(OXFORD, Mich.) — Parents and students called for greater safety measures and transparency at the Michigan high school where four students were fatally shot in a mass shooting last year.
Nearly five months after the massacre at Oxford High School, a group of concerned parents and students said that those who attend the suburban Detroit school still do not feel safe.
“Our children tell us they do not feel safe at school,” Lori Bourgeau, a parent of an Oxford student, said Thursday during a press briefing organized by the group Change 4 Oxford. “They don’t feel safe using the restroom, they don’t feel safe eating in the lunchroom.”
The group is calling for an immediate independent expert review of Oxford’s student safety procedures, with an updated school safety plan based on the review implemented prior to the start of the 2022-2023 school year. It is also calling for greater transparency into the school’s safety plan and to include students and teachers in the process.
Those who spoke during the emotional event said they have felt like their questions and concerns have not been addressed by the school.
“Just let the students talk,” Jeff Jones, the parent of two students at Oxford Community Schools, said during the briefing. “Ask the students what they need. Ask the students what would make them feel safe.”
His son, Oxford junior Griffen Jones, charged that new safety measures including clear backpacks and checking IDs at the school’s entrance “have done almost nothing.” He spoke about what it’s been like to be in school in the wake of the deadly shooting.
“Every day I pray that whatever conversation I have with my friends or anyone else isn’t my last with them or my last conversation ever,” he said. “Every day I pray that I won’t die on the high school floor because of the lack of caring they have shown towards me and my friends, the whole student body and teachers.”
“I hate waking up certain days because of the anxiety and stress and lack of safety and the thought gets to me sometimes in class and I can’t focus,” he said. “I don’t care about school half the time because most of the time I’m concerned for my safety, my teachers’ safety and my friends.”
Speakers were critical of school officials’ decision last year to decline Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s offer to lead an independent review. Nessel will be speaking with the community on Monday, the group said.
Parents also questioned the district’s decision not to go on lockdown after the high school received several threats on Friday.
In response to the group’s demands and concerns, Superintendent Ken Weaver said in a statement that the “physical safety and emotional well-being of our students and staff remains our top priority.”
“We value all parent and student input and continue to work with our students and parents through these difficult times,” he said.
Following the shooting, Weaver said the district has engaged with the community through meetings, phone calls, town halls, forums and surveys.
“Input from our students, staff and families has helped shape and drive our successful return to school plan and our school safety plans,” he said. “We have also consulted with mental health experts, security experts and local law enforcement in developing our plans.”
Four students were killed in the shooting on Nov. 30, 2021. Seven people, including a teacher, were also injured.
Prosecutors allege that the gunman emerged from a bathroom with a gun and started shooting in a hallway. The suspect, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, allegedly opened fire on students and staff just hours after meeting with school counselors over disturbing drawings depicting a gun, prosecutors said.
A lawsuit alleges that the district failed to heed warning signs before the shooting, which the district has denied.
In the weeks following the shooting, the district announced a zero-tolerance policy toward threats, and that students would be removed from the school until a mental health evaluation could be completed. The district’s board of education also approved a resolution to initiate a third-party review of what happened before, during and after the shooting.
The district held a safety meeting with local first responders and government agencies to review safety procedures and protocols in February. Officials reported that student feedback on the clear backpacks “has been positive,” and that they are considering continuing using them next school year.
Officials also said they plan to create parent forums “to provide an avenue to share concerns and ideas.”
In a letter to the school community on the district’s response to Friday’s threats, Weaver said they did not want to “put students and staff through any unnecessary psychological trauma by going into a lockdown when it is not warranted.”
“I understand the importance to share as much information as possible with our school community during this time of healing,” he said.
Crumbley, who was charged as an adult, faces 24 counts, including four first-degree murder counts. Last month, his lawyer told the court that a psychiatric evaluation of the teenager has been completed and a written report of the results is expected to be available in 45 days. He plans to plead insanity, according to court filings.
Crumbley has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail. A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for April 21.
His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, have also been charged with involuntary manslaughter after allegedly neglecting or failing to notice warning signs about their son in the months before the shooting. They also allegedly bought their son a 9-mm Sig Sauer pistol as a present just days before he allegedly used it in the shooting.
The Crumbleys have pleaded not guilty to the charges. They are due back in court on April 19 for a pretrial hearing.
ABC News’ Will McDuffie and Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
Craig Hudson for The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — A second group of asylum seekers arrived in Washington, D.C., Thursday on a charter bus after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to transport migrants from Texas to D.C.
This comes just one day after the first bus of undocumented migrants from Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, was transported to the nation’s capital.
Abbott said the order is a direct response to President Joe Biden’s plans to end Title 42 expulsions on May 23. The controversial policy, which the Trump administration implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, restricts migrants from coming into the country under the auspices of a public health emergency.
“Leaders in Congress have no idea about the chaos they have caused by the open border policies and they refuse to come down and see firsthand and talk to the people who are really they’re just dropping bombs of illegal immigrants from countries across the entire globe, leaving those local communities to have to grapple with it,” Abbott told reporters on Wednesday.
The Texas governor added, “there will be more that will be arriving whether by bus or plane so that Washington is going to have to respond and deal with the same challenges that we’re doing.”
Chris Magnus, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPD) commissioner, expressed concerns over Abbott leading the operation without “adequate coordination with the federal government.”
“As individuals await the outcome of their immigration proceedings, they are legally obligated to report in for the next steps in their immigration process and permitted to travel elsewhere. CBP’s close partnerships with other government and non-governmental stakeholders are essential to this effort, and to ensuring fairness, order, and humanity in the process.” Magnus said in a statement. “Governor Abbott is taking actions to move migrants without adequately coordinating with the federal government and local border communities. CBP has always worked closely with and supported border communities in Texas, many of which CBP personnel call home.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s press secretary Susana Castillo told ABC News in a statement on Wednesday, “Our Administration continues to work with NGOs [Non-Government Organizations] who are providing resources to the arriving individuals and families. Our partners were able to triage the first bus, which included individuals hoping to settle outside of the region.
Immigration advocacy groups and faith leaders held a joint press conference in front of Washington, D.C.,’s Union Station to welcome asylum seekers who arrived in Washington D.C. on Thursday.
Organizers from Welcome with Dignity, Carecen, and CASA, told reporters they plan to help asylum seekers as they connect with their family members in the United States, as well as, provide legal services if needed.
“Our community is ready to receive any immigrants that the governor of Texas wants to send here. We are an open city. We are a welcoming city. We will continue to be that. We have the support of the local government,” Abel Nunez, the executive director of Carecen, a Central American refugee nonprofit, said.
“I invite the governor of Texas, if he wants to continue to send immigrants to this region, to coordinate with us so that we can ensure that we can provide the best service and we can meet all their legal obligations, ” Nunez said.
During the presser, immigration advocates also called out Biden for the delays in passing immigration reform. Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA, said federal legislation is the only long-term solution to address the ongoing crisis.
“I want to send a very clear message to the Biden administration: It is time to pass immigration reform. I remember when he was running for president, he promised that if he controlled the White House and Congress, they were going to pass immigration reform. We are still demanding that. That is the only real solution to this crisis that we are facing,” Torres said.
(NEW YORK) — With inflation at a 40-year high and food costs continuing to rise, it’s time to take stock of how we approach cooking to make the most of our money in each meal.
What’s the issue
Labor and supply shortages from the COVID-19 pandemic have continued to add a strain on wallets when it comes to price increases on food. Whether it’s picking something up for lunch or cooking at home, both index categories have seen steady rises in pricing that has been passed onto consumers.
In March, the overall increase in the food index was one of the three largest contributors to inflation, according to the latest Labor Department report.
The food at home index, which includes groceries, saw a 1.5% jump in the last month. Plus, fresh produce climbed another 1.5% this month after an already 2.3% increase in February for fruits and vegetables. Since the same time period last year, the food at home index has jumped 10% annually, also marking the biggest increase since 1981.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), monthly grocery budgets depend on three factors: The number of people in the household; age and gender of each person; and monthly household budget. The average cost of groceries for U.S. households was $4,942 annually or close to $12 per month, based on 2020 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As people continue to cook more at home amid the pandemic, the demand for ingredients and cost-effective meals has also skyrocketed.
How to curb costs
Leslie Ghize, a consumer strategist expert and executive vice president at business development firm Doneger TOBE, explained to GMA that inflation influences can be broken up into three main categories: “Indicators of sentiment, behavioral changes in consumers and business responses,” she said.
For example, the rise of cost on groceries and food has been a catalyst for content creators on TikTok to share smart home cooking hacks.
“TikTok has become a destination for money saving tips and tricks. While thrifting proliferates on FashionTok, food influencers offer penny-pinching ideas like recipes that only require a few ingredients and techniques to help produce last longer,” Ghize explained. “Think: storing mushrooms in a paper bag and keeping lettuce in a glass jar.”
Recipe for successful at-home meals that stretch your dollar
Savyy home cooks and food creators, cookbook authors, grocery experts and more will curate recipes and food launchpads to iterate on an array of money-saving meals with GMA Food.
Highlighting one main ingredient that is cost effective — like a bulk pack of chicken thighs — is the perfect opportunity for recipes that use cooked chicken thighs in three variations to ultimately deliver multiple meals with different flavors and techniques. Like this recipe from cookbook author Ali Slagle that feeds four people with chicken thighs and uses other smart money-conscious ingredients like frozen peas.
Additionally, if the cost of a particular ingredient category, such as pork or beef, is on the rise, expect to find a recipe that instead embraces seasonal produce items that are abundant and more cost-efficient paired with pantry staples like grains and beans.
From buying the right foods in bulk and using an ingredient in its entirety — stems to leaves — to purposely cooking more of one dish in batches that can be transformed into a different next day lunch or dinner, these money-saving meals will make the most of any budget.
(NEW YORK) — After the omicron wave of COVID-19 receded earlier this winter, states and cities across the country moved quickly to ease mitigation measures, leaving many officials hopeful that the virus would soon be in the rear-view mirror, ahead of the looming midterm elections in November.
Much of the public rejoiced when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it would update its guidance for face coverings, giving the vast majority of Americans the green light to ditch masks indoors, if they lived in an area of low or medium risk.
However, for some high-risk populations, like the 7 million Americans living with weakened immune systems from cancer treatment, transplants or immune deficiencies, a return to pre-pandemic normalcy is still not on the horizon. The CDC’s new guidance came with a caveat for the immunocompromised; the agency is still recommending that those at increased risk keep face coverings on.
With concert halls at full capacity again, largely maskless classrooms and social distancing stickers no longer visible in shopping outlets, many members of the immunocompromised and disabled communities are now appealing directly to the CDC and other federal health agencies in an effort to voice their frustrations.
“The fact that we have to just say over and over again, that our lives are worth saving — it’s really soul crushing,” Maria Town, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, told ABC News.
Moderately or severely immunocompromised people, or individuals who have a weakened immune system, are at increased risk of severe COVID-19 illness and death, according to the CDC.
As concerns over a new COVID-19 resurgence grow, advocates like Town have been pushing back on the administration’s decision to roll back recommended restrictions and are urging officials to reconsider implementing restrictions such as masking.
“There’s a constant questioning of what can we be doing differently, what can we be doing more of and after two years of having to defend our humanity, it becomes even harder to answer those questions,” Town said.
‘Seen this pattern before’
Last month, the American Association of People with Disabilities, alongside a group of more than 100 disability organizations, penned a letter to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, urging her to revise the agency’s latest COVID-19 guidance on masking, in an effort to protect high-risk populations in the U.S.
Under the CDC’s new risk levels, most Americans living in areas with low or medium community spread levels were no longer recommended to wear masks indoors. However, the agency suggests that under the medium risk level, high-risk Americans should consider consulting with their physicians over whether or not to wear a mask.
“We have seen this pattern before. When protections that are key to lowering transmission, such as universal masking, are removed too soon after a peak and before low transmission is demonstrably sustained, new variants emerge, causing cases to spike and putting the lives of all Americans – particularly disabled, chronically ill, immunocompromised, people of color, and older people – at greater risk once again,” the organizations wrote.
A month after the original letter from the disability organizations was sent, two representatives from the CDC, John Auerbach, director of intergovernmental and strategic affairs, and Dr. Karen Remley, director of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, responded to the coalition, on behalf of Walensky.
“Dr. Walensky and CDC commit to moving forward together with people in the disability community with regular engagements between senior leadership and disability groups,” the representatives said in a letter, dated Apr. 7, that was shared with ABC News.
“We know this pandemic has been particularly challenging for those who are at increased risk’ of severe illness due to advanced age, certain disabilities, immune state, chronic medical conditions, or for other reasons… and it is important that we recognize this is not a small group among us — tens of millions of people are at an increased risk of getting severely ill if infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.”
Even if CDC community transmission levels remain low, Auerbach and Remley noted that people can choose to wear masks based on “personal preference” or “level of risk.”
Further, they said that public health officials, including schools, should take into account all community members when considering whether to “strengthen or add layered prevention strategies, not only for effective disease control, but also to protect those persons at greatest risk for severe illness or death.”
The letters come amid a multitude of meetings between a coalition of disability advocacy organizations, and several representatives from the CDC, Health and Human Services as well as the White House.
Although members of the coalition said they are glad to be in more regular communication with the agencies, there is growing frustration among advocates, who believe that the CDC, in particular, is not fully doing its part to protect immunocompromised and vulnerable Americans.
The CDC, as a federal agency, does not have the authority to issue federal mandates for masking requirements or other mitigation measures outside a federal context, such as in an airport or public transportation setting. Although states and localities are responsible for setting their own public health guidelines, many follow the CDC’s lead in what requirements should be set to keep the public safe and COVID-19 under control.
“We have seen some kind of movement as a result, but not nearly to the extent that we would have liked,” Town explained.
Meetings with the CDC have been “infuriating”, “emotional” and “devastating” to watch, a coalition member who has participated in meetings, and did not wish to be identified, told ABC News.
The CDC told ABC News in a statement that the agency is actively working with a number of disability organizations, officials on the federal, state, local, level and community-based organizations to help “people with disabilities access information, vaccination, and prevention resources” in an effort to protect against the deadly impacts of the virus.
“CDC has made it a priority to engage in dialogue with disability advocates to hear their concerns and identify areas where we can enhance protection for people with disabilities who are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes,” a representative said. “We are committed to continuing the dialogue and addressing the systematic inequities that effect the health and wellbeing of millions of Americans that have been exacerbated during the pandemic.”
‘Fighting for crumbs’
When President Joe Biden took office last year, Matthew Cortland, a disability rights advocate, was hopeful that although the pandemic was certainly not over, there might truly be a light at the end of the tunnel with COVID-19.
“I was hopeful that they would be much more willing to pursue and implement policies that really demonstrated a commitment to valuing the lives of chronically ill, disabled, and immunocompromised people. Unfortunately, that wasn’t really the case,” Cortland said.
When asked by ABC News to identify some of the work the Biden administration has done to protect the lives of disabled and immunocompromised Americans since the President took office, the White House pointed to its COVID-19 preparedness plan, which they stress addresses the “needs of individuals with disabilities and older adults”, prioritizes “protections for individuals who are immunocompromised,” and accelerates “efforts to detect, prevent, and treat long COVID.”
Cortland lives with Crohn’s disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, and takes immunosuppressant drugs. He said has been dismayed by the CDC’s recent change in masking guidance.
He and other advocates have been pushing the CDC and other agencies to consider addressing disability bias in health care, ensure that people with disabilities — and other communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 — are not only at the center of CDC COVID-19 guidance, but also have increased access to high-quality masks, testing, vaccines, therapeutics, information and collect and report disability data for COVID-19.
“It feels like we are fighting for crumbs,” Cortland said. “The thing is the threat is so grave, and so pervasive and extends over the entire country that we have to fight for these crumbs, because these problems are going to keep some number of people alive.”
Thanks to key treatments and vaccines, a representative from the CDC told ABC News that the risk of becoming severely ill is now much lower for many people in the U.S. However, the agency noted that there are still people who are at high risk of falling ill from COVID-19.
“For many people in the U.S., the risk for severe illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 is now much lower. Vaccination and testing levels are high, treatments are more advanced and available, and the population has increased immunity through vaccination or previous infection,” the CDC representative said. “But some people are still at higher risk for serious effects of COVID-19 — this includes people who are immunocompromised, have underlying health conditions, have disabilities, or are older. People at higher risk, and the whole community, can be safe only when we all protect each other.”
Some experts say that when COVID-19 ultimately does transition from pandemic to endemic, people will need to start treating it like other diseases.
“We should be having a conversation about when the right time is for masks to come off — and I think members of the immunocompromised community should have a voice in that conversation,” Dr. David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “But I think we should be considering what is an appropriate threshold, not keeping mask mandates in effect forever.”
Although masks are still mandated in certain spaces such as on public transportation, some health experts have also voiced their concern over the rapid removal of COVID-19 restrictions, stressing that Americans must remember to take into account the health and wellbeing of others around them, even if they are tired of mask use and social distancing.
“I absolutely understand the urge and people wanting to get back to that 2019 style of living, but one big concern that a lot of colleagues and I have talked about was that we did it too quickly,” Dr. Alok Patel, a physician at Stanford Children’s Health and ABC News contributor. “When we use the phrase the ‘new normal,’ we need to remind ourselves that that means something different for different people out there. So, we’re reopening without a clear plan in place for those who are still high risk, including those who are immunocompromised.”
Deadly realities
For some Americans, the consequences of these decisions surrounding policies hit very close to home.
Leslie Cummings of Naperville, Illinois, has been vocalizing concerns after the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules in Illinois, voted 9-0 to suspend the emergency mask rules in schools.
Her 8-year-old daughter, Claudette, who is immunocompromised, was looking forward to returning to school following her vaccination series, but following the onset of omicron and her district’s decision to end mask requirements, those plans have been put on hold.
Despite the decision from the bipartisan committee, at the time, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker continued to urge all schools and parents to keep wearing masks in an effort to “keep everyone in their schools and communities safe.”
“If she gets COVID-19… it could kill her,” Cummings told ABC News. “She is very susceptible to anything having to do with her heart, lungs or liver.”
Claudette has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, resulting in multiple open-heart surgeries and procedures and the prescription of numerous medications.
“Even though she’s vaccinated, at least 45% of the kids in our school district are not vaccinated. Unvaccinated kids are more likely to get COVID and more likely to spread it, and that’s another big concern,” Cummings explained. “If there were more vaccinated kids, more kids wearing masks, it would be different, but we’re just not there.”
Despite continuously speaking out about her concerns over the potential impact of the virus on her daughter’s health, Cummings has been struck by what she perceives as lack of caring from the public.
“I’ve had a real awakening about this country in the last two years, about how selfish some people are. It’s been very sad for me, and it also makes me very angry that people just don’t seem to care,” Cummings said. “They don’t care that you know, that there’s all these people out here that are their aunts, their brothers, their sisters, their cousins, their neighbors, their community members, the elderly, and they just don’t seem to care.”
1 in 4 American adults is living with disabilities
Earlier this year, an analysis from the Center for American Progress found that there were an estimated additional 1.2 million people living with disabilities (1 in 4 Americans total), many of whom face inadequate healthcare resources, as well as higher rates of unemployment, and over-representation in low-wage positions.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics currently defines a person with a disability as someone who has one of a list of disabilities, including blindness, deafness, or someone who has difficulty conducting daily tasks because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition.
One of the concerns was making sure that employers “accommodate newly disabled workers to comply with civil rights laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.” In the first month, the definition of “at-risk” was expanded, allowing for greater accommodations for the vulnerable members of the population.
“The definition of who counts as high risk was extremely narrow, and that has big implications for disabled people,” Town explained. “If you are someone who is at high risk of getting COVID-19, but your disability is not named in the CDC is definition, and you’re requesting an accommodation to continue working from home, or to receive services via telehealth, your employer is likely to look at that definition and determine whether or not you’re eligible.”
To further mitigate the risk of COVID-19 infection among vulnerable populations, Cortland would like to see people wearing highly protective masks, such as KN-95s or N-95s, and for the country to invest in better ventilation and filtration systems for schools and workplaces, so that immunocompromised individuals will feel safer participating.
Advocates have also asked for greater guidance on when different members of the disabled and high-risk community should get vaccinated and boosted, as well as funding for at-home vaccination programs.
The CDC pointed ABC News to some of the recent “disability work” it has done, including funding to embed disability specialists in 28 state, territorial, and local health department across the U.S., a CDC COVID-19 Toolkit for People with Disabilities, which includes guidance and tools to help high-risk people make informed decisions about protecting their health, and an online central repository of COVID-19 resources for health departments and organizations.
“While progress has been made to protect people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, more work is needed,” a representative for the agency said.
The CDC said it is working to help reduce health disparities related to COVID-19 among people with disabilities, with initiatives including providing accessible materials and culturally relevant messages for people with disabilities, and addressing and expanding COVID-19 vaccine access and confidence among people with disabilities.
Even with some positive changes, advocates say there is still work to do. Moving forward, it will be critical to address the intersectional needs of all disabled, immunocompromised, chronically ill, and high-risk Americans to fairly and equitably enter into a new phase of the pandemic.
“I don’t have a choice but to keep fighting for these problems,” Cortland said. “Keeping some number of people alive who would otherwise die is better than not, but is it enough? Absolutely not.”
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian troops invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Russian forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.
In recent days, Russian forces have retreated from northern Ukraine, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, the United States and European countries accused Russia of committing war crimes.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 15, 5:55 am
Ukrainian commander issues urgent plea in Mariupol
Serhiy Volyna, commander of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade, which is engaged in a brutal fight to defend Mariupol against invading Russian forces, has issued an urgent plea for military reinforcements or a political solution — anything to break Russia’s siege of the Ukrainian port city.
In an interview Friday with Ukrainian online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda, the commander said the situation is critical and the fighting is fierce.
“It can be done and it must be done as soon as possible,” Volyna added.
Despite Russia’s relentless bombardment for more than a month, the 36th Marine Brigade along with units of the Azov Regiment, a far-right group now part of the Ukrainian military, have held down Mariupol. They have refused to surrender, vowing to fight until the end.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd
Apr 14, 9:06 pm
Zelenskyy remarks on 50 days of war: ‘Ukraine became a hero’
During his latest daily address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy observed that Ukraine has withstood 50 days of the Russian invasion.
“During the 50 days of this war, Ukraine became a hero for the whole free world,” he said.
Zelenskyy said he was grateful to those who have supported the country, though said that during the last 50 days he’s started to view world leaders in a different light.
“I have seen politicians behaving as if they had no power, and I have seen non-politicians who did more in these 50 days than some statesmen who claimed leadership,” he said.
Zelenskyy praised how Ukraine has defended itself, including those “who have shown that Russian ships can go … to the bottom only” — a nod to the sinking of the Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship vessel, Moskva.
Ukrainian government officials had claimed on Wednesday its armed forces fired missiles that damaged the vessel.
-ABC News’ Fidel Pavlenko
Apr 14, 5:46 pm
US says its assessment could conclude Russia committed genocide
The U.S. Department of State’s s ongoing review of atrocities in Ukraine could conclude with a determination that genocide has been committed by Russian forces, spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday.
The comments come after President Joe Biden described Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine as genocide.
Price told reporters during a briefing Thursday that there was some “misimpression” about the process, but that the department’s effort to document, compile and analyze evidence of atrocities, which determined last month that Russian forces were committing war crimes, could include a determination on genocide.
“That same broader process the process to collect, analyze, share, document evidence of atrocities and potential atrocity crimes is the very same one that could ultimately inform other potential atrocity crime determinations, including the atrocity crime of genocide,” Price said.
Price reiterated that the U.S. is working with the Ukrainian prosecutor-general, whose office has clear jurisdiction for potential war crimes trials.
The U.S. has been providing the Ukrainian prosecutor-general’s office with the evidence it has collected, though it has not yet provided that information to the International Criminal Court, of which it’s not a member.
Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court’s chief, Karim A.A. Khan, currently is in Ukraine surveying scenes of atrocities in the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha and Borodyanka.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Conor Finnegan
Apr 14, 5:12 pm
France moving its Ukraine embassy back to Kyiv
France is planning to move its embassy back to Kyiv “very soon” after relocating it more than 500 miles away in Lviv in western Ukraine when hostilities began to heat up around the capital city in March, the French foreign minister said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian made the announcement in a phone call Thursday with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.
“This redeployment will take place very soon and will make it possible to further deepen the support provided by France to Ukraine in all areas to deal with the war launched by Russia on February 24,” Le Drian said in a statement.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price was asked at a briefing if the United States was considering a similar move now that the bulk of the fighting has shifted in Ukraine from the south of the country to the east. The U.S. embassy in Ukraine was also moved from Kyiv to Lviv following the start of the Russian invasion, but embassy staff has been working from Poland in recent days, Price said.
Price told reporters that the State Department is “always reviewing” the possibility of moving the embassy back to Kyiv, but the embassy team remains in Poland and is not crossing the border into Lviv as they had been.
“Obviously, our goal is to have a functioning diplomatic presence in Ukraine as soon as it is safe and practical for us to do so,” Price said.
(ALEXANDRIA, Va.) — A federal jury found ISIS fighter El Shafee Elsheikh guilty on all counts of being part of a core group of British terrorists known as the “Beatles,” who held hostage 26 westerners in a conspiracy that led to the murders of four Americans and at least two Britons.
The jury deliberated for less than a full day. Closing arguments came Wednesday and they were handed the case in the afternoon. By the time they finished lunch Thursday, they had reached a verdict.
“Elsheikh really incriminated himself,” despite wearing a mask as he and the other Britons brutalized her son, said Diane Foley, mother of New Hampshire-raised journalist James W. Foley.
Humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller’s dad Carl said justice was served, and added that he felt his daughter’s presence throughout the trial.
“This is what the families asked for. And this is what we got. It’s the American justice system at work at its best,” he told ABC News.
As the jury settled in for its short deliberations, Mueller approached Elsheikh’s defense team, thanking them for their service as court-appointed lawyers and assuring them of his respect. Some of the defense team wiped away tears. “I hold no malice toward them for what they do,” he said.
Many of the former hostages testified in graphic detail about the beatings and other cruelties inflicted on them, seated a mere 12 feet from the man now convicted of breaking ribs and slapping faces of captives the Beatles starved and tortured.
Because of an agreement with the UK, neither Elsheikh or co-defendant Alexanda Kotey, who pleaded guilty, faced the death penalty.
Elsheikh doesn’t deny fighting for ISIS but rested his defense in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on his claim that this was a case of mistaken identity about holding the westerners captive. He faces a life sentence for the conviction of holding hostages and causing the deaths of journalists and humanitarian aid workers.
In closing arguments Wednesday, federal prosecutors said Elsheikh was one of the men who brutalized American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. The men were shown in ISIS videos in 2014-15 being beheaded by a black-clad and masked ISIS executioner nicknamed “Jihadi John” because hostages had dubbed the men the “Beatles” to discuss them while in captivity.
The videos shocked the world as the executioner — later named as Mohammed Emwazi — demanded the U.S. cease military strikes against ISIS.
Kayla Mueller, 26, of Prescott, Arizona, was reportedly killed by an airstrike by ISIS in February 2015. It was later revealed that she had been taken by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and repeatedly abused and raped.
“Elsheikh, without a shadow of a doubt, is an ISIS Beatle,” prosecutor Raj Parekh told the jury.
But defense lawyer Nina Ginsberg countered that the U.S. never presented any hard evidence that the defendant was anything other than a foot soldier in ISIS battling the Syrian Army.
Despite evidence from a parade of former hostages and FBI agents who testified during the trial about what she described as “loathsome, brutal acts,” Ginsberg said the government failed to prove Elsheikh was a captor, and that he was “never identified at this trial by any of the former hostages.”
The U.S. instead relied primarily on Elsheikh’s own statements after his 2018 capture by Syrian Democratic Forces with fellow admitted ISIS Beatle Alexanda Kotey, who has pleaded guilty. They told several journalists, primarily British filmmaker Sean Langan, on video that they held the westerners captive, got family members’ email addresses from hostages such as Mueller, and beat others such as Danish photojournalist Daniel Rye.
Rye testified on Tuesday, revealing agonizing details of how the British ISIS members had stuck him in the ribs 25 times on his 25th birthday, hanged him by his hands and jammed the barrel of an MP5 submachine gun in his mouth.
He described the loyalty of Foley, who once had an opportunity to escape captivity but refused to abandon his comrade, the British journalist John Cantlie, whose whereabouts and survival remain unknown. Notably, Cantlie’s photo was shown to jurors alongside six other hostages known to have been killed.
The captors forced them to sing a version of “Hotel California,” emphasizing the line, “You can never leave” — but that was hardly the worst of their suffering.
Sotloff tried to leave letters for Mueller in a communal toilet, but they were caught and he, Cantlie and Foley were punished severely, he recalled. When he learned after 13 months he had been ransomed and set for release, Rye said Cantlie came to him.
“He wanted me to bring out a message. ‘If you cannot get us released, drop a bomb on this place – kill us,'” Rye said, as family members of hostages in the courtroom held each other.
By the time he and another hostage were told they were being released as the last two Europeans, Rye said the Americans and British hostages knew they were going to be executed. The U.S. began bombing ISIS in August 2014.
The Americans retreated silently to one corner of the small room, the British men in another corner. As he left the room, “I took one last look at my friends, and thought it was the last time I would see them alive,” Rye told the jury.
Prosecutors said all of the hostages who were brutalized and those ultimately murdered showed superhuman courage. They described a year or more of broken ribs, severe blows to the thighs called “dead legs,” stress positions, water deprivation, mock executions – and finally beheadings which, at least, ended their suffering.
“All these people wanted was to do the right thing,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Fitzpatrick said.
Sotloff’s father, Art, told ABC News that justice has been served.
“I feel like all of them are looking down on us, pattin’ us on the back for doing the right thing,” he said.
Editor’s Note: ABC News investigative reporter James Gordon Meek is the recipient of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation’s 2022 World Press Freedom Award for reporting on hostage cases since 1993.
(NEW YORK) — By this fall, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its partner BioNTech could potentially have a COVID-19 booster that specifically addresses the omicron variant as well as its subvariants and other known strains of the virus, CEO Albert Bourla said during a panel Wednesday.
“It is a possibility that we have it by then; it’s not certainty,” Bourla said. “We are collecting data right now, and as far as I know, Moderna, as well as us, we are working on omicron or different enhanced vaccines,”
It would be simple to create a vaccine specifically targeting omicron, he explained, but it is scientifically and technically more difficult to create a vaccine that addresses all known variants.
“I hope clearly by autumn … that we could have a vaccine, if we have one that works,” Bourla said.
Once enough data is aggregated, Bourla said the company will submit data to the Food and Drug Administration.
Earlier this year, Dr. Anthony Fauci called Pfizer’s decision to start human trials on an omicron-targeted COVID-19 vaccine a “prudent move.”
“It makes sense to think in terms of at least having ready an omicron-specific boost,” Fauci told MSNBC in January.
Last month, Moderna also announced it had started phase 2 trials of its omicron-specific booster vaccine, which will ultimately include 375 adults in the U.S.
In February, Moderna President Stephen Hoge said he believes the combination approach – which they call a “bivalent” vaccine — could offer more durable protection while preserving activity against “ancestral” variants.
“We do believe, as we’ve said, that it is time to update the vaccine against the mutations that are currently circulating and to improve the durability against those new variants of concern,” Hoge said during an investors call in February.
The push to develop omicron specific boosters come as the omicron subvariant BA.2 sweeps the globe and as new subvariants continue to pop up.
BA.2 is now estimated to account for the vast majority — 85.9% — of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. as of April 9 and more than 90% of new cases across the Northeast.
On Wednesday, New York identified the emergence of two sublineages of BA.2, named BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1, that appear to have a 23% to 27% growth advantage over BA.2.
New York has had a recent surge of infections in the central part of the state, which officials said is likely fueled by these two new subvariants. Although they are thought to be highly contagious, so far, there is no evidence to suggest they cause more severe illness.
“We are alerting the public to two omicron subvariants, newly emerged and rapidly spreading in upstate New York, so New Yorkers can act swiftly,” state Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said in a statement Wednesday. “While these subvariants are new, the tools to combat them are not. These tools will work if we each use them: get fully vaccinated and boosted, test following exposure, symptoms or travel, consider wearing a mask in public indoor spaces, and consult with your health care provider about treatment if you test positive.”
For the month of March, BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1 rose to collectively comprise more than 70% prevalence in central New York and more than 20% prevalence in the neighboring Finger Lakes region, state data shows, and data for April indicates that levels in central New York are now above 90%. The state reported that its findings are the first confirmed instances of significant community spread due to the new subvariants in the U.S.
Across the state of New York, reported infection and hospitalization rates have been steadily on the rise for weeks.
Reported infection rates have increased by 73% in the last week, and new hospital admissions have increased by nearly 25% in the last week.
(NEW YORK) — The CEO of General Motors Mary Barra sat down exclusively with ABC News’ Rebecca Jarvis to introduce their newest electric vehicle the Cadillac LYRIQ and take the first ride.
In 2021, the company announced that it is committed to selling all-electric vehicles by 2035.
“I think it gets into the power of General Motors brands,” said Barra. “First of all, we’re a full line manufacturer. We have four brands and we have vehicles at every price.”
Elon Musk’s Tesla currently dominates the U.S. electric vehicle market, owning 60% of shares in the space.
Barra said the new version of the American classic is set to take Tesla head-on.
“If you think about it right now, [electric vehicle] sales are very low. They’re in single digits. By 2025, and then beyond, we want to start dramatically growing shares,” said Barra. “We sell more vehicles than anyone else does with the brands, and we have loyal consumers, so I’m really excited about our future.”
Watch the full story on “Good Morning America” FRIDAY at 7 a.m. ET on ABC.
(RUIDOSO, N.M.) — Three people have died as a result of extreme weather that has ripped through the U.S. in recent days.
The bodies of two people were found in a home in Ruidoso, New Mexico, after the McBride Fire scorched the area, according to authorities. On Tuesday, local firefighters had responded to a home on Gavilan Canyon Road that had been overcome with flames, New Mexico State Police spokesman Dusty Francisco announced. The next day, officers from the Ruidoso Police Department located the bodies after family members noted that an elderly couple attempting to evacuate had been unaccounted for, Francisco said.
The McBride Fire has burned through 5,736 acres in the Gavilan Canyon within the Village of Ruidoso since it sparked on Wednesday and remains 0% contained, according to fire officials.
Fueled by timber, brush and dry grasses on an arid landscape, the wildfire has burned 207 primary structures and multiple outbuildings and prompted hundreds of evacuations, officials said.
The extreme fire danger on Wednesday ranged from Western Texas into Colorado, where humidity dropped to as low as 2% with wind gusts up to 70 mph. The critical fire danger continued on Thursday, with 10 states from Texas to South Dakota under a red flag warning due to humidity levels down to 4% and wind gusts between 40 and 60 mph.
About half of the continental U.S. under threat for volatile weather for much of the week, which led to more fatalities. In Rison, Arkansas, one person died Wednesday evening after a tree fell onto their mobile home, according to officials. At least one person was injured in Adair, Oklahoma, Wednesday after a reported tornado damaged homes and businesses in the area.
Nearly 600 storm reports this week across the Heartland, with more than 250 reports of damaging straight line winds on Wednesday as the severe weather blew through from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes on Wednesday alone, according to the National Weather Service.
More than 30 tornadoes were reported in 10 states over the past three days, a continuation of record-breaking tornado activity in March. The system also brought uncharacteristic winter weather to places like Portland, Montana and North and South Dakota, where some regions were piled with several feet of snow.
The storm system has now moved east and will bring damaging winds into the I-95 corridor from Maryland to Massachusetts, which will include large cities such as Philadelphia and New York City.
ABC News’ Max Golembo, Marilyn Heck, Melissa Griffin and Flor Tolentino contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Rudy Giuliani assisted federal investigators in unlocking several electronic devices that had been seized from him by the FBI — a move that could speed a decision from Southern District of New York prosecutors whether to charge the former New York City mayor and presidential candidate over his lobbying efforts in Ukraine, his attorney and sources familiar with the case told ABC News.
The FBI seized more than a dozen devices from Giuliani’s home and office during a search last April. A court-appointed special master has been reviewing the contents but had been slowed by the inability to access all of the devices, the sources said.
Giuliani either unlocked several devices himself or gave investigators a list of possible passwords, the sources said, confirming information first reported by CNN.
There has been no comment as of yet from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.
ABC News previously reported prosecutors began reviewing thousands of communications from Giuliani after the special master filtered out material she deemed to be subject to the attorney-client privilege.
According to her latest report in January, the special master, retired Judge Barbara Jones, agreed about half of what Giuliani designated as privileged should be withheld from federal prosecutors who are investigating his business practices.
Jones said Giuliani previously asserted privilege over 96 chats and messages on a cellphone that contained about 25,000 chats and messages.
“Mr. Giuliani designated 96 items as privileged and/or highly personal. Of those 96 designated items, I agreed that 40 were privileged, Mr. Giuliani’s counsel withdrew the privilege designation over 19, and I found that 37 were not privileged,” Jones said in her report.
The remaining 56 items were turned over to federal prosecutors.
