(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Monday ruled that the Trump administration’s takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace was unlawful, and efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency to dismantle the agency are “null and void,” according to court filings.
D.C. federal judge Beryl Howell’s ruling says that President Donald Trump’s unilateral effort to disband the agency, which primarily functions as a think tank supporting both the executive and legislative branches, exceeded his constitutional authorities and violated the statute that established the USIP.
“The President’s efforts here to take over an organization outside of those bounds, contrary to statute established by Congress and by acts of force and threat using local and federal law enforcement officers, represented a gross usurpation of power and a way of conducting government affairs that unnecessarily traumatized the committed leadership and employees of USIP, who deserved better,” Howell wrote of efforts to disband the agency as part of Trump’s plan to slash the federal government.
In a hearing in March, officials who were ousted from USIP described in dramatic detail what was essentially a forced takeover of the agency by officials with DOGE, assisted by armed agents with the FBI, members of the D.C. Police Department and officials with the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“This conduct of using law enforcement, threatening criminal investigation, using armed law enforcement from three different agencies … to carry out the executive order … with all that targeting probably terrorizing employees and staff at the institute when there are so many other lawful ways to accomplish the goals … why?” Howell asked. “Just because DOGE is in a rush?”
But at the time, Judge Howell turned down an emergency request from the plaintiffs in the lawsuit to reinstate USIP’s board, saying they failed to meet the high legal burden that would warrant a temporary restraining order.
“I’m very offended by how DOGE has operated at the Institute and treated American citizens trying to do a job that they were statutorily tasked to do at the Institute,” Howell wrote in March. “But that concern … is not one that I have that can sway me in my consideration of the factors for a TRO.”
In her ruling Monday, Howell noted that USIP is unique in its status as seemingly a mix between an executive branch agency and a private nonprofit corporation — and that Trump’s aggressive approach to oust its board members and replace them with DOGE officials seemed to violate a statute that required approval by Congress.
“The actions that have occurred … at the direction of the President to reduce USIP to its ‘statutory minimums’ — including the removal of USIP’s president, his replacement by officials affiliated with DOGE, the termination of nearly all of USIP’s staff, and the transfer of USIP property to the General Services Administration (‘GSA’), were thus effectuated by illegitimately-installed leaders who lacked legal authority to take these actions, which must therefore be declared null and void,” Howell wrote.
The administration is likely to appeal the ruling, making it one of a number of ongoing legal fights on appeal regarding President Trump’s removal authorities.
(GREER, Ariz.) — A wildfire in eastern Arizona continues to burn, expanding to over 20,000 acres, with more red flag warnings in effect on Monday.
The Greer Fire, named after the small community in Arizona’s White Mountains where the blaze sparked on May 13, has grown to 20,425 acres and is 38% contained, officials said on Monday.
A red flag warning in northeastern Arizona — including the area of the flames — is in effect on Monday, with officials urging residents to avoid burning or using tools that spark.
“One spark into the dry veg under red flag conditions can start a rapid spreading wildfire,” the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management said Monday in a post on X.
Over 700 personnel have been assigned to battle the blaze, with high winds — reaching around 40 mph — posing “another test for firefighters holding the firelines,” the forestry service said.
On Saturday, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs declared a state of emergency in Apache County due to the growing flames.
“My heart is with everybody who has been impacted by this devastating wildfire,” Hobbs said in a statement on Saturday.
Evacuations have been issued for Greer, South Fork, residents west of Highway 261, Eager, south of Highway 260 and west of River Road, officials said. An interactive map has also been established to highlight the current evacuation orders.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, officials said.
Greer is a small mountain town near the state’s border with New Mexico with a population of less than 60 residents, as of 2020 census data.
More information on the growth of the fire and evacuations will be provided to the public on Monday evening, the forestry service said.
ABC News’ Leah Sarnoff contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A Mexican Navy sailboat with 277 people on board crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday evening, killing two people and injuring more than a dozen others who were on board in a dramatic scene along the New York City waterfront, according to authorities.
The crash occurred at 8:30 p.m., resulting in at least 19 people injured, according to the New York Police Department. Four people were left with serious injuries, according to city officials, who gave a press briefing late Saturday evening.
Mayor Eric Adams said early Sunday that two people were dead following the crash. Two others remained in critical condition, he said in a statement posted to social media.
On Sunday, Mexican Sen. Manuel Huerta identified the two sailors killed in the crash as América Yamilet Sánchez and Adal Jair Marcos.
The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a go-team to New York City to investigate the crash, the federal agency said Sunday. They began arriving that same day. The multidisciplinary investigative team is comprised of experts in nautical operations, marine and bridge engineering and survival factors, the NTSB said.
The captain, who was maneuvering the ship, lost power and mechanical function, and the current caused the ship to go right into the pillar of the bridge, hitting the mast of the ship where there was a couple of sailors,” NYPD Chief Wilson Aramboles said during a press briefing.
The sailors were injured as a result of the mast striking the bridge, according to Aramboles.
The U.S. Coast Guard, which responded to the incident, described the vessel, called the Cuauhtémoc, as a 297-foot-long training ship. The Coast Guard said all three of the tall ship’s masts were damaged as a result of the collision with the bridge.
Numerous cellphone videos from nearby onlookers captured the moment the ship’s masts, decorated with lights, collided with the bottom of the Brooklyn Bridge. Members of the ship’s crew were seen dangling from the masts after the collision.
No one fell into the water, according to officials. Officials said they did not believe the bridge sustained any structural damage. The bridge has since been reopened to traffic, Adams said just after midnight, adding that “we can confirm that the bridge sustained no damage” after a preliminary inspection.
“We are praying for everyone on board and their families and are grateful to our first responders who quickly jumped into action, ensuring this accident wasn’t much worse,” he said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a statement on Sunday evening that the Mexican government is coordinating with local authorities and the U.S.
“The injured are being attended to first and foremost and our solidarity always goes out to a cadet and a sailor who died, and we are going to be attending to them,” Sheinbaum said.
She also said that the cause of the accident is “being reviewed” by the Mexican naval secretary and the relevant authorities.
The ship was disembarking from Pier 17 and heading to Iceland, officials said.
The NTSB was on site immediately after the crash and said it will begin its investigation into the cause, but preliminary information shows it was likely a mechanical issue with the sailboat, according to officials.
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson, Josh Margolin, Clara McMichael and Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Around 30 million people from Texas to Illinois are bracing for another day of potentially destructive storms following a tornado outbreak that slammed communities across the Heartland to the East Coast.
Since Thursday, at least 28 people have been killed, including 19 in Kentucky, where a powerful EF-3 twister tore through Laurel County in the southeastern part of the state, officials said.
At least 250 tornadoes were reported since Thursday. They killed two people in Virginia and seven in Missouri, where a funnel cloud with a preliminary intensity rating of EF-3 — on the Enhanced Fujita Scale of zero to five — and packing 152 mph buzzsaw-like winds wreaked havoc in St. Louis, officials said.
Overnight, officials said suspected tornadoes hit Stafford, Reno and Grove Counties in Kansas, causing massive damage to the cities of Plevna and Grinnell. Grapefruit-size hail was also reported in Arnett in Anderson County, Kansas.
As first responders across the Heartland continued to search for victims on Monday morning and devastated residents combed through the rubble of their destroyed homes, more severe weather is being forecast.
According to the National Weather Service, eastern Oklahoma — including the cities of Oklahoma City and Tulsa — was under a moderate risk of receiving destructive storms on Monday, as well as the cities of Fort Smith in northwest Arkansas and Joplin, Missouri. Possible high-end, long-track tornadoes, large hail and destructive thunderstorms could hit the areas, officials said.
An enhanced risk of severe weather is forecast from Dallas, Texas, to Kansas City and Columbia, Missouri.
Storms are expected to quickly explode and intensify on Monday afternoon from northeast Texas to eastern Kansas.
The bad weather is expected to spill into Tuesday. Flash flooding is possible in southwest Missouri and northern Arkansas through Tuesday morning.
A line of storms is forecast to sweep through the South on Tuesday, reaching Memphis and Nashville by Tuesday afternoon.
Rain is forecast to spread to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City early Wednesday and scattered showers are expected to linger through Thursday.
Part of what’s been fueling the severe weather outbreak has been extremely hot temperatures, which are expected to continue through at least Wednesday.
In Texas, Dallas is expected to be in the mid-80s over the next three days, while San Antonio has the potential to break a daily high temperature record on Tuesday, when it is expected to reach 102 degrees. Houston could also see a daily record fall on Tuesday, when the temperature is forecast to rise to 98.
Meanwhile, Orlando, Florida, could break daily high temperature records with back-to-back days of 97-degree weather on Monday and Tuesday. Savannah, Georgia, could also set a new daily high temperature mark on Tuesday, when it is expected to reach 96 degrees.
(WASHINGTON) — Joe and Jill Biden said on Monday they were thankful for the “love and support” they’ve received since the former president’s office announced his cancer diagnosis on Sunday.
“Cancer touches us all,” the couple said in a post on Joe Biden’s social media account. “Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”
The post included a photo of the couple, along with their cat, Willow.
Biden’s office on Sunday said he had been diagnosed on Friday with prostate cancer, saying that while it was “a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.”
“The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians,” the statement said on Sunday.
Biden’s cancer diagnosis comes after a small nodule was found in the former president’s prostate after “a routine physical exam” on Tuesday. The discovery of the nodule “necessitated further evaluation,” his spokesperson said at the time.
The sentiment about being stronger in the “broken places” is derived from a well-worn line in “A Farewell to Arms,” a novel by Ernest Hemingway, which says, “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.” It’s a citation that Biden has often applied in difficult and important moments, both in his life and for the general public.
Biden used the phrase in 2016, as he opened his speech at the Democratic National Convention. He then quoted the line in March 2021, as the country marked the first anniversary of the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic. And he repeated it in September 2021, on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, using Hemingway’s words in his tribute to the victims.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Averi Harper, Brittany Shepherd, Eric M. Strauss and Leah Sarnoff contributed to this report.
A tentative agreement has been reached to end New Jersey’s first statewide transit strike in more than 40 years, according to the union representing the engineers and train operators.
Trains are set to resume operations on Tuesday, according to NJ Transit. The union had previously indicated trains would resume on Monday.
“We will have a deal. Strike will end,” the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) said in a statement.
Terms of the agreement, which have not yet been released, will be sent to the union’s 450 members who work as locomotive engineers or are trainees for their consideration, according to the union.
The BLET will begin to conduct a ratification vote by electronic ballot for participating members and the agreement will also be voted on by the NJ Transit board at their next meeting on June 11.
“While I won’t get into the exact details of the deal reached, I will say that the only real issue was wages and we were able to reach an agreement that boosts hourly pay beyond the proposal rejected by our members last month and beyond where we were when NJ Transit’s managers walked away from the table Thursday evening,” Tom Haas, the general chairman for BLET, said in a statement.
The strike, which lasted just three days, shut down trains on Friday, leaving some 350,000 commuters scrambling to find other modes of transportation.
BLET members had been threatening to go on strike unless NJ Transit officials and the union were able to agree on new contract terms and conditions for the workers who drive the trains.
The day before the strike commenced, a deal with the union was close but not reached, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said at the time.
Both sides met for eleventh-hour negotiations to avert the strike on Thursday, in addition to a meeting in Washington, D.C., on Monday with the National Mediation Board, but no resolution was reached.
Union leaders said during a press conference on May 9 that it’s been five years since train engineers working for NJ Transit have received a pay increase.
“Reasonable people would vote for an agreement that is fair,” BLET National President Mark Wallace said at the time.
BLET chairman Haas said during the same news conference that engineers working for NJ Transit earn an average salary of $113,000 a year. If NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri agrees to an average salary of $170,000 a year for engineer operators, then “we got a deal,” Haas said.
Following the news of the tentative strike deal, Kolluri said supplemental bus service and park and rides will be operational as planned on Monday, along with the light rail.
“If you can work from home, please do that one more time tomorrow,” he added.
NJ Gov. Murphy celebrated the agreement, saying, “I am delighted to report that NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have reached a tentative agreement and as a result, New Jersey’s first rail strike in decades has officially come to an end.”
(NEW YORK) — Cassie Ventura concluded four days of often painful and intimate testimony on Friday, as she sparred with attorneys for her former boyfriend, Sean “Diddy” Combs, over the consistency of her testimony and the harm she allegedly endured at the hands of the rap mogul.
Ventura’s testimony, coming right at the start of the much-anticipated Combs criminal trial, appeared to lay a foundation for the prosecution’s racketeering and sex-trafficking case against Combs. They allege Combs subjected Ventura to regular violence and blackmail threats to keep her in line so she would fulfill his sexual desires by arranging days-long sex parties called “freak offs” and “wild king nights.”
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy, and his lawyers, through two days of cross-examination, attempted to reframe Ventura as a willing sex partner who enjoyed a swinger’s lifestyle and contributed to an admittedly toxic relationship. His lawyers have acknowledged that Combs was violent with Ventura but argued his actions do not amount to sex trafficking or racketeering, as federal prosecutors have alleged. They also highlighted episodes when Ventura was violent toward Combs in order to prove their point that the ugliness that marked their relationship went both ways.
Ventura largely maintained her composure across two days of defense questioning, even as attorneys confronted her with text messages and emails replete with graphic sexual details, and some jurors appeared to lose focus during the at-times meandering and disjointed cross-examination. When his attorney Anna Estevao concluded the cross-examination, Combs embraced Estevao in court and appeared to thank her for the intense questioning.
When questioned by prosecutors one final time on Friday, Ventura broke down in response to questioning about how she suffered following the allegedly regular beatings from Combs, telling jurors that she felt “worthless, just like dirt, that I didn’t matter to him, like I was nothing.” Ventura told the jury she would return the $20 million civil settlement she received from Combs in 2023 if it meant she never had to participate in a freak off.
“I’d give that money back if I never had to do freak offs. I would have agency and autonomy,” she said through tears. “I wouldn’t have had to work so hard to get it back.”
Defense lawyers attempt to recast moments of violence at the center of Ventura’s testimony
Defense attorneys focused on two central moments described by Ventura during her direct examination: a 2016 assault at a Los Angeles hotel and an alleged rape near the end of their relationship. During cross-examination, Combs’ lawyers attempted to use those episodes to cast doubt on Ventura’s credibility.
Asked about the 2016 hotel assault, Ventura said she believed Combs was intoxicated during the encounter. On Thursday, during Ventura’s third day of testimony, defense attorneys tried to suggest the drugs he was taking at the time contributed to his violence.
“When you get f—— up the wrong way you always want to show me you have the power and knock me around. I’m not a rag doll. I’m someone’s child,” Ventura wrote in a text message after the incident that was entered into evidence Friday.
Defense attorney Anna Estevao also probed Ventura about her recollection of how her relationship with Combs ended. The once-up-and-coming singer testified earlier in the week that Combs raped her after a dinner she said they planned as their relationship was coming to a close.
“You don’t say anything to the effect of, ‘the last time we saw each other you raped me,'” Estevao said of Ventura’s messages with Combs at the time.
Earlier, the defense showed Ventura transcripts of her interviews with law enforcement agents, pointing out that she told them the night of the alleged rape Combs was acting “nice but strangely.” The defense also pointed out how Ventura wondered whether the alleged attack occurred because of Combs’s bipolar disorder, the first time such a diagnosis was mentioned at trial. Combs has previously said he is not bipolar but has mood swings.
Defense lawyers focus on Ventura’s alleged infidelity
During cross-examination, the defense introduced scores of text messages that contained a mix of affection, sexually-charged banter, domestic negotiation, bickering and jealousy. Jealousy first emerged as a central tenet during the defense’s opening statements, when Combs’ lawyers told the jury the case against their client is about “love, jealousy, infidelity and money.”
Ventura recounted how Combs would grow jealous if he suspected she was seeing another man, and on multiple occasions, took her phone from her to learn about the suspected infidelity.
“Mr. Combs was insanely jealous?” defense attorney Anna Estevao asked. “He was upset with you when he suspected you of cheating?”
Ventura responded, “When I was with anyone else. I don’t know if I would call it cheating.”
Estevao said, “You understood he thought it cheating?”
Ventura responded, “That’s a technicality. We weren’t married.”
Defense attorneys attempt to show different side of Ventura
Jurors heard a dramatic audio recording of a March 2014 conversation in Atlantic City between Ventura and a man called Sugit, who had told her he had seen her in a sexually explicit video taken during a “freak off.” Multiple jurors appeared attentive and took notes during the testimony, as they heard a markedly more aggressive version of Ventura than had appeared on the stand, who herself seemed amused by the reaction captured on tape.
“Tell me what exactly you saw,” Ventura is heard telling Sugit. “You told me somebody else was in there f——- me.”
A moment later, her voice is heard rising. “You have it? Why didn’t you show me?” Ventura asked.
“Because I’m not disrespectful,” Sugit is heard answering meekly.
“You’ve had it the whole time?” Ventura said. “It’s my f****** life and I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you if you don’t show me. Pull it up. If you have it, pull that s— up or I’m going to kill you!”
Ventura acknowledged the aggressiveness in her voice, having testified on direct examination about a constant fear that Combs might release the sex tapes from freak-offs that would destroy her career and her reputation. Ventura testified that Combs had shown her the videos and used them as blackmail, threatening to release them if she disobeyed him.
“I was just sick about it and was feeling pressure from Sean,” Ventura told jurors, adding that Combs directed her to speak with Sugit.
At the conclusion of her testimony, Ventura, through a statement read by her attorney Douglas Wigdor outside court, thanked her supporters for their kindness and vowed to never forget what she said Combs did to her.
“I hope that my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors and can help others who have suffered to speak up and also heal from abuse and fear. For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember, and the more I can remember, the more I will never forget,” she said in a statement.
Prosecutors call federal agent, Dawn Richard of Danity Kane to witness stand
Federal prosecutors called two additional witnesses on Friday after the conclusion of Ventura’s testimony.
Special Agent Yasin Binda of Homeland Security Investigations told jurors about a search of Combs’ hotel room at the time of his arrest in 2024, when his lawyers said he traveled to New York to surrender to authorities. Binda testified that agents seized $9,000 in cash, substances that later tested positive for ketamine and MDMA, multiple bottles of baby oil, and a device used for “mood lighting,” which Ventura alleged were the kind of items Combs would use during freak offs. Jurors were able to touch and examine some of the materials seized from Combs’ room.
For their fifth witness, prosecutors called Dawn Richard, a singer-songwriter who, in a civil lawsuit, has accused Combs of sexual assault, forced labor and forced imprisonment. A former member of the girl group Danity Kane, Richard allegedly witnessed multiple instances when Combs abused Ventura, including an incident she described in her testimony. Combs had broadly denied the allegations in that case.
Richard testified that she witnessed Combs beat Ventura in Los Angeles in 2009, describing how Combs had a violent outburst while Ventura tried to cook breakfast.
“He came downstairs angry. He said, ‘Where the f—- is his eggs?'” Richard testified. “He took the skillet with the eggs” and took a swing at Ventura, adding that Ventura dropped to the ground, “literally trying to hide her face or her head.”
After a series of objections, the judge adjourned court until Monday while he considers potentially striking portions of Richard’s testimony.
(FRESNO, CA) — Tiffany Slaton, 28, said she has always had a love of foraging, gardening and outdoor adventures.
But her survival instincts and knowledge of nature were put to the test when she was lost in the mountains of Fresno, California, for nearly three weeks and was finally found alive on Wednesday.
Slaton spoke to reporters during a press conference on Friday about her experience that started out as a three-day solo camping trip and ended as a survival mission.
“I may never do a vacation longer than three days ever again,” she said on Friday.
Slaton, from Jeffersonville, Georgia, was first reported missing by her parents on April 29 after they had not heard from her for nine days, officials said.
At the start of her camping trip, she recounted to reporters how she had fallen off a cliff and became unconscious for two hours, injuring both of her legs in the process. Slaton, who is a trained horticulturist and “pre-Olympian” in archery, then proceeded to splint one of her legs and “pop another knee back into place,” she said.
Due to a recent avalanche, she was unable to get back onto the main road and was unsuccessful in reaching 911 due to a lack of cell service.
Thus, she began her “long arduous journey” of attempting to get back to civilization, which included fighting off animals, surviving on leeks and boiled snow, hiking peaks up to 11,000 feet high and suffering through 13 heavy snow storms, she said.
“Nature is quite terrifying. Once you start finding things that are scary for you, you do your best to keep moving and get over it.” Slaton said.
Although she began her “vacation” with a tent, two sleeping bags and her bicycle, she was only able to hold onto a lighter and a knife for most of her journey.
Throughout her time alone in the wilderness, she kept thinking she would rather “live than have to deal with my parents seeing that I failed in such a dumb way” and that she was determined to be reunited with her family before her birthday, which was on Thursday.
From May 6 to May 10, officials conducted search and rescue efforts looking for the 28-year-old, police said. But with a search spanning nearly 600 square miles and no confirmed sightings of her since April 24, police said they had decided on Tuesday to scale back their efforts.
Then on Wednesday, her parents, Bobby and Fredrina Slaton, received a phone call from none other than their daughter Tiffany, saying, “Dad, I’m alive.”
The missing camper had fought through a blizzard and found shelter in an unlocked cabin at a resort near Lake Edison, officials said.
Officials said resort owner Christopher Gutierrez had “left a cabin unlocked as a precaution for this exact situation where someone who is lost could seek shelter and increase their chances of surviving the outdoor elements and harsh weather.”
When she came across this cabin, Slaton said she thought she was hallucinating and that she had “managed to make it to the North Pole.”
“When the door opened, I saw the best sleeping bag in the world,” Slaton said.
Gutierrez discovered Slaton when he arrived at the resort to open up the place for the summer, he told reporters on Wednesday.
“As soon as I saw her, she didn’t say a word, just ran up and all she wanted was a hug. It was a pretty surreal moment,” Gutierrez said.
Slaton said, “If he hadn’t come that day, they would have found my body there.”
Gutierrez said he knew that there had been a missing hiker in the area and called the sheriff’s office to say he had found Slaton.
Slaton told Gutierrez that “all she wanted was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
Deputies confirmed the woman was Slaton, who was then examined by medics and treated for dehydration, according to officials.
Officials said that Slaton, who they described as a “fighter,” was found approximately 45 miles from where she was last seen.
Slaton, who was wearing sunglasses during the press conference, said she has experienced eye damage due to the snowy conditions along with a few minor cuts and burns. She also said she had lost about 10 pounds after being in the wilderness for 20 days, yet her blood work came back “perfect” due to her foraging skills.
Fredrina Slaton said she is “very proud” of her daughter’s survival, but “will be prouder when she gets a GPS.”
Tiffany Slaton will travel back home to Georgia with her family as she continues to recover. She said she journaled the whole adventure and plans on going through that documentation as she adjusts back to reality.
(MORRIS COUNTY, NJ) — Drivers riding on Interstate 80 spotted an unexpected present the morning after last Christmas — a sinkhole just feet away from where cars were passing by in suburban New Jersey.
“Look at how far it goes under there,” a man says in police video footage obtained by ABC News on Friday. “They may have to shut the whole [expletive] road down.”
It was a prediction that turned out to be true.
Ever since the sinkhole was spotted along one of the busiest highways in the Northeast on Dec. 26, 2024, parts of I-80 have been closed to drivers on and off.
The closures have angered local business owners and caused congestion on detour routes that frequently paralyzes the streets of Wharton along with surrounding communities in Morris County.
The formation of the sinkhole was quickly linked to the region’s mining heritage, with the collapse of an abandoned mineshaft under I-80 identified as the cause. Additional sinkholes have popped up in the time since December’s collapse.
The video footage, which was recorded by a New Jersey State Police trooper and released in response to a request filed by ABC News under New Jersey state law, shows two drivers standing steps from the sinkhole in shock.
“We just went by and were like, ‘holy [expletive],’” one man tells the trooper while steam appears to be rising from the sinkhole in front of them.
“I’ve never seen nothing like this,” another man says.
Within a few minutes, troopers shut down two of the eastbound lines of the highway.
“The entire shoulder seems to have collapsed,” a trooper says over his police radio.
This stretch of I-80 is frequently used by both local commuters along with long-distance drivers traveling between the New York metropolitan area and Pennsylvania, Upstate New York or the Midwest.
Commuters impacted by detours were encouraged to ride New Jersey Transit trains since the agency has a station in Mount Arlington, west of the area where the sinkholes formed, but rail service is currently suspended due to a strike by engineers.
In a press release issued Friday, the New Jersey Department of Transportation announced that two eastbound lanes on I-80 may reopen as soon as May 21, with the entire highway slated to reopen by June 25.
Connect Images/Jason Persoff Stormdoctor via Getty Images
(ST. LOUIS) — At least 23 people were reported dead across several states in an expansive outbreak of severe weather from the Heartland to the East Coast.
State officials reported 14 people were killed in Kentucky, seven in Missouri and two in Virginia.
Over 600,000 customers are without power across multiple states, stretching from Michigan to Tennessee.
Remnant storms from Friday’s severe weather outbreak are continuing into Saturday morning.
At least 26 tornadoes were reported from Friday’s storms in Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Illinois and one from New Jersey.
Softball-sized hail was reported in Barlow, Kentucky, and near Sullivan, Indiana, with greater than tennis-ball-size hail reported locally from Texas to Ohio.
In total, 15 states have reported storm damage from hail, winds and tornadoes from Missouri up to Michigan and out to New Jersey as severe storms continue tracking through the East-Central United States from Arkansas to Virginia.
Strong thunderstorms continued across portions of South early Saturday morning, stretching from Arkansas to the Carolinas.
Quarter-size hail, as well as downed trees and roof damage have already been reported with these storms.
For the Northeast, the highest threat is centered over portions of upstate New York, western Massachusetts, most of Vermont and western New Hampshire, including Burlington, Vermont; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Albany, New York, with the primary risks being damaging winds and large hail and a few isolated tornadoes also possible.
For the South-Central Plains, the highest threat is centered over portions of central Texas that includes Dallas and Arlington, Texas.
A larger but lesser threat also exists for other areas of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas and includes Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Wichita, Kansas.
