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(HOUSTON) — Nine victims have been identified in the deadly stage surge at the Astroworld Festival concert.

23-year-old Arturo Sanchez, an attendee, said his heart literally stopped as he was trampled by the crowd, and he believed he was going to die himself.

Bruised and battered, Sanchez told ABC News from his hospital bed on Sunday about the panic and chaos that erupted during the opening song of rapper Travis Scott’s performance.

He said that as soon as Scott began to sing, the crowd surged forward, knocking him off balance and causing him to fall to the ground near the front of the stage.

“I was on the floor screaming for help and trying to reach for people’s hands so they could see me and no one could see me,” Sanchez said. “I just kind of accepted the fact that I was going to die, and I did for a little bit. My heart stopped, apparently.”

Sanchez said doctors told him he suffered a heart attack and had briefly flatlined.

He said he remembered a large man falling on him and sitting on his chest as he struggled to breathe and then passed out.

Sanchez said a registered nurse attending the concert performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him and helped get him to an ambulance.

“She saved my life, honestly,” Sanchez said.

Latest victims identified

Bharti Shahani, 22, died Wednesday night after being hospitalized from injuries caused by the crowd surge, bringing the concert’s death toll to nine. Shahani, a student at Texas A&M University, was taken to Houston Methodist Hospital, where her family said she had been on a ventilator and had heart failure.

“Bharti is love. You know what is love? Bharti is love,” her mother Karishma Shahani said tearfully at a press conference. “What happened to my blessing? I want my baby back. I won’t be able to live without her.”

The eighth victim to be identified, Axel Acosta, died at Memorial Hermann Hospital, father Oscar Acosta confirmed to ABC station KTRK-TV in Houston. He said his son traveled from Washington to see Scott perform.

Acosta, 21, was among the concertgoers killed when throngs in the estimated crowd of 50,000 packed into NRG Park — which is next to NRG Stadium, home of the Houston Texans NFL football team — suddenly surged toward the stage, authorities said. Another 25 people were injured, one just 10 years old, officials said.

Acosta identified his son after the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences released a post-mortem photo and asked the public for help in identifying him.

Five other people killed were identified by either their families or the schools they attended.

‘An innocent young soul’

Danish Baig, 27, of Dallas was killed while trying to save his fiancee, Olivia Swingle, who had fallen and was reportedly about to be trampled by concert-goers pushing forward, his brother Basil Baig told ABC News.

“He was an innocent young soul who would always put others before him,” Basil Baig said in a statement. “He was a hardworking man who loved his family and took care of us. He was there in a heartbeat for anything. He always had a solution to everything.”

Basil Baig said in a Facebook post that he also was at the concert, promoted and organized by Live Nation, and described it as being “poorly” managed and supervised. He alleged that Scott provoked the crowd to move toward the stage.

“Travis Scott and his team and everyone associated in the event should and will be held responsible,” Basil Baig said in his statement to ABC News.

In videos Scott posted on Instagram Saturday, he said he tried to spot people in the crowd having physical problems and paused during the show to try to get help to fans that appeared in need.

“I could just never imagine the severity of the situation,” Scott said in one of the videos.

In a separate statement, Live Nation said, “We will continue working to provide as much information and assistance as possible to the local authorities as they investigate the situation.”

The youngest victim

The youngest victim who died was 14-year-old John Hilgert, a freshman at Memorial High School in Houston, according to a letter the school’s principal sent to parents.

“Our hearts go out to the student’s family and to his friends and our staff at Memorial,” principal Lisa Weir wrote in the letter. “This is a terrible loss, and the entire MHS family is grieving today.”

One victim had passion for dance

Also killed was 16-year-old Brianna Rodriguez, a junior at Heights High School in Houston, her aunt, Iris Rodriguez, told ABC News.

Iris Rodriguez said her niece had a passion for dance.

“Now she’s dancing her way to heaven’s pearly gates,” the Rodriguez family wrote on a GoFundMe page that included a series of photos of Brianna.

College senior dies

Franco Patiño, 21, a senior at the University of Dayton in Ohio, was identified by the school as one of the concertgoers killed.

In a letter addressed to members of the university’s campus community, the school’s president, Eric Spina, said Patiño was from Naperville, Illinois, and was majoring in mechanical engineering technology with a minor in human movement biomechanics.

Patiño was also a member of Alpha Psi Lambda, a Hispanic-interest fraternity, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Spina wrote. Patiño had been working in an engineering coop program in Mason, Ohio, according to Spina.

‘Huge hole in our lives’

The family of Jacob “Jake” E. Jurinek said in a statement Sunday that he was among those killed. Jurinek was a junior at Southern Illinois University and was majoring in art and media, his family said.

“We are all devastated and are left with a huge hole in our lives,” said Jurinek’s father, Ron Jurinek.

Rodolfo Pena, 23, from Laredo, Texas, and Madison Dubiski, 23, from Cypress, Texas were also killed.

Bedlam ensues

The concert bedlam unfolded around 9:30 p.m. local time Friday when the “the crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage,” Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña told reporters during a news conference Friday night.

“That caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries,” Peña said.

At least 13 people injured remain hospitalized, including five under the age of 18, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told reporters during a briefing.

As of Sunday night, at least one lawsuit has been filed against Scott.

What triggered the surge is under investigation by the Houston Police Department. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he has ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to make state resources available to support the investigation.

Scott has history of issues at concerts

Problems have previously occurred at other Travis Scott concerts. In 2015, the rapper was arrested on charges of inciting a crowd to jump barriers at a Lollapalooza concert in Chicago. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and paid a fine, according to officials.

In 2017, Scott was arrested again after he invited more people to come closer to the stage, prompting fans at the Walmart Music Pavilion in Rogers, Arkansas, to breach barricades and overrun security. In that case, he also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and paid a fine.

Prior to the fatal surge at Scott’s concert on Friday night, some 300 people had been treated throughout the day at the music festival by on-site medical personnel, authorities said. There were “many instances” where they had to administer Narcan, which is used to treat a narcotic overdose, said Peña, who did not have an exact number.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said that during the pandemonium, a private security guard working at the festival was possibly injected in the neck with drugs as he was attempting to grab or restrain someone.

“When he was examined, he went unconscious,” Finner said during a Saturday afternoon briefing. “(Medical staff) administered Narcan. He was revived, and the medical staff did notice a prick that was similar to a prick that you would get if someone was trying to inject.”

ABC News’ Meredith Deliso, Jenna Harrison, Kendall Coughlin, Darren Reynolds and Marcus Moore contributed to this report.

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Under the glare of dueling national spotlights, judges presiding over the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide trial in Wisconsin and the case against three white Georgia men in the death of Ahmaud Arbery have both displayed their ire as they’ve struggled to maintain fairness in the courtroom.

A display of frustration boiled over from the bench in the Rittenhouse case Wednesday when a visibly angered Judge Bruce Schroeder lambasted the lead prosecutor, accusing him of low-blow antics he said bordered on a “grave constitutional violation.”

Brian Buckmire, a New York public defender and ABC News contributor, said both judges have taken actions to maintain fairness in the proceedings and shield the juries from hearing anything unrelated to the evidence they’ve allowed in the two high-profile cases, despite some of the attorneys seeming to posture for the cameras in the courtroom.

“Judges are very protective of the jury, sometimes even considering it their jury,” said Buckmire, who is also an anchor for the Law & Crime Network. “You always want the jury to be pristine, to only make decisions based on the evidence and not because a judge scolded a lawyer or vice versa.”

The latest exhibit of exasperation coming from the bench occurred during the testimony of 18-year-old Rittenhouse, who claimed he shot three men, two fatally, in self-defense during a 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Shortly after prosecutor Thomas Binger began his cross-examination of Rittenhouse, Schroeder had the jury marched out of the courtroom before he ripped the state’s attorney for asking the teenager about his silence about the shootings prior to taking the witness stand.

Schroeder warned Binger that he was edging toward a “grave constitutional violation” by ignoring Rittenhouse’s right to remain silent in front of the jury.

“You’re right on the borderline, and you may be over it,” Schroeder said, at times shouting at Binger. “But it better stop. This is not permitted.”

After Binger resumed the questioning, he prompted another verbal lashing from Schroeder by beginning to broach evidence the judge had ruled inadmissible. Schroeder had the jury exit the courtroom again before he lit into Binger, and defense attorney Mark Richards accused the prosecutor of trying to provoke a mistrial.

Binger claimed he thought Schroeder had left the “door open” for him to question Rittenhouse about the inadmissible evidence and during a subsequent hearing told the judge he was “acting in good faith.”

“Good faith! I don’t believe you,” Schroeder told Binger.

In the Arbery case, Judge Timothy Walmsley had the jury exit the Brunswick, Georgia, courtroom on Tuesday so the panel wouldn’t hear his choice words for one of the defense attorneys.

Jason Sheffield, a lawyer for defendant Travis McMichael, garnered Walmsley’s wrath by provoking multiple objections from prosecutor Linda Dunikoski and by apparently trying to argue with the judge.

Walmsley stopped Sheffield’s questioning after he asked Glynn County Detective Parker Marcy several times about why he went to a house under construction in the Satilla Shores neighborhood near Brunswick, a site where security video footage had recorded Arbery entering several times and where he was reportedly seen by a neighbor leaving on the day he was killed.

“By going there, you were looking to determine or trying to understand that somebody may have entered that dwelling with the intent to take something?” Sheffield asked, soliciting an objection from Dunikoski that the defense was trying to testify for the witness during the cross-examination.

Walmsley sustained the objection, and when Sheffield appeared to try to argue with him, he sent the jury out of the courtroom.

“I don’t care whether you like my rulings or not, or like me or not, but in this court, it’s axiomatic that counsel show at least respect for what the court is doing,” Walmsley said. “And what you just did shows a lack of respect for what the court is trying to do here, which is to create an environment which is fair to all parties.”

Walmsley went on, saying, “I would suggest that you take a moment to think about that. I’m going to step off the bench because I found that … I’ll just call it rude.”

By then, Walmsley seemed frustrated by other behavior by Sheffield, noting the attorney’s use of a large flipchart in which he pointed to the word “break-in” during his cross-examination of Marcy. Walmsley told Sheffield his “jumping up and moving the board” was distracting to the jury.

“I would suggest that you taper some of that very quickly, because it will not be tolerated in this court,” Walmsley said.

A more subdued Sheffield returned from the recess and finished his questioning of Marcy.

The courtroom fireworks in the Rittenhouse case came about a week after a juror unwittingly tested Schroeder’s patience.

Schroeder booted a juror on the third day of the trial after the panelist acknowledged that he told a tasteless joke to a deputy about Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was shot and paralyzed by a Kenosha police officer. The shooting prompted protests in Kenosha that devolved into looting, rioting and eventually the shootings that Rittenhouse committed.

Schroeder then launched into a lengthy explanation to the attorneys in the case that the trial is being televised nationwide, and he noted that he heard one TV news commentator saying that “‘this is the most divisive case in the country today.'”

“So, anything that undermines public confidence in what happens here is very important,” Schroeder said sternly. “It’s important for this town, it’s important for this country to have people have confidence in the result of this trial.”

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 758,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Just 68.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:
-Cases on the rise in 20 states
-Over 900,000 kids 5-11 will have 1st shot by end of day, White House estimates
-Pfizer asks FDA to amend booster authorization to include all adults

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

Nov 11, 2:26 pm
US COVID hospitalizations increase for 3rd consecutive day

Thursday marked the third consecutive day where COVID hospitalizations rose nationwide.

Fourteen states reported a 10% increase in hospital admissions over the last week. The states are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Total hospitalizations are down nearly 55% since mid-August.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Nov 10, 9:21 pm
COVID-19 deaths expected to continue to fall in weeks to come

COVID-19 forecast models used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are currently predicting that weekly death totals will likely continue to fall in the weeks to come, though thousands of Americans are still expected to lose their lives.

The ensemble model expects just under 15,000 more virus-related deaths to occur in the U.S. over the next two weeks, with a total of around 781,500 deaths by Dec. 4.

The model estimates that 13 states and territories of the U.S. have a greater than 50% chance of having more deaths in the next two weeks compared to the past two weeks.

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Nov 10, 9:15 pm
Federal judge strikes down Texas ban on school mask mandates

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order prohibiting local mask mandates, including in schools, violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Since the order was issued in late July, state Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed lawsuits against more than a dozen school districts for issuing mask mandates, according to the ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel. In August, advocacy group Disability Rights Texas filed the lawsuit against the state on behalf of several students with disabilities who faced an increased risk from COVID-19, alleging it denied them equal access to in-person learning.

“The evidence presented by Plaintiffs establishes that Plaintiffs are being denied the benefits of in-person learning on an equal basis as their peers without disabilities,” Yeakel wrote in his ruling.

Yeakel also said the executive order “interferes with local school districts’ ability to satisfy their obligations under the ADA” by placing all authority with the governor.

Yeakel enjoined the state from enforcing the mask mandate ban and ordered that the plaintiffs recover their court costs from the state.

Paxton has said the state is “protecting the rights and freedoms” of residents by banning mask mandates.

Nov 10, 6:43 pm
States sue over vaccine mandate for health care workers

Ten states are suing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate targeting health care workers.

About 17 million health care workers who are employed at places that get funding through CMS are required to get vaccinated by Jan. 4, 2022. They do not have the option to test.

“The mandate is a blatant attempt to federalize public health issues involving vaccination that belong within the States’ police power,” stated the suit, which was filed by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican who is running for Senate.

The attorneys general of Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire have joined the lawsuit, which is one of many filed against different parts of the Biden administration’s vaccine requirements but the first to target the health care worker mandate.

Twenty-six states are suing over the mandate that applies to businesses, while another handful are suing over the federal worker mandate. Last week, a federal court temporarily blocked the business vaccine rule.

ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A political newcomer who beat New Jersey’s veteran state senate president in a surprise election upset met with a local Islamic group Wednesday after apologizing for a previous anti-Muslim tweet.

Edward Durr, a commercial truck driver, beat Stephen Sweeney in the state senate race for New Jersey’s 3rd Legislative District.

Soon after his victory, Durr came under fire for past social media posts, including a 2019 tweet where he called the prophet Mohammed a “pedophile” and Islam a “cult of hate.”

ABC News station WPVI-TV also uncovered statements from Durr comparing vaccine mandates to the Holocaust. Durr has since deleted some of his social media pages.

“I’m a passionate guy and I sometimes say things in the heat of the moment. If I said things in the past that hurt anybody’s feelings, I sincerely apologize,” Durr said last Friday, according to WPVI. “I support everybody’s right to worship in any manner they choose and to worship the God of their choice. I support all people and I support everybody’s rights.”

After his election victory, the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy and civil rights organization, condemned his tweet but invited Durr to meet with the organization’s local chapter.

Durr accepted the group’s offer and met with CAIR-NJ members. WPVI-TV reported that Durr’s meeting with local Islamic leaders at Al-Minhaal Academy in Sewell lasted nearly two hours.

“I think we had a very productive conversation and I think it’s going to be one of hopefully many,” CAIR-NJ Executive Director Selaedin Maksut said in a joint appearance with Durr on Wednesday.

“I stand against Islamophobia and all forms of hate and I do commit to that,” Durr said at the media appearance.

“Our New Jersey chapter had a productive meeting with State Senator #EdDurr. He expressed commitment to opposing #Islamophobia. We welcome this outcome and hope to have more productive dialogues in the future,” the national CAIR tweeted later.

Jacci Vigilante, Gloucester County GOP chair, defended Durr last Friday, saying, “Ed is a passionate guy. He was a little bit of a keyboard warrior at the time. Certainly he’s made an apology. He didn’t intend to offend anyone’s religion and certainly believes that everyone has the right to practice their religion of their choice.”

Sweeney, Durr’s opponent, was the longest-serving state senate president in New Jersey history. He did not concede the race until Wednesday.

“I of course accept the results. I want to congratulate Mr. Durr and wish him the best of luck,” Sweeney said during a speech at the statehouse complex, according to local news reports. “It was a red wave,” he added.

ABC News’ Rick Klein contributed to this report.

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The adoptive parents of missing Isabella “Ariel” Kalua have been arrested and charged with second-degree murder after more than two months of investigations, according to the Honolulu Police Department.

Isabella would have turned 7 years old last week.

“It’s clear that [Isabella] was loved and missed by many people,” said Rade Vanic, HPD’s interim police chief. “Unfortunately, what began as a search for a missing girl turned into a murder investigation focused on the Kaluas. We believe that the evidence leads to the Kaluas and no one else.”

She was first reported missing on Sept. 13 in Waimanalo, Hawaii. HPD, the FBI and community members searched for Isabella for more than a week.

“Her photo and story touched the hearts of many in the community,” Vanic said. “We thank all of you for your efforts and concerns.”

Isaac and Lehua Kalua were arrested Wednesday. Investigators allege the couple murdered Kalua in mid-August, a month before she was reported missing. Police claim the Kaluas lied in their initial report, saying they last saw Isabella on Sept. 12 — a day before she was reported missing.

The Kaluas are being held without bail and will make their first court appearance on Friday.

Isabella’s four siblings have been taken into the custody of Child Welfare Services, according to police.

Isabella’s remains have not yet been recovered.

Lawyers for the Kaluas couldn’t immediately be reached by ABC News.

Investigators are urging anyone with information, including witnesses or people who had contact with Isabella and the Kalua family between August and September, to come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at (808) 955-8300.

Anyone who may have witnessed neglect or abuse against the Kalua children is urged to call Child Welfare Services at 1-888-380-3088.

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — For Bryan Bowman and Bob Mohr, there was no question about making the nearly 400-mile trip from Canal Fulton, Ohio, to Virginia and Arlington National Cemetery for the chance to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

To mark the tomb’s centennial, members of the public were given a rare chance to come close and lay flowers — for the first time since 1948.

“It was just surreal, very surreal,” Mohr said. “Who knows if we’ll ever get to do it again, in our lifetime.”

“It’s a reminder of service echoing back to 1921,” Bowman said.

One hundred years ago this week, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated to commemorate the final resting place of an unknown soldier from World War I, interred on Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1921.

Since then, the tomb has served as a site of mourning and reflection in honor of unknown service members who died in all of America’s wars.

Bowman and Mohr, a Marine Corps veteran, were among the first members of the public to pay their respects on Tuesday, the first of two days visitors were being permitted to come near the tomb.

The line, hundreds long, included Americans from all ages and backgrounds: elderly veterans in faded uniforms, young children in the arms of their parents, military spouses and loved ones, melded together.

Each paused a moment to gently place a flower atop of a growing pile a few yards from the tomb. Some held hands over their hearts, while others raised them in salute.

Many eyes welled with tears.

Piles of roses, daisies, carnations and sunflowers with long, green stems lay under a red velvet rope, the colorful flowers in poignant contrast with the white marble sarcophagus, inscribed with the words, “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”

On the opposite side, a member of the U.S. Army’s “Old Guard” marched in silence exactly 21 steps back and forth across the length of a black mat, pausing at each end for 21 seconds, echoing the honor of the 21-gun salute.

Tomb guards, also called Sentinels, maintain their post 24 hours per day, seven days per week, throughout the year. A guard-changing ceremony takes place on the hour every hour during the winter and every half-hour during the summer.

“All gave some, some gave all,” said Amber Vincent, a cemetery public affairs specialist. “And some of them lost their identity in the process of serving our nation … That’s really what this ceremony and this centennial commemoration is about. Honoring those not only who have served that we know, but also those that we will never know.”

In the distance, the sound of three-volley 21-gun salutes at military funerals rang out over the hushed crowd.

Up to 30 funerals a day were taking place, Monday through Friday, elsewhere in the cemetery during the centennial.

Some 400,000 service members are buried there.

Wednesday, Nov. 10, marked the day before Bob Mohr would end a 22-day journey to run 22 miles per day, for veteran suicide awareness.

“So, I’m here today for this ceremony and then I’m gonna run my 22 miles through the streets of D.C. for my twenty-first day,” he said.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 758,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Just 68.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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

Nov 10, 9:21 pm
COVID-19 deaths expected to continue to fall in weeks to come

COVID-19 forecast models used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are currently predicting that weekly death totals will likely continue to fall in the weeks to come, though thousands of Americans are still expected to lose their lives.

The ensemble model expects just under 15,000 more virus-related deaths to occur in the U.S. over the next two weeks, with a total of around 781,500 deaths by Dec. 4.

The model estimates that 13 states and territories of the U.S. have a greater than 50% chance of having more deaths in the next two weeks compared to the past two weeks.

Nov 10, 9:15 pm
Federal judge strikes down Texas ban on school mask mandates

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order prohibiting local mask mandates, including in schools, violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Since the order was issued in late July, state Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed lawsuits against more than a dozen school districts for issuing mask mandates, according to the ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel. In August, advocacy group Disability Rights Texas filed the lawsuit against the state on behalf of several students with disabilities who faced an increased risk from COVID-19, alleging it denied them equal access to in-person learning.

“The evidence presented by Plaintiffs establishes that Plaintiffs are being denied the benefits of in-person learning on an equal basis as their peers without disabilities,” Yeakel wrote in his ruling.

Yeakel also said the executive order “interferes with local school districts’ ability to satisfy their obligations under the ADA” by placing all authority with the governor.

Yeakel enjoined the state from enforcing the mask mandate ban and ordered that the plaintiffs recover their court costs from the state.

Paxton has said the state is “protecting the rights and freedoms” of residents by banning mask mandates.

Nov 10, 6:43 pm
States sue over vaccine mandate for health care workers

Ten states are suing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate targeting health care workers.

About 17 million health care workers who are employed at places that get funding through CMS are required to get vaccinated by Jan. 4, 2022. They do not have the option to test.

“The mandate is a blatant attempt to federalize public health issues involving vaccination that belong within the States’ police power,” stated the suit, which was filed by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican who is running for Senate.

The attorneys general of Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire have joined the lawsuit, which is one of many filed against different parts of the Biden administration’s vaccine requirements but the first to target the health care worker mandate.

Twenty-six states are suing over the mandate that applies to businesses, while another handful are suing over the federal worker mandate. Last week, a federal court temporarily blocked the business vaccine rule.

Nov 10, 3:35 pm
Cases on the rise in 20 states

The U.S. daily case average has jumped by 15% since the end of October, according to federal data.

Twenty states have seen daily cases jump by at least 10% in the last two weeks: Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Cases are still falling in most of the South, which was the first region to get hit hard by the delta surge over the summer. In Florida, where high transmission was reported in every county over the summer, now only 1 out of the 67 counties is reporting high transmission, according to federal data.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(KENOSHA COUNTY, Wisc.) — Kyle Rittenhouse took the witness stand on Wednesday to testify in his own defense and broke down in sobs as he began to describe shooting three men, two fatally, in what he claimed was an act of self-defense.

Rittenhouse began testifying in a Kenosha County courtroom after telling a judge that he made the decision to do so after consulting with his lawyers.

In his hourslong testimony, the 18-year-old spoke of his background as a trained lifeguard, a fire department EMT cadet and a student studying nursing at Arizona State University.

“Did you come to downtown Kenosha to look for trouble?” his attorney, Mark Richards asked.

Rittenhouse, wearing a blue suit and matching tie, answered, “No.”

Rittenhouse said he went to Kenosha with his sister and friends on Aug. 25, 2020, after seeing online pleas for people to come to the city to help protect it after looting and vandalism broke out over a police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was left paralyzed.

“I went down there to provide first aid,” Rittenhouse testified, adding that he brought along his medical supplies as well as his AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle.

Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide. He claimed he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, in self-defense.

“I didn’t intend to kill them. I intended to stop the people who were attacking me,” Rittenhouse repeatedly testified during his testimony.

‘I hear somebody yell, ‘Burn in hell”

Richards directed Rittenhouse to the event of the Aug. 25, 2020, shooting. He testified that he had witnessed a police officer being hit with a brick, another man getting his jaw broken and had been allegedly threatened by Rosenbaum.

He said he got separated from his friends who were guarding three car lots that had been vandalized. He said he was rushing to put out a fire at one of the car lots when he again encountered Rosenbaum and a man named identified by prosecutors as Joshua Ziminski.

“I hear somebody scream ‘Burn in hell,” said Rittenhouse of when he reached the car lot that was being vandalized. “I reply with ‘Friendly, friendly, friendly to let them know hey, I’m just here to help. I don’t want any problems. I just want to put out the fires if there are any.”

Rittenhouse testified that Ziminski pulled a gun and pointed it at him when he approached the car lot with a fire extinguisher.

“As I’m walking towards to put out the fire, I dropped the fire extinguisher and I take a step back (from Ziminski),” Rittenhouse said. “My plan was to get out of that situation.”

But he said before he could get away, Rosenbaum was allegedly bearing down on him and Ziminski and three other people were blocking his path.

Rittenhouse breaks into sobs

“Once I take that step back, I look over my shoulder and Mr. Rosenbaum was now running from my right side, and I was cornered from in front of me with Mr. Ziminski,” Rittenhouse said.

Rittenhouse then began to break down in sobs on the witness stand, prompting Judge Bruce Schroeder to call a recess.

Following the recess, Rittenhouse returned to the witness stand.

He picked his testimony back up at when he saw Rosenbaum charging toward him.

“Mr. Ziminski stepped towards me. I went to go run south,” Rittenhouse said.

‘I shot him’

He said as Rosenbaum began to chase him, he heard Ziminski allegedly tell Rosenbaum “to get him and kill him.”

“As I’m running in that southwest direction, Mr. Rosenbaum throws, at the time I know it’s a bag now,” Rittenhouse said, adding that he initially thought it was a heavy chain Rosenbaum had been seen carrying earlier in the evening.

“I turn around for about a second while continuing to run and I point my gun at Mr. Rosenbaum,” Rittenhouse said.

Richards asked, “Does that stop him from chasing you?”

Rittenhouse replied, “It does not.”

He said Rosenbaum continued to “gain speed” on him and then he heard a gunshot from behind him.

Rittenhouse said Rosenbaum lunged at him.

“I remember his hand on the barrel of my gun,” Rittenhouse said.

Richards asked, “As you see him lunging for your gun, what do you do?”

Rittenhouse answered, “I shot him.”

‘I was defending myself’

He said people in the car lot quickly scattered when he fired four shots at Rosenbaum. He said he tried to go and help Rosenbaum, but as people started to surround them again, he heard individuals screaming, “Get his a–, get his a–. Get him, get him, get him.”

He said he immediately called a friend, Dominick Black, who came with him to Kenosha and told him that he had just shot someone.

“I had to shoot him,” Rittenhouse said he told Black.

He said he started to run in the direction he thought the police were positioned.

Richards asked, “Why were you trying to get to the police?”

Rittenhouse responded, “Because I didn’t do anything wrong. I was defending myself.”

Shooting of Huber and Grosskreutz

Rittenhouse said that as he continued to run, Huber came up behind him and hit him in the back of the head with a skateboard. He also said a concrete rock hit him in the back of the head.

“I get lightheaded. I almost pass out and I stumble and hit the ground,” Rittenhouse said.

He said people quickly surrounded him and he pointed his gun at them and they backed off, except from one unidentified man who kicked him in the face. He said he fired two shots at the man and missed.

“I thought if I were to be knocked out … he would have stomped my face in if I didn’t fire,” Rittenhouse said.

He testified that Huber allegedly ran up to him as he was trying to sit up and struck him in the neck with his skateboard.

“He grabs my gun, and I can feel it pulling away from me, and I could feel the strap starting to come off my body,” Rittenhouse said. “I fire one shot.”

Rosenbaum was struck in the chest and died at the scene, prosecutors said.

He said he lowered his weapon and then saw Grosskreutz in front of him with his hands up.

“As I’m lowering my weapon, I look down and then Mr. Grosskreutz, he lunges at me with his pistol pointed directly at my head,” Rittenhouse said, adding they were so close that their feet were touching.

He said Grosskreutz held his hands in the air and looked at him.

“And that’s when Mr. Grosskreutz brings his arm down. … His pistol is pointed at me and that’s when I shoot him.”

Grosskreutz testified that he was shot in the bicep, causing him to retreat and yell for a medic.

Rittenhouse surrenders

Rittenhouse said he climbed to his feet and proceeded to walk toward a line of police vehicles to turn himself in. He said he approached the window of a squad car and said, “I just shot somebody. I just shot somebody.”

He said the officer responded by telling him to get back and threatened to use pepper spray on him.

The teenager said he then went back to one of the Car Source car lots he had been helping to guard and spoke to the group of allies who were locked inside.

“I’m in shock. I was freaking out. I was just attacked. My head was spinning,” Rittenhouse said.

He said his friend, Dominick Black, drove him to his home in Antioch, Illinois, where he told his mother and two sisters what happened to him. He said his mother drove him to the local police station, where he surrendered.

He said when he arrived at the police station, “I had to tell them that I was involved in a shooting in Kenosha and I needed the Kenosha detectives.”

‘I didn’t intend to kill them’

Prosecutor Thomas Binger then began cross-examining Rittenhouse by asking, “Everybody that you shot that night, you intended to kill, correct?”

Rittenhouse answered, “I didn’t intend to kill them. I intended to stop the people who were attacking me.”

“By killing them?” Binger pressed Rittenhouse.

The teenager responded, “I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me.”

Binger began to ask Rittenhouse about sitting in court for the eight days of trial and having heard all of the 30 sum odd witnesses and view multiple videos that captured the shootings.

“And after all of that, you are telling us your side of the story, correct?” Binger asked.

Schroeder then stopped the questioning and after sending the jury out of the courtroom, Richards objected to Binger’s questioning, telling the judge, “He’s commenting on my client’s right to remain silent.”

Schroeder agreed, telling Binger, “You need to account for this.”

Binger responded, “No, your honor, I am making the point that after hearing everything in the case, now he’s tailoring his story to what has already been introduced.”

Schroeder warned Binger that it was a “grave constitutional violation” to talk about Rittenhouse’s silence until now.

“You’re right on the borderline and you may be over it,” Schroeder said. “But it better stop. This is not permitted.”

When Binger’s cross-examination resumed, he began to ask Rittenhouse about his use of deadly force.

“You’d agree with me that we’re not allowed to use deadly force to protect that Car Source building?” Binger asked.

Rittenhouse answered, “I wasn’t using deadly force to protect the property. I was using deadly force to protect myself.”

Blistering rebuke from judge

Binger then asked Rittenhouse about an incident 10 days before the shooting.

“But yet you have previously indicated that you wished you had your AR-15 to protect someone’s property?” Binger asked.

Richards immediately objected, saying Schroeder had not ruled on the admissibility of the previous act.

When the judge sent the jury out of the courtroom again, Richards suggested that Binger was “attempting to provoke a mistrial.”

“I ask the court to strongly admonish him (Binger) and the next time it happens I’ll be asking for a mistrial with prejudice,” Richards said.

Binger claimed that he believed the “court left the door open” on the matter, prompting an angry and loud response from the judge.

“For me, not for you,” Schroeder shouted. “You should have come and asked for reconsideration.”

Schroeder continued, “I was astonished when you began your examination by commenting on the defendant’s post-arrest silence. That’s basic law. It’s been basic law in this country for 40 years, 50 years.”

Why didn’t you just go home?

Following a lunch break, Binger continued his cross-examination of Rittenhouse, questioning him about his actions before the shootings and whether he would describe the protesters on the streets that night as hostile.

Rittenhouse said he didn’t believe the crowd was hostile toward him or his group. But after Binger played a video of the crowd setting a Dumpster on fire and chanting to Rittenhouse and others protecting the car lots to “protect the property, not the street.”

But Rittenhouse said that he once went into the street to retrieve a dumpster that had been taken from one of the Car Source properties and set on fire.

“Would you agree that the crowd was reacting to members of your group going out in the street and trying to interfere with what was going on off your property?” Binger asked.

Rittenhouse answered, “I didn’t think they were happy about it, no.”

Binger noted that police moved the crowd south past the Car Source lot where Rittenhouse and his group were and set up a demarcation line at 60th Street in Kenosha.

Rittenhouse agreed with Binger that once the police moved the crowd south there appeared to be no more threat to the Car Source location.

“So why not go home at that point?” Binger asked.

Rittenhouse said he stayed to help provide first aid to anyone in need.

Binger noted that despite the threat being apparently eliminated from the business he was protecting by police moving the crowd south, Rittenhouse ventured south of the demarcation line at 60th St. armed with his rifle and accompanied by another man, Ryan Balch, an armed military veteran.

Rittenhouse said he was looking for people who needed first aid when he and Balch got separated, leaving him isolated in the crowd Binger said appeared hostile.

“You are now entering a crowd of whatever you want to call them, protesters, demonstrators. Your attorneys called them rioters, or looters, or whatever. That’s who you’re now going to be part of. You’re going to be in that crowd, right?”

Rittenhouse responded, “I was walking through. I announced myself as friendly and that I was there to help them.”

The defense has three more witnesses to call before they will rest their case. Closing arguments could come Friday or Monday.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 757,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Just 68.4% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:
-White House confident pace of shots for kids will increase in coming days
-Over 900,000 kids 5-11 will have 1st shot by end of day, White House estimates
-10 states see increase in hospital admissions
-Pfizer asks FDA to amend booster authorization to include all adults

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

Nov 10, 1:35 pm
White House confident pace of shots for kids will increase in coming days

White House COVID coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday that the pace of vaccines for kids is expected “to continue to accelerate across the coming days and weeks.”

CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky made the case that children get vaccinated against far less deadly vaccines.

“In the years prior to the recommendation for Hepatitis A, meningococcus and varicella vaccination, the average annual reported deaths from these infections were three, eight and 16 respectively,” she said. “All of those numbers are far lower than 66 — the number of deaths we have seen from COVID-19 in children 5-to-11 over the past year.”

ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett

Nov 10, 8:55 am
Over 900,000 kids 5-11 will have 1st shot by end of day, White House estimates

The White House estimates that by the end of Wednesday over 900,000 children ages 5 to 11 will have received their first vaccine shot.

That’s 3% of the 28 million newly eligible kids in this category.

Another 700,000 kids in that age range have appointments booked at pharmacies to get their first jab, according to the White House.

ABC News’ Justin Gomez

Nov 09, 10:36 pm
Mask mandate ending in Florida’s largest school district

Masks will be optional for students in Miami-Dade County, Florida’s largest school district, beginning on Friday, the district announced Tuesday.

This change is “based on significantly improved COVID-19 conditions in the community and within our schools,” school officials said in a statement.

Fully vaccinated employees also have the choice to not wear a mask.

ABC News’ Will McDuffie

Nov 09, 4:41 pm
Boosters required for people 65+ to retain health pass in France

French residents over the age of 65 must get a booster in order to keep their health pass, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday.

The health pass, which indicates a person is vaccinated, is mandatory for restaurants, theaters, museums and similar institutions throughout the country.

ABC News’ Ibtissem Guenfoud

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ATLANTA) — The man suspected of shooting and killing a police officer in Georgia last week was found dead Tuesday night.

Police sources told WSB-TV, an ABC affiliate, that Jordan Jackson was found dead in a Clayton County apartment complex from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Tuesday night. Henry County Police Department confirmed his death on its Facebook page.

Clayton County police were tipped off to Jackson’s presence at the Chateau Forest Apartments in Riverdale at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, WSB-TV reported.

The complex was put on lockdown after investigators found Jackson’s body.

“Jordan Jackson was found hiding out with some friends in Clayton County,” the Henry County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. “After barricading himself in a room, SWAT Teams addressed the situation utilizing tactful methods which resulted in authorities being feet away from Jordan. The suspect took his own life seconds before being captured.”

On Nov. 4, Henry County police officer Paramhans Desai, 38, was responding to a domestic dispute and attempting to arrest Jackson when he was shot. Desai then fled the scene, according to police.

Desai was pronounced dead on Monday night at Grady Memorial Hospital after succumbing to his injuries, the police department said in a Facebook post. He was married with two children.

On Sunday, Georgia investigators and NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal offered a $60,000 reward for information about the suspect, who police later said was Jackson.

 

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