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Attorneys reach deal that could allow some Dali crew members to fly home after months stuck onboard, court filings say | CNN

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Attorneys reach deal that could allow some Dali crew members to fly home after months stuck onboard, court filings say | CNN



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After 12 weeks stuck aboard a cargo ship that lost power and crushed a famed Baltimore bridge, some of the vessel’s 21 crew members could soon return to their families halfway around the world.

Attorneys for the City of Baltimore and the owner and manager of the Dali cargo ship reached a deal late Wednesday that could allow eight of the crew members to fly home as early as Thursday, according to documents filed this week in Maryland’s US District Court.

The 20 Indians and one Sri Lankan on board have been stuck on the ship since March 26, when the mammoth vessel lost propulsion, veered off course and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six construction workers.

Crew members haven’t been able to get off the ship for a variety of reasons. While none of the crew have been charged in connection with the disaster, investigations are underway to determine who might be responsible for the catastrophe. And Baltimore’s mayor has announced legal action, vowing to “hold the wrongdoers responsible.”

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On Tuesday, attorneys representing the city and a bridge inspector who was nearly killed in the crash filed motions asking the court to intervene after they learned some crew members might fly home this week – before the attorneys had a chance to depose them.

“The crew consists entirely of foreign nationals who, of course, have critical knowledge and information about the events giving rise to this litigation,” Adam Levitt, an attorney representing the city, wrote in Tuesday’s emergency hearing request. “If they are permitted to leave the United States, Claimants may never have the opportunity to question or depose them.”

As of Wednesday evening, a hearing on the matter still was scheduled for Thursday.

The request came after Levitt and other counsel received an email from William Bennett, an attorney representing ship owner Grace Ocean and ship manager Synergy Marine.

The email, which was attached as an exhibit in Tuesday’s emergency court filings, said eight crew members were expected to fly home as early as this week.

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“Our clients are in the process of arranging for replacement crew for the DALI,” Bennett wrote. “We have been advised that the U.S. Coast Guard will permit certain crew members to return to their home countries but has requested that other crew members remain in the United States.”

Those seafarers “will be transported directly from the Vessel to the airport prior to its departure from Baltimore (likely on or about June 20th),” Bennett wrote Tuesday morning.

Bennett’s email identifies the eight eligible crew members, which include a cook, a fitter and an oiler. “All of these crew members have been interviewed by DOJ and DOJ does not object to their departure from the United States,” Bennett wrote.

CNN has reached out to the Coast Guard and the Department of Justice for comment.

In response to Tuesday’s motions, US District Court Judge James Bredar ordered an emergency hearing for Thursday morning to hear from attorneys for each side of the issue.

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But late Wednesday, attorneys for the ship’s owner and manager as well as the city of Baltimore reached a deal on terms for the eight crew members’ depositions, according to a new court filing.

As part of the deal, those crew members will not need to stay in Baltimore. Their depositions “will be taken in London or elsewhere by written agreement of all parties to the Litigation,” according to an exhibit attached to Wednesday’s court filing.

Those depositions will take place “no sooner than November 2024,” the document states.

In addition to making those seafarers available for depositions, Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine must provide documents including personnel files, employment contracts and training files, according Wednesday’s court filing.

“We agree to (the) conditions mentioned,” Bennett wrote in an email attached in the court filing.

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With the agreement in place, “the City of Baltimore is satisfied that the Parties no longer require the Court’s intervention to resolve the dispute,” Levitt wrote in Wednesday’s court filing. As a result, he said, the city asked to withdraw its request for an emergency status hearing.

The judge responded in an order Wednesday evening, saying the hearing would proceed “because the agreement has not yet been explicitly endorsed by all parties,” though he noted the deal “strikes the Court as a sensible resolution to this issue.”

No civil lawsuits can get underway because of a pending request by the ship’s owner and manager to limit their financial liability, said Jason Foster, an attorney representing the bridge inspector whom he said narrowly escaped and lost six friends in the tragedy.

Six days after the catastrophe, Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine filed a petition in federal court asking for a $43.6 million cap on potential liability payouts.

But a decision on that request probably won’t happen anytime soon, since potential claimants have until September 24 to come forward, Foster told CNN Wednesday afternoon.

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And due to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Foster and other attorneys weren’t able depose the crew members until all of the potential claimants have come forward – in other words, possibly September or later.

But with the new agreement Wednesday night, the eight crew members would be able to leave the country before they’re deposed.

Despite months-long separation from their families and uncertainty about their fate, the seafarers are in good spirits, said Darrell Wilson, a spokesperson for the crew’s employer, Synergy Marine.

He said the company “looks after them on a daily basis,” helping make sure they have supplies they need. And local seafarers’ organizations have “been tremendous in helping to look after the crew,” Wilson told CNN on Wednesday.

The seamen have had pizza and catered foods delivered as well as access to cricket matches broadcast from their home countries – “you know, small touches that mean a lot to the crew,” Wilson said.

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But it’s still unclear exactly when the eight crew members – and the rest of their colleagues – will be able to leave. CNN has reached out the Singapore-based unions representing the seafarers for comment.

CNN’s Mary Kay Mallonee and Jeff Winter contributed to this report.

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.

One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.

The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.

All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.

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Several “partnering law enforcement agencies assigned to the Reflecting Pool” working with US Park Police were involved in detaining the two men and one woman — including officers from Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and California.

One of the officers said in court documents that Thiers “admitted to removing a piece of blue sealant from the Reflecting Pool and still had it in his hand when I made contact with him.”

The three defendants were arraigned in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000. The judge ordered them to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.

Lawyers for Thiers and Dennison-Gibby declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Carreno’s attorney.

If found guilty of destruction of property, the defendants could be fined up to $1,000 and face a maximum of 180 days behind bars.

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The New York Times first reported that three additional people had been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals caused major damage to the pool by gashing the lining after his administration spent more than $14 million on renovations, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim. The officers who charged Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby did not accuse them of gashing the lining.

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, last week for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn — unlike Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby – was charged with destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000 which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in court Thursday.

Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism – that have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of national interest.

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Supreme Court financial disclosures reveal how their books add to their income

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Supreme Court financial disclosures reveal how their books add to their income

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett speaks at the Reagan Library on Sept. 9, 2025, in Simi Valley, Calif. Barrett discussed and signed copies of her new book, Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution.

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Even as the Supreme Court was handing down one legal thunderbolt after another last week, the justices were quietly releasing their annual financial reports. Justice Samuel Alito was the only sitting justice to request an extension, which he has done for 15 years. The disclosures do not give a complete account of the justices’ total income and wealth, but they give insights into their concertgoing, guest professorships and even their involvement in youth sports.

In addition to their salaries, much of the justices’ reported income came from their book deals. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson led the pack earning more than $1.1 million last year for a total of roughly $4 million since her memoir, Lovely One, was published in 2024.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy also reported income from published books. Earnings from their books ranged from $849,000 for Barrett, to $300,000 for Gorsuch and $88,000 for Sotomayor, whose books include her 2013 autobiography and five children’s books. Justice Clarence Thomas, who previously earned $1.5 million for his 2007 memoir, listed no publisher payments last year, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, one of 13 co-authors of a 2016 legal treatise, also received no payments last year. Kavanaugh is said to be working on a memoir but he listed no payments for the anticipated book. Alito does have a book coming out in the fall, but with his financial report still outstanding, there is no data on how much he was paid for the work in 2025.

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The only two sitting justices who have not written books are Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elena Kagan.

Many justices also earned income from teaching at law schools. Roberts reported income from New England Law, located in Boston, and Gorsuch reported teaching income from George Mason University in Virginia. Thomas taught classes at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and Barrett and Kavanaugh taught at Notre Dame Law School. Barrett graduated from the school and began teaching there 23 years ago; Kavanaugh has family connections to Notre Dame.

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Manhattan Building’s Columns Buckled Beneath New Addition, Images Show

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Manhattan Building’s Columns Buckled Beneath New Addition, Images Show

At least two structural columns buckled and failed in a 37-story office tower in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, prompting evacuations of nearby streets and buildings. While city officials asserted that the tower was in no danger of collapsing completely, outside engineers said further failures in the structure could not be ruled out.

A pair of columns that failed completely were part of the tower’s existing structure. A New York Times review of images and videos from inside the building has found that several floors were added atop these columns.

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City officials said in a news conference on Tuesday that the building was continuing to move, while they simultaneously assured the city that the building would not suffer “total collapse.” “The way this building is constructed, it’s a steel-frame building,” John Esposito, a chief in the Fire Department in New York, said at the afternoon news conference. “So, it would not be a total collapse. It would be more of a localized collapse.” Still, he said, “that remains our concern, that it’s moved.”

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Engineers said that the movement itself was cause for concern. In a properly designed steel building, they said, loads should redistribute quickly to surviving structural supports if columns failed.

Joe DiPompeo, a former president of the Structural Engineering Institute at the American Society of Civil Engineers, said that if the structure had been overloaded, he would expect any movement “to happen very quickly,” rather than gradually.

“Generally when a column buckles, it’s a sudden failure,” Mr. DiPompeo said. He said that a full collapse remained unlikely given the redundancies built into the building codes.

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Engineers often refer to the most dangerous possibility as a progressive collapse, a process in which structures near the initial failure become overstressed and also fail, potentially bringing down the building if the sequence continues. While unlikely, it cannot be ruled out, Mr. DiPompeo said.

Footage recorded from inside the building shows at least two structural columns appear to have failed completely, Mr. DiPompeo said. Other nonstructural, interior walls — or at least the metal “studs” that were in place to hold them up — also appear to have deformed.

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“The only way that really happens is if the floor above them dropped. It looks like the floor above could have dropped a foot or two, which is obviously not a good situation,” Mr. DiPompeo said.

@fernando40tiktok.commarc via Storyful

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Image from @fernando40tiktok.commarc via Storyful

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Image from @Bogs4NY via X

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The 37-story building is in the process of being converted from office space into residential units. Four new floors and a large vertical portion were added onto the existing building in recent months. The vertical portion consists of a stack of over a dozen new floors cantilevered out over the existing building below.

Engineers said that there was nothing inherently wrong with adding residential floors or the cantilevered section above the columns that failed, as long as the original structure and the modifications had properly accounted for the added weight and wind loads.

“The cantilever alone doesn’t change anything,” Mr. DiPompeo said, but it does put additional load on the columns underneath — a factor that should have been reflected in the design.

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Nathan Berman, managing principal and founder of MetroLoft, the developer overseeing the conversion, said on Tuesday that “this incident is nothing more than a typical construction mishap.”

He said two columns near the northwest corner of the tower had bent under the weight of additions to the building above, most likely because those columns had not been properly reinforced, though he said an investigation would determine the cause. The rest of the columns, he said, “picked up the weight.” He estimated the affected floors above the failed columns had sagged by a maximum of four inches.

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Mr. Berman said that he expected the problems to be fixed and the project to be completed with, at most, a slight delay.

On Tuesday evening, installation of temporary shoring was set to begin shortly, in order to help stabilize the 20th and 21st floors of the building.

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