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(WASHINGTON) — Republican Rep. Liz Cheney told This Week co-anchor Jonathan Karl in an exclusive interview that she has full faith and confidence in the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, the 26-year-old former Trump White House aide who delivered explosive testimony about the Capitol riot during a highly publicized hearing this week.
“As you know, there’s an active campaign underway to destroy her credibility. Do you have any doubt at all in anything that she said to you?” Karl asked Cheney.
“I am absolutely confident in her credibility. I’m confident in her testimony,” Cheney told Karl in a wide-ranging interview set to air in full on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.
“I think that what Cassidy Hutchinson did was an unbelievable example of bravery and of courage and patriotism in the face of real pressure,” said Cheney, who is vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee.
The witness, Hutchinson, a former top adviser to then-President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, spent some two hours divulging extraordinary details about what she said went on behind the scenes leading up to, during and after the attack.
Hutchinson sat for multiple closed-door transcribed interviews with the committee during its year-long inquiry but on Tuesday, she spoke publicly for the first time during the committee’s sixth publicized hearing.
She described in detail how she was told about Trump’s desire to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6 after he spoke at a rally near the White House — and how Trump became furious when he was told it wasn’t safe or advisable for him to be there.
Republicans loyal to Trump, including Trump himself, immediately sought to discredit her testimony.
Trump on Tuesday dismissed Hutchinson’s testimony, posting on social media that “I hardly know who this person … is, other than I heard very negative things about her (a total phony and ‘leaker’).”
“She is bad news!” he added.
“We have real confidence as a committee that she testified honestly, and in her credibility, and I think the world saw that — she testified under oath, and her credibility is there for the world to judge,” Cheney said in her interview with Karl.
“She’s an incredibly brave young woman,” Cheney added. “The committee is not going to stand by and watch her character be assassinated by anonymous sources and by men who are claiming executive privilege.”
On Wednesday, Hutchinson’s lawyers released a new statement amid pushback on her testimony.
“Ms. Hutchinson stands by all of the testimony she provided yesterday, under oath, to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol,” Hutchinson’s counsel, Jody Hunt and William Jordan, said in the statement to ABC News.
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(NEW YORK) — The industry that overwhelmingly uses the most water resources in the West does so for good reason: to provide sustenance for the rest of the country.
Globally, the agriculture sector uses 70% of all freshwater withdrawals. In California, that number is ever higher — at 80% of the state’s public water supply — and farmers are being forced to transform the way they cultivate crops as megadrought that has been plaguing the region for decades intensifies.
California is the nation’s fruit and vegetable basket and grows hundreds of commodities. But about a third of that water is used to grow just three crops: almonds, pistachios and walnuts — industries that amounted to about $9.5 billion in exports in 2020 — nearly half of the state’s total, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Almonds, which use about 1.1 gallons of water to grow just one nut, according to Pennsylvania State University, and account for about 10% of the state’s water use alone, Arohi Sharma, deputy director of regenerative agriculture for the National Resource Defense Council, a nonprofit, told ABC News.
As a warming planet threatens to worsen drought and heat conditions in the West, farmers may be called to grow the crops that will be most resilient in the changing climate, Sharma said. That could include lessening the amount of land and water dedicated to “thirsty nut orchards,” she said.
Planting nut trees at the height of the drought
Tree nuts are an extremely valuable crop, with growers making a “pretty penny” by selling them, Sharma said. Out of California’s $20.8 billion in in agriculture exports in 2020, three of the five most common exports were almonds, pistachios and walnuts, data from the California Department of Food and Agriculture shows.
In addition, the almonds are shelf-stable for about two years, Richard Waycott, president and CEO of the Almond Board of California, told ABC News in an email.
Using figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Sharma calculated that during the height of the last drought, between 2012 and 2017, farmers planted more than half a million acres of new nut trees. Sharma believes the additional plantings were a result in the rise in value of the commodity, combined with the lack of legislation in California that bars farmers from planting drought-intolerant food crops.
“And without limits or caps on water use, growers will take whatever water they save to simply plant new nut orchards,” Sharma said, adding that it will ultimately be government oversight and the implementation of new policies to force the agriculture industry to conserve water.
Those almonds, pistachios and walnut groves have now grown to more than 2 million acres of land in California — out of the state’s 43 million acres used for farming — creating a “disconnect” between the availability of water and the number of acres that are being planted with “these water thirsty, drought intolerant crops,” she said. California almonds had two record shipments in 2020 and 2021, with “steady, significant growth in the years before,” Waycott said.
California, with its Mediterranean climate, is one of the five places on Earth where almonds “can grow at any scale,” Waycott said. The almond industry has been working for decades on making the industry as sustainable as possible, he added, including the development of micro-irrigation now used on 85% of almond orchards in the state, compared to pre-1982 practices that involved flooding the fields or using large sprinklers.
Almond farmers in California have since reduced the amount of water needed to grow each almond by 33% and is committed to another 20% reduction by 2025, Waycott said.
“While almond farmers have made strides on irrigation efficiency, further improvements are underway,” Waycott said.
Reducing water while sustaining crop output
The challenge will be to reduce some of the agricultural land devoted to these crops and make the farms sustainable so they may continue providing jobs and food for the rest of the country, Pablo Ortiz, climate and waters scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told ABC News. In California’s Central Valley, the low-flow drip irrigation technology that was implemented by farmers there did not save water in the end because they instead used the conserved water to cultivate more crops, Ortiz said.
“So, this deployment of technologies needs to be contained by some other policies that would allow you to actually reduce water usage,” he said, instead of using conserved water for other purposes.
The agriculture industry is one of the many sectors in California that are suffering from an antiquated water sector, experts say.
The infrastructure and business models, many implemented in the 1900s, were not created with the forecast of climate change or water shortages. The system of water rights, or legal rights to extract and use a quantity of water from a natural source based on where the property is located, as well as policies such as the California State Water Project and the Central Valley Water Project, which collect water from rivers and redistribute it to cities through a network of aqueducts provide an advantage to some, Sharma said.
“And now we’re facing the repercussions of these very old inequitable water rights systems and water infrastructure,” Sharma said.
The upshot is that farmers, especially longtime landholders are prioritized over other water customers, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Decentralizing water a potential solution
Robert Bartrop, head of global business development for SOURCE Water, a company that builds custom solutions for water needs, told ABC News he envisions a future in which the water industry decentralizes, in a way similar to the telecommunications and energy industries. In that case, investments would be made to redesign the grids to more efficiently distribute water.
In order to prepare for a future with less water, California, and the West as a whole, will also need to transform its water usage in a way that invests and supports its agriculture industry, Sharma said.
Part of this entails ending the practice of massive single crop farming, which depletes the soil of nutrients, Sharma added.
Instead of growing one or two crops over thousands of acres, farmers are starting to grow a variety in 20-acre tracts to protect the health of the soil and prevent erosion, which will make it so farmers, including those who are reliant on the cultivation of tree nuts, are less reliant on one income stream as well, she added.
Farmers will also need to adapt new regenerative solutions, such as building soil health as a drought resiliency tool so that it can hold onto more water despite being watered less, Sharma said, describing regenerative agriculture as a “holistic approach to land management.”
“We need to start diversifying what’s grown on the property as a way to regenerate ecosystems, as a way to fight drought and pest pressures that are coming as a result of climate change,” she said.
The source of the water is important too, Bartrop said. Farmers will need to be more efficient with using recycled wastewater, or gray water, for their irrigation needs, as there is currently too many resources wasted on making water used to irrigate crops and feed livestock potable, he added.
Groundwater, which the agricultural industry in California has been depleting over the past century, is not the solution, Ortiz said.
“With water scarcity and climate change, it’s important to know this isn’t an emergency event,” Bartrop said of current drought conditions and the threat of water scarcity.
(WASHINGTON) — Donald Trump’s former White House counsel Pat Cipollone was subpoenaed Wednesday for a deposition by the House’s Jan. 6 committee.
“The Select Committee’s investigation has revealed evidence that Mr. Cipollone repeatedly raised legal and other concerns about President Trump’s activities on January 6th and in the days that preceded,” the committee’s chair and vice-chair, Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson and Wyoming Republican Liz Cheney, said in a statement.
Cipollone and former deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin met with committee investigators for an informal interview in April.
Cipollone had been considering some form of cooperation with the committee, under certain restrictions, ABC News previously reported.
The new subpoena comes one day after Cipollone was repeatedly mentioned during the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, who was a top aide to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows before and during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Hutchinson told the committee during a Tuesday hearing that on the morning of Jan. 6, Cipollone was adamant that Trump shouldn’t accompany his supporters to the Capitol after addressing them at the Ellipse near the White House earlier that day.
“We’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen,” she recalled Cipollone telling her at the time.
A lawyer familiar with Cipollone’s deliberations told ABC News in response to the committee’s announcement: “Of course a subpoena was necessary before the former White House counsel could even consider transcribed testimony before the committee.”
“Now that a subpoena has been issued, it’ll be evaluated as to matters of privilege that might be appropriate,” the lawyer said.
The committee had written in a letter to Cipollone along with his subpoena that they “continued to obtain evidence about which you are uniquely positioned to testify; however, you have declined to cooperate with us further.”
Cipollone was one of the few aides who was with then-President Trump in the West Wing on Jan. 6. ABC News has reported that in the days following the attack on the Capitol, he advised Trump that Trump could potentially face civil liability in connection with his role encouraging supporters to march on the Capitol.
Sources have said there would be a number of circumstances that could serve to complicate any eventual appearance by Cipollone — including the issue of who questions him and for how long; whether there are any ongoing issues of privilege; and whether Trump would approve of his appearance.
Cipollone also made clear that his testimony would be restricted to the effort undertaken by former top Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark to use the powers of the DOJ to further Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential race, sources familiar with the deliberations have said.
Both Cipollone and Philbin, his deputy, were part of a Jan. 3, 2021, Oval Office meeting where Trump insisted on replacing then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with Clark, a Trump loyalist who had vowed to use the Department of Justice to investigate the election.
Cipollone and Philbin made it clear to Trump that they would resign if Clark were installed, according to a Senate committee report released last year that detailed instances where Trump and his allies sought to use the DOJ to overturn the election.
(ALBANY, N.Y.) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday detailed what is in gun safety legislation she will propose during a special state legislative session scheduled for Thursday.Hochul is set to propose a slew of ideas in response to last week’s Supreme Court decision to strike down a state law that had limited the concealed carry of handguns in public to people who had “proper cause.”
“There’s more to do, this is a nationwide crisis. Too many lives are being lost here in New York, but I will not rest, as the governor of this state, until we have done everything in our power to end this gun epidemic once and for all,” Hochul said.
The legislation will define a number of “sensitive locations” where people will not be allowed to carry concealed guns, Hochul said.
Those locations include: federal, state, local government buildings; health and medical facilities; places where children gather like daycares, parks, zoos and playgrounds; public transportation like subways and buses; polling places; and educational institutions, Hochul said.
If the proposed bill is signed into law, all private businesses will be classified as “no open carry” areas by default, unless business owners post signage indicating that people are allowed to carry concealed weapons, Hochul said.
Hochul’s proposed legislation will also strengthen the list of disqualifying criteria, banning those with a history of dangerous behavior from being able to get a permit.
The laws will also add a vehicle requirement to existing safe storage laws, requiring gun owners to lock up their guns when they are traveling to cut down on gun thefts from cars.
Gun owners with children in their homes aged 18 or younger will have to get safe storage for their guns, keeping them locked up.
The laws will improve information sharing for state police background checks, Hochul said.
Gun owners will also be required to get over 15 hours of in-person training to receive a concealed carry permit, Hochul said.
Hochul said the laws will require a background check for all purchases of ammunition for guns that need a permit. Gun owners will have to show their permit at the time of purchase.
The special legislative session comes over a month after a gunman killed 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in an allegedly racially motivated attack.
(ELGIN, S.C.) — A 3.5 magnitude earthquake struck near Elgin, South Carolina, on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed.
The latest quake comes after a 3.4 earthquake hit the area, 6.4 miles from Elgin, on Sunday.
More than 3,000 people reported feeling Wednesday’s quake, according to USGS. Due to the shallow nature of the earthquake, it could be felt in a wider area, the agency said.
South Carolina has been the site of a few earthquakes already this year.
In May, a 3.3 magnitude earthquake struck Columbia and was felt in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia, according to ABC News affiliate WPDE in Florence, South Carolina.
Elgin is 25 miles from Columbia.
While other states, such as California, often draw more attention for having earthquakes, South Carolina experiences between 10 and 15 earthquakes a year, the South Carolina Emergency Management Division said.
(LONDON and PRETORIA) — The mysterious deaths of 21 teenagers at a popular nightclub in South Africa has swirled speculation and left many unanswered questions.
The incident remains under investigation by South African authorities. Here’s what we know so far.
A grim scene
The South African Police Service said its officers were called to the Enyobeni Tavern in Scenery Park, a suburb on the edge of East London in Eastern Cape province, on Sunday morning at around 4 a.m. local time. Upon arrival, they discovered 17 teens dead inside the club. Four more died when they were hospitalized or being transported to hospitals.
Initial reports stated the death toll was 22.
The youngest victim was 13, according to police.
The local government, the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, has offered burial assistance to the victims’ families. A mass funeral will be held next Wednesday.
Unclear circumstances
The circumstances surrounding the incident were unclear but are being investigated.
“We do not want to make any speculation at this stage as our investigations are continuing,” Brig. Tembinkosi Kinana, a spokesperson for the South African Police Service, told ABC News on Sunday.
The Daily Dispatch, a South African newspaper published in East London, reported that the teens were attending a party at the Enyobeni Tavern to celebrate the end of June school exams. Their bodies were reportedly found strewn across tables, chairs and the dance floor with no visible signs of injuries.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa released a statement on Sunday expressing concern “about the reported circumstances under which such young people were gathered at a venue which, on the face of it, should be off limits to persons under the age of 18.”
Unknown causes
The causes of deaths have yet to be established.
Siyanda Manana, a spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Department of Health, told ABC News on Tuesday that the autopsies were completed and toxicology reports were pending. Of the 21 bodies, 19 have been identified while the other two — both boys — were still unidentified in the local mortuary, according to Manana.
The Daily Dispatch reported that there were rumors the teens died in a stampede after security guards at the Enyobeni Tavern discharged tear gas or pepper spray in an attempt to disperse patrons. But that theory has reportedly been ruled out.
News24, a South African online news publication, reported that carbon monoxide poisoning has emerged as a possible cause of death, citing “sources close to the probe.” Kinana, the police spokesperson, would not confirm the claim, telling ABC News on Wednesday: “The investigation into the incident is still ongoing. No report has been given out in this regard.”
Meanwhile, the South African Police Service’s commissioner for Eastern Cape province, Lt. Gen. Nomthetheleli Mene, released a statement on Wednesday expressing concern “about circulating rumours and media reports speculating on the cause of death.”
“As indicated earlier, at an appropriate time and when an official report has been made available by the experts, the family and members of the public will be informed by the relevant authority,” Mene said. “We urge people to refrain from making risky assumptions which do not assist our investigations.”
No suspects or arrests
No suspects have been named in connection with the investigation.
Kinana told ABC News on Tuesday that no arrests have been made.
(MENDON, Mo.) — Federal investigators are working to determine if an Amtrak train was traveling at a speed limit of 90 mph when it plowed into a dump truck at a Missouri railroad crossing, killing four people and injuring 150, officials said.
Jennifer Homendy, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said she expects investigators to know by the end of Wednesday the exact speed of the train after analyzing information from its event recorder.
“In this area, the speed limit is 90 miles per hour,” Homendy said at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
The crash unfolded at 12:43 p.m. Monday, when the Amtrak train — comprised of two locomotives, six coach cars, cafe car and a baggage car — crashed into the rear of a truck hauling aggregate, or crushed rock, to a nearby Army Corps of Engineers project. The collision caused the train to completely derail, sending the locomotive and cars toppling onto their sides, according to the NTSB.
The train was en route from Los Angeles to Chicago with 275 passengers and 12 crew members on board at the time of the crash, Amtrak said. Three people aboard the train were killed and 150 passengers and crew were injured. A person in the dump truck was also killed.
The dead passengers were identified on Wednesday by the Missouri State Highway Patrol as Binh Pham, 82, of Kansas City, Missouri, and Rochelle Cook, 57, and Kim Holsapple, 56, both of Desoto, Kansas. The driver of the dump truck who was killed was identified as Billy Barton II, 53, of Brookfield, Missouri, according to the highway patrol.
Homendy said the crash occurred at what she described as a “passive crossing” that was not controlled by railroad crossing bars, flashing warning lights or bells.
Homendy expressed frustration that NTSB recommendations made as far back as 1998 to upgrade passive crossings to “active crossings” — ones that are controlled by crossing bars, lights and bells — have not been heeded.
“Anytime our recommendations aren’t heeded, of course, I’m upset because we see tragedy after tragedy after tragedy and numerous fatalities and injuries,” Homendy said. “It’s very frustrating for our investigators, very frustrating, when they are on scene and they know what would have prevented this.”
She said the cost of upgrading the crossing grade where the wreck occurred would have cost roughly $400,000.
“I do not have concerns about mechanical failure about the train, any mechanical issues with the train. We do not have concerns about the track,” Homendy said. “Our concerns are very focused on this grade crossing, the approach to the grade crossing and survivability after an accident.”
Homendy said she confirmed with the director of the Missouri Department of Transportation that the crossing was on a list of crossings they wanted to upgrade.
She said the funds to upgrade the crossing would come from Chariton County, the state and the BNSF Railway Co., which owns and operates the track.
However, Homendy noted that there are 3,500 similar passive railroad crossing in the Missouri, or about half of the state’s railroad crossings.
Nationwide, there are 130,000 passive railroad crossings, Homendy said.
The NTSB also recommended in 1998 that roadway vehicles include technology for roadway that could alert drivers of the presence of a train on an approach to a grade crossing.
“We still don’t see action on that. It’s been 24 years and that recommendation is still as important today as it was in 1998. Lives could be saved,” Homendy said.
Mike Spencer, a farmer in the Mendon area, told ABC affiliate station KMBC in Kansas City, Missouri, that he’s warned local officials that the crossing was dangerous, particularly for drivers unfamiliar with the crossing. Spencer said the crossing has a steep incline that rises 6 feet and because the railroad tracks sit at an angle, it’s difficult to see train approaching trains.
Spencer said he was once almost hit by a train at the same crossing.
“I was afraid this was going to happen to somebody that was not really familiar with the crossing and how to approach it,” Spencer said. “It’s just a nightmare. I look at this and I just can’t believe it.”
Spencer said he has been working with the Chariton County commissioners to make some safety changes at the crossing and other and others in the area. He said he thought the changes were going to be made in 2021, but they were put off.
Meanwhile, a law firm announced Wednesday that it has been hired by a Kansas couple who was injured in the crash.
Kristofer Riddle, a partner at the Clifford Law Offices in Chicago, said his firm is launching its own investigation into the crash as part of a pending lawsuit against Amtrak and the company that owned the dump truck involved in the crash.
“Uncontrolled grade crossings are inherently dangerous,” Riddle said in a statement. “Clifford Law Offices will conduct its own investigation into what occurred, but inevitably negligence is involved, and the stakes are very high when a high-speed passenger train is involved.”
Clifford’s law firm was part of a legal team that won a $16.75 lawsuit against Amtrak in a 2017 train derailment in DuPont, Washington, that killed three people and injured 65. The law firm is also suing Amtrak and the BNSF Railway Co. on behalf of 40 passengers injured in 2021 train derailment near Joplin, Montana.
“We continue to receive inquiries from others who were aboard the train in Missouri,” Riddle said. “People want answers, and they deserve answers.”
(NEW YORK) — The widow of a Chinese food delivery worker who was fatally shot is speaking out after her husband’s alleged killer was released on bail.
Glenn Hirsch, 51, was arrested in New York City on June 1 for the alleged murder of Zhiwen Yan, a Chinese food delivery worker, who was shot in the chest on April 30 while riding his scooter in the neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens.
A judge ordered Hirsch to be released to home confinement on Monday after posting $500,000 in bail.
“I am devastated and heartbroken that the person who targeted and killed my husband has been released on bail. He is a danger to our community and his presence in the community where I live and work makes me feel unsafe,” Yan’s wife, Eva Zhao, said in a statement obtained by ABC News on Tuesday. “I thank the District Attorney and the police for their efforts in obtaining and enforcing an order of protection for me, and I have faith that we will get justice for my husband, Zhiwen Yan.”
The Queens District Attorney’s Office told ABC News on Wednesday that although prosecutors “asked the court to remand the defendant without bail, the court set bail in a very substantial amount while agreeing to impose conditions we requested, including house arrest and electronic monitoring. Any violation of the terms or conditions could result in bail being revoked.”
The DA’s office added that prosecutors ensured that Hirsch was fitted with an electronic monitoring device prior to his release to home confinement.
Hirsch was arrested earlier this month and charged with 10 counts, the most serious of which is second-degree murder, as well as several counts of criminal possession of a weapon and stalking, according to charging documents obtained by ABC News.
If convicted, Hirsch could face as much as life in prison, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
“As alleged, a petty dispute over a take-out order became an obsessive point of contention for the defendant who began to stalk and harass employees at the restaurant for months,” Katz said in a statement on June 2. “The tragic end result was the murder of a hard-working employee, who left behind a devastated family and a grieving community.”
Hirsch pleaded not guilty on June 3 according to New York ABC station WABC. At the time, his attorney told reporters he believes that authorities arrested “the wrong man,” WABC reported.
ABC News has reached out to Hirsch’s attorney, Michael Horn, for additional comment.
Yan, 45, worked at a Chinese restaurant in Queens called The Great Wall for more than 20 years and had three jobs to support his wife and his young daughter, WABC reported in May.
According to prosecutors, the suspect was a customer of The Great Wall who had multiple prior disagreements with the establishment over orders, including a dispute over the amount of duck sauce he received in an order. Hirsch menaced the restaurant manager with a gun and twice vandalized vehicles owned by his staff, police told ABC News.
In one instance, Hirsch arrived at The Great Wall with a gun drawn asking “do you remember me,” and then proceeded to slash the restaurant owner’s tires, according to Katz.
A witness told police that an older model Lexus SUV fled the murder scene, the same type of vehicle driven by Hirsch.
Authorities said in May that the shooter fired several times before fleeing eastbound on 67th Drive in a gray or tan sedan.
Ahead of Hirsch’s release on bail, several New York lawmakers, including Rep. Grace Meng, issued a joint statement on Saturday opposing his potential release and calling it “terrifying and unsettling.”
“Someone who is a clear and present danger should not be released back into the community that still grieves Zhiwen Yan’s death,” the lawmakers said. “We have been in touch with the 112th Precinct to get assurances that Glenn Hirsch’s weapons have been confiscated and won’t be returned to him if bail is granted, that he won’t be able to legally purchase additional firearms, and that his movements will be closely monitored including a ban on going near the Great Wall Restaurant and its delivery zones.”
Hirsch’s wife, Dorothy Hirsch, was arrested on June 3 on weapons charges after authorities seized 8 handguns and ammunition from her home, according to charging documents obtained by ABC News.
Dorothy Hirsch, 62, was charged with several counts of unlawful possession of firearms and is out on $150,000 bail. Her attorney Mark Bederow told ABC News in a phone interview on Wednesday that she pleaded not guilty and her next court date is July 12.
“She is not guilty of knowingly possessing firearms which were found in a closet being utilized by Glenn Hirsch to store his junk in large trash bags and boxes,” Bederow said, adding that while the couple maintained separate residences, the couple was not separated and Glenn Hirsch had a closet at his wife’s apartment.
“She had no knowledge of those items being in the apartment. We believe this is a heavy-handed leverage ploy to gain her cooperation in the case against him which she had nothing to do with,” Bederow added.
Yan’s death came amid a spate of attacks and a rise in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans in New York City and across the nation.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The Food and Drug Administration issued a new alert this week, warning parents not to use baby neck floats on their children, particularly those with special needs, as part of a water therapy program because doing so could be fatal or lead to serious injury.
“Neck floats are inflatable plastic rings that can be worn around a baby’s neck and allow babies to float freely in water,” the FDA explained in a safety communication released Tuesday, adding that they are sometimes marketed for premature babies and babies as young as 2 weeks old, and as water-therapy products.
The FDA also said the “safety and effectiveness of neck floats to build strength, to promote motor development or as a physical therapy tool, have not been established.”
According to the agency, neck floats “as therapy interventions” are especially hazardous for babies with developmental delays; birth defects or genetic disorders, such as cerebral palsy; Down syndrome; spina bifida; or spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 1.
“The use of neck floats in babies with special needs can lead to increased risk of neck strain and injury,” the FDA said in a recommendation to parents and caregivers.
The FDA believes injury or death from neck floats is rare but noted that one baby who had been placed in a baby neck float had been hospitalized and another died. It also noted that there may be a chance other cases have gone unreported.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents in general avoid using “floaties” or inflatable swimming aids on children as they can provide kids a false sense of security. They also note that floats and swimming aids are not adequate substitutes for life jackets.
“The market will keep coming up with ways to float infants and adults and market them. This is not a lifesaving device, not designed to be. We consistently say anything inflatable is only a toy; and can deflate. No child should be unsupervised or left alone in water, even with a personal flotation device or if wearing a US Coast Guard approved life jacket,” Dr. Linda Quan, an AAP spokesperson, told ABC News in a statement.
The FDA asks individuals to file a report if they know of any baby or individual injured by a neck float through their online voluntary reporting form.
(WASHINGTON) — As Americans head to crowded airports for a revival of European summer vacations, it looks like next year will be more expensive for those headed to the European Union.
A 7 euro fee, translating to $7.42, is expected to go into effect in May 2023 for foreign visitors aged 18 to 70 years old as part of a new European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), according to the European Commission.
As part of the system, travelers will have to apply for authorization through the official website or app before their trip abroad.
ETIAS is intended to increase revenue for the EU and to create a central data repository on non-Europeans who visit the area.
“EU Member States’ border management authorities currently have little information about travellers exempt from visa requirements entering the EU,” Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency who will have a key role in the new system, said in a statement.
“ETIAS will therefore be an important means of addressing this information gap by supporting security screening and risk assessment of travellers, reinforcing the internal security of the Schengen Area,” the agency added.
The European Commission said that ETIAS will be a largely automated system used to identify security, irregular migration or high epidemic risks posed by visa-exempt visitors traveling to the Schengen States, which refers to 26 European countries including France, Italy, Germany and Greece.
ETIAS will also facilitate the crossing of borders for the vast majority of travelers who do not pose the aforementioned risks.
The European Commission said that most travelers who apply for the ETIAS authorization will be approved within minutes. The estimated 5% of travelers who aren’t, the commission said, could receive the travel authorization in up to 30 days.
Once granted, the authorization will be valid for three years or until the expiration date of an individual’s travel document, such as a passport.
The authorization will be checked by border guards along with other travel documents.
ETIAS was first proposed by the European Commission in 2016, and has since faced negotiations within the commission’s legislation. Now, the system will become enacted by mid-2023, the commission said.
“Our police officers and border guards need to have the right tools to do their jobs – keeping our citizens safe and our borders secure. ETIAS will pre-screen visa-free visitors for potential security problems, while the reinforced eu-LISA will allow us to continue to modernise EU-wide information systems for law enforcement and border management,” Commissioner for the Security Union Julian King said following the 2018 agreement by the commission to establish ETIAS.
ETIAS adds to the preexisting Schengen visa system, which did not require such authorization from visitors from at least fifty countries around the world, including the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The European Commission began discussing the new system after it was found that an estimated 30 million visitors came to the EU without being required to have a Schengen visa.
ETIAS has similar characteristics to the United States’ Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which is available to travelers from countries granted a Visa Waiver Program.
In May, the fee for ESTA increased from $14 to $21, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
