(NEW YORK) — Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in the defamation and battery case brought by former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll against former President Donald Trump.

Carroll sued Trump in November, alleging that he defamed her in a 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and saying “This woman is not my type!” when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the 1990s.

She added a charge of battery under a recently adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations.

Trump has repeatedly denied Carroll’s allegations.

It’s unclear whether Trump will himself will travel to New York City to attend any portion of the civil trial. His attorney, Joe Tacopina, told Judge Lewis Kaplan Thursday that Trump will make that decision as the trial proceeds.

“Because the decision of the defendant, who is not required to appear as a civil litigant, will be made during the course of the trial, we are not yet in a position to advise the Court in this regard,” Tacopina wrote the judge. “However, we will inform the Court as soon as a decision is reached, particularly in light of the logistical concerns that will need to be addressed in coordination with the Secret Service, the Marshals Service, and the City of New York.”

The trial is expected to last about five days.

Kaplan last week denied Trump’s attempt to delay the start of the trial for four weeks. Trump had sought a one-month delay on the grounds that a “cooling off” period was necessary following intense media coverage of his criminal indictment in Manhattan last month in connection with an alleged hush money payment to an adult film actress.

“There is no justification for an adjournment,” the judge ruled. “This case is entirely unrelated to the state prosecution.”

Carroll previously sued Trump in 2019 after the then-president denied her rape claim by telling The Hill that Carroll was “totally lying,” saying, “I’ll say it with great respect: No. 1, she’s not my type. No. 2, it never happened. It never happened, OK?” That defamation suit has been caught in a procedural back-and-forth over the question of whether Trump, as president, was acting in his official capacity as an employee of the federal government when he made those remarks.

If Trump is determined to have been acting as a government employee, the U.S. government would substitute as the defendant in that suit — which means that case would go away, since the government cannot be sued for defamation.

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(NEW YORK) — Significant flooding is happening along the Mississippi River this week, from Minneapolis to Davenport, Iowa.

Several river gauges are in major flood stages and are under flood warnings for surrounding areas, as some spots could reach the highest river flooding levels in 20 years.

McGregor, Iowa, may see historic flooding, as the area is expected to crest just one foot under the all-time highest on record, which was set back in 1965.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation Monday for 10 counties in the state, which allows state resources to be used to help with the flooding.

Chilly temperatures are expected across parts of the Ohio, the Tennessee Valley and into the Northeast on Tuesday morning.

Frost and freeze alerts are in effect across eight states that could be dangerous to crops or other sensitive vegetation and outdoor plants.

The temperatures are expected to be in the low to mid-30s in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, with both cities under freeze watches.

Pittsburgh is expected to reach 32 degrees Tuesday morning, as well as Charleston, South Carolina.

A few severe storms capable of hail and damaging wind gusts may develop across parts of Florida on Monday — a severe thunderstorm watch is also possible if the storms get strong enough.

More than two feet of rain brought Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to a standstill nearly two weeks ago, shutting down the city’s airport and stranding drivers on flooded streets.

A severe storm threat begins in Texas on Tuesday with an area from Dallas to Austin and San Antonio at risk for damaging winds, hail and possible tornadoes.

Another day of severe storms is possible across the same region in Texas on Wednesday and could expand east to Shreveport, Louisiana.

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(FORT WORTH, Texas) — Three people were arrested in Texas after one of them pepper-sprayed protesters outside a restaurant hosting a drag show, police said.

The incident unfolded in Fort Worth on Sunday afternoon when a small group of people from an anti-LGBTQ nonprofit called Protect Texas Kids arrived at Fort Brewery and Pizza to stage a protest across the street from the restaurant during a scheduled drag show. A group of counter-protesters — dressed in black, wearing helmets and outer tactical vests — also showed up and stood in front of the restaurant, many of them armed with handguns and long guns, according to the Fort Worth Police Department, which said it was monitoring both groups via a city-owned surveillance camera.

At approximately 12:50 p.m. CT, police observed a member of the counter-protest group — later identified as Samuel Fowlkes, 20, of Weatherford, Texas — cross the street and approach the Protect Texas Kids group, then allegedly spray them with pepper spray. Officers attempted to arrest Fowlkes on scene, but police said he evaded their efforts and swung his closed fists at them.

As the officers tried to stop Fowlkes and place him in handcuffs, another member of the counter-protest group — later identified as Christopher Guillot, 33, of Lewisville, Texas — intervened and swung an umbrella at the officers, hitting one of them in the face, according to police. The officers then attempted to arrest Guillot.

Both Fowlkes and Guillot continued to resist arrest, prompting police to deploy a directed response unit to assist. When the officers instructed the rest of the counter-protesters to move to the sidewalk, away from the situation, a third member of the group — later identified as Meghan Grant, 37, of Dallas, Texas — repeatedly tried to charge past the officers to gain access to Fowlkes and Guillot, police said. An officer attempted to stop Grant by pushing her back toward the sidewalk, but she refused to comply and was taken into custody, according to police.

On Monday, police released footage from city cameras and an officer’s body-worn camera showing Sunday’s incident. In the videos, a counter-protester is seen spraying a substance at a small group protesters. The videos also show the tense situation between counter-protesters and police, including the moment an officer was struck in the face by an open umbrella. Some of the counter-protesters are seen evading and resisting arrest, while others are heard shouting at the officers.

“Our main goal during any protest event is to provide a safe environment that respects all participants’ constitutional rights, while effectively maintaining public peace and order,” the Fort Worth Police Department said in a press release on Monday. “However, those who choose to violate the law and assault others will be arrested and charged.”

Online jail records for Tarrant County show Fowlkes is facing four counts of assault causing bodily injury, one count of evading arrest or detention, one count of resisting arrest and one count of assaulting a peace officer. He was being held on $22,500 bond. Guillot is facing one count each of interfering with public duties and assaulting a peace officer. He was being held on $9,500 bond. Grant is facing one count each of interfering with public duties and resisting arrest. She was being held on $4,000 bond, according to jail records.

It was unclear whether any of the three suspects had obtained attorneys.

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(LAS VEGAS) — An arrest has been made over the murder of a homeless man living in a Las Vegas drainage canal that happened two months ago.

The incident occurred on Feb. 20 at approximately 2:40 a.m. when the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department received a report of an unresponsive male located by a drainage canal near Arville Street and Harmon Avenue, just two miles west of famed Las Vegas Boulevard.

“The investigation led by the LVMPD Homicide Section indicates the victim lived inside the drainage canal where the shooting took place,” authorities said in a statement released on Monday. “After being shot, the victim exited the canal and collapsed.”

The unnamed victim was declared dead at the scene of the crime, police said.

A break in the case came last Thursday, however, when LVMPD detectives were able to identify 34-year-old Jemiah Garner as a suspect in the murder that happened two months ago.

Garner, who was already in custody on unrelated charges at the Clark County Detention Center, was rebooked last Thursday for open murder with a deadly weapon, police said.

Authorities have not released any information on the potential connection between the two men or what may have led up to the shooting but the investigation into the case is ongoing.

Anyone with any information about this incident is urged to contact the LVMPD Homicide Section by phone at 702-828-3521, or by email at homicide@lvmpd.com.

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(WASHINGTON) — A man who allegedly attempted to burn down a church with Molotov cocktails after it planned to hold a series of drag show events has been charged with federal crimes.

The incident occurred on March 25 when the 20-year-old suspect involved in the attack — Aimenn D. Penny of Alliance, Ohio — threw Molotov cocktails at the Community Church of Chesterland in Chesterland, Ohio, in an attempt to burn the church to the ground after learning the church was holding multiple drag show events the following weekend, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.

Penny was initially arrested and charged with federal offenses on March 31 but the Department of Justice formally announced all the charges he would be facing on Monday.

“A federal indictment was returned charging [Penny] with a violation of the Church Arson Prevention Act for using Molotov cocktails against the Community Church of Chesterland, in Chesterland, Ohio, in an attempt to burn the church to the ground,” the Department of Justice said. “He was also indicted on one count of using fire to commit a federal felony, one count of malicious use of explosive materials and one count of possessing a destructive device.”

Penny could face a lengthy jail sentence for his role in the attack, officials say.

“If convicted, Penny faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison for the violation of the Church Arson Prevention Act. Penny also faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison for the malicious use of explosive materials charge and up to 10 years in prison for the possession of a destructive device charge,” the Department of Justice said. “In addition, if convicted of using fire to commit a federal felony, Penny faces a 10-year mandatory prison sentence that will run consecutively with any other prison term imposed.”

Following the attack, the Cleveland Field Office of the FBI gathered information that Penny was part of a White Lives Matter group that espouses racist, pro-Nazi and homophobic views and that at a March 11 drag queen event in Wadsworth, Ohio — just two weeks prior to the Molotov cocktail attack on the Chesterfield Church — Penny joined members of the group who showed up carrying flags with swastikas and yelling homophobic slurs, prosecutors said.

Penny reportedly attended the event wearing military-style gear and carrying a firearm.

According to an affidavit released on March 31 Penny was interviewed by police last October after handing out racist flyers and told authorities that he believed African Americans were a “problem” and that there was a civil war coming between races.

Police found a handwritten manifesto, a Nazi flag and other memorabilia during a search of his home, according to the affidavit.

“PENNY stated that he was trying to protect children and stop the drag show event,” the affidavit said. “PENNY stated that night he became more and more angry after watching internet videos of news feeds and drag shows in France and decided to attack the church. PENNY stated that he would have felt better if the Molotov cocktails were more effective and burned the entire church to the ground.”

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Deckert and Matthew W. Shepherd for the Northern District of Ohio and Trial Attorneys Jacob Warren and Justin Sher of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case with assistance from Trial Attorney Eric Peffley of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section, the Department of Justice said.

The FBI Cleveland Field Office’s investigation into the incident is ongoing.

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(LOS ANGELES) — The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office is asking for victims of a man accused of impersonating a doctor to come forward.

Stephan Gevorkian, 44, was charged with five felony counts of practicing medicine without a certification, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

“Practicing medicine without a license is not only a criminal activity in California, it can cause irreparable harm to the health of unsuspecting people, some with serious illnesses, who believe they are under the care of a licensed physician,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement.

Gevorkian allegedly practiced medicine without a license on thousands of people for several years, the DA’s office said.

The DA’s office asked for anyone who believes they’ve been a victim in this case to call the Consumer Protection hotline at 213-257-2465.

According to the DA, an investigator, posing undercover, received consulting from Gevorkian in November 2022 at Pathways Medical in North Hollywood.

“The business conducts blood tests on patients, advises them on treatments and offers treatment for serious conditions including cancer and viral infections,” the DA’s office said.

Officials allege that, during the consultation, Gevorkian did not properly address abnormal hormone levels that could suggest a serious medical issue.

Gevorkian’s attorney, Justin E. Sterling, said they have no comment when reached by ABC News.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 24, the DA’s office said.

The California Department of Consumer Affairs is investigating the case.

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(ATLANTA) — The Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney who has been probing possible criminal interference in the 2020 election will announce her charging decisions “in the near future,” the DA alerted law enforcement in a letter Monday.

The correspondence from District Attorney Fani Willis served as notice “to ensure that our law enforcement community is ready to protect the public,” the letter said, while noting the announcement “may provoke a significant reaction.”

Willis said her office will announce the decisions between July 11 and Sept. 1, 2023, which is “during the Fulton County Superior Court’s fourth term of court.”

“As leaders, it is incumbent upon us to prepare,” the letter said.

Willis officially launched the probe in February 2021, sparked in part by the now-infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call then-President Donald Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump pleaded with Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes,” the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia.

Trump, who has denounced the probe, has repeatedly defended his phone call to Raffensperger, calling it “perfect.”

In January, the special grand jury seated in the probe, as part of its final report, announced that it had found “by a unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election.”

The grand jury also recommended to prosecutors that they seek indictments against witnesses who they believe may have lied during their testimony, according to excerpts of the grand jury’s report released to the public.

“A majority of the grand jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it,” the grand jury wrote in the report. “The Grand Jury recommends that the District Attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling.”

The publicly released portion of the report revealed no details regarding whether or not the grand jury recommended changes for anyone related to efforts to overturn the election.

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(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — A North Carolina man was released from the hospital after he and his 6-year-old daughter were shot by a neighbor last week following an incident involving a basketball.

William White, his daughter Kinsley White and a neighbor were allegedly shot by 24-year-old Robert Singletary on Tuesday after a ball rolled into his yard from a group of children playing basketball in the street, neighborhood witnesses told ABC News’ Charlotte affiliate WSOC-TV.

Family members said White tried to draw gunfire toward himself to protect his family as the suspect unloaded an entire magazine toward his neighbor. White was shot in the back in his front yard, according to his partner, Ashley Hilderbrand.

“I just went more left to block her and as soon as I — thank the good Lord above — I was able to get in front of my baby,” White told WSOC. “I’ll take a million of them for my babies.”

Singletary was taken into police custody in Tampa, Florida on Thursday.

He was charged with four counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

In an emotional interview with WSOC, White’s daughter Kinsley, with stitches visible on her cheek from the bullet fragments that hit her, asked, “Why did you shoot my daddy and me? Why did you shoot a kid’s dad?”

The shooting is the latest in a series of seemingly normal missteps that have led to serious consequences involving guns.

Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old Black teenager, was shot on April 13 by a homeowner in Kansas City, Missouri, after he accidentally went to the wrong address to pick up his siblings, according to police.

Andrew Lester, 84, was charged with one count of felony assault in the first-degree and one felony count of armed criminal action in Yarl’s shooting. He pleaded not guilty.

A South Florida man shot at a car with two people inside after they went to the wrong address trying to deliver an Instacart order on April 15, police said.

Waldes Thomas Jr., 19, and Diamond D’arville, 20, were attempting to deliver groceries on April 15 when they were on the phone with the customer trying to find the right address, according to a Davie Police Department report.

The two reportedly drove onto the property of Antonio Caccavale, 43, in Southwest Ranches, a town located around 30 miles northwest of Miami.

Davie police ultimately found that no charges should be filed because “each party appear justified in their actions based on the circumstances they perceived.”

In another incident, 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis was shot and killed on April 15 while in a car that mistakenly pulled into a driveway in rural upstate New York, authorities said.

Last week, two Texas cheerleaders were shot after one of them said they had mistakenly got into the wrong car in a parking lot after practice, ABC affiliate in Houston KTRK-TV reported.

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(NEW YORK) — TV host Tucker Carlson and Fox News have “agreed to part ways,” Fox said in a statement Monday.

“We thank him for his service to the network,” Fox said in the statement about the top-rated host, which noted that Carlson’s last show was on Friday.

The network did not provide a reason for Carlson’s departure.

In addition, the senior executive producer of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Justin Wells, was let go Monday, multiple sources told ABC News.

The decision to terminate Carlson and his producer was made this past Friday night by Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News President Suzanne Scott, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News.

Wells declined to comment to ABC News. A spokesperson for Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The news comes nearly one week after a $787.5 million settlement agreement between the network and Dominion Voting Systems, which had accused Fox of knowingly pushing false conspiracy theories that the voting machine company rigged the 2020 presidential election in Joe Biden’s favor, in what Dominion claims was an effort to combat concerns over declining ratings and viewer retention.

Fox defended its coverage, dismissing the suit as a “political crusade in search of a financial windfall.”

A Dominion spokesperson declined to comment on Carlson’s departure when contacted by ABC News.

As part of its discovery process, Dominion in February filed court documents containing emails, texts, testimony and other private communications from Fox News personnel, including Carlson, in which they appeared to cast doubt on claims involving Dominion — versus what they said on-air to their viewers.

On Nov. 8, Carlson privately texted his producer that the allegations about Dominion were “absurd,” according to the Dominion filing. Also that day, Carlson’s producer texted him about his own doubts.

“I don’t think there is evidence of voter fraud that swung the election,” producer Alex Pfeiffer texted to Carlson, per the lawsuit. “The software s–t is absurd,” Carlson allegedly responded.

On his show just one night later, Carlson pushed more suggestions of fraud, though he said that “we don’t know anything about the software.”

“We don’t know how many votes were stolen on Tuesday night. We don’t know anything about the software that many say was rigged. We don’t know. We ought to find out,” he said. “But here’s what we do know. On a larger level, at the highest levels, actually, our system isn’t what we thought it was. It’s not as fair as it should be. Not even close.”

Carlson during this show also said that “false claims of fraud can be every bit as destructive as the fraud itself,” according to the filing, and that “the fraud that we can confirm does not seem to be enough to alter the election results. We should be honest and tell you that…”

In mid-November Carlson also texted one of his producers that “there wasn’t enough fraud to change the outcome” of the election, according to the filings, and later said that Sidney Powell, one of then-President Donald Trump’s attorneys and a vocal promulgator of election denialism, “is lying.”

Months later, on the day of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capital, Carlson called Trump “a demonic force, a destroyer” in a text message to the same producer.

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