Biden raises federal funding for initial Los Angeles fire disaster response to 100%
ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the federal government would cover 100% of costs for the initial disaster response to the Los Angeles wildfires.
Meeting with federal officials at the White House, Biden said the funds would go toward debris removal, temporary shelters, salaries for first responders and more for 180 days.
“We are with you,” Biden said. “We are not going anywhere. To the firefighters and first responders, you are heroes.”
As Biden spoke, five fires were spreading around the Los Angeles area. Roughly 28,000 acres had been scorched and hundreds of thousands of people evacuated. At least five people died in the fires, and many more injured.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is from California and whose neighborhood was forced to evacuate earlier this week, was also at the meeting.
“What we have seen in California and in particular in Southern California is apocalyptic in terms of the nature of it,” Harris said.
A major disaster declaration was approved by Biden, allowing victims of the fire to “immediately access funds and resources to jumpstart their recovery,” according to the White House. Biden also directed the Pentagon to provide any firefighting resources the area needs, including helicopters to help suppress the flames.
Biden cancelled his trip to Italy, where he was planning to meet with Pope Francis and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in his final foreign trip of his presidency, to focus on the federal response to the tragedy.
The president was in California on Wednesday and received a briefing from officials alongside Gov. Gavin Newsom, a target of attacks from President-elect Donald Trump over his handling of the fires.
Trump also claimed on Thursday morning that FEMA has “no money” under the Biden administration, which is false. Congress passed a bill in December that provided an additional $100 billion for disaster aid, including $29 billion for FEMA’s disaster relief fund. The infusion was less than the $40 billion Biden had requested for the agency.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell was in Los Angeles on Thursday to meet with local officials and survey the damage.
FEMA also released a guide to assistance for those impacted by the fires to “jumpstart” the recovery process. The agency said individuals in designated areas may be able to receive money for essential items, including food, water, medication and other supplies.
(ATLANTA) — The Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from her prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump and his co-defendants in their election interference case.
“After carefully considering the trial court’s findings in its order, we conclude that it erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office” over what the appeals court called “a significant appearance of impropriety,” the ruling said.
The criminal indictment against Trump and his co-defendants still stands, the court said.
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.
Defendants Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and Scott Hall subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.
Following the ruling, the Fulton County DA’s office filed notice that they intend to appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court. A spokesperson for the DA’s office declined to comment further to ABC News.
Thursday’s ruling leaves the question of who takes over the case — and whether it continues — to the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia. That decision may be delayed if Trump or Willis continues their appeal to the state’s highest court, Georgia’s Supreme Court.
The case has been on pause after Trump and his co-defendants launched an effort to have Willis disqualified from the case over her relationship with fellow prosecutor Nathan Wade. Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee declined to disqualify Willis, leading Trump to appeal that decision.
The appeals court ruled to disqualify Willis and her entire office from the case because “no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings,” the ruling said.
“The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her broad pretrial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring,” the order said, reversing Judge McAfee’s original decision.
Wade, who had been the lead prosecutor in the case, resigned as special prosecutor in March after McAfee issued his ruling that either Willis or Wade must step aside from the case due to a “significant appearance of impropriety” stemming from a romantic relationship between the DA and the prosecutor.
While the appeals court disqualified Willis and her office, it did not find enough evidence to justify “the extreme sanction” of tossing the entire indictment against Trump and his co-defendants, as Trump had sought in his appeal.
“While this is the rare case in which DA Willis and her office must be disqualified due to a significant appearance of impropriety, we cannot conclude that the record also supports the imposition of the extreme sanction of dismissal of the indictment under the appropriate standard,” the ruling said.
“The Georgia Court Of Appeals in a well-reasoned and just decision has held that DA Fani Willis’ misconduct in the case against President Trump requires the disqualification of Willis and her office,” Trump attorney Steve Sadow said in response to the ruling. “The Court highlighted that Willis’ misconduct created an ‘odor of mendacity’ and an appearance of impropriety that could only be cured by the disqualification of her and her entire office. As the Court rightfully noted, only the remedy of disqualification will suffice to restore public confidence.”
Judge Clay Land — one of the three judges on the appeals panel — dissented from the decision, arguing that reversing the trial court “violates well-established precedent, threatens the discretion given to trial courts, and blurs the distinction between our respective courts.”
Land argued that the appearance of impropriety — rather than a true conflict of interest — is not enough to reverse Judge McAfee’s decision not to disqualify Willis.
“For at least the last 43 years, our appellate courts have held that an appearance of impropriety, without an actual conflict of interest or actual impropriety, provides no basis for the reversal of a trial court’s denial of a motion to disqualify,” he wrote.
In his dissent, Land emphasized that the trial court found that Willis did not have a conflict of interest and rejected the allegations of impropriety stemming from her relationship with Wade, including the allegation that she received a financial benefit from his hiring.
“It was certainly critical of her choices and chastised her for making them. I take no issue with that criticism, and if the trial court had chosen, in its discretion, to disqualify her and her office, this would be a different case,” he wrote. “But that is not the remedy the trial court chose, and I believe our case law prohibits us from rejecting that remedy just because we don’t like it or just because we might have gone further had we been the trial judge.”
The Georgia election interference case is one of four criminal cases that were brought against Trump after he left the White House in 2021. His two federal cases, on charges of interfering with the 2020 election and refusing to return classified documents, were dropped following Trump’s reelection last month, due to a longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the criminal prosecution of a sitting president.
Trump’s sentencing in New York, following his conviction on charges of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 election, was postponed indefinitely following Trump’s reelection last month.
A backyard in Orange County, New York, became the site of an incredible discovery of a complete mastodon jaw — the first find like it in New York in more than 11 years. (New York State Museum)
(NEW YORK) — A backyard in Orange County, New York, became the site of an incredible discovery of a complete mastodon jaw — the first find like it in New York in more than 11 years.
The jaw, along with a piece of a toe bone and a rib fragment, was uncovered near Scotchtown by researchers from the New York State Museum and SUNY Orange.
The discovery began when a homeowner spotted two teeth sticking out of the dirt under a plant. After digging a little deeper, they found two more teeth just below the surface. Realizing the find might be something special, the homeowner called in experts, and soon a full excavation was underway.
“When I found the teeth and held them in my hands, I knew they were something special,” said the homeowner. “I’m so excited that our yard had something so important for science.”
The team of researchers uncovered a well-preserved jaw belonging to an adult mastodon, an ancient relative of today’s elephants. The jaw will now be studied to figure out how old it is, what the mastodon ate and what its life was like during the Ice Age.
“This jaw is an amazing discovery,” said Dr. Robert Feranec, an expert from the New York State Museum. “Fossils like this help us learn about ancient ecosystems and give us clues about how the world has changed over time.”
Orange County has been a great place to find mastodon fossils. In fact, about one-third of the 150 mastodon fossils found in New York have come from this area.
Dr. Cory Harris from SUNY Orange said they hope to keep digging in the area to see if there are more bones waiting to be found.
“The jaw is the most exciting part, but the toe and rib fragments might also help us learn more about this animal,” Dr. Harris explained.
The jaw will eventually be displayed at the New York State Museum in 2025, after scientists finish their research, according to Michael Mastroianni, a leader at the museum.
(NEW YORK) — A moderate risk for severe weather is in place from eastern Texas through Louisiana and Mississippi and into Alabama on Saturday.
The risk for severe weather begins in Texas on Saturday morning and then charges east through the evening and into overnight.
The greatest risk will be for several strong and large long-tracked tornadoes, potentially EF3 or greater, according to the Storm Predication Center.
Other risk factors will be from large hail, damaging wind and flash flooding.
As for the rain, 2 inches to 4 inches of rain is expected in the South on Saturday from Texas to Alabama and Tennessee, with localized areas of 5 or more inches possible, leading to that flash flood risk.
This same storm complex will reach the Southeast on Sunday, leading to a severe threat there as well, although it is expected to be far less extreme than Saturday will be.
Strong to severe storms will be rolling through Georgia through the morning hours, as well as the Carolinas – where major hubs like Charlotte and Atlanta may see morning delays due to the storm.
The main threats will be from damaging wind and possible tornadoes on Sunday, though again, the threat is lower than on Saturday.
Virginia may also see strong to severe storms late morning and early afternoon.
This rain will reach Philadelphia to New York City early Monday morning but likely be gone by sunrise Monday. Boston, however, will have a rainy Monday morning.
