Nancy Guthrie abduction: FBI analyzing DNA recovered from her home, sources say

(WASHINGTON) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began fanning out at more than a dozen airports across the nation on Monday to assume some of the duties of Transportation Security Administration officers affected by a federal government funding crisis.

“What I see ICE agents doing is helping TSA plug the holes of security,” White House Border Czar Tom Homan told ABC News on Monday.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that the ICE agents assigned to airports will also continue to enforce immigration laws.

“They really are a high-level group of people and they love it because they’re able to now arrest illegals as they come into the country. That’s very fertile territory,” Trump said during a gaggle with reporters on the tarmac in Palm Beach, Florida. “But that’s not why they’re there. They’re really there to help.”

Homan said that if ICE agents see “illegal activity,” they will take action because they are federal law enforcement officers.

Asked whether the ICE agents will be carrying out immigration enforcement at airports, Homan said, “We’re not going to ignore illegal conduct in the airport whether it’s human trafficking, whether it’s alien smuggling with somebody that’s wanted, whether it’s … someone that they believe they have reasonable suspicion to talk to because they feel there’s a criminal activity in front of them.”

“Of course, anybody would need probable cause to make any arrests, but yeah, their law enforcement officers and they’re not going to ignore the law while we’re there,” Homan said.

“I’m leaving it up to the TSA Administrator, who’s an expert airport operations,” Homan added. “Where can we plug the holes? Where can we increase security, especially in this heightened security environment, because what’s going on the world? Where can we help you to move those lines and American people quicker to inspections while the same time maintaining security at the airport?”

As ICE agents began showing up at airports on Monday, Trump earlier posted a message on social media asking them to refrain from wearing masks while helping with airport security.

“I would greatly appreciate, however, NO MASKS, when helping our Country out of the Democrat caused MESS at the airports,” Trump said in his post, adding that he is a “BIG proponent” of ICE agents wearing masks when they “search for, and are forced to deal with, hardened criminals.”

Asked by reporters on Monday on Air Force One why he wants ICE agents to remove their masks at airports, Trump replied, “Because the people coming into the airport, typically speaking, aren’t murderers, killers, drug dealers, etc. There may be a few of them. But there aren’t many.”

Immigration officials wearing masks has been a key issue for critics in Trump’s nationwide mass deportation program.

Trump added that typical travelers at airports are “people that want to come into the country, and that want to leave the country, going to maybe their home countries, so I didn’t think it was an appropriate look for an airport.”

ICE agents were spotted by ABC News at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport early Monday.

The agents appeared to be helping with crowd control at the airport amid long lines of travelers trying to get through security. At one point, lines stretched outside the Atlanta airport’s terminals.

DHS funding battle continues

Democrats have blocked funding for the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to push for policy reforms to ICE, whose aggressive tactics in enforcing immigration laws have prompted protests and lawsuits across the country.

The DHS reforms that Democratic lawmakers have proposed include requiring ICE agents not to wear face masks, be equipped with body cameras and have warrants signed by a judge before entering homes and businesses.

Republicans have, so far, rejected those proposals.

ICE and TSA are both under the umbrella of DHS. But while ICE has remained funded through appropriations from Trump’s tax and spending bill passed last summer, key DHS agencies like TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard are left unfunded.

Approximately 60,000 TSA officers have gone over a month with partial pay and last week began getting no paychecks as the stalemate over DHS funding continues.

Some TSA officers have begun calling out sick or quitting as they missed their first paycheck since the shutdown began on Feb. 14. DHS said that more than 400 TSA officers have quit so far.

Confusion over duties of ICE agents

On Sunday, Homan said the deployment of ICE would largely free up TSA agents for specialized tasks, like passenger and bag screening.

Homan, however, said ICE agents are not trained to do specialized work like screening passengers and running X-ray machines.

“But there are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the non-significant role, such as guarding an exit, so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker,” Homan said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Homan said that “ICE can check identification before people enter the screening area.”

But in an interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy seemed to contradict Homan.

Asked by Jon Karl, ABC News’ chief Washington correspondent, whether the ICE agents have any practical experience in manning airport security lines, Duffy said, “They run those same type of security machines at the Southern border, right? Packages come through or people come through. They run similar assets.”

Duffy added that ICE agents could also manage the flow of travelers through airport security and help TSA with administrative tasks.

“It depends on who shows up. Every single day will dictate how long these lines are,” Duffy said. “And you don’t know as travelers are trying to figure out, do I have to come an hour-and-a-half early? Do I have to come four hours early? They don’t know until the day of or the afternoon of their flight.”

Homan attempted to clarify what duties ICE agents would have at the airports during an interview on Monday with ABC News. Homan said that Duffy might have been referring to machines used for luggage and other packages that ICE agents already run at airports.

Homan told ABC News that ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) “have a footprint of all the airports, because that’s where we open investigations on currency smuggling and human trafficking.”

“So ICE is involved with baggage investigations on that. So there is a sort of screening,” Homan said.

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(NEW YORK) — Cornell University’s president claimed he was the victim of “harassment and intimidation” following a parking lot confrontation with a group of people who said he tried to back his car into them.

The incident unfolded on Thursday, April 30, after Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff introduced an Israel-Palestinian debate series that was hosted by the Cornell Political Union and co-sponsored by the Cornell Progressives, Cornellians for Israel, and Students for Justice in Palestine.

Kotlikoff said the behavior he experienced while allegedly being followed to his car in an on-campus lot by six or seven people, some of them students, “is harassment and intimidation, with the direct motive of silencing speech.”

“It has no place in an academic community, no place in a democracy, and can have no place at Cornell,” Kolikoff said in his statement released to the Ithaca, New York, university’s community on Friday.

Following the debate, videos posted online showed several people following Kolikoff to his car while questioning him about freedom of speech. The videos showed Kolikoff’s black Cadillac backing up out of a parking space as students appeared to be standing behind his vehicle.

One person, according to a video, complained that Kotikoff’s car bumped into him and ran over his foot before the school president drove off.

Aiden Vallecillo, a member of Students for a Democratic Cornell, told ABC affiliate station WSYR in Syracuse that he and other students followed Kolikoff from the debate to his car, peacefully questioning him.

Vallecillo claimed that Kotikoff escalated the situation when he got behind the wheel of his vehicle.

“As we were still trying to talk to him, he just immediately started reversing into us,” alleged Vallecillo, who claimed that Kotikoff’s car backed over his foot.

Sophia Arnold, president of the Students for a Democratic Cornell, said she witnessed the incident and expressed dismay over Kotikoff’s alleged behavior.

“I don’t even have the words for it. I was pretty shocked and offended,” Arnold told WSYR. “A random pedestrian pulling out of a supermarket parking lot would probably have shown more care.”

On Sunday, the university released enhanced surveillance video of the incident, which the school said occurred in a parking lot near Day Hall. The footage showed a group of people standing behind Kotikoff’s car as it backed out of a parking space, stopping when it appeared to bump a person filming with his cellphone, and then continued to back up and drive off.

In an earlier statement, Kyle Kimball, vice president for University Relations, said the security footage “shows students following President Kotlikoff to his car and surrounding the car to prevent him from leaving after the Cornell Political Union event.”

It was unclear on Sunday if the incident was reported to the campus police or was being formally investigated. In response to a request for comment on Sunday, a university spokesperson directed ABC News to the statement Kolitkoff released to the Cornell community on Friday.

In that statement, Kolitkoff, who was appointed as the school’s president in March 2025, said he was “accosted by a group of several individuals in the hall, among them students and non-students” as he left the event.

“These individuals are known to Cornell for their past conduct, including a long history of ongoing verbal and online abuse toward numerous members of Cornell’s administration and staff, as well as disruptive protest resulting, in the case of two individuals, in bans from campus,” Kolitkoff said.

He alleged that they followed him across campus from the event space “while loudly shouting questions” and using their phones to record the incident.

“After answering a few questions, I let them know that I was not planning to engage further, and asked them to stop recording,” Kolitkoff said.

Kolitkoff claimed the students continued to follow him, and said at least one told him, “No, we are not going to stop.”

He said when he got to his car, the group surrounded his vehicle, “banging on the windows” and blocking him from leaving.

“I waited until I saw space behind the car and then, using my car’s rear pedestrian alert and automatic braking system, was able to slowly maneuver my car from the parking space and exit the parking lot,” Kolitkoff said.

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(NEW YORK) — The largest nurses’ strike in New York City history began Monday morning after the nurses’ union and hospitals officials failed to reach a tentative settlement.

Nearly 15,000 nurses at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian walked of the job, according to the New York State Nursing Association (NYSNA), the union representing the nurses.

“Unfortunately, greedy hospital executives have decided to put profits above safe patient care and force nurses out on strike when we would rather be at the bedsides of our patients,” Nancy Hagans, NYSNA’s president, said in a statement early Monday. “Hospital management refuses to address our most important issues — patient and nurse safety.”

Strike lines began at 6 a.m. ET on Monday at Mount Sinai, with 7 a.m. ET lines forming at Montefiore Bronx locations and NewYork-Presbyterian locations, according to NYSNA.

“Unfortunately, NYSNA decided to move forward with its strike while refusing to move on from its extreme economic demands, which we cannot agree to, but we are ready with 1,400 qualified and specialized nurses — and prepared to continue to provide safe patient care for as long as this strike lasts,” a Mount Sinai spokesperson said in a statement.

Mount Sinai said many of the nurses had already been integrated into units across their hospitals. The health system added that all hospitals and emergency departments will remain open, and most appointments are expected to proceed as originally scheduled.

In a letter to employees, Mount Sinai said its Clinical Command Center was helping hospitals determine which patients can be safely discharged, as well transferring patients between hospitals and rescheduling appointments, an employee with knowledge of the matter told ABC News.

The letter also stated that officials had discussed with the NYSNA the financial pressures facing health care and that Mount Sinai has a fixed budget that could be used for pay increases and benefits or to operate amidst a strike, according to the employee.

The NYSNA said it is calling for an agreement that includes pay hikes, improving safe staffing levels, full health care coverage and pensions, and workplace protections against violence. The union further said hospitals have threatened to cut health care benefits for frontline nurses and to roll back safe staffing standards that were won by nurses in a strike two years ago.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Friday in anticipation of a possible strike and appealed to the hospitals and nurses’ union to hammer out a last-minute deal, saying that a strike “could jeopardize the lives of thousands of New Yorkers and patients.”

“I’m strongly encouraging everyone to stay at the table, both sides, management and the nurses, until this is resolved,” Hochul said.

Several New York politicians, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, have come out in support of the striking nurses. Mamdani on Monday called their fight a battle for dignity, fairness and the future of the city’s health care system and who benefits from it.

“There is no shortage of wealth in the health care industry,” Mamdani said. “The CEO of Montefiore made more than $16 million last year. The CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian made $26 million. But too many nurses can’t make ends meet.”

Mamdani also said nurses are not asking for millions, but for “pensions to be safeguarded, to be protected in their own workplace, and to receive the pay and health benefits they deserve.”

The mayor said the city is working to protect both patients and health care workers during the strike. He urged hospital executives and union leaders to return to the bargaining table immediately.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James also released a statement in support of the nurses, saying they often have to choose between patient well-being and their own well-being.

“As our state faces a historic flu surge, our communities are counting on New York’s hospitals for high-quality, reliable frontline care,” Jame said.Meanwhile, hospital management is threatening nurses’ health benefits, rolling back hard-won staffing protections, and doing too little to address workplace violence. I am proud to stand with New York’s nurses in calling on hospitals throughout this city to put patients over profits and ensure safe workplaces for our frontline health care workers.” 

Hospital officials said they are prepared to continue offering care despite any pending work interruptions. They added that patients should not avoid or delay seeking help for any medical emergencies.

The NYSNA said during an video conference update Sunday morning that there was been no movement in the labor talks with the five hospitals.

The nurses’ contract, reached in 2023 after a three-day strike, expired on Dec. 31.

“We continue to bargain in good faith in the hopes of reaching an agreement that is fair, reasonable, and responsible,” a spokesperson for the Mount Sinai Healthcare system said in a statement on Saturday. “While we know a strike can be disruptive, we are prepared for a strike that could last an indefinite amount of time and have taken every step to best support our patients and employees in the event NYSNA forces our nurses to walk away from the bedside for the second time in three years.”

“NYSNA leadership’s reckless and irresponsible demands totaling $3.6 billion, including a nearly 40% wage increase, and taking issue with our reasonable measures like rolling out panic buttons for frontline staff in the Emergency Department, clearly put patients at risk,” Joe Solmonese, senior vice president of strategic communications for Montefiore Einstein hospital, said in a statement.

“We are preparing for what we anticipate could be a multi-week strike, and are resolute in devoting whatever resources are necessary to safe and seamless care for our community,” the statement continued.

The impasse between the NYSNA and management of the private New York City hospitals continued even as the union announced tentative settlements last week that diverted strikes at four so-called safety-net hospitals in the New York City area.

Nurses at three major Northwell Health hospitals on New York’s Long Island reached a tentative contract agreement on Thursday and called off a strike, according to the NYSNA. Nurses at Brooklyn Hospital Center and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, and those who work for the BronxCare Health System, also rescinded strike notices when they reached a tentative contract, the NYSNA said.

“That leaves New York City’s wealthiest hospitals as the outliers who have refused to settle fair contracts that protect patients and nurses,” the NYSNA’s Hagans said in a video statement on Saturday.

“Instead of guaranteeing health care for nurses, these wealthy hospitals are pushing to cut health care benefits for nurses who put their own health on the line to care for New Yorkers during this historic flu surge, the COVID-19 pandemic and everyday injuries and hospital violence,” Hagans added.

Hagans pointed to a police-involved shooting last week at a Brooklyn hospital as the latest example of the violence hospital workers face.

On Thursday, a 62-year-old former NYPD officer, allegedly wielding a sharp object, was fatally shot by New York City police officers at New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. The man, according to police, was shot after he allegedly barricaded himself in a room with an adult patient and a hospital security worker and threatened to hurt himself and others.

The NYSNA on Monday said those who need health care should still be able to get it.

“We want to be absolutely clear: If you are sick, please do not delay getting medical care, regardless of whether we are on strike,” the union said. “We invite you to come join us on the strike line after you’ve gotten the care you need. We are out here so we can provide better patient care to you!”

ABC News’ Rhiannon Ally, Ahmad Hemingway and Darren Reynolds contributed to this report.

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