Vice President Harris marks 6 years since “unspeakable” Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
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(PITTSBURG,, P.A.) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday commemorated six years since the deadly shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue.
“This unspeakable act – fueled by antisemitic hate – was the deadliest attack on the American Jewish community in our Nation’s history,” Harris said in a statement, in part.
On Oct. 27, 2018, a white supremacist gunman opened fire inside the synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, killing 11 people and wounding six others during Shabbat services.
In her statement Sunday, Harris mourned the lives that were taken that day and also hailed the resiliency and enduring strength of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community. She also noted the rise in antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel and vowed to continue to combat antisemitism.
“I will always work to ensure the safety and security of Jewish people in the United States and around the world, and will always call out antisemitism whenever and wherever we see it,” Harris said. “Doug and I are proud to have worked alongside President Biden to combat antisemitism, including through the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.”
“Today, Doug and I stand in solidarity with the survivors of this attack, the families who lost loved ones, and the entire Jewish community,” Harris added, referring to her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Earlier Sunday, President Joe Biden also marked the anniversary of the Tree of Life attack, saying in a statement that the shootings “shattered families, pierced the heart of the Jewish community, and struck the soul of our nation.”
“For the families of the victims and the survivors, this difficult day of remembrance brings it all back like it just happened – and our country holds them and their loved ones close in our hearts,” Biden added.
Biden said his administration remains committed to aggressively implementing the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.
“As the Talmud says, ‘It is not your duty to finish the work but neither are you at liberty to neglect it,'” Biden said in the statement. “On this solemn day of remembrance for the attack in the Tree of Life Synagogue, let us come together as Americans to ensure antisemitism and hate in all its forms have no safe harbor in America – for all the lives we have lost and all those we can still save.”
(NEW YORK) — ABC News legal contributor Brian Buckmire talks about the music mogul’s return to court on charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.
Sean “Diddy” Combs accused federal agents and prosecutors of unlawful leaks in a court filing on Wednesday.
Combs has been held without bail after he was arrested and charged last month with sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy.
On the eve of his court appearance, the music mogul’s attorneys alleged leaks “have led to damaging, highly prejudicial pretrial publicity that can only taint the jury pool and deprive Mr. Combs of his right to a fair trial,” the defense filing said.
Combs’ attorneys took specific aim at Homeland Security investigations over the searches of his homes and at prosecutors over a 2016 video depicting Combs attacking his then-girlfriend Casandra Ventura.
The video was obtained by CNN in May and Combs acknowledged the video and apologized for his actions in the video.
Prosecutors cited the video in their indictment contending that when a hotel security worker intervened, Combs tried to bribe the worker with a “stack of cash” to keep the incident quiet.
The defense asked for a hearing and an exploration of the evidence. Prosecutors have not immediately responded to the request.
In a letter to the judge in a separate filing on Wednesday, Combs said he wants to stand trial this spring on charges of racketeering conspiracy, forced sex trafficking and prostitution.
“Mr. Combs continues to assert his right to a speedy trial and intends to request a trial date in April or May 2025, and as consistent with the Court’s trial schedule,” defense attorneys Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos wrote in a joint letter to the judge ahead of Comb’s court appearance Thursday.
Prosecutors took no position.
“The Government will be available for trial on a date set by the Court, although it remains within the Court’s discretion to set a trial date at the outset of the case or at a later time,” prosecutors wrote.
Combs, who has pleaded not guilty, is being held without bail and his attorneys have said they want the case to move quickly.
“The government arrested him, the government wants him detained, and we’re going to have to do everything possible to move this along,” Agnifilo said during a prior court appearance.
Combs, who is also facing several civil lawsuits from alleged victims, has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges.
Heavy rains from hurricane Helene caused record flooding and damage in Asheville, NC, Sept. 28, 2024. — Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The death toll from Hurricane Helene is still climbing as Americans across the Southeast count the cost of last week’s massive storm.
The storm made landfall Thursday night as a Category 4 hurricane in Florida’s Big Bend region with sustained winds of 140 mph.
Helene intensified as it approached the U.S. coast, bringing with it devastating winds, massive flooding and enormous storm surge.
In North Carolina, extreme floods washed away homes and bridges. At one point, authorities closed 400 roads deeming them unsafe for travel. At least 30 people died and dozens are missing, state authorities said.
“This is an unprecedented tragedy that requires an unprecedented response,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said.
Members of the National Guard and relief teams from 19 states joined search and rescue missions in the state.
William Ray, the director of the North Carolina Department for Public Safety emergency management, said response teams “are working around the clock to make rescues, to access neighborhoods.”
In Asheville, there has been no cell service or water supply for several days. Zeb Smathers — the mayor of Canton, to the west of Asheville — told Good Morning America the situation was “apocalyptic, not just for Canton, but the entire region.”
The area is suffering from a total cell phone “blackout,” Smathers said, meaning residents are unable to check on loved ones or urge those at risk from further flooding to evacuate.
Parts of North Carolina were inundated with up to 30 inches of rain, triggering deadly flash floods and landslides.
In Lake Lure in the west of the state, resident George Carter told Good Morning America: “When you turn the corner and you see your community just full of buildings and trash and floating boathouses and floating homes, it just sort of takes your breath away.”
“It was scary,” he added.
Adam Jackon, from Tyron, North Carolina, said neighbors were trapped by falling trees.
There were “probably 50 trees blocking my neighbors from coming out,” he said. “I started helping them yesterday, the neighbors at the other end of the road. We got us out, but the other neighbors are trapped.”
The Painter family from Asheville, meanwhile, returned home to find 35,000 gallons of water in their basement. “It’s eerie,” Jacob Painter said. “I had a pit in the bottom of my stomach the whole time.”
“You’re stepping on mud and trying not to fall because it’s so thick and slippery,” Ciara Lantz-Painter said.
Randall Houghton spoke with Good Morning America near a devastated motorhome site. His camper was washed away by floodwaters, he said, forcing him to spend the night on the side of the road.
“It’s crazy,” said Houghton. “I anticipated something bad when she said the water is going to come over the top of the parking tables.”
At least two people were killed in Tennessee, though that number may rise as search and rescue efforts continue. More than 70 people are still missing, state officials said.
Among them is Steve Cloyd, whose jeep was found in the aftermath of the storm, according to his family.
His family’s hope, wife Keli told Good Morning America, is that Steve was able to escape the vehicle. “I need that big one, so I can breathe again, so my kids can breathe again,” she said.
“His Minnesota Vikings won today. So I want to sit here and watch those highlights with him.”
ABC New’s Joel Lyons, Dom Proto, Octavio Cadenas, Alex Colletta and Kimberly Randolph contributed to this report.
(TAMPA, Fla.) — As Danny Pownall looked through the piles of debris on the street in front of one of his rental properties in Redington Shores, Florida, he pointed out suitcases, beds and even a workout ball.
“Their lives just got flipped upside down, literally, and dumped on the street,” he said of residents still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida on Sept. 30 and then cut a path of destruction and death up through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.
Pownall told ABC News that Helene destroyed his home as well as some of his rental properties. As a line of dump trucks waited to pick up the piles of debris left by Helene, Pownall and other residents in the Tampa metropolitan area are bracing for Hurricane Milton, which the police chief of Tampa described as “the storm of the century.”
“We don’t know what this storm is going to do,” said Pownall, surveying the sagging second-floor terrace of one of his properties still standing. “That could be a one-two punch to take out this property.”
As of Tuesday, Milton was a Category 4 hurricane swirling in the Gulf of Mexico about 500 miles south-by-southwest of Tampa. It is expected to make landfall around 11 p.m. Wednesday between St. Petersburg and Sarasota, possibly as a Category 3 hurricane, officials said.
From Treasure Island near St. Petersburg to Sanibel Island near Fort Miles, officials are preparing for an emergency on top of the emergency left by Helene and issuing mandatory evacuations.
Florida officials warn that Milton is stacking up to be a monster, forecasting a 10-to-15-foot storm surge, nearly twice as high as what transpired in the area during Helene.
“I know that our residents, our staff, everyone is absolutely, purely exhausted from the recovery effort for Hurricane Helene, but we do need to start preparing for another potential serious hit from another hurricane,” Treasure Island Mayor Tyler Payne said in a video message to his community on Monday. “And you’re still trying to recover from that, and now we have to go through it all over again. But it is absolutely critical that you obey the evacuation orders when they are issued and really protect yourself at this point.”
Sarah Steslicki told ABC News on Tuesday that she has endured more than two decades of hurricanes since building her house in Belleair Beach near Tampa, but said she will decide at the last minute whether to evacuate to higher ground.
“We are still staying put. The storm has been delayed. It’s slowed down a bit. We want to make sure we know the path of the storm. Is it safer to stay at home or are we going to leave?” said Steslicki, adding that she lives on high ground and that her garage got about 2 inches of water during the 8-foot storm surge caused by Helene.
The last time multiple hurricanes hit Florida in such a short period was in 2004, when hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne pummeled the state in just six weeks.
“It was chaotic. They were spread out like a week apart,” Steslicki said of surviving the quadruple hit in 2004. “As soon as we’d put our patio furniture out, we’d have to bring it all back in.”
Milton is lining up for a direct hit on the Tampa metro area, which would be the first since 1921. In the time that has passed, the population of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties has grown 20 times over, now home to 2.5 million people.
“We built our house new about 20 years ago. So we know the construction. It’s concrete block,” Steslicki said. “We’d rather be in a safe environment and maybe be out of power and water than to be in jeopardy in a structure that’s not sound.”
Making matters worse, Steslicki said she and her family plan to travel to California on Saturday for her daughter’s wedding.
“It’s especially stressful for us. If there’s any kind of damage, we’re not going to cancel our daughter’s wedding,” Steslicki said.
Kevin Doyle, the co-owner of the Celtic Public House in Punta Gorda, near Fort Myers, said he was taking no chances after staying put during Hurricane Helene. He told ABC News on Tuesday and that he is evacuating south to Coral Gables on the east coast of southern Florida near Miami.
Doyle also survived the 2004 barrage of hurricanes. He said his pub and much of his town were destroyed by Hurricane Charley, which caused $16 billion in damage and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, killed 18 people. Doyle spent seven years rebuilding his business only to see it damaged again by Hurricane Helene.
“It was treacherous; the worst thing to happen,” Doyle said of riding out Helene at home.
Doyle said Helene flooded his pub with up to 42 inches of water and damaged the inside of the business. He said his two cars were also destroyed by the flooding.
Doyle said he finished installing new drywall in his business “in record time” as officials began issuing warnings of Milton. He said he’s erected a 4-foot-high wall of sandbags around his pub hoping it will protect it.
“I’m just hoping it’s not as high as Helene,” he said.
