(NEW YORK) — Over 1,000 flights have been canceled nationwide Friday as major winter storms prepare to unleash blizzard conditions, flooding rain and tornadoes.
The Midwest and the Great Lakes are in the crosshairs Friday morning.
Blizzard warnings are in effect for six states from Nebraska to Wisconsin, including the major cities of Des Moines, Iowa, and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Strong winds are expected to accompany the snow, creating whiteout conditions, Snowfall could range from 6 to 12 inches.
In Illinois, roads are already covered with snow and visibility is poor.
The National Weather Service in Chicago asked drivers to consider postponing their travel Friday morning.
A ground stop was issued at Chicago O’Hare International Airport Friday morning due to snow and ice.
Chicago O’Hare has canceled more than 650 flights so far.
In the South, the same storm system is producing severe weather such as damaging winds, tornadoes and large hail from Texas to the Carolinas.
On Friday, severe weather is forecast from Mississippi to North Carolina with the bull’s-eye for damaging winds in northern Mississippi, from Jackson to Tupelo.
Tornadoes are possible in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
The storm will move into the Northeast on Friday night, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. Flood watches have been issued from North Carolina to Massachusetts, where local rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches is possible within a short period of time.
Rivers remain swollen in the Northeast from recent rainfall, so the incoming downpour will only prolong flooding issues. New Jersey’s Passaic River reached its crest on Thursday night in the major flood stage. Due to the additional rainfall, the river is forecast to stay in the major flood stage over the weekend and possibly into early next week.
A potentially record-breaking cold blast is moving in behind this storm. Up to 100 record-low temperatures are forecast from the Pacific Northwest to the Gulf Coast this weekend and into next week. The National Weather Service has already issued wind chill alerts for 17 states from Washington to Texas.
In Montana, wind chills — what temperature it feels like — could reach 50s and 60s below zero, during which frostbite could occur in less than five minutes.
Kansas City, Missouri, and Chicago could see temperatures below zero on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
The coldest air will reach the Gulf Coast from Texas to Louisiana by Sunday into Monday and will last into Tuesday.
Another storm system is expected to sweep across the country this weekend into early next week with snow and ice possible for the South, from Texas to Tennessee.
This storm is forecast to move into the West on Saturday, bringing heavy snow to the Cascades and northern Sierra mountain ranges, before reaching the Rockies on Sunday, where snowfall amounts could get up to 2 feet.
By Sunday night into Monday, the storm will move into the Deep South with freezing rain and a wintry mix possible for parts of Texas, from Dallas to San Antonio and just north of Houston.
The storm will move into the rest of the South on Monday afternoon and evening with snow and ice possible in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Aviation Administration announced it will take the significant step of increasing its oversight over Boeing and begin an immediate audit of Boeing’s production and manufacturing in the wake of the door plug blowing out of an Alaska Airlines flight last week.
The audit will “evaluate Boeing’s compliance with its approved quality procedures,” the agency said Friday.
The FAA said it will also assess the safety risks around delegated authority and quality oversight — specifically the Organization Designation Authorization program. Under ODA, certain aircraft certification process is delegated to manufacturers like Boeing.
The door plug for the fuselage of a Boeing 737 Max 9 fell off a few minutes after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland International Airport on Jan. 5, depressurizing the cabin and exposing passengers to open air thousands of feet above ground. No one was seriously injured and the plane landed safely.
FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said the agency is “exploring” the use of an independent third party to oversee Boeing’s inspections and quality system.
“It is time to re-examine the delegation of authority and assess any associated safety risks,” Whitaker said. “The grounding of the 737-9 and the multiple production-related issues identified in recent years require us to look at every option to reduce risk.”
The FAA outlined three points of increase oversight Friday: an audit involving the Boeing 737 Max 9 production line and its suppliers; increased monitoring of Boeing 737 Max in-service events; and an assessment of safety risks around “delegated authority and quality oversight and examination of options to move these functions under independent, third-party entities.”
The announcement came one day after the FAA said it would investigate Boeing after the door plug incident.
Boeing said in a statement Thursday about the investigation, “We will cooperate fully and transparently with the FAA and the NTSB on their investigations.”
ABC News has reached out to Boeing and Spirit Aerosystems, Boeing’s parts supplier, for comment on the increased oversight announced Friday.
In this Aug. 24, 2023, file photo, law enforcement officials patrol the edge of Eagle Pass’ Shelby Park, in Eagle Pass, Texas. — Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
(EAGLE PASS, Texas) — The state of Texas has seized control of a nearly 50-acre park on the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, against the city’s desires, Mayor Rolando Salinas said.
In a video posted on Facebook by the mayor on Wednesday night, Salinas said officials from the Texas Department of Public Safety informed him that the state is taking “full control” of Shelby Park to prevent migrants from illegally crossing into Texas from Mexico.
“That is not a decision that we agreed to. This is not something that we wanted. This is not something that we asked for as a city, I want to make that clear,” Mayor Salinas said in the video.
Images shot by the mayor showed the entrance to the park blocked off by fencing and military vehicles.
Shelby Park has been at the epicenter of Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to deter unlawful crossings. It’s a known staging area for the Texas National Guard and Texas DPS deployed to the border as part of Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.
Salinas said he was informed the state is taking control of the park “indefinitely” under the governor’s border disaster declaration that he renewed in December.
During a conference on Thursday, Salinas said he believed U.S. Border Patrol Agents were being kept from entering the area.
“I’m sure that’s going to be an issue that will be litigated between the federal government and the state governments,” he said.
ABC News has not confirmed those claims.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Gov. Abbott’s office did not respond when asked by ABC News if CBP agents would be blocked from entering the park.
Texas DPS referred ABC News’ questions to the Texas Military Department, which did not respond to requests.
The move follows a visit to the city by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday, where he met with CBP agents.
Abbott’s office released a statement, pushing blame on President Joe Biden, “Texas is holding the line at our southern border with miles of additional razor wire and anti-climb barriers to deter and repel the record-high levels of illegal immigration invited by President Biden’s reckless open border policies. Instead of enforcing federal immigration laws, the Biden Administration allows unfettered access for Mexican cartels to smuggle people into our country,” spokesperson Renae Eze said.
“Texas will continue to deploy Texas National Guard soldiers, DPS troopers, and more barriers, utilizing every tool and strategy to respond to President Biden’s ongoing border crisis.”
Salinas says city officials are determining if they have legal options to regain control of the park.
Miguel Cardona speaks after President-Elect Joe Biden announced his nomination for Education Secretary at the Queen theatre on December 23, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Cardona, the Connecticut Education Commissioner, will face the urgent task of planning to reopen schools safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Biden Administration is rolling out another pathway to debt relief for certain student loan borrowers next month.
The program targets people who took out smaller loan balances initially and have been paying their loans down for over a decade, unable to get out from under the debt. It’s a component of the SAVE Plan, a new income-driven repayment plan rolled out by the Biden administration last year.
Specifically, people will qualify if they took out less than $12,000 as their initial student loan balance and have been paying it down for 10 years. They also have to be enrolled in SAVE.
The shortened pathway to debt relief is largely intended to benefit people who went to community college or didn’t end up graduating from college but still incurred debt, officials said, which has historically been the group at highest risk for defaulting on their loans.
“If you’re paying it for 10 years, it’s enough,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in an interview on “Start Here,” ABC News’ daily podcast. “They’ve done their part and it’s time to release that debt so they can move on and continue to grow in their finances,” he said of borrowers.
“This is one strategy among many that is intended to open the doors to higher education, make it more affordable so that more folks can access it,” Cardona said to “Start Here” host Brad Mielke.
More than three in five borrowers with defaulted loans originally borrowed less than $12,000, Department of Education Under Secretary James Kvaal said.
Administration officials wouldn’t provide specifics on how many people will qualify for this new pathway to debt relief – but about 6.9 million people have enrolled in SAVE since it opened up last year, or about one-third of borrowers currently in repayment on their student loans, Kvaal said.
Going forward, the Department of Education estimates that the SAVE Plan will make 85% of future community college borrowers debt-free within 10 years.
But as with the broad headaches of the student loan payment restart this fall, the rollout of the SAVE Plan has not been without its hiccups. People attempting to enroll in SAVE during its early fall months faced long processing times for their applications, with around 450,000 applications pending for longer than 30 days, according to a January report from the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.
The long processing times left some borrowers unable to enroll in a more affordable plan in time for the end of the three-year pause on student loan payments, which lifted this past fall — though borrowers have a yearlong grace period before they’ll be significantly penalized for missed payments.
On Thursday, senior administration officials said the majority of pending applications, which CFPB estimated were around 1.25 million total in October, had been processed, and that much of the backlog was alleviated — though officials wouldn’t quantify specifically how many were still pending.
The administration announced the SAVE Plan, including the shortened path to debt relief, last year, but said that particular component wouldn’t be ready until July. On Friday, the Biden administration celebrated the February rollout as an early victory.
“I am proud that my Administration is implementing one of the most impactful provisions of the SAVE plan nearly six months ahead of schedule,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “This action will particularly help community college borrowers, low-income borrowers, and those struggling to repay their loans.”
The department will start automatically discharging debts next month for people who qualify and are already enrolled in SAVE, without any effort needed from borrowers. The administration will also begin a campaign to get more people enrolled in SAVE, particularly people who took out low initial balances.
Debt relief is available to people who took out more than $12,000, too. For every $1,000 more that borrowers take out, one year is added to their repayment plan — so people who took out $14,000 could see their debt wiped clear after paying for 12 years.
The administration continues to market the SAVE Plan as the most affordable option for the majority of borrowers, and particularly people with high balances but low incomes.
The key benefits are that the plan offers a shorter path to debt relief than other income-driven repayment options, which require people to pay a portion of their income toward their loans for 20-25 years before their debt is relieved. The SAVE Plan also subsidizes payments to prevent runaway interest.
Meanwhile, for people who make less than minimum wage, their bills are set at $0. According to the Department of Education, 3.9 million of the nearly 7 million enrolled in SAVE so far – more than half of all enrollees – have payments of $0.
“SAVE is the first real student loan safety net in this country. It’s long overdue,” Cardona said.
And 75% of SAVE enrollees so far are Pell Grant recipients, which are grants given to low-income college students, the department said.
In July, another component of the plan will kick in, slashing the percentage of peoples’ income that they need to put toward their loan payments each month, from 10% down to 5% — a move that will further lower monthly bills.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. military has unleashed large-scale retaliatory airstrikes against multiple Houthi targets in Yemen following months of attacks by the Iranian-backed militants on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, a U.S. official said Thursday.
The official said that the strikes involved a mix of fighter jets and Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from Navy surface ships and a U.S. Navy submarine, according to two U.S. officials.
One of the officials identified the submarine as the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Florida, which was seen entering the Red Sea via the Suez Canal on Nov. 5, a move publicized by U.S. Central Command.
Another U.S. official confirmed that the United Kingdom also was using its military assets to launch airstrikes against Houthi targets.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who had been under pressure to respond, but hoping to avoid risking wider Middle East conflict, issued a statement Thursday calling the move a “defensive action” after extensive warnings.
“Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces — together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands — successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways,” Biden said. “These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea — including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history. These attacks have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation.”
Biden monitored developments on the strikes from the West Wing of the White House on Thursday night and was briefed by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, according to an administration official.
At least five people were killed and six others were wounded in the U.S.-U.K. airstrikes, according to Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree.
“The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for its criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and it will not go unanswered and unpunished,” Saree said in a statement Friday.
Saree described 73 strikes hitting five regions of Yemen under Houthi control. He did not elaborate on what the strikes targeted.
Saree also said the Houthis will continue to target Israeli ships and those heading toward Israel’s ports passing through the Red Sea.
“This brutal aggression will not dissuade Yemen from its position of support and support for the oppression of the Palestinian people,” he added.
The U.S.-led retaliatory airstrikes came after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly used drones and missiles to target commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in recent weeks, supposedly in support of Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas in its war with Israel.
On Thursday, the Pentagon disclosed that a Houthi missile had landed harmlessly in the Gulf of Aden after targeting a commercial vessel marking the 27th such attack since Nov. 19.
Last week, the U.S. and other nations released a joint statement warning that “the Houthis will bear the responsibility for the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, or the free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.”
But on Tuesday the Houthis ignored the warning by launching their biggest barrage yet as American and British destroyers, along with U.S. Navy jets, shot down 21 drones and missiles aimed at dozens of ships in the Red Sea.
Since then, senior U.S. officials had issued new warnings against the Houthis to stop with the attacks.
“The Houthis need to stop these attacks,” John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, told White House reporters on Thursday. “They will bear the consequences for any failure to do so.”
However, Kirby said the U.S. was “not going to telegraph our punches one way or another here.”
“Today’s strikes targeted the Houthis’ unmanned aerial vehicle, uncrewed surface vessel, land-attack cruise missile, and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement Thursday night, issued from the hospital where he remains after complications from cancer treatment. “The United States maintains its right to self-defense and, if necessary, we will take follow-on actions to protect U.S. forces,” he said.
While Thursday’s airstrikes were intended to lessen the Houthis’ capability to go after ships in the Red Sea, the president will “not hesitate to direct further measures” if they continue, senior administration and senior military officials told reporters on a call Thursday night.
“This was a significant action and conducted with every objective and every expectation that will degrade in a significant way the Houthis’ capability to launch exactly the sorts of attacks that they have conducted over the period of recent weeks,” a senior administration official said.
“As to whether this will merely degrade or also deter — I guess I can’t do better than what the president has said, which is that he will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people in the free flow of international commerce as necessary,” the official said.
“So this may well not be the last word on the topic. And when we have more to say and more to do, you will hear from us.”
The senior officials declined to give specific details on how the large-scale attacks “degraded” the Houthis’ capabilities but said generally they intended to disrupt the Houthis’ missile, radar and UAV abilities.
“The capabilities that are essential to the Houthis campaign against commercial shipping in international waters,” the senior administration official said.
Since the attack, the U.S. has not seen any “direct retaliatory action” from the Houthis, the senior military official said.
Earlier Thursday in London, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak convened a meeting of his top national security officials and members of Parliament were briefed leading to speculation that retaliatory strikes in Yemen were imminent.
The United Kingdom forms part of the 20 countries that make up the U.S.-led Operation Prosperity Guardian established in late December to defend commercial vessels from Houthi attacks as they transited the Red Sea.
Sunak also released a statement on Thursday’s airstrikes.
“Despite the repeated warnings from the international community, the Houthis have continued to carry out attacks in the Red Sea, including against UK and US warships just this week,” Sunak said. “This cannot stand. The United Kingdom will always stand up for freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade. We have therefore taken limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defence.”
The shipping route through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait into the Red Sea is a vital waterway through which 15% of the world’s commerce transits.
The attacks had led some of the world’s largest shipping companies to have their ships avoid the waterway and take the longer routes around Africa.
The Houthis have controlled parts of Yemen since 2014 and have demonstrated a willingness to expand their internal conflict beyond the country’s borders.
In October 2016, Houthi radar sites were targeted by U.S. airstrikes following anti-ship missile attacks targeting a U.S. Navy destroyer sailing in international waters.
Thursday’s strikes hit multiple targets, including in Yemen’s capital of San’a.
“Our country was subjected to a massive aggressive attack by American and British ships, submarines, and warplanes, and America and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression,” Houthi Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein al-Ezzi posted on X Thursday night.
ABC News’ Nasser Atta, Ahmed Baider and Justin Gomez contributed to this report.
(JACKSON, Miss.) — Residents of Jackson and Flowood, Mississippi, have been advised to boil their water after routine water samples tested positive for E. coli, the state’s health department said Thursday.
“Health officials strongly recommend that all water be boiled vigorously for one minute before it is consumed,” the Mississippi State Department of Health said in boil water alerts issued for both cities. “This precaution will last at least two full days and water system officials will be immediately notified when the boil water alert is lifted.”
The alerts impact nearly 190,000 customers in Jackson, the state capital, and nearly 28,000 customers in the nearby city of Flowood, the state health department said.
The presence of the bacteria could indicate the water may be contaminated with “human or animal wastes,” which “generally results from a problem with the treatment process or pipes which distribute the water,” the health department said.
The state health department said its Public Health Laboratory reviewed lab protocols and the results were not false positives.
The lab is expediting the tests of new samples from both cities. After two consecutive days of clear testing, the boil water alerts will be lifted, health officials said.
“The safety and protection of the public is the top priority of the Mississippi State Department of Health,” the state health department said in a news release. “The MSDH looks forward to its continued partnership with both the City of Jackson and City of Flowood to keep the water systems safe for all their citizens.”
State health officials advise residents of both cities to not drink tap water or drink from water fountains in parks, public or private buildings that receive water from the affected systems while the boil water advisories are in place. They should not use ice unless it’s been made with boiled water.
Impacted residents should wash their dishes, fruits and vegetables with boiled water and brush their teeth with boiled or bottled water.
“Bringing water to a rolling boil for one minute will inactivate all major types of harmful bacteria,” the health department said.
Symptoms of an E. coli infection include severe stomach cramps, watery or bloody diarrhea and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some infections are very mild, but others are severe or even life-threatening, according to the CDC.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to the press before closing arguments at his civil fraud trial at State Supreme Court. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Americans are divided on how the U.S. Supreme Court should handle former President Donald Trump’s ballot access, but a majority in a new ABC News/Ipsos poll say they would support the court either barring Trump from presidential ballots nationally or letting states take that step individually.
The national poll finds a close division on state-level rulings barring Trump from the ballot in Colorado and Maine, 49-46%, support-oppose. On next steps, 56% are willing to see him disqualified in all or some states, including 30% who say the high court should bar him in all states and 26% who say it should let each state decide.
Thirty-nine percent back a third option, saying the court should keep Trump on the ballot in all states.
The survey, produced by Langer Research Associates with fieldwork by Ipsos Public Affairs, also finds substantial support for the leveling of criminal charges against Trump, 56-39%. That contrasts with views on the impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden initiated last month by House Republicans, a step supported by 44% and opposed by 51%.
A conviction, were it to happen, looks unlikely to shake Trump’s base: Among people with a favorable opinion of him, just 10% say a conviction would lower their opinion of Trump, while 12% say it would raise it.
At the same time, among all adults, 21% say a conviction would lower their opinion of the former president, including 15% of Republicans and 23% of independents (as well as 28% of Democrats). Independents often, albeit not always, are swing voters in presidential elections.
Strength of sentiment in the Trump and Biden cases is notable. Forty-one percent of Americans strongly support criminal charges against Trump, while many fewer, 24%, strongly oppose them. In Biden’s case, intensity is more closely distributed: 26% strongly support the impeachment inquiry, while 32% strongly oppose it.
Strength of sentiment doesn’t differentiate views of the Colorado and Maine rulings on Trump’s ballot access. In this case, 35% are strongly in support, while essentially as many, 34%, are strongly opposed.
SCOTUS
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear ballot access arguments on Feb. 8. The Colorado Supreme Court and Maine’s secretary of state have ruled that Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol makes him ineligible for the presidency under the 14th Amendment.
The case marks a potential turn for the court after its unpopular June 2022 ruling eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion. Last spring, just 39% of Americans thought the court’s justices, in general, base their rulings on the law; 51% instead said they rule based on their personal political views. Today, more think the justices will rule on the basis of the law in the Trump ballot access case, 53%, while fewer, albeit still 43%, think they’ll rule based on their political views.
Groups
Partisanship weighs heavily in these results. The Biden impeachment inquiry is supported by 81% of Republicans vs. 14% of Democrats; the criminal charges against Trump, by 89% of Democrats vs. 21% of Republicans. The main difference is independents: While 43% support the Biden inquiry, many more, 61%, support the Trump charges.
Ideological preferences differentiate as well, with three-quarters of conservatives supporting the Biden inquiry while 92% of liberals back the Trump charges. Here the main difference in overall outcomes is moderates — 39% support the Biden inquiry, compared with 65% who support the Trump charges.
There’s a difference by race/ethnicity as well. Roughly equal numbers of white Americans, about half in each case, support both the Biden inquiry and the Trump charges. The Biden inquiry is supported by 44% of Hispanic people, dropping to 24% of Black people. The Trump charges, by contrast, are supported by more than six in 10 Black and Hispanic people alike.
These also differentiate views on Supreme Court action. For example, 58% of Democrats say the court should order Trump removed in all states; 77% of Republicans say it should order him to be maintained on all ballots. Here, independents are more apt to say he should remain (36%) than be removed (27%). But an additional 32% of independents favor letting each state decide.
At the same time, the shift in views on the court’s adherence to the law crosses party lines. Compared with general views last May, the view that the justices in this particular case will base their ruling on the law is 10 percentage points higher among Democrats, 15 points higher among independents and 18 points higher among Republicans.
Methodology
This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted online via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel® Jan. 4-8, 2024, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 2,228 adults. Partisan divisions are 25-25-41%, Democrats-Republicans-independents. Results have a margin of sampling error of 2.5 percentage points, including the design effect. Sampling error is not the only source of differences in polls.
The survey was produced by Langer Research Associates, with sampling and data collection by Ipsos Public Affairs. See details on ABC News survey methodology here.
(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump walked into the courtroom of his $370 million civil fraud trial Thursday and did exactly what he hoped to do: break all the rules established by the judge in order to deliver a brief closing statement.
Then he walked out scot-free.
The former president’s surprise statement provided a dramatic end to the months-long trial, which threatens to take away the namesake buildings, businesses, and reputation that launched Trump into professional and political stardom. Over an 11-week trial, the New York attorney general alleged that Trump made hundreds of millions of dollars by overstating his assets on his statements of financial condition to get more favorable loan terms.
Judge Arthur Engoron initially issued a non-negotiable directive should Trump elect to speak during closing statements: He could not make political statements, and he could not impugn those involved in the trial, according to emails posted to the court docket Wednesday.
When Trump’s attorneys pushed back against those requirements Wednesday afternoon and refused to agree with the rules, Engoron forbade Trump from speaking.
And yet, when Trump attorney Christopher Kise asked the judge midway through closings Thursday if he would reconsider his decision — and the judge asked Trump if he would stay within the bounds of his requirements — Trump launched right into this statement.
“Well I think, your honor, this case goes outside the facts,” Trump said, ignoring the judge’s edict as he barreled ahead. “This is a political witch hunt that should be set aside.”
“I’m an innocent man. I’ve been persecuted by someone running for office,” Trump said calmly while sitting with his arms clasped at his counsel table. “This statute is vicious. It doesn’t give me a jury. It takes away my rights.”
Trump’s five-minute statement put an exclamation point on a seesaw day of pronouncements and retorts. Here are three main takeaways from the two sides’ closing arguments.
Trump admitted a mistake
In a rare move, amid a torrent of accusations and personal attacks, Trump admitted that his company did make a mistake in his personal statement of financial condition.
“They made a mistake. It was an honest mistake,” Trump said about the decision to value his Trump Tower penthouse as being three times larger than it actually is. The mistake eventually resulted in the property being overvalued by $114 million to $207 million.
Trump’s acknowledgement is likely to play into the judge’s decision later this month, when Engoron will have to determine whether or not the overvaluation was intentional. In a ruling last month, the judge characterized the sizing error and other similar issues as “misstatements at best and fraud at worst.”
Trump’s sons might win
While Trump has stepped away from the real estate business to pursue politics, his eldest sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. both continue to hold important stakes in the family business. When he issues his ruling, Engoron has the power to limit the ability of Trump and his two sons to conduct business in New York moving forward.
However, during an exchange with a state attorney on Thursday, Engoron signaled that he was not convinced that Trump’s sons had any knowledge of the company’s fraud.
“What evidence do you have — I just haven’t seen it — that they knew that there was fraud?” Engoron asked state attorney Andrew Amer.
“They can’t say they didn’t bother paying attention to it. That is just not a defense,” Amer responded.
Engoron expressed skepticism at Amer’s response and appeared to feel that Donald Trump Jr. particular was unaware of the issues alleged by the attorney general.
The state has a new theory
Faced with the need to prove that the alleged fraud was intentional, state attorney Kevin Wallace’s closing statement unveiled a theory to explain the motive behind it.
Wallace alleged that roughly $775 million in expenses to renovate properties, coupled with the expense of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, created a “cash crunch” for the Trump Organization during the period in question. Displaying a chart that he said tracked Trump’s cash flow, Wallace alleged that — had the company not resorted to fraud to get favorable terms on its loans — it would have had a negative cash flow by 2017.
By opting to commit fraud, “They didn’t have to choose between their priorities,” Wallace alleged regarding the company’s business expenses and Trump’s presidential campaign.
Engoron, however, appeared to feel the argument was only conjecture. The alleged fraud also predated the timetable in Wallace’s argument.
The judge said he hoped to issue a final ruling in the case by Jan. 31.
(NEW YORK) — Trading is set to begin for a new type of bitcoin fund that gives investors access to the crypto market without some of the hassle and fees of owning bitcoin outright.
Freshly approved by federal regulators, bitcoin ETFs — Exchange-Traded Funds — allow investors to buy an asset that tracks the price movement of bitcoin.
Fidelity, BlackRock and a host of other top investment firms have already begun to offer the product.
Bitcoin ETFs promise major potential gains but also notable downsides, presenting investors with a wide range of outcomes that will test their tolerance for risk, analysts told ABC News.
Investors could capitalize on a possible rise in the price of bitcoin if a flood of money into Bitcoin ETFs vaults the cryptocurrency into mainstream markets, they said.
However, investors should be prepared to weather the asset’s considerable volatility as well as uncertainty stemming from its association with issues of fraud and mismanagement in the wider crypto industry, they added.
“It’s going to be a volatile ride,” Bryan Armour, the director of passive strategies research at financial firm Morningstar, told ABC News. “You have to know that going in and make sure you’re okay with that.”
Some analysts said the new products could unleash a flow of investment and trigger a major spike in the price of Bitcoin, supercharging the most well-known and successful digital asset.
A Bitcoin ETF would elicit more than $14 billion of investment inflows within its first year on the market and as much as a 74% price increase over that period, Galaxy Digital, a crypto management and research firm, said in a report in October.
Some traditional institutions outside of the crypto arena have echoed that optimism, at least to a degree. Deutsche Bank forecasted price increases for bitcoin this year due in part to “greater institutional investment” in Bitcoin ETFs, according to a report reviewed by ABC News.
A run-up in price would follow some previous bull runs for bitcoin, including a rise of nearly 70% over the past six months. But the cryptocurrency has also undergone periods of major decline.
The price of bitcoin experienced a decline of at least 45 percentage points four times in the past five years, Armour said on Wednesday in a report for Morningstar.
The acceptance of Bitcoin ETFs among a wide swathe of investors could smooth out some of the volatility but that outcome may not come to pass, Armour told ABC News.
“If adoption becomes wider and the market becomes more mature, the price will become more stable,” Armour said. “For now, I don’t see it stabilizing.”
Setting aside their volatility, Bitcoin ETFs carry risks posed by the uncertain effects of fraud and mismanagement within the crypto sector, some analysts said.
The crypto industry entered this year bruised after a series of high-profile collapses and company scandals.
Sam Bankman-Fried, formerly one of the industry’s most prominent figures, could serve decades in prison after he was convicted on fraud charges in a federal trial. Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former CEO of major cryptocurrency exchange Binance, faces a jail sentence of up to 18 months after he pleaded guilty to federal charges of money laundering.
In a statement on Wednesday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler affirmed the agency’s decision to approve Bitcoin ETFs but offered a note of caution about cryptocurrency.
“We did not approve or endorse bitcoin,” Gensler said. “Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.”
James Butterfill, head of research at digital asset management firm CoinShares, rebuked concerns about bitcoin tied to potential manipulation or fraud.
The green light to trade Bitcoin ETFs gives them the “regulatory stamp approval,” Butterfill said.
Ultimately, investors considering Bitcoin ETFs should consider the role a potentially risky asset should play in their wider portfolio, analysts said.
“You shouldn’t allocate more to Bitcoin ETFs than you’re willing to lose,” Armour told ABC News.
Callie Cox, an analyst at the investment company eToro who tracks cryptocurrencies, said each individual should weigh Bitcoin ETFs within his or her own financial goals.
“You have your own hopes and dreams for your portfolio, so you should see how it fits,” Cox said.
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit challenging book bans in Escambia County, Florida, can move forward on the same day the county released an updated list of more than 2,800 individual books that have been pulled from shelves for review.
U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II ruled on Wednesday that book publisher Penguin Random House, free expression PEN America, authors, and families of Escambia County had standing to pursue their claims under the First Amendment because those protections are implicated when officials remove books based on ideology or viewpoint. However, they were denied to pursue the claims under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
“We are gratified that the Judge recognized that books cannot be removed from school library shelves simply because of the views they espouse, and are looking forward to moving forward with this case to protect the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs,” Lynn Oberlander of Ballard Spahr, who is representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
Escambia County has released a list of 2,812 books — totaling more than 1,500 titles — that have been pulled from shelves for “further review” of their compliance under House Bill 1069 which limits discussion of gender and sexual orientation in grade school as of Jan. 10. These books include “The World Book encyclopedia,” “100 Women Who Made History: Remarkable Women Who Shaped Our World,” “Africa (Cultural Atlas for Young People)” and more.
The previously released round-up of books to be reviewed included Merriam-Webster’s dictionary and Webster’s dictionary and thesaurus.
The lawsuit was brought forward in May 2023 by Penguin Random House, PEN America, authors and families of Escambia County who argue that the school board’s removal and restriction of books violates the First Amendment.
The lawsuit claims the county violated the First Amendment rights of the students, authors, and publishers by “removing books ‘based on ideological objections to their contents or disagreement with their messages or themes.'”
Several authors whose books have been impacted by book bans across the country, including David Levithan, George M. Johnson and Ashley Hope Pérez, are backing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also alleges, that in every decision to remove a book, “the removals have disproportionately targeted books by or about people of color and/or LGBTQ people, and have prescribed an orthodoxy of opinion that violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.”
The Board argued in its motion to dismiss the case that it has not banned any books, rather it “‘removed from its own school libraries [books] that the Board had purchased for those libraries with Board funds. It [has] not prohibit[ed] anyone else from owning, possessing, or reading the book[s].'”
The school board claims it “has the ultimate authority to decide what books will be purchased and kept on the shelves of the schools in the district,” according to the motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
House Bill 1069 expanded the Parental Rights in Education law, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics from prekindergarten through grade 8. It was passed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May 2023.
From grades 9 through 12, such content must be “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
Recent legislation in Florida, including the Parental Rights in Education Bill and the Stop WOKE Act, have led to restrictions and removals of books across the state.
The Stop WOKE Act restricts lessons and training on race and diversity in schools and in the workplace, particularly anything that discusses privilege or oppression based on race. WOKE in the bill stands for “Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees.”
Between January 1 and August 31, 2023, the American Library Association recorded 695 attempts to ban library materials and services, affecting 1,915 different book titles. The organization said this marked a 20% increase from the same reporting period in 2022, which saw the highest number of book challenges since ALA began compiling the data more than 20 years ago.
Most of the book challenges in 2023 were against books written by or about a person of color or a member of the LGBTQ community, according to the ALA.
To comply with HB 1069, Escambia County has subject books in school and classroom libraries to be reviewed by district book review committees and the school board.
In several cases, the books approved for use by the district book review committees have been rejected and removed or restricted by the school board. This includes the titles of “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” by George M. Johnson, “Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, “Lucky” by Alice Sebold, “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, “Push” by Sapphire, and others.
Dozens of books that were challenged by community members were requested by one person, an English teacher at a high school in Escambia County. She cites “indoctrination,” “sexual content,” “violent language,” and “LGBTQ content” among her objections in the more than 100 complaints.
“Ensuring that students have access to books on a wide range of topics and that express a diversity of viewpoints is a core function of public education — preparing students to be thoughtful and engaged citizens,” said PEN America in a statement on the lawsuit.
Escambia County officials did not immediately respond to ABC News requests for comment.
