ABC news live prime. We'll take you there.
Streaming free on ABC news live.
Portrayal is 1 of the hardest types of trauma
to overcome. This is her night in shining everything felt right.
All of a sudden, I found this hidden folder. I opened it. I don't think I can say it.
I'm sorry. It's
shocking. I still, like, just rock. He just really didn't think I had it in me.
Please update. So I did. Betrail, a father's secret, the all new season on Hulu.
Checking more top stories the FBI is accusing Iran of trying to interfere in the US presidential election saying hackers stole information from the Trump campaign earlier this summer and then sent it via email to people associated with the Biden campaign. There is no evidence Biden efforts replied.
At least 32 people, most of the members of the militant group, Hezbollah, have been reportedly killed in the last 2 days after electronic devices exploded across Lebanon. Sources say Israel was behind the attack. Hezbollah's leader is expected to today.
Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to a new sexual assault charge. The former Hollywood mogul is awaiting a November retrial on a prior conviction.
Authorities in Kentucky believe that they have found the body of highway sniper suspect Joseph Couch. He was on the since allegedly wounding 5 people firing at cars on interstate 75.
Today's weather, rain in California, a flood watch near LA, storms from Texas to the upper Midwest and more rain on the East Coast.
And finally, the youngest person to climb some of the world's tallest mountains.
She's adorable, and she spoke to Danny New.
Look out. 7 year old Sarah Price is on a mission. Sarah, how was your big hike?
Really, really good.
Saren and her dad, Glyn, just returned from their second potentially record breaking hike.
There she is again. Hard to keep up with him.
A few weeks ago, still at the age of 6, the whales native reportedly became the youngest person to climb the tall mountain in North Africa. That would be 13,600 foot mountain tube call in Morocco. Was it hard to hike that mountain?
It's very hard to in the end, I went to I smashed it.
But why was she so determined to smash this rocky fortress while Severin was raising money for something important to her? As you can see here, she was born with essentially a lump on her neck. It affected her airways and was considered life threatening her dad says, but the doctors at Birmingham Children's Hospital in England were able to safely treat it.
Just allowed, allowed her to be here doing this today. So, yeah, amazing hospitals.
Began hiking to raise money for the place that saved her life. Starting with that first record breaking hike when at 5 years old, Sarah became the youngest person to complete the UK's 3 peaks challenge. Translation, she climbed the highest mountains in Scotland, England, and Wales in under 48 hours. She gained so much attention from that. Sarah even received congratulations via a signed letter from Prince William.
Now with the old age of 7, Sarah has been able to raise 1000 of pounds for Birmingham Children's. And how does she feel about that?
Really, really, really good.
Guys, the link to donate is still available on justgiving.com. If you wanna pitch in and up next for Sarah, the tallest mountain of the Alps Mount Blanc.
She's incredible. That's us making news in America this morning.
Have a great day. Right now in America this
election interference by Iran, with the FBI now claims Iranian hackers did with materials stolen from the Trump campaign.
First, it was pagers now walkie talkies. Exploding across Lebanon, the dep toll rising overnight, children among the dead, what Israel is saying about a new phase of war in the Middle East.
A potentially devastating blow to the US economy, the new warning about a looming strike by port workers, plus the Fed's decision to cut interest rates, what it means for your money.
The heroic rescue on the highway, hear from the officer seen here climbing into a moving truck to help a driver in trouble a busy intersection fast approaching.
The new lawsuit over
a game show involving YouTube star, Mister Beast, that offers millions in prize money, what contestants claim they
were forced to endure.
Later, more girls playing football, the new trend on the grid iron.
And what people who work from home are really doing during work hours. The survey results are out this morning.
From ABC news, this is a this morning.
Good Thursday morning, everyone. I'm Rhian and Ali.
And I'm Lyle Moiz. In for Andrew, we begin with new evidence that Iran is trying to interfere with the US presidential election.
The FBI now saying Iranian hackers stole material from the Trump campaign and then senate to people associated with the Biden campaign this summer.
Both the Trump and Harris campaigns now responding as Trump held a rally on New York's Long Island last night. This morning, new details about an apparent attempt to interfere with the upcoming presidential election. The FBI says Iranian hackers stole information from the Trump campaign earlier
this summer and sent it to people associated with the Biden campaign.
Investigators say the emails were unsolicited and there's no evidence Biden staffers replied to them. The Harris campaign says the emails were received by only a few people who dismissed them as spam or phishing attempts. Trump responding at a rally in New York last night.
They gave them all of the materials because Biden is working with Iran and Iran doesn't exactly like me.
On the economy, Trump floated the idea of reversing a tax policy imposed during his first term, now saying he wants to eliminate the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions.
I will cut taxes for families, small businesses, and workers.
Many economists now questioning the cost of Trump's proposed tax cuts, including on worker tips, overtime pay, and social security benefits.
How about in Springfield, Ohio?
Trump last night also said he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio, which has seen a wave of bomb threats after Trump and running mate J. D. Vance, amplified unfounded claims of Haitian migrants stealing and eating pets.
I'm gonna go there in the next 2 weeks. I'm going to Springfield, and I'm going to Aurora. You may never see me again, but that's okay. Gotta do what I gotta do. Whatever happened to Trump while he never got out of Springfield.
ABC News now confirming Vance's team contacted Springfield city manager back on September 9th and was told the reports about pets were baseless but Vance and Trump continued pushing those claims. A Springfield resident who claimed her cat miss Sassy was taken by her Haitian Neighbors now acknowledges the cat was hiding in her basement. Immigration of flashpoint in this race vice president Harris, yesterday,
criticizing Trump's plan to carry out mass deportations. We must also reform our
broken immigration system. And protect our
dreamers. And understand we can do both create an earned pathway to citizenship and ensure our border is secure. The Harris campaign suffering a setback yesterday as the Teamsters union announced
for the first time in nearly 30 years that it will not endorse a candidate in the presidential race, citing an internal survey that found a majority of members support Trump.
They endorse the Democrats automatic for many, many decades But you know what? They said they looked at her. They said we're not going there. I'm sorry.
But 3 new battleground state polls show Harris holding an edge over Trump. Harris up 6 points in Pennsylvania, 5 points in Michigan, and up 1 in Wisconsin. And as for the teamsters not endorsing her, the Harris campaign pointed to several local teamsters chapters that have endorsed Harris.
A looming port strike along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast could devastate the US economy. That is the warning from trade groups. The port workers union is threatening to go on strike at the end of this month unless it gets a new contract with a 77% pay increase over 6 years. Automation is also a sticking point, but right now, no new talks are scheduled. Some importers are already taking cautions rushing in shipments or redirecting cargo to the West Coast.
The Federal Reserve has announced an aggressive interest rate cut, surprising many analysts. The central bank reducing its key interest rate by a half a percentage point and signaled more rate cuts in the months ahead, which could help bring down the costs of credit card debt, car loans, and new mortgages. ABC's Elizabeth Schulze spoke to Fed chairman Jerome Powell.
I asked the Fed chair exactly where mortgage rates will end up. He wouldn't give me an answer, but he did say we're probably not going back to that world where we saw rates as low as they might have been 2, 3%, for example.
Well, mortgage rates were already down ahead of the Fed's decision. Analysts say people with credit card debt won't see any major savings in the short term. As for Wall Street, stocks were up overnight.
The death toll is rising after a second day of devices floating across Lebanon. This time, it was walkie talkies. 1 day after pagers exploded, Hezbollah was targeted, but civilians have also been killed, thousands injured, and Israel now declaring a new phase of war ABC's Christian Cordero has details. Good morning, Christian.
Rhiannon, good morning. Some of those walkie talkies exploded during funerals for the people killed the day before. And now Iran, which supports Hezbollah is vowing to respond. K also erupting at this funeral in Lebanon as walkie talkies began exploding the second day of attacks across the country targeting members of the militant group, Hezbollah. ABC's Marcus Moore just feet away.
We just thought
a loud explosion, and I saw a man whose hands were gone. And then somebody pulled out a weapon and, people scattered.
Split it across the country. At least 32 people have been killed in the attack so far, including 27 members of Hezbollah, as well as civilians, including 2 children. US officials confirmed to ABC news Israel was behind the pager attack saying Israel warned defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, an operation was about to take place without giving specifics. While US officials have repeatedly said they were not involved in the attacks, they have not condemned them
either.
Sources say as little as 1 to 2 ounces of explosive material was
implanted next to the batteries, and the pagers received a message that triggered the explosions. The devices had been imported by
Hezbollah, which stopped using cell phones due to security concerns. At the White House yesterday, officials dodging questions about the attacks.
Lowing up pagers and walkie talkies, is this type of warfare acceptable to the United States?
I'm simply not gonna be able to address these incidents over the last couple of days in any level of of detail.
Everyone keeps urging, you know, all parties involved not to escalate this. Isn't this an escalation already?
I'm
not gonna speak to the details of these incidents. I understand that's frustrating. I I get it.
Israel's defense minister says the conflict in the Middle East is entering a new phase with troops transitioning from Gaza to engage Hezbollah on Israel's Northern Border. Lionel.
Alright, Christian. Thank you. Music Mogul, Sean Denney Combs, is behind bars in New York after being denied bail for a second time. His attorney had offered a $50,000,000 bail package that included drug tests and monitoring, but the judge said no conditions could reduce the risk of witness tampering or obstruction. Combs has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and running a criminal enterprise that abused women.
I mean, Mister Combs has has maintained that he's he's innocent. He's a smart guy. He knows what he did and what he didn't do. He knows what he intended and didn't handle. And I believe him.
His lawyer claims the allegations stemmed from consensual behavior among adults He also said Combs is facing horrific conditions in jail. He's due back in court next month.
A tennis trailblazer will now receive the highest civilian honor from Congress. Lawmakers have agreed to make Billy Jean King the first solo female athlete to receive the congressional gold medal. 1 Congresswoman saying King's work as an activist changed the landscape for women and girls on the court in the classroom and in the workplace.
Time now for your Thursday weather.
Flood waters are receding in
North Carolina's coastal areas revealing extensive road damage following this week's historic rainstorm. Some areas got more than 20 inches Looking at the radar this morning, showers along the East Coast today and storms are expected in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Texas, and Oklahoma, checking today's high temps, summer like heat from Texas into the plains to the upper Midwest, but cooling off in the northwest 98 in Dallas today. Coming up. More girls
are playing football, the new trend on the grid iron. But first, hear from an officer involved in this rescue climbing into a moving
truck
to help a driver in trouble.
And the new alert about a phone scam, draining people's bank accounts, how easy
it is to fall for it.
Whenever news breaks. We are here in Israel, a nation
war after that brutal surprise attack by Hamas.
On the ground in Ukraine, reporting from Lewiston Maine.
The scene of a horrific mass shooting, ABC news live is right there everywhere.
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Traveling with the president in Mexico City.
Wherever the story?
From the front lines from Southern Israel. Outside the Gaza's trip,
it may root from the FBI.
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Whoever the story is, we're gonna take you there.
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It's lunchtime in America. So what are we serving up?
Well, how about everything you need to know?
Music, trends, and, of course, good food.
It's all coming out on GMA 3.
You're gonna love it. We'll see you then.
2, 3. What you need to know, a 3rd hour of GMA in the afternoon.
So join us. Afternoon.
For everything you need to know.
I love that.
Me too.
The question is, why was Matthew Perry doing ketamine? How did he get it and who is to blame for his death?
In the case of Matthew It was kind of the perfect storm.
In September October 2023, he was getting
6 to 8 shots of ketamine a day, 5 people, including 2 doctors, all arrested.
Matthew Perry was a money stream for everybody involved.
It is very odd to live in a world if you died, it would shock people, but surprise no 1.
What happened to Matthew Perry now streaming on Hulu, ABC's David Muir,
the most watched newscast in America. More Americans watch world news tonight with David
Muir than any other newscast.
We are back with a quick thinking hero on a Michigan highway
video showing Macomb County deputy Nicole Myron climbing from the passenger seat of a patrol
car into the passenger seat of a moving truck Later saying luckily, she is a small woman. Take a look.
This is just unreal. The man in the truck had been driving erratically suffering a medical emergency
The deputy realized that she had to stop that man's truck before they reached a busy intersection. You okay,
Carl? I
wanna get a stop before we entered that area because I didn't know if he he could hit somebody else, or they wouldn't see him and hit him, and it probably could have been a lot worse.
Quick thinking the deputy was able to stop that truck in time the driver was sent to the hospital.
We have a new alert about a growing scam with a disturbing name. Experts say so called pig butchering scams have reached a crisis level with victims often losing their life savings. Here's ABC's Andrea Fuji.
This morning, a new push to fight so called pig butchering scams. The name references the practice of fattening a pig before slaughter In this case, Americans who can end up losing their life savings.
I had nothing left, and I have to sell everything.
We are at crisis level, and we must act today.
Law enforcement now demanding help from Congress, including more funding to stop the scams. The fraudsters use dating apps or text messages to strike up a relationship with a victim. And after months of building trust, get them to send money or invest in cryptocurrency schemes. $4,000,000,000 was lost to pig butchering crypto scams last year alone.
We have done very little to disrupt this criminal industry and to protect our citizens from the relentless threat that comes at the daily.
This California man lost his life savings after forming a relationship on a dating app.
Were you ever able to get it back?
No. No. I definitely was not able to get it back.
Often the accounts of the fake investments look legit, but when victims try to withdraw funds, they're locked out. And the money is gone. An extra challenge for law enforcement, scammers are often overseas where criminal organizations use human trafficking victims to carry out the fraud.
They have limited capability to help these victims, which lead to many crimes going unsolved.
Experts say always be skeptical of someone you just met starts talking to you about an investment. And if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Rhiannon Lytle.
Some great advice there. Thank you. Coming up the new cases of dengue fever in the US.
Also have a class action lawsuit over a game show involving YouTube star, Mister Beast. That offers millions in prize money. We'll tell you what contestants are now claiming.
Let's go. The ship is incredible. It feels like living in a science fiction movie.
We just saw what no 1 has seen
before. Wow. Look at that. Oh my gosh. We'll get on.
Come on.
We are heading into the unknown.
Emer. Emer. Emer. Emer.
It doesn't get any more cutting edge on this.
Whenever wherever news breaks, it's so important to always remember that lives are changed here in London in Buffalo. You've all do Texas.
And in Brush Gotland, reporting from Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Ukrainian refugees here in Warsaw. We're heading to a small community outside of Mexico City. Getting you behind the stories as they happen. ABC news live prime.
We'll take you there.
Stream ABC news live weeknights, wherever you stream your news, only on ABC
news live. Friday, the 2020 season premiere. Doctor Garcia. Go inside a
murder mystery. Doctor Garcia, please
department. And is it underravels?
Oh my god. Doctor Garcia was deceased on the couch.
How could this have happened?
An enduring and deep mystery filled with sick twists, shocking
turns. Friday night. Secrets will be revealed. Cold blooded. The 2020
season premiere, Friday night at 9 8th Central on EBC.
It's lunchtime in America. So what are we
serving up.
Well, how about everything you need to know?
Your help, your money, breaking news, pop
culture, with the biggest stars, music, trends, and,
of course Good food.
All coming up on GMA 3.
You're gonna love it. We'll see you then. 23.
What you need to know? A 3rd hour of GMA in the afternoon.
So join us. Afternoon.
For everything you need to know.
Putrail is 1 of the hardest types of trauma to overcome.
This is her night and shining armor. Everything felt right.
All of a sudden, I found this hidden folder. I opened it. I don't think I can say it. I'm sorry. It's shocking.
My stomach just dropped. He just really didn't think I had it in me. It's
pretty something.
So I did. Betrayal of father's secret, the all new season on Hulu.
The test flight of a hydrogen balloon powered capsule designed to bring tourists to the edge of space has been deemed a success. Space ship Neptune took off from the Gulf of Mexico. The uncrewed flight took the capsule 19 miles above Earth's surface seats on the spacecraft,
which is set to begin trips in
2026, not too far, costs a $125,000. You get receclining seats, cocktails, and panoramic views of our planet.
Just a 125 k. Health officials in Southern California are sounding the alarm about a rising cases of dengue fever. 3 people in Los Angeles County have been infected with the disease. Which is spread through mosquito bites. Those people had not traveled, meaning they were infected locally.
Symptoms of dengue fever are similar to the flu, but are typically more serious.
We turned out to a class action lawsuit over a game show with 1,000,000 of dollars in prize money involving Amazon and YouTube star, Mister Beast. This morning, a class action lawsuit against what could be the biggest TV competition ever.
I recreated every single separate squint game in real life.
Beast Games has been billed as a reality competition with $5,000,000 in prize money hosted by Mister Beast, a 26 year old YouTube star. His real name is Jimmy Donaldson, known for his over the top competitions.
I'm also gonna have these 8 soldiers shoot 10,000 bullets at your Lamborghini.
Now 5 contestants are suing Donaldson's auction company and Amazon, which acquired the streaming rights to Beast Game, claiming the show with an alleged budget of a $100,000,000 failed to provide fair wages. They also claim they endured unsafe working conditions, including harassment.
We feel that the female contestants have been sexually harassed, and that a lot of rights were denied to these workers.
The lawsuit says during taping the summer, several contestants ended up hospitalized while others reported suffering physical and mental complications.
They deserve to be compensated. They deserve justice. The potential damages being sought were
not disclosed. No comment from Donaldson
or Amazon about the lawsuit and over
yet on when the show will be released.
Alright. Coming up, the new work from home survey, what remote workers are really doing during the day.
Plus lost. Now found the cat had traveled 8 hunt hundred miles to get home. Once With so much at stake,
so much on the line, more Americans turn here than any other news
cast. ABC news, world news tonight with David Muir. America's number 1 most watched newscast across all of television. Baywatch is a fantasy. Baywatch is sexy.
Jason Momoa,
loaded. Carmen was a bombshell.
Pamela Anderson was an icon.
Greet of lust, fame.
Everyone likes to watch sexy things.
Let's go. The ship is incredible. It feels like living in a science fiction movie.
We just saw what no 1 has seen before.
Wow. Look at that. Oh my gosh. Well, get ahead. Have gone.
We are heading into the
owned. Hammer. Hammer. Hammer.
It doesn't get any more cutting edge on this. Why do so many people start their day here? This
is start here.
To be in the know and get a different take on the day's top stories. Listen now to the daily news podcast honored with 4 Edward R Murrow awards. Start here, ABC News. Make it your daily first listen wherever you
get your podcast. Start here.
This morning. Get ready to laugh when Sebastian Meniscalco comes back to.
Good morning, America. Let's do it.
Then it's Vince Vaughn. On
Good morning, America.
The question is, why was Matthew Perry doing ketamine? How did he at it and who is to blame for his death.
In the case of Matthew Perry, it was kind of the perfect storm.
In September October 2023, he was getting 6 to 8 shots of ketamine a
day, 5 people, including 2 doctors, all arrested.
Matthew Perry was a money for everybody involved.
It is very odd to live in a world where if you died, it would shock people, but surprise no 1.
What happened to Matthew Perry now screening on Hulu?
Reporting from the protests at Columbia University. I'm Stephanie Ramos, wherever the story is, we'll take you there. You're streaming ABC News Live.
Time to check the polls. We begin with a new survey, revealing what people are actually doing when they're working from home.
Nearly half admit multitasking during work calls, doing things like laundry, but 1 third go further and admit running errands during work hours, like going to the grocery store or dry cleaner.
1 5 admit taking a nap during work hours and 4% of remote workers admit working a second secret job. Next, the new trend in football. More rules are signing up for Flash Football.
A state to sanction flag football as a high school sport. At least 100 Schools in Pennsylvania will take the field next school year, following 9 other states that have made the sport official.
Another headline in women's sports, the WNBA is officially expanding announcing a new franchise in Portland, Oregon. The team will begin playing in 2026. This is the league's 15th franchise.
And 1 headline from the NFL quarterbacks Eli Manning and Tony Romo highlight the first time nominees for the pro football Hall of Fame, class of 2025, 15 finalists announced in February. Next, a cat who disappeared on a family camping trip is back home after traveling 800 miles.
Can you believe that a California couple says Rainbow took off during their visit to Yellowstone National Park. Eventually, they had to go back home without him. But 60 days later, they got a call from a shelter outside of Sacramento.
He was really depleted. He probably didn't have a lot of energy to maybe even go further. So this lady who found him and rescued him, she's just an angel.
They still don't know how little rainbow there made the journey, but they are happy he had a microchip implanted, or he'd still be gone. Finally, a sobering new study on the size of the pint glass at bars.
It's 20 ounces in the UK versus 16 ounces here. Health researchers are now urging bars in Britain to use smaller glasses. Their study found it would reduce overall beer consumption and improve health, lower health care costs.
That's because researchers found drinkers tend to focus on the number of pints they enjoy, not the size of the glass. Top headlines. Next.
It's lunchtime in America. So what are we serving up?
Well, how about everything you need to know?
Gable to make your help, your money, breaking news, pop filter, with the biggest stars music, trends, and, of course
Good food. It's all coming up on GMA 3.
You're
gonna love it. We'll see you then.
23. What you need to know, a third hour of GMA in the afternoon.
So join us. Afternoons.
Everything you need to know.
I love that. Too.
Why do so many people start their day here?
From ABC News, this is start here.
To be in the know and get a different take on the day's top stories.
A lot of news today. So get into it.
Listen now to the daily news podcast honored with 4 Edward R Murrow awards and see why the New York Times calls it a news podcast worth listening to.
Start here. ABC News, make
it your daily first listen.
Now that's a part of the story that you didn't see coming.
Wherever you get your podcasts,
start here. Wherever news breaks, it's so important to always remember that lives are changed, getting you behind the stories as they happen. ABC news live prime. We'll take you there.
Streaming free on ABC News Live. With so much at stake, so much on the line, more Americans turn here than any other newscast, ABC News, world news tonight with David a number 1 most watched newscast across all of television.
Let's go. The ship is incredible. It feels like living in a science fiction movie. We just saw when no 1
seen before.
Wow. Look at that. Oh my gosh. We'll get a hut. Come on.
We are heading into the unknown.
Hammer. Forever.
It doesn't get
any more cutting edge on this. Checking more top stories now.
The FBI
is accusing Iran of trying to interfere in the US presidential election saying hackers stole information from the Trump campaign
earlier this summer and then sent it via email to people associated with the Biden campaign. There is no evidence
Biden Stafford replied.
At least 32 people, most of the members of the militant group, Hezbollah, have been reportedly killed in the last 2 days after electronic devices exploded across Lebanon. Sources say Israel was behind the attack as well as leader is expected to speak today.
Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to a new sexual assault charge. The former Hollywood mogul is awaiting a November re trial on a prior conviction.
Authorities in Kentucky believe that they have found the bomb of highway sniper suspect Joseph Couch. He was on the run since allegedly wounding 5 people firing at cars on interstate 75.
Today's weather, rain in California, a flood watch near LA, storms from Texas to the upper Midwest, and more rain on the East Coast.
And finally, the youngest person to climb some of the world's tallest mountains.
She's adorable, and she spoke to Danny New.
Look out. 7 year old Saren Price is on a mission. Saren, how was your big hike?
Really, really good.
Sarah and her dad, Glynn, just returned from their second potentially record breaking hike.
She's, again, hard to keep up with him.
A few weeks ago, still at the age of 6, the whales native reportedly became the youngest person to climb the tallest mountain in North Africa, That would be 13,600 foot mount tube call in Morocco. Was it hard to hike that mountain?
It's very hard to in the end, I went to and smashed it.
But why was she so determined to smash this rocky fortress while Sarah was raising money for something important to her? As you can see here, she was born with essentially a lump on her neck. It affected her airways and was considered life threatening her dad says, but the doctors at Birmingham Children's Hospital in England were able to safely treat it.
Just allowed, allowed her to be here doing this today. So, yeah, amazing hospitals.
Please say it's me.
So in 2022, Sarah Anne hiking to raise money for the place that saved her life. Starting with that first record breaking hike when at 5 years old, Sarah became the youngest person to complete the UK's 3 peaks challenge. Translation, she climbed the highest mountains in Scotland, England, and Wales in under 48 hours. She gained so much attention from that. Sarah even receives congratulations via a signed letter from Prince William.
Now with the old age of 7, Saren has been able to raise 1000 of pounds for Birmingham Children's. And how does she feel about that?
Really, really, really good.
Guys, the length of donated is still available on justgiving.com. If you wanna pitch in, and up next for Sarah, the tallest mountain of the Alps Mount Blanc.
She's incredible. That's us making news in America this morning.
Have a great day.
Right now,
America this morning, election interference by Iran, what the FBI now claims Iranian hackers did with materials stolen from the Trump campaign.
First, it was pagers now walkie talkies. Explore across Lebanon, the depth toll rising overnight, children among the dead, what Israel is saying about a new phase of war in the Middle East.
A potentially devastating blow to the US economy. The new warning about a looming strike by Port 1st.
Fiber in trouble of busy intersection fast approaching.
The new lawsuit over a game show involving YouTube star, Mister Beast, that offers millions in prize money, what contestants claim they were forced to endure.
Later, more girls play football, the new trend on the grid iron.
And what people who work from home are really doing during work hours. The survey results are out this morning.
From ABC news, this is America this morning.
Good Thursday morning, everyone. I'm Rhiannonali.
And I'm Lyle Moiz. And for Andrew, we begin with new evidence that Iran is trying to interfere with the US presidential election.
The FBI now saying Iranian hackers stole material from the Trump campaign and then senate to people associated with the Biden campaign this summer.
Both the Trump and Harris campaigns now responding as Trump held a rally on New York's Long Island last night. This morning, new details about an apparent attempt to interfere with the upcoming presidential election. The FBI says Iranian hackers stole information from the Trump campaign earlier this summer and sent it to people associated with the Biden campaign. Investigators say the
emails were unsolicited and there's no
evidence Biden staffers replied to them. The Harris campaign says the emails were received by only a few people who dismissed them as spam or phishing attempts. Trump responding at a rally in New York last night.
They gave them all of the materials because Biden is working with Iran, and Iran doesn't exactly like me.
On the economy, Trump floated the idea of reversing a tax policy imposed during his first term, now saying he wants to eliminate the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions.
I will cut taxes for families, small businesses, and workers.
Many economists now questioning the cost of Trump's proposed tax cuts, including on worker tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits.
How about in Springfield, Ohio?
Trump last night also said he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio, which has seen a wave of bomb threats after Trump and running mate JD Vance amplified unfounded claims of Haitian migrants stealing and eating pets.
I'm gonna go there in the next 2 weeks. I'm going to Springfield and I'm going to Aurora. You may never see me end, but that's okay. Gotta do what I gotta do. Whatever happened to Trump, well, he never got out of Springfield.
ABC news now confirming Vance's team contacted Springfield city manager back on September 9th and was told the reports about pets were baseless, but Vance and Trump continued pushing those claims.
A Springfield resident who claimed her cat miss Sassy was taken by her Haitian Neighbors now acknowledges the cat
was hiding in her basement. Immigration of flashpoint in this race, vice president Harris, yesterday, criticizing Trump's plan to carry out mass deportations.
We must also reform our broken immigration system.
And protect
our dreamers and understand we can do both create an earned pathway to citizenship and ensure our border is
Sure.
The Harris campaign suffering a setback yesterday as the Teamsters union announced for the first time in nearly 30 years that it will not endorse a candidate in the presidential race, citing an internal survey that found a majority of members support Trump.
They endorse the Democrats, automatic for many, many decades. But you know what? They said they looked at her. They said, we're not going there. I'm sorry.
But 3 new battleground state polls show Harris holding an edge over Trump. Harris up 6 points in Pennsylvania 5 Points in Michigan and up 1 in Wisconsin. And as for the Teamsters not endorsing her, the Harris campaign pointed to several local Teamsters chapters that have endorsed Harris.
Aluming port strike along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast could devastate the US economy. That is the warning from trade groups. The port workers union is threatening to go on strike at the end of this month unless it gets a new contract with a 77% pay increase over 6 years. Automation is also a sticking point, but right now, no new talks are scheduled. Some importers are already taking precautions rushing in shipments or redirecting cargo to the West Coast.
The Federal Reserve has announced an aggressive interest rate cut, surprising many analysts the central bank reducing its key interest rate by a half a percentage point and signaled more rate cuts in the months ahead, which could help bring down the costs of credit card debt, car loans, and new mortgages. ABC's Elizabeth Schulze spoke to Fed chairman Jerome Powell.
I asked the Fed chair exactly where mortgage rates will end up. He wouldn't give me an answer, but he did say we're probably not going back to that world where we saw rates as low as they might have been 2, 3%, for example.
Well, mortgage rates were already down ahead of the Fed's decision. Analysts say people with credit card debt won't see any major savings in the short term. As for Wall Street, stocks were up overnight.
The debt toll is rising after a second day of devices exploding across Lebanon. This time, it was walkie talkies. 1 day after pagers exploded, Hezbollah was targeted, but civilians have also been killed. Thousands injured and Israel now declaring a new phase of war. ABC's Christian Cordero has details.
Good morning, Christian.
Rhiannon, good morning. Some of those walkie talkies exploded during funerals for the people killed the day before. And now Iran, which supports Hezbollah is vowing to respond. Kaye also erupting at this funeral in Lebanon as walkie talkies began exploding the second day of attacks across the country targeting members of the militant group Hezbollah,
ABC's Marcus Moore just feet away. We just heard a loud explosion. And I saw a man whose hands were gone. And then
somebody pulled
out
happened and, people scattered. I'm on the
other killers. Terror on the faces of children watching from a nearby apartment. On Tuesday, it was pagers that
bloated across the country. At least 32 people have been killed in the attack so far, including 27 members of Hezbollah, as well as civilians, including 2 children. US officials confirmed to ABC news, Israel was behind the pager attack. Saying Israel warned defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, an operation was about to take place without giving specifics.
While US officials have repeatedly said they were not involved in the attacks, they have not condemned them either.
Sources say as little as 1 to 2 ounces of explosive material was implanted next to the batteries, and the pagers received a message that triggered the explosions. The devices had been imported by Hezbollah, which stopped using cell phones due to security concerns. At the White House yesterday, officials dodging questions about the attacks.
Flowing up pagers and walkie talkies. Is this type of warfare acceptable to the United States?
I'm simply not gonna be able to address these incidents over the last couple of days in any level of of detail.
Everyone keeps urging, you know, all parties involved not to escalate this. Isn't this an escalation already?
I'm
not gonna speak to the details of these incidents. I understand that's frustrating. I I get it.
Israel's defense minister says the conflict in the Middle East is entering a new phase, which troops transitioning from Gaza to, engage Hezbollah on Israel's Northern Border. Lionel.
Alright, Christian. Thank you. Music Mogul, Sean Denny Combs, is behind bars in New York after being denied bail for a second time. His attorney had offered a $50,000,000 bill package that included drug tests and monitoring, but the judge said no conditions could reduce the risk of witness tampering or obstruction. Combs has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and running a criminal enterprise that abused women.
I mean, Mister Combs has has maintained that he's he's innocent. He's a smart guy. He knows what he did and he didn't do. He knows what he intended
and did in Tampa.
And I believe him.
His lawyer claims the allegations stemmed from consensual behavior among adults He also said Combs is facing horrific conditions in jail. He's due back in court next month.
Oh, tennis trailblazer will now receive the highest civilian honor from Congress. Lawmakers have agreed to make Billy Jean King the first solo female athlete to receive the congressional gold medal. 1 Congresswoman saying King's work as an activist changed the landscape for women and girls on the court in the classroom and in the workplace.
Tom, now, for your Thursday weather.
Flood waters are receding in North Carolina's coastal areas revealing extensive road damage following this week's historic rainstorm. Some areas got more
than 20 inches Looking at the radar this morning, showers along the East Coast today and storms are expected in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Texas, and Oklahoma. Checking today's high temps, summer like heat from Texas into the plains, to the upper Midwest, but cooling off in the northwest 98
in Dallas today.
Coming up. More girls are playing football.
The new trend on the grid iron.
But first, hear from an officer involved in this rescue climbing into a moving truck to help a driver in trouble.
And the new alert about a phone scam, draining people's bank pounds how easy it is to fall for it.
It was a regular day for 19 year old Melissa Witt. Something terrible had happened to her. We had several suspects
all these kinds of leads.
But no one's real killer in your area, could he be involved? We're actually finding key evidence that could have slipped to the cracks.
Her last hours on this Earth with her horrific.
The a beautiful young girl. Police will find out what happened.
At wit's end, the hunt for a killer, only on Hulu.
Here's to good mornings in America.
Can you feel the look?
Oh, okay. Yeah. Mornings that inspire filled with hope, kindness, joyous, surprise, is so much fun.
This is crazy. Absolutely crazy.
Day with good morning America's ray of sunshine, highlighting the best of America and helping.
Make dreams come true.
Oh. Y'all just so happy.
It is so good. Yep. Ready to
and put the
good into your morning America because
You know what will make the morning better? A little ray of sunshine.
Time for my life.
Whenever wherever news breaks, it's so important to always remember that lives are changed. Here in London, in Buffalo. Evolve to Texas. Edinborough, Scotland. Reporting from Rolling Fork, Mississippi, Ukrainian refugees here in Warsaw.
We're
heading to a small community outside of Mexico City. Giving you behind the stories as they happen. ABC news live prime. We'll take you there.
Stream ABC news live weeknights, wherever you stream your news, only on ABC news live. ABC news live, honored with 8 Emmy nomination more than any other streaming news network and ABC news live prime with Lindsey
Davis, the first and only screening show nominated for best outstanding live news program. This is ABC news live.
ABC news, honored excellence with 40 Emmy nominations, mornings, evenings, late night,
weekends, screaming 247, 40 Emmy nominations. Thank you for making ABC News America's number 1 news.
I'm Matt Rivers in the Israel controlled Golan Heights. Wherever the story is, we'll take you there.
You're streaming ABC news live. We are back with
a quick thinking hero on a Michigan highway
video showing Macomb County deputy Nicole Myron climbing from the passenger seat of a patrol car into the passenger seat of a moving truck. Later saying luckily, she is a small woman. Take a look.
This is just unreal. The man in the truck had
been driving erratically suffering a medical emergency. The deputy realized that she had to stop that man's truck before they reached a busy intersection.
I wanna get a stop before we entered that area because I didn't know if he he could hit somebody else or they wouldn't see him and hit him, and it probably could have been a lot worse.
Quick thinking. The deputy was able to stop that truck in time the driver was sent to the hospital.
We have a new alert about a growing scam with a disturbing name. Experts say so called pig butchering scams have reached a crisis level with victims often losing their life savings. Here's ABC's Andrea Fuji. This morning, a new
push to fight so called pig butchering scams. The name references the practice of fattening a pig before slaughter. In this case, Americans who can end up losing their life savings.
I had nothing left, and I have to sell everything.
We are at crisis level, and we must act today.
Law enforcement now demanding help from Congress, including more funding to stop the scams. The fraudsters use dating apps or text messages to strike up a relationship with a victim. And after months of building trust, get them to send money or invest in cryptocurrency schemes. $4,000,000,000 was lost to pig butchering crypto scams last year alone.
We have done very little to disrupt this criminal industry and to protect our citizens from the relentless threat that comes at the daily.
This California man lost his life savings after forming a relationship on a dating app.
Were you ever able to get it back?
No. No. I definitely was not able to get it back.
Often the accounts of the fake investments look legit, but when victims try to withdraw funds, they're locked out. And the money is gone. An extra challenge for law enforcement, scammers are often overseas where criminal organizations use human trafficking victims to carry out the fraud.
They have limited capability to help these victims, which lead to many crimes going unsolved.
Experts say always be skeptical of someone you just met starts talking to you about an investment. And if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Rhiannon Lytle.
Some great advice there. Thank you. Coming up, the new cases of dengue fever in the US.
Also had the class action lawsuit over a game show involving YouTube star, Mister Beast. That offers millions in prize money. We'll tell you what contestants are now claiming.
With so much at stake, so much on the line, more Americans turn here than any other newscast, ABC News, World News tonight with David Moore. America's number 1 most watched newscast across all of television.
Baywatch, she's a fantasy. Baywatch was sexy. Jason Momoa exploded.
Carmen was a bombshell.
Hell, Anderson was an icon.
Greeted lust, fame.
Everyone likes watch sexy things.
Let's go. The ship is incredible. It feels like living in a science fiction movie. We just saw where no 1 has seen before. Wow.
Look at that. Oh my gosh. We
are heading into the unknown.
Emer. Emer. Emer.
Emer. Emer. Emer.
It doesn't get any more cutting edge than this.
Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped.
Your mom and dad are gonna be right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard, and
people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own children?
After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America go free.
Killer mom now streaming on Hulu.
Why do so many people start their day here? This is start here.
To be in the know and get a different take on the day's top stories. Listen now to the daily news podcast honored with 4 Edward R. Murrow awards. Start here. ABC News.
Make it your daily first listen wherever you get your podcasts. Start here. Friday, the 2020 season premiere. Oh my god.
Doctor Sealia was deceased on the couch.
Secrets will be revealed. The new 2020 Friday night on EBC.
Whenever wherever news breaks, it's so important to always remember that lives are changed here in London, in Buffalo. Evalde, Texas, and in Brush, Scotland. Reporting from Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Ukrainian refugees here in Warsaw. We're heading to a small community outside of Mexico City.
Getting you behind the stories as they happen. See news live prime. We'll take you there.
Stream ABC news live weeknights, wherever you stream your news, only on ABC news live.
The test flight of a hydrogen balloon powered capsule designed to bring tourists to the edge of space has been deemed a success. Space ship Neptune took off from the Gulf of Mexico. The uncrewed flight took the capsule 19 miles above Earth's surface seats on the spacecraft, which is set to begin trips in 2026, not too far. Cost a $125,000. You get reclining seats, cocktails, and panoramic views of our planet.
Just a 125 k. Health officials in Southern California are sounding the alarm about and cases of dengue fever. 3 people in Los Angeles County have been infected with the disease, which is spread through mosquito bites. Those people had not traveled, meaning they were infected locally. Symptoms of dengue fever are similar to the flu, but are typically more serious.
We turned out to a class action lawsuit over a game show with 1,000,000 of dollars in prize money involving Amazon and YouTube star, Mister Beast. This morning, a class action lawsuit against what could be the biggest reality TV competition ever.
I recreated every single separate squint game in real life.
Beast games has been billed as a reality competition with $5,000,000 in prize money hosted by Mister Beast, a 26 year old YouTube star, His real name is Jimmy Donaldson, known for his over the top competitions.
I'm also gonna have these 8 soldiers shoot 10,000 bullets at your Lamborghini.
Now 5 contestants are suing Donaldson's production company and Amazon. Which acquired the streaming rights to Beast Game, claiming the show with an alleged budget of a $100,000,000 failed to provide fair wages. They also claim they endured unsafe working conditions, including harassment.
We feel that the female contestants have been sexually harassed, and that a lot of rights were denied to these workers.
The lawsuit says during taping the summer, several contestants ended up hospitalized while others reported suffering physical and mental complications.
They deserve to be compensated. They deserve justice.
The potential damages being sought were not disclosed. No comment from Donaldson or Amazon about the lawsuit and over on when the show will be released.
Alright. Coming up, the new work from home survey, what remote workers are really doing during the day.
Plus lost. Now found the cat who traveled 8 hundred miles to get home.
Once
It's lunchtime in America. So what are we serving up? Well, how
about everything you need to know?
Is it to make you help? Your money? Breaking news? Op culture with the biggest stars, music, trends, and, of course,
good food. It's all coming out on G And A 3.
You're
gonna love me. We'll see you then.
23. What you need to know a third hour of GMA in the afternoon.
So join us. Afternoon.
For everything you need to know.
I love that. Me too.
Why do so many people start their day here?
From ABC News, This is start here.
To be in the know and get a different take on the day's top stories.
Lot of news today, so let's get into it.
Listen now to the daily news podcast honored with 4 Edward R Murrow Awards and see why the New York Times calls it a news podcast worth listening to.
Start here, ABC News, make
it your daily first listen.
Now that's a part of the story I bet you didn't see coming.
Wherever you get your podcasts,
start here. With so much at stake, so much on the line, more Americans turn here than any other newscast, ABC News, World News tonight with David Newer America's number 1 most watched newscast across all of television.
Let's go.
We are heading into the unknown.
Oh my gosh.
We just saw what no 1 has seen before.
It doesn't get any more cutting edge than this.
The question is, why was Matthew Perry doing ketamine? How did he get it and who is to blame for his death?
In the case of Matthew Perry? It was kind of the perfect storm.
In September October 2023, he was getting 6 to 8 shots of ketamine a
day, 5 people including 2 doctors all arrested.
Matthew Perry was a money stream for everybody involved.
It is very odd to live in a world where if you died, it would shock people, but surprise no 1.
What happened to Matthew Perry now screening on Hulu
Reporting from the Amanda Knox trial in Florence, Italy, I'm James Longman. Wherever the story is, we'll take you there. You're streaming ABC News live.
Time to check the polls. We begin with a new survey, revealing what
are actually doing when they're working from home.
Nearly half admit multitasking during work calls, doing things like laundry, but 1 third go further and admit running errands during work hours, like going to the grocery store or dry cleaner.
1 5 admit taking a nap during work hours and 4% of remote workers admit working a second secret job. Next, the new trend in football. More rules are signing up for 5 football.
Love this Pennsylvania, the latest state to sanction flag football as a high school sport. At least 100 schools in Pennsylvania will take the field next school year, following 9 other states that have made the sport official.
Another headline in women's sports, the WNBA is officially expanding, announcing a new franchise in poor Leland, Oregon. The team will begin playing in 2026. This is the league's 15th franchise.
And 1 headline from the NFL quarterbacks, Eli Manning and Tony Romo highlight the first time nominees for the pro football hall of fame Class of 2025, 15 finalists announced in February. Next, a cat who disappeared on a family camping trip is back home after traveling 800 miles.
Can you believe that a California couple says Rainbow took off during their visit to Yellowstone National Park. Eventually, they had to go back home without him. But 60 days later, they got a call from a shelter outside of Sacramento.
He was really depleted. He probably didn't have a lot of energy maybe even go further. So this lady who found him and rescued him, she's just an angel.
They still don't know how little rainbow there made the journey, but they are happy he had a microchip implanted, or he'd still be gone. Finally, a sobering new study on the size of the pint glass at bars.
It's 20 ounces in the UK versus 16 ounces here. Health researchers are now urging bars in Britain to use smaller glasses. Their study found it would reduce overall beer
consumption and improve health, lowering health care costs. That's because researchers found drinkers
tend to
us on the number of pints they enjoy, not the size of the glass. Top headlines. Next.
Her day for 19 year old Melissa Witt.
Something terrible had happened to her.
He had several suspects.
All these kinds of leads.
A known serial killer in your area, could he be involved? We're actually finding key evidence that could have slipped to the cracks. Yep.
Her last hours on this Earth were horrific.
This beautiful gun girl. Police will find out what happened.
At wit's end, the hunt for a killer, only on Hulu,
Baywatch is a fantasy. Baywatch is sexy. Jason Momoa exploded.
Carmen was a bombshell.
Pamela Anderson was an icon.
Greet of lust, fame.
Everyone likes to watch sexy things.
Why do so many people start their day here? From ABC News,
this is start here.
To be in the know and get a different take on the day's top stories.
A lot of news today, so let's get into it.
Listen now to the daily news podcast honored with 4 Edward R. Murrow Awards. And see why the New York Times calls it a news podcast worth listening to. Start here, ABC News, make it your daily first listen.
Now that's a part of the story I bet you didn't see coming.
Wherever you get your podcasts, start here,
Wherever news breaks, it's so important to always remember that lives
are changed, getting you behind the stories as they happen. ABC news live prime. We'll take you there. Streaming free
on ABC news live.
The trail is 1 of the hardest types of trauma to overcome. This is her night
in shining armor. Everything felt right. All of a sudden,
I found this hidden folder. I opened it.
I don't think I can say it.
I'm sorry.
It's shocking. My stomach just dropped. He just really didn't think I had it in need.
Please update.
So I did. Betrayal of father's secret, the all new season on Hulu. Checking more top stories now. The FBI is accusing Iran of trying to enter
year in the US presidential election saying hackers stole information from
the Trump campaign earlier this summer and then sent it via email to people associated with the Biden campaign.
There is no evidence Biden staffers replied.
Of the members of the militant group, Hezbollah, have been reportedly killed in the last 2 days after electronic devices exploded across Lebanon. Sources say Israel was behind the attack. Hezbollah's leader is expected to speak today.
Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to a new sexual assault charge. The former Hollywood mogul is awaiting a November retrial on a prior conviction.
Authorities in Kentucky believe that they have found the body of highway sniper suspect Joseph Couch. He was on the run since allegedly wounding 5 people firing cars on interstate 75.
Today's weather, rain in California, a flood watch near LA, storms from Texas to the upper Midwest and more rain on the East Coast.
And finally, the youngest person to climb some of the world's tallest mountains.
She's adorable, and she spoke to Danny New.
Look out. 7 year old Saren Price is on a mission. Saren, how was your big hike?
Really, really good.
Saren and her dad, Glynn, just returned from their second potentially record breaking hike.
She's again. Hard to keep up with him.
A few weeks ago, still at the age of 6, the whales native reportedly became the youngest person to climb the tallest mountain in North Africa. That would be 13,600 foot mount tube call in Morocco. Was it hard to hike that mountain?
It's very hard. To an end on when to unsmash it.
But why was she so determined to smash this rocky fortress while Sarah was raising money for something important to her? As you can see here, she was born with essentially a lump on her neck. It affected her airways and was considered life threatening her dad says, but the doctors at Birmingham Children's Hospital in England were able to safely treat it.
Just allowed allowed her to be here doing this today. So, yeah, amazing hospitals.
So in 2022, Sarah began hiking to raise money for the place that saved her life. Starting with that first record breaking hike
when at 5 years old, Sarah became the youngest person
to complete the UK's 3 peaks challenge. Translation, she climbed the highest mountains in Scotland, England, and Wales in under 48 hours. She gained so much attention from that, Sarah, even received congratulations via a signed letter from Prince William. Now with the old age of 7. Saren has been able to raise thousands of pounds for Birmingham Children's.
And how does she feel about that?
Really, really, really good.
Guys, the length of donate is still available on justgiving.com. If you wanna pitch in and up next for Saren, the tallest amount of the Mount Blanc.
She's incredible. That says making news in America this morning.
Have a great day.
Right now in America this morning, election interference
by Iran, but the FBI now claims Iranian hackers did with materials stolen from the
Trump campaign. First, it was pagers now walkie talkies.
Excluding across Lebanon, the death toll rising overnight, children among the dead, what Israel is saying about a new phase of war in the Middle East.
A potentially devastating blow to the US economy. The new warning of
of looming strike by port workers, plus the Fed's decision to cut interest rates, what it means for
your money. The heroic rescue on the highway, hear from the officers seen
here climbing into a
moving to help a driver in trouble of busy intersection fast approaching.
The new lawsuit over a game show involving YouTube star, Mister Beast, that offers millions in prize money, what contestants claim they were forced to endure. Later,
more girls playing football, the new trend on the grid iron.
And what people who work from home are
really doing during work hours. The survey results are out this morning.
From ABC news. This is America this morning. Good Thursday morning, everyone. I'm Rhiannonali.
And I'm Lyle Moiz. In for Andrew, we begin with new evidence that Iran is trying to interfere with the US presidential election.
The FBI now saying Iranian hackers stole material from the Trump campaign and then senate to people associated with the Biden campaign this summer.
Both the Trump and Harris campaigns now responding as Trump held a rally on New York's Long Island last night. This morning, new details about an apparent attempt to interfere with the upcoming presidential election. The FBI says Iranian hackers stole information from the Trump campaign earlier this summer and sent it to people associated with the Biden campaign. Investigators say the emails were unsolicited and there's no evidence Biden staffers replied to them. The Harris campaign says the emails were received by only a few people who dismissed them as spam or phishing attempts.
Trump responding at a rally in New York last night.
They gave them all of the materials because Biden is working with Iran, and Iran doesn't exactly like me.
On the economy, Trump floated the idea of reversing a tax policy imposed during his first term, now saying he wants
to eliminate the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions.
I will cut taxes for families, small businesses, and workers.
Many economists now questioning the cost of Trump's proposed tax cuts, including on worker tips over time pay and social security benefits.
How about in Springfield, Ohio?
Trump last night also said he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio, which has seen a wave of bomb threats after Trump and running mate JD Vance amplified unfounded claims of Haitian migrants stealing and eating pets.
I'm gonna go there in the next 2 weeks. I'm going to Springfield and I'm going to Aurora. You may never see me again, but that's okay. Gotta do what I gotta do. Whatever happened to Trump, well, he never got out of Springfield.
ABC News now confirming Vance's team contacted Springfield City manager back on September 9th and was told the reports about pets were baseless, but
Vance and Trump continued pushing those claims. A Springfield resident who claimed her
cat miss Sassy was taken by her Haitian neighbors now acknowledges the cat was hiding in her basement. Immigration of Flash Point in this race, vice president Harris, yesterday, criticizing Trump's plan to carry out mass deportations.
We must also reform our
broken immigration system and protect our dreamers and understand we can do both, create an earned pathway to citizenship,
and ensure our border is secure.
The Harris campaign suffering a setback yesterday as the Teamsters union announced for the first time in nearly 30 years that it will not endorse a candidate in the presidential race. Citing an internal survey that found a majority of members support Trump.
They endorse the Democrats automatic for many, many decades, but you know what? They said they looked at her. They said, we're not going there. I'm sorry.
But 3 new battleground state polls show Harris holding an edge over Trump. Harris up 6 points in Pennsylvania, 5 points in Michigan, and up 1 in Wisconsin. And as for the teamsters not endorsing her, the Harris campaign pointed to several local teamsters chapters that have endorsed terrorists.
A looming port strike along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast could devastate the US economy. That is the warning from trade groups. The port workers union is threatening to go on strike at the end of this month. Unless it gets a new contract with a 77% pay increase over 6 years. Automation is also
a sticking point, but right now, no new talks are scheduled. Some importers
are already taking precautions rushing in
shipments or redirecting cargo to the West Coast.
The Federal Reserve has announced an aggressive interest rate cut, surprising many analysts, the central bank reducing its key interest rate by a half a percentage point and signaled more rate cuts in the months ahead. Which could help bring down the costs of credit card debt, car loans, and new mortgages. ABC's Elizabeth Schulze spoke to Fed chairman Jerome Powell.
I asked the Fed chair exactly where mortgage rates will end up. He wouldn't give me an answer. But he did say we're probably not going back to that world where we saw rates as low as they might have been 2, 3%, for example.
Well, mortgage rates were already down ahead of the Fed's decision. Analysts say people with credit card debt won't see any major savings in the short term As for Wall Street, stocks were up overnight.
The death toll is rising after a second day of devices exploding across Lebanon. This time, it was walkie talkies. 1 day after pagers exploded, Hezbollah was targeted, but civilians have also been killed, thousands injured, and Israel now declaring a new phase of war. ABC's Christian Cordero has details. Good morning, Christian.
Rhiannon, good morning. Some of those walkie talkies exploded during funerals for the people killed the day before. And now Iran, which supports Hezbollah is vowing to respond.
K also erupting at this funeral in Lebanon as walkie talkies began
exploding. The second day of attacks across the country targeting members of the militant group, Hezbollah. ABC's Marcus Moore just feet away.
We're just not a loud explosion. And I saw a man whose
hands were gone. And then
somebody pulled out a weapon, and, people scattered.
Terror on the faces of children watching from a nearby apartment. On Tuesday, it was pagers
that exploded across the country. At least 32 people have been killed in the attacks so
far including 27 members of Hezbollah as well as civilians including 2 children. US officials confirmed to ABC news Israel
was behind the pager attack, saying Israel warned defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, an
operation was about to take place without giving specifics.
While US officials have repeatedly said they were not involved in the attacks, they have not condemned them either.
Sources say as little as 1 to 2 ounces of explosive material was implanted next to the batteries, and the pagers received a message that triggered the explosions. The devices had been imported by Hezbollah, which stopped using cell phones due to security concerns at the White House yesterday officials dodging questions about the attacks.
Blowing up pagers and walkie talkies, is this type of warfare acceptable to the United States?
I'm simply not gonna be able to address these incidents over the last couple of days in any level of of detail.
Everyone keeps urging, you know, all parties involved not to escalate this. Isn't this an escalation already?
I'm not gonna speak to the details of these incidents. I understand that's frustrating. I I get it.
Israel's defense minister says the conflict in the Middle East is entering a new phase with troops transitioning from Gaza to engage Hezbollah on Israel's northern border. Lionel?
Alright, Christian. Thank you. Music Mogul, Sean Denny Combs, is behind bars in New York after being denied bail for a second time. His attorney had offered a $50,000,000 bail package that included drug tests and monitoring, but the judge said no conditions could reduce the risk of witness tampering or obstruction. Combs has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and running a criminal enterprise that abused women.
I mean, Mister Combs has has maintained that he's he's innocent. He's a smart guy. He knows what he did, what he didn't do. He knows what he intended. He didn't.
And I believe him.
His lawyer claims the allegations stemmed from consensual behavior among adults, He also said Combs is facing horrific conditions in jail. He's due back in court next month.
A tennis trailblazer will now receive the highest civilian honor from Congress. Lawmakers have agreed to make Billy Jean King the first solo female athlete to receive the congressional gold medal. 1 Congresswoman saying King's work as an activist changed the landscape for women and girls on the court in the classroom and in the workplace.
Time now for your Thursday weather.
Flood waters are receding in North Carolina's coastal areas revealing extensive road damage following this week's
historic rainstorm. Some areas got more than 20 inches Looking at the radar this morning, showers along the East Coast today and storms are expected in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Texas, and Oklahoma, checking today's high temps. Summer like heat from Texas into the plains to the upper Midwest, but cooling off in the Northwest 98 in Dallas today.
Coming up. More girls are playing football, the new trend on the grid iron.
But first, hear from an officer involved in this rescue climbing into a moving truck to help a driver in trouble.
And the new alert about a phone scam, draining people's bank accounts, how easy it is to fall for it.
Whenever news breaks. We are
here in Israel a nation at war.
Enrolling for this tornado tore through this town
from Lewis in Maine.
The scene of a horrific mass shooting
from the scene of that
dead years of strength. ABC news live everywhere
in Iceland, Moscow.
On the 2024 Campaign Trail.
Here at 10 Downey Street. Wherever the story is.
We're gonna take you there.
Your streaming, ABC news live. ABC news live.
You're streaming, ABC news live.
ABC news live, streaming free everywhere.
It's lunchtime in America. So what are we serving up?
Well, how about everything you need to know?
Music, trends, and, of course, good food.
It's all coming out on GMA 3.
You're gonna love it. We'll see you then. 2,
3. What you need to know, a 3rd hour of GMA in the afternoon.
So join us. Afternoon.
Everything you need to know.
I love that.
Me too.
Let's go.
The ship is incredible.
It feels like
living in a science fiction movie.
We just saw what no 1
has seen before.
Wow. Look at that. Oh my gosh. Hammer. It
doesn't get any more cutting edge
on this. With so much at stake, so much on the line, more Americans turn
here than any other newscast, ABC News World News tonight with David Newer. America's number 1 most watched newscast across all of television. They watch is a fantasy. They watch the
sexy. Jason Momoa exploded.
Carmen was a bombshell.
Pamela Anderson was an icon.
Greed, lust, fame.
Everyone likes to watch sexy things.
From a pro Palestinian demonstration on the streets of Philadelphia, I'm Trevor Alts. Wherever the story is, we'll take you there.
You're streaming ABC news live.
We are back with a quick thinking hero on a Michigan highway video showing Macomb County deputy Nicole Myron climbing from the passenger seat of a patrol car into the passenger seat of a moving truck. Later saying luckily, she is a small woman. Take a look.
This is just unreal. The man in the truck had been
driving erratically suffering a medical emergency. The deputy realized that she had to stop that man's truck before they reached a busy intersection.
I wanna get a stop before we entered that area because I didn't know if he he could hit somebody else, or they wouldn't see him and hit him, and it probably could have been a lot worse.
Quick thinking. The deputy was able to stop that truck in time. The driver was sent to the hospital.
We have a new alert about a growing scam with a disturbing name. Experts say so called pig
butchering scams have reached a crisis level with victims often losing
their life savings. Here's ABC's injury
Fuji. This morning, a new push to fight so called pig butchering scams. The name references the practice of fattening a pig before slaughter. In this case, Americans who can end up losing their life savings.
I had nothing left, and I have to sell everything.
We are at crisis level, and we must act today.
Law enforcement now demanding help from Congress, including more funding to stop the scam. The fraudsters use dating apps or text messages to strike up a relationship with a victim. And after months of building trust, get them to send money or invest in cryptocurrency schemes. $4,000,000,000 was lost to pig in crypto scams last year alone.
We have done very little to disrupt this criminal industry and to protect our citizens from the relentless threat that comes at the daily.
This California man lost his life savings after forming a relationship on a dating app.
Were you ever able to get it back?
No. No. I definitely was not able to get it back.
Often, the accounts of the fake investments look legit, but when victims try to withdraw funds, they're locked out, and the money is gone. An extra challenge for law enforcement, scammers are often over fees where criminal organizations use human trafficking victims to carry out the fraud.
They have limited capability to help these victims, which lead to many crimes going unsolved.
Experts say always be skeptical of someone you just met starts talking to you about an investment And if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Rhiannon?
Some great advice there. Thank you. Coming up the new cases of dengue fever in the US.
Also had the class action lawsuit over a game show involving YouTube star, Mister Beast. That offers millions in prize money. We'll tell you what contestants are now claiming. Whenever news breaks.
We are hearing Israel a nation at war after that brutal surprise attack by Hamas.
Ground in Ukraine reporting from Lewiston Maine.
The scene of a horrific mass shooting. ABC news live is right there everywhere.
From the scene of that deadly missile strike in Denipre, Ukraine.
Reporting from the earthquake in Turkey. In rolling for it. This tornado tore through this little town.
From the most devastating disaster in Hawaii.
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It's lunchtime in America. So what are we serving up?
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good food. Start coming up on GMA 3.
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23. What you need to know, a 3rd hour of GMA in the afternoon.
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We do too.
Here's to
good mornings in America.
Can you fill them in?
Oh, thank you. Mornings that inspire filled with hope, kindness, joyous surprises,
and it's
so much fun.
Thank you. Absolutely gracious.
Let's start
your day with good morning America's ray of sunshine, highlighting the best of America
and helping. Make dreams come true.
Wow. Your up is so happy.
This is so good. Get ready to smile and put the good into your morning America. Because
You know what will make the morning better? A little ray of sunshine.
Let's go. The ship is incredible. It feels like living in a science fiction movie. We just saw when no 1
seen before.
Wow. Look at that. Oh my gosh. Well, get ahead. Come on.
We are heading into the unknown. Emma, Emma. Ever.
It doesn't get any more cutting
edge on this. The test flight of a hydrogen balloon powered capsule designed to bring tourists to the
edge of
space has been deemed a success. Space ship Neptune took off from the Gulf of Mexico. The uncrewed flight took the capsule 19 miles above Earth's surface seats on the spacecraft, which is set to begin trips in 2026, not too far. Cost a $125,000. You get
reclining seats, cocktails, and panoramic views of our planet.
Just a 125 k. Health officials in Southern
are sounding the alarm about a rising cases of dengue fever. 3 people in Los Angeles County have been infected with the disease, which is spread through mosquito bites. Those people had not traveled, meaning they were infected locally symptoms of dengue fever are similar to the flu, but are typically more serious.
We turned out to a class action lawsuit over a game show with 1,000,000 of dollars in prize money involving Amazon and YouTube star, Mister Beast. This morning, a class action lawsuit against what could be the biggest reality TV competition ever.
I recreated every single separate squint game in real life.
Beast games has been built as a reality competition with $5,000,000 in prize money hosted by Mister Beast, a 26 year old YouTube star, his real name is Jimmy Donaldson, known for his over the top competitions.
I'm also gonna have these 8 soldiers shoot 10,000 bullets at your labor gating.
5 contestants are suing Donaldson's production company and Amazon, which acquired the streaming rights to Beast game, claiming the show with an alleged budget of a $100,000,000 failed to provide fair wages. They also claim they endured unsafe working conditions including harassment.
We feel that the female contestants have been sexually harassed, and that a
lot of rights were denied to these workers. The lawsuit says during taping the summer, several
contestants ended up
hospitalized while others reported suffering physical and mental complications.
They deserve to be compensated.
They deserve justice. The potential damages being sought were not disclosed.
No comment from Donaldson or Amazon about the lawsuit and over yet
on when the show will be released. Alright.
Coming up, the new work from home survey, what remote workers are really doing during the day.
Plus lost. Now found the cat had traveled 800 aisles to get home. Let's go.
The ship is incredible. It feels like living in a science fiction movie. We just saw what no 1 has
seen before.
Wow. Look at that. Oh my gosh. We'll get ahead. Take on.
We are heading into the unknown. Hammer. Hammer.
Ever.
It doesn't get any more cutting edge
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The question is, why was Matthew Perry doing ketamine? How did he get it and who is to blame for his death?
In the case of Matthew Perry? It was kind of the perfect storm.
In September October 2023, he was getting 6 to 8 shots of ketamine a
day, 5 people including 2 doctors all arrested.
Matthew Perry was a money stream for everybody involved.
It is very odd to live in a world where if you died, it would shock people, but surprise no 1.
What happened to Matthew Perry now screening on Hulu
I'm Will Reeve reporting from Panda Ridge
at the San Diego Zoo wherever the story is, we'll take
you there. Your streaming ABC news live. Time to check the polls.
We begin with a new survey, revealing what
people are actually doing when they're working from home.
Nearly half admit multitasking during work calls, doing things like laundry, but 1 third go further and admit running errands during work hours, like going to the grocery store or dry cleaner.
1 I've been taking a nap during work hours and 4% of remote workers admit working a second secret job. Next, the new trend in football. More girls are signing up for flag football.
Love this Pennsylvania, the latest state to sanction flag football as a high school sport At least 100 Schools in Pennsylvania will take the field next full year, following 9 other states that have made the sport official.
Another headline in women's sports, the WNBA is officially expanding announcing a new franchise in Portland, Oregon. It's team will begin playing in 2026. This is the league's 15th franchise.
And 1 headline from the NFL quarterbacks Eli Manning and Tony Romo highlight the first time nominees for the pro football hall of fame Class of 2025, 15 finalists announced in February. Next, a cat who disappeared on a family camping trip is back home after traveling 800 miles.
Can you believe that a California couple says Rainbow took off during their visit to Yellowston National Park. Eventually, they had to go back home without him. But 60 days later, they got a call from a shelter outside of Sacramento.
He was really depleted. He probably didn't have a energy to maybe even go further. So this lady who found him and rescued him, she's just an angel.
They still don't know how little rainbow there made the journey, but they are happy he had a microchip and plan or he'd still be gone. Finally, a sobering new study on the size of the pint glass at bars.
It's 20 ounces in the UK versus 16 ounces here. Health researchers are now urging bars in Britain to use smaller glasses their study found it would reduce overall beer consumption and improve health, lowering health care costs.
That's because researchers found drinkers tend to focus on the number of pints they enjoy, not the size of the glass. Top headlines. Next.
Whenever news breaks. We are here in Israel a nation at war.
Enrolling for this tornado tour through this town.
From Lewis in Maine.
The scene of a horrific mass shooting
from the scene of that deadly mission strike.
ABCU's live everywhere.
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The ship is incredible. It feels like living in a science fiction movie.
We just saw what no 1 has seen before. Wow.
Look at that. Oh my gosh. We'll get a hang. Hang on. We are heading into the
known. Hammer, hammer, hammer.
It doesn't get any more cutting edge
on this. Sex, lies, and
double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped. Your mom and daddy are gonna be
right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
and people don't know about it. What kind of mother would kill her children.
After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America go free?
Killer mom now streaming on Hulu.
It's lunchtime in America. So what are we serving up?
Well, how about everything you need to know?
Music, trends, and, of course, good food.
It's all coming up on GMA 3.
You're
gonna love me. We'll see you then. 2,
3. What you need to know, a 3rd hour of GMA in the afternoon.
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Thank you. Checking more top stories now. The FBI is accusing Iran of trying to interfere in the US presidential election
saying hackers stole information from the Trump campaign earlier this summer and then sent it via email to
people associated with the Biden campaign. There is no evidence Biden staffers replied. At least 32
people, most of them
of the militant group, Hezbollah, have been reportedly killed in the last 2 days after electronic devices exploded across Lebanon. Sources say Israel was behind the attack. Hezbollah's leader is expected to speak today.
Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to a new sexual assault charge. The former Hollywood mogul is awaiting a November retrial on a prior conviction.
Authorities in Kentucky believe that they have found the body of highway sniper suspect, Joseph Couch. He was on the run since allegedly wounding 5 people firing at cars on interstate 75.
Today's weather, rain in California, a flood watch near LA storms from Texas to the upper Midwest and more rain on the East Coast.
And finally, the youngest person to climb some of the world's tallest mountains.
She's adorable, and she spoke to Danny New.
Look out. 7 year old Sarah Price is on a mission.
Sarah, how was your big hike? Really, really good.
Sarah and her dad, Glenn, just returned from their second potentially record breaking hike.
There she is again. Hard to keep up with him.
A few weeks ago, still at the age of 6, the whales native reportedly became the youngest person to climb the tallest mountain in North Africa. That would be 13,600 foot mountain tube call in Morocco. Was it hard to hike that mountain?
Been very hard to in the end, I went to I smashed it.
But why was she so determined to smash this rocky fortress while Saturn was raising money for something important to her? As you can see here, she was born with essentially a lump on her neck. It affected her airways and was considered life threatening her dad says, but the doctors at Birmingham Children's Hospital in England were able to safely treat it.
Just allowed allowed her to be here doing this today. So, yeah, amazing hospitals.
So in 2022, Sarah began hiking to raise money for
the place that saved her life. Starting with that
first record breaking hike when at 5 years old, Sarah became the young person to complete the UK's 3 peaks challenge. Translation, she climbed the highest mountains in Scotland, England, and Wales in under 48 hours. She gained so much attention from that. Sarah even received congratulations via a signed letter from Prince William. Now with the old age of 7, Sarah has been able to raise thousands of pounds for Birmingham Childrens.
And how does she feel about that? Really, really, really good. Guys, the link to donate is still available on justgiving.com. If you wanna pitch in and up next for Sarah, the tallest mountain of the Alps, Mount Blanc.
She's incredible. That's what's making news in America this morning.
Have a great day.
It's Thursday, September 19th, and after all the pagers blew up, it still wasn't over. We start here.
Hezbala is hit with another series of explosions this time from their walkie talkies.
I saw a man whose hands were gone.
We're examining how and why this attack is happening. The US sues the owners of that ship that took down a bridge.
They say this company tried to cut costs and cut corners.
My prosecutors described as gross negligence, and president Trump says he's going to Springfield, Ohio.
You may never see me again, but that's okay.
I was words are already affecting a large and now endangered Asian community. From ABC news, this is start here. I'm Brad Milke. Hey, Marcus. Are you okay?
Oh, yes. I'm I'm I'm fine. Yeah. Thank you.
This is our foreign correspondent Marcus Moore. Yesterday, he arrived in Beirut, Lebanon to cover 1 of the most bizarre moments of the Middle East conflict so far. So for the last 6 months, Hezbollah, the militant group that controls much of Lebanon that's been assaulting Northern Israel with rockets, has been using pagers. Like someone in their orbit told them Israel's got a line on your cell phones, so they did something you might see in the TV show the wire thousands of operatives dumped their phones. They bought these low tech beepers and started sending each other text messages with very simple codes until Tuesday when almost all of these pages exploded.
This appears to be a highly sophisticated and widespread attack across
Lebanon
1000 of basically miniature bombs went off, whether in people's pockets or on their belts or in their hands, thousands were injured, 11 Hezbollah operatives were reported dead, but so were civilians, including children Well then, of course, if you're Hezbollah, you're not using your pager anymore, but they did have 1 other device for communication, walkie talkies, cut to Marcus out on the streets of Beirut yesterday.
We were there for a funeral, actually, for the, for 4 of the people who were were killed in Tuesday's, pager explosions. All of a sudden, It was a loud boom. A loud explosion.
When Marcus looked over, what had been gray sidewalk was now dark black ash.
We just thought a loud explosion. And I saw a man.
Those hands were gone. This man's walkie talkie had just exploded. A bomb had basically gone off in his hands. And just like the day before, this was happening all over Lebanon all at once.
We were right there literally 20, 20 feet away. It was we're very lucky.
100 of people have now been injured from stage 2 of what is clearly a widespread, sophisticated attack with that, let's start the day with some analysis. Colonel Steven Ganyard is a former marine and state department official. He's now an ABC news contributor. Colonel Ganyard, I'm still just trying to get my head wrapped around all this because it's so unprecedented. It's kind of precise and sweeping at the same time.
You've been thinking about this for the last 48 hours. I mean, how would you even do this? Can you just walk us through what you think is happening?
Yeah. So think about, we know that these pagers were shipped to a very small kind of shadowy company in Hungary. So 2 things could have happened. This could have been either a front company for Israeli intelligence where they would intercept these or put together these pages knowing that Hezbollah would be a consumer. Or the Israelis would intercept the shipments as they came out of Hungary, delay them for 6 hours, implant explosives, and put them back on the on the postal truck back to Hezbollah knowing that they would be distributed.
So what they would have had to have done in terms of intelligence first, they would have had to have known what kind of pagers the that Hezbollah was using, then we would have had to have known where they were coming from who was building them? What was the supply chain looking like? Would it be easier to to intercept before they got to hungry or after they got to hungry? How could they be sure that they were gonna get to Hessblah? So lots of intelligence groundwork had to go into this operation.
Right. But then once you have the have the explosives implanted, they're fairly unsophisticated devices as we know. I mean, you know, these are like something you'd see in a a in a movie in the 1980s or 1970. So it's not like this sophisticated technology. It's not encrypted.
They're just using radio waves. So all the Israelis would have to do is implant some sort of code or a chip that when they sent the signal by radio waves across Lebanon, it would
detonate all these pagers on command simultaneously at 3:30 in the afternoon. And then for the walkie talkies then, is it
you'd have to almost do it again. Like, a whole I imagine there's a whole different shipment of devices.
Yes. Probably a different supplier, and so they would have had to have done that as well.
Well, so Israel has not confirmed or denied that they're behind this. They basically haven't commented. Is it possible the US intelligence just would not have known anything? Like, or, I guess, are there clues? And was this Israel?
It would have to be Israel. Not even the United States could pull off something this, this audacious or this well executed. And so nobody believes it's anybody but Israel because Israel would have the direct benefit of taking out so many Hezbollah fighters.
But what is the benefit, Colonel? Here's what I don't get. Why do this? Cause I'm imagining If you were able to sell Hezbollah, all these communication devices, you pulled off this intelligence coup, and now you could doctor their devices any way you wanted. This is what you would do.
You would implant little explosives in them. You wouldn't just keep listening to all their pages and calls and walkie talkie communications. Like, you're not even guaranteed to kill them. So why do this?
I'll give you 2 theories, Brad, and we'll see how in in the coming weeks and once how things work out. So 1 theory is is that these pages in walkie talkies have been in play planted in Hezbollah hands for a number of months and that they actually didn't mean to set them off as soon as they did. That in other words, this was if war breaks out, We, the Israelis have a way to take out the majority of Hezbollah leadership and take away their ability to communicate. There are credible reports. Don't know if they're they're true, but they're credible reports that there were, potential Hezbollah discovering that these, pagers had been implanted with explosives.
And so the Israeli said, we gotta go now because we're gonna lose the element of surprise. And it all goes away. That's 1 theory that it was sort of in case of war break glass kind of capability. The other is, and
we've seen quite a bit of talk lately out of various factions
within Israel, that it's time to go in to Lebanon and push hezbollah north of the Latani River Mhmm. So that the settlers and the people who live in the northern villages of Israel can go back to their homes. So would this be something where the Israelis pull the trigger, have all of the, these, Hezbollah leadership that had these pages on them be taken out of action, take away their communication ability as a prelude to going into Lebanon.
Like, this could be how you would win a battle that you really wanted to win. Destabilize them for a moment at a crucial moment.
Right. So think about what they did, Brad. We know that Nasrol, the Hezbollah leader said we can't use cell phones anymore because we know the Israelis are tracking them. Yep. Check.
So what do they go to? They go to pagers. The Israelis think Well, if they're gonna go to pagers, then why don't we intercept those pagers and make sure that they don't use the pagers either. So now the pagers are gone. Now the walkie talkies are gone, and now Hezbollah is forced to use either couriers or landlines.
And you can bet if they're using landlines that the Israelis have already found ways to
intercept those landline communications. So they are boxing Hezbollah into a corner, taking away their
ability to conduct coordinated attacks on Israel. And taking away any measure of effectiveness they might have as a fighting organization.
Is this also a kind of PR for Israel, whether it's to show like a because their intelligence apparatus looked so bad in the aftermath of October 7th, Is this their way of saying like, we're back? Like, we we we can do almost anything we want.
Yeah. I think back to, a senior, Hamas leader being taken out in his bedroom in downtown Tehran in a secure compound. That's 1 of those, like, if you don't think we're gonna find you anywhere in the world and kill you, we just prove to you that we will. So you they're creating this psychological idea within the minds of both Hamas and Hezbollah that we will eventually hunt you down And if you attack us and you kill our people, we will kill you in return.
What happens next kernel? Like, are we about to hear about everyone's laptops blowing up later this week? Like, how how far could this go now? What's the next steps?
The Israelis have done things like this before. And this this idea of intercepting things within the supply chain to sabotage. The US, there's open source reporting back in 2017 where the US intercepted materials that would were going to be used by North Korea to build their missiles. They induced defects. So it's not like the US or Israel or China or Russia doesn't do this kind of thing before.
It's just the scale that we saw here.
Most importantly, the problem for Hezbollah is more
than 50% of their leadership
is now either in a hospital or dead, and they have no secure means of communication. Cell phones have been taken away. Pagers are gone. Walkie talkies are out, so you can either walk down the street to talk to somebody, or you can talk on a landline, which they know the Israelis have already penetrated.
Alright. Good luck with that. Alright. Colonel Steven Ganyard, really helpful info. Thank you so much.
Thanks, Brad.
It was late March when our gargantuan shipping vessel lost power and started drifting toward a support column for the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. When that bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River beneath it, that city lost 1 of its biggest roadways and 1 of the largest shipping channels in the nation, the Fort McHenry channel didn't reopen for months.
This is not just impacting Maryland. This is impacting that farmer in Kentucky. It's impacting that auto dealer in Michigan. And so it is imperative that we get this bridge rebuilt.
There were lots of questions about why this ship, the MVW simply turned off and how much damage it had caused. Well, the justice department says it's got answers because it's suing the owner of that ship for a $100,000,000. ABC's Alex Mallin covers the DOJ Alex, What is this lawsuit?
Yeah. This is a roughly 50 page lawsuit against both the owner and the manager of that Dolly container ship that hit the Franciscope key bridge on March 26th this year. And some of the language in here, Brad, is just searing. They describe their conduct as, quote, outrageous, grossly negligent, willful, wanting, reckless, and basically say that this tragedy was entirely avoidable, and they pin it all on the fact that the electrical and mechanical systems of the Dolly were so improperly managed and maintained in advance of that crash that there was no reason that that ship should have been coasting in the water that night. They basically walked through in detail on this lawsuit, how What we all witnessed in that video leading up to the crash, the power go off on the ship once, then it came back on, and it went off again.
Around 12725 seconds, the pilot issued a radio call over the VHF radio Reporting that the dolly had lost all power and was approaching the bridge.
They walked through in this in this lawsuit. How basically the owners they say, had knowledge that this was a problem that all of the the cascading failures they described leading up to the ship crashing to that bridge were entirely preventable. And all the 4 means that they say that we should have been in place to help control the dolly and prevent it from crashing to the bridge. The propeller, the rudder, the anchor, the boat ruster, all of those failed based on things that were alerted to the owners and the manager of the ship ahead of time. 1 of the anecdotes included in this lawsuit, Brad, relates to reports of heavy vibrations among crew members on the Dolly container ship.
They they spoke to previous members of that crew, who had said that those heavy vibrations were taking place long before that that night where it crashed
into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. As a response to kind of try and just patch up this problem, they
said they effectively jury rigged the ship basically placing, you know, welds, in to repair cracks, then also wedging a metal cargo hook between a transformer and a nearby steel, beam. Again, they just, you know, go over and over how they say this company tried to cut costs and cut corners in order to, you know, make the ship, appear that it could be functional, but it just was not.
So who are the owners? I'm like, what should they have been doing in the eyes of the US government?
Yeah. I mean, it's Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine. And, obviously, we've reached out to them for comment. They, maintain that they're gonna do their talking in in in court, Brad. It's a Singaporean company, but they've maintained, you know, that they are willing to pay about $44,000,000 to settle the claims of liability.
And this this lawsuit by the justice department is them clearly saying that doesn't even scratch the surface of what we want you to pay. This could just be 1 part of the liability they say that company owes.
Well, that's what I was gonna say. $100,000,000, he's even seems to be selling it short. Right? Like, is that all is that all that this ended up costing, the city in the country? Yeah.
I mean, this just simply relates to the cost to the US government, relating to the clearing of the bridge debris and the dollar container ship. That was about a, you know, 2 months long effort that involved barges, you know, ships just towing, you know, mass scraps of metal out of that harbor.
The wreckage on the bottom of the 50 foot channel is far more extensive than than we could have imagined.
As part of this lawsuit, they say that this does not cover things like the actual damage to the bridge itself. Those costs are actually born to the state of Maryland, which is, you know, expected to seek its own damages against the company. And this DOJ lawsuit obviously will bolster, any efforts, including among, you know, the 6 victims who tragically perished, their families are also suing, the company for damages. And further showing that this kind of just scratches the surface of what this is ultimately gonna cost. You know, we've heard from Maryland officials recently.
They think it's gonna take more than 4 years to fully reconstruct a bridge where the Francis Scott Heat Bridge was, And they say that that could cost between $1,700,000,000 $1,900,000,000. Again, Brad, this is just a 100,000,000 at this initial set of, damages that the Justice Department is seeking.
About 4 years of rebuilding all that money. And you think about the lives like you mentioned, and the livelihoods that have been affected because of this as you kind of just radiate outwards from everything involving these shipping channels and these shipping lanes. Alex Mallin, reporting on this out of Washington. Thank you so much.
Thanks, Brad.
There were a few big political headlines yesterday, each of which tells you a lot about this race at the moment. The first came from 1 of the country's largest unions, the teamsters, who said they are not endorsing a presidential candidate this year, they've traditionally supported Democrats. Right? So this is a huge blow for vice president Kamala Harris and for president Joe Biden who promised to govern with labor unions at the top of his mind, and he's largely delivered It was his administration that allocated 1,000,000,000 of aid dollars to keep Teamsters pension plans intact, but according to the union, a straw poll showed that most members actually favored Trump. The other headline was from the Wall Street Journal reporting that earlier this month, a staffer for Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance called the city manager for Springfield, Ohio and asked if there was any truth to these internet rumors about patient migrants eating pets.
The city manager apparently said no, just as he later told ABC News, but that didn't stop JD Vance from posting about it the very next day. And in some ways, this headline tells you a lot about what you need to know about the state of the race, a story being used as a political wedge issue despite being told at every opportunity that it's false. And yet, this week, it is still having real consequences on people in this town. ABC senior national correspondent Terry Moran actually traveled to Springfield to get some facts to get to the bottom of this. Terry Just so we're clear off the top.
There's still no evidence that, like, this eating cats and dogs claim is true. Right?
No. There's no evidence at all, about it. And as you say, J. D. Vance was told that by the city manager, And in fact, even going beyond that, 1 of the people who originally started spreading the the idea she thought her cat had been stolen by migrants told the Wall Street Journal that, no, the cat was just gone for a while as cats will do.
They roam by their nature and had returned to the basement and apologized to her Haitian neighbors. And yet, as you say, even though JD Vance had been told by the city manager who had consulted with police, that there was no evidence, no substantiation. This notion that pets were being eaten in Springfield. He went with it the next day online. Trump brought it to national attention.
In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats. And that city was off to the races in trying to figure out how to handle
what had become a national talking point. My constituents are telling me firsthand that they're seeing these things.
Vance went on CNN He defended what he was doing, saying he had heard
from his constituents about these alleged events. And he said the American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started
talking about cat memes.
If I have to But what does it just mean?
Create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm gonna do, Danube.
By that, he meant if he had to create attention to an unsubstantiated story, he'd do it because he thought there were real issues involved.
Yeah. What what is the effect on the town, especially for these Haitians, I guess? I who we should remember? These people are here legally.
Well, that's right. So and that is something that, you know, comes up a lot. They're called illegal migrants. They aren't. These are people who are there lawfully under a federal program that dates back to the Reagan administration, and are essentially there for humanitarian reasons.
Great, Mister Mayor. Thank you very much for your time. Springfield is actually a really nice city. What's the best thing about Springfield? Springfield is
a place where we come together to solve problems. We're a collaborative city. We we care about each other.
It's actually a city that works halfway between Columbus and Dayton. It's kind of a commuter city for both. The the job situation is very good. And 1 of the problems that Springfield is having is Growth.
And we're a budgeted city for 60,000 for 58,000, and then you add 25 percent of of people to
our community in such a short time. We haven't had
enough time to pivot or adjust well
It's the kind of problem that lots of cities in the Midwest, you know, would give their right arm to have. They needed workers. They brought the Haitian, many Haitians in, to fill some of those jobs. Have they been welcomed as well?
The Haitian? There's a that's been across the spectrum of there's folks that aren't necessarily excited that they're here, and there's folks that are, welcoming that they're here.
How do you feel?
This is this is trying to get my arms around it and try to embrace them as they're here. They're here legally. And I don't like to see any group, any as a human being, I don't like to see any group painted with such hate. And so I feel compassion for the Haitians.
So what does that end up looking like, I guess, for there are thousands of Haitian families now in this area?
So they're they're shocked by what is happening to them and in despair a little bit.
It's kind of scary. Like, Haitian people, they they scared to go. I would because they are worried about their life, their safety, and all that.
There's a chill that's come down now, over that city that I think depresses people both in the in the native majority community and and the newly arrived Haitians.
I'm embarrassed the way we've treated the Haitians, honestly.
People can't go to work. People are afraid. There's bomb threats. It's just absolute craziness.
School children being evacuated day after day because of
bomb threats dozens of them.
Coming from out of the country according to governor, Mike DeWine. He didn't say from where. We can be assured that we will have troopers there. We will have troopers very visible. These troopers will go through the building before anybody enters that building.
This is affected not just their lives, but kinda deep inside to realize that they've been to use the verb of today. They've been uttered. They've been uttered by the nation. Are you afraid?
We're all afraid. I am afraid. My family is afraid. Yep.
So we also talked with, Migalito Jerome and, and his colleague Marjorie who run a a kind of internet radio service there called the new diaspora Live.
Here, we work on promoting, different culture.
It's a diverse, you know, studio we have here where we have different show. We broadcast in Haitian and Creo, which is our main
language.
Once again, there's there's this sense of wounded pride, certainly. They felt they're contributing that this community is contributing to Springfield. And that's where business leaders, that's what the mayor, that's what the governor, affirm.
So you mean to
tell me, a Haitian that comes here rather than going to Walmart or because they said they'd be taking all the food stamp, they're gonna go to someone's house, break into your house to steal your pet Yeah. To eat
And yet here they are now being scapegoated as savages.
The concept of just eating a pet sounds like eating a human being to me. And Margio is broadcasting at New Daspro
Live. You know, talked about how she had to face down people who were angry
about this wild story that was coming out. Well, I guess it was some agitators that were sent to
start a strife. Do you know our mindset was just like
He's angry, and I'm gonna accept that and understand where his anger come from.
Am I right?
And she walked up the man that she knew, you know, was very, very upset had believed everything that was being said about the Asian community.
I I said, I hope you don't mind me doing this. I hug everybody. I'm a hunger. And I said, I understand you're pain. I hugged him.
His eyes was in tears because he was coming for confrontation. Wow. And I told him, I feel your pain. I know you're angry. I said, but I'm just gonna hug you.
People don't wanna be like this. They can get riled up. Everything can happen in the presidential election, but what I saw in Springfield were people, trying to come to terms with getting caught up in the cyclone of a presidential election and trying to get out of it.
Well and that's kind of my last question, Terry, is zooming out. I guess I'm wondering what can this saga sort of tell the rest of the country, especially as as former president Trump says he wants to visit Springfield. Like, this was not something that was said as a 1 off, right, this is being very much focused on and hammered by the Trump campaign even after the the whole brew at the debate. So what does it say going forward?
Well, there's no question that Donald Trump has said he wants to come to Springfield.
You may never see me again, but that's okay. Gotta do what I gotta do. Whatever happened to Trump, well, he never got out of Springfield.
Both the governor and the mayor said this is not the time for any presidential candidate to come. It had strained the resources, which are already strained.
I think I I think any city would be concerned about having a candidate here, but I think we'll be definitely concerned about our security here.
Would you have said that a month ago? I don't know. Don't know
what I said a month ago with the situation.
But what it says is Trump is really and Vance are really running a campaign of memes. And a lot the people I talk to in Springfield are nowhere near as online addicted as JD Vance and Donald Trump and some of their chief supporters seem to be. They don't get it. They want pragmatic solutions to the problems of of growth, which is is good problems to have that
the Haitian migration, lawful Haitian migration has brought to their town. They don't get the whole tenor and approach of
the Trump campaign, which is find some flashpoint, spread
it online, get people riled up, and drive it home. We will see that
could be a successful strategy or not. My my sense is that with a lot of people in Springfield, it just seemed, why are they doing that? And that may not win all the votes that Trump and Vance think it would.
Yeah. And that's kinda what I just find so interesting about this. Local stories. There's national stories, but then they ping back and forth and kind of inflate each other in sort of the modern attention economy. Terry Moran, thank you so much.
You bet.
And 1 last thing. Was at an airport recently heading to security and overheard someone just mutter near me by the pre check line. Forget you TSA Pre, he said, as he went into regular security. Although, when he said forget you, that was not the f word he actually used. Well, buckle up, because a version of that is coming to your next Uber ride.
Would you say this is almost like a TSA pre check for Uber? Exactly.
Yesterday, an ABC News exclusive, Uber CEO, Dara Koswishahi, revealed that they're gonna start handing out little verification check marks to riders who can prove their identity on the app.
You know, everyone wants a high rating. At the same time, you also want to be verified so the driver can feel safe and good when they're giving you that ride.
Won't cost anything the way it does for flight but the concept is similar. Uber with snapshots of your face and your driver's license will now know your real identity before and crucially after you end your ride to which you might think so what? How would that help me? Well, this is more of a measure to protect drivers
What? What? What?
What? For years, while Uber has published stats on fatal accidents and sexual assaults involving drivers and riders, they've never quantified just how many of their drivers have encountered violence or threats or intimidating behavior. We know what happens through video accounts, and drivers can file complaints with Uber, but it's tough to ban those abusive writers for good when they can just set up new accounts. This offering to its drivers is also why Uber is rolling out a recording feature on its app in which that phone showing the driver's directions might now also be recording video and audio of you. Uber drivers say there is 1 tangible way in which this will writers, though.
If you're verified, it just helps us say, yep, we'll get that ride. You'll get a ride quicker. It just makes life easier for everybody.
Which means, again, even though there's no cost to registering, you might get that same sort of divide between those with check marks and those who would rather forget about them.
And the
app this morning is already asking people to verify their identities. So get ready. Or in all these stories on ABC News Live, which you can watch wherever you stream live news. I'm Brad Milking see you tomorrow.
Tonight, unprecedented attacks across Lebanon, thousands of devices exploding at once, thousands of victims, the latest from Lebanon, plus the fight for the Battle Brown State's World News with David Mueller, the most watched news cast on television.
Sex, lies, and a double murder.
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What kind of mother would kill her own children?
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David. World news tonight with David Mueller is America's most watched newscast. Wow.
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Right now in America this morning, election interference by Iran with the F
now claims Iranian hackers did with materials stolen from the Trump campaign.
First, it was Pagers, now walkie talkies.
Exploding across Lebanon, the death toll rising overnight, children among the
what Israel is saying about a new phase of war in the Middle East.
A potentially devastating blow to the US economy, the new warning about a looming strike by port workers, plus the Fed's decision to cut interest rates it means for your money.
The heroic rescue on the highway, hear from the officers seen here climbing into a moving truck to help a driver in trouble a busy intersection fast approaching.
The new lawsuit over a game show involving YouTube star, Mister Beast, that offers millions in prize money what contestants claim they were forced to endure.
Later, more girls playing football, the new trend on the grid iron.
And what the who work from home are really doing during work hours. The survey results are out this morning.
From ABC News. This is America this morning.
Good. Thursday morning, everyone. I'm Reina Nally.
And I'm Lila Muiz in for Andrew, we begin with new evidence that Iran is trying to interfere with the US presidential election.
The FBI now saying Iranian hackers stole material from the Trump campaign and then sent it to people associated with the Biden campaign summer.
Both the Trump and Harris campaigns now responding as Trump held a rally on New York's Long Island last night. This morning, new details about an apparent attempt to interfere with the upcoming presidential election. The FBI says Iranian hacker stole information from the Trump campaign earlier this summer and sent it to people associated with the Biden campaign. Investigators say the emails were unsolicited and there's no evidence Biden staffers replied to them. The Harris campaign says the emails were received by only a few people who dismissed them as spam or phishing attempts.
Trump responding at a rally in New York last night.
They gave them all of the materials because Biden is working with Iran and Iran doesn't exactly like me.
On the economy, Trump floated the idea of reversing a tax policy imposed during his first term, now saying he wants to eliminate the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions.
I will cut taxes for families, small businesses, and workers.
Many economists now questioning the cost of Trump's proposed tax cuts, including on worker tips, overtime pay, and social security benefits.
How about in Springfield, Ohio?
Trump last night also said he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio, which has seen a wave of bomb threats after Trump and running mate J. D. Vance, amplified unfounded claims of Haitian migrants stealing and eating pets.
I'm gonna go there in the next 2 weeks. I'm going to Springfield, and I'm going to Aurora. You may never see me again, but that's okay. Gotta do what I gotta do. Whatever happened to Trump while he never got out of Springfield.
ABC News now confirming Vance's team contacted Springfield city manager back on September 9th and was told the reports about pets were baseless but Vance and Trump continued pushing those claims. A Springfield resident who claimed her cat miss Sassy was taken by her Haitian Neighbors now acknowledges the cat was hiding in her basement. Immigration of flashpoint in this race vice president Harris yesterday, criticizing Trump's plan to carry out mass deportations.
We must also reform our broken immigration system.
And protect our dreamers and understand we can do both, create an earned pathway to citizenship, and ensure our border is secure.
The Harris campaign suffering a setback yesterday as the Teamsters union announced for the first time in nearly 30 years that it will not endorse a candidate in the presidential race, citing an internal survey that found a majority of members support Trump.
They endorse the Democrats automatic for many, many decades but you know what? They said they looked at her. They said we're not going there. I'm sorry.
But 3 new battleground state polls show Harris holding an edge over Trump. Harris up 6 points in Pennsylvania, 5 points in Michigan, and up 1 in Wisconsin. And as for the teamsters not endorsing her, the Harris campaign pointed to several local teamsters chapters that have endorsed Harris.
A looming port strike along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast could devastate the US economy. That is the warning from trade groups. The port workers union is threatening to go on strike at the end of this month unless it gets a new contract with a 77% pay increase over 6 years. Automation is also a sticking point, but right now, no new talks are scheduled Some importers are already taking precautions rushing in shipments or redirecting cargo to the West Coast.
The Federal Reserve has announced an aggressive interest rate cut, surprising many analysts. The central bank reducing its key interest rate by a half a percentage point and signaled more rate cuts in the months ahead, which could help bring down the costs of credit card debt, car loans, and new mortgages. ABC's Elizabeth Schulze spoke to Fed chairman Jerome Powell.
I asked the Fed chair exactly where mortgage rates will end up. He wouldn't give me an answer, but he did say we're probably not going back to that world where we saw rates as low as they might have been 2, 3%, for example.
Well, mortgage rates were already down ahead of the Fed's decision. Analysts say people with credit card debt won't see any major savings in the short term. As for Wall Street, stocks were up overnight.
The death toll is rising after a second day of devices exploding across Lebanon. This time, it was walkie talkies. 1 day after pagers exploded, Hezbollah was targeted, but civilians have also been killed. Thousands injured and Israel now declaring a new phase of war. ABC's Christian Cordero has details.
Good morning, Christian.
Rhianne, and good morning. Some of those walkie talkies exploded during funerals for the people killed the day before. And now Iran, which supports Hezbollah is vying to respond. Pay also erupting at this funeral in Lebanon as walkie talkies began exploding the second day of attacks across the country targeting members of the militant group, Hezbollah. ABC's Marcus Moore just feet away.
We just thought
a loud explosion. And I saw a man whose hands were gone
and then somebody pulled out a weapon and, people scattered.
I'm on the scene with the sellers.
Terror on the faces of children watching from a nearby apartment. On Tuesday, it was pagers that exploded across the country. At least 32 people have been killed in the attack so far, including
27 members
of Hezbollah, as well as civilians, including 2 children, US officials confirmed to ABC news, Israel was behind the pager attack, saying Israel warned defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, an operation was about to take place without giving specifics.
While US officials have repeatedly said they were not involved in the attacks, They have not condemned them either.
Sources say as little as 1 to 2 ounces of explosive material was implanted next to the batteries, and the pagers received a message that triggered the explosions. The devices had been imported by Hezbollah, which stopped using cell phones due to security concerns at the White House yesterday officials dodging questions about the attacks.
Lowing up pagers and walkie talkies, is this type of warfare acceptable to the United States?
I'm simply not gonna be able to address these incidents over the last couple of days in any level of of detail.
Everyone keeps urging, you know, all parties involved not to escalate this. Isn't this an escalation already?
I'm not gonna speak to the details of these incidents. I understand that's frustrating. I I get it.
Israel's defense minister says the conflict in the Middle East is entering a new phase with troops transitioning from Gaza to, engage Hezbollah on Israel's northern border. Lionel?
Alright, Christian. Thank you. Music Mogul Sean Denny Combs is behind bars in New York after being denied bail for a second time. His attorney had offered a $50,000,000 bail package that included drug tests and monitoring, but the judge said no conditions could reduce the risk of witness tampering or obstruction. Combs has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and running a criminal enterprise that abused women.
I mean, Mister Combs has has maintained that he's he's innocent. He's a smart guy He knows what he did and he didn't do. He knows what he intended to be in Tampa, and I believe him.
His lawyer claims the allegations stem from consensual behavior among adults. He also said Combs is facing horrific conditions in jail. He's due back in court next month.
Tennis Trailblazer will now receive the highest civilian honor from Congress. Lawmakers have agreed to make Billy Jean King the first solo female athlete to receive the congressional gold medal. 1 Congresswoman saying King's work as an activist change the landscape for women and girls on the court in the classroom and in the workplace.
Time now for your Thursday weather. Flood Waters are receding in North Carolina's coastal areas revealing extensive road damage following this week's historic rainstorm. Some areas got more than 20 inches. Looking at the radar this morning, showers along the East Coast today, and storms are expected in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Texas, and Oklahoma, checking today's high temps, summer like heat from Texas into the plains to the upper Midwest, but cooling off in the northwest 98 in Dallas today.
Coming up. More girls are playing football, the new trend on the grid iron.
But first, hear from an officer involved in this rescue climbing into a moving truck to help a driver in trouble.
And the new alert about a phone scam, draining people's bank accounts, how easy it is to fall for it.
Let's go.
The ship is incredible. It feels like living in a science fiction movie.
We just saw wouldn't no 1 has seen before.
Wow. Look at that. Oh my gosh. Well, get ahead. Take on.
We are heading into the unknown.
Am I hammer, hammer.
It doesn't get any more cutting edge on this.
With so much at stake, so much on the line, more Americans
here than any other newscast, ABC News, world news tonight with David Muir, America's number 1 most watched newscast across all of television. Hi. My name
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It's lunchtime in America. So what are we serving up.
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Whenever wherever news breaks, it's so important to always remember that lives are changed here in London in Buffalo. You've all do Texas and in Brush Scotland. Reporting from Rolling Fork, Mississippi Arabian. Refugies here in Warsaw. We're heading to a small community outside of Mexico City.
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Reporting from Arizona State Capitol, I'm Elizabeth Schulzey. Wherever the story is, we'll take you there. You're streaming ABC News Live.
We are back with a quick thinking hero on a Michigan highway video showing Macomb County deputy Nicole Myron climb the passenger seat of a patrol car into the passenger seat of a moving truck Later saying, luckily, she is a small woman. Take a look.
This is just unreal. The man in the truck had been driving erratically suffering a medical emergency
The deputy realized that she had to stop that man's truck before they reached a busy intersection. You okay?
I wanna get a stop before we entered that area because I didn't know if he he could hit somebody else, or they wouldn't see him and hit him, and it probably could have been a lot worse.
Quick thinking the deputy was able to stop that truck in time the driver was sent to the hospital.
We have a new alert about a growing scam with a disturbing name. Experts say so called pig butchering scams have reached a crisis level with victims often losing their life savings. Here's ABC's Andrea Fuji.
This morning, a new push to fight so called pig butchering scams. The name references the practice of fattening a pig before slaughter In this case, Americans who can end up losing their life savings.
I had nothing left, and I have to sell everything.
We are at crisis level, and we must act today.
Law enforcement, that demanding help from Congress, including more funding to stop the scams. The fraudsters use dating apps or text messages to strike up a relationship with a victim. And after months of building trust, get them to send money or invest in cryptocurrency schemes. $4,000,000,000 was lost to pig butchering crypto scams last year alone.
We have done very little to disrupt this criminal industry and to protect our citizens from the relentless threat that comes at the daily
This California man lost his life savings after forming a relationship on a dating app.
Were you ever able to get it back?
No. No. I definitely was not able to get it back.
Often the accounts of the fake investments look legit, but when victims try to withdraw funds, they're locked out. The money is gone. An extra challenge for law enforcement, scammers are often overseas where criminal organizations use human trafficking victims to carry out the fraud.
They have limited capability to help these victims, which lead to many crimes going unsolved.
Experts say always be skeptical of someone you just met starts talking to you about an investment. And if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Rhiannon Lytle.
Some great advice there. Thank you. Coming up the new cases of dengue fever in the US,
also had the class action lawsuit over a game show involving YouTube star, Mister Beast. That offers millions in prize money. We'll tell you what contestants are now claiming.
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Did you kill Marietta? I'm sorry.
No. I did not kill Mary either.
So it
was a normal day until Mary started
to get a set. No 1 really knew
what was happening. Her eyes just looked terrified. In less than 48
my mom went from her healthy self to having died.
This is a mystery. How did she die? They begin to do this autopsy.
It's just screaming toxin, toxin, toxin.
Did somebody intentionally do this to her?
And when the tests came back, I thought, yeah, holy are you kidding me?
I had dated. Adam, I was scared of him. It changed the way I see the world.
She was really afraid for her life.
I do think Bill could have killed Mary. His wife died in July and in November. He was dating his sister-in-law.
There was nothing in the world that was making sense of that.
Caitlin Conley was guilty as sin. Are you okay?
This girl thought she was smarter than everybody else. When is another side to Kayla Campbell?
Well, I'm not buying this a little misintering thing.
So quite a very small town. Everybody know everybody.
My garden club is very divided. People think she's innocent. I think she's guilty.
Never heard
of a case like this, maybe a thriller.
It was here evil. We were quite sure what was coming next.
I know it wasn't me. Sorry? So if it wasn't
me, Who was it?
Little miss innocent. Passion, poison, prison, prison, only on Hulu.
The test flight of a hydrogen balloon powered capsule designed to bring tourists to the edge of space has been deemed a success. Space ship Neptune took off from the Gulf of Mexico. The uncrewed flight took the capsule 19 miles above Earth's surface seats on the spacecraft, which is set to begin trips in 2026, not too far. Cost a $125,000. You get reclining seats, cocktails, and panoramic views of our planet.
Just a 125 k. Health officials in Southern California are the alarm about a rising cases of dengue fever. 3 people in Los Angeles County have been infected with the disease, which is spread through mosquito bites. Those people had not traveled, meaning they were infected locally. Symptoms of dengue fever are similar to the flu but are typically more serious.
We turned out to a class action lawsuit over a game show with 1,000,000 of dollars in prize money involving Amazon and YouTube star, mister Beast. This morning, a class action lawsuit suit against what could be the biggest reality TV competition ever.
I recreated every single step from Squick Game in real life.
Beast Games has been billed as a reality competition with $5,000,000 in prize money hosted by Mister Beast, a 26 year old YouTube star, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, known for his over the top competitions.
I'm also gonna have these 8 soldiers shoot 10,000 bullets at your Lamborghini.
Now 5 contestants are Sewing Donaldson's production company and Amazon, which acquired the streaming rights to Beast Game, claiming the show with an alleged budget of a $100,000,000 failed to provide fair wages. They also claim they endured unsafe working conditions including harassment.
We feel that the female contestants have been sexually harassed, and that a lot of rights were denied to these workers.
The lawsuit says during taping the summer, several contestants ended up hospitalized while others reported suffering physical and mental complications.
They deserve to be compensated. They deserve justice.
The potential damages being sought were not disclosed. No comment from Donaldson or Amazon about the lawsuit and over yet on when the show will be released.
Alright. Coming up. The new work from home survey, what remote workers are really doing during the day.
Plus lost. Now found the cat had traveled 800 and miles to get home. What does
it take to be the most watched newscast in America? We are part of an operation to serve
time at operation center. We're approaching the
gate militants came in from.
Hi. Appreciate you. Thank
you. It's Mayo. David.
ABC's world news tonight with David Mueller is America's most watched newscast. You're watching America's number 1 dream years, like reporting, breaking new exclusives, keep streaming with ABC News Live.
Let's go.
The ship is incredible. It feels like living in a science fiction movie. We
just saw where no 1 has seen before.
Wow. Look at that. Oh my gosh. Well, get ahead. Come on.
We are heading into the unknown.
And hammer, hammer.
It doesn't get any more cutting edge on this. Friday, the 2020 season
premiere. Doctor Garcia.
Police department.
Go inside a murder mystery as it unravels. Got your gun pulled and you're ready for anything.
Doctor Garcia, Doctor Miller.
Doctor Garcia was deceased on the couch.
From 1 of the most beautiful places on Earth. This doesn't make sense. Comes a true crime so chill.
How could this have happened?
An enduring and deep mystery that's filled with sick twists and shocking turn.
100 of 1000 of dollars worth of gold, silver.
It's all gone.
I have so many questions.
Each secrets will be revealed.
It just all started adding up.
Oh my god. The cold blooded. The 2020 season premiere, David Muir, Deborah Roberts, the all new 2020 true crime event, Friday night at 98th Central on ABC.
Reporting from Monterey Park, California Robin Roberts. Wherever. Wherever the story is, we're gonna take you there. You're streaming ABC News live.
Time to check the polls. We begin with a new survey, revealing what people are actually doing when they're working from home.
Nearly half admit multitasking during work calls, doing things like laundry, but 1 third go further and admit running errands during work hours, like going to the grocery store or dry cleaner.
1 5 admit taking a nap during work hours and 4% of remote workers admit working a second secret job. Next, the new trend in football. More girls are signing up for flag's football.
Love this Pennsylvania to state to sanction flag football as a high school sport. At least 100 schools in Pennsylvania will take the field next full year, following 9 other states that have made the sport official.
Another headline in women's sports, the WNBA is officially expanding announcing a new franchise in Portland, Oregon. The team will begin playing in 2026. This is the league's 15th franchise.
And 1 headline from the NFL quarterbacks Eli Manning and Tony Romo highlight the first time nominees for Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2025 15 finalists announced
in February. Next, a cat who disappeared on a family camping trip is back home
after traveling 800 miles. Can
you believe it, a California couple says rainbow took off during their visit to Yellowstone National Park. Eventually, they had to go back home without him. But 60 days later, they got a call from a shelter outside of Sacramento.
He was really depleted. Probably didn't have a lot of energy to maybe even go further. So this lady who found him and rescued him, she's just an angel.
They still don't know how little rainbow there made the journey, but they are happy he had a microchip implanted, or he'd still be gone. A sobering new study on the size of the pint glass at bars.
It's 20 ounces in the UK versus 16 ounces here. Health researchers are now urging bars in Britain to use smaller glasses. Their study found it would reduce overall beer consumption and improve health, lowering health care costs.
That's because researchers found drinkers tend to focus on the number of pints they enjoy, not the size of the glass. Top headlines. Next.
Whenever news breaks. We are here in Israel a nation at war.
Enrolling for this tornado tour through this town.
From Lewis in Maine.
The scene of a horrific mass shooting
on the scene of that
deadly missile strike ABC news live everywhere
in Iceland, Let's go.
On the 2024 Campaign Trail.
Here at 10 Downey Street. Wherever the story is.
We're gonna take you there.
You're streaming. ABC news live. ABC news live.
You're streaming. ABC news ABC news live, streaming free everywhere.
Let's go. The ship is incredible. It feels like living in a science fiction movie.
We just saw where no 1 has seen before.
Look at that. Oh my gosh. Well, get a hand. How come? We are heading into the unknown.
Hammer. Hammer. Hammer. It does
get any more cutting edge on this. Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped. No mom and
on me right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
and people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own children
After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America go free?
Killer mom now streaming on Hulu. The 2020 season premiere.
Doctor Garcia.
Go inside a murder mystery.
Doctor Garcia, police department.
As it unravels.
Oh my god. Doctor Garcia was deceased on the couch.
How could this have happened?
An enduring and deep mister filled with sick twists, shocking turns.
Friday night. Secrets will be revealed. Cold blooded. The 2020 season premiere, Friday night at 98th Central on ABC.
Checking more top stories now.
The FBI is accusing Iran of trying to interfere
in the US presidential election, saying hackers stole information from the campaign earlier this summer and then sent it via email to people associated with the Biden campaign. There is no evidence Biden Staffers replied.
At least 32 people, most of the members of the militant group, Hasbelow, have been reportedly killed in the last 2 days after electronic devices exploded across Lebanon. Sources say Israel was behind the attack. Hezbollah's leader is expected to speak today.
Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to a new sexual assault charge. The former Hollywood mogul is awaiting a November retrial on a prior conviction.
Authorities in Kentucky believe that they have found the body of highway sniper suspect Joseph Couch. He was on the run since allegedly wounding 5 people firing at cars on interstate 75.
Today's weather, rain in California, flood watch near LA storms from Texas to the upper Midwest and more rain on the East Coast.
And finally, the youngest person to climb some of the world's tallest mountains.
She's adorable, and she spoke to Danny New.
Look out. 7 year old, Sarah Price is on a mission. Sarah, how was your big hike?
Really, really good.
Sarah and her dad, Glenn, just returned from their second potentially record breaking hike.
She is,
again, hard to keep up with him.
A few weeks ago, still at the age of 6, The whales native reportedly became the youngest person to climb the tallest mountain in North Africa. That would be 13,600 foot mountain tube call in Morocco. Was it hard to hike that mountain?
It's very hard. But in the end, I went and smashed it.
But why was she so determined to smash this rocky fortress while Severin was raising money for something important to her? As you can see here, she was born with essentially a lump on her neck It affected her airways and was considered life threatening her dad says, but the doctors at Birmingham Children's Hospital in England were able to safely treat it.
Just allowed allowed her to be here doing this today. So, yeah, amazing hospitals.
So in 2022, Sarah began hiking to raise money for the place that saved her life. Starting with that first record breaking hike when at 5 years old, Sarah became the youngest person to complete the UK's 3 peaks challenge. Translation, she climbed the highest mountains in Scotland, England, and Wales in under 48 hours. She gained so much attention from that, Sarah, even received congratulations via a signed letter from Prince William. Now with the old age of 7.
Saren has been able to raise thousands of pounds for Birmingham Children's. And how does she feel about that?
Really, really, really good.
Guys, the link to donate is still available on justgiving.com. If you wanna pitch in and up next for Saren, The tallest mountain of the Alps, Mount Blanc.
She's incredible. That's what's making news in America this morning.
Have a great day.
It's Thursday, September 19th. And after all the pagers
blew up, it still wasn't over. We start here. Hezbollah is hit with another series of explosions this time from their walkie talkies. I saw a man. Those hands were gone.
We're examining how and why this attack is happening. The US sues the owners of that ship that took down a bridge.
They say this company
tried to cut costs and cut corners. My prosecutors describe this as gross negligence, and
president Trump says he's going to Springfield O
Ohio. You may never see me again, but that's okay.
I was words are already affecting a large and now endangered Asian community. From ABC News, this is start here. I'm Brad Milke. Hey. Marcus, are you okay?
Oh, yes.
I'm I'm I'm fine. Yeah. Thank you.
This is our foreign correspondent Marcus Moore. Yesterday, he arrived in Beirut, Lebanon to
cover 1 of the most bizarre moments of the Middle East conflict so far.
So for
the last 6 months, Hezbollah, the militant group that controls much of Lebanon that's been assaulting Northern Israel with rocket has been using pagers. Like someone in their orbit told them, Israel's got a line on your cell phones so they did something you might see in the TV show the wire, thousands of operatives dumped their phones. They bought these low tech beepers and started sending each other text messages with very simple codes. Until Tuesday when almost all of these pagers exploded.
This appears to be a highly sophisticated
and widespread attack across Lebanon. Thousands of basically miniature bombs went off, whether in people's pockets or on their belts or in their hands, 1000 were injured. 11 Hezbollah operatives were reported dead, but so were civilians, including children. Well, then, of course, if you're Hezbollah, you're not using your pager anymore, but they did have 1 other device for communication, walkie talkies, cut to Marcus out on the streets of Beirut yesterday.
We were there for a funeral, actually, for the, for 4 of the people who were were killed in Tuesdays pager explosions.
Wrong. All of
a sudden,
there was a loud boom, a loud explosion.
When Marcus looked over, what had been gray sidewalk was now dark, black ash.
We just put a loud explosion. And I saw a man
whose hands were gone. This man's walkie talkie had just exploded. A bomb had basically gone off in his hands. And just like the day before, this was happening all over Lebanon all at once.
We were right there literally 20 20 feet away. It was we're very lucky. 100 of people have now been injured
from stage 2 of what is clearly a widespread, sophisticated attack. So with that, let's start today with some analysis. Colonel Steven Ganyard is a former marine and state department official. He's now an ABC news contributor. Colonel Ganyard I'm still just trying to get my head wrapped around all this because it's so unprecedented.
It's kind of precise and sweeping at the same time. You've been thinking about this for the last 48 hours. I mean, how would you even do this? Can you just walk us through what you think is happening?
Yeah. So think about, we know that these pagers were shipped to a very small, kind of, shadowy company in Hungary. So 2 things could have happened. This could have been either a front company for Israeli intelligence where they would intercept these or put together these pages knowing that Hezbollah would be a consumer, or the Israelis would intercept the shipments as they came out of Hungary, delay them for 6 hours, implant explosives, and put them back on the on the postal truck back to Hezbollah, knowing that they would be distributed. So what they would have had to have done in terms of intelligence first, they would have had to have known what kind of pagers the that Hezbollah was using, then we would have had to have known where they were coming from.
Who was building them? What was the supply chain looking like? Would it be easier to to intercept before they got to hungry or after they got to hungry? How could they be sure that they were gonna get to Hezbollah. So lots of intelligence groundwork had to go into this operation.
Right? But then once you have the it have the explosives implanted, they're fairly unsophisticated devices as we know. I mean, you know, these are like something you'd see in a a in a movie in the 19 eighties or 1970. So it's not like this is sophisticated technology. It's not encrypted.
They're just using radio waves. So all the Israelis would have to do is implant some sort of code or a chip that when they sent the signal by radio waves across Lebanon, it would detonate all these pagers on command simultaneously at 3:30 in the afternoon.
And then for the walkie talkies then, is it have to almost do it again. Like, a whole I imagine there's a whole different shipment of devices.
Yes. Probably a different supplier, and so they would have had to have done that as well.
Well, so Israel has not confirmed or denied that they're behind this. They basically haven't commented. Is it possible that US intelligence just would not have known anything? Like, or, I guess, are there clues? And was this Israel?
It would have to be Israel. Not even the United States could pull off something this, this audacious or this well executed. And so nobody believes it's anybody but Israel because Israel would have the direct benefit of taking out so many Hezbollah fighters.
But what is the benefit colonel? Here's what I don't get. Why do this? Cause I'm imagining if you were able to sell Hezbollah, all these communication devices, you pulled off this intelligence coup, and now you could doctor their devices any way you wanted. This is what you would do.
You would implant little explosives in them. You wouldn't just keep listening to all their pages and calls and walkie talkie communications. Like, you're not even guaranteed to kill them. So why do this?
I'll give you 2 theories, Brad, and we'll see how in in the coming weeks and months, how things work out. So 1 theory is is that these Pagers and walkie talkies have been in play planted in Hezbollah hands for a number of months and that they actually didn't mean to set them off as soon as they did that in other words, this was if war breaks out We, the Israelis have a way to take out the majority of Hezbollah leadership and take away their ability to communicate. There are credible reports. Don't know if they're they're true, but there are credible reports that there were potential Hezbollah discovering that these, pagers had been implanted with explosives. And so the Israeli said, we gotta go now because we're gonna lose the element of surprise, and it all goes away.
That's 1 theory that it was sort of in case of war break glass kind of capability. The other is, and we've seen quite a bit of talk lately out of various factions within Israel, that it's time to go in to Lebanon and push Hezbollah north of the Latani River so that the settlers and the people who live in the northern villages of Israel can go back to their homes. So would this be something where the Israelis pull the trigger, have all of the, these, Hezbollah leadership that had these patriots on them be taken out of take away their communication ability as a prelude to going into Lebanon.
Like, this could be how you would win a battle that you really wanted to win or destabilize them for a moment at a crucial moment.
Right. So think about what they did, Brad. We know that Nasrol, the Hezbollah leader said, we can't use cell phones anymore because we know the Israelis are tracking up. Yep. Check.
So where do they go to? They go to pagers. The Israelis think, well, if they're gonna go to pagers, then why don't we intercept those pagers? And make sure that they don't use the pagers either. So now the pagers are gone, now the walkie talkies are gone, and now Hezbollah is forced to use either couriers or landlines.
And you can bet if they're using landlines that the Israelis have already found ways to intercept those landline communications. So they are boxing Hezbollah into a corner, taking away their ability to conduct coordinated attacks on Israel and taking away any measure of effectiveness they might have as a fighting organization.
Is this also a kind of PR for Israel, whether it's to show like a because their intelligence apparatus looked so bad in the aftermath of October 7th. Is this their way of saying like, we're back? Like, we we we can do almost anything we want.
Yeah. I think back to, a senior, Hamas leader being taken out in his bedroom in downtown Tehran in a secure compound. That's 1 of those, like, if you don't think we're gonna find you anywhere in the world and kill you, we just prove to you that we will. So you they're creating this psychological idea within the minds of both Hamas and Hezbollah that we will eventually hunt you down. And if you attack us and you kill our people, we will kill you in return.
Happens next kernel? Like, are we about to hear about everyone's laptops blowing up the later this week? Like, how how far could this go now? What's the next steps?
The Israelis have done things like this before, and this this idea of intercepting things within the supply chain to sabotage the US, there's open source reporting back in 2017 where the US intercepted materials that would were going to be used by North Korea to build their missiles. They'd induce defects. So it's not like the US or Israel or China or Russia doesn't do this kind of thing before. It's just the scale that we saw here. Most importantly, the problem for Hezbollah is more than 50% of their leadership is now either in a hospital or dead.
And they have no secure means of communication. Cell phones have been taken away. Pagers are gone. Walkie talkies are out, so you can either walk down the street to talk to somebody, or you can talk on a landline, which they know the Israelis have already penetrated.
Alright. Good luck with that. Alright. Colonel Steven Ganyard, really helpful info. Thank you so much.
Thanks, Brad.
It was late March when our gargantuan shipping vessel lost power and started drifting toward a support column for the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. When that bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River beneath it, that city lost 1 of its biggest roadways and 1 of the largest shipping channels in the nation. The Fort McHenry Channel didn't reopen for months.
This is not just impacting Maryland. This is impacting that farmer in Kentucky. It's impacting that auto dealer in Michigan. And so it is imperative that we get this bridge rebuilt.
There are lots of questions about why this ship, the M. V. Doll simply turned off and how much damage it had caused. Well, the justice department says it's got answers because it's showing the owner of that ship for a $100,000,000. ABC's Alex Mallin covers the DOJ.
Alex, what is this lawsuit? Yeah.
This is a roughly 50 page lawsuit against both the owner and the manager of that Dolly container ship that hit the Franciscope key bridge on March 26th this year. And some of the language in here, Brad, is just searing. They described their conduct as, quote, outrageous, grossly negligent, willful, wanting,
reckless, and basically say that
this tragedy was entirely avoidable, and they pin it all on the fact that the electrical and mechanical systems of the Dolly were so improperly managed and maintained in advance of that crash that there was no reason that that ship should have been coasting in the water that night. They basically walked through in detail in this lawsuit. How what we all witnessed in that video leading up to the crash. The power go off on the ship once, then it came back on, and it went off again.
Around 12725 seconds, the pilot issued a radio call over the VHF radio reporting that the dolly had lost all power and was approaching the bridge.
They walked through in this in this lawsuit. How basically the owners they say, had knowledge that this was a problem that all of the the cascading failures they described leading up to the ship crashing to that bridge were entirely preventable. And all the 4 means that they say that we're should have been in place to help control the dolly and prevent it from crashing into the bridge, the propeller, the rudder, the anchor, the bow thruster, All of those failed based on things that were alerted to the owners and the manager of the ship ahead of time. 1 of the anecdotes included in this lawsuit, Brad, relates to reports of heavy vibrations among crew members on the Dolly container ship. They they spoke to previous members of that crew who had said that those heavy vibrations were taking place long before that that night where it crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge as a response to kind of try and just patch up this problem, they say they effectively jury rigged the ship basically placing, you know, welds, in to repair cracks, then also wedging a metal cargo hook between a transformer and a nearby steel beam.
Again, they just, you know, go over and over how they say this company tried to cut costs and cut corners in order to, you know, make the ship appear that it could be functional, but it just was not.
So who are the owners? I'm like, what should they have been doing in the eyes of the US government? Yeah.
I mean, it's Grace Ocean Private Limited And Synergy Marine. And, obviously, we've reached out to them for comment. They maintain that they're gonna do their talking in in in court, Brad. It's a Singapore and company, but they've maintained, you know, that they are willing to pay about $44,000,000, to settle the claims of liability. And this this lawsuit by the justice department is them clearly saying that doesn't even scratch the surface of what we want you pay.
This could just be 1 part of the liability they say that company owes.
Well,
that's what I was gonna say. A $100,000,000, he's even seems to be selling it short. Right? Like, is that all is that all that this ended up costing, the city in the country? Yeah.
I mean, this just simply relates to the cost to the US government, relating to the clearing of the bridge debris and the Dolly container ship. That was about a, you know, 2 months long
effort that involved barges, you know, ships, just towing,
you know, mass scraps of metal out of that harbor.
The wreckage on the bottom of the 50 foot channel is far more extensive than than we could have imagined.
As part of this lawsuit, they
say that this does not cover things like the actual
damage to the bridge itself. Those costs are actually born to the state of Maryland, which is, you know, expected to seek its own damages against the company. And this DOJ lawsuit obviously will bolster, any efforts including among, you know, the 6 victims who tragically perished, their families are also suing the company for damages. And further showing that this kind of just scratches the surface of what this is ultimately gonna cost. You know, we've heard from Maryland officials recently.
They think it's gonna take more than 4 years to fully reconstruct a bridge where the Francis Scott Key Bridge was And they say that that could cost between $1,700,000,000 $1,900,000,000. Again, Brad, this is just a 100,000,000 at this initial set of, damages that the justice department is seeking.
About 4 years of rebuilding all that money. And you think about the lives like you mentioned, and the livelihoods that have been affected because of this as you kind of just radiate outwards from everything involving these shipping channels and these shipping lanes. Alex Mallin reporting on this out of Washington. Thank you so much. Thanks, Brad.
There were a few big political headlines
yesterday, each of which tells you a lot about this race at the moment. The first came from 1 of the country's largest unions, the teamsters, who said
they are not endorsing a presidential candidate this year. They've traditionally supported Democrats. Right? So this is a huge blow for vice president Kamala Harris and for president Joe Biden, who promised to govern with labor unions at the top of his mind, and he is largely delivered It was his administration that allocated 1,000,000,000 of aid dollars to keep Teamsters pension plans intact, but according to the union, a straw poll showed
that most members actually favored Trump. The other headline was from the
Wall Street Journal reporting that earlier this month, a staffer for Republican vice presidential candidate JD
Vance called the city manager for Springfield, Ohio and asked if there was any truth to these internet rumors about Haitian migrants
eating pets. The city manager apparently said no, just as he later told ABC News, but that didn't stop JD Vance from posting about it the very next day. And in some ways, this headline tells you a lot about what you need to know about the state of the race, a story being used as a political wedge issue despite being told at every opportunity that it's false, and yet this week, it is still having real consequences on people in this town. ABC senior national correspondent Terry Moran actually traveled to Springfield to get some facts to get to the bottom of this. Terry Just so we're clear off the top, there's still no evidence that, like, this eating cats and dogs claim is true.
Right? No. There's no evidence at all, about it. And as you say, Jay De Vance was told that by the city manager. And in fact, even going beyond that, 1 of the people who originally started spreading the the idea she thought her cat had been stolen by migrants told the Wall Street Journal that, no, the cat was just gone for a while as cats will do.
They roam by their nature and had returned to the basement. And apologized to her Haitian neighbors. And yet, as you say, even though JD Vance had been told by the city manager who had consulted with police, that there was no evidence, no substantiation his notion that pets were being eaten in Springfield. He went with it the next day online. Trump brought it to national attention.
In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cat.
And that city was off to the races in trying to figure out how to handle what had become a national talking point. My constituents are telling me firsthand that they're seeing these things. Vance went on CNN He defended what he was doing, saying he had heard from his constituents
about these alleged events. And he said the American media totally ignored this stuff
until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat
memes.
If I have to if I have to
create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm gonna do, Danube.
By that, he meant if he had to create attention to an unsubstantiated story, he'd do it because he thought there were real issues involved.
Yeah. What what is the effect on the town, especially for these Haitians? I guess, who we should remember? These people are here legal.
Well, that's right. So and that is something that, you know, comes up a lot. They're called illegal migrants. They aren't. These are people who are there lawfully under a federal program that dates back to the Reagan Administration and are essentially there for humanitarian reasons.
Great, Mister Mayor. Thank you very much for your time. Springfield is actually a really nice city. What's the best thing about Springfield? Springfield is
a place where we come together to solve problems. We're a collaborative city. We we care about each other.
It's actually a city that works halfway between Columbus and Dayton. It's kind of a commuter city for both the the job situation is very good. And 1 of the problems that Springfield is having is growth.
You know, we're budgeted city for 60,000 for 58,000, and then you add 25% of of people to our community in just a short time. We haven't had enough time to pivot or adjust well.
It's the kind of problem that lots of cities in the Midwest, you know, would give their right arm to have. They needed workers. They brought the Haitian, many Haitians in to fill some of those jobs. Have they been welcomed as well?
The Haitian? There's a that's been across the spectrum of there's folks that aren't necessarily excited that they're here, and there's folks that are, welcoming that they're here.
How do you feel?
This is this is trying to get my arms around it and try to embrace them as they're here. They're here legally. And I don't like to see any group, any as a human being only see any group painted with such hate. And so I feel compassion for the Haitians.
Yeah. So what does that end up looking like, I guess, for I mean, there are thousands of Haitian families now in this area.
So they're they're shocked by what is happening to them and in despair a little bit.
Oh, it's kind of scary. Like, Haitian people, they they scared to go out because they are worried about the life, the safety, and all that.
There's a chill that's come down now, over that city that I think depresses people both in the in the native majority community and and the newly arrived Haitians.
I'm embarrassed. The way we've treated the Haitians, honestly.
People can't go to work. People are afraid. There's bomb threats. It's just absolute craziness.
School children being evacuated day after day because of bomb threats dozens of them. Coming from out of the country according to governor, Mike DeWine. He didn't say from where. We can be assured that we will have troopers there. We will have troopers very visible.
These troopers will go through the building before anybody enters that building. This is affected not just their lives, but kinda deep inside to realize that they've been to use the verb of today. They've been othered. They've been othered by the nation Are you afraid?
We're all afraid. I am afraid. My family is afraid. Yep.
So we also talked with, Migolito Jerome and, and his colleague Marjorie who run a a kind of internet radio service there called the new diaspora Live.
Here, we work on promoting, different culture. It's a diverse, you know, studio we have here where we have different show rebroadcast and Haitian creole, which is our main language.
Once again, there's there's this sense of wounded pride. Certainly, they felt they're contributing that this community is contributing to Springfield. And that's what business leaders, that's what the mayor, that's what the governor, affirm.
So you mean to tell me, a Haitian that comes here rather than going to Walmart, or because they said they'd taken all the food stamps, They're gonna go to someone's house, break into your house to steal your pet. Yeah. Took eat.
And yet here they are now being scapegoated
as savages. The concept
of just eating a
pit sounds like eating a human being to me.
And Marge was broadcasting at New diaspora live. You know, talked about how she had to face down people who were angry about this wild story that was coming out.
Well, I guess it was some agitators that were sent to start a strife. Do you know our mindset was just like, he's angry and I'm gonna accept it and understand where's his anger come from?
Am I right?
And she walked up to a man that she knew you know, was very, very upset, had believed everything that was being said about the Asian community.
I I said, I hope you don't mind me doing this. I hug everybody. I'm a hugger. And I said, I understand you're paying. I hugged him.
His eyes was in tears because he was coming for confrontation. And I told him, I feel your pain. I know you're angry. I said, but I'm just gonna hug you.
People don't wanna be like this. They can get riled up. Everything can happen in the presidential election, but what I saw in Springfield were people, trying to come to terms with getting caught up in the cyclone of a presidential election and trying to get out of it. Well and
that's kind of my last question, Terry, is zooming out. I guess I'm wondering what can this saga sort of tell the rest of the country, especially as as former president Trump says he wants to visit Springfield. Like, this was not something that was said as a 1 off. Right? This is being very much focused on and hammered by the Trump campaign even after the the whole at the debate.
So what does this say going forward?
Well, there's no question that Donald Trump has said he wants to come to Springfield.
You may never see me again, but that's okay. Gotta do what I gotta do. Whatever happened to Trump while he never got out of Springfield.
Both the governor and the mayor said this is not the time for any presidential candidate to come. It had strained the resources, which are already strained.
I think I've I think any city would be concerned about having a candidate here, but I think we'll be definitely concerned about our security here.
Would you said that a month ago? I don't know.
Don't know what I said a month ago with the situation.
But what it says is Trump is really and Vance are really running a campaign of memes. And a lot of the people I talked to in Springfield are nowhere near as online addicted as JD Vance and Donald Trump and some of their chief supporters seem to be. They don't get it. They want pragmatic solutions to the problems of of growth. Which is has good problems to have that the Haitian migration, lawful
Haitian migration has brought to their town. They don't get the whole tenor and approach of the Trump campaign, which
is find some flashpoint spread it online, get people riled up, and drive it home. We will see that could be a successful strategy or not. My my
sense is that with a lot of people in Springfield, it just seemed
why are they doing that? And that may not win all the votes that Trump and Vance think it would.
Yeah. And that's kinda what I just find so interesting about this is there's local stories, there's national stories, but then they ping back and forth and kind of inflate each other in sort of the modern attention economy. Terry Moran, thank you so much.
You bet.
And 1 last thing. I was at an airport recently heading the security and overheard someone just mutter near me by the pre check line. Forget you TSA pre, he said, as he went into regular security, So when he said forget you, that was not the f word he actually used. Well, buckle up, because a version of that is coming to your next Uber ride.
Would you say this is almost like a TSA pre check for Uber? Exactly.
Yesterday, an ABC News exclusive, Uber CEO, Dara Kosrowshaw He revealed that they're gonna start handing out little verification check marks to riders who can prove their identity on the app.
You know, everyone wants a high rating. At the same time, you also want to be verified so the driver can feel safe and good when they're giving you that ride.
It won't cost anything the way it does for flights, but the concept is similar. Uber with snapshots of your face and your driver's license will now know your real identity before and crucially after you end your ride. To which you might think, so what? How would that help me? Well, this is more of a measure to protect driver
What? What? What?
What? For years, while Uber has published stats on fatal accidents and
sexual assaults involving drivers and riders, they've never quantified just how many of their drivers have encountered
violence or threats or intimidating behavior. We know what happens through video accounts, and drivers can file complaints with Uber, but it's tough to ban those abusive riders for good when they can just set up new accounts. This offering to its drivers is also why Uber is rolling out a recording feature on its app in which that phone showing the driver's directions might now also be recording video and audio of you. Uber drivers say there is 1 tangible way in which this will benefit riders, though.
If you're verified, it's just how us say, yep. We'll get that ride. You'll get a ride quicker. It just makes life easier for everybody.
Which means, again, even though there's no cost to registering, you might get that same sort of divide between those with check marks and those who would rather forget about them. And the app this morning is already asking people to verify their identities. So hit ready. Or in all these stories on ABC News Live, which you can watch wherever you stream live news. I'm Brad Milke.
I'll see you tomorrow.
You are watching America's number 1 stream news. Keep streaming with ABC News Live.
Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children. We're kidnapped.
Your mom and dad are gonna be right here on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
and people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own chill trend.
After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America go free?
Killer mom now streaming on Hulu. ABC news live honored with 8 Emmy nominations, more than any other streaming news network and ABC news live prime with Lindsey Davis, the first and only screening show nominated for best outstanding live news program.
Thank you for making ABC news live. America's number 1 screening news.
Reporting from San Francisco, I'm Selena Way. Wherever the story is, we'll take you there. You're streaming ABC News Live.
Hi. I'm Diane Musado today on ABC News Live. First, another round of device explosions, rock Lebanon, and Syria. At least 20 people are dead and thousands injured. What we're learning about who was behind the attacks and how the White House is responding.
Former president Trump says he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio. This comes after amplifying false claims about Haitian migrants eating pets there, how vice president Kamala Harris is responding. New claims of election interference, officials accuse Iran of hacking the Trump campaign, what they say happened, and the major tech company now issuing a stark warning about threats from foreign act years. And an urgent health alert about dengue fever where the disease is now spreading and what doctors say is the best way to protect yourself. But first, concerns are growing about war spreading after a second wave of device explosions across Lebanon and Syria.
Hezbollah members walkie talkies detonated yesterday, killing more than 2 dozen and injuring thousands. Israel is not claiming responsibility, but officials tell ABC news Israel is behind the operation. It comes just a day after thousands of Hezbollah Pagers exploded across Lebanon. Now the leader of Hezbollah is expected to deliver a speech after vowing revenge for the attacks. Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore has the latest from Beirut.
The scenes of fear and panic
as explosions erupted across Lebanon for the 2nd day, killing 20 people and injuring 450. Lebanese officials said this latest wave of exploding devices, including walkie talkies and solar energy systems. Video on social media showing the moment a device exploded at the funeral of a Hezbollah militant. Fighting up. And the explosion a man falls to the ground, and we were just feet away from another blast.
The crowd panicking in the chaos. We're just not allowing closing. And I saw a man whose hands were gone. Terror and confusion on the faces of children running inside. The attacks over 2 days, killing more than 32 people including 2 children.
Sources confirming to ABC News, Israel was behind Tuesday's attack targeting Hezbollah with thousands of exploding pagers. Photos circulating on social media appear to show the remains of the pager model used in Tuesday, synchronized attack. While Israel has yet to publicly claim responsibility, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking out. Saying that they will return residents of the northern border to their homes safely.
Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore joins me live now from Beirut. Marcus, you were just feet away from 1 of these explosions sites yesterday. You say you even saw a man whose walkie talkie went off in his hands. What was that like? And how's your team doing now?
Well, Diane, our our team is fine. There were several of us there, 4 of us, there when this happened. And and and, thankfully, no 1 was was injured. And, certainly, while we were very close to the the man who's a radio explode, and it just really just came out of nowhere. So no 1 was expecting that, and you saw the the the the chaos
unfolding on that video. And you could hear the screams of people absolutely frightened and and running in every single direction.
We don't how that man was doing, but I can tell you that he was very badly injured, to both of his hands, their bank.
Marcus, what are you hearing from people there about these attacks?
If I've talked to a couple of, Lebanese people here today, who told me that they're they're scared, that these events, have left them even more, on edge. Certainly, as you know, since the October 7th attacks in the war that has followed, people here in Beirut, particularly Southern Lebanon have have faced many days of of of uncertainty and of tension. But these events that we've seen over the past couple of days have only made that I have only made that worst, Diane.
And, Mark, as the leader of Hezbollah is expected to deliver a speech today, what are you watching for there?
We will certainly be be waiting to hear, what the response might be from Hezbollah. Hassan Nasralla, often delivers speeches,
and talks about Hezbollah's role and how they will continue to support,
Palestinians and Gaza. And and the and that they will continue their efforts no matter what. So we'll be we'll be waiting to to assess the tone, Diane, of this speech. But I wanna make an interesting point here, oftentimes when Nasralla speaks, they have gatherings in Tahia, the Southern Up, suburb of Beirut's Hezbollah stronghold, where thousands of people show up to watch him speak on a big video monitor. We understand that today, there will be no gatherings and that his speech will only be carried, on television.
Alright. Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore in Beirut. Marcus, thank you. Stay safe. Meanwhile, secretary of state entity blinking is insisting the US has nothing to do with these attacks.
The White House says the US doesn't want to see escalation of any kind. Chief Global Affairs correspondent Martha Raditz has more on that part of the story from Tel Aviv Israel.
Secretary of State Toni Blinken has now left the region. Like others in the administration, Blinken insisting that the US had nothing to do with these attacks and was not told in advance of the details, but officials tell ABC news that the Israelis did alert US officials, including defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, that they would be conducting an operation against Hezbollah beginning last Tuesday. But the US was not told it would involve exploding pagers and walkie talkies. And while the administration has denied any involvement, they have not condemned the attack. What they have done is plead with all those involved not to let this conflict escalate even as the Israeli shift more troops north towards the border.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, the war continues the Israelis, saying today that they conducted an operation and air strike on a former school, killing several Hamas operatives. Diane.
Chief Global Affairs correspondent Martha Radix in Tel Aviv. Thank you. Let's bring an ABC's contributor, former homeland security official, Elizabeth Newman, for more. Elizabeth, how significant is this escalation in the region?
It's pretty concerning that that there
is a situation, that is escalating by these pages going off. It's not clear at this time that they intended for it to go off when it did. There's some indications that perhaps has, well, I had discovered something was wrong with the pagers, and they had escalated their plans. But perhaps these pagers were there, as a fail safe, as a just in case in case things were to escalate to war, Since they have gone off, there there are increasing concerns that, things may escalate. And, of course, from a homeland perspective, we would be very concerned about that.
Tesla does have capabilities around the globe, and has posed problems in the US before.
So how concerning is it that these are everyday devices now being used as a weapon of war?
I mean, from a psychological perspective, this is very impactful. Right? If you are in Lebanon right now, you are worried that every device in your home, in any place of work, going out in public spaces could explode. You can imagine the fear that would set in. And certainly, while you don't want that for civilian populations, for a terrorist organization like Heswala is, it it might cause them to to pause.
It might cause them disruption and whatever plans they might have had underway. It certainly makes communications very, very difficult, which, and and there's a lot that we don't know if for example, Israel had indications that they were about to do something, by disrupting their communications. That certainly makes it much more difficult to pull off an operation.
And what if we're not in Lebanon? How concerned should we all be about this? Are we are we all now carrying potential bombs in our pocket every day?
I'm thankful that the supply chain in the US is much more rigorous. We have a lot of good checks in place, but there was a few years ago that, a law was passed to actually strengthen our supply chain, to make sure that secondary and tertiary sources that go up to that main manufacturer, are known, that they're not coming from an nefarious source, like, a, like, a country that we don't trust, and that they can't be intercepted And and that law is, being implemented as we speak. So there are still vulnerabilities in our supply chain. We typically worry more about a hostile actor using some sort of cyber means to disrupt, not necessarily to cause things to explode, but I I would definitely say that when we saw this, it it the first thing that came to mind is this is why it's really important that we understand where our supply chain, all parts of the supply chain and who is contributing to it to make sure the products that come into the United States are safe.
Alright. ABC's contributor former homeland security official Elizabeth Newman. Thank you. Meanwhile, Israeli officials say they foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate prime minister Netanyahu and other top leaders. Police and intelligence officials are accusing a 73 year old Israeli businessman of smuggling himself into Iran to meet with intelligence officials there.
Officials say the alleged plots were intended as
retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader
ismail Hani in July. ABC's Lama Hassan joins me now for more on that. Lama, what's the latest?
Yeah. So all we have at the moment, Diane, is a statement that was released by Israeli police and domestic intelligence, and that is that an Israeli citizen who has been identified as 73 year old Moti Moman from Southern Israel. He was arrested on suspicion of being involved in a plot to assassinate prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an Iranian plot, they believe. They also believe that he was recruited by Iranian intelligence He was smuggled in twice to Iran and reportedly received payment for carrying out missions. In this statement, they also said that, he was a businessman who had lived in Turkey and had Turkish contacts.
He had helped get him into Iran. He also had at least 2 meetings in Iran to discuss the possibility of not only assassinating the prime minister, but also the defense minister Joav Gallant, or the head of the Xin Bet domestic intelligence a agency. Now the statement also points out that he was arrested last month but this information has only come into us today, and we we don't know how far along the man was with his alleged plot, Diane.
So what could this mean in terms of escalating conflict in the region?
So, Diane, we know that this arrest comes during a time when tensions are increasing in the region, but it also comes during a time when the prime minister is being attacked politically with protesters calling Netanyahu, a war criminal, but it's hard to see how this will affect the increasing tensions at the moment, but perhaps this will ratchet things up with Iran given that, Israeli police believed that this was an Iranian plot.
And what are the next steps in this investigation now,
So we understand that, he will remain in custody. His detention to be extended was approved. His lawyer said that, his client, had greatly assisted Israeli security services, but herded judgment with his business dealings. And in the meantime, the Israeli security agency, says that, they will continue their efforts to monitor Iranian activities that are aimed at recruiting, and operating Israeli agents, and thwarting them. Diane?
Alright. Loma Hassan in London. Thank you. And US Intelligence agencies are accusing Iran of hacking the Trump campaign. They're also alleging Iran sent that stolen information to people associated with the Biden campaign.
ABC's chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas has the the
FBI Homeland Security Cyber officials and the director of National Intelligence with a disturbing new claim about the Iranian government's secret effort to target our election. Accusing Iranian hackers of stealing non public material from former president Trump's campaign and then sending it directly to individuals associated with president Biden's campaign. The joint intelligence statement makes clear that the stolen information which was sent in the form of emails was not solicited by any Biden campaign official, and there's no evidence they responded. Wow. But overnight, that didn't stop former president Trump from raising questions and his campaign was quick to demand more information about how the Biden campaign responded to the hack which took place earlier this summer before Biden dropped out of the race.
They just released a report confirming that Iran actors hacked into the Trump campaign's email accounts and in turn sought to give the hacked materials to the Biden Harris campaign.
The Harris Walsh campaign quickly responding. Condemning any kind of foreign election interference. They said they cooperated with law enforcement, noting that they were unaware of any stolen information being sent directly to the campaign. Instead, they said it went to the personal email of individuals tied to the campaign and that it looked like spam. On Wednesday, the president and vice chairman of Microsoft issuing a stark warning to Congress.
There are real and serious threats, and it is an election where Russia, Iran, and China are united with a common interest in discrediting democracy
in the eyes of our own voters, but this has also become an election of Iran
versus Trump and Russia versus Harris.
Intelligence officials say that foreign election interference may only get worse down the stretch of the campaign, and Microsoft is warning that the final hours before the election would likely to be the most active and perhaps the most scary. Diane?
Chief Justice correspondent, Peter Thomas.
Thank you. Former president
Trump now says plans to visit Springfield, Ohio after amplifying false claims about Haitian migrants in the town. The former president says he wants to visit Springfield in the next 2 weeks. Meanwhile, vice president Harris is slamming Trump's plans for mass deportation of migrants. ABC's new senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott is tracking the campaigns for us.
Donald Trump telling his supporters he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio after amplifying false claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield were eating neighborhood pets.
You may never see me again, but that's okay. Gotta do what I gotta do. Whatever happened to Trump, well, he never got out of Springfield.
Springfield's mayor has warned against a visit from any candidate. The city has had at least 33 bomb threats.
Here would be an extreme strain on our resources.
So it would be fine with
me if they decided not to make that stop right now.
Trump going after the mayor at his rally on Long Island, New York.
I think he's a very nice person. But instead of saying we're getting them all out, we're getting them out. He says very simply, we're hiring teachers to teach them English. Can you believe it? We are hiring interpreters
The Republican governor of Ohio has defended Haitian immigrants, most of whom are in the country legally, calling them a boost to the economy. The former president once again promising to carry out the largest deportation in US history. His rival vice president, Kamwa Harris, calling it extreme.
Imagine what that would look like and what that would be. How's that gonna happen? Massive rates, massive detention camps,
What are they talking about?
Trump also made misleading claims that he won the endorsement of 1 of the most powerful unions in the country, the Teamsters, which has 1,300,000 members. The reality, the teamsters announced it will not be endorsing a candidate this election. Union president Sean O'Brien stating neither candidate made serious commitments to ensure the interests of working people are always put before big business. Syan, both candidates were going all out for that endorsement. So we are now less than 7 weeks out from the election.
Early in person voting begins tomorrow in some key states, and a New York time Sienna poll that is out this morning shows that the race is deadlocked nationally in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania Harris has a 4 point edge on Donald Trump Diane.
Alright. Senior congressional correspondent, Rachel Scott. Thanks, Rachel. Coming up, the Fed cuts interest rates for the 1st time in 4 years, what it means for mortgages, credit card bills, and your bottom line.
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When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
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After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America, go free.
Killer mom. Now streaming on Hulu. Welcome back to ABC News Live. First, it is time for our weekly segment, ask Alexis, where business report
Christopher shares financial advice on the topics that matter most to you. And today, she's here to answer your questions on the historic interest rate decision and what it means for your finances. So Alexis, break this down for us because we're pretty much all impacted by this. So what does this do for our bottom line?
So here's the deal. The Fed raised interest rates 11 times in the past few years to combat high inflation. So it's gonna take more than just 1 rate cut from the Fed. For us to really feel the impact in our wallet, but there are some changes happening immediately. We wanna highlight some of those for you today.
And the first 1 we wanna talk about credit cards. Right? So when you factor in that half point cut yesterday, the average interest rate on a credit card right now is 20.28 percent. Still very high. The average balance, over $63100, but what does it mean for your wallet?
A savings of $3 a month. I told you it wasn't gonna be big. Right? But at least it is something, and we're not gonna say no to that. Alright.
Let's bring up auto loans because if you had a 5 month new car loan with that rate cut yesterday, the average, interest rate still at 7 point 21 percent, average loan price, $35,000 for a new car. That's gonna save you 8 bucks a month in savings. I mean, it adds up, right, as the months go by. But, again, you get the pattern here. We're not seeing a lot of difference.
Mortgage rates, they have been trending lower in anticipation of the Fed's rate cut. Right now, the 30 year at 6.2%. Remember, last year, we were at 8% about a year ago. So we took an example here. Median home price 422,000.
That is a narrow record high right now. Monthly payment with the 6.2 percent, a little over $2000 versus nearly 25100. Last year, a savings $411 a month, and that is a very nice savings. And, of course, it adds up over time. And, Diane, the good thing here is this first rate cut is supposed to be the first of many.
You know, analysts are expecting the Fed to cut rates again at their November December meeting and well into next year.
So, Alexis, what are the downsides to the Fed cutting interest rates?
Yeah. You think it's all, you know, oh, this is great news. And and and it is great news because we've been under these high interest rates for so long, but if you've been having your money in the bank, putting it in a CD or a high yield savings account. You've been making more interest. Sometimes 5 a half, 6% depending on where you go, those interest rates are already starting to come down.
But overall, good news for Americans, who are looking to borrow money.
Alright. Business reporter, Alexis, Kristoffers. Always great to have you break these down for us, Alexis. Thank you. Thanks.
Coming out the sky high cost of weight loss drugs has people looking for cheaper alternatives, but how effective are they and how do they work? We have a weight loss stock are weighing in.
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Welcome back to ABC News Live. 1st, the high
cost of drugs like Ozempic and Wigovey has many people seeking cheaper alternatives, including so called natural Ozempic. Now these supplements, including 1 from Courtney Kardashian's wellness brand, claimed to help regulate blood sugar and suppress your appetite, ultimately leading to weight loss. But how effective are they? Chief of bariatric surgery and co director of the center for weight loss and metabolic health at Hackensack University Medical Center. Doctor Hans Schmidt joins me now from war.
Doctor Schmidt, thank you for coming on. Talk me through the difference here. How do drugs like Ozempic and We Go V work versus how these supplements work?
Sure. Thanks so much for having me on this morning. Wagovee and Ozempic are, agonists of a normally occurring, hormone in your gastrointestinal tract. So normally after you eat a a big meal, food goes into your lower intestines and this hormone is made that then feeds back to your hand. It feeds back to your stomach.
It says you are no longer hungry that you're full. It slows your gastric emptying. And it has all these effects to to sort of stop you from eating. So they they developed this medication, which is which is an an analog of those hormones, but but but this, this, semaglutide, which is Ozempic or Wagovi, last in your system for a whole week. So you take the shot once a week, and it has the same effect of making you feel full taking away your hunger, that the normal hormone does.
So now over the counter medications have come out saying that they have GLP 1 like effects but, there's really no data to suggest that they, change your GLP 1 levels, at all. There's been no
trials to confirm this. Now we know that these drugs are effective when it comes to weight loss.
So how affects
of are the supplements?
Again, there's there's no data, at all, to suggest that that they increase your GLP, 1 levels. There's 1 supplement out there that did a couple clinical trials but the company sponsored the clinical trial. So you want something to be independently evaluated, by a, by a third party to confirm that they actually work, like Ozempic and Wagovey, where the company spent 1,000,000,000 of dollars to develop and, test these medications, in the over the counter supplements, as far as I know, there's there's no data to suggest that they that they're effective.
And the these weight loss drugs have also been shown to provide benefits Outside of weight loss, right, like improving blood pressure, cholesterol, cardiovascular disease? Can supplements help with these conditions too?
Yeah, the medications are very effective. Ozempic actually started as a diabetic drug and, was then shown that people on it tend to lose a lot of weight. The weight loss improves their cardiovascular health, sleep apnea, and other problems. You know, if there are, supplements out there that do increase your GL 1 levels, you would expect a similar response. But as I said earlier, I don't think that the supplements have been shown, to affect your, GLP regardless of, of, the claims that they make.
Now supplements are not regulated by organizations like the FDA. So what does that mean for safety?
Well, again, to get a drug on the market has to go through years of testing, to be sure that they're safe and and and don't have side effects whereas supplements don't, you know, if it's a these are all basically plant based extracts, which can just be marketed to the public without undergoing this this rigorous testing. And, you know, the the medications, which are by prescription only, and are very, expensive. If over the counter supplement worked just as well, right, everybody would be taking them. Nobody would be spending $10,000 a year on Ozempic if they could just go to the, you know, the corner store and and pick up a supplement that we're just as well.
Alright. Doctor Hunch Smith. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Coming up, Sean Diddie Combs ordered to remain behind bars while the judge rejected his appeal as he awaits trial on trafficking and racketeering charges. Also ahead, Mister Beast, under fire, why the YouTube stars production companies being sued by contestants on his new reality show. Plus a sheriff deputy's daring rescue caught on camera, how she saved a driver experiencing a medical emergency. Why do so many
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It was a regular day for 19 year old Melissa Witt.
Something terrible had happened
to her.
He had several suspects.
All these kinds of leads.
A known serial killer in your area, could he be involved? We're actually finding key evidence that could have slipped to the crack sir?
Her last hours on this Earth with her horrific.
This beautiful gimbal. Police will find out what happened.
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News Live.
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2 small children were kidnapped.
Your mom and dad are gonna be right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
and people don't know about it. What kind of mother
would kill her own children?
After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in go free.
Killerbomb. Now streaming
on Hulu. Welcome back to ABC News Live.
First, thanks for streaming with
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at Capitol Hill on this Thursday, and we have a lot of news to get to. Here's a rundown right now. At least 20 people are dead and 450 injured after a second wave of wireless device explosions in Lebanon and Syria. Israel is not claiming responsibility, but officials tell ABC news Israel is behind that operation. It comes just a day after thousands of Hezbollah Pagers exploded across Lebanon photos circulating on
social media appeared to show the remains of the pager model used in
Tuesday's synchronized attack. Kentucky State Police say they they've recovered the body of the suspect in the I 75 shootings after a 12 day manhunt. Officials say Joseph Crouch was initially named a person of interest after deputies found who's abandoned SUV and an AR 5th King Rifle near exit 49. 5 people were wounded in the shooting. Officials say the coroner's office will make a final determination on whether that body found belonged
to crouch.
Boeing says it will furlough nonunion employees save money amid an ongoing strike. The plane manufacturer said the move could impact tens of thousands of employees. Federal mediators are involved in the negotiations between the union and management. And Pennsylvania is joining the growing list of states officially making flag football girls high school sport. Inaugural season with kickoff next year, nearly 43,000 girls participated in flag football last season, a 105% increase from the previous year.
The surge in interest comes as the Olympic Committee announced flag football will be an official export for men and women starting at the 2028 Los Angeles games. And Sean Didi Combs will stay in jail until his trial. A New York judge rejected the rapper's appeal for bail expressing concerns over what could happen to the case if combs were to remain free. But his attorney says the conditions of the jail are, quote, horrific. The music mogul has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges, offering a $50,000,000 bond backed by his Miami estate.
Senior investigative correspondent, Aaron Kotersky, has the latest.
Millionaire, Rhett Mogo, Sean Holmes, who has been known as Diddy, Puffy, and Love is now inmate 37452 dash 054. After a judge rejected his appeal to be released on bail.
The fight continues. We're not we're we're we're not we're not giving up by a long shot.
Combs offering a $50,000,000 bond backed by his Miami estate, the same 1 rated by the feds last spring. His lawyers showed the court these pictures to prove its value. He even offered to restrict female visitors give up his cell phone and be monitored by live in security guards. But the judge said there were no conditions that could keep combs from endangering women or from tampering with witnesses. The judge pointing to this alarming 2016 video obtained by CNN showing Holmes kicking
and dragging former girlfriend and protege Cassie Ventura, calling it clear evidence of dangerousness. When the defense
argued the footage captured the end of the couple's 10 year loving relationship. The judge interrupted saying, what's love? Got to do with that.
Mister Combs has has maintained that he's he's innocent. He's a smart guy. He knows what he did and what he didn't do.
If you use Mom Pros, you could dog both.
Combs' lavish lifestyle. In a trademark of his music and persona. The scene here showing off 1 of his mansions to Vogue in 2017.
All for the kids, the family, the weather.
Now he's being housed in a special unit away from the general population in the same jail where other high profile defendants spend time, including R Kelly, Gillette Maxwell
and Sam Bankman Freed. Senior investigator correspondent, Aaron Kotersky, joins me now from
war on this.
Aaron Holmes's attorney fought to keep him out of jail, but the judge now the second judge says he has to go back to jail and will remain there because they fear he could still be a danger to his alleged victim. So what's the latest on this? Can they appeal again, or is this a done deal now?
They can appeal again to a federal appeals court and Mark Agnifelow calms as defense attorney said he would, because he believes that the evidence, certainly shows something the defense disagrees with. They they see the evidence vastly differently than prosecutors do, and they say that there are conditions. Oh, he can remain on house arrest. He can have a visitor log kept by a private security firm made up of retired cops. People that the court can trust to make sure that did he is doing what he's supposed to do and maybe more importantly not what he's not supposed to do.
And the judge just said he he didn't see any conditions that could keep Sean calms from being a danger to women or from tampering with witnesses because prosecutors quoted conversations he allegedly had with some women, coercing them to stay on his side.
Combs's attorneys also said that they'll try to get him moved to a different jail. They're calling the conditions he's in now horrific. What would that do And how realistic is it that they would grant this request for him to move to a different jail?
I don't think it's very realistic. The the defense attorney mentioned a county jail in in Essex County, New Jersey near Newark Airport. I suppose it's possible, but it's just not customary. If you're facing federal charges in New York, you're housed at MDC Brooklyn, and the place is to prep it. I mean, even a federal judge has said the conditions there are dangerous and barbaric.
Every defendant who's been housed in there, whose cases we've covered, and you saw some of the names, Glenn Maxwell, R Kelly, Sam Bankman, Fried, Keith Renery, from Nixxiom. They've all complained about the their treatment while incarcerated at MDC, Brooklyn, and it just doesn't matter.
So, Aaron, what happens next?
Colmes will return to court on October 9th before then, his attorney may well file appeal with the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals to try and get him released on bail. We'll see if they're any more successful there. But the way he's charged, Diane, the the kinds of charges that did he face has come with the presumption that he is going to be denied bail. So it's a tall order for the defense on a Alright.
Senior investigative correspondent, Erin Kotirski. Erin, thank you. And popular YouTuber, Mister Beast, and Amazon are facing lawsuit over a new reality competition. 5 contestants say the show wasn't what they thought it was going to be and that they were misled from the start. ABC News Eva Pilgrim has more.
Whoever leaves the circle last wins $500,000. Mister Beast, a 26
year old multimillionaire and YouTube megastar now under fire. His production company sued along with Amazon by the contestants of his new reality show.
We're hearing a thousand people's lives in.
The class action lawsuit claiming the Amazon Prime Show exploited the labor of the contestant alleging sexual harassment, and a hostile work environment. The show, a partnership between Mister Beast, Jimmy Donaldson, and Amazon Prime Video.
Marketed Beast Games as the biggest
reality competition series ever with 1000 contestants competing for a $5,000,000 cash prize, the biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming.
But now 5 of those contestants claiming the show didn't provide fair wages or
even bare minimum legal working conditions. Many
are still awaiting their promised reimbursement.
There was a lot of control over their sleeping arrangements over the food, when and where, whether they or not they could go to the bathroom. The lawsuit detailing what the contest
call unreasonable, unsafe, and unlawful employment conditions. Writing the show only allowed them to be fed sporadically and sparsely fostered a culture of misogyny and sexism and had insufficient medical staff to attend a potential and actual injuries during the production. There were several reports of injuries. Court documents, including a copy of a manual titled How To Success In Mister Beast production, that states really do everything you can to empower the boys when filming. Help them be idiots.
The very first question, I think, here, is do game show contestant particularly in the Los Angeles area where there are a lot of game shows, do they qualify as employees under California law?
And ABC has reached out to Donaldson, his production company, and Amazon about the lawsuit. They had no comment. Diane?
Alright. ABC News Eva. Thank you. And the sheriff's deputies being hailed a hero after climbing into a moving truck to save the driver during a medical emergency. The daring rescue happened as both vehicles were traveling side by side on a busy highway in Michigan.
ABC's Will Reeves has the details and the incredible video.
It's the high stakes rescue caught on tape that has 2 sheriffs deputies being hailed as heroes. Watch as Macomb County, Michigan deputy sheriff Nicole Myron climbs from the passenger seat of a moving patrol car into the passenger seat of this moving silver truck on a busy highway.
You good? You okay? Is this parked?
Bringing it to a stop.
And while we pull him next, we could see he kinda looks over at us. He's in, like, a day. He's confused. It clearly was some sort of medical issue.
It all happened last Thursday afternoon. After the 63 year old motorist was spotted driving erratically down the road at about 5 miles per hour.
Luckily, we had a caller following the vehicle, so we were able to keep tabs exactly where the vehicle was headed.
Fellow deputy sheriff Anthony Gross was behind the wheel of the police cruiser.
I was worried about trying to keep him safe and all safe and with the heavy traffic in the area and trying to stay as close as I could. That way we could handle the situation.
Deputy Sheriff Myron says time stood still as they were approaching a busy intersection.
I
wanna get a stop before we entered that area because I didn't know if he he could hit somebody else or they wouldn't see him and hit him, and it probably could have been a lot worse.
The sheriff applauding his deputies quick thinking.
I'm proud of both of the deputies, for their actions. I consider him heroes.
The sheriff's office tells ABC News the motorist is home and okay, Diane.
Alright. Well, Reeves, thanks for that. Coming up, shopping at Target, CVS, or Walgreens isn't what it used to be. They're growing backlash over stores locking up so many products.
With so much at stake, so much on the line, more Americans turn here than any other newscast, ABC News, World News tonight with David Miller. America's number 1 most watched newscast across all of television.
Get Ready America every Friday.
The hottest trends, styles, and must have. What's the right stuff to buy right now?
I really love that. It's time to buy the right stuff. Yes.
And same big time too. The right stuff. Fridays on GMA. You're gonna love it.
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Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped.
Your mom and dad are gonna be right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
and people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own children?
After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America go free.
Killer mom now streaming on Hulu.
It's lunchtime in America. So what do we serve it up?
Well, how
about everything you need to know?
Give it to me. Your help, your money, breaking news, pop culture, with the biggest ours, music, trends, and, of course Good food.
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You too. Welcome
back to ABC News Live. 1st, frustrated shoppers are speaking out about retailers everyday items behind plexiglass. A recent report from the council on criminal justice finds shoplifting is up 24% in 12 cities for the first half of this year, but customers say the measures stores are implementing to stop it are making shopping a struggle. Chief business correspondent Rebecca Jarvis has the details.
Every single hair product is locked up behind these glass shelves. Consumers are unlocking their frustrations. The entire section of soft drinks and cold products is locked
on retailers locking up merchandise.
Why do I have
to find an associate for soap? It's $9.
Adrian Perkins of Atlanta says she recently waited nearly 10 minutes for a store employee to assist her with soap.
They had to call somebody else, and then I had to wait some more so that confusion turned to frustration, especially when associates aren't readily available to open said case.
Oh, you're very awesome, Keith.
And the inconvenience is driving her to shop elsewhere.
This experience would definitely make me lean towards buying things online.
The customers aren't quite used to not having that freedom in store. And so you've got, a lot of friction both from the employee who is running around trying to unlock those cabinets on demand, and then they're met with potentially a frustrated customer.
Retailers say they're turning to these tactics because of an increase in incidents like these on everything from designer items to everyday products.
It says press call button for assistance.
We went to a few stores in New York City to see what consumers may be facing.
Thank you. Someone will be with you shortly.
And found everything from electronics to beauty products
Peanut M and M's, please.
To even candy in locked cases.
And we've done it. And he was just called somewhere else.
But with many front strated customers, experts wonder how long this will last.
I think if they're getting smart with the data, and they find a balance that this will subside, I think the customers will start to vote with their wallet.
Chief Business correspondent, Rebecca Jarvis. Thank you. And federal officials are warning the public about a growing scam targeting Americans life savings. The so called pig butchering scheme goes after people on dating apps and tries to get them into fake cryptocurrency investments. ABC's Andrea Fuji has more.
A new push to fight so called pig butchering scams The name references the practice of fattening a pig before slaughter. In this case, Americans who can end up losing their life savings.
I had nothing left, and I have to sell everything.
We are at crisis level. And we must act today.
Law enforcement now demanding help from Congress, including more funding to stop the scams. The fraudsters use dating apps or text messages to strike up a relationship with a victim. And after months of building trust, Get them to send money or invest in cryptocurrency schemes. $4,000,000,000 was lost to pig butchering crypto scams last year alone.
We have done very little to disrupt this criminal industry and to protect our citizens from the relentless threat that comes at the daily.
This California man lost his life savings after forming a relationship on a dating app.
Were you ever able to get it back?
No. No. I definitely was not able to get it back.
Often the accounts of the fake look legit, but when victims try to withdraw funds, they're locked out, and the money is gone. An extra challenge for law enforcement, scammers are often overseas where criminal organizations use human trafficking victims to carry out the fraud.
They have limited capability to help these victims, which lead to many crimes going unsolved.
ABC's Andrea Fuji. Thank you. An expert say to always be skeptical if someone you just met or recently met starts talking to you, about an investment. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Meanwhile, Los Angeles County is reporting 3 cases of dengue fever.
It comes as health officials warn cases are on the rise all across the US and around the world. ABC's Trevor Alt has the latest.
Hey there, Diane. So these are locally acquired cases. It means the 3 people infected here didn't travel anywhere else recently. They contracted dengue fever right here in LA County. Now dengue fever spreads through mosquito bites.
The symptoms are similar to the flu, but it can be quite serious And these new cases here come in the midst of a spike nationally. More than 3000 cases this year, the vast majority of them in Puerto Rico. This is almost double the amount of locally acquired cases as last year. And, globally, there is a new record number cases. It's something the CDC warned about with the health alert way back in June.
Now we should note these are not the first ever cases here in LA County. There were 2 locally acquired cases last year, and then gay fever cannot spread person to person. Mosquitoes are the carriers. The best way to protect yourself is with good repellent, long sleeves, and be wary of spending extended time near standing water. Diane?
Alright, Trevor. Alton, Los Angeles. Thank you. Coming up. Dunder Mifflin, down under.
The latest on the new reboot of the fan favorite it comes when we come back. News. They didn't name it.
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Well, how about everything you need to know?
Is it to make your help, your money, breaking news, pop culture, with the biggest stars, music, trends, and, of course, good food.
It's all coming out on G And A 3.
You're gonna love it. We'll see you then.
23. What you need know, a third hour of GMA in the afternoon.
So join us. Afternoon.
For everything you need to know.
I love that. You too.
Let's go. The ship is incredible. It feels like living in a science fiction movie.
We just saw when no 1 has seen before.
Wow. Look at that. Oh my gosh. We'll get ahead. Come on.
We are heading into the It
doesn't get
any more cutting edge on this. With so
much at stake, so
much on the line, more Americans turn here than any other newscast, ABC News, World News tonight with David Newer, America's number 1 most watched newscast across all of
television. Wow.
Baywatch is a fantasy. Baywatch was sexy. Jason Momoa exploded.
Carmen was a bombshell.
Pamela Anderson was an icon.
Greet of lust, fame.
Everyone likes to watch sexy things.
Reporting from the 2024 campaign trail. I'm Eva Pilgrim wherever the story is, we'll take you there.
You're streaming ABC news live.
Welcome back to ABC News Live First. It is time for the tea where we break down some of the buzzy stories people are talking about, and our friend Will Ganz is here to help us out. We'll fill that tea.
We've got some good tea for you this morning, Diane. Good morning to you, and good morning to all of you. We begin with Tyler, the creator set to make his feature film debut alongside Timothy Shalamay and Gwyneth Paltrow in a 20 four's movie, Marty Supreme, which is said to follow-up professional ping pong player. And if that casting feels a little unusual, which it should, get this. Kevin O'Leary is also joining the cast.
Yes. That's mister Wonderful from shark tank, along with Odessa Azion from Hellraiser, magician Penn Gillette, and Abel Ferara. Josh Safdie will direct following the success of his film uncut gems back in 2019, no word yet on a release date for Marty's supreme.
Okay. Interesting.
Mister Wonderful coming to the big screen.
I'm in.
I'm in too. I'll invest. Alright. Next to the office, which is being rebooted yet again this time in Australia.
There it is. I was waiting for the music.
Instead of Michael Scott, it's Hannah Howard who's in charge of the city based packing company. Take a look.
Big announcement.
Can I have a drum roll, please? The drum roll, Lloyd?
That's the only drum roll. People ask me, how can I become a great boss? And the answer is having a happy staff I love you. Oh, okay.
This is a proper Haitan nightmare.
Haitan nightmare. I love the accent. The office will be available.
Oh, that's pretty good.
Thank you for streaming everywhere on October 18th on Prime Video. Except for in the United States. I don't they must be working on contract negotiations or something. We'll keep you posted when we get the premiere date for the US.
Please do, because I would like to watch.
HHI Knight me. Alright. Next, Christina Aguilera is celebrating the 20 anniversary of her iconic self titled album with newly recorded live performances of select tracks as part of Spotify's anniversary series. Sabrina Carpenter will joinXTina on the album, as well as Machine Gun Kelly, the new version of the album, which includes hits like genie in a bottle, what a girl wants, and come on over. We'll drop on September 23rd.
Okay. The Australian accent was better than the 16th angular impression.
I think we would have known that without you having to point it out, but that's fine. I'll speak with the Australian accent. Alright. Follow me for this next story. I am obsessed with this, you guys.
Okay? This is my new friend, Darnell Davis. He was walking through Regents Park in London on Sunday Oh, hi. Wearing this outfit, and he says he was reflecting on his late mother and really keeping her in his mind when a stranger stopped to compliment him on the fit. The 2 men got to talking when a woman came up and asked for a photo.
Darnell's looking good, feeling his outfit as he should be, and this random guy just complimented him. So he's like, sure. I'll pose for a photo with the lady. She says, no. I mean him, the guy you're talking to and points at the stranger.
So Then Darnell agrees to take photos of them, and a whole line starts to form, and he told me what happened next.
It's cool. I was like, who are you?
He's like, I'm a singer. And then I took a couple more pictures. I said, what's your name? And then literally, he just says Harry. And I'm like, Harry, what?
He's like, Harry Styles?
And I'm like, oh, you must be famous. You know, it wasn't until 3 minutes later when we separated that I googled him. And I'm like,
What?
So Darnell then posted this photo with his new
friend, which has now gone, of course, totally viral. He says the moral of the story is to stay open
to the universe. Appreciate every encounter and always be kind. By the way,
When Darnell was on that walk thinking about his mother and he walked away and Googled Harry Styles, he now knows
they share a birthday. Oh. So he's taking it as a sign, and he calls it a cosmic twist.
That's so sweet. I also love that Darnell and that photo
just thinks he's posing with some guy who complimented his outfit. He's like, you're welcome.
I mean, I don't know how you don't know who Harry Styles
is. We found the 1 person.
We found the 1 person, but he told me, by the way, Harry was not walking with security guards or with PR people, and he was just on Stroll in the park by himself, and he says he has since started listening to Harry's music, and he's a very big fan.
That's so sweet. I hope we see this come full circle where he ends up going to a show. They hang out backstage. Maybe Darnell comes out.
Let's make it happen, Harry.
I've got the vision. Yeah. Well, Gantz, thank you, friends.
Thank you, Diane.
Fit today.
Okay. Well, it's no Harry Styles, and it's no Darnell Davis, but I'm working on it.
We like it. And we love you in whatever fit you're wearing today. I'm Diane DeSato. Thanks for watching. The news never stops.
And neither do we, and you can find ABC News live anywhere you stream live news on the ABC news app or on abcnews.com, and we have a lot more news for you right after the break. Stick around. We'll be right back here on ABC news live first.
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Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped.
Your mom and dad are gonna be right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
and people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own children? After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith
now has a chance at parole. Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America
go free.
Killer mom now streaming on Hulu. With so much at stake, so much on the line, more Americans turn here than any other newscast, ABC News, world news tonight with David Newer. America number 1 most
watched newscast across all of television. Get ready, America every Friday. The hottest trends, dials, and must have. What's the right stuff to buy right now? I really love that.
It's time to
buy the right stuff. Yes. And same
Big time too. The right stuff. Fridays on GMA. You're gonna love it.
It was a regular day for 19 year old Melissa Witt.
Something terrible had happened to her.
We had several suspects.
All these kinds of leads.
But no one's serial killer in your area, could he be involved? Or Actually finding key evidence that could have slipped through the cracks.
Her last hours on this service were horrific.
The police will find out what happened.
At wit's end, the hunt for a killer, only on Hulu.
This is ABC news live.
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On the ground Ukraine.
ABC News Live. America's number 1 streaming news, anytime, anywhere, streaming 247 straight to you for free.
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Reporting from Iowa on the 2024 campaign trail, I'm Mary Alice Parks. Wherever the story is, we'll take you there. You're watching ABC news live.
Hey. Good morning, America.
Good morning, America. Good morning, America. Good morning, America.
Are you ready? Hey. Alright. Covering some biggest events in the country right now?
This is a lot going on.
It's always a good time. That's
what the show's about.
That's good.
Really good. Very good.
From elementary.
Oh. Good morning, America.
I'm not gonna try to
strut, like, Michael or anything.
I have
no george a long, long time.
I just
want him to dance.
Look at that thing.
You don't just see it. You feel it.
I'm in.
I'm in.
I'm in.
I'm in too.
I'm sitting here.
I am here and so happy.
I'm in. I'm in too.
I'm in.
That tells you something when 2
dogs hit.
Michael George, where We did.
Yes, ma'am. Hi. I'm Dimasado today on ABC News Live First, another round of device explosions, rock levin,
on in Syria. At least 20 people are dead and thousands injured. What we're learning about who was behind the attacks and how the White House is responding. Former president Trump says he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio. The former president has been amplifying false claims about Haitian migrants eating pets there, why the mayor is asking candidates not to come and how vice president Kamala Harris is responding.
And new claims of election interference officials are accusing Iran of hacking Trump campaign. What they say happened in the major tech company now is showing a stark warning about threats from foreign actors. But first, concerns of a wider war are growing after a second wave of device explosions across Lebanon and Syria. Hezbollah members walkie talkies detonated yesterday, killing more than 2 dozen and injuring thousands. Israel's not claiming responsibility, but officials tell ABC news Israel is behind the operation.
It comes just a day after thousands of Hezbollah Pagers exploded across Lebanon. Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore has the latest from Beirut.
The scenes of fear and panic as explosions erupted across Lebanon for the 2nd day, killing 20 people and injuring 450. Lebanese officials said this latest wave of exploding devices, including walkie talkies and solar energy systems. Video on social media showing the moment a device exploded at the funeral of a Hezbollah militant. And the explosion a man falls to the ground. And we were just feet away from another blast.
The crowd panicking in the chaos. We just had a loud explosion. And I saw a man whose hands were gone. Terror and confusion on the faces of children running inside. The attacks over 2 days, killing more than 32 people, including 2 children.
Sources confirming to ABC News, Israel was behind Tuesday's attack targeting Hezbollah with thousands of exploding pagers. Photos circulating on social media appear to show the remains of the pager model used in Tuesday's synchronized attack. While Israel has yet to publicly claim responsibility, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking out. Saying that they will return residents of the northern border to their homes safely.
Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore joins you live now from Beirut along with ABC's contributor, former senior Field operative, Daryl Blocker. Marcus, we saw that footage of you just feed away from 1 of these explosions sites yesterday. What's it like there now, and how are you and your team doing?
Diane, the team, we we are fine. Yeah. We were about 20 feet, I would say, away from the the man who was holding the the radio and and it exploded. So it was obviously very loud. And people started scattering news.
Just absolute chaos, as you saw, in that video, there are the screams and people running in every direction. Nobody knew, what exactly was happening. And then we, of course, All of us saw saw the injured man there. In in terms of the mood here in Beirut, it is certainly, there's still a sense of shock for a lot of people, over the past couple of days with the simultaneous explosions happening. People are on edge, really, not only here in Beirut, but across, all of Lebanon.
And, really, Diane, watching and waiting, to see what happens next because they literally have no idea, and that's very disconcerting for a lot of people here.
Daryl, what's the psychological impact of an attack like this on Hezbollah? Because most of us are separated from certain weapons of war and so on. And when you're talking about people in uniform, official military activities, these are walkie talkies and pagers, and and we all carry a cell phone in our pocket. So what what is the impact of something like that do?
The impact is significant, but the psychological impact for those who are guilty is gonna be even more so. So they're not just willy nilly targeting cell phones. They have found the the market that Hezbollah was comfortable with. They have infiltrated that market and they have, used a surgical,
mechanism for targeting those who are either Hezbollah or people
who are material support. Of Hezbollah. And right now, they're completely in disarray. They can't communicate with each other the way they have in the past. And at this point, sewing dissension amongst the ranks who's responsible And at the end of the day, Hezbollah is completely turned upside down as are their task masters in in Iran.
So, Marcus, what's the latest on the death toll now in in these 2 attacks and the conditions of the victims who are many of whom are hospitalized here.
Diane, we actually we just got an update just a few moments ago from the Ministry of Health, and from officials here in in Lebanon. We we now know according to officials here that, 37 people, have been killed in these, 2 days, of explosions. And, also, the ministry of health saying that there are hundreds of people who are still in the hospital, recovering many of them in critical condition, and these are hospitals that were already operating at capacity here in Beirut and in in surrounding areas, because of the the the pager explosions. And then you had what happened on Wednesday, and that sent even more patients in. So they're from by all accounts.
And what we've heard from the health department here is that the the health infrastructure, is under considerable strain as a result of these these explosions.
Daryl, the US is denying any involvement. Officials say Israel gave advance notice. They were in operation on Hezbollah, but didn't give any details. So what kind of conversations go on behind the scenes in a situation like this?
The the the the these type of conversations beforehand are very, very very muted. There's not a lot of details that's involved because both sides wanna be able to have some type of plausible deniability, but the discussions afterwards are, of course, going to be on the process that was involved making sure that United, United Nations or international laws were not, were not, you know, circumvented. And so it'll be more on the legal sense and not so much on on why it was done or how it was done, but making sure that in the future, this is either an accepted practice or removed, like, with, with tear gas or with, these type gasses that that have now been banned by the United Nations. So I'm fairly certain that this type of activity will absolutely come up on UN discussions and that people will make sure that this cannot be used as a tool by anyone in the future.
Alright. Marcus Moore, Daryl Blocker. Thank you. Meanwhile, Israeli officials say they foiled an Iranian plot to assess a prime minister Netanyahu and other top leaders. Police and intelligence officials are accusing a 73 old Israeli businessman of smuggling himself into Iran to meet with intelligence officials there.
Officials say the alleged plots were intended as retaliation for the assassination of a Hamas leader in July. ABC's Lamma Hassan joins me now for more on that. Alamo, what's the latest here?
Yeah. Hey, Diane. So Israeli police and domestic intelligence put out a statement saying that they arrested an Israeli man who has been identified as 73 year old Modi maman from Ashcolon in Southern Israel. They arrested him on suspicion of being involved in a plot to assassinate the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They believe this was an Iranian plot and that he was recruited by Iranian intelligence and was even smuggled twice to Iran, to reportedly and reportedly receive money for attending a few of the meetings.
He also demanded a $1,000,000 upfront before carrying out the plot. They also believe that not only did they discuss the possibility of assassinating the prime minister, but also the defense minister, Yohav Gallant, or the head of the Xin Bet domestic intelligence agency. The statement also points out that he was arrested last month in August, but this information of his arrest was released today, and we don't know, Diane, how far along the man was with this alleged plot.
So, Lauma, what does this mean for concerns of escalating conflict in the region? Could this fee the thing that really spreads this war beyond?
Well, look, that's a good question. We know that this arrest comes during a time when tensions are increasing in the region on multiple fronts. Right? So you have the war with Hamas in Gaza. And a new front is possibly, opening in Lebanon, with the Iranian backed militant group, Hezbollah.
So, now this Iranian assassination plot, this could only increase tensions further. But what is interesting is what a Xin Bet official said describing this case as very serious, saying that according to their security assessments that Iranians will continue to try to recruit operatives in Israel, Diane.
So what are the next steps in this investigation?
So, Israeli police say that he's been arrested. He's in custody. An indictment was issued to the court with a request for an extension, and that was approved. So he will remain in custody. We reached out to his lawyer who told us that his client made errors in judgment with his business dealings and that he has greatly assisted Israeli security services, Diane.
Alright. Lama Hassan in London. Thank you. Sure. Former president Trump says he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio after amplifying false claims about Haitian migrants in the town.
The former president says he wants to visit Springfield in the next 2 weeks. Meanwhile, vice president Harris is slamming Trump's plans for mass deportation of migrants. ABC New Senior White House correspondent, Selena Wang, joins me now for more. Selena, the latest New York Times Sienna poll shows the race is deadlocked nationally, but Harris has a 4 point edge on Trump in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania. How significant is that?
Yeah. That's a pretty interesting poll. And what's surprising there is that Harris is actually doing better in the must win battleground state in Pennsylvania than she is nationally. Back in 2020, president Biden had won the national vote by more than 4% points, but only 1 Pennsylvania by about 1.2 points. But what these polls have shown post debate is that this race is still essentially locked in a dead heat.
And the Harris campaign tells me they are still running this campaign as if they're the underdogs. They say that Harris is going to be stepping up her media appearances, but mostly with local outlets and battleground states and with nontraditional outlets. And tonight, vice president Harris, she's going to be joining Oprah Winfrey for a virtual event, and that is really targeted at rallying support in critical battleground states, including Pennsylvania.
Now the powerful teamsters union says it's not going to endorse a candidate this election, and it's the first time since 1996 that they're skipping an endorsement. What could that mean for this race?
Yeah. And the powerful teamsters union has endorsed every major, every democratic presidential candidate for decades. So while both Trump and Harris were recording the endorsement of teamsters, it is an especially big blow to vice president Harris, and this could have given her a bit of a boost in these critical battleground states. But that being said, Diane, most of the other major labor unions have thrown their support behind vice president Harris and following the announcement of this lack of endorsement several of the regional teamsters leaders have come out publicly and said that they are endorsing vice president Harris. I spoke to an executive board member of teamsters who is a supporter of vice president Harris and called this lack of endorsement a tasset endorsement for Donald Trump.
And this executive board member of Teamsters is concerned that this is going to encourage right leaning union workers to support Trump, which he is calling a vote that is against their own interest He also brought up that recent conversation between Trump and Elon Musk, where Trump was praising Elon Musk for threatening to fire striking workers.
And Selena, Trump now says he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio. The mayor's asking both candidates not to come. So what's the latest on that?
Yeah. That's right. The local leader there is saying that neither presidential candidate should visit Springfield, Ohio. The city has faced at least 33 bomb threats. But Donald Trump is saying that he wants to visit Springfield within the next 2 weeks this coming after he's amplified false claims about Haitian migrants.
They're stealing and eating neighborhood pets. This is a claim that has been repeatedly debunked, but Trump and his running mate have amplified those false claims. And the Republican governor of Ohio, this is also
critical, has defended the Haitian migrants there, saying, and most of them there are there legally as well. And the governor there saying that they are a boost via
to the economy, Diane.
Alright. Senior White House correspondent, Selena Wang. Thank you.
And US Intelligence agencies are accusing Iran of hacking the Trump campaign. They're also alleging Iran sent that stolen information to people associated with
the biden campaign. ABC's justice reporter, Alex Mallin, joins me now for more. Alex, what's the latest year?
Yeah. So we knew back in July from the FBI that they had learned that the Iranians had gained non public information from the Trump campaign VA spear phishing hack. That's when somebody goes into their email, clicks a deceptive link, and then it basically opens up all the access for the hackers. But we learned yesterday from a joint FBI O DNI statement, the office of director of the National of intelligence, that also, non public information that was obtained in that hack was
actually sent to officials who were associated with the Biden campaign to their private email accounts. And it was sent in
the form of text. Now the statement also noted that there's no evidence that there was ever a reply to those emails. And the Biden campaign and also now the Harris
campaign says that this was not used, that it was basically seen as, you know, fishing
or they they they just saw it as such suspect information that they never went on to use that information against the Trump campaign and
that they fully cooperated with law enforcement Diane. And, Alex, how has the Trump campaign responded to this?
Well, the Trump campaign released a statement yesterday falsely suggesting that the Harris campaign was using this information to,
hurt Donald Trump, the the former president in a rally yesterday who try and accuse Biden of, coordinating and colluding with the Iranian government, much
like the accusations his campaign faced in 2016 with the Russian government. Now it's important to note, Diane, that in back in 2019, in an interview actually with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, that former president Trump even said that if he were sent or his campaign were sent information that were stolen from a foreign actor that he would consider accepting it, that it might be a legitimate information that he could use against a political opponent. Now I think that it's just important to note that in any instance, it should be, you know, emphasized that the Harris campaign has repudiated this Iranian effort and they have said that they do not want any foreign interference in our elections, Diane.
Alright. Alex Mellon, thank you. Coming up, stocks are jumping after the Fed cut interest rates for the first time in 4 years. The Dow is now up nearly 500 points.
And what it means for your bottom line?
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a whip.
Something terrible had happened to her.
He had several suspects.
All these kinds of leads. A known serial killer in your area, could he be involved? We're actually finding key evidence that could have slipped
to the cracks. Sure.
Her last hours on the surface with her horrific.
This beautiful gimbal. Police will find out what happened.
At wit's end, the hunt for a killer, only on Hulu,
Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped.
Your mom and dad are gonna be right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
and people don't know about it.
What kind mother would kill her own children.
After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America go free?
Kill her mom now streaming on Hulu. Welcome back to ABC
News Live. 1st, it's time for our weekly
segment. Ask Alexis, where business reporter Lexus Christophe shares financial advice on the topics that matter most to you. And today, she's here to answer your questions on the historic interest rate decision and what it means for your finances. So, Alexis, break this down for us because we're pretty much all impacted by this. So what
does this do for our bottom line? Here's the deal. The Fed raised interest rates 11 times in the past few years to combat high inflation. So it's gonna take more than just 1 rate cut from the Fed for us to really feel the impact in our wallet, but there are some changes happening immediately. We wanna highlight some of those for you today.
And the first 1 we wanna talk about credit cards. Right? So when you factor in that half point cut yesterday, the average interest rate on a credit card right now is 20.28%, still very high. The average balance over $63100, but what does it mean for your wallet? A savings of $3 a month.
I told you it wasn't gonna be big. Right? But at least it is something, and we're not gonna say no to that. Alright. Let's bring up auto loans because if you had a 5 month new car loan with that rate cut yesterday, the average interest rates still at 7.21 percent.
Average loan price, $35,000 for a new car. That's gonna save you 8 bucks a month in savings. I mean, it adds up, right, as the months go by. But, again, you get the pattern here. We're not seeing a lot of difference.
Mortgage rates. They have been trending lower in anticipation of the Fed's rate cut. Right now, the 30 year at 6.2%. Remember, last year, we were at 8% about a year ago. So we took an example here median home price 422,000.
That is a narrow record high right now.
Monthly payment with the 6.2 percent, a little over $2000 versus
nearly 25100 last year, a savings $411 a month, and that is a very nice savings. And, of course, it adds up over time. And, Diane, the good thing here is this first rate cut is supposed to be the first of many, you know, analysts or expecting the Fed to cut rates again at their November December meeting and well into next year.
So, Alexis, what are the downsides to the Fed cutting interest rates?
Yeah. You think it's all, you know, oh, this is great news. And and and it is great news because we've been under these interest rates for so long, but if you've been having your money in the bank, putting it in a CD or high yield savings account, you've been making more interest. Sometimes 5 a half, 6% depending on where you go. Those interest rates are already starting to come down, but overall, good news for Americans who are looking to borrow money.
Alright. Business reporter, Alexis. Kristoffers. Always great to have you break these down for us, Alexis. Thank you.
Thanks. And Congress is under pressure after the House voted down speaker Johnson's funding plan. The government is set to run out of money in just 12 days, 14 Republicans and all but 3 Democrats voted against the bill. Now speaker Johnson says he's searching for a plan b.
He ran the play. It was the best play. It was the right 1. So now we go back to the playbook. We'll drop another play, and we'll come up with a solution.
I'm already talking to colleagues about their many ideas. We have time to, to fix the situation, and we'll get right to it.
ABC's Jay O'Brien joins me now from Capitol Hill for more. Jay, what are you hearing from lawmakers about why this failed?
Well, this failed because Johnson just didn't have the support on his right flank for this measure, and Democrats weren't going to support it because of what Johnson put in this temporary government funding bill. On Johnson's right flank, there are conservatives who say they don't wanna vote for any temporary government funding package, and that's why as you said, those 14 Republicans voted against this measure on the left for Democrats, this isn't a clean extension of government funding, meaning it doesn't just extend government funding with nothing else in the legislation. Johnson put in this what's called the save act, which require proof of US citizenship, prior to voting in a federal election. And what Democrats say is that's a political move by Johnson because it is already illegal if you're a non citizen to vote in a federal election. Johnson would say that there needs to be more safeguards.
But because Democrats say, look, This is unnecessary. It's a political move to put that in this government funding measure. They voted against it. Johnson didn't have enough votes in his own party, and that's why this went down last night.
Now the safe act has the support of Republican leadership. So why did some Republicans vote it down?
They didn't necessarily vote against the save act per se. They voted against a temporary extension of government funding. A lot of those 14 Republicans, almost all of them, actually, I think all of them who voted against that temporary government funding measure last night voted for the save act when it was its own legislation. So they support the save act, but they do not support this temporary extension into March of government funding that Johnson put in because they're spending hawks. They don't want to extend government funding at its current levels.
They wanna cut government funding or they wanna fund the government in the normal way, which is passing the proper appropriations bills to do so. The reality is there just isn't enough time to pass those appropriations bills. That's why Johnson is looking at some kind of temporary funding measure, but he doesn't have the votes in his own party to do that. He's gonna have to most likely look across the aisle, go to Democrats, and that would involve a funding measure that doesn't have any other political elements to it. No other pieces of legislation and is just, as they say, a clean extension of government funding.
But Johnson's running out of time to do that and essentially strike a deal with Democrats because government funding, Diane, as you know, expires at the end of this month. So he's just got a week or so to get this done.
Alright. ABC's Jay O'Brien on Capitol Hill. Thank you. Coming up, a 7 year old mountain climber smashes records across the world. House he's reaching new heights and the royal shout out.
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Welcome back to ABC News Live. 1st, a Welsh Mountain climbers making history at just 7 years old. Serene Price has climbed some of the world's tallest mountains all before the age of 8. ABC's Danny New talked to her about why she's taking on the challenge and her new royal fan.
Look out. 7 year old Sarah Price is on a mission. Sarah, how was your big hike?
Really, really good.
Saren and her dad, Glenn, just returned from their second potentially record breaking hike.
She's, again, hard to keep up with him.
A few weeks ago, still at the age of 6, the whales native reportedly became the youngest person to climb the tallest mountain in North Africa That would be 13,600 foot mountain tube call in Morocco. Was it
hard to hike that mountain? It's very hard to in
the end, I went and smashed it. But why was she so determined to smash this rocky fortress while Severin was raising money for something important to her? As you can see here, she was born with essentially a lump on her neck. It affected her airways and was considered life threatening her dad says but the doctors at Birmingham Children's Hospital in England were able to safely treat it.
Just allowed allowed her to be here doing this today. So, yeah, amazing hospitals.
They say it's me.
So in 2022, Sarah began hiking to raise money for the place that saved her life. Starting with that first record breaking hike when at 5 years old, Sarah became the youngest person to complete the UK's 3 peaks challenge. Translation, she climbed the S Mountains in Scotland, England, and Wales in under 48 hours. She gained so much attention from that. Sarah even received congratulations via a signed letter from Prince William.
Now with the old age of 7, Saren has been able to raise 1000 of pounds for Birmingham Children's. And how does she feel about that?
Really, really, really good. Dani
New. Thank you. Thank you for watching. I'm Diane Masado. The news never stops, and neither do we, and we have a lot more news for you right after the break.
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Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped.
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When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
and people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own children.
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Killer mom now streaming on Hulu. ABC news, America's number 1 news source.
Welcome back to ABC news live first. Thanks for streaming with us. You were looking at Capitol Hill on this Thursday, and we have a lot of news to get to. Here's a rundown right now. Concerns of a wider war are growing after a second wave of device explosions across Lebanon and Syria.
Hezbollah members walkie talkies detonated yesterday, killing at least 25 people and injuring hundreds more Israel's not claiming responsibility, but officials tell ABC News Israel is behind the operation. It comes just a day after thousands of Hezbollah pages exploded across Lebanon. Photos circulating on social media appeared to show the remains of the pager model used in Tuesday's synchronized attack. After a 12 day manhunt, Kentucky State Police say they believe they've recovered the body of the suspect in the I 75 shootings. Joseph Krausch was initially named a person of interest after deputies found his abandoned SUV ended AR 15 rifle near exit 49.
5 people were wounded in the shooting. Now the coroner's office will make a final determination on whether the body found belongs to Crouch. And Boeing says it will furlough nonunion employees to say money amid an ongoing strike. The plane manufacturer said the move could impact tens of thousands of employees. Federal mediators are involved in those negotiations now between the union and management.
And Pennsylvania is joining the growing list of states officially making flag football a high school sport. The inaugural season will kick off next year. Nearly 43,000 girls participated in flag football last
season, a 105% increase from the previous year. The surge in interest comes as the Olympic Committee
announced flag football will be an official export for men and women starting at the 2028 Los Angeles games. And Sean Didi Combs will stay in jail until his trial. A New York judge rejected the rapper's appeal for bail expressing concerns over what could happen to the case if combs were to remain free. But his attorney says the conditions of the jail are, quote, horrific. The music mogul has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges offering a $50,000,000 bond backed by his Miami estate.
Senior investigative correspondent, Aaron Kotersky, has the latest.
Millionaire Rap Mogul Sean Combs, who has been known as Diddy Puffy and Love is now inmate 37452 dash 054 after a judge rejected his appeal to be released on bail.
The fight continues. We're not we're we're we're not we're not giving up by a long shot.
Holmes offering a $50,000,000 bond backed by his Miami estate, the same 1 rated by the Fed's last spring. His lawyer showed the court these pictures to prove its value. Even offered to restrict female visitors give up his cell phone and be monitored by live in security guards. But the judge said there were no conditions that could keep combs from endangering women or from tampering with witnesses. The judge pointing to this alarming 20 16 video obtained by CNN showing Holmes kicking and dragging former girlfriend in protege Cassie Ventura.
Prosecutors calling
it clear evidence of dangerousness. When the defense argued the footage captured the end
of the couple's 10 year loving relationship, the judge interrupted saying, what's love got to do with that.
And Mister Combs has has maintained that he's he's innocent. He's a smart guy. He knows what he did and what he didn't do.
If you use my approach, you can knock both.
Combs' lavish lifestyle, often a trademark of his music and persona. Seen here showing off 1 of his mansions to Vogue in 2017.
All for the kids, the family, the weather.
Now he's being housed in a special unit away from the general population in the same jail where other high profile defendant spend time including R Kelly, Gilen Maxwell and Sam
Bankman Fried. Senior investigator correspondent, Aaron Kotersky joins me now from war
on this. Aaron Holmes is attorney
to keep him out of jail, but the judge, now the second judge says he has to go back to jail and will remain there because they fear he could still be a danger to his alleged victim. So what's the latest on this? Can they appeal again, or is this a done deal now?
They can appeal again to a federal appeals court Mark Ignifalo, comes as defense attorney, said he would, because he believes that the evidence, certainly shows something the defense disagrees with. They they see the evidence vastly differently than prosecutors do, and they say that there are conditions He can remain on house arrest. He can have a visitor log kept by a private security firm made up of retired cops, people that the court can trust to make sure that did he is doing what he's supposed to do, and maybe more importantly not. What he's not supposed to do. And the judge just said he he didn't see any conditions that could keep Sean Calms from being a danger to women or from tampering with witnesses because prosecutors quoted conversations he allegedly had with some women, coercing them to stay on his side.
Holmes's attorneys also said that they'll try to get him moved to a different jail. They're calling the conditions he's in now horrific. What would that do, and how realistic is it that they would grant this request for him to move to a different jail?
I
don't think it's very realistic. The the defense attorney mentioned a county jail in in Essex County, New Jersey in your Newark Airport. I suppose it's possible, but it's just not customary. If you're facing federal charges in New York, you're housed at MDC Brooklyn, and the place is to prep it.
I mean, even
a federal judge has said the conditions there are dangerous and barbaric. Every defendant who's been housed in there, whose cases we've covered, and you saw some of the names. Glenn Maxwell, R Kelly, Sam Bankman, Fried, Keith Renery, from Nixxiom. They've all complained about the their treatment while incarcerated at MDC, Brooklyn, and it just doesn't matter.
So, Aaron, what happens next?
Colmes will return to court on October 9th before then, his attorney may well file appeal with the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals to try and get him released on bail. We'll see if they're any more successful there. But the way he's charged, Diane, the the kinds of charges that did he face has come with the presumption that he is going to be denied bail. So it's a tall order for the defense on appeal.
Alright. Senior investigative correspondent, Erin Kotirski. Erin, thank you. And popular YouTuber, Mister Beast, and Amazon are facing a lawsuit over a new reality competition. 5 contestants say the show wasn't what they thought it was going to be and that they were misled from the start.
ABC News Eva Pilgrim has more.
Whoever leaves the circle last wins
$500,000. Mister Beast, a 26 year
old multimillionaire and YouTube megastar, now
under fire. His production company sued along with Amazon by the contestants of his new reality show. We're sharing a thousand people's lives in. The class action lawsuit claiming the Amazon prime show exploited the labor of the contestants. Alleging sexual harassment, and a hostile work environment.
The show, a partnership between Mr. Beast, Jimmy Donaldson, and Amazon Prime Video.
Marketed Beast Games as
the biggest reality competition series ever with 1000 contestants competing for a $5,000,000 cash prize, the biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming. But now 5 of those contestants claiming the show didn't provide fair wages or even bare minimum legal working conditions. Many are still awaiting their promised reimbursement.
There was a lot of control over
their sleeping arrangements over the food. When and
where, Whether they or not they could go to the bathroom.
The lawsuit detailing what the contestants call unreasonable, unsafe, and unlawful employment conditions, writing the show only allowed them to be fed sporadically and sparsely fostered a culture of misogyny and sexism and had insufficient medical staff to attend a potential and actual injuries during the production. There were several reports of injuries. Core documents, including a copy of a manual titled to succeed in mister Beast production that states really do everything you can to empower the boys when filming. Help them be idiots.
The very first question I think here is do game show contestants, particularly
in the Los Angeles area where there are a
lot of game shows, do they qualify as employees under California law?
And ABC has reached out to Donaldson, his production company, and Amazon about the lawsuit. They had no comment. Diane?
Alright. ABC News Eva Pilgrim. Thank you. And the sheriff's deputies being hailed a hero after climbing into a moving truck to save the driver during a medical emergency. The daring rescue happened as both vehicles were traveling side by side on a busy highway in Michigan.
ABC's Will Reeves has the details and the incredible video.
It's the high stakes rescue caught on tape that has 2 Sheriff's deputies
being hailed as heroes. Watch as Macomb County Michigan deputy sheriff Nicole Myron climbs from the passenger seat of a
moving patrol car into the passenger seat of this moving silver truck on a busy highway.
You good? Are you okay? Is this parked?
Bringing it to a stop.
And while
we pull him next, we could see he kinda looks over at us. He's in, like, a day's confused. He clearly was some sort of medical issue.
It all happened last Thursday afternoon. After the 63 year old motorist was spotted driving erratically down the road at about 5 miles per hour.
Luckily, we had a caller following the vehicle, so we're able to keep tabs exactly where the vehicle is headed.
Fellow deputy sheriff Anthony Gross was behind the wheel of the police cruiser.
I was worried about trying to keep him safe and unsafe and with the heavy traffic in the area and trying to stay as close as I could. That would be we could handle the choice
Deputy Sheriff Myron says time stood still as they were approaching a busy intersection.
I wanna get a stop before we entered that area because I didn't know if he did hit somebody else or they wouldn't see him and hit him, and it probably would have been a lot worse.
The sheriff applauding his deputies quick thinking.
I'm proud of both of the deputies, for their actions. I consider him heroes.
The sheriff's office tells ABC News the motorist is home and okay, Diane.
Alright. Well, Reeves, thanks for that. Coming up, shopping at Target, CVS, or Walgreens isn't what it used to be. They're growing backlash over stores locking up so many products.
Whenever wherever news breaks, it's so important to always remember that lives
are changed here in London in Buffalo. You've all do Texas and in Brus, Scotland.
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1st, frustrated shoppers are speaking out about retailers
everyday items behind plexiglass. A recent report from the council on criminal justice finds shoplifting is up 24% in 12 cities for the first half of this year, but customers say the measures stores are implementing to stop it are making shopping a struggle. Chief business correspondent Rebecca Jarvis has the details. Every single hair product is locked up behind these glass shelves. Consumers are unlocking their
frustrations.
Of soft drinks and cold products is locked.
On retailers, locking up merchandise.
Why do I have to find an associate for soap? It's $9.
Adrian Perkins of Atlanta says she recently waited nearly 10 minutes for a store employee to a sister with soap.
They had to call somebody else, and then I had to wait some more so that confusion turned to frustration, especially when associates aren't readily available to open said case. And
the inconvenience is driving her to shop l where?
This experience would definitely make me lean towards buying things online.
The customers aren't quite used to not having that freedom in store. And so you've got, a lot of friction, both from the employee who is running around trying to unlock those cabinets on demand, and then they're met with potentially a frustrated customer.
Retailers say they're turning to these tactics because of an increase in incidents like these on everything from designer items to everyday products.
It says press call button for assistance.
We went to a few stores in New York City to see what consumers may be facing.
Thank you. Someone will be with you shortly.
And found everything from electronics to beauty products.
Peanut M and M's, please.
To even candy in locked cases.
Have we done it? In my truck. And he was just called somewhere else.
But with many frost rated customers, experts wonder how long this will last.
I think if they're getting smart with the data, and they find a balance that this will subside. I think the customers will start to vote with their wallet.
Chief Business correspondent Rebecca Jarvis. Thank you. And federal officials are warning the public about a growing scam targeting Americans life savings. The so called pig butchering scheme goes after people on dating apps and tries to get them into fake cryptocurrency investments. ABC's Andrea Fuji has more.
A new push to fight so called pig butchering scams The name references the practice of fattening a pig before slaughter. In this case, Americans who can end up losing their life savings.
I had nothing left enough to sell everything.
We are at crisis level, and we must act today.
Law enforcement now demanding help from Congress, including more funding to stop the scams. The fraudsters use dating apps or text messages to strike up a relationship with a victim. And after months of building trust, get them to send money or invest in cryptocurrency schemes. $4,000,000,000 was lost to pig butchering crypto scams last year alone.
We have done very little to disrupt this criminal industry and to protect our citizens from the relentless threat that comes at the daily.
This California man lost his life savings after forming a relationship on a dating app.
Were you ever able to get it back?
No. No. I definitely was not able to get it back.
Often the accounts of the fake investments look legit, but when victims try to withdraw funds, they're locked out. And the money is gone. An extra challenge for law enforcement, scammers are often overseas where criminal organizations use human trafficking victims to carry out the fraud.
They have limited capability to help these victims, which lead to many crimes going unsolved.
ABC's Andrea Fuji. Thank you. An expert say to always be skeptical if someone you just met or recently met starts talking to you about an investment. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You know, Los Angeles County is reporting 3 cases of dengue fever.
It comes as health officials warn cases are on the rise all across the US and around the world. ABC's Trevor Ault has the latest.
Hey there, Diane. So these are locally acquired cases. It means the 3 people in did here didn't travel anywhere else recently. They contracted dengue fever right here in LA County. Now dengue fever spreads through mosquito bites.
The symptoms are similar to the flu, but it can be quite serious, and these new cases here come in the midst of a spike nationally, more than 3000 cases this year. The vast majority of them in Puerto Rico. This is almost double the amount of locally acquired cases as last year. And globally, there is a new record number of cases. It's something the CDC warned about with a health alert way back in June.
Now we should note these are not the first ever cases here in LA County. There were 2 locally acquired cases last year, and Dengue fever cannot spread person to person. Mosquitos are the carriers. So the best way to protect yourself is with good repellent long sleeves and be wary of spending extended time near standing water. Diane?
Trevor Alt in Los Angeles. Thank you. Coming up. Dunder Mifflin down under.
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Your help. Your money, breaking news, pop culture, with the biggest stars, music, trends, and, of course,
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I love that. Me too.
Friday, the 2020 season premiere.
Oh my god. Doctor Garcia was deceased on the couch.
Secrets will be revealed. The new 2020 Friday night on ABC. ABC News, America's number
1 news source.
Yater? Sorry. No. I did not
kill Mary Yater. So it was a normal day until Mary
started to getting sick.
No 1 really knew what was happening. Her eyes just looked to terrified.
In less than 48 hours, my mom went from her healthy self to having died. Story.
How did she die? They begin to
do this autopsy. It's just screaming, toxin,
toxin, toxin. Did somebody intentionally do this to her? When the test
came back. I thought of you, holy. Are you
kidding me? I had dated, Adam. I was scared of him. It changed
the way I see the world.
She was
really afraid for her life.
I do think Bill could have killed Mary.
His wife died in July and in November. He was dating his
sister
long. There was nothing in the world that was making sense at that point.
Caitlin Conley was guilty as sin. Are you okay?
Who cares?
This girl thought she was smarter than everybody out. When does another side of the Kale economy?
Well, I'm not buying this little misintering game.
So quite it's a very small town. Everybody knows everybody.
Garden club is very divided. People think she's innocent. I think she's guilty.
Never heard of a case like this, maybe in
a thriller. It was pure evil. We weren't quite sure what was coming next.
I know it wasn't me.
Sorry. So
if it wasn't me,
Who was it?
Little miss innocent, passion, poison, prison, only on Hulu.
You're watching America's number 1 streaming news. Keep streaming with ABC News Live.
We're reporting on board a US Navy destroyer in the Eastern Mediterranean. I'm Maggie Ruby. Wherever the story is, we'll take you there. You're watching ABC news live.
Welcome back to ABC News Live First. It is time for the tea where we break down some of the buzzy stories people are talking about, and our friend Will Ganz is here to help us out. We'll spill that tea.
We've got some good tea for you this morning, Diane. Good morning to you, and good morning to all of you. We begin with Tyler, the creator to make his feature film debut alongside Timothy Shalame and Gwyneth Paltrow in a 20 four's movie Marty Supreme, which is said to follow a professional ping pong player. And if that casting feels a little unusual, which it should, Get this. Kevin O'Leary is also joining the cast.
Yes. That's mister
wonderful from Shark Tank, along with Odessa Azyan from Hellraiser, magician Penn Gillette, and Abel Ferara. Josh Safdie will direct following the
success of his film, uncut Gems, in 2019, no word yet on a release date for Marty Supreme.
Okay. Interesting.
Wonderful coming to the big screen.
I'm in.
I'm in too. I'll invest. Alright. Next to the office, which is being rebooted yet again this time in Australia.
There it is. I was waiting for the music.
Instead of Michael Scott, it's Hannah Howard who's in charge of the Sydney based backing company. Take a look. Big announcement. Can I have a drumroll,
The drum roll?
Lloyd? That's our drum roll. People ask me, how can I become a great boss? And the answer is having a happy staff that love you. This is a proper
Haitan nightmare.
Haitan nightmare. I love the accent. The office will be available.
Oh, that's pretty good.
Thank you for streaming everywhere on October 18th on prime video except for in the United States. I don't know. They must be working on contract negotiations or something. We'll keep you posted when we get the premier date for the US.
Please do because I would like to watch.
HR Knight me. Alright. Next, Christina Aguilera is celebrating the 25th anniversary of her iconic self titled album with newly recorded live performances of SelectTrack. As part of Spotify's anniversary series, Sabrina Carpenter will join X Tina on the album, as well as Machine Gun Kelly, the new version of the album, which includes hits like Genie in a bottle, what a girl wants, and come on over. We'll drop on September 23rd,
Okay. The Australian accent was better than 15 regular impression.
I think we would have known that without you having to point it out, but that's fine. I'll speak with the Australian accent. Alright. Follow me for this next story. I am obsessed with this, you guys.
Okay? This is my new friend, Darnell Davis. He was walking through Regions in London on Sunday Oh, wow. Wearing this outfit, and he says he was reflecting on his late mother and really keeping her in his mind when a stranger stopped to compliment him on the fit. The 2 men got to talking when a woman came up and asked for a photo, Darnell's looking good, feeling his outfit as he should be.
And this random guy just complimented him. So he's like, sure. I'll pose for a photo with the lady. She says, no. I mean, him, the guy you're talking to in points at the stranger.
So then Darnell agrees to take photos of them, and a whole line starts to form, and he told me what happened next.
Cool. I was like,
who are you? He's like, I'm a singer. And then I took a couple more
pictures. I was like, what's your name? And then literally, he just says Harry. And I'm like, Harry, what? And he's like, Harry Styles?
And I'm like, oh, you must be famous.
You know, it wasn't until 3 minutes later when we separated that I googled him. And I'm like, what?
So Darnell then posted this
photo with his new friend, which has now gone, of course, totally viral.
He says the moral of the story is to stay open to the universe. Appreciate every encounter and always be kind. By the way, when Darnell was on that walk thinking
about his mother and he walked away in little hairy Styles. He now knows they share a birthday. Oh. So he's taking it as a sign, and he calls it a cosmic twist.
That's so sweet. I also love that Darnell in that photo just thinks he's posing with some guy. Complemented his outfit. He's like, you're welcome.
I mean, I don't know how you don't know who
Harry Styles is. We found the 1 person. We found the 1 person, but he
told me, by the way, Harry was not walking with security guards or with PR people. And he was just on role in the park by himself, and he says he has since started listening to Harry's music, and he's a very big fan.
That's so sweet. I hope we see this come full circle where he ends up going to a show. They hang out backstage. Maybe Darnell comes out.
Let's make it happen, Harry.
I've got the vision.
Yeah.
Well, Gan, thank you, friends.
Thank you, Diane.
Your fit today.
Okay. Well, it's no Harry Styles, and it's no Darnell Davis, but I'm working on it.
We like it. And we love you in whatever fit you're wearing today. I'm Diane DeSato. Thanks for watching. The news never stops.
And neither do we, and you can find ABC News live anywhere you streamline news on the ABC news app or on abcnews.com, and we have a lot more news for you right after the break. Stick around. We'll be right back here on ABC news live first.
Hi. My name is Patrice. I am a totally cool person with a disability who could do most anything. Patrice always sees
the best side of life
Patrice is a big
magnet for people. If it can be done,
she will do it. I really love Gary. He's everything. It just
looked at her advice. Would you like to be
my wife? If you get married and you're collecting a Social Security benefit, your benefit will be cut. We have
to have it. We'd never be able to pay for the bills.
I don't take
anything for granted. To us to us. You're a part time low rent, full time friend. The monkey on your
back is the lake.
This to trend. I don't see what anyone can see than anyone else. People think people with disabilities have no value because you are. You need to, like, tell your story and people can listen and say, this is why benefits
are extremely important.
I don't see what anyone
can see.
I wanna get married. Yay.
I wanna be able
to live in the same house as my spouse. Here is the church. They can stop us from
getting married. They can stop us from living together.
They're never gonna stop
us from loving each other. This war needs to change, and we're gonna do what we have to do to make this happen. The truth is
Good
making dreams come true.
There. Yeah. Yeah. Reporting from the aftermath of the Maui fires on Melissa Sedan. However, the story is we'll take you there.
Your streaming ABC News Live. What does it take?
To be the most watched newscast in America.
We are part of an operation. This is our combat operation center. We're approaching the gate militants came in from different directions. It's a very actor. So you have a couple loaded and ready to go.
The house is
Stroy, but the flag.
Not a care unit.
How important it made to USA? Great work. Hi.
Appreciate you.
Thank you.
It's Lyle? David.
David. I'm David Mueller. I know you are 1.
You do. You every night.
ABC's world news tonight with David Mueller is America's America's most watched news cast.
It's lunchtime in America. So what are we serving up?
Well, how about everything you need to know?
Trends, and, of course, good
food. It's all coming up on G And A 3. You're gonna love it. We'll see you then. 23.
What you need to know,
a 3rd hour of G And A in the afternoon. So join Afternoon. For everything you need to know.
I love that.
Thank you. Hi.
I'm Diane Messado today.
ABC news live first breaking news. Israel is striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. What the IDF is saying about the attacks plus new details about the device explosions that killed more than 3 dozen people. Former president Trump says he plans to visit Springfield Ohio. The former president has been amplifying false claims about Haitian migrants eating pets there, why the mayor's asking candidates not to come and how vice president Kamala Harris is responding.
And new claims of interference officials accused Iran of hacking the Trump campaign, what they say happened, and the major tech company now issuing a stark warning about threats from foreign actors. But first, we have breaking news. Israel says its military is launching strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. The new attack come after a second wave of device explosions across Lebanon and Syria. Hezbollah members, walkie talkies detonated yesterday, killing at least 25 people and injuring hundreds more.
Israel hasn't claimed responsibility for those attack but officials tells ABC news that the country is behind the operation. It comes just a day after thousands of Hezbollah Pagers exploded across Lebanon. Now Hezbollah's leader says these attacks amount to a declaration of war. Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore joins me from Beirut Marcus, what's it like there right now?
Diane, it's very tense right now. We, a few moments ago, as Hassan Nasralla, the leader of Hezbollah was giving a speech, fighter jets were flying low over the, over the downtown Beirut where we are, and there were 2 very large sonic booms, these, booms as we have seen over the past many months are meant to, to send a message to to Hezbollah and and others here in in Lebanon. And all of this is happening, as you were just reporting, that there are have been new strikes reported in Southern, Lebanon, just as Hassan Naswala was speaking, The idea of saying that these strikes were targeted at, Hezbollah infrastructure and were in response. We understand between, from a strike that Hezbollah was carrying out in Northern Northern Israel. This has been, part of the daily tit for tat that we have watched unfold and also adding Diane to the concern, that we have been talking about for so many months about the potential for this to spread into a wider conflict.
Yeah. And on that point, Marcus, Hezbollah's leader was already calling in a declaration of war talking about these device explosions now with Israeli air strikes added to that, where do you see this going from here?
Well, I mean, I think where we are right now is is we're at that position where, the concerns are very real. And in, in in every sense, there has already been a a war being waged in Southern Lebanon and and Northern Israel, we've seen these attacks going back and forth. The concern is that it could could grow into something much bigger. And you mentioned, miss Ralla, talking about the explosions, the the, simultaneous explosions being declarations of war, in in his speech, he made the point that these were devices that, were set off in, civilian areas. He said they were, ex detonated without any concern for who might be holding those those devices or anyone, around them.
So really, trying to make the point that, what what they have watched unfold here, he said, across all lines, all red lines, both legal and and and moral. And so, Diane, that will only add to the tension and the risk of this escalating even more.
Alright. Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore in Beirut. Thank you. And let's bring an ABC's contributor, former senior CIA Field operative, Daryl Blocker, for more on this. Daryl, what do you make of the those words from the leader of Hezbollah that these device explosions are a declaration of war.
And now on top of that, you're looking at these Israeli air strikes.
Nasserala's words ring hollow, Diane. The declaration of war has been 10 and a half months of incessant bombing from Hezbollah into Northern Israel. So there is a very specific reason why the last 2 days have happened, and it's completely and utterly ridiculous for Hezbollah to suggest that this has come out from out of the blue, that there's no justification for it, and that it is not in retaliation for
what's been going
on since the 8th
October.
Now Nasralla is vowing to fight on, but he did acknowledge that these attacks were a major blow. So how have they impacted Hezbollah's capabilities?
I mean, just think about this. Everyone should consider the fact that as of right now, they can know longer use their cell phone. They can no longer trust their laptop. They can no longer trust anything that has that can receive or send an electronic signal. They are completely discombobulated.
They don't know what to do next. And at some point, they're gonna have to trust that they can communicate again, but they're always gonna be aware of the fact that the long reach of the Israelis or whoever was responsible is just right around the corner. That's disconcerting.
So, Daryl, how are the US and Natalia's working to try to deescalate this? And what are you watching for now?
So what you're looking for now, the the different indications and warnings in the aftermath of this is what are the, the task masters in Iran doing? What are they going to pull someone aside and say, hey. Let's let's cease and desist. Let's figure out some way to deescalate this. And those conversations probably are going on.
But right now, they're still you know, within 2 days of all of this happening and they're in shock. But de escalation is always always the purpose for intelligent services, particularly the, US intelligence community to get both sides to to reach some type of impasse to at at least agree to disagree and to stop this senseless, killing that's going on. Alright. ABC News contributor, former senior CIA Field operative, Daryl Blocker. Thank
you.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials say they foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate prime minister Netanyahu
and other top leaders. Police and intelligence officials are accusing a 73 year
old Israeli businessman of smuggling himself into Iran to meet with intelligence officials there. Officials say the alleged plots were intended as retaliation for the assassination of a Hamas leader in July. ABC's Lama Hassan joins me now for more on that. Alamo, what's the latest here?
Yeah. Hey, Diane. So Israeli Police and domestic intelligence put out a statement saying that they arrested an Israeli man who has been identified as 73 year
old Modi maman from Ashcolon in southern Israel. They arrested him on
suspicion of being involved in a plot to assassinate the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They believe this was an Iranian plot and that he was recruited by Iranian intelligence and was even smuggled twice to Iran, to reportedly and reportedly receive money for attending a few of the meetings. He also demanded a $1,000,000 upfront before carrying out the plot. They also believe that not only did they, discuss the possibility of assassinating the prime minister, but also the defense minister, Yaurav Gallant or the head of the Xin Bet domestic intelligence agency. The statement also points out that he was arrested last month in August.
This information of his arrest was released today, and we don't know, Diane, how far along the man was with this alleged plot.
So, La, what does this mean for concerns of escalating conflict in the region? Could this be the thing that really spreads this war beyond?
Look, that's a good question. We know that this arrest comes during a time when Tensions are increasing in the region on multiple fronts. Right? So you have the war with Hamas in Gaza, and a new front is possibly, opening in Lebanon, with the Iranian backed militant group, Hezbollah. So now this Iranian assassination plot, this could only increase tensions further.
But what is interesting is what a Xin Bet official said, describing this case as very serious, saying that according to their security assessments, the Iranians will continue to try to recruit operatives in Israel, Diane.
So what are the next steps in this investigation?
So, Israeli police say that he's being arrested. He's in custody. An indictment was issued to the court with a request for an extension, and that was approved So he will remain in custody. We reached out to his lawyer who told us that his client made errors and judgments with his business dealings and that he, has greatly assisted Israeli security services, Diane.
Alright. Loma Hassan in London. Thank you. Sure. And US intelligence agencies are accusing Iran of hacking the Trump campaign.
They're also alleging Iran sent that stolen information to people associated with the Biden campaign. ABC News Justice reporter, Alex Mallon joins me now for more. Alex, what's the latest?
Yeah. So we knew, Diane, that the Iranian government or official or hackers associated with the Iranian government had actually gained access to internal information from the Trump campaign back in July, and it they attempted to provide it to media organizations. Now the statement yesterday from the FBI at the office of director of the National Intelligence said that they actually found
evidence that the Iranian hackers attempted to send that internal trump campaign information
as well to officials associated with the Biden campaign specifically to personal email accounts. Now we heard from both the Biden, White House and Harris campaign yesterday that that information was never accessed, that they did not use it to, you know, send it out or amplify it in any way to hurt the Trump campaign But right now, I mean, obviously, the the FBI And Office director National Intelligence trying to come out really being forthright about what they see as increasing efforts by Iran and as as well as Russia and China to interfere in the 2024 election, Diane.
And, Alex, how has the Trump campaign responded to this?
Well, they issued a statement yesterday that,
falsely suggested that the Harris campaign was attempting in some way to collude with the
Iranian government and these efforts to influence the elect the Harris campaign flatly rejected that. And, also, they they condemned this effort. They said they don't need Iran's help. And it's important also to note that the former president has, in previous years, tried to solicit or said he would openly accept information that was hacked from foreign governments in the US election. Diane?
Alex Mellon, thank you. Former president Trump says he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio after amplifying false claims about Haitian migrants in the town. The former president says he wants to visit Springfield in the next 2 weeks. Main all vice president Harris is slamming Trump's plans for mass deportation of migrants. ABC New Senior White House correspondent Selena Wang joins me now for more.
Selena, Trump now says he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio. The mayor's asking for both candidates not to come. So what's the latest on that?
Yeah. Trump says he wants to visit Springfield within the next 2 weeks despite those calls from the mayor for neither presidential candidate to come, he said that it would put a strain on the city's resources. The city of Springfield has faced at least 33 bomb threats. Since those false claims surfaced, those are false claims that Trump and his running mate J. D.
Vance have been amplifying false claims that have been repeatedly debunked about Haitian migrants of the city stealing and eating neighborhood pets. Now the Republican governor of Ohio has defended the Haitian migrants who most of them are in the country legally. The Republican governor saying that they are a boost to the economy.
Now the latest New York Times Sienna poll shows the race is deadlocked nationally, but Harris has a 4 point edge on Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. How significant is that? Yeah. That pull is
pretty interesting. And what is interesting there is that Harris
is actually ahead in Pennsylvania versus nationwide.
Now back in 2020, president Biden was only up in Pennsylvania by about 1.2 percentage points, whereas nationwide, he was up by more than 4 percentage points. But regardless, these polls show that this race is essentially locked in a dead heat, and the Harris campaign tells me that they're going to continue running their campaign as if they are the underdogs. And tell me that Harris is going to be stepping up her media appearances, but mostly with local and nontraditional outlets. Tonight, vice president Harris is going to be holding a virtual event with Oprah Winfrey, and the goal that is to target voters and rally support in battleground states.
Now Harris is set to deliver remarks in Atlanta focused on the stories of 2 Georgia women saying their deaths show the consequences of strict abortion bans. How critical is this issue at this point in the election? And what's the latest on each candidate's plan to deal with it? Well, vice president Harris wants
to put this issue front and center of her campaign. She believes that abortion is going to galvanize voters to the polls with abortion on the ballot in 10 States, including in battleground, Nevada, and Arizona. Her speech in Georgia tomorrow comes after a report from pro publica about the deaths of 2 women in the state as a result of the state strict abortion bans, and she is going to directly tie their debts and blame it on Donald Trump's actions. On the campaign trail, she's repeatedly slammed Donald Trump for appointing the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe versus Wade.
Alright. Senior White House correspondent, Selena Wang. Thank you. And Congress is under pressure after the house voted down speaker Johnson's funding plan. The government is set to run out of money in just 12 days.
14 Republicans in all but 3 crats voted against the bill. Now speaker Johnson says he's searching for a plan b.
We ran the play. It was the best play. It was the right 1. And so now we go back to the playbook. We'll drop another play, and we'll come up with a solution.
I'm already talking to colleagues about their many ideas. We have time to, to fix the situation, and we'll get right to it.
ABC's Joe Bryant joins me from Capitol Hill with more on this. Jay, what are you hearing from lawmakers about why this failed?
Well, you heard the speaker there say they have time, but time is really running out you said, government funding ends at the end of this month. Mike Johnson's plan was to do a
temporary government funding measure that include, a bill called the Save
Act, which has ID requirements for non to prevent non citizens from voting in federal elections. Democrats didn't vote for that because they say, well, they wanna keep the government open. There is no need for that bill about ID requirements because there's already legal, illegal, rather, for non citizens to vote in federal elections. So they said that bill was just a political ploy on Johnson's part. As for those 14 Republicans, they said they didn't wanna vote for the package because they don't wanna vote for any temporary short term government funding measure because they are largely spending hockey.
So my Johnson is between a rock and a hard place. There's really nothing he can do to appease those on the further right of his conference to get them to vote for any kind of a temporary government funding measure. So likely he's gonna have to work with Democrats across the aisle if he wants to a verdict government shutdown by, again, the end of this month.
Jay, meanwhile, the house is poised to vote soon on a measure requiring the secret service apply equal standards when they protect major candidates as they do sitting presidents. What are you watching for there?
Well, this is legislation that it doesn't really have much teeth to it in a way. It's already something, by the way, the secret service says that they are doing in the case of former president. Trump, he already has the secret service says the highest level of protection akin to a
sitting president. Nonetheless, this is the house trying to do something
now in the wake of these 2 assassination attempts against former president Trump, but also the Secret Service says, look, while Trump has that highest Echelon of protection, they are also an agency that is running very much at its highest possible, performative level. They are all down field on protecting people. They've gotta protect not just president Biden, but also former president Trump vice president Harris, their VP nominees, their families, and the list goes on. So the secret service would say they need more resources from Congress But what Congress has said is they're not certain if this is a resource issue as speaker Johnson has put it or necessarily or more of a manpower issue. So does it look like the Secret Services maybe will get more money, but they will get this legislation that will essentially compel them to do something that they say they're already doing?
Alright. ABC's J O'Brien on Capitol Hill. Jay, thank you. Coming up, the Fed cuts interest rates for the first time in 4 years. What it means for mortgages, credit card bills, and your bottom line.
Whenever news breaks. We are hearing Israel a nation at war after that brutal surprise attack by Hamas.
On the ground in Ukraine, reporting from Lewiston Maine.
The scene of a horrific mass shooting. EU's Live is right there everywhere. From the
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Reporting from the earthquake in Turkey. Enrolling for this tornado tour through this little town. From the most
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Hi. My name is Patrice. I am a totally cool person
with a disability. Patrice always sees the best side of life. He just looked at her and
I said, Would you like to be my
evening.
If you get married and you're collecting a Social Security benefit, your benefit will be cut.
I don't take anything for granted. I don't see anyone coming to anyone.
They never gonna stop
Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped. Your mom and dad are gonna be
right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
and people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own children?
After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America, go free.
Killer mom now streaming on Hulu. Welcome back to ABC News Live
stocks are rising after the Fed cut interest rates for the first time in 4 years. The Dow is now up nearly 500 points, but how soon will most Americans feel the impact of these lower interest rates? Elizabeth Shelby has the answer.
Long awaited relief for
American households and businesses. The Federal Reserve cutting interest rates for the first time since the pandemic in
2020 with an aggressive half point cut. Ending a chapter of higher borrowing costs that helped tame stubborn inflation.
I think we've made real progress. The Fed signaling more rate cuts in the months ahead, which would help bring down the cost of
credit card debt, auto loans, or new mortgage.
Mortgage rates have already been dropping in anticipation of this announcement. How much more should borrowers expect
those rates to drop over the next year? You know, that'll depend on on how the economy evolves. Okay. We we expect that process to take some time.
And as
if if things work out according to that forecast, other rates in the economy will come down as well.
Alright. So this could be your next. Actually, it could be
Lower rates are welcome news for aspiring first time homebuyers like Cape Pexa.
Would it mean 100 of dollars less on a property like this?
Yes. Absolutely. Mhmm. Wow.
For years, she's been putting off buying a home because of high costs.
Any sense of how many homes you've come to or as you've gone and how many houses you've looked at as part process.
Oh, well, if you if you consider looking online, a 1000.
A 1000.
I look a lot all the time.
Now she's hopeful her goal of becoming a homeowner is within reach. With mortgage rates going
down,
I am excited for an opportunity to maybe open some doors to some properties that I did not originally, foresee as as possible. And Elizabeth joins me now
for more on this.
Elizabeth, we heard in your piece that the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell said the the process for lowering mortgage rates said it's gonna take some time. So what does
that mean? When will borrowers actually start to feel the impact here? And what about for those refinancing existing rates.
Right.
And what exactly does some time mean? He didn't wanna put it. He's a lot of time frame on that. Exactly. But I will say when you think about mortgage rates, we've already been seeing this impact a little bit because mortgage rates aren't directly affected by Fed, they're very closely linked.
So they've been going in the direction that the Fed's going. When you think about what that means for your average monthly payment on a home, mortgage rates today, 6.2%. They were 7.2% just about a month ago, Diane, and that can save you a 100 of dollars in your monthly payment. 1 impact too on this is refinancing.
We're actually seeing now that more people are starting to refinance because they got stuck and even higher rates than what we're
seeing now, maybe closer to 8% refinancing applications We're up a 127% last week compared to the same time last year, and that really shows how people are desperate just for a little bit of a difference. So always when you refinance, you wanna make sure you're looking at how much you're saving in your monthly payments versus how much actually gonna cost to do that. There are fees up front that you have to pay to chance.
Now the fed also signaled more rate cuts, ahead. How soon do you think those could come?
So we have 2 more fed meetings this year. The next 1 is in November. It's actually starts the day after election day. Than 1 more in December. And an expectation from most analysts and really from the Fed's own forecast is that there will be rate cuts at those meetings.
And then what's important is that there will be more rate cuts through next year too. So those cumulative cuts over the next year or so is what really does make a difference in your household bills. Think about credit card bills. If you carry a balance on your credit card and you have interest, you should start to see those rates gradually go down similar to car loans. That would be bigger impact over time over the next year as the Fed continues on this path, which is why It was a big moment for the Fed to say we're starting on this journey.
This should ease costs as we go on for both consumers and businesses too.
Alright. Elizabeth, Chelsea. Thank you. Thanks, Anne. Coming up another milestone for the WNBA.
The new plan to expand the league to 15 teams. What does it take to be the
most watched newscast in America?
But operation, the capture license fighters
This is Circrombin operation center? We're approaching the gate now. Militants came in from 4 or 5 different directions in operational nuclear reactors. So you have a couple loaded and ready to go.
The house is destroyed, but the flag, there's not a tear in it. Not a tear in it.
How important is this label right here made the USA? Look here smile. You're proud of this.
I love this.
Great work.
Hi. I'm doing it. Where are you? Where are you? I appreciate you.
So thank
you, David.
Good to meet you.
It's Leo? David. David.
Yes. Yes. I'm David Muir.
I know you are. Watch you every night.
ABC's world news tonight with David Muir is America's most watched newscast.
Let's go. The ship is incredible. It feels like living in a science fiction movie.
We just saw what no 1 has seen before. Wow. Look at that.
We are heading into the unknown.
Hammer. Hammer. Hammer. Hammer.
It doesn't get any more cutting edge on this.
Why do so many people start their day here?
From ABC News, this is start here.
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Welcome back to ABC News Live first. The WBA is announcing plans to bring a new team to Portland, Oregon. The expansion marks the latest milestone for the league returning to a city at once left. ABC News Eva Pilgrim has the latest.
I am honored
to officially announce that we have awarded Portland, 15th WNBA franchise. Portland, Oregon joining the WNBA.
It's the first time a WNBA team will return to a city it left. The fire played in Portland for 3 years before being dissolved in 2002.
The league is
coming off its highest viewed and attended season ever. Driving interest, a breakout rookie class. 6 threes on
the night. Stars like
Caitlin Clark, who set a record assist in a single game and became the first rookie to have a triple double in a game. An angel Rees who set a WNBA record for consecutive double doubles before suffering a season ending injury. Established vets like Asia Wilson also rewriting the record books, the Ace star breaking the single season scoring record, becoming the 1st player in league history to score over 1000 points.
These women, whether they are veterans or rookies, are ushering in new fans, in a very similar way that maybe Larry Bird and Magic Johnson did that really helped transition the NBA into the mainstream. Now the women are having a moment.
Portland is the 3rd expansion team entering the league over the next 2 years. With San Francisco and Toronto getting the other 2 spots.
The best is yet to come. These 3 teams joining the WNBA is the blueprint for the future.
Eva Pilgrim. Thank you. And thank you for watching. I'm Diane Mosado. The news never stops.
And neither do we. We have a lot more news for you right after the break. With
so much at stake so much on the line, more Americans turn here than any other newscast, ABC News, World News tonight with David Muir, America's number 1 most watched newscast across all of television.
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Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped.
Your mom and dad are gonna be right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded
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Hi. I'm Diane Mosado today on ABC News Live. First breaking news, Israel is striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. What the IDF is saying about the attacks plus new details about the device explosions that killed more than 3 dozen people. Former president Trump says he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio.
The former president has been amplifying false claims about Haitian migrants eating pets there, why the mayor's asking candidates not to come and how vice president come Laharis is responding. And new claims of election interference officials accuse Iran of hacking the Trump campaign, what they say happened, and the major tech company now issuing a stark warning about threats from foreign actors.
But first,
we have breaking news. Israel says its military is launching strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. The new attack come after a second wave of device explosions across Lebanon and Syria. Hezbollah members, walkie talkies detonated yesterday, killing at least 25 people and injuring hundreds more. Israel hasn't claimed responsibility for those attacks, but officials tells ABC news that the country is behind the operation.
It comes just a day after thousands of Hezbollah Pagers exploded across Lebanon. Now Hezbollah's leaders says these attack amount to a declaration of war. Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore joins me from Beirut.
Marcus, what's it like there right now? Diane, it's very tense right now.
We a few moments
ago, as Hassan Nasralla, the leader of Hezbollah was given a speech. Fighter jets were flying low over the, over the downtown Beirut where we are. And there were 2 very large sonic booms, these, booms as we have a scene over the past many months are meant to to send a message, to to Hezbollah and and others here in in Lebanon. And all of this is happening, as you were just reporting, that there are have been new strikes reported in southern, Lebanon, just as Hassan Nasralla was speaking. The idea is saying that these strikes were targeted at, Hezbollah infrastructure, and we're in response.
We understand, between from a strike that Hezbollah was carrying out in Northern Northern Israel. This has been, part of the daily tit for tat that we have watched unfold and also adding Diane to the concern, that we have been talking about for so many months about the potential for this to spread into a wider conflict.
And on that point, Marcus, Hezbollah's leader was already calling it a declaration of war talking about these device explosions. Now with Israeli air strikes added to that, where do you see this going from here?
Well, I mean, I think where we are right now is is we're at that position where, the concerns are very real. And in, in in every sense, there has already been a a war being waged in Southern Lebanon and and Northern Israel. We've seen these attacks going back and forth. The concern is that it could could grow into something much bigger. And you've mentioned, miss Ralla, talking about the explosions, the the simultaneous explosions being declarations of war.
In in his speech, he made the point that these were devices that, were set off in, civilian areas. He said they were, detonated without any concern for who might be holding those, those devices or anyone, around them. So really, trying to make the point that, what what they have watched unfold here, he said, across all lines, all red lines, both legal and and and and moral. And so, Diane, that will only add to the tension and the risk of this escalating even more.
Alright. Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore in Beirut. Thank you. Let's bring a ABC's contributor, former senior CIA Field operative, Daryl Blocker, for more on this. Daryl, what do you make of the those words from the leader of Hezbollah that these device explosions are a declaration of war.
And now on top of that, you're looking at these Israeli air strikes.
Nasirala's words ring hollow, Diane. The declaration of war has been 10 and a half months of incessant bombing from Hezbollah into Northern Israel. So there is a very specific reason why the last 2 days have happened, and it's completely and utterly ridiculous for Hezbollah to suggest that this has come out from out of the blue. That there's no justification for it and that it is not in retaliation for what's been going on since the 8th October.
Now Nasralla is vowing to fight on, but he did acknowledge that these attacks were a major blow. So how have they impacted Hezbollah's capabilities?
I mean, just think about this. Everyone should consider the fact that as of right now, they can no longer use their cell phone. They can no longer trust their laptop. They can no longer trust anything that has that can receive or send an electronic signal. They are completely discombobulated.
They don't know what to do next. And at some point, they're gonna have to trust that they can communicate again, but they're always gonna be aware of the fact that the long reach of the Israelis or whoever was responsible is just right around the corner. That's disconcerting.
So, Daryl, how are the US and it's allies working to try to deescalate this? And what are you watching for now?
So what you're looking for now, the the different indications and warnings in the after math of this is what are the, the task masters in Iran doing? What are they going to pull someone aside and say, hey. Let's let's cease and desist. Let's figure out some way to deescalate this. And those conversations probably are going on.
But right now, they're still, you know, within 2 days of all of this happening and they're in shock, but de escalation is always always the purpose for intelligent services particularly the, US intelligence community to get both sides to to reach some type of impasse, to at at least agree to disagree, and to stop this senseless, killing that's going on.
Alright. ABC news contributor, former senior CIA Field operative, Daryl Blocker. Thank you. Meanwhile, Israeli officials say they foiled an Iranian plot to assess a prime minister Netanyahu and other top leaders. Police and intelligence officials are accusing a 73 year old Israeli businessman of smuggling himself into Iran to meet with intelligence officials there.
Officials say the alleged plots were intended as retaliation for the assassination of a Hamas leader in July. ABC's Lama Hassan joins me now for more on that. Alamo, what's the latest here?
Yeah. Hey, Diane. So Israeli police and domestic intelligence put out a statement saying that they arrested an Israeli man who has been identified as 73 year old Modi maman from Ashkolon in southern Israel. They arrested him on suspicion of being involved in a plot to assassinate the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They believe this was an Iranian plot and that he was recruited by Iranian intelligence and was even smuggled twice to Iran, to reportedly and reportedly receive money for attending a few of the meetings.
He also demanded a $1,000,000 upfront before carrying out the plot. They also believe that not only did they discuss the possibility of assassinating the prime minister, but also the defense minister, Yohav Gallant, or the head of the Xin Bet domestic intelligence agency. The statement also points out that he was arrested last month in August, but this information of his arrest was released today, and we don't know, Diane, how far along the man was with this alleged plot.
So, Lauma, what does this mean for concerns of escalating conflict in the region? Could this be the thing that really spreads this war beyond?
Well, look, that's a good question. We know that this arrest comes during a time when tensions are increasing in the region on multiple fronts. Right? So you have the war with Hamas in Gaza, and a new front is possibly, opening in Lebanon. With the Iranian backed militant group, Hezbollah.
So, now this Iranian assassination plot, this could only increase tensions further. But what is interesting is what a Xin Bet official said, describing this case as very serious saying that according to their security assessments that Iranians will continue to try to recruit operatives in Israel, Diane.
So what are the next steps in this investigation?
So, Israeli police say that he's been arrested. He's in custody. An indictment was issued to the court with a request for an extension, and that was approved. So he will remain in custody. We reached out to his lawyer who told us that his client made errors in judgment with his business dealings and that he has greatly assisted Israeli security services, Diane.
Alright. Loma Hassan in London. Thank you. Sure. And US intelligence agencies are accusing Iran of hacking the Trump campaign.
They're also alleging Iran sent that stolen information to people associated with the Biden campaign. ABC News justice reporter, Alex Mallon joins me now for more. Alex, what's the latest?
Yeah. So we knew Diane that the Iranian government or official or hackers associated with the Iranian government had actually gained access to internal information from the Trump campaign back in July, and it they attempted to provide it to media organizations. Now the statement yesterday from the FBI and the office of director of the National intelligence said that they actually found evidence
that the Iranian hackers attempted to send that internal trump campaign information as well to officials associated with the Biden campaign, specifically to
personal email accounts. Now we heard from both the Biden, White House and Harris campaign yesterday that that information was never accessed, that they did not use it to, you know, send it out or amplify it in any way to hurt the Trump campaign. But right now, I mean, obviously, the the FBI And Office director, National Intelligence trying to come out really being forthright about what they see as increasing efforts by Iran and as as well as Russia and China to interfere in the 2024 election, Diane.
And, Alex, how has the Trump campaign responded to this?
Well, they issued a statement yesterday that, falsely suggested that the Harris campaign was attempting in some way to collude with the Iranian government and these efforts to influence the election. The Harris campaign flatly rejected that And also they they condemned this effort. They said they don't need Iran's help, and it's important also to note that the former president has, in previous years, tried to solicit or said he would openly accept information that was hacked from foreign governments in the US election. Diane?
Alex Mellon, thank you. For President Trump says he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio after amplifying false claims about Haitian migrants in the town. The former president says he wants to visit Springfield in the next 2 weeks. Mainall vice president Harris is slamming Trump's plans for mass deportation of migrants. ABC New Senior White House correspondent Selena Wang joins me now for more.
Selena, Trump now says he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio. The mayor's asking for both candidates not to come. So what's the latest on that? Yeah. Trump says
he wants to visit Springfield within the next 2 weeks to despite those calls from the mayor for neither presidential candidate to come, he said that it would put a strain on the city's resources. The city of Springfield has faced at least 33 bomb threats. Since those false claims surfaced, those are false claims that Trump and his running mate JD Vance have been amplifying false claims that have been repeatedly debunked about Haitian migrants in
the city stealing and eating neighborhood pets. Now the Republican
governor of Ohio has defended the Haitian migrants who most of them are in the country legally, the Republican governor saying that they are a boost to the economy.
Now the latest New York Times Sienna poll shows the race is deadlocked nationally, but Harris has a 4 point edge on Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. How significant is that?
Yeah. That pull is pretty interesting. And what is interesting there is that Harris is actually ahead in Pennsylvania versus nationwide. Now back in 2020, president Biden was only up in Pennsylvania by about 1 point 2 percentage points, whereas nationwide, he was up by more than 4 percentage points. But regardless, these polls show that this race is essentially locked in a dead heat, and the Harris campaign tells me that they're going to continue running their campaign as if they are the underdogs.
They tell me that Harris is going to be stepping up her media appearances, but mostly with local and nontraditional outlets. Tonight, vice president Harris is going to be holding a virtual event with Oprah Winfrey. And the goal of that is to target voters and rally support in battleground states.
Now Harris is set to deliver remarks in Atlanta focused on the stories of 2 Georgia women saying their deaths show the consequences of strict abortion bans. How critical is this issue at this point in the election? And what's the latest on each candidates plan to deal with it?
Well, vice president Harris wants to put this issue front and center of her campaign. She believes that abortion is going to galvanize voters to the polls with abortion on the ballot in 10 States, including in Battle Ground, Nevada, and Arizona. Her speech in Georgia tomorrow comes after a report from pro publica about the deaths of 2 women in the state as a result of the state's strict abortion bans, and she is going to directly tie their and blame it on Donald Trump's actions. On the campaign trail, she's repeatedly slammed Donald Trump for appointing the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe versus Wade.
Alright. Senior White House correspondent Selena Wang. Thank you. And Congress is under pressure after the house voted down speaker Johnson's funding plan. The government is set to run out of money in just 12 days.
14 Republicans and all but 3 Democrats voted against the bill. Now speaker Johnson says he's searching for a plan b.
We ran the play. It was the best play. It was the right 1. And so now we go back to the playbook. We'll drop another play, and we'll come up with a solution.
I'm already talking to colleagues about their many ideas. We have time to, to fix the situation, and we'll get right to it.
ABC. Jay O'Brien joins me from Capitol Hill with more on this. Jay, what are you hearing from lawmakers about why this failed?
Well, you heard the speaker there say they have time, but time is really running out. As you said, government funding ends, at the end of this month. Mike Johnson's plan was to do a temporary government funding measure that include, a bill called the Save Act, which has ID requirements for nuns to prevent non citizens from voting in federal elections. Democrats didn't vote for that because they say, well, wanna keep the government open, there is no need for that bill about IV requirements because there's already legal, illegal, rather, for non citizens to vote in federal elections. So they said that bill was just a political ploy on Johnson's as for those 14 Republicans, they said they didn't wanna vote for the package because they don't wanna vote for any temporary short term government funding measure because they are largely spending hocks.
So Mike Johnson is between a rock and a hard place. There's really nothing he can do to appease those on the further right of his conference to get them to vote for any kind of a temporary government funding measure. So likely, he's gonna have to work with Democrats across the aisle if he wants to avert a government shutdown by, again, the end of this month.
Jaymeanwhile, the house is poised to vote soon on a measure requiring the secret service. Apply equal standards when they protect major candidates as they do sitting presidents. What are you watching for there?
Well, this is legislation that it doesn't really have much teeth to it in a way. It's already something by the way. The Secret Service says that they are doing in the case of former president. Trumpy already has the Secret Service says the highest level of protection akin to a sitting president. Nonetheless, this is the house trying to do something now in the wake of these 2 assassination attempts against former president Trump.
But also the Secret Services look, while Trump has that highest Echelon of protection, they are all also an agency that is running very much at its highest possible, performative level. They are all down field on protecting people. They've gotta protect not just president Biden, but also foreign president Trump vice president Harris their VP nominees, their families, and the list goes on. So the Secret Service would say they need more resources from Congress. But what Congress has said is they're not certain if this is a resource issue as speaker Johnson has put it, or necessarily or more of a manpower issue.
So it doesn't look like the Secret Services maybe will get more money, but they will get this legislation that will essentially compel them to do something that they say they're already doing.
Alright. ABC's Jay O'Brien on Capitol Hill. Jay, thank you. Coming up, the Fed cuts interest rates for the first time in 4 years, what it means for mortgages, credit card bills, and your bottom line. Whenever news breaks.
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are rising after the Fed cut interest rates for the first time in 4 years. But how soon will most Americans feel the impact of these lower interest rates? Elizabeth Shelby has the answer. Long awaited relief for American households and businesses.
The Federal Reserve cutting interest rates for the first time since the pandemic in 2020
with an aggressive half point cut, ending a chapter of higher borrowing costs that helped tame stubborn inflation. I think we've made real progress.
The Fed signaling more rate cuts in the months ahead, which would help bring down the cost of credit
card debt, auto loans, or new mortgage. Mortgage rates have already been dropping in anticipation of this announcement.
How much more should borrowers expect those rates to drop
over the next year?
You know, that'll depend on on how the economy evolves. Okay. We we expect that process to take some time. And as if if things work out according to that forecast, other rates in the economy will come down as well.
Alright. So this could be your next step. We could be.
Lower rates are welcome news for aspiring first time homebuyers like Cape Pexa.
Would it mean 100 of dollars less on a property like this?
Yes. Absolutely. Month. Mhmm. Wow.
For years, she's been putting off buying a home because of high costs.
Any sense of how many homes you've come tours you've gone and how many houses you've looked at as part of this process? Oh,
well, if you if you consider looking online,
a 1000. A 1000.
I look a lot all the time.
Now she's
hopeful her goal of becoming a homeowner is within reach. With mortgage rates going down, I
I'm excited for an opportunity to maybe open some doors
to some properties that I did not originally,
foresee as as possible. And Elizabeth joins me now for more on this. Elizabeth, we heard in your
piece that the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
said the the process for
lowering mortgage rates said it's gonna take some time. So what does that mean? When will borrowers actually start to feel the impact here?
And what about for those refinancing existing
rates? Does some time. He he didn't wanna put a exact time frame on that. Exactly. But I will say when you think about mortgage rates, we've already been seeing this impact a little bit because mortgage rates aren't directly affected by the Fed.
They're very closely linked. So they've been going in the direction that the Fed's going. When you think about what that means for your average monthly payment on a home, mortgage rates today, 6.2%. They were
7.2% just about a month ago, Diane, and that can save you a 100 of dollars
in your monthly payment. 1 impact too on this is refinancing. We're actually seeing now that more people are
starting to refinance because they got stuck and even higher rates than what we're seeing
now, maybe closer to 8% refinancing applications We're up a 127% last week compared to the same time last year, and that really shows how people are desperate just for a little bit of a difference. So always when you refinance, you wanna make sure you're looking at how much you're saving in your monthly payments versus how much actually it's gonna cost to do that. There are fees upfront that you have to pay to refinance.
No. The fed also signaled more rate cuts, ahead. How soon do you think those could come?
So we have 2 more fed meetings this year. The next 1 is in November. It actually starts the day after election day, then 1 more in December. And then the expectation from most analysts from the Fed's own forecast is that there will be rate cuts at those meetings. And then what's important is that there will be more rate cuts through next year too.
So those cumulative cuts over the next year or so is what really does make a difference in your household bills. Think about credit card bills. If you carry a balance on your credit card and you have interest, you should start to see those rates gradually go down similar to car loans. That would be bigger impact over time over the next year as the Fed continues on this path, which is why It was a big moment for the Fed to say we're starting on this journey. This should ease costs as we go on for both consumers and businesses too.
Alright. Elizabeth, Chelsea. Thank you. Thanks, Anne. Coming up another milestone for the WNBA.
The new plan to banned the league to 15 teams.
What
does it take to be the most watched newscast in America?
An operation to capture ice dispensers.
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How important is this label right here made to USA. Well, here's smile. You're proud of this.
I love it. Great work. Hi. Where are you? Where are you?
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Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children. We're kidnapped.
No mom and company right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
and people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own chill trend.
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Welcome back to ABC News Live First, the WBA is announcing
plans to bring a new team to Portland, Oregon. The expansion marks the latest milestone for the league returning to a city it once left.
ABC News Eva Pilgrim has the latest. I am honored to officially announce that
we have awarded Portland 15th
WNBA franchise.
Portland, Oregon joining the WNBA. It's the first time a WNBA team will return to a city it left. The fire played in Portland for 3 years before being dissolved in 2002. Seconds take off,
and the fever had them win against the Liberty.
The league is coming off its highest viewed and attended season ever. Driving interest, a breakout rookie class.
Sick threes on the night.
Stars like Caitlin Clark, who set a record for assist in a single game and became the first rookie to have a triple double in a game. And Angel Reese who set a WNBA record for consecutive double doubles before suffering a season ending injury. Established vets like Asia Wilson also rewriting the record books. The Ace star breaking the single season scoring record, becoming the 1st player in league history to score over 1000 points.
These women, whether they are veterans or rookies, are ushering in new fans in a very similar way that maybe Larry Bird and Magic Johnson did that really helped transition the NBA into the mainstream. Now the women are having a moment,
Portland is the 3rd expansion team entering the league over the next 2 years with San Francisco and Toronto getting the other 2 spots.
The best is yet to come. These 3 teams joining the WNBA is the blueprint for the future.
Eva Pilgrim, thank you, and thank you for watching. I'm Diane Moseto. The news never stops. And neither do we. We have a lot more news for you right after the break.
Tonight, unprecedented attacks across Lebanon, thousands of devices exploding at once, thousands of victims, the latest from Lebanon, plus the fight for the Battle Brown State's World News tonight. David Mueller, the most watched news cast on television You're watching America's number 1 streaming news live reporting, breaking new exclusives, keep streaming with ABC
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The question is, why was Matthew Perry doing How did he get it and who is to blame for his death?
In the case of Matthew Perry, it was kind of the perfect storm.
In September October of 2023, he was getting 6 to 8 shots of ketamine a day,
5 people, including 2 doctors, and Matthew Perry's personal assistant, all arrested.
These were 2 trained physicians.
We feel responsible for Matthew Perry's death.
The suspect's part of a broad underground criminal network.
The focus of this case right now is really on Doctor Plascencia and Jasmine Song Hall. They are not pleading guilty like the others.
Do you know why
she was given the name Ketamine queen?
She sold 50 vials in 2 weeks to mister Perry. They talked about exploiting mister Perry. They write quote, I wonder how much this 1 will pay.
Matthew Perry was a money stream for everybody involved.
It is very odd to live in a world where if you died, it would shock people, but surprise no 1.
What happened to Matthew Perry, the season premiere of impact by nightline, now streaming on Hulu.
Reporting from Butler, Pennsylvania, 1 day after that assassination attempt on former President Trump. I'm Alex Perchet. Wherever the story is, we'll take you there. You're streaming ABC news live.
Hi. I'm Diane Estata. We have breaking news. Israel says it's military is launching strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Those are sonic booms that shook buildings in Beirut as Jets flew low over the city.
It comes after multiple rockets were launched into Northern Israel from Lebanon
earlier today. The IDF says those rockets have killed to Israel soldiers and severely injured another. And it all comes after a second wave of device explosions across Lebanon and Syria. Hezbollah members, walkie talkies detonated yesterday, killing at least 25 people and injuring hundreds more. Israel's not claiming responsibility, but officials sell ABC news Israel is behind the operation.
Now Hezbollah's leader says these attacks amount to a declaration of war. Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore has the latest from Beirut.
Hi, Diane. It has been another very tense day here in Beirut and in Lebanon.
Just as Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasralla was do delivering a speech on television, we heard 2 very
large Sonic booms on these low flying warjets, flying over downtown Beirut, shaking the buildings here. We also heard, people screaming in the streets. This coming as people have already been on edge following 2 straight days of simultaneous, explosions of
of of handheld devices or or pagers, those explosions happening on on Tuesday and
Wednesday and resulting in the deaths of of 37 people and and and injuring, 100 of others. And so all of this happening, at the same time. And, we also understand that, the IDF has carried out a number of strikes on, Hezbollah's targets in in southern Lebanon. This part of the the daily, tit for tat that we have watched unfold, for the past 10 months here, in in Lebanon and in Northern, in Northern Israel, the question now is what impact this will have, moving forward. The concern, as you know, has always been on the potential for this to spread into a a much wider conflict.
Right now, we'll have to watch the wait to wait wait and see But during, Hassan Nasralla speech today, he said that there will be a retaliation for those coordinated, explosions. But he also acknowledged that those explosions did have a a big impact in the Delta major blow. To the group. But he said that they will not be deterred. And, again, the that our response is coming and that they will continue to support the people
of Gaza. Diane? Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore
in Beirut. Thank you
And let's bring in Matt Barrett, former CIA Assistant Director and director of the CIA's Office of the Middle East and North Africa analysis for more. And, Matt, thanks for coming on. How concerning are these escalating attacks?
Concerning. How are you doing, Diane? I, so, you know, there there are a lot of events that we're all watching and are causing concern. I think some of the things that we need to be thinking a little bit more about is what what are we not seeing so, 1 of the 1 of the roles I'm in now is, cofounder something at Utah State University called the Center Fanticipatory Intelligence. And 1 of the things that we do there is, a little bit of complexity science, and I don't wanna I don't wanna get too weasy on this, but complexity is the dynamic, like the 1 we had just before we had the Arab awakening, Arab Spring.
So there's a lot of actors and factors. There's a lot of stuff moving. There's in interdependence between those actors and factors. But it's it's the stuff we don't see, that's evolving rapidly. That is what I'm most concerned about.
So we we can see what Israel is doing, how aggression, you know, it's it's aggressiveness. The recent ops, you know, supply chain ops, the killing of senior, Hezbollah leaders, including 1 in Iran, wounding, Iran's ambassador, blinding him probably. It's it's the parts of the dynamic that we're not seeing just as we weren't seeing a lot of stuff in Tunisia and across the Middle East before we had that you know, what what complexity sites is called emergence. I think we're right for emergence. What that's gonna look like?
I don't know. A asymmetric warfare, actors striking out, not just at at Israel, but possibly its biggest backer. I think I think 1 constant that we can see or 1, something we can assume with high confidence is that Iran, his blah, and Hamas cannot afford not to find a way to impose costs on Israel, and maybe it's allies.
Now HESBEL has leaders vowing to fight on, but he acknowledged that these attacks were a major blow. So how have they impacted HESBEL's capabilities?
Well, you when, you know, your own correspondent, I thought caught some good stuff and, the earlier this today and 1 of my former colleagues at the agency, their communication dynamic is really messed up. And again, we're we are in an in an asymmetric to to a great degree in an asymmetric conflict dynamic. Hezbollah visa to the Israel. Although Iran is in the mix, you know, so Iran can bring a lot of resources to bear. So they're, you know, there's some there's some confusion.
They're trying to figure out some Hezbollah and Iran and Hamas trying to figure out some very basic tactical, things that they gotta work through. It was basic as communicating with each other, tracking each other. But again, back to back to a point I just made, they they cannot afford to do nothing. That just invites a very aggressive Netanyahu to to proceed to keep, you know, keep the aggressive conflict posture that he's in right now. And if if you listen to him lately, I don't think he's You know, we see the raids this morning.
I don't I don't think he's talking about backing off. You know, Netanyahu is 1 of the actors in this dynamic. The the the domestic pressure that he's facing. I'm not sure the, outside of Israel, we appreciate it. Fully.
We had the, the event with the judicial reform, not exactly very popular, the 7 October slaughter, the hostages, bunch of, Israelis being
forced thousands, maybe, being forced to move from, you know, the
near the Southern Lebanese border. So This has all the makings for something to pop out of it. I don't I don't think it'll be today, but over the next week or 2 or month or 2, that may surprise us.
What sort of psychological impact could these device explosions have on Hezbollah given they're targeting everyday devices in just about everybody's pockets?
I guess the first 2 that come to minders surprise and and anger. And and, yeah, psychologically, it's very unsettling. What other, I mean, a question to to tool around with is, you know, you all, the media is reporting that the reason, the Israelis played this card, and a supply chain card is something that takes weeks, months, sometimes years to set up. And but once you play it, you're done. It's over.
So why did Israel play this card? Now people have said, you know, some media reporting suggested it was because Hezbollah had stumbled into it. Stu raises the question of, you know, the psychological aspect that you're hitting. Did Israel have to set them all off? Could they just gone to the to his blog said, yep.
You found it. And and they're not the only ones. We got some other stuff in the bag you don't know about. So I I'm resting a little bit with why the Israelis went ahead and just set them off. I guess they figure, they know about it.
What better time to play this card. Alright.
Matt Barrett, thank you. Yep. See you. Former President Trump
plans to visit Springfield, Ohio after amplifying false claims about Haitian migrants in the tone. The former president says he wants to visit Springfield in the next 2 weeks. Mainall vice president Harris is slamming Trump's plans for mass deportation of migrants. ABC New Senior White House correspondent Selena Wang joins me now for more. Selena, Trump now says he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio.
The mayor's asking for both candidates not to come. So what's the latest on that?
Yeah. Trump says he wants to visit Springfield within the next 2 weeks to despite those calls from the mayor for neither presidential candidate to come, he said that it would put a strain on the city's resources. The city of Springfield has faced at least 33 bomb threats. Since those false
claims surfaced, those are false claims that Trump and his
running mate, JD Van, have been amplifying false claims that have been repeatedly debunked about Haitian migrants in the city stealing and eating neighborhood pets. Now the Republican governor of Ohio has defended the Haitian migrants who most of them are in the country legally. The Republican governor saying that they are a boost to the economy.
Now the latest New York Times poll shows the race is deadlocked nationally, but Harris has a 4 point edge on Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. How significant is that?
Yeah. That pull is pretty interesting. And what is interesting there is that Harris is actually ahead in Pennsylvania versus nationwide. Now back in 2020, president Biden was only up in Pennsylvania by about 1.2 percentage points, whereas nationwide, he was up by more than 4 percentage points. But regardless, these polls show that this race is essentially locked in a dead heat, and the air campaign tells me that they're going to continue running their campaign as if they are the underdogs.
And they tell me that Harris is going to be stepping up her media appearances, but mostly with local and nontraditional outlets. Tonight, vice president Harris is going to be holding a virtual event with Oprah Winfrey and the goal of that is to target voters and rally support in battleground states.
Now Harris is set to deliver remarks in Atlanta focused on the stories of 2 Georgia women saying their deaths show the consequences of strict abortion bans. How critical is this issue at this point in the election? And what's the latest on each candidate's plan to deal with it?
Well, vice president Harris wants to put this issue front and center of her campaign. She believes that abortion is going to galvanize voters to the polls with abortion on the ballot in 10 States, including in battleground, Nevada, and Arizona. Her speech in Georgia tomorrow comes after a report from pro publica about the deaths of 2 women in the state as a result of the state's strict abortion bans. She is going to directly tie their debts and blame it on Donald Trump's actions. On the campaign trail, she's repeatedly slammed Donald Trump for appointing the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe versus Wade.
Alright. Senior White House correspondent, Selena Wang. Thank you. And Congress is under pressure after the house voted down speaker Johnson's funding plan. The government is set to run out of money in just 12 days.
14 Republicans and all but 3 voted against the bill. Now speaker Johnson says he's searching for a plan b.
We ran the play. It was the best play. It was the right 1. And so now we go back to the playbook. We'll drop another play, and we'll come up with a solution.
I'm already talking to colleagues about their many ideas We have time to, to fix the situation, and we'll get right to it.
ABC's Jay O'Brien joins me from Capitol Hill with more on this. Jay, what are you hearing from lawmakers about why this failed?
Well, you heard the figure there, say they have time. But time is really running out, as you said, government funding ends at the end of this month. Mike Johnson's plan was to do a temporary government funding measure that include, a bill called the Save Act which has ID requirements for non to prevent non citizens from voting in federal elections. Democrats didn't vote for that because they say, well, they wanna keep the government open. There is no need for that bill about ID requirements because there's already legal, illegal, rather, for non citizens to vote in federal elections.
So they said that bill was just a political ploy on Johnson's part. As for those 14 Republicans, they said they didn't wanna vote for the package because they don't wanna vote for any temporary short term government funding measure because they are largely spending hawks. So Mike Johnson is between a rock and a hard place. There's really nothing he can do to appease those on the further right of his conference to get them to vote for any kind of a temporary government funding measure. So likely he's gonna have to work with Democrats across the aisle if he wants to avert a government shutdown by, again, the end of this month.
Jamie, while the house is poised to vote soon on a measure requiring the secret service apply equal standards when they protect major candidates as they do sitting presidents. What are you watching for there?
Well, this is legislation that it doesn't really have much teeth to it in a way. It's already something, by the way, secret service says that they are doing in the case of former president. Trump, he already has the secret service says the highest level of protection akin to a sitting president. Nonetheless, this is
the house trying to do something now in
the wake of these 2 assassination attempts against former president Trump. But also the Secret Services look, while Trump
has that highest Echelon of protection, they are also an agency that is
running very much at its highest possible, performative level. They are all down field on protecting people. They've gotta protect not just president Biden, but also former president Trump vice president Harris, their VP nominees, their families, and the list goes on. So the secret service would say they need more resources from Congress. But what Congress has said is they're not certain if this
is a resource issue as speaker Johnson has put it or necessarily or more of a manpower issue. So does it look like the
Secret Services maybe will get more money but they will get this legislation that will essentially compel them to do something that they say they're already doing.
Alright. ABC's Jay O'Brien on Capitol Hill. Jay, thank you. Coming up, key testimony in the federal trial for the former officers charged with murdering Tire Nichols, but 1 of the first responders is saying happened when he got to the scene. Whenever news breaks.
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Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kid that.
Your mom and dad are gonna be right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
and people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own children
After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America go free?
Killer mom now streaming on Hulu.
Wait a second. Wait a minute. Looks like there's 3
people coming down the river. These are the last lands.
What is this? It's explosives.
It's for these dynamite blasts down here.
We have to go.
What's with the gas? The national parks around the world.
This area all right now. Cartel Rungoldmoney that have to be saved.
Welcome back to ABC news live. 1st, a paramedic is expected to return to the stand today in the trial of 3 former Memphis police officers charged in the fatal beating of Tire Nichols. Yesterday, the first responder testified. He knew it was a medical emergency as soon as he saw Nichols, but that officers never told him Nichols had been beaten, which may have delayed effective medical care. Jurors also heard from a former officer who struck a plea deal in the case, Emmit Martin testified he beat a helpless Nichols and then lied about it to internal investigators to try to cover up what he did.
He also said he never saw Nichols reach for Martin's gun or swing at officers as police reports claimed. ABC's Phil Lipoff joins me now for more on this. Phil, what stood out to you from the witness testimony so far in this case?
Well,
what you just said was huge. I mean, you have there were 5 officers involved in this in a scorpion unit that were there that night. Involved in the beating of Tire Nichols. 2 of them have flipped and are giving testimony against 3 of them. 2 of them have cut plea deals with the feds.
1 of them was on the stand, for the past couple of days. Giving that really damning testimony. And then there was this testimony of a text that was sent, by 1 of the officers on trial to his girlfriend of a bloodied Tyri Nichols lying there. With his hand tied behind his back. That was texted.
There's been a lot of really damning testimony, so far. And it's really hard to hear too.
And and this ex officer, Emmett Martin, not only testified that he beat Nichols while he was helpless, but also that he exaggerated Nichols's actions that prompted this traffic stop In the first to begin with. Now I can't remember a cop ever giving this kind of testimony in a case like this. Based on the cross examination, how is the defense trying to counter this testimony. They seem to really focus on handcuffs and their potential to be a deadly weapon if only 1 hand is cuffed. Is that gonna be enough?
Right.
There's a lot
of splitting hairs, but in the end, this officer who has cut a deal has said, we exaggerated what we did to pull him over in the first place. And then he didn't reach for the gun. Like we said, he reached for the gun. So but the only way they could counter this is what they did in cross examination and said, well, aren't you just making all of this up or saying this for your plea deal? You cut a plea deal, so you have to give this kind of testimony, for the prosecution.
And then now we have this testimony from the paramedic who responded to the scene. He's saying that when he got there, nobody told him that Nichols had been beaten, that the the officer said they thought Nichols took something. So he's administering Narcan, treating a different set of injuries. How damning is that testimony? And what do you expect from cross examination today?
Well, look, it was bad enough that the officer has said this is what the the the 1 who cut a deal said this is what we've done. Right? And and and this is what we could have done. Now you have, Jesse Guy, this paramedic who's on the stand today, was on the stand yesterday saying I got there, And I wasn't given crucial information from the police officers or 2 other paramedics, by the way, who have been fired as well who were there before. EMT, Jesse guy got there.
And when asked, if you had had that information, would it make a difference? He said, yes. Remember, he performed CPR on Nichols, in in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and, you know, wasn't able to save his life.
Alright. Philip off. Thank you. And Susan Smith is now eligible parole 30 years after being convicted of killing her 2 young sons. Smith's case captivated the nation when the 23 year old concocted a fake story alleging a black man carjacked her and took her children.
So when she was arrested and charged with murder, it was shocking. Nightline Anchor Dujuchang has a preview of this week's impact by nightline. She did the unthinkable, the
unimaginable, the unforgivable. I wanna say it to my baby
that your mama left you so much. And it's
For a moment in time, Susan Smith had the
entire nation hanging on her desperate, please. And you guys have gotta be strong.
I just feel in my heart that you are
Kaye, but you gotta take care of each other.
Her phony story of a black man, carjacking, and kidnapping her sons.
And we're going full bore until we can find this car, wherever it may be in the United States.
When Susan Smithic And Cox this story that a that a black man was the 1 who stole her children. This harpened back to a time where white privilege allowed to point the finger at the boogeyman in the corner and people just ran with it.
The following 9 days in the search for Smith's 2 young innocent boys
riveted America from prayer circles to search parties. I find it very difficult to handle not being there for my my babies.
I I have been there
for them from day 1.
But after days of television appearances, her deception revealed.
Susan Smith has been arrested and
will be charged with 2 counts
of murder in connection with the deaths of her children.
It's tragic that it don't ever happen around here.
You know,
if I was just hoping they'd come home safe. I don't know how any mother could kill their
children.
We've had people call in from all over and stated that they knew where they were the day that the president Kennedy was shot. They knew where they were the day that Challenger blew up, and they will never forget the day the announcement of these 2 children.
Thank you. And you can watch the full episode, killer mom on impact by nightline now streaming on Hulu. New episodes drop every Thursday. Coming up, Earth is getting a new moon. To enter Earth's orbit and how long it's expected to stay after this.
Whenever news breaks, we are here in Israel a nation at war. Enrolling for this tornado torch
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Welcome back to ABC News Live. First Earth is getting a second moon
for a limited time. Astronomers say an asteroid will come close enough to Earth to temporarily enter its orbit at the end of the month. Let's bring in astrophysics professor Adam Frank from the University of Rochester for more. Adam, what can you tell us about this so called mini moon? And how does this work?
Yeah. So, the idea here is that the solar system, which we think of as being pretty chill, you know, just planets going around in circles forever, is actually pretty chaotic. And there's a lot of asteroids, and comets flying around, and it's pretty pretty, dynamic in a lot of ways. And what we're having here is a asteroid, which is basically a flying mountain in space that at, usually orbits close to the earth or orbits in the same, distance from the sun as the earth. And it's getting captured by the earth's gravity, and they'll be part of the earth moon system.
It'll orbit the earth for maybe about 2 months, and then it'll get flung back out. So we get a little teeny tiny little moon for about 2 months.
Okay. So how how close are we talking when we say this asteroid is coming into Earth's orbit? Do we have to be worried about this?
No. No. Not at this point, luckily. Cause if something this size were to hit the Earth, you know, it would be an apocalypse of, you know, of a biblical kind. So really here, what we've got is something that's in about the moon's orbit or so.
It's about that that kind of distance. So in no way, is it gonna get close enough to, threaten us in any way, But, you know, the important thing here here is is that we watch the skies. Astronomers are spending a lot of time trying to catalog these classes of asteroids to make sure that we understand where all of them are because if anywhere to get close enough to the earth, we we thought there was a possibility of hitting us. We'd have to figure out how to divert it or do something to it to keep it from striking the earth.
So will we be able to see it? Do we need a a telescope or any special eyewear? Can you see it with the naked eye?
Yeah. It's pretty small, so you're not gonna be able to see with the the naked eye. You're gonna need a telescope. Even then, it may be, pretty difficult given it's a distance. So it's more the idea of it than actually we're getting an extra moon because, you know, I've always been a disappointed.
1 moon in the sky. You know, I really would be better. It'd be a much more interesting sky if we had 2 or 3 like some other planets. So, sadly, we're not gonna get to see this 1.
Alright. Well, Adam, get get working on that. Will you? We wanna we wanna see another road. By the way, I thank you win the award for coolest Zoom background of any guest we've ever had.
Thank you very much. Oh, we gotta be ready.
Love it. Astrophysics professor, Adam Frank. Adam, thank you.
My pleasure.
And thank you for watching. I'm Diane Mercedes.
The news never stops. And neither do we. We have a
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Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped.
Your mom and dad are gonna be right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard
and people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own children? After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom
in America go free? Kill her mom. Now
dreaming on Hulu.
Wait a second. Wait a minute. Looks like there's 3 people coming down the river.
These are the last lands.
What is this? This is fulsives. It's for these dynamite blasts down here. We have to go
What's with the gas? The national parks around the world.
This area is all right now. The cartel run gold money that have to be saved.
ABC News, America's number 1 news source. Hi. I'm Diane Maseda.
We have breaking news.
Israel
says its military is launching strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Those are sonic booms that shook buildings in Beirut as Jets flew low over the city. It comes after multiple rockets were launched
into Northern Israel from Lebanon earlier today. The IDF says those rockets have killed 2 Israeli soldiers
and severely injured another. And it all comes after a second wave of device explosions across Lebanon and Syria. Hezbollah members, walkie talkies detonated yesterday, killing at least 25
people and injuring hundreds more. Israel's not claiming responsibility, but officials tell ABC news Israel is behind the operation. Now Hezbollah's
leader says these tax amount to a declaration of war. Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore has the latest from Beirut.
Hi, Diane. It has been another very tense day here in Beirut and in Lebanon just as Hezbollah leader Hassan Aswala was do delivering a speech on television, we heard 2 very large Sonic booms, these low flying warjets, flying over downtown Beirut, shaking the buildings here. We also heard
people screaming in the streets. This coming as people have already been on edge following, 2 straight days of simultaneous explosions of of
of handheld devices or or pagers, those explosions happening on on Tuesday and Wednesday and resulting in the deaths of of 37 people and and and injuring, 100 of others. And so all of this happening, at the same time. And, we also understand that the IDF has carried out a number of strikes on, Hezbollah targets in
in Southern Lebanon. This part of the the daily, tit for tat that we have watched unfold, for
the past 10 months here, in Lebanon and in Northern, in Northern Israel. The question now is what impact this will have, moving forward. The concern, as you know, has always been on the potential for this to spread into a much wider conflict. Right now, we'll have to watch to wait to wait and see. But during a Hassan Nachwala speech today, he said that there will be a retaliation for those coordinated, explosions.
But he also acknowledged that those explosions did have a a big impact and, dealt a major blow, to the group. But he said that they will not be deterred. And, again, the the response is coming and that they will continue to support the people of Gaza. Diane.
Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore in Beirut. Thank you. And let's bring in Matt Barrett, former CIA assistant director and director of the CIA's office of the Middle East and North Africa analysis for more Matt, thanks for coming on. How concerning are these escalating attacks?
Concerning. How are you doing, Diane? I, so, you know,
there there are a lot of events that we're all watching and are causing concern. I think some
of the things that we we need to be thinking a little bit more about this. What what are we not seeing? So, 1 of the 1 of the roles I'm in now is, co founder or something at Utah State University called the Center Fanticipatory Intelligence. 1 of the things that we do there is, a little bit of complexity science, and I don't wanna I don't wanna get too weedsy on this, but complexity is a dynamic, like the 1 we had just before we had the Arab Awakening, Arab Spring. So there's a lot of actors and factors.
There's a lot of stuff moving. There's inter dependence between those actors and factors, but it's it's the stuff we don't see, that's evolving rapidly. That is what I'm most concerned about. So we we can see what Israel is doing, how aggression, you know, it's a it's aggressiveness The recent ops, you know, the supply chain ops, the killing of senior, Hezbollah leaders, including 1 in Iran, wounding, Iran's ambassador, blinding him probably. It's it's the parts of the dynamic that we're not seeing just as we weren't seeing a lot stuff in Tunisia and across the Middle East before we had that, you know, what what complexity sites is called emergence.
I think we're ripe for emergence. What that's gonna look like? I don't know. A asymmetric warfare, actors striking out, not just at at Israel, but possibly its biggest backer. I think I think 1 constant that
we can see or 1, something we can assume with high confidence is that Iran Hezbollah and
Hamas cannot afford not to find a way to impose costs on Israel, and maybe it's allies.
Now Hespula has leaders vowing to fight on, but he acknowledged that these attacks were a major blow. So how have they impacted Hespula's capabilities?
Well, you when, you know, you're on correspondent. I thought caught some good stuff and, the earlier today, and 1 of my former colleagues at the agency, their communication dynamic is really messed up. And again, we're we are in an in an asymmetric, to a great degree. In an asymmetric, conflict dynamic, Hezbollah vis a vis Israel, although Iran is in the mix, you know, so Iran can bring a lot of resources to bear. So they're, you know, there's some there's some confusion.
They're trying to figure out some Hisbala and Iran and Hamas are trying to figure out some very,
basic tactical, things that they got to work through was basic as communicating with each other, tracking each other, but again, back to
back to a point I May, they they cannot afford to
do nothing, that just invites a very aggressive Netanyahu to to pursue to proceed to keep, you know, keep the aggressive conflict
posture that he's in right now. You listen to him lately, I don't think he's, you know, we see the rage this morning. I don't I don't think he's talking about backing off. You know, Netanyahu is 1 of the actors in this dynamic. The the the domestic pressure that he's facing, I'm not sure the, outside of Israel, we appreciate it fully.
He had the, the event with the judicial reform, not exactly very popular, the 7 October slaughter, the hostages, bunch of, Israelis being forced thousands, maybe, being forced to move from, you know, the near the Southern Lebanese border. So this has all the makings for something to pop out of it. I don't I don't think it'll be today, but over the next week or 2 or month or 2, that may surprise us.
What sort of psychological impact could these device explosions
have on Hezbollah given they're targeting everyday devices in just about everybody's pockets? I guess the first 2 that come to mind are
surprise and and anger. And and, yeah, psychologically, it's very unsettling. What other, I mean, a question to to tool
around with is, you know, you all, the media is reporting that the reason, the
Israelis played this card in a supply chain card is something that takes weeks, months, sometimes years to set up. And but once you play it, you're done. It's over. So why did Israel play this card now? People have said, you know, some media reporting suggested it was because Hezbollah had stumbled into it.
Stu raises the question of, you know, the psychological aspect that you're hitting. Did Israel have to set them all off? Could they just gone to the to his blog said, yep. You found it. And and they're not the only ones.
We got some other stuff in the bag you don't know about. So I I'm resting a little bit with why the Israelis went ahead and just set them off. I guess they figure, they know about it. What better time to play this card.
Alright. Matt Barrett, thank you.
Yep. See you.
Former president Trump says he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio after amplifying false claims about Haitian migrants in the town. The former president says he wants to visit Springfield in the next 2 weeks. Mainall vice president Harris is slamming Trump's plans for mass deportation of migrants. ABC News Senior White House correspondent Selena Wang joins me now for more. Selena, Trump now says he plans to visit Springfield, Ohio.
The mayor's asking for both candidates not to come. So what's the latest on that?
Yeah. Trump says he wants to visit Springfield within the next 2 weeks meet those calls from the mayor for neither presidential candidate to come. He said that it would put a strain on the city's resources. The city of Springfield has faced at least 33 bomb threats since those false claims surface Those are false claims that Trump and his running mate J. D.
Vance have been amplifying false claims that have been repeatedly debunked about Haitian migrants of the city stealing and eating neighborhood pets. Now the Republican of Ohio has defended the Haitian migrants who most of them are in the country legally. The Republican governor saying that they are a boost to the economy. Now the later
Eric Times Sienna poll shows the race is deadlocked nationally, but Harris has a 4 point edge on Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. How significant is that? Yeah. That poll is pretty interesting. And what is interesting there is that Harris is actually ahead in Pennsylvania
versus nationwide. Now back in 2020, president Biden was only up in Pennsylvania by about
1.2 percentage points, whereas nationwide, he was up by more than 4 percentage points. But regardless, these polls show that this race is essentially locked
in a day heat. And the Harris campaign tells me that they're going to continue running their campaign as if they are the underdogs, and they tell me that Harris is going to be stepping up her media appearances, but mostly with local and nontraditional outlets. Tonight, vice president Harris is going to be holding a virtual event with Oprah Winfrey, and the goal of that is to target voters and rally support in battleground states.
Now Harris is set to deliver remarks in Atlanta focused on the stories of 2 Georgia
women saying they're dead
show the consequences of strict abortion bans. How critical is this issue at this point in the election? And what's the latest on each candidate's plan to deal with it?
Well, vice president Harris wants to put this issue front and center of her campaign. She believes that abortion is going to
galvanize voters to the polls with abortion on the ballot in 10 States, including in Battle Ground,
Nevada, and Arizona. Her speech in George tomorrow comes after a report from ProPublica
about the deaths of 2 women in the state as a result of the state's strict abortion bans, and she
is going to directly tie their deaths and blame it on Donald Trump's actions. On the campaign trail, she's repeatedly
slammed Donald Trump for appointing the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe versus Wade. Alright. Senior
White House correspondent Selena Wang. Thank you.
And Congress is under pressure after the house voted down speaker Johnson's funding plan. The government is set to run out of money in just 12 days. 14 Republicans and all but 3 Democrats
voted against the bill. Now speaker Johnson says he's
searching for a plan
b. We
ran the play. It was the best play. It was the right 1. And so now we go back to the playbook. We'll drop another play, and we'll come up with a solution.
I'm already talking to colleagues about their many ideas. We have time to, to fix the situation, and we'll get right to it.
ABC. Jay O'Brien joins me from Capitol Hill with more on this. Jay, what are you hearing from lawmakers about why this failed?
Well, you heard the speaker there say they have time, but time is really running out. As you said, government funding ends at the end of month. Mike Johnson's plan was to do a temporary government funding measure that include, a bill called the Save Act, which has ID requirements for nuns to prevent non citizens from voting in federal elections. Democrats didn't vote for that because they say, well, they wanna keep the government open. There is no need for that bill about ID requirements because it's already legal, illegal, rather, for non citizens to vote in federal elections.
So they said that bill was just a political ploy on Johnson's part. As for those 14 Americans, they said they didn't wanna vote for the package because they don't wanna vote for any temporary short term government funding measure because they are largely spending hocks. So Mike Johnson is between a rock and a hard place. There's really nothing he can do to appease those on the further right of his conference to get them to vote for any kind of a temporary government funding measure. So likely, he's gonna have to work with Democrats across the aisle if he wants to avert a government shutdown by, again, the end of this month.
Jamie, while the house is poised to vote soon on a measure requiring the secret service, apply equal standards when they protect major candidates as they do sitting presidents. What are you watching for there? Well, this is legislation that it doesn't really have much
teeth to it in a way. It's already something by the way. The Secret Service says that they are doing in the case of former president. Trumpy already has the Secret Service says the highest level of protection akin to a sitting president. Nonetheless, this is the house trying to do something now in the wake of these 2 assassination attempts against former president Trump.
But also the Secret Services look, while Trump has that highest Echelon of protection, they also an agency that is running very much at its highest possible, performative level. They are all down field on protecting people. They've gotta protect not just president Biden, but also foreign president Trump, vice president Harris, their VP nominees, their families, and the list goes on. So the Secret Service would say they need more resources from Congress. But what Congress has said is they're not certain if this is a resource issue as speaker Johnson has put it or
necessarily or more of a
manpower issue. So It doesn't look like the Secret Service and maybe will get more money, but they will get this legislation that will essentially compel them to do something that they say they're already doing.
Alright. ABC's Jay O'Brien on Capitol Hill. Jay, thank you. Coming up, key testimony in the federal trial for the former officers charged with murdering Tire Nichols, but 1 of the first responders is saying happened when he got to the scene.
What does it take to be the most watched
newscast in America? An operation to capture ISIS fighters. This is
Circrom with Operation Center?
We're approaching the gate now. Militants came in from 4 or 5 different directions. So you have a couple loaded and ready to go. The house is
destroyed, but the flag, there's not a tear in it.
Not a tear in it.
You can just label right here and made the USA. Look here's Vyle. You're proud of this.
I love this.
Great work.
Hi. Come here. Where are you? Where are you? Appreciate you.
Thank you, David.
Thanks for the answers.
It's Lyle? David.
Yes. Yes.
I'm David Muir.
I know who you are. Wish you every night.
ABC's world news tonight with David Muir is America's most watched newscast.
Let's go.
The ship is incredible.
It feels like living in a science fiction movie. We just saw what no 1
has seen before. Look at that.
We are heading into the unknown.
Hammer. Hammer. Hammer. Hammer.
It doesn't get any more cutting edge on this.
Wait a second. Wait a minute. Looks like there's 3 people coming down the river.
These are the last lands.
What is this? This is fulsives. I just
heard these dynamite blast down here.
We have to go
What's with the gas? The national parks around the world.
This area is all right now. Cartel Run Bolt money that have to be saved.
Why do so many people start their day here? From ABC News,
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News Live. I
welcome back to ABC news live. 1st, a paramedic is expected to return to the stand today in the trial of 3 former Memphis police officers charged in the fatal beating of Tire Nichols. Yesterday, the first responder testified. He knew it was a medical emergency as soon as he saw Nichols, but that officers never told him Nichols had been beaten, which may have delayed effective medical care. Jurors also heard from a former officer who struck a plea deal in the case.
Emmett Martin testified he beat a helpless Nichols and then lied about it to internal investigators to try to cover up what he did. He also said he never saw Nichols reach for
Martin's gun or swing at officers as police reports claimed. ABC's Phil
Lipoff joins me now for more on this. Phil, what stood out to you from the witness testimony so far in this case?
Well, what you just said was huge. I mean, you have there were 5 officers involved in this in a scorpion unit that were there that night, involved in the beating of Tire Nichols. 2 of them have flipped. And are giving testimony against 3 of them. 2 of them have cut plea deals with the feds.
And 1 of them was on the stand, for the past couple of days, giving that really damning testimony. And then there was this testimony of a text that was sent by 1 of the officers on trial to his girlfriend of a bloodied
Tyri Nichols lying there, with his hands tied behind his back. That was texted. There's been a lot of
really damning testimony, so far. And it's really hard to hear too.
And this ex officer, Emmett Martin, not only testified that he beat Nichols while he was helpless, but also that he exaggerated Nichols's actions that prompted this traffic stop
In the first
to begin with. Now I can't remember a cop ever giving this kind of testimony in a case like this based on the cross examination, how is the defense trying to counter this testimony? They seem to really focus on handcuffs and their potential to be a deadly weapon if only 1 hand is cuffed. Is that gonna be enough? Right.
There's a lot
of splitting hairs, but in the end, this officer who has cut a deal has said we exaggerated what we did to pull him over in the first place. And then he didn't reach for the gun. Like we said, he reached for the gun. So the only way they could counter this is what they did in cross examination and said, well, aren't you just making all of this up or saying this for your plea deal? You cut a plea deal, so you have to give this kind of testimony, for the prosecution.
And then now we have this testimony from the paramedic who responded to the scene. He's saying that when he got there, nobody told him that Nichols had been beaten. That the the officer said they thought Nichols took something. So he's administering Narcan, treating a different set
of injuries. How damning is that testimony? And what do you expect from cross examination today?
Look, it was bad
enough. That the officer has said this is what the the the 1 who cut a deal said this is what we've done. Right? And and and this is what we could have done. Now you have, Jesse Guy, this paramedic who's on the stand today, was on the stand yesterday, saying I got there, And I wasn't given crucial information from the police officers or 2 other paramedics, by the way, who have been fired as well who were there before.
EMT, Jesse guy got there. And when asked, if you had had that information, would it make a difference? He said, yes. Remember, he performed CPR on Nichols, in in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and, you know, wasn't able to save his life.
Alright. So lip off. Thank you. And Susan Smith is now eligible for parole 30 years after being convicted of killing her 2 young sons. Smith's case captivated the nation when the 23 year old concocted a fake story alleging a black man carjacked her and took her children.
So when she was arrested and charged with murder, it was shocking. Nightline Anchor Zhuu Chang has a preview of this week's impact by Nightline.
She did the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the unforgivable.
I wanna say it to my baby, and your mama loves you so much. And it's
For
a moment in time, Susan Smith had the entire nation hanging on her desperate, please.
And you guys have gotta be strong. I just feel in my heart that you're okay. You gotta take care of each other.
Her phony story of a black man, carjacking, and kidnapping her sons.
And we're going full bore until we can find this car, wherever it may be in the United States.
When Susan Smith and Cox this story that a that a black man was the 1 who stole her children. This harpened back to a time where white
privilege allowed to point the finger at the boogeyman in the corner and
people just ran with it.
The following 9 days and the search for Smith's 2
young innocent boys riveted America from prayer circles to search parties. I thought it very
difficult to handle not being there for my my baby's eye. I've been there
for them from day 1.
But after days of
television appearances, her deception revealed. Susan Smith
has been arrested and will be charged with 2 k
of murder in connection with the deaths of her children.
It's tragic that it don't ever happen around here. You know, if I was just hoping they'd come home safe. I don't know how
any mother could kill their children.
We've had people call in from all over and stated that they knew
where they were the day that the president Kennedy was shot. They knew where they were the day the Challenger blew up, and
they will never forget the day the announcement of these 2 children.
Jude Jucheng. Thank you. And you can watch the full episode killer mom on impact by nightline now streaming on Hulu. New episodes drop every Thursday. Coming up, Earth is getting a new moon.
How an asteroid is expected to enter Earth's orbit and how long it's
expected to stay after this. Why do so many people start their day here?
From ABC News,
This is start here.
To be in the mail and get a different take on the days top stories.
A lot of news today, so let's get into it.
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start here. With so much at stake, so much
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turn here than any other newscast, ABC News, World News tonight with David Newer.
America's number 1 most watched newscast across all of television. Wait a second. Wait a minute. Looks like
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The national parks around the world. This area is
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Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped. Your mom and dad
are gonna be right here waiting on you when you get home. When the twist came, then it completely exploded. It's 1 of the craziest stories I've
for her,
and people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own children? After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole. Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America
go free.
Killer mom, now streaming on Hulu. Reporting from
Monterey Park, California, I'm Robin Roberts. Wherever, wherever the story is, we're gonna take you there. You're streaming ABC news live. Welcome back to ABC News Live. First Earth is getting a second moon
for a limited time. Astronomers say an asteroid will come close enough to earth to temporarily enter its orbit the end of the month. Let's bring an astrophysics professor Adam Frank from the University of
Rochester for more. Adam, what can you tell us about this so called mini moon?
And how does this work? Yes. So, the idea here is that the
solar system, which we think of as being pretty chill, you know, just planets going around in circles forever, is actually pretty chaotic. And there's a lot of asteroids, and comets flying around, and it's pretty pretty, dynamic in a lot of ways. And what we're having here is a asteroid, which is basically a flying mountain in space that that, usually
orbits close to the earth or orbits in the same,
distance from the sun as the earth. And it's getting captured by the earth's gravity, and they'll be part of the earth moon system. It'll orbit the earth for maybe about 2 months, and then it'll get flung back out. So we get a little teeny tiny little moon for about 2 months.
Okay. So how how close are we talking when we say this asteroid is coming into Earth's orbit? Do we have to be worried about this?
No. No. Not at this point, luckily. Cause if something this size were to hit the Earth, you know, it would be a an apocalypse of, of a biblical kind. So really here, what we've got is something that's in about the moon's orbit or so.
It's about that that kind of distance. So in no way, is it gonna get close enough to, threaten us in any way, But, you know, the important thing here here is is that we watch the skies. Astronomers are spending a lot of time trying to catalog these
classes of asteroids to make sure that we understand where all of them are. Because if anywhere
to get close enough to the earth, we we thought there was a possibility of hitting us. We'd have to figure out how to divert it or do something to it to keep it from, striking the earth.
So will we be able to see it? Do we need a a telescope or any special eyewear? Can you see it with the naked eye?
Yeah. It's pretty small, so you're not gonna be able to see with the the naked eye. You're gonna need a telescope, even then it may be, pretty difficult given its distance. So it's more the idea of it than actually we're getting an extra moon because, you know, I've always been a little bit disappointed. 1 moon in guy, you know, I really would be better.
It'd be a much more interesting sky if we had 2 or 3, like some other planets. So, sadly, we're not gonna get to see this 1.
Alright. Well, Adam, you get working on that, will you? We wanna we wanna see another movie. By the way, I thank you win the award for coolest Zoom background of any guest we've ever had.
Thank you very much. Oh, we gotta be ready.
Love it. Astrophysics professor, Adam Frank. Adam, thank you.
My pleasure.
And thank you for watching. I'm Diane Maseda. The news never stops.
And neither do we. We have a lot more news
after the break. Whenever news breaks. We are here in Israel
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The streaming with ABC News Live.
What does it take to be the most watched newscast in America? We are part of
an operation
circummit operation center. We're approaching
the gate militants came in from different directions. Reactor. So you have a couple loaded and ready to go.
The house is destroyed, but the flag got
a car in it.
How important it made to USA? Great work.
Hi. Appreciate you.
Thank
you. It's my own. David.
Dave I'm David Mueller.
I know you are. Watch you every night.
ABC's world news tonight with David Mueller is America's most watched newscast.
Right now on ABC News 5 Israel launching new strikes across Lebanon as the head of its terror group says yesterday's attacks amount to a declaration of war. The US accusing Iran of a secret plan to target elections. We're breaking down the claims and how both campaigns are responding. And Boeing on strike, thousands of employees walk off the job as organized labor looms large over the presidential election. I'll talk with the head of the union that's striking this hour.
Hezbollah, walkie talkies, buoying up across Lebanon in a second wave of attacks now. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Kira Phillips, our top story right now. The leader of the militant group says this means war. Tensions at an all time high in the Middle East as Israeli air strikes target Hezbollah militants in Lebanon earlier today.
All of this happening as sources tell us Israel was behind a wave of explosions the last 2 days. Targeting Hezbollah members and their pagers in walkie talkies. Those attacks Tuesday and Wednesday, killing 37 people, including 2 children and injuring nearly 3000 others. Israel has not claimed responsibility. Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore has the latest now from Beirut.
Hi, Kira. During his speech today, Hassan Nasratla, the head of Hezbollah acknowledged that the, 2 days of simultaneous explosions dealt a big blow to the group but he said that they will persevere. He has described the detonations of personal electronic devices in civilian areas as declarations of war and tried to make the point that it it showed no concern for who might be holding the devices or where they were being set off. And during his speech, there were 2 huge Sonic booms that that shook the buildings here. We heard people screaming, and these were by far the loudest Sonic booms we've heard Since this war started, already, people have been on edge here in Beirut and really across Lebanon after 2 straight days of simultaneous explosions of people here wondering what will happen next.
Meanwhile, we have learned that the death toll has climbed to 37 over the 2 days of the explosions, both both Tuesday and Wednesday, with hundreds of injuries. We heard from the health the ministry of health here that there are still hundreds of people recovering in area hospitals, many of them in critical condition. And so as they recover, concern is growing that this could escalate with Hezbollah vowing to retaliate. Kira.
And our thanks to Marcus Moore. And just a quick note here, Cutter Airways, apparently banning pagers and walkie talkies out of Beirut. This just coming to us. Via a tweet that was just put out, bike cutter airways. Okay.
New concerns now looming about our state of security as election day creeps even closer now. Officials from our top intelligence agencies actually coming forward with some disturbing claims accusing Iran of stealing non public material from former president Trump's campaign and then sending it directly to individuals associated with president Biden's campaign. The joint intelligence statement shutting down any speculation that the stolen information was solicited by any Biden campaign official or Alex, Mallin reporter for the Justice Department joins us now. Alright. So what more do we know about this non public material that was supposedly sent and how significant do you think this is, Alex?
Yeah. Well, Kara, we learned back, you know, last month that the ODI and the FBI had to release the statement saying that they detected that Iran was involved in hacking the Trump campaign, and they had sent non public materials to various media organizations like the Washington Post that did not ultimately publish. Reporters from those organizations characterize that material as things like vetting information for former, or for vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, and and other you know, non public communications between them. So this could be what that was was sent to the Biden official or the official associated with the Biden campaign. The the statement yesterday just said that this was sent in text only form.
It was excerpts. So that is really the extent of what we know about this, but we also do know that it was not, at least according to the Biden campaign disseminated any further.
Alright. So I guess then the agencies do confirm this material was not solicited by any Biden campaign official. Right? That's what I'm reading. So is there any information to suggest the campaign uses information to its benefit as as former Trump is is now suggesting?
Yeah. That statement yesterday from the OD and I FBI makes clear that they don't even believe, that it was opened or they that that it was a they'd never replied to the official. So it's really unclear based on that in the Biden, president, sorry, the the White House, you know, has denied that they ever disseminated it further in the in the Harris campaign has completely distanced themselves from this saying that they don't believe they as a campaign were ever sent in any information like this. And it's important to note here that they have really vigorously condemned the Iranian government for trying to interfere on the campaign. This is not information or activity that they welcome.
Alright. Alex Mellon, thanks. Alright. Let's get back to that discussion about Hezbollah. And the terrorist organization.
It's walkie talkies. It's pagers, detonating because explosives had apparently been planted in those devices. I wanna bring in Mick Mulroy now, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East. He's joining me just on these tactics that we've been talking a lot about, Mick. And I think the last time we talked, it it was about, just the cell phones being used to detonate explosives in Iraq, but this is a totally different scenario here and just looking at this intricate plan, the fact that Hezbollah thought that the facade or or believe that the facade was spying on them tracking their cell phone calls, listening to all their comms.
So Nasralla says, okay, let's go old school. Let's go back to pages. Let's ditch the cell phones. And then this intricate plan of the facade creating the shell company using another company to build these pages and cell phones and putting explosive devices into them and then basically sitting back and waiting for something to happen. What more do you know?
What more can you just tell us about this intricate plan?
Akira, for sure, I think that has a lot of thought and probably was right that Israel was tracking them or trying to track them through cell phones. Del phones have an internal GPS system. They, of course, transmit and receive. So when they switch to pages, pages don't transmit. So, it is much more secure when it comes to a form of communication simpler but harder to track.
And then, handheld radios have a very low power, emission, also hard. So, like, that is likely what Tesla was trying to do. But from Israel's perspective, they likely got some intelligence of where that they were going to these 2 different systems. And like you said, probably intercept it in the supply chain, put this type of explosives in it, and then set it for a detonation on command. I think it's most likely that they were setting this up for if there was a ground incursion by the IDF, by the Israeli defense forces into Lebanon right before that happening or while it's happening, it would make sense to try to disrupt all these communication systems that they would be using.
It's potentially, what happened is that Hezbollah determined that some of these were compromised, and Israel felt like they had to go ahead with the operation, or they would essentially lose all the effort. That's speculation. I don't know. I don't know why you would do it, right now. Certainly, if there is a conflict in the north, you'd want to have that advantage for the time when your troops crossed over the border, in an assault.
So Hezbollah terrorists were definitely killed, but so were a lot of innocent people, including, reports of a child, being killed. And we've seen the video over and over again from that open market when a number of those explosions went off. I guess my question
to you is, isn't there any other way to
carry out a a precise attack, versus this?
Just about every kinetic activity from dropping a J dam bomb to using a pistol, has the potential for collateral damage. Under international law, every country has to take due diligence to try to avoid civilian casualties. It has, of course, be a valid military target. And then proportionality of anything surrounding that has to be in place. That would have to be reviewed and should be reviewed, in this case as well.
I think from the Israeli perspective, they would say this is the, most concentrated way to attack a diffuse large scale militant group, in this case, a terrorist group, without, entering that many civilians. So they would say this is how you do that. But it's it's very important to point out that's, obviously, people carry pages on their hip. Their kids stand right next to them, and that was something that, you know, should have, been foreseen. It's also a big concern that some of these didn't detonate and where did they end up do they end up on planes on people, for example, or they end up in other, mass transit.
So this is an issue. It certainly was part of the planning, I think, but it's something that to be reviewed, not just by this, but any operation whether it's Israel or any other country that that is, similar to this, always has to take into account civilian casualties.
So the US is denying any involvement here, but says that Israel did give them some type of heads up apparently about an ongoing operation against Hezbollah. So, you know, what's the protocol supposed to be, with an ally in a situation like this? Are they supposed to give more details? What tell it? Give us a little more behind the scenes.
Okay. The protocol is to give allies, essentially heads up as soon as you can to the time of the operation, and we do the same when we have operations, partly because we want them to be prepared, should they have, for example, like we do, troops in the region where a retaliation, might occur. And sometimes just to give a heads up politically, so it should have been, relayed the details, not so much because that could compromise the operation itself, if something were to leak. So it's a balance.
McMullroy, thank you. 47 days. That's how close we are to Election Day. It's moving faster and faster, isn't it? It's pretty amazing how close we are.
And now we've got this new polling from the New York Times, also Philadelphia Inquire, and Sienna College, and it continues to have vice president Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump locked into a close race nationally. This comes after the teamsters union announced it will not give its highly coveted endorsement to either candidate this election, and that's the first time this has happened since 1996 that the union has chosen to endorse a presidential candidate. Let's bring in senior White House correspondent Selena Wang and our J O'Brien is up on the hill. So Selena, let's talk about the the teamsters decision here. How much of a blow is this to the Harris campaign?
I mean, she just met with Teamsters leaders on Monday.
Yeah. And Kira, I actually spoke to a Teamsters leader who was in that meeting with vice president Harris, and he said it lasted for more than an hour. And at times, it got 10. But look, both Donald Trump and vice president Harris were recording for this critical endorsement, but it's an especially big blow to vice president Harris because Teamsters has endorsed every democratic presidential candidate for decades. So this is a big deal, and it could have given Harris a boost in some of those critical battleground states.
But that being said, most of the other major unions have thrown their support behind vice president Harris. And after the announcement of this lack of endorsement from Teamsters, several of the local regional teamsters leaders have publicly come out and said that they support vice president Kamala Harris. I spoke yesterday to 1 of the executive board members of teamsters who is a supporter of Harris and said that he believes this lack of endorsement is going to signal to more right leaning union workers that they should support Donald Trump, and he tells me that he believes a vote for Trump would be a vote against their interests. And he brought up that recent conversation that Trump had with Elon Musk where Trump praised Musk for threatening to to fire striking workers, Kira.
Alright. So, Jay, Trump is celebrating the no teamsters endorsement, saying it's a win for him. What do you make of that?
Yeah. Well, there's a couple things that work in Donald Trump's favor here that Trump has been pointing to. First, as you and Selena just discussed, is the precedent of this. The teamsters have endorsed Democrats, as you guys both noted since 1996. So that break with tradition, Donald Trump is characterizing it as a win because he believes it demonstrates that there are enough teamsters in their ranks that would have voted for Donald Trump and would have been upset perhaps with Teamster leadership if they hadn't backed Donald Trump or if they had rather backed Kamala Harris And he's pointing to 1 more thing that declares this as a win that kind of jives with my first point, which is that internal poll that the teamsters released.
They took an electronic poll of their members, and they found that of those members in this electronic poll, 60%, just about 59% said they would back Donald Trump in comparison with 34% who had said they'd support Kamala Harris. And, again, that's an internal electronic poll of teamsters members. And so Donald Trump pointing to both of those facts and saying that this non endorsement, despite the fact that it's not an endorsement of Donald Trump, is at least something that works somewhat in his favor. And I can tell you up here on Capitol Hill, there are Republicans, particularly Republicans in those rust belt states, which are not just must win swing states for either the Trump or Harris campaigns, but also states where Republicans are eyeing potentially trying to pick up some house seats and grow their slim majority in the house of representatives. Republicans in those states are also looking at this as a positive.
Art Jio Brand up on the hills, Lina Wang at the White House. Thank you both. So a judge in New York City denies bail for Sean Diddy Combs. That judge is Andrew Carter, and he says the government provided sufficient evidence in showing that Combs was not only a danger to the community, but a danger to obstruct justice and intimidate witnesses. The music mogul arrested Monday in charge with sex trafficking, racketeering, and arson.
Comes' lawyers arguing conditions in the jail are horrific. They also say that the plan to appeal the judges ruling and maintain their client is innocent. Combs is currently being held in the special housing unit of the Metropolitan detention center in Brooklyn. Coming up, a historic snub from 1 of the biggest unions in the country. Yeah.
And that's snubbed both ways to vice president Harris and former president Trump. Now thousands of workers trek across the United States. We're gonna speak to the president of 1 of those unions on the front lines about that and Boeing next.
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the first time, San 1996, the international brotherhood of Teamsters union is declining to endorse a candidate in the presidential race. In a statement, the labor union says that neither vice president Kamala Harris or former president Donald Trump, have their support after it was left with few commitments on top teamsters issues from either candidate, ultimately leading to no definite support among members for either party's nominee. This comes as thousands of workers are striking across multiple sectors now, and that includes the airline industry after 33,000 Boeing workers walked off the job last week, demanding better pay and retirement benefits. In response, Boeing announced that it would initiate temporary furloughs against nonunion workers over the coming days. My next guest is right there on the front lines of that strike president of IIM union International Brian Brian.
Brian really appreciate you joining us. Let's start with Teamsters declining to endorse either candidate. What's your reaction? And where does your union stand when it comes to the presidential race right now?
Yeah. So where our union stands, we use our democratic process. We we also had an internal process where we hold our members, and our members at that time had overwhelmingly voted to endorse, president Biden and vice president Harris. Unfortunately, with with, president Biden, making the right decision and deciding to step aside in the best interest of the country. That left us with a position of not being able to having the time to repull our members, but we used our next best step, which was to take it to our international, convention that we just, completed a couple weeks ago in New York.
And we overwhelmingly voted to endorse vice president Harris and,
and governor Walls, for the next administration. Okay. Alright.
And and now let's
talk about the strike. 33,000 Boeing workers, Brian walking off the job, demanding better pay, better retirement benefits. Here's just a bit of of what we've been hearing from the workers.
We didn't wanna do this any more than they did, but their first contract offer was a complete insult.
You've got a bunch of airplane programs in there that need people to work on them.
Like our CEO that previously left us, this was his mistake in the offer uppers. The hourlies didn't do this. This is their mistake.
Boeing needs to just do the right thing here. You know, if they need to step up, didn't need to come to this.
Alright. He's didn't need to come to this. So Brian Workers, you know, they're they're fighting just to get single digit increases here. So why is your union rejecting Boeing's offer of a 25% raise over 4 years along with improvements to health care costs and retirement benefits?
Yes. Thank you. First of all, you you have to realize that these workers have gone through 10 years, nearly a decade of of wage stagnation, the loss of their pension, continued increase in cost of health insurance, all along They've seen the corporate executives of this company continuously getting their high salaries increases in those salaries, their benefits, their their buyouts, their their buybacks, their bonuses, and things like that. And our our members finally said enough enough enough is enough. And and what you heard from our members and those Boeing workers on a strike line, we've heard that same message from thousands of our members over the last few days both on the picket lines in in Washington State and then and here in Oregon and Portland, Oregon.
That message is echoed over and over and over. So Brian, Boeing CEO, Kelly, Orteberg, is
calling this, quote, tough decision that impacts everybody, saying that she and her leadership team will be taking a pay cut during the strike. She also promises to continue to transparently communicate as this dynamic situation evolves. Your thoughts?
Yeah. For 1st
of all, I think you meant to say he, but, the, my thoughts on that. Look, the this is, a typical smoke and mirrors, campaign by by cooperation. When does the labor dispute look, all those all of those is is smoking mirrors. Look. The bottom line is is Boeing knows what it's gonna take to settle this to settle this strike, and they could do that very easily tomorrow.
And they've got a perfect blueprint that they could do that. They could use the same blueprint that that same blueprint that they've used to pay those salaries, to pay those bonus, to buy those stocks back. Though, that same blueprint could be used for these workers, their workers, our members, that are out here fighting for their not only their livelihoods, but their family's livelihoods and future generations livelihoods. Look, workers, this isn't this isn't just here at the Boeing company. Workers when they're left behind the way they have been here at the Boeing company, Workers are trying to get to a point where they say enough is enough.
We're gonna stand up. We're gonna fight for what. So rightfully ours, we're gonna get what we deserve. We're gonna get what we earned, and we're gonna do that if we have to take a strike. And that's what's happened here.
But clearly, the Boeing company could settle this strike very easily tomorrow. They've got the blueprint. They know what the blueprint is. They could go to that same well to support these workers and give them a fair contract that recognizes the work that they do for this corporation, the the planes that they build, the best planes in the world. They can continually build those.
The best the best military planes in the world. They could continue to do that. All they have to do is go to that same well. They've got the blueprint. They know how to do it.
They could very easily end this strike tomorrow.
Let me ask you just with I mean, from the congressional testimony, back to the planes with all the problems, including the 1 with the door that blew off. I mean, Boeing has been under under criticism under fire losing a lot of money. This strike could cost Boeing a lot of money. And data is actually showing, that the company, could that contributes nearly $80,000,000,000 to the US economy each year, you know, could take such a big hit. Are you concerned that the future of Boeing could look pretty dim.
I mean, do you even think it could go under?
No. First of all, what I I would wanna tell you here is that none of that, absolutely, none of that is the workers is the workers fall. All of the problems that Bowen currently has with them is them they've done them themselves. This is done at the corporate level. This is done at the higher level executives of this company.
They're the ones that have made the bad decisions that have put with the Boeing Corporation in the position at the end. To blame to blame the workers, that's just shameful, and it's it's not warranted. Well, the workers here, they build the best planes in the world, and they wanna continue building the best planes in the world. And all Boeing has to do is bring a fair contract to them that recognizes the value of the work that they do with with with with wages that reflect what they should be earning with a pension. They need it.
They need to address the issue of retirement security. You can't have people working 20, 30, 40 years with a company and haven't leaving without some type of retirement security payment for them for themselves and their family. Let's just say unheard of in these days. And I know the Boeing Corporation is gonna say, look. We've got a we've got a great 401 k with a match to it, and that's true.
That is absolutely true, but here's the problem with that. They also get 1000 and thousands of workers And because of the position that they're in with their current salary with the company, they can't afford to participate in that 401 k to the level where it will take make up for the loss of their pension. And the only way to deal with that is you gotta increase the wages. You gotta increase you gotta you gotta come up the plan that recognizes somebody that works for company 20, 30, 40 years with the retirement security.
Brian, Bryant. Appreciate you coming on. It's a it's a tumultuous time right now. No doubt. Appreciate it and hope we can stay in close touch.
Thank you very much, Kira.
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real launching new strikes across Lebanon as the head of its terror group says yesterday's attacks amount to a declaration of war. The US accusing Iran of a secret plan to target
our elections were breaking down
the claims and how both campaigns are responding. And Boeing on strike, thousands of employees walk off the job as organized labor looms large over the presidential election. I'll talk with the head of the union that's striking this hour. Hezbollah, walkie talkies, blowing up across Lebanon in a second wave of attacks now. Good afternoon, everyone.
I'm Kira Phillips, our top story right now. The leader of the militant group says this means war tensions at an all time high in the Middle East as Israeli air strikes Target Hezbollah militants in Lebanon earlier today. All of this happening as sources tell us Israel was behind a wave of explosions the last 2 days targeting Hezbollah members and their pagers in walkie talkies. Those attacks Tuesday and Wednesday, killing 37 people, including 2 children and injuring nearly 3000 others. Israel has not claimed responsibility.
Foreign correspondent Marcus Moore has the latest now from Beirut.
Hi, Kira. During his speech today, Hassan Nasratla, the head of Hezbollah acknowledged that the, 2 days of simultaneous explosions dealt a big blow to the group, but he said that they will persevere he has described the detonations of personal electronic devices in civilian areas as declarations of war and tried to make the point that it it showed no concern for who might be holding the devices or where they were being set off. And during his speech, there were 2 huge sonic booms that that shook the buildings here. We heard people screaming, and these were by far the loudest sonic booms we've heard Since this war started, already, people have been on edge here in Beirut and really across Lebanon after 2 straight days of simultaneous explosions. Are people here wondering what will happen next?
Meanwhile, we have learned that the death toll has climbed to 37 over the 2 days of the explosions, both both Tuesday and Wednesday, with hundreds of injuries. We heard from the health the ministry of health here that there are still hundreds of people recovering in area hospitals. Many of them in critical condition. And so as they recover, concern is growing that this could escalate with Hezbollah vowing to retaliate. Kira?
And our thanks to Marcus Moore. And just a quick note here, Cutter Airways, apparently banning pagers and walkie talkies out of Beirut. This just coming to us, via a tweet that was just put out, by cutter Airways. Okay. New concerns now looming about our state of security as election day creeps
even closer now. Officials from our top intelligence agencies actually coming forward with some disturbing claims accusing
Iran of stealing non public material from former president Trump's campaign. And then sending it directly to individuals associated with president Biden's campaign. The joint intelligence statement shutting down any speculation that the stolen information was solicited by any Biden campaign official. Our Alex Mallin reporter for the Justice Department joins us now. Alright.
So what more do we know about this nonpublic material that was supposedly sent and how significant do you think this is, Alex?
Yeah. Well, Kara, we learned back, you know, last month that the ODNI and the FBI had to release the statement saying that they detected that Iran was involved in hacking the Trump campaign, and they had sent non public materials to various media organizations like the Washington Post that did not ultimately publish. Reporters from those organizations characterized that material is things like vetting information for former, or for vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, and and other, you know, non public communications between them. So this could be what that was was sent to the Biden official or the official associated with the Biden campaign. The the statement yesterday just said that this was sent in text only form.
It was excerpts. So that is really the extent of what we know about this, but we also do know that it was not, at least according to the Biden campaign disseminated any further.
Alright. So I guess then the agencies do confirm this material was not solicited by any Biden campaign official.
Right? That's what I'm reading. So is
there any information to suggest the campaign uses information to its benefit as as former Trump is is now suggesting.
Yeah. That statement yesterday from the OD and I FBI makes clear that they don't even believe, that it was opened or they that that it was a they'd never replied to the official So it's really unclear based on that and the Biden, president, sorry, the the White House, you know, has denied that they ever disseminated it further in the in the Harris campaign has completely distanced themselves from this saying that they don't believe they as a campaign or ever sent any information like this. And it's important to note here that they have really vigorously condemned the Iranian government for trying to interfere on the campaign. This is not information or activity that they welcome.
Alright. Alex Mellon, thanks. Let's get back to that discussion about Hezbollah, and the terrorist organization. It's walkie talkies. It's pagers, detonating because explosives had apparently been planted in those devices.
I wanna bring in Mick Mulroy now, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, He's joining me just on these tactics that we've been talking a lot about, Mick. And I think the last time, we talked, it it was about, just the cell phones being used to detonate explosives in Iraq, but this is a totally different scenario here and just looking at this intricate plan, the fact that Hezbollah thought that the facade or or believe that the facade was spying on them, tracking their cell phone calls, listening to all their comms. So Nasralla says, okay. Let's go old school. Let's go back to Pagers.
Let's ditch the cell phones. And then this intricate plan of the facade, creating the shell company using another company to build these pages and cell phones and putting the explosive devices into them. And then basically sitting back and waiting for something to happen. What more do you know? What more can you just tell us about this intricate plan?
Akira, for sure, I think that Hezbollah thought and probably was right that Israel was tracking them or trying to track them through cell phones. Del phones have an internal GPS system. They, of course, transmit and receive. So when they switched to pagers, pagers don't transmit. So, it is much more secure when it comes to a form of communication simpler, but harder to track.
And then handheld radios have a very low power, emission also hard. So what, that is likely what Tesla was trying to do. But from in Israel's perspective, they likely got some intelligence of where, that they were going to these 2 different systems And like you said, probably intercepted in the supply chain, put this type of explosives in it, and then set it for a detonation on command. I think it was most likely that they were setting this up for If there was a ground incursion by the IDF, by the Israeli defense forces into Lebanon right before that happening or while it's happening, it would make sense to try to disrupt all these communication systems that they would be using. It's potentially, what happened is that Hezbollah determined that some of these were compromised, and Israel felt like they had to go ahead with the operation or they would essentially lose all the effort.
That's speculation. I don't know. I don't know why you would do it right now, certainly, if there is a conflict in the north, you'd want to have that advantage for the time when your troops, crossed over the border, and an assault.
So has blood terrace were definitely killed, but so were a lot of innocent people, including, reports of a child, being killed. And we've seen the video over and over again from that open market, when a number of those explosions went off. I guess my question to you is, isn't there any other way
to carry out a a precise attack, versus this? Just about every kinetic activity from dropping
a J Dam bomb to using a pistol.
Has the potential for collateral damage. Under international law, every country has to take, due diligence to try to avoid civilian casualties. It has, of course, be a valid military target and then proportionality of anything surrounding that has to be in place. That would have to be reviewed and should be reviewed, in this case as well. I think from the Israeli perspective, they would say this is the, most concentrated way to attack a diffuse large scale militant group.
In this case, a terrorist group, without, entering that many civilians. So they would say this is how you do that, but it's it's very important to point out that's, obviously, people carry pages on their hip. Their kids stand right next to them, and that was something that you know, should have, been foreseen. It's also a big concern that some of these didn't detonate. And where do they end up?
Do they end up on planes on people, for example, or they end up in other, mass transit? So this is an issue. It certainly was part of the planning, I think, but it's something that to be reviewed, not just by this, but any operation, whether it's Israel or any other country that that is, similar to this, always has to take into account civilian casualties.
So the US is denying any involvement here, but says that Israel did give them some type of heads up, apparently, about an ongoing operation against Hezbollah. So, you know, what's the protocol supposed to be, with an ally in a situation like this. Are they supposed to give more details? What tell give us a little more behind the scenes?
Okay. The protocol is to give allies essentially heads up as soon as you can to the time of the operation. And we do the same, when we have operations, partly because we want them to be prepared. Should they have, for example, like we do, troops in the region where a retaliation might occur. And sometimes just to give a heads up politically.
So it should have been, relayed the details, not so much because that could compromise the operation itself, if something were to leak. So it's a balance.
Mick Mulroy. Thank you. 47 days That's how close we are to election day. It's moving faster and faster, isn't it? It's pretty amazing how close we are.
And now we've got this new polling from the New York Times also Philadelphia Inquire and Sienna College. And it continues to have vice president Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump locked into a close race nationally. This comes after the teamsters union announced it will not give its highly coveted endorsement to either candidate this election And that's the first time this has happened since 1996 that the union has chosen not to endorse a presidential candidate. Let's bring in senior White House correspondent Selena Wang and our J O'Brien is up on the hill. So Selena, let's talk about the the teamsters decision here.
How much of a blow is this to the Harris campaign? I mean, she just met with teamsters leaders on Monday.
Yeah. And Kira, I actually spoke to a teamsters leader who was in that meeting with vice president, hair and he said it lasted for more than an hour and at times it got tense. But, look, both Donald Trump and vice president Harris were courting for this critical endorsement, but it's an especially big blow to vice president Harris because Teamsters has endorsed every democratic presidential candidate for decades. So this is a big deal, and it could have given Harris a boost in some of those critical battleground states. But that being said, most of the other major unions have thrown their support behind vice president Harris.
And after the announcement of this lack of endorsement from Teamsters, several of the local regional teamsters leaders have publicly come out and said that they support vice president Kamala Harris. I spoke yesterday to 1 of the executive board members of teamsters who is a supporter of Harris and said that he believes this lack of endorsement is going to signal to more right leaning union workers that they should support Donald Trump, and he tells me that he believes a vote for Trump would be a vote against their interest and he brought up that recent conversation that Trump had with Elon Musk, where Trump praised Musk for threatening to to fire striking workers, Kira. Alright. So, Jay,
Trump is celebrating the no teamsters endorsement, saying it's a win for him. What do you make of that?
Yeah. Well, there's a couple things that work in Donald Trump's favor here that Trump has been pointing to. First, as you and Selena just discussed is the precedent of this. The teamsters have endorsed Democrats, as you guys both noted since 1996. So that break with tradition, Donald Trump is characterizing it as a win because he believes it demonstrates that there are enough teamsters in their ranks that would have voted for Donald Trump and would have been upset perhaps with Teamster leadership if they hadn't backed Donald Trump or if they had rather backed Kamala Harris And he's pointing to 1 more thing that declares this as a win that kind of jives with my first point, which is that internal poll that the teamsters released.
They took an electronic poll of their members, and they found that of those members in this electronic poll, 60%, just about 59% said they would back Donald Trump in comparison with 34% who would say they'd support Kamala Harris. And, again, that's an internal electronic poll of teamsters members. And so Donald Trump pointing to both of those facts and saying that this non endorsement, despite the fact that it's not an endorsement of Donald Trump, is at least something that works somewhat in his favor. And I can tell you up here on Capitol Hill, there are Republicans, particularly Republicans in those rust belt states, which are not just must win swing states for either the Trump or Harris campaigns, but also states where Republicans are eyeing potentially trying to pick up some house seats and grow their slim majority in the house of representatives. Republicans in those states are also looking at this as a positive.
Our jail ran up on the hill, Selena Wang at the White House. Thank you both. So a judge in New York City denies bail for Sean Didi Combs. That judge is Andrew Carter, and he says the government provided sufficient evidence in showing that Combs was not only a danger to the community, but a danger to obstruct justice and intimidate witnesses. The music mogul arrested Monday in charge with sex trafficking racketeering and arson.
Combs' lawyers arguing conditions in the jail are horrific They also say that the plan to appeal the judges ruling and maintain their client is innocent. Combs is currently being held in the special housing unit of the Metropolitan detention center in Brooklyn. Coming up, a historic
snub from 1 of
the biggest unions in the country. Yeah. And that's snubbed both ways. The vice president Harris and former president Trump. Now thousands of workers strike across the United States.
We're gonna speak to the president of 1 of those unions on the front lines about that and Boeing next.
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So glad you're streaming with us. Well, for the first time since the international brotherhood of Teamsters union is declining to endorse a candidate in the presidential race. In a statement, the labor union says that neither President Kamala Harris or former president Donald Trump have their support after it was left with few commitments on top teamsters issues from either candidate, ultimate leading to no definite support among members for either party's nominee. This comes as thousands of workers are striking across multiple sectors now, and that includes the airline industry after 33,000 Boeing workers walked off the job last week, demanding better pay and retirement benefits. In response, Boeing announced that it would initiate temporary furloughs against nonunion workers over the coming days.
My next guest is right there on the front lines of that strike president of IIM union International Brian Brian. Brian really appreciate you joining us. Let's start with Teamsters declining to endorse either candidate. What's your reaction? And where does your union stand when it comes to the presidential race right now?
Yeah. So where our union stands, we use our democratic process. We we also had an internal process where we hold our members, and our members at that time had overwhelmingly voted to endorse, president Biden and vice president Harris. Unfortunately, with with, president Biden, making the right decision and deciding to ep aside in the best interest of the country. That left us with a position of not being able to having the time to repull our members, but we used our next best step, which was to take it to our international, convention that we just, completed a couple weeks ago in New York and we overwhelmingly voted to endorse vice president Harris and, and governor Walls, for the next, administration.
Okay. Alright. And and now let's talk about the strike. 33,000 Boeing workers, Brian walking off the job, demanding better pay, better retirement benefits. Here's just a bit of of what we've been hearing from the workers.
We didn't wanna do this any more than they did, but Their first contract offer was a complete insult.
But you've got a bunch of airplane programs in there that need people to work on them.
Like our CEO, the rebates would left us, this was his mistake in the upper uppers. The hourlies didn't this. This is their mistake.
Well, he needs to just do the right thing here. You know, if they need to step up, didn't need to come to this.
Alright. He's didn't need to come to this. So Brian Workers, you know, they're they're fighting just to get single digit increases here. So why is your union rejecting Boeing's offer of a 25% raise over 4 years along with improvements to health care costs and retirement benefits?
Yes. Thank you. First of all, you you have to realize that these workers have gone through 10 years, nearly a decade of of wage stagnation, the loss of their pension, continued increase in cost of health insurance, all along they've seen the corporate executives of this company continuously getting their high salaries increases in those salaries, their benefits, their their buyouts, their their buybacks, their bonuses, and things like that. And our our members finally had said enough enough enough is enough. And and what you heard from our members and those Boeing workers on a strike line, we've heard that same message from thousands of our members over the last few days both on the picket lines in in Washington State and then and here in Oregon and Portland, Oregon.
That message is echoed over and over and over.
So Brian, Boeing CEO, Kelly, Orteberg, is calling this, quote, tough decision that impacts everybody, saying that leadership team will be taking a pay cut
during the strike also promises to
continue to transparently communicate as this dynamic situation evolves. Your thoughts?
My thoughts on that. Look. The this is, a typical smoke and mirrors, campaign by by a corporation. When does the labor dispute? Look.
All of those all of those is is smoking mirrors. Look. The bottom line is is Boeing knows what it's gonna take to settle this to settle this strike, and they could do that very easily tomorrow. And they've got a perfect blueprint that they could do that. They could use the same blueprint that that same blueprint that they've used to pay those salaries, to pay those bonus, to buy those stocks back.
No. That same blueprint could be used for these workers, their workers, our members that are out here fighting for their not only their livelihoods, but their family's livelihoods and future generations livelihoods. Look, workers. This isn't this isn't just here at the Boeing company. Workers when they're left behind the way they have been here at the Boeing company.
Workers finally get to a point where they say enough is enough. We're gonna stand up. We're gonna fight for what's the right filars. We're gonna get what we deserve. We're gonna get what we earned.
And we're gonna do that if we have to take a strike. And that's what's happened here. But clearly, the Boeing company could settle the strike very easily tomorrow. They've got the blueprint. They know what the blueprint is.
It could go to that same well to support these workers and give them a fair contract that recognizes the work that they do for this corporation, the the planes that they build, the best planes in the world. They can continually build those. The best the best military planes in the world. They could continue to do that. All they have to do is go to that same well.
They've got the blueprint. They know how to do it. They could very easily end this strike tomorrow.
Let me ask you just with,
I mean, from the congressional testimony, back to the planes with all the problems, including the 1 with
the door that blew off. I mean, Boeing has been under under criticism under fire losing a lot of money. This strike could cost Boeing a lot of money, and data is actually showing, that the company, could that contributes nearly $80,000,000,000 to the US economy each year you know, could take such a big hit. Are you concerned that the future of Boeing could look pretty dim? I mean, do you even think it could go under?
No. First of all, what I I would wanna tell you here is that none of that absolutely none of that is the workers is the workers fault. All of the problems that Bowen currently has with them is them. They've done them themselves. This is done at the corporate level.
This is done at the higher level executives of this company. They're the ones that have made the bad decisions that have put, but the Boeing Corporation in the position at the end. To blame to blame the workers, that's just shameful, and it's it's not warranted. Look, the workers here, they build the best planes in the world, and they wanna continue building the best planes in the world. And all Boeing has to do is bring a fair contractor to them that recognizes the value of the work that they do with with with with wages that reflect what they should be earning with a pension.
They need it. They need to address the issue of retirement security. You can't have people working 20, 30, 40 years with a company and haven't leaving without some type of retirement security payment for them for themselves and their family. Let's just say unheard of in these days. And I know the Boeing Corporation is gonna say, look.
We've got a we've got a great 401 k with a match to it. And that's true. That is absolutely true, but here's the problem with that. They also get 1000 and thousands of workers. And because of the position that they're in with their current salary with the company, they can't afford to participate in that 401 k to the level where it will take make up for the loss of their pension.
And the only way to deal with that is you gotta increase the wages. You gotta increase you gotta you gotta come up with a plan that recognizes somebody that works for company 20, 30, 40 years with the retirement security.
Brian, Bryant. Appreciate you coming on. It's a it's a tumultuous time right now. No doubt. Appreciate it.
Hope we can stay in close touch.
Thank you very much, Kira.
You bet. Coming up. The government
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Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped
mom and dad are gonna be right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
and people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own children.
After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America go free?
Killer mom now streaming on Hulu. ABC News, America's number 1 news source.
We're reporting on board a US Navy destroyer in the Eastern Mediterranean. I'm Maggie Ruby. Wherever the story is, we'll take you there. You're watching ABC news live.
Glad you're streaming with us. Some other top headlines that were followed in this hour.
Kentucky State Police said they found the body of the expect in an interstate shooting spree that wounded 5 people earlier this month. Joseph Couch's body was found in the woods off of an I 75 exit, not far from the scene of the shootings. Police say they also found the AR 15 thought to be used in the shootings near Couch's car. The coroner's off will make a final determination of the identity. Great news for travelers.
You can now renew your passport online. The state department says its online passport renewal program is available to adults 25 or older who have had a US passport before. If you qualify, you can even snap your new passport photo right from your iPhone. Well, the news never stops. Neither do we.
I'm Kira Phillips glad you're streaming with us. A lot more news is up next. Don't go far.
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Reporting from the Carter presidential library, unfaith the rebate, wherever
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Right now on ABC News Live, Hesvila, Pagers, and walkie talkies explode throughout Lebanon. Now the leader of the terrorist organization declares war, how Israel is responding this hour. Plus, the US accusing Iran of a secret plan to target our elections how both campaigns are responding and a 4th American detained in Venezuela connected with an alleged plot to kill dictator Nicholas Maduro. The Hezbollah leaders saying 2 days of attacks on pagers and walkie talkies amounts to a declaration of war. Good afternoon, everyone.
I'm Kira Phillips. That's our top story this hour. Tensions running high in the Middle East as Israeli air strikes. Target Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Once again, earlier today, sources say Israel was behind a wave of explosions the last 2 days targeting Hezbollah members, those attacks, killing 37 people, including 2 children and injuring nearly 3000 more.
Israel has not claimed responsibility. Our foreign correspondent Marcus Moore, joins us now with the latest from Beirut Marcus.
Hi, Kira. During his speech today, Hassan Nasratla, ahead of Hezbollah acknowledged that
the, 2 days of simultaneous explosions dealt a big
blow to the group, but he said that they will persevere He has described the detonations of personal electronic devices in civilian areas as declarations of war and tried to make the point that it it showed no concern
for who might be holding the devices or where they were being
set off. And during his speech, there were 2 huge Sonic booms that that shook the buildings here. We heard people screaming, and these were by far the loudest Sonic booms we've heard since this war started. Already, people have been on edge here in Beirut. And really across Lebanon after 2 straight days of simultaneous explosions.
Are people here wondering what will happen next? Meanwhile, we have learned that the death
toll has climbed to 37 over the 2
days of the explosions. Both both Tuesday and Wednesday with hundreds of injuries. We heard from the health the ministry of health here that there are still hundreds of people recovering in area hospitals, many of them in critical condition. And so as they recover, concern is growing that this could escalate with Hezbollah vowing to retaliate. Kira.
Alright. Mark's more. Thank you. Well, 47
well, new concerns now about our state of security as election
day just creeps closer.
Leaders with top intelligence agencies coming forward with disturbing claims, accusing Iran of stealing non public material from former president Trump's campaign and then sending it directly to individuals associated with president Biden's campaign. The joint intelligence statement shutting down Any speculation that the stolen information was solicited by any Biden campaign official. Jack Dante is
here to bring it all down for us. So what do we know about this non
public material that was supposedly sent? And how significant is
this? Right. So it what what it shows is that the Iranians are continuing to try to interfere with the election. They appear to have hacked into or or really compromised an email account of of a person in the, the Trump campaign. They took some information out.
They tried to pass it on to people associated with the then biden campaign. But they didn't send it directly to the campaign. They sent it to individuals, on their personal e email accounts, and then It it was really sort of regarded as the campaign says spam at that point. It's it's not clear that they knew the stuff was there, but when the FBI came to them and said, hey. This has occurred.
They wouldn't look, and they said they they found the material. It's not clear that the stuff ever made it. It appears it never really made it into the campaign. The Biden campaign, they never made any use of it as far as we can tell. And so, they also emphasize that, as you point out, the information wasn't solicited by the Biden campaign.
They never asked for it. And they say they've been cooperating with the investigation.
So this comes amid a heightened threat alert that we've been talking about election officials across the US say that they're preparing for, in some cases, with panic buttons, bulletproof glass, how are these intelligence agencies addressing all these concerns? And should we be worried? Well, I I think, agencies from the federal government from Department of Homeland Security all the way down
to to local agencies that are responsible for administrating elect administering elections. We're all working to make sure that this election is safe and secure both for election workers and for voters. Some of these efforts are really designed to try to undermine confidence in our election So we saw earlier this week efforts to, male, white powder to secretaries of states
and other election officials around the country. Those type types
of efforts, though, are are seen as efforts to try to undermine confidence in the safety and security of the election. But in in that case, the the white powder and substance was deemed not hazardous. The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Services investigating, it's important to emphasize that measures are being taken extraordinary and unprecedented measures are
being taken to try to secure the safety of, election workers and and
the system, more
broadly.
Jack, thank you. So it's
47 days now. 47 days now. That's how close we are to the
November election, a new Washington Post poll of Pennsylvania finds former president Donald Trump and vice president Kamala Harris neck and neck in the battleground state. Later today, Harris is set to campaign in Michigan. Well, Trump will speak here in Washington at the Israeli American Council Conference. Jeremy now, senior White House correspondent, Salina Wang. Also, our J O'Brien, he's up on Capitol Hill.
So Salina, should this new poll about Pennsylvania worry the Harris campaign? I mean, her her path to the White House gets a lot tougher if she loses Pennsylvania.
Yeah. It does. That's exactly right. If she didn't win Pennsylvania. She's going to have a much tougher path, which is why you see her campaign investing so heavily in states like Georgia and North Carolina.
But when it comes to that specific poll, the Harris campaign is running as if this race is going to be incredibly tight as if there are the underdogs, including Battle Ground, Pennsylvania. This is a state that president Biden only carried by about 1 percentage point in 2020, but there was another poll that was released the latest New York Times Sienna poll that shows her actually up in Pennsylvania by about 4 percentage points. So there is some variation in these polls, but regardless, there is a reason why you see both the Harris campaign and the Trump campaign spending so much time in Pennsylvania.
So, Jay, the postmaster general, says that Trump is wrong to that the United States post office ability to deliver, ballots. Just explain. Let's talk about these remarks, what you make of them.
And and there's been this kind of mixed messaging from both the Trump campaign and the RNC Kira about mail in voting because Donald Trump made those comments that the postmaster general now says are inaccurate about mail in ballots being some kind of wait on the postal system. The postmaster general says they are prepared to process, get those mail in ballots, regardless of the volume where they need to be, but also the Trump campaign and the RNC have been piloting initiatives to encourage their voters that if they don't wanna go vote early and in person or vote in person on election day to cast mail in ballots, particularly if they win in some of or they live rather in some of those must win swing states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, etcetera. So while Trump's making those comments, his own campaign is pushing his supporters to vote by mail in some cases. 1 more thing to keep in mind when it comes to vote by mail is since the 2020 election and the states that were inundated with vote by mail. 1 of the things we've seen in recent day or recent weeks, rather, is states like Pennsylvania, really just Pennsylvania and a few others not necessarily update their processing systems 2 votes by mail, meaning that they won't be able to start counting their vote by mail until just about the same time they were able to in 2020 on election day.
So if there is a significantly tight race in a state like Pennsylvania, as Selena was just pointing to moments ago and that vote by mail is the difference. It might take that state, particularly Pennsylvania, a must win state for both campaigns, some time to actually process those ballots.
So Selena Harris is also holding a campaign rally in Detroit, Michigan later today. 538, polling actually has Harris only ahead by 2 points in the battleground state. What's her plans tonight there in Michigan and then in Battle Ground, Georgia?
Yeah. Well, she's got a very powerful surrogate that she's going to be with tonight in Michigan, and that is Oprah Winfrey. She's 1 of the most influential celebrities and surrogates for vice president Harris. So that the goal of that event is really to just rally support in Battle Ground State. Then tomorrow, as you say, she heads to Georgia, and her focus tomorrow is going to be on abortion rights.
This speech she's going to make there comes after pro Publica reported that 2 women in the state died as a result of the state's strict abortion ban. And Harris is going to directly tie their deaths to Donald Trump's policies. She has repeatedly slammed Donald Trump on the campaign trail for a point to the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe versus Wade. This is a key message that Harris wants to be front and center. In this election, abortion is an issue that her campaign believes is going to galvanize voters to the poll with abortion rights on the ballot in 10 states, including in Battle Ground, Arizona, and Nevada, Kira.
Alright. We'll keep tracking both of the candidates. Salina Jay. Thanks, guys. So a judge in New York City denies bail for Sean Didi Combs, the music mogul arrested Monday, and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering, and arson.
Combs is currently being held in the special housing unit of Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Our senior investigative correspondent, Eric And Tursky has been following the case. So why did the judge ultimately decide to deny Combs bail, you think?
The judge said there were no conditions that could make it so that Sean Combs was not a danger to women and not a risk to intimidate witnesses. Prosecutors said that he had been in touch
with several women who could testify at
trial and coerce them financially. To try and keep them in his corner, sort of reminding them that he pays their expenses. And prosecutors said that wasn't going to be acceptable that Sean Combs had a propensity to do that, and the judge appeared to agree.
So what's next in the case?
Sean Combs is back in court early next month, Kira, but before then, his attorney may try to do 2 things.
1, appeal to a federal appeals
court, the decision to deny him bail And and if that doesn't work, may also try to move him out of MDC in Brooklyn where he said the conditions are horrible or even a federal judge has said the conditions are dangerous and barbaric. Try to move Combs into a a county jail, maybe in New Jersey. But those those are 2 long shots.
And how much time do you think he could face if convicted, Erin?
It's potentially decades in prison if con if convicted is charged, Kira, and and you have to look no further than another music icon who faced similar racketeering charges also accused of leading a criminal enterprise. And that's r Kelly who was, tried and
convicted across the river in Brooklyn. He
serving a 30 year sentence that's potentially something in the offing for Sean Combs. He's 54 now. I mean, it could well mean the rest of his life behind bars.
We'll follow the case, Aaron. Thank you. And coming up, it's a case that's gripped France and the world. Her husband is accused of letting more than 50 men rape her. Now that woman is bravely confronting her alleged aggressors.
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Wait a second. Wait a minute. Looks like there's 3 people coming down the river.
These are the last lands.
What is this? It's explosives.
It's where these dynamite blasts down here.
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What's with the gas? The national parks around the world.
This area is all right now. The cartel run full money that have to be saved.
Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped. Your mom and
dad are gonna be right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard
people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own children?
After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America go free.
Killer mom now streaming on Hulu.
1 of more than 50 men accused in a mass rape case in France is testifying and apologizing to the victim. Giselle Pelleco has waived her right to anonymity in order to draw attention to this case and raise awareness about sexual violence in France. Peloco's husband is accused of drugging his wife and then inviting men to sexually assault her while she was unconscious. Victim advocates in France have been protesting against the lawyers for some of the men accused of rape saying they should not have questioned Pelaco about her habits and personal life and suggested what happened should not be considered rape. Correspondent.
Tom Suepepperridge is following the story for us from just outside Paris. So, Tom, tell us about the new details that we learned today in court.
Yeah, Kira. So today, we heard from 2 of the codefendants. So they 50 codefendants in this case. They are the men that, Dominic Pelle Pelleico, the victim who's waived her anonymity bravely in this case at the center of this horrific case those men were recruited by Dominic Pederco, over the course of about a decade and would invited round to their family home to rape and sexually abuse, it's alleged, Giselle Pederco. 2 of those defenders were in court to day.
They are 2 of the 14 co defendants of the 50 who have actually accepted the main facts of this case. So both of the men are in court today apologizing to Giselle, Pelaco. 1 of the men, a 44 year old father of 3 worked at the local supermarket in the town where the Palakos lived. The other man, a retiree, a former truck driver, and firefighter, age 72. The the first man, age 44.
The first man expressing contrition in court saying, to Giselle Pelleico, quote, I never meant to hurt you, but I did, but I'd like to apologize. I know that my apology won't change anything. So we're learning more details about what happened Dominic Pelleico, the main defendant in this case, the husband of, just the ex husband of Giselle Pelleico, also again, took the stand today. He admitted secretly drugging his wife, during first time on the day that 1 of the co defendants who gave testimony today came to the house to rape his wife.
Another co accused denied that he raped Giselle
Peddico but said he had sexually assaulted her whilst She was unconscious, and these co defendants, Kyra, if they are found guilty of the maximum charges against them, they could face up to 20 years in jail.
It's just disgusting. And to to think that this woman would would wake up every day with all these health issues, all these problems, not know what was going on. She thought that she might had had dementia because she felt like she wasn't remembering things. I mean, all the details that we're learning are just heartbreaking. And because she's been so open about all of this, she's received a lot of support for her brave testimony.
And the fact that she chose to have this public trial, which reveals her identity, You know, it's just incredible, Tom. And, you know, people in France are really they're in tremendous support of her and what she's doing and just trying to wrap their arms around her.
Yeah. I think a lot of people in France are just, firstly, shocked by this case. And also, I think, you know, admiring the the bravery of Giselle Pelaco, we've seen thousands of people taking to the streets, rallying in support of her once again when she walked into court today, there were members of the public clapping her in. But there have been, I think, uncomfortable questions raised by this case. This was not just the rape by 1 man as awful as that is.
It was the rape by police believe more than 70 men. There are 50 codefendants, but There are men that haven't yet been identified by police in their investigations. And as you say, Kira, this abuse, went on for nearly a decade, and Giselle Pelaco knew nothing of it. She had medical symptoms. She went to the doctor and her husband at the time, Dominic Pelleco, who organized this rape and sexual abuse scheme against her, went along to those doctor's appointments as what seemed at the time to be the supporting husband.
So there's multiple elements of this case, which are kind of hard to digest. And, you know, there has been an apology to today by the mayor of the local town where the Pellegos lived because in a media interview, the local mayor appeared to play down the severity of this case. He said in the interview, that, it could have been worse that someone could have died in this case, and that has caused real anger amongst feminist groups, but also I think in broader French society that that suggestion has come out. And you know, feminist supporters I've heard interviewed today, of Giselle Pelaco, have said that that is symptomatic of a broader problem within French society and attitudes towards towards sexual abuse against women.
Yeah. Clearly. Clearly. And that needs to change. Tom, I'm glad you're on the story.
Appreciate the conversation. Well, a 4th American citizen has now been detained in Venezuela in connection with that alleged plot to kill president Nicholas Maduro It comes on the heels of the disputed Venezuelan presidential election. The state department denying any claims that the US is involved in a plot to overthrow Maduro and says it continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in the country. Matt Revers joins me now from Mexico City. So, Matt, what what do we know about this alleged plot?
And is it really just, you know, an attempt by Maduro to distract, you know, from the disputed election?
Yeah. So, Kiera, we first heard about the plot when senior leadership in, the Maduro government came out over the weekend and at first accused 3 different Americans to Spanish nationals and a Czech National of engaging in this so called plot. They showed rifles that they say they authority sees as a result of this. And then it was, just recently, in the last 24 hours that the Venezuelan government has come out and said they've arrested a 4th American involved in the all of this. They didn't identify that American, but they said 1 of the 4 Americans was an active duty US military member.
The US government has acknowledged that this military member was in Venezuela and has been arrested. But as you said, right off the top, the US government completely denying any involvement in all of this as has the Spanish government. To your other question about whether this is just a fabrication by the Maduro government. There's no way to know for sure, but I think it's important to keep the context in mind in all of this. The United States government along with the Spanish government have been real leading voices questioning the results that would claim to show Maduro winning that election when there's a lot of evidence that would suggest it was the opposition candidate that actually won that election.
The US put in sanctions. The Spanish government has granted political exile or asylum rather, to the opposition candidate in that election. There's a lot of reasons for the Venezuelan government to be angry with the US and Spanish governments. And also 1 more point, the Maduro government routinely over the course of its its, time and power accuses people of plotting against it. In fact, nearly 2 dozen suspected plots have been put out in public by the Maduro government in his more than 10 years in power.
So this is a playbook that we've seen enacted by the Maduro government before.
So the Maduro government had previously used Americans in prison in Venezuela to gain concessions from the US government. Right? So do you think that we, I don't know, may see a tactic like that again?
It it could certainly happen. Although, I think what we're seeing right now is just outright hostility from the Venezuelan government that has been backed into a corner as sort of a pariah state after, these really, suspectedly suspicious, fraudulent elections in the end of July. You've got huge swaths of the international community who say that Maduro didn't actually win. And so when it comes to the motivations behind these arrests, sure that could happen down the road. The Maduro government could try and get concessions out of the United States, but I think it's more of a reflection of the fact that the Maduro government very angry with the United States right now, after it's calling out of these election results.
Alright. Matt Rivers. Appreciate it. We'll follow you. Meanwhile, the opposition leader has fled to Spain.
So the CDC says that drug overdose deaths fell for the first time since the start of the pandemic after the break. Or I can tell you why.
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With so much at stake, so much on the line, more Americans turn here than any other newscast, AB News World News tonight with David Muir, America's number 1 most watched newscast across all of television.
And they find the stories that shape your world, that shape your life, dramatic, stunning, empowering jaw dropping. The most powerful stories of our time, Maylon, on
Reddit for Kimball and streaming on Hulu. I my name is Patrice.
I am a totally cool person with a
to build. Teresa always sees
the best side of life. He just looked at her and I said, would you like to be my wife?
If you
get married and you're collecting a Social Security benefit, your benefit will be cut.
I don't take anything for granted.
They're never gonna stop us from running each other.
Some other top headlines that we're tracking for you this hour on ABC News Live. The CDC says drug overdose deaths have dropped for the first time in years. It's the first decline since before the pandemic and is expected to continue the to the year. Experts are baffled and say that the drop could be because overdose treatment drugs are more available now, and some of the social isolation from the pandemic is also over. For lgbtqteens is now illegal in Kentucky.
Democratic governor Andy Bashir signed an executive order banning the practice, which attempts to forcefully change a person's sexual orientation. Shear cited his faith in the decision saying conversion therapy hurts our children. Over state Republicans are likely to challenge that measure. Herowing surveillance video from a check cashing business in Atlanta showing the moment 2 thieves busted through the ceiling, startling an employee who was preparing to open up for the day. The 2 men forced her into a safe and made off with more than a $150,000.
Police are now asking for the public's help in identifying these subjects. Well, it was a story that captivated the nation and put 1 small South Carolina town on the map. Susan Smith, then 23 years old, and mother of 2 concocted this fake story that a black man had carjacked her and taken her young children. But when Smith was arrested and charged with murder, well, the story changed. Now after 30 years behind bars, she can ask for parole.
Nightline Acre, Gucci Chang, has a preview of this week's impact by nightline.
She did the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the unforgivable.
I wanna say it to my babies that your mama loves
you so much. And if
For a
moment in time, Susan Smith had the entire nation hanging on her desperate pleas.
And you guys have gotta be strong. I just feel in my heart that you're okay, but you gotta take care of each other.
Her phony story of a black man carjacking and kidnapping her sons.
And we're going full bore until we can find this car, wherever it may be in the United States.
When Susan Smyleken Cox this story that a that a black man was the 1 who stole her children. This harpened back to a time where white privilege allowed to point the finger at the boogeyman in the corner and people just ran with it.
The following 9 days in the search for Smith's 2 young innocent boys riveted
America from prayer circles to search parties. I find it very
difficult to handle not being there from my
my baby's eye. I've been there for them from day 1.
But after days of television appearances, her deception revealed.
Susan Smith has been arrested, and we'll be charged charged with 2 counts of murder in connection with the deaths of her children.
Just tragedy that it don't ever happen around
here. You know, if
I was just
hoping they'd come
home and sleep. I don't know how any
mother could kill their
children.
We've had people call in from all over and stated that they knew where they were the day that the president Kennedy was shot. They knew where they were the day that Challenger blew up, and they will never forget the day the announcement of these 2 children.
And you can watch juju's entire full episode, killer mom, on impact by nightline, now streaming on Hulu. New episodes drop every Thursday. The news never stops. Neither do we, I'm Kira Philip glad you're streaming with us. A lot more news up next.
Don't go far. Whenever wherever news breaks,
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Right now on ABC News Live, Hesbola Pagers and walkie talkies explode throughout
on. Now the leader of the terrorist organization declares war how Israel is responding this hour. Plus the US accusing Iran of a secret plan to target our elections, how both campaigns are responding, and a 4th American detained in Venezuela, connected with an alleged plot to kill dictator Nicholas Maduro. The Hezbollah leaders saying 2 days of attacks on pagers and walkie talkies amounts to a declaration of war. Good afternoon, everyone.
I'm Kira Phillips. That's our top story this hour. Tensions running high in the Middle East as Israeli air strikes target Hezbollah militants in Lebanon once again earlier today. Sources say Israel was behind a wave of explosions the last 2 days targeting Hezbollah members. Those attacks killing 37 people, including 2 children and injuring nearly 3000 more.
Israel has not claimed responsibility. Our foreign correspondent Marcus Moore joins us now with the latest from Beirut Marcus.
Hi, Kira.
During his speech today, Hassan Nasratla, the head of Hezbollah acknowledged that the, 2 days of simultaneous explosions dealt a big blow to the group, but he said that they will persevere he has described the detonations of personal electronic devices in civilian areas as declarations of war and tried to make the point that it it showed no concern
for who might be holding the devices or where they were being set off.
And during his speech, there were 2 huge Sonic booms that that shook the buildings here. We heard people screaming, and these were by far the loudest Sonic booms we've heard since this war started. Already, people have been on edge here in Beirut. And really across Lebanon after 2 straight days of simultaneous explosions. Are people here wondering what will happen next?
Meanwhile, we have learned that the
death toll has climbed to 37 over the 2 days
of the explosions. Both both Tuesday and Wednesday with hundreds of injuries. We heard from the health the ministry of health here that there are still hundreds of people recovering in
area hospitals, many of them
in critical condition. And so
as they recover, concern is growing that this could escalate with Hezbollah vowing to retaliate.
Kira. Alright. Marcus Moore, thank you. Well, 47 well, new concerns now about our state of security as election day just creeps
closer. Leaders with top intelligence agencies coming forward with disturbing claims, accusing Iran of stealing non public material from
former president Trump's campaign and then sending it directly to individuals associated with president Biden's campaign.
The joint intelligence statement shutting down any speculation that the stolen information was solicited by any Biden campaign official. Jack Dante is here to bring it all down for us. So what do we know about this non public material that was supposedly sent? And how significant is this?
Right. So it what what it shows is that the Iranians are continuing to try to interfere with the election. They appear to have
hacked into or or really compromised
an email account of of a person in the, the Trump campaign. They took some information out. They tried to pass it on to people associated with the then biden campaign. But they didn't send it directly to the campaign. They sent it to individuals, on their personal e email accounts, and then it it was really sort of regarded as the campaign says spam at that point.
It's it's not clear that they knew the stuff was there, but when the FBI came to them and said, hey. This has occurred. They wouldn't look, and they said they they found the material. It's not clear that the stuff ever made it. It appears it never really made it into the campaign, the Biden campaign.
They never made any use of it as far as we can tell. And so, they also emphasize that, as you point out, the information wasn't solicited by the Biden campaign. They never asked for it. And they say they've been cooperating with the investigation.
So this comes amid a heightened threat alert that we've been talking about election officials across the US say that they're preparing for, in some cases, with panic buttons, bulletproof glass. How are these intelligence agencies addressing all these concerns, and should we be worried?
Well, I I think, agencies from the federal government from Department of Homeland Security all the way down to to local agencies that are possible for administrating elect administering elections, we're all working to make sure that this election is safe and secure both for election workers and for voters. Some of these efforts are really designed to try to undermine confidence in our election. So we saw earlier this week, efforts to, male white powder, to secretaries of states and other election officials around the country. Those types of efforts, though,
are are are seen as efforts to try to undermine confidence
in the safety and security of the election. But in in that case, the the white powder of the substance was deemed not hazardous, the FBI and US Postal Inspection Services investigating. But it's important to emphasize that measures are being taken extraordinary and unprecedented measures are being taken to try to secure the safety of, election workers and and the system, more broadly. Jack, thank you. So it's 47 days now.
47 days now. That's how close we are to the November election. A new Washington Post poll of Pennsylvania finds former president Donald Trump and vice president Kamala Harris neck and neck in the battleground state. Later today, Harris is set to campaign in Michigan. Well, Trump will speak here in Washington at the Israeli American Council Conference tournament.
Now senior White House correspondent, Selena Wang, also our J O'Brien. He's up on Capitol Hill. So Salina, should this new poll about Pennsylvania worry the Harris campaign? I mean, her her path to the White House gets a lot tougher if she loses Pennsylvania.
Yeah. It does. That's exactly right. If she did not win Pennsylvania, she's going to have a much tougher path, which is why you see her campaign investing so heavily in states like Georgia and North Carolina. But when it comes to that specific poll, the Harris campaign is running as if this race is going to be incredibly tight as if there are the underdogs, including in Battle Ground, Pennsylvania.
This is a state that president Biden only carried by about 1 percentage point in 2020, but there was another poll that was released the latest New York Times Sienna poll that shows her actually up in Pennsylvania by about 4 percentage points. So there is some variation in these polls, but regardless, there is a reason why you see both the Harris campaign and the Trump campaign spending so much time in Pennsylvania.
So Jay, the postmaster general, says that Trump is wrong,
to that the United States post office ability
to deliver, ballots just explain. Let's talk about these remarks, what you make of them.
And and there's been this kind of mixed messaging from both the Trump campaign and the RNC Kira about mail in voting because Donald Trump made those comments that the postmaster general now says are inaccurate about mail in ballots being some kind of weight on the postal system. The postmaster general says they are prepared to process, get those mail in ballots regardless of the volume where they need to be, but also the Trump campaign and the RN sea have been piloting initiatives to encourage their voters that if they don't wanna go vote early and in person or vote in person on election day to cast mail in ballots, particularly if they win in some or they live rather in some of those must win swing states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, etcetera. So while Trump's making those comments, his own campaign is pushing his supporters to vote by mail in some cases, 1 more thing to keep in mind, when it comes to vote by mail is that since the 2020 election and the states that were inundated with vote by mail, 1 of the things we've seen in recent day or recent weeks, rather, is states like Pennsylvania, really just Pennsylvania and a few others not
necessarily update their processing systems to votes by mail, meaning
that they won't be able to start counting their vote by mail until just about the same time they were able to in 2020 on election day. So if there is a significantly tight race in a state like Pennsylvania, as Selena was just pointing 2 moments ago and that vote by mail is the difference in my take that state, particularly Pennsylvania, a must win state for both campaigns some time to actually process those ballots.
So Selena Harris is also holding a campaign rally in Detroit, Michigan later today. 538, polling actually has Harris only ahead by 2 points in the battleground state. What's her plans tonight there in Michigan and then in Battle Ground, Georgia?
Yeah. Well, she's got a very powerful surrogate that she's going to be with tonight in Michigan, and that is Oprah Winfrey. She's 1 of the most influential celebrities and surrogates for vice president Harris. So That the goal of that event is really to just rally support in battleground states. Then tomorrow, as you say, she heads to Georgia, and her focus tomorrow is going to be on abortion rights.
This speech she's going to make there comes after pro publica reported that 2 women in the state died as a result of the state's strict abortion ban, and Harris is going to directly tie their deaths to Donald Trump's policies. She has repeatedly slammed Donald Trump on the campaign trail for a point supreme court justices who helped overturn Roe versus Wade. This is a key message that Harris wants to be front and center in this election. Abortion is an issue that her campaign believes is going to galvanize voters to the poll with abortion rights on the ballot in 10 States, including in Battle Ground, Arizona, and Nevada. Kira.
Alright. We'll keep tracking both of the candidates. Salina Jay. Thanks, guys. So a judge in New York City did I bail for Sean Diddy Combs, the music mogul arrested Monday.
And charge with sex trafficking, racketeering, and arson. Combs is currently being held in the special housing unit of Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Our senior investigative correspondent, Eric in Turkey, has been following the case. So why did the judge ultimately decide to deny Combs bail, you think?
The judge said there were no conditions that could make it so that Sean Combs was not a danger to women and not a risk to intimidate witnesses. Prosecutors said that he had been in touch with several women who could testify at trial and coerce them financially to try and keep them in his corner sort of reminding them that he pays their expenses. And prosecutors said that wasn't going to be acceptable. That Sean Combs had a propensity to do that, and the judge appeared to agree.
So what's next in the case?
Sean Combs is back in court early next month, Kira, but before then, his attorney may try to do 2 things. 1, appeal to a federal appeals court, the decision to deny him bail. And and if that doesn't work, may also try to move him out of MDC in Brooklyn where he said the conditions are horrible or even Federal Judge has said the conditions are dangerous and barbaric. Try to move Combs into a a county jail, maybe in New Jersey. But those those are 2 long shots.
And how much time do you think he could face if convicted, Aaron?
It's potentially decades in prison if con if convicted is charged, Kira, and and you have to look no further than another music icon who faced similar rack interior charges also accused of leading a criminal enterprise, and that's r Kelly, who was, tried and convicted across the river in Brooklyn. He's serving a 30 year sentence that's potentially something in the offing for Sean Combs. He's 54 now. I mean, it could well mean the rest of his life behind bars.
We'll follow the case, Aaron. Thank you. And coming up, it's a case that's gripped France and the world. Her husband is accused of letting more than 50 men rape her. Now that woman is bravely confronting her alleged aggressors.
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1 of more than 50 men accused in a mass in France
is testifying and apologizing to the victim. Giselle Pelleco has waved her right
to anonymity in order to draw attention to this case and raise awareness about sexual violence in France. Pellego's husband is accused of drugging his wife and then inviting men to sexually assault her while she was unconscious. Victim advocates in France have been protesting against the lawyers for some of the men accused of rape saying, They should not have questioned Pelaco about her habits and personal life and suggested what happened should not be considered rape. Foreign correspondent, Tom Stupey Burridge is following the story for us from just outside Paris. So, Tom, tell us about the new details that we've learned today in court.
Yeah, Kira. So today we heard from 2 of the codefendants. So there are 50 codefendants in this case. They are the men that, Dominic Co, the ex husband of Giselle Pelle, the victim who's waived her anonymity bravely in this case, at the center of this horrific case, those men were recruited by Dominic Pelle,
over the course of about a decade and
would invited round to their family home to rape and sexually abused, it's alleged, Giselle Peneco. 2 of those defendants were in court today. They are 2 of the 14 co defendants of the 50 who have actually accepted the main facts of this case. So both of the men are in court today apologizing to Giselle. 1 of the men, a 44 year old father of 3, worked with the local supermarket in the town where the Palakos lived.
The other man, a retiree of 4 truck driver and firefighter at age 72, the the first man, age 44. The first man expressing contrition in court saying, to Chisel Pelaco, quote, I never meant to hurt you, but I did, but I'd like to apologize. I know that my apology won't change. Anything. So we're learning more details about what happened.
Dominic Pelleico, the main defendant in this case, the husband of just the ex husband of Giselle Pelleico, also again, took the stand today He admitted secretly drugging his wife, during breakfast time on the day that 1 of the co defendants who gave testimony today came to the house to rape his wife. Another co accused, denied that he raped Giselle Pedico, but said he had sex actually assaulted her whilst she was unconscious, and these codefendants, Kyra, if they are found guilty of the maximum charges against them, they could face up to 20 years in jail.
It's just disgusting. And to to think that this woman would would wake up every day with all these health issues, all these problems, not know what was going on. She thought that she might had had dementia because she felt like she wasn't remembering things. I mean, all the details that we're learning are just heartbreaking. And because she's been so open about all of this, she's received a lot of support for her brave testimony.
And the fact that she chose to have this public trial, which reveals her identity, you know, it's just incredible, Tom. And, you know, people in France are really they're in tremendous support of her and what she's doing and just trying to wrap their arms around her.
Yeah. I think a lot of people in France are just, firstly, shocked by this case. And, also, I think, you know, admiring the the bravery of Giselle Pelaco. We've seen thousands of people taking to the streets, rallying in support of her. Once again, when she walked into court today, there were members of the public clapping her in.
But there have been, I think, uncomfortable questions raised by this case. This was not just the rape by 1 man as awful as that is. It was the rape by police believe more than 70 men. There are 50 codefendants, but there are men that haven't yet been identified by police in their investigations. And as you say, Kira, this abuse, went on for nearly a decade.
And Giselle Peloco knew nothing of it. She had medical symptoms. She went to the doctor and her husband at the time, Dominic Peloco, who organized this rape and sexual abuse scheme against her, went along to those doctor's appointments as what seemed at the time to be the supporting husband. So there's multiple elements of this case, which are kind of hard to digest. And, you know, there has been an apology to today, by the mayor of the local town where the Pelakos lived because in a media interview, the local mayor appeared to play down the severity of this case.
He said in the interview, that, it could have been worse that someone could have died in this case, and that has caused real anger amongst feminist groups, but also I think in broader French society that that suggestion has come out. And you know, feminist supporters I've heard interviewed today, of Giselle Pelleico, have said that that is symptomatic of a broader problem within French society and attitudes towards towards sexual abuse against women. Kira?
Yeah. Clearly. Clearly. And that needs to change. Tom, I'm glad you're on the story.
Appreciate the conversation. Well, a 4th American citizen has now been detained in Venezuela in connection with that alleged plot to kill president Nicholas Maduro. It comes on the heels of the disputed Venezuelan presidential election. The state department denying any claims that the US is involved in a plot to overthrow Maduro and says it continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in the country. Matt Revers joins me now from Mexico City.
So, Matt, what what do we know about this alleged plot? And is it really just you know, an attempt by Maduro to distract, you know, from the disputed election?
Yeah. So, Kiera, we first heard about the plot when senior leadership in, the Maduro government came out over the weekend and and first accused 3 different Americans to Nish Nationals and a Czech National of engaging in this so called plot. They showed, rifles that they say they authority sees as a result of this. And then it was, just recently, in the last 24 hours that the Venezuelan government has come out and said they've arrested a 4th American involved in the all of this. They didn't identify that American, but they said 1 of the 4 Americans, was an active duty US military member.
The US government has acknowledged that this military member was Suela and has been arrested. But as you said, right off the top, the US government completely denying any involvement in all of this as has the Spanish government. To your other question about whether this is just a a fabrication by the Maduro government There's no way to know for sure, but I think it's important to keep the context in mind in all of this. The United States government along with the Spanish government have been real leading voices questioning the results that would claim to show winning that election when there's a lot of evidence that would suggest it was the opposition candidate that actually won that election. The US put in sanctions.
The Spanish government has granted political exile or asylum rather, to the opposition candidate in that election So there's a lot of reasons for the Venezuelan government to be angry with the US and Spanish governments. And also 1 more point, the Maduro government routinely over the course of its its, time and power accuses people of plotting against it. In fact, nearly 2 dozen suspected plots have been put out in public by the Maduro government in his more than 10 years in power. So this is a playbook that we've seen enacted by the Maduro government before.
So the Maduro government had previously used Americans in prison in Venezuela. Again, can sessions from the US government. Right? So do you think that we, I don't know, may see a tactic like that again?
It it could certainly happen. Although, I think what we're seeing right now is just outright hostility from the Venezuelan government that has been really backed into corner as sort of a pariah state after these really, suspected suspicious fraudulent elections in the end of July. You've got huge swaths of the international community who say that Maduro didn't actually win. And so when it comes to the motivations behind these arrests, sure that could happen down the road. The Maduro government could try and get concessions out of the United States, but I think it's more of a reflection of the fact that the Maduro government very angry with the United States right now, after it's calling out of these election results.
Alright. Matt Rivers Appreciate it. We'll follow you. Meanwhile, the opposition leader has fled to Spain. So the CDC says that drug overdose deaths fell for the first time since the start of the pandemic after the break.
We're gonna tell you why.
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News, World News tonight with David Newer. America's number 1 most watched newscast across all of television.
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We have to go.
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ABC Live.
Some other top headlines that we're tracking for you this hour on ABC News Live. The CDC says drug overdose deaths have dropped for the first time in years. It's the first decline since before the pandemic and is expected to continue the rest of the year. Experts are baffled and say that the drop could be because overdose treatment drugs are more available now, and some of the social isolation from the pandemic is also over. Conversion therapy for lgbtq team is now illegal in Kentucky.
Democratic governor Andy Bashir signed an executive order banning the practice, which attempts to forcefully change a person's sexual orientation. Bashir cited his faith in the decision saying conversion therapy hurts our children. Over state Republicans are likely to challenge that measure. Herowing surveillance video from a check cashing business in Atlanta showing the moment 2 thieves busted through the ceiling, startling an employee who was preparing to open up for the day. The 2 men forster into a safe and made off with more than a $150,000.
Police are now asking for the public's help in identifying these subjects. Well, it was a story that captivated the nation and put 1 small South Carolina town on the map. Susan Smith than 23 years old and mother of 2 concocted this fake story that a black man had carjacked her and taken her young children. But when Smith was arrested and charged with murder, well, the story changed. Now after 30 years behind bars, She can ask for parole.
Nightline Acre. Has a preview of this week's impact by nightline.
She did the unthinkable. The unimaginable The unforgivable.
I wanna say it to my babies, but your mama loves you so much. And if
For a moment in time, Susan Smith had the entire nation hanging on her desperate pleas.
And you guys have gotta be strong. I just feel in my heart that you're okay, but you gotta take care of each other.
Her phony story of a black man carjacking and kidnapping her sons
And we're going full bore until we can find this car, wherever it may be in the United States.
When Susan Samantha Concox, this story that a that a black man was the 1 who stole her children. This harpened back to a time where white privilege allowed to point the finger at the boogeyman in the corner and people just ran with it.
The following 9 days in the search for Smith's 2 young innocent boys riveted America. From prayer circles, to search parties.
I find it
very difficult to handle not being there for my my baby's eye. I've been there for them from day 1.
But after days of television appearances, her deception revealed
Susan Smith has been arrested and will be charged with 2 counts of murder in connection with the deaths of her children.
Just tragedy that it don't ever happen around here.
So if I was just
hoping they'd come home and stay I
don't know how any mother could kill their children.
We've had people call in from all over and stated that they knew where they were the day that the president Kennedy was shot. They knew where they were the day that Challenger I blew up, and they will never forget today the announcement of these 2 children.
And you can watch juju's entire full episode, killer mom, on impact by nightline, now streaming on Hulu. New episodes drop every Thursday. The news never stops. Neither to wait. I'm Kira Phillips.
Glad you're streaming with us. A lot more news up next. Don't go far.
Wait a second. Wait a minute. Looks like there's 3 people coming down the river.
These are the last lands.
What is this? This is explosives. I just
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We have to go.
Must be the gas. But national parks around the world.
This area is all right now. Cartel run gold money that have to be saved. Wow. Baywatch is
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likes to watch sexy things.
After they watch moments in the sun, the
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Pagers and walkie talkies explode throughout Lebanon. Now the leader of the terrorist organization declares war. We're in Tel Aviv with more on how Israel is responding. The US accusing Iran of a secret plan to target our elections how both campaigns are fighting back and former president Trump set to speak at a forum on anti Semitism. I'll talk to 1 of only 2 Jewish Republicans in the house.
Congressman David Kustoff joins me this hour. The Middle East is on edge today. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Kira Phillips. That's our top story.
Israel says it's carrying out strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon as the leader of the terror group says the past 2 days of attacks amount to a declaration of war. Sources say that Israel was behind a wave of explosions targeting hezbollah members using their pagers and walkie talkies. Those attacks Tuesday and Wednesday, killing 37 people, including 2 children, and injury nearly 3000 other people. Israel has not yet claimed responsibility. I'm joined now by our chief global affairs correspondent, Martha Raditz.
She's in Tel Aviv. Our foreign correspondent, Marcus Moore, is in Beirut. Martha, let's start with you, the reaction there in Israel to Hezbollah and its leader calling those device explosions a declaration of war.
Well, I have to say that Israel and and Israeli officials seem unfazed and believe that was just an respected response. And instead, carriage, you were just saying there were pounding targets in Southern Lebanon, of course, for months now, and and pretty much since October 7th, there's been tension between, Lebanon and Israel, and they've exchanged fire along that border, but it seemed particularly intense today, Kira?
Well, the fighting is actually going both ways. Hezbollah also launching multiple rockets into Northern Israel. What can you tell us, Martha?
Yeah. And and, again, an exchange of fire has been going on for months, but they did much more of that today. Hespa has been crippled in many ways by these attacks on these pages, these operatives, having that many Hezbollah operators, dismantled in many ways and out of the fight and unable to communicate really the only way Hezbollah has now to react to Israel or to a attack Israel is with missiles and rockets, and they have hundreds of thousands of missiles and rockets that they can rain down on Israel. But right now, that organization has been bad totally hurt by what sources are telling us Israel is responsible for in those attacks on pagers and walkie talkies.
So are the US and allies working to deescalate the situation now, or are they becoming just more resigned to the idea of a wider war?
I I think the US has been doing everything they possibly can to try and deescalate that. Although, secretary of state, Tony Blink had left the region today. He actually never came to Israel, and he usually does on many trips here. I mean, that may be an indication that he just doesn't think it will do much good at this point, but the US has been stressing again and again, trying to deescalate. Remember, Israel has been at war here in Gaza, for almost a year because of those brutal attacks by Hamas militants, Hamas terrorists on Israelis on October 7th.
So the Gaza war is raging, the US is trying to get a ceasefire there. And in the meantime, things are heating up in Northern Israel. In fact, they have sent more troops up there up north the Israelis have.
So you, I understand, just returned, to the kabutz that was destroyed. On October 7th. We'll never forget that horrific attack. It's been almost a year, since Hamas carried out, just that viciousness. What did you find there?
With whom did you speak?
Well, Kira, it was actually a very emotional trip. I was at this particular Kibotz Kibarza right after the attacks on October 7th a few days later when you could still see the destruction, smell the destruction, smell the death. They had so many killed there and so many kidnapped and still held hostage. I talked to the family of twin boys, 27 year old twin boys, Golly and Ziv Berman, talk to their older brother who visits the Kibut's often. And he says when he's there, he's he's talking to his brothers, telling them to stay strong, trying to re memories of good times that they all had together, but we were surrounded by the destruction.
They've obviously just left this Caboots as it was. It has not really been cleaned up, so it's very powerful to walk through and to walk through with their older brother and see their shoes on the floor and see bullet holes in the wall. And know that no. They believe those boys are still alive, but, no, they are still being held hostage in Gaza while the war rages on. Kira?
It's heartbreaking. Look forward to more of your coverage, Martha. Thank you. Great to have you from Tel Aviv. Let's continue the conversation now, Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East.
Let's talk, Mick, more about these attacks and how they unfolded Tuesday Wednesday. Hezbollah decides, let's ditch the cell phones. Let's go back to pagers. We're being tracked. We're being listened to.
Obviously, the patriots in the the walkie talkies weren't safe either. This was a pretty intricate plan, that what is believed to be carried out by Assad is real spy agency.
That's right, Kara. And it's likely that they look to those cell phones as really problematic because
they are very easy track. They they receive and admit signals, of course, and they
have a built in GPS tracking system. So it made sense for them to go to pages, which only received. They don't transmit. But they didn't expect that they probably had a leak in their plan, and Israel was able to actually create a front company. It looks like now to build these things, not just intercept, pages they actually, during the supply chain, and they inserted them.
I think it was probably intended to be used when they actually launched, an invasion into a Lebanon if that were to occur. That would certainly cause a lot of issues when it comes to coordination for Hesoval to try to combat that. But probably something something was compromised, and they felt like they had to go ahead and do this now by let these, pagers be dismantled and not be able to be use, but it certainly caused major disruption inside Hezbollah and a lot of, casualties.
And now you have Hezbollah's leader vowing to fight on. Acknowledging these attacks were a major blow to the terror group. How do you think, what we've been witnessing within these 2 days? How do you think it's going to impact Hesbal's capabilities now?
Well, it's certainly gonna reduce their confidence in their leadership who's obviously responsible with, equipping them. That this every technological advice that they use now is gonna be suspect. And, of course, there's these casualties are significant. So you take thousands of fighters off the front lines. It's it's a big issue.
So whether they can even launch a significant retaliation now is in question. But if the war in the north were to now, proceed, if that is what happens, and we should all hope it does not, they are gonna be a significantly change by this this activity, not just the casualties, but just your confidence and the ability to communicate and replace the systems they really don't have right now.
So what are you watching for in terms of just retaliation? And do you think that a wider war is inevitable at this point?
I don't believe it's inevitable because I don't think Tesla would like to see it happen. I think all throughout this, we were concerned that these 150,000, so missiles and rockets and drones that Hezbollah had could really overwhelm the Israeli Iron Dome defense system.
But the Israelis, if you remember, just a few weeks ago, really preempted and took a lot of strikes, which
his belief that they really reduce their capabilities to launch that type of attack. I don't think it certainly is eradicated, and I'm sure they can, but Hesbal is probably looking at multiple different ways to attack to include more on the clandestine side, which would be, you know, terrorist attacks and trying to attack Israel in
countries other than Israel. Alright. Mick Mulroy will,
clearly follow the story, see what
happens. Well, new concerns are looming out of our state as security is a concern about election day. Officials from top intelligence agencies now coming forward with pretty disturbing claims accusing Iran of stealing non public material from former president Trump's campaign and then sending it directly to individuals associated with president Biden's campaign. What does this all mean? Well, the joint intelligence statement is shutting down any speculation that the stolen information was solicited by any Biden campaign official.
Jack Dante's here to break it all down. So bottom line, do we need to be, concerned about anything here surrounding our elections?
I think we need to be mindful and concerned that foreign actors are continuing to try to to really influence our election. And as has been the case for the last several elections, there's hacking operations that are ongoing, Iranians, Russians, Chinese are all trying to get in, and influence the outcome of this election in various ways. In this particular instance, Iranian
actors appeared to have gotten into an email of of a, Trump campaign
official. You're able to extract some
information.
That information was later sent to individuals associated with the Biden campaign, the then Biden campaign. And and they targeted private email addresses, not the campaign's address. It's not, apparent at all that any of this stuff was sent directly in any way to the campaign, but to these individuals, and it's believed that, it it was sort of appeared as as spam. And it's, there's really, no real sense that any of the information was was used, but Also, the Biden folks say that none of this information, was, applied to. They didn't really respond to react to the email at all.
They were sort of told that they might be targeted, by the FBI, and they were able to find these things and, have been cooperating with authorities. So but, right now, it it seems to be sort of a persistent thing that we've been dealing with for the last several elections now.
So how does this hacking attempt compare to previous instances of just foreign interference in our elections I mean, you've talked about 2016.
Right. So, you know, so far, according to observers, including Microsoft that testified on the hill yesterday that, the Iranian election interference mirrors that which was observed in 2020 in timing, tempo, and and target. So, it's it's very similar to what they saw last time, in terms of their approach. We're seeing it again. It appears that the the Iranians have a preference.
They seem to be trying to denigrate Trump. The Russians appear to have a preference. They're trying to denner denigrate Harris, with both misinformation and disinformation campaigns and things of that nature. The Chinese intelligence officials also appear to be, digging in as well to influence really so discord in the United States. And so far, authorities say they're not showing, a preference at this point.
Alright. Jack Duarte. Appreciate it. Thank you.
That's how close we are to the November elections starting tomorrow
early voting in person begins in multiple states across the country as absentee ballots continue to get sent out as well. But here in Washington, the deadline for a government shutdown looms after the house fails to pass speaker Mike Johnson's funding bill, the government now only has 12 days to figure out a plan b.
We ran the play. It was the best play. It was the right 1. And so now we go back to the playbook. We'll drop another play, and we'll come up with a solution.
I'm already talking to colleagues about their many ideas. We have time to, to fix the situation, and we'll get right to it.
Turning me now, contributing political correspondent and co author of Pluto's playbook, Rachel Bates. So Rachel 14 Republicans voted against this bill. What does my Johnson need to get to for the spending bill to be passed?
Hey there, Kira. Speaker Johnson may not like the answer, to this question, but he's gotta basically plug his nose and work with Democrats. Like, this is divided government. So any appropriations bill is gonna have to be bipartisan. What you've been seeing, though, is speaker Johnson tried to find basically the the least painful path forward here.
I mean, a lot of Republicans, this is always a tough vote, to to vote for government spending without any certain cuts or or reforms. And so that's why he's been pushing this sort of longer 6 month CR plan and trying to attach this election provision that requires proof of citizenship, to basically require, for people to register to vote, pardon me, Kira. The issue he is having, though, is that a lot of his members are actually undercutting him in order to actually put forward the strongest negotiating hand. He's gotta actually pass something through the house, and yet 14 Republicans voted against this bill, which means Democrats right now have all the leverage. And that's his problem right now, Kira.
So what are you hearing from your sources on the hill there about why yesterday's vote failed?
Yeah. A lot of finger porting, Kira, as you can imagine. I mean, some appropriators are angry because they felt they weren't looped in early enough on speaker johnson's plan. Some conservatives are mad that leadership sort of twisted their arm to vote for this strategy to begin with, but I'm also hearing that there's some frustration in Johnson's own leadership circle. There are some senior Republicans who are questioning this play call, from the very beginning questioning why they're gonna put this on the floor, even they knew even though they knew it was going to fail.
And a lot of this sort of tension goes back to something that's gonna happen in just a few weeks, Kira, after the election, there's gonna be leadership elections up here on Capitol Hill. And a lot of folks are looking at those potential openings saying maybe they want to climb the ladder here. So speaker Johnson, he's gonna have to fight to keep his job, and a lot of folks are viewing what he's doing right now through that sort of prism. And whether he's gonna get challenged or other Republicans who are gonna challenge people in leadership?
Well, early voting in a person actually starts tomorrow in multiple states. Let's just talk about the significance of that and how it can play what, 40 plus days out?
Yeah. You think about where we were 40 plus years, 40 40 plus days ago. I mean, Kamala Harris had probably just taken over the top of the ticket. The race changed considerably since Joe Biden stepped down. And, yes, people are gonna be sending in their ballots, but a lot can happen between now and early November.
I can tell you up here on Capitol Hill, the fact that the election is so close is certainly weighing on people. I think that's actually why you saw a lot of Republicans sort of get squeamish over here in the house about this notion of backing a, a government funding bill that was never gonna pass in the senate. There was a fear that there could be a potential, shutdown showdown and that if that happened, Republicans would be to blame and that they could lose the house. I mean, I can tell you, Kira, that speaker Johnson has no interest in shutting the government down. He has made that clear.
I've heard that from people inside his own office. And yet, at the same time, everyone is very, concerned about how 1 little Wrong move up here could impact their election prospects.
Okay. I was trying to figure out. We were joking about 40 plus days
of voting, and you you slipped and said 40 years. I mean, 42 years.
So I
had to I had to go
back and look. It was Ronald Reagan that was president. It took me a minute, but we were we were going back 40 years.
I might not have been born yet.
Oh, my sister. I was. So now we've really been very transparent today. Rachel Baid, I love you. I appreciate it.
Thank you. Yeah.
Alright. Alright. Coming up, former president Donald Trump making a play for the Jewish vote, hoping to make inroads with that community as Democrats remain divided over the war in Gaza. Congressman David on Trump's visit to DC today and what he wants to hear from the presidential candidate.
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Well, former president Donald Trump is making a play for the Jewish
vote, hoping to make inroads with the community as Democrat remain divided over the war in Gaza. Polling shows that could be an uphill battle for him too. So Trump is here in DC today for 2 events, a forum on anti Semitism with a Republican mega donor, and he'll be making an address also to the Israeli American Council. Joining us now. 1 of the 2 Jewish Republicans in Congress, Tennessee representative, David Christophe.
Good to see you. Again, congressman, before we get to Trump, I do wanna ask you about the latest news at Lebanon with this dramatic story about pager and walkie talkie explosions that took out members of Hezbollah. It also injured a lot of civilians, as you know, and sources are telling us, that Israel is responsible for these attacks, though no 1 has claimed responsibility yet. Do you support this action And what do you think it means for the war going forward?
Well, I do support the action. I think Israel has to do what Israel needs to do to defend itself. And, obviously, we've seen the the explosions from the as a result of the the pagers exploding and the and the walkie talkies. And, it seems like out of a spy movie, but these are real devices. And the Israelis have other means of, of attack if they if they need to attack.
So in the end, there are a lot of there are a lot of bad and evil people that are out there trying to literally destroy Israel and Israel will do what it needs to do to protect its people.
Alright. Moving on to Trump now. He is here in our nation's capital, courting, Jewish voters. Do you think he has a chance of winning them over? What are you hoping to hear?
Yeah. I actually do. So, here, I I went to an anti Semitism form that president Trump did, which I assume is similar to what he's doing tonight several weeks ago in bed minister where he had, several 100 Jewish Americans there to talk about anti Semitism. And I thought it was a really good form. He talked about the issues that they cared about, if you will, state on script and was really good.
And we there was a lot of good give and take between president Trump, people in the in the audience, and a good forum discussion. So I assume that that's what he's gonna do tonight. It's a, obviously, it's it's a different audience. And as far as I know of the 2 presidential candidates, Donald Trump is the only 1 who is doing this outreach directly to the Jewish people, and I I commend him for it.
You know, Trump has said a number of things considered
anti Semitic in the past. He has also said that Kamala Harris doesn't like
Jewish people, despite her husband being Jewish, Do you think this kind of rhetoric, is hurting his outreach?
You know, President Trump, look, we've got a history of President Trump talking directly to the American people. He he might talk differently than than I would talk or you would talk necessarily. But I I do think about the accomplishments that he had
during his 4 years in office, moving the
our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem negotiating the Abraham accords And, again, this outreach, like what he's doing tonight, what he did, and the group that I was in a a few weeks ago, I don't see the vice president doing that type of of outreach, And I think she should. I think, you know, here I am just a few feet away from the floor of the house of representatives. I think she should have presided over that joint address to Congress, the prime minister Netanyahu address back in July. She could have. She presided over all the other joint addresses to to Congress, and she chose to to abdicate.
So I applaud president Trump for the very forward, way that he's trying to attract Jewish voters in this country. And if I were the vice president, I'd be doing exactly what Donald Trump is doing.
1 more question, if you don't mind. Congressman last night, the house failed to pass this funding bill due to about a dozen Republicans voting against it. Is the US headed for a shutdown? And are you worried about the message this sends about Republican and just the Republicans ability to lead?
Well, Kiera, I I don't I don't think the government should shut down under any circumstances. Republicans control the house, Democrats control the Senate. We need to pass 12 different spending bills. The house has passed 5 of the 12, the senators passed 0 of the 12, to your point, the deadline to to fund the government is next week, September or September 30th in just a a few days. I voted for the bill to fund the government through March, which the SAVE Act was attached to it, which prohibits non citizens from voting.
But in the end, we do not need a government shutdown. We need the government to continue to function. And so what
that looks like,
whether we continue government funding and do November or December or March. I don't know, but let's get something that we can vote on, and and let's get 218 votes for it so that it passes the House of Representatives.
We'll be tracking it. Congressman David Kristoff. Good to see you again. Thanks, Congressman.
Thank you very much for having me.
Coming up a 4th American detained in Venezuela in connection with that alleged plot to kill dictator Nicholas Maduro. What the US is saying about the arrest next.
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Reporting from Miami, Florida. I'm Victor O'Kendo. Wherever the story is, we'll take you there. You're streaming ABC news live. God you're streaming with us some other
headlines that we're tracking for you this hour. A 4th American citizen detained in Venezuela in alleged plot to assassinate president Nicholas Maduro. The US denies any involvement in the plot, which comes on the heels of the disputed presidential election. Maduro quickly claimed victory even as other countries recognized opposition leader
at Munoz Gonzalez as the winner. Gonzalez is now living in exile in Spain,
saying he was forced to sign a letter saying that he lost. We're learning that the submersible had imploded while heading to the Titanic wreckage last year malfunction the week before its doomed final voyage, a scientific director for Oceangate testified that on the previous trip, severe turbulence sent passengers tumbling around in the sub. 1 passenger was actually hanging upside down, and 2 others were left wedged in the front of the submersible. It's the latest troubling revelation from public hearings on that dive that left 5 people dead, including the company's owner and founder. The news never stops.
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Right now on ABC News Live, hezbollah of Pagers and
walkie talkies explode throughout Lebanon. Now the lead of the terrorist organization declares war. We're in Tel Aviv with more on how Israel is responding. The US accusing Iran of a secret plan to target our elections how both campaigns are fighting back and former president Trump set to speak at a forum on anti Semitism, I'll talk to 1 of only 2 Jewish Republicans in the house. Congressman David Kustoff joins me this hour.
The Middle East is on it today. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Kira Phillips. That's our top story. Israel says it's carrying out strikes on a Hezbollah targets in Lebanon as the leader of the terror group says the past 2 days of attacks amount to a declaration of war.
Sources say that Israel was behind a wave of explosions targeting Hezbollah members using their pagers and walkie talkies. Those attacks Tuesday and Wednesday, killing 37
people, including 2
children and injuring nearly 3000 other people. Israel has not yet claimed responsibility. I'm joined now by our chief global affairs correspondent, Martha Raditz. She's in Tel Aviv. Martha, the reaction there in Israel to Hezbollah and its leader calling those device explosions a declaration of war.
Well, I
have to say that Israel and and Israeli officials seem unfazed and believe that was just an expected response. And instead, Carriage, you were just saying there were pounding targets in Southern Lebanon, of course, for months now and and pretty much since October 7th, there's been tension between, Lebanon and Israel, and they've exchanged fire along that border, but it seemed particularly intense today, Kira.
Well, the fighting is actually going both ways. Hezbollah also launching multiple rockets into Northern Israel. What can you tell us, Martha?
Yeah. And and, again, an exchange of fire has been going on for months, but they did much more of that today. Hezbollah has been crippled in many ways by these attacks
on these pages, these operatives, having that many hezbollah operators, dismantled in
many ways and out of the fight and unable communicate really the only way Hezbollah has now to react to Israel or to attack Israel is with
missiles and rockets, and they have hundreds of thousands of missiles and
rockets that they can rain down on Israel. But right now, that organization has been badly hurt by what sources are telling us Israel is responsible for in those attacks on pages in walkie talkies.
So are the US and allies working to deescalate the situation now, or are they becoming just more resigned to the idea of a wider war?
I I think the US
has been doing everything they possibly can to try and deescalate that. Although, secretary of state, Tony, belief of
the left the region today. He actually never came to Israel, and he usually does on his many trips here. I mean, that may be an indication that he just doesn't think it will do much good at this point, but the US has been stressing again and again, trying to deescalate Remember, Israel has been at war here in
Gaza for almost a year because of those brutal attacks by Hamas
militants, Hamas terrorists on Israelis on 7. So the Gaza war is raging. The US is trying to get a ceasefire there. And in the meantime, things are heating up in Northern Israel. In fact, they have sent more troops up there up north the Israelis have.
So you, I understand, just returned, to the Kibbutz that was destroyed on October 7th. We'll never forget that horrific attack. It's been almost a year, since Hamas, carried out, just that viciousness. What did you find there with whom did you speak?
Well, Kira, it was actually a very emotional trip. I was at this particular Kibbutz Kibfar as a right after the attacks on October 7th a few days later when you could still see the
destruction, smell the destruction, smell the death. They had so many killed there, and
so many kidnapped and still held hostage. I talked to the family of twin boys, 27 year old twin boys, Golly and Ziv Berman, talk to their older brother who visits the Caboots often. And he says when he's there, he's he talking to his brothers, telling them to stay strong, trying to relive memories of good times that they all had together, but we were surrounded by the destruction. They've obviously just left this Caboots as it was. It has not really been cleaned up.
So very powerful to walk through and to walk through with their older brother and see their shoes on the floor and seek bullet holes in the wall and know that no. They believe those boys are still alive, but, no, they are still being held hostage in Gaza while the war rages on Kira?
It's heartbreaking. Look forward to more of your coverage, Martha. Thank you. Great to have you from Tel Aviv. Let's continue the conversation now, Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East.
Let's talk, Mick, more about, these attacks. And how they unfolded Tuesday Wednesday. Hezbollah decides, let's ditch the cell phones. Let's go back to pagers. We're
being tracked. We're being listened to. Obviously,
the pagers in the the walkie talkies weren't safe either. This was a pretty
intricate plan, that what is believed to be carried out by a facade
is real spy agency.
That's right, Karen. It's likely that they look at those cell phones as really problematic because they are very easy tracked. They they receive and admit signals, of course, and they have a built in GPS tracking system. So it made sense for them to go to pages, which only received. They don't transmit.
But they didn't expect that they probably had a leak in their plan, and Israel was able to actually create a front company with, looks like, now, to build these things, not just intercept, pages they actually, during the supply chain, and they inserted them. I think it was probably intended to be used when they actually launched an invasion into a Lebanon if that were to occur. That would certainly cause a lot of issues when it comes to coordination for Hezbollah to try to combat that. But probably something something was compromised, and they felt like they had to go ahead and do this now by let these, pagers be dismantled and not be able to be use, but it certainly caused major disruption inside Hezbollah and a lot of, casualties.
And now you have Hezbollah's leader vowing to fight on. Acknowledging these attacks were a major blow to the terror group. How do you think, what we've been witnessing within these 2 days? How do you think it's going to impact Hesbal's capabilities now?
Well, it's certainly gonna reduce their confidence in their leadership who is obviously responsible with, equipping them. That this every technological advice that they use now is gonna be suspect. And, of course, there's these casualties are significant. So you take thousands of fighters off the front lines. It's it's a big issue.
So whether they can even launch a significant retaliation now is in question. But if the war in the north were to now, proceed, if that is what happens, and we should all hope it does not, they are gonna be significantly change by this this activity, not just the casualties, but just your confidence in the ability to communicate and to replace the systems they really don't have right now.
So what are you watching for in terms of just valuation. And do you think that a wider war is inevitable at this point?
I don't believe it's inevitable because I don't think Hesva would like to see it happen. I think all throughout this, we were concerned that these 150,000, so missiles and rockets and drones that Hezbollah had could really overwhelm the Israeli Iron Dome defense system. But the Israelis, if you remember, just a few weeks ago, really preempted and took took a lot of strikes, which, is believed that they really reduce their capabilities to launch that type of attack. I don't think it certainly is eradicated in. I'm sure they can.
But Hezbollah is probably looking at multiple different ways to attack to include.
Alright. Mick Mulroy will, clearly follow the story, see what happens. Well, new concerns are looming out of our state as security is a concern about today. Officials from top intelligence agencies now coming forward with pretty disturbing claims accusing Iran of stealing non public material from former president Trump's campaign and then sending it directly to individuals associated with president Biden's campaign. What does this all mean?
Well, the joint intelligence statement is shutting down any speculation that the stolen information was solicited by any Biden campaign official, Jack Dot Day is here to break it all down. So bottom line, do we need to be, concerned about anything here surrounding our elections?
Well, I think we need to be mindful and concerned that foreign actors are continuing to try to to really influence our election, and as has been the case for the last several elections, there's hacking operations that are ongoing, Iranians, Russians, Chinese are all trying to get in, and influence the outcome of this election in various ways. In this particular instance,
Iranian actors appeared to have gotten into an email of of a, Trump campaign official.
They're able to extract some information. That information was later sent to individuals associated with the Biden campaign, the then Biden campaign, and and they targeted private email addresses, not the campaign's address. It's not apparent at all that any of this stuff was sent directly in any way to the campaign, but to these individuals, and it's believed that, it it was sort of appeared as as spam. And it's, it there's really, no real sense that any of the information was was used, but, also, the Biden folks say that none of this information, was, replied to. They didn't really respond to react to the email at all.
They were sort of told that they might be targeted, by the FBI, and they were able to find these things and, have been cooperating with authorities. So but, right now, it's it seems to be sort of a persistent thing that we've been dealing with for the last several elections now.
So how does this hacking attempt compare to previous instances of just foreign interference in our elections I mean, you've talked about 2016.
Right. So, you know, so far, according to observers, including Microsoft that testified on the hill yesterday that, the Iranian election interference mirrors that which was observed in 2020 in timing, tempo, and and targets. So it's it's very similar to what they saw last time, in terms of their approach. We're seeing it again. It appears that the the Iranians have a preference.
They seem to be trying to denigrate Trump. The Russians appear to have a preference. They're trying to denner denigrate Harris, with both misinformation and disinformation campaigns and things of that nature. The Chinese intelligence officials also appear to be, digging in as well to influence really so discord in the United States. And so far, authorities say they're not showing, a preference at this point.
Alright. Jack Duarte. Appreciate it. Thank you.
That's how close we are to the November election. Starting tomorrow, early voting in person begins in multiple states
across the country as the absentee ballots continue to get sent out as well. But here in Washington, the deadline for a government shutdown looms after the house fails to pass speaker Mike Johnson's funding bill, the government now only has 12 days to figure out a plan b.
We ran the play. It was the best play. It was the right 1. And so now we go back to the playbook. We'll drop another play, and we'll come up with a solution.
I'm already talking to colleagues about their many ideas. We have time to, to fix the situation, and we'll get right to it.
Attorney me now contributing political correspondent and co author of Pluto's playbook, Rachel Bates. So Rachel 14 Republicans voted against this bill. What does my Johnson need to get to for the spending bill to
be passed? Hey there, Kira. Speaker Johnson may not like the answer, to this question, but he's gotta basically plug his nose and work with Democrats. Look, this is divided government. So any appropriations bill is gonna have to be bipartisan.
What you've been seeing though is speaker Johnson tried to find basically the the least painful path forward here. I mean, a lot of Republicans, this is always a tough vote, to to vote for government spending without any certain cuts or or reforms. And so that's why he's been pushing this sort of longer 6 month CR plan and trying to attach this election provision that requires proof of citizenship, to basically require, for people to register to vote, pardon me, Kira. The issue he is having, though, is that a lot of his members are actually undercutting him. In order to actually put forward the strongest negotiating hand, he's gotta actually pass something through the house and yet 14 Republicans voted against this bill, which means Democrats right now have all the leverage.
And that's his problem right now, Kira.
So what are you hearing from your sources on the hill there about why yesterday's vote failed?
Yeah. A lot of finger porting, Kira, as you can imagine. I mean, some appropriators are angry because they felt they weren't looped in early enough on speaker johnson's plan, some conservatives are mad that leadership sort of twisted their arm to vote for this strategy to begin with, but I'm also hearing that there's some frustration in Johnson's own leadership circle. There are some senior Republicans who are questioning this play call, from the very beginning questioning why they're gonna put this on the floor, even they knew even though they knew it was going to fail. And a lot of this sort of tension goes back to something that's gonna happen in just a few weeks, Kira, after the election, there's gonna be leadership elections up here on Capitol Hill.
And a lot of folks are looking at those potential openings saying maybe they want to climb the ladder here. So speaker Johnson, he's gonna have to fight to keep his job, and a lot of folks are viewing what he's doing right now through that sort of prism. Whether he's gonna get challenged or other Republicans who are gonna challenge people in leadership?
Well, early voting in a person actually starts tomorrow in multiple states. Let's just talk about the significance of that and how it can play what, 40 plus days out?
Yeah. You think about where we were 40 plus years, 40 40 plus days ago. I mean,
Kamala Harris had probably just taken over the top of the ticket.
The race changed considerably since Joe Biden stepped down. And, yes, people gonna be sending in their ballots, but a lot can happen between now and early November. I can tell you up here on Capitol Hill, the fact that the election is so close is certainly weighing on people. I think that's actually why you saw a lot of Republicans sort of get squeamish over here in the house about this notion of backing a, a government funding bill that was never gonna pass in the senate. There was a fear that there could be a potential, shutdown showdown and that if that happened, the Republicans would be to blame and that they could lose the house.
I mean, I can tell you, Kira, that speaker Johnson has no interest in shutting the government down. He has made that clear. I've heard that from people inside his own office, and yet at the same time, everyone is very, concerned about how 1 little Wrong move up here could impact their election prospects.
Okay. I was trying to figure out. We were joking about
40 plus days of voting, and you you slipped and said 40 years. I mean, 40 days. So I had to I
had to go back and look. It was Ronald Reagan that was president. It took me a minute, but we were We were going for 40 years.
I might not have been born yet.
Oh, my
sister. I was. So now we've really been very transparent today. Rachel Bade. I love you.
I appreciate it. Thank you.
Yeah. Alright. Alright. Coming up, former president Donald Trump making a play for the Jewish vote, hoping to make inroads with that community as Democrats remain divided over the war in Gaza. Congressman David Kostov on Trump's visit to DC today and what he wants to hear from the presidential candidate.
Wait a second. Wait a minute. Looks like there's 3 people coming down the river.
These are the last lands.
What is this? It's 12 safes.
It's for these dynamite blasts down here.
We have to go.
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This area is all right now. Cartel Run bolt money that have to be saved. With so much at stake, so
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get married and you're collecting a Social Security benefit, your benefit will be cut.
I
don't take anything for granted.
Former president Donald Trump is making the Jewish vote hoping to make
inroads with the community as Democrats remain divided over the war in Gaza. Polling shows that could be an uphill battle for him too. So Trump is here in DC today for 2 events. A forum on anti Semitism with a Republican mega donor, and he'll be making an address also to the Israeli American Council. Joining us now.
1 of the 2 Jewish Republicans in Congress, Tennessee representative, David Kustoff. Good to see you. Again, congressman. Before we get to Trump, I do wanna ask you about the latest news out of Lebanon with this dramatic story about pager and walkie talkie explosions that took out members of Hezbollah. It also endured a lot of civilians, as you know, and sources are telling us, that Israel is responsible for these attacks, though no 1 has claimed responsibility yet.
Do you support this action? And what do you think it means for the war going forward?
Well, I do support the action. I think Israel has to do what Israel needs to do to defend itself. And, obviously, we've seen the the explosions from the, as a result of the the pagers exploding and the and the walkie talkies. And, it seems like out of a spy movie, but these are real devices, and the Israelis have other means of, of attack if they if they need to attack. So in the end, there are a lot of there are a lot of bad and evil people that are out there trying to literally destroy Israel and Israel will do what it needs to do to protect its people.
Alright. Moving on to Trump now. He is here in our nation's capital, courting, Jewish voters. Do you think he has a chance of winning them over? What are you hoping to hear?
Yeah. I actually do. So, Kiera, I I went to, an anti Semitism form that president Trump
did, which I assume is similar to what he's doing tonight several weeks ago in Fed Minister where he had,
several 100 Jewish Americans there to talk about anti Semitism. And I thought it was a really good form. He talked about the issues that they cared about, if you will, state on script and was really good. And we there was a lot of good give and take between president Trump, people in the in the audience, and a good forum discussion. So I assume that that's what he's gonna do tonight.
It's a, obviously, it's it's a different audience. And as far as I know of the 2 presidential candidates, Donald Trump is the only 1 who is doing this outreach directly to the Jewish people, and I I commend him for it.
You know, Trump has said a number of things considered anti Semitic in the past. He has also said that Kamala Harris doesn't like Jewish people, despite her husband being Jewish, Do you think this kind of rhetoric, is hurting his outreach?
You know,
President Trump, look, we've got a
history of President Trump talking directly
to the American people. He he might talk differently than then I would talk or you would talk necessarily. But I I do think about the accomplishments that he
had during his 4 years in office,
moving the our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem negotiating the Abraham accords. And, again, this outreach, like what he's doing tonight, what he did, and the group that I was in a a few weeks ago, I don't see vice president doing that type of of outreach, and I think she should. I think, you know, here I am just a few feet away from the floor of the house of representatives. I think she should have presided over that joint address to Congress that prime minister Netanyahu addressed back in July. She could have, she presided
over all the other joint addresses to to Congress, and she chose to to abdicate.
So I applaud president Trump for the very forward, way that he's trying to attract Jewish voters in this country. And if I were the vice president, I'd be doing exactly what Donald Trump is doing.
1 more question, if you don't mind. Congressman last night, the house failed to pass this funding bill due to about a dozen Republicans voting against it. Is the US headed for a shutdown and are you worried about the message this sends about Republican and just the Republicans ability to lead?
Well, Kiera, I I don't I don't think the government should shut down under any circumstances. Republicans control the house, Democrats control the Senate. We need to pass 12 different spending bills. The house is passed 5 of the 12. The Senate has passed 0 of the 12.
To your point, the deadline to to fund the government is next week, September or September 30th, in just a a few days. I voted for the bill to fund the government through March which, the save act was attached to it, which prohibits non citizens from voting. But in the end, we do not need a government shutdown. We need the government to continue to function. And so, what that looks like, whether we continue government funding into November or December or March.
I don't know, but let's get something that we can vote on and and let's get 218 votes for it. So that it passes the House of Representatives.
We'll be tracking it. Congressman David Kristoff. Good to see you again. Thanks, Congressman.
Thank you very much for having me.
Coming up a 4th American detained in Venice Awil in connection with that alleged plot to kill dictator Nicholas Maduro. What the US is saying about the arrest next. What does it
take? To be the most watched newscast in America. An operation
to capture ISIS fighters. This is our combat operation center?
We're approaching the gate now. Militants came in from 4 or 5 different directions. So you have a couple loaded and ready to go.
The house is destroyed, but the flag, there's not a tear in it.
Not a tear in it.
Is this label right here made to USA. Well, here's Vyle. You're proud of this.
I love this. Great work. Hi. Where are you? Where are you?
Appreciate you. Thank you, David.
Good to meet you.
Ismail? David.
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I know who you are. Wish you every night.
ABC's world news tonight with David Muir is America's most watched newscast. ABC news live, honored with 8 Emmy nominations, more than any other streaming news network and ABC news
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They watched you the fantasy. They watched you sexy. Jason Momoa exploded.
Carmen was a bombshell.
Pamela Anderson was an icon.
Greet and lust, fame.
Everyone likes to watch sexy things.
Wait a second. Wait a minute. Looks like there's 3 people coming down the river.
These are the last lands.
What is this? This is explosives. I just
heard these dynamite blasts down here.
We have to go
What's with the gas? The national parks around the world.
This area is all right now. Cartel Run bolt on. That have to be saved.
You're watching America's number 1 streaming news, live reporting, breaking new exclusives, keep streaming with ABC News live.
Glad you're streaming with us.
Some of the top headlines that we're tracking for you this hour. A 4th American citizen detained in
Venezuela in alleged plot to assassinate president Nicholas Maduro. The US denies any involvement in the plot, which comes
on the heels of country's disputed presidential election. Maduro quickly claimed victory even as other countries recognized opposition later at Munoz Gonzalez as the winner. Gonzalez is now living in exile in Spain, saying he was forced to sign a letter saying that he lost. We're learning that the submersible had imploded while heading to the Titanic wreckage last year malfunctioned the week before its doomed final voyage. A scientific director for Oceangate testified that on the previous trip, severe turbulence sent passengers tumbling around in the sub.
1 passenger was actually hanging upside down and 2 others were left wedged in the front of the submersible. It's the latest troubling revelation from public hearings on that dive that left 5 people dead, including the company's owner, and founder. The news never stops, neither do we. I'm Kira Phillips glad you're streaming with us. A lot more news up next.
Hi. My name is Patrice.
I am a totally cool person with
a disability who could do most anything. Patrice always
sees the best side of life
Patrice is a big magnet for people.
If it can be done,
she will do it. I really love Gary. He's everything.
It just looked at her advice as
would you like to be my wife?
If you get married and you're collecting a Social Security benefit, your benefit will be cut.
We have to have it.
We'd never be able to pay for the bills.
I don't take any thing for granted.
To us, to us.
You're a part time lover and full time friend. The
monkey on your back is the latest trend.
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people with disabilities have no value.
He needs to, like, tell your story, and people can listen and say, this is why benefits are extremely important.
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can see.
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Here's the
church and
They can stop us from getting married. They can stop us from living together, but they're never gonna stop us from living each other.
This war needs to change
and we're gonna do what we have to do to make this happen.
Patrice is good at making dreams come true.
Now. Yeah. Yeah. Reporting from Rockland County, New York. I'm Ginger Zee.
Wherever the story is
We'll take you there. You're streaming ABC news live. Everyone, I'm here, Phillips.
Some of the top headlines we're
watching at ABC News Live this hour. Israel saying it's carried out strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon as the leader of the terror group says the past 2 days of attacks amount to a declaration of war sources saying Israel was behind that wave of explosions targeting Hezbollah members using their Pagers and walkie talkies. The attacks, Tuesday, and Wednesday, killing 37 people, including 2 children and injuring nearly 3000 more. Israel has not claimed responsibility. The closing bell ringing on Wall Street's stocks surging today with all major is up over 1%.
The Dow and the S and P 500, actually both hitting new all time highs comes as unemployment claims fell to a 4 week low. Traders remain optimistic about the economy after yesterday's interest rate cut from the Fed. 4th American citizen detained in Venezuela in connection with an
alleged plot to assassinate president Nicholas Maduro. The US denying any involvement in the plot, which comes on the heels
of the country's disputed presidential election. Maduro quickly named victory even as other countries recognized opposition leader at Muuto Gonzalez as the winner. Gonzalez is now living in exile in Spain, saying he was forced to sign a letter saying that he lost. The FDA warning of possible Material
contamination now following a nationwide recall on a medication that's used to prevent pneumonia. The New Jersey based company, BioPharma, has voluntarily recalled a
batch of its Etobic clone, oral suspension after it was
found to be contaminated with conella bacteria. By on pharma says the affected batch of medication was both shipped nationwide
to customers and distributed to retailers between December 2023 to June of this year. So far, the pharmaceutical company says it has not received any reports of adverse events related to the recall. Thanks for streaming with us. I'm Kira Phillips, ABC News is here for you 247. You can always find us on your favorite streaming service, the ABC News app.
And, of course, on abcnews.com. The news never stops.
GMA 3 starts right now. What you need
to know right now on GMA 3
The new wave of deadly explosions
overseas, walkie talkie devices detonating at a funeral in Lebanon. Sources confirm Israel is behind this latest attack. Tensions rise
Plus our GMA 3 deep dive into the latest move by the Fed, the largest interest rate
cut in 16 years, gas prices falling too, how this affects your family's budget.
We're digging into the numbers.
This is the first time we have an exhibit.
Veeva Broadway, celebrating Hispanic heritage month in a very special way with the legends of the theater. Are you ready for
me GMA 3? And hang
with Kylie Kelsey, what life is like with Jason's move from the football field to the broadcast booth and how they're helping football families with autism who love the game as much as the Kelsey's.
Plus, have you heard of the mind to diet? What it is and what experts are saying about how it may benefit your brain? Doctor Darren Sutton has what you need
to know. Also, getting you in step with fall fashion, the season's favorite footwear trends, in styles editor in chief is here. So your tour is called It ain't like It's exciting. It ain't. Once you
start
laughing, you may never
stop the 1 and only Sebastian Meniscalculated on his it ain't right tour and series on Max.
And the women are on fire. The WNBA
expanding the league returning to Portland, Oregon coming off its highest viewed and attended season ever.
Now from Times Square, Eva Pilgrim and DeMarco,
with what you need
to know.
Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us for what you need
to know on this baby Friday.
Doctor David looks like he works with the farmers market.
What do you have for us, man?
My just my groceries from last year.
Were we on some headlines tonight?
That's I know that's why this is here. We're talking about the mind diet that
may be associated with better brain health.
Well, I have to preface this by saying that I do not like diet. It's not just because I fail every single 1 of them, but it's because I really look to what we can take out of the diet plan and incorporate into our regular life because consistency is key. So this new diet combines the Mediterranean diet and the dash diet. Diet stands for dietary approach to stop high blood pressure, things like healthy greens, vegetables, berries, beets, focusing on lean meats like salmon, chicken, and also other things like beans, and lentils, incorporating that into our daily meals has been associated with better brain health. And I can show you more results from this study.
It followed over 40,000 people for close to 10 years, and they found that those who closely followed this diet focusing on these key ingredients had a decreased risk overall of developing memory or thinking problems later in life or cognitive decline, majority of that benefit was with women where it was statistically significant, 8% reduced risk. They didn't see a significant reduced risk within men. Although there was still a reduced risk, it wasn't statistically significant. But most importantly, having this food in your diet on a daily basis or even a weekly basis was associated with slowing cognitive decline. So having more quality of life, better cognition as we get older, that is the key focusing on these simple ingredients is where we start.
I love that. I love how off the top, you said I failed every diet. I failed every diet. We all have to work. Right?
It lasts
for about
2 days for me.
And it's
a good doctor.
It's a good advice here. Thank you, Doug. We appreciate it. Checking out with ABC's Christian Cordero in Washington with a look at your latest headlines. Good afternoon to you.
Doctor Sutton is just like the rest of us, DeMarco. Good afternoon to you as well. Yeah. Let's go ahead and begin, though, with the new wave of exploding devices overseas. Walk Hitaki's belonging to Hezbollah members, detonating at a mass funeral, even solar energy systems exploding.
Officials tell ABC News Israel is behind this attack and a previous 1 that set off exploding pagers across Lebanon. Hezbollah vows Revesh Former president Trump appearing before supporters in Long Island, New York, saying he plans to go to Springfield, Ohio. Trump, again, falsely claiming Haitian immigrants there are eating pets and calling for the deportation of people who are there legally. The mayor and governor pushing back. And vice president Kamala Harris taking aim at what she calls the hateful rhetoric, a New York time Sienna poll shows Harris with a 4 point edge in the battleground of Pennsylvania.
Early voting begins tomorrow in some state. And music mogul Sean Didi Combs losing his bid to get out of jail in Brooklyn. A judge
ruling Combs is to be held without bail on sex trafficking and
racketeering conspiracy charges. The star has pleaded not guilty. Network and Jersey for a look at your weather.
What a
long week it's been for so many people in North Carolina still seeing the flooding from above there in Brunswick County. We've had full moon, still some coastal flooding, and the coastal flood alerts are now all the way up from Virginia through Long Island. And by tomorrow, this load's not moving much. It's gonna stick around close enough to bring Nantucket, Rhode Island, some of those heavy showers and gusts up to 40 miles per hour. So that's the northeast.
We're gonna finally clear it out eventually here. But in the southwest, there's some flood advisories in some of the burned scars in Southern California. Much cooler there. It's feeling like fall for sure. But the Big Ridge brings you the severe storms in the middle that includes the twin cities, Des Moines, Kansas City today, and then some record highs and feels likes up to 114 in parts of Texas.
And Portland, Oregon, bouncing back. The WNBA announcing a new Fran ties there. You hold by the new popularity, of course, with rookie stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. The 3rd expansion team over the next 2 years includes San Francisco and Toronto, and the first time the WNBA team is returning to a city it left. And finally, the emotional moment right here in Washington years in the making.
The women known as NASA's hidden figures awarded the congressional gold medal, the black women mathematicians, and 1st black female engineer celebrated posthumously. The late Mary Jackson Catherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughn receiving the nation's highest civilian honor. And, of course, we know that their key roles were highlighted in the award winning movie hidden figures a few years back, guys, all these years later, and their legacy continues.
A long time ago. I came in with Rob, and I was like, thank you. Good to see you, Frank.
There's much more ahead right here on GMA 3 on this Thursday. The historic dip in interest rates, our team examines how the move by the Fed may affect your family finances.
And later, the Kelsey family is synonymous with winning football. Kylie Kelsey joins us here on an issue close to her heart. All the Eagles are changing the game for people autism, and we come back to peace.
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benefit, your benefit
will be cut.
I don't take anything for granted. They never gonna stop us from running.
Wait a second. Wait a minute. Looks
like there's 3 people coming down
the river. These are the last lands. What is this? This is faucets. These are these dynamite blasts down here.
We have to go. What's with the gas?
The national parks around the world.
This area is all right down. Cartel Run bolt money that have to be saved.
Get ready, America.
Every Friday. The hottest trends, dial and must have. What's the right stuff to buy right now?
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Doctor is your job to keep everybody alive. Clear? Come on. I
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got beat beat energy. Welcome back to GMA 3
after its highly anticipated meeting this week. The Federal Reserve has announced it is cutting interest rates by half a percentage point. And this is the 1st interest rate cut since the start of the pandemic over 4 years ago and marks the step and reducing costs for borrowers. I'm here to discuss
what this means for your wallet as ABC News correspondent lives for the Schulze. I think we all know this is a big deal. Yes.
But why is it a big deal? We've been
waiting for for a long time. So that of 1 reason why we can say this finally happened,
but, you know, it's a big deal because this is really a turning point for the Fed. We've been talking about how the Fed kept borrowing costs at 23 year
highs for a long time. So if you were a bar you are seeing those costs go up and up for the past 2 years. Now the Fed is saying, we're gonna bring those costs down. And the reason I think important to remember why this happened Mhmm.
We were dealing with incredibly high inflation. Back in 2022, June of 2022, we saw inflation get all the
way up to 9% The fed said that's a big problem for the economy, so it made it more expensive for consumers and businesses to borrow money because it wanted to slow down how much they were spending to bring down inflation. And guess what? That worked. Now we see inflation at 2 point 5%. That's closer to where the Fed wants it to be.
The Fed in this announcement did go big. It decided to cut rates by half a point, and that really signals its confidence that it's pretty close to achieving victory in this inflation fight.
What does this mean for people who are looking to buy a home?
Right. So we've 1 of the places where we've seen the biggest impact already of the Fed's moves is in the housing market. So if you think about mortgage rates, they're not directly tied to the Fed, but they're really closely linked. And those rates have been coming down already. So typical rate on an, 30 year fixed mortgage now, 7 6.2%.
That is down from 7.9% around this time last year. I think it's helpful to put those percentages in dollar amounts for people who are in the housing market. Your $400,000 home close to the median price, you are gonna be
saving 100 of dollars on that monthly payment because of those lower mortgage rates. So 25.50 is your payment now. That's $427 cheaper than it
would have been when those rates peak. So that's why we care a lot a lot of money.
It's a lot of money. It's a lot of
money every single month, and that absolutely adds up. And that's why people who are in the market are watching those rates so close.
Okay. So then the other things that we have to finance in order to be able for them, like, cars. People have credit cards. Big borrowing costs.
And you think about your bills, unfortunately, when you think about those, fortunately, I should say first. It's certainly good news. Those rates are gonna go down, but the keyword here is gradually. So the fed is not just this 1 rate cut. It's indicating more rate cuts in the next couple of months too and over next year.
And that's where you really start to see
it add up on
things like your credit card statement. If you're carrying a balance every month and you're paying interest, you should start to see those rates go down. Really important to remember, though, you'd wanna try to pay that balance off as much as you can and always try to shop
around. Try to look for lower rates. Call up your lender and your credit card, see if you can get a lower rate. Sometimes they'll work with you to lower it a little bit.
And ahead of this decision,
the stock market was divided on what this cut should look like. So how is Wall Street responding?
We are seeing positive reaction from investors because they have been waiting for this move from the Fed. And now they
say, okay. We're in this new phase of lower interest rates, and it's not just good for consumers, not just
good for mortgages and credit cards. It's also good for companies. So if you think about
it, small businesses, big companies, they're taking out loans all the time. And now those loans are gonna be
a little bit more affordable. Those costs are gonna be less expensive for them. The goal there, really, is that if they can take loans at a cheaper rate, they can keep expanding, keep hiring. And that's what the Fed is focused on right now. It says, okay.
Inflation, this big thing we've been focused on for 2 years, looking pretty good. Now we're thinking about the jobs market, and it wants to preserve what's a pretty good jobs market right now is store quickly. So if companies can keep hiring, expanding, these lower rates should help do that. And we did get some good news this morning on jobs. Fewer people filing for unemployment benefits.
So it shows that, yes, maybe hiring not as fast as it had been coming out of the pandemic, but stabilizing a little
bit. That is good news. So I don't have
Debbie Downer, but Oh.
So they cut it. That's a big cut.
Yes. Should
they have done this sooner?
There's it's such a good question. And was a really big debate on Wall Street, you know, is the Fed behind here? I mean, we've been talking about this and the need for those borrowing costs to come down for a while. And the question was, are they too late? We think about how much people were anticipating this.
We I was in the preface conference with the Fed chair yesterday, and he really pushed back on this idea that they were too late. He said, That's kind of why we're going big, and we're ready to take this on now. But he was firm in saying,
we think that we needed those rates to be high for as long as they were because it was so important to bring inflation down. And the cost of high inflation,
when you're thinking about those day to day products you're buying We all seen it with groceries. We know it with rent. We know with home prices still high.
He said that's where, ultimately, we have to get that to a more sustainable pace. And the Fed chair told me the goal is to get back to a place
where we're not talking about in all the time. Where you're not thinking every single day when you look at your budget, how much is inflation gonna affect what I'm spending? He wants to get back to that world. Still gonna take a
little bit of time. Balance.
Mhmm. Elizabeth Schulze. Always so lovely to have
you on.
So great to be here in person with you guys too.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Coming up here on GM. Shining the Broadway Spotlight on Hispanic heritage.
Yeah. So much talent to celebrate at a new exhibit. We're gonna take you there when we come back.
What does it take to be the
most watched newscast in America? An operation to capture
ISIS reminders.
We're approaching the gate now. Militants came in from 4 or 5 different directions. Operational nuclear reactor. So you have a couple loaded and ready to go. The house is
destroyed, but the flag, there's not a tear in
out of town.
How important is this label right here made to USA? Well, here's Vyle. You're proud of
this. I love it. Great work. Hi. Where are you?
Where are you? Appreciate you.
Thank you, David. Good to meet you. It's my
David.
David? Yes. Yes. I'm David Muir. I know who you are.
Watch you every night. ABC's world news tonight with David Muir is America's most watched newscast.
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What
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Hi. My name is Patrice. I am a totally cool person with a disability.
Side of life. He just looked at her and I said, would you like to be my wife?
If you get married and you're collecting a Social Security benefit, your benefit will be cut.
I don't take any thing for granted.
I don't see anyone who can see anyone. They never gonna stop us for a long time.
Reporting from Monterey Park, California. I'm Robin Ross.
Wherever wherever the story is. We're gonna take
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Hispanic heritage month unveiling Viva Broadway's first exhibit celebrating
the contributions of Hispanic communities in theater.
Wanna treat for all of us. We chatted with the father of Broadway legend Lynn Manuel Miranda. Doctor Luis A Miranda Junior, plus Oscar winning actress, Rita Moreno, and more about this extraordinary showcase.
She has to choose to say your go. Aje Bois Imanana in the future with Latinos on Broadway.
Who would have thought we
would have had. I didn't get a height. The world spins around while
I'm closer to my seat and lies. Hamilton. The 10 dollar found it farther without a father. John Legrysamos, 6 or 7 per
deduction on Broadway. Every year, Vivo
Broadway had an event. This is the first time we have an exhibit. The Museum of Broadway
and the Broadway V selected iconic moments on Broadway for the
Latino community. You quickly realize
We're not new to Broadway. We have been around for a while.
I'm wonderful to be a part of this. You will see Rita Moreno. I feel an enormous amount of pride.
But, you know, it's taken so long. I remember when my name was called
at the Oscars. Rita Moreno. I am famous for the shortest speech almost
in history. I can't believe it. Good more.
I leave you with that.
I wish I had had the presence
presence of mind to say how proud it was as a Puerto Ricanya to be there
on that stage that night. An award that they'll see
It's a Tony, Cheetah
Life Achievement Award. Limanuel dress like Usnabi or in the Heights. Amanda Gonzalez's dress when she was on Hamilton
see my dress next to Chita Rivera's dress.
I feel like coming in
here, it's like being with my family and so many
people that made me dream bigger than I ever thought I could.
When a tourist, a New Yorker,
a Latino or a non Latino walk into this little jewel, I want
them to realize the importance of our community.
We're not only cleaning the
room in the hotel. We're also entertaining them as they're going to the theater in New York. We say it all the time, representation matters bravo.
Pretty cool there.
When we come back, Doctor Darren, with an update on prostate health.
And his takes on life are known to cause serious bouts of laughter, the wanted only. Sebastian Meniscalco joins us right here in studio. Don't go anywhere.
Hi. My name is Patrice.
I am a totally cool person with a disability. Patrice always sees
the best side
life. He just looked at her and I said, Would you like to be my wife?
If you get married and you're collecting a Social Security benefit, your benefit will be cut.
I don't take any for granted. I don't see
anyone. They never gonna stop us for a long time. Why do so many
people start their day here? From ABC News,
This is start here.
To be in the mail and get a different take on the day's top stories.
A lot of news today, so let's get into it.
Listen now to the daily news podcast honored with 4 Edward R. Murrow awards and see why the New times calls it a news podcast worth listening to. Start here, ABC News, make it your daily first listen.
Now that's a part of the story I bet you didn't see coming.
Wherever you get your podcasts, start here, Wait
a second. Wait a minute. Looks like there's 3 people coming down the river.
These are the last lands.
What is this? This is explosives.
It's where these dynamite blasts down here. We
have to go.
The gas.
The national parks around the world.
This area is all right now. Cartel run gold money that have to be saved.
Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped.
Your mom and dad are gonna be right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard
in people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her own children?
After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America
go
free. Killer mom now streaming on Hulu. Get another reason to get the drama out of your life, Doctor Terry. Absolutely.
Positive relationships. Mhmm.
Positive finances. It's good for more than just our brains.
It helps our heart. Yeah. This study found that there was a pie. If you had a positive relationship with family, friends, health, and finances, was actually associated with better outcomes of your heart health. They followed over 120,000 people over the
age of 40 under the age of 70 for close to 5 years, and they found that, excuse me, 11 years, and they found that those who
had more positive beneficial relationships had better outcomes, lower rates of stroke, lower rate of chronic ischemic heart disease, which is heart disease that increases your risk of heart attacks and heart failures. Just another example of how focusing on those relationships, making sure that you have the beneficial ones not only helps your mind, but
it also helps your heart.
Is the common denominator stress?
It seems to be. It explains to me how working with people like Eva, I feel so good, and working
with people.
I have to give
you a run, but you might
as well.
You like
how my head at meeting to cut
the drama out.
Yes. Exactly. Exact. I was gonna I was yes. Exactly.
I was gonna take that lay up and and and hit hit it home. But, no, working on your relationships, can benefit you in more ways than 1. They say that those who have beneficial relationships are less likely to use alcohol to smoke, more likely to exercise, which likely is a contributing factor, but it doesn't explain everything. They know that there is also an association with good relationships and lowered rate of inflammation. So having having good friends really can help you a long way.
Yeah.
It goes a long way. Thank you, Eva. Thank you, Doctor Jay. Yeah.
You're welcome to Marco.
Why do so many people start their day here? From ABC News, this
is start here.
To be in the know and get a different take on the day's top stories.
A lot of news today, so let's get into it.
Listen now to the daily news podcast honored with 4 Edward R Murrow Awards and see why the New York times calls it a news podcast worth listening to. Start here, ABC News, make it your daily first listen.
Now that's a part of the story I bet you didn't see coming.
Wherever you get your podcasts, start here, Wait
a second. Wait a minute. Looks like there's 3 people coming down the river.
These are the last lands.
What is this? This is explosives. I just
heard these dynamite blasts down here.
We have to go
What's with the gas? The national parks around the world.
This area is all right now. Cartel Run bolt on it. That have to be saved.
What does
it take to be the most watched newscast in America?
An operation to capture
ISIS Spliders. Is this our combat operation center?
We're approaching the gate now. Militants came in from 4 or 5 different directions.
So you have a couple loaded and ready to go. The house is destroyed, but the flag, there's not
a tear in it, not a
very good.
How important is this label right here made to USA? Well, here's Vyle. You're proud of this.
I love that.
Great work.
Hi. Ask you there. Where are you? Where are you? Appreciate it.
Thank you, David.
Good to meet you.
It's my own? David.
Yes. Yes.
I'm David Muir.
I know who you are. Wish you every night.
ABC's world news tonight with David Muir is America's most watched newscast.
Hi. My name is Patrice. I am a totally
cool person with a disability. Teresa always sees the best side
of life. He just looked at her, and I said,
Would you like to be my wife?
If you get married and you're collecting a Social Security benefit, your
benefit will be cut. I don't
take anything for granted.
They're never
gonna stop us from running. This ship is heaven. We're tending to our passenger's dreams, but make no
mistake about it.
To keep everyone alive.
It's a huge responsibility. I'm in. Everyone, I'm Kira Phillips. Some of the top
lines were watching at ABC News Live. This hour, Israel saying it carried out new strikes on Hezbollah
targets in Lebanon today as the leader of the terror group says the past 2 days of attacks amount to a declaration of war. Sources say Israel was behind a
wave of explosions targeting Hezbollah members using their pagers in walkie talkies. Those attacks, Tuesday and Wednesday, killing 37 people, including 2 children and injuring nearly 3000 more. Israel has not claimed response And amid the growing tensions in the Middle East Delta has paused all flights from New York to Tel Aviv, Israel, to Israel, at least the until the end of the year, the American based company now joins other airlines in canceling their flights into Israel out of safety concerns Delta assures customers that they will receive travel waivers and refunds and promises to monitor the situation in the Middle East and assess how its operations can move forward once it's safe to do so. The FDA is warning of possible bacterial contamination following
a nationwide recall on a medication that's used to prevent pneumonia. The New Jersey based company,
Vian Pharma has voluntary recall a batch of its October cone oral suspension after it was found to be contaminated withmonella bacteria. Ion Pharma says that the affected batch of medication was also shipped nationwide to customers and distributed to retailers between December 2023 to June
of this year. So far, the pharmaceutical company says it's not received any reports of adverse events related to the recall. Thanks for streaming with us.
I'm Kira Phillips, ABC News is here for you 247. You can always find us on your favorite streaming service, the ABC News app, and, of course, on abcnews.com, the news never stops, more GMA 3 right now.
Alright. So back now with doctor Darien, taking a look at some of the medical questions that you are asking at home. And David, he wants to know what is the prostate health index test and how is it different than other screening exam?
Yes. Many people might not know about this. This is 1 of those tests that isn't often done. This isn't used as a screening method. The prostate health index is used calculations from various blood tests to create the idea of what your risk is of prostate cancer before biopsy.
So it's 1 of those important measures if you have an elevated PSA. Now that is that blood test that you use to screen for prostate cancer, then your doctor might talk to you about this test to help better understand your risks. Does that make sense?
Yeah. Absolutely. So that many people don't
know about this, but I think it's so important because state cancer is a leading cause of death and disease among men. And it's 1 of those things where if you catch it early, the rate of cure is so high, more than 90% that it just shows you that screening and conversations really do save lives.
Is the blood test sufficient enough, or do you sometimes still have to do the physical Sometimes you still have to do
the physical part, depending on the blood test, depending on your history, you might have to get an ultrasound or a biopsy. All of that is dependent on the individual and their own risk.
Good information. Your prescription for wellness.
It's about rashes. You know, my prescription for wellness, I'll I'll tell you often comes from the text that
I get.
I'm not gonna man who sent me the text, but I wanna tell you about rashes. Wasn't anyone here? I wanna tell you about rashes and what you need them to understand and and when you need to see a doctor. So these are some of the signs. Number 1, If it covers most of your body, especially sensitive areas like your eyes, your lips, your mouth, or if you notice blister formation
or sores, these are signs that should cause you concern and lead you to get evaluated. If your rash is associated with things like
a fever or illness, that can be another sign that you need immediate medical attention. And finally, if you notice that the rash is spreading quickly, which is really important specifically like if it's different 1 day and completely different than next or if you have trouble breathing or swallowing, these are shown signs, we should seek out medical, emergency medical assistance.
That's important info. I love how Eva was like, let's clear that up.
Yeah. Yeah.
It's true. Right? Yeah.
What can
I always sexy in?
And I'm always about privacy. I wouldn't tell. I wouldn't tell.
Thank you very much, folks. We would love to hear from you. So please us up on Instagram with all of your medical questions at ABC GMA 3.
It makes
me feel better that
everyone's texting questions. Just a head here on GMA 3, creating space for people with special needs. Kylie Kelsey on what the Eagles are
doing to
Love and tis the season in style
is here to walk us through the top footwear fashion for everybody. It feels good.
We'll see you. But really doing it. No. Right?
Hi. My name is Patrice. I am
a totally cool person with a disability
who could do most anything. Patrice always sees the
best side of life
If it can be done, she will do it.
I really love Gary. It just looked at
her and I said, would you like to be my wife? If you get
married and you're collecting a Social Security benefit, your benefit will be cut.
We have to have it.
We'd never be able to pay the bills.
I don't take anything for granted. You're a part time, love friend, full time friend. To us. On your back is the latest
trend?
I don't see what anyone can see
than anyone else. They can stop us from getting married. They're never gonna stop us from loving
each other.
Why do so many people start their day here? From ABC News, this is
start here. To be in the mail and get a different take on the day's top stories. A lot of news
today. So let's get into it. Listen now to the daily
news podcast honored with 4 Edward R. Murrow awards and see why the New York Times calls it a news podcast worth listening to. Start here. ABC News, make it your daily first listen.
Now that's a part of the story I bet you didn't see coming.
Wherever you get your podcasts, start here.
Wait a second. Wait a minute. Looks like there's 3 people coming down the river. These are the last lands. What is this?
This is faucets.
I just heard these dynamite blast
down here.
We have to go.
What's with the gas? The national parks around the world.
This area is all right now. Cartel run boat money that have to be saved.
Get ready, America every Friday.
The hottest trends, styles, and must have. What's the right
stuff to buy right now? I really love that. It's time to buy the right stuff. Yes. And same big time too.
The right stuff.
Fridays on GMA.
Gonna love it.
Wherever news breaks, it's so important to always remember that lives are changed, getting you behind the
stories as they happen. ABC news live prime. We'll take you there. Streaming free on ABC news live.
This ship is heaven.
Doctor is
your job to keep everybody alive. Clear. Come on.
I can say you
got beat beat Energy.
My name's Morgan Gillory. I'm your basic single mother of 3 with an IQ of 160. So now when the cops are in a jam, they have to ask me for help.
It's not our cleaning lady. They don't love it.
With so much at
stake, so much on the line, more Americans turn here than any
other newscast, ABC News, World News tonight with David Mueller. America's number 1 most watched newscast across all of television.
Alright. Welcome back
to DMA 3.
The Kelsey family name is famous for their Super Bowl wins, but it's their work off the field that's changing the game.
We really are so lovely. And I sat down with Kylie Kelsey, lifelong Diehard Eagle Sand, and life of former Eagle Center Jason Kelsey to talk about how the Eagles are making sure
everyone can enjoy the game.
For Kylie, Kelsey, life is busier than ever. You guys went everywhere
this summer? We did. We went to Tahoe for golf. Went to the Olympics, which was 1 of the most incredible experiences. We were able to meet some incredible athletes.
The mother of 3 and wife to former Philadelphia Eagle Center Jason Kelsey says retirement hasn't slowed down her husband.
He's busier, retired than he was playing football.
Jason has a new gig as part of ESPN's Monday night countdown team, but his debut had a bit of a wardrobe mishap.
Jason Kelsey is wearing a shirt
he got at the mall
because he left his travel wagon.
He texted me when he made his connection and said, I forgot my garment bag in my truck. This was on his way to San Fran. And I said, great. What do you want me to do about So
this week, he went big
on the suit breaking out his South Philly Tuxedo and signature dance moves. But I mean, respect. The Kelsey's parents to 3 young girls, Wyatt, Elliot, and Bennett.
We are already in the camp of, like, trying to make sure that they speak kindly to each other because obviously that starts at home.
Kylie knows her name garners a lot of attention these days, so she's trying to use a platform for good, helping raise awareness about the Eagles autism foundation. The Eagles were the first NFL team to open a sensory room in its stadium, created to enhance the game experience for fans on the autism spectrum.
We're in a sensory room.
Yes.
Describe this room for people who who've never seen 1 of these.
So the sensory room is put together to help people deescalate or decompress it's really for anyone, but seems to be very helpful for individuals who are neurodiverse when you are in a stadium and the noise is so loud to be able to come into this space it's quiet, it's calm.
Why is it important for someone who's autistic to be able to have a space like this?
Oftentimes families with kids on the spectrum will remove themselves from situations where they assume that they're they'll fail. I have a personal connection to autism. My neighbor slash brother, Tim, is on the spectrum. He has made it so obvious to me how important it is to impact the autism community.
Now the Eagles Altus And Foundation is expanding, rolling out a new addition during their opening home game.
Our mobile sensory unit in the Pepsi plaza here on game day and every event at Lincoln feel just another touch point to create inclusion opportunities for this community.
16 year old Max showed us around inside this mobile unit.
They can have an appointment with this or this or especially this.
Do you like that? Yeah. All
a cause close to the heart of Eagle's chairman and CEO, Jeffrey Lori, donating a $400,000 grant to fund research in Brazil where the birds recently played. For Kylie, she says giving back and being kind is important to her. A lesson she hopes to pass down to her daughters.
You guys are, like, very involved in community stuff. Is that also something
that you're trying to instill in your children as
well? I mean, I think that ultimately, our girls, probably much like the rest of the world,
are probably sick of seeing mom and dad, but I think they see so many examples of of what
Jason's doing they will come to things for the Eagles autism foundation with me. They're surrounded by people who I think are are sending really good examples.
Love this, Lauren. Love her. They're using her platform to open doors for so long.
And she's just incredible. She also coaches field hockey at 1 of the local high schools and the time she pours into those girls, really incredible as well. Bravo. Coming up, we are stepping up to fall.
Oh, yes. We are. We're gonna walk you through the top footwear fashion trends. With our friends at In style when we come back,
see what else. What does it
take? To be the most watched newscast in America.
An operation
to capture ISIS finder. This is a Circomber operation zone?
We're approaching the gate now. Militants came in from 4 or 5 different directions. So you have a couple loaded and ready to go.
The house is destroyed, but the flag, there's not a tear in it. Not a tear in it. How important is the
label right here made to USA. Well, here's Vyle. You're proud of this.
I love it.
Great work.
Hi. Tell me that. Where are you? Where are you? Appreciate you.
Thank you, David.
Good to meet you.
It's my own? David.
Yes. Yes.
I'm David Muir.
I know who you are. Wish you every night.
ABC's world news tonight with David Muir is America's most watched
newscast. Megeline, the stories that shape your world, that shape your
life, dramatic, stunning, empowering, jaw dropping. The most powerful stories of our time, nightline, on Reddit
for Kimball, and streaming on Hulu,
My name's Morgan Gillory. I am a cleaning lady, a
single mom with 3 kids, and an IQ north of 160. So helping the cops solve
a murder. It's literally easy part of my day.
What is she supposed to do?
Bought the things my detectives miss.
Tada. This
is my first interrogation.
When did we get to hit him with the phone book?
What were you going then slip cable over?
No.
Wait a second. Wait a minute. Looks like there's 3 people coming down the river.
These are the last lands.
What is this? This is 46. I just
heard these dynamite blasts down here.
We have to go
What's with the gas? The national parks around the world.
This area is all right now. Cartel Run Bolt money that have to be saved.
Get ready, America every Friday.
The hottest trends, dials, and must have. What's the right stuff to buy right now?
I really love that. It's time to buy the right stuff. Yes.
And same big time too. The right stuff. Fridays on GMA. You're gonna love it.
Reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico in the path of tropical storm Ernesto. Amica Jocchi, and
wherever the story is, we'll take you there. You're now streaming ABC news live. Welcome back to TMA3.
This has
guys dropping. Which means it's time between
the sandals for fall photos. It's
so strange.
Yeah. Well, you know, here to walk
us through the seasons, footwear trends
is editor in chief of in style Sally Homes.
I do like shoes. Oh, of course.
You do. I know you love shoes. And by the way, folks, you can shop for all these items. So right now, just go to good morning at america.com, where scan the QR code on your screen. Shelley, let's get to it.
Thanks for having me. I know you're sad, but we have amazing options that will help, you know, ease
your pain. Right?
Completely excited about fall.
So first up, I have these amazing target, Mary James. I love this red. It was all over the runways this season,
so it's fresh for fall. And then these mesh flats, mesh is not going anywhere. They're a little peekaboo. So, again, transition.
Even in full time?
A little because you pair it with a jean, a cozy sweater. It's perfect
for us. What I know.
Sexy. Seaky sexy as well.
So what I know, and that ain't it. Okay.
And then we have again these Mary Jane's from Vavea. They're, available on Amazon. New beautiful. I love these because they are machine washable.
Are we gonna have them
right in the washing machine, just like dream for any parent, anyone who wants to have a commuter shoes, but still look amazing. I love these with, again, jeans, or I'm wearing today an a line skirt. You can pop them on there. Perfect outfit. Just amazing.
Moving on. This
you that fall vibe.
Yeah. This is just leaning full pumpkin spice latte fall with our fuzzy footwear trend. These are from Ann Taylor. I love them because they have that office appropriate vibe. They're loppers.
They have the which is so cute, but you are, like, very proudly saying, I am fluffy fall
ready. These are not boring Loafers.
They're not boring Loafers. They're a little pizzazz. And then I think these might be
more of Yeah.
Your style here. We have corduroy, which again
Look at the inside. Looks very comfortable.
Pillow for your feet.
You cannot be sad about falling down. Pillows on your feet. These are j crew factory. Again, the corduroy is just really on trend. It's low.
Perfect weekend footwear.
Awesome. Yeah.
And they do look very cozy. Super cozy. Moto.
Moto. So 90s is so hot right now. Mhmm. We're per like, you know, everyone
on the street, you're gonna be seeing a little slip dress, a little moto boot. It's very Kate Mocks.
Yes.
It does seem
to be about that. We're celebrating our 30th anniversary here at Instyle. So we're we're very pro 90s right now, and these are nineties to tea.
I know when you see all the kids wearing the nineties, you're like, oh, I wore that 1.
Yeah. You take them right back out of your closet. So wish
I would have kept it.
These are DSW, and they're just a plus in my opinion.
Now we're gonna go a little higher with our boot.
Higher. Okay.
Hi. Yeah.
We have some over the knee boots. These are
available at Amazon. Taylor Swift's, little mini skirt, shorts, even,
a big sweater. There's timeless. And again, so comfortable and practical.
They look like they're hot, though.
I mean, are they comfortable? They're cozy
in the car. Okay. Okay.
Well, it's gonna be cold outside.
Oh, so you can pair it with a a little mini skirt, and you still have leg coverage. So, again,
you only keep
some of that.
Exposing a little Oh, you can wear tights
or you can wear tights.
Okay. We love a layer.
Yes. Okay. We're learning. We're learning.
And then finally we have an ankle boot down here.
These are my favorite. They're from Old Navy with a square toe. Again, this kind of burgundy color is so in right now. Beautiful. The square toe updates it
for fall. Again, they're a little bit different than the round toes
we've been seeing. Super practical runch office. These are gonna you're gonna get a lot
of wear. And
I wanted to ask a question. It seems like the square toe is coming back enough for men. It was always the pointing of the round Mhmm. Shoe, and the square toes were back in the nineties.
Totally. So it's, again, the revival of the trend, and it has that update a little bit different vibe. So they'll also it's it's nothing crazy. You'll wear them forever. Okay.
And they're comfortable. Super, super comfortable. It has a low heel walk for days.
Yeah. Alright. Sadly, thank you very much. We appreciate it, and folks, to shop all of these putwear items and trends. You can scan the QR code on your screen right now or just hit our website, good woodedamerica.com.
Good to have you here.
All of them, excuse
to good shopping.
Next year, get
ready to laugh.
And I mean laugh, the 1 and only Sebastian Menace co
bringing the hilarity and breaking records at the garden. We're back in a monastery. Hi. My name is Patrice. I am a totally
cool person
with a disability. Teresa
always sees the
best side of life. He just looked at her and I said, would you like to be my wife?
If you get married and you're collecting a Social Security benefit, your benefit will be cut.
I don't take anything for granted.
I don't see anyone can see anyone. They never gonna stop us for long. What does it take?
To be the most watched newscast in America. An operation to capture
Isis's fighters. This is our combat operation center?
We're approaching the gate now. Militants came in from 4 or 5
different directions. Operational nuclear reactor. So you have a couple loaded and ready to go. The house is destroyed, but the
flag, there's not a tear in it. Not a pain. How
portion of this label right here made to USA. Look at your smile. You're proud of this.
I love it. Great work. Hi. Where are you? Where are you?
Appreciate you. Thank you, David.
Good to meet you.
It's Mayo? David.
There's Yes. Yes. I'm David Muir. I know you are.
Watch you every night. ABC's world
news tonight with David Muir is America's most watched newscast. Whenever news breaks.
We are here in Israel a nation at war.
Enrolling for it. This tornado tore through this town
from Lewis and Maine.
The scene of a horrific mass shooting.
From the scene of
that deadly mission strike. ABC news live every
wear in Iceland, Lescow.
On the 2024 Campaign Trail.
Here at 10 Downing Street. Wherever the story is.
We're gonna take you there.
You're streaming. ABC News Live. ABC News Live.
You're streaming. ABC News Live.
ABC News Live. Streaming free everywhere.
Get ready America every Friday.
The hottest trends, styles, and must have. What's the right stuff to buy right now?
I really love that. It's time to buy the right stuff.
Yes. And same big time too. The right stuff. Fridays on
GMA. Gonna love it.
Why do so many people start their day here? From ABC
News, this is start here.
To be in the know and get a different take on the day's top stories. Start here.
Now that's a part of the story. I bet you didn't see coming.
Make it your daily first, listen wherever you get your podcast.
Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped.
Your mom and daddy are gonna be out here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard
people don't know about it.
What kind of mother would kill her
own children? After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance at parole. Could the woman once dubbed the most hated
mom in America go free? Killer mom. Now
streaming on Hulu.
ABC's David Muir, the most watched newscast
in America. So your tour is called Getting Rights.
It's exciting. It ain't. Run. I've seen
men talk nice to their wife.
I've seen that. We've all seen that guy. Hey, babe. Just stay out here. Okay?
Me, I'm like, what are
you going? Stay on
I like how the guys are laughing.
Yeah. So, of course,
it's shown. So Well,
because that guy
also sent us an
eating right comedy tour by our very funny next guest.
It ain't right, Eva. Well, he's joining us out to tell us all about his epic tour and new season of the hitch show bookie. Please welcome the man himself Sebastian, Menace Castle. Thank you.
Good to
see you, man.
Good to be here. Good to be here.
You're doing this show 5 nights back to back in Madison Square Garden.
Yeah.
Also earning you the title for the venue's most consecutive performances and most shows ever performed by a comedian. But I hear you didn't even have a dream board, a vision board growing up, even a plan as to what you wanted to do. And now you're a household name. How did you do it?
Yeah. I didn't have any of those, like, oh, I wanna do this. I wanna do that. They just kinda happened, 5 Madison Square, garden shows. We started last night.
First 1, I had Jerry Seinfeld come out as a special guest. So he, he was, he never did the garden before, so it was nice to have him there. And he got a lot from all the fans. And, yeah, for me, it's just been a slow burn. I've been doing this for 25 years.
It didn't happen overnight for me. I worked at the 4 Seasons Hotel as a waiter for 7 years, and, getting my feet wet stand up comedy. And, here I am.
Like, it'd be not made.
Big time.
Can we talk about the name of this tour? It ain't right?
Yeah. It ain't right.
What ain't right?
A lot. For me, you know, I just gotta go around my daily life walking in for tip tipping culture for me as in, right, growing up, you tipped the waiter and the cab driver. Now it's the dry cleaners
working for everybody.
Everybody's looking for a tip. I mean, it's like you put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a cone, and they're like, you wanna add to the tail. Wow.
Give you that look too at the cash register. It's like, oh, okay.
You know, they spin
it around until you're gonna it's gonna ask you a couple questions.
Just tell me 1 more money.
So, yeah, it's just, you know, you had a segment on Good Morning America talking about everything's locked up now. You're going to these drug stores. You wanna get some shampoo and you gotta get 8 people to unlock the the thid just haven't, you
know, I'm I'm in a hurry.
You know? So there are times where people to, open up the locked cage for
a piece of gum. You've also got the 2nd season of booking coming out.
Do
you get stopped in the street for this a lot? I imagine you must.
So the bookies are coming out of the woodwork now. I'm I'm, you know, on an airplane. I was an airline the other day getting a Haley Bieber smoothly. By the way, I never thought I would order a Haley Bieber smoothie, but
skin looks great.
I gotta tell her. Fantastic. Best $19 I've ever spent.
Oh,
you know it, everyone. That's the best place, but it's expensive. It's very expensive.
It's very expensive. So, yeah, I, you know, bookies coming up to me going, I got a great story line for you. You should hire me on as a consultant. I'm like, guy, I'm just trying to get, a breakfast burrito
on here.
Sky's telling me his life story of how he him a bookie. So, yeah, it's it's it's cool to hear all these stories from bookies that, that love the show. And, I love doing the show. It's it's a it's a it's a great cast, and we got some great guest stars coming up on season 2.
So when you don't plan for life like this and you end up becoming something so big. What's next for you? How do you decide? I don't
know. Whatever the ether has in store for me. Again, I don't, plan anything. If it happens, it happens. Yeah.
I got projects that I work on and what have you, but You know what? The stand up comedy for me is it I mean, it's the best, regardless of TV and film, which are which are great, but to get that immediate reaction coming out, and have 20,000 people screaming. There's nothing like it. Nothing like it. So I'm having a ball, and, I hope you guys are too.
Of
course. You've given us some good laughs. Thank you so much for being here. And, the new dates for
It ain't right have just been added for 2025. Be sure to look out for the 2nd season of Booky premiering this December on Max.
Sebastian. Thank you.
Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
And that's what you need to know for today. I'm even Pilgrim.
And I'm Doctor Darian.
For all of us here at
AV Cities, including Sebastian. Right? You have a good 1, and we will see you tomorrow. Bravo.
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start here, Tonight, unprecedented attacks across Lebanon, thousands of devices
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Now on ABC News Live, Hezbollah's leader is issuing a dire new warning to Israel after those deadly device explosions. What the head of the terror group is saying about its response to the bombings, plus the new exchange of attacks between Hezbollah and the Israeli military. Also, growing concerns over foreign election interference with the FBI says Iranian hackers did with stolen
information from the Trump campaign. Also, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris back on the trail, how the vice president is
looking to get a boost from Oprah
in a critical battleground state. But, of course, we begin here this evening with the leader of Hezbollah vowing
revenge against Israel for the sweeping deadly device explosions targeting members of the terror group. Hezbollah and the Israeli military exchanging
new attacks across the northern border with Lebanon today, The IDF reporting 2 Israeli soldiers were killed and that its forces struck
at least 30 Hezbollah targets. The terror group reporting it carried out at least 19 attacks.
Hezbollah's leader in the speech saying it will keep up daily strikes against Israel claiming the country crossed a red line after those bombings this week, detonating 100 of walkie
talkies and pagers along with other devices. We were subjected to
a huge and severe blow.
But this
is the nature of war and the
nature of conflict.
And we know that our enemy has superiority, and we've never once said anything other than say the forward. Superiority on
the technological level because
it is not just the Israelis. The Americans are with. And the West is with them. And NATO is with them. Well, Israel has not
taken responsibility
for the attacks, but it hasn't denied them either. And today, the Israeli defense minister announced what he called a new phase of fighting. Promising more military action against Hezbollah. What you just heard there was the sound of Israeli Jets and it's today creating sonic booms over Lebanon's capital in Beirut. And then there's video of them dropping flares as well.
Fear is running high there. Lebanese health officials are reporting the device attacks have killed more than 30 people. The vast majority of them, Hezbollah members. They say 2 children are also among the dead, and more than 3000 people were wounded. Joining us for more on this is ABC News Forum correspondent Marcus Moore Live in Beirut, along with ABC New Senior Pentagon reporter, Louis Martinez, they're at the Pentagon.
ABC New Senior White House correspondent Selena Wang on the north lawn and ABC News National Security And Defense analyst Mick Mulroy as well as ABC News contributor and former senior operations officer for the CIA, Daryl Blocker. It's my pleasure to have you all here with us today. And Marcus, you were on the ground yesterday. You saw explosions. What's the reaction right now today as rockets are flying across the border?
Well, Kenya, people are are are simply on edge, and they have been for the past 10 months. And, that was ratcheted up, this week with the, 2 days of simultaneous explosions. People really unsure of what will happen next to you. Also, we're just talking about the Sonic Booms we heard earlier today. Those happened just as Hassan Nasralla was giving a speech on on television.
Obviously, those Sonic Booms meant to send a message, but these were by far the the the loudest, booms we have heard, this entire time, and we heard people screaming in in the streets. And so very jarring for them. And when you talk to people about how they feel about what's been happening here. You often hear them describe how Lebanese people, they've been through these types of situations before. And so, they'll persevere.
But, Kayna, it does not change the fact that people here in Beirut and in other parts of Lebanon are simply scared. They are simply scared after hearing about the the pages exploding and and and also, those radials are also exploding. And so it has a lot of people concerned here, Kayna.
Certainly on edge. And, Louie, to you, we know the US remains hopeful a diplomatic solution can be found, but, Louis, what are officials there? The Pentagon saying right now, especially in terms of US posture right now in the wake of these deadly explosions.
Kano, we heard it earlier today that the United States has no changes to what they call their force posture in the Middle East. So far, they have about 40,000 troops in the region. That is an increase over what we've seen before, but that is taken months to build up. And, again, it was all done to deter Ron, in case they wanted to get involved. It was done to deter Hezbollah and case they both wanted to get involved in the war between Israel and Hamas inside Gaza.
And so so far, the United States feels that their presence has deterred that, from spreading that conflict from spreading to a broader conflict in the region. And they say that the force levels that they have there right now are enough to deal with any scenario if they had to. Now, again, that doesn't mean that the United States is preparing for anything. It just means that they have the right assets in place. What are we talking about?
We're talking about an aircraft carrier off the Gulf of Oman. We're talking about a Marine ready group that's on board ships in the Eastern Mediterranean. They've been there for months now. And, again, why potentially in case they're needed to forward in some kind of evacuation inside of Lebanon. The Pentagon spokesperson was asked about that today, whether there are any plans in the works to evacuate American civilians from Lebanon.
And the answer was no, then they punted over to the state department.
And we've heard that answer of no a few times here. Although, the White House seems to be awfully vague. And some of these answers, Selena, can you bring us up to speed there?
Yeah. Well, Kayna, the White House is remaining extremely tight, on this issue, only willing to say that the US played no role in these attacks in any way and saying that they're continuing to engage in diplomatic conversations to try and deescalate the situation. But I tried to press the White House a further on this today, but the press secretary continued to dodge questions and would not even answer my very general question about the administration's broad view about the use of these kinds of explosive devices near civilians. Take a listen here. What is the White House's view about the attacks in Lebanon we're talking about exploding walkie talkies and pagers in crowded civilian areas, children dead, including thousands injured?
What I
will say is, My NSE colleague was here yesterday. You've all asked him multiple questions about about what occurred. I don't have anything else to share beyond that. I've taken questions on this. I don't have any more information, to share on this, inside.
But we what we do know is that Israel actually had a hand in the manufacturing of these pages in an operation that an intelligence source tells us was in the works for at least 15 years. And this intelligence source also tells us that this is the kind of tactic that the CIA has been reluctant to use because of the kind of risk that it poses to innocent civilians.
And, Mick, I'm hoping that you can elaborate on that for us because as you hear Selena there talk about how, it sounds like Israel had a hand in the actual manufacturing of these pages. We're learning more about the time and effort put into this. Then the question I think, Mick, is why now? Why Israel do this now?
That's a good question, Kana. I would speculate that they intended this to be something that if there was an actual ground conflict between the idea of Israeli defense forces and Hezbollah in Lebanon, that the ideal time to use this would be, of course, Once they cross the line of departure and start, if they did it then, they would have destroyed, Hezbollah's communication structure. And that is very advantageous to an attacking army. It might then be that they got compromised before then and felt like they had to use you know, 15 years worth of effort here in this manner, but it wouldn't be the most effective means in my my estimation. It would have been much more useful if it was done during an actual invasion if that's what they intend to do.
And, of course, At that time, the Hezbollah fighters would be away from their families and away from civilians, not in taxi cars and in, in in in restaurants, in grocery stores.
And, Daryl, to you, if Hezbollah doesn't have the capacity in this moment to respond how they would like to. Do you anticipate perhaps their other Iranian proxies getting involved or reminding our viewers here that the head of Hezbollah said, you know, it's not just Israel. He said, the west is with them. The US is with them. NATO is with them.
I don't think Nasratla used those words out of out of a vacuum. I think he's sending a message to NATO to Western Allies to the United States. That you all are also now targets. They've always known that, but to hear it from the, secretary general of Hezbollah was pretty striking. They do have the ability to use their their proxies either the Khateb Hezbollah in Iraq to attract our bases or continue to use the Houthis out of Yemen.
But, yes, this is not an idle threat, and Hezbollah is going to respond, and they will have to respond in kind.
Alright. And then deepening the concerns of a wider war in that region, Marcus, Mick, Daryl, Louis, and Selena. Our thanks to all of you for being here with us today. We wanna turn our attention now to some disturbing findings by US Intelligence officials about a secret effort to influence the US presidential election. The FBI and other intelligence agencies say Iranian hacker stole non public material from the Trump campaign and sent it directly to individuals associated with president Biden while he was still running for reelection.
The Trump camp releasing a statement calling for more information from the White House, including a disclosure of the material it received and whether it was used by Biden or Harris. A Harris spokesperson also addressing the findings saying, quote, We have cooperated with law enforcement since we were made aware that individuals associated with the then biden campaign were among the intended
victims of this foreign influence operation. I wanna bring an ABC's Justice Department reporter, Alex
Mallin, for more on this. Alex, thank you so much being here with us today. As you're covering this, what would be the proper procedure for the Biden campaign here after receiving this hacked information? What are you looking for?
Well, obviously, if they are aware in any way that what they're receiving is from the Iranian government or somebody a hacker that's affiliated with the Iranian government. The FBI has said bring it to us first. Immediately contact us, and then we will step in and do a proper criminal investigation. You know, we have no indication here that the Biden camp, then the Biden camp use this or that the Kamala Harris camp has used any of this information to denigrate a former president Trump or even that they were aware when they apparently received this information, the people who are associated with the Biden campaign, that it was from an Iranian hacker. If you look back at when this first emerged, as an issue.
This, information that was being sent actually to political reporters, that was somebody using a surname or a fake name. Nobody that was said, you know, I'm from Iran. Here's information that we hacked from the Trump campaign. They tried to kinda surreptitiously get it out there via the media, and it ended up not going out. So, no indication yet that there was any proper action, improper action here taken by the then biden camp, and the Harris camp maintains that this was improper by Iran, they have called them out saying you should not be interfering in our elections.
And, Alex, we know tech executives are weighing in on this, but as you've been reporting, this foreign interference is expected to actually get worse as we get closer to the election, we're less than 50 days away. What more can you tell us about that?
Yeah. I mean, we've heard from the CEOs of Microsoft, Google, others raising alarm about the idea that the these intrusion and in in, foreign malign influence efforts by both Iran, China, and then Russia, especially, they emphasize they expect to ramp up in the coming months. Specifically, they've singled out that 48 hour period leading up to the election when Americans are obviously tuning in more to the media for information on going to the proper polling locations or, you know, positions on candidates. That 48 hour period is seen as critical in terms of the abilities of our adversaries to influence both Americans actions and what they're thinking.
48 hour period. Wow. That's to be highly scrutinized, Alex, Mel, and thank you for being here with us today. Also, now we head to the race of the White House with the get just 47 days left until the November election early voting kicking off tomorrow in some states. Voters in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Virginia, We'll be able to cast their ballots for either vice president Kamala Harris or former president Donald Trump.
New polling from the Washington Post shows Harris and Trump are neck and neck in the Criddle battleground state of Pennsylvania with the vice president trailing Trump with just 1 point well within the margin of air. Last night, Trump held a rally in New York where he continued pushing false claims about the Haitian migrants living in Springfield, Ohio. And despite the city's mayor telling both candidates to stay away, Trump says he will make a campaign stop there, and he suggested he might not come back alive.
I'm going to Springfield, and I'm going to Aurora. You may never see me again, but that's okay. Gotta do what I gotta do. Whatever happened to Trump while he never got out of Springfield.
Meantime, vice president Harris is in the battleground state of Michigan today, attending a unite for America event hosted by Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey is bringing voters from around the country together to discuss why they are supporting vice president, Kamala Harris, and what is at stake in this election cycle? We also have some news out of North Carolina here. Mark Robinson is the Republican nominee for gov for governor of North Carolina. And is vowing to stay in the race after this troubling report that we'll share with you.
CNN is now reporting that Robinson is currently the lieutenant governor of the state allegedly made racist and sexually graphic posts on a pornographic website more than a decade ago. Among the alleged post is 1 in which Robinson refers to himself as a,
quote, black Nazi. Before the story even went public, Lieutenant governor Robinson blamed his
opponent and the media and denied all allegations.
Let me reassure you the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson. You know my words, you know my character, and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before. Clarence Thomas famously once said, He was the victim of a high-tech lynching. Well, it looks like Mark Robinson is too.
ABC News has not confirmed these allegations. Lieutenant governor Robinson is facing a tough election. Most polls have him trailing his opponent. Democratic current state attorney general, Josh Stein, by a wide margin. Also, sources are telling ABC news that the Trump campaign has been bracing for a negative story to come out, but as of yet, they don't plan to call on Robinson to drop out of this race There's a statement from the Trump campaign as well saying, quote, president Trump's campaign is focused on winning the White House and saving this country, North Carolina is a vital part of that plan.
We will not take our eye off the ball. Alright. We now wanna check on today's action on Wall Street stocks rallying as investors digest yesterday's big interest rates cut by the Federal Reserve. The Dow jumping more than 500 points crossing 42,000 for the first time ever. The S and P 500 and the Dow both closing more than 1% higher today.
Meanwhile, the tech heavy Nasdaq surge more than 2 and a half percent, closing in an all time high. Among today's big winners are Tesla, Caterpillar Airbnb, and PayPal. Alright. Coming on next year on ABC News Live. The shocking mass rape case in France, a man accused of drugging his wife and inviting strangers online to sexually
abuse her in their home. The survivor facing her alleged abusers in
court. 1 of them now apologizing to her more on that story when we come back.
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How many elephants have you killed? True natural
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We have a disturbing story now out of France where more than 50 men are on trial in a mass rape case that has shocked the world. French police are saying that Dominic Pelleco dragged his wife and recruited more than 50 men via online platforms inviting them to their home where they allegedly raped and sexually abused her for nearly a decade. Giselle Pelaco has waived her anonymity here, choosing to appear in court and face these alleged abusers, though her husband has already admitted in court that he is a rapist. Lawyers for some defendants question her about her personal life for sexual habits and whether she was truly unconscious during those encounters. ABC 4 and correspondent Tom Suji Burridge has been covering the story for us from France and has the latest.
Tom?
Yeah, Kayna. Today, we heard from 2 of the codefendants. Remember there are 50 codefendants in this case Dominic Pelleco, accused of recruiting them online, drugging his wife, inviting the 50 co defendants around to the family home, and then he and the co defendants allegedly sexually abusing and raping to sell Pelleco, his ex wife, and that abuse, going on for nearly a decade. We heard from 2 of the codefendants, a 44 year old, father of 3, known in the French media and in court by Leonell Ah, he worked at a local supermarket in the town where the pedicos lived, and a retiree, known as Jack C, a former truck driver and firefighter, and they are 2 of the 14 co accused to accept the main effects in this case. Some of the other 50 co defendants, their defense lawyers have been arguing and are expected to argue in court later in this case.
Now we've seen a lot of support, from Giselle Pedeker, clearly a brave woman who has decided to waive her anonymity to go for a public trial, in her words, she wants the shame to be on her ex husband, Dominic Pelaco, and the 50 co defendants, not on her. And she also wants to raise awareness, to try and stop this type of sexual abuse happening to women in the future. But we've seen a lot of support. We saw it once again, members of the public clapping just how Pelaco intercourt, but we've also, today, seen an apology from the mayor of the local town where the Peloco's lived the mayor said in a a media interview, he implied or seemed to suggest that the case could have been much worse. He he he seemed to be playing down the severity of of the abuse the the horrible, horrific abuse that Giselle Pelaco suffered for the best part of a decade.
He has apologized for his comments, but, you know, I think we've heard from women's rights groups in response to that very angry response to the mayor's comments, and they believe it is symptomatic of a wider problem within a French society and possibly other country societies too, when it comes to attitudes towards rape cases and the sexual abuse and assault of women, Kayna?
Right. And how the victims are treated when they make those allegations. Tom, Sophie Burch, our thanks to you. Coming up next to her on ABC News Live, a scary scene in Thailand after a woman was attacked by a giant snake in her own kitchen, that story, and how she man to escape right after the break. Hi.
My name is Patrice. I am a totally cool person with
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If you get married and you're collecting a Social Security benefit, your benefit will be cut.
I don't take anything for granted. I don't
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They're never
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The stories that shake your world, that shake your life, drawing out, stunning, empowering, Shondra. The most powerful stories of our time, Maylon, on Reddit for Kimball and stream on Hulu.
Tonight, unprecedented attacks across Lebanon, thousands of devices exploding
at once, thousands of victims.
The latest from Lebanon plus the fight for the Battle Brown State's World News tonight. David Mueller, the most watched news cast on television.
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From a
pro Palestinian demonstration on the streets of Philadelphia on Trevor Alts, wherever the story is, we'll
take you there for streaming ABC
news live. Alright. Welcome back. So there was a bit of a slithery scare in
Thailand. There's this new video, and it shows a 64 year old woman in Bangkok, and she was attacked by a giant Python in her own home. The snake, they say, was between 13 16 feet long, and it apparently waited until she started doing the dishes, and it bitter, and then wrapped itself around her torso squeezing her onto the kitchen floor. The woman was stuck screaming for help for nearly 2 hours. A neighbor then called police, responding officers were able to get the snake off.
They hit it over the head with a crowbar. She was treated. She had several bites, but was otherwise unharmed. Those snakes are not venomous. Also, a Welsh mountain climber is making history at the young age of 7.
Sarah Price has climbed some of the world tallest mountains, all before she turns 8 years old.
ABC's Danny New has the story. Look out 7 year old Sarah Price is on a mission.
Sarah, how was your big hike?
Really, really good.
Saren and her dad, Glynn, just returned from their second potentially record breaking hike.
She's, again, hard to keep up with him.
A few weeks ago, still at the age of 6, the whales native reportedly became the youngest person to climb the tallest mountain in North Africa. That would be 13,600 foot mountain tube
call in Morocco. Was it hard to hike that mountain? It's very hard to in the
end, I went to and smashed it. But why was she so determined to smash this rocky fortress while Severin was raising money for something important to her? As you can see here, she was born with essentially a lump on her neck. It affected her airways and was considered life threatening her dad says but the doctors at Birmingham Children's Hospital in England were able to safely treat it.
Just allowed allowed her to be here doing this today. So, yeah, amazing hospitals.
They say it's me.
So in 2022, Sarah began high taking to raise money for the place that saved her life. Starting with that first record breaking hike when at 5 years old, Sarah became the youngest person to complete the UK's 3 peaks challenge. Translation, she climbed the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales in under 48 hours. She gained so much attention from that. Sarah even received congratulations via a signed letter from
Prince William. Now with the old
age of 7, Sarah has been able to raise 1000 of pounds for Birmingham Children's. And how does she feel about that?
Really, really, really good.
Oh, wow. What a great story. My boys are gonna be watching that. They will be inspired by her. Danny New.
Thank you. And we have news ahead here on ABC News Live. And today's big story, fears of a wider war soaring in the Middle East after the deadly device explosions targeting Hezbollah, how the terror group's leader is now vowing revenge against Israel as the 2 sides exchange new attacks. What does
it take
to be the most watched newscast in
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I my name is Patrice. I am a totally cool person with a disability. Patrice always sees
the best side of life and just looked at her and I said, would you like to my wife.
If you get married and you're collecting a Social Security benefit, your benefit will be cut.
I don't take anything for granted.
Us for lunch.
Wait a second. Wait a minute. Looks like there's 3 people coming down the river.
These are the last lands.
What is this? This is 46. I just
heard these dynamite blasts down here.
We have to go.
What's with the gas? The national parks around the world.
This area is all right now. Cartel run gold money. That have to be saved.
Sex, lies, and a double murder.
2 small children were kidnapped. Your mom and dad are gonna be
right here waiting on you when you get home.
When the twist came, then it completely exploded.
It's 1 of the craziest stories I've ever heard,
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After nearly 30 years in prison, Smith now has a chance of parole.
Could the woman once dubbed the most hated mom in America go free?
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Tesla's leader speaking publicly for the first time after the deadly device bombing's targeting its members. I'm Kayna Whitworth here in Los Angeles, and that is our story today. The explosion is sending fears of a wider war soaring in the region as Hezbollah and the IDF exchanged new attacks. What terror group's leader is saying about retaliation against Israel. Also, in our spotlight, what the FBI said Iranian hackers did with stolen information from the Trump campaign our panel weighs in on the growing concerns over foreign election interference.
But we begin here with our big story, the leader of Hezbollah vowing revenge against Israel for the sweeping deadly device explosions targeting members of the terror group, Hezbollah and the Israeli military exchanging new attacks across Israel's northern border with Lebanon today. The IDF reporting that 2 Israeli soldiers were killed and that its forces struck at least 30 Hezbollah targets. The terror group reporting it carried out at least 19 attacks. Hezbollah's leader in a speech saying it will keep up daily strikes against Israel claiming the country crossed a red line after those bombings this week, detonating 100 of walkie talkies, pagers, and other devices. We were subjected to a huge and severe
blow. But this
is the nature of war and the nature of conflict. And we know that our enemy has superiority, and we've never once said anything other than say the forward. Superiority on the technological
level because
it is not just the Israelis. The Americans are with, and the West is with them. And NATO is with them.
Now Israel has not taken responsibility for the attacks, but it hasn't denied them either. And today, the Israeli defense minister announced what he called a new phase of fighting. Promising more military action against Hezbollah. That sound that you just heard there, that was an Israeli jet today creating sonic booms over Lebanon's capital of Beirut, and there's video showing them dropping flares as well. Fear is running high there according to our Marcus Moore who's been reporting on the ground.
Eleventy's health officials are reporting the device attacks have killed more than 30 people. The vast majority of them, Hezbollah members. They say 2 children are also among the dead, and more than 3000 people were killed. Joining us for more on this is former senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council Javed Ali. I'm glad to have you back here with us today.
And let's jump right in. Look, we've now seen 3 days of attacks here today. And today, a bit more traditional warfare But I know as you're analyzing this, you're looking at several objectives that the IDF and the Israelis may have had. What are you looking at first?
Okay. Nice to be with you again. And going back to the events, that started a couple days ago, clearly, Israel was able to achieve 1 of its objectives where where which was to kill or injure as many Hezbollah personnel as they as they could. So that is certainly a step that has been taken, but I think another objective was to really make it difficult for Hezbollah as an organization to communicate both at the rank and file and with the leadership level. And now all these forms of communication from the low tech end of Pagers in walkie talkies to the high-tech end of computers, phones, and email, those are all probably compromised or perceived to be compromised.
So how does his ball over bound for what's and still function as an organization? That, I believe, was also another objective. And then a third was probably to break the stalemate between Hezbollah and Israel,
after October 7th that has been going on for nearly a year and deliver a really powerful blow
with which Hassan Shala acknowledged today along his remarks. So I think there are multiple objectives over the lot that Israel tried to achieve over the last couple of days.
So let me ask you actually in terms of his remarks because they struck us as well, and we were speaking with Daryl Blocker, former CIA operative about that. And in terms of of the chaos here, we have 3000 people that were wounded. And the head of Hezbollah said that he knows the enemy is superior in terms of technology, but he also went on to say that it's not just Israel. I mean, he pointed a finger at the west at the United States and at NATO as well.
So Hezbollah has been in a state of conflict, not only with Israel, since its creation in the early 19 eighties, but also the United States. Now a lot of Americans don't remember this, but before the rise of Al Qaeda in the 19 nineties, it was Hezbollah that is a terrorist organization that had killed more Americans than any other foreign terrorist group, and that includes the the terrible bombing of the marine barracks in Beirut in 1983. So the relationship between the US and Hezbollah, again, goes back 40 years. Neither side forgets what each has done to the other. Someone not Hassan as well who's been the the leader of Hezbollah for over 30 years since 1992 when he says that not only is Israel responsible for what has happened to them, but also the United States.
He's connecting back to the past history of that tension. And that might mean that Hezbollah in terms of retaliation might potentially try to lash out at the US as well.
Well, that's deeply concerning. Let's talk a little bit about Israel's hand and the manufacturing of these devices. And how long this took to plan, right, a plot that had been laying in wait for months, even years. If Israel works so long to get these devices into place, the question is why now? Why detonate now?
So based on the New York Times reporting and some other media reporting over the last 24 hours that apparently this facade, driven operation began in the summer of 2002, perhaps a little bit earlier, but almost 2 years from where we are now. And the the beginnings of it was to create this Hungarian based front company that would be sort of the catcher's mitt for, any technology that Israel would then potentially try to introduce into Hezbollah and Lebanon. And so that's probably how this all began. But then the why now part, and it must have taken months to even get the pagers, the walkie talkies, put the the very, specialized explosive packages in them and make sure they would work and time to go off at the same time. Why now goes back to some some of those objectives that we had talked about at the beginning of our conversation in terms of breaking the stalemate post October 7th hitting Hezbollah really hard and making it difficult for Hezbollah to operate as a as an organization.
So, the the the plan going back 2 years makes sense and looking at why trying to to implement the operational part of that right now.
Yeah.
Alright, Javed. Ali, thank you so much for your expertise in joining us today. We always appreciate you. I wanna bring our big story to our panel Next joining us today is our ABC News contributor in SiriusXM Radio host, Mike Muse, our Trump White House Deputy Director of Communications, Roma Deravi, Republican strategist, Tricia McLaughlin, and ABC News contributor and president of NextGen America, Christina Sinsteyn Ramirez. I'm glad to have you all here with us.
And Christina, and as you're watching all this play out, there's concern that we might be getting further and further away of some kind of ceasefire or hostage release deal in this region. What sort of concerns do you have in the wake of this?
Yeah. Absolutely. I think that they're not only are we getting farther away that this is going to perhaps, further regional conflict could expand the conflict much deeper. I think something that especially the United States and others want to, avoid And there's been, even calls from experts of the United Nations saying that these could constitute war crimes acts of murder attacking civilians and launching indiscriminate attacks. I don't think this helps the peace process in any way or helping us get towards the ceasefire.
I think it does the exact opposite. And I think the last thing again, United States wants us to be drawn into a war, that could be fueled by, Hezbollah who's backed by Iran.
And, Roma, you, in terms of the concerns over this kind of war fair. The leader of Hezbollah claimed that women and children and civilians were killed. We know the target of this attack was
the communications of a terrorist organization. We also know the CIA has long been reluctant to employ
a tactic like that because the risk to innocent people is very high. Does Israel risk people seeing this potentially as a war crime?
Well, let's not forget that this group along with Hamas is an Iranian backed terrorist organization that is using their own people as human shields. They've been doing that since October 7th. They have been blaming Israel for civilian death. When at the end of the day, these groups have no problem using kids schools, hospitals as their main plot for this terrorist, action. So it there's really only 1 group to blame here, and that is Iran and all of its militia groups that it is, paying in order to make these actions happen.
And and we can't forget that, the US needs to continue to support Israel. Secretary Lloyd Austin was supposed to go to Israel on Sunday. That trip has now been canceled. So I'm not sure how we're supposed to get our hostages home when the secretary of defense won't even step foot in the middle east.
Right. And we heard, I think from the Pentagon here, we have Louis Martinez at the Pentagon for us today, and it sounds like they wouldn't confirm that a plan Austin trip had been postponed, but that question certainly was asked at the Pentagon there today. I know people are wondering about it. Trisha, to you, this wasn't just an attack on, Hezbollah operationally, though. We're hearing from analysts that this was essentially some psychological warfare as well now because of the distrust and the chaos it shows among the leaders of the, you know, the lower ones and the leadership there.
Exactly, Kayna. This is an attack not only on Hezbollah's leader. It's it's an attack on their communication system. Yeah. As we all know, if you can't talk, you can't win, but it's also psychological warfare all rolled into 1.
Israel is sending a very clear med message that we can get you anywhere, anytime, but let's be very clear about the backdrop of this.
80,000 Israelis have had to evacuate their homes near the country's Northern border across
from Lebanon because Hezbollah is indiscriminately firing rockets on their communities. I think we should also be very clear about who was being targeted in these attacks, these hezbollah attacks, but these were leaders. They were so we're not errand boys. So this this was targeted.
And you're right about that that tens of thousands of people have had to evacuate or been displaced because of the attacks that are coming over the border from Lebanon, is to into Israel and that it's really been a coordination with Hamas and the Houthis, as well as Hezbollah. And so, Mike Muse, I know as I come here to you, there's, again, still concern here after you hear the head of Hezbollah, say what he said. Daryl Blockler said, you know, there was he wasn't missing his words there. He was pointing out very clearly that he is watching. What is happening in the West, the United States, and NATO.
Absolutely. And so there is a cautionary tale for the United States too as well because we have been brought into this conversation. What's really interesting about this is that which is a big story guess that I thought was very key is that what Israel did today was to let Hezbollah know that they have the ability to disrupt their strategy and communications from an analog process when you look at the pagers and the walkie talkies to the digital space in terms of technology at emails and whatever technical base they use to communicate, disrupting that, adding on Kana today with the traditional military attacks on air, really disrupting some of their military capabilities. And so it's letting Tesla know, that their main in mission is to weaken their positioning. The challenge now is with, Hezbollah being backed by Iran, what does how is Israel going to be prepared for a possible, response from Iran in coordination with Hezbollah.
You are more than likely gonna see a increase in this regional war. And then on top of that, how does the United States respond as Israel is our greatest ally?
Right. And at
this point, as Lou Martinez has said, there's been no change in the posture of US troops there. Alright, Mike, Roma, Trisha, and Christina are thanks to all of you. And coming up next year, there's new claims of election interference. Now, Iran's stealing sensitive information from the Trump campaign, how they did it, and what they plan to do with the stolen material panel weighs in next. Whenever
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Iran hacked into my campaign. I don't know what the hell they found. I'd like to find out. Couldn't have been too exciting but they gave it to the Biden campaign. I can't believe it.
Oh, yes. I can. But this is really foreign election interference. This is real election interference. Not the phony they've been trying to pin on me with Russia, Russia, Russia for years.
Well, in today's spotlight, disturbing new findings by US intelligence officials about a secret effort to influence the US presidential election. The BI and other intelligence agencies are saying that Iranian hackers stole non public material from the Trump campaign and sent it directly to individuals associated with president Biden while he was still running for reelection. And the Trump Camp releasing a statement calling for more information from the White House, including a disclosure of the material it received and whether it was used by Biden or Harris. A Harris spokesperson also addressing the findings saying, quote, we have cooperated with law enforcement since We were made aware that individuals associated with the then biden campaign were among the intended victims of this foreign influence operation. I wanna bring back my panel here, Mike, Roma, Tricia, and Christina.
And so, look, Mike, we hear a lot of warnings about election interference. This is really brazen, though, really in a public attempt now, by Iran. And the concern here is that it will only get worse as we inch closer to the election.
And I'll always inch closer to this year's election, Kayna, but other elections going forward are foreign adversaries. They recognize that the more they can, weaken our democracy through the electoral process, shake the confidence of American individual so chaos to make Americans not have faith in the system, in particular around the peaceful transition of power when America usually is most vulnerable, from, any threats from a foreign adversary And so the more that they use technology to do this to weaken it, the more that it gives them the advantage in order to pose other risk associated and possible attacks, particularly through cyber on the United States. I think going forward, campaigns are gonna have to start really looking at, their security measures around their technology systems and devices, and software to ensure that this doesn't happen again. We saw this, Kina, if you think about doing leaky leaks, during the 2000 team. So they're only gonna get more advanced as technology and technical products get more advanced.
Yeah. And, Roma, what's your assessment here of how, the Harris Walls campaign is is responding to this? What questions do they need to answer to assure Americans? They did take the proper steps in, you know, receiving this information and as they say, working with law enforcement.
Well, it's disappointing to hear that they have not communicated with the Trump campaign. The Trump campaign does not know what was taken, what was shared with the biden, with the Harris campaign. My apologies. And so you would think that, as Americans, we would come together when there is a direct attack on our democracy, like this, and we really should be doing that because, it it is democracy at risk, not in the sense that the Harris campaign is saying Donald Trump is is creating democracy at stake, but really from our foreign adversaries. And Iran has been emboldened by the Biden Harris Administration.
They're not a sophisticated nation. But we're seeing now that they are taking targeted attacks against president Trump because he was very strict. He had a 0 max maximum pressure campaign against Iran when he was president.
And, Christina, to you leaning on your work with young voters here, do you think they're at all aware of the amount of coercion coming their way here as we march toward November?
I mean, there has been, since 2016, a very marked difference in how foreign adversaries are getting involved in our elections. And that can be online or in this instance hacking into the campaign, I think what the, it was previously the Biden campaign did, which was really important, is they immediately contacted the the appropriate authorities to investigate the matter, and that's what we need to do. We need both candidates, both campaigns, both parties to take very seriously. Foreign intervention and interference in our elections. Unfortunately, I want to see the Republican party do that better.
If we remember in 2016, when our, intelligence said that Russia was interfering Donald Trump called on Russia. If you're listening, I hope you find those 30,000 more emails and said that they would likely be rewarded. We can't have that kind of behavior. We need to have appropriate authorities investigating these matters, and every party take it seriously.
Well, and, Trisha, I wanna give you a chance to respond to that here and also share what strategy you think the Trump campaign should use moving forward.
Yeah. I think Donald Trump said that very much tongue in cheek. At that time, as you were said before, 2016 was really when we started to see these adversarial nations start to come after the United States. I mean, we've seen US intelligence officials have said that Iran's has a multi pronged approach to undermining our democracy in this case. I mean, these actually said that this was a direct response to, Iranian general Soleimani has been killed under the Trump administration.
Alright. Mike, Roma, Trisha, and Christina are thanks to all of you and coming up here, in our last call, the long awaited honors for NASA's hidden figures who helped America win the space race. Whenever
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