Here’s what we’ve learned from the DOJ’s photo of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago

Here’s what we’ve learned from the DOJ’s photo of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago
Here’s what we’ve learned from the DOJ’s photo of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department’s Tuesday night court filing in its ongoing investigation into classified documents stored at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate included previously unreleased details about the probe — but perhaps none were as revealing as an FBI photograph of documents recovered from Trump’s personal office during the bureau’s August 8 raid.

Since the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago, some members of Trump’s team have downplayed the documents he kept at the resort as keepsakes that contained little sensitive information. But the photo released by Justice Department appears to refute those claims, showing document after document clearly labeled Secret and Top Secret.

In a court filing Wednesday evening, attorneys for Trump criticized the photo and its inclusion in the brief the government filed opposing Trump’s request for a special master to review the retrieved documents.

“The Government’s Response gratuitously included a photograph of allegedly classified materials, pulled from a container and spread across the floor for dramatic effect,” the filing said. “The Government pretends these are not historically important moments, telling this Court that not only does it object to a Special Master, but that the Movant should have no opportunity to challenge any aspect of this behavior and decision-making.”

While portions of the FBI photo are redacted, a close review of the image reveals new clues about the kind of classified materials the former president was continuing to hang onto even after the Justice Department had issued a subpoena for their return.

Classified cover sheets

The photo shows numerous documents on the floor of Trump’s personal office, including colored-coded cover sheets baring classification markings in big, bold lettering.

“An examination of these cover sheets alone tells you a lot,” Douglas London, a 34-year CIA veteran, told ABC News regarding the DOJ photo. “As the most important intelligence customer, it should be no surprise that the president receives the most sensitive information — and that’s reflected in these documents.”

The markings on the cover sheets include “TOP SECRET/SCI,” which refers to Sensitive Compartmented Information classified as national intelligence “concerning or derived from intelligence sources,” according to a separate document from the Director of National Intelligence reviewed by ABC News. This material may come from allies or informants, or from spying or eavesdropping.

A cover sheet near the bottom center of the photo also appears to show a “HCS-P/SI/TK” classification marking. HCS-P refers to HUMINT Control System, which is “designed to protect intelligence information derived from clandestine human sources, commonly referred to as “human intelligence.” SI, or Special Intelligence, refers to a Sensitive Compartmented Information control system “designed to protect technical and intelligence information derived from the monitoring of foreign communications signals by other than the intended recipients,” according to the FBI.

London, who is also the author of “The Recruiter: Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence,” said, “If HCS is on the cover sheet, it means at least some of that information was drawn from human sources. And HCS-P is sensitive even by human source standards.”

“Without being melodramatic, anything that helps an adversary identify a human source means life and death,” he said. “People’s lives are truly at stake.”

There is also a handwritten marker next to the document that reads “2A,” which appears to refer to “Item 2A” on the property receipt that was given to Trump’s lawyers following the search. On the receipt, “Item 2A” is described as “Various classified/TS/SCI documents.”

Dates on documents

Even though the contents of the documents can’t been seen in the photo, the dates on some documents are visible. While it’s not clear how or if the dates correlate to the classified information, they could provide potential clues regarding what Trump was publicly dealing with at the time.

Two documents with a “limited access” marker appear to be dated Aug. 26, 2018. While little else about those documents is visible, it’s known that in August 2018, Trump was in the thick of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into contacts between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.

The day before Aug. 26, Trump, posting on Twitter, unloaded on Muller and then-attorney general Jeff Sessions, who had by then recused himself from the Russia probe, according to records maintained by The American Presidency Project by UC Santa Barbara.

One month prior to that, Mueller had indicted 12 Russian military intelligence officers for hacking and releasing Democratic emails during the 2016 campaign.

In addition, days before Aug. 26, 2018, Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was found guilty on eight counts of tax fraud.

Aug. 26, 2018, was also the day after Sen. John McCain died.

A separate document shown in the photo bears the date May 9, 2018, which is the same day Trump gave a speech announcing he was withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

On that same day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, which led to Trump announcing that Pompeo would be returning to the U.S. with three Americans who had been released from prison in North Korea.

“I’m very honored to have helped these great folks, but the true honor is going to be if we have a victory in getting rid of nuclear weapons,” Trump said standing on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. “We have a meeting scheduled in a very short period of time. We have the location set. We’ll see if we can do something that people did not think was going to happen for many, many years.”

Trump ended up meeting with Kim the following month at a summit in Singapore, after which Trump announced that North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat to America. However North Korea resumed constructing new missiles the following month.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Woman accusing former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza, 2 others of rape speaks out

Woman accusing former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza, 2 others of rape speaks out
Woman accusing former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza, 2 others of rape speaks out
Joshua Bessex/Getty Images

(SAN DIEGO) — The woman who has accused ex-NFL punter Matt Araiza and two of his college teammates of raping her during a party last year talked about the alleged incident in an interview with “Nightline.”

The alleged victim, who was 17 at the time of the incident and asked not to be identified, said the sexual assault took place last year during an off-campus party at San Diego State University and she said it lingers in her mind.

She is suing Araiza, who was released by the Buffalo Bills last week, and two former San Diego State football players, Zavier Leonard and Nowlin Ewaliko, accusing them of gang-raping a minor. The alleged victim says she wants charges filed and the men arrested.

“I’m really just looking for the closure, because I can’t stop thinking about it,” the woman told “Nightline.”

The alleged gang rape took place during a party on Oct. 17, 2021, according to the lawsuit. The victim was a high school student at the time while Araiza, 21, and Leonard and Ewaliko, both 18, were on the San Diego State football team.

The alleged victim told “Nightline” she was intoxicated, in and out of consciousness that night, but there were several blocks of the night that she remembers “like they were just yesterday.”

The alleged victim said that she talked with Araiza outside of the house, where he gave her a drink and performed sex acts on her.

After that initial encounter, the alleged victim said she was led back inside into a bedroom, according to the lawsuit.

“When I walked into that room and I saw that there were several guys already in there, I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen, and I expected it,” she said.

There she said Araiza and his teammates violently gang-raped her, leaving bruises and bloody marks. She also said her piercings were ripped out. The victim told “Nightline” that she never once gave the men her permission for sex and said she was screaming during the incident.

“I feel like it should be clear to anybody that that’s not consensual sex,” she said.

The alleged victim said she contacted the police the next morning, filed a report and went to the hospital.

She said she didn’t initially know the identities of her alleged attackers.

Detectives in the sex crimes unit arranged recorded pretext calls with the men who were believed to be in the room when the gang rape took place. The alleged victim said that Araiza was on one of those calls.

“He told me that we had hooked up and he told me that I should get tested for chlamydia. I then was told by my detectives to clarify what he meant by hookup, and so I asked him if we had had actual sex and his tone completely changed from that point,” she said.

The alleged victim said that Araiza then denied having sex before hanging up, as was alleged in the complaint

The police finished their investigation in early August and turned it over to the San Diego District Attorney’s office.

No arrests have been made in the case, and police have not publicly identified any suspects.

“This case remains under review by our office for potential criminal charges,” the San Diego DA’s office told ABC News in a statement.

Araiza was signed by the Buffalo Bills as a sixth-round draft pick in April with a $4 million contract.

The victim said she threw up after hearing the news of Araiza’s signing.

“I was really upset because I thought that I had been doing everything that I was supposed to be doing in order to get them to face consequences,” she said. “I reported it right away and I was giving all my evidence to authorities and just to see him continuing on and thriving while I felt like my life was completely torn apart.”

The alleged victim’s attorney, Dan Gilleon, said he was in touch with the Bills in July about the suit. On Aug. 27, two days after the lawsuit was filed, the Bills released Araiza.

Bills General Manager Brandon Beane said in a statement that “our culture in Buffalo is more important than winning football games.”

“At this time, we just think it’s the best move for everyone to move on from Matt,” Beane said.

The accuser said the Bills and the NFL did the right thing by releasing him from the team.

“I can understand why [the NFL] might get backlash from those that may not believe what happened, but I know they did the right thing,” she said.

Araiza, however, has denied the accusations via a statement through his attorney.

“The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press. I look forward to quickly setting the record straight,” he said.

His attorney, Kerry Armstrong, released an additional statement contending the suit is a “money grab.”

“He is 100% adamant that he never forcibly raped this young lady or forcibly had sex with her in any type of way,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong also said in an interview with local station KFMB that his client did not know the victim was underage or intoxicated.

“He never gave her a drink, never gave her any intoxicating substance and she was not visibly intoxicated when he was talking to her,” he told the station.

Arazia’s parents also released a statement Monday defending their son and condemning the media.

“He has been extorted, discriminated against, harassed and the subject of multiple and continuous threats of violence and death. We have all been canceled. Every member of our family,” they said in their statement.

Marc Carlos, the attorney for Ewaliko, told ABC News his client denies the allegations while Jahmal Kersey, the attorney for Leonard, declined to comment about the accusations.

The alleged victim said even though she was intoxicated at the party her actions should not be used to minimalize what happened to her that night.

“I know I made mistakes that night. However, I don’t think that any sort of mistakes deserves what was done to me that night, and they still need to be held accountable for what they did,” she said.

The alleged victim said she’ll get real closure if arrests are made.

“I know this is something that’s going to stick around forever, but I think the closure will help. And I really do hope that I get it,” she said.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Former NYPD officer Thomas Webster sentenced to 10 years for storming Capitol on Jan. 6

Former NYPD officer Thomas Webster sentenced to 10 years for storming Capitol on Jan. 6
Former NYPD officer Thomas Webster sentenced to 10 years for storming Capitol on Jan. 6
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge has sentenced former New York Police Department officer Thomas Webster to 10 years in prison for assaulting officers outside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.

The sentence is the longest prison term yet for a defendant in the Justice Department’s criminal investigation of Jan. 6, but short of the 17.5 years prosecutors had sought for Webster.

The DOJ had previously released harrowing officer body camera footage that showed Webster, 56, assaulting law enforcement.

The sentencing in D.C. court comes after a jury found Webster guilty on six charges, including assaulting a police officer, in May.

Webster was found guilty of assaulting D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun, who testified during the trial.

According to testimony and video of the riot, Webster, clad in a bulletproof vest and waving a Marine Corps flag, pushed toward the front of the crowd and yelled at Rathburn to “take your s— off!”

Video shows Webster swing a metal flagpole and breaking apart bike racks that were acting as a police perimeter. As Rathbun backed away, Webster tackled him and then pulled at the officer’s gas mask. Rathbun testified that he began to choke on his chin strap as Webster pulled at the mask. Video shows that Rathbun hit Webster’s face while trying to push him away.

During the trial, Webster claimed that Rathbun had provoked the fight and that he pulled at Rathbun’s mask as a form of self-defense.

Webster was convicted of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using a dangerous weapon; civil disorder; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; and engaging in an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.

During his sentencing, Webster was given three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $2,060 in restitution.

Judge Amit Mehta chose to apply a 4-level enhancement because Webster was wearing body armor. This alone added 30 months to the minimum sentence he could have received.

Mehta described Webster as an ordinary American, a public servant in the NYPD and the Marine Corps, who “lost everything in a split second.”

While making a statement during his sentencing hearing, Webster wept, saying he should have never come to D.C. on Jan. 6. He said he was overwhelmed and frustrated by his emotions and political rhetoric and should have known to turn away but did not have the courage to do so. He also apologized to Rathbun.

Webster, of the village of Florida, New York, served in the Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989 and as an NYPD officer from 1991 to 2011.

“As a former Marine and retired police officer, Thomas Webster could readily see the growing dangers to law enforcement when he and other members of the mob targeted the Capitol on January 6th,” U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves said in a statement Thursday. “He chose to escalate the situation, brutally going on the attack. Today’s sentence holds him accountable for his repeated attacks of an officer that day.”

Webster’s lawyers had argued that Webster’s years of service, “exceptional character,” “impeccable conduct” as a uniformed police officer and “love and devotion to his country” warranted a less severe sentence than the DOJ sought.

ABC News’ Gabe Stern contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Justice Department, Trump lawyers face off over Mar-a-Lago documents review

Justice Department, Trump lawyers face off over Mar-a-Lago documents review
Justice Department, Trump lawyers face off over Mar-a-Lago documents review
Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

(WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.) — The DOJ and lawyers for former President Donald Trump faced off in a Florida court Thursday on whether there should be a special master review of the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago.

Lawyers for the Justice Department and former President Donald Trump faced off in a Florida courtroom Thursday over whether there should be a judge-ordered independent review of the documents the FBI seized last month at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump’s lawyers had said the third-party review was needed to deal with matters involving potentially privileged materials, including both attorney-client and executive privilege.

But the Justice Department has said a previously-established “filter team” has already finished its review of potentially attorney-client privilege materials that were seized in the raid. They have also urged Judge Aileen Cannon to reject any claims by Trump of executive privilege over the items, noting that his status as a former president means he has no right to continue to possess the documents.

At the end of Thursday’s hearing, Judge Cannon said she would not be ruling from the bench and would enter a written order in due time. She did not give a timeline.

But she indicated she is seriously considering appointing a “special master” to review the documents seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, an order that would put on hold investigators’ review of the materials.

Cannon, a federal judge nominated by Trump, indicated that if she were to appoint a special master it would not have an impact on the current ongoing assessment by the intelligence community.

The judge asked to hear from one of the lawyers on the government’s filter team that has already gone through the documents. The filter team has not shared what it has deemed to be potentially privileged with investigators.

During the arguments, Trump lawyer Jim Trusty equated Trump’s refusal to return documents to the National Archives and Records Administration to an “overdue library book,” adding that the ongoing dispute with the Archives “has been transformed into a criminal investigation.”

Christopher Kise, who was just recently added to Trump’s legal team, referenced the “significant lack of trust between the parties” and said that the “temperature is very high,” telling the judge that there is a “public lack of faith” in the Justice Department and “real or perceived lack of transparency.”

“We need respectfully to lower the temperature of both sides. We need to take a deep breath,” Kise told the judge.

“This is not a case about some Department of Defense staffer stuffing military papers” in a bag and sneaking out in the middle of the night, Kise said, arguing the documents Trump had in his possession were presidential records in the possession of the president of the United States.

Justice Department lawyer Jay Bratt took issue with that, saying , “He is no longer the president and because he was no longer the president he did not have the right to take those documents.”

“They aren’t his,” Bratt said, referring to the seized documents.

“They have put forth no evidence that there was any disregard for the former president’s rights,” Bratt said.

He told the judge the appointment of a special master would hinder their investigation. He said that doing so could give people access to the documents who didn’t have a right to see them — in other words, back in the hands of the former president.

Bratt said investigators would have no idea where they would be stored and the documents would be given back to people who don’t have the right to access them.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

CDC signs off on new COVID-19 boosters ahead of fall booster campaign

CDC signs off on new COVID-19 boosters ahead of fall booster campaign
CDC signs off on new COVID-19 boosters ahead of fall booster campaign
Morsa Images/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on newly-updated COVID-19 booster shots Thursday night, giving the final clearance shots to be administered soon after.

The new booster shots have been updated to target two different COVID strains in one shot — the current omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, which make up 99% of new cases in the U.S., and the original strain of COVID-19.

This is the first time current COVID-19 vaccines have had a major upgrade. In the future, experts expect the vaccines could be updated periodically to match current strains — akin to the way the flu shot is slightly different each year.

Walensky urged eligible Americans to get the shot.

“The updated COVID-19 boosters are formulated to better protect against the most recently circulating COVID-19 variant. They can help restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination and were designed to provide broader protection against newer variants,” she said in a statement.

Public health officials directed the vaccine companies to create a bivalent vaccine — a vaccine that targets two different strains — in the hopes that the compilation will provide broader protection against COVID this fall and winter, as infections could rise with flu season, the cold weather and more time indoors.

The Pfizer bivalent booster will be available to everyone over 12, while the Moderna bivalent booster will be available to everyone over 18.

Earllier Thursday, the panel of CDC advisors publicly reviewed the data before taking the vote. Thirteen members approved the measure while one voted no and there was some debate ahead of the vote over the lack of available data.

In order to roll the vaccines out by next month and offer people protection this fall and winter, the companies submitted data to U.S. Food and Drug Administration without full clinical trial data.

Some members of the CDC panel were concerned about the precedent that it set to recommend a vaccine without data from human trials.

“Ultimately, I really don’t want to establish a precedent of recommending a vaccine that we don’t have clinical data for,” Dr. Pablo Sanche said.

Other members said they were comfortable with the risk-benefit analysis.

“I just would like to remind the committee that every year we use influenza vaccines that are based on new strains, without clinical studies being done. This is what we do every year,” Dr. Melinda Wharton said.

Appointments could ramp up in earnest after the holiday weekend.

The U.S. government has purchased about 171 million shots, between contracts with Pfizer and Moderna.

Both bivalent vaccines are authorized for use two months after people have received either their primary vaccine series or their last booster shot.

The Moderna vial will have a dark blue cap and a label with a gray border, while the Pfizer vial will have a gray cap and a label with gray border.

The CDC’s vote came a day after the FDA issued its emergency use authorization for the updated booster shots.

“It is matched to what is currently circulating. And the hope here is that by increasing the amount of antibodies we have to that particular variant, we will restore the kind of protection that we had when we first saw these vaccines launched in the late part of 2020, early part of 2021 where we had very good protection against symptomatic disease,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told reporters in a press conference on Wednesday morning.

“We don’t know for a fact yet whether we will get to that same level — but that is the goal here. And that is what we believe the evidence that we’ve seen helps point to,” Marks said.

Marks also emphasized that it’s not only about boosting antibodies to beef up immediate protection, but about working toward annual shots rather than boosters every few months.

He said he’s hopeful that rolling bivalent boosters out now will tamp down an incoming winter wave and “hopefully bring us the protection we need through October, November, December to prevent yet another way that shuts down things like holiday plans.”

Marks was hesitant to give an exact timeline on when the shots would be authorized for people under 12, but said he expected more data in a few months.

“I can’t promise an exact timing, but we expect to start seeing … that drop down into the younger age ranges within the next one to two months,” Marks said.

“And so as we get submissions from the companies, we will act on them with all due diligence, because we’re aware that there are, particularly in the slightly older age ranges of children, some children that are coming due for boosters,” he said.

Currently, everyone over the age of five is eligible for a booster shot five months after their primary vaccine series. People who are over the age of 50 or immunocompromised can get a second booster dose four months after their first booster.

Should the CDC director sign off, people who are under 50 and have gotten their first booster could now get a second. But anyone who hasn’t gotten a booster shot at all could also get the bivalent booster as their first booster — something officials urged.

“Regrettably, only about half of eligible Americans have received their first booster dose,” Dr. Bob Califf, FDA commissioner, told reporters in the same press conference.

“CDC data indicate that those who are up to date on their vaccines have a 13-fold lower risk of dying from COVID compared to those with no vaccination, and a three-fold lower dose of dying than those who only had one booster compared to two. So this is a remarkable opportunity to improve our life expectancy and reduce the toll of mortality in our population,” Califf said.

Unlike the original vaccines and boosters, these new shots will not go through a lengthy clinical trial process where thousands of Americans are dosed with the vaccines to test their safety and long-term effectiveness. However, federal health officials stress that these new shots will still be just as safe as the original vaccines because the underlying vaccine platform, mRNA, is the same, and has been through many varying clinical trials.

Part of that review was an evaluation of a clinical study of a different updated booster shot that vaccine companies had made during an earlier omicron wave. The clinical trial of that booster shot, which targeted the BA.1 variant and the original strain of COVID, was considered relevant enough to the bivalent vaccines targeting the BA.4/BA.5 variant and the original strain of omicron.

Officials also said that the decision not to use time-consuming clinical trials for each new shot is a strategic move, in an effort to keep vaccines up to date with the rapidly evolving variants — a process that will likely mimic how the flu vaccine is altered each year.

“If we waited for all the proof to come in, the wave will have already passed us by and the damage will have been done,” Califf said.

“It’s fair for people to raise questions. But this really is the best consensus that we have among the experts that this is the best way to go,” he added.

Marks also repeatedly defended the data FDA used to make this authorization — clinical trial data on a bivalent vaccine that targeted a different omicron subvariant and the original COVID-19 strain, making it very similar to this booster shot that targets the BA.4 and 5 subvariant along with the original COVID-19 strain — as well as real world data of millions of people who have gotten the mRNA vaccines and boosters globally.

“I think we’re pretty confident that what we have is very similar to the situation that we’ve done in the past with influenza strain changes where we don’t do clinical studies for them in the United States,” Marks said.

“We know from the way the vaccine works, and from the data that we have, that we can predict how well our vaccine will be working,” he added.

ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Tenacious D announces concert livestream support of Rock the Vote

Tenacious D announces concert livestream support of Rock the Vote
Tenacious D announces concert livestream support of Rock the Vote
Daniel Knighton/Getty Images

Tenacious D will be livestreaming their upcoming show in Philadelphia in support of Rock the Vote.

The concert is set to broadcast via the streaming platform Nugs.net on September 11. Proceeds will be donated to Rock the Vote toward the organization’s voter registration, education and rights efforts.

For more info, visit Nugs.net/tenaciousd.

You may recall that the D previously linked up with Rock the Vote ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election to release a cover of the Rocky Horror Picture Show classic “Time Warp.” The recording’s accompanying video, which has been viewed over 3 million times on YouTube, features cameos from Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sarah Silverman, Phoebe Bridgers and original Rocky Horror star Susan Sarandon, as well as politicians Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Cars’ Greg Hawkes, Squeeze’s Chris Difford featured on upcoming prog-rock concept album

The Cars’ Greg Hawkes, Squeeze’s Chris Difford featured on upcoming prog-rock concept album
The Cars’ Greg Hawkes, Squeeze’s Chris Difford featured on upcoming prog-rock concept album
Courtesy of Rocking Horse Music Club

The CarsGreg Hawkes and Squeeze‘s Chris Difford are among a variety of guest artists featured on an upcoming concept album called Circus of Wire Dolls by the prog rock-influenced collaborative group Rocking Horse Music Club.

Circus of Wire Dolls will be released as a two-CD set September 16, while a two-LP vinyl version is due out October 21.

The album is a rock opera that combines a wide range of musical genres, including prog rock, ’60-influenced baroque and symphonic pop, glam rock, ’80s new wave, gospel, jazz fusion, folk and musical theater.

“On the surface, the record tells the story of a man who creates a miniature circus out of wire, string, and cloth,” explains Rocking Horse Music Club producer/songwriter Brian Coombes, “but it’s really about a man looking back at his life, his work, the people who entered and exited his world, his successes, his failures, his regrets.”

Hawkes contributes alto sax to the album, while Difford sings on one of the tracks. Other guest singers and musicians featured include former Manfred Mann’s Earth Band vocalist Noel McCalla, ex-King Crimson violinist David Cross, current Squeeze pedal-steel guitarist Melvin Duffy and Dream Academy multi-instrumentalist Kate St. John.

The album can be preorderd in the U.S. at RockingHorseMusicClub.com and TheBandWagonUSA.com, and in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world at BurningShed.com.

Rocking Horse Music Club has plans to perform Circus of Wire Dolls live on March 17 and 18 in Fletching, England.

The album is a follow-up to 2019’s Which Way the Wind Blows, a tribute to original Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips.

Here’s the full Circus of Wire Dolls track list:

“Prologue: Riverside”
“Circus of Wire Dolls”
“Packed Up” — featuring Noel McCalla
“Senseless Sky”
“Animate in 5/8” — featuring Noel McCalla & Caroline Carter
“To Reach the Other Side”
“Will You Be My Downfall?” — featuring Caroline Carter
“So Little Left” — featuring Tim Bowness
“It’s Not About You”
“Trapeze Waltz” — featuring Amy Birks
“Burn” — featuring Caroline Carter
“Cut from a Different Cloth” — featuring Chris Difford
“Face of Rain”
“0300”
“SY22”
“Lost a Piece of Me”
“House Party at Jack’s”
“Flowers in November”
“Every Show Must End” — featuring Noel McCalla
“All Shall Be Well” — featuring Evelyn Cormier
“Circus Waltz” — featuring David Cross
“Coda: Slide Down the Cellar Door”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Artemis 1 launch updates: NASA announces new launch date will be Saturday

Artemis 1 launch updates: NASA announces new launch date will be Saturday
Artemis 1 launch updates: NASA announces new launch date will be Saturday
NASA/Joel Kowsky

(NEW YORK) — NASA kicked off Monday its plan to send an unmanned space capsule into the moon’s orbit, marking the initial launch in an ambitious plan to establish a long term presence on the moon for scientific discovery and economic development.

The space capsule, called Artemis I, will travel for roughly 40 days — reaching as close as 60 miles from the moon, and then 40,000 miles above the moon when orbiting over its dark side — before landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.

After the launch was scrubbed, the next attempt will occur Sept. 3.

Sep 01, 6:57 PM EDT
Artemis launch attempt still a-go for Saturday

The Artemis I launch attempt is still planned for Saturday from 2:17-4:17 p.m. ET, NASA officials said during a press conference Thursday.

“We’re comfortable with our risk posture,” Artemis mission manager Mike Serafin said. “That said, there’s no guarantee that we’re going to get off on Saturday, but we’re going to try.”

If not Saturday, the next launch attempt would be Monday from 5:12 p.m.-6:42 p.m. ET, officials said. Tuesday could also be an option, after which the next earliest launch attempt would be Sept. 19, Serafin said.

Sunday is no longer a backup option because the spacecraft would fly into an eclipse scenario, which would not allow it to get the power it needs from the sun.

If the launch is Saturday, the mission will be 37 days long, with the splashdown on Oct. 11, Serafin said.

-ABC News’ Gio Benitez and Meredith Deliso

Aug 30, 7:40 PM EDT
Artemis not launching Friday due to weather, NASA says

NASA officials said the Artemis I new launch date that was initially scheduled for Friday had to be moved due to bad weather.

The weather is 60% no go for Friday but looks to be more favorable Saturday.

“Looking forward to Saturday, weather would be a little bit different than what we experienced yesterday,” Mark Berger, launch weather officer with the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, said during a media briefing Tuesday. “We will have a fairly strong onshore flow, and so that does favor showers and possibly a few thunderstorms moving in from the coast during the morning and early afternoon hours.”

He added, “I’m optimistic that we’ll have at least some clear air to work with during the afternoon to count on Saturday.”

The window for launch on Saturday kicks off at 2:17 p.m. ET and ends at 4:17 p.m. ET. If need be, the launch can be pushed back to Monday.

If the launch does not occur by Monday, Artemis I will have to roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building and won’t be able to launch until later in September.

This is because the flight termination batteries, which allow Artemis to be blown up if it veers off course, run low after 25 days.

-ABC News’ Gio Benitez and Gina Sunseri

Aug 30, 7:05 PM EDT
Problem with Artemis engine may have actually been faulty sensor: Officials

The issue with an engine on Artemis I that led to the launch on Monday being scrubbed may not have been an engine issue at all.

NASA officials said Monday that engine three did not chill down to a temperature of 500 degrees Rankine, or 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which is needed for ignition, compared to the other three engines.

However, John Honeycutt, manager of the Space Launch System Program from Marshall Space Flight Center, said the problem may have actually come from a faulty sensor, rather than the engine not cooling down enough.

“I think we’ve got enough data to put the story together but we’ve still got to go put the pieces together,” Honeycutt said Tuesday.

Aug 30, 6:23 PM EDT
NASA moves Artemis launch date to Saturday

NASA officials announced Tuesday that they’ve moved the launch of Artemis I to Saturday.

Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, told reporters during a media briefing that the mission management team met earlier in the day and agreed on the new date.

“We agreed on what was called option one, which was to operationally change the loading procedure and start our engine chill down earlier,” he said.

One of the reasons for the scrub on Monday was because engine three did not cool down enough to the point needed for ignition, he explained yesterday.

“We also agreed to do some work at the pad to address the leak that we saw and we also agreed to move our launch date to Saturday, September the 3rd,” Sarafin added. “We are going to reconvene the mission management team on Thursday, September the 1st, to review our flight rationale and our overall readiness.”

Aug 29, 1:21 PM EDT

 

NASA administrator says launch scrubs are normal

 

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said it’s normal for launches to be scrubbed after the Artemis I launch was delayed Monday for multiple reasons.

“I am very proud of this launch team. They have solved several problems along the way and they got to one that needed time to be solved,” he told reporters.

“I want to say, understand that scrubs are just a part of this program on the space flight,” Nelson said.

Nelson spoke about the seventh mission of Space Shuttle Columbia, which he flew in January 1986.

“We scrubbed four times on the pad,” Nelson said.

He added, “It was the better part of a month and, looking back, after the fifth try got off to a perfect mission. It would have not been a good day had we launched on any one of those four scrubs. So when you’re dealing in a high-risk business and spaceflight is risky, that’s what you do.”

Aug 29, 2:11 PM EDT
Engine does not need to be replaced on Artemis, NASA says

NASA officials said there is no sign one of the engines needs to replaced on the Artemis I rocket after the launch was scrubbed.

During a media briefing Monday, Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, told reporters engine three did not cool down enough to the point needed for ignition.

“Do we need to remove and replace an engine? There is no indication we are at that scenario at this point,” he said.

Aug 29, 1:51 PM EDT
NASA breaks down details behind Artemis launch scrub

NASA officials on Monday offered more details behind the decision to postpone the Artemis I launch.

Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, explained engine three was not cooling down enough to the temperature needed before ignition.

“I don’t recall exactly where the engines were but engines one, two and four were pretty close to that. Three was not getting there,” he told reporters during a media briefing Monday afternoon.

Sarafin said there were other issues earlier in the day including tanking — filling the rocket with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen — being delayed for about an hour after the Kennedy Space Center went into a lightning alert as well as a hydrogen leak, although both were resolved.

“So the combination of not being able to get engine three to reach chill down and then the vent valve issue that they saw at the inner tank really caused us to pause today and we felt like we needed a little more time,” he said.

Sarafin added that he is hopeful about the second launch opportunity on Sept. 2.

“There is a non-zero chance we have a launch opportunity on Friday,” he said.

“But we need time, we really need time to look at all the all the information, all the data and, you know, we’re gonna play all nine innings here and we’re not ready to give up yet,” Sarafin continued.

Aug 29, 1:21 PM EDT
NASA administrator says launch scrubs are normal

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said it’s normal for launches to be scrubbed after the Artemis I launch was delayed Monday for multiple reasons.

“I am very proud of this launch team. They have solved several problems along the way and they got to one that needed time to be solved,” he told reporters.

“I want to say, understand that scrubs are just a part of this program on the space flight,” Nelson said.

Nelson spoke about the seventh mission of Space Shuttle Columbia, which he flew in January 1986.

“We scrubbed four times on the pad,” Nelson said.

He added, “It was the better part of a month and, looking back, after the fifth try got off to a perfect mission. It would have not been a good day had we launched on any one of those four scrubs. So when you’re dealing in a high-risk business and spaceflight is risky, that’s what you do.”

Aug 29, 10:20 AM EDT
VP Harris praises NASA team behind Artemis launch

Vice President Kamala Harris praised the NASA team behind the Artemis I mission after the launch had to be scrubbed Monday due to an engine problem.

Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff had been visiting the Kennedy Space Center before the launch was postponed.

The scrubbed launch was “about showing the great work that happens here,” Harris told reporters.

“These exceptional public servants, these exceptional skilled professionals who have the ability to see what is possible and what has never been done before. How exciting is that?” she said.

According to a White House official, Harris and Emhoff will continue with their visit under a revised itinerary.

“She met with astronauts at NASA Operations Support Building II and will proceed to a tour of Artemis II and Artemis III hardware as planned. The Vice President will gaggle following the tour and then depart,” the official said.

Aug 29, 9:40 AM EDT
‘We don’t launch until it’s right,’ says NASA administrator

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson defended the scrubbing of the Artemis I launch, saying the launch shouldn’t take place until the team is sure it’s ready.

“We don’t launch until it’s right,” he said during an interview on NASA TV Monday morning.

“There are certain guidelines. And I think it’s just illustrative that this is a very complicated machine, a very complicated system, and all those things have to work, and you don’t want to light the candle until it’s ready to go,” he said.

Nelson said the engineers will continue to “stress” and “test” the rocket to make sure it’s ready by the next attempt, which is Sept. 2.

Earlier in the day, Nelson had welcomed several Biden administration officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, to the Kennedy Space Center ahead of the launch.

He said the vice president has been briefed and the White House will continue to receive regular updates.

Aug 29, 8:48 AM EDT
NASA scrubs Artemis I launch

NASA announced a few minutes after Artemis I was initially scheduled to lift off that the launch has been scrubbed.

Engineers said the problem came from a liquid hydrogen line that was not chilled enough inside one of the rocket’s four core-stage engines, which needs to occur before they can be ignited.

The next attempt will occur on Sept. 2.

Aug 29, 8:31 AM EDT
Artemis launch delayed due to storms, rocket troubleshooting

Artemis I will likely not be launching at 8:33 a.m. ET as originally planned after NASA ran into several delays in its preparation to send it into space.

The process of tanking, which includes filling the rocket’s core stage with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, was delayed due to some passing storms and lightning in the area, NASA said.

Moreover, a leak was discovered in the hydrogen fuel line, which NASA quickly resolved. The leak concentration was “at an acceptable level,” NASA said.

Engineers also discovered a potential crack in the inner stage flange, which connects two of the rocket’s cylinders.

The countdown clock is currently paused at T-40 and the launch can go as late as 10:33 a.m. ET If that window passes, the next attempt at launch will be Sept. 2.

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Prince estate halts “Purple Rain” energy drink

Prince estate halts “Purple Rain” energy drink
Prince estate halts “Purple Rain” energy drink
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Following a protest from the Prince estate, a judge has ruled that an energy drink cannot trademark the name “Purple Rain.”

Billboard reports a judge said Bang Energy could not trademark their drink’s name because it is “uniquely and unmistakably” connected to the late singer.

Following the ruling, Bang Energy CEO Jack Owoc explained to Billboard that he was “a big fan” of the iconic artist and would not appeal.

“We greatly respect Prince and his estate and will not ‘rain’ on their parade. Maybe we can negotiate a deal in the future that is mutually beneficial to both parties,” he said.

Attorney Londell McMillan, who represents one group of Prince heirs, told Billboard he was pleased the trademark application was rejected.

“Prince’s music, art and trademarks hold a special place in our society and culture. Purple Rain is a Prince mark and brand known worldwide,” he continued. “Please respect these unique assets or suffer at your own peril.”

Purple Rain earned an Oscar in 1985 for Best Original Song Score plus Grammy Awards for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

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‘Aquaman’ series star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II calls acting in comic book movies “clown work”

‘Aquaman’ series star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II calls acting in comic book movies “clown work”
‘Aquaman’ series star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II calls acting in comic book movies “clown work”
Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images

Yahya Abdul-Mateen starred opposite Jason Momoa in the billion-dollar-grossing Aquaman as the baddie David Kane/Manta, but he says superhero movies ironically don’t require a lot of heavy lifting — at least from an acting perspective.

“Everything should be about getting to the truth. But sometimes you got to know which movie or genre you’re in,” he tells Vulture.

“Something like Aquaman, that’s clown work,” he says, comparing another one of his films. “Aquaman is not The Trial of the Chicago 7. You gotta get over yourself.”

That said, the star says that like any good villain does, even a comic book gig can let an actor hide some good tricks up his sleeve.

“In order to survive and to do it well, you have to play that game and then be crafty about when you want to surprise the audience, the director, or yourself with a little bit of ‘Wow, I didn’t expect to see a Chekhovian thing or August Wilson and Aquaman, but I did,” he continues.

Abdul-Mateen is debuting soon on Broadway with the revival of Suzan-Lori Parks‘ Pulitzer-winning Topdog/Underdog opposite Straight Outta Compton‘s Corey Hawkins. In 2023, he’ll appear again as Manta in the sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

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