(WASHINGTON) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has axed a program that allowed the public to view COVID-19 levels on cruise ships that sail in U.S. waters.
The CDC announced Monday it would do away with the program, saying it “determined that the cruise industry has access to the necessary tools (e.g., cruise-specific recommendations and guidance, vaccinations, testing instruments, treatment modalities and non-pharmaceutical interventions) to prevent and mitigate COVID-19 on board.”
The move comes as the BA.5 omicron subvariant spreads across the United States. The variant is now estimated to make up more than 78% of new cases, according to the CDC.
The pandemic-era policy designated ships with a color-coding system based on testing and vaccination rates, allowing the public to monitor the spread of the virus on ships. The CDC said the system was removed because it “depended upon each cruise line having the same COVID-19 screening testing standards, which may now vary among cruise lines.”
The CDC said it will continue to publish guidance for cruise ships to mitigate and manage COVID-19 transmission. It also said each cruise will “determine their own specific COVID-19 related requirements for cruise travel, as well as safety measures and protocols for passengers traveling on board.”
“It’s still too early to tell exactly what it means for cruisers, as the cruise lines now need to figure out what their guidelines will be,” Chris Gray Faust, managing editor of the Cruise Critic, told ABC News. “The CDC’s previous order did cover a wide variety of requirements, including pre-cruise testing, vaccine requirements, masking guidelines and quarantine requirements. Now that this is all back at the cruise line level.”
Currently, coronavirus protocols vary among cruise lines and also depend on local mandates where ships sail.
Royal Caribbean requires all passengers 12 and older to present proof of full COVID-19 vaccination with the final dose administered at least 14 days before sailing.
Carnival Cruise Line offers vaccinated cruises, allowing guests who have received their final dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days prior to the sailing day (not counting embarkation day) and have proof of vaccination. Carnival does provide some exceptions for unvaccinated guests ages 5 and older, requiring those passengers to present a negative PCR COVID-19 test, taken within 72 and 24 hours prior to the sailing date at check-in.
Norwegian Cruise Line requires all guests age 12 and over to be fully vaccinated at least two weeks prior to departure in order to board.
If passengers want to find out about outbreaks on ships, the CDC advises they reach out to the cruise line directly.
“It’s really important to stay up to date on what your cruise line requires. Read those emails that the cruise lines send you because things could be changing. If you have a travel agent, check in with them,” Faust said.
(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:
Jul 19, 2:28 PM EDT
Ukrainian first lady visits White House
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden greeted Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska at the White House Tuesday afternoon.
Zelenska was presented with a bouquet of flowers in Ukrainian colors: yellow sunflowers, blue hydrangeas and white orchids.
Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., arrived with Zelenska.
Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff then held a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian delegation. Jill Biden said they’ll discuss mental health issues for mothers and children who have “suffered such tragedy and the atrocities” during the war.
Zelenska will address Congress on Wednesday.
-ABC News’ John Parkinson
Jul 19, 8:25 AM EDT
US weapons help stabilize frontline, Ukrainian official says
Ukrainian forces have “stabilized” the situation along the frontline in the eastern and south-eastern regions of the country, in large part thanks to U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers, the Ukrainian military said on Monday.
“We managed to stabilize the situation. It is complex, intense, but completely controlled,” Valery Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said.
An important factor contributing to Ukraine’s retention of its defensive lines and positions is the timely arrival of U.S. supplied M142 HIMARS — High Mobility Artillery Rocket System — rocket launchers, Zaluzhny added. These highly precise and modern weapons have been delivering “targeted strikes” on Russian “control points, ammunition and fuel storage depots,” the top commander added.
Ukrainian troops struck a Russian military facility in the area of an asphalt plant in the eastern town of Nova Kakhovka on Monday, Ukrainian military officials said. Ukrainian forces also hit an administrative building and a hangar filled with Russian fuel tankers in the southern town of Beryslav, killing more than 100 Russian soldiers, the Ukrainian military said on Monday.
Russian forces shelled the town of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region about 40 times on Monday night, local authorities said. Explosions were also reported in the Odesa region, injuring several civilians. Russian troops also fired cluster shells at the city of Mykolaiv late on Monday.
Russia’s stated immediate objective is to seize all of the Donetsk region, the UK Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday. Even if Russian troops make further territorial gains, the tempo of their advance is likely to be very slow, the ministry added.
Russian units, severely under-manned, face a dilemma between deploying more forces to the Donbas or defending against Ukrainian counter-attacks in the Kherson area, the observers said.
Jul 18, 4:20 PM EDT
Ukraine’s first lady to meet with Jill Biden
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska will meet with first lady Jill Biden in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Biden’s office said, one day before Zelenska addresses Congress.
Jul 18, 1:45 PM EDT
Ukraine’s first lady to address Congress on Wednesday
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska will make remarks Wednesday before members of Congress on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced.
All members of the House and Senate are invited to the event, which is set for 11 a.m ET.
Jul 18, 8:56 AM EDT
Russia orders troops to eliminate Ukraine’s long-range missiles
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has visited the East group of Russian forces involved in the fighting in Ukraine and ordered his troops to eliminate the Ukrainian army’s long-range missiles and artillery ammunition it uses to shell targets in the Donbas region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
Shoigu instructed the group’s commander to give priority to the use of precision-guided weapons to destroy Ukraine’s long-range missile and artillery assets, the ministry added. Russia has accused Ukraine of using its long-range weapons to shell residential neighborhoods in Donbas communities and set fire to wheat fields and grain storage facilities.
Ukrainian officials said Russian missiles struck targets across much of eastern Ukraine on Sunday and early Monday.
Six people were killed in the town of Toretsk in the Donetsk region after Russian shelling, the state emergency service said. Missiles also struck civilian infrastructure, including a school in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions.
Russia also carried out 55 strikes on the Sumy region on Sunday. Around 60 projectiles landed in Nikopol, a dozen residential buildings were damaged and one elderly woman was wounded, local officials said.
The southern city of Mykolaiv was subjected to a massive missile strike in the early hours of Sunday as 10 missiles, presumably launched by an S-300 system, hit various parts of town.
Russian officials said on Monday that no clear timeframes have been set for the war in Ukraine, and priority should be given to its efficiency.
“We have no doubts that the special military operation will be completed after all of its objectives are attained. There are no clear timeframes, what counts most is this operation’s efficiency,” Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said as quoted by Russian media.
Officials from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic claimed on Monday that DPR territory will be liberated from the Ukrainian military this year.
“The liberation of Donbas will be completed this year,” Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the police department of the DPR, said according to Russian media.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Yulia Drozd, and Max Uzol
Jul 17, 6:20 PM EDT
Number of Ukrainian public officials accused of treason, collaborating with Russia: Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the former head of the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, in Crimea, who was dismissed in the beginning of the Russian invasion, has been notified he is being charged with treason.
“Everyone who together with him was part of a criminal group that worked in the interests of the Russian Federation will also be held accountable,” Zelenskyy said during his evening address Sunday. “It is about the transfer of secret information to the enemy and other facts of cooperation with the Russian special services.”
A number of Ukrainian public officials have been notified they will be charged for treason and for collaborating with Russia.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Jul 17, 2:20 PM EDT
‘Evil cannot win’: Priest breaks down at funeral for 4-year-old Ukrainian girl
A funeral service was held Sunday for a 4-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was among two dozen Ukrainian civilian’s killed last week in a Russian missile attack in the west-central Ukrainian town of Vinnytsia.
During the open-casket funeral for Liza Dmytrieva, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest broke down in tears as he told the little girl’s father and other relatives, “evil cannot win,” according to The Associated Press.
Liza was pushing a stroller in a park as she and her mother were headed to a speech therapist appointment when the attack unfolded Thursday afternoon in Vinnytsia, a city close to the front lines in west-central Ukraine, officials said.
The girl and 23 others Ukrainian civilians were killed, including two boys ages 7 and 8. At least 200 other civilians, including Liza’s mother, were injured, officials said.
“Look, my flower! Look how many people came to you,” Liza’s grandmother, Larysa Dmytryshyna, said, as she caressed the child lying in an open casket filled with teddy bears and flowers.
Orthodox priest Vitalii Holoskevych gave the eulogy at Liza’s funeral struggling through tears.
“I didn’t know Liza, but no person can go through this with calm because every burial is grief for each of us,” Holoskevych said. “We are losing our brothers and sisters.”
Jul 15, 10:01 AM EDT
Grandma of 4-year-old girl killed in missile strike: ‘I hate them all’
The grandmother of a 4-year-old girl killed in Thursday’s Russian missile attack in Vinnytsia told ABC News, “They took the most precious [person] I had in my life.”
Four-year-old Liza was among 23 people, including three children, killed in the strike.
Liza’s grandmother, Larysa Dmytryshyna, called her a “wonderfully sunny child.”
“She was the most wonderful girl in the world and it is so painful that her mother cannot even bury her,” she said.
Asked how she feels about Russia, Dmytryshyna, replied, “I hate them all.”
“We did not ask them to come here. They have caused so much sorrow,” she said of the Russians. “I would give my own life to extinguish the entire country.”
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge, Ibtissem Guenfoud and Natalya Kushnir
Jul 15, 9:04 AM EDT
Demand for artificial limbs surges in Ukraine
One of Ukraine’s leading medical experts on developing prosthetic limbs for amputees says there has been a dramatic surge in demand for artificial arms and legs since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Dr. Oleksandr Stetsenko told ABC News that financial support or donations of prosthetic parts are needed from abroad to meet the increased demand.
External support, he said, is vital so that people have the chance to continue with their lives.
“With good prosthetics people can come back to life again,” Stetsenko told ABC News.
There is currently no official figure for how many people in Ukraine have undergone surgery to remove limbs because of injuries sustained from the war but Dr. Stetsenko estimates that around 500 people have had limbs amputated since the end of February with the majority of those cases being soldiers and around a fifth being civilians.
While the number of patients in Ukraine needing artificial limbs has increased, the domestic supply of components to make prosthetic arms and legs has reduced.
That is because a third of the companies which were previously producing components in Ukraine are now located in territory which has recently been occupied by Russian forces or in areas near to the frontline, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.
A director at the health ministry, Oleksandra Mashkevych, confirmed that Ukraine is no longer able “to cover all of the demand relating to artificial limbs.”
Mashkevych told ABC News that children who need artificial limbs are sent abroad to Europe or to the United States and that around 20 children in Ukraine are thought to have had limbs amputated since the start of the war in February.
-ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge, Ibtissem Guenfoud, Natalya Kushnir and Kuba Kaminski
Jul 15, 6:49 AM EDT
Unprecedented rescue operation underway in Vinnytsia
At least 18 people are still missing after a deadly missile strike on downtown Vinnytsia in central Ukraine on Thursday, the Ukrainian National Police said.
Three Russian Kalibr missiles launched from a submarine struck an office building and damaged nearby residential buildings in Vinnytsia, located about 155 miles southwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Thursday morning.
At least 23 people — including 3 children — died in the attack, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said, and more than a 100 were wounded, some critically. The bodies of 2 children and 11 adults were yet to be identified on Friday morning, local authorities said.
The strike in the heart of Vinnytsia is “part of a systematic Russian campaign of attacks on residential areas of cities in Ukraine”, the Institute for the Study of War said.
The search continued on Friday morning for at least 18 people who were still missing after the attack. The ongoing rescue operation has been unprecedented in its scale, local officials said, with more than 1,000 rescuers and 200 pieces of equipment being involved in clearing the rubble and searching for those still missing.
Several dozen people were reportedly detained in Vinnytsia on Thursday for questioning under the suspicion of acting as local spotters or aimers on the ground for the Russian strikes.
The eastern city of Mykolaiv also reported 10 powerful explosions on Friday morning. The city’s two biggest universities were hit in the attack, wounding at least four people, local authorities said. Russia also struck a hotel and a shopping mall in Mykolaiv on Thursday.
Russian shelling also targeted Kharkiv, another eastern city, on Thursday night. Local officials claimed 2 schools were damaged in the attack.
The European Union and the United Nations strongly condemned Russia for what the EU called a “long series of brutal attacks against civilians.”
Russia’s missile strikes hit more than 17,000 facilities of civilian infrastructure as opposed to around 300 military facilities since the start of the war, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Yulia Drozd, Fidel Pavlenko and Yuriy Zaliznyak
Jul 14, 4:02 PM EDT
Russian missile strike kills at least 23 in Vinnytsia
Russian missiles hit the heart of the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Thursday morning, killing at least 23 people and wounding dozens, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
Three children were among the dead, the agency said.
The missiles struck an office building and damaged nearby residential buildings in Vinnytsia, located about 155 miles southwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The strike also ignited a massive fire that engulfed 50 cars in an adjacent parking lot, according to the National Police of Ukraine. Burned-out vehicles are peppered with holes from the missiles.
The State Emergency Service said about 115 victims in Vinnytsia needed medical attention, with 64 people hospitalized — including 34 in severe condition and five in critical.
Forty-two people are listed as missing, the agency said.
Many Ukrainians moved to Vinnytsia, a city southwest of Kyiv, to get away from the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Until now, Vinnytsia had been seen as a city of relative safety.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack “an open act of terrorism” on civilians.
“Every day Russia is destroying the civilian population, killing Ukrainian children, directing missiles at civilian objects. Where there is no military (targets). What is it if not an open act of terrorism?” Zelenskyy said in a statement via Telegram on Thursday.
War crimes investigators are at the scene studying missile fragments.
Russian missile strikes targeted several other Ukrainian cities on Wednesday and early Thursday, including Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and Mykolaiv.
At least 12 people died in the Zaporizhia strike, which hit two industrial workshops on Wednesday, according to local authorities.
At least five civilians were killed and 30 others injured in Mykolaiv on Wednesday after Russian missiles destroyed a hotel and a shopping mall, the local mayor said. The southern Ukrainian city was shelled again on Thursday morning, but no casualties were immediately reported.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Fidel Pavlenko, Max Uzol, and Yulia Drozd
Jul 14, 1:49 PM EDT
At least 18 Russian filtration camps along Russia-Ukraine border
Michael Carpenter, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, is calling the forcible relocation of Ukrainians to Russian filtration camps is “a war crime.”
In an interview with ABC News Live on Thursday, Carpenter said the Russians are “trying to take away Ukrainians who might have Ukrainian civic impulses, who are patriots, who want to defend their country.” Carpenter said the Russians want to “erase Ukrainian identity” and “the Ukrainian nation state, as the entity that governs people’s lives in these regions.”
Carpenter said there are at least 18 filtration camps along the Russia-Ukraine border, adding that it’s impossible to get an exact total because many are located in Russia’s far east.
-ABC News’ Malka Abramoff
Jul 14, 12:04 PM EDT
Russian missile strike kills at least 17 in Vinnytsia
Russian missiles hit the heart of the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Thursday morning, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 30 others, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine.
Two children were among the dead, the prosecutor’s office said.
The missiles struck an office building and damaged nearby residential buildings in Vinnytsia, located about 155 miles southwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The strike also ignited a massive fire that engulfed 50 cars in an adjacent parking lot, according to the National Police of Ukraine. Burned-out vehicles are peppered with holes from the missiles.
The national police said about 90 victims in Vinnytsia sought medical attention, and 50 of them are in serious condition.
Many Ukrainians moved to Vinnytsia, a city southwest of Kyiv, to get away from the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Until now, Vinnytsia had been seen as a city of relative safety.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack “an open act of terrorism” on civilians.
“Every day Russia is destroying the civilian population, killing Ukrainian children, directing missiles at civilian objects. Where there is no military (targets). What is it if not an open act of terrorism?” Zelenskyy said in a statement via Telegram on Thursday.
War crimes investigators are at the scene studying missile fragments.
Russian missile strikes targeted several other Ukrainian cities on Wednesday and early Thursday, including Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and Mykolaiv.
At least 12 people died in the Zaporizhia strike, which hit two industrial workshops on Wednesday, according to local authorities.
At least five civilians were killed and 30 others injured in Mykolaiv on Wednesday after Russian missiles destroyed a hotel and a shopping mall, the local mayor said. The southern Ukrainian city was shelled again on Thursday morning, but no casualties were immediately reported.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Fidel Pavlenko, Max Uzol, and Yulia Drozd
Jul 13, 6:30 PM EDT
State Department aware of reports on another American detained by Russian proxies
The State Department said Wednesday it is aware of unconfirmed reports that another American has been detained by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
The statement follows a [report from the Guardian] () on 35-year-old Suedi Murekezi, who is believed to have gone missing in Ukraine in early June.
According to the Guardian, Murekezi was able to make contact with a family member on July 7 and told them he was being held in the same prison as Alexander Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, two American veterans captured while volunteering for Ukrainian forces. Murekezi has lived in Ukraine since 2020 and was falsely accused of participating in pro-Ukraine protests, according to the report.
“We have been in contact with the Ukrainian and Russian authorities regarding U.S. citizens who may have been captured by Russia’s forces or proxies while fighting in Ukraine,” a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday. “We call on Russia to live up to its international obligations to treat all individuals captured fighting with Ukraine’s armed forces as prisoners of war.”
Another American — Grady Kurpasi — is also missing in Ukraine. A family spokesperson said the veteran was last seen fighting with Ukrainian forces in late April and is feared to have been either killed or captured.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Jul 13, 8:27 AM EDT
Shelling continues throughout Donbas region
Shelling from both Russian and Ukrainian forces caused damage to the landscape and destroyed structures throughout the Donbas region on Tuesday and Wednesday, local officials said.
Russian strikes reportedly targeted the eastern town of Bakhmut, killing one person and wounding 5 others, the local governor said. Explosions were heard in several nearby towns too, with one missile falling near a kindergarten.
Shelling also continued in Izyum, Mykolayiv and Kharkiv on Tuesday. Russian troops reportedly conducted unsuccessful attacks north of Slovyansk and the town of Siversk on Tuesday, despite repeated rhetoric of an “operational pause” that Russia allegedly maintains, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest report.
Russian forces continue to bomb critical areas in preparation for future ground offensive, with air and artillery strikes reported along the majority of the frontline, the experts added.
Ukrainian forces on Tuesday responded to the Russian attacks and claimed to have destroyed six Russian military facilities on occupied Ukrainian territories. Ukrainian officials claimed to have destroyed several ammunition depots, as well as a larger military unit.
Russian media reported on Tuesday that Ukrainian troops launched a “massive attack” on an air defense unit in the Luhansk region.
Ukrainian military officials also claimed to have killed at least 30 Russian troops on Tuesday, along with destroying a howitzer and a multiple rocket launcher, among other weaponry.
But the U.K. Defense Ministry in its latest intelligence update said it still expects Russian forces to “focus on taking several small towns during the coming weeks” in the Donbas region.
These towns are on the approaches to the larger cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk that likely remain the principal objectives for this phase of the Russian military operation, the ministry said.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Max Uzol, Yulia Drozd and Yuriy Zaliznyak
Jul 12, 10:27 PM EDT
US transfers $1.7 billion in economic assistance to Ukrainian government
The United States transferred $1.7 billion to Ukraine’s government Tuesday, the Treasury Department announced.
It’s the second tranche of money the Treasury transferred to Ukraine’s government as part of $7.5 billion approved for this purpose in the $40 billion Ukraine aid package Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law in May.
It’ll go, in part, to helping Ukraine’s government provide “essential health care services” and health care workers’ salaries, the Treasury Department said.
The U.S. transferred the first tranche, $1.3 billion, to Ukraine’s government two weeks ago.
-ABC News Benjamin Gittleson
Jul 12, 1:59 AM EDT
Ukraine destroys Russian ammo depot in occupied Kherson region
Ukrainian forces hit and likely destroyed a Russian ammunition depot in the Russian-occupied town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region on Monday night, local officials said.
The strike resulted in a massive blast, videos of which soon circulated online. According to local reports, more than 40 trucks filled with gasoline were destroyed. Russian media didn’t verify the claims, saying instead that pro-Russian forces had destroyed a series of saltpeter warehouses.
“People’s windows are blown out, but they are still happy … because this means that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are close,” Sergey Khlan, from the Kherson Regional Military Administration, said in the aftermath of the attack.
Monday’s strike marked at least the fourth time Ukrainian forces destroyed ammunition depots in Nova Kakhovka, local media reported.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Tatiana Rymarenko, Max Uzol and Yulia Drozd
(WASHINGTON) — Steve Bannon, who served as former President Donald Trump’s chief strategist before departing the White House in August 2017, is on trial for defying a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Bannon was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 panel for records and testimony in September of last year, with the committee telling him it had “reason to believe that you have information relevant to understanding activities that led to and informed the events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
After the House of Representatives voted to hold him in contempt for defying the subpoena, the Justice Department in November charged Bannon with two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, setting up this week’s trial.
Here is how the news is developing. All times are Eastern.
Jul 19, 3:55 PM EDT
Defense tells jury ‘there was no ignoring the subpoena’
Bannon’s defense attorney Matt “Evan” Corcoran said in his opening statement that “no one ignored the subpoena” issued to Bannon, and that “there was direct engagement by Bob Costello,” Bannon’s attorney, with the House committee, specifically committee staffer Kristin Amerling.
He said Costello “immediately” communicated to the committee that there was an objection to the subpoena, “and that Steve Bannon could not appear and that he could not provide documents.”
“So there was no ignoring the subpoena,” Corcoran said. What followed was “a considerable back and forth” between Amerling and Costello — “they did what two lawyers do, they negotiated.”
Corcoran said, “the government wants you to believe … that Mr. Bannon committed a crime by not showing up to a congressional hearing room … but the evidence is going to be crystal clear no one, no one believed Mr. Bannon was going to appear on Oct. 14, 2021,” and the reasons he couldn’t appear had been articulated to the committee.
Corcoran told the jury that the government has to prove beyond a reasonable that Steve Bannon willfully defaulted when he didn’t appear for the deposition on Oct. 14, 2021 — “but you’ll find from the evidence that that date on the subpoena was the subject of ongoing discussions” and it was not “fixed.”
In addition, Corcoran told jurors, you will hear that “almost every single one” of the witnesses subpoenaed led to negotiations between committee staff and lawyers, and often the appearance would be at a later date than what was on the subpoena.
Corcoran also argued that the prosecution may have been infected by politics, telling the jury that with each document or each statement provided at trial, they should ask themselves: “Is this piece of evidence affected by politics?”
Jul 19, 3:31 PM EDT
Prosecutors say Bannon’s failure to comply was deliberate
Continuing her opening statement, federal prosecutor Amanda Vaughn told the jury that the subpoena to Bannon directed him to provide documents by the morning of Oct. 7, 2021, and to appear for a deposition the morning of Oct. 14, 2021 — but instead he had an attorney, Robert Costello, send a letter to the committee informing the committee that he would not comply “in any way,” she said.
“The excuse the defendant gave for not complying” was the claim that “a privilege” meant he didn’t have to turn over certain information, Vaughn said. “[But] it’s not up to the defendant or anyone else to decide if he can ignore the [request] based on a privilege, it’s up to the committee.”
And, said Vaughn, the committee clearly told Bannon that “your privilege does not get you out of this one, you have to provide documents, and you have to come to your deposition.” And importantly, she said, the committee told Bannon that “a refusal to comply” could result in criminal prosecution.
“You will see, the defendant’s failure to comply was deliberate here,” Vaughn told the jury. “The only verdict that is supported by the evidence here: that the defendant showed his contempt for the U.S. Congress, and that he’s guilty.”
Federal prosecutor Amanda Vaughn began opening statements by saying, “In September of last year, Congress needed information from the defendant, Steve Bannon. … Congress needed to know what the defendant knew about the events of Jan. 6, 2021. … Congress had gotten information that the defendant might have some details about the events leading up to that day and what occurred that day.”
So, Vaughn told the jury, Congress gave Bannon a subpoena “that mandated” he provide any information he might have.
“Congress was entitled to the information it sought, it wasn’t optional,” Vaughn said. “But as you will learn in this trial, the defendant refused to hand over the information he might have.”
Vaughn said Bannon ignored “multiple warnings” that he could face criminal prosecution for refusing to comply with the subpoena and for preventing the government from getting “important information.”
“The defendant decided he was above the law and decided he didn’t need to follow the government’s orders,” she said.
Jul 19, 2:51 PM EDT
Judge instructs jury of the burden of proof
Prior to opening statements, the judge made clear to the jury that the Justice Department has the burden to prove four distinct elements “beyond a reasonable doubt”:
(1) that Bannon was in fact subpoenaed for testimony and/or documents;
(2) that the testimony and/or documents were “pertinent” to the Jan. 6 committee’s investigation;
(3) that Bannon “failed to comply or refused to comply” with the subpoena;
(4) that the “failure or refusal to comply was willful.”
Jul 19, 2:44 PM EDT
Jury sworn in after judge denies continuance
A 14-member jury has been sworn in for the contempt trial of ex-Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
Of the 14 jurors, nine are men and five are women.
The swearing-in of the jury comes after U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols denied the defense’s request for a one-month delay of the trial, which attorneys for Bannon argued was necessary due to a “seismic shift in the understanding of the parties” of what the government’s evidence will be.
“We have a jury that is just about picked,” Nichols said in denying the request for a one-month continuance.
One of the jurors, a man who works for an appliance company, said Monday during jury selection that he watched the first Jan. 6 committee hearing and believes the committee is “trying to find the truth about what happened” on Jan. 6.
Another juror, a man who works as a maintenance manager for the Washington, D.C., Parks and Recreation department, said he believes what happened on Jan. 6 “doesn’t make sense.”
Another juror, a woman who works as a photographer for NASA, said “a lot” of her “photographer friends were at the Capitol” on Jan. 6, and she has watched some of the Jan. 6 hearings on the news.
(NEW YORK) — States with a large number of unvaccinated first responders “may face major workforce disruptions due to COVID-19 illness,” according to a study released Tuesday by researchers at the University of Miami.
First responders are more likely to contract COVID-19 than another population of individuals, but less likely to trust vaccines, the study says.
Last year, the leading cause of line of duty deaths amongst law enforcement was COVID-19, with 301 COVID deaths in 2021, according to the Office Down Memorial Page end of year report. This year is no different. The mid-year report from the group found over 95 COVID deaths in 2022. In fact, the group concluded the large increase in law enforcement deaths was entirely due to COVID-19 year over year.
The study looked at firefighters and police officers primarily in Arizona and Florida and found that out of the 1415 participants, 829 were fully vaccinated and 586 were not. The majority of the participants who took the survey were white men.
First responders in Florida who participated in the survey were likely to not be vaccinated than vaccinated as 291 were unvaccinated and 228 were fully vaccinated. The survey also found that 545 firefighters who participated in the survey were vaccinated but 419 were not. The numbers of fully vaccinated law enforcement officers offer a better picture with 157 law enforcement officers were vaccinated and 81 were unvaccinated.
“Given the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines during the public health emergency, governments should consider vaccine mandates with regular testing and alternative work assignments for unvaccinated workers,” the study concludes. “Furthermore, the low trust in government among first responders suggests a need to leverage trusted nongovernmental sources to increase vaccination rates.”
ABC News’ Eric Strauss contributed to this report.
(GIDEON, Mo.) — In the small town of Gideon, Missouri, — with a population of about 1,000 people — almost everyone knows one another, according to local police chief Rinda Dillard.
When the Gideon Police Department were called for a wellness check on a residence on July 9, they made a tragic discovery when no one answered the door and police had to force their way into the home.
Inside, an older couple and three of their dogs were found dead. The cause of death was heat exposure, according to officials.
“Nobody checked on them. More than anything, just make sure you check on your neighbors,” Dillard told ABC News. “It was a horrible, tragic situation. Definitely could have been avoided. They didn’t have any kind of air conditioner. They’ve had one fan inside their home.”
As the heat breaks records worldwide — reaching dangerously high, unprecedented temperatures — officials are warning people to look out for one another.
Reach out to neighbors
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises people check on their neighbors regularly, particularly older, sick, or disabled people, as well as people who live alone or who are impoverished.
“Closely monitor people who depend on you for their care and ask these questions: Are they drinking enough water? Do they have access to air conditioning? Do they need help keeping cool?” the CDC guidance reads.
For homeless populations in your neighborhood, call your local public officials or homeless advocacy groups if you see someone in need of help. Non-emergency hotlines, such as 311 services, can also offer aid.
Homeless people are about 200 times more likely to die from heat-associated causes than sheltered people, climate scientist David Hondula told The Weather Channel based on new research.
“Homeless people can be at great risk during extreme heat events, especially if they are elderly or disabled, struggle with alcohol or drug addiction, or suffer from medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and more,” the CDC reads.
When you check on your neighbors, it’s important to note what to look for when visiting.
Know signs of heat stress, exhaustion
“Ask yourself these questions: Are they drinking enough water? Do they have access to air conditioning? Do they know how to keep cool? Do they show any signs of heat stress?” the CDC guidance reads.
Make sure to get neighbors the help they need if they do not have access to protective measures. Also, take note of any signs of heat stroke or heat exhaustion.
For signs of these conditions, check out ABC News’ guide to staying safe in extreme heat.
If someone needs help, it’s important to know where to go to, to get them what they need.
Familiarize yourself with available local resources and how to get them
“If there’s something out of whack, call the police department … so we can check the resources and see what they have available,” said Dillard.
She, alongside recommendations from the CDC, advises people to check with local agencies and non-governmental organizations that may be able to offer support.
Many local agencies and groups can provide air conditioners, offer subsidies for at-home cooling appliances, or can direct and transport people to cooling centers.
Local governments often develop plans that identify how to respond to extreme heat, especially as trends show that this problem is being exacerbated by climate change.
“If you are interested in heat-response planning efforts in your community, your town or city hall is a great place to start,” the CDC advises. “Ask how you can get involved!”
(CHARLESTON, W.Va.) — Abortions in West Virginia can — at least temporarily — resume after a judge struck down a pre-Roe ban Monday.
Following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last month, the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia said in a statement on Facebook it would not be performing the procedure “until further notice” due to fear of prosecution under an 1882 law on the books.
The law made performing abortions, including administering drugs for medication abortions, a felony punishable by three to 10 years in prison.
However, Kanawha County Circuit Judge Tera Salango issued a preliminary injunction against the ban, meaning the state’s only clinic can perform the procedure again.
The Women’s Health Center told ABC News it is already booking abortion patients for appointments next week.
“The impacts of abortion being pushed out of reach for the last month have been devastating,” Katie Quiñonez, executive director of the clinic, said in a statement. “[The] decision is a sigh of relief and means we can once again serve the people who reach out to us for abortion services.”
“Make no mistake: Essential health care shouldn’t depend on the whims of a court or politicians, it should be based on compassion and what’s best for one’s life and future,” Quiñonez said.
In the lawsuit, attorneys for the clinic argued the statute should be considered void because it has not been enforced in several years and because newer laws have been passed that supersede the old law, such as a 2015 law allowing abortions up until 20 weeks gestation.
“What this decision did is, at least temporarily, provide some clarity around conflicting laws we had,” Loree Stark, legal director of the ACLU of West Virginia, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the clinic along with other firms, told ABC News. “It’s clear, at least for the moment, that … people seeking abortion care now have some access to it.”
She added, “This gives people some hope. To bring this before a judge and for the judge to really examine all the information in front of her and to choose to enjoin the law should hopefully give people hope.”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey called the decision a “dark day” and vowed his office will appeal the ruling to the state’s Supreme Court of Appeals.
“As a strong pro-life advocate, I am committed to protecting unborn babies to the fullest extent possible under the law, and I will not rest until this injunction is lifted,” he said in a statement sent to ABC News. “The current law on the books calls for the protection of life.”
(PHILADELPHIA) — Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that runs Sesame Street, said it will “conduct bias training and a thorough review of the ways in which they engage families and guests” at Sesame Place after a video of a potential racial bias incident went viral online.
“As a global nonprofit educational organization with a mission to help children grow smarter, stronger and kinder, Sesame Workshop has always stood for respect, inclusion and belonging and is committed to providing the highest quality engaging experiences for all children and families,” the organization said in a statement.
In a video posted on Twitter, two young Black girls at Sesame Place Philadelphia waved excitedly and held out their arms as a performer dressed in a Rosita costume approached.
Rosita high-fives parkgoers as she walks down the line, before appearing to shake her head at and wave off the two girls as she walks away from them.
“#BabyPaige & her cute lil friends went to @SesamePlace this weekend to celebrate Paige’s 4th birthday & this is how #SesamePlace treated these beautiful Black children,” the tweet, posted by the apparent aunt of the girl celebrating her birthday, read.
“While we hate to speculate and consider ‘race’ as the motivating factor, which would explain the performer’s actions, such actions both before and after the young girls reached out only leads us to one conclusion,” said attorney B’Ivory LaMarr, who is representing the family.
He continued, “Although Sesame Place purports to stand for inclusivity and equality, this was not demonstrated this past Saturday. We are currently investigating this incident and will exercise every legal remedy possible to further protect this family.”
Outrage ensued online, as more footage of similar incidents with park characters were posted online in response to the viral video. Calls to boycott Sesame Place are growing on social media.
Sesame Place Philadelphia released a statement on the incident, saying, “We know that it’s not OK. We are taking actions to do better. We are committed to making this right.”
The park said it will conduct training for employees to deliver an “inclusive, equitable and entertaining” experience for parkgoers.
Sesame Place is a licensed park partner of Sesame Workshop.
ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin and Kendall Ross contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday that codifies a 2020 law dealing with Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad.
Drawing on the 2020 Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, the new executive order will reinforce the U.S. government’s efforts to support families of Americans wrongfully detained or held hostage overseas, according to the White House.
The order will authorize the federal government to impose financial sanctions on those who are involved — directly or indirectly — in wrongful detaining Americans abroad, the White House said. Moreover, government agencies will be directed to improve engagement with those Americans’ families, including sharing intelligence information about their loved ones and the government’s efforts to free them. The order will also charge experts across agencies with developing “options and strategies to deter future hostage-takings,” the White House said.
A senior Biden administration official told reporters that new sanctions will not be announced on Tuesday.
In addition to the executive order, Biden will introduce a new “risk indicator” — “the ‘D’ indicator” — to the U.S. Department of State’s travel advisories for particular countries to alert Americans of the risk of wrongful detention by a foreign government, according to the White House.
Starting Tuesday, the first countries to receive this additional risk indicator will be China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela, another senior administration official told reporters. The “D” indicator joins the existing “K” indicator that covers the risk of kidnapping and hostage-taking by non-state actors, as well as a range of other existing risk indicators.
China’s “D” risk designation may spark ire in Beijing, where Chinese officials have largely tried to avoid the subject of wrongful detentions and where Western sanctions are a constant trigger.
Experts estimate that roughly 200 Americans are arbitrarily jailed in China, and that even more are subject to unlawful “exit bans,” barring them from leaving the country. Some advocates have pushed for the Biden administration to take a more vocal approach to secure their freedom, rather than the standard behind-the-scenes diplomacy. But the State Department has recently tried a similar strategy — updating their official advisory to American and instructing them to reconsider travel plans to China due to “arbitrary enforcement of local laws.”
Syria, with which the United States does not currently have formal diplomatic relations, will be notably excluded from the “D” risk designation on Tuesday. U.S. officials believe that while the Syrian government may not be currently holding American journalist Austin Tice in its custody, it could have valuable information on his whereabouts and perhaps those of other missing Americans. Tice, 40, was abducted in Syria nearly 10 years ago.
The White House recently held a telephone call for the relatives of detained Americans to share information with them about these new announcements. Some of them are in Washington, D.C., this week for the unveiling of a public mural depicting their loved ones, according to Jonathan Franks, a spokesperson for many of the families.
The mural in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood will depict the faces of 18 American hostages and wrongful detainees, according to Franks, who represents a group called the Bring Our Families Home Campaign. Among those featured will be American basketball star Brittney Griner, 31, and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, 52, both of whom remain detained in Russia, as well as U.S. permanent resident Paul Rusesabagina, 68, who inspired the acclaimed 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda” and was sentenced last September to 25 years in Rwandan prison over terrorism charges.
Franks accused U.S. officials of ignoring these relatives’ requests to meet with Biden, and said the phone call the White House held with the relatives was a “one-way conversation with families.” He said the Biden administration was rolling out these new steps in order to “pre-manage the press attention from many hostage families being in D.C. this week to unveil their mural,” saying the White House was “taking executive action to direct itself to follow existing law.”
A spokesperson for the White House told ABC News that it had invited the families to learn about the new announcements before they were announced publicly.
“As part of our regular communication with families of those who are held hostage or wrongfully detained, we invited them to hear about new policy efforts we are launching to help bring their loved ones home,” the spokesperson said. “We wanted to share information with the families first before we announce them publicly, which the families deserve.”
The spokesperson added that the Biden administration would “continue to be in regular touch with these families through the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, and the president’s national security team as we do everything we can to support them during these difficult times.”
Whelan’s brother, David Whelan, told ABC News the executive order was “a good next step and shows a long-term commitment by the Biden administration, both in the amount of time it must have taken to craft the framework … and the focus on continued deterrence.”
He said the White House holding the call with families in advance of the public announcement “was exactly what families had been asking for: communication in advance of new announcements that would impact our families.”
According to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, there are actually 64 publicly known cases of Americans being held hostage or wrongfully detained around the world.
Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(LONDON) — The International Rescue Committee for the first time on Tuesday issued a “Crisis Alert” update to its annual “Emergency Watchlist” report, warning that millions of people across East Africa could die from “catastrophic famine” without “urgent” international funding and action.
The global humanitarian aid organization releases its “Emergency Watchlist” at the end of each year, identifying the countries it believes are most at risk of the worst humanitarian crises over the course of the coming year. But since early 2022, Russia has been waging a war against Ukraine that has disproportionally affected food security in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, which were reliant on Russia and Ukraine for about 90% of their wheat imports and are now in the midst of their longest, most severe drought in decades.
The IRC said its first-ever “Crisis Alert” update was issued in light of this fallout from the war in Ukraine, which — combined with the increasingly detrimental impact of climate change, conflict and COVID-19 — has driven those three East African nations into a “predictable crisis dangerously neglected by the international community.”
“There is nothing natural about famines in the 21st century. While a complex set of factors are driving extreme hunger, the slide into famine and mass death is man-made, driven by international inaction,” IRC CEO David Miliband said in a statement Tuesday. “This crisis was predictable and preventable. It has been unfolding over two years of repeated warnings and worsening hunger. What we are witnessing is an unnatural disaster of catastrophic proportions.”
The war in Ukraine would not have had such a significant impact on East Africa if drought had not already devastated agriculture, IRC said.
After a record four consecutive failed rainy seasons, the number of people going hungry across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia is set to surpass 20 million by September — nearly a doubling compared to late 2021. Over three million of them are already experiencing the most extreme levels of hunger, increasing their risk of death, according to the IRC.
The IRC’s “Crisis Alert” update noted “specific concern” for Somalia, which it said is the worst affected and is entering a famine that is expected to be even more severe than the 2011 one that killed an estimated 260,000 people. In one IRC’s nutrition clinic in Mogadishu, from April to May, the organization has seen a 265% increase in admissions for children under the age of 5 suffering from severe malnutrition. IRC teams on the ground report that people are already dying from starvation.
“There is no time to wait for data collection to confirm what the IRC is already seeing on the ground: a country hurtling towards a catastrophic famine,” the organization said in the update. “A famine declaration will tell us when it is too late — that people are already dying en masse, not how many lives we can still save. Waiting to respond based on retrospective data will condemn hundreds of thousands to an unnecessary death. Instead the international community needs to look forward, applying a no-regrets approach.”
The warning came a day after the U.S. Agency for International Development announced nearly $1.3 billion in additional humanitarian and developmental assistance to the Horn of Africa region. The IRC said the humanitarian-response plan for the region would be funded at only 40%, even accounting for the new funding.
“Severe underfunding of humanitarian responses is depriving millions of the assistance they need to survive,” said Miliband, the IRC’s CEO. “The new U.S. funding announced this week must be a first step, not a last one.”
(NEW YORK) — Dangerous heat has tightened its hold on the U.S. with 100 million Americans across 24 states on heat alert Tuesday from Texas to Massachusetts.
While many of these areas will find refuge in overnight drops in temperature, the Southern Plains will not drop below 80 degrees overnight, putting the region in an excessive heat warning.
Experts say such consistent, intense temperatures are dangerous to an individual’s health.
Oklahoma City is expected to reach 111 degrees on Tuesday, with nearby cities staying above 100 degrees throughout the day.
Texas residents are projected to face continuing, stifling temperatures on Tuesday, with Dallas having the potential to break its July heat record of 110 degrees.
The heat continues to spread on Tuesday, tightening its hold on the Northeast.
Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston are forecast to have a prolonged heat wave with temperatures in the 90-degree range throughout the week. On Tuesday, the four cities have highs of 90, 93, 91 and 92 degrees, respectively.
Those temperatures are expected to go even higher, as Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia face a high of 97 degrees on Thursday.
The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Philadelphia, New York City and Boston as of Tuesday morning.
For many, Wednesday is expected to feel worse than Tuesday’s heat, as temperatures are expected to rise and humidity is expected to worsen, according to the NWS.
On Wednesday, Syracuse and Albany, New York, are expected to reach 99 degrees and Hartford, Connecticut, is set to reach 100 degrees.
With the heat, severe storms have hit the Northeast.
Flash flooding was reported from Virginia to Connecticut on Monday, with 4 to 6 inches of rain dumped along the Interstate 95 corridor.
Some areas of New York City had several inches of rain during a single hour on Monday, leaving highways, streets and subway stations flooded.
According to the MTA, some New York subway stations faced delays and canceled services due to water damage.
At the Dyckman Street station in the Bronx, the third rail — which provides electrical power to subway trains — was impacted as the roadbed was flooded by up to 14 inches of water on Monday, the MTA reported.
Some train services were canceled for several hours as crews worked to drain the water and clear debris from the tracks.
Storm reports also came in from Montana to the Mid-Atlantic, as residents faced damaging winds over 70 mph and baseball-sized hail.
On Tuesday, the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest will continue to see severe and damaging winds alongside large-scale hail.
Severe storms are expected to return to the Northeast on Thursday, with heavy rains and damaging winds posing the largest threat to the region stretching from Connecticut to Maine.
