(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. economy grew significantly more at the outset of this year than an initial measurement indicated, according to a major upward revision released on Thursday by the Commerce Department.
Gross domestic product increased at a 2% annualized rate for a three-month period ending in March — a sizable jump from the previous estimate of 1.3%.
The fresh measurement slightly exceeds the 1.9% growth that had been originally forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Despite the upward revision, U.S. economic growth over the first three months of this year was slower than the 2.6% growth in the previous quarter. In turn, that performance was down from 3.2% growth in the previous quarter.
The economic growth at the outset of this year was attributed to a rise in consumer spending and export sales, among other factors. An estimate of personal income over that period was revised upward by nearly 10% in the data released on Thursday.
The major upward revision marks the latest sign of resilient economic performance, despite an aggressive series of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve intended to slash inflation by slowing the economy and cutting demand.
Both consumer spending and hiring have remained solid. A jobs report earlier this month showed robust labor market growth in May, with 339,000 jobs added compared to Wall Street estimates of just 195,000.
However, while inflation has fallen significantly from a peak last summer, it remains at a level double the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.
Thursday’s revised economic data arrives a day after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell voiced an optimistic message about the U.S. economy and downplayed the threat of a recession.
“The U.S. economy has actually been quite resilient,” Powell said on Wednesday in Sentra, Portugal, at a conference organized by the European Central Bank.
While acknowledging that a recession is “certainly possible,” Powell said such an outcome is “not the most likely case.”
Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve paused its aggressive series of interest rate hikes, ending a string of 10 consecutive rate increases that stretched back 15 months.
Despite continued strength, U.S. labor market growth has slowed from its previous breakneck pace, suggesting that demand for workers has waned and employers in turn have faced less pressure to offer high wages, Powell said.
A slowdown of wage increases offers hope for the inflation fight, he added.
“We’re getting the softening we need,” Powell said. “We’re getting it slower than expected but it’s nonetheless happening.”
(NEW YORK) — Three men who funded the company that became Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform have been charged with insider trading.
Michael Shvartsman, Gerald Shvartsman and Bruce Garelick made more than $22 million by trading in shares of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, according to federal prosecutors in New York.
The three investors were arrested Thursday on securities fraud charges that accused them of violating an agreement about Digital World Acquisition Corporation’s intent to acquire Trump Media and Technology Group, the company that runs Truth Social.
Garelick was given a seat on DWAC’s board, allowing him access to non-public information about the company’s plans to merge with Trump Media. According to federal prosecutors, Garelick provided the information to Michael and Gerald Shvartsman, who were able to buy millions of shares before news of the Trump Media merger became public.
Prosecutors also said the information was passed to Michael Shvartsman’s neighbors and to Gerald Shvartsman’s employees at a furniture supply store. As soon as the news hit and the share price increased in value, the defendants, the neighbors and the employees all sold at significant profit, according to the criminal charges.
Michael Shvartsman, 52, of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida; Gerald Shvartsman, 45, of Aventura, Florida; and Garelick, 53, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, all face securities fraud charges that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
“Insider trading is not a quick buck,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “It’s not easy money. It’s not a sure thing. It’s cheating. It’s a bad bet. It’s a ticket to prison.”
(WASHINGTON) — A unanimous Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of a former U.S. Postal Service letter carrier from Pennsylvania who didn’t want to work on Sundays in order to observe the Sabbath and was disciplined for skipping shifts.
The decision by Justice Samuel Alito gives Gerald Groff, the carrier, a chance to potentially get his job back and more broadly raises the bar for when employers can legally refuse to accommodate the religious practice of their employees.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to accommodate the employee unless it would pose an “undue hardship.”
The Supreme Court 46 years ago interpreted that to mean anything more than a “de minimis” cost on the business — a low bar.
In Thursday’s ruling, Alito and the court clarified and tightened that standard, saying federal law requires employers to show more deference to employees unless there is a “substantial burden” on the business.
The case will have an impact on workplaces across America and the ability of employees to more easily seek religious accommodations from their employers.
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Thursday set new limits on affirmative action programs in cases involving whether public and private colleges and universities can continue to use race as one factor among many in student admissions.
The court held, in a 6-3 opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, that Harvard and UNC’s admissions programs violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
The blockbuster cases put affirmative action, which has been used for decades by colleges and universities to address inequality and diversify their campuses, in the spotlight. The Supreme Court had repeatedly ruled since 1978 schools may consider the race of applicants in pursuing educational benefits from a diverse student body, so long as they did not use a quota system.
Students for Fair Admissions, a conservative group, sued Harvard University and the University of North Carolina over their race-conscious admissions programs, alleging intentional discrimination toward Asian American applicants.The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the group in a decision that will have major ramifications for the college admissions process in the U.S.
“Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points,” Roberts wrote. “We have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way, and we will not do so today.”
“At the same time, as all parties agree, nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise,” Roberts continued.
The court said that it has “permitted race-based admissions only within the confines of narrow restrictions. University programs must comply with strict scrutiny, they may never use race as a stereotype or negative, and — at some point — they must end.”
Justice Sotomayor, in her dissent, said the court’s decision “rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress.”
“It holds that race can no longer be used in a limited way in college admissions to achieve such critical benefits,” she wrote. “In so holding, the court cements a superficial rule of colorblindness as a constitutional principle in an endemically segregated society where race has always mattered and continues to matter.”
(WASHINGTON) — In a dramatic move to differentiate himself on a key foreign policy issue, former Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday made a surprise trip to Ukraine, projecting solidarity against Russia in a way, so far, unmatched by his Republican competitors.
His visit comes about four months after President Joe Biden walked through the capital of Kyiv.
A divide on support for Ukraine emerged early in the GOP field when then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson asked candidates and hopefuls in March to respond to a questionnaire about the war. Former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis took similar isolationist positions, with DeSantis facing criticism for distilling the conflict down to “a territorial dispute.”
“The war in Ukraine is not a territorial dispute. It’s a Russian invasion,” Pence told ABC News This Week co-anchor Jonathan Karl in March, staking out a position opposite from the two front-runners. “It’s just the latest instance of Russia attempting to redraw international lines by force, and the United States of America must continue at a quickened pace to provide the Ukrainian military the support that they need to repel the Russian invasion — and the stakes are that high.”
Pence has only amplified this split since making his bid official this month.
In a CNN town hall from Iowa on the day he launched his campaign, he said, “Frankly, when Vladimir Putin rolled into Ukraine, the former president called him a genius. I know the difference between a genius and a war criminal.”
In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, he interjected the difference on his own when talking about Trump.
“My former running mate, seeing war raging in Eastern Europe, is signaling an ambiguous message, not even able to say who he would prefer to see win the war in Ukraine,” Pence said. “The United States needs to stand by the courageous fighters in Ukraine, give them the resources more quickly than Joe Biden has, to take the fight to the Russians and repel this invasion.”
Pence contends there’s no place for Putin apologists in the Republican Party. Asked why then some in his party, particularly Republicans in the U.S. House, resist aid to Ukraine, Pence said any skepticism there and among the American people “is more a reflection of lack of confidence in Joe Biden as commander in chief.”
“Joe Biden talks about glossy goals of democracy. No. Look, if Russia overwhelms Ukraine. I predict it would not be too long before the Russian army crosses the border, where our men and women in uniform would have to go and fight by crossing into a NATO ally,” he told NBC.
Pitching himself as a Reagan-era Republican, Pence has pushed the Reagan Doctrine — of fending off enemies on their soil to prevent America’s direct involvement — to explain how he would handle foreign policy. While he says he doesn’t support sending a “blank check” to Ukraine, he’s also warned that “withholding or reducing support will have consequence.”
Biden made a surprise trip to Ukraine in February to mark the war’s anniversary, proclaiming, “Kyiv still stands” in a defiant moment alongside Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with air sirens sounding overheard.
Among others in the 2024 field, former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson all support aiding Ukraine — while tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy takes the opposite view, saying he doesn’t consider the possibility of Russia overtaking Ukraine “a top foreign policy priority.”
Pence’s visit comes as Republican support for Ukraine has dwindled, according to some polls.
While solid majorities of Americans still support providing weapons to Ukraine, the share who say the U.S. is providing too much aid to Ukraine has steadily increased since the war began, driven by a shift among Republicans.
According to Pew Research Center, 44% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents currently say the U.S. is giving too much aid to Ukraine. That share has more than quadrupled, from 9%, since March 2022 just after Russia’s invasion began.
(MOSCOW, Idaho) — The off-campus University of Idaho house where four students were stabbed to death is set to be torn down despite calls from victims’ families to postpone until after the suspect’s trial.
The four victims — roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, as well as Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin — were killed in the Moscow, Idaho, house on Nov. 13, 2022. Two other roommates survived the shocking crime that garnered national intrigue.
Attorney Shanon Gray represents the Goncalves, Mogen and Kernodle families, who want the house to remain standing until the criminal case is resolved.
But a University of Idaho spokesperson said, “We are currently working on removing all the personal items from the house so the families can claim them, as they choose. Then we plan to move forward with demolition.”
A university lawyer noted in a letter to Gray that the court released the house from the case and the prosecution and defense have not objected to the demolition.
A university spokesperson said the school plans to demolish the house before students return to campus in the fall.
The university announced in February that the house would be demolished, with university president Scott Green calling it “a healing step” in the wake of a “crime that shook our community.”
Kaylee Goncalves’ mom, Kristi Goncalves, told ABC News last month she was glad no one else would live in the house.
But, she added, “It’s going to be very multifaceted for me, honestly, because my daughter lived in that home. She lived a happy life in that home, she loved living there with her friends. And for the real story, to be, like, what happened in that house was so horrific that it has to be torn down — that doesn’t happen that often. … For them to say, ‘No, we don’t want family in here, we don’t want anybody living in here. It’s got to be torn down’ — it’s definitely not happy.”
The suspect, Bryan Kohberger, who was a Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University at the time of the murders, was arrested in December.
Kohberger’s trial is set for Oct. 2. Prosecutors announced this week that they will seek the death penalty.
Kohberger chose to “stand silent” at his arraignment last month. By not responding, the judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court decided Thursday to set new limits on affirmative action, striking down the current race-conscious admissions policies in place at University of North Carolina and Harvard University.
The decision sided in part with Students for Fair Admissions, a conservative group that challenged the admissions policies. Members argued that the affirmative action policies at the schools were discriminatory against white and Asian students.
The decision states that admissions programs at Harvard and UNC “lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points, those admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause.”
The decision, however, states that “nothing prohibits universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected the applicant’s life, so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability that the particular applicant can contribute to the university.”
This alters more than 40 years of legal precedent that supports consideration of race in college admissions.
Institutions that use affirmative action policies take an individual student’s race or ethnicity into account during the college admissions selection process. It rose to popularity in the 1960s to address racial inequities in access to higher education.
The Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in 1978 in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, which cemented the place of affirmative action policies in college and university admissions.
The average Black-to-white student graduation rate gap at the top dozen public universities that do not use affirmative action was 10.1%, according to research from the University of California, Los Angeles.
The average gap at the top dozen public universities with affirmative action was 6%.
Social inequities that impact access to higher education — such as economic inequality, segregation and academic inequity in K-12 schools — as well as the lasting impact of historical exclusion from colleges and universities against Black and brown students have led to the continued underrepresentation in four-year institutions, researchers told ABC News.
Affirmative action has contributed to the rise in students of color attending colleges and universities, experts say.
Researchers fear the progress made in racial equity in higher education will be reversed, even though they say affirmative action has not been a perfect solution.
“Historically, some of these places like [the University of North Carolina], you literally couldn’t go to UNC if you’re Black,” said Natasha Warikoo, a sociologist at Tufts University and researcher of racial inequity in education.
“HBCUs [were] chronically underfunded and were a way to not allow Black students to attend the state universities, and then over generations, that compounds itself, as wealth does,” Warikoo said.
Colleges and universities have long struggled to reverse the inequities that drive low diversity rates in higher education, according to research from the U.S. Department of Education.
Nine states have banned affirmative action, and the decision affected their enrollment almost instantaneously: “the number of underrepresented minorities never gets back to pre-ban levels,” said Warikoo.
Opponents of affirmative action say it violates the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits racial discrimination any place that receives federal funding.
“The reason why colleges are not proportionally diverse has nothing to do with bias or exclusion,” said the Students for Fair Admissions in an April post. “The reason is large racial differences in academic skills.”
They argue affirmative action discriminates against Asian American and white applicants.
Supporters of affirmative action argue that using race as one factor among many in a holistic review of a student’s attributes is not exclusionary or harmful to other students.
“It’s well proven … that having a more diverse student population adds value to students’ learning and experiences,” said Mitchell Chang, a professor and the Associate Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at UCLA.
Warikoo argues that college admissions processes similarly take into account other attributes to diversify their student body.
These could include where applicants are from, if their parents were alumni, if they’re a great athlete or if they are choosing a major they need students for and more.
“They’re in the business of rejection,” said Warikoo. “The president of Harvard once said they could fill their freshman class with valedictorians twice over, but you can’t accept all the valedictorians, right?”
She continued, “Colleges are trying to build a cohort, a diverse community with a lot of different kinds of skills.”
The impact of diversity on students
Sarah Zheng, who goes to the University of North Carolina, started the Affirmative Action Coalition to bring awareness to the impact that diversity has had on the community.
“I grew up in a predominantly white community, and my parents are both immigrants,” Zheng said in an interview. “But I was often the only person of color in a classroom and that was a really isolating experience for me.”
She continued, “Coming to UNC was such a breath of fresh air, because I could finally hear people who didn’t have that perspective I’d grown up with my entire life.”
Her group is focusing on how to preserve diversity on campuses, including demands to hire and retain more teachers of color.
“For me to have those role models when I was growing up, that would have been amazing,” she added.
Ayan Kent, a student at Columbia University who is the incoming president of the school’s Black Students Organization, says her group is urging higher education institutions to direct more resources to helping students succeed after they’re admitted, which can be helpful to maintain a diverse population.
“It’s great that universities are taking steps to make sure that they’re admitting a diverse population … but once you let people in, you can’t just be like, ‘Ok, now figure it out,’” she said.
(WASHINGTON) — One of the top advisers on Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign is among the individuals identified but not named by special counsel Jack Smith in his indictment against the former president for allegedly mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Susie Wiles, one of Trump’s most trusted advisers leading his second reelection effort, is the individual singled out in Smith’s indictment as the “PAC Representative” who Trump is alleged to have shown a classified map to in August or September of 2021, sources said.
Trump, in the indictment, is alleged to have shown the classified map of an unidentified country to Wiles while discussing a military operation that Trump said “was not going well,” while adding that he “should not be showing the map” to her and “not to get too close.”
“Jack Smith and the Special Counsel’s investigation is openly engaging in outright election interference and meddling by attacking one of the leaders of President Trump’s re-election campaign,” a Trump campaign spokesperson told ABC News. “This sham investigation by Joe Biden and his weaponized DOJ are clearly designed to inflict maximum political damage and to prevent President Trump … from reclaiming the White House.”
A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment. The Justice Department and the White House have both denied any political interference in the special counsel’s investigation.
The alleged exchange between Trump and Wiles is the second of two instances detailed by prosecutors in the indictment showing how Trump allegedly disclosed classified information in private meetings after leaving the White House. The first was a July 2021 audio recording, obtained by ABC News earlier this week, in which Trump is heard showing people what he describes as a “secret” and “highly confidential” document relating to Iran.
ABC News has reported the meeting involved people who were helping Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, with his memoir, according to sources. Smith’s team has spoken to the meeting’s attendees, which included the writers helping Meadows with his book and at least two aides to Trump, according to sources.
Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and continues to claim he was not showing off classified documents, as he seems to be doing during the meeting, according to an audio recording of the meeting.
“I would say it’s bravado,” Trump told ABC News Tuesday about his conversation in the recording. “If you want to know the truth, it was bravado. I was talking about just holding up papers and talking about, but I have no documents. I didn’t have any documents.”
It does not appear, based on the indictment, that Trump was charged specifically for his retention of either the Iran document or the classified map shown to the person identified as Wiles. Rather, the two instances speak to what Smith’s prosecutors see as Trump’s state of mind in how he handled and sometimes shared classified materials in his possession after leaving the White House, sources said, as well as his alleged efforts to subvert the government’s efforts to get the documents back.
If the identification of Wiles by sources is accurate, it also raises the prospect that should Trump’s case go to trial prior to the 2024 election, one of the top figures leading his reelection bid could be called to testify as a key witness. Wiles, who previously helped lead Trump’s now-GOP primary opponent Ron DeSantis’ two campaigns for governor, is seen as one of Trump’s most trusted confidants.
She also led Trump’s campaign operations in Florida in 2016, and was later CEO of Trump’s Save America political action committee.
While Trump has not named a 2024 campaign manager, Wiles, along with Chris LaCivita and Brian Jack, are the team steering the campaign’s efforts, including all spending, fundraising and infrastructure.
Sources have also further identified some of the other figures mentioned by Smith’s team in the indictment. Hayley Harrison and Molly Michael are said to be “Trump Employee 1” and “Trump Employee 2,” respectively. The indictment details their text messages back and forth about moving Trump’s boxes out of the business center at his Mar-a-Lago estate to create room for staff to work.
Michael, whose name was previously reported as an individual identified in the indictment, is Trump’s former executive assistant who no longer works for him, while Harrison is currently an aide to Trump’s wife, Melania Trump.
“There is still a little room in the shower where his other stuff is. Is it only his papers he cares about?” Trump Employee 1, identified by sources as Harrison, wrote Trump Employee 2, identified by sources as Michael, according to the indictment. “There’s some other stuff in there that are not papers. Could that go to storage? Or does he want everything in there on property.”
According to the indictment, Trump’s longtime aide Walt Nauta and Trump Employee 2, identified by sources as Michael, exchanged text messages between November 2021 and January 2022 about bringing boxes from the storage room to Trump’s residence so he could personally review their contents. In one instance in December 2021, Nauta texted Trump Employee 2 about finding that several of Trump’s boxes had fallen on the floor with their contents spilled, and sent a photo to her whose image included a document with visible classification markings.
Nauta was charged alongside Trump earlier this month with conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.
Nauta and Trump Employee 2, identified by sources as Michael, exchanged messages back and forth about the status of Trump’s review of the boxes, and on Dec. 29, 2021, Trump Employee 2 texted “Trump Representative 1,” who sources say is former Trump lawyer Alex Cannon, to provide him an update, according to the indictment. Cannon was in touch with the National Archives and responsible for facilitating the initial transfer of 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago back to the National Archives in January 2022.
None of the people named by sources as being individuals described in the indictment are accused of any wrongdoing.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for mid-July to address the handling of classified materials in the trial.
Trump, who earlier this month pleaded not guilty to all the charges outlined in Smith’s indictment, has dismissed the special counsel’s probe as a politically motivated witch hunt.
(NEW YORK) — Madonna has been discharged after several days from a hospital intensive care unit and is now recovering from a “serious bacterial infection,” according to her manager Guy Oseary.
The iconic singer has also postponed her world tour, named “Celebration,” amid the health scare, which shines a spotlight on bacterial infections.
Although it isn’t clear what type of bacterial infection sent Madonna to the ICU, there are different types of bacterial infections that could require medical care.
ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jen Ashton said bacterial infections can be caused by different sources.
“We can get infections caused by parasites, fungus, viruses and bacteria,” Ashton explained on Good Morning America Thursday.
Types of bacterial infections
Bacterial infections vary and can range from food poisoning and pneumonia to a urinary tract infection or UTI.
Some complications from bacterial infections, such as bacterial meningitis or sepsis, can be life-threatening medical emergencies. For bacterial meningitis, one may experience symptoms such as a sudden fever, stiff neck or nausea while for sepsis, where the infection spreads throughout the blood, symptoms may include a high heart rate, sudden fever or confusion.
If a bacterial infection requires an ICU stay, recovery depends on multiple factors.
“When you talk about someone who has been in an intensive care unit setting [where] they’ve been intubated with a breathing tube down their throat, their recovery depends on a number of factors — their baseline medical condition before they became sick, how long they were in the unit and intubated, whether other organs like lungs, brain, heart, or kidneys were affected,” Ashton said.
“So it’s very, very variable. And that recovery period can go from days to weeks to months in some cases,” Ashton explained.
Reducing the risk of a bacterial infection
Ashton said you can take preventative action to lower your risk of getting a bacterial infection, adding that one should also stay at home if they feel sick.
To prevent food-borne infections, Ashton recommended making sure to prepare and store foods properly and clean any commonly used surfaces that are subject to frequent contact.
(NEW YORK) — Virgin Galactic is launching its first fully commercial flight of the SpaceShipTwo space plane, the company announced.
The ship will carry four people and launch around 11:00 a.m. ET, which will be available to watch via livestream. The trip is expected to last about 90 minutes.
The mission, known as Galactic 01, will see the team conduct 13 experiments examining thermo-fluid dynamics and the development of sustainable materials in microgravity conditions.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 29, 9:56 AM EDT
Meet the crew aboard Galactic 01
Galactic 01 will be carrying four passengers when it takes its suborbital flight, about 50 miles above Earth.
Among them are two members of the Italian Ari Force, Col. Walter Villadei, the mission commander, and Lt. Col. Angelo Landolfi, a physician.
Villadei will be wearing a smart suit to measure his biometric data and physiological responses and Landolfi will measure cognitive performance in microgravity as well as studing how certain liquids and solids mix in microgravity, the company said.
Pantaleone Carlucci, an engineer with the National Research Council of Italy, will also be on board to examine the crew members’ heart rates, brain functions and other health vitals during spaceflight.
Lastly is Colin Bennett, an astronaut instructor with Virgin Galactic, to assess the experience during the mission. Bennett was a passenger onboard the company’s 2021 flight that included Branson.
Jun 29, 9:20 AM EDT
What is Virgin Galactic?
Virgin Galactic is a spaceflight company founded by British businessman Richard Branson.
The company says its goal is to take paying customers to the edge of the space, in a similar vein to Jeff Bezos’s company Blue Origin.
In 2021, Virgin Galactic received approval from the U.S. government to take customers on spaceflights.
