Category: National

(WASHINGTON) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was pressed on cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), vaccine messaging and the firing of the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during a hearing on Tuesday.

The hearing before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health marked the final session of four budget hearings before House lawmakers.

Research cuts

Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Tex., said she was concerned about the loss of federal aid for health research in the Trump administration’s budget request for fiscal year 2027.

“Secretary Kennedy, do you understand that cutting federally funded research as this budget does, will cede U.S. leadership on biomedical research to China and create national security and global competitiveness challenges for the United States?” Fletcher asked Kennedy.

Kennedy acknowledged that he shared Fletcher’s concerns, as the biggest proposed cuts are to NIH and Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) programs.

“I don’t want to cut NIH programs, [Office of Management and Budget Director] Russ Vought doesn’t want to cut NIH programs, but we have a $35 trillion debt,” Kennedy said.

“We have been asked to cut across the board at HHS, 12% of our $100 million budget and so we’re making cuts that are painful,” he told Fletcher.

Vaccine messaging

Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Tex., described Kennedy as the most “anti-vax” figure in his lifetime. He suggested that Kennedy’s history of rhetoric denouncing vaccines is correlated with an uptick in measles cases.

Two unvaccinated school-aged children died last year from measles — the first U.S. deaths from measles in a decade.

Kennedy has long sown doubt in the safety and effectiveness of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. Despite being a required vaccine in all states to attend public school, rates have been steadily decreasing over the last decade, CDC data shows.

It comes as vaccine exemptions have risen sharply, with at least 138,000 kindergarteners exempt from one or more vaccines during the most recent school year, CDC data shows.

However, in recent weeks, some reports have suggested Kennedy is staying away from vaccine-skeptic rhetoric ahead of the midterm elections.

Veasey and others pressed Kennedy on whether the alleged messaging strategy was directed by the White House. Kennedy denied that it was.

“Is Susie Wiles or anyone in the White House instructing you or suggesting that you stop talking about your controversial vaccine skepticism?” Veasey asked.

“No,” Kennedy replied.

CDC leadership

Kennedy defended firing former CDC director Susan Monarez in a lengthy exchange with Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif.

Ruiz criticized Kennedy for ousting Monarez because she allegedly “refused” to approve what Ruiz called the dismantling of the childhood vaccination schedule.

Kennedy aggressively pushed back on the congressman’s characterization.

“That’s not true,” Kennedy said. “What she testified to wasn’t true.”

Kennedy and Monarez both appeared in front of Senate committees last year to address the ousting.

At a Senate hearing in September 2025, Monarez said she was fired by Trump and Kennedy for “holding the line on scientific integrity.”

Kennedy, in a hearing before a different Senate panel earlier that month, disputed Monarez’s version of events. He denied telling Monarez to accept vaccine recommendations without scientific evidence, and claimed she was fired in part because she told him she was untrustworthy.

During Monday’s hearing, Kennedy claimed that his reasoning for the firing had nothing to do with vaccines and that his department is committing $1 billion to vaccine research through the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.

Ruiz claimed Kennedy’s vaccine-skeptic views run contrary to the view of President Donald Trump’s new CDC director nominee, Dr. Erica Schwartz.

During her time with the Coast Guard, Schwartz instituted a disease surveillance program and vaccination programs and wrote the first health protection policies for the force, including anthrax and smallpox vaccination policies.

Kennedy said he vetted ​Schwartz’s position ⁠on vaccines ​before she was ​nominated by Trump to lead the CDC. However, Kennedy said he did not speak “to the president directly” before Trump made the nomination.

Kennedy rejected the claim that his and Schwartz’s views were not aligned, but would not commit to following all recommendations of the new CDC director nominee.

“Mr. Secretary, if Dr. Schwartz is confirmed, will you commit on the record today to implement whatever vaccine guidance she issues without interference?” Ruiz asked.

“I’m not going to make that kind of commitment,” Kennedy replied.

Kennedy later repeated, as he has in his previous budget hearings, that he had a “good reason” for firing Monarez.

“I fired Susan Monarez because I asked her an outright question, ‘Are you trustworthy?’ and she said, ‘No,’ and I said, ‘Can I trust you?’ and she said, ‘No,'” Kennedy said. “That’s why she got fired, not because of her vaccine issues.”

ABC News’ Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.

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(MIAMI) — A 16-year-old boy charged as an adult with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse in the death of his stepsister during a family cruise has pleaded not guilty, court records show.

The teenager was due in court in Miami on Wednesday morning for his arraignment, though he waived his appearance, according to a filing from his attorney.

The Department of Justice announced the charges last week, months after 18-year-old Anna Kepner died in November on the Carnival Cruise ship Horizon while the ship was en route to Miami.

Prosecutors alleged that the stepbrother “sexually assaulted and intentionally killed” Kepner. The Florida high school senior died from mechanical asphyxiation, officials said. 

Anna Kepner’s father, Chris Kepner, is married to the suspect’s mother, Shauntel Kepner.

Chris and Shauntel Kepner said in a statement last week, “Our family is devastated by the loss of Anna and continues to grieve this unimaginable tragedy.”

“This situation is deeply painful and complex for our entire family,” the Kepners said. “Anna was deeply loved, and we remain committed to honoring her life and memory every day.” 

ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.

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(PALM BEACH, Fla.) — Mike Tyson, Tony Robbins, and President Donald Trump walk into Mar-a-Lago. 

It’s not the setup to a joke — it’s a pitch to investors.

On Saturday, all three men and 297 of the top holders of Trump’s meme coin, called $TRUMP, are expected to convene for what organizers call “the most exclusive crypto & business conference in the world” at Trump’s Florida estate — the second such bid to boost interest in Trump’s digital asset since his return to office. 

The event website warns that “no gifts will be accepted,” but some attendees, by virtue of their investment in the coin, will have already spent millions of dollars — much of which flows directly to the Trump family — for the privilege of potentially lunching with the president.

Critics have panned the event as a brazen pay-for-play opportunity, accusing Trump of attempting to personally profit by selling access to the presidency. 

In a letter transmitted earlier this month to the event organizer, longtime Trump friend Bill Zanker, a group of Senate Democrats sought records tied to the event, stating that “it is essential that Congress fully understand the extent to which President Trump and his family are profiting off of his cryptocurrency ventures.”

Zanker did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News. 

President Trump launched his meme coin — a type of digital currency that’s often based on an internet meme — in January 2025, just days before his inauguration. The coin’s value initially soared to more than $44 before plummeting almost immediately. 

Last May, in a bid to reinvigorate interest in the coin, Trump announced plans for an “intimate private dinner” at his golf club in Virginia. Hundreds of investors attended the event, where Trump spoke briefly and handed out gold watches to a subset of attendees, many of whom traveled from overseas and remained anonymous until arriving in person at the event. 

The 2025 event in Virginia helped bolster the coin’s value for a time, but interest in the currency again tapered off. By early March 2026, its value dipped below $3, meaning that an investor who purchased $10,000 worth of Trump coins at its peak would have been left with assets worth less than $700. 

Last month, when Trump announced plans for the Mar-a-Lago gala, the coin’s value climbed above $4 before settling back below $3, according to CoinGecko data.

On-chain trading activity analyzed by the cryptocurrency data firm Nansen shows that the coin generated roughly $1.35 billion in trading volume on decentralized platforms across 2.74 million transactions ahead of the gala. The Trump family earns a fee from each of those transactions, according to its website, but the structure of those transaction fees remains opaque. 

Notably, the volume of tokens bought and sold ahead of the Mar-a-Lago gala remained almost entirely flat, “suggesting wallets may be flipping for leaderboard points rather than building long term positions,” said Jake Kennis, an analyst at Nansen. 

At the upcoming event, top investors will receive Trump-branded watches, colognes, posters and a VIP reception with the president, according to the event website. Like the event last May, the identities of these investors are hidden behind pseudonyms or a series of letters and numbers. Attendees will hear keynote addresses from Tyson, Robbins and other business executives.

Buried in the event fine print, organizers say that “President Trump may not be able to attend” — and in fact the White House has said the president plans to attend the White House Correspondents Association Dinner in Washington later that evening.

Critics say these events are just one way in which the president has used the office of the presidency to line his own pockets. His family business has struck several real estate licensing deals around the world over the past year, most notably in the Persian Gulf region, and he has lent his name and likeness to myriad merchandise, including watches, spirits, sneakers, Bibles, guitars and fragrances.

One year into his second administration, Trump’s personal wealth has ballooned to more than $6 billion, according to Forbes. Despite the fact that his meme coin has lost more than 94% of its value since its all-time high early last year, the transaction fees on trades for the currency has generated nearly $400 million for the president, Forbes reported.

Trump and the White House have repeatedly and forcefully denied that his private business interests create a conflict of interest.

“The President is working to secure GOOD deals for the American people, not for himself,” a White House spokesperson said when Trump held his earlier meme coin event. “President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public — which is why they overwhelmingly reelected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media.”

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(DILLEY, Texas) — The wife and five children of the man suspected of throwing Molotov cocktails at a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators last June were ordered released from federal custody by a judge on Monday.

The family of the suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, has been detained in immigration custody for more than 10 months at the family detention facility in Dilley, Texas.

Eric Lee, an attorney representing Hayam El Gamal and her children, told ABC News the family has not been released despite the federal judge’s order. There is a hearing in their case on Thursday.

“Although the court has ruled that the El Gamal family is detained in violation of the Constitution, the government continues to keep them locked up,” Lee told ABC News. “We demand their immediate release.”

A federal judge blocked the family’s deportation in June after the Department of Homeland Security announced they were being processed for removal shortly after the attack.

Soliman, 45, is facing more than 100 charges including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and assault. He has pleaded not guilty.

In court documents, Soliman’s family — which includes five children aged 18, 16, 9, and 5-year-old twins — have claimed authorities are continuing to detain them despite a lack of evidence that they played any role in the attack.

“The facts of this case have not changed: Mohammed Soliman is a terrorist responsible for an anti-Semitic firebombing in Boulder,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement Tuesday.

“The judge wants to release this terrorist’s family onto American streets,” she added. “Under President Trump, DHS will continue to fight for the removal of those who have no right to be in our country, especially national security threats.”

Lee, the family’s lawyer, said on X that El Gamal was rushed to the ER last week after she was denied proper medical care for persistent chest pain.

“We do not know if the lump is cancerous, all we know is that the pain is increasing, the incidents are becoming worse and worse, and she is not receiving a proper diagnosis that could lead to proper treatment,” Lee said. “After 10 months in detention, Ms. El Gamal remains in pain.”

While DHS did not respond to questions about El Gamal’s medical care, the agency in previous statements has denied allegations about the lack of medical care at Dilley.

“These allegations of illegal aliens being denied proper medical care in ICE custody are FALSE,” said Dr. Sean Conley, DHS’ chief medical officer, in a statement posted on the agency website. “It is both policy and longstanding practice for aliens to receive timely and appropriate medical care from the moment they enter ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, women’s health, mental health services, any needed follow up medical appointments, as well as 24-hour emergency care. This is better, more responsive healthcare than many aliens have ever received in their entire lives.”

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(BURBANK, Calif.) — A man is in custody for allegedly stabbing a woman to death and stabbing and wounding her daughter, according to authorities in Los Angeles County, California.

Officers responded around 6 a.m. Monday, to a house in Burbank where they found two women suffering from stab wounds, Burbank police said.

The mother, 59-year-old Arti Varma, who taught first-grade in Burbank, died at the hospital, police said.

Her 25-year-old daughter was hospitalized in stable condition, police said. Authorities did not release the daughter’s name, but a neighbor identified her as Meera Varma, a nationally recognized mental health activist, according to Los Angeles ABC station KABC.

Detectives identified 30-year-old Sergio Fraire as a person of interest, and on Monday night, officers served a search warrant at a Burbank home where he was believed to be staying, police said.

Fraire was apprehended and arrested for murder and attempted murder, police said.

“The relationship, if any, between the suspect and the victims remains under investigation, as does the motive,” police said in a statement on Tuesday.

Authorities noted that “evidence related to the crime was recovered,” but they did not elaborate on the potential evidence.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Southern Poverty Law Center is facing an investigation and potential criminal charges by the Justice Department, apparently stemming from its past use of paid informants, the organization’s interim CEO said in a statement Tuesday. 

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News. 

“For 55 years, the Southern Poverty Law Center has stood as a beacon of hope fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to create a multi-racial democracy where we can all live and thrive,” SPLC interim CEO Bryan Fair said in the statement.

“We are therefore unsurprised to be the latest organization targeted by this administration. They have made no secret of who they want to protect and who they want to destroy,” the statement said. 

Fair did not elaborate in the statement on how the SPLC was alerted to the DOJ inquiry, though he said, “the focus appears to be on the SPLC’s prior use of paid confidential informants to gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groups.” 

Fair, in the statement, outlined the organization’s history in explaining why the SPLC for years used informants to infiltrate far-right and domestic extremist groups, and denied any criminal wrongdoing on the part of the SPLC.

He also sought to frame the criminal inquiry as a continuation of the Trump Justice Department’s efforts to crack down on groups opposed to the administration’s policies. 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(SHREVEPORT, La.) — As an investigation continued into the motive of Sunday’s fatal shootings of eight children in Shreveport, Louisiana, allegedly by the father of seven of the victims, police officials released a timeline detailing the 68-minute massacre.

“April 19 … will be written in the pages of history as one of the worst days that could have ever happened here in Shreveport,” Chief Wayne Smith of the Shreveport Police Department said at a news conference on Monday.

Smith said the suspect, Shamar Elkins, a former member of the Louisiana Army National Guard, allegedly used an assault-style pistol to kill seven of his children and an eighth child related to him. A teenage boy was also injured when he jumped off the roof of a house to escape the shooting, police said.

While Elkins died after police opened fire on him following a car chase, Smith said it remains unclear whether he was shot to death or died by suicide.

Smith said domestic violence is believed to be the primary motive behind the killings. The chief said two women, including the mother of seven of the children who were killed, were wounded in the incident and remain hospitalized.

He said investigators are probing five different crime scenes connected to the shootings.

Police said the children killed, siblings and one cousin, ranged in age from 3 to 11. The victims, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office, were identified by their mothers as Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry announced on Monday that the Love One Louisiana Foundation, a nonprofit founded by his wife, Sharon, will pay all expenses for the children’s funerals, according to ABC affiliate station KTSB.

“Both she and I recognize no amount of money or act of charity can repair the pain, but [what] we can lean on is that this act of charity can stand as a beacon of faith and belief that good things still happen in this world,” Gov. Landry said during a visit to Shreveport.  

Timeline of the deadly rampage
During Monday’s press conference, Smith went over a timeline of the deadly attacks that occurred before sunrise on Sunday:

5:55 a.m. — Shreveport Police received the first call regarding a disturbance at a residence on W. 79th Street in the Ceder Grove neighborhood of South Shreveport. The caller stated that they were on top of the house while the suspect was inside, and a male had been shot.

5:58 a.m. — A police dispatcher received an additional call from the same 911 caller, indicating the suspect was a relative of the caller.

5:59 a.m. — A dispatcher was advised by the caller that approximately nine individuals resided at the W. 79th Street location. The caller stated that the suspect, Elkins, had shot everyone inside the home.

6 a.m. — The caller advised the dispatcher that she and her children fled the W. 79th Street house onto the roof and that they were in the backyard.

6:01 a.m. — Shreveport officers arrived at the W. 79th Street residence.

6:03 a.m. — Officers made contact with the 911 caller at the West 79th Street residence.

6:05 a.m. — Officers requested the Shreveport Fire Department stage at a location near the West 79th Street home, close to Linwood Avenue.

6:07 a.m. — A second 911 caller reported a shooting at a home on Harrison Street in Shreveport. The caller stated that her boyfriend shot her and fled the scene with her three children.

6:08 a.m.– The second caller identified the suspect who shot her and took her children as Elkins.

6:10 a.m. — A police dispatcher links the Harrison Street shooting with the shooting on West 79th Street and determines that they were related.

6:15 a.m. — Officers received information that the suspect had carjacked a red Kia Sportage at West 79th Street near Linwood Avenue.

6:17 a.m. — Shreveport police traffic units out on random patrol observed the carjacked Kia heading southbound on Interstate 49.

6:18 a.m. — Officer radioed in that they were chasing the stolen car over a bridge in crossing the Red River into Bossier City.

6:20 a.m. — Officers involved in the chase reported that the children taken from the Harrison Street residence may be inside the fleeing vehicle.

6:23 a.m. — Officers advised dispatch that they were exiting the interstate near the Swan Lake area of Bossier City.

6:25 a.m. — Officers back in Shreveport find the victim injured in the Harrison Street shooting.

6:29 a.m. — Officers report and exchange of gunfire with the suspect on Brompton Lane in Bossier City.

6:40 a.m. — Police officers advised a dispatcher that the suspect vehicle was empty and no children were located inside. Chief Smith did not say during Monday’s news conference what happened to the children taken from the Harrison Street residence.

6:43 a.m. — Officers in Shreveport cleared the West 79th Street home and found multiple deceased victims.  

7:03 a.m. — The suspect, Elkins, is pronounced dead at the scene on Brompton Lane in Bossier City.
 

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(NEW YORK) — Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down, with the company announcing on Monday that John Ternus will take his place as the head of the technology giant.

Cook will become the executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors, the company said. Ternus will officially become CEO on Sept. 1.

“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” Cook said in a statement on Monday.

“John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor. He is a visionary whose contributions to Apple over 25 years are already too numerous to count, and he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future,” Cook added.

Cook has served as Apple’s CEO since ⁠2011.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WAYNE COUNTY, Mich.) — The Justice Department has demanded 2024 federal election ballots and records from Wayne County, Michigan, according to a letter posted online by state officials early Monday morning.

The letter, from Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, references three voter fraud convictions from the 2020 election and a civil case alleging fraud that was dismissed in 2020.

“Based on this history of fraud convictions and other allegations concerning the election procedures in Wayne County and, for the purpose of ensuring that the foregoing federal election laws were not violated in the November 2024 federal election, we are requesting that you produce the following election-related records from that election: all ballots (including absentee and provisional), ballot receipts, and ballot envelopes,” the DOJ letter said.

State officials said the letter is a continuation of President Donald Trump’s efforts to interfere with the election process, following his recent executive order regarding mail-in voting and the FBI’s seizure of 2020 election ballots in Fulton County, Georgia.

“Once again, President Trump is weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to sabotage our democratic process and turn it into his own personal agency to interfere in state elections. This request is as absurd as it is baseless,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. “Successful convictions underline that Michigan’s safeguards work and that instances of voter fraud are rare and addressed.”

“Using these prosecutions and recycling debunked 2020 election conspiracy theories as justification to demand copies of the ballots of Michigan residents is a clear attempt to bully clerks and spread fear, even after Donald Trump won Michigan in 2024. If this administration wants to bring this circus to our state, my office is prepared to protect the people’s right to vote,” Nessel said.

Michigan state officials also say that none of the examples provided in the letter were from the 2024 election cycle.

Representatives from the Justice Department and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

FBI agents in January removed 700 boxes containing ballots and other materials associated with the 2020 election from a Fulton County election site after obtaining a search warrant based on unproven claims of widespread voting irregularities.

Trump has long criticized the outcome of the 2020 election, personally pushing to overturn the results after his loss and later being indicted in two criminal cases over his actions. Those cases have since been dismissed, and Trump has continued to push for criminal accountability for what he baselessly alleged was a stolen election.

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(WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.) — Multiple people were shot, including two fatally, after a “planned fight” between two juveniles at a North Carolina park escalated and several people opened fire, authorities said.

Gunfire broke out at Leinbach Park in Winston-Salem on Monday morning, according to police.

“This stemmed from a planned fight between two young individuals,” the Winston-Salem Police Department said.

The two met shortly before 10 a.m., when the “situation escalated significantly, leading to multiple people exchanging gunfire,” the police department said.

Two people are dead, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

Winston-Salem police said they have not confirmed the total number of victims and suspects are “still outstanding.”

The incident was isolated and remains under investigation, police said.

Leinbach Park, which is located near a middle school, remains closed, police said. Students at the school were safe, police said.

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