Billie Eilish among winners of 2023 Hollywood Music in Media Awards

Disney/Randy Holmes

Billie Eilish is among the winners of the 2023 Hollywood Music in Media Awards, which were announced Wednesday, November 15.

Eilish’s Barbie soundtrack song “What Was I Made For?” took home the Song — Feature Film prize.

The Barbie soundtrack as a whole — which also features contributions from HAIM, Tame Impala and GAYLE, plus Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen on the song “I’m Just Ken” — was awarded in the Soundtrack Album category.

Additionally, Death Cab for Cutie‘s Ben Gibbard won for Main Title — TV Show/Limited Series alongside Tom Howe for their theme to the show Shrinking.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Drake to release surprise EP, ‘Scary Hours 3’

Ethan Miller/Getty Images via ABC

Drake isn’t quite finished with music drops this year. 

The “Rich Flex” rapper says he’s got one more 2023 release: his new EP, Scary Hours 3. 

Serving as the follow-up to the first two editions of Scary Hours, Drake’s upcoming project is set to arrive off the heels of his October chart-topping eighth studio album, For All the Dogs.

In a seemingly unexpected post on Instagram, Drake surprised fans with the music news, sharing an album trailer and the release date of midnight, November 17. 

“I’ll say this to you I’m not — I feel no need to appease anybody,” Drake says in a voiceover. “I feel so confident about the body of work I just dropped that I know I can go and disappear for whatever, six months, a year, two years.”

But there’s no need to take a break quite yet, he adds.

Throughout the rest of the clip, Drake opens up about how he wrote and recorded the entire Scary Hours 3 over the past five days. 

“I didn’t have one bar written down for those songs on the night For all the Dogs dropped,” he said, noting the overflow of music is organic. 

“Who am I to fight it?” he asked. 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Blondie’s Chris Stein to release memoir, ‘Under A Rock’, in 2024

Blondie co-founder and guitarist Chris Stein is ready to share his story. The rocker is set to drop his memoir, Under a Rock, next year.

“I’ve been working on this memoir for two years and it’ll show up allegedly in 2024,” he writes on Instagram. “I mean, I like it… I wrote the whole f****** thing myself. It’s got a lot of weird a** stuff that actually happened even if it might seem made up.” 

“I’m quite looking forward to people interacting with it,” he adds.

Under A Rock will feature a foreword by Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry. Described as Stein’s “nothing-spared autobiography,” it is “about the founding of the band, ascending to the heights of pop success, and the hazards of fortune.” 

Under A Rock will be released June 11. It is available for preorder now.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Trump fraud trial live updates: NY AG requests Dec. 8 deadline to respond to mistrial motion

ftwitty/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York in a $250 million civil lawsuit that could alter the personal fortune and real estate empire that helped propel Trump to the White House.

Trump, his sons Eric Trump and and Donald Trump Jr., and other top Trump Organization executives are accused by New York Attorney General Letitia James of engaging in a decade-long scheme in which they used “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” to inflate Trump’s net worth in order get more favorable loan terms. The trial comes after the judge in the case ruled in a partial summary judgment that Trump had submitted “fraudulent valuations” for his assets, leaving the trial to determine additional actions and what penalty, if any, the defendants should receive.

The former president has denied all wrongdoing and his attorneys have argued that Trump’s alleged inflated valuations were a product of his business skill.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Nov 16, 9:25 AM EST
NY AG requests Dec. 8 deadline to respond to mistrial motion

New York Attorney General Letitia James has requested a Dec. 8 deadline to respond to what she called the “spurious allegations” in Donald Trump’s motion for a mistrial, a day after Trump sought a mistrial claiming bias on the part of Judge Arthur Engoron and his clerk.

If granted, the request would delay any decision on the mistrial motion until later in the trial and likely push any potential appeal until after the trial has concluded.

State attorney Kevin Wallace cited the “considerable daily attention” of the trial and the impending Thanksgiving holiday as reasons for the extended deadline.

“The Office of the Attorney General’s position is that — putting aside the total lack of merit to Defendants’ application for a mistrial — it is preferable to have the Court hear and decide the application on full briefing,” Wallace wrote.

Nov 15, 5:52 PM EST
Expert acknowledges he didn’t review each of Trump’s statements

State attorney Kevin Wallace, cross-examining defense expert Jason Flemmons, attempted to challenge Flemmons’ testimony by pressing the accountant on his experience with personal financial statements and his work reviewing Trump’s statements.

Flemmons testified that he himself had compiled fewer than five statements of financial condition, none of which were done after 2000. He also acknowledged that he did not review each of Trump’s financial statements between 2011 and 2021, which are the subject of the New York attorney general’s complaint.

Flemmons generally underplayed the importance of the financial statements by suggesting that most issues Wallace raised were “easily curable with a phone call.”

Asked if he could provide a specific example where he was involved in such a follow-up inquiry, Flemmons failed to offer an example and instead generally referred to his time working for the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Court was subsequently adjourned for the day, with Wallace scheduled to continue his testimony tomorrow morning.

Nov 15, 3:27 PM EST
Trump adequately disclosed accounting methods, expert says

The defense’s accounting expert could not identify any departures from generally accepted accounting principles — known as GAAP — in Donald Trump’s statements of financial condition that were not disclosed, according to his testimony.

“I don’t believe I have identified any additional discrepancies with GAAP that were not covered by those disclosures,” Jason Flemmons testified toward the end of his direct examination.

Flemmons also testified that the statements appropriately cited their use of appraisals, challenging the state’s assertion that Trump ignored vital appraisal information.

“Was the use of appraisals accurately described in the statements?” defense attorney Jesus Suarez asked.

“I believe so. I don’t believe there was anything that contradicted the use of appraisals but also other bases for evaluating the properties,” Flemmons responded.

Suarez concluded his lengthy direct examination, setting up state attorney Kevin Wallace’s cross-examination of Flemmons.

Nov 15, 2:06 PM EST
Accounting expert says he’s attesting to methodology, not results

After Jason Flemmons, the defense’s expert accounting witness, had testified at length about how Donald Trump’s financial statements included adequate disclaimers to explain his departure from normal accounting standards, Judge Engoron interjected to push back on the testimony.

That prompted Flemmons to confirm he is attesting largely to the general accounting methods used by the Trump Organization — not the specific numbers they provided for each of their assets.

As Flemmons gets further into his second day on the stand, Judge Engoron’s initial enthusiasm regarding his testimony appears to be on the wane, with the judge sustaining more of the state’s objections and asking increasingly skeptical questions.

Nov 15, 12:44 PM EST
Trump warned lenders statements may be unreliable, expert says

Donald Trump disclosed that 95% of the assets listed in his 2014 statement of financial condition departed from generally accepted accounting principles — known in the industry as GAAP — according to the defense’s expert witness Jason Flemmons.

The testimony from the defense’s accounting expert bolsters Trump’s argument that the departures from GAAP in his statements were adequately disclosed to lenders, making the lenders themselves responsible for drawing their own conclusions about the valuations listed in the documents.

It also supports the defense’s position that Trump’s statements fell within the regulations on personal financial statements, thus shielding him from allegations of fraud.

Nov 15, 12:03 PM EST
Judge delays ruling on mistrial after Trump claims bias

Judge Arthur Engoron did not issue a ruling on the defense’s motion for a mistrial in court, opting to give the New York attorney general time to determine if the state wants to respond to the request.

“I would ask if we could have until tomorrow to determine if we want to put in anything,” state attorney Kevin Wallace said after Engoron’s asked if the state plans to file a response.

The testimony of expert witness Jason Flemmons is now resuming.

Nov 15, 11:49 AM EST
Motion accuses judge of ‘predetermining’ trial’s outcome

In their motion for a mistrial, lawyers for Donald Trump and his adult sons argue that Judge Engoron has “predetermined the outcome of this proceeding and is merely going through the motions before it ultimately doles out punishment.”

Writing that the actions of both Engoron and his clerk create an appearance of impropriety that has resulted in “biased rulings,” Trump’s lawyers warn of wide-reaching implications.

“Left unchecked, the introduction of such demonstrable pro-Attorney General and anti-Trump/big real estate bias into a case of worldwide interest involving the front-runner for the Presidency of the United States impugns the integrity of the entire system,” they write.

Their three-pronged motion argues that the extrajudicial conduct of Engoron, the political activity of his clerk, and their rulings — including their gag order and fines — are each irreparable harms that can only be remedied by scrapping the entire trial.

“Only the grant of a mistrial can salvage what is left of the rule of law,” they write.

Nov 15, 10:50 AM EST
Trump is ‘trying to dismiss the truth,’ NY AG spokesperson says

A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Letitia James described Donald Trump’s motion for a mistrial as an effort “to dismiss the truth and the facts.”

“Donald Trump is now being held accountable for the years of fraud he committed,” the spokesperson said. “He can keep trying to distract from his fraud, but the truth always comes out.”

Trump’s motion for a mistrial takes aim at Judge Engoron as well as his law clerk, who frequently collaborates with the judge before he rules on objections, the admissibility of evidence, and other legal matters.

The judge imposed a limited gag order prohibiting statements about his staff after Trump posted about the clerk on social media.

Nov 15, 10:31 AM EST
Trump moves for mistrial, claiming bias on part of judge, clerk

Donald Trump and his co-defendants have filed a motion seeking a mistrial on the grounds that the trial has been “tainted” by the appearance of bias on the part of Judge Arthur Engoron and his law.

“This appearance of bias threatens both Defendants’ rights and the integrity of the judiciary as an institution,” Trump’s attorneys say in the filing. “As developed herein, in this case the evidence of apparent and actual bias is tangible and overwhelming.”

“Specifically, the Court’s own conduct, coupled with the Principal Law Clerk, Allison Greenfield’s unprecedented role in the trial and extensive, public partisan activities, would cause even a casual observer to question the Court’s partiality,” they write.

“Such evidence, coupled with an unprecedented departure from standard judicial procedure, has tainted these proceedings and a mistrial is warranted,” the filing says.

Nov 15, 9:23 AM EST
Expert witness to resume testimony for defense

Donald Trump’s lawyers are scheduled to resume their direct examination of expert witness Jason Flemmons this morning, continuing a line of questioning yesterday that largely placed responsibility for Trump’s financial statements on Trump’s external accountants.

Flemmons, who was qualified as an expert on accounting, explicitly criticized the testimony of Donald Bender, Trump’s accountant at Mazars USA who was the New York attorney general’s first witness, disputing Bender’s claim that he would have wanted to see any appraisals that the Trump Organization conducted.

Flemmons also testified that Trump’s financial statements should have sent a “buyer beware” signal to lenders due to the “highly cautionary language” in their disclaimer, which allowed Trump to make claims that significantly departed from generally accepted accounting principles.

To the extent that the statements and the Trump Organization’s representations about the statements were inaccurate, Flemmons placed responsibility on Bender and his colleagues at Mazars, rather than the Trump Organization.

Nov 14, 5:56 PM EST
Expert calls Trump CPA’s testimony ‘not professionally plausible’

Expert witness Jason Flemmons cast doubt on the testimony of the Trump Organization’s former external accountant Donald Bender, who said he would have wanted to review any appraisals that the Trump Organization conducted.

“That’s not something that is required by professional standards,” said Flemmons, testifying for the defense. “His testimony was not professionally plausible.”

That prompted a strong objection from state attorney Kevin Wallace.

“Is he trying to say the witness is lying?” Wallace said.

“Not to put too fine a point on it,” Judge Engoron quipped.

Asked to confirm what he meant by “professional plausible,” Flemmons said it would be “highly unusual” for Bender to request appraisals outside what was mentioned in the statement of financial condition.

“Accountants in the industry do not go seeking records for things that are not in the four corners of the statement of financial condition,” Flemmons said.

Court was subsequently adjourned for the day, with Flemmons scheduled to continue his testimony tomorrow.

Nov 14, 4:07 PM EST
Trump’s disclaimer told bankers to ‘beware,’ expert says

Defense expert Jason Flemmons described the disclaimer included in Donald Trump’s financial statement as the “highest level disclaimer” that could have been provided to bankers reviewing the document.

Flemmons said that the disclaimer, which he said includes “highly cautionary language,” would allow a user to make claims that significantly departed from generally accepted accounting principles, known in the industry as GAAP.

“Was that language present in a substantially similar form in the compilation statements issued by Mazars for Donald Trump?” defense attorney Jesus Suarez asked.

“Yes,” Flemmons said, adding that the disclaimer was “effectively saying ‘user beware.'”

During his testimony and in statements to the media, Trump has claimed that the disclaimer shields him from liability in the case.

Suarez also used Flemmons’ testimony to suggest that Trump’s external accountants were responsible for understanding the methods used in the financial statement and determining their appropriateness.

That appeared to conflict with testimony of former Trump accountant Donald Bender of Mazars USA, who described his role as akin to plugging numbers provided by the Trump Organization into a template.

Nov 14, 2:49 PM EST
Expert says property valuations can be ‘wildly different’

Taking the witness stand as an expert witness for the defense, accountant Jason Flemmons offered testimony in support of Donald Trump’s approach to valuing his Mar-a-Lago property, which has been the subject of debate throughout the seven weeks of the trial.

In his summary judgment decision, Judge Engoron found that Trump overvalued the estate by at least 2,300% because the Palm Beach County Assessor appraised the property’s market value between $18 and $27.6 million after Trump signed a deed that restricted its use to a social club, potentially limiting its resale value as a residence but ensuring a tax cut. Trump, in contrast, listed its value in his financial statement between $426 million and $612 million, and during his appearances in court and online he has repeatedly attacked Engoron’s finding.

Flemmons argued that Trump’s approach to valuing his assets gave him latitude to consider his property’s future revenue streams. That approach, according to Flemmons, could result in “wildly different values” between the numbers listed on a personal financial statement and a tax assessed value.

“Tax assessed values are typically on the lower end of the spectrum,” Flemmons said, while Engoron looked on attentively.

While he never mentioned Mar-a-Lago by name, Flemmons was asked by defense attorney Jesus Suarez about a hypothetical property assessed at $18 million but valued closer to $500 million using a comparable sales approach — the same approach used to value Mar-a-Lago.

“It would not be unusual to have a value in the hundreds of million using projected cash receipts,” Flemmons said.

Engoron then turned his chair toward Flemmons and began asking his own questions.

“I am trying to get to the order of magnitude we are talking about here,” Engoron said. “What is the highest value you have ever seen legitimately placed on such a property?”

Flemmons could not provide a specific example to answer Engoron’s question but reiterated that a massive discrepancy could be appropriate.

Nov 14, 2:04 PM EST
House Republicans call for probe of Cohen after his testimony

House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Michael Turner and House GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik have requested that the Department of Justice investigate Michael Cohen for perjury following his testimony in the trial last month.

During his trial testimony, Cohen said that he lied to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in 2019 when he said that Donald Trump and Allen Weisselberg did not ask him to inflate Trump’s personal statement.

“So, you lied under oath in February of 2019? Is that your testimony?” defense attorney Alina Habba asked in court.

“Yes,” Cohen responded.

Shown his 2019 testimony in court, Cohen subsequently reversed himself and said that his 2019 testimony was truthful, explaining the contradiction by clarifying that Trump speaks like a “mob boss” and that he indirectly asked for his statement to be inflated.

In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland sent today, Stefanik and Turner requested that the Department of Justice open an investigation into Cohen potentially committing perjury.

“That Mr. Cohen was willing to openly and brazenly state at trial that he lied to Congress on this specific issue is startling,” they wrote. “His willingness to make such a statement alone should necessitate an investigation.”

Last week, Stefanik sent a separate judicial complaint to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct related to the conduct of the judge overseeing Trump’s trial. In a statement to ABC News, a court representative said in response that the judge’s actions “speak for themselves.”

Nov 14, 1:18 PM EST
Judge stops expert’s testimony following state’s objection

Donald Trump’s lawyers abruptly stopped the testimony of their first expert witness — who was expected to testify for a full day or two — after Judge Engoron limited the topic areas of his testimony.

Steven Witkoff, a real estate investor and longtime friend of Trump’s, was brought into court by the defense team to testify that Trump’s Doral golf club was undervalued in Trump’s financial statements.

But Judge Engoron sustained an objection from the state barring any testimony about the valuation of Doral, significantly limiting Witkoff’s testimony and appearing to hamper the defense strategy proposed by Trump’s attorney Chris Kise.

Kise argued that the inaccuracies in Trump’s statement of financial condition can cut both ways: Even if some properties were overvalued, other properties like Doral were significantly undervalued and balanced out the statement, according to Kise.

“It is highly, extraordinarily relevant if there are assets that are undervalued substantially on those same statements,” Kise said. “They can’t look at this one-sided.”

State attorney Andrew Amer fiercely rebutted that argument, telling Engoron he should not take the defense’s position that the inconsistencies “come out in the wash.”

That argument appeared to convince Engoron, who said that overvaluations would not “insulate” a false valuation. He promised to sustain any objection that related to the value of Doral — an approach Kise described as “lunacy.”

“The reader of the financial statement has the right to know whether each particular number was accurate,” Engoron said. “They are looking for accuracy.”

Nov 14, 10:26 AM EST
Judge doesn’t address post Trump shared calling for his arrest

As court got underway this morning, Judge Engoron — who has said he has received harassing messages regarding his role in the trial — did not address Trump’s sharing of a post on his Truth Social platform calling for his arrest.

The former president yesterday shared a user’s post calling for the “citizens arrest” of Engoron and Attorney General Letitia James “for blatant election interference and harassment.”

When he expanded the case’s limited gag order earlier this month, Engoron said that his chambers had received hundreds of “harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters, and packages” since the start of the trial.

The gag order does not prohibit attacks against Engoron himself or the New York attorney general.

Nov 14, 9:40 AM EST
Defense to call first expert witness

Donald Trump’s defense team plans to call their first of several expert witnesses to the stand today.

Steven Witkoff, a New York-based real estate investor and developer, is set to testify about his expert opinion that the Trump National Doral golf course in Miami was undervalued in Trump’s financial statement, despite the attorney general’s claim to the contrary.

The expert report Witkoff prepared for the case also criticized the finding from the state’s expert regarding the value of Trump’s 40 Wall Street property.

During a 2018 roundtable on tax reform, Trump called Witkoff a “pal” who he inspired to enter the real estate industry.

“You know, people don’t realize Steve started out as a lawyer — a very good lawyer, a top lawyer in New York. And then he said, ‘I’m going to go into the real estate business because I can do this, too,” Trump said. “He saw me do it, and he said, ‘If Trump can do it, I guess I can do it, right?'”

Nov 14, 9:02 AM EST
James, Trump respond as defense begins its case

In a video statement posted to social media, New York Attorney General Letitia James said that the testimony of Donald Trump Jr. yesterday failed to refute any of her case against Donald Trump and his adult sons.

“After spending a full day walking through a marketing presentation to sell us all on the greatness of the Trump Organization, the defendants did not make a single point to refute the case we brought against them,” James said of Trump Jr., who led off the defense’s case.

Trump’s eldest son, an executive VP with the family firm, functionally served as a summary witness to explain the history and notable assets of the Trump Organization, repeatedly using words like “spectacular” and “incredible” to spell out the details of Trump’s properties.

James, meanwhile, drew the ire of Donald Trump for appearing to smile in court.

“A.G. Letitia James is smirking all day long from her seat in Court, as New York continues to set records in murder and other violent crimes, and businesses flee to other States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social this morning, despite murders in New York City being down nearly 10% this year, according to the NYPD.

Nov 13, 5:55 PM EST
Court adjourns for day after tax lawyer’s testimony

The defense wrapped up the first day of its case with testimony from Donald Trump’s former external tax lawyer, Sheri Dillon, who returned to the witness stand to clarify her actions related to conservation easements at Trump’s properties.

Dillon previously testified during a lengthy and combative portion of the state’s case.

“Welcome back. I feel like I am at a reunion — Trump trial reunion,” Judge Engoron joked when Dillon returned to the courtroom.

Dillon, explaining a potential gap in email communications about specific deals, testified that she often communicated with Eric Trump over the phone.

“If I picked up the phone and talked to him, I would know he knew what he needed to know,” Dillon testified.

She also said she advised Trump’s appraiser, David McArdle, that the company could add 40 additional residential units at Trump National Golf Club in New York’s Westchester County by filing a new offering plan, according to an email shown in court. The clarification challenges the New York attorney general’s allegation that a $101 million increase in the value of undeveloped land was based on an unfounded plan by Eric Trump to add units to the property.

During a short cross-examination, state attorney Louis Solomon attempted to challenge Dillon’s authority to provide such legal information to McArdle.

“Do you know if a sponsor has a right to have an offering plan accepted for filing merely because the development meets the requirements for zoning?” Solomon asked.

“No, I do not,” she responded.

Dillon concluded her testimony, and court then adjourned for the day.

Nov 13, 5:41 PM EST
Trump Jr. acknowledges positive rapport with judge

Speaking outside the courthouse following his testimony for the defense, Donald Trump Jr. told ABC News that he seems to have a positive relationship with Judge Engoron.

“Perhaps there’s a New York personality there, but no I think he understood,” Trump Jr. said when ABC News suggested he and the judge appeared to get along. “I can’t help myself even in this very serious situation. If you take yourself too seriously the world sort of sucks. You got to have a little bit of fun with it, so I did.”

His relationship with the judge appears to stand in contrast to that of his father, who has accused Engoron of bias and insulted him from the witness stand.

“We had some quips in the courtroom the first time I was here,” Trump Jr. said of Engoron. “Sort of gave me a fist bump on the way out. I guess I had a rather snappy response to something that was — I can’t even remember what it was right now. He said, ‘That was really funny.'”

Asked by ABC News whether Trump Jr. shared his father’s views about the judge being biased, the son demurred.

“Listen, I don’t even know how far the gag order applies, so I don’t need to do that and put myself — I’m in enough crosshairs, guys,” he said.

Nov 13, 4:56 PM EST
Trump Jr. says aunt’s death made for a ‘rough day’

Following the completion of his testimony, Donald Trump Jr. made the first family comments acknowledging the death of his aunt, Maryanne Trump Barry, calling it “a rough day.”

“Obviously, a little bit of a rough day, but I’ve still got to deal with this stuff. We’ve got to keep doing it. That’s the nature of all of this. But no, it’s a rough day for myself and my family,” Trump Jr. said of the news that former President Trump’s sister had passed away at 86.

Trump Jr. also slammed New York Attorney General Letitia James for bringing the civil fraud case despite what Trump Jr. said was “no actual person complaining other than the attorney general herself.”

“Hopefully, one day the people of this great city will realize what’s going on. They’ll realize the destructive practices here. They’ll realize just how insane that is. And they’ll be begging for guys like Donald Trump to come back to New York City to reshape the skyline as he’s done for decades,” Trump Jr. said.

He said he does not plan to return to court for the continuation of the defense’s case tomorrow.

Nov 13, 3:43 PM EST
Donald Trump Jr. concludes testimony

Donald Trump Jr. stepped off the witness stand after roughly three hours of testimony.

His own attorney, Clifford Robert, concluded his direct examination by asking Trump Jr. about the fate of the Trump Organization.

“I guess a lot of that depends on what happens next November,” Trump Jr said, speculating that the company might be “sued into oblivion.”

Assistant New York Attorney General Colleen Faherty cross-examined Trump Jr. for less than ten minutes about the deterioration of Trump’s assets, including financial problems at 40 Wall Street and Trump’s licensed hotel in Hawaii. Trump Jr. appeared unfamiliar with the 40 Wall Street issues and said he was happy with the Hilton’s deal to buy out the Trump Organization’s Hawaii hotel licensing deal.

Nov 13, 2:54 PM EST
Trump Jr. says golf course site was ‘old-school New York mob job’

Donald Trump Jr., in testimony for the defense, touted the work of the Trump Organization to convert a landfill in the Bronx, New York, into a “absolutely incredible” golf course.

“It was raw dirt. It had been that way for a long time,” Trump Jr. said of the original site of Trump Links Ferry Point near the Whitestone Bridge.

“People were supposedly trying to build a golf course for years,” Trump Jr. said about previous efforts to build the facility, describing it as an “old-school New York mob job” where people got paid to move dirt around but not build anything.

Trump Jr. said that once his father got involved in the project, the site was successfully transformed in a matter of months.

Nov 13, 1:42 PM EST
Trump Jr. to get new and improved sketch

When he was last in court, Donald Trump Jr. took a particular interest in his courtroom sketch.

“He said, ‘Make me look sexy,'” the sketch artist Jane Rosenberg told ABC News. By some accounts, the result was underwhelming.

Rosenberg has another opportunity to draw Trump Jr. with his return to court, and she thinks the new iteration is coming along well.

“I think they get better every time,” she told ABC News.

Earlier in his testimony, Trump Jr. joked about a photo of his brother Eric Trump.

When the slideshow Trump Jr. was narrating displayed a professional headshot of his brother, Trump Jr. took a job at his younger sibling.

“A lot of Photoshop,” Trump Jr. joked.

Nov 13, 1:12 PM EST
Trump Jr. assails judge’s finding on Mar-a-Lago

In presenting a slideshow chronicling the Trump Organization’s properties, Donald Trump Jr. highlighted many of their luxury features and iconic views — implicitly suggesting their value.

That’s particularly true of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, which Judge Engoron in a pretrial ruling determined was worth only a fraction of the amount claimed by Donald Trump, because Trump signed a deed that restricted its use to a social club, thereby limiting its resale value.

Describing how he took “umbrage” to the judge’s determination that Mar-a-Lago was worth between $18 and $28 million, Trump Jr. highlighted specific features to challenge that finding. Showing an aerial photo of the property, Trump Jr. said that a nearby home whose size was dwarfed by the social club has been on sale for $50 million.

“You couldn’t build that atrium for $18 million today,” Trump Jr. said while presenting a photo of the building’s historic atrium.

Nov 13, 12:53 PM EST
With glossy slides, Trump Jr. recounts firm’s story

Donald Trump’s testimony in the defense’s case has so far centered around a slide show being presented by the defense, entitled “The Trump Story,” that paints a timeline of Donald Trump’s real estate acquisitions. When state attorneys objected to the glossy presentation — which Trump Jr. acknowledged was created by his marketing team — the judge allowed the slides, and thus permitted Trump Jr. to testify unrestrained about the company’s properties.

“He’s an artist with real estate. He sees the things other people don’t,” Trump Jr. said at one point when describing his father.

As he narrates the slide show, Trump Jr.’s testimony resembles a lecture on real estate, sprinkled with details about his family’s properties — such as the individual stones used to construct the Seven Springs estate or the bank safes at 40 Wall Street, which he said once stored gold from the Federal Reserve.

“They’re actually spectacular … it’s truly a mechanical work of art,” Trump Jr. said of the safes.

Referencing broken down historic properties that the company has transformed back to their former glory, Trump Jr. called such properties the “canvas” for his his “father’s art.”

“He understands and has an incredible vision that other people don’t,” Trump Jr. said.

After a particular lengthy response, Trump Jr. referenced his father’s own tendency to speak in prolonged monologues, joking, “I got half the genes.”

Nov 13, 11:06 AM EST
Trump Jr. details history of Trump Organization

Testifying for the defense, former President Trump’s eldest son described his father as a real estate “visionary” who “sees the sexiness in a real estate project,” creating value for the family business that cannot be captured on paper.

Donald Trump Jr. began his testimony with a quip after Judge Engoron welcomed him back to the stand following his testimony earlier in the month.

“I’d say it’s good to be here, but the attorney general would probably sue me for perjury,” Trump Jr. joked.

In his testimony, Trump Jr. described the Trump Organization as “a large family business,” with Trump and his eldest children at the top and other executives handling many of the details.

“If there were numbers and things, I would rely on them to give me that,” Trump Jr. said.

He recounted the history of the Trump Organization, beginning with his great-grandfather who he said built hotels in the Yukon Territories of Canada. His grandfather, Fred Trump, “started working on job sites around Queens, learned the trades” and eventually “created an incredible portfolio, by the time of his passing, of rental apartments in Brooklyn and Queens.”

A state attorney jokingly objected that references to the 1800s were outside the statute of limitations — then more seriously objected to the history lesson’s relevance.

“I think it is relevant to get the historical perspective — I find it interesting,” Judge Engoron said in overruling the objection. “Let him go ahead and say how great the Trump Organization is.”

Trump Jr. obliged.

“My father learned a lot of the business from him, but had some flair and saw New York City and Manhattan as the ultimate frontier,” he said. Speaking of Trump Tower, he said, “I think it would have been one of the first, I think great, ultra-luxury real estate emerging in Manhattan.”

Nov 13, 10:20 AM EST
Donald Trump Jr. takes the stand for the defense

“Would you like to call your first witness, defense?” Judge Arthur Engoron asked to begin court this morning.

“The defense calls Donald Trump Jr. to the stand,” defense attorney Clifford Robert responded.

Like his last time on the witness stand when he was called by state attorneys, Trump Jr. appears comfortable on the stand, punctuating his testimony with lighthearted remarks.

Robert began his direct examination with some questions about Trump Jr. ‘s biography, starting with his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania.

“Was a bartender for about 18 months,” Trump Jr. said about his first job out of college.

“Did you enjoy that?” Robert asked.

“I did,” said Trump Jr., joking that he had a challenging conversation with his father when he began that job.

Nov 13, 9:45 AM EST
Trump Jr., arriving in court, met with chants of ‘crime family’

Donald Trump Jr. and his defense lawyers arrived at the New York State Supreme Courthouse this morning to be met with a small crowd of protestors chanting “crime family.”

Trump Jr. did not make a statement before entering the courthouse, but offered a brief response to a question about his expected testimony.

Asked what he plans on saying today on the stand, he replied, “We’ll see what I’m asked.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James arrived at court shortly after Trump Jr. and took a seat in the courtroom with her staff.

Nov 13, 9:06 AM EST
Donald Trump Jr. attends UFC event ahead of testimony

Donald Trump Jr. took in some ultimate fighting ahead of his scheduled return to the witness stand this morning.

Trump Jr. attended a UFC doubleheader at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night with his father, in addition to Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock, and UFC president Dana White.

“I legitimately can’t think of a better squad to roll with,” Trump Jr. posted on social media.

Earlier that day while speaking at a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Donald Trump appeared to joke about appointing White to a position in a potential future administration.

“He’s a guy I’d like to make my Defense Chief. I wouldn’t call him my defense chief. I’d call him my ‘Offense Chief.’ He’d be my Offense Chief,” Trump said.

Nov 13, 8:32 AM EST
Defense to begin presenting its case

As Trump’s legal team prepares to begin presenting its case this morning, defense attorney Alina Habba says responsibility for the financial statements that the New York attorney general says are fraudulent lies with Trump’s external accounting firm.

Previewing the defense’s case during an appearance on Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Habba also said the banks that loaned money to the Trump Organization were responsible for conducting their own due diligence regarding Trump’s financial statements.

The state rested its case last week in the sixth week of the trial. The defense has said they expect their case to wrap up by Dec. 15.

Habba also suggested that Donald Trump plans to file a motion seeking a mistrial.

While Habba declined to comment on alleged misconduct by Judge Arthur Engoron’s clerk — which she is prohibited from doing due to the limited gag order handed down by the judge — she said the issue would be addressed in their mistrial motion “very soon.”

“I actually can’t tell you why, because I am gagged. I can tell you that we will be filing papers to address all of those issues,” Habba said.

However, Habba downplayed the chance the motion would be favorably decided Engoron.

“The problem we have is the judge is the one who is going to make those decisions, and he has proven himself to be quite motivated by the other side,” Habba said.

Nov 11, 1:51 PM EST
Court administrator responds to Stefanik’s complaint

In response to Rep. Elise Stefanik’s letter of complaint against Judge Engoron that she filed Friday with the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, a spokesperson for New York State Office of Court Administration has issued a statement.

“Judge Engoron’s actions and rulings in this matter are all part of the public record and speak for themselves,” said Office of Court Administration communications director Al Baker. “It is inappropriate to comment further.”

Nov 10, 8:17 PM EST
Rep. Stefanik files complaint against Judge Engoron

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York has filed a judicial complaint against Judge Arthur Engoron.

The letter, addressed to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, largely concerns the judge’s rulings in the case and his public statements, and is unlikely to impact the proceedings of the trial.

“Judge Engoron’s bizarre and biased behavior is making New York’s judicial system a laughingstock,” Stefanik, a staunch Trump supporter, wrote.

The lengthy letter echoes some of Trump’s attacks on the trial, criticizing Engoron’s limited gag order in the case, the actions of his legal clerk, his summary judgment ruling, and his comments during Trump’s testimony this week.

“Simply put, Judge Engoron has displayed a clear judicial bias against the defendant throughout the case, breaking several rules in the New York Code of Judicial Conduct,” Stefanik wrote.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Florida flooding closes schools, knocks out power

Photography by Keith Getter (all rights reserved)/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — More than 100,000 customers are without power in Florida Thursday morning after torrential rain and winds topping 65 mph slammed the state.

Parts of South Florida, near Key Largo, recorded more than 1 foot of rain in the past 24 hours.

Miami saw a whopping 7.53 inches of rain on Wednesday, setting a new daily record.

Public schools in Florida’s Broward County — the sixth-largest district in the nation — are closed Thursday due to the extreme weather.

On Thursday morning, flood watches and high wind warnings are ongoing for Florida’s east coast.

The state could see a few more inches of rain as well as 45 mph winds before conditions start to improve Thursday afternoon.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

4rozen? Fourth Frozen movie may be in the works, Disney CEO says

Disney

Attention, Frozen fans! A Frozen 4 may be in the works.

In an interview with Good Morning America on Thursday, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed the “surprise” that “Frozen 3 is in the works and there might be a Frozen 4 in the works, too.”

He added, “Jenn Lee, who created Frozen, the original Frozen and Frozen II, is hard at work with her team at Disney Animation on not one but actually two stories.”

Both Frozen and Frozen II crossed $1 billion at the global box office when they were released in 2013 and 2019, respectively, according to box office tracker The Numbers.

Hong Kong Disneyland is also opening a new “World of Frozen” themed land on Nov. 20, giving parkgoers the chance to visit Arendelle, too.

“For years at our Disney parks, we’ve been creating these large, immersive worlds,” Iger expressed.

“Essentially, they’re the physical embodiment of some of the greatest stories that we’ve told whether it’s Cars Land or Star Wars or Pandora [from Avatar],” he continued.

Iger called Frozen “our most valuable franchise,” adding, “I think it’s just ripe for basically, building the place that Frozen takes place in and it’s just a fantastic land that enables people to get immersed in the story of Frozen and interact with all the great characters for films.”

He says the new land brings Arendelle to life.

“The best thing here is you visit and you actually can meet Olaf and Anna and Elsa and all the gang,” adding, ” … you actually feel like you’re in the place that the movie took place in and it just gives you this powerful sense of story that I think people have grown to love over the last decade.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Toosii apologizes to fans for postponing new album ‘Jaded’: “I just need more time”

Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for MTV

Sad news for Toosii fans who await the release of his upcoming album, Jaded.  

The singer/songwriter, known for his breakthrough hit “Love Cycle” and his viral track “Favorite Song,” issued a music update and apology via social media, writing that the project won’t come out on its intended date of November 17. 

“To my fans I’m sorry, the album ‘JADED’ won’t be dropping Friday,” he tweeted

Without revealing a new release date, Toosii said in an Instagram post he’s postponing the album because he’s not quite ready to give it to the world yet. 

“I just need more time,” he wrote.

In tandem with announcing Jaded earlier this month, the Syracuse native dropped off its lead single, “Suffice.”

Of the emotional track Toosii says, “When we look at our reflection, we look inside ourselves. In this song, I feel like looking into the mirror is about trying to see your future — looking for signs that what you hope for will come true, but recognizing that there are some things you just can’t control.” 

Jaded follows June’s Najour, Toosii’s 19-track debut album featuring 21 Savage and Khalid

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Mother of Dexter Wade alleges ‘cover-up’ after son struck and killed by police car, buried for months without notice

Courtesy Wade family

(NEW YORK) — Bettersten Wade Robinson searched for her son, Dexter Wade, for more than five months before she learned that he was killed on March 5 and buried in a potter’s field after he was struck by an off-duty Jackson, Mississippi police officer in a police cruiser.

Wade Robinson, who is accusing the county and police of an alleged “cover-up,” spoke with ABC News Live’s Linsey Davis in an interview that aired on Prime Wednesday night and demanded “accountability.”

“Right now I’m hoping I can get to some kind of answer as to why it happened and what was the reason that it happened. But right now I’m still not satisfied,” she said.

“It’s a steady cover-up,” she added.

After finding out from police that her son was buried in a potter’s field, Wade Robinson sought to recover his body and give him a proper burial. But when she arrived for her son’s exhumation on Monday morning, she soon learned that his body had been exhumed hours earlier without her presence and for the grieving mother, this added insult to injury.

“They put him in the ground without my permission. They dug him up without my permission,” an outraged Wade Robinson said as she stood near the empty gravesite outside the Raymond Detention Center on Monday morning.

“Now I asked, can I exhume my child and try to get some peace … now y’all take that from me,” a tearful Wade Robinson said. “I couldn’t even see him come out the ground. Yall didn’t give me the time to see him before he took his last breath. I didn’t get to see him come from the ground. Cover up!”

Family attorney Ben Crump told reporters on Monday that the family had reached an arrangement with the Hinds County Board of Supervisors that the exhumation would take place at 11:30 local time that day, but when they arrived they learned that Wade’s body had been exhumed at 8:00 a.m. without his family’s presence.

“Nobody got permission from the family to take Dexter out the ground in the early morning hours. It was an agreed upon position with the county that Ms. Bettersten Wade will be here at 11:30 to commence the exhumation of her son and they disrespected her,” Crump said. “And like a thief in the night, they went and pulled the body out the ground.”

Crump shared a letter with ABC News that the family received from the Hinds County Board of Supervisors indicating that the exhumation would take place at 11:30 a.m.

ABC News reached out to all five members of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors to inquire about the letter and the timing of the exhumation but requests for comments were not returned.

County Administrator Kenny Wayne Jones told ABC News affiliate in Jackson, WAPT-TV, that the incident was “very unfortunate,” but said there was “no cover-up or anything like that. Just miscommunication.”

ABC News reached out to Jones for further comment.

Wade Robinson told Davis she is “disappointed” that no one is “willing to take responsibility” for burying her son and then exhuming him — both without the family’s knowledge or permission.

“How many mistakes you can have before you take responsibility,” she said.

“Nobody has came to me and said that they are sorry,” she added.

Wade Robinson said that she reported her son missing on March 14, nine days after she had last heard from him on March 5. She didn’t learn until Aug. 24 — more than five months after his death — that her son had been struck and killed by an off-duty Jackson police officer the night of March 5, when he was walking across a local highway.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba previously acknowledged during his State of the City address on Oct. 26 that there was a “lack of communication” that led to the months-long delay in letting Wade’s family know what had happened to him.

According to Lumumba, Wade had no ID on his person when he was killed but he did have a prescription drug bottle that eventually allowed the medical examiner’s office to identify him.

“The failure was that ultimately, there was a lack of communication with the missing person’s division, the coroner’s office and accident investigation,” Lumumba said.

Lumumba said that “at no point have we identified, nor did any investigation reveal that there was any police misconduct in this process.”

“The accident was investigated and it was determined that it was, in fact, an accident and that there was no malicious intent,” he added.

ABC News reached out to the Jackson Police Department but a spokesperson declined to comment.

Crump told Davis in an interview that aired on Wednesday it is “unbelievable” that it took police more than five months to inform his family of his death, especially when “they know who Ms. Bettersten was” because she filed a missing person report with the Jackson Police Department and provided her name and address to police.

“They knew where he lived because he had medication in his pocket that had his doctor and the doctor told them that Ms. Bettersten was his next of kin,” Crump said.

Following the exhumation, the Jackson Police Chief deferred ABC News’ questions regarding allegations of a “cover-up” to the city of Jackson.

Melissa Payne, a spokeswoman for the city of Jackson, told ABC News that it would be “inappropriate” for the city to comment because “the City had no part in either his burial or exhumation. That was entirely with the county.”

Crump, along with family attorney Dennis Sweet, are now calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the circumstances surrounding Wade’s death, burial and exhumation.

“Attorney Sweet and I will absolutely make the case for transparency that continues to be denied to Ms. Bettersten. Just a low down dirty shame what happened here today – lowdown dirty shame,” Crump said on Monday. “And as Ms. Bettersten said when she first called us … it was a cover.”

ABC News has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.

The office of Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens said in a statement on Oct. 27 that his office working with the Jackson Police Department, Hinds County Coroner’s Office, and other relevant agencies to investigate Wade’s death, the failure to notify his next of kin in a timely manner and the “irregularities surrounding the disposition of Mr. Wade’s body.”

“We ask for the public’s patience as this important work is undertaken,” Owens added.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Israel-Hamas war is ‘deadliest conflict for journalists’ since at least 1992, CPJ says

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was standing near the Lebanon-Israeli border on Oct. 13, a Friday afternoon six days into the current conflict in Israel, doing what he did best: cover war zones from the Middle East to Ukraine.

On this day, he was providing a live signal for a Reuters crew amid back-and-forth shelling between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, according to Reuters.

Amid the shelling, Abdallah, a Beirut-based videographer, was killed by a missile strike, according to Reuters. Reuters journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh sustained injuries in the blast, according to the outlet. Two AFP journalists, Christina Assi and Dylan Collins, were injured, the outlet reported.

Abdallah is one of at least 42 journalists and media workers who has been killed in the Israel-Hamas war since Oct. 7, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an advocate group for freedom of the press. The reported toll makes October 2023 the deadliest month for journalists since the group began collecting data in 1992.

The CPJ said it uses journalistic standards to verify deaths, relying on two sources to confirm a death, talking to colleagues, media, employers and family members. As the situation deteriorated and many lost their homes and families had to flee, the CPJ has also relied on the journalists’ syndicate, local and regional media outlets to confirm deaths and injuries.

The vast majority of journalists killed, 37 in total, were Palestinians killed in Gaza, according to the CPJ. Four Israeli journalists were killed in Israel and one Lebanese journalist — Abdallah — was killed in Lebanon near its border with Israel, according to the CPJ.

Two Israeli journalists were killed while covering the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Kfar Aza and Kibbutz Nahal Oz. The two other Israeli journalists were killed at the attack on the Supernova music festival in southern Israel.

The Israeli army has said it was sorry for Abdallah’s death and promised an investigation into the incident.

In addition to those confirmed dead, nine journalists have been reported injured, three were reported missing and 13 were reported arrested, according to the CPJ. That is in addition to “multiple assaults, threats, cyber attacks, censorship and killings of family members,” the CPJ said.

Israeli officials say they are not targeting civilians in Gaza, doing everything they can to minimize civilian casualties and that their goal is solely to eradicate Hamas. Israel has also said that Hamas is intentionally positioning itself near journalists in an attempt to avoid strikes.

However, Israeli airstrikes going on since the beginning of the conflict have targeted hospitals, schools, refugee camps and ambulances, according to nonprofits like the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and UNICEF, sparking wide international outrage and calls for a cease-fire. Israeli officials maintain they are against a cease-fire until all of the 239 hostages believed to be held by Hamas have been released.

In response to a question about journalist deaths, the IDF said in a statement that it “takes all operationally feasible measures to protect civilians and to facilitate freedom of the press. The IDF has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists. Covering active combat areas is inherently dangerous, and unintended casualties are a tragic possibility.” The IDF did not further elaborate.

More than 11,000 people in Gaza have died since the beginning of the conflict, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

IDF offers warning to the media

In the hours after the surprise terror attack on Israel that left more than 1,400 dead, journalists from around the world rushed to cover the attack and retaliatory bombings in the Gaza Strip. But access to Gaza for international journalists is rare, and especially dangerous currently as the area continues to be bombarded daily.

Israel’s military told Reuters and AFP last month that it could not “guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip,” after they sought assurances that their journalists would not be killed by Israeli airstrikes, Reuters reported.

Sherif Mansour, the CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, told ABC News that the warnings given to Reuters and AFP were “very alarming.”

Mansour said that CPJ has raised concerns to the Israel Defense Forces in a May 2023 report and made recommendations to the army to “review the rules of engagement and to add protections for journalists as civilians.”

“We are making the recommendation for them to reform [their rules of engagement] so that they have more steps to safeguard journalists’ casualties seeing the numbers of journalists who have already died,” Mansour said.

Tim Dawson, the deputy general secretary at International Federation of Journalists, told ABC News there are about 1,000 journalists in Gaza, all of whom are Palestinian. The few journalists from international media outlets who were in Gaza left “almost immediately” after the Oct. 7 attack, Dawson said.

ABC News’ Ian Pannell, embedded with the IDF along with a handful of foreign journalists, entered Gaza in early November, entering just a few miles from the border, reporting scenes of “utter devastation.” ABC News’ Matt Gutman went into Gaza in mid-November while embedded with the IDF.

Pattern of deaths among journalists in Gaza

The CPJ published a report in May describing what it called a “deadly pattern” of journalists being killed by Israeli forces over the past two decades. The report documented 20 cases of journalists being killed by IDF fire since 2001, the majority of whom were Palestinians, including 13 who were killed in Gaza, Mansour said.

“Israel has failed to fully investigate these killings, launching deeper probes only when the victim is foreign or has a high-profile employer. Even then, inquiries drag on for months or years and end with the exoneration of those who opened fire,” according to the report.

The group also said it is investigating “numerous unconfirmed reports” of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt or threatened since Oct. 7.

With the exception of one Israeli journalist killed while covering clashes between the IDF and Lebanon near the border in 1999, there had not been any Israeli journalist deaths recorded before the Hamas attack in October, Mansour said.

“This is disproportionately impacting Palestinian journalists because the majority of international media and international journalists has been dwindling in Gaza because of the high risk and because no one was held accountable over the cases of not just journalists being killed, [but] media offices being bombed as recent as two years ago,” Mansour said.

“More than anything, what we saw [in this conflict] is the same pattern getting worse,” Mansour said.

Mansour said that for over 15 years, Israeli journalists were not allowed to enter Gaza and the Israeli army discourages international media from going into Gaza.

Dawson also asserted that Israel has a “long track record of attacking, taking the lives of Palestinian journalists,” adding, “I think everybody knows about Shireen Abu Akleh.”

Abu Akleh, a prominent journalist at Al Jazeera, was killed by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank in 2022. After Israel initially denied that an Israeli soldier was responsible for her death, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that Israel was responsible. The U.S. later confirmed it was Israeli military gunfire that killed the Palestinian-American journalist and Israel apologized for her killing.

Palestinian journalists bear brunt of danger, emotions

Palestinian journalist Ramy Masoud said he had not seen his family in two weeks. In southern Gaza as he worked as a driver for Al Jazeera, he said he feared for their lives as they sheltered at Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City.

The relief was palatable on Thursday as he reunited with his wife and two sons, who had made the journey south on foot.

“For the past 10 days, I’ve been trying to get them out of there,” he told ABC News. “Now, thank God, my family is with me, beside me, and in my arms. Tonight, I can sleep peacefully and mentally at ease.”

Masoud said he is far from alone in worrying about his family, while also trying to do his job. Many journalists are contending with the dual responsibility of deciding whether to cover a war in the most dangerous locations, while also trying to keep their families safe, Mansour said.

“The Israeli army have targeted media, communication infrastructure, making internet connectivity very scarce, in addition to electricity, [which] leaves journalists even struggling to survive and having to contend with their own safety and the safety of their loved ones and that is why the [death] toll keeps rising,” Mansour said.

It’s Palestinian journalists, like Masoud, who are most at risk in the current conflict, Mansour said.

“The ones we need the most right now, are the most vulnerable … because they are on the front lines right now where there isn’t a safe haven or an exit,” he said.

Dawson called it “remarkable” that journalists in Gaza, the majority of whom have lost family members, loved ones and many their homes, are still able to get news out.

“There’s a real determination among those I’ve spoken with, who carry on reporting, and to make the very best job of documenting what’s happening to their communities,” Dawson said. “One of them said to me, ‘There isn’t an inch of Gaza that doesn’t have a story to tell and we’re determined to tell that, if possibly we can.'”

Around the world

Mansour called the high number of journalists killed in Gaza “unprecedented” and compared it to the war in Ukraine — where the most journalists were killed last year. Still, all told, in 2022, 15 journalists were killed in Ukraine, according to the CPJ.

In Syria, the deadliest country for members of the press in the last 10 years, 140 journalists have been killed covering the war. In the two deadliest years, 2012 and 2015, the total number of journalists killed in each year was 30, according to the CPJ.

“I think there is just no comparison, because of the exponential risk that local Palestinian journalists are facing right now, including not just the airstrikes, but facing a ground invasion,” Mansour said.

A public letter released on Thursday — signed by 600 reporters — “condemned the killing of journalists in Gaza.”

“As reporters, editors, photographers, producers, and other workers in newsrooms around the world, we are appalled at the slaughter of our colleagues and their families by the Israeli military and government,” the letter said.

Mansour said Israel is obligated, under international law and international humanitarian law, to protect, to respect journalists as civilians and that it must add steps to identify and safeguard journalist casualties.

“We have raised the alarm that when communication facilities were bombed, when news outlets lose communication with their crews, with the journalists in Gaza, we lose a window of the reality and we are kept in the dark. That has consequences not just for the warring parties or people who are in the region, but for hundreds of millions all over the world who are watching this heartbreaking conflict,” Mansour said.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

In Brief: Destin Daniel Cretton out as ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ director, and more

The Paramount+ series SEAL Team will be coming to a close with its seventh season, the streamer has announced. The final season of the David Boreanaz-led military drama is set to premiere sometime in 2024. The first four seasons of the show aired on CBS before moving to Paramount+ with season five…

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is in need of a new director. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Destin Daniel Cretton has left the project due in part to the shifting release dates from May 2025 to May 2026. Cretton previously directed another Marvel movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News…

The official trailer has been released for Role Play, a new film starring Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo. Cuoco plays a suburban mom leading a secret life as an assassin. Her husband, played by Oyelowo, discovers her secret while trying to spice up their anniversary with some role play. The film hits Prime Video on January 12…

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.