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‘This is America!’ Mike Waltz says as he and Cuban delegation get into shouting match at UN

‘This is America!’ Mike Waltz says as he and Cuban delegation get into shouting match at UN


Tension between the U.S. and Cuba was on full display at the United Nations on Tuesday as the Trump administration’s envoy to the body, Ambassador Mike Waltz, and Cuba’s foreign minister engaged in a shouting match on the floor of the General Assembly.

During the U.N.’s annual debate on the U.S. blockade against Cuba, Waltz took the podium and began delivering a speech that was hotly critical of the Cuban regime. 

Shortly after Waltz began his remarks, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla and the rest of the Cuban delegation began challenging him from the audience — shouting and gesturing as the president of the assembly banged his gavel and fruitlessly asked them to quiet down.

“I hope everyone, Mr. President, is listening to the delegation right now,” Waltz said with a smile. “Imagine what happens when someone ask these questions in Havana, not in a room of ambassadors and cameras! Imagine what happens to those people if this is the intimidation and disruption that we see!”

Rodríguez Parrilla and Waltz traded more remarks, with Waltz declaring “This is America, this is the United Nations, this isn’t your communist dictatorship. You can’t silence me or you cannot silence my colleagues!

Rodríguez Parrilla, whose comments could not be clearly heard on a U.N. livestream of the meeting, approached the front of the hall.

Waltz yelled, “Mr. President, this individual needs to back away from this podium. He’s not going to intimidate me in the United States of America! I’m the representative of the United States of America! Back up!” 

At that point, the assembly president suspended the meeting. After recounting the U.N.’s rules for the event, the president then gave Rodríguez Parrilla a chance to issue a point of order on the condition he limit his grievances to procedure rather the substance of Waltz’s remarks.

Rodríguez Parrilla returned to his seat and used the opportunity to speak to protest Waltz’s claims, accusing him of “grossly lying.” 

Waltz finished his speech without major incident, ending by urging the chamber to vote against the resolution under consideration on Wednesday. Waltz finished his remarks without major incident — urging the chamber to vote against the resolution under consideration on Wednesday. 

Following the incident, Rodríguez Parrilla doubled down on X, writing that Waltz “with his arrogance and hubris, forgets that he is at the United Nations, not at the US National Security Council, nor in a Green Berets unit, nor in a Signal group, where he has repeatedly shown his incompetence and incapacity.”

Waltz, a former Green Beret, came under scrutiny last year while serving as national security adviser for inadvertently inviting a journalist to a Signal chat with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and other top national security officials discussing details of the strike on the Houthis in Yemen.

President Donald Trump nominated Waltz to the U.N. post at the same time he announced Secretary of State Marco Rubio would also serve as national security adviser. 

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DOJ fails to get indictment against former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson: Sources

DOJ fails to get indictment against former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson: Sources


A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., has refused to indict former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson on charges of lying to Congress over her testimony before the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News. 

The failed indictment is the latest setback for the Justice Department in its support of what critics call a campaign of retribution by President Donald Trump, who has long accused Hutchinson of lying to the committee regarding his actions surrounding the Capitol assault. 

Republicans have long sought to undercut Hutchinson’s testimony regarding a story she said had been relayed to her secondhand about President Trump lunging for the steering wheel of his presidential limo following his speech on the Ellipse on Jan. 6. 

Trump has vehemently denied the account and other White House employees did not corroborate the specific detail about Trump lunging.

The Washington Post first reported that a grand jury refused to indict Hutchinson. 

Former special counsel Jack Smith, who indicted President Trump for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, has said he opted not to treat Hutchinson as a material witness after determining much of her testimony was based on hearsay.  Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges related to Jan. 6 and Smith’s case against him was ultimately dismissed.

Hutchinson has maintained that she stands by her testimony. She could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday. 

A Justice Department spokesperson also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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Mom of 3-year-old speaks out after police called over dispute at youth soccer game

Mom of 3-year-old speaks out after police called over dispute at youth soccer game


Police in Winter Park, Florida, released body camera footage of officers responding to an i9 youth soccer game on Saturday amid a dispute over 3-year-old soccer player Nevada Pierre, who dominated the field, prompting concerns over other children getting to play.

Body camera video released on Monday shows the league’s athletic director telling police, who responded to the incident, that he decided to call 911 after a female parent began livestreaming their interaction on social media.

He explained that the dispute with the parent, who identified herself to ABC News as Nevada’s mother Martasia Griffin, began after the 3-year-old’s parents disagreed with his decision to “swap out” Nevada to give other children a chance to play.

“What happened is he’s very advanced compared to the other ones. So he scored a lot of goals, but he pushes the kids to do all that stuff. So I try to tell him, ‘Hey, stop! Don’t [push]. You want to play with that person, right?'”[The parents] don’t like that. They tell me I’m ignorant. I’m this. I’m that,” he said.

In the 911 audio of the call, which was released by police, the athletic director tells the dispatcher that he is calling to report an alleged “unruly parent” who is live-streaming their interaction on social media.

“There’s a parent here that’s really really disruptive … following me around and calling me names and in front of this whole bunch of people that’s here,” he said in the call. “I want [her] to be gone … Can you have someone quickly get here?”

Griffin told ABC News that she was standing up for her son after she learned that he was going to be benched, after being sidelined multiple times in previous games, to give other children the chance to play amid complaints from other parents.

“I was only walking behind him because he said that he’s the director. So I’m trying to figure out what are you gonna do? Like my son should play,” she said of her interaction with the athletic director.

Griffin acknowledged that when her son plays, he dominates the field.

“It’s just his movement. How he’s moving around with the ball. Nobody can’t touch the ball,” she said.

Griffin said that people were “yelling” at her son to “pass the ball,” and when he saw the police, he “was scared as if he did something wrong.” She said the experience damaged “his spirit.”

“At some point, Nevada’s feelings has to … matter too,” Griffin said. “Everybody’s worrying about their kids’ feelings. Their kid want playing time. Their kid want to kick the ball. My kid do too. He don’t know why he’s sitting down. Why everybody else is playing?”

Griffin also claimed that she heard other parents tell their children to push her 3-year-old son on the field. Nevada plays in a league with 5-year-olds, according to his mother.

In a statement, the i9 sports program said that they are “aware of concerns” regarding this incident and “take them very seriously.”

“The respectful treatment and well-being of every child and family matter deeply to us. We have reached out to the family and have begun a review that includes speaking with those involved,” the statement said. “While we work to understand the circumstances, we will not speculate or share unverified information. We appreciate everyone who has brought their concerns to our attention.”

The Winter Park league’s athletic director didn’t respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Griffin said that her son trains for three hours a day with his father and is advanced for his age, so he excels on the field, regardless of playing with children older than him.

According to the league’s ethos, as outlined in the i9 Sports Experience, there is a “focus on fun” and they are committed to giving the children the opportunity at “equal playing time regardless of talent level.”

The league’s “sportsmanship values” include “being a team player” and “inclusion” — “to ensure everyone is treated equally and fairly,” and “giving everyone a chance to play regardless of differences,” the i9 website says.

Police said during their interaction with the director in the body camera video that this is a “civil” matter and “not criminal” and while they couldn’t force Nevada’s family out of the park because it’s a public space, they could tell them that they couldn’t participate in the program anymore.

Griffin is seen in the video asking for a “refund,” and the director said he would fully refund what they paid.

The officers are seen having a conversation with Nevada’s parents and told them that the youth sports league would get in contact with them about refunding their money in a week or two. The family then left the field on their own accord, the video shows.

She noted that the i9 league offered Nevada a chance to join another league for free, but it was three hours away, so the family declined.

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Alexander brothers sentenced to 30 years in federal sex trafficking case

Alexander brothers sentenced to 30 years in federal sex trafficking case


The Alexander brothers were each sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday, after being found guilty on all counts in their federal sex trafficking trial in New York City.

The former real estate titans, Oren and Alon Alexander, 39-year-old twins, along with their brother, Tal Alexander, 40, were accused by prosecutors of a “decade-long sex trafficking and sexual abuse scheme.”

The three brothers will have to participate in sex offender treatment programs in prison, the judge said. In addition to their prison terms, the brothers were each sentenced to 10 years of supervised release.

Oren and Alon Alexander were also ordered to pay $300,000 each in fines, and Tal Alexander was ordered to pay $350,000 in fines, as well as restitution, which will be determined by attorneys from both sides. Oren Alexander, who was also convicted of sexually exploiting a minor by distributing homemade child sex abuse material of a 17-year-old girl in 2009, was ordered to pay an additional $50,000 immediately.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Espinosa asked the judge for the maximum sentence — life in prison — for all three brothers, arguing that the government does not believe one is more culpable than the others in what prosecutors called an “immense” sex trafficking scheme.

“They spent years designing, executing, and perfecting their playbook of luring victims with promises of luxury, drugging victims so they could not resist, and then forcibly raping them,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed ahead of Tuesday’s hearing. “The defendants carried out their playbook time and time again, drugging, raping, and assaulting dozens of victims. Over 70 women came forward with harrowing accounts of assault that stripped them of their dignity and autonomy.”

Defense attorneys argued that the brothers should serve lighter sentences — 15 years, the minimum for sex trafficking — while maintaining their innocence.

“At no time did Alon, Oren or Tal rape or sexually assault another person. At no time did Alon, Oren or Tal entice, harbor, or maintain a woman to have commercial sex. At no time did Alon, Oren or Tal administer a drug or other substance to a woman against her will or without her knowledge. At no time did Oren intentionally make or distribute child pornography,” defense attorneys wrote in their sentencing memorandum on behalf of the three brothers. “They are innocent of these charges, and they show honor and respect to our system of justice by vowing to fight for their innocence with all of their power for as long as is required, confident in the notion that one day they will be free to live out their lives with their children and families.”

The brothers’ friends and family members also submitted letters to Judge Valerie Caproni asking for leniency, describing their character and dedication to family.

The brothers addressed the court prior to learning their sentences during Tuesday’s hearing in Manhattan, continuing to claim that they never sexually assaulted or drugged anybody.

Judge Caproni admonished the brothers for continuing to maintain their innocence.

“You did not have to stand up and say you’ve never raped anyone,” Caproni said while handing down their sentences. “That’s a lie and you know it.”

A dozen women delivered victim impact statements during Tuesday’s hearing, including six who testified during the federal trial.

Prosecutors thanked those who came forward in the case “to ensure that the defendants can no longer harm others.”

“The defendants preyed on women and young girls, using drugs and violence to incapacitate them so they could rape them. The defendants did this for years –inflicting unspeakable harm on so many young women.  And, for years, the defendants used their careers and social status to conceal the danger they posed,” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said in a statement. “Today’s sentence makes clear that this craven, sinister conduct is extraordinarily serious and will be met with serious punishment.”

Throughout the five-week trial, 11 women testified that they were sexually assaulted by one or more of the brothers. At least eight of the women claimed they were drugged by one of the Alexanders. 

The brothers denied sexually assaulting anyone or running a sex trafficking conspiracy, as prosecutors have charged. They pleaded not guilty. A spokesperson for the Alexander family called the verdict “deeply disappointing.”

“We believe there are substantial problems with the evidence and the way this case was presented,” the spokesperson, Juda S. Engelmayer, said in a statement following the jury’s verdict in March. “The legal process does not end here. We will continue fighting every day until justice is done and the three brothers regain their freedom.”

Oren and Tal Alexander gained notoriety in New York’s luxury real estate market through their company, Alexander Group, and have been under federal investigation alongside Alon since late 2024.

They have been accused of luring women to nightclubs and parties, then drugging and sexually assaulting them.

In his closing statement during the spring trial, federal prosecutor Andrew Jones said there is “crushing evidence” that the brothers “masqueraded as party boys when really they were predators” who committed an “array of federal sex offenses.”

Jones recounted the graphic accounts of the alleged victims and said the wealthy brothers had a “playbook” of luring women with exclusive parties, yachts and luxury travel so they could assault them.

During closing arguments, defense attorney Howard Srebnick conceded the brothers could be “obnoxious” and their conduct “inappropriate,” but he told the jury, “Nobody was being assaulted, nobody had been trafficked.”

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Supreme Court declines to restore policy allowing immigration judges to close deportation cases

Supreme Court declines to restore policy allowing immigration judges to close deportation cases


The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to unfreeze a Biden-era policy that allowed immigration judges to use their discretion to temporarily close deportation cases for immigrants.

In an unsigned order, the court rejected a request from three cities with large migrant populations — Baltimore as well as Columbus, Ohio, and New Haven, Connecticut — to pause an agreement between Texas and the Trump administration that threw out the policy.

There were no noted dissents. 

The regulation, known as “administrative closure,” gives immigration judges discretion to temporarily pause deportation proceedings for migrants while the migrants seek humanitarian protections or other forms of legal status in the country.

The Trump administration has pushed to curtail judicial processes for unlawful migrants, and the high court’s conservative majority has been largely deferential to executive authority in the area of immigration policy.

Deportation hearings in immigration court are legal proceedings initiated by the Department of Homeland Security in which an immigration judge determines whether a migrant should be removed from the United States. Often, an immigration judge will pause or dismiss a case to allow the individual to pursue legal relief. 

While dismissals were viewed as a positive outcome for migrants, immigration attorneys have said the Trump administration, as part of its immigration crackdown, began to use dismissals to detain people at immigration courts and place them into expedited removal without allowing them to fight their case.

Last year, federal agents arrested hundreds of migrants at immigration courts — in some cases after their deportation cases were dismissed. 

In court filings, the cities argued that administrative closure promoted “efficiency” and protected “due process rights.” They also argued that the practice has existed in various forms for decades.

In June, the state of Texas sued the federal government, arguing that the policy granted “indefinite amnesty to aliens illegally present in this country.”

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Jewelry thief who swallowed luxury earrings during arrest to be sentenced in December

Jewelry thief who swallowed luxury earrings during arrest to be sentenced in December


A thief who stole earrings valued at over $760,000 and later swallowed them while being arrested is set to be sentenced in December after he was found guilty of grand theft and robbery, the state attorney’s office for Florida’s ninth judicial circuit announced.

Jaythan Gilder received the guilty verdict last week after a trial surrounding the theft of jewelry at a Tiffany & Co. store in Orlando, Florida, the state attorney’s office said.

According to the prosecutor’s office, “In February 2025, Gilder posed as a representative negotiating a jewelry purchase on behalf of a professional basketball player.”

Prosecutors say Gilder then grabbed and attempted to leave with $760,000 worth of merchandise and used “force” against an employee while trying to escape.

According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant, Gilder also attempted to leave with a ring, which was slapped out of his possession and recovered at the scene of the robbery.

Gilder was later arrested, after which prosecutors say he “swallowed the stolen earrings in an attempt to conceal the evidence.”

A video posted by the Orlando Police Department describing the crime said that while Florida Highway Patrol stopped Gilder, “they noticed items in his mouth he was attempting to swallow, which a body scan at the Washington County Jail later found to be foreign objects suspected to be the Tiffany’s earrings.”

Authorities “monitored” Gilder over a nearly two-week time period “before recovering the jewelry,” prosecutors say.

“After the diamonds were expelled from his system, we were able to bring the diamonds to Tiffany’s where they were cleaned and where their master jeweler looked at the inscription or serial numbers on the diamonds and confirmed they were the very diamonds that were stolen on the 26th [of February],” the police video added.

“This case involved not only a significant financial loss, but also the safety of employees who were confronted with violence while simply doing their jobs,” state attorney Monique Worrell said in a statement. “This verdict sends a clear message that violence and theft will not be tolerated in our community.”

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