NEWS RSS Streams

A Royal Caribbean pianist was rescued after spending nearly nine hours treading water in the Pacific Ocean. Two Southern California fishermen spotted the man while returning from a fishing trip Friday.

Sean Norton and Grant Garrett, both of Newport Beach, were heading home from a morning of marlin fishing near Catalina Island when the boat’s captain saw the man in the water around noon, nearly 20 miles off the coast, CBS LA reported.

Garrett said that when the man regained consciousness, he told them he was a pianist on the 14-deck Royal Caribbean cruise ship Ovation of the Seas.

Fishermen Sean Norton and Grant Garrett pulled a Royal Caribbean pianist from the water near Catalina Island. Sean Norton/CBS LA The Royal Caribbean International cruise ship Ovation of the Seas sits in Sydney Harbour in Sydney, Australia. Getty Images

“The only thing he said to me was, ‘Thank you. I thought I was gonna die,’” Norton said, according to CBS LA.

After pulling him from the water, the crew sent out an emergency maritime call, and Newport Beach lifeguards responded to help.

“It was approximately 15 to 20 miles offshore, pretty much in the middle of the ocean,” Battalion Chief Adam Yacenda said, CBS LA reported.

Officials believe he may have gone overboard from the ship about nine hours before he was found.

“We are providing support and assistance to our crew member during this difficult time. To respect the privacy of our employee, we have no additional details to share,” a Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson told The California Post in an email.

In September, Thomas Gigler, 56, was aboard the Carnival Panorama with his Michelle, when he went overboard as the ship sailed from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Long Beach.

The couple, who lived in Redlands with their three sons, were reportedly celebrating their anniversary when Gigler disappeared. The computer programmer, who spent 24 years working for Esri, was presumed dead.

A passenger staying in a cabin near the Giglers told the Daily Mail that the family’s accommodations were on the ship’s second deck — meaning Gigler would have ascended roughly nine floors before reaching the 11th deck, where he is believed to have jumped.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn
California Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X
California Post Opinion
California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!
California Post App: Download here!
Home delivery: Sign up here!Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!

This article originally appeared on California Post at https://nypost.com/2026/11/08/us-news/royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-pianist-plunges-overboard-off-california-coast/

By Tim Reid

WASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Tech megabillionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump's newly appointed White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller, and some large companies will likely be targets of congressional probes when Democrats take control of Congress in ‌January, senior lawmakers said on Sunday.

In television appearances, US Representative Robert Garcia of California and US Senator Elizabeth Warren of ‌Massachusetts, set to lead the House Oversight and Senate Banking committees, vowed aggressive oversight after their party's sweeping midterm election victory.

Meanwhile, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries indicated he and his ​fellow Democrats would back an impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Garcia, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said investigations will focus on Musk's involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency's firing of federal workers last year, and Miller's role in Trump's hardline immigration crackdown.

"I think there's a lot of interest, not just from our committee, but from committees across the Congress to speak to Mr. Musk," Garcia told CNN's "State of the Union."

Warren said some ‌companies should be ready for congressional investigations. She did ⁠not name any of the companies.

"If you've been making your profits by cheating American families and scamming your investors, you'd better get ready for some investigations, serious ones," Warren told CBS's "Face the Nation" program.

DEMOCRATS FOCUS ON MILLER, ⁠HEGSETH

Miller — whom Garcia called the architect of a "horrific, unjust" immigration policy — has been promoted to White House chief of staff.

"Stephen Miller is at the center of the major policy decisions that are happening in the administration, and so it does deserve oversight and investigation," Garcia told CNN.

Voters delivered a historic rebuke to ​Republicans in ​Tuesday's midterm election, but with Miller as White House chief of staff, the ​Trump administration is expected to continue its aggressive approach ‌to immigration enforcement, amplify cultural conflicts and give no ground to a Democratic-controlled Congress, say officials and experts who spoke to Reuters.

The crackdown on immigration, which included operations in which two people were fatally shot in Minnesota by federal agents, has proven widely unpopular. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in October found that only 37% approved of Trump's handling of immigration, down from 50% when he took office.

Jeffries, who will become speaker of the US House in January, said on Sunday that Democrats would support a measure to impeach Hegseth, a congressional process that could remove him from ‌office.

Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican and Trump critic who leaves Congress in ​January after a Trump-backed primary defeat this year, has said he will reintroduce articles ​of impeachment against Hegseth soon. Jeffries said he is a "hard ​yes" on backing that measure.

"Pete Hegseth has got to go," Jeffries told ABC's "This Week," citing the defense secretary's oversight of ‌the unpopular Iran war launched by Trump in February, which ​has led to a spike in ​gas prices.

"I believe there will be incredibly strong support for that resolution," Jeffries added.

Attorney General Todd Blanche signaled on Sunday that the Trump administration was prepared to battle the Democrats in Congress, calling threats by some Democrats to target administration officials and allies "not ​something we can tolerate in this country."

"If that's ‌what this new incoming leadership wants to do, we are ready," said Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Trump. "If you ​work in this administration, you have a lawyer. It's me."

(Reporting by Tim Reid in Washington; Additional reporting by Abigail Summerville, ​Brad Heath and Tom Polansek; Editing by Sergio Non and Nia Williams)

This article originally appeared on Reuters at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/democrats-eye-musk-miller-probes-162946969.html