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Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO

NEW YORK (AP) -- Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty on Friday to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitting matter-of-factly that he trailed the executive to an investor conference and gunned him down on a New York City street in 2024.

Mangione, 28, said he made a gun with the aid of a 3D printer, traveled to New York and used a ruse -- posing as an investor at a multibillion-dollar firm -- to contact the company for details on the event.

"On the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died," Mangione told the Manhattan federal court, which he entered shackled at the feet but not handcuffed in his beige jail uniform.

Listening in the audience, Thompson's wife, Paulette, took several deep breaths and repeatedly wiped tears from her eyes.

Prosecutors plan to seek a life prison term at Mangione's sentencing, set for Dec. 18. When U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett asked whether he understood that he could spend the rest of his life behind bars, Mangione answered neutrally: "Yes."

In a statement, Thompson's family called the plea "an important step toward justice" and noted that Mangione still faces other cases, including a New York state murder prosecution. It carries the potential for a separate long sentence.

Federal prosecutors didn't give Mangione any deal or incentive to plead guilty, they and his lawyers said. Nor did Mangione plead guilty to avoid a potential death sentence. That possibility was taken off the table when a federal murder charge was tossed out this winter.

Mangione's lawyers didn't explain why he choose to plead guilty now, but after he entered the plea at Friday's hastily scheduled hearing, they quickly sought to have the New York case thrown out on double jeopardy grounds. The state's double jeopardy protections can kick in if a prior prosecution ends in a guilty plea.

"Mr. Mangione has accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson," defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said outside court, arguing that her client shouldn't face two prosecutions over a "single tragic event."

The Manhattan district attorney's office, which is handling the state prosecution, said it remains committed to its case and would contest the defense's efforts to shut it down.

Surveillance video of the ambush showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson, 50, from behind. Police say "delay," "deny" and "depose" were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

That detail -- and revelations that Mangione's private writings lambasted health insurers as greedy, according to authorities -- made the case a fulcrum for debate about the industry and made Mangione a cause célèbre for some of its critics.

A University of Pennsylvania graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, Mangione told the court Friday that he pursued Thompson "after years of enduring severe pain from a broken back, navigating the obstacles of the health insurance system and witnessing similar experiences of countless others."

Friedman Agnifilo later said her client "believed that the system had failed him and destroyed his life."

Trump says USS Lincoln's record time at sea during Iran operations 'not nearly long enough'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump on Friday downplayed the toll on American sailors enduring nearly nine months at sea on the USS Abraham Lincoln as concerns escalated about mental health and supply issues aboard the aircraft carrier supporting U.S. operations against Iran.

In a brief exchange with reporters before flying to New York for an event to highlight falling violent crime rates across the U.S., Trump refuted that family members have raised concerns about the deployment's length and even said that the deployment -- which includes a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days -- is "not nearly long enough."

"That ship is moving right now, or very shortly, and it's being replaced with another very similar ship," Trump said when asked about the lengthy deployment. The acting navy secretary, Hung Cao, said the Lincoln "will return home soon" in a social media post on Friday.

Trump strode into office for a second term vowing to avoid lengthy and expensive military entanglements. And after launching the Iran war, alongside Israel, Trump and his advisers said the conflict would last a matter of weeks. The war is now more than five months old.

But on Friday, during his crime address in Garden City, New York, he acknowledged that he's used the U.S. military "a little bit more than I wanted to," while asserting anew that the U.S. operation against Iran is going well. He even said, seemingly in jest, that "pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States."

"I'll never apologize," Trump added about the war and its impact on oil prices. "I did the right thing."

Extended deployments of carriers during the Iran conflict have raised concerns about the impact on service members who are away from home for long periods as well as the increasing strain on the ships and their equipment.

Several Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ruben Gallego of Arizona, are pressing for accountability from the Pentagon over conditions aboard the Lincoln, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said were "completely misrepresented."

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., who served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division and 75th Ranger Regiment before being elected, took to social media to criticize Trump's comments, saying on X that "President Trump does not care about our servicemembers or their families."

Top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have requested a classified briefing on the ship's food inventory, sanitation issues and healthcare availability, as well as an assessment of how much longer it would be deployed before relief arrives.

Republicans have been less outspoken about the situation on the Lincoln. The GOP chairmen of the House and Senate armed services committees did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump asks Supreme Court to let White House ballroom construction continue during appeal

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's administration on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the White House to continue construction on its $400 million ballroom project while it appeals a lower court's order to halt the work.

Trump's solicitor general petitioned the high court to suspend last week's decision by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Chief Justice John Roberts set a deadline of Tuesday for a response by plaintiffs challenging the ballroom project.

The divided appeals court panel ruled last week Trump must stop the White House ballroom's construction because Congress has not approved the project. The panel's majority said Trump doesn't have the unilateral authority to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom where the White House's East Wing stood before he ordered its demolition last fall.

The lower court suspended its own ruling for two weeks to give Trump's Republican administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the Supreme Court to rule on its stay petition before the appeals court panel's decision takes effect on Aug. 21.

"This case involves an extraordinary and unlawful injunction that will halt the ongoing construction of the integrated military complex, including a totally secure ballroom space, at the East Wing of the White House, which is vitally required by national security," Sauer wrote.

Friday's court filing includes the administration's first confirmation that a threatened missile attack on Air Force One prompted the Secret Service to secretly fly Trump out of Turkey last month on an alternate military aircraft. In arguing for the need for a secure ballroom space, the filing cites "the threat of a missile attack against Air Force One on July 8" in a list of recent assassination attempts against Trump.

The filing also asserts that the project is "on time and under budget" with approximately $400 million in private donations obviating the need for any taxpayer dollars to be spent. However, Democrats in Congress have said it appears that funds from Trump's " big, beautiful " tax cuts bill appear to be paying for ballroom work. The administration also has requested additional funding from Congress for the project, but lawmakers haven't approved it.

House Democrats PAC adds $6 million to Cleveland spending after Ohio's Miller opts to stay in race

A super PAC affiliated with U.S. House Democrats plans to increase its campaign advertising reservations in Cleveland, Ohio, by roughly $6 million on Friday, in response to Republican Rep. Max Miller's decision to proceed with his reelection campaign despite allegations of abuse by his ex-wife Emily Moreno.

House Majority PAC's move is expected to raise the group's campaign advertising in the Cleveland area to roughly $7 million, the group announced in an email obtained by The Associated Press.

Miller's decision to press on even after calls from within his own party to step aside also prompted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats' main campaign arm, this week to move Democratic challenger Brian Poindexter on to the group's list of priority candidates.

The House Ethics Committee said last week it had opened an investigation into domestic abuse allegations against Miller. The embattled Ohio congressman also last week spoke with Trump, who did not suggest he exit the race but suggested it would be difficult.

President Donald Trump won Ohio's 7th District in 2024 by 11 percentage points, though Democrats see the swath of suburban Cleveland and rural northeast Ohio as within reach in light of the renewed accusations from Moreno, the daughter of Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno.

Miller, whose deadline to drop from the race passed Monday, has denied the abuse claims and said he would inject $1 million of his own into his campaign.

Officials with the National Republican Congressional Committee, the GOP's House campaign arm, said Friday they would support Miller's reelection campaign.

Ohio city fires police officer who shot and killed 15-year-old, settles lawsuit with family

AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- Officials in Akron, Ohio, have fired a police officer who shot and killed 15-year-old boy while also announcing Friday that the city has agreed to pay $4.75 million to the teen's family.

The settlement, which still needs a judge's approval, came after the family filed a lawsuit against the city.

Police have said that Jazmir Tucker was carrying a loaded weapon when he was shot in November 2024. They said two officers heard gunshots, later spotted Tucker and ran after him before one fired multiple times.

Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said Officer Davon Fields was fired for multiple policy violations, including failing to properly provide medical aid and violating the department's policy for body-worn cameras. The mayor also cited other issues related to a separate criminal allegation involving Fields.

"The loss of life and the circumstances in this case were absolutely tragic, with enormous human and financial costs," Malik said in a statement. "We have a responsibility to make policy changes that reduce the likelihood of cases like this happening in the future."

The head of Akron's police union called the firing unjust and said the officer was being used as a "political scapegoat." The union plans to fight the firing, said Brian Lucey, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police.

A grand jury decided against indicting the officer nearly a year ago.

Weeks after the shooting, Akron's mayor said the bodycam video of the shooting raised questions, including why officers didn't immediately turn on their cameras and why it took so long to provide first aid.

In the video, the shooting officer's arms and long gun block his camera's view, obscuring Tucker in the moments before he was shot. Another officer's camera recorded police unzipping the jacket pocket of the wounded teenager and pulling out a handgun.

2 planes with the same flight number avoid possible disaster thanks to quick-thinking controller

A potential disaster was averted Friday when a Phoenix air traffic controller recognized two American Airlines jets mistakenly were flying the same flight number and acted quickly to avoid confusion and keep them a safe distance apart.

Audio of the incident shortly after midnight Friday shows how he found a solution to ensure the planes that were both called American 2482 maintained proper separation as one plane arrived from Chicago shortly after the other had taken off in Phoenix.

"I've been working air traffic for 25 years. I've never seen two aircraft pretty much merge with the same call sign. That's pretty incredible," the controller said after the departing plane had safely cleared the area.

If both pilots thought the controller was telling them to fly at the same altitude as they headed toward each other, they might have collided, so it was crucial they knew which plane he was directing.

The audio posted by ATC.com shows how the controller quickly started referring to "American 2482 on the arrival" and "American 2482 on the departure" to keep the two planes straight.

The controller kept the arriving plane safely above the departing plane even as their flight paths converged and made sure that the pilots of both airlines saw each other when they were still miles apart. He also directed the departing plane not to climb too high, so a gap would remain between the planes.

The arriving pilot complimented the controller for his "nice work" once the two planes had passed each other safely.

"It could have been disastrous, but I'm glad it worked out," the controller replied.

Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said it's likely that someone inside the airline's dispatch center failed to catch that both planes would be in the air at the same time with identical flight numbers when both the dispatcher and the pilots signed off on the flight plan.

"You can drop the ball and that shouldn't happen, but it's nice to see that the system is resilient and we have all the safeguards," said Arroyo, who has only seen this type of issue a couple times in his four decades with United Airlines. Arroyo started his career as a dispatcher before becoming a pilot.

Flight 2482 is a round-trip route that often flies back and forth between Chicago and Phoenix. Typically the same plane goes back and forth, but the flight out of Chicago was delayed by weather, so American found a second plane in Phoenix and that flight left on time. The result was that both planes briefly shared the same airspace before the arriving flight landed.

The Federal Aviation Administration and American Airlines will investigate how this happened, and they both emphasized how glad they were that everyone remained safe.

"The diligence and professionalism of air traffic controllers and our pilots ensured required separation was always maintained and the issue was identified and addressed. Both flights continued safely and without incident," American Airlines said in a statement.