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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 703,000 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 65.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Latest headlines:
-Sandra Lindsay, 1st to get vaccine in US, to get booster shot
-Francis Collins to step down as director of the National Institutes of Health
-J&J submits booster request to FDA

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

Oct 05, 3:24 pm
Forecasters predict falling cases, hospitalizations, deaths

Forecasts used by the CDC predict falling cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the coming weeks in the U.S.

The COVID-19 Forecast Hub’s ensemble forecast predicts 22,686 people in the U.S. will die over the next two weeks. If that happens, it would mark more than 4,400 fewer deaths than in the previous two weeks.

ABC News’ Brian Hartman

Oct 05, 2:44 pm
Sandra Lindsay, 1st to get vaccine in US, to get booster shot

New York nurse Sandra Lindsay, the first person in the U.S. to get a COVID-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial, plans to get her Pfizer booster dose Wednesday at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York.

Other health care workers who also got their first shots in December are planning to join her in getting boosters on Wednesday.

Oct 05, 2:24 pm
Extremists likely to target health care sector as vaccine mandates spread

The Department of Homeland Security this week issued an intel notice warning that extremists, including white supremacists and other would-be domestic terrorists, are likely to “threaten violence or plot against healthcare personnel, facilities, and public officials in response to renewed and expanding COVID-19 mitigation measures.”

The document, distributed Monday to U.S. law enforcement and government agencies and obtained by ABC News, noted that anti-vaccine messaging will likely increase as vaccine mandates spread.

The notice warns that some of the misinformation and disinformation now circulating is being pushed and promoted by Russia, China and Iran as a means of sowing anger and discord in the U.S.

ABC News’ Josh Margolin

Oct 05, 12:32 pm
76% of 12+ population has at least 1 vaccine dose

Seventy-six percent of Americans ages 12 and above have had at least one vaccine dose, White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar said Tuesday.

Now 65% of the total U.S. population has had at least one dose, he said.

 

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(NEW YORK) — A request to grant George Floyd a full posthumous pardon is headed to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk after a public defender alleged Floyd was framed in a 2004 drug bust by a former Houston police detective now indicted on murder charges.

In a letter sent Monday to Floyd’s one-time public defender Allison Mathis, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles wrote it has “completed their consideration of your client’s application requesting a Full Pardon and have voted to recommend clemency.”

The board forwarded its recommendation to Abbott for final disposition. Abbott has not said whether he will grant the pardon.

Mathis filed the request in April, writing in the petition that a “pardon is being sought because it is just and right to clear a conviction that is not supported by evidence.”

Floyd was arrested on Feb. 5, 2004, by then-Houston undercover narcotics detective Gerald Goines, who alleged Floyd provided a second suspect .03 grams of crack cocaine to sell, according to the petition. The man Floyd allegedly gave the drugs to turned out to be a police informant who sold the drugs to Goines as part of a sting operation and was not arrested or identified, according to the petition.

Floyd eventually pleaded guilty to a drug charge and was sentenced to 10 months in state jail, authorities said.

In August 2019, Goines was charged with two counts of murder related to a botched narcotics raid at a home in southeast Houston. Goines’ police colleague, Steven Bryant, pleaded guilty in June to federal charges of falsifying records and interfering with a government investigation in an attempt to help Goines cover up an illegally obtained “no-knock” warrant on the Houston home of Rhogena Nicholas and her husband, Dennis Tuttle.

During the Jan. 28, 2019, raid, a shootout erupted in which Nicholas, Tuttle and their dog were killed and four police officers, including Goines, were shot and wounded.

In announcing the indictments of Goines and Bryant, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg alleged that Goines made “numerous false statements” in the affidavit presented to the judge who signed the ‘no-knock” warrant.

The scandal prompted the Harris County District Attorney to review at least 1,400 criminal cases tied to Goines.

Ogg released a statement on Monday supporting the Board of Pardons and Paroles’ recommendation to grant Floyd clemency.

“We lament the loss of former Houstonian George Floyd and hope that his family finds comfort in Monday’s decision by the Texas State Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend clemency for a 2004 conviction,” Ogg’s statement reads.

Mathis also praised the board’s decision.

“A man was set up by a corrupt police officer intent on securing arrests rather than pursuing justice,” Mathis said in a statement. “No matter what your political affiliation is, no matter who that man was in his life or in his death, that is not something we should stand for in the United States or in Texas.”

Ben Crump, an attorney for the Floyd family, urged Abbott to grant the full pardon.

“This drug charge, which led to George Floyd’s conviction based on false evidence, helped to unravel his life,” Crump said in a statement. “Similarly, tens of thousands of Black lives are ruined by a criminal justice system that uses the war on drugs to target Black people, force them into felony pleas, incarcerate them, take away their voting rights, and destroy their families.”

Floyd died on May 25, 2020, as the result of injuries suffered when police in Minneapolis attempted to arrest him on suspicion of using a phony $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Former police officer Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as the 46-year-old Black man lost consciousness after repeatedly claiming of not being able to breathe, was convicted in April of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison. Three other police officers charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter are scheduled to go on trial next year.

 

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(NEW YORK) — A man is in custody after he was removed from a suspicious SUV near the Supreme Court Tuesday morning, Capitol police said.

The suspect, 55-year-old Dale Paul Melvin of Kimball, Michigan, was removed from the car and placed under arrest around 11 a.m. local time, police said.

Earlier in the morning Melvin had allegedly parked illegally and refused to talk to responding officers, authorities said. Police then brought in crisis negotiation officers.

There’s no information on motive and no weapons have been found, police said.

Everyone is safe, police said.

There were no disruptions to operations at the Supreme Court; oral arguments began as planned at 10 a.m.

The Supreme Court building remains closed to the public.

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

ABC News’ Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.

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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 703,000 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 65.5% 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 05, 8:50 am
J&J submits booster request to FDA

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday submitted its request to the FDA for a booster shot for J&J recipients.

The submission includes data showing that a booster increased protection to 94% against moderate to severe/critical disease in the U.S. (Peak efficacy from one shot is 72% in the U.S.)

The FDA’s independent advisory committee is holding a public hearing on J&J boosters on Oct. 15. The FDA may authorize J&J boosters after Oct. 15 and the CDC’s recommendation could follow.

Oct 05, 8:15 am
Francis Collins to step down as director of the National Institutes of Health

NIH Director Francis Collins announced that he’s stepping down, saying in a statement that no person should serve for too long and it’s time to give space for the next generation of scientists to lead.

He was in the role for 12 years.

Oct 04, 7:56 pm
Pentagon mandates vaccines for civilian employees

The Pentagon announced Monday that all of its civilian employees must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22.

“Vaccinating (department) civilian employees against COVID-19 will save lives and allow for the defense of our nation,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks wrote in a memo sent out to Pentagon leadership Monday. “Thank you for your focus on this critical mission.”

There is already a vaccine mandate for military members, but each branch of service has its own deadline.

Oct 04, 6:02 pm
Newly approved rapid test will double US capacity, FDA says

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new rapid test Monday that it said will double the at-home testing capacity in the U.S. over the next few weeks.

The the ACON Laboratories Flowflex COVID-19 Home Test will ideally assuage the shortage of over-the-counter, at-home rapid testing that has gone on since schools and other businesses have returned to in-person work.

“By year’s end, the manufacturer plans to produce more than 100 million tests per month, and this number will rise to 200 million per month by February 2022,” the FDA said in a press release Monday.

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(NORTH PORT, Fla.) — Cassie Laundrie said she has a message for her missing brother, who has been the center of a nationwide manhunt after the body of his girlfriend, Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, was found in Wyoming last month.

“I would tell my brother to just come forward and get us out of this horrible mess,” Cassie Laundrie told ABC News in an interview that aired Tuesday on Good Morning America.

Brian Laundrie, 23, and Petito, 22, were traveling across the country this summer in Petito’s white 2012 Ford Transit and were documenting their road trip on social media. On Sept. 1, Brian Laundrie returned to his parent’s home in North Port, Florida, by himself in Petito’s van, according to authorities. Petito was reported missing on Sept. 11 by her family in Long Island, New York, authorities said.

Cassie Laundrie, who lives in Florida with her husband and two sons, told ABC News that her brother and parents stopped by for an “ordinary” visit the day he returned.

“I really wish he had come to me first that day with the van,” she said, “because I don’t think we’d be here.”

Brian Laundrie was subsequently named a “person of interest” in Petito’s disappearance. He has refused to speak to investigators and has not been seen since Sept. 14, authorities said.

On Sept. 16, the Moab City Police Department in Utah released body-camera footage of their officers’ interaction with Brian Laundrie and Petito after pulling them over in Petito’s van on Aug. 12. The officers were responding to a 911 call that reported an incident between the couple, in which the caller claimed he witnessed Laundrie allegedly “slapping” Petito and chasing her up and down a sidewalk, hitting her.

The officers wrote in a report that Laundrie and Petito admitted to arguing and that Petito had slapped Laundrie. The couple also told the officers that Laundrie did not hit Petito, according to the report.

After speaking to Petito and Laundrie separately, the officers allowed the couple to continue on their way but ordered them to spend the night apart. No charges were filed.

Cassie Laundrie told ABC News that it was “pretty typical of them to argue and try and take space from each other.” But she said she never witnessed any signs of domestic violence.

On Sept. 19, the Teton County Coroner’s Office in Wyoming announced that a body was recovered in the Bridger-Teton National Park. Two days later, the coroner confirmed the remains were that of Petito and that an initial determination showed she had died as a result of homicide. A federal arrest warrant was later issued for Brian Laundrie in Wyoming, pursuant to a federal grand jury indictment related to his “activities” following Petito’s death, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The twist and turns of the case have grabbed national attention, as the search for Brian Laundrie continues.

Cassie Laundrie told ABC News that she does not know where her brother is and if she did, she would “turn him in.” She said the last time she saw or heard from him was on Sept. 6, when their family went to Fort De Soto Park in Florida’s Pinellas County.

“We just went for a couple of hours and we ate dinner and had s’mores around the campfire and left, and there was nothing peculiar about it,” she said. “There was no feeling of grand goodbye. There was no nothing.”

“I’m frustrated that, in hindsight, I didn’t pick up on anything,” she added. “It was jut a regular visit.”

She said it’s unusual for her brother to disappear for this long.

“I hope he’s OK, and then I’m angry and I don’t know what to think,” she said. “I hope my brother is alive because I want answers just as much as everybody else.”

She said she has been cooperating with authorities “since day one,” and she called on her parents to do the same.

“I don’t know if my parents are involved,” she said. “I think if they are, then they should come clean.”

While she remains concerned for her brother, Cassie Laundrie said she is also mourning for Petito and wants the Petito family to know that her heart is with them.

“They deserve answers,” she said.

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(NEW YORK) — Someone is taking home a big pot of cash.

One person in California bought the ticket that matched all six numbers drawn Monday night to win the Powerball jackpot worth $699.8 million. It is the fifth largest in Powerball history and the seventh largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history, Powerball said in a statement early Tuesday morning.

“Due to final ticket sales, the jackpot climbed beyond earlier estimates to a staggering $699.8 million at the time of the drawing with a cash option of $496 million,” they said. “The winning numbers in the Monday, Oct. 4 drawing were white balls 12, 22, 54, 66, and 69. The Powerball number was 15.”

The person — whose identity was not released — bought the winning ticket at Albertsons grocery store in Morro Bay, near San Luis Obispo.

The jackpot was last hit on June 5, and since then there have been 40 consecutive drawings without a Grand Prize winner, a new record for the Powerball jackpot, according to officials.

The lottery is available in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In August, it went from two drawings a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, to three drawings a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

This was the first Powerball jackpot won on a Monday night since the game launched a third weekly drawing on Aug. 23.

“The lucky ticket holder will have the choice between an estimated annuity of $699.8 million, paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years, or a lump sum payment of $496 million. Both prize options are prior to taxes,” Powerball said. “Participating lotteries are reminding players to check their tickets for one of the nine ways to win. In Monday’s drawing alone, more than 2.2 million tickets won prizes ranging from $4 to $2 million.”

On Monday, five tickets matched all five white balls but missed the red Powerball to win a $1 million prize. The $1 million-winning tickets were sold in Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts and Virginia. A ticket sold in Tennessee matched all five white balls and doubled the prize to $2 million, because it included the Power Play feature for an additional $1, the company said.

Monday’s Powerball drawing was the 41st drawing in the jackpot run: a record for the number of consecutive drawings without a Grand Prize winner.

Even though there hadn’t been a jackpot winner in months, several Powerball players have earned smaller cash prizes.

“In Saturday’s drawing alone, more than 2.8 million tickets won prizes ranging from $4 to $1 million,” Powerball officials said in a news release.

The largest Powerball jackpot prize money was $1.586 billion in 2016, which was shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee, officials said.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball officials.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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

More than 702,000 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 65.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Latest headlines:
-Child hospitalizations fall but kids still make up quarter of all new cases
-Daily deaths nearly 8 times higher than in July
-Myocarditis extremely rare among vaccinated people

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

Oct 04, 7:56 pm
Pentagon mandates vaccines for civilian employees

The Pentagon announced Monday that all of its civilian employees must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22.

“Vaccinating (department) civilian employees against COVID-19 will save lives and allow for the defense of our nation,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks wrote in a memo sent out to Pentagon leadership Monday. “Thank you for your focus on this critical mission.”

There is already a vaccine mandate for military members, but each branch of service has its own deadline.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Oct 04, 6:02 pm
Newly approved rapid test will double US capacity, FDA says

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new rapid test Monday that it said will double the at-home testing capacity in the U.S. over the next few weeks.

The ACON Laboratories Flowflex COVID-19 Home Test will ideally assuage the shortage of over-the-counter, at-home rapid testing that has gone on since schools and other businesses have returned to in-person work.

“By year’s end, the manufacturer plans to produce more than 100 million tests per month, and this number will rise to 200 million per month by February 2022,” the FDA said in a press release Monday.

ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Oct 04, 5:48 pm
Judge agrees to hear another request to halt NYC school staff vaccine mandate

A Manhattan federal judge has agreed to hear another request to halt New York City’s vaccine mandate for public school employees.

A group of 10 teachers, educators and administrators filed an emergency motion Monday for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to prevent the city from further enforcing the mandate.

“This policy is reckless, senseless, and not only violates the fundamental rights of thousands of New Yorkers but will also put over 1 million New York City public school children at risk of imminent harm,” the petition said.

The judge scheduled a hearing for Tuesday morning to consider the request and preliminary injunction.

Earlier Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said 95% of all full-time Department of Education employees are vaccinated, including 96% of all teachers and 99% of all principals.

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky

Oct 04, 3:12 pm
Child hospitalizations fall but kids still make up quarter of all new cases

Last week, the U.S. reported more than 173,000 child COVID-19 cases, marking the first week with fewer than 200,000 new cases reported since mid-August, according to a newly released weekly report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

Even with the decline, last week children still accounted for 26.7% of reported weekly cases. (Children make up 22.2% of the population.)

The South is reporting the highest number of pediatric cases followed closely by the Midwest.

The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 is also declining. About 1,700 children are currently hospitalized across the country, according to AAP and CHA.

Severe illness due to COVID-19 remains “uncommon” among kids, the two organizations wrote in the report. However, AAP and CHA warned that there is an urgent need to collect more data on the long-term consequences of the pandemic on children, “including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects.”

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

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(NEW YORK) — The pot of cash up for grabs continues to grow. According to lottery officials, the Powerball jackpot for Monday night’s drawing soared to $685 million.

The cash value of the grand prize is $485.5 million, Powerball officials said.

The jackpot was last hit on June 5, and since then there have been 40 consecutive drawings without a Grand Prize winner, a new record for the Powerball jackpot, according to officials.

The lottery is available in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In August, it went from two drawings a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, to three drawings a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Even though there hasn’t been a jackpot winner in months, several Powerball players have earned smaller cash prizes.

“In Saturday’s drawing alone, more than 2.8 million tickets won prizes ranging from $4 to $1 million,” Powerball officials said in a news release.

The largest Powerball jackpot prize money was $1.586 billion in 2016, which was shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee, officials said.

Monday’s drawing is scheduled for 10:59 p.m. ET. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball officials.

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(TUSCON, Ariz.) — One Drug Enforcement Administration agent was killed and two other officers were injured in a shooting on an Amtrak train that was stopped in Tucson, Arizona, authorities said.

Officers boarded the train Monday morning to perform a routine check for illegal guns, money and drugs and encountered two people on the second level of the double-decker Amtrak car, Tucson police said.

One individual was detained, but a second person revealed a handgun and opened fire, police said.

One DEA agent was killed and another DEA agent is in critical condition, police said.

A Tucson police officer who was on the platform heard the gunfire and ran onto the train, at which point he was shot, police said. That officer is in stable condition, police said.

After exchanging rounds with police, the suspected gunman barricaded himself in a lower-level bathroom, authorities said. It was later determined that the suspected gunman died, though it is not clear how he died, police said.

There were no reports of injuries to the 137 passengers or 11 crew members, Amtrak said.

The train was en route from Los Angeles to New Orleans and arrived in Tucson at 7:40 a.m. local time, Amtrak said.

ABC News’ Nicholas Kerr contributed to this report.

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(MILWAUKEE) — The grandmother of an 11-year-old Milwaukee girl killed in a weekend drive-by shooting that also left her 5-year-old sister injured said on Monday that the children were coming home from a birthday party with their mother when a gunman opened fire on their car.

The death of Ta’Niyla Parker has sparked widespread outrage in Milwaukee and community activists have taken to the streets holding signs reading, “Stop killing our children.”

“She was very smart, outgoing. She was a loving big sister to her little sister,” Ta’Niyla’s grandmother, Janice Little, told ABC News on Monday.

Little said she was Ta’Niyla’s legal guardian and that the child has lived with her since she was born.

“I hope they get caught and get arrested,” Little said of her granddaughter’s killer.

The shooting unfolded about 9 p.m. on Saturday in the Sherman Park neighborhood in northwest Milwaukee, according to the Milwaukee Police Department. A vehicle pulled up alongside the family’s car and gunfire erupted, police said.

Sherman Park resident Kristofer Koneazny told ABC affiliate station WISN in Milwaukee that he called 911 after hearing around 15 gunshots in rapid succession.

No arrests have been made in the homicide and police are still working to identify the person or persons responsible for the shooting, authorities said.

Police said a relative was driving the car and took the wounded children to the District 7 police precinct several blocks away, where officers performed first aid and called Milwaukee Fire Department paramedics.

The sisters were taken to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee, where the older child died early Sunday morning, police said.

No arrests made in ambush shooting death of 11-year-old girl https://t.co/iOwIPCNe3V

— WISN 12 NEWS (@WISN12News) October 4, 2021

Little said her daughter, Talea Hairston, was driving the girls to her home when the shooting occurred.

She said Hairston had taken her daughters to a friend’s birthday party at a Chuck E. Cheese in Milwaukee.

“She called about 9 o’clock. I’m thinking she’s calling to say, ‘Come open up the door because I’m fixing to drop the kids off,'” Little said. “But she just called and started hollering and screaming and said, ‘The babies were shot.'”

She said her younger grandchild suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

“She’s doing better. She’s walking now and they said that she would probably be able to come home today,” Little said.

She said Ta’Niyla was a sixth-grader and loved drawing cartoons on her cellphone.

“She loved her anime,” Little said, referring to a Japanese style of cartoons. “She was doing all of that on her phone. She loved to do that.”

Community activists in the Sherman Park neighborhood took to the streets Sunday afternoon to draw attention to the tragedy.

“I’m a father myself and seeing what happened … the senseless act of violence where a little kid has to die, I think enough is enough,” Walter Garron of the Brown Berets community social justice group, told WISN.

Garron was one of several community activists holding signs reading “Stop killing our children.”

“We’re trying to bring awareness make sure people know there are other people here watching,” Garron said, “and we are caring about their families and the community and we want this stopped.”

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