(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department revealed in an early Monday morning court filing that federal investigators interviewed former President Donald Trump’s attorney Justin Clark two weeks ago in connection with Steve Bannon’s criminal contempt case.
Prosecutors say that Clark confirmed in the interview that at no point did Trump ever invoke executive privilege over Bannon’s testimony — and directly contradicted other claims made by Bannon’s defense team in their case.
They further suggest Bannon’s recent efforts in conjunction with Trump to offer to finally testify before the committee are no more than a stunt to try and make him more a sympathetic figure to the jury he’s set to face next week.
“All of the above-described circumstances suggest the Defendant’s sudden wish to testify is not a genuine effort to meet his obligations but a last-ditch attempt to avoid accountability,” prosecutors say.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(UVALDE, Texas) — Hundreds of people marched from Robb Elementary School to Uvalde Town Square on Sunday to honor the victims and to hold elected officials accountable for the mass school shooting that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers.
Family members of the victims made impassioned speeches at the Unheard Voices March & Rally, demanding justice for their loved ones who were killed in the May 24 shooting.
“What I want, you can’t give me. I want my daughter back,” Kimberly Rubio, mother of Lexi Rubio, said. “We want answers. We seek justice. We demand change.”
One by one, victims’ family members came to the mic and announced the name of their loved one, holding posters with the child’s picture on them, according to ABC News San Antonio affiliate KSAT.
There were repeated chants of “vote them out,” referring to politicians who don’t support gun reform and who didn’t attend the rally.
People at the rally also expressed anger at law enforcement’s response to the shooting.
Uvalde police waited 77 minutes in the hallway outside the classroom where the suspect was before approaching him.
Pete Arredondo, the police chief for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD), resigned from his position on the Uvalde City Council, saying in his resignation letter that it was “in the best interest of the community to step down as a member of the City Council for District 3 to minimize further distractions.”
At the Unheard Voice March Sunday, community members called for Arredondo to step down from his position in the school district. The school district put him on administrative leave in June.
“You do not deserve to wear a badge,” said a loved one of 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza, who was killed in the mass shooting.
ABC News’ Izzy Alvarez and Marilyn Heck contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Cincinnati 10, Tampa Bay 5
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore 9, LA Angels 5
Chi White Sox 4, Detroit 2
Kansas City 5, Cleveland 1
Minnesota 6, Texas 5
Houston 6, Oakland 1
Seattle 6, Toronto 5
Boston 11, NY Yankees 6
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami 2, NY Mets 0
St. Louis 4, Philadelphia 3
Atlanta 4, Washington 3
Pittsburgh 8, Milwaukee 6
Colorado 3, Arizona 2
San Francisco 12, San Diego 0
LA Dodgers 11, Chi Cubs 9
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION ALL-STAR GAME
Team 134, Team 112
Wesley Lapointe / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Wesley Lapointe / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)(NEW YORK) — Since the COVID-19 vaccine was authorized for children under age 5 last month, states have been able to pre-order doses directly from the federal government.
Roughly 300,000 children between ages six months and four years have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That is equivalent to about 1.5% of the roughly 19.5 million children in the United States who recently became eligible.
Despite the low number, states are continuing to order vaccines as they expect infection numbers to increase and confidence to build over time.
ABC News reached out to all 50 state health departments between June 21 and July 7 asking how many doses had been ordered for children under age 5 and received data from 41 of them.
Those states have ordered at least 3.09 million vaccine doses for the youngest age group to be distributed to providers, hospitals, vaccination centers and more, according to the results.
This number does not include retail pharmacies in the states who have pre-ordered doses through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.
“Having millions of doses out of the gate is incredibly helpful,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “It’s a good start. My gut feeling is that there’s going to be an initial rush, like when doses became available for other age groups, and then a little bit more of stable access.”
As of June 21, California — the state with the largest population — has ordered more than 400,000 doses of the vaccine, the state’s Department of Public Health told ABC News.
Of those doses, more than 221,000 doses are of the two-dose Moderna vaccine and 176,00 are of the three-dose Pfizer vaccine, the California DPH said.
The doses “can be administered at the more than 8,500 vaccine sites throughout the state, with additional doses becoming available in subsequent weeks,” the DPH said in a statement.
Meanwhile the state with the smallest population, Wyoming, has ordered the fewest doses at 3,700 as of June 30, state health officials told ABC News.
The state’s health department there said 2,000 doses were of the Pfizer vaccine and 1,700 were of Moderna’s vaccine.
Brownstein said it’s incredibly important for young children to get vaccinated because they are also susceptible to severe effects of COVID-19.
“There’s always been this view that, for some reason, adults are the hardest hit with COVID-19,” he said. “And while that may be true proportionally, children also suffer severe consequences, sometimes deaths, even long COVID.”
He added, “Giving our kids that baseline protection through vaccines is incredibly important … especially as we head into the fall.”
Florida is the only state in the U.S. that didn’t preorder any COVID-19 vaccines for young children, federal officials told ABC News last month.
“The Florida Department of Health has made it clear to the federal government that states do not need to be involved in the convoluted vaccine distribution process, especially when the federal government has a track record of developing inconsistent and unsustainable COVID-19 policies,” a spokesperson for the department told ABC News in a statement.
Brownstein said he fears this will lead to disadvantaged groups that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 also having disproportionate access to vaccines.
“When states are administering vaccines, they can optimize vaccination sites, making sure they’re available to lower income families, minority families,” he said. “In the absence of that, higher income families will always be able to find time off to get off work and find vaccines for their kids. Ultimately what will happen is a lack of vaccine equity.”
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
Even though they’ve been married for 25 years, Tim McGraw still gets starstruck by Faith Hill. He got the chance to prove his fandom for his wife recently, when he drove by an 1883 billboard that featured a picture of her face.
Of course, Tim had to snap a pic, which he then posted to social media. “So proud of my wife!!!” he wrote in the caption of his post.
If you’re curious about where to find the billboard yourself, it looks like it’s in the Beverly Hills area of Los Angeles — specifically, by the intersection of S Robertson Boulevard and W Olympic Boulevard.
Tim and Faith play the co-starring roles of James and Margaret Dutton on 1883, which is the hit prequel to the TV show Yellowstone. The limited series streams on Paramount+.
Meanwhile, the upcoming new season of Yellowstone will feature another one of country music’s superstar women: Lainey Wilson is joining the cast for season 5.
Missy Elliot is dropping gems for new music artists.
In a series of recent tweets, the 51-year-old rapper/producer shared advice for rising stars who are working on their “pivotal” second album.
“Sophomore Albums are a very PIVOTAL time for artist!” she wrote on Twitter. “Here is a gem from MISSY!Your sophomore album be stressful but it’s the BEST ALBUM to EXPERIMENT on!”
She offered some encouragement: “Don’t be AFRAID! Becuz If u play safe you will be BOXED in & its hard to get out because your fans get used to that 1 sound.”
In a follow-up tweet, Elliot urged artists to listen to their own instincts on music choices. “Secondly! Dear Artist Listen CLOSELY! Go with the songs you feel you should drop not what everyone else suggest!” she said.
“You the Artist must FEEL it YASELF because YOU are the one that have have to SELL it & CONVINCE ppl it’s HOT Go with your GUT! Fearless.”
The multihyphenate superstar didn’t stop there — “People normally charge for this kind of info but I’m giving this to the artist for FREE now let’s see who will be WISE enough to absorb this knowledge like a sponge and APPLY it to their work! pay ATTENTION I also learned from the GREATS.”
A great in her own right, Elliot responded to a fan who inquired about the importance of the debut album.
She said in part, “… the 2nd is crucial because if your 1st album do well sometimes you stress trying to make something bigger than the 1st album.
Considering Elliot’s success of her second album, Da Real World, which garnered hit singles “She’s a B***h,” “All n My Grill” and “Hot Boyz,” seems as if artists should take heed of Elliot’s advice.
Lizzo may be a superstar but she’s a fan, too — and she was thrilled when, over the weekend, she spotted a member of BTS vibing to her latest hit.
In a vlog uploaded this weekend, BTS member V is shown grooving in his car to various songs following a trip to the dentist. When Lizzo’s latest hit “About Damn Time” comes on, he says, “I love Lizzo’s songs” and starts dancing in his seat.
On Twitter, Lizzo wrote, “Wait… is this real? Is V really dancing to about damn time?!?” She then posted a video of herself and V side-by-side, mimicking all of his dance moves. She added the hashtag #VIZZO, causing fans to start calling for a collaboration.
Later, V reposted Lizzo’s side-by-side video on his Instagram Story, repeating the #VIZZO hashtag.
Lizzo is a big fan of BTS: Last September, she posted a video of herself freestyling about the friendship between V and Jimin. She also got to hang out with V, Jimin, J-Hope and Jungkook at a Harry Styles concert, and last November, BTS member RM told Access Hollywood that Lizzo actually has a crush on both V and Jimin.
Indie rock fans were eating well on July 10, 2007.
Sunday marked the 15th anniversary of both Interpol‘s Our Love to Admire and Spoon‘s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, significant albums in both bands’ careers.
Coming off Interpol’s first two albums, which for readers of Spin magazine and Pitchfork might as well have been Beatles records for how revered they were, Our Love to Admire marked the “Evil” group’s first — and only — major label full-length, and is their first — and only — top-five Billboard 200 release.
“I think the record itself is a very natural step into where Interpol was going at that time,” guitarist Daniel Kessler tells ABC Audio, mentioning the inclusion of more keyboards and other new sonic elements. “I think we were pushing ourselves in more musical, musician kind of ways versus trying to do things that we hope will appeal to a mass audience.”
Fifteen years later, Kessler feels that Our Love to Admire, which includes the single “The Heinrich Maneuver,” has “held up well.”
“I feel like that record has matured well with our fans over time,” he says.
Like Interpol did on Our Love to Admire, Spoon introduced some new elements to their sounds with Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, such as horns on the single “The Underdog.” The record gave Spoon their first top-10 on the Billboard 200, along with some other memorable “milestones” for the band.
“The major one being playing SNL,” says drummer Jim Eno. “That was probably the highlight of my Spoon career, I think. I mean, that was just amazing.”
The Interpol/Spoon connection continues 15 years later this summer when they launch their co-headlining Lights, Camera, Factions Tour, kicking off August 25 in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
David Lee Roth has premiered a new solo song titled “Pointing at the Moon,” which you can check out now at the longtime Van Halen singer’s official YouTube channel.
Accompanying the acoustic-based, Americana-flavored tune is a new abstract painting by Roth bearing the same name, which he also posted on his official website and socialmediapages. No information about the song has been revealed.
The track begins with a solo piano intro, followed by a strummed acoustic guitar as Roth sings the enigmatic first verse, “From the mildew to the barbecue, you came through from the classroom to the tomb/ Moment of truth now, your bags are packed/ With lies you can go forward, but you cannot go back.”
“Pointing at the Moon” doesn’t appear to be available yet via any major digital music providers. The song is the first solo tune Roth has debuted since December 2021, when he premiered a video on his YouTube channel along with an acoustic-based song called “One Piece Thermo-Molded Country Plastic Chair,” which he dedicated “to all who are affected by and recovering from the Kentucky tornadoes.”
Roth has been relatively quiet since canceling a series of Las Vegas residency shows in January because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Diamond Dave had announced in an October 2021 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was planning to retire after the residency.
A new father-son duo is heading toward your screens, with Rob Lowe and his son John Owen Lowe starring in a new Netflix comedy titled Unstable.
The series is set to hit the streamer next year, but while promoting his collaboration with Atkins — which includes yummy low carb treats like an Iced Chai Latte Protein Shake, Peanut Butter Cups and Peppermint Patties — he dished about the upcoming series and what it was like working with his youngest son.
“It’s super gratifying. I’m very proud of him,” Lowe expressed, before teasing that his “oldest son went into actual real business” as a lawyer working in finance. “My youngest son, [he] went into the family business and we co-created this show.”
Not only did the duo create the show, the longtime actor revealed that “it’s based on a father and son relationship very similar to ours.”
“Johnny likes to troll me on social media and people have really liked it, much to my chagrin,” Lowe admitted. “So we use that relationship as the basis for creating these two characters in the show, and it’s been a blast…to see it all come to fruition is really, really super incredible.”
As described by Netflix, Rob “plays the eccentric head of a cutting-edge biotech firm” while John, “his introverted and socially awkward son … comes to work for him and finds that he has to save his father from utter ruin in the process.”
Lowe also revealed that the show started filming this summer and with the season in full swing, the actor shared some tips on how he stays fit.
“It’s diet… but also like your mindset,” he said. “Between that and being active, I think makes one feel and seem younger and then it all goes springs from there.”
