(LOS ANGELES) — Making his first public comments since a recording of council members making racist and offensive comments was released online, Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin De León said he does not plan on stepping down from his position, apologizing to his constituents for not stepping up and shutting down the conversation.
“I’m so sorry to the city of L.A. for not stepping up and being the leader that they expect me to be,” De León said in an interview with CBS News Los Angeles. “I’m sorry to my constituents. I’m sorry to my colleagues. I’m sorry to the family of Mike Bonin, to my family, to all those who have supported me.”
The city council has been the subject of public outcry and protests after a recording posted to Reddit earlier this month captured former City Council President Nury Martinez making allegedly racist and offensive comments about her colleagues and about a council member’s son while discussing redistricting. The Los Angeles Times reviewed the recording and confirmed it as authentic.
ABC News has not independently confirmed the authenticity of the recording.
The recording has prompted the California Department of Justice to open an investigation into the city’s redistricting process in an effort to restore public trust.
Martinez resigned from her leadership position and from the council last week, under pressure from protesters and officials.
While the alleged comments were not made by De León, there has been public outcry from protesters and fellow council members, calling on him and council member Gil Cedillo, who was also on the recording, to resign from the council. Calls for their resignations have gone as high up as President Joe Biden.
During the interview, De León apologized several times, but remained adamant that his district deserves representation, saying he plans to continue to do so.
“I have to do the really damn hard work to repair and to restore the breach of trust that I have lost with so many folks,” De León said.
De León said the meeting captured on the recording was called by Martinez and that he had attended it to be a voice for his district.
In statements released on Monday and Tuesday, Martinez apologized to her colleagues, Bonin and his family.
In the Wednesday interview, De León said he called Bonin to apologize, but it went to voicemail.
The LA Council resumed its meetings Wednesday, closing the chambers to members of the public after protesters caused delays and prevented a meeting from starting last week.
The council also named a new president on Tuesday.
De León did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — Eggo has a new product this holiday season that you won’t find in the frozen foods aisle.
Kellogg’s waffle brand collaborated with Sugarlands Distilling Co. to craft a sweet churned cream, rum, cinnamon and nutmeg boozy beverage that they’re calling Eggo Nog Appalachian Sippin’ Cream.
This new “Eggo-inspired eggnog liqueur” is said to pair perfectly with the beloved frozen waffles and gives grown-ups a chance to “L’eggo during the most chaotic time of the year.”
Sugarlands master distiller Greg Eidam told ABC News’ Good Morning America they amped up the recipe for the classic holiday drink to set their product apart.
“We use a rum base for our Eggo Nog, which has a slightly sweeter profile than some traditional boozy eggnogs,” he said. “Our team worked very hard to ensure the taste was reminiscent of classic eggnog, while also complementing the flavors you expect from an Eggo waffle. … Plus, ours pairs naturally with a perfectly toasted Eggo waffle.”
Eidam said the frozen waffles are a household staple for his grandkids as well as himself.
“They’re one of my favorite indulgences after a late night at the distillery,” he said, adding that “collaborating with Eggo to create Eggo Nog was a great deal of fun” — both personally and as a business opportunity for the Tennessee-based distilling company.
According to early tasters, Eidam said the response so far “has been tremendous.”
“We hope parents enjoy the product and find fun ways to incorporate it into their evening ‘me time,’ this holiday season,” he said, with just over 60 days to go until Christmas.
Eggo Nog will be available in select retailers nationwide throughout the holiday season. Consumers can locate a retailer online here.
(NEW YORK) — A spooky species of orchid at risk of disappearing forever as climate change worsens natural disasters, could soon garner conservation protections from the federal government.
The “ghost orchid,” an elusive species in the orchid family that primarily resides deep in the swamps of South Florida, was announced as a candidate to receive protections under the Endangered Species Act on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Protections for the critically endangered flower are of the utmost importance because its survival is at risk every time a hurricane blows over Florida, Melissa Abdo, a regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association, told ABC News.
Historically, hurricanes have severely impacted communities of ghost orchids. After Hurricane Irma hit Southwest Florida in 2017, the high winds caused the destruction of 30% of ghost orchids’ host trees, along with 30% of ghost orchids within the Florida Panther Wildlife Refuge alone. Between 2017 and 2018, nearly 50 mature ghost orchards in the preserve were lost, Abdo said.
There are fewer than 750 mature orchids left in the wild in the U.S., Abdo said, and conservationists have not even had a chance to survey damage to the flower’s population caused by Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 storm that decimated parts of Southwest Florida last month.
They destruction could be extensive, she added.
“Park staff and conservationists alike want to do all they can to protect this really rare and beautiful plant, but they need more help,” Abdo said.
When in bloom, the long spurs at the bottom of the ghost orchid resemble some popularized versions of cartoon ghosts. However, most of the time, all that is visible in the rare plant are the tangled jumble of green roots clinging to the trunks of its host trees.
The rare flowering then occurs during the peak of the hot, humid summer in Southwest Florida, Abdo said.
Although the species is “incredibly iconic,” they are only found in a tiny pocket of Southwest Florida, Abdo said. The current range of ghost orchids in Florida includes the Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and additional conservation and tribal areas in Collier, Hendry and possibly Lee counties. The flower is also found in Cuba.
The ghost orchids live in such remote locations that it took six months of searching through deep swamps of the Everglades for Abdo to find one in the wild for the first time, she said, describing the places where the flowers choose to bloom as “habitats truly out of fairy tales.”
Climate change and poaching are the biggest threats to the species, Abdo said. In addition to the increase of frequency of intense storms that climate change is expected to bring, drought continues to dry up the swampy marshes of the Everglades, leaving less habitat for the ghost orchids to thrive.
“The situation has been dire for some time,” she said.
In addition, because the flower blooms so infrequently, it has an overall slow reproduction rate — imperiling it even more, Abdo said.
“The ghost orchid is a testament to how biodiversity can have a monumental impact on our collective spirit and imagination,” said Elise Bennett, Florida director and attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Its rare and cryptic beauty has captivated authors, photographers and filmmakers alike. I really hope federal officials make haste and protect this gorgeous specter of our swamps before it’s too late.”
(NEW YORK) — Family members of Irene Gakwa, a 32-year-old Black woman who went missing in Wyoming, are still seeking answers to what happened to her over 7 months into the search.
“It gets harder and harder each day,” Chris Gakwa, her older brother, said in an interview with ABC News.
Before she went missing, Irene Gakwa, a native of Kenya, spoke daily to her mother and father who reside in Kenya through Whatsapp, but those conversations came to an end Feb. 24 – the last time her family says they heard from her. Her brothers filed a missing person’s report March 20 after not hearing from her for almost a month.
Irene Gakwa moved to the United States from Kenya in 2019 in hopes of attending nursing school, her family says. She had attended the College of Western Idaho and “did well,” according to her brother.
“When she first moved here, it was a little different. It took her a little while to get used to everything,” Kennedy Wainaina, her oldest brother told ABC News. “It was good to see her let loose and make friends with people.”
Wainaina and Chris Gakwa who both reside in Idaho, say they would see their sister almost every weekend until she met her boyfriend, Nathan Hightman.
“We’re a very close family,” Chris Gakwa told ABC News. “She would come to hang out with us…she had some friends and would hang out, but things didn’t go well when she met Nate…That’s when things started going downhill and I feel like Nate is the one who kind of pushed her away from the family.”
Her brothers say they only met Hightman a couple times after Irene Gakwa met him on Craigslist – adding they were not aware how long the couple were dating. Irene moved over 700 miles away from Boise, Idaho, to Gillette, Wyoming, with Hightman without her family’s knowledge, her brothers say.
“From day one when I met him, I just didn’t like him to tell you the truth but I never told her,” Chris Gakwa told ABC News. “I just knew he was trouble.”
He says the couple had a rocky relationship and Irene Gakwa would call Chris’ wife when they were having issues.
At one point, authorities in Gillette, Wyoming, investigated claims by Hightman that Irene Gakwa “stole money” to purchase airline tickets to Kenya, according to the Gillette Police Department. But police found no merit to the allegations and dropped the case against her, they said.
In April, almost a month after Irene Gakwa’s disappearance, Hightman became “a person of interest,” according to a press release from the police department in Gillette, Wyoming. The press release stated Hightman had been charged with a handful of felonies – including two counts of theft, one count of unlawful use of a credit card and two counts of crimes against intellectual property. Irene Gakwa was listed as the victim of these crimes. The press release also stated, “Irene went missing under suspicious circumstances.”
Hightman was arrested for these charges, but later released on a $10,000 bond, Gillette Police Deputy Chief Brent Wasson said in the press release. Hightman pleaded not guilty to the charges, Wasson said.
Hightman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News. Current attorney information for Hightman was not immediately available.
His former attorney Steven Titus told the Gillette News Record in May that “he had not had time to talk with Hightman at length” about the five felony charges and that his client has consistently said he had nothing to do with Irene Gakwa’s disappearance. Titus also told the paper that police did not have enough probable cause to charge Hightman for her disappearance, which brought on the five non-violent charges instead.
Irene Gakwa’s brothers and Stacy Koester, a volunteer from Gillette who leads a search team to find the woman, claim they have not been updated by police as often as they said they should’ve been.
“Every time we reach out to them, they give us the same answers,” Koester, who never met Irene Gakwa and updates her brothers regularly on the search, told ABC News. “They keep saying there are no updates to provide and they’ll keep working on the case…it’s like we’re going in circles.”
The Gillette Police Department did not comment on the family’s claims regarding their response, but Wasson provided ABC News with a press release about an Oct. 13 search of Hightman’s residence.
“Analysis of evidence has led to the development of additional cause to return to the residence that Irene shared with Nathan Hightman. Detectives applied for and were granted additional search warrants to further the investigation,” the release said.
No further updates on the search were provided by Wasson and no arrests have been made since then.
“I’ve had several deaths in my family…my mother and two sisters, so I know what missing a family member feels like,” Koester said regarding her interest in the search.
Koester says she has reached out to and tried to schedule meetings with Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, unsuccessfully. Despite her failed efforts, Koester says she leads a search team of 15 to 20 people for Irene weekly. They search for any evidence that may help find her – including a 55-gallon metal drum that police said they believe was burned in Hightman’s backyard around the time she was reported missing and that they have asked for public assistance in locating.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
Dusty Martin, the owner of Gillette car dealership Auto Scene, says Hightman and Irene Gakwa sold her silver Acura in January right before she was reported missing.
“The whole encounter was very odd,” Martin told ABC News in an interview. “Nathan was an odd character and I thought it was weird because Irene had to okay everything with him. Every move she made, she had to look at him,” Martin said.
The couple sold the car to Martin for $2,000, he says. Hightman was “very persistent” in selling the car although it was registered and titled in her name, according to Martin. Irene Gakwa said they were going to trade her car in for a new one, so Martin says he insisted on showing some cars he had in his lot, but Hightman told Martin they had already found one.
As the search for Irene Gakwa continues, Koester says she ‘s been trying to draw attention to the case through social media, creating a TikTok dedicated to bringing the missing woman home. The account has garnered over 62,000 likes.
“I just feel like if Irene was white with blonde hair and blue eyes, police would be having a press conference every week,” Koester, who is white, told ABC News. She noted the law enforcement response to the disappearance of Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old white woman who went missing last year and was later found dead. “I feel personally that [Irene’s] case didn’t get the attention it deserved.”
Despite the lack of media coverage that Irene Gakwa’s family and supporters say the case has been receiving, they won’t be giving up on the search anytime soon. The family created a website detailing what they say is a timeline that led up to her disappearance.
“I wish I could do more, but we try to do the best we can,” Wainaina said.
“I’ve never met her, but I want to help find her and help her family in any way that I can,” Koester said.
(FULTON COUNTY, Ga.) — A federal appeals court on Thursday denied Sen. Lindsey Graham’s request to block a subpoena from the Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The ruling means Graham must testify before the panel.
Graham has been fighting the subpoena since he was served over the summer.
In his appeal to the 11th Circuit Court, Graham had argued that his actions surrounding the 2020 election were protected by the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause, which grants members of Congress legal protection while performing their duties.
However in its ruling Thursday, the court found that the specific activity that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis seeks to question Graham about would not violate that clause.
That includes questions regarding “communications and coordination with the Trump campaign regarding its post-election efforts in Georgia, public statements regarding the 2020 election, and efforts to ‘cajole’ or ‘exhort’ Georgia election officials,” the ruling said
“Sen. Graham has failed to demonstrate that this approach will violate his rights under the Speech and Debate Clause,” the ruling said.
A lower court had already slightly limited the scope of the questions prosecutors can ask Graham during his appearance.
A representative for Graham did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Willis has been investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies broke the law when they pressured Georgia officials to try to alter the results of the election in Trump’s favor. The probe was sparked in part by a phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he pleaded with him to “find 11,780 votes,” the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia.
Trump, who has denounced the probe, has repeatedly defended his phone call to Raffensperger, calling it “perfect.”
The special grand jury does not have the ability to return an indictment, and can only make recommendations concerning criminal prosecution.
(JACKSON, Miss.) — The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it will open a federal civil rights investigation looking at Mississippi’s use of federal funds in Jackson and if the majority Black residents were discriminated against by not funding improvements to the water supply.
The EPA investigation will look into if Mississippi’s Department of Health and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality “discriminated against the majority Black population of the City of Jackson on the basis of race in the funding of water infrastructure and treatment programs and activities in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
In August, historic flooding in Mississippi severely damaged a major pump at the main water treatment facility in Jackson, leaving about 150,000 of the city’s mostly Black residents without drinkable water. Jackson is 82.5% Black and white Jackson residents only account for 16.2 % of residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Thursday’s announcement comes nearly a month after the NAACP filed a Title VI Complaint for Investigation with EPA Administrator Michael Regan, requesting “an immediate investigation into the use of federal funds related to drinking water in Jackson and to seek the rapid adoption of comprehensive enforcement remedies.”
The NAACP in its complaint claim that state officials held a “decades-long pattern and practice of discriminating against the city of Jackson when it comes to providing federal funds to improve local water systems,” according to a statement on Thursday.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson, a Jackson resident who was one of several residents named in the initial EPA complaint, applauded Regan and the Biden administration for opening an investigation.
“This action is only the first step. NAACP and its partners will continue to press the Biden Administration and Congress to hold state officials accountable and ensure that Jackson officials and residents are active participants in the decision-making that will be required to fix the unacceptable problems with Jackson’s water,” Johnson said in a statement.
Liz Sharlot, Director of Communications for the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Agency spokesperson, told ABC news in a statement that compliance had been adhered to for all residents.
“The Mississippi State Department of Health is a regulatory agency that ensures compliance, offers education and guidance, and protects the public health safety of all Mississippians,” Sharlot said.
“The Agency also works with all eligible public water systems needing funds to improve their plants through the State Revolving Loan Fund,” she added.
(CLARK COUNTY, Nev.) — A Nevada child died after being infected by a brain-eating amoeba in an “extremely rare” occurrence, the Southern Nevada Health District announced on Wednesday.
The district said that the Clark County, Nevada, resident might have been exposed to the amoeba, which it identified as Naegleria fowleri, on the Arizona side of Lake Mead in October.
“My condolences go out to the family of this young man,” Dr. Fermin Leguen, the district health officer for SNHD, said in a press release. “While I want to reassure the public that this type of infection is an extremely rare occurrence, I know this brings no comfort to his family and friends at this time.”
People can become infected by the amoeba when contaminated water enters the body through the nose, usually from swimming, diving or putting their heads underneath the water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
An infection from Naegleria fowleri can cause headaches, fever, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck, seizures and coma that can lead to death, according to SNHD.
According to SNHD, the patient began to develop symptoms a week after exposure.
“Once symptoms start, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within about five days,” the district said.
Once diagnosed, Naegleria fowleri is very difficult to treat, Darien Sutton, a Los Angeles emergency medicine physician and ABC News medical contributor, said last year. Once it enters the brain, it causes a form of meningitis, and once the patient is exhibiting symptoms it’s often too late to save them.
According to the CDC, Naegleria fowleri is found in warm fresh water and soil around the world. In the U.S., it thrives during the warmer months.
Experts said that climate change might contribute to life-threatening risks for swimmers as waterborne pathogens flourish and multiply faster in increasingly warming waters.
Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about the possibility of dangerous pathogens, such as Naegleria fowleri, and Vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria, Dr. Sandra Gompf, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the University of South Florida, told ABC News last year.
The National Park Service will still allow recreational swimming at Lake Mead since the amoeba is natural to the environment and rarely causes disease, NPS said in a news release.
“However, recreational water users should always assume there is a risk anytime they enter warm fresh water,” Dr. Maria Said, a U.S public health service officer with the NPS, added.
ABC News’ Julia Jacobo contributed to this report.
Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images, FILE
(LAS VEGAS) — A former Nevada county official accused of fatally stabbing a Las Vegas journalist who was investigating his office has been indicted by a grand jury on murder.
Robert Telles, 45, was arrested and charged last month in connection with the death of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, who police said was found stabbed to death outside his home on Sept. 3.
He has now been formally indicted by the Clark County grand jury on the charge of murder with use of a deadly weapon.
The indictment, filed Thursday, alleges that Telles, “with malice aforethought,” killed German by stabbing him multiple times.
The murder was “willful, deliberate and premeditated,” and “perpetrated by lying in wait” for the 69-year-old German, the indictment alleged.
Telles, who served as the Clark County public administrator, blamed German for ruining his career in politics and his marriage, according to prosecutors.
Telles lost his bid for re-election following an investigation by German in the Review-Journal that exposed turmoil in his office and accusations of bullying, retaliation and an “inappropriate relationship” between Telles and a staffer.
Police said the day before German’s murder, Telles was seen approaching the journalist’s home, where he allegedly had an altercation with him.
On the day of the murder, Telles allegedly wore a disguise — described by police as a straw hat and reflective vest — before stabbing German outside his home, police said.
Telles was arrested on Sept. 7 after DNA evidence found by a SWAT team at his home linked him to the crime scene, police said.
Telles has been held without bail in Clark County Detention Center. He was denied bail again during a court appearance this week, despite his attorney’s argument that he is not a threat to the community or a flight risk, ABC Las Vegas affiliate KTNV reported.
Judge Karen Bennett-Haron said she will “reconsider” bail during the preliminary hearing, scheduled for Oct. 26, according to KTNV.
Telles’ term as public administrator didn’t expire until Jan. 1, 2023, though he was officially removed from office on Oct. 5, KTNV reported.
(PITTSBURGH, Penn.) — With the clock ticking toward next month’s midterm elections, President Joe Biden on Thursday traveled to battleground Pennsylvania to tout his infrastructure law and stump for Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman.
Biden’s first stop was in Pittsburgh to visit Fern Hollow Bridge — which collapsed earlier this year when Biden was visiting the state. Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, joined him there.
“You all told me about the emergency workers and pull the survivors to safety,” Biden said at the bridge site. “There were heroes that day, and a complete catastrophe was avoided. But it never should have come to this.”
Biden gave remarks on the progress in the rebuilding of the bridge, which he said will now be done in a single year thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — one of the major legislative victories his administration’s been highlighting ahead of the Nov. 8 midterms.
Later Thursday, Biden is going to Philadelphia for a fundraiser in support of Fetterman, who’s running against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz in one of the most competitive Senate races in the country.
Stepping off Air Force One in Pittsburgh on Thursday, Biden shook hands with Fetterman on the tarmac, telling him: “You’re gonna win.”
The event is a somewhat rare appearance for Biden with a Democratic candidate this cycle. Some other hopefuls in the party have kept their distance from the president as he faces low approval ratings, and a handful have gone so far as to say Biden shouldn’t run for office again in 2024.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll released last month found Biden’s approval rating underwater: 39% of Americans approved of his job performance while 53% disapproved.
Fetterman, when asked earlier this month if Biden should run again, said that should be a “decision made by Joe Biden.”
“It’s not a matter of anyone’s choice other than his, and I respect any choice he decides,” Fetterman said on the podcast “On with Kara Swisher.” Fetterman added that he believes Biden would beat Donald Trump in a rematch, if both were to seek office again.
ABC News White House Correspondent MaryAlice Parks questioned Biden about his appearances on the campaign trail as he departed the White House on Thursday morning.
“Mr. President, John Fetterman is gonna appear with you today in Pennsylvania … but there haven’t been that many candidates campaigning with you,” Parks said.
“That’s not true. There have been 15, count, kid, count.” Biden interrupted.
“OK, and are there gonna be even more?” Parks pressed further.
“Yeah,” Biden replied.
The Pennsylvania Senate race between Fetterman and Oz is one that could determine which party controls the chamber next year, and Democrats see the contest as one of their best chances to pick up a seat and preserve or expand their bare majority. (Incumbent Republican Pat Toomey is retiring.)
The latest FiveThirtyEight forecast shows Democrats slightly favored to keep control of the Senate, while Republicans are favored to win back control of the House.
FiveThirtyEight’s polling average for the Pennsylvania Senate race shows Fetterman leading by 5%, though his lead has tightened over the past several weeks.
ABC News’ Mary Bruce and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
(RALEIGH, N.C.) — The motive remains unknown for the mass shooting along a Raleigh, North Carolina, nature trail that killed five people and injured two others even as police released a five-day report on the incident Thursday.
The suspect, 15-year-old Austin Thompson, was critically injured in the Oct. 13 shooting. Raleigh police have not said if the suspect was shot by officers or himself.
The suspect’s 16-year-old brother, James Thompson, was among those killed, according to the Thompson family.
James Thompson was shot before the other victims, Raleigh police said in a new statement Thursday. The teen was found in a house with a gunshot wound and stab wounds, police said.
Raleigh police said there’s no apparent connection between the slain victims “other than they lived in the same neighborhood.” The other victims were identified as Susan Karnatz, 49, who was on a run; Gabriel Torres, 29, an off-duty police officer headed to work; Mary Marshall, 34, who was walking her dog; and Nicole Connors, 52, who was on a front porch with her dog.
Connors’ dog was also shot and killed, according to police.
Marcille Gardner, who was shot in a driveway, remains in the hospital in critical but stable condition, police said Thursday.
The police department said that it’s “limited in how much information” it can release “due to both the suspect’s age and the ongoing criminal investigation.”
Police did say that at one point the suspect fired at police, injuring officer Casey Clark, and the authorities returned fire. When the teen was taken into custody, he was wearing camouflage clothing and had a shotgun, handgun, ammunition and knives, according to police.
The Thompson family said in a statement Tuesday, “We are overcome with grief for the innocent lives lost … and we pray for everyone who was traumatized by these senseless acts of violence.”
“We have so many unanswered questions,” the family said. “There were never any indications or warning signs that Austin was capable of doing anything like this.”
