Sting’s advice to bands considering a reunion: “Do it once” but make sure the timing’s right

Sting’s advice to bands considering a reunion: “Do it once” but make sure the timing’s right
Sting’s advice to bands considering a reunion: “Do it once” but make sure the timing’s right
Rob Ball/WireImage

The Police made their fans very happy when they reunited for a huge tour in 2007 and 2008. The tour wound up being the third highest-grossing tour at the time, which certainly makes reuniting an appealing idea for bands.

So, would Sting recommend other bands do it? “Once,” he tells the British publication Music Week with a laugh. “You should do it once and the timing should be right. When The Police reunited it had been long enough and it was the right time to do it. “

Sting takes full credit for the decision to reunite with his bandmates Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, but don’t expect it to ever happen again. “Doing it again would just be gratuitous and that won’t happen,” he says. “But we did it, and everyone was happy that mum and dad got back together again and had one last fling.” 

While Sting says he and his bandmates “still love each other and respect each other,” he notes, “I’m happy not to be in a band.” He says they “didn’t even try” to make new music during the time of the reunion, noting “it was, what’s the word, nostalgia, with recreating that thing for a short time.”

At 71 some may wonder how much longer Sting plans to perform, but it doesn’t sound like he’s ready to slow down. He notes, “I’m not wearing a corset or anything. As long as I can get into my rock star pants, I’ll be fine.”

Next up for Sting, he’ll be honored as a Fellow of the Ivors Academy at the Ivor Awards on May 18 in London. He’ll then kick off a European tour in Bilbao, Spain, on June 1. A complete list of dates can be found at Sting.com.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

2023 ACM Awards: Lainey Wilson, HARDY win big; Chris Stapleton nabs Entertainer of the Year

2023 ACM Awards: Lainey Wilson, HARDY win big; Chris Stapleton nabs Entertainer of the Year
2023 ACM Awards: Lainey Wilson, HARDY win big; Chris Stapleton nabs Entertainer of the Year
Academy of Country Music

Airing on Prime Video and hosted by global superstars Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks from Frisco, TX Thursday night, the 2023 ACM Awards got the night’s celebration of country music started with Keith Urban and his ever-fitting track “Texas Time.”

The party didn’t stop there, with other country legends and stars taking their turn to perform for the live and virtual audiences. Jo Dee Messina and Cole Swindell teamed up for “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” Kane Brown sang “Bury Me in Georgia,” and Carly Pearce and Trisha Yearwood paired together for “X’s and O’s” and “She’s in Love with the Boy.”

Also hitting the stage was pop star Ed Sheeran, who was joined by Luke Combs to sing “Life Goes On.” Miranda Lambert, Bailey ZimmermanCody Johnson, the husband and wife duo The War and Treaty, Jelly Roll, and Jason Aldean also each had a turn to show off their skills. 

When it comes to awards, Lainey Wilson and HARDY tied with four wins each, two of those came from their track “wait in the truck.” Wilson also took home Female Artist of the year and HARDY Artist-Songwriter of the Year. Swindell followed, nabbing three ACM awards, including for his song “She Had Me At Heads Carolina.”

The coveted Entertainer of the Year award went to Chris Stapleton.

Closing out the show with a bang, Parton debuted the highly anticipated lead single, “World on Fire,” from her forthcoming, first-ever rock album, titled Rockstar. The album, which won’t be available until November 17, is available to pre-order now. 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

2023 ACM Awards: Lainey Wilson wins big; Chris Stapleton nabs Entertainer of the Year

2023 ACM Awards: Lainey Wilson, HARDY win big; Chris Stapleton nabs Entertainer of the Year
2023 ACM Awards: Lainey Wilson, HARDY win big; Chris Stapleton nabs Entertainer of the Year
Academy of Country Music

Airing on Prime Video and hosted by global superstars Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks from Frisco, TX Thursday night, the 2023 ACM Awards got the night’s celebration of country music started with Keith Urban and his ever-fitting track “Texas Time.”

The party didn’t stop there, with other country legends and stars taking their turn to perform for the live and virtual audiences. Jo Dee Messina and Cole Swindell teamed up for “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” Kane Brown sang “Bury Me in Georgia,” and Carly Pearce and Trisha Yearwood paired together for “X’s and O’s” and “She’s in Love with the Boy.”

Also hitting the stage was pop star Ed Sheeran, who was joined by Luke Combs to sing “Life Goes On.” Miranda Lambert, Bailey ZimmermanCody Johnson, the husband and wife duo The War and Treaty, Jelly Roll, and Jason Aldean also each had a turn to show off their skills. 

When it comes to awards, Lainey Wilson took home the most with four wins, including Female Artist of the Year. Two of those wins came from her collaboration with HARDY for their track “wait in the truck.” HARDY earned the second most awards, also taking home Artist-Songwriter of the Year, while Swindell nabbed two ACM awards for his song “She Had Me at Heads Carolina.”

The coveted Entertainer of the Year award went to Chris Stapleton.

Closing out the show with a bang, Parton debuted the highly anticipated lead single, “World on Fire,” from her forthcoming, first-ever rock album, titled Rockstar. The album, which won’t be available until November 17, is available to pre-order now. 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

2023 ACM Awards: The winners

2023 ACM Awards: The winners
2023 ACM Awards: The winners
Academy of Country Music

The 58th Academy of Country Music Awards, hosted by Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks, streamed live on Prime Video Thursday night from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

Here are the winners in the main categories:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Chris Stapleton

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Lainey Wilson

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Morgan Wallen

DUO OF THE YEAR
Brothers Osborne

GROUP OF THE YEAR
Old Dominion

NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Hailey Whitters

NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Zach Bryan

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Bell Bottom Country, Lainey Wilson

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
“She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” Cole Swindell

SONG OF THE YEAR
“She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” Cole Swindell

VISUAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR
“Wait in the Truck,” HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Ashley Gorley

ARTIST-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
HARDY

MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR
“Wait in the Truck,” HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Suspect in Taiwanese church shooting indicted on federal hate crime charges

Suspect in Taiwanese church shooting indicted on federal hate crime charges
Suspect in Taiwanese church shooting indicted on federal hate crime charges
Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

(SANTA ANA, Calif.) — The alleged gunman in a Taiwanese church shooting in California last year that killed one and injured five others now faces nearly 100 federal charges, including hate crimes.

David Chou, 69, of Las Vegas, was arrested following the mass shooting at a Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California, on May 15, 2022. He is accused of pulling out a semi-automatic handgun and firing into a crowd during a luncheon to honor a pastor returning from Taiwan. Investigators said at the time that Chou, a Chinese American citizen, was allegedly motivated by the political tension between China and Taiwan.

Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that Chou has been charged with 98 counts of hate crimes, weapons and explosives offenses.

A federal grand jury in Santa Ana indicted Chou on 45 counts of obstructing free exercise of religious beliefs by force, which resulted in the death of one person and included attempts to kill 44 others, and 45 counts of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act “by attacking the church congregants because of their actual or perceived Taiwanese national origin and Presbyterian faith,” prosecutors said.

He was also indicted on six counts of using a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, one count of carrying explosives during the commission of a federal felony offense, and one count of attempting to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce by means of fire and explosives.

If convicted on the federal charges, Chou faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty, prosecutors said. Online court records do not include any attorney information for him at this time.

Chou is already in state custody on charges including murder with an enhancement for a hate crime and five counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting. He pleaded not guilty to the state charges last year.

Chou allegedly tried to superglue the doors shut so victims could not flee, and placed ammunition and Molotov cocktails around the Geneva Presbyterian Church, authorities said. Dr. John Cheng, 52, was killed while trying to disarm the gunman during the attack, and five others were hurt by gunfire. A group of churchgoers was able to detain the shooter and hogtie his legs with an extension cord, authorities said.

Chou is Chinese but an American citizen, officials said. Authorities said at the time they believe Chou’s anger began when he lived in Taiwan, where he felt he was an outsider and his anti-Taiwan views were not accepted. His views became more radical as tensions between China and Taiwan escalated.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ex-head of DHS disinformation governance board sues Fox News for defamation

Ex-head of DHS disinformation governance board sues Fox News for defamation
Ex-head of DHS disinformation governance board sues Fox News for defamation
anouchka/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The former executive director of the Department of Homeland Security’s short-lived disinformation board is suing Fox News for defamation, in the same court where the network just settled its suit with Dominion Voting Systems.

Nina Jankowicz was tapped to lead the Disinformation Governance Board, which was created last spring by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to “protect Americans from disinformation that threatens the homeland” — but the board immediately found detractors in the GOP and some leading civil liberties groups over concerns that Jankowicz and the board would be acting as “truth police.”

Jankowicz, a former Wilson Center fellow who had publicly criticized former President Donald Trump, resigned from the board only a month into her tenure, after the DHS shut down the board pending a review. A DHS panel later concluded that there was no need for the board.

Jankowicz’s lawsuit, filed in Delaware state court, alleges that Fox defamed Jankowicz by telling viewers that the board was out to censor the American public, causing Jankowicz to be “doxed, threatened, harassed relentlessly, and even cyberstalked.”

“Fox’s coverage of Jankowicz was neither news nor political commentary; it was cheap, easy entertainment untethered from the facts, designed to make consumers believe that Jankowicz could and would suppress their speech,” the suit says. “Fox chose to lie about Jankowicz deliberately. Its statements were false and calculated to cause harm, and they did.”

The lawsuit alleges that Fox made those statements despite knowing that the Disinformation Governance Board “had no ability to intervene, respond to, or prevent the spread of disinformation. Nor did it have any power or purpose to silence speech or surveil citizens.”

The network has filed papers to have the Jankowicz case moved from Delaware superior court to the Delaware federal court. A Fox spokesperson, when asked for comment, referred ABC News to their legal filing.

Jankowicz’s suit says that over the course of eight months, Fox talked about Jankowicz 300 times. When the board was first announced, says the suit, “70% of Fox’s one-hour segments mentioned Jankowicz or the board, always in inaccurate, melodramatic, and venomous terms.”

“None of Fox’s false claims about Jankowicz were the product of honest mistakes in its reporting,” the lawsuit says. “Rather, Fox intentionally trafficked in malicious falsehoods to pad its profits at the expense of Jankowicz’s safety, reputation, and well-being.”

Jankowicz was subjected to death threats as a result of Fox News’ coverage, the lawsuit says.

The suit names current and former Fox personalities including Jesse Waters, Judge Jeanine Pirro and Tucker Carlson, among others.

The lawsuit comes three weeks after Fox settled a $1.6 billion lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting System over accusations that the network knowingly pushed false conspiracy theories that the voting machine company rigged the 2020 presidential election in Joe Biden’s favor.

Fox agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million and acknowledged “the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

5 policy areas where Trump broke ground — or evaded — in CNN town hall

5 policy areas where Trump broke ground — or evaded — in CNN town hall
5 policy areas where Trump broke ground — or evaded — in CNN town hall
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

(GOFFSTOWN, N.H.) — Former President Donald Trump’s town hall on CNN Wednesday featured no shortage of theatrics, from calling moderator Kaitlin Collins “nasty” to sparking laughs from a supportive audience with a jab against E. Jean Carroll, the author who accused him of rape and won a civil case in which a jury found him liable for battery and defamation.

But during the 70-minute forum, Trump also faced policy questions he either dodged or answered head-on, potentially revealing contours of a possible second Trump administration.

Here are five areas where Trump took new policy positions — or evaded.

Abortion

Trump hailed the Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade a “great victory,” taking credit because he nominated three of the conservative justices who voted to do so.

When it comes to what’s next, though, Trump was evasive.

“President Trump is going to make a determination what he thinks is great for the country and what is fair for the country,” Trump said when Collins pressed him on his position on some kind of national ban.

“I’m looking at a solution that’s going to work.”

Of last year’s Supreme Court ruling, Trump said, “You know that they wanted to bring it back to the states but that was probably the least important part of that victory,” but he didn’t explicitly say that’s what he’d support over federal legislation.

The comments served as a microcosm for the GOP’s broader struggles with abortion after Democratic fury over last year’s Supreme Court decision helped turn what was supposed to be a red wave midterm election into one that saw Democrats expand their Senate majority and minimize their House losses.

Trump has struggled to find his footing on the issue, sparking backlash from typically supportive evangelical and anti-abortion groups after blaming Republicans’ underwhelming midterm results on candidates who supported stringent restrictions on the procedure.

The former president met last week with Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a powerful anti-abortion advocacy group in the U.S., after which Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president, called the meeting “terrific.”

Debt ceiling

Trump made waves with his comments on the debt ceiling, seeming to put a historic and potentially calamitous default firmly on the table if Republicans don’t succeed in pushing for spending cuts.

“I say to the Republicans out there — congressmen, senators — if they don’t give you massive cuts, you’re going to have to do a default,” he said.

The remarks come as Republicans and Democrats negotiate over how to lift the limit on how much the government can borrow to pay its existing obligations.

Republicans are saying they’d only vote for an increase if President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats agree to significant spending cuts, while Democrats say a clean debt ceiling increase should pass Congress, warning the threat of default is too great to be negotiated over.

The talks were jumpstarted after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the government could run out of money to pay its expenses as early as June 1.

Trump, when pressed, doubled down on saying he would endorse default if negotiations reach a stalemate.

“We might as well do it now because you’ll do it later,” he said.

Ukraine

Trump claimed he would be able to bring a halt to the fighting in Ukraine but declined to come down firmly on Kyiv’s side in the fight against Russia’s invasion.

He boasted that if he were president, he could end the war in 24 hours but did not detail what he wanted an end to look like, dodging on whether he wanted Ukraine or Russia to win.

“I don’t think in terms of winning and losing,” he said. “I think in terms of getting it settled so we stop killing all these people.”

The comments followed Trump’s trend of being softer on Russia than many other Republicans.

During his administration, he said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assertion that Moscow didn’t interfere in the 2016 election — a stance at odds with the CIA’s own findings. And Wednesday, he declined to call Putin a war criminal over the invasion of Ukraine, which has seen hundreds of civilians killed, including many children.

“If you say he’s a war criminal, it will be a lot tougher to get a deal to get this thing stopped,” he said.

A possible return of family separations at the border

Trump sparked international backlash when he instituted a policy in 2018 that separated families at the border, ultimately rescinding the rule amid the outcry.

But on Wednesday, Trump admitted during the town hall that while the policy “sounds harsh,” he wouldn’t take it off the table.

“Well, when you have that policy, people don’t come,” he said. “If a family hears that they’re going to be separated, they love their family, they don’t come.”

Pardons for insurrectionists

Trump, who is accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election, repeated false claims that the voting was marred by widespread fraud, but he broke new ground on how he’d handle those convicted and imprisoned over taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

“I am inclined to pardon many of them,” Trump told Collins. “I can’t say for every single one because a couple of them, probably, they got out of control.”

Trump did not delineate what charge or activity would be considered too severe to not qualify for a pardon, though the comments mark the first time that Trump has said he would consider freeing the lion’s share of the over 900 people who have been criminally charged over their involvement in or planning of the riot.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

California man arrested in crime spree involving armed carjacking, robbery, hoax 911 call

California man arrested in crime spree involving armed carjacking, robbery, hoax 911 call
California man arrested in crime spree involving armed carjacking, robbery, hoax 911 call
Fresno Police Department

(FRESNO, Calif.) — A former Army chaplain was arrested in connection with a California crime spree that involved an armed carjacking, hoax 911 call and bank robbery, authorities said.

The string of incidents occurred Tuesday afternoon in Fresno and Madera counties, authorities said.

Deputies responded to a report of an armed carjacking in Madera around 12:51 p.m. local time, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office said. The victim told deputies he was in his AT&T work van in a business complex parking lot when the suspect approached.

When the victim got out of the van to “confront” the suspect, he “wrestled away” an airsoft pistol and disarmed the suspect, but was then pepper-sprayed, the sheriff’s office said. The suspect fled the scene in the van, according to the sheriff’s office, which said it issued an alert to local agencies about the stolen vehicle.

Around 12:56 p.m., Fresno police officers responded to a 911 call reporting a man with a gun walking onto the Bullard High School campus, the police department said. Officers cleared the school but “quickly determined that was a hoax call,” Fresno Officer Chris Clark told ABC Fresno affiliate KFSN.

About 20 minutes later, officers responded to the report of an armed robbery at Central Valley Community Bank by a man who arrived in an AT&T van, Fresno police said.

“The suspect went into the bank and demanded money and said he was armed,” Clark told KFSN. “In fear of the suspect being armed, the money was handed over and the suspect did take the money and leave the location.”

The suspect then fled in the AT&T van, which was located by police around 1:30 p.m. in Fresno less than two miles from the bank, authorities said. The suspect fled the scene on foot but was ultimately located with the assistance of air support and taken into custody, police said.

The suspect, identified by police as 42-year-old Marcus Banksbey of Sacramento, was booked into the Fresno County Jail on charges including robbery, receiving stolen property, use of a firearm to commit a felony and false report of an emergency.

Police said they traced the 911 call reporting an armed person at the high school to Banksbey’s phone, and that they believe it was made while en route to the bank as a diversion.

“Officers located evidence connecting Banksbey to all three incidents including calling in the hoax call of an armed subject at Bullard High School,” Fresno police said. “Banksbey was never on campus and evidence suggests that it was a diversion call as the suspect was on his way to commit the bank robbery.”

Banksbey will face additional charges of felony carjacking with injury for the incident in Madera, authorities said.

ABC News has reached out to Banksbey for comment.

According to a U.S. Army spokesperson, he served in the California Army National Guard as an information systems operator/analyst from 2000 to 2012 and as a command/unit chaplain from 2012 to 2019 and held the rank of captain at the end of service. He deployed to Jordan from November 2017 to April 2018, the spokesperson said.

Jason Young told KFSN he served with the suspect in Jordan and expressed shock at the arrest.

“For someone like this to … act out in this just unnatural manner, I can’t imagine,” Young told the station.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Family of Lachelle Jordan urges public for help after she goes missing before rape trial testimony

Family of Lachelle Jordan urges public for help after she goes missing before rape trial testimony
Family of Lachelle Jordan urges public for help after she goes missing before rape trial testimony
Cleveland Police

(CLEVELAND) — The family of Lachelle Jordan, a Cleveland woman who has been missing since Saturday, urged the public to help in the search for the EMT worker, who shared that she was being stalked before her disappearance.

“We’re here to talk about the love of a family for a daughter who is missing,” Lachelle Jordan’s father, Joseph Jordan, told reporters during a press conference on Thursday afternoon outside the Cleveland 5th District police station.

Joseph Jordan said that family, friends, co-workers and Lachelle Jordan’s two children — a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old — want her home and issued an emotional plea for anyone with information about his daughter’s whereabouts to come forward.

“Somebody knows what happened, and I need that somebody — whoever you are, wherever you are — I need you to reach out to law enforcement. Reach out to the media. Contact them. You can remain anonymous,” he said.

“Lachelle Jordan is a somebody. She is an EMT,” he added.

“She is a somebody. There is no way that I am going to rest and let Lachelle become a nobody.”

Lachelle Jordan’s brother William Jordan told reporters that Lachelle’s EMT coworkers canvased for hours today and have continued to help her family in the search efforts.

A spokesperson for the Cleveland Police Department told ABC News on Thursday that “officers have conducted multiple canvasses, searched and have gone door to door.”

Joseph Jordan told ABC News in a phone interview on Thursday that before she went missing, his daughter shared with her family and with coworkers that she was being stalked by Michael Stennett and was set to testify against him this week.

According to Cuyahoga County court records, Stennett was charged with two counts of rape and one count of abduction on May 9, 2022. He entered a not guilty plea and was released on $10,000 bond on May 23, 2022.

According to ABC News Cleveland affiliate WEWS, prior to going missing, Jordan was planning to attend Stennett’s pre-trial hearing on Monday.

Lachelle shared with her family that Stennett started stalking her as they were preparing for the hearings related to his rape and abduction case, Joseph Jordan said.

“She filed a restraining order and [Stennett] continued to violate that restraining order, appearing at both [her] home and work,” Joseph Jordan said.

According to a Cleveland Municipal Court case summary, Stennett was charged with one felony count of menacing by stalking and one felony count of violating a protection order, days before Lachelle Jordan’s disappearance. He appeared in court on May 8.

ABC News reached out to Stennett’s attorney Daniel Misiewicz for comment.

Cleveland police said earlier this week that there isn’t any evidence connecting Stennett to Jordan’s disappearance, according to Cleveland 19 News.

Asked if police have any updates in the investigation, a spokesperson for the Cleveland Police Department told ABC News on Thursday afternoon, “There are no updates at this time.”

Court records reviewed by ABC News show that Stennett is in custody and is being held on a $100,000 bond. His next hearing is set for May 18.

The Cleveland Police Department asked the public to help in the search for Jordan, who was last seen on Saturday and may be in danger.

Authorities said that 30-year-old Lachelle Jordan has been missing since May 6 and was last seen near Fairport Avenue in Cleveland.

Authorities said that at the time of her disappearance, Jordan was last seen wearing “a blue and white East Cleveland Fire Department sweatshirt with ECFD on the back and the Fire logo on the front, green and white tie dye pants and rainbow-colored Croc shoes.”

Joseph Jordan said that he last spoke with his daughter on Friday evening and her twin sister, Rachelle Jordan, was the last person in the family to see Lachelle.

“Her twin sister was home with her on Saturday evening and she was the last one to hear from her because she said she was going out to get something,” Joseph Jordan said. “… and her sister didn’t think nothing of it until she didn’t come back to the house.”

He said that Rachelle Jordan filed a missing person’s report on Sunday.

Mark Barrett, president of the Cleveland EMS Union, told ABC News on Wednesday that Jordan was a new employee and had filed reports with her job that she was being stalked.

Jordan was removed from the truck where she worked and brought to headquarters due to safety concerns for her and her coworkers, Barrett said.

According to an arrest warrant for Stennett obtained by WEWS, Jordan noticed that Stennett followed her multiple times while she was in her personal vehicle when she was working, as well as waiting outside her home.

The arrest warrant stated that, two days before she went missing, Jordan allegedly noticed Stennett sitting outside her home, according to WEWS.

Crimestoppers is offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who has information on Jordan’s location. People can leave an anonymous tip by calling 216-252-7463.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

NH woman who asked Trump about abortion at town hall: ‘He didn’t actually answer me’

NH woman who asked Trump about abortion at town hall: ‘He didn’t actually answer me’
NH woman who asked Trump about abortion at town hall: ‘He didn’t actually answer me’
CNN

(MERRIMACK, N.H.) — As New Hampshire Republican voters cheered on former President Donald Trump at CNN’s town hall Wednesday night, there was one questioner who stood out.

Julie Miles, a registered nurse for more than 20 years, living in Merrimack, New Hampshire, wanted to know how Trump felt about abortion rights after the Supreme Court overruled decades of precedent in the landmark case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

A registered Republican, Miles had voted for Trump twice but was now undecided. She doesn’t chalk up her indecision to the abortion issue — “I’m not a one-issue voter,” she told ABC News in an interview Thursday. But, Miles said, she thinks Republican candidates should make clear where they stand given the stakes involved.

So, with the president in front of her, Miles stood up and asked a question she said was on behalf of the millions of women voters out there she said would be wondering the same thing: “How do you plan to appeal to women voters in New Hampshire who are concerned about the Dobbs decision and how states may change their laws?”

It’s one of many questions expected to follow Trump and other Republican candidates into 2024, including whether a future GOP president would embrace a proposed nationwide 15-week ban on abortion, what medical conditions qualify as a life-saving emergency, and if a woman in her third trimester should be forced to carry to term a non-viable pregnancy.

When confronted by Miles, Trump called it a “great question” — then dodged in answering it.

The former president took credit for nominating Supreme Court justices who delivered the Dobbs decision, saying he gave the anti-abortion rights movement “something to negotiate with” and that he was able to pull off what other Republican presidents couldn’t.

“Deals are being made. Deals are going to be made,” Trump told Miles.

Trump also falsely accused Democrats of wanting to “rip the baby out of the womb at the end of the ninth month” — a mischaracterization of the Democratic position on abortion. Last year, Senate Democrats tried to push a constitutional standard that allows states to restrict abortions after a fetus is likely to survive outside the womb, but with exceptions for risks to maternal life or health.

At one point, the former president did note that he believed in exceptions to abortion restrictions for anyone who is a victim or rape or incest or if their life is at risk.

But when pressed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, the moderator, on whether he would sign legislation imposing a 15-week federal ban on abortion, Trump repeatedly wouldn’t answer.

“What I’ll do is negotiate so that people are happy,” he said.

That answer left Miles unsatisfied.

“He didn’t actually answer me,” she later told ABC News.

Advocates weren’t satisfied either. Groups on both sides panned his non-answer, including one prominent anti-abortion rights group who said they want a candidate who will commit to a federal ban of 15 weeks with the option for states to enact tougher restrictions.

“We’re looking for a leader on life. Someone who will commit to being a national defender of life and as part of that commitment they need to support” the 15-week standard, said E.V. Osment, vice president of communications for SBA Pro-Life America.

But Republicans could risk alienating independent and moderate voters that don’t embrace a federal ban. According to an ABC NewsWashington Post poll released Tuesday, 78% of Americans say the decision to have an abortion should be left up to a woman and her doctor rather than regulated by law. Among women, that sentiment is particularly strong: 71% of women say they oppose the Dobbs ruling.

For Miles, she said she sees abortion as “a very personal decision between a doctor, a woman and her family” and says “the bottom line is the federal government should not dictate” that decision. And, she said, she’s also hoping New Hampshire GOP Gov. Chris Sununu might jump in the race. Sununu backed a 24-week ban on most abortions with the exception of fatal fetal abnormalities — a law that essentially allows the vast majority of abortions to occur up until the point of fetal viability.

How might other women see Trump’s response? What would another Trump term mean when it comes to abortion?

“They’d still have the same question,” Miles said.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.