New campaign finance filings reveal the major role billionaire Elon Musk has played in bankrolling Republican efforts against Democrat James Talarico in his home state of Texas. 

In fact, Musk appears to be the chief sponsor of a prominent group supporting Republican Ken Paxton, according to new filings with the Federal Election Commission. 

On Sept. 9, the first day of the GOP midterm convention in Dallas, Musk gave $75 million to the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), the main Senate Republican super PAC.

One day later, SLF transferred $75 million to Texas PAC, which was founded a few weeks earlier to back Paxton in his Senate race against Talarico. 

On Sept. 23, Musk made another $83 million contribution to SLF. The group then transferred that sum to Texas PAC the next day. 

Texas PAC reported receiving the sum of those two payments -- totaling $158 million -- in its latest report.

The transfers have allowed the Senate GOP group to support Paxton without diverting resources away from Republicans in other competitive races across the country.

Republicans are trying to maintain their four-seat majority in the Senate in November and are currently locked in competitive races in North Carolina, Maine, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas and Alaska, in addition to Texas. 

Democrats are defending open Senate seats in Michigan, New Hampshire and Minnesota. 

The support directed to Texas PAC is just one element of Musk's more than $276 million in spending on the midterms -- close to what he spent on the entire 2024 presidential election.

Among other efforts, he has also pumped more than $76 million into AMERICA PAC, his super PAC helping the GOP target and turn out low-propensity Trump voters even though Trump is not on the ballot. 

From July to September, Musk also gave $20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main House Republican super PAC; $10 million to another super PAC supporting Paxton; $10 million to the Republican Governors Association; and $2 million to the Republican Attorneys General Association. 

A spokesperson for SLF did not immediately return a request for comment. 

“If Democrats take control of Washington and win key gubernatorial and attorney general races this November, then America risks becoming a socialist, woke and borderless country,” Andrew Romeo, a spokesman for America PAC, told the New York Times. “These robust investments have allowed the G.O.P. apparatus to get its message out so Republicans can have a fighting chance to defy history.”

Many Democrats out-raised their GOP opponents in some competitive House and Senate races, according to new FEC filings. 

Talarico, for example, raised $64 million in the third quarter -- a record for Senate races -- compared to Paxton's $18 million in the same time period. 

But Republicans continue to enjoy a massive advantage in spending and support from outside political groups, such as Musk's, that have helped their candidates target voters. 

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White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is “transitioning out” of her role, multiple sources and a senior White House official told ABC News on Friday.  

Zacharia started as press secretary on Monday.

President Donald Trump earlier Friday told reporters he asked Zacharia to reconsider whether she wants to stay in the position.

"I said to her, 'Honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider. You think about it, but I would reconsider,'" Trump said.

"I said, 'Katie, you know, you don't have to do this if you don't want,'" the president said. "She said, 'This is a lot tougher.' I said, 'Welcome to the world of Trump.'"

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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More than a year after cutting 30% of its workforce and disrupting dozens of public health programs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is lagging in hiring compared to other health agencies in the federal government, according to the union representing current and former CDC employees.

The newly revealed numbers on hiring come as a clearer picture is emerging of the impact of widespread cuts made by the Trump administration’s now-shuttered Department of Government Efficiency in its effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce.

The Department of Health and Human Services has been authorized to make hundreds of new hires, but according to an analysis conducted by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2883, the CDC has roughly one new hire for every six reported staff laid off or placed on administrative leave.

According to the union's analysis of USAJOBS and Office of Personnel Management data, the numbers, first reported by ABC News, show the CDC posted 147 job announcements from Jan. 2 through Sept. 10, 2026, with 95 new hires from January to July 2026. Those new hires are just 16.5% of the total number of employees lost to DOGE reductions in force. NIH has newly hired 34%, the FDA 39% and CMS 131.7%.

Across the CDC, there are roughly 50 so-called “zombie” programs -- initiatives that Congress has fully funded with American taxpayer dollars but with little staff to do the work, according to a union analysis. 

In a statement, the Department of Health Human Services said, “CDC continues to deliver on its critical public health responsibilities, while strategically hiring and aligning its workforce with the agency’s priorities.”

But according to the union analysis that ABC News reviewed, there are dozens of “zombie" programs across the public health field that impact chronic diseases, injury prevention, oral health, reproductive care, traumatic brain injury and rape prevention. Yet, the programs remain idle with reduced staff. It remains funded because CDC experts were laid off, are on paid leave or have left.

For example, the Office of Smoking and Health has a budget of $246 million and all of the programs within the office are on hold or it's trying to do its work with contractors while the full-time employees are on paid administrative leave and are not allowed to work, according to AFGE. 

Among other programs faced with steep cuts and little staff: a $6 million program for sickle cell data collection; $11 million for managing epilepsy; and $41 million for Alzheimer's surveillance and risk prevention, according to the union.

The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, one of five programs Congress funded within the $113.5 million Safe Motherhood/Infant Health initiative, was also impacted. The PRAMS program provided one of the most comprehensive collections of data on maternal health.

'Catch-as-catch-can'

In many cases, full-time employees like doctors and scientists who are experts in their fields are on administrative leave. Those staffers are paid but not allowed to come to work as lawsuits challenge the cuts. In other cases, the agency hired contractors to replace the CDC experts who have long guided decisions on research, data collection and community health programs.  

Health care experts are sounding the alarm. 

“The programs are running kind of as catch-as-catch-can,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, who serves as CEO of the American Public Health Association. 

While some public health efforts have continued in the program, Benjamin stressed that it’s limited.

“It means people who are doing the work are working really hard to do minimal stuff,” he told ABC News.  

“What it ultimately means is that we will not have the information that's necessary to make sure as we all grow old, we'll be able to live our best,” he said.

Sickle cell program in jeopardy

The Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia relies on data collected by the CDC and the state to reach patients with sickle cell in underserved communities. Many of those patients are willing to wait hours for care, knowing their monthly visit is their only window to see a specialized hematologist.

“If we don't [treat them], then nobody will, and these people just go without healthcare,” Dr. Anthony Onyegbula said.

ABC News followed Onyegbula as he made his approximately 100 mile journey from Atlanta to Columbus, Georgia, to treat patients who otherwise would have to travel for specialized care. On this day, Onyegbula and his nurse saw 39 patients in a single day, including Marcus McGhee, who is now blind in his left eye due to complications from the disease. McGhee, 34, said he’s holding his breath in between his medical visits.

“It’s like a ‘to be continued,’ McGhee said. “During this whole month, my mind is just racing … What am I gonna have to go through this time?” he said.

Sickle cell is a genetic blood disorder that can cause chronic pain and be potentially fatal. The disease predominantly impacts African Americans and minorities.

Dr. Tabatha McGee, CEO of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia, said the data from the CDC’s sickle cell data collection program is critical to reaching patients. 

‘We will lose more warriors if we don't know where they are,” she said, adding, “We can't get them the care that they need. We will lose them.”

Health experts seeing an impact

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told ABC News, “President Trump and Secretary Kennedy have made improving care and outcomes for Americans living with sickle cell disease a top priority.”

“Across HHS, CMS is expanding access to treatment, FDA is approving new options, HRSA is strengthening care, NIH is advancing research, and CDC is continuing surveillance that helps states identify gaps in care and treatment,” the spokesperson added.

Yet, health experts warn they are seeing an impact.

In a September letter to the CDC Director Erica Schwartz, the American Society of Hematology stated that the division was facing “a number of immediate challenges” and warned there were “early signs that the national data infrastructure built through years of federal investment is beginning to erode.”

“Grantees facing difficulties in planning with the risk of losing key staff with essential program and data expertise; pauses in data collection and analysis; and disruptions to patient care,” the group wrote in its letter to Schwartz.  

The federal health department notes research has expanded across other federal health agencies. In July, the FDA approved the first gene therapy for children as young as two with sickle cell disease and awarded grants to expand access to care.

Under the first Trump administration, the sickle cell data collection program expanded to reach 16 states, covering half of the nation’s sickle cell population. The program provides grants to states, academic institutions and non-profit organizations to gather data on the disease, complications and treatment.

But health experts paint a much different picture in Trump’s second term.

“It's just morally wrong,” Dr. Karen Remley, the former CDC Director for the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, told ABC News.

Remley argued: “It is wrong to know that we have ways to help people with disease and to intentionally not take care of them. That is wrong."

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In Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, third-generation rancher Scott Belden is in the middle of harvest. And anxious. 

"It's probably the most stressful time in my life," Belden, 55, said.

It's not just the demanding time of year that has the lifelong rancher uneasy -- the record-breaking cost of diesel is also putting additional pressure on him and his business. 

"The inputs are out of control. The diesel prices are out of control, along with everything else. So we're just in a very trying time. Very uncertain," he said. 

Oil prices have spiked since the start of the Iran war. The average price for a gallon of diesel was $6.32 on Thursday, according to AAA, and prices have increased by more than 65% since the war began back in February.

Belden says he wakes up at 3 a.m., worrying about how to make it all work with the crushing fuel costs hitting his bottom line. All his vehicles and equipment run on diesel, and during harvest, he burns 90 to 100 gallons of the fuel a day. 

Belden's ranch includes cattle and custom harvesting for hay -- the latter he says is "absolutely unprofitable" with the costs of fuel. 

"If I want to continue to operate, I'm going to buy diesel. No matter what the price is, I'm going to buy diesel," he said. 

"It don't take no [mathematician] to figure out that it's costing me $1,000 to $1,400 more a week," he said. 

"It's a very trying time when you know, you don't know when that's going to end. You don't know, and you can't -- you can't always pass that on to your customers because you set the prices, and they're all -- they're all struggling, too. You know everybody's in this together," he added.

With the midterm elections less than three weeks away, polling shows the economy and cost of living are a top concern for many voters. 

A three-time Donald Trump voter, Belden believes Republicans will pay the price for the ongoing pain at the pump.

"Middle of America is hurting," Belden warned. "The lifeblood of America is diesel fuel. Everything you eat, consume, wear is delivered with a diesel-powered vehicle. So, I do believe it's going to hurt them tremendously."

While Belden stands by his vote for the president, he is glad Trump is term-limited. 

"The president has a lot to do with these fuel prices," he said. "He's made some decisions that didn't go the way he thought they'd go, and now we're weeping the consequences of some of them decisions. And so I wouldn't say regret, but I'm glad we'll get someone new next time."

Trump has said higher fuel prices are worth the cost of preventing Iran from building nuclear weapons and that they will come down quickly after the war is over, although he has over the last few weeks shifted the blame to Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in their ongoing war.

The president last week made a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import 300,000 tons of its diesel fuel and promised that millions more are coming, though experts say that won't do a lot to bring costs down.

Belden says he's expecting prices to stay high, despite Trump's promises. 

"I believe everything goes up and comes down, but I've learned they go up real fast and come down real slow," he said. 

While he has absorbed the increased operating costs so far, he warned that it won't be possible much longer. 

"I think we're all in trouble. If we don't get control of this diesel fuel and get it -- like right now -- people, people are probably consuming the loss, like as myself, but that cannot continue. So if they don't get control of the diesel fuel soon, we're really going to see a spike."

"We're just going to have to pray that we make the right decisions and that our customers stick with us." 

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Amid questions about her legal credentials, White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said in an interview Thursday that she did not pass the bar exam.

In an interview on Fox News, host Sean Hannity asked: "You went to Pepperdine law school but you did not pass the bar exam, correct?" 

"Correct," Zacharia replied. 

Asked if she ever took the bar exam for a second or even a third time, she said she did not. 

Earlier, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told ABC News that Zacharia did not pass the bar exam in the United States.

Zacharia, who held her first White House press briefing earlier this week, has described herself as a lawyer and President Donald Trump called her "an attorney" in a social media post last week announcing her role in his administration.

There has been scrutiny over whether she passed the bar after Popular Information reported earlier this week that there was no evidence she was licensed to practice law. There was also a Wall Street Journal report saying that Zacharia sat for the bar in 2011 but did not pass.

In an earlier interview Thursday with Real America's Voice, Zacharia clarified that she did take the bar exam after obtaining her law degree from Pepperdine University in 2011 -- but stopped short of explicitly stating whether she passed the exam. She said the results of the bar exam were "somewhat inconsequential" because she knew she would be moving to China afterward where she worked in international transaction law.

"I'll take the bar and see what happens," Zacharia said of her mindset at the time. "The results are somewhat inconsequential because I knew I wouldn't need the bar in China, and -- and we left shortly thereafter. And after moving to China, I think-- I didn't -- I didn't really think much of the bar results or consider that something that I needed to focus on, and I was offered a job at a -- in an international practice division of a -- of a Chinese law firm."

Zacharia took the California bar exam after graduating from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law but did not pass, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The White House did not previously respond to questions to the press secretary's office about whether Zacharia passed the bar exam.

Zacharia noted that she consulted with people in the legal field and asked whether she could title herself as a lawyer, providing legal analysis, rather than an attorney at law providing legal advice.

"I consulted, for a very long time, many people in the field: 'Is it OK and acceptable if I label myself "lawyer," not "attorney at law," not "Katie Zacharia, Esquire," but "lawyer," and provide legal analysis, not legal advice?,' And they said 'absolutely, absolutely,' across the board. 'You can call yourself a lawyer, you have a JD, and to buffer that, you have international legal experience in transactional law, which gives you the ability to analyze it, not necessarily give advice,'" Zacharia told Real America's Voice.

Zacharia added that she is "very careful" how she refers to herself, saying she never presented herself as a practicing attorney.

"I never came across as someone who was an attorney at law," Zacharia said.

Asked about the reports of Zacharia's credentials, the White House would not directly respond, providing a statement from Zacharia saying she "practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials."

A White House official added that Zacharia has "her JD from Pepperdine."

"Katie moved to China with her husband after graduating because of his job at an American private equity firm while she worked on international transaction law," the White House official added.

Earlier this week, during a White House departure with Trump, Zacharia was asked by a reporter in which state she passed the bar exam. Trump waved Zacharia over to respond herself to the question, to which she responded she "moved to China." When pressed again, she repeated to reporters that she "moved to China."

Zacharia later clarified her response in a phone interview with the New York Times, claiming she couldn't hear the reporter's question.

"I assumed the question was, 'Where were you after law school?,'" Zacharia told the New York Times.

"That's all I could hear over the sound of Marine One," Zacharia added. "And, wanting to respect protocol, the distance behind the president, kept me from moving closer to hear the question."

Asked Thursday whether she plans to weigh in on legal matters while serving as press secretary, Zacharia said she did not.

ABC News' Rachel Scott and Luke Barr contributed to this report.

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President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Nidal Hasan's execution by firing squad "will not be streamed" -- reversing the controversial announcement by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the killing would be publicly broadcast.

Trump said that Hasan's execution will still take place as scheduled "by firing squad" -- even though it will not be livestreamed.

The Pentagon had maintained earlier this week that the livestream was moving forward. But in a new statement to ABC News, Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell said that Hegseth and Trump are now "completely aligned."

"President Trump and Secretary Hegseth spoke about the decision to not livestream Hasan's execution ahead of the Truth Social announcement. The Secretary supports the President's decision, and they are completely aligned," Parnell wrote.

Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding another 32 in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. Hasan, who described the attack as an act of jihad, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3 at the same base where he committed the attack.

"I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan but, many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device," Trump wrote in a social media post Thursday morning. "He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed."

Trump added that the execution can be viewed in person by the families of victims if they choose.

John Galligan, who has represented Hasan for years as his civilian attorney, said the cancellation of the livestream came "as no surprise." Galligan still criticized what he views as the administration's broader mishandling of the execution, adding that Hegseth made a "dumb decision" to "livestream any execution" since it "violated the Army's own regulation."

Public executions were once common in the U.S., but states began restricting and abolishing the practice in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries. The last widely recognized public execution was carried out in Kentucky in 1936.

Last week, Hegseth vowed to make the execution public and confirmed it would be livestreamed. But Trump and his advisers earlier this week were mulling whether to no longer livestream Hasan's execution, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News, amid a hesitancy over whether broadcasting the execution could super charge anti-American propaganda or reflect poorly on the U.S.

Vice President JD Vance said last week that he wasn't sure whether there would be a livestream, adding that he wouldn’t watch it if there were.

Many lawmakers -- including several Republicans -- spoke out against the livestream. Outgoing Republican Sen. Thom Tillis condemned the livestream plan last week saying that, "Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America."

Eight in 10 Americans say that Hasan's execution should not be livestreamed, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos' KnowledgePanel out Thursday morning.

Reaction from Fort Hood shooting survivors

Alonzo Lunsford, a sergeant who had served in the Army since 1990, was among those injured in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. Hasan shot him seven times -- including in the head and in the stomach.

Lunsford said that receiving the news that the Pentagon would not livestream Hasan's execution was "a sigh of relief," calling the administration's reversal a "very smart choice."

"We show that we’re a better nation and a better people than to livestream something like that," Lunsford told ABC News. "Even though what [Hasan] did and why he did it is messed up, it shows that we can rise to the occasion to be better than him or anyone like him."

Keara Torkelson was a 21-year-old Army specialist preparing to deploy to Iraq when Hasan shot her at Fort Hood. A shot to her back and a bullet grazing her skull led to medical complications and her ultimate retirement from the Army.

Torkelson said "removing the livestream is the right decision."

"Justice doesn’t need to be broadcast to be real, and the victims and survivors shouldn’t have to relive any part of this through a public spectacle," Torkelson told ABC News.

"For those of us who lived through Nov. 5, 2009, this is so much more than a headline or a political debate. It’s part of our lives and our story that we continue to carry. I believe there is a way to acknowledge accountability and justice while still honoring the lives lost, the survivors, and the families who have lived with the aftermath for nearly 17 years."

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The war in Ukraine has continued to rage in the days after President Donald Trump declared an energy ceasefire there, with Russia targeting civilian and energy infrastructure as the U.S. applies pressure on Kyiv to halt attacks on oil refineries in Russia, which Trump says are to blame for the high price of diesel fuel.

As the president's announcement of a partial ceasefire Sunday -- covering energy infrastructure in both countries -- failed to yield any limits to the fighting, he continued to apply public pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The U.S. government-owned satellite infrastructure used by Ukraine's military for drone navigation and air defense on Wednesday was not operating at its normal functionality, raising concerns that American support for Kyiv was ebbing.

Zelenskyy said on a British television program Wednesday that his country was "losing a strong partner" in the United States, days after he said his military did not receive critical early warnings from partners of attacks that it had come to expect.

Six people were killed in strikes in Ukraine on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said.

A defense ministry official in Kyiv said overnight Wednesday that restrictions placed on Starshield, a satellite communications network owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX but contracted for use under terms set by the Pentagon, "disrupted" a number of "critical missions" in Ukraine.

A Ukrainian source said the restriction gave the Russians "real leverage on [the] frontline" by inhibiting the military's ability to defend against jet-powered Shahed drones. As the hours passed Wednesday, the Starshield limits began to loosen, but remained a concern for Ukraine.

The source said SpaceX did not warn Ukraine of the move or answer questions about the rationale for the halt.

Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, said on Wednesday that "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government" and "any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately [President Trump.]"

The White House, Pentagon and SpaceX did not respond to ABC News' requests for comment.

'Only hurts Ukrainian forces,' analyst says

George Barros, an open-source analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said "US decisions to throttle [Starshield] only harms Ukrainian forces on the defense in Ukraine," noting that Ukrainian forces have never been permitted to use the SpaceX networks for strikes deep into Russia.

"This decision will significantly degrade Ukraine's mid-range strike capability -- a key driver of Ukraine's recent battlefield momentum in 2026," he said in a post on X.

Intelligence sharing from military to military is America's primary contribution to Ukraine's war effort, analysts said, providing key early warnings for Russian strikes and targeting information.

Trump said Tuesday that intelligence sharing was continuing as usual.

A Ukrainian source in Kyiv on Wednesday said warnings did come overnight Wednesday -- but they were late.

European allies of Ukraine would look to fill any gap left by a U.S. drawback on intelligence sharing, but two European officials acknowledge there would still be a gap in Ukraine's intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.

The battlefield impacts come amid tensions between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents -- and between negotiators working on a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Trump says Ukraine causing 'a world problem'

Trump has insisted the two sides stop targeting energy infrastructure, but he has focused in particular on Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil refineries. Over the weekend he struck a deal with Moscow to release diesel exports into global markets.

Trump said on Saturday Ukraine should not "hit the refineries, because that's [caused] a world problem."

After a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Trump said he would authorize a Treasury Department license for the export of Russian diesel, overriding existing sanctions.

Gregory Brew, an energy analyst at the Eurasia Group, said the deal -- which would facilitate the export of some 74,000 barrels a day of diesel, a fraction of the amount Russia exported less than a year ago -- was motivated by Trump's domestic political calculations.

"All of this is being driven by the administration's desire to bring down fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections to try to improve Trump and the Republicans' outlook in that vote," Brew said. "So this is all being driven, I would say, largely by short-term considerations geared around energy prices and the midterm election outlook."

U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators, including Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, met Friday about a potential peace framework in Miami, where tensions rose over the arrangement with Russia.

Made aware of the forthcoming announcement from Trump, Ukrainian negotiators cut the meetings short, according to a source familiar with the Miami talks.

Looking for leverage

Two days after the Miami talks, Trump on Sunday said Ukraine and Russia did agree to a ceasefire on energy targets, but neither side corroborated the claim. A U.S. official told ABC News Trump's announcement was driven by his frustration with the Ukrainian president to compromise on an energy truce.

Zelenskyy has said he would order his military to abide by a truce only if Putin would do the same.

"If Trump really does want Zelenskyy to make concessions -- either to agree to this energy ceasefire or to permit this this diesel deal [with Russia], or to to bow to a broader deal that is maybe a little bit more favorable to Russia -- he's going to look for ways to to exercise that leverage," Brew said, referring to a potential curtailing of intelligence sharing.

The Kremlin has also been mum about the ceasefire, with Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying the diesel deal and a broader peace agreement were on separate tracks.

Peskov reiterated what he called Moscow's consistent position "that we do not want a ceasefire" but instead "want lasting peace."

Trump's pressure campaign on Kyiv may be aimed at facilitating his diesel deal with Russia, Brew said.

"I would imagine that the Russian requirement for this deal to move forward is a halt to attacks on refineries," he said. "Russia needs its refineries to be operating under ideal circumstances in order to ramp back up diesel exports."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Wednesday that Ukraine remained ready to enter into a ceasefire, conditional on Russia laying down its arms simultaneously. Tensions with the Americans were not new, he said, recalling a Trump outburst in the Oval Office a month into his presidency, when he scolded Zelenskyy publicly.

"In less than two years, Ukraine has gone from 'You don't have the cards' to 'Don't play your cards,'" Sybiha said Wednesday.

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Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris on Tuesday appeared to lose his cool during a gaggle with reporters, singling out a journalist and threatening her with legal consequences if she recorded him on video.

"You do not have my permission to record. If you record, we will refer you to prosecutors," Harris told the reporter in a video captured by a Baltimore Banner photojournalist following his debate against Democratic opponent Dan Schwartz in Cambridge, Maryland.

"Everyone in here is recording," responded the reporter, identified as Cat Murphy, a data reporter at Capital News Service. "Why am I not allowed to?"

"But you are not allowed to," Harris responded. "We are in a two-party state. You are not allowed to."

Harris had just left the contentious debate in which some in the audience interrupted him with laughter as he tried to blame Democrats for the high price of diesel.

"You're rude," he said angrily, pointing to a woman in the audience. 

Harris, who is seeking a ninth term in the House, repeatedly referenced Maryland's all-party consent law, the Maryland Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act, which makes it unlawful for any person to "willfully intercept ... any wire, oral, or electronic communication" -- a felony subject to imprisonment for not more than five years and/or a fine of not more than $10,000.

But the law protects only private conversations, not situations such as a public official conducting a news conference with accredited journalists where the participants have no reasonable expectation of privacy, a Maryland labor and employment attorney said.

Joyce Smithey, managing partner of the Smithey Law Group in Annapolis, said Harris was "misapplying" the two-party consent law.

"A congressman speaking to journalists in a press conference has no reasonable expectation that his remarks are private," Smithey said. "Other reporters were openly recording. The fact that he expressly withheld consent from one journalist does not transform an otherwise public exchange into a private conversation. There is no basis under Maryland's two-party consent law for suggesting that the journalist was committing a crime simply by recording that exchange."

The video shows at least eight journalists participating in the gaggle with the congressman and Murphy told ABC News Wednesday she is credentialed through a gallery at the U.S. Capitol. The debate last night did not require press registration, Murphy added.

"With all due respect, this is a public forum," another reporter told Harris as the quarrel continued.

"Do you know the law?" Harris retorted, growing agitated. 

"I'm not a lawyer," the journalist admitted before questioning the congressman's credentials. "Are you? You're a doctor."

"Yeah, actually, I'm a legislator," affirmed Harris, an anesthesiologist by trade. "Yeah, I actually, I actually know the law well."

When Murphy attempted to steer the clash back to her questions about U.S. military hostilities with Iran, Harris looked around for law enforcement and called for an officer.

"You said that it could have gone smoother and it could have gone better. What did you mean by that?" Murphy asked regarding the congressman's comments on Iran during the debate.

"Take her camera. You're going to take her camera. She is violating the law. In fact, get an officer in here. She's violating the law on two-party, two-party recording," Harris stammered. "We need an officer."

The unidentified reporter again spoke out in Murphy's defense, contending that Maryland's two-party consent law applied to telephone communications.

"Audio and video have to have two-party approval in Maryland," Harris insisted. "Now they may not have to have it in Washington D.C. They have to have it in Maryland. She needs my approval to record."

"We are in public," Murphy insisted.

Harris didn't wait for an officer to respond to his pleas and pushed his way out of the room. 

"She's ruining all your chances to get an answer about anything," Harris bemoaned. "See y'all. Thank her. Thank -- thank her profusely!"

ABC News attempted to seek comment from Harris on Wednesday but has not received a response.

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A federal judge continued to block the Trump administration's move to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly's preliminary injunction orders the defendants to continue to preserve the status quo while the case proceeds.

The preliminary injunction was sought by the media organizations.

It follows a temporary restraining order the same judge issued last month blocking Trump's attempt to ban the news organizations from the White House.

"We are grateful that the Court ruled in favor of our clients CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO and secured access to the White House for these news media organizations and their journalists,” Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr., attorney for CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO, said in a statement obtained by ABC News.

“When the President issued his ‘ban on the free press,’ he blatantly and explicitly violated due process and the First Amendment. Since then, the President has repeatedly, candidly, and consistently admitted in public that he banned our clients from the White House to punish reporting he doesn’t like and to try to force journalists to cover him in ways he prefers,” Boutros Jr. added.

“The harm this ban did to our clients, the First Amendment, and the public as a whole is profound. The Court was right to enjoin the White House from enforcing this ‘unconstitutional ban on the free press’ for the foreseeable future," said Boutrous Jr.

Last month, CNN, MSNOW and Politico requested a temporary restraining order to restore their reporters' access to the White House complex after Trump instituted the ban. In the lawsuit, the news organizations called Trump's decision at "direct assault on the First Amendment" and a "blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles."

Trump said in a social media post in September that the "Media Outlets shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they're covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America."

The Department of Justice defended the ban, citing specific stories from each outlet that it claimed violated "standards of professionalism and decorum" by “trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information."

Justice Department lawyer Michael Velchik last month argued that President Trump has broad authority to remove outlets based on national security determinations and the letters sent to the media organizations provided sufficient due process to justify revoking their passes.

"Access to the White House is a privilege, not a right," Velchik said.
 

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President Donald Trump and his advisers are mulling whether to no longer livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. 

The discussions come amid a hesitancy over whether broadcasting the execution could super charge anti-American propaganda, particularly among Islamic-extremist groups, or simply turn the execution into a spectacle that reflects poorly on the U.S, the sources said.  

Some officials, the sources said, have raised concerns about the optics of broadcasting an execution, particularly one in which a firing squad would shoot a paralyzed man confined to a wheelchair.

Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down during an exchange of gunfire with police during his 2009 rampage. 

Last week Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to make the execution public and confirmed it would be livestreamed. The Pentagon maintains the livestream is moving forward, with a defense official saying Tuesday in a statement: "The Secretary is correct. It will be live streamed. Details will follow."

Multiple people familiar with the planning described concerns behind the scenes about the video being used as propaganda by extremist groups.

Hasan told Army officials after his arrest that he had hoped to die during the attack and become a martyr and said he would still consider himself a martyr if he were executed, court records show. 

The president has asked a number of advisers and allies to weigh in on whether the Pentagon should move forward with livestreaming the execution. During discussions, a range of ideas have been floated, sources said.

Among the options being weighed is broadcasting the period immediately before the execution and cutting away before the firing squad shoots Hasan, an official familiar with the planning described. Another option being discussed is positioning the camera outside the execution area, potentially showing Hasan being brought in without broadcasting his death. 

When asked about the livestream last week, Trump said, "They're making a determination about that," but agreed either way Hasan should die.

The White House has not yet returned a request for comment. 

Additionally, Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson have said they wouldn't watch the execution. Opposition or hesitancy has been less focused on Hasan's death sentence which has broad support among Republicans, but on the decision to broadcast it. 

CNN was the first to report the debate among Trump and his advisers about whether to go through with the livestream.

On Nov. 5, 2009 Hasan, then an Army psychiatrist, opened fired on clusters of troops in a building at Fort Hood, killing 12 and wounding 32 others. He was sentenced to death in 2013 and has been incarcerated at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. 

Hasan described his attack as an act of jihad against American troops for the wars being waged in Iraq and Afghanistan which he viewed as immoral. 

The military has not executed a death-row prisoner since 1961, when the sentence was carried out by hanging.

The Army had been preparing since at least February for the possibility of executing one or more of its four death-row inmates, including Hasan, but those plans centered on lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where the Justice Department carried out a series of executions during Trump's first term.

Hegseth's announcement last week that Nidal Hasan's execution would be livestreamed caught Army planners by surprise, according to three officials familiar with the preparations, adding another complication to an execution the service is already scrambling to organize.

The Army has not carried out an execution by firing squad since 1945 and is still developing procedures for doing so, including determining how many shooters would participate and what type of chair would be used to secure Hasan. 

Lethal injection had been the service's only authorized means of executions since the 1980s until a 2023 rule change granting the Army secretary broad authority over the methods which death row inmates are executed. 

The last public execution in the U.S. was in 1936 in Kentucky.

Public executions were gradually outlawed by some states beginning in the 19th century and has long become taboo across much of the developed world. They remain in practice in North Korea, Iran and the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. 

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The White House has asked U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign, White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said during a press briefing Tuesday morning.

"We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign," said Zacharia during her first briefing as White House press secretary. "She has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well."

A reporter later asked whether the president had spoken to Guilfoyle, but Zacharia only said that the president would take more questions when he departs the White House later Tuesday morning for Alaska.

In a social media post, Guilfoyle announced that her time in her post is "coming to an end." It is not clear from the post whether she resigned or was fired.

"It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve the United States of America. God bless President Trump, God bless our incredible diplomats and service members, and God bless the United States of America," Guilfoyle wrote.

Guilfoyle, the former wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and ex-fiance of Donald Trump Jr., held the ambassador position for nearly a year.

The announcement comes after a report that Guilfoyle allegedly offered a donor to President Donald Trump access to top administration officials in exchange for cash.

Eric Deters -- a former lawyer, conservative media personality and Trump donor -- alleged that Guilfoyle asked him to pay her $100,000 credit card bill in July 2025, days before her Senate confirmation hearing. Deters provided messages to ABC News he says he exchanged with Guilfoyle on the subject.

Wall Street Journal first reported on Deters' accusations that Guilfoyle's alleged actions were a quid pro quo.

Guilfoyle's attorney disputed the messages' authenticity to the Wall Street Journal, but did not provide specifics. ABC News reached out to Guilfoyle and her attorney on the matter, but did not receive a response.

Asked whether he was considering firing Guilfoyle on Monday, Trump said he was.

"We're looking at it. Yeah, we're not happy," Trump said.

A series of controversies have surrounded Guilfoyle's ambassadorship, including a report earlier this week in the Wall Street Journal that she boasted about private jet trips that were bankrolled by Greek businessmen.

Guilfoyle responded to the recent allegations against her in her Tuesday social media post.

"These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity," Guilfoyle wrote. "I have dedicated my professional life to fighting for justice, standing up for what is right, and defending the values that make America exceptional. I will not allow false accusations to define my decades of public service."

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Athens earlier responded to the reports, saying that Guilfoyle has "faithfully followed State Department ethics and gift reporting guidelines."

Last week, Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called for Guilfoyle to be removed from her post after reports of her misconduct.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, visiting Greece last week, was seen with Guilfoyle by his side during official meetings. The secretary refused to comment on the swirling reports, saying he didn’t know if they were true or not.

ABC News' Jay O'Brien contributed to this report.

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A federal judge repeatedly pressed for answers Monday during an hourslong hearing on who within the Trump administration ordered the abrupt removal of hundreds of trees at a Washington, D.C., public golf course over the weekend.

District of Columbia Judge Ana Reyes angrily scolded government attorneys in a hearing to block the government from cutting down more trees at East Potomac Golf Course.

"I am just at a total loss to understand what has happened here," Reyes said.   "Occam's razor time -- that the government precisely intended to do precisely what it has done, which is intentionally delaying letting the plaintiffs in the court know what was happening, so they could put a plan in place to clear hundreds and hundreds of trees."

The golf course has been the subject of litigation brought by the D.C. Preservation League in response to President Donald Trump's efforts to turn it into a course that could host professional tournaments.

Government attorneys had previously pledged to provide notice to plaintiffs in the case about any irrevocable harm that would occur at the golf course through government actions.

The government provided notice to the plaintiffs at 4:55 p.m. last Friday that tree-cutting would occur at the golf course over the Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day holiday weekend.

The National Park Service began cutting down trees on Saturday and the D.C. Preservation League, one of the plaintiffs in the case, filed for a temporary restraining order on Sunday.

Marissa Ann Piropato, a Justice Department attorney admitted to the court in Monday's hearing that 430 trees were cleared over weekend. 

Reyes exploded, "430 trees!"  

"I had said at the May hearing that I didn't want 10 trees chopped down without someone having notice," Reyes said. "On what universe did anyone in your office think that that was acceptable?"

"Your Honor, we did our best in providing notice," Piropato said.

"You did not do your best!  You did your absolute worst!," Reyes interrupted.

"More than just being upset and furious right now, I am just beyond disappointed in the government. I have done everything humanly possible to give the government the benefit of the doubt in this case. I have done it repeatedly. I have done it for months," Reyes vented. 

The government testified that the plan to cut down trees was part of a plan put in place in 2019 to remove dead, dying and hazardous trees around the golf course. 

Judge Reyes, noticeably frustrated by the government's conduct, ordered that government witnesses who could explain the how the decision to conduct tree removal with such minimal notices appear before the court immediately, including National Park Service Deputy Director Frank Lands.

Government  lawyers scrambled to locate NPS personnel to appear remotely under oath.

"No one else can say what the basis of the urgency was and when this idea was first identified, because we are talking now with potential multiple misrepresentation to the court and the only reason -- the only reason I have not yet entered a show cause on contempt is that I never put this in a formal order," Reyes said. "Which, believe you now, I am regretting."

Reyes extended a temporary restraining order she had issued earlier Monday barring the government from any further activity at the golf course until at least Tuesday afternoon.

Reyes also said she would be holding another hearing Tuesday to demand answers from Greg Wischer, a political appointee at the Interior Department who has been a point person on many of Trump's major D.C. beautification projects. 

Reyes says she wants clarity on who specifically gave the orders to remove the trees on Saturday and whether it was a deliberate effort to evade her previous orders issued in the case as litigation remains ongoing. 

"The questions go to whether or not I've been lied to," Reyes said during Monday's hearing. "Whether I've been lied to in declarations about the plans, whether or not I've been lied to about the timing of things ... I am beyond disappointed in the government right now. I wanted you all to be better than you have been."

Reyes had warned Justice Department lawyers of "serious consequences" if the administration began major work at the course without getting approval and notifying the court in advance.

"I'm going to say this one more time, and I do not want a situation where something has happened and then I'm being told by the government or by a foundation or by a bulldozing company that it's too late to do anything about it," she said. "If anything like that happens ... there are going to be serious consequences."

Trump promises the course, which he said will be renovated and redesigned through a public-private partnership, will be "one of the Greatest Golf Courses anywhere in the World" on the site and said it will be open to the public.

Trump toured the course in June with golf course architect Peter Fazio and his son Gavin Fazio and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for "studying the dilapidated, worn out, and very dangerous and outdated Golf Course known as East Potomac Golf Links." He said on his social media platform "on this fantastic site, with water and unparalleled views of D.C.'s Monuments, we will build one of the Greatest Golf Courses anywhere in the World which, importantly, will also be made available to the Public."

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President Donald Trump answered he's "looking at" firing Kimberly Guilfoyle when asked about the embattled U.S. ambassador to Greece on Monday.

Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a campaign rally that his administration is "looking at it" and added that it's "not happy" over reports alleging that she used her official position and links to the Trump family to get money from a donor. 

A Trump donor told ABC News last week that Guilfoyle offered access to top Trump officials in exchange for cash.

Eric Deters, a former lawyer, conservative media personality and Trump donor, alleged that Guilfoyle asked him to pay her $100,000 credit card bill in July 2025 -- days before her Senate confirmation hearing.

"It was all quid pro quo," Deters claimed about the request from Guilfoyle, who is the former wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and ex-fiance of Donald Trump Jr.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on Deters' accusations.

Deters provided messages to ABC News he says he exchanged with Guilfoyle on the subject. In one message from that period, Deters alleges Guilfoyle wrote, "Honey please I need you to get this done for me today," which Deters alleged was in reference to the desired credit card payment.

ABC News has reached out to Guilfoyle, her attorney and the U.S. Embassy in Greece for comment and have not heard back.

In a statement released late Sunday, Guilfoyle's lawyers claimed that the money she was seeking was for appearances and speaking engagements that predate her nomination that have not been paid, according to The Associated Press.

Deters denies he owed Guilfoyle any money. He said he ended up not making the payment because he didn’t have the money.

Deters is considered a controversial character in Kentucky politics. He ran for Kentucky governor in 2023 and to represent Kentucky's 4th Congressional District in the House in 2024; he lost both races in the primaries.

A former lawyer, Deters had his law license suspended in 2012 for actions in multiple cases including comments he made about a judge and improper solicitation of a possible client. In refusing to reinstate Deters' law license in 2021, the Kentucky Supreme Court said he had a "notorious propensity" for filing "malicious or frivolous lawsuits," according to court documents.

In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. embassy in Greece said Guilfoyle's "career in and out of public service is guided by deep and abiding values" and "the Ambassador remains committed to representing the American people with dedication and integrity."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he wouldn't answer questions about Guilfoyle's alleged conduct last week while departing Athens, Greece.

"I don't even know if it's true or not true," Rubio said. "So it's just not going to work that way, and it will certainly not going to work that way when I'm sitting in another country."

But White House and State Department leadership have held discussions on how to address the allegations against Guilfoyle, including possibly dismissing her, according to two sources familiar with the matter. 

Both sources cautioned, however, that no final decision had been made; one source said the the president would have final say over any action. 

Several officials close to Rubio have expressed their frustration with Guilfoyle, whose reported misconduct loomed over Rubio’s high-profile visit to Athens last week. Guilfoyle was present throughout the secretary’s program in Greece, even appearing at some events that she had not been invited by the State Department to attend, one U.S. official said. 

The official said that the State Department’s inspector general is examining claims of possible misconduct by Guilfoyle, but it is unclear if a formal probe has been launched and the department has declined to publicly comment on any investigation.

ABC News' Jay O'Brien contributed to this report.

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President Donald Trump doubled down Monday on his decision to allow Russian diesel imports amid growing backlash, calling it the "right choice" and arguing that Europe has previously purchased energy products from Russia as well.

Trump said in a Monday morning social media post that the "European Union paid Russia 250 Billion Dollars for Energy" and added, "I made the right choice for the American People — ALWAYS, AMERICA FIRST!"

Trump did not specify the period covered by $250 billion figure. Estimates from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air tracking how much the EU has spent importing fossil fuels from Russia since the start of war with Ukraine roughly align with the figure Trump mentioned.

Trump's comments come after a small group of bipartisan senators came out against the Trump administration's plan to lift Russian oil sanctions and import a new supply amid spiking prices in the U.S. The senators, in a statement on Sunday, urged the administration to reverse its decision due to the ongoing war with Ukraine and ban on Russian energy imports.

"The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians. The Administration must immediately reverse course," the senators wrote in the statement.

Trump announced on Friday that he made a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to immediately import 300,000 tons of its diesel fuel, with a promise that millions more are coming.

The statement was signed by Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, John Curtis and Lisa Murkowski as well as Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden.

The senators also argued the move violates a 2022 law banning Russian energy imports and opens the door to allowing Russia to potentially benefit financially on its war against Ukraine.

"President Trump's decision to allow Russian diesel imports to the U.S. runs directly counter to that law. The Administration has also failed to consult with Congress or submit any explanation to justify its decision as required by statute," the senators wrote in the statement.

In April 2022, Congress passed the Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act, banning imports of Russian energy products. While the law does allow the president to lift the ban under certain conditions, it requires a justification to Congress before doing so, which the senators argue did not happen.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply criticized the decision, too, saying in an interview with ABC News over the weekend that the deal amounts to an "obvious weakness."

"It plays into Russia’s hands -- allowing it to kill more, wage war for longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world," he said. "We count on America's fair support for our defense of life, for our defense of people in Ukraine -- and on the United States having a correspondingly strong conversation with Russia. A strong one, not a weak one."

Trump's decision comes weeks after he signed the bipartisan Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which authorizes tariffs on countries that continue to purchase Russian oil. Now, some senators, such as Tillis, say Trump's recent action runs counter to the efforts in the legislation.

"I completely reject it," Tillis said on NBC’s "Meet The Press" on Sunday. "If President Trump wants to end the strain of energy supplies, number one, get things right in Iran, and number two, recognize that it was Vladimir Putin, not Zelenskyy, that started this war. And it's Vladimir Putin who owns the responsibility for energy prices to the extent that they come from that part of the world."

Tillis said the agreement to purchase Russian diesel is "essentially, I think, tarnishing Lindsey Graham's efforts to try and get those sanctions bill through."

However, other Republicans are continuing to stand by Trump, including House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who is a vocal supporter of Ukraine and previously voted to establish sanctions on Russia.

Emmer told ABC News' "This Week" co-anchor Jon Karl on Sunday that the deal was "another example of our president thinking out of the box" to address the American public's concerns about high oil and gas prices by importing fuel to the U.S. ahead of the midterm elections.

"He's listening to the American people, Jon. The American people are hurting because of this world market when it comes to diesel and fuel in general,” Emmer said.

Emmer also hailed the deal as another tactic in Trump's attempt to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

"I think this is just another step of trying to get that resolved," he said.

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After President Donald Trump demanded that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil refineries, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy defended the attacks in an exclusive interview with ABC News, saying his country is responding to repeated Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

"I said it to President Trump … to his team and to his people several times: we want peace, we are ready for [a] ceasefire, we are ready to begin from any kind of steps of de-escalation," Zelenskyy told "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl. "And if the Russians want us not [to] attack their diesel, their refineries and etc., we are asking President Trump, give them signal not attack energy infrastructure of Ukraine."

He went on, "Don't attack us. Don't kill our children. We will stop attack[ing] your diesel. And I think it's [a] fair, fair deal."

After Zelenskyy’s interview on ABC News aired, Trump said on social media that Ukraine and Russia had both agreed to an energy ceasefire.

“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” his post said.

Zelenskyy and his office were not informed about Trump’s statement of an energy ceasefire with Russia ahead of time and learned about it from social media, a senior source in Ukraine's presidential office told ABC News.

The source said Ukraine has no information about the alleged agreement.

On Saturday, Trump lashed out at Zelenskyy to reporters, claiming the Ukrainian president "chooses not to" end the war with Russia, which began when Russia invaded the sovereign country in February of 2022.

Amid a global energy crisis, Trump took issue with Ukraine's repeated strikes on Russian oil refineries, asserting that those strikes are exacerbating the price of diesel.

"We said you could do whatever you want to Russia, don't hit the refineries, because that's a world problem that's caused. And [Zelenskyy] wants to make problems for the world," Trump said. "He can do whatever he wants. But you can't do that because we have a world problem. And the problem is caused by the lack of refineries for diesel fuel. So what does he do? He goes and hits refineries."

A senior Ukrainian source told ABC News that Ukraine expects the Trump administration to stop sharing U.S. intelligence that tracks Russian missile launches in retaliation over Kyiv’s refusal to end strikes on Russia’s oil industry.

Trump and Zelenskyy have had a tumultuous relationship. In 2025, a meeting in the Oval Office with reporters devolved into a shouting match before the cameras, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance rebuking the Ukrainian president for his handling of the war and even falsely blaming Zelenskyy for beginning the conflict.

The latest spat comes after Trump announced the U.S. had made a deal with Russia to "immediately" import 300,000 tons of its diesel fuel, with a promise that millions more are coming.

Zelenskyy said this deal amounts to an "obvious weakness."

"It plays into Russia’s hands – allowing it to kill more, wage war for longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world," he said. "We count on America’s fair support for our defense of life, for our defense of people in Ukraine – and on the United States having a correspondingly strong conversation with Russia. A strong one, not a weak one."

Less than 24 hours later, Trump called for Zelenskyy to be replaced.

"You know what I suggest? I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal. Because he could have made many deals. And for some reason, he never does," Trump said on the White House South Lawn. "I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president."

He later told reporters, "I think he should have an election."

Responding to those comments, Zelenskyy told Karl, "With all respect to President Trump, it's up to our society, up to our people to choose one or another leader."

Zelenskyy also offered a solution that he said was shared with the Trump administration: a commitment to hold elections if Russian President Vladimir Putin abides by a 60-day ceasefire.

“I know that Putin wanted very much to change the president in Ukraine, I understand it. And if President Trump really wants to have some changes in -- during elections, I also shared it with his team: please tell Putin, give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organize elections. Of course, we will be ready for any choice of our people.”

Karl asked Zelenskyy why he thinks Trump and Elon Musk, whose Starlink internet is essential for Ukraine, are blaming him for the war’s continuation. Musk said Saturday on X that Zelenskyy has “gone too far.”

“Because these people can't find a key how to stop Putin,” Zelenskyy said. “Because it's more simple to speak about the prices and connect it with Ukraine when everybody in the world understands ... prices are rising … because of the war in Middle East, of the blocking of Hormuz, because of these reasons. Everybody understands it.”

Asked how long Ukraine can continue to defend itself as the war approaches five years, Zelenskyy said the war has to end.

“I hope that we will save this unity, Europe and the United States," he said. "We will defend ourselves because otherwise, we will lose our life and homes, our freedom, independence, Ukraine. Yeah, we can't lose it. And the truth is on our side."

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In an extraordinary ramping-up of his ongoing efforts to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, President Donald Trump has ordered a committee to investigate mortgage fraud allegations against her, culminating in a closed-door, in-person hearing at the White House next month.

The move, laid out in a memo signed by the president and announced on Friday, creates a three-person "committee of inquiry" to hear the charges against Cook and allow her an opportunity to respond at the Nov. 5 hearing.

"Governor Cook shall appear at the hearing and be examined by the Committee, its representatives, and her legal counsel, if any," Trump's memo states.

No president prior to Trump had ever attempted to remove a Federal Reserve governor in the 112-year history of the central bank. The law allows for a governor's removal "for cause," but that term is not defined in the statute.

Trump's memo directs the panel to provide him with "written findings of fact and conclusions of law," along with a recommendation of "whether there is cause to remove Governor Cook."

The committee will be composed of top Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas and Keith Sonderling, the acting director of the Office of Government Ethics.

Trump's memo sets the terms of the panel's review and allows Cook to "present argument, written evidence, and written witness statements regarding the evidence and allegations."

The announcement of the hearing comes more than three months after the Supreme Court rejected Trump's initial attempt to fire Cook, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing for a divided court that a final decision on Cook's dismissal could only be made after she "has had the opportunity to respond to the charges made against her."

Cook sued Trump to block his ill-fated attempt to fire her last year over the mortgage fraud allegations, insisting she has committed no wrongdoing. Her attorneys claim Trump’s attempt to oust her was based on her refusal to lower rates.

Lawyers for Cook said in a statement that they have "grave doubts" that the hearing will prove to be legitimate and legal.

"But if it is anything close to objective, the conclusion will be that Governor Cook did not commit mortgage fraud, leaving no cause to remove her from the Federal Reserve Board," Cook's attorneys, Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen, said in their statement.

Cook's lawyers says they're evaluating whether the process laid out by Trump’s order "has a possibility of being a genuine one and not simply a box checking exercise."

"Governor Cook welcomes the opportunity to present the facts so she can clear her name and demonstrate there is no legal basis to fire her," the attorneys said.

Trump's order says the hearing will be closed to the public but transcribed.

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The leader of the "764" network, which seeks to exploit minors online, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to sexually exploit minors.

For nearly four years, Prasan Nepal, 21, also known by the online moniker “Trippy,” led the network, which operated as "a nihilistic violent extremist network" and "engaged in a wide range of criminal conduct across the United States and abroad — including coordinated efforts to exploit minors, extort vulnerable victims, and inflict psychological harm as part of an organized ideology promoting chaos and societal destabilization," the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia said in a news release.

Nepal used encrypted apps to exploit minors through "rules," which were needed for the child to join the so-called network, and leaders would force minors "to engage in self-mutilation, online and in-person sexual acts, harm to animals, sexual exploitation of siblings and others, acts of violence, threats of violence, suicide, and murder," according to the news release.

ABC News reported in May that the FBI was conducting 250 investigations across the country tied to 764 and similar networks. In the six months since, the FBI has opened at least 100 more investigations, it said.

Nepal and his co-conspirators used child sexual abuse material to trade with other members of the group, and Nepal took advantage of at least eight minors as young as 13, U.S. Attorney Jeannie Pirro said.

“This case exposes a world where cruelty is currency, violence is entertainment, and children are treated as targets in a game of domination and control,” Pirro said. “What Nepal and his co‑conspirators built was not just a criminal operation, it was a deliberate campaign to corrupt the vulnerable and dismantle the guardrails of civilized society. Today’s plea is a victory for every child they sought to harm, and a warning to anyone who believes they can hide behind an encrypted screen: we will find you, and we will stop you.” 

Nepal faces between 15 and 30 years in prison and is expected to be sentenced in May 2027.

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Bernadette Greene-Placentia, a Democratic candidate for Congress who said she was raped while fixing a campaign sign in August, told ABC News on Thursday that she was motivated to speak up because of the arguments she was making on the campaign trail. 

"I was talking to some seniors about fighting for reinstating and funding the [Veterans Administration] and fixing Social Security, actually addressing the issues" amid federal government cuts or healthcare changes that impacted them, Greene-Placentia told ABC News Live anchor Kyra Phillips.

"It just crossed my mind at that point -- like, wow, I'm kind of being a hypocrite because I'm saying I'm going to fight for Arizonans. I'm going to fight for these folks, but I'm not fighting for women who've been victims of sexual assault, and that's just not how I was raised," she said. "So afterwards, I told my husband and my team, I was like, this is really going to suck, but I have to speak up."

Greene-Placentia, a former truck driver who is running in the state's 8th District to try to unseat Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh, told Phoenix New Times, a local news outlet, in a story published Wednesday that she was attacked around 2 a.m. as she was walking toward a campaign sign in a parking lot north of Phoenix. She said she had been subdued and then woke up to find that she was being raped by an unknown assailant.

Greene-Placentia told the news outlet she reported the assault to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, which confirmed to ABC News that a report was filed on Aug. 31 and that there is an ongoing investigation, but said the office could not comment further on the investigation.

She told ABC News on Thursday that she thinks it was a "crime of opportunity" and that she was not necessarily targeted, but she mentioned that her face is on campaign signs and "I'm pretty sure they knew who I was. Whether it was for political reasons or whatever, I mean, it was an attack on a woman, and no woman should be targeted, regardless of whether it's for political reasons or just because they're predators." 

It hadn't initially worried her to go out so late to fix campaign signs. 

"I mean, I have about 4 million miles across the country, and, you know, I've learned how to take care of myself ... it's just easier to do it [fix signs] at night. And usually I would go out with my husband or a staffer or a volunteer. But if I saw one that was just hanging by the rebar or somethin. ... I never heard [the attacker] coming," she said.

"And it's frustrating to me because I like to think I have pretty good situational awareness, but obviously when someone deliberately sneaking up on you, it's hard to defend yourself."

Greene-Placentia said she does not remember coming home and has little memory of the next day, although said there is video of her landlord in the driveway.

"She saw me standing out there, and I guess I was just literally, like, staring off into space or something. And she's like, Bernadette, Bernadette, are you Ok? Are you Ok? And I just looked, you know, horrible."

She said she did not say anything to her campaign staff at first, and took a few days before she told her husband.

Asked what she wants voters to know about her in addition to her taking her story to Capitol Hill, Green-Placentia told ABC News she wants voters, including survivors of sexual assault, to know she was going to "fight" for them.

"I want people to know that I'm going to stand up. I'm going to fight for you. I'm going to fight for everybody because -- I got into politics, I gave up a career I loved, because I felt like there weren't people like me, like the average American," she said. 

"Our voices were not being represented, and that's from the working class. That's from women that have been victims of sexual assault. That's our seniors, our veterans, our teachers, and they need to know that they have somebody that lives the same life they do, that has shared experiences, and will take that to D.C. and represent them fairly, transparently."

She also said she understands where women who don't speak up about being assaulted are coming from, even though she used to be someone who was more judgmental of people who shared their stories. 

She brought up the 2018 hearings where professor Christine Blasey Ford accused then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Kavanaugh emphatically denied the allegations and was eventually confirmed to the court.

"I am a little ashamed to admit that I was one of those people. You know, like during the Kavanaugh hearings, for example, I was like, 'Why did she wait so long? If he was out doing this to her, he's going to do it to somebody else.' But let me tell you, that is so hard to acknowledge to yourself that somebody took your power away from you, that they stripped you of your bodily autonomy, and you know overpowered you with physical strength, and you don't want to admit that."

She added, "I was a truck driver. I was tough. I was in a male-dominated industry as an owner-operator and built up a small fleet. You know, how could I let this happen to me? I didn't want anybody to know. I just wanted to move on, and I can certainly understand why women don't want to tell that their story or what happened. But I also realized that as long as I don't say anything, then they maintain what -- they took that from me, and I wanted to take it back. And speaking out and speaking up for other women -- that is me taking it back."

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Vice President JD Vance on Thursday announced the suspension of tech giants, Microsoft and Adobe, from a green card program -- effectively blocking the companies from sponsoring H-1B visa workers for permanent residency green cards.

The suspension is from the PERM program -- a certification that allows employers to hire a foreign employee to work permanently in the U.S.

Vance singled out Microsoft, accusing the company of fraud.

"So if the H-1B visa is how the people get into the country, the PERM program is how they stay in the United States to begin with," Vance said. "Now there has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused the system more than Microsoft."

In a statement to ABC News, Microsoft said it "succeeds as a global technology leader by developing the world’s best technology workforce. We do this by strengthening this country’s talent pipeline, hiring American workers, and attracting the best talent from around the world."

Critics of the PERM program have said it allows companies to recruit foreign workers, taking away jobs from Americans. Vance alleged Microsoft employees were laid off -- later replaced by "foreign indentured servants" who "are earning wages that are far below the average for American citizens."

"So, in the last year, Microsoft -- and I want to be clear about the data here, so let me check this -- but Microsoft laid off last year 6,000 American workers," Vance said. "At the same time, the company benefited from 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards."

"In other words, if you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants."

Microsoft said in a statement that "the vast majority of Microsoft employees in the United States are Americans."

It also pushed back on Vance's comments, saying it "only files H-1B petitions for those who meet the rigorous standards of this visa category."

"We pay our employees some of the highest compensation in the tech sector, and our wages are among the highest of all H-1B filings. We pay our H-1B employees the same as any other employees doing comparable work," the statement continued.

The criticism of Microsoft came hours before President Donald Trump awarded Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the Medal of Technology and Innovation during an event at the Institute of Peace on Thursday.

Trump lauded Nadella at the ceremony, saying he has been "a key figure in the transformation of Microsoft, revolutionizing the company and empowering businesses, students and consumers from all over the world with some of the most capable software ever built or ever even conceived."

Vance acknowledged the contradiction of honoring Microsoft's CEO the same day as his announcement.

"Microsoft is a great American company, and we have a great relationship with them. They do a lot of important things," Vance said. "So we're going to continue to support Microsoft and have a great relationship with Microsoft, but we're also going to deny them the ability to apply for these permanent residencies until they show that they are going to get serious about putting American workers first."

ABC News has reached out to Adobe for comment.

Asked how long the suspension will be in place, Vance said it will "last as long as it needs to" and added that the administration has "a number of tools to suspend it indefinitely" if needed.

Vance, who has been asked to lead the administration’s Anti-Fraud Task Force, also criticized the H-1B visa program as a whole, saying it has become "rife with fraud" in recent years.

"The H-1B visa program is meant to allow companies to bring in really the best of the best from outside the United States of America for positions that are completely impossible to fill with American workers. Unfortunately, the program has become rife with fraud over the last several years, probably the last several decades," Vance said.

Attorney General Todd Blanche also chimed in about the issue of "foreign labor favoritism," promising that companies will be investigated if they "discriminate against an American worker in favor of someone on the other side of the world," with Blanche saying this "violate[s] the trust of the federal government and the American people."

"The Department of Justice, my department, is actively investigating companies that do this that favor foreign workers over the American people,” Blanche said.

Inspector General of Labor Anthony D'Esposito also announced that the Department of Labor is conducting a "historic investigation into the J-1 visa fraud involving nine major American universities: Pitt, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Brown, UC Davis, CaltTech, Arizona State, and MIT," with investigations already underway, he said.

"If an American university is breaking the law to save a dollar, while exposing American research to a foreign adversary, that is not academic excellence. It's institutional betrayal," D'Esposito said.

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The execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major who killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, will be live-streamed, a Pentagon official told ABC News on Thursday.

Hasan, who described the attack as an act of jihad, is scheduled to executed by firing squad on Dec. 3 at the same base where he committed the attack.

Public executions were once common in the U.S., but states began restricting and abolishing the practice in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries. The last widely recognized public execution was carried out in Kentucky in 1936.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a media interview that Fort Hood was chosen because that was where Hasan carried out the attack and that the 1 p.m. execution time was selected to roughly coincide with when the shooting began.

President Donald Trump ordered the Army to execute Hasan, which would be its first execution since 1961, and to do so by firing squad. The military has not used that method since 1945 and no longer has a modern procedure for administering it.

The choice of a firing squad forced the Army to abandon months of planning built around a very different kind of execution. Internal documents reviewed by ABC News show that officials had been preparing to use lethal injection if Trump authorized the execution of one of the four prisoners on the service’s death row.

Trump’s approval last Friday came only days after the botched lethal-injection execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee, who survived. Pike had been sentenced to death for her role in a 1995 murder.

John Galligan, a retired Army colonel and former military judge at Fort Hood, has represented Hasan for years as a civilian attorney and said he spoke with him Wednesday.

Hasan represented himself during his court-martial but Galligan remained involved in his legal counsel. He told ABC News that Hasan was notified late at night that Trump had approved the execution and that no defense attorney was present when he received the notice.

Last year, the Supreme Court declined to review Hasan’s court-martial conviction. However, Hasan could still seek habeas corpus relief in federal court, potentially delaying the execution.

Following his conversation yesterday with Hasan, Galligan said filing for a habeas petition is “a distinct possibility,” but that they have not yet made a final decision on how they will proceed.

Galligan criticized the Army for scheduling the execution close to the earliest date allowed under its regulations saying officials are, “pushing to get this done at earliest time possible.”

He was especially critical of the decision to carry out the execution at Fort Hood, citing medical concerns for how Hasan, who is paralyzed and in a wheelchair as a result of military officers who subdued him during the shooting, will be transported to the facility. Hasan is currently imprisoned at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Army rules require an execution to be scheduled between 60 and 150 days after presidential approval, placing Hasan’s execution almost as early as the rules permit.

Galligan said that Hasan’s demeanor was calm after receiving the news of Trump’s approval of his execution Monday, but that he was surprised when Galligan told him that the execution would take place at Fort Hood.

“I'm surprised and shocked that they want to bring him back to Fort Hood. I think it's more of a public spectacle, closely akin to almost, I see it more as political theater,” Galligan said, adding that making the execution public is, “not great for the confidence in our system of justice.”

Hegseth’s push for Hasan’s execution

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, has pushed for Hasan’s execution for much of his tenure, according to two U.S. officials, but his focus on the case predates his time at the Pentagon.

In 2015, during an appearance on Fox News making the case that troops should be permitted to carry weapons on military bases, Hegseth invoked the Fort Hood shooting. “We are at war. Islamics are at war with us,” he said.

A decade later, in his role as Pentagon chief, Hegseth made his position on Hasan more explicit. “I am 100% committed to ensuring the death penalty is carried out for Nidal Hasan,” he told The Hill in September last year. “The victims and survivors deserve justice without delays.”

Internal documents reviewed by ABC News show that, since at least February, Army officials were developing a plan dubbed “Operation Resolute Justice.”

That plan envisioned lethal injection if the president authorized an execution in Terre Haute, Indiana, at the same prison complex where a series of federal executions happened during Trump’s first term.

From the mid-1980s until 2023, lethal injection was the default method of Army executions, until their rules were rewritten to give the Army secretary broad authority as to execution methods.

A military court can impose a death sentence, but carrying it out requires a separate chain of civilian approval. The service secretary, in this case acting Army Secretary Adam Telle, who has been in the job for about a month, must first sign off. The decision then goes to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth before ultimately reaching the president, who has the final authority to approve the execution.

How the Army has conducted firing squad executions

Among the unanswered questions are how the Army will select the soldiers who would serve as executioners and how it will train them for a task the military has not carried out in more than a half-century.

The Army’s most detailed procedures for carrying out an execution by firing squad date to 1959 and have not been updated since. The Army is quickly developing a new procedure on conducting firing squad executions, according to a service official.

But under those old execution rules, a condemned prisoner would be given consistent access to a chaplain, and, when practical, reasonable final requests, according to documentation reviewed by ABC News.

The execution itself called for eight riflemen led by a senior enlisted soldier armed with a pistol. The firing squad would take up position in a straight line, 15 paces from the prisoner, whose wrists and ankles would be restrained. A chaplain could remain with the prisoner up until the final moments before the shooting is ordered.

Between one and three of the eight rifles would be loaded with blanks, and the shooters would select their weapons at random. The prisoner would be dressed in a military uniform stripped of awards, insignia and other markings.

After being given an opportunity to make a final statement, the prisoner would be hooded and a medical officer would place a four-inch target over the heart. The chaplain and medical officer would then move away.

The firing squad would be ordered to aim and fire simultaneously. If the prisoner survived, the rules called for the senior enlisted leader of the firing squad to approach with their pistol, aim above the prisoner’s ear and fire 12 inches from the head.

It is unclear how closely the Army will adhere to those decades-old procedures in Hasan’s case, or how they might be adapted for a prisoner who is paralyzed and uses a wheelchair.

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