News – Page 2515 – 105.7 WDNY

Inside the submarine capable of launching nuclear missiles

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — America’s main nuclear deterrent glides undetected under the oceans as it carries a cargo of ballistic missiles that will hopefully never be used.

Off the coast of Hawaii, ABC News visited the USS Maine, one of 14 Ohio Class U.S. Navy submarines capable of launching nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.

Measuring two football fields in length and weighing 18,000 tons, the massive submarine carries 20 Trident 2 D5 missiles capable of striking targets up to 4,000 miles away.

Each missile is capable of holding up to 12 nuclear warheads — one reason why these submarines are able to carry about 70% of the nation’s active nuclear arsenal allowed by the New START Treaty.

“I’d say it’s the most powerful force in the world right now,” Vice Adm. Bill Houston, the commander of the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Forces, told ABC News.

But in keeping with U.S. policy, Houston could neither confirm nor deny whether there were missiles with nuclear warheads aboard the submarine.

You can see more of Martha’s rare access inside the sub and exclusive reporting on America’s nuclear defense this Sunday on a special edition of “This Week.”

Developed at the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the submarines have continued with their classified missions, serving as a key part of America’s nuclear triad that includes strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) housed in the western plains states.

Recent comments by Russian leaders about their strategic nuclear capabilities following the invasion of Ukraine have shined a spotlight on America’s nuclear deterrence mission.

Houston characterized comments by Russian leaders about Russia’s nuclear weapons capability as “very dangerous,” “irresponsible” and “unprofessional.”

“It gives more meaning to this mission,” said Houston. “But we view our mission as a peace mission, purely defensive is what we do.”

He added, “And so when they saber rattle, this deterrent here is meant to prevent that from occurring.”

A main part of why Ohio Class submarines are a powerful nuclear deterrent is because they are undetectable in vast stretches of ocean, making an adversary susceptible to a retaliatory strike should it carry out a strategic attack against the United States.

To stay hidden, the submarine will surface very rarely — if at all — during what could be a months-long patrol underwater.

“This submarine, once it’s underwater, it will not be detected,” said Houston. “It is the one portion of our deterrent that will always be available if needed.”

And maintaining that deterrent means that not even senior military leaders will know where the submarine is at any given time. That’s a privilege available only to the submarine’s senior leaders.

The crew will regularly train for the unthinkable, like the launch of nuclear-armed missiles in a retaliatory strike against a country that has carried out a strategic attack against the United States.

ABC News was allowed to witness a simulated launch exercise where redundancies are an integral security measure intended to ensure the validity of a presidential order to launch missiles.

“United States policy is not to aim our missiles at any adversary or any country,” said Cmdr. Darren Gerhardt. “If we said they’re targeted, they would be pointing to the spot in the ocean. They don’t go anywhere.”

Living with the Trident missiles is also a regular part of life for the 150 sailors on the submarine.

The sailors have to maneuver their way through hallways lined by 24 missile tubes that house ICBMs. The missiles are also located near the sleeping berths.

Crew members carry out their assignments in shifts with some gathering for breakfast at 3 a.m.

With the submarine operating hundreds of feet below the surface, the crew has little awareness about what is going on in the world. At times the submarine will come up to periscope depth to receive satellite signals for updates on what’s going on in the world. But that maneuver carries risk.

“But when I do come up to periscope depth that makes me vulnerable,” said Gerhardt. “So I have to minimize the amount of times I do that.”

And when the crew returns to their families, “we’re catching up on several months’ worth of information that we missed,” Gerhardt said.

Both Houston and Gerhardt said they’re used to this life under the sea.

“I would say this is where we’re more comfortable,” said Houston. “A pilot likes to be in the air. We like to be under the sea.”

Added Gerhardt, “This is our home.”

Oklahoma Legislature passes bill that would ban nearly all abortions

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Oklahoma Legislature passed a bill that would ban abortion at conception, making it the most restrictive abortion ban in the country if it goes into effect.

There are exceptions in cases of saving the life of the mother, rape or incest.

The bill, HB 4327, which would go into effect immediately if signed by the governor, is modeled after a controversial Texas law that opens up providers and anyone who “aids and abets” an abortion to civil lawsuits.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a similar six-week ban into law earlier this month.

Planned Parenthood has already said it plans to challenge the state’s latest, more-restrictive abortion ban.

“This ban must be stopped — along with the other abortion bans the state passed just last month,” Planned Parenthood Action said.

Stitt seems likely to sign the bill into law. When the governor signed the so-called “heartbeat act” into law this month, he said he wanted Oklahoma “to be the most pro-life state in the country.”

Last month, Stitt signed another abortion bill that would make it a felony to perform abortions except when the mother’s life is in danger.

The GOP-led Oklahoma House of Representatives called HB 4327 the “most strongly pro-life bill of its kind by allowing civil liability from conception.”

“It is my sincere hope that, in addition to the criminal bill passed this session, this civil liability bill will provide strong, additional protection of the life of unborn children in Oklahoma,” state Rep. Wendi Stearman, a co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement.

The Center for Reproductive Rights said Thursday it plans to fight the ban if it goes into effect.

“Multiple generations of Oklahomans have relied on abortion access to shape their lives and futures. They have never known a world without that right,” Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. “But under this bill, people will be forced to travel hundreds of miles for an abortion, and those who cannot afford to travel will be forced to give birth against their will or attempt to end their pregnancies on their own. This is the cruel reality that politicians are creating for their own residents.”

The string of abortion legislation in Oklahoma comes as the U.S. Supreme Court debates a case that could impact Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide. The conservative majority of the court appeared poised to overturn the nearly 50-year precedent, according to a leaked draft opinion initially reported by Politico earlier this month.

Several other Republican-led states — including Arizona, Kentucky and Wyoming — have similarly passed abortion legislation ahead of the decision, which is expected next month.

Biden visiting a volatile Asia at a volatile time

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — When President Joe Biden arrives in Seoul on Friday, on his first trip to the region as president, he’ll be landing in a volatile region at a volatile time.

Biden will seek to shore up ties with regional allies and advance his vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, but he’ll do so as the threat of another nuclear test from North Korea looms.

At the same time, U.S. allies South Korea and Japan continue to squabble over historical grievances, blocking a breakthrough in bilateral relations.

Northern neighbor

Increasingly bellicose North Korea continues to paint itself as heavily-armed nation that its foes, including superpowers, should think twice about tangling with.

Images last month released by the official Korean Central News Agency showed the country’s leader Kim Jong Un overseeing a spectacular night parade in Pyongyang with soldiers marching in perfect formation and ICBMs.

“If any forces attempt military confrontation with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, they will be perished,” Kim reportedly vowed in a fiery speech.

Since 2021, North Korea has been steadily improving its missile technology, drastically increasing testing, including purported hypersonic missiles in January and a submarine-launched ballistic missile, or SLBM in May, and what is believed to have been a successful intercontinental ballistic missile test launch.

It was the first of its kind in years and Kim might very well have more ICBMs fired off during Biden’s visit.

In what has become the new normal, each test launch typically garners perfunctory rebukes from the U.S. and its allies, with Japan predictably condemning the act, lodging complaints with the U.N., and then vowing to share information.

Unsettling signs

Signs indicate the North is restoring tunnels at its Punggye-ri testing site, where all six North Korean underground nuclear tests to date have been conducted. In 2018, Punggye-ri was famously dismantled “in a transparent manner” in front of the world’s media. Now in 2022, a U.S. official tells ABC News that “the facility at Punggye-ri is capable of testing a nuclear device in short order.”

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Wednesday that U.S. “intelligence does reflect the genuine possibility that there will be either a further missile test, including long-range missile test, or a nuclear test, or frankly, both, in the days leading into, on, or after the president’s trip to the region.”

Sullivan said the U.S. was “preparing for all contingencies, including the possibility that such a provocation would occur while we are in Korea or in Japan.”

The Biden administration says the North “could be ready to conduct a test there as early as this month.”

Circling the wagons

Biden will visit both Japan and South Korea, two key regional allies with a history of icy relations. South Korea’s newly minted conservative president Yoon Seok-youl has called for a thaw.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said, “There has never been a time when strategic cooperation between the two nations, and between them and the United States, has been more necessary,” and says there is no time to waste in improving bilateral ties.

Despite the friendly overtures from the leaders of the two nations, experts say neither side is willing to make the first move to resolve the rows.

Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan, told ABC News the calls for unity are music to Washington’s ears.

“The U.S. wants its allies to cooperate in coping with contemporary threats but they have remained divided over their shared past. Improving relations will be a difficult process because history is very politicized in both nations,” he said.

Kingston said the recent failures of the two countries to see eye-to-eye is a wake-up call for those who have hopes that they could overcome the colonial past. “They also battle over territory — the Dokdo/Takeshima islets — and whatever else is handy.”

Jaechun Kim, professor of international relations at South Korea’s Sogang University, also has doubts fences can easily be mended.

Despite President Yoon’s signaling the desire for closer relations with Japan, he walks a tightrope, Kim said.

“There is limit to which he can be proactive here because if you’re seen as compromising on ‘history’ issues toward Japan, that is politically suicidal in the Republic of Korea,” he told ABC News.

Kim said Japan and Korea will have to have to find common ground somewhere.

“We should not expect or push for a breakthrough on history issues. That’s not realistic,” he said. “Rather, the two countries will have to deepen cooperation on issues where their interests converge, issues such as economic engagement and maritime cooperation in Indo-Pacific, and trilateral security cooperation between ROK, Japan, and the U.S. in Northeast Asia to augment deterrence and defense against North Korea’s nukes and missiles.”

ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.

911 dispatcher may be fired over hanging up on Buffalo shooting caller: Official

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — An Erie County, New York, 911 dispatcher could be fired after an employee at the Tops supermarket said the dispatcher hung up on her during Saturday’s attack that killed 10 people.

Latisha Rogers, an assistant store manager, told The Buffalo News that the dispatcher “was yelling at me” during those terrifying moments when the shooter was firing in the store.

“You don’t have to whisper,” Rogers said the dispatcher told her as she tried to stay quiet so the gunman wouldn’t find her. “And I was telling her, ‘Ma’am he’s still in the store. He’s shooting,'” according to the paper’s account.

The county will seek the dispatcher’s termination following a review of the 911 call, a spokesman for the Erie County Executive’s Office told ABC News.

The spokesman, Peter Anderson, said dispatching officers to the scene was unaffected by the actions. Police have said officers arrived a minute after the shooting began.

Rogers told The New York Times she was behind the customer service counter when the shooting began. She ducked behind the counter to call 911 and told the paper she whispered, “There’s someone shooting in the store.”

Rogers said the dispatcher asked why she was whispering and told her she couldn’t hear her, according to the Times. The line then cut out.

Payton Gendron, 18, has been charged in the mass shooting, which authorities have said was racially motivated. All 10 people killed in the attack were Black.

Rogers, who is also Black, was uninjured in the shooting.

Brandon Woodruff, convicted of killing parents in 2009, fighting for his freedom

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Brandon Woodruff had appeared to live the normal life of a 19-year-old, small-town Texas kid – but that changed in 2005, when both of his parents were brutally murdered. After an investigation, Woodruff was charged with capital murder, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

Now, Woodruff has served 13 years of his life sentence and said he’s finally ready to share his story in the first interview after his conviction.

“I’m innocent. I did not kill my parents at all,” Woodruff told “20/20” in an interview. “I think that you should look at the totality of the evidence.”

Woodruff grew up in a community outside of Dallas with his mother Norma Woodruff, father Dennis Woodruff and older sister Charla Woodruff.

Watch the full story on “20/20” FRIDAY at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

Growing up, former high school classmates said they remember Woodruff as a popular, outgoing, animal lover who was the president of the Future Farmers of America. The teen was voted most school spirit and had a steady girlfriend.

But during the investigation of his parents’ murders, authorities discovered that while Woodruff attended Abilene Christian University, he would go dancing at gay clubs, was dating men and had even traveled out of state to participate in adult movies.

On Sunday October 16, 2005, Woodruff visited his parents at their new home in Royse City, Texas. The couple was downsizing to help pay college tuition for their two children. He told police he left after the family enjoyed a pizza dinner together. Woodruff was the last known person to see both of them alive.

Two days later, Dennis and Norma Woodruff were found murdered in their new home. According to authorities, Dennis Woodruff was found shot once and stabbed nine times. Norma Woodruff sustained multiple gunshot wounds and had her neck slashed, investigators said.

Police concluded that Norma and Dennis Woodruff must have likely been killed sometime between 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday night. However, the medical examiner was not able to confirm the time of death. Norma Woodruff’s last phone conversation was with her mother around 9 p.m. and the next person to try and contact the couple was Charla Woodruff, who was at college in Arkansas, just after 11 p.m. Charla Woodruff was unable to reach them. When Woodruff was questioned by police about his whereabouts that night, there were inconsistencies in his timeline.

Michelle Lee, the mother of Woodruff’s girlfriend, also contacted law enforcement to report that a gun and bullets were missing from her home. Woodruff had been in her home the weekend before his parents were found dead. Investigators compared a bullet found at the crime scene with a bullet from the Lee home and said they believed they were consistent. The Lee’s gun was never found, but investigators believe it was the same caliber as the weapon used in the crime. A murder weapon was never recovered and Woodruff denies stealing the gun.

Woodruff was arrested and charged with capital murder.

In June 2008, a family member found a dagger in the barn of the Woodruff’s old house in Heath, Texas. Dennis Woodruff’s blood was on this weapon. Brandon Woodruff’s former college roommate testified that dagger was the same one Woodruff had in his dorm room. Authorities could not conclude if the dagger found was the murder weapon and Woodruff denies that the weapon is his.

Woodruff’s grandmother Bonnie Woodruff has supported Woodruff from the beginning and still maintains her grandson is innocent.

“I know Brandon was wrongfully judged. And murder? Now I know Brandon didn’t do that. Someone else is letting him take the blame for it,” said Bonnie Woodruff.

Over the past decade, advocates for Woodruff say there are red flags surrounding the investigation and his subsequent trial. Woodruff claims his sexuality played a role in his arrest and conviction.

“I do believe that that’s a major factor. I felt like the investigators were able to use that. They would say, well, ‘Did you know that he was dancing in gay bars? Did you know he had a boyfriend, did you know?’” said Woodruff.

During the investigation, police told friends and family of Woodruff that they “don’t care” if he is gay.

During jury selection, eight out of twelve jurors told the court that they believed homosexuality was morally wrong, but they were still allowed to serve on the jury after promising the court they could be fair toward Woodruff.

“Guess what? In 2005 people still felt that homosexuality was immoral because eight of the 12 jurors on Brandon’s case specifically said it was immoral,” said Philip Crawford, the author of a book called “Railroaded” about Woodruff’s case.

ABC News spoke with several jurors who said Woodruff’s sexuality wasn’t a factor in the jury’s decision.

While in prison, supporters have started a movement to free Brandon and now the Innocence Project of Texas has taken his case.

Allison Clayton, the deputy director with the Innocence Project of Texas claims that the prosecution’s case against Woodruff relied heavily on a timeline because they say Woodruff’s whereabouts were not accounted for at the time that authorities estimate the couple was killed. Clayton points to cell phone records that would further compress the window of opportunity to commit the murders.

“Brandon kills his parents in, what? the most, 19 minutes? He has to act fast or he is taking calls during the course of committing these murders,” said Clayton. “That’s the only way the timeline makes sense, that he does something to one of his parents, and then takes a call and chats with [a friend] like nothing’s wrong.”

In addition to the timeline, Clayton said one of the other biggest potential breakthroughs for this case would be taking DNA evidence from hair found in Norma Woodruff’s hand.

“In Norma’s hand, police found a clump of longer blonde hairs. Now, that would normally be an indicator that she had somehow grabbed her attacker and that she pulled his or her hair,” said Clayton. “Law enforcement never tested that hair. And one of the things that we’ve been fighting for in the case is trying to figure out who has that hair because we want it tested.”

In 2000, Woodruff’s direct appeal to the state was denied. In order for Woodruff to be released, he needs to prove to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that he is innocent.

“As it stands right now, if we don’t have a break in the case, then there’s nothing we can do for Brandon,” said Clayton. “He is going to be in prison for the rest of his life, but maybe there will be evidence that can help him, maybe someone is out there, who knows something, who’s willing to step forward.”

Bonnie Woodruff said that she still hopes that one day she can hug her grandson again and tell him “he’s home now.”

”We are all still a family unit and we all love one another. People can live with what they think, I can live with what I think because I know the truth and the truth’s gonna come out,” said Bonnie Woodruff.

Woodruff said he won’t stop fighting to prove his innocence.

“I’m not gonna stop. I’m gonna keep fighting and I’m gonna keep fighting to prove my innocence,” he said. “I do believe in my heart that it will happen.”

Senate passes $40 billion in new aid to Ukraine, bill heads to Biden

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Senate passes billion in new aid to Ukraine, bill heads to Biden

(WASHINGTON) — The Senate voted on Thursday to pass an additional $40 billion in new aid for Ukraine, after President Joe Biden called on Congress last month to deliver the additional funding, to help counter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion over the long term.

In his floor remarks before the 86 -11 vote, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer noted the significance of the package.

“By passing this aid package the Senate can now say to the Ukrainian people help is on the way: real help, significant help, help that could ensure the Ukrainian people are victorious,” he said.

With the House having passed the aid package earlier this month, it will now head next to Biden’s desk.

The aid package got broad bipartisan support with some Republican holdouts. It had been stalled for several days after Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s refusal to expedite to process.

In floor remarks before Thursday’s vote, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell promised a “big bipartisan landslide” and seemed to thumb his nose at concerns from Paul and other deficit hawks about the cost of the Ukraine bill.

“Anyone concerned about the cost of supporting a Ukrainian victory should consider the much larger cost should Ukraine lose,” McConnell said as he encouraged all members to join the “big bipartisan supermajority” voting to advance the aid package.

But Schumer went further, calling out the group of Republicans who he expects will vote against the aid package.

“It appears more and more MAGA republicans are on the same soft on Putin playbook that we saw used by former President Trump,” Schumer said.

“The MAGA influence on the Republican party is becoming all too large and all too dominant. We Americans all of us Democrats and Republicans cannot afford to stick our heads in the sand while Vladimir Putin continues his vicious belligerence against the Ukrainian people while he fires at civilian hospitals and targets and kills children and innocent people,” he said.

“But when Republicans — in significant number — oppose this package that is precisely the signal, we are sending to enemies abroad,” Schumer said.

Two national forests in New Mexico now closed to public due to extreme fire danger

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(SANTA FE, N.M.) — Two national forests in New Mexico are fully closed to the public due to extreme fire danger as several wildfires, including the largest in the state’s history, also burn.

The Carson National Forest and the Santa Fe National Forest in northern New Mexico are barring visitors, effective Thursday, due to fire risk that is only expected to get worse due to drought conditions.

“The hot and dry conditions we’re experiencing pose a dire risk for wildfires to quickly ignite and spread rapidly,” Carson National Forest supervisor James Duran said in a statement. “Community compliance will be essential for our success in protecting the forest amid these conditions.”

Campgrounds, trails and National Forest System roads in the forests are closed until conditions improve and there is “significant moisture,” forest officials said. The restrictions are currently scheduled to last until July 18.

Those who violate the closure order — a misdemeanor — could face a fine upwards of $5,000 or imprisonment.

The decision comes as over 2,100 fire personnel battle the massive Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire east of Santa Fe, which this week became the largest fire in the state’s history. As of Thursday morning, the fire had burned over 303,000 acres and was 34% contained, state fire officials said. A red flag warning is in effect Thursday for hot, dry and windy conditions.

“Right now with the conditions as dry as they are, all it takes is a spark from an exhaust and you can have another huge fire happen,” Stefani Spencer of the Carson National Forest told Albuquerque ABC affiliate KOAT.

A third national forest in New Mexico — the Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands, west of Albuquerque — is also partially closed to the public due to extreme fire danger.

Additionally, state officials announced on Wednesday that Pecos Canyon State Park in north central New Mexico is closed until further notice due to extreme fire danger.

“The ongoing and adjacent Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak Fires have demonstrated the severity of current fire conditions,” the state’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department State Parks Division said in a statement.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency in several counties last month as multiple wildfires burned, including the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire.

Biden approved a disaster declaration earlier this month for New Mexico that brings financial resources to the areas battling the fires.

Biden’s housing crisis plan met with praise from experts — who say there’s more to do

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden’s administration this week took necessary — if incremental — steps to address the lack of affordable housing across the country, advocates and experts say.

The White House on Monday introduced the “Housing Supply Action Plan,” which aims through a combination of incentives, reforms, financial mechanisms and legislative lobbying to expand housing access for owners and renters amid still-soaring inflation. The administration staked a timeline on its work, saying that the plan would “help close America’s housing supply shortfall in 5 years, starting with the creation and preservation of hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units in the next three years.”

Housing and rental prices have continued to rise at the same time that the market, in many places in the U.S., has been challenged by a years-long lack of sufficient construction and inventory.

Against that backdrop, the White House’s new plan was met with praise by experts even as some of them stressed that progress would be slower than the administration had vowed.

“Our country’s facing a historic low supply of entry-level homes for sale,” said Chris Vincent, vice president of government relations and advocacy for Habitat for Humanity International. “And federal investments and administrative actions are really necessary to move this along. So we think it’s great and will have a big impact on urban, suburban and rural communities alike.”

Jeffrey Zabel, a professor of economics at Tufts University, said while the White House’s plan was a great first step, “It’s going to take a long time for any of this to have a real impact on the supply of housing.” Zabel predicted it will take at least a decade to achieve.

Prices — spurred in part by inflation — are a major pain point and are inextricably connected to issues with inventory. In April, housing costs rose 0.5%, the same as the month before, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Over the last year, per the CPI, housing costs increased 5.1%.

Jerry Howard, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, said for “potential first-time homebuyers who are the linchpin of … the housing markets, they are priced out of the market.”

It’s even more challenging for people with low incomes and for communities of color to afford housing, advocates said, highlighting the influence of historic discrimination.

“I think the [COVID-19] pandemic really unveiled the housing crisis that many Black, brown and immigrant communities have faced for a long time,” said Katie Goldstein, the director of housing campaigns for the Center for Popular Democracy. “I mean, really, we’re talking about a housing crisis where there’s been decades of racial discrimination and disinvestment by federal, state and private actors.”

A 2020 report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that “Black households account for 12% of all households in the United States and 19% of all renters, but they account for 26% of all renter households with extremely low incomes.” Hispanics likewise make up 12% of all households and 19% of all renter households, the report said, but are 21% of renter households with extremely low incomes.

The Biden administration aims with its new plan to help lower costs over time by increasing the amount of quality housing, the White House said in a statement on Monday: “This means building more new homes and preserving existing federally-supported and market-rate affordable housing, ensuring that total new units do not merely replace converted or dilapidated units that get demolished.”

The White House said it will incentivize states and localities to change their zoning and land-use regulations, launch new low-cost financing for new housing and preservation, improve and build upon the existing federal financing, secure the accessibility of affordable single-family houses for owner-occupants and work to fix housing materials and labor shortages.

A senior administration official told ABC News in an email that the new actions do not require additional funding. The administrative actions, the official said, include programmatic changes to programs already in place.

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, who separately reintroduced a bill that would help create millions of new housing units, was among the Democrats who applauded the Biden administration for its plan.

“Housing affordability is one of the biggest crises facing working families and a key driver of inflation,” Omar wrote in an email to ABC News. “I am thrilled the Biden Administration is taking steps to tackle the housing crisis, including to encourage better zoning laws, funding for manufactured housing, multifamily housing, and the construction of new single-family homes. … Housing is a human right. It’s time to treat it like one.”

Last year, Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., cosponsored legislation to reform low-income housing credit. He also praised the new housing initiative for how it would “improve and expand financing options that will support affordable housing construction, while embracing a mixed-use strategy, and providing government-owned housing to owners who will live in them,” he said in an email to ABC News.

Beyond its administrative powers, the White House called upon Congress to enact legislative solutions, largely by approving President Biden’s trillion-dollar social spending and climate package, known as the Build Back Better bill, which passed the House but was rebuffed by Republicans and moderate Democrats in the Senate.

The White House says that spending package would also make crucial investments in public housing and create more construction jobs. The administration singled out the Unlocking Possibilities program, which was included in that bill and would create a Housing and Urban Development Department competitive grant program of $1.75 billion “to help states and localities eliminate needless barriers to affordable housing production.”

Experts say a comprehensive solution will ultimately require some kind of federal legislation.

“Only through a combination of administrative and Congressional action can the country truly resolve its affordable housing crisis,” Diane Yentel, the president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said in an email.

Noëlle Porter, the National Housing Law Project’s director of government affairs, also urged congressional action and highlighted the need for tenant protections.

“It’s a collective effort to get something like this to really work,” she said. “As advocates we will do every piece, every part in our power to braid funding sources together … but we need a significant investment in public housing and in tenant-based rental assistance.”

In proposals to expand housing access and affordability, a focus on tenants is essential in ensuring their rights and protections, Porter said.

She emphasized the need for action which guarantees that tenants who move back onto property that was once public but was privatized have the same affordability restrictions that the public property had.

Housing is a significant portion of what people spend their income on, Porter said. “As that cost expands, it cuts out, it pinches out, everything else we need to be able to buy.”

ABC News’ Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.

Biden backs Sweden, Finland joining NATO as Turkey threatens to block the historic bids

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden welcomed Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö to the White House on Thursday to discuss their historic bids to join NATO.

All three leaders called for swift acceptance of the applications amid resistance from Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who announced Thursday that his country will oppose Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.

“The bottom line is simple, quite straightforward,” Biden said in remarks in the Rose Garden. “Finland and Sweden make NATO stronger.”

The two nation’s formally submitted their applications on Wednesday as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is about to enter its fourth month. Finland and Sweden said they made the decision to join the alliance after seeing strong support from the public and the backing from their respective governments.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters he welcomed the move, calling the countries the alliance’s “closest partners.”

“All allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement,” Stoltenberg said at a news conference. “We all agree that we must stand together. And we all agree that this is an historic moment, which we must seize.”

Their request must be approved by all of NATO’s 30 member countries, making Erdogan’s objection a potential headache.

“We have told our relevant friends we would say ‘no’ to Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO, and we will continue on our path like this,” Erdogan said in a video statement on Thursday.

Erdogan has been critical of both countries, stating he perceives them as being supportive of groups Turkey views as extremist — including the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

Both Sweden’s prime minister and Finland’s president addressed Turkey’s disapproval during their visit to the White House.

“Finland has always had proud and good bilateral relations to Turkey,” Niinistö said. “As NATO allies, we will commit to Turkey’s security, just as Turkey will commit to our security. We take terrorism seriously, we condemn terrorism in all its forms and we are actively engaged in combating it. We are open to discussing all the concerns Turkey may have concerning our membership in an open and constructive manner.”

Andersson said Sweden is having dialogues with all NATO members, Turkey included, to sort out any issues at hand.

Despite Turkey’s opposition, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC White House Correspondent MaryAlice Parks on Wednesday the administration is “confident at the end of the day” that Finland and Sweden “will have an effective and efficient accession process” and that “Turkey’s concerns can be addressed.”

Sullivan also warned that the U.S. “will not tolerate any aggression against Finland or Sweden” as their applications are being considered.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met in New York on Wednesday to “reaffirm their strong cooperation as partners and NATO allies,” according to a joint statement.

“They discussed ways and assessed concrete steps to enhance their cooperation on defense issues, counterterrorism, energy and food security, combatting climate change and boosting trade ties, while agreeing to intensify consultations on a range of regional issues,” the statement read.

Lawmakers grill FDA head on ‘slow’ response to baby formula crisis

May 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — As so many parents still scour grocery shelves for baby formula the head of the Food and Drug Administration faced congressional lawmakers Thursday, amid the nationwide shortage that has ricocheted across the country and struck at the core of American families’ urgent need to feed their children.

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf’s appearance before a House Appropriations subcommittee comes just hours after President Joe Biden announced new steps to ramp up the federal response to the crisis, a problem that had been brewing for months.

On Wednesday evening, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to help expedite domestic manufacturing and allow military aircraft to fly formula into the U.S. from overseas. Yet, even with Biden’s action, top FDA officials have predicted that the the nation is still “weeks” away from seeing enough infant formula on the shelves.

It all comes as the administration faces mounting pressure from the American public clamoring for formula relief, with the issue used as a political cudgel by Republicans — and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle questioning whether the FDA responded with sufficient transparency and efficiency.

The critical shortage has been fueled by a perfect storm of circumstances, including pandemic supply chain disruptions, and the largest domestic formula manufacturer’s plant being shut down in February, following contamination issues at the factory which had been linked to four infants being hospitalized with a rare but serious bacterial infection, two of whom ultimately died.

Califf was expected to face tough scrutiny over whether the agency prioritized getting Abbott’s plant back online, and why FDA did not act sooner to mitigate the looming supply shortages.

At the hearing, Appropriations Committee chair Rosa DeLauro D-Conn., underscored what she said was the need to “get to the bottom of FDA’s slow response, which contributed to product staying on the shelves, and in the homes of families the country over, potentially putting babies at risk and forcing parents to play a game of Russian Roulette that they did not know they were playing.”

“Why did the FDA not spring into action?” DeLauro said, pointing to the time it took for the agency to make the recall of several of Abbott’s brands, following reports of contamination at their plant and allegations of ongoing quality control concerns.

“It makes me question which side the FDA is on,” DeLauro said. “Are they on the side of Abbott, and industry, or on the side of the American consumer, in this case babies and their moms and dads?”

In his opening remarks Califf recognized American families’ anxieties at the shortage.

“We know many parents and caregivers are feeling frustrated,” Califf said. “This crisis has shown us the impact of having a single manufacturer cease production for a brief period, and unless we strengthen the resilience of our supply chain, we could be one natural disaster or quality mishap or cyber attack from being here again. I hope I can work with this committee to ensure we have the tools and resources we need moving forward.”

+ More