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Tennessee joins nine other US states with measles outbreaks. Here’s what to know

Tennessee health officials confirmed a measles outbreak on Thursday, bringing the number of U.S. states with outbreaks to 10.

Nearly a week ago, the U.S. was up to 800 cases of measles nationwide. Texas has more than 600 known cases with the outbreak in the western part of the state approaches the three-month mark.

Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses in the epicenter in West Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness.

Other states with active outbreaks — defined as three or more cases — include Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Mexico. The U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024.

North America has two other outbreaks. One in Ontario, Canada, has sickened 925 from mid-October through April 16. And as of Tuesday, the Mexican state of Chihuahua state has 514 measles cases, according to data from the state health ministry. The World Health Organization has said cases in Mexico are linked to the Texas outbreak.

Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.

As the virus takes hold in other U.S. communities with low vaccination rates, health experts fear the virus that the spread could stretch on for a year. Here’s what else you need to know about measles in the U.S.
How many measles cases are there in Texas and New Mexico?

Texas state health officials said Tuesday there were 27 new cases of measles since Friday, bringing the total to 624 across 26 counties — most of them in West Texas. Two more Texans were hospitalized, for a total of 64 throughout the outbreak, and Bailey County logged its first two cases.

State health officials estimated about 2% of cases — fewer than 10 — are actively infectious.

Sixty-two percent of Texas’ cases are in Gaines County, population 22,892, where the virus started spreading in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. The county has had 386 cases since late January — just over 1% of the county’s residents.

The April 3 death in Texas was an 8-year-old child, according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Health officials in Texas said the child did not have underlying health conditions and died of “what the child’s doctor described as measles pulmonary failure.” A unvaccinated child with no underlying conditions died of measles in Texas in late February — Kennedy said age 6.

New Mexico announced two new cases Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 65. Six people have been hospitalized since the outbreak started. Most of the state’s cases are in Lea County. Two are in Eddy County and Chaves and Don?a Ana counties have one each.

State health officials say the cases are linked to Texas’ outbreak based on genetic testing. New Mexico reported a measles-related death in an adult on March 6.
How many cases are there in Kansas?

Kansas was steady this week with 37 cases in eight counties in the southwest part of the state. Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray and Morton counties have fewer than five cases each. Haskell County has the most with eight cases, Stevens County has seven, Kiowa County has six.

The state’s first reported case, identified in Stevens County on March 13, is linked to the Texas outbreak based on genetic testing.
How many cases are there in Oklahoma?

Oklahoma confirmed one more case Tuesday for a total cases of 13: 10 confirmed and three probable. The first two probable cases were “associated” with the West Texas and New Mexico outbreaks, the state health department said.

Custer, Oklahoma and Cleveland counties had public exposures in the past 42 days. The state health department is not releasing which counties have cases.
How many cases are there in Ohio?

The Ohio Department of Health confirmed 32 measles cases in the state Thursday. The state count includes only Ohio residents. There are 16 cases in Ashtabula County near Cleveland, 14 in Knox County and one each in Allen and Holmes counties.

Health officials in Knox County, in east-central Ohio, said there are a total of 20 people with measles, but seven of them do not live in the state.
How many cases are there in Indiana?

Indiana confirmed two more cases Monday in an outbreak that has sickened eight in Allen County in the northeast part of the state — five are unvaccinated minors and three are adults whose vaccination status is unknown. The cases have no known link to other outbreaks, the Allen County Department of Health said Monday.
How many cases are there in Pennsylvania?

In far northwest Pennsylvania, Erie County health officials declared a measles outbreak April 14 after finding two new cases linked to a measles case confirmed March 30. The state has had nine cases overall this year, six of which are not linked to the outbreak, including international travel-related cases in Montgomery County and one in Philadelphia.
How many cases are there in Michigan?

Montcalm County, near Grand Rapids in western Michigan, has four linked measles cases. State health officials say the cases are tied to Canada’s large outbreak in Ontario. The state has eight confirmed measles cases as of Monday, but the remaining four are not part of the Montcalm County outbreak.
How many cases are there in Montana?

Montana state health officials announced five cases Thursday in unvaccinated children and adults who had traveled out of state, and confirmed it was an outbreak on Monday. All five are isolating at home in Gallatin County in the southwest part of the state.

They are Montana’s first measles cases in 35 years. Health officials didn’t say whether the cases are linked to other outbreaks in North America.
How many cases are there in Tennessee?

Tennessee has six measles cases as of Thursday. Health department spokesman Bill Christian said all cases are the middle part of the state, and that “at least three of these cases are linked to each other” but declined to specify further. The state also did not say whether the cases were linked to other outbreaks or when Tennessee’s outbreak started.

The state health department announced the state’s first measles case March 21, three more on April 1 and the last two on April 17, but none of the news releases declared an outbreak. Tennessee is on a list of outbreak states in a Thursday CDC report.
Where else is measles showing up in the U.
S.?

There have been 800 cases in 2025 as of Friday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles cases also have been reported in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington.

Cases and outbreaks in the U.S. are frequently traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. In 2019, the U.S. saw 1,274 cases and almost lost its status of having eliminated measles.
What do you need to know about the MMR vaccine?

The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old.

Getting another MMR shot is harmless if there are concerns about waning immunity, the CDC says. People who have documentation of receiving a live measles vaccine in the 1960s don’t need to be revaccinated, but people who were immunized before 1968 with an ineffective measles vaccine made from “killed” virus should be revaccinated with at least one dose, the agency said.

People who have documentation that they had measles are immune and those born before 1957 generally don’t need the shots because most children back then had measles and now have “presumptive immunity.”

In communities with high vaccination rates — above 95% — diseases like measles have a harder time spreading through communities. This is called “herd immunity.”

But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots. The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60.
What are the symptoms of measles?

Measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing a high fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and a rash.

The rash generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, beginning as flat red spots on the face and then spreading downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the rash appears, the fever may spike over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the CDC.

Most kids will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.
How can you treat measles?

There’s no specific treatment for measles, so doctors generally try to alleviate symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable.

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AP Science Writer Laura Ungar contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Texas lawmakers approve $1B private school voucher plan

AUSTIN (AP) — Texas lawmakers on Thursday passed a $1 billion education bill that allows families to use public money to pay for private school tuition, a major victory for school voucher proponents nationwide that was cheered on by President Donald Trump.

The measure won final approval from the state Senate and now heads to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who had muscled the GOP-majority Legislature to pass the bill and has vowed to quickly sign it into law.

“This is historic school choice legislation,” Abbott said in a statement posted on X. “Thanks to the dedication of our lawmakers, Texas families will soon have education freedom!”

More than 30 states have implemented some sort of voucher program in the U.S., and about a dozen states in recent years have launched or expanded programs that make most students eligible. Texas’ version will be among the largest in the nation and is seen as a major victory for proponents who hope to push a similar effort on the federal level.

For decades, the push in Texas had failed in the face of stiff resistance from Democrats and rural Republicans who called it a threat to public schools in a state that now has more than 5 million students in public classrooms.

But supporters gradually gained ground and Abbott, a three-term governor, threw his political muscle behind it in the 2024 elections by backing numerous candidates who would support it. That effort built the majority support the issue needed after decades of failure.

Trump played a key role in getting the measure through a critical state House vote a week ago, when he spoke with a group of Republican lawmakers on a speakerphone call and urged them to approve it.

The program in its first year would be capped at $1 billion and used by up to 90,000 students, but it could grow to nearly $4.5 billion per year by 2030. The money can be used for private school tuition or costs for home-schooling and virtual learning programs. Families could get up to $10,000 each year per student under the program, and a student with disabilities would be eligible for as much as $30,000 per year.

Supporters of the measure say the vouchers can help parents get their children out of poor-performing public schools and create competition that will force public schools to improve.

“The one thing that is missing from our education process that has really made America great is competition,” said Republican state Sen. Bob Hall.

Critics, however, argue it will weaken public schools by draining money and resources and giving them to private schools, who can have selective enrollment and may not operate under some of the same rules.

And they argue it will put money in the pocket of wealthier families already sending their children to costly private schools.

The bill is “not about ‘school choice,’” the Senate Democratic caucus said in a statement. “It’s about public subsidization of private schools’ choice. It’s a step backwards for Texas.”

The issue is not settled among Republicans nationwide. On Monday, North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong vetoed a private school voucher program in that state, saying the bill fell “far short of truly expanding choice as it only impacts one sector of our student population.”

___ Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Grand jury declines to indict man arrested in connection with Texas apartment fire that killed 5

SAN MARCOS (AP) — A grand jury has declined to indict a man who was arrested in connection with a Texas apartment fire that killed five people in 2018, prosecutors said Thursday.

The grand jury this week decided against indicting 31-year-old Jacobe Ferguson in the arson causing death case, the Hays County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. He’d been accused of starting the July 20, 2018, fire in San Marcos, a city of about 70,000 southwest of Austin that’s home to Texas State University.

Ferguson was arrested in July 2023 — five years after the fire that authorities said was intentionally set. The district attorney’s office said Ferguson has been free on bond and that the grand jury’s decision releases him from that bond.

Hays County District Attorney Kelly Higgins said in the news release that his office would continue to work with law enforcement to continue the investigation into the fire.

Ferguson’s attorney, Kristin Dow of the nonprofit Neighborhood Defender Service, said they were “extremely grateful” that the grand jury took the time to review the facts of the case and decided no charges were warranted.

Ferguson was a student at Texas State University at the time of the fire. And four of the victims were either current or former students there.

Venezuelans subject to removal under wartime act have 12 hours to decide on contesting, docs show

BROWNSVILLE (AP) — Migrants subject to removal from the U.S. under the contested Alien Enemies Act are getting about 12 hours to decide if they want to contest their removal, according to court documents unsealed Thursday — a window the government contends complies with a Supreme Court decision giving those detained under the act a “reasonable” time to appeal.

Lawyers for people subject to removal say that’s far too short a period.

“This is a dramatic turn in these cases,” said Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union representing migrants. “They’re not giving any information about how they should do it, how much time they would have to do it, and 12 hours is clearly insufficient for them to reach an attorney and decide what they want to do and how they should do it.”

Under the wartime act, the government has sent Venezuelans accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua from the U.S. to El Salvador’s prison known as CECOT.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said in court documents that people are considered subject to deportation if they don’t say they want to challenge their removal within 12 hours after being served with a form about their legal rights. They then have 24 hours to file documents in court.

The form is only available in English, though ICE said it’s read to people in a language they understand. It tells them they can make a phone call, but doesn’t explicitly say they can challenge their removal under the 18th century law.

The government had wanted to file the document under seal, claiming the information was law enforcement sensitive, but a judge ordered it be made public. The ACLU says the time period violates the Supreme Court order that allowed the Trump administration to continue deportations under the Alien Enemies Act but required the government to give detainees a “reasonable time” to argue to a judge that they should not be removed.

That high court order has led to multiple new lawsuits across the country, including the Texas one, over the invocation of the act, which has only been used three times before in U.S. history, most recently during World War II. Then, the ACLU says, suspected Nazis were given 30 days to challenge their designation in court.

A judge in Colorado on Tuesday ruled that the government had to give at least 21 days notice. In appealing that decision, the Trump administration argued it was providing constitutional due process under the current timeline. “The notice will allow the noncitizen a reasonable time to indicate and then file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus as well as telephone access,” the Justice Department’s Tim Ramnitz wrote.

Government attorneys previously told a federal judge in Washington that detainees were given a 24-hour notice. The official also explained in his Texas declaration that detainees subject to the Alien Enemies Act are often held for several days before removal, allowing them more time to express intention to file and contest their removal.

An earlier version of the form filed in federal court in Washington explicitly said there was no opportunity to ask a judge to intervene. But that was before the Supreme Court intervened.

Hegseth threatened to polygraph top military officers

(WASHINGTON) -- ABC News has confirmed that in at least two separate meetings Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused top-ranking military officers of leaking to the media and threatened to polygraph them.

According to one person familiar with the exchanges, Hegseth was upset by media reports that he had planned a briefing for Elon Musk on China.

In a meeting with Adm. Christopher Grady, who was serving as then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hegseth yelled “I’ll hook you up to a [expletive] polygraph!”

Hegseth then made a similar threat in a separate meeting with Lt. Gen. Doug Sims, the Joint Staff director, according to the person.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the exchanges.

A spokesperson for the Joint Staff declined to comment.

Idaho college killings: Judge denies attempt to toss out death penalty over autism spectrum diagnosis

(BOISE, Idaho) -- The trial for the man accused of killing four Idaho college students in their beds will continue as a death penalty case, despite the fact that suspect Bryan Kohberger was recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, an Idaho judge ruled late Thursday.

Additionally, Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler came down on the side of prosecutors — ruling that the "bulk" of what was said on a 911 call the morning after Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death in November 2022 can be shared with the jury, as can text messages between the two surviving roommates. There will be a few exceptions, he said.

Kohberger has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the murders of the four University of Idaho students. His trial is set to start on Aug. 11 and is expected to last several months.

Autism and the death penalty

Yhe defense attempted to get the death penalty taken off the table on grounds of Kohberger's autism spectrum disorder, saying that it could make proving his innocence harder. However, in his decision denying the request, Hippler said those concerns could be addressed during jury selection.

"Intellectual impairment — a hallmark of an intellectual disability — is not present in the diagnostic criteria of ASD and no court has ever found the two to be equivalent," the judge wrote. Kohberger, the judge noted, "has not presented any evidence of a national consensus as to whether the death penalty is a disproportionate punishment for individuals with ASD."

The judge argued that Kohberger's lawyers tried to argue with an "apples-to-oranges comparison" of intellectual impairments that ultimately fell flat. And defense lawyers cited no capital case precedent in trying to argue there's "growing societal sensitivity to mental disorders" and antipathy to executing those who live with them, the judge said.

"No court has ever found ASD to be categorically death-disqualifying diagnosis," Hippler wrote.

Kohberger may have poor social skills, the judge acknowledged. In fact, Kohberger's social difficulties, including with personal space, actually "played a role" in his Ph.D. funding being yanked, the judge said, citing a defense expert who interviewed his family, former teachers and peers.

He was never "overtly inappropriate," but didn't have a lot of friends — nor insight as to why that might be. He could be rather awkward and "monotone," using formal and scripted phrases like "Objectively speaking..." and "Mind you..."

But even defense experts did not find him irretrievably impaired, the judge said. Kohberger has an IQ in the 90th percentile for his age, graduated from his master's degree program with a 4.0 GPA, showed "some typical social behaviors" and could be polite, the judge cited from defense experts.

King Road 911 call

The "bulk" of what was said on the 911 call placed by the surviving roommates of the victims on the morning after they were stabbed to death on Nov. 13, 2022, can be used at trial, Hippler ruled.

He has also ruled in favor of admitting the surviving roommates' texts to each other, as well as their attempts to reach the victims in those crucial hours the night the killings occurred.

A full breakdown charting out what is and what is not admissible from the call was appended to the end of the judge's filing.

Explaining why those text messages can be admitted, the judge said that much of it describes what they were seeing, feeling and doing in the moment — and the results of those actions.

"The events are sufficiently startling to both D.M. and B.F for purposes of the excited utterance exception. D.M. and B.F. are young female college students and the self-described 'scaredy cats of the house,'" the judge wrote. "They were awoken from sleep after a night of drinking with D.M. reporting that she heard noises and saw a masked intruder in their home. None of the other roommates were responding to their calls and texts, further indicating something was amiss."

"It would be potentially terrifying for anyone, including these young women," the judge continued. "To argue that they would have run out of the house or called someone else for help had they really been startled unempathetically ignores these circumstances and the trauma and confusion they were evidently experiencing, which likely offset logical thought."

Among the few items needing redaction is an instance when the person on the phone to the 911 dispatcher describes how one of the roommates had relayed that Xana was "passed out and she was drunk last night and she's not waking up" and that they "saw some man in their house last night."

The judge said that person on the call did not have firsthand knowledge and was only telling the dispatcher what they had been told; therefore, that could not be played for the jury.

He also ruled that one of the surviving roommate's attempts to start a timeline of those early morning hours should be redacted, since it's not an in-the-moment remark, having come after "several hours to reflect on what she had seen and experienced at 4:00 a.m."

The latest court filings also provide new information about the moments the surviving roommates came upon the victims, such as when one of them called a friend "to come over and check the house because she was scared."

The friend and her boyfriend came over and met the two survivors "at the bottom floor of the house," and together they "started to walk up the stairs to the second floor."

"When they reached the second floor, H.J. went to the kitchen to grab a kitchen knife. When he came backout, D.M. 'saw Xana again for a split second. And I just started bawling because I thought she had just like - I don't even know. I thought maybe she was still just drunk and all asleep on the floor,'" the judge quoted from grand jury transcripts.

"H.J. told D.M. and B.F. to 'get out,'" the judge quoted. "E.A., who had started up the stairs, also turned around after H.J. instructed her not to come any further. They both went outside."

"Shortly afterwards, H.J. exited the house and told them to call 911. He was pale white and mentioned something about someone being unconscious," the judge continued.

Expert witnesses

Siding with prosecutors, the judge ruled Thursday that expert witnesses on a range of fronts will be able to testify.

Those include an FBI special agent who helped analyze Kohberger's cellphone records — something his lawyers have repeatedly pushed back on.

Defense lawyers said Kohberger was driving around alone on the night the killings occurred, and they wanted to call to the stand a cellphone data expert to back that up. The special agent is expected to counter that data expert's argument.

Experts also include a forensic accountant for the FBI who can talk about how Kohberger spent his money — including how he only made ATM withdrawals around and after the killings and totally stopped using his debit card just a couple days before the killings — whereas prior, debit card use had been a regular habit.

They also include a supervisor at Amazon.com, expected to speak specifically to Kohberger's click history and other online shopping data. Prosecutors have alleged that eight months before the killings, Kohberger bought a knife and sheath that could have been the murder weapon.

DNA matching Kohberger's was found on a KA-BAR knife sheath by one of the victim's bodies, prosecutors have said — a linchpin in an otherwise largely circumstantial case. No murder weapon has been found.

Prosecutors can also call a detective who can testify that stabbing to death all four students could have been achieved in mere minutes — and that just one person would have needed no help.

"Depending on the suspect's pace and route, he could have carried out the crimes in approximately two to four minutes," the judge said in his ruling.

The judge acknowledged that the detective could potentially be called as a rebuttal witness if the defense tries to argue, as they have suggested, that Kohberger's ASD deficits make it "not possible" for him to have "acted with the speed and coordination required to commit the crimes in the time frame alleged."

Federal prosecutors to seek death penalty for accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione

(NEW YORK) -- Hours before Luigi Mangione's arraignment in federal court, federal prosecutors submitted formal notice that they intend to seek the death penalty if he's convicted, citing, in part his alleged desire "to provoke broad-based resistance to the victim's industry" by killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Mangione is expected to plead not guilty when he appears Friday for his arraignment on a four-count indictment that charged him, among other things, with murder through the use of a firearm -- a death-eligible offense.

Attorney General Pam Bondi already signaled that President Donald's Trump administration's intended to execute Mangione as part of the president's push to reinstate capital punishment.

The "notice of intent to seek the death penalty" is the government's formal step to inform the court and lay out the reasons.

Federal prosecutors said Mangione deserves the death penalty because of "the impact of the victim's death upon his family, friends and co-workers."

They also said "he expressed intent to target an entire industry and rally political and social opposition to that industry, by engaging in an act of lethal violence."

Prosecutors stated that Mangione's choice of site and victim made clear he sought "to amplify an ideological message, maximize the visibility and impact of the victim's murder, and to provoke broad-based resistance to the victim's industry."

Defense attorneys have already called the decision to seek the death penalty "barbaric" and a "political stunt."

A bad day in court for the Trump administration

(WASHINGTON) -- In federal courthouses across the country Thursday, President Donald Trump's administration faced a series of legal setbacks to implementing the president’s agenda.

On issues ranging from education policy and voting rights to congestion pricing, the series of rulings and developments marked the latest legal setbacks for an administration battling nearly 200 lawsuits in court.

Three separate judges -- including two appointed by Trump -- blocked the government from withholding federal funds to schools with DEI programs.

In California, a federal judge barred the Trump administration from cutting off federal funding to so-called sanctuary jurisdictions where local police refuse to help with enforcement of federal immigration policy.

After Trump attempted to reshape elections with an executive order last month, a federal judge blocked the government from requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote, saying only Congress has the power to institute such a change.

On immigration issues, the Trump administration is in hot water with multiple judges. A Boston judge is probing whether the Trump administration violated a court order when it removed four alleged members of Tren de Aragua to El Salvador, and a judge in Maryland appointed by the president ordered Wednesday the return of a man deported to El Salvador whose deportation violated a court settlement.

In New York, DOJ lawyers accidentally revealed an internal document acknowledging the shortcomings in their plan to kill congestion pricing.

Friday is set to bring a new legal issue to the forefront, with a federal judge in Boston taking up whether the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education are lawful. The hearing will mark the first time a federal judge has considered the issue since Trump issued an executive order last month directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take steps to shrink the department.

Finn Wolfhard on the practical effects in ‘The Legend of Ochi’

The fantastical world of The Legend of Ochi is now available to experience in movie theaters.

The new A24 film from director Isaiah Saxon expands to movie screens nationwide on Friday. It follows farm girl Yuri, who has been raised to fear the elusive animal species of ochi. When Yuri, played by Helena Zengel, saves a wounded baby ochi one day, she discovers the creatures aren't to be feared, and quests to deliver the young animal back home.

Finn Wolfhard also stars in the adventure-fantasy, and he tells ABC Audio he was excited to act alongside the ochi puppets in a film that used practical, hand-crafted effects.

"The big reason why I did this, wanted to do this movie, is because it was using practical effects and puppets. And I think there's something to be said about just the artistry that goes into that," Wolfhard said.

The Stranger Things star is no stranger to projects that require visual effects, but he said The Legend of Ochi was different. Saxon avoided using additional CGI with any of the ochi puppets, meaning most everything on screen came from performances and practical builds.

"Obviously there's such incredible things that can be done with visual effects after the fact that are incredible. And so many amazing people and amazing artists do that, but there's just something to be said about practical effects," Wolfhard said.

He continued, saying practical effects "make acting easier" and "gives more of an authentic viewing experience for audiences."

"It's an important movie to make because not a lot of movies like that exist much anymore," Wolfhard said.

ICE did not have warrant when agents detained Mahmoud Khalil: Court filing

(NEW YORK) -- Government lawyers say officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) did not have a warrant for Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil's arrest when they took him into custody last month, according to a filing submitted in the case.

Khalil's lawyers say the admission contradicts what officers told Khalil and his lawyers at the time of his arrest and in a subsequent arrest report.

In the filing, lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security said Khalil, a green card holder and permanent legal resident, was served with a warrant once he was brought into an ICE office in New York after his arrest.

The officers "had exigent circumstances to conduct the warrantless arrest, it is the pattern and practice of DHS to fully process a respondent once in custody with an I-200 (warrant) as part of that intake processing," government lawyers wrote.

DHS claimed its officers were not required to obtain a warrant for Khalil's arrest, in part, because they had reasons to believe it was likely "he would escape before they could obtain a warrant."

In the filing, DHS attorneys said agents approached Khalil inside the foyer of his Columbia-owned apartment building and claimed that, while his wife went to retrieve his identification, Khalil told them he was going to leave the scene.

"The HSI supervisory agent believed there was a flight risk and arrest was necessary," the filing stated.

Khalil's lawyers have pushed back on the claim that he was uncooperative with authorities.

In a sworn declaration submitted in court last month, attorney Amy Greer, who was on the phone with Khalil's wife at the time of his arrest, said an agent at the scene told her they had an administrative warrant.

"I asked the basis of the warrant, and he said the U.S. Department of State revoked Mahmoud's student visa," Greer said. "When I told Agent Hernandez that Mahmoud does not have a student visa because he is a green card holder and permanent resident in the U.S., he said DHS revoked the green card, too," she wrote in the declaration.

Khalil's lawyers say the warrantless arrest is one of the reasons he should be released.

"That night, I was on the phone with Mahmoud, Noor, and even the arresting agent," Greer said in a statement. "In the face of multiple agents in plain clothes who clearly intended to abduct him, and despite the fact that those agents repeatedly failed to show us a warrant, Mahmoud remained calm and complied with their orders. Today we now know why they never showed Mahmoud that warrant - they didn't have one.

The statement went on to say: "This is clearly yet another desperate attempt by the Trump administration to justify its unlawful arrest and detention of human rights defender Mahmoud Khalil, who is now, by the government's own tacit admission, a political prisoner of the United States."

An immigration judge earlier this month ruled that Khalil, a leader of Columbia's encampment protests in the spring of 2024, could be deported on grounds that he threatens foreign policy, as alleged by the Trump administration.

Tax free weekend for emergency prep supplies

AUSTIN — Our news partner, KETK, reports that Texans can purchase certain emergency preparation supplies without paying sales tax during a tax holiday from April 26-28.

Texas Comptroller, Glenn Hegar, reminds Texans of the state’s sales tax holiday from 12:01 a.m. April 26 to midnight April 28. Some items you can purchase sales tax free include household batteries, fuel containers and flashlights priced less than $75.

Hegar notes that online purchases will include delivery, shipping, handling and transportation charges as part of the sales price. This means if you purchase an emergency ladder online for $299 with a $10 delivery charge, the total sales price comes out to $309. Tax is due on the $309 sales price since the total sales price of the emergency ladder is more than $300.

“While we can’t know in advance when the next fire, flood, tornado or hurricane may occur, we can make sure our families, homes and businesses have the supplies they need to face these and other emergencies,” Hegar said. “Don’t wait for disaster to strike. I’m encouraging Texans to take advantage of this tax holiday to save money while stocking up for emergency situations.”

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day this weekend

TYLER – The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day will be this Saturday and will give East Texans a chance to safely dispense with any prescription drugs they may have.

According to our news partner KETK, the event will take place at the Athens and Tyler police stations from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. East Texans are encouraged to attend to dispose of prescription drugs that may be unused or unwanted. People will also be educated about the potential dangers of prescription medication.

Those attending can bring different kinds of pills to drop off, including solid dosage pharmaceutical products. However, no illicit substances will be included, such as marijuana or methamphetamine.

Officers will also be collecting vapes, pens and other e-cigarette devices, and they request the batteries be removed before they are turned in.

Chris Evans, Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza film ‘Honey Don’t!’ gets release date

What do Chris Evans, Aubrey Plaza and Margaret Qualley have in common? They're starring in a new film from Ethan Coen coming to theaters soon.

Coen's upcoming film Honey Don't! will arrive in movie theaters on August 22, Focus Features announced on the social platform X. The film will also premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in May.

The dark comedy is about a small-town private investigator named Honey O'Donahue. She delves into a mystery involving a series of strange deaths which all happen to be tied to the same church.

Charlie Day and Billy Eichner also star in the film. Coen directs from a script he wrote with Tricia Cooke.

Qualley previously worked with Coen on the 2024 film Drive-Away Dolls. She stars as the titular Honey in this upcoming film from the director.

Whooping cough cases have doubled in a year, CDC data shows

(NEW YORK) -- Whooping cough cases are on the rise in the United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For the week ending April 12, at least 8,064 whooping cough cases have been recorded nationwide. This is more than double the 3,835 cases recorded at the same time last year.

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is especially dangerous for babies and young children, and several deaths have been recorded this year.

In Washington, health officials confirmed a death in a child under age 5, which is the first in the state since 2011. In Louisiana, two young infants have died from whooping within the past seven months. In Idaho, officials reported an adult resident died from whooping cough in February 2025.

"Last year, the United States had about 35,000 cases of pertussis and about 10 deaths, give or take," Chad Neilsen, head of infection control and prevention for Nemours Children's Health in Florida, told ABC News. "If we continue this pace, we'll have close to 70,000 cases of pertussis, making it one of the worst years we've seen in the U.S. in quite some time."

If that occurs, it would be the highest number of whooping cough cases recorded since 1950, CDC data shows.

Whooping cough cases have been recorded in all 50 states, according to Nielsen, who believes the increase in cases is due to a decline in vaccination rates.

A vaccine for whooping cough was introduced in the late 1940s and the number of cases each year has since dropped dramatically, decreasing more than 90% compared to the pre-vaccine era.

Before the vaccine, there were an estimated 200,000 cases annually among children and up to 9,000 children died, according to the CDC.

There are two types of vaccines used today to protect against whooping cough: diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP) vaccine for babies and children younger age 7 and tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccines for children aged 7 and older, adults and pregnant women.

However, vaccination rates have been declining. According to a 2024 provisional CDC report, more than 7% of children between 6 months old and 6 years old who developed whooping cough were unvaccinated. This is much higher than any figure recorded since at least 2021.

Additionally, only 92.3% of kindergarteners were vaccinated against whooping cough in the 2023-24 school year, compared to about 95% before the COVID-19 pandemic began, CDC data shows.

"We think [the lack of vaccinations] is probably the primary driver of these cases right now in the U.S.," Neilsen said.

He said he believes the reasons for the drop in vaccination rates include misinformation about the safety and efficacy of vaccines as well as vaccine fatigue leftover from the pandemic.

What to know about whooping cough

Whooping cough is a very contagious respiratory illness caused by a type of bacteria called Bordetella pertussis.

These bacteria attach to the cilia in the upper respiratory system and release toxins. The toxins damage the cilia, tiny, hair-like structures found on the surface of cells, and cause the upper airways to swell, according to the CDC.

Whooping cough is spread from person-to-person through coughing and sneezing. Infected people can be contagious for weeks without knowing they have whooping cough.

Early symptoms often resemble a common cold -- runny nose, cough and low-grade fever -- and typically last for one to two weeks. Symptoms, however, can progress to rapid, violent cough coughing fits that can last up to 12 weeks.

Infants under age one, pregnant women and immunocompromised people are at highest risk, but anybody can develop the condition.

Babies who contract whooping cough may have a cold-like illness, struggle to breathe or have apnea, the CDC said.

Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics and receiving treatment early can reduce the severity of the infection. Most whooping cough symptoms can be managed at home, according to the CDC.

To drive vaccination rates up, Neilsen said it's important to explain the seriousness of whooping cough to the public.

"Pertussis, like measles, are not just run-of-the-mill diseases," he said. "These can cause harm ... to some of our youngest people. These are diseases that children get [and] they become extremely ill."

He said the other important thing is to address the concerns of vaccine-hesitant parents, educating them on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

Nielsen added that people may have forgotten how contagious or life-threatening whooping cough is because of how effective the vaccine has been at reducing cases.

"We've got new doctors who have never seen measles, they've never seen pertussis," Neilsen said. "It was only something they saw on textbooks. The vaccines were so successful.

ABC News Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

Trump grants interview to ‘The Atlantic”s Jeffrey Goldberg despite Signal chat bombshell, past criticism

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | Skip Bolen/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) -- For years, President Donald Trump has blasted politically damaging reporting by The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg as fake, made-up.

His most recent criticism has been over Goldberg's bombshell story about a Signal chat he was accidentally invited to, one that included top members of Trump's national security team, conversing about an impending military attack on Houthi terrorists in Yemen.

Now, in a surprise twist, Trump said he would speak face-to-face with Goldberg on Thursday after claiming on Truth Social that Goldberg, along with The Atlantic writers Michael Scherer and Ashley Parker, would sit down with him for an interview.

"The story they are writing, they have told my representatives, will be entitled, "The Most Consequential President of this Century," he said.

Goldberg and The Atlantic have not commented about Trump's post or the alleged meeting as of Thursday afternoon.

Although the president claimed Goldberg was "responsible for many fictional stories about me," he said he is looking forward to the meeting.

"I am doing this interview out of curiosity, and as a competition with myself, just to see if it's possible for The Atlantic to be 'truthful,'" Trump posted. "Are they capable of writing a fair story on 'TRUMP'? The way I look at it, what can be so bad."

Goldberg and Trump have had a contentious back-and-forth going since the president's 2016 campaign, when the journalist criticized Trump's rhetoric.

"At the very least, he traffics in racial invective knowingly. To me, that's a threshold question. If you do that and if you know what you're doing then, yes, you're a racist. I think he's a racist," he said in a 2016 NPR interview.

Trump criticized The Atlantic's coverage of his campaign and first term, but things heated up in 2020 after Goldberg wrote an article that described a 2018 incident in which president reportedly refused to visit an American cemetery in France where World War I service members were buried.

"Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers," Trump told his advisers, according to the article. It also said Trump called fallen Marines "suckers."

The president heatedly denied he had used those terms on what was then Twitter and went after Goldberg's sources. Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff, later confirmed Goldberg's account in an interview with CNN.

In Trump's Thursday post, he brought up that story and claimed it was a "made-up HOAX."

Goldberg became the target of the president's ire again last month after he revealed he was inadvertently invited to the Signal chat that consisted of several top U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, in which they discussed plans for the March 15 military attack against Houthis in Yemen ahead of the airstrike occurring.

Trump and White House officials slammed Goldberg, claiming his reporting was biased.

"He is, as you know, is a sleaze bag, but at the highest level. His magazine is failing," Trump said of Goldberg on March 26 during an appearance on the "VINCE Show" podcast.

Goldberg has repeatedly defended his reporting on the scandal.

"They've decided to blame the guy who they invited into the conversation. It's a little bit strange behavior," he told ABC News in March. "Honestly, I don't know why they're acting like this except to think that they're -- they know how serious a national security breach it is. And so they have to deflect it and push it onto the guy, again, they invited into the chat -- namely me."