(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court on Monday rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn a jury’s verdict last year that found he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s.
The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided “Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings” and “has not carried his burden to show that any claimed error or combination of claimed errors affected his substantial rights as required to warrant a new trial.”
The jury in the civil case held Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a dressing room at a Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the mid-1990s, and determined that, in 2022, he made defamatory statements about her. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.
A different jury, in a separate civil trial, ordered Trump to pay Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, $83 million in damages. Trump’s appeal of that verdict is pending.
In the first trial, Trump claimed District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan erred by allowing two women, Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, to testify about Trump’s alleged sexually assaults of them. Trump denied the claims of those two women.
Trump also faulted Kaplan’s decision to allow part of the now-infamous “Access Hollywood” tape into evidence. In the 2005 recording, Trump is heard describing to then-Access Hollywood host Billy Bush how he kissed and grabbed women without first obtaining their consent.
The appellate court, in Monday’s opinion, decided the tape was admissible “as evidence of a pattern” of alleged behavior by Trump.
“The jury could have reasonably concluded from those statements that, in the past, Mr. Trump had kissed women without their consent and then proceeded to touch their genitalia,” the opinion said.
(DELRAY BEACH, Fla.) — A Brightline train collided with a fire truck on Saturday morning in Delray Beach, Florida, injuring three firefighters and 12 train passengers, city officials said.
The three injured Delray Beach firefighters were transported to a local hospital, where they are currently in stable condition. Two of the firefighters were initially listed in critical condition, but their status has since been updated.
In addition to the firefighters, 12 individuals from the train were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, assisted by Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. There have been no reported fatalities.
The accident occurred at around 10:45 a.m. on the East Atlantic Avenue tracks near Railroad Avenue, according to authorities.
According to Delray Beach Fire Rescue, the firefighters were en route to a call when the accident took place.
An active investigation into the cause of the collision is being led by the Delray Beach Police Department, Brightline officials and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Authorities are looking into whether the crossing gates were functioning properly at the time of the incident and have not yet confirmed details regarding the specific cause of the crash.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — During the final Mass at the All Saints Parish in Buffalo, New York, on a warm Sunday in July, the priests encouraged the few parishioners who came to take comfort in holy scripture.
“For everything, there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven,” the passage read.
On Earth, many parishes are accepting that it’s time to sell their properties. As the person leading renewal and development for the Diocese of Buffalo, Father Bryan Zielenieski is one of many religious leaders across America who have closed houses of worship in recent years.
“We essentially went to half of what we used to back in the early 2000s,” he told ABC News. “We lost about 100 parishes.”
Zielenieski expects he’ll need to shut down another 70 churches in what the Diocese is calling its “road to renewal.” It’s a very biblical name for the challenge facing churches: People just aren’t going as much as they used to.
On average, more than half of the diocese’s churches today are baptizing fewer than one person a month, and 59% of them are spending more than they take in, Zielenieski noted.
“It’s my job and role to not just pray about the situation, but to then look at the hard data and say, where does the church need to move?” he told ABC News.
In the late 1940s, nearly 80% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue, mosque or temple, according to Gallup. Today, just 45% say the same, the analytics company noted, and only 32% say that they worship God in a house of prayer once a week.
In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, America was losing as many as 1,000 churches a year.
Some former churches are being converted for businesses or residential use. One old Methodist church in Atlanta, which was down to about 60 members when it closed, was sold to a luxury real estate developer seven years ago. Now, it’s become a series of 3,000-square-foot condos.
Some of the oldest churches in the world have even turned into bars and nightclubs.
However, another Atlanta church is taking a different route. Pastor Jasmine Smothers is saving the city’s First United Methodist church from closing with what she says is a “God-sized” plan.
The most profitable thing they own is their land, and she’s using it to build more than 300 apartments in the high-rent city — most of which will become affordable housing.
Image
Pastor Jasmine Smothers says developing residential property on the church’s land will help them stay open. Via ABC News
“It’s literally going to change the landscape of Atlanta in more ways than one,” she told ABC News.
Smothers said the project will give the church the resources to help people and to continue its ministries.
“In the words of one of my friends, this ain’t your great grandma’s church,” she said.
At Calcium Church outside Syracuse, New York, Pastor Milton LaSalle recently acknowledged to his small-town church that, after 171 years, they’re in financial trouble. On a good Sunday, LaSalle has 35 regular members — most of them are in the sunset of their lives. The church hasn’t been forced to close or sell it’s land, the pastor says.
“The aging of the church here, of course, is seen all over America. That makes it harder in a lot of ways. For instance, we lost five of our members last year to death,” he told ABC News.
LaSalle said he’s confident Calcium Church will be able to stay open, but noted that they’ve had to make cutbacks.
They still hold clothing and school supply giveaways, parishioners told ABC News. Parishioner Jeannetta LaSalle expressed the importance of the church in her life, saying that her fellow churchgoers are like family.
“It gives me purpose to get up in the morning,” she told ABC News.
In Buffalo, Father Zielenieski also noted how people turn to the church for comfort in times of crisis, like in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
“There’s a sociological principle or idea out there that when times are good, people forget God,” he said. “When times are challenging, they go to God first.”
However, Zielenieski highlights the danger of taking the church for granted.
“We’ve never asked the question, how is it going to be there and how is that going to stay?” he said.
The sale of the All Saints Church in Buffalo will close in the coming weeks. The priests told ABC News they have language in the deal that prevents the new owners from turning it into a place that encourages people to sin.
(NEW YORK) — A moderate risk for severe weather is in place from eastern Texas through Louisiana and Mississippi and into Alabama on Saturday.
The risk for severe weather begins in Texas on Saturday morning and then charges east through the evening and into overnight.
The greatest risk will be for several strong and large long-tracked tornadoes, potentially EF3 or greater, according to the Storm Predication Center.
Other risk factors will be from large hail, damaging wind and flash flooding.
As for the rain, 2 inches to 4 inches of rain is expected in the South on Saturday from Texas to Alabama and Tennessee, with localized areas of 5 or more inches possible, leading to that flash flood risk.
This same storm complex will reach the Southeast on Sunday, leading to a severe threat there as well, although it is expected to be far less extreme than Saturday will be.
Strong to severe storms will be rolling through Georgia through the morning hours, as well as the Carolinas – where major hubs like Charlotte and Atlanta may see morning delays due to the storm.
The main threats will be from damaging wind and possible tornadoes on Sunday, though again, the threat is lower than on Saturday.
Virginia may also see strong to severe storms late morning and early afternoon.
This rain will reach Philadelphia to New York City early Monday morning but likely be gone by sunrise Monday. Boston, however, will have a rainy Monday morning.
(LOS ANGELES) — The winning ticket for the $1.22 billion Mega Millions jackpot has been sold in California, with the winner set to take home the fifth-largest prize ever.
The winning ticket was sold in Shasta County at the Circle K on 3505 Rhonda Road in Cottonwood, California, and matched all six numbers in Friday night’s drawing.
The winning numbers were 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and gold Mega Ball 6 and the cash value of the jackpot is estimated to be $549.7 million, according to the lottery.
No one has won the grand prize in the last 30 drawings, as the jackpot has ballooned. The last time the jackpot was won was at $810 million in Texas on Sept. 10.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, according to Mega Millions.
“Congratulations to our $1.22 billion jackpot winner from California,” said Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium. “What an amazing present this holiday season! At an incredibly special time of year, this is both an incredibly special moment for our winner, and for all the great organizations and causes that benefit from lottery ticket sales around the country. Thank you to everyone who plays. Because of you, we have winners all around the country taking home cash prizes both big and small, and we have educational causes, parks and many other great organizations benefiting as well. Thank you and congratulations to all our winners.”
In total, there were more than 31.4 million winning tickets across all prize tiers during the 31-drawing run, which began after the last jackpot was won in Texas on Sept. 10 — including 65 second-tier prizes of $1 million or more, won in 26 different jurisdictions from coast to coast, according to Mega Millions.
“It’s only the fourth Mega Millions jackpot won in 2024, and with only one more drawing this year, odds are that the year will end with the fewest jackpots won in any year since the game began in 2002,” Mega Millions said following Friday’s drawing. “In addition to the $810 million Texas win on September 10, a $552 million windfall went to an Illinois online player on June 4 (the largest lottery prize ever won with an online ticket purchase), and a huge $1.128 billion prize was won in New Jersey on March 26.”
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 for one play.
(NEW YORK) — Excerpts of body-worn camera footage from four corrections officers were released Friday by the New York Attorney General’s Office showing the in-custody beating of 43-year-old inmate Robert Brooks, who the AG’s office says was brutalized by prison guards while handcuffed at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida, New York, earlier this month.
In the footage reviewed by ABC News, which the AG’s office says was from a Dec. 9 incident, multiple officers can be seen holding Brooks upright on an exam table, with his arms restrained, punching and kicking him in the face, torso and genitals. The beating was described in a deposition by an investigator for the New York Department of Corrections Office of Special Investigations.
Brooks had been transferred to Marcy Correctional Facility on the day of the attack from nearby Mohawk Correctional Facility.
He was pronounced dead at a local hospital the following day, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office is investigating the incident.
“As attorney general, you have my word that we will use every possible tool to investigate this death thoroughly and swiftly,” James said in a press conference Friday.
Elizabeth Mazur, an attorney for the Brooks family, told ABC News, “Members of the public can now view for themselves the horrific and extreme nature of the deadly attack on Robert L. Brooks. As viewers can see, Mr. Brooks was fatally, violently beaten by a group of officers whose job was to keep him safe. He deserved to live, and everyone else living in Marcy Correctional Facility deserves to know they do not have to live in fear of violence at the hands of prison staff.”
Details of Brooks’ death were outlined in the state investigator’s deposition filed Tuesday by New York State Police.
The deposition was filed by Ryan Paparella, an investigator for the Department of Corrections and Community Services and was brought in to review this incident. In the deposition, Paparella , details his assessment of the body camera footage showing Brooks’ attack.
Paparella did not mention any apparent provocation or motive in his deposition and noted Brooks had his arms and legs restrained throughout the 15-minute assault. Paparella is a former corrections officer at the same prison where the incident took place.
Paparella’s deposition stated: “The male was on the ground [outside near a fence]… I observed correction officers pick up the male off the ground who was handcuffed with his hands behind his back. The hands of the black male were extended directly above his head as his upper torso was parallel with the ground. They continued to walk the male down the sidewalk and towards an open door of the infirmary.”
Paparella reported a corrections officer delivered a “closed fist strike to the chest” while Brooks was handcuffed, and detailed officers pushing Brooks’ body up against an interior window.
Preliminary findings of Brooks’ autopsy by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office, “show concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as the death being due to actions of another,” New York State Police wrote in a court filing.
Paparella detailed that two sergeants and a nurse watched the attack and neglected to intervene. They are among the 14 prison staffers whom New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered to be terminated by the state.
“Like all New Yorkers, I was outraged and horrified after seeing footage of the senseless killing of Robert Brooks. I have been clear that it is the responsibility of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to provide appropriate care and protection for those in its custody, and I will not tolerate anyone who violates that responsibility,” Hochul said in a statement Friday. “The State of New York has zero tolerance for individuals who break the law, and I am committed to holding everyone involved fully accountable.”
One of the officers who Paparella reported participated in the incident is currently facing civil litigation for his alleged involvement in the 2020 beating of another inmate at Marcy Correctional, according to court records.
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association issued a statement reading, “What we witnessed is incomprehensible to say the least and is certainly not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our membership conducts every day… This incident has the potential to make our correctional facilities even more violent, hostile, and unpredictable than ever before.”
The Correctional Association of New York (CANY), a state oversight group, said in a statement that terminating staff involved in the incident “is a good start, but Governor Kathy Hochul and the legislature must go much further.”
“They need to take bold and courageous actions to fulfill past commitments and bring about a new era of transparency and accountability in state government,” the release reads.
A 2023 CANY report on Marcy Correctional Facility found that four out of five prisoners reported witnessing or experiencing abuse and seven out of 10 prisoners reported racial discrimination from guards.
One person interviewed at Marcy correctional facility told CANY: “Physical abuse is rampant; the [correction officer] told me when I got here: ‘This is a hands-on facility, we’re going to put hands on you if we don’t like what you’re doing.'”
The New York Civil Liberties Union stated Brooks’ death “highlights a culture of violence and a lack of accountability for wrongdoing by corrections officers that puts the lives of incarcerated New Yorkers at risk.”
A 2024 review by the Department of Justice found that at least 28 incarcerated people were murdered while in custody during 2022, with 50 deaths classified as “accidental,” a term that is not defined in the report.
James, the attorney general, announced Friday that four involved officers did not turn their body-worn cameras on, which violates state policy, however, the cameras recorded in standby mode with no audio.
Department of Corrections Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III issued a memo this month, stating corrections officers’ must have their body cameras actively recording during any interaction with inmates. Martuscello wrote that employees must “immediately report any individual who intentionally or unintentionally circumvents the [body-worn camera] policy.”
“This was a killing, and people will be held accountable,” according to a statement issued by Martuscello following Brooks’ death. “No one is above the law and everyone who works here is held to the highest ethical standards. These individuals are not representative of the culture of DOCCS nor anything that DOCCS stands for. I am committed to vigorously pursuing justice for the Brooks family and ensuring that our agency takes the necessary steps to heal the community.”
Brooks was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2017 for stabbing his girlfriend in Monroe County.
Thirteen of the staffers have been suspended without pay and one resigned the day after the incident.
The investigation is still ongoing with the New York AG’s Office and the NY Dept of Corrections Office of Special Investigations.
(NEW YORK) — A 9-year-old boy visiting New York City for the holidays will remain hospitalized “for quite some time,” the boy’s mother said after they both were pinned by a taxi cab on Christmas Day.
“[It] hit us from behind. Didn’t even know what had happened,” the 41-year-old mother, who was visiting with her family from Australia, told New York ABC station WABC. “I just remember being on the ground and something on top of me. I could hear the wheels screeching and my son screaming next to me.”
The taxi cab jumped the curb and struck six pedestrians in Herald Square shortly after 4 p.m. on Christmas Day after the 58-year-old driver suffered a medical emergency, police said. All impacted pedestrians suffered non-life-threatening injuries, with three — including the mother and son — transported to area hospitals, officials said.
Witness Ryan Tucker told WABC that he and several other good Samaritans helped lift the cab off the mother and son after the crash.
“I ran over and noticed there was a little boy, his leg was underneath the front passenger tire as it was spinning,” Tucker told the station.
One man shut the car off, according to Tucker.
“There was a whole group of us that ripped the fender off, lifted the car back, and then that’s when I kind of grabbed the little boy,” Tucker told WABC.
Tucker, who was visiting from Oregon, told WABC that his wife was also struck by the taxi on her back shoulder. He said he ensured his wife was OK before joining others to help the mother and son.
The boy broke his right femur in the crash and has “severe” burns on his leg, his mother told WABC.
“He’s going to be in the hospital for quite some time,” she told the station.
“We were just here for Christmas holidays,” she added. “Christmas and New Year’s. Day three in the city and that happened.”
The taxi driver was transported to Bellevue for further evaluation. There is no criminality suspected, police said.
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio and Leah Sarnoff contributed to this report.
(GEORGIA) — A woman sleeping in a truck was killed when a fire caused an explosion at a Tyson Foods poultry plant in Georgia overnight, officials said.
The victim, 61-year-old Bajarma Batozhapov of Las Vegas, didn’t work at the plant, nor did her husband, the Mitchell County Coroner’s Office said. Batozhapov’s husband is a truck driver and she was accompanying him at the time of the blast, which burned part of the truck she was in, the coroner’s office said.
Batozhapov’s husband was in the building at the time of the explosion but wasn’t hurt, according to the coroner’s office.
Several others were injured in the incident in Camilla, about 60 miles north of Tallahassee, officials said.
The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined, according to a Tyson Foods spokesperson.
“We extend our deepest condolences to their family and friends during this difficult time,” the spokesperson said. “Right now we are still gathering the facts, but ensuring the safety of our team members is our top priority, and we are conducting a full investigation into the cause.”
Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union, which represents the Tyson workers, described the blast as a boiler explosion and said several employees were burned.
“We are working with the company, and local emergency authorities to ensure that all the workers impacted are taken care of,” he said in a statement.
“It is too early to tell what happened last night but there must be a thorough investigation into this incident, and workers must be able to work safely in the facility,” he added.
(WASHINGTON) — One lot of eye drops is being voluntarily recalled due to potential fungal contamination, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced earlier this week.
The eye drops, Systane Lubricant Eye Drops Ultra PF, are single vial drops available in a 25-count box and manufactured by Alcon Laboratories, based in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Alcon evaluated a consumer complaint of foreign material observed inside a sealed single-use vial and determined the material to be fungal in nature,” the FDA wrote in its release.
It is unclear what type of fungus the eye drops are contaminated with.
Fungal contaminations of eye products can lead to eye infections, which can result in partial blindness or total blindness. In rare cases, such eye infections can be life-threatening in immunocompromised patients, according to the FDA.
As of Dec. 23, Alcon Laboratories has not received any reports of adverse events related to the eye drop recall.
Systane Lubricant Eye Drops Ultra PF is meant to temporarily relieve burning and irritation in people experiencing dry eye symptoms, according to the FDA.
The FDA recommends any consumers who have the recalled eye drops stop using them immediately and return them to the place of purchase to receive either a replacement or a refund. Distributors or retailers are also advised to discard any boxes in stock with the lot number 10101.
The recall is limited to packages that have the lot number 10101 and are set to expire in September 2025. The FDA said packages were sold nationwide, both in stores and online.
Any consumers who used the recalled product and are experiencing any problems should contact their health care provider immediately, the FDA said.
“Alcon is conducting a voluntary recall of one (1) lot of Systane Lubricant Eye Drops Ultra PF, Single Vials On-the-Go, 25 count (Lot 10101) distributed only in the United States following the discovery of foreign material inside a single, unused, plastic unit dose vial returned with a customer-reported complaint,” a company spokesperson told ABC News in a statement.
“Investigation of this event is still ongoing; however, the presence of foreign material appears to be isolated to the single unit returned by a customer,” the statement continued. “To date, there are no adverse events related to this recall. However, out of an abundance of caution, Alcon has initiated a voluntary recall and notified the FDA. Our priority is ensuring the safety of our products while maintaining compliance with all regulatory bodies.”
Last year, contaminated eye drops were linked to at least four deaths and 14 cases of vision loss. At the time, patients reported using at least 10 different brands of artificial tears.
At least one set of eye drops was contaminated with an antibiotic-resistant form of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an aggressive bacterium, according to the CDC.
In November, the FDA announced 27 eye drops products were being recalled due to potential safety concerns “after FDA investigators found insanitary conditions.”
United States Geological Survey/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(HAWAII ISLAND, Hawaii) — The National Park Service is cautioning people to heed warnings and safety precautions while watching volcanic activity since the latest eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, one of the most active in the world.
Kilauea began erupting on Monday, marking its third eruption of 2024 and its eighth since 2020, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Since then, there was another distinctive eruptive episode on Wednesday, and the eruption resumed Thursday evening, the agency said.
The volcanic activity has drawn visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island to watch the lava glow, with one “shocking scene” prompting the National Park Service to issue a safety advisory.
A toddler wandered off from his family Wednesday night into a closed area at Kilauea Overlook and “in a split second, ran straight toward the 400-foot cliff edge,” the National Park Service said in a news release on Thursday.
“His mother, screaming, managed to grab him in the nick of time just a foot or so away from a fatal fall,” the agency said. “Disaster was averted, and the shaken family departed.”
Park officials are now reminding visitors to remain on trails, stay out of closed areas and keep their children close, especially those watching Kilauea along the Crater Rim Trail.
“The hazards that coincide with an eruption are dangerous, and we have safety measures in place including closed areas, barriers, closure signs, and traffic management,” Park Superintendent Rhonda Loh said in a statement. “Your safety is our utmost concern, but we rely on everyone to recreate responsibility. National parks showcase nature’s splendor but they are not playgrounds.”
Kilauea’s eruptive activity could continue to pause and resume in the coming days or weeks, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
“The eruption could restart at any time, and toxic gas emissions are still high,” the National Park Service said.
Visitors to the park are advised to check the air quality before and during their trip.
