Ghislaine Maxwell is facing charges of child sex trafficking after prosecutors alleged she trafficked a 14-year-old girl. She has pleaded not guilty to previous charges and is awaiting trial.
The fate of Derek Chauvin was placed in the hands of a Minnesota jury on Monday after the panel heard about five hours of closing arguments from prosecutors and the former police officer's defense attorney who offered radically different views on what killed George Floyd during a May 2020 arrest. While prosecutor Steve Schleicher told the panel the state had proven beyond reasonable doubt that Chauvin is guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter, defense attorney Eric Nelson told the jurors the state fell short of meeting its burden and therefore they should find Chauvin not guilty on all of the charges. Prior to handing over the case to the jury, Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill dismissed two alternate members of the panel -- Juror 96, a white woman in her 50s who works in customer service and is interested in homeless issues, and Juror 118, a white twentysomething social worker.
Store shelves at pharmacies across the county will soon be filled with affordable, quick, at-home coronavirus test kits. BinaxNOW, a rapid COVID test made by Abbott Laboratories, was shipped Monday to major pharmaceutical chains, including Walgreens, CVS and Walmart, to be sold over the counter. The tests will be sold in two-count packs for $23.99.
The White House has begun taking steps to prepare for the outcome in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday, noting the administration was in touch with local officials as closing statements in the trial got underway. The president recently spoke to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and top White House officials are engaging with civil rights leaders, as well as mayors in Minnesota and across the country, according to a White House official. Psaki added that Biden is expected to deliver remarks after the jury delivers their verdict, though the White House declined to provide further specifics when asked by ABC News.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday rejected GOP claims Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters was "inciting violence" when she said in Minnesota over the weekend that protesters need "to get more confrontational" if former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is found not guilty in the death of George Floyd. Later Monday, Chauvin's defense lawyer moved for a mistrial, based on Waters' comments, including that, "I hope that we are going to get a verdict that says, 'guilty, guilty, guilty,' and if we don't, then we cannot go away." The judge criticized Waters by name for making the comments, calling them "abhorrent," but denied the defense argument that the jury, which wasn't sequestered at that point, could have been prejudiced, although he did say it might be grounds for an appeal.
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died of "natural" causes one day after a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the Washington, D.C., medical examiner announced on Monday. The medical examiner's conclusion comes amid lingering questions over whether the 42-year-old officer was fatally attacked on Jan. 6. Last month, federal authorities arrested two men who allegedly assaulted Sicknick with bear spray at the Capitol, but authorities did not say if the assault directly contributed to his death the next day.
Two days after an American terrorist visited death and destruction on the heartland, a slight, soft-spoken lawyer in Washington, D.C., was dispatched to run the investigation and prosecution that would bring justice to the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing. "This is a problem that the country has never been able to eliminate," Garland said Monday of the anti-government and racial hatred that fueled the April 19, 1995, bombing. In his first interview since becoming the nation' stop law-enforcement official last month, Garland told ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas that the anger that motivated Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh remains a dangerous and potent force in a divided America.
A former sheriff's deputy was arrested Monday following a nearly day-long manhunt after the suspect's ex-wife and two others were shot to death in what authorities are calling a domestic incident in Austin, Texas. When officials arrived on the scene, they found two women and a man shot and lying near two vehicles that appeared to have been involved in a crash, the Austin Police Department said. Officers later identified the victims as Amanda Broderick, 35, Alyssa Marie Broderick, 17 and Willie Simmons, 18.
Two federal transportation agencies announced Monday they are sending teams to probe the fiery Tesla crash in Texas that left two people dead this past weekend. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it is sending two investigators to the area in coordination with local authorities to conduct a safety examination. The NTSB added that its investigation "will focus on the vehicle’s operation and the post-crash fire" and its workers are arriving at the scene Monday.
The U.S. is looking into additional cases of severe side effects possibly linked to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. "These have been a handful of cases, not an overwhelming number of cases," Walensky said at a White House briefing on Monday. The CDC and Food and Drug Administration called for a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after six in nearly 7 million recipients reported severe adverse reactions, including blood clotting, once they received it.
For weeks, Russia has been massing troops close to Ukraine in a military buildup on a scale not seen since its invasion in 2014. Analysts, as well as Ukrainian and Western officials, have struggled to understand what the Russian buildup means: It is simply posturing intended to send a message to Ukraine and the Biden administration, or is it genuine preparations for Russian military action or even a full-scale invasion of Ukraine? Right now, only the Kremlin knows the answer.
U.S. immigration enforcement agencies will no longer use the term "illegal alien" in official communications to refer to immigrants in the country, according to two federal government memos distributed on Monday and obtained by ABC News. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection will discontinue the use of words "alien," "illegal alien," and "assimilation" from internal policy documents and communications with the public. "In an effort to rebuild public trust and reshape our agency’s image, ICE will make efforts to avoid using terminology that might be perceived by others as offensive or otherwise disparaging," ICE Acting Director Tae Johnson said in an email to employees announcing the change.
In his first trip as the nation's top law enforcement official, Attorney General Merrick Garland visited the sites of two of the worst domestic terrorist attacks in U.S. history -- an effort he said was intended to highlight what happens when racial hatred drives individuals to carry out unspeakable acts of violence against their fellow Americans. In an exclusive interview with ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas in Tulsa, Oklahoma -- which next month will mark the 100th anniversary the nation's worst race massacre -- Garland sought to tie the attacks by a white mob against the city's Black residents to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City 26 years ago. "This is a moment where it's important, you know, to come to a place like this," Garland said.
As the Senate prepares to take up her anti-Asian hate crime bill this week, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said Monday the bill represents a chance for lawmakers to "take a stand" against rising anti-Asian attacks. "At a time when the Asian America Pacific Islander community feels under siege and vulnerable, this is a bill that enables the Senate at least, and I know followed by the House, to take a stand and say these kinds of unprovoked attacks targeting Asian Americans are totally unacceptable," Hirono told the hosts of ABC's "The View." Hirono, who is Japanese American, has been leading the Senate effort with Illinois Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth to pass legislation following a surge in anti-Asian crimes.
The union that sought to represent Amazon workers in Alabama has accused the e-commerce giant of interfering in the vote that resulted in warehouse employees not forming a labor union. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) said Monday that it filed objections with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) over the conduct of Amazon during the union election. The union filed a total of 23 objections and is seeking an NLRB hearing to determine if the election results are legitimate.
Attorney General Merrick Garland struck a solemn tone in remarks at the Oklahoma City memorial Monday morning as he recognized the lives lost in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building 26 years ago, while drawing a parallel to the domestic terror threat currently facing the homeland. "Although many years have passed, the terror perpetrated by people like Timothy McVeigh is still with us," Garland said. Garland, who will sit later Monday with ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas for the first exclusive interview of his tenure as attorney general, played a major role in the investigation and prosecution that brought McVeigh and his co-conspirator Terry Nichols to justice.
Nike is rolling out a new sustainability program to cut down on environmental waste from retail manufacturing. The Nike Refurbished program gives shoppers the opportunity to give new life to previously purchased shoes. To participate in Nike's refurbished program, customers simply return shoes to a Nike store and experts inspect and grade the footwear.
Singer Lance Bass offered some advice to former "Bachelor" star Colton Underwood, who recently came out as gay. Bass, who claimed he was bullied into coming out of the closet in 2006, cautioned Underwood of the potential backlash he might face over how he revealed his sexuality. "This gay community is very diverse, but we can also be very fickle," the NSYNC singer said recently on The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast.
GameStop shares surged Monday after new support from legendary individual investor Keith Gill in a rally that comes on the same day the video game retailer announced its chief executive officer was stepping down. The rise comes after Gill, who also goes by the online monikers "Roaring Kitty" and "DeepF***ingValue," posted screenshots on the Reddit forum r/WallStreetBets of his portfolio on Friday. The screenshots from the retail investor who many say started the initial GameStop craze indicate that he exercised his stockpile of call options that were set to expire on Friday, essentially trading them in for 50,000 more shares of the so-called "meme stock."
Russia’s prison service said it is moving the jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny to a hospital at another prison camp, as Navalny’s allies continue to warn that he is dangerously ill and could die within days. International concerns has been growing for Navalny after his team said his life is “hanging by a thread.” Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service on Monday said Navalny’s condition was “satisfactory” and that he was being examined by a doctor every day and that he had agreed to start taking vitamins.
All adults in the United States are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines starting Monday, with all 50 states and Washington, D.C., meeting the April 19 deadline President Joe Biden had set for opening eligibility. The April 19 deadline had been moved up from the May 1 goal Biden initially set for all adults to qualify for vaccination. The increased eligibility comes as the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine is on pause while a federal advisory committee evaluates a possible link to a rare but severe blood clotting disorder.
