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US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East, relieving long-deployed USS Lincoln
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Asia-based USS George Washington aircraft carrier is now operating in the Middle East, the U.S. military said Thursday, relieving a long-deployed carrier following reports of mental health challenges and supply shortages aboard while it was supporting the Iran war.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said on social media that the carrier arrived in the region Wednesday. It was not clear when the USS Abraham Lincoln would arrive back in the U.S. or whether it would make a port stop along the way, but the journey takes just over a month.
The Washington arrived as concerns have grown about the Lincoln's lengthy deployment, which has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 250 days, and about reports of crew stress and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products.
Several Democratic lawmakers have pressed the Department of Defense for accountability over conditions aboard the Lincoln, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said were "completely misrepresented."
Hegseth spoke with the Lincoln's crew last week, and Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, visited this past weekend. In an editorial published Sunday by The Wall Street Journal, Cooper said the crew "delivered a performance for the ages, and now you are going home."
Extended deployments of carriers wear on service members who are away from home for long periods and increase strain on the ship and its equipment. While renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran calmed in recent weeks, the Navy is enforcing a reimposed blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Trump administration has offered no clarity on how it intends to wind down the war.
Hegseth has said the U.S. can maintain the blockade "indefinitely."
President Donald Trump this week downplayed reports about conditions on the Lincoln, which left its homeport in San Diego in November and arrived in the Middle East in January. Trump called the nearly nine months at sea that the sailors endured a "good period of time" but added that "over the years, we've had them out there much longer."
Trump told reporters Monday that he spoke with a retired admiral over the weekend who recounted being on ships for "much longer." Trump said the admiral assured him that the Lincoln is "beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of." Trump did not name the admiral.
Investigators examining foes of Trump seek interviews related to Mar-a-Lago search, AP sources say
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Justice Department investigators have sought to interview law enforcement officials related to the FBI search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate as part of a Florida-based inquiry aiming to establish a conspiracy against the Republican president, multiple people familiar with the matter said Thursday.
The requests for interviews, made in recent weeks, suggest that a conspiracy investigation that had mostly appeared focused on the decade-old question of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is also examining a more contemporary event -- the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago that resulted in the FBI seizing top secret documents from the president's Palm Beach, Florida, estate.
The requests were for voluntary interviews and not made through subpoenas, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation with The Associated Press.
It is not clear when or if prosecutors might seek to bring charges, or for what, but investigating conduct that occurred in Florida might give the Justice Department the legal hook it needs to try to anchor a prosecution in the state.
Joe diGenova, the prosecutor brought back to the Justice Department in April to oversee the investigation, declined to comment when contacted by AP on Thursday. The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump was indicted in 2023 on charges of unlawfully retaining classified documents and of obstructing FBI efforts to get them back. But the case was dismissed the following year after a Trump-appointed judge, Aileen Cannon, ruled that the prosecutor who brought the indictment, Jack Smith, had been illegally appointed.
Trump has long maintained that law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against him over the last decade, drawing a straight line between an investigation into ties between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign and the more recent investigations related to his retention of classified documents and his efforts to undo the 2020 election.
Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer-turned-enemy, is hosting the president on his radio show
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump is expected to appear Thursday on the radio show of his former fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen, making a public reunion with the man who once called him a "Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain" and testified against him both in court and before Congress.
Cohen, who served prison time for his role in what he said was covering up Trump's "dirty deeds," confirmed that the Republican president will appear in a taped interview airing on his 77 WABC program Thursday evening and Sunday.
In an interview with CNN shortly before the interview's scheduled air time, Cohen said it would be a "doozy," but he declined to address his past criticism of Trump.
"I refuse to be pulled back into yesterday's news and yesterday's headline," he said.
To the many people asking, "How is this possible?" he said, "The answer is that we forgave."
The truce with Cohen makes him the latest in a long line of Trump loyalists who have had public falling-outs with the president but found themselves back in his good graces. Other recent examples include Elon Musk and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
But the split from Cohen was perhaps the most personal. Cohen once boasted that he would "take a bullet" for Trump and was by Trump's side during his political rise. After their public breakup, Cohen's testimony in Trump's 2024 criminal hush-money trial instead paved the way for Trump's criminal conviction just as he was trying to make his political comeback.
Cohen has since criticized prosecutors in the case and has said he and Trump have started to reconcile.
The White House did not comment on Cohen's statements or confirm the appearance, but Trump's official schedule showed him taping a radio interview Thursday morning.
In a long post on his online newsletter Thursday promoting the interview, Cohen said that although his relationship with Trump became "political blood sport," there were 15 years of close friendship between them.
"The good times don't cease to have existed because the bad times came afterward," Cohen wrote.
Simply, he said: "We forgave."
Trump has made no warm public statements about Cohen but in a series of social media posts this year linked to some of his former lawyer's comments saying he felt pressured by prosecutors to testify against Trump in the criminal hush money case and a civil fraud case.
Federal agents seize devices from ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell in sexual misconduct probe, AP source says
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal agents seized electronic devices from former Rep. Eric Swalwell and searched his Washington home as part of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by the ex-Democratic congressman from California, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Swalwell's devices were seized at the San Francisco airport on Saturday and agents executed a search warrant at his home a day later, said the person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
A message seeking comment was left Thursday with an attorney for Swalwell, who has denied allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. The Daily Mail first reported the seizure of Swalwell's devices on Thursday.
Swalwell announced his resignation from Congress in April following allegations that Swalwell had sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him. The San Francisco Chronicle, followed by CNN, first reported the allegations. CNN also reported that three other women alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by Swalwell, including sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos.
The seven-term lawmaker had been seen as one of the leading candidates in California's gubernatorial race before dropping out after the allegations surfaced.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed in April that it was investigating Swalwell after a former staffer told CNN and the Chronicle that Swalwell raped her at a hotel while he was in New York City for a charity gala in 2024. In a statement, Bragg's office encouraged "survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division."
A lawyer representing Lonna Drewes, a California woman who in April said she had been raped in 2018 by Swalwell, said his team was cooperating with all law enforcement agencies investigating the former congressman.
"We are encouraged to learn about the escalation of the FBI's investigation into the allegations against Eric Swalwell," attorney Arick Fudali said in a statement.
Drewes spoke of the assault at a news conference days after Swalwell dropped out of the California governor's race. She said it occurred at a hotel in Southern California. Swalwell denied that assault.
One Army unit is offering 4 bonus days off to play 'Grand Theft Auto' for soldiers who reenlist
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- A U.S. Army unit is offering its troops a special bonus if they reenlist soon: four extra days off timed around the November release of the video game "Grand Theft Auto VI."
Commanders of the 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, believe free time to indulge in the latest entry in the "Grand Theft Auto" series -- in which players commit carjackings, battle police in shootouts and attempt audacious heists -- will sway some soldiers to extend their military commitments.
The Nov. 19 release of "Grand Theft Auto VI" is expected to be one of the year's biggest entertainment events. Game publisher Take-Two Interactive hasn't released sales figures for preorders, but CEO Strauss Zelnick recently called them "unprecedented and astonishing."
A career counselor with the Army engineer battalion hatched the idea with commanders to tie a retention perk to the game's release, in part to remind soldiers of their approaching reenlistment dates, said Lt. Col. Angel Tomko, a Fort Stewart spokesperson.
"The idea was to have a unique incentives program that connects to what soldiers are interested in," Tomko said Thursday in a statement to The Associated Press.
Battalion commanders wrote in a memo to soldiers that those who sign reenlistment contracts by Nov. 14 would receive "a special 4 day pass."
"This special pass is specifically designed to coincide with the highly anticipated release of the video game Grand Theft Auto VI," battalion commander Lt. Col. Ryan Hodgson wrote.
Tomko confirmed the authenticity of the July 28 memo, which was photographed and posted online.
She said at least 20 of 130 eligible soldiers have signed up for the bonus. To qualify, they must commit to serving at least two more years in uniform.
Buzz for "Grand Theft Auto VI" has been building since 2023, when its first cinematic trailer showed a return to the series' fictional Vice City -- a satirical analogue of Miami -- and an expanded swath of Florida-based locales that include gator-infested swamps.
Underscoring the hype, developer Rockstar Games plans to debut gameplay video next week in an extended trailer on Netflix. The rollout was preempted when hackers leaked apparent footage online this week.
Harvard agrees to $53 million settlement over body parts stolen and sold by former morgue manager
BOSTON (AP) -- Harvard Medical School says it agreed to pay $53 million to settle class action lawsuits by relatives of body donors whose remains were sold on the black market by its former morgue manager.
Harvard Medical School Deans George Q. Daley and Bernard S. Chang announced the development in a letter to the community on Tuesday, calling the actions of former morgue manager Cedric Lodge "despicable, abhorrent, and a flagrant betrayal of our values as a medical community."
Pending court approval, Harvard said that two class action settlement funds totaling $53 million will be established to resolve the lawsuits. A Harvard Medical School spokesperson on Thursday referred to the letter when asked for comment and said they had no additional information to share.
The lawsuits were brought by 47 relatives of people whose remains were potentially mishandled and sold. The remains were donated for research and education.
Harvard has said it cannot determine precisely which donors' remains Lodge stole. After he was charged in 2023, the school said it reviewed information from federal investigators along with records showing when donors' remains were sent for cremation and when Lodge was on campus to determine which donors may have been affected. The settlement covers relatives or designees of people who donated their remains to Harvard Medical School between Jan. 1, 2018, and March 31, 2023.
Last year, Lodge was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling body parts "as if they were baubles." Authorities said Lodge was at the center of a ghoulish scheme in which he shipped brains, skin, hands and faces from cadavers to buyers in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
His wife, Denise Lodge, was sentenced to just over a year in prison for assisting him. Six other people who bought remains from Cedric Lodge also pleaded guilty and have been sentenced, according to Harvard.