(NEW YORK) — The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that its Black Sea Fleet flagship vessel, Moskva, sunk after losing its stability when it was towed to a port. Russia said the ship sustained damages during a fire started by the detonation of ammunition.
Ukrainian government officials, on Wednesday, claimed its armed forces fired missiles that struck the vessel, causing damage.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych and Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, said there was an explosion and that the cruiser is on fire.
The governor of Odessa Maksym Marchenko claimed on Telegram that two anti-ship cruise missiles struck the cruiser in the Black Sea, causing “very serious damage.”
Russia earlier said the ship was seriously damaged, but did not confirm that was due to Ukrainian strikes. Russia claimed a fire abroad the ship forced all 510 members of the crew to evacuate.
“As a result of a fire, ammunition has detonated on the Moskva missile cruiser. The ship was seriously damaged. The crew was completely evacuated,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“The cause of the fire is under investigation,” the statement said.
Russia later said the fire aboard the ship was contained and that the Moskva will be towed to a port. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the main missile weapons on board were not damaged, but made no mention of missile strikes in its statement.
A senior U.S. defense official told reporters the U.S. assesses that the crew of the Moskva is still battling a fire aboard the ship.
About a half-dozen other ships that had been close to the Moskva have now moved further away from the coast into the Black Sea, the official also said.
The Pentagon said it can not confirm or deny whether the ship was hit by a missile.
“We cannot confirm the Ukrainian reports that it was hit by a missile but we are also not in a position to refute that it could have been a Ukrainian missile which struck the ship,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters at a briefing on Thursday.
Noting that the U.S. does not have perfect visibility into the situation, Kirby said, “we do believe that there was a significant explosion on this cruiser the Moskva of a Slava class of cruisers in the Russian Navy. We do believe that that that explosion caused a significant fire, which as of this morning was still raging aboard the ship.”
Kirby said “at least some” of the Moskva’s crew had evacuated to other Russian Navy ships but he couldn’t say it was the entire crew. He added that the U.S. doesn’t have “a better, clearer sense of the damage done” and whether the ship could be repaired.
In an interview on MSNBC Thursday, Kirby said there wasn’t enough information to determine if the explosion was in fact caused by a Ukrainian missile strike, though it can’t be ruled out.
Despite the Russian Defense Ministry claiming the ship was being towed, Kirby said it was under its own power and looked to be headed east toward Sevastopol in Crimea.
“She was operating about 60 miles or so south of Odessa and we know she suffered an explosion,” Kirby said on MSNBC. “It looks like from the images that we’ve been able to look at it looks like there’s a pretty sizable explosion too.”
Kirby later told reporters the U.S.’s assessment is now more uncertain that was now the case.
“While we had assessed that the ship was underway under its own power, we are no longer able to make that certainty today, this afternoon,” he said. “We’re not exactly sure that the ship is actually still able to make its own way.
Kirby told reporters that so far Russia’s Navy has been limited to launching cruise missile strikes inside Ukraine and resupply efforts.
“It remains to be seen exactly what the major impact is going to be,” said Kirby.
On CNN, Kirby said the U.S. is unaware what caused at least one explosion abroad the ship, describing the explosion as “a fairly major one at that, that has caused extensive damage to the ship.”
-ABC News’ Fidel Pavlenko, Luis Martinez, Oleksiy Pshemyskyi and Yulia Drozd contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The man accused of opening fire on a subway train in Brooklyn may have rushed the attack and had more weapons available to possibly commit other shootings, prosecutors revealed Thursday.
As Frank Robert James faced a federal judge for the first time, other revelations into his alleged plot to shoot subway riders were shown, including that he may have been rushed into his action, according to law enforcement sources.
James, 62, was arrested in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said, more than 24 hours into an intense manhunt that began after 10 people were shot on a crowded subway car in Brooklyn.
Police have determined James rode the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan, law enforcement sources told ABC News. Detectives are going through hours of footage to piece together the entire timeline of his movements.
James was charged in a criminal complaint with committing a terrorist act on a mass transportation vehicle and was subsequently transferred to federal custody. James faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted, said Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
James didn’t enter a plea during his first court hearing Thursday and only answered a few yes or no questions. U.S. Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann ordered him held without bail but did not rule out a future bail application.
Investigators believe James may have rushed the attack, and are working to determine whether James intended to carry out the attack as the train pulled into the 36th Street Station, or whether he set off his smoke grenades sooner than intended, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
As the subway car filled with smoke, it’s believed James knelt on one knee to avoid the rising smoke, and opened fire from that crouched position, sources said. Investigators believe that’s why most of the gunshot wounds were to the legs or hands.
The shooting unfolded on a Manhattan-bound N subway car during the Tuesday morning commute, just before 8:30 a.m. ET, as the train approached the 36th Street subway station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood.
A man witnessed mumbling to himself on the subway car donned a gas mask and detonated a smoke canister before pulling out a handgun and firing a barrage of 33 bullets, hitting 10 people, a police official told ABC News.
The gun jammed during the incident, which is believed to have saved lives, a law enforcement official told ABC News.
Smoke poured out of the subway car as the doors opened and screaming riders ran out onto the platform of the station. Bloodied people were seen lying on the floor of the train and the platform.
A total of 29 people were injured, according to hospital officials.
In a court filing, federal prosecutors called the shooting calculated and “entirely premeditated.” They noted James wore a hard hat and construction worker-style jacket as a disguise and then shed them after the gunfire to avoid recognition.
Prosecutors suggested James had the means to carry out more attacks, noting that he had ammunition and other gun-related items in a Philadelphia storage unit.
“The defendant, terrifyingly, opened fire on passengers on a crowded subway train, interrupting their morning commute in a way this city hasn’t seen in more than 20 years,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Winik said in court Thursday. “The defendant’s attack was premeditated; it was carefully planned; and it caused terror among the victims and our entire city. The defendant’s mere presence outside federal custody presents a serious risk of danger to the community and he should be detained pending trial.”
James’ defense attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg called the subway shooting a tragedy but pointed out that initial information can often be wrong. She also lauded James’ actions after the shooting.
“Yesterday Mr. James saw his photograph on the news,” Eisner-Grynberg said. “He called crime stoppers. He told them where he was.”
The lawyer said her client deserves a fair trial like all other defendants.
In court, she asked the judge to order James to undergo psychiatric treatment while in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Brooklyn.
The judge did not immediately respond to the request for psychiatric treatment.
According to the criminal complaint, police recovered two bags from the scene containing, among other items, a Glock 17 pistol, a key to a U-Haul rental vehicle and multiple bank cards, including a debit card with the name Frank James. They also discovered a jacket with reflective tape near the two bags that had a receipt for a storage unit in Philadelphia, which records provided by the facility showed was registered to James, the complaint said.
James was born in New York City and has lived in Philadelphia and Milwaukee in recent years, according to Peace.
The Glock recovered from the scene was lawfully purchased by James in Ohio, according to the complaint.
Records provided by U-Haul showed James rented a white Chevrolet van from the company in Philadelphia on Monday, according to the complaint. The U-Haul vehicle crossed states lines from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and then to New York, the complaint said. Surveillance cameras recorded the van driving over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge before dawn Tuesday and entering Brooklyn, according to the complaint.
At approximately 6:12 a.m. ET, another surveillance camera recorded an individual wearing a yellow hard hat, orange working jacket with reflective tape, carrying a backpack in his right hand and dragging a rolling bag in his left hand, leaving the U-Haul van on foot near West 7th Street and Kings Highway in Brooklyn’s Gravesend neighborhood, according to the complaint.
Police later located the vehicle parked on Kings Highway, about two blocks from a subway stop for the N-train, where investigators believe James entered the mass transit system.
“Based on the preliminary investigation, we believe he was alone,” Mayor Eric Adams told “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
Senior law enforcement officials told ABC News they also uncovered a number of social media posts and videos tied to James, including, police said, “race-based grievances and conspiracy theory narratives.”
Police added, “James made several statements indicating that he suffers from a deteriorated mental and emotional state, including claims of severe post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as at least one video that includes a potential indicator of his intent to conduct an act of violence.”
The investigation was complicated by the fact that none of the surveillance cameras inside the 36th Street subway station were working at the time of the attack, a police official told ABC News. The cameras, which are aimed at turnstiles, didn’t transmit in real-time due to a computer malfunction, a source said. The same glitch impacted cameras at the stops before and after 36th Street. Investigators said they are looking into how this malfunction happened.
MTA chief Janno Lieberman confirmed that a failed internet connection prevented cameras at three Brooklyn stations, including 36th street, from properly transmitting images. Lieber reiterated James was caught on other subway station cameras, contributing to the successful apprehension.
James was ultimately apprehended after police received a tip that he was in a McDonald’s near 6th Street and 1st Avenue. When responding officers didn’t see James at the fast-food restaurant, they drove around the area and spotted him near St. Marks Place and First Avenue, where he was taken into custody at around 1:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to police.
Sources told ABC News that James may have called police on himself. Among the calls to NYPD Crime Stoppers was reportedly someone who said: “I think you’re looking for me. I’m seeing my picture all over the news, and I’ll be around this McDonalds.”
James allegedly gave his name and a description of what he was wearing, according to sources. He said his phone battery was dying and he would be either in the McDonald’s charging his phone or out front, according to sources. A New York City Police Department official told ABC News investigators are reviewing the 911 call.
When officers didn’t find the suspect in the McDonald’s, a block away they encountered pedestrians who told officers they found James, sources said. James was found standing at a kiosk charging his phone, according to sources.
ABC News’ Luke Barr, Mark Crudele, Alex Hosenball, Joshua Hoyos, Soo Rin Kim, Josh Margolin, Christopher Looft and Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in D.C. on Thursday delivered a scathing rebuke of former President Donald Trump and expressed dismay over the state of American politics just moments after a jury found a defendant charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot guilty on all charges.
“You know, I think our democracy is in trouble,” Judge Reggie Walton said at the conclusion of the third jury trial for a defendant charged in the Capitol assault. “Because unfortunately, we have charlatans like our former president, who doesn’t in my view really care about democracy, but only about power. And as a result of that, it’s tearing this country apart.”
Walton, an appointee of former President George W. Bush and one of the most senior judges on the D.C. court, said that he’s received letters from people around the country expressing concern the justice system isn’t confronting Jan. 6 — which he called an “insurgency,” with the seriousness it deserves.
“I have a concern that we have, unfortunately, American citizens who were so gullible that they were willing to accept what was being said without any proof that the allegations about the election had any merit whatsoever,” Walton said. “People are just outraged at how they feel our system is not taking seriously what happened on that day because of their fear of the future of this country.”
His remarks came after a jury delivered a guilty verdict for an Ohio man charged in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol who sought to defend himself by claiming he was following former Trump’s “orders.”
Dustin Thompson, 38, is the third defendant charged in connection with the Capitol attack to take their case before a jury. The six charges against him included one felony count of obstruction of Congress.
Rather than seeking to dispute the allegations against him — that he joined the pro-Trump mob in storming the Capitol and stole a bottle of bourbon and a coat rack from the Senate parliamentarian’s office, Thompson instead sought to place responsibility for his actions on Trump and his speech on the Ellipse where he urged his followers to march on the Capitol.
Dozens of others among the nearly 800 people charged thus far in the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 investigation have sought to make similar arguments, putting the onus on the former president and his allies who tricked them into believing baseless conspiracy theories about a stolen election.
That Thompson’s defense fell flat with a jury could have an influence on other alleged rioters holding out hopes they could adopt a similar strategy in their cases.
“Defense counsel wants you to focus so much on what President Trump said on the morning of Jan. 6, he wants you to forget what his client did on the afternoon of Jan. 6,” assistant US attorney Bill Dreher said in closing arguments Thursday. “Ladies and gentlemen, you don’t have to choose. This is not President Trump’s criminal trial.”
Speaking directly to the jury, Dreher said, “you can be mad about what happened that day, you can think what President Trump did was wrong, you can think that what he said that day led them to go do what they did.”
“That doesn’t matter,” he continued. “As long as you find — if you find, that Mr. Thompson knew that what he was doing was unlawful. He was 36 years old on Jan. 6 … an adult, not a child. President Trump didn’t hold his hand as he walked down to the Capitol to loot and defile the Senate Parliamentarian’s office.”
Dreher said that Thompson’s effort to put the blame on Trump’s words was not only irrelevant, but misleading — because it doesn’t appear based on data obtained from Thompson’s Uber account that he was even present at Trump’s Ellipse speech.
“It’s a story that is not true and that does not hold up,” Dreher said.
Following the reading of the verdict, Judge Walton ordered Thompson to remain in custody pending his sentencing and slammed him for his testimony in the trial, which Walton said he found “totally disingenuous” and “not truthful.”
“I just don’t think you can do what he did and what the other folks did if you’re convicted and expect to be free,” Walton said. “It’s a consequence — as my mother once told me, ‘you make your bed you gotta lie in it.'”
Andy Grammer has a new song coming out called “Save My Life,” which he performs with the band R3HAB. He shared a snippet of the upcoming, upbeat song to his Instagram. It arrives May 6. Those who pre-save the song will be registered for a chance to win tickets to Andy’s The Art of Joy Tour Pt. 2. He will give out 10 pairs in all.
Maren Morris crashed John Mayer‘s concert in Nashville, where they performed the song “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.” A fan caught the magical moment on camera. Maren gushed once the song was over, “My high school self just died” and the two shared a sweet hug on stage.
After teasing the title track off her forthcoming album Maybe You’re the Problem, Ava Maxteased something is coming on April 28. The “Motto” singer first shared a clip of the song on Monday, revealing it’s a piano ballad about a relationship gone wrong. You can pre-save “Maybe You’re The Problem” now.
Olivia Rodrigo pumped the brakes at her Denver show after a concert-goer suffered a medical emergency. A fan caught the moment when the audience used their cellphone flashlights to alert the Grammy winner, who cut the music. “Sorry, could we stop for a second? Is everyone okay over there? Do you need help? Can you get them some help over there?” she called out, and waited until everyone was “good” before starting “traitor” from the top.
By the time Carly Pearce was in first grade, she was already in training to be a country singer — and she owes a lot of that drive and ambition to LeAnn Rimes.
Ahead of tonight’s premiere of CMT Crossroads: LeAnn Rimes & Friends, Carly says that her admiration for LeAnn runs deep.
“When I say I imitated her in my childhood years, it’s the truth. I won talent shows at school singing versions of her songs. My mom had to push to try and find a vocal coach at six, seven, eight years old because LeAnn was a 14-year-old doing it,” she recounts to CMT.
Now, Carly’s one of a stellar lineup of country’s new female acts tributing LeAnn on the special, alongside Mickey Guyton, Ashley McBryde and Brandy Clark.
“When this came up, my little childhood self was so excited,” Carly adds.
The special will review LeAnn’s storied career in country music, dating all the way back to her 1996 breakout hit, “Blue,” which came out when she was just 13. Onstage, she’ll revisit those early hits as well as previewing material from her new album, god’s work, which features Mickey.
LeAnn began her career so young that the artists celebrating her tonight grew up with her music, even though they’re not much younger than her themselves.
“To hear her story of how she put the yodel on ‘Blue’ when she was 13 years old, she’s a mastermind,” Ashley marvels. “She’s a prodigy. She’s been doing what I wanted to do my whole life already for 25 years.”
The CMT Crossroads episode premieres tonight at 8 p.m. CT on CMT.
Kesha was dealt another blow in her ongoing suit against Dr. Luke, reports Rolling Stone. A New York State appellate court ruled she cannot use evidence she deemed “critical” to her case. Kesha found notes from attorney Greg Clarick from 2006 of her detailing the moments before Dr. Luke allegedly sexually assaulted her in 2005, saying he gave her a pill to “feel better” and she blacked out. Dr. Luke’s team alleged Kesha first made the “sober pills” claim in 2013. The appellate court said Kesha discovered the notes too late, calling it a “belated disclosure.” Kesha was sued in 2014 for defamation and she countersued. The case is ongoing.
BTS is “the nicest group of people” Grammys host Trevor Noah ever met — and he means it. During a taping of TheDaily Show, he chatted with the audience about meeting BTS, and told them, “They’re just nice in every interaction that they have with people and what they do.” He also praised their dance moves, adding, “They’re so good and efficient at what they do,” joking they make NSYNC look like a bunch of sloppy dancers.
Olivia Rodrigo pumped the brakes at her Denver show after a concert-goer suffered a medical emergency. A fan caught the moment when the audience used their cellphone flashlights to alert the Grammy winner, who cut the music. “Sorry, could we stop for a second? Is everyone okay over there? Do you need help? Can you get them some help over there?” Olivia called out, then waited until everyone was “good” before starting “traitor” from the top.
Andy Grammer has a new song coming out called “Save My Life,” which features the band R3HAB. He shared a snippet of the upcoming, upbeat song to his Instagram. It arrives May 6.
John Travoltashared an Instagram tribute to his late son Jett to mark what would’ve been his 30th birthday on April 13.
“My dearest Jetty, I miss you more than words can say,” John wrote, alongside a photograph of him and Jett. “I think about you everyday. Happy Birthday. Love, your Dad.”
Jett died in January 2009 at the age of 16 after suffering a seizure at the family’s vacation home in the Bahamas. John Travolta’s attorney at the time said Jett “had seizures in the past.”
John and late wife Kelly Preston‘s second child, Ella, 22, commented on her father’s tribute, “Happy Birthday Jetty, we love you so much.” Travolta’s post was also flooded with love and support from friends and fans.
John often shares tributes to Jett and discusses his impact during interviews.
During a 2021 appearance on Hart to Heart, Kevin Hart‘s talk show, the Grease actor discussed how he has spoken about death with his youngest child, 11-year-old Benjamin.
“He said to me once, ‘Because mom passed away, I’m afraid you’re going to,'” the actor recalled about Benjamin to Hart. “I said, ‘Well, it’s a very different thing.’ And I went through the differences about my longevity and her limited life.”
He said he then told his youngest, “You know, Ben, you always love the truth, and I’m gonna tell you the truth about life. Nobody knows when they’re gonna go or when they’re gonna stay…your brother left at 16 — too young. Your mother left at 57 — that was too young. But who’s to say?”
John concluded by telling Ben, “So let’s look at life…it’s part of life, you see? You don’t know exactly. You just do your best at trying to live the longest you can.”
Following her split from her second husband, Karl Cook, Kaley Cuoco is done walking down the aisle.
The Flight Attendant Emmy nominee and former The Big Bang Theory star tells Glamour plainly, “I will never get married again,” once her divorce to Cook is finalized.
She added, for effect, “Absolutely not. You can literally put that on the cover.”
Incidentally, the magazine didn’t, choosing instead for a stunning cover shot of the actress, with the headline “Kaley Cuoco Isn’t Holding Back.”
Kaley explains, “I would love to have a long-lasting relationship or a partnership,” but says a third marriage is out of the question.
The actress was hitched to Cook in June of 2018. She filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court in September of last year.
Kaley was previously married to tennis player Ryan Sweeting from 2013 to 2016.
Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation
— Georgia State University will present Chris “Ludacris” Bridges with an honorary Bachelor of Science in Music Management degree on May 4. Ludacris took classes at Georgia State in the early 90s before signing with Def Jam Records.
“We are proud that Chris Bridges got his start at Georgia State,” said University President M. Brian Blake. “He has gone on to become a cultural and philanthropic icon, representing Atlanta and giving back in many ways.”
The “Stand Up” rapper will be honored for his contributions as a mentor to students of the university’s Creative Media Industries Institute.
“Georgia State helped me get my start and I am so honored and excited to share this milestone with the world,” Ludacris said.
— Taraji P. Henson will serve as the commencement speaker for the 2022 graduating class at her alma mater, Howard University. The HBCU announced the news on Thursday, sharing the sentiment that they are excited to welcome Henson “back home.”
“Ms. Henson exemplifies the University tenets of excellence in truth and service,” reads a university statement. “We could not be more excited to have her join us in celebrating the graduating Class of 2022.”
The award-winning actress is a 1995 graduate of what is now Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts.
“Returning to Howard always feels like coming home, and I cannot wait to share this incredible moment with Howard students as they prepare to take the next step in their journeys to success,” Henson said.
— Cardi B made her return to social media this week, most likely because of her new song dropping on Friday.
As previously reported, the rapper deactivated her Twitter and Instagram accounts after an intense back-and-forth with fans, who were upset that she didn’t attend the 2022 Grammy Awards.
When Jack “Wildchild” Brown kicked off the creative process for his latest project, one that’d been two years in the making, he had no idea of the album’s concept. All that was certain is he wanted to “start with the music,” having sifted through many instrumentals, choosing those that spoke to his intrinsic musicality.
Wildchild recorded the album, his first solo body of work in six years, as a personal diary, not sure if it’d ever see the light of day. Now, the Lootpack rapper told ABC Audio, he’s “blessed” that it did.
With the unnecessary help of Omowale’s greatest influence — all of the Black men and women dead at the hands of the police — Wildchild went to work, creating the album as a tribute to being Black in America.
It wasn’t only the unlawful traffic stops as referenced in “Manifestin,” or the racial profiling mentioned in “Reflections,” that inspired the 15-track project. What served as Omowale’s most prominent influence was Wildchild’s own story– a near-fatal run-in with the law. He said he’s “fortunate” to have had an encounter where he only “almost” lost his life.
“I spent my life being thankful it didn’t happen, thankful I didn’t react wrong,” he said.
After “subconsciously suppressing” the scary moment for nearly 20 years, he finally shared the memory with his Black son and daughter, with whom he’d often have private conversations about their identity.
“I’m going to have to put this into the music, it’s no longer something that’s just in the household,” Wildchild said, recalling family talks about social injustices, one of which is represented in the new video “Breathe,” out April 14.
The inspiration behind “Breathe,” the single named after George Floyd‘s infamous cry for help, “I can’t breathe,” was obvious, Wildchild said: “We, people of color, are just tired of explaining that we’re tired.”
