National

<figure><img src=”https://s3.amazonaws.com/syndication.abcaudio.com/files/2025-10-20/News_phillypd_101525.jpg” alt=””><figcaption>Officials in Philadelphia are searching for Kada Scott, a 23 year old woman who has been missing for nearly a week. Philadelphia Police Department</figcaption></figure><p>(PHILADELPHIA) — Human remains found Saturday&nbsp;<a href=”https://abcnews.go.com/US/remains-found-amid-search-missing-philadelphia-woman-kada/story?id=126591096″ target=”_blank”>have been confirmed</a>&nbsp;to be 23-year-old Philadelphia woman Kada Scott, who had been missing since Oct. 4, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office confirmed on Monday.</p><p>The confirmation came during a press conference on Monday morning when the DA’s office announced new charges against Keon King, the suspect in Scott’s disappearance.</p><p>King, 21, who was previously charged with kidnapping in relation to Scott’s disappearance, is now facing charges including arson causing catastrophe, conspiracy, unauthorized use of an automobile, tampering with evidence, recklessly endangering another person and receipt of stolen property, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced on Monday.</p><p>Scott’s&nbsp;<a href=”https://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-charged-kidnapping-connection-disappearance-23-year-philadelphia/story?id=126507914″ target=”_blank”>remains were found Saturday morning</a>&nbsp;in a shallow grave on the grounds of an abandoned school are “believed” to belong to Scott.</p><p>The remains were found in a deeply wooded area behind Ada H. Lewis Middle School, an abandoned school near Awbury Arboretum in Germantown around 10 a.m. on Saturday after police received a “very specific” anonymous tip overnight, First Deputy Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department John Stanford told reporters during a press conference on Saturday evening.</p><p>Stanford said police were in touch with Scott’s family following the discovery of the remains.</p><p>Scott was last seen by her mother on Oct. 4 when she was leaving for work at a nearby nursing home, police said earlier this month. King, who remains in custody, was previously charged with kidnapping “for his involvement” in the disappearance of Scott, authorities said.</p><p>On the evening of Oct. 4, Scott arrived at work, but left prior to her shift’s completion, Philadelphia police Capt. John Craig said during a press conference earlier this month. It was not clear what time Scott left work, but officials said her shift typically was from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.</p><p>”In the days leading up to her disappearance, Ms. Scott related to her family and friends that an unknown individual or person had been harassing her via phone,” Craig said.</p><p>Officials said evidence shows Scott was “in communication with an individual” — who they identified as King — and that she appeared to meet with him “very shortly after” she left work on Oct. 4.</p><p><em>ABC News’ Megan Forrester and Tommy Foster contributed to this report.</em></p><p>Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.</p>

<figure><img src=”https://s3.amazonaws.com/syndication.abcaudio.com/files/2025-10-20/G_cows_102025.jpg” alt=””><figcaption>A herd of cows housed inside a barn in Hottot-les-Bagues, Normandy, France, on June 13, 2024. Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images</figcaption></figure><p>(NEW YORK) — Researchers have quantified how meat consumption in the U.S. is contributing to the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change.</p><p>More than 11 million tons of meat is consumed in U.S. cities annually — equating to about 329 million tons of carbon emissions, according to a study published Monday in the scientific journal&nbsp;<a href=”https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02450-7″ target=”_blank”>Nature Climate Change</a>.</p><p>That figure is comparable to emission levels from domestic fossil fuel combustion in the U.S., at about 334 million tons annually, Benjamin P. Goldstein, an assistant professor of environment and sustainability at the University of Michigan and lead author of the paper, told ABC News. In addition, emissions from meat consumption in the U.S. exceed total annual carbon emissions from the U.K., at 305 million tons, and Italy, at 313 million tons, the researchers said.</p><p>The three most populated cities in the U.S. — New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago — consumed a total of 3.2 million tons of meat per year, according to the paper.</p><p>While meat and dairy are known to contribute “substantially” to urban greenhouse gas emissions, it has been difficult to trace the impacts due to the complexity of agricultural chains over large rural areas, especially because traditional accounting methods rely on national averages that can obscure important regional differences, the researchers said.</p><p>Researchers quantified and mapped the greenhouse gas emissions of beef, chicken and pork consumption to calculate the “carbon hoofprint” of 3,531 U.S. cities by implementing a high-resolution model to link meat consumption to the specific rural regions that produce the feed, livestock and processed meat.</p><p>Americans are consuming 4.6 million tons of chicken, 3.7 million tons of beef and 2.7 million tons of pork annually, the researchers found. But the carbon footprint of the meat consumption depends on where the meat was produced, Goldstein said.</p><p>This is, in large part, because supply chains in the U.S. can span thousands of miles and encompass hundreds of counties within the country, Goldstein said. Los Angeles alone sources beef from 10 counties, and those beef suppliers rely on livestock from 469 counties, which are fed using crops grown in 828 counties.</p><p>Researchers embarked on the study because urban sustainability has “by and large” focused on buildings, transportation, water, waste and hard infrastructure within cities, Goldstein said.</p><p>”When we’re thinking about decarbonizing cities…we also think about all those different complex supply chains that bring products into cities but cause environmental change elsewhere,” Goldstein said.</p><p>Emissions from meat consumption in the U.S. can be reduced by up to 51% through measures such as reducing food waste and shifting diets from beef to poultry, the researchers suggested.</p><p>The U.S. Agricultural Census contains information about how much food is being produced at the county level that also includes data such as irrigation and fertilizer, where the crops that animals are being eaten are grown and where the animals are being raised, Goldstein said.</p><p>By linking that information with data on the number of slaughterhouses, how much they process and where the meat demand is, researchers can look at the environmental impacts across the individual supply chains for beef, poultry and pork to cities, he added.</p><p>”It shows how urban and rural livelihoods are highly interdependent,” Goldstein said. “We need food in cities. Obviously, it’s mainly grown elsewhere.”</p><p>Strategies to decarbonize the supply side of meat production, such as integrating trees and livestock grazing, can further reduce the “net hoofprint,” the researchers said.</p><p>And as far as individual consumption goes, the fundamental advice of focusing on a plant-based diet, and choosing chicken or pork over beef, is still the best way to practice sustainability within eating habits, according to Goldstein.</p><p>”Thinking about what we have to change is not necessarily how we produce things or the distance and the food miles that travels, but really what we put into our bodies,” he said.</p><p>Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.</p>

<figure><img src=”https://s3.amazonaws.com/syndication.abcaudio.com/files/2025-10-20/Getty_JamesComey_102025.jpg” alt=””><figcaption>James Comey, former FBI Director, speaks at the Barnes &amp; Noble Upper West Side on May 19, 2025 in New York City. . (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure><p>(NEW YORK) — <span class=”s1″>Federal prosecutors in James Comey’s&nbsp;</span><a href=”https://abcnews.go.com/US/former-fbi-director-james-comey-indicted-days-after/story?id=125935658″><span class=”s1 s2″>criminal case</span></a><span class=”s1″>&nbsp;suggested in a new filing that they may move to disqualify Comey’s lead attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, from continuing to represent the former FBI director over a potential conflict of interest issue.&nbsp;</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>In a filing late Sunday night, prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff that Fitzgerald’s alleged involvement in providing information to the media for Comey after Comey was fired by President Donald Trump in 2017 could “inform a potential conflict and disqualification issue.”&nbsp;</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1”>They urged Nachmanoff to act quickly to set forth a procedure for all parties on the case to review evidence that is currently under quarantine because it involves communications between Comey and “several attorneys” and could involve privileged communications.&nbsp;</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Fitzgerald has already raised alarm over the government’s handling of the process and raised pointed questions about why prosecutors didn’t previously determine how they’d handle the potentially privileged communications before moving to indict Comey on charges he made false statements to Congress in 2020.&nbsp;</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Comey, who has denied the charges,&nbsp;</span><a href=”https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FPolitics%2Fformer-fbi-director-james-comey-make-1st-court%2Fstory%3Fid%3D126322951&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMarc.E.Nathanson%40abc.com%7Ca1d8d44c0a58460636c808de0fe69897%7C56b731a8a2ac4c32bf6b616810e913c6%7C1%7C0%7C638965680240868315%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=wMrj8EVKmcpjiCGKsLmZwSOT%2BL4WzXP%2BKhuwFiaCh9k%3D&amp;reserved=0″><span class=”s1 s2″>pleaded not guilty</span></a><span class=”s1″>&nbsp;earlier this month to one count of false statements and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding related to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020, amid what critics call Trump’s&nbsp;</span><a href=”https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FUS%2Flist-individuals-including-lisa-cook-targeted-trump-administration%2Fstory%3Fid%3D124968309&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMarc.E.Nathanson%40abc.com%7Ca1d8d44c0a58460636c808de0fe69897%7C56b731a8a2ac4c32bf6b616810e913c6%7C1%7C0%7C638965680240889586%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=OzB3KgLWzwY2Y1PNWuUxbLgkAkvMv2r8y%2BY1Tc%2BZNEY%3D&amp;reserved=0″><span class=”s1 s2″>campaign of retribution</span></a><span class=”s1″>&nbsp;against his perceived political foes. Vice President JD Vance has said any such prosecutions are “driven by law and not by politics.”&nbsp;</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>The potential push to disqualify Fitzgerald, a close friend of Comey’s with a storied background as a former Justice Department official-turned-high-powered white collar attorney, comes as Fitzgerald has already said he plans to have a court invalidate President Trump’s pick for the prosecutor that brought charges against Comey, Lindsey Halligan.&nbsp;</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Fitzgerald was expected to make a series of filings Monday outlining his arguments that Halligan was unlawfully appointed as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, just four days before she went to a grand jury and sought Comey’s indictment over what sources say were the&nbsp;</span><a href=”https://abcnews.go.com/US/prosecutors-memo-new-us-attorney-recommended-plans-charge/story?id=125925246″><span class=”s1 s2″>objections of career prosecutors</span></a><span class=”s1″>.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>The grand jury ultimately voted to indict Comey on two of three charges sought by Halligan related to Comey’s 2020 congressional testimony regarding the FBI’s&nbsp;</span><a href=”https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/russia-probe-timeline-moscow-mueller/story?id=57427441″><span class=”s1 s2″>Russia probe</span></a><span class=”s1″>&nbsp;and whether Comey authorized leaks of anonymous information to the media.&nbsp;</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1”>Fitzgerald was also expected to argue in a filing Monday that the prosecution of Comey was “vindictive” in nature and at the direct urging of President Trump, citing Trump’s extensive history of statements calling for Comey to be jailed.&nbsp;</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>While legal experts argue there’s an extraordinarily high bar for tossing a prosecution based on the argument of malicious prosecution, Comey’s case should be a unique test of the legal standard, given Trump’s ousting of the office’s senior prosecutor who resisted bringing charges and his public call on social media for Attorney General Pam Bondi to&nbsp;</span><a href=”https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-allowed-involved-comey-case-indictment-doj/story?id=125935132″><span class=”s1 s2″>act “now”</span></a><span class=”s1”>&nbsp;to prosecute Comey and other political enemies.&nbsp;</span></p><p>Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.</p>

<figure><img src=”https://s3.amazonaws.com/syndication.abcaudio.com/files/2025-10-20/N_SeanGrayson_102025.jpg” alt=””><figcaption>Sean Grayson fatally shot Sonya Massey while responding to her 911 call for help. (Sangamon County Sheriff&#039;s Office)</figcaption></figure><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>(PEORIA, Ill.) — Jury selection is set to begin on Monday in the trial of Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy who was charged with first-degree murder in connection to the July 6, 2024, fatal shooting of Sonya Massey.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Grayson was&nbsp;</span><a href=”https://abcnews.go.com/US/illinois-deputy-charged-fatal-shooting-sonya-massey-woman/story?id=112058957″><span class=”s1 s2″>charged with a total of three counts</span></a><span class=”s1″>&nbsp;in connection to Massey’s death – first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Grayson’s attorney, Daniel Fultz, declined to comment to ABC News but confirmed that his client has “pleaded not guilty to all charges.”</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>The trial will take place in Peoria, Illinois, after it was moved from Sangamon County to Peoria County due to extensive media publicity.</span></p><p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>Body camera footage of the incident&nbsp;</span><a href=”https://abcnews.go.com/US/body-camera-footage-released-illinois-state-police-woman/story?id=112162337″><span class=”s1 s2″>released by Illinois State Police on July 22, 2024,</span></a><span class=”s1″>&nbsp;shows Massey telling Grayson and another responding deputy, “Please, don’t hurt me,” once she answered their knocks on her door.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>”I don’t want to hurt you, you called us,” Grayson responded.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Later in the video, Grayson, who was inside Massey’s home, points to a pot of boiling water on her stove and says, “We don’t need a fire while we’re in here.”</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1”>Massey then pours the water into the sink and tells the deputy, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” according to the video.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Grayson threatens to shoot her and Massey apologizes and ducks down behind a counter, covering her face with what appears to be a red oven mitt, the video shows. As she briefly rises, Grayson shoots her three times in the face, the footage shows.</span></p><p class=”p2″><span class=”s1″>Massey died by homicide due to a gunshot wound to her head,&nbsp;</span><a href=”https://abcnews.go.com/US/sonya-massey-woman-killed-home-police-died-homicide/story?id=112305250″><span class=”s1 s2″>according to an autopsy report</span></a><span class=”s1″>&nbsp;released on July 26, 2024, Sangamon County coroner Jim Allmon confirmed to ABC News.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Grayson&nbsp;</span><a href=”https://abcnews.go.com/US/sean-grayson-deputy-charged-sonya-massey-killing-fighting/story?id=113149639″><span class=”s1 s2″>said he feared for his life</span></a><span class=”s1″>&nbsp;during his encounter with Massey, according to documents released by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office in August of 2024.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>”While on scene, I was in fear Dep. (redacted) and I were going to receive great bodily harm or death. Due to being in fear of our safety and life, I fired my duty weapon,” Grayson wrote in his field case report.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Attorney Ben Crump, who represents Massey’s family, said the autopsy confirmed that this was an “unnecessary excessive use of force, completely unnecessary, certainly not justified.”</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Crump said that Massey had struggled with her mental health.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Prosecutors alleged that Grayson discouraged his partner from retrieving the medical kit to render aid to Massey after the shooting because he allegedly thought the injuries were too severe to revive her.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>The judge in the case ruled during a pre-trial hearing on Sept. 15, 2025, against the defense’s request to exclude body camera footage after Massey was shot, according to WICS, ABC affiliate in Springfield, Illinois.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>The body camera footage released by Illinois State Police shows the incident from the point of view of Grayson’s partner because Grayson did not turn on his own body camera until after the shooting, according to court documents reviewed by ABC News.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>A review of the case by Illinois State Police found Grayson was not justified in his use of deadly force. Grayson was fired in July 2024 by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office after he was indicted in this case.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Grayson has been held in the Macon County jail ahead of his trial.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Grayson’s attorneys revealed that he was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer and argued for his pretrial release, claiming that he would not receive proper treatment in prison. An appellate court ruled on Nov. 27, 2024, that Grayson could be released on pretrial conditions but the ruling was paused last December after prosecutors appealed the decision to the Illinois Supreme Court.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Prosecutors argued, in part, that Grayson acted “impulsively” and cannot be trusted to comply with conditions for pretrial release.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Prior to Grayson’s time in public law enforcement, he was discharged from the U.S. Army for unspecified “misconduct (serious offense),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>ABC News also learned that Grayson was charged with two DUI offenses in Macoupin County, Illinois, in August 2015 and July 2016, according to court documents.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>He pleaded guilty to both charges. He paid over $1,320 in fines and had his vehicle impounded as a result of the 2015 incident. In 2016, Grayson paid over $2,400 in fines, according to court records.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed new legislation on Aug. 12 inspired by Massey’s death, according to ABC station in Chicago,&nbsp;</span><a href=”https://abc7chicago.com/post/illinois-governor-jb-pritzker-set-sign-police-reform-bill-named-sonya-massey/17510474/”><span class=”s1 s2″>WLS</span></a><span class=”s1″>. The law creates stricter hiring practices for law enforcement agencies by requiring departments to thoroughly investigate a candidate’s history before hiring them.</span></p><p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>”It means everything to me. Like to see my mom making some change … that means the world to me,” said Massey’s son Malachi Hill Massey.</span></p><p class=”p2″><em><span class=”s1″>ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.</span></em></p><p>Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.</p>

(NEW YORK) — At least three people were injured early Sunday in a shooting outside of a residential hall at Oklahoma State University, authorities said.

One of the injured victims is a student at the Stillwater, Oklahoma, school, according to the Oklahoma State University Police Department.

No arrests have been announced in the shooting.

The shooting was reported around 3:40 a.m. local time outside the Carreker East residential hall, according to the OSU police statement.

“Initial reports indicate a large, private party occurred at an off-campus location. After the gathering disbanded, some attendees returned to Carreker East, where the shooting occurred,” according to the police statement.

OSU Chief of Police Michael Beckner said one of the victims is known to be an OSU student.

All of the victims were taken to hospitals in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

There is no ongoing threat to the campus, according to the statement. Officials requested that anyone with information about the shooting contact the OSU Police Department.

Beckner said campus police officers first learned of the shooting when they overheard a radio call from a Stillwater police dispatcher of a gunshot victim at a McDonald’s several miles from the college.

He said campus officers went to the McDonald’s and found the person suffering from gunshot wounds and began to provide medical aid.

Beckner said that about the same time, campus police received calls of a shooting occurring on campus in the area of the residential halls.

Beckner said when officers got to the scene, people were leaving the area in cars, and officers stopped several of the vehicles at gunpoint. He said that no victims were at the scene when officers arrived.

But while on the scene, officers received word that a person shot at the school had been dropped off at the Stillwater Medical Center, and another victim of the shooting had shown up at the Tulsa Medical Center.

Beckner said all three victims of the shooting were in stable condition on Sunday afternoon.

While interviewing potential witnesses, officers learned that a shooting had just occurred in the parking out outside the Carreker East residential hall.

Beckner said witnesses told officers that the shooting stemmed from a dispute that had erupted earlier at a party at the Payne County Expo Center in Stillwater and spilled over to an after-party on campus.

Asked about the dispute by reporters, Beckner said, “A disagreement between several people. That’s as far as I’ll say.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A suspect remained at large Sunday after allegedly crashing a vehicle into a child’s birthday party being held on the lawn of a Maryland home, injuring 11 people, including a toddler, according to police.

The incident occurred around 10:15 p.m. on Saturday in a residential neighborhood in Bladensburg, Maryland, a few miles northeast of the nation’s capital.

Of those injured, nine were children, ranging in age from 2 to 9, and two were adults, the Bladensburg Police Department said in a statement on Sunday morning.

“A vehicle that traveled from the area of Annapolis Road struck several individuals that were gathered in front of the residence for a child’s birthday party,” according to the police statement.

The Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department said in a social media post Saturday evening that of the 11 people taken to the hospital, nine were juveniles, including “1 infant.”

“1 juvenile female & 1 infant transported in critical condition,” according to the Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department post. The other victims have “serious but not life-threatening injuries,” according to the post.

Seven of the victims were taken to Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.; three were being treated at Capital Regional Medical Center near Landover, Maryland; and one was being cared for at Howard University Hospital, according to the Sunday police statement.

“The driver of the vehicle fled the scene on foot after the collision and the identity of the driver is still under investigation as well as the cause of the collision,” according to the police statement.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — At least four U.S. states are under a severe thunderstorm watch.

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center issued the watch for northwest Arkansas, southeast Kansas, southern Missouri and eastern Oklahoma until 6 p.m. CT. The storm is expected to bring hail and damaging winds.

Wind speeds could reach 75 miles per hour and hail might be as large as 1.5 inches in diameter, according to the forecast.

Most of these areas have seen growing drought conditions over the last two months, so one to two inches of rain expected across the area will be much needed and welcomed to these areas. However, some localized flash flooding will be possible.

The rain will reach from the Florida Panhandle up to the eastern Great Lakes Sunday by the afternoon.

While the severe threat is expected to be lower, some storms capable of producing strong winds and large hail are possible for the central Gulf Coast, as well as from northern North Carolina and eastern Kentucky up to western New York.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(HILO, Hawaii) — Mount Kilauea, a volcano that has been active in recent years, erupted again on Hawaii’s Big Island, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Sustained high fountains of lava flowed from Mount Kilauea’s two vents, according to the USGS.

This is the volcano’s 35th eruptive episode since Dec. 23, 2024, according to the USGS.

Fountains of lava rapidly grew to about 500 feet when the south vent began erupting at 8:50 p.m. local time on Friday, according to USGS.

The plume of gas above the fountains of lava extended to 16,0000 feet above ground level, according to USGS. 

Tephra, or volcanic fragments, have reportedly fallen in the area, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense.

“Fine ash and Pele’s hair [a type of volcanic glass] can be carried long distances and may impact a broad area of Kaʻu along the southern and southwestern parts of Mauna Loa,” according to USGS.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Some parts of the country are expected to face a colder and snowier season this year, but exact conditions will depend on which region you live in, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s winter season outlook.

The seasonal outlook from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, released Friday, predicts that the Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest will experience possible cooler-than-average temperatures, while much of the southern and eastern United States will face potentially milder temperatures than what is usually expected during the winter season.

NOAA’s winter outlook predicts whether parts of the country will be above, below or near average when it comes to temperatures and precipitation — from December through February.

The outlook does not forecast weather variations that happen over days, weeks or over one month, but rather what the overall average would likely look like.

December, in a particular region, could feature typical winter conditions. However, January and February could still end up being warmer than normal, swaying the three-month average to “above normal” for the entire season.

On the opposite spectrum, prolonged cold spells could happen anytime during the winter and tip the three-month average to “below normal” for the entire season. What the outlook means for a specific local area depends on the typical climate around it.

What does winter look like in terms of snow?
While NOAA’s winter outlook does not predict snowfall for the season, it offers clues for what this winter could look like in terms of snowfall.

The outlook forecasts above-average precipitation possible for the Pacific Northwest, the northern Rockies, the Great Plains and the Great Lakes from December to February, which could come in the form of snow if cold enough conditions line up perfectly.

With the season’s snowfall dependent on storms that happen on a day-by-day basis, some of these areas could see these wetter conditions in the form of winter precipitation.

The southern half of the country — from Southern California through much of Texas, the exterior Southeast and the coastal Mid-Atlantic — will possibly see drier conditions than what is average for winter.

What previous winters have taught us
According to the Environmental Protection Agency and NOAA, the contiguous United States has been getting warmer every season since the early 1900s.

The EPA and NOAA also found that winters specifically in the contiguous United States have increased by about 3 degrees Fahrenheit — the most of all four seasons.

NOAA reported that winter 2023-24 was the warmest winter on average for the country in 130 years, with more than half of all U.S. states seeing their top-10 warmest winters on record.

The last few winters have featured several snow outliers across the country, including record-breaking snow in the south in late January 2025 that turned deadly and a snow drought in the northeast that lasted more than 700 days and ended for some in 2024.

A Climate Central analysis found that for more than 2,000 locations across the country, nearly two-thirds of them are seeing less snow than they did in the early 1970s.

What’s shaping this winter outlook?
A big part of what forecasters look for when predicting the seasonal trends are climate patterns, specifically in the Pacific Ocean.

The most influential one is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The ENSO is a natural variation of warmer, neutral and cooler waters along the equatorial waters of the eastern Pacific. This natural variation is one of the most significant driving forces of large-scale weather patterns over the Pacific Ocean, and eventually over North America.

Forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center say the ENSO has been in the cooler pattern, or La Niña, since September and expect it to continue for much of the winter before transitioning into a neutral pattern as spring begins.

This would likely put the U.S. in a dominant weather pattern for much of the winter that keeps the southern half of the country warmer and drier, while the Pacific Northwest out to the Great Lakes will likely be cooler and wetter than average.

This would likely put the U.S. in a dominant weather pattern for much of the winter that keeps the southern half of the country warmer and drier, while the Pacific Northwest out to the Great Lakes will likely be cooler and wetter than average.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump said Friday evening he has signed a commutation releasing scandal-plagued former congressman George Santos from prison “immediately.”

Santos, 37, was less than three months into serving a seven-year sentence in federal prison after being convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The ex-lawmaker was released from prison just before 11 p.m. on Friday night and was picked up by his family, according to a statement from his lawyer, Joe Murray.

“Once they arrived, [Santos] walked right out and hopped into their car and drove home,” Murray said.

In a social media post, Trump said Santos, whom he called “somewhat of a ‘rogue,'” had the “Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”

“George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated. Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!” Trump said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, which successfully prosecuted Santos, had no comment.

According to the clemency grant, a photo of which was posted on X by U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, Trump granted Santos an “immediate commutation of his entire sentence to time served with no further fines, restitution, probation, supervised release, or other conditions.”

An attorney for Santos told ABC News while en route to the federal prison that they expect he will be released Friday night but are waiting for official word.

The attorney said that Martin and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche were extremely helpful in getting the commutation across the finish line, and noted that several members of Congress, including Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Tim Burchett, were very aggressive in campaigning for his release.

Santos pleaded guilty to a series of fraud crimes and was sentenced in April to 87 months in prison — the maximum he faced — and two years of supervised release.

The commutation comes days after the South Shore Press published a “passionate plea” from Santos to Trump, in which he expressed his support and asked that the president “allow me the opportunity to return to my family, my friends, and my community.”

“During my short tenure in Congress, I stood firmly behind your agenda — 100% of the time,” Santos wrote in the letter, published Monday. “I championed policies that strengthened our economy, defended our borders, and restored America’s standing on the world stage. I did it proudly, Sir, because I believed — and still believe — in the mission you set out to accomplish for the American people.”

Santos said in the letter that he was being held in “complete isolation” following an alleged death threat.

“Mr. President, I have nowhere else to turn. You have always been a man of second chances, a leader who believes in redemption and renewal. I am asking you now, from the depths of my heart, to extend that same belief to me,” he wrote.

Rep. Greene, who had recently called on Trump to commute Santos’ sentence, thanked the president for doing so on Friday, saying on X that the former congressman was “unfairly treated and put in solitary confinement, which is torture!!”

Santos pleaded guilty in August 2024, in which he admitted to claiming relatives had made contributions to his campaign when, in fact, they had not. Santos conceded he was trying to meet the fundraising threshold to qualify for financial help from the National Republican Congressional Committee.

He also stipulated that he committed other fraud, including charging donor credit cards without authorization and convincing donors to give money by falsely stating the money would be used for TV ads. He also stipulated he stole public money by applying for and receiving unemployment benefits during the pandemic to which he was not entitled.

As part of his plea deal, he agreed to pay nearly $600,000 in restitution and forfeiture.

Santos was expelled from Congress in December 2023, just under a year after assuming office to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

His expulsion from Congress followed accusations of ethics violations and other wrongdoing in a scathing report by the House Ethics Committee that claimed he was a fabulist and fraudster who used the prestige of political office to bilk tens of thousands of dollars out of other people.

Several New York House Republicans — who led the charge to expel George Santos from the House — criticized Trump’s commutation.

“George Santos didn’t merely lie — he stole millions, defrauded an election, and his crimes (for which he pled guilty) warrant more than a three-month sentence. He should devote the rest of his life to demonstrating remorse and making restitution to those he wronged,” New York GOP Rep. Nick LaLota, who represents a district on Long Island, said in a post on X.

New York GOP Rep. Andrew Garbarino, who is the current chair of the Homeland Security Committee and sat on the committee that investigated Santos, said in a statement that “less than three months” in prison is “not justice.”

Several House Democrats also condemned Trump’s move.

“Donald Trump has time to free serial fraudster George Santos from prison. But he can’t be bothered to address the Republican healthcare crisis crushing working class Americans. The extremists are insulting you every single day,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a post on X.

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