WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s replacing his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and will nominate in her place Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin.
Trump made the announcement on social media on Thursday, two days after Noem faced a grilling on Capitol Hill from GOP members as well as Democrats.
Trump says he’ll make Noem a “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” a new security initiative that he said would focus on the Western Hemisphere.
Noem is the first Cabinet secretary to leave during Trump’s second term. Noem’s departure caps a tumultuous tenure overseeing immigration enforcement tactics that have been met with protests and lawsuits.
Noem has faced waves of criticism as she’s overseen Trump’s immigration crackdown, especially since the shooting deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis at the hands of immigration enforcement officers. The former South Dakota governor was also criticized over the way her department has spent billions of dollars allocated to it by Congress.
Frustrations over Noem’s execution of the Republican president’s hard-line immigration agenda — particularly her leadership after the shooting deaths of the two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis — as well as her handling of disaster response, paved the way for her downfall. She faced blistering criticism from Democrats, and some Republicans, in Congress hearings this week over those issues and others.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Happy Monday! We are tracking the potential for strong-to-severe storms moving into the ABC 36 viewing area over the next two days. This severe weather threat will come in multiple waves.
During the day Monday
Isolated-to-scattered showers and storms will be possible. The severe weather threat during the daytime hours on Monday will be lower than the threat overnight into Tuesday morning. A few of the stronger thunder showers and storms could feature some hail and strong wind gusts. Overall, Monday into Monday evening will be the lowest threat of severe weather over the next two days.
Monday night into Tuesday morning
Monday night starts off quiet but a round of strong storms will be moving in during the late night and early morning hours on Tuesday. This will feature the threat of damaging wind gusts and low threat of large hail and tornadoes. There is also a flash flood threat over the northern half of our viewing area, especially in areas under a Flood Watch. This round of storms could impact your morning commute so give yourself extra time as you head to work on Tuesday.
Tuesday afternoon and evening
Our severe threat increases Tuesday afternoon and evening. A Level 3 (Enhanced) Severe Risk is out for all of central Kentucky and most of eastern Kentucky. Damaging wind gusts will be the primary threat, but large hail and isolated tornadoes will also be possible. The isolated tornado threat will be highest in south-central Kentucky on Tuesday. There is also a flash flooding risk once again, particularly for northern and eastern Kentucky.
Chilly air moves in by Wednesday
The system sweeps a cold front through the region Tuesday night into Wednesday. This will drop our temperatures into the 40s for Wednesday and bring us off and on chilly rain showers. Temperatures will struggle to get out of the upper 40s during the daytime, with even colder air moving in by Thursday morning. A few flakes could mix in with the rain showers early in the day on Thursday as temperatures drop into the low 30s. Thursday will be the coldest day of the week with temperatures only reaching the mid-40s for most. We dry out to close out the workweek with temperatures returning to the 50s and 60s to close out the weekend.
Stay with the ABC 36 Weather Team for more updates.
PITTSBURGH, PA (WTVQ)- Kentucky men’s basketball’s 2024 NCAA Tournament run is at an end 40 minutes after it started. The Wildcats lost to Oakland University on Thursday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by a final score of 80-76.
UK shot poorly from everywhere on the court. Outside of the three-point arc, the Wildcats made a third of their attempts and were only 10 percent better from inside the arc.
The Golden Grizzlies lead at halftime 38-35 and kept their momentum going until the final whistle.
JACKSON COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – A Jackson County, Kentucky couple is in the Detention Center there, facing charges they tried to sell their twin newborn daughters.
According to their arrest citations, Zackary Davis and Jacquilyn Keith are charged with Promoting Human Trafficking (victim under 18 years of age), after they offered to sell their babies to Davis’ sister and her wife, for $5,000.
The alleged incident happened on Monday (3/18).
The citation says Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies were alerted to the alleged offer of sale by Davis’ sister-in-law.
Deputies say the woman showed them screenshots of a conversation between her and Davis, as well as a recorded video, requested by police, to back up the allegations.
Both Davis and Keith allegedly admitted they had agreed to sell the little girls, but claimed they never intended to do so.
Davis and Keith are being held on $10,000 bond each at the Jackson County Detention center.
Their next court date is March 25th.
GEORGETOWN, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) – A Harlan County deputy who grew up as a self-described at-risk youth is now being recognized as the best school resource officer in Kentucky.
Deputy Josh Sargent, who serves at Wallins Elementary School, was named School Resource Officer of the Year by the Kentucky Association of School Resource Officers at its annual conference Tuesday.
“It really caught me off guard, you know, because I didn’t even know I was even considered,” Sargent said.
Sargent learned he had won while on vacation when he was shown a video of his kindergarten students at Wallins Elementary congratulating him.
Sargent has served as a school resource officer at Wallins Elementary for four years. He says his passion for the role is rooted in his own upbringing.
“I grew up as an at-risk youth myself,” he said. “I got into a little bit of trouble when I was younger, a little mean. And I lacked a few things so I wanted to provide that for others so this is a way for me to give back.”
That commitment shows in his work. Sargent serves as a DARE officer and runs multiple programs at the school, including the Junior Deputy Program, a kindness incentive program, and coaches several sports. He is also known for appearing in school TikToks and sharing secret handshakes with students.
Harlan County Sheriff Chris Brewer said the recognition is well-earned.
“It’s just a blessing to have him as one of our deputies,” Brewer said.
Sargent says the job goes far beyond security.
“You build something that’s a little bigger than your standard, everyday job. You’re a role model, you’re a mentor, you’re a counselor, you’re security, you’re safety, there’s a lot of hats you have to put on each day,” Sargent said.
This is the second consecutive year Sargent has been honored. Last year, he received the Regional SRO of the Year award.
When school is not in session, Sargent remains on patrol, serving the community where he grew up.
“There is no other place that I would rather work. When I began policing, it was for the Sheriff’s Office and I have so much pride in Harlan County. Coming from that small town you know, that sometimes can be overlooked. We have a grit, a tenacity, a work ethic, that we believe to be unmatched,” Sargent said.
Sargent said the award belongs to his family as much as it does to him.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) – In a statement to LEX News Tuesday, Demetrus Liggins said that he has not resigned and remains in the position of superintendent of Fayette County Schools.
“I have not resigned. I remain the Superintendent of Fayette County Public Schools,” Liggins said. “I have only requested that the Board engage in discussions regarding a potential separation agreement.”
According to Liggins, no resignation has been submitted, accepted or finalized.
In response, the district declined to comment on Liggins’ statement.
Original Story:
Fayette County Public Schools announced on Tuesday evening that Superintendent Dr. Demetrus Liggins has resigned.
“Throughout this transition, the Board’s priority is maintaining stability across the district and ensuring students remain at the center of every decision,” FCPS said in a release. “Fayette County Public Schools remains focused on supporting student success and ensuring a smooth and stable transition for students, staff and families.”
A meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the John D. Price Administration Building to address the resignation and discuss interim leadership. Liggins has served in the position since 2021.
Tuesday night: Muggy with showers and storms, some heavy rain possible. Lows in the upper-60s to around 70. Wind: S 5-10 mph.
Tuesday: A.M. rain and showers, then warm and humid. Highs in the upper-80s. Wind: SW 10-15 mph.
Tuesday night: Fair skies, warm and muggy. Lows in the low-70s. Wind: SW 5-10 mph.
WHITLEY COUNTY, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) – A 70-year-old man is dead after a house fire Tuesday in the Rockholds community of Whitley County, according to Kentucky State Police.
KSP detailed that firefighters found a man, identified as Eddie W. Lester, inside the home while extinguishing the blaze. The Whitley County Coroner’s Office pronounced Lester dead at the scene.
Lester’s body was transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.
A Kentucky State Police Post 11 London detective is leading the investigation.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — The National Weather Service Louisville reported that a flash flood warning has been issued for Lexington, Athens, and Coletown Tuesday afternoon as the rain continues to fall in the region.
In a critical push alert, the National Weather Service reported that “this is a dangerous and life-threatening situation.”
Officials advised the public to not travel “unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) — Gov. Andy Beshear has extended his executive order reducing the gas tax by 10 cents per gallon for 33 Kentucky cities and counties where local officials formally requested an extension.
A press release from Beshear read that Kentuckians in areas where the county judge/executive did not request an extension can expect to see gas and diesel prices rise by 10 cents per gallon starting Thursday, June 11.
“Gas prices are too high due to the continued war in Iran, and Americans – including right here in Kentucky – are struggling. Every dollar counts, and my executive order lowered gas and diesel prices across the state to help our families save,” Beshear said. “Government is there to help our people, and the state can and will make up any potential financial hit. Right now, our priority should be on Kentucky families, and I applaud these local leaders for doing what’s right.”
Kentucky law required county judge/executives and city mayors to request an extension of the May 5 executive order past its 30-day mark of Wednesday, June 10. The Beshear administration received requests from leaders in the following areas, where the order has now been extended through Tuesday, June 30:
- Cities: Alexandria, Ashland, Campton, Carrsville, Clay City, Covington, Drakesboro, Earlington, Eminence, Falmouth, Gamaliel, Glencoe, Island, Jenkins, London, McHenry, Oak Grove, Owensboro, Owingsville, Paintsville, Park City, Sebree, Smithfield, Smiths Grove, West Point, Whitesville and Winchester
- Louisville Jefferson County Metro Government
- Counties: Carter, Graves, Magoffin, Morgan and Wolfe
The governor acknowledged that some local officials’ decisions not to request an extension may stem from pressure from certain state legislators in recent committee hearings, according to the release.
In early May, Beshear signed an emergency regulation to freeze the gas tax at 26.4 cents per gallon ahead of an expected increase to 27 cents per gallon on July 1. That action is projected to save Kentuckians about $1.7 million combined each month.
Beshear also signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency related to gas prices, which reduced the gas tax by 10 cents per gallon. That order was expected to save Kentuckians $26.8 million combined over a one-month period. To enforce the reduction and ensure providers did not keep the 10 cents, Beshear activated the state’s price-gouging statute.
The governor also sent two letters urging leadership in Congress and leaders in Kentucky’s congressional delegation to suspend the federal gas tax through the end of the year, the governor’s office reported.
In a proactive step, Beshear signed an executive order to freeze the 2026 motor vehicle assessment rate ahead of an expected increase on Jan. 1, 2027.
The governor’s request to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to remove the Louisville area from the federal Reformulated Gasoline Program received approval in February. For 30 years, Kentuckians living in those counties paid 10 to 25 cents more per gallon.
ROCKCASTLE COUNTY, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) – A California woman died Monday after she was reportedly struck by a vehicle on Interstate 75 in Rockcastle County while trying to retrieve a pet that had escaped from her car following a separate crash.
Kentucky State Police reported that 33-year-old Morabia Siddhi Suresh of Fremont, California, had been involved in an initial collision on I-75 northbound near the 62-mile marker. She exited her vehicle and entered the travel portion of the roadway while chasing her pet, which had escaped from her car, KSP said.
While attempting to retrieve the pet, Siddhi Suresh was struck by a Chevrolet Malibu, KSP noted.
Siddhi Suresh was transported to Rockcastle Regional Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead by the Rockcastle County Coroner’s Office from injuries stustained in the crash, according to KSP.
The collision is under investigation.
A Texas philanthropist has sued Town Branch Park, Inc. in Fayette Circuit Court, alleging the nonprofit and its executives misled her about naming rights for a planned Water Play Area in Lexington.
Susan Naylor, chair of the Will Smith Foundation, pledged $2 million to the park in 2021 after being promised naming rights for the aquatic feature — in honor of her late son, Will Naylor Smith, who died at age 8. She has paid $800,000 so far.
The agreement allegedly included consultation on donor recognition signage and approval of design. Naylor says she began payments believing signage would read “Will Naylor Smith Water Play Area” and would incorporate her input.
The suit claims Town Branch Park instead designed signage simply reading “WaterPlay,” citing a unified design aesthetic for all donor recognition, without seeking her approval. Naylor also alleges she was excluded from ceremonial events, despite other donors receiving prominent recognition and signage reflecting their naming rights.
She accuses Town Branch Park Executive Director Allison Lankford and Capital Campaign Director Ben Shaffar of breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. She is seeking the return of her $800,000, interest, attorney’s fees, and additional damages.
The Water Play Area is part of the park’s multimillion-dollar fundraising effort, described as a “transformative” community space in downtown Lexington. Town Branch Park has not yet filed a public response to the complaint.
Gatton Park released the following statement following the lawsuit:
“As has been communicated to Ms. Naylor on multiple occasions, Town Branch Park fully complied with its commitments in connection with her donation. The allegations in the Complaint are wholly unfounded, and they will be vigorously defended in the courtroom. Out of respect for the legal process, no further comment will be made at this time.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW via LEX NEWS) – Hands-only CPR can help bystanders save lives during cardiac arrest emergencies, according to a UK Healthcare expert.
Jacob Stone with UK Healthcare said most people hesitate to perform CPR because they associate it with medical professionals, but that hesitation can cost lives.
“Hands only CPR helps encourage the community to participate in providing CPR to someone. It takes away that mouth breathing portion of it,” Stone said.
That distinction matters because most cardiac emergencies happen far from a hospital.
“Nine out of 10 cardiac arrests occur outside of the hospital and we are seeing a lot more cardiac arrests as patients within cardiac rehab,” Stone said.
When someone collapses, acting quickly is critical.
“Hands only CPR is a very important life saving skill that can double or triple someone’s chances of survival in a cardiac arrest situation,” Stone said.
(AP via SCRIPPS NEWS GROUP) – The Nashville Zoo is pushing back against a proposal to build a nearly 70,000-square-foot data center on the edge of its property in South Nashville, warning the project could harm thousands of animals — including some of the rarest in the world.
DC Blox, the company behind the proposal, wants to build the facility in the Grassmere Business Park, directly adjacent to the zoo property. An online petition against the project has gathered more than 180,000 signatures.
Nashville Zoo CEO Rick Schwartz said the facility’s potential light and noise pollution pose a serious threat to the zoo’s 3,000 animals.
“We have some of the most delicate and rarest animals in the world, specifically our clouded leopard, which is our signature species. We’ve bred more than anyone else in the world. We just had our 50th baby born, and they’re very sensitive to mechanical noises and light infiltration,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz said DC Blox has not engaged with the zoo about its concerns. He is calling on the public to get involved before the city makes a final decision.
“We want the community to do exactly that, to stand with us to help fight against this data center. There’s got to be a better place that it can go instead of around the number one attraction that’s focused on animals and children,” Schwartz said.
The zoo drew 1.4 million visitors in 2025 and is preparing for what Schwartz calls the largest project in its history.
“It’ll be a $65 million exhibit featured around Indonesia. [It] has orangutans, clouded leopards, tree kangaroos, underwater viewing of otters, giant hornbills, bird of paradise. It’s going to be an amazing project,” Schwartz said.
Zoo leaders had also hoped the site could potentially be used for a children’s education and conservation center.
In a statement to the Scripps News Group station in Nashville, DC Blox said it is committed to minimizing its impact on the surrounding area:
“DC BLOX is proposing the development of a data center to be located in the Grassmere Business Park in Nashville with the goal of bringing much-needed digital infrastructure to area.
The project would replace two buildings that previously occupied the site. A data center was previously permitted to operate on this same site. The facility will not be an AI factory placing a burden on local resources.
From our past projects, as well as the proposed Nashville facility, we commit to using closed-loop or waterless cooling designs to minimize ongoing water use. We commit to the local utility to pay for all power used as well as any new energy infrastructure required to support our project. And we commit to maintaining and testing noise levels to measurable and acceptable levels and adhering to all local environmental requirements.
DC BLOX understands and appreciates the concerns that have been raised about our newly proposed data center in Nashville near the zoo. We look forward to working with local officials, community members, and the Nashville Zoo to minimize local impacts and to assure that there will be no health risks to residents and animals.”
Data centers are large facilities filled with computer servers that keep the internet running. They require massive amounts of electricity and water to operate. Tennessee is already home to 60 data centers, and the Tennessee Valley Authority expects data center growth to double by 2030.
A new state law passed this year requires data center developers to pay for their own infrastructure costs, aiming to prevent utility companies from raising power bills to cover the increased energy demand.
Zoo leaders are asking the community to stay involved in the public process before the city makes a final decision.
(AP via SCRIPPS NEWS GROUP) – Progressive city council member Nithya Raman has advanced to a November runoff against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, setting up an unexpected matchup between two Democrats and former political allies to run the struggling city of nearly 4 million.
The outcome means Spencer Pratt, a Republican and former reality television personality from “The Hills,” is out of the running. His candidacy had drawn national attention because of his celebrity and willingness to challenge liberal governance in a city dominated by Democrats, but the buzz did not translate into enough votes to make the runoff.
Raman made a last-minute entry into the race, after she had endorsed Bass for reelection. She was elected to the council with the support of the Democratic Socialists of America, and the election will test whether voters in the heavily Democratic city want to move further to the political left to address long-running problems of homelessness, buckled streets and sidewalks and climbing rent and home prices.
The race also has historical markers. Bass is the first Black woman to hold the post, and Raman could be the first South Asian woman in the job.
The mayoral race was technically nonpartisan, so the candidates appeared on the ballot without party identification next to their names.
The election was not a vote of confidence in Bass, who according to incomplete returns received under 35% of the vote, a vulnerable position for an incumbent.
Raman had been running in third until Sunday, but she gained more votes with every update provided by election officials in Los Angeles since June 2, primary day.
Bass represents the Democratic establishment as the incumbent mayor, and she’s backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with influential labor unions. She served in the state Legislature and Congress before becoming mayor in 2022 and was under consideration to be former President Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020.
Raman — in her first run for citywide office — has promised to speed up housing construction, bring back entertainment industry jobs and improve services in a city known for dirty streets, gridlock and homeless encampments that are commonplace in many neighborhoods.
“What we are doing right now is just not working,” Raman says. “LA’s primary strategy for homelessness has been to move encampments from one block to another, from your block to your neighbor’s block and back again. … It’s political theater.”
California’s vote count takes a long time
It took nearly a week to determine who would face Bass in November due to California’s notoriously slow vote-counting process. Ballots are mailed to every eligible voter and they are counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive at an election office within seven days.
Los Angeles, like other counties in California, processes and counts mail ballots in roughly the order they are received, so the last ones returned are the last ones counted.
On Tuesday night after polls closed, Los Angeles released results from mail ballots that had been returned early and already processed as well as votes cast that day. Those votes put Bass in the lead with Pratt running in second and Raman behind in third. Since then, the county has been processing and releasing results from mail ballots that arrived later.
Election data shows that large numbers of Democrats held onto their mail ballots and returned them in the race’s final days, which helps explain why Bass and Raman have been doing better than Pratt in the votes counted since primary day.
Raman’s political positions have shifted
Born in India, Raman moved to the United States as a child and earned degrees from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied urban planning.
She has opposed efforts to prohibit homeless people from setting up tents within 500 feet (152 meters) of schools and daycare centers. However, she appears to have softened her opposition to no-camping zones, which were intended to curb the spread of encampments and clear streets. She voted against dozens of them on the council but later said she would not block them if elected mayor.
Raman’s positions on policing in the city have also changed.
She once talked of a department that would be much smaller and posted “defund the police” on social media in 2020. She did not support the mayor’s 2023 police contract, which she said was too expensive for the financially strapped city.
More recently, she said the Los Angeles Police Department should remain at its current size, about 8,600, down from about 10,000 in 2020. The police union has taunted her in ads, calling her “Flip Floppin’ Raman.”
In diverse Los Angeles, mayors are elected by building coalitions, ethnically and geographically. And to surpass 50% of the vote and win, Raman will need to find more supporters.
“I don’t think it’s impossible, but she is going to have to expand beyond her ideological base,” said Democratic consultant Bill Carrick, who sees Bass as vulnerable.
“The people who didn’t vote for Nithya weren’t voting against her, they were voting for somebody else. Karen (Bass) had a good number of people who were voting against her,” Carrick added.
Though Raman and Pratt are political opposites, both have attracted voters who aren’t happy with the city’s status quo.
Tanika Vickers, who works for a housing nonprofit in Los Angeles, said that she felt like she was part of a group of people who work and pay taxes but have been “forgotten.” She said she was frustrated with the way tax dollars were being spent, especially “throwing” more money toward homelessness without results.
She said she voted Raman for mayor because she was most qualified to execute her plans and fulfill what the city needs.
“I think that we are all looking for change,” she said.
MOUNT VERNON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) — A Louisville man is facing multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree robbery, after a police pursuit through two Kentucky counties ended with his arrest Monday.
Kentucky State Police Trooper Ben Allen attempted to stop a vehicle for speeding on US 25 in Mount Vernon on June 8, KSP reported. The driver failed to yield to the trooper’s emergency equipment, leading to a brief pursuit across roads in Rockcastle and Laurel counties.
Troopers deployed a tire deflation device, which brought the vehicle to a stop. KSP detailed that 30-year-old Evan Colbert was taken into custody.
Investigators determined Colbert had allegedly robbed two gas stations — one in Laurel County and one in Rockcastle County — before the traffic stop.
Colbert is charged with two counts of first-degree robbery, first-degree fleeing or evading police in a motor vehicle, multiple counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, and additional charges.
BATH COUNTY, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW via LEX NEWS) – The Bath County Memorial Library is the central hub for a seed library program that reaches 25 other libraries, helping residents grow their own food.
Libraries are more than a place for books — they are a valuable resource for real community needs. In Kentucky, where Feeding America reports a 16.6 percent food insecurity rate in 2023, the seed library fills a critical gap.
The program offers a variety of options, from peppers and herbs to flowers for pollinators and home gardens.
Holly Howard, the library’s assistant director of outreach, says you don’t need a green thumb to succeed. Give the seeds water and good soil, and they will grow.
Howard adds the biggest challenge is simply getting people through the door.
“Build a sustainable garden for someone, prices have gone up throughout the years we have done this. It’s a good way to address food insecurities. The biggest thing is getting someone in here and plant them,” Howard said.
Community members are encouraged to grab the seeds they need and then go to the front desk so they can make a record of it., The seeds are free to pick up.
(AP via SCRIPPS NEWS GROUP) – A U.S. Army helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, but President Donald Trump said the two crew members aboard were not injured in the incident near the strategic waterway that Iran has effectively closed during the war.
What caused the crash remained unclear Tuesday morning in the Middle East, which was still reeling after Iran and Israel exchanged fire the previous day in the biggest blow yet to the straining ceasefire in the Iran war. Iranian state television reported Tuesday the Israeli attacks killed at least two members of the country’s air defense units.
Since the U.S. and Israel began striking Iran on Feb. 28, the war has shaken the global economy, driven up energy prices around the world and made many basics, including food, more expensive. Officials have been unable to turn the April ceasefire into a deal to permanently end the conflict, particularly as Israel intensifies and expands its military campaign in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.
Trump, speaking to journalists at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after watching the NBA Finals on Monday night, acknowledged the crash.
“The pilots are fine. Yeah,” Trump said. “Nobody injured. We are going to issue a report tomorrow. But the pilots are fine.”
The New York Times first reported that a U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter went down near the strait in unclear circumstances. The U.S. military’s Central Command and the Defense Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Apache helicopters have been a key asset for the American military as it enforces a blockade on Iranian crude oil shipments and tankers, seeking to pressure Tehran into reaching a deal. The helicopters also have been used by the United Arab Emirates to shoot down Iranian drones during the Iran war.
Trump insists an Iran deal is coming
Trump also expressed renewed optimism over negotiations with Iran.
“We have a good chance” of signing a deal in “two or three days,” Trump said. But he didn’t provide any details on why there was reason for new optimism. Trump has repeatedly predicted that a deal is near over the two months since the U.S. and Iran agreed to an initial ceasefire.
“We’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal,” the president said. “If we go and bomb — which we could do very easily if we want, and we spend another two or three weeks bombing — they’ll have nothing left whatsoever. But you won’t have the strait open for months.”
He added: “If we do the bombing, you know, a lot of people are going to be killed. Who wants to do that? I don’t.”
Mediators, led predominantly by Pakistan, have been trying for weeks to get a deal across the line. However, both Iran and the U.S. have taken hard-line positions.
The U.S. wants to see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed still to be entombed in the country after American airstrikes in the 12-day war in 2025. But Iran is refusing that and demanding relief from sanctions. It also wants the release of frozen assets even before a final agreement is in place, something rejected by Trump.
Before Trump’s comments on negotiations, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Monday that Trump’s remarks so far on a possible deal “contradicted the agreed-upon sections, showing that (the U.S. is) neither seeking a ceasefire nor dialogue.”
The continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah remains a major Iranian priority as well. Lebanon’s army chief, Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, traveled to Pakistan on Tuesday. There, he met Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has been a key figure in the Iran-U.S. talks.
Haykal’s visit comes as Lebanon’s government takes an increasingly hard line on Hezbollah, but remains unable to disarm the powerful militia. Hezbollah thanked Iran on Tuesday for attacking Israel “in defense of our Lebanese people,” suggesting that the Lebanese government should take this opportunity to improve relations with Tehran.
Israel issues warning for Tyre, Lebanon
Meanwhile Tuesday, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for Lebanon’s southern port city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter, which has so far been spared in the destructive airstrikes on the port city.
Last week, Israel warned the Christian neighborhoods in Tyre that it believed Hezbollah members were among them. Many Lebanese Shiite Muslims fled to those areas as Israeli strikes hammered the Mediterranean coastal area over the past two weeks.
After last week’s warning, the Lebanese army deployed to the Christian district of Tyre in an effort to prevent Israeli attacks there and to show that Hezbollah has no armed presence in the area. But Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, posted on X on Monday that the Israeli military “will have to act against their terrorist activities in the neighborhood soon.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 236 NEWS NOW) – On Monday, the University of Kentucky shared in a press release that Nic ‘Happy’ Smith, a redshirt Freshman on the football team, has died. The three-star recruit out of high school did not play as a first-year in 2025.
Today our hearts are broken. Our thoughts and prayers are with Nic’s family, friends, teammates and everyone who knew and loved him.
This is a tremendous loss for our program and university community. We will continue to support one another and honor his memory. pic.twitter.com/Eaz5AIxyU2
— Will Stein (@CoachWillStein) June 8, 2026
“Today our hearts are broken,” said Kentucky head coach Will Stein. “This is a tremendous loss for our program and university community. We will continue to support one another and honor his memory.”
The cause of Smith’s death is unknown at this time.
BARDSTOWN, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) – Emmy-winning actor Kelsey Grammer, best known for his role as Dr. Fraiser Crane in “Cheers” and “Fraiser,” has joined the cast of “Ethan Almighty,” Deadline reports.
The film is set to detail the remarkable journey of Ethan, a dog who was abandoned by his previous owner in 2021. Ethan was found severely neglected and was placed in the care of the Kentucky Humane Society, where his story of recovery captured hearts across the nation.
Ethan’s owner, Jeff Callaway, and other animal advocates worked to change Kentucky’s laws surrounding animal abuse. In 2024, their efforts came to fruition with the passage of House Bill 258, which classified animal abuse as a Class D felony.
“It’ll be a story that, if you’re from Kentucky, you’ll be very proud of,” Callaway said in February. “You can take your kids to it. It’s gonna be a very cool thing.”
The film is being shot in Bardstown, with other cast members including Trevor Donovan, Sean Patrick Flanery and Selma Blair. According to Deadline, Grammer is set to play Kentucky’s governor.
(AP via SCRIPPS NEWS GROUP) – Donald Trump was booed loudly by fans inside Madison Square Garden when he was shown on video screens during the national anthem prior to Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday night.
Trump was shown for several seconds giving a military salute. The boos ended when the U.S. flag followed him on the screens, and fans cheered when New York Knicks players were shown. Mentions of the San Antonio Spurs also elicited loud boos.
Trump is watching from Knicks owner James Dolan’s suite, along with granddaughter Kai, personal adviser Boris Epshteyn and Cabinet secretaries Lee Zeldin, Sean Duffy and Doug Burgum. He is the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game.
Trump’s Marine One helicopter flew from his home in New Jersey and landed near Wall Street before his motorcade made its way up through Manhattan and to the arena roughly an hour before tipoff. He encountered a handful of people making rude gestures, and outside the area, one group held signs saying “Trump must go.”
He settled into Dolan’s suite shortly afterward.
During the afternoon before Trump’s arrival, the New York Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service set up a large perimeter surrounding Madison Square Garden. Fans lined up to get inside the arena more than four hours before tipoff, in a scene more closely resembling New Year’s Eve in Times Square than the usual leadup to a basketball game.
They were required to provide a ticket or pass to get past various checkpoints, along with going through a Transportation Security Administration-style magnetometer. Secret Service personnel and police were positioned at every corner and in large numbers. Daily commuters, tourists visiting Manhattan and fans were all confounded at various times as they tried to maneuver the security.
New Yorkers forced to adjust
After traveling from his new home in Florida for the game, Knicks fan Greg Weldon said the main inconvenience faced so far has been the lack of information.
“We’ve asked so many cops, secret service, guys with machine guns, what to do, where should we go,” he said. “Nobody knows.”
Knicks coach Mike Brown and Spurs counterpart Mitch Johnson downplayed any concept of being inconvenienced by the closures and enhanced security because of Trump.
“There’s a lot going on, and I’d much rather be a part of it than not,” Johnson said.
With security stepped up, a watch party outside was canceled, and ticket-holders were not allowed to bring bags inside the Garden. Fans had gathered near the arena to watch games during this playoff run, during which the Knicks have won 13 games in a row to reach the final for the first time since 1999 and move two victories from their first NBA title since 1973.
“We are looking forward to bringing back watch parties for Game 4,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference Monday. “But I think New Yorkers are used to presidents coming to town, and they understand that that generally means lockdowns of areas and that’s what you’re going to see tonight at the Garden.”
Incidents heighten attention to Trump’s security
This is the latest major sporting event Trump has attended during his time as president, and the security measures have created major hassles for fans.
Thousands of fans missed the start of last year’s U.S. Open men’s singles final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner because of lengthy security lines. Even though the U.S. Tennis Association pushed back the start of the match by a half-hour, many fans still couldn’t get in because added measures meant that they had to go through screening not only when they arrived at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center but again in front of the steps into Arthur Ashe Stadium, where Trump watched from a suite.
Federal law enforcement officials have been reexamining Trump’s security in light of three incidents in the past two years: a shooting at a 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania; the discovery of a man armed with a rifle as Trump played golf in West Palm Beach, Florida, later that year; and the recent shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
Asked Sunday his thoughts on Trump attending, Knicks center Mitchell Robinson said: “Cool, I guess. We can still get out there and play (no matter) who’s here and who’s not.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other dignitaries were also at the game.
It was already hard enough for Knicks fans to get inside Madison Square Garden because of astronomical ticket prices. The get-in price for a ticket is higher than the average cost of monthly rent in New York, surging over $5,000. The best seats are tens of thousands of dollars. Mamdani said he bought his ticket, which he said was standing-room-only, for about $1,000 directly from Madison Square Garden.
The difficulty of seeing the game in-person has prompted fans to crowd bars, streets and watch parties all over the city. The watch party near the Garden has become a major event all through the playoffs, but with Trump attending, that event was moved a few blocks away outside the security perimeter, at Bryant Park.
“We improvise,” said Knicks guard Jose Alvarado, who is a New York native. “We’re New Yorkers. We’re going to find a way to watch a game, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Monday night: Warm with isolated storms. Lows in the upper-60s. Wind: SW 5-10 mph.
Tuesday: Scattered showers and storms, locally heavy rain possible. Highs in the low-80s. Wind: SW 10-15 mph.
Tuesday night: More showers and storms. Lows in the upper-60s to around 70 degrees. Wind: SW 5-10 mph.
(AP via SCRIPPS NEWS GROUP) – A lawyer who represented Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for nearly a decade over accusations of corruption and securities fraud is supporting Democrat James Talarico — and not his former client — in one of the biggest U.S. Senate races.
Talarico on Monday drew attention to his campaign winning the endorsement of Houston attorney Dan Cogdell, who was part of Paxton’s defense team during the Republican’s historic impeachment trial in 2023 that ended in acquittal.
The legal troubles that shadowed Paxton in public office in Texas are a central attack line of Talarico’s campaign, though in his endorsement, Cogdell didn’t cite concerns about his client’s past.
Cogdell said he didn’t dislike Paxton as a person and felt that Texas lawmakers were right to eventually acquit the attorney general. But as a politician, Cogdell said, Paxton is too focused on appeasing President Donald Trump.
“I worked my ass off for the man for nine years,” Cogdell said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But that’s a different inquiry, my obligation to Ken ended at the courthouse steps and my obligation as a citizen is to do what I think is the right thing.”
Cogdell said Texas needs a lot of work, pointing to education and health care, “and to simply bootlick or rubber stamp Trump, that’s not what we need in D.C. right now.” He also recently spoke to Talarico at length on Cogdell’s podcast.
Asked for comment, an aide to Paxton’s campaign said Cogdell is a Democrat and called the endorsement unsurprising.
The lead defense attorney in Paxton’s impeachment trial, Tony Buzbee, reiterated that on X. Buzbee added that he was supporting Paxton in the race.
Cogdell said he’s a registered Democrat, but considers himself a moderate, and has voted and donated more to Republicans than Democrats.
Talarico has given Democrats hope of flipping the statewide seat in Texas blue as the party scrambles to retake control of the U.S. Senate in November.
Paxton’s insurgent campaign beat Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican Senate primary runoff last month, helped by a Trump endorsement in the final days of the race.
KNOX COUNTY, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — A Barbourville man was arrested after two toddlers were reportedly found wandering unsupervised near swimming pools while he was asleep inside the home.
According to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy responded Saturday, June 6 to a report of two small children without adult supervision on KY 3439 south of Barbourville. Three swimming pools were located in the immediate area where the toddlers were found.
During the investigation, the deputy learned that the children’s father, identified as 23-year-old Jeremiah Grubb, was asleep inside the home and the lock on the door was broken. The children’s mother was reportedly at work at the time.
Grubb was arrested and charged with two counts of endangering welfare of a minor. He was lodged in the Knox County Detention Center.
The Department of Child Services and Knox EMS also responded to the residence, according to officials. The two children were released to a family member after being checked by EMS personnel.
MADRID (AP) — Pope Leo XIV met Monday with six survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Madrid and vowed to consider their suggestions for how the Catholic Church can improve its response to the crisis, the Vatican said.
The meeting, which followed in the tradition of popes meeting with abuse survivors during their foreign trips, lasted about an hour and took place at the Vatican embassy in Madrid, the Vatican said in a statement.
Spain’s Catholic hierarchy has only recently begun reckoning with its legacy of abuse and cover-up after long dismissing the severity of the scandal that came to light thanks to reporting by the newpaper El País.
In 2023, the Spanish government’s ombudsman delivered a damning 800-page report estimating there were hundreds of thousands of possible victims in Spain over decades — based on a survey of 8,000 people. The report also examined 487 known cases.
Spain’s bishops rejected the estimate, saying its own investigation had uncovered 728 sexual abusers within the church since 1945.
During Monday’s meeting, the survivors told the pope their stories and recommendations for how the church should better respond, the Vatican said. Victims in Spain and elsewhere have long complained that the church’s response to the scandal was often retraumatizing, with victims often accused of only seeking money or to harm the church.
“The pope listened with affection and attention, assured them of his closeness — and that of the entire church community — and pledged his commitment to ensuring that the suggestions received serve as a foundation for further efforts, so that the church may truly be a safe and spiritually healthy place where wounds find comfort and healing,” said a statement from Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.
The encounter marked the first known time Leo had met with victims while on a foreign visit, but it by no means was his first time hearing first-hand from survivors.
As a bishop in Chiclayo, Peru, the former Robert Prevost was in charge of listening to victims as the point of reference for the Peruvian bishops conference. In that capacity, he became intimately aware of the abusive practices in the powerful Peruvian group, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, which Pope Francis formally suppressed last year.
As pope, Leo has insisted on the need to listen to victims but he has also demanded that the rights of accused priests be upheld.
In his recent encyclical, he said the journey for justice for victims included “just reparation” and he included not only victims of sexual abuse but also spiritual, economic, institutional and power-based abuse, as well as abuses of conscience.
Ahead of the expected meeting with Leo, several groups representing survivors that were not included said they were left in the dark about the encounter, and held a small protest outside the Vatican’s embassy in Madrid.
“Our associations are pleased that a group of victims from the reparation plan can be heard by the pope, but they do not represent all the victims, and deep down they are being used by the church, by the bishops conference, to clean up the image of a Spanish church that has never been able to live up to its victims,” said Juan Cuatrecasas, a spokesperson for the Robbed Childhood association.
Leo addresses abuse to bishops and parliament
Before the meeting, Leo told Spanish bishops that they must offer reparations to survivors and that the entire church community should have an “ever more determined commitment to prevention and a culture of care.”
“Faced with this scourge, the ecclesial community is called to respond with listening, truth, justice, reparation,” Leo said. “Every wounded person must be able to find sincere listening, welcome, protection and real paths to healing.”
Amid public outrage over the abuse crisis, Spain launched a reparations system earlier this year for clerical abuse cases too old to be prosecuted that requires the participation of the Catholic Church and the Spanish government.
Other countries and churches have set up reparations mechanisms to compensate survivors and provide therapy, but the Spanish one is unusual in that it gives the government a strong role in the process and the final say in payouts.
The system, which is not legally binding, has drawn praise and some skepticism from advocacy groups and survivors. It gives people a year to apply.
Leo reaffirms church’s right to confessional secrecy
Leo also reaffirmed the right of the Catholic Church to maintain secrecy involving the sacrament of confession, amid efforts in Europe and elsewhere to force Catholic priests to report abuse that they learn about during the one-to-one conversations.
Independent investigations into clergy abuse around the world have identified the seal of confession as a major impediment to exposing and preventing abuse, and called for it to be abolished. The investigations have documented how abusers used the confessional to solicit sex from minors and then relied on the seal of confession to keep it secret.
In his speech to the Spanish parliament Monday, Leo framed the right of the church to keep priest-penitent conversations confidential as a matter of freedom of religion.
“To protect it legally, as is done in a similar way in some professions, means preserving a sacred space of inner freedom, where the believer can open his or her soul to God without fear of external pressures,” he said.
(AP via SCRIPPS NEWS GROUP) – After a blitz of congressional redistricting ahead of the midterm elections, a national battle for partisan control is about to enter a new phase that could affect representation on everything from tax rates to social safety net programs, teacher salaries, housing regulations and local road repairs.
Georgia’s Republican-led Legislature will convene June 17 for a special session focused on redistricting for the 2028 elections. The agenda includes new voting districts not only for Congress, but also for the state House and Senate — and potentially even the state’s utility regulatory commission.
It will mark the first time since a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling weakened minority voting protections that a state legislature will attempt to redraw its own districts. Mississippi Republicans and New York Democrats also could undertake legislative redistricting before their 2027 and 2028 elections, respectively.
Ir remains to be seen, though, how many legislatures will follow, and whether the outburst of mid-decade redistricting will extend down to county commissions, city councils and school boards that make myriad decisions affecting people’s lives. The impact could be widespread.
“The stakes here are not political, they are deeply human,” said Joe Kennedy III, founder of Groundwork Project, a nonprofit that supports local civil rights and democracy organizations.
Voting district boundaries typically are redrawn once a decade after each U.S. census to account for population changes. But last summer, President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw congressional districts to try to win additional seats in the midterm elections. Other states followed with their own partisan gerrymandering.
Then a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling in late April jumpstarted even more redistricting. The court struck down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana as an illegal racial gerrymander, providing grounds for Republicans in other states to reshape districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats.
Why is Georgia redrawing its districts?
A federal judge ruled in 2023 that some of Georgia’s congressional, state Senate and state House districts were drawn in a racially discriminatory manner. The Legislature quickly approved revised maps with new majority-Black districts, though they resulted in little change to Republican majorities in the 2024 elections.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has called lawmakers into special session to again redraw districts in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Louisiana case. That could allow Republicans to undo the court-ordered changes they made in 2023 and potentially redraw other Democratic-held minority districts to the GOP’s advantage.
Republicans have yet to unveil details of their plans. But Democratic state Rep. Tanya Miller, who is running for attorney general, denounced the upcoming redistricting as a means of “rigging maps to maintain power.”
How many seats are at stake?
Several months before the Supreme Court ruling, a report by Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter forecast that Republicans in 10 Southern states could eliminate 191 Democratic-held legislative seats — including 140 districts with Black or Hispanic majorities — if the Supreme Court gutted federal Voting Rights Act protections for minorities.
“If anything, our report was an understatement,” Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter, recently told The Associated Press. “What’s at stake is the future of this democracy.”
Other analysts don’t expect that many seats to be redistricted. But they do expect the Supreme Court’s decision to ripple through states.
“We’re going to potentially see a lot of frenzied efforts at every level, including at the local level, to try out undoing district maps and configurations that have performed quite well in providing improved representation for communities of color,” said Kareem Crayton, vice president of the Washington office of the Brennan Center for Justice.
What states have pending court cases?
The precedent from the recent Supreme Court decision already is being applied in several states. In light of the ruling, a federal appeals court is allowing Alabama to use a state Senate map approved by Republican lawmakers in this year’s election instead of one imposed by a federal judge who found the state had diluted the voting power of Black residents. The change affects two state Senate districts in the Montgomery area.
The Supreme Court has sent legislative redistricting cases filed on behalf of Black voters in Mississippi and Native Americans in North Dakota back to lower courts for further consideration in light of its Louisiana decision. The Washington attorney general has asked the Supreme Court to do the same for legislative redistricting cases involving Hispanic voters in that state.
About half the states have provisions in their constitutions prohibiting mid-decade redistricting of state legislative seats, said Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles who runs the “All About Redistricting” website.
But even in states where it’s allowed, lawmakers may have fewer reasons to redraw their own districts than those for Congress, Levitt said. Politicians who promoted congressional redistricting for the 2026 midterms often justified it as a way to counter gerrymandering in other states and win as many seats as possible for their party. They had extra motivation because a swing of only a few seats nationally in the November elections could affect control of the closely divided U.S. House.
By contrast, most state legislative chambers already are dominated by one party.
”There’s a lot less incentive, if you already control the state legislature by 10 or 12 seats, to eke out an incremental one or two at the expense of really ticking off your own party membership, or at the expense of maybe risking losing seats in a broader way,” Levitt said.
Could local governments also redraw districts?
The Supreme Court decision making it more difficult to prove Voting Rights Act violations already has affected some local governments.
Plaintiffs have voluntarily dismissed a challenge to commission districts in Meriwether County, Georgia. A federal court has accepted new legal briefs in a challenge to Board of Supervisors districts in DeSoto County, Mississippi. And Indiana’s attorney general has asked a federal appeals court to take note of the Louisiana case when deciding a challenge to how judges are selected in Lake County.
Over roughly the past four decades, data from the University of Michigan shows that cities, counties and school boards have been involved in more than three-fifths of the 466 lawsuits alleging violations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which forbids providing minorities less opportunity than other voters to elect the representatives of their choice.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean local governments will rush to redistrict as a result of a weakened Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court decision cleared the way for officials to justify redistricting based on partisan ambitions. But many local offices are officially nonpartisan.
(AP via SCRIPPS NEWS GROUP) – Two more cases of the New World screwworm have been confirmed in Texas, demonstrating the difficulty of stopping the spread of a pest that could potentially devastate the nation’s cattle industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.
The screwworm is actually a fly, which produces a larva that eats live flesh instead of dead material. Females lay their eggs in open wounds of any warm-blooded animal, such as cattle, but wildlife, pets and occasionally even humans can be infested.
The USDA said the new cases were found in a calf and a dog, hundreds of miles apart in La Salle and Andrews counties. That brings the total number of confirmed cases to four. The screwworm was first discovered in a 3-week-old calf last week, and a second case was found only miles away in a young calf.
“While we address these instances that require immediate attention, and continue to sample suspected cases, we are simultaneously working to eradicate the pest entirely,” Dudley Hoskins, the USDA’s marketing and regulatory undersecretary, said in a statement.
Before it was eliminated in the U.S. in the 1960s, the fly was an annual warm-weather scourge of cattle ranchers.
The USDA and the U.S. cattle industry have been racing to prevent an infestation since the pest was detected in Mexico late in 2024 after decades of being contained at the southern end of Panama.
The government fights the fly by breeding sterile male flies, which then mate with wild females that only mate once in their monthslong life. By mating with sterile flies, the females don’t produce more flies and outbreaks can eventually be halted.
The USDA has announced plans to increase sterile fly production in plants outside the U.S. while it builds a fly factory in Texas.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins will be briefed on the infestation Monday afternoon at the U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas.
WEST LIBERTY, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) — A West Liberty woman died after a rollback tow truck reportedly struck her vehicle on Highway 460 West near West Liberty Vet Clinic on Friday.
Kentucky State Police reported that 66-year-old Linda Sue Bush was driving a red 2024 Chevrolet Equinox when the crash occurred around 3 p.m. Friday.
KSP Post 8 added that a 2019 Chevrolet Rollback was traveling on US 460 when the vehicle in front of it slowed to turn onto Veterinarian Lane. The rollback moved into the passing lane to pass that vehicle as Bush was exiting Veterinarian Lane and was struck by the rollback.
Bush was transported to ARH Hospital in West Liberty and later flown to Cabell Huntington Hospital, where she died from her injuries.
Morgan County EMS, West Liberty Fire Department, and Morgan County Rescue Squad assisted at the scene. KSP continues to investigate the collision.