Pentagon IDs 7th US service member killed in Iran war
The Defense Department has identified Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Ky., who succumbed to his injuries following a March 1 attack on his base in Saudi Arabia. DoD
(WASHINGTON) — The Defense Department on Monday identified another U.S. service member who died following the opening wave of Iranian retaliatory attacks across the Middle East, marking the seventh U.S. service member to die in the war with Iran.
Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, 26, died Sunday from injuries he sustained during a March 1 retaliation strike on U.S. troops at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia from Iran.
“He gave the ultimate sacrifice for the country he loved,” Lt. Gen. Sean A. Gainey, the top officer for Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said in a statement. “That makes him nothing less than a hero, and he will always be remembered that way. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.”
Pennington enlisted in the Army in 2017 as a supply specialist and was assigned to the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado. He is set to be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, the Army announced.
Pennington was working at a strategic radar installation responsible for early warning against incoming missile threats, a critical node in the U.S. military’s missile-defense architecture, according to a source familiar with the situation.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump attended the dignified transfer of the other six American service members killed in the war’s opening hours, after an Iranian drone struck in Kuwait. All six were killed in the same attack.
Even as the ceremony underscored the war’s early toll, the president and senior Pentagon officials have been preparing the public for the likelihood that more casualties are ahead.
“The president’s been right to say there will be casualties,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in an interview with the CBS News program “60 Minutes” on Sunday. “Things like this don’t happen without casualties. There will be more casualties.”
Hegseth cast the losses as a grim but familiar feature of war for a country that has spent more than two decades fighting in the Middle East.
“Especially our generation knows what it’s like to see Americans come home in caskets,” he said. “But that doesn’t weaken us one bit. It stiffens our spine and our resolve to say this is a fight we will finish.”
ABC News’ Martha Raddatz contributed to this report.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani appears on The View, on Jan. 20, 2026. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani returned to ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday to discuss his first weeks in office and weighed in on the controversial surge by Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) across the country.
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin asked Mamdani about the calls by some Democrats to abolish ICE in light of their activities in places such as Minnesota, where an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three.
The 34-year-old mayor, who has vowed to protect New York immigrants, said he supports those calls.
“I am in support of abolishing ICE, and I’ll tell you why: Because what we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist,” said Mamdani, whose Tuesday appearance marked his first time on the show since becoming mayor in the past month.
Mamdani, a naturalized American citizen who was born in Uganda, has been critical of ICE for many years. Last year during his campaign, he said in a June interview that ICE is “a rogue agency, one that has no interest in laws, no interest in order.”
The mayor echoed those sentiments on “The View” Tuesday.
“We’re seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some sort of immigration law, but instead, what it is doing is terrorizing people no matter their immigration status, no matter the facts of the law, and no matter the facts of the case,” Mamdani said.
“And I’m tired of waking up every day and seeing a new image of someone being dragged out of a car, dragged out of their home and dragged out of their life. What we need to see is humanity,” he added.
Last week, the mayor said he was “outraged” after a New York City council employee was detained by ICE in Long Island during a routine immigration appointment.
“This is an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values,” he said in a statement on X on Jan. 13. “I am calling for his immediate release and will continue to monitor the situation.”
The Department of Homeland Security contended in a statement that the employee is in the U.S. illegally and has an alleged criminal history that includes an arrest for assault. The agency did not provide additional details on the assault arrest.
City officials, however, said the employee has legal status.
Mamdani was asked by “The View” hosts about his relationship with President Donald Trump following their cordial meeting in the White House after the mayor won his election.
The mayor said that it is his intention to be honest and direct with the president, especially when it came to immigration.
“It’s terrifying to see what is happening in the name of public safety. I’ve said this to the president. These ICE raids, they are cruel, they are inhumane, [and] they do nothing to deliver that public safety,” Mamdani said. “In fact, what they do is leave a sense of fear among so many.”
When asked about Trump’s threats to cut funding to sanctuary cities such as New York, Mamdani said he would fight for New Yorkers.
“What I said is that our values and our laws, they are not bargaining chips. I’m not looking to have a negotiation with New Yorkers’ lives,” he said.
Mamdani noted that sanctuary city laws have been supported by Democrats and Republicans alike and “keep New Yorkers safe.”
“I’ve told the president this directly, which is that what we are talking about is not people who have been convicted of serious crimes. We’re talking about people whose crimes are simply being in New York City,” he said. “And if they were to make good on this threat, it would rip the civic fabric of this city apart.”
Reverend Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, left, and former US Vice President Kamala Harris during the National Action Network (NAN) 35th Anniversary Convention in New York, US, on Friday, April 10, 2026. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris kept the door open on a possible third presidential run, saying that she’s “thinking about it,” eliciting cheers from a majority of the crowd at the National Action Network Convention on Friday.
“Listen, I might, I might. I’m thinking about it, I’m thinking about it,” Harris responded when Rev. Al Sharpton, during their chat at the New York City convention he hosts, flatly asked her if she’s planning to run again.
Harris, who said she has spent the last year traveling parts of the country, said that the status quo in government and politics is not working.
“I’ve been traveling the country the last year, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the South and many other places, and the one thing I’m really clear about, also, is the status quo is not working, and hasn’t been working for a lot of people for a long time, and part of the issue is the need to get rid of some of the bureaucracy in government and to understand that the people want — they don’t want process, they want progress. And that’s the work that needs to be done,” Harris said.
During her discussion with Sharpton, Harris was met with different chants during her remarks, including “run again.”
The National Action Network Convention is expected to be the biggest gathering of possible Democratic 2028 presidential hopefuls with appearances by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Sen. Mark Kelly and Rep. Ro Khanna.
Nearly all of the hopefuls have either expressed interest or have not shut down the idea about running for president.
So far, many potential presidential candidates have discussed the Iran war as they have chatted with Sharpton during the four-day convention — including Harris.
On Friday, she rebuked Trump’s handling of the Iran war and said that he has deteriorated America’s relationship with foreign allies, leading the country to lose its global standing.
“Let us understand, first of all, this president is the first president of the United States since World War II who does not believe in the alliances that we have with friendly nations, does not believe in the strength of them, the recognition of the history with them, and the importance that that relationship bears on our standing around the world, our influence around the world, not to mention our national security,” Harris said.
Harris said that under Trump’s second term, America is losing its global influence, and it will take “serious” work to regain it.
As Trump has maintained that the U.S. “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program last June, Harris seemed to say that the war in Iran is evidence that it did not actually happen.
“The man said he got rid of their nuclear arsenal. ‘Obliterated’ it he said, you know how he likes to use those kind of words, ‘obliterated’ it, which is not an ambiguous term — that means you took it out,” Harris said. “Well, evidently he didn’t do that.”
Harris is set to take part in fundraisers for Democrats across the South this spring, turning her focus to helping the party win next fall during the midterm elections as her book tour winds down.
Her April schedule includes fundraisers for the North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia Democratic parties, and remarks at the Arkansas Democratic Party’s annual dinner.
Voters cast their ballots in the New Hampshire presidential primary election at The Barn at Bull Meadow, January 23, 2024, in Concord, New Hampshire. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Friday marks a key procedural deadline for how Democrats will figure out which states will hold the first presidential nominating contests of 2028, amid broader debates within the party over diversity and voter representation, and which states will show which candidates are viable for the long haul.
The Democratic National Committee set a Friday afternoon deadline for state parties to apply to have their 2028 presidential nominating contests be held in the period before Super Tuesday, the first Tuesday in March during a presidential calendar year where the most primaries are held.
The order of the primaries and caucuses matters because the early contests help indicate which candidates have momentum and are striking a chord with voters, and often narrow the candidate field ahead of Super Tuesday.
The debate about the order is also about diversity and voter representation in the Democratic Party. Some Democrats have argued that states with larger Black and minority populations should be prioritized, to reflect the diversity of the country, while others say the party should prioritize traditional “early states,” such as New Hampshire, to spur turnout and buzz, even though their populations may be less diverse.
Traditionally, Iowa has held first-in-the nation caucuses and New Hampshire has first-in-the-nation primaries. But in 2024, a reshuffled DNC primary calendar pushed the states from the first two slots on the party’s official calendar and officially put South Carolina first.
While Iowa Democrats found a compromise with the DNC by switching their in-person caucus to an entirely mail-in voting process, New Hampshire’s primaries were kept in January, causing conflict between the state and national party.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart, in a statement to ABC News, said that the party is applying to hold its caucuses before Super Tuesday, and said Democrats need to keep Iowa toward the front of the line in order to stay competitive with Republicans.
“No matter what the Rules and Bylaws Committee decides, Republican presidential candidates will be in Iowa,” Hart wrote. “It was a mistake for the DNC to cut us out of the calendar, letting Republicans’ attacks go unanswered in Iowa while millions of dollars in advertising, organizing and the worldwide media flooded our state.”
Some state party leaders have said their states being early in the calendar will help candidates show if they can stick it out throughout 2028.
New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Raymond Buckley said the case his party is making to the DNC is that New Hampshire is a prime state for 2028 candidates to build up support and to show their viability. He said its small size allows for easy campaigning in a purple state, “which is exactly what you need in the November general election.”
New Hampshire also has a state law requiring it to hold the nation’s first presidential primaries, which is what led in large part to the disarray in 2024 between the state party and the DNC. But Buckley said that it’s not a factor right now.
“It’s not about the tradition, it’s not about the law; it’s really about our involvement, and we just think that we have an unmatched record of being able to give the opportunity for candidates to talk to voters one-on-one,” Buckley said.
Buckley said New Hampshire’s population of union members, as well as the large percentage of students of color in the public school systems of the state’s two largest cities make it a great state for candidates to test the waters.
But the South Carolina Democratic Party said it wants to stay first in the calendar.
Party Executive Director Jay Parmley told ABC News that the state is making its case to the DNC to remain in the early window because it’s compact and allows unknown candidates to compete. Also, Parmley said the state does not have a major population center, so candidates need to fan out across it.
Regarding the debates surrounding diverse primary states, Parmley pointed to how the state has a “diverse electorate,” and highlighted its Black community. Around 1 in 4 registered voters in South Carolina are Black, according to data from the South Carolina Election Commission.
“Our Black electorate — it legitimizes and rewards the role of Black voters and as the backbone and soul, if you will, of the Democratic Party.”
Nevada’s Democratic Party also confirmed it’s submitting a bid to go early, arguing that galvanizing the state’s minority and working-class populations is critical for the Democrats.
In a draft of their application, the state party wrote, “The Democratic Party is facing a critical moment where we must be strategic in our efforts to earn back Latino support, craft an economic message that resonates across the country, begin the work to reach working-class voters, and turn out diverse communities. We cannot afford to have overwhelmingly college-educated, white, or less competitive states kick off the process of selecting our party’s nominee.”
Michigan is also submitting a bid to be among the early states similar to how it was in 2024, the state’s party confirmed to ABC News — arguing in part that Michigan is the most important and diverse of the battleground states.
“For Democrats to have the strongest presidential candidate, the early nominating states should closely mirror Democratic voters nationwide and be representative of America,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said in a statement to ABC News.
Illinois’, North Carolina’s and Georgia’s state Democratic parties also confirmed to ABC News that they are submitting bids. As Georgia’s state’s presidential primaries are usually held after Super Tuesday, they’d have to work with the Republican-dominated state legislature to move up the date.
