Oren Alexander, Tal Alexander and Alon Alexander attend Chanukah With The Stars Gala on December 10, 2014 at Harmonie Club in New York City. (Photo by J Grassi/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Three sons of wealth and privilege “were partners in crime” who used their money and status to lure women and girls with promises of trips, exclusive parties and celebrity encounters so they could sexually assault them, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday during opening statements in the trial of Alon, Oren and Tal Alexander.
“These three brothers masqueraded as party boys when really they were predators,” the prosecutor, Madison Smeyser, said. “The brothers used whatever means necessary — sometimes drugs, sometimes alcohol, sometimes brute force — to carry out their rapes.”
The former real estate titans, Oren and Tal Alexander, along with their brother, Alon Alexander, have denied sexually assaulting anyone or running a sex trafficking conspiracy, as prosecutors have charged. They sat at the defense tables with their lawyers in suits and open-collar shirts.
If convicted, Oren and Alon Alexander, 38-year-old twins, and Tal Alexander, 39, could face life in prison.
“They came from a wealthy family, and they lived a life of luxury. But their luxurious lifestyle had a dark side,” Smeyser said.
A defense attorney called the brothers successful, ambitious, arrogant young men “who liked and pursued women” so they could have as much sex as possible.
“That’s not trafficking. That’s dating. That’s hooking up,” the lawyer, Teny Geragos, said during opening statements. She said the accusers, many of whom are expected to testify under pseudonyms, are motivated by shame, regret or money.
Prosecutors told the jury of six men and six women they would see a recording of Oren Alexander’s alleged rape of a then-17-year-old who will testify under the name Amelia. She was “far from sober, almost incoherent” at the time and has no memory of what happened, Smeyser said.
At an exclusive party in Manhattan, Alon Alexander allegedly raped a woman who regained consciousness to find him standing over her naked. When she told him she did not want to have sex, prosecutors said he laughed and said she already had, before raping her again.
Prosecutors said Tal Alexander invited a woman to the Hamptons, chased her into the shower, grabbed her by the neck and sexually assaulted her from behind as the woman cried, “no, no, no.”
Jurors were told they would read the brothers’ exuberant text messages after some of the encounters. “They celebrated raping women and girls,” Smeyser said.
Other messages, she said, suggested “the defendants knew they had to stay out of a courtroom like this one,” including one text that said the only thing that could bring down the brothers is “some ho complaining.”
The defense conceded the brothers were womanizers who jurors might find immoral but insisted they were not criminals.
“It was crude, it was arrogant, it will make you cringe,” defense attorney Deanna Paul said. “But we’re not here for the Asshole Awards.”
In this U.S. Coast Guard handout, the Coast Guard investigates aircraft wreckage on the Potomac River on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/ U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday presented a cockpit visual simulation demonstrating what contributed to the deadly mid-air collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet near Washington, D.C., last year.
The simulation indicates it was very difficult for both aircraft to see each other before the January 2025 crash that occurred as the jet was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, killing 67 people, according to the NTSB.
The first video shows the last three minutes before the collision from the viewpoint of the right seat of the helicopter.
Around 8:46:15, a magenta circle with a label “Flight 5342” appears just above the horizon on the right side of the upper portion of the screen. The label “Flight 5342” fades out about 8:46:35. The magenta circle tracks the lights of Flight 5342 and remains visible until the airplane becomes visually recognizable about a minute later.
After a Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System warning indicated in the transcript, the local controller on the ATC recording is heard asking the pilots if they have the CRJ (Flight 5342) in sight and the pilots confirm they do. It remains unclear what they thought they had in sight. There was only one controller working both the helicopter and plane traffic, the NTSB said.
The simulation screen goes black at the moment of the collision.
The second animation shows the viewpoint of pilots from Flight 5342 as the plane approaches the runway to land. According to the cockpit voice recorder transcript shared by the NTSB, the last words about one second before the crash from both the first officer and the captain were “oh” and “ohhh ohhhh” as the animation shows the helicopter colliding with the plane.
About 90% of wreckage from both aircraft was recovered by the NTSB.
A third animationshows what the local controller from the DCA tower saw at the time of the crash as they were handling the air traffic and issuing instructions. Based on the recordings, the NTSB said Flight 5342 was not warned by the controller of the nearby helicopter at any point. A conflict alert came 26 seconds before the collision between the two aircraft as they were 1.6 miles apart, according to the NTSB.
According to the NTSB, the local tower said they were concerned about the close proximity of the helicopter and Flight 5342.
“This coupled with the conflict alert that was active at the time, the controller should have issued a safety alert, which would have included updated traffic advisory information and an alternate course of action if feasible, neither were done. In this case, had a safety alert been issued, it would have increased the situation awareness of both crews and alerted them of their closing proximity to one another. Additionally, a timely safety alert may have allowed action to be taken by one or both crews to avoid avert the collision,” NTSB investigator Brian Soper said at the hearing.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy also said that a $400 GPS device known as ADSB-In could have prevented the DCA crash. The NTSB has recommended ADSB-In be required in aircraft 17 times since 2006, but the FAA has repeatedly disregarded the recommendation, she said.
The system would have alerted the American Airlines crew 59 seconds before the crash that they were going to collide, and the helicopter crew would have been alerted 48 seconds before the crash, the NTSB chair said. The Army has since installed the system.
DCA controller overwhelmed
The controller working the night of the crash was handling both helicopter and plane traffic and had been doing so for four hours, NTSB investigators said.
A human behavior investigator said the controller’s mental awareness had diminished over time. He should have given a definitive warning of the impending collision and he should have given clear avoidance instructions, the investigator said.
NTSB investigators said the last communication between the helicopter and the controller where they asked the pilot if they have the AA5342 in sight was “not a safety alert by definition, but it was an attempt to de-conflict.”
Ninety seconds before the collision, the local controller working in the tower became overwhelmed as he was handling aircraft both on ground and in the air. On the night of the collision, the controller was working two controller positions. This is a routine practice which is usually done later at night when the aircraft volume goes down.
The NTSB said, “keeping the local control and helicopter control positions combined on the night of the accident, increased the local controller’s workload and reduced his situation awareness.”
Investigators said the controller could have asked for the positions to be decombined because of being overwhelmed, but it would have taken at least a couple of minutes before anyone else could take over. Additionally, the assistant local controller and the supervisor overseeing operations at the time could have served as an extra set of eyes to help the local controller.
However, Homendy revealed that at the time, the assistant controller was writing down information on helicopters and the supervisor did not exhibit situational awareness as they learned during the interview that the supervisor only recalled one helicopter in the area at the time when there were five.
Following the crash, the NTSB issued recommendations for better training to be provided for controllers so they can recognize safety issues and threats in the environment.
NTSB chair’s concerns
Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Chair Homendy said she fears that some of the agency’s safety recommendations, which will be issued at the conclusion of the hearing, may once again go unimplemented.
“Of course I’m concerned. We have 300 aviation recommendations that still haven’t been implemented. Those recommendations were issued because somebody died or was injured, and they have not been implemented yet. So here we are again,” Homendy told ABC News.
“So yes, at the end of this, I am concerned that we’re going to issue recommendations and that they won’t be implemented,” Homendy said. “I can tell you, and anyone who knows me knows I vigorously advocate for the implementation of our recommendations. I don’t care when it is. Could be 50 years later, as I did with positive train control, and I will not hold back on these.”
At Tuesday’s hearing, NTSB investigators will present their investigative findings to board members and the public. NTSB board members, including Homendy, will then question investigators and the parties to the investigation.
At the end of the hearing, the board members will vote on the probable cause of the crash and the agency’s safety recommendations. The NTSB can only make recommendations and does not have the authority to enforce them, therefore they are not always adopted.
Though a formal final report will be released two weeks after the hearing, this hearing will mark the end of what Homendy described as “one of the most complex investigations” conducted by the agency, which they had aimed to conclude by the first anniversary of the mid-air collision.
Homendy told ABC News the investigation “was not easy and it was definitely not straightforward.”
“We will start in one direction and then take it in a different direction, depending on what we’re finding, and then we’ll exclude things that didn’t have anything to do with the investigation. But we have to do our due diligence to make sure that we’re tracking all of that down, all that evidence to support that it wasn’t a factor, while also looking at the issues that were,” Homendy said.
Homendy said the helicopter altimeter discrepancy is what surprised her the most in this investigation.
“The altimeters I did not see coming, that we would have some problems with how the altimeters were reading,” Homendy said.
During last year’s three-day investigative hearing, investigators said they found discrepancies in the altitude data shown on radio and barometric altimeters on Army helicopters after conducting test flights following January’s accident.
It is likely that the helicopter crew did not know their true altitude due to notoriously faulty altimeters inside this series of Black Hawks, according to the investigation. At their closest points, helicopters and planes flew within 75 feet of each other near DCA, an astonishingly close number. During the hearings, the NTSB was told Army Black Hawks can often have wrong readings and a margin of error of +-200 feet.
Another key focus of Tuesday’s hearing is the close proximity of the helicopter route to the runways at Reagan National Airport. According to the NTSB, which cited FAA surveillance data, there were over 15,000 close-proximity events between helicopters and commercial aircraft at DCA between October 2021 and December 2024.
Homendy said warnings about the close proximity were raised by people, but they were ignored.
“Years ago, that hot spot was identified and [people] repeatedly tried to say that the helicopter route needed to be moved, and nobody listened. It was like the ultimate in government bureaucracy,” Homendy said.
“They were completely ignored. Told it couldn’t be done, not responded to, said it would probably be too political. Those are quotes from our interviews, but they went nowhere.”
At last year’s hearing, FAA officials cited “bureaucratic process” as a deterrent to addressing these issues.
Other topics expected to be discussed include the approval of helicopter routes near DCA, the experience level of the air traffic controllers working in the tower at the time of the crash, the visibility study, and the testing of the barometric altimeters.
When asked what stays with her from this investigation, Homendy pointed to a personal item recovered with the wreckage.
“In the hangar, we had the Black Hawk laid out. We had the wreckage laid out for 5342 and on the side next to 5342 there were some personal effects, and a lot of people mentioned different things, but every time I passed, there was a brown teddy bear, just eight inches maybe, and it was muddy and dried mud, dried water, and I just kept looking at the teddy bear, and that’s the thing that sticks with me,” Homendy said.
(NEW YORK) — A person was shot in an incident involving U.S. Border Patrol in Arivaca, Arizona, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson told ABC News.
The shooting occurred early Tuesday morning, the Santa Rita Fire District said. Emergency responders provided first aid at the scene and the person was taken to a hospital in unknown condition, officials said.
The FBI described the incident as “an alleged assault on a federal officer” and said “the subject was taken into custody.”
Pima County Sheriff spokesperson Angelica Carrillo said, “All we have to release at this, at this point, is that a U.S. Border Patrol agent was involved in a shooting here in Arivaca, and that the FBI Phoenix office has called the sheriff’s department to assist in this investigation.”
The sheriff’s office said it’s leading the use-of-force investigation involving the agent, at the request of the FBI.
“We ask the community to remain patient and understanding as this investigation moves forward,” the sheriff’s department said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The measles virus. (BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(SOUTH CAROLINA) — The record-breaking measles outbreak in South Carolina continues to grow with 89 new cases reported since the last update on Friday.
This brings the total number of cases in the outbreak to 789.
At least 557 people are currently in quarantine across the state, including students from various schools.
This is South Carolina’s largest measles outbreak in over 30 years, a spokesperson for the state’s health department told ABC News.
There have been at least 416 confirmed measles cases across the United States so far this year, the latest CDC data shows.
CDC data shows that the majority of cases occur among people under 19. About 2% of all measles cases in the U.S. have been hospitalized.
Dr. Kristin Moffitt, an infectious diseases physician at Boston Children’s Hospital, previously told ABC News she is “very alarmed” by the increase in measles cases in the U.S. over the last year or two.
“I’m very worried about our current year already,” she told ABC News. “Exceeding 2,000 cases in the last year is indeed alarming [and] … I am worried that even our current year is off to a very concerning start.”
Moffitt said that declining vaccination rates across the U.S. are behind the recent increase in measles cases.
“This is entirely due to declining vaccination rates,” she said. “It’s very clear based on where these outbreaks are occurring.”
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.
However, federal data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years. During the 2024-2025 school year, 92.5% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 92.7% seen in the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The national trends mirror those see in counties across the U.S. A recent map from ABC News — a collaboration with researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard School of Medicine and Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai that allows people to type in their ZIP code and see the measles risk in their area — found a wide range of risks in areas across the U.S.
Some counties and ZIP codes fell into the “lowest risk,” with 85% or more of children under 5 years old receiving one or more measles vaccine dose to “very high risk,” with fewer than 60% of children under age 5 receiving one or more measles vaccine doses.
ABC News’ Mary Kekatos and Dr. Richard Zhang contributed to this report.
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Hatch Show Print, Historic RCA Studio B and the Haley Gallery will be closed again on Wednesday as Nashville continues to deal with winter weather.
Chris Janson‘s new track, “Easy to Love, Harder to Hold,” drops Friday, along with its accompanying music video.
Cole Swindell is set to play Red Rock Resort’s Sandbar in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 18. Tickets go on sale Friday.
Cover of doPE album ‘no country for old men,’ featuring The Doors’ John Densmore and Public Enemy’s Chuck D (Org Music)
Earlier in January, The Doors drummer John Densmore and Public Enemy rapper Chuck D announced a collaborative project called doPE, a portmanteau of their respective band names. If you’re a fan of the late ’90s/early 2000s nu metal scene, then you probably know that there is already a band called Dope.
Densmore and Chuck’s doPE project has now caught the attention of Dope frontman Edsel Dope, who shared his thoughts on the name similarity in an Instagram post.
“I am a huge fan of Chuck D , Public Enemy, and the Doors, so the last thing that I want to do is interrupt a creative endeavor from two legends that I admire and respect,” Edsel writes. “However, it is important for me to highlight the 25 years I have devoted to building a band/brand, which has found a good bit of success and built a sizable fan base around the globe.”
Edsel notes he’s had the word “dope” tattooed across his fingers since 1998, and that he has owned the trademark for the artist name “Dope” for over 25 years. He feels that Densmore and Chuck choosing the name “doPE” “would invite a good bit of market confusion.”
“The paperwork is up to date, and my rights regarding the name are indisputable,” Edsel writes. “Next to the two of you, I humbly consider myself ‘the little guy.'”
“If YOU TWO LEGENDS are committed to using MY FOUR LETTERS, Please hit me up directly, as I would love to be part of some form of collaborative effort with you,” Edsel continues. “I know every word from [Public Enemy’s album] Apocalypse 91 & I have smoked more weed listening to The Doors than one could ever imagine.”
The debut doPE release, no country for old men, drops Record Store Day, April 18.
: Uncle Luke performs onstage during ONE Musicfest 2025 at Piedmont Park on October 26, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/WireImage)
Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell‘s political aspirations have not disappeared. The former 2 Live Crew rapper announced he’s contemplating a return to politics in a post announcing his departure from head football coach at Miami Edison Senior High School.
“Good morning. I am officially stepping down as Head Football Coach at Miami Edison Senior High School,” he says in a statement. “Coaching at this historic school has been an honor. I believe we are leaving Miami Edison better than we found it.”
In his next chapter, Luke says he wants to “spend more time working closely with my various companies in music and film,” continue his work with his nonprofit organization, Liberty City Optimist and “be present for my son, who is currently an 11th-grade student-athlete.”
He also says he will continue “helping young men and women” through Luke Sports where he plans to represent student-athletes and guide “parents through decisions involving NIL opportunities, brand marketing and long-term development.”
“Additionally, my potential run for Congress has played a major role in this decision,” he continued. “I do not want to shortchange the young men at Miami Edison while pursuing a congressional seat.”
Luke, who ran for mayor of Miami-Dade County in 2011, has until Feb. 15 to make a final decision. If he moves forward, he will challenge Democratic incumbent Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick in Florida’s 20th Congressional District.
Miranda Lambert not only co-wrote and co-produced Ella Langley‘s current hit, “Choosin’ Texas,” she also helped executive produce her entire sophomore album, Dandelion.
“Thank you Ella for ‘Choosin Texas’ to help you produce this amazing record,” Miranda shared on Instagram as news broke Ella’s album will be out April 10. “It’s been an honor working with you and [co-producer] Ben [West].”
“I cherish your friendship sister,” the Lone Star State native continued. “You are a Dandelion and I can’t wait for the world to hear this.”
It’s been an eventful week for Miranda, as she celebrated her seventh anniversary with husband Brendan McLoughlin on Monday, posting a carousel of photos through the years to mark the occasion.
Variety also reports Miranda has sold her entire song catalog to Sony Music Publishing Nashville and Domain Capital Group, though they didn’t disclose the terms of the deal.
Cover of Van Halen’s ‘1984,’ which feautures their #1 song ‘Jump’ (Warner Records/Rhino)
A new cover of Van Halen’s classic track “Jump” is featured in Coca-Cola’s ad campaign leading up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The new take on the song features blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, along with guitar virtuoso Steve Vai, Colombian reggaeton artist J Balvin and singer-songwriter Amber Mark.
You can hear a preview of the cover now in the first of three Coca-Cola World Cup ads, titled “Bubbling Up.”
“Football is more than a game; it’s a shared passion with a tapestry of emotions that unites billions,” says Arnab Roy, president of Coca‑Cola Global Category, in a statement. “At Coca‑Cola, we believe in the power of shared experiences.”
“Our creative vision for this campaign is to harness the incredible energy of the FIFA World Cup and the rollercoaster of emotions that only this tournament can deliver, transforming them into real, tangible connections,” the statement continues. “Through innovative experiences and compelling content, we’re bringing fans closer than ever before, whether they’re cheering in digital spaces, local bars, or at-home watch parties.”
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, takes place from June 11 to July 19.
In this Aug. 19, 2022, file photo, Quinton Aaron attends an event in Sag Harbor, New York. (Sean Zanni/Getty Images for ACCF, FILE)
The Blind Side actor Quinton Aaron is hospitalized and fighting for his life but showing “positive” signs, according to his former manager.
The actor, who starred in the Oscar-nominated film about the life of former NFL player Michael Oher, is currently on life support with a blood infection, Martin Luther Wardlaw, president of Ascension Studios and Aaron’s former manager, who is in communication with Aaron’s wife, told ABC News on Monday.
“I can tell you that things are looking more positive today than they were yesterday,” Wardlaw said.
He added, “Some things are under control and other things are not, and we’re just praying and hoping for the best right now.”
TMZ first reported the news of Aaron’s hospitalization, which the outlet said came after the actor lost feeling in his legs while walking up stairs at his home.
Aaron received global recognition for his role as Oher, starring alongside Sandra Bullock, who won an Oscar for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy, in the 2009 film.
The actor has been open about his health in recent years, sharing photos in October of his 200-pound weight loss journey.
“He was real concerned about staying fit, staying healthy, staying in front of the camera,” Wardlaw said. “I was very proud to see, you know, that he stuck with it, changing diets and doing what it took to lose weight. And I think he’d done an amazing thing.”
