LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Ala. —

A search is underway in north Alabama after a man charged with capital murder and a deputy transporting him to court went missing Friday morning.

Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office employee Vicki White, who is the assistant director of corrections, and inmate Casey Cole White have not been seen since 9:30 a.m. Friday when they left for an alleged court appearance. The sheriff's office said the deputy and suspect are not related.

The marked vehicle that the two left the detention center in was located in the parking lot of a shopping center in Florence around 11 a.m. Friday. Their direction of travel is unknown.

Investigators are looking for any video footage that may give more information on the situation.

In a news conference Friday evening, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said Officer White, who is an employee of 25 years, told the booking officer at the detention center that she was escorting inmate White to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation. After dropping the inmate off with other deputies, Officer White said she was going to seek medical attention for herself because she wasn't feeling well.

Around 3:30 p.m., the booking officer attempted to contact Officer White with no luck and her phone was going straight to voicemail. They also discovered inmate White never returned to the jail. Officials said they began investigating "aggressively."

Officials said the officer and the inmate never showed up to the courthouse and it has since been determined that the inmate did not have any evaluations scheduled. Local urgent care offices also have no record of Officer White visiting on Friday.

The sheriff added that it is a "strict violation of policy" for inmates with those types of charges to be escorted anywhere by one deputy, but they believe Officer White wasn't questioned because she is the head of operations and coordinates all transports.

"Knowing the inmate, I think [Officer White] is in danger whatever the circumstances," Singleton said. "He was in jail for capital murder. He has nothing to lose."

According to court documents, Casey White's capital murder charge stems from the "brutal death" of Connie Ridgeway at her Rogersville home in 2015. The capital murder charge also includes first-degree burglary.

If anyone sees the suspect or deputy, do not approach them and contact 911 immediately.

Cold french fries are bad enough. But cold, old french fries are even worse.

That's the surprise from Ronald McDonald that one Illinois couple stumbled upon during home renovations.

On April 16, Rob and Gracie Jones were doing work on their 1959 Crystal Lake home, located about 50 miles northwest of Chicago.

Suddenly, they found a decades-old McDonald's bag behind one wall.

"Rob was in the bathroom replacing the old toilet paper fixture," Gracie told CNN Wednesday, "As he pulled the fixture out, he noticed a rolled up piece of cloth bunched up inside the wall."

The couple had no idea they were about to discover decades-old fast food.

"At this point we're both looking at each other wondering if we'd be calling the police because we just uncovered evidence from a crime scene!" Gracie said, "We were very relieved to have just found the old McDonald's bag."

They then took the bag into their kitchen to carefully open it. Inside they found two hamburger wrappers and some half-eaten, decades-old french fries — that were crispy and brown.

"We saw the fries and were like, 'This is unreal.' How on Earth are these fries still in this bag and how are they preserved so well?! It was wild," Gracie added.

McDonald's fries are usually known for their salty scent, but the couple said there was no smell to these relics.

Gracie said they picked up a few of the fries and were surprised at how sturdy they were, despite their decrepit appearance.

Researching the logo on the bag they discovered, the couple learned it was used in McDonald's production from 1955 to 1961.

They also found out that one of the area's original McDonald's was built down the street from their home in 1959 — the same year their house was built.

The bag even contained the original mascot for the fast-food chain, Speedee.

CNN has contacted McDonald's about the unusual find, and is awaiting comment.

For now, the couple has the ancient meal in storage and aren't sure what to do with it.

"We'd be happy to sell it or if not, we'd probably keep it as a cool piece of history," Gracie said.

WASHINGTON —

The White House press corps' annual gala returned Saturday night along with the roasting of Washington, the journalists who cover it and the man at the helm: President Joe Biden.

The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, sidelined by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, featured Biden as the first president in six years to accept an invitation. Donald Trump shunned the event while in office.

“Just imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year,” Biden told an audience of 2,600, among them journalists, government officials and celebrities. “Now that would really have been a real coup.”

The president took the opportunity to test out his comedic chops, making light of the criticism he has faced in his 15 months in office while taking aim at his predecessor, the Republican Party and the members of the press.

“I’m really excited to be here tonight with the only group of Americans with a lower approval rating than I have," Biden said to the Hilton ballroom filled with members of the media.

Biden also made light of the “Let’s Go Brandon” slogan, which has become the right’s stand-in for swearing at the president.

“Republicans seem to support one fella, some guy named Brandon," Biden said, causing an uproar of laughter among the crowd. “He's having a really good year. I'm happy for him."

As far as roasting the GOP, he said, “There’s nothing I can say about the GOP that Kevin McCarthy hasn’t already put on tape.”

He also took a jab at Fox News. “I know there are a lot of questions about whether we should gather here tonight because of COVID. Well, we’re here to show the country that we’re getting through this pandemic. Plus, everyone has to prove they are fully vaccinated and boosted,” Biden said. “Just contact your favorite Fox News reporter. They’re all here. Vaccinated and boosted.”

In addition to speeches from Biden and comedian Trevor Noah, the hourslong event had taped skits from talk-show host James Corden, comedian Bill Eichner and even Biden himself.

“Thank you for having me here,” Noah said to Biden. “And I was a little confused on why me, but then I was told that you get your highest approval ratings when a biracial African guy is standing next to you.”

While the majority of the speech was filled with cutting jabs, Biden did make note of the important role journalism plays in American democracy, especially in the last decade.

“I mean this from the bottom of my heart, that you, the free press, matter more than you ever did in the last century,” he said. “You are the guardians of the truth.”

The dinner had other serious moments, with tributes to pioneer journalists of color, aspiring student reporters as well as a dedication to the journalists detained, injured or killed during the coverage of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The premier event for news media in Washington, the correspondents’ dinner mixed Washington journalists like CNN’s Jake Tapper and MSNBC’s Joy-Ann Reid with celebrities Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson, Brooke Shields, Caitlyn Jenner, Drew Barrymore and Martha Stewart. Among the large swath of government officials and other prominent figures was Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Accompanied by the first lady, the president came to the event while trying to strike a careful balance with the nation fatigued by the pandemic yet facing an uptick in infections. The ongoing national threat has struck closer to home for the president: Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive this past week and Dr. Anthony Fauci skipped the dinner for health precautions.

The U.S. was experiencing a COVID-19 case spike from a highly contagious subvariant of omicron, with confirmed infections rising to about 44,000 per day, up from 26,000 a month ago. Still, virus deaths and hospitalizations were near, or at, pandemic lows, with the BA.2 variant proving less severe than earlier virus strains.

In the wake of the recent Gridiron Club press dinner in Washington, dozens of attendees, including members of Congress and of Biden’s Cabinet and journalists, tested positive for COVID-19. The White House Correspondents’ Association said it was requiring same-day antigen testing for its dinner attendees even before the Gridiron outbreak, then added a vaccination requirement.

Biden, 79, decided to pass up the meal but turn up later for the program. While he planned to be masked when not speaking, a maskless president greeted award winners on the dais and could be seen smiling broadly during the dinner program.

The correspondents’ dinner debuted in 1921. Three years later, Calvin Coolidge became the first president to attend and all have since, except Trump. Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon opted not to attend every year of their presidencies, however, and Reagan, then recovering from an assassination attempt, missed the 1981 installment — but called in from Camp David.

“The thing I think this shows is the restoration to the health of the relationship,” Harold Holzer, author of the book “The Presidents vs. The Press” and the director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College in New York, said ahead of the dinner. “It’s still barbed, there are still tense moments. But that’s OK.”

WASHINGTON —

Former President Donald Trump’s businesses and inaugural committee have reached a deal to pay Washington, D.C., $750,000 to resolve a lawsuit that alleged the committee overpaid for events at his hotel and enriched the former president’s family in the process, according to the District of Columbia’s attorney general.

Attorney General Karl Racine announced the settlement agreement in the case against the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the Trump Organization and the Trump International Hotel in Washington in a tweet on Tuesday. The document had not yet been signed by a judge.

The agreement says the case is being resolved “to avoid the cost, burden, and risks of further litigation” and that the organizations “dispute these allegations on numerous grounds and deny having engaged in any wrongdoing or unlawful conduct.”

As part of the agreement, the defendants will pay the District of Columbia a total of $750,000, which will be used to benefit three nonprofit organizations, the settlement paperwork says.

“We’re resolving our lawsuit and sending the message that if you violate DC nonprofit law—no matter how powerful you are—you’ll pay,” Racine said in a tweet.

In a statement, Trump blasted Racine and noted that the settlement includes no admission of guilt or liability.

“As crime rates are soaring in our Nation’s Capital, it is necessary that the Attorney General focus on those issues rather than a further leg of the greatest Witch-Hunt in political history," Trump said. “This was yet another example of weaponizing Law Enforcement against the Republican Party and, in particular, the former President of the United States.”

Racine has said the committee misused nonprofit funds and coordinated with the hotel’s management and members of the Trump family to arrange the events. He said one of the event’s planners raised concerns about pricing with Trump, the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump and Rick Gates, a top campaign official at the time.

The committee has maintained that its finances were independently audited, and that all money was spent in accordance with the law. The committee raised an unprecedented $107 million to host events celebrating Trump’s inauguration in January 2017. But the committee’s spending has drawn mounting scrutiny.

Gates, a former Trump campaign aide who cooperated in the special counsel’s Russia investigation, personally managed discussions with the hotel about using the space, including ballrooms and meeting rooms, the attorney general’s office has said. In one instance, Gates contacted Ivanka Trump and told her that he was “a bit worried about the optics” of the committee paying such a high fee, Racine said.

Prosecutors say the committee could have hosted inaugural events at other venues either for free or for reduced costs but didn’t consider those options.

HAVANA —

A powerful explosion badly damaged a hotel in the Cuban capital on Friday and officials reported at least eight people had died.

The blast that ripped away large sections of the outer wall at the Hotel Saratoga, a 19th century structure in Old Havana, apparently was due to a gas leak, according to the Twitter account of the office of President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who went to the site.

It said at least eight people had been killed and that search and rescue efforts were underway for people possible trapped.

Photos showed much of the hotel's outer wall blown away, exposing interior rooms, with clouds of dust billowing into the sky.

A school next door had been evacuated.

Police cordoned off the area as firefighters and ambulance crews worked inside.

Photographer Michel Figueroa said he had been walking past the hotel when “the explosion threw me to the ground, and my head still hurts.... Everything was very fast.”

Yazira de la Caridad, mother of two, said the explosion shook her home a block from the hotel: “The whole building moved. I thought it was an earthquake,” she said. “I've still got my heart in my hand.”

Mayiee Pérez said she had rushed to the scene after receiving a call from her husband, Daniel Serra, who works at a foreign exchange shop inside the hotel. She said he told her, “I am fine, I am fine. They got us out,” but had been unable to reach him since.

The five-star, 96-room hotel in Old Havana has two bars, two restaurants and a rooftop pool, according to its website.

BUCHAREST, Romania —

Jill Biden heard heartbreaking stories Saturday from Ukrainian women and children who fled Russia’s war and found safe haven in Romania, with one mother telling the U.S. first lady of a harrowing escape after being holed up in a cramped, cold basement with her traumatized 8-year-old daughter.

Reaching Romania “was a game change for us,” Svitlana Gollyak of Kharkiv, Ukraine, told Biden in her native language during the first lady's tour of a Bucharest public school hosting refugee children. Gollyak said her daughter "feels much better here. ... No more tears and she adapted very nicely.”

Biden told Gollyak and the other women, “I think mothers will do anything for their children,” adding that they were “amazingly strong and resilient.”

Biden said her message to the families was “we stand with you.” During a craft activity, she watched as the children scrawled messages on paper cutouts of their hands. One young Ukrainian girl wrote, “I want to return to my father.” Biden later told reporters the girl’s words were “heartbreaking.”

The first lady praised the Romanian government and relief organizations for the range of humanitarian aid they are providing to refugees. At the school, the first lady — herself a teacher — saw how teachers are helping some of the approximately 900,000 Ukrainians who have fled to Romania since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

“Really, in a lot of ways, the teachers are the glue that help these kids deal with their trauma and deal with the emotion and help give them a sense of normalcy,” Biden said.

She added that she saw signs of hope for families who “felt that there was some structure to their lives and they were getting supplies. They all realized how much money the United States has been giving to Ukraine and to the refugee situation and to Romania to support the refugees.”

Most of the Ukrainians who have fled to Romania, mainly women and children, have moved on to other countries, but about 100,000 remain, officials said.

Earlier, Biden was briefed at the U.S. Embassy on the relief effort. Her visit to Eastern Europe comes as President Joe Biden is pressing Congress to pass an additional $33 billion in security and economic assistance for Ukraine.

Jill Biden called the show of solidarity “amazing" but also “just the beginning.” She said it was inspiring for Romanians “to welcome all these refugees into their homes and offer them food and clothing and shelter and give them their hearts.”

But she also cautioned that much more needs to be done by the U.S. and allies to assist Ukraine.

“We’re all hopeful, right,” she told reporters. “We wake up every morning and think ‘this has to end’ but it still keeps going on and on.”

About 7,000 Ukrainians cross the border and arrive in Romania daily, said Pablo Zapata, the Romanian representative for the U.N. refugee agency.

The United Nations, other agencies and the Romanian government are assisting refugees with food, shelter, education, health and mental health care, and counseling, among other services.

Biden asked specifically about the provision of mental health services and whether summer school was available to help refugee students catch up on their education. She said later that “the whole world is seeing that we need more mental health” assistance for the children and their parents.

The first lady is on the second day of a four-day trip to Romania and Slovakia, which shares a border with Ukraine, that is designed to showcase U.S. support for the refugees. Biden was scheduled to spend Sunday, Mother's Day, meeting with refugees in Slovakia and visiting a border village.

Biden had lunch with Romania's first lady, Carmen Iohannis, at her private residence. Iohannis, who accompanied Biden during the school visit, kept her job as an English teacher when her husband took office, just like Biden kept hers teaching at a Virginia community college.

The emotional thread to Biden's day continued after she arrived in Slovakia's capital. At her first stop, she left flowers at a memorial dedicated to Jan Kuciak, a 26-year-old investigative journalist, and his fiancee, who were assassinated in 2018. The case triggered a political crisis and brought down the country's government.

___

Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.

NEW YORK —

A federal grand jury has indicted a man suspected of shooting up a New York City subway train last month — an attack that wounded 10 people and rattled a city already experiencing a rise in violent crime.

The panel charged Frank James, 62, on Friday with committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. Both counts carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. The weapons count has a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence.

James was arrested on April 13, about 30 hours after authorities say he drove from Philadelphia and unleashed smoke bombs and dozens of bullets in a train full of morning commuters as it approached a Brooklyn station. The shooting victims ranged in age from 16 to 60; all were expected to survive.

Authorities said James's bank card, cellphone and a key to a van he had rented were found at the shooting scene. Police also said they found the handgun used in the shooting and traced it to James.

James is jailed without bail. An arraignment hasn't yet been scheduled, according to the U.S. attorney's office for New York's Eastern District.

A lawyer representing James at the time of his arrest cautioned not to rush to judgment and noted that James alerted police to his whereabouts. James was arrested in Manhattan's East Village after he called a tip line saying he was at a fast food restaurant in that section of the city.

A motive for the attack is unclear. In numerous rants he posted on YouTube, James, who is Black, made bigoted remarks about people of various backgrounds and railed against New York Mayor Eric Adams and complained about mental health care he received in the city years ago.

VANDERBURGH COUNTY, Ind. —

Casey White waived his extradition at a hearing Tuesday, paving the way for his return to Lauderdale County, Alabama, one day after being captured in Indiana.

White, who escaped from jail with the help of ex-deputy Vicky White, was taken into custody following a short police chase on Monday. Officials say Casey White surrendered and Vicky White may have ended her own life during the pursuit.

The arrests ended a nationwide manhunt that began April 29.

White appeared at the extradition hearing via video wearing a bright yellow prison shirt and pants, ankles and hands shackled before him. The judge told him he could waive extradition, telling him it "simply means you want to go back to Lauderdale County and get this resolved." The judge said if he didn't waive extradition, an extradition hearing would be held in 30 days, and authorities from Alabama would come to confirm his identity. The judge said the process would take up to six months.

"I'm waiving my rights," White told the judge. "I'm going back to Alabama."

Police chase

Authorities are releasing new details of the final moments of Monday's police chase.

As Casey White tried to drive away from pursuing officers in the southern Indiana city of Evansville, his passenger — the former corrections officer Vicky White — indicated during a call with police dispatchers she had a gun, a sheriff said Tuesday.

By the time the chase ended in a wreck and officers approached the car, Vicky White "was unconscious with a gunshot wound to her head, and (Casey White) gave up without incident," Dave Wedding, sheriff of Indiana's Vanderburgh County, told CNN on Tuesday.

Authorities preliminarily "believe that she may have taken her own life, but we will wait until the coroner's office examines the body to make a confirmation," Wedding said.

How it started

The manhunt began April 29 after Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections for the jail in Lauderdale County, told co-workers she was taking Casey White, who was awaiting trial in a capital murder case, from the jail for a mental health evaluation. There was no such appointment.

Casey White was serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other charges at the time of his escape. He was awaiting trial in the stabbing of a 58-year-old woman during a burglary in 2015. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Federal and local law enforcement officials also learned Casey White threatened to kill his former girlfriend and his sister in 2015 and said "that he wanted police to kill him," the Marshals Service said.

Video below: Surveillance footage shows missing Alabama deputy, capital murder suspect leave jail

A warrant was issued on May 2 for Vicky Sue White charging her with permitting or facilitating escape in the first degree.

Vicky White’s family members and co-workers said they were stunned. Singleton said it appeared the plan had been in the works for some time. Jail inmates said the two had a special relationship and she gave Casey White better treatment than other inmates.

In the past several months, she bought a rifle and a shotgun and also was known to have a handgun, Keely said. She also sold her house — for about half of market value — and bought a 2007 orange Ford Edge that she stashed at a shopping center without license plates.

"This escape was obviously well-planned and calculated. A lot of preparation went into this. They had plenty of resources, had cash, had vehicles," Singleton said.

On what Vicky White said would be her last day at work, video showed the pair went from the jail to the shopping center, where they picked up the Ford and left, Singleton said. Their flight was not discovered for much of the day.

CNN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Britney Spears made a devastating announcement Saturday.

The Grammy winner posted a joint message on her Instagram account, telling her fans she and her fiancé, Sam Asghari have lost their pregnancy.

"It is with our deepest sadness we have to announce that we have lost our miracle baby early in the pregnancy," Spears wrote. "This is a devastating time for any parent. Perhaps we should have waited to announce until we were further along however we were overly excited to share the good news. Our love for each other is our strength. We will continue trying to expand our beautiful family. We are grateful for all of your support. We kindly ask for privacy during this difficult moment."

The message was signed Sam and Britney.

Spears announced the pregnancy in April. The couple have been open about their desire to start a family. During her conservatorship, she testified she wanted to have a baby, but her conservators prohibited her from getting off birth control.

The singer is the mother to two teen sons with her ex-husband Kevin Federline.

LOS ANGELES —

A Los Angeles judge has ruled that California’s landmark law requiring women on corporate boards is unconstitutional.

Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis said the law that would have required boards to have up to three female directors by this year violated the right to equal treatment. The ruling was dated Friday.

The conservative legal group Judicial Watch had challenged the law, claiming it was illegal to use taxpayer funds to enforce a law that violates the equal protection clause of the California Constitution by mandating a gender-based quota.

David Levine, a law professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, said he was not surprised by the verdict. Under state and federal law “mandating a quota like this was never going to fly,” Levine said.

State Senate leader Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego, said the ruling was disappointing and a reminder “that sometimes our legalities don’t match our realities.”

“More women on corporate boards means better decisions and businesses that outperform the competition,” Atkins said in a statement. “We believe this law remains important, despite the disheartening ruling.”

The decision comes just over a month after another Los Angeles judge found that a California law mandating that corporations diversify their boards with members from certain racial, ethnic or LGBT groups was unconstitutional.

The corporate diversity legislation was a sequel to the law requiring women on corporate boards. The judge in the previous case ruled in favor of Judicial Watch and the same plaintiffs without holding a trial.

The law voided Friday was on shaky ground from the get-go, with a legislative analysis saying it could be difficult to defend. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed it despite the potential for it to be overturned because he wanted to send a message during the #MeToo era.

In the three years it has been on the books, it’s been credited with improving the standing of women in corporate boardrooms.

The state defended the law as constitutional saying it was necessary to reverse a culture of discrimination that favored men and was put in place only after other measures failed. The state also said the law didn’t create a quota because boards could add seats for female directors without stripping men of their positions.

Although the law carried potential hefty penalties for failing to file an annual report or comply with the law, a chief in the secretary of state’s office acknowledged during the trial that it was toothless.

No fines have ever been levied and there was no intention to do so, Betsy Bogart testified. Further, a letter that surfaced during trial from former Secretary of State Alex Padilla warned Brown weeks before he signed the law that it was probably unenforceable.

“Any attempt by the secretary of state to collect or enforce the fine would likely exceed its authority,” Padilla wrote.

The law required publicly held companies headquartered in California to have one member who identifies as a woman on their boards of directors by the end of 2019. By January 2022, boards with five directors were required to have two women and boards with six or more members were required to have three women.

The Women on Boards law, also known by its bill number, SB826, called for penalties ranging from $100,000 fines for failing to report board compositions to the California secretary of state’s office to $300,000 for multiple failures to have the required number of women board members.

Fewer than half the nearly 650 applicable corporations in the state reported last year that they had complied. More than half didn’t file the required disclosure statement, according to the most recent report.

Supporters of the law hailed it for achieving more gains for women. Other states followed California’s lead. Washington state passed a similar measure last year, and lawmakers in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Hawaii proposed similar bills. Illinois requires publicly traded companies to report the makeup of their boards.

Deputy Attorney General Ashante Norton said alternatives to a law mandating seats for women had been tried in California to no avail. In 2013, for example, the legislature passed a resolution to get companies to add women to their boards, but few did.

The Secretary of State’s office said 26% of publicly traded companies headquartered in California reported meeting the quota of women board members last year, according to a March report.

Half of the 716 corporations that had been required to comply with the law didn’t file the disclosure statements.

Sister station WGAL's 8 On Your Side team is following the most common type of scam in the country right now: text messages and emails with dangerous links in them.

Another example of a message to avoid was sent by a viewer.

It appears to be coming from a friend through Facebook Messenger.

It reads, "Look who just died" and includes a link. Your curiosity may tempt you to click the link to see who died. Don't do it.

It's not clear what will happen if you click on that link, but it's nothing good.

This message is just like a fisherman baiting a hook to catch a fish. Don't take the bait.

Numerous versions of scam

There are so many variations of these scam texts and emails that it would be nearly impossible to discuss every single one.

The best advice is to not click on any links in messages that appear to be suspicious and are coming from unfamiliar sources.

NEW YORK —

Major League Baseball suspended Josh Donaldson for one game Monday after the New York Yankees slugger made multiple references to Jackie Robinson while talking to White Sox star Tim Anderson during the weekend.

Donaldson also was fined an undisclosed amount for his actions Saturday at Yankee Stadium. The punishment was announced by Michael Hill, the senior vice president of on-field operations for MLB.

Donaldson has appealed the penalty, meaning he can continue to play until there is a final decision. Shortly before the suspension was announced, the Yankees said Donaldson had been put on the COVID-19 injured list.

“MLB has completed the process of speaking to the individuals involved in this incident. There is no dispute over what was said on the field. Regardless of Mr. Donaldson’s intent, the comment he directed toward Mr. Anderson was disrespectful and in poor judgment, particularly when viewed in the context of their prior interactions," Hill said in a statement.

“In addition, Mr. Donaldson’s remark was a contributing factor in a bench-clearing incident between the teams, and warrants discipline,” he said.

White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz didn't think the penalty was enough.

“Just one game. We all saw his malice at third a week ago, then this comment with the ridiculous excuse that followed. What’s the point or message behind a 1 game suspension? This is incredibly disappointing and plain frustrating,” Katz posted on Twitter.

The White Sox had a day off Monday. They are not scheduled to play the Yankees again this season.

Yankees star Aaron Judge said Donaldson made “a mistake."

“You know, joke or not ... I just don’t think it’s the right thing to do there, especially given the history, especially the series in Chicago, kind of a little bit of beef between JD and Anderson is one of the best shortstops in the game and a big part of MLB and what’s going on here and how we can grow the game,” Judge said.

“JD, for that one-game suspension, yeah I don’t know. JD made a mistake and owned up to it and now we got to move on," he said.

Judge, who leads the majors with 17 home runs after hitting two more Monday night in a 6-4 loss to Baltimore, said Donaldson spoke to the team after the incident.

“JD is a pro. So he talked to all of us and filled us in on what he was referring to about, I guess, a 2019 interview that TA did. But still I just don’t think it was the right move at all.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he disagreed with MLB's decision.

“I think they were thoughtful and did their due diligence on it and made what was a tough call. I don’t agree with it. I don’t think it warranted a suspension, but I certainly respect their process,” he said.

Donaldson said he twice called Anderson by “Jackie” — as in Robinson, who famously broke MLB’s color barrier in 1947 — during the Yankees’ 7-5 win on Saturday. The benches and bullpens emptied as tensions escalated.

Anderson, one of baseball’s leading Black voices and an All-Star shortstop, said it was a "disrespectful comment.” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said it was racist, and Anderson agreed.

“Basically, it was trying to call me Jackie Robinson. Like, ‘What’s up, Jackie?’” Anderson said after Saturday's game.

Donaldson, who is white, said he had used the “Jackie” reference in the past with Anderson, who had said he viewed himself as a potential modern-day Robinson in a 2019 interview with Sports Illustrated.

“My meaning of that is not any term trying to be racist by any fact of the matter,” Donaldson said Saturday.

Anderson and Donaldson, the 2015 AL MVP, did not speak with the media on Sunday, when the White Sox swept a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. Through a Yankees spokesman, Donaldson said he hadn't talked with Anderson since the incident.

Anderson started the second game and was booed by fans, with some chanting “Jackie” at him. He hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning of a 5-0 win and then put his finger to his lips in a hushing gesture as he rounded the bases.

Boone said he talked to Donaldson after Saturday’s game and believed his player’s explanation for why he made the “Jackie” remark — but he also said he thought Donaldson shouldn’t have used the term.

“I think with what’s going on between the two players and between the two teams over the last week or two, I certainly understand how that would be sensitive and understand the reaction,” Boone said. “I also understand Josh has been very forthcoming with the history of it and the context of it. So I don’t believe there was any malicious intent in that regard.”

“But this is just my opinion — (that’s) somewhere he should not be going,” he said.

Donaldson had clashed with the White Sox on multiple occasions before this weekend.

The benches also emptied on May 13 after Anderson shoved Donaldson following a hard tag in Chicago.

White Sox ace Lucas Giolito used an expletive in calling Donaldson a “pest” last year after Donaldson appeared to yell “Not sticky anymore!” after a first-inning homer for Minnesota — a reference to MLB cracking down on pitchers using sticky substances on baseballs.

The 36-year-old Donaldson is batting .238 with five home runs and 15 RBIs in 37 games during his first season with the Yankees.

Boone said Donaldson told the team he was experiencing symptoms, prompting the team to put him on the COVID-19 injured list. He had not been tested, Boone said.

Donaldson became the third Yankees player to go on the COVID-19 IL in the last two days. Before Sunday’s doubleheader, Joey Gallo and Kyle Higashioka were placed on the list.

UVALDE, Texas —

At least 19 children and two adults are dead following a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, about 85 miles west of San Antonio. The suspect is also dead.

• Nineteen children and two adults were killed in Tuesday's mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, according to Sgt. Erick Estrada of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
• President Joe Biden delivered an emotional call for new restrictions on firearms after a gunman opened fire at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday.
• The suspect, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, is dead and was likely killed by responding officers, Estrada said.
• Ramos is believed to have shot his grandmother before going to the school, three law enforcement sources told CNN.

Here's the latest:

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*All times Eastern

11:57 p.m.

Hours after the attack, families were still awaiting word on their children.

Outside the town civic center, where families were told to gather, the silence was broken repeatedly by screams and wailing. “No! Please, no!” one man yelled as he embraced another man.

10:17 p.m.

Authorities now say 19 children and two adults have been killed in a shooting at a Texas elementary school.

The latest figures come from Travis Considine, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. The gunman also died.

Authorities offered no names or descriptions of the two adults.

9:48 p.m.

The suspect, Salvador Ramos, had hinted on social media that an attack could be coming, noting that “he suggested the kids should watch out,” according to Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez.

Video below: 'Don't tell me we can't have impact on this carnage,' President Biden says in regards to Texas elementary school shooting

9:15 p.m.

Eighteen children and one adult were killed in Tuesday's mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, according to Sgt. Erick Estrada of the Texas Department of Public Safety, CNN reported.

Estrada did not provide any other information on the victims.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said earlier Tuesday "it is believed" that the shooter, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was killed by law enforcement. Estrada confirmed the suspect was killed.

Ramos is believed to have shot his grandmother before going to the school, three law enforcement sources told CNN.

Leer in Espanol

9 p.m.

University Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, said it is treating four patients from Robb Elementary School.

They are treating a 66-year-old woman in critical condition, a 10-year-old girl in critical condition, a 10-year-old girl in good condition and a 9-year-old girl in fair condition.

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8:50 p.m.

President Joe Biden delivered an emotional call for new restrictions on firearms after a gunman opened fire at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday.

"When in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?" Biden said at the White House shortly after returning from a five-day trip to Asia that was bookended by tragedy.

With first lady Jill Biden standing by his side in the Roosevelt Room, Biden added, "I am sick and tired. We have to act."

Just two days before Biden left on his trip, he met with victims' families after a hate-motivated shooter killed 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

The back-to-back tragedies served as sobering reminders of the frequency and brutality of an American epidemic of mass gun violence.

"These kinds of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world," Biden said. "Why?"

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was briefed on the shooting by deputy chief of staff Jen O'Malley-Dillon and other members of his senior team aboard Air Force One.

Shortly before landing in Washington, Biden spoke with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott from the presidential plane "to offer any and all assistance he needs in the wake of the horrific shooting in Uvalde, TX," White House communications director Kate Bedingfield tweeted.

7:45 p.m.

School officials in Texas released brief statements Tuesday night after the deadly shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell said his heart is broken.

"This was a tragic and senseless event today, and my heart is broke today," Harrell said. "My thoughts and prayers are with all our families."

7:15 p.m.

Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez told CNN that 18 children and 3 adults are dead and the suspect's grandmother was shot. Gutierrez said he was briefed by Texas state police.

Three people wounded in the attack are hospitalized in serious condition, Gutierrez told The Associated Press.

7 p.m.

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke out about the shooting Tuesday evening during a keynote address at the annual gala of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.

"Every time a tragedy like this happens, our hearts break," Harris said. "And our broken hearts are nothing compared to the broken hearts of those families. And yet it keeps happening. So, I think we all know and have said many times with each other, enough is enough."

President Joe Biden landed back in the U.S. after a five-day trip to Asia. He will speak later this evening.

6:14 p.m.

A Border Patrol agent who was working nearby when the shooting began rushed into the school without waiting for backup and shot and killed the gunman, who was behind a barricade, according to a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about it.

The agent was wounded but able to walk out of the school, the law enforcement source said.

The town of Uvalde, where the shooting happened, is about 75 miles from the border with Mexico.

6:07 p.m.

President Joe Biden issued an order for U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff to honor the victims of the shooting.

The order will last until sunset on May 28.

Video below: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's comments on the Texas elementary school shooting

5:33 p.m.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott released a statement on Twitter, calling the shooting a "senseless crime."

In the statement, the governor says, "Cecilia and I mourn this horrific loss and we urge all Texans to come together to show our unwavering support to all who are suffering."

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5:28 p.m.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the school shooting on Air Force One as he returns from a five-day trip to Asia and would continue to receive updates.

Jean-Pierre said Biden will deliver remarks Tuesday evening at the White House.

5:11 p.m.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said 18-year-old Salvador Ramos opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 15 people — 14 students and a teacher.

"He shot and killed, horrifically, incomprehensibly, 14 students and killed a teacher," the governor said.

The gunman was a resident of the community and entered the school with a handgun, and possibly a rifle, and opened fire, Abbott said. He said the shooter was likely killed by responding officers but that the events were still being investigated.

Video below: Authorities says Texas school shooter 'acted alone during this heinous crime'

4:45 p.m.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed during a press conference that the shooting suspect, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, is dead. Ramos shot and killed 14 students and a teacher, according to Abbott.

Abbott also said that two police officers were shot, but their injuries are not considered life-threatening.

A motive for the shooting is not known at this time.

4:31 p.m.

Two people were dead and more than a dozen children hospitalized as multiple medical centers cared for people injured in a shooting at a Texas elementary school, hospital officials said Tuesday. Police have said the suspected shooter is in custody.

Thirteen children were taken by ambulance or bus to Uvalde Memorial Hospital after an active shooter was reported at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, about 85 miles west of San Antonio, officials with the hospital said. The health of the children is unclear as is whether the dead are included in that count.

Another hospital, University Hospital in San Antonio, said a 66-year-old woman was in critical condition.

The nature and severity of the people's injuries wasn't immediately known, but the shooter was in custody shortly after 1 p.m., the Uvalde Police Department said.

The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District had said an active shooter was reported at Robb Elementary School, which has an enrollment of just under 600 students. Earlier, the district had said that all schools in the district were locked down because of gunshots in the area.

A Uvalde Police Department dispatcher said the scene was still active and that no other information was immediately available. School and city officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The district said that the city's civic center was being used as a reunification center.

Video below: Aerial shots of the scene

CNN contributed to this reporte

UVALDE, Texas —

Frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the Texas elementary school where a gunman's rampage killed 19 children and two teachers, a witness said Wednesday, as investigators worked to track the massacre that lasted upwards of 40 minutes and ended when the 18-year-old shooter was killed by a Border Patrol team.

Here's the latest:

• The father of a child who was killed in the attack says police were slow to move in and were unprepared.
• The 18-year-old shooter warned in online messages shortly before the shooting that he would shoot his grandmother and shoot at an elementary school, Gov. Greg Abbott said.
• President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he will travel to Uvalde, Texas, "in the coming days" to meet the families of the 19 children and two teachers killed in the shooting.
• Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke, who is running against Abbott for governor this year, interrupted the press conference, calling the shooting "totally predictable when you choose not to do anything."
• Several victims have been identified by family members. Among them are teacher Eva Mireles, 44; and students Uziyah Garcia, 8; Xavier Javier Lopez, 10; Amerie Jo Garza, 10; and Jose Flores Jr., 10.
• Officials say all of the victims were in the same classroom.
• The suspect, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, is dead.

---

“Go in there! Go in there!” nearby women shouted at the officers soon after the attack began, said Juan Carranza, 24, who saw the scene from outside his house, across the street from Robb Elementary School in the town of Uvalde. Carranza said the officers did not go in.

Javier Cazares, whose fourth grade daughter, Jacklyn Cazares, was killed in the attack, said he raced to the school when he heard about the shooting, arriving while police were still massed outside the building.

Upset that police were not moving in, he raised the idea of charging into the school with several other bystanders.

“Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to,” he said. “More could have been done.”

“They were unprepared,” he added.

Minutes earlier, Carranza had watched as Salvador Ramos crashed his truck into a ditch outside the school, grabbed his AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle and shot at two people outside a nearby funeral home who ran away uninjured.

Officials say he “encountered" a school district security officer outside the school, though there were conflicting reports from authorities on whether the men exchanged gunfire. After running inside, he fired on two arriving Uvalde police officers who were outside the building, said Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Travis Considine. The police officers were injured.

After entering the school, Ramos charged into one classroom and began to kill.

He “barricaded himself by locking the door and just started shooting children and teachers that were inside that classroom,” Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Department of Public Safety told CNN. “It just shows you the complete evil of the shooter.”

All those killed were in the same classroom, he said.

Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said 40 minutes to an hour elapsed from when Ramos opened fire on the school security officer and when the SWAT-like Border Patrol team shot him. But a department spokesman said later in the day that they could not give a solid estimate of how long the gunman was in the school or when he was killed.

“The bottom line is law enforcement was there," McCraw said. “They did engage immediately. They did contain (Ramos) in the classroom.”

Meanwhile, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said the Border Patrol agents had trouble breaching the classroom door and had to get a staff member to open the room with a key. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation.

Carranza felt the officers should have entered the school sooner.

“There were more of them, there was just one of him,” he said.

Uvalde is a largely Latino town of some 16,000 people about 75 miles from the Mexican border. Robb Elementary, which has nearly 600 students in second, third and fourth grades, is a single-story brick structure in a mostly residential neighborhood of modest homes.

Before attacking the school, Ramos shot and wounded his grandmother at the home they shared, authorities said.

Neighbor Gilbert Gallegos, 82, who lives across the street and has known the family for decades, said he was puttering in his yard when he heard the shots.

Ramos ran out the front door and across the small yard to the truck parked in front of the house. He seemed panicked, Gallegos said, and had trouble getting the truck out of park.

Then he raced away: “He spun out, I mean fast,” spraying gravel in the air.

His grandmother emerged covered in blood: “She says, ‘Berto, this is what he did. He shot me.’” She was hospitalized.

Gallegos, whose wife called 911, said he had heard no arguments before or after the shots, and knew of no history of bullying or abuse of Ramos, who he rarely saw.

Investigators also shed no light on Ramos' motive for the attack, which also left at least 17 people wounded. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Ramos, a resident of the small town about 85 miles (135 kilometers) west of San Antonio, had no known criminal or mental health history.

“We don’t see a motive or catalyst right now,” said McCraw of the Department of Public Safety.

Ramos had legally bought the rifle and a second one like it last week, just after his birthday, authorities said.

About a half-hour before the mass shooting, Ramos sent the first of three online messages, Abbott said.

Ramos wrote that he was going to shoot his grandmother, then that he had shot the woman. In the last note, sent about 15 minutes before he reached Robb Elementary, he said he was going to shoot up an elementary school, according to Abbott. Investigators said Ramos did not specify which school.

Ramos sent the private, one-to-one text messages via Facebook, and they were “discovered after the terrible tragedy,” company spokesman Andy Stone said. He said Facebook is cooperating with investigators.

Grief engulfed Uvalde as the details emerged.

The dead included Eliahna Garcia, an outgoing 10-year-old who loved to sing, dance and play basketball; a fellow fourth-grader, Xavier Javier Lopez, who had been eagerly awaiting a summer of swimming; and a teacher, Eva Mireles, with 17 years’ experience whose husband is an officer with the school district’s police department.

“You can just tell by their angelic smiles that they were loved,” Uvalde Schools Superintendent Hal Harrell said, fighting back tears as he recalled the children and teachers killed. “That they loved coming to school, that they were just precious individuals.”

The tragedy was the latest in a seemingly unending wave of mass shootings across the U.S. in recent years. Just 10 days earlier, 10 Black people were shot to death in a racist attack at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket.

The attack was the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012.

Amid calls around the U.S. for tighter restrictions on firearms, the Republican governor repeatedly talked about mental health struggles among Texas young people and argued that tougher gun laws in Chicago, New York and California are ineffective.

Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who is running against Abbott for governor, interrupted Wednesday's news conference, calling the tragedy “predictable.” Pointing his finger at Abbott, he said: “This is on you until you choose to do something different. This will continue to happen.” O’Rourke was escorted out as some in the room yelled at him, with Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin calling him a “sick son of a bitch who would come to a deal like this to make a political issue!”

Texas has some of the most gun-friendly laws in the nation and has been the site of some of the deadliest shootings in the U.S. over the past five years.

“I just don’t know how people can sell that type of a gun to a kid 18 years old,” Siria Arizmendi, the aunt of victim Eliahna Garcia, said angrily through tears. “What is he going to use it for but for that purpose?”

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that “the Second Amendment is not absolute” as he called for new limitations on guns in the wake of the massacre.

But the prospects for reform of the nation’s gun regulations appeared dim. Repeated attempts over the years to expand background checks and enact other curbs have run into Republican opposition in Congress.

The shooting came days before the National Rifle Association annual convention was set to begin in Houston, with the Texas governor and both of the state's Republican U.S. senators scheduled to speak.

Dillon Silva, whose nephew was in a classroom, said students were watching the Disney movie “Moana” when they heard several loud pops and a bullet shattered a window. Moments later, their teacher saw the attacker stride past the door.

“Oh, my God, he has a gun!” the teacher shouted twice, according to Silva. “The teacher didn’t even have time to lock the door,” he said.

The close-knit community, built around a shaded central square, includes many families who have lived there for generations.

Lorena Auguste was substitute teaching at Uvalde High School when she heard about the shooting and began frantically texting her niece, a fourth grader at Robb Elementary. Eventually she found out the girl was OK.

But that night, her niece had a question.

“Why did they do this to us?" the girl asked. “We’re good kids. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

NEWARK, Del. —

President Joe Biden told graduates Saturday at his alma mater, the University of Delaware, that “now it's your hour,” as he encouraged young people in the United States to help the country live up to its ideals.

Speaking to more than 6,000 graduates, and with the nation mourning victims of two mass shootings in as many weeks. Biden lamented the division and hatred in the country he governs. He bemoaned a “crisis of faith” in U.S. institutions and he pressed graduates to work to bind up the country's wounds.

“Your generation, more than anyone else will have to answer the question, Who are we? What do we stand for? What do we believe? Who will we be?" Biden said. “You can make the difference, you can lift the country up, you can meet the challenges of our time."

“There’s one message I hope you take from me today: This is no time to be on the sidelines,” he added. “We need all of you to get engaged in public life and the life of this nation.”

Biden told graduates to remember that “democracy is a human enterprise.”

“We do many things well,” the president said. “Sometimes we fall short. That’s true in our own lives. It’s true in the life of the nation. And yet democracy makes progress possible. And progress comes when we begin to see each other again not as enemies but as neighbors.’"

Biden spoke of the country's bitter division over Vietnam in the 1960s and the grief that followed the killings of “heroes” — two Kennedys and Martin Luther King Jr. But through those tumultuous times came progress on civil rights and voting rights, for example, the president said.

“Well, now it’s your hour. The challenges are immense, foreign and domestic, but so are the possibilities. … Everything is possible in America,’’ he said. ”This is a decisive decade for America at a time when we can choose the future we want, at a time when we must decide that darkness will not prevail over light.’

The president said this year's graduates have a head start, representing a generation that “is the most generous, the most tolerant, the least prejudiced, the best educated” in American history.

“Keep the faith and take it back," he exhorted. “Please. This is yours. Take it back. We need you.”

Biden also referred to the recent mass shootings: 19 children and two teachers were killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, and on May 14, a gunman espousing racist hatred killed 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

“Too much violence. Too much fear. Too much grief,” Biden said in his graduation speech. “Let’s be clear: Evil came to that elementary school classroom in Texas, to that grocery store in New York, to far too many places where innocents have died.”

The president said that "we cannot outlaw tragedy, I know, but we can make America safer." He called on “all Americans at this hour to join hands and make your voices heard, to work together to make this nation what it can and should be. ”

Biden was presented with the university's medal of distinction before his remarks. He had previously received an honorary degree in 2004.

Biden, who graduated from the university in 1965 with a double major in history and political science, served as a senator in Delaware for more than 30 years before becoming vice president. It was his fifth commencement address at the university, where the school of public policy and administration bears his name. He also spoke to graduates in 1978, 1987, 2004 and 2014. His sister, Valerie Biden Owens, and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, also graduated from the university.

“It feels like coming home because this is home," Biden said, reflecting that “Some of the best and most important years of my life were spent here.”

MEXICO CITY —

The first hurricane of the season formed off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast on Sunday and rapidly gained power ahead of an expected strike along a stretch of tourist beaches and fishing towns.

Hurricane Agatha could make landfall at close to major hurricane force on Monday in the area near Puerto Escondido and Puerto Angel in the southern state of Oaxaca — a region that includes the laid-back tourist resorts of Huatulco, Mazunte and Zipolite.

Around midday Sunday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said the recently formed hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph and it was centered about 195 miles west-southwest of Puerto Angel. It was heading to the north at 2 mph.

A hurricane warning was in effect between the port of Salina Cruz and the Lagunas de Chacahua.

The civil defense office in Oaxaca said the hurricane’s outer bands were already hitting the coast. The office published photos of fishermen hauling their boats up on beaches to protect them from the storm.

The government's Mexican Turtle Center — a former slaughterhouse turned conservation center in Mazunte — announced it was closed to visitors until further notice because of the hurricane.

The Hurricane Center warned of dangerous costal flooding, as well as large and destructive waves near where Agatha makes landfall and destructive waves.

The storm was expected to bring 10 to 16 inches of rain to parts of Oaxaca state — with isolated maximums of 20 inches — posing the threat of flash flooding and mudslides.

Because the storm’s current path would carry it over the narrow waist of Mexico’s isthmus, the center said there was a chance the storm’s remnants could reemerge over the Gulf of Mexico.

In northern Guatemala, a woman and her six children died Saturday when a landslide hit their home, but the accident did not appear to be related to Agatha.

LONDON, England —

Members of Britain's royal family attended a Friday church service honoring Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne, although the queen herself is skipping the event at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London due to difficulty getting around at age 96.

The service of thanksgiving is taking place on the second of four days of festivities celebrating the queen’s Platinum Jubilee. On Thursday, thousands of royal supporters cheered wildly as the queen joined other senior royals on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch 70 British military aircraft fly past.

The queen decided not to attend Friday’s church service after experiencing “some discomfort” during Thursday’s events. She will watch the event unfold on television as Prince Charles stands in for her.

The congregation at St. Paul's include members of the royal family, senior politicians, diplomats and more than 400 essential workers, charity volunteers and members of the armed forces who have been invited in recognition of their service to the community.

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell is set to deliver a sermon. Cottrell stepped in after Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby tested positive for COVID-19. The service will begin and end with the tolling of Great Paul, the largest church bell in Britain.

Friday’s televised church service brought the first public appearance by Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, during their visit to Britain for the jubilee.

The couple, who gave up royal duties and moved to California two years ago, kept a low profile Thursday, appearing only in photographs shot through the windows of the building from which members of the royal family watched the Queen’s Birthday Parade.

But on Friday they were back center stage. As Harry and Meghan proceeded on their own down the long nave of the cathedral, people inside the church craned their necks to watch them.

The National Hurricane Center upgraded some tropical storm watches to warnings Friday as Potential Tropical Cyclone One crept closer to Florida.

A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area within 36 hours.

As of 11 p.m. Friday, the system was located about 185 miles southwest of Fort Myers, Florida.

The storm has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is moving northeast at 12 mph.

LATEST CONE

LATEST MODELS

ATLANTIC SATELLITE

What is a potential tropical cyclone?

A potential tropical cyclone is a term used by the National Hurricane Center to issue watches and warnings for a storm system that is expected to develop as it approaches land.

The National Hurricane Center couldn't issue watches and warnings until a tropical storm had actually developed, which limited the time to give people proper warning.

The NHC is predicting a 90% chance this cluster of storms will form into either a depression or tropical storm over the next 48 hours.

The latest guidance from forecasters is that Potential Tropical Cyclone One is picking up speed towards the northeast and dropping heavy rain across Western Cuba and Southern Florida.

If the system strengthens and reaches sustained winds of 39 mph or higher, it would be named Alex, the first named storm of the 2022 hurricane season. This system's maximum sustained winds are currently at 35 mph.

A cyclone is also another name for a hurricane, but its name differs depending on where in the world it forms.

All signs point to a lot of rain across Florida's southern areas with gusty winds to potentially tropical storm strength.

Parts of Central Florida are under a tropical storm warning as of Friday evening.

The worst of the weather in Central Florida is expected between 2 p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday.

The 11 p.m. advisory warns that Central Florida, South Florida, and the Florida Keys could see 4 to 8 inches of rain with an isolated maximum of 12 inches across South Florida and in the Keys.

CNN contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON —

The question was posed in a private briefing to U.S. intelligence officials weeks before Russia launched its invasion in late February: Was Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made in the mold of Britain’s Winston Churchill or Afghanistan’s Ashraf Ghani?

In other words, would Zelenskyy lead a historic resistance or flee while his government collapsed?

Ultimately, U.S. intelligence agencies underestimated Zelenskyy and Ukraine while overestimating Russia and its president, even as they accurately predicted Vladimir Putin would order an invasion.

But Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, did not fall in a few days, as the the United States had expected. And while American spy agencies have been credited with supporting Ukraine's resistance, they now face bipartisan pressure to review what they got wrong beforehand — especially after their mistakes in judging Afghanistan last year.

Intelligence officials have begun a review of how their agencies judge the will and ability of foreign governments to fight. The review is taking place while U.S. intelligence continues to have a critical role in Ukraine and as the White House ramps up weapons deliveries and support to Ukraine, trying to predict what Putin might see as escalatory and seeking to avoid a direct war with Russia.

President Joe Biden's administration announced it would give Ukraine a small number of high-tech, medium-range rocket systems, a weapon that Ukraine has long wanted. Since the war began on Feb. 24, the White House has approved shipping drones, anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, and millions of rounds of ammunition. The U.S. has lifted early restrictions on intelligence-sharing to provide information that Ukraine has used to strike critical targets, including the flagship of the Russian navy.

Lawmakers from both parties question whether the U.S. could have done more before Putin invaded and whether the White House held back some support due to pessimistic assessments of Ukraine. Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, told officials at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last month that “had we had a better handle on the prediction, we could have done more to assist the Ukrainians earlier."

Ohio Rep. Mike Turner, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said in an interview that he thought the White House and top administration officials had projected "their own bias on the situation in a way that lends itself to inaction.”

The Senate Intelligence Committee sent a classified letter last month to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence asking about how intelligence agencies assessed both Ukraine and Afghanistan. CNN first reported the letter.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told lawmakers in May that the National Intelligence Council would review how the agencies assess both “will to fight” and “capacity to fight.” Both issues are “quite challenging to provide effective analysis on and we’re looking at different methodologies for doing so,” Haines said.

While there is no announced timetable on the review, which began before the committee's letter, officials have identified some errors. Several people familiar with prewar assessments spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.

Despite its vast advantages, Russia failed to establish air superiority over Ukraine and failed at basic tasks such as securing its battlefield communications. It has lost thousands of soldiers and at least eight to 10 generals, according to U.S. estimates. Russian and Ukrainian forces are now fighting in fierce, close quarters combat in eastern Ukraine, far from the swift Russian victory forecast by the U.S. and the West.

While Russia has entered recent proxy wars, it had not directly fought a major land war since the 1980s. That meant many of Russia's projected and claimed capabilities had not been put to the test, posing a challenge for analysts to assess how Russia it would perform in a major invasion, some of the people said. Russia's active weapons export industry led some people to believe Moscow would have many more missile systems and planes ready to deploy.

Russia has not used chemical or biological weapons, as the U.S. publicly warned it might. One official noted that the U.S. had “very strong concerns” about a chemical attack, but that Russia may have decided that would cause too much global opposition. Fears that Russia would use a wave of cyberattacks against Ukraine and allies have not materialized so far.

Other Russian problems were well-known, including low troop morale, a prevalence of drug and alcohol abuse among troops, and the lack of a noncommissioned officer corps to oversee forces and deliver instructions from commanders.

“We knew all of those things existed,” said retired Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. “But it just became a cascading effect of how overwhelming all of that became when they tried to do even the most simple of operations.”

Sue Gordon, the former principal deputy director of national intelligence, said analysts may have relied too much on counting Russia's inventory of military and cyber tools.

“We’re going to learn a little bit about how we think about capability and use as not one and the same when you assess outcome,” she said at a recent event sponsored by The Cipher Brief, an intelligence publication.

Zelenskyy has received worldwide acclaim for refusing to flee as Russia sent teams to try to capture or kill him. But before the war, there were tensions between Washington and Kyiv about the likelihood of an invasion and whether Ukraine was prepared. One flashpoint, according to people familiar with the dispute, was that the U.S. wanted Ukraine to move forces from its west to bolster defenses around Kyiv.

Until shortly before the war, Zelenskyy and top Ukrainian officials discounted warnings of an invasion, in part to tamp down public panic and protect the economy. One U.S. official said there was a belief that Zelenskyy had never been tested in a crisis of the level his country was facing.

Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, the current director of the DIA, testified in March that “my view was that, based on a variety of factors, that the Ukrainians were not as ready as I thought they should be. Therefore, I questioned their will to fight. That was a bad assessment on my part because they have fought bravely and honorably and are doing the right thing.”

In May, Berrier distanced his own view from that of the entire intelligence community, which he said never had an assessment “that said the Ukrainians lacked the will to fight.”

There was ample evidence of Ukraine’s determination before the war. Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the eight-year conflict in the Donbas region had hardened public attitudes against Moscow. Ukrainian forces had received years of training and weapons shipments from the U.S. across several administrations along with help bolstering its cyber defenses.

U.S. intelligence had reviewed private polling suggested strong support in Ukraine for any resistance. In Kharkiv, a mostly Russian-speaking city near the border, citizens were learning to fire guns and training for guerrilla warfare.

Rep. Brad Wenstrup, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, saw that determination firsthand during a December trip. Wenstrup, R-Ohio, witnessed a military ceremony where participants would read the names of every Ukrainian soldier who had died the previous day on the front lines in the Donbas, the region in eastern Ukraine where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian government forces since 2014.

“It showed to me that they had a will to fight,” he said. “This has been brewing for a long time.”

ESPN analyst Dick Vitale says he has been diagnosed with vocal cord cancer.

Video above: ESPN Announcer Dick Vitale Shares Lymphoma Diagnosis in October 2021

“I’m sorry to share that I received tough news today from Dr. ( Steven) Zeitels about my throat,” Vitale wrote on Twitter. “The tests on the tissues they removed showed that I have vocal cord cancer and will need six weeks of radiation to treat it. Dr. Z tells me that it has an extremely high cure rate, and that radiation, not surgery is the best path.

“I plan to fight like hell to be ready to call games when the college hoops season tips off in the Fall. Dr. Z feels that scenario is entirely possible. I want to say that I have been so touched by the tweets, texts, notes, and prayers, and will ask all of you to continue to send positive vibes.”

Vitale, one of the most recognizable voices in U.S. sports announcing known for his bombastic style and love of the game, has previously had lengthy battles with lymphoma and melanoma.

He announced in 2021 that he had lymphoma having already had several surgeries to get rid of melanoma, before saying last year that he was finally cancer free.

However, the 84-year-old revealed that after undergoing tests in hospital, a pathology report deduced that he had vocal cord cancer, saying that he plans “on winning this battle like I did vs Melanoma & Lymphoma!”

“This time last year, I was on the ESPYS stage, asking everyone to help in the cancer fight. This terrible disease strikes so many of our loved ones, and it’s now knocked on my door three different times. More research will continue to help in this fight.”

Last year, Vitale was honored at the ESPYs as the winner of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance – the award is named after Vitale’s longtime friend, Jim Valvano, another coach turned analyst who died of cancer.

Vitale added: “I’m grateful to my immediate family as well as my ESPN family for their incredible support, and so appreciative of the outstanding team of medical experts whose dedication has such a positive impact on so many lives.”

According to Johns Hopkins, an estimated 10,000 cases of vocal cord cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. each year.

LONDON, England —

Kevin Spacey took a dramatic pause in his testimony Thursday and appeared to almost choke up as he recalled the “intimate” and “somewhat sexual” friendship he shared with a man now accusing the actor of violently groping him. He said he was “crushed” when he learned of the allegations.

“I never thought that (the man) I knew would ... 20 years later stab me in the back,” Spacey testified in his own defense in his sexual assault trial in what could be the most consequential speaking part of his life.

Spacey spoke in a calm voice and earnest demeanor — humorous, humble and self-deprecating at times — as he breezed over his career and then fast-forwarded to the early 2000s when he was in London working at the Old Vic Theatre.

Four men have accused the two-time Oscar winner of sexually assaulting them between 2001 and 2013, describing disturbing encounters that escalated from unwanted touching to aggressive crotch grabbing. One man who called Spacey a “vile sexual predator” said he passed out or fell asleep at the actor’s London flat and woke up to find the actor performing oral sex on him.

Prosecutor Christine Agnew has called Spacey a “sexual bully” who “delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable.”

Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges that include sexual and indecent assault counts and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

One of his accusers said Spacey on several occasions over the years had touched his inner thigh, buttocks and crotch in unwelcome ways that made him uncomfortable.

The fondling culminated when the man was once driving Spacey and the actor grabbed his crotch so violently he almost ran off the road, the man had testified.

The alleged victim told police he warned Spacey to never do it again and threatened to knock him out.

“That never happened,” Spacey testified. “I was not on a suicide mission in any of those years.”

He described the relationship much differently, appearing wistful as he looked at a photo the man sent him from a mountainous trek he took to raise money for charity.

Spacey said the man was funny and charming and recalled their flirtatious time together, saying he probably took the lead in making physical contact: “I'm a big flirt.”

Slowly, the two men began touching each other, Spacey said, but it never went much further, because the man made it clear he didn't want that.

“He said things like, ‘This is new for me,’ so I think he may have been surprised by his reaction,” Spacey said. “The only thing he made clear was he didn’t want to go further than we were going and I respected that.”

Spacey's description of gentle stroking was in direct contradiction to what the alleged victims testified about. They said he caught them by surprise when he aggressively grabbed their privates through their clothing.

“It wasn’t like a caress," one man testified. "It was like a cobra coming out and getting hold.”

Spacey called that man's account “madness” and said it never happened. He also denied he made racially offensive remarks to the man during a rehearsal for a charity theater event.

Spacey poked a hole in the driver's story by calling the timing of the account into question. The man testified he was grabbed while driving Spacey in 2004 or 2005 to an annual gala that Elton John holds.

Spacey presented work schedules and itineraries that showed he was filming far away — once in Australia — those years. He said he only attended the event in 2001.

The man said he could have had the dates wrong, but that he remembered the groping incident being the last straw. He said he stopped spending time around him after that incident.

Spacey testified that the man still has photos of the two of them together posted on social media.

Spacey began his testimony revisiting his start in theater and transition to the big screen, career, joking that his mother would say that he began acting the moment he emerged from the womb.

The American actor was one of the biggest stars of the silver and small screens when sexual misconduct accusations brought his career to a halt. If convicted, he could face a prison term that would doom his hopes of a comeback.

Spacey told German magazine Zeit in an article published last month: “There are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges in London.”

Spacey, who owns homes in London and the U.S., is free on unconditional bail.

WASHINGTON —

The director of the FBI will face some of his harshest critics in Congress on Wednesday as he testifies before a House committee that is leading several investigations into claims that the law enforcement agency unfairly targets conservatives.

FBI Director Chris Wray's appearance before the House Judiciary Committee is expected to be contentious. Republicans are prepared to aggressively question the director on several fronts, including the recent indictment of former President Donald Trump, the ongoing investigation into President Joe Biden's son and the push for a new FBI headquarters.

It’s just the latest display of the new normal on Capitol Hill, where Republicans who have long billed themselves as the champions of police and “law and order” are growing deeply at odds with federal law enforcement and the FBI, accusing the bureau of bias dating back to investigations of Trump when he was president. The new dynamic has forced Democrats into a new position of defending these law enforcement agencies they have long criticized.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has been laying the groundwork for Wray's appearance since House Republicans took the majority in January.

Republicans have held hearings with former FBI agents, Twitter executives and federal officials to make the case that the FBI has been corruptly using its powers against Trump and the right. And they've formed a special committee on “weaponization” of government, also led by Jordan, to investigate abuse.

Video below: Rep. Jim Jordan in 2021 says democrats obsessed with impeaching Trump

Wray's trip to Capitol Hill comes just a few weeks after the president's youngest son, Hunter Biden, reached an agreement with the Justice Department to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses. Jordan and other GOP lawmakers slammed it as “a sweetheart deal” and the latest example of a “two-tiered justice system.”

Jordan and the leaders of the Oversight and Accountability and the Ways and Means committees quickly opened a joint investigation into the Hunter Biden case, citing testimony from two IRS whistleblowers on the case who say the Justice Department meddled with their work.

The claims from the whistleblowers are contested. The Justice Department has denied their allegations and said repeatedly that U.S. Attorney David Weiss in Delaware, the federal prosecutor who led the investigation, always had “full authority” over the case. Weiss was appointed to the job during the Trump administration.

Republicans have requested an interview with Weiss and other Justice Department officials but it is not likely they will come in until after the case is closed, in line with department policy.

Wray is also likely to face questions about the charges against Trump — the same man who nominated him to lead the FBI after firing James Comey in 2017. The Justice Department has accused the former president of illegally storing government secrets at his Florida estate and then refusing to give them back. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 felony charges.

Concerns around the FBI's ongoing investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol are also top of mind for Republicans. Some say prosecutors have acted far too aggressively against those accused of breaching the Capitol.

With Republican criticism of the FBI at a high pitch, some of the party's most conservative members are even pushing to cut off funding to the department altogether. Jordan has yet to go that far, but he is seeking to choke off funding for a new FBI headquarters.

In a letter to Rep. Kay Granger, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Jordan wrote that the appropriation bills should eliminate any funding set aside for a planned relocation of the FBI’s headquarters from Washington, D.C., to the suburbs. Instead, he said Congress should look at moving the FBI's headquarters out of the D.C. region altogether.

“We also recommend tying funding for the FBI to specific policy changes — such as requiring the FBI to record interviews — that will promote accountability and transparency at the FBI,” Jordan wrote in the letter Tuesday.

Another focus of Wednesday's hearing will be the push to reauthorize a program under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, that grants agencies like the FBI sweeping powers to surveil and examine communications of foreigners located outside the United States.

The provision of FISA known as Section 702 is set to expire at year’s end unless Congress agrees to renew it. But members of both parties are frustrated with the program, citing revelations about federal officials abusing the system.

Regardless, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are preparing a counteroffensive Wednesday to Republicans' rhetoric against the FBI, making the case that it is GOP lawmakers who are weaponizing the power of congressional oversight to appease their base and the leader of their party.

“For Republicans, this hearing is little more than performance art. It is an elaborate show designed with only two purposes in mind: to protect Donald Trump from the consequences of his actions, and to return him to the White House in the next election,” Rep. Jerry Nadler, the top Democrat on the committee, is expected to say in his opening remarks.

ELMAU, Germany —

Leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies struck a united stance to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” as Russia’s invasion grinds on, and said they would explore far-reaching steps to cap Kremlin income from oil sales that are financing the war.

The final statement Tuesday from the Group of Seven summit in Germany underlined their intent to impose “severe and immediate economic costs” on Russia. It left out key details on how the fossil fuel price caps would work in practice, setting up more discussion in the weeks ahead to “explore” measures to bar imports of Russian oil above a certain level.

That would hit a key Russian source of income and, in theory, help relieve the energy price spikes and inflation afflicting the global economy as a result of the war.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to our unprecedented coordination on sanctions for as long as necessary, acting in unison at every stage," the leaders said.

Leaders also agreed on a ban on imports of Russian gold and to step up aid to countries hit with food shortages by the blockage on Ukraine grain shipments through the Black Sea.

The price cap would in theory work by barring service provides such as shippers or insurers from dealing with oil priced above a fixed level. That could work because the service providers are mostly located in the European Union or the U.K. and thus within reach of sanctions. To be effective, however, it would have to involve as many consuming countries as possible, in particular India, where refiners have been snapping up cheap Russian oil shunned by Western traders. Details on how the proposal would be implemented were left for continuing talks in coming weeks.

Before the summit's close, leaders joined in condemning what they called the “abominable” Russian attack on a shopping mall in the town of Kremechuk, calling it a war crime and vowing that President Vladimir Putin and others involved “will be held to account.”

The leaders of the U.S., Germany, France, Italy, the U.K., Canada and Japan on Monday pledged to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” after conferring by video link with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The summit host, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said he “once again very emphatically set out the situation as Ukraine currently sees it.” Zelenskyy's address came hours before Ukrainian officials reported a deadly Russian missile strike on a crowded shopping mall in the central city of Kremenchuk.

From the secluded Schloss Elmau hotel in the Bavarian Alps, the G-7 leaders will move to Madrid for a summit of NATO leaders, where fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine will again dominate the agenda. All G-7 members other than Japan are NATO members, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been invited to Madrid.

Zelenskyy has openly worried that the West has become fatigued by the cost of a war that is contributing to soaring energy costs and price hikes on essential goods around the globe. The G-7 has sought to assuage those concerns.

While the group's annual gathering has been dominated by Ukraine and by the war's knock-on effects, such as the challenge to food supplies in parts of the world caused by the interruption of Ukrainian grain exports, Scholz has been keen to show that the G-7 also can move ahead on pre-war priorities.

Members of the Group of Seven major economies pledged Tuesday to create a new ‘climate club’ for nations that want to take more ambitious action to tackle global warming.

The move, championed by Scholz, will see countries that join the club agree on tougher measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of keeping global temperatures from rising more than 2.7 Fahrenheit this century compared with pre-industrial times.

Countries that are part of the club will try to harmonize their measures in such a way that they are comparable and avoid members imposing climate-related tariffs on each others’ imports.

Speaking at the end of the three-day summit in Elmau, Germany, Scholz said the aim was to “ensure that protecting the climate is a competitive advantage, not a disadvantage.”

He said details of the planned climate club would be finalized this year.

NEW YORK —

Federal regulators accused Bank of America on Tuesday of harming customers by double-dipping on fees, withholding credit card rewards and opening fake accounts.

Related video above: Americans worry about their money’s safety in banks

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Bank of America to pay more than $100 million to customers and $90 million in penalties. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also ordered Bank of America to pay $60 million in fines.

Some of the allegations are reminiscent of the Wells Fargo scandal last decade that involved opening millions of bank accounts without customer authorization.

"Bank of America wrongfully withheld credit card rewards, double-dipped on fees, and opened accounts without consent," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. "These practices are illegal and undermine customer trust. The CFPB will be putting an end to these practices across the banking system."

Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.