In this Aug. 19, 2022, file photo, Quinton Aaron attends an event in Sag Harbor, New York. (Sean Zanni/Getty Images for ACCF, FILE)
The Blind Side actor Quinton Aaron is hospitalized and fighting for his life but showing “positive” signs, according to his former manager.
The actor, who starred in the Oscar-nominated film about the life of former NFL player Michael Oher, is currently on life support with a blood infection, Martin Luther Wardlaw, president of Ascension Studios and Aaron’s former manager, who is in communication with Aaron’s wife, told ABC News on Monday.
“I can tell you that things are looking more positive today than they were yesterday,” Wardlaw said.
He added, “Some things are under control and other things are not, and we’re just praying and hoping for the best right now.”
TMZ first reported the news of Aaron’s hospitalization, which the outlet said came after the actor lost feeling in his legs while walking up stairs at his home.
Aaron received global recognition for his role as Oher, starring alongside Sandra Bullock, who won an Oscar for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy, in the 2009 film.
The actor has been open about his health in recent years, sharing photos in October of his 200-pound weight loss journey.
“He was real concerned about staying fit, staying healthy, staying in front of the camera,” Wardlaw said. “I was very proud to see, you know, that he stuck with it, changing diets and doing what it took to lose weight. And I think he’d done an amazing thing.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem speaks during a news conference in the National Response Coordination Center at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters, January 24, 2026 in Washington. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Monday, two sources told ABC News, as the administration faces fallout over federal agent operations in Minnesota and the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti.
Noem’s top adviser, Corey Lewandowski, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and White House communications director Steven Cheung were also present, according to sources.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who had called Pretti a “domestic terrorist” without evidence, was not at the meeting, sources said.
Sources said the meeting lasted about two hours and came at the request of Noem. The White House declined to comment.
The New York Times was the first to report on the meeting.
Much of the scrutiny inside the administration has been directed toward Noem over her initial response to the killing of Pretti, sources said. After Pretti was killed Saturday, Noem — like Miller — was quick to call him a “domestic terrorist” without evidence.
Asked by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce if the president agreed with that characterization, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt distanced the president from those comments.
“Look, as I’ve said, I have not heard the president characterize Mr. Pretti in that way,” Leavitt said during the White House press briefing on Monday. “However, I have heard the president say he wants to let the facts in the investigation lead itself.”
While sources said Noem is expected to keep her job as of now, her focus is expected to shift to other priorities.
Trump, as he left the White House on Tuesday afternoon to travel to Iowa for an economic speech, told reporters that Noem would not be stepping down.
“I think she’s done a very good job. The border is totally secure,” Trump said.
But sources described a rift between Noem and Trump’s border czar Tom Homan — a frosty relationship that existed prior to the shooting in Minneapolis.
Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Noem is “very happy” Homan will be overseeing the actions on Minneapolis.
“Secretary Noem will continue to oversee the Department of Homeland Security, and she is very happy that Tom Homan, who is a great asset to the president, has a great depth of experience and insight, will be overseeing Minneapolis,” she said during an interview on Fox News Tuesday morning.
Homan was also at the White House on Monday before heading to Minnesota at the direction of Trump — bypassing the normal chain of command where Noem and Customs and Border Protection commander-at-large Greg Bovino had been overseeing ICE operations. Bovino is now returning to El Centro, California, to resume his duties as chief of that sector, multiple sources told ABC News.
Trump said on Monday that Homan would report directly to him.
Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz met with Homan on Tuesday morning. The two spoke about a number of items, including a “significant reduction in the number of federal forces in Minnesota, and an end to the campaign of retribution against Minnesota,” according to the governor’s office.
Trump said on Tuesday that Homan would also be meeting with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, also a Democrat.
“I hear that’s all going very well,” Trump said Tuesday.
The decision to send Homan into the state came as a relief to several Republicans on Capitol Hill who had personally reached out to the president and other White House officials directly about the response. Criticism has grown from congressional Republicans over the Pretti shooting and Minnesota ICE operation, with more than two dozen GOP lawmakers calling for a thorough investigation.
A person familiar with the planning said Homan will likely focus on more targeted immigration enforcement efforts.
Noem and her top adviser, Lewandowski, have pushed for a harder line immigration approach including street sweeps. Bovino rankled some who felt his direct reporting to the Homeland Security secretary was problematic, and bypassed Rodney Scott, the chief of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, sources said.
“The President’s entire immigration enforcement team — including Secretary Noem and Border Czar Homan — are on the same page. They are working together seamlessly to implement the President’s agenda, protect the American people, and deport criminal illegal aliens,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
ABC News’ Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
‘One Battle After Another’ soundtrack artwork. (Nonesuch Records)
Jonny Greenwood is among the nominees for the 2026 BAFTAs, the British equivalent of the Oscars.
The Radiohead guitarist’s soundtrack for the Paul Thomas Anderson film One Battle After Another is up for the original score award. The other nominees include the scores of Hamnet, Sinners, Bugonia and Frankenstein.
Greenwood has previously been nominated for the BAFTAs for his scores of the PTA movies There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread, as well as The Power of the Dog.
The 2026 BAFTAs will take place Feb. 22.
Greenwood’s One Battle After Another score was also nominated for the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, and is up for the 2026 Oscars, airing March 15 on ABC.
Bonnie Raitt performs onstage during the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Bonnie Raitt has added some more tour dates to her 2026 schedule.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has added a leg of summer shows in Canada and the U.S., kicking off Aug. 12 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, before hitting the U.S. on Aug. 19 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The tour is set to wrap Sept. 10 in Boise, Idaho.
Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.
These new dates extend Raitt’s already announced 2026 tour. She’ll launch the trek on May 28 in Spokane, Washington, and it will include a performance at Brandi Carlile’s Echoes Through The Canyon shows at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, on May 30. The first leg wraps June 27 in Winnipeg, Canada.
Raitt is also scheduled to play the Big Blues Bender in Las Vegas, which is taking place Sept. 10-13.
A complete list of tour dates can be found at BonnieRaitt.com.
President Donald Trump attends the signing ceremony of the Peace Charter for Gaza as part of the 56th World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 22, 2026. (Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Mortgage rates whipsawed in recent weeks as markets reacted to a flurry of policies from the Trump administration.
It began with a major milestone. Mortgage rates earlier this month fell below 6% for the first time in nearly three years, according to a data released by Mortgage News Daily.
“The progress stems directly from President Trump’s aggressive agenda to restore the American Dream of homeownership,” the White House touted in a statement on Jan. 12. The Trump administration cited its announcement days earlier, calling on government-sponsored mortgage lenders to purchase $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities.
Within little more than a week, however, mortgage rates had climbed to 6.21%, responding to rattled bond markets and erasing the previous reduction. The uptick came as Trump issued a tariff threat to European allies over his demands to acquire Greenland at the time. When Trump backed off of that levy soon afterward, mortgage rates fell but remained above previous lows, Mortgage News Daily data showed.
The volatility in mortgage rates underscored the risks posed by recent trade tensions, which threaten to push up Treasury yields and, in turn, drive mortgage rates higher, some analysts told ABC News.
Still, they added, mortgage rates will likely face downward pressure this year from anticipated interest-rate cuts at the Federal Reserve, and Trump may take further steps of his own to reduce borrowing costs.
“President Trump is certainly not sitting back and doing nothing,” Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, told ABC News.
“Some of it is big things on the international front, which are potentially destabilizing. And there’s an attempt to do anything and everything for the affordability of housing,” Wachter added.
To be sure, average 30-year mortgage rates have dropped from 7.08% to 6.17% since Trump took office, according to Mortgage News Daily. That drop-off owes in part to a post-pandemic cooldown of inflation, which allowed the Federal Reserve to begin lowering interst rates.
In a social media post earlier this month, Trump said lower mortgage rates would “make the cost of owning a home more affordable. It is one of my many steps in restoring Affordability.”
Mortgage rates closely track the yield on a 10-year Treasury bond. Since bonds pay a given investor a fixed amount each year, the specter of inflation risks higher prices that would eat away at those annual payouts. In turn, bonds often become less attractive in response to economic turmoil. When demand falls, bond yields rise.
U.S. Treasury yields jumped last week in the aftermath of Trump’s tariff threat over Greenland, which appeared to presage a possible trade war with several European allies.
The 10-year Treasury yield climbed as high as 4.3% in the aftermath of Trump’s threat, before dropping steadily down to 4.21% as Trump withdrew the levy and backed negotiations over Greenland, MarketWatch data showed.
As tensions rose in response to Trump’s tariff threat, some major U.S. bondholders in Europe appeared poised to sell. A Danish pension fund, AkademikerPension, said last Tuesday it would unload U.S. treasuries by the end of the month. It remains unclear whether other European bondholders will follow suit, especially after Trump’s reversal on tariffs.
If a substantial share of U.S. bondholders were to sell off their assets, it would slash demand and push up bond yields, some analysts said.
Since 30-year mortgage rates and other key interest rates track the yield on 10-year treasury bonds, a selloff of treasuries could bring about higher monthly payments for home loans, Raymond Robertson, a professor of trade, economics and public policy at Texas A&M University, told ABC News.
“It’s a pretty big concern,” Robertson said.
Marc Norman, associate dean at the New York University School of Professional Studies and Schack Institute of Real Estate, said bondholders are evaluating the reliability of U.S. government debt.
“Basically, it’s a bet on the U.S. government,” Norman told ABC News. “If that becomes unstable and people lose trust, it could have a big effect.”
Despite the uptick in mortgage rates in recent weeks, borrowing costs for homebuyers remain markedly lower than where they stood a year ago.
Analysts attributed the drop to a series of interest rate cuts at the Fed, as well as Trump’s order calling on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy hundreds of billions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities. After the order, Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, instructed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to up their bond investments in an effort to put downward pressure on mortgage rates, the Associated Press reported last week.
By ordering a federal agency to buy up some mortgage-backed securities, the Trump administration helped increased demand for the underlying loans, which pushed bond yields lower, Wachter said.
“This mortgage bond proposal is not a big move but it makes a difference,” Wachter added. Wachter said she expects mortgage rates to fall further over the course of this year, though she acknowledged ongoing risk: “Investors don’t like uncertainty.”
Still, Wachter said, “If you’re looking to buy a home, today is as good a day as any.”
If homebuyers move forward with a purchase but later find that mortgage rates have continued to fall, they can opt to refinance their homes. “The old saying is, ‘You marry the home and you date the mortgage,'” Wachter said.
In this June 25, 2018, file photo, an entrance to Fort Bliss is shown, in Fort Bliss, Texas. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images, FILE)
(EL PASO, Texas) — Several detainees at a Texas immigration detention facility claim in sworn court declarations that they heard a Cuban immigrant, whose death was later ruled a homicide, pleading for medication shortly before hearing what sounded like guards slamming him to the ground.
Geraldo Lunas Campos died in ICE custody on Jan. 3 at Camp East Montana, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
He is the third detainee to die at the detention center since it opened last year as a tent facility on the grounds of the Fort Bliss Army base outside El Paso.
In an autopsy report released last week, the El Paso County deputy medical examiner determined that Campos died from “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.”
Attorneys for the Campos family filed an emergency petition last week to prevent alleged witnesses from being deported. The petition, which was granted by a federal judge, cites reports alleging that guards at the facility choked and asphyxiated Campos.
Some of those witnesses submitted sworn declarations this week alleging that they heard Campos ask guards for his asthma medication on the day he died.
“The guard then said, ‘Shut up or we’re going to make you faint,'” wrote Henry Bolano, a detainee, in English and Spanish. “The last thing I heard was Geraldo speak in a voice that sounded like he couldn’t breathe. He said, ‘Let go of me. You’re asphyxiating me.'”
“Then there was silence,” Bolano wrote.
Santo Jesus Flores, another detainee, said he heard a “struggle ensue” that sounded like “the slamming of a person’s body against the floor or the wall” after Campos asked for his medication.
“I heard Geraldo scream that he could not breathe,” Flores said. “I could hear them trying to revive him, but they could not keep him alive.”
A DHS spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News regarding the detainees’ sworn declarations.
According to DHS, Campos was detained in July during an immigration enforcement action in New York. He had prior convictions including sexual contact with a minor and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the DHS and court records.
In a statement released following his death, a DHS spokesperson said Campos was pronounced dead after “experiencing medical distress.”
“Lunas became disruptive while in line for medication and refused to return to his assigned dorm,” the statement said. “He was subsequently placed in segregation. While in segregation, staff observed him in distress and contacted on-site medical personnel for assistance.”
Two music legends will unite in Las Vegas for a special performance titled Just the Two of Us.
Smokey Robinson and Gladys Knight will come together Aug. 25 at Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort, for an evening of “some of the biggest songs in history,” according to a press release.
Gladys’ catalog includes classics like “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Midnight Train to Georgia,” while Smokey is known for “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” and “I Second That Emotion,” among other hits.
The performance marks Gladys’ return to Sin City after taking the stage alongside Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle and Stephanie Mills last May for their Four Queens, One Stage tour. The singer, who briefly lived in Vegas, had a residency run at the Flamingo Las Vegas from 2002 to 2005 and one at the Tropicana in 2011.
Smokey most recently performed in Vegas in early 2025, when he played a series of shows at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas
Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday at 10 a.m. PT, following a week filled with presales.
Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson in ‘One Battle After Another.’ (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Lights, camera, awards season.
Nominees for the 2026 British Academy Film Awards, or BAFTAs — colloquially referred to as the British Oscars — were announced Tuesday ahead of the awards ceremony next month on Feb. 22.
One Battle After Another leads the way with 14 nominations total, including a leading actor nod for LeonardoDiCaprio.
Other films with multiple nominations include Sinners with 13, followed by Hamnet and Marty Supreme with 11 each.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts also highlighted first-time performance category nominees including Robert Aramayo, Odessa A’zion, Rose Byrne, Chase Infiniti, Michael B. Jordan, Inga IbsdotterLilleaas, Stellan Skarsgård and Teyana Taylor.
See below for a list of more top 2026 BAFTA Awards nominees:
Best film Hamnet Marty Supreme One Battle After Another Sentimental Value Sinners
Outstanding British film 28 Years Later The Ballad of Wallis Island Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy Die My Love H Is For Hawk Hamnet I Swear Mr Burton Pillion Steve
Leading actress Jessie Buckley – Hamnet Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value Emma Stone – Bugonia
Leading actor Robert Aramayo – I Swear Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon Michael B. Jordan – Sinners Jesse Plemons – Bugonia
Supporting actress Odessa A’zion – Marty Supreme Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners Carey Mulligan – The Ballad of Wallis Island Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another Emily Watson – Hamnet
Supporting actor Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein Paul Mescal – Hamnet Peter Mullan – I Swear Sean Penn – One Battle After Another Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value
Director Bugonia – Yorgos Lanthimos Hamnet – Chloé Zhao Marty Supreme – Josh Safdie One Battle After Another – Paul Thomas Anderson Sentimental Value – Joachim Trier Sinners – Ryan Coogler
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer The Ceremony My Father’s Shadow Pillion A Want In Her Wasteman
Film not in the English language It Was Just An Accident The Secret Agent Sentimental Value Sirât The Voice of Hind Rajab
Harry Styles’ Together, Together tour (Live Nation)
Demand for Harry Styles tickets has prompted the singer to add several new dates to his upcoming Together, Together tour, setting records in his home country.
Harry has added two nights in Amsterdam and four nights in London the tour, which features a limited number of cities played over multiple nights. With the addition of the new shows at London’s Wembley Stadium, he will now perform a total of 10 dates at the iconic venue.
According toBillboard, the added shows make Harry the solo artist with the most dates at Wembley in the same calendar year. The record was previously set by Taylor Swift, who famously once dated Harry, after she played eight shows there in 2024.
Harry also ties Coldplay‘s all-time record at the venue: They performed 10 Wembley shows on their Music of the Spheres tour in 2024.
As a solo artist, Harry sold out Wembley twice in 2022 and four times in 2023.
Harry’s tour dates come in support of his new album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, which will be out March 6. An AMEX presale for the new dates starts Jan. 28 for fans who preordered the new album before midnight on Jan. 24. The general onsale date is Jan. 30 via Harry’s website.
Luke Combs will preview his upcoming sixth album on the Feb. 1 edition of NBC’s Sunday Today.
The conversation was recorded during the Jan. 19 Sunday Sitdown Live at City Winery in Nashville.
“This album is just fastballs, you know, to just kind of be, like, ‘I still got it,’” Luke told host Willie Geist, according to Billboard. “I haven’t put out a record in an official capacity in almost four years, which is strange. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long.”
Luke’s most recent record was 2024’s Fathers & Sons, from which there were no radio singles.
The Way I Am arrives March 20 and currently has two hits, “Days Like These” and “Sleepless in a Hotel Room.” The album also boasts his 20th consecutive #1, “Back in the Saddle.”
