(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. conducted a successful counterterrorism operation against a “significant” al-Qaeda target in Afghanistan over the weekend, according to a senior administration official.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.
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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden “continues to feel well” and is still in isolation after experiencing a rebound case of COVID-19, according to a letter from White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor on Monday.
O’Connor wrote in a memo released by the White House that Biden tested positive on an antigen test Monday morning, a result he said “could be anticipated.” Biden had previously tested negative Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and Friday morning before again testing positive on Saturday.
“The President will continue his strict isolation measures as previously described,” O’Connor wrote.
“He will continue to conduct the business of the American people from the Executive Residence,” O’Connor added. “As I have stated previously, the President continues to be very specifically conscientious to protect any of the Executive Residence, White House, Secret Service and other staff whose duties require (albeit socially distanced) proximity to him.”
Biden had first tested positive for COVID-19 on July 21 and ultimately reemerged from isolation last Wednesday after testing negative. However, he had been treated with Paxlovid, an effective coronavirus treatment that at times produces a so-called rebound case after a patient finishes a course of it. High-risk patients still face drastically diminished risks of hospitalization after taking Paxlovid.
The letter did not specify any symptoms Biden is feeling, but the president has been asymptomatic since testing positive again Saturday, according to O’Connor’s past memos. Biden previously had a runny nose, cough, sore throat, a slight fever and body aches after testing positive the first time.
Biden had six close contacts before testing positive for COVID for a second time, though the White House has not announced any positive cases from any of those people.
The rebound case comes after Biden last week gave a speech from the Rose Garden praising vaccines and therapeutics.
“We got through COVID with no fear, I got through it with no fear, a very mild discomfort because of these essential, life-saving tools,” Biden said in the Rose Garden. “You don’t need to be president to get these tools used for your defense.”
Biden’s positive test result has interfered with his travel plans across the country in which he had planned on touting newly passed legislation to invest in production of semiconductors and computer chips. The president has also highlighted a recent agreement between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on a bill to reduce drug prices, combat climate change and close corporate tax loopholes.
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(WASHINGTON) — The first man to stand trial for his role in last year’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol will be sentenced on Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Guy Wesley Reffitt, 49, of Wylie, Texas, was convicted by a federal jury in March of five felony counts, including obstruction of justice as well as entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a firearm.
Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice have asked that Reffitt be sentenced to 15 years in prison, which would be by far the longest sentence handed down to a Capitol riot defendant. Prosecutors have also — for the first time — asked a federal district court judge to apply a terrorism enhancement, which would effectively define under law that a rioter’s actions amounted to domestic terrorism.
Reffitt is among the more than 850 people who have been charged in connection with the deadly breach of the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, which disrupted a joint session of Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election. Over 200 defendants have already pleaded guilty to a variety of misdemeanors and felony charges, with some being sentenced to years in federal prison.
Reffitt’s attorney, Clinton Broden, asked that his client be sentenced to no more than two years. He said he was shocked by the prosecution’s recommendation, since his client wasn’t accused of entering the Capitol or assaulting any police officers that day.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich isn’t bound by any of the recommendations or the federal sentencing guidelines, which in Reffitt’s case call for a prison sentence ranging from nine years to 11 years and three months.
During the trial, prosecutors sought to cast Reffitt, a member of the Texas Three Percenters militia group, as a ringleader of one of the first waves of the mob that breached the Capitol from the building’s west side.
Videos played in court showed Reffitt climbing a stone banister near where scaffolding had been put up in advance of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, and Reffitt confronting U.S. Capitol Police officers who warned him to back down before they fired less-than-lethal ammunition and pepper spray to stop his advance. Other videos presented in court showed Reffitt gesturing to the crowd behind him in what appeared to be an attempt to get them to move up the stairs toward multiple entryways that lead into the building.
At one point in the trial, prosecutors played first-person footage that Reffitt had recorded with a 360-degree camera mounted on his helmet while in the crowd at the “Save America” rally prior to the attack.
“We’re taking the Capitol before the day is out,” Reffitt says in the video. “Everybody is in the same harmony on that … dragging ’em out kicking and f***ing screaming.”
“I didn’t come here to play games … I just want to see Pelosi’s head hit every f***ing stair on the way out,” he says later. “I think we have the numbers to make it happen … without firing a single shot.”
The Justice Department’s case also relied on two key witnesses: Rocky Hardie, a former member of the Texas Three Percenters, who testified against Reffitt in exchange for immunity to cooperate, and Reffitt’s 19-year-old son, Jackson, who submitted an online tip to the FBI first alerting them to his father’s plans weeks before the riot, ultimately leading to Reffitt’s arrest on Jan. 16, 2021.
During an interview with ABC News from jail last December, Reffitt said he “never expected anything like this to happen.”
“This has been disastrous for me and my family, especially for my girls, my son — actually, all of my family,” Reffitt told ABC News.
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(WASHINGTON) — As Senate Democrats push a major economic, health and environmental proposal, “much of what they’re saying about this bill is just not true,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., contended on Sunday.
“It may be disinflationary by causing a recession,” Cassidy told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “They’re interjecting an incredible amount of uncertainty into the economy. … I think this is going to lead to a worse recession.”
The Inflation Reduction Act was announced Wednesday after months of negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. The bill would pay down about $300 billion from the national debt and invest about $370 billion in energy and climate programs over the next 10 years, the lawmakers said, with revenue raised from increasing corporate taxes and enhancing IRS enforcement.
The legislation would also lower some prescription drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate and expand federal health care subsidies.
On “This Week,” Cassidy took another view of the proposal.
“They are raising taxes. According to [Congress’] Joint Committee on Taxation, taxes will be raised almost $17 billion in the first year on those who are making less than $200,000,” he said, citing an analysis that Democrats say excludes cost-saving measures, like those on prescription drugs. In an earlier interview on “This Week” Sunday, Manchin insisted there is “not a tax increase” in his bill.
Karl noted that just prior to that package’s announcement, legislation to boost domestic production of crucial computer chips passed through the Senate with 17 Republican votes — including Cassidy.
Republican Sen. John Kennedy, who represents Louisiana along with Cassidy, claimed this was a slight on the GOP lawmakers who backed the chip bill thinking Democrats’ spending proposal was dead, telling Politico, “Looks to me like we got rinky-doo’d.”
“Is he right?” Karl pressed. “Did you guys get hood-winked by Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer?”
“Schumer pulled a fast one on the American people,” Cassidy countered.
But he stood by supporting the bill, which spends some $52 billion out of an overall $280 billion to promote semiconductor production, arguing the ability to manufacture the chips domestically is vital for U.S. interests; right now, China is an enormous exporter of the technology.
“This is all about national security,” Cassidy said. “I’m a China hawk. If you’re comfortable with China … this bill, maybe you don’t vote for. If you’re a China hawk like I am, if you’re about national security, by golly you support this bill.”
GOP senators also came under fire from advocates last week after changing course on a bill to help veterans who were exposed to toxic “burn pits” during their service.
Comedian Jon Stewart, who appeared on “This Week” on Sunday in a separate interview, has been strongly lobbying for the bill’s passage, telling Karl that “nothing changed” in the text between votes in June and July — but Republican senators changed their votes.
Karl questioned Cassidy about the switch. Cassidy maintained that it was a temporary, bureaucratic delay and blamed Democrats.
“The bill will pass, and I strongly support it. We have to stand by our veterans who have been exposed to these chemicals. There was a drafting error,” he said. “A $400 billion drafting error that Democrats promised Republicans would get a vote on an amendment to fix.”
He was referring to what conservatives called an effort to free up existing funds already being used for veterans by shuffling the money inside the budget to use for unrelated purposes.
“But, to be clear, you did vote for it in its current form in the Senate,” Karl pressed.
“Yes, and I’ll vote for its final passage, too,” Cassidy said.
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(WASHINGTON) — On ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin again declined to speculate about backing President Joe Biden in 2024 and said he was hopeful fellow Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema will come on board with a deficit reduction, climate and energy bill he negotiated.
Manchin’s new spending deal, brokered with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, would close corporate tax loopholes and levy a 15% corporate minimum tax, invest billions in clean energy and reducing emissions, lower prescription drug costs via Medicare and expand health care subsidies.
In an interview with “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl, Manchin touted the package’s provisions — which will need to earn the support of all 50 votes in the Democratic caucus given widespread Republican opposition.
A key vote will be Arizona’s Sinema, who has previously opposed closing the so-called carried interest tax loophole. Manchin and Schumer’s bill limits but doesn’t remove that exception.
“Sen. Sinema is my dear friend. I have all the respect for her, she’s extremely bright and works very, very hard. She has an awful lot in this piece of legislation, the way it’s been designed as far as the reduction of Medicare — letting Medicare go ahead and negotiate for lower drug prices,” Manchin said.
“She’s very involved in that and I appreciate that,” he told Karl. “Also, basically, when she said … ‘we’re not going to raise taxes,’ I agree with that.” (Sinema has not yet weighed in on the proposal.)
Karl pressed Manchin on his assessment that the Senate legislation would help lower inflation, noting that a budget model from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania showed the bill would initially — slightly — add to inflation.
“I understand the difference of opinion,” Manchin said. “We’re basically investing in reliable energy, making sure that we use our fossil fuels cleaner than anyplace else in the world. But we’re basically aggressively producing more energy to reduce the prices of gasoline and energy costs at your house and everywhere else. And basically, we’ve invested in new technologies to bring more manufacturing back, such as batteries … So all of this, they’re not factoring any of that in.”
Manchin, one of the Democratic Party’s most conservative lawmakers, has previously declined to answer questions over his potential support for Biden in 2024.
Karl asked for clarity on Manchin’s view, noting it was a “simple question.”
Manchin said he wasn’t “getting involved that.”
“Everybody’s worried about the election. That’s the problem. It’s the 2022 election, 2024 election. I’m not getting involved in that,” Manchin said, adding, “I’m not getting into the 2022 or 2024. Whoever is the president, that’s my president. Joe Biden is my president right now.”
“You can’t even rule out voting for a Republican for president?” Karl asked
“I’m not getting into the 2024 election,” Manchin responded.
His comments come amid continued speculation over whether Biden will run for reelection in two years given political challenges such as stubbornly high inflation, which helped push his approval rating down into the 30s, according to FiveThirtyEight. Democratic voters have said in some recent polls they want another 2024 nominee; Biden says he intends to run if he’s healthy.
Manchin did credit Biden with helping bless the deficit-reduction bill he negotiated with Schumer, D-N.Y.
Manchin also defended working on the bill in secret with Schumer after earlier negotiations faltered several times, with Manchin citing his concerns about the historic inflation.
“I understand all the frustration, and the reason for that, I don’t want them to go through that again. I didn’t know if we could get a deal. I did not know if we can come to an agreement. So why would I put people through this, all this drama? I’ve been through this for eight months. I tried. I kept trying,” Manchin said of the bill, which would pass through the budget reconciliation process requiring only 50 votes in the Senate.
Manchin rebuffed Republican senators who said they felt deceived by the surprise announcement last week that legislative text had been agreed to between Schumer and Manchin, maintaining he had consistently sought to find a deal with the rest of the Democratic caucus.
“They all knew where I was on that,” Manchin said.
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(MESA, Arizona) — Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers may lose his Republican primary for an open state senate seat this week, after he testified to the Jan. 6 committee about the pressure campaign from former President Donald Trump and his associates to undo the presidential election results in the state.
Bowers has drawn the ire of the Arizona GOP, who censured him earlier this month, and of former President Trump. But he’s unapologetic about his congressional testimony and his decision not to overturn the Arizona’s results.
“If we want to base a party and an authority and move people to solve problems, you can’t base it on a lie. Ultimately, that falls apart,” he told “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl in an exclusive interview at his home in Mesa, Arizona.
Bowers faces Trump-endorsed candidate David Fansworth in an Aug. 2 primary that makes Bowers the first Republican to face voters after testifying before the Jan. 6 committee.
“I’ve had people walk up and say, you know, just cold turkey, ‘I’m ashamed of you,'” he told Karl.
Bowers says he’s also been called a “traitor” and has been told that “the price of treason is hanging.”
In his June testimony, Bowers detailed several conversations with former President Trump and his then-personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, asking him to replace Arizona’s electors with ones who would say Trump won the 2020 election.
Biden won Arizona in 2020 by almost 11,000 votes.
“Did you ever consider going along with it?” Karl asked Bowers.
“I said, this is new to me. The idea of throwing out the election of the president is like, okay, so what part of Jupiter do I get to land on and colonize?” Bowers said.
Giuliani “never” provided any evidence to back up claims that thousands of dead people voted in Arizona, Bowers said.
“You asked [Giuliani] for evidence of fraud?” asked Karl.
“Over and over, and he said, ‘yes, yes.’ And he never gave us anything. No names, no data, nothing.”
Bowers, who is term-limited in the state house, previously said it would take a “miracle” for him to win his bid for state senate. He told Karl “the demographics of my race are heavily Trump.”
In an unusual move for a state legislature race, former President Trump has campaigned against Bowers in Arizona.
“Rusty Bowers, he’s a RINO [‘Republican in name only’] coward who participated against the Republican party in the totally partisan unselect committee of political thugs and hacks the other day, and disgraced himself, and he disgraced the state of Arizona,” he told a crowd in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on July 22.
In response, Bowers told Karl, “I have thought at times, someone born how he was, raised how he was — he has no idea what a hard life is, and what people have to go through in the real world. He has no idea what courage is, and the last place on Earth that I would want to do evil would be the state of Arizona.”
A fifth-generation Arizonan, Bowers has held state public office for 17 years. Bowers has, like other Republicans who have broken with the former President, faced harassment and threats.
“How do you explain the hold that he has, though, on, on Republicans, including a lot of Republican leaders right here in Arizona?” Karl asked Bowers.
“Well, those leaders in Arizona are an interesting group in and of themselves. They rule by thuggery and intimidation,” Bower said. “So, you know, they, they found a niche, they found a way and it’s fear. And people can use fear, demagogues like to use fears as a weapon. And they weaponize everything. That’s not leadership to me to use thuggery.”
After his testimony, Bowers faced criticism for telling a reporter that he would vote for Pres. Trump in 2024. He told Karl that’s absolutely not the case.
“So, just to clarify, you’re not supporting Trump again?” Karl asked.
“I’m not,” said Bowers. “My vote will never tarnish his name on a ballot.”
“You’re never again gonna vote for Donald Trump?” Karl reiterated.
“I’ll never vote for him,” Bowers replied. “But I won’t have to, because I think America’s tired. And there’s absolutely forceful, qualified, morally, defensible, and upright people. And that’s what I want. That’s what I want in my party. And that’s what I want to see.”
When asked if former President Trump could ever be trusted in a position of authority again, Bowers said, “I would certainly hope not. I certainly don’t trust that authority that he would exercise.”
Bowers echoed the words of Jan. 6 House committee vice chair, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who was one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump after the Capitol riot.
“Liz also said that ‘the reality that we face today as Republicans is we have to choose to be loyal to Donald Trump, or to be loyal to the Constitution.’ And you can’t be both,” Karl said.
“I don’t see a question at all there. No question. The Constitution was designed to last and be the light of freedom to the whole world. That’s not a legacy that I would want to play with,” said Bowers.
Bowers also told Karl he hasn’t been contacted by the Justice Department, which is conducting its own investigation into the Capitol attack, but would cooperate if asked to do so.
“I have nothing to hide and I want to tell the truth,” he said.
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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden has tested positive again for COVID-19, according to a letter from White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor.
O’Connor said Biden’s antigen test came back positive late Saturday morning after he tested negative Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and Friday morning.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(NEW YORK) — As the federal government aims at expanding protections for LGBTQ people, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and state agencies are vowing to dodge those safeguards.
In a memo from the Florida education department on Thursday, the agency told state schools to ignore nondiscrimination guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Agriculture.
The federal guidance stated that schools cannot discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity under Title IX, as the definition of “sex” includes such categories.
Several federal agencies have issued similar guidance.
DeSantis’ office expressed its support in the education department’s memo in a statement to ABC News.
“The governor’s office fully supports the Florida Department of Education in its position on these proposed rule changes and stands with Commissioner Diaz in refusing to allow the federal government and the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture to hold vulnerable students hostage to their political agenda,” said the governor’s office.
The news comes as Florida’s Agency for Healthcare Administration proposed a ban on Medicaid coverage for puberty blockers, hormones, sex reassignment surgeries, and “any other procedures that alter primary or secondary sexual characteristics.”
The AHCA is debating whether gender-affirming care falls under the “Generally Accepted Professional Medical Standards” for trans Medicaid recipients.
Simultaneously, the state’s health department has asked the Florida Board of Medicine to restrict transition-related care for transgender minors, a letter obtained by NBC News read.
The federal government is trying to fight such restrictions. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently proposed a rule that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability in certain health programs and activities.
Health experts and activists applauded the move, as it includes protections for LGBTQ identities.
“What we’re seeing happening in the states right now is an attempt to codify discriminatory attitudes towards LGBTQ people, particularly transgender people, in state law,” Kellan Baker, the executive director of the LGBTQ health advocacy group Whitman-Walker Institute, told ABC News.
“There’s nothing unusual about health care for transgender people. They all came from procedures, interventions, medications, and services that had been provided to cisgender people for a long time,” he added.
Research has shown that gender-affirming care can be life-saving for transgender people, and will improve the physical and mental health of those who receive it.
These ongoing battles come amid a growing list of instances in which DeSantis continues to spark debate against LGBTQ identities. Just a few weeks earlier, the Parental Rights in Education law, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law, went into effect.
It bans classroom instruction on “sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” according to the law’s language.
DeSantis and supporters of the law say it will give families more input in what their children are learning in schools and that children should not be learning about gender identity and sexual orientation at a young age.
Critics of the law said they believe it would set back the progress made by the LGBTQ community in the last few decades, and make children feel as though LGBTQ identities should be silenced or not spoken about. They say topics involving gender identity and sexual orientation are not inherently sexual, inappropriate or shameful.
More than 6 in 10 Americans oppose legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school, a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll found.
Instances of vandalism and threats against gay bars, drag shows and drag queen story hours continue to be reported, with activists blaming anti-LGBTQ legislation and political rhetoric.
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(WASHINGTON) — Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn, said publicly that he would not support President Joe Biden in 2024 amid a slew of new polling reflecting Democrats’ desire for a new presidential candidate.
The White House on Friday dodged probing by ABC News’ Molly Nagle into what the administration thought about the House Democrat’s comments.
“Look, I’m going to stay where I am,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told ABC News. “The President intends to run in 2024. We are ways away from 2024. We are going to continue to focus on doing the business of the American people by delivering for families by lowering costs for families.”
Phillips on Friday called for a “new generation” of leadership on Friday in the White House in an interview on the Twin Cities-based radio show WCCO-AM.
“I think the country would be well-served by a new generation of compelling, well-prepared, dynamic Democrats who step up,” Phillips said.
“I think it’s time for a generational change,” said Phillips, who told host Chad Hartman he expects more Democrats to start speaking out about their concerns. “And I think most of my colleagues agree with that.”
President Biden is experiencing heightened levels of doubt from inside his own party, with a New York Times/Siena College poll earlier this month showing 64% of Democratic voters saying they would prefer a new standard-bearer for a White House bid in 2024. His job-approval rating remains at 33%, according to the same poll.
“I have respect for Joe Biden, I think he has — despite some mistakes and some missteps, despite his age — I think he’s a man of decency, of good principle, of compassion, of empathy and of strength,” Phillips added.
Biden and other White House officials have attempted to defend his electability in recent weeks, however.
Biden fired back in early July at ABC News reporter Ben Gittleson, who asked about Democrats who’d prefer he didn’t run again.
“Read the poll,” Biden said, referring to the NYT/Siena College poll. “92% said if I did [run again], they’d vote for me.”
Jean-Pierre also cited the 92% figure when asked to react to the poll– which, administration supporters were also quick to note, did show him winning a hypothetical rematch with former President Donald Trump.
“You know, there’s going to be many polls,” she said. “They are going to go up and they are going to go down. This is not the thing that we are solely focused on.”
Polling data also shows that a majority of Americans would not prefer the former president seek another White House term either.
Trump has teased, but has not officially confirmed a plan to run for another White House term, while Biden has said multiple times that he will seek reelection.
“When you have such a sour, negative political environment, voters in general are looking for change,” GOP pollster Robert Blizzard told ABC News earlier this week. “They’re looking for new voices, new people.”
-ABC News’ Ben Siegel contributed to this report.
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(WASHINGTON) — House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Friday said he did not “recall” speaking to former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson on Jan. 6 after the former White House official testified about their conversation under oath to the Jan. 6 select committee.
Last month, Hutchinson, a former top aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows who was in the West Wing on Jan. 6, testified that McCarthy called her angrily on Jan. 6 after former President Donald Trump told his supporters in a speech to march to the U.S. Capitol.
“He then explained the President just said he’s marching to the Capitol. ‘You told me this whole week you aren’t coming up here. Why would you lie to me?’ I said, ‘I wasn’t lying to you, sir. We’re not going to the Capitol,'” Hutchinson said in her testimony.
She also said McCarthy texted her, “Do you guys think you are coming to my office?”
McCarthy, who has rebuffed the committee’s subpoena for his records and sworn testimony regarding the Capitol riot, said he didn’t remember talking to Hutchinson, and only called White House aides to “find the president.”
“I don’t recall talking to her that day. I recall talking to [Trump aide] Dan Scavino, I recall talking to Jared [Kushner], I recall talking to Trump,” he said Friday.
“If I talked to her, I don’t remember it. If it was coming up here, I don’t think I wanted a lot of people coming up to the Capitol. But I don’t remember the conversation.”
McCarthy said “I don’t remember” being concerned about Trump’s comments at his Jan. 6 rally because he “didn’t watch the speech.”
“I was working, so I didn’t see what was said, I didn’t see what went on until after the fact,” he added.
McCarthy has previously said he spoke to Trump on Jan. 6 and encouraged him to get his supporters out of the Capitol.
He later said Trump “bears responsibility” for the Capitol riot, but quickly moved to mend his relationship with Trump, opposing his second impeachment and visiting with him at his Palm Beach, Florida, club.
In leaked audio of GOP leadership calls first reported by the New York Times, McCarthy suggested to colleagues he would encourage Trump to resign and said, “I’ve had it with this guy.” Asked later about the remarks, McCarthy told reporters he spoke hypothetically.
McCarthy also opposed efforts to set up an independent outside commission to investigate the Capitol attack, after initially deputizing a top Republican to negotiate a bipartisan agreement with Democrats.
Asked Friday about Trump potentially announcing a 2024 election bid ahead of the congressional midterms, McCarthy replied, “The only thing the president and I have talked about is winning in 2022.”
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