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Plane crash near Washington DC: what we know so far

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Plane crash near Washington DC: what we know so far
  • A regional passenger jet with 64 onboard has collided with a military helicopter before crashing into the Potomac river while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington national airport on Wednesday night.

  • The American Airlines flight, operated by PSA Airlines as American Eagle Flight 5342, had flown from Wichita, Kansas, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members when it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter that was on a training flight.

  • Dozens of firefighters were “engaged in dive operations” on the Potomac river, Edward Kelly, the general president of the international association of firefighters, said, with bodies reportedly pulled from the water and no survivors being immediately found. US senator Ted Cruz said “we know there are fatalities” but did not provide further details.

  • The helicopter was believed to be carrying three soldiers, with no senior army officials onboard. The Black Hawk helicopter involved in the crash was based out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

  • Temperatures in the area were below freezing, and any length of time spent in the water would be extremely dangerous for anyone who survived the initial incident, with hypothermia setting in quickly in very cold water.

  • Inflatable boats and dive teams searched the site, with helicopters circling above, and large floodlights illuminating the scene from the shore. About 300 responders were involved in the search. The operations were made more difficult by strong gusts of wind as well as the cold.

  • Washington DC fire and emergency medical services chief John Donnelly said: “The challenges are access … there is wind, there [are] pieces of ice out there, so it’s just dangerous and hard to work in

  • There was no immediate indication of any deliberate or terrorist cause.

  • The helicopter was on a training exercise in some of the most tightly controlled airspace in the world. The weather in DC was clear.

  • All takeoffs and landings have been halted until Thursday morning at the airport while the rescue operation is underway.

  • President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the “terrible accident” and praising the “incredible work” done by emergency services. He later said on social media that the crash “should have been prevented”.

  • Ari Schulman, an eyewitness who was driving home when the incident happened, described a “stream of sparks” overhead. “Initially I saw the plane and it looked fine, normal. It was right about to head over land,” he told CNN. “Three seconds later, and at that point it was banked all the way to the right … I could see the underside of it, it was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it. It looked like a Roman candle.”

  • American Airlines has set up a phone line for relatives who believe they may have lost ones one on board.

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    Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

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    Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

    Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

    The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission ⁠were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ⁠two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from ​the White House presidential personnel office.

    “On ‌behalf of President ‌Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position ‌as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email, seen by Reuters, said.

    The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The Election Assistance Commission serves as a “national clearinghouse of information on election ‌administration”, accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, and maintains the national mail-voter registration form developed by the National ​Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website. The terminations follow Trump and top administration officials’ advocacy to change vote-by-mail requirements and investigations into the 2020 election outcome, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

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    “It is ⁠irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on ​causing chaos for ​our election officials across this ​country,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes said in a ​Thursday statement. “This ‌move undermines the integrity ​of nonpartisan ​election administration.”

    The 2002 law that established the commission, the Help America Vote Act, states the president can appoint replacements to the commission.

    It is unclear how Trump will move ahead with the commission.

    Reuters contributed reporting

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    Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

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    Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

    Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn (left) walks with his attorney Norman Eisen to speak to reporters and protesters gathered after his arraignment at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

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    Finn Gomez/Getty Images

    Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning.

    Federal prosecutors charged Hearn with a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool.

    Hearn has previously claimed, which his attorneys repeated during a short press conference outside the court, that he simply touched the water in the pool out of curiosity.

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    The Trump administration had just completed a $14 million renovation of the pool.

    But shortly after the work finished, peeling paint and algae gathered in the water. The remodel has been largely criticized as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

    Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

    Norm Eisen, one of Hearn’s attorneys, spoke to reporters outside of court following the hearing. He said the administration is using Hearn as a “scapegoat … for their own failures.”

    “It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America,” he said.

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    Prosecutors say there is a host of evidence against Hearn.

    This is a developing story.

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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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