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(WASHINGTON) — Vaughn Allex will never forget the faces of two of the 9/11 hijackers. He looked them in the eye that morning and asked who packed their luggage.

Allex was an American Airlines ticket agent at Dulles International Airport on Sept. 11, 2001 when two men ran into the terminal — appearing lost — and approached his counter.

Brothers Salem and Nawaf Al-Hazmi arrived late that day, but with two full-fare, first-class passengers standing in front of him, instead of rebooking them, Allex ensured they made flight 77.

Allex has lived with that decision for the last 20 years.

“The check-in was odd. The two that I checked in, two brothers, one was kind of gruff and the other one was standing a couple of paces behind him. And this sounds odd, but this is what caught my attention. He was almost dancing, he was moving from foot to foot and grinning and looking around, and my thought was, here’s somebody that’s never been on an airplane and boy is this guy excited,” Allex recently recalled in an interview at Dulles airport in Virginia.

“And I kind of watched him for a couple of minutes as we went through the whole check. And he was totally unresponsive as far as whatever we asked him to read, to look verbally. He just smiled and danced and was oblivious to what was going on,” he continued. “That’s the image I have, is the two of them standing there and the one just dancing, it was the oddest thing.”

When the pair couldn’t answer basic security check-in questions, Allex marked their tickets for additional security.

There’s more Allex has had to live with — 24 hours before Allex checked-in the brothers, his longtime co-worker and close friend MJ Booth asked for advice on a trip to Las Vegas. She considered flying to Chicago or Dallas to connect to Las Vegas, but Allex encouraged her to take flight 77 instead and connect through Los Angeles.

“I said, first of all, it’s a better flight. It’s a transcontinental flight. You get a meal and a movie and it’s relaxing.” Allex recalls. “She said that sounded good, but that she’d never written a ticket that way and we were just transitioning to electronic tickets. Could I help her? So I wrote her ticket from Dulles to Los Angeles with a connecting flight back to Las Vegas. And then the following day, I saw that she had gotten on the flight on the ticket I’d written.”

Allex left Dulles on Sept. 11 grieving, but had no idea it was about to get so much worse.

“I didn’t know on September 11th, on that night and the morning of September 12th, I was dealing like everybody else was with what happened with losing friends, losing passengers, losing the crew. I knew all of the crew on the flight deck and I knew all of the cabin crew, I’d worked with them for years. What I didn’t know until about mid-morning (Sept. 12) when the FBI was talking to me was that those last two passengers that I checked in were actually two of the hijackers. I had no idea until that moment that I had been involved in it,” Allex said.

On Sept. 12, Allex was summoned to his boss’ office. There, a woman introduced herself as an attorney for American Airlines, adding “I am not your attorney.”

Allex recalls the chill that went through his body. That’s when he says two FBI agents walked in, handing him a passenger manifest.

“I started to run my hand down the list and I saw the names of the two people I checked-in, and in that moment and that instant, that’s when I looked at him and I said, ‘I did it, didn’t I?’ And they said, ‘what did you do?’ And I go, ‘these were the two that I put in,'” Allex said. “I think they, they knew exactly who they were looking for, but they wanted me to come to that conclusion. And once we did, the interview strictly focused on these two individuals. And the rest is history, that the whole transaction came back, I didn’t know all of September 11th until that moment on September 12th — I did not realize that I had checked-in two of the hijackers.”

Guilt tortured Allex for years to come. Twenty years later, there are still some things he’d rather not discuss.

“I blame myself, I thought, you know, if I had done something different, if I’d not let them on, if I just said to the agents, these two guys are late, let them get the next flight. We have one at noon. It’s no big deal,” Allex said.

Over the years, friends and professionals told Allex that he was just doing his job.

“That’s what they tell me, that’s what they tell me, but, what you do, what your — your own mind does is, is crazy sometimes,” Allex said.

“I realize that there’s probably nothing I could’ve done to prevent what happened. I’ve come to terms with that.”

Vaughn Allex, former American Airlines gate agent, speaks about the guilt he feels for allowing hijackers onto Flight 77 on Sept. 11, 2001. https://t.co/qabkKxf6WD pic.twitter.com/HYj7VXTVRK

— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) September 10, 2021

His mind continued to play games with him for years. It wouldn’t be until 2004, with the purchase of a book that everything turned around.

“The turning point for me, I had been interviewed by the 9/11 Commission. And it wasn’t until the 9/11 Commission report came out and I bought the book and here is this book with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages, and I’m on page three. I have a little paragraph and a footnote, footnote number 12.”

Allex explained that single footnote — his name next to so many others — is what finally set him free of guilt and the feeling of responsibility years after the attacks.

“That’s when it started to get better. That’s when I went — oh my gosh. There were so many other people involved, there were so many innocent people that just touched on this. And I had just such a small, tiny five-minute part of it. But before that, it was — it was terrible.”

Allex retired from American Airlines in 2008. He now works for TSA.

“I joined the Department of Homeland Security working for the Transportation Security Administration and ever since I’ve been with them, it’s been great. I feel like the work that they do is so important to keep everybody safe. And the fact that I have just such a small little part there, I’m like the happiest person at TSA. And I’ll tell anybody that,” Allex said with a smile.

On Aug. 23, Allex walked with ABC News through the doors he saw the two hijackers run through that fateful morning. As he stood there, recalling the memory of the men responsible for starting the war in Afghanistan, Afghan refugees had just arrived from evacuation flights. They filed past the American Airlines ticket counter and through the very doors that the hijackers walked in 20 years earlier — grateful to start a new life in America.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

More than 654,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.6 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 62.5% 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:

Sep 10, 1:48 pm
Florida governor’s school mask mandate ban is reinstated 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ school mask mandate ban was reinstated by an appeals court Friday.

This overrules a Tallahassee judge’s decision on Wednesday to lift the stay, preventing the state from enforcing the ban. (The appeals court still needs to rule on the legality of the order, but the reinstatement of the stay means that until then, the state can continue sanctioning school districts.)

DeSantis has struggled to rein in the state’s largest school systems as they implement mask mandates in defiance of state law. At least 13 districts, including Florida’s six largest, have mask requirements in place. The Florida Department of Education has threatened to withhold the salaries of school board members in most of these districts and has begun doing so in at least two cases.

-ABC News’ Will McDuffie

Sep 10, 1:00 pm
CDC studies: Vaccines still dramatically reduce risk of hospitalization, death amid delta 

The unvaccinated “are 10 times more likely to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said at Friday’s White House COVID briefing.

Three new studies from the CDC show vaccines still dramatically reduce the risk of hospitalization and death amid the delta surge. 

A study of U.S. veterans fully vaccinated with Pfizer and Moderna found no real change in vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization pre-delta to post-delta. A second study of all three vaccines across nine states found vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization was 86% for all age groups. A third study of all three vaccines across 13 jurisdictions found vaccines performed roughly equally well protecting against hospitalization and death during the delta surge compared to pre-delta.

Across the studies, vaccines remained 86-87% effective against preventing hospitalizations.

But effectiveness dropped more for people ages 65 and older in recent months compared to before delta, likely due a combination of vaccine effectiveness fading over time and the slight impact of the delta variant on vaccine efficacy.

Vaccines are losing some of their effectiveness when it comes to preventing mild infections among the vaccinated.

-ABC News’ Sony Salzman

Sep 10, 11:28 am
Kentucky deploys more National Guard members to help strained hospitals

In hard-hit Kentucky, over 300 more National Guard members will be sent to help at 21 strained hospitals, Gov. Andy Beshear said.

More than 300 additional @KentuckyGuard members will be deployed to 21 strained hospitals. This is the largest deployment of the Guard for a health crisis in our history. We’ve asked a lot of these heroes, but every time we’ve asked, they’ve stepped up and served us proudly. pic.twitter.com/gu4rBO4Whw

— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) September 10, 2021

Kentucky’s positivity rate was above 14% Thursday as the state set new records for hospitalizations and patients on ventilators, the governor said.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Sep 10, 9:54 am
FDA says it won’t cut corners for vaccine for young kids

While awaiting Pfizer trial data for kids ages 5 to 11, the Food and Drug Administration is vowing not to cut corners.

The FDA said, “it’s critical that thorough and robust clinical trials of adequate size are completed to evaluate the safety and the immune response.”

“Children are not small adults — and issues that may be addressed in pediatric vaccine trials can include whether there is a need for different doses or different strength formulations of vaccines already used for adults,” the FDA said.

When the FDA receives a completed emergency use authorization request, “the agency will carefully, thoroughly and independently examine the data to evaluate benefits and risks and be prepared to complete its review as quickly as possible, likely in a matter of weeks rather than months.”

“However, the agency’s ability to review these submissions rapidly will depend in part on the quality and timeliness of the submissions by manufacturers,” the FDA added.

Sep 10, 5:43 am
Milwaukee Public Schools to require COVID-19 vaccination for staff

All employees of Milwaukee Public Schools must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination by Nov. 1, unless they qualify for a medical or religious exemption, school board members voted unanimously on Thursday night.

The board also decided that staff who qualify for an exemption must take COVID-19 tests twice weekly. Anyone who does not comply with the new vaccine mandate or is not exempt would be placed on unpaid leave and ultimately could lose their job.

Students are not required to get vaccinated, but the board approved monetary incentives of $100 for those who are 12 and older and can provide proof of vaccination by the Nov. 1 deadline.

Sep 09, 7:33 pm
LA school district to mandate vaccine for students

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education unanimously voted Thursday to require the COVID-19 vaccine for all eligible students.

All students ages 12 and up will be required to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 10, 2022, unless they have a “medical or other exemption,” said the district, which is the second-largest in the nation with over 600,000 students.

All teachers and staff are already required to be vaccinated by Oct. 15.

“Today’s decision furthers our longstanding commitment to ensure the safety of our students, families, and staff,” Board President Kelly Gonez said in a statement. “The vaccine is the single best way to protect students and schools from COVID-19.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MILWAUKEE) — Milwaukee Public Schools, the largest school district in Wisconsin, will give $100 to students who get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The district’s school board voted unanimously Thursday night to mandate vaccinations for staff by Nov. 1, with exceptions for religious or medical reasons.

The board considered a vaccine mandate for students but ended up unanimously approving a $100 incentive for MPS students 12 and older who provide proof of vaccination by Nov. 1., including those who already got their shots.

The district has about 31,205 students who are eligible for the vaccine, meaning the district could shell out as much as $3.12 million, administrators said during the meeting, the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal reported. Money from the district’s $500 million federal stimulus installment will be used to fund the effort.

The school already has other COVID-19 safety measures in place, such as required face masks, HEPA filtration units and physical distancing.

“The COVID-19 vaccine is one of the most effective strategies to mitigate the spread of the virus,” Superintendent Dr. Keith P. Posley said in a statement. “We owe it to our students, teachers, staff, and community to take all possible steps to ensure safe schools.”
 
The district’s COVID-19 dashboard reports a total of 525 cases among students and staff since July 1, with 115 students testing positive the week of Aug. 30 to Sept. 3.

Over the last 14 days, there have been 448 cases among children under the age of 12 and 406 cases among 12 to 17-year-olds in Milwaukee, according to the city’s dashboard.

Nationwide, pediatric hospitalizations are a rising concern. Pediatric hospital admissions are at one of their highest points of the pandemic, with more than 2,355 children receiving care across the country for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections.

Debates over vaccine mandates continue to unfold in school districts across the nation.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Unified School District became the first large scale system to require eligible students to get the vaccine. All students ages 12 and up will be required to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 10, 2022, unless they have a “medical or other exemption,” the school district said.

President Joe Biden also announced that private businesses with 100 or more employees must require their employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.

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(WASHINGTON) — Fencing outside U.S. Capitol is expected to return ahead of the “Justice for J6” rally, a source familiar with the plans confirmed to ABC News.

The fencing, erected after the Jan. 6 riot, was removed in July.

“Justice for J6” is being billed by organizers as a protest for defendants who are being detained by the government in connection to the January insurrection at the Capitol.

The fencing is just the latest security measure for a rally that has some in law enforcement on high alert.

Federal law enforcement agencies have become concerned that far-right extremists, including the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys could come to Washington for the protest.

U.S. Capitol Police is the leading agency for the event.

“We are closely monitoring Sept. 18 and we are planning accordingly,” said Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger. “After Jan. 6, we made department-wide changes to the way we gather and share intelligence internally and externally. I am confident the work we are doing now will make sure our officers have what they need to keep everyone safe.”

Every available Capitol Police officer will be working and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department said they are also “fully prepared” for the protest.

“As with all First Amendment demonstrations, MPD will be monitoring and assessing the activities and planning accordingly with our federal law enforcement partners,” an MPD spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News. “MPD will have an increased presence around the city where demonstrations will be taking place and will be prepared to make street closures for public safety.”

Additionally, the FBI Washington Field Office said they are working closely with state local and federal partners.

Javed Ali, a former national counterterrorism director on the National Security Council said agencies have cause for concern.

“While the government has not yet issued threat bulletins about specific and credible plots on that day, like 6 January there may be people who attend in a highly agitated mindset and then switch quickly to violent action with little-to-no warning,” Ali said.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters on Wednesday that information sharing is key to avoiding another incident like Jan. 6.

He said the Department of Homeland Security has increased information sharing efforts throughout the country.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

More than 654,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.6 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 62.5% 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:

Sep 10, 5:43 am
Milwaukee Public Schools to require COVID-19 vaccination for staff

All employees of Milwaukee Public Schools must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination by Nov. 1, unless they qualify for a medical or religious exemption, school board members voted unanimously on Thursday night.

The board also decided that staff who qualify for an exemption must take COVID-19 tests twice weekly. Anyone who does not comply with the new vaccine mandate or is not exempt would be placed on unpaid leave and ultimately could lose their job.

Students are not required to get vaccinated, but the board approved monetary incentives of $100 for those who are 12 and older and can provide proof of vaccination by the Nov. 1 deadline.

Sep 09, 7:33 pm
LA school district to mandate vaccine for students

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education unanimously voted Thursday to require the COVID-19 vaccine for all eligible students.

All students ages 12 and up will be required to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 10, 2022, unless they have a “medical or other exemption,” said the district, which is the second-largest in the nation with over 600,000 students.

All teachers and staff are already required to be vaccinated by Oct. 15.

“Today’s decision furthers our longstanding commitment to ensure the safety of our students, families, and staff,” Board President Kelly Gonez said in a statement. “The vaccine is the single best way to protect students and schools from COVID-19.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(RENO, Nev.) — Animal advocates are urging Nevada state officials to call off this year’s annual bear hunt as wildfires continue to rage across the West.

Wildlife advocates say hunting season should be canceled as the wildfire situation is so dire that bears are undergoing forced migration, potentially throwing the social dynamics of the territorial animals off balance. Several organizations penned a letter to the Nevada Department of Wildlife Wednesday following the emergence of several “heartbreaking photographs” showing bears either injured by the fires or searching for food and water in fire-ravaged areas.

“We need to give our bears a break,” Patrick Donnelly, Nevada state director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “Climate-fueled catastrophic fire isn’t just hard on us, it’s also hard on wildlife. Bears are struggling to survive and recover from the most difficult summer of their lives, and now they’re going to be chased by dogs and shot to death. It’s unacceptable.”

The annual bear hunt in the state typically involves packs of hounds with GPS collars that chase the bear up trees. The season is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, but eight of the 10 locations where bear hunting is permitted are in regions that have burned or are still burning, or are immediately adjacent to those areas, according to the organizations.

State law gives both the Nevada Department of Wildlife and the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners emergency powers to stop hunting in units where an emergency has been declared.

“Our black bears are iconic animals, and at a time of dire need the fate of individual bears is just as important as the fate of the population,” said Don Molde of the Nevada Wildlife Alliance. “Now is not the time to add additional harassment to what they’ve already suffered.”

Bears in the state are also suffering from the effects of climate change, as record heat and and drought are also placing significant stress on populations. Researchers are already seeing climate change have a direct effect on mortality and reproductive failure in bears in the West, the advocates said.

“Not only should the bear hunt be suspended in fire-affected areas — the agency and commission need to take disasters into account when setting their quotas going forward,” said Jeff Dixon of the Humane Society of the United States. “For wildlife policy to be science-based, wildlife management professionals need to factor in global warming’s impact on ecosystems when setting those policies.”

Critical fire threats were plaguing the West on Wednesday, posing the threat of new blazes to spark just as firefighters start to make significant progress in containing the existing wildfires.

Red flag warnings have been posted in several regions across the Northwest Thursday due to dry heat and gusty winds, especially over parts of the Northern Rockies and Northern California, where the Dixie and Caldor fires continue to rage.

Lightning from widely scattered thunderstorms expected in the Northwest could also combine with very dry fuels to ignite more fires in places like Oregon and Idaho.

In addition to the heavy fire conditions, 29 cities were expected to break or tie their daily record high temperatures Thursday. Excessive heat warnings are in effect for parts of the Southwest, from Las Vegas to Phoenix and the California deserts, where temperatures were forecast to hit dangerous temperatures up to 115 degrees, or even 120 degrees in Death Valley.

The heat will then shift over parts of the central Rockies on Friday. Air quality alerts are also in effect over parts of the Pacific Northwest and Rockies due to the wildfire smoke.

ABC News’ Brittany Borer and Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(POLK COUNTY, Fla.)A young girl who was “tortured” and shot multiple times when a former Marine sharpshooter allegedly invaded her home and killed four members of her family, including her baby brother, told investigators she survived by playing dead, authorities said on Thursday.

The 11-year-old is expected to recover from her injuries, but authorities said what she experienced may haunt her for the rest of her life.

Polk County, Florida, authorities said the girl witnessed Bryan Riley, 33, allegedly shoot her father, Justice Gleason, 40; her dad’s girlfriend, Theresa Lanham, 33; and her 3-month-old brother in the Sunday morning massacre near Lakeland, 35 miles east of Tampa. Riley is also accused of killing Lanham’s 62-year-old mother, Catherine Delgado.

Riley allegedly shot and killed the family’s dog, too, officials said.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Gleason’s daughter, the sole survivor of the attack, told investigators how she avoided being killed, after allegedly being tortured and shot by the stranger who had zero connection to her family.

“This 11-year-old was very brave and very smart, and she out-thought him. She said, ‘I played dead and I prayed,'” Judd said at a news conference Thursday.

Riley is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, seven counts of attempted first-degree murder on a law enforcement officer, shooting into an occupied dwelling, two counts of armed burglary with battery, arson and cruelty to an animal. He is being held without bond.

The sheriff said Riley has shown no remorse. “He’s evil,” Judd said.

Judd said Riley first showed up at the home around 7 p.m. Saturday after picking up a first-aid kit from a friend who lives nearby, which he claimed he planned to donate to a Hurricane Ida relief organization.

Upon leaving his friend’s home, he saw Gleason mowing his front yard and stopped. He allegedly told Gleason that God sent him to speak to a girl named Amber, who he claimed was suicidal and being held as a sex-trafficking victim, Judd said. He was told no one by that name lived at the address and was ordered to leave.

The family called deputies, but they could not find Riley, Judd said. He said Riley returned to the home about 4:30 a.m. Sunday armed with three guns and in full-body armor.

Judd said Riley, who as a Marine was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, allegedly told investigators that he “created an ops plan.'”

“In his confession, he said, ‘You know what that means? You have to kill everybody,'” said Judd, adding that Riley’s girlfriend told investigators he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

He said the suspect broke into an in-law unit behind the main house and killed Delgado. Riley allegedly shot his way into the main house and found Gleason, Lanham, her baby and the girl hiding in a bathroom, according to the sheriff.

After allegedly killing Gleason, Lanham and the baby, Judd said, Riley took the girl into the living room and questioned her about the whereabouts of Amber, Judd said. When the girl told him she didn’t know Amber, he allegedly counted down, “three, two, one” and shot her in the stomach, Judd said. When she again denied knowing Amber, Riley allegedly shot her in the hand and legs before firing what he wrongly believed to be the fatal shot, Judd said.

When deputies arrived, a shootout ensued. Riley was hit in the stomach and surrendered, Judd said.

Judd said the sheriff’s department is collecting donations to help the family with funeral costs and the young survivor’s hospital bills. He said his agency has established an online page to accept contributions.

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(LOS ANGELES) — The Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education will vote Thursday on a vaccine mandate for all eligible students in the nation’s second-largest district.

The vote, slated for 2 p.m. local time, would be a landmark move for the district, which has over 600,000 students and operates 1,200 schools in the LA area.

If the resolution is approved, all students ages 12 and up must receive their first vaccine dose no later than Nov. 21 and their second dose no later than Dec. 19. Students who participate in in-person extracurricular programs will have to get a vaccine earlier, with a deadline for the first dose by October 3.

All other students must receive their first vaccine dose 30 days after their 12th birthday and their second dose eight weeks after their 12th birthday.

The district told ABC News in a statement: “Science clearly shows that vaccinations are an essential part of protecting our communities. Further details will be forthcoming after the vote.”

The majority of board members said they will approve the measure or are leaning toward it, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Under the proposal, all eligible students in the district would be required to be inoculated excluding those with “qualified and approved exemptions.”

The district said passing the proposal “will result in the safest school environment possible and minimize disruption to full-time, in-person instruction brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Children ages 12 and up are only eligible for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Though the Pfizer vaccine was fully authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month, it remains under emergency use authorization for individuals 12 through 15.

The vote comes a week after LA County health officials said more than 5,200 COVID-19 cases were detected among K-12 students in the county over the past two weeks. The county’s public health director, Barbara Ferrer, called the number “sobering.”

The district’s COVID-19 testing dashboard shows 1,357 positive cases among students and staff and a staff and student case rate of 9.93 per 100,000 residents, significantly lower than the county case rate of 20.03 cases per 100,000 individuals.

So far in LA County, 60% of 12 to 15-year-olds have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 68% of 16 to 17-year-olds have received at least one dose, according to the county’s vaccine tracker.

Nationwide, pediatric hospital admissions remain at one of their highest points of the pandemic, with more than 2,200 children receiving care across the country for confirmed or suspected COVID-19. Additionally, the average daily COVID-19 case rate is now higher among children and adolescents ages 5 to 17 years than all adult age groups.

The move to mandate student vaccines is also supported by United Teachers Los Angeles union, which represents more than 30,000 teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians.

The union said in a statement last week, “UTLA announced support for a vaccine mandate for eligible students … This aligns with UTLA support for the educator vaccine mandate implemented by LAUSD and will keep our schools safer as well as positively contributing to the higher community vaccination rates needed to reverse the surge in infections.”

LAUSD is already facing legal backlash for its robust COVID-19 safety measures currently in place, including requiring weekly testing for all students and employees, masks indoors and outdoors and requiring all employees to be vaccinated.

Passing a vaccine mandate may bring an onslaught of further legal challenges.

Mandates related to the pandemic, such as requiring face coverings in classrooms, have led to lawsuits and heated debates between school districts, parents and lawmakers, as in Texas and Florida.

Los Angeles would not be the first to impose a vaccine mandate.

It was already adopted by the Culver City Unified district with a Nov. 19 deadline to take effect, in anticipation that the FDA will grant full approval for school-aged students to get the vaccine, local Los Angeles ABC station KABC reported.

In the Oakland Unified School District, Sam Davis, the Vice President of the Board and Director of District 1, proposed a vaccine mandate at a board meeting Wednesday night. The proposal will be discussed at a Sept. 22 meeting with a potential vote, he told ABC News.

“Vaccination is key to keeping teenagers healthy, in school and learning, and keeping their families healthy as well,” he said during the meeting. “We’re lucky to live in a place with comparatively high vaccination rates. In Oakland, 73% of those aged 12-17 have received at least one dose, compared to less than 50% nationwide. So we’re doing well but we could do much better.”

It’s too soon to tell if other districts will follow suit.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a press conference Thursday there’s no plans for a vaccine mandate for eligible students in the city, which has the largest school district in the nation.

“We just don’t think that’s the right thing to do … but teachers are mandated to,” he said Thursday. “We can keep any option on the table, but right now, no. We want every kid in school.”

Similarly in Chicago, which has the third-largest school district in the nation, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said a vaccine mandate for students would be “premature” during an Aug. 30 press conference.

“Obviously we don’t have a vaccine for children who that younger than 12, so it’s a little premature I think to be talking about that,” the mayor said.

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(NEW YORK) — Ah the microwave, a simple kitchen appliance that is either overlooked and underutilized or a frozen food fan’s best friend.

But there are new practical reheating hacks for home cooks that are going viral online.

Isabella Avilla has racked up over 900K likes and counting with her video of microwave hacks.

Avilla’s advice was threefold:

1. Put your dish on the edge of the rotating surface vs. in the middle so that it can fully rotate around and ensure that the food gets cooked evenly.

2. Save time and cook two things at once by adding a bowl or mug underneath the dish to create additional height and more surface area.

3. To reheat pasta or pizza, she suggests adding a cup of water to release moisture which stops the carbs from getting overly chewy or hard.

Try these tips next time you’re in the kitchen and put it to the test and check out other viral TikTok food hits here.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(DEARBORN, Mich.) — Twenty years and 600 miles from Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, the nation’s largest Arab Muslim community is still quietly reeling from the 2001 terror attacks and a psychological blow dealt to Islamic American identity.

“This is, perhaps, the unspoken tragedy of what happened two decades ago,” said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The group of terrorists who claimed to be acting in the name of Islam, taking nearly 3,000 innocent lives, set off a wave of Islamophobia in America that many peaceful and patriotic Muslims said still reverberates years later.

“People associate people who look like us with an event that we didn’t create,” said Rima Imad Fadlallah, a Michigan native and co-host of the Dearborn Girl podcast exploring Arab American female identity. “We, quite frankly, shouldn’t be made to feel like we’re apologizing for others.”

Over the past two decades, Muslim Americans have reported in public opinion surveys a near constant scrutiny of their religion and skepticism of their patriotism that’s triggered a quiet struggle over the meaning of citizenship, faith and belonging.

“Ours is a community that continues to be ‘otherized,'” said Petra Alsoofy, who studies public opinion of Islam with the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a nonprofit group created in Michigan in 2001 to help combat misconceptions about Islam.

“Are you American? Are you a Muslim? Is there a conflict between these identities? Actually what the research shows,” said Alsoofy, “is the stronger the religious identity, the stronger the American identity.”

ABC News Live traveled this month to Dearborn, Michigan, home to thousands of American immigrant families from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, to hear directly from residents and community leaders about the lasting impact of the 9/11 attacks.

Many lamented the uncomfortable spotlight that comes with each Sept. 11 anniversary and many worried the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan this month will rekindle a focus on religious extremism.

“Once again, when you turn on the TV these days, it’s showing all these Muslim radicals,” said Imam Ahmed Qazwini of the Islamic Institute of America in west Dearborn. “And this reflects on my religion that we share the same name — Islam — but there is nothing else. There’s no other common denominator.”

The sleepy suburb on the outskirts of Detroit — home to Ford Motor Company — has become a model for the peaceful co-existence of American Muslims, Christians and Jews, all thriving together.

“Maybe politics is separating people from each other, but the coffee is bringing them to one table,” said Ibrahim Alhasbani, owner of Qawah House, a popular local shop serving up steaming pots of aromatic Yemeni brew along the city’s main drag.

Dearborn is an oasis of global cultures and cuisines, home to a regional health care hub, transit point for railroad freight and producer of sausages that bear the city’s name. It’s also home to the largest concentration of Muslims in the United States.

“We have many unique communities here and everyone kind of retains their identity,” said 30-year-old mayoral candidate Abdullah Hammoud, who will become the first Muslim to lead the city if he’s elected this fall.

But Dearborn’s success as a diverse and growing Rust Belt city — and claim to the nation’s largest mosque, the Islamic Center of America — have also made it a frequent target.

Since 2001, outsiders have used the city as a stage to advance conspiracy theories, bigotry and hate. Some political extremists have maligned it as “Dearbornistan” and mocked its high school as “Hezbollah High,” despite the fact that neither the city nor its residents have had any connection to terrorism.

“This community has been the epicenter of anti-Muslim hate and xenophobia,” Walid said. “President (Donald) Trump’s rhetoric allowed people who harbored anti-Muslim bigotry, racism and xenophobia — gave them license to say it publicly and act upon it.”

An ABC News review of FBI hate crime data from the past two decades found that the number of reported anti-Muslim incidents spiked nationwide immediately following Sept. 11, 2001, but never fully returned to pre-2001 levels.

“When it comes to school bullying, workplace discrimination and harassment by government officials — this has steadily gotten worse,” said Walid.

Three in four Muslims nationwide reported experiencing “a lot” of discrimination in American society, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted 16 years after the attacks. Half of all U.S. adults in the same survey said they believed Islam is still not part of mainstream society.

“If you asked me to choose where my American and Muslim and Arab identities start and end, I would not be able to do that,” said Yasmeen Kadouh, co-producer of the podcast with Fadlallah. “I think post-9/11 we really were made to feel like they were mutually exclusive, which is kind of hard to grapple with.”

“I don’t remember a world before 9/11, and I do know as a kid, you don’t know what racism is, but you feel it,” she added.

Imam Qazwini, who grew up in Dearborn and whose father was a community faith leader on 9/11, said more American Muslims are recognizing the need to knock down myths about their faith.

“9/11 had a huge impact on Muslims living in the U.S.,” Qazwini said. “We need to be more vocal. We need to speak out and show America what the real religion of Islam is. It’s a peaceful religion, a religion of love.”

A grassroots movement of young Muslim Americans — like Kadouh, Imad Fadlallah, Hammoud and Alsoofy in Dearborn, all children back in 2001 — is now determined to change the narrative from the bottom up.

“I don’t have to put an American flag on my front porch to show that I’m patriotic. I am patriotic because I love this country,” said Imad Fadlallah. “If my parents — people who came here with little opportunity, heavy Middle Eastern accents — are able to be that bold, I have no excuse to put up with things that I shouldn’t have to put up with.”

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