Eric Adams expected to be arraigned as A’s play final game in Oakland: Morning Recap

New York Mayor Eric Adams is likely to face federal charges. Hurricane Helene is expected to intensify to a Category 4, while Florida braces for “catastrophic” damage. And the Oakland A’s play their final game in the city they’ve called home for more than 50 years.

Here’s what you need to know today.

New York Mayor Eric Adams is expected to be charged by the federal government

New York Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted and is expected to be arraigned today by prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, two sources familiar with the matter said. The indictment is sealed and the charges were not immediately clear.

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The Adams administration was already reeling from a series of high-level resignations amid at least four federal investigations. One of the probes reportedly focused on whether Adams’ mayoral campaign colluded with the Turkish government to receive illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources. As part of the probe, the FBI last year searched a Brooklyn home belonging to Adams’ top fundraiser. Federal investigators have also been looking into whether Adams pressured the city’s fire commissioner to approve a new building housing the Turkish consulate, despite security concerns.

Adams, 64, a former NYPD captain and Brooklyn borough president, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. In a statement released late last night, Adams said any charges against him would be “completely false, based on lies.” View the full statement.

“If I am charged,” he said, “I am innocent and I will fight this with all my strength and spirit.”

Read the whole story hereand follow live updates here.

More coverage of Eric Adams:

• There were growing calls for Adams to resignincluding Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York City Auditor Brad Lander, and more.

Hurricane Helene heads towards Florida

Hurricane Helene is expected to become a Category 4 storm by the time it makes landfall in Florida today, with a storm surge of up to 20 feet and catastrophic winds that could topple power lines and trees, the National Hurricane Center warned. The eye of the storm is expected to pass over Florida tonight and move northwest toward Tennessee Friday and Saturday, meteorologists said. Follow our live blog for the latest updates.

Yesterday, Tallahassee residents prepared to evacuate their homes and stocked up on sandbags and food supplies. The city’s mayor said it could be the “strongest hurricane in recorded history” to hit the area. Operations at Tallahassee International Airport have been suspended, and three major colleges have canceled classes for the rest of the week. Read more on how Florida’s capital is preparing for the storm.

Israel attacks Lebanon despite attempts to end bombardment that has killed more than 600

The United States, the European Union and nearly a dozen other countries have called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire to allow negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah, amid fears of all-out war in the region.

Despite this push, the foreign minister said this morning that there will be no ceasefire in the north, and the country launched new attacks on southern Lebanon, the latest in a wave of attacks that local officials say have killed more than 600 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. Hezbollah rockets also set off alarms in northern Israel this morning after a long lull.

Officials hope the ceasefire will not only end violence between Israel and Hezbollah, but also end violence between Israel and Hezbollah. will revive the stalled peace talks between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

More Middle East coverage:

• Follow our live blog for updates.
• All over Lebanon, fear grips people who say they do not want a repeat of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, or worse, a situation like in Gaza.

Harris will meet Zelenskyy and then go to the border

A planned meeting today at the White House between Vice President Kamala Harris and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — but no meeting between former President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy — underscores growing intraparty divisions over the U.S. role in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Ukraine has enjoyed largely bipartisan support in Congress since Russia’s 2022 invasion, but some Republicans have grown increasingly skeptical of continued support for the war effort. Harris has said she would continue U.S. support if elected, but what form that support would take has been unclear. Trump has repeatedly said he would end the war with Ukraine on his first day back in the White House if elected, even if it were on terms favorable to Russia. Read the whole story here.

After today’s meeting, Harris heads to Douglas, Arizona. It’s her first trip to the southern border since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. With immigration and border security as weak spots in her campaign, Harris is expected to tout her efforts to push a bipartisan border security plan earlier this year and highlight Trump’s role in sinking it.

More coverage of the 2024 elections:

• At a rally in Pennsylvania yesterday, Harris unveiled a $100 billion economic plan to boost manufacturing and investment in artificial intelligence. This is even more she visualizes.
• In an interview with MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle, her first one-on-one interview with a national news network since becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris said said she once worked at McDonald’sthereby countering Trump’s claim that she did not, and said Trump should trust women to make their own reproductive decisions.
• Presidential ad spending in Florida has all but disappeared, but it has increased significantly in these battlefield states.
• Pro-Harris “Woman to Woman” Sticky Notes dive into toiletsin gyms and on tampon boxes.
• Pop star Chappell Roan said she plans to vote for Harris but after days of negative reactions from her left-wing fans, she withdrew from giving it official approval.

Politics in brief

Government funding: President Joe Biden is expected to sign a financing bill that Congress passed yesterday, which funds the government through December 20 and setting up a new potential shutdown battle during the post-election lame duck session.

Secret Service Investigation: Bulletproof glass at outdoor rallies and a larger-than-normal number of Secret Service agents surrounding Trump and Harris are under the new protocols in force after the recent attempts on Trump’s life. Meanwhile, a security detail for Vice President Kamala Harris was placed on administrative leave after an alleged groping incident involving a Harris employee, two police officers said.

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Read all about it

• An Alabama inmate whose life was spared two years ago when prison staff attempted to execute him by lethal injection will be put to death again — this time with nitrogen gas.
• A man is accused of throwing an explosive to a California courthouse where he was to be arraigned, officials said. Three people were injured in the explosion.
• Two abandoned mansions in Los Angeles owned by a Hollywood producer are covered with graffitiwhich led to anger among neighbors and condemnation from city officials.
• Videos of influencers promoting a futuristic megacity in Saudi Arabia spread like wildfire across the internet — and almost as quickly, have started to disappear.

Staff choice: Oakland bids farewell to major professional sports with final A’s game

Baseball fans in the San Francisco Bay Area will bid farewell to the Oakland A’s this afternoon, as the Athletics play their final game at the Oakland Coliseum, where they have called home since 1968. A’s owner John Fisher, heir to the Gap clothing empire, announced last year that the team would move to Las Vegas in 2028. In the meantime, the A’s will play at least three seasons at a minor league stadium outside Sacramento.

The A’s fans — as angry as they are sad — loathe Fisher, and since the move was announced, chants of “sell the team” have become a fixture at A’s games, even away. Stay informed about updates to this story as the noisy, sold-out match gets underway. — David K. Lisenior reporter, and Dana Varinskyscience and health editor

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