Top News From WTOP - 5PM UPDATE - AUGUST 14, 2026

Anders against Miami. From ABC News, I'm Brian Clark. The war in Iran is approaching six months, and President Trump today said the U.S. continues to make progress. Pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormoz Strait, a territory of the United States. He was speaking on New York's Long Island, not long after he dismissed reports that families of crew members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier had feared for the health and safety of their loved ones because the ship had been at sea for nine months. Retired Marine Colonel Steve Ganyard is an ABC news contributor who says the complaints are mostly anecdotal. So nine months at sea, not putting a step on land, not a can of beer, nine months, and they're keeping their focus. I think it's a bit distressing is that this seems to in the past couple days become a political football. The Army's temporarily grounded training flights for Apache helicopters as it tries to determine what caused a crash during a training exercise near Fort Hood in Texas this week that killed both soldiers on board. Luigi Mangione admitted to stalking and killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. Mangione today pleaded guilty to two federal charges. This was not a spontaneous act of violence. It was deliberate. calculated and premeditated. That's U.S. attorney Jamie McDonald, who says there was no deal, and Mangione faces life in prison when he's sentenced in December. He still faces state murder charges. That trial is set to begin next month, but his defense team seeks to dismiss the state charges. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled President Trump's goal of ending gender-affirming care is not improper and thus cannot form the basis of quashing a subpoena against a provider of medical treatment for transgender youth. An ACLU attorney who represented queer docs as they'll continue fighting the subpoena. You're listening to ABC News. It is 502, Friday, August the 14th. We have clouds right now. Temperatures holding in the low 80s.

84 on the National Mall. Good afternoon. I'm Ann Kramer. And I'm Sean Anderson. Top Story this hour on W.TOP. The latest on the graffiti found at the World War II Memorial. The U.S. attorney for D.C. Janine Piro says that she now can charge a woman for defacing the monument. Our story from DDTOP's Gigi Barnett. The Department of Justice says it took 41-year-old Melissa Ferris into custody. She's facing two felony charges after visitors at the site took pictures and videos of her splashing bright pink paint on the ground, writing graffiti on walls, and pouring foam into the fountain. A conviction could lead to 10 years behind bars for Ferris. Piro took to social media shortly after the arrest. She's called the vandalism a disgusting act and an insult to the Americans who fought and died in the war. This latest arrest comes a week after a judge. Judge dismissed and threw out charges in another alleged act of vandalism at the nearby reflecting pool. The Justice Department said there wasn't enough evidence of vandalism to pursue the man linked to that case. Gigi Barnett, WTOP News. Now, the new information that's developed here this afternoon, videos have surfaced purportedly from the suspect, Melissa Ferris, and she apparently on this video. admits to defacing the monument. Now, she talks about a lot of things in an emotional state. She talks about she has personal problems. She suffers from autism and ADHD. She also is worried about the state of the country. We'll have more on those videos as we go through the afternoon and evening here on WDTOP. The latest now on one of President Trump's legal battles. This one over the White House ballroom. The Trump administration has filed its appeal with the Supreme Court over a lower court ruling when it came to construction on the project. That lower court said construction had to stop. Lawmakers and Congress are requesting a separate review of the ballroom project's costs. Here's WTOP's Mitchell Miller today on the Hill. The president's solicitor general has asked the high court to suspend a ruling from the D.C. court. of appeals, which stated construction of the ballroom must stop because Congress hasn't approved the project. President Trump has been critical of the ruling and has taken an active role in the project, taking reporters to the work site earlier this year. It will be something very special. Democratic senators, meanwhile, are asking the government accountability office to conduct an audit of the ballroom project, which was initially estimated to cost $400 million. The president has said it's all being privately funded, but added secure... means that taxpayers will foot part of the bill. On Capitol Hill, Mitchell Miller, WTOP News. 504, the Shenandoah County School Board says it will fight a federal court order to remove Confederate names from schools in the county. This according to the Virginia Mercury here this afternoon, earlier this month, the court had ruled in favor of the Virginia NACP, along with families of six students who had sued over the school names. The court found the decision to rebrand the schools with the names of Confederate generals violated multiple civil rights laws, and the court ordered the district to remove them immediately. Well, in 2021, the school board stripped the names of Confederates from several schools, but in 2024, the school board argued its decision to bring the names back was necessary to, in its words, restore the public's trust.

The legal fight could cost the school board millions. It voted unanimously last night to appeal the ruling. It is 505. The long wait for NFL football to return comes to an end tonight in our region. It is a preseason game for the commanders and the dolphins happening at Northwest Stadium. And that's where we find WTOP Scott Gellman. Scott, how much fun are you having this afternoon? Sean, I don't know if you could smell that. I don't know if the smell out here. is reaching a glass and closed nerve center, but I have to tell you that the lot is not packed, but it is packed full of diehard fans who said they wanted to be here to see some football, any football. They've been waiting a long time for it. I still want to see because you still get to see the way the playbook's going to go, how they're going to play on defense, how they're going to play in the offense, their mindset, how the coaches are coaching these guys. So this would give us a better idea on how the season will go in my opinion. Oh, we're going to the Super Bowl, baby. We're going all the way. All the way. We be in LA. You're going to be there, Scott? Because I'm going to be there. We're going all the way. I want to see what the second and the third stringers are going to do, the game plan. It was a big disappointment last season. I know we had a lot of injuries. Well, I mean, like preseason's preseason. I got different thoughts on pre. You should ask me why did I, why was I here during the Rivera years? Why was I here before the Rivera years? Yeah, that's all fair questions. I've been asking some of the fans here, tailgates, well underway, some Dolphins fans as well. How do they make it through a long off season without any football? And they said, credit to the other D.C. sports teams, the mystics, the caps. the Wizards and Draft Kings was the answer from one gentleman there. Some folks, Ann, were like this one, excited to go up to the Commander's Ravens preseason game. And then some folks already have a trip planned for the season opener in Philly, but a lot of excitement. Stefan Diggs on the team as well. John and Ann, it's any football. It's week one. It's NFL preseason football, but football is football. And the football gods, weather-wise are cooperating and folks are having a good time here on this Friday night. Reporting live in Prince George's County. Scott, Yelman, WTOP. All right, Scott, enjoy money news here on. WD TOP with John Wardock. Shoppers have soured on the economy and current business conditions. Consumer sentiment has fallen, according to a survey from the University of Michigan. Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, says, among other things, you can blame prices at the gas pump. We've never had $4 gas this late in August ever. ever and so this is not normal and that's why you see consumers getting jittery as they go and shop back to school and they start to turn to the fall a report on retail sales for last month also came in worse than expected the government says sales fell six tenths of a percent an increase was expected stocks fell friday after this double dose of economic news the down Jay Jones industrial average lost 107 points. The S&P 500 slipped 13 and the NASDAQ was off 73. John Werdock, WTOP News. Coming up here on WTOP, Luigi Mangione pleads guilty in federal court to charges related to the killing of the CEO of United Healthcare. We'll explain what this all means next with ABC legal analyst Royal Oaks.

A big development and a high-profile murder case. This took place inside a Manhattan federal courtroom today. Maryland native Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty today in New York to federal stalking charges in connection to the shooting two years ago of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione said in court, quote, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died. I knew what I was doing. Now, Mangione's state murder trial is expected to start in a few weeks, but as attorneys say, they're going to try and get it tossed out over a double jeopardy claim. Joining us live to talk more about all this, ABC legal analyst, Royal Oaks. Great to have you back. Thank you so much. You bet. So here we go. We have the federal charges and we have the state charges. What do we know about why now? Why Mangione would plead guilty to these federal charges? Well, because as you say, his lawyers are prepared to make a double jeopardy argument in the state court. Now, in a few weeks, he was scheduled to go on trial in the state court in New York. He could have been sentenced, if found guilty, to life in prison. But he has a strong argument that the New York double jeopardy. law means that once you actually plead guilty to the federal charge, if it's basically the same thing you're on trial for in state court, then the state court goes away because it violates his double jeopardy rules. Now, there's no guarantee he will win that argument, but it's pretty strong because New York's law basically says if you're going after somebody in two jurisdictions for basically the same criminal act, then it would be double jeopardy to subject him to a second trial. Royal, it gets clout. for me because what he pleaded guilty to today was the federal stalking charge. That's not murder like he's on trial for, we'll be on trial for in the state case, right? Exactly right. And you're talking like the district attorney in New York is going to talk because when the argument is made by the defense, the DA's response is going to be exactly what you said. Look, interstate stalking is a totally different thing at the federal level. That's what he was charged with. Now he's charged with murder. There is no federal murder statute unless you kill somebody on federal land. And that's going to be their argument that they're really distinct things. The difficulty is sort of the common sense approach would say, well, we get it. But that's kind of inside baseball. Bottom line is both jurisdictions were going after him for killing the CEO. And that argument. is likely to prevail. Is there a difference in the potential sentence that Luigi Mangione might receive now that he has pleaded guilty to this particular federal charge? Well, yeah, in the sense that now that the federal judge has the power and in December, the announcement will be made, you'll get life or 40 years, 30, 20, we don't know. But that's all he's going to be facing if his lawyers went in state court. If the New York state matter had gone forward, then he'd be looking at whatever the federal judge wants to give him. In addition to that, he could be getting life in prison if he's convicted in the state court matter and the judge gives him life there. So he's, yes, he's given something.

He's giving up the chance to win and be found not guilty. But what are the odds of that? His lawyers obviously said to him, we don't have any evidence that you didn't do it. Therefore, let's sort of play the game, play poker here, and see if we can get you out. For example, if he's given 20 years in prison on the federal side, he might be out in about 15 years, given good time and time served. Royal, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York made a point after court today to say this was not a plea. deal. So why did they make that point so clear or want to make that point so clear? Well, they wanted to tell the world that we're not giving this guy some sort of a break. We weren't afraid to go to trial, therefore, well, instead of life, we'll say we'll recommend 30 years or 20 years. In fact, they said on the streets of Manhattan, we're going to ask this judge to give life in prison on the federal plea. And we'll know in December whether the judge goes along with that or not. Well, thanks for the explanation. We appreciate your insight. You bet, thanks. ABC legal analyst, Royal Oaks. Are you ready for the funnel cake, the fried Oreos and demolition derby? The Montgomery County Fair is just getting underway. We're going to take you live there to WDTOP's Jimmy Alexander next. All right, the Montgomery County Fair, the so-called biggest one in the States. I hear Frederick likes to challenge them on that claim. But nonetheless, it's a great fair and it's underway. The fair calls at the best nine days of summer. Now, W.T.O.B.'s Jimmy Alexander's enjoying himself out at the fairgrounds. And Gaithersburg, he joins us live, Jimmy. You got into the final cakes in that. Like, yeah. I have the final cake in my mouth right now, John. When you walk, and this is, I'm going to give you a little tip here, son. Oh, Jimmy. When you take five steps into the bear, the funnel cake is right there. That's all you do, right there. And when you come in, sorry, I go ahead. I was going to say they knew you were coming to me. Well, when you come in, you want to make sure you get the maps and attraction guys because on the. It says WTOP news, there's only one D.C. And, of course, a pamphlet with WT on the P on the back would have all the information you would need. As in, kids under, kids under get him free. But sadly, if you're the height of an 11-year-old like myself, you do have to pay. I want everybody to know that. But there are a couple of menu items I'd like to share with you guys. Now, of course, they have the peppers and onions, which were always great and fair. But this year... I saw the cookie butter frozen cheesecake. Does that not just sound wonderful? I mean, sure you, sure, you might want to get, you know, check up after you have a couple of those. The cookie butter frozen cheesecake, but not to be outdone by the Bayou Bum sandwich, which has a crab cake, four shrimp, and preo sauce on a Hawaiian bun. Whoa. Now, this is the, I just want you and Sean to know about this. I don't want to share this to somebody else because it's a little secret among us. Right across from the Goat and the Seat Pavilion is where they're serving the greatest thing I've ever heard in my life.

A donut burger. Does that not sound wonderful? Who needs a bun? We can have a donut. And for me, as you know, Anne, I was actually born in Ocean City, Maryland. You know that, Anne. Yes, exactly. Where most people can see there, I was actually born there. And what I love about the Montgomery County Fair, it's like you have the fun of the boardwalk, the great food that you would have on the boardwalk, plus the only thing that Ocean City is missing. farm animals. That's the great thing about Montgomery County Agricultural Fair. I think you need to make sure that you spend some time interviewing a cow or a goat or something next time. Can we get that one? I promise you I will have the one-on-one with the goat to find out the real answers. Plus, I did buy the wristband, so I will be riding rides. And later, I will need help to see how I can expense all of this. when it's the end of the month. You know, given how much you've eaten so far, I don't think anybody wants to be around you while you're on the rides if it's like the roller coaster or the Tilda Will or one of those big things. Yeah, I don't know if the donut burger is going to really fix with the ride over here that's called freak out. So you guys have fun in the studio and I'm going to go have more fun on kick. Well, we can't wait to check in. WTOB's Jimmy Alexander, live from the Montgomery County Ag Fair in Gatorsport. Time for sports on WTOB, brought to you by Amentum, delivering advanced solutions for space and defense. That's going on in one part of Montgomery County, but we know what's happening in PG County this afternoon. Man, how do we follow Jimmy Alexander right there at the fair? We'll tell you the Bill Gates are open and Northwest Stadium fans starting to file in. Pre-game warm-ups underway. Commanders and Dolphins, the preseason opener coming up at 7. Jaden Daniels, Stefan Diggs, Terry McLaurin, among those getting in some early work, though none are expected to play in the game itself. Miami, on the other hand, choosing to go with a number of their starters for tonight's preseason opener. Meanwhile, the league announcing today that commanders' defensive end... Doran's Armstrong suspended for the season opener for violating the league's personal conduct policy, Armstrong a key cog on a defensive unit looking to improve after ranking 32nd overall last season. Baseball interesting development from Blake Butera's pregame meeting with the media today in New York. Butera sharing that the nationals are set to transition C.J. Abrams into a second baseman. Abrams has come up as a shortstop over the years, but the plan for the stretch run is to have Nasim Nunez play short. C.J. Abrams will play second, and part of the incentive here is that there are several prospects in the team system who all happen to be short stops as well. Ben Rabi, WTOP sports. Thank you, Ben.