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(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 710,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 65.8% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Oct 08, 1:50 pm
CDC committee to meet on Moderna, J&J boosters

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s independent advisory committee plans to meet on Oct. 20 and Oct. 21 to discuss the Moderna and Johnson &Johnson vaccine boosters. This will follow the Food and Drug Administration’s independent advisers who are set to meet and vote on boosters on Oct. 14 and Oct. 15.

That means Moderna and J&J boosters could be authorized, recommended and available as soon as Oct. 22.

The CDC committee is also set to meet on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 to discuss pediatric vaccinations.

-ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss

Oct 08, 12:32 pm
LSU ends COVID protocols for football games

Louisiana State University said Friday that fans at its football games will no longer need to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test beginning with the Oct. 16 game.

LSU said the change is due to a “consistent and significant decline in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations across the state of Louisiana and in the Baton Rouge area.”

Masks will still be required for all attendees.

Oct 08, 8:13 am
Former CDC head ‘cautiously optimistic’ about vaccines for kids

Dr. Richard Besser, a pediatrician and former acting director of the CDC, told “Good Morning America” Friday that he’s “cautiously optimistic” about vaccine approval for young children, adding that he’ll be closely watching the reviews by the FDA and CDC.

“Thankfully children have been impacted by COVID less severely than adults and I want to make sure, as a pediatrician, before I recommend this to my patients, I’m convinced that it’s safe and it’s effective,” Besser said. “The information I’ve seen so far gives me a lot of hope.”

The Florida Board of Education has authorized the state’s education commissioner to sanction the board members of eight school districts that have continued to require masks for students in defiance of state rules.

In the latest development in the state’s battle over mask mandates, board members in Florida’s largest districts — Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward — as well as Alachua, Brevard, Duval, Leon and Orange will have their salaries withheld following Thursday’s vote, officials said.

“For nearly two months now, these school districts have barred from the school house doors thousands of children, many of whom have significant disabilities or health-related reasons that prevent them from learning with a face mask on,” Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said in a statement.

Corcoran also slammed the Broward and Alachua districts, which were previously sanctioned in August and September, for accepting funds from the Biden administration to make up for lost paychecks, calling it “political bailouts from federal co-conspirators.”

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(CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Md.) — Two victims are dead following a shooting at a senior living facility in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Friday morning, police said.

The suspect has been taken into custody without incident, Prince George’s County police said.

The scene at National Church Residences – Gateway Village has been secured, police said, adding that there’s no ongoing threat to community.

“We heard a ‘pow’ … I looked and I saw his hand go up and he shot twice. And I just ran,” one woman told ABC Washington, D.C., affiliate WJLA. “I’m nervous now ’cause my mother-in-law is still in the building on lockdown.”

One victim was found in a corridor and the other was recovered in an office, police said.

The suspect and victims have not been identified.

As of Thursday night, Prince George’s County surpassed 100 homicides for the year.

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(ELLICOTT CITY, Md.) — A Maryland man has been charged with allegedly killing his brother, a pharmacist, after going to confront him about “the government poisoning people with COVID vaccines,” according to court documents.

Jeffrey Burnham allegedly killed his sister-in-law, another woman and his brother, who administered vaccines, saying he was “killing people,” according to charging documents filed in Howard County, Maryland.

Burnham went to the Ellicott City, Maryland, home of his brother, Brian Robinette, and sister-in-law, Kelly Robinette, who were later found dead of apparent gunshot wounds on Sept. 30, authorities allege.

Burnham wanted to confront his brother about the vaccine and said that “Brian knows something!,” according to investigators.

He took off in his brother’s Corvette, authorities said, and was pursued when the vehicle’s EZ Pass was used and a tipster alerted authorities of seeing him. Burham was arrested in West Virginia and extradited back to Maryland on Tuesday.

Police also believe that Burham may have killed one elderly woman, Rebecca Reynolds, in Cumberland, Maryland, before taking her car and traveling to the home of his brother. Reynolds was found with a deep laceration to her throat inside her home, according to ABC News affiliate WMAR.

Burham has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and use of a handgun in Howard County, Maryland. He was also charged with first degree murder and car theft in Allegany County, Maryland.

Burnham has not pleaded to the charges. His attorney did not not immediately respond to request for comment.

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(BODEGA BAY, Calif.) — Surfer Eric Steinley is recovering in the hospital after he was bitten by a great white shark in Bodega Bay, California.

The 38-year-old told ABC News he was on his surfboard Sunday at Salmon Creek Beach waiting to catch a wave when the harrowing incident occurred.

“I was in a lot of pain and still thinking, you know, I’m either going to lose my leg or I’m gonna die,” Steinley said. “I just felt this heavy thing pull on me and it was like a clamp right around my leg. And we went underwater together in slow motion.”

Another surfer who was nearby in the water, Jared Davis, said he saw “the tail fin of a shark. They were kind of going down into the water.”

As Steinley was under the surface and bleeding, he fought back.

“I punched this thing. And I mean, you can see just from grazing its teeth. I cut my hand. But it was such a measly punch compared to how big this creature was,” he explained.

The shark loosened its bite, according to Steinley, who then came up for air and warned other surfers.

“He was saying, ‘shark,’ he was saying ‘out,’ he was saying ‘help,'” Davis recalled.

Nearly a five minute paddle from shore, Steinley said he questioned his own fate.

“I started to see spots and then I know, you know, [thought] I’m definitely I’m not going to make it,” he said. “And I catch up to Jared and he paddles next to me.”

When Davis saw Steinley’s leg, he said it looked like there was a red stripe on his wetsuit.

“He goes, ‘You going to make it, don’t look at your leg, let’s just keep going.’ And then we paddled in together until a wave came, and then I gave it my all,” Steinley said of the moment he fought to get to safety.

Nearly a dozen surfers rushed in to help once they got to shore, using surfboard leashes as a makeshift tourniquet to help stop the bleeding.

“All of the surfers that were with me out in the water came out altogether and grabbed this big, long board and put me on that long board,” Steinley said. The group “held me on the board, kept up the board and carried me all the way up the steps, saving time for when the ambulance got there.”

Timothy Saluzzom, a paramedic who responded on the scene, said the care Steinley got prior to his arrival “really helped to save his leg.”

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed that this was a great white shark, at least 10-feet long, based on the DNA and bite radius from Steinley’s surfboard.

Dave Bader, chief operations and education officer at the Marine Mammal Care Center, said bites from great white sharks can be severe. Steinley “was lucky enough to be in and around a space where there were other people that were there to help him.”

He added, “Eric did all the right things by being in a space where he could get that immediate help.”

Steinley is out of the ICU after two surgeries with a long recovery ahead. While surfing may not be the same, he said he wants to get back up on the board at least one more time.

“I still want to be part of the lifestyle,” Steinley explained. “I’m just so thankful … and still in disbelief that I’m alive because of it.”

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(ANDERSON, Texas) — Authorities in Grimes County, Texas, are scrambling to find any clues surrounding the disappearance of 3-year-old Christopher Ramirez, who has been missing since Wednesday.

Ramirez’ mother, Araceli Nunez, is pleading with the public for help in finding her son.

“I am asking you all to please help and find my son. I don’t know anything about him, and a lot of time has passed. I don’t know what to do. Please everyone help me,” she told reporters in Spanish at a press conference Thursday.

“I’m desperate and my heart has a hole in it. Please bring back my son, please help me,” she said.

Nunez said she believes that someone may have abducted her son, but Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell said there is no evidence of foul play.

According to authorities, Christopher was playing with a neighbor’s dog on Wednesday around 2 p.m. local time while his mother unloaded groceries from her car. The boy then followed the dog into the woods.

The dog returned but Christopher hasn’t been seen since.

Sowell told ABC News on Thursday that the search is ongoing.

“We continue what we’ve been doing yesterday and last night with a new team, fresh teams and no news to report,” he said.

“We’ve had search teams on the ground also yesterday and through the night, so we have another group of them already on the ground,” he added.

Crews and community volunteers are canvassing the wooded area and using everything from drones and dogs to track Christopher’s scent.

The FBI has also offered to help in the search.

“The FBI has offered all of our assistance,” Brittany Garcia, public affairs representative at the FBI in Houston, told ABC News affiliate KTRK on Thursday. “The biggest resource that we are offering to them is personnel. So our evidence response team is out here doing searches high and low, between the trees everywhere, even in water to to find Christopher.”

ABC News’ Abby Cruz contributed to this report.

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(GUNTERSVILLE, Ala.) — Five people, including a 4-year-old, have died from devastating flooding in Alabama and Tennessee.

In Van Buren County, Tennessee, about 60 miles north of Chattanooga, a man died after his car was swept off a flooded roadway Wednesday afternoon, according to Van Buren County Sheriff Eddie Carter.

Emergency personnel rescued the man’s wife and took her to a hospital where she is still recovering, the sheriff said Friday.

In Alabama, 13 inches of rain flooded roadways Wednesday night.

In Marshall County in northern Alabama, a 4-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman died as a result of the flooding, the county coroner’s office said.

In Hoover, near Birmingham, a 23-year-old-woman and 23-year-old man were found dead in their submerged car Thursday after being swept away in floodwaters Wednesday night, Hoover police said.

.@HooverFireDept and @HooverPD responding to Hwy 31 at Deo Dara on female on top of submerged vehicle. @spann @WBRCnews pic.twitter.com/LWp6KsVpzm

— John Lyda (@johnlyda) October 7, 2021

After pummeling Alabama, the flash flooding moved east into North Carolina on Thursday, dropping more than 6 inches of rain in McDowell County within hours.

Georgia and the Carolinas are on alert for more flash flooding Friday morning.

Two to three more inches of rain is possible in the Southeast.

ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.

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(UPPER MARLBORO, Md.) — Two victims are dead following a shooting at a senior living facility in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Friday morning, police said.

One suspect is in custody, police said.

“We are searching the facility for any additional victims as well as suspects per protocol,” police said.

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

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(AUSTIN, Texas) — Hours after a federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of the most restrictive abortion law in the country, some Texas clinics have resumed providing abortions after a so-called fetal heartbeat is detected.

Under SB8, physicians are banned from providing abortions once they detect electrical activity within the cells in an embryo. That can be seen on an ultrasound as early as six weeks into a pregnancy — before many women even know they’re pregnant. Since the law went into effect on Sept. 1, clinics in the state have largely stopped providing abortions past that point, under the threat of potentially costly civil litigation.

After U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman granted the Biden administration’s emergency injunction to halt SB8 Wednesday night, Whole Woman’s Health, which operates four clinics throughout the state, said it resumed providing the abortions Thursday for an unspecified number of patients.

There is a 24-hour waiting period for most patients before they can get an abortion in Texas. Since Sept. 1, the clinics have been continuing the required consent process in the event an injunction was later handed down, allowing them to offer the procedure so soon after the injunction, according to Whole Woman’s Health founder Amy Hagstrom Miller.

“Last night, we reached out to some of the patients that we had on a waiting list to come in to have abortions today, folks whose pregnancies did have cardiac activity earlier in September,” Hagstrom Miller said during a press briefing with the Center for Reproductive Rights Thursday. “And we were able to see a few people as early as, 8, 9 this morning, right away when we opened the clinic.”

“And we are consenting people for care beyond that six-week limit today and hope that we will be able to take care of those people tomorrow and beyond as long as this injunction stands,” she added.

Texas promptly took steps to appeal the injunction to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said late Wednesday. “The sanctity of human life is, and will always be, a top priority for me,” he said on Twitter.

Pending the outcome in that court, the case could make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Legal experts and abortion rights advocates were unsure if physicians would feel comfortable providing abortions following the injunction, as there is the threat of being sued retroactively under the law, if it isn’t ultimately struck down.

The retroactive provision “remains a serious piece of concern for physicians and clinics” and makes for a “tenuous” situation in the state, Molly Duane, a senior staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, told reporters.

“But what we can say today is that there are independent providers across the state that are working to reopen full services and are doing so wary of the fact that the Fifth Circuit may take away this injunction at any moment,” she said.

Hagstrom Miller said there is “hope” but also “desperation” among patients at this time, as call volume has increased at the clinics. “Folks know that this opportunity could be short-lived,” she said.

In the wake of the injunction, Planned Parenthood’s Texas affiliates are “assessing what’s possible during this period of uncertainty,” their leaders said in a statement, while recommending that patients seeking an abortion call their local health center to discuss their options.

“This legal victory is an important first step toward restoring abortion access in Texas, but the fight is not over,” Planned Parenthood South Texas’ Jeffrey Hons, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast’s Melaney Linton and Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas’ Ken Lambrecht said in a joint statement. “The state has already appealed this ruling and we don’t know if or when this injunction could be lifted, and the law could be back in effect.”

ABC News’ Nicholas Kerr contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — A U.S. Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine collided with an unknown submerged object this weekend while traveling through international waters in the Pacific Ocean, according to the Navy.

The Navy describes the submarine as being in “safe and stable” condition and said it is making its way to port for a damage assessment that could help determine what it struck.

“The Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) struck an object while submerged on the afternoon of Oct. 2, while operating in international waters in the Indo-Pacific region,” said a statement from the Navy’s Pacific Fleet. “The safety of the crew remains the Navy’s top priority. There are no life threatening injuries.”

USNI News was first to report the incident involving the USS Connecticut.

Two sailors aboard the submarine were treated for what a Navy official described as “moderate injuries” and additional sailors received bumps, bruises and lacerations.

“The submarine remains in a safe and stable condition,” said the statement. “USS Connecticut’s nuclear propulsion plant and spaces were not affected and remain fully operational. The extent of damage to the remainder of the submarine is being assessed. The U.S. Navy has not requested assistance. The incident will be investigated.”

Officials said it remained unclear what the submarine struck while underwater. They said it could include stationary objects like a sea mount, an underwater sea mountain, or an object being towed by a surface vessel.

Two U.S .officials said the submarine is headed to the U.S. Naval Base Guam where a damage assessment of the submarine’s hull could help determine what the vessel struck underwater.

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(JOPLIN, Mont.) — A survivor of last month’s Amtrak train derailment in Montana said he “hung on for dear life” to a restroom handicap bar as the car he was in toppled on its side and skidded along a gravel embankment.

Justin Ruddell said during a news conference on Thursday that he suffered two broken vertebrae and five broken ribs in the Sept. 25 crash, and witnessed “death and destruction around me that I’ll never be able to forget.”

“I thought I was going to die,” said Ruddell, a mechanic from Klamath Falls, Oregon, adding that he also suffered injuries to his jaw and head.

The crash of the Amtrak Empire Builder train near Joplin, Montana, killed three people and injured more than 50. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Administration are still investigating the incident.

Ruddell and three other injured passengers filed federal lawsuits in U.S. district court on Thursday against Amtrak and the BNSF Railway Company, which owns and operates the track on which the derailment occurred. The passengers accused Amtrak and BNSF of negligence, saying the crash was preventable.

Seven other injured passengers filed similar lawsuits earlier this week.

“This derailment should not be happening in this country in 2021. It’s inexcusable,” said attorney Henry Simmons of the Clifford Law Offices in Chicago, which is representing the injured passengers. “It should be a never-event and we are going to hold Amtrak and BNSF responsible, and we’re doing it for our clients and for the future of all traveling passengers in the United States.”

It’s the third time in five years lawsuits have been filed against Amtrak for a fatal derailment.

Amtrak and BNSF declined to comment when reached by ABC News, other than the following statement from Amtrak: “We are deeply saddened by the loss of life and injuries due to the derailment of the Empire Builder train on Sept. 25, near Joplin, Mont., on BNSF railroad. It is inappropriate for us to comment further on pending litigation.”

Ruddell said he was returning home after fulfilling a promise to a friend who died: to take a trip together to the East Coast. He was traveling with that friend’s ashes in a glass container.

“It was my first experience on an Amtrak train, and I was looking forward to a comfortable, relaxing ride across the country,” Ruddell said.

Moments before the crash, he said he left the train’s observation car and went into an adjoining car to use the restroom, soon after which the train “suddenly jolted and veered on its side.”

He said it was a “miracle” he survived.

“I could look outside the train and see all the gravel and dirt and everything that was outside along the tracks getting scooped up into the car as it was skidding down the side of the tracks,” he said. “If I were to let go, I would have fallen down and out that door, and got crushed by the train or ground up in the dirt.”

After fellow passengers helped him crawl from the wreckage, he went back to rescue his friend’s ashes.

“I was supposed to start a job after I got back, which I’m not able to. The pain is unreal,” Ruddell said. “I’m not able to sleep at night. I have a hard time eating because of the injury to my jaw. I never thought this was going to happen.”

The lawsuits also seek to challenge an Amtrak policy instituted in January 2019 requiring that legal action against the company be resolved through a mandatory arbitration process. Under the change, customers, upon purchasing a ticket, waive their right to sue Amtrak for any reason.

Simmons, the lawyer, called the Amtrak arbitration clause printed in fine print on the back of tickets “reprehensible” for a rail line funded and owned by taxpayers.

“When you get on a train like Amtrak are you really thinking about a train derailing and you holding on to a handicap bar while the train doors open and you’re looking at death’s door?” Simmons said. “People don’t look at the back of the ticket.”

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