(NEW YORK) — A dangerous and potentially historic flooding event is bearing down on 22 million Americans from Arkansas to Ohio, and residents are urged to prepare now.
The life-threatening flooding will likely hit from Wednesday night through Sunday morning, with multiple rounds of heavy rain pounding the same spots over the course of the week.
Twelve to 18 inches of rainfall is forecast for the bull’s-eye of the storm, which spans from Little Rock, Arkansas, to the Arkansas-Missouri border, to Louisville Kentucky, to Evansville, Indiana.
Residents are urged to avoid flooded roads and be prepared for power outages.
Before the flooding moves in, severe storms are heading to the Heartland.
Damaging winds, hail and tornadoes are in the forecast Tuesday night from central Oklahoma to central Kansas.
On Wednesday and Wednesday night, the hail, wind and strong tornadoes could stretch from Chicago to St. Louis to Indianapolis to Louisville to Little Rock.
On the north side of the storm, heavy snow is expected across northern Minnesota. Six to 12 inches of snow could fall from Tuesday night to Wednesday night, along with wind gusts up to 40 mph.
(NEW YORK) — U.S. stocks tumbled in early trading on Tuesday, just a day before President Donald Trump’s expected announcement of sweeping new tariffs, which threatens to escalate a global trade war.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 250 points, or 0.6%, while the S&P 500 declined 0.45%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ticked down 0.3%.
Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Monday that he had settled on a course of action for the fresh round of tariffs, though he declined to offer details.
Additional U.S. tariffs could elicit countermeasures from trade partners, exacerbating global trade tensions that erupted in response to a previous set of tariffs issued by the Trump administration last month.
Europe has a “strong plan” to retaliate against Trump’s planned tariffs, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a speech on Tuesday.
“We will approach these negotiations from a position of strength. Europe holds a lot of cards, from trade to technology to the size of our market,” von der Leyen said.
Days earlier, Trump told reporters over the weekend that his tariffs could affect “all the countries.”
“The tariffs will be far more generous than those countries were to us, meaning they will be kinder than those countries were to the United States of America,” he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
This undated photo posted by the New York Yankees on the social media site X shows 14-year-old Miller Gardner, the son of former Yankees players Brett Gardner, who died, Mar. 21, 2025, from a sudden illness while on a family vacation. (@Yankees/X)
(MANUEL ANTONIO, COSTA RICA) — High levels of carbon monoxide were detected in 14-year-old Miller Gardner’s hotel room, Costa Rican police revealed more than one week after the son of former New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner mysteriously died on a family vacation.
The carbon monoxide was discovered while conducting tests last week in Miller Gardner’s room at the exclusive Arenas Del Mar resort in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rican police said Monday.
Miller Gardner’s cause of death is not known and investigators are still waiting for final toxicology results.
“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss,” a spokesperson for the Arenas Del Mar resort said in a statement. “We trust that the forensic process will objectively, clearly, and conclusively clarify the causes of this unfortunate incident.”
“Out of respect for the ongoing judicial process and the family’s privacy, we will refrain from commenting on any unconfirmed hypotheses or possible causes,” the spokesperson continued.
Miller Gardner died in his sleep on the morning of March 21, according to the family.
The night before, the Gardners went out to dinner at a restaurant close to the resort, and they felt sick when they returned to the hotel, according to a Costa Rican source close to the investigation.
A hotel spokesperson said the staff “dispatched a medical team immediately, including a licensed doctor, which arrived to handle the emergency situation.”
“Miller was a beloved son and brother and we cannot yet comprehend our life without his infectious smile,” the Gardners said. “We are so thankful to all who have reached out to offer support and encouragement during this difficult time and we are confident our faith, family, and friends will help us navigate this unimaginable loss.”
(WASHINGTON) — New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker on Tuesday morning was still speaking on the Senate floor, staging a filibuster he started at 7 p.m. Monday night, in what he called a protest against the national “crisis” he said President Donald Trump and Elon Musk had created.
On Monday night, he said he was set to last “as long as [he is] physically able.”
“I’m heading to the Senate floor because Donald Trump and Elon Musk have shown a complete disregard for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the needs of the American people. You can tune in on CSPAN, YouTube, X, and Facebook,” the senator posted on X as he took to the floor.
Booker, who said he would keep the Senate floor open through the duration of his remarks, said at the top of his speech that he “rise[s] with the intention of disrupting the normal business” of the chamber because he believes the country is in “crisis” due to the actions of the White House since Trump started his second term.
“I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis, and I believe that not in a partisan sense, because so many of the people that have been reaching out to my office in pain, in fear, having their lives upended–so many of them identify themselves as Republicans,” Booker said.
“In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy and even our aspirations as a people For from our highest offices, a sense of common decency. These are not normal times in America. And they should not be treated as such,” he said.
So long as Booker is holding the floor, the Senate won’t be able to conduct other business unless he temporarily yields.
(MANDALAY CITY, MYANMAR) — At least 2,719 people have been confirmed dead in the aftermath of Friday’s massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar, a government official told local media on Tuesday.
Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said during a televised broadcast that another 4,521 people were injured, according to The Associated Press and Reuters.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
Hnat Holyk/Gwara Media/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Russia launched no long-range strike drones into Ukraine on Monday night and into Tuesday morning, Ukraine’s air force said, marking the first night since December 2024 in which zero such craft targeted the country.
Ukraine’s air force reported two missiles launched into the southern Zaporizhzhia region, both of which were shot down. The air force sent out no drone warnings during the night.
The air force also said that Russia attacked frontline communities in Zaporizhzhia with five guided bombs on Monday evening, killing one person and injuring five others.
The absence of attack drones represented a notable departure from recent weeks, which have seen Russia launch massed drone attacks — often of more than 100 drones in the course of a night — against Ukrainian cities.
“There were no strike UAVs,” Andriy Kovalenko — the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council — wrote on Telegram. “We are monitoring the situation, but this doesn’t mean anything yet.”
Both Kyiv and Moscow have continued to launch massed cross-border drone strikes in recent months, despite U.S. efforts to facilitate a ceasefire and eventual peace deal to end Russia’s 3-year-old invasion of its neighbor.
Last week, all three parties — the U.S., Ukraine and Russia — said they agreed to pause any attacks in the Black Sea and freeze strikes on energy infrastructure. Both Kyiv and Moscow have since accused the other of violating the pause on energy attacks.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its forces downed three Ukrainian drones overnight over the territory of its western Bryansk region. The ministry also alleged that Ukrainian drones targeted energy facilities twice over the previous 24 hours.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha also accused Russia of attacking energy infrastructure, telling journalists Monday that a strike on a facility in the southern Kherson region left 45,000 residents without power.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly cited Russia’s near-nightly bombardments as evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no real interest in the ceasefire and peace being proposed by President Donald Trump and his administration.
In a Sunday evening video address, Zelenskyy reported “more strikes and shelling” in seven Ukrainian regions. “The geography and brutality of Russian strikes, not just occasionally, but literally every day and night, show that Putin couldn’t care less about diplomacy,” he said.
“For several weeks now, there has been a U.S. proposal for an unconditional ceasefire,” Zelenskyy added. “And almost every day, in response to this proposal, there are Russian drones, bombs, artillery shelling and ballistic strikes.”
In recent days, Trump hinted at frustration with Moscow, telling reporters he was “very angry” at Putin after the Russian leader again criticized Zelenskyy and called for his removal in favor of a transitional government.
Trump added he would consider applying new sanctions on Russia’s lucrative oil exports and on any nations purchasing its oil. China and India are among the most significant customers for Russian oil products.
The president later told reporters on Air Force One that his administration was making significant progress toward ending the war. Asked about his relationship with Putin, Trump responded, “I don’t think he’s going to go back on his word.”
Asked if there was a deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire, Trump suggested there was a “psychological deadline.”
He added, “If I think they’re tapping us along, I will not be happy about it.”
(WASHINGTON) — Congressional Democrats are renewing their push to expand in vitro fertilization access for military service members by introducing legislation that would require the Department of Defense’s health care program to fund access to IVF for military service members.
The legislative effort, being led in the Senate by Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth and in the House by Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs, would bring IVF access afforded to military service members in parity with the services available to members of Congress. It would also modify current requirements that service members prove that their infertility challenges are directly connected to service, a barrier that the lawmakers say is often cumbersome or impossible to overcome.
The legislation, Jacobs said in an exclusive interview with ABC News, could be “life-changing” for military service members who are often forced to choose between continuing their military service and starting a family.
“I think it will be huge. We know so many military families are struggling to make ends meet as it is, and are facing really significant fertility challenges. It would be life-changing,” Jacobs told ABC News. “We shouldn’t make them choose between serving our country and building their families.”
Duckworth and Jacobs say that some members of the military have been forced to abandon their military careers because of the lack of infertility treatment coverage by their health care program, called TRICARE. It could present a risk to military readiness, they told ABC News.
“For too many service members, the lack of TRICARE coverage of IVF has left them with only a few choices: beat the odds and prove that their infertility is directly related to their service, pay tens of thousands of dollars out-of-pocket for a chance at a family, forgo having children, or leave the military. This is wrong,” Duckworth said.
It’s also about parity, they said: Starting this year, members of Congress are afforded access to plans that offer coverage for infertility treatments. Jacobs and Duckworth say the same should be true for military service members.
“It makes no sense that members of Congress and the rest of the federal workforce will get this, but military families still won’t,” Jacobs said.
This is not the first time that Jacobs and Duckworth have attempted to expand IVF access for military service members. They tried to get this same provision included in the massive military spending package, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, last year as both parties tried to reassure voters of their support for IVF and other infertility treatments.
Though the proposal made it through the House Armed Services Committee, it never made it into the final version of the bill that President Joe Biden signed into law during the waning days of his presidency.
Similar legislation was separately blocked in the Senate by Republican Sen. James Lankford last year. At the time, Lankford said that while he supports IVF, he was concerned about the indefinite cost of the legislation and the possibility it opened for “future definitions for gene editing or for cloning.”
Duckworth and Jacobs’ newest effort, however, is a stand-alone bill that could be voted on not as an amendment, but as it’s own legislation.
Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran, has been vocal about her own experiences using IVF to conceive her two children. She was involved in multiple efforts to expand IVF access last Congress that were ultimately blocked by Republicans.
She said this new proposal would give Republicans the opportunity to make good on President Donald Trump’s pro-IVF rhetoric that he’s used on the campaign trail and at the White House.
“President Trump pledged to voters on the campaign trail that he would go even further by making IVF free if elected and has repeated the bold-faced lie that he is governing on the principle of ‘promises made, promises kept,'” Duckworth said in a statement. “Republicans can now help him partially fulfill his broken IVF promise by joining our commonsense legislation that would make sure those who answer the call to serve have access to the care they need to build their family.”
No Republican has yet signed on as a cosponsor, but Duckworth and Jacobs are pointing to Trump’s comments as recently as last week touting his support for IVF as a possible boon to their efforts.
On the campaign trail, as an Alabama State Supreme Court ruling temporarily threw IVF access into question, Trump was vocal about his hope to make IVF continually accessible. He referred to himself as the “father of IVF” and issued a statement that said “I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby.”
Trump has continued to make his support for IVF known. As recently as Wednesday when, during a Women’s History Month event, he referred to himself as the “fertilization president.”
“Fertilization. I’m still very proud of it, I don’t care. I’ll be known as the fertilization president, and that’s OK,” Trump said. “That’s not bad. I’ve been called much worse. Actually, I like it, right?”
It’s at this point unclear if the bill, which if pushed by Democrats to the Senate floor as a stand-alone bill would require the unanimous support of the Republican conference, would have the support it needs to pass. It’s also unclear if efforts to include it in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act or other major legislative pushes could lead to passage.
(TALLAHASSEE, FL) — A pair of special elections in Florida for the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday to fill vacancies left by former Republican Reps. Mike Waltz and Matt Gaetz has heated up in recent weeks — especially in the 6th District where Waltz served.
Both lawmakers resigned to join the Trump administration, although Gaetz withdrew his nomination as attorney general when it became clear that he did not have sufficient support in the Senate to become confirmed.
Ahead of the election, Republicans have 218 seats in the House, while Democrats have 213; four seats are vacant. Republicans can only afford to lose two votes before losing their majority for a vote on the House floor.
While Republicans will hold on to their majority regardless of the results in Florida, the election comes amid concerns over maintaining that power — a concern that spilled into the public when President Donald Trump recently asked Rep. Elise Stefanik to withdraw from her nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations rather than give up her seat.
One of the Florida races is in play more than expected, with uncertainty among some Republicans over whether their candidate in the 6th District, state Sen. Randy Fine, can keep the seat safely in Republican hands, given that he has lagged far behind the Democratic candidate, teacher and progressive Josh Weil, in fundraising.
Thus, while the Republicans are favored to win in each district, given that both were ruby-red in 2024, some have speculated that the margin between the Republicans and Democrats in at least the 6th District could be tighter than anticipated.
Special elections usually have lower turnout than on-cycle elections and turnout and results can be tough to predict.
On the fundraising front, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission, Fine has raised or received around $987,000 from late November 2024 through mid-March, while Weil has raised or received more than $9 million since Oct. 1, 2024 through mid-March. Fine also donated $600,000 to himself, according to later filings.
Weil’s campaign has spent more than $8 million of what he’s raised, per the filings; Fine’s campaign had also spent much of its cash on hand before his donations to himself.
But Fine does have Trump’s strong endorsement.
Weil’s campaign has spent more than $8 million of what he’s raised, per the filings; Fine’s campaign had also spent much of its cash on hand before his donations to himself.
But Fine does have Trump’s strong endorsement.
Trump said on Thursday of Fine: “He will be there whenever I need him, and he wants to be there whenever we need him. He wants to be there for you.”
Fine has expressed confidence. He told ABC News Live anchor Diane Macedo on Monday, “We’re doing great,” and later added, “What we’re seeing is angry Democrats, and Republicans having to understand what’s at stake.”
Weil, who was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Friday, told ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis on Monday night, “People want someone who will fight for them in Washington and that’s what we’re offering.”
He said that Sanders’ endorsement, which Fine had criticized, seemed to be an asset when talking to voters who appreciated the senator’s message.
In the special election in Florida’s 1st District, located at the westernmost part of the Panhandle, Republican candidate Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer, is facing Democratic candidate Gay Valimont, a gun violence-prevention activist. Valimont was the Democratic nominee in 2024, losing to Gaetz by over 30 percentage points.
Trump has also thrown his support behind Patronis.
The president said in a telephone rally on Thursday, “Jimmy’s done an outstanding job as the Chief Financial Officer of the state of Florida, helping to guide your state to tremendous economic success. And now he wants to keep on fighting for Florida in Congress, and he’s going to do that, and he’ll vote to defend Social Security, protect Medicare, all these things … under great danger with the Democrats.”
Patronis, speaking after Trump, told listeners, “Look, if you’re not fired up to hearing the president right now, then you need to get your pulse checked with President Trump and the White House. A Republican majority in Congress, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform this country.”
Meanwhile, Valimont has raised more than Patronis, per Federal Election Commission filings — which show Valimont has raised around $6 million while Patronis raised around $2 million.
“In Congress, I will show Florida’s 1st District what it looks like when the government truly works for the people and our needs,” Valimont wrote on Monday.
-ABC News’ John Parkinson, Lauren Peller and Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
(MADISON, WI) — Voters head to the polls on Tuesday in Wisconsin for a hot-button race that could offer a barometer on how Americans are feeling at this point in President Donald Trump’s second term.
Republican-backed Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel and Democratic-backed Dane County Judge Susan Crawford are the candidates in Tuesday’s marquee state Supreme Court race, which is technically nonpartisan — but it has become the center of a political firestorm, as well as the target of millions spent by groups linked to tech billionaire and key Trump adviser Elon Musk.
The election will determine which of the candidates, vying to replace retiring Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, will help determine the ideological bent of the court, which currently leans liberal.
“This is playing out like a presidential-style election. You turn on your TV, any local broadcast station here across the state of Wisconsin, you are inundated with political-type ads for what is technically a nonpartisan judicial race, but this is a full-on political race … this is becoming a true litmus test for the first 100 days of the Trump administration,” Matt Smith, political director at Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate WISN-TV, told ABC News Live anchor Diane Macedo last week.
The winner of this race will join the bench as the court potentially grapples with key voter issues such as abortion access and redistricting. For example, there is a Wisconsin Supreme Court case regarding if the Wisconsin Constitution protects the right to an abortion, which the court might consider after the new justice is seated.
The race could also preview how voters in the battleground state feel a few months into Trump’s second term — especially as Musk and his work with the federal government through the Department of Government Efficiency becomes a key issue given his groups’ investments in the race.
Musk has indicated he is interested in the race because of the possibility that the court takes on redistricting cases — which could impact the balance of power in the U.S. House if rulings cause congressional maps to be redrawn.
“That is why it is so significant, and whichever party controls the House, to a significant degree, controls the country which then steers the course of Western civilization,” Musk said at a high-profile town hall on Sunday in Green Bay.
Musk has implied “the future of civilization” is at stake with the race. On Sunday, the tech billionaire also controversially gave away two $1 million checks to attendees at a rally in his latest effort to support Schimel.
Schimel, the candidate backed by Republicans, is a former state attorney general and a circuit court judge in Waukesha County. He has received almost $20 million in support (such as spending for TV ads) as of Monday from groups linked to Musk, per a tally by the Brennan Center for Justice.
Schimel has also received endorsements from Trump, Musk, Donald Trump, Jr., and other key conservative figures.
Schimel has welcomed the conservative support, yet said at a rally last week that he would treat any case fairly, including if it was a case brought by Trump.
However, Crawford and her allies have alleged he would not treat cases involving Trump or Musk fairly, and she has made Musk a main target of her campaign.
Schimel, asked on Thursday by ABC affiliate WISN to share his closing argument ahead of the final days in the race, said, “My closing argument is that people need to take this race seriously. So much is at stake. We have to restore objectivity to this court right now … We have to put the court back in its proper role where it’s not making the law. It’s not going through a political agenda. It is applying the law the way the legislature writes it, to the facts of the case.”
Crawford, backed by Democrats, is a Dane County circuit court judge and a former private attorney. At points, she represented Democratic-aligned groups such as Planned Parenthood, an organization supporting abortion access.
Major liberal donors such as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Democratic donor George Soros have given money to the Wisconsin Democratic Party, and the state party has donated $2 million to Crawford. The national Democratic Party has also invested in the race.
Crawford told WISN that her closing argument was about an impartial court: “It’s about making sure that we have a Supreme Court that is fair and impartial in interpreting our laws to protect the rights of Wisconsinites. The other choice is an extreme partisan, someone who is selling out to special interests, has a long history of doing that, and has now tied himself to Elon Musk.”
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, as of Monday, more than $90 million has been spent in the race — making it the most expensive judicial election in the nation’s history. That amount includes more than $49 million spent by Schimel or groups supporting him, and more than $40 million spent by Crawford or groups supporting her.
The nonprofit says that the previous record for spending in a state supreme court race was in Wisconsin’s 2023 state supreme court election, when $56 million was spent.
Voters have taken notice. One Wisconsinite who voted early told WISN, “There’s a lot of outside money coming in, in our state. And I wanted to make sure that my voice is being represented and not other people.”
As of Monday, around 644,000 people in Wisconsin have voted early in person or by mail, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
Voters in Wisconsin will also vote on a ballot initiative over whether to enshrine requiring a photo ID to vote into the state constitution. Voter ID is already required by state law; enshrining it into the state constitution would not establish new requirements, but would likely make it harder to ever undo the law.
Democratic groups and voting rights organizations have criticized the ballot initiative as potentially disenfranchising voters. Supporters of the initiative argue it will strengthen election security in Wisconsin and is cementing a requirement that has already been in place.
A Marquette University Law School poll taken in late February also found that a majority of registered voters in Wisconsin support photo ID for voting, and separately, a majority of registered voters in Wisconsin said they would support the ballot initiative.
ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Ben Siegel, Will Steakin, Averi Harper, Hannah Demissie and Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.
(BOSTON) — Karen Read’s second trial is set to begin Tuesday, seven months after a first prosecution in the alleged murder of her police officer boyfriend ended with the jury unable to reach a verdict.
Read is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, in January 2022. Prosecutors alleged Read hit O’Keefe with her vehicle and left him to die as Boston was hit with a major blizzard. Read has denied the allegations and maintained her innocence.
At least four jurors who served on her first trial last year confirmed that she was found not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving a scene of personal injury and death, according to Read’s attorneys.
Read was also charged with manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence.
She pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
Jury selection in the retrial begins on Tuesday. Jury selection could last weeks. Her first trial lasted more than two months, including deliberations, and drew widespread national coverage.
In a surprise twist this week, Read added one of the alternate jurors from her first trial to her legal team for the retrial. Victoria George, the alternate juror, is a licensed civil attorney in Massachusetts.
Last August, a judge declined to dismiss the two charges in her retrial, saying no verdict was announced in court so she was not acquitted of any charges — despite her attorneys’ claim the jury found her not guilty in deliberations. Read filed several appeals to state and federal courts to get the charges dropped, without success.
Read and O’Keefe met friends for drinks at a local sports bar before the storm and then went to another nearby bar, Read told ABC News.
Around midnight, O’Keefe and some others elected to leave after they were invited to the home of Brian Albert, a fellow Boston police officer, she said.
Read, who said she was tired, claims she dropped O’Keefe off outside Albert’s residence and then drove her SUV to O’Keefe’s house and fell asleep.
Albert and others who attended the gathering at his home say that O’Keefe never went inside the home.
Read said she awoke alone and anxiously called O’Keefe’s friends to say he never came home.
Read said she drove around Canton for 20 minutes before meeting up with two friends of O’Keefe — Kerry Roberts and Jennifer McCabe, sister-in-law of Brian Albert — and returning to O’Keefe’s house thinking he may have made his way home.
Not finding him at the house, the trio drove back to the home where Read said she dropped him off. They found his body lying motionless on the front snowbank, according to her.
He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead that morning. An autopsy found that he died of hypothermia and blunt force injuries to the head.
Prosecutors have alleged Read hit O’Keefe with her car and left him to die in the middle of a snowstorm after the two got into an argument earlier that day.
Damning testimony during Read’s trial led to the suspension of Massachusetts State Police Officer Michael Proctor last July. Trial testimony revealed Proctor was communicating with Canton Police Officer Kevin Albert during the investigation ahead of Read’s murder trial.
Albert is the brother of Brian Albert, who hosted the party at the house where O’Keefe’s body was found outside.
Kevin Albert was also placed on administrative leave last July, according to Boston ABC affiliate WCVB.
ABC News’ Meghan Mariani contributed to this report.
