson, repeatedly referring to the conflict in Iran as a “war” hours after Johnson said it wasn’t.

Sitting next to Johnson during a roundtable on energy prices, Trump said “we’re doing very well on — on the war front, to put it mildly.”

Johnson also expressed confidence that Republicans will defeat the resolution, despite some reservations voiced by a couple of conservatives.

“I think passage of a war powers resolution right now would be a terrible, dangerous idea,” Johnson said. “It would empower our enemies. It would kneecap our own forces, and it would take the ability of the U.S. military and the commander in chief away from completing this critical mission to keep everybody safe.”

The resolution’s prospects for passage rests largely on turnout in the House where Republicans hold a slim majority. Nine lawmakers missed votes on Wednesday, including four Republicans and five Democrats — enough truancy to sway the vote on Thursday.

The measure was debated on the House floor on Wednesday, though a vote was postponed until Thursday.

“We have lost our way,” Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, the bill’s Democratic sponsor, said during debate. “Let us declare with courage and clarity that we reject this illegal and unjust war in Iran. Let us choose moral renewal over further moral decay.”

At least two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie, the bill’s Republican sponsor, and Warren Davidson — have announced they will vote in favor of the measure, though a handful of moderate Democrats are expected to offset those defections by opposing the resolution themselves. 

On Wednesday, Senate Democrats failed to meet a 51-vote threshold on an alternate Iran war powers resolution sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Sen. Rand Paul. The resolution failed behind a 47-53 tally. 

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Israel hits Beirut with strikes as Iran’s proxy force in Lebanon opens up a 2nd front in widening conflict

Israel hits Beirut with strikes as Iran’s proxy force in Lebanon opens up a 2nd front in widening conflict
Israel hits Beirut with strikes as Iran’s proxy force in Lebanon opens up a 2nd front in widening conflict
A view of destruction after the Israeli military launches airstrikes on the Dahieh district in Beirut, Lebanon on March 5, 2026. (Photo by Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)

(BEIRUT) — Israeli strikes continued to bombard Lebanon’s capital on Thursday morning, as the U.S.-Israel war with Iran widens, further embroiling Iran’s proxy force in Lebanon, Hezbollah.

The Israeli military issued a number of evacuation warnings for parts of Beirut and huge swathes of southern Lebanon prior to the latest attacks on Wednesday, where it has struck hundreds of targets throughout the country since Monday, according to statements by Israel.

The Israeli military on Thursday afternoon expanded its warning to residents of the densely populated southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, ordering them to leave immediately ahead of planned strikes. The notice from the Israel Defense Forces, which lists four neighborhoods, is effectively a forced evacuation of the entire Dahiyeh area on the outskirts of Beirut, which has long been a Hezbollah stronghold but is also a major residential and commercial hub — home to many civilians.

More than ⁠300,000 people have evacuated southern Lebanon, according to the IDF.

The IDF said heading south is “strictly prohibited” and any movement south “could endanger your lives.”

At least 77 people have been killed and 527 others wounded since Israel resumed strikes on Lebanon on Monday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Anyone south of the Litani River in Lebanon is being told by the IDF to abandon their homes and evacuate north. The order is raising concerns among some residents that this could mean a significant incursion once again from IDF forces moving into southern Lebanon in the coming days and weeks.

Tens of thousands have already fled from parts of Southern Lebanon and from other Hezbollah strongholds to points to the north of the country, according to local reports.

The strikes on Beirut on Wednesday were concentrated on the densely populated southern suburb, Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold, according to local reports.

In Hazmieh, another southern neighborhood of Beirut, the Comfort Hotel was struck without warning before dawn Wednesday, a local council member told ABC News, confirming reports from Lebanese state media. Hazmieh is a Christian neighborhood not under Hezbollah control with foreign embassies scattered nearby and the Lebanese Presidential Palace a quarter mile away from the hotel.  

Officials in Lebanon think Israeli targeting neighborhoods like Hamiyeh could show an emboldened strategy — the gloves are off.

Israeli officials said on Wednesday that Hezbollah continues to act in concert with Iran.

Israeli forces had been striking targets periodically in October and November in southern Lebanon that they say are associated with Hezbollah after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect in Gaza.

Ahead of the attack on Iran, Israel launched strikes against targets in Baalbek, east Lebanon, in February, saying it killed “several” members of Hezbollah’s missile unit in three different locations.

This week’s strikes were the first time Israel struck Beirut, in central Lebanon, since June 2025.

The Israeli military warned Tuesday that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price” after the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group fired rockets into northern Israel overnight Monday into Tuesday.

Immediately after the rocket fire, the IDF “launched a large-scale attack against Hezbollah terrorist targets throughout Lebanon, including Beirut,” according to IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin.

“We attacked dozens of the organization’s headquarters and launch sites,” Defrin said. “We attacked senior commanders. Some of the last surviving senior veterans of this organization. We are currently examining the results of the attack.”

Defrin noted that “forces are deployed along the border in front and are prepared to continue the defense and attack as long as they require.”

When asked whether the IDF is preparing for a ground maneuver in Lebanon, Defrin said the troops are “well prepared.”

“We have mobilized close to 100,000 men,” he added. “Dozens of battalions, divisions and brigades are prepared in the defense on the northern border. Prepared for all possibilities. In defense and in attack. All possibilities are on the table. We are conducting situation assessments and all possibilities are on the table.”

The deputy head of Hezbollah’s political council, Mahmoud Qamati, warned Tuesday that Israel “wanted an open war … so let it be an open war.”

“The enemy wanted an open war, which he has not stopped since the ceasefire agreement decision, so let it be an open war,” Qamati said in a statement.

The IDF said it struck an underground Hezbollah weapon storage facility and additional command centers in Beirut in its latest wave of strikes. The IDF claimed its targets included an underground weapon storage facility, additional command centers and a site used by Hezbollah for terrorist attacks, intelligence gathering and for propaganda. 

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DHS Secretary Kristi Noem appeared on Wednesday in front of a House committee.

Noem’s testimony on contracts ‘false,’ Democratic senator claims
Noem’s testimony on contracts ‘false,’ Democratic senator claims
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on March 04, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — A Democratic senator says Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem provided false testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In her appearance before the committee on Tuesday, Noem was asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., whether her adviser Corey Lewandowski, who is serving as a special government employee, has any role in approving DHS contracts, and she said no.

“Evidence suggests that your testimony was false. Internal DHS records show that Mr. Lewandowski has personally approved contracts at DHS, including, but not limited to, a multimillion-dollar contract,” according to a letter Blumenthal sent to Noem on Wednesday. “And current and former DHS employees have stated that Mr. Lewandowski’s signature is a green light for money to be transmitted to contractors.”

Blumenthal sent the letter on Wednesday night, after Noem’s testimony in front the House Committee.

In a follow-up appearance before a House committee on Wednesday, Rep. Jared Moskowitz asked Noem if she would like to correct her answer from Tuesday.

“What I would say is that he is an adviser to the Department of Homeland Security,” she said.

Sources have told ABC News that Lewandowski is Noem’s de facto chief of staff, despite having a 130-day cap on being able to work at the department, due to his status as a special government employee.

According to multiple sources, Lewandowski and Noem both approve contracts and “nothing” gets to the secretary without Lewandowski’s approval.

Oftentimes, Lewandowski travels with the secretary to her public events, and on multiple occasions ABC News has seen Lewandowski behind the scenes at events the secretary is speaking at.

When asked by two Democratic representatives if the two were romantically linked, Noem did not deny it and instead called the two Democratic members’ line of questioning “garbage.”

Lewandowski and Noem have both previously denied any romantic relationship. Both are married to other people.

The department didn’t immediately respond to the letter, or about Lewandowski’s role at DHS. 

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Gen-Z identical twins model civility as political foes

Gen-Z identical twins model civility as political foes
Gen-Z identical twins model civility as political foes
ABC News

(INDIANAPOLIS) — If all politics is local, as the old saying goes, a pair of identical twins in Indiana proves that those local politics often start as a family affair — and don’t have to become uncivil.

Nick and Nathan Roberts may look exactly alike, but the 25-year-old brothers and members of the next generation of America’s civic leaders are anything but identical when it comes to their politics.

“From the time we were younger, he ended up in more right wing circles on the internet,” Nick said of his brother in an interview with ABC News Live PRIME. “I was in more of just more liberal circles. I don’t know what happened.”

They still live together with their grandparents, sharing a love of dogs, books and desire to travel the world. But that’s where the similarities end.

Nick Roberts, a diehard Democrat, is an Indianapolis city-county councilor and one of the youngest elected officials in the country.

Nathan Roberts, who identifies as a MAGA Republican, founded an Indiana political advocacy group last year and is a state organizer for Turning Point, the organization founded by Charlie Kirk.

“Our dad was conservative and our mom was liberal,” Nathan Roberts said. “I guess those are good examples of our family being divided.”

The Roberts twins, both college dropouts, are also Gen Z political outliers. More American twentysomethings identify as independents than any other group of adults, according to Gallup. Roughly one in four identify as Democrats, even fewer as Republicans.

“If you want to make a difference, you have to be involved,” said Nick Roberts. “And it’s easy, I think, to throw your hands up and say, ‘Well, I’m an independent. I hate both parties.’ But if you actually want to be engaged in the process, you have to kind of pick a side.”

“I think a lot of people go independent because it’s kind of like a sign of, like purity, like I’m above the thing,” added Nathan Roberts, “but really, it’s just like you not having much of a voice. I sort of understand and respect what people do when they go independent, I just don’t think it’s the right strategy.”

The twins got engaged in politics as Donald Trump rode down the escalator in Manhattan in 2015, launching his first presidential campaign. In 2020, they participated in their first campaigns and later supported rival candidates for president in 2024.

They say they agree on support for public safety, veterans issues and even protecting the environment. Their sharpest disagreement: immigration.

“I support law enforcement, but there’s come a point where, you know, we are nation immigrants,” said Nick Roberts. “Everybody came from immigrants at one point or another, and we have to do it humanely with laws, but not where we’re treating people inhumanely like we’ve seen over the last few months.”

Nathan Roberts rejects the view of an American “melting pot.”

“‘Nation of immigrants’ — those terms didn’t, none of them even existed until post-1900. You never heard George Washington saying America is a nation of immigrants,” he said.

On 95% of the issues, they sharply disagree and are dug in. When President Trump demanded Indiana redraw its election map to help Republicans in November, the twins even testified against each other in the statehouse.

Still, in what some see as a lesson for the country, the Roberts twins insist they manage never to get angry or unloving with each other.

“He’s very intelligent, and I love the fact he gets involved. You have all these people giving their opinions about stuff on the internet, but none of them lift a finger, besides maybe voting,” Nathan Roberts said of his brother. “He’s somebody who shows up to stuff.”

Nick Roberts said behind the “provocative” rhetoric, Nathan Roberts is reasoned and informed. “Though he pretends to be like a very inflammatory guy on social media,” he said, “I think he is very well-read on history and knows a lot of his stuff and the law, especially immigration.”

With no desire for higher political office for now, the Roberts twins say they’re just content to be councilor and constituent, as brothers, modeling civility and love despite the deepest political differences.

“Believe it or not, he’s actually not one of my most demanding constituents,” Nick Roberts said of Nathan Roberts with a chuckle.

“There’s been a time when I’m like, you know, you could change that, like, traffic sign to be slightly better and there wouldn’t be such a traffic jam at that place at 5pm,” Nathan Roberts quipped with a smile, “and he would be like that would be a good idea.”

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Charter flights set to return stranded Americans as travelers scramble amid Iran war, State Dept. says

Charter flights set to return stranded Americans as travelers scramble amid Iran war, State Dept. says
Charter flights set to return stranded Americans as travelers scramble amid Iran war, State Dept. says
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt displays steps for U.S. citizens in the Middle East to take following U.S. strikes on Iran as she speaks during a news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on March 04, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — The State Department announced on Wednesday that a charter flight for American citizens stuck in the Middle East was en route to the United States — days after the war with Iran left thousands of American travelers stranded as combat operations led to the closure of airspace around the region.

The department said the flight is “part of our ongoing efforts to assist Americans return home” and said additional flights will be departing from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The move comes as hundreds of thousands of Americans stranded across the Middle East are trying to leave the region, faced with canceled flights and other travel disruptions. 

Chris Elliott, a pastor from Lexington, North Carolina, told ABC News that he and his family were stranded while visiting sites in Jerusalem. He said they ended up in a bomb shelter as sirens sounded and incoming missiles were intercepted.

“We want Americans to be on American soil right now,” Elliott said.

Eliott’s daughter, Riley, said it’s been frustrating and frightening to be forced to shelter in place since the joint U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran began on Saturday.

“The scariest for me was trying to go to bed at night and then being woken up by the sounds of sirens,” Riley Elliott told ABC News.

The U.S. State Department issued an advisory on Monday, three days into the military operation, urging Americans to immediately leave 14 countries in the region via commercial flights, but stranded U.S. citizens have said that’s become extremely difficult, given the significant disruptions to air travel.

The Trump administration is facing some criticism for apparently not having a plan in place to get American citizens out of harm’s way ahead of the joint operation.

Responding to a question on Tuesday from ABC News about why so many Americans became stuck in the Middle East absent any advance warning of the attack on Iran, President Donald Trump said, “Well, because it happened all very quickly.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Wednesday press briefing that the U.S. did communicate the danger of traveling to the region.

“There was many signs, put out by the State Department,” Leavitt said. “The secretary of state issued level four travel advisories dating back to January for many of these countries in the region,” adding that they were “advising extreme caution and do not travel alerts to Americans in the region.”

However, a review of travel advisories issued by the State Department indicates that prior to the start of the conflict, of the the 14 countries American travelers were later urged to depart, eight of them were only listed at a Level 1 or Level 2 — meaning to exercise normal precautions or increased caution.

Leavitt also claimed that since the start of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, over 17,500 Americans “have safely returned home from the Middle East, with over 8,500 American citizens returning home to the United States just yesterday alone.”

Multiple U.S. embassies in the region, including some that have been attacked, have said they are unable to help citizens trying to leave.

“Our embassies and our diplomatic facilities are under direct attack from a terroristic regime,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday in Washington.

Asked if there were plans in place to evacuate Americans before the attack took place, Rubio said, “That’s the plan we’re trying to carry out.”

“The problem is, or the challenge we are facing, is airspace closures,” Rubio said, adding that some airports were closed after being hit in strikes. “So, that’s a challenge, but rest assured, we are confident that we are going to be able to assist every American.”

Odies Turner, a private chef from South Carolina, told ABC News that he’s been stuck in his hotel in Doha, Qatar, since the military operation began. He said the unexpected experience of being in a war has left him “frustrated, anxious” and feeling helpless.

“How do you expect us to leave a country where the airspace is closed? People are really stranded here,” Turner said in a self-video recorded on Tuesday. “I really don’t know what to do. I’ve reached out to the embassy, consulate and airlines. There’s no information on when I will get back home. It’s a mess.”

American Lisa Butler said the military conflict left her and her family, who were part of a large travel group, stranded in Abu Dhabi before they were evacuated to Dubai.

“We were standing … outside of this beautiful mosque, looking up in the sky and seeing these missiles that have been intercepted,” Butler told ABC News about how she and her family learned while in Abu Dhabi that they were vulnerable to a major military conflict breaking out in the region.

Oliver Sims, an American from Texas, told ABC News that he has been stuck in Qatar.

“I was just a few minutes ago, listening to some explosions that are going off above my head,” Sims said. “And, you know, I know that officials have said use commercial means, but there are really no commercial means here for us to use. So it’s really difficult to try and figure out a way out.”

Asked to describe conditions in Qatar, Sims said that he has been awakened at night by “extremely loud explosions” that shook the windows of his hotel room.

“I looked out my window and I saw a bunch of debris that was raining down outside of my hotel window,” Sims said. “And it’s very jarring, too, because it’s not just how loud it is, just how it actually physically shakes you. The rumbling is really, really just as violent.”

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