(CABO ROJO, Puerto Rico) — Three federal marine agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection were shot at after they approached a suspected smuggling boat off the coast of Puerto Rico Thursday morning, officials said.
The agents returned fire at the suspected smuggling vessel, which was about 14 miles off the coast of Cabo Rojo, according to a statement from Customs and Border Protection.
The agents “suffered various gunshot injuries” and were airlifted to the Puerto Rico Trauma Center in unknown conditions, according to the statement.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at a congressional hearing Thursday that one member of CBP’s Air and Marine operation was “gravely injured” and four others were shot at during the situation in Puerto Rico. He said he was briefed on the shooting early Thursday morning.
“The difficulty of this job cannot be compared to the difficulty that our front-line personnel face every day,” he said, alluding to his own role.
ABC News’ Luke Barr contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Hundreds of Starbucks employees went on strike Thursday, amid the coffee chain’s busy holiday season, to protest working conditions and push company leaders to recognize workers’ unionizing efforts at stores nationwide and meet them at the bargaining table.
The protest took place on Starbucks’ Red Cup Day, as the company rolled out its annual holiday themed red cups and gave out limited-edition reusable versions of the cups to customers ordering holiday or fall beverages.
More than 1,000 members of the Starbucks Workers Union picketed outside of over 100 stores across the country for what they called the “Red Cup Rebellion.”
Union leaders sent a mass email to media and union members with details of the strike, which it described as the “biggest coordinated national action taken by union Starbucks stores in the campaign’s history.”
The email stated that the strike was a “response to Starbucks’ union-busting tactics and refusal to bargain,” and noted that striking workers would be “handing out red Starbucks Workers United union cups to customers instead.”
As customers headed in to order coffee and get their hands on the collectible holiday reusable cups, many baristas said they would walk out in protest.
“Despite being the face of the company, Starbucks partners are underpaid, forced to run perpetually understaffed stores, and don’t have consistent schedules they can rely on,” the union email stated. “Conditions like these are what lead Starbucks partners nationwide to begin their unionization efforts seeing the private jets and million-dollar bonuses the company can afford to provide their executives with. Now, Starbucks partners are demanding the right to organize a union free of intimidation and fear.”
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders voiced his support for the group’s efforts on Twitter Thursday morning.
“I’m proud to stand with Starbucks workers on strike today across the country. CEO Howard Schultz is illegally union busting and firing workers for organizing. Mr. Schultz, it is time to recognize the stores that unionized and negotiate with workers in good faith,” he wrote.
Michelle Eisen, a worker from the first unionized Starbucks store in the U.S. at Elmwood Ave. in Buffalo, New York, wrote in the email that workers are “organizing for a voice on the job and a true seat at the table.”
“Starbucks has left behind the very values that drew many of us to the company in the first place. You cannot be pro-LGTBQ, pro-BLM, pro-sustainability, and anti-union,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Seattle-based coffee chain told ABC News the company was aware of the scheduled union demonstrations at a small number of their U.S. stores.
“In those locations where partners choose to participate, we respect their right to engage in lawful protest activity – though our focus has been, and continues to be, on uplifting the Starbucks experience for our partners and customers,” they said. “We remain committed to all partners and will continue to work together, side-by-side, to make Starbucks a company that works for everyone.”
Additionally, the spokesperson clarified that “counter to what the union has shared, Starbucks has continued to engage Workers United representatives in a good faith effort to move the bargaining process forward.”
“As a result of our efforts, we’ve shown up to more than 50 bargaining sessions across the country and have another 60 scheduled in the coming weeks,” they said.
Starbucks Workers United, which represents over 260 locations and nearly 7,000 workers, has formed more new unions in a 12-month period than any U.S. company in the last 20 years.
In September, Starbucks said it had sent out letters to 234 stores to schedule bargaining sessions the following month. “We look forward to these negotiations and hopefully setting dates and securing locations for contract bargaining.”
However talks broke down after union members asked to allow some workers to join bargaining sessions over Zoom, with company officials walking out of those sessions only minutes after they had begun, citing federal regulations.
“The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) prohibits any party from making recordings or transcripts of contract negotiations because such actions ‘inhibit the free and open discussion necessary for conducting successful bargaining,’ ” the company wrote in a statement on Oct. 28.
Union members also issued a statement at that time. “Workers across the country were planning on presenting a set of core non-economic proposals that workers debuted on social media over the past few weeks,” they wrote. “The Union will be filing a new NLRB charge over the Company’s latest refusal to bargain in good faith.”
The National Labor Relations Board has issued 39 official complaints against Starbucks, encompassing over 900 alleged violations of federal labor law, according to the union.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Raphael Warnock’s campaign is expanding its field organizing program, offering a look into the areas his team is focusing on ahead of the Dec. 6 runoff against Republican Herschel Walker.
As Georgia’s Senate candidates look to drive turnout ahead of the state’s shortened runoff cycle, Warnock has added roughly 300 paid staffers and new offices across the state to his voter contact program, his campaign said — increasing the direct voter contact programs to 18 counties and 19 offices across the state, and more than 900 paid staffers, according to details shared first with ABC News.
Campaign officials claimed the added investments and staff capacity would allow the campaign to knock on more doors during the four-week runoff than in the 16 weeks leading up to the general election, in which Warnock narrowly beat out Walker but failed to crack the 50% threshold required to win.
The voter contact program will be placed in priority counties for the Warnock campaign: Bibb, Chatham, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Columbia, DeKalb, Dougherty, Douglas, Floyd, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Lowndes, Muscogee, Newton, Richmond and Rockdale.
These are either in core urban and suburban areas around Atlanta, include some of the state’s other big cities (like Augusta and Savannah) or are in the “Black belt” in Southern Georgia.
Three of the counties on the list voted for Walker in November’s election: Columbia, Floyd and Lowndes. But the Warnock campaign pinpointed these areas as ones where they believe he has an opportunity to eat into the margin.
In the November race, Walker received roughly 200,000 fewer votes than his Republican ticket-mate Gov. Brian Kemp. In those specific three counties the Warnock campaign is focused on, Walker underperformed Kemp by 5% in Columbia, in Floyd by 6% and by 3% in Lowndes.
Warnock finished less than 1% ahead of Walker in the general election, falling just shy of the cutoff needed to avoid a runoff. About 2% of voters went for Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver, who will not be on the December ballot.
In a battleground state like Georgia, where razor-thin margins have recently determined the outcome of federal elections, the campaigns see an incentive in face-to-face contact. Especially in a political climate up against potentially apathetic voters being asked to show up to the polls once again.
“Reverend Warnock knows what it takes to win a runoff in Georgia,” Warnock campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika. “The Warnock campaign has built a robust field operation to turn out voters across the state and re-elect Reverend Warnock.”
The expanded field program also comes as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced it was spending $7 million on field organizing.
Democrats and Republicans alike are concentrating their efforts on getting supporters to the polls. The Mitch McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) announced last week it’s funding a ground game for the first time, investing $2 million to take over Kemp’s data and analytics operation.
“We’re in overtime,” Walker, a former football player, said at a recent stop.
(WASHINGTON) — Tyson Fresh Meats has recalled about 93,697 pounds of raw ground beef products, saying it may be contaminated with “extraneous materials, specifically reflective mirror-like material,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Wednesday.
The affected ground beef was produced on Nov. 2 and shipped to retail locations in Texas, including H-E-B grocery stores, according to the agency.
The three recalled items include 5- and 10-pound packages of Hill Country Fare ground beef 73% lean/27% fat with a best before or freeze by date of Nov. 25, 2022, and 5-pound containers of H-E-B Ground Chuck Ground Beef 80% lean/20% fat.
The recalled products have establishment number “EST. 245E” on the seam of the container, the FSIS said.
“The problem was discovered when the firm notified FSIS that they received consumer complaints reporting findings of ‘mirror-like’ material in ground beef products purchased from grocery stores,” the FSIS said.
The agency and company told consumers not to eat the contaminated ground beef.
“These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase,” FSIS state in the recall.
There have been no confirmed reports of injury or illness from the recalled beef.
(NEW YORK) — The world’s population reached eight billion people on Tuesday, according to a report by the United Nations’ population division.
“This year’s World Population Day falls during a milestone year, when we anticipate the birth of the Earth’s eight billionth inhabitant. This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognize our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a news release. “At the same time, it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another.”
According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, India will surpass China as the world’s most populous country next year.
The global population has been growing at its slowest rate since the 1950s, falling under 1% in 2020.
The latest projections by the U.N. show the global population may reach 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050. It is projected to peak at around 10.4 billion during the 2080s and remain at that level until 2100.
According to the U.N., it took 12 years for the global population to go from seven billion to eight billion.
In recent decades, fertility has dipped in many countries. Around two-thirds of the world’s population lives in a country or area where lifetime fertility is under 2.1 births per woman, which is the level needed for no growth in the long term for a population with low mortality, according to the U.N.
Over half of the projected global population growth up to 2050 will happen in eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday will address her “future plans” in Democratic leadership, according to her spokesperson, a decision that will have a major impact on Democrats in their new position as House minority.
“Speaker Pelosi has been overwhelmed by calls from colleagues, friends and supporters. This evening, the Speaker monitored results in the three remaining critical states. The Speaker plans to address her future plans tomorrow to her colleagues. Stay tuned,” spokesperson Drew Hammill said in a statement to ABC News.
It’s not clear whether the 82-year-old speaker will make a floor speech or when, but a source told ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott Pelosi took home two different versions of floor speeches Wednesday night.
Pelosi — the first woman to hold House speakership — is the Democratic party’s longest-serving House leader.
On Sunday — when a House majority had not yet been called — Pelosi would not say on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos if she would run for the role again, should Democrats remain in control.
“I’m not — right now, I’ve said I’m not making any comments until this election is finished, and we have a little more time to go,” she said, noting that she had no plans to leave Congress.
Pelosi has said the attack on her husband Paul would impact her decision to stay in House leadership post-midterms. Prior to the attack, several members have a called for a younger generation of Democratic leadership. The top three Democrats in the House are all in their eighties.
The news comes just hours following ABC News projections that Republicans had officially won majority control in the U.S. House, ending a four-year Democratic majority despite a strong midterm showing for the party.
“This year, House Democrats defied expectations with an excellent performance: running their races with courage, optimism and determination. In the next Congress, House Democrats will continue to play a leading role in supporting President Biden’s agenda — with strong leverage over a scant Republican majority,” Pelosi said on Wednesday in a memo.
(NEW YORK) — Social media is abuzz with people sharing stories about weight loss using Ozempic, a drug designed to regulate insulin.
Now, doctors are weighing in with context about this influential drug.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Ozempic, also known as semaglutide, as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes alongside diet and exercise if other medications cannot control blood sugar levels well enough.
Studies show patients with Type 2 diabetes — a chronic condition in which the body doesn’t respond to insulin well — who take Ozempic can even reduce risk of heart disease.
Although Ozempic is not explicitly approved for chronic weight management, it can be prescribed off-label and used safely for people who are obese.
Another drug called Wegovy is essentially the same injectable drug prescribed at a higher dosage.
The FDA has specifically approved Wegovy for patients with severe obesity, or who are overweight and have one or more weight-associated conditions like high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
Both drugs are currently in shortage, according to the FDA.
Doctors say both drugs are important options for people with obesity and diabetes. More than 40% of Americans are obese and 10% of Americans have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Obesity is a complex disease. It’s all encompassing of genetic, occupational, hormonal, physical, mental, and social factors,” said Dr. Marlena Klein, DO, DABOM, obesity medicine specialist at Cooper University Health Care. “Patients have hugged me in the office and said I’ve changed their life because it allowed them to make changes.”
She continues, “It was like this was a missing piece in trying to get this disease under control.”
People who don’t have diabetes or obesity can still be prescribed the drug “off-label” but they may have to pay out of pocket, which could cost $800 to $1,400 for a one-month supply.
Since they hit the market, both Ozempic and Wegovy have been in high demand, both for on-label and off-label use.
Novo Nordisk, the company that makes both drugs, says it is currently experiencing “intermittent supply disruptions” of Ozempic due to “incredible demand” paired with supply chain constraints.
Because weight loss is a major concern in the United States, experts hope more patients can have access to these medications very soon.
Semaglutide works by helping the pancreas release insulin to move sugar from the blood into body tissues.
It also works by slowing down movement of food through the stomach and curbing appetite, thereby causing weight loss. It cannot be given to patients with certain medical conditions, including medullary thyroid cancer, pancreatitis, or gallstones.
Side effects can include severe nausea and constipation.
Its safety has not yet been established in minors.
Doctors will start out with a low dose of the injection and increase the dose after four weeks based on your body’s response.
Dr. Louis J. Arrone, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine & New York Presbyterian, said that in his practice, patients have been turning to Ozempic because Wegovy is in such short supply.
Novo Nordisk said it is on track to make Wegovy more widely available in December, and that a broad commercial re-launch is expected next year.
Doctors say that any patient having a hard time accessing Ozempic or Wegovy due to the current national shortage should speak to their primary care doctor or endocrinologist about alternative options within the same class of medications.
There are oral forms and other injectable forms that can be administered daily or weekly.
(BETHLEHEM, Pa.) — Hundreds of homes are being evacuated and the American Red Cross is responding after a gasoline tanker overturned early Thursday morning spilling thousands of gallons of fuel.
The American Red Cross Greater Pennsylvania Region confirms they are responding to a “significant fuel oil spill affecting hundreds of homes” in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
“At the request of Northampton EMA, we are responding to the area of Paul Ave & West Union Blvd in Bethlehem (PA) following a significant fuel oil spill affecting hundreds of homes,” the American Red Cross said in a tweet regarding the incident on social media. “Currently, we are providing canteen services to responders, mobilizing shelter teams to support the evacuation site, and coordinating with local officials to determine community needs and next steps. This response (& spill) is still active.”
A local middle school campus is being used as a shelter for displaced families and are operating on a two-hour delay to opening as a result.
“Due to a fuel spill on the west side of Bethlehem, our school is being used as a shelter for displaced families,” according to a statement posted on the Bethlehem Area School District’s website. “We will delay the opening of school for two hours to ensure that our building is ready to function normally for students and staff while also serving our community’s needs.”
(NEW YORK) — After travel came to a halt during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, travelers are once again on the move and new data shows there’s no sign of demand slowing during the upcoming season.
Tripadvisor has released its Seasonal Travel Index, which surveyed an array of travelers from the U.S., U.K., Singapore, Japan and Australia to get a snapshot of winter travel plans and trends from December 2022 through February 2023.
The seasonal travel report found that nearly 6 in 10 Americans, around 59%, are planning a vacation this winter. Some 93% of U.S. travelers said they will travel the same amount or more than they did last winter, which was a higher percentage than any other country surveyed.
Sixty-seven percent of global travelers surveyed by the travel platform indicated upcoming trips with more than half of respondents noting that they expect to spend more money on upcoming trips compared to last year.
With inflation weighing on consumer spending, Tripadvisor found that a third of respondents will “likely travel less or for shorter lengths than previously planned” and that 30% of people plan to vacation closer to home than before.
Cost and affordability were nearly twice as important to respondents as other factors, such as trip length and trip type for vacations, which Tripadvisor said was consistent with previous index findings.
“The majority of global travelers (57%) plan to travel domestically this upcoming season, however, the propensity to take international trips has increased (from 40% to 43%) since the previous Seasonal Travel Index,” TripAdvisor stated in a press release. “With winter on the horizon in the northern hemisphere, the most popular global destinations feature a mix of major global cities like Paris, London and New York, along with winter sun favorites such as Cancun, Dubai and Punta Cana.”
American respondents also showed a 3% higher propensity for foreign trips compared to the previous report.
When it comes to new global destinations with the largest year-over-year growth, Tripadvisor found that Asia-Pacific countries landed in the top 10 spots as a result of many reopening to international travelers or loosening restrictions over the past 12 months.
Alice Jong, research and insights senior analyst at Tripadvisor, explained that the recovery out of the pandemic has pointed to more positive signs “with traveler intent data showing strong demand for long-haul and international travel.”
While the majority of U.S. travelers reported plans for one to two trips, 6% plan to travel six or more times from December through February.
Seventy-eight percent of Americans have domestic travel plans with a majority of those planning to return to a destination they have already visited, and 22% will travel internationally.
Top 10 domestic travel destinations for December through February
Florida has proven to be particularly popular this time of year with four cities landing in the top 10 destinations for American travelers:
1. New York City
2. Orlando
3. Las Vegas
4. Honolulu
5. Key West
6. Lahaina
7. Miami Beach
8. New Orleans
9. Fort Lauderdale
10. Anaheim
Top 10 international travel destinations for December through February
Four major cities in Mexico and four destinations in the Caribbean are particularly popular during this time period:
1. Cancun, Mexico
2. Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
3. Punta Cana, Caribbean
4. Playa del Carmen, Mexico
5. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
6. Paris, France
7. Palm – Eagle Beach, Caribbean
8. Bavaro, Caribbean
9. Montego Bay, Caribbean
10. London, U.K.
The data for the index was gathered by a Tripadvisor Consumer Sentiment Survey, drawn from an online pool of over 2,100 consumers across six countries in partnership with Qualtrics. Additionally, Tripadvisor gathered behavioral data sourced from its first-party traffic on the platform from October 2022 with searches made by travelers in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Japan and Singapore for travel between Dec. 1, 2022 through Feb. 28, 2023.
(UVALDE, Texas) — The Uvalde school board on Wednesday unanimously approved the hiring of an interim school district chief of police, Josh Gutierrez, to fill the gap left after the August ousting of the then-chief of police, Pete Arredondo.
“This is our first step in taking to rebuild our school district police force with baby steps, with very careful consideration of who comes into the department — people with integrity and professionalism,” said Uvalde Interim Superintendent Gary Patterson, during his first school board meeting in his new role.
Since Oct. 7, the entire district police force present during the May 24 massacre that saw 19 children and two teachers killed has been on suspension. Gutierrez will start in his new role Thursday.
Gutierrez most recently served as the director of Bexar County Learning Center, a school located inside a juvenile correction center in San Antonio.
Patterson said he has known Gutierrez for more than a decade and has worked with him in previous school districts. In addition to being a police officer, Gutierrez has served in several instructional and administrative roles in various Texas schools.
Gutierrez declined to answer questions after his approval.
Patterson also revealed that the Uvalde school district will forge a partnership with East Central School District because it has been declared an official certified training site for active shooter training, emergency operations training, school resource officer training, and gun and rifle training.
“We will have a close working relationship with them so we can get the training right away,” Patterson said about the new police force.
Additionally, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) contributed a blueprint to Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District — written by retired and active police chiefs around the state — on how to build a police force for a school.
“My observation as an outsider is that many times we’ve seen this room filled with a lack of trust, anger and frustration,” Patterson said at the start of the meeting. “My hope is that we can all work to make that better.”
The theme of rebuilding lasted throughout the school board meeting Wednesday.
The board also unanimously approved a plan to build a new $50 million school two miles from the site of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, ensuring the demolition of the building where 21 lives were taken.
The new building concept, which was first presented to the community on Monday, plans to break ground next summer, opening its doors to hundreds of elementary school students in the fall of 2024.
The board approved the motion for site selection of the new elementary school, as well as the spaces and conceptual design.
The plan was one that involved dozens of Uvaldeans. Since mid-August, a community advisory committee has met six times to discuss the building, what it should look like and who it should serve. Members traveled to other communities to survey the options. The proposed concept derived from their discussions, said Natalia Arias, co-chair of the committee.
“With this evening’s approval of the site and conceptual design by the UCISD school board, we now move to the schematic design phase of the project,” Tim Miller, executive director of the Uvalde CISD Moving Forward Foundation, said.
