(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden told Democratic governors during a meeting at the White House on Wednesday that he needs to get more rest, and in order to get more sleep, he wants to stop scheduling events after 8 p.m., according to one person in the room and two others briefed on the discussion.
The meeting with governors was intended to ease concerns about the president’s age and mental fitness.
During the meeting, the 81-year-old president responded to a question from Hawaii Gov. Josh Green about his health by stating he was fine, but he added, “it’s just my brain,” according to one person in the room and another familiar with the discussion.
Both people said they took that comment, which was first reported by The New York Times, as a joke.
In a statement to ABC News, Biden’s campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, who was in the room during the conversation, stated, “He was clearly making a joke and then said ‘all kidding aside.’”
The White House declined to comment.
As ABC News also reported, Biden told governors he had a medical checkup following the 9 p.m. debate last week and is in good health, according to two people with direct knowledge of conversation during the meeting.
After telling reporters on the record on Wednesday that the president has not gotten any medical exams since suffering from just a cold at the time of the debate, the White House is now acknowledging that President Biden was seen by his doctor several days afterward.
According to White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, “Several days later, the President was seen to check on his cold and was recovering well.”
Separately, some Democrats who wanted the president to start having conversations with governors and lawmakers are concerned that reported comments like these coming out of his discussions are not helping the party turn the page and could only be making the situation worse.
(SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas) — A man was attacked by a shark on the Fourth of July while in the waters off South Padre Island in Texas, police said.
The South Padre Island Police Department said it received a call reporting a “severe” shark bite to the leg at around 11 a.m. local time Thursday near the 4100 block of Gulf Boulevard.
First responders from the South Padre Island police and fire departments provided treatment at the scene before the man was transported to a nearby hospital, police said. A police spokesperson did not provide an update on the man’s condition.
Footage from a beachgoer who witnessed the incident showed a shark swimming near the shore in the vicinity of the attack.
The South Padre Island Beach patrol, along with the fire and police departments, are currently patrolling the shoreline and using drones, police said.
(WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont.) — An armed suspect who was allegedly making threats in Yellowstone National Park is dead following a shootout with rangers, the National Park Service said.
A Yellowstone law enforcement ranger was also injured in the incident, NPS said.
The “significant law enforcement incident” occurred at Canyon Village in the central part of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming overnight and Thursday morning, NPS said.
“Rangers responded to a report of an individual with a firearm who was making threats,” NPS said in a press release. “When rangers contacted the individual there was an exchange of gunfire between the subject and law enforcement rangers.”
The name of the deceased suspect is not being released at this time.
The ranger injured in the incident is in stable condition and is being treated at a nearby hospital, NPS said.
There are no active threats to the public, NPS said.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the incident with support from NPS special agents.
An area around the Canyon Lodge complex remains closed due to the ongoing investigation.
No additional information is being released at this time, authorities said.
(NEW YORK) — Hatch, a popular sleep aid device company, has recalled more than 900,000 of its Rest 1st Generation sound machines due to a shock hazard.
“In partnership and compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Hatch has issued a voluntary recall for power adapters issued with some Hatch Rest 1st generation devices, which were primarily sold between 2019 and 2022,” the company stated in an online recall notice.
“The recall is specific to power adapters issued by Jiangsu Chenyang Electron Co. after learning that the white housing of these power adapters can come off when removing them from the power outlet, leaving the power prongs exposed and posing a shock hazard to consumers,” the statement continued.
Hatch added on its website, “The company is pursuing this recall voluntarily as part of its commitment to consumer safety and incident prevention.”
Details of Hatch sound machine recall
About 919,400 products have been impacted by the recall, according to the CPSC.
The affected power adapters, which have a white rectangular plastic housing that plugs directly into the wall socket, bear the model number CYAP05 050100U.
“The model number, amps ‘1.0A,’ ‘Jiangsu Chenyang Electron Co. LTD,’ and ‘Made in China’ are printed in black near the prongs on the power adapter,” the CPSC stated. “The power adapter was not sold separately.”
Incidents reported due to Hatch sound machines
As of time of publication, Hatch said it has “received 19 reports of the plastic housing surrounding the AC power adapter coming off, including two reports of consumers who experienced a minor electrical shock.”
Where recalled Hatch products were sold
The Rest 1st Generation sound machines were sold online directly from the Hatch website and Amazon, as well as at BuyBuyBaby, Target, Walmart, Nordstrom, Pottery Barn Kids and BestBuy stores nationwide from January 2019 through September 2022.
What consumers can do if they have a recalled Hatch sound machine
“Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled power adapters sold with Rest 1st Generation sound machines, and contact Hatch for a free replacement power adapter,” CPSC stated. “Consumers should unplug the cord, cut the cord on the recalled power adapter, take a photo of the adapter showing the model number and the cut cord, upload the photo, and provide their name and mailing address at www.hatch.co/adapterrecall.”
The agency added, “Hatch is contacting all registered owners directly.”
(NEW YORK) — Prescription drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound have grown in popularity among patients looking to lose weight. But could they also affect someone’s muscle mass?
ABC News’ Becky Worley appeared on Good Morning America Thursday to discuss what effects these drugs may have on muscle mass:
Tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip are pictured on June 4, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, negotiations have stalled to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, and Israeli forces continue to launch incursions in the southern Gazan town of Rafah ahead of a possible large-scale invasion.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
10:00 AM EDT Biden to speak with Netanyahu: Source
President Joe Biden is expected to speak with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, according to a source familiar with the plan.
Even as Biden tries to stave off criticism for his debate performance in the U.S., he is also trying to tamp down the mounting conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon. Hundreds of rockets were fired into northern Israel on Thursday, though no one was injured.
6:01 AM EDT Hezbollah fires 200 rockets, drones toward Israel
Hezbollah militants said they fired more than 200 rockets and drones toward Israel on Thursday.
Sirens and alerts began sounding throughout northern Israel early on Thursday, officials said.
As the sirens began “numerous projectiles and suspicious aerial targets crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” the Israel Defense Forces said.
Jul 03, 1:44 PM Israel assassinates highest ranking Hezbollah commander since Oct. 8
Israel assassinated the commander of Hezbollah’s Aziz Unit, based in southern Lebanon, Israel claimed and Hezbollah acknowledged.
Muhammad Ni’Mah Nasser is one of the most senior commanders killed since Hezbollah began firing at Israel in solidarity with Gaza on Oct. 8.
Hezbollah has responded with around 100 rockets in the last three hours, according to the IDF. No major damage has been reported.
Both sides have said they are ready for war and that they are ready to ink a peace deal brokered by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein. A senior Hezbollah official said this week it can only sign the deal after Israel reaches a cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman
Jul 02, 4:34 PM European Gaza Hospital now empty following evacuation orders: WHO
All patients and medical staff have left European Gaza Hospital in southern Gaza, following evacuation orders from the Israel Defense Forces in Khan Younis, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
The hospital, which had 320 patients, is “now completely empty,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“It is devastating to see the 650-bed-capacity hospital out of service at a time when access to health care is urgently needed,” he said in a statement while calling on the hospital to be made operational “immediately.”
Most patients were being referred to Nasser Medical Complex, which is now at full capacity and facing a shortage of medical supplies, the WHO said.
Jul 02, 4:16 PM Evacuation order is largest in Gaza since October: UN
The Israel Defense Forces’ evacuation order for a region in southern Gaza on Monday was the largest such order since October 2023, according to the United Nations.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East estimated that 250,000 people are impacted by the evacuation order in Khan Younis. The evacuation zone covers 117 square kilometers, according to U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Jul 01, 1:12 PM IDF orders evacuation of area in Khan Younis amid response to rocket attack
The Israel Defense Forces ordered hundreds of people in Khan Younis in southern Gaza to evacuate amid its response to a rocket attack, the military said.
The area for evacuation is near the European Hospital, according to a leaflet distributed in the region Monday.
“For your safety, you must evacuate immediately to the humanitarian zone,” the leaflet stated.
The IDF said the evacuation is in response to an earlier rocket attack that came from the area involving approximately 20 projectiles.
“A number of the projectiles were intercepted and some of the projectiles fell inside southern Israel. No injuries were reported,” the IDF said in a statement. “IDF Artillery is currently striking the sources of the fire.”
-ABC News’ Sami Zyara and Matt Gutman
Jun 29, 3:44 PM Hostage speaks 1st time since release
Noa Argamani, one of four hostages rescued during a deadly IDF raid on June 8, released a video thanking Israeli forces for rescuing her and calls for the release of the remaining hostages, including her boyfriend, in her first public remarks since she was released.
They were separated during the kidnapping, according to Argamani.
“I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there are still 120 hostages in Hamas captivity. Among them is Avinatan Or, my partner, from whom I was separated at the moment of abduction. Although I’m home now, we can’t forget about the hostages who are still in Hamas captivity, and we must do everything possible to bring them back home,” Argamani said.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
Jun 28, 2:31 PM Military pier in Gaza to be taken offline again: US official
The U.S. military pier in Gaza will be taken offline again on Friday and moved to the Israeli port of Ashdod due to high seas, according to a U.S. official.
This is a precautionary move to protect the pier from breaking due to rough waves, the official said.
This is the third time the pier has had to be moved to Ashdod because of weather. The pier has been operational only about half of the time since it opened in mid-May.
“I don’t have a date of when the pier would be reinstalled,” Defense Department deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters Friday, noting that Centcom will assess the sea conditions over the weekend.
As the pier was moved away Friday, two U.S. officials told ABC News that officials are considering not re-installing the pier until the humanitarian aid that it brought to Gaza gets distributed. More than 19 million pounds of aid has been delivered to Gaza via the pier but it’s now piling up at the staging point at the edge of the pier, Singh said.
Inspectors General at the Pentagon and the U.S. Agency for International Development announced Thursday that they’re launching reviews of the mission to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza via the military’s temporary pier system.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty and Luis Martinez
Jun 28, 11:31 AM Israel, US discussing transfer of Patriot air defense batteries to Ukraine
Israel and the U.S. are discussing the transfer of Patriot air defense batteries to Ukraine, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News.
This agreement — not yet finalized, according to the source — would mark a shift in Israel’s public policy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A key factor behind Israel’s willingness to discuss the transfer of Patriot air defense batteries is the tightening military alliance between Russia and Iran.
In April, Israel announced the decommissioning of U.S.-donated Patriot systems from its aerial defense array. Security sources previously said Patriot has been successfully replaced by the Israeli-made David’s Sling air and missile defense system.
(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Beryl has weakened to a Category 3 storm on Thursday, but not before leaving flooding and widespread damage on the island of Jamaica late Wednesday.
Beryl’s center passed just 45 miles south of Kingston, Jamaica, as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph.
Beryl was the first major hurricane — at least a Category 3 — to pass this close to Jamaica since 2007.
By Thursday morning, Beryl had weakened to Category 3 hurricane with winds of 120 mph, as it approaches the Cayman Islands.
The hurricane should pass just south of the Cayman Islands Thursday morning, bringing hurricane-force winds and storm surge that could produce a water rise of 4 to 6 feet as well as half a foot of rain.
The next landfall for Beryl will likely be on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where major resorts such as Cancun, Playa De Carmen and Tulum are under hurricane warnings.
Beryl could be a Category 1 hurricane as it reaches the Mexican resorts early Friday morning with wind gusts near 74 to 85 mph, storm surge up to 3 feet and up to 8 inches of rain.
By Friday evening, Beryl should cross into the southern Gulf of Mexico and weaken into a tropical storm.
As Beryl moves over the Gulf, in the direction of U.S.-Mexico border, it could re-intensify back into a hurricane, with winds near 75 mph ahead of landfall. Right now, it’s too soon to tell exactly where it will make landfall along the Gulf Coast, with models predicting anywhere from northeastern Mexico to Texas’ Gulf Coast.
Regardless of Beryl’s strength, it is expected to bring heavy rain to southern Texas.
In addition, the prolonged period of onshore winds along the U.S. Gulf Coast could create rough beach conditions, including a risk for rip currents this holiday weekend.
(NEW YORK) — Heat alerts have been issued for 21 states from Washington to Florida on Wednesday, with more than 90 million on alert for extreme weather.
The dangerous heat is just beginning in the West, but it has already claimed the life of a 10-year-old boy who was hiking in Phoenix on Tuesday.
This prolonged heat could be for the record books, and could be one of the worst heat waves in 18 years for parts of California.
Several wildfires also exploded in the West on Tuesday due to dry conditions and ongoing heat.
Among the worst of those fires is the Thompson Fire in Butte County, California, which grew to over 3,500 acres on Wednesday with 0% containment. Eight firefighters were injured and 28,000 people have been evacuated.
The Butte County Sheriff just downgraded a part of the fire zone from an Order to a Warning, Wednesday evening. A heat advisory was issued for coastal cities, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, where temperatures could get close to 90 degrees on Wednesday. Inland temperatures could rise into the 110s.
Dozens of record highs are expected over the next week in the West, even all the way to Seattle and Portland, Oregon.
In the South and Mississippi River Valley, the combination of heat and humidity could push the heat index over 110 degrees.
Former British prime minister Boris Johnson addresses Conservative Party supporters at the National Army Museum in London on July 2, 2024. (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — As former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed a Conservative Party rally in London on Tuesday, he made clear that opinion polls were predicting his party was expected to be swept out of power with Thursday’s election.
“I think and hope the British people will show more sense on Thursday and draw back from the brink,” Johnson said during his first campaign speech in support of current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
One of Sunak’s cabinet members, Home Secretary Suella Braverman, put the party’s prospects more succinctly the following day, writing in an op-ed published Wednesday that “it’s over.”
After 14 years in power with five consecutive prime ministers — including Liz Truss, who served just 44 days — the Conservatives, or Tories, are expected to be voted out in favor of Labour, a center-left party that has run on a platform calling for “change.”
Polls opened at 7 a.m. across the United Kingdom on Thursday, marking the country’s first national vote since 2019. An exit poll is scheduled to be published at 10 p.m., suggesting winners in key races.
Opinion polls in Britain have for more than two years predicted the Conservatives are heading for a “heavy defeat,” Pippa Catterall, a professor of history and politics at the University of Westminster, told ABC News.
“The Conservatives nonetheless went into the election with the hope that, as usual, the polls would narrow in their favor,” Catterall said. “Instead, it got worse.”
The Labour Party’s leader, Keir Starmer, who would become prime minister, said he hoped to put an end to the Conservative “chaos.”
His campaign released a “manifesto” laying out some of his government’s plans, including cutting hospital wait times, ushering in a greener economy and improving the U.K.’s post-Brexit trade deals with the European Union.
“From Ukraine to Gaza, Labour’s foreign and defense policy essentially mirrors the current government’s,” Dr. David S. Moon, senior lecturer in politics at the University of Bath, told ABC News. “Starmer’s Brexit plan lacks specifics beyond promising to negotiate a ‘better deal.'”
Moon and other political observers said it’s little surprise the Labour Party has focused its messaging on what the Conservatives have done with their time in office rather than campaigning solely on what they hope to accomplish.
Since David Cameron’s victory in the 2010 general election, the center-right Tories have led the country through a period of economic “austerity,” its exit from the European Union, the COVID pandemic and the current cost of living crisis.
“A Starmer victory seems more the product of a media backlash against the Conservatives following the scandal-plagued Johnson and Truss years rather than excitement about policy proposals, with Labour now seen across newsrooms as a safe alternative following Starmer’s shifting of the party to the right,” Moon said.
Cameron had called for the Brexit referendum before stepping down from power in 2016. He was followed in office by Theresa May, who put together a Brexit deal but stepped down before the deal could be completed. Johnson in his 2019 campaign promised to “Get Brexit Done,” and the country left in January 2020.
But the Tory’s leadership during the U.K.’s messy exit from the European Union is likely only one of many reasons that support for the party has waned, said Sean D. Ehrlich, associate professor of political science at Florida State University.
“The Conservatives are deeply unpopular in large part because they are no longer viewed as competent,” he said. “Their struggles to implement Brexit play a large role in this decline in support but the election should probably not be viewed as a repudiation of Brexit itself.”
About six weeks ago, Sunak stood in the pouring rain in front of 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s official residence, and announced he was calling an election.
The prime minister, who came to power in 2022 via an internal party election, has said Labour’s election would lead to weaker border security and higher taxes. He said Thursday that a Tory defeat could mean “higher taxes for a generation.”
“Labour would increase taxes on every part of your life, including your death,” he said on social media.
Samuel Woodward testifies in Orange County Superior Court, on June 13, 2024, in Santa Ana, Calif. (Orange County Register via MediaNews Group via Getty Images, FILE)
(NEW YORK) – -Samuel Woodward, a California man accused of murdering his former classmate in 2018, has been found guilty in the hate crime case.
Blaze Bernstein — a 19-year-old gay, Jewish student at the University of Pennsylvania — went missing while visiting his family in Newport Beach during winter break in January 2018. His body was found following a dayslong search buried in a park in Lake Forest he went to with Woodward the night he went missing, authorities said. He had been stabbed 28 times, prosecutors said.
Woodward, now 26, was charged with first-degree murder with a hate crime enhancement. Prosecutors had alleged that Woodward murdered his high school classmate because Bernstein was gay.
Woodward had pleaded not guilty.
The jury reached its verdict Wednesday afternoon following a nearly three-month-long trial in Orange County.
Some applause broke out from the gallery upon hearing that Woodward was convicted on the hate crime enhancement, prompting Judge Kimberly Menninger to ask people to “settle down.”
“I understand that it’s emotional, but I just can’t have that,” she said.
Sentencing has been scheduled for Oct. 25. He faces life without the possibility of parole.
Bernstein’s family said in a statement that the verdict “brings a measure of closure” six-and-a-half years after the teen’s murder, but that it “cannot erase the pain of losing our son and the agony of waiting all of these years without resolution.”
“No verdict can bring back Blaze. He was an amazing human and humanitarian and a person we were greatly looking forward to having in our lives, seeing wondrous things from him as his young life unfolded,” the family said in a statement read by a representative at a press briefing following the verdict. “From this funny, articulate, kind, intelligent, caring and brilliant scientist, artist, writer, chef and son, there will never be anyone quite like him. His gifts will never be realized or shared now.”
Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker, who prosecuted the case, said she was grateful for the verdict.
“I’m just so happy for the Bernsteins because it has been a very painful process,” she said at the press briefing.
Defense attorney Ken Morrison told jurors during closing arguments that Woodward is guilty of homicide, though said the act was not a hate crime but a spontaneous, irrational one.
“You heard me right out of the gate tell you that my client was guilty,” Morrison said. “Guilty of a serious, violent homicide. But as you also know, there are many different kinds of homicide.”
Woodward testified during the trial that on the night of the murder, he went into a state of terror after thinking Bernstein may have been recording him while touching him sexually at the park, then pulled out a knife, ABC Los Angeles station KABC-TV reported.
Walker told jurors during closing arguments that Woodward’s hatred of gay people and his affiliation with Atomwaffen Division — a far-right, neo-Nazi group — led him to plan the murder.
“He already had his bags, he was already talking to Atomwaffen people about going somewhere else, and he thought he was going to get away with it,” she said. “It’s only by the grace of God that rain happened, and they found his body.”
