(MIAMI) — Two people are dead after Florida authorities alleged a Miami-Dade Transit bus driver pulled out a weapon and opened fire on a bus during a disturbance.
The shooting erupted just before 3 a.m., when a Miami-Dade Transit bus driver was involved in a disturbance with two male passengers aboard the bus, Officer Diana Delgado of the Miami Gardens Police Department said at a news conference Sunday.
During the disturbance, the bus driver pulled out a weapon and opened fire, shooting the men, according to Delgado.
The two passengers were taken to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital in critical condition and later died from their injuries, according to police.
ABC affiliate TV station WPLG reports both of the shooting victims were male.
It was unclear, according to authorities, whether the bus was moving at the time of the shooting or how many passengers were aboard the bus.
The driver is being detained by police, Delgado said Sunday.
(RALEIGH, NC) — A massive wildfire burning for more than a week in South Carolina jumped the border Saturday and was spreading Sunday into North Carolina, where firefighters were already battling multiple blazes, officials said.
The Table Rock Fire, which started on March 21 in the Table Rock State Park in Pickens County, South Carolina, had burned 11,468 acres total as of Sunday morning in both South Carolina and North Carolina, charring more than 500 acres overnight, according to the South Carolina Forestry Commission.
The Table Rock Fire is now the highest-priority fire in the United States as fire crews responded from multiple states to help battle the blaze, which prompted the evacuations of more than 1,400 homes and businesses on Thursday.
As the fire spread across the border into North Carolina, the South Carolina Forestry Commission said firefighters had upped containment of the fire from 0% on Saturday to 9% by Sunday morning.
Derrick Moore, operations section chief with the South Carolina Forestry Commission’s Southern Area Blue Team, said fire crews are hoping that rain forecast for the area later Sunday and into Monday will help firefighters extinguish the flames.
Pickens County Sheriff Tommy Blankenship said last week that investigators suspect the Table Rock Fire was started by four teenagers. He alleged that the negligent behavior of the teens caused the fire but declined to elaborate.
“They will be held accountable for their actions. I can promise you that,” Blankenship said in a video posted to social media.
Another fire, the Rattlesnake Branch Fire, spread Saturday from South Carolina’s Pickens County into western North Carolina’s Transylvania County, according to an update Sunday from Transylvania County officials.
The Rattlesnake Branch Fire in North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest in Haywood County was burning close to the Transylvania County line but had not breached it, according to Transylvania County officials. The fire had burned nearly 1,900 acres and was 20% contained, according to the Sunday update.
A third fire threatening to spread into Transylvania County is the Persimmon Ridge fire, which is burning in South Carolina near the Table Rock Fire and had grown to more than 2,000 acres as of Sunday afternoon. That fire also was threatening to jump the border into North Carolina, Transylvania County officials said.
Meanwhile, in Polk County, North Carolina, three wildfires continue to burn but authorities said firefighters who have been battling the blazes for days had made significant progress.
The Black Cove Complex Fire – comprised of three wildland blazes: the Black Cove Fire, the Deep Woods Fire and the Fish Hook Fire – had reached a combined 7,670 acres as of Sunday, according to Polk County officials.
The Black Cove fire, which was started March 19 by a downed powerline, was 35% contained after burning 3,501 acres, officials said.
The Deep Woods fire, which also started on March 19, has burned 3,970 acres, authorities said Sunday. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The Fish Hook Fire, which started March 20 by a downed powerline, was 100% contained on Sunday after burning 199 acres, according to officials.
(MADISON, WI) — Just hours after the state Supreme Court rejected Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul’s effort to block Elon Musk from handing out $1 million checks on Sunday night, the billionaire took the stage at a town hall in Green Bay and gave away two $1 million checks to attendees in his latest effort to support conservative candidate Brad Schimel.
Urging the crowd to back Schimel, Musk cast Tuesday as “a vote for which party controls the House of Representatives” and implied “the future of civilization” is at stake.
One of the recipients of a large, showy check, Nicholas Jacobs, is the chair of the Wisconsin College Republicans.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s order came just minutes before the event was set to start.
Notably, the court also rejected a bid from Musk’s lawyers to ask two justices, who had campaigned for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford, to recuse themselves.
The ruling came after an appeals court on Saturday denied Kaul’s emergency motion to stop the giveaway from taking place.
Kaul wrote in his initial filing on Friday that he was asking for emergency relief to stop Musk and America PAC “from further promoting a million-dollar giveaway to attendees of a planned event on Sunday, March 30, 2025, and prohibiting Respondents from making any payments to Wisconsin electors to vote.”
However, the judge assigned to the case, the Honorable Columbia County Circuit Court Judge W. Andrew Voigt, refused to hear the lawsuit before Sunday’s Green Bay rally with Musk — prompting Kaul’s emergency motion asking a Court of Appeals to take action.
After that emergency motion was rejected, Kaul appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to step in on Sunday.
Lawyers for Elon Musk and America PAC then filed motions for the recusal of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices Rebecca Frank Dallet and Jill J. Karofsky.
They argued that because Dallet and Karofsky campaigned for Crawford, and Crawford has been critical of Musk, “to avoid any potential perceptions of bias and manifestations of possible bias, Justices Dallet and Karofsky should decline to participate in consideration of this matter.”
The lawyers also framed the planned Sunday night giveaways as “spokesperson agreements” for spokespeople for the PAC.
In the initial lawsuit, shared by Kaul’s office, Kaul argued that “Musk’s announcement of his intention to pay $1 million to two Wisconsin electors who attend his event on Sunday night, specifically conditioned on their having voted in the upcoming April 3, 2025, Wisconsin Supreme Court election, is a blatant attempt to violate” state law, which “forbids anyone from offering or promising to give anything of value to an elector in order to induce the elector to go to the polls, vote or refrain from voting, or vote for a particular person.”
The suit asked for a restraining order “prohibiting Defendants from any further promotion of the million-dollar gifts to attendees of the planned Sunday March 30, 2025,” as well as a temporary restraining order “prohibiting Defendants from making any payments to Wisconsin electors to vote,” and injunctive relief to “restrain and prohibit all actions by Defendants taken in furtherance of a planned violation” of the state law.
In addition to presenting the checks on Sunday night, Musk said his PAC is launching a “Block Captain” program ahead of the election on Tuesday, where participants will make $20 for each picture they post of someone with a Schimel sign and a thumbs up outside of their home.
So far, two political groups aligned with Musk — America PAC and Building America’s Future — have poured nearly $20 million into supporting Schimel for the open seat.
The world’s richest man has used cash giveaways in the past, including a controversial $1 million sweepstakes offered to voters in swing states during last year’s election cycle as part of an effort to boost President Donald Trump’s chances of winning in those states.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court election, on Tuesday, has generally become the center of a political firestorm, and has become the most expensive state supreme court race in American history, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.
A vegetation fire in California rapidly spread to 1,000 acres on Sunday, prompting evacuations of parts of Inyo and Mono counties. (Cal Fire)
(BISHOP, CA) — A vegetation fire in California rapidly spread to 1,000 acres on Sunday, prompting evacuations of parts of Inyo and Mono counties.
The fire was first reported just after 2 p.m. PT near Highway 6 and Silver Canyon Road north of Bishop, California, a city east of Fresno, according to Cal Fire.
Officials named the fast-moving blaze the Silver Fire.
Cal Fire said Sunday evening that the blaze crossed Highway 6, threatening multiple structures and power lines. The fire remained at 0% containment as of 8 p.m. PT.
There are no known injuries associated with the fire, officials said.
Fighting the blaze was impacted by strong winds, with gusts reaching up to 35 mph at Bishop Airport, according to Cal Fire, which noted extreme turbulence grounded some firefighting aircraft.
The National Weather Service forecasts continued windy conditions for the region, with a High Wind Warning in effect through Monday evening.
ABC News’ Timmy Truong and Tristan Maglunog contributed to this report
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for further “tough measures” against Russia to push President Vladimir Putin into a ceasefire agreement, suggesting after another round of drone strikes that Moscow “couldn’t care less about diplomacy.”
Long-range cross-border strikes have continued throughout U.S.-mediated efforts to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, intended as a springboard for a broader peace deal to end Russia’s 3-year-old invasion of its neighbor.
Both Kyiv and Moscow last week agreed to freeze attacks in the Black Sea and on energy infrastructure, though both have since accused the other of violating the pause on attacking energy targets.
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 continued. “And almost every day, in response to this proposal, there are Russian drones, bombs, artillery shelling and ballistic strikes.”
“Russia deserves increased pressure — all the tough measures that can break its capacity to wage war and sustain the system that wants nothing but war,” Zelenskyy said. “Sanctions against Russia are essential. More air defense for Ukraine is essential. More cooperation and unity among all partners is essential.”
President Donald Trump on Sunday hinted at his apparent frustration with the lack of progress toward a peace deal in Ukraine, telling NBC News 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 that 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.”
“I’ve known him for a long time,” Trump said. “We’ve always gotten along well despite the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax.”
The president said he was “disappointed” by Putin’s latest attacks on Zelenskyy. “He considers him not credible, he’s supposed to be making a deal with him, whether you like him or you don’t like him, so I wasn’t happy with that.”
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.”
Russia and Ukraine continued cross-border strikes through Sunday night into Monday morning.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched two missiles and 131 drones into the country overnight, of which it said 57 drones were shot down and 45 lost in flight without causing damage. The Sumy, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions were affected by the attack, the air force said in a post to Telegram.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down 66 Ukrainian drones overnight — 41 over Bryansk region, 24 over Kaluga region and one over Kursk region.
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
Members of the Chicago White Sox grounds crew struggle to deploy the rain tarp in the bottom of the seventh inning as hail and rain delay a game against the Los Angeles Angels at Rate Field on March 30, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Matt Dirksen/Getty Images)
(CHICAGO) — More than 400,000 customers across the Midwest were without power in the early hours of Monday after severe weather battered the region.
As of 5:30 a.m. ET, more than 292,000 customers were without power in Michigan, according to poweroutage.us — a website that tracks power outages throughout the country.
Another 56,000 were disconnected in Wisconsin, 53,000 in Indiana, 15,000 in Kentucky and 13,000 in Ohio, the website said.
ABC News Chicago affiliate WLS reported that one person was killed in Valparaiso, Indiana, when “severe crosswinds” blew a tractor and a trailer onto their sides, according to a statement by Sgt. Benjamin McFalls of the Porter County Sheriff’s Office.
Severe weather was forecast for much of the Midwest and South as the storm traveled eastward through the weekend.
More than 75 million Americans were in the threat zone of the storm as of late Sunday. The system was expected to bring a range of hazardous weather impacts, including severe thunderstorms and a wintry blast on the northern side.
Sunday’s forecast said the severe weather was due to move to the East Coast and I-95 corridor from Upstate New York all the way south to Tallahassee and New Orleans on Monday.
Damaging winds will be the biggest threat for northern cities but tornadoes cannot be ruled out across southern areas.
ABC News Darren Reynolds and Jessica Gorman contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — In a recent court filing, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has submitted what they believe is a document that the Trump administration uses to identify members of a Venezuelan gang and remove them under the Alien Enemies Act.
The filing is part of their request for a preliminary injunction to bar the administration from deporting migrants under the act.
The document, titled “Alien Enemy Validation Guide,” appears to be a checklist that the administration is using to identify Tren de Aragua (TdA) members with a points-based system, according to the filing.
ACLU attorney Oscar Sarabia Roman submitted a declaration, stating that the organization believes the document is used “to determine whether Venezuelan noncitizens are members of Tren de Aragua and subject to summary removal under the Alien Enemies Act.”
ABC News has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
The checklist submitted by the ACLU is divided into six categories including “Criminal Conduct and Information,” “Self-Admission” and “Judicial Outcomes and Official Documents,” and assigns varying quantities of points to different types of evidence that can be used to score the migrants.
Migrants who score eight points and higher are “validated as members of TdA,” the document says. But the document also appears to leave a lot to the discretion of ICE officers conducting the review, stating that even migrants who only score six or seven points may still be considered members of the gang after the officer consults with a supervisor and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor and “reviewing the totality of the facts, before making that determination.”
The document indicates that individuals who score five points or less should not be validated as a member of TdA but encourages officials to initiate removal proceedings under other existing authorities.
Communicating electronically with a known TdA member is worth six points, in other words, it appears to be enough evidence for an official to classify a person as a member of the gang.
One of the categories labeled “Symbolism” includes a section about “tattoos denoting membership/loyalty to TdA” and social media posts by the subject displaying symbols of TDA. According to the document, individuals with tattoos that are believed to be associated with TDA are worth four points.
The document informs officers to consult with supervisors before classifying migrants as TdA members or initiating removals if they score eight points or more on the “Symbolism” or “Association” categories alone.
In their motion for preliminary injunction, the ACLU also claims intel gathered across different agencies on TdA are “internally contradictory.”
One document submitted by the ACLU — that they state is from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) — includes photos of tattoos that they say HSI considers identifiers of TdA which include tattoos of crowns, trains, stars and clocks. Additional identifiers, according to the document, include “often wear sports attire from U.S. professional sports teams with Venezuelan nationals on them” and “dressed in high-end urban street wear.”
But a separate document the ACLU alleges is from the Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector Intelligence Unit says they “determined that the Chicago Bulls attire, clocks, and rose tattoos are typically related to the Venezuelan culture” and are not indicators of being members or associates of Tren de Aragua.
The ACLU also submitted a document called the “Notice and warrant of apprehension and removal under the Alien Enemies Act” claiming the government may require each alleged TdA member to sign. They say that the five plaintiffs represented in their lawsuit did not receive the document.
“You are not entitled to a hearing, appeal, or judicial review of this notice and warrant of apprehension and removal,” the document states.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said on Sunday that if information had been leaked from top Trump national security officials’ Signal chat discussing plans to bomb the Houthis in Yemen, American lives could have been lost.
“I was, yesterday, down in Hampton Roads. I did two big town halls, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. There are people in the town hall who are either friends or relatives of folks who are on the [aircraft carrier USS Harry S.] Truman. Those folks were saying if their friends or loved ones were flying those jets and that information had been released and the Houthis were able to change their defensive posture, we could have lost American lives,” Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in an interview with co-anchor Martha Raddatz on ABC News’ “This Week.”
On Monday, a journalist revealed that national security adviser Mike Waltz had inadvertently included him in the chat with top Trump officials discussing plans for the Yemen attack. The Trump administration has pushed back against claims that the information included in the chat was classified information.
Warner said, “There is no question, regardless of agency, that this was classified … and those folks who are obfuscating and giving them the benefit of the doubt, I think they’re lying about they should know this is classified.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Tehran has rejected direct negotiations with the United States in regarding its nuclear program, responding to a letter from President Donald Trump, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
However, he added, the path for indirect negotiations remains open, the state news agency reported.
“In this response, although direct negotiations between the two parties are rejected, it has been stated that the path for indirect negotiations is open,” Pezeshkian said.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Pezeshkian stated that Iran’s response to the U.S. president’s letter was sent via Oman.
He emphasized that Iran has never avoided negotiations and blamed the United States for not fulfilling its former commitments, including terminating the former nuclear deal in Trump’s first term in 2018.
It was the breach of commitments that caused problems on this path, which must be addressed to restore trust, the letter underscored, according to Pezeshkian.
“It will be the actions of the Americans that determine whether negotiations continue,” he added.
(MERIDIAN, IDAHO) — A 70-year-old man was charged with aggravated assault after allegedly striking a counter-protester with his vehicle outside a Tesla dealership in Idaho, law enforcement said.
About 30 people attended an anti-Tesla rally on Saturday outside a dealership in Meridian, a gathering that drew a counter-protest of about 200 others, the Meridian Police Department said in a press release.
Tesla vehicles and dealerships have in recent weeks become targets for vandalism and protests, as the carmaker’s chief executive, Elon Musk, has taken on a prominent and divisive role in President Donald Trump’s second administration.
An anti-Musk group had called for a series of “Tesla Takedown” protests to be held this weekend at dealerships and other Tesla facilities throughout the country, including the dealership in Meridian.
As a 49-year-old man arrived at the Idaho rally, Christopher Talbot, 70, of Meridian, allegedly “made an obscene gesture” toward him and then struck him with his car, police said. Officials identified the man who was struck as a counter-protester, saying he had non-life-threatening injuries and that he drove himself to a nearby hospital.
“Reports indicate the victim had been driving a truck with pro-Trump flags and had just parked and exited his vehicle when Talbot struck him with his car,” police said.
Police used the license plate from Talbot’s vehicle to find his home, where he was later arrested. Talbot was booked into Ada County Jail and charged with one count of aggravated battery, a felony, according to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.
“The Meridian Police Department reminds people to respect everyone’s right to protest and express their 1st Amendment Rights without resorting to violence,” the police department said in a statement.
