A Greek Orthodox priest was shot at a church in Lyon, France, at about 4 p.m. local time Saturday.
The priest, identified by French police as Nikolas Kakavelakis, was in critical condition, a spokesperson for the national police said. He is in care at a hospital, police said.
A search was underway for the assailant. One arrest had been made, but it is unclear if the arrested person is the shooter, according to police.
Two gunshots were fired from a hunting rifle, police said.
“An event is underway near the Jean-Macé sector, in the 7th arrondissement in Lyon,” the French Interior Ministry wrote on Twitter early Saturday afternoon. “Security and rescue forces are there. A security perimeter has been installed.”
The ministry added that people should avoid the area.
The cold air comes after a storm system brought snow to parts of the Northeast.
October 31, 2020, 1:01 PM
• 4 min read
A cold blast has now settled in on the Northeast Saturday morning. Wind chills are into the 20s for parts of southern New England, and into the 30s for parts of the Mid-Atlantic.
This frigid air comes after a storm system brought some snow to parts of the Northeast, especially New England on Friday. Boston recorded 3.5 inches of snow, making it the city’s biggest October snowstorm on record.
For Halloween, most of the nation is rather quiet. Besides a cold day in the Northeast, most of the country will not see highly impactful weather.
For those who are trying to have some spooky social distant fun, the weather will be in their favor.
A quick-moving, low impact storm system will move from southern Canada and across parts of the Great Lakes this weekend. The result is another wave of cold air that arrives into the Northeast by Monday morning.
Wind chills with this cold blast could be in the teens and 20s across the Appalachians and Adirondacks. Some of those very cold wind chills could approach the suburbs of the major Northeast cities as well.
Additionally, there will likely be some lake effect snow, and snow squalls with the cold air moving over the relatively warm great lakes. Some areas of the interior Northeast could see 1-2 inches in these squalls.
Looking ahead, a pattern change will bring milder weather back to the Northeast by second half of the upcoming week.
Meanwhile, a tropical wave in the Caribbean Sea continues to have high chances for tropical development this weekend and early next week. Therefore, a tropical depression is likely to develop this weekend as the system moves westward.
The spaghetti model plot indicates a good amount of guidance that this system will move towards the west and ultimately end up near Central America. However, it is too early to rule out some dramatic model shifts that ultimately will determine locations for impacts and storm intensity. In fact, the overnight GFS model, which has been doing well with tropical cyclone forecasting this year, indicated a dramatic turn northward with this system.
If this system were able to obtain its name, it would be Eta, and it would be the 28th named storm of the season. This would tie 2005 for the most named storms in a single Atlantic Hurricane Season.
After a turbulent week of weather, there is actually some good news in the weather for a few days.
This report is part of “Turning Point,” a groundbreaking series by ABC News examining the racial reckoning sweeping the United States and exploring whether it can lead to lasting reconciliation.
All that 17-year-old Brandon Salinas knew about being American was what he learned growing up in Dalton, Georgia. It was in this small city where he developed his southern twang.
By all accounts, Georgia was home.
He was making enough money with his two part-time jobs to buy his own car, was doing well on the varsity track and wrestling teams, and he had enjoyed prom. He went to church every Sunday and played video games after school. In just a few weeks, he would graduate from high school. It was April 2019. Life, for the most part, was just beginning for the teenager.
“I was real proud,” Brandon told ABC News. “I felt like everything was going my way.”
Watch the full story on “Nightline” TONIGHT at 12:35 a.m. ET on ABC
Dalton, a city of just 33,000 people in the northeastern part of the state, is known for carpet manufacturing. Growing up, he and his friends always talked about going somewhere bigger, somewhere with more opportunities. He had dreams of going to college, owning his own construction business and investing in the stock market. But more than anything, he wanted to provide for his mom, who had raised him and his siblings as a single parent.
“I had a plan set out,” Brandon said. “And I had a family I had to support.”
But while he was on the brink of adulthood, his young age still showed. The hair on his upper lip was still filling in, and everyone was still “ma’am” and “sir” to him.
“When you’re young I guess you make reckless decisions,” Brandon said. “Don’t really think about the consequences of your actions. That’s where I messed up.”
By the time graduation rolled around, Brandon didn’t walk across the stage. He was behind bars following an arrest on charges of possessing a small amount of cannabis and lying to the police about his age and the spelling of his last name.
Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But Georgia is not one of them.
Smoking and lying wasn’t his only problem. He was undocumented. His mother had brought him to the United States illegally over 16 years ago.
“I was too short to walk over the Rio Grande,” Brandon remembers, adding, “They put me on their shoulders because the water was too high.”
As they were crossing, his Spider-Man baseball cap fell into the river.
“The stream took my hat,” he recalled to “Nightline” co-anchor Juju Chang. “I just remember looking at the hat go down all the way.”
In custody
Brandon proceeded to spend the next nine months behind bars, first in his local county jail and then in various Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in the South.
Under President Donald Trump, local law enforcement agencies have been encouraged to adopt what are known as 287(g) agreements with ICE, which make use of local community resources for federal immigration enforcement. For Brandon, that meant getting transferred from county jail directly into the custody of ICE.
John Tsoukaris, the acting ICE field office director for the Atlanta region where Salinas was taken into custody, acknowledged that 287(g) programs can result in the deportation of those accused of minor crimes. He said his agents are required to arrest anyone they encounter without proper documentation.
“We’re a country of laws and we expect everybody to follow it,” Tsoukaris added.
Brandon told ABC News that he “felt useless” while he was in custody.
“I would sleep in the day because there was nothing to do, and at night I would be awake and just think of my family,” he said, adding that he tortured himself thinking about them outside, struggling to help him get free.
But he began to cope. He learned to hand-wash his clothes in the sink with soap, and then let them air dry in the sun, and he learned how to make each monotonous day count.
“Every day, so you don’t get confused or lost inside your thoughts, you just really make a routine,” Brandon said. “You planned out every hour by hour.”
He said he began each day “with [his] Heavenly Father” by reading the Bible. Then, he would clean his space, take a shower, go watch television and then come back and read some more. When he spoke to ABC News while in detention, he was reading “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, which he said was about how many millionaires came up “from being nothing.”
Brandon said he learned a lot about himself.
“They say that when you’re … in distress or just when you’re lost of hope, that’s when you find the time … [to discover what] you really want to do in life,” Brandon said. “I feel like that’s true.”
Brandon said he reevaluated his life — the way he thought, the way he spoke, the way he carried himself.
“Each and every day, I still try to improve myself and better myself,” he said. He found purpose and direction. If he stayed in the states, he decided he wanted to become a contractor, and then start providing for his family.
When asked if he deserved a second chance, he said, “I do,” explaining that he was young and made a “dumb decision.” But he’s matured and has a new perspective now.
Brandon said he feels more American than Mexican. He was raised in Dalton, spent Christmas and Fourth of July in the United States, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance in class.
“I wouldn’t consider Mexico my home even though I’m from there. I wouldn’t consider it, because I wasn’t raised there,” Brandon told ABC News. “I didn’t grow up there. I was just born there. You know, if I would go back, I wouldn’t really know how to live life, where to stay. Really, I barely know how to speak Spanish.”
He had thought his change in attitude would help his immigration case. He was “willing to do anything” and “cooperate in any sort of way” in order to stay.
But on Jan. 8, with no attorney representing him, Brandon stood in front of an immigration judge for just the second time.
According to Brandon, the judge said, “Sometimes, you don’t get second chances.” Then, Brandon was ordered to be removed from the United States.
“They’re going to take me away from my family, or, you know, take me away from my education,” he said. “So many things. Just for one small mistake I got to pay for, for my whole life, basically.”
Brandon was deported on Jan. 20.
The Department of Justice and Executive Office for Immigration Review says they don’t comment on judges’ decisions. According to an ICE spokesperson, in fiscal year 2019, “a total of 6,536 aliens were removed from the United States as a result of the 287(g) program.” 29.5% of those removed were convicted criminals.
Since 2014, roughly 45,500 removals have been conducted as a result of 287(g) encounters.
A new home
“When I got deported, I didn’t have the time to get my belongings from my home,” Brandon told ABC News. “So, the only things I have [now] are what I had when I was incarcerated. Soap, deodorant, some of the clothes I purchased.”
When he left, ICE gave him a blue netted sack to put all his belongings in. Along with the minimal clothing and belongings he carried, he had just $23.
Brandon’s mother had arranged for him to stay with her parents in Torreon, Mexico. The journey from the United States to his grandmother’s house was long.
“I went to Reynosa for a couple days and after then took a flight from Reynosa to Mexico City,” Brandon said, explaining his travel. “And from Mexico City to Toron, Torreon? Dang, I don’t know how to say it. And from there I got … my grandparents to pick me up, and they took me here.”
Brandon’s new home is in the northern region of Mexico. He said it’s different. There are a lot of flies, stray dogs and trash littering the streets. When he showers, he has to pour a bucket of water over himself. He said it makes him uncomfortable, but he’s trying to make the most of the situation.
In his grandmother’s house, he has his own room. Instead of a door, a draped curtain is the bedroom’s only hint of privacy. There’s a mahogany-colored dresser, and a heart-shaped mirror hanging on the wall that matches. His bed practically fills the entire space, and sheer white, laced linens hang by the window as a curtain.
“This is my home for right now, but I mean, it wasn’t the home I was expecting to get to,” Brandon said. “I was expecting to stay in America.”
He’s also having to get used to the language.
“I just felt uneasy about the situation because I was so uncomfortable being in a new country speaking a whole new language,” Brandon said. “Wish I could go back in time, but I can’t go back in time. Wish I could change some bad decisions I made, but I can’t. I can only try to improve myself for the future.”
“Do you dwell on it?” Chang asked. “Beat yourself up about it?”
“I do,” Brandon answered quickly. “I do regret it each and every day.”
“It really does feel like I have to start over,” Brandon later added.
While he was detained, some of the other immigrants told him he could try and work in Cancun because he knows English. He’s now contemplating getting a job at a restaurant or hotel.
He is now living with an aunt outside of Mexico City. She is helping him gather a photo ID and documentation so he can start applying to jobs.
But even though Brandon is no longer living in the United States, the spirit of the “American dream” is still ingrained in him.
“Hopefully,” Brandon said, “I can make a name for myself.”
The family he left behind
What Brandon is going to miss most about living in the United States isn’t his car, his wrestling matches or the dances he attended. It’s the family he left behind.
“I just wanna tell her that I love her,” Brandon said, talking about his mother. “And, you know, if I could change the past, [if] I could be a better person in the past, I would. But I can’t.”
Brandon’s mother doesn’t have to worry about his other siblings meeting the same fate as him — they were all born in the U.S. and are citizens. But it might be quite some time before Brandon sees them again. Legally, he can’t reenter the United States for another 10 years.
So, he’s had to have the tough conversation of passing off the title of “man of the house” to his 13-year-old brother.
“Don’t you know, I wish I could’ve been a better role model to you,” Brandon said, speaking directly to his little brother. “And I wish I could have been a better big brother to you. And just don’t go — don’t follow my steps that I was in. Be a better person. Be a better me.”
ABC News’ Juju Chang, Ignacio Torres, Jake Lefferman and Quinn Owen contributed to this report.
The notorious “Golden State Killer” was behind serial rapes and murders across California in the 1970s and 1980s — but decades passed before a suspect was identified.
Watch the full story on “20/20” TONIGHT at 9 p.m. ET
Here’s a look back at the case:
1973-1976
From 1973 to 1976, DeAngelo was a police officer in Exeter, California, officials said.
1975
On Sept. 11, 1975, DeAngelo, while serving as a police officer, shot and killed professor Claude Snelling in front of his daughter at his Visalia, California, home, according to prosecutors.
DeAngelo kicked the daughter three times in the face and then fled, prosecutors said.
Visalia is 10 miles away from Exeter.
1976-1979
DeAngelo served as a police officer in Auburn, California, from 1976 to 1979.
He was fired for allegedly stealing a hammer and a can of dog repellent, The Associated Press reported, citing Auburn Journal articles from the time.
1976-1978
In the summer of 1976, burglaries and rapes terrorized the eastern district of Sacramento County.
The “Golden State Killer” would break into his victims’ homes by prying open a window or door while they slept, the FBI said.
Sometimes he would take jewelry, identification, cash and coins from the victims’ homes.
1978-1981
In February 1978, the “Golden State Killer” shot and killed Brian and Katie Maggiore, who were walking their dog in the Sacramento area.
After Brian Maggiore was shot, Katie Maggiore ran away and yelled for help, but DeAngelo caught up with her and shot her in the head, prosecutors said.
The burglaries continued in the East Bay area of Northern California, and then escalated into rapes and murders along the California coast, the FBI said.
The “Golden State Killer” would often “attack couples, tie up both victims, rape the female, and then murder them,” according to the FBI.
On Dec. 30, 1979, Debra Manning and Robert Offerman were killed in Goleta, near Santa Barbara.
Lyman and Charlene Smith were murdered in their Ventura home in March 1980. Charlene Smith was bound and raped, prosecutors said.
The couple was later found dead by Lyman Smith’s 12-year-old son, prosecutors said.
In August of 1980, Keith and Patrice Harrington were slain in their home in Dana Point in Southern California.
On Feb. 5, 1981, 28-year-old Manuela Witthuhn was bound, raped and bludgeoned to death while home alone in Irvine in Southern California. Her body was found by her mother, prosecutors said.
In July 1981, Cheri Domingo and Gregory Sanchez were killed in Goleta.
Sanchez was shot and then beaten to death, bludgeoned in the head two dozen times, prosecutors said.
DeAngelo then bound Domingo, raped her and beat her in the head more than 10 times, prosecutors said.
1986
No crimes were attributed to the “Golden State Killer” from July 1981 until May 1986, when 18-year-old Janelle Cruz was killed. Cruz was bound, raped and bludgeoned in the face and head at her home, prosecutors said.
That was his last known crime.
2018
The case went cold for decades.
DeAngelo’s name came up for the first time in the investigation in 2018, Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said.
DeAngelo became the first public arrest obtained through genetic genealogy, a new technique that takes the DNA of an unknown suspect left behind at a crime scene and identifies him or her by tracing a family tree through his or her family members, who voluntarily submit their DNA to public genealogy databases.
To identify DeAngelo, investigators narrowed the family tree search based on age, location and other characteristics.
Once authorities zeroed in on DeAngelo, they surveilled him and collected his DNA from a tissue left in a trash.
Investigators plugged his discarded DNA back into the genealogy database and found a match, linking DeAngelo’s DNA to DNA found at crime scenes, prosecutors said.
He was arrested in April 2018 in Sacramento County.
After DeAngelo was taken into custody, he said to himself in an interview room, “I did all those things. I destroyed all those lives,” prosecutors said in court during the guilty plea.
Since DeAngelo’s arrest, over 150 suspects have been identified through genetic genealogy.
2020
On June 29, 2020, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder. The plea deal also required DeAngelo to admit to multiple uncharged acts, including rapes, which were described in horrific detail by prosecutors.
The death penalty was taken off the table and he will serve life without parole, prosecutors said.
From Aug. 18, 2020, to Aug. 20, 2020, DeAngelo was confronted in court by rape survivors, their relatives, and the relatives of those he had killed.
Survivor after survivor told stories of fear, grief and resilience.
Jane Carson-Sandler, who was raped in 1976 while home with her son, told the court, “I was frozen in fear beyond description. … My attention was not on the rape, but fully on where did you put my son when you removed him from the bed? Where did you put him and what were you going to do to him?”
Carson-Sandler said that now, decades later, scars from her attack remain. Seeing a ski mask or hearing someone yell “shut up” will “forever cause me anxiety,” she said.
“My comfort at those times is remembering that you are finally going to prison and will remain there until you die,” she said.
DeAngelo, who had sat in a wheelchair and was covered by a white face mask as victims and family members gave statements, rose out of the wheelchair and spoke free of the face covering.
“I’ve listened to all your statements. Each one of them,” DeAngelo said in court. “And I’m truly sorry to everyone I have hurt. Thank you, your honor.”
The first snow of the season is expected Friday morning for millions in the Northeast as Zeta weakens in the Atlantic.
Cold air and a coastal storm are changing rain to snow for many in the Northeast, especially in upstate New York and into southern New England.
Some computer models are showing snow trying to sneak into coastal Connecticut, New York City and northern New Jersey later Friday morning.
Some areas could see up to 4 inches of snow from New York to Massachusetts. A dusting is possible for the Hudson Valley and into Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Boston Logan airport is reporting 1-mile visibility and snow with a temperature of 33 degrees Friday.
The storm will move out later this morning, taking the precipitation with it.
However, the coldest air of the season will follow behind the storm, bringing wind chills all the way down into the teens and 20s for most of the Northeast by Friday night into Saturday morning.
Zeta remnants brought wind gusts to more than 80 mph in the Carolinas Thursday and near 50 mph to coastal New Jersey. Winds gusted up to near 40 mph in New York City.
Flash flooding was reported Thursday from Georgia to Delaware.
As of Friday morning, more than 1.4 million people are still without power in the South due to Zeta.
Meanwhile, a new tropical system is trying to develop in the Caribbean. If it becomes a tropical storm, it would be called Eta.
At this time, it does not look like it will bring any threat to the U.S., but heavy rain and gusty winds are possible for Central America early next week.
Six people, including two former airport workers, have been indicted in connection with two cargo heists totaling over $6 million in designer goods, prosecutors in Queens, New York, announced Thursday.
The charges in the 22-count indictment include grand larceny, conspiracy and criminal possession of stolen property, for allegedly stealing and selling designer goods that were shipped to John F. Kennedy International Airport, authorities said.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz identified the main defendants in the two heists as David Lacarriere, 33, and Gary McArthur, 43, both former truckers at JFK Airport who “allegedly used forged documents and their insider knowledge as former airport workers to steal air cargo,” she said in a statement.
The first alleged heist occurred earlier this year on Jan. 31, authorities said. Lacarriere allegedly used a forged document to intercept a shipment of Prada products at the receiving office of an air cargo importer. He, McArthur and two others then allegedly used a tractor trailer to load them into a truck and drive away.
Police located the empty trailer, which had been doused in bleach, a few days later, authorities said. The bags, clothes and accessories allegedly netted the defendants $804,000, the DA said.
Authorities were alerted to the alleged heist when the “true truckers” showed up the next day to pick up the cargo, Katz said.
The routine was repeated in the second alleged heist, the DA said. On May 17, Lacarriere, McArthur, a third defendant — former Delta Airlines employee Davon Davis, 32 — and others allegedly hauled away thousands of Chanel and Gucci products valued at more than $4.4 million. Police found one of the trailers allegedly used in the heist nearly two weeks later, with shipping pallets, wrapping material, shipping tags and display cases inside. The interior was also doused in bleached, authorities said.
In June, police say they traced McArthur, Lacarriere, Davis and an unapprehended co-conspirator to a shuttered Queens beauty salon that was allegedly used as a stash house for the stolen goods. Lacarriere and McArthur allegedly sold to a fourth defendant — Alan Vu, 51 — nearly 120 items through another unapprehended co-conspirator. Law enforcement observed Vu allegedly load more than $300,000 worth of merchandise into his Mercedes SUV.
While executing a search warrant at the salon, police found “mountains of boxes packed with designer gear,” Katz said at a press briefing Thursday. More than 3,000 Gucci items and more than 1,000 Chanel products were recovered, estimated to be worth more than $2.5 million, the district attorney’s office said.
The defendants had “already sold a considerable amount of the stolen property,” Katz said. Products were allegedly sold at about half their value, she said.
The months-long investigation was assisted by detectives from the Port Authority Police Department and agents with the FBI.
Calling the case “a bit of an anomaly,” Port Authority Criminal Investigation Bureau Chief Matthew Wilson said at Thursday’s press briefing that the multiple agencies worked together to “mitigate the vulnerabilities.”
As a result of the investigation, new enhanced security protocols have been implemented at JFK cargo warehouses, Katz said, including the photographing of truck drivers who pick up high-value cargo, the installation of updated video surveillance equipment, and the strengthening of requirements for the release of cargo.
“It is imperative in Queens County, where the two airports are part of my district, that this office and our law enforcement partners send the message out that our airports are safe for travel, that our airports are a place that people can entrust with their families,” Katz said. “And this is one step closer to making sure that that happens.”
Lacarriere, McArthur and Davis all pled not guilty at their arraignment Wednesday. Each faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Seth Koslow, the attorney for Lacarriere, told ABC News his client was surprised by the charges.
“We’re anxious to see what the evidence is the people allege they have,” he said. “They said a lot of things, but they haven’t shown us anything yet.”
Davis’ attorney, Gary Merit, told ABC News his client is “seeking due process and looks forward to his next day in court.”
ABC News was unable to reach an attorney for McArthur.
The three defendants are next due in court on Dec. 7.
Vu faces up to 15 years if convicted. He was taken into custody in New Jersey and is awaiting extradition to Queens, authorities said.
The two other unapprehended co-conspirators are still being sought, authorities said.
The Democrat is trailing in the polls against the Senate majority leader.
October 30, 2020, 2:25 AM
• 6 min read
Amy McGrath, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, said Thursday that she is confident voters want to bring about change as they head to the polls this week, despite facing long odds against Sen. Mitch McConnell.
McConnell, the Senate majority leader and a 36-year veteran of the Senate, wields significant power over the Congress and frequently touts that he is the only senior leader in Congress not from New York or California.
McGrath told ABC News’ Lindsey Davis Thursday that she believes voters can tell that McConnell is too entrenched in Washington politics to get things done for Kentucky.
“You can’t drain the swamp until you get rid of the guy who built it, and that’s Mitch McConnell,” McGrath said. “My fellow Kentuckians don’t come up to me and say, ‘Wow, Sen. McConnell’s power is really working for us.'”
A Quinnipiac poll from mid-September showed McConnell leading McGrath by 12 points. President Donald Trump, a close ally of the senator, is also expected to win Kentucky; he did so handily in In 2016.
McGrath is a former Marine fighter pilot who has made public service a centerpiece of her campaign.
On Thursday, she focused on the need to secure health care for vulnerable citizens. She also took aim at McConnell’s push to quickly install Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court without successfully passing another round of coronavirus relief.
“The Supreme Court nominee that he just rammed through is all about health care,” McGrath said. “He couldn’t take away the Affordable Care Act legislatively for a decade and now he’s trying to do it in court.”
The Senate voted to confirm Barrett’s confirmation on Monday, just eight days before the Nov. 3 election.
McConnell was a major force in moving the nomination through despite objection from Democrats, who argued that the winner of the election should nominate the next person to fill the vacancy.
Central to Democrats’ arguments against Barrett was the threat they felt she posed to health care. Barrett testified repeatedly that she is “not hostile” to the Affordable Care Act during her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, though Barrett criticized a ruling by Chief Justice John Roberts that upheld the landmark Obama-era health care bill in a 2017 academic article.
McConnell, meanwhile, has touted the Barrett nomination as one of his most significant accomplishments in his time serving in the Senate. He’s called Barrett a “sterling” nominee and celebrated the Senate’s accomplishments at a press stop earlier this week. The confirmation gives conservatives a 6-3 advantage on the nation’s highest court.
“It was a proud moment when we confirmed her Monday night,” McConnell said this week. “We worked through the weekend … and we made an important difference for the country.”
Despite her opposition to Barrett’s installation on the court, McGrath told Davis that she’s not interested in the proposal from some progressives to add additional justices to the court if Democrats win the White House and Senate next week.
“I’m not interested in packing the courts right now,” McGrath told ABC News Live. “I’m interested in unpacking the Senate.”
McGrath accused McConnell of leading the Senate toward dysfunction and said he has made it impossible for Congress to pass a new round of COVID-19 relief despite months of negotiation. McConnell has opposed the House-passed coronavirus relief bill, calling it a “liberal wish list” that is too expensive. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and members of the administration have been negotiating a deal for months, with no clear outcome in site.
McConnell meanwhile has proposed more targeted relief measures that haven’t gained support of Democrats. He’s led the Senate on two separate failed votes on this relief plan.
The majority leader has placed the blame for these failed attempts squarely on the shoulders of Democrats. In recent campaign stops around Kentucky, McConnell has touted his accomplishments to constituents, including the passage of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill in March.
After an interview McGrath gave in July, a spokesperson for McConnell’s campaign fired back at McGrath in a statement to ABC News, saying she’s “living in an alternate reality narrated by talkshows.”
“McGrath is a failed candidate whose only chance to be relevant is by falsely attacking Leader McConnell’s indisputable record of delivering for Kentucky,” said Kate Cooksey, press secretary for McConnell’s reelection campaign.
LONDON — Three people are dead after a series of stabbings in a “suspected terror attack” that occurred at the Basilica of Notre-Dame in Nice, France, at 9 a.m. local time on Thursday, ABC News can confirm.
“Thank you to our municipal police officers who arrested the author of a stabbing attack in the Notre Dame sector at #Nice06,” the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, said in a tweet. “I ask the people of Nice to avoid the area to let the police and emergency services work.”
The suspect was arrested after the attack, according to the Associated Press, and taken to a nearby hospital after being injured during the arrest. Authorities say he was believed to have been acting alone.
Mayor Christian Estrosi said that the attacker yelled “allahu akbar” several times during the attack but these reports have not yet been confirmed.
French President Emmanuel Macron has already arrived in Nice in response to the attack as France’s Interior Minister says he has opened a “crisis cell following the events.”
A bomb disposal unit is also responding to the crime scene and heavily armed anti-terror police are currently patrolling the streets of Nice and around the cathedral, which is the largest church in the city. Controlled explosions have taken place in Nice following they early morning attack.
Several people are also reported to have been injured in the terror but it is unclear how many and what the extent of their injuries might be.
France’s anti-terror prosecutor’s office is now taking on the case and opening an investigation on “counts of assassination in relation to a terrorist enterprise”, attempted assassination in relation to a terrorist enterprise and “terrorist association of criminals.”
Mayor Christian Estrosi said there were three victims, including two inside of the church.
“Nice has paid too much of a price, like our country in recent years,” Estrosi said in a tweet. “I call on the unity of Nice inhabitants.”
The attack comes while France is still reeling from the beheading earlier this month of French middle school teacher Samuel Paty.
The attacker who killed Paty had said he wanted to punish him for showing pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a civics lesson.
It also comes amid mass protests in many Islamic countries against Emmanuel Macron after the French President spoke up in defense of the cartoons.
With regard to the attack carried out in the Cathedral of Nice, the Director of the Press Office of the Holy See in the Vatican, Matteo Bruni, stated the following:
“It is a moment of pain, in a time of confusion. Terrorism and violence can never be accepted. Today’s attack has sown death in a place of love and consolation, like the house of the Lord. The Pope is informed of the situation and is close to the mourning Catholic community. He prays for the victims and their loved ones, so that the violence may cease, so that we may return to look upon ourselves as brothers and sisters and not as enemies, so that the beloved French people may react united to evil with good”.
Elsewhere, a security guard at the French consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was injured on Thursday when he was attacked. One person has been arrested following that attack and the extent of the guard’s injuries are currently unknown.
Vladimir Putin sent a telegram to President Emmanuel Macron in which he expressed deep condolences over the tragic consequences of terrorist attacks in France.
“Special indignation is caused by the cynical and cruel crime committed within the walls of a church. Once again, we have seen that terrorists absolutely lack any human morals. It is obvious that fighting international terrorism requires the global community to join forces,” the telegram read.
Putin confirmed the readiness of the Russian party to the closest cooperation with French and other international partners in all directions of counter-terrorist activities.
The president of the Russian Federation also said that Russian people share the anger and grief of French people and passed his sincerest sympathies to the families and closed one of the killed.
There have been other notable terror attacks in Nice over the past several years.
In 2016, a truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, resulting in the deaths of 86 people and the injury of 458 others. The driver was Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a Tunisian living in France. The attack ended following an exchange of gunfire, during which Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was shot and killed by police.
In 2015, there was another stabbing in Nice outside a Jewish Center when three soldiers patrolling were attacked.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti , Alina Lobzina, Tanya Stukalova and Ibtissem Guenfoud contributed to this report.
More than 2 million people are without power in the South.
October 29, 2020, 12:42 PM
• 6 min read
At least three people are dead after Hurricane Zeta slammed into the South. The storm is now racing to the Northeast.
One person died in New Orleans and another in Biloxi, Mississippi.
In Acworth, Georgia, a man was killed when a large oak tree uprooted and fell through the corner of a mobile home, authorities said.
More than two million customers are without power Thursday morning across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
Zeta made landfall Wednesday as a Category 2 storm in Cocodrie, Louisiana, just south of New Orleans. Zeta marked the strongest storm to hit the U.S. this late in the season since 1899.
Louisiana has been especially hit hard this hurricane season. Zeta was the fifth storm to hit the state.
Zeta has now moved into northern Alabama and Georgia Thursday morning.
Some of the heavy rain and gusty winds from Zeta will move into the Northeast Thursday afternoon and evening, with flooding possible from Washington, D.C., to southern New England.
Some of the worst flooding will be from D.C. to central New Jersey.
The rain will begin to change to snow once Zeta reaches northern New York and New England Thursday evening.
By Friday morning, the heaviest rain will be done, but whatever rain is left will be changing to snow very quickly from Pennsylvania into most of New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Snowfall totals could reach up to 4 inches from upstate New York into Vermont, New Hampshire and higher elevations of western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut.
At least two fatalities have been reported so far after fast-moving Hurricane Zeta, a Category 2 storm, made landfall on the southeastern coast of Louisiana.
The storm landed near Cocodrie, Louisiana, around 5:15 p.m. with wind speeds reaching 110 mph. This is the strongest hurricane landfall in the continental U.S. this late in the season in over 100 years, and the storm could potentially delivering a storm surge of up to 11 feet.
Zeta, as of 2 a.m. Thursday, is now a tropical storm as it weakens over central Alabama. The hurricane and storm surge warnings for the Mississippi coast and Florida panhandle have been discontinued.
In New Orleans, where fierce winds ripped through the city Wednesday night, New Orleans EMS reported an electrocution fatality in the 8200 block of Palm Street shortly before 8 p.m. The agency said it was tracking many down power lines and urged people to stay inside. New Orleans police also asked residents to shelter in place due to downed power lines, trees and tree branches.
The storm disrupted power for more than 542,000 customers throughout the southeast section of Louisiana as of 9 p.m. local time. As a result of the power loss, Lafourche Parish announced a curfew went into effect at 7 p.m. and was slated to be lifted at 6 a.m. Thursday.
Mississippi reported more than 167,000 customers had lost power because of the storm, while over 105,000 had lost power in Alabama.
At least one person was reported dead by Biloxi, Mississippi, Police Chief John Miller, who told ABC News affiliate WLOZ that there was a storm-related fatality.
“I know that we have at least one death related to the storm right now, I do not have any details to give you on that other than we know that one person has perished because of the storm,” Miller told the station.
In Jefferson Parish, Zeta breached three major levees in Grand Isle, the town said, also sharing a photo of the damage.
Waveland, Mississippi, saw a gust of 104 mph.
Tropical storm watches were issued from Mississippi to Alabama to the Florida Panhandle, and even parts of the western Carolinas, including Greenville and Asheville.
The forecast
A major threat will be a storm surge of up to 9 feet in Alabama and Mississippi.
Gulfport and Biloxi could see wind gusts topping 90 mph.
Powerful wind gusts could also reach 90 mph in New Orleans. The city canceled all public school classes for Wednesday.
New Orleans Regional Transit Authority is suspending all bus, streetcar and ferry services beginning at noon.
Rain won’t be as big of a threat. Some areas could see up to 6 inches of rainfall and possible flooding.
Tornadoes are possible in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Louisiana has been especially hard-hit this hurricane season. Zeta is the third hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana in two months.
Because Zeta is moving so quickly, heavy rain and powerful wind gusts will extend well inland across the Southeast, which could cause power outages overnight. Wind gusts Thursday morning could top 50 mph from Atlanta to the western Carolinas.
Zeta’s remnants will then slam the Northeast with rain and snow Thursday into Friday. The first accumulating, widespread snowfall of the season is possible for Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York’s Hudson Valley.
The last time a hurricane made landfall in the U.S. so late in the calendar year was Hurricane Kate in November 1985.
Hurricane Zeta is the 27th named storm of the season. In 2005, there were 28.
