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Gas prices could decide the midterms. Here’s why.

November 1, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Midterm election results may come down to the price of a gallon of gas.

Roughly half of Americans say either the economy or inflation is the most important issue in their vote for Congress, making bread-and-butter financial issues by far the most dominant in the lead-up to the midterm elections, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Sunday.

Meanwhile, research has established a relationship between gas prices and presidential approval ratings that reaches back decades, despite the limited control that presidents exert over fuel costs, experts told ABC News. Presidential approval ratings, in turn, mark a key indicator of midterm success or failure for the party in control of the White House, they said.

After reaching a summer peak, gas prices declined for about 100 consecutive days, buoying Biden’s approval rating. But a price spike in early October weighed on his approval.

Over the last few weeks, prices have returned to a steady decline – though they remain elevated – leaving an open question about whether consumers will recognize the trend and reward the Democrats or punish them for too little, too late.

“Swing voters will be deciding as they’re literally walking into the voting booth,” Colin McAuliffe, co-founder of left-leaning research firm Data for Progress, told ABC News.

The ubiquity of gas prices emblazoned on towering roadside signs can affect the financial attitude of those who do not even purchase gas. For those who do, filling up the tank offers a few minutes of repose with little to do but watch the price slowly add up, the experts said.

“People know their grocery bill has gone up but they can’t say necessarily how much the price of meat versus milk versus cereal has changed,” Laurel Harbridge-Yong, a professor of political science at Northwestern University who has studied the political implications of gas prices, told ABC News. “Gas is a very visible item and an item you buy one at a time, without bundling it with others.”

In 2016, a study in the academic journal Political Psychology examined the relationship between gas prices and presidential approval rating between the mid-1970s and mid-2000s, finding that elevated gas prices drove a president’s approval downward. To be exact, each 10-cent increase in the gas price was associated with more than half a percentage point decline in presidential approval, the research showed.

Further, the researchers studied press coverage of the gas prices, finding that the effect on presidential approval occurred regardless of how much attention the prices got. On that score, gas prices contrast with other economic indicators, like the unemployment rate or overall inflation, which typically require media coverage that gives voters a sense of the trend, said Harbridge-Yong, one of the researchers who conducted the study.

McAuliffe, of Data for Progress, has established more recent findings, demonstrating a correlation between gas prices and presidential approval during Biden’s time in office stretching to as recently as August. “The correlation has held up pretty strongly,” he said.

The continued salience of gas prices amid inflation under Biden comes as no surprise to Jon Krosnick, a professor of political science at Stanford University who co-authored the 2016 study. “When we see gas prices go up as much as they have gone up, clearly there are implications,” he said.

Despite the relationship between gas prices and presidential approval rating, presidents exert little control over fuel costs, leaving them largely powerless to address perceptions of their performance in this area, experts said.

The U.S. is set to produce an average of 11.8 million barrels oil per day in 2022, which stands 500,000 barrels short of a record set in 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But oil prices are set on a global market, where supply shortages caused by the Russia-Ukraine War and OPEC+ output cuts cannot be offset by a comparable short-term increase in U.S. oil output.

Typically, gas prices drop ahead of midterm elections, since the Fall brings a decline in demand as Americans scale back from summer travel, said Patrick De Haan, an oil and gas analyst for GasBuddy. In recent weeks, the drop has also stemmed from the repair of damage at a string of oil refineries, which brought them back online and increased overall output, he added.

“It’s normal for prices to go down this time of year,” De haan told ABC News. “It’s not political.”

The price relief may have arrived too late for voters to notice, said Krosnick, of Stanford University.

“There’s not a lot of time between now and election day,” he said. “Obviously any change in gasoline prices has to take place and be detected by the public.”

Biden highlighted the issue on Monday, threatening oil and gas companies with higher taxes if they do not relieve a supply shortage with increased output. Many of the major oil producers have reported recorded profits in recent quarters.

On election day, gas prices will play an unmistakable role in the outcome, Krosnick said.

“People bring to the table a mix of issues. You can think of it as making a complicated soup with lots of ingredients that play a part,” he said. “Gas prices clearly are a part of the soup.”

Racially segregated communities breathing in air three times more concentrated with dangerous toxins, researchers say

November 1, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — New research is shedding light on just how much higher proportions of dangerous toxins people in minority communities are breathing in.

Populations in racially segregated communities in the U.S. may be more likely to be exposed to a form of air pollution, according to a study published in Nature Communications on Tuesday.

Researchers combined air pollution monitoring and American Community Survey data from 2014 to 2019 to assess air pollution exposure across the U.S. and found that communities with a high degree of racial residential segregation are exposed to concentrations of total fine particulate matter that are two times higher. Concentrations of metals from anthropogenic sources are over 10 times higher when compared to communities with a low degree of racial residential segregation, John Kodros, who authored the study as a research scientist at Colorado State University, told ABC News.

The research also suggests these communities were exposed to an even more toxic form of air pollution, with a three times higher mass proportion of known toxic and carcinogenic metals — including lead, nickel and chromium.

“What this is showing, is that communities across the United States are not exposed to the same mixture of particulate air pollution,” Kodros said.

While scientists have long proven that residents in impoverished and minority communities are suffering greater environmental detriments than other populations, little was previously known about the distribution of exposure among racially segregated communities to specific toxic chemical elements contained in particulate matter, the researchers said.

There has been “extensive research” looking at the disparities of total fine particulate matter across lines of racial and ethnic demographics, Kodros said. The new findings illustrate the disproportionate burden of air pollution faced by some populations, according to the study.

“Even normalizing by total air pollution, the concentrations of these metals are much higher in content in more racially segregated communities compared to well integrated communities,” Kodros said.

Segregation has “been systematic in the history of our country,” Kodros added.

“Often when areas are building a road or a factory, it goes into a certain part of the city,” Kodros said. “Putting in that factory or that highway often ends up in areas that are more racially segregated and in the communities of color.”

This leads to emissions from the factories and roads occurring at different rates based on segregation and race and ethnicity, Kodros said.

The researchers found evidence that disproportionate exposure could be reduced through regulatory action, including recent regulations on marine oil that have reduced concentrations of vanadium and lessened the pollution risk faced by racially segregated communities

The scientists hope the research helps to inform regulations to reduce air pollution exposure.

Policymakers also need to consider targeted regulations to reduce emissions through a lens of environmental justice, as opposed to just trying to reduce emissions everywhere, Kodros said.

“We need to really think about reducing emissions in communities that are not often well representative at the table,” he said.

Parkland live updates: Victim’s grandma tells gunman to ‘burn in hell’

November 1, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Family members of the 17 students and staff killed in the Parkland high school massacre are addressing gunman Nikolas Cruz in victim impact statements in court on Tuesday before Cruz is formally sentenced to life in prison.

Last month, a Florida jury rejected prosecutors’ appeals for the death penalty, reaching a verdict on life in prison for the 2018 mass shooting Cruz committed at age 19 at South Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Many victims’ parents were outraged by the verdict, arguing that sparing Cruz the death penalty may send a bad message to future school shooters.

The jury’s decision needed to be unanimous to sentence Cruz to death.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Nov 01, 11:02 AM EDT
Victim’s sister calls Cruz ‘remorseless monster’

Meghan Petty, sister of 14-year-old victim Alaina Petty, said she feels “betrayed by our justice system” with the jury rejecting the death penalty, and feels vulnerable sharing her pain with the public.

Alaina was shot multiple times, including through the heart, she said. Alaina died scared on a classroom floor, trying to hide behind a desk, she said.

“This entire ordeal has pushed me to my emotional, physical and mental limits. It will continue to do so for the rest of my life, even more so now that he has escaped being punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Petty said.

She called Nikolas Cruz a “remorseless monster who deserves no mercy.”

“This incredible darkness that he has within him — which has been labeled here as mental illness — is something that should be considered unacceptable and intolerable,” Petty said. But she said his life sentence sends the message to future shooters that “if one stretches the truth, they can get away with not only murder, but mass murder.”

“What we’ve been told here is 17 lives are worth nothing if you can make enough excuses for your actions,” she said.

Petty noted that she and Cruz are the same age.

“I could sit here and complain, as he has, that I’ve had a hard life. I was bullied in school. I’ve lost 15 family members and loved ones since I turned 9 to sickness, suicide, accident and now murder. Not once have I turned to ever hurting others … because I’m not a coward and I’m not weak,” she said.

“I will never get to say goodbye to her,” she said of her sister. “She’s never going to go to college, get a job, get married … or even breathe again. But he’ll be able to draw breath.”

Nov 01, 10:40 AM EDT
Victim’s daughter-in-law calls Cruz a domestic terrorist

On the day of the shooting, Ines Hixon, daughter-in-law of slain coach Chris Hixon, was deployed on a U.S. aircraft carrier off the coast of Iran.

“He would’ve given the shirt off his back. He was a courageous, loving and wonderful man. And I never got the chance to tell him that,” she said through tears.

“As a service member, I took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. And to the defendant, that’s exactly what I view you as — a domestic terrorist,” Ines Hixon said. “I wish no peace for you. I wish nothing but pain. And I hope that every breath you take, you remember that’s a breath you stole.”

After Ines Hixon spoke, Judge Elizabeth Scherer called her a “hero,” adding that her “beautiful family” has “made such an impression on this court.”

“I thank you for your service and bravery,” the judge added.

Nov 01, 10:22 AM EDT
Mom to Cruz: ‘Your living hell is about to get started’

Patricia Oliver, whose 17-year-old son, Joaquin, was among the victims, said in an impassioned statement, if this case “doesn’t deserve the death penalty, what does?”

“You had in your head enjoyment,” she said directly to Nikolas Cruz. “Listen to me, defendant — enjoyment while killing my son, Joaquin Oliver, and coming back to him to blow his brain out.”

“Your living hell is about to get started,” she said. “Joaquin is a legend for what he is and for what he will be. Nice,

Nov 01, 10:06 AM EDT
Parents of injured teen say he’s still recovering

Bree Wikander was overcome with emotion as she spoke on behalf of her son, Ben, who was shot three times, including in the back. Ben was 17 at the time and suffered extensive injuries.

“One of Ben’s trauma surgeons … once said to us, Ben sustained injuries similar to what a soldier would in combat,” she said.

“To this day he is still recovering,” Bree Wikander said. “You will never understand the pain that he has gone through. His life and the lives of our entire family have changed forever both physically and mentally.”

Ben’s father, Eric Wikander, said he hopes Cruz has a “painful existence” in prison, adding that it would still be “a fraction of what Ben endured.”

Nov 01, 9:51 AM EDT
Victim’s grandma tells Cruz to ‘burn in hell’

Terri Rabinovitz, grandmother of 14-year-old victim Alyssa Alhadeff, said Florida’s Supreme Court should reexamine the law that requires a jury’s decision be unanimous for the death penalty.

“I’m too old to see you live out your life sentence, but I hope your every breathing moment here on earth is miserable and you repent for your sins, Nikolas, and burn in hell,” she said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has called on the state legislature to change the death sentencing rules in the wake of the Cruz verdict.

Nov 01, 9:35 AM EDT
‘You did not receive the justice that you deserve’

Debbie Hixon, wife of Chris Hixon, a 49-year-old coach killed in the school shooting, addressed Nikolas Cruz directly on Tuesday morning.

She said her husband “was stolen from us by an unimaginable act that you planned and executed.”

“You did not receive the justice that you deserve,” she said. “You were given a gift — a gift of grace and mercy. Something you did not show to any of your victims. I wish nothing for you today. After today I don’t care what happens to you … you’ll be a number.”

“Today we close this chapter,” Hixon continued.

She said she’ll choose to remember all of the positive memories of her husband, instead of the “darkness.”

Nov 01, 7:03 AM EDT
Outraged parents: ‘This jury failed our families’

Hours after the sentence was announced on Oct. 13, Manuel Oliver, whose 17-year-old son, Joaquin, was among the victims, told ABC News Live he had hoped for the death penalty.

“Even the death penalty was not enough for me,” he said. “The way that Joaquin died … the amount of suffering and pain, the shooter will have never received that punishment.”

His wife, Patricia Oliver, told ABC News she feels enraged by the jury’s decision, and said her son did not get justice.

To jurors who voted against the death penalty, she said, “They have to live with that in their conscience. Life is about karma. They will remember what they did when the time comes.”

Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in the massacre, said he was “stunned” by the verdict.

“I could not be more disappointed,” he told reporters on Oct. 13. “I don’t know how this jury came to the conclusions that they did.”

“This decision today only makes it more likely that the next mass shooting will be attempted,” he said.

Guttenberg said he thinks the next mass shooter is planning his attack now, and “that person now believes that they can get away with it.”

“There are 17 victims that did not receive justice today,” Guttenberg said. “This jury failed our families today. But I will tell you: The monster is gonna go to prison, and in prison, I hope and pray, he receives the kind of mercy from prisoners that he showed to my daughter and the 16 others. … He will die in prison, and I will be waiting to read that news on that.”

Travel time to abortion facilities has quadrupled post-Roe, study finds

November 1, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The amount of time women will have to travel to receive an abortion has quadrupled from about half an hour to nearly two hours since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade this summer, a new study finds.

The decision — known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — determined that there is no constitutional right to an abortion and gave individual states full power to regulate abortion.

Researchers from several institutions, including the University of California, San Francisco; Boston Children’s Hospital; Boston University; and Harvard University looked at how far women lived from an abortion clinic while Roe was still in effect — from January 2021 to December 2021 — compared with how far women lived post-Dobbs.

Of the at least 749 abortion clinics that were operating pre-Dobbs, the team determined that women lived an estimated 27.8 minutes.

However, post-Dobbs, several abortion facilities in states with either total or six-week abortion bans closed, leaving 671 open.

The team found that women now lived an average of 100.4 minutes from a facility, which could equate to living hundreds of miles away.

Results showed there were racial/ethnic disparities. Black, Hispanic, and American Indian women who had to travel 60 minutes or more increased disproportionately by almost 25%.

The authors note this is especially concerning because communities of color in the U.S. have a higher rate of death due to pregnancy- or delivery-related complications compared to white women.

There were also disparities when it came to geography. Women living in states that subsequently banned or severely restricted abortion after Roe was overturned saw the greatest effects, according to the study.

For example, in Texas — where a trigger ban was implemented after Roe fell — travel to a clinic increased by almost a full workday, defined in the U.S. as eight hours.

Similarly, in Louisiana, which also had a trigger ban go into effect, women in the state have to travel seven hours to get to the nearest facility.

Those without a high school diploma, internet subscription, health insurance, and were of lower income were also significantly affected, the study said.

Some limitations of the study include not considering air travel as a means of transportation, which excludes the states of Alaska and Hawaii.

What’s more, the study only examined the physical locations of abortion clinics and did not consider telemedicine visits or mail-ordering medication.

It comes after a data set shared exclusively with FiveThirtyEight showed that two months after the Court’s decision, there were 10,570 fewer abortions compared to estimates pre-Dobbs.

ABC News’ Dr. Avish Jain contributed to this report.

Midterm elections early voting updates: Turnout surpasses prior years

November 1, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — More than 23 million people have voted early in the 2022 general election, according to data analyzed by the University of Florida’s U.S. Elections Project — about 15 million more than just one a week ago.

As of Tuesday morning, the project counted 23,919,686 early votes, of which 13,790,577 were mail-in ballots returned and 10,129,109 ballots cast in person so far. Last Monday, Oct. 24, the count was 8,018,219.

On Oct. 17, ElectProject.org had tallied 2,030,730 early votes, including 1,842,115 returned mail-in ballots and 188,615 ballots cast in person.

A number of states have opened up early voting within the past week, according to University of Florida professor Michael McDonald, who heads the Elections Project. That has led to the sharp uptick in early vote totals. Turnout in 2022 is still projected to be higher than usual for a midterm election, according to McDonald, even though midterms have historically low participation compared to presidential cycles despite growing interest in recent years.

“It does seem very robust, early voting … I think we’re looking at more like a 2018 election, definitely,” he told ABC News, noting that the last midterm election in 2018 recorded some of the highest turnout in the nation’s history.

With the general election now 15 days away, some sort of early voting option is underway in over 35 states. Early voting periods range in length from four days to 45 days before Election Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The pace of early voting numbers should pick up even further this week, McDonald said, as additional states start offering in-person early voting and additional ballots should be sent out for those who have requested mail-in options.

Georgia, in its first general election test of a sweeping elections bill signed into law in 2021 by incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp — legislation that Democrats widely deemed as restrictive — has been shattering past turnout trends.

Georgia has had record early voting turnout since the option to cast a ballot opened last Oct. 17, surging to nearly twice the number on the first day of early voting in 2018, according to the secretary state’s website.

Totals are within “striking distance” of the 2020 presidential election turnout.

As of Friday, Georgia was well over the one million mark with 1,250,091 voters having cast their ballots. The state noted that 18,109 showed up on the first Sunday of early voting. Sunday’s total “marks an astounding 211% of the 2018 midterm total for the first Sunday of Early Voting,” according to the secretary of state.

“One in five active Georgia voters has made a plan and gotten their ballots in early,” said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said on Friday. “They’ve played a wonderful role in reducing the lift for their county election directors come November 8th.”

On Sunday, Raffensperger said that while one in five active voters had already voted in the state, Georgia is set to hit the 2-million-mark next week.

In Florida, in-person early voting began a week ago on Monday in 37 Florida counties. The state has already seen some of the highest numbers of the cycle, mostly leading the nation in early vote totals. The state is currently totaling at 2,774,204 cast thus far, the second highest rates in the nation.

But Texas, which also started early voting last Monday, quickly shot up in ballots cast. The Lone Star State currently now leads the country in early voting, with 3,315,896 ballots returned.

“Texas blew through 1 million voted yesterday, spurred primarily by in-person early voting,” McDonald said in a tweet on Wednesday.

California has remained competitive in early voting as well, currently at 2,359,851 ballots returned.

McDonald has said that because of Florida, Texas and California’s larger size, broader voter turnout activity is expected, along with the fact that Floridians tend to use mail ballots more frequently than some of the other states have so far been casting votes early.

Of the states that record party registration, the U.S. Elections Project shows more Democrats have voted early this cycle — 44.8% compared to only 33.3% of Republicans, though Republican totals have creeped up over the past week while Democrats’ have decreased.

The share of Republicans who are recorded saying voters should be allowed to vote early or absentee without a documented reason fell drastically in the past few years, according to a 2021 Pew Research survey– down 19% from 2018. The same survey found that Democrats were more than twice as likely as Republicans to strongly support making early, in-person voting available to voters for at least two weeks prior to Election Day.

The use of absentee and mail-in ballots have been subject to conspiracy and skepticism after former President Donald Trump said that mail-in ballots lead to voter fraud in 2020.

Delphi murder suspect was ‘right here among us,’ victim’s family says

November 1, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(DELPHI, Ind.) — The family of Libby German, one of the two teenage girls murdered on a Delphi, Indiana, hiking trail in 2017, is now grappling with the news that the suspect in custody is a local resident.

“It’s a small community,” Libby’s grandmother and guardian, Becky Patty, told ABC News hours after Richard Allen’s arrest was announced. “For it to be one of us, it’s hard.”

“How can somebody do that and then just go on living life like nothing happened?” Libby’s grandfather, Mike Patty, added.

Indiana State Police revealed Monday that Allen, 50, a Delphi resident, is charged with two counts of murder for the deaths of 14-year-old Libby and 13-year-old Abby Williams.

Abby and Libby, best friends in the eighth grade, were walking on a trail in broad daylight when they were killed on Feb. 13, 2017. Delphi, a close-knit town of nearly 3,000 residents, was filled with fear in the wake of the double homicide. For more than five years, officials pleaded with the public to come forward with information.

Libby’s sister, Kelsi German, said she always felt the girls’ killer must be someone familiar with the Delphi area, but she said she didn’t want to believe the suspect “was right here among us.”

Libby’s aunt crossed paths with Allen at CVS once, according to the Pattys. The aunt brought in pictures of Libby to print for her funeral and said Allen didn’t charge her for them.

A CVS spokesperson said in a statement, “We are shocked and saddened to learn that one of our store employees was arrested as a suspect in these crimes. We stand ready to cooperate with the police investigation in any way we can.”

Monday marks the first time police have named a suspect in the case. Police have still not released how the girls were killed.

Libby’s sister said the arrest for her brings “new obstacles and emotions that we have to learn how to deal with.”

German said she visited her sister’s grave on Sunday to talk to her about the updates in the case.

Mike Patty commended the police officers who he said were diligent and “sacrificed their own family time” trying to solve his granddaughter’s case.

“They never let up,” he said.

Allen, who was taken into custody on Oct. 26, had his initial hearing and entered a not guilty plea, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said Monday. He’s being held without bond and is set to return to court in January, McLeland said. The prosecutor would not say when Allen became a suspect or if he knew Abby or Libby.

“There’s a lot of questions we have that are unanswered,” Mike Patty said, “but all in due time that will come.”

Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said the investigation is ongoing. Carter added that if anyone else was involved, that person will be held accountable.

Police encourage the public to continue to submit tips at abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com or 765-822-3535.

South Korean police say first calls were made four hours before deadly crowd crush

November 1, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Delayed police responses and an illegal street obstruction were contributing factors to the weekend’s crowd crush in Seoul, South Korea, officials said on Tuesday.

At least 154 people were killed, and dozens were seriously injured in the South Korea capital’s Itaewon neighborhood as they celebrated Halloween on Saturday night.

The death count could further rise as many of those injured remain in critical condition, the country’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety said.

Those killed or wounded were mainly teenagers and individuals in their 20s, according to Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department.

Government investigators have scrambled to explain the night’s logistical failures, such as insufficient police reactions and obstructive terraces, which escalated the fatality of the crush.

The first person called for emergency rescue at the site at 6:34 p.m., four hours before the crowd crush, the National Police Agency said. Firefighters arrived after 11 p.m., they said.

In total, witnesses made 11 emergency calls throughout the night, and police dispatched officers to the site four times, the agency said. The officers presumably did not realize the urgency of the crowd, according to local reports.

The National Police Agency is investigating its protocol, seeking to uncover why the rescue squad did not arrive earlier and why the force’s control of the crowd was “inadequate,” per the wording of its police chief.

In addition to the lack of police dispatched, authorities said they were looking into two makeshift terraces on each side of the back street of the Hamilton Hotel building. The terraces were illegal and caused the crowd’s bottleneck pile-up, officials said.

Alley streets must be four meters wide, according to law, but the hotel’s terraces shrunk the alley’s width to three meters, just under 10 feet. Authorities in the ward office of Yongsan fined the Hamilton Hotel for the same violation last year, officials said.

The national police chief, Seoul’s mayor and the prime minister all had separate press meetings on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Each apologized for their inability in preventing this tragedy, vowing to prioritize public safety.

Woman who accused Herschel Walker of pressuring her into having abortion says ‘honesty matters’

November 1, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A woman who accused Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker of pressuring her into having an abortion defended her claims in an exclusive interview with ABC News, saying he is not fit for office and that “honesty matters.”

Walker has denied the allegations, which were first made at a press conference last week, dismissing the claims as “foolishness” while adding “this is all a lie, and I will not entertain any of it.”

The woman, whom ABC News agreed to call Jane Doe, told ABC News in her first on-camera interview that she decided to come forward after another woman made similar claims that Walker had also pressured her into having an abortion.

Speaking with Juju Chang, co-anchor of ABC News’ Nightline, the woman said that in 1993 she became pregnant amid a yearslong affair with Walker, saying they saw each other “several times a week, usually in the mornings” and that they were in love.

“[Walker] was very clear that he did not want me to have the child. And he said that because of his wife’s family and powerful people around him that I would not be safe and that the child would not be safe,” the woman said.

“I felt threatened and I thought I had no choice,” said the woman, who has come forward on camera for the first time since making her allegations public at a press conference last week with her attorney, Gloria Allred.

Responding to the ABC News interview, Walker issued a statement Tuesday saying, “This was a lie a week ago and it is a lie today. Seven days before an election, the Democrats trot out Gloria Allred and some woman I do not know. My opponents will do and say anything to win this election. The entire Democrat machine is coming after me and the people of Georgia. I am not intimidated. Once again, they messed with the wrong Georgian.”

In her interview with Chang, Jane Doe recalled initially going to a clinic to have an abortion before abruptly leaving after having a change of heart.

“I guess it is part of the procedure then that they did an ultrasound. And I saw the ultrasound and I couldn’t go through with it. So I left the clinic and went back home,” she said with emotion in her voice.

According to the woman, Walker then told her he would drive her to the clinic to have the procedure.

“He came to my house and picked me up and drove me to the clinic,” the woman recalled. “I went in alone and he waited in the car while I went in and had the procedure. And then I came out and he drove me to the drugstore, and then he took me home.”

Jane Doe said Walker gave her cash to pay for the abortion. She said she has no receipt for the payment or record of the procedure.

Walker, who is running against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, is campaigning as a staunch anti-abortion-rights candidate.

According to Jane Doe, she maintained a friendly relationship with Walker for decades and last spoke with him by phone in March 2020.

Two women identified to ABC News as friends of Jane Doe by her lawyer Gloria Allred said that Jane Doe confided to them in the 1990s that she had a yearslong affair with Walker and that she became pregnant during that relationship.

Jane Doe said she last saw Walker at a mental health event in 2019.

“He gave — he hugged me, and was very happy to see me … He was very nice and cordial,” she said of their meeting in 2019.

One of the woman identified as a friend of Jane Doe’s said she was with her at the event and took a picture of her and Walker together, telling ABC News, “They embraced for a long time … they had clearly known each other for years and years.”

Jane Doe said she never brought up the abortion with Walker while they stayed in touch.

Walker previously denied an ex-girlfriend’s claim to various news outlets that he paid for her to have an abortion in 2009. That woman told The Daily Beast that she had documents supporting her allegation, including a receipt from an abortion clinic, a bank deposit receipt with an image of a $700 check that she said was signed by Walker sent within a week of the abortion, and also a “get well” card that she said was signed by Walker.

During an appearance last week on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier, Walker issued blanket denials about the recent allegations made against him.

“Well, that’s a lie. And I’ve said that’s a lie and I hope people can see right now that Raphael Warnock and the Left would do whatever they can to win the seat,” Walker said. “I’ve said it once and I’ve moved on, my campaign moved on because we’re worried about what the Georgia people are talking about … I’ve said this a lie. I’ve moved on, and they want me to play these guessing games and all of this, but I’m not. I’m not into that. I’m into winning this great seat back for the great people of Georgia because that’s what this is about.”

Jane Doe told Chang that, following Walker’s denials, she now thinks he isn’t fit to be a U.S. senator.

Asked why, she said, “I think honesty matters.”

What Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition means for the midterm elections

November 1, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Elon Musk, who spent months alternately courting and criticizing Twitter, ultimately acquired one of the world’s largest social media platforms days before the U.S. midterm elections.

The acquisition, meanwhile, has sent the company into flux. Musk removed top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, and announced the formation of a “content moderation council” that will review company policies, including the status of suspended users like former President Donald Trump.

Policy changes at Twitter — or the mere presence of Musk atop the company — could adversely affect election integrity and fuel a rise of hate speech and misinformation, a number of experts told ABC News. The leadership shift will also draw heightened attention to comments on the platform made by Musk, who has shown a willingness to post inflammatory or misleading content, they added.

With such a short stretch of time before the election on Nov. 8, some experts downplayed the possibility of an impact that could swing outcomes or meaningfully impact the election process.

“A lot of people have this quaint idea that the digital town square is all these individuals talking to each other,” Eddie Perez, a former product director for civic integrity at Twitter, told ABC News.

“People need to realize that this is effectively an information warfare battlefield where there are coordinated groups trying to take specific intentional actions to distort the information environment,” he added.

Neither Elon Musk nor a spokesperson for Twitter immediately responded to a request for comment.

Here’s what Elon Musk’s takeover could mean for Twitter’s impact on the midterm elections:

Content moderation and high-profile account reinstatement

Musk, an avowed proponent of free speech, spoke in recent months of a desire to permit nearly all legal forms of speech and allow the return of suspended users like Trump. Such moves could dramatically alter the discourse on Twitter, experts previously told ABC News.

Lately, however, Musk has walked back some of those comments. In a public letter to Twitter advertisers last week, Musk said the platform “must be warm and welcoming to all.” Soon after the acquisition, Musk announced that no major decisions on policing of the site would be made until the formation of a content moderation council.

Still, the use of some derogatory language on the platform spiked after Musk took the helm. Over a 12-hour period after the acquisition, use of the n-word increased nearly 500% from the previous average, according to the Network Contagion Research Institute.

“There wasn’t an official change of policy when Musk signed papers that made him owner but there was a discernible increase in extreme expression on the platform,” Paul Barrett, a professor at New York University Law School and deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, told ABC News.

Perez, the former Twitter employee and a board member at the OSET Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on election security and integrity, echoed that sentiment: “It doesn’t take changing the rules literally to result in adverse impact,” he said.

In the final days of a political race, harmful posts may include false information about election logistics, such as deadlines for returning ballots or where to vote, Perez added.

“Historically, there have been areas where people can sew misinformation and that can have a suppressive effect on the vote,” he said.

Major personnel changes

Election integrity and content policing at the platform could also weaken due to the potential loss of some employees charged with monitoring those issues, experts said.

After Musk acquired Twitter, some of the company’s top executives were fired, including Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sam Edgett.

Close allies of Musk spent the weekend drawing up plans to impose widespread layoffs at the company, The Washington Post reported. Those cuts could eventually impact as much as 75% of company staff, a previous Post report said. Recently, Musk said he will not lay off 75% of staff, Bloomberg reported.

The urgency owes in part to a deadline on Tuesday, when employees will receive extra compensation tied to stock grants.

While details of the potential layoffs remain limited, the move could compromise the platform’s capacity to police false or harmful content, with ramifications that extend to social issues like election integrity, experts told ABC News.

“If he lays off half the employees, that’s going to obviously affect the operation of the company,” said Barrett. “If he’s laying off a lot of those people in the trust and security area, that’s going to be a big problem.”

Dam Hee Kim, a professor of communication at University of Arizona who studies social media platforms, said the firing of executives and employees could expose the lack of experience in the industry for Musk, who currently runs Tesla and SpaceX.

“It is a bit concerning considering that it is his very first time running a social media service,” Kim told ABC News.

Heightened focus on Elon Musk’s tweets

Another source of impact on the midterms stems from posts made by Musk, which will garner additional attention after the acquisition and could set a tone for droves of users, experts said.

“There will be intense focus and attention directed toward what he says and does in the coming weeks and months,” Barrett said. “There’s little doubt about that.”

Musk, who boasts more than 112 million Twitter followers, often posts multiple times per day on subjects that span business, politics and personal hobbies. Sometimes, the posts pertain to highly charged political topics such as the Ukraine-Russia war and Taiwan’s sovereignty.

On Sunday, Musk posted a tweet that pushed false claims about the recent attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The tweet from Musk came in response to a post from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who sharply criticized Republicans for forwarding “hate and deranged conspiracy theories” that she said leads to violent attacks like the one on Paul Pelosi.

In response to Clinton’s tweet, Musk said, “There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye” and included a link to an article in the Santa Monica Observer that featured false theories about the attack.

Hours later, the tweet from Musk was deleted.

Before its removal, the inflammatory tweet from Musk had stoked conspiracy theories, Perez said.

“Musk is the leader of the social media platform,” Perez said. “We saw him personally spreading misinformation about the attack at Nancy Pelosi’s household, which is pretty dramatic.”

Expert insights to save time and money on Thanksgiving, Christmas travel

November 1, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — With less than a month until Thanksgiving and just under 60 days until Christmas, ’tis officially the season for holiday travel planning.

Whether consumers are booking flights and hotels or need insight to save time and alleviate stress at the airport, travel experts shared their top tips and data with ABC News’ Good Morning America to help guide them toward the path of least resistance.

Top tips before you book your holiday flight

While some may not want to hear it, Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights and author of Take More Vacations, told GMA that “the best time to have booked holiday flights was in June.”

“I know that’s small comfort now, but think of it as a reminder for next year,” he continued, adding that “if you’re hoping to travel this upcoming summer — you’re actually starting to see some really cheap flights on those opposite season flights now.”

Last minute tips to book a flight for Thanksgiving

Keyes said the second-best time to book if you missed the off-season deals is right now, because flights are almost certainly going to get more expensive the longer people wait.

“You want to try to book it sooner rather than later because fares tend to move in one direction in the last few weeks and it’s not down,” he said.

Keyes suggests following the 21-day rule, which means backtiming when to book based on your departure date to align with an airline’s “advanced purchase requirement” found in the fine print of the fare terms and conditions.

“That usually states ‘this fare is only available if you book it at least 21 days before travel,’ ” Keyes said. “On day 20 that fare is no longer available, it’s expired, and at that point, the new cheapest fare is going to be $100 or $200 more expensive.”

“Twenty-one days before you travel is the sort of drop-dead deadline to book that flight,” he continued, adding that “if you’re hoping to travel on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, which would be Nov. 23, you’re actually going to want to try to get that flight booked by Nov. 2 at the latest.”

After that, the price will continue to go up incrementally.

The best flight departure time to book and why

“The most important thing to remember is that the earliest flight of the day has a 25% point higher on-time performance rate than the last flights of the day,” Keyes shared. “Get those morning flights cause they’re far more likely to get you there on time.”

In addition to better weather and fewer thunderstorms in the morning, Keyes explained that booking the first flight out helps mitigate risks of delays or cancellations due to any issues with an in-bound aircraft, since yours will have been parked overnight and ready at the gate.

Alternative destinations for Thanksgiving travel deals

“Thanksgiving is the best week of the entire year for international travel,” Keyes said, sharing an example in real-time that it would cost someone $118 more to fly from New York City to Omaha, Nebraska than New York City to Portugal over the week of Thanksgiving.

Plus, he said it’s a slower season than summer, with fewer crowds and lower prices, and some areas around Europe will be starting their seasonal holiday markets.

Tips to save time, money and mitigate stress at the airport over the holidays

Keyes offered a couple of his top ideas to “help keep your cool at the airport” during the chaotic holiday season.

“If you can avoid it, try not to check a bag,” he said. “It will actually really help improve your odds for many situations.”

“You’re not having to take the extra time to stand in line when you get to the airport and risk if the lines are too long or potentially missing flight. You’re not standing at carousel wondering if your bag is going to arrive,” he said. “If something happens to your flight, like a missed connection or cancellation, it is far easier to get reaccommodated if the airline doesn’t have to go find your bag in the belly of a plane and switch it to some other plane.”

Another way to reduce stress is to enroll in TSA Precheck or Global Entry, which Keyes said is particularly easy “if you have a credit card that is going to cover the cost of those applications.”

“That will let you whiz through a much shorter security line, you don’t have to take your shoes off — if you skip checking a bag and have TSA precheck, when you get through the doors of the airport to the time at your gate, it’s often about five minutes,” he explained.

But even if the TSA precheck line looks longer than the standard security checkpoint, Keyes advised staying in your lane.

“Even if the line is longer, typically it’s going to move quite a bit faster, not only because you don’t have to take off your shoes or your laptop out of your bag, but also because the TSA line tends to have more experienced travelers who know what to do,” he said. “Nothing against less experienced travelers, but they’re just going to take more time.”

If you don’t have TSA precheck, Keyes recommended checking if the airport offers the option of “letting folks schedule a time to show up at TSA, where you can essentially log on, schedule it the day before and show up for your specific block.”

“Your downside risk of a big delay is far less if you’re in one of those scheduled slots,” he said.

Best tip to easily rebook after flight delays or cancelations

“If your flight does get canceled or you miss a connection — especially if there’s bad weather — a lot of people will be calling, so don’t just stand in line at the airport to talk to a gate agent,” Keyes said. “You want to also make sure you call the airline. But specifically call the airlines international number.”

This handy hack will bypass the main U.S. hotline, Keyes said, which most everybody else would also be calling.

“If you call American Airlines’ UK number or United’s Canada number,” he said, “you’re much more likely to get right through to an agent because those have far fewer callers and those agents who are based internationally can help your case and get you rebooked just the same as U.S. based agents.”

Hotel prices and last minute holiday destination deals

The team of experts behind the travel app Hopper found that the average hotel prices per night for Thanksgiving and Christmas have increased 14% from last year.

For hotel stays, Hopper experts advise finalizing any Thanksgiving bookings by the first week of November, and for Christmas, by the first week of December.

For travelers who can be flexible with timing and locations, Hopper said consumers can “save as much as 25% by booking last minute for the holidays for hotels, particularly in big cities.”

“Hotels lower [their] prices on remaining inventory in the month prior to the check-in date so you can often find good deals in the days leading up to the holiday,” a representative for Hopper said in a statement. “However, keep in mind that you will need to be flexible with the hotel property and amenities to get a good last-minute deal.”

Best days for holiday hotel check-in

For anyone planning to stay at their destination for a few days, Hopper advised travelers to arrive on the Monday or Tuesday ahead of Thanksgiving, versus staying after the holiday.

The travel service app also found that prices for Black Friday check-ins are higher than Thanksgiving itself, with some folks looking at an additional $50 more for a post-turkey day weekend getaway.

For Christmas, Hopper found that checking in on the holiday itself could be 11% lower than checking in on Christmas Eve.

When it comes to New Year’s Eve, they noted that “hotel prices will be low until Dec. 27” but after that rates will “rise by about $30 per night.”

Overall, according to Hopper, prices will be highest the week between Christmas and New Year’s compared to the week prior.

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