(WELLFLEET, Mass. ) — More than 80 dolphins are currently stranded on a beach near Wellfleet, Massachusetts, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The Atlantic whitesided dolphins are at the Great Island at the Herring River — also known at the “Gut” — which is a very difficult location to access and is covered in “dangerous mud,” Stacey Hedman, director of communications for the IFAW, said in a statement on Friday.
Low tide occurred at 11:23 a.m., Hedman said. Given the large number of distressed dolphins, the plan is to triage and support the animals before attempting to refloat and herd as many as possible.
Aerial footage taken by ABC Boston affiliate WCVB showed dozens of immobile dolphins lying on the coast on Friday afternoon, many of them covered in towels.
The video captured volunteers arriving to begin assisting the dolphins. Soon after, more crowds arrived, appearing to help as well.
Although temperatures were cooler on Friday than in recent days, the dolphins risk getting sunburned and overheated should they remain on the beach until the tide rises, Hedman said. High tide is not expected to occur until about 5:34 p.m.
The animal welfare group has had success in the past herding whitesided dolphins, Hedman said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Friday addressed his poor performance in Thursday’s presidential debate, just hours after he faltered on stage in his matchup against former President Donald Trump.
A senior campaign aide told ABC News that the president is “absolutely” not considering dropping out of the race after stumbling with answers and is committed to a second debate. During the rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, a more energetic-appearing Biden acknowledged that he’s not a young man, but contended that his morals and history prove that he’s still fit for the job.
“Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but … I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong, and I know how to do this job,” he told the roaring crowd. “I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down, you get back up.”
The crowd constantly shouted “Four more years,” during the event which also included remarks from first lady Jill Biden
Biden spent much of the rally pointing out what he called Trump’s false claims during the debate about the economy, immigration and crime.
“I spent 90 minutes on stage debating a guy with the morals of an alley cat,” Biden said repeating a zinger from the debate. “I think he set a new record for the number of lies told at a debate.”
Biden dug in further bringing up Trump’s conviction in a New York criminal court and pending criminal and civil trials.
“Donald Trump isn’t just a convicted felon. Donald Trump is a one-man crime wave,” the president said.
Biden also reiterated that Trump helped to end abortion rights for women across the country and contended that the former president and “MAGA Republicans” would push forward a national abortion ban.
“I made it clear last night you reelect me and Kamala [Harris] we will make Roe v. Wade the law of the land,” he said.
Jill Biden, who wore a dress with the word “vote” written all over it, also defended his performance.
“What you saw last night on the debate stage was Joe Biden, a president with integrity and character who told the truth,” she said. “And Donald Trump told lie after lie after lie.”
Biden told reporters immediately after the debate that he had a sore throat and didn’t have concerns about his performance.
“It’s hard to debate a liar,” he said.
When the president and first lady landed in Raleigh early Friday morning they were greeted at the tarmac by prominent North Carolina Democrats, including State Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, and about 250 supporters.
Biden spent time speaking with the supporters and took photos with them before he left the airport.
Following the Raleigh rally, the president was headed to New York City to deliver remarks at the grand opening ceremony of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, the first LGBTQIA+ visitor center within the National Park system.
Biden will end his day with a closed-door campaign reception in New York.
ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Supreme Court appears to be saving its most consequential ruling this term for last.
When the justices meet on Monday for a final day of opinions, they are expected to issue a blockbuster decision on whether a former president is shielded from criminal liability for “official acts” taken while in the White House.
In the case, Donald Trump is is claiming such immunity in order to quash the federal election subversion prosecution brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
Smith charged Trump with four felony counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, over his efforts to hold onto power after his 2020 election loss. Trump pleaded not guilty and has denied any wrongdoing.
The trial was set to start March 4 but has been delayed while the high court considers the immunity question.
Lower courts have flatly rejected Trump’s arguments.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing Trump’s election subversion case, said whatever immunities a sitting president may enjoy, the position “does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass.”
And a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals later unanimously rejected Trump’s claims, warning if they were to be accepted they would “collapse our system of separated powers.”
While the Supreme Court did not appear on board with Trump’s more sweeping claim of “absolute” immunity, several justices appeared open to some level of protection for former presidents when they heard oral arguments in late April — months after Smith first asked the court to intervene on the issue.
Their questioning largely focused on what presidential acts would be protected and which would not.
Justice Elena Kagan pressed Trump’s attorney if it would mean a former president could escape criminal liability for ordering a coup or selling nuclear secrets. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito wondered if past presidents who oversaw controversial policies like the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II or Operation Mongoose would have been prosecuted after they left office.
What the justices decide on the immunity issue will set a new standard for presidential power, and will affect whether Trump stands trial for his unprecedented actions in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
“We are writing a rule for the ages,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said during arguments.
(WASHINGTON) — A small group of New Jersey herring fishermen landed a huge catch at the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday, writing for a 6-3 majority, significantly reeled in the power of federal regulators, tossing out a 40-year precedent on agency authority and a Commerce Department rule that the fishermen said could drive them out of business.
The opinion — officially overturning a 1984 decision known as “Chevron” — creates a big splash, making it much easier for businesses and other interests to challenge rules touching every aspect of American life from food inspections, workplace safety, tax collection, environmental regulation and more.
The case involved a regulation by the National Marine Fisheries Service ordering some commercial herring fishermen to pay the salaries of government observers federal law requires they carry aboard their vessels.
The law — the Magnuson-Stevens Act — does not spell out how the observers, who collect scientific data on the nation’s fisheries, should be funded. The agency had argued the law’s ambiguity supported its interpretation that the boat operators must pay in some instances.
Lower courts upheld the regulation citing the Supreme Court’s decision in Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council, which held, in part, that courts should defer to the scientific and health experts at agencies when a law isn’t clear, so long as their regulations are reasonable.
Roberts said that holding was an error and that judges, not bureaucrats, should interpret what an ambiguous law does or does not allow.
“Chevron is overruled,” he wrote. “Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority, as the [Administrative Procedures Act] requires.”
“Careful attention to the judgement of the Executive Branch [agency] may inform that inquiring. And when a particular statute delegates authority to an agency consistent with constitutional limits, courts must respect the delegation, while ensuring that the agency acts within it,” Roberts continued. “But courts need not and under the APA may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous.”
The ruling deals the biggest blow to the administrative state in a generation and hands a long-sought victory to conservative legal groups and business lobbyists who have spent years pushing for the court to strike down what is known as “Chevron deference” and rein in agency power.
In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan said the decision would cause a “massive shock to the legal system,” since more than 17,000 disputes over federal regulations over the past 40 years have relied on the Chevron doctrine — most decided in the government’s favor.
The discarding of precedent, Kagan wrote, would supplant the expertise of subject-matter specialists at all levels of government.
“It gives courts the power to make all manner of scientific and technical judgments. It gives courts the power to make all manner of policy calls, including about how to weigh competing goods and values. It puts courts at the apex of the administrative process as to every conceivable subject,” she wrote.
Public interest groups said tens of thousands of government rules could be called into question, touching everything from the environment to workplace safety to technology and health care.
“How far-reaching the decision is remains to be seen,” said Gordon Todd, a Supreme Court litigator with Sidley and federal regulatory law expert. “The Court sought to minimize the retroactive impact of its decision by noting that prior decisions that relied on Chevron deference are themselves entitled to ‘statutory stare decisis,’ but it remains to be seen the extent to which such decisions remain valid.”
“In the short-run we expect a significant increase in regulatory litigation, including challenges to existing regulations, ongoing rulemakings, and existing precedents,” Todd said.
Jerry Masoudi, former chief counsel of the Food and Drug Administration, said the ruling was a dramatic shift in the balance of power between agencies and courts.
“These decisions will not affect FDA’s case-by-case decisions on scientific issues, like product approvals,” Masoudi said in a statement, “but rules underlying these processes may be open to broader challenge.”
Environmental groups were particularly alarmed by the Supreme Court’s decision, warning that scientific experts could now be overridden by judges with little familiarity with the subjects they are addressing.
“The American people really rely on our public institutions to put protections in place for clean air and water, for, our health and our children’s health, for safe and secure homes and businesses. And what this really means is that our ability to rely on expertise and science to make those decisions and put those protections in place is really in jeopardy now,” said Meredith Moore, the director of the Fish Conservation Program at the Ocean Conservancy, in an interview with ABC News.
“What we’re going to see is lots and lots of lawsuits, taking on everything that the government does from health and safety to the environment to tech issues like AI and our cybersecurity,” Moore added.
As for the herring fishermen, one practical impact of the ruling means they will be spared a potential fee of up to $700 a day.
“Today’s restoration of the separation of powers is a victory for small, family-run businesses like ours, whether they’re involved in fishing, farming, or retail,” said Bill Bright, a third generation herring fisherman in Cape May, New Jersey, and plaintiff in the case.
“Congress never authorized industry-funded monitoring in the herring fishery. And agency efforts to impose such funding hurts our ability to make an honest living. Nothing is more important than protecting the livelihoods of our families and crews.”
(YULEE, Fla.) — A shark attacked a man in Florida, seriously injuring his arm, officials said.
The attack unfolded around 11 a.m. Friday at West Rock near the port of Fernandina, which is north of Jacksonville near the Florida-Georgia border, Nassau County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Alicia Tarancon said.
The man, who is in his 40s, has been airlifted to a hospital in critical condition, Tarancon said.
This attack comes after a well-known surfer and lifeguard was killed by a shark in Hawaii on Sunday.
Tamayo Perry, 49, had been a lifeguard with Honolulu Ocean Safety since 2016. He was a local surf coach and competed for years in the Pipeline Master Trials, according to his official bio on his coaching site. Perry appeared in the 2002 movie “Blue Crush,” along with episodes of “Hawaii Five-O” and “The Bridge,” according to IMDb.
“The world knew Tamayo as a surfer and an actor, but to those who knew him best, he was a man of deep faith … now taken too soon,” his wife, Emilia Perry, told ABC News in an exclusive interview. “I feel so upset and devastated. But I also have a weird calmness in my heart knowing that he’s in a better place.”
ABC News’ Kori Skillman contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Friday limited the scope of a federal obstruction statute used by prosecutors to charge more than 300 defendants involved with the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, including former President Donald Trump.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the 6-3 majority, said the government must show in those cases that the alleged obstruction related to “impairing the availability or integrity” of “records, documents, or objects” used in the disrupted proceeding.
The Justice Department had applied the charge more broadly in many cases, alleging that the physical presence of some of the rioters inside Capitol was alone “obstruction of an official proceeding” under the law.
Roberts said the statute in question — the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 which was enacted after the Enron scandal to prevent destruction of evidence in financial crimes — must be read in context.
“It would be peculiar to conclude that in closing the Enron gap, Congress actually hid away … a catchall provision that reaches far beyond the document shredding and similar scenarios that prompted the legislation in the first place,” Roberts wrote.
The decision was at least a partial victory for former Pennsylvania police officer Joseph Fischer who was among the rioters on Jan. 6 and challenged the obstruction charge, which can carry up to 20 years in prison.
The Supreme Court made clear, however, that prosecutors could retain the obstruction charges if more properly framed and supported by evidence that the defendants’ actions involved documents of some kind.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, in a dissent joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, said “Congress meant what it said.”
The law “is a very broad provision,” she wrote, “and admittedly, events like January 6th were not its target. (Who could blame Congress for that failure of imagination?) But statutes often go further than the problem that inspired them, and under the rules of statutory interpretation, we stick to the test anyway.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland expressed disappointment with the ruling but said it would not impact the vast majority of the Justice Department’s 1,400 criminal cases related to Jan. 6.
“There are no cases in which the Department charged a January 6 defendant only with the offense at issue in Fischer,” Garland said in a statement. “For the cases affected by today’s decision, the Department will take appropriate steps to comply with the Court’s ruling.”
It was also not clear how much of an impact the court’s decision would have on special counsel Jack Smith’s election interference case against Trump. Two of the four charges involve the same obstruction statute used against Fischer.
“It will be a much tougher case to argue that he impaired an official proceeding if the prosecution must also show that it related to the destruction or alteration, or related activities, of documents,” said Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller, an election law scholar.
“For rioters physically present at the Capitol that day, it will be a tougher but possible showing. For Trump, however, it may be more about whether paperwork submitted to Pence relating to other electoral votes or what to do with those votes rises to the level of criminal activity in the statute,” Muller said. “We’ll see whether the Department of Justice keeps this charge against Trump, but it may fall back to some of the other charges and rely more heavily on them instead.”
Also hanging over the Trump case is whether the high court will allow it to proceed at all. On Monday, the justices are expected to hand down a decision in Trump v. U.S. that could determine how much, if any, immunity from prosecution the former president enjoys.
(WASHINGTON) — Political watchers will be keeping a close eye on President Joe Biden Friday as he holds a campaign rally Friday after Thursday night’s presidential debate in what was designed to follow up on an expected strong performance.
The rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, is expected to draw a large crowd. It is unknown if the president will address how he stumbled with his answers and had a hoarse voice at the beginning of his matchup against former President Donald Trump.
Biden told reporters immediately after the debate that he had a sore throat and didn’t have concerns about his performance.
“It’s hard to debate a liar,” he said.
When the president and First Lady Jill Biden landed in Raleigh early Friday morning they were greeted at the tarmac by prominent North Carolina Democrats, including State Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, and about 250 supporters.
Biden spent time speaking with the supporters and took photos with them before he left the airport.
Following the Raleigh rally, the president will head to New York City to deliver remarks at the grand opening ceremony of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, the first LGBTQIA+ visitor center within the National Park system.
Biden will end his day with a closed-door campaign reception in New York.
(WASHINGTON) — Homelessness advocates are condemning the Supreme Court’s ruling that an Oregon city’s ordinance to bar anyone without a permanent residency from sleeping outside does not amount to “cruel and unusual” punishment under the Eighth Amendment.
In 2013, the Grants Pass city council attempted to ban anyone “from using a blanket, pillow or cardboard box for protection from the elements” while sleeping outside, threatening violators with citations and tickets. Lower courts initially found that this was “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment.
The case, City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, has major implications for the rising population of unhoused Americans and the disciplinary actions they face in public spaces, advocates say.
Across the country, homelessness has been on the rise since 2016.
The most recent report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development in December found that more than 650,000 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2023 across the country, a 12% increase from 2022. As this number rises, local legislators continue to implement bans on homeless encampments or sleeping outside.
Advocates say these policies don’t address the lack of affordable housing for the homeless and instead they criminalize people “for trying to survive” with nowhere to go, said Jesse Rabinowitz, campaign and communications director at the National Homelessness Law Center in a statement to ABC News.
He called the ruling “inhumane.”
Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, told ABC News that unhoused people are often forced to face the elements in winter and summer, which may cause further physical and emotional trauma. Oliva argues that taking away their possessions or adding further financial burden to the homeless only worsens the harm.
“It makes it harder for them to get jobs. It makes it harder for them to get it into apartment, because fines rack up, sometimes they turn into criminal charges and bench warrants,” said Oliva. “So it not only doesn’t end homelessness for anybody, it actually makes it worse for the people who are subject to these kinds of ordinances.”
The decision is a win for lawmakers across the country who have recently implemented similar bans on the homeless and restrictions on encampments or possessions in public spaces, but who have been faced with legal challenges.
When SCOTUS first agreed to hear the case in January, California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on the Supreme Court to “correct course and end the costly delays from lawsuits that have plagued our efforts to clear encampments and deliver services to those in need.”
The 6-3 SCOTUS opinion was authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch.
“Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many. So may be the public policy responses required to address it,” Gorsuch wrote. “At bottom, the question this case presents is whether the Eighth Amendment grants federal judges primary responsibility for assessing those causes and devising those responses. It does not.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, argued the ordinance punishes homeless people with nowhere else to go based on status.
“It is possible to acknowledge and balance the issues facing local governments, the humanity and dignity of homeless people, and our constitutional principles,” Sotomayor wrote. “Instead, the majority focuses almost exclusively on the needs of local governments and leaves the most vulnerable in our society with an impossible choice: Either stay awake or be arrested.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of a former Pennsylvania police officer charged for his alleged participation in the U.S. Capitol attack, saying a felony obstruction charge was improperly applied in his case.
The 6-3 opinion came from Chief Justice John Roberts. He was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
At issue was whether a 2002 law enacted in the wake of the Enron scandal to prevent the destruction of evidence in financial crimes could be used against alleged participants in the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol of Jan. 6, 2021, which disrupted congressional certification of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election.
The court’s majority wrote it could not, dismissing the government’s interpretation of the statute as overly broad.
To prove a violation of the law at hand, the court said “the Government must establish that the defendant impaired the availability or integrity for use in an official proceeding of records, documents, objects.”
(NEW YORK) — Severe storms ravaged the country from Montana to Florida on Thursday, with winds gusting to 91 mph in South Dakota and hail as large as golf balls in Montana.
In Melbourne, Florida, a tornado ripped through a neighborhood, damaging homes.
“Fortunately no one was injured,” Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey wrote Thursday night. “Although some of the area is without power [Florida Power & Light] is en route and will be working through the evening replacing power poles and downed lines.”
On Friday, the severe weather is forecast to impact Colorado to Iowa, bringing damaging winds and large hail.
The highest tornado threat will be in the Kansas City area.
The severe weather will move east on Saturday, ripping through Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo, New York. Damaging winds, hail and isolated tornadoes are possible.
By Sunday, the severe weather will hit the Interstate 95 corridor, including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston. Damaging winds will be the biggest threat.
