(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed a new rule that aims to protect consumers from foodborne illnesses by significantly reducing salmonella in poultry products that make it onto grocery store shelves and into shoppers’ kitchens.
After three years of reevaluating its strategy for controlling salmonella rates in poultry, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced a new proposal on Monday that would require poultry companies to keep salmonella levels under a certain threshold and ensure they test for six specific forms of bacteria in raw chicken and turkey products.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in a statement that the newly proposed framework “marks a historic step forward to combat” poultry-related Salmonella contamination and hopes it will keep contaminated meat out of stores to help lessen the number of recalls and illnesses.
“This proposed framework is a systematic approach to addressing Salmonella contamination at poultry slaughter and processing, which includes enforceable standards that will result in safer food for consumers and fewer illnesses,” he said.
Citing the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the FSIS said this rule would “establish final product standards based on these Salmonella levels and serotypes” and prevent adulterated raw chicken and turkey products from entering the retail supply.
FSIS also proposed revisions to regulations that would require all poultry slaughter establishments to “develop a microbial monitoring program to prevent pathogen contamination throughout the slaughter system.”
“The proposed Salmonella framework is grounded in data and rigorous scientific evaluation, and it reflects feedback from extensive stakeholder engagement,” USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. José Emilio Esteban said in a statement. “We encourage all interested stakeholders to submit comments and relevant data on the proposal as we work to finalize data-driven, science-based regulatory policies to address Salmonella in poultry.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, salmonella bacteria cause over one million human infections in the U.S. each year.
Food is the leading source of salmonella infections and poultry is among the leading sources of foodborne salmonella illnesses, the CDC has found.
The FSIS estimates there are 125,000 chicken-associated and nearly 43,000 turkey-associated foodborne salmonella illnesses per year. Despite agency data that indicates salmonella contamination in poultry products has been decreasing, the agency said there has not been an observed reduction in salmonella illnesses.
The CDC has published a list of safety tips to avoid food-borne illnesses on its website, which include washing hands for at least 20 seconds “with soap and warm or cold water before, during, and after preparing food and before eating” — especially after handling uncooked meat, chicken and other poultry, seafood, flour or eggs — as well as any utensils, cutting boards and countertops; avoiding cross-contamination; cooking foods to a safe internal temperature; and refrigerating food promptly afterward.
“Bacteria can multiply rapidly if left at room temperature or in the ‘Danger Zone’ between 40°F and 140°F,” the CDC states. “Never leave perishable food out for more than 2 hours (or 1 hour if exposed to temperatures above 90°F).”
The CDC also recommends washing hands thoroughly with running water and soap after touching pets and other animals or their belongings.
Police officers and forensic personnel put up a fence on Hart Street in Southport, northwest England, on July 29, 2024, following a knife attack. (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Police investigating the deadly attack on a children’s Taylor Swift-themed event in a seaside town of Southport, United Kingdom, said a third child died following the attack, as the musician said she was “in shock.”
“The investigation is in its early stages and the motivation for the incident remains unclear,” Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said on Monday.
Officers responded just before noon local time to reports of a stabbing at a property on Hart Street in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool, according to Merseyside Police.
Two children — a 6-year-old and 7-year-old — were killed and nine others were injured on Monday in the stabbing attack at an event at a dance school in the seaside town, police had said.
A third child, a 9-year-old girl, died on Tuesday morning in the hospital, police said. She was one of six wounded children who had been in critical condition, along with two adults, who were also stabbed, police said.
“We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked,” Kennedy said Monday.
Merseyside Police said the children were attending a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school. A flyer for the two-hour event called it a “Taylor Swift Yoga and Dance Workshop.” The event was for children between 6 and 11 years old, according to post on the organizer’s Instagram.
The “horror” of the attack was “washing over me continuously,” Swift said in a post on Instagram. She said she was “completely in shock.”
“The loss of life and innocent, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and first responders,” she said. These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to even convey my sympathies to these families.”
A 17-year-old boy from Banks, a coastal village in Lancashire, just outside Southport, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, police said.
The suspect, whose name was not released, was born in Cardiff, Wales, police said.
The “full circumstances” were still being investigated, police said, adding that the attack wasn’t being investigated as terror-related. Police were not searching for additional suspects, they said.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is moving full steam ahead in her bid for the White House, with her campaign saying Sunday it has raised more than $200 million in less than a week.
Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, have several campaign events set up this week as they aim their attacks on Harris.
Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Harris launches $50 million ad campaign
Vice President Kamala Harris rolled out an aggressive $50 million, three-week advertising blitz for the first ad of her presidential campaign on Tuesday, in which she introduces herself to voters, highlights her career and takes hits at former President Donald Trump.
“The one thing Kamala Harris has always been: fearless,” a narrator says at the start of the minute-long ad, as pictures of Harris over the years — from a toddler to college graduate to vice president — flash on screen.
“As a prosecutor, she put murderers and abusers behind bars,” the narrator continued. “As California’s attorney general, she went after the big banks and won $20 billion for homeowners. And as vice president, she took on the big drug companies to cap the cost of insulin for seniors. Because Kamala Harris has always known who she represents.”
The spot then leads into laying out Harris’ vision and attacking Trump, using footage from her first rally of the campaign last week in a high school gym just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead. Where every senior can retire with dignity,” Harris said in the footage from the rally. “But Donald Trump wants to take our country backward, to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and end the Affordable Care Act.”
“But we are not going back,” she added.
Harris campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, said in a statement that because of Harris’ prosecutorial, congressional and vice-presidential experience, the vice president is “uniquely suited to take on Donald Trump, a convicted felon who has spent his entire life ripping off working people, tearing away our rights, and fighting for himself.”
‘White Dudes for Harris’ raises over $4 million in 3 hours
The “White Dudes for Harris” livestream held on Monday night raised over $4 million over three hours in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, organizers said.
The event featured participants from politics and a parade of celebrities — including “The Dude” himself, The Big Lebowski’s Jeff Bridges — all making their own call to action for other white men to step up in their support for Harris.
Over 190,000 people tuned into the Zoom call, organizers of the unofficial event said at the conclusion of the stream.
Among the recognizable faces that cropped up during the livestream were Star Wars icon Mark Hamill, Supernatural alum Misha Collins, The West Wing alum Bradley Whitford, Frozen’s Josh Gad and singer Josh Groban. Several potential running mates for Harris also joined the event, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who withdrew from contention for vice president on the Democratic ticket around the time he spoke at the meeting. He did not mention his withdrawal on the call.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, all still in the running for Harris’ vice-presidential pick, were also part of the “White Dudes for Harris” meeting.
JD Vance said Democratic ticket switch to Harris was ‘sucker punch’: Report
Sen. JD Vance, running mate to former President Donald Trump, said over the weekend that Kamala Harris moving to the top of the Democratic ticket was a “sucker punch,” according to the Washington Post.
“All of us were hit with a little bit of a political sucker punch,” Vance said to donors over the weekend in Minnesota, per an audio recording the paper said it had obtained. “The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden, because whatever we might have to say, Kamala is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.”
When asked about the report and Vance’s “sucker punch” comment, a spokesperson for the vice presidential contender took aim at Harris.
“Poll after poll shows President Trump leading Kamala Harris as voters become aware of her weak, failed and dangerously liberal agenda. Her far-left ideas are even more radioactive than Joe Biden, particularly in the key swing states that will decide this election like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin,” Vance spokesperson William Martin said in a statement.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will not be Kamala Harris’ VP pick
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement on Monday night signaling that he’s removed himself from contention as a vice presidential running mate for presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President. I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” he said in a post on X.
“As l’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins,” he added.
Trump says he’ll ‘probably end up debating’ Harris
Former President Donald Trump seems to be one step closer to formally agreeing to debate his opponent for the presidency, Vice President Kamala Harris.
During an interview on The Ingraham Angle Monday night, Trump told the Fox News host that he will “probably end up debating” Harris. In his remarks, though, he also appeared to downplay the necessity of debates.
“I want to do a debate, but I also can say this. Everybody knows who I am. And now people know who she is,” he said.
“If you’re going to have a debate, you gotta do it, I think, before the votes are cast. I think it’s very important that you do that. So, the answer is yes, but I can also make a case for not doing it,” Trump said.
A short while later, a spokesperson for Harris’ campaign issued a statement on Trump’s comments on Fox, insisting that the vice president will be at the next debate no matter what.
“Why won’t Donald Trump give a straight answer on debating Vice President Harris? It’s clear from tonight’s question-dodging: he’s scared he’ll have to defend his running mate’s weird attacks on women, or his own calls to end elections in America in a debate against the vice president. Vice President Harris will be on the debate stage September 10th. Donald Trump can show up, or not,” the statement said.
Megan Thee Stallion to perform at VP Kamala Harris’ campaign rally in Atlanta: Source
Rapper Megan thee Stallion will give a special performance at Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, a source familiar confirmed to ABC News.
In addition to Megan thee Stallion, Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and former Rep. Stacey Abrams will be in attendance, supporting Harris’ 2024 presidential bid.
The news was first reported by Billboard.
Marianne Williamson suspends her Democratic presidential bid, again
Democratic long-shot nominee Marianne Williamson has suspended her campaign for president, announcing on X Monday that it is “time to let go” of her bid for the White House.
Williamson said she failed to register for the Democratic National Convention’s candidate directory by Saturday evening’s deadline.
Harris will be at ABC News debate with or without Trump, her campaign says
Vice President Kamala Harris will be at ABC News’ Sept. 10 debate with or without former President Donald Trump, her campaign communications director said Monday.
“As Vice President Harris said last week, the American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land and she will do that at September’s ABC debate,” her campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, said in a statement first reported by the Hill. “If Donald Trump and his team are saying anything other than ‘we’ll see you there’ — and it appears that they are — it’s a convenient, but expected backtrack from Team Trump. Vice President Harris will be there on September 10th — we’ll see if Trump shows.”
While Harris has previously affirmed her intention to be at the debate, this statement takes it a step further by saying she’ll show up regardless of Trump’s presence.
Trump accepted the debate when Biden was still the presumptive Democratic nominee, though his campaign has since said they’re waiting until there is an official Democratic nominee before agreeing to debates.
Election content on social media ‘could be propaganda’ for foreign adversaries: ODNI
Content about the election on social media “could be propaganda” for foreign adversaries, officials with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned on Monday.
“The American public should know that content that they read online, especially on social media, could be foreign propaganda, even if it appears to be coming from fellow Americans or originating in the United States,” an ODNI official said on a conference call with reporters on Monday. “In short, foreign influence actors are getting better at hiding their hand and using Americans to do it.”
Russia is still pervasive in this space and remains the biggest threat to the election, according to the officials.
The officials also warned that the influence operators will use the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump “as part of their narratives portraying the event to fit their broad goals.”
-ABC News’ Luke Barr
DNC says it raked in $6.5M in grassroots donations in 24 hours after Biden endorsed Harris
The Democratic National Committee is claiming it has raised $6.5 million in grassroots donations in the 24 hours after President Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Harris on July 21.
The DNC said $1 million was donated in the 5 p.m. hour alone for what they’re claiming is a record for its best online fundraising day of all time.
The DNC is making a significant push in battleground states, investing an additional $15 million into those crucial states this month to fund new field offices, build data infrastructure, mobilize volunteers and strengthen coordinated campaigns.
“Democratic voters, volunteers, and grassroots donors are fired up,” chairman Jaime Harrison said in a memo. “We are confident that in our battleground states, Democrats will win up and down the ballot in November.”
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
5:28 PM EDT Gov. Andy Beshear rallies for Harris in Atlanta, calls out JD Vance
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear spoke on Sunday at the opening of Kamala Harris’ campaign office in Forsyth County, Georgia.
The possible VP pick for Harris has been an effective surrogate for the vice president’s White House bid over the weekend, coming to the metro Atlanta event fresh off of a stump in Iowa on Saturday night.
The red-state governor introduced himself to the Southern audience on Sunday while boosting Harris’ candidacy and taking a number of swipes at Trump’s Vice Presidential pick, JD Vance.
“Are you ready to beat Donald Trump? Are you ready to beat JD Vance? Are you ready to elect Kamala Harris president of the United States of America?” Beshear asked the crowd, adding, “Let’s win this race,”
“Let me tell you just a bit about myself,” Beshear said. “I’m a proud pro-union governor. I’m a proud pro-choice governor. I am a proud pro-public education governor. I am a proud pro-diversity governor and I’m a proud Harris for president governor,” he added.
Calling out Vance, Beshear said, “Just let me be clear. JD Vance ain’t from Kentucky. He ain’t from Appalachia. And he ain’t gonna be the vice president of the United States.”
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
2:18 PM EDT Former Vice President Al Gore endorses Kamala Harris
Former Vice President Al Gore endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday.
“As a prosecutor, [Kamala Harris] took on Big Oil companies — and won. As [VP], she cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the most significant investment in climate solutions in history, the Inflation Reduction Act. That’s the kind of climate champion we need in the White House,” he wrote on X.
“With so much at stake in this year’s election — from strengthening democracy in the US and abroad, to expanding opportunity for the American people, to accelerating climate action — I’m proud to endorse Kamala Harris for President,” he added.
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
July 28, 2024, 10:42 AM EDT Vance says Trump ‘doesn’t care’ about his past criticism
During a quick stop at a diner in Minnesota on Sunday morning, Sen. JD Vance on Sunday spoke about his past criticisms of former President Donald Trump.
When asked by ABC News if he and Trump have talked about his past criticism of the former president, Vance said yes, adding that Trump “doesn’t care about what I said eight years ago.”
“I mean, look, President Trump and I have talked a lot about this,” Vance said. “In fact, I sometimes joke that I wish that he had the memory of Joe Biden, because he’s got a memory like a steel trap, and he certainly remembers criticisms that people have made.”
“But this is where the media, I think, really misses Trump — Donald Trump accepts that people can change their mind, and you ask, ‘Why did I change my mind on Donald Trump?’ Because his agenda made people’s lives better,” Vance said.
“This whole thing is not about red team versus blue team or winning an election for its own sake. It’s about getting a chance to govern so that you can bring down the cost of groceries, close that border and stop the fentanyl coming across our country for four years,” Vance continued, saying he was “wrong” about Trump.
“He did a better job of that than anybody that I’ve ever seen as president in my lifetime. So I changed my mind, because he did a good job. And that’s what you do when people do a good job and you’re wrong. I’ve talked to President Trump a lot about it, but look, he, I mean, he just, he doesn’t… He doesn’t care about what I said eight years ago. He cares about whether we together [and] can govern the country successful.”
When asked again if the two have talked about the subject, specifically in the last week since his comments have resurfaced, Vance admitted that they haven’t spoken about it and their conversations have focused on the race ahead.
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Soorin Kim and Hannah Demissie
(WASHINGTON) — Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe is set to testify before a joint Senate panel on Tuesday, and offer more detail about the Secret Service’s communications at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a man tried to assassinate Trump.
Rowe is expected to offer details about the security arrangements that were put in place for Trump’s rally on July 13.
Rowe is prepared to tell Senators, that Secret Service leadership was communicating directly with the Butler Emergency Services Unit (ESU) or their equivalent of a SWAT team. The Service says they have uncovered text messages that have been reviewed and interviews they’ve conducted with officials there on site that give them a fuller picture of what took place. The text messages, according to a source, are with a senior official from the Butler ESU team; they detail the Butler official describing the personnel that was available and some information about deployments, according to the source.
The Butler ESU was responsible for helping to put together the security package outside the Secret Service bubble.
The source confirmed that the Secret Service never had direct communications with police from Beaver County, as ABC News reported on Monday morning.
The source said the Secret Service was communicating with Butler and that the Beaver County team was providing mutual aid or support to Butler.
Rowe was named acting director when Director Kim Cheatle resigned. Formerly, he was number 2.
(NEW YORK) — The World Health Organization announced Monday that it has launched an initiative to help accelerate the development of a human bird flu vaccine using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.
The project, which will be led by Argentinian pharmaceutical company Sinergium Biotech, will aim to identify vaccine candidates for manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries, the WHO said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has previously said the risk of bird flu, also known as avian influenza, to the general public is low and there is currently no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Federal health officials have also prepared millions of vials of an available non-mRNA bird flu vaccine as a precautionary measure, just in case it becomes necessary.
mRNA technology is the same type that was used in the development of COVID vaccines. Most vaccines use a weakened or inactive virus to stimulate an immune response, but mRNA vaccines teach the body how to make proteins that can trigger an immune response and fight off an infection.
Researchers can often design mRNA vaccines more quickly than they can produce the live or weakened pathogens needed for a traditional vaccine.
The initiative is part of the WHO’s mRNA Technology Transfer Program, which has a goal of building capacity in low- and middle-income countries to produce mRNA vaccines.
Sinergium Biotech has already developed candidates for H5N1 vaccines, according to the WHO. The company is looking to perform proof-of-concept studies, in which researchers decide whether to continue studying the product based on its efficacy.
If the proof-of-concept study is successful, Sinergium said it plans to share the “technology, materials and expertise” with other manufacturing partners so they can develop the vaccine themselves.
“This initiative exemplifies why WHO established the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme — to foster greater research, development and production in low- and middle-income countries, so that when the next pandemic arrives, the world will be better prepared to mount a more effective and more equitable response,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
The WHO says that avian influenza viruses are a “significant public health risk” because they spread widely in animals and have the potential to cause a future pandemic. However, the global health agency indicated that its preparedness efforts are an example of being proactive, rather than reactive, by increasing access to vaccines.
In the United States, there have been 13 human cases of bird flu since April of this year, according to an update last week from the CDC. All the human patients either came into contact with sick dairy cows or infected poultry, according to the CDC.
U.S. Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to attendees during his campaign rally at the Bojangles Coliseum on July 24, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Fred Trump III, the nephew of former President Donald Trump, said his uncle is “atomic crazy,” that he witnessed him using racial slurs decades ago — and that he plans to vote for Kamala Harris.
The Trump way was to be “complex and sometimes cruel,” Fred Trump said in an interview with ABC News’ Aaron Katersky.
“And within every family — people know this — families are complicated. Every family has their crazy uncle. My Uncle Donald is atomic crazy. And … he has put his mark on the family history,” he said, as he promoted his new book, All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way.
Pressed to explain further, Fred Trump said it “means he does things that, even as much as I know him when he’s out there now, I sort of shudder and say, ‘Is this the same guy I knew? What’s making him change? … What got him this way?’ But that all being said, I’ve always had a good relationship.”
He added, “But he’s done really horrific things to me, which some people will say, ‘How could you still want to have a relationship with him?’ He’s my uncle. He’s family, and that means a lot.”
Fred Trump, the son of the former president’s late older brother Fred Trump II, who died in 1981 at 43, says he wrote the book in part to advocate for people with severe developmental disabilities, like his adult son William. He says this latest Trump family tell-all is not a political hit job, but rather the “full-on truth” about his uncle, who is the Republican nominee for president.
In a statement to ABC News, Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung denied the claims about the former president.
“This is completely fabricated and total fake news of the highest order,” he said. “It is appalling a lie so blatantly disgusting can be printed in media. Anyone who knows President Trump knows he would never use such language, and false stories like this have been thoroughly debunked.”
The younger Trump’s new book includes a chapter titled, “The Race Card.” In that chapter, he details his uncle using a racial slur, he said.
“I was about 10 years old, and I was at my grandparents’ house, like I was a lot,” Fred Trump said. “And Donald — I could hear him screaming. And I went down to the driveway of my grandparents’ house, and there was his white El Dorado convertible with two slashes. Still remember it. And he had electrical tape, because the roof was black. And he used the word — the N-word — twice just saying who he thought probably had done this.”
The former president has consistently denied using the racial slur. Fred Trump said that despite being young when the incident occurred, he “absolutely” remembered the moment as it happened.
“OK. He did twice that day,” Fred Trump said when ABC News brought up Donald Trump’s repeated denials.
Fred Trump wrote in his book that some people have labeled the former president as racist, and some say he is not. But what does he believe?
“He, at time[s], espouses things that people who I believe are racist espouses. That’s the best I can answer that question,” he said.
“I don’t believe he’s a racist,” Fred Trump added when pressed on the question. “I just think that he uses people, whether they’re Black or they’re — whoever can help him he will use them. And, you know, call it racist or not, I don’t believe in that. He uses them as props. And when he gets what he needs out of them — votes — he’ll cast them aside.”
After his uncle was elected president in 2016, Fred Trump saw an opportunity to advocate for the disabled, he said.
“I was in the Oval Office 12 times about. And that was our mission: to advocate for people with complex disabilities,” he said.
He added, “It culminated in May of 2020 in the Oval Office. Donald was there, and he was very gracious. Several other folks were there, including the group that we brought down. We dispersed. I was asked to go back and see Donald. He greeted me with his familiar, ‘Hey, pal. How’s it going?'”
He says he “sat down for a bit” with his uncle.
“And he just came out with, ‘These people, all the expenses. They should just die,'” Fred Trump recalled. “He’s talking about human beings who have complex issues, and the first thing he could say was they should just die.”
Fred Trump said the comment wasn’t an isolated incident. He described a phone call to alert his uncle that the medical fund set up by the family for his son William was running low, a fund he says his uncle consistently replenished.
“A couple of years ago … I called him. I said, ‘Donald, the fund’s running out.’ And without hesitation, he said, ‘Your son doesn’t recognize you. Let him die and move to Florida,'” Fred Trump said.
Asked if he was surprised by the comment, Fred Trump said he was. He said he told his uncle that his son did recognize him.
“Was I surprised? I don’t think you could hear something like that and not be surprised,” Fred Trump said. “But that is what he has become. It’s sad.”
“You describe your uncle as incredibly cruel. Why would you want a relationship with him?” ABC News asked.
“I’m not gonna change him I don’t think there’s anybody that could change him,” Fred Trump said. “But I’ve always enjoyed time with him. And I would hope if he’s not elected that he’ll calm down. I don’t know if that’s possible. But my guess is I may not be welcome to any of the golf courses anymore. I’ll find others. But I do thank him for the entree to those courses. I’m a heck of a golfer.”
Fred Trump said he planned to vote for Harris, but would attend the inauguration if his uncle wins and if he’s invited.
Tune into “Good Morning America” Tuesday at 7 a.m. ET to watch more of Aaron Katersky’s interview with Fred Trump III.
Police officers and forensic personnel put up a fence on Hart Street in Southport, northwest England, on July 29, 2024, following a knife attack. (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Police investigating the deadly attack on a children’s music event in a seaside town of Southport, United Kingdom, said they would interview the 17-year-old suspect as they searched for a motive.
“The investigation is in its early stages and the motivation for the incident remains unclear,” Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said on Monday.
Officers responded just before noon local time to reports of a stabbing at a property on Hart Street in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool, according to Merseyside Police.
Two children were killed and nine others were injured in a stabbing attack at an event at a dance school in the seaside town, police said. Six of the wounded children were in critical condition, along with two adults, who were also stabbed, police said.
“We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked,” Kennedy said Monday.
Merseyside Police said the children were attending a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school. A flyer for the two-hour event called it a “Taylor Swift Yoga and Dance Workshop.” The event was for children between 6 and 11 years old, according to post on the organizer’s Instagram.
The “horror” of the attack was “washing over me continuously,” Swift said in a post on Instagram. She said she was “completely in shock.”
“The loss of life and innocent, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and first responders,” she said. These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to even convey my sympathies to these families.”
A 17-year-old boy from Banks, a coastal village in Lancashire, just outside Southport, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, police said.
The suspect, whose name was not released, was born in Cardiff, Wales, police said.
The “full circumstances” were still being investigated, police said, adding that the attack wasn’t being investigated as terror-related. Police were not searching for additional suspects, they said.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during The Rocket Foundation Summit on Gun Violence Prevention at The Carter Presidential Center on June 18, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Julia Beverly/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is holding a rally in Atlanta on Tuesday, marking her 15th trip to Georgia since taking office and her first trip to the battleground state since launching her own presidential bid.
On a call with reporters ahead of her trip, Harris’ campaign said Georgia, a formerly red state that voted blue in the last presidential election, is still “in play.”
“The vice president is energizing and mobilizing our base,” said Dan Kanninen, the campaign’s battleground states director. “Having a candidate who can mobilize our key Biden-Harris coalition, talking about the issues that resonate with Georgians … make that state in play.”
Since President Joe Biden announced earlier this month that he was leaving the 2024 race, Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.
The trip comes as the campaign reported raising $200 million in less than a week since Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed Harris. The campaign is also boasting 170,000 new volunteers who have signed up to back Harris. This past weekend to commemorate the 100-day mark from November’s election, the campaign hosted 2,300 events across the battleground states with more than 29,000 volunteers participating.
Harris — who will be introduced by a graduate of Morehouse College, a historically Black university — will be joined by Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock as well as former Rep. Stacey Abrams along with several other special guests. One of those special guests will rapper Megan Thee Stallion, who is expected to give a special performance at the rally, a source confirmed to ABC News.
Harris’ remarks at the rally will follow a meeting with local reproductive rights leaders and activists.
Georgia played a crucial role in Biden’s 2020 victory, going blue for the first time since 1992 due, in significant part, to organizing efforts from Abrams, who spent years spearheading get-out-the-vote efforts in Black communities. Harris’ campaign will be looking to replicate success in Georgia by shoring up support among Black voters, a key group of voters that both Harris and former President Donald Trump will work to connect with as the November election approaches.
Biden only won the state by some 12,000 votes in 2020, a win heavily contested by Trump, who is currently in the midst of an election interference case in the state. Trump hasn’t held a campaign event in Georgia since his debate with Biden in June.
Kanninen said although the Harris campaign has achieved an impressive fundraising haul in a short amount of time, they are not getting “comfortable.”
“I continue to be very clear with our partners and with our own staff. This campaign will not get comfortable. We jumped in with just 100 days ago against an opponent who has shown he’s willing to do anything to win,” said Kannien. “This is going to be an incredibly close race just like it was in 2020. But just like four years ago, we are going to win this thing.”
The Harris campaign told reporters they expect the state to be just as “competitive” this election, claiming that their infrastructure in the state gives them an advantage.
“We expect it to be as close as competitive this year,” said Communications Director Michael Tyler. “That’s why we have the team and the operation in place to make sure that we can turn out every single Harris voter in the state of Georgia.”
According to the campaign, they have more than 170 coordinated staff and 24 offices across the state with three of those opening this past weekend. The Trump campaign only recently opened its first campaign office in the state in June.
“We’re making these investments across the entire map because the data is clear. We have multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes,” said Kanninen. “The vice president is strong in both the blue wall and in the Sun Belt and we are running hard in both.”
(GREENSBORO, N.C.) — A 19-year-old woman has been found dead on a picnic table under a pavilion at a park in North Carolina, police say.
The woman was found on Sunday at approximately 7:27 p.m. when officers from the Greensboro Police Department responded to the 2900 block of Haig Street after a caller expressed concern about “a person lying on a picnic table under a pavilion in the park at that location,” according to a statement from the Greensboro Police Department detailing the incident.
“The caller advised that the person was not moving. The caller said they had heard what they thought were fireworks about an hour earlier,” the statement said. “On closer inspection, the caller reported that the person was not breathing and had injuries that the caller described as gunshot wounds.”
Responding officers immediately went to the scene where they located the victim — later identified as 19-year-old Jakala Marie Goode — and pronounced her deceased at the scene.
Police are investigating Goode’s death as a homicide but did not disclose any potential motives or suspects in the case.
This is the 22nd homicide in Greensboro this year and police are asking for anybody with information to call Greensboro/Guilford Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000.
All tips to Crime Stoppers are completely anonymous and the investigation is currently ongoing.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper speaks before U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at a post-debate campaign rally on June 28, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement on Monday night signaling that he’s removed himself from contention as a vice presidential running mate for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President. I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” he said in a post on X.
“As l’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins,” he added.
Moments after Cooper issued his statement, he delivered remarks on a “White Dudes for Harris” Zoom call, but did not address withdrawing as a possible running mate. The governor instead took the time to boost Harris’ candidacy, saying, “We know that this country needs Kamala Harris more than ever right now, and we can hold the key now.”
Cooper previously announced his support for Harris’ presidential campaign. On July 21, he formally endorsed the vice president, writing, “Kamala Harris should be the next President. I’ve known @VP going back to our days as AGs, and she has what it takes to defeat Donald Trump and lead our country thoughtfully and with integrity. I look forward to campaigning for her as we work to win NC up and down the ticket.”
Cooper, who is the former chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, was seen as a possible top contender for Harris’ 2024 election ticket to expand the Democratic Party’s reach into swing states.
If Cooper were to join Harris’ campaign, however, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson would become active governor while on the campaign trail, under constitutional law.
Robinson is the Republican party’s nominee for governor in the state, in the race to replace Cooper who is term-limited from running for a third time.
Other rumored contenders for Harris’ running mate include Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
Harris is expected to announce her VP nomination by Aug. 7, ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which will kick off in Chicago on Aug. 19.
