(WASHINGTON) — West Virginia voters head to the polls Tuesday to vote in primaries for the House of Representatives and state legislature, as well as other statewide and regional offices. Early voting in the state ended Saturday.
Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET.
State significance
The Republican primaries for the House of Representatives in West Virginia are significant because they will help determine which party controls the House and will put the impact of congressional redistricting on full display.
As a result of redistricting — and a decline in the state’s population — West Virginia lost one of its three House seats. Both existing districts lean strongly Republican, but now there is one fewer seat for Republicans to hold onto, according to analysis from FiveThirtyEight.
Redistricting also means one of the House races features a rare matchup between two incumbent lawmakers. Republicans Reps. David McKinley and Alex Mooney are facing off against each other and three other challengers in the primary for the newly drawn 2nd Congressional District.
The McKinley-Mooney matchup is another test of former President Donald Trump’s endorsement power. Trump has backed Mooney, who has echoed the former president’s false claims about the 2020 election. But McKinley, who voted for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill, has the support of Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
(EVANSVILLE, Ind.) — Florence, Alabama, jail employee Vicky White and murder suspect Casey White were apprehended in Evansville, Indiana, on Monday, ending a 10-day manhunt, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton announced.
After Inmate Casey White, 38, and Lauderdale County Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White, 56, were spotted at a hotel, Casey White and Vicky White led police on a car chase in that ended with a wreck, Indiana authorities said. Vicky White, who was driving the Cadillac, has been hospitalized with “very serious” injuries from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Vanderburgh County, Indiana, sheriff’s office.
“Can’t clarify how long they have been in Evansville … lucky we stumbled upon them today,” Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said Monday.
He said the pursuit only lasted a few minutes.
“We got a dangerous man off the street today,” Singleton said.
Casey White and Vicky White, who are not related, fled the Lauderdale County Jail on April 29.
Authorities said they believe Vicky White willingly participated in the escape, which took place on her last day before retirement.
The duo fled Alabama in a Ford Edge and ditched the car in Williamson County, Tennessee — about a two-hour drive north of Florence — just hours after the jail break.
On Monday, U.S. Marshals said investigators were in Evansville, Indiana, following up on a tip after a 2006 Ford F-150 believed to have been used by Casey White and Vicky White was found abandoned at a car wash on May 3. Police were alerted to the vehicle on Sunday.
At the time of his escape, Casey White was facing two counts of capital murder for allegedly stabbing a woman to death in 2015, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Vicky White has been charged with forgery and identity theft for allegedly using an alias to buy the Ford Edge used to facilitate the escape, according to the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office. A warrant was also issued for Vicky White charging her with permitting or facilitating escape.
No one was injured as a result of the escape, Singleton said.
The pair will be brought back to Lauderdale County to be arraigned, Singleton said.
“He’s not getting out of this jail again,” Singleton said. “I assure you that.”
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Following weeks of increasing infection rates, a growing number of Americans are heading into the hospital in need of care.
On average, nearly 2,400 virus-positive Americans are being admitted to the hospital each day, up by 17% in the last week, according to federal data. Forty-one states and territories have reported increases of 10% or more in their daily number of COVID-19-related hospital admissions.
In the U.S., there continues to be an uptick in the overall number of patients requiring care for COVID-19, with now about 19,100 patients hospitalized across the country. Overall, the total remains significantly lower than every other COVID-19 surge. In January, there were 160,000 patients hospitalized with the virus.
The U.S. is reporting more than 68,000 new cases every day, up by 20% in the last week, and 52% in the last two weeks. The nation’s daily case average has more than doubled in the last month.
Over the last week, nearly every state in the county — 45 states and territories — have seen increases of 10% or more in their daily COVID-19 infection rates.
Last week, counties across the Northeast moved into the “high” risk category for COVID-19 risk, after weeks of increasing cases and hospitalizations.
The “high” community-level transmission suggests there is a “high potential for health care system strain” and a “high level of severe disease.” Thus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people wear a mask in public indoor settings, including schools.
As infection rates continue to increase across the country, some health experts are questioning how much higher totals are than initially reported.
“We’re probably missing a lot,” David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News last week. “I would not be surprised to find out that our confirmed case count is under-counting the total number of cases by a factor of two or three. I think it’s quite possible that we’re having right now, as many cases as we were during the, you know, the delta wave of August or September, certainly not what we had this past winter, but we probably are having a lot more cases than what’s currently being reported.”
While some epidemiologists suggest that hospitalization data has become less reliable, as states stop reporting key metrics, health experts said they are more reliable than case numbers.
“We see that the number of hospitalizations being reported has again increased by about 20 to 30% from the low back in April. So while we may not have a perfect read on those numbers, they are more reliable than the case counts,” Dowdy said.
Despite increases in other metrics, the average of daily COVID-19-related deaths remains at a persistent plateau. The average currently stands at 340 fatalities a day. That is still much lower than during the omicron peak in early February, when the U.S. was reporting more than 2,600 deaths every day.
The U.S. is also now less than 2,500 deaths away from hitting 1 million COVID-19 related deaths, putting the nation on track to reach the milestone in the next week.
(WASHINGTON) — The homes of Supreme Court justices are the newest site for protests over abortion access in the United States.
Activists gathered Saturday in the rain outside the Maryland residences of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh to protest a leaked draft opinion reportedly supported by the court’s conservative majority.
The document, reported by Politico last week, showed the panel is poised to repeal Roe v. Wade. The court confirmed the draft’s authenticity but reminded Americans it is not the final ruling. A decision in the case, which centers on a Mississippi abortion restriction, is expected by the end of June or early July.
Protesters held signs that read, “Never Again” and “Don’t Tread on My Choice.”
The demonstrations sparked a response Monday from the White House that justices shouldn’t have to worry about their “personal safety.”
“[President Joe Biden] strongly believes in the Constitutional right to protest,” press secretary Jen Psaki said in a Twitter post. “But that should never include violence, threats, or vandalism. Judges perform an incredibly important function in our society, and they must be able to do their jobs without concern for their personal safety.”
Republicans had accused the administration of not condemning violent threats after Psaki’s initial response to protests taking place at the justices’ homes.
“These activists posted a map with the home addresses of the Supreme Court justices. Is that the kind of thing this president wants to help your side make their point?” Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked during her daily press briefing May 5.
“I think the president’s view is that there’s a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness from many, many people across this country about what they saw in that leaked document,” Psaki responded. “We obviously want people’s privacy to be respected. We want people to protest peacefully if they want to protest. That is certainly what the president’s view would be.”
Officers from the Montgomery County Police Department were on the scene as the protests unfolded, as seen in photographs from ABC affiliate station WJLA. The department did not immediately respond to ABC News request for comment. There didn’t appear to be any reports of violence or vandalism during the protests.
Senators Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, and John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, on Monday introduced legislation that would allow the Supreme Court Police to provide all nine justices and their families with around-the-clock security protection.
ShutDownDC said 100 people were part of Saturday’s protests in the Chevy Chase neighborhood where Kavanaugh and Roberts live. It’s unclear if the justices or their families were home at the time.
The group has another protest planned for outside the home of Justice Samuel Alito on Monday night that will include speakers, a candlelight vigil and quiet moments of reflection.
Alito was the author of the Feb. 10 draft opinion, in which he wrote, “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.”
“It is important that we gather in this way because attacks on abortion rights represent not only a violation of our autonomy over our own bodies and an invasion of privacy between us and our doctors, but also a real and symbolic victory for those who would like to strip even more rights from us – among them contraception, gay marriage, privacy and safety from state scrutiny of our beliefs – and still more from our Black, brown and Indigenous friends and siblings,” ShutDownDC’s Hope Neyer told ABC News.
The bombshell draft opinion on Roe sparked rallies from both abortion rights activists and anti-abortion protesters across the country. A nationwide day of action is planned for Saturday, May 14.
An “unscalable,” eight-foot-high fence was placed around the Supreme Court building last week. Neither the court or law enforcement officials have said anything publicly about possible threats to the institution or the justices, who are set to return in-person for a private conference on May 12.
Republicans are condemning the protests, with Sen. Ted Cruz equating them to “mob violence” even though there were no reports of violence.
“It is disgraceful,” Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News on Sunday.
ShutDownDC responded to Cruz’s comments, telling ABC: “We are exercising our constitutional right to gather and demonstrate and intend to continue to do so regardless of whatever aspersions people like Ted Cruz who are scared of our collective power might cast.”
Democratic strategist Paul Begala also chimed in on the protests in front of Roberts and Kavanaugh’s homes, saying they could do more harm than good.
“This is wrong, stupid, potentially dangerous, and politically counterproductive,” Begala wrote on Twitter.
(NEW YORK) — New charges have been filed against Florence, Alabama, jail employee Vicky White as she allegedly remains on the run with escaped murder suspect Casey White.
The charges — forgery and identity theft — stem from Vicky White allegedly using an alias to buy a Ford Edge used to facilitate the escape, according to the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office.
A warrant was issued earlier for Vicky White charging her with permitting or facilitating escape.
Inmate Casey White, 38, fled the Lauderdale County jail with Lauderdale County Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White, 56, on April 29. The inmate and employee are not related.
The duo fled Alabama in the Ford Edge and ditched the car in Williamson County, Tennessee — about a two-hour drive north of Florence — just hours after thejail break.
On Monday, U.S. Marshals said investigators were in Evansville, Indiana, following up on a tip after a 2006 Ford F-150 believed to have been used by Casey White and Vicky White was found abandoned at a car wash on May 3. Police were alerted to the vehicle on Sunday.
Authorities said they believe Vicky White willingly participated in the escape, which took place on her last day before retirement.
Vicky White was seen shopping for men’s clothes at a Kohl’s before the pair went missing, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told ABC News.
Authorities are also concerned that Casey White could be “extremely violent” without his medication, Singleton said. The sheriff did not provide details as to what the medication is or what Casey White’s being treated for, but said the concern is due to the escapee likely not having the medication with him.
Casey White was facing two counts of capital murder for allegedly stabbing a woman to death in 2015, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
They may be armed with weapons including an AR-15 rifle and a shotgun, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
A $15,000 reward is available for information leading to Casey White’s capture. A $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to Vicky White.
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A critical week in the battle over abortion rights — what activists are calling the “fight of a generation” — kicks off in the U.S. Senate on Monday, with Democrats preparing to force a vote seeking to enshrine abortion rights into federal law, following last week’s bombshell leak showing the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ready to overturn Roe versus Wade.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is expected to file cloture on Monday on the Women’s Health Protection Act, setting up the bill for a roll call vote on Wednesday — but without 60 votes needed to overcome the Senate filibuster, the legislation is poised to fail, as a similar version did in February. Republicans are united against both the bill and lowering the threshold to break the Senate filibuster.
Still, the vote, while largely symbolic, will force every single senator, Democrat and Republican, to go on the record on where they stand on the issue, Schumer said.
Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, more Democrats have also expressed outrage over Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell telling USA Today in an interview published on Saturday that if Republicans take control of Congress, they could pursue a national ban on abortion — which activists on both sides of the aisle will likely use as a rallying cry this midterm election season.
“If the leaked opinion became the final opinion, legislative bodies — not only at the state level but at the federal level — could certainly legislate in that area,” McConnell said, asked if a national abortion ban was “worthy of debate.”
“So yeah, it’s possible,” he added.
Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, pointed out to ABC’s “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday that a national ban on abortion would be “inconsistent” with the long-standing Republican argument that the authority over abortion be returned to the states.
“If you look at a constitutional or a national standard, that goes against that thrust of the states having prerogative,” replied Hutchinson, chair of the National Governors Association. “And secondly, I think there’s some constitutional issues of a national standard as well as to what is the authority of the Constitution to enact that.”
With Democrats seizing McConnell’s message, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., already launched a digital ad linking her GOP opponents to what her campaign calls “McConnell’s decade-long crusade to criminalize abortion.”
“Ultimately, I think this is going to push a lot of people to the polls this November, that may have otherwise stayed home,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Because they see that this fight is coming not just in the state legislatures, but in Washington as well.”
The stunning leak out of the Supreme Court has offered Democrats a chance to focus on the judiciary and argue that Biden’s judicial choices will be obstructed if Republicans regain control of the Senate, but it has also energized opponents of abortion rights, who have been waiting nearly 50 years for the court to strike down Roe.
Over the weekend, thousands of people took to the streets in Washington, rallying to send a message to the conservative-leaning justices on the bench, who appear poised to overturn the 1973 landmark ruling, according to the draft opinion obtained by Politico.
Those demonstrators — some gathering outside of the homes of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts — are part of the majority of Americans who believe Roe versus Wade should be upheld, but across the country, if Roe is overturned, at least 26 states would either ban abortion or severely restrict access to it.
“We need to make sure that every single voter understands that the Republican Party and Mitch McConnell does not believe that their daughters, that their mothers, that their sisters have rights to make fundamental life and death decisions,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
While the House of Representatives had already voted to codify Roe, Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated in a new “Dear Colleague” letter on Monday that more measures would come.
“We know we must carry forward this fight in the weeks and months ahead. Our proud pro-choice House Majority must continue this fight in the public arena so that the American people know that their rights are on the ballot this November,” she said.
Last week, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found a majority of Americans support upholding Roe, say abortion should be legal in all or most cases and — by a wide margin — see abortion as a decision to be made by a woman and her doctor, not by lawmakers.
(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration’s stark warning last week that as many as 100 million Americans could be infected during a COVID-19 wave in the fall and winter came as a shock to many in the country.
After all, 70.5% of the eligible U.S. population aged 5 and older are fully vaccinated and 47.8% of those aged 12 and older are boosted, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What’s more, a recent CDC analysis estimated at least three out of every five Americans have antibodies that indicate being previously infected with COVID-19, meaning most people in the U.S. have natural immunity.
So with such high levels of protection, why would up to 30% of the population be infected during a potential new wave?
Scientists and public health experts said the 100 million estimate — based on mathematical models — does not surprise them and that as immunity wanes and people move indoors due to cold weather, cases will inevitably rise.
“Certainly we’re capable of sustaining 100 million infections this winter,” Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, told ABC News. “The model doesn’t mean that there will be 100 million cases, but there is the potential for a lot of infections. It doesn’t mean everyone should panic.”
Doron explained that even with the high rates of vaccination in the U.S., immunity diminishes over time and COVID-19’s ability to mutate has helped it evade — at least partially — the protection offered by vaccines.
“Being vaccinated does protect you from serious illness, but it does not [fully] protect you from infection,” she said.
She said when the vaccines first rolled out in the winter of 2020-21, they were based on the original strain of the virus. Because of this, they were protective against infection, severe disease and death.
However, as the virus mutated, those vaccines became less effective at preventing infection while still being highly effective at protecting against the most serious effects of the disease.
“These vaccines are great, but they’re not perfect,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, told ABC News. “They can’t prevent widespread, mild infections. We haven’t got a vaccine that could turn off COVID like a light switch.”
This means it’s possible for Americans who are fully vaccinated and boosted to test positive for COVID-19, but it’s unlikely this group will get severely ill or die.
Another reason the U.S. could see such a high number of infections is because as temperatures drop, people will move indoors, which increases the risk of transmission.
“The weather will get colder, and we’ll start to go indoors again, and we had increased transmission during the last winter season and we may have increases again on the basis of seasonality,” Schaffner said.
The prediction comes as the Biden administration asks Congress for $22.5 billion in funding for testing, vaccines and treatments.
If the funding is secured, a senior administration official told reporters Friday that the country will be better prepared to blunt the effects of the surge and keep hospitalization and death rates low.
If Congress rejects the funding, “the consequences of those 100 million being infected will be higher,” Doron said.
Cuts to funding will decrease testing, leading to COVID-19 infections being spread undetected, and fewer treatments for those at high risk of severe disease, which could lead to hospitalization, she said.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, added this will also limit the number of people who access vaccines, treatments or tests.
“Some vulnerable folks who probably need additional doses will not get it if they have to pay out of pocket for a vaccine or not have it covered,” he told ABC News. “When people are not sure if they will be saddled with a bill, they’ll stay away from accessing care.”
The experts said the best way people can protect themselves ahead of a surge is to make sure they are up to date on their booster shots, whether they are eligible for one or two doses and to follow the advice of public health experts.
“There may be a call to get another dose of vaccine or in specific locations, people may have to wear masks again,” Schaffner said. “Please be open to this. … Be prepared, keep listening and reading updates on the virus in your area.”
(WASHINGTON) — The United States is bringing back a World War II-era program to bolster Ukraine’s war supplies.
Sitting at his desk in the Oval Office on Monday, President Joe Biden signed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 into law. The legislation gives Biden the authority to lend or lease defense equipment to Ukraine and other Eastern European nations as Russia’s aggression in the region continues.
“It matters, it really matters,” Biden said as he signed the bill.
A similar lend-lease program was enacted in 1941 to provide pivotal aid to Allied nations in the battle against Nazi Germany. President Franklin Roosevelt said at the time that the U.S. should serve as a “great arsenal of democracy” to defeat Adolf Hitler.
The Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 was a bipartisan undertaking, passing the Senate by unanimous consent and the House of Representatives with 417 votes.
Rep. John Katko, a cosponsor of the bill, said the law will “expand our nation’s ability to expeditiously deliver additional defense articles to the Government of Ukraine as they fight back against Vladimir Putin’s barbaric and unlawful invasion.”
“This is a necessary step to protect the future of Ukraine and the safety of its people,” Katko, R-N.Y., added.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, also cosponsor of the lend-lease legislation, said Congress “cannot let up” on providing assistance to Ukraine.
“As Ukraine fights for its future — and the future of liberal democracies around the globe — delivering military equipment to the frontlines is paramount,” Shaheen, D-N.H., told ABC News in a statement.
Biden signed the bill just hours after Russia’s commemoration of Victory Day, a holiday celebrating the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany. Russian President Vladimir Putin used the occasion to defend his invasion of Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24.
“You are fighting for the motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War,” Putin said in a speech on Monday.
Putin notably did not make any declaration of war or victory during his remarks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, remained defiant, stating there will soon be “two Victory Days in Ukraine.”
“On the Day of Victory over Nazism, we are fighting for a new victory,” Zelenskyy said in a video message. “The road to it is difficult, but we have no doubt that we will win.”
(NEW YORK) — Authorities are concerned that escaped Florence, Alabama, murder suspect Casey White could be “extremely violent” without his medication, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told ABC News on Monday.
The sheriff did not provide details as to what the medication is or what Casey White’s being treated for, but said the concern is due to the escapee likely not having the medication with him.
Casey White, 38, fled the Lauderdale County jail with Lauderdale County Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White, 56, on April 29. The inmate and employee are not related.
Casey White was facing two counts of capital murder for allegedly stabbing a woman to death in 2015, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Singleton said that Vicky White was seen shopping for men’s clothes at a Kohl’s before the pair went missing.
Authorities said they believe Vicky White willingly participated in the escape, which took place on her last day before retirement.
The duo fled Alabama in a Ford Edge and ditched the car in Williamson County, Tennessee — about a two-hour drive north of Florence — just hours after the jail break.
They may be armed with weapons including an AR-15 rifle and a shotgun, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
A warrant was issued for Vicky White charging her with permitting or facilitating escape.
A $15,000 reward is available for information leading to Casey White’s capture. A $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to Vicky White.
(NEW YORK) — A 22-year-old Michigan woman was found dead from an apparent suicide after authorities alleged she fatally shot her boyfriend and brother in what appeared to be a premeditated act of gun violence.
The body of Ruby Taverner was discovered in a wooded area in Independence Township, Michigan, near her apartment, where deputies found her brother and boyfriend dead early Sunday, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said Monday. Taverner apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Bouchard said.
“It’s a terrible situation. It always seems to be magnified when you get someone who commits something horrible like that — a homicide — and then kills themselves,” Bouchard said. “You almost wonder what was the point to this whole thing? You never get any answers that satisfy those questions because, now, all parties are deceased.”
Bouchard said deputies were called to the Independence Square Apartments in Independence Township, about 16 miles north of Pontiac, after a neighbor reported being awakened by gunshots coming from Taverner’s apartment around 3:20 a.m. Sunday.
Deputies entered the apartment and discovered the bodies of Taverner’s brother, 25-year-old Bishop Taverner, in the living room and her boyfriend, 26-year-old Ray Muscat in a rear bedroom, according to a sheriff’s officials. Ruby Taverner and Muscat lived together, Bouchard said.
Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene from gunshot wounds, Bouchard said. He said Bishop Taverner was shot once in the head.
He said investigators suspect that after allegedly committing the homicides, Taverner fled the apartment on foot, leaving behind her cellphone and car.
Bouchard said detectives are trying to determine a motive for the double slaying, and a preliminary investigation indicates the killings were premeditated.
“You don’t typically find someone shot in the head one time unless they just kind of coolly and calmly walked up and did it,” Bouchard said.
Sheriff’s deputies combed the area around the apartment complex for evidence and were searching a nearby lake on Sunday, but Bouchard did not immediately say if that was where Taverner’s body was located.
He said records show Taverner had three registered firearms, including two 9mm handguns and a .38 caliber pistol. One of the weapons was legally purchased last week, according to the sheriff. Bouchard had warned local residents on Sunday that investigators suspected Taverner was armed and dangerous.
