(ATLANTA) — Over 140,000 children have experienced the loss of a parent or caretaker since the COVID-19 pandemic started, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Thursday.
The study, which considered data from April 2020 until June 2021, quantified an under-discussed issue of the pandemic: the magnitude of trauma children who’ve lost guardians have suffered at home, even as the virus continues to largely target adults.
It also found that the burden of grief has fallen hardest on children of color.
Nearly one in 500 children have lost a mother, father or grandparent who cared for them since April of 2020, the study found. But the majority of children, almost seven out of every 10 who have lost parents or caretakers during the pandemic, are Black, Hispanic or Native American.
The authors of the study called for federal attention and resources to address the trauma, which will continue to grow as long as the pandemic continues. Already, the authors estimate the number of children who’ve experience loss is higher than 140,000, because of the delta variant surge that hit the U.S. over the summer after the study concluded.
One of out of every 168 American Indian and Alaska Native children have lost a parent or grandparent who cared for them. During the same time, one out of every 310 Black children have faced such loss. For white children, the risk is lower; one out of every 753 children have lost a parent or caregiver.
The study showed the highest burden of death occurred in Southern border states for Hispanic children, Southeastern states for Black children, and in states with tribal areas for American Indian/Alaska Native populations.
“We were quite disturbed by the racial and ethnic disparities that were appearing in our data,” Susan Hillis, the lead author on the CDC study, told ABC News.
The CDC didn’t collect data to explain why those disparities exist, but research over the course of the pandemic has shown grave inequities in health care have led to higher death rates for communities of color. The CDC study published Thursday also found that parents generally had more children in demographics that were hit hardest by loss.
During the research period, Hillis said she was picturing a group of first-graders, all from different backgrounds and parts of the country.
“In my mind’s eye, there’s five children standing together and having such an extreme difference in their risk of having to face the death of the very person who is supposed to provide their love, security, education and care,” she said.
“We’re compelled to mount a response that’s effective for them — for all of them,” she said.
The data suggests that the country needs to build an “urgently needed” pillar into its COVID-19 response, specifically for children, Hillis said.
While she was working on the research, Hillis met a 16-year-old girl named Katie who had lost her dad to the virus.
“She said, ‘People with COVID in our country, most of them do recover, even though my daddy didn’t. However, I will never recover,'” Hillis recalled. “I will not have my daddy with me when I go to the prom, to take pictures beforehand, he will not walk me down the aisle, he will never be with me for another special event in my whole life. I need people to understand, recognize, see and help people like me.”
Losing a parent leads to an increased risk of mental health problems, abuse, unstable housing and poverty, the study said, and for children of single parents, it could mean an immediate need for new housing — whether that is moving in with other family members who can step in and care for them, or going to foster care.
“The critical point to remember is: Not only does it affect the child now, in the short term, but it does really stay with them for the rest of their lives,” Hillis said. “The good news is we do have programs that can help address them, and we have people ready to help implement the programs that work, so I’m encouraged about that.”
(NEW YORK) — It’s the critical aspect of the fight against the pandemic that the U.S. is still figuring out nearly two years after the first documented cases of COVID-19, which has claimed more than 700,000 American lives: coronavirus testing.
At first, testing supply was extremely limited with long lab turnaround times, and only a handful of Americans could access them before things improved as tests became more widely available. Then suddenly, testing demand dropped as mass vaccinations began.
Now, despite billions of dollars in federal investment and more than 20 months into the pandemic, COVID-19 tests are getting harder to find as millions return to offices and schools.
The struggle to keep up with demand also comes amid shifting federal guidance on who should be tested and when as some companies and schools conduct extensive testing, even in situations that may not require it.
The nation’s largest COVID-19 test manufacturers say they have seen a significant increase in the demand for coronavirus tests. Some major test manufacturers — including Abbott Laboratories — scaled back their production in the spring and early summer when daily testing numbers declined.
Many large test-producing companies say their rapid testing products are quickly flying off store shelves nationwide and are out of stock for online shoppers.
“We’ve ramped up our capacity significantly and, by the end of October, we’ll be producing as many or more rapid tests as we were at the height of our production,” said John Koval, an Abbott spokesperson. “To get there, we’ve hired additional employees and have turned on parts of our self-established manufacturing network.”
Although there is a faster result turnaround for rapid antigen tests, they are not as accurate as PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, which often involve a nasal swab. PCR tests are widely considered the gold standard for COVID-19 testing, due to their sensitivity, as they provide a more definitive answer as to whether someone may have active coronavirus.
More than 51 million coronavirus tests were administered in the month of September only the second time this year, after January, when test numbers were comparably high.
According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, testing in September increased by a record 82% compared to that period last year when many schools and workplaces were still fully virtual.
The U.S. now conducts nearly 2 million tests a day on average after hitting its peak for the year on Sept. 27 with 3.6 million.
Tests can be administered in a variety of locations, including testing sites, doctor’s offices and even at home and new technology is being developed to make the process easier, more available and cost-effective.
Here’s what we know about the testing landscape in the U.S.:
Return to work and school, in person
The return of Americans to work and school, along with the spread of the delta variant and a small but rising number of breakthrough infections among the vaccinated, created an increase in test demand that many suppliers are only now beginning to catch up with.
“It’s incredibly frustrating that we find ourselves back in this situation that we were in pretty much at the start of the pandemic,” said Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, lead epidemiologist for the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. “Employers really haven’t pulled back on screening testing that they’re doing even among vaccinated workforce, so that all added together stacks up to a fairly sizable demand for tests.”
Preparing for the return of employees back to the workplace, many U.S. employers have already purchased thousands of COVID-19 tests in bulk.
Prominent investment bank Goldman Sachs, which is based in New York, now requires staff in all of its U.S. offices to take weekly coronavirus tests, even if they’re fully vaccinated.
Other large employers, such as banks, retail stores and supermarkets have begun testing as well, with some using rapid tests and others using self-administered PCR tests.
Labcorb, a U.S. medical diagnostics company, insisted to ABC News that it didn’t reduce its capacity when demand dwindled, and that it has enough supply.
Labcorp sells large quantity collection kits to businesses, which are processed in their labs. Companies can distribute them to their employees to mail in for results.
The company says that equipping businesses both large and small with coronavirus tests is a key priority.
“By making it easier for employees to get tested, we are supporting communities and small businesses across the country,” said Dr. Brian Caveney, chief medical officer and president of Labcorp Diagnostics.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for example, partnered with Labcorp in March to implement a voluntary COVID-19 testing program for agency employees and contractors doing in-person work at government buildings or elsewhere.
Approximately 3,000 PCR tests a month are expected to be provided to FDA employees over the course of the program’s year-long contract.
As vaccinations increased among the general population in early spring, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) loosened mask policies for vaccinated individuals indoors and said that the vaccinated didn’t have to get tested.
Testing companies heeded that guidance, and significantly rolled back their production as their stock prices dipped in response to the lower demand.
But the rapid spread of the delta variant in the summer coinciding with a lull in vaccinations, compelled the CDC to update its guidelines.
The CDC now advises that vaccinated people who come in contact with others who have a confirmed case of COVID-19 get tested regardless of whether they have symptoms, and quarantine only if their test results are positive.
More than 186 million people — 56% percent of the U.S. population — have been fully vaccinated.
Testing protocols driving demand
Public health experts say that testing protocols for students returning to the classroom, employer testing mandates, in addition to continued spread of the virus, even in a limited way among the vaccinated, is part of what’s driving the demand for COVID-19 tests.
“We’re coming out of a fairly substantial surge of infections, so that has clearly prompted a need for more testing,” said Dr. Nuzzo, from Johns Hopkins. During the summer, the 7-day average of infections surged to levels not seen since the fall and winter spike of last year, when vaccines were not widely available.
When President Biden first took office, he committed to establishing a national pandemic testing board to “massively surge” and guarantee free access to coronavirus testing. But much remains unknown about the goals of the board, particularly when it comes to developing a national testing strategy.
A Health and Human Services spokesperson told ABC News that the board is comprised of officials from across the federal government and “includes a focus on addressing supply issues – the supply group meets regularly to review testing capacity.” Testing strategy has been left largely up to states.
The Biden administration has awarded billions in contracts to private sector companies to surge testing, with the goal of eventually getting those tests widely distributed. But industry experts have observed those actions have not been nearly enough to keep up with the pace of the demand to effectively change the ground game on testing access.
“I don’t know why it wasn’t obvious to everyone that with the fall there would be an increasing demand for testing, particularly because of the push to return kids back to school,” said Nuzzo. “We never had enough tests for that.”
The White House has promised to double the number of rapid tests on the market over the next 60 days with a special focus on reducing test prices, which is still a significant barrier to access for many Americans.
In September, the White House said it plans to spend $2 billion to purchase nearly 300 million rapid tests.
On top of that, the Biden administration recently announced plans for another $1 billion in spending on at-home rapid COVID-19 tests, which officials believe will increase the number of tests available to Americans to 200 million a month, beginning in December.
“The manufacturing is scaling up significantly, doubling across the next couple of months, and we’re just going to keep at it to encourage those manufacturers to increase capacity and to drive down the cost of those tests,” said White House COVID-19 Coordinator Jeff Zients.
Cost a factor
The cost of COVID-19 tests in the U.S. varies, as the price often depends on factors including where you live and the type of labs where tests are processed.
While some COVID-19 tests are free and lowly priced, others are not, and even the insured could be left with a sizable bill.
Many rapid antigen tests, which can provide results in a matter of minutes, cost at least $12 at many U.S. retail stores, compared to prices less than half of that in many European Union countries, including Germany and the U.K.
“We have made a fair amount of progress there. Is it enough? No,” said Mara Aspinall, an advisor to the Rockefeller Foundation and professor of practice in the biomedical diagnostics program at Arizona State University. “It’s still too expensive for many Americans who’ve got two kids to buy $65 worth of tests.”
Many retailers including Amazon, CVS, and Walmart are out of stock of Abbott’s Binax Now COVID-19 antigen self-test, which sells for $24.
Testing experts believe that even amid the current COVID-19 testing supply problems, there are other under-utilized tools that can be applied to mitigate the spread of the virus.
“Our focus is surveillance and then outbreak control, and when you do that, we’ll be doing more wastewater testing, more air monitoring, I think we need to be using more COVID sniffing dogs, and scratch-and-sniff tests,” said Aspinall. “We can’t be short-sighted, we need to be thinking about the U.S. and around the world.”
(ARLINGTON, Texas) — Four people were hurt in a shooting at Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday morning, authorities said.
The suspect, an 18-year-old student, fled the scene and was taken into custody hours later, authorities said.
Two of the victims suffered gunshot wounds, police said. Three victims were students and one was an older person who may have been a teacher, police said.
Three of the four victims were hospitalized: a 15-year-old boy in critical condition, a 25-year-old man in good condition and a teenage girl in good condition, police said.
Police identified the suspect as 18-year-old Timothy George Simpkins. After announcing a search for him, police said he was taken into custody and charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault with a gun. The teen suspect communicated with his attorney before turning himself in, police said.
Police said this was not a random act of violence and that the suspect allegedly got into a fight before drawing a weapon.
A teacher told ABC News he heard the shooting and barricaded in a classroom with his students.
The “all clear” was given at the school following a lockdown. Students are being escorted to another building to be reunited with their families, the Mansfield Independent School District said.
ATF officials are at the scene in Arlington, located between Fort Worth and Dallas.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement, “our hearts go out to the victims of this senseless act of violence.”
“Thank you to the law enforcement officers and first responders who arrived on the scene to help the victims and prevent further violence,” he said. “I have spoken with the Mayor of Arlington and offered any assistance the state can provide, and I have directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to make state resources available to help bring the criminal to justice.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEWARK, N.J.) — Five years after high levels of lead were detected in the water of 30 public schools in Newark, New Jersey, the city faces a new challenge of convincing residents affected by the crisis that the water is now safe to drink.
Newark resident Marcellis Counts said he grew up feeling neglected by the city and that’s caused public distrust to run deeply.
“The water is just a clear example of how things are able to be neglected,” Counts said. “Many people already knew that a lot of our water was bad anyway. So I always grew up not even drinking from water fountains when I went to school and stuff like that. So it was like that distrust.”
After major signs of contaminated water appeared in 2016, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection required Newark to monitor lead levels. The city reported lead levels above the federal action level, which they said were due to corrosion of old lead water pipes throughout the city, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Two years later, Newark reported one of the highest amounts of lead in any major U.S. city by 2018.
“We are now in panic mode in this city because the feds had to come in to tell us to stop drinking the water,” said Newark resident Donna Jackson in 2019.
Newark city leaders responded by providing water filters and water bottles to more than 40,000 households.
Shakima Thomas’ 7-year-old son, Bryce, tested positive for lead in 2018, even though she said the pipes in her home were made of copper.
“We haven’t got another test since that first test because it was such a traumatizing experience for him … So I have no idea what his level is at this point,” Thomas told ABC News.
In 2019, New Jersey officials announced a $120 million loan from the Essex County Improvement Agency, and a city ordinance, to expedite the city’s efforts to replace the lead pipes – at no cost to any resident.
Since then, Newark has replaced more than 22,000 lead service lines.
Yet, in March of 2021, Thomas paid a private lab to test the lead in her water. According to the results, the lead from her kitchen sink far exceeded what the Environmental Protection Agency says is an acceptable level.
“I felt bad, I felt terrible. I think any parent will feel that way. Here we’re supposed to protect our kids, and that’s the situation that was completely out of my control,” Thomas said.
The EPA also states there is no safe limit for lead in drinking water and that low levels of lead exposure in children have been linked to various conditions, including learning disabilities and impaired hearing.
Thomas said she also got a water test from the city of Newark in April, but the city said it had lost her results, according to emails shared with ABC News.
The city of Newark told ABC News that there are resources available to help children who have been affected by lead, but Thomas said those services were denied to her son.
“I took that as, ‘Yeah, [your child] has lead in his system, but he’s not poisoned enough for us to help.’ So that’s how I took it,” Thomas said.
According to a 2018 report by the National Institute of Health, low-income populations are disproportionately affected by lead exposure.
As of 2021, a little more than 27% of Newark’s population lives in poverty, which is more than double the national average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Just a few weeks ago, 4-year-old Anailah tested positive for lead. Her mother, Crystal McMillian, said that she noticed her daughter was having trouble focusing.
“I received a phone call from the doctor’s office stating that my daughter had lead levels [that are] high,” McMillian said. “It’s hard for her at times to sit down. She acts out at times and it’s just her attention span.”
McMillian said she had an inspector come to her home to test paint, which is another potential source of lead, but she says no one has come to test the water.
“They didn’t even offer to test my water to see if the water is causing the issue … They’re not concerned if the lead is coming from the water or the paint or something else that’s causing this problem,” McMillian said. “I want to know what’s causing my baby to have and her levels to be really high.”
For now, McMillian said she goes to the Newark Water Coalition Distribution site twice a week and fills jugs of water so that she can have drinking water at her home.
The Newark Water Coalition told ABC News there has not been a drop in demand for people coming to get water, despite the city replacing nearly all lead service lines.
Kareem Adeem is the Director of the Newark Department of Water and Utilities. He said that he understands that trust doesn’t come easily, but residents need to work with the city.
“Yes, we’ll be able to get someone to our house to test the water. We’re testing thousands, thousands of water samples… and one may get lost or mixed up, but we’re here to help you,” Adeem told ABC News. “Don’t get frustrated. Work with us. We’ll get it done.”
Thomas said that she’s all but done working with the city after several unsuccessful attempts to have city officials test her water.
“I don’t think I can trust my elected officials because they’ve shown that they’re unreliable consistently,” Thomas said. “The only thing I can do is buy bottled water and bank on the fact that that’s safe, but I’d rather drink that than knowing I’m drinking lead.”
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats emerged from a closed door special caucus meeting on the debt ceiling on Wednesday and said they intend to take GOP Minority Leader Mitch McConnell up on his short-term debt ceiling increase.
Multiple senators and aides told ABC News Democrats are rejecting McConnell’s other offer that would have Republicans expediting Democrats passing a longer-term debt ceiling increase using the budget reconciliation process that they’re using to pass the multi-trillion dollar social spending bill.
“McConnell caved! McConnell caved,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told reporters with a fist raised.
“We intend to take this temporary victory and then try to work with the Republicans to do this on a longer-term basis,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., told CNN.
“There’s not going to be reconciliation,” Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told reporters emphatically, adding that the short term fix must pass as soon as possible.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., agreed, saying she was glad McConnell “folded“ and said Democrats would “never“ use reconciliation to increase the debt ceiling.
It’s unclear if a vote on the new proposal would occur Wednesday night or Thursday, though the latter appeared more likely.
As the U.S. barrels toward an unprecedented default in a game of brinkmanship on Capitol Hill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered Democrats two options to increase the debt ceiling on Wednesday. Both options require that Democrats increase the ceiling by a specific amount, which the party has not wanted to do, fearing political implications of an increase to the nation’s borrowing limit approved solely by Democrats.
Democrats rejected an offer for that Republicans to help Democrats expedite the budget process known as reconciliation to hike the debt limit by a specified amount but instead took a short-term increase of the debt ceiling to a specified amount for two months — until December.
It comes after Republicans have refused to allow Democrats to move forward on raising the debt ceiling with a simple majority vote, subsequently preventing the country from entering a self-inflicted financial crisis, potentially worse than the 2008 crisis.
“Republicans remain the only party with a plan to prevent default,” McConnell said, though he has maintained for weeks that Democrats should go the process alone. “We have already made it clear we would assist in expediting the 304 reconciliation process for stand-alone debt limit legislation. To protect the American people from a near-term Democrat-created crisis, we will also allow Democrats to use normal procedures to pass an emergency debt limit extension at a fixed dollar amount to cover current spending levels into December.”
While some Democrats took short-term extension as a win, Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii said McConnell’s two offers were “BS,” adding the GOP leader is “heartless” and, sarcastically, “He could give a rip.”
Asked by ABC News’ Mariam Khan if Schumer should accept one of McConnell’s options, given the nation is on a deadline, Hirono replied, “Why should we accept any part of a BS offer?”
Ahead of McConnell’s proposition, Senate Republicans had planned to filibuster a House-passed measure on Wednesday that would suspend the debt limit until December 2022. At least 10 Republicans would need to join all Senate Democrats to break the GOP filibuster and allow a simple majority vote to pass the bill — which President Joe Biden has called for, telling Republicans at a meeting with business leader earlier to “get out of the way.”
Without Republican support, Biden and other Democrats raised carving out an exception to ending the filibuster for the debt ceiling vote, which would take the support of all 50 Democratic senators — but it doesn’t seem to be a pathway forward either.
Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who along with fellow moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., has balked at changes to the filibuster rules, dug into his position earlier, putting the responsibility of the economic crisis squarely on the shoulders of Senate leaders to solve.
“This should not be a crisis. I’ve been very, very clear where I stand, where I stand on the filibuster. I don’t have to repeat that. I think I’ve been very clear. Nothing change,” Manchin told reporters on Capitol Hill. “But the bottom line is we have a responsibility to be the adults. Our leadership has the responsibility to lead.”
“The only thing I can say at this time to Leader Schumer, and to Leader McConnell, please, lead, work together,” he added.
Schumer had said earlier on the floor that the Senate must move forward with “the responsible thing and vote to allow the U.S. to keep paying its bills.”
“Republicans’ obstruction on the debt ceiling over the last few weeks has been reckless and irresponsible but nevertheless, Republicans will today have the opportunity to get what they’ve been asking for,” Schumer said in the morning. “The first and easiest option is this: Republicans can simply get out of the way, and we can agree to skip the filibuster vote so we can proceed to final passage of this bill.”
But Republicans letting Democrats govern so easily, despite Democrats suspending the debt ceiling multiple times in a divided Washington under former President Donald Trump.
GOP leaders have maintained for months that Democrats must act to raise the federal debt limit on their own, because they have total control of Washington and are planning to pass a multi-trillion social and economic package without Republican support.
But Democrats and Biden have reiterated that paying off U.S. debt is a historically bipartisan measure and that the funds Congress would be approving were spent, in part, under then-Senate Majority Leader McConnell.
McConnell has said repeatedly that Democrats should have to hike the debt limit to cover the cost of potentially trillions in yet-passed parts of Biden’s agenda, though the debt limit must be raised to cover spending that already took place under the Trump administration with unified GOP support.
Amid Democrats’ calls for carving out the filibuster, McConnell told members in a lunch meeting about the two options: a short-term extension or an expedited reconciliation process — but those would also give Republicans exactly what they’re asking for politically: an increase to the nation’s borrowing limit approved solely by Democrats, for the GOP to seize on in midterms.
White House economists and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have warned that without action, Americans will feel the real-world effects of a self-inflicted economic crisis in the coming days. Consequences include delays to Social Security payments and checks to servicemembers, a suspension of veterans’ benefits, and rising interest rates on credit cards, car loans and mortgages.
(LOS ANGELES) — Officials are continuing their investigation into what caused a pipeline in the Pacific Ocean to leak hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil, with cleanup efforts continuing along California’s southern coast.
Up to 350 people were participating in cleanups on a 30-mile stretch of beaches and marsh from from Huntington Beach to Dana Point, officials from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife told reporters at a news conference Wednesday.
Crews in the air were identifying affected locations and alerting cleanup teams, said Captain Rebecca Ore of the Coast Guard’s Long Beach branch. “Everybody here is absolutely committed to cleaning up our much-loved California beaches.”
Michael Ziccardi, director of California’s Oiled Wildlife Care Network, said the organization has collected 13 live birds and two dead birds affected by the oil. Four live snowy Plovers, an endangered species, also were found in Huntington Beach.
An estimated 5,000 gallons of oil has been recovered from the water and beaches, Ziccardi added.
Up to 144,00 gallons of crude oil leaked into the ocean after the pipeline, about 4.5 miles off the California coast, known as Elly, was damaged on Saturday morning.
The pipeline was no longer pumping oil as of approximately 8 a.m. Saturday, and the Coast Guard was notified of the leak at that time, said Amplify Energy Corporation CEO Martyn Willsher.
But officials have alleged that the leak actually was discovered more than eight hours earlier. Orange County supervisor Katrina Foley said over the weekend that the pipeline was likely leaking before the damage was discovered Saturday morning, and officials from a division of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife stated in a report that they were notified of an “observed sheen” off the Huntington Beach coast at 10:22 p.m. Friday, according to documents obtained by ABC News.
The U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration demanded the failed pipeline be repaired in a letter to Amplify Energy Corp. on Tuesday. The letter, addressed by the associate administrator for pipeline safety, said the oil platform’s control room received low-pressure alarms on the San Pedro Bay Pipeline around 2:30 a.m. PDT Saturday, indicating a possible failure. But the line was not shut down until 6:01 a.m. — 3 1/2 hours later.
Robert Bea, co-director of the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at the University of California, Berkeley cast doubt on Amplify Energy’s claim that the pipeline was shut down at 2:30 a.m. Saturday.
Bea hypothesized that if the first sightings of the sheen came Friday night, and a large plume of oil was visible from satellite imagery shortly thereafter, the low-pressure alarms would have sounded in the control rooms soon after the leak began, unless the alarms were faulty.
No abnormalities were found when the pipeline was cleaned last week or during an annual spill drill in 2020, Willsher said, adding that he expected the total loss of oil to be lower, given that the damage to the pipeline was just a 13-inch crack.
“We want to do everything we can to ensure that this situation and this release gets resolved as quickly as possible so that these beautiful areas can be restored, and all of the residents and businesses can get back to normal as quickly as possible,” Willsher said.
It’s unclear why the company didn’t stop pumping sooner, Bea told ABC News.
A class-action lawsuit was filed against the companies that run the oil line on Monday.
ABC News’ Matt Gutman and Jenna Harrison contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A massive search is continuing in Florida for Brian Laundrie, the boyfriend of Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old woman who went missing on a cross-country trip and who authorities confirmed as the body discovered in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming.
The search for the 23-year-old Laundrie is centered around North Port, Florida, where investigators said Laundrie returned to his home on Sept. 1 without Petito but driving her 2012 Ford Transit.
Laundrie has been named by police as a “person of interest” in Petito’s disappearance. Laundrie has refused to speak to the police and has not been seen since Tuesday, Sept. 14, according to law enforcement officials.
The search for Laundrie is the latest twist in the case that has grabbed national attention as he and Petito had been traveling across the country since June, documenting the trip on social media.
Petito’s parents, who live in Long Island, New York, reported her missing on Sept. 11 after not hearing from her for two weeks.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Oct 06, 6:42 pm
Authorities to allow Laundrie’s father to assist with search, attorney says
Steven Bertolino, the Laundrie family attorney, told ABC News Wednesday that authorities are going to allow Chris Laundrie, Brian Laundrie’s father, to assist with the search at the Carlton Reserve.
Investigators don’t currently have more details on when he will join the search.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News they provided aerial support Wednesday for a search of the area.
-ABC News’ Whitney Lloyd and Alondra Valle
Oct 05, 11:11 pm
Brian Laundrie left parents’ home to hike day earlier than parents originally told investigators
Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino confirmed to ABC News Tuesday night that the family now believes Brian Laundrie left to hike the Carlton Reserve on Monday, Sept. 13. Previously, they had told investigators he left on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
“The Laundries were basing the date Brian left on their recollection of certain events. Upon further communication with the FBI and confirmation of the Mustang being at the Laundrie residence on Wednesday September 15, we now believe the day Brian left to hike in the preserve was Monday September 13,” Bertolino said.
Oct 05, 4:50 pm
Brian Laundrie flew home to Florida in early August: Family attorney
An attorney for the family of Brian Laundrie confirmed to ABC News on Tuesday that the wanted fugitive flew home to Florida from Salt Lake City on Aug. 17 and flew back to Utah six days later to rejoin his girlfriend, Gabby Petito, on their cross-country road trip.
Steven Bertolino said Laundrie flew home to “obtain some items and empty and close the (couple’s) storage unit to save money as they contemplated extending the road trip.” Bertolino said the couple paid for the flights together as they were sharing expenses.
Laundrie’s trip back to the Tampa area came five days after he and Petito were stopped by police in Moab, Utah, when witnesses reported the couple was engaged in a domestic violence incident in Moab.
(LOS ANGELES) — Los Angeles will soon require that people show proof of full vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test to enter many indoor establishments.
It will be one of the strictest vaccine rules in the country when it goes into effect next month.
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved the ordinance, which will apply to indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, shopping malls, entertainment venues (such as the Staples Center and movie theaters) and personal care establishments (including nail salons, spas and hair salons) starting Nov. 4.
Retail establishments, including grocery stores and pharmacies, are not included.
The ordinance passed with 11 votes — one vote short of the 12 needed to go into effect immediately.
The ordinance allows for medical and religious exemptions. In lieu of vaccination, patrons must show proof of a negative COVID-29 test taken within 72 hours.
The new law differs from orders previously issued in Los Angeles County. Starting Thursday, the county will require at least one dose or proof of a negative test for customers and staff at “high-risk settings” including indoor bars and nightclubs, with both doses by Nov. 4. The order doesn’t apply to indoor dining, though vaccine verification is recommended.
Some council members voiced concerns about the burden on small businesses to enforce the law. Nury Martinez, the City Council president, said the ordinance will help Los Angeles “finally get back on track to normalcy.”
“Angelenos deserve to see the other side of this pandemic — where we can return to walking around without masks, without restrictions, and without fear,” Martinez said on Twitter last week, ahead of Wednesday’s vote.
In Los Angeles, which is home to some 4 million people, nearly 70% of residents ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to city data.
New York was the first city nationwide to require vaccination for customers and staff at many indoor businesses this summer. For customers ages 12 and up, proof of at least one vaccine dose is required for indoor dining, workouts and entertainment. The city’s mandate, which went into effect mid-September, does not include retail or personal care, and does not offer a testing option.
(WASHINGTON) — A U.S. Supreme Court case about state secrets and brutal CIA black-site interrogations after 9/11 took an abrupt turn Wednesday when a trio of justices demanded answers from the Biden administration about why the plaintiff — Al-Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah — is still held without charges in a military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, even though the war in Afghanistan has concluded.
“I don’t understand why he’s still there after 14 years,” said a clearly exasperated Justice Stephen Breyer.
The controversial wartime detention of alleged terrorist combatants was not the immediate focus of the case but was raised after more than an hour of oral arguments by Breyer and Justices Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor.
The justices had all been wrestling with how to balance the government’s need to keep secret the foreign location of Zubaydah’s interrogation — in an effort to protect national security interests — and the detainee’s need to obtain testimony from two former CIA contractors about what happened when he was in their custody.
Zubaydah is pursuing a claim against Polish officials in Polish court for their alleged complicity in his harsh treatment at a CIA black site in the country, as outlined in a U.S. Senate report, and wants on-the-record testimony about what happened there. The U.S. government has never formally confirmed, nor denied, the existence of a site in Poland and contends testimony from the contractors could compromise secrets.
Justice Gorsuch suggested one “off-ramp,” or solution, to the entire case could be allowing Zubaydah to speak for himself about how he was treated, especially since many details have already been declassified in a 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee report.
Zubaydah, who was captured in Pakistan in 2002, was waterboarded 83 times, spent 11 days in a coffin-size confinement box and was subjected to “walling, attention grasps, slapping, facial holds, stress positions and sleep deprivation,” according the report.
“Why not make the witness [Zubaydah] available? What is the government’s objection to the witness testifying to his own treatment and not requiring any admission from the government of any kind?” Gorsuch asked acting Solicitor General Brian Fletcher, representing the Biden administration.
“I understand there are all sorts of rules and protective orders,” he continued, “I’d just really appreciate a straight answer to this: will the government make Petitioner [Zubaydah] available to testify as to his treatment during these dates?”
Fletcher, apparently caught off guard, explained that he could not offer an answer without first consulting with the Defense Department. He pledged to comply with the justices’ request. Under terms of his detention, Zubaydah is allowed to communicate only with his legal team.
“Well, gosh,” replied Gorsuch, “this case has been litigated for years and all the way up to the United States Supreme Court, and you haven’t considered whether that’s an off-ramp that — that the government could provide?”
The exchange was a remarkable moment that united justices from across the ideological spectrum.
Justice Sotomayor joined Gorsuch’s argument, saying, “We want a clear answer. Are you going to permit him to testify, yes or no?”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was participating virtually in the argument because of a COVID-19 diagnosis last week, attempted to throw the government a lifeline. “Is the US still engaged in hostilities under the AUMF against Al-Qaeda?” he asked.
“That is the government’s position, that notwithstanding withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, we continue to be engaged in hostilities with Al Qaeda and therefore that detention under law of order remains proper,” Fletcher replied.
It is unclear whether the terms of his detention could or would be modified to allow him to testify publicly about his treatment in CIA custody.
The government insists any official testimony that implicates Poland as the location of a CIA black site would breach the trust of our allies and harm future intelligence agreements.
Zubaydah says his pursuit of a case in Polish court could benefit from an eyewitness account of what happened to him, even though many details are already in the public domain. “I want to shine a light on what happened,” said his attorney David Klein.
A majority of the justices appeared inclined to show deference to the government’s national security concerns about formally confirming Poland as a black site location, but they were also skeptical of a sweeping assertion of state secrets privilege that prevents Zubaydah from providing his own account in a court of law.
The justices are expected to hand down a decision in the case by the end of June 2022.
(Minneapolis, MINN.) — Newly released body camera footage shows Minneapolis police officers allegedly celebrating the “hunting” of anti-police brutality protesters just five days after the murder of George Floyd.
In one video, a protester yells: “We’re unarmed! This is America. We can say what we want!”
In response, an officer appears to shoot at the protester with rubber bullets.
Floyd’s death set off months of protests against police violence and racism. The city of Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed by then-MPD officer Derek Chauvin, set a curfew in response to the unrest.
The body cam footage released to the public by the court captures the police department’s enforcement of the 8 p.m. curfew: Officers firing rubber bullets at numerous people out on the streets in an attempt to forcefully clear them of demonstrators. Some officers can be seen and heard celebrating and even fist-bumping over their successful hits.
In the recording, one officer can be heard saying: “You guys are out hunting people now. It’s just a nice change of tempo.”
Shortly after, another officer comments: “F— these people.”
In another video, an officer says: “I would love to scatter [the protesters] but it’s time to f—— put 100 people in jail and just prove the mayor wrong about his white supremacist from out of state,” referring to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s comments about white supremacists and out-of-state instigators.
The officer later adds, “This group is probably predominantly white because there’s not looting and fires.”
Due to an ongoing internal investigation into the actions of officers seen in the videos, the Minneapolis Police Department declined ABC News’ request for comment.
The footage was introduced as part of the criminal case against Jaleel Stallings, who was accused of trying to kill police officers but has since been acquitted of all charges, according to his attorney Eric Rice.
The 27-year-old faced two counts of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, one count of second-degree assault and three other charges for firing a gun at an unmarked police van. No officers were injured.
Stallings argued that he fired at the unmarked police van in self-defense. In an affidavit, Stallings said that other people were running from the unmarked van and warned him of people shooting from the vehicle. He said that after being hit by a rubber bullet himself, he used his gun to shoot the vehicle in an attempt to scare the attackers off.
