(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Nicholas is closing in on Texas where a hurricane watch has been issued along the coast.
Nicholas, now churning with 60 mph winds, could strengthen to a hurricane when it makes landfall Monday (hurricanes have 74 mph or higher winds).
Nicholas is slow moving and will likely remain in Texas from Monday to Wednesday.
Flash flooding is possible along the Texas coast, including Houston. Some areas could see about 1 foot of rain.
Storm surge could be as high as 5 feet south of Galveston.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner in a tweet Monday morning urged residents to stay off the roads.
In Louisiana, where residents are still recovering from the devastating hurricanes Laura and Ida, Gov. John Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency.
“The most severe threat to Louisiana is in the Southwest portion of the state, where recovery from Hurricane Laura and the May flooding is ongoing. In this area heavy rain and flash flooding are possible,” the governor said in a statement. “However, it is also likely that all of South Louisiana will see heavy rain this week, including areas recently affected by Hurricane Ida. This tropical storm has the potential to disrupt some power restoration and recovery work currently underway.”
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 655,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.6 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 62.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Sep 12, 9:14 pm
Nearly 74% of eligible Americans have at least 1 vaccine dose
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its latest vaccine numbers Sunday afternoon and revealed that over 209.2 million Americans 12 and older have received a COVID-19 vaccine dose.
That represents 73.8% of all Americans 12 and older, the agency said.
In 13 states, over 80% of the population has at least one dose, CDC data shows.
Hawaii is in the lead, as 88% of its residents have at least one shot, according to the CDC. West Virginia is last, as just 54.6% of its residents over 12 have at least one dose, the CDC data shows.
More than 40.9 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the U.S. since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
And more than 659,000 Americans have been killed by the virus.
Sep 11, 4:25 pm
West Hollywood orders restaurants, bars and gyms to require vaccination proof indoors
The city of West Hollywood, California, issued an emergency executive order Friday requiring patrons to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter the indoor portions of businesses such as restaurants, bars and gyms.
The order comes “as the transmission rate of the COVID-19 delta variant remains high in Los Angeles and throughout the entire nation,” the city said in news release.
Anyone 18 or older must show proof of vaccination prior to entering “any indoor portion of a facility, subject only to certain exceptions.” The requirement should be enacted “as soon as possible but no later than Oct. 11,” according to the order.
Individuals who do not provide proof of full vaccination will be allowed to use outdoor portions of business facilities.
Other businesses affected by the order include nightclubs, theaters, cannabis consumption lounges and entertainment venues as well as yoga studios and tattoo parlors.
Employees 18 and older and all affected businesses must “ensure all staff who routinely work onsite provide proof of full vaccination before entering or working in any indoor portion of the facility” by Nov. 1.
Sep 11, 3:01 pm
74 million in US eligible for vaccine but remain unvaccinated
Some 74 million Americans eligible for the vaccine still aren’t vaccinated, White House COVID-19 Data Director Cyrus Shahpar said Saturday.
Still, many are flocking to get their shots with “+903K doses reported administered over yesterday’s total,” Shahpar said, with 395,000 of them being new vaccinations.
Sep 10, 9:13 pm
Texas suing 6 school districts over mask mandates
The Texas attorney general has filed lawsuits against six school districts that mandate masks, the office said Friday.
The lawsuits target the school districts of Richardson, Round Rock, Galveston, Elgin, Spring and Sherman for flouting Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order prohibiting local entities from requiring masks — what Texas Attorney General Ken Paxon referred to in a statement as “acts of political defiance.”
In a statement to ABC News, Sylvia Wood, a spokesperson for Spring Independent School District, said the district had yet to be served and had no details about the lawsuit beyond a press release.
“Spring ISD will let the legal process unfold and allow the courts to decide the merits of the case,” Wood said.
Elgin Independent School District Superintendent Jodi Duron also told ABC News the school district had not been served yet, and that schools in Travis County, part of Elgin ISD, are required to have students wear masks. “To the District’s knowledge, the Travis County Order has not been suspended,” she said.
Round Rock Independent School District spokesperson Jenny LaCoste-Caputo told ABC News the school district is following Texas Education Agency guidance that allows for mask requirements “for adults or students for whom it is developmentally appropriate” and is working with local authorities “who advise us that masks remain an essential tool in stemming the spread of COVID-19 in our classrooms.”
Sherman Independent School District told ABC News in a statement that it had not received any information on the lawsuit yet and for now “will continue to focus on promoting a safe and healthy learning environment for our students and staff.”
ABC News has reached out to the other school districts for comment.
Nearly 90 school districts currently have mask mandates, according to a list compiled by Paxton’s office. The attorney general anticipates more lawsuits if school districts “continue to defy state law,” his office said in a statement.
Several school districts have sued the state to challenge the ban on mask mandates.
Last week, the Texas Education Agency said it is not enforcing the governor’s executive order “as the result of ongoing litigation.”
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 659,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.6 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 63% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Sep 13, 9:35 am
North Carolina school board votes to stop quarantines, contact tracing
In Union County, North Carolina, the school board voted Monday to end quarantines and contact tracing, meaning students can go to school even if they’ve been in close contact with someone who tested positive, ABC Charlotte affiliate WSOC reported.
Students and staff can only stay home if they test positive or have symptoms, WSOC said.
Sep 12, 9:14 pm
Nearly 74% of eligible Americans have at least 1 vaccine dose
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its latest vaccine numbers Sunday afternoon and revealed that over 209.2 million Americans 12 and older have received a COVID-19 vaccine dose.
That represents 73.8% of all Americans 12 and older, the agency said.
In 13 states, over 80% of the population has at least one dose, CDC data shows.
Hawaii is in the lead, as 88% of its residents have at least one shot, according to the CDC. West Virginia is last, as just 54.6% of its residents over 12 have at least one dose, the CDC data shows.
More than 40.9 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the U.S. since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
And more than 659,000 Americans have been killed by the virus.
Sep 11, 4:25 pm
West Hollywood orders restaurants, bars and gyms to require vaccination proof indoors
The city of West Hollywood, California, issued an emergency executive order Friday requiring patrons to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter the indoor portions of businesses such as restaurants, bars and gyms.
The order comes “as the transmission rate of the COVID-19 delta variant remains high in Los Angeles and throughout the entire nation,” the city said in news release.
Anyone 18 or older must show proof of vaccination prior to entering “any indoor portion of a facility, subject only to certain exceptions.” The requirement should be enacted “as soon as possible but no later than Oct. 11,” according to the order.
Individuals who do not provide proof of full vaccination will be allowed to use outdoor portions of business facilities.
Other businesses affected by the order include nightclubs, theaters, cannabis consumption lounges and entertainment venues as well as yoga studios and tattoo parlors.
Employees 18 and older and all affected businesses must “ensure all staff who routinely work onsite provide proof of full vaccination before entering or working in any indoor portion of the facility” by Nov. 1.
Sep 11, 3:01 pm
74 million in US eligible for vaccine but remain unvaccinated
Some 74 million Americans eligible for the vaccine still aren’t vaccinated, White House COVID-19 Data Director Cyrus Shahpar said Saturday.
Still, many are flocking to get their shots with “+903K doses reported administered over yesterday’s total,” Shahpar said, with 395,000 of them being new vaccinations.
Sep 10, 9:13 pm
Texas suing 6 school districts over mask mandates
The Texas attorney general has filed lawsuits against six school districts that mandate masks, the office said Friday.
The lawsuits target the school districts of Richardson, Round Rock, Galveston, Elgin, Spring and Sherman for flouting Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order prohibiting local entities from requiring masks — what Texas Attorney General Ken Paxon referred to in a statement as “acts of political defiance.”
In a statement to ABC News, Sylvia Wood, a spokesperson for Spring Independent School District, said the district had yet to be served and had no details about the lawsuit beyond a press release.
“Spring ISD will let the legal process unfold and allow the courts to decide the merits of the case,” Wood said.
Elgin Independent School District Superintendent Jodi Duron also told ABC News the school district had not been served yet, and that schools in Travis County, part of Elgin ISD, are required to have students wear masks. “To the District’s knowledge, the Travis County Order has not been suspended,” she said.
Round Rock Independent School District spokesperson Jenny LaCoste-Caputo told ABC News the school district is following Texas Education Agency guidance that allows for mask requirements “for adults or students for whom it is developmentally appropriate” and is working with local authorities “who advise us that masks remain an essential tool in stemming the spread of COVID-19 in our classrooms.”
Sherman Independent School District told ABC News in a statement that it had not received any information on the lawsuit yet and for now “will continue to focus on promoting a safe and healthy learning environment for our students and staff.”
ABC News has reached out to the other school districts for comment.
Nearly 90 school districts currently have mask mandates, according to a list compiled by Paxton’s office. The attorney general anticipates more lawsuits if school districts “continue to defy state law,” his office said in a statement.
Several school districts have sued the state to challenge the ban on mask mandates.
Last week, the Texas Education Agency said it is not enforcing the governor’s executive order “as the result of ongoing litigation.”
(ATLANTA) — Four people are injured and at least two people unaccounted for after an explosion rocked an apartment complex in an Atlanta suburb Sunday afternoon, first responders said.
At 1:24 p.m. the Dunwoody, Georgia, police department received a call about the explosion at the Arrive Apartments, a luxury apartment complex roughly 15 miles north of downtown Atlanta.
At least 15 to 20 units of the three-story building were damaged in the blast, Dunwoody Deputy Fire Chief Melvin Carter told reporters at a news conference Sunday afternoon. Jaeson Daniels with DeKalb County Fire Rescue told ABC News that four people were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
Two people were unaccounted for, he said.
“Right now we’re still searching a building, we had a lot of structural damage and structural instability to the building,” Carter said.
First responders were using thermal imaging from drones to search the building, according to officials.
Daniels said that the explosion impacted three apartment units across three floors.
A leasing manager called Atlanta Gas prior to the explosion about a reported gas order, Carter said. But the cause of the explosion is still under investigation, Daniels said.
The utility is at the scene of the explosion, assisting first responders, Carter said. A spokeswoman Atlanta Gas Light told ABC News that the utility is cooperating with the emergency response.
The gas has been shut off in the impacted buildings, the spokeswoman said.
(NEW YORK) — If you want to find the best deals for holiday flights, experts say you will find the lowest prices of the season this week.
Airlines are being forced to drop fares this fall as business travelers that used to fill the skies are opting to work from home.
Nationwide domestic fares are projected to plummet 10% this month, with tickets expected to average $260 round trip, according to travel-booking app Hopper.
The cheapest destination this fall is Fort Lauderdale at $169 roundtrip — the only destination in the country that is still under $200.
Outdoor destinations are still overwhelming popular, Hopper says, with flights to Colorado Springs averaging $243.
International fares are also hitting record lows.
Flights from Washington D.C. to Dublin are a mere $281, and a ticket from Los Angeles to Paris will only cost you $305.
“We are seeing great prices to Europe, historically low in fact,” Hopper Economist Adit Damodaran told ABC News. “And as we approach Thanksgiving, we’re expecting prices for European travel to not only be lower than pre-pandemic 2019 airfares but also lower than 2020 airfares.”
If you are monitoring flights for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Hanukkah, analysts say these low prices won’t last long.
“We found that the absolute cheapest prices are going to start appearing around mid-September or this week,” Damodaran said. “Make sure you’re booking at least four weeks in advance, at least three weeks in advance for Thanksgiving as well.”
Hopper predicts fliers will face an 11% increase in fares by November, making Halloween the cut-off for finding any potential deals.
“We expect that prices will remain relatively low until about Halloween, so that’s kind of the day where if you know you get to Halloween, that’s when you should definitely book if you haven’t booked yet,” Damodaran said. “Because after Halloween, we’re expecting prices for Thanksgiving to start rising about 40% for domestic and international flights for Christmas.”
Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights and author of “Take More Vacations,” recommends at the very least starting to monitor flights you are thinking of taking in November or December.
“Right now we are in that sort of Goldilocks window when cheap flights are most likely to pop up,” Keyes said, “And so now is when you should be monitoring and pulling the trigger when you see a flight price that you really like that’s attractive to you for the particular route that you’re hoping to fly.”
He said you could wind up paying double the price if you wait another few weeks.
“Be one of those folks planning ahead, getting the better deals that we’re seeing pop up now,” he recommended, “and don’t be one of the folks who put it off and procrastinate and wind up paying double the price for their flights than folks who booked ahead.”
(SYDNEY) — Australia’s approach to the pandemic — strict border policies, snap lockdowns and aggressive contact tracing — saw the country, along with neighboring New Zealand, praised throughout 2020 for taking a no-tolerance approach to public health. It paid off. While other countries faced overwhelmed hospital systems and devastating death tolls, Australia enjoyed large public gatherings, and life went on as normal for most people within its sealed-off borders.
But confronted with rising cases of the delta variant, the Australian government has announced a dramatic shift, planning now to “live with the virus” rather than stamp it out entirely.
In short, “Fortress Australia” has been breached.
During a televised briefing last month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that lockdowns, which in some parts of the country have endured for more than six months, were “not a sustainable way to live.”
“This Groundhog Day has to end, and it will end when we start getting to 70% and 80%,” he said, referring to vaccination rates.
Much of the country remains largely COVID-free. But the states of New South Wales and Victoria, home to metropolises Sydney and Melbourne, have posted record numbers of daily infections in recent weeks. Between Sept. 1, 2020, and July 1 of this year, the country recorded fewer than 5,000 coronavirus cases. But since then, total cumulative cases have more than doubled in under three months, from 30,684 to more than 66,000 as the delta variant took hold, according to Our World in Data.
“The reality is that delta is too infectious to be able to eliminate it with the amount of restriction that can be sustained by a population that is already really, really tired of restrictions after having gone through more than 200 days of restriction previously,” Professor Ivo Mueller, an epidemiologist at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, told ABC News. “So that, in a sense, forced the hand of the government to accept that we have to go from ‘COVID Zero’ to ‘living with COVID.'”
But internal restrictions in New South Wales and Victoria, as well as heavy restrictions the government has placed on intrastate travel, may endure for some time. The 80% target set by Morrison for vaccinations is unlikely to be achieved by mid-October, according to current trends.
As it stands, fewer than 35% of Australians are fully vaccinated, putting the nation among the lowest of OECD countries.
Australia is now administering doses at higher rates than peaks seen in the United States, but supply remains an issue.
“Vaccine hesitancy is rare,” Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, an epidemiologist at the University of New South Wales, told ABC News. “Anti-vaxxers exist here but are rare in Australia. The real problem has been lack of supply. Our authorities have been too slow to acquire sufficient vaccine doses for the young, who were supposed to get Pfizer and then confusion occurred when Pfizer deliveries were stalled.”
This led to intense criticism of the government that it failed to chase vaccines with urgency, as Morrison repeatedly told the public, “It’s not a race.”
Now the Australian government has struck deals with other countries, including Britain and Singapore, to secure Pfizer doses earlier and help end the lockdown sooner.
While the government’s exit strategy marks a change in approach, some states are showing more eagerness to loosen restrictions.
Aside from domestic border closures between states, citizens in the majority of Australian states are living virtually COVID-free lives, and the idea of opening up their gates may prove unpopular.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian previously has warned that other states can’t continue to live “in their bubbles” forever.
Berejiklian announced on Thursday that New South Wales, home to Australia’s biggest city, Sydney, will ease lockdown restrictions from mid-October, when authorities expect 70% of adults in her state to be vaccinated. At that point, she said, Sydney’s restaurants, cafes and pubs can reopen.
That’s despite infections there lingering at record levels. On Saturday, New South Wales recorded 1,599 cases of COVID-19 — the highest daily tally since the pandemic began.
“I want to stress that whilst today the New South Wales government is outlining our plan, our roadmap for the way forward in New South Wales, that we’re definitely not out of the woods,” Berejiklian said during a daily briefing. “We know that case numbers are likely to peak in the next week or so, and we also know that our hospital system will be under the greatest stress in October.”
In Melbourne, residents have tired of over 220 cumulative days of lockdown. Yasmin Vachha, a primary school teacher in the Victorian capital, has been teaching from home for 30 weeks altogether, as the state has gone in and out of lockdowns. She said the experience shows the country is “not a united front” and it is increasingly “hard to see the light.”
“The kids are flat, motivation is low and you can see it all taking its toll,” she told ABC News. “We all have our own lockdown despair happening and it is getting harder by the day. I hate that this is now normal and that we have to be OK with it. How are we still in this position?”
The criticism is not restricted to Australians currently in the country. In March 2020, the government shuttered its international borders, barring most foreigners and putting caps on total arrivals to help keep the virus at bay.
As a result, tens of thousands of Australians remain trapped overseas — around 34,000 registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as being stranded abroad. The actual number who want to return home is likely far higher.
Some are deterred at the prospect of returning home by restrictive and expensive quarantine measures, while others can’t secure a plane ticket home at all.
The policies have separated thousands of families, and led to heartbreaking stories of Australians unable to get home to see terminally ill relatives. Many have been forced to miss weddings, births and funerals.
To make matters worse, Australia in July slashed the number of international arrivals by half — to about 3,000 passengers a week.
But in another sign that the Australian government is shifting gears, for the first time since the pandemic started, Morrison on Wednesday acknowledged the frustration that Australian expatriates were going through, and opened up the prospect of families being able to reunite at home for Christmas: “You have saved lives by enduring and going through those difficulties, so thank you — I do appreciate it, and your fellow Australians do also.”
Morrison said his government was hard at work to enforce a home quarantine system, to reconnect Australia with the world.
There are now also indications that the government will drop a travel ban on Australians leaving the country. The Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, an association of legal professionals, has been pressuring the government to stop its “bullying” of Australians living overseas.
The internal border restrictions also have led to heartbreak and frustration. According to The Guardian, a New South Wales resident this month has been unable to cross the border for vital cancer treatment in neighboring Queensland due to a compulsory hotel quarantine, and on Father’s Day, families separated by border closures hugged across a state boundary which fell through the suburb of Coolangatta in Sydney.
MORE: Iran facing its deadliest coronavirus surge after banning import on US vaccines
A new app is being tested in South Australia that deploys facial recognition technology and cell phone alerts to replace the hotel system. It was described in the Atlantic as “Orwellian” in an article that said people would be “forced to download it,” but an Australian government source said that terminology was misleading.
“The home quarantine app is for a selected cohort of returning South Australians who have applied to be a part of the trial,” a government spokesperson said. “If successful, it will help safely ease the burden of travel restrictions associated with the pandemic.”
The issue of civil liberties under threat has been overblown, according to McLaws.
“While restrictions are tough and we are tired of them, Australians are less obsessed with individual rights during this time,” she said. “Australians like their freedom, but they aren’t willing to have it at the price of many deaths.”
While the new timeline for opening up society will come as welcome news for those living under some of the world’s longest lockdowns, an instantaneous reopening or “freedom day” is not on the cards, according to Mueller. The government has observed the high rates of transmission in highly vaccinated countries like the U.S. and U.K., and will continue to adopt a tough approach, he said.
“Eventually, people will come to the point that they want those freedoms back again,” he said. “And I think all political leaders and all state leaders do recognize that, and I think also the population in Australia does recognize that they eventually will have to open up and that will mean that the virus will circulate in the population.”
“Australia,” he added, “cannot remain forever an island.”
(NEW ORLEANS) — Tropical Storm Nicholas has set a course toward the Gulf Coast and is expected to bring drenching rains to some regions still recovering from Hurricane Ida.
The system strengthened from a tropical depression late Sunday morning in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, currently carrying maximum sustained winds up to 40 mph and moving north-northwest at 15 mph. The center of the storm is currently about 300 miles south-southeast from the mouth of the Rio Grande River.
Nicholas is expected to become better organized and strengthen as it closes in on the southern Texas coast in the next 24 to 36 hours. Landfall is expected late Monday into early Tuesday morning, but the impact will begin hours earlier.
The tropical moisture from the storm is already triggering scattered showers and thunderstorms along the western Gulf Coast Sunday afternoon. Flash flooding along the coast is possible in the next to 12 to 24 hours, and on Monday morning, the center of the storm will be off the northeast coast of Mexico.
A tropical storm warning is in effect from the Rio Grande River to Port Aransas, Texas, including cities such as Corpus Christi and South Padre Island. A tropical storm watch is in effect from Port Aransas along the Texas coast to High Island, which includes Galveston and Victoria.
Nicholas is the 14th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which is currently at its peak, with five tropical disturbances being monitored across the Atlantic basin.
The outer bands of Nicholas could potentially affect some regions along the Louisiana coast that were devastated by Hurricane Ida last month, such as New Orleans.
Flash flood watches are now in effect from Brownsville, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana. A storm surge watch has been issued along parts of the Texas coastline as well, with surges between 2 and 4 feet expected.
Nicholas is expected to weaken on Tuesday but will also slow down, which could increase the risk of flash flooding. While the winds will die down, the heavy rain will continue and crawl over east Texas through the middle of the week.
The primary widespread hazard from Nicholas will be the heavy rain and flash flood threats. Rounds of heavy rain will slam much of the Texas and Louisiana coast over the next few days.
Between 6 and 10 inches of rain is forecast for Galveston, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana. The Houston metro area could see between 2 to 4 inches, which higher amounts closer to the coast. South of Lake Charles, 10 to 15 inches is possible.
(LOS ANGELES) — There are still two days to go before California’s gubernatorial recall election, but the current governor’s team and his leading opponent, Larry Elder, have each already indicated they’re ready for legal challenges.
In a sit-down interview with ABC News’ Zohreen Shah on Saturday, Elder was asked repeatedly if he would accept the results of Tuesday’s election, but he avoided answering by conveying confidence in his ability to win.
“So many people are going to vote to have [Newsom] recalled, I’m not worried about fraud,” he said.
But Elder earlier this week made unsubstantiated claims of possible fraud at a campaign event, saying the recall could see similar “shenanigans” as many Republicans claimed happened in last year’s presidential election, despite no evidence of widespread election fraud.
Elder’s campaign has an election integrity section on his website, where voters can fill out a form to report alleged incidents of voter fraud and sign a petition to investigate the results of the recall.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign team said they were prepared for potential lawsuits but wouldn’t elaborate on specifics during a campaign stop Thursday.
In the interview with Shah, Elder also deflected questions about some of the controversial statements he’s made in the past, such as saying slave owners should get reparations.
“Cover what I said about the election,” he said. “The election is occurring because people are unhappy with how California is being governed the last two years.”
If he were to be elected, Elder already has his first order of business planned. “The first thing I’m going to do is repeal the requirement for state workers that they have to be tested once a week and they have to wear a mask,” he said. “I don’t think the science supports that.”
It’s the issues brought up by COVID-19 that previously plagued Newsom’s political career and now, in recent days, have bolstered it. The Public Policy Institute of California reported that 60% of respondents approve of the way Newsom has handled the pandemic in a survey released earlier this month.
Recent polling about the recall election looks promising for Newsom, as 56.2% of voters said they’ll vote to keep him, a 4% increase from last week’s reported polling average, according to FiveThirtyEight.
“Democrats didn’t even take it seriously until literally, I won’t even say a couple months ago, I’d say six or seven weeks ago,” Newsom told ABC News. “People started waking up to this reality, we’re closing that gap every single day. We’re going to pull this thing out.”
The boost comes as President Joe Biden is set to travel to California to campaign with Newsom on Monday as a final push to motivate voters.
But Newsom is facing new controversies in the final stretch. Actress Rose McGowan recently alleged Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, tried to bribe her against coming forward with her sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein. A spokesperson for Siebel Newsom told ABC News the allegation “is a complete fabrication,” adding, “It’s disappointing but not surprising to see political opponents launch these false attacks just days before the election.”
McGowan will campaign with Elder on Sunday in Los Angeles.
(NEW YORK) — A teenager was killed and another was critically injured when gunfire erupted at a popular Halloween hayride attraction in a Pittsburgh suburb, and police said the suspected gunman remained on the run Sunday.
The shooting unfolded around 8:15 p.m. Saturday at the Haunted Hills Hayride, about 13 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, according to the Allegheny County State Police.
Police said gunfire broke out near the ticket booth about 15 minutes before the annual charity event was set to open for the first night in a run scheduled to go through Halloween.
Several hundred people, including parents and children, were waiting to get into the event when multiple shots were fired, sparking a chaotic scene of people scrambling to get out of harm’s way, according to police.
Law enforcement sources told ABC affiliate WTAE in Pittsburgh that the shooting appeared to have stemmed from an argument near the ticket booth.
Lt. Venerando Costa of the Allegheny County Police Department said at a news conference that two 15-year-old boys were shot and taken to an area hospital, where one was pronounced dead and the other was in critical condition. Their names were not released.
Costa said witnesses described the suspected gunman as Black, 15 to 17 years old, 5 foot 9, with short hair and wearing dark blue cargo shorts and carrying a black backpack.
It was unclear if the suspect fled the scene on foot or in a vehicle.
No other injuries were reported.
“What goes through my mind when a 15-year-old gets shot at a hayride? I think it’s a terrible shame,” Costa said. “Anybody could have been hurt.”
The Haunted Hills Hayride, which also features a haunted trail lined with actors dressed in Halloween costumes, is an annual charity event to benefit the Autism Society of Pittsburgh.
(NEW YORK) — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., reiterated his call on Sunday for a strategic pause on the $3.5 trillion budget resolution, while Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., doubled down on the need to pass both the bipartisan infrastructure and budget reconciliation bills.
“The urgency — I can’t understand why we can’t take time to deliberate on this and work,” Manchin told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos.
In an interview that followed, Sanders told Stephanopoulos that he believes both bills will be passed.
“I think we’re gonna work it out, but it would really be a terrible, terrible shame for the American people if both bills went down,” Sanders said.
Manchin on Thursday wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal calling for a “strategic pause” on the budget resolution Democrats took the first step in passing last month. Debate continues over the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, with some Democrats threatening to hold up the bipartisan infrastructure bill on the passage of the reconciliation package.
The Senate returns on Monday and the tentative deadline for Senate committees to turn in their draft legislation to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sanders, the Budget Committee chairman, is Wednesday.
