(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial this week in New York City to determine whether he will have to pay former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll additional damages for defaming her in 2019 when he denied her allegations of sexual abuse.
Last year, in a separate trial, a jury determined that Trump was liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, and that he defamed her in a 2022 social media post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and saying “This woman is not my type!”
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has said he doesn’t know who Carroll is.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 25, 7:53 AM
Trump indicates he’ll attend trial today, could take stand
In a post to his Truth Social platform overnight, former President Trump indicated that he will attend his defamation damages trial today.
“But now I’m heading back to New York City for a trial based on False Accusations, from perhaps decades ago — The woman has no idea when!” Trump wrote.
Carroll has accused Trump of assaulting her around 1996 but can’t pinpoint the year.
In a series of other posts, Trump also disparaged Carroll, said she made up her story, and suggested she was a paid political operative.
If Trump takes the stand today, he would be banned from using any of those defenses based on a pretrial ruling by Judge Lewis Kaplan which determined that — because a jury last year already found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and then defaming her — Trump is barred from arguing that he did not sexually abuse Carroll or that he never met her.
(NEW YORK) — Communities in the southern and eastern United States are grappling with dangerous floods from heavy rainfall, while dense fog envelops a swath of the country.
Major flash flooding on Wednesday affected areas from Louisiana to Mississippi, where localized rainfall totals ranged from 5 to 9 inches. Over the past few days, heavy rain also hit parts of eastern Texas, just north of Houston, where more than 8 inches fell.
On Thursday, the worst of the flooding is expected to be from Louisiana to western North Carolina and northern Georgia, where some areas could get in excess of 5 inches of rain with flash floods in the forecast. The major cities that could be impacted include New Orleans, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; Birmingham, Alabama; Montgomery, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Asheville, North Carolina.
The heavy rain is forecast to move north where there is still snow in the Midwest to the Northeast. A flood watch has been issued for the rain that will fall on top of the snowmelt and ice jams.
As of early Thursday, 15 states from Texas to Rhode Island are under flood alerts.
The East is expected to get waves of rain through the weekend.
Meanwhile, millions of Americans are waking up to extreme fog in at least 25 states from New Mexico to New York on Thursday morning. There are already reports of visibility being near zero in cities such as New Orleans, Louisiana; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Chicago, Illinois.
There are also reports of low visibility in major cities on the East Coast, including New York, New York; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Some areas will see this dense fog through most of the day.
Temperatures are forecast to stay mild for the East Coast this week, with the warmest air along the Interstate 95 travel corridor.
On Thursday, temperatures are expected to be near 60 degrees Fahrenheit in Washington, D.C.; in the 50s in New York, New York; and near 50 in Boston, Massachusetts. The mild air is forecast to linger over the next few days, with near 50 degrees for New York, New York; 60s for Washington, D.C.; 70s for Atlanta, Georgia; and summer-like 80s for Orlando, Florida.
(NEW YORK) — The Federal Aviation Administration released final instructions to airlines to begin conducting inspections of their 737 Max 9 planes Wednesday — a move that will eventually allow them to fly again.
The agency had grounded nearly 200 of the planes after an Alaska Airlines flight lost one of its door plugs mid-flight earlier this month.
Alaska Airlines released a statement Wednesday evening confirming its plans to return some of its 737 MAX aircraft back to the skies on Friday following thorough inspection.
“The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday, Jan. 24, approved a thorough inspection and maintenance process for the 737-9 MAX aircraft. Alaska Airlines is ready to perform these detailed inspections of our planes,” the statement read.
“Each of our aircraft will only return to service once the rigorous inspections are completed and each aircraft is deemed airworthy according to the FAA requirements. We have 65 737-9 MAX in our fleet. The inspections are expected to take up to 12 hours for each plane,” the airline said.
The statement continued, confirming Jan. 26 would be the date that select aircraft would return to operation: “Following these inspections by our skilled Alaska Maintenance technicians, we expect to bring our first few planes back into scheduled commercial service on Friday, Jan. 26.”
On Jan. 5, the door plug fell out of the Alaska Airlines plane after it took off for Ontario, California, from Portland, Oregon. Six crew members and 171 passengers were on board Flight 1282, the airline previously said.
“We grounded the Boeing 737-9 MAX within hours of the incident over Portland and made clear this aircraft would not go back into service until it was safe,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement Wednesday. “The exhaustive, enhanced review our team completed after several weeks of information gathering gives me and the FAA confidence to proceed to the inspection and maintenance phase.”
With this development, airlines could have Max planes back in the air as early as this weekend, however, Whitaker cautions that this does not mean Boeing can return to “business as usual.”
“However, let me be clear: This won’t be back to business as usual for Boeing. We will not agree to any request from Boeing for an expansion in production or approve additional production lines for the 737 MAX until we are satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved,” Whitaker said.
Boeing said in a statement Wednesday that they would continue to fully cooperate with the FAA and “will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with the FAA and follow their direction as we take action to strengthen safety and quality at Boeing. We will also work closely with our airline customers as they complete the required inspection procedures to safely return their 737-9 airplanes to service.”
In a note to employees, United COO Toby Enqvist signaled the company intends to have the Max back in the air on Sunday.
According to Wednesday’s press release, the FAA approved its detailed set of inspection and maintenance instructions after a thorough review of data from 40 inspections of grounded planes. The FAA also convened a Corrective Action Review Board. The CARB, made up of safety experts, scrutinized and approved the inspection and maintenance process.
The enhanced maintenance process includes an inspection of specific bolts, guide tracks and fittings, detailed visual inspections of left and right mid-cabin exit door plugs and dozens of associated components, retorquing fasteners and correcting any damage or abnormal conditions.
The news comes on the heels of another airline incident. On Tuesday, the FAA announced it would investigate after a tire under the front nose of a Delta Boeing 757 fell off one of the wheels and rolled down a nearby embankment.
The incident occurred on Saturday around 11:15 a.m. local time at Georgia’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport while Delta Flight 982 was taxiing before takeoff to Bogota, Colombia.
No injuries were reported in the incident, the FAA said.
In a statement Tuesday, Delta offered an apology “to our customers for the inconvenience.”
(JOLIET, Ill.) — Police in Joliet, Illinois, arrested Kyleigh Cleveland-Singleton, 21, who they identified as the girlfriend of shooting suspect Romeo Nance, for obstructing justice.
Police said she made statements to detectives on Jan. 22 to “prevent the apprehension of the suspect and obstruct this investigation.”
Nance, 23, was identified by police earlier this week as the suspect in shootings at several locations in Joliet. Eight people were killed and nine shot over two days in what authorities have called a “reign of terror.”
Nance died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound outside of a gas station in Natalia, Texas, after a police standoff, officials said.
Cleveland-Singleton, of Joliet, was located and questioned by police in the evening on Jan. 22, according to a news release.
“Following questioning of Cleveland-Singleton, Detectives believed that she made statements in order to prevent the apprehension of the suspect and obstruct this investigation,” the statement said.
The Will County State’s Attorney Office approved one count of obstructing justice, police said.
She was arrested, processed and transported to the Will County Adult Detention Facility, law enforcement said.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Philadelphia police are on a manhunt for a teenage murder suspect who escaped from a hospital Wednesday and is “considered dangerous,” the department announced.
Authorities identified the escaped prisoner as 17-year-old Shane Pryor, who was being held on murder charges, Deputy Commissioner of Investigations Frank Vanore said in a news conference Wednesday.
Pryor escaped from the emergency room parking lot of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia around noon Wednesday after he was brought in for an apparent hand injury.
“He was able to escape from staff and run from this area on foot,” Vanore said.
Vanore described Pryor as a Black male with a light complexion and is 5’7″ weighing 180 pounds. He was last seen in the University Avenue and Civic Center Boulevard area wearing blue sweatpants, a blue sweatshirt and slides with socks on his feet.
Vanore said investigators reviewing surveillance footage spotted Pryor entering and exiting buildings in the area following his escape.
United States Marshals Service Philadelphia posted on X Wednesday night that it’s believed Pryor may be operating a stolen Ford F-150 and asking for the public’s assistance in keeping an eye out for the vehicle.
No lockdowns have been put in place for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and authorities believe he is no longer near the hospital, Venore said.
Philadelphia authorities encourage anyone with information regarding Pryor to call 911 and to not approach the suspect.
(NEW YORK) — The Florida Board of Governors voted Wednesday to prohibit state funding to be used toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, including “political or social activism” activities on campus in a 15-2 vote.
The regulation prohibits state universities from using state or federal funds to promote, support or maintain any programs or campus activities that “advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion as defined in this regulation; or promote or engage in political or social activism as defined in this regulation.”
The decision by the Florida Board of Governors, the 17-member governing body for the State University System of Florida, will affect all public universities in the state.
The vote is the latest decision to target DEI programming by the state. Last week, the Florida Board of Education approved regulations that limit public funding of programs, activities, and policies towards DEI initiatives in public colleges.
The ruling comes almost a year after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 266, prohibiting universities from expending any state or federal funds, regardless of source, to promote, support, or maintain any programs or campus activities.
The regulation provides guidance on what amounts to advocacy of DEI, state or federal funds; and will require institutions to designate an agent to ensure they are observing the prohibited expenditure provisions of the regulation.
DEI, as defined by the Boards’ regulation, is “any program, campus activity, or policy that classifies individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation and promotes differential or preferential treatment of individuals on the basis of such classification.”
The regulation also defines political or social activism as “any activity organized with a purpose of effecting or preventing change to a government policy, action, or function, or any activity intended to achieve a desired result related to social issues, where the university endorses or promotes a position in communications, advertisements, programs, or campus activities.”
DEI are initiatives rooted in the 1960s anti-discrimination legislative movement that introduced laws to address labor issues based on protected classes. Some of these laws include the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. DEI initiative efforts aim to further create equitable workplaces and schools for underrepresented communities as defined by DEI professionals.
DeSantis has spearheaded numerous efforts affecting DEI and education around race in Florida. In 2021, DeSantis announced the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (W.O.K.E.) Act, a bill that would have restricted race-related curriculum in colleges and universities. The bill was blocked by a federal judge in November 2022.
However, months later, DeSantis requested data from state universities and colleges on courses and programs that include “diversity, equity and inclusion” and “critical race theory.
The fate of DeSantis’ legislation will be decided on a bench trial set for October.
(MOREHEAD CITY, N.C.) — Dozens of cold-stunned sea turtles were rescued by researchers off the coast of North Carolina this week.
The North Carolina State University Center for Marine Sciences and Technology said it saved 36 cold-stunned sea turtles from Cape Lookout.
While they took in 109 cold-stunned sea turtles, only 36 survived, the marine center said. The surviving turtles are being examined and treated.
The turtles will then be transferred to the North Carolina Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores and the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Topsail, to complete their rehabilitation before eventually being released back into their natural habitat.
The dead turtles will be necropsied and used for research.
The term “cold-stunned” refers to a condition in which a sea turtle has become very weak and inactive from exposure to cold temperatures, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Cold-stunning generally occurs when water temperatures where sea turtles are present fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the NOAA.
“Cold-stunned turtles become lethargic and are eventually unable to swim causing them to float at the surface. Wind and/or tides may wash them ashore. If temperatures remain low or turtles are not rescued, they can develop secondary health problems or die. Hundreds or even thousands of sea turtles can be affected by cold-stunning events,” according to the NOAA.
Sea turtles become cold-stunned when they are not able to strictly regulate their body temperature like mammals and birds, according to the NOAA.
(WASHINGTON) — Former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro will be sentenced on Thursday for defying a congressional subpoena to cooperate with the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Navarro was convicted in September on one count of contempt of Congress over his refusal to appear for a deposition in front of the committee, and on a second count for refusing to produce documents.
He is the second Trump adviser to be convicted for refusing to cooperate with the Jan. 6 panel, after Steve Bannon was found guilty in July of defying a Jan. 6 committee subpoena.
Bannon was subsequently sentenced to four months in prison, pending an appeal.
Prosecutors have asked for Navarro, who under Trump was director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, to be sentenced to six months behind bars.
“The mandatory minimum sentence of one month in prison is insufficient to account for, punish, and deter the Defendant’s criminal offense,” prosecutors wrote last week. “For each Count, the Court should instead impose a sentence of six months’ imprisonment — the top end of the applicable Guidelines’ advisory sentencing range — and fine the Defendant $100,000.”
In their memo, prosecutors said the six-month sentence for each count could be served concurrently.
Navarro’s attorneys requested the court sentence him to no more than six months and to pay a fine of $100 for each count.
The Jan. 6 committee’s 17-month probe, which concluded with the release of its final report in December 2022, determined there was a “multi-part conspiracy to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 Presidential election.” Among the panel’s 11 recommendations were that Congress affirm the way electoral votes are certified; that it bolster efforts to combat violent extremism and threats to election workers; and that it improve the effectiveness of the Capitol Police.
(BEATTY, Nev.) — The remnants of an ancient lake are still visible in Death Valley National Park after an inundation of rain last year left a significant amount of water in the famed Badwater Basin.
On Aug. 20, heavy precipitation from Hurricane Hilary — an event that prompted the first-ever tropical storm watch in California’s history — led to the pooling of several inches of water in Badwater Basin, where Lake Manly, an ancient lake that once was filled with water up to 700 feet deep during the Ice Ages, once stood, Abby Wines, park ranger at Death Valley National Park, told ABC News.
More than 2 inches of rain fell on Aug. 20 alone — more than the area, known for its desert landscape, typically sees in a year — according to the National Park Service.
The rain was so heavy it caused the closure of Death Valley National Park from Aug. 20 to Oct.15, the longest-ever in the park’s history, according to the NPS.
Since Death Valley is an internal basin, meaning the water does not drain out to sea, the remnants of the heavy rainfall remain — but it won’t be there forever, Wines said. Currently, the lake measures at multiple miles long, and about 2 miles wide. It is only a couple of inches deep and gets shallower by the day — with park rangers estimating that the lake could remain until the end of February.
The last time the lake filled up was in 2005, just before Wines moved to the region. It took about a week after it formed to dry up and has not filled up since, she said.
“We didn’t think it would be here anywhere near this long,” Wines said. “But if you were worried you might have missed it, you’re not too late. Come out here soon.”
The sight of the lake itself is enough to take one’s breath away, witnesses describe.
When the wind is calm, the water reflects the mountains surrounding Death Valley — the picturesque vista Badwater Basin is known for, Wines said. Tiffany Lin, a travel and hiking blogger in her mid-30s, described the water as having a “vibrant reflection” to it.
“It was perfectly clear,” said Lin, who drove from her home in Orange County, California, over Thanksgiving weekend to see the lake.
The flooding at its deepest was not nearly enough to kayak from end to end, Wines said. Lin described water deep enough to wade in toward the middle of the lake.
Because the climate is typically so hot and dry, any water left behind by rainfall tends to evaporate and leave behind salt flats in the basin, Wines said. But because the rain fell so fast and furiously, instead it drained down to the salt flats and filled it with water, she said.
At night, the full moon amplified the white hues in the salt, making the water appear brighter, Lin said.
“It just made for a really cool experience,” she said.
Badwater Basin, the home of the lowest sea level in North America at 282 feet below sea level, is one of the highlights for the parks 1.7 million visitors a year, Wines said.
Repeat visitors to Death Valley National Park are awestruck by the sight of a vast lake in an area that is typically bone dry, Wines said.
Lin described a stark different between her more recent visit and when she saw Badwater Basin in 2018, when it was “100% dry.”
(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump’s defamation damages trial is scheduled to resume Thursday after a two-day postponement stemming from a courtroom COVID-19 scare. At issue is whether the former president has to pay writer E. Jean Carroll additional damages for defaming her in 2019 when he denied her allegations of sexual abuse.
Originally scheduled to take three days, the trial is now nearing the end of its second week as Trump prepares to possibly testify and the court grapples with COVID concerns.
Here are five questions as the trial heads toward its conclusion.
What happens if multiple jurors have COVID-19?
If multiple jurors call in sick, Judge Lewis Kaplan will likely face a decision to either continue the trial with fewer jurors or extend the trial’s delay until the jurors recover, according to former federal prosecutor Josh Naftalis.
“My expectation with most, if not all, Southern District judges is they would prefer to lose a juror and keep the trial going, than to put it off indefinitely to get back the person who’s sick,” Naftalis told ABC News.
When Judge Kaplan delayed the trial on Monday, he expressed confidence that the trial would continue through any COVID-related delay.
“This Court functioned all the way through the worst of the COVID pandemic. We conducted over a hundred jury trials right through the lockdowns and everything else,” the judge said. “We have gotten through all of that. I’m sure we’ll get through all of this too.”
How many jurors are needed to render a verdict?
Judge Kaplan initially seated nine jurors to hear the defamation trial; however, a jury of six could still render a verdict, according to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Even though the jury does not include any alternates, having three more jurors than needed gives Kaplan a cushion, according to Nafatlis.
“If you lose a juror, you can keep going as long as you stay with the jury of at least six,” Naftalis said.
However, if the jury loses four members, Kaplan would likely be forced to declare a mistrial in the case, according to Naftalis.
Kaplan would then have to empanel a new jury to restart the case. Depending on the availability of Kaplan, the parties, and the jury pool, that process could begin as early as next week.
Does Trump still plan to testify?
Trump arrived at court on Monday with his regular legal team as well as his two criminal defense lawyers, Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles.
“He was planning to testify,” defense lawyer Alina Habba told Kaplan Monday before court was adjourned due to health concerns.
What happens if Trump defies the judge on the stand?
If Trump takes the stand, his testimony will be heavily restrained by the judge’s pretrial ruling, which determined that — because a jury last year already found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and then defaming her — Trump is barred from arguing that he did not sexually abuse Carroll or that he never met her.
The possibility that Trump violates those rules in the presence of the jury could put Kaplan in a tight spot, according to trial lawyer and ABC News contributor Chris Timmons.
“If you go into court and you disrespect the judge in front of the entire courtroom, you’re going to be held in contempt or at least get warned that you’re on the verge of being held in contempt,” Timmons said.
If Trump defies Kaplan’s orders, Kaplan could strike the testimony from the record and instruct the jury to disregard it, according to Naftalis.
“He will likely try to direct him as to what’s in bounds and out of bounds,” Naftalis said. “If Trump continues to ignore … there would likely be a break outside the presence of the jury where he says, ‘If you continue to do this, I will just end your testimony.'”
If Trump continues to defy the rules, Kaplan could boot Trump from the courtroom — something he threatened to do during last week’s proceedings when Trump was being disruptive.
“Mr. Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive, which is what has been reported to me,” the judge said last Wednesday after Trump was heard making comments within earshot of the jury. “Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial.”
“I understand you are probably very eager for me to do that,” the judge added, to which Trump threw his up his arms and said, “I would love it, I would love it.”
Could the judge hold Trump in contempt?
If Trump repeatedly violates the orders and instructions of the court, Kaplan could hold the former president in contempt and impose monetary sanctions — but the likelihood that it gets to that point is low, according to Naftalis.
“I think the more likely scenario is the judge says, ‘If you’re not going to abide by the orders of the court, your testimony is over.’ I think that’s more likely than getting to, like, full-out sanctions,” said Naftalis.
“The judge will interrupt them and strike it, and that will end it there,” Naftalis said. “There won’t be an opportunity for Trump to sort of go on and give us a soliloquy.”
