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(NEW YORK) — The countdown is on for “Good Morning America” co-anchor Michael Strahan and the Blue Origin crew of astronauts to blast off to space aboard New Shepard.

The team completed its Flight Readiness Review and confirmed the vehicle has met all mission requirements for launch.

The Dec. 11 mission will be the New Shepard rocket’s third human flight this year and marks the first with a full astronaut manifest of six crew members in the capsule, according to Blue Origin.

The “GMA” co-anchor took part in a training camp with his fellow crew members ahead of today’s launch from Blue Origin’s “Launch Site One” facility in a remote area in the West Texas desert.

Dec 11, 5:31 am
What Strahan will bring to space

Strahan told “GMA” that he’s bringing a few personal items to space including his Super Bowl and Hall of Fame rings, his retired Giants jersey, special watches and the shell casings from the gun that was fired at his father’s military funeral. Strahan said he also added his grandfather’s pocket watch that was given to him by his mom.

“This is a once in a lifetime experience, of course, you want to have your most prized possessions and meaningful belongings with you,” Strahan said.

Dec 11, 5:26 am
Meet the crew

Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of astronaut Alan Shepard who was the first American in space and the fifth man on the moon, will follow in her father’s footsteps on Saturday. She told “GMA” her father would tell her to enjoy the moment and take in the view.

Space industry executive and philanthropist Dylan Taylor, investor Evan Dick, and Bess Ventures founder Lane Bess and his child, Cameron, will also be part of the crew for New Shepard’s 19th mission. Lane and Cameron Bess will become the first parent-child pair to fly in space.

Dec 11, 5:18 am
Thursday launch delayed, pushed to Saturday

Strahan and five others originally trained and prepared for a Thursday launch from West Texas, but the Jeff Bezos-owned aerospace travel company made the call Wednesday to delay due to weather.

“Due to forecasted winds on Thursday, December 9 and Friday, December 10, the New Shepard launch team has made the call to delay the launch of NS-19 to Saturday, December 11,” Blue Origin said in a statement. “Liftoff from Launch Site One is targeted for 8:45am CST / 14:45 UTC.”

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(KENTUCKY) — A devastating tornado outbreak in western Kentucky has claimed the lives of at least 50 people, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.

The total could reach 75 to 100 people, he added, calling it “one of the hardest nights in Kentucky history.”

One tornado was on the ground for 200 miles, he said, devastating towns like Mayfield and Princeton late Friday. At least four tornadoes tore through western Kentucky.

Beshear has activated the National Guard for search and rescue and recovery operations.

“We will make it through this, we will rebuild. We are strong, resilient people,” Beshear said at a 4 a.m. press conference.

Tornadoes were also confirmed on the ground in Princeton, Kentucky, just after 10 p.m. local time, in Mayfield, Kentucky, at about 9:30 p.m. local time and near Hornersville, Missouri, at about 8 p.m. local time.

Tornado watches were also issued in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee.

Shortly before 7 p.m. local time, a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” was confirmed near Jonesboro, Arkansas, moving northeast at 60 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

In Monette, Arkansas, one person was killed at a nursing home when a suspected tornado moved through Friday night, Craighead County, Arkansas, Judge Marvin Day told Jonesboro ABC affiliate KAIT. Authorities had initially said two people were killed. Five others suffered serious injuries.

TRAFFIC ALERT: I-35 southbound north of Faribault is closed. Seven-vehicle crash. Northbound lanes remain open. Expect travel delays southbound. Check https://t.co/xbK5MXsJli for road conditions. Slow down, watch for emergency responders on scene. #faribaultmn #mnwx #I35mn #mndot pic.twitter.com/qDLoXEsga8

— MnDOT District 6 (@mndotsoutheast) December 10, 2021

Meanwhile, a winter storm warning has been issued in the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes where snow is set to blow through Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. A winter storm warning is in effect for cities including Aspen, Sioux Falls and Minneapolis.

This will be the first major winter storm for the Minneapolis-St. Paul region this season. The Twin Cities area could see more than 1 foot of snow.

Along the East Coast, record-high temperatures are possible Saturday afternoon.

Temperatures are forecast to climb to 62 degrees in Boston, 66 in New York, 73 in Washington, D.C., and 77 in Savannah, Georgia.

But strong thunderstorms may hit the Carolinas and the Northeast on Saturday night. There is a small chance of tornadoes in the Mid-Atlantic.

Wind alerts are being issued from Chicago to Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. Power outages are possible.

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(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The city of Columbus, Ohio, has agreed to pay $5.75 million in damages to people injured during a wave of protests last year, according to a settlement reached Thursday.

Protests had erupted across the nation and in Columbus after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck on May 25, 2020 while Chauvin was arresting Floyd.

Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd. He received a sentence of 22 1/2 years in prison on June 25.

Some protesters had filed a lawsuit against the city in July 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, alleging the police department used excessive force against them, violating their constitutional rights.

“During the protests in Columbus, some plaintiffs were significantly injured. Therefore, it’s incumbent upon the City to accept responsibility and pay restitution,” city attorney Zach Klein said in a statement. “Many Columbus Division of Police officers did perform their jobs professionally during that time, but this litigation highlighted serious issues that must be addressed.”

As part of the settlement, the city also agreed to a permanent injunction on the use of non-lethal force against peaceful protesters, who are not harming people or destroying property.The injunction bans the use of tear gas, pepper spray, flash-bang grenades, rubber bullets, wooden pellets, batons and more against peaceful protesters.

“While this has certainly been a difficult and painful moment for our community, it has yielded important, and in some instances long overdue, reforms to policing practices, policies, and oversight,” Klein said.

A federal judge had placed a preliminary injunction on the city earlier this year ordering police to stop using non-lethal force on non-violent protesters; the permanent injunction prevents police from reintroducing those tactics.

“We have implemented significant changes in protest response and training since last year’s protests,” said Columbus department of public safety director Robert Clark “Before there can be healing, there must be accountability,” he stated.

The settlement is conditional on the approval of the Columbus City Council, according to court filings. The funds to pay for the settlement will come from the city’s general fund account.

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(OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich.) — Michigan’s Oxford school district is reopening for the first time since last week’s deadly shooting at Oxford High School.

Four students were killed and seven people were hurt in the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford Township. The suspected gunman and his parents have been charged.

The high school has yet to reopen, but students in eighth grade and younger are returning to classrooms for a half-day on Friday, with several changes in place.

No backpacks are allowed in school through at least next week, Superintendent Tim Throne said in a statement Thursday.

Every building will have law enforcement, private security, trained trauma specialists and additional staff on-site, he said, and staff will undergo trauma-response training.

Every school will also have trained therapy dogs through the rest of the school year, he said.

Thorne also said that the district has software in place on school-provided accounts to manage “all outgoing content from students and staff” and immediately raise “any concerning images, links to websites and shared items from Google Drive for our technology safety and security team.”

Thorne said the schools “will be acknowledging, in an age/grade-appropriate way based on recommendations from trained mental health counselors and crisis response experts, why we have been closed for the last seven days.”

“If you and/or your child is struggling with the return to school, please contact your child’s principal so we can work to help them move forward,” he said.

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(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.2 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 793,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Just 60.4% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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

Dec 10, 10:04 am
Masks or proof of vaccination required in all indoor public places in New York

Masks will now be required in all indoor public places in New York state unless the business or venue requires proof of full vaccination, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday.

The new measure takes effect Monday and lasts until at least Jan. 15 as the state tries to disrupt a winter surge.

New York’s seven-day average case rate has jumped by 43% since Thanksgiving, according to the governor’s office.

“We shouldn’t have reached the point where we are confronted with a winter surge, especially with the vaccine at our disposal, and I share many New Yorkers’ frustration that we are not past this pandemic yet,” Hochul said in a statement. “I want to thank the more than 80 percent of New Yorkers who have done the right thing to get fully vaccinated. If others will follow suit, these measures will no longer be necessary.”

Dec 09, 7:33 pm
At least 25 states have confirmed omicron cases

At least 25 states have now reported cases of the omicron variant, just over a week after California identified the first case in the U.S.

Iowa, Michigan and Virginia became the latest states Thursday to confirm positive cases of the new variant of concern.

Other states with confirmed cases include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky told the Associated Press Wednesday that most of the cases have been mild, though there has been at least one hospitalization.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Dec 09, 4:22 pm
US daily case average up by nearly 83% since October

COVID-19-related hospital admissions in the U.S. are up by 47% in the last month, according to federal data. Nearly 80% of adult ICU beds are full.

The U.S. is now reporting more than 117,000 new cases each day. The daily case average has surged by nearly 83% since late October, according to federal data.

New Hampshire holds the nation’s highest case rate, followed by Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Indiana, Vermont, Massachusetts and New York.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Dec 09, 2:54 pm
Over 2 million 5- to 11-year-olds fully vaccinated

Over 2 million children ages 5 to 11 are now fully vaccinated, White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar said.

These kids are among the over 200 million Americans of all ages who are now fully vaccinated, according to the White House.

Shahpar’s tweet added, “Early evidence indicates boosters increase protection against Omicron. Get boosted!”

However, roughly two-thirds of parents of elementary school-aged children are either holding off on getting their younger kids vaccinated or refuse to do so, according to a poll released Thursday by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.

Parents of teens are more willing to get their kids vaccinated, but only about half of that age group have gotten the shot so far, KFF found.

The new findings come despite increasing evidence that the vaccine is safe and that kids and teens are now helping to drive up case numbers.

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(NEW YORK) — A major storm is moving from the Rockies to the East Coast over the next two days, set to bring heavy snow to the Upper Midwest and severe thunderstorms to the east.

A winter storm warning has been issued in the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes where snow is set to blow through South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

This will be the first major winter storm for the Minneapolis-St. Paul region this season. The Twin Cities area could see more than 1 foot of snow.

From Texas to Indiana, the threat will be strong tornadoes and damaging winds on Friday night.

Tornadoes are especially dangerous at night because residents may sleep through alerts.

Memphis to Indianapolis could see the worst of the severe weather.

Record-high temperatures are possible along the East Coast on Saturday afternoon.

Temperatures are forecast to climb to 62 degrees in Boston, 66 in New York, 71 in Washington, D.C., and 74 in Charleston and Raleigh.

Saturday night, strong thunderstorms may hit the Carolinas and the Northeast. There is a small chance of tornadoes in the Mid-Atlantic.

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(OXFORD, Mich.) — More than a week after the mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan, the last remaining hospitalized victim has left the intensive care unit, authorities said Thursday.

The hospitalized student is one of 11 people who were shot, four fatally, at the school on Nov. 30. She has been moved to a “standard room” at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital, according to Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe. The 17-year-old student, who has not been identified, is expected to remain hospitalized for another four to six weeks during her rehabilitation, McCabe said in a statement.

Six students and a teacher were among those wounded in the shooting. Four students were killed in what prosecutors allege was a premeditated attack.

The suspected shooter, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, a sophomore at the high school, faces multiple charges, including four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of assault with intent to murder, after allegedly pulling a semiautomatic handgun out of his backpack and firing it in the school’s hallway. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, have also each been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting. All three have pleaded not guilty to their charges.

On Thursday, the family of two students at the school, including one shot during the attack, filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Oxford Community School District and various school employees, alleging they enabled the suspected shooter in the days and hours before the shooting.

Riley Franz, a 17-year-old senior, was struck in the neck, while her sister, Bella Franz, a 14-year-old freshman, stood next to her and “narrowly escaped the bullets discharged toward her, her sister and her friends,” according to the complaint filed in Detroit federal court on behalf of the sisters.

“We’re going to hold people responsible for betraying the trust we put in them to protect our children,” the family’s attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, said during a press event announcing the lawsuit Thursday. “We’re going to hold every one of them responsible.”

The suit charges that Oxford Community Schools downplayed social media threats allegedly made by Crumbley prior to the shooting, including “countdowns and threats of bodily harm, including death … warning of violent tendencies and murderous ideology prior to actually coming to school with the handgun and ammunition to perpetuate the slaughter,” the complaint stated.

It also alleges school staff acted recklessly by letting him return to class after a meeting with his parents over violent drawings just hours before students were gunned down.

The district is not commenting on the allegations in the lawsuit at the request of the prosecutor to “avoid compromising” the court proceedings, according to a letter its attorney, Timothy Mullins, sent to Fieger on Thursday. “Furthermore, to allow the entire community the ability to heal, I have no intention of litigating this matter in the media,” Mullins wrote.

School leaders have said Crumbley’s parents refused to take him home after the meeting, and because he lacked a disciplinary record, they sent him back to class.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who brought charges against the suspected shooter and his parents, said she has not ruled out charging school officials.

In a letter to the school community Wednesday, Oxford Community Schools Superintendent Tim Throne said the district has been “fully cooperative” with the county investigation into the school shooting.

He has also called for a third-party investigation into all of Crumbley’s communication with students and staff leading up to the shooting. In his letter Wednesday, he noted he would recommend to the district school board “a review of our entire system.”

The district plans to welcome students, except for high schoolers, back to the classroom Friday for the first time since the deadly shooting. The half-day is part of a “safe, slow and soft re-opening,” and students will be greeted by an increased law enforcement presence, therapy dogs and trauma specialists, Throne said in a letter to families on Thursday.

Backpacks will not be allowed in buildings through at least the end of the next week, the superintendent added.

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(CHICAGO) — The jury has reached a verdict in the case against actor Jussie Smollett, who was charged with lying about a racist attack.

The “Empire” actor alleged he was attacked and called racist and homophobic slurs by two men in Chicago in January 2019. He has maintained it was not orchestrated by himself.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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(CHICAGO) — After just 10 hours of deliberation, a Chicago jury has found actor Jussie Smollett guilty on five of six counts for filing a false police report related to the hoax racist attack he suffered at the hands of two men in January 2019.

The “Empire” actor alleged he was attacked, doused with an unknown liquid, had a noose placed around his neck and called racist and homophobic slurs by two men late at night on a Chicago street. He has maintained it was not orchestrated by himself.

He did not show any reaction as the verdicts were read.

Smollett was charged with six counts of felony disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report.

The defense rested its case on Tuesday after a week of testimony, with Smollett taking the stand in his own defense. He alleged Abimbola and Ola Osundairo, the brothers who carried out the assault, were lying when they said during the trial that they were friends of Smollett and had been paid $3,500 to carry out the attack.

Smollett, 39, received widespread support in the wake of the attack and made an emotional appearance at a concert in early February 2019, but then word emerged after authorities spoke to the Osundario brothers’ return from overseas that the attack was allegedly a hoax. Smollett was charged on Feb. 20, 2019, with Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson saying the attack was orchestrated because he was unhappy with his salary on the Fox hit show.

The charges were dropped against Smollett in March 2019, but a special prosecutor announced an indictment for the six disorderly conduct charges was handed down in February 2020. Smollett pleaded not guilty.

The jury deliberated for about three hours on Wednesday and then began again on Thursday morning.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — The lack of police department participation in reporting use-of-force incidents could result in the FBI never publishing the data and the collection effort being shut down, according to a report released this week by the Government Accountability Office.

In 2019, the FBI launched a voluntary use of force reporting system, designed to create a national database for law enforcement use-of-force incidents, in an effort to provide better transparency and accountability. It was started in 2016, when then-FBI Director Jim Comey stated his intention to have the FBI capture use-of-force data.

“It is a narrative driven by video images of real and gut-wrenching misconduct, by images of possible misconduct, by images of perceived misconduct,” Comey said in 2016. “It’s a narrative given force by the awesome power of human empathy.”

Recent police use-of-force incidents have resulted in discipline or criminal charges. Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder after he put a knee on George Floyd’s neck over Memorial Day weekend in 2020. Former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, officer Kim Potter is currently on trial for allegedly mistaking her gun for a Taser and killing Daunte Wright.

In 2019, the FBI received 44% of participation and in 2020, 55% participation, the report, released Tuesday, said.

“I think the lack of ability to have reliable and comprehensive data on police use of force is one of the biggest things that is, in my view, is hampering law enforcement’s objective, which is really to gain trust to the community,” Jason C. Johnson, President of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, told ABC News. “It’s an area that, we’re very clearly, it has struggled in recent years. And so it is critical that we have thorough, comprehensive data about police use of force.”

The Office of Budget and Management tasked the FBI with reporting out the data.

“Due to insufficient participation from law enforcement agencies, the FBI faces risks that it may not meet the participation thresholds established in OMB’s terms of clearance for publishing data from the National Use-of-Force Data Collection, and therefore may never publish use-of-force incident data from the collection,” the GAO report says.

Johnson and Sheriff Vernon Stanforth of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio agree that some local communities don’t have the staffing or funding to fulfill these voluntary data requests.

“An agency has to [sometimes] decide: ‘Do I hire a clerical person or do I hire road units to protect my communities? So, which do I spend my money on?,'” Stanforth, who serves as president of the National Sheriff’s Association, said.

The report says the data collection will be “discontinued” by the end of 2022, if more departments don’t participate.

The stipulation by the OMB says that if the FBI does not reach 60% cooperation by the end of 2022, “the FBI was to end the data collection effort and explore alternatives for collecting law enforcement use-of-force data.”

If there is 60% of cooperation by law enforcement agencies, FBI will publish “limited information.”

Amid the calls for policing reform following the Floyd killing, President Trump Donald Trump issued an executive order tying database reporting to federal funding — on top of the existing FBI program.

The order called for the database to “include a mechanism to track, as permissible, terminations or de-certifications of law enforcement officers, criminal convictions of law enforcement officers for on-duty conduct, and civil judgments against law enforcement officers for improper use of force. The database … shall account for instances where a law enforcement officer resigns or retires while under active investigation related to the use of force.”

But a Congressional Research Service report that addressed whether a potential cutoff in federal grant funding provided enough incentive for local departments to comply concluded that “it most likely accounts for a relatively small portion of any local government’s policing budget.”

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