Engineers began carefully removing the first twisted hunk of steel from the collapsed part of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge late Saturday, with the help of several massive cranes.
The nearly 50-year-old bridge crashed into the Patapsco River in Maryland on Tuesday, after a massive cargo ship smashed into one of its main supports, killing six construction workers and blocking shipping traffic into the Port of Baltimore.
Sparks could be seen flying from the mangled steel on Saturday as workers tried to cut part of the bridge off. Straps will be attached to the piece before it’s loaded onto a barge and taken away, Coast Guard officials said.
It’s not clear how long it will take to completely remove the structure from the water and reopen the economically vital shipping lanes.
Crews began removing a section of the Baltimore Key Bridge on Saturday. Getty ImagesIt’s not clear how long it will take to completely remove the structure. Getty Images
“I cannot stress enough how important today and the first movement of this bridge and of the wreckage is. This is going to be a remarkably complicated process,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Saturday.
The team deployed to remove the crumbled bridge is immense: Seven floating cranes — including a massive one capable of lifting 1,000 tons — 10 tugboats, nine barges, eight salvage vessels and five Coast Guard boats are on site in the water southeast of Baltimore.
Massive cranes and barges have been deployed to the scene to begin removing parts of the bridge. AP
The crew first intends to get a small auxiliary ship channel open so tugboats and barges can move freely.
They also want to stabilize the site so divers can continue searching for the four missing workers who are presumed dead, officials said.
Everything you need to know about the Francis Scott Key Bridge's collapse in Baltimore
The Dali, the Singapore-flagged container ship that smashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and destroyed it early Tuesday, reportedly lost propulsion and tried to warn officials that it was going to crash, according to a report.
Six people were unaccounted for, according to authorities. Two people were pulled from the river by rescuers.
Seven vehicles were missing after falling from the 1.6-mile-long span. Officials are using sonar technology to find the vehicles.
The construction workers had been filling potholes on the bridge when the Singapore-based Dali tanker lost power and plowed into one of its supports around 1:30 a.m Tuesday morning.
Crews first hope to stabilize the site so divers can continue looking for the bodies of two missing construction workers. Getty Images
Two workers were rescued from the water in the hours following the bridge collapse.
Two more bodies were recovered from a pickup truck that fell and was submerged in the river.
The crew of the cargo ship Dali, which is managed by Synergy Marine Group, remains on board with the debris from the bridge around it. None of them were injured in the crash and they are being interviewed by authorities.
They are keeping the ship running so it can get out of the channel as more debris is removed.
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President Biden marked Sunday as Transgender Day of Visibility and drew criticism.
Orlando Magic star Jonathan Isaac joined in on ripping the president, saying on X, formerly Twitter, the White House "know[s] exactly what they are doing."
"They want you to hate! This helps no one and only promotes division," he wrote. "They know exactly what they are doing.. we should be angry but shouldn’t lose the spirit of what tomorrow means! Don’t lose focus. Because He is risen there is hope for all."
Jonathan Isaac of the Orlando Magic during a game against the Boston Celtics at Amway Center Jan. 23, 2023, in Orlando, Fla. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Isaac joined the likes of Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy and other political commentators to criticize the president. Trump's national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, called it "appalling and insulting."
"We call on Joe Biden's failing campaign and the White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe (Sunday) is for one celebration only — the resurrection of Jesus Christ," she said.
"The Biden White House has betrayed the central tenet of Easter — which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ," House Speaker Mike Johnson posted on X. "Banning sacred truth and tradition—while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday as 'Transgender Day'—is outrageous and abhorrent. The American people are taking note."
While March 31 has been designated to honor the transgender movement since Biden took office, this year it falls on Easter Sunday, one of the most important days for Christians celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Isaac added context to his post later on, saying it was "important" Biden continued to recognize the trans community on the same date, which "releases the administration from the allegation on intentionality."
"Instead of deleting the tweet like it never happened this is my good faith retraction lol," Isaac added on X.
"The message is the same. Keep focused on what Resurrection Sunday Is all about. Christ defeating sin and death for all people who would believe."
Transgender Visibility Day has fallen on March 31 since Biden took office.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
"On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect Union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives," a statement released by the White House said.
"Today, we send a message to all transgender Americans: You are loved. You are heard. You are understood. You belong. You are America, and my entire Administration and I have your back," it continued. "Now, therefore, I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility."
Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac (1) is the lone player to stand and not wear a "Black Lives Matter" T-shirt prior to a game against the Brooklyn Nets at Disney's Wide World of Sports' HP Field House in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., July 31, 2020. (Charles King/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Isaac has been critical of vaccine mandates, and his jersey sales skyrocketed after he stood during the national anthem while his teammates knelt in 2020.
Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
Heavy rainfall moved through Southern California early Saturday morning as part of what’s supposed to be a wet day in the region, bringing potentially dangerous conditions as flood warnings go into effect.
Between one and three inches of rain was expected for low-elevation Southern California communities between Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
“If you’re just waking up to this, just know there is very heavy rain to come,” KTLA’s Kacey Montoya said around 6 a.m.
Thunderstorms were a real possibility for Saturday, bringing alongside a flash flood warning in Los Angeles County. The heavy rain over a small period could bring urban flooding as drainage systems can’t keep up with the flow.
“Those who do see those thunderstorms, you’re going to see very heavy rainfall in a short amount of time,” Montoya said. “Which has the likelihood to cause some flooding.”
Rain was expected to taper off in the Los Angeles area by 9 a.m. as the storm travels south. In the Inland Empire and Orange County, some drying should occur by the afternoon.
The Grapevine and other mountain areas between 6,000 and 7,500 feet in elevation could see up to three feet of snow, according to the NWS, and higher elevations could receive more.
Rachel Crandall-Crocker is a psychotherapist and the executive director of the advocacy group Transgender Michigan. She also runs the Transgender Michigan help line. Transgender Michigan
Transgender Michigan
This Sunday, people from Kosovo to the Netherlands to the U.S. are organizing events to celebrate the transgender and nonbinary community — marking the 15th year of International Transgender Visibility Day.
Its founder, Rachel Crandall-Crocker, a psychotherapist and the executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Transgender Michigan, still can't believe it.
"It really is amazing how far it has come," she told NPR. "I wasn't expecting to start an international movement."
More than 1.6 million people in the U.S. identify as transgender, according to a 2022 study from the Williams Institute, a research center at UCLA's law school.
This weekend's celebrations come as trans people's rights have become increasingly restricted across the U.S. in recent years. Several states have passed bills restricting or banning gender-affirming care for trans youth, and there's also been a wave of legislation against trans athletes and drag queen performers.
A day to prioritize joy with community
In 2009, Crandall-Crocker wanted a reason to come together and feel joy with other members of the trans community.
At the time, the only holiday she knew of geared toward trans people was Transgender Day of Remembrance, on Nov. 20, dedicated to honoring the lives lost to anti-transgender violence.
"I wanted a day that we could focus on the living," Crandall-Crocker said. "And where we could have rallies all as one community all the way around the world."
That idea turned into International Transgender Day of Visibility, which falls on March 31 every year. Crandall-Crocker said she chose the springtime date because she wanted some distance from Transgender Day of Remembrance as well as Pride Month, which is in June.
In the first year, groups in only a handful of cities in the U.S. celebrated. But Crandall-Crocker, with the help of Susan Crocker, her wife and Transgender Michigan's operations director, continued to raise awareness about the day and its purpose.
Trans advocates from around the world caught on, launching rallies, block parties and festivals rooted in trans joy. In recent years, the U.S. government has recognized International Transgender Day of Visibility, and skyscrapers across the country have lit up with the colors of the transgender flag — light pink, light blue and white.
Crandall-Crocker, who has Tourette syndrome, said organizing International Transgender Day of Visibility taught her an invaluable lesson: "You do not have to perfect to change the world."
"I have a disability," she added. "However, I changed the world. You don't have to be perfect. Come and change it along with me."
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the Alec Baldwin film “Rust,” will remain in jail while her lawyers appeal her conviction in the death of the film’s cinematographer.
A Santa Fe judge denied a defense request for release on Friday, and refused to order a new trial in the case.
“Keep in mind there was a death that the jury determined was caused by her,” said Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer. “So I am not releasing her.”
Gutierrez-Reed is scheduled to be sentenced on April 15, and faces up to 18 months in prison.
Gutierrez-Reed was convicted on March 6 of involuntary manslaughter after a two-week trial. Prosecutors alleged that she inadvertently brought live bullets onto the set — a major breach of film safety protocols — and failed to properly check the rounds before loading one of them into Baldwin’s gun.
Baldwin is scheduled to face his own involuntary manslaughter trial in July for pointing the gun at the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, and, allegedly, pulling the trigger.
Gutierrez Reed was taken into custody following the jury’s verdict. A week later, her lawyers filed an emergency motion for release, citing a new ruling from the New Mexico Supreme Court in another case, State v. Taylor. In that case, the court overturned a guilty verdict on the grounds that the jury instructions were confusing.
The defense argued that the instructions in the Gutierrez Reed case were similarly confusing, and that the Taylor case made it nearly certain that her conviction would be overturned. Prosecutors pushed back, however, arguing that the two cases were dissimilar.
In the Taylor case, the jurors were asked to convict based on four separate acts joined by an “and/or” clause. The Supreme Court warned judges against using “and/or” in jury instructions, finding that it created a potential for confusion. In the Gutierrez Reed case, however, only two acts were separated by the “and/or” clause.
Marlowe Sommer agreed with the prosecution that the cases are distinguishable.
“I am denying your motion,” she said. “I do not think that Taylor requires a new trial in this case.”
She said she would issue a written order on Monday.
The court hearing was held remotely via Google Meet. Gutierrez Reed appeared from the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility.
NEW YORK — In a rarity in presidential history, three Democratic presidents gathered here Thursday to publicly pillory and mock another former occupant of the Oval Office, blasting Donald Trump on the economy, immigration, abortion, his character and even his golf game.
At a fundraiser that President Biden’s campaign said raised more than $26 million, former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton took turns laying out the stakes of the upcoming election, repeatedly telling the sold-out crowd of 5,000 why Trump should never be president again.
“We’ve got not just a nominee, but frankly a party and an entire infrastructure that increasingly seems unconcerned with the essence of America,” Obama said at the event, which took place at Radio City Music Hall and featured celebrity performers including Mindy Kaling, Ben Platt and Lizzo.
Clinton mocked Trump for taking credit for Democrats’ accomplishments. “I listened to him tell us how terrible the American economy was all during 2016,” Clinton said. “And then, by January 2017, after the inauguration, it had become wonderful, miraculously, overnight.”
Biden indirectly responded to concerns about his age by comparing himself to Trump. “This guy denies there’s global warming,” he said. “This guy wants to get rid of not only Roe v. Wade, which he brags about having done, he wants to get rid of the ability of anyone anywhere in America to have the right to choose. All the things he’s doing are so old. A little old and out of shape.”
The fundraiser, which Biden’s campaign said broke records for a political event, capped a stretch of stepped-up activity for the president and represented the latest effort by his allies to flip the script on the presidential race in which Biden has faced Democratic anxiety over his age and sagging approval ratings.
In recent weeks, Biden’s campaign has taken a feistier tone in mocking Trump, aiming to present him as the feeble and struggling candidate in the race. On Thursday, Biden, who is 81, said he would “be happy” to challenge Trump, 77, to a round of golf.
“I told him this before when he came into the Oval before he got sworn in,” Biden said. “I said, ‘I’ll give you three strokes if you carry your own bag,’ ” Biden said to laughter.
While the crowd of Democratic donors — who paid between $225 and $500,000 to attend and, in some cases, take pictures with the presidents — was mostly friendly, the event was interrupted multiple times by pro-Palestinian protesters. Outside, a large crowd of demonstrators chanted “Genocide Joe!” and blasted Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza, with some clashing with police.
All three men remarked on the war, reflecting on the difficulty of trying to solve intractable challenges such as Middle East peace as president. Biden said there have been “too many innocent victims, Israeli and Palestinian,” in the conflict.
Obama said Biden faces a heart-wrenching crisis that is more complex than many want to acknowledge. “I think people understandably oftentimes want to feel a certain surety in terms of how those decisions are made,” Obama said. “But a president doesn’t have that luxury.”
When protesters continued shouting, Obama shot back: “No, no listen. You can’t just talk and not listen. … That’s what the other side does. And it is possible for us to understand that it is possible to have moral clarity and have deeply held beliefs, but still recognize that the world is complicated and it is hard to solve these problems.”
During the rest of the conversation, which was moderated by comedian and late night host Stephen Colbert, the three presidents repeatedly answered questions by turning their fire against Trump. Clinton blasted Trump for working to sink a bipartisan immigration deal, saying Trump was “good at branding and blaming” but not solving problems.
Obama said that during Trump’s four years in office, basic American ideals “were not just de-emphasized, but were violated.” Biden attacked his predecessor for his handling of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, saying “we had no president” that day.
While the three men — and Colbert — spent considerable time focusing on Trump, Obama at times used his remarks to emphasize the importance of making an affirmative case for Biden.
“I think it’s worth adding, it’s not just the negative case against the presumptive nominee on the other side,” Obama said after Biden gave his first answer and spoke mostly about Trump. “It’s the positive case for somebody who’s done an outstanding job.”
Obama has previously expressed his concerns about the state of Biden’s campaign for reelection. In a private lunch with Biden last year, Obama urged Biden to bolster his campaign apparatus and move more aggressively to block Trump’s planned march to the White House.
Trump was also in New York on Thursday, to attend the wake of a New York City police officer, Jonathan Diller, who was killed in the line of duty Monday.
“We have to get back to law and order,” Trump, who has often blamed Biden for instances of violent crime, told reporters outside the wake. “We have to do a lot of things differently because this is not working. This is happening too often.”
Colbert took the opportunity of Thursday’s event for a dig at Trump for the multiple criminal charges against him. “This is an especially exciting and rare occasion,” Colbert said. “Three presidents have all come to New York. And not one of them is here to appear in court.”
While Biden has opened up a considerable fundraising advantage against his predecessor, Trump and his aides are aiming to close the gap. He plans to hold a fundraiser next week in Mar-a-Lago hosted by several billionaires, with one adviser saying the event could raise $33 million.
On Friday, Biden planned to meet with his campaign’s top officials in New York during a campaign finance retreat, where his team was set to provide a comprehensive briefing on the state of the presidential race, according to campaign aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategizing.
The event was slated to include a briefing on the latest polling, discussion about potential paths to victory and an overview of how the campaign is spending its resources in battleground states.
Josh Dawsey, Jeff Stein, Michael Scherer and Elizabeth Dwoskin contributed to this report.
Four people were found dead and seven others were injured in stabbing rampage across multiple areas in Rockford, Illinois, on Wednesday afternoon, police say, and a suspect is in custody.
A 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man, and a 22-year-old man were killed in the incident and five others who were injured were transported to local hospitals with “serious injuries,” the Rockford Police Department said in a news release Wednesday evening.
Five people were injured in the city of Rockford and two people were injured in the jurisdiction of Winnebago County, Rockford police spokesperson Michelle Marcomb told CNN.
“We have multiple scenes at this point, and we are still working on notifying families,” said Carla Redd, the police chief of Rockford, at a Wednesday news conference. She said federal, city and county officials are responding to the scenes. Rockford is roughly 90 miles west of Chicago.
Redd said her department’s dispatch center received a call for medical help at 1:14 p.m., which was followed by additional calls for police to respond.
Police then responded to multiple addresses in the area of Holmes Street, Winnetka Drive, and Cleveland Avenue, the news release said. The suspect, a 22-year-old man, was taken into custody by 1:35 p.m., according to police.
Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana said county officials received a report of a home invasion at an address on “Florence and Eggleston” after 1:00 p.m. He said a young lady ran from the suspect.
“She young lady ran from him. She got some stab wounds in her hands and in her face,” he said. “She is currently at a hospital, and she is intubated. She is in serious condition.”
Caruana said a Good Samaritan who stopped to help the woman also suffered stab wounds. “He’s fine. He is being checked out,” the sheriff said.
“We don’t have a clear motive in regard to what caused this individual to commit such heinous crimes,” Redd told reporters, adding police don’t believe there are any other suspects at large.
Police said not all of the victims were stabbed, nor did they have any gunshot wounds, but did not indicate how the other victims died or were injured. One of the deceased victims was a mailman, according to the sheriff.
“This is a very active and multi-level, multi-agency investigation and has an extensive amount of moving parts,” the Wednesday evening news release said. “As with any investigation, further details and charges may come at a later date.”
Police urged residents to look at their cameras and doorbells for any video footage related to the incidents, and to submit any tips to police or anonymously through the Rockford Area Crime Stoppers.
Speaking at the news conference, Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said he was “totally shaken by this act of violence and the impact that it’s having now on multiple families’ lives.”
There will be counselors on-site at Flinn Middle School on Thursday and Friday to help those individuals and families that have been impacted, he said.
“It’s hard to grasp how this could happen and how emotional and raw the community is tonight,” the mayor said in a Facebook post. “As a dad, a son, a husband, the Mayor and a Rockford supporter, my heart is breaking for those who have lost their lives, their families and our community.”
CNN’s Emma Tucker and Jennifer Feldman contributed to this report.
A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a stabbing spree Wednesday afternoon in Rockford, Illinois, that left four people dead, including a U.S. postal worker and a teenage girl, and seven other victims injured, police said.
The suspect, Christian Soto, was arrested in the frenzied attack, according to the Rockford Police Department. Soto faces four counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, as well as two counts of home invasion with a dangerous weapon, authorities said.
A motive for the attack remains under investigation, police said.
The names of the slain victims were not immediately released, but police said they include a 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man, and a 22-year-old man. One of the victims was said to be in critical condition, with four others in serious condition.
An officer brings out bags of evidence after a stabbing incident on March 27, 2024, near Cleveland Avenue in Rockford, Ill.
Kara Hawley/Rockford Register St via USA Today Network
"Words can't even express my thoughts right now; this is a pretty painstaking event," Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd said at a news conference Wednesday, adding, "This was a heinous crime."
A mail carrier was among those killed, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Police initially said there were nine victims of the attack, including the four who were killed. The Winnebago County Sheriff's Office confirmed Thursday that two additional victims connected to the violence were subsequently located.
Christian Soto, 22, pictured in this jail booking photo, is suspected in a stabbing spree on March 27, 2024, in Rockford, Ill.
Winnebago County Jail
Redd said that not all of the victims were stabbed, but did not elaborate. She said no guns were involved in the attacks.
The attacks unfolded around 1:14 p.m., local time, in a residential neighborhood in southeast Rockford, which is about 88 miles northeast of Chicago, according to authorities, who noted this was a "multi-jurisdictional crime scene."
Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana said the crime spree included a home invasion in which a young woman was stabbed multiple times. She was identified as the victim who is in critical condition.
"The young lady ran from him. She's got some stab wounds on her hands and her face. She is currently in the hospital and she is intubated," Caruana said.
Caruana said a "good Samaritan" who stopped to help the injured woman, was also stabbed, suffering non-life-threatening injuries.
The attacks ended about 1:35 p.m. when Soto was taken into custody, according to the Rockford Police Department.
Court records reviewed by ABC affiliate station WTVO in Rockford show Soto listed at an address in a neighborhood near where the slayings occurred. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance Thursday afternoon.
Police stand in the street after a stabbing incident on Cleveland Avenue on March 27, 2024, in Rockford Ill.
Kara Hawley/Rockford Register St via USA Today Network
Within minutes of the attacks, police, paramedics, and sheriff's deputies responded to multiple crimes that spread from Rockford into an unincorporated area of Winnebago County, authorities said.
Police said they do not believe any other suspects are at large in the attack. Rockford Police Chief Redd said that federal agents also are assisting in the investigation, though the assisting agencies weren't specified.
Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara released a statement Wednesday, saying, in part, "Today, we are shocked by another horrific act of violence against innocent members of our community."
"We can report that the suspect is in custody and the threat has been neutralized," the statement continued. "Now that he is in custody, our primary concern is ensuring that our community members directly impacted by this violence are supported throughout their healing and recovery."
Less than 24 hours after getting hit with a partial gag order in the New York criminal case involving his alleged falsification of business records, former President Donald Trump repeatedly lashed out at one person who's not covered by the ruling — the judge.
In a series of posts on his social media platform, Trump called Judge Juan Merchan "biased and conflicted" while also taking aim at the judge's daughter for a second day in a row.
In a ruling Tuesday, Merchan noted the impending April 15 trial date and said Trump must "refrain" from “making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation” in the case, as well as about individual prosecutors and court staff and their family members.
The order did not mention the judge and his family members — a loophole Trump exploited Wednesday.
"This Judge, by issuing a vicious 'Gag Order,' is wrongfully attempting to deprive me of my First Amendment Right to speak out against the Weaponization of Law Enforcement," Trump wrote, saying the judge "is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome" and should recuse himself from the case.
Donald Trump at New York Criminal Court on March 25, 2024.Justin Lane / Pool via AP
The attacks continue a pattern of Trump lashing out at judges and the judicial system on social media after getting an adverse ruling in court.
As he'd done previously, Trump also went after Merchan's daughter, who's worked at a progressive digital marketing agency that has worked for many Democratic candidates.
"Maybe the Judge is such a hater because his daughter makes money by working to 'Get Trump,'" one of his posts said. He also accused her of having posted a picture of him behind bars on social media —an allegation that appears to have originated from a Trump ally, far right activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer.
Loomer made a similar allegation last year involving the wife ofJudgeArthur Engoran, who presided over Trump's civil fraud trial, accusing her of having shared anti-Trump memes on social media.
Trump then attacked the judge's wife, who was not protected by the partial gag order Engoron had put in place in that case.
A spokesman for the state court system said then that the posts Loomer promoted were not from the judge's wife.
“Justice Engoron’s wife has sent no social media posts regarding the former president. They are not hers,” said the spokesman, Al Baker.
Trump never acknowledged or apologized for the apparent false accusation.
NBC News has reached out to the court system for comment on the new Loomer/Trump accusation.
The handle used in the X profile highlighted by Loomer had been previously associated with Merchan's daughter in 2022, but the profile Loomer shared said the person joined X in April of 2023, the same month far right news outlets wrote critical stories about the daughter.
An NBC News analysis earlier this year of Trump's posts on his social media platform Truth Social found his unprecedented attacks on the judicial system were frequently tied to developments in his court cases, and at times outnumbered his posts about his re-election bid.
Trump's criticism often comes at a cost for his targets. Merchan, Engoron and the judge presiding over his federal election interference case in Washington, D.C., Tanya Chutkan, have all recievedthreats following Trump's complaints.
Merchan cited his experience when he handed down his ruling Tuesday blocking Trump from making comments about individual prosecutors (with the exception of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg), court staff, their family members, and jurors and potential jurors. While he didn't initially issue an order at the start of the case, the judge said he was acting now “given the nature and impact of the statements made against this Court and a family member” as well as district attorneys and witnesses, adding that “given that the eve of trial is upon us, it is without question that the imminency of the risk of harm is now paramount.”
Trump’s attorneys had argued in court filings that because their client is the presumptive Republican nominee for president he “must have unfettered access to the voting public to respond to attacks from political opponents.”
Merchan said in his ruling that Trump’s public commentary in this case and others had gone “far beyond defending himself against attacks.”
"Indeed, his statements were threatening, inflammatory" and "denigrating," and the "consequences of those statements included not only fear on the part of the individual targeted, but also the assignment of increased security resources to investigate threats and protect the individuals and family members thereof," the judge wrote.
The DA's case alleges Trump falsified business records to cover up payments he was making to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen as repayment for a $130,000 hush money payment Cohen had doled out to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 campaign. Daniels claimed she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which Trump denies.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case and maintains the charges are part of a politically orchestrated witch hunt against him.
Less than 24 hours after getting hit with a partial gag order in the New York criminal case involving his alleged falsification of business records, former President Donald Trump repeatedly lashed out at one person who's not covered by the ruling — the judge.
In a series of posts on his social media platform, Trump called Judge Juan Merchan "biased and conflicted" while also taking aim at the judge's daughter for a second day in a row.
In a ruling Tuesday, Merchan noted the impending April 15 trial date and said Trump must "refrain" from “making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation” in the case, as well as about individual prosecutors and court staff and their family members.
The order did not mention the judge and his family members — a loophole Trump exploited Wednesday.
"This Judge, by issuing a vicious 'Gag Order,' is wrongfully attempting to deprive me of my First Amendment Right to speak out against the Weaponization of Law Enforcement," Trump wrote, saying the judge "is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome" and should recuse himself from the case.
Donald Trump at New York Criminal Court on March 25, 2024.Justin Lane / Pool via AP
The attacks continue a pattern of Trump lashing out at judges and the judicial system on social media after getting an adverse ruling in court.
As he'd done previously, Trump also went after Merchan's daughter, who's worked at a progressive digital marketing agency that has worked for many Democratic candidates.
"Maybe the Judge is such a hater because his daughter makes money by working to 'Get Trump,'" one of his posts said. He also accused her of having posted a picture of him behind bars on social media —an allegation that appears to have originated from a Trump ally, far right activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer.
Loomer made a similar allegation last year involving the wife ofJudgeArthur Engoran, who presided over Trump's civil fraud trial, accusing her of having shared anti-Trump memes on social media.
Trump then attacked the judge's wife, who was not protected by the partial gag order Engoron had put in place in that case.
A spokesman for the state court system said then that the posts Loomer promoted were not from the judge's wife.
“Justice Engoron’s wife has sent no social media posts regarding the former president. They are not hers,” said the spokesman, Al Baker.
Trump never acknowledged or apologized for the apparent false accusation.
NBC News has reached out to the court system for comment on the new Loomer/Trump accusation.
The handle used in the X profile highlighted by Loomer had been previously associated with Merchan's daughter in 2022, but the profile Loomer shared said the person joined X in April of 2023, the same month far right news outlets wrote critical stories about the daughter.
An NBC News analysis earlier this year of Trump's posts on his social media platform Truth Social found his unprecedented attacks on the judicial system were frequently tied to developments in his court cases, and at times outnumbered his posts about his re-election bid.
Trump's criticism often comes at a cost for his targets. Merchan, Engoron and the judge presiding over his federal election interference case in Washington, D.C., Tanya Chutkan, have all recievedthreats following Trump's complaints.
Merchan cited his experience when he handed down his ruling Tuesday blocking Trump from making comments about individual prosecutors (with the exception of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg), court staff, their family members, and jurors and potential jurors. While he didn't initially issue an order at the start of the case, the judge said he was acting now “given the nature and impact of the statements made against this Court and a family member” as well as district attorneys and witnesses, adding that “given that the eve of trial is upon us, it is without question that the imminency of the risk of harm is now paramount.”
Trump’s attorneys had argued in court filings that because their client is the presumptive Republican nominee for president he “must have unfettered access to the voting public to respond to attacks from political opponents.”
Merchan said in his ruling that Trump’s public commentary in this case and others had gone “far beyond defending himself against attacks.”
"Indeed, his statements were threatening, inflammatory" and "denigrating," and the "consequences of those statements included not only fear on the part of the individual targeted, but also the assignment of increased security resources to investigate threats and protect the individuals and family members thereof," the judge wrote.
The DA's case alleges Trump falsified business records to cover up payments he was making to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen as repayment for a $130,000 hush money payment Cohen had doled out to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 campaign. Daniels claimed she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which Trump denies.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case and maintains the charges are part of a politically orchestrated witch hunt against him.
Washington — The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared inclined to side with the Food and Drug Administration in a case involving a commonly used abortion pill and recent agency actions that made the medication easier to obtain, as the justices raised questions about whether a group of doctors challenging the moves demonstrated they had the proper basis to sue in federal court.
At the center of the legal battle is the pill mifepristone, which is taken along with another drug to terminate an early pregnancy. Approved by the FDA in 2000, more than 5 million patients have taken mifepristone, according to the agency, and studies cited in court filings have shown it is safe and effective.
In 2016 and 2021, the FDA took steps to make mifepristone more accessible, including allowing it to be taken later into a pregnancy and delivered through the mail without an in-person doctor's visit. A group of anti-abortion rights doctors and medical associations challenged those changes, claiming the FDA violated the law.
The Supreme Court is now reviewing a decision from a federal appeals court that found the agency's actions were unlawful. A ruling in the case, known as FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, that unwinds those changes would threaten to curtail access to mifepristone nationwide, even in states with laws protecting abortion access.
Oral arguments
Rolling back the FDA's actions would "inflict grave harm on women across the nation," Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the court. She reiterated that the ruling from the lower court marks the first time any court has restricted access to a FDA-approved drug by second-guessing its judgment about the conditions required to ensure its safety.
The justices focused most of their questions on whether the doctors who filed the lawsuit against the FDA had shown that they may be injured by its actions, and whether those alleged injuries could be traced to the FDA's easing of the rules. If the court decides that the doctors do not have legal standing to sue, it could order the case dismissed without deciding whether the FDA acted lawfully when it relaxed the requirements for obtaining mifepristone.
People wait in line outside Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine on March 26, 2024, in Washington, D.C. DREW ANGERER/AFP via Getty Images
In one exchange with Erin Hawley, a lawyer with the Alliance Defending Freedom who represented the medical associations and doctors, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said there is an "infinitesimally small" chance that a pregnant woman who may need medical attention after taking mifepristone would end up in a hospital where one of the member physicians is working.
Hawley pointed the justices to declarations from two doctors, filed in an earlier stage in the case, that she said showed they had been complicit in terminating a pregnancy for a patient who experienced complications from a medication abortion. But Justice Amy Coney Barrett pushed back, and said it didn't appear that either doctor actually participated in the procedure.
Justice Elena Kagan pressed Hawley to point the court to one individual who could show they would be harmed by the FDA's rules for mifepristone.
"You need a person to be able to come in and meet the court's regular standing requirements," she said. "Who is your person?"
Justices Neil Gorsuch and Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated they struggled with the reach of a decision that would roll back the FDA's 2016 and 2021 changes nationwide. Jackson said there is a "significant mismatch" between the injury claimed by the doctors and the remedy they sought — a nationwide order blocking the FDA's latest actions.
"They're saying because we object to having to be forced to participate in this procedure, we're seeking an order preventing anyone from having access to these drugs at all," she said.
Gorsuch echoed Jackson's point, observing that there recently have been a "rash of universal injunctions."
"This case seems like a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide, legislative assembly on an FDA rule," he said.
Chief Justice John Roberts questioned why the courts couldn't provide narrow relief that applied only to the doctors involved in the lawsuit, as opposed to targeting the FDA more broadly.
Access to mifepristone has remained unchanged while legal proceedings in the case have continued, since the high court issued an order last April preserving its availability. That relief will remain in place until the Supreme Court hands down its decision, expected by the end of June.
Arguments in the case are took place less than two years after the Supreme Court ruled in June 2022 to unwind the constitutional right to abortion and return the issue to the states. It also comes on the heels of new findings that medication abortions in the U.S. have risen since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
A study published Monday in the medical journal JAMA found that the number of self-managed abortions obtained using pills grew in the six months after the high court reversed Roe. Research from the Guttmacher Institute, an organization that supports abortion rights, published last week showed that medication abortions accounted for 63% of all abortions that took place within the U.S. health care system in 2023, up from 53% in 2020.
The dispute over mifepristone
The challenge to the FDA's efforts surrounding mifepristone was filed in November 2022 — more than two decades after the drug was made available in the U.S. — by a group of medical associations that oppose abortion rights. Brought in federal district court in Texas, the groups, led by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, challenged the FDA's initial 2000 approval and its more recent changes in 2016 and 2021.
As part of those actions, the FDA allowed mifepristone to be taken up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy, instead of seven weeks, reduced the number of in-person visits required from three to one, allowed more health care providers to prescribe the drug and lifted a requirement that it be prescribed in-person.
The organizations claimed the FDA did not have the authority to approve mifepristone for sale and failed to adequately consider the drug's safety and effectiveness.
The federal judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, agreed that the FDA's 2000 approval and subsequent actions were likely unlawful. He blocked the FDA's initial action allowing the drug to be sold in the U.S.
But Kacsmaryk put his ruling on hold, and a federal appeals court and the Supreme Court intervened. The high court ultimately maintained access to mifepristone while legal proceedings continued.
Months later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld the FDA's 2000 approval of the abortion pill, but said the agency violated the law with its more recent changes. The appeals court's decision, though, is preempted by the Supreme Court's earlier April 2023 order protecting access.
The Justice Department and Danco Laboratories — the maker of Mifeprex, the brand-name version of mifepristone — asked the Supreme Court to review the 5th Circuit's ruling, and it agreed to do so in December.
The legal issues in the case
Mifepristone and misoprostol, the two drugs used in a medication abortion, are seen at a clinic in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on June 17, 2022. ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
In asking the justices to reverse the appeals court's decision, the Biden administration has argued that the medical associations and their physician members do not have legal right to sue. The doctors do not prescribe the drug and haven't identified a single case where a member has been forced to complete an abortion for a woman who shows up at an emergency room with an ongoing pregnancy, Prelogar said.
"They stand at a far distance from the upstream regulatory action they're challenging," she said of the anti-abortion rights physicians, and argued the theories they raise are "too attenuated as a matter of law — the court should say so and put an end to this case."
Many of the questions the justices asked Prelogar focused on the question of standing. "Shouldn't somebody be able to challenge that in court? Who? Who would have standing to bring that suit?" asked Justice Samuel Alito, who posed the hardest questions to Prelogar and a lawyer for Danco.
He claimed that the argument advanced by the Biden administration indicates that even if the FDA violated the law, nobody has the proper basis to sue.
"There's no remedy, the American people have no remedy for that," said Alito, who authored the Supreme Court's majority opinion overturning Roe and appeared the most sympathetic to the doctors' theories.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh sought to confirm that under federal law, doctors cannot be forced to violate their conscience to perform or assist in an abortion. Prelogar said federal conscience protections, which would allow the doctors to opt out of providing care they morally object to, give broad coverage to doctors in that circumstance.
But Hawley argued that their members object not only to abortion, but also to "being complicit in the process that takes an unborn life."
She told the court that the FDA failed to comply with the basic requirements of federal law when making mifepristone more easily accessible, and failed to consider or explain the cumulative effects of the its more recent actions.
Justice Clarence Thomas raised the Comstock Act, an obscure, 150-year-old law that prohibits the mailing of any drug that can be used for abortions.
The anti-abortion rights doctors claimed that the law prohibited the FDA from lifting the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone, but the 5th Circuit did not reach that argument. The Justice Department told the Supreme Court in filings that it should not either, and its Office of Legal Counsel said in December 2022 that the law does not prohibit the mailing of mifepristone and misoprostol, the second drug taken in a medication abortion.
The ripple effects of a decision
If the justices do reach the legal issues raised in the case, the Justice Department and Danco have urged the court to find that the FDA's 2016 and 2021 actions were lawful.
The agency relied on a "voluminous body of medical evidence" on mifepristone's use over decades when it determined that the 2016 changes would be safe, Prelogar wrote in a filing to the court. In any event, the district court was wrong to second-guess the determinations that Congress empowered the FDA to make, she said.
"To the government's knowledge, this case marks the first time any court has restricted access to an FDA-approved drug by second-guessing FDA's expert judgment about the conditions required to assure that drug's safe use," Prelogar wrote.
Pharmaceutical companies and former heads of the FDA have warned the court that a decision upholding the 5th Circuit threatens to undermine the agency's drug-approval process and could lead to persistent legal challenges of its approval decisions.
The lower court's approach, if left intact, "would allow courts to substitute their lay analysis for FDA's scientific expertise and to overturn the agency's approval and conditions of use for drugs — even after they have been on the market for decades," a group of former commissioners and acting commissioners told the court in a brief.
"The resulting uncertainty would threaten the incentives for drug companies to undertake the time-consuming and costly investment required to develop new drugs and ultimately hinder patients' access to critical remedies that prevent suffering and save lives," they said.
A slew of pharmaceutical companies and executives separately stressed the importance of drug companies being able to rely on the courts to respect the FDA's scientific judgements.
"If a court can overturn those judgments many years later through a process devoid of scientific rigor, the resulting uncertainty will create intolerable risks and undermine the incentives for investment regardless of the drug at issue," they said in a brief. "This, in turn, will ultimately hurt patients."
But lawyers for the medical associations and their members that oppose abortion rights argued that the FDA failed to give a "satisfactory explanation" for its decision to lift the in-person dispensing requirement and called the studies the agency relied on "deeply problematic."
Withdrawing the in-person visit requirement in 2021 eliminated the opportunity for health care workers to screen for ectopic pregnancies and other conditions, the associations argued. In 2016, the FDA removed "interrelated safeguards without studies" that examined the changes as a whole, they continued.
The group Americans United for Life, which is backing the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, claimed that the FDA has promoted access to abortion pills without medical supervision, which have increased health and safety risks to women and interfered with their care.
Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.
