(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will meet Tuesday afternoon with congressional leaders at the White House — as a fast-approaching deadline looms to either increase the nation’s borrowing limit or risk an unprecedented and potentially devastating debt default that would ripple across the global economy.
Tuesday’s meeting will be the first time since February that Biden has sat down with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to discuss the debt and spending.
The intervening months have been filled with back and forth, with Biden leading Democrats in pushing for a raise to the debt ceiling “without conditions.”
McCarthy and other Republicans, meanwhile, continue to say they will only agree to raise the borrowing cap if Biden also agrees to some federal spending cuts and budget changes.
Both sides have repeatedly insisted they don’t want to see a default, but comments from Democrats and Republicans as recently as this week show how far apart they publicly remain on reaching an agreement.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Sunday on ABC’s This Week that the federal government could run out of money to pay all of its bills by June 1, though uncertainty remains about the exact “X-date” when default would begin.
“Whether it’s defaulting on interest payments that are due on the debt or payments due for Social Security recipients or to Medicare providers, we would simply not have enough cash to meet all of our obligations,” Yellen said. “And it’s widely agreed that financial and economic chaos would ensue.”
Why Biden is meeting with lawmakers about the debt ceiling
The U.S. can pay most but not all of its bills with the tax and other revenue it takes in, and it must borrow the rest of the money. But Congress enforces a limit on how much debt the government can incur and when that ceiling — currently set at about $31.4 trillion — is reached, lawmakers must increase it before the government can borrow more funds.
The U.S. hit its debt limit in January and has been employing “extraordinary measures” since then to keep its bills paid, the treasury secretary has said.
On May 1, Yellen sent a letter to McCarthy and other top lawmakers urging action.
“We have learned from past debt limit impasses that waiting until the last minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can cause serious harm to business and consumer confidence, raise short-term borrowing costs for taxpayers, and negatively impact the credit rating of the United States,” she wrote.
Later on May 1, the White House invited McCarthy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to a meeting at the White House.
What Democrats want: A ‘clean’ hike
Last week, the president spoke bluntly of how he viewed the GOP strategy.
“Let’s get it straight: They’re trying to hold the debt hostage to [get] us to agree to some draconian cuts, magnificently difficult and damaging cuts,” Biden said on Friday.
Schumer also criticized Republicans in a floor speech on May 1: “If the hard right continues running the show in the House, the dangers of a first-ever default are growing day by day. The only real solution is for both parties to past a clean bill … with no brinksmanship, no hostage-taking.”
On Monday during a White House briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president planned to make “very clear” with the congressional leaders on Tuesday that their “constitutional duty” is to raise the debt limit.
“We should not have House Republicans manufacturing a crisis on something that has been done 78 times since 1960,” she said.
“Congress must avoid default without conditions — without conditions — as they did three times before in the last administration,” she said.
Biden resisted earlier Republican pressure to negotiate by challenging conservatives to publicly present their specific budget plan. The president released his own in early March, with House Republicans then unveiling their debt limit bill in mid-April.
“I’m happy to meet with McCarthy, but not on whether or not the debt limit gets extended,” Biden said in late April. “That’s not negotiable.”
Congressional Democrats have also indicated they are open to talks about spending and the budget — possibly even simultaneously with work on a separate debt ceiling bill.
“We, of course, are open to having a discussion about what type of investments, what type of spending, what type of revenues are appropriate in order to protect the health, safety and economic well-being of the American people,” Jeffries said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. “That is a process available to us right now.”
What Republicans want: Spending cuts
On April 26, House Republicans narrowly passed their bill to effectively raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion while reducing funding for federal agencies to 2022 fiscal year levels and limiting growth in government spending to 1% per year.
Afterward, McCarthy addressed Biden at a news conference: “We’re the only ones to pass a plan. So, I think it’s up to you now. Whether the economy goes in any trouble, it’s you, because the Republicans raised the debt limit.”
“We’ve done our job,” he said.
The GOP proposal would also reverse much of Biden’s signature climate, education and tax agenda.
“The House bill that they put out was their first parameter,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said on ABC’s This Week on Sunday when pressed by anchor George Stephanopoulos about the spending cuts the GOP wants. “It is the beginning of a negotiation.”
Lankford said then that the “most stunning part about this” was the lack of ongoing talks between the White House and Republicans.
“President Biden has been sleepwalking towards this crisis,” McConnell said in a floor speech on May 2.
“We have divided government. The American people gave Republicans the House, Democrats have the presidency,” McConnell said then. “The president and the speaker need to reach an agreement to get us past this impasse.”
Senate Republicans have stayed in lockstep with their House colleagues. Mike Lee of Utah this weekend led a letter addressed to Schumer and signed by 43 total Republican senators that stated their staunch opposition to backing any debt limit increase without “substantive spending and budget reforms.” They also threatened to filibuster any bill brought to the floor that doesn’t include their requests.
Americans are closely divided on whom they’d blame if the federal government defaults on its debts, with 39% saying in a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll that they’d mainly point the finger at Republicans in Congress, while virtually as many, 36%, said they’d mainly blame Biden.
Sixteen percent said that they’d blame both sides equally.
Democrats this weekend did not entirely rule out two possible ways to prevent a debt default: either a short-term hike or the president trying to invoke the 14th Amendment, which states that the public debt “shall not be questioned.”
When asked by MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on Friday if he would consider using the amendment, Biden said he had “not gotten there yet.”
(NEW YORK) — Ten months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion, two-thirds of Americans continue to oppose its decision — and 51% now think its justices base their rulings mainly on their personal political opinions, not on the law.
Early in 2022, before the abortion ruling, the public divided evenly, 46%-45%, on whether the justices’ rulings were based mainly on the law or on their own political preferences. Today, well fewer than half, 39%, think Supreme Court rulings are based mainly on the law, a 7-point drop in this fundamental measure of confidence in the court.
While these views have grown more partisan, even among Republicans and conservatives, just half think the justices rule mainly on the basis of the law. And today, just 35% to 37% of Democrats, independents and moderates alike, and 27% of liberals, think so. Faith in the court to follow the law has dropped by double digits in three of those groups.
Women are especially likely to oppose the ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. But majorities of women and men alike oppose it, and confidence in the court to rule mainly on the basis of the law is down among women (minus 7 points) and men (minus 6 points) alike. (The declines are slight given sample sizes.)
Abortion
Results of this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, underscore broad and continued majority support for abortion rights in the United States, a contrast to the state-by-state upheaval prompted by the high court’s ruling last summer.
Among those results, 78% of Americans say the decision whether to have an abortion should be left a woman and her doctor, rather than regulated by law. (It was 70% and 75% in two previous ABC/Washington Post polls since 2021.) Even majorities of Republicans (58%) and conservatives (60%) hold this view, as do anywhere from 82% to 96% of those with other partisan and ideological preferences.
Notably, even among evangelical white Protestants, typically the leading anti-abortion group, 56% say the decision to have an abortion should be left to a woman and her doctor. That rises to 75% of Catholics, 83% of non-evangelical white Protestants and 92% of people with no religious affiliation.
As noted, 66% overall oppose the court’s Dobbs ruling, including 54% who strongly oppose it — far above strong support, 22%. Overall opposition encompasses 71% of women, compared with 61% of men. It’s also higher among Black (81%) and Hispanic (74%) adults than among white people, 62%.
Most evangelical white Protestants, conservatives and Republicans support the ruling, but not overwhelmingly so — 58% among evangelicals, 55% among conservatives and 54% among Republicans. Those compare with much higher levels of opposition in other political and ideological groups — 71% among independents, 79% among moderates, 88% among Democrats and 92% among liberals.
The result among independents, in particular, marks potential political risk to anti-abortion candidates. Seventy-seven percent of independent women oppose Dobbs, as do 65% of independent men. Seventy percent of suburban women oppose it, as do 63% of suburban men. And 60% in the states won by Donald Trump in 2020 oppose Dobbs, rising to 70% in the states won by Joe Biden.
Similar to attitudes on Dobbs, 66% overall say the abortion drug mifepristone should remain on the market. Half of evangelical white Protestants say so, as do 46% of conservatives and 45% of Republicans — with support rising much higher in other groups.
Among its supporters, 72% say the drug should remain as available as it is now.
While mifepristone is now unavailable in 14 states, 60% of residents of those states say the drug should be available versus 27% who say it should be off the market. In other states, 68% say mifepristone should remain available.
The Supreme Court last month blocked, for the time being, two lower court rulings against mifepristone — one overturning the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug, the other blocking its distribution by mail. That case continues in the lower court.
Methodology
This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone April 28-May 3, 2023, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 1,006 adults. Partisan divisions are 26-25-41%, Democrats-Republicans-independents. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 percentage points, including the design effect. Sampling error is not the only source of differences in polls.
The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates, with sampling and data collection by Abt Associates of Rockville, Maryland. See details on the survey’s methodology here.
(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) — Kansas City suffered a violent weekend as three separate shootings impacted the city’s downtown over 30 minutes late Sunday.
The shootings come as Kansas City, Missouri, has already faced a violent year, with 59 homicides having already been recorded since the start of the year — the most since 2019.
The incidents began on Sunday at 5:47 p.m. when officers were dispatched to a chicken restaurant downtown. According to an incident summary from the Kansas City Police Department, a man entered the restaurant “saying he had been shot.”
Twenty minutes later, officers responded to the scene of a separate shooting. In that instance, the victim arrived at a local hospital via a private vehicle, according to the incident report.
The last shooting occurred six minutes later; officers responded to a shooting to find an unresponsive victim suffering from a gunshot wound in a grassy area near an intersection. Officers attempted life-saving measures until the arrival of EMS, according to the Kansas City Police,
The three men survived, with two remaining in critical condition, according to ABC News’ Kansas City affiliate KMBC-TV.
The brief period shattered by violence on Sunday paints a bleak picture of downtown Kansas City, where gun violence is so prevalent it is often underreported by media and unsolved by law enforcement.
Since the start of the year the city has suffered 59 homicides, according to analysis from the Kansas City Police, which does not consider officer-involved shootings in their count. While some of the homicides are caused by an argument or stem from domestic violence, the cause of most shootings is unknown by law enforcement. What is more apparent to law enforcement is the weapon of choice — nearly 90% involve some kind of firearm.
Kansas City, Missouri, and neighboring Kansas City, Kansas, have also had several shootings affecting minors last month. On April 13, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot by a resident after Yarl approached the wrong home while picking up his twin brothers. Last Wednesday in Kansas City, Kansas, a young boy was fatally shot while playing in his front yard in broad daylight, according to KMBC. His family said 6-year-old Sir-Antonio Brown was riding his bike when three men in black face masks began firing.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas co-chairs Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of mayors organized by Everytown for Gun Safety working to reduce gun violence.
“Just like how Big Tobacco needed to be held accountable for its role in promulgating a generation of lung cancer patients, so too does the gun industry need to be held accountable for its role in our gun violence epidemic,” Lucas said at a summit last summer on gun violence prevention.
Last year, the city suffered 155 firearm-related homicides, according to police data. Based on the current rate of violence, the city is currently on track to break last year’s record.
(NEW YORK) — Advisory committees of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are meeting Tuesday and Wednesday to review the first-ever application for an over-the-counter birth control pill.
At a joint meeting, the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Obstetrics, Reproductive, and Urologic Drugs Advisory Committee will discuss whether pharmaceutical company Perrigo can make its oral contraceptive Opill, which currently requires a prescription, to be available on store shelves.
First approved by the FDA in 1973, Opill is type of hormonal birth control pill known as the “minipill,” which some experts say poses fewer risks than combination pills that rely on estrogen.
Still, buyers would have to screen themselves for any health risk factors, much as they would other OTC medications.
During the meeting, the FDA will hear from the company as well as speakers who will advocate for the need of nonprescription birth control.
Committee members will debate the results of a study Perrigo conducted and there will be an opportunity for open public comment. A vote from the advisory committees is expected to come Wednesday.
If the advisory committees do recommend approval, the next step is approval from the FDA. Although the agency is not bound to follow the advisory groups’ recommendations, the FDA typically does not go against their guidance.
The FDA is expected to make a decision by the summer. If the OTC pill does get greenlit, it would not become available as quickly as COVID-19 vaccines, which were speedily rolled out after the advisory committee meeting to approve them due to the global emergency.
Perrigo, which filed the application in July 2022, argued that changing its pill from prescription to OTC use will improve access to affordable birth control.
“Women’s needs are nuanced, and it’s about time their health options reflect that,” Frederique Welgryn, global vice president for the Women’s Health initiative at Perrigo, said in a statement in March. “At Perrigo, we’re not only committed to prioritizing women’s health — we’re committed to being active champions for it. We’re reimagining a new world where people are empowered to determine their own sexual health journey and access the solutions they want.”
Groups such as the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists support making OTC birth control available to improve access, such as for those living in contraceptive deserts, where access to birth control is lacking.
“We know that barriers to accessing contraception contribute to non-use or inconsistent use of contraception,” Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, CEO of nonprofit group Power to Decide, said a statement. “For people to achieve reproductive well-being and have the power to decide when and whether to become pregnant, we need to dismantle those barriers.”
She added, “As a practicing OB-GYN, I know that people can safely and effectively use a birth control pill without a prescription and without a doctor’s visit.”
(NEW YORK) — Sam Bankman-Fried on Monday sought to dismiss most of the criminal charges he faces in connection with the collapse of FTX, the crypto exchange he founded.
Bankman-Fried filed a motion to dismiss 10 of the 13 counts he faces, including fraud, conspiracy and foreign bribery.
The two-page motion included a reference to declarations from two of Bankman-Fried’s attorneys that would give the underlying reasons why he thinks the charges should be dismissed. The motion said at least some of the charges failed to properly state an offense.
Bankman-Fried was arrested in December 2022 in the Bahamas, where FTX was based. He has been confined to his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, since his extradition to the United States.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges contained in the indictments returned in Manhattan, New York, where federal prosecutors said he misappropriated billions of dollars from FTX before it went bankrupt. Prosecutors allege he used the money to cover losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, to buy lavish real estate and to make political donations.
In a November 2022 interview with ABC News, before his arrest, Bankman-Fried said he was ultimately responsible for the downfall of both companies, but denied that he knew “that there was any improper use of customer funds.”
Prosecutors have until the end of the month to respond to Bankman-Fried’s motion to dismiss.
(NEW YORK) — Officials representing some New York suburbs have rebuked New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to send migrants to their towns for shelter.
Rockland County’s top official declared a state of emergency on Saturday in response to Adams’ plan to send 340 adult male migrants to live at an Armoni Inn and Suites in Orangeburg, New York, for four months.
“The City declared itself a Sanctuary City in December of 2016 committing itself to supporting undocumented individuals while this County has not, for the simple fact that we are one-tenth the population of New York City and incapable of receiving and sustaining the volume of undocumented migrants Mayor Eric Adams intends to send over,” County executive Edwin Day said.
Rockland County is located close to 40 miles northwest of New York City and is near the Hudson River.
On Friday, Adams announced he was sending migrants to neighboring New York counties in response to the rising numbers of asylum seekers arriving in the city, which is reportedly overwhelming the city’s shelter system.
“Despite calling on the federal government for a national decompression strategy since last year, and for a decompression strategy across the state, New York City has been left without the necessary support to manage this crisis,” Adams said in a press release. “With a vacuum of leadership, we are now being forced to undertake our own decompression strategy.”
Adding, “This new, voluntary program will provide asylum seekers with temporary housing, access to services, and connections to local communities as they build a stable life in New York state.”
Adams’ announcement came nearly a week before the Trump-era Title 42 border policy is set to expire
Title 42 is a pandemic-era public health order that allows the U.S. to expel migrants without them being allowed to apply for asylum.
The policy, which is expected to end Thursday, has been implemented more than 2.8 million times to remove migrants since March 2020.
Teresa Kenny, supervisor for Orangetown, which is in Rockland County, served a notice of violation to Armoni Inn and Suites after the town’s fire inspector and assistant building inspector observed that the hotel was “essentially” turning into a shelter, which violated the hotel’s certificate of occupancy.
Officials from Orange County and Newburgh also criticized the mayor’s decision, while blasting the federal government for its “failed immigration policy and inability to control the border.”
“It is clear that the immigration crisis created by the federal government has negatively impacted Orange County,” Orange County executive Steven Neuhaus and Town of Newburgh supervisor Gil Piaquadio said in a statement. “It is a self-induced problem created by lack of planning and continues to burden our taxpayers.”
In a statement to ABC News, Adams’ press secretary Fabien Levy said New York City has taken care of over 61,000 migrants without any issues and that elected officials in New York and other parts of the country should “do their part and emulate the humane and compassionate approach New York City has taken over the past year,” until the federal government provides support.
“The Rockland County executive has sadly already shown he is not a leader this state needs,” Levy said. “Instead, we’ve been met with racist rhetoric and reprehensible threats from the head of a county that will be tasked with caring for less than one-fourth of 1% of the asylum seekers who have come to New York City, and, once again, New York would be paying for shelter, food, and services.”
City officials also pushed back against claims that over 340 asylum seekers would be going to Rockland County, saying that it’s up to 300 people and it would be split between two counties.
Since April 2022, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has bused thousands of migrants from the Texas-Mexico border to Democrat-led cities across the country, including New York City, citing a need to secure the border after claiming the Biden administration isn’t doing so.
The Biden administration has criticized Abbott’s bussing of migrants, calling his decision to send migrants in subfreezing temperatures to Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence last year a politically motivated “stunt.”
In September, Adams called for “coordination” with the federal government and Republican governors over the busing and flying of migrants to the city, saying that New York City’s system was “nearing its breaking point.”
Adams said last year that New York City was managing the flow and influx of asylum seekers without help from state or federal officials.
(NEW YORK) — Angelina Jolie paid tribute to her late mother this week, 15 years after her death from cancer, and encouraged other women to “go for mammograms and blood tests or ultrasounds.”
Mammograms are the recommended tests to screen for breast cancer in average risk women. Though there are currently no known effective screenings for ovarian cancer, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends ultrasounds and blood tests for patients with BRCCA1 or BRCA2 gene variants.
In an Instagram post she shared on Monday, the actress and humanitarian brought awareness to breast and ovarian cancer by reminding women to “look after themselves.”
“Tomorrow would have been my mother’s 73rd birthday,” Jolie began. “She passed away 15 years ago, after a long struggle with breast and ovarian cancer. In June, I will be a month away from the age when she was diagnosed. I have had preventive surgeries to try to lessen chances but I continue to have check ups.”
“Sending my love to those who have also lost loved ones and strength to those who are fighting at this very moment for their lives and the lives of those they love,” she continued. “And to other women, please take the time to look after yourself and go for your mammograms and blood tests or ultrasounds, particularly if you have a family history of cancer.”
Jolie shared the post on World Ovarian Cancer Day, which aims to bring awareness about the disease.
In a 2015 op-ed for the New York Times, Jolie announced that she underwent surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes as a preventative measure to lower her risk of cancer. For women like Jolie, who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genetic variants, surgery is one method to prevent cancer, though it is not recommended for women with average risk.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 55-72% of women with the BRCA1 variant, like Jolie, develop breast cancer by age 70-80, and 39-44% develop ovarian cancer by age 70-80.
“I lost my mother, grandmother and aunt to cancer,” she said at the time. “I wanted other women at risk to know about the options.”
According to the National Cancer Institute, a woman’s lifetime risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer is markedly increased if she inherits a harmful variant in BRCA1 or BRCA2.
The institute encourages those who are concerned about the possibility of having the harmful variant in either gene to discuss those concerns with their health care provider or a genetic counselor.
Two years prior to opening up about her surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes, Jolie wrote in another op-ed that she had a preventive double mastectomy.
In her op-ed, she echoed what she shared in her recent Instagram post and said that she hoped other women could “benefit from my experience.”
“Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people’s hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness,” she wrote in the op-ed. “But today it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer and take action.”
(ALLEN, Texas) — Eight people were killed and seven others were injured when a gunman opened fire at an outdoor mall north of Dallas, Texas, on Saturday afternoon, officials said.
The alleged gunman died after a confrontation with police at the Allen Premium Outlets, police said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety released the names of the adult victims killed in Saturday’s shooting.
They were identified as Kyu Song Cho, 37, of Dallas; Cindy Cho, 35, of Dallas; Christian LaCour, 20, of Nevada, Texas; Elio Cumana-Rivas, 32, of Dallas; and Aishwarya Thatikonda, 26, of McKinney, Texas.
Investigators said three unidentified minors, ages 3, 8 and 11, were also among those killed.
-ABC News’ Stephanie Wash and Jack Date
May 08, 6:55 PM EDT
What police found after search warrant issued
ABC affiliate WFAA has obtained a search warrant return listing what was found by investigators at the suspect’s home.
Among the items were three boxes of ammo and loose rounds, a knife in a holster, two holsters and silver-colored handcuffs, according to the search warrant listing obtained by ABC affiliate WFAA.
-ABC News’ Josh Margolin
May 08, 1:36 PM EDT
Suspect terminated from Army after 3 months
The mass shooting suspect, Mauricio Garcia, joined the U.S. Army in June 2008 and was terminated three months later, according to an Army spokesperson.
“He was separated under the 2005 edition of Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 5–17, Other designated physical or mental conditions,” an Army official said.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
May 08, 1:32 PM EDT
6 victims remain in hospital
Medical City Healthcare said its hospitals are still treating six patients from the mass shooting.
Three are in critical condition, two are in fair condition and one patient — who is at Medical City Children’s Hospital — is in good condition, officials said.
May 08, 12:47 PM EDT
Schumer calls special meeting for Senate Democrats
In the wake of a spate of mass shootings, including in Allen, Texas, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called a special caucus meeting for Senate Democrats to discuss gun violence and the path forward on gun safety legislation, according to a Schumer spokesperson.
The meeting is set for Thursday, May 11 at 12:45 p.m. ET.
-ABC News’ Trish Turner
May 08, 12:05 PM EDT
Memorial grows outside Allen Premium Outlets, therapy dogs arrive
A memorial outside the Allen Premium Outlets continues to grow.
Dallas native Roberto Marquez has made it his life’s work to create memorials at the scene of tragedies. He told ABC News that this memorial in Allen is his 11th.
Marquez said Home Depot donated the lumber he used to build the crosses.
Volunteers from Lutheran Church Charities have also arrived at the scene with therapy dogs. The group has over 140 dogs in at least 25 states.
The same dogs in Allen on Monday were on the scene in Uvalde last year when 19 students and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary school.
A vigil for the Allen victims is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m., according to community leaders.
-ABC News’ Ike Ejiochi and Abigal Shalawylo
May 08, 6:54 AM EDT
‘I knew she was gone’: Witness describes aftermath
After a gunman opened fire at the Allen Premium Outlets, Joshua W. Barnwell, an eyewitness with military experience, rushed to help the wounded.
A woman who was conscious asked him to help her daughter, he said.
“This woman had massive trauma, five to six gunshot wounds,” Barnwell told Good Morning America on Monday.
He went to the daughter to start chest compressions, he said.
“When I saw the massive amount of blood come out from her when I gave her chest compressions to her back,” Barnwell said. “I knew she was gone.”
May 07, 8:13 PM EDT
VP Harris on mall shooting: ‘All Americans deserve to be safe from gun violence’
Vice President Kamala Harris released a statement Sunday about the shooting, also urging Congress to act.
“Doug and I mourn for the eight adults and children who lost their lives, pray for those wounded, and send our gratitude to the first responders who ran toward danger,” she said in a statement.
“All Americans deserve to be safe from gun violence. But they are not,” Harris continued. “Not because we do not know the solutions. Not because the American people are divided on this issue — even a majority of gun owners support sensible reforms.”
Harris urged Congress to send a bill to President Joe Biden that would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and would introduce universal background checks.
“We need action,” Harris added.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
May 07, 7:47 PM EDT
FBI alerts public on how to get vehicles left at Allen Premium Outlets
The FBI has provided details to the public on how they can retrieve their vehicles from the outlet mall.
Those with vehicles that were left at the mall can meet at the Allen Senior Recreation Center beginning at 5:45 p.m. local time Sunday, where they will be sent to the outlet mall, the FBI said Sunday in a press release.
The senior center will be managing the retrievals until 9:30 p.m. local time, the FBI said.
“Please drop off only one individual for vehicle retrieval,” the FBI said. “Be sure to have your car keys with you.”
Officials have urged the public not to go directly to Allen Premium Outlets.
May 07, 7:17 PM EDT
Suspect had history of mental health problems: Sources
Preliminary information developed during the investigation indicates the suspect was in the U.S. Army in 2008 and was “removed due to mental health concerns,” law enforcement sources briefed on the probe tell ABC News.
In addition to the insignia on the shooter’s equipment that suggested a right-wing extremist ideology, investigators have found social media accounts connected to the suspect that reveal hundreds of postings and images, including writings with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist rhetoric, including neo-Nazi material and material espousing the supremacy of the white race, the sources said.
None of the subject’s postings analyzed to date were liked or shared by other users nor were there any public comments, according to the sources. The suspect’s account did not contain any friends or associates that were publicly visible, the sources said.
Investigators have determined the suspect had no criminal history and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle, according to the sources. The shooter was equipped with a ballistic vest, numerous magazines and additional handguns, the sources said.
-ABC News’ Josh Margolin
May 07, 5:54 PM EDT
20-year-old security guard identified as victim in mall shooting
Christian LaCour, 20, is the first victim of the shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets to be identified.
LaCour died while working as a security guard at the outlet mall, his sister said.
“He was a really sweet kid,” Brianna Smith told ABC News over the phone. “I’m sad that he’s gone.”
Christian’s mother, Tracye LaCour, asked for privacy, telling ABC News that they are praying for the families of the other victims.
-ABC News’ Miles Cohen
May 07, 3:33 PM EDT
Alleged shooter ID’d in deadly Texas mall rampage
The suspect in the Allen, Texas, mall mass shooting was identified Sunday as Mauricio Garcia, according to law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation.
The 33-year-old Garcia was fatally shot by a police officer who rushed to the gunfire and confronted him at the outlet mall on Saturday afternoon, police said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, which is leading the investigation, was searching Mauricio’s home and vehicle on Sunday. The agency declined to comment further on Garcia and said the motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
President Joe Biden said the assailant was dressed in tactical gear and armed with an AR-15-style assault weapon he used to gun down eight people and injure at least nine others.
May 07, 2:43 PM EDT
3 people wounded in attack remain in critical condition: Police
At least three people wounded in a mass shooting at an Allen, Texas, outlet mall remained in critical condition on Sunday, according to police.
Four victims were taken to Medical City McKinney, a trauma center in McKinney, Texas, about seven miles from Allen. Three of the patients were in critical condition and one was listed in fair condition, according to a statement Sunday from the Allen Police Department.
Eight victims were killed in the attack and a total of nine people were injured, police said. The shooter, whose name has not been released by police, was confronted and fatally shot by a police officer.
Among the injured, one patient was transferred from Medical City McKinney to Medical City Plano and was in fair condition. Another patient was transferred to Medical City Children’s Hospital in fair condition, police said.
“We are a strong and caring community and we want all of the victims and their families impacted by this tragedy to know that we will wrap our arms around you, and we are here for you,” Allen Mayor Kenneth M. Fulk said in a statement released Sunday. “The City of Allen pledges to offer our complete support. We know you are grieving, we are grieving. Rest assured, the nation and the world are also grieving.”
May 07, 2:40 PM EDT
Biden calls on Congress to pass assault weapons ban
President Joe Biden is renewing his call for Congress to pass an assault weapons ban following Saturday’s mass shooting at a Texas outlet mall.
“Yesterday, an assailant in tactical gear armed with an AR-15 style assault weapon gunned down innocent people in a shopping mall, and not for the first time. Such an attack is too shocking to be so familiar,” Biden said in a statement released Sunday.
“And yet, American communities have suffered roughly 200 mass shootings already this year, according to leading counts. More than 14,000 of our fellow citizens have lost their lives, credible estimates show. The leading cause of death for American kids is gun violence,” Biden said.
Biden argued that “some progress” has been made as a result of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and his various executive actions, but blasted GOP lawmakers, saying, they “cannot continue to meet this epidemic with a shrug. Tweeted thoughts and prayers are not enough.”
“Once again, I ask Congress to send me a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Enacting universal background checks. Requiring safe storage. Ending immunity for gun manufacturers. I will sign it immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe.”
May 07, 12:03 PM EDT
Abbott says mall shooting underscores need to address mental health issues
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he plans to visit Allen, Texas, on Sunday afternoon as he argued in a TV interview that the mass shooting at an outlet mall there underscores the need to focus on addressing mental health issues.
“Texans are hurting today. And the people who are hurting the most obviously are the families of the victims, the families of lost loved ones, families who have a loved one who is injured and our main priority right now is to help and support those families in the Allen community,” Abbott said on Fox News Sunday.
He said he is going to Allen on Sunday “to begin the process of providing hope and healing.”
“But I can tell you there are questions that are lingering that the families want answers to. And that is why this happened? Why did that gunman do this? How did this happen? And I know that those families need answers as quickly as possible,” said Abbott, who praised the quick response of police in confronting the shooter and killing him.
Abbott was asked about new polling that shows strong support for background checks for gun purchases, increasing the legal age to buy a gun to 21 and requiring mental health checks for purchases. The governor said his state is also looking at legislation to address “easy solutions” to get guns out of the hands of criminals.
But overall, Abbott argued, the focus should be on the “long term solution” of addressing mental health.
May 07, 11:23 AM EDT
Domestic terrorism probed in Texas outlet mall massacre
As authorities work to determine a motive for the outlet mall shooting in Allen, Texas, one avenue investigators are exploring is whether this was an act of domestic terrorism, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The shooter wore patches or stickers on his clothing that raised suspicion he may have gravitated toward right-wing extremism, the sources said, though they added no motive has yet been established.
Federal agents were seen at a home in the Dallas area believed to be associated with the shooter, ABC Dallas affiliate station WFAA reported.
Federal investigators are already going through the suspect’s electronic devices and social media as they work to understand what led to the killing rampage, the sources said.
In addition to a rifle used in the shooting, sources said investigators recovered additional firearms in a vehicle associated with the shooter.
The Texas Rangers are the lead agency on the case with assistance from the FBI, ATF and Allen police.
May 07, 11:08 AM EDT
‘I got him down’: officer who apparently killed Texas shooter says in radio transmission
Police radio dispatches from the Allen, Texas, mall shooting Saturday captured the chaotic moments as the massacre unfolded, including an officer who apparently confronted the killer, calling for backup before reporting, “I got him down.”
“We got shots fired at the Allen Mall,” an officer is heard saying in the radio dispatches, according to the Broadcastify, which records emergency transmissions.
A police officer was at the Allen Premium Outlets when the shooting erupted around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, raced to the gunfire and fatally shot the suspect, Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey said at a news conference on Saturday.
“We got people running,” the officer on the scene radioed to a police dispatcher. “I need everybody I got.”
A short time later, the officer radioed, “I got him down,” referring to the gunman, who police have yet to identify.
May 06, 11:46 PM EDT
Shopper says she ‘hunkered down’ amid shooting
A woman was shopping when she says the shooting began and described how people began to flee for safety.
Elaine Penicaro said in an interview that she was finishing up her shopping when she heard “popping” noises and began to realize how dire the situation was.
“We saw sparks flying like it was right in front of us. So we just ran into the Converse store. They locked the door. We all hunkered down in the back. And that’s where we stayed,” she said.
Penicaro said she heard the police arrive within five to 10 minutes.
May 06, 11:13 PM EDT
Vigil planned for Sunday
A vigil will be held Sunday afternoon in the aftermath of the deadly shooting.
State Rep. Jeff Leach said that a vigil was planned for 5 p.m. at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church. He made the announcement during a briefing Saturday evening.
“This community is home for us and our hearts are devastated and broken tonight no law enforcement official no elected official Ever imagines or plans to or hopes to speak in front of a press conference like this,” Leach said.
May 06, 11:01 PM EDT
Mayor calls shooting a ‘tragic day’
Ken Fulk, the mayor of Allen, called the shooting a tragic day for the community and extended his sympathies. Fulk, who was elected in 2020, also pledged his support.
“Today is a tragic day for the city of Allen, our citizens, our friends and visitors who were at the Allen Premium Outlets today. We are a strong and caring community and we all want the victims and their families impacted by this tragedy to know that we will wrap our arms around you. And we are here for you,” he said.
May 06, 10:47 PM EDT
Shooter killed at the scene
The shooter was killed at the scene, police said.
Allen Police Department Chief Brian Harvey said at a press briefing that an officer was at Allen Premium Outlets on an unrelated call when he heard gunshots and located the shooter who was then “neutralized.”
“We are asking for the public’s help if you are a witness,” Harvey said.
State Department photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain
(WASHINGTON) — The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is threatening to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt if he doesn’t turn over subpoenaed documents tied to the U.S. exit from Afghanistan, marking a significant escalation in the months-long standoff between the Biden administration and Republicans investigating the chaotic withdrawal.
“Should the Department fail to comply with its legal obligation, the Committee is prepared to take the necessary steps to enforce its subpoena, including holding you in contempt of Congress and/or initiating a civil enforcement proceeding,” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, wrote in a letter to Blinken on Friday, setting a deadline of this Thursday, May 11 at 6 p.m.
The document McCaul is demanding is what’s known within the State Department as a dissent cable — a memo sent through a classified channel for employees to flag their concerns to top levels of leadership — as well as the department’s official response to the cable.
According to a source familiar with the dissent cable in question, U.S. diplomats warned Blinken that the Afghan government was teetering on the brink of collapse and urged the administration to speed up its evacuation of Afghan allies over a month before the Taliban retook Kabul and the last American troops left the country.
Despite McCaul’s efforts, the State Department signaled on Monday that Blinken would not comply.
“It’s unfortunate that despite having received a classified briefing on the dissent channel cable as well as a written summary that the House Foreign Affairs Committee continues to pursue this unnecessary and unproductive action,” Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement.
McCaul has maintained that the documents are vital to the panel’s probe into the final, chaotic days of America’s occupation of Afghanistan. After the committee’s initial request for the material went unfulfilled, he issued a subpoena — his first as chairman — in late March.
Blinken and other administration officials have argued that handing over the documents would jeopardize the integrity of the channel and State Department employees’ ability to privately voice their perspectives on critical matters.
The State Department has offered committee members other means of insight into the dissent cable through a closed-door briefing and summaries.
“Our viewpoint is that the materials and briefings that we’ve offered and provided have sufficiently met the mark when it comes to the committee’s legitimate oversight request,” Patel said during a briefing on Monday.
But McCaul disagrees.
In his letter to Blinken, the chairman blasted the briefers from the department, claiming they were either “unwilling or unable” to answer basic questions and made inaccurate statements. He also complained about the brevity of the department’s one-page summary of the four-page dissent cable.
Beyond the original, unaltered documents, McCaul said his committee would settle for either the cable and the department’s response with “all names and other identifying marks redacted,” an opportunity to privately review the unredacted material with an agreement that it will not publicly disclose the names of any signatories without their permission, or a chance to privately review the material with only the names of the names of the signatories redacted.
When asked whether the department would consider one of the alternative options, Patel balked, saying the administration felt the information it has already provided “sufficiently met the mark.”
Jordan Davis reveals he had a moment of disbelief when he found out he’s in the running for Male Artist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.
“I’ll be honest with you. I haven’t been that shocked in a long time. Definitely the most shocked I’ve been since I started doing music,” the “World Spins Around” hitmaker says.
“I knew I’d made it through to, like, the last round [of voting],” he continues. “Y’all see the other nominees in there and [those are] some heavy hitters. So to hear my name first, it was pure shock.”
Also up for the coveted trophy are Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallen.
This isn’t Jordan’s first nomination, however.
“In 2019, I was up for New Artist,” he recalls. “So I think it goes to show that I’ve got a great team, great fans, and … we’ve made some great music that’s connecting with people.”
“Like, the awards are amazing, but to be nominated with those guys is a huge win for me,” he concludes.
Find out if Jordan can clinch the coveted honor as the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards stream live from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on Prime Video.
Meanwhile, the Louisiana native’s latest hit, “Next Thing You Know,” is nearing the top 10 as he and his wife, Kristen, prepare to welcome their third child.
