(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration’s ban on transgender service members faces its next legal test Tuesday when a federal appeals court considers the legality of the policy.
A group of 32 transgender service members and recruits sued the Trump administration over the policy in January, and at least three different federal judges have since blocked the ban from taking effect.
“The Court’s opinion is long, but its premise is simple. In the self-evident truth that ‘all people are created equal, all means all. Nothing more. And certainly nothing less,” Judge Ana Reyes wrote in a ruling last month blocking the policy.
The Trump administration has asked the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to overrule Judge Reyes’ decision, arguing that gender dysphoria “limits deployability and imposes additional costs on the military” and is “not compatible with military readiness and lethality.”
Lawyers with the Department of Justice have argued that the courts should defer to military leadership about the best way to run the armed services.
“Plaintiffs offer no sound basis for concluding that the line the military has once again drawn falls outside constitutional bounds,” DOJ lawyers wrote.
But lawyers representing the transgender service members have pushed back on the Pentagon’s claim, arguing the Trump administration has provided no evidence of the harm stemming from the policy.
They argued that allowing the policy to take effect would “trigger an explosive and harmful trip wire, causing reputational, professional, and constitutional harm that can never be fully undone.”
The appeal will be considered by a federal judiciary reshaped by the Trump administration, with two of the three judges hearing Tuesday’s appeal not only nominated by Trump but also previously served in his first administration.
(WASHINGTON) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will move to phase out the remaining eight artificial food dyes from America’s food supply within two years, his department announced Monday, a significant escalation in his fight to rid the country’s food of additives that studies suggest could be harmful.
Kennedy and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary will offer details on Tuesday afternoon in Washington, D.C.
Tuesday’s announcement will target artificial dyes that are used in cereal, ice cream, snacks, yogurts and more.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration in January started the process to ban one artificial dye, Red No. 3, which will need to be removed from food by January 2027 and from medications by 2028 because it was shown to cause cancer in rats.
Kennedy will now seek to remove the eight other petroleum-based dyes approved by the FDA.
The secretary is expected on Tuesday to announce the approval of additional natural dyes, a person familiar with the plans told ABC News.
It is not yet clear what enforcement mechanism Kennedy will seek to implement the new changes.
The two-year timeline Kennedy is expected to announce comes after he told food industry leaders at a meeting last month that he wanted their companies to remove artificial dyes from their products by the end of his four-year term, according to a memo describing the meeting, which was obtained by ABC News.
Kennedy’s announcement Tuesday would speed up that process — and alert companies that Kennedy intends to make good on his warning quickly.
From candy to breakfast cereal to medication, synthetic food dyes are in a wide range of products that Americans consume. Studies suggest their vibrant color makes food more appealing and could even increase appetite.
The health effects of the dyes are not fully understood, but many other countries have either banned the additives outright or required food packaging warning labels about the health risks.
All dyes have the potential to spark allergic reactions for a small minority. Several dyes have been linked to hyperactivity and behavioral problems in children or have been shown to cause cancer in mice or rats — but none have shown to cause cancer in humans.
Already, red and blue states alike have taken matters into their own hands in removing artificial food dyes from certain foods. Both West Virginia and California have passed laws to ban a handful of food dyes from school lunches, with plans to extend the ban to a broader, statewide level too.
In West Virginia, the ban on artificial dyes in school lunch will go into effect in August, making it the first state in the country to implement such restraints. In California, it will take effect in 2028.
Twenty-six other states, from Iowa to Washington and from to Texas to Vermont, are considering similar legislation around banning food dyes or other chemical additives in foods, according to a list compiled by the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization that focuses on chemicals and toxins.
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment within California’s Environmental Protection Agency in 2021 concluded a two-year study into seven synthetic food dyes that found associations with certain neurobehavioral outcomes in some children.
Researchers also found that the FDA’s current level of “acceptable daily intake” levels for the dyes may be too high to protect children from the potential behavioral impact, the report said.
(WASHINGTON) — Worldwide protests against Tesla CEO Elon Musk over his role in the Trump administration have coincided with a sales slump and stock woes at the electric carmaker.
Little will be known about the precise impact on Tesla’s bottom line, however, until the company releases its earnings report on Tuesday afternoon. That announcement holds implications for Musk, the world’s richest person, who derives much of his wealth from his Tesla holdings.
The release of the new financial details arrives as some shareholders have called on Musk to step down from his White House role and return full-time to the helm of Tesla.
Musk, whose temporary status as a government employee expires next month, will likely face questions about his plans during a conference call with analysts after the earnings release.
“We view this as a fork-in-the-road time,” Dan Ives, a managing director of equity research at the investment firm Wedbush and a longtime Tesla booster, said in a memo to investors on Sunday.
Tesla shares have dropped in value by roughly half from an all-time high in December. Most of those losses have come since President Donald Trump took office and Musk began his controversial governmental cost-cutting efforts as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Tesla remains a top electric carmaker but the company faces growing competition, especially from Chinese firms such as BYD.
Deliveries of Tesla vehicles over the first three months of 2025 dropped about 13% compared to the same period a year ago, the company said earlier this month.
When Tesla announced the decline in deliveries, the company made no mention of its CEO but did say that a “changeover of Model Y lines across all four of our factories led to the loss of several weeks of production in Q1,” but added that “the ramp of the New Model Y continues to go well.”
Tesla sold fewer cars in 2024 than it did the year prior, marking the company’s first year-over-year sales decline in more than a decade, earnings released in January showed.
As rivals have challenged Tesla’s dominance in the electric vehicle market, the company has promised a future revenue stream from autonomous taxis, also known as robotaxis.
Musk announced in late January that the company would roll out its robotaxi test program in Austin, Texas, in June. But within days, China-based competitor BYD unveiled advances in self-driving technology, which the company said was set to be included in models costing as little as $9,600.
Tesla boasts a more complete domestic supply chain than its rival U.S. carmakers but the company remains vulnerable to auto tariffs of the type President Trump imposed earlier this month, according to Musk.
“To be clear, this will affect the price of parts in Tesla cars that come from other countries. The cost impact is not trivial,” Musk said in a post on X in late March.
Gordon Johnson, CEO and founder of data firm GLJ Research, who is bearish on Tesla, voiced concerns about the company in a memo to investors on Monday, saying that the automaker faces a mix of “operational, financial, and reputational challenges.”
“Is Tesla facing an existential crisis?” Johnson added.
(WASHINGTON) — Do parents of public school children have a constitutional right to opt-out their kids from classroom lessons involving storybooks that feature LGBTQ themes or characters?
The Supreme Court will tackle that question Tuesday in a closely watched First Amendment case that comes as the Trump administration moves to empower parents and root out diversity and inclusion initiatives across the U.S. education system.
A group of parents, including Muslims, Orthodox Ukrainians, Christians and Jews from Montgomery County, Maryland, claim constitutional protections for religious exercise mean they must have an opportunity to exempt their children from any instruction on gender or sexuality that may be counter to teachings of faith.
“We’re under no illusion, they’ll learn about these things, but in the formative years, what ultimately we could not agree with [Montgomery County Public Schools], is where inclusion stopped and indoctrination started,” said Wael Elkoshairi, who is homeschooling his fourth-grade daughter because he says the books infringe on his Muslim faith.
The school board, made up of locally elected representatives, says the purpose of education is to expose children to a broad mix of people and ideas — and that the Constitution does not guarantee students the right to skip lessons inconsistent with their beliefs.
Lower courts sided with the board. The justices will now take a closer look at whether the county’s refusal to grant an opt-out to parents illegally burdens their religious rights.
“The case is a good illustration of the fact that public schools are at ground zero in the culture wars,” said Jim Walsh, a Texas lawyer who represents school boards and is a member of the National School Attorneys Association.
“We all want the school to reflect our values, but we don’t agree on our values. And certainly issues about same-sex marriage, the rights of lesbians and gays, are right at the center of that,” he said.
Starting in 2022, Montgomery County — one of the most diverse counties in the country — introduced a series of LGBTQ-themed storybooks for reading in elementary school classrooms under a statewide mandate to be more inclusive of the diversity of families and children attending the schools.
The local school board, which closely consulted with educators in approving the curriculum, maintains that the books do not take a side on issues of gender or sexuality and that teachers are instructed not to teach or enforce any particular view.
Among the illustrated titles is “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding” by Sarah Brannen, about a young girl who worries her close relationship with a beloved uncle will change after he marries his male fiance. “Prince & Knight” by Daniel Haack presents a fairy-tale narrative about a blossoming romance between the main characters after a dramatic rescue from a dragon.
“Nothing in my book is any different than most fairy tales that have some sort of romance at the center of it,” said Haack. “Nothing different than “Sleeping Beauty” or “Cinderella” or any of those.”
In the book “Intersection Allies,” a group of three sociologist authors set out to simplify complex ideas about identity, including what it means to be nonbinary.
“We wrote this to affirm kids who are left out of the stories that we often tell,” said LaToya Council, one of the authors. “This book is not saying that, you know, your child has to choose to be transgender. It’s saying respect someone who is trans and their ability to seek spaces that are comfortable for them.”
Chelsea Johnson, another of the book’s authors, insisted nothing in the text asks anyone to change their beliefs. “Schools and parents and communities are partners with each other and helping kids make sense of the world and we don’t have to opt our kids out to do that.”
Montgomery County guidelines advise educators to make the storybooks available for students to read on their own, to read aloud, or share in reading groups. Teachers are instructed not to advance a particular viewpoint about sexuality or gender with respect to the characters.
At first, during the 2022-2023 school year, the board allowed parents to opt-out their kids from any lessons involving the books, but it later changed course, denying any opt-outs.
“When I was in school, I was opted-out of sex ed because I wasn’t ready, and my parents didn’t feel it was appropriate for the teachers to talk about it, and it didn’t hurt anyone,” said Billy Moges, a mother of three and devout Christian, who pulled her kids from Montgomery County schools because of the books.
“The problem with some of these books, though, as well, is they were love stories, so it was not just exposure to LGBTQ characters. These were love stories,” said Elkoshairi.
School officials explained in court documents that administering an opt-out program became too cumbersome to manage, led to higher rates of student absenteeism, and was ultimately inconsistent with an educational mission of supporting all types of families.
“These books are representing the community that is surrounding these children,” said Emily McGowan, who mothers second- and sixth-graders with her wife Sharon in Montgomery County. “You cannot deny that we exist. We live here, our kids go to school here.”
The McGowans say opt-outs over LGBTQ stories harm the children whose family lives are represented in the books.
“The idea that 10 of their classmates get to get up and walk out because there’s two mommies in this book — What is the message that’s sent to our kid who has two mommies?” said Sharon McGowan. “That something is so offensive about this that they get to walk out and maybe they even get to go to the playground and have extra play time?”
Nearly every state gives parents the ability to opt-out their children from sex education classes but opt-outs for LGBTQ issues vary widely by community and are often decided by board members elected by local parents, Walsh said.
“We can all understand parents having strong feelings about when and how is my child going to be taught about sexual issues. So, there are more opt-outs about this than anything else. But if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the plaintiffs in this case, it’s not gonna stop with just sex and gender issues. It will cover a wide variety of things that parents may have objections to,” he said.
The case comes as the Trump administration has vowed to give more control over education to local leaders and communities. But even in places where school boards are choosing to prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion in their curriculum — like Montgomery County — some conservatives are still pushing to override policies.
“The school board has decided to disrupt the thinking of their children on an area that has long been understood as going to the core of parental authority for their children, on sex and gender,” said Will Haun, a senior attorney at Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the plaintiffs before the Supreme Court. “In that area, the First Amendment absolutely protects the parents.”
“The democratic process is important, and that’s where we debate curriculum,” Haun added, “but here we’re talking about restoring an opt-out right, which is not a challenge to the curriculum.”
Wael Elkoshairi insists he harbors no ill will toward LGBTQ families and says he isn’t calling for a ban on any books. But he hopes the high court — as a matter of faith — will give parents greater control.
“When people have differences of opinion on certain things, accommodations work well to relieve everybody, and we move on,” Elkosairi said.
As for the McGowans, they are hoping the court’s conservative majority holds the line.
“The fact that the Court took the case at all — I don’t have reason to believe that they took the case to affirm the importance of inclusion in the public schools,” said Sharon McGowan. “If harm is done by their decision, we will figure out what we need to do at a personal and a community level to mitigate that harm.”
A decision in the case is expected by the end of June.
(TATAKOTO, FRENCH POLYNESIA) — A possible “biological treasure chest” of corals located in an underwater lagoon off a remote island in the South Pacific appear to be surviving extreme heat stress caused by climate change, scientists say.
In the pristine waters off a French Polynesian island in the South Pacific, a team of marine biologists believes it has made a “miracle-like” discovery — a type of coral which can survive in abnormally warm water.
The coral lives in a semi-enclosed underwater lagoon, within which the water temperature is significantly higher than the swirling South Pacific Ocean beyond.
The lagoon is situated off the remote island of Tatakoto, and in the warmest month of March, water temperatures can reach a sizzling 95 F (35 C) which is about 7 F to 9 F (4 C or 5 C) higher than the wider ocean, according to France’s National Scientific Research Center (CRNS), which is behind the study.
In extreme heat events, which scientists say have become more frequent around the world because of our planet’s changing climate, abnormally warm water temperatures can “bleach” corals, which are a vital food source and habitat for a vast array of marine organisms.
Bleaching means the coral loses the algae living in its tissues, turning it white. Coral struggles to survive in this state.
The warming of seas and oceans, which scientists say is primarily driven by human-amplified climate change, has contributed to the death of large areas of coral reef right across the globe, putting fragile underwater ecosystems at risk.
For four years, the team of marine biologists led by Dr Laetitia Hédouin — in a joint partnership with the marine research non-profit 1ocean.org — has been studying what they say are thermoresistant “super corals” living and “thriving” inside the abnormally warm lagoon off Tatakoto.
Hédouin told ABC News that she and her colleagues are carrying out further studies on the corals, but she is already confident the corals seem to have developed some type of “biological mechanism” that helps them survive.
Last year, French Polynesia experienced a “super long and super strong” marine heat wave that bleached other coral reefs elsewhere in French Polynesia in less extreme water temperatures, according to Hédouin.
It was “almost like a miracle” that the corals survived in the lagoon, because the sea water there is “way warmer” than the ocean outside, Hédouin said.
The aim of the mission is to study whether the so-called super-resistant corals can live and reproduce in new environments outside of the warm lagoon, and potentially survive extreme heat events that have bleached other corals.
The mission has the backing of UNESCO, the lead U.N. agency on ocean research. UNESCO described the corals found in the lagoon as “remarkable specimens” and said the study in French Polynesia could pave the way for the development of “new strategies to repopulate coral reefs worldwide.”
Hédouin and her team have planted cuttings of the heat-resistant coral from the lagoon in another area of the archipelago to see if they can adapt and thrive in a more typical environment where the sea temperature is lower.
If the corals from Tatakoto can survive being moved — a process known as “assisted migration” — then scientists behind the project hope the island could become “a biological treasure chest” of heat-resistant corals that would help restore damaged reefs elsewhere in the world.
The project is being documented by French underwater photographer and 1ocean.org founder Alexis Rosenfeld, who described the lagoon off Tatakoto as a symbol of hope because it represented what he said is humankind’s ability to “live better” with nature.
Rosenfeld said he and his team were documenting this project and others like it through photos and film to “build awareness” of the need to protect fragile ecosystems in our oceans and seas.
(JACKSON, NH) — A 39-year-old man has died in a skiing accident after going off a trail he had been traversing near a ski resort in New Hampshire, police said.
The incident happened on Sunday at the Black Mountain ski area in Jackson, New Hampshire, at approximately 5:51 p.m. when Officer Mike Mosher of the Jackson Police Department responded to a report of a skiing accident from a passerby, according to a statement from the Jackson Police Department.
“The initial report was that a skier had gone off the trail and was seriously injured,” authorities said.
However, when police arrived on the scene, they discovered that the situation was worse than previously reported.
“Mountain ski patrol reported to ‘Upper Maple Slalom’ trail to aid the patient,” police said. “The area of the accident was near the summit. Upon arrival they found an unresponsive adult male with significant injuries on the edge of the snow line to the left of the trail.”
Life saving measures were immediately put into effect as authorities evacuated the man — identified as 39-year-old Eric Page of Bartlett, New Hampshire – to the base area.
“Additional life-saving efforts were provided by Bartlett Jackson ambulance personnel but were unsuccessful and the patient was declared deceased,” police said.
The crash was unwitnessed, according to the Jackson Police Department.
“The New Hampshire medical examiner’s office was notified and ordered the decedent to be taken to Furber and White Funeral Services in North Conway, New Hampshire,” authorities said.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
(COLORADO SPRINGS, CO) — A 13-year-old girl has died after falling approximately 25 feet through the attic floor of an after-school program, police said.
The Pueblo Police Department in Colorado say they received a call on Friday evening at approximately 7 p.m. from somebody at the Rocky Mountain SER after-school head start program, according to ABC News’ Colorado Springs affiliate KRDO.
When they arrived, officers said they found a 13-year-old — later identified as Joeylin Kenley McDonald by her family — dead at the scene, according to KRDO.
While it is currently unclear what led up to her fall, the Pueblo Police Department say they are investigating the incident and that they have not determined whether this is a criminal matter, though police did confirm that she was with a group of juveniles when it happened, according to KRDO.
“Joeylin was the brightest soul in the world,” said McDonald’s aunt, Caitlyn Valdez, in a statement obtained by KRDO. “She is smart, headstrong, beautiful, sassy, sweet, caring and one hell of a hard worker … Mourning the loss of such a beautiful soul will be a daily task for the rest of our lives. Joeylin is one of a kind and will never be forgotten.”
The administration also released a statement following McDonald’s death, saying her death is a “tragic loss within our community.”
“Joeylin was a bright and beloved light in our community, and her sudden passing is a devastating blow to all who knew and loved her,” Rocky Mountain SER said in a statement. “While the exact circumstances of this tragedy remain under investigation, we ask the Pueblo community and beyond to join us in lifting in loving support and deep prayer for Joeylin, her family, friends, and all who are grieving during this unimaginable time.”
McDonald is survived by her five siblings, two parents and extended family.
(NEW YORK) — The wife of pro-Palestinian demonstrator Mahmoud Khalil gave birth to their first child while he remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention.
Khalil, who is being held at a detention center in Jena, Louisiana, was denied a request for temporary release to meet their son, according to emails reviewed by ABC News.
Khalil’s lawyers requested a two-week furlough, noting that his wife, Dr. Abdalla, had gone into labor “eight days earlier than expected,” an email addressed to New Orleans ICE ERO Field Office Director Mellissa B. Harper shows.
In the email, the lawyers also recommended that Khalil could be placed in ankle monitor and could do check-ins with ICE.
Harper denied the request, writing in an email, “After consideration of the submitted information and a review of your client’s case, your request for furlough is denied.”
Dr. Noor Abdalla released a statement after the birth, saying, “My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud. ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom.”
On April 11, an immigration judge ruled that Khalil is removable after Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked a section of the law that deemed him deportable because, the government claimed, his continued presence in the US would have an adverse consequence on foreign policy.
The Louisiana judge has given Khalil’s lawyers a deadline of April 23 to file applications for relief to stop his deportation. The judge said if they failed to make the deadline, she would file an order of removal to either Syria or Algeria.
While a student at Columbia University, Khalil was part of a leadership group protesting the war in Gaza. Khalil took part in negotiations with school administrators demanding the institution cut ties with Israel and divest from Israeli companies. Khalil finished his graduate studies at Columbia in December and is set to graduate in the spring.
He was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at his Columbia housing in March.
Andy Alfaro/The Modesto Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(LOS ANGELES) — After investigating the case for more than a year, the Los Angeles Innocence Project has filed voluminous evidence it says shows Scott Peterson did not murder his wife and unborn son in 2002.
In a nearly 400-page petition to the California Court of Appeals, filed Friday night, the LA Innocence Project argued Scott Peterson is innocent and his conviction should be overturned.
Laci Peterson, who was 27 years old and eight months pregnant, disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002. Her body was found in San Francisco Bay in April 2003.
Scott Peterson, now 52, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife and second-degree murder in the death of their unborn son. A jury found him guilty following a six-month trial in 2004.
The Los Angeles Innocence Project claims Scott Peterson was denied his rights to due process and a fair trial because jurors did not hear evidence over two decades ago that they argue could have affected the outcome of the trial, and police and prosecutors did not fairly investigate the case, and even destroyed possibly critical evidence.
“In my opinion, once the police locked onto Mr. Peterson as the prime suspect, they had no interest in finding evidence showing that someone other than Scott may have abducted Laci Peterson because that evidence did not fit with their working theory of the case,” LA Innocence Project director Paula Mitchell stated in the filing. “In addition to ignoring the eyewitness reports, the police turned a blind eye to other exculpatory evidence that would have exonerated Mr. Peterson.”
She said she believes police press releases included information “indicating to the public that police did not believe Mr. Peterson’s alibi, almost from day one.”
“This created a domino effect and ultimately created a tidal wave of media attention focused on Mr. Peterson as the prime suspect in the case,” she continued.
In their filing, the LA Innocence Project claims they have new scientific evidence that shows the date of the death of the Petersons’ unborn child was later than claimed at trial, and that an expert in water movement can prove that Laci Peterson’s body was not dumped where police said it was in December 2004 — two points they say would undermine the prosecution’s case.
“This new evidence undermines the prosecution’s entire circumstantial case against Petitioner, and shows that the jury relied on false evidence, including false scientific evidence, to convict him,” the petition states. One of the attorneys on the case said that in her entire career, she has never seen exculpatory evidence this strong.
The filing also makes multiple claims of new evidence and witnesses involving two crimes they say happened around the same time as Laci Peterson’s disappearance near the Petersons’ home — a burglary at a neighbor’s home and a burned van in Modesto’s Airport District.
Last year, a judge did not let them test for Laci Peterson’s DNA on a bloodstained mattress found in the van, so his attorneys do not know if her DNA is on that mattress. Prosecutors have argued that testing on one of the mattress cloths found male DNA, so no further testing would be required. The LA Innocence Project said it has sought “more precise DNA testing to determine if there is a link to the crimes in this case.”
A judge did grant them access to review some discovery in the case from the trial in 2004, including police interview transcripts and case files.
“Every aspect of the prosecution’s theory as to how the crimes in this case were committed has now been shown to be false,” the petition states.
The petition also includes a 126-page declaration from Scott Peterson, who did not testify during his trial, in which he maintains his innocence and says he was wrongfully convicted of murder.
“It is important to me that whoever killed my wife and son be found and held accountable,” he stated. “If whoever committed such violence against Laci and Conner is still at large they are a danger to public safety. It is also important to me that I clear my name and my family’s name because I did not and could never harm or kill my family.”
The filing asks the court to vacate the judgment and sentences, among other possible forms of relief.
The LA Innocence Project also submitted an application seeking permission from the court to file the oversized petition, as it is in excess of the allowed 25,500 words.
The Court of Appeal said Monday that a decision on the application may take several days. If the application is granted, the court said it will then file the petition and lodge the exhibits. If the application is denied, it will reject the petition but may allow a shorter one to be filed.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, said it won’t comment on the petition until it is filed by the court and they read it.
Scott Peterson has previously appealed his conviction, claiming he received an unfair trial based on possible jury misconduct.
A judge denied him a new trial in 2022 following his appeal on stealth juror accusations.
Prosecutors and police who were involved in the original trial have stood behind the 2004 conviction.
Scott Peterson was initially sentenced to death for the murders. In 2020, the California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence, citing that his jury was improperly screened for bias against the death penalty, according to court documents. He was later resentenced to life in prison without parole.
(VATICAN CITY) — Pope Francis’ death is bringing renewed attention to his historic virtual town hall in 2015, during which he connected with followers via satellite, demonstrating how modern technology can bridge distances and bring the Catholic Church closer to its people.
Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, died Monday at the age of 88. The Vatican announced that the pope died from a stroke followed by heart failure, as mourners worldwide gathered to honor his legacy of compassion and inclusivity.
Francis’ death followed a series of worsening health problems, including a respiratory crisis that left him in critical condition back in February.
During his decade-long papacy, Francis broke new ground in many ways, including a 2015 virtual town hall with Americans that showcased his dedication to connecting directly with the faithful.
ABC News and “World News Tonight” revisited the pope’s historic town hall, where he participated in a virtual audience with Americans from across the country, moderated by ABC News anchor David Muir.
The groundbreaking event, held Aug. 31, 2015, marked the first time a pope had ever engaged in such direct dialogue with Americans through virtual technology. The conversation revealed Francis’ characteristic warmth and accessibility, moving many participants to tears.
The pope spoke for nearly an hour via satellite to groups including Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago; Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, Texas; and homeless individuals and outreach workers in Los Angeles.
Throughout the conversation, the pontiff responded directly to participants’ questions and provided encouraging words of wisdom.
“It really touched my heart. It really made me feel that he is really connecting with us,” Ricardo Ortiz, 19, told ABC News at the time, after speaking to Francis from the church in McAllen.
Valerie Herrera was 17 when she shared her story with Pope Francis about struggling with a rare skin disorder and turning to music to cope with bullying. In a touching moment during the virtual town hall, the pope asked her to sing for him.
As cheers filled the room at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago, Herrera sang a song of her choice, moving many in the audience. The pope thanked her with his characteristic warm smile.
Now 26 and working as a nurse outside Chicago, Herrera reflects on that transformative moment.
“When I think about Pope Francis, I remember his warming and welcoming smile when he asked me to sing for him,” Herrera told ABC News. “That’s the face I will always remember.”
Herrera detailed how the moment with the pontiff inspired her in her carrer and personal life, saying it “taught me to just to be more of a woman of faith that is here to serve others, that is here to provide care as a nurse.”
“I have the responsibility to care for those that are under my care. I have the responsibility to provide and give everything that I have in order to ensure that people are healing, people are getting better, and to provide the love and compassion that family members and patients really need in their time of weakness when they’re sick,” Herrera said.
Members of the audience who did not get a chance to ask the pope a question were still equally touched by the event, including Adam Nichol, a formerly homeless man who lives and works at the Midnight Mission.
“This experience touched me, and it will be something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life,” Nichol told ABC News at the time.
The virtual town hall remains a testament to Francis’ pioneering efforts to modernize the Church’s outreach while maintaining its focus on compassion, social justice, and connecting with those on society’s margins.
