(WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.) — A high schooler has died after being shot Wednesday at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, authorities said.
The victim was identified by authorities as William Chavis Raynard Miller Jr.
The suspect has not been apprehended, authorities said at a news conference over four hours after the shooting was reported around noon. The suspect is believed to be a student, authorities said.
“We have a mother and family who will not be able to hug their child tonight,” Winston-Salem Police Chief Catrina Thompson said.
No one else was shot, authorities said, but some students suffered trauma-related health problems, including one student who had a seizure.
The school was locked down immediately after the shooting, police said. Once the campus was secured, students were sent to a local grocery store to be reunited with their parents, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office said.
There is no known threat to the school at this time, police said.
Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the scene.
Mount Tabor’s school year started just last week.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper noted in a tweet that this was the second school shooting in the state this week. A 15-year-old was injured in a shooting at New Hanover High School in Wilmington on Monday.
“Our prayers are with the victims, their families and all the students of Mt. Tabor High School in Winston-Salem,” Cooper tweeted. “We must work to ensure the safety of students and educators, quickly apprehend the shooter and keep guns off school grounds.”
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 639,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 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 61.3% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:
Sep 01, 10:42 am
Pfizer studying new pill in hopes it’ll help with mild COVID symptoms
Pfizer is launching a large clinical study for a new pill that it hopes could prevent worse symptoms for patients with mild COVID-19.
The first participant has now been dosed in this “pivotal Phase 2/3 clinical trial,” Pfizer said.
Drugs like Remdesivir and Dexamethasone can help people recover faster, but those are only reserved for people who are extremely ill and in the hospital.
If proven effective, Pfizer will ask the FDA for authorization.
Sep 01, 9:52 am
Virginia Tech disenrolls 134 students who didn’t meet vaccination policy
Virginia Tech says 134 students have been disenrolled after they didn’t comply with COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
The university’s roughly 37,000 students were required to submit vaccination documentation or receive a medical or religious exemption, Virginia Tech said.
“The university does not know whether any of these [134] students were not planning to return for reasons unrelated to the COVID-19 vaccine requirement,” Virginia Tech said.
Sep 01, 9:19 am
TSA screens lowest number of travelers since May
Just 1,345,064 travelers were screened at U.S. airports on Tuesday, the lowest since May 18 when 1,408,017 were screened, the TSA said.
United CEO Scott Kirby said Monday he thinks holiday travel will return to normal.
Sep 01, 8:52 am
San Diego County declares medical misinformation a public health crisis
San Diego has become the first county in the U.S. to declare that health misinformation is causing a public health crisis in its community. This follows the County Board of Supervisors’ 3-2 vote Tuesday night.
Changes to county strategy to combat the pandemic will include: labeling health misinformation and providing timely health information to counter it; modernizing public health communications; investigating in digital resources and training for health practitioners and health workers; and developing a website to be a central resource for fighting health misinformation.
The new policy was introduced when 96.7% of hospitalizations in San Diego County were residents who were not fully vaccinated.
Aug 31, 8:01 pm
Gene Simmons tests positive for COVID, KISS postpones shows
KISS co-lead singer Gene Simmons tested positive for COVID-19, the band shared on its Twitter page Tuesday evening.
In a statement, the band said the 72-year-old was experiencing “mild symptoms.”
His diagnoses comes less than a week after co-lead singer Paul Stanley, 69, tested positive for COVID-19 as well.
In a statement released on Aug. 26, the band said that, “everyone on the entire tour, both band and crew, are fully vaccinated.”
KISS has postponed four of its “End of the Road” tour shows from Sept. 1 to Sept. 5.
“The band and crew will remain at home and isolate for the next 10 days,” the band said in a statement.
Aug 31, 6:56 pm
2 officials working on COVID-19 vaccine review to leave FDA
Peter Marks, the director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), announced the upcoming departure of two top vaccine regulators to his staff in an internal memo, which was obtained by ABC News.
Dr. Marion Gruber, director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR) and her deputy, Dr. Phil Krause, are set to leave the agency in October and November respectively, according to the memo.
Krause, who’s been with the agency for over a decade, and Gruber, who has been with the FDA for over 30 years, were instrumental in the review and authorization of the three COVID-19 vaccines, the memo said.
The memo said that Gruber will be “retiring” and gave no other details about Krause’s departure.
ABC News has reached out to both Gruber and Krause for comment.
When reached for comment about their departure, an FDA spokesperson told ABC News the agency is “confident in the expertise and ability of our staff to continue our critical public health work, including evaluating COVID-19 vaccines.”
Their departures come at a critical time for the vaccine review team. After facing pressure to move as fast as possible to get vaccines’ full licensure done, the agency is now weighing booster shots for a wider pool of Americans.
The timing of the booster shot approval has been a bone of contention amongst federal agencies after the Biden administration announced the availability of booster shots would begin ahead of any ruling from the FDA or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory groups.
Aug 31, 4:57 pm
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s wife out of ICU
Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, is out of the ICU as both Jacksons continue to fight COVID-19, their family said.
“Our father remains at The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab where he is continuing to receive intensive occupational and physical therapy,” their son, Jonathan Jackson, said in a statement Tuesday.
Jesse Jackson, who is 79 and has Parkinson’s disease, was vaccinated, reported ABC Chicago station WLS.
“Our mother remains in the Northwestern Memorial Hospital and has been moved out of the ICU and back into her regular hospital room where she continues to receive oxygen,” the statement said. “Both of our parents are continuing to receive excellent medical care and we thank God for the progress that both seem to be making.”
Aug 31, 4:24 pm
Vaccination rate nearly double than it was in mid-July
The U.S. vaccination rate per day is now nearly double than it was in mid-July, according to the White House.
“Back in mid-July we were averaging 500,000 vaccinations per day. Today, we’re averaging 900,000,” White House COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters Tuesday. “Last week we got over 6 million shots, the biggest weekly total since July 5.”
The increase in vaccinations comes amid fear about the rapidly spreading delta variant.
The delta variant, which is more transmissible, has also been part of the conversation around booster shots of the mRNA and J&J vaccines. The Biden administration said Americans would need a third shot eight months after their second because of waning immunity.
The Biden administration is standing by its decision to call for vaccine boosters beginning Sept. 20 despite questions about whether there’s enough data and the unusual process of announcing a plan before the FDA has evaluated the data and made a recommendation.
(NEW ORLEANS) — Ida, which downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical depression Tuesday, battered Louisiana as a fierce Category 4 storm Sunday, leaving whole towns flooded along the coast and New Orleans still entirely in the dark.
Over 884,000 customers remain without power in Louisiana and over 14,000 remain without power in Mississippi as of Wednesday morning, according to a report from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) obtained by ABC News. Entergy wrote on Twitter that it took the first step to restore power back to New Orleans East, and the first light shined. “Crews will have to methodically bring back additional transmission lines over time to provide additional pathways for progress,” they said.
FEMA reported four Louisiana hospitals were damaged due to the storm, 39 medical facilities had to start operating on generator power and many patients were evacuated. Also, several buildings in Port Fourchon — which is is responsible for 18% of the U.S. oil supply — sustained severe damage.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said during a news conference Tuesday evening that the city will see “some level of transmission” of power as early as Wednesday evening.
“The expectation should not be … that the entire city will be lit on tomorrow evening, but in stages,” she said.
As of Wednesday, the city’s Louis Armstrong International Airport is operating using generator power, and airlines have reported 197 cancellations for Wednesday, according to CISA’s report.
Cantrell said a curfew will go into effect at 8 p.m. local time and last until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Local and state police and the National Guard will patrol the streets, according to New Orleans Police Chief Shaun Ferguson.
The mayor called the curfew a “proactive” measure since there already have been arrests for looting.
Ferguson declined to give more details about those arrests to prevent “a false narrative about this city.”
Ida made landfall in Louisiana twice, first near Port Fourchon before noon local time and again two hours later in Lafourche Parish, obliterating neighborhoods and turning clear roads into rivers.
As of Wednesday morning, Washington, D.C., is under tornado watch and a flash flood warning has been issued for parts of Virginia.
Ida appears to be less lethal than Katrina, which hit as a Category 3, claimed more than 1,800 lives and caused more than $100 billion in damage.
So far, three deaths have been attributed to Ida: a 60-year-old man in Ascension Parish died Sunday when a tree fell on a home, a motorist drowned in New Orleans and a third person died in Jefferson Parish.
In Mississippi, two people died and at least 10 others were injured when a part of a highway near Lucedale gave out and sent vehicles plunging into a hole. Mississippi Highway Patrol Cp. Cal Robertson said the inundating rain may have caused the collapse.
The storm dumped up to 15 inches of rain in some places, like Rigolets-Slidell, Louisiana, and 13 inches in New Orleans. Ida also brought powerful winds gusts of over 100 mph in some regions.
Ida also knocked out power to more than 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi — including all of New Orleans — and temporarily halted the city’s 911 emergency response system.
Officials in Jefferson Parish, home to 400,000 residents, warned it could be 21 days before power is restored.
Communities reeling from the destruction are now stranded without water. Some 18 water system outages have impacted over 312,000 customers and 14 boil water advisories are in place impacting over 329,000 people, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a press conference Monday evening.
Heat advisories are active in parts of Louisiana, threatening communities grappling with no electricity or access to air conditioning. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for southern Louisiana and Mississippi from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Another element Katrina didn’t have is the COVID-19 crisis. Some Louisiana hospitals pushed to the brink with an influx of coronavirus cases were forced to evacuate due to physical damage, water and electrical issues.
The Louisiana Department of Health told ABC News at least 11 hospitals had evacuations on some level and Terrebone General Health System’s evacuation is still underway.
The state fire marshal office’s leading task force of about 900 individuals from 15 different states is conducting search and rescue missions with local responders. Some 5,000 National Guard members are also on the ground.
Edwards said at least 671 were rescued by Monday afternoon, with some desperate locals fleeing to their attics or roofs to wait for help.
Over 2,200 evacuees are staying in 41 shelters, Edwards said.
Jaclyn Hotard, the president of St. John the Baptist Parish, called Ida, “one of the worst natural disasters I’ve ever seen in St. John,” noting that “almost 800 people” have been rescued due to extreme flooding.
Entergy New Orleans, a major electricity company in the region, said a storm team of more than 20,000 and growing is assessing the vast damage and destruction across New Orleans and southeast Louisiana that toppled power poles and other equipment.
Over 3,600 FEMA employees have been deployed to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to help with meals, water and generators for power, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.
Ida, now a tropical depression, is centered on the border of Missouri and Tennessee and threatens to bring deadly flash flooding to the Gulf coast overnight as it continues to move north and east. Almost 80 million in 17 states are on flash flood alert from Mississippi to Massachusetts.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 639,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 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 61.3% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:
Aug 31, 8:01 pm
Gene Simmons tests positive for COVID, KISS postpones shows
KISS co-lead singer Gene Simmons tested positive for COVID-19, the band shared on its Twitter page Tuesday evening.
In a statement, the band said the 72-year-old was experiencing “mild symptoms.”
His diagnoses comes less than a week after co-lead singer Paul Stanley, 69, tested positive for COVID-19 as well.
In a statement released on Aug. 26, the band said that, “everyone on the entire tour, both band and crew, are fully vaccinated.”
KISS has postponed four of its “End of the Road” tour shows from Sept. 1 to Sept. 5.
“The band and crew will remain at home and isolate for the next 10 days,” the band said in a statement.
Aug 31, 6:56 pm
2 officials working on COVID-19 vaccine review to leave FDA
Peter Marks, the director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), announced the upcoming departure of two top vaccine regulators to his staff in an internal memo, which was obtained by ABC News.
Dr. Marion Gruber, director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR) and her deputy, Dr. Phil Krause, are set to leave the agency in October and November respectively, according to the memo.
Krause, who’s been with the agency for over a decade, and Gruber, who has been with the FDA for over 30 years, were instrumental in the review and authorization of the three COVID-19 vaccines, the memo said.
The memo said that Gruber will be “retiring” and gave no other details about Krause’s departure.
ABC News has reached out to both Gruber and Krause for comment.
When reached for comment about their departure, an FDA spokesperson told ABC News the agency is “confident in the expertise and ability of our staff to continue our critical public health work, including evaluating COVID-19 vaccines.”
Their departures come at a critical time for the vaccine review team. After facing pressure to move as fast as possible to get vaccines’ full licensure done, the agency is now weighing booster shots for a wider pool of Americans.
The timing of the booster shot approval has been a bone of contention amongst federal agencies after the Biden administration announced the availability of booster shots would begin ahead of any ruling from the FDA or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory groups.
Aug 31, 4:57 pm
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s wife out of ICU
Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, is out of the ICU as both Jacksons continue to fight COVID-19, their family said.
“Our father remains at The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab where he is continuing to receive intensive occupational and physical therapy,” their son, Jonathan Jackson, said in a statement Tuesday.
Jesse Jackson, who is 79 and has Parkinson’s disease, was vaccinated, reported ABC Chicago station WLS.
“Our mother remains in the Northwestern Memorial Hospital and has been moved out of the ICU and back into her regular hospital room where she continues to receive oxygen,” the statement said. “Both of our parents are continuing to receive excellent medical care and we thank God for the progress that both seem to be making.”
Aug 31, 4:24 pm
Vaccination rate nearly double than it was in mid-July
The U.S. vaccination rate per day is now nearly double than it was in mid-July, according to the White House.
“Back in mid-July we were averaging 500,000 vaccinations per day. Today, we’re averaging 900,000,” White House COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters Tuesday. “Last week we got over 6 million shots, the biggest weekly total since July 5.”
The increase in vaccinations comes amid fear about the rapidly spreading delta variant.
The delta variant, which is more transmissible, has also been part of the conversation around booster shots of the mRNA and J&J vaccines. The Biden administration said Americans would need a third shot eight months after their second because of waning immunity.
The Biden administration is standing by its decision to call for vaccine boosters beginning Sept. 20 despite questions about whether there’s enough data and the unusual process of announcing a plan before the FDA has evaluated the data and made a recommendation.
(FILE photo) – U.S. Navy photo by Intelligence Specialist 2nd Class Jonathon Miller
(SAN DIEGO) — A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed Tuesday afternoon off the coast of San Diego.
“An MH-60S helicopter embarked aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) crashed into the sea while conducting routine flight operations approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego at 4:30 p.m. PST, Aug. 31,” the Navy’s 3rd Fleet said in a statement.
A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said that preliminary information indicates one person has been rescued and five people are unaccounted for. The Navy also confirmed one crew member has been rescued and search efforts continue for the other crew members.
The Coast Guard and Navy were conducting search and rescue operations by sea and air.
The accident comes just 12 days after Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt took over command of the Abraham Lincoln.
The Abraham Lincoln is homeported in San Diego, the Navy said in a statement Tuesday night.
(FLA.) — Florida’s Department of Education announced on Monday that it would withhold school board members’ salaries in Alachua and Broward counties because of their school mask mandates.
Both counties’ school districts said on Tuesday they still plan on requiring masks because of the COVID-19 pandemic and are exploring legal action.
The department’s announcement came after a circuit court judge in Florida ruled on Friday that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent executive order banning school mask mandates overstepped his authority. The Florida Department of Education did not mention the ruling in its announcement.
“We’re going to fight to protect parent’s (sic) rights to make health care decisions for their children. They know what is best for their children. What’s unacceptable is the politicians who have raised their right hands and pledged, under oath, to uphold the Constitution but are not doing so,” Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said in the department’s announcement.
DeSantis had also initially threatened to withhold superintendent’s salaries, before admitting that he did not have the ability to do so.
On Aug. 11, DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, said the state “could move to withhold the salary of the district superintendent or school board members” as punishment.
“I’m very troubled by the state’s action,” Alachua County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Carlee Simon said in a statement to ABC News on Tuesday. “Our School Board members made a courageous decision to protect the health and lives of students, staff and the people of this community, and a court has already ruled they had the legal right to do so. They deserve praise, not penalties.”
Simon said that the district has already begun exploring legal action in tandem with other districts.
Broward County Public Schools interim Superintendent Dr. Vickie Cartwright said in a video statement shared by the district on Tuesday that they have consulted with legal advisers and believe they are still complying with state rules even with the mandate.
“The health and the safety of our students, teachers, and staff continues to be our highest priority. As such, we will continue to mandate the mask, knowing that our data … is demonstrating that the use of the mask is helping to minimize the spread of COVID-19,” Cartwright said.
Rosalind Osgood, the chair of the Broward County school board, confirmed on Tuesday to ABC News that Broward County is one of the districts working with Alachua to file a lawsuit.
The state and the counties have fought over mask mandates for weeks. On Aug. 20, Florida’s Board of Education gave both counties 48 hours to reverse mask mandates, but both districts refused.
Nationwide debates around mask mandates have escalated recently as the school year begins.
On Monday, the federal Department of Education announced civil rights investigations into five states banning mask mandates. Florida is not one of those states, “because those states’ bans on universal indoor masking are not currently being enforced as a result of court orders or other state actions,” according to the Education Department.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden addressed the nation Tuesday and continued to defend his self-imposed deadline to withdraw the U.S. military from Afghanistan — a day after the last troops left the country, bringing America’s longest war to a close — but only after a chaotic and deadly exit.
“Last night in Kabul, the United States ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history,” Biden began, going on to tout the historic evacuation numbers. “No nation, no nation has ever done anything like it in all of history. Only the United States had the capacity and will and ability to do it.”
“The real choice was between leaving or escalating,” he claimed.
The president’s prepared remarks from the State Dining Room of the White House come 24 hours after the last military plane cleared airspace above Afghanistan but without more than 100 Americans on board who still wanted to get out of the country.
“There is no deadline” for Americans who want to leave, he said, at the same time saying “90% of Americans who wanted to leave were able to leave,” adding the U.S. would continue efforts to help those who wanted to get out.
Biden said that when he made the decision in April to end the war and set the Aug. 31 deadline, “The assumption was that more than 300,000 Afghan national security forces that we had trained over the past two decades and equipped would be a strong adversary in their civil wars with the Taliban.”
“That assumption, that the Afghan government would be able to hold on for a period of time beyond military drawdown, turned out not to be accurate,” Biden said.
His speech did not focus on the operational miscues that have marred the past week in Afghanistan but instead homed in on why the U.S. entered the war 20 years and why he didn’t want to pass the war on to another president.
“I was not going to extend this Forever War,” he said.
As Americans still remain in the country, Biden repeated an administration line that “there is no deadline” on getting Americans out, but did not offer operational details for retrieving remaining Americans with the airport under Taliban control.
On Monday, it was not Biden, who has long opposed the war, who marked its conclusion after 20 years on Monday, but Pentagon and State Department officials.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki offered a preview of Biden’s remarks earlier, saying that he would express his thanks to the service members who executed the “dangerous mission” as well as the veterans and volunteers who offered support.
“He will lay out his decision to end the war in Afghanistan after 20 years, including the tough decisions he made over the last seven months since he took office to bring the war to a close,” her statement said. “He will make clear that as President, he will approach our foreign policy through the prism of what is in our national interests, including how best to continue to keep the American people safe.”
Biden on Monday did release a written statement thanking commanders and service members for completing the withdrawal on schedule “with no further loss of American lives,” praising the evacuation effort as “the largest airlift in US history,” and teasing his defense not to stay beyond Aug. 31.
“For now, I will report that it was the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our airlift mission as planned,” he said in the statement, although military leaders had lobbied Biden earlier this year to leave a residual U.S. force in Afghanistan to support the Afghan army and government.
With the U.S. military and diplomatic withdrawal now complete as the U.S. approaches 20 years since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Taliban has again taken over the country, including the Kabul airport, the site of an often-desperate evacuation effort the past two weeks. Shots were fired into the air to celebrate the withdrawal in Kabul on Monday night.
The Pentagon said Monday that 2,461 troops were lost in the war, which started as it began: under Taliban rule. Since the evacuation mission began, 6,000 citizens and more than 123,000 people — Afghans “friends and allies” — were airlifted out by the U.S. and partners, but alarms are being raised over those left behind.
Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopolous in an exclusive interview on Aug. 18, “If there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay to get them all out.”
His poll numbers, too, showed uncommon cross-partisan agreement among Americans that withdrawing all U.S. troops by Biden’s deadline could be a grave mistake, according to an ABC/Ipsos poll conducted after Thursday’s suicide attack in Kabul which killed 13 service members and wounded 20. The survey found the percentage of Americans who think U.S. troops should stay until all Americans are out of Afghanistan is 86% among Democrats, 87% among Republicans and 86% among Independents.
Tuesday’s speech comes amid outrage expressed by some family members of those service members killed in last week’s airport attack over his handling of the withdrawal.
Some have criticized the president following Sunday’s dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base, where he met with families. White House press secretary Jen Psaki wouldn’t respond directly to criticism from one family but said that the president feels responsible for their loss at a briefing on Monday.
Republican lawmakers have also blasted Biden for his handling of the withdrawal, with Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., calling the withdrawal a “national disgrace” and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., claiming Biden has armed the Taliban by leaving behind equipment.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, in an exclusive interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” defended the withdrawal and contended that only the president, as commander in chief, knows what it is to make these hard decisions.
“Those criticizing are not the ones who have to sit in the Situation Room and make the hard calls about the threats that we face and the objectives we’re trying to obtain and President Biden made that hard call and it is a call he believes will ultimately serve the interests of our people, all of our citizens and our country,” he said on Tuesday.
Perhaps foreshadowing Biden’s remarks, Sullivan also claimed the U.S. and the international community have “enormous leverage” on the Taliban to ensure those Americans and Afghans who want to get out can do so.
But the administration hasn’t provided a clear plan for those evacuations beyond saying it’s relying on a Taliban commitment to provide “safe passage.”
The 100 to 200 Americans that Secretary of State Antony Blinken said still wanted to be evacuated weren’t able to reach the airport in Kabul on Monday before the last U.S. plane left. Of the five final flights, no American civilians made it on board.
Thousands of Afghans who worked with the U.S., who fear reprisal from the Taliban, also did not make it out and are forced to rely on Afghanistan’s new rulers for departure — of which there is no guarantee.
It’s unclear what the evacuation picture will look like now that the U.S. military is gone.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden, speaking to the nation Tuesday, gave his fiercest defense yet of his self-imposed deadline to withdraw the U.S. military from Afghanistan — a day after the last troops left the country, bringing America’s longest war to a close — but only after a chaotic and deadly exit.
“Let me be clear, leaving August the 31st, is not due to an arbitrary deadline. It was designed to save American lives,” a defiant Biden said, responding to harsh criticism both of his decision to leave and how it was handled.
After praising what he called the “extraordinary success” U.S. troops had in conducting the rushed and dangerous evacuation, he bluntly blamed both the Afghan army and the Afghan government for collapsing so quickly and the Trump administration for making a deal with the Taliban, that he said inherited, that would have withdrawn all ground troops by May 1.
“So, we were left with a simple decision. Either follow through on the commitment made by the last administration and leave Afghanistan or say we weren’t leaving and commit to another tens of thousands more troops going back to war,” he claimed. “That was the choice, the real choice. Between leaving or escalating. I was not going to extend this forever war. And I was not extending a forever exit.”
His voice rising in anger at times, Biden continued, “It was time to be honest with the American people again. We no longer had a clear purpose in an open-ended mission in Afghanistan. After 20 years of war in Afghanistan, I refuse to send another generation of America’s sons and daughters to fight a war that should’ve ended long ago.”
The president’s prepared remarks from the State Dining Room of the White House came 24 hours after the last military plane cleared airspace above Afghanistan but without more than 100 Americans on board who still wanted to get out of the country, something Republicans and other critics have blasted as “leaving Americans behind.”
Biden downplayed that part of the foreign policy crisis, saying the U.S. had reached out to the remaining Americans 19 times.
“The bottom line, 90% of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave. And for those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out,” Biden said, without detailing out how that could happen.
Biden had told ABC News’ George Stephanopolous in an exclusive interview on Aug. 18, “If there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay to get them all out.”
On Tuesday, he said that when he made the decision in April to end the war and set the Aug. 31 deadline, U.S. officials had assumed that the more than 300,000 Afghan national security forces that they had trained over the past two decades would stand up to a Taliban takeover.
“That assumption, that the Afghan government would be able to hold on for a period of time beyond military drawdown, turned out not to be accurate,” Biden said. “But I still instructed our national security team to prepare for every eventuality. Even that one. And that’s what we did.”
He did not mention the problems that have marred the past week in Afghanistan.
“The decision to end the military lift operation at Kabul airport was based on unanimous recommendation of my civilian and military advisers,” he said.
“I take responsibility for the decision. Now some say we should have started mass evacuations sooner, and couldn’t this have been done — been done in a more orderly manner? I respectfully disagree,” he said. “The bottom line is, there is no evacuation from the end of a war that you can run without the kinds of complexities, challenges, threats we faced. None.”
Biden also used the national spotlight to fire back at critics who say the U.S. could have maintained a limited military presence.
“Those asking for the third decade of war in Afghanistan, I ask, what is the vital national interest?” Biden said. “The fundamental obligation of a president in my opinion is to defend and protect America. Not against threats of 2001 but against the threats of 2021 and tomorrow.”
Pres. Biden: “We succeeded in what we set out to do in Afghanistan over a decade ago. Then we stayed for another decade. It was time to end this war.” https://t.co/TQIuZzC8oGpic.twitter.com/uu2YDmXKTa
“My fellow Americans, the war in Afghanistan is now over. I’m the fourth president that must face the issue of whether and when to end this war. When I was running for president, I made a commitment to the American people that I would end this war. Today I’ve honored that commitment,” he said.
With the military and diplomatic withdrawal now complete as the U.S. approaches 20 years since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Taliban has again taken over the country, including the Kabul airport, the site of an often-desperate evacuation effort the past two weeks. Shots were fired into the air to celebrate the withdrawal in Kabul on Monday night.
The Pentagon said that 2,461 troops were lost in the war, which started as it began: under Taliban rule. Since the evacuation mission began, 6,000 citizens and more than 123,000 people — Afghans “friends and allies” — were airlifted out by the U.S. and partners, but alarms are being raised over those left behind.
The president’s poll numbers, too, showed uncommon cross-partisan agreement among Americans that withdrawing all U.S. troops by Biden’s deadline could be a grave mistake, according to an ABC/Ipsos poll conducted after Thursday’s suicide attack in Kabul which killed 13 service members and wounded 20. The survey found the percentage of Americans who think U.S. troops should stay until all Americans are out of Afghanistan is 86% among Democrats, 87% among Republicans and 86% among Independents.
“I give you my word with all of my heart,” Biden said Tuesday. “I believe this is the right decision, a wise decision, and the best decision for America.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is set to address the nation Tuesday, defending his self-imposed deadline to withdraw the U.S. military from Afghanistan — a day after the last troops left the country, bringing America’s longest war to a close — but only after a chaotic and deadly exit.
Biden is scheduled to deliver remarks in the State Dining Room of the White House at 2:45 p.m. — nearly 24 hours after the last military plane cleared airspace above Afghanistan but without more than 100 Americans on board who still wanted to get out of the country.
It was not Biden, who has long opposed the war, and who carries a card in his pocket with the number of casualties from Afghanistan and Iraq, to mark the 20-year conclusion of the war on Monday but Pentagon and State officials.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki offered a preview of Biden’s remarks, saying that he would express his thanks to the service members who executed the “dangerous mission” as well as the veterans and volunteers who offered support.
“He will lay out his decision to end the war in Afghanistan after 20 years, including the tough decisions he made over the last seven months since he took office to bring the war to a close,” her statement said. “He will make clear that as President, he will approach our foreign policy through the prism of what is in our national interests, including how best to continue to keep the American people safe.”
Biden did release a written statement thanking commanders and service members for completing the withdrawal on schedule “with no further loss of American lives,” praising the evacuation effort as “the largest airlift in US history,” and teasing his defense not to stay beyond Aug. 31.
“For now, I will report that it was the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our airlift mission as planned,” he said in the statement, although military leaders had lobbied Biden earlier this year to leave a residual U.S. force in Afghanistan to support the Afghan army and government.
With the U.S. military and diplomatic withdrawal now complete as the U.S. approaches 20 years since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Taliban has again taken over the country, including the Kabul airport, the site of an often-desperate evacuation effort the past two weeks. Shots were fired into the air to celebrate the withdrawal in Kabul on Monday night.
The Pentagon said Tuesday that 2,461 troops were lost in the war, which started as it began: under Taliban rule. Since the evacuation mission began, 6,000 citizens and more than 123,000 people — Afghans “friends and allies” — were airlifted out by the U.S. and partners, but alarms are being raised over those left behind.
Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopolous in an exclusive interview on Aug. 18, “If there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay to get them all out.”
His poll numbers, too, showed uncommon cross-partisan agreement among Americans that withdrawing all U.S. troops by Biden’s deadline could be a grave mistake, according to an ABC/Ipsos poll conducted after Thursday’s suicide attack in Kabul which killed 13 service members and wounded 20. The survey found the percentage of Americans who think U.S. troops should stay until all Americans are out of Afghanistan is 86% among Democrats, 87% among Republicans and 86% among Independents.
Tuesday’s speech comes amid outrage expressed by some family members of those service members killed in last week’s airport attack over his handling of the withdrawal.
Some have criticized the president following Sunday’s dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base, where he met with families. White House press secretary Jen Psaki wouldn’t respond directly to criticism from one family but said that the president feels responsible for their loss at a briefing on Monday.
Republican lawmakers have also blasted Biden for his handling of the withdrawal, with Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., calling the withdrawal a “national disgrace” and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., claiming Biden has armed the Taliban by leaving behind equipment.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, in an exclusive interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” defended the withdrawal and contended that only the president, as commander in chief, knows what it is to make these hard decisions.
“Those criticizing are not the ones who have to sit in the Situation Room and make the hard calls about the threats that we face and the objectives we’re trying to obtain and President Biden made that hard call and it is a call he believes will ultimately serve the interests of our people, all of our citizens and our country,” he said on Tuesday.
Perhaps foreshadowing Biden’s remarks, Sullivan also claimed the U.S. and the international community have “enormous leverage” on the Taliban to ensure those Americans and Afghans who want to get out can do so.
But the administration hasn’t provided a clear plan for those evacuations beyond saying it’s relying on a Taliban commitment to provide “safe passage.”
The 100 to 200 Americans that Secretary of State Antony Blinken said still wanted to be evacuated weren’t able to reach the airport in Kabul on Monday before the last U.S. plane left. Of the five final flights, no American civilians made it on board.
Thousands of Afghans who worked with the U.S., who fear reprisal from the Taliban, also did not make it out and are forced to rely on Afghanistan’s new rulers for departure — of which there is no guarantee.
It’s unclear what the evacuation picture will look like from now that the U.S. military is gone.
(LA.) — Hurricane Ida battered Louisiana as a fierce Category 4 storm on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, bringing a new wave of devastation to the South.
Ida made landfall in Louisiana twice, first near Port Fourchon before noon local time and again two hours later in Lafourche Parish, obliterating neighborhoods and turning clear roads into rivers.
Ida appears to be less lethal than Katrina, which hit as a Category 3, claimed more than 1,800 lives and caused more than $100 billion in damage.
So far, three deaths have been attributed to Ida: a 60-year-old man in Ascension Parish died Sunday when a tree fell on a home, a motorist drowned in New Orleans, and a third person died in Jefferson Parish.
In Mississippi, two people died and at least 10 others were injured when a part of a highway near Lucedale gave out and sent vehicles plunging into a hole. Mississippi Highway Patrol Cp. Cal Robertson said the inundating rain may have caused the collapse.
The storm dumped up to 15 inches of rain in some places like Rigolets-Slidell, Louisiana, and 13 inches in New Orleans. Ida also brought powerful winds gusts of over 100 mph in some regions.
Ida also knocked out power to more than 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi — including all of New Orleans — and temporarily halted the city’s 911 emergency response system.
Over 1 million customers remain without power in Louisiana, as of Tuesday morning, according to poweroutage.us, as well as 55,000 in Mississippi and 7,000 in Alabama.
Officials in Jefferson Parish, home to 400,000 residents, warned it could be 21 days before power is restored.
Communities reeling from the destruction are now stranded without water. Some 18 water system outages have impacted over 312,000 customers and 14 boil water advisories are in place impacting over 329,000 people, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a press conference Monday evening.
Heat advisories are active in parts of Louisiana, threatening communities grappling with no electricity or access to air conditioning. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for southern Louisiana and Mississippi from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Another element Katrina didn’t have is the COVID-19 crisis. Some Louisiana hospitals pushed to the brink with an influx of coronavirus cases were forced to evacuate due to physical damage, water and electrical issues.
The Louisiana Department of Health told ABC News at least 11 hospitals had evacuations on some level and Terrebonne General Health System’s evacuation is still underway.
At least 39 medical facilities were operating on generator power, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said, Associated Press reported.
The state fire marshal office’s leading task force of about 900 individuals from 15 different states is conducting search and rescue missions with local responders. Some 5,000 National Guard members are also on the ground.
Edwards said at least 671 were rescued by Monday afternoon, with some desperate locals fleeing to their attics or roofs to wait for help.
Over 2,200 evacuees are staying in 41 shelters, Edwards said.
Jaclyn Hotard, the president of St. John the Baptist Parish, called Ida, “one of the worst natural disasters I’ve ever seen in St. John,” noting that “almost 800 people” have been rescued due to extreme flooding.
Entergy New Orleans, a major electricity company in the region, said a storm team of more than 20,000 and growing is assessing the vast damage and destruction across New Orleans and southeast Louisiana that toppled power poles and other equipment.
Over 3,600 FEMA employees have been deployed to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to help with meals, water and generators for power, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.
Ida, now a tropical depression, is centered on the border of Missouri and Tennessee and threatens to bring deadly flash flooding to the Gulf coast overnight as it continues to move north and east. Almost 80 million in 17 states are on flash flood alert from Mississippi to Massachusetts.
