California Families Sue To Stop DOJ From Obtaining Medical Records Of Trans YouthSix California families sued the DOJ on Wednesday evening to try to stop it from using a grand jury subpoena to obtain private medical records of transgender youth.The suit, filed jointly by the National Center for LGBTQ Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, alleged that the DOJ launched a criminal investigation into Stanford Medicine Children’s Health from a Texas District Court, without notifying patients or providers.The DOJ has been largely unsuccessful in its attempts to gather medical records from hospitals. At least eight federal district courts have blocked civil subpoenas – and now the DOJ is escalating its efforts by filing secret grand jury subpoenas with the help of conservative North Texas Chief Judge Reed O’Conner.“When the federal government can reach across the country, into a hospital that has no connection to the court that issued the subpoena, and pull a child’s entire medical file out of the filing cabinet without so much as a phone call to the parents, every family should be concerned,” Shannon Minter, the legal director at NCLR, said in a statement. This is now the second known instance of a criminal probe by the DOJ, after New York University's Langone Health announced it had received a grand jury subpoena earlier this month. Latest Live UpdatesZohran Mamdani Backs Progressive House Challenger In New YorkDuring an MS NOW interview on Thursday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) threw his backing behind progressive House challenger Darializa Avila Chevalier in a competitive primary for an upper Manhattan congressional district. An organizer and democratic socialist, Avila Chevalier is hoping to unseat incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, whom she’s called out for accepting donations from the real estate industry and voting for military aid to Israel. “It will take a new generation of leadership to ensure that the heartbeat of this party is once again the struggles of the working class, and in electing a champion like Darializa to represent Uptown Manhattan and the Bronx, we could have exactly that in Congress,” Mamdani said on Thursday. ABC Condemns FCC License Renewal Demands As Attack On Free SpeechABC on Thursday issued a scathing condemnation of demands made by President Donald Trump's FCC regarding license renewals for the network's local television stations.“This effort to suppress speech under the guise of bureaucratic process must not prevail,” ABC wrote in a filing to the agency. The FCC had previously asked the network to submit early license renewals for eight stations it owns, claiming that the company needed to do so as part of a federal investigation into its diversity, equity and inclusion practices. Originally, those licenses would have been up for renewal between 2028 and 2031, The Associated Press reported. In its Thursday filing, ABC argued that the “unconstitutional” request was made as an act of intimidation. “Its true purpose and inescapable effect are to suppress speech – to ramp up toward possible license revocation and cause the Station and others to think twice before they say something the government might dislike,” ABC wrote.The license renewal request marks the latest effort by the FCC to target ABC. Previously, FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened the company over comments that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel made about Republicans’ response to Charlie Kirk’s killing. The agency has also opened an investigation into the ABC program "The View" over whether it violated an "equal time" rule regarding on-air appearances by political candidates. Carr claimed in a statement to The New York Times that ABC's "responses to the agency’s investigation had been disingenuous, deficient and improper" prior to the renewal requests. ABC said it provided the agency with the materials it asked for in its investigation. The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read more from Deadline: Top Federal Prosecutor In Chicago Denies Investigation Into E. Jean Carroll, Disputing Media ReportsThe top federal prosecutor in Chicago denied Thursday evening that his office had opened an investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the longtime advice columnist who has said Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York department store 30 years ago, hours after multiple news organizations reported that the Justice Department was investigating whether she had lied during the course of civil litigation against Trump.The Associated Press and other news organizations, citing anonymous sources, reported that the federal prosecutors’ office in Chicago had opened an investigation into Carroll examining possible perjury allegations.Israeli, Russian Forces Added To UN Blacklist For Sexual Violence In Conflict ZonesAn annual United Nations report documenting sexual violence in conflicts worldwide has included Israeli forces for the first time since the review began more than 15 years ago for their treatment of Palestinian detainees. Israel denies the accusations.The 35-page report — shared by the Israeli mission to the U.N. late Thursday ahead of its expected release Friday — blacklists 77 government and non-government parties in a dozen countries suspected of committing or being responsible for sexual violence in conflicts around the world. It says the number of cases rose sharply in 2025 from 2024.Read more from The Associated Press:Federal Judge Upholds Constitutionality Of Nitrogen Gas ExecutionsA federal judge on Thursday ruled that execution by nitrogen gas does not violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, rejecting an Alabama inmate’s claim that it causes excessive suffering.The ruling came after the first bench trial in the country to examine the constitutionality of the execution method that has now been used to put eight people to death, seven in Alabama and one in Louisiana. The ruling clears the way for Alabama and other states to continue with the method and is a setback for critics who hoped a fuller examination of Alabama’s protocol would halt its use.Read more from The Associated Press:Martina McBride Joins Artists Pulling Out Of Trump-Backed Concert, Says She Was MisledGrammy-nominated artist Martina McBride announced Thursday she is pulling out of the Great American State Fair in late June, joining several other artists doing the same.McBride claimed she was wrongfully led to believe the festival for the country’s 250th anniversary would be nonpartisan, she said in a post on X.“I asked lots of questions and was assured this was a nonpartisan event that was meant to celebrate ALL 50 states. In my mind I thought this was a great way to celebrate the states and also bring people together in the way that only music can,” her statement said.“I’ve spent my entire career singing songs about real people with real issues,” she added. “It greatly upsets me that any fan who has been moved by my music may now feel like I’m abandoning the meaning behind those songs. I assure you, that is not the case.”Vance Says U.S. And Iran Making ‘Progress’ On A Potential DealVice President JD Vance said Thursday that the U.S. and Iran were making “progress” toward a potential deal, while noting that negotiators were still “going back and forth on a couple of language points.”“I do think that we’ve made a lot of progress here,” he said. “It’s very clear that, I think, the Iranians, they want a deal.”Vance told reporters that some of the issues that were still being worked through concerned “nuclear stuff,” including Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile. He added that he didn’t know “when or if” President Donald Trump would sign a memorandum of understanding that multiple publications had reported on earlier on Thursday.Previously, Axios and BBC reported that the two countries had largely arrived at an agreement, which included a 60-day extension to the ceasefire, that was awaiting Trump’s sign-off. 2 Diesel Fuel Spills Occurred On National Mall Ahead Of 250th CelebrationThere have been two diesel fuel spills on the National Mall over the past two weeks ahead of a celebration of the 250th birthday of the U.S., The New York Times reported Thursday, citing a government document and spokesperson for the Interior Department.The U.S. Park Police is investigating both incidents, one of which occurred on Wednesday and the other on May 20. It’s unclear how much diesel was released in total. The spills in both incidents came from supply lines connected to lighting systems installed for the Great American State Fair, which is set to begin June 25.Read more from the Times:Gretchen Whitmer Walks Back Comments She Won't Run For President In 2028After telling a local news station Thursday morning that she won't be running for president in 2028, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) appeared to walk back those comments, saying she needed to "correct the record" after seeing the headlines."I got the hundredth question of the morning about it, and I said, 'I'm not making plans,'" Whitmer told a moderator at the Mackinac Policy Conference."You know, I never thought I would run for governor, so I guess I should know better to say..." Whitmer trailed off. "Never say never."Whitmer said that it's been an honor to serve as governor for the last eight years, but there are still really important things to do."I find all this talk about my future such a distraction from what I want to get done today," she said. "So, I thank you for the question, but you know, at this juncture, I've got nothing to announce. I guess I'll just smile and say I'm going to stay focused and leave it at that for now."Ousted '60 Minutes' Correspondent Cecilia Vega Fears For The Show's FutureCecilia Vega, the first Latina “60 Minutes” correspondent and one of several people who were recently ousted from the program, is worried about the future of the renowned CBS news show.“I have the utmost respect and admiration for my colleagues at 60 Minutes and the stories that air every Sunday. But I very much fear what comes next for and the future of the legendary broadcast,” Vega said in a statement after noting she was "fired" Thursday. “In recent months, my producing teams and I have experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories. Reporting teams have held back on submitting story pitches about important news topics out of fear of the internal repercussions. Let’s call this what it is: censorship, both imposed and self-driven. It is dangerous for the show and dangerous for democracy.”See All Updates