Marco Iacobucci/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(ROME and LONDON) — Pope Francis arrived on Thursday for a meet-and-greet with inmates at a prison in Rome amid the Catholic Holy Week, making a public appearance for one of the first times since his lengthy hospital stay.
The pontiff, 88, made the short drive from the Vatican to Regina Coeli prison to greet about 70 inmates, the Vatican said.
Francis visited the same Roman prison on Holy Thursday in 2018 to celebrate the mass “In Coena Domini” — or The Lord’s Supper — with the traditional rite of washing feet to commemorate what Jesus did to his disciples at the Last Supper.
Francis has remained mostly out of public view since his release in March from Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he’d spent more than five weeks after being diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia.
Francis delegated to two cardinals his role in presiding over this weekend’s Easter masses, The Vatican Press Office said on Wednesday.
Saturday’s Easter Vigil mass will be overseen by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, and Sunday’s Easter mass will be overseen by Cardinal Angelo Comastri, emeritusvicar general for Vatican City, the office said.
Francis also on Wednesday met at the Vatican with medical staff from Gemelli, thanking them for his treatment. Francis appeared in a wheelchair, according to photos released by the Vatican.
“Thank you, and thank you for all you have done. Thank you for being so strong,” he said. “When women are in charge, things work. Thank you, and thank you all. I pray for you and please do it for me. Thank you. And thank you for your service in the hospital, it is very good. Thank you. Keep going like this.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
Extensive fire damage to the Pennsylvania Governor’s Mansion and Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence / Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images
(HARRISBURG, Pa.) — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence as a possible antisemitic hate crime.
“While the local district attorney has not yet filed hate-crime charges, he acknowledged that Governor Shapiro’s religion appears to have factored into the suspect’s decisions,” Schumer wrote in a letter to Bondi on Thursday. “Our federal authorities must bring the full weight of our civil-rights laws to bear in examining this matter. No person or public official should be targeted because of their faith, and no community should wonder whether such acts will be met with silence.”
“I appreciate your strong condemnation of the attack and urge you to ensure that the federal government does everything in its power to pursue justice and uphold the fundamental values of religious freedom and public safety,” Schumer added. “I look forward to your response and to the Justice Department’s continued vigilance in the face of antisemitic violence.”
The fire at the governor’s residence was reported at about 2 a.m. ET Sunday and the family was safely evacuated. The attack occurred hours after the Shapiro family hosted more than two dozen people for the first night of Passover.
Investigators have not released a motive, but search warrants provide the most direct indication of why suspect Cody Balmer allegedly hopped a fence at the governor’s mansion, broke windows and hurled inside Molotov cocktails police said he made from beer bottles and gasoline.
Balmer, 38, called 911 less than an hour after the attack, identified himself and told the call-taker that he will not take part in Shapiro’s plans “for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” a search warrant said. Balmer added that Shapiro needed to “stop having my friends killed.”
“Our people have been put through too much by that monster,” Balmer said, according to the document.
After turning himself in, Balmer allegedly told police he would have attacked Shapiro with a hammer if he happened upon the governor inside the residence, according to court documents.
Balmer faces eight criminal charges, including attempted murder, terrorism and aggravated arson. Prosecutors at this time have not invoked a hate crime law, which in Pennsylvania is known as ethnic intimidation.
Attorney General Pam Bondi strongly condemned the attack in remarks at the Department of Justice on Wednesday, but she declined to label the act “domestic terrorism” or commit to opening a separate federal case against the suspect.
“It is absolutely horrific what happened to him,” Bondi said. “We have been praying for Josh, for his family. Those photos, it was horrible. I firmly believe that they wanted to kill him. … We are working with state authorities to do — it’s now a pending investigation — anything we can to help convict the person that did this and keep them behind bars as long as possible.”
Bondi did not answer a direct question from a reporter about whether she would label the action “domestic terrorism,” as she has repeatedly described the wave of attacks carried out on Teslas and dealerships around the country in recent months.
“Prosecutors will ultimately determine what motivated this,” Shapiro told reporters at the opening of a new Hershey’s Chocolate processing facility in Hershey, Pennsylvania. “The district attorney and the Department of Justice can comment on that further.”
When asked by a reporter if he wants hate crime charges filed, Shapiro said that’s a decision for the district attorney and the Department of Justice.
State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Anadolu via Getty Images
LONDON — Three people, including a child, were killed in a “massive” Russian drone strike overnight on Dnipro, Ukraine, the local governor said.
“Thirty people were injured, five of them children,” Serhiy Lysak, who leads the local administration, said on the Telegram messaging app. The injured later climbed to 31.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine described the strike as a “difficult night,” saying Russia had targeted “ordinary residential buildings, ordinary civilian infrastructure.”
“Tragically, three people were killed by this Russian strike, among them a girl, Veronika — she was only 17 years old,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “My condolences to the families and loved ones.”
The injured included a 9-month-old girl, along with two boys aged 6 and 11, the governor said.
The drones damaged at least 15 buildings in Dnipro, including students dorms and school buildings, Mayor Borys Filatov said on social media.
Rescue workers were busy on Thursday clearing the rubble near a destroyed high-rise building, Lysak said in a post in Ukrainian.
“Someone remembers how this building was built many decades ago, entire generations grew up here,” he said. “A few steps away is a playground, where, next to toys and swings, there are cars destroyed by fire. And then there is rubble and blood.”
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
(NEWARK, NJ) — A Florida man allegedly boarded an Amtrak train in New Jersey carrying ammunition, multiple handguns and an AR-15 style rifle, New Jersey authorities said.
Jeffrey O. Kennerk, 34, of Fort Lauderdale, was indicted on several charges, including aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose and causing or risking widespread injury or damage, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and the Division of Criminal Justice said in a press release on Wednesday.
“This defendant allegedly hauled a small arsenal of deadly weapons and ammunition through busy transit stations, and on a train filled with passengers,” New Jersey’s Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said in a statement.
Transit police at Penn Station in Newark, New Jersey, noticed an unattended black-and-white-zebra-pattern bag on Jan. 3, according to officials. A K-9 team cleared the bag for the presence of explosives, then the officers opened it and found inside a case for a Glock handgun, according to a press release, which cites two complaints and an indictment.
Inside the case was a handgun with a loaded 18-round magazine, officials said. Also in the bag were an AR-style magazine with rifle rounds and a “plastic bag containing a shirt and two boxes labeled 9 mm bullets; four boxes of .223 caliber bullets.”
“A zipped secondary compartment in the suitcase contained a pink duffle bag containing a black Zastava Arms AK-47 style rifle with one round loaded in the chamber and multiple loaded magazines,” the A.G.’s press release said.
After law enforcement found the bag, at about 2:55 p.m., they reviewed camera footage from the station, which appeared to show a man, whom police allege was Kennerk, who was carrying two suitcases, including the one with the zebra pattern.
“The subject walked away, allegedly, leaving behind the zebra print suitcase, and went to the Amtrak ticket window,” officials said. “It was learned that the subject was boarding an Amtrak train bound for Virginia and the next stop would be the Trenton Transit Center.”
Two officers boarded that train as it arrived in Trenton, officials said. When they approached Kennerk, he allegedly showed them a valid Amtrak ticket — although it was for another train. Police officers in Trenton had been notified that Newark officials were searching for Kennerk. He was arrested before he could board his ticketed train, officials said.
“The collective actions of law enforcement eliminated the possible carnage that could have been caused by the weapons involved in this case,” New Jersey Transit Police Chief Christopher Trucillo said in a statement.
As Kennerk was arrested, police searched his second suitcase and found multiple other weapons, officials said. He was allegedly carrying in that “dark maroon colored” suitcase an AR-15-style rifle, along with “multiple caches of ammunitions, multiple extended magazines, and multiple handguns,” officials said.
“The indictment of this individual underscores the severe threat posed by those who amass illegal weapons with blatant disregard for public safety,” said Col. Patrick J. Callahan, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, in a statement.
Deputy Attorney General Karen Bracizewsk, of New Jersey’s Division of Criminal Justice, is expected to lead the prosecution against Kennerk, officials said.
ABC News’ Jessica Gorman and Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(LOS ANGELES) — Hours before a long-awaited, critical hearing in Erik and Lyle Menendez’s attempts to get out of prison, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office indicated it wants to put Thursday’s hearing on hold.
Lyle and Erik Menendez are set to return to court on Thursday for a high-stakes resentencing hearing that could bring them one step closer to potential freedom, despite objections from Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
Now, in a filing late Wednesday, prosecutors have urged the court to obtain a copy of a recently completed risk assessment conducted on the brothers by the California Board of Parole Hearings at the request of Gov. Gavin Newsom. The filing by the district attorney’s office urges the judge to delay the sentencing if the court cannot get a copy of the report in time for the hearing.
“On April 15, 2025, the People were made aware that the Parole Board has completed its Comprehensive Risk Assessment Reports for Lyle and Erik Menendez,” the filing states, later adding, “There is no legitimate reason why the Court should not now possess the most current and up to date risk assessments before making any resentencing decisions in this case. The People believe that the Court should have all available information before making any sentencing decisions in this case.”
“To the extent the Court needs additional time to obtain these documents from the Governor’s office, the People request a continuance as necessary,” the filing adds.
The brothers — who are serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez — are fighting to be released after 35 years behind bars.
If the court decides to move forward with Thursday’s resentencing hearing, a judge will decide whether they deserve freedom. Ten family members are ready to take the stand at the hearing, ABC News has learned, while a prison expert and former inmate may also testify.
On Friday, Lyle and Erik Menendez had a major win in court when the judge ruled in their favor at a hearing regarding DA Nathan Hochman’s motion to withdraw the resentencing petition submitted by the previous DA, George Gascón, who supported resentencing and the brothers’ release.
In the DA’s three-hour argument Friday, he argued the brothers — who were listening to the hearing via video — haven’t taken responsibility for their actions and he called their claims of self-defense part of a litany of “lies.” Hochman also dismissed the brothers’ claim that they were sexually abused by their father.
Menendez attorney Mark Geragos fired back, calling Hochman a “’90s Neanderthal” for refusing to believe the brothers.
The judge on Friday denied Hochman’s motion to withdraw and said the brothers’ resentencing hearing will proceed as planned this Thursday and Friday.
Geragos called the decision “probably the biggest day since they’ve been in custody.”
“They’ve waited a long time to get some justice,” he said.
Hochman said in a statement after the ruling, “We concluded that the case was not ripe for resentencing based on the Menendez brothers’ continuing failure to exhibit full insight and accept complete responsibility for the entire gamut of their criminal actions and cover-up, including the fabrications of their self-defense defense and their lies concerning their father being a violent rapist, their mother being a poisoner, and their trying to obtain a handgun for self-defense the day before the murder.”
“Until the Menendez brothers finally come clean with all their lies of self-defense and suborning and attempting to suborn perjury, they are not rehabilitated and pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety,” he said.
This potential path to freedom gained momentum in October, when Hochman’s predecessor, Gascón, announced he was in support of resentencing.
Gascón recommended their sentences of life without the possibility of parole be removed, and said they should instead be sentenced for murder, which would be a sentence of 50 years to life. Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately with the new sentence.
Gascón’s office said its resentencing recommendations take into account many factors, including rehabilitation in prison and abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascón — who lost his reelection bid to Hochman in November — praised the work Lyle and Erik Menendez did behind bars to rehabilitate themselves and help other inmates.
Over 20 Menendez relatives are in support of the brothers’ release. Several of those relatives spoke with ABC News last week, including cousin Diane VanderMolen, who said Erik Menendez asked her to relay a message.
“They are truly, deeply sorry for what they did. And they are profoundly remorseful,” VanderMolen said. “They are filled with remorse over what they did. And through that, they have become pretty remarkable people.”
Besides resentencing, the brothers have two other possible paths to freedom.
One is their request for clemency to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Newsom announced in February that he was ordering the parole board to conduct a 90-day “comprehensive risk assessment” investigation into whether Lyle and Erik Menendez pose “an unreasonable risk to the public” if they’re granted clemency and released.
After the risk assessment, which Hochman said in the filing is now complete, Newsom said the brothers will appear at independent parole board hearings in June.
The other path is the brothers’ habeas corpus petition, which they filed in 2023 for a review of two new pieces of evidence not presented at trial: a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse from his father, and allegations from a former boy band member who revealed in 2023 that he was raped by Jose Menendez.
In February, Hochman announced he was asking the court to deny the habeas corpus petition, arguing the brothers’ new evidence wasn’t credible or admissible.
(OGDEN, UTAH) — Authorities have rescued a total of 152 dogs living in “extremely poor” conditions from a house in Utah, officials said.
Police in Ogden, Utah, along with Ogden Animal Services officers responded to a residence in the 3000 block of Jefferson Avenue after receiving a report of possible animal neglect, according to an Ogden City Police Department press release.
“Upon arrival and further investigation, officers discovered 152 dogs living in extremely poor and overcrowded conditions,” authorities said. “Due to the scale and severity of the situation, additional support was requested from Weber County Animal Services, Roy Animal Services, and Draper Animal Services.”
All 152 dogs were safely removed from the property and are currently receiving veterinary care, evaluations and shelter support, officials said.
“Weber County Animal Services is working with Ogden City Animal Control to provide safe accommodations for the animals in the hording investigation,” Weber County Animal Services said in a statement. “The animals are currently at the Weber County Animal Shelter in kennels in spare rooms, separate from the other animals in our care to prevent the spread of possible diseases.”
Animal services are now working with rescue groups and partners at other animal shelters to provide medical care and possible relocation for these animals.
“We will inform our community when these animals will be available for adoption and/or fostering. Please note that this is an ongoing investigation,” officials said. “The Ogden Police Department and Ogden Animal Services thank all responding agencies and partners who helped ensure the safety and well-being of these animals.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice filed notice Wednesday that it will appeal the order from a federal judge requiring the government to facilitate the return of wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador, on the same day the it released two documents that were previously used to allegedly tie him to the criminal gang MS-13.
The two forms the government present as evidence — a gang field interview sheet from the Prince George’s County Police Department in Maryland and an additional form from the Department of Homeland Security — base Abrego Garcia’s alleged gang affiliation on his clothing and information from a confidential informant described as a “past proven and reliable source of information.”
The reports provide no other information beyond the clothing and confidential informant to justify the claim that Abrego Garcia is a ranking gang member.
Abrego Garcia is entering his second month in an El Salvador mega-prison after he was deported there on March 15 despite being issued a 2019 court order barring his deportation to his home country due to the fear of persecution.
His attorneys and his wife have denied he is a member of MS-13, and his lawyers have called into question the validity of the document by alleging the detective who authored it was later suspended.
DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told ABC News’ Jay O’Brien on Tuesday that Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador was the result of a “clerical error” and that “he should have been sent to a detention center in Mexico, Nicaragua, Egypt.”
According to the gang field interview sheet – a report of the police’s interaction with Abrego Garcia – he was approached by police in 2019 after they said he was loitering in a Home Depot parking lot in Hyattsville, Maryland.
The report noted that Abrego Garcia wore a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie emblazoned with images of rolls of money covering the eyes and ears of former U.S. presidents, which police claimed tied Abrego Garcia to the gang.
“Officers know such clothing to be indicative of the Hispanic gang culture,” the report said, noting that the meaning of the clothing is “see no evil, hear no evil and say no evil.”
“Wearing the Chicago Bulls hat represents that they are a member in good standing with the MS-13,” the report said.
According to the report, officers contacted a “past proven and reliable source of information” who said that Abrego Garcia was a ranking member of MS-13. Abrego Garcia had the rank of “Chequeo” and had the moniker “Chele,” according to the informant. According to the DOJ, a chequeo is a low level member of MS-13.
The DHS report added that Abrego Garcia was in possession of $1,178 at the time of his arrest.
The report noted that Abrego Garcia was in the company of three other men when he was arrested, one of whom, according to police, had an extensive criminal history and was known as an active gang member. Another was linked to MS-13 based on a confidential source, the report said.
Police said they were unable to link the third man to the gang, writing that “MS-13 gang members are only allowed to hang around other members or prospects for the gang.”
The other document — a DHS I-213 form — cited the Prince George’s County Police Department field interview sheet to claim that Abrego Garcia was “identified” and “validated” as a member of MS-13. Abrego Garcia denied having any information about the gang or human smuggling, according to the DHS report.
An immigration judge who denied Abrego Garcia bond in 2019 cited both reports as the main evidence to conclude he posed a risk to the community.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have highlighted apparent inconsistencies in the DHS report, saying it offers contradictory assessments regarding whether Abrego Garcia feared being removed to El Salvador.
His attorneys have also highlighted that the confidential information linked Abrego Garcia to the Western clique of MS-13, which principally operates on Long Island, where they say he has never lived.
The report also noted that the two other alleged gang members at the Home Depot parking lot were members of a different MS-13 clique.
Wednesday’s developments came a day after U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered government officials to testify under oath because, she said, they had “done nothing to aid in Abrego Garcia’s release from custody and return to the United States,” despite the Supreme Court directing the Trump administration to “‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador.”
Per Judge Xinis’ orders, the Trump administration on Wednesday submitted its daily status update on Abrego Garcia, saying that were “no further updates.”
“Given the government’s prior clear and unequivocal notice to the Court regarding how the government will facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return within the contours of existing law and regulation, there are no further updates,” Joseph Mazzarra, the Acting General Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, said in the update.
(WASHINGTON) — On the heels of a new report showing that rates of autism diagnoses have again increased, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he was determined to find the “environmental exposures” behind the rise and directed the National Institute of Health to launch new studies into “everything” — from mold to obesity — that could potentially be a factor.
Kennedy, who prioritizes autism as one of the chronic illnesses he’s determined to tackle in his aim to “Make America Healthy Again,” ardently pushed back against the explanation that a broadening definition of autism spectrum disorder is a meaningful contributor to more autism diagnoses.
Kennedy said he wanted to “move away” from the idea that “the autism prevalence increases — the relentless increases — are simply artifacts of better diagnoses, better recognition or changing diagnostic criteria.”
“This epidemic denial has become a feature in the mainstream media, and it’s based on an industry canard. And obviously there are people who don’t want us to look at environmental exposures,” Kennedy said, speaking at a press conference at the department headquarters on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
The report Kennedy mentioned — published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — estimated that autism prevalence has increased to 1 in 31 children, which Kennedy called “shocking.”
In 2020, the same report found a prevalence of 1 in 36, and over two decades ago in 2000, the rate was 1 in 150.
Experts in the field agree that the rates of diagnoses are increasing and that environmental factors could be at play — but also say most of the increase can be attributed to the expanding definition of autism, which broadened dramatically in recent decades to include subtler features of the illness, including new descriptors as recently as 2013.
“It’s a fair question” to ask why autism prevalence has increased, Dr. Catherine Lord, a psychologist and autism researcher at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, told ABC News, but she said that it’s also important to acknowledge how much has changed.
“There’s been a huge shift in terms of awareness of autism, particularly awareness of autism without severe intellectual disability, that really changed even since I entered this field,” said Lord.
Studies also suggest that autism risk is heavily rooted in genetics, by as much as 80%.
Dr. Walter Zahorodny, a clinical psychologist and professor who studies autism at Rutgers University, joined Kennedy at Tuesday’s press conference to emphasize that there has been a “true increase” in cases, something he said he has seen throughout his career in New Jersey — though he acknowledged, unlike Kennedy, a wider variety of possibilities, from environmental exposures to other “risk factors.”
“It is a true increase. There is better awareness of autism, but better awareness of autism cannot be driving disability like autism to increase by 300% in 20 years,” Zahorodny said, referring to studies from New Jersey and the CDC report.
Zahorodny said finding the cause was crucial and lamented a lack of progress to “address this question seriously” over his career.
“I would urge everyone to consider the likelihood that autism, whether we call it an epidemic, tsunami or a surge of autism, is a real thing that we don’t understand, and it must be triggered or caused by environmental or risk factors,” he said.
Kennedy on Tuesday acknowledged that the increase in autism diagnoses could be in part caused by increased awareness, but said that still left a large portion of the jump in diagnoses unaccounted for.
He called it “indefensible” to accept awareness as the main reason, describing high stakes of ruined families and “individual tragedy.”
“Autism destroys families, and more importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. These are children who should not be suffering like this,” Kennedy said. “These are kids who will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.”
“We have to recognize we are doing this to our children, and we need to put an end to it,” he added.
Not every case is as severe as Kennedy described, however; many people diagnosed with autism live highly functional adult lives. The recent CDC report found fewer than 40% of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder were classified as having an intellectual disability, meaning an IQ of less than 70.
Dr. Barry Prizant, an adjunct professor in the department of communicative disorders at the University of Rhode Island and director of the private practice Childhood Communication Services, told ABC News that Kennedy’s comments misrepresent what autism is like for families.
“I am not dismissing the challenges. There are considerable challenges, and a lot of those are barriers to services,” he said. “We’ve been doing a parent retreat weekend for 27 years, where we spend a weekend with 60 parents and family members, and we’re not meeting with family members and parents who say, ‘Autism is just a tragedy and it’s hell in our lives.’ They talk about the positives and the negatives, the joys as well as the challenges.”
Autism Speaks also released a statement on Wednesday, calling Kennedy comments “extremely disappointing and damaging.”
“Autism is not a preventable condition,” the nonprofit autism organization said. “The suggestion that it is—especially when linked to environmental toxins without scientific evidence—contributes to decades-old misinformation and distracts from the real needs of autistic people and their families.”
Kennedy said the NIH, led by Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a former professor at Stanford University, will soon announce a series of new studies aimed at identifying precisely which environmental toxins are to blame. Kennedy cited mold, food, pesticides, medicines, ultrasounds, and the age and health of parents as possible culprits.
Kennedy qualified that the study would provide “some of the answers” by September, which is a variation — welcomed by experts — from his claim to President Donald Trump last week that “by September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic.”
However, he also claimed on Tuesday: “We know it’s an environmental exposure.”
Asked by ABC News if he would commit to following the science revealed by the studies, regardless of his current expectations on what’s causing the rise in diagnosis, the secretary said yes.
“We’re going to follow the science no matter what it says,” he said.
Medical experts have been studying the potential causes of autism for decades. Research to date suggests that autism is driven by genetics, and the risk may increase when paired with certain outside factors, such as having children at an older age or exposure to pollutants.
“It’s not simple,” Lord said. “If you look at high-quality publications, the findings are small and, in terms of causes other than the genetics, have been quite hard to replicate. Not meaning they’re wrong, but just that we haven’t quite figured out what they should be.”
HHS or NIH have not provided details about how the new studies will be conducted within the given timeframe, but Kennedy pledged transparency, saying the studies would be conducted in the traditional way of funding to academic institutions through the NIH.
(WASHINGTON) — Governors in several states have recently announced plans to eliminate some unhealthy foods from their food stamps programs, creating momentum for a key component of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
The governors of Arkansas, Idaho and Indiana on Tuesday all said they would submit a waiver to the United States Department of Agriculture requesting permission to prevent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients from using the money to buy candy and soft drinks.
The move follows a similar announcement from the governor of West Virginia last month.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, whose department oversees SNAP, has said she would approve such waivers. She appeared at a press conference Tuesday alongside Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, as Sanders announced her submission of a waiver.
The same morning, Kennedy appeared with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun for a similar announcement.
“You’re setting the stage at the federal level,” Braun told Kennedy.
“This isn’t a usual top-down one-size-fits-all public health agenda,” he said. “We’re focused on root causes, transparent information and real results. We’re taking on big issues like diet-related chronic illness.”
Eating too much added sugar can contribute to health problems such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Guidance from the USDA suggests that added sugar should not represent more than 10 percent of the daily caloric intake for children or adults. Based on a 2,000-calorie intake, that would be 200 calories or approximately 12 teaspoons. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children are eating 17 teaspoons of added sugar per day on average as of 2017-2018.
Kennedy and Rollins have promoted changes to SNAP and have publicly encouraged governors to submit waivers.
Kennedy appeared last month with West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey as he announced he would submit a waiver to ban soda from SNAP.
“The message that I want to give to the country today and to all the other governors is, get in line behind Governor Morrisey and apply for a waiver to my agency, and we’re going to give it to you. That’s the way we’re going to win this,” Kennedy said that day.
As it stands, according to the USDA website, SNAP recipients can use the money to buy fruits and vegetables; meat, poultry and fish; dairy products; breads and cereals; “other foods such as snack foods and non-alcoholic beverages”; and seeds and plants.
SNAP money may not be used to purchase alcohol or tobacco, among other things.
Experts say the state efforts to add soda and candy to the prohibited list is likely to be effective in shifting SNAP recipients away from junk food.
“If they have to spend their own money on junk food, they’re not going to buy as much junk food,” Marion Nestle, a professor emerita of public health at New York University, told ABC News.
But Nestle indicated it could be difficult for states to define what should be excluded from SNAP benefits.
“Candy can have nuts, it can have raisins, it can have other kinds of things in it that are real foods and are healthier,” she said.
An Idaho bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Brad Little defined candy as “a preparation of sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners combined with chocolate, fruits, nuts, or other ingredients or flavorings in the form of confections, bars, drops, or pieces.”
The bill’s definition of candy does not include “any item that contains more than ten percent flour by weight or requires refrigeration.”
Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food Is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, told ABC News, “We need to try a lot of different things” to make Americans healthier, and expressed optimism about the state-level efforts to overhaul SNAP.
“If we make the program meet all its goals, including nutrition, which is in its name, then that strengthens the program,” he said.
Vani Hari — a healthy food activist also known as the Food Babe, the founder of Truvani and a front-facing leader of the MAHA movement — called this “a do-or-die moment” for American health.
“We need to question any legislator that doesn’t sign these bills, there is no legitimate reason to allow high fructose corn syrup water in government funded nutritional dollars. Governors who stand with Secretary Kennedy’s vision of MAHA will change the course of history of American health – it’s a do or die moment and we’ve never had momentum like this before,” Hari told ABC News in a statement.
(WASHINGTON) — Election denier and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell continues to refuse to pay more than $50,000 in sanctions he has been ordered to pay to voting software company Smartmatic over “frivolous” election claims — alleging he’s left with no money after numerous legal battles.
“I’m in ruins,” a teary Lindell said through a Zoom screen during a motion hearing in the U.S. District Court in Washington on Wednesday, pleading to Judge Carl Nichols to allow him to wait until after the final judgement comes out to make any payment in the case, which he has already lost.
Last month, Smartmatic filed a motion to hold Lindell in contempt, alleging the MyPillow CEO has been dodging his court-ordered payment of $56,369 to Smartmatic for months.
Lindell, however, insisted that he does not have the means to pay the amount due to various financial difficulties he has suffered over the last few years due to what he again claimed was “lawfare” waged against him for trying to “secure the election.”
“I borrowed everything I can. Nobody will lend me any money anymore,” Lindell claimed. “I can’t turn back time … but I will tell you, I don’t have any money.”
Lindell claimed he was recently forced to lay off hundreds of MyPillow employees, lost multiple MyPillow warehouse units over the past two years and even owes millions of dollars to the IRS for what he described as a COVID-era employee retention credit.
He claimed he has “nothing” except for two houses, which he claimed are in the process of being liquidated, and a truck.
He even claimed he can no longer adhere to a previously proposed plan of making monthly installments of $5,000.
After listening through Lindell’s plight, Nichols acknowledged that these claims are “non-verifiable representation” at the moment and gave Lindell until Friday to file under seal financial statements and other documents to prove his claims.
“I have nothing to hide,” Lindell said as he agreed to do so and added he wants Smartmatic to see the financial situation he’s in as well.
Smartmatic’s attorney said his client would prefer to see the payment made in a lump sum as soon as possible but acknowledged he would respect the judge’s ruling.
