West Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) — Casey and Ron DeSantis are seeking to clarify comments the Florida first lady made on Friday that appeared to encourage out-of-state voters to participate in the Iowa caucuses.

“We’re asking all of these moms and grandmoms to come from wherever it might be, North Carolina, South Carolina and to descend upon the state of Iowa to be a part of the caucus, because you do not have to be a resident of Iowa to be able to participate in the caucus. So, moms and grandmas are going to be able to come and be a part and let their voice be heard in support of Ron DeSantis,” Casey said, in a side-by-side interview on Fox News with her husband ahead of a “Mamas for DeSantis” event in West Des Moines.

After the Fox News appearance, Casey DeSantis clarified on X that by participating in the Iowa caucuses, she didn’t mean voting.

“While voting in the Iowa caucus is limited to registered voters in Iowa, there is a way for others to participate. I’m calling on mamas and grandmamas from all over the country to come volunteer in support of Ron DeSantis in the Iowa caucus,” she posted with a link for people to register to participate.

Speaking to reporters after the event, the Florida governor denied that his wife was encouraging people to illegally vote in the January 15 caucus, as some Trump-aligned users were suggesting on X.

Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the DeSantis campaign said the he had already answered the question in detail.

“We really appreciate Casey and everything she’s doing, as well as Gov. Reynolds. They are launching nationwide recruitment for people who are about to come from the Mamas’ movement to volunteer for the caucus,” Ron DeSantis told reporters before taking questions.

“Obviously, you can’t vote in the caucus, but you can help with it. They even let people go and speak on behalf of candidates, and they have all these precincts, so you may have people who really can speak strongly about our leadership that are going to come.”

One reporter asked Ron DeSantis about his wife’s calling on out-of-staters to descend upon Iowa, to which he responded: “Not to caucus. It’s to volunteer, to help. You can actually speak at a caucus, but voting is only for registered Republicans in Iowa. But it is interesting that you can have somebody come, like from Florida, who we’ve made an impact on their lives. They can go to a precinct and speak on behalf of me during the caucus, and that’s pretty — that’s an interesting way to do it.”

Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the DeSantis campaign said he had already answered the question in detail.

The Trump campaign seized on the comment, accusing the DeSantises of embracing voter fraud.

“We demand the Governor of Iowa Kim Reynolds clarify what the rules are and that the instructions given by the DeSantises are flagrantly wrong that could further disenfranchise caucus-goers. Even the Republican Party of Iowa had to immediately issue a response to the DeSantises wrong information,” the campaign said in a statement on Saturday.

“The Trump campaign strongly condemns their dirty and illegal tactics and implores all Trump supporters to be aware of the DeSantises’ openly stated plot to rig the Caucus through fraud.”

A woman whose fetus was unlikely to survive called more than a dozen abortion clinics before finding one that would take her, only to be put on weekslong waiting lists. A teen waited seven weeks for an abortion because it took her mother that long to get her an appointment. Others seeking the procedure faced waits because they struggled to travel hundreds of miles for care.

Such obstacles have grown more common since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, doctors and researchers say, causing delays that can lead to abortions that are more complex, costly and in some cases riskier — especially as pregnancies get further along.

About half of U.S. states now have laws that ban or restrict access to abortion. Because of that, many clinics don’t offer the procedure, which has increased demand for appointments at the remaining providers.

At various points since Roe, waits in several states stretched for two or three weeks, and some clinics had no available appointments, according to results of a periodic survey spearheaded by Middlebury College economics professor Caitlin Myers and recently provided to The Associated Press. Doctors and researchers say even as wait times have lessened, people still encounter other challenges, like planning and paying for travel, taking time off work and finding child care.

“All of those things can contribute to delays, and then it kind of becomes like this vicious circle,” said Dr. Daniel Grossman, an OB-GYN at the University of California, San Francisco, who co-authored a research report earlier this year that compiled anecdotes from health care providers after Roe was overturned.

People may miss the window for medication abortions, which are not generally offered past 10 to 11 weeks gestation. A dwindling number of clinics provide abortions as people move through the second trimester, which begins at 13 or 14 weeks. Costs for the procedure change, too, from up to $800 in the first trimester to $2,000 or more in the second trimester.

“While abortion is safe at all points in pregnancy,” with an overall complication rate of 2%, it “does get more complicated as the pregnancy continues,” said Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region. “It does carry additional risks.”Rising demand pushes up waits

At least 66 clinics in 15 states stopped providing abortions in the 100 days after Roe was overturned, according to an analysis last year by the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

The necessity for people to travel out of state is at the root of abortion delays.

Clinics run by Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, which operates in Colorado, New Mexico and southern Nevada, saw out-of-state patients more than double after Roe. And Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region’s health center in Fairview Heights, Illinois, saw a 715% increase in patients from outside of Illinois or Missouri in the year after Roe.

“We know that abortion bans have caused a ripple effect and increased wait times even in states where access is protected,” McNicholas said.

The ongoing Myers Abortion Appointment Availability Survey called more than 700 facilities across the United States. Its latest survey, conducted in September, found that 11 states had median appointment wait times of more than five business days and four states had waits of at least eight business days, not counting weekends or holidays. The longest wait was in Iowa: 12 business days.

A year earlier, the survey found Iowa had a median wait of 13 business days, and six other states had waits between 12 and 15 business days.

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains told the AP that wait times peaked at 28 days shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court decision, though it later fell. Before June 2022, waits in the region’s Planned Parenthood clinics averaged 17 days, reflecting restrictions in Texas that were put into place in 2021.

In the report from Grossman’s team, a health care worker described how it took one mom seven weeks to get an appointment for her pregnant teen, who was about 17 weeks along by then. Another patient described in the report was also that far along by the time she got an abortion after struggling for six weeks to find an appointment. She drove 10 hours to a different state for care.

The latest statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are from 2021 and show that about 7% of abortions took place at 14 weeks or later.

While there’s no way to know definitively whether delays have pushed more abortions into the second trimester, several providers said they’ve seen the number rise in their own clinics. The St. Louis region’s Planned Parenthood, for instance, tracked a 35% increase in the number of patients getting abortions at 14 weeks or later at the Southern Illinois health center in the year after the Supreme Court decision.

Dr. Rebecca Cohen, an OB-GYN at a hospital-affiliated clinic in Colorado, said her team has cared for an increasing number of patients seeking abortions later in pregnancy, some of whom “have experienced several weeks of delays” trying to find care.

Jillaine St.Michel struggled to find somewhere to have an abortion late last year after learning that her 20-week fetus had multiple genetic and developmental problems and probably wouldn’t survive. She lives in Idaho, which has a ban on abortions, so St.Michel and her husband called about 15 out-of-state clinics, finally getting on a three-week waiting list in Denver and a two-week waiting list in Seattle.

St.Michel, 37, said she worried about passing abortion time limits: Colorado allows abortion at all stages of pregnancy, while Washington state allows the procedure up to viability, the point a fetus may survive outside the womb. Some babies can survive with medical help at 22 or 23 weeks.

A chance cancellation opened up a spot in Seattle four days after she called to get on the list. Still, she said, “we absolutely felt the time crunch.”Dealing with a deluge

Clinics have taken numerous steps to reduce waits, such as adding more telehealth appointments for medication abortions, staying open longer and adding more staff. That’s generally brought appointment wait times down and also helped people obtain other types of reproductive care at the clinics in a timely fashion.

“If someone’s sexually active and they don’t want to become pregnant, we want to get them on birth control,” said Adrienne Mansanares, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. “If they are experiencing symptoms of a sexually transmitted infection … we want to get them treated.”

But streamlining appointments is only part of the answer to reducing abortion delays, providers said. Individual issues like child care problems, canceled flights and financial concerns can be tough to overcome — even when clinics try to help by connecting patients to abortion funds, for instance.

This is especially difficult as travel distances grow longer. Research by Myers and colleagues found the average driving distance to the nearest clinic rose substantially in some states after Roe. From March 2022 to September 2023, it shot up from 34 to 160 miles in Alabama and from 43 to 499 miles in Texas.

The clinic where St.Michel, a chiropractor, had an abortion is about 500 miles from her home. She and her husband quickly came up with about $4,000 for airplane tickets, a rental car, three nights of lodging and the procedure, since the clinic was out of network for her insurance. The couple decided not to turn to an abortion fund because they thought others needed it more, instead taking it out of their savings.

Hoping to help other families, she joined a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, an organization of lawyers and advocates that supports abortion rights. The suit asks state courts in Idaho and Tennessee to place holds on abortion laws.

“I personally can’t imagine that most people would be able to make this work,” said St.Michel, who is pregnant again. “This is not how we should have to seek health care.”

Following a cloudy day with typical temperatures on Friday, more sunshine and warmer temperatures will return this weekend until another front arrives Sunday night.

Expect partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies this Saturday paired with a beach breeze out of the southeast, moderate humidity levels and above average high temperatures into the low to mid 80s.

Then by Sunday, temperatures should increase by another degree or two as winds veer more out of the south. This will draw in more moisture, leading to a mix of sun and clouds and an isolated rain chance.

Earlier in the week, it appeared that Sunday would be wetter but the forecast has trended drier ahead of this next front, and therefore rain chances are down to a 30% chance. The best chance for seeing any rain will be late in the day on Sunday and into the overnight hours.

Behind this front, there will be another dose of cooling but it won’t be as significant as the one we had this week. Instead, highs will drop from the mid 80s this weekend to the mid to upper 70s for next week. Morning lows will be the coolest on Tuesday, with wake-up temperatures below average in the low to mid 60s.

To begin next week behind the front, there will be more clouds than sunshine paired with those below normal temperatures and a building breeze.

Then for mid to late week, the front will lift back to the north, ushering in rounds of showers and thunderstorms from Wednesday through Friday along with windy conditions. It remains too early to know whether heavy rain will be a concern during this period but wetter times are becoming increasingly likely then with rain chances up to a 50% chance.

Being on a reality competition show is tough enough when you’re an adult. Imagine if you’re a kid!

“MasterChef Junior: Home for the Holidays” scouted more than 1,000 contestants, but only one young chef from South Florida had the talent to make the cut.

Chef Gordon Ramsay: “That soggy, disgusting nugget sat on a bed of unwanted slaw over a gummy [expletive] purée that I’d give my granddad to paste his [expletive] new wallpaper, not to eat.”

Chef Gordon Ramsay sure can get fired up on “MasterChef,” but when it comes to MasterChef Junior”…

Chef Gordon Ramsay: “Ho! Ho! Ho!”

“MasterChef Junior” contestant: “I didn’t know Santa has a British accent.”

He’s kind of a big ol’ softie … and he and his daughter Tilly are feeling festive about the show’s new seasonal special, “MasterChef Junior: Home for the Holidays.”

Chef Gordon Ramsay: “Tilly’s been to the ‘MasterChef’ kitchen many times, but to have her here as a judge makes me feel old, and I can’t be any prouder from a dad’s point of view.”

Speaking of being proud, that’s how Deco’s feeling about SoFlo’s own Chef Lorenzo.

Lorenzo Ramos: “Since a young age, I’ve loved to cook. I mean, at first I was playing soccer, ’cause my dad thought I was gonna be Messi. But you know, I didn’t really like to run.”

What he did like was food…

Lorenzo Ramos: “My first words, you would expect ‘Mommy,’ ‘Mamá,’ ‘Papá.’ My first words were ‘carne, carne,’ which is ‘meat, meat’ in Spanish.”

…and learning to get crafty in the kitchen, even if he didn’t always get it right.

Lorenzo Ramos: “Being a chef is hard, but it’s like, you learn from your mistakes, so I like that.”

It’s that drive that landed 12-year-old Lorenzo on “MasterChef Junior’s” holiday special.

Lorenzo Ramos: “Out of 1,150 kids, only nine of us. Like, that’s not even 1% so, you know, for me to get there, I feel like anything is possible.”

His parents totally agree.

Frederik Ramos: “We really feel so proud of him that he made the cut.”

Marta Ramirez: “I think it was an incredible journey for his life, because the competition and the casting was very hard.”

“MasterChef Junior: Home for the Holidays” is all about celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa-themed dishes.

While Lorenzo couldn’t give us specifics about what he cooks on the show, he did give us a demo of one of his signature dishes.

Lorenzo Ramos: “Today I’ll be making you a special tuna tartare. Make sure to use sushi grade tuna. This is ahi tuna.”

Lorenzo stacks three layers — tuna, avocado, then more tuna — then tops it with chives, some truffle, lemon zest and sea salt.

Then he adds some edible flower garnishes, and voilà!

Lorenzo Ramos: “This is a very good appetizer. You can obviously decorate it in a variety of different ways, but this is the final product.”

Now all that’s left is a taste test with his toughest critic: his big sister. Mmm, looks like this recipe is a winner!

By the way, Lorenzo’s parents did confirm his first word really was “carne.”

“MasterChef Junior: Home for the Holidays” will spice up the season during its two-night special premiere event. You can watch it Sunday and Monday at 8 p.m., right here on 7.

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots, Eetu Luostarinen got the go-ahead goal in the third period and the Florida Panthers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 on Friday night.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson also scored a goal and Anton Lundell had two assists for the Panthers, who have won three of their last four games. Aleksander Barkov got an empty-netter to seal the win for Florida.

Former Panthers forward Reilly Smith scored for Pittsburgh, which has dropped a season-high four straight to fall to 11-12-4. Tristan Jarry stopped 30 shots for the Penguins.

“I think our goaltending has been really good this year, but there haven’t been a lot of nights where we needed them to be the dominant player,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of Bobrovsky. “But tonight, Sergei had to be the difference in the second period because that game is over and there is no coming back if he isn’t as good as he was.”

Up 2-1 with 2:39 left and dominating the third period — shots were 12-2 Florida in that period to that point — Lundell was called for hooking, giving Pittsburgh a golden opportunity. The Penguins hadn’t scored in any of their last 36 power plays spanning 14 games since Nov. 11, the worst drought in franchise history.

It started as a 5-on-4, became a 6-on-4 when Jarry went to the bench — and the Penguins came up empty, again. The Panthers killed it off, the 37th consecutive failed power play for Pittsburgh, and Barkov scored with 26.7 seconds left.

“We gave ourselves a chance,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “You’ve got to do that every night. Doesn’t guarantee anything. But we gave ourselves a chance, and we’ll try to keep getting better here.”

Florida got its first lead of the night with 13:50 left when the puck bounced into the slot off a faceoff and Luostarinen batted it past Jarry to make it 2-1.

Crosby had a chance to tie it for Pittsburgh less than a minute later, stealing a clearing pass deep in the Florida end and skating from Bobrovsky’s left toward the net. But Bobrovsky came off the line to narrow the angle and Crosby was denied, preserving the one-goal edge.

“He’s such a smart player,” Bobrovsky said of Crosby. “He was able to gain speed from pretty much nothing. I was just able to put the pad out and get lucky there.”

The teams paid tribute pregame to Patric Hornqvist, who won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins in his 15-year NHL career and ended that run with three seasons with the Panthers. He retired after last season and is now a part of the Panthers’ front-office staff as scouting and development consultant.

“He just worked so hard and he brought out the best in everybody,” said Crosby, who took part in the pregame ceremony alongside Barkov and Hornqvist’s family. “He expected a lot of himself but he also just earned every single thing that he accomplished in his career.”

UP NEXT

Penguins: Host Arizona on Tuesday night, Pittsburgh’s only home game in a two-week span.

Panthers: Visit Columbus on Sunday afternoon to start a season-high five-game road trip.

MIAMI (AP) — Donovan Mitchell had 27 points and 13 rebounds, Darius Garland shook off early foul trouble to score 18 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Miami Heat 111-99 on Friday night.

Georges Niang scored 13 and Max Strus added 11 in his first road game against his former team. The Cavaliers are now 7-3 on the road this season — tied with Oklahoma City and Minnesota for the best such mark in the NBA.

“We keep talking about the same thing,” Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Every night, we can control whether or not we’re the best team on the floor. Are we the most competitive? Are we the most selfless? And when the guys do that, the talent rises.”

Cleveland is 13-3 this season when holding teams under 120 points. The Cavs are 0-6 when teams score at least 120.

Josh Richardson and Kyle Lowry each scored 17 points for the Heat, who have lost five of their last seven. Jimmy Butler scored 16, Caleb Martin added 15, former Cavaliers forward Kevin Love had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. also scored 12 for Miami.

The Cavaliers outrebounded Miami 51-37 — and held a 2-1 lead in 15-0 runs.

Miami scored 15 consecutive points early on the way to building a 16-point lead, and the Cavaliers had two 15-0 stretches later in the game.

Mitchell had the last basket of the first half to give Cleveland a 53-52 lead at the break, and then the Cavs got the first 13 points of the third quarter — with Mitchell scoring 11 of those to put his team on top for good.

“The third quarter kind of set that tone,” Mitchell said. “We’ve got to keep doing this.”

Miami has lost four games this season after leading by at least 16 points. It was the biggest deficit Cleveland has successfully overcome this season.

“I thought there was some decent things defensively throughout the course of the game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But not even scoring 100 points — granted, they’re a good defense — but that’s not going to get it done.”

Miami was again without Bam Adebayo (hip), Haywood Highsmith (back) and Tyler Herro (ankle). Adebayo has missed five of Miami’s last eight games, Herro has missed 14 straight games with a sprain and Highwood has basically missed three consecutive games; he sat out Miami’s last two and the last 45 minutes of a Monday loss to Indiana.

Cleveland played without Evan Mobley, who was held out with left knee soreness. It was Mobley’s first game missed this season and only the fourth he’s missed in Cleveland’s last 111 games, including playoffs.

Garland was whistled for three fouls in the game’s first 5:21 and the Heat got rolling when he had to go to the bench. The night’s first 15-0 run put Miami up 23-12; the lead eventually reached 39-23. Cleveland’s first 15-0 run immediately followed that stretch.

Miami got within nine in the fourth, but no closer and fell to 0-5 when not scoring at least 100 this season.

UP NEXT

Cavaliers: Visit Orlando on Monday.

Heat: Visit Charlotte on Monday.

Miami Art Week is in full swing, and there are plenty of incredible galleries all over South Florida. From magical mazes to high-tech paintings, here’s a roundup of what you can take in this weekend.

A-maze-ing art is popping up at the Faena Hotel.

Nicole Comotti: “Faena Arts Program is community-driven, so it’s educational, and we’re very excited to work with artists who are emerging artists and really giving them a platform.”

Sebastian Errazuriz is glad to use that platform to showcase his sand maze that’s the size of a football field.

Good news: Sebastian designed it with the help of artificial intelligence and says it wasn’t made so you could get lost.

Sebastian Errazuriz: “The maze is an incredible opportunity for people to walk in, disconnect from their everyday life for a few minutes, only to hopefully find themselves and be able to take a moment of pause in order to maybe have a conversation with friends, maybe take a rest from work, hopefully take a rest from your phones.”

And you won’t want to miss taking a dive into Kelly Breeze’s installation, “Dirt’s Dive,” with its life-size cutout figures and sculptures.

Kelly Breez: “This one in particular kind of ended up being about, you know, the community of the dive bar. I love old dive bars, and it’s a very Floridian thing. I grew up in and around them. My first memory is in a bar by the railroad tracks.”

Juliana Plexxo: “The base of my collections, my art pieces, is 100% engraving. I did the first edition in engraving, like this, very small, and then I recreate the same, but in acrylic.”

At the National Hotel, there’s more than meets the eye when you check out Juliana Plexxo’s art.

That’s because you have to use your phone to see her pieces come to life. You also need a QR code.

Juliana Plexxo: “I like to play with the brain of the people and also with their perspectives.”

When it comes to her installation, Reyna Noriega gets her creativity from the 305.

Reyna Noriega: “I’m always inspired by all of the color here, the vibrancy here, the culture here, and it all finds its way to influence my art.”

The immersive exhibition explores her Cuban-American heritage and can be seen at Nautilus Sonesta Miami Beach Hotel.

Javier Marquis: “She really exemplifies what Miami is all about, and we’re so happy to have her here.”

FOR MORE INFO:
Juliana Plexxo Art
National Hotel
1677 Collins Ave.
Miami Beach, FL 33139
julianaplexxo.es

Faena Arts Program
Faena Hotel
3420 Collins Ave.
Miami Beach, FL 33140
faenaart.org

Reyna Noriega Art
Nautilus Sonesta Miami Beach
1825 Collins Ave.
Miami Beach, FL 33139
nautilushotelmiami.com

The Christmas countdown is on, and for anyone keeping track, we’re just 17 days away. If you wanna get into the holiday spirit right now, Deco’s checking out some festive concerts that’ll have you rock’n around the Christmas tree before Santa makes it to town.

Sarah Brightman: “I wish you a hopeful Christmas. I wish you a brave new year.”

‘Tis the season to sing along with Sarah Brightman. The British singer is bringing her critically acclaimed holiday tour to SoFlo.

Sarah’s “A Christmas Symphony” will light up the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Dec. 9th. Better hurry if you want tickets, ’cause this show’s almost sold out.

Pentatonix (singing): “Make my dreams underneath the tree come true. Make all of my dreams come true.”

If your Christmas wish is to see Pentatonix in concert this year, you’re in luck. The a cappella group is bringing their “Most Wonderful Tour of the Year” to Hollywood, too. You can hear ’em hit those high notes at Hard Rock live on Dec. 14.

Sutton Foster (singing): “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

From the Broadway stage to the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale. Sutton Foster is making spirits bright with her “Christmas Time Is Here” concert.

The Tony Award-winning actress will be performing Dec. 19. Tickets start at $59.

LeAnn Rimes (singing): “And I still believe in Santa Claus.”

Rock around the Christmas tree with LeAnn Rimes. The country superstar is bringing her “Joy” holiday tour to the Adrienne Arsht Center’s Knight Concert Hall.

She’ll be performing both classic holiday hits and some of her original songs Dec. 21.

Il Divo (singing): “O night divine.”

Deco’s christmas concert roundup comes full circle with one final show at the Hard Rock live in Hollywood.

Il Divo is beating Santa Claus, because they’re coming to town on Dec. 22. These guys know a thing or two about putting on Christmas concerts, so this one’s sure to have you feeling jolly all night long.

Il Divo (singing): “O night divine, o night.”

Residents in a tight-knit Hollywood neighborhood are on edge after a couple of brazen thieves in a U-Haul van were caught on camera stealing packages from porches.

Ivana Jocic lives in the neighborhood near 35th and Park Road where, she said, she and other victims fell victim to the porch pirates on Thursday.

“It’s traumatizing, you know. It’s your things, personal things; you don’t want them to be taken,” she said.

Jocic said she was alerted to the theft when her phone buzzed with notifications at around 11 a.m.

“Just when I looked back at the camera, there were these two ladies coming out of a U-Haul truck, just pulling up very close, looking into my home, seeing what I have,” she said.

The security footage shows one of the thieves snatching at least two packages from Jocic’s porch.

However, it appears that Jocic’s residence wasn’t their only target. Another security camera captured a U-Haul van, where a woman got out of the vehicle, grabbed a box and skipped away.

“The passenger, who’s a younger lady, she got out of the van and she grabbed the package, and she was skipping, like happily skipping back to the van with somebody else’s belongings,” said Jocic.

Another neighbor, Chris Bristol, said his wife noticed a U-Haul van in the area this week as well.

“She said that she saw a U-Haul van sitting off to the side, and I come outside, the van just took off,” he said.

Jocic said that what she saw here in her own neighborhood traumatized her, and she wants the thieves to get caught.

“Don’t do this to people; like, it’s evil,” said Jocic. “I really hope that you will learn from this and that you will learn, you will learn, and they will never do it again.”

Police urge residents to stay vigilant and report any suspicious activity to help catch the thieves.

If you have any information on these thefts or the subjects’ whereabouts, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.

Police said they have arrested two protesters at a rally in support of Palestine being held outside the Miami Beach Convention Center, as people from all over the world descend on South Florida to take part in Art Basel Miami Beach.

7News cameras captured a woman as Miami Beach Police officers placed her in handcuffs and took her into custody, late Friday afternoon.

Demonstrators were seen chanting “let Palestine live” as they held signs and waved Palestine flags at the front entrance and exit of the convention center, located at 19th Street and Convention Center Drive.

The protest has been peaceful for the most part. Police officers were seen standing outside the convention center, as they supervised people who came in and out.

The woman who was detained was placed in a prisoner transport van. Another protester has since been apprehended as well.

Police said one of the two people who were arrested faces charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence, and the second person faces a charge of resisting arrest without violence.

The convention center is one of the central hubs during Art Basel, which takes place this weekend and is scheduled to wrap up on Sunday.

A high school football player is being released from the hospital after a devastating injury, and he’s being helped by a man who already lived this teenager’s nightmare. Karen Hensel has today’s 7Spotlight.

Love, prayers and support. That is what has surrounded 15-year-old Frederick Clemson since Sept. 13. The day his life changed forever.

Camille Harrison, Frederick’s mother: “It’s been hard, but my faith has kept me together.”

It was Frederick’s first game on the junior varsity football team, and in the third quarter, he took a hit that paralyzed him.

Camille Harrison: “I’ve been by his side from the beginning. I haven’t left this side. I’ve tried to stay strong for him.”

Teammates and loved ones have all shown overwhelming support.

But an unexpected visitor might have been one of the people who helped Frederick the most.

Felton Brown knows Frederick’s pain.

Felton Brown, helping Frederick: “So back in October of 1998, I was an outstanding athlete, and I took a hit, and I hit the ground, and instantly I lost sensation throughout my entire body.”

Doctors told Felton he would never be able to move from the neck down, but with the help of therapy, he now has movement in parts of his upper body.

Felton Brown: “It’s a mirror story, right? It’s a reflection of my own self. He’s 15, I was 15. He was a star athlete, I was a star athlete.”

Frederick has gone through two successful surgeries. As he now starts physical therapy, his mom says Felton’s inspiration has been a turning point.

Camille Harrison: “Frederick was, like, a little down, but when [Felton] came, his mood started to change, and he started to do a little better in rehab.”

Felton Brown: “I wanted to show him and give him something to look forward to, because I knew in that moment that he had lost it all.”

Frederick has a long and difficult road ahead of him, but with his mom, Felton and the community beside him, he says he is never giving up.

Frederick Climpson: “I want to let them know I’m alright. My family, everything’s been straight. No problems, no nothing like that. You see I’m getting better, I’m smiling. I didn’t think i was going to smile, but I’m smiling.”

And that smile has a lot to do with those who continue to cheer him on.

He was visited by his favorite football players, Miami Dolphins’ players Xavien Howard and Jaylen Waddle.

They both gave him a signed helmet, and Xavien has kept in touch.

The widespread show of solidarity has meant everything to this family.

Camille Harrison: “I just want to say thank you to everybody who’s been there, who supported us.”

Felton says the support of South Florida was also what helped him overcome his injury. Now it is his turn to pay it forward.

Felton Brown: “I would love to see our community come together like none other for Frederick, to cheer him on the same way they cheered me on.”

Frederick Climpson: “Yeah, I’m gonna keep fighting.”

Family and friends will be right there fighting with him.

Karen Hensel, 7News.

Frederick’s family has created a GoFundMe to help cover medical bills.

If you know of a person, place or group that you think we should highlight, email us at 7spotlight@wsvn.com.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ryan O’Neal, the heartthrob actor who went from a TV soap opera to an Oscar-nominated role in “Love Story” and delivered a wry performance opposite his charismatic 9-year-old daughter Tatum in “Paper Moon,” died Friday, his son said.

“My dad passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us,” Patrick O’Neal, a Los Angeles sportscaster, posted on Instagram.

Attempts to reach O’Neal representatives were not immediately successful.

He did not give a cause. Ryan O’Neal was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012, a decade after he was first diagnosed with chronic leukemia. He was 82.

“My father, Ryan O’Neal, has always been my hero,” Patrick O’Neal wrote, adding, “He is a Hollywood legend. Full stop.”

O’Neal was among the biggest movie stars in the world in the 1970s, who worked with many of the era’s most celebrated directors including Peter Bogdanovich on “Paper Moon” and Stanley Kubrick on “Barry Lyndon. He often used his boyish, blond good looks to play men who hid shadowy or sinister backgrounds behind their clean-cut images.

O’Neal maintained a steady television acting career into his 70s in the 2010s, appearing for stints on “Bones” and “Desperate Housewives,” but his longtime relationship with Farrah Fawcett and his tumultuous family life kept him in news.

Twice divorced, O’Neal was romantically involved with Fawcett for nearly 30 years, and they had a son, Redmond, born in 1985. The couple split in 1997, but reunited a few years later. He remained by Fawcett’s side as she battled cancer, which killed her in 2009 at age 62.

With his first wife, Joanna Moore, O’Neal fathered actors Griffin O’Neal and Tatum O’Neal, his co-star in the 1973 movie “Paper Moon,” for which she won an Oscar for best supporting actress. He had son Patrick with his second wife, Leigh Taylor-Young.

Ryan O’Neal had his own best-actor Oscar nomination for the 1970 tear-jerker drama “Love Story,” co-starring Ali MacGraw, about a young couple who fall in love, marry and discover she is dying of cancer. The movie includes the memorable, but often satirized line: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

The actor had at times strained relationships with three of his children, including estrangement from his daughter, squabbles with son Griffin and a drug-related arrest sparked by a probation check of his son Redmond. The personal drama often over-shadowed his later career, although his attempts to reconcile with Tatum O’Neal were turned into a short-lived reality series.

O’Neal played bit parts and performed some stunt work before claiming a lead role on the prime-time soap opera “Peyton Place” (1964-69), which also made a star of Mia Farrow.

From there O’Neal jumped to the big screen with 1969’s “The Big Bounce,” which co-stared his then-wife, Leigh Taylor-Young. But it was “Love Story” that made him a movie star.

The romantic melodrama became one of Paramount Pictures’ biggest hits and collected seven Oscar nominations, including one for best picture. It won for best music.

O’Neal then starred for Bogdanovich as a bumbling professor opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1972 screwball comedy “What’s Up, Doc?” The filmmaker cast him the next year in the Depression-era con artist comedy “Paper Moon.”

O’Neal played an unscrupulous Bible salesman preying on widows he located through obituary notices. His real-life daughter, Tatum, played a trash-talking, cigarette-smoking orphan who needs his help — and eventually helps redeem him.

Although critics praised both actors, the little girl’s brash performance overshadowed her father’s and made her the youngest person in history to win a regular Academy Award. She was 10 when the award was presented in 1974. (Younger performers such as Shirley Temple have won special Oscars.)

The elder O’Neal’s next major film was Kubrick’s 18th century epic “Barry Lyndon,” in which he played a poor Irish rogue who traveled Europe trying to pass himself off as an aristocrat.

Filming the three-hour movie was tedious work, however, and Kubrick’s notorious perfectionism created a rift between him and the actor that never healed.

O’Neal then reteamed with Tatum in Bogdanovich’s early Hollywood comedy “Nickelodeon” (1976). But the film was a flop and they never worked together again. An attempt to capitalize on his “Love Story” character, Oliver Barrett, with the sequel “Oliver’s Story” (1978) resulted in another flop.

Father and daughter drifted apart as Tatum O’Neal grew older, with the elder actor learning about his daughter’s marriage to tennis great John McEnroe by a belated telegram, Ryan O’Neal wrote in a 2012 book about his relationship with Fawcett.

“A door inside me locked the morning the telegram came, and I am still blindly searching for the key to open it,” O’Neal wrote in “Both of Us.”

O’Neal’s career cooled further in the 1980s with the emerald heist drama “Green Ice” (1981) and the 1984 comedy “Irreconcilable Differences,” in which he played a busy father in an unhappy marriage whose daughter, played by 9-year-old Drew Barrymore, tries to divorce her parents.

The decade was also a low-point in O’Neal’s personal life. His son Griffin faced numerous brushes with the law, including a 1986 boating accident that killed Gian-Carlo Coppola, 23, son of movie director Francis Ford Coppola in Maryland. Griffin O’Neal was convicted of negligently and recklessly operating a boat, received a community service sentence and later served a brief stint in jail as a result.

With his Hollywood status diminishing, Ryan O’Neal began appearing in TV movies and eventually returned to series television opposite then-lover Fawcett with the 1991 sitcom “Good Sports,” but the show ran only one season.

Both acknowledged the work put a strain on their relationship.

“We get into fights,” O’Neal said in 1991. “She’s tough. She expects to be treated well. On a set that can get lost when you’re trying to create a moment and you’re fighting the clock.”

O’Neal began accepting more supporting roles with the 1989 film “Chances Are.” He began a second career as a character actor, playing a husband who hires a hitman to kill his wife in “Faithful” (1996) and a mysterious tycoon in the blackmail comedy “Zero Effect” (1998).

By then his relationship with Fawcett had ended, although they remained close and eventually rekindled their romance in the 2000s. The volatile O’Neal family dynamics that had taxed their relationship before, however, remained.

In 2007 the elder O’Neal was arrested in 2007 for alleged assault and firing a weapon in an altercation with Griffin, but charges were never pursued. Their son Redmond was repeatedly arrested, jailed and spent several years in court-mandated rehab.

A probation check on Redmond O’Neal in September 2008 at his father’s Malibu home led to the actor’s arrest for methamphetamine possession. Ryan O’Neal pleaded guilty to the charge and entered a drug diversion program, but he publicly denied the drugs were his. He said he confiscated them from his son and was trying to protect him.

Charles Patrick Ryan O’Neal was born on April 20, 1941 and was the son of screenwriter Charles O’Neal and actor Patricia Callaghan O’Neal. O’Neal spent time as a lifeguard and an amateur boxer before finding his calling as a performer.

New surveillance video captures a customer’s refund rampage that sent a North Miami-Dade liquor employee to the hospital.

According to Miami-Dade Police, the shooting unfolded Thursday evening in Jensen’s Liquors, located just north of 79th Street on North Miami Avenue, late Thursday afternoon.

Investigators said the subject walked into the business trying to return merchandise at around 5:45 p.m.

“That return was denied by a clerk at the register. The subject then proceeded to grab a full bottle of liquor from the display area and try to make his way out of the store with it, without paying for it,” said MDPD Detective Andre Martin.

That is when the 70-year-old store clerk approached the subject, and a struggle ensued between them inside the store. Moments later, police said, it spilled into the parking lot of the business.

The security footage captures the subject as he fell down. As he hit the ground, the video captured the flash from the firearm.

Detectives said paramedics transported the victim to Ryder Trauma Center with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

The subject fled the scene on a bike in an unknown direction on a bicycle, according to police. As of Friday afternoon, he remains at large.

“Anyone who knows the whereabouts of this person is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers,” said Martin. “This person is considered armed and dangerous. Do not engage with this person. This is an individual who has already shot and injured one person over a menial piece of property. Do not engage with this person.”

Speaking with 7News, the clerk’s family identified him as Emmanuel Taylor said he was in critical condition when he was taken to the hospital but is now in stable condition, adding he got out of surgery on Friday and is recovering.

Police consider the subject to be armed and dangerious.

If you have any information on this shooting or the subject’s whereabouts, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.

LAYTON, Utah (KSTU) — Surveillance video from a Layton school parking lot shows dozens of people, including students, rushing to rescue a mother and her two children who were pinned underneath a car after being run over.

Tuesday’s accident happened shortly before 4 p.m. in the parking lot of Layton Christian Academy. Police say the woman, Bridgette Ponson, and her two kids, Archer and Ponson, were walking when they were hit by a driver heading west through the lot.

Ponson is a staff member of the school. One of the children, who are approximately 2 and 3 years old, was airlifted to Primary Children’s Hospital for treatment. The other child and Ponson were taken to a local hospital via ambulance.

Police said the car was moving relatively slowly, but they believe the sun was a factor that led to the driver hitting the three victims.

In the surveillance video from the parking lot, people can be seen rushing to the car to help the family and then lifting the vehicle to free them. The school commended the students, saying they “displayed incredible courage and presence of mind.”

“I walked out, there was a lot of commotion going on and people were just telling me to help and i just dropped myself and ran over,” said student Theophious Roach.

Moments later, Senior Airman Dominique Childress realized what was happening and went over to help the students.

“I noticed legs come out and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, there’s an actual child under this car,’ so I was like, ‘Hey, guys, switch it up, let’s get the car high enough so we can get the kid out.’ Somebody came, pulled the kid out and mom was able to get out 15 seconds later,” he explained.

“The car was heavy,” said fellow student Junior Saripsat. “We did our best, and the moment I heard the kids crying I was like, ‘Oh, thank God, the kids are good.”

Officials updated the family’s condition Wednesday, saying the children had less serious injuries, with their scans coming back normal. Meanwhile Ponson has more serious injuries, but are considered non-life threatening and she is recovering.

“The doctor said it was a miracle that they didn’t have severe life-threatening injuries,” said Head of Schools Chris Crowder.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Ponson family cover medical bills and lost wages.

Police said the incident appeared to be an accident, and it is under investigation to determine if charges will be filed. The driver is cooperating.

“I’m very proud of our kids and I’m even proud of the driver who was behind the wheel,” said Crowder. “She immediately ran to help, she just was blinded, I was proud of everyone the kids just ran and without even having to tell them what to do they just knew what to do.”

Shortly before this, a similar accident occurred in Delta. A 12-year-old was hit while crossing Main Street and was taken to the hospital via LifeFlight.

Possible drug traffickers were stopped in the Florida Keys.

Authorities stopped a vehicle in Marathon early Friday morning for operating its high-beam headlights into oncoming traffic.

Officers discovered bags of crystal meth in the car and found about 2.4 ounces.

The driver and a passenger were arrested.

Matthew Cleveland and Stacey Jovi face multiple charges, including trafficking the drugs.

Two people were airlifted to the hospital following a head-on collision in West Miami-Dade.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and Miccosukee Police units responded to the scene of the crash near Gator Park, located at 24050 SW 8th St., around 4 p.m., Friday.

7Skyforce hovered over the scene, where two trucks were visibly damaged, and the injured victim was seen being placed into a rescue helicopter.

The victims were airlifted as trauma alerts to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital.

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the incident.

Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

Authorities seek the public’s help in their search for a man who, they said, was armed with a sharp blade during a parking lot confrontation in Oakland Park that took a violent turn.

Detectives from the Broward Sheriff’s Office Violent Crimes Unit have released surveillance footage capturing what they described as a disturbing incident of aggravated assault.

The incident unfolded around noon on Saturday, Aug. 5, in the busy parking lot of the Family Dollar at 2901 West Oakland Park Blvd.

“Places get crowded, stores are full of people,” said BSO spokesperson Claudinne Caro.

When BSO deputies arrived at the scene, the victim told them that, while attempting to reverse park, a Nissan Titan with three occupants stopped in front of his SUV. The victim told detectives he told the driver of the Nissan to “calm down, give me a second to park.”

Surveillance footage reveals the driver and a passenger exiting the Nissan, confronting the victim at his driver’s door and engaging in a heated exchange.

‘Started screaming at the victim,” said Caro.

Detectives said the driver of the Nissan brandished a machete from the Nissan, screaming expletives and threats while waving the machete.

“Threatening him as well as pulling his driver’s side door,” said Caro.

The pair then returned to the Nissan and fled the scene.

The suspect behind the wheel is described as a 30-year-old male with a thin build, wearing a gray long-sleeve shirt and khaki pants. The passenger is described as a tall male with long hair and a medium build. At the time of the incident, he was wearing a black shirt, a black hat and black pants. The third occupant remained in the vehicle.

If you have any information on this incident or the whereabouts of the driver of the Nissan Titan, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Two white boaters on Friday pleaded guilty to harassment charges in connection with an Alabama riverfront brawl that drew national attention.

The two men pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge as part of a plea deal, according to court records. The August riverfront melee in Montgomery drew national attention after bystanders filmed white boaters hitting a Black riverboat co-captain and then crew members and bystanders rushing to his defense. Video of the fight was shared widely online, sparking countless memes and parodies.

A judge on Thursday also dismissed an assault charge filed by one of the white boaters against the riverboat co-captain. The Montgomery Police Department said the co-captain was a victim in the assaults.

Montgomery police said the brawl began when the white boaters refused to move their pontoon boat so the city-owned Harriott II riverboat could dock in its designated space. The boat’s co-captain said he was attacked after moving the pontoon boat a few feet to make way for the riverboat.

The guilty pleas concluded the last of the criminal cases brought against four white boaters in connection with the melee.

One white boater previously pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to 32 days in jail. Another white boater pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment. A Black man, who was filmed swinging a folding chair during the brawl, is charged with disorderly conduct and will go to court next week.

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A teenager was sentenced to life in prison Friday for killing four students, wounding more and terrorizing Michigan’s Oxford High School in 2021.

A judge rejected pleas for a shorter sentence and ensured that Ethan Crumbley, 17, will not get an opportunity for parole.

Life sentences for teenagers are rare in Michigan since the U.S. Supreme Court and the state’s highest court said the violent acts of minors must be viewed differently than the crimes of adults.

Judge Kwame Rowe’s decision followed anguished remarks by families of the deceased and survivors who spoke about how the tragedy has affected them.

“Your statements,” Rowe said, “do not fall on deaf ears.”

Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree murder and terrorism.

“We are miserable. We miss Tate,” said Buck Myre, the father of Tate Myre. “Our family has a permanent hole in it that can never be fixed — ever.”

Nicole Beausoleil recalled seeing the body of her daughter, Madisyn Baldwin, at the medical examiner’s office, her hand with blue-painted fingernails sticking out from a covering.

“I looked though the glass. My scream should have shattered it,” Beausoleil said.

Jill Soave, the mother of Justin Shilling, told the shooter that he executed a boy who could have helped him navigate awkward teenage years.

“If you were that lonely, that miserable and lost, and you really needed a friend, Justin would have been your friend — if only you had asked,” Soave said.

Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, looked down as Soave and others spoke. He also will have an opportunity to address the judge and possibly explain why he believes he should be spared a life sentence.

Kylie Ossege explained how she had urged Hana St. Juliana a “thousand times” to keep breathing while they waited for help on a blood-soaked carpet. Her classmate died.

Ossege, now a college student, was shot and continues to struggle with daily pain from spinal injuries.

“Being able to swing a leg over my horse is my therapy. It is pure joy,” she said of Blaze. “I have not been able to do it for two years.”

Defense attorney Paulette Michel Loftin has argued Crumbley deserves an opportunity for parole after his “sick brain” is fixed through counseling and rehabilitation.

But St. Juliana’s father scoffed at that possibility.

“There can be no rehabilitation,” Steve St. Juliana told the judge. “There is absolutely nothing the defendant can do to earn my forgiveness. His age plays no part.”

In a journal, the shooter wrote about his desire to watch students suffer and the likelihood that he would spend his life in prison. He made a video on the eve of the shooting, declaring what he would do the next day.

More than 20 people gave victim-impact statements by early Friday afternoon. Some wore shirts honoring the fallen students. The judge briefly allowed a framed photo of Myre to be placed near him.

Speakers recalled the day and its aftermath in details large and small. One woman said she’s still anxious simply pulling into Meijer, a big-box store where families reunited immediately after the shooting.

Linda Watson said her son, Aiden, who was shot in the leg, still doesn’t go to school for a full day. She recalled the family staying in a hotel because a nail gun being used in her neighborhood sounded like a real gun to him.

“Aiden will be dealing with this for the rest of his life. … This shooter — this monster — should have to feel everything hard and painful for the rest of his life,” Watson said.

Like their son, Jennifer and James Crumbley are locked up in the county jail. They are awaiting trial on involuntary manslaughter charges, accused of making a gun accessible at home and neglecting the shooter’s mental health.

Crumbley and his parents met with school staff on the day of the shooting after a teacher noticed violent drawings. But no one checked his backpack for a gun and he was allowed to stay.

The shooting happened in Oxford Township, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) north of Detroit. Besides the four students who were killed, six more students and a teacher also were wounded.

The Oxford school district hired an outside group to conduct an independent investigation. A report released in October said “missteps at each level” — school board, administrators, staff — contributed to the tragedy.

Crumbley’s behavior in class, including looking at a shooting video and gun ammunition on his phone, should have identified him as a “potential threat of violence,” the report said.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is the first tour to cross the billion-dollar mark, according to Pollstar’s 2023 year-end charts.

Not only was Swift’s landmark Eras Tour the No. 1 tour both worldwide and in North America, but she also brought in a whopping $1.04 billion with 4.35 million tickets sold across 60 tour dates, the concert trade publication found.

Pollstar data is pulled from box office reports, venue capacity estimates, historical Pollstar venue ticket sales data, and other undefined research, collected from Nov. 17, 2022 to Nov. 15, 2023.

Representatives for the publication did not immediately clarify if they adjusted past tour data to match 2023 inflation in naming Swift the first to break the billion-dollar threshold.

Pollstar also found that Swift brought in approximately $200 million in merch sales and her blockbuster film adaptation of the tour, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” has reportedly earned approximately $250 million in sales, making it the highest-grossing concert film of all time.

According to their estimates, Pollstar predicts a big 2024 for Swift as well. The magazine projects the Eras Tour will once again reach $1 billion within their eligibility window, meaning Swift is likely to bring in over $2 billion over the span of the tour.

Worldwide, Swift’s tour was followed by Beyoncé in second, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band in third, Coldplay in fourth, Harry Styles in fifth, and Morgan Wallen, Ed Sheeran, Pink, The Weeknd and Drake.

In North America, there was a similar top 10: Swift, followed by Beyoncé, Morgan Wallen, Drake, P!nk, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Ed Sheeran, George Strait, Karol G, and RBD.

Beyond the Swift of it all, 2023 was a landmark year for concert sales: worldwide, the top 100 tours of the year saw a 46% jump from last year, bringing in $9.17 billion compared to 2022’s $6.28 billion.

In North America, that number jumped from $4.77 billion last year to $6.63 billion.

Earlier this week, Swift was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. Last month, Apple Music named her its artist of the year; Spotify revealed she was 2023’s most-streamed artist globally, raking in more than 26.1 billion streams since Jan. 1 and beating Bad Bunny’s three-year record.

Consider 2023 a year of incredible pop music dominance — (Taylor’s Version.)