A group of Republican senators is pushing back against an effort supported by some of the airline industry to create a government blacklist of violent and disruptive passengers.

"Creating a federal 'no-fly' list for unruly passengers who are skeptical of this mandate would seemingly equate them to terrorists who seek to actively take the lives of Americans and perpetrate attacks on the homeland," the senators wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland dated Monday.

Nearly 500 unruly passenger incidents have been reported in the first six weeks of 2022, Federal Aviation Administration data show, for a total of more than 6,400 since the start of 2021. About two-thirds of the reports this year allege violations of the federal mask mandate. The FAA said Wednesday it has referred a total of 80 incidents to the Justice Department to consider criminal prosecution.

The spike in incidents has airlines calling for a government-coordinated "no-fly list" for passengers who create in-flight disturbances. Proponents say it would be separate from the existing government-run list that is part of the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database.

Airlines may ban an unruly passenger from their own flights, but competition rules mean that information is not shared with other carriers. CNN broke news of the industry's ask to the government in September, and Delta Air Lines renewed the request this month in a letter to the Justice Department.

The Senate group says they "strongly condemn" the violence, but urge the Justice Department to reject the request.

"The creation of this list by DOJ would result in a severe restriction on the ability of citizens to fully exercise their constitutional right to engage in interstate transportation," they wrote, and said the matter should be decided by Congress.

The letter was signed by Republican Sens. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Mike Lee of Utah, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Marco Rubio of Florida, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Ted Cruz of Texas, John Hoeven of North Dakota and Rick Scott of Florida.

A major flight attendant group responded sharply to the letter. Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants, called it "irresponsible and political brinkmanship that puts our economic security at risk right along with our lives."

"We've been punched, kicked, spit on, and sexually assaulted," Nelson wrote. "We urge the FAA, TSA, and DOJ to come together to implement a plan with due process to keep dangerous flyers on the ground."

CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested to CNN last fall that a federal no-fly list for violent airplane passengers "should be on the table," and he told CNN last week that federal authorities were still "looking at" such policy recommendations.

But, he acknowledged, "there are enormous implications in terms of civil liberties, in terms of how you administer something like that. I mean, even when it was over terrorism, it was not a simple thing to set up."

Frustration over mask mandates

There have been multiple in-flight disruptions in recent days. Two passengers were charged this week with interfering with flight crew members after attempting to open aircraft exits in flight. In one of those incidents, four passengers helped American Airlines crewmembers subdue a passenger armed with plastic utensils and a wine bottle who was pulling on a door handle.

Buttigieg declined in a recent CNN interview to say whether the mask mandate will be allowed to expire in mid-March or whether it might be extended or lifted earlier.

"When we have the guidance saying that is the right thing to do, I will be as relieved as any traveling American that we can move on to the next phase," he said.

The FAA's announcement that it has referred 80 incidents since the start of last year to the Justice Department marks about a doubling of referrals since President Joe Biden called for an increased role for the Justice Department in October. In November, the FAA said it had referred 37 cases for prosecution.

Not all cases can be referred for prosecution and many of the cases referred to the FBI for criminal review involve physical assault on crew or passengers, and sexual assault or harassment cases on a passenger or crew, a FAA spokesperson said.

The FAA called the issue a priority and said the agency, along with the FBI, are "continuing to work together so unruly passengers face criminal prosecution when warranted." The Transportation Security Administration is also revoking expedited screening privileges through the PreCheck program in some cases, the agencies said.

For the first time in history, a beluga whale, which normally lives in arctic waters, was spotted off the coast of Southern California. Now there's an investigation under way to find out where it's going and why.

Drone video taken by Gone Whale Watching owner and Captain Domenic Biagini, or "Captain Dom" in San Diego shows the Beluga happily swimming thousands of miles from home.

Something like this has never been recorded before. Never has this animal been seen off the coast of San Diego, and never this far south in the Pacific Ocean.

Biagini charters sight seers and also takes drone images. He's still in disbelief about the beluga footage he captured.

“Imagine I’m outside at my house in Southern California and I walk out and there’s a polar bear walking down the street. It’s that unusual, it does not make any sense that this whale would be here,” Biagini said.

He said it all started when a friend of his called about the rare sighting. “She called me on the radio and said, ‘Dom we just saw a 15 foot pearly white animal with no dorsal fin.’ I said, ‘Lisa, are you trying to tell me you have a beluga whale in San Diego waters?’”

She wanted his drone expertise because she couldn't quite believe it either. So, he went and they all sat quietly. Watching and waiting for the whale to resurface. After some time it came back up and looked right at the drone.

Captain Dom said the moment was emotional. “I started to get the shakes a little bit because I realized I was going to film this, it was going to happen, I was going to get there in time and I realized how historic this moment was - not just for San Diego but for whale watching as a whole, worldwide.”

And then he got worried. What was it doing here and so far from home? The beluga whale looked healthy enough and while incredible, now what?

Dr. Alissa Deming is the Director of Clinical Medicine at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California. “One of the questions as a veterinarian that we have, is why did he decide to leave his habitat? That could be an indication of something wrong, his ability to navigate his environment.”

Normally, she said, belugas live in the Cook Inlet of Alaska. They're an endangered species and they're social. They usually travel together.

From the looks of the images, Dr. Deming said the whale is older and it is abnormal that he's alone. His skin looks good and he's not thin, so hopefully he's still getting the food he needs.

But, the whale is still too far away from home and researchers are concerned, and are now looking for it.

“It's definitely searching for a needle in a haystack, a little white needle I guess. A lot of time public reporting and whale watching companies can call things in which is how this was opportunistically sighted. NOAA can put planes up or have the US Coast Guard help on a search but there’s so much water we don’t know which direction this animal went,” Dr. Deming said.

The worry is that it's headed south towards Mexico. Waters are warmer there and the Beluga will be harder to track in international waters.

“We would like them to stay up in the Alaska region. As much as I love beluga whales, I don’t want to see them off our coast because that means there’s something really wrong with their normal habitat up there in Alaska,” Dr. Deming added.

For Captain Dom, who's had an incredible run of luck, spotting the beluga and recently five species of whale and four species of dolphin, it's a dream come true.

“It's so beautiful, belugas as white as they are in waters as blue as ours. That’s not something we see here; we don’t have animals that color in water as bright and sunny as ours.”

An incredible sight, one that's now recorded as historical, and one that everyone hopes to never see again. At least when it comes to belugas hanging out in sunny, Southern California.

A sprawling blast of winter weather across the U.S. is likely to blame for the deaths of two people in Texas, where an unusually snowy emergency Monday knocked out power for more than four million people, shut down grocery stores and air travel and closed schools ahead of frigid days still to come.

As nightfall threatened to plummet temperatures again into single digits, officials warned that homes still without power would likely not have heat until at least Tuesday, as frustration mounted and the state's electric grid came under growing demand and criticism.

“Things will likely get worse before they get better," said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in the county of nearly 5 million people around Houston.

Law enforcement reported two men were found dead along Houston-area roadways. Causes of death were pending, but officials said the subfreezing temperatures were likely to blame.

The toll of the worsening conditions included the delivery of new COVID-19 vaccine shipments, which were expected to be delayed until at least midweek. Massive power outages across Houston included a facility storing 8,000 doses of Moderna vaccine, leaving health officials scrambling to find takers at the same time authorities were pleading for people to stay home.

Temperatures nosedived into the single-digits as far south as San Antonio, and homes that had already been without electricity for hours had no certainty about when the lights and heat would come back on, as the state's overwhelmed power grid began imposing blackouts that are typically only seen in 100-degree Fahrenheit summers.

The storm was part of a massive system that brought snow, sleet and freezing rain to the southern Plains and was spreading across the Ohio Valley and to the Northeast. The Southwest Power Pool, a group of utilities across 14 states, called for rolling outages because the supply of reserve energy had been exhausted. Some utilities said they were starting blackouts, while others urged customers to reduce power usage.

“We're living through a really historic event going on right now,” said Jason Furtado, a professor of meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, pointing to all of Texas under a winter storm warning and the extent of the freezing temperatures.

State officials said surging demand, driven by people trying to keep their homes warm, and cold weather knocking some power stations offline had pushed Texas' system beyond the limits.

“This weather event, it's really unprecedented. We all living here know that," said Dan Woodfin, senior director of system operations at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. He defended preparations made by grid operators and described the demand on the system as record-setting.

“This event was well beyond the design parameters for a typical, or even an extreme, Texas winter that you would normally plan for. And so that is really the result that we're seeing," Woodfin said.

More than 500 people were hunkering down at one shelter in Houston, but Mayor Sylvester Turner said other warming centers had to be shut down because those locations, too, lost power.

The largest grocery store chain in Texas, H-E-B, closed locations around Austin and San Antonio, cities that are unaccustomed to snow and have few resources to clear roads. The slow thaw and more frigid lows ahead was also taking a toll on Texas' distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

State health officials said Texas, which was due to receive more than 400,000 additional vaccine doses this week, now does not expect deliveries to occur until at least Wednesday.

The weather also put existing vaccine supply in jeopardy. Rice University on Monday abruptly began offering vaccines on its closed Houston campus after Harris Health System told the school it had about 1,000 vaccines that “were going to go to waste," said Doug Miller, a university spokesman.

“The window was just a couple hours. They have to take care of it quickly,” Miller said.

Harris County officials said a facility storing the vaccines had lost power Monday and that a backup generator also failed. Hidalgo said she did not believe any vaccines were lost.

Caught without enough groceries on hand, Lauren Schneider, a 24-year-old lab technician, walked to a Dallas grocery store near her home Monday morning dressed in a coat, hat and face mask. Schneider said she didn’t feel comfortable driving with the roads covered in snow and ice. She said she hadn’t seen a serious snowfall in Dallas since her childhood.

“I really didn’t think it’s would be this serious,” Schneider said.

Teresa and Luke Fassetta, trundling through the snow carrying grocery bags, said the store lost power while they were shopping. The couple said they lost power overnight, then got it back around 9 a.m., and they were hoping it would still be on when they arrived home. If not, Teresa said, “we just have a bunch of blankets and candles and two cats to keep us warm.”

Several cities in the U.S. saw record lows as Arctic air remained over the central part of the country. In Minnesota, the Hibbing/Chisholm weather station registered minus 38 degrees Fahrenheit, while Sioux Falls, South Dakota, dropped to minus 26 Fahrenheit.

In Kansas, where wind chills dropped to as low as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas, Gov. Laura Kelly declared a state of disaster.

Most government offices and schools were closed for Presidents Day, and authorities pleaded with residents to stay home. Louisiana State Police reported that it had investigated nearly 75 weather-related crashes caused by a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain in the past 24 hours.

“We already have some accidents on our roadways,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said during a morning news conference. “It is slick and it is dangerous.”

Air travel was also affected. By midmorning, 3,000 flights had been canceled across the country, about 1,600 of them at Dallas/Fort Worth International and Bush Intercontinental airports in Texas. At DFW, the temperature was 4 degrees Fahrenheit — 3 degrees colder than Moscow.

In Houston, officials said Bush Intercontinental Airport runways would remain closed until at least 1 p.m. Tuesday, a day longer than previously expected.

The storm arrived over a three-day holiday weekend that has seen the most U.S. air travel since the period around New Year’s. More than 1 million people went through airport security checkpoints on Thursday and Friday. However, that was still less than half the traffic of a year ago, before the pandemic hit with full force.

The southern Plains had been gearing up for the winter weather for the better part of the weekend. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for all of the state’s 254 counties. Abbott, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson each activated National Guard units to assist state agencies with tasks including rescuing stranded drivers.

President Joe Biden also declared an emergency in Texas in a statement Sunday night. The declaration is intended to add federal aid to state and local response efforts.

___

Bleiberg reported from Dallas. Associated Press journalists David Koenig in Dallas, Juan A. Lozano in Houston, Rebecca Reynolds Yonker in Louisville, Ky., Kate Brumback in Atlanta, Margaret Stafford in Liberty, Mo., and Amy Forliti in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

Groundskeepers at Cobblestone Creek Golf Club in Oklahoma thought fast, grabbing a rope and rushing to help after two brothers fell into a frozen pond.

Video captured just a snapshot of the scary situation that unfolded Monday at the golf club in Norman.

“We’ve all heard of stories about how somebody falling in and not making it, and that wasn’t going to happen,” Tim Swann said.

Norman hit 64 degrees Monday, leaving the golf course snow-free and muddy. But the pond was still covered with ice.

The brothers originally chased after a golf ball onto the icy pond. The thin, melting ice broke, and they fell into the 12-foot-deep water.

Swann, along with two people named Natanael and Cecilio, jumped into action.

“We retrieved some rope and threw the rope out to him, and we pulled them both in at the same time,” Swann said. “Because, if we did it one at a time, his brother was getting pretty weak, and I didn’t know if he was going to last that long.”

You can hear someone yell “get the rope” in the video.

“When we couldn’t get the rope out to them initially, I was thinking I was going to have to jump in,” Swann said.

The brothers had gone under the water twice in 15 minutes. It took all three workers to pull the boys out.

“They were not in too good of shape. They were beat red, numb. Their entire body was numb because they’ve been in the water so long,” Swann said.

They brought the brothers inside to warm up, but it was the teamwork that saved them. It was another example that even if the ice looks solid, it’s better to assume it’s too thin to walk across.

The boy suffered hypothermia and loss of feeling in his fingers but is improving and doing well.

Police in Mesa, Arizona, are investigating after a father had to lunge to stop a gun from being pulled on his wife and himself during a business meeting.

The chaotic scene was caught on camera at Chef's Shared Kitchen in Mesa.

Watch the scene unfold in the video above.

Tom Toot, who is the life partner of the owner, but not an employee, was having an exit interview with Solomon Odubhao and his wife Brittney Myers. Toot told them he handled scheduling and operations for the kitchen.

They were being forced from the prep kitchen after being given 30 days notice, they told ABC15. The couple operates a food truck called 'WhachaCookin.'

During the meeting with Toot the conversation became tense. It is not currently known what was being said during the conversation.

"He told us we were contaminating their whole kitchen," Myers said.

"I was like, cool, I’m not going to tolerate no disrespect towards me or my wife," Odubhao said.

"Then he just reached for his gun," said Myers. "I immediately braced myself like, 'Oh my God, we are going to get shot.'"

"I went with my instincts," Odubhao said.

Odubhao leapt at Toot and grabbed hold of the gun before it could be removed. For about 11 minutes, Odubhao held onto the weapon while Myers called the police.

"I kept pleading on the 911 call, 'My husband is not the suspect. He’s African-American. He’s fighting the guy with a gun. His hand is on the weapon, but please whatever you do, do not shoot him,'" Myers said.

Police arrived and instructed both men to put their hands on their head. Toot was tasered.

Toot has been charged with aggravated assault, and is no longer allowed back at the scene.

In a statement sent to ABC15, Michelle Skura, the lawyer representing Toot, said:

"Mr. Toot enjoys the presumption of innocence under the 5th and 14th amendments of the US Constitution. As such the State has the burden of proof and not Mr. Toot to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the crime he is being accused of. Mr. Toot deserves the opportunity to defend himself and to be judged by a court of law and not the court of public opinion.

Candice is a business woman and Tom is disabled veteran, both of them have worked and served alongside people from all walks of life and have never discriminated against anyone regardless of race, sexual orientation or religious preference. Prior to this incident they had never been accused of being racist and are sickened by the allegation."

Watch the explosion in the video player above.

An "experimental explosion" triggered by the Navy about 100 miles off the Florida coast registered as a 3.9 magnitude earthquake on Friday.

The blast is known as a "shock trial," an explosion meant to test a ship's ability to withstand nearby detonations. The Navy was testing its new aircraft carrier — the USS Gerald R. Ford.

These types detonations have been purposely triggered for decades after the Navy discovered nearby explosions could knock out key systems on its vessels, even when they don't cause physical damage.

This marks the first time the Navy has conducted shock trials since it tested the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier in 1987.

Military officials say the tests are in compliance with environmental requirements that consider the migration patterns of marine life.

WOW! Man captures incredible images of pregnant bull shark

Updated: 6:15 AM EDT May 18, 2021

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NEW THIS AFTERNOON, A SOUTH FLORIDA DIVER CAME FACE TO FACE, WITH A GIANT SHARK WHILE DIVING OFF THE COAST. SUMMER: IMAGES SHOW THE MAN COMING DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO THE PREDATOR, WHO MAY HAVE BEEN PREGNANT. WESH 2’S SANIKA DANGE SHARES THAT PHOTOGRAPHER’S INCREDIBLE STORY. >> WE WERE DOING OUR DRIFT OFF SHORE SANIKA: 55-YEAR-OLD CAPTAIN JOHN MOORE >> THE CURRENT WAS RUNNING A STRONG HEADED NORTH. SANIKA: WAS TAKING ON A NEW DEEP SEA ADVENTURE. >> WE WERE FREE DIVING, SO THING WE’RE WEARING IS YOUR SNORKEL GEAR IN A WETSUIT WHEN HE HAD NO IDEA WHAT HE WAS ABOUT TO CAPTURE WOULD SOON GO VIRAL CAPTURING THE ATTENTION OF PEOPLE ALL AROUND THE WORLD. EVERY DAY IS DIFFERENT OUT THERE. SANIKA: WITH THE WATER TEMPERATURE BETWEEN 70 AND 80 DEGREES AND IMPECCABLE VISIBILITY HE SAW IT. FEEDING ON BAIT FISH OFF THE COAST OF JUPITER A MASSIVE BULL SHARK. OVERSIZED FOR ITS SPECIES. >> SHE WAS KINDA UNIQUE THAT SHE CAME POWERING RIGHT UP THROUGH THE OTHER BULLS. SHE WAS SUPER DOMINANCE IS KIND OF RIGHT IN THE FOREFRONT OF EVERYTHING. SHE WAS SWIMMING RIGHT UP TO MY MASK AND JUST KIND OF SIZING UP WHAT WAS GOING ON OUT THERE SHE WAS JUST SO IMPRESSIVE. SANIKA: MOORE CAME FACE TO FACE WITH WHAT APPEARED TO BE A PREGNANT SHARK. CLOSE ENOUGH TO SEE ITS RAZOR-SHARP TEETH AND YELLOW-TINTED EYES. FOR 45 MINUTES HE DRIFTED JUST INCHES FROM THIS APEX PREDATOR. >> SHE LOOKED LIKE SHE WAS READY TO POP SHE WAS ALMOST LIKE ROUNDS SHE WAS SO BIG. SANIKA: HIS CLOSE RANGE PHOTOS SHOW JUST HOW MASSIVE THE SHARK REALLY WAS. LOOK HERE YOU CAN SEE HOW TINY MOORE APPEARS NEXT TO THIS SHARK. MOORE STANDS 6FEET TALL. SO THAT GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF WHAT HE WAS FACED IT. >> A LOT OF PEOPLE HEAR THE WORD BULL SHARK AND THEY THINK SCARY INTIMIDATING PREDATOR. I DONT SEE THEM LIKE THAT AT ALL. SANIKA: FLORIDA HAS THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION OF LARGE SHARKS ALONG ITS SURROUNDING COASTLINE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE EAST COAST. BULL SHARKS ARE BELIEVED TO BE ONE OF THE MOST AGGRESSIVE SHARKS IN THE OCEAN. USUALLY BIG IN SIZE AND TRAVEL IN PACKS. BUT THIS WASNT YOUR TYPICAL BULL SHARK THAT COULD WEIGH OVER 1,500 POUNDS. OH NO, THIS FEMALE SHARK WAS MUCH LARGER. SO ITS A SPECIAL KIND OF PERSON WITH WHOLE LOT OF COURAGE AND A TAD BIT OF CRAZY TO CAPTURE A MOMENT AS MAJESTIC AS THIS. >> IT REALLY IS NOTHING. WHAT I DO I DONT SEE MORE DANGEROUS. THEN WHAT A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE DO. SUMMER: MOORE IS AN EXPERIENCED DIVER, PHOTOGRAPHER, AND CONSERVATION ADVOCATE WHO HOPES HIS WORK WILL BRING AWARENESS ABOUT THE SPECIES THAT MANY PEOPLE FEAR. MEREDITH: MANY IT WAS CALLED BECAUSE HE WAS CALM, I DON’T KNOW. IT ALSO LOOKED LIKE A GREAT WHITE, I’M SURPRISE IT WAS A BULL SHARK. SU

WOW! Man captures incredible images of pregnant bull shark

Updated: 6:15 AM EDT May 18, 2021

A South Florida diver came face to face with a giant shark.Images show the man, 55-year-old John Moore, coming dangerously close to the predator, which might have been pregnant."She was kind of unique in that she came powering right up through the other bulls. She was super dominant just kind of right in the forefront of everything. She was swimming right up to my mask," he said.For 45 minutes Moore drifted just inches from the shark."A lot of people hear the word 'bull shark' and they think scary, intimidating predator. I don't see them like that at all."Watch the video above for more on this story.

JUPITER, Fla. —

A South Florida diver came face to face with a giant shark.

Images show the man, 55-year-old John Moore, coming dangerously close to the predator, which might have been pregnant.

"She was kind of unique in that she came powering right up through the other bulls. She was super dominant just kind of right in the forefront of everything. She was swimming right up to my mask," he said.

For 45 minutes Moore drifted just inches from the shark.

"A lot of people hear the word 'bull shark' and they think scary, intimidating predator. I don't see them like that at all."

Watch the video above for more on this story.