(KHARTOUM, Sudan) — As countries wind down mass evacuations of their nationals from war-torn Sudan and the White House warns time is running out, the United States is undertaking its first effort to move hundreds of private Americans citizens out of Khartoum.
A U.S. government-organized convoy carrying U.S citizens, locally employed staff and nationals from allied and partner countries arrived at Port Sudan on Saturday, according to the State Department.
“The U.S. government has taken extensive efforts to contact U.S. citizens in Sudan and enable the departure of those who wished to leave. We messaged every U.S. citizen in Sudan who communicated with us during the crisis and provided specific instructions about joining this convoy to those who were interested in departing via the land route,” the State Department’s statement said. “We encourage U.S. citizens who want to leave Sudan but chose not to participate in this convoy to contact the Department of State using the crisis intake form on our website.”
The evacuation was enabled by “intensive negotiations by the United States with the support of our regional and international partners,” according to the State Department, which reiterated its warning to Americans not to travel to Sudan.
On Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre advised that Americans in Sudan who wished to leave should “take advantage of the options that are available to them in the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Although countries like Saudi Arabia and Spain started evacuating their citizens and other foreign nationals from Sudan in the early days of the week and the U.S. airlifted diplomats from Khartoum over the weekend, the administration maintained that carrying out a largescale operation to rescue some of the thousands of American citizens residing in Sudan was not feasible.
The United Kingdom, Germany, and France have all also evacuated thousands.
But not all operations have gone smoothly. On Friday, Turkey reported that one of its aircraft had come under fire as it landed in Khartoum—underscoring the threat ongoing fighting poses to air rescues.
Before news of the U.S.-led convoy broke, State Department Principal Deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel defend the administration’s posture, and said it had played a hand in the mass evacuations orchestrated by other countries.
“Our allies and partners that are conducting operations that are able to also take American citizens out–we of course, are incredibly thankful and gracious for their ability to do so. But this is a collective and collaborative effort,” he said. “We are offering logistical support for some of these operations to be conducted. Whether they be overland, whether they be through the air.”
Patel also said that the State Department was in contact with fewer that 5,000 U.S. citizens about the crisis in Sudan, and that “only a fraction” of that number had actively sought assistance to depart the country.
Other officials familiar with the situation have said it’s unclear how much demand there is from American nationals for an exit route, emphasizing that individual’s desire to leave can change on a day-by-day basis.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the State Department was working to establish “a sustained process” through which Americans could depart Sudan.
“We believe that the best way to have an enduring capability to help people leave Sudan–if that’s what they so choose–is overland. And we’re working to establish a process that would enable people to move overland to a place where they can more easily exit the country,” Blinken said.
At least two American citizens are among the over 500 killed in in the violence that erupted two weeks ago, which has injured thousands more.
Although the U.S. had assisted in brokering a number of ceasefires in Sudan, their implementation has been uneven. Although both sides agreed to another 72-hour truce on Friday, there’s little hope it will hold.
“It’s obvious to everybody that the ceasefires are not perfectly working,” a U.S. official said. “But we are hearing from multiple contacts on the ground, as well as our international partners, that the series of efforts to push forward ceasefires are creating meaningful periods of reduction of violence and that these periods are allowing people to move out of Khartoum.”
But as more foreign nationals leave, there’s looming concern in Sudan that the battle for control over the country will catapult to new intensity.
“There’s going to be fewer eyes on what’s happening,” said Jon Temin, Vice President for Policy and Programs at the Truman Center for National Policy.
(CLEVELAND, Texas) — Five people are dead after being shot in a Texas home by a suspect armed with an AR-15 style rifle in a horrific series of “execution style” shootings, police said.
A manhunt is currently underway for the suspect, identified by police as 39-year-old Francisco Oropeza, according to ABC station KTRK in Houston.
A judge has issued an arrest warrant for Oropeza and assigned a $5 million bond. Authorities believe Oropeza left by walking or on a bicycle and is currently within a two mile radius of the scene, KTRK reported.
Police said the incident occurred at 11:31 p.m. local time on Friday when officials from the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office received a call about harassment in the town of Cleveland, about 55 miles north of Houston.
When authorities arrived at the location, they found several victims shot at the property, police said. Three of the deceased were females and two were males, including the youngest, an 8-year-old boy.
Two female victims were discovered in the bedroom lying on top of two surviving children, authorities told ABC News.
Three minors were located uninjured, but covered in blood. They were transported to a local hospital.
Police said they believe the massacre occurred after neighbors asked the suspect to stop shooting his gun in the front yard because there was a baby trying to sleep.
“My understanding is that the victims, they came over to the fence and said ‘Hey could [you not do your] shooting out in the yard? We have a young baby that’s trying to go to sleep,” and he had been drinking and he says ‘I’ll do what I want to in my front yard,'” San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers told KTRK.
Capers told KTRK the case went from harassment to a shooting very quickly. He said that authorities believed some of the victims were trying to shield their children — with bodies found on top of children who were unharmed.
“In my opinion, they were actually trying to take care of the babies and keep them babies alive,” Capers told KTRK.
Authorities said Oropeza is armed with an AR-15 style rifle and was believed to be intoxicated. Deputies describe Oropeza as a Hispanic man who is 5-foot-8. He was last seen wearing jeans, a black shirt and work boots. Investigators said he has a goatee and short black hair, according to KTRK.
Police said the suspect “has been known to shoot his .223 out in his front yard, which is evident by the shell casings that are laying in the front yard.”
Capers said the shooter used a .223 rifle in the shooting. Capers could not confirm how many times his deputies had been called to the shooter’s property previously.
At least 10 people were in the home when police arrived on scene and all of the victims were between the ages of eight and 40.
Capers believes the 10 people in the home lived together, with four to five of them just moving into the home from Houston within the last three or four days.
Residents are being told to “stay inside [and] stay clear” of the crime scene until the investigation has concluded, but do not believe the suspect, a Mexican national, is in the area.
“We are getting closer to him every minute of every hour but we know who he is,” Capers told KTRK.
Police did not disclose the identity of the victims but said the shootings all took place in one home, the victims were all from Honduras and that four of the victims were declared dead at the scene. The fifth victim — an 8-year-old boy — was taken to a hospital and he has since been pronounced dead.
Capers told KTRK all of the victims were shot from the neck up “almost execution style.”
Capers said footage from a Ring doorbell at the victims’ house shows the shooter entering the home where the shooting took place with a weapon.
Police found two other weapons in the house in a search following the shooting. Capers also confirmed they are interviewing the shooter’s wife.
Nearby resident, Veronica Pineda, spoke with KTRK and said she has grown accustomed to neighbors shooting firearms in the area.
“There’s always shootings, there’s always shooting,” she said to KTRK. “There’s always people calling the cops and there’s nothing being done.”
She said that neighbors would frequently shoot firearms on weekends and holidays and that the sound of gunshots overnight was normal.
“We were in bed and my kids — I have two babies — they got scared, and we’re like, ‘it’s normal they’re always shooting.'”
She said she did not know the alleged shooter well but she would wave to him when he would pass by with his horses.
ABC News’ Jessica Gorman contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Turmoil in the financial system returned this week as shares of First Republic Bank, the nation’s 14th-largest lender, plummeted more than 75%.
The selloff took hold after the bank revealed that depositors had fled en masse last month after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the largest U.S. bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis.
The ongoing distress at First Republic rekindled questions about whether the banking industry has regained solid footing or teeters on the brink of wider failure.
While the financial system remains under stress, experts said, the current unrest is unlikely to pose a systemic risk, since the damage is contained within a relatively narrow group of banks vulnerable to high interest rates and depositor panic.
Still, the ultimate outcome is difficult to predict, in part because the extent of the fallout depends on how depositors respond to the possible failure of additional banks, such as First Republic, some experts said.
Here’s what’s happening in the banking industry right now, and whether the crisis has passed, according to experts:
What is happening in the banking system right now?
Many of the forces behind the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, experts said, continue to put pressure on the banking system: high interest rates, concern among uninsured depositors and the potential for social media chatter that escalates panic.
As the Fed aggressively raised interest rates over the past year, the spike dropped the value of Silicon Valley Bank’s Treasury bonds and mortgage bonds, punching a hole in its balance sheet.
Because Silicon Valley Bank served a relatively concentrated group of tech startups and venture firms, many of whom held uninsured deposits, a disclosure last month of the bank’s financial losses sparked a panic that quickly escalated into an old-fashioned bank run.
First Republic, which specialized in long-term mortgage loans to affluent homebuyers, faced the same exposure to high interest rates and fear among depositors with uninsured deposits, experts said.
“First Republic is basically the same story,” Steven Kelly, a researcher at the Yale Program on Financial Stability, told ABC News.
However, an additional source of pressure arose in the aftermath of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank: a shift of deposits out of small banks and into large ones, experts said.
Over the week following Silicon Valley Bank’s failure, small banks lost $108 billion in deposits, Federal Reserve data showed.
Meanwhile, deposits to the nation’s 25 biggest banks increased by $120 billion over that week, the data said.
“The deposit flight away from the small- and medium-sized banks means that the funding model for a lot of these banks is going to be under huge pressure,” Huw Roberts, the head of analytics at Quant Insight, told ABC News.
Is the financial system under systemic threat?
The ongoing turmoil is unlikely to threaten the wider banking system because the risk of collapse remains limited to a specific set of banks that failed to adequately protect their balance sheets, experts said.
“SVB was an extreme example. First Republic is an extreme case,” William Chittenden, a professor of finance at Texas State University, told ABC News. “These are banks that played the extremes.”
The fall of Silicon Valley Bank also brought immense stress upon the 29th-largest U.S. bank, Signature Bank, which ultimately collapsed.
“While big, these banks are not representative of where most people bank,” Kelly said. “It’s not a problem that plagues the whole system.”
“This is a crisis of some banks,” Kelly added. “It’s not a crisis of banking.”
Roberts, of Quant Insight, echoed the point: “The immediate systemic risk is gone as far as whole banking system being threatened.”
Still, the possible failure of First Republic and other vulnerable banks could set off a panic with implications that are nearly impossible to predict, some experts said.
At the end of last year, U.S. banks were sitting on $620 billion in unrealized losses, or holdings that have fallen in price but have yet to be sold, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation found.
“Standing alone, First Republic isn’t presenting a systemic risk,” Joe Lynyak, a partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney and an expert on bank failures, told ABC News. “But if it creates a chain reaction of other banks with the public reacting the same way, you could end up with that.”
“We’re just going to have to wait and see,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — Weeks of shoulder pain landed a reluctant Whitney Nichols in urgent care. As a previously healthy 24-year-old Black woman, she pleaded for additional testing to uncover the cause of her pain. As a last resort, the doctor ordered a CT scan of her chest. The result, blood clots in both of her lungs.
Even after this seemingly scary diagnosis and after being transferred to a hospital, Nichols said she felt dismissed when a doctor told her she would be fine.
Nichols, now 29 and a graduating medical student, reflected that these interactions with dismissive doctors made her feel “so alone in that space” and unsafe.
But Nichols said that night, everything changed when a Black physician, Dr. Erika Walker, walked into the room. Walker explained the blood clots were serious but treatable. Walker advised Nichols to stop taking her estrogen-based birth control, which can increase the risk of blood clots, and prescribed medication that would break up the clots.
She said it was great ” … just seeing somebody that I felt like I could be comfortable with.”
Black people make up 13% of the U.S. population, but Black doctors are not equally represented. For example, only 7% of primary care physicians are Black, according to a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association. Amid a growing recognition that Black Americans experience disparities in health and medical care, new research suggests that Black patients are more likely to live longer and healthier lives when their primary care doctors are also Black.
Michael Dill, director of Workforce Studies at the Association of American Medical Colleges team, analyzed the relationship of Black primary care physicians and the health outcome of the people who lived in those same areas, evaluating 1,600 U.S. counties. Dill and his colleagues found that a 10% increase in Black primary care doctor representation was associated with an extra month of life expectancy for Black patients.
The higher the representation of black physicians in the workforce per county was associated less death of any cause for county residents, Black and White patients. Thus, even people not actively being treated by Black physicians benefitted from their presence like the results published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April of 2023.
“We found that diversifying the physician workforce … is important for improving public health,” Dill told ABC News.
Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, past chair of the American Medical Association Board of Trustees, said the data was “shocking” but “in a motivational way.” Mukkamala said this data can be used to advocate for equitable hiring practices at hospitals and health care systems so that doctors and staff look like the communities they serve.
Researchers said when doctors have similar cultures and lived experiences to the patients, they may be more likely to take their concerns seriously, which results in better life expectancy.
For over 150 years ago, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) were established to provide Black students the opportunities to advance their education when they were unwelcome at existing public and private institutions of higher education. Traditionally HBCUs are a large producer of Black physicians.
Dr. Erica Sutton, associate dean at Morehouse School of Medicine said, “feeling heard, perhaps listening as well, and then translating that into patient centered care patient driven treatment plans,” is the essence of why Black physicians can impact their patients’ health.
Dill said there is no shortcut to increasing workforce diversity. “This is not a problem we can fix in a couple of years,” Dill said. “This is the work of generations.”
Mukkamala, Sutton, and Whitney are involved in programs that aim to increase and inspire young children of diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in science, education, technology and math, including The American Medical Association’s Back to School Program, Morehouse’s health careers programs and Student National Medical Association.
“This isn’t something that you can tell somebody in college to convince them to [pursue medicine],” Mukkamala told ABC News. “Those seeds get planted early on in grade school.”
Sutton is hopeful for the future.
“I think that one of the things that we’ve seen recently in this country is a renewed interest in inclusivity belongingness … we definitely try to teach at HBCUs is that these [less diverse] communities do include you,” Sutton told ABC News. “It’s not us and them…that community is enriched by your presence.”
Danielle Craigg, MD is a senior General Preventive Medicine & Public Health Resident at Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
Sotonye Douglas, MS is a graduating medical student from Quinnipiac University, Frank H Netter Medical School, beginning General Surgery Residency in June 2023, and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(NEW YORK) — Kia and Hyundai owners whose cars were damaged or stolen in the wake of a social media video teaching people how to easily steal the cars are now waiting months for repairs after a shortage of parts.
Many of the cars are recovered within a few days after the thieves are done with their joyrides. Often the back window is smashed and the steering column is damaged or destroyed, making those parts the hardest to find.
Stefan Mantyk’s 2018 Kia Rio was stolen in Michigan on Feb. 10. Police recovered the damaged car a week later but he says the vehicle is now sitting at the dealership.
“They had everything else fixed but then they found out that the steering column lock was broken. It turned out that the entire steering column top needed to be replaced,” Mantyk told ABC News.
Gregg Van Slyke, a 76-year-old retiree from Portland, is in a similar situation. His 2012 Hyundai Sonata was stolen early in the morning on Super Bowl Sunday. Police recovered the car later that day but it’s since been parked at the dealership waiting on parts.
States say Kia and Hyundai need to “step up”
Both Mantyk and Van Slyke are victims of the so-called “Kia Challenge” — a viral social media challenge that sparked a surge in thefts of Kia and Hyundai cars across the United States. Thieves targeted certain Kia and Hyundai models manufactured between 2011 and 2022 that lack anti-theft controls. Would-be thieves use screwdrivers and USB cables to steal the vehicles.
Twenty-three states have called on automakers to “take swift and comprehensive action” to curb the rise in thefts. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said there were 6,970 Kia and Hyundai vehicles reported stolen in Milwaukee in 2021, up from a total of 895 in 2020 — a nearly 800% increase. Thefts of the cars declined slightly in 2022.
In Minneapolis, thefts of Kia and Hyundais increased by 836% in 2022 over the previous year. And in St Louis County, thefts surged 1,090% from 2021 to 2022.
Eighteen attorneys general have also called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall some Kia and Hyundai vehicles. “Thefts of these Hyundai and Kia vehicles have led to at least eight deaths, numerous injuries and property damage, and they have diverted significant police and emergency services resources from other priorities,” the agency said.
In response to the thefts, Kia and Hyundai have rolled out a free software upgrades for their vehicles not equipped with immobilizers. The automakers have also been distributing steering wheel locks for local law enforcement to give to drivers.
Victims say there’s no timeline for getting their vehicles fixed
Mantyk said he was able to get a rental car from his insurer after his was stolen. But after 30 days he needed to find another way to get around.
“I’m an independent contractor, so I go from job to job and not having my own vehicle for a while made it very difficult to get to jobs. I had to pass on work,” Mantyk said. “I ended up buying a car for like a thousand bucks just so I could get from point A to point B. I don’t know how reliable it is.”
Van Slyke said he needs to drive to and from doctors’ appointments three times a week. His insurance gave him a rental for just 10 days.
“My insurance rental ran out, so I had to give up that car and then I used Lyft for a while and then I was able to harass my dealership into finally getting the loaner car,” Van Slyke said. “I’m very grateful for that because I have medical appointments that I need to go to and it was getting pretty difficult to get around.”
He added, “The service representative that I’ve been talking to doesn’t know when or if they’ll get a part to replace it, because there’s been so much demand due to the high theft of Hyundais nationwide. So we’re kind of stuck there.”
Both Mantyk and Van Slyke said they have no idea when they’ll get their cars back.
The dealership doesn’t know “when the parts are going to be coming in because Kia corporate doesn’t give them any information as to when they’re getting parts in,” Mantyk said.
Van Slyke said he has since joined a class-action lawsuit against the automakers.
When asked about the parts shortages, Kia told ABC News some of these parts have been out of production for years and supply chain issues have been exacerbating the problem. The company, however, is “doing all we can to assist and working with our dealers to make sure any and all available parts are being redistributed to where needed most.”
Hyundai told ABC News it was “aware of minimal reported instances of some parts on back-order” and it “constantly monitors and proactively manages its parts supply chain to ensure a stable supply of parts delivered to our customers.”
“I don’t know what the future holds for my vehicle”
Mantyk and Van Slyke said they don’t know if they’ll continue to drive their cars once they get them back.
“Once I have my car, what am I supposed to do with it? Because I can’t drive it anywhere less it gets stolen,” Mantyk said.
Mantyk said he’s made three car payments since his Kia was initially stolen.
“My biggest frustration is probably the whole fact that I’m paying on a car that I can’t keep. I can’t sell it because it’ll just get stolen from somebody else,” he said.
Van Slyke said he hopes Hyundai will recall his vehicle and replace the ignition system, saying he’s worried it would get stolen again in the future.
“I believe that if I get the car back again, I will attempt to sell that car and buy a car that’s not so high on the theft list,” Van Slyke said.
(NEW YORK) — The intersection of policing, race, and autism has the potential to result in tragic outcomes.
Black Americans are two to three times more likely to be killed by cops than white Americans, according to police data. Some of the hallmarks of autism – a developmental disability that millions of Americans have been diagnosed with – can further complicate interactions with police.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, autism can create challenges in social interactions, communication, and behavior.
“Many individuals with autism don’t respond immediately to commands. Many don’t necessarily understand even some of the complicated commands that may be given by law enforcement agencies. So that may be seen as a form of noncompliance,” autism advocate and ABC News contributor Areva Martin told “Nightline.”
In 2019, now 24-year-old Matthew Rushin caused a life-threatening multivehicle crash in Virginia Beach. His mother, Lavern Rushin, says her son’s echolalia – a coping mechanism some people with autism may use when struggling to find their own words – was misunderstood by police at the scene of the crash.
Lavern and Matthew Rushin say he was not suicidal and did not intentionally cause the car crash. Lavern Rushin said he was experiencing a focal seizure at the time of the crash, the result of traumatic brain injury sustained in a car accident two years earlier.
“You can’t fault somebody for having a medical episode. Just like you can’t fault someone for having a heart attack behind the wheel,” she said.
Matthew Rushin was arrested and initially charged with attempted murder. He eventually pleaded guilty to three felonies including malicious wounding and hit and run. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Believing her son’s sentence to be unfair, Lavern Rushin took to social media to share Matthew’s story. Her posts went viral, and in early 2021, then Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam granted Matthew a conditional pardon – freeing him after more than two years behind bars.
“I truly believe that the petitions and the posts [and] just everything was brought up because he’s a Black autistic young man that was wrongfully prosecuted,” Lavern Rushin said.
Matthew Rushin is still considered a felon and barred from driving and from contacting any of his victims or their families. He and his mother are now seeking a full pardon, saying that his felony conviction makes it harder for him to get a job.
The family of one of his victims, George Cusick, is strongly opposed to Matthew Rushin receiving a full pardon.
George Cusick, one of the victims in the crash, was so badly injured he’ll never walk, talk, or feed himself again, and needs 24-hour care, according to his family. Cusick’s family maintains that Matthew was suicidal when the crash took place.
“Matthew Rushin should not have been driving that night. He should never drive again. The parole restrictions must remain in place to protect him and the public,” Cusick’s wife Danna told “Nightline.”
The Virginia Beach Police Department said in a statement that their officers have been trained to identify and respond to people with autism, and expressed sympathy for “all who were impacted by the events of this tragic day.”
“My son is not a killer,” Lavern Rushin said.
Iyun and Sylvester Osagie’s autistic son, Osaze, also had a tragic encounter with police that turned out to be deadly. The 29-year-old was shot and killed by State College, Pennsylvania police in 2019 after a tense confrontation.
The violent nature of his death is a stark contrast to the gentle and deeply religious young man they loved.
“He was the peacemaker [with his siblings]. He was the one that would try to make sure that they don’t fight and they get along very well,” Sylvester Osagie said.
Osaze Osagie also had schizophrenia and at times his parents had asked the police for help.
“We actually thought they understood because they knew his situation,” Sylvester Osagie said.
As a young adult, Ozaze Osagie had been living in a residential program with his peers. He found comfort in the structure, like many people with autism.
“He liked a pattern of activities,” Sylvester Osagie said. “But when he was not in that structured environment, the level of discouragement and anxiety was overwhelming. And that’s when he got off his medication and his situation would just spiral.”
When he left the program to live in an apartment with a roommate, the change seemed to disrupt him. In March 2019, his father received worrying messages and texts including one that indicated there would be trouble with the police “in a little bit.”
Sylvester Osagie says he frantically searched for his son, then alerted police when he couldn’t find him. Osaze Osagie was not located that night.
The next morning, Sylvester Osagie says he drove to his son’s apartment only to find police and media swarming the building.
“Eventually, they told me that they confronted him, that he had a knife and they shot him,” Sylvester Osagie said.
Police say someone saw Osaze that morning at a nearby grocery store and alerted police. The closest on-duty officer was sent to Osaze Osagie’s apartment – an officer, the Osagies say, who did not know their son or his case.
When Osaze Osagie opened his apartment door, police say he was holding a knife in his hand and that after unsuccessfully trying to subdue him, they opened fire – killing him.
“A lot went wrong, just men with guns that show up to an autistic child’s apartment and give him a million instructions. It shouldn’t be this way,” said Iyun Osagie.
The district attorney declined to bring charges against the police officers, saying the shooting was justified.
The Osagies have now filed a lawsuit saying police did not respond appropriately to someone with a known disability having a crisis and that they used “excessive force.”
The borough of State College called the shooting ” a tragedy,” but stated,” that the police have “handled thousands of other mental health-related calls (including several with Osaze), with a number of these calls involving threats of violence and weapons, and none previously ended with a negative result and/or the need to deploy deadly force.”
Osaze’s mother says she believes the fact that her son was a young Black man played a role in his death.
“I made it very clear to them personally that if that had been their son at the other end of their gun, they wouldn’t kill him,” Iyun Osagie said.
Around 20% of autistic youth had been stopped and questioned by police and nearly 5% had been arrested by age 21, according to a 2016 study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
“Unfortunately, what we see in law enforcement is that most of societal issues are placed upon the officer in the street. Now all of a sudden he or she has to react immediately and be able to see something and make that pivot almost immediately,” said former NYPD and ABC News contributor Robert Boyce.
Sleepy Hollow, New York, Police Officer Wendy Yancy is working to find ways to improve outcomes between the autism community and police. It’s personal for her as she has a young son who is autistic.
She attended a training session for law enforcement on working with autistic individuals two years ago.
“This type of training should be given to police departments as a whole, not just a select few,” Yancy said.
Only eight states require law enforcement to receive training specifically related to autism, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Yancey is now implementing a new program she created for her department that allows families to voluntarily provide authorities with information about the needs of an autistic individual so first responders know what to do and not do in an emergency.
“For example, if it’s noise sensitivity, we would know because you would put it in here, that we have to tell officers to arrive with the sirens off, and then this way he’s not triggered or upset,” Yancy told a parent at a recent event.
Yancy said she hopes other police departments follow suit with similar programs.
“You need to sit with the people, talk to the people and show you truly care,” she said. “The only way they trust you is if they know you and they can’t know you from behind the window of a car.”‘
(WASHINGTON) — The super PAC supporting Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis’ expected 2024 presidential run is set to with a new TV ad targeting Trump voters — pitching the governor as a “winner” in four early voting states.
The seven-figure ad buy from the Never Back Down PAC, slated to start airing on Monday, will target local broadcasts in four states that kick off the Republican primary: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada, according to the PAC.
The minute-long ad titled, “Winner,” shared first with ABC News, aims to showcase the governor’s winning record. The ad subtly depicts DeSantis as the successor to Trump, showing front-page headlines of the governor’s victories in 2018 and 2022 hanging in succession on a wall next to a headline of Trump’s 2016 win.
The ad also highlights DeSantis’ overwhelming win in 2022 by featuring the New York Post headline that declared him “DeFuture.”
In the ad’s closing moments, a man is shown putting a “DeSantis for President” bumper sticker over a faded “Trump 2016” one.
“We insist on the restoration of time-tested constitutional principles. So that government of by and for the people shall not perish from this earth. We the people are not destined for failure,” DeSantis says in the ad, which also features familiar attacks on the “woke mob,” declaring that “Florida is where woke goes to die.”
The new buy comes amid an ad blitz by Never Back Down. Starting with its first full national TV buy earlier this month titled “Anthem,” the PAC has been spending millions on an ad blitz aimed at first introducing the governor nationally and now pivoting to show Republican voters who previously supported Trump that they can now support DeSantis.
ABC News previously reported that Never Back Down raised over $30 million since March.
DeSantis has not yet formally announced a 2024 presidential campaign, but sources tell ABC News the Florida governor has plans in the works to launch an exploratory committee as early as mid-May.
DeSantis’ official announcement would come soon after, with the governor currently eyeing mid-June, the sources said.
“Governor Ron DeSantis is proven winner; he has never lost an election or a fight and if Republicans want to win the White House in 2024, Governor DeSantis is the best chance to do that. The future is now, and his name is Governor Ron DeSantis,” Never Back Down Communications Director Erin Perrine told ABC News.
The governor has long been seen as former President Donald Trump’s main rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
ABC News previously reported that DeSantis has privately indicated to allies that he intends to launch a run for the White House.
The governor has suggested that any political decision would have to wait until after his state’s Legislature has adjourned this year, which will be in early May.
“This is going to be the most productive legislative session we have had across the board, and I think people are going to be really excited,” DeSantis said on “Fox & Friends” in February, during which he also touted his new book and accompanying tour. “As we get beyond that, then we can decide from there,” he said then.
(NEW YORK) — A new report released this week by the Environmental Protection Agency projects the devastating health impact of climate change on children.
Effects include higher rates of respiratory disease, reduced academic achievement, higher rates of infections and risk of housing insecurity in coastal cities.
“Children have unique vulnerabilities,” Jeremy Martinich, chief of EPA’s Science and Impacts Branch and a co-author of the report, told ABC News. “This report is really intended to provide a new level of specificity about some of these risks.”
One major risk is extreme heat waves, which can have a negative impact on children’s health and education.
Children are more vulnerable to heat-related events such as lightheadedness, fainting, coma or even death in rare cases.
Based on data extrapolated from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project’s Kids’ Inpatient Database , for each 1 degree Fahrenheit increase between May and September, the number of emergency department visits at U.S. children’s hospitals could increase by 113 visits per day.
“When exposed to higher temperatures, children have more difficulty concentrating and learning in the classroom,” Martinich said.
Studies show a 4% to 7% reduction in academic achievement associated with temperature increases of 2 to 4 degrees Celsius. This reduction translates to decreased future income for graduating students, which could be as much as $18.3 billion.
While installing air conditioning in educational facilities can help, this may not be an option for economically disadvantaged schools.
Stable housing is also a critical factor in children’s health and development. Increasing frequency of flooding due to the rising sea levels places children in coastal cities at high risk for temporary or permanent displacement from their homes.
The EPA estimates that if we do not adapt to the increased flooding risk, 17.2 million children, or 23% of all children in the U.S, are at risk for housing displacement. Children are also at risk of drowning, disease, and post-traumatic stress disorder from flooding events.
“Under each different level of future rising sea level there’s a whole new population that has been exposed [to flooding] in some parts of the country,” said Martinich.
Playing outdoors is crucial for children’s mental and physical development, however, the effects of climate change will significantly limit their ability to be outside. Warm seasons are getting longer, which leads to increased duration and severity of pollen allergies. Prolonged exposure to pollen has been associated with higher rates of asthma, eczema, hay fever, and even ADHD, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Air quality has also sharply decreased due to rising pollution, increasing temperature and wildfires. Infants and children have developing lungs and are more sensitive to toxic exposures than adults. Chronic exposure to pollution is also linked with cardiovascular disease and poor lung function in adulthood. Babies born to mothers exposed to severe air pollution are at risk of being born early or with low birth weight, which can lead to lifelong challenges with growth and development.
The EPA report does not say parents should not let their kids go outside, according to Martinich.
“We’re trying to empower caregivers and parents to be more aware of the risks,” he said, “just like you tell your kids about being careful when crossing the street.”
Parents can monitor daily air quality reports on AirNow.gov, which can be important for kids with asthma. The CDC has tips and resources on preventing toxic exposures for kids.
Similar to the findings of the State of the Air report released last week by the American Lung Association, communities of color face a disproportionate risk of impact. For these communities, the EPA report confirmed much of what they already know.
“It’s alarming, but it’s not surprising,” Courtney Hanson, deputy director of People for Community Recovery, an environmental justice organization on the South Side of Chicago, told ABC News. “[People for Community Recovery] has been advocating and raising the alarm bells about these issues for decades.”
The EPA report represents a key step in political advocacy, according to Gabrielle Browning, director and co-founder of Mom’s Clean Air Force.
“We are really excited about this report because it is the culmination of messaging on the vulnerability of children to climate change,” Browning told ABC News. “For the first time really in history, we have a lot of opportunities to get some things across the finish line.”
Parents can get involved in several ways, experts say.
“[Future generations of children] are going to inherit the world that we’re giving them,” said Martinich. “Let’s give them a safer future. That’s what this report is trying to inform.”
Browning suggests signing a petition that will be delivered to Congress, or calling the local school board to discuss current plans for sustainability.
“Doing something means that you can look your children in the eyes in a decade and say, ‘Yeah I did what I could do. We really tried hard,'” Browning said.
Hanson emphasized community engagement. “Visit the frontline neighborhoods in the city,” she said. “Learning about what’s going on in your own backyard … tends to be very impactful.”
Nisarg Bakshi, D.O., is a pediatrics resident at University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(NEW YORK) — More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops have liberated nearly 30,000 square miles of their territory from Russian forces since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, but Putin appeared to be preparing for a long and bloody war.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 28, 12:18 PM EDT
Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities kill 24, including children
Russian airstrikes targeted several cities across Ukraine early Friday, killing at least 24 people, Ukrainian officials said.
The city of Uman in central Ukraine’s Cherkasy Oblast was the worst affected. Several buildings were damaged or destroyed. One of the strikes hit an apartment building, killing at least 22 people, including three children, and injuring another 18 people, according to Cherkasy Oblast Gov. Ihor Taburets. The attack happened at around 4:30 a.m. local time, when most people would have been asleep. An entire section of the nine-story building collapsed, with 27 apartments completely destroyed. There were 109 people who lived in that part of the building, according to Ukrainian police. Rescue teams were expected to spend all day and night searching for survivors in the rubble.
Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth-largest city and a major industrial hub located in southeastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, was hit by “high-precision” strikes in the early morning hours, leaving a woman and a 3-year-old child dead, according to Dnipro Mayor Boris Filatov.
Russian strikes also targeted Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital and largest city, but there were no reports of any casualties or damages. It was the first such attack on the capital in 51 days, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration. Preliminary data shows 11 cruise missiles and two drones were destroyed in Kyiv’s airspace, the city military administration said.
Apr 28, 11:54 AM EDT
Ukraine says it’s ‘ready’ for counteroffensive
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Friday the military is “ready” to launch a counteroffensive against Russian forces.
“It’s up to the general staff and the command,” Reznikov said during a press briefing in Kyiv. “We will do it as soon as there is God’s will, the weather and the commanders’ decision.”
Ukraine has received Patriot missile defense systems from the United States as well as Germany and the Netherlands. The Ukrainian military has been trained on how to use the systems and “mastered” them within weeks, according to Reznikov.
“The exact number of batteries, I’m sorry, I won’t say,” he added. “Let the enemy guess.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the world not to consider or call the anticipated counteroffensive “a decisive battle.” Speaking at a press conference in Odesa on Friday, Kuleba said the decisive battle is the one that will lead to the liberation of all occupied Ukrainian territories.
One person was killed and 23 people, including a child, were wounded in a Russian missile strike in Mykolaiv early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The missile struck a block that had apartments, houses and a historic building, according to Zelenskyy.
“The terrorists will not get away with this yet another crime against humanity,” the president said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Apr 26, 12:50 PM EDT
Zelenskyy has 1st call with China’s Xi Jinping since war began
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping in what was the two leaders’ first official contact since January 2022, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Xi announced that he will send a special envoy to visit Ukraine and “other countries” to work on a political solution.
“I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on Twitter.
The Chinese government’s official position still refuses to call the war an “invasion.”
The call between the two leaders is said to have lasted an hour, according to Zelenskyy’s office.
“Before the full-scale Russian invasion, China was Ukraine’s number one trading partner. I believe that our conversation today will give a powerful impetus to the return, preservation and development of this dynamic at all levels,” Zelenskyy said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Karson Yiu, Cindy Smith and Will Gretsky
Apr 25, 1:03 PM EDT
At least 2 dead, 10 injured in strike that hit Ukrainian museum
At least two people were killed and 10 injured after a Russian missile hit a Ukrainian museum Tuesday, officials said.
The local history museum is located in the city center of Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region.
“The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely. Our history, our culture, our people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media while sharing a video that showed the damaged building. “Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods.”
Apr 24, 5:48 AM EDT
Russian passports pushed on occupied Ukraine
Russian officials have warned Ukrainians in occupied Kherson that they may be “deported” if they don’t accept Russian passports, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said Monday.
“Russia is using passports as a tool in the ‘Russification’ of the occupied areas, as it did in Donetsk and Luhansk before the February 2022 invasion,” the ministry on Twitter.
Residents of Kherson have been warned of penalties for those who don’t accept Russian passports by June 1. Some may be removed from the territory or may have their property seized, according to the U.K.
Apr 23, 11:42 PM EDT
Russia says US has denied journalist visas, vows it ‘will not forgive’
Russia said Sunday that the U.S. has denied visas to Russian journalists who wanted to cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s trip to New York.
Lavrov promised that the decision will not be forgotten by their side.
“The country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, most free, fairest has chickened out, has done a silly thing and shown what its sworn assurances on protecting freedom of speech, access to information and so on are worth,” he told reporters at the airport before his flight to New York.
“Most importantly, you can be sure: we will not forget, we will not forgive this,” the minister told the pool of journalists who have not been granted U.S. visas.
The journalists had planned to cover Lavrov’s appearance at the United Nations to mark Russia’s chairmanship of the Security Council.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the U.S.’s decision “outrageous” on Sunday, Interfax, a Russian news agency, reported.
-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva, Edward Szekeres, Natalia Shumskaia
Apr 21, 3:35 PM EDT Over 16,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in the EU so far
Over 16,000 Ukrainian soldiers trained in the European Union, Josep Borrell, an EU representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said Friday.
The EU has delivered over $600 million of ammunition and missiles to Ukraine, according to Borrell.
-ABC News’ Oleksiy Pshemyskiy
Apr 20, 7:08 PM EDT
Russian warplane accidentally fires weapon into Russian city of Belgorod: Defense ministry
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that ammunition from a Russian Su-34 military aircraft fell in Belgorod, a city in the southern region of Russia.
“On the evening of April 20, during the flight of the Su-34 aircraft over the city of Belgorod, an abnormal descent of an aviation munition occurred,” the agency said.
The ministry claimed buildings were damaged but there were no immediate reports of victims. An investigation is underway, according to the agency.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Apr 20, 5:18 PM EDT
Ukraine’s ‘rightful place’ is in NATO: Secretary-General
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg held a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, to highlight the more than €150 billion of support to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion.
“Allies are now delivering more jets, tanks, and armored vehicles, and NATO’s Ukraine fund is providing urgent support,” he said in a statement. “All of this is making a real difference on the battlefield today.”
While in Ukraine, the secretary-general visited Bucha and paid his respects to the victims of Russian atrocities.
He also laid a wreath at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine, paying tribute to all those who have lost lives or suffered wounds in defense of their homeland.
“Ukraine’s rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic family. Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO. And over time, our support will help to make this possible,” Stoltenberg said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Apr 20, 4:13 PM EDT
Russian athletes will not be accepted in 2024 Olympics if war goes on: Paris mayor
Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, which is hosting the 2024 summer Olympics, told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russian athletes “cannot be accepted in Paris,” if the war with Ukraine is still ongoing when the games begin.
“Paris is the capital of human rights,” Hidalgo said in a statement. “We are trying to convince athletes, international federations and countries. We stand with you.”
Hidalgo and Vasco Cordeiro, the president of the European Committee of the Regions, met with Zelenskyy as part of the International Summit of Cities and Regions Thursday.
Zelenskyy thanked Hidalgo for her support and presented her with Ukraine’s “Rescuer City” honorary award.
-ABC News’ Max Uzol and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The Federal Reserve failed in its role as banking industry watchdog in the run up to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the central bank said on Friday.
The Fed sharply criticized leadership at Silicon Valley Bank for “a textbook case of mismanagement,” but the report also faulted the Fed’s lax oversight and an inability to anticipate the systemic threat posed by the bank’s failure.
“Federal Reserve supervisors failed to take forceful enough action,” said Michael Barr, the central bank’s vice chair for supervision, who wrote the report. “SVB’s failure demonstrates that there are weaknesses in regulation and supervision that must be addressed.”
The collapse last month of Silicon Valley Bank, the nation’s 16th largest bank, set off a financial panic that led to the failure two days later of another major lender, Signature Bank.
In response, the U.S. government took rapid and extraordinary steps to protect the financial system.
However, the financial stress continues to weigh on the banking system. Shares in regional lender First Republic Bank plummeted nearly 50% on Tuesday after it revealed that depositors fled en masse amid the crisis last month.
Barr called the report an “unflinching look” at the Fed’s shortcomings in the lead up to the banking crisis, saying that the examination marks the first step in the central bank’s effort to fix its supervision and regulation of banks vulnerable to extreme stress.
“Supervisors did not fully appreciate the extent of the vulnerabilities as Silicon Valley Bank grew in size and complexity,” Barr said.
“When supervisors did identify vulnerabilities, they did not take sufficient steps to ensure that Silicon Valley Bank fixed those problems quickly enough,” Barr added.
