Trump’s endorsement looms over Texas special runoff election

July 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Nearly three months after the crowded race in Texas’ 6th Congressional District advanced into a runoff between two Republicans — Susan Wright and state Rep. Jake Ellzey — the major theme of the contest remains the same: will former President Donald Trump’s influence translate into victory on the campaign trail?

In April, Trump endorsed Susan Wright — the widow of the late Congressman Ron Wright who died in February after suffering from COVID-19 and complications from cancer — before the special election even took place. In the leadup to Tuesday’s contest, Trump publicly reiterated his support for Wright in a statement, saying she “supports America First policies” which earned her his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”

The former president also recorded a robo-call that was circulated online that touted Wright as “a great Republican (and) a great woman” who would carry on her husband’s politically conservative legacy in Congress. Although Wright’s inheritance of her late husband’s congressional track record is not an unusual phenomenon in the history of campaign politics, the widow-turned-congressional-hopeful is not yet guaranteed to win outright given Ellzey’s fundraising prowess.

Despite not having Trump’s endorsement, Ellzey has been able to raise more than double that of Wright. As of July 7, the state congressman raised more than $1.2 million compared to Wright’s $454,000, which could have helped him streamline his campaign’s voter mobilization efforts ahead of Tuesday’s contest.

Going into the matchup, Ellzey also has the backing of several high-profile Texas Republicans — including former Gov. Rick Perry, who also served as energy secretary in the Trump administration, and Rep. Dan Crenshaw who represents the district bordering Houston. The pair defended Ellzey on the campaign trail after he faced weeks of attacks from the conservative, anti-tax group, the Club for Growth, through mailers and advertisements.

“Nothing irritates me more than the junk that I have seen in the mailboxes talking about him. If you want to win an election that bad, I don’t want you to be my congressman,” Perry said at a campaign rally for Ellzey in mid-July.

Following that rally, Club for Growth President David McIntosh issued a statement in which he praised Wright as a “principled conservative” while calling Ellzey a “serial opportunist with a record of missing votes and supporting higher taxes.”

But the political back-and-forth could take a backseat to voter engagement given that special elections historically draw far fewer voters to the polls than midterm or general election cycles.

“Susan Wright is still probably the favorite based on the early judgments people made and the Trump endorsement in particular, but I think what makes it unpredictable is that Ellzey is probably a better campaigner than Susan Wright is, and in a very low turnout race — which this is expected to be — it’s very hard to tell (who will win),” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University who specializes in Texas politics.

Jillson predicts it will be unlikely that Independent and Democratic voters turn out in large enough numbers on what is expected to be a scorching hot day to cast their ballots in opposition to the Trump-backed candidate. Still, the uncertainty of how many voters plan to participate in an off-cycle runoff election looms over the contest.

“You don’t know how many people are going to turn out. You don’t know who they’re going to be, (or) where they’re going to be — the northern part of the district leans toward Wright, the southern part of the district leans toward Ellzey,” he said in an interview with ABC News Monday.

Regardless of who comes out on top, the outcome of Tuesday’s election signals an inherent victory for congressional Republicans and will further narrow Democrats’ majority in the House. The lack of an opposing party member in the running allows Republicans to focus their spending in more competitive contests in the future.

“I look forward to welcoming a new Republican colleague to Congress,” National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Tom Emmer said in May following Wright and Ellzey’s runoff advancements.

FDA says its ‘working as quickly as possible’ to review for full approval of vaccines

July 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — As pressure grows for the Food and Drug Administration to give full approval for the vaccine, a move that could drive up vaccinations by allowing vaccine mandates in places such as the military and schools, the agency told ABC News on Monday that reviewing the vaccines is among its “highest priorities.”

“The FDA recognizes that vaccines are key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and is working as quickly as possible to review applications for full approval,” FDA spokesperson Alison Hunt said in a statement.

But critics maintain that full approval of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, beyond the temporary approval that they currently have, needs to happen quicker. The argument is that the vaccine has proven to be safe and effective, and full FDA approval could increase Americans’ confidence in the vaccines at a time when the country is teetering dangerously at just 50% full vaccination while up against the fast-spreading delta variant.

“I think a lot of us are baffled why the FDA is taking so long,” Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said on ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday.

The FDA will surely approve of the vaccines, Jha said, but needed to “move a bit faster now.”

So what do we know about the timeline?

Full approval of a vaccine under priority review, as both Pfizer and Moderna are, usually takes six months. The FDA has said it intends to complete it much quicker than that, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the White House, recently said he expected full approval for Pfizer in a month or so, by August, and Moderna to follow thereafter.

Pfizer submitted for full approval on May 7, almost three months ago, and Moderna on June 1, almost two months ago. So, the decision should not be too far off.

And what does FDA say about the criticism that it’s moving too slowly?

Asked by ABC News on Monday if the review is moving slower than anticipated, the FDA stood by the process.

FDA spokesperson Alison Hunt said that reviewing the vaccines is “among the highest priorities of the agency, and the agency intends to complete the review far in advance of the PDUFA Goal Date.” The goal date is January 2022, though that’s a regulatory deadline and not when it’s expected.

“The FDA recognizes that vaccines are key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and is working as quickly as possible to review applications for full approval,” Hunt said.

The FDA also emphasized that the current authorization — an Emergency Use Authorization — was conducted thoroughly, signaling that it stands on solid ground and should be fully approved.

“Although an authorization is not an FDA approval, the FDA conducted a thorough scientific evaluation of each of the authorized vaccines and can assure the public and medical community that the vaccines meet FDA’s rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality,” Hunt said.

Some have also argued that the FDA has to take its time so that any vaccine mandates that follow the full approval go as smoothly as possible. Any cracks in the approval process or accusations of rushing, could lead to even more pushback. That’s already played out over the last few months, as hesitant Americans have refused to take the vaccine because they fear it was given emergency authorization too hastily.

That was White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s defense on Monday.

“The FDA is the gold standard in our view, and they move at the speed of science,” Psaki said to ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega, who asked why the FDA hadn’t yet given full approval of the vaccines.

“It wouldn’t be responsible to expedite that process at a faster speed than the science and data allows.”

Blinken makes first trip to India amid heightened tensions with China

July 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW DELHI) — If this week is the Biden administration’s full-court press in Asia, then Secretary of State Antony Blinken is playing point guard with his first trip to India.

President Joe Biden has made it a top foreign policy priority to rally against the rising authoritarianism of China, Russia.

That makes Blinken’s visit to the world’s largest democracy critical, amid global challenges like COVID-19 and climate change that Blinken has stressed require global cooperation and as ties with China harden.

That relationship took another nasty turn this past weekend. Beijing issued a strident warning to Washington as Blinken’s deputy Wendy Sherman met her Chinese counterparts in China on Sunday – again accusing the U.S. of bullying and scapegoating.

In addition to Blinken’s high-profile visit, Biden has deployed his Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Southeast Asia to meet key partners, while Sherman consulted top allies Japan and South Korea before her meetings in China.

India, with a population larger than China’s and an economy third only to the U.S. and China, is seen as critical in Washington to pushing back on Beijing. But after a decadeslong bipartisan push to pull India closer to the United States’ orbit, there is a concern in some circles over India’s democratic backsliding, especially on minorities’ rights, political dissent and freedom of the press.

Those are issues that Blinken has said will be at the forefront of Biden’s foreign policy, but they may take a back seat to pressing geopolitical priorities, like boosting India’s production and export of COVID vaccines or decreasing carbon emissions and seeking other solutions to climate change.

Dean Thompson, the top U.S. diplomat for South and Central Asia, said India’s record on human rights will be addressed during Blinken’s meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

“We will raise it, and we will continue that conversation because we firmly believe that we have more values in common on those fronts than we don’t,” he said — a collaborative, not critical tone.

Thompson also made clear that the meetings in New Delhi “will focus on expanding our security, defense, cyber, and counterterrorism cooperation” and boosting their “increased convergence on regional and global issues.” In particular, Blinken himself emphasized ending the pandemic as swiftly as possible by unleashing India’s vaccines overseas again after its own horrific outbreak led to restrictions on exports.

“When that production engine gets fully going and can distribute again to the rest of the world, that’s going to make a big difference, too, so I’ll be talking to our Indian friends about that,” he said in an interview with MSNBC Friday.

That pause in India’s distribution of vaccines has delayed efforts to combat the pandemic, although Thompson said that a billion-dose initiative by the U.S., India, Japan, and Australia is still aiming to roll out in 2022. But as cases rise around the world again, including in the U.S., there’s a new urgency to speed up global distribution and stave off any new variants.

Beyond vaccines and climate, it’s clear Biden officials hope to pick up where predecessors left off and boost ties with India to counter what they consider China’s aggressive behavior.

Wendy Sherman, the No. 2 at the State Department, met her Chinese counterparts in the northern port city Tianjin on Sunday, urging open lines of communication and saying the U.S. “do[es] not seek conflict,” according to the State Department.

But she also carried a laundry list of Chinese behaviors that the U.S. opposes, including economic espionage and cyber theft, territorial claims like in the South China Sea, and human rights violations in Hong Kong and against Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang province.

The U.S. says many of these issues are evidence of China undermining the world’s rules. But China has dismissed that in increasingly vocal and dramatic tones, including during a very public spat between Blinken and Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and their Chinese counterparts in March.

“U.S. policy seems to be demanding cooperation when it wants something from China; decoupling, cutting off supplies, blockading or sanctioning China when it believes it has an advantage; and resorting to conflict and confrontation at all costs,” Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said during the meetings, according to China’s Foreign Ministry. All of these issues the U.S. raised are China’s business as a sovereign country, it added, accusing the U.S. of bullying.

Not long ago, India was largely neutral on these issues. But it has also now borne the brunt of Chinese action and waded into its own hostilities with Beijing. Last year high in the Himalayas, security forces from the two countries even sparred in hand-to-hand combat over their disputed border.

In the year since then, Modi’s government has taken steps to penalize China, including banning dozens of Chinese apps like WeChat and TikTok.

That’s helped to push India closer to the so-called “Quad,” with Japan, Australia and the U.S.

Biden held the first leader-level summit of the group as one of his first foreign meetings of his administration, with Blinken’s trip this week expected to help lay the groundwork for another – and the first in-person – in the months to come.

Quincy Brown dishes on his recurring role in ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’

July 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Courtesy of Starz; Quincy Brown as Crown Camacho and Natalee Lanez as Jessica Figueroa

Quincy Brown plays a local music producer named Crown Camacho in Starz’s Power prequel, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, which focuses on Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s character Kanan Stark.

Due to his background as an artist under his step-dad Diddy and Bad Boy Records, the “Enough About Me” singer says his character is more relatable than he thought.

“The Power universe itself speaks volumes, and from the success of that, they started to now dive into the characters that people fell in love with their stories,” Brown tells POPSUGAR. “Crown Camacho is that ear to the streets, but also that plug to the music. I think in the lifestyle in which we’re surrounded by, the music speaks more than anything, and everybody wants to have the newest artist with the hottest song, and I’m the guy that that has to go through.”

“It’s definitely a great dive into a period of time, the birth of hip-hop. I was born in ’91, and that’s exactly where it takes place,” says the 30-year-old. “Having the family I have, I was actually around these times and even the areas the show represents. This is one of those projects that will live on forever.”

If you haven’t already, Brown says now is a “good time” to check out Raising Kanan, so you won’t be lost during season two, which was renewed before the first episode premiered on July 18.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET on Starz.

Socialist school teacher to be sworn in as Peru’s president on 200th independence anniversary

July 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A rural schoolteacher and son of illiterate campesinos from the Andean highlands is poised to be sworn in as Peru’s president Wednesday, the same day the country will commemorate its 200th anniversary of independence from Spain. His inauguration comes after a fiercely contested presidential runoff last month.

The moonshot candidacy and ultimate victory of leftist Pedro Castillo, whose ascension from political oblivion as a fiery union leader, was announced last week after one of the most protracted political battles in Peru’s history. His far-right challenger, Keiko Fujimori, daughter of jailed former President Alberto Fujimori, refused to concede for over a month, alleging widespread voter fraud with sparse evidence.

Castillo’s win has rattled Peru’s coastal elites and electrified its marginalized peasant and Indigenous classes hailing from the Andes and Amazon regions, hundreds of whom have descended on the capital, Lima, to serve as ronderos, or peasant patrollers in support of the president-elect.

“Those with power in this country treat us like second-class citizens. We’re here to reclaim what is ours,” said Maruja Inquilla Sucasaca, a Quechua environmentalist from Puno in southeastern Peru.

The final tally hinged on just 44,000 votes. Castillo’s Marxist Leninist party, Peru Libre, clinched 50.1% of votes to Fujimori’s conservative Fuerza Popular party, which took 49.9%.

Backed by a battalion of lawyers, Fujimori delayed certification of Castillo’s victory for over 40 days, seeking to disqualify 200,000 votes in Indigenous and rural enclaves in which he drew overwhelming support.

In a speech last week, Fujimori maintained that thousands of votes were stolen from her. She decried the electoral commission’s results as “illegitimate” and encouraged supporters to continue to mobilize, while also signaling she would honor the results.

International observers, including the Organization of American States, have called the elections free and fair. In a statement last week, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the Biden Administration is “eager to work with President-Elect Castillo’s administration.”

“She undertook a Trump-like effort to delegitimize the election,” said Brian Winter, vice president of policy at Americas Society/Council of the Americas. “But under extreme pressure, the electoral authority managed to appear sober, even-handed and calm.”

Keiko Fujimori is heiress to a political dynasty forged by her father, Alberto Fujimori, a towering and deeply polarizing figure who ruled the Andean nation with an authoritarian grip from 1990-2000.

Despite suspending the constitution and sanctioning death-squads to suppress Maoist guerrilla insurgencies in the 1990s, many credit him for laying the foundation of Peru’s modern economy. Fujimori, 82, is currently serving a 25-year sentence for human rights violations.

“It’s almost impossible to separate her identity from the nostalgia a part of Peruvian society feels toward her father,” said Winter. “She has now twice come within a very close distance of the presidency. It’s premature to declare her career over.”

For weeks, Fujimori’s supporters have camped in front of Peru’s supreme court demanding an international audit of votes.

“In this election fraud and the scourge of communism won. We’re here to fight for our democracy,” said one supporter, Fredy Gonzales, 60.

Four blocks away, in front of the national electoral commision headquarters, rural supporters of Castillo said they were camped out to “defend” the electoral authority and safeguard their votes. Some carried traditional Andean whips known as chicotes in case of unrest.

“We’ll stay until his inauguration, but if the president of the people calls on us, we’ll return as many times as he needs us,” said Jaime Diaz, 49, another Quechua supporter.

The cornerstone of 51-year-old Pedro Castillo’s campaign, a slogan as well-worn as his straw hat: “No more poor people in a rich country.” The president-elect, who hails from Cajamarca in Peru’s rugged north, has promised to rewrite the country’s constitution and redistribute mineral wealth. Peru is the world’s second-largest copper producer.

Castillo’s victory comes amid ever-deepening political turmoil. Peru has endured four presidents and two congresses in the past five years.

Castillo’s rise from a cow and chicken-raising provincial school teacher came in 2017 when he gained national recognition as leader of a prolonged teachers strike. His victory has served as a blunt rebuke of Peru’s political and business class in Lima, many of whom fear the proposed economic policies of his Marxist party will plunge the country into a crisis the likes of neighboring Venezuela.

On Wednesday Castillo will take the helm of a nation reeling from economic and public health crises. Over 195,000 Peruvians have died from COVID-19, the highest per capita death rate in the world.

Addressing hundreds of supporters from a balcony in central Lima Friday, Castillo vowed to vaccinate all Peruvians and recharge a stagnant economy. He also sought to allay concern he will transform Peru into a socialist Venezuela or Cuba.

“I categorically reject the notion that we’re going to bring in models from other countries. We are not Chavistas, we are not communists or extremists, much less terrorists.”

Anne-Marie on biggest lesson Ed Sheeran taught her: “I learned not to be scared, but to be seen”

July 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Anne-Marie co-wrote her single “2002” with Ed Sheeran, and on her new album, Therapy, she’s teamed with him again on the song “Beautiful.” The British singer says not only did she get some great songs out of her friendship with Ed, but she also learned a valuable lesson.

Speaking to Music Week, Anne-Marie recalls the first time she and Ed got together to co-write. She remembers thinking, “If we get in the session and he thinks I’m crap, is he not going to be my friend?” But, she says, “How he was in the session was amazing to me, because he’s very much open to being crap. And I think that’s what I really am bad at.”

“For example, I would probably go through about 10 sentences in my head before I feel confident to see if one is O.K. with everyone in the room,” explains the “FRIENDS” singer. “Whereas he was just like, ‘What about this? What about this?’ and saying the first thing that came into his head.”

“He wasn’t scared to look like something was not good enough,” she notes. “I learned not to be scared but to be seen.”

In addition to getting help from Ed on Therapy, Anne-Marie also got help from, well, actual therapy.

“It changed my life,” she admits. “I can’t tell you how different I am just even speaking to you now. I feel different. I would have been, like, full of anxiety before…I was scared and terrified about people staring at me.”

Anne-Marie, whose latest hit is “Our Song,” with Niall Horan, will promote her new album with a livestream called Therapy: The Live Experience, on August 7. Tickets for the stream are on sale now.

Dennis DeYoung says “there should be one last Styx tour” featuring him

July 27, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Founding Styx singer/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung hasn’t played with the group since 1999, and although longtime members Tommy Shaw and James “JY” Young continue to insist they have no interest in reuniting with him, DeYoung says he’d like to tour with his ex-band mates one more time.

“I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but there should be one last Styx tour,” the 74-year-old musician tells ABC Audio. “You know, with Moe, Larry and Curly on the same stage, to wave goodbye to the fans…and tell them, ‘Hey, you made us wealthy people and you gave us incredible lives. Thanks. Bye.'”

Acknowledging that Shaw and Young don’t want to work with him again, DeYoung declares, “I don’t want to be in Styx anymore…Styx is Tommy and JY. [Founding bassist] Chuck [Panozzo] plays once in a while, but it’s Tommy that makes the decisions. It’s his band.”

Having said that, Dennis maintains that most Styx fans would love to see a reunion trek.

“Even if you’ve bought into Tommy’s new Styx with JY, and you love ’em and you think I’m a poop face, based on lies told about me, if you see the Styx reunion [is happening,] you’re coming,” DeYoung says.

Dennis says his feeling is based on Styx fans’ social media posts and the continuing popularity of the band’s music.

“[I]t does mean a great deal to them,” he declares, then quips, “And to see it one more time would be grand…and it would not be an illusion.”

Dennis also points out that next year marks the 50th anniversary of Styx’s debut album.

In June, DeYoung released what he says will be his final solo album, 26 East, Vol. 2, a collection of tunes that features multiple nods to Styx songs.

‘Made in America’ companies create new products from recycled material

July 26, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Companies across the country are not letting American-made material go to waste.

The Ford auto plant in Dearborn, Michigan, is donating more than $100,000 worth of leather scraps discarded from car seats and giving them to local small businesses in Detroit.

Detroit non-profit Mend On The Move, which employs women survivors of abuse, is the recipient of some recycled leather and founder Joanne Ewald said it makes all the difference.

“Having this leather donated to us … it’s so huge,” Ewald said. “It is opening opportunities for us to create pieces that we have never done before.”

Mend On The Move empowers survivors of abuse to create and sell things like earrings, ornaments and more, all made from the used auto parts and salvaged car seat leather.

Since the pandemic began, the company said it has been able to hire two new employees. Employee Jessica Canupp said that when customers buy from Mend On The Move, they’re not only supporting small businesses, but also people.

“You are supporting people who are in need right now during the pandemic and local businesses,” Canupp told ABC News.

Another Detroit-based company, Pingree Detroit, also benefits from the recycled Ford leather. The team of eight co-owners transforms the leather into wallets, bags and more.

“We’re also honored to work alongside Ford to give these underutilized materials new life,” co-owner Nathaniel Crawford II told ABC News.

Employee and lead sewer Rayne Rose said the business opens up opportunities in the community.

“We believe that anything is possible and if we see a better way, we’ll find a way to make it happen and to make our neighborhood stronger,” said Rose.

Former Sen. Barbara Boxer assaulted and robbed, her reps say

July 26, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(OAKLAND, Calif.) — Former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer was assaulted and robbed in Oakland Monday afternoon, her representatives tweeted.

“The assailant pushed her in the back, stole her cell phone and jumped in a waiting car. She is thankful that she was not seriously injured,” the tweet read.

The Oakland Police Department said in a statement to ABC News that it is investigating the incident, which took place around 1:15 p.m.

“The suspect forcefully took loss from the victim, and fled in a nearby waiting vehicle,” the police said in a statement.

Boxer, 80, served as California’s U.S. Senate representative from 1993 to 2017. She also served in the House of Representatives for a decade.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Katie Ledecky competing in historic 1500-meter Olympic freestyle race

July 26, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — American Katie Ledecky is looking to further cement her name in swim history with a race making its Olympic debut in Tokyo.

The 1,500-meter freestyle had previously only been available to men at the Olympics. But this year, as the Games became more gender-equal, the distance race was opened up to women.

Ledecky is a favorite to win the race. During qualifiers Monday, she set the official Olympic record at 15:35:35. That was about 15 seconds slower than the world record — which she set in 2018.

The 24-year-old has already medaled once in Tokyo, winning the silver in the 400-meter freestyle. Australian Ariarne Titmus took home that gold.

“I can’t be disappointed with that,” Ledecky said of that race, according to Team USA. “It was my second best swim ever, and I fought tooth and nail. That’s all you can ask for.”

As a distance freestyle swimmer, her bigger events are the 800- and 1,500-meter races.

The heavily decorated Olympian won one gold in 2012 and four golds and one silver in 2016 at the Games. In addition to the 1,500 and 400, she’ll look to add to her count with the 200-meter and 800-meter freestyle races.

The Olympics have made the competition more gender-equal by incorporating new events for women and more mixed-gender teams in various sports. This impacts athletes in sports like boxing, rowing and shooting, in addition to swim.

Tokyo marks a “turning point” for the elite international sporting competition as the most gender-equal Olympics in the Games’ history, organizers said, with women accounting for nearly 49% of the 11,090 athletes.

For more Olympics coverage, see: https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/Olympics

ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.

+ More