(WASHINGTON) — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday that he and his administration are “working hard” to overcome vaccine hesitancy as cases of the delta variant surge across his state.
“We’re working very hard to go to that population (ages 30-54) … and overcoming the hesitancy,” he told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos.
“We want all the help,” he added. “We want to have our churches involved, we want to have our communities, organizations.”
Missouri and neighboring Arkansas lead the nation with the highest weekly case rates per capita, which translates into more than 100 per 100,000 residents. New COVID-19 hospital admissions also rose 30% over the same two-week span, and front-line workers have said patients are becoming sicker more quickly.
Top health officials have been warning for weeks that unvaccinated people have a high risk of contracting the delta variant of the virus, which was first identified in India and has since spread to more than 100 countries, including all 50 U.S. states. The variant is now dominant in the U.S. and is more transmissible than the original form of the virus, according to the CDC.
As of Sunday, 48.2% of American adults have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
ABC News’ Lauren King contributed to this report.
This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.
(New York) — A police officer in Ohio saved the life of a man who was allegedly choking on a bag of marijuana that he reportedly tried to swallow after he was pulled over for speeding.
The footage was released by the Ohio State Highway Patrol on Thursday, July 8, and shows Trooper Hoskin from the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Ravenna post pull over the 24-year-old suspect after speeding by his vehicle on the highway in Portage County, according to Storyful.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” Hoskin can be heard asking the driver after approaching the stopped vehicle in video taken from the officer’s dashboard camera.
It is not known how or if the suspect responded but Hoskin can then be heard asking if he is alright.
“Can you breathe?” Hoskin says to the driver before instructing him to get out of the car and asking if he can breathe again.
Don’t try to swallow a bag of drugs prior to getting pulled over in an attempt to keep a trooper from finding them. Luckily, Tpr. Hoskin from our Ravenna Post was alert and able to assist the man who was choking on a bag of illegal marijuana. pic.twitter.com/LqgbOhOEsW
Hoskin then takes the man to the side of the road and begins performing the Heimlich maneuver on him several times before an object can be seen becoming dislodged from the man’s mouth and falling to the ground.
As the man sits on the ground after the close call, Hoskin informs the man that an ambulance was on the way to treat him and to make he was alright.
“We got an ambulance coming just to check you out, make sure everything’s good,” says Hoskin to the suspect. “Do you want to die over a minor misdemeanor?”
The man was reportedly cited for speeding, failing to wear a seatbelt, and issued a misdemeanor for marijuana, according to Storyful.
Said the Ohio State Patrol in a post on Twitter: “Don’t try to swallow a bag of drugs prior to getting pulled over in an attempt to keep a trooper from finding them.”
(NEW YORK) — Sebastian Francisco Perez, a 38-year-old undocumented farmworker from Guatemala, was working at a tree farm in Oregon on June 26 when he died during the record-breaking heat wave that swept across the region.
“He had dreams of starting a family with his wife, Maria, who is in Guatemala right now. … He was only here for two months without papers, trying to save up money to start fertility treatments,” said Reyna Lopez, the executive director of PCUN, a farmworker union based in Oregon.
As temperatures reached 115 degrees in the Pacific Northwest in late June, a spotlight has again shined on the brutal and, at times, life-threatening conditions some farmworkers in America face.
Perez’s death has added urgency to a push for undocumented farmworkers to gain legal immigration status, which advocates say is needed for them to fight for basic worker protections.
Agricultural workers were 35 times more likely to die of heat-related illnesses compared to workers of other industries from 2000 to 2010, according to research published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
Oftentimes, farmworkers who do not have proper documentation suppress concerns about hazardous working conditions, including extreme heat, due to fears of deportation or job loss, said Roxana Chicas, an assistant professor at Emory University School of Nursing, who spoke with reporters on a call last week to highlight the concerning conditions faced by farmworkers.
Leticia, an undocumented farmworker in Washington and a mother of four whose last name was not disclosed for security reasons, told reporters on the call Thursday that even in 115 degrees, she was not not given shade or access to water.
“I fear not making it home to my husband and children,” she said.
On Tuesday, Gov. Kate Brown directed Oregon Occupational Safety and Health to create emergency rules requiring employers to provide shade, breaks and cool water for workers during high temperatures. And in Washington, a new law passed in May allowed state farmworkers to receive overtime pay and make complaints against their employers without retaliation.
However, there are no federal emergency heat standards protecting farmworkers from extreme weather conditions.
“We need our federal government to walk and chew gum at the same time,” Lopez said of protecting workers while also giving them a path to legal status. “We need strong standards to protect the workers that feed America.”
According to a report published by political organization FWD.us, about 73% of agricultural workers are immigrants and about half of them are undocumented.
Farmworker advocates in the last few weeks have doubled down on their push for Congress to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021, which would give farmworkers a path to earn legal status if they continue to work in agriculture. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act states that most immigrant farmworkers hold an H-2A visa, which is temporary and dependent on an employer’s sponsorship.
The bill has passed the House with bipartisan support and is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee pending a hearing.
If passed and signed by the president, the law would provide stability and bargaining power to immigrant farmworkers who are vulnerable to abuse, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who authored the bill.
“It’s not everything that everyone wanted, but it’s something we could all support,” she added, referring to nearly universal support from Democrats as well as from some Republicans, including Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.
Even with some support from the other side of the aisle, Democrats are considering trying to include some immigration provisions in an expected budget reconciliation bill later this year. That route could allow them to try to pass such policies without needing any GOP votes.
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act would grant those who performed agricultural labor for at least 180 days within two years certified agricultural worker status. One way a farmworker can then apply for a green card is to prove they have worked a total of 10 years in agriculture, including four years in certified agricultural worker status.
“When you’re undocumented, it really limits your ability to speak up and I want everyone to know the truth to what happens and that’s we’re too afraid to speak up in the workplace,” said Leticia. “Giving farmworkers a path to citizenship will give them the ability to speak up about injustices they face.”
The act would require farms to maintain a heat-illness prevention plan that includes worker training, access to water, shade, regular breaks and protocols for emergency response.
President Joe Biden has supported the legislation and mentioned it on Friday during a naturalization ceremony for new citizens, saying he thought there needed to be “a pathway [toward citizenship] for farmworkers who are here putting food on our tables but are not citizens.”
ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Claude Joseph, the interim prime minister of Haiti, said in an interview with ABC News that former President Jovenel Moise was tortured before he was killed and vowed to bring the perpetrators of the assassination to justice.
“Mercenaries came to the president’s house, they tortured him and they killed him,” Joseph said. “We captured about 20 of them. They are currently in custody. And we believe, we staunchly believe, that justice will be provided to the President Jovenel Moise… We do have the right people [in custody].”
At around 1 a.m. local time on Wednesday, an armed group stormed Moise’s residence and shot and killed the head of state. The group claimed to be U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents during the raid, according to Haitian Ambassador to the U.S. Bocchit Edmond, which both the Haitian and U.S. governments have denied.
In the interview on Friday, Joseph said his main focus was to bring justice to Moise’s family as the leadership crisis threatens to bring more hardship and chaos to one of the poorest countries in the world.
Joseph, who appeared emotional in the interview, said he was “shocked” at the manner of Moise’s death.
On Saturday, an audio message from Martine Moise, the first lady of Haiti, who was wounded in the attack and airlifted to Florida to receive treatment, was released from her official Twitter account. A Haitian official told ABC News that it was authentic.
“This great act of murder makes me and my children cry, and I know you are crying too,” she said. “This act has no name, because it must be a crime out of bounds to assassinate a president like Jovenel Moise without giving him the opportunity to utter a word.”
At least 17 suspects have been arrested in connection with the assassination, including two U.S. citizens, identified by the authorities as James Solages, 35, and Joseph Vincent, 55.
Haitian Judge Clement Noel, who is close to the case and said he had interviewed the pair, told ABC News they claimed to be working as translators for the group and denied being mercenaries. According to Noel, Solages said he found the job on the internet and that they were supposed to arrest Moise rather than kill him.
“We are certainly aware of the arrest of the two U.S. citizens who are in Haiti and continue to closely monitor the situation,” U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter said.
Fifteen of those arrested were Colombian nationals, some of whom are believed to have military backgrounds, according to the Colombian authorities. Two Colombian nationals were killed in a shootout in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, Noel confirmed.
Letters viewed by ABC News show the Haitian government asking both Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the United Nations to send troops to help stabilize the the turbulent Caribbean nation and support national police. The troops were also requested to protect key infrastructure, including the airport, ports and gas terminals, as well as to help maintain electoral security.
On Saturday, a senior administration official told ABC News that “there are currently no plans to send U.S. military assistance to Haiti.”
The White House said Friday that FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials would be sent to Haiti to assist with the investigation into the assassination.
While Haiti’s streets remain relatively quiet, Joseph’s authority has been contested by another candidate for the position of prime minister, Ariel Henry, who was scheduled to take over before the assassination this week. Henry and his supporters have questioned Joseph’s legitimacy.
Prior to the assassination, Moise’s opponents claimed the former president had overstayed his time in power, while the U.S. and U.N. both backed his claim that his term was scheduled to end in February 2022.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the U.S. would continue to work with Joseph since he is the incumbent, saying that U.S. officials had also been in contact with Henry, urging calm.
Joseph Lambert, the president of Haiti’s Senate, has positioned himself as the next interim president, though it remains to be seen who he would back him. Eight sitting senators have so far signed a memorandum in support of Lambert’s appointment, but the situation is constitutionally unclear.
Asked about the political power struggle, Joseph said that his main focus was on the investigation into Moise’s assassination.
“I don’t know if there is a power struggle. I’m not paying attention to whether or not there is a power struggle. I’m paying attention to giving justice to President Jovenel Moise… but I was interim prime minister. After the tragic death of Jovenel Moise I had to take charge and I did.”
ABC News’ Marcus Moore, Conor Finnegan, Sarah Kolinovsky and Kirit Radia contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Billionaire Sir Richard Branson is set to launch to the edge of space Sunday in the first fully crewed flight from his private space tourism firm Virgin Galactic.
Branson, 70, will serve as a mission specialist on what is being called the Unity 22 mission, the fourth crewed spaceflight for Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spacecraft. Unity is launched from a separate “mothership” aircraft called VMS Eve that takes off from a conventional runway before releasing the spaceship at an altitude of approximately 50,000 feet.
The launch will take place from New Mexico’s Spaceport America, and live coverage will commence at 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday on Virgin Galactic’s website and social media pages.
The crew consists of fellow Virgin Galactic staff: Beth Moses, chief astronaut instructor; Colin Bennet, lead operations engineer; and Sirisha Bandla, vice president of government affairs and research operations.
Pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci will fly the spaceship, with C.J. Sturckow and Kelly Latimer flying the aircraft from which the spaceship will dispatch.
Branson’s role is to evaluate the private astronaut experience to prepare for future customers, which Virgin Galactic expects to do beginning in 2022.
Virgin Galactic has taken heat from critics, including the Twitter account of competitor Blue Origin, for stretching the definition of “space” as its flights do not go above the Karman line (62 miles above Earth) that is defined by many — but not all — as the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space.
“I truly believe that space belongs to all of us,” Branson said in a statement earlier this month announcing his spaceflight. “After 17 years of research, engineering and innovation, the new commercial space industry is poised to open the universe to humankind and change the world for good.”
Branson’s spaceflight comes just nine days ahead of when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he will launch into space via his own firm, Blue Origin.
(HOUSTON) — The suspect behind an apparent murder-suicide at the Downtown Aquarium in Houston has been identified as a man with a criminal history.
The shooting at Downtown Aquarium unfolded when suspect Danny Garcia Cazares, 39, walked toward Gabriel Alexander Moriones Vargas, 28 and his wife, 24, as they were eating dinner in the bar area, and opened fire around 8:10 p.m. Thursday, Houston police said.
Vargas was fatally shot and died on the scene. His wife was wounded, suffering at least one gunshot wound to the leg. She remains in stable condition at an area hospital, police said in an update Friday.
The couple was visiting Houston from New York, according to Houston ABC station KTRK.
After shooting the couple, Cazares turned the gun on himself and was pronounced deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
“This is a tragic, isolated incident, with no relationship between the victims and the suspect,” police said.
He had a previous criminal history, which includes arrests for felon in possession of a weapon and had a history of mental illness, Houston police officials said.
At the time of the shooting, Cazares was out on bond on three charges. They were: felon in possession of a weapon and criminal mischief, which he was charged with in April, and criminal trespassing, which he was charged with in October, according to court records.
(NEW YORK) — Some 32 million people are under heat alerts as the West experiences another record-breaking heat wave during elevated drought and fire conditions.
Heat alerts are in effect from California to Montana, with excessive heat warnings for cities including Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Sacramento, California.
Temperatures could reach as high as 130 degrees in Death Valley, California, on Saturday and Sunday, after hitting a high of 130 degrees on Friday, based on preliminary data. If Death Valley officially reaches that temperature again on Saturday, that could tie its record for most consecutive days at or above 130 degrees.
Las Vegas is forecast to be in the triple digits for the next three days, with a high of 117 degrees on Saturday. The National Weather Service office in Las Vegas predicted that some areas “may see all-time record highs challenged or exceeded” this weekend.
Salt Lake City could see triple-digit temperatures Sunday and Monday, after a forecasted high of 99 degrees on Saturday.
Sacramento is expected to reach 111 degrees Saturday, after hitting a daily high-temperature record of 109 on Friday. The National Weather Service office in Sacramento warned that the “dangerously hot temperatures” will “increase the threat for heat-related illnesses,” and advised that people stay hydrated and limit outdoor activities.
The scorching temperatures come after millions in the West endured extreme heat during a deadly heat wave late last month, and as much of the West also is battling a severe drought and elevated wildfire risk.
In California, nearly 95% of the state is in severe drought, according to the latest update from the U.S. Drought Monitor. This week, Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded the state’s drought emergency, which now includes 50 out of 58 counties. The governor also asked everyone in the state to voluntarily reduce water usage by 15%.
Several states currently are under fire danger, with red flag warnings in effect for parts of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado and Utah due to the combination of low humidities, warm temperatures and strong winds.
Dozens of large wildfires continue to burn in the West, including the Beckwourth Complex near the California-Nevada border. The fire grew explosively Friday, prompting evacuations. By Saturday afternoon, it had burned 55,091 acres and was only 9% contained.
(LONDON) — Top-ranked Ashleigh Barty defeated 7th-ranked Karolina Pliskova through three sets to capture her first Wimbledon title and her third overall Grand Slam win.
It was the first Wimbledon ladies’ final to go three sets since 2012. Barty won the match 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.
Barty jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first set, before Pliskova was able to hold serve and make it 5-3. Barty closed out the set on her serve, winning it 6-3.
The second set was more evenly contested, with Pliskova battling back to force a tie breaker, breaking Barty to make it 6-6. Pliskova won the tiebreaker 7-4 to win the set.
The third set mirrored the first, with Barty winning 3 straight games before Pliskova was able to hold. The Australian closed out the set on her serve to win the match.
Barty became the first Australian woman to win the singles tournament at the All England Club since Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
Barty previously won the French Open as a singles player and the US Open in doubles with American CoCo Vandeweghe.
Pliskova is still seeking her first Grand Slam win, having lost in this final as well as the 2016 US Open final.
(NEW YORK) — Eleven people armed with long guns and dressed in tactical gear who claimed to be a part of group called “Rise of the Moors” were arrested following an hours-long standoff with Massachusetts police over the weekend.
Police said they found heavily armed men in two vehicles near Interstate 95 around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday. A nine-hour standoff ensued before all 11 were arrested. No one was harmed in the incident.
The men arrested range in age from 17 to 40 and hailed from Rhode Island, New York and Michigan. Two of the men refused to identify themselves and a third is a 17-year-old whose name will not be released because he’s a minor, police said.
Police say the arrested are: Jamhal Tavon Sanders Latimer, 29, of Providence, Rhode Island; Robert Rodriguez, 21, of the Bronx, New York; Wilfredo Hernandez, 21, of the Bronx; Alban El Curraugh, 27, of the Bronx; Aaron Lamont Johnson, 29, of Detroit; Quinn Cumberlander, 40, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island; Lamar Dow, 34, of the Bronx; and Conrad Pierre, 29, of Baldwin, New York.
Massachusetts State Police Col. Christopher Mason said the men identified themselves as part of a group called Rise of the Moors and said they were traveling from Rhode Island to Maine for “training.” It was unclear what that training involved.
According to the group’s webite, Rise of the Moors is a group of “Moorish Americans dedicated to educating new Moors and influencing our Elders.”
The group is headquartered in Rhode Island, according to its website. The group did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The website says that Moors are not “sovereign citizens,” but argues that Moors are the “original sovereigns” of America and are therefore immune from U.S. law.
Freddy Cruz, a research analyst at Southern Poverty Law Center who tracks anti-government groups, said Rise of the Moors is classified as a sovereign citizen, antigovernment group.
He said the group draws much of their beliefs and inspirations from ancient civilizations including ties to the Aztecs, the Olmecs and other native peoples.
“They tend to reference all these past civilizations with the idea that they’re somehow entitled to, or there’s somehow a lineage there, that affords them the right to essentially disassociate themselves from the U.S. government,” Cruz said.
Because they refuse to abide by American law, group members can end up in tense situations with police, Cruz said.
“So a lot of these groups don’t tend to register their firearms, they don’t register their vehicles, that tends to be a recipe for disaster, especially if law enforcement is involved, because they tend to essentially become quite standoffish,” he said.
In the Massachusetts incident, police said they had asked the men for drivers licenses and gun licenses, but the men said they didn’t have any.
The Moorish sovereign citizen movement emerged in the early 1990s as an offshoot of the anti-government sovereign citizens movement, and more specifically, the Moorish Science Temple of America, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center..
The Moorish Science Temple of America was created in 1913, but not all MSTA are linked to sovereign citizens, according to the SPLC.
According to the Moorish Science Temple of America’s website, the temple is a “divine and national movement” that teaches about Moorish identity, which under their definition, means Black Americans. They practice Islam and denounce the sovereign citizens movement and identify as U.S. citizens.
ABC News has reached out to the Moorish Science Temple of American for comment.
Some Moorish sovereigns believe that a 1787 treaty between the U.S. and Morocco — a claim that SPLC says is “fictitious” — grants them immunity from U.S. law, the center reported. Some groups create their own birth certificates, passports, driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations, according to SPLC.
This perceived immunity from local authority is used to justify refusing to pay taxes, buy car insurance, register vehicles, and “defraud banks”, the center reported. The movement has no unified leadership and consists of small groups, most of which operate in the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest U.S., according to the SPLC.
Despite experts classifying the group as sovereign citizens and anti-government, Col. Mason said that the “self-professed leader” of the group of 11 men arrested “wanted it very much known that their ideology is not anti-government.” He noted he can’t confirm that they are “validated members” of the group.
SPLC officially listed Rise of the Moors as an anti-government organization in 2020. Cruz said the center has counted so far six organizations that are classified as Moorish sovereign anti-government groups across the country.
Ken Gray, a retired FBI special agent and professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven, told ABC News that sovereign citizens “tend to be more of a law enforcement nuisance than they seem to be a violent group.”
“They seem to be much more involved in tying people up in legal problems, making false claims on property, not paying taxes,” he said.
“This group here said that they were going up to conduct training and they were outfitted in camouflage clothing, carrying body armor, and had long guns with them. But that does not necessarily mean that they were planning to do something violent, it could very well be that they were training like that for defensive purposes,” he added.
Cruz said the SPLC has reported seeing the Rise of the Moors group participate in paramilitary training before, but the location of the training is unknown. He said it’s uncommon to see sovereign citizen groups participate in such training.
He warned the public to be wary of such groups, saying sovereign communities, “tend to prey on people who have fallen on hard times, and are not necessarily aware of what it means to be part of a sovereign nation.”
“With the Moorish groups especially, they try and tailor their message to bring in Black and brown folks with the idea that their sovereign nation will provide opportunities and a more equitable society for folks,” Cruz said. “A lot of times people get caught up in that and don’t realize that essentially what they’re espousing is illegal. You can’t just grab a car and drive it wherever you want. You can’t just squat in homes and make them your own. You can’t just carry around firearms and not have them registered.”
All 11 men arrested in Wakefield have been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, use of body armor in commission of a crime, possession of a high capacity magazine, improper storage of firearms in a vehicle and conspiracy to commit a crime, police said. Hernandez, Johnson, Dow and the unnamed teen are also being charged with providing a false name to police, authorities said.
The teenager was released to parental custody while the 10 adults are being held at the Billerica House of Correction on $100,000 cash bail, authorities said.
On Tuesday, in Malden District Court, most of the men rejected the charges against them and most said they’d represent themselves. The court entered not guilty pleas on their behalf, according to MassLive.
ABC News could not immediately contact any lawyers for the men. Further hearings will take place Friday.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Friday’s sports events:
INTERLEAGUE
Final Boston 11 Philadelphia 5
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Cleveland 2 Kansas City 1
Final Chicago White Sox 12 Baltimore 1
Final Tampa Bay 7 Toronto 1
Final Minnesota 4 Detroit 2
Final Texas 3 Oakland 2
Final N.Y. Yankees 4 Houston 0
Final Seattle 7 L.A. Angels 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 10 St. Louis 5
Final Atlanta 5 Miami 0
Final N.Y. Mets 13 Pittsburgh 4
Final Cincinnati 2 Milwaukee 0
Final San Francisco 5 Washington 3
Final San Diego 4 Colorado 2
Final Arizona 5 L.A. Dodgers 2
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Indiana 82 New York 69
Final Connecticut 84 Atlanta 72
Final Phoenix 85 Seattle 77
Final Minnesota 77 Las Vegas 67
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Final tie Columbus 2 Cincinnati 2
