(WASHINGTON) — The White House is expecting vaccinations for kids under 5 to begin as soon as June 21, White House COVID coordinator Ashish Jha said on Thursday.
“We expect that vaccinations will begin in earnest as early as Tuesday, June 21st, and really roll on throughout that week,” Jha said in the White House briefing, though he cautioned repeatedly that the estimation hinges on the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention processes playing out as planned.
“As I talk through the process today, I want to be very clear that I am not here to prejudge the outcome of the process,” Jha said. “But the administration is hard at work planning all sorts of scenarios based on whatever the outcome is from the process that’s playing out.”
If and when vaccines are authorized and recommended, Jha said he expects appointments to be widely available within weeks.
“Our expectation is that within weeks, every parent who wants their child to get vaccinated will be able to get an appointment,” he said.
The prediction was unusually specific, particularly for a vaccine that parents have been awaiting anxiously for months. And though a late-June kickoff for kids’ vaccines is likely, there are still many steps in the authorization process before shots can be administered.
First, the FDA’s panel of advisers will meet on June 15 to review the data on kids’ vaccines from both Moderna and Pfizer. Moderna’s shot is two doses, while Pfizer’s is three.
After that meeting, the FDA can issue an authorization — which allows the federal government to start shipping doses out to states — but the process moves over to the CDC before shots can actually be administered.
The CDC’s advisory panel meets and then CDC Director Rochelle Walensky issues a recommendation, which is the final step before shots can go in arms. The CDC is expected to announce the dates for its review shortly.
On the planning front, Jha said the government would begin taking orders for vaccines starting Friday.
“We are going to make 10 million doses available to states, pharmacies and community health centers and federal entities to order initially. Starting tomorrow, states can begin to place their orders,” Jha said.
“We have asked states to distribute the initial tranche of doses to their highest priority sites, including those serving the highest risk children and hardest to reach areas. And we’ve also asked them to prioritize sites that can handle large volumes, such as children’s hospitals.”
Jha said he expects the majority of vaccinations to be administered in doctors’ offices rather than pharmacies, and he acknowledged there will likely be less demand in this age group.
A recent survey from KFF found that just under one in five parents are eager to get their children under 5 vaccinated right away.
More than a third of parents — 38% — said that they plan to wait and see how well the vaccine works for others, while 27% of parents reported they will “definitely not” get their child vaccinated, and 11% said that they will only do so if they are required.
More than half of parents said they feel they do not have enough information about the vaccines’ safety and efficacy for children under age 5, according to KFF.
Both Pfizer and Moderna have said their vaccines are safe and effective. They will be rigorously reviewed by the FDA and CDC in the coming weeks, and more vaccine company data will be made public.
Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(LONDON) — The U.K. is throwing a once-in-a-generation celebration for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
The 96-year-old queen is the first British monarch in history to reach a Platinum Jubilee, which marks 70 years on the throne.
Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne on Feb. 6, 1952, following the death of her father, King George VI.
Starting Thursday, the Platinum Jubilee celebration will include everything from the traditional Trooping the Color birthday parade for the queen to a star-studded concert led by Diana Ross to thousands of street parties across the country.
Here is how the news is developing Fridayday. All times Eastern. Check back for updates:
Jun 03, 7:25 am
The royal family head to Guildhall after service at St. Paul’s
The National Service of Thanksgiving has concluded after nearly an hour.
Following the service, the bells at St. Paul’s Cathedral will be rung for a continuous four hours with no breaks in between.
According to a press release, members of the St Paul’s Cathedral Guild of Ringers “will ring ‘Stedman Cinques'” and “will be joined by Great Paul, the largest church bell in the UK,” which weighs in at more than 16 tons.
The Great Paul bell was restored in 2021 and this will be the first time it has been rung for a royal occasion.
Royal family members will now head over to a reception at Guildhall, hosted by Vincent Keaveny, the Lord Mayor of the City of London and the City of London Corporation.
Jun 03, 6:25 am
Prince William and Kate, Prince Charles and Camilla arrive at St. Paul’s
Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have entered St. Paul’s Cathedral to attend the service.
Several minutes after their arrival, Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, also made their way into the central London cathedral.
Once inside the cathedral, Charles and Camilla joined William and Kate to form a royal procession before they took their seats for the service.
Other royal family members who already arrived include the queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, and her husband Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence; their children Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, and Zara’s husband Mike Tindall; and Elizabeth’s youngest son Prince Edward and his family.
Prince Andrew’s children, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, as well as their husbands, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank, were also in attendance.
The royal family is attending the National Service of Thanksgiving — which includes Bible readings, prayers and hymns intended to give thanks for the queen’s 70-year reign — without Elizabeth herself. Buckingham Palace announced Thursday that the queen would not attend in person after experiencing “some discomfort” at the Trooping the Color parade earlier in the day.
Jun 03, 6:05 am
Prince Harry and Meghan reunite publicly with royal family
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have arrived at St. Paul’s Cathedral, marking the first time the couple has appeared publicly with the royal family in two years.
For the occasion, Meghan wore a white belted coat dress, matching hat and gloves, and Harry wore a tailored black dress jacket featuring his military medals and pinstripe pants. They were greeted by a guard of honor and then the Very Reverend Dr. David Ison on the cathedral’s western steps.
The Sussexes stepped down from their roles as senior working members of the royal family in 2020 and later moved to California, where they live with their two children.
The couple watched the Trooping the Color parade Thursday alongside other royal family members at Buckingham Palace, but did not appear publicly.
Jun 03, 5:45 am
What to watch as royals head to church on day 2 of Platinum Jubilee celebrations
The British royal family and more than 400 invitees — including government and faith leaders, teachers, military members, and COVID-19 frontline workers — are gathering at a National Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne.
The 96-year-old queen will not attend the service after experiencing “some discomfort” at Thursday’s Trooping the Color parade, according to Buckingham Palace.
Other senior royals are expected to attend, including three of the queen’s four children — Princes Charles and Edward and Princess Anne. The queen’s son, Prince Andrew tested positive for COVID-19 and will not attend, a royal source told ABC News.
The service — led by the Very Reverend Dr. David Ison — is being held at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, which also hosted services for the queen’s Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees.
The service will include readings from the Bible, prayers and hymns that will “give thanks for the Queen’s reign, faith and lifetime of service,” according to the palace.
The Royal Marines’ band and trumpeters from the Royal Air Force and the Household Cavalry, which also performed at Prince Philip’s funeral, will play before and after the service.
A new song, titled “By Wisdom” and composed for the Platinum Jubilee, will also be performed.
(UVALDE, Texas) — This week has been filled with funerals in Uvalde, Texas, to honor the 21 victims killed in the second-worst school shooting in U.S. history.
The funeral services for Irma Garcia, one of the teachers killed in the shooting, and her husband, Jose Garcia, who died of a heart attack two days after the shooting, took place Wednesday at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Uvalde.
Amerie Jo Garza and Maite Rodriguez, both 10 years old, were laid to rest Tuesday following funeral services in the afternoon.
The last photo ever taken of Garza, at this year’s award’s day, was featured inside the Hillcrest Funeral Home where her visitation took place, one mourner told ABC Houston station KTRK.
Nineteen students and two teachers were murdered on May 24 when 18-year-old Salvador Ramos allegedly opened fire at Robb Elementary School with an AR-15 style rifle he purchased days before.
Memorial services are expected to take place in the small Texas town through June 16.
The funeral for Jose Manuel Flores Jr., 10, was Wednesday.
A funeral for 10-year-old Nevaeh Alyssa Bravo took place Thursday.
Maranda Gail Mathis, 11, and Eliahna Torres, 10, were also laid to rest Thursday.
The funeral for cousins Jailah Nicole Silguero, 11, and Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10, will take place Friday at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The cousins were “full of life” and “always had a smile on their face,” their family said in a statement to ABC News.
Jacklyn Cazares, 10, will be remembered at Sacred Heart on Friday. She “had the biggest heart,” her mother, Jacinto Cazares, told ABC News.
Annabell Rodriguez, 10, Cazares’ cousin who was in the same fourth-grade class, was also killed in the shooting. Her funeral will take place on June 8 at the Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary.
Makenna Elrod’s funeral will take place at First Baptist Church on Saturday. The 10-year-old’s “smile would light up a room,” her aunt, Allison McCullough, told ABC News.
The funeral for Rojelio Torres, 10, will take place at Rushing Knowles on Saturday. Rojelio Torres’ mother, Evadulia Orta, described her son to ABC News as a “very smart and loving child.”
Alithia Ramirez, 10, will be buried Sunday after her funeral takes place at First Baptist Church. Her grandmother, Rosa Maria Ramirez, described her to ABC News as a “very talented little girl” who loved to draw.
Ellie Garcia, 9, will be laid to rest on June 6 after a funeral at Sacred Heart.
Xavier Lopez, 10, will be buried at the Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery after his funeral on June 7. He was always the “life of the party,” his grandmother, Amelia Sandoval, told ABC News.
The funeral for fourth grade teacher Eva Mireles will take place on June 10 at Sacred Heart. Miresles’ cousin, Amber Ybarra, described her as a “hero” and an “amazing mom.”
Alexandria Rubio, 10, will be remembered on June 11 at First Baptist Church. The straight A student received a good citizen award from her school on the day she was killed, her family said.
The funeral for Tess Mata, 10, will take place on June 13 at Sacred Heart. Her mother, Veronica Mata, told ABC News she never believed a school shooting could happen in their small town.
Layla Salazar, 11, will be laid to rest on June 16 after a service at Sacred Heart. Her brother, Julien Salazar, described her as “positive” and “energetic.”
The memorial service for Uziyah Garcia, 10, will take place on June 25 at Immanuel Baptist Church in San Angelo. Uziyah, who is not related to Irma and Jose Garcia, was described by his grandfather as “the sweetest little boy that I’ve ever known.”
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro and Jenna Harrison contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. saw a slight slowdown in job growth in May, as the economy added 390,000 jobs and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.
This a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attended their first royal event Friday in two years.
The Sussexes attended Friday’s National Service of Thanksgiving for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, marking the first time the couple has appeared publicly with Britain’s royal family since stepping down from their senior royal roles.
Meghan, wearing a white, belted coat and hat, and Harry, dressed in a suit adorned with his military medals, were greeted by cheers from the crowd as they climbed the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, walking in several minutes ahead of Harry’s father, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and brother, Prince William, and his wife, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.
Harry and Meghan’s last official engagement as senior working royals was in March 2020.
Since then, the couple, now the parents of two children, have moved to California and launched their own careers, starting the Archewell Foundation, their nonprofit, and Archewell Productions, their production company, through which they have launched deals with companies including Spotify and Netflix.
The last time Harry appeared publicly with his family was last July, when he traveled to the U.K. and joined his brother, Prince William, for the unveiling of a statue of their late mother, Princess Diana.
Meghan was not believed to have returned to the U.K. until earlier this year, in April, when she and Harry made a private visit to the queen on their way to the Netherlands for the Invictus Games.
While at the Invictus Games, Harry made headlines when he said in an interview that he was focused on making sure his 96-year-old grandmother, the queen, has “the right people around her.”
“I’m just making sure that she’s, you know, protected and got the right people around her,” said Harry, who described his relationship with his grandmother as “really special,” adding, “We talk about things that she can’t talk about with anybody else.”
Harry’s comments drew some backlash from the British press and raised questions about who he believes he is protecting her from. The royal family did not issue a response to Harry’s comments.
Last year, Harry and Meghan also made headlines when they sat down for an in-depth interview with Oprah Winfrey. During the interview, the couple revealed Meghan’s serious mental health struggles as a royal, made an allegation of racism within the royal family and claimed they were cut off financially and denied security protection after stepping down from their royal roles.
Buckingham Palace issued a statement after the interview on behalf of the queen, saying the Sussexes “will always be much loved family members.”
“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” the statement read. “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”
Harry has seemed to maintain a close relationship with the queen even after his departure from the U.K. and his royal role. He and Meghan named their youngest child, daughter Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, after Elizabeth, whose family nickname is Lilibet.
The queen is believed to have met Lili on Thursday in Windsor. The Sussexes confirmed last month they would bring Lili, who turns 1 on Saturday, and her older brother, 3-year-old Archie, with them to the U.K.
“Yesterday, after Trooping the Color, would have been the first opportunity for the queen to meet Lilibet, as they both returned to Windsor following the parade,” said Omid Scobie, ABC News royal contributor. “Despite everything that has happened, the relationship between the Sussexes and the queen has remained warm and close.”
He continued, “Introducing her to Lilibet will no doubt be one of the highlights of the Sussexes’ time here in England and a moment the queen has been looking forward to.”
Friday’s service of thanksgiving is the first jubilee event Harry and Meghan have attended publicly, but they did gather with royal family members one day prior.
The Sussexes watched the Trooping the Color parade and the military flypast Thursday from an office in Buckingham Palace, along with other members of the royal family. Only family members who are active working royals appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with the queen at the annual event.
(WASHINGTON) — More than 110 days after Justice Samuel Alito authored a first draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court deliberations over a final ruling have entered a critical phase, four weeks before the justices recess for summer and as an internal probe into a leak of the draft intensifies.
A decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health — the Mississippi case challenging Roe — could come as soon as Monday, but most veteran court watchers expect an opinion rolling back constitutional protection for abortion rights will likely be released in late June.
The unprecedented publication of Alito’s leaked draft last month upended the court’s traditional workflow, an iterative process marked by frank and private exchanges of ideas between justices over the course of months.
“What happened at the court is tremendously bad,” Justice Clarence Thomas said this month of the leak’s impact on court dynamics. “You begin to look over your shoulder. It’s kind of an infidelity.”
Several former Supreme Court clerks, once intimately involved in the opinion drafting process, told ABC News the Dobbs majority opinion — and related concurring and dissenting opinions — are all likely in the midst of tense and frenzied rounds of revision.
“The more everyone else’s temperature goes up, the more Chief Justice Roberts insists on business as usual — even when the building is on fire,” said Sarah Isgur, an ABC News legal analyst. “What that means for Dobbs is not clear at this point.”
How the opinion drafting process works
On Dec. 3, two days after oral arguments in the abortion rights case, the justices met for their scheduled weekly conference when preliminary votes are taken on cases heard that week. Each was asked to weigh in on the central question posed in Dobbs: “Whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.”
Five conservative justices — with the exception of Chief Justice Roberts — voted ‘no’ at that time, according to the leaked first draft opinion. Justice Thomas, who as the most senior among them had responsibility to assign the majority author, assigned Justice Alito to put their views into writing.
More than two months later, according to the time stamp on the leaked draft, Alito shared with his colleagues a 67-page majority opinion. Legal experts have characterized the document, dated Feb. 10, as an opening bid in the opinion writing process, as it does not reflect any input from dissenting justices and may not reflect input from other justices on Alito’s side of the case, legal experts point out.
Over the past three and a half months, the justices have likely been providing feedback to Alito in the form of electronic and paper memos between chambers, former clerks said. Only around 80 people — the justices, clerks and administrative staff — have access to draft opinions and dissents as they circulate, sources say.
“We had two different computer systems — one for internal materials where draft opinions were held, and another for research through one of the online resources,” said Thiru Vignarajah, a former clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer.
It is not clear how many subsequent draft opinions and dissents may have been circulated to date.
Roberts in a May 3 statement on the leaked Alito draft noted, however, that “it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”
Revising opinions, changing votes
The Supreme Court says some opinions may be revised a dozen or more times before publication, sometimes including a dramatic shift in vote alignment on the outcome of a case.
“It is a common experience that dissents change votes, even enough votes to become the majority,” the late Justice William Brennan once said, according to the Supreme Court Historical Society.
Roberts famously changed his position several times behind the scenes in 2012 during the first major challenge to the Affordable Care Act. After initially voting to strike down the heart of the law — the individual insurance mandate — and uphold the law’s expansion of Medicaid, Roberts ultimately flipped on both late in the drafting process, CNN’s Joan Biskupic, the Chief’s biographer, reported at the time. The shift narrowly saved the ACA.
While most legal analysts expect the Court will uphold Mississippi’s 15-week ban on abortions at the center of the Dobbs case — and in turn, rollback nearly 50 years of precedent, as reflected in the Alito draft — the scope of the ruling and its legal rationale could still be in flux behind the scenes.
“There may be people that after they read [Alito’s opinion] say, I don’t really agree with that, or it’s not as strong an argument as I thought, and so they may decide to write separately [in a concurrence],” said Rachel Barkow, vice dean of NYU Law School and a former clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia.
“Sometimes people take an even more extreme position and say, I was wrong. I thought I was going to vote to uphold this law, but I can’t do it, so I’m going to join the dissent, or I’m going to wait and see what the dissent has to say and see which one is better,” Barkow said.
Chief Justice Roberts, who has long signaled opposition to Roe and its reasoning, notably did not join the majority in the initial vote on Dobbs and has reportedly been lobbying fellow conservatives to join him in taking a narrower approach than the one advanced by Alito.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer have all previously supported constitutional protection of a woman’s right to end a pregnancy before a fetus is considered viable outside the womb, around 24 weeks. They are certain to author a vigorous dissent.
Barkow said draft dissenting opinions will likely seek to pressure the majority justices by calling out alleged inconsistencies, flawed reasoning, and overlooked impacts of their decision.
“Each side goes back and forth until everybody feels like they’re ready to release the decisions. That’s why we wait so long,” Barkow said. “The justices are usually very respectful of each other in terms of hearing the feedback, giving the other side time to respond to the extent they want to, and it’s only when everyone agrees that an opinion is ready to go out.”
Publication and release of opinions
Complicating the process in major cases is the likelihood that each justice will want to write an individual opinion — concurring or dissenting — to emphasize a special point. Those drafts are circulated along with the majority opinion and primary dissent and can evolve over time.
The Dobbs decision is also overshadowed by an ongoing internal investigation into how a first draft of the Alito opinion was leaked to Politico. The probe, ordered by Chief Justice Roberts and led by Court Marshal Army Col. Gail Curley, has strained relations inside the court and exacerbated divisions around one of the most contentious cases in years, several justices and court insiders have said publicly.
When all revisions are complete, traditionally before the end of the court’s term on June 30, a master proof of the opinions is sent to the Court’s Reporter of Decisions for final processing before release.
The Reporter writes a summary of the ruling — called a “syllabus” — and copy edits the text of the opinions before having physical copies of the case documents printed, a step that can take several additional days after a decision is technically finalized.
Prior to the pandemic, the justices would announce decisions in-person from the Supreme Court bench. Today, the releases happen electronically on the court’s website not long after physical printing is complete. It is not publicly known in advance which cases will be decided on a designated opinion release day.
(JOURDANTON, Texas) — A Texas inmate suspected of murdering five people after he escaped from a prison bus was killed by authorities on Thursday, officials said.
A massive manhunt was underway for 46-year-old Gonzalo Lopez when an adult and four children were found dead Thursday evening inside a residence in Leon County in east-central Texas, near where the inmate had escaped three weeks prior. Lopez was believed to have broken into the home and committed the murders, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Authorities said at the time that Lopez may have stolen clothes, firearms and a 1999 white Chevrolet Silverado from the residence.
The house was believed to be a weekend home for the victims, whose primary residence was in Houston. Authorities said the family had been seen Thursday morning and were found murdered around 6 p.m. local time, after an individual contacted law enforcement because they had not heard from an elderly relative inside the home and were concerned. Authorities had initially said that two adults and three children were discovered dead there.
“We will not rest until Gonzalo Lopez is in custody,” Jason Clark, chief of staff for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said at a press conference Thursday evening.
Later that night, deputies from the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office spotted the stolen pickup truck that Lopez was believed to be driving and followed it. They laid out spike strips that flattened all four tires of the vehicle on a street in Jourdanton, just south of San Antonio and some 250 miles southwest of Leon County. The suspect then pointed a rifle out of the window and fired several shots at the deputies, who returned fire, according to authorities.
The suspect was killed in the shootout and was confirmed to be Lopez, who authorities said was armed with an AR-15 and a pistol.
“We received additional information from the U.S. Marshals Service that he may be in the San Antonio area. So then we heightened our alert and, sure enough, we spotted him,” Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said at a press conference Thursday night. “This dangerous individual is off the street and no officers were injured.”
Reward grows to $50,000 for arrest of escaped inmate serving life for murder
Lopez, who was serving a life sentence for a capital murder in Hidalgo County and an attempted capital murder in Webb County, managed to break free from his shackles, overpower a bus driver and escape from custody near Centerville on May 12, while being transported from Gatesville to Huntsville for a medical appointment. He was added to Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List and a $50,000 reward was issued for his capture.
Authorities had said Lopez was allegedly affiliated with the Mexican Mafia.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso, Marilyn Heck, Emily Shapiro, Flor Tolentino and Jennifer Watts contributed to this story.
(WASHINGTON) — As mass shootings continue to rock the nation, President Joe Biden delivered prime-time remarks on guns Thursday evening from the White House, imploring the nation to “For God’s sake, do something.”
“This time we must actually do something,” he said, calling for a ban on assault weapons.
“We need to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. And if we can’t ban assault weapons, then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21, strengthen background checks, enact safe storage law, and red flag laws. Repeal the immunity that protects gun manufacturers from liability, address the mental health crisis,” he said in an impassioned address.
The latest mass shooting on Wednesday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, leaving four dead, follows a massacre of 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, as well as an apparently racially-motivated attack at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, leaving 10 Black people dead.
“We spent hours with hundreds of family members who were broken, whose lives will never be the same,” Biden said. “They had one message for all of us. Do something. Just do something … After Columbine, after Sandy Hook, after Charleston, after Orlando, after Las Vegas, after Parkland, nothing has been done. This time that can’t be true.”
Biden taking the national spotlight on Thursday evening comes amid questions over why he has not yet lobbied lawmakers personally and more forcefully as they aim to find a compromise on gun control legislation.
Biden told reporters earlier this week he “will meet with the Congress on guns — I promise you,” but did not provide details on when such a meeting might take place. On Thursday, he once again made the case for legislative action.
“This isn’t about taking anyone’s rights. It’s about protecting children, ” he said. “It’s about protecting families, it’s about protecting whole communities, it’s about protecting our freedoms to go to school, to a grocery store to a church without being shot and killed. According to new data just released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention guns are the number one killer of children in the United States of America. The number one killer. More than car accidents, more than cancer. Over the last two decades, more school-aged children have died from guns than on-duty police officers and active-duty military combined.”
“Think about that,” he said, adding, “How much more carnage are we willing to accept? How many more innocent American lives must be taken before we say enough, enough?”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pushed back Thursday against the notion that Biden hasn’t been involved in negotiations, arguing he’s been involved since taking office and repeating a sentiment from earlier this week that he “wants to give it some space” as the talks continue.
Biden’s making the speech Thursday, Jean-Pierre said, because he wants to make sure “that his voice is still out there and that the American people know that he’s fighting for them.”
Jean-Pierre also said the president is “encouraged” by what he’s seeing on Capitol Hill, even though Biden himself cast doubt that legislation will be passed, telling reporters he’s “not confident” as he recounted his first-hand experience in the Senate.
While serving as then-President Barack Obama’s vice president, Biden was tasked in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting to lead the administration’s effort to enact tougher gun control laws — but in the nearly decade since the nation mourned for Newtown, no action on gun control has passed at a federal level.
The last meaningful gun reform legislation passed on Capitol Hill was the 1994 assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004 due to a “sunset” clause in the legislation. Similar legislation has failed for decades in the Senate due in large part to the filibuster rule, which requires 60 senators for a measure to advance toward a final vote. Though Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in Congress, they cannot push legislation through the Senate without the support of at least 10 Republicans.
The American public is widely supportive of universal background checks, which have already passed through the House’s Democratic majority. An ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted in September 2019 found 89% support for universal background checks, including at least eight in 10 Republicans and conservatives.
Ahead of Biden’s speech, Vice President Kamala Harris offered brief remarks Thursday afternoon on the mass shooting in Tulsa and urged Congress to pass gun safety laws.
“No more excuses,” Harris said. “Thoughts and prayers are important, but not enough. We need Congress to act.”
As Biden prepared for his speech on Thursday, funerals were underway in Uvalde, where he visited families of victims.
He claimed earlier this week to have visited more aftermaths of mass shootings than any other American president.
In impassioned remarks from the White House last week after the Uvalde shooting, Biden expressed outrage at lawmakers who are blocking “common-sense” gun laws and rejected the argument often heard from Republicans that gun violence is a mental health issue.
“These kinds of mass shootings never happen with the kind of frequency they happen in America. Why? Why are we willing to live with this carnage?” Biden said with outrage. “Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with and stand up to the lobbies?”
(TULSA, Okla.) — Two doctors, an employee and a patient were gunned down at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, medical building on Wednesday after the gunman allegedly targeted his doctor, blaming him for pain.
Here is what we know about the four people who died in America’s latest mass shooting.
Dr. Preston Phillips, 59
Dr. Preston Phillips was an orthopedic surgeon at Saint Francis Hospital. He had “an interest in spinal surgery, joint reconstruction — including joint replacement and the treatment of fractures,” according to the hospital website. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1990 and also earned advanced degrees in organic chemistry and pharmacology, as well as theology from Emory University, police said in a statement on the victims.
Dr. Cliff Robertson, president and CEO of Saint Francis Health System, described Phillips as a “consummate gentleman,” telling reporters, “he is a man that we should all strive to emulate.”
Phillips was the target of the mass shooting, authorities said.
Phillips performed surgery on the suspected gunman on May 19, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said.
The suspect was released from the hospital on May 24, and after his release, he called several times over several days complaining of pain and wanting additional treatment, the chief said.
On Tuesday, Phillips saw the suspect again for additional treatment, the chief said. Then, on Wednesday, the suspect called the doctor complaining of back pain and wanting additional help, the chief said.
A letter found on the gunman, who died by apparent suicide at the medical facility, made it clear “that he came with the intent to kill Dr. Phillips and anyone who got in his way,” Franklin said. “He blamed Dr. Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery.”
Dr. Stephanie Husen, 48
Dr. Stephanie Husen, a sports medicine specialist, was working at the medical office when she was killed.
She graduated medical school at Oklahoma State University in 2000 and completed her internship and residency at Greenville Memorial Hospital, according to her hospital profile.
She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Oklahoma and was a member of the Chi Omega Sorority.
“Our hearts are with the family and loved ones who lost such an incredible woman,” the chapter said in a statement on social media. “She was known and loved by so many and will always be remembered.”
Amanda Glenn, 40
Amanda Glenn was an employee who had a “supervisory role” at the medical facility, officials said.
She leaves behind a husband and two teenage sons, The Oklahoman reported, citing her Facebook page.
“Amanda Glenn was a devoted wife, mother and friend,” the Sandite High School baseball team posted on Facebook. “She was on our Booster Club Board and served the baseball boys and coaches selflessly. She was the biggest cheerleader for both of her sons and all of our boys.”
Glenn worked in the medical field for over 18 years and had a “true servant’s heart” in that she “always put everyone else first,” the Tulsa police said in their statement on the victims.
William Love, 73
William Love was a patient receiving care when the gunfire erupted.
Officials said Love held a door closed to help someone else escape the shooting. That person appears to be his wife of nearly 55 years, Deborah Love, according to a police statement.
“William Love’s family would like us to share that at the time of shooting, William heard the gunshots and knew his wife would not be able to escape the building on her own,” the Tulsa Police Department said in its statement on the victims. “He sacrificed his life for her.”
Love was a retired Army first sergeant with 27 years of service who served one tour in Vietnam, police said.
He is survived by his wife, brother, two daughters and their spouses, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, police said.
(CONCORD, N.H.) — New Hampshire police investigating the unsolved shooting deaths of a retired couple said Thursday that they are looking to speak to the owner or operator of a car that was parked near a hiking trail where the bodies of the victims were discovered in April.
New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella and Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood released photos of a dark green 2006 to 2012 Toyota RAV4 that was parked near the March Loop trailhead in Concord on April 18, the day Stephen Reid, 67, and his wife, Djeswende “Wendy” Reid, 66, were last seen alive.
Authorities emphasized that the person who owns or was driving the car is not a suspect in the case, but investigators are eager to speak to them about what they might have seen on the trail that day.
The Marsh Loop trail is part of the Broken Ground Trails system where the bodies of the couple were discovered on April 21, a day after relatives reported them missing, police said.
The FBI has joined the investigation and a $33,500 reward is being offered for information that leads to the arrest and indictment of the person or persons responsible for the killings.
Autopsies revealed the Reids were both shot multiple times.
The development comes about three weeks after authorities released a sketch of a man authorities described as a person of interest. The man was seen in the vicinity of where the bodies were found the day the Reids went missing, officials said.
A spokesperson for the New Hampshire Department of Justice, which released the sketch, told ABC News Thursday that the person of interest has not been located.
During a news conference on Thursday afternoon, Formella said there is no connection between the person of interest and the vehicle being sought in the case. The person of interest is not currently a suspect in the case, he said.
The Reids left their home in the Alton Woods apartment complex in Concord around 2:22 p.m. on April 18 and went for a walk in the Broken Ground Trails area, Formella and Osgood said in their joint statement on Thursday.
The couple was reported missing on April 20 when Stephen Reid failed to show up at a planned event, authorities said. Their bodies were discovered a day later, officials said.
Homicide investigators and the couple’s children, Lindsay and Brian Reid, have asked the public to report any information that could possibly help crack the case.
The couple’s family released a statement after the murders, describing Stephen and Wendy Reid as soulmates who traveled the world and shared a “mutual love of adventure and fitness.”
The Reids moved to Concord about three years ago when Stephen Reid, who grew up there, retired from a more than 30-year career as an international development specialist working on humanitarian projects around the world through USAID, their family said. The couple met while Wendy Reid, who was from West Africa, was studying in Washington, D.C., on an athletic scholarship, the family said.
