National

(NORTH PORT, Fla.) — Cassie Laundrie said she has a message for her missing brother, who has been the center of a nationwide manhunt after the body of his girlfriend, Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, was found in Wyoming last month.

“I would tell my brother to just come forward and get us out of this horrible mess,” Cassie Laundrie told ABC News in an interview that aired Tuesday on Good Morning America.

Brian Laundrie, 23, and Petito, 22, were traveling across the country this summer in Petito’s white 2012 Ford Transit and were documenting their road trip on social media. On Sept. 1, Brian Laundrie returned to his parent’s home in North Port, Florida, by himself in Petito’s van, according to authorities. Petito was reported missing on Sept. 11 by her family in Long Island, New York, authorities said.

Cassie Laundrie, who lives in Florida with her husband and two sons, told ABC News that her brother and parents stopped by for an “ordinary” visit the day he returned.

“I really wish he had come to me first that day with the van,” she said, “because I don’t think we’d be here.”

Brian Laundrie was subsequently named a “person of interest” in Petito’s disappearance. He has refused to speak to investigators and has not been seen since Sept. 14, authorities said.

On Sept. 16, the Moab City Police Department in Utah released body-camera footage of their officers’ interaction with Brian Laundrie and Petito after pulling them over in Petito’s van on Aug. 12. The officers were responding to a 911 call that reported an incident between the couple, in which the caller claimed he witnessed Laundrie allegedly “slapping” Petito and chasing her up and down a sidewalk, hitting her.

The officers wrote in a report that Laundrie and Petito admitted to arguing and that Petito had slapped Laundrie. The couple also told the officers that Laundrie did not hit Petito, according to the report.

After speaking to Petito and Laundrie separately, the officers allowed the couple to continue on their way but ordered them to spend the night apart. No charges were filed.

Cassie Laundrie told ABC News that it was “pretty typical of them to argue and try and take space from each other.” But she said she never witnessed any signs of domestic violence.

On Sept. 19, the Teton County Coroner’s Office in Wyoming announced that a body was recovered in the Bridger-Teton National Park. Two days later, the coroner confirmed the remains were that of Petito and that an initial determination showed she had died as a result of homicide. A federal arrest warrant was later issued for Brian Laundrie in Wyoming, pursuant to a federal grand jury indictment related to his “activities” following Petito’s death, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The twist and turns of the case have grabbed national attention, as the search for Brian Laundrie continues.

Cassie Laundrie told ABC News that she does not know where her brother is and if she did, she would “turn him in.” She said the last time she saw or heard from him was on Sept. 6, when their family went to Fort De Soto Park in Florida’s Pinellas County.

“We just went for a couple of hours and we ate dinner and had s’mores around the campfire and left, and there was nothing peculiar about it,” she said. “There was no feeling of grand goodbye. There was no nothing.”

“I’m frustrated that, in hindsight, I didn’t pick up on anything,” she added. “It was jut a regular visit.”

She said it’s unusual for her brother to disappear for this long.

“I hope he’s OK, and then I’m angry and I don’t know what to think,” she said. “I hope my brother is alive because I want answers just as much as everybody else.”

She said she has been cooperating with authorities “since day one,” and she called on her parents to do the same.

“I don’t know if my parents are involved,” she said. “I think if they are, then they should come clean.”

While she remains concerned for her brother, Cassie Laundrie said she is also mourning for Petito and wants the Petito family to know that her heart is with them.

“They deserve answers,” she said.

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(NEW YORK) — Someone is taking home a big pot of cash.

One person in California bought the ticket that matched all six numbers drawn Monday night to win the Powerball jackpot worth $699.8 million. It is the fifth largest in Powerball history and the seventh largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history, Powerball said in a statement early Tuesday morning.

“Due to final ticket sales, the jackpot climbed beyond earlier estimates to a staggering $699.8 million at the time of the drawing with a cash option of $496 million,” they said. “The winning numbers in the Monday, Oct. 4 drawing were white balls 12, 22, 54, 66, and 69. The Powerball number was 15.”

The person — whose identity was not released — bought the winning ticket at Albertsons grocery store in Morro Bay, near San Luis Obispo.

The jackpot was last hit on June 5, and since then there have been 40 consecutive drawings without a Grand Prize winner, a new record for the Powerball jackpot, according to officials.

The lottery is available in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In August, it went from two drawings a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, to three drawings a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

This was the first Powerball jackpot won on a Monday night since the game launched a third weekly drawing on Aug. 23.

“The lucky ticket holder will have the choice between an estimated annuity of $699.8 million, paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years, or a lump sum payment of $496 million. Both prize options are prior to taxes,” Powerball said. “Participating lotteries are reminding players to check their tickets for one of the nine ways to win. In Monday’s drawing alone, more than 2.2 million tickets won prizes ranging from $4 to $2 million.”

On Monday, five tickets matched all five white balls but missed the red Powerball to win a $1 million prize. The $1 million-winning tickets were sold in Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts and Virginia. A ticket sold in Tennessee matched all five white balls and doubled the prize to $2 million, because it included the Power Play feature for an additional $1, the company said.

Monday’s Powerball drawing was the 41st drawing in the jackpot run: a record for the number of consecutive drawings without a Grand Prize winner.

Even though there hadn’t been a jackpot winner in months, several Powerball players have earned smaller cash prizes.

“In Saturday’s drawing alone, more than 2.8 million tickets won prizes ranging from $4 to $1 million,” Powerball officials said in a news release.

The largest Powerball jackpot prize money was $1.586 billion in 2016, which was shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee, officials said.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball officials.

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(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 702,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 65.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Latest headlines:
-Child hospitalizations fall but kids still make up quarter of all new cases
-Daily deaths nearly 8 times higher than in July
-Myocarditis extremely rare among vaccinated people

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

Oct 04, 7:56 pm
Pentagon mandates vaccines for civilian employees

The Pentagon announced Monday that all of its civilian employees must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22.

“Vaccinating (department) civilian employees against COVID-19 will save lives and allow for the defense of our nation,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks wrote in a memo sent out to Pentagon leadership Monday. “Thank you for your focus on this critical mission.”

There is already a vaccine mandate for military members, but each branch of service has its own deadline.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Oct 04, 6:02 pm
Newly approved rapid test will double US capacity, FDA says

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new rapid test Monday that it said will double the at-home testing capacity in the U.S. over the next few weeks.

The ACON Laboratories Flowflex COVID-19 Home Test will ideally assuage the shortage of over-the-counter, at-home rapid testing that has gone on since schools and other businesses have returned to in-person work.

“By year’s end, the manufacturer plans to produce more than 100 million tests per month, and this number will rise to 200 million per month by February 2022,” the FDA said in a press release Monday.

ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Oct 04, 5:48 pm
Judge agrees to hear another request to halt NYC school staff vaccine mandate

A Manhattan federal judge has agreed to hear another request to halt New York City’s vaccine mandate for public school employees.

A group of 10 teachers, educators and administrators filed an emergency motion Monday for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to prevent the city from further enforcing the mandate.

“This policy is reckless, senseless, and not only violates the fundamental rights of thousands of New Yorkers but will also put over 1 million New York City public school children at risk of imminent harm,” the petition said.

The judge scheduled a hearing for Tuesday morning to consider the request and preliminary injunction.

Earlier Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said 95% of all full-time Department of Education employees are vaccinated, including 96% of all teachers and 99% of all principals.

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky

Oct 04, 3:12 pm
Child hospitalizations fall but kids still make up quarter of all new cases

Last week, the U.S. reported more than 173,000 child COVID-19 cases, marking the first week with fewer than 200,000 new cases reported since mid-August, according to a newly released weekly report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

Even with the decline, last week children still accounted for 26.7% of reported weekly cases. (Children make up 22.2% of the population.)

The South is reporting the highest number of pediatric cases followed closely by the Midwest.

The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 is also declining. About 1,700 children are currently hospitalized across the country, according to AAP and CHA.

Severe illness due to COVID-19 remains “uncommon” among kids, the two organizations wrote in the report. However, AAP and CHA warned that there is an urgent need to collect more data on the long-term consequences of the pandemic on children, “including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects.”

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

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(NEW YORK) — The pot of cash up for grabs continues to grow. According to lottery officials, the Powerball jackpot for Monday night’s drawing soared to $685 million.

The cash value of the grand prize is $485.5 million, Powerball officials said.

The jackpot was last hit on June 5, and since then there have been 40 consecutive drawings without a Grand Prize winner, a new record for the Powerball jackpot, according to officials.

The lottery is available in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In August, it went from two drawings a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, to three drawings a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Even though there hasn’t been a jackpot winner in months, several Powerball players have earned smaller cash prizes.

“In Saturday’s drawing alone, more than 2.8 million tickets won prizes ranging from $4 to $1 million,” Powerball officials said in a news release.

The largest Powerball jackpot prize money was $1.586 billion in 2016, which was shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee, officials said.

Monday’s drawing is scheduled for 10:59 p.m. ET. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball officials.

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(TUSCON, Ariz.) — One Drug Enforcement Administration agent was killed and two other officers were injured in a shooting on an Amtrak train that was stopped in Tucson, Arizona, authorities said.

Officers boarded the train Monday morning to perform a routine check for illegal guns, money and drugs and encountered two people on the second level of the double-decker Amtrak car, Tucson police said.

One individual was detained, but a second person revealed a handgun and opened fire, police said.

One DEA agent was killed and another DEA agent is in critical condition, police said.

A Tucson police officer who was on the platform heard the gunfire and ran onto the train, at which point he was shot, police said. That officer is in stable condition, police said.

After exchanging rounds with police, the suspected gunman barricaded himself in a lower-level bathroom, authorities said. It was later determined that the suspected gunman died, though it is not clear how he died, police said.

There were no reports of injuries to the 137 passengers or 11 crew members, Amtrak said.

The train was en route from Los Angeles to New Orleans and arrived in Tucson at 7:40 a.m. local time, Amtrak said.

ABC News’ Nicholas Kerr contributed to this report.

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(MILWAUKEE) — The grandmother of an 11-year-old Milwaukee girl killed in a weekend drive-by shooting that also left her 5-year-old sister injured said on Monday that the children were coming home from a birthday party with their mother when a gunman opened fire on their car.

The death of Ta’Niyla Parker has sparked widespread outrage in Milwaukee and community activists have taken to the streets holding signs reading, “Stop killing our children.”

“She was very smart, outgoing. She was a loving big sister to her little sister,” Ta’Niyla’s grandmother, Janice Little, told ABC News on Monday.

Little said she was Ta’Niyla’s legal guardian and that the child has lived with her since she was born.

“I hope they get caught and get arrested,” Little said of her granddaughter’s killer.

The shooting unfolded about 9 p.m. on Saturday in the Sherman Park neighborhood in northwest Milwaukee, according to the Milwaukee Police Department. A vehicle pulled up alongside the family’s car and gunfire erupted, police said.

Sherman Park resident Kristofer Koneazny told ABC affiliate station WISN in Milwaukee that he called 911 after hearing around 15 gunshots in rapid succession.

No arrests have been made in the homicide and police are still working to identify the person or persons responsible for the shooting, authorities said.

Police said a relative was driving the car and took the wounded children to the District 7 police precinct several blocks away, where officers performed first aid and called Milwaukee Fire Department paramedics.

The sisters were taken to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee, where the older child died early Sunday morning, police said.

No arrests made in ambush shooting death of 11-year-old girl https://t.co/iOwIPCNe3V

— WISN 12 NEWS (@WISN12News) October 4, 2021

Little said her daughter, Talea Hairston, was driving the girls to her home when the shooting occurred.

She said Hairston had taken her daughters to a friend’s birthday party at a Chuck E. Cheese in Milwaukee.

“She called about 9 o’clock. I’m thinking she’s calling to say, ‘Come open up the door because I’m fixing to drop the kids off,'” Little said. “But she just called and started hollering and screaming and said, ‘The babies were shot.'”

She said her younger grandchild suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

“She’s doing better. She’s walking now and they said that she would probably be able to come home today,” Little said.

She said Ta’Niyla was a sixth-grader and loved drawing cartoons on her cellphone.

“She loved her anime,” Little said, referring to a Japanese style of cartoons. “She was doing all of that on her phone. She loved to do that.”

Community activists in the Sherman Park neighborhood took to the streets Sunday afternoon to draw attention to the tragedy.

“I’m a father myself and seeing what happened … the senseless act of violence where a little kid has to die, I think enough is enough,” Walter Garron of the Brown Berets community social justice group, told WISN.

Garron was one of several community activists holding signs reading “Stop killing our children.”

“We’re trying to bring awareness make sure people know there are other people here watching,” Garron said, “and we are caring about their families and the community and we want this stopped.”

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(NEW YORK) –Former President Donald Trump will have to sit for a deposition sometime before Christmas as part of a defamation lawsuit filed by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on “Apprentice,” a judge’s law clerk said Monday.

Zervos has alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2007 and defamed her during his campaign when he said she lied about it.

Earlier, in a 2016 statement, Trump had said that he had “never met her at a hotel or greeted her inappropriately a decade ago.”

The two parties are still haggling over disclosure of certain documents but Zervos’ side is eager to depose the former president.

“We just don’t believe our client can be further prejudiced in delaying this litigation any longer,” said Zervos’ attorney Moira Penza. “We do not believe there are any outstanding issues that would prohibit the parties from engaging in depositions.”

An attorney for Trump, Alina Habba, called it “completely ridiculous” to think depositions could occur immediately when Zervos has not turned over all relevant information.

“Ms. Zervos is claiming emotional damages and financial damages,” Habba said. “How can we, as defense counsel, provide any kind of quality deposition when we don’t have all the medical records?”

A law clerk for the judge overseeing the case said he saw no reason depositions could not occur before the end of the year.

“Now he’s a private citizen,” said clerk Michael Rand during a virtual status conference on Monday. “I’m sure like any other litigant, we can have mutually agreeable dates for depositions. I really don’t see a reason that before the end of the year, you’re not done with depositions.”

Rand set a close-of-fact date by Dec. 23, meaning depositions will have to be taken by then. He said he expected a trial date to be set sometime in the early part of 2022.

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(WASHINGTON) — As the cry “Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!” rang out just after 10 a.m. Monday in Washington, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court emerged from behind a 44-foot velvet curtain wall, walking into their vaulted marble chamber for the first time in 18 months.

They entered a world — a courtroom, a docket, an American society — dramatically changed and charged with anticipation since they last convened in-person as major decisions loom on abortion, guns, the death penalty and religious freedom.

A chamber normally packed with hundreds of spectators is now limited to an audience of just five dozen clerks and members of the press — all covid-tested, N95-masked, and seated 6-feet apart. The lectern for attorneys, once 3 feet from the bench, now positioned 10-feet away.

Proceedings that for years were shielded from much of the public in real-time are now livestreamed on the Supreme Court website.

The justices took their seats in a new array for the first time since the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Chief Justice John Roberts, in the middle of the iconic mahogany bench, is now flanked by senior conservative Justice Clarence Thomas and senior liberal Justice Stephen Breyer.

Thomas, 73, who was famously silent for years during oral arguments before the pandemic, asked the first question of the new, in-person term and remained loquacious throughout. A sprightly Breyer, 83, repeatedly whispered to the chief with a smile from his new center-stage spot.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired from the court in 2018, was seated in a front box as special guest — a show of solidarity for the institution at a time when the court faces its lowest public approval rating in decades and a brewing crisis of credibility.

On the wings of the bench, the newest justices: Amy Coney Barrett on the right, appearing in-person for arguments for the first time; on the far left, an empty seat for Brett Kavanaugh, who dialed in by phone from home due to a COVID-19 diagnosis last week. (There were no audible signs of his illness; the court has said he is asymptomatic.)

Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the only justice to don a face mask. Justice Samuel Alito was seen slumped back in his chair sipping from a stainless-steel thermos; he was the only justice to remain silent for the entire first case.

For nearly two-and-a-half hours, the justices heard arguments in two opening disputes: the first, a suit brought by Mississippi against Tennessee over the pumping of groundwater from a massive aquifer that stretches across eight states. The second case addressed a criminal procedural matter involving the Armed Career Criminal Act.

Free-for-all questioning among the justices, which had been sidelined during virtual sessions, was back in full force but remained civil and polite. Chief Justice Roberts has implemented a new procedure at the conclusion of each round, calling on each justice by name to see if they have any additional questions.

The court was gaveled in and out by newly-sworn Court Marshal Gail Curley, a recently retired Army colonel and judge advocate general officer who joined the court this summer as its 11th marshal in history. She is responsible for court security and operations.

Meanwhile, outside the court building protests raged over abortion. That issue will get its first public hearing of the term next Tuesday Oct. 12, in a procedural case out of Kentucky. The marquee abortion case of the year out of Mississippi — which asks the justices to squarely consider nearly 50 years of precedent since Roe v. Wade — is set for December.

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(PHOENIX) — A girl has died after she was playing in a parked car and the power window rolled up on her, Phoenix, Arizona, police said.

The fatal injury took place Saturday evening while the girl was playing in the car, which was parked at a home, police said.

She was taken to a hospital in critical condition and was later pronounced dead, police said. There were no obvious signs of foul play, police said.

Her age has not been released.

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(ORLANDO, Fla.) — Loved ones of Miya Marcano are demanding justice after a body believed to be the 19-year-old college student was found slain in a wooded area of Orlando. Investigators allege a maintenance man at her apartment complex is the “prime suspect” in her disappearance.

Family members are accusing the management of Arden Villas apartments where Marcano lived and worked of negligence for allowing Armando Caballero, 27, a maintenance man at the complex, to possess a master key fob that allowed him to access Marcano’s unit on the day she vanished. They claimed that several residents had complained of Caballero, who investigators said was found dead from suicide.

Marcano had told family members that Caballero made romantic advances toward her and she rebuffed him.

“You shouldn’t feel unsafe where you live,” Marcano’s cousin, Caili Sue, said during a news conference on Sunday in the parking lot of the Arden Villas apartments.

The family’s lawyer, Daryl K. Washington, said Marcano’s relatives are concerned that other residents of the apartment complex are in jeopardy due to what they describe as lapses in security.

“Death is something that is very difficult. But what makes death even more difficult is when it’s death that could have been prevented,” Washington said.

A body believed to be Marcano, a student at Valencia College in Orlando, was discovered around 10:45 a.m. on Saturday in a wooded area near the Tymber Skan apartment complex in Orlando, about 17 miles from where she lived.

Orange County Sheriff John Mina said investigators were led to the area based on Caballero’s cellphone records.

Mina said the records showed Caballero was near the Tymber Skan apartments around 8 or 9 p.m. on Sept. 25, the day Marcano went missing.

He said Marcano’s purse containing her identification was found near the body. While the Orange County medical examiner has yet to positively identify the remains as those of Marcano, Mina said investigators are “very certain” it’s her.

A key fob Caballero had to access apartments was used at Marcano’s unit just before her disappearance, authorities said. Following her disappearance, Marcano’s relatives said they found her usually tidy apartment a mess and that there were signs of a struggle.

Mina said police served a search warrant on Caballero’s apartment and vehicle within 24 hours of Marcano’s family reporting her missing. Police found Caballero dead in his apartment on Sept. 27 from an apparent suicide.

Washington said tenants of the Arden Villas apartment complex that he and family members spoke to expressed concern over alleged inappropriate behavior by Caballero. But the management of the Arden Villas complex said in a statement that it had received no complaints about Caballero “from any parties involved directly or indirectly with the situation.”

“The only way he was able to get access to (Marcano’s) apartment without permission was with the key fob. There need to be changes. We’re going to make sure another young girl doesn’t have to deal with what Miya had to deal with,” Washington said. “We feel had this apartment complex taken the proper steps, this person should not have even been employed at the complex.”

In its statement, the management of Arden Villas apartments said “all employees are vetted using a national background check service” and that Cabellero had “no record of burglary or sexual assault.”

The apartment complex, according to the statement from management, plans to beef up security, including posting a guard at the front gate.

“Additionally, we have upgraded our maintenance procedures to allow for appointment-only bookings,” the statement reads. “We are in the process of reviewing our entire security apparatus and will make changes or upgrades as warranted.”

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