John Fogerty is set to hit the road in late April on what will be his first tour since regaining worldwide rights to all of his music with Creedence Clearwater Revival, and he’s certainly looking forward to playing those tunes on the road.
“There’s sort of a new outlook, I must say,” he tells ABC Audio. “Retaining now, finally, the ownership — it just gives me kinda a new lease on life artistically.”
Fogerty says he suspects that now that he’s in control of his music “there will be a renewed” energy onstage, but that energy may also be coming from another source.
“I’m onstage with my own kids in my band,” he says of sons Shane and Tyler, who are joining him on tour, “and getting to share this music with them and getting to play the songs with them as a band, you know, if you’re a parent it’s the best.”
And while some kids may loathe their parents’ music, Fogerty says that’s not the case with his kids.
“Happily, they like this kind of music. You know, I’m not forcing them to eat broccoli or something,” he jokes. “They enjoy classic rock and it shows up even in the songs that they write.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)
Fogerty’s Celebration Tour kicks off April 27 in Uncasville, Connecticut. A complete list of dates can be found at JohnFogerty.com.
(GUANAJUATO, Mexico) — At least seven people are dead, including one child, in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato after several gunmen stormed the La Palma resort on Saturday, according to authorities.
Authorities said when they arrived, they found the deceased bodies of three women, three men and a 7-year-old child, according to a release from the state attorney general’s office. Another injured person was found and transported to a local hospital.
The armed men allegedly arrived around 4:30 p.m. Saturday. “After the event, they fled but not before causing damage to the store and taking the cameras as well as the monitor,” the release said.
“The municipal government regrets the events that occurred and will provide the corresponding accompaniment to the relatives of those affected, also reiterating the willingness to cooperate with the relevant authorities pending that those responsible are brought to justice,” the statement continued.
No suspects have been apprehended at this time, officials said. The Mexican army and public security forces are working together, including using helicopters, in the investigation.
(WASHINGTON) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore detailed his plan to protect abortion access after his announcement that his state will stockpile abortion pills in the wake of a federal court ruling.
“Maryland is going to lead on this,” Moore pledged Sunday in an exclusive interview on This Week.
On Friday, Moore, who is roughly three months into his first term as governor, announced the state would begin stockpiling mifepristone after a judge struck down FDA approval of the abortion pill. On Wednesday, a federal judge put a temporary stay on that order, leaving a split decision for that the Supreme Court could decide on.
“Maryland is going to be a state where we are going to protect reproductive health and reproductive rights,” Moore told co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “We passed three bills that was focusing on things like increasing access, increasing privacy, and also making sure that when people come to Maryland they’re not going to be criminalized.”
Next November, Maryland voters will vote on a constitutional amendment to protect the right to an abortion.
Also high on the governor’s agenda is public safety, with Moore noting the state suffered an increase in shootings and homicides over the last decade. Moore highlighted Maryland’s budget, which put $107 million towards mental health and $122 million into local law enforcement.
“This is an all of the above approach in the way that we’re looking at public safety,” Moore said.
Moore has been open in the past about his own experience being arrested when he was 11.
“I was spray painting and trying to leave my mark on the world via a spray paint can,” Moore said Sunday. “People showed me that there was another way to leave your mark on the world.”
Moore says second chances, including joining the Army, helped lead him to the path of becoming governor.
“The reason I wanted to run for governor in the first place is I said ‘we can actually build a new type of legal system and politics in our state and one that says this is not about how we’re going to exclude, but how we’re going to include.”
The Maryland Democrat specifically cited his proposal that would allow an optional year of public service for high school graduates as an opportunity for young people who might otherwise choose the wrong path.
“This is going to redefine patriotism in the state of Maryland,” Moore said. “Being a patriot means lifting your neighbors up, not tearing them down.”
The plan passed Maryland’s legislature April 10, and would be funded by the state budget, federal agencies and private sector partners.
t wouldn’t be Coachella without surprise appearances. Here’s a rundown of who unexpectedly popped up, according to People.
Billie Eilish was surprise performer Saturday night, joining Euphoria composer Labrinth onstage to perform their recent collaboration “Never Felt So Alone.” The track, co-produced by Billie’s brother FINNEAS, will appear on Labrinth’s upcoming album, Ends and Begins, due out April 28.
The Weeknd was one of several artists who joined Metro Boomin during his set. The “Blinding Lights” star teamed up with the producer to perform “Heartless” and “Creepin’.” Also taking the stage with Metro Boomin were John Legend, Sean “Diddy” Combs and 21 Savage, among others.
Bebe Rexha joined dance pop duo Two Friends for a rendition of her smash hit “I’m Good (Blue),” as well as “If Only I,” an upcoming collaboration featuring Bebe, Two Friends and Loud Luxury.
Calvin Harris brought out Ellie Goulding to perform their latest hit, “Miracle,” which has been #1 for two weeks back in the U.K.
Finally, Post Malone popped up during Bad Bunny‘s set and joined the Puerto Rican superstar to play guitar renditions of “La Canción” and “Yonaguni,” according to Billboard. However, Posty’s mic cut out, so Benito ended up singing the songs a cappella.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called a judge’s ruling rescinding FDA approval of an abortion pill “unbelievable.”
Three Trump-appointed judges “should not be making the decision for women across the country,” Klobuchar said on This Week.
“What is going to be next? Is that judge going to not like birth control pills? Are we going to have a judge that doesn’t like [cholesterol medication] Lipitor? There’s a reason that Congress gave the FDA the power to make these decisions about safety.”
Klobuchar said if the Supreme Court upholds this decision, women will be “harmed.”
“It’s women that are going to have to take a bus across the country from Texas to Minnesota or to Illinois. That’s the problem right now,” Klobuchar said.
Klobuchar said abortion access and laws will be a central issue for voters in the 2024 election.
On Dianne Feinstein’s absence
When asked about her colleague Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee and has been absent from the Senate for months due to shingles, Klobuchar said Feinstein made the “right decision” to temporarily step off of the committee.
But Klobuchar does not support the current calls from House Democrats for Feinstein to resign due to her absence.
“As for the long term, many people have been out as you know, for periods of time when they’re sick, and they have come back. In this case, we are going to need her vote on the Senate floor eventually. We have things like the debt ceiling coming up. But I think what we need to do is take her at her word,” Klobuchar said.
After the United States reached its borrowing limit in January, the country was thrown into a political standoff, with Republicans and Democrats disagreeing about how Economists at Moody’s Analytics currently project the “X date,” defined as the day the Treasury Department will run out of money, to be Aug. 18.
Still, Klobuchar acknowledged that Feinstein’s absence “is going to become an issue as the months go by” if the senator does not return.
“This isn’t just about California. It’s also about the nation. And we just can’t with this one-vote margin and expect every other person to be there every single time,” Klobuchar said.
The Minnesota Democrat says she expects Feinstein to return to the Senate, saying “it sure better happen before the debt ceiling vote.”
“I sure hope not because that is against the precedent of the Senate and how we’ve run things,” Klobuchar said when asked if Republican senators will block a vote to appoint another Democratic senator to the Judiciary Committee, which will likely happen this week.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said people need to be held accountable following a stunning leak of classified documents that did “a lot of damage.”
“I don’t know what led to this airman’s actions, but he’s done a lot of damage in our standing. It’s very hard to get people to come forward right now to tell us about things we need to know about if they feel like they’re going to be compromised,” Graham, a former Air National guardsman, told This Week co-host Jonathan Karl.
“The question is how they did it, and why did they do it? And some people need to be fired over this.”
Last week, Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air Force National Guard, was charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and willful retention of classified documents, which collectively carry a maximum of 15 years in prison.
The documents Teixeira allegedly leaked first appeared on the platform Discord, a site often used by gaming enthusiasts. They were first shared with a small group before being more widely noticed.
The leak set off a firestorm in the Biden administration and intelligence community over details the documents laid bare over Russia’s war in Ukraine, U.S. spying efforts on allies and more.
Graham said he would have been shocked if he had the kind of intelligence access Teixeira had while he was in the military. He said the leak indicated broader systemic issues, while also swiping at members of the GOP’s right flank who have come to Teixeira’s defense.
“The system failed. This is a major failure,” he said. “And those who are trying to sugarcoat this on the right, you cannot allow a single individual of the military intelligence community to leak classified information because they disagree with policy.”
“There is no justification for this, and for any member of Congress to suggest it’s okay to leak classified information, because you agree with a cause is terribly irresponsible and puts America in serious danger,” he later added.
Graham also defended his previous legislative efforts to impose a federal 15-week abortion ban while saying he would wait for a likely upcoming Supreme Court decision on the accessibility of mifepristone, a pill commonly used in abortions. The high court issued a temporary stay of a ruling by a district judge in Texas that would have suspended the pill’s Food and Drug Administration’s approval.
“I don’t like a district court judge issuing an actual decree, even if I agree with the judge,” Graham told Karl. “I think the radical abortion policies of the Biden administration are wrong. But at the end of the day, we’re a rule of law nation, and let’s see what the Supreme Court does with this.”
When Karl pressed Graham on his recent meetings with Saudi Arabian officials after he pledged not do so following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the senator defended the meetings, saying, “Saudi Arabia [is] changing very quickly for the better.”
Dave Benett/Getty Images for Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
Director Jon M. Chu has revealed a first look at his upcoming film version of the Broadway musical Wicked, starring Ariana Grande as Glinda, the future Good Witch of the North, and Cynthia Erivo as the green-skinned Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West.
“You weren’t told the whole story. What happens when you veer off the Yellow Brick Road?” Chu wrote on Instagram. “FIRST LOOK of the #WickedMovie … currently in production in Oz.”
The caption accompanied two extremely darkly lit photos, one of which shows Erivo wearing her witch’s hat and cape, holding a broom. She’s turned away from the camera so we can’t see her face. The second photo shows Ariana as the blonde Glinda, aka Galinda, climbing up an extremely long staircase while dressed in a huge pink gown.
Ariana also posted the photo of herself on her own Instagram, and famous pals including Queer Eye‘s Tan France, Normani and Vera Wang raved over the image.
On April 3, Ari took to Instagram to commemorate the halfway point of making the film, due out in 2024. She wrote, “i hope this isn’t all a dream because as present as i am attempting to be, it sure does feel like one. happy halfway to this most beautiful crew. my fellow Ozians. my heart will be stuck here forever.”
Octavio Jones/TAS23/Getty Images for for TAS Rights Management
Please welcome to the stage … Aaron Dessner! Taylor Swift was joined by her folklore, evermore and Midnights collaborator Friday night in Tampa, Florida.
Billboard reports that Taylor introduced Dessner, a member of the band The National, as the ‘collaborator version of a soulmate.” Dessner then told the crowd, “You guys are watching the greatest performer on Earth do the greatest show of all time.”
The two performed the Midnights (3am Edition) track “The Great War” — a tour debut — during the “surprise song” acoustic part of the show.
Ahead of performing that song, Taylor joked that it “took on a new meaning when you guys made enough jokes about how you trying to get tickets for this tour felt like surviving the great war.” She also debuted another Midnights track, “You’re on You’re Own, Kid.”
And speaking of Midnights songs, Billboard reports that Taylor switched up her surprise songs rule, telling the crowd, “Basically when I started the tour, I was, like, ‘In the acoustic section, I am never repeating a song. I’m never doing songs more than once.’ But now I’m, like, ‘There are so many songs I want to do more than once.'”
So, she added, “I’m making a little caveat to the rule, which is that if [a song] is on Midnights, I can do it however many times I want, because Midnights is the most accurate picture of my life to date.”
(DADEVILLE, Ala.) — At least four people were killed and multiple others injured when a shooting broke out late Saturday at a crowded birthday party in a small rural Alabama town, authorities said.
The shooting in Dadeville, Alabama, about 60 miles northeast of Montgomery, unfolded around 10:34 p.m., according to a statement released Sunday morning by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
Special agents from ALEA launched a death investigation at the request of the Dadeville Police Chief, according to the ALEA statement.
ALEA released no further details.
Brownie Caldwell, a Dadeville city council member councilwoman, confirmed to ABC News that an investigation of a shooting at a venue in downtown Dadeville was underway Sunday morning. Caldwell said she could not confirm the number of casualties.
Caldwell referred all questions to the |Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Apr 16, 1:05 PM EDT
Biden briefed on Dadeville shooting
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the deadly shooting at a birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama, according to the White House.
Biden and his staff are closely monitoring the investigation and has been in touch with local officials and law enforcement to offer support, according to the White House.
Apr 16, 12:40 PM EDT
Police chief pleads for prayer
An emotional Dadeville police chief pleaded for prayer for his city on Sunday and law enforcement investigators pleaded for tips from the public in finding those responsible for a shooting at a birthday party that left four dead and multiple people injured.
“The city of Dadeville is a tight-knit community, full of wonderful people. I ask you to please keep our community in your prayers. I ask you to please keep my police department in your prayers,” Police Chief Jonathan Floyd said at a news conference.
Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency confirmed the shooting broke out at a birthday party and asked for any witnesses to call the state police tip line at .
Burkett also confirmed that four people were killed and “a multitude” of people were injured, but did not disclose the conditions of those wounded.
Burkett did not take questions during the news conference. He released no information on whether any arrests have been made in the incident.
Tallapoosa County Schools Superintendent Raymond Porter said grief counselors will be at Dadeville schools on Monday, but did not say whether any students were among the dead or injured.
The district will make “every effort to comfort” children impacted, said Porter.
“Don’t lose sight of the fact that those are the ones most impacted by this situation,” said Porter, who also called on local clergy to reach out to families of those killed or injured to offer assistance.
“I’m also asking that you please do not let this moment define what you think of the city of Dadeville,” Floyd said. “What we’re dealing with is something no community should have to endure.”
Apr 16, 10:48 AM EDT
Loved ones of those killed, injured say shooting preceded by argument: Pastor
Ben Haynes, the senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Dadeville, told ABC News Sunday morning that he’d been at a hospital overnight with the families of those killed and injured.
Haynes said family members told him gunfire erupted inside a small venue where a birthday party was taking place when tempers flared during an argument. Haynes said there were more than 50 people at the party when the shooting occurred.
Apr 16, 10:14 AM EDT
‘I grieve with Dadeville’: Alabama governor
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey released a statement Sunday expressing grief over a shooting at a birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama, that left four people dead and multiple others injured.
“This morning, I grieve with the people of Dadeville and my fellow Alabamians. Violent crime has NO place in our state, and we are staying closely updated by law enforcement as details emerge,” Ivey tweeted.
(NEW YORK) — Michael Critchley’s job is to persuade his longtime Ford customers to swap their gas-guzzling pickups for the F-150 Lightning.
Ford started production of the all-electric Lightning in late 2021 and the Dearborn automaker still cannot keep up with demand. Critchley says he has so many requests for the electric truck that he’s forced to turn away wannabe owners.
“People are offering me a lot of money over MSRP. I’ve been offered $20K above sticker price,” Critchley, the sales manager of Romeo Ford in Kingston, New York, told ABC News. “A lot of pickup guys are coming to the Lightning.”
Higher material costs and ongoing chip shortages have hampered production of the $60,000 pickup, which gets at least 230 miles on a full charge, forcing eager buyers to wait months or longer for theirs to arrive. The Dearborn automaker sold 15,600 F-150 Lightning units in 2022.
Critchley says he has been seeing customers trade out of a Tesla or a hybrid SUV for a Lightning. Some of his upstate New York customers are so fed up with the long wait they’re going to competing dealerships and paying more.
“I have about 25 customers waiting for one … the higher prices haven’t deterred customers,” Critchley said. “My dad has one and loves it. He’s never getting rid of it.”
Ford has raised the price of the Lightning multiple times since its launch. Customers who choose the entry-level Pro model now pay at least $20,000 more than the original $40,000 price.
Ivan Drury, senior manager of insights at Edmunds, said Ford could charge even more and customers would pay up. The average transaction price of a Lightning this year costs $84,192 versus $64,331 for the standard F-150 truck, Drury pointed out.
“The Lightning is a home run for Ford,” he told ABC News. “The company has hundreds of thousands of reservations — it’s sold out through 2024. There is no cooling down in this market.”
The F-150 Lightning may be wildly popular with Americans but competition in the burgeoning electric market is just heating up. Rivian’s compact R1T electric pickup has already won accolades with the automotive community. GMC has seen unprecedented interest in its $110,000 Hummer EV pickup. The brand’s $107,000 Sierra EV Denali goes on sale in early 2024.
Stellantis recently unveiled the Ram 1500 REV, a battery-electric light-duty pickup.
Common complaints of trucks — noisiness, hefty fuel costs — no longer apply with electric models.
“They’re getting consumers to think about EVs. The adoption rate is going up,” said Drury. “Electric trucks are removing all barriers to entry … I see them as the holy grail of EVs.”
Drury also noted that electric trucks post performance numbers not found in standard gas-powered pickups. The R1T and Hummer EV can sprint from 0-60 mph in 3 seconds; the Lightning completes the task in less than 4 seconds.
“No one expects a truck to be that fast,” said Drury.
The rapidly expanding lists of electric trucks could help President Joe Biden meet his latest climate goals that call for two-thirds of new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. to be all-electric by 2032. The Biden administration says these proposed rules would cut nearly 10 billion tons of CO2 emissions and save consumers $12,000 on average over the lifetime of a vehicle.
Electric vehicle sales are rising though they still account for a small share of the U.S. auto market. Drury said electric trucks totaled a fraction — 0.20% — of total vehicle sales in 2022. Cox Automotive forecasts EV sales will surpass 1 million units this year in the U.S.
Jonny Lieberman, senior features editor at MotorTrend, took the electric plunge when he bought a Rivian R1T in June of 2022. Lieberman said the truck’s off-roading capabilities convinced him to embrace the EV lifestyle.
“The truck has four motors — that’s game-changing for off-roading,” he told ABC News. “It’s also a performance vehicle with 845 horsepower and 908 lb-ft of torque.”
Lieberman, who lives in Southern California, installed a home charger to juice the truck’s battery for his outdoor adventures. He gets 270 miles on a full charge and hasn’t experienced range anxiety yet, he says.
“I stopped thinking about worse-case scenarios like what do I do on a road trip,” he said.
He’s even become an unofficial spokesperson for the brand, preaching to friends and strangers about the benefits of owning one.
“I have convinced many people to buy a Rivian. I am an evangelist,” he said. “Imagine never having to go to a gas station again.”
Tony Caravano, senior director of customer engagement at Rivian, said 75% of R1T and R1S customers are new to EVs. Moreover, 60% of R1T customers have never owned a pickup truck before.
“People are really excited by the design, capability and performance,” Caravano told ABC News. “The vehicles are durable. Customers put baby strollers in the truck’s gear tunnel.”
He added, “We’re exposing EV technology to a lot of people.”
Owners of the $73,000 Rivian R1T truck are some of the happiest in the industry, according to a new J.D. Power survey. Many buy the R1T and the R1S, the company’s three-row SUV, for their daily commutes or to shuttle their kids to and from school, Caravano said.
The R1T may also soon act as a backup power generator, similar to what the F-150 Lightning can do. Ford customers who purchase the Lightning’s extended range battery can power up their homes for up to three days.
Rivian, like Tesla and Mercedes, is also busy building out its “Rivian Adventure Network,” where Rivian customers can exclusively charge their vehicles at various U.S. locations. Rivian currently has 113 DC fast charging sites and 34 additional locations are coming online soon, Caravano said.
“Charging infrastructure is very important as well as and education around charging,” he said.
The all-electric 2025 Ram 1500 REV, which made its debut in New York this month, has a targeted range of 350 miles with a standard 168 kilowatt-hour battery pack. That number jumps to 500 miles if owners choose the larger 229 kilowatt-hour battery.
The 1500 REV marks the first battery-electric light-duty pickup truck from Ram Trucks. The truck can add up to 110 miles of range in about 10 minutes with 800-volt DC fast charging.
“We believe in bringing the right range of powertrain solutions to our customers and will continue to redefine the pickup truck segment. Our all-new Ram 1500 REV pushes past the competition in areas customers care about most including range, towing, payload and charge time,” Ram CEO Mike Koval Jr. said.
The Silverado EV will be available next summer and GM is already accepting deposits online. The Detroit automaker said the truck will get an estimated 400 miles of range, utilize GM’s Ultium EV Platform and include the Super Cruise driver-assistance technology.
Jim Farley, the president and CEO of Ford, told ABC News in March a second electric will soon be built at Ford’s BlueOval City manufacturing campus in Stanton, Tennessee.
“Lightning is the best-selling electric pickup in the U.S. but this will be its successor,” he said.
Electric trucks’ gargantuan size and massive battery packs have not gone unnoticed. The beefy Hummer weighs more than 9,000 lbs; the Lightning tips the scale at 6,500 pounds — 2,000 to 3,000 pounds more than the internal combustion F-150. The extra weight has prompted federal officials and industry watchers to warn of their safety risks.
“I’m concerned about the increased risk of severe injury and death for all road users from heavier curb weights and increasing size, power, and performance of vehicles on our roads, including electric vehicles,” Jennifer Homendy, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, said in January. “We have to be careful that we aren’t also creating unintended consequences: More death on our roads. Safety, especially when it comes to new transportation policies and new technologies, cannot be overlooked.”
Another criticism of electric trucks: Range drops precipitously when towing. MotorTrend found the F-150 Lightning’s range fell from 300 to 115 miles when towing a 3,140-pound camper. The magazine’s testing also discovered the truck’s max range was 100 miles when pulling a 5,260-pound camper. The R1T’s estimated 314-mile range gets slashed by half when hauling a heavy load, according to reports.
Critchley of Romeo Ford said “die-hard diesel and gas guys” who live in rural, upstate New York may be the last holdouts in the electric truck revolution. If these trucks can reliably tow, pull and travel long distances, Critchley’s customers — farmers, construction workers and locals needing a reliable winter ride — may forgo diesel and gasoline for battery power.
“The Lightning is the best pickup I’ve driven,” he said.
Drury has already put down a deposit on the Ram 1500 REV, his first electric vehicle. The long wait may be the toughest part of owning one.
“You can have everything with these trucks,” he said. “I would choose an electric truck over anything.”
