(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will speak at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday about the country’s “response” to four aerial objects that have been shot down in recent weeks, according to the White House.
Biden has faced growing pressure from Republicans and Democrats to address the nation on the suspected Chinese spy balloon and the three other unidentified objects that were shot down in North American airspace beginning earlier this month.
His remarks on Thursday will be the first time he’s commented extensively on the issue.
According to the White House, Biden will address “the United States’ response to recent aerial objects” in a formal speech from the South Court Auditorium.
“That includes our decisive response to China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon and the president putting the safety and security of the American people always first,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at the daily briefing.
The balloon that traversed the continental U.S. between Jan. 28 and Feb. 4 added tension to the already fraught U.S.-China relationship. Biden was criticized by Republicans for not taking action to shoot the balloon down earlier, though he said he ordered it be taken down as soon as possible but his military advisers said it was too risky to do over land.
Since then, three unidentified aerial objects were downed by the U.S. military over three successive days — one over Alaska, one over Canada and the third over Lake Huron in Michigan.
The administration has yet to confirm what those objects were or where they came from, though White House spokesperson John Kirby said earlier this week a “leading explanation” within the intelligence community is that the objects may have been for commercial or benign use.
An interagency review has been underway “to study the broader policy implications for detection, analysis, and disposition of unidentified aerial objects that pose either safety or security risks,” Kirby said Monday.
“They are continuing to work intensively to put forward parameters … that work is continuing but you will hear from the president and he will give an update on what has occurred over the last several days,” Jean-Pierre said Thursday of the interagency review. She had previously said their work was expected to be done by the end of the week.
(LONDON) — Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco on Thursday warned against using TikTok, citing data security issues raised about the China-owned app.
“I don’t use TikTok and I would not advise anybody to do so because of these concerns,” Monaco said at a panel on technology and national security at the Chatham House in London.
Companies that operate in China must comply with laws that require them to share data with the government, Monaco said.
“The bottom line is China has been quite clear that they are trying to mold and put forward the use and norms around technologies that privilege their interests,” she said. “There’s a reason we need to be very concerned.”
TikTok, which has more than 100 million monthly active users in the U.S., has faced growing scrutiny from state and federal officials over fears that American data could fall into the possession of the Chinese government.
In December, Congress banned TikTok from all devices owned by the federal government. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is scheduled to appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in March on the company’s data security practices, the committee said last month.
More than half of U.S. states have taken steps toward a partial or full ban of TikTok on government devices.
The Biden administration and TikTok wrote up a preliminary agreement to address national security concerns posed by the app but obstacles remain in the negotiations, The New York Times reported in September.
TikTok did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The company previously said that it stores the data of U.S. users outside of China, and has never removed U.S. posts from the platform at the request of the Chinese government.
Recent news stories have called into question the security of user data on TikTok.
Buzzfeed reported in June that TikTok engineers based in China gained access to intimate information on U.S. users, such as phone numbers. Forbes reported in October that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, intended to use the app to access information on some users.
The Trump administration tried to ban TikTok in 2020, eventually calling on ByteDance to sell the app to a U.S. company. However, the sale never took place.
Speaking on Thursday, Monaco said the concerns over TikTok exemplify a larger conflict between the U.S. and other countries over digital security.
“Today, autocrats seek tactical advantage through the acquisition, use and abuse of disruptive technology,” she said.
There’s no doubt music can make you happy, but a new study suggests some songs do a better job at brightening someone’s day than others. StudyFinds reports that a university professor claims to have found a scientific formula to discover what song makes people the happiest, with The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” topping the list.
Dr. Michael Bonshor, who has a Ph.D. in music psychology, claims the happiest songs are in a major key with 7th chords and 137 beats per minute. They also have four beats in every bar and are structured with a verse-chorus-verse-chorus.
The Beach Boys actually have two happy songs in the top 10, with “I Get Around” landing at seven.
Other tunes making the happiest songs list include James Brown‘s“I Got You (I Feel Good)” at two, BillyJoel’s “Uptown Girl” at five, Bob Marley’s “Sun Is Shining” at six, The Village People’s “YMCA” at eight, ABBA’s “Waterloo” at nine and the Earth, Wind & Fire classic “September” at 10.
Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.
Actor Justice Smith is used to dodging dinosaur-sized threats in the Jurassic World movies, but his newest film, Sharper, streaming Friday on Apple TV+, features no computer-generated menaces.
That said, he explains to ABC Audio, looming large in the film is a threat bigger than any dinosaur.
“In another interview, someone was like, ‘ … you ran from dinosaurs and dragons and Pokémon and stuff and, you know, there’s no like big bad guy in this.’ But the big bad guy in this is capitalism and corporate greed,” he explains.
The movie’s title refers to a slang term for a swindler; in the film, his character, Tom, finds himself the target of some pretty sophisticated ones. With billions of dollars at stake from the empire run by his cold father (John Lithgow), Tom soon finds out the hard way that he can’t trust anyone.
“I love how this movie shows how thrilling simple human interaction can be,” Smith continues. “You know, it doesn’t have to be surrounded by all this fluff. You know, it can just be our relationships on screen and still capture an audience.”
Sharper also stars executive producer and Oscar winner Julianne Moore, The Tender Bar‘s Briana Middleton, and Marvel movie star and Pam & Tommy Emmy nominee Sebastian Stan.
(ATLANTA) — The Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury investigating efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election has recommended to prosecutors that they seek indictments against witnesses who they believe may have lied during their testimony, according to excerpts of the grand jury’s report released Thursday.
“A majority of the grand jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it,” the grand jury wrote in the report. “The Grand Jury recommends that the District Attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling.”
The report does not list any names of those who grand jury members believe may have committed perjury.
Separately, the grand jury also found “by a unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election.”
Outside of this, in the few paragraphs that were released of the report’s introduction, conclusion, and section on perjury, there were no details revealed regarding whether or not the grand jury recommended changes for anyone related to efforts to overturn the election.
The report does not name any potential targets for indictment, nor does it offer any rationale for its allegations of perjury. It does not mention Trump by name, nor any of the 75 witnesses interviewed as part of their probe.
Excerpts from the report were released following an order earlier this week from a Georgia judge overseeing the case. The majority of the long-anticipated report — the final product of a monthslong grand jury investigation into potential 2020 election interference in the state — remains sealed on order of Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney.
McBurney’s ruling came after he heard arguments last month over whether or not to publicly release the report. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis argued for the report to remain sealed, saying that it was important to “be mindful of protecting future defendants’ rights.”
Willis also said during the hearing that charging decisions were “imminent.”
Thomas Clyde, a lawyer representing a coalition of media outlets that includes ABC News, urged McBurney to order the release of the report based on existing case law and “a genuine public interest in what these jurors found.”
Though the special grand jury does not have the power to bring indictments, it has the power to make recommendations regarding potential charges. It would then be up to the district attorney to determine whether or not to pursue them.
According to the order from the judge, the full report provided just that: “a roster of who should (or should not) be indicted, and for what, in relation to the conduct (and aftermath) of the 2020 general election in Georgia,” McBurney wrote.
Those recommendations, however, are “for the District Attorney’s eyes only — for now,” McBurney ordered.
Willis on Monday told Atlanta ABC News affiliate WSB that she was “very pleased” with the order.
Ambassador Norman Eisen (ret.), a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institute who served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2020, told ABC News that despite the judge shielding most of the report, “it’s clear from the judge’s order that the grand jury recommended charges.”
“The question is: I don’t think that if people are being charged, Trump can logically be left out, because he was the ringleader,” Eisen told ABC News. “He was the mastermind of the plots.”
Eisen pointed to McBurney’s note that the report gave recommendations regarding “who should (or should not) be indicted, and for what.”
“Really, if no one was being indicted, there would be no need to say, ‘for what,'” Eisen said. “That second clause only makes sense if someone is getting indicted.”
In a statement before last month’s hearing to determine the report’s release, attorneys representing Trump in the matter said they did not expect to see charges recommended for the former president.
“The grand jury compelled the testimony of dozens of other, often high-ranking, officials during the investigation, but never found it important to speak with the President,” Trump’s attorneys said in a statement. “He was never subpoenaed nor asked to come in voluntarily by this grand jury or anyone in the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.”
Therefore, the attorneys said, they “assume that the grand jury did their job and looked at the facts and the law, as we have, and concluded there were no violations of the law by President Trump” — although there’s no indication if that’s true or not.
Attorneys representing Trump did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment ahead of the report’s release.
Regarding the grand jury’s concerns that some witnesses may have lied under oath during their testimony, Eisen said the district attorney could further pursue those witnesses.
“I don’t think Fani Willis is going to let witnesses get away with perjury before her grand jury,” Eisen said. “She can use that to coerce the liars to tell the truth and cooperate. By lying they’ve given her leverage over them.”
The special grand jury, which was seated in May 2022, was composed of 26 members of the public who heard testimony from over 75 witnesses, prosecutors said.
Those who were subpoenaed and appeared before the grand jury included some of Trump’s closest allies and supporters, including attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, who unsuccessfully fought his subpoena up to the United State Supreme Court.
Giuliani, along with 16 so-called “fake electors” who allegedly participated in a scheme to overturn the state’s election results, were notified last year that they were considered “targets” of the investigation.
Responding to the notification of his status as a target of the probe, Giuliani said, “I appeared in Georgia as attorney for Donald J. Trump — so I’m going to be prosecuted for what I did as an attorney?”
The Justice Department is also examining the allegations involving fake electors as part of its own separate investigation, sources have told ABC News.
Attorneys for the electors have denied any wrongdoing in their actions.
“They cannot have and did not commit any crime as a matter of fact and law,” attorney Holly Pierson, who represents 11 of the alleged fake electors, wrote in a court filing.
The jury was seated last May as part of Willis’ criminal probe into allegations of election interference, which was launched in February 2021. The investigation was sparked in part by the now-infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump pleaded with Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes,” the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia.
Trump has repeatedly defended his call to Raffensperger, calling it “perfect.”
Anthrax‘s tour with Black Label Society and Exodus somehow got even heavier when Pantera bassist Rex Brown made a surprise appearance during Wednesday night’s show in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Brown took the stage alongside the “Madhouse” metallers to perform the Anthrax tune “Only” and a bit of Pantera’s “Domination.” You can watch footage of the Panthrax collaboration now via guitarist Scott Ian‘s Instagram.
“Can you tell we’re having fun?” Ian captioned the video. “It felt like 1997 up there.”
With Brown, three members of the current incarnation of Pantera took the stage at the Albuquerque show. Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante and Black Label Society frontman Zakk Wylde joined the reformed band last year in place of the late Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and “Dimebag” Darrell, respectively.
The Anthrax/Black Label Society/Exodus tour wraps up February 19 in Anaheim, California.
Tyson Ritter isn’t ready to “Move Along” from The All-American Rejects anytime soon.
Responding to a tweet from a fan wondering about the status of the group, which hasn’t released a new album since 2012, Ritter declared that the “Dirty Little Secret” outfit will “never break up.”
However, that doesn’t mean you should expect a deluge of new Rejects music in the near future.
“We started this band when I was 13. I’m 38 now,” Ritter says. “A lot of growth and change can make writing for the rejects feel like holding hands with a girlfriend from the past. You wouldn’t want to hear music from a forced moment like that. Ever.”
More importantly, though, is that Ritter and company still “love playing together.”
“[We love] to play the songs that so many have made memories to, and we get to go back to that place with the audience, not try to bring them to some current moment that is just a watered down false attempt,” Ritter says. “We celebrate the legacy. We always will.”
Despite the lack of a full-length effort, The All-American Rejects have continued to release music here and there over the past decade, including the 2019 EP Send Her to Heaven and the 2020 single “Me vs. the World.”
Ritter, meanwhile, launched a new band, Now More Than Ever, last fall.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Madonna‘s swanky old home in Hollywood Hills is back on the market, so now’s your chance if you’ve ever wished to own a piece of property that once belonged to her.
The Wall Street Journal reports the Spanish-style property, known as Castillo del Lago, has hit the market for $21 million. Madonna had purchased the 1926 estate for about $5 million back in 1993. Her brother Christopher Ciccon claimed in his memoir that she parted ways with it about three years later.
The Zillow listing finds the property offers nine bedrooms and six bathrooms over 10,513 square feet of living space. The home offers panoramic views of the Hollywood sign, Lake Hollywood and the famous Los Angeles backdrop, as well as ocean views.
As for its more luxurious perks, the property boasts a refrigerated wine room, media room, lap pool, oasis, a rose garden, viewing tower, a private gym and two separate staff rooms with a kitchen.
According to the listing, “This home stands as one of the most significant Spanish estates ever built in southern California.” It also claims, “This is a rare opportunity to acquire one of the most spectacular trophy Hollywood Hills Estates.”
WSJ reports the estate’s most recent owner seems to be fashion mogul Leon Max.
(NEW YORK) — More than a week after hazardous waste was burned by officials from a train derailment in Ohio, the health and environmental impact on the community remains uncertain.
A few of the cars contained vinyl chloride which breaks down into two main byproducts when burned: hydrogen chloride and phosgene.
“Vinyl chloride is classified as a known carcinogen to humans … it has been associated with a rare form of liver cancer called hepatic angiosarcoma. So that’s the main concern with the vinyl chloride,” said Dr. Stephanie Widmer, an emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist in New York.
Breathing high levels of vinyl chloride can cause dizziness or sleepiness. With even higher levels, passing out or death can occur, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts say determining potential risk after exposure is tricky.
“Usually these things happen with industrial workers. That’s where you’re seeing these types of cancers, for the most part — people who are exposed to levels of the vinyl chloride for a long period of time,” Widmer said.
Hydrogen chloride and phosgene can cause symptoms like eye or throat irritation or even respiratory issues like difficulty breathing.
“It’s always challenging to evaluate the human health risks from a chemical spill and it increases exponentially when those chemicals burn,” said Stephen Roberts, Ph.D., professor emeritus and former director of the Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology at the University of Florida.
In addition to hazardous chemicals, burning any kind of material can create particle pollution — tiny pieces of solid like dust, dirt, soot, or smoke. Breathing in these particles can be harmful to your health, according to the CDC.
Particle pollution has been linked to eye, lung and throat irritation, trouble breathing and associated with lung cancer and problems with babies at birth.
Those with heart disease are especially at risk, as breathing in particle pollution can cause serious problems like a heart attack.
“I would think the worst of it would have been immediately around when the fire occurred and the release occurred and I’d be surprised at new symptoms that would appear at this point,” Roberts said.
Air monitoring has not detected any levels of health concern in the community since the fire went out on Feb. 8, according to a statement from the Environmental Protection Agency.
“People should be concerned when things like these do happen, but there’s no need to be hysterically concerned. The EPA is keeping everybody up to date with the information that we need to stay safe,” Widmer said.
Water testing results also showed no detection of contaminants in the wells within the city’s water system, according to a statement released by the Ohio governor’s office.
When asked if he would drink the water on ABC News Live, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine replied, “Absolutely, if I was there right now, I would drink it.”
He then went on to say that residents with private wells should have their water tested.
(DELAND, Fla.) — A 3-year-old boy fatally shot himself when he found a 9 mm handgun in a nightstand in his Florida home, according to authorities.
The tragedy unfolded Wednesday evening at a home in DeLand, about 40 miles north of Orlando.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office called it “one of the worst calls imaginable” to respond to.
The shooting occurred as the 3-year-old and an 8-year-old were being watched by their 16-year-old sister while the parents were grocery shopping, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said at a news conference Thursday.
The gun was discharged once, the sheriff said. It’s not clear exactly how the boy got into the nightstand and discharged the gun, Chitwood said.
Chitwood said the gun was usually kept in a safe, which was not working.
The family had a second gun on top of the fridge, he said.
The boy’s father is a state corrections officer, Chitwood said, adding that the guns were not department-issued.
Chitwood called the 16-year-old’s 911 call “heartbreaking.” The sheriff said the girl told dispatchers, “My brother shot himself and he’s not breathing.”
“This should never have happened,” he said.
No charges have been filed.
The sheriff pleaded with gun owners to keep them in safes.
“If you have little ones, even if you have teenagers, you gotta lock them up,” he said.
