At special counsel’s request, judge pauses upcoming deadlines in Trump’s election interference case
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(WASHINGTON) — The judge in former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case has paused all upcoming deadlines in the case, after special counsel Jack Smith filed a motion Friday requesting the pause.
As ABC News previously reported, Smith and the Justice Department are in talks about the best way to wind down the election case and his classified documents case, following Trump’s election victory on Tuesday.
The decision is based on longstanding Department of Justice policy that a sitting president cannot face criminal prosecution while in office, sources said.
“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025,” Friday’s filing said. “The Government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”
“By December 2, 2024, the Government will file a status report or otherwise inform the Court of the result of its deliberations. The Government has consulted with defense counsel, who do not object to this request,” said the filing.
Trump last year pleaded not guilty to federal charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in order to remain in power.
Smith subsequently charged Trump in a superseding indictment that was adjusted to respect the Supreme Court’s July ruling that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken as president.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has been in the process of considering how the case should proceed in light of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling,
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(ERWIN, Tenn.) — At least 54 people were trapped on the roof of a hospital in Tennessee on Friday after floodwaters due to Hurricane Helene quickly surrounded the medical center.
Everyone was rescued safely, Sen. Bill Hagerty said in a statement.
Unicoi County Hospital — located in the northeastern part of the state on the border with North Carolina — took on so much flooding that those inside could no longer be safely evacuated and had to relocate to the roof.
In addition to the people trapped on the roof, seven people were in rescue boats. The National Guard and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) are currently engaged in “a dangerous rescue operation,” according to Ballad Health, a health care company that runs a chain of hospitals.
“I don’t think very many people have seen something like this before,” Ballad Health CEO Alan Levine said while speaking at Unicoi County High School. “The most important thing is the safety of our employees and patients. Thank God, thanks to the great work of Tennessee and Virginia partnering to help us get this rescue underway, they’re all safe.”
Rep. Diana Harshbarger posted on the social platform X on Friday afternoon that helicopters had arrived to help evacuate people off the roof.
Ballad Health said in a statement on X on Friday that it received notice a little after 9:30 a.m. ET from the Unicoi County Emergency Management Agency that the hospital needed to be evacuated to the water from a nearby river rising quickly.
Although ambulances were quick to help evacuate patients, the hospital became flooded so quickly that the ambulances could not safely approach the hospital.
TEMA coordinated with local emergency management agencies so boats could be deployed to assist with the evacuation. However, water began flooding the hospital building causing an “extremely dangerous and impassable” that prevented boats from reaching the hospital.
What’s more, high winds had previously prevented helicopters from evacuating the hospital.
“We ask everyone to please pray for the people at Unicoi County Hospital, the first responders on-scene, the military leaders who are actively working to help, and our state leaders,” Ballad Health said in a statement. “Ballad Health appreciates the support and effort of Mayors Garland Evely, Patty Woodby and Joe Grandy, each of whom has offered assistance and have maintained ongoing contact with Ballad Health leadership.”
ABC News’ Alexandra Faul and Mike Noble contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — For the second year in a row, summer in the Northern Hemisphere ranked as the warmest on record with extreme heat bringing persistent, dangerously hot conditions across several continents, according to a new report by Copernicus, the European Union’s Climate Change Service.
Summer 2024 (June through August) was the warmest summer on record for the Northern Hemisphere, beating the previous record set in 2023 by .66 degrees Celsius, or 1.19 degrees Fahrenheit, the report found. The Northern Hemisphere’s top 10 warmest summers on record have all occurred within the past 10 years, according to Copernicus.
Last month also registered as the joint-warmest August on record globally, tying the value observed in 2023, the report, released Thursday, found.
As the planet continues to set new global temperature records, parts of the West Coast continue to experience record-breaking heat. While much of the region typically experiences the warmest temperatures of the year on average during the month of September, the current round of hot weather impacting millions is reaching dangerous levels.
Extreme last-season heat is impacting major cities up and down the West Coast. Heat alerts were in effect across parts of six western states, from Arizona to Washington on Wednesday, including more than 65 million Americans. Several major cities could see records challenged in the coming days.
This latest round of extreme heat comes as major cities in the West such as Phoenix, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada, experienced their hottest summers on record, according to the National Weather Service.
“The temperature-related extreme events witnessed this summer will only become more intense, with more devastating consequences for people and the planet unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, said in a statement.
Researchers at Copernicus said that it remains likely that 2024 is going to be the warmest year on record, beating out the new record set just last year. The year-to-date global average temperature anomaly through the end of August currently ranks .23 degrees Celsius, or .41 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer than the same period in 2023.
The average anomaly for the remaining months of this year would need to drop by at least .30 degrees Celsius, or .54 degrees Fahrenheit, for 2024 not to be warmer than 2023. This has never happened in the organization’s ERA5 dataset.
The last time Earth recorded a cooler-than-average year was in 1976, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization (NOAA).
August 2024 ended up tied with August 2023 as the warmest August on record globally, registering an average surface air temperature of 16.82 degrees Celsius, or 62.28 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the report. This is .71 degrees Celsius, or 1.28 degrees Fahrenheit, above the 1991-2020 average for the month.
The global average temperature over the past twelve months, September 2023 through August 2024, was 1.64 degrees Celsius, or 2.95 degrees Fahrenheit above the pre-industrial average, the report found.
The Paris Agreement goals aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels.
Scientists say that it is important to note that exceeding the 1.5 degree Celsius warming threshold temporarily is not seen as a failure under the Paris Agreement since the agreement looks at the climate average over multiple decades. However, short-term breaches of the threshold are an important signal that those higher averages are likely to happen in the next decade if emissions aren’t reduced significantly.
Global daily sea surface temperatures across most of the world’s oceans remain well above average. The average global sea surface temperature for August 2024, between the latitudes of 60 degrees south and 60 degrees north, was 69.64 degrees Fahrenheit, the second-highest value on record for the month and just slightly below the record value set last year, the report found.
Persistent marine heatwaves are keeping sea surface temperatures at near-record levels across parts of the globe, including the Atlantic Basin. These unusually warm conditions were one of the primary factors that led NOAA to forecast a very active Atlantic hurricane season this year.
While the season got off to an impressive start with storms like record-breaking Hurricane Beryl and weeks of above-average activity earlier in the summer, the Atlantic Basin is now seeing a stretch of remarkably quiet conditions with the peak of the season just days away.
The past three weeks in the Atlantic Basin have been notably quiet with no named storm formations since Ernesto on Aug. 12.
However, toward the middle of September, large-scale environmental conditions look to become more favorable for tropical cyclone activity. This is particularly concerning for forecasters tracking the tropics because as many of the factors that have been inhibiting tropical activity begin to ease, any potential systems that begin to develop will have an ample supply of fuel to not only form but potentially go under rapid intensification.
Antarctic sea ice extent dipped to its second-lowest value on record for the month of August, 7% below average. Arctic sea ice extent was 17% below average for the month, ranking as the fourth lowest value on record and noticeably lower than the August values observed in the previous three years, according to Copernicus.
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP via Getty Images
Hurricane Milton is already causing travel disruptions as the storm takes aim at Florida’s west coast.
The hurricane is expected to make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. Possible record storm surge is anticipated in the Tampa area. Flooding is also a risk throughout much of the state.
Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for at least parts of 14 counties along Florida’s west coast, including in Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Volusia.
Several airports have announced temporary closures ahead of landfall.
Airport closures
Tampa International Airport suspended operations beginning at 9 a.m. on Tuesday and will remain closed to the public “until it can assess any damage after the storm,” airport officials said.
The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, just outside of Tampa, closed at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, and will remain closed on Wednesday and Thursday.
“The airport is in a mandatory evacuation zone and is not a public shelter,” airport officials tweeted. “Prepare and stay safe.”
The Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in Sarasota closed at 4 p.m. Tuesday and will reopen “once safe to do so,” airport officials tweeted.
Commercial operations stopped at the Orlando Executive Airport at 10 p.m. Tuesday and at the Orlando International Airport at 8 a.m. Wednesday, airport officials said. Both will reopen as soon as it’s safe.
“While these airports will cease commercial operations, they are not closed to emergency/aid and relief flights and will remain open as necessary,” airport officials said. “Commercial operations will resume as soon as possible based on damage assessment.”
Orlando Sanford International Airport in Sanford also suspended operations at 8 a.m. Wednesday, airport officials said, while advising passengers to “stay tuned for updates.”
Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport will remain open and operational, with airport officials saying they are closely monitoring the storm.
Flight cancellations More than 1,700 flights have been canceled throughout the U.S. as of Wednesday morning, according to FlightAware. Orlando International Airport has the most, followed by Tampa.
Airlines were operating larger aircraft and adding more flights to their schedules ahead of the hurricane and airport closures.
The Department of Transportation is monitoring flights in and out of areas affected by Milton to “make sure airlines are not charging excessively increasing fares,” Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on X.
Rail service changes
Amtrak announced it will operate a modified schedule due to Milton.
Among the changes, trains on its Silver Service route will terminate at Jacksonville through Thursday, not continuing on south to stops including Orlando, Tampa and Miami. Select trains on its Silver Service route will also originate at Jacksonville through Friday.
The company’s Auto Train Service, which runs between the Washington, D.C., and Orlando areas, is canceled through Thursday.
Brightline, Florida’s high-speed rail, is also adjusting some of its scheduled trips due to Milton, including ceasing operations on Wednesday and Thursday between West Palm Beach and Orlando.
“We will resume full operations after an assessment of track conditions once the storm has passed,” the rail service said in an update on X while advising passengers with reservations to refer to their email for updates.
Other travel updates
Florida’s Department of Transportation began locking down drawbridges Tuesday afternoon in coordination with the United States Coast Guard.
The department has suspended lane closures and active construction work on interstates within the storm’s path. Tolls have also been suspended across central and west Florida, it said.
The Florida Division of Emergency Services announced Monday it has partnered with Uber to provide free rides to and from shelters. Free shuttles to shelters were also operating Tuesday in counties with an evacuation order in place, it said.
ABC News’ Clara McMichael and Ayesha Ali contributed to this report.
