National

(NEW YORK) — Two winter storms will move through the East this weekend, with cold air coming right behind it in an arctic blast forecast for next week.

The first of the two storm systems will be a quick-moving, clipper system that continues to bring scattered snow showers to the Midwest and Great Lakes before bringing two rounds of snow for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic on Saturday.

The first round of snow showers moved through early Saturday morning from the central Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia and Virginia up into Pennsylvania, as well as New England. The next round moves in later Saturday morning.

By noon, there will be either snow or mixed conditions along the I-95 corridor from Baltimore to Philadelphia to New York City.

By mid-afternoon, Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia will be clear with New York City and Bridgeport, Connecticut, seeing a change to a light wintry mix as things begin drying up.

Most of New England will see snow on Saturday except along the coast. Boston is likely seeing mostly rain from this, but could get in on a wintry mix at times.

Heading into Saturday night, the first storm system moves out and things begin to clear out across the Northeast, with only a few isolated showers remaining.

The next storm system, which will be a coastal storm that forms off the Southeast coast early Sunday morning, will slide up the East Coast for Sunday.

A light wintry mix or snow will be present for parts of Georgia on Sunday morning by 8:00 a.m., with it possibly extending down to the Florida Panhandle. Atlanta could even get in on a few snow showers, while Macon, Georgia, is likely to see more concentrated wintry weather.

Rain elsewhere along the Southeast coast extends up into the Carolinas.

As the coastal storm moves up the East Coast later Sunday morning into the afternoon, the next round of snow looks to develop along the Northeast coast from Washington, D.C., to New York City to Boston. 

It’s not set yet who will see snow with this coastal storm, as it all depends on how close it is to the coast. There is a chance for more snow near the I-95 corridor. However, it’s becoming clearer that there’ll be more snow for areas along the coast rather than areas inland with this second storm system.

Overall, both of these storm systems will bring minor accumulations along the I-95 corridor and parts of New England.

Some higher snowfall amounts of 2 to 6 inches will be possible north and west of the I-95 corridor and parts of interior New England.

Behind these two systems will be a big arctic blast that will sweep across much of the Eastern and Central U.S. to start the new work week.

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(NEW YORK) — Athletes and fans will start arriving at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan next month, but one U.S. agency has been on the ground working to ensure safety at the games.

Special agents from the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) have been working with the local authorities in Italy since 2022 to secure the Winter Olympic games, according to two top officials involved in the planning.

As the State Department’s law enforcement arm, DSS is responsible for securing international events and embassies around the world. As they have in years past, the agency takes a front and center role in helping to secure the Olympic Games, working in concert with authorities from the host country.

“We have a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to provide intelligence and security support for them while they’re overseas to keep them safe so they can concentrate on winning the gold medals,” Timothy Ayers, the major events coordinator for DSS, told ABC News.

In addition to providing security for U.S. athletes, DSS also helps to provide security for American corporations that are on the ground at the games, and the agency is ready to deploy if something were to happen.

DSS also provides training for the host country in order to better work together, including bringing officials to National Special Security Events in the United States, such as the Super Bowl and The Masters.

“Our team is focused really on strengthening relationships with our Italian counterparts, both at the national and subnational level,” Nick Fanelli, the Olympic security coordinator in Milan, told ABC News. “A lot of our engagement started in Rome, with contacts within the ministries and then going down to the provincial level, making contacts with the provincial counterparts both from the local police and local governments down to municipal level.”

Fanelli has been in Italy for two years planning and creating on-the-ground relationships with Italian security services, he said.

Agents from DSS are physically embedded with the teams and in the Olympic village, according to Ayers.

Both said they see the lone wolf actor as the biggest threat to the games, but said there are no credible threats currently.

“One thing that we’re always concerned about at an Olympics or a World Cup is that lone wolf attack,” Ayers aid. “We’re very comfortable with the fact that we can track things that are organized and things like that … when things happen we can track those kinds of things, but that lone wolf attack, that lone actor, it’s very difficult to track as they’re acting on their own, they’re acting with less resources and they can do what they want so that is usually a very concerning thing.”

Given the sprawling nature of events at the games, securing the transportation is key, according to the two senior DSS agents.

“The Italians are supremely prepared for this,” Fanelli said. “They have been hosting a number of different exercises across fields, if you will, transportation structure, critical infrastructure, to stress test their systems, to iron out their communications, and we have a lot of redundant comps with them as well.”

He said that DSS has people on the ground in constant contact with Italian authorities should something happen, including putting an agent at every one of the events. Those agents could be a resource for U.S. citizens who attend the games, in addition to the athletes.

“My team and I know these venue managers very personally,” Fanelli said. “We know our security contacts and police contacts on a first name basis throughout all of Northern Italy. So, they know that if there’s an American citizen that’s in crisis or has an issue, in addition to following their normal protocols, they’re going to notify us as well, so we’ll get that information and we can marshal resources.”

Ayers said there will be over 100 agents in Milan for the games.

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(DANBURY, Conn.) — A man wanted for the fatal shooting of his neighbor, who was shot through a wall in a Connecticut townhouse last week, has been charged with manslaughter following his surrender, police said Friday.

Victor Quispe, 37, was shot inside his home in Danbury the night of Jan. 7, according to police. He was struck by a single round that traveled through a wall in the townhouse, police said. He was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The suspected gunman was not at the scene when police arrived, police said. Two days after the shooting, the City of Danbury Police Department said they had issued an arrest warrant for Quispe’s neighbor, 42-year-old David Grullon Jr., in connection with the homicide.

Grullon surrendered to police Thursday evening and has been charged with multiple offenses, including second-degree manslaughter, police said. Additional charges include reckless endangerment, risk of injury to a minor and firearm offenses, police said. 

His bond was set at $1 million during his arraignment on Friday. He has not posted bond and is next scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 2 for a plea hearing, according to a court official.

Police have not released any additional details on the shooting, including why Grullon allegedly discharged the firearm. 

“This matter remains under investigation,” the City of Danbury Police Department said in a statement on Friday announcing the arrest and charges in the deadly shooting. “No additional information will be released at this time to protect the integrity of the case.”

Grullon’s attorney, Gene Zingaro, told ABC News he has no comment on the charges at this time. Zingaro said he had picked Grullon up out of state and brought him in for a “safe surrender.”

“This was his request,” Zingaro said.

The shooting victim, Quispe, was a local barber known as Legends Barber Co. His fiancée is pregnant with their first child, according to a GoFundMe for the family.

“His generosity was boundless — he always remembered family back home, often providing meals or support to those in need,” his obituary stated. “His giving spirit extended to all of us; he was known for offering gifts so extravagant that we would lovingly argue with him about it.”

Quispe had moved to the U.S. from his native Peru at the age of five, his family said. He was remembered for his “contagious” laugh, sense of style, love of Peruvian food, “endless affection” and strong work ethic to provide for his family and first child, according to his obituary.

Quispe worked at Legends Barber Co. in Danbury, where he “wasn’t just a barber, but a trusted friend to countless people,” Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves said in a statement on social media last week.

One of his customers, Randy Hamilton, told ABC New York station WABC that Quispe was an “excellent barber,” but also a “good friend, good person.”

“I can always get a haircut, that’s nothing, I can get that from anywhere but the person that he was is like, you don’t find too many people like that,” Hamilton told the station.

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(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) — The Uvalde, Texas, gunman fired 117 rounds in two Robb Elementary School classrooms during a two-minute period before school police officer Adrian Gonzales entered the building, a Texas Ranger told jurors on Friday.

Ranger Nick Hill testified that Gonzales had a window of one minute and four seconds after he parked his car before gunman Salvador Ramos entered the school. Gonzales took three minutes and 53 seconds to enter Robb Elementary after parking his car, Hill said.

Hill said Gonzales parked at 11:31:55 a.m. and radioed in the active shooter report at 11:32:09 a.m.

Ramos entered the west side of Robb Elementary at 11:32:59 a.m., and, after firing 21 shots in a hallway, he entered the first of two classrooms at 11:33:45 a.m. Gonzales entered the south door of Robb Elementary at 11:35:48 a.m., Hill said.

In total, Ramos fired 173 shots during the massacre, while law enforcement discharged 25 rounds, Hill said. Ramos killed 19 students and two teachers.

Prosecutors allege Gonzales, who is charged with child endangerment, did not follow his training and endangered the 19 students who died and an additional 10 surviving students. Prosecutors allege Gonzales not only failed when he arrived at the scene, but also when he got into the school because he retreated after two other officers were hit by gunfire.

Gonzales has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers argue he is being unfairly blamed for a broader law-enforcement failure that day. The defense argued Gonzales did everything he could, including calling in the shooting and attempting to enter the school. 

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(HOUSTON) — A man has been arrested and charged with murder in an apparent case of mistaken identity that turned deadly early Christmas Day, according to police.

Jonathan Ross Mata, 39, was charged on Wednesday with the murder of 25-year-old Desmond Butler, according to the Houston Police Department.

Investigators said that Mata and his wife received a phone call from their daughter telling them she had been assaulted by her boyfriend. They then drove to a gas station parking lot in the 9900 block of Bellaire, expecting their daughter to be dropped off, according to Houston Police.

As Butler’s gray Honda Pilot drove into the parking lot around 1 a.m., police said he passed Mata’s black GMC, which was parked at one of the pumps. As Butler drove past, a woman got out of the GMC and began chasing his vehicle and attempting to open the back passenger door of the Honda, believing Mata’s daughter was inside, police said.

At the same time, Mata exited the GMC and fired his gun at the victim’s vehicle as it exited the parking lot, according to police.

Butler, police said, then attempted to drive away when he was struck by gunfire and crashed his vehicle into a pole in an adjacent parking lot. The suspects got back into their vehicle and drove northbound on the feeder road, authorities said.

Butler was taken to a local hospital by paramedics and was later pronounced dead, according to police.

Mata and Butler did not know each other, police said.

Mata turned himself into police on Wednesday and has been booked into the Harris County Jail. 

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(NEW YORK) — Commodities from Indonesia beyond shrimp will almost certainly test positive for a radioactive isotope in the coming weeks and months, according to a new intelligence bulletin that follows a recall last month of 84,000 bags of frozen raw shrimp imported from Indonesia.

Federal regulators announced the recall on Dec. 19, after finding the shrimp may have been prepared, packed or held under conditions that could have exposed them to cesium-137, a radioactive isotope.

The new Homeland Security bulletin, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News, said the contamination is “very likely” to continue for the foreseeable future and spread beyond Indonesian imports that have already been interdicted — including shrimp, as well as spices and sneakers.

“Due to the high number of factories and wide variety of goods produced at facilities in the area of the contamination, additional commodities from Indonesia will almost certainly test positive for Cs-137 in the coming weeks and months,” the bulletin said. “While improbable, we cannot rule out the potential that Cs-137 contaminated goods will arrive in the United States via tourism or passenger travel.”

The bulletin noted that the U.S. is “nearly certain” the contamination was not intentional and that Customs and Border Protection is “well postured to detect and interdict all impacted bulk cargo shipments, reducing the likelihood that the public will encounter contaminated commodities shipped in bulk from Indonesia.”

The December shrimp recall followed a recall of imported shrimp that began in August and was processed by the same Indonesian company, PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati, according to the FDA.

The FDA said it has also detected the presence of cesium-137 in one sample of cloves from the Indonesian-based company PT Natural Java Spice.

Contaminated sneakers originating from Indonesia were also interdicted at several U.S. ports last summer, according to the DHS bulletin.

At this time, no product that has tested positive or alerted for cesium-137 has entered the U.S. marketplace, the FDA said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said Friday she was “absolutely grateful” to President Donald Trump after meeting with him Thursday and presenting him with her Nobel Peace Prize medal. The president called it a “wonderful gesture of mutual respect.”

“María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. He also said that Machado was a “wonderful woman who has been through so much” and that it was a great honor to meet her.

Machado, in turn, said Friday it “took a lot of courage” for Trump to take action against Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.

Following the Thursday meeting, a White House official confirmed to ABC News that Trump did accept the medal.

Further details about the closed-door meeting were not immediately revealed by the White House. Asked about the meeting by ABC News’ Mary Bruce, Trump said it went “great.”

Machado told reporters as she was exiting the White House that she presented Trump with her prize and reflected on the history between the two countries.

“I told him this … Listen to this — 200 years ago, General Lafayette gave Simon Bolivar a medal with George Washington’s face on it. Bolivar, since then, kept that medal for the rest of his life,” she told reporters.

“Actually, when you see his portraits, you can see the medal there. And it was given by General Lafayette as a sign of the brotherhood between the United States, people of United States, and the people of Venezuela in their fight for freedom against tyranny. And 200 years in history, the people of Bolivar are giving back to the heir of Washington, a medal, in this case a medal of a Nobel Peace Prize, and a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom,” she added.

Simon Bolivar liberated Venezuela and several other Latin American countries from Spanish rule in the 1800s. The Marquis de Lafayette was a French national who volunteered to fight with American colonists during the Revolutionary War and eventually rose to be one of George Washington’s most trusted generals.

Machado didn’t offer any more details about her meeting with Trump.

She won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her work “promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” and her push to move the country from dictatorship to democracy.

Machado dedicated the prize to Trump, along with the people of Venezuela, shortly after it was announced in October 2025.

She said last week that she would like to give or share the prize with Trump, who oversaw the successful U.S. operation to capture Maduro. Maduro faces drug trafficking charges in New York, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to, to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday. “What he has done is historic. It’s a huge step towards a democratic transition.”

The Norwegian Nobel Institute issued a statement last week saying that once the Nobel Peace Prize is announced, it “can neither be revoked, shared, nor transferred to others. Once the announcement has been made, the decision stands for all time.”

When asked earlier this month whether Machado could become the next leader of Venezuela, Trump said it would be “very tough for her” because she “doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country.”

Trump said Wednesday he had a “great conversation” with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, their first since authoritarian Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was seized by the U.S. on Jan. 3.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during a bill signing in the Oval Office. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

The president said last week on his social media platform that he had “cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks” on Venezuela after the government released several political prisoners, but he added that “all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes.” 

Trump has coveted and openly campaigned for winning the Nobel Prize himself since his return to office. White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung slammed the Nobel Committee for its decision after Machado was announced as the most recent winner.

“[Trump] has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will,” Cheung said in an X post. “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”

Jorgen Watne Frydens, the Nobel Committee chair, was asked about Trump’s “campaign” for the prize last year but denied it had any impact on the decision-making process.

“We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what, for them, leads to peace,” Frydens said. “This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates and that room is filled with both courage and integrity. We base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”

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(NEW YORK) — Millions of people in the High Plains will experience widespread wind gusts between 60 and 80 mph, from Montana to Kansas. 

This wind, which will last all day and into the evening, could take down large trees, cause power outages, reduce visibility with blowing dust, and make travel dangerous for high-profile vehicles, which could be turned over. 

On the eastern side of the strongest winds, blowing snow is also expected — either snow that has already fallen and is picked up from the ground, or new snow from the new storm. 

A winter weather advisory is in place from North Dakota to Iowa for gusts between 40 and 50 mph, with snow accumulations up to one inch. 

Light snow is forecast to fall across Wisconsin and Michigan, continuing into Michigan and Ohio on Friday afternoon. 

In the evening, snow is forecast to fall from West Virginia and Ohio to western Pennsylvania and western New York. On Saturday, snow is possible across much of the Northeast.

The I-95 corridor may see snow Saturday morning and early afternoon, or a rain and snow mix, from Washington, D.C., to Maine.

A dusting is possible in Washington, D.C., around an inch is expected in Philadelphia and up to 2 inches are possible around New York City and Boston.

Farther inland, parts of upstate New York, western Connecticut and western Massachusetts, and parts of areas north of I-90, may see 3 to 6 inches of snow accumulation.

Snow will be out of the region by late afternoon Saturday.

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(WASHINGTON) — Justice Department officials said in a letter submitted to two federal judges Thursday that they are making “substantial progress” reviewing items related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — but gave no indication when additional material would be released.

The letter said “over five hundred” federal prosecutors and staff members from the Southern District of New York and the Justice Department’s criminal division are reviewing and redacting millions of pages from the investigations into Epstein and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.

The review has found “substantial” duplication in various files, so the estimated number of documents is “in flux,” the letter said.

“Due to the scope of this effort, platform operations require around-the-clock attention and technical assistance to resolve inevitable glitches due to the sheer volume of materials,” said the letter, which is signed by Jay Clayton, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Clayton said prosecutors are working with victims and attorneys for victims to redact identifying information, even if, in some cases, that information was previously public.

“Following a process of conferring with victims and victim counsel about this issue, the Department has confirmed that, to the extent any victim requests redaction of personally identifying information of a document in the DOJ Epstein Library, the Department will redact that victim identifying information even if the document is (or was) otherwise available on a public court docket,” the letter said.

The DOJ faced a Dec. 19 deadline for the release of all remaining Epstein files after Congress in November passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act following blowback the Trump administration received seeking the release of materials related to their probe of Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019.

Materials released to date include a trove of photographs and court records, including a complaint to the FBI about Epstein that was filed years before he was first investigated for child sex abuse, and documents containing previously unknown details about plans for Epstein’s 2019 arrest — but the files have yet to show evidence of wrongdoing on the part of famous, powerful men, against the expectations of many of those who pushed for the files’ release.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump met Thursday with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize medal. The president called it a “wonderful gesture of mutual respect.”

“María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. He also said that Machado was a “wonderful woman who has been through so much” and that it was a great honor to meet her.

Following the meeting, a White House official confirmed to ABC News that Trump did accept the medal.

Further details about the closed-door meeting were not immediately revealed by the White House. Asked about the meeting by ABC News’ Mary Bruce, Trump said it went “great.”

Machado told reporters as she was exiting the White House that she presented Trump with her prize and reflected on the history between the two countries.

“I told him this … Listen to this — 200 years ago, General Lafayette gave Simon Bolivar a medal with George Washington’s face on it. Bolivar, since then, kept that medal for the rest of his life,” she told reporters.

“Actually, when you see his portraits, you can see the medal there. And it was given by General Lafayette as a sign of the brotherhood between the United States, people of United States, and the people of Venezuela in their fight for freedom against tyranny. And 200 years in history, the people of Bolivar are giving back to the heir of Washington, a medal, in this case a medal of a Nobel Peace Prize, and a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom,” she added.

Simon Bolivar liberated Venezuela and several other Latin American countries from Spanish rule in the 1800s. The Marquis de Lafayette was a French national who volunteered to fight with American colonists during the Revolutionary War and eventually rose to be one of George Washington’s most trusted generals.

Machado didn’t offer any more details about her meeting with Trump.

She won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her work “promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” and her push to move the country from dictatorship to democracy.

Machado dedicated the prize to Trump, along with the people of Venezuela, shortly after it was announced in October 2025.

She said last week that she would like to give or share the prize with Trump, who oversaw the successful U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Maduro faces drug trafficking charges in New York, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to, to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday. “What he has done is historic. It’s a huge step towards a democratic transition.”

The Norwegian Nobel Institute issued a statement last week saying that once the Nobel Peace Prize is announced, it “can neither be revoked, shared, nor transferred to others. Once the announcement has been made, the decision stands for all time.”

When asked earlier this month whether Machado could become the next leader of Venezuela, Trump said it would be “very tough for her” because she “doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country.”

Trump said Wednesday he had a “great conversation” with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, their first since authoritarian Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was seized by the U.S. on Jan. 3.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during a bill signing in the Oval Office. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

The president said last week on his social media platform that he had “cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks” on Venezuela after the government released several political prisoners, but he added that “all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes.” 

Trump has coveted and openly campaigned for winning the Nobel Prize himself since his return to office. White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung slammed the Nobel Committee for its decision after Machado was announced as the most recent winner.

“[Trump] has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will,” Cheung said in an X post. “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”

Jorgen Watne Frydens, the Nobel Committee chair, was asked about Trump’s “campaign” for the prize last year but denied it had any impact on the decision-making process.

“We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what, for them, leads to peace,” Frydens said. “This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates and that room is filled with both courage and integrity. We base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.