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Apple unveils three new iphone xs. A smaller version the XR, will start at (750$). They are also releasing the biggest iphone ever and also the most expensive. This iphone will include all of the features of the X plus more and will start at 1050$.

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Apple is betting big on the iPhone X. And we mean big.

The company announced on Wednesday its largest smartphone ever: the 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max ($1,099). It's also the most expensive iPhone to date.

The Max has a larger display than the usual Plus size phones but a similar body.

Apple also showed off a 5.8-inch iPhone XS ($999), and did away with its fingerprint scanner Touch ID in favor of Face ID on both devices.

The cameras on the phones are, as usual, "better than ever before," said Apple exec Phil Schiller, who has uttered the same words at previous events. The new 12 megapixel cameras have bigger sensors and an improved HDR mode.

The new smartphones have a longer battery life than the original iPhone X. The iPhone XS will have 30 more minutes of battery life, and the iPhone XS Max will last up to an hour and a half longer.

Apple surprised with a third smartphone, the "lower-end" iPhone XR ($749). The 6.1-inch features a bright LCD screen and comes in a variety of colors, including white, black, blue, coral and red. It's also missing a home button and is activated by swiping up.

The device only has one camera -- a 12 pixel wide-angle camera -- but Apple added a similar portrait feature found in its dual camera devices, which blurs the background. The device kills the 3D touch feature but added some haptic feedback, so the screen vibrates a bit in response to touch.

The phones have faster networking support. Travelers will be happy to hear they'll have more bands for better roaming and dual SIM capabilities to support multiple plans and two phone numbers on one device.

The iPhone X line also packs augmented reality tools to have more realistic graphics and object reflections.

In addition, the company unveiled an upgraded Apple Watch. The Series 4 has a 30% larger edge-to-edge display and is thinner. It has more reliable reception and is two times faster. The new watch also has greater focus on health. It can predict when you fall and send that data to an emergency contact.

The new Apple Watch comes with a built-in (and FDA-approved) EKG to help diagnose heart diseases and other conditions, making it the first EKG device available over the counter, according to Apple.

Pricing and availability

The iPhone XS Max -- with 512 GB of storage -- will be the most expensive iPhone ever. Meanwhile, the iPhone XS will cost the same as last year's iPhone X ($999). The original iPhone X is now $200 cheaper.

Apple will continue to sell the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 in regular and Plus sizes. The cheapest phone in the iPhone line up is the iPhone 7, starting at $449. The iPhone 8 starts at $599.

The iPhone XS and XS Max will be available to pre-order on Friday September 14, and ship Friday September 21 in the US and other countries.

You'll be able to pre-order the iPhone XR beginning Friday, October 19, and it will hit stores on Friday, October 26, in more than 50 countries.

The Apple Watch Series 4 will cost $499 for built-in connectivity and $399 for a standard model. It will be available for pre-order starting Friday and ship Friday September 21.

Correction: An earlier version of this story listed the price for the iPhone XS Max as $1,449. That is the price for one version of the phone, but lower-cost models start at $1,099.

CNNMoney (Cupertino) First published September 12, 2018: 2:07 PM ET

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Apple is betting big on the iPhone X. And we mean big.

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Trump's former campaign chairman is likely going to plead guilty to charges of Russian Meddling

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Paul Manafort and special counsel close to deal for guilty plea | CNN Politics

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Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman embattled by criminal indictments, may no longer fight the charges related to his Ukrainian lobbying operation.

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A shooting in Bakersfield, California that left six people dead. A Suspect was identified as a 54-year-old man who has just recently went through a divorce.

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The suspect in a string of shootings in Bakersfield, California, that left six people dead on Wednesday has been identified as a 54-year-old man who may have been going through a divorce with his wife, according to local authorities.

Investigators believe that Javier Cazarez, a legal, permanent resident of the United States, may have forced his wife to come with him to the trucking shop to confront people there, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said in a press conference Thursday, calling the shooting spree "very calculated."

Cazarez was armed with a .50 caliber handgun, the sheriff said.

"The way this went down, it appeared that this was well-planned," Youngblood said.

Cazarez's attacks were carried out at five difference scenes, according to authorities.

Around 5:20 p.m. local time Wednesday, deputies responded to a trucking business where shots were fired, according to the Kern County Sheriff's Department.

Cazarez then allegedly shot and killed two people, his wife and a man, Youngblood said.

Another man showed up and fired at the suspect, police said. The suspect shot and killed that person as well, police said.

The suspect then went to a residential home, where he allegedly shot and killed two more people, according to police.

The suspect then allegedly carjacked a vehicle with a woman and child inside, but they escaped and were not injured, police said.

A Kern County sheriff's deputy located Cazarez while he was driving on the highway, Youngblood said. Cazarez then pulled into a lot and shot himself in the chest, killing himself, the sheriff said.

Investigators are interviewing witnesses to try to piece together the suspect's relationship to all the victims, Youngblood said.

Domestic violence may have also played a role in the incident, the sheriff said.

"It's just tragic," he said.

The suspect had been driving a white Nissan Altima before he car-jacked the other vehicle, Youngblood said.

Toxicology tests will be done to determine if Cazarez had consumed drugs or alcohol at the time of the shootings.

ABC News' Alex Stone contributed to this report.

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Bakersfield shooting suspect used massive .50 caliber gun: Officials

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The suspect in a string of shootings in Bakersfield, California, that left six people dead on Wednesday has been identified as a 54-year-old man who may have been going through a divorce with his wife, according to local authorities.

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President Trump tweeted that the Dems faked the Puerto Rico death toll numbers. He was meet with a lot of backlash. The official death toll was 64, until the GWU report, which Gov. Rosselló of Puerto Rico commissioned himself found that the true number was closer to 3000, officially 2975.

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President Trump early Thursday tossed off two tweets rejecting Puerto Rico's official Hurricane Maria death toll. By the official count, 2,975 people died. But Trump claimed those numbers were inflated - a plot by Democrats to make him look bad.

3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000...
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 13, 2018

.....This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 13, 2018

The president provided no evidence to contradict the now widely accepted death toll, which was calculated after months of painstaking analysis of death records and expected mortality rates by researchers at George Washington University at the behest of the governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló.

Trump merely asks us to take him at his word that there were between six and 18 deaths after the storm hit on September 20, and that the number didn't go up by much after that.

Make no mistake: Thousands died in the storm and the resulting humanitarian crisis. But given that the Hurricane Maria death toll has been so politicized, it's worth walking through the research that gave us the figure of 3,000, a figure we can be pretty confident in, even though we don't have all the names or know exactly how they died.

A brief history of the Hurricane Maria death toll

When the storm made a direct hit on the island on September 20 and knocked out 80 percent of the island's power transmission lines, it was clear that many lives would be at stake. Thousands of sick, elderly, and small children were left without electricity, water, and medical care. And as the response progressed painfully slowly (in part because FEMA was stretched responding to two other hurricane disasters and wildfires in California), we saw that thousands continued to be with power, water, or medical care for months.

In the first week after the storm, the government announced an official death toll of 16. Immediately, to observers on the ground, this number seemed much too low. The first person to recognize it was Omaya Sosa Pascual, a reporter from the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, a local investigative journalism group. Sosa Pascual called the 69 hospitals around the island and learned that there were an estimated 60 confirmed deaths linked to the hurricane and possibly hundreds more.

Several other media outlets, including Vox, and independent researchers then began analyzing government data and reports from the ground. We all found additional evidence that even in the first month after the storm the death toll was much higher than the official count - likely to be more than 1,000. For instance, Vox reported in October 2017 that the death toll was likely more than 450.

The official death toll, however, was eventually updated to 64 and remained there until August, even after several groups of researchers published their higher estimatesin peer-reviewed journals. It took the release of the GWU report, which Gov. Rosselló commissioned himself and was the most comprehensive assessment to date, to give the government the confidence to put out a new official toll.

But still, even the 2,975 figure is not a list of names but rather a best estimate, according to Rosselló. "This number can change," Rosselló said in August. "It could be less, it could be more, as time passes."

Why we should trust the GWU estimate

If it feels like there have been a lot of different death tolls mentioned over the last six months or so, there have been. In the absence of a reliable figure from the government, three different groups of public health and social science researchers, along with several teams of journalists, attempted in the months since the storm to calculate the "excess mortality."

Researchers were interested in calculating not only the people who died during the peak of the storm, but also from the resulting loss of power, water, medical, and emergency services.

Several in the first wave of estimates beginning in December put the toll at about 1,000 deaths, about 15 times higher than the official count. The government also acknowledged in a report to Congress this summer (before it released the new official toll) that the storm caused 1,427 more deaths than "normal."

The ideal way to calculate the death toll from a hurricane, disaster researchers say, generally, is to count all the deaths in the time since the event, and then compare that number to the average number of deaths in the same time period from previous years. Subtract the average number from the current number and that's the death toll.

In Puerto Rico, there was some delay in the processing of death certificates in the months after the storm hit. And given how long the power outages lasted, there were storm-linked deaths even into February, five months after the storm hit.

What was different about the GWU study was that it looked at death certificates and other mortality data from September 2017 through the end of February 2018. It fed that data into a mathematical model that also adjusted for age, sex, and migration from the island, and ultimately found that there were an estimated 2,975 excess deaths related to Hurricane Maria, or 22 percent more deaths than would have been expected during that period in a year without the storm.

And it also provided a clearer picture of who died. The risk of death, they wrote, was 45 percent higher for people living in poorer areas. It was also higher for the elderly.

Researchers at GWU issued a statement Thursday after the Trump tweets standing by their study, calling it "the most accurate and unbiased estimate of excess mortality to date." Indeed, though it doesn't give us the names of the dead or how they died, the study does appear to be the most comprehensive statistical attempt to measure the deaths from the storm in part because it was able to include the deaths from January and February.

But it's possible that the death toll is even higher. You might have also heard about the studyby researchers at Harvard, published in May in the New England Journal of Medicine, that estimated a range of 793 to 8,498 deaths, with a midpoint of 4,645 deaths.

In January and February, those researchers surveyed about 3,300 randomly selected households across Puerto Rico and asked residents how many people from those households had died in the months after the storm made landfall. They found 38 deaths in the households, and they used that figure to calculate a mortality rate and then compared it to the mortality rate from the same time the previous year.

The difference was then used to come up with a very broad estimate for the number of people who died above what you'd expect to see in a normal year: the range of 793 to 8,498 deaths.

Alexis Santos, a Puerto Rican demographer at Penn State who conducted his own analysis of mortality following the hurricane, also published a paper in the journal JAMA on August 2, with Jeffrey Howard of the University of Texas San Antonio, estimating the death toll at 1,139.

Trump failed Puerto Rico and can't face it

Again: All of the death toll estimates, from reputable, epidemiological statistical analyses, number in the hundreds and thousands. No matter how you count it, what happened after Maria was a huge tragedy, arguably worse than Katrina.

The estimates all show that the government initially underestimated the toll of the storm. And they show there's no way, as Trump claimed today, there were not much more than 18 deaths.

Regardless of what the exact figure is, it's clear that the Trump administration failed to respond to the crisis on the island with sufficient support. Many of the deaths that ensued likely could have been prevented if more attention and resources had been offered early on. He failed to lead the response and is unwilling to accept the criticism.

As my colleague Zack Beauchamp argued, the tweets are exactly what we should expect from Trump. It's consistent with his tendency to be vengeful even on the most sensitive issues: Puerto Ricans watching their family members and neighbors die waiting for help from the federal government.

As Vox's Matt Yglesias wrote: "The carnage in Puerto Rico is the most severe manifestation of Trump's basic unfitness for the job he currently occupies. ... If you put a telegenic demagogue in office, you will get some choice moments of televised demagoguery. You won't get an adequate response to a hurricane, and that means you will get a sky-high death toll."

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What we know about the death toll in Puerto Rico

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President Trump early Thursday tossed off two tweets rejecting Puerto Rico's official Hurricane Maria death toll. By the official count, 2,975 people died. But Trump claimed those numbers were inflated - a plot by Democrats to make him look bad. 3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico.

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An officer was fired for what the police chief calls 'racist' social media posts after the arrest of Sterling Brown

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sterling brown tased by police: officer loses job - cnn

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Officer loses job over 'racist' social media posts about NBA player, police chief says

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The Milwaukee Police Department said it has fired an officer for posting "racist" and "derogatory" content on social media about the arrest and tasing of NBA player Sterling Brown.

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Some homes in Boston explode from gas fires, about 8,000 unable to go home, and even more unable to access power/gas. Many others will not be able to go home until the city inspects their homes for gas leaks to prevent further damage.

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Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency Friday in three towns north of Boston rocked by a string of deadly gas explosions, and he put another utility company in charge of restoration efforts.

"Today, on a number of very significant issues, we heard one thing and something else happened," Baker told reporters.

Baker said Eversource would replace Columbia Gas of Massachusetts on the same day he warned stunned residents of the towns that the return to normalcy could take time following blasts Thursday that set homes ablaze, forced evacuations and left one person dead.

Later in the day, the governor said Columbia was "simply inadequately prepared" to effectively manage relief efforts.

Mayor Daniel Rivera of Lawrence, one of the affected towns, said of the company, "It just seemed like there's no one in charge, like they're in the weeds, and they've never seen this before."

Utility President Steve Bryant later defended the company's performance, saying the company had remained in constant touch with state and federal officials.

"I would say that we've advanced this as rapidly as it could possibly be advanced," he told reporters. "I don't think that anybody else managing this would've been further down the road than we are at the moment."

Bryant expressed his condolences to the victim's family, apologized for the inconvenience to customers and said the company was providing "all the resources that we possibly can to be able to correct the damage."

Hundreds of natural gas technicians were to descend on Lawrence, Andover and North Andover in the coming days to restore gas service safely before electricity could be turned on, state officials said.

"Utility technicians must do their jobs in order to make sure everyone has a safe place to return to," Baker said. "This will not be an easy process and we ask for continued patience."

Kurt Schwartz, director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said, "How long is it going to take? As long as it takes. ... We don't know today how long this will take."

The investigation into the cause - involving the National Transportation Safety Board and other federal agencies - is in its early stages, officials said.

"Once the utilities secure the affected areas we'll work with the federal government to investigate how this occurred and who should be held accountable for the results and actions," Baker said.

As pressure mounted for gas company officials to provide answers about what happened, Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called for a congressional hearings on the explosions and fires.

"People have a right to know," Markey told reporters. "There's oftentimes a tendency, when there are accidents like this, for a company to huddle down, to try to protect their shareholders when their one goal should be just to protect the people who they are serving. We're going to be here to make sure that that happens."

Thursday evening, homes erupted in flames across the three towns, consumed by more than 60 suspected gas fires.

"It looked like Armageddon, it really did," said Andover Fire Rescue Chief Michael B. Mansfield.

One house in Lawrence exploded, sending the chimney flying. It crashed into a nearby car, fatally wounding a teenager who was inside. Leonel Rondon, 18, and two of his friends were in the car when the debris struck, his family told CNN affiliate WHDH. He later died at the hospital, authorities said.

Also in Lawrence, a boiler inside Ra Nam's house caught fire, he told CNN affiliate WCVB.

Minutes later, he said he heard a loud booming sound from his neighbor's house. Three people rushed out. About 25 people, including two firefighters, were wounded, officials said.

"This has been an overwhelming event," Mansfield said. "I have been in the fire service for almost 39 years and I have never seen anything like this in my entire career."

Gas, power shut off

Gas technicians and first responders went door to door reviewing thousands of homes in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover and shutting down gas mains.

Massachusetts State Police confirmed at least 70 responses to fire, explosions and gas odor reports.

The NTSB sent a team Friday to investigate what "appears to be multiple explosions involving (a) natural gas pipeline in the Merrimack Valley area of Massachusetts," Chairman Robert Sumwalt said.

Sumwalt said his agency would look at "the design of the pipeline system, any maintenance or upgrades being done or in process of being done on the pipeline. The integrity management system of the pipeline operator Columbia Gas. We'll look at the emergency response, the system safety program of the pipeline operator."

"Our mission is to find out what happened, so that we can learn from it and keep it from happening again," he said.

Thousands can't go home

Authorities cautioned it was "far too early to speculate" on the cause of the explosions.

Earlier Thursday, before the fires broke out, the utility company that services the area announced it would be upgrading natural gas lines in neighborhoods across the state.

"Weather permitting, work will take place Monday through Friday," Columbia Gas said in a statement. Andover, North Andover and Lawrence were included in the planned projects.

Gas service was interrupted for 250 customers in Lawrence last month because of a line hit by a third party, according to the company. It's unclear whether that incident was related to Thursday's fire and explosions.

The governor said he urged Columbia Gas to develop a "comprehensive safety inspection plan."

Utility works with officials to 'investigate this incident'

In a statement Friday, Columbia Gas said crew members are working to restore power with the help of other utility companies.

"Our thoughts are with the community and everyone impacted by yesterday's tragic incident. We are focused on providing as much support as possible to our customers, residents and communities," the company said in the statement.

Columbia Gasalso said it's working with officials to "investigate this incident in order to understand its cause."

This is not the first time that a subsidiary of NiSource, the parent company of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, has been the subject of a federal probe stemming from a disaster.

A Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation natural gas pipeline burst in West Virginia in 2012 and NTSB investigators determined that external corrosion, which could have been discovered by the pipeline operator, was at fault.

Columbia Gas Transmission was owned by NiSource until 2015, when the company was spun off into Columbia Pipeline Group. Later, that company became part of TransCanada.

NiSource is one of the largest natural gas utilities in the United States, serving more than 3.4 million customers in seven states, according to its website. The company also provides electric distribution, generation and transmission services to almost 500,000 customers in northern Indiana as well.

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'It looked like Armageddon': Massachusetts governor declares state of emergency after deadly blasts | CNN

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Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency Friday in three towns north of Boston rocked by a string of deadly gas explosions, and he put another utility company in charge of restoration efforts. "Today, on a number of very significant issues, we heard one thing and something else happened," Baker told reporters.

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An illegal immigrant from Guatemala was charged in stabbing a 16-year-old girl. The girl, Madison Wells was found alive but later died in the hospital.

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A New Jersey man charged in the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old girl was reportedly in the U.S. illegally at the time of the alleged crime.

Bryan Cordero-Castro, 20, was charged with murder, weapons possession and attempted escape in connection with the stabbing death of Madison Wells. Cordero-Castro is a Guatemalan native who was living in the U.S. illegally after overstaying his visa, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Friends told WABC that Cordero-Castro and Wells had been dating for about a year before the teen's death.

One friend described the pair to the Asbury Park Press as being "inseparable."

"They used to hang out every day," Hafett Barrates, 18, told the newspaper. Barrates added he didn't know what could have led to the stabbing.

Wells, a Long Branch native, had lived for a time in Florida before moving back to New Jersey in 2014. She was just starting her junior year at Long Branch High School at the time of her death.

Wells was wounded but alive when she was found by Long Branch police officers responding to a report of a stabbing Saturday night. She was taken to Monmouth Medical Center, where she died about an hour later, police said.

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Illegal immigrant charged in stabbing death of 16-year-old girl, report says

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A New Jersey man charged in the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old girl was reportedly in the U.S. illegally at the time of the alleged crime. Bryan Cordero-Castro, 20, was charged with murder, weapons possession and attempted escape in connection with the stabbing death of Madison Wells.

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Hurricane Florence makes landfall in North Carolina and is already causing extreme destruction. Nearly 437,000 people have lost power in North and South Carolina, and the storm surge is currently 10 feet above normal levels. While the hurricane has been downgraded to a category 1, this does not mean it is any safer, as the hurricane is expected to slow down inland and cause destruction and flooding for days.

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Florence kills 5 in North Carolina, officials say

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At least five people, including a mother and her infant, have died in North Carolina as Tropical Storm Florence slowly moved from the Tar Heel State into South Carolina, officials said Friday.

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6 people died in California when a 54 year old man opened fire. He used a .50 caliber handgun. At the end of his shooting spree he then turned the gun on himself.

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A shooting in Bakersfield, California, has left at least 6 dead at multiple crime scenes, police said.

Around 5:20 p.m. local time Wednesday, deputies responded to a trucking business where shots were fired, according to the Kern County Sheriff's Department.

A husband and wife confronted someone at the business, where the husband, whom police said is the suspect, allegedly shot and killed two people, including his wife.

Another person showed up and fired at the suspect, police said. The suspect shot and killed that person as well, police said.

The suspect then went to a residential home, where he allegedly shot and killed two more people, according to police.

The suspect then allegedly carjacked a vehicle with a woman and child inside, but they were not injured, police said.

After being confronted by a deputy, the suspect killed himself with a gunshot to the chest, officials said.

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6 dead in shooting in California, multiple crime scenes: Police

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A shooting in Bakersfield, California, has left at least 6 dead at multiple crime scenes, police said. Around 5:20 p.m. local time Wednesday, deputies responded to a trucking business where shots were fired, according to the Kern County Sheriff's Department. A husband and wife confronted someone...

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Hurricane Florence has made landfall on the coastline in North Carolina. The wind speeds are up to 105 mph. Already 402,000 people are with out power. A big part of this storm is flooding. Over the next few days the rainfall is supposed to reach 20 to 40 inches, and in some parts of North Carolina they are getting 2 inches of rain per hour.

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Hurricane Florence is pummeling the North Carolina coastline, nearing landfall this morning with life-threatening storm surges and hurricane-force winds.

Interested in Hurricane Florence?

Add Hurricane Florence as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Hurricane Florence news, video, and analysis from ABC News.

As North Carolina residents brace for the impact of the Category 1 storm, nearly 300,000 customers in the state were without power early Friday morning.

Here's the latest:

Catastrophic flooding is feared in much of the coastal Carolinas. Rainfall has already reached as much as 2 inches per hour in parts of eastern North Carolina.

More than a foot of rain has already drenched Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In New Bern, North Carolina, where water levels reached 10 feet overnight, 150 people have requested rescue. Volunteers are using private boats to pitch in and help, city spokeswoman Colleen Roberts said.

The downtown area, at the confluence of two rivers, is mostly underwater.

"You may need to move up to the second story, or to your attic, but WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU," the city said on Twitter.

Currently ~150 awaiting rescue in New Bern. We have 2 out-of-state FEMA teams here for swift water rescue. More are on the way to help us. WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU. You may need to move up to the second story, or to your attic, but WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU. #FlorenceNC
- City of New Bern (@CityofNewBern) September 14, 2018

The rainfall is forecast to reach 20 to 40 inches over the next several days.

Storm surge could be as high as 11 feet in parts of North Carolina, prompting officials to closely watch the rise of rivers in the eastern part of the state. River flooding may be worse than Hurricane Floyd in 1999. The Cape Fear River is expected to in major flood stage by Sunday and record flood stage by Monday.

"Surviving this storm will be a test of endurance, team work common sense and patience," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday. "The heavy rains and high winds are likely to spread across North Carolina and linger for days."

"We will survive this, and we will endure," he said.

ABC News' Alex Faul contributed to this report.

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Florence pummels NC coast: In flooded New Bern, 150 people need rescue

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Hurricane Florence is pummeling the North Carolina coastline, nearing landfall this morning with life-threatening storm surges and hurricane-force winds. Add Hurricane Florence as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Hurricane Florence news, video, and analysis from ABC News.

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An illegal immigrant is responsible for stabbing 16 year old Madison Wells. She was found alive by police officers, but later died in the hospital.

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A New Jersey man charged in the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old girl was reportedly in the U.S. illegally at the time of the alleged crime.

Bryan Cordero-Castro, 20, was charged with murder, weapons possession and attempted escape in connection with the stabbing death of Madison Wells. Cordero-Castro is a Guatemalan native who was living in the U.S. illegally after overstaying his visa, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Friends told WABC that Cordero-Castro and Wells had been dating for about a year before the teen's death.

One friend described the pair to the Asbury Park Press as being "inseparable."

"They used to hang out every day," Hafett Barrates, 18, told the newspaper. Barrates added he didn't know what could have led to the stabbing.

Wells, a Long Branch native, had lived for a time in Florida before moving back to New Jersey in 2014. She was just starting her junior year at Long Branch High School at the time of her death.

Wells was wounded but alive when she was found by Long Branch police officers responding to a report of a stabbing Saturday night. She was taken to Monmouth Medical Center, where she died about an hour later, police said.

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Illegal immigrant charged in stabbing death of 16-year-old girl, report says

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A New Jersey man charged in the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old girl was reportedly in the U.S. illegally at the time of the alleged crime. Bryan Cordero-Castro, 20, was charged with murder, weapons possession and attempted escape in connection with the stabbing death of Madison Wells.

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A gas explosion in Massachusetts caused a house in Lawrence's chimney to fly off and hit a neighboring car killing the 18 year old boy inside. 8,000 people have no place to go.

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Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency Friday in three towns north of Boston rocked by a string of deadly gas explosions, and he put another utility company in charge of restoration efforts.

"Today, on a number of very significant issues, we heard one thing and something else happened," Baker told reporters.

Baker said Eversource would replace Columbia Gas of Massachusetts on the same day he warned stunned residents of the towns that the return to normalcy could take time following blasts Thursday that set homes ablaze, forced evacuations and left one person dead.

Later in the day, the governor said Columbia was "simply inadequately prepared" to effectively manage relief efforts.

Mayor Daniel Rivera of Lawrence, one of the affected towns, said of the company, "It just seemed like there's no one in charge, like they're in the weeds, and they've never seen this before."

Utility President Steve Bryant later defended the company's performance, saying the company had remained in constant touch with state and federal officials.

"I would say that we've advanced this as rapidly as it could possibly be advanced," he told reporters. "I don't think that anybody else managing this would've been further down the road than we are at the moment."

Bryant expressed his condolences to the victim's family, apologized for the inconvenience to customers and said the company was providing "all the resources that we possibly can to be able to correct the damage."

Hundreds of natural gas technicians were to descend on Lawrence, Andover and North Andover in the coming days to restore gas service safely before electricity could be turned on, state officials said.

"Utility technicians must do their jobs in order to make sure everyone has a safe place to return to," Baker said. "This will not be an easy process and we ask for continued patience."

Kurt Schwartz, director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said, "How long is it going to take? As long as it takes. ... We don't know today how long this will take."

The investigation into the cause - involving the National Transportation Safety Board and other federal agencies - is in its early stages, officials said.

"Once the utilities secure the affected areas we'll work with the federal government to investigate how this occurred and who should be held accountable for the results and actions," Baker said.

As pressure mounted for gas company officials to provide answers about what happened, Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called for a congressional hearings on the explosions and fires.

"People have a right to know," Markey told reporters. "There's oftentimes a tendency, when there are accidents like this, for a company to huddle down, to try to protect their shareholders when their one goal should be just to protect the people who they are serving. We're going to be here to make sure that that happens."

Thursday evening, homes erupted in flames across the three towns, consumed by more than 60 suspected gas fires.

"It looked like Armageddon, it really did," said Andover Fire Rescue Chief Michael B. Mansfield.

One house in Lawrence exploded, sending the chimney flying. It crashed into a nearby car, fatally wounding a teenager who was inside. Leonel Rondon, 18, and two of his friends were in the car when the debris struck, his family told CNN affiliate WHDH. He later died at the hospital, authorities said.

Also in Lawrence, a boiler inside Ra Nam's house caught fire, he told CNN affiliate WCVB.

Minutes later, he said he heard a loud booming sound from his neighbor's house. Three people rushed out. About 25 people, including two firefighters, were wounded, officials said.

"This has been an overwhelming event," Mansfield said. "I have been in the fire service for almost 39 years and I have never seen anything like this in my entire career."

Gas, power shut off

Gas technicians and first responders went door to door reviewing thousands of homes in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover and shutting down gas mains.

Massachusetts State Police confirmed at least 70 responses to fire, explosions and gas odor reports.

The NTSB sent a team Friday to investigate what "appears to be multiple explosions involving (a) natural gas pipeline in the Merrimack Valley area of Massachusetts," Chairman Robert Sumwalt said.

Sumwalt said his agency would look at "the design of the pipeline system, any maintenance or upgrades being done or in process of being done on the pipeline. The integrity management system of the pipeline operator Columbia Gas. We'll look at the emergency response, the system safety program of the pipeline operator."

"Our mission is to find out what happened, so that we can learn from it and keep it from happening again," he said.

Thousands can't go home

Authorities cautioned it was "far too early to speculate" on the cause of the explosions.

Earlier Thursday, before the fires broke out, the utility company that services the area announced it would be upgrading natural gas lines in neighborhoods across the state.

"Weather permitting, work will take place Monday through Friday," Columbia Gas said in a statement. Andover, North Andover and Lawrence were included in the planned projects.

Gas service was interrupted for 250 customers in Lawrence last month because of a line hit by a third party, according to the company. It's unclear whether that incident was related to Thursday's fire and explosions.

The governor said he urged Columbia Gas to develop a "comprehensive safety inspection plan."

Utility works with officials to 'investigate this incident'

In a statement Friday, Columbia Gas said crew members are working to restore power with the help of other utility companies.

"Our thoughts are with the community and everyone impacted by yesterday's tragic incident. We are focused on providing as much support as possible to our customers, residents and communities," the company said in the statement.

Columbia Gasalso said it's working with officials to "investigate this incident in order to understand its cause."

This is not the first time that a subsidiary of NiSource, the parent company of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, has been the subject of a federal probe stemming from a disaster.

A Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation natural gas pipeline burst in West Virginia in 2012 and NTSB investigators determined that external corrosion, which could have been discovered by the pipeline operator, was at fault.

Columbia Gas Transmission was owned by NiSource until 2015, when the company was spun off into Columbia Pipeline Group. Later, that company became part of TransCanada.

NiSource is one of the largest natural gas utilities in the United States, serving more than 3.4 million customers in seven states, according to its website. The company also provides electric distribution, generation and transmission services to almost 500,000 customers in northern Indiana as well.

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'It looked like Armageddon': Massachusetts governor declares state of emergency after deadly blasts | CNN

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Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency Friday in three towns north of Boston rocked by a string of deadly gas explosions, and he put another utility company in charge of restoration efforts. "Today, on a number of very significant issues, we heard one thing and something else happened," Baker told reporters.

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A 16 year old stabbed and then later dies. An illegal immigrant is charged for her death. The two were dating for about a year. Their friends were saying they don't know what lead up to the stabbing, because the two were insuperable. They hung out everyday.

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A New Jersey man charged in the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old girl was reportedly in the U.S. illegally at the time of the alleged crime.

Bryan Cordero-Castro, 20, was charged with murder, weapons possession and attempted escape in connection with the stabbing death of Madison Wells. Cordero-Castro is a Guatemalan native who was living in the U.S. illegally after overstaying his visa, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Friends told WABC that Cordero-Castro and Wells had been dating for about a year before the teen's death.

One friend described the pair to the Asbury Park Press as being "inseparable."

"They used to hang out every day," Hafett Barrates, 18, told the newspaper. Barrates added he didn't know what could have led to the stabbing.

Wells, a Long Branch native, had lived for a time in Florida before moving back to New Jersey in 2014. She was just starting her junior year at Long Branch High School at the time of her death.

Wells was wounded but alive when she was found by Long Branch police officers responding to a report of a stabbing Saturday night. She was taken to Monmouth Medical Center, where she died about an hour later, police said.

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Illegal immigrant charged in stabbing death of 16-year-old girl, report says

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A New Jersey man charged in the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old girl was reportedly in the U.S. illegally at the time of the alleged crime. Bryan Cordero-Castro, 20, was charged with murder, weapons possession and attempted escape in connection with the stabbing death of Madison Wells.

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Hurricane Florence has been moved to a Category 1, with winds around 90 miles an hour. Because it is moving at such a slow pace, it is doing much destruction to the coast of the Carolina's. Right now, there are over 400,000 people without power.

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Florence kills 5 in North Carolina, officials say

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At least five people, including a mother and her infant, have died in North Carolina as Tropical Storm Florence slowly moved from the Tar Heel State into South Carolina, officials said Friday.

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Hurricane Florence has achieved landfall close to Wrightsville, North Carolina. The center of the eye has made it ashore with 90 mph winds which only make it a category 1 for its winds. Heavy floods and damages are expected to occur.

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Forecasters say the center of the eye of Hurricane Florence is about to make landfall near Wrightsville, North Carolina.

It remains a Category 1 hurricane with top sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph), but a gust of 112 mph (180 kph) was reported just offshore.

The barrier island of Emerald Isle is under water, with ocean waves rolling in over a six-foot storm surge and crashing into homes.

At 7 a.m., the center of the eye was located about 5 miles (10 kilometers) east of Wilmington, moving west at 6 mph.

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7 a.m.

It's about the water, not the wind, with Hurricane Florence making an extended stay along the North Carolina coast.

Forecasters say "it cannot be emphasized enough that the most serious hazard associated with slow-moving Florence is extremely heavy rainfall, which will cause disastrous flooding that will be spreading inland."

Top winds were holding at 90 mph -- that's just a Category 1 hurricane -- but some communities were already submerged in more than six feet of water as the storm drenched the coast.

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6 a.m.

National Hurricane Center: Florence about to make landfall in N. Carolina causing life-threatening storm surge.

The National Hurricane Center says Florence is about to make landfall in North Carolina bringing with it life-threatening storm surges and hurricane force winds.

As of 6 a.m., Florence was 10 miles (20 kilometers) east of Wilmington, North Carolina. Its forward movement was 6 mph (9 kph). Hurricane-force winds extended 90 miles (150 kilometers) from its center, and tropical-storm-force winds up to 195 miles (315 kilometers).

The Miami-based center says Florence is bringing "catastrophic" fresh water flooding over a wide area of the Carolinas.

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5:50 a.m.

A North Carolina city says about 70 people have been rescued from a hotel whose structural integrity is being threatened by Hurricane Florence.

The city of Jacksonville's statement says people have been moved to the city's public safety center as officials work to find a more permanent shelter.

Officials found a basketball-sized hole in the hotel wall and other life-threatening damage, with some cinder blocks crumbling and parts of the roof collapsing.

None of the people rescued were injured.

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5:00 a.m.

The National Hurricane Center says Florence is about to make landfall in North Carolina bringing with it life-threatening storm surges and hurricane force winds.

As of 5 a.m., Florence was 25 miles (55 kilometers) east of Wilmington, North Carolina. Its forward movement was 6 mph (9 kph). Hurricane-force winds extended 90 miles (150 kilometers) from its center, and tropical-storm-force winds up to 195 miles (315 kilometers).

The Miami-based center had said earlier Friday Florence's arrival would come with "catastrophic" fresh water flooding over portions of the Carolinas.

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4:25 a.m.

A North Carolina city situated between two rivers says it has around 150 people waiting to be rescued from rising flood waters from Hurricane Florence.

WXII-TV reports the city of New Bern said Friday that two out-of-state FEMA teams were working on swift-water rescues and more teams were on the way. City spokeswoman Colleen Roberts tells WRAL-TV that 200 people have already been rescued.

The National Hurricane Center says the Neuse River near the city is recording more than 10 feet (3.05 meters) of inundation. Roberts says the storm surge continues to increase as Florence passes over the area.

The city warns that people "may need to move up to the second story" but tells them to stay put as "we are coming to get you."

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4 a.m.

The National Hurricane Center says the eyewall of Hurricane Florence is beginning to reach the North Carolina coast.

As of 4 a.m., Florence was 30 miles (45 kilometers) east of Wilmington, North Carolina. Its forward movement was 6 mph (9 kph). Hurricane-force winds extended 90 miles (150 kilometers) from its center, and tropical-storm-force winds up to 195 miles (315 kilometers).

Forecasters said conditions will deteriorate as the storm pushes ashore early Friday near the North Carolina-South Carolina line and makes its way slowly inland.

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3:30 a.m.

Life-threatening storm surge is being reported along the coast of the Carolinas.

The National Hurricane Center said early Friday that a gauge in Emerald Isle, North Carolina, recently reported 6.3 feet (1.92 meters) of inundation. Emerald Isle is about 84 miles (135 kilometers) north of Wilmington.

As of 3 a.m., Florence hadn't moved and was still centered about 35 miles (55 kilometers) east of Wilmington, North Carolina. Its forward movement increased slightly to 6 mph (9 kph). Hurricane-force winds extended 90 miles (150 kilometers) from its center, and tropical-storm-force winds up to 195 miles (315 kilometers).

Forecasters say the combination of a life-threatening storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline.

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2 a.m.

The National Hurricane Center says that "catastrophic" freshwater flooding is expected over portions of the Carolinas as Hurricane Florence inches closer to the U.S. East Coast.

The now Category 1 storm's intensity diminished as it neared land, with winds dropping to 90 mph (135 kph) by nightfall. But that, combined with the storm's slowing forward movement and heavy rains, had Gov. Roy Cooper warning of an impending disaster.

As of 2 a.m., Florence was centered about 35 miles (55 kilometers) east of Wilmington, North Carolina. Its forward movement increased slightly to 6 mph (9 kph). Hurricane-force winds extended 90 miles (150 kilometers) from its center, and tropical-storm-force winds up to 195 miles (315 kilometers).

Forecasters say the combination of a life-threatening storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline.

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11 p.m.

Hurricane Florence already has inundated coastal streets with ocean water and left tens of thousands without power, and more is to come.

Screaming winds bent trees and raindrops flew sideways as Florence's leading edge battered the Carolina coast Thursday.

The storm's intensity diminished as it neared land, with winds dropping to 90 mph (135 kph) by nightfall. But that, combined with the storm's slowing forward movement and heavy rains, had Gov. Roy Cooper warning of an impending disaster.

Forecasters said Florence's surge could cover all but a sliver of the Carolina coast under as much as 11 feet (3.4 meters) of ocean water, and days of downpours could unload more than 3 feet (0.9 meters) of rain, touching off severe flooding.

7:45 a.m.

The National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Florence has finally made landfall near Wrightsville, North Carolina.

The Miami-based center says the center of the eye moved ashore with top sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph), making Florence a Category 1 hurricane in terms of wind intensity.

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7:15 a.m.
Gallery by photo services
WILMINGTON, N.C. - The Latest on Hurricane Florence (all times local):

8:15 a.m.

Hurricane Florence is dumping rain on North Carolina and pushing a storm surge taller than most humans onto communities near the coast.
Track Florence
The center of the eye of the hurricane made landfall in Wrightsville, North Carolina, and was moving slowly westward just south of Wilmington.

Coastal and river communities on the north side of Florence are getting the worst of the flooding as the hurricane swirls onto land pushing a life-threatening storm surge.

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The Latest: 400,000 lose power, many flooded by Florence

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Forecasters say the center of the eye of Hurricane Florence is about to make landfall near Wrightsville, North Carolina. It remains a Category 1 hurricane with top sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph), but a gust of 112 mph (180 kph) was reported just offshore.

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The powerful Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, early Friday morning as the Category 1 storm battered the coast with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains that officials warned could trigger catastrophic floods.

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Hurricane Florence moving slowly, but ‘wreaking havoc’ across Carolinas

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Slow moving and powerful Hurricane Florence is “wreaking havoc” across the Carolinas as the Category 1 storm continues to dump massive amounts of rain that could trigger catastrophic floods inland.