(NEW YORK) — A comet more than three times the size of the Empire State Building got up close to Earth’s orbit Tuesday afternoon but was far enough to avoid turning into a sci-fi disaster movie, according to astronomers.
Asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1) flew by Earth around 4:51 p.m., according to NASA, which has been tracking the object for decades through its planetary defense systems.
Researchers say the asteroid, which measures 1 kilometer in diameter, came around .01325 Astronomical Units, or 1.2 million miles, away from Earth’s atmosphere.
That distance didn’t pose any threat to the Earth, according to researchers.
The last time the asteroid was this close to Earth’s orbit was 89 years ago when it flew 0.00752 AU, roughly 699,000 miles, away from the planet, NASA data showed.
The next time the asteroid will come this close to Earth will be in 2105 when it will fly 0.01556 AU, roughly 1.4 million miles, away from Earth.
(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack on Tuesday subpoenaed former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, who pushed unfounded claims of widespread election fraud and pushed to overturn the 2020 election results on former President Donald Trump’s behalf.
“The Select Committee’s investigation has revealed credible evidence that you publicly promoted claims that the 2020 election was stolen and participated in attempts to disrupt or delay the certification of the election results based on your allegations,” the panel wrote in letters to Giuliani, Ellis, Powell and Trump aide and attorney Boris Epshteyn.
Within the last week, the House Select Committee also subpoenaed the phone records of Eric Trump, former president Trump’s second eldest son — a source with direct knowledge has confirmed to ABC News. The subpoena was sent to a cell phone provider of Eric Trump.
The group subpoenaed Tuesday worked with Trump to contest the results of the election in the fall of 2020, traveling to key states and huddling with Trump and other White House aides in the Oval Office as the president weighed how to overturn the results.
“The four individuals we’ve subpoenaed today advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results, or were in direct contact with the former President about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes,” Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement. “We expect these individuals to join the nearly 400 witnesses who have spoken with the Select Committee as the committee works to get answers for the American people about the violent attack on our democracy.”
Ellis also circulated two legal memos urging former Vice President Mike Pence to reject or delay the count of electoral votes on Jan. 6, the committee said.
Giuliani urged Trump to seize voting machines after being told the Department of Homeland Security lacked the authority to do so, the committee said, pointing to a report from the news website Axios and documents obtained by investigators.
The former mayor of New York City, a close Trump confidant, spoke at the Jan. 6 rally outside the White House, urging for “trial by combat” over the election results before Trump supporters marched to the Capitol.
Powell, according to the committee, reportedly urged Trump to seize voting machines to find evidence that foreign hackers had altered the election results.
Powell, Giuliani, Ellis and Epshteyn did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Dominion Voting Systems, a Colorado-based voting machine company, has filed defamation lawsuits against both Giuliani and Powell and is seeking billions of dollars in damages over their unfounded claims of election fraud. A federal judge denied both Powell and Giuliani’s efforts to have the suits dismissed.
Giuliani’s law license was also suspended in New York state last year over his claims of election fraud.
ABC’s John Santucci, Olivia Rubin and Will Steakin contributed to this report.
Handout/New Zealand Defense Force via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — For the first time since a massive undersea volcano erupted and caused widespread damage, the government of Tonga released its first statement on Tuesday morning, describing a huge mushroom plume that covered the entire South Pacific island kingdom and nearly 50-foot tsunami waves that crashed ashore and devastated villages.
International and domestic communication, including the Internet, had been severed since the blast of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano on Saturday. According to the government’s statement, the volcanic eruption damaged an underwater fiber optic cable, cutting off communication to the outside world.
“As a result of the eruption, a volcanic mushroom plume was released reaching the stratosphere and extending radially covering all Tonga Islands, generating tsunami waves rising up to 15 meters, hitting the west coast of Tongatapu Islands, ‘Eue and Ha’apai Islands,” the government statement said.
The eruption occurred in the South Pacific, about 40 miles south of Tonga.
A damage assessment was underway on Tuesday and the government was relying on satellite phones and high-frequency radio to establish communication between the multiple islands that comprise the Polynesian kingdom. Government officials said communication with at least one island, Niuas, had yet to be restored.
At least three deaths have been confirmed, including the death of a British national, the government said. Also killed was a 65-year-old woman on Mango Island and a 49-year-old man from Nomuka Island, according to the statement.
Two people remain unaccounted for and numerous injuries have been reported, the government said.
The government said it is particularly concerned about the damage caused to the islands of Mango, Fonoifua and Nomuka after receiving initial reports from first responders deployed to those islands.
“The first consignment is headed for these islands as all houses were destroyed on Mango Island; only two houses remain on Fonoifua Island with extensive damage on Nomuka Island,” the government said.
It was not immediately clear how many houses and people occupied the islands of Mango, Nomuka and Fonoifua. Many of Tonga’s 170 islands are uninhabited or sparsely inhabited.
At least eight houses were completely destroyed and 20 others were severely damaged in the village of Kolomotu on Tonga’s most populated island, Tongatapu, the government said.
On ‘Eua Island, two houses were completely destroyed and 45 were severely damaged, according to the government.
The government said that evacuations are underway from the small island of ‘Atata near the capital city of Nukuʻalofa, throughout Tongatapu, Mango, Fonoifua and Nomuka islands.
“Water supplies have been seriously affected by the volcanic ash,” the government statement said. “Government efforts have to be made to ensure the continuity of the supply of drinking water.”
Sea and air transportation have also been affected due to continuing large waves and volcanic ash covering airport runways.
“Domestic and international flights have been deferred until further notice as the airports undergo clean-up,” the government said.
The volcanic eruption was so strong it caused a sonic boom that could be heard and felt more than 6,000 miles away in Alaska, officials said.
The blast also triggered tsunami warnings from Fiji to Hawaii and the California coast.
The large waves caused by the volcanic eruption were being blamed for an oil spill off the Peruvian coast roughly 6,600 miles from Tonga. The Peruvian Civil Defense Institute released a statement on Monday saying a ship was loading oil into La Pampilla refinery on the Pacific coast of Puru on Sunday when waves moved the vessel and caused the spill.
(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack on Tuesday subpoenaed Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Elllis, who were among those who pushed claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election and for GOP officials to disrupt the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.
The committee, which is seeking records and testimony from the witnesses in early February, also subpoenaed Trump aide Boris Epshteyn and lawyer Sidney Powell.
To date, the committee has issued nearly 60 public subpoenas for records and testimony.
Bob Saget‘s longtime friend, fellow comedian and “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross is dishing on the beloved comedian and Full House patriarch’s funeral.
To Page Six, Ross emailed details about last weekend’s send-off for Saget, who was found dead in his Florida hotel room on January 9. He was 65.
Calling it the “best funeral ever,” Ross explained of last Friday’s service, “The crowd was star-studded, just the way Bob would have wanted.” Guests reportedly included fellow comedians like Dave Chappelle, Billy Crystal and Jimmy Kimmel. The publication noted that Ross also acted as pallbearer, along with others including Jonathan Silverman, John Mayer, and Saget’s Full House co-stars Dave Coulier and John Stamos, as well as Netflix head Ted Sarandos.
Ross also said, “The next night, we threw him an impromptu rock and roll shiva in the small room above The Comedy Store in Hollywood, where Bob started his career as a teenager.”
An “overwhelmed and so heartbroken” Ross closed by saying, “There will be other tributes, but I wanted the comedy fans to know that although Bob’s giant heart may have stopped while he was alone on the road, he still went out with a giant bang.”
Last week, Ross and Mayer Instagrammed their “rescue” of Saget’s car from a parking lot at Los Angeles International Airport, explaining that doing so was what Bob would have done for anybody. “[I]f you need a doctor, if you need a lawyer, if you need a pastrami sandwich at 3 in the morning because some girl just broke your heart, Bob was that guy,” he noted.
Friends for years with Saget, Ross emceed the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget, which initially aired in 2008, but which the network recently re-ran in his honor.
It’s been a week of joy and pain for Tiffany Haddish. On Friday, she was arrested for DUI, and on Tuesday, she was nominated for the NAACP Image Awards Entertainer of the Year. This follows breaking up with her boyfriend Common in December. Now, the Emmy and Grammy winner jokes that she will formally assess potential boyfriends like they were applying for a job.
“I’m going to drop applications next week and I’m going to hold my interviews. I’m gonna go through the applications, right? Then I’m gonna hold interviews on Instagram Live,” Haddish tells Entertainment Tonight.
“I’m gonna go live,” she continues. “I’m gonna interview them in front of everybody, you know, let their girlfriends, ex-girlfriends, whatever, say what they gonna say.”
In other news, Shaquille O’Neal is bringing his All Star Comedy Jam to LA to kick off Super Bowl weekend.
“From delivering numerous sold-out tours to being among the first to give a national stage to current comedy legends such as Mike Epps, DeRay Davis and Kevin Hart, All Star Comedy Jam has been a fixture on the comedy scene, dedicated to elevating the brightest up-and-coming comedic voices,” Shaq said in a statement.
Davis will host the show on Thursday, February 10, at the Microsoft Theater in LA. The event also will feature Bill Bellamy, Mo’Nique, Earthquake and Michael Blackson. The next day, O’Neal will host his annual Shaq’s Fun House Super Bowl Party at the Shrine in LA, featuring a performance by Lil Wayne.
Finally, Netflix announced Tuesday that Tyler Perry’s A Madea Homecoming will premiere on February 25. The comedy revolves around Madea’s great-grandson’s college graduation, as hidden secrets and family drama threaten to destroy the happy homecoming.
(WASHINGTON) — For the first time this Congress, the Senate started debating voting rights legislation on Tuesday, a day after Democrats failed to meet their hopeful, symbolic, deadline to pass an election reform bill by Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer opened debate on the House-passed voting rights bill, a combination bill wrapping in both the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, on Tuesday afternoon.
But Democrats need 60 votes, or the support of 10 Republican senators — which they don’t have — plus all 50 of their own, to overcome a GOP filibuster on the legislation and end debate, making way for the bill’s final passage. All 50 Senate Republicans are opposed to the bill.
“The American people deserve to see their senators go on record on whether they will support these bills or oppose them. Indeed, that may be the only way to make progress on this issue,” Schumer said on Tuesday. “And if Republicans choose to continue to filibuster voting rights legislation, we must consider and vote on rule changes that are appropriate and necessary to restore the Senate and make voting legislation possible.”
The bill at hand would make Election Day a federal holiday, expand early voting and mail-in-voting, and give the federal government greater oversight over state elections. And would come at a time when nearly 20 states have restricted access to voting fueled by false claims in the wake of the 2020 election, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Quoting the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Schumer acknowledged that Democrats have “an uphill struggle” to pass voting rights legislation but said they should “keep moving, keep fighting” in the face of the inevitable defeat this week.
“Win, lose, or draw — members of this chamber were elected to debate and to vote, especially on an issue this vital to the beating heart of our democracy as voting rights. And the public — the public is entitled to know where each senator stands on an issue so sacrosanct as defending our democracy.”
He also seized the spotlight to slam Republicans for continuing to block Democrats from passing the legislation last year, and addressing the American people from the Senate floor, said the GOP has “regressed.”
“The Republican Party used to be one that supported voting rights. Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush worked to renew voting rights bills,” Schumer said. “Now, sadly, unfortunately, this is Donald Trump’s Republican Party.”
McConnell, on Tuesday, speaking first for Republicans, slammed his colleagues across the aisle for characterizing the Senate filibuster as a “Jim Crow relic” while, Democrats argue, the procedural tactic is being weaponized by Republicans to prevent federal voting protections largely to minorities.
“This is about one party wanting the power to unilaterally rewrite the rulebook of American elections,” McConnell said.
“Democrats have been pushing the same policy changes in the same Chicken Little rhetoric since 2019,” he added. “The Democratic leader’s effort to break the Senate long predates the latest pretext.”
“Too many of our colleagues across the aisle still want to respond to a 50-50 Senate with a rule-breaking power grab. Those voting to break this institution will not be a free vote or a harmless action, even if efforts fail,” McConnell continued. “An unprincipled attempt at grabbing power is not harmless just because it fails. Voting to break the Senate is not cost-free, just because of a bipartisan majority of your colleagues have the wisdom to stop you.”
To go it alone, Schumer said he will move to challenge the chamber’s filibuster rule with a simple majority vote, and aides say that rules-change proposal will come as early as Wednesday. Schumer on Tuesday also filed cloture on the bill, setting up the 60-vote threshold filibuster vote for later this week.
It’s still unclear exactly how Democrats intend to change the filibuster rule. Schumer didn’t lay out specifics Tuesday on what his plans are on possible changes to the filibuster when Republicans block the voting rights bill as they’re expected to do.
Senate Democrats are scheduled to meet Tuesday evening ahead of an expected vote Wednesday to try to change the filibuster rule.
Sen Tim Kaine, D-Va., a key negotiator in voting rights talks., told ABC News last week that it will likely amount to a one-time change to the rule, or carveout, by lowering the threshold to end debate on the legislation from 60 votes to 51 votes. In theory, Vice President Kamala Harris, as president of the Senate, could serve as Democrats’ tie-breaking vote — both to quash the filibuster and, eventually, pass the voting rights bill.
Another option Democrats have looked into is reverting back to a talking filibuster, which would require 41 opponents of the bill to keep talking on the floor — called “holding the floor” — to test the opposition’s stamina. If they run out of steam, there would be a 51-vote requirement for passage of the once-filibustered bill.
But Democrats need the support of their entire party to change the rule in the chamber where they hold the slimmest of majorities. And conservative Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have made clear their opposition to changing the filibuster, even though both support the underlying legislation, so the effort is expected to fail — a massive blow to Democrats as President Joe Biden approaches one year in office on Thursday.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s 13-year-old granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King, called out Manchin and Sinema by name in demonstrations near Capitol Hill on Monday as activists took the street to demand action in the name of the late civil rights leader being honored across the nation.
“Sen. Sinema, Sen. Manchin, our future hinges on your decision, and history will remember what choice you make,” she called out. “So join me in demanding action for today, tomorrow and generations to come.”
After Biden took the national spotlight last Tuesday in Georgia to demand the Senate change its rules “whichever way they need to be changed to prevent a minority of senators from blocking actions on voting rights,” he met with Sinema and Manchin privately at the White House. As he headed to the Hill last Thursday to meet with lawmakers, Sinema stunningly took to the Senate floor and reiterated her opposition to what the president had just publicly called for.
Republicans, meanwhile, have argued Biden went too far in his attacks on the GOP, tying their obstruction on the bill to Jim Crow-era racism, with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell slamming Biden’s speech from the Senate chamber as “profoundly, profoundly un-presidential” and as a “rant” that was “incoherent, incorrect and beneath his office.”
As activists continue to push for federal action, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said over the weekend he was never contacted by the White House to try and gain support for passing voting rights legislation.
“Sadly, this election reform bill that the president has been pushing, I never got a call on that from the White House. There was no negotiation, bringing the Republicans and Democrats together to try to come up with something that would meet bipartisan interest,” he told NBC’s “Meet The Press” Sunday.
With the Senate finally taking up voting rights Tuesday, the president is scheduled to remain out of sight, according to his schedule, but at the White House for briefings.
Biden is scheduled to hold a news conference on Wednesday, one day before marking his first year in office, where he’ll likely face questions on the issue of voting rights — among other unfinished agenda items.
And while his character Steven Grant suffers from what used to be known as split personality disorder, some on the Internet snarked at one of those personalities — specifically Isaac’s British accent as Grant.
“Oscar Isaac’s accent in the #MoonKnight trailer is literally like ‘ello guvna wot are ya dewin?!” one Twitter user jabbed. Another offered, “Oscar Isaac’s Dick Van Dyke-esque British accent is singlehandedly going to make this immensely watchable, isn’t it?”
That said, Oscar had his defenders, too. “Nah I love it lmao,” said one, offering a possible explanation: “It totally works with how one of his identities, Steven Grant, thinks a British accent sounds.”
“I think, if anything, it’s almost too good,” said another Twitter user. “It’s a legit sounding accent – it just sounds like it couldn’t come out of Oscar Isaac.”
Hear it for yourself when Moon Knight, which also stars another Oscar nominee, Ethan Hawke, playing a cult leader, debuts March 30.
Creed‘s Scott Stapp, Puddle of Mudd and Sugar Ray are headlining the inaugural Honeymoon Rock Fest, taking place March 18-20 in Oklahoma City.
As its name suggests, the Honeymoon Rock Fest comes with a twist: Along with the rocking, you’ll actually be able to get married between sets, with select musicians on the lineup officiating, along with an ordained minister to help with “paperwork and legalities.”
Other artists on the bill include Fuel, Saliva, Eve 6, Candlebox, Everclear, Powerman 5000 and Wheatus.
For the full lineup and ticket info — and, if you’re so inclined, to purchase a wedding package — visit HoneymoonFest.com.
Shawn Mendes started off 2022 telling fans “It’ll Be Okay,” and now, he’s telling them to get ready for another round of new music.
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, the singer shared a video that shows him and a friend listening to a new demo. The clip then transitions to a studio, where fans can hear the fully mastered track ahead of its scheduled release.
Shawn just had one question to ask first, which was, “Y’all dig this?” Of course, his 66.2 million followers began begging for more and demanded to know when they can finally add it to their music libraries. At this time, it is currently unknown when the Grammy winner’s new song arrives or what he plans on calling it.
The song would mark Shawn’s third new single since releasing his Wonder album, which came out in December 2020. It follows “Summer of Love” and, most recently, “It’ll Be Okay.”
Shawn is gearing up for his 64-date Wonder: The World Tour, which kicks off in March and will take him across North America, Europe and the United Kingdom. He has yet to unveil plans for his fifth studio album, but fans are hopeful an announcement is on the horizon.
