(WASHINGTON) — Policymakers and investors will closely watch a decision from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday about whether to raise interest rates as the U.S. economy weathers two pressing challenges: a banking crisis and persistent inflation.
The precarious moment poses a dilemma for the Fed because its strongest tool, the benchmark interest rate, is a key cause of the financial emergency but the primary solution for high prices.
The central bank has aggressively raised interest rates over the past year, bringing inflation down significantly from a summer peak, though it remains more than triple the Fed’s target of 2%.
The rapid rise in interest rates, however, tanked the value of bonds held by Silicon Valley Bank, precipitating its failure and cascading damage for the financial sector.
Nearly 190 banks are at risk of collapse amid high interest rates and declining asset values, according to a study released by a team of university researchers earlier this month.
A continuation of rate hikes risks further intensifying the banking crisis, putting additional financial institutions at risk of collapse. However, a pause on rate increases could undermine the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation, allowing high prices to persist and eat away at household budgets, economists previously told ABC News.
A survey by Bloomberg last week found that most economists expect the Fed to raise interest rates by 0.25% on Wednesday, matching the increase that the central bank imposed at its most recent meeting last month.
In recent days, some forecasters have predicted the Fed will forego an interest rate hike as it monitors the continuing fallout from the Silicon Valley Bank failure.
Goldman Sachs, for instance, told investors on Monday that it expects the Fed “to pause at its March meeting this week because of stress in the banking system.”
Over the last year, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 4.5%, the fastest pace since the 1980s.
The Fed has put forward a string of borrowing cost increases as it tries to slash price hikes by slowing the economy and choking off demand. The approach, however, risks tipping the U.S. economy into a recession and putting millions out of work.
Persistent rate hikes also threaten the stability of the banking system.
Still, the Fed could avoid facing a choice between slowing price increases and preserving financial stability, since tighter lending practices taken up by private sector banks in response to the financial distress may cool the economy on its own accord, allowing the Fed to forego raising rates while still bringing down inflation.
“No matter what the Fed does later this month, financial conditions are tightening,” Julia Pollak, chief economist at Zip Recruiter, said last week.
(WASHINGTON) — Patients and medical providers who rely on pharmaceutical medications to treat everything from asthma to ADHD to cancer may have had a harder time finding those medications last year than in years past, a new Senate report released Wednesday finds.
The report, issued by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters, finds many drug shortages were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2021 and 2022, the report says, drug shortages increased by nearly 30%, creating challenges for health care providers and ailing patients, and, Peters says, possibly exposing the country to national security threats.
At the end of 2022, a five-year record was set with 295 active drug shortages. But while the COVID-19 pandemic may have heightened drug-access challenges, the report says the problem is not new: 15 essential drugs have been in short supply for over a decade.
One expert testifying to lawmakers Wednesday, Erin Fox, a pharmacist and professor at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy, has been tracking drug shortages since 2001.
Her team has found an abundance of drugs in short supply, most notably generic injectable drugs used at hospitals, such as anesthetics, some steroids and older chemotherapy agents. While the Senate report highlights a variety of shortages, it points specifically to shortages of Vincristine, a critical adult and pediatric chemotherapy drug used to treat various types of cancer with no alternative treatment, and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), an immunotherapy biologic drug used to treat bladder cancer.
“Because of shortages, patients and hospitals routinely cannot access the most basic and essential prescription medications,” Fox plans to tell the Senate Homeland Committee.
She told ABC News she plans to describe the challenges of providing medical care in an environment where shortages are commonplace, citing studies that show adverse patient outcomes when providers are faced with shortages.
“Shortages adversely impact patients, health care professionals, and health systems. An entire generation of clinicians has never practiced during a time without shortages,” Fox will tell the committee.
Peters, the committee chairman, began examining drug shortages in 2019, before COVID-19 increased scrutiny of the problem. Since his 2019 report, shortages have increased, in part due to U.S. reliance on foreign providers for some active pharmaceutical ingredients necessary to give medications their desired effect. That reliance became a critical weakness for the United States during the pandemic when some foreign countries placed limits on exports of pharmaceuticals.
“Our continued over-reliance on foreign suppliers for the key materials needed to make critical drugs, primarily those in China, remains an unacceptable national security risk,” the Illinois Democrat will argue.
The new report finds that nearly 80% of manufacturing facilities that produce active pharmaceutical ingredients — the key ingredients that give a drug its intended effect — are located outside of the U.S., with the number of China-based manufacturers registered with the Food and Drug Administration more than doubling from 2010 to 2015.
Outsourcing production to India and China means the U.S. is vulnerable to global catastrophes and at the whim of market forces. If the U.S. faces another pandemic or global crisis, it could experience even more serious supply chain issues with key pharmaceuticals.
The report also identifies what it says are blind spots in the ability of the FDA and other U.S. regulators to monitor or address shortages.
Under current law, manufacturers aren’t required to report increased demand or export restrictions for drug products to the FDA, making it challenging for the regulating agency to anticipate shortages coming down the pike. In the report, the Senate Homeland Committee recommends Congress implement changes to these rules.
The FDA also doesn’t have a list of life-supporting and life-sustaining drugs, leaving it unable to assess the number of drugs that have a limited number of manufacturers or that rely on only one supplier for production.
“The federal government’s inability to comprehensively assess U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain vulnerabilities and address known causes of shortages for critical drugs continues to frustrate efforts to predict drug shortages and effectively mitigate their impact on patient care,” the report finds.
It’s not yet clear what, if any, action Congress can take to try to shore up supply chains for key pharmaceuticals.
The committee report recommends new federal investment in domestic manufacturing of key drug products that are regularly in short supply. Congress took similar action in a separate sphere last year after determining that reliance on foreign-produced microchips used to power cars, computers and other technology posed a national security risk, by passing the CHIPs and Science Act which provided billions to incentivize onshore production of computer chips.
It’s not clear if a similar effort geared toward pharmaceuticals could gain traction in Congress.
(WASHINGTON) — It’s a brand battle in the Supreme Court this week as whiskey maker Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. takes on a dog toy manufacturer in a case over free speech and federal trademark law.
The case, first filed by Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc., against VIP Products LLC in Arizona several years ago and slated for a Wednesday hearing before the high court, claims trademark infringement over an injection-molded vinyl chew toy the whiskey manufacturer says infringes on its trademark.
VIP’s “Silly Squeakers” dog toys are made to resemble real-life products, mostly involving sodas, beers, wines and liquors. The toy bottle in question reads “BAD SPANIELS” instead of “JACK DANIEL’S,” “The Old No. 2” instead of “Old No. 7 Brand,” and “On your Tennessee CARPET” instead of “Tennessee sour mash WHISKEY.”
The district court found VIP’s use of the Jack Daniel’s trademark was likely to confuse consumers. However, on appeal, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of VIP in 2020. The Supreme Court is now tasked with determining when “humorous use” of a brand’s logo and identity in a commercial product by a third party violates federal trademark law or deserves protection under the First Amendment.
Jack Daniel’s brief claims the products mislead customers for profit.
“VIP sells products mimicking Jack Daniel’s iconic marks and trade dress that mislead consumers, profit from Jack Daniel’s hard-earned goodwill, and associate Jack Daniel’s whiskey with excrement,” reads the brief.
The dog toy company invokes its First Amendment rights in its brief to the Supreme Court.
“Freedom of speech begins with freedom to mock,” reads the first sentence of VIP’s brief.
The brief of respondent argues the product is not a trademark infringement because “Bad Spaniels” is not an actual product — the dog toy, which has artwork on it, is the product.
“This case is not a dispute between two trademarks on commercial products,” reads the brief. “VIP uses a pretend trademark and pretend trade on a pretend label on a pretend bottle full of pretend contents.”
Rogers v. Grimaldi
The Ninth Circuit decision, upholding VIP’s ability to sell the whiskey-themed dog toy, relied on a longstanding ruling from a different federal appeals court in the 1989 case Rogers v. Grimaldi.
When actress Ginger Rogers sued Alberto Grimaldi and MGM films over Ginger and Fred — a film about two cabaret performers whose routine resembled that of Rogers and Fred Astaire — the Second Circuit Court of Appeals developed a test, known as the Rogers test, for balancing First Amendment free speech rights with trademark protections under the Lanham Act. The court ruled in favor of Grimaldi, saying the film was not likely to deceive or cause confusion in replicating a trademarked routine.
In the Jack Daniel’s case, the Ninth Circuit agreed that the Jack Daniel’s bottle design is protected under trademark law but concluded the humorous approach of VIP was protected by the First Amendment.
“Although VIP used Jack Daniel’s trade dress and bottle design to sell Bad Spaniels, they were also used to convey a humorous message, which was protected by the First Amendment,” reads the opinion.
Other stakeholders
A slate of major commercial brands have weighed in on the Supreme Court case through amicus briefs, or friend-of-the-court filings that allow other stakeholders to inform the justices of broader implications of a case.
Nike, Inc., Campbell Soup Company, Levi Strauss & Co. and American Apparel & Footwear Association all filed briefs in favor of Jack Daniel’s argument. If the Ninth Circuit ruling stands, it “opens the door to a new global counterfeit threat: an influx of infringing products meriting First Amendment protection because their creators clear a ground-level hurdle of affixing minimal ‘humorous’ expression onto them,” according to American Apparel’s amicus brief.
In the 1986 case Grey v. Campbell Soup Company, Campbell’s, which owned the trademark GODIVA, won an injunction against a pet treat maker branded as Dogiva, with packaging that infringed on the trademark for Godiva’s chocolates. Campbell’s brief claims it would have lost the case under the standard set forth by the Ninth Circuit in 2020.
“If the case were litigated today, Grey would undoubtedly argue that DOGIVA was intended to be a humorous commentary on the GODIVA® brand and thus was an expressive work, and Ninth Circuit precedent would require the district court to impose a heightened burden on Campbell Soup to show that the Rogers test was satisfied,” reads the Campbell brief.
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States also filed an amicus brief in favor of Jack Daniel’s. A release sent to ABC News earlier this week says this case is about ensuring responsible advertising.
“This case is no laughing matter,” Courtney Armour, chief legal officer for Distilled Spirits Council, said. “While the case involves dog toys, even allegedly ‘humorous’ knock-offs can confuse consumers as to what messaging and products well-known alcohol beverage brands endorse.”
The Biden administration also supports a ruling in favor of Jack Daniel’s, according to a brief from the U.S. Solicitor General’s office.
Among those weighing in on behalf of VIP are at least 30 trademark law professors, whose brief argues the company’s “speech” is “noncommercial.”
The Motion Picture Association — comprised of some of the largest film distributors in the country — filed a brief that backed neither party, instead offering context for why filmmakers are invested in the case.
“A work might [refer to trademarks] to create a realistic or fanciful setting, to cast the mark in a creative new light, or to comment on it directly,” the filing says.
The court is expected to deliver a decision in the case by the end of June.
Five days since her husband and son disappeared while kayaking on Beaver Lake in Arkansas, Thompson said that law enforcement is now working to recover their bodies. Lt. Shannon Jenkins of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the two are presumed dead. Thompson believes they likely drowned after one fell into the cold lake from a kayak and the other tried to rescue him.
“What saved me from the beginning of this is that they died together; they were together,” Thompson said.
Her son, Charlie Morris, 20, was a sophomore at Ohio Wesleyan University where he played violin and guitar, competed as a three-season runner, led the orchestra, and aspired to be a lawyer. Her husband, Chuck Morris, 46, was a father to Charlie and a 12-year-old daughter, as well as an acclaimed percussionist with the electronic-jam band Lotus.
According to Chuck’s bandmate Jesse Miller, Lotus had just finished a 25-city tour. Charlie was home for vacation, and the family decided to travel from Kansas City to Beaver Lake, Arkansas to unwind.
“We thought it would be a great idea for Chuck and Charlie to be able to get on the kayaks before a storm hit,” Thompson said.
While she and her daughter went into town, “the boys” went out on the kayaks on March 16, despite the cold water, strong currents and three-foot waves.
When Thompson returned, Chuck and Charlie were nowhere to be found, which was not initially a cause for alarm.
“We got home, and they weren’t back yet. My husband being the adventurer that he is, we’re like, ‘oh, they must be having a great time,'” she said.
According to Thompson, “crisis mode” set in as time passed. They drove around the lake twice, scanning the water for the father-and-son kayakers. After failing to find them, Thompson called the police later that afternoon.
Rescue teams searched the area for days using helicopters, drones, sonar, and dogs. Neighbors also used their boats to aid in the rescue.
On the first night, they recovered a kayak, and the next day another, Thompson said. They later found Chuck’s hat and his coat, but other than those traces, the two men disappeared.
“I guess the first couple of days I really just wanted to hold out some hope,” Miller recalled. “You know, as that dwindled, and the reality became more real, I guess the grief started to set in a little bit more.”
Jenkins said the recovery effort would scale back on Wednesday. It’s unclear when or if the bodies will be recovered, according to Thompson.
She said the current theory is that one of the men fell into the water from his kayak. Weighed down by soaked clothing, he struggled to swim, prompting the other to leave his kayak to attempt a rescue. In the cold water of Beaver Lake, the two likely drowned, Thompson said. She added that the theory was corroborated when cadaver dogs hit near the location of the theorized site of the drowning.
Looking back, Thompson said the cold and choppy conditions on the lake were “for all intents and purposes a perfect storm for drowning.”
As the rescue continued, friends of the family and fans of Lotus began an outpouring of support online. A GoFundMe to support the family’s expenses raised $87,347 as of Tuesday evening. With the grief came memories of the father and son — musical dynamos who Thompson described as “beautifully gentle, loving men.”
“Chuck was fun and creative and funny, and Charlie was pensive and serious and very much believed in the responsibility of people to be good,” she said.
Miller, who spoke to ABC News on behalf of the band Lotus, said that while the group is grieving their late band member, they remember Chuck as a great musician, father and friend.
“When he was on stage, and he was playing that music, he embodied just beauty and spirit and love,” Thompson added.
(NEW YORK) — Some of Gerber’s powdered infant formula products that were manufactured at a facility in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, have been voluntarily recalled due to possible bacterial contamination.
The infant formulas are “being recalled out of an abundance of caution due to potential presence of cronobacter sakazakii,” Perrigo Company, which makes the recalled formulas, announced Friday.
Cronobacter sakazakii is the same type of bacteria that led to the recall of Enfamil’s plant-based powdered infant formula last month.
No adverse events have been reported in connection to the recall, according to Perrigo Company, and no distributed product has tested positive for the presence of the bacteria.
What type of infant formula is being recalled?
Only powdered infant food products under the Gerber Good Start Infant Formula Brand that were manufactured between Jan. 2 and Jan. 18 are currently impacted by the recall, according to Perrigo Company, which purchased Nestlé’s Gateway infant formula plant in Eau Claire, as well as the U.S. and Canadian rights to the Good Start brand from Gerber last November, according to a press release that same month.
The specific items recalled include Gerber Good Start SoothePro products in 12.4-ounce, 30.6-ounce and 19.4-ounce cans with July 2024 use-by dates. Consumers can find a full list of recalled infant formulas on the Gerber website.
What is cronobacter sakazakii?
Cronobacter sakazakii is a common bacterium found in people’s homes and in the broader natural environment overall. This type of pathogen tends to thrive in dry foods such as powdered infant formula, powdered milk or starches, and herbal teas, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
For many people, contact with the bacteria is harmless, but in infants and young children under 12 months old, it can turn into a rare infection. If left untreated, it can be life-threatening, according to the FDA.
The FDA notes that babies under 2 months old, premature babies, children with weakened immune systems and kids with a low birth weight are especially at risk if they develop a cronobacter sakazakii infection.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the agency receives between two and four reports of cronobacter infections every year, but notes that the low number of reports may not accurately reflect how many people each year get ill from the bacteria.
What are the signs of a cronobacter sakazakii infection?
According to the FDA, a cronobacter sakazakii infection in babies and children can cause a fever and lead to other symptoms such as excessive crying, poor feeding and low energy. In some cases, infants may also develop seizures. If you suspect a baby has an infection, experts recommend the child be examined by a medical provider immediately.
What do I do if I have a recalled infant formula product?
The Perrigo Company said consumers who have recalled infant formulas should stop using the product and call the Gerber Parents Resource Center any time at 1-800-777-7690 to request a refund.
Consumers should expect to provide a photograph of the recalled product with the product’s batch codes visible.
(TAMPA, Fla.) — Three “heroic” security guards stopped an armed man from entering a Florida strip club and helped to avert a possible mass shooting, police said.
In dramatic surveillance video released by the Tampa Police Department on Tuesday, a man can be seen walking toward the door of the club, Mons Venus, early Sunday morning wearing a red “devil mask.” He wielded a flashlight in one hand and a fully loaded 9 mm handgun in the other, according to police. He also had the words “kill” and “darkk [sic] one” on his arms, police said.
A “watchful and alert” security guard saw the man and attempted to take the firearm, Interim Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said during a press briefing Tuesday.
The security guard, Manuel Resto, told reporters he noticed the red mask as the man took “measured steps” toward the door.
“I was like, OK, it’s not Halloween,” Resto said, recalling his confusion.
Resto said he then saw the man point the gun toward the door.
“I then decided that he was not going to enter the club and hurt anybody,” Resto said.
During an ensuing struggle, Resto said he was hit in the head “quite a few times” by the gun.
“I almost went unconscious, but … I wasn’t going to let this happen,” he said. “I was not going to let him win. He was not going to hurt nobody.”
A single round from the gun struck the front door of the venue before Resto was able to knock it out of the suspect’s hand, Bercaw said.
Two other security guards helped Resto restrain the suspect, identified by police as 44-year-old Michael Rudman, and keep him pinned to the ground until authorities arrived.
“All of this happened in less than a minute,” Bercaw said. “And any police officer will tell you — fighting with an armed suspect for a minute seems like an eternity.”
Upon arriving at the scene, police allegedly found two fully loaded magazines in the suspect’s pocket, along with additional ammunition, nine knives and firearm accessories in his pickup truck, which was parked near the club, authorities said.
Roughly 200 people were inside the venue at the time of the incident, which occurred around 1:15 a.m., police said. No one inside was injured.
“There is no question in my mind that had it not been for the brave men you see standing next to me that we could have been here discussing a mass shooting in the city of Tampa. But thanks to their heroic actions, today an armed suspect is in custody and no lives were lost,” Bercaw said.
Police said Tuesday they are still investigating a motive. Detectives have since learned that Rudman allegedly visited the establishment the previous night.
Rudman faces charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault, both felonies, and battery, which is a misdemeanor, court records show. He also faces the charge of purchasing, possessing or receiving a firearm while under a risk protection order. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office served him a risk protection order last year, Tampa police said.
Rudman is being held in a Hillsborough County jail with no bond. A pre-trial detention hearing has been scheduled for Friday, court records show. ABC News was unable to reach his public defender for comment.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday teased a 2024 run as he celebrated American legends Bruce Springsteen, Gladys Knight, Julia Louis Dreyfus and more in a White House ceremony.
Biden bestowed medals to nearly two dozen individuals and groups whose work, he said, deepened the country’s “understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizen’s engagement with history, literature, philosophy and so many other subjects.”
“Above all, you’re masters of your craft,” Biden told the recipients.
Biden made a reference to a potential 2024 campaign while introducing author Colson Whitehead, noting he won two Pulitzer prizes for his consecutive novels “The Underground Railroad” and “The Nickel Boys.”
“How in the hell did you do that? Pretty good man. I’m kinda looking for back-to-back myself,” Biden said, prompting a loud applause.
Biden has repeatedly said his intention is to run for reelection, though he’s yet to make any formal announcement.
Biden also quipped about how “some people are born to run” while he praising rock music icon Bruce Springsteen.
“Bruce Springsteen, a poet troubadour, chronicler of American life and resilience and hope and dreams, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, along with 20 Grammys, an Oscar, a Tony, and an unyielding love from millions of fans across generations,” Biden said.
Biden introduced Dreyfus as “President Julia Louis Dreyfus” for her role as Selina Meyer in the hit HBO sitcom “Veep.”
“I’m gonna talk to Julia later whether she liked being VP or president better,” he joked. “I got to figure that one out.”
Biden recognized each individual who was honored and detailed their work in their respective fields.
When it came to Knight, Biden described her as the “Empress of Soul” and said she’s “truly one of the best things ever to happen in terms of music.”
Other recipients included comedian Mindy Kaling, designer Vera Wang, activist Bryan Stevenson, artists Judith Francisca Baca and Antonio Martorell-Cardona, and writers Ann Patchet, Amy Tan, Walter Isaacson and Tara Westover.
“Mindy Kaling you know from Massachusetts, but as we all know, Scranton, Pennsylvania made her who she is,” Biden joked, in a nod to Kaling’s work on “The Office.”
It was the first time Biden awarded the arts medals since taking office after the COVID-19 pandemic put the ceremony on pause.
Biden previously bestowed Elton John with a National Humanities Medal during a White House concert last fall as John was embarking on his farewell tour — an honor John said he was “flabbergasted and humbled” to receive.
“You do make the country better, make it a better place,” Biden said to the 2021 awardees as the event came to a close.
(NEW YORK) — TikTok is facing growing scrutiny from government officials over cybersecurity fears about Americans’ data. U.S. officials are reportedly demanding that Chinese owners sell its stake in the app or risk a nationwide ban.
Later this week, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to face questions from congressional lawmakers about the platforms’ data security practices and relationship with the Chinese government. Meanwhile, a proposed bill with bipartisan support and backed by President Joe Biden would empower the executive branch to ban TikTok and other apps owned by Chinese companies.
Former Under Secretary of State Keith Krach, who worked to crack down on TikTok under the Trump administration, joined “GMA3” hosts DeMarco Morgan and Eva Pilgrim to discuss why he views the app as a major cybersecurity threat.
PILGRIM: You believe TikTok is a national security threat. What concerns you the most?
KRACH: Well, I think the biggest thing is that TikTok can track keystrokes. Here’s what that means. That means that they have access to your passwords, all your data. They have access to your health records, your bank records. They have access to your geopolitical information or your geospatial information. That means that they can track where you are, where you’ve been and where you’re going. But I think one of the things that’s worse is that it’s not just about you. It’s about the people you digitally interact with. So look at it as a digital virus, because it can infect the people around you. And the only vaccine for this is a total ban.
MORGAN: Well, Keith, experts have called a potential TikTok ban unchartered territory. They’ve been talking about this for quite some time and a huge undertaking. And experts say a nationwide ban may not stop the app from collecting Americans’ data. How exactly would one work? And how concerned are you that Americans would be able to get around a ban?
KRACH: You know, it’s actually not unprecedented. We did the same thing with Huawei and 5G. And if you look at Huawei and 5G, that’s the backbone for the surveillance state, and TikTok is one of those key appendages that comes off of that. So right now in Congress, Sen. Warner, Sen. Thune, have a bill, the Restrict Act, that actually gives the Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, the authority to ban applications, technology from our adversaries.
PILGRIM: A bipartisan bill to give the president power to ban the app is gaining support in the Senate. You’ve discussed TikTok concerns with members of Congress and the Biden administration. But how real of a possibility is this? What are you hearing from them?
KRACH: Oh, this is certainly real. You know, I can tell you, as undersecretary, I had a lot of closed-door sessions with Congress. I couldn’t tell the difference between a Democrat and Republican when it came to Chinese technology. You know, this is our biggest national security threat. And I can tell you, if they can weaponize a balloon, they can certainly weaponize 150 million American TikTok users at their mercy.
MORGAN: So with that said, what’s your response to critics of this ban, including the ACLU, who argue it would limit free speech and violate the First Amendment?
KRACH: Look, I’m all for free speech. A big advocate for that. But the fact is, TikTok limits free speech. If you don’t believe me, just try to post something on Tiananmen Square or post something on Taiwan, and you’ll see what happens. You know, the other thing, too, is that TikTok has been used to limit freedom of the press. I was just talking to a reporter yesterday from the Financial Times, and she shared with me how TikTok, they actually use TikTok to track down one of their journalists and try to intimidate him writing an unflattering story about China.
PILGRIM: One of the thing a lot of parents talk about when it comes to TikTok and social media. According to recent CDC data, nearly one in three high school girls considered attempting suicide in 2021, up nearly 60% from a decade before. And now schools across the country are suing social media companies for allegedly contributing to the youth mental health crisis. TikTok says they prioritize safety and wellbeing of teens with age-restricted features, screen time limits and parental controls. But my question to you, what can Silicon Valley do to better protect our kids?
KRACH: Yeah. You know, Eva, I’ve got 11-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. So obviously, this is a big issue. You know, there’s social media and then there’s TikTok. TikTok is programed to be addictive. It preys actually on children. It’s kind of disguised as candy, but it’s actually cocaine. And this is one of the big things. If you look at how TikTok is actually being used inside of China– I’m not talking outside of China– they use it as an educational app for STEM, for science, technology, engineering and math. So there’s two big differences there. And TikTok is by far the worst.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Prosecutors in the special counsel’s office have presented compelling preliminary evidence that former President Donald Trump knowingly and deliberately misled his own attorneys about his retention of classified materials after leaving office, a former top federal judge wrote Friday in a sealed filing, according to sources who described its contents to ABC News.
U.S. Judge Beryl Howell, who on Friday stepped down as the D.C. district court’s chief judge, wrote last week that prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith’s office had made a “prima facie showing that the former president had committed criminal violations,” according to the sources, and that attorney-client privileges invoked by two of his lawyers could therefore be pierced.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in his handling of classified documents.
In her sealed filing, Howell ordered that Evan Corcoran, an attorney for Trump, should comply with a grand jury subpoena for testimony on six separate lines of inquiry over which he had previously asserted attorney-client privilege.
Sources added that Howell also ordered Corcoran to hand over a number of records tied to what Howell described as Trump’s alleged “criminal scheme,” echoing prosecutors. Those records include handwritten notes, invoices, and transcriptions of personal audio recordings.
In reaching the so-called prima facie standard to pierce Corcoran’s privilege, Howell agreed prosecutors made a sufficient showing that on its face would appear to show Trump committed crimes. The judge made it clear that prosecutors would still need to meet a higher standard of evidence in order to seek charges against Trump, and more still to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
“It is a lower hurdle, but it is an indication that the government had presented some evidence and allegation that they had evidence that met the elements of a crime,” Brandon Van Grack, a former top national security official in the Justice Department who is now in private practice, told ABC News.
Howell found that prosecutors showed “sufficient” evidence that Trump “intentionally concealed” the existence of additional classified documents from Corcoran, sources said, putting Corcoran in an unwitting position to deceive the government.
It’s unclear what evidence Howell may have reviewed under seal from both DOJ and Trump’s attorneys to help her arrive at her decision.
In response to ABC News, a Trump campaign spokesperson said, in part, “Shame on Fake News ABC for broadcasting ILLEGALLY LEAKED false allegations from a Never Trump, now former chief judge, against the Trump legal team.”
“The real story here, that Fake News ABC SHOULD be reporting on, is that prosecutors only attack lawyers when they have no case whatsoever,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment to ABC News.
The developments described by sources illustrate another dimension of the former president’s ongoing legal vulnerabilities. As Smith’s classified documents probe marches forward, prosecutors in New York are mulling a separate indictment against Trump over hush payments he allegedly paid to an adult film star ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump also faces scrutiny in Georgia over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state, and Smith is continuing his own probe into Trump’s attempts to interfere in the 2020 election.
Central to Smith’s efforts in the classified documents probe is determining whether lawyers who represented the former president falsely certified in response to a grand jury subpoena that Trump had returned all classified records to the government or whether Trump himself sought to conceal records that he might have unlawfully retained.
Federal prosecutors have claimed that lawyers for Trump certified in June 2022 that a “diligent search” of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate turned up just 38 classified documents stored in a secured storage room. But two months later, when FBI agents raided the premises, they found more than 100 additional documents marked classified — some of which were located outside of the storage room, including in Trump’s office desk, prosecutors said.
In her order last Friday, Howell was unsparing in her criticism of Trump’s actions since early last year in response to the government’s attempts to retrieve all classified documents taken from the White House. At one point she described Trump’s interactions with officials from the National Archives as a “dress rehearsal,” sources said, for his later efforts at misdirection in response to the grand jury subpoena.
As ABC News has previously reported, investigators sought to compel the testimony of Corcoran and another Trump attorney, Jennifer Little, as part of their probe, citing the crime-fraud exception, which allows for attorney-client privilege to be pierced in cases where it is suspected that legal services were rendered in the commission of a crime. Sources told ABC News that Howell ordered Little’s testimony as well, with the exception of one of the topics for which she sought to assert attorney-client privilege.
Sources said prosecutors have sought to question Corcoran on how he aided another Trump attorney, Christina Bobb, in drafting the June 2022 statement to the Justice Department, which Bobb ultimately signed.
Attorneys for Trump were expected to appeal Howell’s Friday ruling, sources said.
(SEA ISLE CITY, N.J.) — A pod of eight dolphins died after being stranded on two beaches in New Jersey on Tuesday, according to an animal rescue and rehabilitation center.
The sea creatures washed up on 50th and 52nd Street beaches, according to Sea Isle City officials, who warned the public not to approach the dolphins, where police and state workers attempted to aid the animals.
According to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, two of the dolphins died on one of the beaches, while the organization’s veterinarian euthanized the other six after an assessment determined that the dolphins’ health was failing.
“The decision was made to humanely euthanize the dolphins to prevent further suffering, as returning them to the ocean would have only prolonged their inevitable death,” Marine Mammal Stranding Center said in a statement posted on Facebook.
The dolphins were sent to a state laboratory where a necropsy will be performed, the center said.
“We share in the public’s sorrow for these beautiful animals and hope that the necropsies will help us understand the reason for their stranding,” Marine Mammal Stranding Center said.
