Trump's allies plan to object to confirming Biden as president
Sens. Ted Cruz and Ron Johnson are two of several senators who are alleging “voter fraud" and "irregularities.”
An active duty American soldier is in federal custody Tuesday after he allegedly plotted with someone he thought was a member of ISIS to attack a landmark in New York City and fellow troops overseas, according to a law enforcement official. Cole James Bridges, who is stationed at Fort Stewart, is charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS and attempting to murder U.S. service members. The Ohio native allegedly spoke to an undercover FBI agent when he thought he was planning an ISIS-inspired attack against the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
The U.S. reached yet another grim milestone Tuesday as the confirmed coronavirus death toll topped 400,000, just one day before President-elect Joe Biden is set to take the oath of office. The 400,000 lives lost is more deaths than the number of U.S. soldiers that died in battle during World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined, an analysis of data compiled by the Department of Veterans Affairs shows. The milestone comes just over a month after the country surpassed 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths on Dec. 14, and only 17 days since the U.S. hit 350,000 reported deaths on Jan. 2, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
Federal authorities are continuing to charge rioters who took part in the siege on Capitol Hill. A man who was captured on surveillance video attacking law enforcement with a bat at the entrance of the Capitol turned himself in to the Metropolitan Police Department on Monday. Emanuel Jackson is allegedly the rioter in the photos the FBI released to the public in an effort to identify him, according to federal court documents.
While he admitted to not knowing a thing about the project, count Liam Neeson in if Ewan McGregor needs a hand in the upcoming "Obi-Wan Kenobi" series on Disney+. Neeson played Kenobi's master, Qui-Gon Jinn, in "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace," taking on McGregor's character as his padawan to train in the way of the Jedi. Although his character's physical self met his end at the end of Darth Maul's double-bladed lightsaber, Neeson's voice was heard as Qui-Gon communicated through the Force in the animated "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" and at the climax of "Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker."
"The Fast and the Furious" marks its 20th anniversary this summer, but Vin Diesel kicked off the celebration a little early. Over the weekend, the 53-year-old actor honored the first installment of the wildly successful franchise by sharing a throwback snap of him and co-star Michelle Rodriguez, who played his character's on-screen love interest, Letty Ortiz. Diesel, who played protagonist Dom Toretto, simply captioned the throwback, "20 year anniversary...Happy Creative... All love."
For all you Marvel fans out there looking forward to the opening of the Avengers Campus at Disneyland Resort, Disney Parks has revealed more details about its first attraction to swing into the theme park. Disney Parks announced Tuesday that actor Tom Holland will reprise his role as Peter Parker for the upcoming attraction, WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure. “What Walt Disney Imagineers have created is pretty spectacular,” said Holland.
Two Army National Guard members have been removed from the inauguration security mission after vetting found they had ties to far-right fringe groups, a U.S. official told ABC News Tuesday. The two Guard members are among the 25,000 National Guard troops who have been sent to Washington to augment security at the inauguration in the wake of the violent Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. “Due to operational security, we do not discuss the process nor the outcome of the vetting process for military members supporting the inauguration," said a National Guard statement that referred additional questions to the Secret Service.
The Supremes are about to celebrate a major milestone, marking their 60th anniversary on Jan. 21 -- the day they were signed by Motown Records as The Primettes in 1961. Mary Wilson spoke to The Hollywood Reporter regarding the big anniversary and reflected on the possibility of reuniting with her former group members Cindy Birdsong, Jean Terrell and, of course, Diana Ross. Wilson and Ross are the only two founding members still alive.
Carrie Underwood is releasing her gospel album, "My Savior," on March 26. The album, which features a variety of traditional hymns Underwood grew up singing, is co-produced by the singer and "Cry Pretty" co-producer David Garcia. In a trailer for the project, Underwood refers to the songs as "legacy stuff," and says she was intentional about doing "the familiar" in terms of covering the songs she was raised on in church.
Ahead of "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" star Olivia Rodrigo's No. 1 debut, "Drivers License," anticipated to top the Billboard Hot 100 list, the 17-year-old revealed that Niall Horan reached out to her to give some advice about sudden fame. Rodrigo's breakup song released at the beginning of January, earned praise from Taylor Swift. "Drivers License" also landed on top of several music charts in the United Kingdom and Australia, reports Billboard.
It's a culinary first in France: A vegan restaurant in southwest France has been awarded a coveted Michelin star, the first plant-based restaurant in the country to receive the distinction. ONA, which stands for "Origine Non-Animale" ("animal-free origin") in the town of Arès, near Bordeaux, is run by chef Claire Vallée. The Michelin guide published its annual French edition Jan.18 and included ONA, a significant achievement for the establishment opened by Vallée in 2016 through a crowdfunding campaign.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to send the article of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate later this week, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News -- a move that could kick off formal proceedings the next day and opening arguments on the Senate floor the following week. The timing of formal transmission from the House to the Senate is significant, as the Constitution dictates that the trial begins at 1 p.m. the following day. Pushing that procedural step back until after President-elect Joe Biden takes office -- back to Thursday or Friday -- would also give his administration at least a day or two to gain its footing as the Senate begins the balancing act of putting Trump on trial while starting to take up Biden's agenda.
Garth Brooks is performing at the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The country singer -- who agreed to perform after "a very sweet ask" during a phone call with future first lady Jill Biden -- called the opportunity a chance "to serve" and "not a political statement, a statement of unity." Brooks recalled performing for every president since Jimmy Carter, except for Ronald Reagan, and having to turn down an invite to perform at President Donald Trump's inauguration due to concert date commitments.
The National Weather Service is warning that winds 50 to 80 mph are expected for California today with extreme fire danger. The most dangerous winds and highest fire danger on Tuesday will be south of the San Francisco Bay area into Los Angeles. A red flag warning has been issued for the area where dry offshore winds could create extreme fire conditions.
It’s a question that has generated yearlong discord between China and the West: how did this virus that plunged the world into crisis begin in the first place? Last Thursday, a team of World Health Organization experts touched down in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected in 2019, to start a much-delayed mission into the origins of the virus that has now killed more than two million people worldwide. On Monday -- day four of their quarantine -- British-American zoologist Peter Daszak tweeted a picture of his breakfast along with a sunrise over Wuhan, ahead of "a day packed with meetings."
Nearly 9 in 10 Americans say the coronavirus pandemic is not under control in the United States, but far fewer say they'll get vaccinated against it, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds. The view is deeply partisan; 7 in 10 Democrats and 55% of independents say the virus is not at all under control, versus 28% of Republicans. The net (65%, due to rounding) is lower than the 71% who said they would get vaccinated in a similar question in late May. The decline is steepest among those who haven't gone beyond high school (-14 percentage points), Hispanics (-13 points), those ages 18 to 49 (-12 points) and Republicans and conservatives (each -12 points).
Two dogs are being credited with saving the life of their owner after they woke him up while his house was burning down before perishing in the fire themselves. The incident occurred at 6:24 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 18 in Dinwiddie, Virginia, when the Dinwiddie Emergency Communications Center dispatched fire and EMS units to a house fire and reports that an occupant and two dogs were still inside the building. The location of the two dogs remained unknown at this time.
President Donald Trump's four years in the White House were marked by an unconventional, norm-busting approach to the country's institutions that will likely outlast the one-term leader, leaving a transformative and divisive legacy in Washington. From his earliest days as a candidate, through his attempts to subvert the 2020 election, the New York businessman-turned reality TV star reshaped the presidency to center on him to a degree unlike any of his predecessors, exploiting the country's deepening divisions and fears and demanding loyalty above all else. The MAGA movement, fueled by massive rallies and an unrelenting social media blitz, helped him to pull off an improbable victory in 2016 with narrow margins in key states, despite losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million.
Despite receiving one or two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, multiple members of Congress have tested positive for COVID-19 since the riot at the U.S. Capitol. While currently available vaccines are highly effective against symptomatic illness, it takes about two weeks after the second dose to offer that high degree of protection, according to infectious disease experts. With some lawmakers exposed shortly after their first or second shot, those experts say it's not surprising they became infected after what's being described as a "superspreader" event.
"The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure," World Health Organization Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday at the opening of the WHO's annual executive board meeting. According to Dr. Penny Ward, visiting professor in pharmaceutical medicine at Kings College London, even if wealthier nations are vaccinated, there is a chance "if a new mutation arises in strains circulating elsewhere which is a poor match to the vaccine, then a new outbreak can occur in a vaccinated population." The Trump administration has been criticized for its effort, vaccine supply is in short demand in some places, and anti-vaxxers are campaigning hard across the globe.