2 World Trade Center breaks ground 25 years after 9/11
Scheduled to open in 2031, 2 World Trade Center will be the global headquarters of American Express as seen in this rendering of the building. (Foster + Partners/WTC)
(NEW YORK) — Twenty-five years after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, left a gaping void in Lower Manhattan, American Express broke ground Thursday on its new headquarters, a tiered glass and steel tower at 2 World Trade Center.
The 55-story, 2 million square foot building with more than an acre of outdoor terraces and gardens is the last commercial development in the footprint of the fallen twin towers of the World Trade Center.
The skyscraper is scheduled to be completed in 2031 and rise 1,226 feet.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the project will create 3,200 jobs and inject $6 billion into the city’s economy.
“We are standing today on hallowed ground,” Mamdani said.
“This has been a long journey,” said Lisa Silverstein of Silverstein Properties, the developer of the site since 2001. “This is the capstone for the World Trade Center.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks to the Border Security Expo at the Phoenix Convention Center on May 6, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Gage Skidmore/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that members of the media “should not be surprised” if they receive subpoenas for information related to their sources on stories pertaining to national security-sensitive matters, following a Wall Street Journal report that the outlet received subpoenas stemming from its coverage of the war in Iran.
“Prosecuting leakers who share our nation’s secrets with reporters, in turn risking our national security and the lives of our soldiers, is a priority for this administration,” Blanche said. “Any witness, whether a reporter or otherwise, who has information about these criminals should not be surprised if they receive a subpoena about the illegal leaking of classified material.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Alex Murdaugh is found guilty on all counts for the murder of his wife and son at the Colleton County Courthouse on Thursday, March 2, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Alex Murdaugh is suing the former court clerk who served during his double murder trial in South Carolina, alleging she denied him a fair trial before an impartial jury, his attorneys announced days after the state’s top court overturned his murder convictions.
Murdaugh’s wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and younger son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family’s hunting estate in 2021.
Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of murdering them following a six-week trial, with jurors deliberating for nearly three hours before reaching a guilty verdict.
Last week, the five-member South Carolina Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Murdaugh must have a new trial, citing the “breathtaking and disgraceful effort” of former Colleton County clerk Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill to “undermine the jury process.”
“With the South Carolina Supreme Court’s ruling, it has been adjudged as a matter of state law that she deprived Alex of his constitutional rights, deprived him of a right to a fair trial, and as a result we’ve got to do it all over again, which nobody wants to do,” Murdaugh’s attorney, Jim Griffin, said during a press briefing on Monday announcing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is seeking at least $600,000, Griffin said. The civil complaint notes that Murdaugh spent $600,000 on his trial defense, according to the filing.
“The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that Ms. Hill’s actions — motivated by her own desire to profit from the trial — caused these funds to be lost,” the filing stated.
Griffin said they are seeking “accountability” with the lawsuit.
“Now, let me be clear. Alex Murdaugh owes a lot of people a lot of money. None of this money that is recovered will go to him personally,” he said. “The purpose of this lawsuit is to hold Becky Hill accountable for what she did.”
ABC News has reached out to Hill’s attorney for comment.
In its opinion filed last Wednesday, the state supreme court stated that Hill “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility and his defense, thus triggering the presumption of prejudice, which the State was unable to rebut.”
“As noted at the outset, Hill’s shocking jury interference was accomplished outside the presence and knowledge of the outstanding trial judge and superbly competent and professional counsel for the State and the defense,” it continued.
In the murder trial, prosecutors made the case that Murdaugh, who comes from a legacy of prominent attorneys in the Lowcountry region, killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract from his financial wrongdoings, while the defense argued that police ignored the possibility that anyone else could have killed them.
Murdaugh’s defense claimed that Hill influenced the verdict through remarks heard by some jurors during the trial, including in one instance to watch Murdaugh’s body language during his testimony, according to court filings.
Murdaugh has continued to deny having anything to do with the deaths of his wife and son.
Following the decision, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said his office will “aggressively” seek to retry Murdaugh for the murders “as soon as possible” — possibly by the end of this year.
Hill resigned as the Colleton County clerk of court in March 2024, amid the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s investigation into allegations she may have abused her government position for financial gain.
Her book, “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders,” was ultimately pulled from publication over accusations of plagiarism.
She pleaded guilty in December 2025 to obstruction of justice, perjury and misconduct in office for showing photographs that were sealed court evidence to a reporter during the trial and then later lying about doing so on the stand during a hearing related to Murdaugh’s bid for a new trial. She was sentenced to three years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
The charges did not allege any jury tampering, and she denied any tampering with the jury during her testimony.
Murdaugh was also convicted on several financial crimes following the murder trial and is serving a 27-year sentence on state charges and a 40-year sentence on federal charges related to those crimes.
In its opinion, the state supreme court found that the trial court acted within its discretion in admitting some evidence of the financial crimes, which supported the state’s theory of motive, though it noted that the evidence could have been presented in a “fraction” of the time. If admitted on retrial, the evidence must be presented “efficiently,” the opinion stated.
Luigi Mangione appears at an evidence suppression hearing at Manhattan Supreme Court on May 18, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jeenah Moon-Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Accused killer Luigi Mangione will stand trial in Manhattan federal court beginning Jan. 5 with jury selection, followed by opening statements on Jan. 25, Judge Margaret Garnett said Monday.
Garnett said she hoped to hold the trial this fall but Mangione’s state trial, scheduled to begin Sept. 8, makes that “impossible.”
“In my view it’s simply impossible for us to be moving through the jury selection process in this case while the defendant and his counsel are fully engaged in the state trial,” Garnett said.
Mangione, wearing beige jail clothing, did not speak during Monday’s hearing. His appearance was delayed about 20 minutes after he got stuck in an elevator with U.S. marshals.
Defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said New York State Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro will hold firm to the Sept. 8 start.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he stalked UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson before shooting and killing him in December 2024 in Midtown Manhattan. Mangione has also pleaded not guilty to state charges.
For the federal trial, hundreds of prospective jurors from Manhattan, the Bronx and New York City’s northern suburbs will fill out questionnaires in December. Garnett said she would not post the questionnaire on the public docket until all prospective jurors finish filling it out, saying that the need for a fair and impartial jury overrides the customary expectation of public access to the document.
The defense said it might ask the judge to include additional questions depending on the outcome of Mangione’s state trial.
The jury will be comprised of 12 jurors and six alternates.
