Category: National

(OAHU, Hawaii) — Dangerous flooding is impacting Hawaii’s Oahu island, prompting evacuations and a warning from local officials of a possible dam collapse, as major rains pummel the area for the second significant rain event in a week.

An evacuation order was issued early Friday morning local time for Haleiwa and Waialua, including areas near the Wahiawa Dam, according to Oahu Emergency Management, which warned that the dam “may collapse or breach at any time.”

The dam “has not failed but is at imminent risk of failure,” Oahu Emergency Management said mid-morning local time Friday.

“Potential for life-threatening flooding and catastrophic amounts of fast-moving water in downstream areas,” the agency warned.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said the Hawaii National Guard has been activated and other resources are being deployed across Oahu amid the “severe storm.”

“We are coordinating closely with state and county partners to support evacuations, open shelters, and keep our communities safe,” he said on X.

The latest flood threat comes a week after a damaging flood event that washed away roads and damaged homes.

A flash flood emergency was issued for northern Oahu earlier Friday for “catastrophic” flooding. Local emergency personnel had reported “life-threatening flash flooding” early Friday across northern Oahu, according to the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

“Floodwaters have cut off road access in and out of Haleiwa, and widespread flooding of roadways and low-lying areas is ongoing,” the NWS said, warning that “significant runoff continues to produce high water levels and dangerous flooding impacts.”

The Hawaii Department of Transportation advised of several road closures in the area early Friday due to flooding.

Flood conditions were expected to worsen, with more heavy rain forecast for the region throughout the day. The NWS warned that mudslides could occur in steep terrain areas.

The heaviest rain will be Friday through Saturday for most islands — with the Big Island getting the heaviest rain on Sunday. 

Thunderstorms will be possible at times, which may include damaging winds. 

Flood watches are in effect for the Hawaiian Islands through Sunday, with at least 2 to 7 inches of rain possible during the event.

ABC News’ Kyle Reiman contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — The man who allegedly claimed to be an FBI agent and demanded Luigi Mangione’s release from federal jail is considering whether to plead guilty, his attorney said at a hearing Friday.

Mark Anderson, a 36-year-old from Minnesota, allegedly showed up to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn in January with a barbecue fork and a pizza cutter and, when jail guards asked for credentials, threw papers at them, according to prosecutors.

Assistant United States Attorney Brandon Davis told the judge that prosecutors extended a plea offer to Anderson, who initially pleaded not guilty to the impersonation charge.

“We’d like some time to review it,” defense attorney Michael Weil said.

Judge Eric Vitaliano set the next court appearance for May 1.

Mangione is being held at MDC-Brooklyn while he awaits federal and state trials for the assassination-style killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. His state trial is set to begin in June.

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(NEW YORK) — After Kouri Richins was charged with murder for fatally poisoning her husband with fentanyl, a friend of the Utah mother of three had a difficult time reconciling that.

In an exclusive interview with “20/20,” Ali Staking said she and her children were “devastated” about the sudden 2022 death of 39-year-old Eric Richins.

“I said, along the way, ‘Sometimes it looks like Kouri might have done it,'” Staking recalled saying to her children. “Then my kids would say, ‘Well, did she?’ And I’d say ‘I don’t think so. But, you know, it sometimes looks like it.'”

A Summit County jury ultimately found 35-year-old Kouri Richins guilty of aggravated murder on Monday, after prosecutors argued during the three-week trial that she killed her husband for financial gain by giving him a lethal dose of fentanyl in a cocktail.

Eric Richins was found dead in bed on March 4, 2022. An autopsy determined that he died from fentanyl intoxication, and the level of fentanyl in his blood was approximately five times the lethal dosage, according to the charging document. The medical examiner determined the fentanyl was “illicit fentanyl,” not medical grade, according to the charging document.

Kouri Richins, who self-published a children’s book on grief following her husband’s death, was arrested in May 2023 following a lengthy investigation.

The charges alleged that she spiked his drink with a lethal dose of fentanyl that she purchased illicitly, and that she also gave her husband a sandwich laced with fentanyl on Valentine’s Day two weeks before his death in an initial, failed attempt to kill him.

Prosecutors argued that Kouri Richins wanted a “fresh start” and to leave her husband, but didn’t want to leave his money. They said she was in “financial desperation” due to her house flipping business’ debts and needed a significant influx of cash immediately.

According to prosecutors, she believed she would have financially benefited from her husband’s death — without realizing that his assets were in a trust overseen by one of his sisters.

A jury found her guilty of all five counts, including aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder, after about three hours of deliberations on Monday. She was also found guilty of insurance fraud for taking out a $100,000 insurance policy on her husband’s life with his forged signature and also for submitting a claim following his death.

Kouri Richins, who had pleaded not guilty and asserted her innocence from jail, did not testify during the trial and the defense called no witnesses. Her sentencing has been scheduled for May 13. She faces 25 years to life in prison.  

Staking, who testified during the trial, said she was “very surprised that there was no defense.”

ABC News contributor Brian Buckmire suggested this was a reflection of the defense’s confidence.

“They may believe the prosecution didn’t make out their case, that having any witness on the stand wouldn’t make sense because they’ve already won their case,” he told “20/20.”

Staking said it was “surreal” learning that Eric Richins had died, describing him as a “dedicated dad” and a “goofy cowboy dude who loved to dance.”

“He had so much more life to live and he wanted so much for his boys,” she said. “I’m gonna remember just how much he loved them.”

Kouri Richins also faces more than two dozen charges in a separate case filed last year, including allegations that she committed mortgage fraud in 2021. The charging document alleges she submitted falsified bank statements in support of mortgage loan applications for her realty business, committed money laundering and issued bad checks. 

The charges in the case also allege she murdered her husband for financial gain as she “stood on the precipice of total financial collapse.”

She has not yet entered a plea to those charges.

Staking said she wants Eric Richins to be remembered as a “loving dad.”

“I believe Eric is with his kids all the time every day,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anywhere else he’d wanna be.” 

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(CHICAGO) — An 18-year-old student at Loyola University in Chicago was shot and killed while walking with her friends near campus, authorities said.

The group was walking near Tobey Prinz Beach Park, less than 1 mile from the university’s Lake Shore campus, when an unknown male walked up to them at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday, Chicago police said.

The male showed a gun and opened fire toward the friends, police said.

The victim was shot in the head and died at the scene, police said, adding that no one else was injured.

Loyola University president Mark Reed identified the slain student as Sheridan Gorman.

“This is a tragic loss, and our hearts go out to Sheridan’s family, loved ones, and all who knew her,” Reed said in a statement.

Reed said the university is offering counseling services and is in touch with law enforcement.

“Based on the information available to us now, there is no ongoing threat to our campus community,” he said.

Gorman was also a “beloved” student at her former high school in Westchester County, New York.

“We are so deeply shattered by this tragic and senseless loss,” Yorktown Central School District Superintendent Ron Hattar said in a statement. “Sheridan was loved by all who knew her, and her impact on students and staff alike was profound. She was a shining light for so many people.”

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(NEW YORK) — The ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown is taking its toll on the thousands of Transportation Security Administration employees at airports who have been working without pay.

Approximately 60,000 TSA officers who have gone over a month with partial pay began receiving their first $0 paychecks last week.

Many say they are living in fear, with some taking on extra jobs or even leaving the agency altogether to make ends meet.

And if there is no relief soon, veteran TSA leaders fear that the stress and uncertainty could impact operations for years

“Who wants to go work in public service in the public sector when you’re treated like a yo-yo?” a TSA worker who asked to remain anonymous told ABC News.

The current partial shutdown, now in its second month, comes close to last fall’s 43-day federal government shutdown, which paused payments to thousands of TSA workers, who were still required to work their shift.

Angela Grana, a TSA officer at Durango-La Plata County Airport in Colorado, told ABC News Live on Monday, the first day that TSA workers missed their checks, that the entire situation has been humiliating for her co-workers.

“The stories I get are very demoralizing,” Grana, who serves as the state’s regional vice president for AFGE TSA Local 1127, said. “To go ahead and do the Uber Eats or any other kind of side job, we have to have extra permission. For now, we can’t just do it.”
Senate Democrats have vowed to block funding for DHS until reforms are made to Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal law enforcement.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called on Democrats Monday to join a discharge petition that would fund all DHS agencies except for ICE.

A vote on similar legislation failed earlier in the Senate. Jeffries would need at least four Republicans to sign on with all Democrats for the discharge petition to move forward.

Grana said the stress of making ends meet and keeping the airports safe is getting to a lot of TSA officers. Several airports across the country have begun food pantries for their employees affected by the partial shutdown.

“Let me tell you, for us to be concentrating on our jobs without the hunger pains in our stomachs. It’s really difficult to do. We can’t get it wrong,” Grana said.  “We have to get it right every time. We cannot miss a bag, we cannot miss a threat.”

Jill DeJanovich, a TSA officer at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas and single mom of four, was one of the nearly 2,700 TSA workers who called out sick this week, because of the demands put on her.

DeJanovich, who is the a AFGE Local 1260 Chief Administrative Point of contact in Nevada, said she is frustrated with Congress for not moving forward and ending the quagmire over funding.

“Someone needs to cross the line before Congress goes on break for Easter recess,” she said.

While some TSA officers said they had to power on through, for others, like Robert Echeverria, the strain of a second DHS shutdown in five months proved to be too much.

After nine years working at Salt Lake City International Airport a lead TSA officer, Echeverria told ABC News that he left his job after the current shutdown. Echeverria said his family’s life savings were depleted after the last shutdown.

“Emotionally, we couldn’t go through that strain anymore,” he told ABC News.

“It was just really hard for my wife and emotionally to see my kids going through a hard time asking for things, and we wouldn’t be able to actually help them out,” he added.

A TSA worker who asked not to be named warned that the loss of employees can’t easily be fixed.

“Losing seasoned employees is very difficult to replace,” the TSA worker said. “New hires take two years to get off probation.”

The worker added that the accumulating debt borne by government employees will also affect staffing.

“One of the requirements is that you have a great credit rating. A lot of our officers are not going to have that now,” they said.

Joseph Cerletti, a TSA officer at Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, told ABC News that he struggles to explain to his kids about their financial issues now that his family has to depend solely on his wife’s income.

Cerletti relented that he and his coworkers “don’t have the upper ground here” when it comes to fighting for their rights.

“It’s very hard to find words in the English language to describe how I feel about it, other than speechless,” he said. “This is just what I’ve been describing lately as figuratively an uphill gunfight.”

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(NEW YORK) — Dolores Huerta, the iconic civil rights leader and co-founder of the United Farm Workers, said she decided to speak out to support other women who have come forward after a New York Times report revealed accusations of sexual assault against the late labor leader Cesar Chávez.

“And to think that somebody that we looked at as our hero and our leader — you know, it’s pretty horrible,” Huerta said in a network exclusive with John Quiñones.

According to the Times, the late farmworker organizer, who became a national civil rights icon, used his position of power to exploit some of the women and minors who worked and volunteered in his movement for his own sexual gratification.

Chavez died in 1993 at age 66.

On Wednesday, Huerta said in a statement that she was “manipulated and pressured into having sex” with Chávez. Huerta, 95, stated she had two separate sexual encounters with Chávez in the 1960s — one in which she said she was pressured to have sex with him and the other in which she said she was forced against her will.

“Your first name, Dolores, in English translates into pain or aching. Have you been suffering in silence, holding these secrets all these decades?” asked Quiñones.

“It was very hard, it was very hard to keep this. But, you know, I think I am building on the courage of these young women — that they had the courage to come out and say what happened to them. And God knows what they’ve suffered,” Huerta said. “It was time.”

According to the Times, one of the women who spoke out alleged she was 12 years old when Chávez first touched her inappropriately and 15 when he raped her in California. Another woman alleged she was summoned for sexual encounters with Chávez dozens of times over a four-year period, starting when she was 13 and he was 45.

Huerta said Chávez “had an evil side to him.”

“Cesar spoke about and practiced the nonviolent movement,” Huerta said. “Well, what could be more violent than that?”

Huerta says both encounters she had with Chávez led to pregnancies that she kept secret, later arranging for the children to be raised by other families.

“I thought that abortion was a sin,” Huerta told Quiñones. “I have since changed my mind on those issues because I now realize that women have to have a right to abortion. And by the way, abortion was also illegal at that time.”

She told ABC News one of the children was raised by her brother and the other was raised by a family friend.
When asked about Chavez’s legacy amid the allegations, Huerta said she hopes that “his legacy would live on in the things that were accomplished.”

Huerta’s career as an activist began in 1955 when she joined the Community Service Organization, where she met Chavez. Together, they founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962, which later became the UFW.

Huerta played a pivotal role in the Delano grape strike of 1965 and led the subsequent national boycott of table grapes, which successfully pressured growers to improve wages and working conditions.

In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded Huerta the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Huerta said she remains committed to her work, focusing on current threats to labor rights and the treatment of immigrants in detention centers.

“My intention is just to do the work, make lives better for women, make lives better for working people,” Huerta said. “We know that the job isn’t finished yet.”

“At my age, 96, as long as God gives me strength and the little energy that I have left, I want to just continue doing the work to make life better for women, for children, and of course, for farmworkers and workers in general,” she added.

“I know we have a long fight ahead of us, even in our country right now, because so many of the gains that have been won over the years are being taken away from us.”

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(NAMPA, Idaho) — An Idaho mayor months into his first term died after experiencing a medical emergency during a town hall, in what officials called “a shock and a tragedy.”

Nampa Mayor Rick Hogaboam, 47, was attending a Treasure Valley Partnership town hall on Wednesday in nearby Eagle when he died, according to Eagle city officials.

Eagle Mayor Brad Pike, a former firefighter, and Eagle Police Chief Travis Ruby immediately went to his aid, officials said. 

“911 was called, CPR was administered, EMS arrived promptly, but their efforts were, sadly, unsuccessful,” the city of Eagle said in a statement.

Nampa officials said Hogaboam “suffered a medical emergency.” ABC News has reached out to the Ada County Coroner’s Office for an update on his cause of death.

Hogaboam began serving in early January as the mayor of Nampa, located about 20 miles west of Boise and home to over 100,00 people — making it the third-largest city in Idaho.

He previously served as the Canyon County clerk; was chief of staff to the previous Nampa mayor, Debbie Kling; was elected a Nampa councilman; and briefly served as a substitute Idaho state senator in 2021, according to his city biography.

“He hopes to utilize his experience and knowledge to advocate for transparent and efficient governance that is responsive and accountable to the citizens,” his bio, which he wrote, noted.

Hogaboam was a husband, father and grandfather who was “committed to a vision for Nampa where families thrive in a community where citizens are proud to live, work, eat, play, and worship,” his bio stated.

He was an avid reader, baseball fan and lover of sushi and Korean food, his bio said.

“We ask the community to please keep his family and loved ones in your prayers during this incredibly difficult time,” Nama city officials said in a statement. “As we begin to mourn this unbelievable loss, please provide grace while we navigate the loss of not only our Mayor, but also our friend.”

Eagle city officials said Hogaboam “lived as an example of integrity and civil service.”

Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Thursday ordered the lowering of U.S. and Idaho flags at the state Capitol building and state buildings in Canyon County in honor of Hogaboam, calling his sudden death a “tremendous loss.” 

“Rick served with a genuine heart for public service and an unwavering commitment to the people of Nampa,” Little said in a statement. “He cared deeply about his community and worked every day to make it stronger and better for those he served.”

The city of Nampa was holding an emergency council meeting on Thursday in the wake of Hogaboam’s death to discuss maintaining city operations and the process for appointing a new mayor.

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(NEW YORK) — An Alaska Airlines 737 and a FedEx 777 cargo plane nearly collided as they attempted to land on intersecting runways at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, according to radar data from FlightRadar24.

The incident happened around 8:17 p.m. Tuesday as the Alaska flight arrived from Portland, Oregon, and the FedEx plane arrived from Memphis, Tennessee, according to the data.

Air traffic control told the Alaska plane to go around seconds before it touched down while the plane was just 150 feet in the air, according to air traffic control audio and FlightRadar24 data. Meanwhile, the FedEx plane continued its landing on the intersecting runway.

Preliminary data from Flightradar24 shows the Alaska plane cleared the FedEx plane by just 300 to 325 feet.

Alaska Airlines and FedEx did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. 

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(MOORE HAVEN, Fla.) — A 19-year-old Mexican immigrant died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody this week, according to a notice sent to lawmakers.

Royer Perez-Jimenez, 19, died March 16 at the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida, according to the notice from ICE that was reviewed by ABC News.

Perez-Jimenez is the 44th person to die in ICE custody during the second Trump administration, according to lawmakers.

“He died of a presumed suicide; however, the official cause of his death remains under investigation,” ICE stated.

In the notice, ICE said the 19-year-old entered the United States from Mexico on Feb. 19, 2022, and was granted voluntary return. On an unknown date, according to ICE, he reentered the U.S.

The notice said Perez-Jimenez was arrested in Florida and charged with felony fraud for impersonation and misdemeanor resisting an officer. ABC News has not verified this claim from the Department of Homeland Security.

“ICE placed an immigration detainer on him that same day, and he was transferred into ICE custody on February 21, 2026,” the agency said in the notice.

ABC News reached out to DHS for comment.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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(MINNEAPOLIS) — An immigration judge has denied Liam Conejo Ramos and his family’s asylum claim, their attorney confirmed.

The 5-year-old boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained on Jan. 20 by immigration agents in Minneapolis and held in a Texas detention facility. A judge ordered them to be released and they flew back to Minnesota on Feb. 1.

Attorney Danielle Molliver told ABC News on Thursday the family was unable to present any evidence in the case before the government filed a motion to terminate the case which a judge granted. Molliver said she has filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals. 

“We understand that this decision will be appealed and remain hopeful for a positive outcome,” a spokesperson for Columbia Heights Public School District said earlier in confirming the asylum claim denial. “The detention in January of Liam and his father shed light on the harm caused by Operation Metro Surge, during which many children and families have been detained.”

The boy and his father were detained in January shortly after arriving home from the child’s preschool, school officials had said.

Both were taken to a federal detention facility in Dilley, Texas. They had a pending asylum case but no order of deportation.

The five-year-old’s father told ABC News last month that he wants to remain in the United States with his family, saying they fled Ecuador out of fear.

“I asked for asylum to be here for my family, for my children,” Conejo Arias said. “I’m here because I’m scared of returning to my country.”

In a statement after a judge ordered them to be released, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, “The facts in this case have NOT changed: ICE did NOT target or arrest a child.”

“On January 20, ICE conducted a targeted operation to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias an illegal alien from Ecuador who was RELEASED into the U.S. by the Biden administration,” McLaughlin said. “As agents approached, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias fled on foot — abandoning his child.”

McLaughlin said ICE officers remained with Liam while other officers apprehended his father. Officers, according to McLaughlin, attempted to place Liam with his “alleged mother” who was inside the house, but she allegedly refused to accept custody of the child.

McLaughlin said Conejo Arias told officers he wanted his son to remain with him.

The DHS account differs from what the Conejo Arias, his family’s attorney and schools officials said occurred.

Conejo Arias said when he was detained, he was walking a few feet ahead of his son, trying to alert people who “would come out who could help” them.

“I love my son too much. I would never abandon him,” Conejo Arias said.

Officials from Liam’s school said another adult living in the home was outside begging the agents to allow them to take care of the child, but the request was denied.

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