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Russia-Ukraine live updates: Putin-Zelenskyy meeting not possible, Kremlin says

June 8, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(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:

Jun 08, 12:53 pm
Russian-occupied Mariupol faces ‘catastrophic lack of medical staff’

The Russian-occupied city of Mariupol, Ukraine, is facing a “catastrophic lack of medical staff,” Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said on the Telegram app.

He said Russians are trying to convince locals who are over 80 years old to go back to work at hospitals.

He warned, “In this state of medicine, any infectious disease turns into a deadly epidemic.”

Jun 08, 8:36 am
Putin-Zelenskyy meeting not possible, Kremlin says

A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not currently possible, the Kremlin said.

When asked about a recent comment from Zelenskyy that he’s willing to meet with Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “Our position is well-known here: good preparations need to be made for a top-level meeting. We know that the Ukrainian side has withdrawn from the negotiation track, and therefore it is currently not possible to prepare for this sort of top-level meeting.”

Jun 08, 5:06 am
Ukrainian defenses in key eastern city ‘holding,’ despite Russian attacks

Ukrainian troops defending the eastern city of Sieverodonetsk are “holding,” despite attacks in three directions from Russian forces, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Wednesday in an intelligence update.

“Russia continues to attempt assaults against the Sieverodonetsk pocket from three directions although Ukrainian defences are holding,” the ministry said. “It is unlikely that either side has gained significant ground in the last 24 hours.”

Sieverodonetsk, an industrial hub, is the largest city still held by Ukrainian troops in the contested Donbas region of Ukraine’s east, which comprises the self-proclaimed republics in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts. In recent days, Russian forces have encircled the city as they advanced in Donbas, creating a pocket that could trap Ukrainian defenders there and in the neighboring city of Lysychansk.

Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk are the last major cities in the Luhansk area still controlled by Ukraine.

Last week, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Russian forces had seized most of Sieverodonetsk, but that the main road into the pocket likely remained under Ukrainian control.

With the frontage of the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine stretching for over 300 miles, “both Russia and Ukraine face similar challenges in maintaining a defensive line while freeing up capable combat units for offensive operations,” according to the ministry.

“While Russia is concentrating its offensive on the central Donbas sector, it has remained on the defensive on its flanks,” the ministry said in its intelligence update Wednesday. “Ukrainian forces have recently achieved some success by counter-attacking in the south-western Kherson region, including regaining a foothold on the eastern bank of the Ingulets River.”

Jun 07, 3:12 pm
At least 3 dead in shelling in Kharkiv

At least three people were killed and six others were injured in the Kharkiv area from ongoing shelling by Russian forces, according to the Kharkiv regional governor, Oleg Synegubov.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Jun 07, 11:48 am
Ukraine official: Hard to win ‘without speeding up the supply of modern weapons’

Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine’s secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, told ABC News that “it will be difficult for Ukraine to win this war without speeding up the supply of modern weapons.”

He added, “The country is ready for long-term resistance, because we are fighting for our freedom.”

This comes as the Donetsk People’s Republic claims an advance in territory.

DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova told reporters, “We can say that the allied forces — the DPR militia and units of the Russian Defense Ministry — are in control of over 70% of the territory.”

Jun 07, 11:02 am
Ukrainian grain may be leaving ports — but on Russian ships

There is evidence of Russian vessels departing “from near Ukraine with their cargo holds full of grain,” a U.S. Department of State spokesperson told ABC News on Monday night.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reported that Russia seized at least 400,000 to 500,000 tons of grain worth over $100 million, according to the State Department spokesperson.

“Ukraine’s MFA also has numerous testimonies from Ukrainian farmers and documentary evidence showing Russia’s theft of Ukrainian grain,” the spokesperson said.

The news of Ukrainian grain aboard Russian ships partly confirms a recent report by The New York Times that Moscow is seeking to profit off of grain plundered from Ukraine by selling the product while subverting sanctions. Ukraine has already accused Russia of shipping the stolen grain to buyers in Syria and Turkey.

Russia and Ukraine — often referred to collectively as Europe’s breadbasket — produce a third of the global supply of wheat and barley, but Kyiv has been unable to ship exports due to Moscow’s offensive. A Russian blockade in the Black Sea, along with Ukrainian naval mines, have made exporting siloed grain virtually impossible and, as a result, millions of people around the world — particularly in Africa and the Middle East — are now on the brink of famine.

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford

Jun 06, 12:26 pm
Two planes owned by Russian oligarch grounded by US prosecutors

Two planes — a Gulfstream G650 and a Boeing 787 — have been grounded after federal prosecutors said their owner, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, violated U.S. sanctions by flying the aircraft to Moscow in March.

The sanctions require a license for any U.S.-made aircraft to fly to Russia. The sanctions also prohibit an aircraft that is owned, controlled or under charter or lease by a Russian national from being flown to Russia.

“No licenses were applied for or issued. Nor was any license exception available, including because the Boeing and the Gulfstream were each owned and/or controlled by a Russian national: Roman Abramovich,” said the affidavit supporting a seizure warrant.

The Boeing plane is believed to be among the most expensive private aircraft in the world, worth $350 million, the affidavit said.

Jun 06, 9:05 am
Russia beefs up air defense on Snake Island

Russia has likely moved multiple air defense assets, including SA-15 and SA-22 missile systems, to Snake Island in the western Black Sea, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Monday in an intelligence update.

The move follows the loss of the Russian warship Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

“It is likely these weapons are intended to provide air defence for Russian naval vessels operating around Snake Island,” the ministry added. “Russia’s activity on Snake Island contributes to its blockade of the Ukrainian coast and hinders the resumption of maritime trade, including exports of Ukrainian grain.”

Russian forces captured Ukraine’s Snake Island in the early days of the invasion, memorably when Ukrainian soldiers defending the tiny islet told an attacking Russian warship to “go f— yourself.” Ukrainian troops have failed in their attempts to retake the previously inconsequential territory.

Meanwhile, in eastern Ukraine’s contested Donbas region, heavy fighting continues in the war-torn city of Sieverodonetsk, according to the ministry.

“Russian forces continue to push towards Sloviansk as part of their attempted encirclement of Ukrainian force,” the ministry said.

And in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Russian air-launched cruise missiles struck rail infrastructure Sunday in the early morning hours, “likely in an attempt [to] disrupt the supply of Western military equipment to frontline Ukrainian units,” according to the ministry.

Jun 05, 3:39 pm
Russian missiles target Kyiv

After five weeks of relative calm in Kyiv, Russian rockets hit Ukraine’s capital city on Sunday as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of strikes on “new targets” if the United States goes through with plans to supply Ukraine with longer-range missiles.

Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said the war is still in its “hot phase” and “capturing Kyiv is still Russia’s main goal.”

An ABC News crew visited Kyiv’s Darnytskyy district, where several Russian cruise missiles slammed into a railway repair plant. One building was still on fire when the ABC News crew arrived. Nearby, another missile strike left a creater on a cement path.

It took hours before Ukrainian authorities permitted media access to the site, saying the area needed to be cleared for safety first.

The Russians claimed the attack in Darnystskyy destroyed military vehicles and armaments. Ukrainian officials said the missiles hit a railway repair plant where no tanks were stored.

Speaking on Russian TV on Sunday, Putin issued a warning to the West on supplying the Ukrainians with high-powered rocket systems. He said if the West carried through with it, Russia would hit “new targets they had not attacked before.”

Jun 05, 7:05 am
Putin warns of strikes if West supplies longer-range missiles

President Vladimir Putin warned that Russian forces would strike new targets if the West began supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles.

“But if they [missiles] are actually delivered, we will draw appropriate conclusions and apply our own weapons, which we have in sufficient quantities to carry out strikes on targets we aren’t striking yet,” Putin told Rossyia 1 TV Channel in an interview on Sunday.

-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova and Tomek Rolski

Amid gun control pressure, lawmakers hear from families, student who survived Texas school shooting

June 8, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Amid new pressure for gun control on Capitol Hill, lawmakers on Wednesday heard dramatic testimony from a fourth grader trapped in a Texas classroom for more than an hour as a gunman killed 19 of her classmates and two of her teachers.

Miah Cerrillo emotionally described smearing herself with her classmate’s blood and playing dead as the Uvalde rampage unfolded, recounting the horror to the House Oversight Committee in a recorded video. Cerrillo was not in the room, as planned, when the video was played.

Cerrillo said she and the other students hid behind the teacher’s desk and their backpacks as the gunman shot out the window of their classroom and eventually entered.

She said the gunman “told my teacher goodnight and shot her in the head, and then he shot some of my classmates and the whiteboard.” Cerrillo then talked about putting the blood of a classmate on herself out of fear the gunman would return and also using her teacher’s phone to call 911.

Cerrillo said she didn’t feel safe at school. When asked on the video if she thinks it will happen again, she nodded yes.

Her father tearfully told lawmakers Wednesday something has to change.

“She is not the same little girl I used to play and run with,” he said.

The committee also heard from other families traumatized by the massacres in Uvalde and in Buffalo, New York, that killed a total of 31 people just 10 days apart.

Witnesses included Felix Rubio and Kimberly Rubio, the parents of Lexi Rubio, a 10-year-old girl killed in Uvalde; Zeneta Everhart, the mother of Buffalo shooting survivor Zaire Goodman, who was shot in the neck while working at the store; and Roy Guerrero, a Uvalde pediatrician who treated the victims.

Guerrero described in graphic detail treating the victims who arrived at Uvalde Memorial Hospital that day.

“Two children, whose bodies had been so pulverized by the bullets fired at them, decapitated, whose flesh had been so ripped apart, that the only clue as to their identities were the blood spattered cartoon clothes still clinging to them,” he said. “Clinging for life and finding none.”

Through tears, Kimberly Rubio talked about the last time she saw her daughter that morning. The family was at Robb Elementary School before the shooting to see Lexi receive a good citizen award and be recognized for being an A student.

“To celebrate, we promised to get her ice cream that evening,” Kimberly Rubio said. “We told her we loved her, and we would pick her up after school. I can still see her, walking with us toward the exit. In the reel that keeps scrolling across my memories, she turns her head and smiles back at us to acknowledge my promise. And then we left. I left my daughter at that school, and that decision will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

Committee chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., opened the hearing by asking her colleagues to “listen with an open heart to the brave witnesses who have come forward to tell their stories about how gun violence has impacted their lives.”

“Let us honor their courage,” she said. “And let us find the same courage to pass commonsense laws to protect our children.”

The hearing comes as negotiations continue on gun control. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, are trying to reach a compromise this week on incremental measures like expanded background checks, incentives for states to implement red flag laws and funding for mental health programs.

Senate Democrats are looking for at least 10 Republican votes to get to the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster. If they don’t reach that mark, they risk continuing a 30-year trend of inaction on gun reform even in the wake of such tragedies as Sandy Hook, Las Vegas and Parkland.

Murphy provided an update on the talks during an appearance on The View on Tuesday, stating he’s never seen this much public pressure for elected officials to act and he’s hopeful Republicans are “picking up this sense of urgency.”

“While we are very different in our views, we do both agree that we are not willing to do anything that compromises people’s Second Amendment rights,” Murphy said. “We are focusing on keeping weapons out of the hands of dangerous people.”

President Joe Biden made an impassioned plea last week for more, including a ban on assault weapons like the AR-15 used in the Uvalde shooting, but most Republicans in Congress remain opposed to any gun restrictions.

Maloney said she feels there is a new air of urgency to get gun control legislation on Biden’s desk in light of the Uvalde mass shooting, and she’s hopeful Republicans will change their minds when they hear the witnesses speak firsthand.

“Absolutely, there’s a sense of urgency, and tomorrow we will be debating gun safety laws on the floor and voting. So, hopefully, their testimony will have an impact on the votes of these members of Congress,” Maloney told ABC News on Tuesday.

In a letter to Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House will vote Wednesday afternoon on the Protect Our Kids Act, the gun control package assembled after the mass shootings in New York and Texas.

In all, 19 young children and two teachers were killed by a gunman wielding an AR-15-style assault weapon at Robb Elementary School on May 24. Funerals for the victims are continuing until June 25.

In Buffalo, 10 Black people were fatally shot in a Tops grocery store on May 14. The Department of Justice is investigating the shooting as a “hate crime and an act of racially-motivated violent extremism.”

The mother of Buffalo shooting survivor Zaire Goodman described Wednesday cleaning her son’s wounds as she called on Congress to do more.

“Shrapnel will be left inside of his body for the rest of his life,” she testified. “Now I want you to picture this exact scenario for one of your children. This should not be my life or yours.”

ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.

Queen Latifah on why she got ‘mad’ when trainer categorized her as obese

June 8, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Queen Latifah is speaking out about her weight and why she’s angry at having been categorized as obese.

The actress and singer opened up on a new episode of “Red Table Talk” about the day a personal trainer told her she would be considered obese.

“She’s showing me different body types, and she’s telling me, this is what your BMI is, this is what your weight is, and you fall into this category of obesity,” said Latifah, referring to Body Mass Index, a measure of body fat based on height and weight, according to the National Institutes of Health.

“I was mad at that,” Latifah said in a preview clip for Wednesday’s episode of the Facebook Watch show. “It pissed me off. I was like, ‘What? Me?’ I mean, I’m just thick. She said you are 30% over where you should be. And I’m like, ‘Obesity?'”

Latifah also told the “Red Table Talk” co-hosts, Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Norris, that her body has been the subject of scrutiny her entire career. She said the scrutiny was especially prominent in the early 90s when she starred on In Living Single.

“We looked like four women who live in Brooklyn, and that’s what we were supposed to be representing and we loved being able to do that,” Latifah said of herself and her three co-stars.

“But the word came down that we needed to lose weight,” she continued. “We’re on the number one show among black and Latino households in America, and you’re telling us we need to lose weight. Maybe you’re the one with the problem.”

Latifah’s comments about her BMI and the scrutiny she faced have prompted a conversation about the use of BMI to determine health, especially in women of color.

BMI is calculated using a person’s height and weight to sort people into categories like underweight or obese. But experts say it does not distinguish between excess fat, muscle or bone mass. That’s why health providers only use it as one of many tolls to help determine a person’s health.

Maya Feller, a New York-based registered dietitian, said BMI does not take body composition into account, which can impact women of color.

“For women of color, we tend to have more muscle mass and also be in bigger bodies,” said Feller. “So the BMI will falsely say that we are in the overweight or obese category and then we get flagged, but we may be healthy metabolically.”

In another example, BMI may “overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build,” according to the NIH.

Feller recommends that when it comes to health, a variety of factors beyond weight should be looked at by doctors and other health professionals.

“How’s your blood pressure? How’s your blood sugar? How are your lipids? We need to change the conversation to really be talking about metabolic health,” she said.

UK authorizes charges against Harvey Weinstein for indecent assault

June 8, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — The U.K. has authorized charges of indecent assault against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

He is facing two charges of indecent assault against a woman from an incident that allegedly took place in August 1996 in London. The unnamed victim is now in her 50s, according to the CPS.

“Charges have been authorised against Harvey Weinstein, 70, following a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation,” the CPS said in a statement. “The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”

Weinstein would need to be formally charged in the U.K. before a trial could begin. It’s unclear when that could happen, as Weinstein is serving 23 years in prison after being convicted of first-degree criminal sexual assault and third-degree rape in February 2020. He was sentenced in March 2020.

A New York appeals court just upheld his conviction last week.

Weinstein, who co-founded the movie production company Miramax along with his brother, became the focus of the #MeToo movement in October 2017 when The New York Times published a story alleging Weinstein had paid at least eight settlements to women accusing him of sexual misconduct.

Dozens of women publicly accused Weinstein of similar misconduct in the following weeks. He was fired from his own production company less than a week later.

In addition to the charges he was convicted of in New York, Weinstein was extradited to Los Angeles in July 2021 and charged with four counts each of forcible rape and forcible oral copulation.

He pleaded not guilty.

ABC News’ Alex Stone contributed to this report.

Trump Organization CFO switches up legal team as trial nears

June 8, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has switched up his legal team as the longtime employee of former President Donald Trump prepares to go to trial on charges of tax evasion.

The Manhattan district attorney indicted Weisselberg and the Trump Organization last July following a nearly two-year investigation into the financial dealings of Trump, his company, his family, and his associates.

Attorney Nick Gravante, who represented two other Trump Organization employees who avoided charges in the Manhattan DA’s probe, has now joined Weisselberg’s defense team, Gravante confirmed to ABC News Wednesday.

“If there was a deal to be reached in this case, there has been plenty of time to do it,” Gravante said. “My mission now is to lead this trial team and win, and that’s what I intend to do.”

According to the indictment, beginning in 2005, Weisselberg allegedly concealed “indirect compensation” by using payments from the Trump Organization to cover nearly $360,000 in upscale private school payments for his family, and nearly $200,000 in luxury car leases.

“This was a 15-year-long tax fraud scheme,” said Carey Dunn, general counsel for the Manhattan DA’s office, when the charges were announced. “It was orchestrated by the most senior executives.”

Weisselberg has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The charges are a “disgrace” and “shameful,” Trump told ABC News after the indictment was unsealed, calling Weisselberg “a tremendous person.”

Gravante has represented longtime Trump employee Matt Calamari, who was under investigation by the Manhattan DA until prosecutors ultimately decided not to move forward with charges.

A trial date for Weisselberg has not been set, but is expected to be sometime this fall.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment on Weisselberg’s change of counsel.

Pediatrician who treated Uvalde victims: More than ‘thoughts and prayers’ are needed

June 8, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A Uvalde, Texas pediatrician who treated the victims of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting is expected to testify Wednesday in front of the House Oversight Committee amid new pressure for gun control.

The community is “strong” but they need more than “thoughts and prayers,” Roy Guerrero told ABC News’ Mireya Villarreal and James Scholz on Tuesday.

“We need people to step up,” he said. “We need this to stop, basically. And I figured that if I didn’t take that step forward and take that initiative, I’d just kind of be sitting back doing nothing and not reaching my full potential with my obligation to these children.”

Also expected to testify Wednesday is Miah Cerrillo, a fourth-grader who was trapped inside the Texas classroom while a gunman killed 19 of her classmates and two of her teachers.

She is expected to describe her horrific experience in a recorded video. She’s also expected to be inside the room with her parents when the video is played before the House Oversight Committee, an aide told ABC News.

The committee will also hear from other families traumatized by the mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo, New York, that killed a total of 31 people just 10 days apart.

Felix Rubio and Kimberly Rubio, the parents of Lexi Rubio, a 10-year-old girl killed in Uvalde, and Zeneta Everhart, the mother of Buffalo shooting survivor Zaire Goodman, who was shot in the neck while working at the store, are also expected to testify.

Man fatally shoots sheriff’s deputy with concealed handgun during cigarette break

June 8, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(MARSHALL COUNTY, Ky.) — A man being questioned by authorities shot and killed a Kentucky sheriff’s deputy during a cigarette break last month, authorities have told ABC News.

Gary Rowland, 30, was arrested by a Marshall County Special Response Team for outstanding arrest warrants on May 16, authorities said in the release acquired Wednesday.

Charges against Rowland included absconding from parole and other drug- and firearm-related crimes, according to authorities.

Rowland was transported to the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office after his arrest, where two deputies were interviewing him for an investigation unrelated to the arrest warrants.

The deputies, who were part of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force, were identified as Marshall County Sheriff’s Deputy Donald Bowman and Calloway County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jody Cash.

Rowland asked to smoke a cigarette during the interview, so Bowman and Cash escorted him out to the front of the sheriff’s office. While he was smoking, he took out a handgun, which had been concealed, and fired at Cash, striking him.

Bowman and another deputy, Brandon Little, shot Rowland. Lifesaving measures were attempted on both Cash and Rowland, but both were pronounced dead at Marshall County Hospital.

Bowman and Little were placed on administrative leave after the shooting.

Cash was a 22-year law enforcement veteran who had served with the Calloway County Sheriff’s Office since 2020.

Kentucky State Police are still investigating the shooting.

“This deputy has paid the ultimate sacrifice today while serving our commonwealth. Let us honor the life, bravery and service of this deputy,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said on the day of the shooting.

Armed man arrested near Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh’s home, allegedly made threats against him

June 8, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — An armed man was arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home after allegedly making threats against Kavanaugh, according to a Supreme Court spokesperson.

The man was arrested at about 1:50 a.m. Wednesday and taken into custody in Montgomery County.

The Department of Homeland Security warned in May that there could be threats against Supreme Court justices over the leaked draft of the Roe v. Wade decision.

A bulletin obtained by ABC News in May said the draft leak “prompted a significant increase in violent threats — many made online via social media and some of which are under investigation — directed toward some U.S. Supreme Court Justices and the Supreme Court building.”

The National Capital Threat Intelligence Consortium identified at least 25 violent threats on social media that were referred to partner agencies for further investigation, the bulletin said.

“Some of these threats discussed burning down or storming the U.S. Supreme Court and murdering Justices and their clerks, members of Congress, and lawful demonstrators,” the bulletin said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Amid gun control pressure, lawmakers to hear from student who survived Texas school shooting

June 8, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Amid new pressure for gun control on Capitol Hill, lawmakers on Wednesday will hear what’s expected to be dramatic testimony from a fourth grader trapped in a Texas classroom for more than an hour as a gunman killed 19 of her classmates and two of her teachers.

Miah Cerrillo, who emotionally described to CNN smearing herself with her classmate’s blood and playing dead as the Uvalde rampage unfolded, is expected to describe the horror she experienced to the House Oversight Committee in a recorded video.

But Cerrillo will no longer be in the room when the video is played. Her father will appear in her place and will introduce her video statement.

“The Committee has been in close contact with Miah, her family, and her pediatrician and has been prioritizing her safety and comfort first and foremost. Her decision to record her story and share it with the American people is courageous — and I hope all Members open their hearts and minds to what she has to say,” chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said in a statement moments before the hearing began. “Miah, her family, and her pediatrician have made the decision to have her not appear in person, and she will be represented by her father who will introduce her recorded testimony.”

Maloney opened the hearing by asking her colleagues to “listen with an open heart to the brave witnesses who have come forward to tell their stories about how gun violence has impacted their lives.”

“Let us honor their courage,” she said. “And let us find the same courage to pass commonsense laws to protect our children.”

The committee also will hear from other families traumatized by the massacres in Uvalde and in Buffalo, New York, that killed a total of 31 people just 10 days apart.

Also testifying are Felix Rubio and Kimberly Rubio, the parents of Lexi Rubio, a 10-year-old girl killed in Uvalde; Zeneta Everhart, the mother of Buffalo shooting survivor Zaire Goodman, who was shot in the neck while working at the store; and Roy Guerrero, a Uvalde pediatrician who treated the victims.

Guerrero told ABC News’ Mireya Villarreal and James Scholz on the eve of his testimony that the community is “strong” but they need more than “thoughts and prayers.”

A second panel appearing before the House committee Wednesday includes various officials and advocacy group leaders: Buffalo police commissioner Joseph Gramaglia; Greg Jackson, Jr., the executive director of the Community Justice Action Fund; Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association; and Nick Suplina, senior vice president for law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety.

Maloney spoke exclusively with ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, telling her the survivors and families reached out to her committee and insisted on traveling to the nation’s capital to share their experiences just mere weeks after witnessing horror — hoping to change the hearts and minds of lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

“We were saying maybe it would be too difficult,” she said, referring to Miah Cerrillo, of someone so young wanting to testify before Congress. “But she felt strongly and her parents supported her wish that she be able to testify and tell her story.”

“She felt very, very strongly that her story — she didn’t want the loss of her teachers, the loss of her friends, but also the quick thinking that she had to play dead to smear blood all over herself to save her life. It’s an incredible story,” Maloney added.

Murphy provided an update on the talks during an appearance on “The View” on Tuesday, stating he’s never seen this much public pressure for elected officials to act and he’s hopeful Republicans are “picking up this sense of urgency.”

“We spent hours with hundreds of family members who were broken, whose lives will never be the same,” Biden said in an address from the White House. “They had one message for all of us. Do something.”

In all, 19 young children and two teachers were killed by a gunman wielding an AR-15-style assault weapon at Robb Elementary School on May 24. Funerals for the victims are continuing until June 25.

On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard from the son of one of the Buffalo victims as part of a hearing on domestic terrorism.

Garnell Whitfield Jr., the oldest son of Ruth Whitfield, and 86-year-old woman killed in the shooting, held back tears as he urged lawmakers to take action or “yield their positions” in Congress.

“You expect us to continue to just forgive and forget over and over again. And what are you doing?” he said. “You’re elected to protect us, to protect our way of life.”

ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.

Justice Department to review police response to Uvalde shooting

June 8, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to provide details about a review from the Justice Department that will examine the law enforcement response to attack on the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Twenty-one people, including 19 students, were killed in the mass shooting on May 24.

The review will not be a criminal investigation. It will involve a team of experts who will examine the actions of law enforcement and determine what worked and what failed.

A report will be issued once the review is done and will be published so that the public and law enforcement can learn from any mistakes. Similar DOJ reviews were done following the mass shootings in San Bernardino, California, and the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

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