Dominic West has landed a guest-starring role in the upcoming Paramount+ with Showtime series The Agency alongside Michael Fassbender, Jeffrey Wright, Jodie Turner-Smith and Richard Gere, according to Variety. Based on the hit French spy show The Bureau, The Agency follows a covert CIA agent, played by Fassbender, home from a six-year mission in Damascus. As he’s struggling to let go of his false identity and the woman with whom he had an affair, he gets caught between a French foreign intelligence agency and the CIA. West will play the director of the CIA. The series is set to launch with two episodes streaming Nov. 29 before its linear TV debut on Dec. 1 …
Mattel’s animated Bob the Builder feature, being co-produced by ShadowMachine and Jennifer Lopez‘s Nuyorican Productions, has landed at Amazon MGM Studios, sources tell Deadline. Actor and recording artist Anthony Ramos, best known for his roles in the original Broadway cast of Hamilton and the film version of In the Heights, is slated to star as Roberto aka Bob, who visits Puerto Rico on a construction job and is confronted with “issues affecting the island and digs deeper into what it means to build,” according to Mattel’s announcement …
Big Brother Reindeer Games won’t return for a second season, according to Entertainment Weekly. Big Brother co-producer Rich Meehan tells Entertainment Weekly that’s mainly due to scheduling problems, explaining, “Because we started so late this season and CBS’ fall schedule starts so late this season, everything just pushes back. So if there’s not airtime, there’s not much you can do for that.” Adds Meehan, “Hopefully, we’re in a new year and everything looks like it’s going to be smooth sailing and everything’s worked out, so hopefully, maybe next year. That’s the goal” …
(MOSCOW) — Russia schemed to send incendiary devices, shipped through a commercial carrier on planes that would potentially end up in the United States, according to sources familiar with the situation.
In Poland, four people were charged in connection with camouflaged explosives that “detonated during land and air transport” in the U.K. in July, according to a statement from the country’s prosecutor’s office.
“The group’s activities consisted of sabotage and diversion related to sending parcels containing camouflaged explosives and dangerous materials via courier companies to European Union countries and Great Britain, which spontaneously ignited or detonated during land and air transport,” the Polish prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
“The group’s goal was also to test the transfer channel for such parcels, which were ultimately to be sent to the United States of America and Canada,” according to the statement.
“I’m not sure the political leaders of Russia are aware of the consequences if one of these packages exploded, causing a mass casualty event,” Pawel Szota, the head of the foreign intelligence agency told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story.
ABC News has reached out to Szota for a comment.
The Kremlin on Tuesday dismissed reports about the alleged plot, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov describing the allegations as “incoherent” and saying they weren’t backed by “truthful information,” according to Russian news agency Interfax.
The U.K.’s Metropolitan Police also confirmed that officers from the counter-terrorism unit are investigating the incident that occurred in Birmingham, England.
“On Monday, 22 July, a package at the location caught alight. It was dealt with by staff and the local fire brigade at the time and there were no reports of any injuries or significant damage caused,” the Met said in a statement.
There have been no arrests made in the incident.
A U.S. official told ABC News that the Transportation Security Administration remains vigilant against threats to aviation and air cargo systems and said there is no current active threat targeting U.S.-bound flights.
The incident that occurred in England and another incident in Germany are believed to be part of a wider plot, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
A senior U.S. counterterrorism official confirmed to ABC News that the U.S. was alerted to the Russian effort over the summer. European officials told their American counterparts that they believed the Russians were trying to ship incendiary devices that would go off inside locations supporting the Ukrainian war effort to hinder Ukraine as it continues fighting the Russian invasion.
European officials said they do not believe the Russians were planning or trying to take down a commercial or cargo plane, the official said. But devices don’t always work properly and the risks to commercial and civilian aviation are serious when incendiary devices are enabled and shipped.
TSA did not address the incidents abroad, but said in a statement to ABC News that the agency “continually adjusts their posture” and promptly shares any and all relevant information.”
“Over the past several months, as part of a multi-layered security approach, TSA worked with industry partners to put additional security measures for U.S. aircraft operators and foreign air carriers regarding certain cargo shipments bound for the United States, in line with the 2021 TSA Air Cargo Security Roadmap,” the statement said. “We greatly appreciate the cooperation and collaboration with industry as together we work to ensure the safety and security of air cargo.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
(GRAND RAPIDS, MI) — Former President Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance, spent the closing hours of the 2024 campaign reviving rhetoric criticized by opponents as divisive.
Trump’s closing rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, saw the former president deliver meandering attacks on political opponents, baselessly claim that electronic voting machines are not secure and suggest it would be the fault of his supporters if he lost Tuesday’s vote.
Trump took aim at President Joe Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during his address, suggesting the former “was stuck in a basement” during the campaign and mouthing an expletive when referring to the latter.
While Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz stuck to their message of American unity, Trump said he was “running against an evil Democrat system” populated by what he called “evil people.”
Vance, meanwhile, described Democratic leaders as “trash” in returning to Biden’s recent remarks in which he appeared to call Trump supporters “garbage.”
Biden’s comments were in response to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s controversial joke about Puerto Rico at last month’s Madison Square Garden rally. Biden later said he was referring specifically to Hinchcliffe, not Trump supporters generally.
“To the Pennsylvanians who are struggling, no matter what Kamala Harris and Joe Biden and Tim Walz say, you are not garbage for being worried about not being able to afford your groceries,” Vance told rally goers at an event in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
“You are not garbage for thinking that Kamala Harris ought to do a better job,” he continued. “You are not racist for thinking that America deserves to have a secure southern border.”
“So, to Kamala Harris, you shouldn’t be calling your citizens garbage,” Vance continued. “You shouldn’t be criticizing people for daring to criticize you for doing a bad job.”
“And our message to the leadership, to the elites of the Democratic Party is no, the people of Pennsylvania are not garbage for struggling under your leadership,” Vance said. “But tomorrow, the people of Pennsylvania are going to take out the trash in Washington, D.C., and we’re going to do it together.”
Trump also recommitted to working with former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who he described as “a credible guy” that will be “very much involved” in his administration if he wins.
“He’s got a tremendous view on health and pesticides and all this stuff,” Trump said at a rally in Pittsburgh. “And we’re not really a healthy country,” he added.
Kennedy would be allowed “to pretty much do what he wants,” Trump said.
Kennedy’s activism against vaccines, immunization and other public health measures like water fluoridation has raised concerns among medical experts and been broadly criticized by Democrats. So, too, has his opposition to abortion, an issue on which his policy shifted during his presidential tilt.
“Bobby, you got to do one thing,” Trump said Monday. “Do whatever you want. You just go ahead, work on that pesticides. Work on making women’s health. He’s so into women’s health … he’s really unbelievable. It’s such a passion.”
ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh, Soo Rin Kim and Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
(PITTSBURGH) — At the midway point of former President Donald Trump’s speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday, Megyn Kelly took the stage as a headliner to explain why she’s backing Trump.
“He will be a protector of women. And it’s why I’m voting for him,” Kelly said, suggesting the former president previously got mocked for making a similar statement.
The conservative media personality, who was previously a Fox News host, has had an at-times contentious relationship with the former president over the language he’s used to describe women. During the first debate of the 2016 campaign, Kelly as moderator had asked Trump about statements he’d made about women, including calling some derogatory names.
Eight years later, Kelly was on the stage in Pennsylvania on Monday helping Trump deliver what would be his final message before Election Day. Kelly suggested on Monday that she supports Trump because he takes care of the common man.
“He will look out for our boys to our forgotten boys and our forgotten men. Guys like you,” she said, adding, “Who maybe have a beer after work and don’t want to be judged by people like Oprah and Beyonce, who will never have to face the consequences of her disastrous economic policies.”
At one point, Kelly pointed to disagreeing with the “left’s version of masculinity,” mentioning advertisements in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign that called for women to vote for Harris without their husbands’ knowledge.
“You see that ad they did about Trump voters trying to encourage women to lie to their husbands so that they could vote for her instead of Trump,” Kelly said. “That’s their version of what marriage looks like, an overbearing husband who bullies his wife into saying she voted one way as opposed to an honest, open relationship.”
She added, “Oh wait, I’m talking about Kamala and Doug,” referencing the vice president’s husband, Doug Emhoff. “I’m not into their version of toxic masculinity or new masculinity. I prefer the old version,” Kelly said, alluding to Trump.
“I prefer a president who understands how to be strong and how to fight. I hope all of you do what I did last week. Vote Trump and get ten friends to vote Trump to.”
(WASHINGTON) — As millions of Americans head to the polls, thunderstorms are forecast from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, with the potential to cause inconveniences to voters across the country.
The heaviest concentration of rain is expected in Wisconsin, Louisiana, eastern Texas and Arkansas but heavy rain along the Mississippi River and Ohio River valleys could bring flash flooding and approximately 2 inches to 4 inches of rain between Louisiana and southern Indiana.
Meanwhile, heavy snow is forecast in the Rockies from Montana down to Colorado and winter weather alerts have been issued in those regions.
In California, strong winds and dry conditions will create a threat for wildfires from the San Francisco Bay area down to Los Angeles where a red flag warning has been issued.
However, beautiful weather is forecast in the Northeast today, with warm temperatures in the 70s across much of the eastern seaboard and potential record highs from Meridian, Mississippi, all the way to Rochester, New York, with temperatures in the 80s.
The record heat is expected to concentrate in the Northeast on Wednesday with record highs possible for major cities such as Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City with temperatures close to 80 degrees.
(WASHINGTON) — As Election Day arrives, polling still shows razor-thin margins between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in battleground states.
If the actual vote margin remains that thin in some states, it is possible that automatic recounts could be triggered or that a campaign could request a recount, depending on that state’s rules.
A recent analysis of statewide recounts in general elections from 2000-2023 by the advocacy group FairVote found that statewide recounts in general elections are very rare and usually have not changed much of the vote count. Recounts have almost never changed the state’s winner of a presidential election, although in 1960, a recount in Hawaii changed the winner of the state’s Electoral College votes from Richard Nixon to John F. Kennedy.
More recent presidential recounts have not impacted the winner in the states they were held in, including the attempted 2000 recount in Florida meant to deal with a razor-thin margin between George W. Bush and Al Gore, which the Supreme Court halted. (If Florida’s results had flipped, Al Gore would have won that election.)
In 2020, Donald Trump’s campaign requested recounts in Georgia (after the secretary of state had already undertaken a recount) and some Wisconsin counties. In 2016, the campaign of Green Party candidate Jill Stein requested a recount that was fully undertaken in Wisconsin, and requested one in Michigan (which was halted) and Pennsylvania (which was denied).
Here’s what to know about the rules that govern if and how presidential race recounts are conducted in each of the seven battleground states.
The “canvass of the vote” discussed below refers to the county and/or state procedures that compile, confirm, and validate every vote cast. Recount rules may vary for other races, such as congressional or mayoral races. An “automatic recount” means a recount that is mandated by state law because of the results; the term does not reflect how votes are recounted.
Arizona
A recount is automatically triggered in Arizona if the margin between the two candidates who received the most votes is equal or less than half a percent of the total votes cast, according to Arizona law. The recount must be completed five days after the canvass of the vote is completed, which is Nov. 30.
It is not possible for a candidate, party or voters to request a recount in Arizona. (A Republican-aligned review of election results in Arizona’s Maricopa County in 2021 was not a state-run recount and found no evidence that changed the results in the county.)
Georgia
According to Georgia law, a candidate can ask for a recount within two days of results being certified if the margin between the candidates is less than half a percentage point of the vote. Election officials can also request recounts if they think there is an issue with the results, while the secretary of state can ask for a recount if a candidate petitions them about a suspected issue. There is no explicit deadline for a recount to be completed.
There are no automatic recounts in Georgia.
Michigan
According to Michigan law, an automatic recount is triggered in statewide races if the margin between the top two candidates is 2,000 votes or less.
A candidate can petition for a recount if a few requirements are met, including “a good-faith belief that but for fraud or mistake, the candidate would have had a reasonable chance of winning the election,” according to Michigan law. The petition needs to be filed within 48 hours of the canvass of votes being completed.
Recounts must be completed within 30 days of the end of the period that candidates are allowed to file petitions challenging results, or within 30 days of when recounts are allowed to begin.
(New laws changing how recounts can be done in Michigan were signed into law this year, but will not be in effect for the 2024 election.)
Nevada
A candidate for presidential elector — specifically an Electoral College elector, not the candidate — can request a recount in Nevada up to the 13th day following the election, according to Nevada statutes. The requester needs to deposit the estimated cost of the recount with the secretary of state, but gets the deposit refunded if the recount results in a change in the winner.
The recount needs to be started within a day after being requested and finished within 5 days.
There is a more general statute in Nevada law that allows statewide candidates to request recounts, but this does not apply to presidential races, according to Nevada-based attorney and election law expert Bradley Schrager. Rather, the specific and more recent statute overrides the more general one, so the recount request would have to come from the presidential elector.
“In practice, that’s not really significant, however, because any elector candidate would follow the direction of his or her presidential candidate,” Schrager said.
There are no automatic recounts in Nevada.
North Carolina
A presidential candidate can request a recount in North Carolina if the margin between the candidates is less than half a percentage point or 10,000 votes, whichever is less, according to state law. (The North Carolina State Board of Elections told ABC News that the threshold this year will likely be 10,000 votes.)
The candidate needs to ask for a recount by noon on the second day after the county canvassing of the vote. (In 2024, that day is Tuesday, Nov. 19.)
There are cases where a requested recount would trigger an automatic recount as well, but the election results themselves do not trigger automatic recounts in North Carolina.
Pennsylvania
An automatic recount is triggered in Pennsylvania if the margin between the candidates is within half a percentage of the vote.
The recount must begin “no later than” the third Wednesday after Election Day and be done by noon on the next Tuesday, according to guidance published by the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Candidates themselves cannot request recounts in Pennsylvania.
Wisconsin
In a presidential race, any presidential candidate can request a recount if the margin between the candidates that got the most votes is one percent or less of the total votes cast, according to Wisconsin state statutes. The candidate must request it within the first day after the canvass of the vote is completed.
The state itself pays if the margin is 0.25% of the vote or less; if it is larger, then the candidate who requested the recount must pay. (They receive a refund if the election result changes due to the recount.)
The recount must be completed within 13 days of being ordered.
There are no automatic recounts in Wisconsin.
ABC News’ Quinn Scanlan and Mitch Alva contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A historic election that saw an incumbent president drop his campaign, a woman rise to the top of the Democratic ticket and multiple assassination attempts against the Republican candidate will come to an end on Nov. 5.
But the outcome may not be known on election night.
It took four days for the race to be called for President Joe Biden in 2020 as mail-in voting expansions, and other changes made to help Americans participate during a global pandemic, delayed counting in several key states.
“It can take a few days and sometimes more,” said Barry Burden, the director of the Elections Research Center at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
An especially tight race, as expected this year, can make it even more difficult to call a winner in the hours after polls close, experts told ABC News. Polls show Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump neck-and-neck heading into Election Day.
Each state has its own rules to administer elections, including different ways to process mail ballots and deadlines for curing signatures or other issues, which means some may take longer than others to tabulate results.
538 has compiled a complete guide to poll closing times, vote counting and when to expect results in every state.
“There are a variety of things that have to be done because there are these safeguards in place to try and minimize the possibility of fraud,” said Mitchell Brown, a professor of political science at Auburn University. “And so in states that have those rules, it takes a while in order to process all the ballots.”
Trump, in 2020, prematurely declared victory before all votes were counted. Misinformation spread online about the integrity of the election as the country awaited a final result and Trump or his allies later challenged the outcome by baselessly claiming widespread fraud, particularly with mail ballots.
“Not knowing the result on election night is not an indication of election malfeasance ever,” Brown emphasized.
All eyes will be on the seven swing states that will likely determine whether Harris or Trump win the Electoral College: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
In two of those states — Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — mail or absentee ballots cannot even begin to be processed until the morning of Election Day. That includes opening envelopes, verifying voter information and preparing them to be scanned before they can be counted, which can lead to delays.
In 2020, Wisconsin wasn’t called for either candidate until the day after Election Day and Pennsylvania was called the Saturday after Election Day.
In other key battleground states, mail or absentee ballots may be processed but cannot be counted until Election Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. That includes Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina.
In Arizona, a state that votes heavily by mail, mail or absentee ballots received before Election Day can be processed and counted upon receipt. But a sizable portion of those ballots get placed in drop boxes on Election Day, and those results may not be collected or counted until polls close, which may hold up a clear result depending on how close the race is.
In Nevada, another state where the presidential race wasn’t called until the Saturday after Election Day in 2020, some changes were made to help speed up vote counting — including allowing mail or absentee ballots to start being counted 15 days before Election Day.
“It’s really a product of the laws and depending where the Electoral College spotlight is in any given year, it can mean a faster count or a slower one,” Burden said.
While news organizations often call a winner based on analysis of the vote count as its reported, results are not official until states certify them. States have their own certification deadlines, some of which extend into December, according to the Election Assistance Commission.
Recounts and legal challenges, especially litigation related to certification, could arise between a race being called by media networks and the results being certified.
On Dec. 17, electors will meet in the states to vote for president and vice president.
Election officials in some key states are already warning that results may not come in on election night, and that it is normal.
“We will always prioritize accuracy and security over efficiency,” Michigan’s Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson recently said on CBS, estimating her state will be able to have a result by end of day on Nov. 6. “Understanding how much people will want those results, we’re still going to make sure the process is secure and accurate before we put anything out to the public.”
“We want to make sure we have an accurate count, and like we did in 2020, have a free and fair, safe and secure election,” said Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on ABC’s “This Week.”
Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have set the comedy horror feature Family Movie as their next project and, true to its title, the film will be a family affair.
The Hollywood couple are set to direct the movie, in which they will star alongside their real-life kids, Travis and Sosie Bacon, according to Variety.
Family Movie follows “an eclectic but tight-knit family of filmmakers” who wind up in the middle of a real-life horror movie when a body turns up on the set of their latest low-budget slasher film, per the outlet. They soon realize the only way to keep the production afloat is by covering up the murder at any cost.
Sedgwick’s previous directing credits include the 2022 feature film Space Oddity and the 2017 TV movie Story of a Girl. As an actress, she’s best known for her role in TV’s The Closer, as well as the films Singles, Something to Talk About, Edge of Seventeen and Born on the Fourth of July.
Kevin Bacon’s film credits include Footloose, Apollo 13, Mystic River, X-Men First Class and Tremors.
Sosie Bacon is best known for her roles in HBO’s Mare of Easttown, Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why and HBO’s Here and Now. She recently made her directing debut on the 2024 comedy What We Got Wrong.
(ORLAND PARK, IL) — A 24-year-old Illinois man has been arrested after allegedly causing a disturbance in a voting line before punching an election judge in the face, police said.
The incident occurred on Sunday at approximately 11 a.m. when Orland Park police officers were dispatched to the Orland Park Township Office in Illinois due to a man — later identified as 24-year-old Daniel Schmidt — “causing a disturbance in the voting line,” police said.
“Officers on scene learned that Schmidt entered the township building and walked past numerous other voters waiting in line to enter the voting area,” the Orland Park Police Department said in a press release detailing the incident. “An election judge posted at the entrance told Schmidt to go to the back of the line and wait his turn, which Schmidt refused.”
Police said that another election judge was called at that point to help assist in the disturbance and Schmidt was once again instructed to go to the back of the line, which Schmidt declined to do.
“Schmidt attempted to push past that election judge and was prevented from entering by that judge and several other employees,” authorities said. “Schmidt began to yell profanities and punched the election judge in the face, knocking their glasses off.”
Several other patrons jumped in and managed to restrain Schmidt until officers arrived and found him inside the Township office where he tried to resist arrest, police said.
“At Orland Park Police Headquarters, the Cook County States Attorney’s Office was contacted and approved (2) counts of Aggravated Battery to a victim over 60 (Class 3 Felony), (2) counts of Aggravated Battery in a public place (Class 3 Felony), (5) misdemeanor counts of Resisting Arrest and one misdemeanor count of Disorderly Conduct,” said the Orland Park Police Department.
Schmidt was held overnight and transported to Bridgeview Courthouse for a detention hearing and the investigation is currently ongoing.
