(NEW YORK) — The East Coast is bracing for severe thunderstorms on Monday from New York down to South Carolina, potentially impacting more than 60 million Americans.
The biggest threats are lightning, large hail and wind gusts up to 70 mph.
Airlines have cancelled more than 1,400 flights due to the severe weather, with airports in New York City, Boston and Atlanta getting hit the hardest.
A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect through Monday night for Baltimore and Washington, D.C., as well as parts of western New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
Damaging winds are expected to hit Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City, while flood watches have been issued from Virginia to New York.
Meanwhile, more than 300,000 customers are without power across Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia and Michigan in the wake of rough storms.
Severe weather this weekend spawned at least 20 reported tornadoes across the Midwest.
There were three confirmed tornadoes in Indiana, killing at least one person and damaging or destroying dozens of homes, local authorities said.
In Lonoke County, Arkansas, two people were killed when a tree fell on a mobile home, a coroner official told ABC News.
Another person was killed by a fallen tree in Fulton County, Georgia, local authorities said.
ABC News’ Matt Foster, Mariama Jalloh, Emily Shapiro and Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.
(NEWTON, Mass.) — A couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and a relative in her 90s were found stabbed and bludgeoned to death in a Boston area home over the weekend, prompting authorities to warn residents to lock their doors and be vigilant as investigators work to identify the killer, officials said.
The victims were discovered dead Sunday morning in their home in Newton, Massachusetts, after a friend went to the residence to check on them when they did not show up for a church service, according to police.
Killed in what police believe was a “random” act of violence was a couple in their 70s who was celebrating a golden wedding anniversary and the wife’s mother, who is in her 90s and lived them, authorities said.
As of Monday morning, the assailant or assailants in the triple homicide remained unidentified and at large, striking fear into residents of Newton, a city of 87,453 people which was ranked in a 2022 SafeWise report as the second safest city for families in America.
“This is the night to lock your doors and windows,” Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said at a news conference Sunday night. “We are asking people if they hear or see something suspicious, please call the Newton police immediately.”
A friend called 911 at 10:14 a.m. on Sunday to report finding the three victims dead inside the home from stab wounds and blunt trauma, according to a statement released by the Newton Police Department.
A preliminary investigation found evidence suggesting forced entry was made into the home, and police are investigating whether the incident is connected to an attempted home break-in Sunday morning at a residence about a half-mile from where the slayings occurred, police said.
Ryan said investigators have not found evidence linking the attempted burglary to the homicides, but added, “That’s why we are concerned particularly about the safety issue.”
The names of the victims were being withheld by police pending autopsies by the Middlesex County Medical Examiner.
Ryan said the couple who was killed were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this weekend.
“As you can imagine, this would be tragic on any day, but to have family gathered for this kind of celebration makes it particularly tragic,” Ryan said.
Newton police are asking neighbors of the slain couple to check their doorbell cameras and other video surveillance equipment for anything suspicious and report it to police.
“As far as the Newton Police Department, we won’t rest until we find out who did this and we find justice for the victims that were involved here,” Newton Police Chief John Carmichael said at the news conference.
(EAGLE PASS, Texas) — Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that he would seek to eliminate the constitutional guarantee of citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States.
So-called “birthright citizenship” has long been considered protected under the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to all individuals “born or naturalized in the United States.”
That language has largely kept conservatives who oppose it from challenging it in court, though former President Donald Trump in 2018 promised an executive order to eliminate it, a threat on which he never followed through.
Trump, the current frontrunner in the Republican primary, has again promised to strike the protection if elected.
In a detailed list of immigration objectives he released on Monday, DeSantis, who also spoke to supporters and reporters in the Texas border town of Eagle Pass, pledged to “take action to end the idea that the children of illegal aliens are entitled to birthright citizenship if they are born in the United States.”
“Dangling the prize of citizenship to the future offspring of illegal immigrants is a major driver of illegal migration. It is also inconsistent with the original understanding of 14th Amendment, and we will force the courts and Congress to finally address this failed policy,” he added.
“This idea that you can come across the border, two days later have a child, and somehow that’s an American citizen — that was not the original understanding of the 14th Amendment and so we’ll take action to force a clarification of that,” he told reporters at a news conference.
DeSantis has expressed opposition to birthright citizenship before, saying in a Fox News interview during his 2018 run for Florida governor, “I don’t think that that’s a good policy.”
However, DeSantis seemed skeptical that courts would uphold an executive order banning the policy.
“The way the courts have ruled on it, I think there’s a question about, can you do an executive order? Can you do legislation? Do you need an amendment?” he said on Fox.
In a different interview in 2018, he told a Florida CBS station, “I think it would be good to have the courts finally resolve it.”
“It has never been finally determined whether someone who is transiently in the country – whether as a tourist or here illegally – whether that 14th Amendment would apply to that,” he said then. “I tend to think the original interpretation of that would not apply, but I think most of the court decisions lean toward, if you’re born here, you do it.”
The language in DeSantis’ immigration policy rollout seemed delicately framed to leave open how he would attempt to challenge the policy.
A spokesman for his campaign did not respond to a question about whether the governor would seek an executive order.
DeSantis introduced more than 30 other policy proposals on Monday, including several geared toward building a wall along the southern border and others aimed at holding drug cartels accountable.
DeSantis pledged to deport people who overstay their visas, tax remittances from undocumented immigrants, and end the policy of catch-and-release.
He also vowed to increase the salaries of Border Patrol agents and strengthen the penalties for people who traffic fentanyl into the United States.
DeSantis has involved himself in border issues as Florida governor, drawing scrutiny from Democrats last year for organizing flights to Martha’s Vineyard for migrants who critics allege were lured under false pretenses.His office organized similar flights this month to Sacramento.
“No more excuses, right? I think that’s what you’re going to hear from Governor DeSantis,” Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican representing a San Antonio-area district, told reporters before DeSantis spoke in Eagle Pass.
“No excuses, enforce the law. No excuses, knock the knees out from under cartels who are targeting Americans, endangering us with fentanyl, empowering China. He’s a no-nonsense guy and America needs a no-nonsense president who can restore this country to sanity,” Roy added.
(MOSCOW) — Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed Saturday on an “attempted armed rebellion,” the Kremlin said, after the leader of the mercenary Wagner Group claimed control of military facilities in Rostov-on-Don, a key Russian city near the Ukrainian border.
Forces loyal to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mercenary leader, were traveling north toward Moscow in the “most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.
Jun 26, 2:56 PM EDT
Putin to make statement following attempted rebellion
Russian President Vladimir Putin is slated to make public statements Monday evening, according to Russian media.
This will be his first public comment since the failed Wagner Group attempted rebellion.
-ABC News’ Natalia Shumskaia and Ellie Kaufman
Jun 26, 12:52 PM EDT
Biden says US, NATO not involved in Wagner rebellion
President Joe Biden spoke out addressed the Wagner Group’s actions over the weekend.
He said the U.S. and its allies convened on Friday when the rebellion began.
“They agreed with me that we had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse, let me emphasize, gave Putin no excuse to blame this on the West or to blame this on NATO,” Biden said at a news conference at the White House.
The president added that the incident was “part of a struggle within the Russian system.”
-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler
Jun 26, 12:44 PM EDT
European leaders respond to Wagner attempted rebellion
The European Union Foreign Affairs Council met Monday and discussed the attempted rebellion by the Wagner paramilitary group over the weekend.
Josep Borrell, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, told reporters at a news conference after the meeting that “the situation remains complex and unpredictable” and 27 EU states are remaining vigilant.
U.K. Foreign Minister James Cleverly released a statement Monday claiming the “Russian government’s lies have been exposed by one of President Putin’s own henchmen.”
“Prigozhin’s rebellion is an unprecedented challenge to President Putin’s authority, and it is clear that cracks are emerging in the Russian support for the war,” he said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Jun 26, 12:18 PM EDT
‘We had no goal of overthrowing’ the government: Prigozhin
Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin released an 11-minute recording Monday explaining why his troops reversed course on their campaign against Moscow over the weekend.
Prigozhin said the purpose of the “march” was to prevent losses of his troops “and to bring justice to all persons who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during” the war in Ukraine.
“We had no goal of overthrowing the regime,” he added, referring to Putin’s government.
Prigozhin said that the march escalated after their convoy was hit by a missile attack from Russian forces.
Prigozhin said that the marched stopped when his troops approached “Moscow deployed artillery.”
“We did not want to shed Russian blood. We went to demonstrate our protest and not to overthrow the government in the country,” he said.
He claimed that several of his troops were wounded and two were killed.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman, Natalia Shumskaia and Tanya Stukalova
Jun 26, 5:47 AM EDT
Ukrainian forces appear to cross river into occupied Kherson
The Ukrainian military has landed troops on the Russian-held eastern bank of the Dnipro River across from the city of Kherson, according to Russian reports.
Media posted online by pro-Russian accounts suggested small boatloads of Ukrainian soldiers have managed to establish a small beachhead at the foot of the destroyed Antonivskiy Road Bridge that spanned the river before Ukraine brought it down last year.
The size of the Ukrainian force on the bank is unclear, but Russian accounts suggested it was relatively small.
Some Russian accounts posted dramatic video showing fighting on the eastern bank, including what appears to be a Russian armored vehicle firing intensively at Ukrainian soldiers as it recovers Russian wounded.
The video was undated but Russian reports suggested around several dozen Ukrainian troops landed on June 24 and Russian airborne units have been trying to dislodge them since.
Another video shows a small boat carrying perhaps a dozen Ukrainian soldiers landing by the ruined bridge, coming under shell fire.
The Russian military blogger account, Two Majors, reported a small group of Ukrainian soldiers had succeeded in digging in around the bridge. It noted Russian forces had been forced to pull back to a distance from the bank because their positions had been flooded after the Kakhovka dam was blown up earlier this month.
Russian military bloggers said Russian aircraft and artillery were firing on the Ukrainians Monday.
If Ukraine is able to keep hold of its foothold, it will put further pressure on Russia’s forces in the south, already battling to hold back Ukraine’s counteroffensive on the Zaporizhzhia front.
In the wake of Saturday’s short-lived attempted rebellion against the Kremlin by the Wagner private military company, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled oligarch considered one of Putin’s best-known opponents, told ABC News he supports the mutiny and encourages Russians to back the leader of the mercenary group.
Once Russia’s richest man, Khodorkovsky, a Putin opposition activist, spent 10 years imprisoned after he challenged Putin, his case now considered a foundational moment for Putin’s regime.
When Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters marched on Moscow Saturday before making a sudden about-face, Khodorkovsky was notable among Russia’s pro-democracy opposition in calling on people to support Prigozhin, arguing that allowing him to remove Putin would create an opportunity for the democrats.
Khodorkovsky told ABC News he believed Prigozhin’s actions were a real coup attempt and that it had “seriously undermined” Putin’s power. He predicted that similar opportunities to collapse the regime will be launched soon.
“The blow to Putin’s reputation, to the authorities’ reputation, was absolutely fantastical,” Khodorkovsky said. “Putin’s government today is, without a doubt, strongly undermined by what happened — his authority, his ability to control the security services is seriously undermined.”
Khodorkovsky said Prigozhin’s march on Moscow had undermined Putin’s popularity, showing neither ordinary Russians nor the security services were prepared to act to protect him.
“Along the entire route of Wagner’s columns, no one in any way tried to hinder him (Prigozhin). Even the security forces did not try to stop him,” Khodorkovsky said. “It showed that, in fact, inside the country, Putin has an absolute void.”
Khodorkovsky said he did not support Prigozhin himself — considering him a “war criminal” — but that the democratic opposition should have sought to help him overthrow Putin, and then taken power from him after.
Khodorkovsky criticized other parts of the anti-Kremlin opposition who attacked him for calling on people to assist Prigozhin, saying he believed the opposition had “slept through” the opportunity and suggesting it should have sought to stage a rebellion in Moscow at the same time.
“There will definitely now be more such opportunities because of Putin’s weakening. But the next time we need to simply be more ready,” said Khodorkovsky, who is living in exile in England. “If an uprising had started in Moscow to meet Prigozhin then a situation could have developed quite differently.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Jun 24, 6:53 PM EDT
US official says it’s a ‘mystery’ why Prigozhin stopped march to Moscow
A senior U.S. official says it is a mystery as to why Yevgeny Prigozhin stopped his march to Moscow given that he was seemingly in a dominant position.
The official said he was greeted as a hero in Rostov-on-Don. However, the senior official told ABC News that Prigozhin is in an “emotional state,” and perhaps did it because he thought this would destroy Russia, or because he glimpsed his own end. It is impossible to tell whether Prigozhin thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin will actually honor their deal which included allowing Wagner group soldiers to be folded into the Russian military.
The official said that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko was very effective, telling Prigozhin and Putin that this was all a misunderstanding and that they are both patriots and aligned for the same goals.
Putin is said to be completely shocked by how fast Wagner Group moved through Russia. For now, he is just trying to secure his position. He does not want to be seen negotiating over his defense minister, but the official says the U.S. believes concessions were made over Sergei Shoigu’s future as well as others.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
Jun 25, 3:56 AM EDT
Moscow highway restrictions remain, Russian media reports
Travel restrictions remained in place on Sunday on the major M-4 highway near Moscow, according to Russia’s state-run media.
“According to the previously issued regional decisions, traffic restrictions remain in force on the M-4 Don highway near the Moscow Region and the Tula Region,” the federal road agency said, according to TASS.
The security checkpoints had been put in place Saturday as a column of Wagner Group forces traveled toward Moscow. Roadblocks in southern Russia, including in Rostov-on-Don and the Krasnodar Region, were reportedly lifted.
“All previously imposed restrictions on highways have been lifted,” TASS reported, citing a branch of the Russian Interior Ministry.
-ABC News’ KJ Edelman
Jun 24, 10:20 PM EDT
‘Gang of 8’ briefed about Wagner Group movements
Senior congressional leaders were briefed about the ongoing situation in Russia, according to a congressional aide.
U.S. intelligence officials told the so-called “Gang of Eight” — the top Republicans and Democrats currently in congressional leadership– in recent days about potentially concerning movements of Wagner Group forces and equipment build-ups near Russia. However, it was unclear to U.S. intelligence what was going to happen and when.
-ABC News’ Trish Turner
Jun 24, 5:18 PM EDT
Blinken holds call with Turkish counterpart for ‘ongoing situation in Russia’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Saturday with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss the ongoing situation in Russia.
“Secretary Blinken reiterated that U.S. support for Ukraine will not change. The United States will stay in close coordination with Allies and partners as the situation develops,” spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Blinken also spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday to discuss the situation in Russia, Miller said. Blinken reiterated that support by the U.S. for Ukraine will not change.
The U.S. will stay in close coordination with Ukraine as the situation develops.
-ABC News Shannon K. Crawford
Jun 24, 4:45 PM EDT
Wagner chief will not be prosecuted, Kremlin says
Yevgeny Prigozhin will go to Belarus to ease tensions and the fighters of PMC Wagner Group who took part in the so-called “campaign” against Moscow will not be prosecuted, the Kremlin said Saturday evening.
The rest will be able to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense, the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“In the end, we managed to resolve this situation without further losses, without raising the level of tension,” Peskov said.
“An agreement was reached that PMC Wagner would return to their camps,” he added.
Jun 24, 2:55 PM EDT
Wagner Group chief orders mercenaries to halt march on Moscow
The Wagner Group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said he has ordered his mercenaries to halt their march on Moscow and return to their field camps, saying he wants to avoid shedding Russian blood.
Prigozhin made the announcement in an audio message posted on his Telegram channel.
Russian state media has shown Wagner fighters packing up and reportedly leaving Rostov.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and thanked him for his efforts de-escalating the situation.
Jun 24, 1:12 PM EDT
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff cancels trip to Israel, Jordan due to situation in Russia
Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has canceled his planned trip to Israel and Jordan due to the situation in Russia. The trip was to have begun Saturday.
Milley also spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
“They discussed the unprovoked and ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and exchanged perspectives and assessments. The Chairman reaffirmed unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” according to Joint Staff spokesperson Col. Dave Butler.
The Pentagon said Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is monitoring the ongoing situation in Russia and will continue to be briefed on any significant developments.
Jun 24, 12:47 PM EDT
Moscow suspends schools, events until July 1
Andrey Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, has suspended mass events outdoors and at educational institutions until July 1.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin urged residents to refrain from traveling around the city. Monday was also declared a non-working day for the city. Sobyanin said that a counter-terrorism regime was declared in Moscow and that the situation was difficult.
Jun 24, 12:34 PM EDT
Biden speaks with leaders of France, Germany, UK about ‘situation in Russia’
President Joe Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about the developments in Russia.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were also briefed by their national security team on the developments in Russia and will continue to receive updates throughout the day, the White House said Saturday.
Jun 24, 10:11 AM EDT
Wagner troop column 300 miles south of Moscow, Russian media says
The governor of the Lipetsk region, which is about 300 miles south of Moscow, said a column of Wagner troops has been spotted in the region, Russian state media reports.
Jun 24, 9:15 AM EDT
What is the Wagner Group?
The Wagner Group is a private military organization run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, with tens of thousands of fighters, according to U.S. officials.
Earlier this year, the U.S. labeled the group a “significant transnational criminal organization” and levied new sanctions, while human rights observers this week said they suspected Wagner fighters were linked to the mass killing of people in Mali last year.
Government reports, statements from U.S. officials and insights from experts, as well as other sources, shed light on the Wagner group’s history and goals, its alleged wrongdoings and its importance to Russia — in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world.
Jun 24, 7:24 AM EDT
NATO monitoring Russian situation, official says
A NATO representative said the alliance was watching what was happening in Russia on Saturday.
“We are monitoring the situation,” spokesperson Oana Lungescu said.
Jun 24, 6:31 AM EDT
‘Operational combat’ underway north of Rostov, official says
A governor of the Voronezh region, about 300 miles south of Moscow, says Russia’s armed forces are conducting “operational combat operations” there as part of “counter terrorism operation.”
Earlier the region’s government reported a column of Wagner Group fighters was moving through the region, an area between Rostov-on-Don and Moscow.
“In the bounds of the counterterrorist operation on the territory of the Voronezh region, the armed forces of the Russian Federation are conducting necessary operational combat operations,” the official said. “We will inform further about the development of the situation.”
Jun 24, 6:03 AM EDT
Russia in ‘so much chaos that no lie can hide it,’ Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia appeared to be suffering “full-scale weakness” after the Wagner Group mercenaries said they’d taken hold of a key Russian city.
“Russia used propaganda to mask its weakness and the stupidity of its government. And now there is so much chaos that no lie can hide it,” he said on Twitter.
Jun 24, 5:47 AM EDT
Prigozhin responds to Putin, says Wagner not going to surrender
The Wagner Group’s Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s calling him a “traitor,” by saying he will not surrender or turn back.
“Putin was deeply mistaken about the betrayal. We are patriots of our homeland, we fought and are fighting,” Prighozin said in an audio message. “No one is going to turn around at the request of the president, the FSB or anyone else, because we do not want the country to live longer in corruption, deception and bureaucracy.”
Prigozhin accused Russia’s military of targeting a Wagner column with helicopters and jets.
Jun 24, 5:37 AM EDT
Chechen leader backs Putin, says forces moving into ‘zones of tension’
The powerful head of Chechnya, the semi-independent Russian region, Ramzan Kadyrov, said on Saturday he supported President Vladimir Putin.
Kadyrov saiud he fully backs Putin and called Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s actions “treacherous.”
Kadyrov has tens of thousands of heavily armed fighters. He said his forces are already moving to “zones of tension.”
It raises prospect of Chechen forces fighting with Wagner Group troops.
Kadyrov has previously been friendly with Prigozhin — his coming out in support of Putin is a boost for Putin, but also raises prospect of serious clashes in Russia.
Jun 24, 5:27 AM EDT
Next 48 hours ‘will define’ Russia, Zelenskyy advisor says
Russian leaders are “now choosing which side they are on,” an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday.
“The next 48 hours will define the new status of Russia,” Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter. “Either a full-fledged Civil War, or a negotiated Transit of Power, or a temporary respite before the next phase of the downfall of the Putin regime.”
He added, “A deafening ‘elite’ silence is in Russia so far…”
Jun 24, 3:52 AM EDT
Uprising ‘significant challenge’ to Russian state, UK says
Members of the mercenary Wagner Group have begun moving north “almost certainly aiming to get to Moscow,” in what amounts to the “most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.
“Over the coming hours, the loyalty of Russia’s security forces, and especially the Russian National Guard, will be key to how the crisis plays out,” the ministry said on Twitter.
Jun 24, 3:25 AM EDT
Putin: Wagner Group moves are ‘stab in the back’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said moves taken by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime ally, to bring his troops into a key Russian city amounted to a “stab in the back.”
Putin didn’t mention Prigozhin by name, but said that “necessary orders have been given” to defend Russia in a recorded address aired on Russian television on Saturday.
“Actions that divide our unity are in essence defeatism before one’s own people,” he said. “This is a stab in the back of our country and our people.”
Jun 24, 3:12 AM EDT
Kremlin briefs Putin on ‘attempted armed rebellion’
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed by the country’s security agencies about what was referred to as an “attempted armed rebellion,” according to Russia’s state-run media.
The late-night statement from Putin’s spokesman suggested that the Kremlin considered Wagner Group’s move into Rostov-on-Don, a key Russian city close to the border with Ukraine, to be a “rebellion.”
Wagner’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in an audio message on Friday claimed his forces would now punish Russia’s defense minister and chief of general staff, telling other units to stand down and not offer resistance.
“Special services, law enforcement agencies, namely the Ministry of Defense, the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rosgvardiya, in round-the-clock mode, constantly report to the president on the measures taken in the context of the implementation of the instructions previously given to him,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.
Jun 24, 2:42 AM EDT
Wagner Group claims control over Rostov military facilities, airport
Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, said on Saturday that the headquarters of the Southern Military District and all military facilities in Rostov-on-Don were under his control.
Prigozhin in a video demanded that Kremlin bring him Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Sergei Shoigu.
He also threatened in the video that he would go to Moscow.
“We will destroy anyone who stands in our way,” he said in one of a series of video and audio recordings posted on social media.
He added, “We are moving forward and will go until the end.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden Monday announced how $42.5 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law he championed will be distributed to expand high-speed internet access across the country.
The funding will go to all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories, and is aimed at bolstering internet access particularly for the 7% of people who live in underserved areas, according to the White House.
Biden called it an “equally historic investment” as the effort under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to bring electricity to rural America.
“For today’s economy to work for everyone, internet access is just as important as electricity or water or other basic services,” he said.
With White House remarks announcing the funding, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris plan to kick off a three-week pitch aimed at touting their administration’s investments across the country — from the 2021 infrastructure law and a host of other legislation they argue is starting to make concrete improvements in Americans’ lives.
It comes as Biden faces political headwinds on his handling of the economy, which consistently is a top issue for voters heading into the 2024 elections.
On Wednesday, he is scheduled to deliver what the White House is billing as a major speech on “Bidenomics” – what his advisers have labeled his economic philosophy of investing in the middle class.
It’s an attempt to rebrand a message Biden has repeated time and time again on the 2020 campaign trail and as president.
Over the next three weeks, top administration officials plan to fan out across America to show how legislation he has championed – his infrastructure law to the CHIPS and Science Act, a coronavirus relief package and more – is beginning to result in tangible benefits for people, like new jobs, new bridges and now, new internet access.
Harris has already traveled the country promoting high-speed internet access, and the president often asks audiences to imagine if they had to drive to a McDonald’s parking lot for their child to use the eatery’s internet to do their homework.
Biden’s chief of staff likened the push to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Rural Electrification Act, which delivered electricity to farming families across the country, saying that decision “helped transform rural America.”
“For millions of Americans in rural communities in particular, the internet is down a lot,” White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zeints told reporters Sunday. “Sometimes there’s not even any access, and we all know from our day-to-day lives how internet access is not a ‘nice to have’ at this point – but it’s a ‘need to have’–a ‘must have.'”
A senior Biden administration official told reporters the investments would create “over 150,000 construction-type jobs. from laborers to electricians to communications workers.”
High-speed internet service is unavailable in about 8.5 million locations in the United States, or about 7% of the country, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
States will learn Monday how allocations will work, with every state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico receiving at least $100 million, according to the Biden administration.
The president will take his economic message on the road Wednesday, when he travels to Chicago to talk more broadly about how the economy under his watch by many metrics, particularly job growth and low unemployment rates.
“Bidenomics is rooted in the simple idea that we need to grow the economy from the middle out and the bottom up—not the top down,” two of his senior advisers, Anita Dunn and Mike Donilon, wrote in a memorandum released Monday.
As an incumbent, Biden has the advantage of using his office to travel the country and talk about the actual, concrete impacts his policies have had on Americans’ economic well-being.
But he has a long hill to climb.
With stubborn inflation, it remains to be seen whether Biden can convince folks that they’re better off now – or will be better off with him in the presidency for four more years, instead of a Republican.
Last month, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found that Americans by 54-36% said former President Donald Trump, who is running for president again, did a better job handling the economy when he was in office than Biden has done in his term so far.
His advisers argue he has a lot to talk about: a transformative infrastructure law; the CHIPS and Science Act, which they say will jumpstart domestic manufacturing; and various other investments through the coronavirus relief package.
“If ‘Reaganomics’ was based on the idea that if you cut taxes for the wealthiest corporations, the wealthiest people in the society, and then at some point the remnants of those will trickle down to the middle class and the working class, Bidenomics is the exact opposite,” Dunn said during a Monday interview with MSNBC. “Bidenomics says that the way you grow the economy in this economy is you grow the middle class.”
(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) — The suspect in a mass shooting at LGBTQ bar Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that left five people dead accepted a plea deal Monday.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, who identifies as nonbinary, has pleaded guilty to five counts of murder in the first degree, 46 counts of attempted murder in the first degree. They pleaded no contest to two bias-motivated crimes.
Aldrich will receive five consecutive life sentences without the possibility for parole on the murder charges, according to Judge Michael McHenry. Aldrich will also receive 46 consecutive 48-year sentences for the attempted murder counts followed by mandatory periods of parole, according to the judge.
“Like too many other people in our culture, you chose to find a power that day behind the trigger of a gun. Your actions reflect the deepest malice of the human heart and malice is almost always born out of ignorance and fear,” said McHenry.
He continued, “The sentence of this court is the judgment of the people of the state of Colorado that such hate will not be tolerated and that the LGBTQ+ community is as much a part of the family of humanity as you are.”
They will plead no contest to “a class five felony bias-motivated crime and class one misdemeanor bias-motivated crime” with associated sentences, according to McHenry. They will also be sentenced to three years and 364 days respectively for the bias-motivated crimes.
Daniel Davis Aston, Kelly Loving, Derrick Rump, Ashley Paugh and Raymond Green Vance died in the attack. At least 19 people were also injured in the shooting.
“Ashley was an amazing woman who always showed so much love and kindness toward people,” Paugh’s sister, Stephanie Clark, said in court Monday. “My world was shattered the morning of Nov. 20.”
“The screams and the cries” of Paugh’s daughter after learning about her mother’s death “are forever etched in my mind,” Clark said, wishing Aldrich could hear it for themself.
“Raymond was 22 years old — a kind, loving, gentle man who touched a lot of people’s hearts,” said Adriana Vance, the mother of Green Vance. “He was always there for his family and friends … he never harmed a soul.”
Loving’s sister, Tiffany Loving, remembers her as “my compass, my best friend, my sister.”
“Just like that my sister become a number of a violent statistic” regarding the disproportionate rate of violence and victimization facing the transgender community,” Tiffany Loving said in a statement. Loving was a transgender woman. “She loved herself and wanted others to unapologetically be themselves.”
Investigators and witnesses said Aldrich opened fire as soon as they walked into Club Q before midnight on Nov. 19, 2022. Patrons at the venue tackled Aldrich, subduing them until police arrived, according to witnesses.
“You shot up my family,” said Laura Kent, the mother of Wyatt Kent, one of the survivors of the shooting whose partner and close friend were killed in the attack, at the hearing. “You will never understand the devastation you’ve caused.”
In February, preliminary hearings were held on whether the case against Aldrich was strong enough to move forward. Their defense attorneys focused on Aldrich’s mental health and highlighted Aldrich’s history of drug use and claimed they suffered abuse at home to counter the messaging that Aldrich was motivated by hate.
“Aldrich’s behavior after this incident says they’re sorry, upset and emotional about what they did,” defense attorney Joseph Archambault said in court. “It’s categorically different than someone who targets a group, and that’s not what Aldrich did.”
Lead investigators for the state said Aldrich administered and ran a website that hosted a “neo Nazi white supremacist” shooting training video, according to testimony from lead detective Rebecca Joines in the preliminary hearings. Joines also said that Aldrich used gay and racial slurs when playing video games online, in testimony aimed at Aldrich’s bias charges.
The defense has not openly commented on the case, as per Office of the State Public Defender policies.
(NEW YORK) — The East Coast is bracing for severe thunderstorms on Monday from New York and Connecticut down to South Carolina, potentially impacting more than 86 million Americans.
The highest threat will be lightning, large hail and wind gusts up to 70 mph.
Airlines have cancelled more than 1,000 flights due to the severe weather, with airports in New York City, Boston and Atlanta seeing the biggest impacts so far.
The cities in the bullseye of Monday’s storms will be Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Philadelphia.
New York state’s Hudson Valley and New York City as well as parts of Connecticut are also under threat for severe storms.
A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for parts of western New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware though 9 p.m.
Meanwhile, more than 350,000 customers are without power across Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Georgia in the wake of rough storms.
Severe weather this weekend spawned at least 20 reported tornadoes across Iowa, Michigan and Indiana.
On Sunday alone, there were four reported tornadoes in Indiana, killing at least one person and damaging or destroying dozens of homes, local authorities said.
In Lonoke County, Arkansas, two people were killed when a tree fell on a mobile home, a coroner official told ABC News.
Another person was killed by a fallen tree in Fulton County, Georgia, local authorities said.
ABC News’ Matt Foster, Mariama Jalloh and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Monday, in his first public comments addressing the short-lived rebellion that unfolded this weekend against Russian military leaders and threatening the rule of President Vladimir Putin, insisted that the U.S.and its NATO allies were in no way involved.
Biden said he directed his national security team to prepare for “a range of scenarios” as soon as the chaotic scene developed in Russia Friday, and convened with key allies over a virtual video call.
“They agreed with me that we had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse, let me emphasize, gave Putin no excuse to blame this on the West or to blame this on NATO,” Biden said.
“We made clear that we were not involved,” the president continued. “We had nothing to do with it. This was part of a struggle within the Russian system.”
Biden said the “ultimate outcome of all this remains to be seen but no matter what comes next, I will keep making sure that our allies and our partners are closely aligned in how we are reading and responding to the situation.”
“It’s important we stay completely coordinated,” he said.
NEW: Pres. Biden addresses Wagner Group uprising against Vladimir Putin.
“We gave Putin no excuse to blame this on the West or to blame this on NATO. We made clear that we were not involved…This was part of a struggle within the Russian system.” https://t.co/Uv9QNDRjfQpic.twitter.com/UwI5Svu9ua
Notably, he did not characterize what had happened, referring to it as “the situation.”
“We’re gonna keep assessing the fallout of this weekend’s events and the implications for Russia and Ukraine, but it’s still too early to reach a definitive conclusion about where this is going,” Biden said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC’s “This Week” Sunday the failed mutiny showed “serious cracks” in Putin’s power.
“Where they go, if anywhere, when they get there, very hard to say,” Blinken added. “I don’t want to speculate but I don’t think we’ve seen the final act.”
Biden said he spoke “at length” with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with another call between the two leaders expected later Monday or earlier Tuesday to “make sure we continue to remain on the same page.”
“I told him that no matter what happened in Russia, let me say it again, no matter what happened in Russia, we the United States will continue to support Ukraine’s defense and its sovereignty and its territorial integrity,” Biden said. “He and I agreed to follow up and stay in constant contact.”
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told ABC News he believes the brief mutiny marks “the beginning of the end” of the war in Ukraine.
“Russia has accumulated a lot of internal problems, but they are not ready to accept defeat because it would put an end to two decades of its domination in global processes,” Podolyak said.
The armed rebellion was spearheaded by the paramilitary Wagner Group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who on Friday accused Russian forces of deliberately shelling his troops.
By Saturday morning, Prigozhin announced his mercenaries had seized the Southern Military District and military facilities in the key border city Rostov-on-Don and were marching toward Moscow. But by Saturday night, the march was suddenly called off.
The Kremlin said Sunday that Prigozhin would not be prosecuted and would move to Belarus as part of a deal brokered to end the Wagner Group’s advances. The deal includes allowing Wagner group soldiers to be folded into the Russian military.
Prigozhin, in his first remarks since the mutiny, released a video Monday in which he claimed he had “no goal of overthrowing” the government and that he stopped the march to prevent bloodshed.
(NEW YORK) — With less than one week to go until the Fourth of July holiday weekend, here’s what you need to know before hitting the highway or heading to the airport.
The roads
About 43.2 million people are expected to hit the road for the July 4th holiday — up 2.4% from 2022 and up 4% from 2019, according to AAA.
The quietest days to travel by car are anticipated to be Sunday, July 2, and Monday, July 3, according to transportation analytics company INRIX.
If you’re heading for the highway on Friday, June 30, the worst traffic is forecast to be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to INRIX.
If you’re driving home on Wednesday, July 5, the worst traffic may hit from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Rental cars are averaging $47 per day, down 25% from the same time last year, according to Hopper.
The skies
More than 24 million are expected to fly out of U.S. airports from June 29 to July 5, with June 29 and June 30 expected to be the busiest travel days, according to Hopper.
But flight prices are dropping. Hopper said domestic tickets are more than $100 cheaper than they were last year.
American Airlines said it expects to fly nearly 3 million passengers from June 30 to July 4, with July 2 as its busiest day.
United Airlines said it’s planning to carry nearly 5 million passengers from June 30 to July 9, with June 30 as its busiest day.
United said its bookings are up 12% from 2022 and are now “nearly equal” to pre-pandemic levels.
The most popular U.S. destinations for the holiday are New York City, Los Angeles and Orlando, Florida, according to Expedia.
The most crowded airports are anticipated to be Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport, according to Hopper.
(NEW YORK) — As a pediatrician, Dr. Kristina Lehman knows the ins and outs of the evidence around breastfeeding better than most.
But as a mother, she also knows that breastfeeding is hard and that following evidence-based guidelines isn’t possible or the choice for everyone.
“I’m more proud of my breastfeeding relationship than even my [medical degree],” Lehman, who is also a breastfeeding medicine specialist, internal medicine physician and associate professor at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told ABC News.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that infants be exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of life and continue breastfeeding along with other food until two years of age.
Research shows breastfeeding has many benefits, including decreased infant infections and childhood cancers as well as a decreased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer in the mother.
But only about a quarter of women meet those recommendations, according to data shared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts said that’s partly because health care and social systems aren’t set up to support breastfeeding.
The gap may mean groups like the AAP should consider adjusting their recommendations to remove the emphasis on exclusivity regarding breastfeeding and amend the two-year time frame due to the unattainable standard for so many, argued Seattle physician Dr. Amy Kennedy in a recent editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“I encourage the AAP and other national health organizations to consider how their statements on exclusive breast-feeding are perceived by the public,” Kennedy wrote. “Everyone’s journey is different.”
But other experts said increasing support is the best way to close the gap — not changing the guidelines. Last week, Lehman and Dr. April Castillo, a preventive medicine physician and breastfeeding specialist, published an article in response on the physician-facing website KevinMD.
They argued that the health care system — including doctors themselves — needs to improve the support of women in their infant feeding choices.
The lack of social support, limited education for physicians around breastfeeding, and marketing from the formula industry adds to the stress, anxiety and isolation during an already fraught time, according to Dr. Anne Eglash, a family medicine physician and president of the North American Board of Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine.
Postpartum depression and anxiety — which affect 1 in 8 people after delivery, according to the CDC — can make the process even more challenging.
The current system makes it difficult for parents to actually make a choice either way, according to Eglash, who told ABC News that “no one is supporting” parents.
Eglash described a situation in which medical providers tell the public people should breastfeed, but then send new parents, “out to run that marathon and there’s a desert and no one’s offering any water.”
Changes that could help might include improving doctors’ education around breastfeeding, putting resources towards systems that can help parents find infant feeding experts like lactation consultants, and increasing awareness around postpartum depression, according to Eglash and Castillo.
There also need to be more resources around mixed feeding, which combines breastfeeding and formula feeding, Castillo told ABC News.
But even with improvements in support, meeting guidelines still might still not be feasible for some parents, according to Kennedy.
She said she had many resources at her disposal and a supportive partner, but breastfeeding was difficult for her. She said she wasn’t able to exclusively breastfeed for six months, much less breastfeed for two years.
Still, all the experts agreed that people feeding infants need compassion, regardless of the way they navigate the journey.
“I think a lot of women think that it is all or nothing. And so when they try all and it’s too hard, they totally quit instead of backing off a little bit. But that’s where you need that individualized support to be able to say, what are your goals?” Lehman said. “It’s a conversation and it has to be individualized.”
Eglash noted that the goals aren’t the problem — the system needs to change to help people have the best possible experience.
“I think the big thing is that we all want babies fed, right? And we want parents to meet their intentions, to have the right to feed their babies the way they intend,” Eglash said.
Danielle Craigg, MD, is a senior general preventive medicine and public health resident at Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
