South braces for severe weather including flash flooding
ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A storm is bearing down on the southern Plains and Texas, where residents are bracing for severe weather, including flash flooding.
On Wednesday evening, when the storm moves in, there’s a chance for damaging winds, hail and even an isolated tornado in Texas.
On Thursday, the storm will fully blossom in the South, bringing the threat of tornadoes and damaging winds from Houston to Jackson, Mississippi.
Flash flooding could be an issue from Dallas to Little Rock, Arkansas, to Memphis, Tennessee, to Paducah, Kentucky.
A flood watch has been issued for three states — Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri — where some areas could see up to 5 inches of rain from Wednesday night to Thursday night.
The same storm system will move into the Northeast on Friday, bringing rain to the Interstate 95 corridor and the potential for ice and snow to higher elevations in Pennsylvania, New York and New England.
Thomas Dickey, attorney for suspected shooter Luigi Mangione, on ABC News’ “Good Morning America” Wednesday, December 11.
(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in front of a New York City hotel last week, has retained a private defense attorney in his Pennsylvania gun charges case.
Mangione was apprehended in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday following a dayslong manhunt. Police said he was found with multiple fake IDs, including a fake New Jersey ID matching the one that the suspect allegedly used to check into a hostel in New York City before the shooting, a 3D-printed pistol and a 3D-printed silencer.
He has been charged in Pennsylvania with carrying a gun without a license, forgery, falsely identifying himself to authorities and possessing “instruments of crime,” according to a criminal complaint.
Mangione plans to plead not guilty to the charges in Pennsylvania, his defense attorney, Thomas Dickey, told reporters on Tuesday.
Dickey said he anticipates Mangione would also plead not guilty to the second-degree murder charge he faces in New York in connection with Thompson’s death.
Has refrained from saying how he came to represent Mangione
The Altoona-based attorney has been making the press rounds since he was retained to represent Mangione, including ABC News’ Good Morning America and CNN.
But he could not confirm how he came to represent Mangione; he would only say he was retained Tuesday ahead of the suspect’s extradition hearing in Pennsylvania. He said he “of course” knew of the New York case but said, “I don’t follow a lot of things sometimes in news.”
The court denied Mangione bail during the hearing. Mangione plans to challenge his extradition to New York.
“He has constitutional rights and that’s what he’s doing” in challenging the interstate transfer, Dickey told reporters on Tuesday.
When asked how Mangione was feeling, the attorney brusquely said you can “use your common sense on that.” He later said that Mangione is “taking it as well as he can.”
The attorney told ABC News’ Good Morning America on Wednesday that anyone speculating on the case should take the potential evidence “in its entirety,” rather than take pieces of writing or other evidence “out of context.”
“People put out certain things, parts of different things,” he said. “I think any lawyer involved in this situation would want to see it all.”
“We’re looking forward to beginning our inquiry as to what evidence may or may not be out there,” he said.
Asked whether he would accept donations from members of the public seeking to fund his defense, Dickey said, “I don’t know.”
He told CNN that he probably wouldn’t.
“I just don’t feel comfortable about that,” he said. “It just doesn’t sit right with me, really.”
Asked about the outpouring of support for Mangione online, Dickey told reporters Tuesday, “People are entitled to their opinion.”
“If you’re an American, you believe in the American criminal justice system, you have to presume him to be innocent,” the attorney said. “And none of us would want anything other than that if that was us in their shoes. I’m glad that he has some support.”
Would consider representing suspect in New York murder case
Mangione could face additional charges in New York beyond second-degree murder, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“As we learn more about motives and other things like that … there may be additional charges,” Bragg told ABC News on Wednesday.
Dickey told reporters Tuesday that if the opportunity presented itself to represent Mangione in the New York case, he “certainly would consider” it.
The attorney said he does not have a license to practice law in New York, but that “you can get admitted.”
“I’ve been doing this for 41 years, you can get admitted there,” he said, but added, “I don’t want to speculate about anything.”
Takes on cases ranging from capital murder to DUIs
Dickey is a lifelong resident of Blair County, home to Altoona, according to his bio on his law firm website.
He studied history and political science at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania, and earned his law degree from Ohio Northern University.
He opened his private practice in 1984. It takes on first-degree murder, DUI and state and federal drug cases, among others.
Dickey told reporters Tuesday he is “proud to say” that he is one of the few attorneys in Pennsylvania who is qualified to provide defense counsel in death penalty cases.
His decades-long career has included a 2009 double homicide in which he argued post-traumatic stress disorder as a defense for the defendant, an Iraqi War veteran.
“I argued to the jury in my opening [statement], I said I believe that the Iraq war came home that day,” Dickey told CNN following the trial.
The defendant was ultimately convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison after the jury couldn’t agree on the death penalty.
Asked if Mangione’s was the biggest case he’s been on, Dickey told reporters, “They’re all big.”
K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Image
(LAS VEGAS) — Six years before packing a rental truck with firework mortars and gas cannisters before shooting himself in the head — an act he called a “wake-up” call to America in a note later found by law enforcement — Army Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger told an ex-girlfriend he was spiraling.
“Sometimes, I get so hopeless and depressed, it’s [expletive] ridiculous,” he texted, at one point describing a close-range firefight in which he killed two men.
“By far the worst of my life,” he wrote in 2018.
The violent death of Livelsberger, a 37-year-old decorated war veteran and Green Beret, on New Year’s Day is reviving questions about the unique risks that military personnel, and in particular special operations forces, face in their jobs and whether enough is being done to identify members in crisis.
Experts say the military has dramatically ramped up access to mental health support in recent years but that special operations forces in particular still remain vulnerable, in part out of fear that if they seek help their careers will be sidelined.
SOF personnel are more frequently exposed to the kinds of severe mental trauma that can trigger post-traumatic stress syndrome, as well as repeated concussive blasts from high-powered weapons that military officials suspect cause scarring and other physical changes to the brain.
Acute stress and relationship problems also can play a role in a person’s deteriorating mental state. In a 2020 study sponsored by U.S. Special Operations Command that examined the suicide deaths of 29 special operations personnel, nearly all of them experienced emotional trauma in their first deployments. But other issues factored in as well, the study found.
“The downhill trajectory with compounding relationship issues, financial issues and legal issues occurs over many years,” the report found, noting the “large number of variables” typically involved.
In the case of Livelsberger, the Army will soon have to decide whether his nearly two decades of service as a special forces soldier with nine overseas deployments contributed to his death.
Enlisted by the Army in 2006 to train as a member of its special forces, Livelsberger became a member of the 10th Special Forces Group, which conducts counterterrorism and training missions around the world. He deployed five times to Afghanistan, as well as had stints in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo.
Livelsberger was awarded five Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire. He also was awarded an Army Commendation Medal with valor.
His ex-girlfriend Alicia Arritt, who shared her text exchanges with Livelsberger with ABC News, said she remembered the Green Beret as funny, generous and kind and someone who loved children. He also liked art, basketball and fast cars. She said he was not impulsive.
If the Army finds that his suicide was caused by his service and “in the line of duty,” Livelsberger’s survivors would receive increased benefits.
With an FBI investigation ongoing, the Army has said only that Livelsberger participated in a holistic treatment program offered to special operations forces called the “Preservation of the Force and Family” program but that there were no red flags. The program, called POTFF, includes “physical, cognitive, medical and support resources as appropriate to each individual.”
Livelsberger, who was stationed in Germany at the time, didn’t display any “concerning behaviors” and was granted personnel leave shortly before his death, a spokesperson said.
“We encourage our Soldiers, if they need help, mental health treatment or need to speak with someone, to seek proactive behavioral health treatment either on base or online. They also have the option of talking to an Army chaplain,” Brig. Gen. Amanda Azubuike, chief of Army Public Affairs, said in a statement.
Dr. Rachel Yehuda, a professor of psychiatry and the neuroscience of trauma at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, said there are risk factors that seem to explain why some people are more vulnerable to PTSD than others.
This can include a person’s family history, exposure to trauma at a young age and biological factors that could make it more difficult for a person to “recalibrate” their nervous system after a traumatic event.
Yehuda, who is not involved in Livelsberger’s case and did not want to speak to his particular situation, said the trauma faced in general by service members in combat can be particularly challenging because it often occurs overseas when members are far away from close family and friends who can provide support. That support system, she said, can be critical to calming the nervous system.
“I think that we have to understand that trauma is a real thing. And it can really be detrimental to mental health, especially if you’re not in an environment where people can help you cope with all the things that you’re carrying,” she said.
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Fran Racioppi, a former 10th Special Forces Group officer who hosts a podcast on Green Berets and leadership, said the profile of a Green Beret soldier is unique because it’s someone capable of “extreme degrees of compassion” while also capable of going to war and maintaining the highest standards in warfighting.
“Whenever we have an incident when the behavior of a special operator drastically deviates from the standard profile, we need to understand the driving cause of that change and what contributing factors may cause a grievance,” he said.
Racioppi said he thinks the resources are there to support personnel like Livelsberger.
“But the first step will always be an operator’s self-assessment and willingness to seek help for themselves,” he said.
The SOCOM-sponsored study, conducted by the American Association of Suicidology, found at the time of its review, from 2012 through 2015, that many personnel were reluctant to raise their hands out of fear of getting sidelined, with suicide prevention training seen as a “check in the box.”
Livelsberger’s ex-girlfriend Arritt said he told her he feared getting help “because he wouldn’t be deployable.”
Sara Wilkinson, a suicide prevention advocate whose Navy SEAL husband died by suicide, said that while PTSD can be prevalent in the military, it’s not an arbitrary label that can be used to explain everyone’s experience. Wilkinson’s husband, Chad, was found to have suffered a unique type of brain scarring found in other deceased Navy SEALS.
Service members should know their story in life also can be one of tremendous resilience, she said.
“The point is you served. That comes at a price because of our last 20-plus years” of war, she said. “And you owe it to yourself, your loved ones and your life to be your own advocate physically and mentally.”
ABC News’ Alexandra Myers, Alex Stone, Matt Seyler and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
(NEW YORK) — Texas has the potential to become a major producer of green hydrogen due to its existing energy infrastructure, according to researchers.
That infrastructure is making Texas a “valuable case study” in decarbonizing states that currently produce a high volume of fossil fuels, a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found.
The Lone Star State already has an operational infrastructure for green hydrogen – a clean energy source made through electrolysis, a process that involves splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen without producing harmful carbon emissions – according to Michael McElroy, a professor of environmental studies at Harvard University and author of the study. Green hydrogen has the potential to decarbonize up to 25% of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
“Hydrogen itself could be a really important component to a green transition,” Jessika Trancik, a professor of energy systems for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved with the study, told ABC News.
In addition, Texas has an established demand for hydrogen and already has ample renewable electricity resources, the PNAS study found. For example, Texas is the highest producer of wind power in the U.S., generating 26% of the country’s wind-sourced energy, according to state officials. It also has ample solar resources, according to Trancik.
“Texas is very well situated in terms of its renewable resources,” Trancik said, adding that they’re “very extensive and high quality” and include an existing infrastructure that could easily also incorporate green hydrogen production.
Upon winning the 2020 presidential election, President Joe Biden vowed to make green hydrogen more accessible as part of his clean energy plan, promising that the U.S. would be able to access green hydrogen at the same cost as conventional hydrogen within a decade.
By 2030, Texas could produce more than 50 million tons of green hydrogen at a cost at about $1.50 per kilogram, the PNAS study found. That low production cost will result from integrating the water electrolysis process with the existing renewable electricity grid, according to the study, and will also enhance grid reliability and “significantly” influence decarbonization in the state.
It would also position Texas to become a major supplier of green hydrogen for both domestic and international needs, the PNAS study found. Hydrogen demand is expected to “grow at a moderate, steady pace” over the next six years and then accelerate significantly, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Additionally, the cost of producing hydrogen from renewable electricity could fall 30% by 2030 due to the declining costs of renewables and the upscaling of hydrogen production, according to the International Energy Agency.
Green hydrogen is forecast to meet global energy needs that will not be easily satisfied by battery, wind or solar power, Gregory Nemet, professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin’s Energy Institute, told ABC News in 2021. Batteries, for example, currently can take up a lot of space and also weigh a lot, making their use an issue for air travel and long-haul trucking. Hydrogen, by contrast, doesn’t include those challenges and also stores better long-term.
In addition, the infrastructure to transport green hydrogen – which needs to pressurized – is already in place, whether it be through pipelines, shipping or trucking, Nemet said. In Texas, a lot of the required infrastructure that will next be built will be for storage, Trancik said.
Hydrogen City, an integrated green hydrogen production hub located in southern Texas near the Port of Corpus Christi, is already producing about 280,000 metric tons of green hydrogen per year. But green hydrogen alone won’t be enough to meet anticipated future green energy demands, according to Trancik.
It will take “different clusters or combinations of technologies” to combat climate change on all fronts, which is where energies like green hydrogen and nuclear come in, Trancik said. “There’s a lot of efforts to try to grow that industry and take it in new, innovative directions.”