(NEW YORK) — United States intelligence and police officials are alarmed by two unrelated terror attacks in Europe last weekend and what those attacks say about the current threat environment in the U.S., according to a New York Police Department briefing obtained by ABC News.
“There is no initial indication that the two attacks are linked, however, both incidents underscore the current complex and elevated terrorism/targeted violence threat environment as well as the persistent challenge of low-tech tactics being used against vulnerable targets, including public gatherings and houses of worship,” the briefing said.
The attacks cited in the report include a deadly stabbing in Germany and an arson attack on a synagogue in France.
In Germany, a lone offender, armed with knife, indiscriminately stabbed civilians at a music festival on Aug. 23. Three people were killed in the attack and eight others were injured. ISIS claimed responsibility, and a 15-year-old boy was arrested, though it’s unclear exactly how closely related he was to the terror group.
In France, an individual carried out an arson on a vehicle near a synagogue on Aug. 24, followed by an attempted attack on the building itself.
The prosecutor’s office said two cars were set on fire on the grounds of the synagogue, one of which contained a gas bottle, causing an explosion. One police officer suffered injuries. A suspect was arrested after a firefight with law enforcement.
“While there are no early indications that these two attacks — which occurred in different countries, focused on separate targets, and leveraged distinct low-tech tactics — are related, they nevertheless underscore the complex and dynamic threat landscape which is comprised of malicious actors from across the ideological spectrum and exacerbated by tense global flashpoints, including the ongoing Israel-Hamas war,” the document said.
The NYPD said the attacks will likely resonate with malicious actors, “serving as tactical/targeting inspiration for follow-on acts of terrorism and targeted violence.”
ABC News’ Felix Franz, Nadine El-Bawab, Jon Haworth and Victoria Beaule contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Special counsel Jack Smith has charged former President Donald Trump in a superseding indictment in his federal election interference case.
“Today, a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a superseding indictment, ECF No. 226, charging the defendant with the same criminal offenses that were charged in the original indictment,” a Justice Department spokesperson said Tuesday.
“The superseding indictment, which was presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case, reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions,” the spokesperson said.
Trump last August pleaded not guilty to federal charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election to remain in power. Last month, in a blockbuster decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office, and sent the case back to the trial court to sort out which charges against him can stand.
The superseding indictment retains the four original charges against Trump from the special counsel’s original indictment — but is pared down to adjust to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
While the original indictment laid out five ways Trump allegedly obstructed the function of the federal government — having state election officials change electoral votes, arranging fraudulent slates of electors, using the Department of Justice to conduct “sham” investigations, enlisting the Vice President to obstruct the certification of the election, and exploiting the chaos of the Jan. 6 riot — the new indictment removes mention of his use of the Department of Justice, which was explicitly mentioned in the Supreme Court’s ruling as falling within his official duties.
While the original indictment mentions the Justice Department on over 30 occasions, the new indictment makes no mention of the DOJ. It also reframes the portion of the original indictment outlining that Trump allegedly knew his claims of election fraud were false.
The superseding indictment identifies Trump as “a candidate for President of the United States … who was also the incumbent President” and says that he “had no officials responsibilities related to any state’s certification of the election results.”
The new indictment is 36 pages, while the original indictment was 45.
It comes just days after Smith, in a filing, urged the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a federal judge’s surprise dismissal of Trump’s classified documents case.
(NEW YORK) — Extreme heat is gripping the Midwest before moving into the Northeast.
Chicago is in the center of an excessive heat warning that stretches north to Madison, Wisconsin, and south to Springfield, Illinois.
The heat index — what temperature it feels like with humidity — soared to a scorching 114 degrees in Chicago on Tuesday. Chicago’s actual temperature hit 98 degrees, breaking the city’s daily record of 97 degrees.
In Detroit, public school students were released three hours early on Tuesday due to the heat.
Next, the dangerous temperatures will move east.
On Wednesday, the heat index is forecast to climb to 104 degrees in Nashville, Tennessee; 100 degrees in Indianapolis; 105 in Philadelphia; and 103 in Washington, D.C.
D.C. may hit a new record-high actual temperature of 100 degrees.
By Thursday, the Northeast will cool down. But temperatures will stay in the 90s in the South as the week ends.
There are hundreds of deaths each year in the U.S. due to excessive heat, according to CDC WONDER, an online database, and scientists caution that the actual number of heat-related deaths is likely higher.
Last year marked the most heat-related deaths in the U.S. on record, according to JAMA, a peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Medical Association.
Click here for tips on how to stay safe in the heat.
(WASHINGTON) — Special counsel Jack Smith has charged former President Donald Trump in a superseding indictment in his federal election subversion case.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(BIG RAPIDS, Mich.) — Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance stepped on stage in Big Rapids, Michigan, on Tuesday and spoke behind a bulletproof glass during his remarks outside — the first time he’s done so at his own campaign event.
It’s similar to the new safety measures in place for former President Donald Trump’s outdoor rallies following his assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
Vance did have bulletproof glass in Asheboro, North Carolina, last week, but that was a joint event with the former president.
Speaking on the economy and jobs at a farm in Michigan, Vance began speaking about the Labor Department overstating its monthly job growth and then accused the Biden-Harris administration of inflating its job numbers to cover up the economy’s problems.
“Now, last week, the biggest heist in American history happened right under Kamala Harris’ nose,” Vance claimed. “Somebody stole 818,000 jobs that she and Tim Walz had been bragging about. Did y’all see that? Where did they go?”
He accused the administration of “cooking the books to hide how bad the economy really is under Kamala Harris.”
When discussing Harris’ record, Vance claimed that Harris doesn’t know what she believes.
“In some ways, I feel bad for Kamala Harris,” he said. “… But I’m not sure that this is a woman who knows what she actually believes.”
Harris, who laid out her economic agenda earlier this month, is still working to define her stances on several key voter issues. The vice president has already distanced herself from some of her former positions laid out in her 2020 presidential bid.
Vance referred back to Harris’ remarks at the Democratic National Convention last week, where she said there would be “consequences” putting Trump back into the Oval Office, asking “is she the vice president or the vice principal?”
Later, speaking to reporters, Vance said those Harris comments don’t resonate with Americans.
“I don’t think that’s persuasive to most Americans and warning them about voting for the wrong person is just, I think it’s ridiculous,” Vance said.
(WASHINGTON) — Once dubbed the longest general election ever, the 2024 presidential race has been flipped on its head.
A rapid ticket shuffle in the Democratic Party means what is typically a year of campaigning will be boiled down to just 10 weeks as newly-nominated Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump hit the trail after their party conventions.
Harris will be looking to maintain her momentum and Trump, in turn, will try to blunt any further progress for Democrats after President Joe Biden’s decision to step aside resulted in a significant energy shift.
“What the Harris campaign did was bring polling back to normal, and normal in a polarized age means dead heat races nationally,” Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster, told ABC News. “Now we have what’s clearly a tied race going forward.”
Next up as the race kicks into high gear, Ayres said, will be a laser-focus on the handful of swing states that will determine the electoral college winner — an area where Trump’s generally had the upper hand this cycle.
Harris this week is campaigning with her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, in Georgia for the first time. Trump is ratcheting up his appearances with stops in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
The shorter campaign generally favors Harris, strategists on both sides of the aisle said, but still presents challenges for both candidates.
“The compressed calendar has reduced the surface area of attack for the Trump campaign,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist who worked on Mitt Romney’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. “Having to navigate a 100-day window of scrutiny is preferable to having to endure a year’s worth of attacks from your opponents.”
It also makes it likelier Harris can keep the momentum last until Americans begin casting their ballots, which in some places starts as early as late September.
“They’re peaking at the right time,” Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright said of the Harris-Walz ticket. “And that’s what you want to do in politics because the worst thing you can do — and Trump may be suffering from this — is peak too soon.”
Still, it means less time for Harris to deliver her message to voters, who may have questions about where she stands on certain policies given her limited agenda rollout since her late entry as the nominee. Trump, meanwhile, has name recognition and legislative positions stretching back nine years.
“It’s harder for the Harris campaign to get her policies out in a short campaign,” said Douglas Herman, who led Barack Obama’s mail strategy in 2008 and 2012. “It’s harder to fill in all of the details in a short campaign.”
“The major objective for the Harris campaign is to continue to put meat on the bones for the voters,” Herman added.
Plus, if any serious blunders are made, there is less time for Harris to bounce back.
Her next big test will be her promised interview since becoming the nominee. No date has been set, though Harris said she would get her team to schedule an interview before the end of the month.
“The real risk of Harris avoiding the media for an extended period of time is first, it can’t go on forever,” said Madden. “And second, it just builds up anticipation for that first interview or press conference and turns it into a major event. That just creates added pressure on the performance.”
Then next month, Harris and Trump will meet for their first debate hosted by ABC News. The showdown, set for Sept. 10., will be held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
There will also undoubtedly be unknown external factors that will impact the campaigns over the next 70 days.
“This race is so close now that I can’t help but believe it’s going to be decided by events that haven’t happened yet,” said Ayres. “When we think back on what’s happened over the last six weeks, it’s a fool’s errand to try to predict what might happen over the next six or 10 weeks.”
(ATLANTA) — Two workers were killed and one was seriously injured in an accident at Delta Air Lines’ Atlanta Technical Operations Maintenance facility at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, according to Delta TechOps.
Details surrounding Tuesday morning’s accident were not clear, but Delta TechOps said the incident took place at its wheel and brake shop.
Delta said the accident involved a tire and components within the tire. The wheel was not attached to an airplane or near an airplane at the time of the accident, according to Delta.
“We are extending our full support to their families at this difficult time and conducting an investigation to determine what happened,” John Laughter, executive vice president, chief of operations and president of Delta TechOps, said in a statement. “This news is heartbreaking for all of us. [Employee assistance program] resources will be onsite at the [Atlanta Technical Operations Maintenance facility] to support our teams as long as needed.”
The incident had no impact on airport operations, according to airport officials.
Delta said it’s “working with local authorities and conducting a full investigation to determine what happened.”
The airline added it’s “heartbroken” and “grateful for the quick action of first responders and medical teams on site.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said, “I offer my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased Delta employees. My thoughts are also with those who were injured, and I hope for their swift and full recovery.”
Police, fire and airport teams are at the scene, the mayor said.
Atlanta airport officials also offered their condolences.
ABC News’ Ayesha Ali and Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.
(PARK CITY, Utah.) — A Utah judge ruled Tuesday that the case of Kouri Richins, the Utah mother accused of murdering her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl, will go to trial.
The 34-year-old realtor and mother of three, who wrote and self-published a children’s book on grieving following her husband’s death, was arrested last year following a lengthy investigation. She was charged with aggravated murder and drug charges in connection with the 2022 death of her husband, Eric Richins.
Eric Richins, 39, was found dead in the couple’s bedroom on March 4, 2022. An autopsy determined he died from fentanyl intoxication, and the level of fentanyl in his blood was approximately five times the lethal dosage, according to the charging document. The medical examiner determined the fentanyl was “illicit fentanyl,” not medical grade, according to the charging document.
Following a two-day preliminary hearing, Judge Richard Mrazik said Tuesday that the prosecution had shown probable cause for the charges of aggravated murder and distribution of a controlled substance.
He said the prosecution had also shown probable cause that she attempted aggravated murder on Feb. 14, 2022, after the state claimed she gave him a sandwich laced with fentanyl — a first, failed attempt to kill him, prosecutors allege.
Mrazik further said the prosecutors submitted sufficient evidence to support a reasonable belief that Kouri Richins had fraudulently secured a life insurance policy on her husband’s death in January 2022 and “had a significant financial incentive to secure his death because she would do better under the premarital agreement if he were dead and her businesses were highly leveraged,” Mrazik said.
A not guilty plea to all charges was entered on her behalf in court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors have alleged Kouri Richins was having an affair and was deeply in debt when she procured illicit fentanyl and attempted to kill her husband a month before he died by poisoning an egg sandwich on Valentine’s Day. He died by a lethal dose of fentanyl on the night of March 3, 2022, according to the probable cause statement in the charging document.
Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth claimed during probable cause arguments in court on Tuesday that Kouri Richins administered the fatal dose of fentanyl in a “lemon shot” so that Eric Richins would “throw it back all at once.”
“She says that in her journal article,” he said. “She learns that it takes a truckload of fentanyl to kill him. She learns that one bite in the sandwich isn’t enough. It has to be administered at once, and it has to be a lot. And that’s why Eric Richins’ toxicology shows five times the lethal amount in his blood and 20,000 nanograms per millimeter remaining in his gastro fluid.”
Her defense, meanwhile, charged there was no evidence she attempted to poison her husband in either instance.
“You have a claim that Mr. Richins was poisoned on [Feb. 14, 2022]. There is no medical evidence. There is no there is no connection, there is no causation, there is nothing but pure speculation that because they believe she tried to kill him and successfully killed him in March, that that must mean she tried it before,” defense attorney Kathy Nester said.
Kouri Richins was also charged with multiple counts of forgery, insurance fraud and mortgage fraud. Prosecutors allege she forged her husband’s signature on an insurance application weeks before he died. The insurance policy, which became effective 10 days before the alleged Valentine’s Day poisoning, had a death benefit of $100,000, according to the charging document.
During the two-day preliminary hearing, prosecutors presented three witnesses, including a detective on the case who spoke to the alleged drug dealer. A cell mapping expert also testified Kouri Richins texted about 30 times in since-deleted messages with an alleged drug dealer leading up to Valentine’s Day 2022. A financial fraud expert also testified about the defendant’s “increasing” debt load from her home-flipping business.
The defense, meanwhile, seized on the fact that detectives never looked at or interviewed other possible suspects in Eric Richins’ death, that there were no pills found in the family’s home and statements detectives made to the alleged drug dealer, a convicted felon, about working with the prosecutor’s office to reduce charges in exchange for information on Eric Richins’ death.
The defense also claimed the cell mapping expert’s data was unreliable.
Bloodworth said there’s evidence Kouri Richins texted her paramour on Feb. 15, 2022, the day after the alleged Valentine’s Day incident, that “if he could just go away … life would be so perfect.”
“And then two weeks later, she assured her paramour, life is going to be different. I promise, hang in there until Friday,” Bloodworth said. “On Friday, Eric Richards is dead.”
Nester argued the text from Feb. 15, 2022, was not proof of murder.
“I mean, this was not a perfect couple. They didn’t have the perfect relationship. But to take a context, one single text, and to say that that gives you a reasonable belief that she tried to kill him the day before, I don’t see the connection at all,” Nester said.
Kouri Richins waived her right to testify, and the defense did not call any witnesses.
Kouri Richins has remained in jail since her arrest in May 2023. She proclaimed her innocence in an audio recording released in May.
“The world has yet to hear who I really am, what I’ve really done or didn’t do,” Kouri Richins insisted in the audio, provided to ABC News through a trusted confidant. “What I really didn’t do is murder my husband.”
Prior to the preliminary hearing, Kouri Richins was appointed new attorneys by the court after her defense filed a motion in May to withdraw from the case due to an “irreconcilable and nonwaivable situation.”
Her defense at the time had also filed a motion asking the court to disqualify prosecutors for what they alleged was gross misconduct, including the claim the state recorded and listened to privileged calls between Kouri Richins and her attorney.
Prosecutors in a statement called the motion “materially inaccurate” and charged it was “filed in bad faith.”
The judge denied the motion to remove the prosecution earlier this month.
A month prior to her arrest in May 2023, the mom of three appeared on a “Good Things Utah” segment on Salt Lake City ABC affiliate KTVX to promote her book. In the segment, Kouri Richins said her husband of nine years died “unexpectedly” and that his death “completely took us all by shock.”
(NEW YORK) — A New Hampshire resident died after being infected with a rare mosquito-borne disease, health officials said Tuesday.
The resident, an adult from Hempstead — near the southeastern border with Massachusetts — had tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV). The patient was hospitalized due to severe central nervous system disease and died of their illness, according to an update from the state’s Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS).
This is the first reported human case of EEEV in New Hampshire in a decade after three people contracted the disease in 2014, two of whom died, DHHS said.
It’s unclear when the resident, who recently passed away, first became infected with EEEV. No other details were available including name, age or sex.
In addition to the person infected with EEEV, the virus has also been found in one horse and seven mosquito batches in New Hampshire so far this summer, according to the health department.
Neighboring states have been experiencing similar threats. In Massachusetts, 10 communities were designated as being under high or critical risk of the virus, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. Many of the areas began implementing targeted mosquito spraying to protect residents.
“In New Hampshire, mosquitos transmit infections including Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus, West Nile Virus, and Jamestown Canyon Virus,” Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire’s state epidemiologist, said in a statement.
“We believe there is an elevated risk for EEEV infections this year in New England given the positive mosquito samples identified. The risk will continue into the fall until there is a hard frost that kills the mosquitos. Everybody should take steps to prevent mosquito bites when they are outdoors,” the statement continued.
EEEV is a rare but serious disease that spreads by bites from infected mosquitoes. It does not spread via touching or droplets from coughing or sneezing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Most people who are infected either show mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. However, severe cases usually begin with fever, headache, chills and vomiting before progressing to encephalitis, which is swelling of the brain, or meningitis, which is swelling of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.
Many survivors have ongoing neurologic problems including convulsions, paralysis and intellectual disability, and about 30% of encephalitis cases from this virus result in death.
There are no human vaccines and no treatments specifically for EEEV. The CDC says rest, fluids and over-the-counter pain medications may help relieve some symptoms.
As of Tuesday, four cases have been reported aside from the New Hampshire case — with one case each in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin, according to the CDC.
The New Hampshire DHHS said residents can protect themselves by using effective mosquito repellents, wearing long-sleeve shirts and long pants when outside and avoiding outdoor activities when mosquitoes are the most active, including early in the morning and during evening hours.
Additionally, residents are advised to remove standing water from around their homes, which attracts mosquitoes, and to make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens.
