The U.S. Supreme Court building stands in Washington, D.C., U.S. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
(WASHINGTON) — In a landmark decision that could transform the federal government, the Supreme Court has voted to allow President Donald Trump to remove a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, Rebecca Slaughter, for policy reasons, rolling back 90 years of legal precedent that had prevented at-will removal of independent agency officials and significantly expanding presidential power.
The 6-3 decision came from Chief Justice John Roberts.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Stock photo of an alligator in the water. (Sushisu/Getty Images)
A woman was killed by an alligator while swimming in a river in Florida, officials said.
The victim was in the Econlockhatchee River in Seminole County, just north of Orlando, on Sunday when she was attacked, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
She was taken to a hospital where she died from her injuries, the FWC said.
Efforts to trap the alligator are ongoing, authorites noted.
The FWC said it “extends its deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of the victim during this difficult time.”
This attack comes two days after a 28-year-old man was killed by a crocodile on a popular beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Cherry blossoms at the Supreme Court on a windy morning in Washington, D.C. (John Baggaley/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Monday, in a 5-4 decision, upheld state laws that allow the counting of late-arriving mail-in ballots even if they were postmarked by Election Day.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
E. Jean Carroll leaves the courthosue on September 6, 2024 in New York City. Both parties appear in court today as Trump’s lawyers fight to overturn the jury’s finding that he sexually abused E. Jean Carroll. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court has denied President Donald Trump’s appeal of the $5 million jury finding in the 2022 defamation case brought against him by the writer E. Jean Carroll.
The denial means the judgment against Trump stands and that he will have to pay it.
A New York jury in 2023 awarded Carroll $5 million in damages after it found Trump liable for sexually abusing her in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the mid-1990s, and for defaming her in 2022 when he denied the allegations.
Trump asked the Supreme Court to intervene, arguing the judge in the case should not have allowed the jury to view an excerpt from the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump is heard describing lewd behavior that he downplayed as “locker room talk.”
Trump also faulted the trial judge for allowing testimony from two women — Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff — who claimed that Trump had sexually assaulted them, which Trump denies.
A federal appeals court said the evidence was properly admitted and, even if it wasn’t, there was no major harm to Trump.
“The petition does not challenge — indeed, does not mention — the Second Circuit’s holding that were there any error here, it did not prejudice petitioner,” Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan argued.
Trump is also appealing a separate but related defamation judgment involving Carroll that ordered him to pay $83 million.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Luigi Mangione appears at an evidence suppression hearing at Manhattan Supreme Court on May 18, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jeenah Moon-Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Accused killer Luigi Mangione is due back in Manhattan federal court Monday after talks to resolve his case with a guilty plea stopped without a deal.
Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to federal charges he stalked UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson before shooting and killing him in December 2024 in Midtown Manhattan, is scheduled to stand trial in federal court in early 2027.
Ahead of Monday’s hearing, defense attorneys and federal prosecutors discussed a possible plea deal, sources told ABC News, but the talks stopped without one. It’s not clear how close to a deal they came or whether they will try again. Criminal defendants can change their plea before or during trial.
On Monday, the parties are expected to discuss plans for a trial, including the questionnaire prospective jurors will complete before in-person voir dire questioning.
Mangione has also pleaded not guilty to state charges he murdered Thompson and is scheduled to stand trial in New York State Supreme Court in September.
Defense attorneys recently gave notice that they intended to mount a psychiatric defense to the state charges, arguing Mangione experienced an extreme emotional disturbance prior to shooting Thompson, but they quickly withdrew the notice before a deadline to turn over his psychiatric records.
A crocodile sits on the bottom in the eel grass with school of fish above. teeth and tail are showing. (Gregory Sweeney/Getty Images)
(PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico) — A 28-year-old man was killed in a crocodile attack on a popular beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Friday evening, according to state authorities.
The victim, who was from Mexico, was on the beach in front of the Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa when he was allegedly attacked by the reptile and dragged out to sea, Jalisco State Police said in a statement on Sunday.
The incident happened around 6 p.m. local time, police noted.
The victim’s body was recovered Saturday morning about 300 meters offshore after an overnight search and rescue operation at sea and on land.
Local authorities are reminding the public to obey warning signs and avoid entering the water where wildlife is known to be present, particularly in estuary and mangrove areas.
“The safety and security of our guests and associates are our top priority,” the resort said in a statement to ABC News. “At the Marriott Puerto Vallarta we have appropriate signage, as well as night patrolling and red flags to indicate caution in the area and all were and are properly in place.”
The resort said it reviews its “plans and procedures often” and works “closely with the appropriate authorities on an ongoing basis and our staff is trained in how to respond to safety matters appropriately.”
“We extend our thoughts to the individual and their loved ones during this difficult time and are providing appropriate support in line with our policies,” the resort said.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway and Madeline Wheeler contributed to this report.
Alex Murdaugh listens to testimony during his double-murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse on Feb. 10, 2023, in Walterboro, South Carolina. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Alex Murdaugh is back in court on Monday for the first time since the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his double murder conviction over “shocking jury interference.”
Newly assigned Judge Debra McCaslin is set to hold a status conference to determine a schedule for a new trial as well as resolve some evidentiary issues.
The status conference comes more than three years after a South Carolina jury found Murdaugh guilty of murdering his son and wife in a gruesome crime that captured global headlines.
The South Carolina Supreme Court threw out that conviction last month after concluding that a court clerk tainted the jury’s verdict by making comments to the jurors that “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility and his defense.”
“Both the State and Murdaugh’s defense skillfully presented their cases to the jury as the trial court deftly presided over this complicated and high-profile matter. However, their efforts were in vain because Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury,” the ruling said.
Murdaugh has remained in prison since the ruling, as he is also serving out concurrent sentences for state and federal financial crimes, to which he pleaded guilty. While Murdaugh has acknowledged he lied and stole from his former clients, he has consistently maintained his innocence related to the 2021 double murder.
“Alex has said from day one that he did not kill his wife and son. We look forward to a new trial conducted consistent with the Constitution and the guidance this Court has provided,” Murdaugh’s lawyers said after the May ruling. His lawyers recently filed a civil lawsuit against Hill for allegedly violating his right to a fair trial.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson — who recently won the Republican primary for governor — has vowed to “aggressively” retry the murder case “as soon as possible.” Monday’s conference is likely to provide the first indications of how quickly the case might be retried.
Ahead of the conference, Murdaugh’s lawyers filed a series of motions to change the venue of the trial and access evidence in the case. They have argued that Murdaugh cannot have a fair trial in the countries where his family name has been “synonymous with the local legal system for nearly a century.”
“The basis for this motion is that this is among the most heavily publicized criminal prosecutions in the history of this State. For years Defendant, his family, and the law firm with which his family was associated for generations have been the subject of saturating, sensational, and continuous media coverage,” the motion said.
Murdaugh’s lawyers also filed motions to request access to DNA evidence in the case for independent lab testing, as well as enable Murdaugh to access a computer to review evidence from prison.
Prosecutors have not yet filed their response to those motions.
Police in Jackson, Mississippi, investigate a triple homicide on Saturday, June 28, 2026. (Jackson Police Department)
(JACKSON, Miss) — Police in Mississippi are searching for a suspect after two woman and a toddler were shot and killed on Saturday.
The women, aged 26 and 20, were found dead alongside a 2-year-old, Jackson Police Department Chief RaShall Brackney told reporters early on Sunday.
Police had responded to a call for an aggravated assault on the 300 block of Queen Alexandria Lane at about 10:10 p.m. on Saturday, Brackney said, adding, “And what they found was something horrifying.”
All three victims had “multiple” gunshot wounds, she said.
Police early on Sunday said they were searching for a Red Mitsubishi Mirage that “was taken.” Brackney did not say whether police had identified a suspect, but said that the person who had taken the vehicle was thought to be “armed and dangerous and is related to this triple homicide that we have here.”
In an update later on Sunday, police said they had found the vehicle in North Jackson, but it was “unoccupied at the time it was located.”
Jackson Mayor John Horhn said in a statement that the city would begin deploying additional resources to combat gun violence.
“Our city is hurting. In recent days, we have seen a troubling rise in gun-related violence, shootings, and senseless loss of life,” he said. “No family should have to face the pain of losing a loved one to violence. Violence against the innocent is intolerable, and as your Mayor, I will not accept this as the norm for our community.”
Relentless rain and flash flooding have inundated parts of Kentucky over the weekend and left at least four dead, Gov. Andy Beshear said. (Richmond Police Department)
(NEW YORK) — A woman was killed on Sunday in Tennessee as she attempted to rescue her son, who had been swept away in high waters, a local sheriff’s office said, as a flash flood threat was in effect for parts of Tennessee and Kentucky, where four other deaths were recorded.
The Grainger County Sheriff’s Department in Tennessee said Mary Evelyn Nicole Manning-Kellione, 39, was killed on Sunday after she went to rescue her son after rising water carried him into a culvert.
“The son was able to surface at the other end and came to safety when he realized his mother was in the water,” the office said in a statement. “Rescue personnel located the individual lodged inside the culvert.”
The National Weather Service (NWS) Prediction Center had upgraded the flood threat on Sunday for parts of Kentucky and Tennessee to a level 3 out of 4 “moderate risk.”
Kentucky residents had been bracing for another round of relentless rain, a day after flash flooding killed at least four people and the governor declared a state of emergency.
The heaviest rain had been expected in southeast Kentucky and parts of Tennessee, including Owensboro and Somerset, Kentucky, and Knoxville, Tennessee.
Rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour are possible, according to the NWS, and daily totals could reach up to five inches in some parts.
Several flash-flood warnings were issued on Sunday morning as ongoing heavy rain and flooding were reported in southern Indiana and northeast Tennessee. A flash flood emergency has been issued for Metcalf, Cumberland and Clinton counties for ongoing life-threatening flooding, according to the NWS. Between 2.6 and 8 inches of rain have reportedly fallen over these areas.
There have been reports of multiple water rescues with some evacuations and homes flooded in Clinton County. Clinton County and the City of Albany, Kentucky, have issued states of emergency due to ongoing flooding.
Northwest North Carolina, which was hit by flash floods over the weekend, is also at an “elevated risk” of flash flooding on Sunday, according to the NWS.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear provided an update early Sunday afternoon in a video posted to X, saying in part that nine counties in all had declared states of emergency, some of which “got hit with record or almost record amounts of rain in very short periods of time,” he said. Search and rescue efforts remain underway, he said.
Beshear advised residents to stay off of the roads if they can. “Bridges have been wiped out, entire roads have been wiped away and there is still standing and moving water,” he said. He added that he’d activated the state’s price-gouging laws to prevent merchants from increasing prices on essential goods, and had also signed an emergency order “so pharmacies in areas that are hit can go ahead and fill people’s prescriptions that have been washed away or are no longer safe to take.”
The severe weather comes after a weekend of deadly flash flooding that occurred in Kentucky.
More than 10 inches of rain fell on Saturday in parts of the state, prompting flash flooding and deaths.
Beshear announced late Saturday that four people were killed in floods that hit central Kentucky and spread into northeast Tennessee and northwest North Carolina.
“Kentucky, I have some tough news to share,” the governor wrote in a social media post on Saturday, announcing the deaths.
Three fatalities occurred in Madison County, Kentucky, and one flood-related death happened in Jackson County, Beshear said.
According to the Madison County Coroner, of the three fatalities in the county, two of the deaths, one adult male and one adult female, occurred at a residence in Richmond.
The third death was an adult male who was swept away in his vehicle on Tates Creek Road in Madison County, the coroner said.
Beshear declared a statewide state of emergency on Saturday.
“This is a serious flooding event, where teams have already had to conduct multiple water rescues from vehicles and homes across the commonwealth,” Beshear said.
As crews from Kentucky to North Carolina clean up from the storms, a prolonged spell of extreme heat is forecast to settle in across the Midwest and Northeast this week.
Heat alerts have been issued across the Plains to the Ohio Valley and south to the Tennessee and Mississippi Valleys.
An excessive heat warning has been posted for Kansas City, Missouri, through Thursday night.
Temperatures in Kansas City are expected to climb into the 90s on Sunday.
On Monday, widespread highs in the 90s are forecast across the country’s midsection, but high humidity will make it feel hotter.
Excessive heat watches are expected to go into effect for Minneapolis and Chicago on Monday, with the temperature feeling like the triple digits during the afternoon hours.
In Minneapolis, the temperature could feel like 110 on Monday afternoon.
-ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
(LOS ANGELES) — As several wildfires burn across the West, parts of the Four Corners region will once again see an extremely critical fire weather danger which could help current or new fires rapidly grow and become more dangerous.
The largest wildfire in Utah, the Cottonwood Fire, has burned more than 71,000 acres and remains 0% contained. Meanwhile, the Iron Fire has burned more than 40,000 acres and is 38% contained, while the Cherry Fire — a merger of the Maple Peak Fire and the original Cherry Fire — has burned an estimated 20,000 acres and is 0% contained.
Six states in the West are under Red Flag Warnings for dangerous fire weather conditions today, with some continuing to see them through Sunday.
The greatest risk area for fire weather conditions later Saturday is for parts of the Four Corners: eastern Utah, western Colorado, northeast Arizona and northwest New Mexico. This area is under the level 3 of 3 threat with an extremely critical fire weather risk in place. Hot, extremely dry and windy conditions are bringing favorable conditions for new fires to spark and spread rapidly.
Vegetation in the area is incredibly dry, providing ample, quick-burning fuel for wildfires. In the extreme risk area, sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts up to 55 mph are forecast with relative humidity values dipping into the single digits.
These conditions will promote extreme fire behavior in an area already dealing with large uncontrolled wildfires. Existing wildfires could explode in size and move erratically with new fires potentially growing rapidly as well.
Breezy and dry conditions will continue across this portion of the West this weekend; however, cooler temperatures will be settling in.
All of this comes after many states in the West, including Utah, saw their lowest snowpack on record this winter and are now under extreme drought conditions, which is furthering the critical fire weather danger in the region.
Severe thunderstorms and flooding The threat for flash flooding and severe storms continues in parts of the country on Saturday.
On Saturday morning, rounds of heavy rain are moving through parts of southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma, and these areas remain under a Flood Watch until later this morning for the potential of flash flooding.
Flood Watches extend from southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas to northern West Virginia and southern Ohio for potentially heavy rain today into tomorrow. This includes places such as Charleston, West Virginia; Cincinnati, Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; Evansville, Indiana; and Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
Some of these pockets of rain could have strong storms that produce gusty winds and lightning.
Two pockets of severe weather for Saturday include those centered over North Carolina and the other up towards the northern High Plains.
For much of North Carolina, a level 2 of 5 threat for severe storms is up for later Saturday into the evening for the potential for storms producing damaging winds.
Back towards the northern High Plains, a level 3 of 5 “enhanced risk” of severe storms is up for parts of west-central North Dakota, eastern Montana and northwest South Dakota – including Minot, North Dakota, and Glendive, Montana.
A level 2 of 5 threat for severe storms extends further into Montana and the Dakotas and also reaches down to western Nebraska, which includes Bismarck, North Dakota; Rapid City, South Dakota; Sheridan, Wyoming; and Valentine, Nebraska.
Storms here could produce damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes.
Extreme heat on the move Over the weekend, extreme heat will be building in the center of the country, starting in the southern Plains on Saturday and becoming more expansive across the central U.S. by Sunday.
There is growing confidence that a dangerous heat wave will impact millions across the Midwest early next week, with big heat also building across much of the East Coast by midweek.
By Monday, widespread highs in the 90s are forecast across the Midwest, with afternoon temperatures soaring into the upper 90s in Minneapolis.
Humid conditions will make it feel even hotter with heat index values potential reaching the triple digits in many areas.
Chicago and Detroit will see highs reaching the mid-to- upper 90s by Tuesday and Wednesday.
And a large swath of the I-95 corridor is set for a heat wave beginning Tuesday as the heat builds east, with temperatures at or above 90 from Washington, D.C., to New York and stay through at least midweek.
Meanwhile in the West, below average temperatures arriving this weekend will likely linger across the region through at least the first half of next week.
