Judge sets new trial date in Sarah Palin’s libel lawsuit against The New York Times

Judge sets new trial date in Sarah Palin’s libel lawsuit against The New York Times
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(NEW YORK) —  A federal judge in New York on Tuesday set a trial date for April 14 in the libel lawsuit that Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee, brought against The New York Times.

The trial date was decided over the objections of both the plaintiff and defense, who asked for a date in July to give the two sides time to possibly reach a settlement out of court.

“This case should not require very much preparation since it’s a retrial,” Judge Jed Rakoff said during a conference Tuesday.

A federal judge in New York on Tuesday set a trial date for April 14 in the libel lawsuit that Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee, brought against The New York Times.

The trial date was decided over the objections of both the plaintiff and defense, who asked for a date in July to give the two sides time to possibly reach a settlement out of court.

“This case should not require very much preparation since it’s a retrial,” Judge Jed Rakoff said during a conference Tuesday.

“We just wanted to take some of the pressure off,” Turkel said.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this summer that Palin can again try to hold the paper liable for a 2017 editorial that wrongly suggested she incited the 2011 mass shooting that killed six people and wounded then-Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

The federal appeals court said Rakoff made errors during the first trial that “impugn the reliability” of the jury’s verdict finding the Times not liable.

“If you’re seriously interested in settling you can settle in a matter of days,” Rakoff said Tuesday. “If you want to be referred to a magistrate for discussions I can do that on 24 hours’ notice.”

Rakoff, in a brief order last week, said the new trial “under no circumstances will be later than February 2025, and, if the parties prefer, can be as early as mid-December 2024.”

The appellate court said Rakoff erred when he excluded evidence about James Bennet, who oversaw the newspaper’s editorial board. Palin argued the evidence could help her show the Times acted with actual malice, the standard a public figure must meet to prevail in a libel case.

The 2017 editorial, entitled “America’s Lethal Politics,” linked the 2011 shooting of Giffords to a digital graphic of a crosshairs over Democratic congressional districts published in March 2010 by Palin’s political action committee. A relationship between the crosshairs map and the shooting was never established. Rather, at the time of the editorial, the attack was widely viewed as a result of the shooter’s mental illness.

Palin’s original defamation lawsuit was dismissed but, in 2019, the 2nd Circuit vacated the dismissal. The case went to trial in 2022, and Rakoff granted the Times’ motion for a directed verdict days before the jury found the newspaper was not liable for defaming Palin.

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Wildfires erupt in New Jersey, fueled by dry, windy conditions
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(NEW JERSEY) — Multiple wildfires have erupted across New Jersey amid windy and dry conditions

A large brush fire broke out on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Bergen County in northern New Jersey, near New York City. The fire covers 19 acres and is 30% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. No structures are threatened.

On Friday, “conditions will be extremely dangerous for more brush fires and rapid fire spread,” the Englewood Fire Department warned.

New York City Emergency Management said New Yorkers may smell smoke on Friday.

Another wildfire is threatening over 100 structures in Burlington and Camden counties in southern New Jersey, outside of Philadelphia. The blaze spans 360 acres and is 75% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said.

In Jackson Township, in central New Jersey, the Shotgun Wildfire has burned through 350 acres and is 80% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. No structures are threatened.

A fourth fire, the Pheasant Run Wildfire, covered 133 acres in the Glassboro Wildlife Management Area, a wildlife park in southern New Jersey. It’s 50% contained and isn’t threatening any structures.

Fire danger has increased in the Northeast due to the combination of a historically dry fall, gusty winds near 30 mph and relative humidity down to 25%. A red flag warning has been issued from Boston to New York City and Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the Mountain Fire in Southern California has exploded in size, blazing through 20,000 acres, destroying homes and prompting mass evacuations.

ABC News’ Max Golembo contributed to this report.

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American Airlines flight narrowly avoids mountain with ‘expedited climb’
American Airlines flight narrowly avoids mountain with ‘expedited climb’
Greg Bajor/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — An American Airlines flight had to “perform an expedited climb” in order to avoid a mountain during a routine departure out of Hawaii on Wednesday.

The plane had just departed from Honolulu International Airport and was on its way to Los Angeles International Airport.

Air traffic control can be heard telling the pilot “turn right and expedite your climb through terrain” on audio from the flight provided by LIVEATC.NET.

According to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration, “An air traffic controller instructed American Airlines Flight 298 to perform an expedited climb after the crew did not make the assigned turn while departing from Honolulu International Airport.”

The FAA’s statement continued, “The controller’s actions ensured the aircraft remained safely above nearby terrain.”

“The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority,” American Airlines said in a statement.

“During the climb out of Honolulu on November 13, the crew of American Airlines flight 298 requested and received right-turn clearance and complied with controller instructions. There was no Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) alert as there were no issues with terrain clearance based on the trajectory of the aircraft,” the statement continued.

The incident occurred around 1 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

The FAA will continue to investigate.

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‘Hold onto that hope’: Urgent search for missing after Helene continues
‘Hold onto that hope’: Urgent search for missing after Helene continues
Destroyed houses and buildings along the Broad River in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Oct. 1, 2024 in Bat Cave, North Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — At least 6,300 National Guard troops are racing to get aid to those in need — along with an army of volunteers — in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene as the death toll jumped to more than 160 across six states on Wednesday morning, with hundreds of people still reported missing.

New images from storm-ravaged areas are continuing to emerge on Wednesday in places like Erwin, Tennessee, where ambulances could be seen being towed away near where dozens of people were rescued from a roof of a hospital with dump trucks filled with trees and debris located nearby.

Elsewhere, in North Carolina, dramatic dashcam footage captured the moment a couple narrowly missed being swept up in a landslide in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with those landslides and flooding washing roads and bridges away and making it all but impossible to get access to some of the hardest hit areas.

“We have one suitcase, really,” North Carolina resident and Hurricane Helene survivor, Aaron Smith, told ABC News. “And so trying to figure out four people and a dog out of one suitcase, it’s the most, it’s just surreal.”

Another family in Hendersonville, North Carolina, became completely surrounded by floodwater, waiting for help in chest-high water and unable to get to dry land.

The Mirandas have been forced to use creek water to wash their clothes and have even had to find ice to keep insulin cold in coolers.

Jessica Meidinger said that she knows a witness who saw a neighbor’s house floating away down a river with them still inside — Rod Ashby was rescued Tuesday night but his wife, Kim, is still missing.

“Losing your most loved one when you had her in your arms and now you don’t there’s I don’t imagine there’s much that can compare to that,” Meidinger said. “She’s strong, she’s a breast cancer survivor. It’s hard not to hold on to that hope.”

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