Dancing With the Stars pros and new parents Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson are opening up about a miscarriage they had before welcoming their son, Rome, to the world in January.
In an interview with Good Morning America, the couple said that Rome is their rainbow baby after they miscarried in 2021.
“We were in Dallas for a show, and while we were practicing, we did something, and I just turned to him. I’m like, ‘Oh … I think I’m bleeding,'” Johnson recalled.
“And immediately my heart just dropped. I could see in his face just went, like, white,” Johnson said. “And I sprinted to our hotel room, and I lost the baby in our hotel room.”
At the time, Johnson had kept her pregnancy a secret, and when she miscarried, she felt isolated and alone.
“No one knew that we were pregnant,” she said. “And we were so excited.”
“I was so, so sad,” she added. “I was hurting so much.”
Johnson said losing the baby made her not want to dance for a while because she was so angry. But it also turned out to be a way for her to escape.
In July 2022, Chmerkovskiy and Johnson announced that they were expecting in an Instagram post. In her caption, Johnson called it, “Our biggest dream come true yet.”
As they navigate parenthood together, Chmerkovskiy told GMA he has never loved or appreciated his wife more.
“The rush of love, I think, definitely flooded me more in regards to my wife,” he said.
“He was my biggest support system while I was pregnant,” Johnson said about “tender and sweet” Chmerkovskiy. “Those exhausting, tired moments when you’re up at 4:00 a.m. together, and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s my teammate, and he’s willing to do this with me.'”
Noted anti-gun violence activist Sheryl Crow performed Wednesday night at a candlelight vigil in Nashville following this week’s shooting at the city’s The Covenant School, which left six people dead, including three children.
Rolling Stone reports that Sheryl was joined by first lady Jill Biden, the mayor of Nashville, the chief of police, religious leaders, and alt-country musicians Margo Price and Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show.
Sheryl, a Nashville resident herself, performed “I Shall Believe,” a song from her debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club. The lyrics go, “Come to me now/ And lay your hands over me/ Even if it’s a lie/ Say it will be alright/ And I shall believe.”
Three months ago, Sheryl released a live version of “I Shall Believe” to benefit Sandy Hook Promise, a charity that was established after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The charity educates and empowers youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes and communities.
Following The Covenant School shooting Monday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee tweeted, “Please join us in praying for the school, congregation & Nashville community.” Sheryl replied, “Oh yes… prayers. Sure hope all those prayers keep bullets from assault rifles from flying into our children.”
And when Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn tweeted, “My office is in contact with federal, state, & local officials, & we stand ready to assist,” Sheryl shot back, “If you are ready to assist, please pass sensible gun laws so that the children of Tennessee and America at large might attend school without risk of being gunned down.”
(RAYMOND, Minn.) — A freight train derailed in a fiery crash near a small town in Minnesota early Thursday, forcing residents to evacuate as a precaution, officials said.
The incident was reported at around 1 a.m. CT. Multiple tankers of a train operated by BNSF Railway derailed and caught fire on the western edge of Raymond, a town in Minnesota’s southwestern Kandiyohi County that has a population of less than 800. The tankers were carrying “a form of ethanol” and “a corn syrup liquid,” according to a press release from the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office.
BNSF spokesperson Lena Kent confirmed to ABC News that “approximately 22 cars” of a train “carrying mixed freight including ethanol and corn syrup” derailed near Raymond at 1:02 a.m. The company, one of the largest freight railroad networks in North America, is investigating the cause of the incident and, so far, there were no reported casualties, according to Kent.
“BNSF field personnel are responding to assess the derailment site and will be working closely with local first responders,” Kent told ABC News in a statement Thursday. “The main track is blocked and an estimated time for reopening the line is not available.”
Approximately 13 rail cars were carrying ethanol. Four train cars that are on fire contain ethanol, FEMA officials said Thursday.
A half-mile evacuation radius was established around the derailment site. Residents within the designated area “were instructed to leave their homes,” while those “with nowhere to go” were sent to a school in the nearby town of Prinsburg, according to the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office.
The total number of evacuees is unknown, according to FEMA.
The fire at the derailment site “is being contained,” and members of the public are advised against traveling to Raymond in the meantime, the sheriff’s office said.
The Raymond Fire Department, which deployed firefighters to the scene, said in a Facebook post that the evacuation is “for precautionary measures.”
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg confirmed in a Twitter post that the Federal Railroad Administration “is on the ground after a BNSF train carrying ethanol derailed early this morning, leading to an evacuation in the area of Raymond, MN.”
“At present no injuries or fatalities have been reported,” Buttigieg added. “We are tracking closely as more details emerge and will be involved in the investigation.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said it is launching a team to conduct a safety investigation into Thursday’s derailment. The team was expected to arrive on scene in Raymond on Thursday afternoon.
The Homeland Security and Emergency Management is actively monitoring the situation and communicating with local officials in Raymond, officials said. It will be deploying liaisons to the incident area.
Tory Lanez has filed a motion for a new trial after being found guilty on all charges in the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion on July 12, 2020, in the Hollywood Hills, Rolling Stonereports.
Lanez’s attorneys Jose Baez and Matthew Barhoma reportedly cite multiple grounds for the new trial, including a claim that jurors were “erroneously allowed” to view an Instagram comment made from the rapper’s personal account claiming that Megan’s ex-best friend, Kelsey Harris, was not the shooter.
“The court erred on numerous questions of law in allowing the People to introduce this post, depriving defendant of a fair trial,” the new motion reads, according to documents obtained by Rolling Stone. “The only acceptable remedy for this miscarriage of justice is a new trial.”
In December, Lanez, born Daystar Peterson, was found guilty of one felony count each of assault with a semi-automatic firearm with the enhancement of “personal use of a firearm” linked to that count, plus carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. He faces 22 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
Keith Reid, Procol Harum lyricist and co-writer of the British band’s classic 1967 hit “Whiter Shade of Pale,” died on March 23 after a battle with cancer, according to the band’s website. He was 76.
“Whiter Shade of Pale,” whose hook was borrowed from Bach’s Suite No. 3 in D Major, was credited to Reid, Procol Harum’s lead singer and pianist Gary Brooker, and later, organist Matthew Fisher following a lengthy lawsuit. It reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold more than six million copies globally. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and recognized as “Best British Pop Single 1952–1977″ — along with Queen‘s “Bohemian Rhapsody” — at the BRIT Awards as part of Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee. It was also played a major role in writer-director Lawrence Kasden’s 1983 film, The Big Chill.
Reid’s association with the band began with their self-titled 1967 debut album and lasted through their 2003 release, The Well’s on Fire.
In August 2008, he released the album The Common Thread under The Keith Reid Project. Reid wrote the lyrics for the songs, which were performed by a variety of musicians, including Southside Johnny and John Waite. The Keith Reid Project also released the album In My Head in 2018.
(NEW YORK) — All nine service members on board have died after two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters crashed during a training mission in Trigg County, Kentucky, an Army official confirms to ABC News.
The Black Hawk helicopters from the 101st Airborne Division were on a “routine training mission” when they crashed at about 10 p.m. Wednesday, Army officials said.
“The command is currently focused on caring for the servicemembers and their families,” Nondice Thurman, a spokesperson for the Fort Campbell Public Affairs Office, said in a statement.
“Please pray for all those affected,” Kentucky Gov. Andy. Beshear said.
Trigg County, where the crash occurred, is about 25 miles northwest of Fort Cambell, a military installation on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.
Kentucky State Police troopers found the wreckage in a location described as either a field or a semi-wooded area, said Sarah Burgess, a police spokesperson. There were no reports of damage to residential buildings, but residents within the debris field were asked to leave the area.
“I can’t speak on behalf of the residents other than we are doing everything we can to assess the situation and make sure that our community is as safe as it can be,” Burgess said.
A week after debuting at #1 on Netflix’s English TV list with more than 168 million hours watched, the streamer has renewed The Night Agent for a second season, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series, based on a novel by Matthew Quirk, follows an FBI agent — played by Gabriel Basso — thrown into a vast conspiracy about a mole at the highest levels of the United States government. The second season will arrive in 2024 and consist of another 10 episodes…
Comedy Central dropped the first official teaser for season 3 of Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens on Wednesday. Additionally, Variety reports guest stars for the upcoming season include Michael Bolton, Ronny Chieng, Janeane Garofalo, Gina Gershon, Judy Gold, Ken Jeong and Frankie Muniz. Awkwafina stars as the titular character, Nora Lin, who leans on her dad, grandmother and cousin –played respectively by BD Wong, Lori Tan Chinn and Bowen Yang — as she “navigates life and young adulthood in outer borough-NYC.” The third season of Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens debuts on April 26… (Trailer contains censored and uncensored profanity.)
Deadline reports that Karan Soni and Leslie Uggams have joined the cast of the third Deadpool movie, reprising their roles as Dopinder and Blind Al from the first two Marvel films. They join Ryan Reynolds as the titular wise-cracking superhero, along with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and franchise newcomers Emma Corrin and Matthew Macfadyen. Deadpool 3, both DP and Wolverine’s first official foray into the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe, hits theaters on November 8, 2024. Disney is the parent company of ABC News…
FX is working on a spinoff of the hit drama series Snowfall, potentially starring Gail Bean reprising her Wanda character from the original series, sources tell Deadline. The spinoff is reportedly a continuation of the original story “set in 1990s Los Angeles as South Central transitions out of the crack era into the gangster rap business, with areas heavily infested by gangs led by the Bloods and Crips.” Wanda would serve as the link between the original show and the spinoff, which is expected to introduce other main characters, according to the insiders…
Taylor Swift made a 7-year-old named Bella‘s wish come true during her Eras Tour stop in Las Vegas by replying to a letter the child wrote.
Bella’s mother, Gina Lanzino, shared the touching story in a TikTok post earlier this week. In the nearly 3-minute-long clip, Lanzino explained that her daughter wrote a letter before the show and was determined to get it to the “Lavender Haze” singer.
According to Lanzino, the letter read: “‘Dear Taylor, I’m your biggest fan. My favorite color is… what’s yours?’”
“[Bella] drew a little picture and she says, ‘I’m gonna bring this to the show and make sure Taylor gets this letter. I was kinda like, ‘I don’t really think that’s going to happen, but let’s try,'” she continued.
The plan was set in motion when Lanzino arrived at the stadium and her daughter approached an usher and asked him to deliver the letter to Taylor. Lanzino thought that was the last she’d seen of the letter, until she — and Bella — were pleasantly surprised.
“We were about halfway through the show when some people came to our box…and they were asking for Bella,” she explained. “I said, ‘That’s my daughter, what’s going on?’ And they say, ‘We wanted to give this to you,’ and it was the letter Bella gave to Taylor and she [Taylor] signed it. She [Bella] did write her section number on the back, but I really didn’t ever in a million years think that this was going to get returned to her.”
“Just wanted to tell that story because I thought it was so awesome and so cool of Taylor to do,” Lanzino concluded. “So Taylor if you see this thank you you made my 7 year old thrilled.”
Alessandra Benedetti – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
(ROME) — Pope Francis has “progressively improved” after spending the night in the hospital with a respiratory infection, the Vatican Press Office said Thursday.
The pontiff rested well during the night, Matteo Bruni, director of the Press Office of the Holy See, said in a statement issued in Italian.
“The clinical picture is progressively improving, and the planned treatments continue,” Bruni said, according to a translation. “This morning after having breakfast, he read some newspapers and went back to work. Before lunch he went to the little chapel of the private apartment, where he gathered in prayer and received the Eucharist.”
Francis, 86, was taken on Wednesday to the Gemelli University Hospital in Rome. Officials said he would be required to stay for several days to receive “appropriate medical treatment.”
“In recent days, Pope Francis complained of some respiratory difficulties and this afternoon he went to the Gemelli [hospital] for some medical checks,” a statement released on Wednesday read. “The outcome of these showed a respiratory infection (excluding Covid 19 infection) that will require several days of appropriate hospital medical treatment.”
It is unknown what type of respiratory infection the pope has or what type of care he will need.
The overnight stay marked the first time the Vatican has publicly announced that Francis has gone to the hospital since he underwent surgery to have part of his colon removed in July 2021.
President Joe Biden mentioned the pope during remarks at an event Wednesday celebrating Greek Independence Day.
“The pope is ill now, so say an extra prayer for him,” said Biden, who in 2021 became the first Roman Catholic U.S. leader in more than half a century to meet at the Vatican with the head of the Catholic Church.
Francis on Thursday sent a message of thanks to those who’d wished him well.
“I am touched by the many messages received in these hours and I express my gratitude for the closeness and prayer,” he said on Twitter.
(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — Hundreds of people gathered at a candlelight vigil in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday evening to mourn and honor the six victims of a mass shooting at an elementary school.
Local, state and federal officials along with dignitaries, religious leaders and community figureheads attended the somber ceremony at One Square Park in the downtown section of Tennessee’s capital city. First lady Jill Biden and singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow were among those in attendance, though Biden did not address the crowd.
Various speakers took turns reading aloud the names of the victims and expressing condolences to the grieving families.
“Just two days ago was our city’s worst day,” Nashville Mayor John Cooper told the crowd. “I so wish we weren’t here, but we need to be here.”
A shooter gunned down three children and three adults at the Covenant School in Nashville on Monday morning. Responding officers shot and killed the suspect about 14 minutes after the initial 911 call came in, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Police have identified the slain children as 9-year-old students Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs. The adult victims were identified as 61-year-old custodian Mike Hill, 60-year-old head of school Katherine Koonce and 61-year-old substitute teacher Cynthia Peak.
During Wednesday’s vigil, local school administrator Tricia Drake said she couldn’t stop thinking about her last conversation with Koonce, who she said had advised her on how to best prepare for an active shooter scenario.
“My last conversation with her, in August, was about who she used for her active shooter training because I know that she would have researched somebody,” Drake tearfully told ABC News. “We ended up using the same active shooter training at the school where I was also a head. I can’t believe that was my last conversation with her.”
Drake said she knew Koonce had made her mark when she saw the footage that police released from two of the responding officers’ body-worn cameras. One of the videos shows a Covenant School staff member meeting Officer Rex Engelbert at the school’s main entrance, telling him: “The kids are all locked down, but we have two kids that we don’t know where they are.” She then is seen using a key to unlock the door so officers could go inside.
“Students were in their classrooms, locked up, the professional outdoors to lead the Metro policeman. She had a key, what her headcount was, she knew exactly where the students would be, she was prepared,” Drake told ABC News. “I’m sure they had run those drills, and it’s because of Katherine and the foresight she had to make sure her staffers were prepared.”
Drake, who declined to say the name of the school she works for, said she underwent the same active shooter training that Koonce used and that the key is to adopt a “warrior mentality,” accepting injury rather than death. Part of the training, she said, is to throw students out of windows and run away as far as possible. Drake said she believes Koonce’s preparation saved lives on Monday.
Drake recalled the moment she realized something might be seriously wrong when news about the shooting at the Covenant School began to spread.
“I texted my sister and friends of mine to say: That’s Katherine’s school. I know she’s going to come out. She’s going to come out anytime now and tell everybody that it’s under control, that everything’s ok,” Drake recounted. “And I waited like everyone else for Katherine to come out and I thought it was so strange that she was not visible. She was so professional, so prepared, so committed to her faculty and those sweet children of hers, and it’s just such a loss. It is unthinkable that this has happened in our little town.”
The suspect — identified as Audrey Hale, 28, of Nashville — was a former student of the Covenant School, according to police. Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters on Tuesday that it appears the school was likely targeted, but “students were randomly targeted.”
The police chief had told reporters on Monday that Hale was female and identified as transgender but didn’t immediately provide more details. A police spokesperson later told ABC News that the suspect was assigned female at birth but pointed to a social media account linked to Hale that included the use of the pronouns he/him.
The suspect was armed with two assault-style rifles, a handgun and “significant ammunition” at the time of the attack, according to police. Investigators have since searched Hale’s home in Nashville, where they seized “a sawed-off shotgun, a second shotgun and other evidence,” police said in a press release on Monday.
The police chief said the suspect had legally purchased seven guns from five different local stores and hid some of those weapons at home. Hale was under a “doctor’s care for an emotional disorder,” the police chief said, and Hale’s parents “were under the impression that was when she sold the one weapon” they believed Hale owned.
Hale also had a detailed map of the school as well as “writings and a book we consider to be like a manifesto,” the police chief told ABC News in an interview Tuesday on Good Morning America.
“We have not been able to determine a motive as of yet,” he added. “The investigation is very much still ongoing.”
Video from the school’s surveillance cameras shows the suspect arriving in a vehicle and parking in the parking lot at 9:54 a.m. ET. Minutes later, the suspect is seen shooting through a door on the side of the school and entering the building. Hale allegedly went from the first floor to the second floor, firing multiple shots, according to police.
Police received a 911 call about an active shooter at the school at 10:13 a.m. ET. As officers responded to the scene, the suspect fired on police cars from a second-floor window, police said.
Video from two of the responding officers’ body-worn cameras shows them entering the school, following the sound of gunfire to the second floor and finding the suspect in a lobby area near a window. After an officer shouts “reloading,” officers Rex Engelbert, a four-year veteran, and Michael Collazo, a nine-year veteran, both fire at the suspect.
The Covenant School, a private Christian school for children in preschool through sixth grade, has about 209 students and 40 to 50 staff members. It does not have a school resource officer, according to police.
In a statement released Monday night, the Covenant School said its community “is heartbroken.”
“We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our church and school,” the school said. “We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the process of healing.”
