(PHILADELPHIA) — A portion of Interstate 95 has collapsed in Philadelphia following a large vehicle fire, according to authorities.
Emergency dispatchers received a call for an accident response on the off-ramp of I-95 at 6:22 a.m. on Sunday, Philadelphia Fire Battalion Chief Derek Bowmer said Sunday. When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found heavy fire from a vehicle underneath the I-95 overpass, Bowmer said.
The highway is completely collapsed on the northbound lanes, while the southbound lanes are compromised, Bowmer said.
The incident was then upgraded to a hazmat situation, Bowmer said. Crews have extinguished the fire, but there is some runoff from possible fuel or gas lines. The cause of the fire is unknown, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told ABC News.
The accident occurred between Exit 32 for Academy Road and Exit 30 for Cottman Avenue in the Tacony section of Philadelphia, ABC Philadelphia station WPVI reported.
All northbound lanes between Exit 25 at Allegheny Avenue and Castor Avenue and Exit 32 at Academy Road and Linden Avenue are currently shut down, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Southbound lanes between Exit 32 and Exit 30 at Cottman Avenue and Rhawn Street are also closed.
That portion of I-95 is expected to remain shut down for an extended period of time, according to the DHS. The southbound overpass is in critical condition, according to the Pennsylvania DOT.
The fire was so big it had overtaken both northbound and southbound lanes on the highway, witness Lisa Taormino, who was commuting southbound on I-95 about 20 minutes before it collapsed, told ABC News.
Video taken by Taormino, and posted to social media, showed flames and smoke billowing from the northbound lane into the southbound.
“It wasn’t until I reached the bridge part that it was starting to be compromised and the structure wasn’t as sound as it should have been,” Taormino said. “There was another car behind me that looked like it was going to back up instead of traveling across the bridge.”
Other videos posted to social media show large plumes of dark smoke hanging over the highway.
Multiple agencies are involved in the response to the crash, with some expressing concern regarding the runoff due to the proximity to the Delaware River. Health officials will determine the environmental impact.
Department of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro issued statements saying that they are closely monitoring the accident.
The collapse will have “significant impacts” on the city and region until reconstruction is complete, Buttigieg wrote in a later tweet.
“This is a major artery for people and goods, and the closure will have significant impacts on the city and region until reconstruction and recovery are complete,” Buttigieg tweeted. “Our department will be there with support throughout the process of I-95 returning to normal.”
There is no information on any injuries or occupants involved in the vehicle fire, Bowmer said.
(WASHINGTON) — Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons on Sunday said he thinks Donald Trump’s federal indictment over handling of classified records creates electoral trouble for the GOP in 2024 — and, at the same time, he admits some worry over Trump’s White House prospects.
“I think the challenges here are for Republicans to explain to the American people why they are confident President Trump should be reelected, given his casual — even callous — mishandling of critical national security documents,” Coons, a close ally of President Joe Biden, told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos.
“This isn’t a minor case of who kept a handful of documents inadvertently,” Coons said. “He’s been charged for knowingly and willingly concealing, that he retained willfully federal documents that were critical to our national defense.”
Trump was indicted on 37 counts in the federal case in Florida, alleging he “willfully” retained documents containing sensitive U.S. secrets and conspired to obstruct justice as the government sought to retrieve the records after Trump left the White House.
This is the first time a former U.S. president has been charged with a federal crime.
Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said on social media last week that he is innocent. He will be arraigned in Miami on Tuesday. If convicted, he will still continue his bid for the White House in 2024, he’s said.
On “This Week,” Coons referred to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s fiery defense of Trump in an interview earlier on the show and said, “There is one thing that I agree with Sen. Graham on here: Former President Trump is entitled to a presumption of innocence. Under our system, anyone who’s charged with a federal crime is entitled to due process of law, to effective representation and to a presumption of innocence.”
But Coons also stressed that the case against Trump, as laid out by prosecutors, “markedly” differs from two examples Graham raised to say Trump was being treated unequally. Unlike former Vice President Mike Pence and President Joe Biden, both of whom kept classified records while out of office, Trump allegedly stonewalled the government in retrieving the sensitive records they wanted back.
“That’s the basis of this prosecution,” Coons said. “And it is a sad day George for a former president of the United States to be federally criminally charged. But the basis of the rule of law in our democracy is that no man is above the law.”
The Department of Justice has told Pence they won’t bring charges against him, ABC News previously reported. The investigation of Biden’s handling of classified records is ongoing.
Despite what Graham and other Republicans are arguing in the wake of Trump’s indictment, Coons said, “I think there’s no evidence that the Federal Department of Justice has been weaponized.”
Specifically, he said that special counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting Trump, previously prosecuted high-profile Democratic politicians including former presidential candidate John Edwards and New York state lawmaker Sheldon Silver. Smith also led the DOJ’s public integrity section.
“Former President Trump has no one to blame but himself for being federally, criminally indicted,” Coons said.
He also criticized Trump and Republican presidential candidates for, he said, villainizing law enforcement rather than reflecting on the concerns for national security raised by Trump’s case.
Biden has not made any comment on Trump’s second indictment, and Coons said Biden’s focus will instead be on getting “real results for the American people” amid his reelection campaign.
When Stephanopoulos pointed to polling showing Biden trailing Trump or the two nearly tied in the presidential race, Coons acknowledged that and said, “I think we should be worried given [Trump’s] conduct and given his record.”
“I think the best thing for Joe Biden to do in this campaign is to keep showing that he is an effective and capable president by continuing to solve big problems,” Coons said.
“Despite some suggestions by his opponents, he’s sharp, he’s skillful and he’s continuing to lead as our president,” he said, “despite the distractions of former President Trump’s rising legal problems.”
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Donald Trump’s most ardent defenders on Capitol Hill, argued Sunday that in the wake of the former president’s unprecedented federal indictment over how he handled government secrets, most conservatives see the case as politically motivated and Trump will emerge “stronger” in his reelection campaign.
Graham, at times testy in his back-and-forth with ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos, was repeatedly pressed about the allegations against Trump — including, prosecutors claim in the indictment, Trump at one point being recorded discussing a sensitive record with others while acknowledging it was still classified.
“Donald Trump — you may hate his guts, but he is not a spy,” Graham, R-S.C., said.
Trump has denied wrongdoing. He will be arraigned on Tuesday on 37 charges, including willful retention of national defense information and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Graham began his fiery “This Week” interview by saying the case against Trump had parallels with that of Hillary Clinton — though a review of each investigation points to notable differences between them — and he maintained that Trump had been “overcharged” via the Espionage Act, referring to the counts of willful retention.
“Did he do things wrong? Yes, he may have. He will be tried about that. But Hillary Clinton wasn’t,” Graham, who has endorsed Trump for president in 2024, said of the former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate.
Stephanopoulos followed up, pointing to the alleged recording of Trump discussing classified government information that prosecutors cited in his indictment.
“You said that he did not disseminate any of this information. In fact, there’s an audiotape in the indictment where he’s talking about the secret information, saying he knows it’s secret, knows it’s not declassified,” Stephanopoulos told Graham.
“I don’t know what happened; I haven’t heard the audio,” Graham said. “But look at who’s been charged under the Espionage Act: Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning — people who turned over classified information to news organizations … or provide it to a foreign power. That did not happen here.”
Graham then again brought up Clinton.
“Senator, first of all, she was fully investigated,” Stephanopoulos said, prompting a “yeah right” and “give me a break” from Graham.
“There is an audio tape of Donald Trump saying he knows this is secret information he knows he’s sharing with other people. How is that OK?” Stephanopoulos followed up.
“I’m not saying it’s OK,” Graham said before again comparing Trump’s behavior to Clinton’s.
But a review of government documents from both investigations suggests there are key differences in the cases of Trump and Clinton, who used a personal email server that was later found to have been used to send or receive classified information, a scandal that cast a shadow over her entire 2016 presidential bid — and often prompted Trump to tout how much more seriously he would treat government secrets.
Around 193 emails containing classified information were sent to or from Clinton’s personal email, authorities have said, while federal investigators have identified more than 322 individual documents containing classified information that were kept at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after he left the White House.
Prosecutors determined that the evidence and facts of Clinton’s case showed “a lack of intent to communicate classified information on unclassified systems,” especially since “[n]one of the emails Clinton received were properly marked to inform her of the classified status of the information,” and investigators found evidence that Clinton and her aides “worded emails carefully in an attempt to ‘talk around’ classified information,” according to a 2018 report from the Justice Department’s inspector general.
However, the indictment against Trump underscored not only his alleged knowledge that he possessed classified information once he was no longer president but also how he is accused of working to conceal the records from federal authorities after they asked to retrieve them.
Then-FBI Director James Comey blasted Clinton as “extremely careless” in 2016 but prosecutors determined that the evidence and facts showed “a lack of intent to communicate classified information on unclassified systems,” according to a Justice Department report.
On “This Week,” Graham also sought to compare Trump keeping classified documents to what former Vice President Mike Pence and President Joe Biden did. They both kept sensitive records while out of office (in Biden’s case, in his Delaware home’s garage). But they cooperated with government authorities in returning them, in contrast to what prosecutors said was Trump’s resistance.
The Department of Justice has told Pence they won’t bring charges against him, ABC News previously reported. The investigation of Biden’s handling of classified records is ongoing.
“I don’t like what President Trump did in certain aspects. I don’t like that Joe Biden had classified information on the garage. I don’t like that Mike Pence carelessly took classified information. I don’t like any of that,” said Graham, who also pointed to former President Bill Clinton keeping “tapes in his sock drawer.” (In the latter case, Bill Clinton designated some tapes as personal, rather than presidential, allowing him to keep them after his time in office.)
“I would like to review the system. But here’s the point I’m trying to make: What’s happening in Manhattan with Donald Trump has never happened to anybody in the history of New York,” Graham said, referring to Trump’s first indictment, in New York City, related to hush money he paid to an adult film actress. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.
“I think the espionage charges are completely wrong and I think they paint an impression that doesn’t exist. This is not espionage,” Graham said. “And I do believe, George, that most people on my side of the aisle believes when it comes to Donald Trump, there are no rules. And you can do the exact same thing or something similar as a Democrat and nothing happens to you.”
Stephanopoulos interjected and said that experts believe if Trump had complied with the government efforts to retrieve the classified information he took, “There would be no case at all.”
“Well, I don’t know if that’s true. He believes he has the power to do that,” Graham responded.
He again pointed to other cases — Clinton, Biden’s son Hunter Biden — that he said showed an unequal standard of justice. (Hunter Biden is currently under federal investigation himself and has maintained he will be cleared.)
“I think Donald Trump is stronger today politically than he was before. … We’ll have an election, and we’ll have a trial, but I promise you this: Most Americans believe, most Republicans believe, that the law is used as a weapon against Donald Trump,” Graham said.
Stephanopoulos told him: “What I’ve not heard from you is the defense of Donald Trump’s behavior and why you think that’s the kind of behavior you want to see in a president of the United States.”
“I’m not justifying his behavior. If it were up to me, nobody would take classified information in their garage or Mar-a-Lago,” Graham said.
Still, he said, his view of Trump hadn’t wavered.
“I think what’s happening here is trying to delegitimize him,” Graham said.
“It’s not going to change my support for Donald Trump,” he said. “He’s innocent until proven guilty. But what I’m trying to convey to you, and I’m sorry I’m not doing a better job, that most Republicans believe that the law now is a political tool.”
(WINONA COUNTY, Minn.) — A Minnesota man has been charged with murder in the death of the mother of his children, who was found dead in a rural area more than two months after she was reported missing, prosecutors said.
Adam Fravel, 29, is being held on a $2 million unconditional bond after being charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the death of Madeline Kingsbury, 26, prosecutors said.
Kingsbury was last seen alive the morning of March 31, when she and Fravel dropped their two young children off at a day care before returning to her home in Winona, police said. She was reported missing after a concerned friend requested a welfare check and police officer found Kingsbury’s cellphone, wallet and ID in her home but could not locate her.
After an extensive search, authorities located the body of Kingsbury on Wednesday concealed in brush in a wooded area north of Mabel, Minnesota, authorities said.
“She had a bright future, and Mr. Fravel took that from her,” Winona County Attorney Karin Sonneman said during a Friday press conference announcing the charges.
Sonneman added that Fravel could be charged with first-degree murder at a later date, adding that the case is still ongoing.
Fravel told police that he and Kingsbury were in an on-and-off relationship for the past seven years but they had recently separated and were in the process of moving out of their shared home when she went missing, according to a complaint obtained by ABC News. Fravel indicated that two weeks prior to her disappearance, Kingsbury told him she had started a relationship with another man, the complaint stated.
Fravel had told investigators that the morning Kingsbury went missing, he left the house in Kingsbury’s van around 10 a.m., but when he returned later that day, she was not there, police said.
Police found Kingsbury on a property maintained by the Fravel family with a knotted towel wrapped around her head and neck, and her body was wrapped in a bed sheet identified as originating from Kingsbury and Fravel’s shared residence, according to the complaint.
The complaint stated that Fravel reportedly admitted to being “infatuated” with the case of Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old travel blogger who authorities say was strangled to death by her boyfriend in August 2021 while the two were on a cross-country road trip. Petito’s boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, died by suicide.
“Fravel also admitted that he had made a statement to Madeline about her ending up like Gabby Petito,” the complaint stated. “Fravel claimed he was trying to make a joke.”
The complaint also included an excerpt from Kingsbury’s phone conversations in which she confronted Fravel about an alleged incident of domestic violence.
“You know I am not really OK with or over the fact that you put your hand around my neck and pushed me down in front of the kids earlier…” the message from Kingsbury to Fravel reads.
A preliminary autopsy determined that Kingsbury’s cause of death was homicide and homicidal violence, according to the complaint.
Fravel’s first court appearance is set for July 20.
In the weeks after Kingsbury was reported missing, Fravel denied having anything to do with her disappearance.
“Over the course of the last 12 days, my family and I have been subject to a myriad of accusations regarding the disappearance of the mother of my children,” Fravel said in a statement released by his attorney on April 14.
He said he has been cooperating with authorities and that investigators advised him not to attend press conferences or searches “due to safety concerns.”
Fravel and Kingsbury’s children, ages 2 and 5 at the time of their mother’s disappearance, are currently in the custody of Winona County and are with Kingsbury’s parents, ABC Saint Paul affiliate KSTP reported.
When asked about the custody of the children, Sonneman acknowledged that Fravel, who does not have custodial rights, might be able to get supervised and secured visitation rights of their children if he secures bail.
(NEW YORK) — Ted Kaczynski, the convicted terrorist known as the Unabomber, was found dead in his prison cell Saturday morning, according to a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson. He was 81.
Kaczynski was previously in a maximum security facility in Colorado but was moved to a medical facility in North Carolina in December 2021 due to poor health.
Kaczynski, who went nearly 20 years without being captured until his arrest in 1996, was considered America’s most prolific bomber.
Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski placed or mailed 16 bombs that killed three people and injured 23 others, according to authorities.
In 1995, before he was identified as the Unabomber, he demanded newspapers to publish a long manuscript he had written, saying the killings would continue otherwise. Both the New York Times and Washington Post published the 35,000-word manifesto later that year at the recommendation of the U.S. Attorney General and the director of the FBI.
If it hadn’t been for the suspicions of his brother and sister-in-law, Kaczynski might never have been caught. Kaczynski’s sister-in-law, Linda Patrik, was one of the first to identify Kaczynski as the Unabomber after reading the Unabomber’s writing.
In an interview with “20/20 on ID Presents: Homicide” in 2016, Patrik recalled the first time she suspected Kaczynski was responsible for the serial bombings.
“I’d thought about the families that were bombed. There was one in which the package arrived to the man’s home and his little 2-year-old daughter was there. She was almost in the room when he opened the package. Luckily she left, and his wife left. And then he died,” Patrik said. “And there were others. And so I spent those days thinking about those people.”
Patrik said she recognized familiar-sounding ideas in the manuscript from letters her husband David Kaczynski had received from his brother. The family eventually decided to contact the FBI, and on April 3, 1995, a 9-man SWAT team apprehended Kaczynski in his cabin in Montana.
“When she said, ‘Well, I think maybe your brother’s the Unabomber,’ I thought, ‘Well, this is not anything to worry about. Ted’s never been violent. I’ve never seen him violent,'” David Kaczynski said in the interview. “I couldn’t imagine that he would do what the Unabomber had done.”
Ted Kaczynski went on trial in Sacramento, California, where the key issue was not his guilt but his sanity and whether he would be spared the death penalty. He pleaded guilty to murder in exchange for life in prison without parole in 1998.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(MIAMI) — For the second time in two months, former President Donald Trump will be arraigned on criminal charges, this time in connection with his alleged mishandling of top secret documents after leaving office.
Trump was previously arraigned in April after he was indicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records by Manhattan prosecutors and is awaiting a trial that is expected to begin next year.
However, his pending case in a Florida federal court, which has been known to adhere to speedy trials, may be a swift one and have long-lasting effects on his bid for the White House and other investigations.
First court appearance in Miami
Trump is scheduled to be arraigned on his 37-count indictment on Tuesday and will appear before a judge in Miami.
He will surrender to the authorities, be processed and then be taken before the judge.
It is unlikely that Trump will be in handcuffs during this process.
The former president has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and decried federal prosecutors, and is expected to plead not guilty.
“The U.S. Marshals are responsible for the protection of the federal judicial process, and we take that responsibility very seriously. Ensuring that judges can rule independently and free from harm or intimidation is paramount to the rule of law, and a fundamental mission of the USMS,” a spokesman for the U.S. Marshal Service told ABC News in a statement.
Following his plea, the judge will have the right to remand Trump on bail or release him on his own recognizance before adjourning for a future date.
Trump was released on his own recognizance following his arraignment in a Manhattan criminal court in April.
‘Rocket Docket’ court sets timeline expectations
Following Trump’s plea, the federal judge will adjourn the case for another date and allow attorneys an opportunity to review the indictment charges and make motions regarding the case, including seeking to have the charges dismissed or evidence suppressed.
It’s unknown when the next hearing or the trial date will be, but legal experts say based the on venue of the case, the Southern District of Florida, it may be soon.
The district is known to be a “rocket docket” court, a term used by legal professionals for venues that adhere to the swift trials.
“You can expect a criminal case to be resolved within six months of an indictment issuing,” Walter Norkin, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of Florida, told ABC News. “The judges in the Southern District of Florida adhere very strictly to the Speedy Trial clock, which, with limited exceptions, requires trial or conviction to occur within 70 days.”
Special counsel Jack Smith also stressed that his office would push for a speedy trial “consistent with the public interest and the rights of the accused,” during a news conference Friday after the indictment was unsealed.
“It’s very important for me to note that the defendants in this case must be presumed innocent until proven guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,” he said.
Trials clash with campaign schedule
Trump has maintained that he will continue to campaign for the GOP ticket as the court cases and investigations continue.
In fact, he has boasted about his probes at several rallies, campaign emails and statements. He is also raising money off the indictment.
The timetable of the federal could affect key campaign events. The GOP has currently scheduled its first presidential debate for August 23.
Trump hasn’t immediately indicated if he will attend the event.
He is also under investigation in Georgia over election interference during the 2020 race, but it is not known if or when charges could be brought against Trump.
Trump’s case in Manhattan is slated for their criminal trial to begin in March 2024, just as the presidential primaries pick up.
L.S. Dunes, the new band featuring My Chemical Romance‘s Frank Iero and Coheed and Cambria‘s Travis Stever, has premiered the video for their song “Grey Veins.”
The clip, streaming now on YouTube, combines Legos with the aesthetics of ’70s Japanese sci-fi horror movies.
“I’ve always said that if I couldn’t be in a band the only other thing I would want to do is to make monster movies,” Iero says. “It’s been my dream ever since I was a little, and it was the thing my dad and I bonded over. From an early age, music and monsters is just something that went hand in hand for me.”
“Grey Veins” appears on the debut L.S. Dunes album, Past Lives, which dropped last November.
L.S. Dunes also includes Circa Survive vocalist Anthony Green, and bassist Tim Payne and drummer Tucker Rule of Thursday. They’ll launch the U.S. tour July 9 in Nashville.
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band fans in Washington, DC, will have to wait an additional month before they can see them hit the stage.
It was just announced that The Boss’ August 28 concert at Nationals Park has been postponed to September 29, noting tickets to the original show will be valid for the new date.
No reason for the move was given.
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band are currently on tour in Europe and are scheduled to play Landgraaf, The Netherlands, on Sunday, June 11. The tour returns to North America with a two-night stand at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, August 9 and 11. A complete list of dates can be found at Springsteen.net.
New Warner Music Nashville artist Chase Matthew has released his sophomore album, Come Get Your Memory. The 25-song record includes Chase’s chest-thumping single, “Love You Again.”
Brooke Eden‘s new EP, Outlaw Love, has arrived. The autobiographical four-track set was co-written by Brooke and includes the empowering title track.
Colbie Caillat is set to release her debut solo country album, Along the Way, on September 22. The 13-track project can be previewed with “Pretend” and “Worth It” now.
A little over 20 years ago — May 30, 2003 — Luther Vandross released his Grammy-winning hit “Dance With My Father,” which the late singer co-wrote with Richard Marx. To mark the milestone, the song has been remixed in high resolution, immersive Dolby Atmos sound, now available across all major streaming platforms.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since Luther and I wrote ‘Dance With My Father,’” Richard Marx tells Billboard. He notes, “When he recorded ‘Dance’ he said to me, ‘Richard, this is my signature song. This is my “Piano Man.”‘ He knew how special a song it was immediately.”
“I miss Luther, the man … my dear friend … every day,” Richard adds. “But I couldn’t be more proud to be his collaborator on a song that has touched millions and continues to resonate all around the world.”
Luther’s estate is asking fans to celebrate the milestone by uploading a photo of their father — or their father figure — this Father’s Day, sharing what he taught you using #DanceWithMyFather20.
“Dance With My Father” was a top 40 hit and earned Luther two Grammys, including one for Song of the Year. It was released when Luther was hospitalized for a stroke, so many of his celebrity pals and their dads — or photos of their dads — appeared in the video in his place.
