Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Attorneys for former President Donald Trump have appealed a ruling that he and his two eldest children must testify in the investigation by the New York state attorney general into the family’s business practices.
Trump’s attorneys filed the notice of appeal on Monday, nearly two weeks after a New York judge ruled on Feb 17 that the three Trumps must sit for depositions within 21 days.
The Trump family had unsuccessfully tried to quash the subpoena for testimony, arguing that it was improper for the attorney general’s office to issue subpoenas for its civil investigation while the Manhattan district attorney’s office is still conducting its separate criminal probe.
Judge Arthur Engoron of the New York State Supreme Court rejected that argument.
“This argument completely misses the mark,” Engoron wrote in his decision. “Neither OAG nor the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has subpoenaed the New Trump Respondents to appear before a grand jury, The New Trump Respondents’ argument overlooks the salient fact that they have an absolute right to refuse to answer questions that they claim may incriminate them.”
The judge noted that when Trump’s son Eric sat for a deposition two years ago as part of the same investigation, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 500 times.
Trump also argued that the investigation into his business practices is overtly political, and cited statements New York Attorney General Letitia James made during and after her campaign for attorney general about her intentions to investigate the former president and his family’s real estate firm.
The judge found those statements had no bearing on the legitimacy of the subpoenas.
“Attorney General James, just like respondent Donald J. Trump, was not deprived of her First Amendment rights to free speech when she was a politician running for a public office with investigatory powers,” the judge’s decision said.
“The abhorrent statements made by Letitia leave no doubt that this is yet another politically motivated witch-hunt,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said in response to the ruling. “The court clearly had its mind made up and had no interest in engaging in impartial discourse on this critically important issue.”
Trump, in a statement following the ruling, blasted the investigation.
“She is doing everything within their corrupt discretion to interfere with my business relationships, and with the political process,” he said of James. “It is a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in history — and remember, I can’t get a fair hearing in New York because of the hatred of me by Judges and the judiciary. It is not possible!”
“Today, justice prevailed,” said James following the ruling. “Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump have been ordered by the court to comply with our lawful investigation into Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization’s financial dealings. No one will be permitted to stand in the way of the pursuit of justice, no matter how powerful they are. No one is above the law.”
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24 as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russians moving from Belarus towards Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, don’t appear to have advanced closer towards the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the U.S., Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting Russia’s economy and Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing Tuesday. All times Eastern:
Mar 01, 7:40 am
YouTube blocks RT, Sputnik in Europe
Google on Tuesday said it had blocked RT and Sputnik, Russian state-linked channels, from YouTube in Europe.
Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, we’re blocking YouTube channels connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe, effective immediately. It’ll take time for our systems to fully ramp up. Our teams continue to monitor the situation around the clock to take swift action.
“Our teams continue to monitor the situation around the clock to take swift action,” the company said.
Mar 01, 6:39 am
Zelenskyy calls Russian attack ‘undisguised terror’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday said the Russian attack on Kharkiv’s main square was an act of “undisguised terror.”
“After that, Russia is a terrorist state. No one will forgive. Nobody will forget,” he said on Facebook.
Mar 01, 6:22 am
About 660,000 refugees have fled Ukraine: UN
At least 660,000 people have fled Ukraine into neighboring countries in the six days since the Russian invasion began, the U.N. Refugees Agency said.
At the Polish border, UNHCR staff reported queues that were miles long.
“Those who crossed the border said that they had been waiting up to 60 hours,” the agency said on Tuesday. “Most arrivals are women and children from all parts of Ukraine. Temperatures are freezing and many have reported spending days on the road waiting to cross.”
Agency staff said people were waiting up to 20 hours to enter Romania. In Hungary, arrivals were “steady and waiting times vary.” The 37-mile trip between Odessa, Ukraine, and the border with Moldova was taking some refugees 24 hours, the agency said. And arrivals in Slovakia, where asylum laws were rapidly changed, were lower than elsewhere, agency staff said.
An unknown number of Ukrainian citizens have also been displaced within the country, Filippo Grandi, the agency’s commissioner, told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.
“The situation is moving so quickly, and the levels of risk are so high by now, that it is impossible for humanitarians to distribute systematically the aid, the help that Ukrainians desperately need,” he said.
The International Organisation for Migration said more than 470,000 people of various nationalities, “including a large number of overseas students and labour migrants,” are still in Ukraine.
Mar 01, 4:11 am
Russian bombardment strikes central square in Kharkiv
Russia on Tuesday launched a major bombardment of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, hitting a central square and its civilian administration building.
Video from the scene shows a large projective hitting next to the regional state administration building on Kharkiv’s Freedom Square, causing a huge blast. Aftermath shot on phones from the scene and inside the building, show it shattered with debris strewn around.
Ukraine’s emergency services ministry said at least six people, including one child were injured. It was unclear if anyone was killed.
Kharkiv Mayor Oleg Sinegubov confirmed the strike, calling it a “war crime.”
Monday’s shelling followed a sustained bombardment of civilian areas yesterday and overnight in Kharkiv by Russian heavy artillery, including multiple rocket launchers and an alleged use of cluster munitions.
“What is happening in Kharkiv is a war crime!” Sinegubov wrote on Facebook. “The Russian enemy is shelling whole residential neighborhoods of Kharkiv, where there is no critical infrastructure, no Ukrainian armed forces positions, which the Russians could be targeting.”
Sinegubov accused Russia of conducting the attacks during the day, when civilians were on the street. He said the city’s emergency services are unable to keep up with the number of attacks and injured.
So far at least 11 are dead, with dozens injured, he said.
Russian forces in Kharkiv appear to have shifted tactics to employing heavy artillery indiscriminately against the city, in an apparent effort to bombard and terrorize it into submission.
Sinegubov claimed the Russians were changing tactics because their offensive capabilities on the ground were running out and so they had nothing left but to launch aerial bombardments.
Mar 01, 3:28 am
‘Leave Kyiv urgently today,’ Indian Embassy tells citizens
The Indian Embassy in Kyiv on Tuesday urged Indians still in the capital to “leave Kyiv urgently today.”
“All Indian nationals including students are advised to leave Kyiv urgently today,” the embassy said on Twitter. “Preferably by available trains or through any other means available.”
Mar 01, 2:48 am
’We will fight until the end,’ says Ukrainian parliament member
Solomiia Bobrovska, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, on Monday said Ukrainians would “fight to the end” as they defend Kyiv from a Russian invasion.
“That’s the mood of Ukrainians. We are staying behind altogether, and we do understand that with the total second line staying behind their shoulders. And I think we will fight until the end,” Bobrovska told ABC News’ Linsey Davis.
Mar 01, 12:14 am
Russian troops ‘operational’ near Ukrainian nuclear power plant, agency says
Ukraine said its nuclear power plants are still being operated “safely and securely,” the International Atomic Energy Agency wrote in an update late Monday.
However, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he “remained gravely concerned about maintaining their safety and security during the current conflict.”
Ukraine’s foreign ministry told the IAEA on Monday that Russian troops are “operational” near a functioning nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia, but the troops haven’t entered it so far. Any fighting near nuclear facilities causes alarm, and Ukraine has four sites in total with 15 reactors.
“It is extremely important that the nuclear power plants are not put at risk in any way,” Grossi said in a statement. “An accident involving the nuclear facilities in Ukraine could have severe consequences for public health and the environment.”
The IAEA Board of Governors will hold a meeting Wednesday to discuss the “safety, security and safeguards implications of the situation in Ukraine.”
(NEW YORK) — Even as the pandemic situation sharply improves and protective mandates are lifted, just a third of Americans see the coronavirus as mainly controlled — and six in 10 say it’s more important to try to contain the virus than to lift restrictions on normal activities.
Fifty-eight percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll continue to prioritize controlling the spread of the virus, 20 percentage points more than the share (38%) who say it’s more important to discontinue restrictions.
That’s informed by continued concern about an unpredictable virus that has taken nearly 950,000 American lives and continues to infect nearly 70,000 and kill 1,700 daily. Thirty-four percent see the outbreak as completely or mostly controlled, up from about two in 10 last month (in a Fox News poll of registered voters), but still far from a majority. Half instead say it’s “somewhat” under control.
That said, the most dire views have improved sharply. Just 15% now say the outbreak is “not at all” under control, down sharply from 41% last month, when the omicron surge was in full swing, with a seven-day average of as many as 800,000 daily cases.
The poll, produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates, was completed a day before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped its recommendation of indoor masking for the roughly seven in 10 people who live in areas with low or medium transmission levels. Nearly all states with mask requirements had already discontinued them.
Normal life
Another result points to cautious re-emergence. While 56% say they’ve fully or mostly resumed their pre-coronavirus life, that’s 10 points below its level in July, before the delta and omicron variants spurred record levels of infections. About a quarter say they’ve partly returned to normal; and 16%, barely or not at all. The latter is up from 9% last July.
Returning to normality is associated strongly with views of the pandemic. Among people who see the outbreak as completely or mostly controlled, seven in 10 report having largely resumed their pre-coronavirus life. That falls to 29% who say it’s not at all controlled. Indeed, 48% in this group barely have returned to normal life, if at all.
(NEW YORK) — The number of births declined in the U.S. in 2021 and the COVID-19 pandemic played a role, according to a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday.
Researchers from the National Center for Health Statistics — a branch of the CDC — compared provisional data from the first half of 2021 to final data from the first half of 2020.
They found there were 1.74 million births between January and June of last year, a 2% decline from the 1.78 million births that occurred over the same period in 2020.
The drop was largely driven by the decline in births for the month of January, with 304,000 babies born in January 2020 compared to nearly 277,000 in January 2021 — a 9% decrease.
“The last two or so years have kind of been unparalleled” when it comes to declines in births, Dr. Brady Hamilton, a statistician at the NCHS and co-author of the report, told ABC News. “Certainly the thing that caught our eye — and we already saw a hint when we looked at the data for 2020 compared to 2019 — there was an extremely sharp decline in the number of births in January of 2021 compared to January of 2020.”
However, after that sharp drop, the number of births increased in March and April of last year compared to 2020, before dropping again in May and then rising in June by 3%.
The authors noted this is an improvement from the first year of the pandemic, during which the number of births declined for each month of the first half of 2020 compared to 2019.
The report also found that the number of births declined for all races and ethnicities in the first half of 2021.
White women saw the smallest drop — of less than 1%, from about 916,000 births to 914,000 — and Asian women saw the biggest drop — of 8%, from approximately 110,000 births to 102,000.
Additionally, white, Black, Asian and Hispanic women had the largest declines in January, while American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander women saw their biggest drops in May and February, respectively.
The report also looked at the number of births by state and found 19 states and Washington, D.C., reported fewer births during the first half of 2021 compared to the first half of 2020. Seventeen additional states reported declines, but they were not statistically significant.
The biggest drops were seen in New Mexico and Washington, D.C., with a 5% and 9% decrease, respectively.
Meanwhile, four states — Connecticut, Idaho, New Hampshire and Tennessee — saw a jump in the number of births.
Hamilton and his team said it’s clear the COVID-19 pandemic did play a role in the decline of births, but it’s unclear if it was the sole reason and what pandemic-specific factors led to the decline, such as economic uncertainty and lack of job security.
“While our data comes from the birth certificate and it’s an amazing data set … unfortunately it has limitations and one of those limitations is factors that people consider in terms of having a child, starting a family,” he said. “That’s important because when you look at the impact of the pandemic, what are the mechanisms and how exactly does it happen?”
He continued: “So we see these associations but in terms of teasing out particulars, we sort of have to wait to see until we get survey data which asks those particular questions about the decisions people were making.”
Hamilton did acknowledge that the large decline in January 2021 compared to January 2020 means that women were not getting pregnant around March and April 2020, when the first COVID-19 lockdowns and stay-at-home orders occurred.
“When it comes to looking at these numbers, there is a nine-month lag, so the number of births you see occurring a month reflects what people’s actions were nine months before,” he said. “So that [drop] is very interesting and something we will look at in more detail.”
(WASHINGTON) — It was one of the most consequential weeks of President Joe Biden’s presidency, and it came right before his first State of the Union address to Congress.
Biden’s 9 p.m. ET speech, to be carried live on national television and seen around the world, will be delivered just days after Russia invaded Ukraine — and days after he nominated the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court.
But he’ll also be speaking to Americans suffering from historic inflation as the nation continues to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.
With his job approval at an all-time low of 37%, Biden faces the difficult task of balancing their pain with his desire to reap the political benefits of his legislative wins so far — a massive COVID relief package and a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s infrastructure — while also demonstrating his leadership on one of the greatest threats to European stability since World War II.
Defending democracy in Ukraine
While a president’s annual address to Congress typically ticks through a laundry list of domestic priorities and accomplishments, the war in Ukraine will likely compel Biden to make foreign policy a dominant theme.
“There’s no question that this speech is a little different than it would have been just a few months ago,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday.
It’s a theme that Biden could use to his advantage, demonstrating his taking command as he keeps Western leaders united against a common foreign foe most Americans can recognize: Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In addition to making the crisis something of personal test of wills between himself and Putin, Biden has not shied from presenting the conflict in consequential, historical terms, equating Ukraine’s defense to the fight against autocracy; he often describes the world as facing an “inflection point” during which it’s the United States’ responsibility to show that democracy can still work.
The president has made reaffirming America’s traditional relationships and strengthening international institutions like NATO a hallmark of his first 13 months in office.
Russia’s invasion has strengthened the NATO alliance, as Western nations stand together against Russia.
Biden has made working in lockstep with Europe an overarching principle of his approach, and it’s delivered results: unprecedented, punitive sanctions against Russia; preemptive releases of intelligence information; and at home, some praise from Republicans usually critical of his policies.
After struggling with the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and bringing Iran back to the agreement over its nuclear program, Russia’s invasion presents Biden with the ability to fulfill a campaign promise of returning America to a position of leadership in the world.
And it could lead to a few bipartisan applause lines from Republicans who have supported his approach — rather than the regular, one-sided standing ovations from Democrats.
Economic woes plague Biden’s presidency
But potentially overshadowing Ukraine and Russia in Biden’s speech will be his attempt to show how he’s addressing inflation, which is at a 40-year high, and an economy still struggling to emerge from the pandemic.
Economic discontent is hurting Biden and his party’s midterm election prospects, with six in 10 Americans reporting inflation hardships, three-quarters saying the economy’s in bad shape and a nearly 20-point lead for the Republican Party in trust to handle it, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll.
The president planned to focus on four economic themes, the White House said: increasing domestic manufacturing and strengthening supply chains; reducing costs for families while also reducing the deficit; promoting competition as another way to lower prices; and expanding access to well paying jobs.
Biden will talk about new steps to promote competition in the ocean freight industry and improve nursing home care, the White House said.
Much of what Biden will call for, though, according to the White House, will rely on a reluctant Congress to send him legislation.
Biden fulfilled a major promise last year when he pushed a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, known as the “American Rescue Plan,” through Congress. And the president’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure law was a major accomplishment that will pump money into roads, bridges, airports, waterways, broadband internet, cleaning up lead pipes and more.
Members of Congress, governors and other politicians of both parties have touted the benefits of the infrastructure legislation, which garnered bipartisan support.
But it will take time for many of those projects to come to fruition across the country, and Biden has faced the difficult task of using it to boost his poll numbers in the short term.
But since then, prices for food, gas and other consumer goods have jumped. While the U.S. economy has rebounded to a large degree — with strong recent job growth — wages have not kept up with inflation for most workers.
Psaki said that Biden will “absolutely” talk about inflation, noting it’s “a huge issue on the mind of Americans.”
“He’s going to make clear that one of the best ways to lower costs over the long run is to is to increase the productive capacity of our economy, to make more things in America, with more American workers contributing and earning a good living,” she said.
Meanwhile, though, the war in Ukraine has already contributed to higher energy costs — including gas prices — a political threat for Biden.
Last week, two-thirds of Americans supported imposing economic sanctions on Russia, although only 51% backed them if it meant higher energy prices in the U.S., according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll.
Biden has sought to convince Americans the price is worth it and, together with European nations, has held back from sanctioning Russia’s oil and gas sector, fearing that prices could spike around the world.
“The American people understand,” Biden said earlier this month, “that defending democracy and liberty is never without cost.”
Bringing America out of the pandemic
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, a larger theme likely would have been his stressing a “return to normalcy” to try to keep Americans tired of the pandemic from making him and Democrats pay a big political cost in November’s midterm elections.
Ahead of Biden’s speech, the White House has begun a sweeping overhaul of its COVID-19 strategy that will signal the nation is moving past crisis mode and into a more manageable phase in the pandemic, ABC News has learned.
The new strategy was expected to acknowledge that the virus is less of an urgent threat to most Americans because of widespread access to vaccines, booster shots and testing, as well as increasing availability of therapeutics.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased masking recommendations for most of the country last week, a major shift in the nation’s return to normalcy.
Face coverings will not be required in the House chamber where Biden will speak, a symbolic switch after the president walked in with one on for his address last year.
But the federal guidance came after governors of several liberal-leaning states moved ahead on their own with lifting restrictions. Biden’s reluctance to get ahead of the CDC — and let science lead the way, as he had promised he would do — resulted in an ad hoc shift across the country.
While the delta and omicron variants were major speed bumps to Biden’s plan to bring the U.S. out of the pandemic — and actions his administration has taken on testing and masking have appeared reactive — the State of the Union address gives the president a chance to reframe his plan to curb COVID.
Unfulfilled promises hamper Biden
Heading into the midterm elections later this year — when Republicans could retake Congress — Biden has left many promises unfulfilled.
His “Build Back Better” social plan has fallen by the wayside, after passing the House and stalling out in the Senate. It would provide hundreds of billions of dollars for child care, paid family leave, education, health care and combating climate change; without its passage, a number of Biden’s campaign pledges remain unmet.
A pair of voting rights bills that passed the House have also languished in the Senate, and efforts to reform policing and guns have not been met with success.
Biden had promised to tackle climate change and racial equity as key priorities, but he has not been able to gain bipartisan support to do so, despite his pledge to soften political divisions.
(WASHINGTON) — The nation’s capital is ramping up security ahead of President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Up to 700 National Guard troops will “be available to help local law enforcement,” according to the National Guard, and an inner-perimeter fence once again surrounds the Capitol. The Guard announced that these enhanced security measures will be in place through March 7.
The security precautions were put in place to prepare for protests, including truckers against COVID mandates.
On Wednesday, a group of right-wing truckers called the “People’s Convoy,” began a cross-country haul from California to D.C. to protest COVID-19 mandates and restrictions.
It comes in the wake of Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” truckers who forcibly occupied the Ambassador Bridge, connecting Detroit, Michigan with Ontario, Canada, while protesting COVID-19 vaccination mandates in Canada.
Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger announced the fence surrounding the Capitol was erected “out of an abundance of caution in light of the upcoming State of the Union Address, and the possibility of demonstrations in the next couple of weeks,” according to a statement released on Sunday.
The United States Capitol Police have also been working in tandem with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies including D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, the United States Park Police, the United States Secret Service and the National Guard on a “security plan to prevent any disruption to the important work of Congress,” Manger said.
The fencing, which became politicized following the Jan. 6 riot, was not welcome news to some Republicans.
On Sunday, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the use of resources for extra security should instead be sent to the border.
“Those National Guard and that fencing should be in America but they should be along our borders not around the people’s house,” McCarthy said on Fox. “The people’s house should be open to the people.”
On the other side of the aisle, Washington, D.C. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton — who last year introduced a bill to block permanent fencing at the Capitol complex — released a statement saying while she understands “security concerns related to the trucker convoy and the State of the Union address that led to the fencing being temporarily reinstalled” she will “ensure that the fencing comes down as soon as possible to restore freedom of movement for District of Columbia residents and the general public.”
The request for National Guard troops to D.C. was approved by many surrounding states including Vermont, New Jersey and West Virginia but was not approved by Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis tweeted “there will be no @FLGuard sent to D.C. for Biden’s State of the Union.”
(WASHINGTON) — Masks will no longer be required in the House chamber when President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address Tuesday night, a major reversal in the politically controversial policy that reinforces his message that the pandemic is receding and America is getting back to something closer to normal.
On Sunday, the U.S. Capitol’s attending physician lifted a mask mandate for lawmakers inside the House chamber just two days before Biden’s nationally televised prime-time speech.
The new guidance sharply reduces the chances of a potential confrontation with Republican lawmakers who don’t believe masks are necessary and violate their freedom.
“Individuals may choose to mask at any time, but it is no longer a requirement,” Capitol physician Brian Monahan said in a memo shared Sunday, saying masks in the House chamber and elsewhere on the Capitol grounds are now optional after about two years of being required.
All 535 members of Congress are also invited to attend Biden’s address this year due to the relaxed coronavirus measures, a marked difference from last year’s address, when only 200 members showed up due to stringent COVID-19 policies.
The shift in guidance comes just two weeks after the Capitol physician and House sergeant at arms initially warned that attendees must wear a KN95/N95 mask to Biden’s speech and if they refused, they would risk being removed from the chamber or fined.
Republicans have sought for months to reverse House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s mandate, even going as far as filing a federal lawsuit.
It’s unclear at this point how many Republican lawmakers will actually show up to hear Biden’s address in person, but at least two Republicans have announced they will not attend due to other COVID requirements for attendees, which include getting a COVID test at least one day before the speech.
“I don’t have time to go take a COVID test today. I only take a test if I’m sick,” GOP Sen. Marco Rubio told reporters Monday.
GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas tweeted in response to Rubio’s statement late Monday: “Same. I will not attend.”
The move to remove the mask mandate at the Capitol ahead of Biden’s speech highlights the quickly evolving conditions of the pandemic and how eager some Democrats, including the president himself, are about projecting a “return to normalcy.”
Monahan noted in his letter that the “Washington DC region is now in the ‘green level’ or low level in this new CDC schema allowing for reduction in coronavirus prevention measures such as coronavirus testing frequency and indoor mask wear.”
He added that positive COVID-19 test rates at the Capitol are down to 2.7% in the last two weeks, below the current rate for the D.C. Metropolitan area of 4.7%.
Monahan’s announcement came just after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also updated its mask guidance late last week, easing its recommendations on masks for most Americans living in communities with “low” or “medium” levels of coronavirus.
This all comes as many governors — many of them Democrats — are also easing up on mask mandates.
On Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki denied Biden had any role in masks not being required in the House chamber for his speech.
“The president is very powerful, but he couldn’t make us be in the green zone that we’re in right now in D.C., that’s why we are not required, we’re not going to be required to wear masks starting tomorrow,” she said, referring to D.C. and the White House lifting mask mandates as of March 1.
“For him, it had nothing to do with the timing around the State of the Union,” she added. “He wanted to give the CDC the time to assess and make recommendations that would be clear to the American public about what their recommendations would be for mask wearing moving forward.”
A White House official confirmed to ABC News that masks will no longer be required for fully vaccinated individuals on the White House campus, either, starting Tuesday.
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Four people were killed, including three children, after a gunman opened fire at a church in Sacramento, California.
The shooting took place at The Church in Sacramento in the Arden-Arcade neighborhood, where the suspect opened fire in the main sanctuary area on Monday just after 5 p.m., Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Rod Grassmann told reporters during a news conference.
Three of the victims were the children of the suspected gunman, Grassmann said. The fourth victim was supervising a court-ordered visit between the man and his children.
All of the victims were dead when first responders arrived. The suspect died by suicide, Grassmann said.
The church’s pastor called 911 around 5:07 p.m. after he heard the gunshots, ABC Sacramento affiliate KXTV reported.
When deputies arrived, they found the body of an adult male, along with his three daughters aged 9, 10 and 13, inside the sanctuary.
The mother had a restraining order against the children’s father. She was not in the building at the time of the shooting.
Investigators have labeled the shooting as a domestic violence incident, Grassmann said.
The sheriff’s office asked residents to stay away from the area near the church due to a large police presence.
Investigators are asking anyone who may have been in the vicinity of Wyda Way to call 911 to provide a witness account.
(NEW YORK) — Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are displaced, on the front lines of battle with Russia or awaiting the end of the invasion from their homes after Russia began its attack on Ukraine in the early morning of Feb. 24.
Now, many around the world are left wondering how to help Ukrainians amid the onslaught.
Here are some ways to support the effort:
Razom for Ukraine
The nonprofit is collecting donations for its emergency response project to provide medical supplies, humanitarian aid and support volunteers on the ground.
The group is also partnering with other Ukrainian-targeted organizations like Nova Ukraine, United Help Ukraine, Revived Soldiers Ukraine, Sunflower for Peace and Euromaidan-Warszava, according to its website.
The organization says it will use funds to purchase “tourniquets, bandages, combat gauzes, sterile pads, and satellite phones.” It also says it is arranging “warehouses and points of delivery in Poland and Ukraine.”
Global Giving
The charity organization GlobalGiving has started a Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund which will provide shelter, food, and water to the 500,000 refugees and counting. The money will also be used for health and psychosocial care, as well as education and economic assistance, according to the organization’s website.
“All donations to the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund will support humanitarian assistance in impacted communities in Ukraine and surrounding regions where Ukrainian refugees have fled,” the fund page reads. “GlobalGiving’s local partners are bringing relief to terrified and displaced communities, and they need resources to continue their life-saving work.”
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee is collecting financial donations that will go toward supporting resources and aid to displaced families.
The organization specializes in helping refugees around the world who have been forced from their homes. They target communities where people lack vital resources for resettlement and recovery from crises.
They also play a vital role in resettlement efforts in the United States.
Doctors Without Borders
Doctors Without Borders, an organization that provides medical care during humanitarian crises, still has workers in Ukraine despite the ongoing conflict.
Donations to Doctors Without Borders will fund these services as well as mass casualty kits, emergency medicine and preparedness training for local hospitals and more.
“[The] teams in Ukraine are deeply worried about the consequences of the conflict for Ukrainian people and communities,” the website read. “As hostilities continue, ensuring people’s access to health care and medicines will be critical. Our teams are looking into how they can adapt MSF’s activities to respond.”
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the refugee agency for the United Nations, is accepting donations to provide health care, legal assistance and on-the-ground supply support to refugees from Ukraine.
“UNHCR has stepped up our operations and capacity in Ukraine and neighbouring countries,” the organization’s website read. “We remain firmly committed to support all affected populations in Ukraine and countries in the region.”
Airbnb
The online rental company Airbnb announced that it will offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine via its non-profit initiative Airbnb.org.
The organization urges anyone interested in opening up their homes to refugees to get involved: “We know that Hosts and guests on Airbnb around the world will be eager to stand up and assist this massive effort to help those fleeing Ukraine,” a statement from Airbnb.org read.
“[Airbnb.org] will work closely with governments to best support the specific needs in each country, including by providing longer-term stays,” the statement continued.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will deliver the State of the Union address Tuesday night amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, changing public health guidance around COVID-19 and as the nomination process for his Supreme Court pick gets underway.
Shortly after, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver the GOP response to Biden’s speech.
Coverage will air on Tuesday from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET on ABC. The speech is being broadcast on ABC stations, as well as Hulu, Roku, YouTube TV, Amazon Fire tablets and TV stick, Xumo, Sling TV, Facebook, Twitter, ABCNews.com and the ABC News and ABC mobile apps.
Biden, whose address begins at 9 p.m. ET, is expected to speak on a variety of issues facing the nation, with a specific focus on the economy as inflation soars and supply chain problems create shortages across the country.
ABC News Live will stream from Capitol Hill throughout the day, with live coverage of the State of the Union address beginning at 8 p.m. ET and a roundtable with Houston voters on what they hope to hear from the president’s speech. At 11 p.m. ET, ABC News Live will feature lawmakers from both sides of the aisle reacting to the speeches.
ABC News Digital will have an up-to-the-minute live blog, key takeaways focusing on main themes, an analysis of the speeches’ political implications and full transcripts of and reaction to the remarks.
