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Israel-Gaza live updates: Israel moves troops to Lebanon border after pager attack

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(NEW YORK) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt on Wednesday for fresh talks on an Israel-Hamas cease-fire, and as tension with Hezbollah persists at the Israel-Lebanon border.

Here’s how the news is developing:

Israel moves troops toward Lebanon border

The Israel Defense Forces’ 98th Division will be deployed to the northern part of the country close to the border with Lebanon, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.

The division was previously active in the Gaza Strip and is being deployed to the north amid rising tensions and ongoing skirmishes between the IDF and the Hezbollah militant group operating from southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has vowed retaliation for Israel’s exploding pager attack that killed at least 12 people and injured at least 2,800 in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday.

Israel behind Lebanon pagers attack, sources confirm

Sources confirmed to ABC News that Israel was responsible for the explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday.

The pagers began exploding around 3:30 p.m. local time, according to Hezbollah officials. An intelligence source familiar with the situation told ABC News that Israel has long been working to perfect this type of “supply chain interdiction attack.”

At least nine civilians were killed and more than 2,750 injured by the explosions, Lebanese health authorities said.

Hezbollah said 11 of its members were killed on Tuesday, though did not disclose the circumstances of their deaths. The militant group vowed retaliation against Israel.

Four Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces said four of its soldiers were killed fighting in southern Gaza on Tuesday.

Capt. Daniel Mimon Toaff, Staff Sgt. Agam Naim, Staff Sgt. Amit Bakri and Staff Sgt. Dotan Shimon were killed in combat, the IDF said in a statement.

One officer and two soldiers from the Shaked Battalion, Givati Brigade, were “severely injured” during the same incident, the statement said. Another two soldiers were “moderately injured.”

An officer from the Givati Reconnaissance Unit was also “severely injured” in southern Gaza, the IDF said.

Hezbollah vows ‘reckoning’ for pager explosions

In a Wednesday morning statement, the Hezbollah militant group said it would continue operations to “support Gaza” and vowed a “reckoning” for Israel after Tuesday’s “massacre” when more than 2,750 people were injured by exploding pagers in Lebanon.

Hezbollah blamed Israel for the operation, which killed at least nine civilians. Eleven Hezbollah members died on Tuesday, the group said, though — as is typical in its statements — did not specify how they died.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is set to speak on Thursday afternoon to address the situation.

Israel has not commented on its alleged involvement in Tuesday’s explosions in Lebanon.

IDF strikes Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces said warplanes hit Hezbollah targets in six locations in southern Lebanon into Wednesday. Artillery strikes were also conducted, it added.

Israeli aircraft bombed “Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure” in the areas of Majdal Selm, Odaisseh, Markaba, Blida, Maroun El Ras and Chihine in southern Lebanon, the IDF said in a statement.

Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways cancel all flights to Israel

Three major European airlines have canceled all flights to Israel hours after a deadly attack on Hezbollah left at least nine people dead and over 2,700 people injured.

Air France has canceled flights to Tel Aviv for Sept. 18 and 19, according to the flight status board on their website. Lufthansa has canceled flights to Israel through Sept. 19 and British Airways has canceled flights to Israel through Sept. 27.

Netanyahu undermining security with ‘petty politics,’ political rival alleges

Benny Gantz — the leader of the centrist National Unity coalition — on Tuesday accused rival Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of endangering Israeli security “in the most tangible way that I can remember being done by a prime minister during a war, and in general.”

In a public statement — later also published on his X page — Gantz accused the prime minister of “security recklessness” over reports that Netanyahu is preparing to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is a major critic of the prime minister’s approach to cease-fire negotiations in Gaza.

Gantz said the alleged political maneuvering is particularly dangerous ahead of a potential expansion of the conflict in the north of the country, where the Israel Defense Forces has been engaged in cross-border fighting with the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia since Oct. 8.

“Human lives and the future of the nation are at stake,” Gantz said, describing the situation as the “dictionary definition of petty politics, at the expense of national security.”

11,000 students killed in Gaza, education ministry says

The Palestinian Ministry of Education said Tuesday that some 11,000 students have been killed and more than 17,000 others have been injured in the Gaza Strip since Israel’s campaign there started on Oct. 7.

The ministry also said 500 schools and universities have been bombed across the territory in almost one year of war.

Islamic Jihad rocket commander ‘eliminated’ in Gaza, IDF says

The Israel Defense Forces said it “eliminated” the head of the Islamic Jihad militia group’s southern rocket and missile unit in a Monday airstrike on a humanitarian zone in southern Gaza.

Ahmed Aish Salame al-Hashash was the commander of the Islamic Jihad’s rocket forces in the southern Rafah area, the IDF said in a statement. He was “an important source of knowledge of rocket fire within the Islamic Jihad terror organization in Gaza,” the IDF added.

Al-Hashash was killed while “operating inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Younis,” the IDF said, referring to one of the areas designated by the Israeli military as safer locations for civilians amid the devastating campaign in Gaza.

“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said.

The IDF often launches strikes inside Gaza humanitarian zones in pursuit of militant leaders.

Gaza Health Ministry identifies more than 34,300 people killed

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry published a 649-page document identifying 34,344 people killed in the strip between Oct.7, 2023 and Aug. 31, 2024.

The document includes the name, age, gender and identification number of each person killed.

The first 13 pages of the document include names of people all under 1 year old.

The document only includes the names of those the Health Ministry said it has been able to identify. Thousands more who are a part of the overall death toll are considered missing, the ministry said.

The current death toll in Gaza is 41,226 as of Sept. 16, according to the Hamas-run ministry.

Blinken to travel to Egypt

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt this week to discuss efforts to reach a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal, the State Department said.

Blinken will travel to Egypt Wednesday through Friday to co-chair the opening of the U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, the department said.

He will also meet with Egyptian officials “to discuss ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of all hostages, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people, and helps establish broader regional security,” the State Department said in a statement.

State Department doesn’t have timeline on new cease-fire proposal

State Department spokesperson Matt Miller declined to predict when a new Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal proposal might be ready.

“We continue to engage with our partners in the region, most specifically with Egypt and Qatar, about what that proposal will contain, and making sure — or trying to see that it’s a proposal that can get the parties to an ultimate agreement,” Miller told reporters Monday.

“I don’t have a timetable for you other than to say that we are working expeditiously to try to develop that proposal, try to find something that would bring both the parties to say yes and to formally submit it,” Miller added.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously said more than a week ago that a proposal would be presented to both Israel and Hamas “in the coming days.”

Miller said Monday that — just like in the negotiations overall — the main hurdles for creating the new proposal were the security situation in the Philadelphi corridor and the number of hostages and Palestinian prisoners that would be released.

‘Trajectory is clear’ at Israel-Lebanon border: Gallant

Time is running out for a diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict at the Israel-Lebanon border, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in an overnight phone call.

“Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas — the trajectory is clear,” Gallant told Austin per a readout from the Israeli Defense Ministry.

Gallant “reiterated Israel’s commitment to the removal of Hezbollah presence in southern Lebanon, and to enabling the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes,” the defense ministry said.

Cross-border fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah — which is aligned with Iran and Hamas through the so-called “Axis of Resistance” — has been near-constant since Oct. 8.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have left their homes in the north of the country amid the fighting, with Israeli leaders repeatedly threatening a significant military operation to pacify Hezbollah forces operating in southern Lebanon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Sunday statement that the “current situation will not continue. This requires a change in the balance of forces on our northern border. We will do whatever is necessary to return our residents securely to their homes.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Israel now says Houthi missile was hit by interceptor

A missile described by the Houthis as a “new hypersonic ballistic missile” was hit by an Israeli interceptor, Israeli military officials said Sunday, after initially saying it got through its defenses and fell in an open area.

An Israeli interceptor hit the missile fired into central Israel from Yemen, causing it to fragment, according to Israeli officials. The missile was not destroyed, but caused no damage, the Israeli officials said.

“The conclusion into the review of the surface-to-surface missile that was fired this morning is that there was a hit on the target from an interceptor, as a result of which the target fragmented but was not destroyed,” an Israeli military official said in a statement.

The Houthi movement claimed responsibility for the missile attack, claiming in a statement that it was aimed at an “important military target” in the Tel Aviv region. The Houthis claimed the missile flew some 1,267 miles in less than 12 minutes and that Israeli anti-missile defenses “failed to intercept” the weapon.

The Israel Defense Forces initially confirmed to ABC News that its defenses failed to intercept the missile but changed its conclusions upon further investigation.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule

IDF: ‘High probability’ 3 hostages were killed by Israeli airstrike in November

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces released the results of its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of three hostages, whose bodies were recovered from Gaza by IDF forces in December.

The three hostages — two soldiers, Ron Sherman and Nik Beizer, and civilian Elia Toledano — were killed “as a byproduct” of an Israeli airstrike on the compound where they were being held, according to the investigation. The IDF said the strike was targeting a Hamas commander, and that they believed the hostages were being held elsewhere.

“The findings of the investigation suggest a high probability that the three were killed as a result of a byproduct of an IDF airstrike, during the elimination of the Hamas Northern Brigade commander, Ahmed Ghandour, on November 10th, 2023,” the IDF said Sunday in a statement.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Netanyahu vows to inflict ‘high price’ for Houthi missile attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against the Houthi movement after a missile fired from Yemen fell in central Israel on Sunday morning.

“This morning, the Houthis launched a surface-to-surface missile from Yemen at our territory,” Netanyahu said before a cabinet meeting. “They should know that we exact a high price for any attempt to attack us.”

“Whoever needs a reminder of this, is invited to visit the port of Hodeidah,” the prime minister added, referring to Israel’s bombing of the strategic Yemeni port in July after a Houthi drone strike killed one person in Tel Aviv.

“Whoever attacks us will not evade our strike,” Netanyahu said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

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National

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs set for bail appeal hearing in sex trafficking indictment

Sean “Diddy” Combs attends Sean “Diddy” Combs Fulfills $1 Million Pledge To Howard University At Howard Homecoming – Yardfest at Howard University on October 20, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images for Sean “Diddy” Combs)

(NEW YORK) — Sean “Diddy” Combs is expected to learn Wednesday afternoon whether he will continue to be held without bail on charges including sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy.

The music mogul’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, appealed Judge Robyn Tarnofsky’s Tuesday decision to detain the 54-year-old pending trial. The appeal hearing is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET Wednesday.

Combs is alleged to have run an “enterprise that he engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson and other crimes,” according to the indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors said Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct” from 2008 to the present. The allegations mirror 11 civil complaints filed against him since 2023.

Explaining the decision to deny Combs bail, Tarnofsky said: “My concern is that this is a crime that happens behind closed doors.”

Federal prosecutors argued that Combs poses an ongoing threat to the community.

“The defendant also poses a significant risk of obstructing justice,” prosecutors said. “During the course of the charged conduct, the defendant has attempted to bribe security staff and threatened and interfered with witnesses to his criminal conduct.”

“He has already tried to obstruct the Government’s investigation of this case, repeatedly contacting victims and witnesses and feeding them false narratives of events,” prosecutors added.

“There are simply no conditions that would ensure that the defendant’s efforts to obstruct and tamper with witnesses will stop,” prosecutors said.

Agnifilo asked the judge to release Combs on a $50 million bail package, disputing the prosecutors’ characterization of his client as a flight risk. The lawyer said Combs arrived in New York on Sept. 5 and “came here to face it.”

Agnifilo said Combs is trying to sell his private plane. Agnifilo said he took possession of his client’s passport and those of five of his relatives.

He also argued that when Combs took two trips — to a graduation party for one of his children and a whitewater rafting trip — “we told the government where he was going.”

“Trust has to be earned and we have earned it,” he told the judge.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Politics

Suspicious mail containing white powder sent to election offices in at least 16 states

RiverNorthPhotography/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The FBI and Postal Service are investigating suspicious mail containing a white powder substance that was sent to election offices in at least 16 states this week, according to an ABC News canvass of the country.

None of the mail has been deemed hazardous so far — and in one case, the substance was determined to be flour — but the scare prompted evacuations in some locations.

Election offices in New York, Tennessee, Wyoming, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Colorado received the suspicious packages. Similar suspicious mail was addressed to offices in additional states — Arizona, Georgia, Connecticut and Maryland among them — but investigators intercepted them before they reached their destination.

The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service said in a statement Tuesday that they were investigating letters containing white powdery substances. A law enforcement source said at this point none of the packages were believed to be hazardous.

“We are also working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters,” the statement read.

At least some of the packages were signed by the “United States Traitor Elimination Army,” according to a copy of a letter sent to members of the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center obtained by ABC News.

Election offices office in Kansas and Wyoming were evacuated on Monday, officials said, and the ventilation system in the Missouri secretary of state’s office in Jefferson City was briefly shut off as a precaution. The North Carolina Board of Elections did not receive any packages with white powder, but an official there told ABC News they are putting in place new safety precautions in light of the incidents in other states.

This latest incident marks the second time in the past year that suspicious mailings containing a white powdery substance were sent to election offices. Last November, similar envelopes were sent to elections offices in five states — four of which tested positive for fentanyl, the FBI said at the time.

In the intervening months, several offices have taken steps to train staff on how to handle poisonous material sent in the mail. In Milwaukee, for example, election workers recently received training on how to administer Narcan.

The National Association of Secretaries of State released a statement urging an end to the “threatening and intimidating actions towards election officials” during recent election cycles.

“This must stop, period,” the statement read. “Our democ­racy has no place for political violence, threats or intimidation of any kind.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

National

Another Southern California community faces gas shutoffs amid landslide threat

In this July 10, 2023, file photo, a resident of the neighborhood takes a picture of a house with extensive damage along Peartree Ln in a gated community of Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., the morning after several houses began sliding down a canyon. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, FILE)

(NEW YORK) — As the embattled cliffside city of Rancho Palos Verdes continues to face indefinite utility shutoffs due to landslide risk, a neighboring Southern California community has lost gas services this week.

Officials from Rolling Hills, an adjacent city on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, announced that SoCal Gas shut off services to 34 homes in the area on Monday.

Additionally, electricity company Southern California Edison announced 51 households are preparing to lose power indefinitely no later than Wednesday evening, according to a statement from Rolling Hills officials.

This means services could be shut off any time before Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. PT, according to officials who note the utility companies are responsible for notifying customers of their service status.

Mayor Leah Mirsch released a statement Monday, saying, “The safety and well-being of our residents remains the City’s top priority.”

“We are all impacted by the outages and are committed to holding the utility companies accountable – pushing them to implement solutions that will restore services both quickly and safely,” Mirsch added.

Earlier this month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in the Portuguese Bend area of Rancho Palos Verdes as SoCal Gas and Southern California Edison shut off services to nearly 250 residences due to broken pipes and power lines causing hazards.

Residents in the growing landslide zone, which officials said earlier this month had spread about 680 acres over the past year, were advised to leave the area following the loss of vital power.

Photos show foundational damage to multi-million dollar properties and the surrounding roadways have become a reality amid the increasingly shifting landscape.

Newsom said land movement in the area has “significantly accelerated following severe storms in 2023 and 2024.”

Larry Chung, vice president of electric utility company Southern California Edison (SCE), said during a community meeting this month that there’s “no timeframe” for power restoration in the impacted areas due to the instability of the land.

“We can not predict how much the slide will accelerate in the coming weeks and months,” Chung said.

The Rancho Pales Verdes Peninsula is located about 30 miles south of Los Angeles.

“There is no playbook for an emergency like this one,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents the area, said at a news conference on Sept. 1. “We’re sparing no expense. This is bigger than Rancho Palos Verdes. This land movement is so gigantic and so damaging that one city should not have to bear the burden alone.”

Hahn said at the time the county committed $5 million to respond to the disaster.

It has not been announced if L.A. County’s funding and Newsom’s executive order will extend to the Rolling Hills community.

Charlie Raine, a Rolling Hills resident, told ABC News affiliate KABC-TV he’s worried about his elderly neighbors in the wake of the shutoffs.

“There’s a lot of people that are dealing with this, and it’s overwhelming for them,” he told the outlet. “I’m somewhat capable of doing this for myself, certainly, and I feel sort of obligated to help other people try and get through this.”

Rolling Hills officials said the Rotary Club of Palos Verdes Peninsula is organizing donation efforts for residents who have been affected by the landslide.

Generator and solar installation permits are being expedited to support alternative power solutions, according to officials.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

National

Schools reopen as search for suspect in Kentucky interstate shooting enters 11th day

London Police Department, KY

(NEW YORK) — Schools in a Kentucky country reopened Tuesday under heavy police guard for the first time since a massive search was launched for a suspect in an interstate shooting that injured five people 11 days ago.

As the suspect, 32-year-old Joseph Couch, remained on the loose Tuesday, the Laurel County Public Schools reopened campuses to its nearly 9,000 students.

“We will not live our lives in fear,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said during a news conference Tuesday.

The school district said in a statement that the reopening plan “prioritizes the safety of our students and staff.”

“The reopening plan provides enhanced security measures for bus transportation services, school campuses and extra-curricular activities,” the school district said.

Tuesday’s search for Couch continued to focus in the thick woods of the Daniel Boone National Forest, according to the Kentucky State Police.

Both state and federal teams have combed through at least 28,000 acres of the more than 700,000-acre national forest, but have yet to find any sign of Couch, officials said.

As the search continues in the national forest, officials said they are expanding the hunt for Couch to the communities surrounding the forest.

Beshear said additional state resources are being made available to help with the ongoing search efforts.

The FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service are assisting in the search.

The search for the gunman began on Sept. 7, after police responded to reports that a dozen vehicles traveling on Interstate 75 near London, Kentucky, had been struck by gunfire, officials said.

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said 20 to 30 shots were fired from a hillside near I-75’s exit 49.

Couch was initially named as a person of interest after deputies found his SUV abandoned on a forest road near exit 49, officials said. An AR-15 rifle Couch purchased in the hours before the shooting and investigators believe was used in the incident was also found in the woods near Couch’s vehicle along with a bag with Couch’s name written on it, officials said.

A day after the shooting, Couch was upgraded to the primary suspect. Investigators warned that Couch should be considered armed and dangerous.

In addition to searching the national forest, a tip prompted investigators this week to search a home in Laurel County, but found no evidence of Couch having been there, officials said.

Before the interstate shooting, according to the arrest warrant, a Laurel County 911 dispatcher received a call from a woman who alleged Couch texted her before the interstate shooting and “advised he was going to kill a lot of people. Well, try at least.” The text message was sent to the woman at 5:03 p.m. on Sept. 7, about a half-hour before the interstate shooting started, according to the arrest warrant.

“Couch sent another message to [the woman] that read, in part, ‘I’ll kill myself afterwards,'” according to the arrest warrant.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

National

OceanGate whistleblower says he had ‘no confidence’ in development of Titan sub

Pelagic Research Services/U.S. Coast Guard

(NEW YORK) — An OceanGate whistleblower testified during a United States Coast Guard hearing into the deadly 2023 implosion of the Titan that he had “no confidence” in the way the experimental submersible was being built.

David Lochridge, the former director of marine operations for OceanGate, said he was known as a “troublemaker” in the tourism and expeditions company because he was so outspoken about his safety concerns — voiced years before five people were killed when the Titan catastrophically imploded during a deep-sea voyage to the Titanic wreckage in June 2023.

Lochridge said Tuesday during an ongoing Coast Guard hearing into the deadly implosion that he was hired in 2015 to in part work on the operations for the Titan but was ultimately not involved in its development. Lochridge said he was “phased out” after butting heads with OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush — one of the five people who died in the implosion.

When asked by the Marine Board of Investigation for the U.S. Coast Guard if he had confidence in the way the Titan was being built in 2017, Lochridge said, “No confidence whatsoever, and I was very vocal about that, and still am.”

Lochridge submitted a report in January 2018 outlining his concerns about the submersible’s carbon-fiber hull, including imperfections, after he said Rush asked him to inspect it.

“At the end of the day, safety comes first,” Lochridge said. “Yes, you’re taking a risk going down in a submersible, but don’t take risks that are unnecessary with faulty, and I mean faulty, deficient equipment.”

Lochridge testified Rush “liked to do things on the cheap.” Asked why the company resorted to cost-cutting measures, Lochridge said, “The desire to get to the Titanic as quickly as we could to start making profit.”

He said he did not know about the financial side of the company, but that “there was a big push to get this done.”

“A lot of steps along the way were missed,” he said.

Lochridge testified that Rush wanted to do manned testing of the first Titan prototype, though Lochridge recommended doing unmanned testing due to his concerns.

“I knew that hull would fail,” he said. “It’s an absolute mess.”

Lochridge was fired from OceanGate in 2018, days after submitting his report and attending an hourslong meeting with OceanGate executives, including Rush, ABC News previously reported. Documents reviewed by ABC News stated that it was clear Lochridge and Rush were “at an impasse” regarding the Titan hull, and “the only option was the termination of your employment.”

Lochridge testified Tuesday he was terminated because he was “anti-project.”

“I didn’t want to lose my job,” Lochridge said. “I wanted to go to Titanic. It was on my bucket list. I wanted to dive this, but dive it safely.”

Following his termination, Lochridge said he reached out to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in February 2018 with his concerns about public safety and was placed under the agency’s Whistleblower Protection Program.
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“I wouldn’t want to see anybody dying for the sake of going in a sub,” Lochridge said Tuesday. “It’s a magical place. I love it. I’m very passionate about what I do. If there’s risk like that, don’t do it.”

A defect was discovered in the first prototype of the carbon-fiber hull in 2019, and it was not used on Titanic missions, the Coast Guard said.

A second carbon-fiber hull was subsequently made that was used on Titanic missions, including the doomed dive on June 18, 2023.

OceanGate suspended all exploration and commercial operations after the implosion.

The Coast Guard’s hearing into the implosion is scheduled to last two weeks. Lochridge is the only witness scheduled to testify on Tuesday.

During his testimony, Lochridge said he started being phased out of his duties after he inadvertently “embarrassed” Rush during a 2016 dive to the Andrea Doria shipwreck on OceanGate’s Cyclops 1 submersible.

Lochridge, a veteran submersible pilot, said he was meant to take several paying clients down to the wreck to take a 3-D model, but Rush wanted to pilot the dive instead. Lochridge said he objected, noting that the wreck is “dangerous” and that over a dozen people died during dives to the site at the time — and eventually persuaded Rush to let him go along.

He said Rush ended up getting the vessel stuck in the wreck and refused to relinquish control of the submersible to Lochridge until one of the crew members yelled at Rush to give Lochridge the PlayStation controller that piloted the vessel.

Lochridge said Rush threw the controller at his head and one of the buttons came off, though he testified that he was able to repair it and get them back to the surface.

After that, Lochridge said Rush stopped talking to him.

Lochridge testified he raised objections after OceanGate phased out its relationship with the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory in 2016. He said Rush decided to do all engineering for the Titan in-house.

Asked by the board why that was the case, Lochridge said, “Arrogance.”

He also testified the company only cared about making money and it wasn’t interested in scientific research.

“The whole idea behind the company was to make money, that’s it,” Lochridge said. “There was very little in the way of science.”

OceanGate sued Lochridge following his termination, alleging, among other things, breach of contract, fraud and misappropriation of trade secrets. Lochridge alleged in a counterclaim lawsuit that he was fired for raising concerns about quality control.

During the hearing on Tuesday, Lochridge said he dropped his OSHA case and walked away from the lawsuits in late 2018 because he didn’t want to “put my family through any more of this,” financially and emotionally.

“It was going nowhere,” he said. “It was too much for us as a family.”

Lochridge and OceanGate settled the dispute out of court in November 2018. Lochridge said OSHA closed the case in December 2018 following the settlement agreement.

“I never paid a penny to OceanGate, I’m going to state that clearly,” Lochridge said Tuesday. “I gave them nothing, they gave me nothing.”

In his final remarks, Lochridge said he hopes the investigation will shed light on “why OSHA did not actively address my concerns.”

“I believe that if OSHA had attempted to investigate the seriousness of the concerns I raised on multiple occasions, this tragedy may have been prevented,” he said. “As a seafarer, I feel deeply let down and disappointed by the system that is meant to protect not only seafarers but the general public as well.”

ABC News has reached out to OSHA for comment. OSHA had previously declined to comment to ABC News on the case.

The Coast Guard hearing is scheduled to resume on Thursday, with testimony from the company’s former scientific director and a crew member who was on board OceanGate’s 2016 dive to the Andrea Doria shipwreck.

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Politics

US dealing with ‘heightened threat environment’: Mayorkas

State Department photo by Freddie Everett/Public Domain

(NEW YORK) — The United States is dealing with a “heightened threat environment,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says, as the FBI is investigating an apparent second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.

It’s not only the “historic threat of foreign terrorists” that persists, but also home-grown extremists, Mayorkas said Tuesday.

“We’re now speaking of individuals radicalized to violence because of ideologies of hate, anti-government sentiment, personal narratives and other motivations propagated on online platforms,” the secretary said during the POLITICO AI & Tech Summit.

Threats from both at home and abroad are worrisome, senior officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and members of Congress say. FBI Director Christopher Wray has previously said he sees “blinking red lights everywhere” in terms of terror threats.

On Sunday, Ryan Wesley Routh was allegedly lying in wait for nearly 12 hours near the Republican presidential nominee’s West Palm Beach golf course before a Secret Service agent spotted him, according to a criminal complaint.

Routh did not get off a single shot, Secret Service Acting Director Ron Rowe said Monday, and at no time was the former president in the sight line of the suspect. The suspect was taken into custody and faces charges of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, prosecutors said.

The former president has the same level of security that is “quite approximate” to President Joe Biden’s, Mayorkas said Tuesday, adding that agents did their job on Sunday and “they deserve to be commended for it.”

Trump, speaking Tuesday in a phone interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, also praised the Secret Service for stopping the apparent assassination attempt. 

“I’m fine. The Secret Service did a good job, actually,” he said.

Trump also spoke about the heightened threat environment, telling ABC News, “Probably always been dangerous, but it’s more so now, I think.”

In the wake of the July 13 attempted assassination of Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI issued a bulletin to law enforcement across the country warning them that violent extremists could try to conduct “follow-on or retaliatory” attacks at events over the next few months related to the 2024 presidential election.

During a March hearing in front of Congress, the FBI director testified that threats from various groups have reached a “whole other level.”

“Even before [Hamas’ attack against Israel on] October 7, I would have told this committee that we were at a heightened threat level from a terrorism perspective — in the sense that it’s the first time I’ve seen in a long, long time,” Wray said on March 11.

“The threats from homegrown violent extremists — that is jihadist-inspired, extremists, domestic violent extremists, foreign terrorist organizations and state-sponsored terrorist organizations — all being elevated at one time since October 7, though, that threat has gone to a whole other level,” he said at the time.

In the aftermath of the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump, the Secret Service said it changed the way the former president is protected. Former director Kimberly Cheadle, who came under scrutiny for the agency’s failure to prevent the assassination attempt, also resigned.

Secretary Mayorkas appointed a new acting director — Rowe — and praised him for stepping up and leading the agency.

“I appreciate his willingness to lead the Secret Service at this incredibly challenging moment, as the agency works to get to the bottom of exactly what happened on July 13 and cooperate with ongoing investigations and Congressional oversight,” Mayorkas said at the time. “At the same time, the Secret Service must effectively carry on its expansive mission that includes providing 24/7 protection for national leaders and visiting dignitaries and securing events of national significance in this dynamic and heightened threat environment.”

During an April hearing in front of a congressional committee, the secretary said there’s been a “dramatic increase” in the number of threats facing Jewish and Muslim people in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.

“We’re certainly operating in a charged political environment, and there are many reasons for that,” Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, told ABC News on Monday.

“Certainly the partisanship of our country in recent years has something to do with it, easy access to buy military-style weapons also plays a role in it, and also importantly, our adversaries are purposefully trying to stoke divisions within our country between Americans through social media and other means,” he said.

The intelligence community has warned of foreign actors, mainly Russia, China and Iran, carrying out influence operations in the United States with an aim to divide the country ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department alleged that two employees of Russia Today, or RT — a Russian state-controlled media outlet, implemented a nearly $10 million scheme “to fund and direct a Tennessee-based company to publish and disseminate content deemed favorable to the Russian government.”

“So it’s important that the Department of Justice just announced a series of actions to prosecute individuals who are involved in a Russian plot to try to divide Americans against each other politically,” said Magaziner, who’s also the ranking member on the House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence.

“And we need all of our federal agencies, the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, CISA [Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency] and others, to remain vigilant and to expose those foreign actors who are trying to turn Americans against each other,” he added.

John Sandweg, former general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security under then-President Barack Obama, agreed.

“The situation is inflamed by a multitude of factors, but I do think it is important to emphasize the role that foreign state adversaries are playing — not only with regards to their support for extremist groups abroad, or efforts to disrupt and influence the election, but also through their efforts to further divide us as a nation,” Sandweg told ABC News on Monday, adding this is an “unprecedented” threat environment.

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National

Ex-officer who pleaded guilty on Tyre Nichols: ‘He was helpless’

Marilyn Nieves/Getty Images

(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — “I wanted some kind of revenge. I was seeing red,” one of the former Memphis, Tennessee, officers who pleaded guilty to charges connected to the death of Tyre Nichols said on the witness stand Monday evening.

The federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in connection with the January 2023 beating death of Nichols continued Tuesday morning after prosecutors called ex-officer Emmitt Martin III to the stand, according to WATN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Memphis covering the case in the courtroom.

Martin, whose nickname on the force was “Full Can” for what prosecutors said was his use of pepper spray against suspects, started Tuesday’s testimony by watching the footage from the night of Nichols’ stop, WATN reported.

“They were assaulting him,” Martin said of his former partners. “I was already angry that he ran. I kicked him … They [his former partners] were holding him up. He was helpless.”

Martin admitted to kicking Nichols four times and punching him five times and said the Memphis resident remained passive even when officers were aggressive with him, according to WATN.

Martin testified at the trial of former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith — who were charged on Sept. 12, 2023, with violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid. These charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The officers have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Martin and Desmond Mills Jr, the two other officers who were also charged in this case, have pleaded guilty to some of the federal charges.

Martin pleaded guilty to excessive force and failure to intervene, as well as conspiracy to witness tamper, according to court records. The other two charges will be dropped at sentencing, which has been scheduled for Dec. 5, according to the court records. Mills pleaded guilty to two of the four counts in the indictment — excessive force and failing to intervene, as well as conspiring to cover up his use of unlawful force, according to the DOJ. The government said it will recommend a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, based on the terms of Mills’ plea agreement.

“You get your a– beat,” Martin said when prosecutors asked about a term his former unit used called the “run tax”, which referred to the consequences suspects paid for running from police, WATN reported.

Body camera video shows Martin tossing his camera so their confrontation with Nichols wouldn’t be recorded. Martin admitted to not using his body camera video and said he was unaware of the Skycop camera recording the incident above them until he saw it on the news, WATN noted.

“If I couldn’t justify, I would have to cover it up. I’m not going to tell on them [my partners] and they’re not going to tell on me. It was understood,” Martin said. “I lied.”

According to WATN, in police reports, narratives read that Nichol swung at officers and tried to grab Martin’s gun. Martin said he never saw that occur.

The ex-officer claimed that he was hit by a car in November 2022 and returned to work Jan. 3, 2023, according to WATN. Martin said he was scared, angry and eager to show he could still do the job and wanted revenge for being struck by a vehicle.

On Jan. 7. 2023, the night Nichols was pulled over, Martin said he saw Nichols speeding and changing lanes without a signal, WATN reported. The former officer said he ran Nichols’ license plate and it came back clean. Martin claimed that he switched to car-to-car radio channels and reached out to Haley, who said he would take the lead on apprehending Nichols.

Prosecutors noted that Martin and Haley were called the “Smash Brothers,” according to WATN.

Martin said he blocked Nichols’ car once he caught up to him — a maneuver department policy designates only for felonies — resulting in Martin escalating it to a felony stop even though it wasn’t, WATN reported.

Martin claimed that he and Haley both approached Nichols’ vehicle with guns drawn and Haley pulled him out, WATN noted.

“No, never got a chance to,” Martin said when asked if he gave Nichols any reasons for why they pulled him over, according to WATN. “Just didn’t.”

“You can be charged by the department and possibly [end up] here,” Martin said when prosecutors asked what his police training taught him about use of force, WATN reported.

Martin said they should’ve analyzed the situation first and gotten control of Nichols’ hands, WATN noted. He added that conflicting commands were given to Nichols during the arrest.

Body-camera footage shows that Nichols fled after police pulled him over for allegedly driving recklessly, then shocked him with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him. Officers allegedly then beat Nichols minutes after. Nichols, 29, died on Jan. 10, 2023 — three days later. Footage shows the officers walking around, talking to each other as Nichols was injured and sitting on the ground. The incident triggered protests and calls for police reform.

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said she has been unable to substantiate that Nichols was driving recklessly.

The prosecution told ABC News Thursday that they will not have any statements until after the trial. The defense attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition. The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Nichols showed he “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma,” the district attorney’s office told Nichols’ family in May 2023.

The five former officers charged in this case were all members of the Memphis Police Department SCORPION unit — a crime suppression unit that was disbanded after Nichols’ death. All of the officers were fired for violating MPD policies.

SCORPION’s goal was to get guns and drugs off the street. Martin said that officers were picked based on productivity and remaining a member of the team depended on their statistics, WATN reported. Martin said they had zero arrests the night he spotted Nichols and they were told that if one officer had hands on someone that everyone had to have hands on them, WATN noted.

The trial was paused for lunch and Martin’s testimony continued after, according to WATN.

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Politics

Trump praises Secret Service response to apparent assassination attempt

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a town hall meeting moderated by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, on Sept. 17, 2024. (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised the Secret Service for stopping an apparent assassination attempt Sunday, speaking in a phone interview with ABC News.

“I’m fine. The Secret Service did a good job, actually,” he said.

A Secret Service agent fired several shots at Ryan Wesley Routh, who was allegedly concealed in a tree line armed with a rifle at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, about 300 to 500 yards from the Republican presidential nominee, authorities said.

The suspect was able to get into a car and drive off, but was stopped by law enforcement.

He appeared in court on Monday and currently faces two felony gun charges. The investigation is ongoing.

Trump spoke about the heightened threat environment, telling ABC News, “Probably always been dangerous, but it’s more so now, I think.”

He reiterated satisfaction with how the Secret Service handled Sunday’s incident.

“On that on that event, I thought they were excellent,” he said.

Trump also discussed his phone call with President Joe Biden following the incident, calling the conversation “very, very nice.”

“He called me just to, you know, express his sort of horror that a thing like that could happen. But it was a very good conversation,” Trump said.

Trump said Biden told him he wants to be sure the Secret Service has all the resources it needs to do its job, adding, “I hope that is the case.”

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Politics

Freed American Paul Whelan thanks lawmakers for bringing him home during Capitol Hill visit

US President Joe Biden, right, watches as Vice President Kamala Harris greets former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — Against the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol at dusk, freed American Paul Whelan, who just completed a government resettlement program in Texas following his return from wrongful detainment in Russia, thanked the lawmakers who worked to help secure his release.

Whelan praised a “bipartisan effort that brought me home” after spending the day meeting with lawmakers who took up his case from his home state of Michigan and elsewhere.

“The Michigan delegation brought me home here,” he said.

“You know, it was five years, seven months and five days,” he added of his time in Russian custody. “I counted each one of them.”

The former Marine revealed he spent the final five days in the Russian prison in solitary confinement.

“I couldn’t leave my cell,” he said, “but I made it home.”

Whelan wouldn’t preview what’s next for him — offering only that he needs a new car and that suddenly he’s in a place with electric and driverless vehicles — but said he’s involved in discussions over how to support other wrongfully detained Americans around the world.

“We’re coming for you,” Whelan said to those Americans. “The United States is not going to let people like me, Marc [Fogel], Trevor [Reed], Brittney [Griner, who was released in December 2022] languish in foreign prisons. It might take time, but we’re coming for them and everybody else.”

Whelan acknowledged the reporters he recognized by name or face, recalling the precise month he spoke with them via a smuggled phone from prison. He thanked them for reporting on his case.

He also thanked “all of the people that work for agencies that I will never meet, people that I will never know, their staff members, everyone that’s been involved at every level.”

Rep. Haley Stevens, who represents Whelan’s district in Congress, told ABC News she expects to lean on him for the complex policymaking to mitigate foreign detentions like his.

“Well, he might not know it, but I plan to be in touch with him for a very long time to come, as long as he’ll welcome it, because there’s a lot to learn from his experience,” she said.

She noted that Whelan’s case was “the first one” of a series of high-profile detentions in Russia, including Griner and Evan Gershkovich, and it “certainly changed the relationship that the United States had with Russia, even before the war in Ukraine began.”

“Our message to Russia is that when it comes to your shenanigans and your illegal and unjust and unlawful behavior, we, as the United States of America, are united. We will fight for our people,” she said. “We will bring them home, and we will win.”

Whelan returned to the United States on Aug. 2 after five-and-a-half years in a Russian penal colony.

Russian authorities released Whelan, as well as American journalists Gershkovic and Alsu Kurmasheva, in a multi-country deal that freed eight Russian prisoners abroad. The 26-person swap was the largest between the U.S. and Russia since the Cold War.

Whelan was arrested in Moscow in 2019 on charges of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Whelan, who frequently visited the city, was deemed as wrongfully detained by the U.S. Department of State.

The former Marine wasn’t the only former Russian captive on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Vladimir Kara-Murza, a dual Russian-British national whose release was secured by the U.S., met with lawmakers. Kara-Murza was imprisoned in Russia for two years for his opposition to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

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