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National

DA suggests Georgia election interference case against Trump may continue

Remon Haazen/Getty Images

(ATLANTA) — The state prosecution of Donald Trump on election interference charges in Georgia may be able to continue despite his impending inauguration, a lawyer for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis signaled in a court filing that urged an appeals court to reject the president-elect’s request to throw out the case based on presidential immunity.

The filing argued that Trump’s lawyers failed to demonstrate why a state prosecution would be subject to the Department of Justice memorandum prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting presidents — which was cited by special counsel Jack Smith when he wound down his federal cases against Trump — or impede Trump’s duties as president.

“Appellant does not specify or articulate how the appeal — or indeed, any other aspect of this case — will constitutionally impede or interfere with his duties once he assumes office,” Fulton County Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney F. McDonald Wakeford wrote.

“The notice makes mention of these concepts without actually examining them or applying them to the present circumstances. In other words, Appellant has not done the work but would very much like for this Court to do so,” the filing said.

According to the filing, state prosecutors are not bound by the Department of Justice’s policies, and past court decisions have not clearly established a precedent for state cases proceeding against a sitting president.

“Given these vague statements, to simply invoke the phrase ‘federalism and comity concerns,’ without more, offers nothing of substance,” the filing said, accusing Trump’s lawyer of making “sweeping legal generalizations which are either misleading or oversimplified” and providing “a smattering of quotations that are alternately mischaracterized or stripped of context.”

Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last year to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Four defendants subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.

Wakeford, in his filing, urged the Georgia Court of Appeals to reject or ignore Trump’s request to order the dismissal of the case, describing Trump’s recent filing as nothing more than a “decree.”

“The notice thus fails to adequately notify this Court of anything except for the outcome that Appellant would prefer — and expects — to see,” the filing said. “Such a filing is best understood as a decree. Appellant has provided this Court with half a thought and gestured toward a smattering of constitutional principles, and as a result, he feels entitled to instruct this Court as to what its conclusions are expected to be.”

The Georgia Court of Appeals took up Trump’s case after trial Judge Scott McAfee declined to disqualify Willis over her romantic relationship with a fellow prosecutor, who was forced to resign from the case. Earlier this month, Trump’s lawyer sent the court a notice requesting they order the trial judge to dismiss the case based on Trump’s presidential immunity, which they argued applied to him as president-elect.

Wakeford, in his filing, categorically denied the existence of president-elect immunity.

“While the courts’ understanding of presidential immunity continues to evolve, ‘president-elect immunity’ obviously does not exist,” the filing said.

Wakeford also defended the integrity of the case against Trump, accusing the president-elect of using a “familiar tactic” when he argued the case is politically motivated.

“This case is thus the result of two separate grand juries and years of investigation, and any suggestion it is motivated by ‘possible local prejudice’ remains utterly unfounded,” the filing said.

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Health

CDC confirms 1st case of severe bird flu in US

(NEW YORK) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed the first case of severe bird flu in the United States.

The federal health agency said Wednesday that the patient has been hospitalized in Louisiana. No identifying details about the patient were made available.

Genomic data showed the Louisiana patient was infected with a version of the virus recently found to be spreading in wild birds and poultry in the U.S., as well as found in some human cases in Canada and Washington state, according to the CDC.

This is different than the version of the virus found to be spreading in dairy cows and some poultry populations in the U.S.

The Louisiana patient was exposed to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks, although an investigation into the source of the illness is ongoing, the CDC said. This is the first case of human bird flu in the U.S. linked to exposure to backyard flock.

There have been 61 reported human cases of bird flu reported in the U.S. since April, according to CDC data.

Almost all confirmed cases have had direct contact with infected cattle or infected livestock. Prior to the case confirmed in the Louisiana patient, cases had been mild and patients had all recovered after receiving antiviral medication, according to the CDC and state health officials. One previous case in Missouri was hospitalized, but health officials pointed to other health conditions aside from bird flu infection involved in the patient’s admission to the hospital.

Signs and symptoms of infection in humans often include sore throat, cough, fever, runny or stuffy nose, headache, muscle or body aches, fatigue and shortness of breath, the CDC says. Less common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and seizures.

Infections can range from no symptoms or mild illness, such as flu-like symptoms, to more severe illness, such as pneumonia that could require hospitalizations, the CDC says.

“The best way to prevent bird flu is to avoid exposure whenever possible. Infected birds shed avian influenza A viruses in their saliva, mucous and feces,” the CDC wrote Wednesday in a press release. “Other infected animals may shed avian influenza A viruses in respiratory secretions and other bodily fluids (e.g., in unpasteurized cow milk or ‘raw milk’).”

The CDC said no person-to-person transmission has been detected and the risk to the general public is low. However, those who work with birds, poultry or cows — or have recreational exposure to them — are at higher risk and should take precautions recommended by the health agency.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a new federal order last week that raw milk samples nationwide will be collected and shared with the department in order to test for bird flu.

The decision came after the bird flu virus was found in samples of raw milk from a California farm, which issued a recall of all of its raw milk products earlier this week. The farm was also placed under quarantine by state health officials.

ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

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Entertainment

‘Mayor of Kingstown’ renewed for season 4

Eric Ogden/Paramount+

Mayor of Kingstown is returning for another season. The Paramount+ drama starring Jeremy Renner has been renewed for season 4.

The third season, which aired earlier this year, was the number one series on the platform, reaching 8.8 million global households. That season saw Renner’s Mike McLusky trying to end the drug war as the Russian mob infiltrated his city.

Renner teased that a renewal was imminent in November, when he posted a photo from the show to his Instagram Story and wrote, “Smile… It’s Friday… and prepping for Season 4!”

Co-created by cast member Hugh Dillon and Yellowstone‘s Taylor Sheridan, the series also stars Emma Laird, Tobi Bamtefa and Michael Beach, among others.

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National

House Ethics Committee expected to release Gaetz report: Sources

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — The House Ethics Committee quietly voted earlier this month to release its report into the conduct of former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, multiple people with direct knowledge of the decision tell ABC News.

The report is expected to be released after the final House votes are cast for the year and as members head home for the holidays, those sources said.

The move appeared to catch Gaetz off guard. He told ABC News that he was not informed of the committee’s decision.

In a lengthy response on X, the conservative firebrand said, “I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued. Instead, House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body.”

CNN was first to report the development.

House Ethics Committee members declined to comment to ABC News.

Gaetz has been under scrutiny amid sexual misconduct allegations, including accusations that he had sex with a minor, which he has long denied.

President-elect Donald Trump last month tapped him to serve as attorney general in the incoming administration, and Gaetz resigned his congressional seat shortly after. But Gaetz subsequently withdrew his name from consideration, saying his confirmation process was “unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”

The House Ethics Committee was in the final stages of its probe into Gaetz when Trump tapped him for attorney general, prompting a fiery debate on Capitol Hill on whether the panel should release its report.

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Entertainment

Aaron Pierre on honoring James Earl Jones in ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’: ‘Massive inspiration to me’

Photo Courtesy of Disney

Aaron Pierre is opening up about honoring James Earl Jones as the latest actor to voice Mufasa in the forthcoming film Mufasa: The Lion King.

Pierre told Good Morning America Wednesday it’s “truly surreal” to be continuing the story in the film, a prequel and sequel to the 2019 live-action remake of the 1994 animated classic — both of which featured Jones in the role of King of the Pride Lands.

“Not only was he a massive inspiration to me within the context of Mufasa, but he’s also been an enormous inspiration to me just in regards to the entirety of his artistry and his legacy,” Pierre said of Jones.

“For me, he truly is the top of the mountain, and I hope that in some small way I was able to honor him, and hopefully he would be proud of what we’ve put together here,” Pierre added.

Jones, one of the most celebrated actors of his generation, died in September at the age of 93.

Speaking to the franchise’s past, Pierre called the original animated film — which hit theaters the same month he was born — one of his favorite Disney films.

“There was something about it that made me feel included, made me feel involved,” he said. “I really love the way it celebrated the continent of Africa in a beautiful way.”

Mufasa: The Lion King roars into theaters on Dec. 20.

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National

Guilty plea expected in secret Chinese police station case

Marilyn Nieves/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — A guilty plea is expected Wednesday in the case of a secret Chinese police station operating in lower Manhattan.

The suspects in the case, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, were accused by prosecutors last year of working on behalf of China’s Ministry of Public Security in violation of the Espionage Act.

Chen is expected to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government. Lu is due in court next in February.

At the time the case was charged in April 2023, the FBI called it in an example of China’s “audacious activities” on U.S. soil.

The location in Chinatown claimed to be a nonprofit organization helping Chinese-Americans but federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, who brought the case, said it “appears to have had a more sinister use.”

Prosecutors said the secret police station was set up by Chinese counterintelligence operatives to harass and intimidate dissidents living in the United States.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Politics

Johnson going forward with stopgap funding bill despite Elon Musk opposition

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — Elon Musk, a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, came out against Speaker Mike Johnson going forward with a stopgap government funding bill on Wednesday, saying, “This bill should not pass.”

Johnson was asked about the Tesla CEO’s post during an interview on “Fox & Friends.” He appeared to not worry about Musk’s post influencing the ability of the funding bill to get through both chambers ahead of a partial government shutdown deadline at the end of the day Friday.

“I was communicating with Elon last night. Elon and Vivek [Ramaswamy] and I are on a text chain together and I was explaining to them the background of this. Vivek and I talked last night about midnight, and he said ‘look I get it.’ He said, ‘We understand you’re in an impossible position,'” Johnson said.

Johnson said Musk and Ramaswamy, the two DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) leaders, are aware of the tough spot the speaker is in with a slim majority and Democratic control of the Senate and White House. DOGE is an outside-of-government (or private) operation.

“We gotta get this done because here’s the key. By doing this, we are clearing the decks, and we are setting up for Trump to come in roaring back with the American first agenda. That’s what we are going to run with gusto beginning January 3 when we start the new Congress,” he said.

Johnson urged for Congress to pass this funding bill “so we don’t have a shutdown.”

“We get to March where we can put our fingerprints on the spending. That is where the big changes start,” Johnson said.

The push comes as Republicans and Democrats scramble to pass a bill before government funding expires Friday night.

Johnson, whose speakership has been characterized by beating back criticism from his far-right flank, had originally promised a clean bill that would solely extend current levels of government funding to prevent a shutdown. However, natural disasters and headwinds for farmers, necessitated additional federal spending.

In the end, the bill included $100 billion for recovery efforts from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and another $10 billion for economic assistance for farmers.

Johnson at a press conference said his hands were tied after “acts of God” necessitated additional money.

“It was intended to be, and it was, until recent days, a very simple, very clean [continuing resolution], stopgap funding measure to get us into next year when we have unified government,” he said. “We had these massive hurricanes in the late fall, Helene and Milton, and other disasters. We have to make sure that the Americans that were devastated by these hurricanes get the relief they need.”

Still, Republican spending hawks cried foul, accusing Johnson of stocking the bill with new spending without any way to pay for it and keeping the bill’s creation behind closed doors.

“We’re just fundamentally unserious about spending. And as long as you got a blank check, you can’t shrink the government. If you can’t shrink the government, you can’t live free,” Texas Rep. Chip Roy said.

Musk, too, mocked the size of the bill.

“Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?” he posted on X, along with a picture of the bill stacked on a desk.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

World news

China nearly triples nuclear arsenal since 2020, Pentagon report says

Rainer Puster / EyeEm/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — China has nearly tripled its nuclear warhead arsenal since 2020, according to the Pentagon’s latest China military power report released Wednesday.

“DOD estimates the PRC has surpassed 600 operational nuclear warheads as of mid-2024,” a senior U.S. defense official told reporters this week.

In 2020, the Pentagon estimated China’s nuclear stockpile was in the low 200s.

“The PLA continues its rapid nuclear build up,” the official said, using an acronym for the People’s Liberation Army, adding that China is expected to exceed 1,000 warheads by 2030.

China is also diversifying the kinds of nuclear weapons it’s building, the official said.

“When you look at what they’re trying to build here, it’s a diversified nuclear force that would be comprised of systems ranging from low-yield precision strike missiles all the way up to ICBMs, with different options at basically every rung on the escalation ladder, which is a lot different than what they’ve relied on traditionally,” the official said.

China’s budding nuclear arsenal, still dwarfed by those of the U.S. and Russia, is just one part of a broader strategy to build its influence on the global stage, the official said.

“The PRC seeks to amass national power to achieve what Xi Jinping has referred to as the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation by 2049 and to revise the international order in support of the PRC system of governments and its national interests,” the official said.

Despite economic and corruption-related setbacks, China’s military is making steady progress in modernizing its non-nuclear capabilities as well, according to the official.

“They also are showing some interest in developing a new conventional ICBM that could strike Hawaii, Alaska and the continental United States. And I think this is in part to address what they’ve seen as a long-standing asymmetry in the U.S.’s ability to conduct conventional strikes against the PRC, and for many decades, their inability to reach out and strike the U.S. territory with anything other than nuclear and ballistic missiles,” the official said.

Beijing has become ever more willing to use military coercion to help achieve its aims, according to the DOD report.

“Throughout 2023, the PRC escalated tensions with the Philippines in the South China Sea by ramming and boarding vessels en route to supply Second Thomas Shoal. The PRC also amplified its diplomatic, political and military pressure against Taiwan in 2023 and into this year,” the senior defense official said.

But the People’s Liberation Army has identified some of its own shortcomings, including with the strength of its leaders, according to the report.

“The PLA to continues to highlight what they refer to as the ‘five incapables,’ which is a PLA slogan asserting that some PLA commanders are incapable of judging situations, understanding higher authorities’ intentions, making operational decisions, deploying forces or managing unexpected situations,” the defense official said.

Despite several soft spots, the U.S. lists China as the Defense Department’s No. 1 “pacing challenge.”

“Our National Security Strategy identifies the PRC as the only competitor with the intent, and increasingly, the capability, to reshape the international order,” the official said.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

National

UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect’s timeline before, during, after the brazen murder

NYPD

(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione, a person of interest in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was taken into custody on Monday in Pennsylvania, nearly one week after the “brazen, targeted” shooting outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on Wednesday, police said.

Here is a timeline of the suspect’s whereabouts before, during and after the shooting:

Nov. 24

The killer entered New York City by bus on Nov. 24, when a surveillance camera at Port Authority Bus Terminal caught his arrival at 9 p.m., law enforcement sources told ABC News.

The inbound bus originated in Atlanta but it was not immediately clear where the suspect boarded.

He likely checked into a hostel on New York City’s Upper West Side that day and later checked out, sources said.

Nov. 30

The suspect likely checked back into the HI New York City Hostel on the Upper West Side on Nov. 30, sources said.

Dec. 4 at 5 a.m.

At 5 a.m., nearly two hours before the shooting, the suspect was seen in surveillance footage outside the hostel on the Upper West Side, holding what appears to be an e-bike battery.

6:15 a.m.

At 6:15 a.m., surveillance footage reviewed by police shows someone who appears to be the suspect leaving a 57th Street subway station near the crime scene, police sources told ABC News.

6:19 a.m.

New cleared CCTV video shows a man who appears to be the suspect walking west on 55th Street at 6:19 a.m. The video shows him stoop down as he appears to momentarily drop an object on the garbage before continuing to walk.

Before the shooting

Sometime before the shooting, the suspect is spotted at a Starbucks. The exact time is not clear.

6:29 a.m.

The suspect appeared to walk past a parking lot on West 54th Street at 6:29 a.m. — across the street some 50 meters from the site of the shooting.

6:44 a.m.

At 6:44 a.m., the masked gunman fatally shot Brian Thompson in front of the north entrance to the New York Hilton Midtown.

“The shooter then walks toward the victim and continues to shoot,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. “It appears that the gun malfunctions, as he clears the jam and begins to fire again.”

The shooter fled on foot into an alley, where a phone believed to be linked to the suspect was later recovered, police sources said.

Time unknown

The suspect then fled north on a bike and rode into Central Park, police said.

Time unknown

After making his getaway on a bike, the suspect exited Central Park at 77th Street and Central Park West.

At 86th Street and Columbus Avenue, the suspect ditched the bike and took a taxi to the Port Authority bus facility at 178th Street.

Police believe he boarded a bus there and left New York City.

Dec. 8

On Dec. 8, FBI agents and NYPD detectives spoke to Mangione’s mother after San Francisco police informed them she had filed a missing persons report and Mangione’s photo seemed to match the suspect photo, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Dec. 9

On Dec. 9, 26-year-old Mangione was identified and taken into custody in Altoona, Pennsylvania, authorities said.

Prior to his arrest, Mangione was on a Greyhound bus traveling through Altoona, sources said. When he got off the bus and walked into a McDonald’s, a witness recognized him from the images of the suspect circulated by police.

Dec. 17

On Dec. 17, the Manhattan district attorney announced new charges against Mangione, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism.

He is also charged in New York with: two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is charged as killing as an act of terrorism; two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree; and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.

Mangione remains in the custody of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections pending his extradition to New York.

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