We now know the famous contestants who will go head-to-head on the upcoming season 3 of Celebrity Jeopardy!
The star-studded group of contestants includes big names like Rachel Brosnahan, Seth Green, Max Greenfield, Sean Gunn and Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Also competing on this season are Brian Jordan Alvarez, Blake Anderson, W. Kamau Bell, Corbin Bleu, Yvette Nicole Brown, D’Arcy Carden, Margaret Cho, Sherry Cola, Chris Distefano, Omar J. Dorsey, Susie Essman, Fortune Feimster, David Friedberg, Mina Kimes, Camilla Luddington, Natalie Morales, Ana Navarro, Melissa Peterman, Phoebe Robinson, Robin Thede, Jackie Tohn and Roy Wood Jr.
The celebrities are competing for a chance to win $1 million for the charity of their choice.
Hosted again by Ken Jennings, the spinoff of the beloved game show Jeopardy! will premiere its third season on Jan. 8 on ABC. Episodes of Celebrity Jeopardy! will be available to stream on Hulu the day after they air.
(WASHINGTON) — The House passed the Paris Hilton-championed Stop Institutionalized Child Abuse bill on Wednesday, a sweet victory for the celebrity hotel heiress after the nearly three years she’s spent lobbying politicians in Washington on the issue of reform in the “troubled teen” industry.
The measure that would require more federal oversight into these facilities for troubled minors passed by a vote of 373-33.
All those who voted against the legislation were Republican, most from the far-right faction of the party, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona, Byron Donalds of Florida, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, among others.
The Senate passed the bill a week ago with unanimous support. It now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.
“I am so emotional right now. I have never felt prouder in my life,” Hilton told reporters after the vote. “Just to be here today and see our bill pass in Congress has been one of the most incredible moments of my life and I just know that the teenage me would be so proud of the woman that I am today — turning my pain into purpose and being a voice for so many people who don’t have a voice.”
Hilton said she traveled to Washington every six to 10 months starting in October 2021 to push for a child abuse bill. She traveled back to the Hill on Monday and has spent the past two days meeting with representatives in order to get the measure across the finish line. She held a press conference outside the Capitol on Monday evening, urging the House’s passage of the bill.
Hilton was personally in contact with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise regarding movement on the bill this week.
Hilton for years has been an advocate for reform in congregate care facilities and residential treatment programs for “troubled” minors. She’s brazenly described her own traumatizing experience at Provo Canyon School in Utah when she was a teenager.
The legislation — which would ordinarily pass through the House Energy and Commerce committee before it could get called by leaders to the floor — was fast-tracked by bypassing that step, according to a source familiar with committee business.
“When the U.S. Senate came together in a rare show of unity to pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act unanimously on Wednesday December 11th, it was one of the best moments of my life. It was proof that when we listen to survivors and put politics aside, we can create real, meaningful change. But this journey isn’t over. I can’t celebrate until this bill becomes law, and now it’s up to the U.S House of Representatives to finish what the Senate started,” Hilton wrote in an open letter shared to her Instagram page on Monday.
“To Leader Scalise, Speaker Johnson, and every member of the House: I urge you to think about the children who can’t speak for themselves. They’re relying on us—on you—to stand up for their safety and dignity. Passing this bill would be a testament to what we can achieve when we lead with empathy and courage.”
Hilton has traveled to Washington every six to 10 months starting in October 2021, according to her spokesperson, each time asking Congress to reform youth residential treatment facilities.
She’s met individually with members like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who thanked Hilton after the bill’s passage last week for her work on the issue, and Republicans like Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Some of her biggest advocates have been the cosponsors of the bill: Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, along with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Hilton said.
“A lack of oversight and transparency in residential youth programs has allowed for the abuse of children in facilities across the country for far too long,” Cornyn said in a statement after the bill passed.
“I’m proud that the Senate unanimously passed this legislation to ensure the vulnerable children in these facilities are protected, and I want to thank the countless advocates who have bravely shared their stories to help end institutional child abuse.”
Hilton also testified before the House Ways and Means Committee in June, emotionally recounting her experience being at Provo Canyon School as a teen.
“These programs promised healing, growth, and support, but instead did not allow me to speak, move freely, or even look out a window for two years,” she testified in 2023. “I was force-fed medications and sexually abused by the staff. I was violently restrained and dragged down hallways, stripped naked, and thrown into solitary confinement.”
The Provo school in Utah, which is still operating today, released an updated statement in June 2024 saying they couldn’t comment on the operations or student experiences at the school prior to August 2000, when it had changed ownership shortly after Hilton’s stint there. Provo said it did not “condone or promote any form of abuse,” in their statement.
Hilton has gone to the White House to advocate for child welfare, meeting with policy staff in May 2022.
“We have had some prior conversations with the White House about the bill, and we don’t have a reason to believe that they wouldn’t sign it into law,” Hilton’s spokesperson said.
The socialite’s push for congregate-care reform started in 2021, when she came to Washington in support of a similar measure, the Federal Accountability for Congregate Care Act, which was a different bill that was introduced in October 2021 and led by Khanna, Merkley, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and then-Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Before her visit in 2021, Hilton had opened up about her 11-month experience at Provo Canyon school in her 2020 documentary “This is Paris,” and in a Washington Post op-ed.
(PENNSYLVANIA) — Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, will waive extradition to New York when he appears in court in Pennsylvania on Thursday, his attorney said Wednesday.
The Pennsylvania judge must accept the waiver or go forward with a scheduled hearing Thursday morning immediately following a separate hearing on the local charges Mangione faces.
Assuming the extradition paperwork is in order, the NYPD would transport Mangione from Pennsylvania to New York. Mangione could be arraigned in New York as soon as Thursday.
“I’m ready to bring him back here and make sure justice is served,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday.
A special edition of “20/20” airing Dec. 19 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC looks at the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the manhunt that led to the arrest of Luigi Mangione, who went from the Ivy League to alleged killer.
Mangione, 26, is accused of gunning down Thompson outside a Hilton hotel on Dec. 4 as the CEO headed to an investors conference. Prosecutors alleged Mangione waited nearly an hour for Thompson to arrive.
A Manhattan grand jury has upgraded charges against Mangione to include first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The slaying in the heart of Midtown Manhattan unfolded as tourists, commuters and residents were on the streets and was “intended to evoke terror,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
In Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9 after nearly one week on the run, he faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun.
When Mangione was apprehended, he had a 9 mm handgun with a 3D-printed receiver, a homemade silencer, two ammunition magazines and live cartridges, prosecutors said.
Mangione is also charged in New York with: two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is charged as killing as an act of terrorism; two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree; and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Mangione will waive extradition at Thursday’s hearing, according to his lawyer, but he has not yet waived extradition.
(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday, delivering relief for borrowers at the central bank’s last meeting before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month.
The central bank predicted fewer rate cuts next year than it had previously indicated, however, suggesting concern that inflation may prove more difficult to bring under control than policymakers thought just a few months ago.
The major stock indexes inched downward in trading after the announcement in response to the forecast of fewer rate cuts.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank may proceed at a slower pace with future rate cuts, in part because it has now lowered interest rates a substantial amount.
Powell also said a recent resurgence of inflation influenced the Fed’s expectations, noting that some policymakers considered uncertainty tied to potential policy changes under Trump.
“It’s common-sense thinking that when the path is uncertain, you get a little slower,” Powell said. “It’s not unlike driving on a foggy night or walking around in a dark room full of furniture.”
The move marked the third consecutive interest rate cut since the Fed opted to start dialing back its fight against inflation in the fall. The Fed has lowered interest rates by a percentage point in recent months.
However, the Fed’s forecast on Wednesday said it anticipates only a half a percentage point of rate cuts next year and another half-percent cut in 2026.
The benchmark interest rate helps determine loan payments for everything from credit cards to mortgages. Even after recent cuts, the Fed’s interest rate remains at a historically high level of between 4.25% and 4.5%.
The size of the interest rate cut on Wednesday matched investors’ expectations.
The latest rate cut may prove the Fed’s last for many months, experts previously told ABC News.
A recent bout of stubborn inflation could prompt central bankers to freeze interest rates in place as they bring price increases under control. A humming economy, meanwhile, shows little need for the jolt of activity that lower borrowing costs may provide, the experts said.
Consumer prices climbed 2.7% in November compared to a year ago, marking two consecutive months of accelerating inflation, government data last week showed.
Inflation has slowed dramatically from a peak of more than 9% in June 2022. But the recent uptick has reversed some progress made at the start of this year that had landed price increases right near the Fed’s target of 2%.
In August, Trump said the president should have a role in setting interest rates. The proposal would mark a major shift from the longstanding norm of political independence at the Fed.
Powell struck a defiant tone last month when posed with the question of whether he would resign from his position if asked by Trump.
“No,” Powell told reporters assembled at a press conference in Washington, D.C., blocks away from the White House.
When asked whether Trump could fire or demote him, Powell retorted: “Not permitted under the law.”
(NEW YORK) — The so-called “murder hornet” has been eradicated from the United States, five years after the invasive species was first discovered in Washington state, officials declared Wednesday.
There have been no confirmed detections of the northern giant hornet — the hornet’s official name — for the past three years, the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
The eradication was the result of a yearslong effort to find and eliminate the hornets that involved state, federal and international government agencies, officials said.
“We are proud of this landmark victory in the fight against invasive species,” Dr. Mark Davidson, the deputy administrator at USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said in a statement. “The success of this effort demonstrates what’s possible when agencies and communities unite toward a common goal.”
WSDA Director Derek Sandison said in a statement he was “incredibly proud of our team, which has dedicated years of hard work to safeguarding our state and the nation from this invasive threat to our native pollinators and agriculture.”
The public also played a large part in helping eradicate the pest by reporting sightings, officials said.
“Without the public’s support for this effort, it is unlikely we would be announcing the eradication of northern giant hornet today,” Sven Spichiger, WSDA’s pest program manager, said in a statement. “All of our nest detections resulted directly or indirectly from public reports. And half of our confirmed detections came from the public. The people of Washington can be proud that we did this by working together.”
The northern giant hornet, which is native to Asian countries including China and Japan, was first detected in North America in August 2019 in British Columbia, Canada. It was confirmed in Washington state four months later when a resident in Whatcom County reported a dead specimen. That incident appeared to be a separate introduction originating from a different country than the British Columbia one, officials said.
Four hornet nests found inside alder tree cavities in Whatcom County were eradicated between October 2020 and September 2021.
Trapping efforts continued in Whatcom County through 2024, and no additional hornets have been detected in the area, WSDA said.
A community member reported a “suspicious hornet sighting” in Kitsap County in October, though WSDA was unable to obtain the hornet to confirm the species, the department said. Traps placed in the area and public outreach did not yield any additional evidence or reports of suspected sightings, it said.
“All we can say is that the image appears to be a hornet of some kind. How it came to be in Kitsap County, we don’t know,” Spichiger said.
WSDA said it will conduct trapping in the area in 2025 as a “precautionary measure.”
The northern giant hornet could have posed a “significant threat” to honey bees and other pollinators had it become established in the U.S., officials said. The hornets can kill an entire honey bee hive in just 90 minutes. Their sting is also more painful than that of a typical honey bee.
“By tackling this threat head-on, we protected not only pollinators and crops, but also the industries, communities, and ecosystems that depend on them,” Davidson said.
A new official teaser for the live-action Lilo & Stitch is here.
In the new clip, which was shared on social media and YouTube, Stitch is lifted into the air like Simba in the opening scene of The Lion King.
The furry blue alien appears to be wearing floaties and squirms his way out of the hands of the person who lifted him before making a splash in the water on a beach.
The film’s iconic song, “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride,” plays in the background, and at the very end of the clip, Stitch crawls on screen and says, “Hi.”
The teaser notes that the movie will arrive in theaters May 23, 2025.
An official new poster was also released showing Stitch being held in the air by what appears to be Rafiki from The Lion King.
According to a description, the upcoming movie is a “reimagining of Disney’s 2002 animated classic, Lilo & Stitch.” It is “the wildly funny story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family.”
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp is directed the film, which stars Maia Kealoha as Lilo and Chris Sanders as Stitch, reprising his voice role from the original film and its 2003-2006 spinoffs.
The film also stars Sydney Elizebeth Agudong as Nani, Kaipo Dudoit as David, Billy Magnussen as Agent Pleakley, Hannah Waddingham as the Grand Councilwoman, Courtney B. Vance as Cobra Bubbles, Amy Hill as Tūtū and Zach Galifianakis as Dr. Jumba Jookiba.
Tia Carrere, who voiced Nani in the original animated film and several spinoffs, also returns as social worker Mrs. Kekoa, and Jason Scott Lee, who voiced David in the original animated film, returns as a lū’au manager.
(NEW YORK) — One of the suspects accused of running a secret Chinese police station in lower Manhattan has pleaded guilty.
The suspects in the case, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, were accused by prosecutors last year of working on behalf of China’s Ministry of Public Security in violation of the Espionage Act.
Chen pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a charge of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government. He will be sentenced on May 30, 2025. Lu has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
At the time the case was charged in April 2023, the FBI called it in an example of China’s “audacious activities” on U.S. soil.
The location in Chinatown claimed to be a nonprofit organization helping Chinese-Americans but federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, who brought the case, said it “appears to have had a more sinister use.”
Prosecutors said the secret police station was set up by Chinese counterintelligence operatives to harass and intimidate dissidents living in the United States.
“Today, a participant in a transnational repression scheme who worked to establish a secret police station in the middle of New York City on behalf of the national police force of the People’s Republic of China has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an illegal agent,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. “We will continue our efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable persons who come to this country to escape the repressive activities of authoritarian regimes.”
(WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.) — Ryan Routh, the man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at the president-elect’s golf club in Florida, is now facing a state attempted murder charge in connection with a car accident that occurred following his arrest, officials announced Wednesday.
The Florida Attorney General’s Office said it has obtained an arrest warrant against Routh, who was apprehended on Interstate 95 in Martin County on Sept. 15 after he allegedly fled the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, authorities said.
Following his arrest, an accident occurred that seriously injured a 6-year-old girl who was traveling with her family, according to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
“As a result of that, we felt compelled to seek justice on her behalf and her family that will never be the same as they cope with her injuries,” Moody said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
The multi-vehicle accident occurred on I-95 approximately three or four miles south of where Routh’s traffic stop occurred, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
A Martin County deputy located the suspect’s vehicle at approximately 2:09 p.m. It was unclear if any vehicles or explosives were in the vehicle, and northbound traffic was stopped due to the “high-risk potential” of the traffic stop, according to the affidavit. Routh was taken into custody at approximately 2:23 p.m., according to the affidavit.
Southbound traffic was also stopped while authorities worked to clear Routh’s vehicle, and traffic began to back up in both directions for miles, according to the affidavit.
The accident occurred at approximately 3 p.m., according to the affidavit. The child, whose name has not been released, suffered critical injuries after a vehicle rear-ended the one she and her family were traveling in, according to the affidavit.
“When you couple those terrible injuries together with [Routh’s] other criminal conduct, which we believe rises to the level of domestic terrorism, it turns his actions into an attempted felony murder case,” Moody said.
Moody said her office has filed a complaint and arrest warrant against Routh on Wednesday. The charge carries a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted.
Moody said her office had reached out to the federal government regarding pursuing the attempted murder charge against Routh.
“They responded that we should not bring charges,” she said. “The excuse and the reasoning kept coming back to the need to protect the case and national security.”
Moody filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice in October claiming the agency was unlawfully attempting to block Florida’s criminal investigation into the alleged assassination attempt against Trump.
ABC News has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, which is prosecuting the federal case against Routh, for comment.
Routh faces multiple federal charges in connection with the alleged attempted assassination.
On the day in question, Trump was playing golf on the course when a Secret Service agent spotted a gun barrel poking out from the tree line near the sixth green, according to investigators.
The agent then fired in the direction of the rifle and saw Routh fleeing the area and entering his nearby vehicle, according to the federal criminal complaint.
In the area of the tree line where the suspect was seen, agents found a digital camera, two bags, including a backpack, and a loaded SKS-style 7.62×39 caliber rifle with a scope, according to the complaint.
Trump was not harmed in the incident and was taken to a safe location by Secret Service agents.
Routh pleaded not guilty to federal charges including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate and assaulting a federal officer, as well as several firearms charges.
Paul Rudd accidentally runs over a mythical creature in the trailer for the upcoming horror comedy Death of a Unicorn.
The A24 film, which also stars Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni and Richard E. Grant, comes from writer and director Alex Scharfman in his directorial debut feature.
The movie follows the father-daughter duo of Elliot and Ridley, played by Rudd and Ortega, respectively, as they “hit a unicorn with their car and bring it to the wilderness retreat of a mega-wealthy pharmaceutical CEO,” according to the film’s longline.
“A lot of species in this area are rare,” Rudd’s Elliot says in the trailer.
“What exactly are we saying this is though?” Poulter’s character asks, while staring at the mythical creature in the trunk of a car.
Many guesses are made, including “a horse-like Mammalia” that has “some sort of protrusion or growth,” but it’s Ortega’s Ridley who says what they are all thinking.
“It’s a f****** unicorn,” she says.
The film’s poster features a unicorn underneath a white sheet, with purple text and the tagline, “They’re going to make a killing.”
Death of a Unicorn will be released in spring 2025.
(WASHINGTON) — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday urged a federal judge to reject a request from a defendant convicted for participation in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next month, according to a court filing.
Cindy Young, of New Hampshire, was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of four misdemeanor charges earlier this year for joining the Capitol riot and was sentenced to four months incarceration as well as a term of probation — which included conditions that bar her from entering Washington, D.C., without approval from her probation officer.
Last week, Young requested permission to attend Trump’s inauguration in a filing stating she “poses no threat of danger to the community and she is not a risk of flight.”
Prosecutors with the Department of Justice, however, disputed that argument, pointing to repeated calls for “retribution” from Young in the years since Jan. 6 against jurors, judges and law enforcement involved in the Capitol breach cases.
“The risk Young presents to those in D.C. did not end with her exit from the Building,” prosecutors said in their Wednesday filing, also in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
They further noted that Young has publicly “mocked” officers who were attacked by the pro-Trump mob, many of whom “will, once again, be tasked in protecting the Capitol and Constitution on January 20, 2025.”
“As such, her presence at an event staffed by law enforcement would not only present a danger but would cause further victimization for the officers who Young has publicly mocked,” they said in the filing.
Young is just one among a number of Jan. 6 defendants who have requested permission to attend Trump’s inauguration.
Retired Republican Rep. Chris Stewart invited Russell Taylor, a California man who pleaded guilty to a felony for participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, to the inauguration. However, Taylor also must receive permission from a judge to travel to Washington, D.C., after he “repeatedly called for violence and a show of force” to overturn the election and on Jan. 6 led a mob that overran a police line near the inaugural stage while wearing “an exposed knife on top of a bullet proof chest plate and carrying bear spray,” according to his sentencing memo.
Taylor received credit from Judge Royce Lamberth, who oversaw his initial case and will determine his ability to travel Washington, for his agreement to enter into a plea deal, but he has not ruled yet whether he may attend the inauguration.
Another Jan. 6 defendant, Eric Peterson, also requested permission to travel to Washington for the inauguration.
