Judge in classified docs case appears skeptical of Trump’s argument for indefinite delay

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(MIAMI) — The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case did not rule from the bench during Tuesday’s pretrial hearing, but appeared skeptical of Trump’s lawyers’ arguments that he couldn’t get a fair trial while running for president.

U.S. Judge Aileen Cannon said that she would make a “prompt ruling” following Tuesday’s hearing.

Attorneys for the former president told Judge Cannon they didn’t believe she should schedule a trial date, but said if she does they would propose “mid-November or later of next year,” according to Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche. Trump’s team argued that they don’t believe pretrial motions should be filed until they have time to view all the discovery materials.

The judge pressed Trump’s team for more concrete answers on scheduling, saying at one point to Blanche, “I can appreciate that more time is necessary, but we need to set a schedule.”

Responding to Trump’s motion last week for a lengthy delay of the trial, Cannon said the motion “doesn’t provide a roadmap” and that the court needs to establish an adequate schedule.

But Cannon also seemed skeptical of prosecutors’ argument that the case could go to trial by December because it’s not unusually complex. She asked whether they could point to similar cases involving classified information that went to trial in less than six months.

In a filing Monday, the government said that they have been unable to put a protective order in place over classified information because Trump’s team objected to it. The government said that they reached out to Trump’s lawyers Friday and didn’t hear back, so they filed their papers Monday.

“That seems a bit rushed,” Cannon said, adding at the end of the hearing that the motion for a protective order needed to be refiled after “meaningful conferral” between the parties.

Blanche said that Trump’s legal team can “in no meaningful way” file motions until “at least December,” given the amount of discovery, which prosecutor Jay Bratt said stood at 1.1 million pages. Cannon asked whether the motions were dependent on discovery or if they could be done now, to which Blanche said it would be “more efficient” to file them at one time.

The government took issue with this, telling the court that — with few exceptions — pretrial motions are not dependent on discovery.

Trump pleaded not guilty in June to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities. His longtime aide Walt Nauta has also pleaded not guilty to six counts of various obstruction-related offenses.

Thirty-one of the counts against Trump relate to specific documents he’s alleged to have unlawfully retained under the Espionage Act, which in the indictment are detailed by the government in broad terms under their specific classification markings, and include a general description of their contents and the dates they were allegedly unlawfully in Trump’s custody.

Leading up to Trump’s indictment, it was revealed in court filings that the government had taken custody of more than 320 documents with classification markings in Trump’s possession, from his first handover of materials to the National Archives in January of 2022, his legal team’s response to a subpoena from the DOJ months later, and the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago resort last August.

ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.

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1-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed by 3-year-old sibling, authorities say

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(FALLBROOK, Calif.) — A 1-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed Monday by her 3-year-old sibling, who had gained access to an unsecured handgun, authorities said.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said deputies responded to the shooting at a home in Fallbrook, California, on Monday morning.

The 1-year-old suffered a head injury in the shooting and was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead at about 8:30 a.m. Monday, the department said. The child’s name has not been released at this time “out of respect for the family and the fact she is a juvenile,” the department said.

“Sheriff’s Homicide investigators are working to gather more information to determine the circumstances of the death,” the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “There are no outstanding suspects and there is no threat to the community.”

The investigation is ongoing. The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office has been notified and will be updated with the investigators’ findings, the sheriff’s department said.

The local medical examiner’s office will also conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death. A sheriff’s department spokesperson told ABC News on Tuesday that they will release more information on the case following the autopsy.

As of July 15, so far this year there have been at least 221 unintentional shootings by children in the U.S., resulting in 78 deaths and 151 injuries, according to gun violence prevention organization Everytown for Gun Safety.

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Texas DPS launches probe amid allegations troopers were told to push back migrant children into Rio Grande

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(AUSTIN, Texas) — The Inspector General of the Texas Department of Public Safety is conducting a full investigation into allegations that Texas troopers were ordered to push back those attempting to cross the border, including children, into the Rio Grande River and deny people water during extreme heat, Texas DPS spokesperson Travis Considine confirmed to ABC News.

The allegations were outlined by a trooper medic for Texas DPS in an email sent to his superior earlier this month that was first reported by the Houston Chronicle on Monday evening.

ABC News has obtained the original email from July 3 detailing some of the alleged conditions witnessed at the U.S. southern border in Texas, as migrants and asylum seekers attempt to cross into the country.

Amid scorching heat and treacherous conditions, officers at the border assigned to Texas’ Operation Lone Star have been told to push back exhausted and hungry groups of people including families “seeking refuge” and nursing infants, according to the email from the trooper. Some had been caught in or injured by the razor wire deployed along the border, including children and even a pregnant and miscarrying young woman, according to the email.

ABC News has reached out to the trooper directly and to the The Texas State Troopers Association, the union representing the Texas troopers, but requests for comment were not returned.

Asked about the allegations that Texas National Guard soldiers pushed back migrants into the Rio Grande, the Texas Military Department’s office of public affairs told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday that “there is no order or directive instructing Service Members to push illegal immigrants back into the river or deny them drinking water.”

“The Texas National Guard mission is to work alongside our Texas law enforcement partners to prevent, deter and interdict transnational criminal activity between ports of entry,” the statement said and directed any other inquires to Texas DPS.

The email was sent to a sergeant with the subject line “Weekly Event Log and Operational Concerns” on the afternoon of July 3.

Razor wire deployed by DPS along the Rio Grande is forcing people to cross in riskier sections of river — and on a number of occasions, those attempting to cross get caught up and badly cut, according to the email.

A spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office declined to comment on the specific allegations but defended the use of razor wire when asked about the allegations outlined in the Houston Chronicle report.

“Texas is deploying every tool and strategy to deter and repel illegal crossings between ports of entry as President Biden’s dangerous open border policies entice migrants from over 150 countries to risk their lives entering the country illegally,” Andrew Mahaleris, press secretary for Abbott’s office told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday. “The absence of razor wire and other deterrence strategies encourages migrants to make unsafe and illegal crossings between ports of entry, while making the job of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers more dangerous and difficult. President Biden has unleashed a chaos on the border that’s unsustainable, and we have a constitutional duty to respond to this unprecedented crisis.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to the Houston Chronicle report in a tweet on Tuesday afternoon, saying that if the allegations were true it would be “atrocious, barbaric, and downright wrong.”

She also addressed the report during the White House briefing on Tuesday and criticized the policies of the Abbott administration in Texas.

“We’re talking about the bedrock values of who you are as a country and the indecency, the human decency that we’re seeing, potentially if this is true, is just wrong,” the press secretary said.

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Federal prosecutors contacted Nevada secretary of state’s office as part of 2020 election probe

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(CARSON CITY, Nev.) — Federal prosecutors have been in contact with the office of Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar as part of the special counsel’s ongoing probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a spokesperson for Aguilar’s said in a statement to ABC News.

“The Secretary of State’s Office has been in contact with federal prosecutors regarding efforts to overturn the 2020 election,” the statement said. “We are complying with all requests from the Department of Justice.”

“Secretary Aguilar and his Office are confident in the conduct of the 2020 election and the work done by the SOS Elections Division under the leadership of Secretary Cegavske,” the spokesperson added. “Secretary Aguilar is focused on preparing for the 2024 election cycle and ensuring that elections in Nevada remain secure, accessible, and transparent.”

A Wisconsin Elections Commission spokesperson also confirmed to ABC News Tuesday that the chief elections official in Wisconsin met with federal investigators in April regarding the probe.

“In April 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe to be interviewed in the inquiry regarding the events surrounding Jan. 6, 2021,” Wisconsin Elections Commission Public Information Officer Riley Vetterkind told ABC News. “Administrator Wolfe cooperated with the subpoena and appeared in person before DOJ and Federal Bureau of Investigation officials in April.”

ABC News reported earlier Tuesday that special counsel Jack Smith recently informed former President Donald Trump by letter that he is a target in the 2020 election probe.

Trump also confirmed the development in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Last week, ABC News reported that federal prosecutors recently met with New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and, separately, with Claire Woodall-Vogg, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, as part of the probe.

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Suspected Gilgo Beach killer appeared ‘traumatized’ after arrest: Defense attorney

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(MASSAPEQUA, N.Y.) — Rex Heuermann appeared “traumatized” at his arraignment on Friday in the Gilgo Beach murders of three sex workers, his defense attorney Michael Brown said.

Brown, Heuermann’s defense attorney, spoke exclusively with ABC News on Tuesday in front of the Suffolk County courthouse about his client, who is charged with murdering the women whose bodies were found along Long Island’s South Shore in 2010. The 59-year-old architect is the prime suspect in the murder of a fourth woman, police said.

Heuermann, who was arrested near his New York City office last Thursday, was assigned to Brown, a criminal defense attorney based out of Suffolk County. Brown said that when he first met with Heuermann at the arraignment on Friday, the suspect appeared traumatized following his arrest.

Brown spoke further with ABC News on Heuerman’s condition when he met with him again at the county jail. “Nothing struck me as unusual about him. He was articulate, he was intelligent, he was soft spoken,” Brown said.

Brown said this case will be challenging for him and his co-councils as Heuerman appears to have “been convicted in the media already and the media public opinion.”

“When you have a high profile case like this, initially you have to be concerned about getting a jury that hasn’t been biased, that hasn’t convicted him, just based on what they’ve read in the newspapers and what they’ve heard on social media. So that’s going to be a challenge,” Brown stated.

Brown said the state has amassed “circumstantial evidence” against his client including phone records that correspond to burner phones used by the victims’ murderer, internet searches and DNA evidence found in a burlap sack that one of the bodies was buried in.

Brown further elaborated that he deems this evidence circumstantial as there were no eyewitnesses to the murders and no confessions from his client.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney told ABC News on Monday that Heuermann wouldn’t have been charged if they weren’t confident in their case.

Currently, Brown is assembling his legal team and says that he and his team are in a “wait and hold pattern” for discovery.

Heuermann has been charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, and has been called the “prime suspect” in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes. All four women were found in the same area of the beach, bound in the same fashion.

Investigators said Tuesday they were digging into Heuermann’s life and checking to see if they could tie him to unsolved murders or missing persons cases throughout New York state, an NYPD official told ABC News.

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.

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Investigation into suspected Gilgo Beach killer expands to Las Vegas, South Carolina

Rex Heuermann is shown in this booking photo released by the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. — Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department

(NEW YORK) — Investigations into the Gilgo Beach murder suspect have expanded beyond New York state in the days following his arrest in connection with the Long Island slayings.

Rex A. Heuermann, 59, a Manhattan architect, has been charged with the murders of three women whose bodies were found on Long Island’s South Shore in 2010. He has pleaded not guilty.

Authorities in Nevada said Tuesday they are investigating a connection between the accused serial killer and Las Vegas.

“We are aware of Rex Heuermann’s connection to Las Vegas,” the Las Vegas Metro Police Department said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “We are currently reviewing our unsolved cases to see if he has any involvement.”

Police are trying to determine whether they should be searching any locations in Vegas and what those sites might be.

The search for forensic and physical evidence in the Long Island case has also expanded to property Heuermann owns in Chester, South Carolina, where authorities seized his Chevrolet Avalanche in connection with the investigation. A witness to Costello’s disappearance reported seeing a Chevrolet Avalanche, according to court records.

Investigators on Tuesday were digging into Heuermann’s life and checking to see if they could tie him to unsolved murders or missing persons cases throughout New York state, an NYPD official told ABC News.

The suspect’s DNA has been entered into a statewide database, available to all law enforcement agencies in New York.

Heuermann was arrested in Manhattan last week and charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose bodies were found covered in burlap along Ocean Parkway on Long Island’s South Shore in December 2010. He was also named the “prime suspect” in the death of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, a fourth woman discovered in the same spot, police said.

More than 200 firearms were found at his Long Island home, officials said.

“We wanted to take him into custody somewhere outside the house, because of access to those weapons,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told ABC News.

The guns explain why police would have chosen to arrest him away from home, former NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday.

Investigators would have searched databases and discovered that Heuermann had dozens of gun permits, Boyce said.

“You don’t want to go into that house — you want to take him off-premise,” Boyce said. “This way it’s safer for everybody.”

Heuermann is next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 1.

Heuermann’s defense attorney, Michael Brown, said in a statement Monday: “There is nothing about Mr. Heuermann that would suggest that he is involved in these incidents. And while the government has decided to focus on him despite more significant and stronger leads, we are looking forward to defending him in a court of law before a fair and impartial jury of his peers.”

ABC News’ Mark Osborne contributed to this story.

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Small plane crashes into Santa Fe home in fiery, fatal accident

Santa Fe County Sheriff

(SANTA FE, N.M.) — A small plane crashed into a home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Tuesday, resulting in an unspecified number of fatalities.

The home, located just south of the Santa Fe Regional Airport, caught fire in the crash.

The twin-engine Cessna 310 crashed into a home around 9:05 a.m. local time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It is unknown how many people were on board, the FAA said.

New Mexico State Police said they are investigating the fatal plane crash and that the scene is active.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are also investigating the crash. A preliminary report from the FAA is expected by Wednesday.

ABC News’ Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Phoenix breaks record with 19 consecutive days above 110 degrees Fahrenheit

ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Scorching temperatures continue to shatter records amid a relentless heat wave across the United States.

Tuesday marked the 19th consecutive day that temperatures at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit were recorded in Arizona’s capital, breaking a record that was set in 1974. A high of 116 degrees was reported at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, tying a record for the same date set in 2005, according to the National Weather Service.

Phoenix shattered another record for going eight straight days without overnight temperatures dipping below 90 degrees. Monday night’s 95 degrees was just shy of the record warmest low of 96 degrees set in 2003. The city is expected to continue with the record-setting trend.

Meanwhile, heat index values in Miami, Florida, reached 109 degrees on Monday, marking the 16th consecutive day that they were at or above 105 degrees. That doubled the city’s previous record of eight straight days set in 2017.

Temperatures have been at or above 100 degrees in El Paso, Texas, for the past 32 days with no end in sight. A high of 109 degrees was reported on Monday, breaking the city’s previous daily record of 106 degrees set in 1980.

Grand Junction, Colorado, saw a high of 107 degrees on Monday, breaking its previous daily record of 104 degrees set in 1971. That also tied the all-time heat record for the area set in 2021.

Temperatures hit 101 degrees in Casper, Wyoming, on Monday, breaking the city’s previous daily record of 99 degrees set in 1977.

Overall, Earth has seen its 15 hottest days on record in the past 15 days. In other words, global temperatures have yet to return to levels recorded prior to July 3. The sweltering trend is expected to continue.

The latest forecast shows hot temperatures will persist for a swath of the U.S. on Tuesday, with 72 million people across 15 states under heat alerts from California to Florida, including the entire state of Louisiana.

Both heat index values and temperatures are expected to reach the 100s in the South again on Tuesday.

This week, heat index values and temperatures in the 120s are forecast to continue for California’s Death Valley while 110s continue for Phoenix, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada. Heat index values are expected to remain in the 110s for Corpus Christi, Texas.

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Home searched in Tupac Shakur murder investigation: Source

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(HENDERSON, Nev.) — Police searched a home in the Las Vegas area on Monday night in the long-dormant murder case of Tupac Shakur, according to a law enforcement source.

“LVMPD can confirm a search warrant was served in Henderson, Nevada on July 17, 2023, as part of the ongoing Tupac Shakur homicide investigation,” Las Vegas police said in a statement. “We will have no further comment at this time.”

The celebrated hip-hop artist was shot on Sept. 7, 1996, in Las Vegas and died in the hospital six days later from his injuries at the age of 25. No arrests have been made.

During his short but prolific career, he sold more than 75 million records worldwide, including the diamond-certified album “All Eyez on Me,” which included the hit “California Love (Remix).”

Tupac was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Woman gored by Bison at Yellowstone

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(IDAHO FALLS, Idaho) — A woman visiting Yellowstone National Park was hospitalized Monday after being gored by a bison, National Park Service officials said.

The unidentified 47-year-old tourist from Phoenix was walking with another person near the Lake Lodge Cabins on the north shore of Lake Yellowstone when they saw two bison, according to NPS.

Officials said the two visitors turned around and tried to walk away, but one bison charged at them and gored the woman.

“The woman sustained significant injuries to her chest and abdomen and was transported by helicopter to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center,” NPS said in a statement.

Park officials did not provide an update on the wounded tourist’s condition.

It was unknown how close the visitors were to the bison when it charged. The investigation is ongoing, according to the NPS.

This is the first reported bison attack against a park visitor since June 2022, the NPS said.

Last month, the NPS put out warnings following a string of human encounters with Yellowstone wildlife that were going viral on social media.

In one video posted in May, a woman was seen getting close to a bison and taking a selfie, which park officials said was dangerous given the animal’s unpredictable movements and actions. The agency noted that bison can run three times faster than humans.

Visitors are advised to “stay more than 25 yards away from all large animals – bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose, and coyotes – and at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves,” NPS said.

“During mating season (rut) from mid-July through mid-August, bison can become agitated more quickly. Use extra caution and give them additional space during this time,” NPS said in a statement.

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