(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Friday unsealed a more detailed inventory of what the FBI seized in the search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last month.
The judge, who is considering the Trump legal team’s request to name a third party to review the materials, ordered the release in a court hearing in Florida Thursday.
Judge Aileen Cannon also ordered unsealed a status review of the records seized during the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago.
She has not yet ruled on the question of a review by an independent “special master.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon’s latest survey on reported sexual assaults in the military show that in 2021 an estimated 8.4% of active duty women and 1.5% of active duty men indicated experiencing at least one incident of unwanted sexual contact.
The survey also showed that despite major efforts to address the issue of sexual assault in the military, including reforms instituted last year, women in the military services have significantly lost trust in the military to follow through on their cases or treat them with respect.
Using a new metric for the survey, carried out every two years, the number of service members who reported they had experienced unwanted sexual contact increased significantly, to a record 35,800. However, the change in metric made it difficult to make a full comparison to the estimated 20,400 reported in the most recent survey.
Unwanted sexual contact is defined as ranging from groping or abusive sexual contact, to attempted sexual contact, to rape. The new survey found the highest increase was in the category for non-penetrative sexual assault and attempted sexual assault.
The number of sexual assaults on service members reported in 2021 also spiked to a new high of 7,249, representing a 13% increase over last year’s numbers. The increased number of reports was due in large measure to a 25.6% increase in the number of reported incidents in the Army, a number far higher than the 9.2 % increase reported by the Navy, the 1.7% increase in the Marine Corps, and the 2.4% increase in the Air Force.
“The results are a tragic reminder of the challenges we face and the absolute need for continued leadership engagement, historic reforms that remain underway, and a focus on the latest and prevention so we can achieve the foundational change we need,” Elizabeth Foster, executive director of the Pentagon’s Office of Force Resiliency, told reporters on Thursday.
“These numbers are tragic and extremely disappointing,” she added. “On an individual level, it is devastating to conceptualize that these numbers mean that over 35,000 service members lives and careers were irrevocably changed by these crimes.”
According to the Pentagon study, 8.4% of active-duty female service members are estimated to have experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact in 2021, an increase from 6.2%, the highest percentage since data measurements began in 2006. The figure for men increased to 1.5% up from .7%, the second-highest level recorded.
There were steep 25 to 30% drops in the trust that service members have in the military’s system to handle their cases and protect their privacy after reporting an incident.
For example, 39% of women said they trusted the system, down from 66% in 2018, and the number of female service members who said the military protected their privacy following the report of an incident dropped steeply by 34%, down from 63% in 2018.
(NEW YORK) — NASA kicked off Monday its plan to send an unmanned space capsule into the moon’s orbit, marking the initial launch in an ambitious plan to establish a long term presence on the moon for scientific discovery and economic development.
The space capsule, called Artemis I, will travel for roughly 40 days — reaching as close as 60 miles from the moon, and then 40,000 miles above the moon when orbiting over its dark side — before landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
After the launch was scrubbed, the next attempt will occur Sept. 3.
Sep 02, 9:32 AM EDT
Artemis still on track to launch Saturday
NASA officials announced Friday that Artemis I is still on track to launch Saturday afternoon between 2:17 p.m. ET and 4:17 p.m. ET.
Jeremy Parsons, deputy manager of exploration ground systems at the Kennedy Space Center, said pre-launch tests and checks are “proceeding right on schedule.”
Melody Lovin, launch weather officer at the U.S. Space Force, said the weather forecast is currently a 60% go overall and 80% toward the end of the two-hour window, If the launch needs to be delayed until Monday, the forecast is a 70% go.
“I do not expect weather to be a showstopper by any means for either launch window,” she said.
Sep 01, 6:57 PM EDT
Artemis launch attempt still a-go for Saturday
The Artemis I launch attempt is still planned for Saturday from 2:17-4:17 p.m. ET, NASA officials said during a press conference Thursday.
“We’re comfortable with our risk posture,” Artemis mission manager Mike Serafin said. “That said, there’s no guarantee that we’re going to get off on Saturday, but we’re going to try.”
If not Saturday, the next launch attempt would be Monday from 5:12 p.m.-6:42 p.m. ET, officials said. Tuesday could also be an option, after which the next earliest launch attempt would be Sept. 19, Serafin said.
Sunday is no longer a backup option because the spacecraft would fly into an eclipse scenario, which would not allow it to get the power it needs from the sun.
If the launch is Saturday, the mission will be 37 days long, with the splashdown on Oct. 11, Serafin said.
-ABC News’ Gio Benitez and Meredith Deliso
Aug 30, 7:40 PM EDT
Artemis not launching Friday due to weather, NASA says
NASA officials said the Artemis I new launch date that was initially scheduled for Friday had to be moved due to bad weather.
The weather is 60% no go for Friday but looks to be more favorable Saturday.
“Looking forward to Saturday, weather would be a little bit different than what we experienced yesterday,” Mark Berger, launch weather officer with the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, said during a media briefing Tuesday. “We will have a fairly strong onshore flow, and so that does favor showers and possibly a few thunderstorms moving in from the coast during the morning and early afternoon hours.”
He added, “I’m optimistic that we’ll have at least some clear air to work with during the afternoon to count on Saturday.”
The window for launch on Saturday kicks off at 2:17 p.m. ET and ends at 4:17 p.m. ET. If need be, the launch can be pushed back to Monday.
If the launch does not occur by Monday, Artemis I will have to roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building and won’t be able to launch until later in September.
This is because the flight termination batteries, which allow Artemis to be blown up if it veers off course, run low after 25 days.
-ABC News’ Gio Benitez and Gina Sunseri
Aug 30, 7:05 PM EDT
Problem with Artemis engine may have actually been faulty sensor: Officials
The issue with an engine on Artemis I that led to the launch on Monday being scrubbed may not have been an engine issue at all.
NASA officials said Monday that engine three did not chill down to a temperature of 500 degrees Rankine, or 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which is needed for ignition, compared to the other three engines.
However, John Honeycutt, manager of the Space Launch System Program from Marshall Space Flight Center, said the problem may have actually come from a faulty sensor, rather than the engine not cooling down enough.
“I think we’ve got enough data to put the story together but we’ve still got to go put the pieces together,” Honeycutt said Tuesday.
Aug 30, 6:23 PM EDT
NASA moves Artemis launch date to Saturday
NASA officials announced Tuesday that they’ve moved the launch of Artemis I to Saturday.
Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, told reporters during a media briefing that the mission management team met earlier in the day and agreed on the new date.
“We agreed on what was called option one, which was to operationally change the loading procedure and start our engine chill down earlier,” he said.
One of the reasons for the scrub on Monday was because engine three did not cool down enough to the point needed for ignition, he explained yesterday.
“We also agreed to do some work at the pad to address the leak that we saw and we also agreed to move our launch date to Saturday, September the 3rd,” Sarafin added. “We are going to reconvene the mission management team on Thursday, September the 1st, to review our flight rationale and our overall readiness.”
Aug 29, 1:21 PM EDT
NASA administrator says launch scrubs are normal
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said it’s normal for launches to be scrubbed after the Artemis I launch was delayed Monday for multiple reasons.
“I am very proud of this launch team. They have solved several problems along the way and they got to one that needed time to be solved,” he told reporters.
“I want to say, understand that scrubs are just a part of this program on the space flight,” Nelson said.
Nelson spoke about the seventh mission of Space Shuttle Columbia, which he flew in January 1986.
“We scrubbed four times on the pad,” Nelson said.
He added, “It was the better part of a month and, looking back, after the fifth try got off to a perfect mission. It would have not been a good day had we launched on any one of those four scrubs. So when you’re dealing in a high-risk business and spaceflight is risky, that’s what you do.”
Aug 29, 2:11 PM EDT
Engine does not need to be replaced on Artemis, NASA says
NASA officials said there is no sign one of the engines needs to replaced on the Artemis I rocket after the launch was scrubbed.
During a media briefing Monday, Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, told reporters engine three did not cool down enough to the point needed for ignition.
“Do we need to remove and replace an engine? There is no indication we are at that scenario at this point,” he said.
Aug 29, 1:51 PM EDT
NASA breaks down details behind Artemis launch scrub
NASA officials on Monday offered more details behind the decision to postpone the Artemis I launch.
Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, explained engine three was not cooling down enough to the temperature needed before ignition.
“I don’t recall exactly where the engines were but engines one, two and four were pretty close to that. Three was not getting there,” he told reporters during a media briefing Monday afternoon.
Sarafin said there were other issues earlier in the day including tanking — filling the rocket with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen — being delayed for about an hour after the Kennedy Space Center went into a lightning alert as well as a hydrogen leak, although both were resolved.
“So the combination of not being able to get engine three to reach chill down and then the vent valve issue that they saw at the inner tank really caused us to pause today and we felt like we needed a little more time,” he said.
Sarafin added that he is hopeful about the second launch opportunity on Sept. 2.
“There is a non-zero chance we have a launch opportunity on Friday,” he said.
“But we need time, we really need time to look at all the all the information, all the data and, you know, we’re gonna play all nine innings here and we’re not ready to give up yet,” Sarafin continued.
Aug 29, 1:21 PM EDT
NASA administrator says launch scrubs are normal
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said it’s normal for launches to be scrubbed after the Artemis I launch was delayed Monday for multiple reasons.
“I am very proud of this launch team. They have solved several problems along the way and they got to one that needed time to be solved,” he told reporters.
“I want to say, understand that scrubs are just a part of this program on the space flight,” Nelson said.
Nelson spoke about the seventh mission of Space Shuttle Columbia, which he flew in January 1986.
“We scrubbed four times on the pad,” Nelson said.
He added, “It was the better part of a month and, looking back, after the fifth try got off to a perfect mission. It would have not been a good day had we launched on any one of those four scrubs. So when you’re dealing in a high-risk business and spaceflight is risky, that’s what you do.”
Aug 29, 10:20 AM EDT
VP Harris praises NASA team behind Artemis launch
Vice President Kamala Harris praised the NASA team behind the Artemis I mission after the launch had to be scrubbed Monday due to an engine problem.
Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff had been visiting the Kennedy Space Center before the launch was postponed.
The scrubbed launch was “about showing the great work that happens here,” Harris told reporters.
“These exceptional public servants, these exceptional skilled professionals who have the ability to see what is possible and what has never been done before. How exciting is that?” she said.
According to a White House official, Harris and Emhoff will continue with their visit under a revised itinerary.
“She met with astronauts at NASA Operations Support Building II and will proceed to a tour of Artemis II and Artemis III hardware as planned. The Vice President will gaggle following the tour and then depart,” the official said.
Aug 29, 9:40 AM EDT
‘We don’t launch until it’s right,’ says NASA administrator
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson defended the scrubbing of the Artemis I launch, saying the launch shouldn’t take place until the team is sure it’s ready.
“We don’t launch until it’s right,” he said during an interview on NASA TV Monday morning.
“There are certain guidelines. And I think it’s just illustrative that this is a very complicated machine, a very complicated system, and all those things have to work, and you don’t want to light the candle until it’s ready to go,” he said.
Nelson said the engineers will continue to “stress” and “test” the rocket to make sure it’s ready by the next attempt, which is Sept. 2.
Earlier in the day, Nelson had welcomed several Biden administration officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, to the Kennedy Space Center ahead of the launch.
He said the vice president has been briefed and the White House will continue to receive regular updates.
Aug 29, 8:48 AM EDT
NASA scrubs Artemis I launch
NASA announced a few minutes after Artemis I was initially scheduled to lift off that the launch has been scrubbed.
Engineers said the problem came from a liquid hydrogen line that was not chilled enough inside one of the rocket’s four core-stage engines, which needs to occur before they can be ignited.
The next attempt will occur on Sept. 2.
Aug 29, 8:31 AM EDT
Artemis launch delayed due to storms, rocket troubleshooting
Artemis I will likely not be launching at 8:33 a.m. ET as originally planned after NASA ran into several delays in its preparation to send it into space.
The process of tanking, which includes filling the rocket’s core stage with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, was delayed due to some passing storms and lightning in the area, NASA said.
Moreover, a leak was discovered in the hydrogen fuel line, which NASA quickly resolved. The leak concentration was “at an acceptable level,” NASA said.
Engineers also discovered a potential crack in the inner stage flange, which connects two of the rocket’s cylinders.
The countdown clock is currently paused at T-40 and the launch can go as late as 10:33 a.m. ET If that window passes, the next attempt at launch will be Sept. 2.
(NEW YORK) — Jenna Goldman said she was out on a run with her now-husband two years ago when she started feeling like she was getting a migraine.
“In my right eye, there was some vision stuff happening, like a typical ocular migraine,” Goldman, 28, told Good Morning America, referring to a type of migraine headache that temporarily causes vision loss in one eye, according to the American Optometric Association.
Goldman, of New York, said she had suffered from ocular migraines since the age of 21, so when symptoms struck during her run, she went home and began to treat it as she usually did, with deep breaths, a wet cloth on her face and over-the-counter pain medication.
This time though, Goldman said she continued to feel worse and soon felt numbness in her body and had difficulty speaking.
Goldman’s husband took her to a local hospital, where she said doctors first treated her for a migraine but ultimately diagnosed her as suffering a stroke.
“The doctor said, ‘Jenna, you’re going to need to get your parents or your fiancé to hop on the phone because you’re not going to be able to comprehend what I’m going to tell you,’ and she said that I had a stroke,” Goldman recalled. “I didn’t even know what that meant, but just knew that it was really bad.”
While the highest rates for stroke are among older populations, stroke rates for young adults have increased by more than 40% over the past several decades, according to the American Heart Association. Each year, as many as 15% of strokes in the United States happen to people between the ages of 18 and 45.
Goldman said that in addition to her shock that she, as a healthy 20-something, would be impacted by a stroke, she was also surprised to learn from doctors that the hormonal birth control she had taken since the age of 17 may have added to her stroke risk.
Experiencing migraines with aura, of which ocular migraines are included, slightly increases a woman’s risk of stroke, according to the American Migraine Foundation. Taking hormonal birth control can also slightly increase a woman’s risk of stroke.
And while in some cases taking hormonal birth control may be helpful in treating the subset of migraines that occurs around one’s period, the so-called “menstrual migraines,” hormonal birth control is generally avoided with women with migraines with aura for fear of compounding stroke risk.
Goldman said that when she began taking the birth control pill, also known as oral contraceptives, in high school, she had no idea she would need to ask her doctor about the potential risks of the medication when she started developing migraines later on.
“Being on birth control from 17 to 26, I wasn’t aware of how it affected my body,” said Goldman. “I feel like I wasn’t properly educated about birth control when I started it.”
Birth control pills are made of either both estrogen and progestin — the two hormones made naturally in a woman’s ovaries — or just progestin, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Dr. Nita Landry, a board-certified OBGYN, told GMA that estrogen-containing birth control pills can also be associated with a small increased risk of stroke, which, if taken by someone who suffers from migraines with aura, would add an additional stroke risk.
“You don’t want to necessarily combine those two stroke risks,” said Landry. “If someone does have a history of migraines with aura, or someone has a history of ocular migraines, I would suggest that they use a form of birth control that does not contain estrogen just because of the potential increased risk of stroke.”
Landry, author of the forthcoming book, Dr. Nita’s Crash Course for Women: Better Sex, Better Health, Better You, said that women do not need to be fearful of using hormonal birth control, but they do need to be aware of what they’re putting into their bodies.
“You deserve to have all of the information. It’s your body,” she said. “I’m really big on informed consent, and you can’t give informed consent if you don’t understand the risks and benefits.”
Landry pointed out that hormonal birth control has many benefits, including managing period pain and lowering the risk of ovarian cancer in some cases.
“We need to talk about risks, but we also have to consider all of the benefits,” she said. “We have to put put the risks in perspective and understand that there are some situations when taking birth control pills will be riskier than it’s worth, but there are a lot of cases when the potential benefits far outweigh those risks.”
Non-estrogen containing contraceptives including intrauterine devices, the Depo-Provera injection and progestin-only birth control pills can also be options for women, according to Landry.
She said she encourages women to check in with their doctors frequently to make sure they are using the birth control method that is right for them and their changing needs.
“The birth control that works best for you at the age of 16 may not be the best for you when you’re 37, for example,” she said, noting that, for instance, women who are 35 years of age or older and smoke should also not use estrogen-containing birth control pills.
In addition, women should discuss with their doctor why they are using birth control, whether it be for acne control or period pain or to help lower high blood pressure, according to Landry, who said, “All of those things will determine which contraceptive methods are the safest for you to use.”
Landry said the two specific questions she encourages women to ask their doctor are, “Based on my personal history and my family history, is this still the best contraceptive option for me, or is there something that has transpired since my last visit that may make this a less ideal option?,’ and, ‘What are the risks and benefits of this particular option?”
Goldman, who has undergone extensive physical therapy in her ongoing recovery from her stroke, said she is sharing her story to encourage women to do exactly as Landry said.
“I hope that younger women will ask questions like, ‘How will this affect my body if I start taking it regularly? What are the impacts? What are the implications? Why am I going on birth control? Are there other ways to avoid getting pregnant?,'” she said. “Those are the most basic, simple questions that you can ask.”
Goldman added that she has learned through her own health journey of the need to educate and empower when it comes to your own health.
“Everyone’s body is so different but you really have to know what you’re putting in it, and you really have to protect it,” she said. “It’s your body, you have to nurture it.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden used to steadfastly avoid uttering the name, “Donald Trump.”
But now, bolstered by stronger poll numbers and relatively positive economic news, Biden as of late has been seeking to make the midterm elections a referendum on the former president — and the extreme ideas he says Trump’s supporters espouse.
“There’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the ‘MAGA Republicans,’ and that is a threat to this country,” Biden said Thursday during a prime-time speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
His remarks represented the culmination of weeks of ramped-up rhetorical attacks on not all Republicans but Trump-loyal Republicans, whom he has blasted as “ultra-MAGA Republicans” and “MAGA extremists.”
Last week, he said “the entire philosophy that underpins” the GOP was akin to “semi-fascism.”
Trump complicates Republican strategy
Biden has increasingly sought to portray Americans’ choice this November as one between light and darkness — with Trump and his supporters representing “an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” as he said Thursday.
“MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards,” Biden said. “Backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love.”
And he has been helped by Trump, whose actions have put him in a less-than-positive light.
Since the FBI executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump has publicly fought back — even making the raid public in the first place. His haphazard approach has led to sensational headlines as the Justice Department pushes back on his claims.
By holding onto hundreds of documents — many allegedly classified — in the first place, the former president has left Republican candidates who want to look tough on crime struggling to answer for those in their party publicly attacking the FBI, all while U.S. intelligence agencies are assessing the fallout.
“I think that Trump is making this a referendum on himself by the way he’s behaving, and it’s causing a lot of problems for other Republicans,” James Thurber, a professor of government emeritus and author who founded American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, told ABC News. “He’s the story, rather than inflation and other issues they’re accusing the Democrats of failing on.”
Fortunes reverse for Biden
Historically, midterm elections have served as a referendum on the current president. And this year’s did not look good for Biden, who faced sagging poll numbers, roadblocks on Capitol Hill and Democratic candidates who signaled they did not want him to join them on the campaign trail.
But in just a few months, he’s notched up a string of legislative victories: a historic climate, health and tax package; a gun reform law; hundreds of billions to boost the domestic semiconductor industry; and new protections for veterans. Last year’s $1.9 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law, whose results are now starting to materialize.
By overturning Roe v. Wade and taking away the constitutional right to an abortion, the Supreme Court has energized voters — with signs Democrats could benefit this fall.
Last week, a Democrat who declared “choice is on the ballot” won a special congressional election in upstate New York, and last month, voters in traditionally conservative Kansas voted to protect abortion rights.
Biden has benefited from his own rapidly rising poll numbers, after suffering record-low approval ratings earlier this year. In a Quinnipiac University survey conducted Aug. 25-29, 40% of Americans said they approved of the job Biden was doing, up 9% from the month before.
At the same time, Americans are acutely aware of developments surrounding Trump — and most view them in a negative light.
In that same poll, 76% of Americans said they had been following the news about the Mar-a-Lago seizure. Fifty-nine percent said they think Trump acted inappropriately, and 50% said they thought he should be prosecuted on criminal charges.
While Biden has repeatedly deferred questions about the investigation to the Justice Department, he has — by implication — made clear the choice he says voters have.
“In 2020, you and 81 million Americans voted to save our democracy,” he told thousands of supporters at a rally in Maryland last week. “That’s why Donald Trump isn’t just a former president, he is a defeated former president.
“It’s not hyperbole,” he continued. “Now you need to vote to literally save democracy again.”
Changing economic tides
Biden has also been buoyed by changing economic tides.
For much of his presidency, he has struggled to persuade Americans he had a handle on the economy, as prices for gas and other goods skyrocketed and inflation hit 40-year highs. Presidents historically foot the blame for high gas costs, even though they don’t have much control over them.
But now, prices at the pump have dropped 11 weeks in a row, and there are signs inflation is slowing.
Still, inflation could remain a weak point for Biden, who understands the economy is always a top issue for voters, according to Todd Belt, a professor and expert on the presidency at The George Washington University.
“Republicans wanted to run on inflation and crime,” Belt told ABC News. But Trump retaining government documents and Republicans’ attacks on the FBI have allowed Biden to take the side of law enforcement and look tougher on crime, he said.
“The question is, are there enough voters for whom other issues are more important, such as abortion, such as saving democracy, such as health-care benefits,” that Biden and the Democratic Party can push candidates past the finish line in enough Senate and House elections to retain power in either body, Belt said.
Democrats had long expected to lose control of both the Senate and House, but that dynamic is shifting.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said last month that Republican “candidate quality” may hurt Republicans’ chances of flipping the Senate — after a handful of Trump-endorsed nominees have stumbled campaigning before the wider, general electorates in their states.
And while Republicans are still favored to gain control of the House, they may pick up fewer seats than originally expected.
Voting to save ‘the soul of the nation’
Making the November midterms a choice between those who want to save democracy — the “soul of the nation,” as Biden has put it — and those he says seek to destroy it fits a central theme Biden has returned to repeatedly for years.
His Philadelphia remarks harkened back to the moment he says he decided to run for president in 2017, when Trump defended white nationalists after violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia. Then, Biden declared, “We are living through a battle for the soul of this nation.”
“I ran for president because I believe we were in a battle for the soul of this nation,” he said Thursday. “I still believe that to be true.”
His Philadelphia remarks were deeply partisan in nature, but the White House had insisted the president was holding an “official,” as opposed to political, event, since most a majority of Americans agreed with its theme that “we need to save the core values of our country.”
Biden has shown a particular interest in Pennsylvania; his Thursday trip was the second of three planned in just one week.
His speech may not have reached as many voters’ eyeballs, though, with Penn State football kicking off its season at the same time.
And none of the three largest broadcast television networks aired the speech live nationally; while the networks often show more official addresses like those from the Oval Office, they typically eschew airing speeches that are more political in nature, like Biden’s.
In Pennsylvania, Democrats hope to pick up a Senate seat during a race between Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a Democrat, and Republican Mehmet Oz. The state has also hosted a hotly contested race for the governor’s mansion, with Trump-supporting Republican Doug Mastriano taking on Democrat Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s attorney general.
ABC News’ Mary Bruce and Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
(JACKSON, Miss.) — When the water stopped running at her restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi, on Monday afternoon, Tanya Burns was preparing for a private event set to begin about one hour later. Suddenly, her dishwasher didn’t work and her toilets couldn’t flush.
“How do you host something for people and you can’t flush toilets?” Burns, the manager of BRAVO! Italian Restaurant and Bar, told ABC News. She canceled the event.
“We have not been open since,” she said.
The restaurant is one of many businesses in Jackson that have suffered as the city reaches nearly a full work week of little or no water, according to interviews with local business leaders.
The financial challenges stretch back even further, they said, since the city has fallen under a boil-water notice for more than a month that puts the onus on companies to sanitize water or find alternatives, while at the same time customers dial back shopping for fear of the services a business might lack.
In an interview on ABC News Live Tuesday, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the mayor of Jackson, said the current crisis stems from up to 30 years of deferred maintenance and a lack of capital improvements to the system.
“We’ve had hotter summers, colder winters and more precipitation each year and it’s taking a toll on our infrastructure,” he said.
The crisis in recent days has only intensified the difficulties, as businesses either take on heightened costs for fixes like portable toilets and on-site water tanks that allow them to stay open, or temporarily close their doors altogether.
Jackson, a city of roughly 150,000 people, has an economy with a gross domestic product of over $28 billion, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Jeff Rent, the president and CEO of the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, which boasts roughly 1,400 member companies, said about 75 businesses have contacted him this week with concern about the impact of the water shortage. “It’s very dire,” he said of the crisis.
The effects of the shortage likely extend to just about every business in Jackson, he added, since many staff who live in the city cannot shower, companies that need clean water often must buy it and in-person workplaces need functioning toilets for customers and employees.
“If you do business in Jackson, this has affected you,” he said.
On the other hand, Gotta Go Site Service Rentals, which rents mobile facilities like portable toilets and hand-washing stations, has seen demand surge, the owner, Lauren McGraw, told ABC News.
“We’ve been swamped,” she said, adding that the company has been contacted by hundreds of new clients since Monday. “We’re getting so many calls we can’t handle them.”
The company, which employs 18 people and currently rents facilities to the state capitol building, purchased several hundred additional toilets from a supplier in Georgia to help meet the spike in demand, McGraw said. All of the employees are working overtime, as well as McGraw, she added.
The company has also raised prices. While prices vary widely, they’ve climbed about 50% overall, in part to account for a rise in costs as the company weathers the additional work, McGraw said.
Despite her company’s sudden growth in business, McGraw laments the devastating reason behind it.
“It’s not fun because we want to give great service,” she said. “It’s tragic to turn people down that you know need equipment and you can’t get it to them.”
Steven O’Neill, the co-owner of two Jackson-area restaurants, The Manship and Aplos, found himself in need of quick solutions when the water stopped running at his locations on Monday afternoon with customers in the middle of their meals. The restaurants informed their customers of the water shortage, let them finish their meals, and closed for the day, he said.
The two restaurants reopened the following morning and have remained in operation ever since. To do so, the company bought portable toilets and hand-washing stations, plastic plates and cutlery for customer use and water tanks that funnel clean water into the restaurants, O’Neill said.
But traffic at the restaurants has dried up, leaving the business with increased costs and a drop-off in revenue. Sales at Aplos is down 30% this week; and at The Manship, it’s down 50%. The company is barely breaking even, he said.
O’Neill has kept on all of his staff, but he may need to “make hard decisions” soon, he said.
“It’s a horrible situation to be in,” he said.
When asked whether he might take the restaurants out of Jackson altogether, he said, “It’s hard. I haven’t made that decision yet.”
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — Police are searching for two men after they allegedly abducted a mother and her 1-year-old child from the parking lot of a Target while the woman was putting groceries into her car.
The incident occurred at approximately 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday at a Target store in Memphis Tennessee, when authorities from the Memphis Police Department were told that a woman and her 1-year-old child had just left Target after purchasing groceries when they were approached by two men who were armed with a handgun, police say.
“The males forced the victim and the child into the suspect’s vehicle,” the Memphis Police Department said in a statement released on social media detailing the abduction. “The suspects drove to the Regions Bank at 7790 Highway 64 and forced the victim to withdraw $800.00 from the ATM.”
The ATM location they drive to was approximately a half mile west of where the abduction took place. Authorities say once the suspects had the money they demanded, they released the victim and her child who were then able to immediately alert authorities.
The Memphis Police Department did not say where the victims were released or how long the entire incident lasted before they were freed.
However, during the subsequent police investigation, police were able to find video of the two suspects at a Walmart location about a mile east of where the abduction happened and determined that they had been there prior to their arrival at Target.
The two male suspects are still currently on the run and are wanted for kidnapping and aggravated assault, police say.
A cash reward of up to $2,000 is being offered for any information leading to the identification and arrest of the two suspects and authorities are asking that anybody who witnessed the abduction or can give them more information on the incident to contact Crime Stoppers at (901) 528-CASH.
(NEW YORK) — Policymakers and market watchers will be closely watching August hiring data as it comes out Friday.
The report comes one week after Fed Chair Jerome Powell triggered a stock sell-off and stoked recession fears with his vow to fight inflation with interest rate hikes “until the job is done.”
The Fed has instituted a series of aggressive borrowing cost increases in recent months as it tries to slash near-historic inflation by slowing the economy and choking off demand. But the approach risks tipping the U.S. into an economic downturn.
So far this year, however, employment has boomed. The robust hiring numbers have defied expectations and quieted fears of a major slowdown.
U.S. hiring far outpaced expectations in July, as the economy added 528,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, which matches a 50-year low, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last month.
The jobs added in July exceeded the already-robust hiring sustained over the first half of 2022, during which the economy added an average of 461,000 jobs each month.
Economists project hiring to have slowed from its breakneck pace, but predict fairly robust numbers in August. Predictions hold that the U.S. added 300,000 jobs last month, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The experts surveyed expect the unemployment rate to remain at 3.5%.
Government data put out this week reinforced evidence that the jobs market remains strong. Job openings rose in July after falling for three consecutive months, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday, which showed job openings on the last day of July had jumped to 11.2 million from 11 million the month prior.
The labor market has withstood the Fed’s effort to slow the economy, even as the central bank tries to bring down inflation in part by cutting demand for workers and slowing wage increases, AnnElizabeth Konkel, a senior economist with Indeed Hiring Lab, told ABC News.
At meetings in June and July, the central bank increased its benchmark interest rate 0.75% each time — dramatic hikes last matched in 1994.
“We aren’t seeing the employer demand get tamped down,” Konkel said. “Your interpretation of it in a macro sense depends on what hat you’re wearing.”
“If you’re a worker and see a strong labor market, that means you have choices,” she added. “You might be able to negotiate a higher wage or flexibility on work location. If you’re the Fed, it means your job just got tougher.”
(PHILADELPHIA) — President Joe Biden, in a rare prime-time speech, condemned Donald Trump and his “MAGA Republicans” as he urged the nation to unite against threats to American democracy.
Biden took the stage shortly after 8 p.m. on Thursday at Independence Historical Park in Philadelphia, where several hundred people were sitting in white lawn chairs and Independence Hall’s facade was lit up in red and blue.
“This is where the United States Constitution was written and debated,” Biden said. “This is where we set in motion the most extraordinary experiment of self-government the world has ever known.”
“But as I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault,” he continued. “We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise. So, tonight, I’ve come to this place where it all began, to speak as plainly as I can to the nation about the threats we face, about the power we have in our hands to meet these threats and about the incredible future that lies in front of us if only we choose it.”
The president mentioned his Oval Office predecessor by name as he assailed Republicans who refuse to accept the 2020 election results, defend those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 or want to strip away abortion rights and other privacy concerns.
“Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal,” he said. “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
Pres. Biden: “Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.” https://t.co/ARxiYL3o54pic.twitter.com/ttpqDid2HJ
Biden made a distinction between the so-called MAGA Republicans and other conservatives, stating “not every Republican embraces that extreme ideology.”
“I know, because I’ve been able to work with these mainstream Republicans,” he said. “But there’s no question that the Republican party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans and that is a threat to this country.”
Biden’s urgent rhetoric mirrors his 2020 messaging, in which he presented himself as a clear contrast to Trump and the race itself as an inflection point for the nation.
He made that comparison again Thursday, telling the crowd: “Now America must choose to move forward or to move backward, to build a future obsessed about the past, to be a nation of hope, unity, and optimism or a nation of fear, division and of darkness.”
Administration officials had teased Biden’s speech as an extension of his “soul of the nation” message, which first emerged in 2017 after white nationalists clashed with counter protesters in Charlottesville, West Virginia — the incident Biden said inspired him to run for president.
Biden on Thursday said all Americans are called by “duty and conscience to confront extremists” and to reject political violence.
“We are still at our core a democracy, and yet, history tells us that blind loyalty to a single leader and a willingness to engage in political violence is fatal to democracy,” he said.
Pres. Biden: “Democracy cannot survive when one side believes there are only two outcomes to an election: Either they win, or they were cheated. And that’s where the MAGA Republicans are today.” https://t.co/ARxiYL3o54pic.twitter.com/b417lzzwBp
Biden’s appearance in Philadelphia is his second of three stops in the battleground state of Pennsylvania this week alone.
At Wilkes University, where made the case Tuesday for his administration’s plan for policing and crime prevention, Biden went after MAGA Republicans for their response to the Jan. 6 attack and the FBI search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
“For God’s sake, whose side are you on? Whose side are you on?” a fired-up Biden asked.
The GOP issued a preemptive rebuttal of Biden’s remarks, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy speaking in Scranton (Biden’s hometown) just hours before the president took the stage in Philadelphia.
McCarthy criticized Democrats on inflation, crime and the border before demanding Biden “apologize for slandering tens of millions of Americans as fascists” after the president previously described the ideology being adopted by MAGA Republicans as “semi-facism.”
“What Joe Biden doesn’t understand is that the soul of America is the tens of millions of hard working people, loving families, and law-abiding citizens whom he vilified for simply wanting a stronger, safer, and more prosperous country,” McCarthy said.
“The soul of America is not the ruling class in Washington, it is the law-abiding, tax-paying American citizen,” McCarthy said. “The soul of America is our determination to get up and go to work everyday, provide for our families, to love our children, be involved in their education and ensure that this nation and its people always come first.”
– ABC News’ Justin Gomez, Mary Bruce, Sarah Kolinovsky and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — More than 14,000 strollers are being recalled due to an issue that can cause amputation or laceration if a child’s fingertips get caught.
The recall, posted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on Thursday, said the recall impacts UPPAbaby All-Terrain RIDGE Jogging Stroller’s – which were sold at BuyBuyBaby, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Pottery Barn Kids as well as online on Amazon.
According to the notice, the stroller’s rear disc brakes have openings that can harm a non-occupant child’s fingers if they get caught in the opening while the stroller is in use.
CPSC said it was aware of at least one incident resulting in a fingertip amputation to a child who was not in the stroller while it was being used.
Consumers are advised to “immediately” stop using the recalled strollers and contact UPPAbaby to receive free replacement brake discs for both wheels.
UPPAbaby did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
