(WASHINGTON) — Reproductive rights were top of mind for Hillary Clinton and others at the grand opening of the new Global Embassy for Women in Washington, D.C., on Thursday — just days after an unprecedented Supreme Court leak revealed a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.
“I know this is quite an ironic week for us to be opening the headquarters, but in a way, it’s probably appropriate because no advance is ever permanent,” said Clinton, former first lady and secretary of state, before hosting a panel on the state of women’s rights. “There are always forces at work to turn the clock back, particularly on women and we know there still is a double standard about what is or is not expected and appropriate for how women make the choices in our own lives.”
The headquarters was established by Vital Voices, an international nonprofit that invests in women’s leadership and empowerment. It was founded in 1997 by the late former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Clinton and Melanne Verveer, former U.S. ambassador for global women’s issues.
Clinton described the recent Supreme Court revelation and state-level abortion restrictions as hurdles to progress while touting the embassy as a call to action and a place for women leaders to gather, plan and mobilize.
“We’re not going back and we are not giving in,” Clinton said. “We’re going to do everything we can to organize and agitate and motivate everyone we can reach [to ensure] the forward movement of progress that has been the hallmark of this great country of ours.”
The Center for Reproductive Rights estimates that up to 25 states could outlaw abortion entirely if the draft opinion holds.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News on Thursday, Clinton called the prospect “incredibly dangerous,” and said Americans should take action at the ballot box in November’s midterm elections.
“It is not just about a woman’s right to choose, it is about much more than that. And I hope people now are fully aware of what we’re up against, because the only answer is at the ballot box, to elect people who will stand up for every American’s rights,” she said. “
“And any American who says, ‘Look, I’m not a woman, this doesn’t affect me. I’m not Black, that doesn’t affect me. I’m not gay, that doesn’t affect me.’ Once you allow this kind of extreme power to take hold, you have no idea who they will come for next,” she added.
(NEW YORK) — Anthony Harris, who was convicted of killing his 5-year-old neighbor in 1999 at the age of 13 but had that conviction overturned in appeal, was a kind, hardworking student who could never be involved in a murder, Harris’ sixth-grade teacher told ABC News.
Jennie Arbogast, who taught Harris a year before Devan’s murder, spoke exclusively to ABC News’ “20/20” for the first time since Harris’ ordeal. She said she has feelings of regret over her community’s response to her former student’s arrest and wrongful conviction.
Devan’s body was found in a wooded area behind her home in New Philadelphia, Ohio, in 1998, and the police arrested and charged Harris with her murder. In 2000, an appeals court ruled that Harris’ taped confession, which was the key piece of evidence used to prosecute him, was coerced, and he was released from custody.
“I was picturing my student sitting in that conference or standing at my desk doing his best to answer the questions the way he would think I wanted him to answer them,” she told ABC News.
Arbogast, who was not asked to testify during Harris’ trial and only followed the proceedings, said there should have been more of a show of support for Harris.
“I felt like our mostly white community had let him down. I felt like Anthony should’ve had a parade of people behind him saying ‘absolutely not,'” she said.
Arbogast said she was disturbed by the reports that Harris was interrogated by an officer alone and confessed to the killing. Harris told ABC News that he felt immense pressure to confess so that he could go home.
Arbogast said Harris would “answer questions in a way that he would think the adult would want him to answer them.”
“I felt like they asked him leading questions and he was answering them in a way that he was being helpful,” she said. “I just felt like they didn’t even bother to find out what happened to that little girl.”
Arbogast said Harris’ case was still on her mind long after he was released from prison.
She wrote a letter to the editor of American Lawyer magazine in 2009 after it published a follow-up piece on the case where she expressed remorse for not doing more during Harris’ two years of legal battles.
“I never told Anthony that I thought him a good student and I believed in him. And I never for a moment believed him guilty, not for a second. As a teacher, I felt I failed him by not somehow reaching out to him and saying that I believed in him. Maybe if one person had, others would have, too,” she wrote.
Arbogast said she hoped those who wrongfully pegged Harris as a killer remember the trauma inflicted on him and express some remorse.
“But I hope that one day, he will not be seen by the naysayers at all,” she said. “I hope that history does his side of the story right.”
(NEW YORK) — Anthony Harris was 12 years old when he was charged and later convicted of murdering his 5-year-old neighbor, Devan Duniver.
Harris’ conviction was eventually overturned and, more than 20 years later, he said he is still haunted by the grisly crime.
“She was so young and she had passed away,” Harris, told ABC News’ “20/20” as he held back tears during an exclusive interview two years ago.
Harris, who has served as a Marine, said he is frustrated that Devan’s killer has never been identified or captured.
“The girl’s dead, my life has been destroyed, and this guy, this individual’s still free right now,” he said during an interview with “20/20” airing Friday, May 6, at 9 p.m. ET.
Harris’ sentiment has been shared by residents, who spent hours searching for Devan after she went missing on June 27, 1998, from her New Philadelphia, Ohio, neighborhood. Harris alleged that there were leads in the case that were not pursued.
Devan disappeared after she went outside to play. When her mother, Lori, discovered Devan was gone, she spent the afternoon looking for her and called the police in the evening. Harris and his family lived in the same apartment complex as the Dunivers and aided in the search.
Hundreds came out to help in the search.
The next day, Devan was found in the woods behind her home dead with multiple stab wounds to her neck.
Investigators claimed Harris provided inconsistent details about where he was and what he was doing during the time the girl was missing when he was initially questioned.
Two weeks after Devan’s body was found, the police called Harris and his mother Cyndi to the stationhouse, where the then-12-year-old Harris was placed in an interrogation room with Thomas Vaughn, the police chief of nearby town Millersburg.
Harris’ mother could watch through a two-way mirror but was unable to hear what was being said.
Vaughn repeatedly questioned Harris about whether he killed Devan, according to the audio of the interrogation. At first, Harris denied he was involved but he said Vaughn’s pressure got the best of him.
“The investigator, he had basically told me that, ‘If you confess to this murder you can go home.’ It’s like, ‘Okay. Well, I’m over here scared, so I want to go home,'” Harris recalled.
Harris ultimately confessed and was charged with murder. His case was a juvenile proceeding and, therefore, absent a jury; Harris’ fate was determined by Juvenile and Probate Court Judge Linda Kate.
Harris’ attorney Tarin Hale tried to suppress the taped confession from evidence but the motion was rejected by Judge Kate.
“My statement was very clear, there is no evidence in this case. That’s all you need to know from me. There’s no evidence here,” Hale told “20/20.”
Three members of the search party who combed the area in 1998 to find Devan told “20/20” they believe that there are elements surrounding Devan’s death that are troubling.
Donna Wenger, Nancy Niarchos and Jim Milliken all said they searched by the area where Devan’s body was found and didn’t see her. They said they believe her body was dropped at the spot later.
Wenger, Niarchos and Milliken each testified as witnesses during the trial and they recall seeing a man in the area who was wearing a long-sleeve plaid flannel shirt, which they said was odd given that it felt like a 90-degree summer day.
“I thought, ‘My God, is that guy ever creepy,'” Niarchos told “20/20.” “He was so suspicious looking and he was right there. I thought, ‘What is he doing here?'”
Kate ultimately found Harris guilty in 1999 and sentenced him to the maximum, incarceration until he turned 21.
Harris, however, would get a second chance on appeal.
On June 7, 2000, the Ohio 5th District Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and determined that Harris’ confession was coerced.
Harris was released the next day.
“There’s no sense to be bitter,” Harris told “20/20.” “Even though it hurt a lot, it didn’t destroy my core as a person, the things I believe in, the things I grew up to become. That’s why I don’t hold resentment in my voice when I speak.”
Devan Duniver’s murder remains unsolved.
The last time the investigation picked up was in 2005 when Richard Dobbins was appointed as special prosecutor. He conducted a two-year probe and ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute anyone.
Wenger, Niarchos and Milliken told “20/20” they were never contacted by the special prosecutor to discuss the case.
Ryan Styer, the district attorney for Tuscarawas County, Ohio, which currently has the files related to the special prosecutor’s investigation, told “20/20” in a statement that, after reviewing the findings, he believes investigators “invested a lot of time conducting many interviews of witnesses and known persons of interest.”
He said he also feels there’s insufficient evidence for prosecution but has asked authorities to speak to the witnesses from the trial “20/20” interviewed.
Harris said he hasn’t given up his drive to help find the person responsible for killing Devan.
“We’re going to figure this out [and] give her some kind of closure,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — As states across the country have passed bans against abortion, more women have had to spend time and money heading across state lines to get the legal procedure.
And with the Supreme Court poised to roll back Roe v. Wade, abortion rights activists told ABC News they fear that it will become near impossible for women in the South and Midwest to get a legal and safe procedure.
Two women who recently had to travel hundreds of miles to get an abortion allowed “Nightline,” to accompany them through the process in hopes that people, including policymakers, can see just how devastating those laws will be to other women in the same situation.
“I feel like people need to know and need to know our side of the story,” said “Marie,” a 31-year-old Texas woman who got an abortion in Tulsa, Oklahoma last month and asked ABC News not to reveal her real name. “We’re not evil. We’re not baby killers.”
After Texas passed its ban on abortions following six weeks in the fall, Marie had to look for health care centers in nearby Oklahoma. The state’s Planned Parenthood centers saw a 2,500% jump in patients from Texas following the ban, according to the non-profit.
Marie told ABC News she had to wait more than a month for an open appointment, had to take a week vacation from her job and had to drive 14 hours straight to the Planned Parenthood center in Tulsa.
“In the car by myself for 14 hours, you definitely have a lot of time to think,” she said. “It’s been really, really hard.”
Marie said she felt more nervous because of news reports of copycat abortion bans that made its way through the Oklahoma State Legislature. Marie was able to get her procedure done before Gov. Kevin Sitt signed a copycat bill into law on May. 3.
“How dare you try and force people to do things the way you want them to do them. It’s our bodies. I feel like women will be desperate, harm themselves,” Marie said.
Nicole, a 39-year-old mother of two who recently traveled to Kansas to get an abortion, also shared that sentiment with “Nightline.” Nicole said that even though she has a full time job and loves being a mom. But she and her partner could not afford to have another child.
Her situation is common among abortion patients, according to health data. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about 60% of patients who have had an abortion have at least one child.
“I wanted to give a voice to the older women- [who] already have kids, and I want to give an opportunity for the government to see how it affects us,” Nicole told “Nightline” about why she wanted to tell her story.
Nicole was early enough in her pregnancy that she could have a medication abortion, but due to a backlog in Oklahoma she had to drive to Kansas to get the pills. She told “Nightline” that she had to pay for travel, find childcare for her two boys and drive back and forth to the clinic.
Nicole said the experience backed up her concerns about raising another child.
“If I struggle to pay $800, $900 to take care of something like this, how would I be able to take the money, the time, and everything, and take care of a child?” she said.
Kansas could become another state to ban abortions. The right to an abortion is currently protected by the state constitution but the public could vote to restrict it through a ballot initiative scheduled for Aug. 2.
Nicole and Marie told “Nightline” that they are upset that lawmakers aren’t considering the circumstances that women are in when they make decisions regarding abortion rights.
Marie added that her experience has made her want to speak out more.
“I feel like it’s going to affect my life now forever because I’m going to fight more for women in this situation that don’t have any other choices,” she said.
(WASHINGTON) — Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has spent much of this week defending the department’s newly established Disinformation Governance Board in response to Republican lawmakers’ concerns about partisan influence in federal law enforcement.
The board, according to DHS, was actually created to address privacy concerns that arise with disinformation campaigns when information is shared between departments as well as to ensure it’s done appropriately. But the Orwellian name and an admittedly clumsy rollout immediately raised eyebrows as well as ignited a pre-existing debate about free speech and partisanship — especially given the person tasked with leading the board’s activities.
“Given the complete lack of information about this new initiative and the potential serious consequences of a government entity identifying and responding to ‘disinformation,’ we have serious concerns about the activities of this new Board, particularly under Ms. Jankowicz’s leadership,” Mike Turner and John Katko, Republican leaders of the House Committee on Homeland Security, wrote in a letter to Mayorkas last week.
In a fact sheet released Monday, the department admits that “there has been confusion about the working group, its role, and its activities” and vows to work on building greater public trust.
That confusion over the board’s work stemmed from a comment Mayorkas made to Congress last week that it would be used to “more effectively combat” the threat of false information. DHS has now said the body will not be involved in managing department operations and Mayorkas said the group would “bring together the experts throughout our department to ensure that our ongoing work in combating disinformation is done in a way that does not infringe on free speech, a fundamental constitutional right embedded in the First Amendment, nor on the right of privacy or other civil rights and civil liberties.”
The White House on Friday pledged the board will operate in a “nonpartisan and apolitical manner.”
But Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, was not sold.
“I think you’ve got no idea what disinformation is, and I don’t think the government is capable of it,” he said during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.
The secretary pushed back on the assertion from Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., that the board will be the “truth police.”
“The Department of Homeland Security is not going to be the truth police,” Mayorkas said. “That is the farthest thing from the truth. We protect the security of the homeland.”
The GOP criticisms also center on Nina Jankowicz, the former Wilson Center fellow tapped to lead the board. Jankowicz, who is routinely outspoken on Twitter, has publicly criticized Republicans and sowed doubt about the accuracy of press reports critical of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.
Jankowicz was quoted by the Associated Press in 2020 refuting a story about the discovery of new emails that reportedly linked Hunter Biden and a Ukrainian energy executive with the president.
“We should view it as a Trump campaign product,” Jankowicz told the AP that October.
She later suggested on Twitter that the emails were “part of an influence campaign.”
“Voters deserve that context, not a fairy tale about a laptop repair shop,” Jankowicz wrote.
The New York Times and Washington Post confirmed the authenticity of the emails related to Hunter Biden with the help of security experts in March. ABC News has not independently confirmed the veracity of the emails, which were first reported by the New York Post in an article that was flagged as disinformation on Twitter. The social media company demanded the tabloid delete the posts but eventually backed down when it refused.
The debate over the new board takes place against the backdrop of a long-standing divide over regulating speech, especially online. Fueled by libertarian beliefs in an unregulated public sphere, leaders on the right have championed figures like Elon Musk, whose recent acquisition of Twitter was met with skepticism and concern from those who believe social media companies have a duty to remove vitriolic harassment, disinformation and misinformation on their platforms.
“Your priority is setting up a board and hiring someone who has gone to TikTok to talk about stopping speech she doesn’t like, who has mocked voters of the last president, that has been your priority, and to say your priorities are misplaced is a dramatic understatement, and the time I think has come, Mr. Secretary, for you to resign,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Mayorkas.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said Jankowicz has made “political statements” in the past that would disqualify her from holding the position on the board.
“I think it’s a terrible idea,” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said.
Mayorkas, for his part, pushed back, saying he didn’t know about the TikTok posts and, as secretary, he is ultimately responsible for what occurs at DHS. He also declined to say who hired Jankowicz but stressed she must do her job in a nonpartisan way.
John Cohen, the former acting intelligence chief at DHS who helped stand up the disinformation board and left the department last month, said the board simply addresses a communication issue within the department.
“It didn’t coordinate operational activities, it wasn’t governing intelligence operations, it had no input on how organizations collect intelligence or information,” Cohen, now an ABC News contributor, said. “It was simply intended to be a working group that would gather on an ad hoc basis to address matters of policy.”
Muse “Won’t Stand Down” from the top of the Billboard charts.
The lead single from the U.K. trio’s upcoming album Will of the People has hit number one on the Mainstream Rock Airplay ranking, making it the first Muse song to achieve that feat. Matt Bellamy and company previously peaked at number two on the chart in 2016 with “Reapers.”
That “Won’t Stand Down” is the Muse song that finally pulled them to the top of Mainstream Rock Airplay probably isn’t too much of a surprise, since it boasts one of the band’s heaviest-ever guitar riffs.
Muse has previously hit number one on Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart five times. “Won’t Stand Down” peaked at number three on that tally.
Will of the People, the ninth Muse album, drops August 26. It also includes the previously released song “Compliance.”
So far, McCartney’s shows have included one song from his latest studio album, 2020’s McCartney III — “Women and Wives” — but one fan asks Sir Paul if he’ll consider playing another track from that record, “Find My Way.”
“[T]here’s always the eternal dilemma of what do you take out, knowing the audiences really want to hear the hits so you’ve got to balance it very carefully,” McCartney responds. “You’re taking out something they know very well and putting in something they don’t necessarily know, and I’m always dreading that’s the signal for them to go get a beer.”
The 79-year-old rock legend then admits, “I’d like to do a whole show of new songs but that’s for…the deep fans. Most of the people who come and see me, who have paid good money, have brought their mums and dads, who have traveled a distance…I’m not so sure they wanna hear the deep cuts.”
McCartney maintains that general audiences wants to hear “Beatles stuff mainly, Wings stuff, and maybe some of the new stuff.”
As for whether it was tricky preparing “Women and Wives,” which he recorded completely solo, to play live with his full band, Paul notes that it was “pretty simple because it’s a very simple song.”
He explains that “[i]n rehearsal we just listen to the record, and we’re all such reasonable musicians that we kinda go ‘Okay, I know what I’ll do.'”
McCartney’s next concert takes place Friday, May 6, in Oakland, California. Check out his full schedule at PaulMcCartney.com.
(NOTE CONTENT) Amber Heard spent another day in a Fairfax, Virginia courtroom, detailing — for hours on end — allegations of abuse she said she suffered while with her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
While Depp’s previous testimony was anchored with medical reports and witness statements, and photos, for example, of his severed right middle finger he says Heard caused with a thrown vodka bottle, Heard’s was more freeform, continuous harrowing allegations against the former Pirates of the Caribbean star without input from others.
Heard began by detailing the rosier parts of their relationship, confessing she “had butterflies” at first before things took a darker turn.
Heard claims she suffered a beating after the couple attended the Met Gala for the first time — caused, Heard alleges, because Depp thought she was flirting with a model there. She also claims Depp attacked her aboard a private plane ride, after having accused her of having an affair with a co-star at the time, James Franco.
Depp previously detailed the tumultuous trip as well, claiming it was Heard who picked a fight with him, and he popped opioids and locked himself in the bathroom of the duration of the trip to avoid her.
As court began to wind down for the day, Heard detailed an intense fight that seemed to be her side of the infamous bottle-throwing story, and seemed to intimate that Depp cut his own finger as he hurled bottles at her.
She also said, for the first time, that Depp reportedly sexually violated her with a bottle during that row.
After detailing, for nearly 20 minutes straight, the alleged beating she took that night, her lawyer asked if she took any photos of the injuries she claimed. Heard admitted, “I didn’t think to make a record of any.”
Her attorney did later present a pair photos: one of hair Amber said was pulled out by Johnny in yet another fight, and bruising on her face from that alleged incident.
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million dollars, claiming an op-ed she wrote in 2018 that obliquely accused him of sexual and domestic violence was not only false, but devastated his reputation and career.
The case will resume on May 16, when Heard’s bombshell claims will be cross-examined by Depp’s legal team.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. officials on Thursday pushed back on a New York Times report that said the U.S. provided Ukraine intelligence that helped it target and kill Russian generals and other senior officers.
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson took exception to the story’s headline: “U.S. Intelligence Is Helping Ukraine Kill Russian Generals, Officials Say.”
“The headline of this story is misleading and the way it is framed is irresponsible. The United States provides battlefield intelligence to help the Ukrainians defend their country. We do not provide intelligence with the intent to kill Russian generals,” Watson said, drawing a semantic distinction, appearing to want to distance the U.S. from any direct involvement in an attack on Russian commanders.
A second U.S. official with knowledge of U.S. intelligence-sharing with Ukraine confirmed that the U.S. provides intelligence on movements of Russian units and command posts, but not on individual Russian military leaders.
“The U.S. is not providing intelligence on Russian generals,” the official told ABC News Wednesday evening.
A third official told ABC News the same: “That is not how we operate.”
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby offered clarifying remarks during a press briefing Thursday.
“The United States provides battlefield intelligence to help Ukrainians defend their country,” Kirby said. “We do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military.”
The New York Times story originally cited American officials claiming U.S. intelligence “has helped Ukrainians target and kill many of the Russian generals who have died in action in the Ukraine war.”
Officials say it is correct, as reported by the Times, that the Ukrainians are able to combine what they learn from the U.S. with their own intelligence to then target Russian leaders. But they emphasized that the U.S. does not play a direct role in targeting individuals on the battlefield.
Other nations are also sharing intelligence with Ukraine, which has its own “robust” capabilities, according to Kirby.
“Ukraine combines information that we and other partners provide with the intelligence that they themselves are gathering on the battlefield, and then they make their own decisions, and they take their own actions,” Kirby said.
The Kremlin also responded to the article, saying its troops are aware of intelligence-assistance for Ukraine coming from the West.
“Our servicemen are well aware that the United States, the United Kingdom and NATO in general are providing intelligence and information about other parameters to the Ukrainian Armed Forces on a permanent basis. This is well known and, of course, together with the arms supply to Ukraine by the same countries and the alliance, all of those actions are not helping rapidly finalize the operation, although they cannot hinder the achievement of objectives set for the special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press briefing Thursday.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has claimed 12 Russian generals have been killed since the invasion, though U.S. officials have not confirmed this when asked.
One reason senior officers might be particularly vulnerable is due to the structure of Russia’s military.
“They do not delegate authority,” said Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and ABC News contributor. “So, they are out giving orders directly to their forces.”
Unlike the U.S. military, Russia does not empower its non-commissioned and junior officers with the authority to make decisions on their own, according to Mulroy.
“It’s the only way to effectively fight in modern combined arms maneuver warfare,” he said. “The lack of delegation is another reason the Russian military is performing so poorly.”
Top American military leaders have publicly stated the U.S. is sharing intelligence to help Ukrainians in their fight against Russia’s invading forces.
“We have opened up the pipes,” Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told senators Tuesday. “There is a significant amount of intelligence flowing to the Ukraine from the United States.”
The officials ABC News spoke to could not say whether the U.S. has any hard rules in place against giving Ukraine intelligence on high-level leaders, including top Russian general Valery Gerasimov, who spent multiple days in the contested Donbas region last week. But according to Mulroy, there is nothing wrong in principle with helping Ukraine kill Russian generals.
“Targeting generals is fully lawful, targeting non-combatant civilians is not,” Mulroy said. “If Russian generals don’t want to be targeted, they should withdraw their forces and return to Russia.”
HBO released a new trailer for its anticipated HBO Max Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon.
As reported, the show is based on George R.R. Martin‘s Fire & Blood book, set hundreds of years before the events of Game of Thrones, and is a deep dive into the history of GoT‘s House Targaryen, ancestors of Game of Thrones‘ tragic heroine, Daenerys Targaryen, who was played by Emilia Clarke.
The series centers on a brutal familial civil war that erupted over control of the legendary Iron Throne. The trailer begins with the families pledging their loyalty to Paddy Considine’s King Viserys Targaryen, and to his heir, Princess Rhaenyra, played by Emma D’Arcy.
But all is not what it seems. “Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than to see a woman ascend the Iron Throne, Eve Best‘s Rhaenys Targaryen warns.
To that end, we see battle formations and hand-to-hand combat, even between female members of the families.
Steve Toussaint‘s Lord Corlys Velaryon voices over, “History does not remember blood. It remembers names.”
The sneak peek ends with Matt Smith‘sPrince Daemon Targaryen coming face to face with a fire-breathing dragon.
