(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve’s strongest weapon in its fight against skyrocketing inflation is raising interest rates.
In March, the Fed raised its target federal funds rate by 0.25%, the first rate hike in more than three years. At its May meeting, the central bank hiked rates by 0.50%, and in June it got even more aggressive, raising rates by 0.75%, the largest increase since 1994. The Fed is warning of potentially more rate hikes to come as it tries to cool consumer demand and drive prices down from a 40-year high.
That has resulted in higher interest rates on credit cards, home and auto loans, home equity lines of credit and small business loans. For borrowers, that means those products are only getting more expensive. But the Fed’s rate hike campaign is not all bad news. There is a silver lining for savers.
“Rising interest rates represent a turn of fortunes for savers as interest earnings are finally on the rise, and eventually those higher interest rates will help reduce inflation,” Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst, told ABC News. “This is the opposite of what savers have endured the past three years when interest rates fell and then inflation took off.”
Early in the pandemic, when the Fed was cutting interest rates to stimulate the economy, the average rate for a typical savings account was around 0.06%, according to the FDIC. Now, with the Fed’s benchmark rate rising, banks are starting to follow suit, but don’t expect them to mirror those rate hikes exactly. What the Fed does with interest rates is only one factor banks consider when setting rates. They also take into account how much money customers have deposited and how much their competitors are offering.
Some banks, especially online banks, are starting to offer interest rates on savings accounts of 1% or more. But not all bank interest rates are created equal. McBride recommends doing some comparison shopping and considering switching banks to take advantage of the latest rate increase.
“You want to put your money where it will be welcomed with open arms and higher yields,” he said. “Online banks, smaller community banks, and credit unions offer higher yields than the large banks that already have a mountain of deposits.”
Fed Chair Jerome Powell predicts the central bank could raise rates another 1.75% over the remainder of the year to bring inflation down from its current 8.6% to the Fed’s target goal of 2%. Experts say if the Fed proves to be as aggressive as they’re expected to be, the top-yielding online savings accounts could top 3% by year-end.
In addition to high-yield savings accounts, McBride said if you’re willing to commit your money for a few years, then a certificate of deposit or I-bond, which are also seeing rates rise, could be better suited to your financial goals.
“Evaluate the time horizon for when the money is needed and then pursue the appropriate savings instrument,” said McBride. “Don’t chase the yield and end up locking yourself into something incompatible with your liquidity needs. If you’re evaluating where to put your emergency savings, then you’ll need a liquid account above all else.”
Wherever you choose to keep your money, experts agree you should always make sure you’re dealing directly with a federally-insured financial institution.
“There are plenty of online savings accounts that offer competitive yields, federal deposit insurance, access to the money when needed, and do not require a large balance in the account,” said McBride. “There is literally something for everyone.”
(NEW YORK) — The federal gun safety proposal announced last week by a bipartisan group of senators in response to the attack on Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, is “a step in the right direction,” according to several authorities — but the measures, had they already been in place, might not have prevented the Uvalde shooting, mental health and violence experts told ABC News.
The legislative framework, by 10 Republicans, nine Democrats, and one independent senator, contains six proposals focusing on mental health plus three gun-specific proposals that include targeting criminals who illegally evade licensing requirements and cracking down on those who illegally purchase and traffic guns.
The proposal does not raise the age limit to purchase semiautomatic assault-style weapons — but for buyers under 21 years of age, it “requires an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement.”
“Our plan increases needed mental health resources, improves school safety and support for students, and helps ensure dangerous criminals and those who are adjudicated as mentally ill can’t purchase weapons,” the 20 senators in a statement.
Officials caution that the framework, which members have been negotiating for weeks, is not yet in its final form. Although the backing of 10 Republicans would give the current framework enough votes to overcome its biggest hurdle in the Senate, it’s not clear if the final proposal will have the same support.
Some experts ABC News spoke with praised the current proposal for its focus on mental health, which includes making major investments to increase access to mental health and suicide prevention programs, as well as investments in programs that increase access to mental and behavioral services via telehealth, and support for state crisis intervention orders.
“The fact that it brings together a multi-tiered set of interventions in schools and communities and families as well as safety provisions … the comprehensiveness of this is what I feel most hopeful about,” said Dr. Andy Keller, president of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, who advised at least one of the senators who sponsored the bill.
But other experts said it’s far from certain that the measures, had they already been in place, would have prevented the deaths of 19 children and two adults in Uvalde last month.
Retired brigadier general Dr. Stephen Xenakis, a former army psychiatrist and senior adviser to the Defense Department, told ABC News that the proposal’s investment in children’s and family’s mental health services might have helped mitigate the attack, since there’s “considerable evidence” that accused shooter Salvador Ramos had mental health problems.
“Proactive outreach and engagement could have gotten him into treatment and avoided the deterioration leading to the shootings,” Xenakis said.
The same holds true for the proposal’s protections for victims of domestic violence and funding for school-based mental health support services and telehealth services.
“[If he was] a victim of abuse … had the mental health system and protective services engaged early, he may have been diverted from becoming a shooter,” said Xenakis. “He clearly had problems in school, and would’ve been helped by school-based mental health and wraparound services.”
James Densley, a professor of criminal justice who cofounded the Violence Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research group that studies mass shootings, said that successful treatment comes from ease of access.
“You want to remove as many barriers as possible to getting people the help they need,” Densley, who called the legislative proposal a “step in the right direction,” told ABC News. “You put [a mental health clinic] right in the school, where that kid walks through the door every day and it’s right there, and if it’s accessible and affordable, then you’re going to get more of an uptake.”
But former FBI agent Mary Ellen O’Toole, a leading expert in profiling criminals’ brains, said that even with all the proposals in force, Ramos could still easily have fallen through the cracks.
“Where he would have fallen through the loop was, he was not in school — he was he was at work,” O’Toole told ABC News. “He wasn’t in a position where someone that knew him could have reached out and tried to get him mental health care … through the school system.”
In addition, said O’Toole, for him to have been directed toward mental health assistance that might have prevented the shooting, those around him would have needed to be aware of the warning signs.
Speaking about the people close to him — “whether they worked in that fast food restaurant with him, or if his grandparents were aware of it” — O’Toole said that “if you don’t have something specifically designed to teach people how to recognize the warning behaviors … he still could have gotten away with it.”
Xenakis praised the proposed funding for school safety resources, including additional training for school personnel and students, but said he would also like to see “expanded school violence prevention that includes identifying students at risk for such behaviors.”
Regarding the proposal’s gun-safety measures, Xenakis said that if Ramos had not availed himself of the proposed mental health services, it’s not clear they would have helped avert the attack.
For gun buyers under 21 years of age, the framework proposes an enhanced review process that requires an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement — but that would have only impacted Ramos’ ability to buy a weapon had he sought out mental health assistance or had a criminal record.
“This provision with background checks could’ve been protective … if he had had treatment and been involved in a mental health program,” Xenakis said.
And since Ramos purchased his AR-style weapon legally, the proposal’s crackdown on criminals who illegally evade licensing requirements would not have applied to him, said Xenakis.
School safety experts like Ron Avi Astor say that’s why more gun safety provisions are needed. Astor, part of a group of researchers who recently issued an eight-point plan for immediate government action to reduce gun violence, told ABC News that without a bill that focuses on responsible gun ownership, there is going to be little impact on the number of shootings that occur.
Astor, who supports gun education, safety training, and stricter licensure for gun owners, said “that’s where you’re going to get the biggest difference: if you implement even the licensing alone, not even background checks.”
“If we were willing to go for licensing like we do with cars, that would save potentially tens and tens of thousands of lives,” Astor said.
The current Senate proposal “is not a perfect solution that’s going to solve the problem,” said Densley. “It might make these types of mass shootings less frequent. It might make them less deadly in the coming years. But it’s not going to solve the problem.”
Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Millions of Americans will face dangerous heat this week, as a new heat wave is expected to bring near triple-digit temperatures to the South.
The Southeast and the Plains will experience temperatures between 10 and 20 degrees above average with humid conditions, according to the National Weather Service.
Heat wave continues in 27 states across the country
While the Northeast felt a reprieve from the heat this weekend, heat alerts were in effect on Sunday in the Upper Midwest, as temperatures in the Plains hit 100 degrees and higher.
Temperatures in Fargo, North Dakota, hit 102 degrees on Sunday, while North Platte, Nebraska, reached 100 degrees. Low humidity has kept heat indexes low in the Midwest, a far cry from last week’s “heat dome,” which caused the heat index in the region to reach 115 degrees.
Midwestern cities could hit their daily record highs by Monday afternoon.
The Central U.S. region will see highs in the 90s as the heat travels east but won’t see high heat index values because it won’t be very humid.
Millions of people in the Midwest will eventually see a break this week as the heat moves into the South, where cities such as Atlanta, Memphis and New Orleans will see temperatures hit close to 100 degrees.
Summer officially begins on Tuesday, and for the rest of the month, swaths of Central and southern parts of the U.S. are expected to see above-average temperatures.
More than 1,300 people die every year in the U.S because of extreme heat, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The excessive heat, coupled with strong winds and arid conditions, has sparked fears of wildfires in the West. The National Weather Service issued “red flag” warnings in Flagstaff, Arizona, and Price, Utah.
According to the NWS, “red flag” warnings occur when “warm temperatures, very low humidities and stronger winds are expected to combine to produce an increased risk of fire danger.”
While the potential for wildfires will dwindle in the next few days, the conditions will make it harder for firefighters to battle existing wildfires in the Southwest.
Due to the monsoon season, rain is expected over the next day in parts of the country that have experienced widespread drought and wildfires, such as Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, making the areas more susceptible to flash floods.
Historic flooding emergency in the Northern Rockies, high temperatures
Last week, Yellowstone National Park closed after historic flooding destroyed homes, washed out roads and left many people stranded.
(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 20, 6:31 am
‘Historic week’ begins for Ukraine, Zelenskyy says
Monday marks the beginning of a “truly historic week” for Ukraine, as the country awaits a decision on its future within the European Union, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during his Sunday evening address.
“We will hear the answer from the European Union on the candidate status for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. Last week, the European Commission backed Ukraine for EU candidate status. Now it is up to the European Council to confirm Ukraine’s status, with a decision expected by the end of this week, the Ukrainian president said.
“I am convinced that only a positive decision meets the interests of the whole of Europe,” Zelenskyy said.
He added that Ukraine — and other European countries — should expect increased hostility from Russia in the coming week.
“We are preparing. We are ready. We warn partners,” he said.
But as combat units from both sides of the conflict remain committed to intense combat in the Donbas, they are likely experiencing dips in morale, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense stated in a Sunday intelligence update.
“Ukrainian forces have likely suffered desertions in recent weeks, however, Russian morale highly likely remains especially troubled,” the ministry said.
As cases of whole Russian units refusing to carry out orders and armed stand-offs between officers and their troops continue to occur, Russian authorities are likely struggling to put legal pressure on the dissenters due to the invasion’s official status as a ‘special military operation’, the UK report said.
Low Russian morale is driven by “perceived poor leadership, limited opportunity for rotation of units out of combat, very heavy casualties, combat stress, continued poor logistics, and problems with pay,” according to the Defense Ministry. Many Russian personnel of all ranks also likely remain confused about the war’s objectives, it said.
The U.K. Defense Ministry also said Monday the struggles of Russia’s air force likely contributed to the exhaustion of Russian ground troops. “In the conflict to date, Russia’s air force has underperformed,” another intelligence update said on Monday.
“Its failure to consistently deliver air power is likely one of the most important factors behind Russia’s very limited campaign success,” the report stated. Despite boasting relatively modern and capable combat jets, Russia’s air combat training has for years highly likely been heavily scripted and designed to impress senior officials, as opposed to fostering modern skill-sets, the Defense Ministry said.
As a result, Russian ground troops in Ukraine are becoming worn out while a heavy reliance on advanced cruise missiles has likely led to their stocks running low, the report concluded.
More shelters, less music
The Ukrainian Parliament on Sunday supported a bill on the construction of a network of bomb shelters across Ukraine, including in new buildings.
“The war has shown that there were few reliable shelters in Ukraine,” said Olena Shulyak, a member of parliament.
Many of the existing shelters are not equipped with evacuation exits, lack access to water supply and sewerage systems, and are not adapted for food storage, Shulyak said on Telegram, adding, “Not to mention their ability to protect the population in the event of weapons of mass destruction.”
The parliament topped off a busy weekend when it banned music by artists with Russian citizenship from being aired in public and in Ukrainian media to prevent the influence of “separatist sentiment in the population,” according to the new bill.
A two-thirds majority of lawmakers agreed that Russian music would make the adoption of a Russian identity more attractive while weakening the Ukrainian state.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Yuriy Zaliznyak, Max Uzol and Yulia Drozd
Jun 19, 3:45 pm
Ukrainians could soon be ‘lovin’ it’ again as McDonald’s in talks to reopen: Foreign Minister
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Sunday that his country’s leaders are trying to get McDonald’s to reopen its franchises in Ukraine, while the fast-food giant has sold off its restaurants in Russia in response to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
While people in Russia are eating knockoff McDonald’s burger’s now rebranded as “Tasty, and That’s It” — Kuleba said in a Father’s Day Facebook message that Ukrainians are getting closer to enjoying real Big Mac’s and Quarter Pounders.
“After the war started the company, like many others, closed restaurants in Ukraine for security reasons,” Kuleba wrote. “But we in the MFA are convinced the conditions are right for them to resume work and we’re actively persuading them to return.”
He said that a few weeks ago, Ukrainian officials contacted McDonald’s Ukrainian office and its U.S. headquarters in Chicago to open negotiations on the company resuming operations
“We also raised this issue in official contacts with the U.S. government, as McDonald’s is one of most famous American brands. The process is moving along,” Kuleba said.
There was no immediate response from McDonald’s.
-ABC News’ Max Uzol
Jun 19, 12:02 pm
ABC News gets special access to see US howitzers used in the Donbas
For the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, an ABC News crew was allowed an up-close-view of Ukrainian troops firing U.S. howitzer artillery weapons during active fighting in the country’s Donbas region.
ABC News foreign correspondent James Longman and his crew were the only media outlet allowed to witness the weapons in action on the outskirts of Bakhmut in Eastern Ukraine, where Russian armed forces are slowly making advances.
The cannons are considered crucial in taking out Russian artillery positions as the Ukrainian forces battle to keep the Donbas from falling completely into the hands of the enemy, Ukrainian officials said.
A Ukrainian artillery commander told ABC News he was trained how to use the howitzers in Germany by U.S. personnel.
“It makes a huge difference because this is a NATO weapon,” the artillery commander said. “It keeps the morale of our men high because with it we can work more and do a better job. Also, it demoralizes the enemy when he sees how rapid and precise we can open fire and sees the results of these attacks.”
The commander said the biggest difference between the U.S. M-777 155mm howitzers and the Russian equivalent is the precision, speed and ease of operation.
“These howitzers stand lower, which makes it easier to disguise it,” the commander said. “Also, it is harder to spot it when shots are fired.”
He said the four-ton artillery weapons are light-weight compared to the nine-ton weapons they had been using early in the war.
“So, it takes less people to operate it. Also, it is easier to transport it (and) offload,” the commander said. “Because often we fire it from areas that are not easy to get to. So weight is very important. But what is most important is that we are given lots of ammunition for these weapons. And we can work on much more targets now.”
He said the howitzers’ maneuverability is key to its use in the battlefield.
“We set up the piece, open fire and move rapidly to the new location, where we do the same,” the commander said. “This way we can change location 12 to 20 and even more times a day. And the enemy can’t understand how we work so rapidly and open fire from the areas that are not suitable for artillery.”
Asked by ABC News if he is proud to be operating the weapons against Russian troops, the commander responded, “Sure I am! Sometimes when we move to new locations we meet other artillery officers and hear them, saying, ‘Wow, triple sevens!
“So, we are very proud!” he said.
He said the weapons are so precise that many times troops hit targets with the first shot.
“Give us more weapons!” the commander said is his top request of the United States.
-ABC News’ James Longman
Jun 19, 10:22 am
Russia claims its troops have taken control of Dunbas settlement
Russian forces have purportedly taken control of the settlement of Metyolkino in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine, according to Russian military officials.
The Russian Federation Armed Forces said Metyolkino was “liberated” by units from the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic with the help of the Russian army.
Russian officials claimed several units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fighting near Lisichansky in the Donbas region “are abandoning the operation area due to low moral and psychological condition, as well as lack of munitions and logistics supply.”
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials.
Meanwhile, Russian troops continued to launch attacks on military targets across Ukraine, according to Russian officials.
The attacks included long-distance sea-based missile attacks on Ukrainian troops in the village of Shirokaya Dacha in the Central Ukraine, according to Russian officials. The attack was launched while Ukrainian military commanders were meeting in the village and “resulted in eliminating more than 50 generals and officers of the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine),” Russian officials said in a statement.
Long-range missile attacks over the past 10 days have destroyed 10 155-mm howitzer cannons and 20 armored combat vehicles Russian military officials said were sent to Ukrainian forces by Western countries. One Russian missile strike destroyed a transformer plant in Nikolayev in Southern Ukraine, according to Russian officials.
(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 20, 6:31 am
‘Historic week’ begins for Ukraine, Zelenskyy says
Monday marks the beginning of a “truly historic week” for Ukraine, as the country awaits a decision on its future within the European Union, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during his Sunday evening address.
“We will hear the answer from the European Union on the candidate status for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. Last week, the European Commission backed Ukraine for EU candidate status. Now it is up to the European Council to confirm Ukraine’s status, with a decision expected by the end of this week, the Ukrainian president said.
“I am convinced that only a positive decision meets the interests of the whole of Europe,” Zelenskyy said.
He added that Ukraine — and other European countries — should expect increased hostility from Russia in the coming week.
“We are preparing. We are ready. We warn partners,” he said.
But as combat units from both sides of the conflict remain committed to intense combat in the Donbas, they are likely experiencing dips in morale, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense stated in a Sunday intelligence update.
“Ukrainian forces have likely suffered desertions in recent weeks, however, Russian morale highly likely remains especially troubled,” the ministry said.
As cases of whole Russian units refusing to carry out orders and armed stand-offs between officers and their troops continue to occur, Russian authorities are likely struggling to put legal pressure on the dissenters due to the invasion’s official status as a ‘special military operation’, the UK report said.
Low Russian morale is driven by “perceived poor leadership, limited opportunity for rotation of units out of combat, very heavy casualties, combat stress, continued poor logistics, and problems with pay,” according to the Defense Ministry. Many Russian personnel of all ranks also likely remain confused about the war’s objectives, it said.
The U.K. Defense Ministry also said Monday the struggles of Russia’s air force likely contributed to the exhaustion of Russian ground troops. “In the conflict to date, Russia’s air force has underperformed,” another intelligence update said on Monday.
“Its failure to consistently deliver air power is likely one of the most important factors behind Russia’s very limited campaign success,” the report stated. Despite boasting relatively modern and capable combat jets, Russia’s air combat training has for years highly likely been heavily scripted and designed to impress senior officials, as opposed to fostering modern skill-sets, the Defense Ministry said.
As a result, Russian ground troops in Ukraine are becoming worn out while a heavy reliance on advanced cruise missiles has likely led to their stocks running low, the report concluded.
More shelters, less music
The Ukrainian Parliament on Sunday supported a bill on the construction of a network of bomb shelters across Ukraine, including in new buildings.
“The war has shown that there were few reliable shelters in Ukraine,” said Olena Shulyak, a member of parliament.
Many of the existing shelters are not equipped with evacuation exits, lack access to water supply and sewerage systems, and are not adapted for food storage, Shulyak said on Telegram, adding, “Not to mention their ability to protect the population in the event of weapons of mass destruction.”
The parliament topped off a busy weekend when it banned music by artists with Russian citizenship from being aired in public and in Ukrainian media to prevent the influence of “separatist sentiment in the population,” according to the new bill.
A two-thirds majority of lawmakers agreed that Russian music would make the adoption of a Russian identity more attractive while weakening the Ukrainian state.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Yuriy Zaliznyak, Max Uzol and Yulia Drozd
Jun 19, 3:45 pm
Ukrainians could soon be ‘lovin’ it’ again as McDonald’s in talks to reopen: Foreign Minister
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Sunday that his country’s leaders are trying to get McDonald’s to reopen its franchises in Ukraine, while the fast-food giant has sold off its restaurants in Russia in response to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
While people in Russia are eating knockoff McDonald’s burger’s now rebranded as “Tasty, and That’s It” — Kuleba said in a Father’s Day Facebook message that Ukrainians are getting closer to enjoying real Big Mac’s and Quarter Pounders.
“After the war started the company, like many others, closed restaurants in Ukraine for security reasons,” Kuleba wrote. “But we in the MFA are convinced the conditions are right for them to resume work and we’re actively persuading them to return.”
He said that a few weeks ago, Ukrainian officials contacted McDonald’s Ukrainian office and its U.S. headquarters in Chicago to open negotiations on the company resuming operations
“We also raised this issue in official contacts with the U.S. government, as McDonald’s is one of most famous American brands. The process is moving along,” Kuleba said.
There was no immediate response from McDonald’s.
-ABC News’ Max Uzol
Jun 19, 12:02 pm
ABC News gets special access to see US howitzers used in the Donbas
For the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, an ABC News crew was allowed an up-close-view of Ukrainian troops firing U.S. howitzer artillery weapons during active fighting in the country’s Donbas region.
ABC News foreign correspondent James Longman and his crew were the only media outlet allowed to witness the weapons in action on the outskirts of Bakhmut in Eastern Ukraine, where Russian armed forces are slowly making advances.
The cannons are considered crucial in taking out Russian artillery positions as the Ukrainian forces battle to keep the Donbas from falling completely into the hands of the enemy, Ukrainian officials said.
A Ukrainian artillery commander told ABC News he was trained how to use the howitzers in Germany by U.S. personnel.
“It makes a huge difference because this is a NATO weapon,” the artillery commander said. “It keeps the morale of our men high because with it we can work more and do a better job. Also, it demoralizes the enemy when he sees how rapid and precise we can open fire and sees the results of these attacks.”
The commander said the biggest difference between the U.S. M-777 155mm howitzers and the Russian equivalent is the precision, speed and ease of operation.
“These howitzers stand lower, which makes it easier to disguise it,” the commander said. “Also, it is harder to spot it when shots are fired.”
He said the four-ton artillery weapons are light-weight compared to the nine-ton weapons they had been using early in the war.
“So, it takes less people to operate it. Also, it is easier to transport it (and) offload,” the commander said. “Because often we fire it from areas that are not easy to get to. So weight is very important. But what is most important is that we are given lots of ammunition for these weapons. And we can work on much more targets now.”
He said the howitzers’ maneuverability is key to its use in the battlefield.
“We set up the piece, open fire and move rapidly to the new location, where we do the same,” the commander said. “This way we can change location 12 to 20 and even more times a day. And the enemy can’t understand how we work so rapidly and open fire from the areas that are not suitable for artillery.”
Asked by ABC News if he is proud to be operating the weapons against Russian troops, the commander responded, “Sure I am! Sometimes when we move to new locations we meet other artillery officers and hear them, saying, ‘Wow, triple sevens!
“So, we are very proud!” he said.
He said the weapons are so precise that many times troops hit targets with the first shot.
“Give us more weapons!” the commander said is his top request of the United States.
-ABC News’ James Longman
Jun 19, 10:22 am
Russia claims its troops have taken control of Dunbas settlement
Russian forces have purportedly taken control of the settlement of Metyolkino in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine, according to Russian military officials.
The Russian Federation Armed Forces said Metyolkino was “liberated” by units from the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic with the help of the Russian army.
Russian officials claimed several units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fighting near Lisichansky in the Donbas region “are abandoning the operation area due to low moral and psychological condition, as well as lack of munitions and logistics supply.”
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials.
Meanwhile, Russian troops continued to launch attacks on military targets across Ukraine, according to Russian officials.
The attacks included long-distance sea-based missile attacks on Ukrainian troops in the village of Shirokaya Dacha in the Central Ukraine, according to Russian officials. The attack was launched while Ukrainian military commanders were meeting in the village and “resulted in eliminating more than 50 generals and officers of the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine),” Russian officials said in a statement.
Long-range missile attacks over the past 10 days have destroyed 10 155-mm howitzer cannons and 20 armored combat vehicles Russian military officials said were sent to Ukrainian forces by Western countries. One Russian missile strike destroyed a transformer plant in Nikolayev in Southern Ukraine, according to Russian officials.
(WASHINGTON) — A 15-year-old boy has died and three adults, including a police officer, were injured in a shooting in Washington, D.C., Sunday night, officials said.
The shooting took place near 14th and U streets Northwest, in a popular area filled with stores, restaurants and bars. The area played host to “Moechella,” a free concert celebrating Juneteenth.
The Metropolitan Police Department had reported an earlier, separate incident at the concert, when a fight was broken up, MPD Chief Robert Contee said.
Shortly after that, there was a secondary incident, Contee said, during which “people started to scatter” and some were “being trampled.” The MPD shut down the concert because it appeared it was “unsafe,” police said.
The incidents happened between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., police said, at an unpermitted event associated with Moechella. Police said “hundreds of people” had gathered on the block, and the MPD assisted in containing the crowd to the sidewalk.
While rendering aid to people caught in the stampede, a firearm was recovered, Contee said.
According to the MPD, several people were shot in the wake of the previous incidents.
Police said the firearm used in the shooting has not been recovered, and there is no suspect in custody at this time.
The two adult victims and the police officer are recovering at an area hospital, police said.
The D.C. Police Union tweeted that one of its members had been shot, was transported to the hospital “and is in stable condition.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division said it was assisting the MPD.
ABC News’ Ben Siu contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — In a new twist in the Uvalde elementary school mass shooting, a source has confirmed to ABC News that as police waited for more than an hour in a hallway outside the classrooms where a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers, none of the officers checked to see if the doors to the classrooms were locked.
The new development in the investigation of the shooting came just days after Chief Pete Arredondo of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police, the incident commander during the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, defended his actions and claimed the delay in breaching connecting classrooms 111 and 112, where the gunman was holed up was because he was waiting for a janitor to get the key to the door.
But surveillance footage showed that neither Arredondo nor any other officers taking cover in the hallway outside the classrooms ever attempted to open the door before receiving the keys to the two connecting classrooms. That means there were 77 minutes between when the alleged 18-year-old gunman entered the school through an unlocked door and when police fatally shot him, a source with knowledge of the investigation told ABC News.
The San Antonio Express News was the first to report on Saturday that Arredondo and his team allegedly never check the classroom doors to determine if they were unlocked.
The sources confirmed to ABC News that investigators now believe the alleged gunman, Salvador Ramos, could not have locked the doors to the classrooms from inside as officials first suspected. In the surveillance footage, the sources said, it appears Ramos, 18, was able to open the door to classroom 111 from the outside, the source said. That classroom is connected to the adjacent classroom 112 by a short corridor where a restroom is located, officials have previously said.
Whether the doors to the classrooms where the slayings occurred were unlocked through the entire episode remains under investigation.
In a June 6 interview with ABC News’ Amy Robach, Robb Elementary School teacher Arnulfo Reyes, who was wounded in the shooting that killed 11 of his students, said that prior to the rampage he complained to the school’s principal that the door to his room, 111, did not latch properly during security checks. He said the door was supposed to remain shut and lock automatically.
“When that would happen, I would tell my principal, ‘Hey, I’m going to get in trouble again, they’re going to come and tell you that I left my door unlocked, which I didn’t,'” Reyes said in the interview. “But the latch was stuck. So, it was just an easy fix.”
In an interview with the Texas Tribune published June 9, Arredondo, who was recently sworn in as a Uvalde City Council member, said he spent more than an hour in the school hallway calling for tactical gear, a sniper and keys to get inside the classroom.
He claimed he and multiple officers with him in the hallway took cover away from the classroom doors for 40 minutes to avoid being struck by bullets the suspect, armed with an AR-15 style rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, fired through the door.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said three Uvalde police officers who initially ran into the school to confront the gunman were fired on through the door and two suffered graze wounds.
Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies in the area converged on the school and began evacuating children from other classrooms and away from the two rooms where the gunman was holed up. Video and photos from the scene, showed children being pulled through broken windows and running out of harm’s way.
Arredondo claimed in the interview with the Texas Tribune that a custodian finally brought him a large key ring with dozens of the keys attached but none worked. Sources familiar with the investigation claimed that while searching for a master key, Arredondo tried the janitor’s keys on a door out of harm’s way on a nearby classroom.
While Arredondo waited for the keys and a tactical team to gear up and reach the scene, students and teachers trapped in the classrooms with the gunman made at least seven desperate 911 calls asking for help.
Arredondo told the Texas Tribune that he didn’t bring his radios with him to the scene, claiming time was of the essence and that he wanted to have his hands free.
“The only thing that was important to me at this time was to save as many teachers and children as possible,” Arredondo told the Texas Tribune.
Sources told ABC News that Arredondo is not cooperating with investigators probing the shooting. Arredondo has denied he has been uncooperative.
Arredondo and police involved in the response to the deadly emergency have come under intense scrutiny as the investigation has unfolded and video surfaced showing panicked parents being held back by police officers from entering the school to take matters into their own hands, including a father who officers deployed a stun gun on and a mother who was handcuffed.
Police investigators and elected leaders, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, have also been the subject of scorn over how the official narrative of the rampage has dramatically changed as the investigation has unfolded.
In the immediate aftermath of the Uvalde rampage, Abbott praised the “amazing courage” of law enforcement, saying the incident “could have been worse” if the officers hadn’t run toward the gunfire and eliminated the shooter. But one day later, Victor Escalon, the South Texas regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, contradicted Abbott’s statement, saying, no schools officer was at the campus when the gunman, who had already shot and wounded his grandmother, crashed a truck in front of the school and entered the school buildings unabated through an unlocked door after getting onto campus by climbing a fence.
Abbott later said he was misled on the police response.
Col. Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, initially said the door the gunman used to access the school building was left propped open by a teacher. But officials later said the investigation showed the teacher closed the door, but the door did not automatically lock as it was supposed to.
The timeline on how quickly police responded to the shooting has also changed several times, from a rapid response to about 40 minutes, to eventually 77 minutes before a SWAT team entered the classroom where the shooter was located and killed him, authorities said.
The New York Times reported on Friday that a Uvalde police officer responding to initial reports of a shooting was armed with an AR-15 style rifle and had an opportunity to shoot the gunman outside the school but hesitated out of concern he could have hit a student with an errant shot. Law enforcement sources have confirmed that scenario to ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — The Texas Republican Party this weekend formally “rebuked” multiple GOP senators, including one of their own, for helping lead bipartisan negotiations on new gun legislation.
The resolution, adopted at the state’s convention on Saturday in Houston, dismissed the Senate compromise announced last week that had the filibuster-proof support of at least 10 Republicans.
“We reject the so called ‘bipartisan gun agreement,’ and we rebuke Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lindsey Graham 1601 (R-S.C.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.),” the resolution reads.
The party’s admonishment reflects, in part, the difficulty of congressional action around guns, given some opposition in highly conservative circles. The state GOP’s response followed Cornyn being booed, too, by the crowd while speaking at the convention on Friday.
Cornyn stepped up to help lead bipartisan negotiations around modest gun reforms following the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 students and two teachers were killed. The bipartisan group of senators working on the legislation announced an initial agreed-upon framework on June 12 that would increase funding for school safety and mental health as well as require enhanced background checks for 18 to 21-year-olds and support “red flag” laws enacted by states.
The agreement did not include more sweeping restrictions backed by Democrats and President Joe Biden, like raising the legal buying age for assault-style weapons.
Work continues on final text of the bill, with leaders in the House and Senate vowing quick votes if Republicans remain onboard — with hopes to bring text to the floor of the Senate this week.
Terry Harper, one of the members of the executive committee for Texas’s GOP, voted against the resolution criticizing Cornyn and others — and even tried to get it taken out — though he is skeptical of the negotiations around a possible deal on guns.
“I don’t always approve of what my elected officials do, but they are my elected officials. It’s kind of like marriage. I’ve been married for 45 years, and we don’t always agree, but we don’t part the sheets over it,” Harper told ABC News.
“It was all just a little harsh and embarrassing when they booed,” Harper continued in a phone call with ABC News.
At Saturday’s convention, the Texas GOP also added a series of positions on LGBTQ issues as part of their adopted platform and they officially continued to cast doubts on the validity of Biden’s 2020 election victory, rooted in former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud.
The Log Cabin Republicans, a group representing the LGBTQ community in the Republican Party, was denied space for a booth at the event. (The group later shared a statement they said was from Donald Trump Jr. that criticized their exclusion.)
The state party’s new platform as posted online as of Sunday states that “homosexuality is an abnormal lifestyle choice” and that, as a party, “We oppose all efforts to validate transgender identity.” The party also said it opposed various medical treatments for transgender people who are 21 and younger including so-called “puberty blockers,” hormone therapy and surgery.
The Texas GOP’s latest position on the gay and transgender community comes as conservatives across the country have increasingly refocused on LGBTQ issues, particularly as they relate to children – including bans on transgender kids’ medical care and discussions of sexuality and gender in classrooms.
The party’s platform was quickly and widely criticized by LGBTQ advocates after it was adopted this weekend, with some saying it could herald broader discrimination.
Following the leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court will soon overturn Roe v. Wade, Biden argued the high court could next reduce protections for gay and transgender people or reverse other major precedents, such as the national guarantee to same-sex marriage. (The draft of that opinion shows the court majority insisting its ruling on abortion would not affect other cases.)
With its new platform, the Texas GOP also continued to push the narrative of a false 2020 election and said they did not believe Biden was legitimately elected — despite any evidence and multiple recounts and audits in key battleground states.
Trump, as the party standard-bearer, has continued to assail the race he lost and promoted those who wish to overturn it, backing various local and state officials who could soon be in charge of overseeing the next elections.
During this month’s ongoing Jan. 6 committee hearings in the House, testimony from multiple members of Trump’s inner circle showed how they repeatedly rejected his claims in private, including former Attorney General Bill Barr.
An ABC News/Ipsos poll earlier this year found that 65 percent of Americans believed Biden was legitimately elected, though that number had sharp a partisan divide with nearly three-quarters of Republicans believing the opposite.
The final version of the platform will be posted in the coming days. Members voted on each part of the platform separately and votes are still being tallied, though staff with the state party told ABC News that no major changes are expected and it is rare for portions of the document to fail in the final vote. The rebuke of Cornyn was a resolution passed by voice vote.
(NEW YORK) — One of two Republicans on the House’s Jan. 6 committee said Sunday he believes former President Donald Trump’s actions as described during this month’s public hearings “rise to a level of criminal involvement” in the events around the U.S. Capitol attack.
When asked by anchor George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” if he thinks Trump should be prosecuted, Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger said: “I certainly think the president is guilty of knowing what he did — seditious conspiracy, being involved in these kind of different segments and pressuring the DOJ, Vice President [Mike Pence], etc.,” Kinzinger said.
He continued: “Obviously, you know, we’re not a criminal charges committee. So I want to be careful specifically using that language. But I think what we’re presenting before the American people certainly would rise to a level of criminal involvement by a president and definitely failure of the oath.”
A new ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Sunday showed that 58% of Americans think Trump “bears a good or great amount of responsibility for the events of Jan. 6 and that he should be charged with a crime.” (Trump has repeatedly dismissed the House’s Jan. 6 investigation as politically motivated and one-sided.)
The House select committee was set up to probe what took place surrounding the deadly insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, following Trump’s 2020 presidential election loss and his months-long campaign to overturn that defeat.
In a series of ongoing hearings, the House committee has detailed some of the evidence gathered in its 11-month investigation, including testimony from Trump’s inner circle showing, investigators say, that Trump knew his push to contest the 2020 results and have Pence reject Joe Biden’s victory was baseless — and illegal.
“It is essential at this moment that we get a grip on this and figure out how to defend our democracy,” Kinzinger, a vocal member of the GOP’s anti-Trump minority, said on “This Week.”
“I think this blows, actually, Watergate out of the water,” Kinzinger said of the current moment, blaming the “lack of leadership” for the partisan division. The congressman, who is not running for another term, said his party had “utterly failed the American people at truth. … Makes me sad, but it’s a fact.”
“If you’re not willing to tell people the truth in America, you shouldn’t run for Congress,” he said.
Stephanopoulos also asked Kinzinger about upcoming elections, noting that the next presidential contest could have “a similar controversy.”
“We’re seeing allies of President Trump being elected to run elections in state after state. I’ve already pointed out the divide between Republicans and Democrats over what happened on Jan. 6. How worried are you about 2024?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“Very worried,” Kinzinger replied.
“This is the untold thing,” he continued. “We focus so much on what goes on in D.C. and Congress and the Senate, but when you have these election judges that are going to people that don’t believe basically in democracy – authoritarians – 2024 is going to be a mess.”
(NEW YORK) — Opal Lee, 95, has spent much of her life advocating for civil rights. When she was just 12, her family home was vandalized and set ablaze by white supremacists, none of whom were arrested.
It led her down a lifetime of trying to force the nation to pay respect to those impacted, oppressed or killed by racism throughout U.S. history. Each year on Juneteenth, she and her family in Texas go on a picnic and celebrate the day in 1865 when enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect.
In 2016, Lee went to Washington, D.C., and led a 2.5-mile march to symbolize the 2.5 years it took for the Emancipation Proclamation to be enforced in Texas, and to free the final enslaved Black people.
The joyous day, filled with love and comradery in the Black community, was one she wanted to turn into a federal holiday.
Social activism can take many forms: protests, petitions, boycotts — but for some, joy can be also a revolutionary tool against systems of oppression. Black joy, as an act of resistance against white supremacy, takes center stage on Juneteenth.
Lee’s grandaughter, Dione Sims, who is also a civil rights advocate, has been helping her in the fight and says joy is key to bringing the movement forward.
“Folks usually think that to be an activist, you have to be negative in protesting and marching and, but when you come together and you celebrate and you commemorate Juneteenth, it is a form of social awareness,” Sims told ABC News.
“It is a show of support, not just for the African American community, but the fact that Juneteenth represents freedom for all,” she said.
In 2021, Lee and Sims stood with President Joe Biden when he officially made the commemorative day a federally recognized holiday.
“You know when you smile a lot and your cheekbones hurt? That’s how it was that day, because I’m just smiling, seeing her having a dream fulfilled,” Sims said. “A lot of times we have dreams, and we don’t get to see the culmination of it until maybe after a person has passed on.”
Shaonta’ Allen, a sociology professor at Dartmouth University, says that joy is the opposition to widespread anti-Blackness and racism seen in the U.S. It’s inherently resistant to oppressive forces, she says.
“When Black communities and Black individuals decide to identify for themselves and provide value in Blackness, when everything around them tells them that they should not value blackness – That’s where we see that opposition to this widespread racism and inequality,” Allen said.
She said Juneteenth, as well as June’s Pride month and other heritage month celebrations, are great examples of celebrating as a form of protest.
“We see other communities, intentionally drawing on self validation, self valuation, self definition, rather than more dominant notions of what their community is and how their communities should be viewed,” Allen said.
In celebrating the vibrancy and comradery of Juneteenth, Black communities refuse to accept suffering against oppression.
For Sims, joy has been a motivating factor in continuing Lee’s legacy. She said it’s what helps keep activists going.
“Black freedom and Black emancipation in America is definitely something that Black communities are excited about and have been, but we also celebrate with caution, because we know that there’s still a lot of work to do to,” Lee said.
