DMake it six weeks in a row at #1 for Avatar: The Way of Water. James Cameron‘s blockbuster sequel to the 2009 film topped the weekend box office with an estimated $20 million, bringing its total domestic gross to $598 million. Globally, it’s now the sixth movie to earn $2 billion or more, grossing $2.024 billion. That makes it the #5 all-time global earner, just $28 million behind Avengers: Infinity War.
The animated adventure Puss in Boots: The Last Wish also remained strong, posting a second place finish with an estimated $11.5 million. To date, The Last Wish has grossed $126.4 million domestically and $297 million worldwide.
The horror film M3GAN slipped to third place, delivering an estimated $9.3 million. Its current North American tally stands at $73 million.
The weekend’s only new major release, the suspense thriller Missing, took fourth place with an estimated $9.3 million.
Rounding out the top five was the Tom Hanks-led drama A Man Called Otto, adding an estimated $9 million to its domestic haul, which now stands at $35.3 million.
(NEW YORK) — For the first time in history, Black mayors are leading America’s four largest cities.
ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl recently sat down with three of them — New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner — in Washington, D.C., on the sidelines of the annual gathering of the countries’ mayors.
“It’s a moment for us,” Adams told Karl in the interview, which aired on ABC’s “This Week.” “It’s a moment that we are now really going after those tough challenges and historical problems that we fought for many years to be in the driver’s seat.”
Turner, who was first elected in 2016 and is currently serving a second term, said that while their mayoralities signal that “progress is being made,” he hopes that enough Black mayors are elected “to the point where it doesn’t stand out.”
Big cities facing same problems
“What is, in your view, the No. 1 issue facing your city?” Karl asked the three.
Their cities may be spread out across the country, but Turner, Adams and Bass are grappling with similar problems and challenges: For Turner and Adams, it’s “public safety,” while Bass is confronting homelessness in Los Angeles, they said.
“In Los Angeles, without a doubt, it’s homelessness,” Bass said. “But it’s the intersection of income inequality and also public safety. And because income inequality is so severe in Los Angeles, the most extreme manifestation of that is 47,000 people [sleeping] on the streets in tents, every night, in the city.”
While Adams campaigned on fighting crime in New York as a former police officer, the city is still struggling with major crimes, which rose more than 20% last year, despite homicides hitting their lowest level since 2019.
Bass and Turner elaborated on Adams’ notion that addressing public safety is key to solving multi-pronged issues in their cities. Turner said the approach was about “revitalizing our communities that have been underserved for a long, long time, dealing with issues of homelessness and those things that put people on the street.”
Karl pressed Bass on her comments about defunding the police — a progressive slogan for a push by some liberals to redirect police funding toward other community safety and service programs in an effort to reduce crime — while campaigning to be mayor.
“You called defunding the police ‘probably one of the worst slogans ever’ — why did you say that?” Karl asked.
“What I believe is that over time, especially the federal government, state and cities have divested, defunded social services,” Bass said. “So I think when a person goes into the academy, they don’t go in to address homelessness, addiction, mental illness. And so we need to refund our communities, build out the social safety net so that people don’t fall into crime.”
Turner said the “defund the police” movement — which gained popularity amid the nationwide protests for racial justice following the 2020 murder of George Floyd — received “too much play in the first place.”
“If you look at many of the cities, they were funding their police. The city of Houston never defunded its police,” said Turner.
“You wanted an increase in police funding,” Karl added.
“In fact, right at that time, we passed a 13% increase,” Turner said. “It’s not about defunding police, it’s about investing in communities.”
Migration straining big cities
Karl also asked Adams about his recent trip to El Paso, Texas, to see the U.S.-Mexico border. His office says more than 40,000 migrants have arrived in his city since the spring, including thousands bused to New York from Texas by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Adams has warned that the flow of migrants to New York has strained city resources, and he’s asked New York state and the federal government for help.
“This should not happen to any city in America — El Paso, Houston, Chicago, New York, Washington,” he said. “This is a national problem and our national government, Congress and the White House must do a long-term, comprehensive immigration policy. But the White House must deal with the immediate emergency we have now.”
Turner and Bass sympathized with Adams over the issue, both arguing that Abbott’s busing migrants north was an ineffective strategy.
“No. 1, you need comprehensive immigration reform,” said Turner. “No. 2, if you’re going to send people anywhere, there needs to be dialogue and collaboration — between, for example, the governor of New York or Denver or Chicago, wherever that’s taking place.”
“And if you want to score political points, that’s one way to do it,” Turner added. “But that doesn’t solve the problem and, quite frankly, migrants shouldn’t be used as political pawns on this chess board.”
Abbott has said he’s busing migrants to so-called sanctuary cities, cities which locally protect immigrants and refugees from deportation by federal authorities, to show them what border states are dealing with.
Bass said it was “very cynical” of Abbott and that “it’s a way of attempting to deliberately undermine New York City and Democratic-run cities that welcome immigrants.”
“Does something need to be done though to slow the flow of migrants over the border?” Karl pressed the mayors.
All three applauded the immigration plan put forth by the Biden administration earlier this month, which expanded the use of Title 42 and established a process for more immigrants to apply for asylum if they have a U.S.-based sponsor and set up an appointment at a port of entry.
“I think we need to use this opportunity now to really look at how do we have a real decompression strategy?” Adams said. “If we’re going to allow those that are coming in who have relationships here in the country, sponsors, if it’s coordinated in the proper way, we can absorb it throughout the entire country. You cannot absorb it just in a few cities that we’re witnessing right now, with each one of those cities acting independently to address a national crisis. That’s not how to do it.”
Karl also asked all three if they’d back President Joe Biden for a second term. Adams, Bass and Turner unanimously said they’d support Biden if he chooses to run again.
(BATON ROUGE, La.) — Police are investigating a shooting that injured 12 people at a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, nightclub.
The shooting occurred just after 1:30 a.m. Sunday at 4619 Bennington Ave in Baton Rouge, according to the Baton Rouge Police Department.
The gunshot victims were taken to local hospitals, either by personal vehicles or by emergency responders, police said. They are all currently listed in stable condition.
The motive for the shooting is under investigation, police said.
Investigators did not release any information on a possible suspect.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Vice President Kamala Harris issued a call to action Sunday, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision and lambasting bans on abortion in several states since constitutional protection for the procedure was removed by the Supreme Court last year.
In a speech in Tallahassee, Florida, where state lawmakers are considering more stringent abortion restrictions, Harris compared the fight for abortion access to that for various other civil rights and warned that existing bans put both women and health care professionals at risk.
“For nearly 50 years, Americans relied on the rights that Roe protected. Today, however, on what would have been its 50th anniversary, we speak of the Roe decision in the past tense. Because last June, the United States Supreme Court took away that constitutional right, a fundamental right, a basic freedom from the people of America, from the women of America,” she said.
“The right of every woman in every state in this country to make decisions about her own body is on the line. And I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: How dare they! How dare they!” the vice president said to cheers.
“Today, we are fighting back,” she said. I’m pleased to announce that President Biden — I’m announcing it today — has issued a presidential memorandum on this issue.”
In the memo, Biden directed the secretary of health and human services, along with the U.S. attorney general and the homeland security secretary, to explore ways to make it easier for patients, providers and pharmacies to access, prescribe and provide abortion medication. It also directs them to work to ensure patients can get abortion medication from pharmacies “free from threats or violence.”
The abortion pill mifepristone, which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is increasingly being targeted for restrictions in Republican-led states that want to limit abortions.
Many states with abortion bans restrict the availability of mifepristone either by making the drug illegal or cutting down on who can dispense it.
However, the FDA said earlier this month that it will permit pharmacies to offer abortion pills to patients with a prescription who live in states where abortion is legal.
“Members of our Cabinet and our administration are now directed, as of the president’s order, to identify barriers to access to prescription medications and recommend actions to make sure that doctors can legally prescribe, that pharmacies can dispense and women can secure safe and effective medication,” Harris said in her speech in Tallahassee.
She also called for a federal law to codify the right to access abortion, a proposal that has stalled with legislators.
“Know this, President Biden and I agree, and we will never back down,” she said. “And we know, we know, this fight will not be won until we secure this right for every American. Congress must pass a bill that protects freedom and liberty, a bill that protects reproductive rights, and President Biden will sign it.”
Since Roe was overruled, Republican-led states across the country have imposed various bans on abortion, some with exceptions for rape, incest and considerations for the life of the mother.
A 5-4 majority on the Supreme Court ruled in June that Roe was “egregiously wrong from the start” and that the Constitution “does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion.”
Some anti-abortion activists are pushing for more sweeping regulations such as a federal ban, which has divided Republicans in Washington but united Democrats in opposition.
“Let us not be tired or discouraged, because we’re on the right side of history,” Harris said in her speech. “So we will continue to stand together in the fight to protect the freedom and liberty of all people, of all women everywhere,” she said. “And here now, on this 50th anniversary, let us resolve to make history and secure this right.”
Harris led a call-and-response with the audience, asking, “Can we truly be free?”
“Can we truly be free if a woman cannot make decisions about her own body?” she said as attendees replied, “No!”
“Can we truly be free if a doctor cannot care for her patients?” she asked. “No!” they said.
President Joe Biden commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision in a statement, saying that Republicans are bent on curtailing access to abortion even more after last year’s Supreme Court ruling and despite the failure of anti-abortion measures in Kansas, Kentucky and elsewhere.
“Since the Supreme Court’s decision, Americans, time and time again, have made their voices heard: women should be able to make these deeply personal decisions free from political interference,” Biden said. “Yet, Republicans in Congress and across the country continue to push for a national abortion ban, to criminalize doctors and nurses, and to make contraception harder to access. It’s dangerous, extreme, and out of touch.”
The president, like Harris, urged Congress to act.
(MONTEREY PARK, Calif.) — The suspected gunman who allegedly shot 20 people, 10 fatally, at a dance studio near a Lunar New Year celebration in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park is believed to be connected to a van law enforcement officers surrounded Sunday and forced their way into about 30 miles from there the massacre occurred, authorities said.
SWAT officers broke the driver’s side window of the van around 1 p.m. local time, about two hours after police made a traffic stop in the Los Angeles County city of Torrance and heard a loud noise coming from inside the vehicle, sources told ABC News.
The suspect, whose name has not been released, is believed to have been inside a white cargo van, police officials told ABC station KABC. Live aerial footage shows the van sandwiched between two police armored vehicles, Torrance police officials told ABC station KABC.
But Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said it has not been confirmed that the suspect in the mass shooting suspect hold up inside the van in Torrance.
“We don’t know,” Luna said at a news conference Sunday afternoon as the incident in Torrance continued to unfold. “We believe there is a person inside of that vehicle. Could it be our suspect? Possibly.”
Asked if the person inside the van could be dead, Luna said, “that is a possibility.”
In addition to the armored police vehicles, the van was surrounded by numerous police officers, including SWAT members, many with their guns drawn and trained on the van.
Monterey Park shooting suspect’s photo released
The standoff in Torrance came as the sheriff’s department released surveillance images of the homicide suspect, saying he was wearing a beanie cap and glasses and is about 5-foot-10 and 150 pounds.
“He should be considered armed and dangerous,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.
On Saturday January 21, 2023 at 10:22 PM the suspect male/adult/Asian pictured above was involved in a shooting. Investigators have identified him as a Homicide suspect and he should be considered armed and dangerous.
Contact LASD Homicide with any information at 323-890-5000. pic.twitter.com/2gPUBBybvv
Some of those injured in the Monterey Park rampage were in critical condition, while others were reported as stable, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a news conference Sunday morning.
Luna said five women and five men were killed in the rampage.
The gunman was only described as an Asian male 30 to 50 years old, Luna said.
“We’re going to use every resource available to us because we need to get this person off the street as soon as possible,” Luna said.
‘Everything is on the table’
Luna declined to comment on a possible motive, but said, “everything is on the table.”
“We don’t know that this was a hate crime as defined by law, but who walks into a dance hall and guns down 20 people?” Luna said.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting by his Homeland Security advisor, according to the White House, and the FBI has joined the investigation.
“Jill and I are praying for those killed and injured in last night’s deadly mass shooting in Monterey Park. I’m monitoring this situation closely as it develops, and urge the community to follow guidance from local officials and law enforcement in the hours ahead,” Biden said in a statement.
In early alerts sent to Washington, investigators said “they had no idea who the suspect was,” Pierre Thomas, ABC News’ chief justice correspondent, said on ABC’s “This Week.”
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has also been briefed on the shooting, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.
Monterey Park had been hosting the Monterey Park Lunar New Year Festival this weekend, marking the beginning of the Chinese lunar calendar. The annual two-day street festival is widely attended, with previous celebrations drawing as many as 100,000 daily visitors, according to the city. More than 65% of Monterey Park’s about 60,000 residents identify as Asian American, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Sheriff’s Department said the shooting erupted around 10:22 p.m. on West Garvey Avenue, near the downtown less than a block from where the festival was being held.
The gunman opened fire shortly after entering a dance hall, where people had been celebrating the holiday, police said. It was unclear what type of weapon he used, but Luna said detectives do not believe an assault weapon was involved.
Chaotic crime scene
Monterey Park Police Scott Wiese said his officers responded to reports of shots fired at the dance studio and described a chaotic scene with panicked people running out of the dance hall and gunshot victims lying in the parking lot.
Police in the nearby city of Alhambra were investigating an incident, which also occurred at a dance studio, that might be connected to the shooting, Luna said.
In the Alhambra incident, which occurred 17 minutes after the Monterey Park shooting, an Asian man entered the dance studio with a gun, and several people there wrestled the weapon away from him before he fled the scene. Luna said a white cargo van witnesses spotted at the Alhambra incident is a “van of interest” in the investigation.
“To have this tragedy occur on Lunar New Year weekend, makes this especially painful,” Alhambra Mayor Sasha Renée Pérez said in a Twitter post Sunday. “Monterey Park is home to one of the largest #AAPI communities in the country. This is a time when residents should be celebrating with family, friends and loved ones – not fearing gun violence.”
In a statement Sunday morning, the city of Monterey Park clarified that the shooting did not occur at the Lunar New Year Festival but at the dance studio near the festival that was not connected to the festivities. Officials said Saturday’s festival events were scheduled to finish at 9 p.m.
City officials said all festival activities for Sunday have been canceled.
“Even though the incident did not occur at the 2023 Lunar New Year Festival, an active investigation is currently underway and the area near and around the festival is affected. As a precaution and for the safety of everyone, the City regrets to announce the cancellation of the second day of the festival,” city officials said in a statement.
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department said it would lead the investigation, after earlier saying it would assist Monterey Park Police. The FBI said it had responded to the scene to assist.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom released a statement on Twitter condemning the attack.
“Monterey Park should have had a night of joyful celebration of the Lunar New Year. Instead, they were the victims of a horrific and heartless act of gun violence,” Newsom tweeted. “Our hearts mourn as we learn more about the devastating acts of last night. We are monitoring the situation closely.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. ABC News’ Vanessa Navarrete contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is expected to name Jeff Zients as his next White House chief of staff, replacing Ron Klain, who is set to step down in the coming weeks, according to several sources familiar with the matter.
No official announcement has been made. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
The Washington Post first reported the selection.
Zients co-chaired the Biden presidential transition, served as the White House COVID-19 response coordinator and most recently worked at the White House preparing for staffing changes following the midterm elections.
Zients, who like Klain is a member of the president’s inner circle, is well-liked among rank-and-file White House staff. As chief of staff, he would supervise a sprawling executive office.
“Everyone is pretty excited about it. People like him [and] respect him,” one aide told ABC News.
The transition comes as the administration faces near-daily headlines about the president’s potential mishandling of classified materials — with a special counsel appointed to look into the matter — and a debt ceiling and spending fight looming with House Republicans.
Klain, a longtime Biden confidante, has been chief of staff as the administration saw a string of legislative successes over its first two years, such as major COVID-19 aid, investments in infrastructure and on climate change and more.
He is also known as a vocal defender of the White House — on TV and on social media — including as economic anxiety mounted last year over record-high gas prices and inflation.
“We have done a lot of work to bring the economy back … [a] tremendous amount of progress on getting the economy going again in 14 months,” Klain said on ABC’s “This Week” last April. “But a lot of work left to be done.”
Andy Slavitt, who worked closely with Zients on Biden’s COVID-19 response, said that Zients would make a “great choice” for Biden due to his integrity and since “everyone trusts him.”
“He seeks out everyone’s views, but he does it in a way that pushes the ball down the field toward a decision,” Slavitt told ABC News. “Most importantly, he gets the team win. He defines the goal and gets everybody on the same page and makes everybody win.”
A lengthy career in business, politics
A 2021 ABC News profile of Zients described him as a well-connected multimillionaire businessman known in Washington circles for his “Mr. Fix-It” ability to navigate thick bureaucracies.
“Big ideas do change the world — but not on their own,” Zients said in a 2018 commencement speech to business students at American University. “None of it matters unless you execute well, and executing well is really hard.”
Zients’ corporate career was lengthy — having worked in consulting and investing and previously sitting on the boards of Facebook and Sirius XM Radio — before his time in politics, and some progressives in 2021 cited concerns over Zients’ business-world track record.
Under President Barack Obama, Zients was the White House’s first-ever chief performance officer, director of the National Economic Council and acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Former Human and Health Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell, who worked with Zients during the debacle over the government’s launch of healthcare.gov, told ABC News in 2021 that “he’s the kind of guy who runs into the fire without drama.”
ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.
At her father’s iconic estate Graceland in Tennessee Sunday morning, friends and family members gathered for a memorial service to honor Lisa Marie Presley, who passed away at 54 on January 12.
Presley was laid to rest on Thursday next to her son, Benjamin Keough, in Graceland’s Meditation Garden.
Joel Weinshanker, film producer and managing partner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, opened the service by passing along Presley’s wishes for her own service: “Don’t make it sad.”
The former Mayor of Memphis, AC Wharton, explained, “Before Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan had Jack, before Goldie [Hawn] and Kurt [Russell] had Wyatt, before Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet had Zoe, before Jay Z and Beyonce had Blue Ivy, and long before Harry and Meghan had Archie, in this city, our own royal couple, Elvis and Priscilla had our own princess, Lisa Marie.”
He called her the “keeper of the flame,” and “this city’s precious jewel.”
Lisa Marie’s friend and former musical collaborator, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan took the stage, clad in a dark shirt and black suit to perform on an acoustic guitar, his song “To Sheila.”
Following the performance, Presley’s close friend Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, explained they called each other “Sissy,” calling it a “great honor” to celebrate this “extraordinary” woman. Ferguson added of Queen Elizabeth II, “My late mother-in-law used to say, ‘Nothing could take away these moments, because grief is the price we pay for love.'”
Alanis Morissette then took the stage in a long, black coat, and performed “Rest,” accompanied by a piano.
Priscilla Presley chose to let her granddaughter’s written words speak for her, reading a poem her granddaughter wrote, called “The Old Soul.” It touched on the heartbreak Presley endured when her son Benjamin took his own life in 2020. “…Survivor’s guilt some would say, but a broken heart was the doing of her death,” Priscilla said.
Axl Rose then addressed the assembled mourners next, commenting in part, “I feel like I’m supposed to be texting her like right now saying I’m here, telling her how wonderful everyone is. I never in a million years expected to be singing here, especially not in these circumstances.”
Rose went on to express how much Presley loved Baz Lurhmann‘s Elvis movie and Austin Butler‘s performance. “Lisa’s loved and missed by many, and will continue to be loved and missed by all those whose lives she touched,” Rose said, before performing the Guns N’ Roses song “November Rain” on piano.
The Blackwood Brothers Quartet then followed with “How Great Thou Art,” and Jason Clark and the Tennessee Mass Choir closed out the ceremony.
Jeremy Rennerrevealed he broke more than 30 bones in a New Year’s Day snow plow accident that left him hospitalized in critical condition and required emergency surgery.
“Morning workouts, resolutions all changed this particular new years,” the 52-year-old actor wrote in a social media post on Saturday, sharing a photograph of him receiving physical therapy at his home. “Spawned from tragedy for my entire family, and quickly focused into uniting actionable love.”
Renner thanked everyone for their “messages and thoughtfulness” as he continues his recovery.
“These 30 plus broken bones will mend, grow stronger, just like the love and bond with family and friends deepens,” the Marvel star wrote. “Love and blessings to you all.”
Renner suffered “blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries” when he was run over by his unmanned snowcat, a large piece of snow plow equipment, on Jan. 1 in Reno, Nevada, officials said. He was airlifted to a local hospital and underwent emergency surgery on Jan. 2.
On Jan. 16, he revealed he was home from the hospital.
“Outside my brain fog in recovery, I was very excited to watch episode 201 with my family at home,” Renner wrote in a reply to a post from the official Twitter account for his Paramount+ show Mayor of Kingstown.
Renner’s update on Saturday prompted messages of support from the likes of model Heidi Klum, actor Jason Momoa and Renner’s Marvel costar, Chris Hemsworth.
“Your [sic] a champion mate! We love you,” Hemsworth commented.
(FLORIDA) — Police are “currently negotiating” with a woman who allegedly shot her terminally ill husband in his Florida hospital room on Saturday, authorities said.
The Daytona Beach Police Department said midday Saturday that it had responded to a shooting at Advent Health Hospital.
Staff and patients have been removed from the area, our shooter is contained. https://t.co/iShIobchOu
(MICHIGAN) — The Justice Department is investigating conduct at Abbott Laboratories’ infant formula plant in Sturgis, Michigan, in connection with a contamination investigation that closed the plant last year, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The monthslong shutdown of the plant amid a investigation helped trigger a nationwide formula shortage.
An Abbott spokesperson told ABC News, “DOJ has informed us of its investigation and we’re cooperating fully.”
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Consumer Protection branch of the DOJ is conducting the criminal investigation, the source familiar said.
The discovery of Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria inside Abbott’s Sturgis plant prompted a massive voluntary formula recall in February, after four babies who had consumed Abbott’s formula contracted a Cronobacter infection.
Two of the infants subsequently died, although Abbott maintains there has not been conclusive evidence that its formula caused the infant illnesses, since none of the Cronobacter strains found at their plant matched the two samples genetically sequenced from the sickened infants.
Food and Drug Administration officials said the investigation remains ongoing.
Ultimately, it was the combined findings of Cronobacter inside Abbott’s plant — along with a pattern of serious operational deficiencies and consumer complaints — which led to the plant’s closure.
The plant reopened in June and restarted production of its largest formula Similac in August.
