UR MAG

The site is hidden in the Merchant's House Museum, the only 19th-century home in Manhattan with both its interior and exterior preserved.

Tucked away in the walls on the second-floor is a chest of drawers that visitors have walked past for decades. But inside one of the drawer shelves is a hidden passageway -- just barely large enough for an upright person to fit through, leading 15 feet underground.

Museum staff have known about the existence of the passageway since the 1930s. However, they were only able to officially link it to the now-iconic Underground Railroad recently, after years of research.

Trump admin removes memorial honoring people enslaved by George Washington in Philadelphia

That journey began two years ago when the museum's historian, Ann Haddad, discovered that the builder and designer of the house, Joseph Brewster, was an abolitionist. That set off a muti-pronged effort by staff, volunteers and outside experts to research everything from general history of New York City, Brewster's life and architecture of the time.

"I've cold-called many academics and said, like, 'I have this thing, like, will you listen to me talk and I get your feedback on it?' Just because, you know, it just felt so big that we really wanted to ask and ask and ask," Camille Czerkowicz, the Merchant House's Curator & Collections Manager, told ABC News.

One of the most exciting discoveries came when they learned of Brewster's connections to integrated churches in New York.

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"He sold this house to become an elder at this church, and we learned from church archives that Brewster actually approved the construction of a false floor in the church that he had built, "Emily Hill-Wright, the museum's Director of Operations, told ABC News. "And so to me, that was a really compelling piece of evidence, because it showed that this is not just a one-off, that Brewster has a pattern of putting sort of these hiding spaces in buildings that he has constructed."

At the time of the house's building in the 1830s, the city was staunchly pro-slavery, even as slavery had been abolished in New York. Assisting freedom seekers was illegal, and pro-slavery riots and kidnappings abounded.

In addition to the immense dangers faced by Black Americans, Hill-Wright explained, "Anyone with a known connection to anti-slavery work or abolition was a target, and your life could be in danger."

While Brewster's feats were noble, they were not isolated. Anti-slavery efforts at the time were led by the Black community, said Czerkowicz and Hill-Wright. The museum is continuing to research what organizations and individuals may have been involved in assisting Brewster with the home's construction.

The Merchant's House is now the earliest known site of Underground Railroad activity in New York City, according to the museum.

On the significance of this discovery, Hill-Wright said, "By necessity, of course, these spaces were incredibly secretive, and so today, there are very, very, very few intact spaces like this one. Many Underground Railroad sites have other types of documentation, whether it's really strong oral history or, very rarely, there are written records, but it is very rare to have a physical space like ours that is as intact as our space is."

Having always offered visitors a look into domestic life for a merchant and his family in the 19th century, the Merchant's House is now working to broaden its offerings for this new layer of historical significance. Museum staff are continuing their research, and Czerkowicz and Hill-Wright hope that sharing their discovery with the public will allow for new opportunities in that effort.

The museum remains open to the public, with plexiglass soon to be installed around the Underground Railroad site so anyone may come to see it.

U.S. Southern Command said on social media that the boat "was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations." It said the strike killed three people. A video linked to the post shows a boat moving through the water before exploding in flames.

Friday's attack raises the death toll from the Trump administration's strikes on alleged drug boats to 133 people in at least 38 attacks carried out since early September in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared last week that "some top cartel drug-traffickers" in the region "have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to recent (highly effective) kinetic strikes in the Caribbean." However, Hegseth did not provide any details or information to back up this claim, made in a post on his personal account on social media.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in "armed conflict" with cartels in Latin America and hasjustified the attacksas a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing "narcoterrorists."

Transportation Security Administrationofficers are expected to work without pay while lawmakers remain without an agreement on DHS' annual funding. TSA officers also worked through the record shutdown that ended Nov. 12, but aviation experts say this one may play out differently.

Trade groups for the U.S. travel industry and major airlines nonetheless warned that the longer DHS appropriations are lapsed, the longer security lines at the nation's commercial airports could get.

Here's what to know aboutthe latest shutdownand how to plan ahead.

What's different about this shutdown?

Funding for Homeland Securityexpired at midnight. But the rest of the federal government is funded through Sept. 30. That means air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration will receive paychecks as usual, reducing the risk of widespread flight cancellations.

According to the department's contingency plan, about 95% of TSA workers are deemed essential personnel and required to keep working. Democrats in the House and Senate say DHS won't get funded until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations.

During past shutdowns, disruptions to air travel tended tobuild over time, not overnight. About a month into last year's shutdown, for example, TSA temporarily closed two checkpoints at Philadelphia International Airport. That same day, the governmenttook the extraordinary stepof ordering all commercial airlines to reduce their domestic flight schedules.

John Rose, chief risk officer for global travel management company Altour, said strains could surface at airports more quickly this time because the TSA workforce also will be remembering the last shutdown.

"It's still fresh in their minds and potentially their pocketbooks," Rose said.

What is the impact on travelers?

It's hard to predict whether, when or where security screening snags might pop up. Even a handful of unscheduled TSA absences could quickly lead to longer wait times at smaller airports, for example, if there's just a single security checkpoint.

That's why travelers should plan to arrive early and allow extra time to get through security.

"I tell people to do this even in good times," Rose said.

Experts say flight delays also are a possibility even though air traffic controllers are not affected by the DHS shutdown.

Airlines might decide to delay departures in some cases to wait for passengers to clear screening, said Rich Davis, senior security adviser at risk mitigation company International SOS. Shortages of TSA officers also could slow the screening of checked luggage behind the scenes.

What travelers can do to prepare

Most airports display security line wait times on their websites, but don't wait until the day of a flight to check them, Rose advised.

"You may look online and it says two-and-a-half hours," he said. "Now it's two-and-a-half hours before your flight and you haven't left for the airport yet."

Passengers should also pay close attention while packing since prohibited items are likely to prolong the screening process. For carry-on bags, avoid bringing full-size shampoo or other liquids, large gels or aerosols and items like pocketknives in carry-on bags.

TSAhas a full liston its website of what is and isn't allowed in carry-on and checked luggage.

At the airport, Rose said, remember to "practice patience and empathy."

"Not only are they not getting paid," he said of TSA agents, "they're probably working with reduced staff and dealing with angry travelers."

Will the shutdown drag on?

The White House has been negotiating with Democratic lawmakers, but the two sides failed to reach a deal by the end of the week before senators and members of Congress were set to leave Washington for a 10-day break.

Lawmakers in both chambers were on notice, however, to return if a deal to end the shutdown is struck.

Democrats have said they won't help approve more DHS funding untilnew restrictionsare placed on federal immigration operations after the fatal shooting ofAlex PrettiandRenee Goodin Minneapolis last month.

In a joint statement, U.S. Travel, Airlines for America and the American Hotel & Lodging Association warned that the shutdown threatens to disrupt air travel as the busy spring break travel season approaches.

"Travelers and the U.S. economy cannot afford to have essential TSA personnel working without pay, which increases the risk of unscheduled absences and call outs, and ultimately can lead to higher wait times and missed or delayed flights," the statement said.

Jaelin Kauf reached the podium again, this time taking silver. It's the third Olympic medal (all silver) of her career, following asilver in the individual competitionthese Olympics and in 2022 at the Beijing Games.

Fellow American Liz Lemley won the bronze medal after narrowly edging France's Perrine Laffont in the "small final." It's Lemley's second medal of these Games after she won gold in individual moguls.

"Seeing I stacked up pretty good against the competition today," Kauf said about competing in dual moguls, "I'm really excited."

The United States made up half of the quarterfinalists with Tess Johnson and Olivia Giaccio joining Kauf and Lemley.

Dual moguls, making its Olympic debut, pits two competitors against each other at the same time. The one with the highest score moves on to the next round, with a champion, second and third place eventually being crowned.

Yuma Kagiyama of Team Japan competes in Men's Single Skating - Short Program on day one of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 7, 2026 in Milan, Italy. Kagiyama pulled off a stunning routine that received 108.67 points, placing first in the event.

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See emotional moments of triumph and defeat at 2026 Winter Olympics

Yuma Kagiyama of Team Japan competes in Men's Single Skating - Short Program on day one of the Milano Cortina2026 Winter Olympicsat Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 7, 2026 in Milan, Italy. Kagiyama pulled off a stunning routine that received 108.67 points, placing first in the event.

Dual moguls is inherently more dangerous than individual moguls because of the head-to-head aspect, Kauf said, although there have been only a handful of incidents in which athletes fly out of control into the other person's course.

"Those center lines are pretty close together … anything can happen," Kauf said. "Usually nothing too serious."

Moguls races are judged by three categories – turns, jumps and speed – and whoever crosses the finish line first is not necessarily the winner.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Dual moguls' Olympic debut leads to medals for Jaelin Kauf, Liz Lemley

Milan Cortina Olympics Figure Skating

The overwhelming favorite to win gold, Malinin fell twice amid a calamitous program that he seemingly had perfected over the past year, sending him tumbling from first place all the way off the podium and allowing Mikhail Shaidorov to claim gold instead.

It bore an eerie resemblance to the scene that unfolded at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.

Chen, who like Malinin had been groomed by Hall of Fame coach Rafael Arutyunyan, was considered the favorite along with Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu to stand atop the podium in South Korea. Instead, Chen fell once during his short program and struggled through the rest of it, leaving him so far behind that not even his winning free skate could earn him a medal.

One month later, he won his first world title. Four years later,Chen won Olympic gold in Beijing.

"I can't go back and change it, even though I would love to," Malinin said, candidly. "You have to take what happened or what you've learned from this and really just change or decide what you want to do for the future, and how to approach things."

What made the 21-year-old Malinin's fall so stunning was not just that he has been the dominant skater of his generation, building an unbeaten streak stretching back more than two years and claiming the past two world championships with relative ease.

It's that everything was setting up perfectly for him.

One by one, the skaters before him Friday night had problems of their own, falling on ice shared by speedskating that some lamented was not the best of surfaces. Italy's Daniel Grassl crashed out of podium contention, as did Adam Siao Him Fa of France.

Shaidorov was the only one who managed a memorable performance, and he had started the night in sixth place.

So Malinin, whosefree skate clinched team goldfor the Americans on Sunday, headed out one more time with a big buffer between him and the competition. He need only have put together a dialed-back version of the hardest planned program of anyone — as he did at the U.S. championships last month — to win his second gold medal ofthe Milan Cortina Games.

"That first quad and several of the quads, they felt really ideal," Malinin said. "I was prepared well enough."

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Yet the problems began after he landed a quad lutz. Malinin doubled up a planned quad loop, fell on another quad lutz — preventing him from doing the second half of a combination sequence — and made a mess of his final jumping pass. What was supposed to be a high-scoring quad salchow-triple axel became only a pedestrian double salchow, and Malinin even fell on that.

"It's really difficult when everyone assumes that he will get gold. There's this pressure," said Japan's Yuma Kagiyama, the last man to have beaten Malinin way back in 2023, and the men's silver medalist for the second consecutive Winter Games.

"His performance, if I may comment, was a little bit unusual. But it really proves that this is the Olympics. Things can happen."

Malinin acknowledged the pressure had gotten to him during a relatively poor short program in the team event. And he still seemed to be a little off in the free skate the following night, even though it was enough to give himat least one gold medal from Milan.

"We saw that even he is human," Grassl said, "and these things can happen to anyone."

Malinin was nothing if not noble in defeat.

He gave Shaidorov a hug as he walked out of the arena, whispering in his ear, "You deserve it." Then he answered the same question, over and over, for dozens of TV crews and reporters from all over the world: What just happened?

"It's almost like I wasn't aware of where I was in the program," Malinin said. "Usually I have more time and more feeling of how it is, but this time, it all went by so fast, and I really didn't have time to make those changes or make that process different."

"I was really confident, just feeling really good about it," he said, "and then it's like it's right there, and it just left your hands."

The end of one disastrous free skate will hardly be the end for Malinin, though. He's still the reigning world champion, the best figure skater of his generation, and again the overwhelming favorite to win Olympic gold four years from now in France.

"The pressure of the Olympics really gets you. People say there's an Olympic curse, that the Olympic gold medal favorite is always going to skate bad at the Olympics," he said. "It's really not easy, but I'm still proud of being able to get to the finish."

AP Winter Olympics:https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics