(NEW YORK) — President-elect Donald Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in his New York hush money case after a jury in May convicted him on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Judge Juan Merchan has signaled his intention to sentence Trump to an “unconditional discharge” — allowing Trump to avoid prison, fines or probation — out of respect for the principle of presidential immunity, which takes effect on Jan. 20 once Trump becomes president.
Trump, who has maintained his innocence throughout the case, has blasted the prosecution as politically motivated.
Trump to be sentenced after SCOTUS fails to halt hearing
President-elect Donald Trump will appear virtually from his Mar-a-Lago estate when he is sentenced this morning in a New York courtroom, after the Supreme Court rejected his eleventh-hour bid to block his sentencing from taking place.
Trump had asked the nation’s highest court to halt his criminal sentencing on the grounds that he was entitled to immunity as president-elect.
In a Thursday night ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts and Trump-appointee Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s three liberal justices to deny Trump the relief he sought, while Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh indicated they would have granted Trump’s request to halt his sentencing.
The Federal Reserve Board Building. Via Douglas Rissing/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — A jobs report to be released on Friday will provide a key gauge of the nation’s economic health, just days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
The findings could also help determine whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates when officials meet later this month.
U.S. hiring has defied doomsayers for much of President Joe Biden’s term in office. Stubborn inflation, high interest rates and a contentious presidential campaign have proven no match for a resilient labor market.
Economists expect the U.S. to have added 155,000 jobs in December. The figure would mark a slowdown from the previous month but it would keep the labor market growing at a steady clip.
In November, employers added a robust 227,000 jobs. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%, but it continued to hover near a 50-year low.
Alongside steady hiring, inflation has eased and the economy has expanded, giving rise to hope that the U.S. can achieve a soft landing.
Inflation has slowed dramatically from a peak of more than 9% in June 2022, but price increases remain higher than the Fed’s target of 2%. The pace of price increases has ticked up in recent months.
The Fed dialed back its fight against inflation over the final months of last year, lowering interest rates by a percentage point. Still, the Fed’s interest rate remains at a historically high level of between 4.25% and 4.5%.
Last month, the Fed predicted fewer rate cuts in 2025 than it had previously indicated, suggesting concern that inflation may prove more difficult to bring under control than policymakers thought just a few months ago.
A solid jobs report that matches economists’ expectations could give the Fed more reason to delay interest rate cuts, since such a sign of economic strength may ease concern that a continuation of high interest rates would tip the economy into a downturn.
Instead, the Fed could wait and see if inflation falls closer to target levels, while remaining somewhat assured that the labor market will remain sturdy.
If the jobs report falls short of economists’ expectations, however, central bankers may view potential interest rate cuts with a heightened sense of urgency.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank may proceed at a slower pace with future rate cuts, in part because it has now lowered interest rates a substantial amount.
Powell also said a recent resurgence of inflation influenced the Fed’s expectations, noting that some policymakers considered uncertainty tied to potential policy changes under Trump.
“It’s common-sense thinking that when the path is uncertain, you get a little slower,” Powell said. “It’s not unlike driving on a foggy night or walking around in a dark room full of furniture.”
Trump has proposed tariffs of between 60% and 100% on Chinese goods, and a tax of between 10% and 20% on every product imported from all U.S. trading partners.
Economists widely forecast that tariffs of this magnitude would increase prices paid by U.S. shoppers, since importers typically pass along a share of the cost of those higher taxes to consumers.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on December 22, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Ten days ahead of his presidential inauguration, Donald Trump is scheduled to be sentenced Friday morning in New York for committing what the judge in his case characterized as a “premeditated and continuous deception” to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election.
President-elect Trump — who plans to attend the 9:30 a.m. hearing virtually from his Mar-a-Lago estate — is expected to receive the lightest possible sentence allowable under New York law, though the sentencing effectively finalizes his unprecedented status as the first former president to be a convicted criminal.
The sentencing hearing concludes an embarrassing and nearly decade-long ordeal for the former president, who has long maintained his innocence but sat through weeks of testimony detailing an alleged scheme to influence the 2016 election by paying off an adult film actress who said she had affair with Trump in 2006, three months after his wife gave birth to his youngest son.
“So I’ll do my little thing tomorrow. They can have fun with their political opponent,” Trump told reporters Thursday night ahead of the sentencing.
Trump was convicted by a jury in May following a six-week trial and was set to be sentenced in July, but a sweeping Supreme Court ruling and his successful presidential campaign helped his lawyers delay his sentencing three times. His lawyers attempted to accomplish the same feat this week but were denied four separate times — including by the U.S. Supreme Court — after arguing that Trump should be immune from criminal prosecution as president-elect.
“Forcing President Trump to prepare for a criminal sentencing in a felony case while he is preparing to lead the free world as President of the United States in less than two weeks imposes an intolerable, unconstitutional burden on him that undermines these vital national interests,” Trump’s lawyers unsuccessfully argued.
A narrowly divided Supreme Court denied the request on Thursday night, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Trump-appointee Amy Coney Barrett joining the court’s three liberal justices. The majority wrote that the hearing imposed a “relatively insubstantial” burden on Trump based on the anticipated sentence.
Judge Juan Merchan — who has overseen the case since April 2023 — suggested in a court filing last week that he plans to sentence Trump to an unconditional discharge, a rarely used option that allows the judge to finalize the judgment in the case without handing down punishment. If his sentence is unconditionally discharged, Trump would receive no jail time, financial penalty, or probationary period.
Though Merchan could have sentenced Trump up to four years in prison, he opted to give him the lightest possible sentence to “ensure finality” — including Trump’s right to appeal — while also respecting the principle of presidential immunity, which takes effect on Jan. 20 once Trump becomes president.
The sentencing is expected to take approximately one hour and include what’s called an allocution, in which Trump can make a statement to the court. Judge Merchan is also expected to comment on the nature of crime for which Trump was convicted. In a filing last week, the judge harshly criticized what he called Trump’s “disdain” for the judiciary.
“Defendant’s disdain for the Third Branch of government, whether state or federal, in New York or elsewhere, is a matter of public record,” Merchan wrote. “Indeed, Defendant has gone to great lengths to broadcast on social media and other forums his lack of respect for judges, juries, grand juries and the justice system as a whole.”
Since his conviction, Trump has maintained his innocence and has baselessly alleged that he is the victim of a political persecution directed by the federal government. Leaving the courtroom shortly after his conviction in May, Trump blasted the trial as “disgrace” and Judge Merchan as “corrupt.”
“The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people,” the newly convicted Trump declared.
(LOS ANGELES) — As thousands of firefighters battled a series of raging wildfires across Los Angeles County, California officials warned the public that fire season should now be considered a yearlong event.
Multiple fires destroyed thousands of homes and prompted some 180,000 evacuations in January demonstrates that the so-called “fire season” is no longer just a spring and summer event, they said. They also emphasized that homeowners outside of fire-prone areas should still be prepared.
“Climate change has made fire season year-round and increased our ever-growing number of wildfires,” the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in an online post. “Firefighters and residents alike are now constantly on heightened alert for the threat of wildfires.”
The warning came just days after the National Interagency Fire Center released a report showing preliminary data on total acres burned in 2024 in the United States. It was 127% above the 10-year average of 55.9 million acres a year, the report said.
While Los Angeles County fire officials said firefighters are ready to respond to wildfires, they stressed that it is crucial more than ever for homeowners to step up their efforts to help reduce deaths and property damage.
“We can’t do this without your cooperation,” fire officials said. “Preparation and prevention go hand-in-hand.”
The notice went out even as Los Angeles fire officials said at a news conference that firefighters have had to rescue people who got trapped by the blazes because they did not heed mandatory evacuation orders.
At one point on Wednesday, six wildfires were burning at once over a 42-square-mile area of Los Angeles County.
Five fire-related deaths had previously been reported when the statement was posted.
However, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said in a press conference on Thursday afternoon that the death toll was expected to rise.
At the time, the Hurst Fire was still burning out of control in Pasadena and Altadena, two neighboring communities about 11 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Two of the biggest fires — the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire — were 0% contained.
Los Angeles County fire officials also emphasized the importance of having a “Ready! Set! Go!” action plan and re-released a video the fire department put out last year showing steps residents can take to reduce the risk of death and property destruction.
Their recommended action plan includes creating defensible space around homes by removing debris and dry vegetation up to 200 feet in diameter of houses. It also recommends clearing pine needles and leaves from roofs and gutters.
However, in addition to “Ready! Set! Go!” officials advised residents to create a personalized disaster action plan detailing evacuation routes and meeting locations.
They also urged homeowners to learn how to turn off gas lines, propane lines and electrical circuits before evacuating.
“When there’s little time to react during an emergency, your personal wildfire action plan will help guide you and your family during those critical moments,” Deputy Chief David Richardson Jr. of the Los Angeles County Fire Department says in the “Ready! Set! Go!” instruction video.
While fire officials believe many residents affected by the Los Angeles fires were saved by creating a disaster action plan, it remains unclear how many lives may have been spared through acts of preparedness.
Los Angeles emergency officials said the unprecedented fire conditions, including hurricane-force Santa Ana winds and drought conditions that dried out vegetation, formed a perfect storm for the fires.
“No, LA County and all 29 fire departments in our country are not prepared for this type of widespread disaster,” said Chief Jim McDonnell of the Los Angeles Police Department on Thursday.
He added that there were not enough firefighters to address all the fires that were currently burning at the same time in the County of Los Angeles.
(LOS ANGELES) — As firefighters work to contain the slew of brush fires spreading across Los Angeles County, among the emergency responders on Thursday were nearly 800 incarcerated individuals, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) confirmed to ABC News.
The prisoners, who voluntarily sign up to be a part of the Conservation (Fire) Camps program, are embedded with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection crew members (CalFire).
The participating individuals are paid between $5.80 and $10.24 per day plus $1 an hour when responding to active emergencies, according to CDCR.
“CDCR Fire Camp Program firefighters are proud to be embedded with CAL FIRE personnel to protect lives, property, and natural resources in Southern California,” the law enforcement agency said in a statement.
Incarcerated firefighters have been working “around the clock” cutting fire lines and removing fuel from behind structures to slow fire spread, according to the agency, which called the program a source of “crucial support” during emergencies.
The exact number of hours the incarcerated crew members have worked since brush fires erupted in Los Angeles on Tuesday was not immediately clear.
CDCR’s Fire Camp Program operates 35 minimum-security facilities in 25 counties across California — including two camps designated for incarcerated women.
There are over 1,800 incarcerated individuals staffing the camps across the state, according to the agency.
Participating prisoners have joined the thousands of federal, state and local emergency responders that are battling at least five sprawling wildfires across Los Angeles County.
The largest of the devastating blazes, the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades, has scorched over 19,000 acres, destroyed thousands of structures and remains entirely uncontained as of Thursday afternoon.
The Eaton Fire, in Altadena, has spread over 10,000 acres and is also 0% contained, according to CalFire.
There have been at least five deaths between the two fires, a number officials warn may rise as emergency efforts continue.
More than 180,000 Los Angeles County residents have been ordered to evacuate as wind-driven infernos both big and small spread in the area.
(LOS ANGELES) — A perfect storm of weather and climate conditions made the California wildfires nearly impossible to contain once they ignited, according to experts.
In a typical fire management scenario, containing the fire by setting up a perimeter and trying to keep it from spreading further is often the first line of defense for firefighters to get the blaze under control, according to Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources’ team of experts on fire research in California.
But a confluence of events — hurricane-force winds, low humidity levels and dry conditions — allowed the fires to explode after the initial spark, Rachel Cleetus, policy director for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told ABC News.
Trying to contain the fire under the wind scenario was “untenable,” Quinn-Davidson said.
“Keeping people safe was the No. 1 objective — evacuating people, keeping firefighters safe,” Quinn-Davidson said.
The fires have prompted mandatory evacuation orders for tens of thousands of people and ripped through entire neighborhoods in a matter of hours. At least five people have died and several others were injured as a result of the fires, according to officials.
What we know about the containment of the wildfires so far
Five separate wildfires in the same region is proving difficult for firefighters to contain as they battle the flames amid high Santa Ana winds.
The Palisades Fire, which had burned through at least 300 structures and more than 17,000 acres in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles County, was 0% contained as of Thursday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as CAL Fire.
Also in Los Angeles County, the Eaton Fire has burned more than 10,000 acres near the Altadena and Pasadena neighborhoods and is 0% contained, according to the state fire agency.
The Hurst Fire, burning near Diamond Road and Sylmar in Los Angeles County, was about 10% contained on Thursday as it neared 1,000 acres burned, according to Cal Fire.
On North Woodley Avenue and Sepuleveda Basin in Los Angeles County, the Woodley Fire was 0% contained after sparking on Wednesday,
The Lidia Fire, on Canyon Road in Los Angeles County, was 40% contained on Thursday, according to Cal Fire.
“Right now, it is still a very, very dangerous situation, and anybody in that zone needs to evacuate,” Cleetus said.
Why firefighters weren’t able to contain the fires immediately
Several meteorological impacts contributed to the inability to contain the fires quickly, including humidity as low as 10% and a windstorm with gusts up to 100 mph that carried embers far and wide to ignite a tinderbox landscape Just 0.16 inches of rain has fallen in the region since May, according to meteorology and fire experts, leaving the landscape parched.
Containing the fire as winds gusted at those speeds in some spots would have been virtually impossible, the experts said.
“This is just a catastrophic influence of factors that has made it really, really difficult to contain these fires,” Cleetus said.
In addition, the urban setting makes managing these types of fires much more difficult, the experts said.
In Northern California, where fires tend to be fueled by large amounts of brush in forests and wildlands, firefighters can better manage them through fire-suppression activity, Quinn-Davidson said.
But in a populated region like Los Angeles County, the spread is moving quickly from house to house as people try to evacuate — in this case even ditching cars that block roads in an attempt to outrun the flames, Quinn-Davidson said.
“There’s nothing more dangerous and difficult than fighting in close and urban settings,” Cleetus said.
In addition, the firefighters have been using residential water supplies and have seen some instances where hydrants ran dry, Quinn-Davidson said.
Climate change also played a role in the severity of the fires
Wildfires are a natural and necessary part of Earth’s cycle, but climate change and other more direct human influences have increased their likelihood, research shows.
Wildfires in the western U.S. have become larger, more intense and more destructive in recent decades due to a combination of factors, including rapid urbanization and human-amplified climate change, according to the federal government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment, a breakdown of the latest in climate science, published in November 2023.
Warming temperatures, drier conditions and shifts in precipitation are contributing to an increase in the frequency of large wildfires and acres of land burned in the U.S. each year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(NEW YORK) — A New York City construction company and its owner were indicted Thursday on wage theft charges for depriving ten recent immigrant workers of wages totaling $67,000.
“These cases come down to greed,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said. “They are preying on those who they don’t think will come forward.”
KEP Construction and its owner, Kendis Paul, are charged with a scheme to defraud and grand larceny.
Prosecutors recovered text messages that show the workers pleading for their money. “I’m out of food,” one message said. “I haven’t been able to pay my rent.”
According to the indictment, 10 former KEP employees were owed for drywall plaster work they performed on a 23-story building on West 96 Street between September 2023 and February 2024.
Paul allegedly gave these employees paychecks that later bounced, refused to pay them overtime, and, in some instances, failed to pay their wages altogether, despite the fact that he was paid more than $1.3 million from the general contractor.
Paul pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the federal government would cover 100% of costs for the initial disaster response to the Los Angeles wildfires.
Meeting with federal officials at the White House, Biden said the funds would go toward debris removal, temporary shelters, salaries for first responders and more for 180 days.
“We are with you,” Biden said. “We are not going anywhere. To the firefighters and first responders, you are heroes.”
As Biden spoke, five fires were spreading around the Los Angeles area. Roughly 28,000 acres had been scorched and hundreds of thousands of people evacuated. At least five people died in the fires, and many more injured.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is from California and whose neighborhood was forced to evacuate earlier this week, was also at the meeting.
“What we have seen in California and in particular in Southern California is apocalyptic in terms of the nature of it,” Harris said.
A major disaster declaration was approved by Biden, allowing victims of the fire to “immediately access funds and resources to jumpstart their recovery,” according to the White House. Biden also directed the Pentagon to provide any firefighting resources the area needs, including helicopters to help suppress the flames.
Biden cancelled his trip to Italy, where he was planning to meet with Pope Francis and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in his final foreign trip of his presidency, to focus on the federal response to the tragedy.
The president was in California on Wednesday and received a briefing from officials alongside Gov. Gavin Newsom, a target of attacks from President-elect Donald Trump over his handling of the fires.
Trump also claimed on Thursday morning that FEMA has “no money” under the Biden administration, which is false. Congress passed a bill in December that provided an additional $100 billion for disaster aid, including $29 billion for FEMA’s disaster relief fund. The infusion was less than the $40 billion Biden had requested for the agency.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell was in Los Angeles on Thursday to meet with local officials and survey the damage.
FEMA also released a guide to assistance for those impacted by the fires to “jumpstart” the recovery process. The agency said individuals in designated areas may be able to receive money for essential items, including food, water, medication and other supplies.
(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) CalLos Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has faced questions about her leadership and alleged lack of initial presence during the ongoing wildfires affecting the area.
Bass was away from the city on a planned diplomatic trip to Ghana Tuesday when the Palisades Fire first erupted and has been hit by critics for her leadership during the disaster, particularly from her 2022 Republican mayoral opponent Rick Caruso, who accused her of “abandoning her post” in an interview with Politico.
The mayor, who did post a warning about the storm on social media Monday, declined to respond to a reporter Wednesday who asked why she did not return to the city fast enough and dodged the question again during a news conference Thursday.
“Let me just say, first and foremost, my number one focus, and I think the focus of all of us here with one voice, protect lives, we have to save lives and we have to save homes. Rest assured that …when that is done, when we are safe, when lives have been saved and homes have been saved, we will absolutely do an evaluation to look at what worked, [and] what didn’t work, and to correct or to hold accountable any body, department, individual, etc.,” Bass said. “But my focus right now is on the lives and on the homes.”
Bass, a former U.S. representative who chaired the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations, was part of a four-member presidential delegation attending Tuesday’s inauguration of John Dramani Mahama as Ghana’s president.
She arrived back in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon after the various wildfires already scorched thousands of acres of the county and destroyed homes and businesses.
The mayor told reporters Wednesday that she took the “fastest route back, which included being on a military plane.”
However, some critics have lashed out at the mayor over the budget for the city’s fire department, which saw its funding cut by nearly $17.5 million this fiscal year, records show. However, as the city was negotiating its contract with the fire department, additional funding for the department was set aside in a separate fund until negotiations ended in November, according to records and Bass.
“So, I think it’s most important to understand that we were in tough budgetary times. Everybody knew that, but that the impact of our budget really did not impact what we’ve been going through over the last few days,” she said.
A spokesperson for Los Angeles City Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who previously chaired the council’s budget and finance committee, told ABC News that the budget cuts made to the fire department did not reflect $76 million that was in the budget’s unappropriated balance calculation.
The department thus saw a $53 million increase over the previous year once the council approved the updated fire department budget in November, according to the spokesman.
The current fiscal year budget included money to hire 220 Firefighters in three new academy classes at the Valley Recruit Training Academy, according to city documents.
Bass repeatedly noted that the fires are unprecedented, however, she expressed frustration Thursday with reports that firefighters did not have water.
“We also know that fire hydrants are not constructed to deal with this type of massive devastation, and that the number one problem, especially on. … Wednesday, was the fact that we weren’t able to do the air support because of the winds, and so, of course, I am absolutely frustrated by that,” she said.
(CALIFORNIA) — Several hospitals and health care facilities have closed their clinics and offices in the southern California area as the devastating wildfires continue to spread.
As of Thursday, at least five people have died, and thousands of structures have been damaged or destroyed. Firefighters are continuing to battle at least six fires.
Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest health care systems in California, announced it has closed seven of its medical offices and clinics so far due to the fires and high winds.
“Currently, most Kaiser Permanente facilities in Southern California are open and operating normally. We will remain vigilant and ready to respond fluidly as conditions change,” the health care system said in a statement to ABC News.
UCLA Medical Center confirmed in an update on its website that at least 15 of its clinics were closed in neighborhoods including Alhambra, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Pasadena, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks.
Additionally, the center said it closed all its clinics in Calabasas.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center also shared an update on its website that some outpatient offices and surgery centers in evacuation areas were closed, including in Brentwood/West Los Angeles, Pasadena and Santa Monica.
“Due to the critical situation — including fires close to our medical center campus that are affecting many staff members — we are postponing non-urgent/emergent procedures on Thursday and Friday,” the update read. “In doing so, we are looking out for our patients in greatest need as we confront extraordinary and fast-moving conditions.”
Providence health care system, which serves five western states including California, also announced some of its outpatient services, such as doctors’ offices, were closed but that its hospitals remain open.
Additionally, Adventist Health, which serves the West Coast and Hawaii, said its Urgent Care, Orthopedics and Pediatrics location in Montrose is temporarily closed until further notice.
However, its Glendale hospital remains open and operations. Patients are not being evacuated and there are no widespread surgery cancellations.
The hospital added that some patients with elective procedures may have their surgeries canceled and all non-essential visitation is being postponed for the time being.
“My heart goes out to those impacted by the wildfires across L.A. County,” Kerry Heinrich, president and CEO of Adventist Health, said in a statement. “I’m thankful that, at this time, our local hospitals remain open and fully operational, ready to provide care and support to those in need.”
AltaMed Health Services, a community health network that serves southern California, wrote on X that one of its medical centers in Pasadena had been destroyed by the Eaton Fire, but no one was injured. The network has temporarily closed eight clinics due to the fires.
Meanwhile, some hospitals are reporting that they are treating victims injured by the dangerous fires.
UCLA Health hospitals confirmed to ABC News that as of 11:00 a.m. PT Wednesday, medical staff have treated and released 21 patients with fire-related injuries. What kind of fire-injuries the patients have remain unclear.
One patient remains hospitalized in critical condition, UCLA Health said.
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services also reported its medical system is treating patients suffering from smoke injuries, but did not confirm how many patients.
“Our dedicated health care providers across our medical system including Los Angeles General Medical Center, Olive-View Medical Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center are prepared to provide the critical and life-saving care to those impacted by the fires,” the department said in a statement.
“At this moment, we can confirm our medical system has provided care to patients suffering from smoke inhalation and respiratory issues caused by the fires,” the statement continued.
Senior centers are also being affected by the wildfires. At The Terraces At Park Marino, an assisted living facility in Altadena, staff evacuated elderly residents — some of whom were in wheelchairs or hospital beds — on Wednesday. Within hours, the building was engulfed in flames.
