(WASHINGTON) — Former CIA Director and retired Army Gen. David Petraeus said Sunday that he’s dubious that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
“There’s not that much right now that would lead us to believe that,” Petraeus told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “I don’t think, in fact, out of the last two weeks, really, Jonathan, I think what should be clear to all, and I think it is even clear to President Trump, is that despite all of his efforts, again, which we applaud to end the war, to stop the killing, Vladimir Putin clearly has no intention of doing that unless he’s given additional territory, which is heavily fortified, and Russian forces would have to fight for years at the pace that they’re going.”
Petraeus’ comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President Trump last week in Washington alongside a contingent of other European leaders in pursuit of gathering more support to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 72 drones and one Iskander-M ballistic missile into the country in its latest overnight barrage, of which 48 drones were intercepted or suppressed, as the country marked the anniversary of its 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. Ukraine continued its own long-range attacks on Russia overnight, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry, which said it shot down 95 Ukrainian drones over 14 regions during the latest exchange.
Petraeus said that currently the “obstacle to peace” is Putin. He says that the U.S. should reconsider restrictions on some weapons that it won’t send to Ukraine and send more aid to ultimately bring an end to the 3 1/2-year war.
“And what we need to do is change those dynamics by helping Ukraine far more than we have so far. Lifting restrictions on them, seizing the $300 billion of frozen reserves and European countries of Russian money, giving it to Ukraine. More sanctions on Russia, even including the Gazprom bank, and curtailing the export of oil further than we have already,” Petraeus said.
Petraeus referred to a Wall Street Journal report that the Pentagon is limiting Ukraine’s use of U.S.-made long-range missiles against targets in Russia.
“This is another case where it appears that the Pentagon is carrying out policies that conflict with President Trump’s inclination. Now, I can understand why they would limit the use of certain long-range systems against Russia when they think that Russia might still be willing to make a deal. But that should be very clear not to be the case, at this moment, and I hope that there will be a review of that policy,” Petraeus said.
Nonetheless, Petraeus said he knows the war cannot last forever, saying that the war so far has killed and wounded 1.06 million Russians, including more than 500,000 that haven’t been able to return to the front lines due to the severity of their injuries, and is also having a “very substantial impact” on its civilian workforce.
“This has to have, over time, a very, very substantial impact on the ability of Russia just to find a civilian workforce as well. In fact, it’s reported that they were actually looking in Africa for women who can actually replace some of the men in Russia, in various industries,” Petraeus said.
Petraeus also responded Sunday to the Trump administration either firing or reassigning 16 top military officers, seven of whom are women, thus far into his second term. The latest removals happened Friday, including the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, just weeks after he oversaw a preliminary report that contradicted Trump’s assertion that Iran’s nuclear sites were obliterated by U.S. strikes in June.
“I think it has to be a concern. Obviously, it’s unprecedented. There’s never been anything like this,” Petraeus said. “There have been cases in the past where individuals who’ve gotten crosswise with the president or with the secretary of defense certainly, usually on a policy issue in which they should not have spoken out and indeed were replaced. But the numbers here obviously are much more significant than that.”
(NEW YORK) — Two U.S. hospitals are the latest to announce they will be ending some, or all, of their pediatric gender-affirming care services at the end of the month.
Kaiser Permanente, a health care company that manages 40 hospitals across several states — including California, Oregon and Virginia — said it is pausing gender-related surgeries for patients under age 18 on Aug. 29. It noted that other gender-related care will continue.
Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. said it will also stop prescribing gender-affirming medications on Aug. 30. It follows a move the hospital made in late January to pause all puberty-blockers and hormone prescriptions for minors.
Since President Donald Trump’s second term began in January, at least 17 major hospital systems in at least nine states and the District of Columbia have paused, discontinued, canceled or ended pediatric gender services, according to an ABC News tally, amid mounting legal and regulatory concerns.
In January, Trump signed an executive order stating the U.S. would not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” gender transition of those under age 19 and would “rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”
Transgender adults and youth may experience extreme psychological distress due to a mismatch in their gender presentation and identity. They experience significantly higher rates of suicide than the general population, but some studies suggest gender-affirming care eases those feelings of distress.
While some individuals and groups have called for a slower approach to gender-affirming care for minors, other pediatric gender care experts and advocates have said ending such care can have a harmful effect on patients’ mental health and well-being.
They say the government is interfering in conversations meant to be held only between patients, their families and doctors, and that doctors are not being allowed to follow the established medical guidelines that medical associations like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Endocrine Society and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health have endorsed.
“This is health care provided by licensed clinicians according to standards of care that have been around for many years,” Kellan Baker, a senior adviser for health policy with the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit think tank that focuses on LGBTQ+ issues, told ABC News.
“To have the government interfering … overreaching into the private conversations between patients and families and their doctors and telling doctors that they cannot provide the care that they know that their patients need — that is a very serious government overreach,” he added.
Evidence for gender-affirming care Gender-affirming care may include medical, surgical, mental health and non-medical services. It can range from allowing a child to pick their pronouns to more invasive treatments typically prescribed for older teens.
Early gender affirming care can be “crucial” to overall health and well-being, allowing a child to focus on social transitions and can help build up confidence while dealing with the health care system, the federal Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health wrote during the Biden administration.
Gender-affirming care is supported by multiple major medical organizations. Studies have shown many of the treatment options are generally safe and that care can have a positive impact on mental health, which psychotherapy alone cannot provide, some experts said.
Some experts have questioned the significance of the interventions on long-term mental health as well as the possibility of regret and point out potential risks on future fertility.
“It’s deeply disappointing that hospital systems have relented to the political pressure, not scientific pressure, to end these sorts of programs,” Dr. Marci Bowers, a gynecologic and reconstructive surgeon at Mills-Peninsula Medical Cener in Burlingame, California, told ABC News. “We have decades of evidence-based information that suggests that gender-related health care is beneficial to patients and their families with very, very, very scant incidences of regret or disappointment in that care.”
A spokesperson for Children’s National Hospital told ABC News it was discontinuing the prescription of gender-affirming medications in light of “escalating legal and regulatory risks” to the hospital, its providers and families.
“We know this change will have a significant impact on affected patients, families and staff, and our care teams are working directly with families of current patients to support them,” the statement read, in part. “Mental health and other support services for patients remain available. LGBT patients are always welcome at Children’s National for other medical needs and treatment.”
Similarly, a spokesperson for Kaiser Permanente pointed ABC News to actions from the administration, including the Department of Justice issuing subpoenas to doctors and clinics providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth.
“As the legal and regulatory environment for gender-affirming care continues to evolve, we must carefully consider the significant risks being created for health systems, clinicians, and patients under the age of 19 seeking this care,” the statement read, in part. “After significant deliberation and consultation with internal and external experts, including our physicians, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause surgical treatment for patients under the age of 19 in our hospitals and surgical centers.”
The hospital said it would work to identify clinicians performing surgery if a patient’s planned operation was canceled and, if a clinician is available, the hospital said it will work with patients and their families to coordinate care and provide coverage for surgical treatment.
Bowers — the Mills-Peninsula gynecologic and reconstructive surgeon — said if somebody is in treatment and that treatment is suddenly withdrawn, it can be extremely difficult, and patients can experience psychosocial and personal setbacks. She said treatment gave patients a psychological boost.
‘When you look and you talk to these individuals, they are happier about themselves,” she said. “They’re happier about their bodies. They’re happier about their choice of friends, how they see themselves in the world. They’re more optimistic. So those are softer measures, but they’re important, and those things matter.”
She also said withdrawing medical care can be a major disruption to patients’ lives because families may have to move to receive care that is now no longer being provided locally.
Baker — the Movement Advancement Project’s health policy adviser — said he sees the actions from the administration as a “campaign of terror” against health care institutions, doctors and families, and that decisions about continuing or discontinuing gender-affirming care should remain between patients and their health care providers.
“This is about health care providers working together with patients and parents to get kids what they need,” Baker said. “It’s nothing more. It’s nothing less. All that trans people are trying to do is live their lives, and all the parents of trans kids are trying to do is love their kids.”
Concern after HHS report Not all experts are opposed to the closures. Dr. Kristopher Kaliebe, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and professor at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, believes the retrenchment reflects long-standing scientific concerns.
“Clinicians have quietly recognized for years that the evidence base for these interventions in minors is weak,” he told ABC News. “There’s no strong proof that they improve mental health, and we simply don’t know the long-term outcomes.”
In May, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released what it called a “comprehensive review” of transgender care for children and teens, calling for broader use of psychotherapy for young people with gender dysphoria rather than gender-affirming care.
The authors of the review were not named, so their credentials have not been reviewed and the paper has not yet been peer-reviewed by independent scientists yet — a step this is typically necessary before changing any guidelines that health care providers follow.
The more than 400-page document details possible harm from medical interventions for youth, including the use of puberty blockers and potentially associated risks, such as infertility.
It follows systematic reviews from Sweden, Finland and the U.K. that have resulted in the three countries restricting gender-affirming care. England’s National Health Service ended prescribing puberty blockers for minors experiencing gender dysphoria outside of clinical trials. Sweden and Finland have followed psychotherapy-first models.
Kaliebe called the HHS review a needed step, saying, “For the first time, the federal government acknowledged openly that these interventions are experimental and that we need high-quality data, especially long-term tracking of outcomes.”
However, Bowers dismissed the HHS review as derivative, saying the team that put the report together didn’t appear to conduct its own review and rather “pirated” reviews conducted overseas.
“There were a lot of other mischaracterizations throughout that report,” Bowers said. “Most experts, frankly, scoff at what they saw. … It’s disappointing. It sounds more like politics than it does practical and factual matter.”
Baker concurred, referring to the report as a “really shocking government document,” suggesting it was commissioned right after Trump’s January executive order with a pre-determined outcome.
“I’m a health services researcher by training … and I’m very familiar with evidence-based medicine and systematic reviews, and one of the ways that you need to make sure that you’re approaching work like that is to not have your thumb on the scale,” he said. “You don’t go in with a research question that has already been decided, where the outcome has already been decided. That’s not good science. It’s not science at all.”
He said producing the report so quickly after the executive order was issued — a little over three months — was too short of a timeline for a thorough review and he criticized not having the names of the authors on the report to ensure there were no conflicts of interest and that the authors were experts in their field.
Experts have said they are in favor of more research being conducted — Kaliebe emphasized the need for rigorous tracking of harms and a clearer study of psychotherapeutic approaches.
Bowers argued that while stronger research is welcome, cutting off services altogether harms real people.
“We know from decades of clinical experience that when care is affirming, young people are happier and healthier,” she said. “That’s what parents see, even if politics obscures it.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call or text the national lifeline at 988.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge halted the Trump administration’s efforts to withhold grant funding from “sanctuary” cities and counties for not cooperating with immigration enforcement.
The 15-page order from Judge William Orrick grants a preliminary injunction in the administration’s effort to withhold funds and expands the number of cities that federal funds can’t be withheld from due to their “sanctuary” status for undocumented immigrants.
The Trump administration has sought to strip the cities’ Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants due to their lack of cooperation with immigration authorities.
More than 30 cities from Albuquerque to Boston were under the ruling — which amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars in grants.
The Trump administration has been increasing its efforts to have so-called “sanctuary cities” cooperate with the federal government.
The Department of Justice in recent months has filed several legal challenges in several cities and states including New York City, New York state, Los Angeles, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, challenging policies that that blocked immigration officials from arresting people at or near courthouses without a warrant signed by a judge.
(NEW YORK) — A suspect who allegedly shot and killed his ex-wife at a hospital in Detroit and then fled the scene has been taken into custody, according to police.
Mario Green, 53, was arrested without incident shortly before 3 a.m. local time Saturday, according to the Detroit Police Department.
The shooting occurred before 10 a.m. Friday in the basement of Henry Ford Hospital, where his ex-wife Latricia Green worked, according to police.
“Our officers worked tirelessly to get this monster off the street,” Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said in a statement.
“I would like to thank our law enforcement partners who assisted us in apprehending Mario Green, along with the community who gave us numerous tips about the suspect. No person deserves what happened to Ms. Latricia Green and my heart and prayers go out to her family,” he said.
The suspect allegedly fired multiple shots from a handgun after getting into a “verbal altercation” with his ex-wife, Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said during a press briefing Friday.
The suspect then fled the hospital in a 2011 white Dodge Charger, Bettison said. He was captured on video leaving the facility at approximately 9:55 a.m., the chief said.
“He is presumed to be armed and dangerous,” Bettison said.
No other victims were located following a sweep of the hospital, police said.
Bettison said he did not know what the victim did at the hospital or how Mario Green was able to access the basement.
About a month ago, Latricia Green had filed for a personal protection order against Mario Green, according to Detroit Assistant Police Chief Charles Fitzgerald.
“Unfortunately, it was not served on her ex-husband, so it almost brings us here today, ” Fitzgerald told ABC Detroit affiliate WXYZ.
Green has an address in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and is described as being approximately 6 feet 4 inches. Michigan State Police released images of the suspect and his vehicle amid the manhunt.
The hospital briefly closed but has since reopened to all patients and visitors.
Henry Ford Health, the hospital’s parent company, said it is cooperating with the police investigation “and are conducting our own internal investigation as well.”
“We are devastated by the loss of our Henry Ford Hospital teammate and our hearts go out to her loved ones — her family, friends, and the people she worked with every day,” the hospital said in a statement.
“We are providing resources to our team members who are dealing with the impacts of this tragic incident. The safety and well-being of our patients, visitors, and team members is our greatest priority,” the statement continued.
(NEW YORK) — The past few months, several disappearances have occurred involving hikers setting out on multi-day excursions who are never seen again.
On Wednesday, search efforts were called off for a Minnesota man, who was last heard from in late July after planning a three-day hike through Wyoming’s Big Horn National Park.
“With weather conditions and other factors updated in our search models, we have to face the reality that the most optimistic survival odds have run out,” officials said.
Similarly, a New Jersey man has been missing since July 28 after reportedly hiking along one of the most challenging trails in the Grand Canyon, according to the National Park Service. Since the hiker’s disappearance, officials have not provided additional updates on his possible whereabouts or the search efforts.
“The overwhelming percentage of missing hikers and accidents and tragedies we see, I think, are probably preventable,” Cris Hazzard, a professional hiking guide and author, known as as “The Hiking Guy,” told ABC News.
Hazzard said these disappearances usually occur when people either “don’t know what they are getting into” or “they’re not prepared.”
So, here’s what Hazzard recommends the next time a hiker — whether they are a beginner or a frequent visitor of the trails — sets out on their next outdoor adventure.
Several minutes of ‘homework’ before embarking on hike Before even beginning a hiking trail or camping excursion, Hazzard said the hiker should check the park’s website, ensuring it is open and there are not any warnings in place.
“A lot of times people think, ‘Well, it’s not going to happen to me, I spent all this money to visit the Grand Canyon and you’re not going to take the hike away from me.’ I get it, but you need to take that stuff seriously,” Hazzard said.
Along with checking the individual park’s website, Hazzard recommends the AllTrails app, where other hikers can leave trail reports and see what others have been experiencing on specifics paths.
Be prepared with the proper gear, including satellite communication When putting together the essential materials for an extended hiking trip, Hazzard said people should ensure they have fitness clothes, a backpack, plenty of water (with electrolytes for warmer hiking conditions) and a rain jacket in case of thunderstorms.
But, Hazzard emphasizes one item that is the most important — an LED flashlight or headlamp.
“Think of a situation of when you’re on a hike and you sprain your ankle halfway through, and there’s a couple hours of daylight. Now you’re hopping back, and if you’re not comfortable hiking, or you don’t know the trail, you could be in the pitch dark, you could get lost and you can get into bigger trouble,” Hazzard said.
Any time issues like that come up, Hazzard said the LED headlamp is “going to bail you out of that.”
Other tools that could prevent tragedies are satellite communication devices that can send an SOS signal to loved ones or to local officials, Hazzard said.
A Garmin Inreach, which is like a “rugged outdoor instrument,” features SOS and non-emergency communication — so hikers can even let family members know when they are running a little behind schedule, Hazzard said.
Additionally, a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) allows a hiker to broadcast their location to government search and rescue teams with just the push of a button, Hazzard said. This device can share a hiker’s location every 10 minutes via satellite to create a “breadcrumb” trail — making it significantly easier for emergency personnel to find a stranded or injured individual along the trail, Hazzard said.
Not hesitating to ask for help If a hiker does end up getting lost, Hazzard emphasized people should not try to figure out a solution on their own, but instead reach out for help immediately, even if it’s just calling and asking for directions.
“Time is an asset in rescuing you. [Officials] much rather would know that you need help even if they don’t go out and pick you up with a helicopter, they can at least make sure that you’re safe,” Hazzard told ABC News.
Share hiking plans and estimated time of return with a trusted person Hazzard does not discourage hiking alone — as that is how he normally travels the trails — but he encourages those who are solo to share hiking plans with others before embarking on their excursions, since that individual could then give officials precise details in case of an emergency.
“The sooner you report somebody missing and you can give somebody at the park specific information about where that person was hiking, the better the chances of that person being found,” Hazzard said.
Overall, Hazzard said he hopes people remember that while hiking can “look like a very scary thing,” it can actually be safe — with the proper precautions.
“Going to the wilderness can look like climbing Mount Everest, and really it’s not. But it’s just that if you get in trouble, it’s not like going for a walk in a neighborhood or you call an Uber or call 911, you just have to prepare a little bit for it. If you look at it that way, it’s not so intimidating or so scary,” Hazzard told ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — The woman thought to have the most direct knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long sex-trafficking operation claims there was no client list, no blackmail scheme and — to her knowledge — no high-profile Epstein associates who committed illicit acts in connection with the notorious sex-offender’s crimes.
That’s according to an account provided by Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell to a top official of the U.S. Department of Justice during a highly unusual two-day interview session last month, sources briefed on the contents of the discussions told ABC News.
Maxwell told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that during her time with Epstein — which ranged from the early 1990s to the mid-2000s — she never witnessed nor heard of any inappropriate or criminal activity by President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, nor any of the well-known men who associated with Epstein, according to the sources.
A transcript of Maxwell’s interview with Blanche, and audio of the interview, were among the items provided by the DOJ on Friday to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, in response to a congressional subpoena for the complete investigative files on Epstein, sources said.
The 63-year old Maxwell, who has been incarcerated since her arrest in 2020, also claimed she had been misidentified by a key witness at her criminal trial and insisted she was not involved in the sexual exploitation of minors, the sources said.
Blanche — who previously served as a personal defense attorney to President Donald Trump — announced his intention to speak with Maxwell in a social media post last month, as the Trump administration sought to quell the self-inflicted controversy surrounding its decision not to release the government’s investigative files on Epstein, after repeatedly promising to do so.
The Department of Justice — in an unsigned memo released last month explaining its decision — said that a “systematic review” revealed no incriminating client list and no evidence “that could predicate an investigation into uncharged third parties.”
Maxwell was granted limited immunity for the interview with Blanche, sources previously told ABC News, meaning nothing she said could be used against her, unless she lied.
She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for aiding and participating in Epstein’s trafficking of underage girls, which involved a scheme to recruit young women and girls for massages of Epstein that turned sexual. Federal prosecutors in New York said Maxwell helped Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately abuse girls as young as 14.
Despite her conviction at trial in 2021 — where she declined to take the witness stand — Maxwell claimed in her interview with Blanche that she had been wrongly accused and did not receive a fair trial. She maintained, as she had done previously in a 2016 deposition in a civil case, that she never recruited anyone underage to massage Epstein and never witnessed or participated in any criminal acts, the sources said.
Federal prosecutors charged Maxwell with perjury for alleged lies she told during the 2016 deposition. And the government repeatedly assailed her credibility during her criminal case, citing her “willingness to lie brazenly under oath about her conduct,” according to court records.
Maxwell was indicted in July 2020, during the first Trump administration. Her trial occurred in late 2021, while President Joe Biden was in the White House. The perjury counts against her were eventually dropped after her conviction on the more serious charges.
Blanche’s meeting with Maxwell came just days after the Justice Department fired Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor in New York with the most detailed knowledge of the case. Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, led the criminal prosecution of Maxwell.
Blanche — the top deputy to U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi –indicated that the goal of the Maxwell meeting was to determine if she had “information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims,” according to a July 22 statement posted to social media by the DOJ.
According to sources familiar with internal deliberations that preceded the meeting with Maxwell, Blanche was encouraged by some top administration officials to seek information that could lead to criminal investigations that might quiet the outrage from some of Trump’s most vocal supporters.
“The FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche wrote in the post. “Until now, no administration on behalf of the Department had inquired about her willingness to meet with the government. That changes now.”
Sources told ABC News, however, that it was Maxwell’s legal team that initiated the request for the meeting. Maxwell has a pending application before the U.S. Supreme Court to review her conviction. Her lawyers have stated that they have not yet asked President Trump to commute her sentence or to pardon her, but that Maxwell “would welcome any relief.”
Blanche was accompanied by an FBI agent and another DOJ official and Maxwell was with three of her attorneys, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
The unusual meeting involving the nation’s second-ranking law enforcement official and a convicted sex-trafficker evoked a strong response from some victims of Epstein and Maxwell.
Annie Farmer, one of the witnesses who testified for the prosecution at Maxwell’s trial, told a federal court last week that she and other victims “unequivocally object to any potential leniency that the government may be considering for Maxwell.”
During nine hours of questioning over two days, Maxwell was quizzed by Blanche about dozens of famous people — politicians, business titans and Hollywood stars — who had previously been named as having associated with Epstein. And in each instance, Maxwell indicated that she had never witnessed nor heard about any alleged wrongdoing, the sources said.
Maxwell’s attorney, David Markus, told reporters after the meetings concluded that his client had been asked by Blanche about “one hundred different people.”
“She didn’t hold anything back,” Markus said.
Among those Blanche inquired about, sources told ABC News, were tech billionaires Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman and Elon Musk; political figures Ehud Barak, Robert Kennedy Jr. and the late U.S. Senator George Mitchell; and celebrities Kevin Spacey, Chris Tucker and Naomi Campbell.
The rumored existence of an apocryphal “Epstein client list” has long fueled speculation of a “deep state” cover-up to protect an elite cabal of alleged participants in Epstein’s crimes. Some of the most vocal purveyors of the theory — including FBI Director Kash Patel and his top deputy Dan Bongino — have since taken up prominent posts in the Trump administration.
But Maxwell said there was no such list and that she saw no indication that Epstein had obtained compromising information that he used to extort others, according to the sources who were briefed on the interview.
At one point in the interview, Maxwell likened the quest to find others complicit in Epstein’s crimes to the Salem witch trials of the 17th century, according to a person familiar with what Maxwell said.
Significant portions of the interview were dedicated to inquiries about President Trump and ex-President Bill Clinton.
Before any allegations of sexual misconduct against Epstein surfaced in 2005, Trump and Clinton each spoke glowingly of Epstein, and court records have included documents and testimony indicating that — at separate times — both men flew with Epstein on his private jets.
Clinton’s association with Epstein was first noted publicly in 2002, after reporters learned of the former president’s journey that year on Epstein’s jet for a humanitarian mission to multiple African nations. Clinton told New York magazine through a spokesman at the time that “Jeffrey is both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of twenty-first-century science.”
In that same article, Trump boasted of his friendship with Epstein, saying, “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy.”
“He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life,” Trump told the magazine.
Maxwell told Blanche she had a friendship with former President Clinton after being introduced by a mutual acquaintance, the sources said. Maxwell said she had suggested to Epstein that he allow Clinton to use his private jumbo jet to fly to multiple international destinations in Africa, Asia and Europe in the early 2000s. Clinton, Maxwell said, had no particular interest in Epstein other than having the use of his plane.
Despite President Trump’s oft-repeated claims that Clinton had traveled more than 20 times to Little St. James — Epstein’s private U.S. Virgin Islands estate where much of Epstein’s abuse is alleged to have occurred — Maxwell said the former president had never been there and wouldn’t have wanted to go, because he had no relationship with Epstein, according to sources familiar with what Maxwell told Blanche.
Bill Clinton has previously said through a spokesperson that he “knew nothing” about Epstein’s crimes, had never visited the island, and that all the flights on Epstein’s aircraft in 2002 and 2003 were associated with work for the Clinton Foundation.
As for the current president, Maxwell said that she first knew of Trump through her late father, who purchased the New York Daily News in 1991. She said she only saw Trump and Epstein, both native New Yorkers, together in social settings and never saw or heard anything inappropriate about Trump while he was with Epstein.
And at a time when her legal team has publicly signaled her hopes for a reprieve from the president, Maxwell, the sources said, expressed admiration for Trump.
Published reports in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal last month indicated that the decision not to release the Epstein files came after President Trump was informed in May that his name was among those that appeared multiple times in the documents. The president has denied that he was told his name appeared in the files.
The appearance of a name in the Epstein files is not evidence of illicit activity.
President Trump has said he ended his association with Epstein before any allegations of sexual abuse were raised in Florida in the mid 2000s.
Trump said in 2019, after Epstein’s arrest for child sex trafficking, that he hadn’t spoken to him in 15 years. More recently, the president has claimed he split with Epstein after discovering Epstein was allegedly poaching employees from the spa at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private club in Palm Beach.
Maxwell was escorted from her prison cell in Tallahassee to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the two days of meetings with Blanche. A week later, she was transferred to a minimum-security federal prison camp for women in Texas, with no official explanation for the move.
Maxwell is the Oxford-educated daughter of Robert Maxwell, the larger-than-life publishing baron whose rags-to-riches story captivated England. She lived an extravagant life among the British elite until her father’s business empire collapsed in the wake of his death in 1991. She relocated to New York looking for a fresh start and was soon seen in the company of the mysterious multimillionaire Epstein.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and charged in a federal indictment with conspiracy and child sex trafficking. He died in custody a month later, while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging.
(NEW YORK) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported in March before being brought back to the U.S., has been released from criminal custody in Tennessee and is on his way to Maryland, an attorney for Abrego Garcia told ABC News.
The Salvadoran native has been in criminal custody since the federal government brought him back to the U.S. in June to face human smuggling charges.
Once he is is released, immigration authorities will not be allowed to detain Abrego Garcia due to a ruling from a federal judge who last month ordered the government to return him to Maryland and blocked the administration from deporting him upon his release in Tennessee.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said this week that they hired a private security company to bring him to Maryland.
In her July order, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that the U.S. government “shall restore Abrego Garcia to his ICE Order of Supervision out of the Baltimore Field Office.”
Xinis said her order to have Abrego Garcia placed under ICE supervision in Maryland, where he was living with his wife and children before he was mistakenly deported in March, is necessary to “provide the kind of effective relief to which a wrongfully removed alien is entitled upon return.”
The July order, which also requires the government to provide 72 hours’ notice if it intends to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country, is “narrowly tailored” to allow the Trump administration to initiate “lawful immigration proceedings upon Abrego Garcia’s return to Maryland.”
The immigration proceedings may or may not include “lawful arrest, detention and eventual removal,” Xinis said.
Abrego Garcia was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his family and attorneys deny.
He was brought back to the U.S. last month to face charges in Tennessee of allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.S. while he was living in Maryland. He has pleaded not guilty.
On Tuesday, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys accused federal prosecutors of “vindictive and selective prosecution” in a motion seeking to dismiss the criminal charges against him.
In the 25-page filing, the attorneys argued that the government charged him “because he refused to acquiesce in the government’s violation of his due process rights.”
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been singled out by the United States government,” his attorneys said.
Abrego Garcia’s trial in his human smuggling case is set to begin on Jan. 27, 2027.
(PEMBROKE, N.Y.) — A rescue operation is underway after a collision involving a tour bus and a semi-truck in Upstate New York on Friday, officials said.
The “serious crash” occurred on Interstate 90 in Pembroke, near Buffalo, according to New York State Police. Images from the scene showed the bus on its side and a large emergency response.
“Emergency personnel are on scene, and additional ambulances and medical support have been requested,” New York State Police Sgt. Jack Keller said in a statement.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she has been “briefed on the tragic tour bus accident” and that a rescue is underway.
“My team is coordinating closely with @nyspolice and local officials who are working to rescue and provide assistance to everyone involved,” she said in a statement on X.
Authorities have not released any details on possible injuries in the collision.
All lanes on the thruway at Pembroke were closed due to the crash.
“Expect heavy delays and alternate routes of travel,” New York State Police said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
As the search for Emmanuel Haro, a missing 7-month-old child, seen here in this undated photo, continues, officials cannot “rule out foul play” as the mother’s story has contained inconsistencies, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department
(SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif.) — The parents of a 7-month-old child who has been missing for over a week have been arrested for murder, authorities in California announced Friday.
Emmanuel Haro was reported missing on Aug. 14 at approximately 7:47 p.m. local time after the child’s mother “reported being attacked outside a retail store on Yucaipa Boulevard,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement last week.
Stock image of police lights. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images
(DETROIT) — Police are looking for a man they said shot and killed his ex-wife at a hospital in Detroit and then fled the scene.
The shooting occurred before 10 a.m. local time Friday in the basement of Henry Ford Hospital, where the victim worked, according to Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison.
The suspect allegedly fired multiple shots from a handgun after getting into a “verbal altercation” with his ex-wife, Bettison said during a press briefing.
The suspect — identified as 53-year-old Mario Green — then fled the hospital in a 2011 white Dodge Charger, Bettison said. He was captured on video leaving the facility at approximately 9:55 a.m., the chief said.
“He is presumed to be armed and dangerous,” Bettison said. “We expect to have him in custody very, very shortly, but we’re asking for the community’s help.”
Bettison said there is no longer an active situation at the hospital, but it remains a crime scene. No other victims were located following a sweep of the hospital, police said.
Police did not release the name of the victim, who was approximately 40 years old. Bettison said he did not know what she did at the hospital or how Green was able to access the basement.
About a month ago, the victim had filed for a personal protection order against her Green, according to Detroit Assistant Police Chief Charles Fitzgerald.
“Unfortunately, it was not served on her ex husband, so it almost brings us here today, ” Fitzgerald told ABC Detroit affiliate WXYZ.
Green has an address in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and is described as being approximately 6 feet 4 inches.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
