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‘It’s worse than before the truce’: Strikes in Gaza resume at intensified pace, Palestinians say

December 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — After seven days without bombardments, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip woke up to the familiar sound of airstrikes in the early morning of Dec. 1.

“The war is back,” Shaimaa Ahmed, a 20-year-old engineering student, told ABC News.

“We woke up to the sound of gunfire. Ship fire. Tank fire. They’re firing from everywhere. It’s continuous and strong,” Ahmed, who had already fled her house on Oct. 31 following the orders of Israel to evacuate northern Gaza, said. “I feel like I’m being suffocated again.”

Israel resumed its retaliatory military operations in Gaza last week after the collapse of a temporary cease-fire as part of a broader hostage-prisoner exchange with Hamas. With thousands forced to flee again, some Palestinians told ABC News the war has resumed at an unprecedented pace and intensity.

New evacuation orders on Sunday left thousands to face another displacement in a desperate search for safety.

“The roads leading south towards Rafah [on the border with Egypt] are clogged with cars and donkey carts packed with people and their meager possessions,” the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency Affairs, Thomas White, wrote on X.

Almost two months in, the Israel-Hamas war has left at least 15,899 killed and 42,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health. In Israel, at least 1,200 have been killed and 6,900 injured, with 136 Israeli hostages still in Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

As the IDF moves forward with a ground operation in southern Gaza in what Israeli Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari defined “a new phase in our war against Hamas,” Palestinians said there is nowhere to go for safety. Some 1.9 million are currently displaced and moving across the Strip, according to UNRWA.

“What’s the next step? Is it Sinai or is it heaven? I have no idea,” 21-year-old Tala Herzallah told ABC News as she prepared to flee again on Saturday, after having evacuated her home in Gaza City a few weeks ago.

The IDF leaflets dropped in Khan Younis during the weekend warned people to leave the area and a QR code map showed the zones designated as safe by the IDF.

“We want civilians not to be in the area where we are fighting,” Israeli Lt. Col Jonathan Conricus told ABC News Monday. “We want to focus our firepower on Hamas and Hamas only.”

“Where to go after Khan Younis? There is only one place and it’s Rafah and it cannot include 2 million people,” 24-year-old Younes El-Hallaq told ABC News. “And more importantly, Rafah itself is being targeted.”

In the four days following the end of the cease-fire, 746 have been killed in the strikes, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, with victims in Rafah, too.

“Even in Rafah where people are being forced to flee the sound of airstrikes punctuate the day,” White wrote on X Monday.

While many have relocated over the weekend, others have decided to stay where they are either by choice or forced to do so by illnesses, disabilities or lack of accommodation and transport options.

“Since the beginning of the war, I have been displaced three times, and now I may go to another place,” Rasmiya Rabie, 51, from the town of Al-Qarara, north of Khan Yunis, told ABC News.

Rabie said her family received many calls from the Israeli army telling them to move to different areas.

“We are a large number and we cannot displace again,” she said.

Then, two days ago, a night of severe bombardment changed their mind.

“It was very difficult and that’s why we thought about moving for the third time. Now I am trying to find a place to go to,” Rabie said.

With a 75-year-old father and a 72-year-old mother, as well as two young children to care for, Nima Ashour, 43, said she could not leave even if she wanted to. Her family is also out of fuel and money, having evacuated from Al Rantisi Pediatric hospital two weeks ago. Ashour was in the hospital caring for cancer patients from newborns to 12 years old as a pediatric coordinator.

“What will we do? We will not do anything. My family has decided to stay at our place,” Ashour told ABC News.

“Even if you move, we do not believe that we are going to be safe. It’s the same situation we have faced in Gaza and now in Khan Younis. And for sure if we move anywhere, we’ll have the same destruction, the same bombing, the same targeting. At last, we have to face our destiny,” Ashour said.

With the reprisal of the bombing, a sense of fear and defeat has spread widely across the strip, where a severe humanitarian crisis is worsening by the day, representatives of Amnesty International, Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders told ABC News.

The aftermath of the end of the cease-fire also saw the first anti-government protest held in Tel Aviv since Oct. 7, shortly after the publication of a report by The New York Times claiming Israel partially knew about the plans for Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault more than a year before the terror attack but dismissed it as aspirational.

“For the last 57 days, we saw that the government has been doing exactly the opposite of what they need to do,” the organizer of the protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Moshe Radman, told ABC News.

“We understand this will be a long war, so we have to do it now, because every week that we are not protesting, Israel is becoming less and less attractive to its citizens,” he added.

Democratic governors have some advice for the unpopular president

December 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(PHOENIX) — Ground-breaking events. Presentations of preposterously oversized checks. Ribbon-cutting ceremonies — especially ribbon cuttings.

Increasing the in-your-face representations of things like a new battery manufacturing plant opening or the beginning of bridge construction — the fruits of the Inflation Reduction Act, the bipartisan infrastructure deal or the CHIPS and Science Act, all of which were championed by the White House — are how a group of generally popular Democratic governors think unpopular President Joe Biden can help improve his standing with the public ahead of a cutthroat election year.

After all, these governors said, that strategy has helped some of them win their own tough reelection fights.

“People love the announcement and love the groundbreaking, but the ribbon cutting is reality. Sometimes people talk down about when we present big checks. Well, that’s when the funding comes,” Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters at the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) winter meeting on Saturday, fresh off his 5% victory in ruby red Kentucky last month.

Biden, who continues to face strikingly poor poll numbers, has shown up at multiple such ceremonies, including in Kentucky. He visited in January alongside high-profile Republicans to address new funding that allowed improvements on the Brent Spence Bridge.

The governors think that’s where he should stay.

“I would be doing shovels or ribbons — morning, noon and night,” said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, the outgoing DGA chairman.

Some of the Democratic Party’s most prominent governors — including those, like Beshear, who have shrugged off Biden’s poor rating with the public to win notable elections — gathered in the Arizona desert over the weekend; there, they reckoned with the struggle of their party’s leader despite Democrats state-level success in recent years.

It’s not just Beshear: With a handful of exceptions like in Georgia and Mississippi, Democratic gubernatorial candidates have been elected in various marquee races and battlegrounds across the country, sometimes by double-digit margins.

“This is the best, most talented group of Democrats in my lifetime,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Friday.

“If I’m Biden, I want [Minnesota Gov. Tim] Walz on every damn show — Gretchen [Whitmer, of Michigan] — I mean, all these people,” Newsom said.

Walz, the incoming DGA chairman, agreed: “I think in some states, these governors will definitely help the president, pull the president up.”

The DGA raised around $30 million in 2015 and $43 million in 2019. Now, the organization is slated to raise $70 million by the end of 2023, according to Murphy. But Biden’s approval remains around 37%, according to 538’s analysis of national poll data — which could predict major challenges for him in his reelection fight next year.

Walz, like the other governors at the gathering, pinned Biden’s unpopularity on a lack of public awareness or acknowledgment for an economy that’s generally been strong and staying that way — perhaps due to the lag between some of his landmark legislation and its implementation on the ground.

At the same time, however, Americans have repeatedly voiced sharp disapproval of the high rate of inflation, which has fueled a cost-of-living crunch that has taken months and months and months to slowly curb.

“There’s a general malaise, and I think oftentimes the natural tendency is to blame the guy at the top,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, the term-limited Democrat in a state that voted for former President Donald Trump twice, told ABC News.

“I believe as this next year comes about, and we continue to educate the public about the generational changes that President Biden has made, more people will begin feeling it,” Cooper argued.

In a general election that appears — at this early point — to be headed for a rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump, a number of the Democratic governors offered their own takes on how Biden could notch victories in their states.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, the DGA vice chairwoman, warned the president to avoid talking about Trump and to remain authentic. Kelly suggested that includes avoiding topics he may not be as comfortable discussing publicly — namely abortion access, despite some swing state voters saying the issue has been a key one for them at the ballot box.

“I’m Irish Catholic, just like President Biden. I don’t talk about abortion … And I’m pro-choice, absolutely. And I know it was an issue last August. It was a topic of conversation. But I didn’t talk about it,” said Kelly, who was reelected governor by about two points in 2022.

Last August, a bid to remove abortion protections from Kansas’ state constitution was defeated by about 17 points.

Others disagreed with avoiding the topic of reproductive rights. Biden, for his part, has been vocal about supporting abortion access since the nationwide protections of Roe v. Wade were reversed in 2022.

“I think it’s widely known that [abortion] is probably an uncomfortable reality for him,” Murphy said of the president. “But I think we need to forget the political fallout.”

Cooper similarly said he thinks Biden should “be talking about protecting women’s reproductive freedom” in North Carolina — a state that Biden lost by just over a point in 2020 and one that could be his most competitive in 2024.

Other governors contended with the public’s pervasive concern about Biden’s age.

In a survey conducted by ABC News and The Washington Post in September, three-quarters of Americans said the 81-year-old president was too old to run for another term. Only half of Americans thought the same of 77-year-old Trump.

“I’d joke about it. Talk about the wisdom of [93-year-old investor] Warren Buffett and countless other examples who are 15 years older than he is. I would own it,” Murphy said.

What to know about McDonald’s new changes to classic menu items

December 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — McDonald’s burgers have been an American classic since 1955, but the iconic fast food chain has some changes planned to improve its buns, cheese and even how to cook its quintessential burgers.

McDonald’s first announced in April that its signature Big Mac, McDouble, cheeseburger and hamburger would be made with softer buns, caramelized patties cooked with white onions on the grill, cheese slices that melt more and even an extra special sauce.

Chris Young, senior director of global menu strategy, told The Wall Street Journal in late November that McDonald’s current menu is “quick, fast and safe, but it doesn’t necessarily taste great. So, we want to incorporate quality into where we’re at.”

As The Wall Street Journal first reported, there will be more than 50 tweaks to improve the new burgers that have been tested at the company’s Chicago headquarters.

Chef Chad Schafer revealed that the new burger is cooked with onions on top of the beef patty, before a layer of room-temperature cheese is added for faster melting, and all held together with a softer, glossy brioche-style sesame seed bun.

In addition to the new buns with a thicker base to help preserve heat, McDonald’s will use dehydrated onions that rehydrate as they cook on the burgers. Lettuce and pickles will be stored in smaller containers so that restaurant crews will be required to replenish the supply more often from the cooler.

According to the Wall Street Journal, McDonald’s also discovered that cooking six burgers at once, instead of eight as they do now, “improved consistency and delivered fresher patties.”

For fans of the special sauce on a Big Mac, McDonald’s said it plans to increase the condiment usage to half an ounce, so that it can drip out onto the wrapper.

McDonald’s claims the improvements are so good even the Hamburgler is coming out of retirement to steal a bite.

The updated menu items have already been rolling out in restaurants along the West Coast, according to McDonald’s, and a few lucky ABC staffers and their families stopped by the Golden Arches in Los Angeles for a taste test.

Staffers agreed the food was indeed “very saucy” and “very cheesy” and one staffer’s young daughter added, “Yeah, very good!”

The McDonald’s changes are coming at a time when the burger business is heating up and McDonald’s continues to hang on to its market shares amid competition from other popular chains like Shake Shack, In-N-Out Burger and Five Guys.

Business experts like strategist Kathleen Griffith said these tweaks may help McDonald’s keep up with its rivals.

“Being that burger that people know, pulling out the original mascots, that sort of strategy is never going to get you into trouble when you work on driving a consistent customer experience. It’s a good recipe,” Griffith said.

The rolling launch is anticipated to be completed by 2024 and while McDonald’s is not planning to increase prices for these burgers, prices can vary by individual franchises.

House explodes in Arlington, Virginia, after flare gun shot inside, police say

December 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(ARLINGTON, Va.) — A house in Arlington, Virgina, exploded Monday night, shortly after officers were executing a search warrant at the residence for reports of a person discharging several rounds with a flare gun, officials said during a press conference.

Police responded to a residence on the 800 block of North Burlington Street at approximately 4:45 p.m. Monday afternoon with reports of possible shots fired, said Ashley Savage, public information officer with Arlington County Police Department.

“The suspect inside the residence discharged several rounds. The house subsequently exploded,” Savage said.

Police officers sustained minor injuries and were treated on scene. Before the explosion, Savage said that a barricade situation took place after attempts to make contact with the suspect were unsuccessful.

“During the early parts of it, after we had obtained a search warrant, we were attempting to make contact with the individual. Our SWAT team was on scene at that point, we would determine that the incident would be a barricade because the suspect had not exited the residence,” she said. “We were attempting to make contact with the individual when shots were discharged inside the residence.”

Police said in a statement that a preliminary investigation indicated the suspect “discharged a flare gun approximately 30 – 40 times from inside his residence into the surrounding neighborhood.”

Then, as officers investigated, they obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s residence and unsuccessfully attempted to make contact with the suspect.

“As officers were attempting to execute the search warrant, the suspect discharged several rounds, from what is believed to be a firearm, inside the home. Subsequently, at approximately 8:25 p.m., an explosion occurred at the residence. The investigation into the circumstances of the explosion are ongoing,” the statement said.

As of approximately 10:30 p.m. Monday evening, the fire was under control and The Arlington County Fire Department continued to battle small spot fires. The investigation remains ongoing.

Neighbors several blocks away described feeling the concussion from the blast in their homes.

Witnesses described seeing flares in the sky emanating from the area of the blast prior to the blast.

Officials were aware of only one individual, the suspect, who was inside the residence at the time of the explosion. No details on their identity have been released. The suspect was still in the house and had not yet been taken into custody because ACPD had not been able to enter the residence as the fire was still ongoing, Savage said.

Man suspected of killing four in Los Angeles charged with murder: District Attorney

December 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — The man accused of killing three unhoused men in Los Angeles and another victim in San Dimas, California, over a four-day span last week was formally charged with murder Monday and set to appear before a judge.

Jerrid Powell, 33, was charged with four counts of murder, one count of residential robbery and one count of being a felon with a firearm, according to LA District Attorney George Gascón.

Powell also faces special circumstances of allegedly committing multiple murders and murder in the course of a robbery, as well as suspected personal use of a firearm, the DA’s office said.

The suspect appeared before a judge Monday afternoon and through his public attorney waived his right to a speedy trial.

The request now pushes Powell’s formal arraignment and plea to a later date, which the judge has scheduled for Jan. 8.

On Saturday, Los Angeles investigators said that Powell was the suspect linked to a series of killings that took place between Nov. 26 and Nov. 29.

He allegedly shot three unhoused men who were either sleeping on the street or in an alleyway in different parts of Los Angeles, on Nov. 26, Nov. 27 and Nov. 29, according to investigators.

The unhoused victims were only identified as a 37-year-old man, a 62-year-old man and a 52-year-old man, police said.

On Nov. 28, Powell allegedly followed Nicholas Simbolon into his garage, robbed him of his belongings and shot and killed him, police said.

Simbolon, 42, was a father of two who worked for the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office as a project manager in the I.T. department, authorities said.

Powell was arrested late on Nov. 29 following a traffic stop in Beverly Hills and booked the next day, police said.

Investigators used an automatic license plate reader system for a 2024 gray BMW to flag the suspect’s whereabouts and used surveillance footage from Simbolon’s murder, according to police. Civil rights groups have raised concerns over the use of this technology by the police over privacy issues.

“The swift actions of law enforcement undoubtedly saved lives this week,” Gascón said in a statement.

Investigators are still searching for a motive and the investigation is ongoing.

If convicted, Powell faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole, the DA’s office said.

Israel-Gaza live updates: ‘Nowhere is safe in Gaza’: WHO

December 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended early Friday, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.

The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

Here’s how the news is developing:

Dec 05, 1:38 AM EST
‘Nowhere is safe in Gaza’: WHO

The World Health Organization painted a bleak picture of the situation in Gaza on Monday night and called for Israel “to take every possible measure to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as per the laws of war.”

According to the latest information from the WHO, there are only 18 functioning hospitals in Gaza, with three only providing first aid and the remainder just partial services.

With an increasing number of Palestinians displaced as the war continues, the WHO says, “syndromic surveillance has noted increases in infectious diseases, including acute respiratory infections, scabies, jaundice, diarrhoea, and bloody diarrhoea. Shelters in the south are also reporting cases of acute jaundice syndrome, a worrisome signal of hepatitis.”

The WHO previously said, “syndromic surveillance systems seek to use existing health data in real-time to provide immediate analysis and feedback to those charged with investigation and follow-up of potential outbreaks.”

The WHO warned thousands are likely to be cut off from health care services due to increased ground operations by Israel in southern Gaza. The open hospitals are operating beyond capacity, with the bed occupancy rate at 171% and intensive care units at 221%, the WHO said, based on data from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

WHO workers called the situation at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis “catastrophic, with the building and hospital grounds grossly overcrowded with patients and displaced people seeking shelter.”

The WHO said in a statement Monday night it has recorded 203 “attacks on hospitals, ambulances, medical supplies, and the detention of health-care workers attacks on hospitals, ambulances medical supplies” between Oct. 7 and Nov. 28.

“This is unacceptable,” the WHO’s statement read. “There are means to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and they should be instituted.”

Escaped kangaroo from zoo caught by the tail after four-day search

December 5, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A kangaroo that escaped from a zoo has been found and safely captured by authorities after a four-day search, police say.

Police officers for the Durham Regional Police in Ontario, Canada, were on what authorities called a “roo-tine” patrol when they received a report of a kangaroo sighting in Oshawa — approximately 43 miles northeast of Toronto.

The kangaroo initially went missing from a nearby zoo at the end of last week and the search for the missing marsupial continued through the weekend until authorities — ironically the same ones who initially received the missing kangaroo report — were deployed for the rescue mission after it was spotted, police said.

“Once officers located the kangaroo, they followed her to the area of Wilson Rd N and Winchester Rd E when it appeared the kangaroo stopped to take a little break,” said the Durham Regional Police in a statement following the animal rescue. “While doing so, the officers managed to sneak up behind her and grab her tail.”

The officers were briefed prior to the rescue on “safe kangaroo capture techniques” and were informed that the safest way to catch a kangaroo is to grab the animal by the tail.

“The kangaroo gave up and surrendered peacefully to police officers,” police said. “She then received a ride in one of our K9 kennels back to the zoo where she is being examined. Her four day adventure has come to an end and she will continue on with her journey to Quebec in the near future.”

The marsupial will be safely returned to her enclosure which will, most likely, have added security to prevent her from escaping again.

Said the Durham Regional Police: “Thank you to the community and all the volunteer networks that have come together over the last few days to bring this situation to a happy conclusion.”

What to know about the 4th Republican presidential debate

December 4, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — An even smaller field of Republican presidential candidates will face off in the fourth primary debate on Wednesday in Alabama.

Viewers will see fewer hopefuls on stage after South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott suspended his campaign last month. The party’s higher thresholds to qualify may also prevent some candidates from making the cut.

Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner, according to polls, is once again not expected to participate. He’ll be fundraising instead.

Here’s what to know about the fourth Republican presidential primary debate.

How to watch the debate

The debate — which will be held at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa — will air on NewsNation, a relative newcomer in the 24-hour cable news landscape, at 8 p.m. EST on Wednesday. It will also be broadcast in the Eastern and Central time zones on the company’s broadcast television network, The CW.

The faceoff will be livestreamed on NewsNation’s website as well as on Rumble.

The moderators will be Elizabeth Vargas, the anchor of NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports”; Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News and NBC News anchor who now hosts “The Megyn Kelly Show” on Sirius XM; and Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of The Washington Free Beacon.

ABC News will live blog the action on the debate stage and provide key takeaways while 538 will share analysis.

Who will be participating in the presidential debate?

It appears that at least three candidates will make the fourth debate, which, as with previous debates, has an increasingly heightened threshold to make the stage. The deadline to qualify is Monday night.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy all appear to have met the polling and donor requirements set by the Republican National Committee.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie qualified for the third debate, but his participation in the fourth debate is not yet certain. He seems to still be below the RNC polling criteria to participate.

The RNC has not yet confirmed the qualified candidates.

Scott, who also participated in the third debate, suspended his campaign in mid-November.

How do candidates qualify for the fourth debate stage?

The RNC upped its qualification criteria for candidates to participate in the fourth debate.

This time, the national party said participants need to be polling at 6% or higher in two national polls or in one national poll and at least 6% in one early poll from two separate “carve out” states, which include Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

The polling requirement is an increase from the 4% needed for the third GOP debate.

Additionally, to make the stage, the White House hopefuls must now have 80,000 unique donors that include at least 200 people in 20 or more states or territories

All candidates must also sign a pledge to support the party’s eventual 2024 nominee if they want to participate.

The candidates must meet the requirements no later than 48 hours before the debate.

Will Donald Trump participate in the debate?

Trump did not attend the first three debates, indicating he saw no point given his large polling lead — and it appears he won’t participate in the fourth one either.

“President Trump’s statement was that he would not attend the debates,” adviser Chris LaCivita said in the days following the second debate. “Plural … And that’s his position until it’s not.”

Trump is scheduled to be at a campaign fundraiser in Florida on the day of the debate.

Appearing on Fox News on Wednesday, Haley urged Trump to stop “hiding” and join in on the debates.

“He needs to get on the debate stage. He needs to confront us,” she said. “He needs to let us, you know, talk about the differences and go forward.”

Six weeks until Iowa caucuses: Where things stand in the presidential race

December 4, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses are six weeks away as of Monday, with former President Donald Trump maintaining a hefty lead in Republican primary polls while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley jockey for more distant second place as they argue they are better alternatives given Trump’s extensive controversies and legal trouble.

The state’s nominating contest on Jan. 15 is a prominent opportunity for candidates to inject a surge of momentum into their campaigns, if they pull off a strong result — or risk seeing interest around their candidacies fade if Iowa voters reject them.

The last three Iowa GOP caucus winners — then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, then-Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — ultimately did not win their party’s presidential nominations in 2008, 2012 or 2016, though each win brought renewed public attention to their chances.

Nonetheless, the caucus results are the first definitive indication of where voters actually stand, after months and months of polling.

Here’s where things stand.

Trump maintains a huge lead

According to 538’s polling average, Trump remains the clear favorite. He hasn’t dropped below 40% support in the polls since late August. No other candidate has topped 20% in that same period.

Still, DeSantis and Haley trying to chip away at his advantage.

Trump faces some political headwinds in the state, including knocking popular Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds for her endorsement of DeSantis.

Trump has not traveled as extensively in Iowa as DeSantis has, but his lead underscores the continued popularity he has among the GOP base.

DeSantis still projecting confidence

DeSantis has put a premium on Iowa’s caucuses, insisting he’ll pull out a win next month as part of what he calls his plan to show another Republican can succeed even if they aren’t named Trump.

“We’re going to win Iowa,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “It’s going to help propel us to the nomination. But I think we’ll have a lot of work that we’ll have to do beyond that. I don’t think you take anything for granted.”

DeSantis has blitzed the state, visiting all 99 counties to reach the “full Grassley” — a feat named after the state’s senior Sen. Chuck Grassley. One of DeSantis’ affiliated super PACs, Never Back Down, has also established an expansive ground presence throughout the state.

However, his polling hasn’t budged in recent months, according to 538, and remains notably lower than in the weeks after he first entered the race in May.

Haley gaining some ground with just weeks to go

As the weeks tick by for Haley to make her pitch to voters, her support has been ticking up in Iowa and across the country, 538’s polling average shows.

Haley sat at a lowly 3.8% in 538’s Iowa polling average on Aug. 23 and now sits at 15%, a little less than 3 points behind DeSantis.

The South Carolinians’ swell of support comes after likely primary voters gave her high marks in three straight strong debate performances, on top of a heavier travel schedule that ramped up once her polling began to improve.

Haley also recently won the support of the Koch-affiliated Americans for Prosperity Action, which is expected to add more on-the-ground infrastructure to help her.

Rest of the field either falling flat or not even bothering

Outside of Trump, DeSantis and Haley, Republican candidates are largely not breaking through..

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy captured attention with growing momentum in the polls in August, but that has since stalled and he is stuck at approximately 5% in 538’s polling average, even after expanding his campaign infrastructure in the state.

And former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is sitting at about 4%, though he’s largely forgoing the caucuses to focus on New Hampshire, where he believes the more independent primary electorate could be a better fit for his anti-Trump message.

No action on the Democratic side

Democrats, who demoted Iowa in their primary calendar for other states that they feel are more representative of their base, are largely staying away from the state.

Iowa’s Democratic caucuses in 2020 were infamously marred by technical glitches and saw now-President Joe Biden finish fifth, sparking questions over how representative electorate was of Democrats elsewhere.

The 2024 Democratic Iowa caucuses will also be held on Jan. 15 but the process that really matters, where voters select their presidential preference, will be done via mail ending on March 5.

American woman killed in shark attack in the Bahamas

December 4, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — An American woman has been killed by a shark while paddleboarding in the Bahamas, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

The woman was paddleboarding with a male relative near the back of the Sandals resort, about three-quarters of a mile out to sea, when she was attacked, police said.

A lifeguard responded on a rescue boat, police said. CPR was administered but the injuries to the right side of her body were too severe, police said.

The woman, whose name has not been released, was believed to be in her 40s and from Boston, police said.

Five people were killed worldwide in unprovoked shark attacks last year: one in the U.S., two in Egypt and two in South Africa, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.

Sandals said in a statement, “We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of a guest while on a paddleboarding activity nearly a mile from the shore. We wish to express our heartfelt condolences to the guest’s family and loved ones. We remain in close contact with them and are providing all support possible during this difficult time.”

ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.

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