This photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard shows wreckage in the water after a helicopter crashed off Kalalau Beach in Kauai, Hawaii, on March 26, 2026. (U.S. Coast Guard)
(KAUAI, Hawaii) — Three people are dead and two others were evacuated after a helicopter crashed off Kalalau Beach in Kauai, Hawaii, on Thursday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Bystanders and Kauai Fire Department crews rescued and medically evacuated two survivors to Wilcox Medical Center in Lihue, Hawaii, the Coast Guard said.
According to a preliminary report, the helicopter was carrying one pilot and four passengers when it crashed at Kalalau Beach, the County of Kauai said Thursday.
“We are greatly saddened by the loss of three lives in this helicopter crash and thinking of those individuals’ families and friends,” Cmdr. Andrew Williams, search and rescue mission coordinator with the Coast Guard Sector Honolulu, said in a statement.
“We are also keeping the survivors in our thoughts as they begin their recovery. We remain grateful for close coordination with our partner agencies throughout this tragic incident,” Williams added.
Kauai Police Dispatch personnel reported a helicopter crash at around 4 p.m., with five people aboard. The helicopter landed on the sandbar 100 yards off Kalalau Beach, according to the Coast Guard. The Kauai Fire Department responded with an Air 1 helicopter crew and Ocean Safety Bureau officers aboard jet skis from Hanalei Bay, according to the Coast Guard.
The helicopter is reportedly a Hughes OH-6 Cayuse operated by Aviation Airborne, according to the Coast Guard.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
An undated photo from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein is part of a collection of images released Dec. 18, 2025, by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. (House Oversight Committee Democrats)
(WASHINGTON) — Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are seeking testimony from private investigators who removed and stored a trove of evidence from the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion before it was searched by police in 2005, according to letters reviewed by ABC News.
With the Department of Justice appearing to have never obtained the evidence — which included three desktop computers and more than two dozen phone directories — lawmakers want to interview the men about the removal of what could have been key evidence for police and prosecutors in their probe into Epstein’s sex trafficking.
“[T]he Committee requests that you make yourself available for a transcribed interview to provide insight into the contents, removal, storage, and location of the materials removed from Mr. Epstein’s Palm Beach home,” Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia of California wrote in letters that were sent to the three private investigators, who were working for Epstein.
“The Committee also seeks information regarding the reason for the removal of these materials, the potential withholding of these materials from law enforcement, and any other information regarding the activities and crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and any of his co-conspirators,” Garcia wrote.
ABC News last month reported about the removal of the potential evidence, which may have shielded Epstein from legal scrutiny and contributed to how he was able to largely evade justice for more than a decade.
The Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) issued a report in 2020 that faulted Alexander Acosta — then the top federal prosecutor in Miami — for agreeing to a plea deal with Epstein on charges in Florida before securing the missing computers, including one that was believed to have video footage from Epstein’s home surveillance cameras.
“There was good reason to believe the computers contained relevant — and potentially critical — information; and it was clear Epstein did not want the contents of his computers disclosed,” the OPR report said.
In letters first obtained by ABC News, Garcia formally requested that private investigators Paul Lavery, Stephen Kiraly and William Riley appear separately for voluntary transcribed interviews. The deadline for the investigators to respond is April 9.
According to the letters, Epstein’s longtime attorney Darren Indyke — who sat for a deposition before the Oversight panel last week — told lawmakers that the evidence was likely never turned over to law enforcement.
“After Epstein’s conviction, after he served jail time, through conversations with defense counsel I became aware that there were computer hard drives in the possession of private investigators,” Indyke said in his deposition. “I just don’t know how they came into possession, but I knew of the existence of hard drives.”
Documents released earlier this year by the Department of Justice shed new light on the removal of the potential evidence. According to a 2005 memo from private investigator William Riley to one of Epstein’s criminal defense lawyers, Lavery visited Epstein’s Palm Beach home to remove “items of potential evidentiary value” less than two weeks before police raided the mansion in October 2005.
Lavery removed more than 100 pieces of potential evidence, according to an index released by the DOJ, including the three computers, 29 bound telephone directories and a listing of nearby masseuses, as well as a trove of sexually explicit materials. Among the removed materials was a photo with a handwritten message saying, “You better never forget about me” from an unknown woman who signed her name “Class of 2005.”
When the Palm Beach Police Department searched Epstein’s home two weeks later, investigators noted that multiple computers from the property “were conspicuously absent” from the home, including one linked to Epstein’s surveillance system.
While federal prosecutors attempted to recover the evidence while investigating Epstein in the late 2000s — including subpoenaing Riley for testimony — law enforcement agreed to abandon the effort when Epstein agreed to the 2008 plea deal that allowed him to avoid a lengthy jail sentence. Documents released by the Department of Justice indicate Epstein’s attorneys continued to keep tabs on the evidence to ensure the materials were not disclosed to attorneys for Epstein’s victims in civil litigation.
In 2009, Riley confirmed that he would continue to store the materials in a “safe and secure location,” though the evidence’s location in the following decade remains unclear.
“If at any time, you are unable to maintain possession of those materials or have any concern whatsoever that Mr. Epstein’s possession may be compromised in any manner, please advise me immediately such that we can take the necessary actions to protect and preserve those materials as is required in the Non-Prosecution Agreement,” an attorney for Epstein wrote in a letter memorializing the conservation about the evidence.
Billing records of the private detective agency owned by Riley and Kiraly, both former Miami police officers, show that the firm’s invoices for Epstein and his attorneys spanned several years and included recurring charges for a storage facility, according to records included in the DOJ’s release of Epstein files.
Riley and Lavery did not respond to requests for comment last month. Reached by phone, Kiraly said he would not discuss anything related to Epstein.
Garcia told ABC News “it’s incredibly troubling” that Epstein’s computers and hard drives were in possession of private investigators and may have never been seen by any law enforcement agency.
“This idea that now these private investigators have this enormous amount of information that has not been accessible to us on the committee or in Congress or the American public is pretty significant,” Garcia said. “They’re an important part of our investigation.”
House Democrats, in the letters, requested that the investigators “preserve all relevant materials” in their possession, including hard drives, storage devices, backup archived data, cloud-based storage accounts, financial records, videos, photos, audio recording and all communications.
The committee also requested any records “reflecting the transfer, custody, or handling of the above materials; and any physical items that were taken from Jeffrey Epstein’s home.”
While Garcia’s invitation is for voluntary testimony, if the men do not cooperate, the committee could vote to subpoena them, or the Republican chairman of the Committee, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, could also unilaterally compel them to testify.
“We are bringing in anyone that has any information that would be helpful to our investigation and hopefully we’ll be able to get the truth to the American people and provide some type of justice for the victims,” Comer said after a recent deposition with Epstein’s accountant Richard Kahn.
Marie Villafaña, the former assistant U.S. attorney who pushed to indict Epstein during the investigation in Florida, previously said if the evidence on the missing computers “had been what we suspected it was … [i]t would have put this case completely to bed,” according to the OPR report.
Acosta said he had “no recollection” of the efforts to obtain the computers, and objected to the report’s conclusion that he should have given greater consideration to pursuing the evidence before entering the deal with Epstein, the report said.
Ballots are counted on election night at the Fulton County Elections Hub and Operation Center on November 5, 2024 in Fairburn, Georgia. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Lawyers for the Trump administration will face serious questions for the first time on Friday about the search and seizure of more than 650 boxes of 2020 election records from a Fulton County, Georgia, election site.
Fulton County officials have argued the FBI “intentionally or recklessly omitted material facts” about purported discrepancies in the 2020 election in Georgia to secure a warrant for the materials, and a federal judge is considering a request to force the Trump administration to return the sensitive records.
“Despite years of investigations of the 2020 election, the [search warrant] affidavit does not identify facts that establish probable cause that anyone committed a crime,” lawyers for the Fulton County officials wrote in court filing. “The Affiant failed to include facts — including from the very sources he cited — that shut the door on even the faintest possibility of probable cause.”
U.S. District Judge JP Boulee, a Trump appointee, scheduled a six-hour evidentiary hearing for Friday to determine whether the Trump administration showed “callous disregard” for constitutional rights by executing the controversial search earlier this year.
After election officials raised concerns about the basis for the January 2026 search, Judge Boulee last month ordered the Department of Justice to publicly release the application for the warrant, which revealed that the investigation was triggered by an attorney and close ally of President Trump who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
According to the unsealed court records, the investigation centers on long-debunked allegations of voter fraud that have already been thoroughly investigated.
Fulton County election officials have since pushed for the return of the records, arguing that the investigation focuses on “human errors that its own sources confirm occur in almost every election … without any intentional wrongdoing whatsoever.”
“The Affidavit omits numerous material facts — including from the very reports and publicly-disclosed investigations that the Affiant cites — that confirm the alleged conduct was previously investigated and found to be unintentional,” attorneys for the Fulton County officials argued.
Lawyers for the Trump administration have pushed back on the request, highlighting that the search was approved by a magistrate judge and arguing that the lawsuit was a “way to get a sneak peek at ongoing criminal investigations.”
“Petitioners’ attempt to turn a semantic dispute into a deliberate falsehood (with no citation to any offer of proof on this issue) is beyond the pale. And given the other evidence, probable cause would easily exist without the County’s admissions,” DOJ lawyers argued in court filings.
In a late setback ahead of Friday’s hearing, Judge Boulee quashed an attempt to force the FBI agent behind the search warrant to testify, concluding that questioning the agent could reveal “process and scope of the DOJ’s investigation,” which remains ongoing.
President Trump has long criticized the outcome of the 2020 election results in Georgia, personally pushing to overturn the results after his loss and later being indicted in two criminal cases over his actions. Those cases have since been dismissed, and Trump has continued to push for criminal accountability for what he baselessly alleged was a stolen election.
Through a call with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — who was present at the January raid — President Trump personally addressed some of the agents who conducted the search and told them they were doing great work by investigating Georgia’s elections, ABC News previously reported.
“I was at Fulton County, sir, at the request of the president and to work with the FBI to observe this action that had long been awaited,” Gabbard told lawmakers earlier this month when asked about her presence at the search. “It is my role based on statute that Congress has passed to have oversight over election security to include counterintelligence.”
(WASHINGTON) — Senators at last agreed via voice vote early Friday morning to approve a funding package that funds the Department of Homeland Security besides Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and part of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — a critical step toward ending most of the 42-day long DHS shutdown.
Agencies that would be funded by the Senate’s approved package include TSA, FEMA, The Coast Guard and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
The vote was called by Sen. Bernie Moreno, who was presiding over the chamber just after 2 a.m. ET on Friday morning. The bill will now head to the House where it will need to be approved. If passed, it will then head to the desk of President Donald Trump who would need to sign it for it to become law.
In remarks on the Senate floor early Friday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was proud of Democrats who “held the line” on their objection to funding ICE and CBP without reforms.
“Democrats held firm in our position that Donald Trump’s rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms and we will continue to fight for those reforms,” Schumer said. The package the Senate approved does not include funding for ICE and parts of CBP, though those agencies will continue to receive funds due to the influx of cash in the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill.
Also absent from the package are any of the reforms to ICE’s operating procedures that Democrats have been repeatedly demanding since the debate over DHS funding began.
Majority Leader John Thune lambasted Democrats on the floor for what he framed as their refusal to negotiate in good faith. He said Democrats could have secured some of their desired reforms if they hadn’t complicated negotiations.
“We could be standing here right now passing a funding bill with a list of reforms if the Democrats had made the smallest effort to actually reach an agreement. But they didn’t, because it’s now clear to everyone, Democrats didn’t actually want a solution, they wanted an issue, politics over policy, self-interest over reform, pandering to their base over actually solving a problem,” Thune said. “It’s an appalling commentary on the state of the Democratic Party.”
Schumer was asked by reporters about how Democrats would get reforms from this point going forward.
“We’re going to continue to fight hard for reforms, there’ll be opportunities,” Schumer said, though he provided no detail.
Though there was an effort by Republicans tonight to unanimously pass annual funding for ICE, it was blocked by Democrats.
Republicans are vowing to work on a package later this year to approve even more funding for ICE and CBP, saying they aim to do it using reconciliation — a budget tool that, if successful, would allow them to sidestep Democratic objection and pass the bill without any Democratic support.
Republicans are already warning that that bill will be a much harsher and Sen. Eric Schmitt vowed it would “supercharge deportations.”
The official trailer for Running Point season 2 has arrived. Kate Hudson, Drew Tarver and Brenda Song star in the new season, which was written and executive produced by Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen. Season 2 finds Hudson’s Isla Gordon as the one to watch as she leads the Los Angeles Waves and also finds time to maintain her personal life. The new season debuts on April 23 …
The House of the Spiritsofficial trailer has arrived on the scene. It shows off the first Spanish-language adaptation of Isabel Allende’s classic novel, which premieres to Prime Video on April 29. New episodes will debut weekly before the final three drop on May 13 …
Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie is headed to Paramount+. The documentary film follows the duo of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong during a road trip to a destination known as “The Joint.” The movie, directed by David Bushell, arrives to the streaming service on its premium plan on April 20 …
Poster for ‘Breaking Glass: The Pat Summitt Story’ (ABC News Studios)
The story of Pat Summitt, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer best known for coaching women’s basketball at the University of Tennessee, has been told in many ways. This time, it’s being brought to life through a documentary directed by Dawn Porter and produced by Robin Roberts’ production company, Rock’n Robin Productions. With an impact that has been felt for decades, Roberts explains why now is the right time to share Summitt’s story in this way.
“People need to know,” she tells ABC Audio. “People are excited about the WNBA, March Madness, Unrivaled, they need to know that it might not have happened [were] it not for someone like Pat Summitt. So just to give a history lesson to folks, I think that is the right time to do it.”
“It is March Madness, it is Women’s History Month. It’ll be 10 years in June that she passed away from Alzheimer’s,” she continues. “So I think it was the perfect storm in giving her her flowers.”
Breaking Glass, The Pat Summitt Story, streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+,chronicles Pat’s journey from her humble upbringing on a Tennessee dairy farm to her record-setting career at the University of Tennessee, where she won 1,098 games and eight national championships. The film offers an in-depth look at both the challenges she faced, and the lasting impact she made on and off the court.
With so much ground to cover, Dawn says the responsibility she felt in telling Pat’s story grew as she learned more about her, but she was fortunately met with support from her family, ESPN, the University of Tennessee and more.
Her goal was to understand why Pat was so deeply loved. What she learned: “Pat saw everybody as people and I think she was really, really instrumental in making that a unified experience where everybody was welcome.”
The film will premiere Sunday on ESPN2 and April 5 on ESPN.
An American Airlines Airbus A321 airplane arrives at Los Angeles International Airport from Washington D.C., March 7, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
(COLOMBIA) — An American Airlines flight attendant has been reported missing in Colombia, according to officials.
Eric Fernando Gutiérrez Molina landed on March 21 on a flight from Miami to Medellin, Colombia, according to the Medellin security secretary.
Authorities believe he may have been drugged and are investigating that claim.
He was last seen early Sunday morning after a party at a club in the Medellín neighborhood of El Poblado, with a man and a woman, according to the security secretary.
“We are actively engaged with local law enforcement officials in their investigation and doing all we can to support our team member’s family during this time,” American Airlines said in a statement.
A State Department spokesperson said, “We are aware of these reports and are closely tracking the situation.”
“The Trump Administration has no greater priority than the safety and security of Americans, and the State Department stands ready to provide all consular assistance to Americans in need abroad,” the spokesperson said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Matthew Perry of the television show ‘The Kennedys – After Camelot’ speaks onstage during the REELZChannel portion of the 2017 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour at the Langham Hotel, Jan. 13, 2017, in Pasadena, Calif. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
(LOS ANGELES) — A woman reportedly known as the “Ketamine Queen,” who admitted to providing the ketamine that killed Matthew Perry, should serve 15 years in prison for her “cold callousness and disregard for life,” federal prosecutors said in a new court filing ahead of her sentencing.
Defense attorneys for Jasveen Sangha, who has been behind bars since her arrest in August 2024 in connection with the 54-year-old “Friends” actor’s fatal overdose, asked for time served, according to a court filing.
Sangha pleaded guilty last year to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury. She admitted to working with another dealer to provide Perry with dozens of vials of ketamine in the weeks before his death in October 2023, including the ketamine that killed him, according to the plea agreement.
She also admitted in the plea agreement to selling ketamine in connection with another overdose death, prosecutors said. The victim, Cody McLaury, died hours after Sangha sold him four vials of ketamine in August 2019, according to the DOJ.
In a sentencing memorandum filed on Wednesday, prosecutors said Sangha ran a “high-volume drug trafficking business out of her North Hollywood residence,” where she stored, packaged and distributed drugs, including ketamine and methamphetamine since at least 2019. They said she continued to sell “dangerous drugs” even after learning she sold ketamine that contributed to the deaths of McLaury and Perry.
“She didn’t care and kept selling,” prosecutors wrote. “Defendant’s actions show a cold callousness and disregard for life. She chose profits over people, and her actions have caused immense pain to the victims’ families and loved ones.
“That defendant had the opportunity to stop after realizing the impact of her dealing — but simply chose not to,” warranting a “significant” sentence, they continued.
The defense, meanwhile, said Sangha should receive a sentence of time served due to her “demonstrated rehabilitation.”
“She has maintained sustained and exemplary sobriety, and actively engaged in recovery-oriented and rehabilitative programming while in custody, and has tremendously strong family and community support to facilitate successful reentry and reduce the risk of recidivism,” her attorneys, Mark Geragos and Alexandra Kazarian, wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed on Wednesday.
Sangha faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison. She is scheduled to be sentenced in Los Angeles on April 8.
In addition to Sangha, four other people were charged and pleaded guilty in connection with Perry’s death — the other dealer, Erik Fleming; Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s live-in personal assistant; and two doctors, Mark Chavez and Salvador Plasencia.
Prosecutors said Sangha worked with Fleming to distribute ketamine to Perry, and that in October 2023, they sold the actor 51 vials of ketamine that were provided to Iwamasa.
“Leading up to Perry’s death, Iwamasa repeatedly injected Perry with the ketamine that Sangha supplied to Fleming,” the DOJ said in a press release last year. “Specifically, on October 28, 2023, Iwamasa injected Perry with at least three shots of Sangha’s ketamine, which caused Perry’s death.”
Iwamasa pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 22.
Fleming pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death and is set to be sentenced on April 29.
Chavez and Plasencia have also been convicted for their roles in what prosecutors called a conspiracy to illegally distribute ketamine to Perry.
Chavez, who once ran a ketamine clinic, pleaded guilty in October 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and was sentenced to eight months home confinement in December 2025.
Plasencia, who briefly treated Perry prior to his death, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to four counts of distribution of ketamine and was sentenced to 30 months in prison in December 2025.
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, March 26, 2026. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Thursday insisted Iran is “begging to make a deal” to end the war amid seemingly tenuous indirect talks between the U.S. and Tehran.
“I mean, I read a story today that I’m desperate to make a deal. I’m not,” the president said during a meeting of his Cabinet at the White House.
“I’m the opposite of desperate, I don’t care … In fact, we have other targets we want to hit before we leave. We’re hitting them on a daily basis,” Trump added.
Trump also revealed the “very big present” from Iran he said earlier this week was a sign talks were progressing: 10 oil tankers were allowed safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
“I say they’re lousy fighters, but they’re great negotiators,” he said of the Iranians.
“And they are begging to work out a deal,” Trump said. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that. I don’t know if we’re willing to do that.”
White House special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed during Thursday’s meeting that the U.S. presented Iran with a 15-point framework for a peace deal by way of Pakistan.
Witkoff did not provide any specifics on what is in the proposal, though sources previously told ABC News it addressed Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs as well as maritime routes.
“I can say this, we will see where things lead and if we can convince Iran that this is the inflection point with no good alternatives for them other than more death and destruction,” Witkoff said. “We have strong signs that this is a possibility, and if a deal happens, it will be great for the country of Iran, for the entire region and the world at large.”
Iran responded to the plan through intermediaries overnight, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, which quoted an informed source. Reuters reported that according to a senior Iranian official, Iran’s initial response to the U.S. proposal was that it was “one-sided and unfair.”
The administration now ramping up pressure on Iran to agree to a diplomatic off-ramp.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned on Wednesday: “President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again.”
President Trump earlier Thursday told Iran to “get serious, before it is too late.”
The first indication of new talks came from President Trump on Monday, as he announced he was postponing major attacks he’d threatened on Iran’s energy infrastructure for five days — until Friday — due to what he said were “very strong talks.”
Trump was asked Thursday about the status of that deadline, and whether it would be pushed back.
“I don’t know yet. I don’t know,” Trump said. He later added, “And we have a lot of time. You know what? It’s a day. In Trump time, a day, you know what it is, that’s an eternity.”
Hours later, Trump posted on social media that he was pushing the deadline to April 6.
“As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time. Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well,” his post read.
Involved in negotiations are Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Trump.
Vance, during Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, emphasized the importance of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and warned that there are “further military options” possible.
The U.S. is continuing to send thousands more U.S. troops to the Middle East, and the Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in supplemental funding as the conflict continues.
With the conflict in its fourth week, President Trump on Thursday continued to repeat the four-to-six-week timeline he estimated at the onset of the conflict and said the operation is “ahead of schedule.”
Trump said the war will “end soon” and once again referred to it as an “excursion” and a “little detour.”
Trump and his top officials have changed their rhetoric over the course of the conflict, first calling it a “war” but more recently calling it a “military operation.”
Trump acknowledged that inconsistency in remarks at the annual National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) dinner on Wednesday night. He said the change was because of concerns that Congress has not authorized military action.
“I won’t use the word war, because they say if you use the word war, that’s maybe not a good thing to do. They don’t like the word war because you’re supposed to get approval. So, I’ll use the word military operation, which is really what it is,” the president said.
