(OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich.) — Family and friends are gathering Tuesday to remember 16-year-old football player Tate Myre, who was killed one week ago in a shooting at his Michigan high school.
Myre, a junior, was one of four students killed in the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford Township. The suspected gunman and his parents have been charged.
Myre died in a patrol car while deputies were taking him from his school to a hospital, authorities said.
Myre, an honors student, was “beloved by all” and had a “bright future,” the Oxford football team said. Myre had been on the school’s varsity football team since he was a freshman, the team said.
The teen loved Christmas, his family dog and spending time with his family, friends and girlfriend, his obituary said.
(WASHINGTON) — When asked Monday about whether his sweeping social spending and climate agenda — the Build Back Better Act — can pass the Senate before Christmas as he and congressional leaders want, President Joe Biden responded, “As early as we can get it. We want to get it done no matter how long it takes.”
And that answer suggests it could be yet another deadline missed.
In the face of numerous reports that the deadline is slipping to January, and comments to that effect from some key Democrats with objections, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told his his caucus in a letter Monday that the goal is still to pass the legislation “before Christmas and get it to the president’s desk.”
But even if Build Back Better passes the Senate before lawmakers are taking down Christmas decorations, they are still facing several dates circled in red before the end of 2021, some of which lawmakers have set for themselves and may still be on track to miss.
The most pressing is raising the debt limit in the next few weeks before financial disaster strikes.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has previously painted a grim picture if the U.S. were to default on its debt, warning Congress back in September of “calamity” from a “manufactured crisis” as Senate Republicans blocked Democratic efforts to raise the ceiling.
Despite the warnings, lawmakers eventually came to only a short-term solution in October, raising the debt limit by $480 billion until Dec. 3, to return to the issue when it became impossible to put off any longer.
Why does this keep happening and at what cost?
“The contemporary Congress really is fueled by deadlines, and sometimes they’re fueled by deadlines and it’s helpful to them, and sometimes they’re fueled by deadlines and it’s not helpful to them,” Brookings Institution senior fellow Molly Reynolds told ABC News.
Most years in December, with the holiday season in full swing, everything comes down to the wire on Capitol Hill. But Reynolds said that while legislators face a mountain of work to finish each year, 2021 stands out.
In addition to the debt ceiling and Biden’s agenda, measures perennially seen as must-pass, such as the National Defense Authorization Act and critical funding bills, still hang in the balance.
Reynolds said Congress sometimes appears to procrastinate, working right until deadlines or missing them altogether, because it needs more time to work things out.
“Kind of like a college student getting an extension on a paper,” she said.
But in other cases, lawmakers working to the last minute before a deadline is the failure to find common ground on disagreements, and Reynolds said partisanship and dissent has been everywhere this year, especially among House and Senate Democrats.
In setting soft deadlines, such as when leadership wants to see progress on Build Back Better, the strategy can be to break a logjam and force action.
“In most cases, as we’ve seen them, obviously the bill itself has not been finished, but there’s been kind of incremental progress,” Reynolds said.
Biden has previously played down months of Democratic infighting that delayed progress on infrastructure and reconciliation negotiations this fall.
“Right now, things in Washington, as you all know, are awfully noisy. Turn on the news and every conversation is a confrontation, every disagreement is a crisis,” Biden said in October about a plan proposed in framework form months before.
Jim Manley, a Democratic operative and a spokesperson for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said legislators setting time limits for themselves is just the way Capitol Hill functions in its present state.
“What has become very clear is that Congress is unable to get anything done without facing a deadline,” Manley said.
“It’s now become a frequent occurrence and is a significant part of the leadership — whether Republican or Democrat — playbook when they’re running the place,” he added.
Washington University professor Steven Smith sees constant short-term deadline-setting, particularly when it comes to the appropriations process and stopgap government spending bills, as a “function of political failure.”
“How can it become worse? The Senate failed to pass any of the 12 appropriations bills — not one. They didn’t even vote on them on the Senate floor, let alone pass them. How could it be worse than that? This is as bad as it gets,” Smith said.
Smith added he believes deadlines allow lawmakers to force themselves to revisit and address a variety of issues and policies.
It’s not healthy for government programs to be consistently running on stopgap funding, because short-term funding naturally creates challenges when agencies are trying to plan ahead, Reynolds said.
She also said more political conflicts have found their way into the appropriations process — the start of the fiscal year each October is often preceded by missed deadlines and, some years, government shutdowns.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.2 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 789,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 60% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 06, 10:26 pm
Omicron detected in Houston’s wastewater, Houston Health Department reports
The omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 has been found in Houston’s wastewater, the Houston Health Department announced Monday night. “The detection is the first indication the new variant is in Houston, although a case has not yet been confirmed in the city,” the department said.
Wastewater samples collected between Nov. 29 and Nov. 30 showed omicron at eight of the city’s 39 wastewater treatment plants, and the genomic sequencing results confirming the variant were received Monday evening.
“The Houston Health Department and Houston Water continue to do an exceptional job tracking the impact of the virus in our community. While no specific case of the Omicron variant has been confirmed in an individual in the city of Houston, we should use this information as a reminder to get fully vaccinated, including a booster shot,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a statement. “Vaccines help protect us, our loved ones, friends, and colleagues in the work environment. As the holidays approach, I encourage everyone to remain vigilant about their health and safety.”
The health department said it routinely tests the city’s wastewater for COVID-19, including variants, and recently started testing samples for omicron, as “people infected with COVID-19 shed the virus in their feces.”
“The wastewater data helps to more quickly identify emerging outbreaks and hotspots needing interventions to help stop the spread of the virus,” the health department added.
Dec 06, 8:40 pm
CDC recommends people use rapid tests before indoor gatherings
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance on COVID-19 testing and is advising people, even those who are vaccinated, to get a test before they head to an indoor gathering.
The agency said a rapid test ahead of a gathering is important if the gathering includes unvaccinated children and older people who are more vulnerable to COVID-19.
“Even if you don’t have symptoms and have not been exposed to an individual with COVID-19, using a self-test before gathering indoors with others can give you information about the risk of spreading the virus that causes COVID-19,” the CDC said in its guidance.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Dec 06, 8:12 pm
Omicron detected in Harris County, Texas
Harris County, Texas, Judge Linda Hidalgo tweeted Monday night that the area recorded its first case of the omicron COVID-19 variant.
The judge shared few details about the case but said the patient was “a woman in her 40s from [north west] Harris County with no recent travel history.”
ABC News’ Scottye Kennedy
Dec 06, 6:05 pm
France shuts down night clubs as cases rise
French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced that the country’s night clubs will be closed for four weeks starting Friday, amid rising cases in the country.
“We are doing this because the virus is spreading amongst young people, even those who are vaccinated, because it is extremely difficult to keep a mask on at these venues,” Castex said at a news conference Monday.
The decision came after the French Health Defense Council held a meeting to decide on what new health measures have to be taken to stop the spread of the virus in France.
Castex also announced that primary school students would have to wear face masks at recess and between classes — not only inside the classroom — starting Thursday.
France will not follow other European Union countries, like Germany and Italy, that are imposing restrictions on unvaccinated residents, the prime minister said.
ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Dec 06, 5:57 pm
2nd omicron case detected in Los Angeles
Los Angeles health officials announced Monday a second case of the omicron variant was detected in the county.
The patient is a student at the University of Southern California, who was returning from a trip from the East Coast, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
The student likely acquired the infection outside of LA county, health officials said in a statement.
“The individual is fully vaccinated, had mild symptoms, and is self-isolating,” the health department said in a statement.
Officials at USC said the student “did not attend classes or organized activities on campus during their infectious period.”
ABC News’ Bonnie McClean and Jen Watts
Dec 06, 3:17 pm
Northeast sees highest number of child cases since beginning of pandemic
Another 133,000 children tested positive for COVID-19 last week, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. Hospital admissions among children have also increased by 20% over the last week, according to federal data.
The Northeast is currently seeing its highest number of child cases since the beginning of pandemic, though the Midwest continues to see the highest number of pediatric cases.
Twenty million children ages 5 to 17 have received at least one vaccine dose, accounting for about 38.3% of that population.
Severe illness due to COVID-19 remains “uncommon” among children, the two organizations wrote in the report. However, AAP and CHA continue to warn that there is an urgent need to collect more data on the long-term consequences of the pandemic on children, “including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects.”
(WASHINGTON) — The United States will not send an official delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the White House announced Monday, citing China’s human rights record.
The diplomatic boycott means that U.S. athletes will still compete in the Games, which will start in February.
The Chinese government responded with swift condemnation of President Joe Biden’s decision — saying the Olympics shouldn’t be “a stage for political shows” and warning of “resolute countermeasures.”
But the Biden administration said it would not send senior U.S. government officials because of China’s mass detention camps and forced sterilization campaign against Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities in the country’s western province — policies that the U.S. government has determined constitute genocide and crimes against humanity.
Biden has been under growing pressure domestically to take some kind of action against the Beijing Games because of China’s increasingly authoritarian policies at home and aggressive actions across the region. The decision to not send a delegation stops short of an outright boycott of the Games, as U.S. athletes will be participating.
“The athletes on Team USA have our full support. We will be behind them 100 percent, as we cheer them on from home,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki, but the administration didn’t think “it was the right step to penalize athletes who have been training, preparing for this moment.”
“We will not be contributing to the fanfare of the Games,” Psaki added.
Sending prominent officials or public figures to the Olympics is a long tradition, with first lady Jill Biden leading a delegation to the Tokyo Games this past summer.
The Biden administration has said it is consulting U.S. allies on a path forward, but so far, no other country has announced a similar diplomatic boycott. Psaki said the U.S. informed allies of the decision before announcing it. Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and others are said to be weighing boycotts as well.
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., took to Twitter to respond to the announcement, saying that “politicians calling for [a] boycott … are doing so for their own political interests and posturing.”
“In fact, no one would care about whether these people come or not, and it has no impact whatsoever on the #Beijing2022 to be successfully held,” Liu tweeted Monday.
Beijing has repeatedly blasted any talk of a boycott, denouncing it as an affront to the “Olympic spirit” while denying any wrongdoing in its human rights record.
“U.S. politicians continue to hype diplomatic boycotts of the Beijing Winter Olympics. They are completely wishful-thinking, grandstanding and politically manipulative,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a press conference Monday, ahead of the Biden administration’s announcement.
It’s also unclear if any U.S. officials were formally invited to the Games, where they usually attend the opening or closing ceremonies. Zhao said Monday that “American politicians” were not invited, without specifying who exactly or whether foreign delegations in general were.
Biden has tried to stabilize U.S.-Chinese relations, which have nosedived in recent years as Washington has grown increasingly concerned about Chinese aggression. He and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a meeting last month via video teleconference, marking small progress on issues like China’s travel bans on dual citizens and journalists visas.
But tensions have remained high over China’s development of hypersonic and nuclear weapons, its menacing of Taiwan, and its human rights record, from the crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, religious practice across the country, and especially the Uighurs in Xinjiang province. The detention of over one million Uighurs, the sterilization of Uighur women, and their forced labor in these camps has drawn U.S. sanctions and international condemnation.
(WASHINGTON) — Biden is expected to warn of consequences for invading, an official said.
President Joe Biden was expected to press Russian President Vladimir Putin during a video meeting Tuesday that there would be consequences for invading its neighbor Ukraine, as Russia amasses troops on the Ukrainian border.
During the meeting, the first conversation between the leaders since July, Biden planned to threaten “substantial economic countermeasures” if Russia prepared to proceed with a military invasion, a senior Biden administration official said Monday.
“What I am doing is putting together what I believe to be–will be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do,” Biden told ABC News White House correspondent MaryAlice Parks on Friday.
The senior administration official said the U.S. was watching a series of events unfold similar to the lead-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014, when it annexed the Crimean Peninsula. That included moving troops to its border with Ukraine coupled with a “significant spike” in anti-Ukrainian propaganda on social media, the official said.
But, according to the official, the U.S. had not determined whether Putin had decided yet if he would attack.
“We do not know or have a clear indication that President Putin has actually made an–given an affirmative order here,” the official said in a call with reporters. “It is more about planning intentions and then the kinds of movements that we have seen.”
Ahead of the call, both the White House and Kremlin sought to lower expectations.
“It is very important not to have some overexcited, emotional expectations here,” Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s Channel One on Monday.
Asked by ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers if the White House’s message was also to not have high expectations, White House press secretary Jen Psaki replied, “I think it is.”
“The president is not going to hold back in conveying his concern,” Psaki told another reporter.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that Russia’s “escalation” was “an immediate threat.”
“The stakes for the president’s call couldn’t be clearer,” McConnell said during remarks on the Senate floor.
In addition to Ukraine, Biden also planned to speak with Putin about cyber issues, “strategic stability” and other regional issues, according to the White House.
The White House has made clear the U.S. is ready to support allies in the region if Russia decides to move forward with a military invasion in Ukraine.
“I think you could anticipate that in the event of an invasion, the need to reinforce the confidence and reassurance of our NATO allies and our eastern flank allies would be real, and the United States would be prepared to provide that kind of reassurance,” the senior official said Monday. “That’s just sort of applying the lessons of 2014 to 2021.”
Notably, the official wouldn’t specify whether that “reassurance” would come in the form of sanctions, U.S. forces, capabilities, or all of the above, nor what the hair trigger is for the support.
The official wouldn’t go so far as to say outright that Biden would warn Putin the U.S. military could be used if the Russian military moves into Ukraine.
After Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, the U.S. and the European Union leveled economic sanctions against Russia, and Russia was kicked out of the “Group of Eight” industrialized nations.
The United States also sent 600 troops to eastern Europe in a show of solidarity with Baltic nations on Russia’s border. That deployment has morphed into a rotating set of relatively small U.S. deployments to eastern European nations.
“I don’t want to use a public press call to talk about the particular sensitive challenges that President Biden will lay out for President Putin,” the official said of Tuesday’s call. “But I would say that the United States is not seeking to end up in a circumstance in which the focus of our countermeasures is the direct use of American military force, as opposed to a combination of support for the Ukrainian military, strong economic countermeasures, and substantial increase in support and capability to our NATO allies to ensure they remain safe.”
In short: Biden will “make clear that there will be very real cost should Russia choose to proceed, but he will also make clear that there is an effective way forward with respect to diplomacy,” the official said.
The administration’s preferred option for response to any Russian aggression would be a series of economic sanctions in concert with European partners, and the official warned those would be “severe.”
“We believe that we have a path forward that would involve substantial economic countermeasures by both the Europeans and the United States that would impose significant and severe economic harm on the Russian economy, should they choose to proceed. I’m not going to get into the specific details of that, but we believe that there is a way forward here that will allow us to send a clear message to Russia, that there will be genuine and meaningful and enduring costs to choosing to go forward should they choose to go forward with a military escalation in Ukraine,” the official warned.
Ahead of his call with Putin, Biden spoke with several European leaders Monday, according to the White House: France’s President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
“The leaders discussed their shared concern about the Russian military build-up on Ukraine’s borders and Russia’s increasingly harsh rhetoric,” the White House said, adding that “they called on Russia to de-escalate tensions and agreed that diplomacy” was “the only way forward.”
“The leaders underscored their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the White House said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday ahead of Biden’s call with Putin, and Zelensky tweeted that he had “agreed positions” with Blinken.
“Grateful to strategic partners & allies for the continued support of our sovereignty & territorial integrity,” Zelensky wrote.
Biden himself will call Zelenskyy to provide a readout of his conversation with Putin afterward, the official said.
ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova, Patrick Reevell and Trish Turner contributed reporting.
(WASHINGTON) — With the critical 2022 midterm election looming, elections experts say the already opaque world of campaign fundraising is becoming even more murky, as a number of political groups have started registering under cryptic and hard-to-trace names.
“When super PACs name themselves using simply an assortment of letters and numbers, it’s harder for people to understand the super PAC’s ideological leanings without additional digging,” said Michael Beckel, research director with bipartisan political reform group Issue One.
“Few people will take the time to research the name of a super PAC after seeing its ads — if they can ever remember the right mix of letters and numbers the super PAC is using as its name,” Beckel said.
One recent example is the fundraising organization known as “34N22.” Surfacing two months ago, the cryptically named group registered with the Federal Election Commission as a super PAC, also known as an independent expenditure-only political action committee, which can accept an unlimited amount money from donors and spend an unlimited amount to support candidates — as long as it’s independent from the candidates themselves. Regular PACs, in contrast, are limited by a $5,000 limit per year per donor, and can make direct contributions to candidates up to $5,000 per candidate.
The new 34N22 super PAC offered the first clues to its actual purpose a few days ago when it announced and reported to the FEC that it would be spending $81,000 for an online ad campaign in support of former NFL player Herschel Walker’s bid against Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. A spokesperson for 34N22 told ABC News that the group’s name is “pretty straightforward,” saying, “34 was Herschel Walker’s number at the University of Georgia — and the election is in 2022.”
Little else is known about 34N22, including who is bankrolling it. Election rules provide less frequent filing deadlines for super PACs’ donor disclosures during off-election years. A press release from 34N22 names as its spokesperson Stephen Lawson, a former adviser to former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who was unseated by Warnock earlier this year. The group’s FEC filing lists 34N22’s treasurer as Charles Gantt, who has been linked to multiple other GOP political committees.
34N22 is just the latest example of a new super PAC with an obscure name. Other groups this election cycle are using such names as NNH PAC, NJH PAC, NTC PAC, TAS PAC, GMI Inc and KSL Inc — odd monikers that, as campaigns heat up, may lead to TV ads ending with uninformative or confusing taglines regarding who they’re “paid for by.”
There were signs of this trend toward obscurity during the 2020 election cycle. The two Georgia Senate contests between Loeffler and Warnock and between incumbent GOP Sen. David Perdue and challenger Jon Ossoff were the target of an ad blitz worth tens of thousands of dollars by a conservative group named C3 PAC. Last year in Maine, GOP Sen. Susan Collins’ reelection bid was supported by a multimillion-dollar ad campaign from an organization called 1820 PAC. And Gantt was the treasurer for another group that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting various GOP congressional candidates under the name SG PAC.
Under federal law, there are very few restrictions on how a political committee should be named, other than that an outside political group that is not a candidate’s authorized campaign committee cannot use a candidate’s name in its official name.
Brendan Fischer, the federal reforms director of the good-government group Campaign Legal Center, said that “plenty of PACs use innocuous or generic names” and that obscure names made up of initials are “not necessarily too concerning” as long as “the ad disclaimers are clear and accurate.”
“What’s most important is that a voter can identify the PAC running a particular ad, and then be able to use FEC records to figure out where the PAC’s money is coming from and where it is going,” Fischer said, referring to both regular PACs and super PACs.
That, however, isn’t always possible.
Earlier this year, three super PACs were established under the similarly obscure names of NNH, NTC and NJH, all registered by a South Carolina-based super PAC treasurer named Gabrielle D’Alemberte. Online, each group’s FEC statement of organization links to the group’s website, which reveals that they are campaigns against GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, and potential 2024 GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley — with the initials representing Never Tom Cotton, Never Josh Hawley and Never Nikki Haley.
None of the three super PACs have reported any political activities so far, but NNH and NJH’s websites feature videos attacking Haley and Hawley, with disclaimers that the videos were paid for by Never Nikki Haley LLC and Never Josh Hawley LLC. Each group’s website also includes a disclaimer that it was paid for by Never Nikki Haley LLC, Never Josh Hawley LLC and Never Tom Cotton LLC, respectively. This means that voters who come across these videos and websites won’t be able to easily find their FEC disclosure filings — because with the FEC, the groups are registered as NNH, NJH and NTC.
Fischer said the groups’ websites “are failing to comply with legal disclaimer requirements.”
“This isn’t just a matter of semantics,” Fischer said. “NNH PAC’s failure to include accurate ‘paid for by’ disclaimers deprives voters of their ability to identify who is behind the PAC. A voter who wants more information about the PAC and searches the FEC website for the name on the disclaimer, ‘Never Nikki Haley, LLC,’ will find nothing.”
The three groups are “partners” of an umbrella group called the NUMQUAM Project, which, according to its website, is “dedicated to defeating all Trump Republicans and any politicians who were involved with, participated in, or supported the January 6, 2021 insurrectionist attack on the United States Capitol.” The name “NUMQUAM” appears to be a reference to Latin phrase “numquam iterum,” which means “never again.”
An ABC News review of the FEC database was unable to trace back the name “NUMQUAM Project” to any FEC disclosure filing.
The three super PACs and their treasurer D’Alemberte did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(VISALIA, Calif.) — All four people on board a small plane that crashed in California Saturday are dead, according to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. They were all related.
It is unknown what led to the crash.
Around 6:35 p.m. Saturday, deputies were called to the area of Road 68 and Avenue 288 near the Visalia Airport in Visalia, California, for a possible downed plane, authorities said.
When deputies arrived, they found a single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza had crashed, killing all on board.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday it is investigating the crash.
ABC News California affiliate KFSN reported the plane crashed just a few seconds after taking off.
Late Monday night, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as 78-year-old David Chelini, his 58-year-old nephew, Steven Chelini, and his two daughters, 46-year-old Karen Baker and 48-year-old Donna Chelini.
All of the victims were from the Sacramento area.
“Sheriff Boudreaux asks that you keep the Chelini family in your prayers during this incredibly difficult time,” the sheriff’s office said.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.2 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 789,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 60% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Latest headlines:
-France shuts down night clubs as cases rise
-2nd omicron case detected in Los Angeles
-Northeast sees highest number of child cases since beginning of pandemic
-NYC mandating vaccines for all private sector employees
-Man who became one of the 1st omicron cases in US speaks out
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Dec 06, 8:12 pm
Omicron detected in Harris County, Texas
Harris County, Texas, Judge Linda Hidalgo tweeted Monday night that the area recorded its first case of the omicron COVID-19 variant.
The judge shared few details about the case but said the patient was “a woman in her 40s from [north west] Harris County with no recent travel history.”
ABC News’ Scottye Kennedy
Dec 06, 6:05 pm
France shuts down night clubs as cases rise
French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced that the country’s night clubs will be closed for four weeks starting Friday, amid rising cases in the country.
“We are doing this because the virus is spreading amongst young people, even those who are vaccinated, because it is extremely difficult to keep a mask on at these venues,” Castex said at a news conference Monday.
The decision came after the French Health Defense Council held a meeting to decide on what new health measures have to be taken to stop the spread of the virus in France.
Castex also announced that primary school students would have to wear face masks at recess and between classes — not only inside the classroom — starting Thursday.
France will not follow other European Union countries, like Germany and Italy, that are imposing restrictions on unvaccinated residents, the prime minister said.
ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Dec 06, 5:57 pm
2nd omicron case detected in Los Angeles
Los Angeles health officials announced Monday a second case of the omicron variant was detected in the county.
The patient is a student at the University of Southern California, who was returning from a trip from the East Coast, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
The student likely acquired the infection outside of LA county, health officials said in a statement.
“The individual is fully vaccinated, had mild symptoms, and is self-isolating,” the health department said in a statement.
Officials at USC said the student “did not attend classes or organized activities on campus during their infectious period.”
ABC News’ Bonnie McClean and Jen Watts
Dec 06, 3:17 pm
Northeast sees highest number of child cases since beginning of pandemic
Another 133,000 children tested positive for COVID-19 last week, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. Hospital admissions among children have also increased by 20% over the last week, according to federal data.
The Northeast is currently seeing its highest number of child cases since the beginning of pandemic, though the Midwest continues to see the highest number of pediatric cases.
Twenty million children ages 5 to 17 have received at least one vaccine dose, accounting for about 38.3% of that population.
Severe illness due to COVID-19 remains “uncommon” among children, the two organizations wrote in the report. However, AAP and CHA continue to warn that there is an urgent need to collect more data on the long-term consequences of the pandemic on children, “including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects.”
(NEW YORK) — As the criminal trial of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime companion of serial sex offense Jeffrey Epstein, entered its second week, a woman identified by the pseudonym “Kate” testified that Maxwell recruited and groomed her for sexual activity with Epstein when she was a young woman, under the pretense that they were “friends.”
“Kate” said she was approximately 17 years old and living in London when she met Maxwell during a trip to Paris. “Kate” gave Maxwell her phone number, she said, and Maxwell called her a few weeks later to invite her over for tea. “Kate” was excited, she said, to have made such a “sophisticated and elegant” connection.
“She seemed to be everything I wanted to be,” she said. “She seemed as excited as I was to have a new friend.”
Within a few weeks, “Kate” said,” she was engaging in sexually explicit massages with Epstein at Maxwell’s London townhouse, which was in the same neighborhood where “Kate” then lived with her mother.
Prior to her testimony, Judge Alison Nathan read to the jury a “limiting instruction” informing them that “Kate” was over the legal age of consent at all relevant times and locations, and therefore the jury cannot convict Maxwell of any charges in the indictment based on her testimony. The government is thus only permitted to describe her as a “witness” but not a “victim.”
Prosecutors argued that “Kate’s” testimony was relevant to show Maxwell’s modus operandi and that Maxwell knew that massages with Epstein would be sexualized.
During her first trip to Maxwell’s home in London, “Kate” said she noticed lots of photographs of Maxwell with an older man with peppered hair. The man in the pictures, she learned later, was Epstein, and Maxwell introduced “Kate” to him as “the girl I told you about” on her next visit.
Maxwell, “Kate” said, encouraged her to massage Epstein’s feet and shoulders. Epstein was “very approving,” she said, but then he took a phone call, “Kate” said, and Maxwell ushered her out. A few weeks later, “Kate” said, Maxwell called again, claiming a massage therapist had cancelled at the last minute, and she asked if “Kate” could “do her a favor” by coming over to massage Epstein again.
This time, “Kate” said Maxwell led her upstairs to a small, dimly-lit room with a massage table. Epstein was wearing a robe, but he took it off after Kate entered. Maxwell, she said, closed the door. Asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz if Epstein initiated sexual conduct with her during the massage, Kate answered, “Yes.”
On her way out, “Kate” said Maxwell asked, “How did it go? Did you have fun? Was it good? She seemed very excited and happy and thanked me again.”
Two days later, “Kate” said, she returned to give Epstein another massage, and Maxwell lead her to the same room where further sexual contact with Epstein occurred. Afterwards, “Kate” said, Maxwell told her, “You’re such a good girl. … He really likes you.”
“Kate” traveled with Epstein and Maxwell occasionally over the next several years, she said, visiting them in Florida, New York and the Virgin Islands. Kate said she understood Maxwell’s role to be “to take care of Jeffrey’s needs” and noted that she seemed very involved in managing the properties and staff.
Maxwell’s attorney have sought through the case to distance her from Epstein, suggesting in their opening statements that Epstein hid his prurient activities from others, including Maxwell.
“Jeffrey Epstein manipulated the world around him and the people around him,” Maxwell attorney Bobbi Sternheim said last week. “He compartmentalized his life, showing only what he wanted to show to the people around him, including Ghislaine.”
During one visit to Epstein’s Palm Beach estate, “Kate” said she arrived at her guest room to find a “schoolgirl outfit” laid out on her bed. When she asked Maxwell why it was there, “Kate” said Maxwell told her she “thought it would be fun for you to take Jeffrey his tea in this outfit.”
Asked why she continued to spend time Epstein and Maxwell despite what she alleges was happening, “Kate” said she “wanted to maintain a relationship with Ghislaine.”
“I thought,” “Kate said, “she was going to be my friend.”
During cross examination by Sternheim, “Kate” acknowledged she was in contact with Epstein through 2012 — including emails before, during and after he was incarcerated in Palm Beach. And in one email correspondence in 2011, “Kate” was the one who initiated contact with Epstein to say she wanted to visit him in New York.
“Kate” said was not in contact with Maxwell during that same period.
During her testimony, “Kate” acknowledged that she had abused alcohol, cocaine and sleeping pills in her teens and young adulthood but she denied that substance abuse could have impacted her memories of Epstein and Maxwell.
“The memories I have of significant events in my life have never changed,” she said.
(NEW YORK) — In a report shared with the family of Emmett Till, the Justice Department said that it had concluded that the investigation into the 14-year-old’s murder and decided the case should be closed without a new federal prosecution.
While the department and the FBI called Till’s murder “one of the most horrific examples of the violence routinely inflicted upon Black residents,” in a letter to Till’s family, they said that the new investigation did not uncover new facts that differed from those found in the previous investigation.
Officials from the Department of Justice and the FBI, including Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke, met privately with Till’s family to share the findings of the report.
“Today is a day that we’ll never forget,” Rev. Wheeler Parker, Till’s cousin who was in the house the night Till was kidnapped, said at a press conference Monday.
“Officially, the Emmett Till case has been closed after 66 years,” Parker said. “For 66 years we have suffered pain for his loss, and I suffered tremendously because of the way that they painted him.”
Till, 14, was killed in 1955 while visiting family in Mississippi after he was accused of whistling at and making sexual advances toward a white woman, Carolyn Bryant. He was kidnapped, badly beaten and found in the Tallahatchie River several days later.
Carolyn Bryant’s husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother J.W. Milam were charged with Till’s murder and acquitted by an all-white jury. The two men later confessed to the killing in a paid magazine interview months later.
Till’s cousin Parker — who was 16 at the time — was in the house when Roy Bryant and Milam came looking for Till.
“I’m waiting to be shot, and I close my eyes,” Parker recalled in an interview with ABC News for an upcoming documentary series “Let the World See.” “I wasn’t shot, I opened my eyes and they’re passing by me. The guy said we’re looking for fat boy, the fat boy from Chicago.”
“They left with him, and that’s the last time we saw him alive,” he added.
Till’s murder came at a time of intense racial unrest and animosity. When his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, demanded an open casket at his funeral, it helped spark the civil rights movement.
The Justice Department opened an investigation into Till’s killing in 2004 but determined that there was no federal jurisdiction due to the statute of limitations. The investigation was originally closed in 2007 after a local grand jury declined to indict anyone on state charges.
It was reopened in 2018, following the publication of Timothy Tyson’s book “The Blood of Emmett Till,” in which Carolyn Bryant revealed she had not been telling the truth when she testified that Till had grabbed her and uttered obscenities. The Bryant family now deny that she had recanted her allegations.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
