The scene of a shooting in Midtown NYC on Dec. 4, 2024. WABC
(NEW YORK) — Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed by a masked man near a Midtown Manhattan hotel early Wednesday, according to police sources.
The shooting appears to be targeted but police do not know why, sources said.
Thompson was not staying at the Hilton outside of which he was shot, sources said.
Thompson was in New York City for an investors conference and his schedule was widely known, police sources said.
The gunman, who was wearing a ski mask, fled down an alleyway near West 55th Street and remains at large, police said.
The suspect is described as a skinny man wearing all black who stands at about 6-foot-1, police said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, said on Wednesday he will not “back down” after new misconduct allegations have caused growing concern among Republican lawmakers.
“I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers. The Left is afraid of disrupters and change agents. They are afraid of @realDonaldTrump — and me. So they smear w/ fake, anonymous sources & BS stories. They don’t want truth. Our warriors never back down, & neither will I,” Hegseth wrote on X.
His comments come as a number of senators have privately signaled that they are not inclined to vote to confirm Hegseth as Trump’s next defense secretary, leading Trump’s advisers to begin discussing who may be a viable replacement, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Sources tell ABC News that at least six senators have privately indicated that they don’t intend to vote for Hegseth amid the growing allegations, including about his mistreatment of women.
Multiple sources also tell ABC News that Trump and Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke about the job Tuesday and DeSantis expressed interest in it.
Hegseth is expected to be back on Capitol Hill Wednesday for meetings with more senators.
(BOULDER, CO) — As the new Netflix docuseries “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?” reinvigorates public interest in the 1996 case, JonBenet Ramsey’s father said he’s more encouraged now than he’s been in a long time that the person who killed his 6-year-old daughter will be found.
“I’ve been trying for years to break the roadblock in the [Boulder, Colorado] police department, which has been there almost from day one. And we’ve made some, I think, significant progress,” John Ramsey told “Nightline” on Tuesday.
“They’ve done some changes internally. New police chief, they got rid of some of their not-performing detectives. And we have an open, pretty open communication line with the chief of police.”
“The media attention and pressure, I think, has shaken them up,” he added.
On the morning of Dec. 26, 1996, John and Patsy Ramsey woke up to find their daughter, beauty queen JonBenet, missing from their Boulder home and a handwritten ransom note left on the stairs. Hours later, John Ramsey discovered her dead in their basement.
JonBenet’s autopsy determined she was sexually assaulted and strangled, and her skull was fractured. Unknown DNA was found under her fingernails and in her underwear.
John Ramsey, Patsy Ramsey and their son were cleared as suspects in 2008.
Ramsey hopes new DNA technology using genealogy research could help police solve the case — and he wants the Boulder Police Department to share with him what they’re doing.
“When I talked to the chief of police a couple of months ago — maybe it’s been a little longer — he said, ‘Well, we don’t think DNA technology is there yet to do additional testing, and we’re doing some things, but I can’t tell you about it,'” Ramsey said.
“I firmly disagree with the fact that technology is not there yet. It is there. I’ve met with the founders of one of the premier labs. … They told me what they can do. They’d like to participate, they’d like to help.”
Joe Berlinger, who directed the new Netflix docuseries, told “Nightline” that the Ramseys were “brutalized by an unfair process that [police] largely contributed to — the idea that [the family members] were actually the killers. And in response to that, just good karma dictates that [the police] need to treat this family with the care that they deserve, and they should accept all outside help.”
The Boulder Police Department released in a statement about the JonBenet Ramsey case last week.
“We are committed to following up on every lead and we are continuing to work with DNA experts and our law enforcement partners around the country until this tragic case is solved,” it said. “This investigation will always be a priority for the Boulder Police Department. The assertion that there is viable evidence and leads we are not pursuing — to include DNA testing — is completely false.”
The department suggested that anyone with any information to contact detectives at BouldersMostWanted@bouldercolorado.gov or by calling its tipline at 303-441-1974.
Sources told ABC News this week that progress is being made in the investigation.
In the last years, a multi-disciplinary team of experts has been assembled to go through the remaining evidence and apply the most modern scientific and cold case techniques to try to solve the crime, sources said. The team has consulted with top experts in their fields, according to the sources.
According to a law enforcement official briefed on the case, tips have come in as recently as the last month and are being followed up on. The renewed investigative efforts of the Boulder police and partner agencies also stand in contrast to years of limited detective work to get to the bottom of the case.
John Ramsey is following up on leads himself.
He noted that he received a letter this week from a woman who wrote, “I think my husband is a killer” and asked him to call her.
“I will call her,” Ramsey said. “That isn’t the first time we’ve gotten that kind of lead. We always follow up.”
“I’m always looking for that silver bullet — that somebody knows something that wasn’t in the media,” he said.
Since the Netflix docuseries premiered on Nov. 25, Berlinger said he’s been getting tips as well.
Ramsey was interviewed for the docuseries, but noted that he hasn’t watched it because of the emotion the case stirs up.
“I’d like to watch it someday. But for now, it’s just difficult to go back and relive the history,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the case was presented accurately.
“Years ago, I said, ‘Why doesn’t God reveal the killer?’ Somebody said, ‘Well, maybe you’re not ready for that yet. And I thought, well, that may be right. Because initially you put me in the room with this creature, we won’t need a trial. The rage was so intense and I would have had no remorse,” Ramsey told “Nightline.”
“But obviously, that’s not the right thing to do. But that’s how I felt. Now, I want this chapter closed for my family benefit. And I think we’re making good progress in terms of publicly questioning what’s going on. … With pressure, they’ll pay close attention to it, I’m hoping.”
This image created on Dec. 4, 2024, shows the snow forecast for the northeastern U.S. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — A fast-moving, low-pressure clipper system is forecast to bring snow and strong winds to the Midwest and the Northeast over the next two days, as cold air drives temperatures down towards freezing.
More than 20 states from the Dakotas to New Jersey were under wind and snow alerts as of Wednesday morning.
The Appalachian Mountains in Maryland and West Virginia are under a blizzard warning with potential wind gusts of up to 65 mph and up to 10 inches of snow.
The heaviest snow is expected to fall near the Great Lakes, where a reinforcing shot of cold air will create heavy lake-effect snow bands.
Between 1 and 2 feet of snow is possible from Michigan to upstate New York, while between 3 and 10 inches is possible from Worcester, Massachusetts, to Caribou, Maine.
The I-95 corridor — including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston — is not expecting any snow accumulation. But major cities can expect high wind gusts of up to 40 to 50 mph. High winds are especially likely for Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City.
Below-freezing temperatures were already biting as far south as Florida on Wednesday. Asheville, North Carolina, on Tuesday reported its first snowfall for 966 days.
The clipper system will be followed by strong winds and Arctic air, driving temperatures down across the eastern half of the U.S. Wind chills are forecast to push temperatures below freezing in the Midwest by Thursday morning.
Temperatures may feel as low as -10 degrees in Chicago as of Thursday morning, with Boston temperatures feeling like 6 degrees by Friday morning.
The Carolinas, meanwhile, may record record low temperatures over the coming days.
LW, who asked not to show her face, is a 16-year-old transgender teenager challenging Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming medical treatments that have improved her quality of life. (ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — Medical treatments for transgender children, endorsed by major American medical associations and safely used for decades, hang in the balance at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday as the Biden administration and three families with transgender teenagers ask the justices to strike down a state law banning some gender-affirming care for kids.
The landmark case — U.S. v. Skrmetti — comes from Tennessee, which is among 26 states that have moved to prohibit administration of puberty-blocking medication and hormone therapy to minors who seek to identify with, or live as, a gender identity inconsistent with his or her sex at birth.
Oral arguments mark the first time the nation’s highest court has openly considered a state law targeting transgender people. It is also the first time an openly transgender litigator, ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, will argue a case in the Supreme Court chamber.
The historic hearing thrusts the justices to the forefront of a cultural debate that has sharply divided the country and tested the limits of science and parental rights.
The outcome of the case could determine access to health care for hundreds of thousands of trans teens and more broadly influence how communities treat transgender people in hospitals, schools and on sports fields.
The government argues that Tennessee’s SB1, which was enacted in March 2023, violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection clause because it discriminates on the basis of sex to decide who can receive otherwise legal medical treatments available to youth.
“Put simply, an adolescent assigned female at birth cannot receive puberty blockers or testosterone to live as a male, but an adolescent assigned male at birth can,” the administration wrote in its brief to the court.
The Tennessee law expressly allows minors who are not transgender to receive gender-affirming treatments to address a “congenital defect, precocious puberty, disease, or physical injury.”
Denying discrimination, the state argues its law is a reasonable regulation of medical treatment based on its purpose, meant to protect children from potential long-term health risks and possible irreversible changes to the body.
The law’s Republican sponsors claim that contradictory scientific evidence and documented regret among some young people who have transitioned both warrant caution in developing standards of care.
The law also cites a “compelling interest in encouraging minors to appreciate their sex, particularly as they undergo puberty” and preventing them from becoming “disdainful of their sex.” The government says the text proves an intent to enforce gender conformity.
Hundreds of Tennessee transgender children were receiving treatments before SB1 was enacted, legislators concluded. It is not known how many suffered alleged harm.
The plaintiffs in the case include 16-year-old LW and her parents Brian and Samantha Williams of Nashville. After several years of successful hormone therapy, LW now has to travel out of state to continue treatments she says have dramatically improved her quality of life.
“I feel normal now,” LW said in an exclusive interview with ABC News last month.
“Our state legislature had made such a big deal out of parents rights during COVID, about masks and vaccines — that that’s for parents to decide these medical decisions for their children,” noted Samantha Williams. “And then, they made this medical decision for our child.”
Nationwide, an estimated 300,000 Americans ages 13 to 17 identify as transgender, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. Of those, nearly 100,000 live in states that have banned access to gender-affirming medical treatments for minors.
“It’s a case of enormous significance that presents fundamental questions about the scope of state power to regulate medical care for minors, of the rights of parents to make medical decisions for their children… and the level of scrutiny that courts should apply to laws that discriminate against transgender people in general,” said Deepak Gutpa, a veteran Supreme Court litigator. “This is a major, major constitutional civil rights issue.”
More than 60% of Americans say they oppose law banning certain types of gender-affirming medical treatment for minors, according to Gallup.
Major American medical associations have endorsed the treatments for more than a decade as part of “individually tailored interventions” to support trans kids and affirm their sense of self. Not all transgender children seek medical care to facilitate transition to another sex.
“It needs to be part of a very deliberate process that involves medical specialists, who are expert at doing this, and, again, are following the science,” said Dr. Ben Hoffman, a pediatrician and president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “It all begins and ends with science. This is not about any sort of agenda.”
Clinical practice guidelines from the American Endocrine Society, based on more than 260 research studies, recommend the use of puberty-delaying medications and waiting until a child reaches adulthood to consider gender-affirming surgery.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says the effects of puberty blockers are not permanent if treatment is discontinued. Many effects of hormone therapy can also be reversed. Long-term risks may include fertility challenges and possible harm to bone density, but the group says those risks require further study.
In contrast to the U.S. medical establishment, several European countries, including the United Kingdom, have reversed course on the use of gender-affirming treatments as a standard-of-care for transgender children, citing insufficient scientific evidence of long-term benefits.
“When you look at the totality of the medical research, to me there is more than enough uncertainty and evidence of bad outcomes for kids who’ve gone through these treatments when they reach the later stages in life,” said Tennessee Senate GOP Leader Jack Johnson.
A federal district court sided with the plaintiffs, temporarily halting enforcement of SB1, but the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed. The panel of judges concluded Tennessee had a rational basis for enacting the law.
“Kind of the whole ballgame in the case is the debate about whether there actually is discrimination on the basis of sex,” said Erin Murphy, a Supreme Court litigator and former clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts.
“It’s really not,” Murphy argued. “To say providing testosterone to a biological boy and biological girl is the same thing because testosterone is involved — it’s a different treatment that has different risks.”
David Cole, former legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the Williams family, says the court’s conservative majority will have to confront the legacy of its decision.
“I think there’s no question in 25 years that the court will have recognized that treating people differently because their gender identity is sex discrimination,” Cole said.
“The question is whether the court wants to write a decision will be overturned, you know, in the course of the next 10 years or 15 years,” he said, “or whether it wants to recognize what is going on, which is sex discrimination.”
A decision in the case is expected by the end of June 2025.
(PHILADELPHIA) — U.S. Marshals are on the hunt for a man they say killed a 29-year-old woman and then buried her body in a shallow grave, according to authorities.
The U.S. Marshals Service Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force is asking for the public’s assistance in locating 29-year-old Geovanni Otero, who authorities say a warrant for murder out for his arrest, according to a statement from the U.S. Marshals on Monday.
“On November 27, a warrant murder and related charges was issued by the Philadelphia Police Department and Otero is also wanted for violation of his Pennsylvania State Parole. Otetro is charged with killing 29-year-old Melody Rivera in early November,” the U.S. Marshals said. “Her body was found in a shallow grave in the 900 block of Tustin Road in Philadelphia’s Fox Chase section of the city.”
Otero is approximately 5-foot-10 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds, officials said. He has black hair, brown eyes and tattoos covering the top of both hands as well as a tattoo of a dagger behind his left ear, police said. His last known address was in the 5800 block of N. Park Avenue in Philadelphia.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to Otero’s arrest and authorities say the reward will be “processed immediately upon arrest and not upon conviction.”
“Geovanni Otero is officially charged with the homicide of Melody Rivera. We are hoping the public can provide information that will assit us in removing this lifelong criminal from society,” said Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark.
The U.S. Marshals Service Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force is the lead investigative agency tasked with apprehending Otero for the murder and state parole warrants.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. officials suspect that a recently discovered Chinese hacking and espionage campaign scooped up data on hundreds of thousands of American mobile phone users, likely stealing information about more than 1 million customers, ABC News has learned.
Sources familiar with the investigation gave ABC News a detailed sense of the vast scope of what U.S. officials are calling a major intelligence gathering operation by China, exploiting weaknesses in the communications networks of the nation’s top telecommunications companies.
In a briefing on Tuesday, FBI and Homeland Security’s cyber officials said that the Chinese were able to steal a “large amount of data” — officially acknowledging for the first time that China was able to determine who thousands of mobile phone users were talking to, when they spoke and where they were communicating from.
China initially appeared to have focused on a huge swath of mobile phone users in the national capital region. The people who briefed ABC News declined to provide numbers, but ABC News was able get more detailed information through a number of interviews.
The Chinese hackers were then able to narrow their focus and zero in on the specific communications of a smaller number of important, high profile Americans and, in some cases, China was able to obtain audio calls from that smaller group of victims and review their text messages.
ABC News has learned that among those targeted were some top government officials in the Biden administration, with sources telling ABC News this includes at least one cabinet secretary and a top White House Homeland Security Adviser.
Although it is not clear how deep the spying went on specific targets, sources tell ABC News that a number of those high ranking government officials and high profile Americans have been informed that they were potential victims.
ABC News has previously reported that President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, some staff of Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, one of Trump’s defense attorneys, Todd Blanche, and leaders in both political campaigns were targeted.
Officials in the Tuesday briefing admitted they cannot say with certainty that China hackers have been fully kicked out of these telecommunications networks and acknowledged they are still trying to understand the scope of this activity.
Multiple sources have warned that the scope and scale of the operation continues to widen, with one official telling ABC News that this is not over.
The investigation has revealed that China’s campaign exploited U.S. computer routers serving telecom corporations, giving them the gateway to the phone numbers of significant numbers of customers of Verizon, AT&T, Lumen Technologies and other telecommunications companies.
ABC News previously reported that the operation had gone undetected for many months, and was perhaps carried on for more than a year.
A recent statement by FBI and Homeland Security officials also revealed that China also got access to some data about some sensitive warrants the Department of Justice has been pursuing, with sources telling ABC News that there is a fear of China using the data to figure out some of the people who federal authorities are investigating and, in some cases, monitoring.
Much of the Tuesday briefing centered on how Chinese hackers compromised the system by exploiting existing basic gaps in security and confirmed that federal authorities have given industry leaders a list of remedies to detect and prevent ongoing attacks as well as recommendations on how to root the hackers out.
(LOS ANGELES) — All raw whole milk and cream products produced by Raw Farm LLC that are still on store shelves are being voluntarily recalled following multiple detections of bird flu virus in the company’s milk and dairy supply within the past week, according to California public health officials.
Officials have also placed the farm under quarantine and suspended any new distribution of its raw milk, cream, kefir, butter, and cheese products produced on or after Nov. 27.
“Californians are strongly encouraged not to consume any raw milk or cream products in their possession or still on store shelves,” the California Department of Public Health said in a statement on Tuesday. “Pasteurized milk remains safe to drink.”
No human bird flu cases associated with the product have been confirmed to date, officials said. Though, bird flu virus levels have been found at high levels in raw milk and health officials believe raw milk is infectious to humans.
“We are working towards resolving this political issue while being cooperative with our government regulatory agencies,” Raw Milk, which is based in Fresno, said in statement posted on its website.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has previously warned of the dangers of drinking raw milk, which does not undergo pasteurization — a process that kills viruses and bacteria.
“Raw milk is milk from cows, sheep, or goats that has not been pasteurized to kill harmful bacteria,” according to the FDA. “This raw, unpasteurized milk can carry dangerous bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, which are responsible for causing numerous foodborne illnesses.”
(WASHINGTON) — A growing number of senators have privately signaled that they are not inclined to vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as President-elect Donald Trump’s next defense secretary, leading Trump’s advisers to begin discussing who may be a viable replacement, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Sources tell ABC News that at least six senators have privately indicated that they don’t intend to vote for Hegseth amid the growing allegations about his mistreatment of women.
While Trump and his advisers have privately said the president-elect backs Hegseth and wants him to “keep fighting,” sources familiar with private discussions tell ABC News that a growing list of replacements is emerging to replace him. Those include Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty and Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, whom Trump has already tapped to be national security adviser.
Sources close to DeSantis say he has expressed interest in the role. He was seen today with Trump attending a memorial service for three Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies in West Palm Beach, who were killed in a crash last month.
Reached by ABC News, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team declined to comment.
Hegseth was back on Capitol Hill Tuesday looking to shore up support as he fends off the allegations of misconduct and sexual impropriety.
The visit came after a report in The New Yorker that Hegseth was forced to step down from two veteran nonprofit groups — Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America — amid accusations of financial mismanagement, sexist behavior and other disqualifying behavior.
ABC News has not independently confirmed the magazine’s account. Hegseth’s attorney, Tim Parlatore, told The New Yorker the claims were “outlandish.”
(LONDON) — Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Izvestia newspaper in an interview published Wednesday that Russia sees “no grounds for negotiations yet” to end Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
President-elect Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House has revived speculation as to a possible deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, which by the time Trump takes office again will be nearly three years old.
Russia still occupies around 20% of Ukraine and claims to have annexed four entire regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — though it only partially occupies the areas it claims.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top officials have repeatedly said that Kyiv and its Western partners must accept the “new territorial realities” of Russian occupation, including of Crimea which was annexed in 2014.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have raised the prospect of renewed peace talks in recent weeks, though the two sides still appear far apart on key issues. Among them are the fate of the partially- or fully-occupied Ukrainian regions and Kyiv’s ambition to join NATO.
Peskov told Izvestia that “many countries have declared the readiness to host” possible peace talks, among them Qatar.
“Indeed, the emirate has been a very active mediator in various areas, it has been quite effective,” he added. “Besides, our bilateral relations with Qatar have been developing perfectly. We are grateful to all states, among them Qatar, for their goodwill.”
Russian and Ukrainian leaders are spending the last months of President Joe Biden’s time in office trying to gain leverage on the military and diplomatic fronts.
Former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson announced on Wednesday that he had returned to Russia to interview Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Carlson interviewed Putin in February and has been a fierce critic of the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has spent the last week receiving high-level allied visits in Kyiv. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Council President Antonio Costa and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas all travelled to the Ukrainian capital, with Scholz pledging $680 million in new military aid.
The U.S. also announced this week its latest tranche of military support worth some $750 million. Zelenskyy said such support is “exactly what we need.”
Ukrainian forces need “significant reinforcement, particularly through weapons from our partners,” the president said on Tuesday, amid difficult battlefield conditions.
Russian forces continue to advance in the east of Ukraine, while pressing their efforts to eject Ukrainian troops from Russia’s western Kursk region where Kyiv’s forces took up positions in a surprise August offensive.
Meanwhile, both sides continue long-range drone and missile attacks. Russia’s strikes are focused on Ukraine’s energy network, while Kyiv continues to target military sites and oil infrastructure facilities.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s air force reported 28 Russia drones launched into the country overnight, of which 22 were shot down and three went off course. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 35 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Peace talk speculation looks set to continue through to Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Oleksandr Merezhko — a member of parliament representing Zelenskyy’s party and the chair of the body’s foreign affairs committee — told ABC News it is possible that Russia may soften its inflexible negotiating position in 2025.
“Putin is afraid of Trump and considers him to be unpredictable and stronger than Biden,” said Merezhko, who last month nominated the president-elect for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
“At the moment, Putin is in a hurry to grab as much territory as he can and to get the Kursk region back,” Merezhko said. “He is trying to improve his position before Trump coming to power and before the possible negotiations.”
