(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane — one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin.
After tearing across Jamaica on Tuesday, Melissa is now a Category 3 hurricane as it pounds Cuba on Wednesday morning.
Latest forecast: Melissa to pass Cuba, Bahamas on Wednesday As of 5 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Hurricane Melissa was a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 115 mph moving northeast across Cuba.
Melissa — the strongest hurricane on record to hit Jamaica — made landfall on Cuba early on Wednesday near the city of Chivirico in the southeastern province of Santiago de Cuba.
Melissa is forecast to move off the northern coast of Cuba on Wednesday morning as it heads towards the Bahamas. It is expected to pass through the Bahamas as a Category 2 storm in the afternoon. A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the southeastern and central Bahamas.
Rain totals could reach 25 inches for higher elevations in Cuba and 5 to 10 inches of rain is expected across the southeastern Bahamas.
Storm surge is still affecting the islands. Cuba is experiencing a surge of up to 12 feet along the southeast coast, with 5 to 8 feet of surge possible in the southeastern Bahamas through Wednesday.
As Melissa moves into the Atlantic Ocean, it is expected to pass close to Bermuda late on Thursday. The archipelago is under a Hurricane Watch.
(NEW YORK) — A crew dressed in neon construction vests stole a safe containing jewelry — valued at more than $3.2 million — from a home in Queens, New York, after breaking in through a back door, police said Tuesday.
The theft occurred on Oct. 16, just after 2 p.m., when the suspects entered the Jamaica Hills-area home.
Once inside, the thieves removed a safe and jewelry valued at about $3.2 million and then fled in a blue Hyundai Elantra, police said.
It is not clear whether the home was occupied at the time, but the NYPD said no injuries were reported in the incident.
Police said two sought individuals in connection with the break-in appear to be male and were last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black pants, black sneakers, a neon construction vest, a white construction hat, eye protective wear and were seen carrying black backpacks.
The third sought individual is described as a male and was last seen wearing a white hoodie sweater, black pants, gray sneakers, black gloves and seen operating and exiting a blue Hyundai Elantra.
The jewelry heist clad in construction gear came just days before a group of thieves broke into the Louvre Museum in Paris, stealing $102 million worth of jewels, including crowns, necklaces, earrings and a diamond-encrusted brooch that once belonged to Emperor Napoleon and his wife.
On Oct. 19, two of the thieves dressed as construction workers used a cherry picker to get up to the second floor of the museum, where they cut through the window of the Apollo Gallery using angle grinders, authorities said.
Upon entering the gilded gallery, the thieves used power tools to cut into the glass cases to reach the precious jewels, investigators said.
The entire theft took about seven minutes, according to investigators, and the stolen jewelry remains missing.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with Jonathan Karl of ABC News. (ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is “deeply concerned” about remarks from President Donald Trump and his close allies about possibly seeking a third term in 2028.
Newsom, who is considered a potential 2028 presidential contender himself, was asked by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl if he takes such talk seriously.
“They’re not screwing around,” Newsom said.
Trump has mused several times about running for president again, including as recently as Monday, when he told reporters on Air Force One that he would “love to do it” despite it being barred by the Constitution.
The 22nd Amendment expressly forbids a president from being elected to office more than twice.
Last week, Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House adviser and conservative media provocateur, said in an interview with The Economist that “there’s a plan” and Trump “is going to get a third term” though he didn’t share any details.
Here’s a transcript of the exchange between Newsom and Karl in the interview that will air on Wednesday in which Newsom talks about his meeting with Trump in the Oval Office in February.
KARL: “Bannon is talking Trump running again 2028 and you said Trump was talking about his fourth term?”
NEWSOM: “He was showing me a photo of — I turned around, he was at the Resolute [Desk], and he goes, ‘Look over there.’ I’m like, and I literally looked and I looked him. I’m like, ‘OK.’ I said, ‘Third term?’ He goes, ‘No, fourth.’ And it was FDR’s painting up on the wall. I’m like, here we go. I said, ‘We’re perfect little sheep, aren’t we?’ He’s laughing because we are. He knows exactly what we’re going to do. There’s a French, I don’t know what the, I can’t say it in French — poem that loosely says, ‘He pisses on the grasshoppers to hear them sing.’ And that’s Donald Trump.”
KARL: “So do you take that seriously? Do you think he is going to try to stay in office?”
NEWSOM: “What I’ve noticed, what we all have experienced, I hope we’re absorbing in our souls, because we’re talking about the soul of America, is, I don’t think he takes himself seriously, but he iterates. He throws things out. And he plays with it, and he sees how people react, and it manifests. Meaning, once a mind is stretched, it never goes back to its original form. And that’s my concern. The more we’re talking about this — and we need to be. Look at what he’s doing with masked agents. Look what he’s doing federalizing the Guard. Look what he’s doing to intimidate and voter suppression. Look what he’s going to do with the DOJ. Look what he’s trying to do to rig the elections: North Carolina, Missouri, down there, next Florida, not just in Texas. Look what he’s doing in terms of the $230 million that is, apparently, his from his DOJ. All the pardoning, all the this — this great grift, the biggest, most corrupt administration in history. Not just the $400 million plane, but the billion dollars of your tax money as we’re cutting food stamps to pay for the damn plane so he can take that toy home with his foundation when he’s 93 or whatever he’s done with his fourth or fifth term. I’m deeply concerned about it. And guys like Bannon, they’re not screwing around. They’re not screwing around.”
Isaiah Jamon Andrews in a police photo. (Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff)
(CONSTRA COSTA COUNTY, Calif.) — Police are looking for a murder suspect who they say was accidentally released from a California jail.
Isaiah Jamon Andrews, 20, was mistakenly released from the Martinez Detention Facility, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office in a press release Monday.
A native of Kent, Washington, Andrews was held in California on local charges, a juvenile warrant out of Sacramento and an arrest warrant for homicide in Seattle, per the sheriff’s office. He was intended to be extradited to a jail in Washington.
“After Sheriff’s Office staff realized Andrews had been released, we launched a search of the immediate area and confirmed that Andrews was no longer in the area. The search for Andrews is ongoing by the U.S. Marshals Service. Local law enforcement agencies have also been notified,” officials said in the press release.
“I think sometimes people forget that it is a criminal justice system. Cops, courts and corrections is kind of how I always remember it. And although we did our due diligence, the courts and that part of the system however did not,” Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes told ABC News’ San Francisco affiliate ABC 7.
Anyone with information about Andrews’ whereabouts can call (866) 846-3592 or email tips@so.cccounty.us.
In this July 30, 2024, file photo, Donna Massey, the mother of shooting victim Sonya Massey, is comforted during a press conference at New Mount Pilgrim Church in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images, FILE)
(NEW YORK) — Closing arguments began Tuesday morning in the trial of a former Illinois sheriff’s deputy accused of shooting and killing a Black woman in her home.
The trial began last week for Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County deputy accused of fatally shooting Sonya Massey in July 2024 after she called 911 to report a possible intruder at her home in Springfield, Illinois.
“When you threaten to shoot someone in the face, and you do, that’s first-degree murder,” Sangamon County Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers said during closing arguments, according to ABC affiliate WICS in Springfield, Illinois.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during a keynote address at AWS re:Invent 2024, a conference hosted by Amazon Web Services, at The Venetian Las Vegas, Dec. 3, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Noah Berger/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Amazon is set to lay off thousands of corporate workers, despite billions in profits and lucrative lines of business spanning from e-commerce to cloud computing. The reason is artificial intelligence, the company said in a memo to employees on Tuesday.
“Some may ask why we’re reducing roles when the company is performing well,” wrote Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology at Amazon.
“What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before,” Galetti added.
The extensive job cuts at a high-profile tech giant mark the latest in a series of layoffs top executives have attributed to AI, citing efficiency gains and shifting company priorities, some experts told ABC News.
Such job losses underscore the threat posed by AI, especially for some white-collar corporate positions, but the ultimate business impact of the technology remains uncertain and other factors like a slowing economy may be to blame for some of the corporate downsizing, they added.
“This is a wake-up call. And if Amazon does it, other companies might do it too,” Harry Holzer, a professor of public policy at Georgetown University and a former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, told ABC News.
But, he added: “AI will affect a lot of different workers and businesses in ways we can’t anticipate. We have to keep monitoring it and help them adapt when changes occur.”
The fresh round of layoffs at Amazon follows other high-profile job cuts attributed to AI. Software company Salesforce cut 4,000 customer service jobs in September, just months after the company said AI could perform up to 50% of its work. Airline Lufthansa slashed 4,000 positions that same month, citing the “increased use of artificial intelligence.”
Online learning company Chegg said on Monday it had cut 45% of its global workforce — which amounts to 388 jobs — because new AI tools had significantly reduced web traffic previously generated by Google searches. Chegg slashed employees as it made its own investment in AI in an effort to deliver services with a “substantially lower cost structure,” the company said.
The World Economic Forum this year surveyed 1,000 large companies worldwide, estimating 92 million jobs lost over the next five years as a result of AI adoption, but anticipating the creation of 170 million jobs.
The AI-related layoffs at Amazon and some other firms reflect a “hollowing out of middle-skilled workers,” Lynn Wu, a professor of operations, information and decisions at the University of Pennsylvania, told ABC News.
“Amazon is not cutting warehouse workers. Robots can’t do what hands do yet,” Wu said. “And very high-skill workers — people developing robots and building AI — are still in high demand.”
The fresh round of layoffs affect a fraction of Amazon’s worldwide workforce, which amounted to 1.56 million people at the end of last year.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in June that the company plans to revamp its positions as it adopts AI, telling employees in a memo that Amazon would need “fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs.”
Amazon said on Tuesday that it plans to “continue hiring in key strategic areas while also finding additional places we can remove layers, increase ownership, and realize efficiency gains.”
United Parcel Service (UPS) said Tuesday the company had cut 14,000 management positions this year, while slashing an additional 34,000 operational roles.
UPS sought to “create a more efficient operating model that was more responsive to market dynamics,” the company said, but its announcement did not mention AI.
To be sure, some experts downplayed the impact of AI, saying the productivity benefits of the technology remain uncertain and recent layoffs may owe to a host of other factors, including a wider economic slowdown. Many economists expect AI to add new job opportunities, even as it eliminates others, they noted.
In August, a report issued by MIT’s Media Lab found 95% of corporate AI initiatives generate zero return. The study examined more than 300 publicly disclosed AI ventures, drawing on over 150 surveys of executives.
“AI is an extremely useful, transformative technology, but I think we still need to work on it more to realize its full effects,” Isabella Loaiza, a researcher at MIT who studies AI and the workforce, told ABC News. “The role AI is playing in job losses is perhaps being overstated.”
“Companies really, really want to make AI work,” Loaiza added, but the ultimate implications of their initiatives for the labor market remains unclear. “It’s hard to know,” she added.
(CHICAGO) — In a face-off on Tuesday with a federal judge, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino came under questioning about the crowd-control tactics he and his agents are using in their Chicago immigration crackdown.
With Bovino appearing before her dressed in uniform, Judge Sara Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ordered him to meet with her in person each weekday at 6 p.m. local time, to report to her on the immigration activities in Chicago that he is spearheading.
Bovino was on the witness stand for slightly more than an hour Tuesday morning, as Ellis considered allegations from the plaintiffs of multiple violations of a temporary restraining order (TRO) she issued this month, placing restrictions on the use of force and riot control weapons against demonstrators.
Ellis did the vast majority of the talking during the hearing, including an oral recitation of each provision of her temporary restraining order that she first issued on Oct. 9, requiring federal agents to issue advanced warnings when deploying tear gas.
The judge expanded the order on Oct. 16 to include a requirement for federal agents equipped with body-worn cameras to wear them and keep them on during “law enforcement activities” in Chicago.
“My role is simply to see that in the enforcement of those laws that you and the agents operating under you are acting in a manner that is consistent with your obligations under the law, meaning that it is consistent with the Constitution, that it is consistent with the law … and the TRO that I entered,” she said.
“That is my job and that is all that I am doing,” Ellis told Bovino as the hearing got underway.
Ellis ordered Bovino to appear before her following allegations that he had personally deployed tear gas on a crowd of demonstrators “without justification” last week, according to court filings in a lawsuit against the federal government.
Ellis indicated in a hearing earlier this month that she was “profoundly concerned” over the tactics used by federal agents in a series of clashes with protesters.
She issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 9, restricting federal agents from using aggressive tactics to quell protests, including the deployment of tear gas without advanced warning.
On Oct. 17, Ellis expanded her order to include a requirement for federal agents equipped with body-worn cameras to wear them and keep them on during “law enforcement activities” in Chicago.
Ellis is presiding over a lawsuit brought by journalists and citizens against the federal government over the immigration enforcement tactics in Chicago.
The plaintiffs argue that the government is “engineering their own pretext for their presence and behavior in Chicago” by “regularly inflicting harm on civilians who are simply protesting” the immigration enforcement operation.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — House Oversight Republicans released a blistering report Tuesday morning that details their findings into former President Joe Biden’s mental acuity and his use of the autopen — calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to examine all executive actions taken during the prior administration, as well as scrutinize the actions of three senior officials who refused to comply with the panel’s closed-door interviews for fear of criminal prosecution.
Democrats quickly dismissed the report as a “sham” — with Biden’s post-presidency office calling it “baseless.”
The 100-page report includes links to transcripts and video of their closed-door depositions conducted with 14 top Biden administration officials, including three senior officials — Anthony Bernal, Annie Tomasini and Dr. Kevin O’Connor — who invoked their Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate themselves rather than answer the committee’s questions.
The committee previously released videos of those three officials declining to testify following their respective depositions. Other aides repeatedly defended Biden’s mental fitness, maintaining that he was mentally engaged in the decision-making process in the White House.
“The Biden Autopen Presidency will go down as one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history,” Oversight Chairman James Comer said in a statement.
Comer claimed Biden’s inner circle “sought to deceive the public” and conceal “his decline.” He said the report reveals how several of Biden’s aides “colluded to mislead the public and the extraordinary measures they took to sustain the appearance of presidential authority as Biden’s capacity to function independently diminished.”
A Biden spokesperson criticized the report, claiming there was no wrongdoing at the Biden White House.
“This investigation into baseless claims has confirmed what has been clear from the start: President Biden made the decisions of his presidency. There was no conspiracy, no cover-up, and no wrongdoing,” the Biden spokesperson said. “Congressional Republicans should stop focusing on political retribution and instead work to end the government shutdown.”
Biden has previously defended the use of autopen.
“The autopen is, you know, is legal. As you know, other presidents used it, including Trump. But the point is that, you know, we’re talking about a whole lot of people,” Biden said.
Comer said that executive actions performed by Biden White House staff and signed by autopen should be “null and void.”
“We have provided Americans with transparency about the Biden Autopen Presidency, and now there must be accountability,” Comer stated.
Comer’s comments echo some of President Donald Trump’s remarks about Biden’s use of autopen — including saying that the pardons Biden approved should be voided because they were signed using an autopen. Trump has said he has used an autopen for some trivial matters, but criticized its use for pardons.
The House committee claimed it found “substantial evidence” that Biden “experienced significant mental and physical decline during his presidency,” while senior White House officials “actively sought to conceal his deterioration from the public.”
Bondi said in a Tuesday post on X that her staff has “already initiated a review of the Biden administration’s reported use of autopen for pardons” and called the report “extremely helpful.”
Speaker Mike Johnson commented on the report Tuesday morning, repeating Comer’s calls to void “every executive action signed by the autopen without written authorization from President Biden.”
“This is an unprecedented situation in American politics and government,” Johnson said Tuesday when asked whether documents signed by the autopen on Biden’s behalf should be “null and void,” as the report concluded. “There is no legal precedent because no previous president … had the audacity to have people signing things on their behalf when they didn’t even know what was in it.”
Oversight Democrats have dismissed the investigation throughout the monthslong probe — complaining about the GOP’s “obsession” with the former president.
“Despite this sham investigation, every White House official testified President Biden fully executed his duties as President of the United States. The testimonies also make it clear the former President authorized every executive order, pardon, and use of the autopen,” House Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia said in a statement to ABC News.
House Oversight Democrats released a short 14-page counter report on Tuesday — arguing that the Republicans have “failed to produce any evidence to support their allegations against President Biden.”
Trump has continued to criticize and troll Biden’s use of the autopen — even hanging a picture of an autopen signing Biden’s signature alongside portraits of past presidents in the new Presidential Walk of Fame on the White House West Colonnade.
The committee also sent a letter to Dr. Andrea Anderson, chair of the District of Columbia Board of Medicine, calling on her to investigate whether the actions of O’Connor, Biden’s White House physician, should disqualify him from future practice in the nation’s capital.
“Based on the nature and extent of Dr. O’Connor’s actions, the Committee recommends that the Board of Medicine impose discipline, sanction, or revocation of his medical license,” the letter states. “If Dr. O’Connor failed to meet his minimum standard of care to the president, intentionally misled the American public, or authored false health reports on President Biden, then the Committee believes Dr. O’Connor should be barred from the practice of medicine in the District of Columbia.”
ABC News has reached out to O’Connor’s lawyer for comment.
When O’Connor spoke before the committee, his lawyer, David Schertler, said in a statement that the doctor “asserted the physician-patient privilege, as well as his right under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in declining to answer questions from the staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding his service as Physician to the President during the Biden Administration.”
Oversight Republicans also knocked Democrats for passive participation in the investigation — clocking the total time of their questioning to “only about 3 hours and 30 minutes’ worth of questions” over nearly 47 hours of depositions and transcribed interviews.
This ABC News graphic shows the forecast for Hurricane Melissa as of Oct. 28, 2025. (ABC)
(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday afternoon as a Category 5 hurricane — one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin.
Here is Melissa’s projected path:
The hurricane-force winds began in western Jamaica on Tuesday morning and will last until the evening.
Around 1 p.m. ET, Melissa made landfall in southwestern Jamaica near New Hope with estimated maximum sustained winds of 185 mph. This is considered an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation; people in Jamaica are urged to shelter in place.
The worst storm surge will be on the western half of the island, where 9 to 13 feet of surge will inundate the coast. On the northwest side of the island, the Montego Bay area could see 2 to 4 feet of storm surge above ground level. The capital city of Kingston will see damaging storm surge, but not the worst.
Heavy rain will inundate the entire island, with totals of 15 to 30 inches expected, and some areas seeing up to 40 inches. The rain will likely spark catastrophic flash flooding and landslides.
Jamaicans should be prepared for extensive infrastructure damage and long-lasting power outages.
Southeast Cuba will feel hurricane-force winds Tuesday night through Wednesday morning. Cuba is forecast to see 7 to 11 feet of storm surge, up to 25 inches of rain, and potentially landslides and catastrophic flash flooding.
The southeast Bahamas and Turks and Caicos will feel the impacts of Hurricane Melissa on Wednesday. Four to 6 feet of storms surge is expected along with 5 to 10 inches of rain.
Melissa will still be a hurricane by the time it passes near Bermuda on Friday morning.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) talks to reporters on the 27th day of the federal government shutdown in the Rayburn Room at the U.S. Capitol on October 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Tuesday that he does not “see the path” for President Donald Trump to seek a third term.
“It’s been a great run, but I think the president knows, and he and I have talked about, the constrictions of the Constitution, as much as so many of the American people lament that,” Johnson said during a news conference on Capitol Hill.
Johnson said he had spoken to Trump Tuesday morning. The president is currently in Japan for a three-country tour through Asia.
“I don’t see a way to amend the Constitution because it takes about 10 years to do that,” Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, said. “As you all know, to allow all the states to ratify what two-thirds of the House and three-fourths of the states would approve. So I don’t, I don’t see the path for that, but I can tell you that we are not going to take our foot off the gas pedal.”
Trump has commented multiple times about a third term, despite it being barred by the Constitution. The 22nd Amendment explicitly states no person should be elected to the nation’s highest office more than twice.
On Monday, Trump said he would “love to do it” when asked about a potential 2028 bid.
“Am I not ruling it out? You’ll have to tell me,” Trump said when pressed on the matter. “All I can tell you is that we have a great, a great group of people, which they don’t,” he added, referring to the Democratic Party.
Last week, Steve Bannon — a former Trump adviser — said in an interview with The Economist that there “is a plan” to get Trump a third term, but didn’t provide details.
The official merchandise website of the Trump Organization has been selling hats that say “Trump 2028” since earlier this year.
Johnson on Tuesday argued though that the Trump 2028 hat “is one of the most popular that’s ever been produced,” but suggested it was a move to provoke Democrats.
The speaker said Trump has “a good time with that trolling the Democrats, whose hair is on fire by the very prospect. But I do believe that we’ve got three extraordinary years ahead of us.”
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
