Bombarded by Israeli airstrikes, conditions in Gaza grow more dire as power goes out

October 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — With communities across the Gaza Strip already laid to waste by a relentless barrage of airstrikes in retaliation for the Hamas surprise attack on Israel, conditions for Palestinians grew even more dire on Wednesday when the only power plant ran out of fuel, leaving the territory with no electricity and running water, officials said.

The shutdown of the Gaza Electricity Power Plant “creates a humanitarian crisis” for the 2.3 million residents packed in the 140 square miles comprising the Gaza Strip, Gaza authorities said in a statement Wednesday.

“This threatens to plunge the Strip into complete darkness and make it impossible to continue providing all basic life services, all of which depend on electricity, and it will not be possible to operate them partially with generators in light of the prevention of fuel supplies from Rafah Gate,” according to the statement, which included an “urgent appeal to the international community and its humanitarian and relief organizations to act quickly to stop this crime against humanity and this mass killing that has taken on many forms.”

“We stress the need to provide the Gaza Strip with all means of life,” the authorities said.

But Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces, told ABC News Wednesday night that there is “no room for mercy” for Hamas. Conricus said it is not the intention of the Israeli forces to harm civilians in Gaza, but added that Hamas has been using civilians as “human shields” and hiding in residential areas.

He said Israel is determined to exact revenge for the atrocities Hamas committed when it stormed the border into Israel on Saturday morning and indiscriminately killed Israeli civilians.

As of Wednesday night, at least 1,200 people have died and 2,900 others have been injured in Israel since the horrific incursion commenced. Israeli officials said the armed militants went from town to town and kibbutz to kibbutz slaughtering men, women and even babies.

At a desert music festival near the Gaza border, Hamas gunmen killed 260 Israeli young people and abducted others, taking them back into Gaza, Israeli officials said. In other border communities, the terrorists went door to door, gunning down Israeli civilians and taking women, the elderly and children captive, officials said.

“If Hamas is able to get away with murdering 900 Israelis, to see the light of another day, that isn’t the message that we can afford and allow ourselves to tell the other extremist organizations,” Conricus told ABC News.

The power blackout in Gaza came a day after the Israeli government ordered a “total siege” of the neighboring Gaza Strip, allowing no food, fuel or electricity to enter the Hamas-ruled territory.

The United Nations said the number of Palestinians displaced from their homes by the shelling is at least 263,000. The evacuees were seeking shelter in a U.N. school and at a hospital.

United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza said it has not been immune to the bombings. The UNRWA said 18 of its facilities in Gaza, including schools sheltering displaced civilians, have been damaged by the Israeli retaliatory airstrikes.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society, a humanitarian organization in Gaza, said four of its paramedics were killed in the Israeli retaliatory airstrikes.

“PRCS demands accountability for this war crime, urging immediate investigation and justice for the victims,” the agency said in a statement. “Targeting medical personnel is a grave breach to international humanitarian law and to humanity.”

The airstrikes were launched by Israel following the surprise and highly coordinated attacks by Hamas militants on Saturday morning. Since then, hundreds of targets have been hit in Gaza.

More than 200 targets were struck in Gaza by Israeli forces in just one day, according to Israeli officials.

At least 950 people have died and 5,000 others have been injured in Gaza since the airstrikes by Israel began, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. At least 260 of the dead in Gaza are children and 230 are women, the health ministry said.

Israeli officials said Hamas showed no mercy to Israeli civilian families at the Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel, where fathers, mothers and their children were found slain in their homes.

Inside some of the houses, soldiers found bodies of entire families, Israeli Maj. Gen. Itai Veruv told ABC News during a ghastly tour of the shattered community on Tuesday.

“You see the babies, the mothers, the fathers in the bedrooms, in the protection rooms and how the terrorists killed them,” Veruv said. “It’s not a war, it’s not a battlefield. It’s a massacre.”

Describing the gruesome discoveries soldiers made in the houses, Veruv said, “They burned the apartments, then they shoot the babies, they cut their heads.”

In Gaza, Doctors Without Borders, an independent medical humanitarian group, said that all of the patients treated at its clinic in Gaza City on Wednesday were children ages 10 to 14.

“This is because the majority of the injured in Gaza are women and children since they are the ones who are most often in the houses that get destroyed in the airstrikes,” Doctors Without Borders said in a statement.

In the hours after his country was attacked, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas.

On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant toured southern Israel along the Gaza border, telling soldiers they are moving to “a full-scale response” to the Hamas surprise attack and that he has “removed every restriction.”

“Hamas wanted to see a change in Gaza — the reality is Gaza will make a 180. They will regret [their actions],” Gallant said.

President Joe Biden has said repeatedly since the Hamas attack that the United States fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself and will offer its assistance in that endeavor.

But with concerns mounting over civilian casualties in Israel and Gaza, Biden, speaking to a gathering of Jewish community leaders on Tuesday, recounted what he said was a conversation this week with Netanyahu.

“One thing that I did share is that it is really important that Israel with all the anger, frustration … that exists, is that they operate by the rules of war. And there are rules of war,” Biden said.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that the United States is working with Israel and Egypt to ensure civilians in Gaza can get safe passage out.

“We believe that safe passage is important, and we want to see safe passage, a safe passage corridor opened up. We also believe it’s important that humanitarian assistance have a way to continue to get to the Palestinian people,” Kirby said.

Kirby stressed the importance of getting humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, saying the U.S. is “going to continue to pursue options to make sure that they get that humanitarian assistance.”

Kirby said U.S. officials have been in communication with the Palestinian Authority.

Judge in classified docs case to hear arguments regarding potential conflicts of interest

October 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(FORT PIERCE, Fla.) — Attorneys for former President Donald Trump’s two co-defendants in the special counsel’s classified documents case will appear in court Thursday to make their case that their representation of their clients, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, doesn’t present a conflict of interest despite them representing other witnesses in the investigation.

Lawyers for Trump will also be present at the hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Trump pleaded not guilty in June to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities, and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back.

Nauta, Trump’s longtime aide, and De Oliveira, the property manager at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, subsequently pleaded not guilty along with the former president to obstruction charges in a superseding indictment related to alleged attempts to delete Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage.

Thursday’s hearing could provide additional insight into what witnesses have told investigators about Trump, Nauta and De Oliveira’s actions leading up to their indictment.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team requested the hearings for U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to determine if Stanley Woodward, Nauta’s counsel, and John Irving, De Oliveira’s counsel, have any conflicts of interest arising from their past and current representations of witnesses who the government may call at trial.

Woodward previously represented the individual identified in Smith’s superseding indictment as “Trump Employee 4,” who ABC News has previously identified as Yuscil Taveras, Mar-a-Lago’s former director of IT. Taveras switched attorneys after receiving a target letter from the special counsel indicating he may have perjured himself during a May appearance prior to the federal grand jury hearing evidence in the probe.

Taveras then entered into an agreement to cooperate with the government, with Smith agreeing not to prosecute Taveras for allegedly perjuring himself in exchange for his truthful testimony.

According to previous court filings, Smith’s team argues that Woodward’s potential cross examination of his former client “raises two principal dangers.”

“First, the conflict may result in the attorney’s improper use or disclosure of the client’s confidences during the cross-examination,” the special counsel has said, according to the filings.

“Second, the conflict may cause the attorney to pull his punches during cross-examination, perhaps to protect the client’s confidences or to advance the attorney’s own personal interest,” the special counsel said in the filing.

Woodward also represents two additional individuals who could also be called as witnesses at trial. Their identities have not publicly been disclosed.

Smith’s team also argues that conflicts may arise from Irving’s representation of De Oliveira, given that Irving represents at least four others who have been questioned by special counsel investigators.

The clients include a maintenance worker at Mar-a-Lago who served as head of maintenance before De Oliveira; a former receptionist and assistant to Trump; and a witness who has information about the movement of boxes from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, according to prosecutors.

“Mr. Irving’s representation of the three potential witnesses raises the possibility that he might be in the position of cross-examining current clients,” the special counsel has said, according to the public filings.

Music festival survivor recounts harrowing escape from Hamas terrorists: ‘They hunted us for hours’

October 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A woman who fled for her life as Hamas terrorists gunned down festivalgoers in southern Israel is sharing the terrifying details of her survival.

Daniel Levi, who was working at the Supernova music festival when the attack unfolded, recalled dozens of terrorists “filled the sky” around 6:30 a.m. Saturday near the Gaza border, descending as the crowd celebrated the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

“They just started shooting, and the sky was full of rockets,” she said in an interview on ABC News Live.

The 31-year-old said she knew she “needed to stay in an open field” in order to survive the attack.

For the next half hour, Levi and her two friends, Nicole and Elaine, stayed put. When they heard gunfire in the distance, Levi told her friends they were involved in “an extreme situation” and they needed to evacuate the area.

The group went to their car, where they crossed paths with a friend who worked as a security guard at the event. He told them “a suicider” was located in the road, and urged the group to follow him to wait together.

According to Levi, the attack lasted 10 minutes, with Hamas terrorists targeting festivalgoers from the east and the north as they sought refuge.

“They [shot] at us everywhere,” she said. “And then, we couldn’t hide. We didn’t have anywhere to go.”

While police and security guards attempted to fight on the road against Hamas, Levi and her friends ran back towards the festival area.

In a matter of seconds, the group had to make a difficult decision — whether to run through a field towards Gaza, where Hamas fighters would potentially kill them, or hide in the trees in a eucalyptus forest.

“We decided to go to the trees,” she recalled. “We were just trying to stay alive. They hunted us for six hours.”

Levi said the “suiciders” were always behind them, and she could hear people running for their lives, screaming while being shot. She explained they stayed low beneath the trees and removed leaves from underneath their shoes to avoid being heard as they fled.

“We had nowhere to hide,” she continued. “It wasn’t humanized. They just – they killed everyone.”

Levi relied on Google Maps for assistance and spoke with her uncle, a commander in the Army who is familiar with navigating extreme situations, begging him to send help. Acting on impulse, she also notified police, telling them to track her phone in real-time in hopes they would aid in their rescue.

Messaging back and forth with friends, Levi was able to determine which villages were occupied by Hamas and were unsafe to seek refuge in.

The women hid in the trees for six hours and then decided to run into an open field, heading towards a stream. As they fled, Hamas terrorists were seen traveling on jeeps, “hunting” whoever came across their path.

“We decided to run,” Levi said. “We had no other choice.”

When they arrived at the stream, the women took cover near some bamboo, leaning against a wall while checking to see if anyone could see them. One hour later, the group noticed a car driving by. It turned out to be the police.

“Thank god they were the real police,” Levi said. “Most of the suiciders wore police and soldier uniforms so they [could] abduct and kill people on the road.”

The police transported the women to an area called Patish, where they were provided with food and water, and were able to charge Levi’s phone. She credits being the only one with a phone as part of the reason they were rescued.

“I was the only one who can speak with the world, and like, ask for help and let them know where we are, and ask what happened so we can get out of there alive,” she said.

Reflecting on the attack, Levi, now home safe and beside her family, says she “hopes everything will be okay.”

“I want everyone to be OK here,” she said. “We are strong. We are united.”

Fighting has been ongoing since Hamas launched its attack on Israel from air, land and sea on Saturday. More than 200 bodies were removed from the music festival venue, according to an Israeli rescue service.

At least 1,200 people have died and 2,900 others have been injured in Israel, Israeli authorities said. According to Palestinian authorities, at least 1,100 people have died, and 5,339 have been injured in Gaza.

Biden says he’s doing ‘a lot’ to free American hostages, hasn’t given up hope

October 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he was doing “a lot” to free hostages held by Hamas, including Americans, and that he hasn’t given up hope, but he revealed no details.

“We’re working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel, including deploying experts to advise and assist with recovery efforts,” he told a gathering of Jewish community leaders. “Now, the press are going to shout to me, and many of you are, that you know … what are you doing to bring these — get these folks home? If I told you, I wouldn’t be able to get them home. Folks, there’s a lot we’re doing, a lot we’re doing.”

“I have not given up hope of bringing these folks home,” he continued. “But the idea that I’m going to stand here before you and tell you what I’m doing is bizarre. So, I hope you understand how bizarre I think it would be to try to answer that question.”

Earlier, the White House said the U.S. is “keeping options wide” for the recovery of Americans being held hostage by Hamas, but at the same time, a spokesman acknowledged it had no update on their condition or whereabouts.

At least 22 Americans have died in Israel since the fighting began on Saturday when Hamas launched unprecedented surprise attacks. Seventeen Americans remain unaccounted for or missing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

According to White House spokesman John Kirby, a “number of those Americans” are being held hostage by Hamas. He said the public should prepare for the possibility that the number of U.S. citizens being held by the terrorist group will grow.

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked Kirby if there were anything he could share about the hostages’ condition, and whether the administration is in contact directly or indirectly with Hamas about securing their release.

“Now, where they are and in what condition, no,” Kirby responded, adding the administration isn’t aware if they are in one group or at what frequency they may be being moved. “Sadly we don’t know. And that makes efforts very, very difficult.”

He also told ABC White House Correspondent MaryAlice Parks he is “not aware of any specific proof of life on any individual hostage.”

Kirby said the U.S. is in discussion with some countries, such as Qatar, that have lines of communication with Hamas on freeing the hostages.

Pressed on whether the U.S. has made any contact with Hamas, Kirby deferred to his previous answer — telling reporters that like in other instances where Americans are being held hostage or wrongfully detained, “the less you say out there publicly the better.”

Asked if President Biden has ruled out sending any American forces into Gaza to help secure their release, if necessary, Kirby said they just “don’t have enough information to be able to make decisions like that.”

“Obviously we’re casting a wide net,” Kirby said regarding discussions about hostages with allies and partners in the region. “We’re also keeping the options wide open right now as we get more information but we just don’t have enough granularity to be able to fine-tune those options.”

According to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter, it does appear that allies and partners in the Middle East in communication with Hamas are being helpful in advocating for the release of the hostages.

But despite recent apparent overtures to the Hamas leadership, the officials say Hamas has shown no real willingness to partake in diplomacy up to this point. And despite Israel’s long history of prioritizing the lives of its citizens that are taken hostage, the officials said there’s no appetite on their side to cut a deal right now either.

Ticket sold in California wins Powerball jackpot of $1.73 billion

October 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Powerball frenzy continued on Wednesday as numbers were drawn for the $1.73 billion jackpot.

The winning numbers drawn for the jackpot prize were: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and red Powerball 10. The power play was 2.

One ticket had all the numbers. It was sold in Frasier Park, California, which is located between Los Angeles and Bakersfield in Kern County.

The grand prize, which had an estimated lump sum payout of $756.6 million, continued its ascent through billion-dollar territory after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn on Monday night, Powerball said.

Monday’s jackpot was the third-largest prize in Powerball history, officials previously said, making Wednesday’s prize now the second-largest.

Florida had at least one ticket on Monday that matched five and got the power play number, all adding up to a $2 million win. There were match five winners who won $1 million in California, Indiana, Oregon and Virginia.

The last billion-dollar Powerball prize — the jaw-dropping $2.04 billion — was won in California in November of last year. The next largest prize — $1.586 billion — was won in Jan. 2016 in California, Florida and Tennessee.

Lottery officials said that while the odds of winning the big jackpot may be astronomical, the chances of winning a smaller prize were much better at 1 in 24.9.

Jackpot winners can either take the money as an immediate cash lump sum or in 30 annual payments over 29 years. Both advertised prize options do not include federal and jurisdictional taxes.

Powerball tickets cost $2 and are sold in 45 U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. The drawings are also livestreamed online at Powerball.com.

Green Day adds more personal guitars & gear to reopened Reverb shop

October 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Green Day is reopening the band’s Reverb shop.

After first teaming up with them in 2019, Billie Joe Armstrong and company have reunited with the online gear marketplace to sell various personal instruments, including the Gretsch Electromatic guitar seen in the “Back in the USA” video.

Other items available include Armstrong’s 1956 Gibson Les Paul Jr. and Fender Bullet Deluxe guitars, which he’s used to practice on tour buses and hotels.

The shop will open on October 18. If you sign up for email updates, you’ll be entered to win a unique prototype of Armstrong’s signature Les Paul Jr. guitar.

For more info, visit Reverb.com.

Green Day, meanwhile, just released a 30th anniversary reissue of their breakout 1994 album, Dookie, in September. They’ve also launched a website, TheAmericanDreamIsKillingMe.com, which teases something happening on October 24.

The musician Jon Bon Jovi’s son admires most … isn’t his dad

October 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Hampton Water

What does it take to impress a kid these days? Even being a global superstar and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer isn’t enough for Jon Bon Jovi‘s son.

In a joint interview with Barron’s, Jon and his son Jesse Bongiovi discuss their award-winning rosé, Hampton Water, which is now available in all 50 states, as well as more than 50 countries. As part of the interview — in which they hint they may be expanding their line of wines — the father and son answer a series of fill-in-the-blank questions, such as naming their go-to meals and favorite vacations.

But things get sticky when the question turns to, “The musician I admire the most is … .” Jon’s answer? “Paul McCartney. He is still singing, touring and writing. Of course, he was part of the greatest band that ever existed.”

But Jesse’s response is, “Harry Styles. He is the man.” Awkward!

And things don’t get much better when Jesse’s asked what song of his dad’s he listens to the most.

“I don’t sit around and listen to my dad’s songs much,” he says. “If I had to pick, it would be ‘Bed of Roses.'”

And it seems we won’t be hearing Jon perform that ballad — or any other love song — at his other son Jake‘s wedding to actress Millie Bobby Brown: She’s already said her future father-in-law won’t be singing at their wedding because “the man needs a break.”

Jimi Hendrix doc getting special New York screening

October 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

The Jimi Hendrix documentary Music, Money, Madness … Jimi Hendrix In Maui is getting a special screening in New York City.

The special event will take place October 25 at the LOOK Dine-In Cinemas W57 in Manhattan and will feature a Q&A with the film’s producers: Janie Hendrix, Hendrix’s sister and Experience Hendrix CEO, and John McDermott, who also directed the film. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix’s original audio engineer, will also take part in the Q&A.

Music, Money, Madness … Jimi Hendrix In Maui follows the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s 1970 visit to Maui and their participation in the critically panned counterculture film Rainbow Bridge, produced by their controversial manager Michael Jeffery. It features never-before-seen original footage, along with new interviews and more.

Tickets for the screening are on sale now.

Taylor Swift announces early ‘The Eras Tour’ film release as she steps out for world premiere

October 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Taylor Swift announced on Instagram Wednesday night that Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie would be released one day early on Thursday, Oct. 12.

Swift wrote in her caption, “Due to unprecedented demand we’re opening up early access showings of The Eras Tour Concert Film on THURSDAY in America and Canada!!”

After the announcement, the 12-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter stepped out at The Grove in Los Angeles Wednesday night for the world premiere of her concert film.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is the concert film documenting Swift’s record-breaking tour. News of the film was first announced in August.

AMC said in a press release last week that as of Oct. 4, the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film had sold more than $100 million in advance tickets globally.

The singer’s tour, which kicked off on March 17, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona, and will continue in November in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has also shattered concert-sale records with more than three million fans packing arenas across the United States in its first leg.

“The Eras Tour has been the most meaningful, electric experience of my life so far and I’m overjoyed to tell you that it’ll be coming to the big screen soon,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post when news of the concert film was announced in August. “Eras attire, friendship bracelets, singing and dancing encouraged 1, 2, 3 LGB!!!! (iykyk).”

The concert film will be shown in thousands of movie theaters throughout the country beginning Thursday, October 12 at every AMC theater location in the U.S., as well as other movie chains across North America.

It will also debut Friday in more than 8,500 theaters in 100 countries around the world and play at every ODEON Cinemas location in Europe.

Scoreboard roundup — 10/11/23

October 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Houston 3, Minnesota 2 (Houston wins 3-1)

NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Philadelphia 10, Atlanta 2 (Philadelphia leads 2-1)
Arizona 4, LA Dodgers 2 (Arizona wins 3-0)

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PRESEASON
Boston 112, Philadelphia 101
LA Lakers 109, Sacramento 101

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Colorado 5, Los Angeles 2
Carolina 5, Ottawa 3
Toronto 6, Montreal 5 (SO)
Boston 3, Chicago 1
Calgary 5, Winnipeg 3
Vancouver 8, Edmonton 1

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Las Vegas 104, New York 76

+ More