(JACKSON, N.J.) — At least five people were injured on a ride at a Six Flags Great Adventure theme park on Thursday, officials from the park said.
According to a statement from the park, several of the passengers on the El Toro ride at the Jackson, New Jersey, park reported back pain. Five of those passengers were taken to a local medical facility for evaluation, according to a spokesperson from Six Flags Great Adventure.
Park officials said the ride is currently closed for inspection, as of Thursday night.
The Department of Community Affairs said Six Flags alerted them of the incident Thursday evening through their amusement ride incident hotline number, according to ABC Philadelphia affiliate, WVPI.
Six Flags reported witnesses hearing a loud bang and seeing jolting from the El Toro roller coaster as it was in operation, the DCA told WVPI. Multiple injuries were reported.
According to the DCA, Six Flags said 14 people were treated at the scene. Five of those treated required transport to the hospital, WVPI reported.
According to WVPI, one passenger suffered a neck injury, two reported back injuries and two others were treated for mouth and tongue injuries.
El Toro is one of the tallest wooden roller coasters in the world with a maximum speed of 70 mph, according to the park.
State officials fined the amusement park last summer when the El Toro partially derailed, according to WVPI.
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Friday made public the redacted affidavit that supported the search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
After reviewing the DOJ’s proposed redactions Thursday, a magistrate judge had ordered the redacted affidavit filed in the public docket by noon Friday.
A coalition of news organizations, including ABC News, had argued that the release was in the public interest.
The FBI special agent tasked with writing the affidavit supporting the search of Mar-a-Lago writes that as a result of their ongoing criminal investigation they had “probable cause to believe that additional documents that contain classified [National Defense Information] or that are Presidential records subject to record retention requirements currently remain at [Mar a Lago].”
“There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at [Mar a Lago],” the affidavit continues.
The redacted affidavit is a total of 32 pages with an attachment, including a May 25 letter signed by former President Trump’s lawyer Evan Corcoran outlining what is described as Trump’s authorities regarding presidential records.
The unredacted portions of the affidavit put on display the timeline of the Justice Department’s investigation leading up to their unprecedented move to search the residence of a former president.
It was kicked off, according to the affidavit, after a special agent for the National Archives’ inspector general sent a criminal referral to DOJ revealing that the 15 boxes handed over by Trump’s team in January revealed “highly classified records” intermingled with otherwise innocuous documents.
The affidavit goes on to outline further interactions between NARA and Trump’s team to secure the return of records that were improperly taken from the White House.
Between May 16-18, the affidavit says, an FBI review revealed that in those 15 boxes handed over in January 2021 there were 184 total documents bearing the following classifications:
67 documents marked as CONFIDENTIAL92 documents marked as SECRET25 documents marked as TOP SECRET
“Further,” the affidavit continues, “the FBI agents observed markings reflecting the following compartments/dissemination controls: HCS, FISA, ORCON, NOFORN, and SI. Based on my training and experience, I know that documents classified at these levels typically contain [National Defense Information]. Several of the documents also contained what appears to be FPOTUS ‘s handwritten notes.”
The affidavit then details communications between DOJ and one of Trump’s top lawyers, Evan Corcoran, in May 2021, in which Corcoran claimed Trump had the “absolute authority to declassify documents” and that the letter be provided to any grand jury investigating the matter.
The filing then further references a public Breitbart article from May 5 featuring an interview with former top Trump aide Kash Patel, who sought to rebut claims Trump took classified materials to Mar-a-Lago because he claimed Trump had declassified the docs en masse. There’s no evidence this happened, however, and Trump’s team has produced no such documentation proving as much.
Later in the affidavit, DOJ details a letter from one off its lawyers to Corcoran that “reiterated” Mar-a-Lago was not authorized to store classified information and requested the room docs were stored in to be further secured and the docs “be preserved in that room in their current condition until further notice.” There is no mention in this section of DOJ instructing the president’s team to simply add a lock to the room, though that is what Trump’s legal team has claimed repeatedly — this is a direct request from DOJ that the documents not be moved from the room.
An unredacted header later reads, “There is Probable Cause to Believe That Documents Containing Classified NDI and Presidential Records Remain at the Premises.”
And following several pages of redacted lines, the affidavit agent concludes that, “Based upon this investigation, I believe that the STORAGE ROOM, FPOTUS’s residential suite, Pine Hall, the “45 Office,” and other spaces within the PREMISES are not currently authorized locations for the storage of classified information or NDI. Similarly, based upon this investigation, I do not believe that any spaces within the PREMISES have been authorized for the storage of classified information at least since the end of FPOTUS ‘s Presidential Administration on January 20, 2021.”
“As described above, evidence of the SUBJECT OFFENSES has been stored in multiple locations at the PREMISES,” the affidavit says.
In their original request for sealing the affidavit, the agent states that keeping it sealed was necessary because the FBI had still “not yet identified all potential criminal confederates nor located all evidence related to its investigation.”
“Premature disclosure of the contents of this affidavit and related documents may have a significant and negative impact on the continuing investigation and may severely jeopardize its effectiveness by allowing criminal parties an opportunity to flee, destroy evidence (stored electronically and otherwise), change patterns of behavior, and notify criminal confederates,” the affidavit states.
The affidavit also outlines the procedures agents would use in executing the search, that a Privilege Review Team separate from the ‘Case Team’ would search Trump’s personal office and “be available to assist in the event that a procedure involving potentially attorney-client privileged information is required.”
“If the Privilege Review Team determines the documents or data are not potentially attorney-client privileged, they will be provided to the law-enforcement personnel assigned to the investigation,” the affidavit says. “If at any point the law-enforcement personnel assigned to the investigation subsequently identify any data or documents that they consider may be potentially attorney-client privileged, they will cease the review of such identified data or documents and refer the materials to the Privilege Review Team for further review by the Privilege Review Team.”
ABC News’ Will Steakin and Luke Barr contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(JACKSON HOLE, Wyo.) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell vowed to fight inflation “forcefully” in remarks on Friday at the central bank’s annual summer gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
The Fed is weighing whether a large rate increase will be necessary at the central bank’s meeting next month, Powell said, adding that a reduction in the pace of rate increases will likely take hold “at some point.”
“Price stability is the responsibility of the Federal Reserve and serves as the bedrock of our economy,” Powell said. “Without prices stability, the economy doesn’t work for anyone.”
The Fed has instituted a series of borrowing cost increases in recent months as it tries to slash near-historic inflation by slowing the economy and choking off demand. But the approach risks tipping the U.S. into a recession.
Powell acknowledged that further rate increases will “bring some pain to households and business” but said persistent elevated inflation threatens even worse pain.
At meetings in each of the past two months, the central bank has increased its benchmark interest rate by 0.75% — dramatic hikes last matched in 1994.
The rate increases may have contributed to a slowdown in price hikes. While still elevated, price increases last month waned from the near-historic pace reached in June, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
July’s consumer price index, or CPI, rose 8.5% over the past year, a marked slowdown from a 9.1% year-over-year rate measured in June, the bureau said.
Price hikes also slowed last month as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, or PCE, a measure of inflation closely watched by the Fed, according to a release from the Commerce Department on Friday.
The PCE rose 6.3% in July from a year earlier after recording an increase of 6.8% year-over-year in June, the data release said.
Fed officials have signaled in recent days that the central bank intends to continue a series of rate hikes, aiming to bring inflation back down to its target of 2%.
Last Thursday, San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly told CNN that a 50- or 75-point basis hike at the central bank’s meeting next month would be “reasonable” and that rate hikes would continue into at least 2023.
As it sets policy, the Fed faces mixed economic data.
Inflation remains near a 40-year high and GDP has slowed, raising the specter of stagflation, a damaging combination of high prices and anemic growth.
But observers can take solace in employment data, which persists at robust levels, as the economy added a blockbuster 528,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate stands at 3.5%.
While acknowledging the mixed economic data, Powell said the economy “continues to show momentum.”
He said the Fed will do what it takes to bring inflation down to its 2% target.
“We must keep at it until the job is done,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — Knowing what to put on a baby’s plate and when can be daunting and nerve-racking for new parents. Now experts recommend regularly offering non-choking forms of foods containing common allergens between 4 and 6 months of age.
“Allergies are a part of a child’s life in the United States today, unfortunately. We know about 8% of American children, by the time they go off to college, carry a diagnosis of food allergy,” Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, a mother of two and a board-certified pediatrician, told ABC News’ Good Morning America.
“We know that feeding all different kinds of foods, including common allergens in the beginning of life, tends to down regulate or decrease the risk of food allergies dramatically,” added Swanson.
New guideline changes on early allergen exposure
The advice to incorporate common allergens between 4 and 6 months is a dramatic shift from what doctors previously told parents and caregivers. In 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics advised parents to delay the introduction of common food allergens for the purpose of preventing allergic disease. For example, experts previously recommended delaying cow’s milk until age 1 year; eggs until age 2 years; and peanuts, tree nuts, and fish until age 3 years.
New evidence since 2000 shows that the practice of delaying introduction of highly allergenic foods may actually increase rather than decrease the incidence of food allergies. A research study from 2018 suggested that the increased likelihood of peanut allergy seen in younger siblings of a peanut allergic child may be due in part to the practice of delayed introduction rather than genetics alone.
“For example, when you have food in the tummy, in the gut, those food proteins are exposed to the immune system and a baby’s body grows up exposed to them and tolerant to them,” emphasized Swanson.
Nine types of highly allergic foods
While any food can cause an allergy, knowing common triggers may help parents and caregivers identify a potential food-related allergic reaction.
“In general, you can develop an allergy to any food. In fact, there are more than 200 foods that we know humans are allergic to but there is a certain subset of foods that tend to be more provoking when it comes to allergies,” said Swanson.
The most common food allergy that starts in childhood and persists into adulthood in the United States is peanuts. Contrary to popular belief, peanuts are actually not a tree nut. They are a type of legume.
Besides peanuts, the other common food allergens among children in the U.S. are:
Soy beans
Tree nuts (cashews, walnuts, pistachios etc.)
Cow milk
Eggs
Wheat
Fish
Shellfish
Sesame seeds
Sesame seeds, which is one of the fastest growing food allergies in the U.S. according to Dr. Swanson, are increasingly recognized as the ninth major food group that causes allergies.
Currently, the first eight food groups mentioned in the list above make up around 90% of all food allergies and must be declared on U.S. product labels.
How to introduce allergens safely
The first step in introducing any “complementary foods,” the term referring to all solid and liquid foods other than breast milk or infant formula, is assessing an infant’s developmental readiness such as adequate ability to hold one’s body upright, ability to indicate desire for food by opening the mouth and leaning forward and the ability to swallow safely.
The next step is making sure the infant tolerates a few of the more “typical” complementary foods such as cereals, fruits and vegetables.
When introducing allergens, “you want to just make sure that you’re creating a texture and a consistency that’s easy and safe for your baby,” said Swanson. “And then making sure if you are using things like nuts or nut butters, that you are just thinning those nut butters to a way that they are not a choking risk.”
For high-risk children, i.e., children with a strong family history or children who have a personal history of moderate-severe eczema or egg allergy, the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) advise parents to speak with a pediatrician before giving their infants peanuts.
For reasons unrelated to allergies, cow milk or fortified soy beverages should not be offered to infants younger than age 12 months, the USDA says.
What to know and what to do if a baby has a reaction
Reassuringly, “90% or more of babies will never develop an allergy or have any kind of reaction to food,” said Swanson.
“Now, if you are at home and if you think your baby might have a reaction, there are two symptoms that a baby will show if they are likely having a reaction to food: hives, or vomiting, or both within about minutes to two hours,” said Swanson.
Almost always, allergic reactions are not life-threatening and can be managed safely at home. However, if an infant is exhibiting signs of a severe allergic reaction such as mouth or tongue swelling, trouble breathing or wheezing, hoarse voice, or trouble swallowing or drooling, call 911 right away.
“How you feed your baby with all those common allergens in early life will continue to protect them to stay that way,” said Swanson.
(NEW YORK) — A dad mourning the loss of his 26-year-old daughter is sharing an emotional message on mental health.
David Sheats shared on Instagram that his daughter, Savannah Sheats, died by suicide.
“I’ve been reluctant to express that, but I think it’s important,” he wrote in a message shared by another daughter, Alex. “With a young child, a skinned knee is one thing. A hug and a band aid will normally cure the tears. As that child becomes a young lady, the task becomes more difficult. There are no cuts, bruises, bumps you can make better. The pain is internal.”
Savannah Sheats, of Atlanta, was reported missing by her family on Aug. 17, and was found by police one day later, according to local ABC affiliate WSB-TV.
Her father described her as a “giver, overachiever, and genuine person,” who “never met a stranger.”
Describing his family’s loss, David Sheats wrote that their hearts are “broken into a million pieces.”
He wrote that while he remembers his daughter and mourns her death, he wants to, “bring awareness for others in similar situations, so that their outcome is a positive one.”
“As a dad and parent, I’ve learned a difficult lesson,” he wrote. “When your child or anyone reaches out for help, take it seriously. I knew there were issues but I could have done more.”
Citing the coronavirus pandemic as a time that people have felt disconnected and anxious, David Sheats also urged people to help one another.
“Help at least one person. Do it today. Don’t wait,” he wrote. “Everyone needs help at points. As the saying goes, ‘no man is an island.’ We need each other.”
In the United States, suicide is the 12th leading cause of death, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Over the last two years, a more widespread focus has been placed on suicide prevention and mental health care in acknowledgment of the pandemic’s impact on Americans’ mental health.
In July, a new three-digit phone number, 988, was launched as a way to make mental health care more accessible.
People can now call or text 988 and access a free and confidential help line, now known as the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“988 is easy to remember,” Jessica Rosenworcel, chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission, said in July when the new number launched. “Now we have to make it clear to the entire country that it is a sign of strength to call it and use it, and not a sign of weakness.”
If you are experiencing suicidal, substance use or other mental health crises please call or text 988. You will reach a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to 988lifeline.org or dial the current toll free number 800-273-8255 [TALK].
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 26, 9:05 AM EDT
Zaporizhzhia ‘one step away’ from emergency radiation: Ukraine nuclear agency head
The head of Ukraine’s nuclear agency, Petro Kotin, called Thursday’s disconnection of power lines at Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, a “very serious deterioration… due to Russian shelling on the side of Nikopol on the side of the Dnipro river.”
The diesel generator operators were able to kick in during the disconnection, Kotin told ABC News on Friday.
Asked what’s the likelihood this would happen again, Kotin said, “This is one step from the emergency radiation, actually. Diesel is just the last defense, if you actually lose the diesel stuff, you already have radiation, and it’s out of the territory of the plant.”
He said there’d be 10 days of idle time before a meltdown if the diesel generators are working. If all diesel generators are down, it could be 1.5 hours.
For Russia, the Zaporizhzhia plant is a strategic stronghold as it seeks to control the ground pathway from occupied Donetsk to Crimea and onto Odesa.
Zaporizhzhia supplies Ukraine with around 20% of its energy.
Kotin reiterated that Russia intends to switch power to Russian-controlled areas.
Aug 25, 4:27 PM EDT
All reactors at power plant shut down for 1st time in history
All of the reactors at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where shelling has been ongoing, have been shut down for the first time in the plant’s history, Ukraine’s state nuclear regulator Energoatom reported.
Zaporizhzhia — the largest nuclear power plant in Europe — has six reactors, two of which are active, according to Ukraine’s state nuclear regulator, Energoatom. At 12:12 p.m. local time, the last operating line providing power to the plant was disconnected due to hostilities in the area, and as a result all six reactors were disconnected from the grid for 17 minutes, Energoatom said.
At 12:29 p.m. local time the overhead line was restored and reactors Nos. 5 and 6 start operating again.
At 2:14 p.m. local time, the overhead line was disconnected again, shutting down reactor No. 6 and leaving only reactor No. 5 operating. Work is underway to reconnect No. 6 to the grid.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said the temporary shut down further shows “the urgent need for an IAEA expert mission to travel to the facility.”
If external power is lost there’s not active circulation of the water that cools the reactor and that could lead to a reactor meltdown. However, the plant “remained connected to a 330 kV line from the nearby thermal power facility that can provide back-up electricity if needed,” the IAEA said in a statement. “As a result of the cuts in the 750 kV power line, the ZNPP’s two operating reactor units were disconnected from the electricity grid and their emergency protection systems were triggered, while all safety systems remained operational.”
“There was no information immediately available on the direct cause of the power cuts,” the IAEA said. “The six-reactor ZNPP normally has four external power lines, but three of them were lost earlier during the conflict. The IAEA remains in close contact with Ukraine and will provide updated information as soon as it becomes available.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Thursday, “The world must understand what a threat this is: If the diesel generators hadn’t turned on, if the automation and our staff of the plant had not reacted after the blackout, then we would already be forced to overcome the consequences of the radiation accident. Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation disaster.”
He called on the IAEA and other international organizations to act faster, “because every minute the Russian troops stay at the nuclear power plant is a risk of a global radiation disaster.”
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou, Fidel Pavlenko and Natalia Shumskaia
Aug 25, 2:17 PM EDT
Biden, Zelenskyy discuss weapons assistance, nuclear plant during phone call
President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about weapons assistance and concerns over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in their phone call on Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Regarding Zaporizhzhia, “We have said Russia should agree to demilitarize the zone around the plant and agree to allow an International Atomic Energy Agency visit as soon as possible,” Jean-Pierre said. “This is something that did come up in a conversation.”
Zelenskyy tweeted a photo of his phone call with Biden, and said he thanked him “for the unwavering U.S. support for Ukrainian people — security and financial.”
Zelenskyy said he and Biden “discussed Ukraine’s further steps on our path to the victory over the aggressor and importance of holding Russia accountable for war crimes.”
Biden also tweeted a photo of the call, and said he congratulated Ukraine on its Independence Day, which was on Wednesday.
“I know it is a bittersweet anniversary, but I made it clear that the United States would continue to support Ukraine and its people as they fight to defend their sovereignty,” Biden wrote.
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Aug 25, 11:47 AM EDT
All reactors at power plant shut down for first time in history
All of the reactors at Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, where shelling has been ongoing, have been shut down for the first time in the plant’s history, Ukraine’s state nuclear regulator Energoatom reported.
Zaporizhzhya — the largest nuclear power plant in Europe — has six reactors, two of which are active, according to Ukraine’s state nuclear regulator, Energoatom. At 12:12 p.m. local time, the last operating line providing power to the plant was disconnected due to hostilities in the area, and as a result all six reactors were disconnected from the grid for 17 minutes, Energoatom said.
At 12:29 p.m. local time the overhead line was restored and reactors Nos. 5 and 6 start operating again.
At 2:14 p.m. local time, the overhead line was disconnected again, shutting down reactor No. 6 and leaving only reactor No. 5 operating. Work is underway to reconnect No. 6 to the grid.
Aug 24, 4:56 PM EDT
21 killed in Russian missile strike on train station
Twenty-one people were killed and another 22 were injured in a Russian missile strike on a train station in Chaplyne, in the central Ukraine region of Dnipropetrovsk, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou and Max Uzol
Aug 24, 2:55 PM EDT
Russia may hold sham referenda in occupied Ukrainian territory: White House
The White House said the U.S. believes Russia could hold “sham referenda” in occupied Ukrainian territory within days or weeks.
White House spokesman John Kirby said last month that Russia was “installing illegitimate proxy officials in the areas of Ukraine that are under its control” who would then arrange “sham referenda” as a precursor to annexation.
Kirby told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. government believes “these referenda could begin in a matter of days or weeks.”
“We have information that Russia continues to prepare to hold these sham referenda in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics,” Kirby said. “We’ve also learned that Russian leadership has instructed officials to begin preparing to hold these sham referenda, particularly in Kharkiv, as well.”
“We expect Russia to try to manipulate the results of these referenda to falsely claim that the Ukrainian people want to join Russia,” he continued. “It will be critical to call out and counter this disinformation in real time.”
“Any claim that the Ukrainian people somehow want to join Russia is simply not true,” Kirby said, citing polling data. It’s clear, he added, that Ukrainians “value and treasure their independence.”
President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak on the phone on Thursday, Kirby said.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Aug 24, 1:41 PM EDT
Queen Elizabeth marks Ukrainian Independence Day
Queen Elizabeth released a statement Wednesday marking Ukrainian Independence Day.
“It gives me great pleasure to send Your Excellency and the people of Ukraine my warmest greetings on the celebration of your Independence Day,” she said. “In this most challenging year, I hope that today will be a time for the Ukrainian people, both in Ukraine and around the world, to celebrate their culture, history and identity. May we look to better times in the future.”
Aug 24, 9:13 AM EDT
Biden announces new aid package, congratulates Ukraine on Independence Day
President Joe Biden in a statement Wednesday said he was “proud to announce our biggest tranche of security assistance to date” to Ukraine: “approximately $2.98 billion of weapons and equipment.”
“This will allow Ukraine to acquire air defense systems, artillery systems and munitions, counter-unmanned aerial systems, and radars to ensure it can continue to defend itself over the long term,” Biden said.
Biden confirmed the money would come through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. The USAI money can be spent on contracts with the defense industry to produce new equipment for Ukraine.
Biden in his statement also marked Ukrainian Independence Day, saying, “Ukrainians have inspired the world with their extraordinary courage and dedication to freedom.”
“Today is not only a celebration of the past but a resounding affirmation that Ukraine proudly remains — and will remain — a sovereign and independent nation,” he said.
He continued, “I know this Independence Day is bittersweet for many Ukrainians as thousands have been killed or wounded, millions have been displaced from their homes, and so many others have fallen victim to Russian atrocities and attacks.”
“Today and every day, we stand with the Ukrainian people to proclaim that the darkness that drives autocracy is no match for the flame of liberty that lights the souls of free people everywhere,” Biden said.
Aug 23, 4:39 PM EDT
2 Zaporizhzhya power plant employees killed in shelling in city of Enerhodar
Two Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant employees were killed on their day off when Russian forces shelled the city of Enerhodar, officials said.
-ABC News’ Yuriy Zaliznyak and Dada Jovanovic
Aug 23, 2:35 PM EDT
US to announce its largest single aid package for Ukraine
The U.S. will announce its largest single aid package for Ukraine on Wednesday, according to two U.S. officials. The package is expected to be valued at roughly $3 billion — though one official told ABC News some changes could be made overnight, and $3 billion is on the higher end of the estimates.
A senior U.S. official told ABC News the package will come from Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds. Unlike presidential drawdown packages, which pull from existing U.S. equipment stocks, the USAI money can be spent on contracts with the defense industry to produce new equipment for Ukraine.
The U.S. has committed about $10.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler and Shannon Crawford
Aug 23, 1:54 PM EDT
Americans urged to leave Ukraine over Russian strikes on civilians
The United States is once again urging its citizens to leave Ukraine amid concerns Russia is ramping up attacks on civilians in the war-torn country.
In a security alert posted Tuesday on its website, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv urged Americans “to depart Ukraine now using privately available ground transportation options if it is safe to do so.”
“The Department of State has information that Russia is stepping up efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days,” the embassy said in the alert. “Russian strikes in Ukraine pose a continued threat to civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
Sources within the State Department said the heightened risk of a Russian strike on highly populated centers is most directly tied to Ukraine’s Independence Day on Wednesday.
“The risks are really high,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told ABC News. “We are receiving information that there may be a provocation by the Russian Federation, by the occupiers. Therefore, we do not want large gatherings on such days. The days are beautiful, but … our neighbors are not.”
Aug 23, 9:10 AM EDT
Americans urged to leave Ukraine over Russian strikes on civilians
The United States is once again urging its citizens to leave Ukraine amid concerns Russia is ramping up attacks on civilians in the war-torn country.
In a security alert posted Tuesday on its website, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv urged Americans “to depart Ukraine now using privately available ground transportation options if it is safe to do so.”
“The Department of State has information that Russia is stepping up efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days,” the embassy said in the alert. “Russian strikes in Ukraine pose a continued threat to civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
Aug 22, 10:59 AM EDT
FSB accuses Ukrainian special services of assassinating Darya Dugina
Russia’s FSB is accusing Ukrainian special services of assassinating Darya Dugina, the daughter of Putin ally Alexander Dugina, who was killed by an explosive this weekend.
The FSB said a Ukrainian national arrived in Russia on July 23 with her 12-year-old daughter and rented an apartment in the same Moscow building where Dugina lived, Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti reported. The woman allegedly trailed Dugina for nearly a month and then immediately left for Estonia with her daughter just after this weekend’s bombing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement that Darya Dugina was “a bright, talented person with a real Russian heart – kind, loving, sympathetic and open.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Ukraine is working under the assumption that Russian secret services are behind the killing, saying “Ru-propaganda lives in a fictional world.”
-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva and Oleksii Shemyskyo
Aug 22, 9:13 AM EDT
Air raid sirens sound across Ukraine
Air raid sirens are sounding across Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Russia could launch a “particularly ugly” provocation this week as Ukraine approaches its Independence Day on Wednesday.
In Kyiv, all public events are canceled and government employees have been told to work from home through the week.
In Kramatorsk, public events have been canceled for Tuesday through Thursday and public transportation has been stopped.
Aug 22, 6:16 AM EDT
Explosive under Putin ally’s car was remotely triggered, investigators say
An explosive device planted on the underside of Putin ally Alexander Dugin’s vehicle was remotely triggered, Russian investigators said.
Dugin’s daughter, Daria Dugina, was killed in a blast near Moscow on Saturday.
“A presumed explosive device planted on a Toyota Land Cruiser went off when the car was moving at full speed past Bolshiye Vyazemy in the Odintsovo urban district at about 9 p.m. on August 20, and the car caught fire,” the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement posted to Telegram. “The woman driving the car died instantly. The victim was identified as journalist, political analyst Daria Dugina.”
Alexander and Daria attended a traditional patriotic festival on Saturday afternoon, according to the Odinstovo administration. They’d planned to leave together in the same vehicle, but Daria instead drove alone.
The Russian Investigative Committee’s press service told Interfax that Daria was assassinated.
Detectives established that the bomb was planted on the underside of the driver’s side of the vehicle, the committee said. Russian media outlets had reported that the SUV belonged to Dugin.
“Detectives and specialists from the Main Forensic Department of the Russian Investigative Committee are continuing to examine the incident scene. In particular, a forensic technician examined the charred vehicle before it was taken to a special parking lot,” the Committee said.
Biological, genetic, physical, chemical and explosive examinations have been scheduled, the committee said.
-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva
Aug 21, 3:12 PM EDT
Daughter of Putin ally killed in car bomb; Schiff hopes it wasn’t ‘from Ukraine’
U.S. officials do not know who to blame for the car bomb that killed the daughter of political theorist Alexander Dugin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said during an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Daria Dugina, a 29-year-old TV commentator, was killed on the Mozhaisk Highway in the outskirts of Moscow on Saturday night by an explosive that had been planted in the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving, Russia’s state-run news agency TASS reported.
Alexander Dugin, often referred to as “Putin’s brain,” had just attended “Tradition” cultural festival with his daughter, according to TASS. Russian media outlets reported that the SUV belonged to Dugin.
The Russian Investigative Committee press office told TASS Dugina’s killing was planned and contracted.
Schiff said Sunday that he had not yet been briefed on the killing and that he “couldn’t say” who is behind it, adding that he hoped it was an “internal Russian affair” rather than something “emanating from Ukraine.”
“There are so many factions and internecine warfare within Russian society, within the Russian government,” Schiff said. “Anything is possible.”
Adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office Mikhail Podolyak denied Kyiv was involved in the explosion that killed Dugina during a televised interview on Sunday.
“I emphasize that Ukraine certainly has nothing to do with this, because we are not a criminal state like the Russian Federation, and even less a terrorist state,” Podolyak said.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Patrick Reevell
Aug 20, 2:10 PM EDT
Videos circulating online show smoke over Sevastopol
Videos circulating online show smoke rising over Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea.
The city’s Russian-appointed governor said a drone was struck down and fell through the roof of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet Headquarters. Ukraine has not commented on the strike.
-ABC News’ Layla Ferris
Aug 19, 3:31 PM EDT
US to offer new $775M aid package to Ukraine
The U.S. has authorized a new $775 million military aid package for Ukraine, the Department of Defense announced on Friday.
The package will include more High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) ammunition and howitzers, as well as some firsts, including ScanEagle reconnaissance drones and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.
The 15 ScanEagle drones are intended to help Ukraine identify targets and put the HIMARS and howitzers to better use, according to a senior U.S. defense official.
The 40 MRAP vehicles and other mine-clearing equipment will help Ukrainian troops cross dangerous terrain, according to the official.
“We know that Russia has heavily mined areas in parts of southern and eastern Ukraine. We know there’s a significant amount of unexploded ordinance,” the official said.
The new aid package follows a $1 billion package announced on Aug. 8.
(NEW YORK) — Moderna is suing Pfizer and BioNTech for infringing patents central to Moderna’s mRNA technology platform used to develop the COVID vaccine, the company said in a press release Friday.
A widely distributed COVID vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, called Comirnaty, infringes on patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016, the company alleged, adding that mRNA technology was vital to the development of its COVID vaccine.
Moderna accused Pfizer and BioNTech of copying the mRNA technology without its permission in order to develop Comirnaty, the press release said.
“We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.
“This foundational platform, which we began building in 2010, along with our patented work on coronaviruses in 2015 and 2016, enabled us to produce a safe and highly effective COVID-19 vaccine in record time after the pandemic struck,” he added. “As we work to combat health challenges moving forward, Moderna is using our mRNA technology platform to develop medicines that could treat and prevent infectious diseases like influenza and HIV, as well as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases and rare forms of cancer.”
In October 2020, Moderna vowed to forego enforcement of its COVID-related patents amid the pandemic, the company said. In March, however, the pandemic “entered a new phase and vaccine supply was no longer a barrier to access in many parts of the world,” the company added.
Moderna would never enforce patents in 92 middle- and low-income countries involved with a financing agreement at the global vaccine alliance Gavi, the company said. But, in other markets, Moderna expected competitors to respect intellectual property rights, it added.
In response to a request for comment, Pfizer said: “We have not been served and are unable to comment at this time.”
BioNTech did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(WASHINGTON) — Several Republicans who were nominated as firebrands in purple states are now eyeing post-primary messaging pivots in a policy acrobatics routine that could determine the outcome of marquee races.
Politicians modulating their campaign strategy after winning their party’s nomination is a tale as old as primaries themselves, and Democrats and Republicans alike are expected to adjust their approaches as the November midterms near. But strategists and experts say that for some GOP hopefuls, evolving the hardline stances they took while campaigning to their base — on issues like abortion access or baseless fears of widespread election fraud — could prove a more difficult feat than in the past.
Republicans seeking gubernatorial and Senate seats in swing states like Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and elsewhere are already indicating they’ll change their tone on hot-button issues — a swivel some operatives say is borne out of necessity in their narrowly divided states.
“If the campaigns are about the last election or Trump or abortion, then they fail because voters get to decide what the most important issues in the race are and they have. It’s clear: It’s the economy, it’s inflation, it’s [the] cost of goods and services,” said one senior GOP strategist working on several midterm races, who requested anonymity to speak more candidly about the cycle.
“If they’re going to be successful,” this strategist said of nominees like Blake Masters, Doug Mastriano and others, “they’re going to have to connect with voters’ top concerns.”
Already, some of these candidates who ran to the right flank of the GOP to clinch their nominations have since signaled what amounts to a vibe shift, focusing more on so-called kitchen table issues and in some instances altering their stances on culture war third rails.
For example, Mastriano, a Pennsylvania state senator who is the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee there, initially ran on a platform that included a near-total ban on abortions with no exceptions. He’s also been accused by federal prosecutors of trying to send fake electors to support former President Donald Trump’s efforts to reverse the 2020 race; and he was outside the Capitol during last year’s riot, though he insists he didn’t enter the building and has condemned the violence.
Since winning his primary — and in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the resulting backlash to a Kansas anti-abortion amendment — Mastriano has virtually stopped talking about the issue and switched from talking about the 2020 election to discussing inflation and his plans to slash energy and COVID-19 regulations.
He also said on Fox News last month that “there’s nothing extreme about me” after reports of ties to the founder of Gab, a social media platform notorious for some of its users’ extremist right-wing content.
Tim Michels, the GOP gubernatorial nominee in Wisconsin, ran his primary campaign as an election hardliner, flirting with the impossible idea that the state’s 2020 election results could still be overturned two years after the fact to differentiate himself from former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, his main primary competitor.
Yet after defeating Kleefisch, Michels released a general election ad focusing on his record as a businessman and high gas prices and briefly removed language from his campaign website highlighting Trump’s endorsement. And after saying at a Trump rally before the primary that his “No. 1 priority is election integrity,” he declared in his primary victory speech that “jobs and the economy are going to be my No. 1 priority.”
In Arizona, Masters, the GOP Senate nominee, ran as an “anti-progressive,” saying that “Trump won in 2020” and advocating for a federal “personhood law” that would completely ban abortions, a procedure he dubbed “demonic.” He also leaned on ads packed with metaphorical red meat, including a Second Amendment-themed clip stating that short-barreled rifles are “designed to kill people” and another calling San Francisco “disgusting” while walking through a homeless encampment.
More recently, though, Masters told a local newspaper the federal government “should prohibit late-term abortion, third-trimester abortion and partial-birth abortion” but that otherwise the decisions should be left to the states and that Arizona’s current law banning abortion after 15 weeks is “reasonable.” His first general election ad also featured his wife explaining that he wants “Americans to be thriving” over inspiring music.
Still, Democrats are pressing what they see as an advantage — the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s first ad buy of the race between Masters and incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly highlighted Masters’ past statements on abortion and Social Security.
Operatives tell ABC News that such pivots are wise in states where, even in an expected GOP wave year like 2022, relying solely on the party base could be a campaign’s death knell.
“If they want to be successful, they have to broaden their message,” said Mike DuHaime, who helped former Republican Gov. Chris Christie twice get elected in New Jersey. “Yeah, you need the Republican base to be fired up — but you need to win over independents, and you need to win over some conservative, moderate Democrats. And you’re not going to do that by carrying Trump’s water about an election that happened two years ago. They need to move forward.”
There is plenty of room to adapt, DuHaime said.
“I think, many, many undecided voters won’t be tuning into this race until October,” he said. “So, there’s certainly time. But you need to make that decision.”
To be sure, Democrats are also expected to face pressures of their own to turn back from their base. Republicans pointed to progressive nominees for Senate in battlegrounds like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — Lt. Govs. John Fetterman and Mandela Barnes, respectively — as places where Democrats may have to modulate their own messaging to a more narrowly divided November electorate.
However, some Republicans in crucial races will find themselves walking a particularly tough tightrope after espousing conspiracy theories over the 2020 race — sometimes for an audience of one.
“If you’re an election denier, you’ve gotten former President Trump’s support because of that. You can’t pivot from that,” said GOP strategist Bob Heckman. “Trump has made it clear that if people try stray away from him, he’ll criticize them and then you jeopardize your base. So I just think you have to stay with where you are.”
Some candidates, like Arizona’s GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, have expressed no interest in making the traditional post-primary changes to their campaign.
Lake made falsehoods about the 2020 race a cornerstone of her GOP nominating bid. And, according to her team, voters can expect similar rhetoric from her primary heading into November, which aides pitched as effective state advocacy.
“We have no plans to change our Arizona First message and our detailed policy positions speak for themselves,” Lake spokesperson Ross Trumble said.
Still, Republican operatives and officials by and large say they think their candidates are taking some of the right steps back toward the center.
“When you talk about messaging, I believe you’re gonna see Sen. Mastriano talk about … things that are so much more important to the average Pennsylvanian than the 2020 election or his personal position in regards to abortion,” said Sam DeMarco, the chair of the Allegheny County GOP in Pennsylvania.
Comments like that from DeMarco, who played an active role in trying to cut Mastriano off from winning his May primary, underscore another notable development.
Cooperation between state and local Republican Parties could be crucial to winning races in key battlegrounds. And despite strong criticism from hardliners against those groups, and reluctance by some GOP officials to embrace the eventual nominees, it appears bridges weren’t permanently burned.
In Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey, the chair of the Republican Governors Association who endorsed Lake’s main primary rival, has since urged Republicans to coalesce behind the entire GOP slate this November.
And in Pennsylvania, officials have put past concerns about Mastriano — and the concerted efforts opposing him — in the rearview mirror.
“Soon after the primary was over, there was a call with all the county chairs and the state party and Sen. Mastriano, and I was very impressed with the things he said,” DeMarco, the Allegheny GOP chair, told ABC News. “He talked about how many of the folks he knew on the call hadn’t been initial supporters of this. And he understood that and that that was OK. But now he was the nominee, and we all need to come together.”
The base spoke; the party adjusted. Whether other voters will rally around the nominees is a different question entirely.
A Fox News poll from July, for instance, showed independent voters widely favoring Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s attorney general and Mastriano’s Democratic opponent, 47-19.
“It’s not just about issues — it’s not about taxes, the economy, crime, what have you. It’s about certain things fundamental to our democracy and to honesty that are going to give a lot of voters pause,” said veteran GOP strategist Doug Heye. “And maybe inflation is still at a bad enough number in three months that they’re like, ‘Well, you know, I don’t like this person, but …’ Or maybe they can’t get that out of their minds.”
(NEW YORK) — President Joe Biden fulfilled one of his campaign promises and announced a plan to cancel student loan debt for millions of Americans.
The plan, announced Wednesday, forgives up to $20,000 for borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year, will either wipe out the debt for millions of people, severely reduce the amount for individuals who still owe or barely scratch the surface of how much a person owes to their loan provider.
For people who don’t qualify for Biden’s loan forgiveness or will still have student loans left, options are still available to reduce their debt.
Working for the Federal Government
People who work for the federal government could have a government agency repay their student loans.
According to the United States Office of Personnel Management, a government agency may pay a maximum of $10,000 of an employee’s loan in a year or a total of $60,000 per employee during their time at the said agency.
An employee who agrees to the terms must remain employed at the agency for at least three years.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF) promises to eliminate a person’s entire student loan debt if they work for the federal, state or local governments, nonprofits and other qualifying public service jobs.
The program forgives a borrower’s remaining loan balance after making 120 on-time monthly payments for 10 years. Individuals must have received the loan under a federal direct loan program, as other programs don’t qualify for PSLF.
People who thought they were making qualifying payments while receiving their loan from another federal program have until Oct. 31 to receive credits for payments that didn’t qualify under PSLF.
Income-driven repayment plans
Individuals who are paying back their federal loans through any of the four income-driven repayment plans are eligible to have the rest of their loans forgiven after 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments, depending on if the loans were given for undergraduate or graduate level studies.
A report from the Government Accountability Office found that the Education Department hasn’t always been able to properly track borrowers’ payments, complicating matters for individuals who thought they were making progress in not only their payments but toward debt forgiveness.
Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program
Through the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program, full-time educators who teach for five consecutive years in a low-income school or at an education service agency could have up to $17,500 of their federal loans canceled.
Teachers may also qualify for the entirety of their debt to be eliminated through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Military
Active military service members are eligible for loan forgiveness for up to $65,000 if they commit to at least three years of service. Service members also qualify for PSLF.
(HENDERSON, Ky.) — Two people have been killed and multiple others injured in a shooting at a Kentucky homeless shelter for men Thursday night, police said.
The Henderson Police Department responded to an active shooter incident at Harbor House Christian Center, authorities said.
Kenneth B. Gibbs of Henderson has been identified as the suspect and was taken into custody at 9:55 p.m., police said.
ABC News affiliate WEHT-TV reported that the coroner said two people were found fatally shot inside the building and two were taken to the hospital for medical treatment.
Harbor House, where the incident took place, is a Christian-based organization that is “a safe harbor for men in need,” and “dedicated to bringing men up in the community,” according to its Facebook page.
