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Trump describes upcoming summit with Russia’s Putin as ‘feel-out meeting’

August 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday previewed his highly-anticipated meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, saying he’s hopeful for “constructive conversations” but that it isn’t up to him to make a peace deal.

Trump confirmed last week he would sit down with Putin in Alaska as his imposed deadline for Moscow to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine came and went. No exact time or specific venue has been announced for Friday’s summit.

“This is really a feel-out meeting, a little bit,” Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room, where he held a news conference on a federal takeover of Washington’s police force and deployment of the National Guard to deal, he said, with the city’s crime and homelessness.

“I think if it weren’t for me, he would not be even talking to anybody else right now,” Trump said of Putin. At the same time, Trump downplayed the idea that Friday’s talks will result in an end to the war in Ukraine.

“We’re going to see what the parameters are, and then I’m going to call up President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy and the European leaders right after the meeting,” Trump added. “And I’m going to tell them what kind of a deal — I’m not going to make a deal. It’s not up to me to make a deal.”

Trump said Zelenskyy wasn’t invited to be part of Friday’s meeting, but that he’d call the Ukrainian leader first after to relay what was discussed. He said if there’s a “fair deal” that he would reveal it to Zelenskyy and European leaders.

“And I may say, ‘Lots of luck, keep fighting’ or I may say, ‘We can make a deal,'” Trump said.

When asked by Trump how he’ll know whether a deal can be made, Trump responded: “Because that’s what I do. I make deals.”

Trump declined to share specifics on what he would consider a fair agreement between Ukraine and Russia, but again suggested that there would be “some land swapping.”

Trump said his goal was to set up a next meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin or between himself, Zelenskyy and Putin.

“I’ll be there if they need, but I want to have a meeting set up between the two leaders,” Trump said.

Friday’s meeting will mark the first time Putin will be in the U.S. since 2015. Trump on Monday mistakenly said he was “going to Russia” as he discussed the summit, though he also praised the fact that Putin is coming to the U.S. rather than the other way around.

“I thought it was very respectful that the president of Russia is coming to our country as opposed to us going to his country or even a third party place,” Trump said. “But I think we’ll have constructive conversations.”

Trump on Monday continued to express frustration with Putin and Zelenskyy, and again claimed the war wouldn’t have started if he were president. Trump had repeatedly claimed on the campaign trail that he would end the war within his first 24 hours in office, which he later said was an exaggeration. He described the yearslong conflict as “complex” with a “lot of bad blood” but that he would press Putin to pursue peace.

“I am going in to speak to Vladimir Putin and I will be telling him, ‘You have to end this war. You have to end it.’ And he wasn’t going to mess with me. This war would have never happened,” Trump said.

People trapped under rubble after explosion at Pennsylvania steel plant, rescue operation underway: Officials

August 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(CLAIRTON, Pa.) — A rescue operation is underway for people trapped under rubble following an explosion at a Pennsylvania steel plant, county officials said.

It’s not clear how many people are trapped from the blast at the US Steel Clairton Coke Works plant in Clairton, about 15 miles outside of Pittsburgh.

Allegheny County Director of Communications Abigail Gardner said the Health Department is on site monitoring air quality and Gov. Josh Shapiro said his administration is in touch with officials.

“The scene is still active, and folks nearby should follow the direction of local authorities,” the governor said on social media. “Please join Lori and me in praying for the Clairton community.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Texas House Democrats remain out of state as redistricting showdown continues into second week

August 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(AUSTIN, Texas) — The battle over potential mid-decade redistricting in Texas — where the state’s congressional district lines could be redrawn well ahead of the upcoming census — continued Monday as dozens of Texas House Democrats remained out of state for a second week to block any potential votes on the map.

In Austin, the Texas House of Representatives is scheduled to meet and the redistricting bill is technically scheduled for a second reading (which would not be a vote to pass it out of the chamber). But this cannot happen without a quorum present; Republican legislators may try for another roll call vote to see if they still do not have a quorum.

The Texas Senate is also scheduled to meet and may vote on its own version of redistricting legislation, although if it votes the bill out of the Senate it cannot be voted on in the House until there is a quorum.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, separately, escalated legal efforts last week to get Democrats back to Texas or investigate who is funding their efforts.

Abbott has also said he will call special legislative session after special session to get the Republican-supported maps passed, even if Democrats run out the 30-day clock on the current session.

“I’m authorized to call a special session every 30 days. It lasts 30 days, and as soon as this one is over, I’m going to call another one, then another one, then another one, then another one. If they show back up in the state of Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the Capitol,” he told Fox News in an interview on Sunday.

“If they want to evade that arrest, they’re going to stay outside of the state of Texas for literally years, and they might as well just start voting in California or voting in Illinois, wherever they may be,” he continued.

But Democrats are also going on the offensive. Eric Holder, a former attorney general and current chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, is set to speak about redistricting with U.S. House Democrats on Wednesday.

In California, legislators have said they expect to unveil proposed new congressional maps this week that would possibly go in front of voters for approval in a special election in November. But running a statewide election with relatively little notice will be a challenge, the Secretary of State’s office has said.

On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to Trump saying it would drop its potential plans if other states would do the same.

“You are playing with fire, risking the destabilization of our democracy, while knowing that California can neutralize any gains you hope to make,” Newsom wrote. Separately, governors in Florida, Indiana, and Missouri have indicated interest in potential mid-decade redistricting.

Some of the Texas House Democrats who have broken quorum will be appearing at pressers in Illinois on Monday excoriating the continued efforts to redraw the maps.

During an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker took pride in housing Texas Democrats, calling President Donald Trump a ‘cheater.’

“[Republicans] know that they’re going to lose in 2026, the congress, and so they’re trying to steal seats, and so that is what these Texas Democrats are trying to stand up against and then don’t forget. The map that they put together, it violates the voting rights act and it violates the constitution,” Pritzker said.

2 South Carolina women found dead over 100 miles from home, homicide investigation underway: Coroner

August 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(SUMTER COUNTY, S.C.) — The deaths of two South Carolina women are being investigated as homicides after their bodies were found in a rural, wooded area on Friday, according to the Sumter County Coroner’s Office.

At approximately 1 p.m. on Friday, two bodies were discovered near a rural, wooded area in Rembert, South Carolina, off Richbow Road, officials said.

The person who discovered the bodies alerted authorities and “met deputies upon their arrival,” the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.

On Friday, Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis — who joined investigators on the scene — said the deaths were “suspicious.” However, Dennis noted that they would need to wait until they “have the results of the autopsies to know more.”

In a press release shared with ABC News on Monday, the coroner’s office identified the victims as 35-year-old Christine Marie McAbee and 38-year-old Kristen Grissom, and said the deaths would be investigated as homicides.

The two were from Charleston County, which is over 100 miles from where their bodies were found.

The autopsies will be performed on Tuesday at the Medical University in Charleston, the coroner’s office said. Officials said the women’s families have been notified of their deaths.

Anyone with more information regarding the incident should contact the sheriff’s office at 803-436-2000 or submit a tip online.

More information regarding the deaths will “be released as it becomes available,” according to the sheriff’s office.

The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Tropical Storm Erin likely to be 1st hurricane of season, not forecast to hit US

August 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Erin is forecast to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season by Wednesday and could become a major Category 3 hurricane by the weekend.

But as of now, Erin is not expected to post a direct threat to the U.S.

Long-range modeling shows Erin moving through the ocean between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast from Aug. 19 to Aug. 21. Because Erin is still more than one week away, meteorologists in Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast will be watching the storm closely, as any deviation east or west could lead to significant impacts.

The National Hurricane Center predicted an above-normal hurricane season for the Atlantic.

August, September and October are the most active months of the Atlantic hurricane season, which ends on Nov. 30.

Flash-flooding threats move into the Plains, Atlantic Coast as Wisconsin mops up

August 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Residents from the Great Plains to the southern Atlantic Coast are bracing for flash flooding on Monday after up to 14 inches of rain fell in a short amount of time over the weekend in parts of Wisconsin, prompting numerous water rescues in Milwaukee.

Severe thunderstorms early Monday were moving through Kansas and northern Oklahoma, packing 60 mph winds and producing rainfall rates of 1 to 3 inches per hour.

Heavy rain is also expected along the Atlantic Coast and could produce possible flash flooding in coastal areas of the Carolinas on Monday, including the cities of Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina.

The heavy rain is forecast to extend from the Florida panhandle to the Big Bend area of Florida, possibly bringing flash flooding to the area on Monday afternoon.

On Monday night and into Tuesday, thunderstorms are expected from northern Texas through Oklahoma and southwestern Missouri, possibly producing flash flooding in those areas.

Meanwhile, parts of the Midwest, including Wisconsin, are recovering from storms over the weekend that toppled trees, flooded homes and left numerous drivers stranded on flooded roads.

Between 8 and 14 inches of rain fell in just a few hours in the Milwaukee area on Saturday and into Sunday. The extreme rainfall flooded neighborhoods, made many roads impassable and led to water rescues. The storm that hit Milwaukee was also accompanied by gusts of over 80 mph that toppled numerous trees and power lines.

During a news conference on Sunday, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier “Chevy” Johnson said thousands of people in Milwaukee were affected by the severe flooding. Johnson said parts of the city saw more than a foot of rain in “a short period of time.”

“It’s something that Milwaukee hasn’t seen in perhaps a decade or more,” Johnson said.

Between 8 p.m. on Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday, the Milwaukee Fire Department and neighboring fire departments received 614 separate emergency calls, including 65 that required water rescues, Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said at the news conference.

In the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, the Root River reached a record level of 11.7 feet, causing it to spill its banks and flood nearby neighborhoods, officials said.

The Franklin Fire Department responded to a 911 call at about 4:27 p.m. local time, reporting that a teenage boy was missing after being swept into the Root River, authorities said.

Police officers and firefighters searched the river and found the teenager holding onto a tree branch and standing on a submerged log in the rapidly moving water about 100 yards downstream from where he was washed into the river, according to the statement from the Franklin Fire Department.

Rescuers made voice contact with the teenager, officials said.

“Although they could not initially see the subject, responders stayed in constant contact, reassuring him to stay calm and continue to hold onto the tree until rescuers arrived,” according to the fire department’s statement.

The Franklin Fire Department divers deployed an inflatable Zodiac boat to rescue the teenager, who was treated at the scene by paramedics, reunited with his family and taken to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin for further medical evaluation, officials said.

“This incident serves as a stark reminder of the dangers posed by flood waters,” the fire department said. “Never walk or drive through flooded roadways or around barricades. Moving water as shallow as 6 inches can knock an adult off their feet, and 2 feet of moving water can sweep away most vehicles.”

Trump puts DC police department under federal control, deploys National Guard

August 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is holding a news conference Monday to reveal plans he’s said “will, essentially, stop violent crime in Washington, D.C.”

“We’re here for a very serious purpose. Very serious, very,” Trump said. “Something’s out of control. But we’re going to put it in control very quickly, like we did in the southern border. I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor. And worse, this is Liberation Day in DC, and we’re going to take our capital back.”

He said he was declaring a public safety emergency, putting the Washington, D.C., police department under federal control and deploying the National Guard.

“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse. This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back,” he said.

The president promoted the news conference in multiple posts on his social media platform and on Sunday posted that it would “also be about Cleanliness and the General Physical Renovation and Condition of our once beautiful and well maintained Capital.”

In a separate post, Trump said the homeless should leave D.C., accompanied by photos of homeless encampments along his route from the White House to his golf club in Sterling, Virginia.

“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital,” Trump wrote. “The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.”

The news conference comes after Trump last week ordered an increase in law enforcement as part of an executive order he signed in March to “Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful.”

Contrary to the president’s claim, preliminary year-to-date crime comparisons from Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department show that overall crime in D.C. has decreased by 7% since last year, with violent crime down 26% and property crime reduced by 5%.

A White House official said the law enforcement effort a “whole of government approach to improve overall public safety” and said that law enforcement will “be focused on high traffic tourist areas and other known hotspots.”

The official added that federal officers “will be identified, in marked units, and highly visible.”

Trump said Sunday that he has given D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser an opportunity to reduce crime rates but she has failed to do that.

“The Mayor of D.C., Muriel Bowser, is a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances, and the Crime Numbers get worse, and the City only gets dirtier and less attractive. The American Public is not going to put up with it any longer,” he claimed.

Bowser said Sunday that Washington has spent the last two years driving down violent crime, “driving it down to a 30 year low, in fact.”

“It is true that we had a terrible spike in crime in 2023, but this is not 2023, this is 2025 and we’ve done that by working with the community, working with the police, working with our prosecutors, and, in fact, working with the federal government,” Bowser told MSNBC.

On Saturday, Trump said the nation’s capital has become “one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World.”

Last week he threatened to deploy the National Guard to D.C. and, as he has on several occasions since he was inaugurated in January, suggested that there should be a federal takeover.

That call came after Edward Coristine, a former Department of Government Efficiency employee, was beaten after he tried to break up a carjacking in D.C.

“So whether you call it federalize or what. And that also includes the graffiti that you see, the papers all over the place, the roads that are in bad shape, the medians that are falling down, the median in between roads, it’s falling down,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

“We’re going to beautify the city. We’re going to make it beautiful. And, what a shame. Rate of crime, the rate of muggings, killings and everything else. We’re not going to let it. And that includes bringing in the National Guard, maybe very quickly.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement last week, “Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long. President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens. There will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C. President Trump is committed to making our Nation’s capital safer for its residents, lawmakers, and visitors from all around the world.”

The seven-day law enforcement effort is being led by the U.S. Park Police but includes personnel from the Metro Transit Police Department, Amtrak Police Department, United States Capitol Police, Washington’s Metro Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, Federal Protective Service, Enforcement and Removal Operations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, United States Marshals Service, United States Attorney’s Office-District of Columbia, Department of Interior, Pre-Trial Services Agency, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA), the White House official said.

Judge rejects Trump administration’s request to unseal Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury testimony

August 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in New York has denied the Trump administration’s motion to unseal grand jury testimony from the criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

The Trump administration has been seeking to release materials related to the investigation into Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019, following the blowback it received from MAGA supporters after it announced last month that no additional files would be released.

Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking and other offenses in connection with Epstein.

In his 31-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York criticized the Department of Justice for using “demonstrably false” reasoning to justify the release of grand jury testimony.

The transcripts would “not reveal new information of any consequence” about Epstein and Maxwell’s crimes, according to Judge Engelmayer, who suggested that the Trump administration’s push to release documents might be an intentional “diversion.”

“Its entire premise — that the Maxwell grand jury materials would bring to light meaningful new information about Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes, or the Government’s investigation into them — is demonstrably false,” he wrote.

Engelmayer wrote that the transcripts contain material already in the public record and lack any firsthand information about Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes. The records do not identify anyone other than Epstein or Maxwell who had sexual contact with a minor, mention any clients, shed light on their methods, or provide new information about Epstein’s death, Engelmayer wrote.

“Insofar as the motion to unseal implies that the grand jury materials are an untapped mine lode of undisclosed information about Epstein or Maxwell or confederates, they definitively are not that. A ‘public official,’ ‘lawmaker,’ ‘pundit,’ or ‘ordinary citizen’ ‘deeply interested and concerned about the Epstein matter,’ and who reviewed these materials expecting, based on the Government’s representations, to learn new information about Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes and the investigation into them, would come away feeling disappointed and misled. There is no ‘there’ there,” the judge wrote.

Engelmayer also suggested that the only reason that might justify the release of the records would be to “expose as disingenuous the Government’s public explanations for moving to unseal.”

“A member of the public, appreciating that the Maxwell grand jury materials do not contribute anything to public knowledge, might conclude that the Government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at ‘transparency’ but at diversion — aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such,” he wrote.

Extreme heat heading to Northeast, West: Latest on the scorching temperatures

August 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Extreme heat is heading to both coasts, bringing dangerously high temperatures to the Northeast, Northwest and Southwest.

In the Northeast, heat alerts are in place for parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and upstate New York.

Parts of Maine could reach record-high temperatures on Monday, with Caribou forecast to hit 95 degrees. Manchester, New Hampshire, and Burlington, Vermont, could each break daily record-high temperatures on Tuesday, potentially hitting 97 degrees and 93 degrees, respectively.

In New York City, an air quality alert is in effect on Monday as the temperature rises. The alert is due to the hot weather trapping human-made air pollution, not wildfire smoke from Canada.

The West is also facing extreme heat.

In the Northwest, heat alerts are in place through Tuesday for Portland, Oregon; Seattle and Spokane, Washington. Temperatures are forecast to hit 99 degrees in Portland and Sacramento, California, and 107 degrees in Medford, Oregon.

In the Southwest, cities including Las Vegas and Phoenix are under extreme heat warnings, with temperatures expected to climb as high as 113 or 114 degrees through Tuesday. And in Death Valley, California, the temperature could reach a scorching 122 degrees on Monday and Tuesday.

Click here for tips to stay safe in the heat.

1 dead, 5 injured in Chicago mass shooting, police say

August 11, 2025 by WDNY Radio

A woman was killed and five other people were hurt when gunfire erupted early Sunday at a large outdoor gathering on Chicago’s West Side – one of three separate shootings to occur in the same neighborhood in fewer than three hours, according to police.

The shooting occurred just before 2:48 a.m. local time on North La Cross Avenue in the South Austin neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago, according to an incident report from the Chicago Police Department.

“Officers responded to a call of a large gathering and found multiple people shot,” police said in the report.

When officers arrived at the scene they found six people suffering from gunshot wounds, officials said.

A 22-year-old woman was discovered with a gunshot wound to the back and was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago, where she was pronounced dead, police said. The victim’s name was not immediately released.

Five other people suffered gunshot wounds in the incident, including two 18-year-old boys and a 17-year-boy. One of the 18-year-old victims was shot in the chest and left arm. Police said he was in critical condition at Stroger Hospital in Chicago, while the 17-year-old sustained a gunshot wound to the left thigh and was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition. The other 18-year-old was treated at the scene for a graze wound to his left hand, police said.

A 29-year-old man shot in the right leg was also in critical condition at Loretto Hospital in Chicago, according to police.

The shooting also left a 29-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her right elbow, according to police, who said she was taken to Rush Hospital in good condition.

No arrests had been announced as of Sunday afternoon. A motive for the shooting remains under investigation, according to police.

At least two other shootings occurred in the same Chicago neighborhood on Sunday morning. Police have not said if the shootings are related.

About three blocks from the North La Cross Avenue mass shooting, an 18-year-old boy was shot in the back on West Maypole Avenue at about 4:37 a.m. and later died at Stroger Hospital, police said. A second 18-year-old boy was also shot in the arm during the shooting, according to police.

The two teenagers were shot after getting into an argument with a gunman who fired at them from a vehicle, police said. No arrests have been announced.

About an hour before the mass shooting on North La Cross Avenue, police responded to a reports of shots fired about a block away on North Lamon Avenue and found a 20-year-old woman suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to her arm, according to police. The woman was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where she was in good condition, police said. No arrests have been announced.

The Chicago shootings occurred less than a day after one person was killed and five others wounded, including a 5-year-old girl, in a mass shooting at an outdoor gathering in Baltimore, Md. A motive for that shooting remains under investigation, according to police.

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