A highly impactful and potentially historic nor’easter is expected to quickly strengthen as it collects itself offshore near Delaware, Maryland and Virginia on Sunday, leading to major and potentially extreme impacts for millions along the I-95 corridor.

More than 50 million Americans were on alert on Sunday morning for winter storm conditions beginning later Sunday and continuing into Monday.

Blizzard warnings are in effect for more than 35 million Americans from Cape Charles, Virginia, to Dover, Delaware, up to the I-95 corridor from Philadelphia to Boston for increased confidence in snowfall of more than a foot and gusty winds that will likely cause blizzard conditions. The entire states of Delaware, New Jersey and Rhode Island were included. 

Winter storm warnings were in effect for parts of central Virginia and Maryland, east-central Pennsylvania, southern New York, northern Connecticut, west-central Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire and Vermont, and southern Maine for increased confidence of snowfall.

Some areas are expecting about 6 inches, while some areas may potentially see more than a foot, as well as gusty winds that will likely cause blowing snow and whiteout conditions.

Those conditions could hit major cities, including Baltimore; Harrisburg and Scranton, Pennsylvania; Albany, New York; Hartford, Connecticut; Concord, New Hampshire; and Portland, Maine. 

New York City and Philadelphia were under a blizzard warning for total snowfall reaching between 16 and more than 20 inches, with potential winds gusting up to 55+ mph, causing whiteout conditions and difficult-to-impossible travel conditions later Sunday through Monday.

New York City hasn’t been under a blizzard warning since March 2017, close to a decade ago. The last such warning for Philadelphia was in January 2016, more than a decade ago.

“The snow is back,” New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on social media early on Sunday. “But New York is ready.”

More than 6,700 flights have been canceled for Sunday and Monday, according to flight tracker FlightAware. Over half of all flights at John F. Kennedy and Laguardia airports have already been canceled ahead of the storm.

Airports in Newark, Boston, Philadelphia , Reagan and Baltimore have also seen significant cancellations. Between 70% and 80% of flights scheduled for Monday at New York airports and in Boston have already been canceled.

Coastal Flood alerts were also up from coastal Delaware, Maryland and Virginia to the Jersey Shore, as well as from Long Island to the coast of southern and eastern New England for minor to moderate coastal flooding during high tide.

-ABC News’ Gio Benitez contributed to this report.

The Department of Homeland Security is temporarily suspending its TSA PreCheck and Global Entry programs due to the agency’s lapse in funding. 

“TSA and CBP are prioritizing the general traveling population at our airports and ports of entry and suspending courtesy and special privilege escorts,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. 

The two programs, which allow expedited clearance processes for pre-vetted domestic and international travelers, are expected to be suspended starting at 6 a.m. ET Sunday, according to a DHS official. 

The DHS personnel assigned to these programs will be redirected to assist the broader traveling public.

This is a rare move and will result in longer lines, likely frustrating many travelers. The two programs were not suspended during last year’s government shutdown.  

The decision to suspend these programs comes as the anticipated winter storm has already cancelled more than 5,000 flights across the country and as flights resume, travelers can be expected to be waiting in long lines. It also comes just weeks before the spring break travel rush. 

In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will also halt “all non-disaster related response to prioritize disasters,” Noem said, underscoring the impact of the upcoming winter storm.

The ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson blasted the move. 

“This is Trump and Kristi Noem purposely punishing the American people and using them as pawns for their sadistic political games,” Johnson said in a statement. “TSA PreCheck and Global Entry REDUCE airport lines and ease the burden on DHS staff who are working without pay because of Trump’s abuse of the Department and killing of American citizens,” he said. 

“Trump and Kristi are making your lives harder — and your travel less safe — all on purpose because they know you don’t trust them. They pulled these games with FEMA disaster response last week, now this madness. They would rather force Americans to miss their travel waiting in long lines at the airport than stop Trump’s secret police from shooting our neighbors.”

U.S. Travel, a non-profit organization that represents the nation’s travel industry also expressed its “disappointment” and criticized the move in a post on X writing, “Travelers should be prioritized, not leveraged. Travel is the gateway to the American economy and Americans should not have their mobility, security or travel experience diminished because elected leaders fail to resolve their differences.” 

The temporary suspension was first reported by the Washington Post. 

A significant nor’easter is expected to march up the East Coast on Sunday into Monday, bringing significant snow for the I-95 corridor and placing New York City under a blizzard warning for the first time in nearly a decade, with the last one coming in March 2017.

As of Saturday morning, more than 40 million Americans are on alert for winter storm conditions beginning on Sunday and continuing into Monday.

The National Weather Service has upgraded southern Delaware, the Jersey Shore, all of New York City, Long Island and coastal Connecticut to a blizzard warning for increased confidence in snowfall of more than one foot and gusty winds that will likely cause blizzard conditions.

Coastal flood watches are also up from coastal Delaware to the Jersey Shore and Long Island to the coast of southern New England for minor to moderate coastal flooding during high tide.

As the forecast continues to become clearer, expect additional winter weather alerts to be issued over the next 24 hours across the Northeast.

While the exact snowfall totals and which locations will get the most precipitation from the storm remains uncertain, confidence has increased that the eastern seaboard will be dealing with a powerful coastal storm Sunday through late Monday that will bring significant snowfall, high winds and coastal flooding.

This coastal storm is expected to start taking shape over the coastal Carolinas on Sunday, bringing rain to the Mid-Atlantic and some scattered light to moderate snow from Northern Virginia up into Pennsylvania and into parts of New Jersey and New York come Sunday morning into the afternoon.

By late Sunday afternoon, the coastal storm will begin to quickly intensify off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia as it tracks to the Northeast and parallels the East Coast.

By early Monday morning, the storm is anticipated to bring heavy snow, strong wind gusts and coastal flooding across much of the coastal Northeast.

The Jersey Shore, Long Island, the southern coast of New England and Cape Cod could all see blizzard and whiteout conditions early Monday from the combination of heavy snow and very strong wind gusts.

By Monday evening, snow should begin to taper off almost completely for the Northeast except for New England which could still see intermittent precipitation.

President Donald Trump said Friday he has signed a proclamation implementing a new global 10% tariff — hours after the Supreme Court struck down most of his levies as illegal.

Trump confirmed in a social media post Friday evening that he signed the order in the Oval Office.

According to the order, the new tariff on global imports will take effect Tuesday.

Earlier Friday, Trump previewed his alternate plan to impose tariffs under a different legal authority, lambasting the Supreme Court’s decision as “deeply disappointing.”

“Other alternatives will now be used to replace the ones that the court incorrectly rejected,” Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room. “We have alternatives, great alternatives, could be more money. We’ll take in more money and we’ll be a lot stronger for it.”

Trump said he would sign the order enacting a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.

But such tariffs can only last for 150 days without congressional approval. When asked about that limitation, Trump claimed he could “do pretty much what we want to do.”

Pressed more broadly on whether he was going to ask Congress (where Republicans currently hold a majority in the House and Senate) to take additional action on tariffs, Trump said he didn’t believe he needed to.

The new 10% global tariff will apply to countries that already struck trade deals with the U.S., according to a White House official.

The official said that the countries covered under the 10% rate include the United Kingdom, India, Japan and the European Union — though the list was not exhaustive.

This would lower tariffs on many deals he has negotiated; for example, the trade deals set tariff rates at 15% with Japan and 18% with India.

A fact sheet from the White House laid out a list of exemptions from the new tariffs, including on foods like beef, pharmaceuticals, cars and some electronics.

Imports from Canada and Mexico that fall under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement struck during Trump’s first term in office also will not face the new 10% tariff.

Trump also signed another executive order extending a suspension of what’s known as the de minimis exemption, which previously allowed low value goods under $800 to be shipped the U.S. duty-free. Trump first suspended the de minimis exemption last year. The new order implements the 10% tariffs on those goods, which often come from retailers, such as Shein and Temu. 

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling marked a major blow to what has been the cornerstone of Trump’s economic agenda in his second term and one of his longtime political goals. Trump publicly lobbied the court for months to rule in his favor.

The court’s majority deemed that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not give him the power to unilaterally impose tariffs. Congress, not the president, has the power to impose tariffs and taxes, the majority concluded.

“I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” Trump said.

Three conservative justices joined the liberal justices in invalidating the IEEPA tariffs, including two justices nominated by Trump: Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch. The opinion was delivered by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Further attacking the court, Trump said “they’re just being fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and the radical left Democrats.” He said that the families of the conservative justices who ruled against the administration should be embarrassed, and called the liberal justices on the court a “disgrace to our nation.”

Trump said that because of the ruling, “Foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years are ecstatic. They’re so happy, and they’re dancing in the streets, but they won’t be dancing for long that, I can assure you.”

The president also said he will start investigations under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, though he did not specify which countries or sectors they would target. These investigations can take weeks or months, and are used in response to an adverse trade policy taken up by another country.

“We’re going forward,” Trump said.

Trump congratulated Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh for their dissents in this case. He specifically praised Kavanaugh, saying his “stock has gone so up.”

From the White House briefing room podium, Trump read aloud part of Kavanaugh’s dissent in which Kavanaugh said the court’s decision “might not substantially constrain a President’s ability to order tariffs going forward.”

Kavanaugh also noted in his dissent the silence from the court’s majority on the issue of refunds or how that process would work. As of December, the administration had collected $142 billion through the tariffs, according to the Yale Budget Lab.

“It’s not discussed. We’ll end up being in court for the next five years,” Trump said, signaling he would not voluntarily pay out refunds.

ABC News’ Elizabeth Schulze and Zunaira Zaki contributed to this report.

The lack of recent progress in the probe into Savannah Guthrie’s mother’s kidnapping may mean that investigators soon scale back their resources, sources with knowledge of the case told ABC News Friday.

Nearly three weeks after Nancy Guthrie vanished, investigators are finding their best leads are so far coming up empty. 

Partial DNA recovered at the home is, for the moment, unidentified; technology companies and the FBI have recovered no additional video from her home security system; and investigators have been unable to associate a vehicle with her abduction, law enforcement sources told ABC News.  

Right now, there are 400 investigators assigned to the case operating 24/7, the sheriff’s department has said. Given the seemingly sluggish progress, investigators believe the case would soon have to move into a new phase with fewer dedicated resources but a small task force focused on it long term, the sources said.

The Guthrie family is aware that the investigation might need to be transitioned and has been briefed on the fact that certain leads have not been panning out, the sources said.

“It has been over two weeks, and, in these types of investigations, you have to at one point move on to a long-term sustainable level of manpower,” said ABC News contributor Rich Frankel, who oversaw hostage negotiations in the FBI. “It is not a closed case.”

In a statement, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said: “This remains an active investigation. As long as leads continue to come in, investigators will continue to follow up on them. Currently, several hundred personnel are assigned to this case from various law enforcement agencies and are actively reviewing thousands of tips.”

Jason Pack, a former FBI agent and current chief executive of Media Rep Global Strategies, said the gap between what a case looks like publicly at day 20 and what is happening inside the investigation can be enormous.

“The things most likely to break a case open are almost never the things being discussed in one-on-one press interviews. They are happening in labs, in Walmart security offices, in gun shops, in backend server logs, and in conversations between investigators who have been staring at the same timeline long enough that it might be time for a fresh set of eyes,” Pack said.

Investigators have a confirmed physical description of the suspect: a male, 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, of average build.

They have traceable items, most significantly the 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack sold exclusively at Walmart.

Walmart has handed over purchase records covering all sales of that backpack across Arizona, law enforcement sources have told ABC News. Investigators can now work through every buyer.

Detectives have been canvassing gun shops across the Tucson area, showing the doorbell video to see if anyone recognizes it.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has publicly cleared all members of the Guthrie family, which allows investigators to focus resources outward.

The partial DNA recovered from inside Guthrie’s residence is currently being analyzed at a private out-of-state lab. Separating individual DNA profiles from a biological mixture is painstaking, precise work.

When the private lab finishes, those completed DNA profiles go back to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.

From there, the FBI could input the profiles into its national database of offenders. The sheriff’s department has also said it is exploring options for investigative genetic genealogy.

The rewards for information leading to Nancy Guthrie or her captor now total more than $200,000.

-ABC News’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.

Authorities in Nevada are investigating a “counter terrorism incident” involving a man who allegedly tried to ram a vehicle into an L.A. power and water facility near Boulder City, Nevada, Thursday afternoon, according to officials.

The suspect was identified by authorities as Dawson Maloney, 23, of Albany, New York. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a press conference Friday.

Authorities said they recovered firearms and explosive materials in Maloney’s hotel room.

The incident began unfolding at around 10 a.m. local time Friday, a 911 caller reported a vehicle crashing through a secured gate at the power substation. The caller reported that the suspect appeared deceased and shots were heard after the crash, according to McMahill.

At the press conference, investigators showed videos of a vehicle driving up to the facility before ramming through the gate. The vehicle was stopped when it ran into large industrial wire reels, McMahill said.

The suspect allegedly traveled from New York with the intent to cause chaos, according to a source. Maloney was reported missing from Albany and made contact with his family just before the attempted ramming, according to McMahill.

“The suspect had made multiple statements referencing self harm and alluding to committing an act that would place him ‘on the news.’ In a message to his mother, the suspect referred to himself as a ‘dead terrorist son’ and stated he felt he had an obligation to carry out his act,” McMahill said.

The suspect was also discovered to be wearing soft body armor at the time of the incident, McMahill said.

“These findings significantly elevate the seriousness of this incident,” McMahill said.

Through license plate reader data, investigators determined the suspect drove from New York to Nevada in a rental vehicle, according to McMahill.

Investigators believe he rented a vehicle on Feb. 12 then departed the area sometime around Feb. 14, crossing the country to Boulder City, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Delzotto.

While executing a search at the suspect’s hotel, investigators found books with extremist ideologies “including right and left wing extremism, environmental extremism, white supremacy and anti-government ideology,” McMahill said.

“We also recovered explosive materials and components to include thermite, ammonium nitrate, magnesium ribbon, metal pipes and gasoline,” McMahill said.

Investigators found multiple firearms found in the vehicle that rammed into the gate including two shotguns, an AR-style pistol, numerous loaded AR magazines, a box of shotgun shells and two flame throwers, according to McMahill.

There was no indication of any damage to the facility and there is no threat to the community, according to officials.

Investigators have not yet determined the suspect’s motivation behind the attack.

In the weeks after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota during a surge to apprehend undocumented immigrants for deportation, Americans oppose Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics by wide margins and President Donald Trump’s approval on immigration has dipped to the lowest of his second term, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.

Trump’s immigration rating hits new low for second term

Trump, who has focused much of his second term on the immigration crackdown, is now 18 percentage points underwater in how Americans rate his handling of immigration — with 58% disapproving and 40% approving — the worst ratings he has had on immigration in his second term, ticking down from his October ratings and almost exactly where he was in July 2019 when 40% approved and 57% disapproved of how he was handling the issue.

Despite his increasingly negative ratings on handling immigration since taking office, Americans don’t trust Democrats to handle the issue more. When asked who they trust to do a better job handling immigration, 38% say they trust Trump more, 34% trust congressional Democrats more and 24% trust neither.

Congressional Democrats are demanding a range of new restrictions on immigration enforcement amid a Department of Homeland Security funding spat and partial government shutdown. The White House and Democrats are still at odds, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday calling the Democrats’ latest move in the negotiations “very unserious.”

And even though he’s underwater on handling immigration overall, Trump’s ratings on handling the immigration situation at the U.S.-Mexico border are a bit better, albeit still slightly negative, with 47% of Americans approving of how he is handling the situation at the border and 50% disapproving.

Americans on deportations and ICE

Americans are roughly split over whether the federal government should deport all undocumented immigrants living in the United States, but a growing share oppose expanded ICE operations — and by a 2-to-1 margin, they oppose ICE’s tactics.

The results come following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, by federal agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 24 — just weeks after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a mother of three, by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

Half (50%) of Americans support the federal government deporting the about 14 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. and sending them back to their home countries while 48% oppose this.

Support was even higher for deporting all undocumented immigrants ahead of the 2024 presidential election, when 56% of Americans supported sending all undocumented immigrants to their home countries. By last February that dipped to 51%.

Most Hispanic (64%), Black (58%) and Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (56%) oppose deporting all undocumented immigrants while 58% of white people support widespread deportation.

Even if many Americans want mass deportations, 58% say Trump is going “too far” in deporting undocumented immigrants, up from 50% who said the same in October. Just 12% say he is “not going far enough” and 28% say he is “handling it about right.”

Seven in 10 Americans do not think most immigrants deported since January 2025 were violent criminals, including 33% who say “hardly any” of those deported were. Only 7% of Americans say “nearly all” of the immigrants who were deported since the beginning of the Trump administration were violent criminals.

A slim majority of Americans oppose ICE’s expanded operations to detain and deport undocumented immigrants in the U.S., 53% now, up from 46% in October.

Opinion breaks down on partisan lines, with 88% of Democrats opposed to ICE’s expanded operations and 81% of Republicans in support. A 56% majority of independents oppose ICE’s expanded operations. 

By a 2-to-1 margin, Americans oppose the tactics ICE is using to enforce immigration laws, 62% to 31%. Half of Americans strongly oppose ICE’s tactics, including 89% of Democrats and 53% of independents. Only 4 in 10 Republicans strongly support the tactics ICE is using to enforce immigration law, rising to over half among MAGA Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who call themselves MAGA.

By a 13-point margin, Americans oppose abolishing ICE, 50% to 37%. Opinions are polarized: 7 in 10 Democrats support abolishing ICE, while 8 in 10 Republicans oppose it. More independents oppose abolishing ICE (45%) than support abolishing ICE (35%), with 2 in 10 independents saying they have no opinion on the issue.

ICE was established in 2003 as part of the Homeland Security Act following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Previously, the Immigration and Naturalization Service under the Justice Department administered immigration laws. The Abolish ICE political movement gained national attention in 2018 during the previous Trump administration’s family-separation policy.

An ICE memo issued in May gave federal agents the authority to enter the homes of people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally without warrants signed by judges. A wide majority of Americans — including majorities across party lines — say that when federal law enforcement wants to forcibly enter someone’s home, they need to get approval from a judge; just 20% say getting approval from a federal agency is enough.

How Americans feel about Minnesota and personal impacts

Most Americans (54%) say they are either upset (17%) or angry (37%) over how immigration enforcement has gone in Minnesota, with 72% of Democrats saying they are angry. More than 4 in 10 Americans say they are “not concerned” or “concerned but not upset” over the situation in Minnesota.

Nearly half of Republicans, 47%, say they are not concerned over immigration enforcement in Minnesota, along with 32% who say they are concerned but not upset. 

And while majorities of Asian and Pacific Islander (66%), Hispanic (59%) and Black Americans (61%) say they are upset or angry about how immigration enforcement has gone in Minnesota, that dips to 49% among white people.

There is a personal connection for many Americans — 42% say they are at least somewhat concerned that federal immigration enforcement agents could arrest or detain someone they know, including 33% who say they are at least somewhat concerned this could happen to a close family member or friend.

Hispanic (60%), Black (55%) and Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (53%) are all more concerned that federal immigration agents could arrest and detain a close friend, family member or someone else they know than white people (32%).

Replacing Kristi Noem, sanctuary cities and the border

By almost a 2-to-1 margin, Americans support replacing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem amid the administration’s controversial immigration enforcement tactics, 44% to 23%, with 33% voicing no opinion on the matter.

Democrats are more aligned on replacing Noem than Republicans are. Three-quarters of Democrats support removing Noem, 7% oppose it and 18% have no opinion. Among Republicans, 45% oppose replacing Noem, 15% support it and a large 40% say they have no opinion on the matter. Among independents, 45% support Noem’s removal, 17% oppose it and 38% have no opinion.

By an 8-point margin, Americans oppose denying federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities that limit their cooperation with ICE, 46% to 38%. Eight in 10 Democrats oppose this, over 7 in 10 Republicans support it.

Methodology — This ABC News-Washington Post-Ipsos poll was conducted via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel, Feb. 12-17, 2026, among 2,589 U.S. adults and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. The error margins are larger among partisan group subsamples.

See PDF for full results and detailed methodology.

Email ABCNEWS.Polls@abc.com to be added to ABC News’ polling distribution list.

More ABC News polls can be found at abcnews.com. Media contacts: Van Scott (212-456-7243) or Brooks Lancaster.

WARSAW, Poland — Poland will use antipersonnel as well as anti-tank land mines to defend its eastern border against the growing threat from Russia, Poland’s deputy defense minister told The Associated Press on Friday as the country officially left an international convention banning the use of the controversial weapons.

The 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, prohibits signatories from keeping or using antipersonnel mines, which can last for years and are known for having caused large-scale suffering among civilians in former conflict zones in countries including Cambodia, Angola and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Poland, which ratified the document in 2012 and completed the destruction of its domestic anti-personnel mine stockpile in 2016, withdrew from the treaty on Friday and says it plans to renew manufacturing weapons.

“These mines are one of the most important elements of the defense structure we are constructing on the eastern flank of NATO, in Poland, on the border with Russia in the north and with Belarus in the east,” Paweł Zalewski, Poland’s deputy defense minister, said.

He said Poland needed to defend itself against Russia, a country which “has very aggressive intentions vis a vis its neighbors” and which itself never committed to the international land mine ban treaty.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, nearby countries have been reassessing their participation in the international treaty. Last year, Warsaw joined Finland, the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Ukraine to announce it would leave the treaty.

Russia is one of nearly three dozen countries that have never acceded to the Ottawa treaty, alongside the United States.

Zalewski said that Poland will begin domestic production of both antipersonnel and anti-tank land mines, adding that the government would cooperate with Polish producers. He said Poland was aiming for self-sufficiency.

Land mines are an explosive weapon that’s placed on or just under the ground and blows up when a person or a vehicle crosses over them. Anti-tank mines, which are designed not to be triggered by a person’s weight, are not forbidden by the Ottawa Convention.

Speaking on Thursday after attending a demonstration of Bluszcz, an unmanned vehicle designed to distribute anti-tank mines produced by Polish company Belma S.A. and a military research institute, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland would “soon” have the ability to mine its eastern borders within 48 hours in case of a threat.

Given the length of the country’s eastern borders, he said, “a lot” of land mines will be needed.

Poland plans to prepare mine stockpiles as part of the so-called Eastern Shield, a system of enhanced fortifications Poland has been building on its borders with Belarus and Russia since 2024, Zalewski said.

But he said that Poland would only deploy the mines along its borders “when there is a realistic threat of Russian aggression.”

“We very much respect our territory and we don’t want to exclude it from day to day use for the Polish citizens,” Zalewski said.

Human rights groups have condemned moves to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, arguing that anti-personnel mines are too dangerous to civilians.

But Zalewski responded that the country is striking a balance by keeping the mines in reserve unless the country faces attack.

“We are not an aggressive country,” he said, “but we have to use all means to deter Russia.”

The co-executors of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate have agreed to settle a class action lawsuit filed against them by survivors of Epstein’s abuse for at least $25 million, without admitting any wrongdoing, according to court documents filed on Thursday. 

Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn — who served as Epstein’s personal lawyer and accountant, respectively — were accused in the complaint of “facilitation, participation, and concealment of Epstein’s illegal conduct” for their own financial gain, according to federal court records in New York.

By agreement of the parties, the settlement will be paid from the remaining assets in Epstein’s estate, rather than directly by Indyke and Kahn, who are the named defendants in the lawsuit.

The proposed settlement — which a federal judge will have to approve — does not include an admission of wrongdoing. 

“Neither of the co-executors has made any admission or concession of misconduct,” said Dan Weiner, an attorney for the defendants, in a statement to ABC News. “That is not surprising — not a single woman has ever accused either man of committing sexual abuse or witnessing sexual abuse, nor claimed at any time that she reported to them any allegation of Mr. Epstein’s abuse.”

Indyke and Kahn were selected as co-executors of Epstein’s will, which he updated two days before his death in August 2019.

To be eligible for the settlement, victims would agree to release any future claims and cannot have received any prior settlement from the Epstein estate or the Epstein Victims Compensation Fund. 

According to the proposed settlement terms, the estate will pay out $25 million if less than 40 class members qualify and $35 million if more than 40 meet the requirements. 

The complaint, filed in 2024, alleged that Indyke and Kahn helped conceal Epstein’s sex trafficking operation for years by structuring his bank accounts so that Epstein and his associates could “access large amounts of cash in furtherance of sex trafficking.” 

 “Knowing that they would earn millions of dollars in exchange for facilitating Epstein’s sex abuse and trafficking, Indyke and Kahn chose money and power over following the law,” the complaint said. 

The plaintiffs alleged that Indyke and Kahn “organized, controlled, and directed almost every aspect of the Epstein sex-trafficking enterprise,” according to the complaint.   

They were also accused of participating with Epstein “in coercing and inducing” at least three of Epstein’s victims into “arranged and forced sham marriages in order to obtain immigration status for the foreign women so that they could continue to be available to Epstein for his abuse,” the complaint said.

The lawsuit contained no allegations that either man directly participated in any sexual exploitation.

Indyke and Kahn have denied any role in or knowledge of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.  

“Neither Mr. Indyke nor Mr. Kahn socialized with Mr. Epstein, and both men reject as categorically false any suggestion that they knowingly facilitated or assisted Mr. Epstein in his sexual abuse or trafficking of women, or that they were aware of his actions while they provided professional services to him,” Weiner told ABC News in December. 

Counsel for the lead plaintiff in the case said in the proposed settlement documents that they remained “confident in her claims” but acknowledged that “trying her case to a jury as a class action would present risk.”

“The settlement is demonstrably the product of well-informed negotiations and vigorous advocacy on behalf of victims of Jeffrey Epstein,” wrote Sigrid McCawley, an attorney for the lead plaintiff.

The estate’s assets remain tied up in probate court in the U.S. Virgin Islands, pending the resolution of all outstanding claims against the estate.  

“Accordingly, upon the Court’s final approval of the settlement and as a means of achieving finality as to any claims against it, the Epstein Estate will fund the entire amount of the settlement to be received by the putative class,” Weiner said in his statement.

According to a court filing last October, approximately $127 million remained in the estate. Following his death, Epstein’s estate was valued as much as $650 million, though it has decreased as other lawsuits were resolved.  

Documents disclosed last month by the Justice Department included a copy of Epstein’s “1953 Trust,” which detailed Epstein’s plans to distribute his considerable wealth among an array of friends, family, employees and associates upon his death. To his longtime lawyer Indyke and his accountant Kahn, Epstein planned to give $50 million and $25 million, respectively, the document shows. 

Indyke is due to testify next week in a closed door deposition before the House Oversight Committee, which is conducting a broad inquiry into the federal government’s handling of investigations in Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking operation. 

Kahn is slated to appear before the committee in March.

One of the world’s foremost avalanche experts said the factors involved in the deaths of at least eight skiers in a major slide in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains will come from the survivors.

But Bruce Tremper — the former director of the Utah Avalanche Center and author of the book “Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain” — cautioned that it would not “be fair” at this point to second-guess the decisions made by the group’s guides.

“The thing I do know is, in most avalanche accidents, everybody wants to point fingers. Everybody wants to say, ‘Should they have known better? Did they make a mistake?'” Tremper told ABC News.

Tremper said a myriad of factors could have played a role in why the group ended up in the path of the avalanche that overwhelmed them on Tuesday morning in the Castle Peak area of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

“We really don’t know until they interview the people [who survived] and the information starts coming out,” Tremper said.

He said it’s possible that the route the group chose had been declared safe in the past during days when avalanche danger is high, like it was on Tuesday morning.

“I think it’s just as plausible that they were doing something that was normally safe, but it was just an unprecedented event and that they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s just bad luck.”

The bodies of seven women and a man killed in the avalanche were recovered, but ongoing inclement weather has prevented search crews from transporting the victims from the backcountry to a morgue in the nearby town of Truckee, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a news conference on Wednesday. A search continues for a second man who was with the group and is presumed dead, Moon said.

Three guides from the Blackbird Mountain Guides, who were leading the group back from a three-day backcountry skiing expedition, were killed in the avalanche, according to the company.

The avalanche happened near the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts in the Castle Peak area, northwest of Truckee, officials said.

Six members of the ski group, including a fourth guide, survived the avalanche and were rescued Tuesday evenings, authorities said.

In a statement Wednesday night, Zeb Blais, founder of Blackbird Mountain Guides, said the three employees killed in the avalanche were “highly experienced members of our guide team.”

Blais said all of the guides were trained or certified in backcountry skiing by the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA). He said the guides were also instructors with the American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE), which he described as “the industry standard for avalanche education.”

In his statement, Blais did not comment on the fateful decisions made by the guides.

“In addition, guides in the field are in communication with senior guides at our base, to discuss conditions and routing based on conditions,” Blais said.

The deadly incident came amid “high” avalanche danger warnings in the backcountry issued on Tuesday by the Sierra Avalanche Center, raising questions about why the group decided to trek out of the rugged area and not stay sheltered in the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts until the major winter storm passed.

“We’re still in conversation with them on the decision factors that they made. But, definitely, a heed for everyone,” Sheriff Moon said on Wednesday.

Blais said his company has suspended all field operations through Feb. 22 and “may extend into the next week or two.”

“There is still a lot that we’re learning about what happened. It’s too soon to draw conclusions, but investigations are underway,” said Blais. “We don’t have all the answers yet, and it may be some time before we do.”

After learning of the guides’ credentials and training, Tremper said, “You can’t get better than that.”

“That means they had very good training, they were very good at what they do. They were highly trained,” Tremper said.

Tremper said the cause of the disaster will remain unknown to the public until investigators release their report detailing accounts from the survivors. He warned against assuming the guides were reckless.

“Everybody wants to answer the same question and it’s not a fair way to approach this because when you look backwards in time, it’s really, really easy to see the chain of events that occurred that created the accident. But you can never do that looking forward in time,” Tremper said.

He said there’s a lot more that goes into being a backcountry guide than meets the eye.

“To be able to make good decisions, nobody can just do it alone. You work as part of a team and part of a system,” Tremper said. “So, the team means you’re talking to all the other guides. Like, if it’s a helicopter ski guiding operation, you might sit down with 20 different guides every morning and every evening and do briefing sessions.”

Tremper said that in his 29-year career as an avalanche forecaster, he has investigated roughly 100 avalanche accidents.

“In almost all of the accidents that I’ve investigated … when I put myself in their shoes, it’s like: ‘Well, I could have done that.’ In fact, I have done that before — but I’ve gotten away with it.'”