Trump to order ‘national energy emergency,’ issue ‘memorandum on inflation’ as part of executive actions
Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump will order a “national energy emergency” and issue a “presidential memorandum on inflation” as part of a slew of executive actions meant to boost the U.S. economy on his first day in office, incoming White House officials told reporters Monday morning.
As part of these actions, which are expected to be signed “as soon as possible,” the officials said, Trump will “put an end to the [Biden administration’s] electric vehicle mandate.” Another order will focus solely on Alaska, which officials said has “an incredible abundance of natural resources.”
Officials said these moves were not only intended to spur the economy and bring down costs, but also “strengthen our nation’s national security,” citing the impending “AI race with China.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LOS ANGELES) — The workers union representing Starbucks baristas across the country announced members in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle will go on strike in the days leading up to Christmas.
Workers United, which has unionized more than 525 U.S. Starbucks locations, said in a press release Thursday that unfair labor practices and stalled negotiations with the company are the catalyst behind the holiday season strike.
The union says five days of escalating strikes will begin Friday and continue until Dec. 24 in “three of the company’s priority markets” during what it called the company’s busiest days of the year.
During the strike period, the walkouts “are expected to spread each day and ultimately reach hundreds of stores from coast to coast by Christmas Eve” unless the company honors a February commitment made with the union.
In February 2024, Workers United and Starbucks announced they would work on a “foundational framework” to reach a collective bargaining agreement for stores, something the union says has not come to fruition.
In a statement on Thursday following the strike announcement Starbucks said Workers United delegates “prematurely ended” its bargaining session with the coffee giant this week.
Starbucks added that the company is “focused on enhancing” employee experiences by offering an average wage of $18 per hour and benefits including health care, free college tuition, paid family leave and company stock grants.
“We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements,” Starbucks said, adding, “We need the union to return to the table.”
Workers United, however, said despite “repeatedly pledging publicly” that it intends to reach contracts by the end of the year, Starbucks has not yet presented workers with a “serious economic proposal.”
“Nobody wants to strike. It’s a last resort, but Starbucks has broken its promise to thousands of baristas and left us with no choice,” Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi, a five-year Starbucks barista and bargaining delegate, said in the release.
“In a year when Starbucks invested so many millions in top executive talent, it has failed to present the baristas who make its company run with a viable economic proposal. This is just the beginning. We will do whatever it takes to get the company to honor the commitment it made to us in February,” Alhadjaboodi added.
“The holiday season should be magical at Starbucks, but for too many of us, there’s a darker side to the peppermint mochas and gingerbread lattes,” Arloa Fluhr, a bargaining delegate who has worked off and on at Starbucks for 18 years said in the release.
“I’m a mom of three, including my daughter who is diabetic. I know what it’s like to panic because my hours were slashed and I won’t be able to pay my bills and could lose access to healthcare, including my daughter’s insulin. That’s why we’re steadfast in our demands for Starbucks to invest in baristas like me,” Fluhr added.
ABC News’ Zunaira Zaki contributed to this report.
Luigi Mangione is seen inside the police station in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Dec. 9, 2024/Obtained by ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson wasn’t a member of the insurer, a company spokesperson said.
“Brian Thompson’s killer was not a member of UnitedHealthcare,” the company told ABC News.
Prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to secure an indictment against Mangione for the killing of Thompson, sources told ABC News.
The DA’s office declined to comment due to the secrecy surrounding grand jury matters.
An indictment could strengthen the case for extradition, which Mangione is fighting.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate remains in custody at a Pennsylvania state prison after a judge denied bail on Tuesday. His next court date in Pennsylvania is Dec. 30.
“He has constitutional rights and that’s what he’s doing” in challenging the interstate transfer, defense attorney Thomas Dickey told reporters on Tuesday.
Authorities are still looking to access a phone recovered by police in an alley following the shooting that is believed to be linked to the suspect, sources said Thursday. Police have obtained a search warrant for the phone, sources said.
At least two other search warrants have been issued so far in the New York case. They include to search the hostel where the suspect stayed in New York City, as well as the backpack containing Monopoly money and a jacket that was found in Central Park and is believed to belong to him, sources said.
Mangione was apprehended in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday after nearly one week on the run following the Dec. 4 slaying.
Three shell casings recovered outside the Midtown Manhattan hotel where Thompson was fatally shot match the gun allegedly found on Mangione when he was arrested, police announced Wednesday.
Fingerprints recovered from a water bottle and a Kind bar near the crime scene have also been matched to Mangione, police said.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun.
In New York, he faces charges including second-degree murder.
(NEW YORK) — Lake effect snow is slamming the Great Lakes, with seven states from Wisconsin to New York under snow alerts on Monday.
So far, snow totals have reached 58 inches in Copenhagen, New York; 30 inches in Erie, Pennsylvania; 27 inches in Ashtabula, Ohio; and 42 inches in Gaylord, Michigan.
In Orchard Park, New York — home to the Buffalo Bills — the lake effect snow total has reached 26 inches so far.
The Bills played through the snow on their home turf on Sunday, beating the San Francisco 49ers 35-10.
A lake effect snow warning is in effect from Jamestown, New York, to Erie to Cleveland, where some areas could see additional 6 to 20 inches of snow.
In Syracuse, New York, 4 to 7 inches of snow is forecast over the next 24 hours.
In Michigan, a winter storm warning is in effect as intense lake effect snow bands continue to pound the western part of the state.
Up to 1 foot of snow is forecast for northern Indiana and five inches of snow is expected for northern Wisconsin.
The heaviest lake effect snow should be done by Tuesday morning for most of the Great Lakes.
