(NIAGARA FALLS) — One woman was killed after the car she was in crashed into the waters on top of the American side of Niagara Falls Wednesday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The black sedan was roughly 75 to 100 yards from the brink of the falls Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation told ABC affiliate WKBW.
The Coast Guard said the unidentified female driver was pronounced dead at the scene after they sent a helicopter to airlift people from the vehicle.
It is not immediately known how the car crashed into the river or if there was anyone else in the vehicle.
(NEW YORK) — Several students in Michigan, including some in middle school, have been hit with criminal charges alleging they posted online threats to stage copycat attacks like the one eight days ago at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit that left four teenagers dead, authorities said.
“They are saying, ‘I’m going to bomb the school. I’m going to kill people,'” Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit told ABC affiliate station WXYZ in Detroit.
Of the students charged, one faces a count of possession of a weapon in a school, authorities said.
Savit said most of the students thought they were making anonymous threats online.
“Even if you believe you make it through an anonymous social media account, law enforcement has ways to track you down and find you and when that happens, you’re going to get charged,” Savit said.
Savit said his office has charged two students with making threats, both middle school students.
The Harper Woods Police Department in Wayne County announced the arrests of two students for making threats.
Waterford police in Oakland County told WXYZ they arrested an eighth-grader from Mason Middle School in Waterford after he posted a firearm on social media with the caption, “Bro mason your next I’m coming for you on Tuesday.”
Prosecutors in Macomb County said five students are also facing charges of making threats against schools and another five students are facing similar charges in Macomb County, according to WXYZ.
Meanwhile, Texas police are also investigating a high school student who allegedly made an online threat against his Houston area school.
The Klein Intermediate School District Police Department said it is working with the Harris County district attorney to bring criminal charges against the student.
David Kimberly, the school district’s police chief, said during a news conference on Wednesday that officials at Klein Cain High School received a string of threats of violence against the campus via social media on Monday and Tuesday.
In a letter to parents, Kimberly said his officers worked with the FBI to track down the student, who has since been expelled from the school.
The copycat threats follow the deadly Nov. 30 attack at Oxford High School that also left eight people wounded.
Ethan Crumbley, 15, a student at Oxford High School, was charged as an adult with two dozen crimes, including murder, attempted murder and terrorism, for the shooting rampage at the Oakland County school. Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, who allegedly provided their son with the gun used in the school shooting, were also arrested and charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and remain in jail on $500,000 bail each.
Ethan Crumbly and his parents have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
(NEW YORK) — Two families from Maine asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to expand taxpayer support for religious schools by requiring a state tuition assistance program to include sectarian as well as nonsectarian institutions.
The case, which has been closely watched by school choice advocates, could significantly expand religious liberties and clear the way for broader public support for religious education. Opponents say it risks unconstitutional entanglement of church and state.
During nearly two hours of oral arguments, the court’s conservative majority of justices appeared highly receptive to the families’ claims that Maine has discriminated on the basis of religion, in violation of the First Amendment, by disqualifying schools that “promote” a specific faith and teach subjects “through the lens of their faith.”
“Religious discrimination is religious discrimination,” said attorney Michael Bindas, representing the families. “Religious schools, after all, teach religion just as a soccer team plays soccer and a book club reads books. It’s only because of religion that they are excluded.”
Maine argues that its tuition-aid program is meant to subsidize a “rough equivalent of a public education” and its criteria are religiously neutral — discriminating not on the status or affiliation of the school but what it teaches.
“Maine has determined as a matter of public policy that public education be neutral,” said Maine deputy attorney general Christopher Taub. “[The families] are not being discriminated against.”
Since nearly half of Maine public school districts do not have their own schools, many either contract with other districts to provide education to residents or they provide tuition payments — roughly $11,000 a year — for “the approved private school of the parent’s choice at which a student is accepted.”
Of the roughly 180,000 school children in Maine, only about 5,000 attend private schools using state tuition aid. The plaintiff families want to send their children to Christian schools that overtly advocate religious beliefs and were excluded from the program.
The Supreme Court has said that states cannot use tax dollars to explicitly promote religion, nor can they target a religion or discriminate based solely on religious status. The gray area in between the two rules is where this case will be decided.
Chief Justice John Roberts suggested any state assessment of religious teaching in order to determine qualification for tuition aid would be inherently unconstitutional discrimination.
“We have said that that is the most basic violation of the — the First Amendment religion clauses, for the government to draw distinctions between religions based on their doctrine,” Roberts said.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the “neutral position” would be for the state to not consider religion at all in determining a school’s eligibility.
“Why isn’t it treating people neutrally to tell them you’re all equal citizens without respect to your religion, and so, too, all the schools that are accredited are equal without respect to their religion, whether you are secular, Catholic, Jewish, what have you, you’re all going to be treated equally?” he asked.
The court’s three liberal justices took a more critical approach, highlighting potential “strife” among citizens who oppose their tax dollars underwriting religious indoctrination and social values with which they may strongly disagree.
“The very point is they teach all subjects through the lens of religion,” noted Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Justice Elena Kagan insisted states should be allowed to make their own judgments on funding for religious schools based on local views.
“Why does the state have to exercise — have to subsidize the exercise of a right?” Kagan asked. “Essentially what Maine is saying here is like, all well and good if a locality or if a state wants to do this, but we weigh the interests differently, and shouldn’t we be allowed to weigh the interests differently.”
Bindas, arguing for the parents, insisted Maine’s approach is discrimination that cannot stand.
“This absolutely discriminates against parents. It says you can get an otherwise available public benefit you are statutorily entitled to so long as you don’t exercise a right that this Court recognized,” he said. “And this Court should not allow that to stand.”
The court is expected to hand down a decision next spring.
(NEW YORK) — In the speech she says she would have given had she won the 2016 presidential election, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would have challenged the country and spoken to her mother about becoming the first woman elected to the White House, according to excerpts of a video made public Wednesday.
“Fundamentally, this election challenged us to decide what it means to be an American in the 21st century and by reaching for a unity, decency, and what President Lincoln called the better angels of our nature,” Clinton said as she read from a draft of her speech, quoting a line from Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address.
“We met that challenge. Today with your children on your shoulders, neighbors at your side, friends, old and new standing as one, you renewed our democracy. And because of the honor you have given me, you changed its face forever.”
Clinton is sharing the speech she never gave in a new online class being released through MasterClass, a subscription service where experts, celebrities, and politicians share video classes teaching skills. Her class, which releases on Thursday, is part of the platform’s “The White House” series where other politicians, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, are giving political insights and lessons, according to MasterClass.
Excerpts of Hillary Clinton’s class and the speech were aired on NBC’s “Today” broadcast, in an interview with “Sunday Today” host Willie Geist, and online on Wednesday. Clinton told Geist that she chose to revisit the speech because “I wanted to be as helpful as I could to the viewers and to the process of being in a MasterClass.”
In the video released by MasterClass, Clinton became emotional reading a section of her speech about her mother, Dorothy Rodham, who passed away in 2011.
Dorothy Rodham overcame a challenging childhood. Her parents sent her away by train at age 8 to live with her grandparents, and Rodham was forced to find work as a maid at age 14.
Clinton, chocking up, said, “I think about my mother every day. Sometimes I think about her on that train… I wish I could walk down the aisle and find the little wooden seats where she sat holding tight to her even younger sister. Alone; terrified. She doesn’t yet know how much she will suffer. She doesn’t yet know she will find the strength to escape that suffering.”
“I dream of going up to her and sitting down next to her, taking her in my arms, and saying look at me. Listen to me. You will survive. You will have a good family of your own and three children. And as hard as it might be to imagine, your daughter will grow up and become the president of the United States,” Clinton read.
The excerpts of the drafted speech also included the vision Clinton said Americans had of “a hopeful, inclusive, big hearted America. An America where women are respected and immigrants are welcomed; where veterans are honored, parents are supported, and workers are paid fairly.
“An America where we believe in science, where we look beyond people’s disabilities and see their possibilities, where marriage is a right and discrimination is wrong… we all have a role to play in our great American story. And yes, that absolutely includes everyone who voted for other candidates or who didn’t vote at all.”
(HAWAII) — The Navy has shut down a second well following a water contamination that suspended operations at a facility in Hawaii.
The Hawaii Department of Health issued an an emergency order Monday to immediately halt operations at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Honolulu following reports of a water contamination.
About a week earlier, health officials and the Navy advised residents in Pearl Harbor to stop using tap water after dangerous levels of petroleum products were found in the water system at the Joint Base at Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Military housing residents reported a fuel-like odor coming from their tap water, ABC Honolulu affiliate KITV reported.
Navy officials confirmed to KITV that a second water well has been shut off amid the investigation into the contaminated water supply. Now that the Halawa and Red Hill wells have been turned off, the Navy is only pumping from the Waiawa shaft, according to the station.
Former commissioner on the Hawaii State Water Resource Management Commission Kamanamaikalani Beamer said during a virtual discussion with Hawaii’s congressional delegation Tuesday that the issue has been going on for “many years” and that during his time at the commission officials were questioning the Navy about the safety of the drinking water.
“There has never been a more serious and critical threat to the life-giving waters of Oahu than there is at this moment,” Beamer said.
The Navy is responsible for ensuring safe water for nearby residents and has been ordered by the state’s Department of Health to provide alternative drinking water to about 93,000 residents who may be affected.
The DOH also ordered the Navy to immediately install a drinking water treatment system at the Red Hill Shaft and submit a work plan to assess system integrity. Within 30 days of completing the correction action, the Navy must then defuel the underground storage tanks there.
The Navy plans to contest Gov. David Ige’s emergency order that shuttered operations at the fuel facility and is negotiating terms of a continuance with the Department of Health.
During Hawaii’s congressional delegation on Tuesday, Ige said he does not anticipate any delays to the investigative process, saying that finding the source of the contamination is of the utmost importance.
The health department will not declare whether the water is safe until no contamination has been detected over a period of time, Ige said.
ABC News’ Kiara Alfonseca contributed to this report.
(LONDON, U.K.) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing calls to resign over reports that members of his staff attended a Christmas party last year while the country was in lockdown.
The Daily Mirror newspaper reported that the party took place on Dec. 18, 2020, which would have been illegal under the coronavirus restrictions in place at the time. Johnson has denied the allegation.
In a video leaked to ITV News, the prime minister’s press secretary can be heard joking about a Christmas Party, four days after the party was alleged to have taken place.
In the video, the prime minister’s press secretary and other staff members can be seen holding a mock press conference, discussing how they would respond to allegations that Downing Street had held a Christmas party.
“It wasn’t a party, it was cheese and wine,” one person can be heard saying, prompting laughs across the room. The leaked video prompted fury from opposition lawmakers and residents alike.
Allegra Stratton, the staff member seen in the video, resigned from her post on Wednesday.
At a weekly scheduled parliamentary session on Wednesday, Johnson repeatedly denied that a party had taken place, but he did apologize for the leaked video, saying: “I was also furious to see that clip … I apologize unreservedly for the offense it has caused up and down the country.”
Johnson said he had ordered an internal investigation into the incident, but the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, has called for evidence to be handed over to the police, saying the prime minister had taken the British public for “fools.”
There will be many people asking the Prime Minister the same heartbreaking question as Trisha:
“Her Majesty the Queen sat alone when she marked the passing of the man she’d been married to for 73 years,” Starmer said. “Leadership, sacrifice – that’s what gives leaders the moral authority to lead. Does the prime minister think he has the moral authority to lead and to ask the British people to stick to the rules?”
Further fallout could be on the horizon, with one lawmaker asking the prime minister about another party that may have taken place on Nov. 13, which Johnson also denied. As of June 2021, a month before social distancing measures were fully relaxed in England, a total of 366 fines had been issued in England and Wales for large gatherings, according to the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
Critics of the prime minister say the video threatens to undermine public trust in the government, particularly at a time when new restrictions are set to be introduced to combat the spread of the omicron variant. One lawmaker, from Johnson’s own Conservative Party, went as far to suggest that the possible new restrictions, reported before the fiery exchange in Parliament, were a “diversionary tactic.”
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — House Progressives, led by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, said Wednesday they will introduce a resolution later in the day seeking to strip GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert of her two committee assignments in the wake of anti-Muslim remarks she made last month about Rep. Ilhan Omar.
The resolution, obtained by ABC News and first reported by The Washington Post, is co-sponsored by several House progressive members, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pramila Jayapal, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, and Jamaal Bowman.
Their goal: to force Democratic leadership’s hand in punishing Boebert for repeatedly making Islamophobic and racist comments about Omar, likening her to a suicide bomber.
“I haven’t heard anything binding from leadership, which in and of itself is an embarrassment,” Ocasio-Cortez told the news outlet The Hill on Tuesday night. “This shouldn’t take this long; this should not drag on. It’s pretty simple. It doesn’t have to be a big huge thing. It’s pretty open and closed.”
In a video posted to Twitter last month, Boebert referred to Omar as a member of the “Jihad Squad” and claimed that a Capitol Police officer thought she was a suicide bomber in an encounter in an elevator on Capitol Hill.
Boebert later apologized on Twitter “to anyone in the Muslim community I offended,” adding that she had reached out to Omar’s office to speak with her directly, but the phone call did not go well.
Omar is one of only three Muslim members in Congress. She said she has received “hundreds” of death threats often triggered by Republican attacks.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said Boebert’s comments about Omar are “dangerous” and “indecent” and there have been discussions among the caucus about taking decisive action against Boebert. Pelosi has said that there are “different views” among the caucus regarding the appropriate response.
Leaders had discussed a resolution that would condemn Islamophobia, but House liberals, including Omar herself, are not keen to the idea, saying a resolution doesn’t go far enough.
Democrats have also called on Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to condemn Boebert himself, but he has not done so.
“It’s the responsibility of Republicans to discipline their members,” Pelosi told reporters Wednesday when asked if she supported the new resolution from progressive members.
Pressley’s resolution would boot Boebert from her two spots on the House Committee on the Budget and the House Committee on Natural Resources. The resolution is not privileged, which means Democratic leadership does not have to put the measure on the floor for a vote.
“It is my expectation that Lauren Boebert is going to be held accountable,” House Democratic Caucus chairman Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Wednesday during a news conference.
“It would be a constructive thing if my friends on the other side of the aisle would handle their own business in terms of the out of control members. But we haven’t seen that level of accountability so far,” Jeffries said.
“At some point, I think the House as a whole is going to have to act,” he said, adding that “there is no hesitancy on our side” to take action against Boebert.
Late last month, the House voted to censure GOP Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona over a video he tweeted depicting violence against Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden. He was also removed from his committee assignments.
Earlier this year, House Democrats also voted to remove GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments over what they said were her violent social media posts aimed at Democrats.
But there are concerns among members and staff about creating a messy precedent that would force Democrats to punish any member for making racist or false statements.
It’s unclear if Pelosi will be moved to act given the public outcry and pressure campaign from members. ABC News has reached out to her office for comment.
“For a Member of Congress to repeatedly use hateful, anti-Muslim rhetoric and Islamophobic tropes towards a Muslim colleague is dangerous. It has no place in our society and it diminishes the honor of the institution we serve in,” Pressley said in a statement.
“Without meaningful accountability for that Member’s actions, we risk normalizing this behavior and endangering the lives of our Muslim colleagues, Muslim staffers and every Muslim who calls America home. The House must unequivocally condemn this incendiary rhetoric and immediately pass this resolution. How we respond in moments like these will have lasting impacts, and history will remember us for it,” she said.
Muslim congressional staffers sent a letter this week urging Pelosi to take action against Boebert. The staffers said in a signed letter that they do not feel welcome or safe working on Capitol Hill knowing there are Islamophobic members in Congress who will go unpunished when they make harmful statements.
The letter, obtained by ABC News, was signed by the “Muslim staff of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate” who said that they decided not to include their last names to “avoid potential additional harm.”
It’s unclear how many staffers signed on to the letter.
“Witnessing unchecked harassment of one of only three Muslim Members of Congress – and the only visibly Muslim Member – we feel that our workplace is not safe nor welcome. We must now come to work every day knowing that the same Members and staff who perpetuate Islamophobic tropes and insinuate that we are terrorists, also walk by us in the halls of Congress,” the letter stated.
“Congress must categorically reject this incendiary rhetoric that endangers the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of Muslim staff across both sides of the aisle,” the staffers wrote.
(NEW YORK) — Just as hope rose that this year’s holiday season would inch back to pre-pandemic normalcy, the omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 entered the picture , raising questions for many people.
Cases of the omicron variant have been confirmed in more than a dozen states across the country.
It comes as, for the first time in two months, the United States is now averaging more than 100,000 new cases per day, according to federal data.
Here are four things to know to help plan ahead for holiday gatherings and travel.
1. Vaccines are the best protection against omicron.
While researchers are still learning more about the omicron variant, it appears so far that being vaccinated helps protect people from getting severely sick, according to Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
“My sense is you’ve gotten two shots or been previously infected [with COVID-19], you’ll probably end up having a much milder course,” he said. “[With] a booster, you’ll do even better.”
“If you have nothing, no vaccine, not previously infected, I’m not sure it will be a milder disease for you,” he said.
Similarly, a study released Wednesday by Pfizer-BioNTech found that being vaccinated with a booster furthers one’s protection against omicron.
The study, which was not peer-reviewed, found that omicron likely reduces efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine but does not render it ineffective and that a third dose offers even greater protection against the new variant.
2. Travel remains ‘pretty safe’ if vaccinated.
For people hoping to travel to see loved ones this holiday season, they should be sure to get vaccinated first, according to Jha.
“For most Americans, if you’re fully vaccinated, especially if you’re boosted, I think travel is pretty reasonable, pretty safe,” he said. “Obviously wear good masks on the airplane, all of the things that we say, but it’s still a pretty safe thing to do.”
3. COVID-19 testing should be used ahead of holiday gatherings.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday 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.
President Joe Biden announced a new plan last week for a winter coronavirus strategy that includes making at-home rapid tests free.
4. If you don’t know vaccination status at a gathering, wear a mask.
In cases of a small holiday gathering where you know everyone attending is fully vaccinated, it is safe to not wear a mask while celebrating indoors, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical adviser.
But if you are at a gathering where you do not know the vaccination statues of everyone attending, Fauci recommends protecting yourself and others by wearing a face mask.
“When you are in a public congregate setting in which you do not know the status of the vaccination of the people involved, it is very prudent to wear a mask, and that’s what I do,” he said at a Dec. 1 White House press briefing. “Sure, when you’re eating and when you’re drinking, take the mask down, but to the extent possible, keep it on when you’re in an indoor congregate setting.”
(UKRAINE) — President Joe Biden gave his first comments Wednesday on his video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he was “very straightforward” with the Russian leader, that “there were no minced words,” and if Putin decides to invade Ukraine, he will face consequences “like nothing he’s ever seen.”
“I was very straightforward. There were no minced words. It was polite, but I made it very clear: if in fact, he invades Ukraine, there’ll be severe consequences. Severe consequences. Economic consequences, like nothing he’s ever seen, or ever have been seen, in terms of being imposed,” Biden told reporters, after first dodging the question.
The comments come one day after a two-hour video call on Tuesday in which Biden warned Putin that the U.S. “would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation,” the White House said, as Russia builds up its forces on its border with Ukraine.
Asked about the possibility of U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine, Biden it’s “not on the table,” but a few moments later he said it would also depend on “what the rest of the NATO countries were willing to do.”
“The idea of the United States is going to unilaterally use force to confront Russia invading Ukraine is not in the cards right now,” he said.
The president said he “made it clear” to Putin that the U.S. would “provide the defensive capability” to Ukraine and “reinforce our presence in NATO countries.”
Biden also said he expects that by Friday the U.S. and “at least four” NATO allies and Russia will be able to announce high-level meetings to discuss Russian concerns “relative to NATO writ large” and work out a deal “as it relates to bringing down the temperature along the Eastern Front.”
“The positive news is that thus far, our teams have been in constant contact,” he said. “We hope by Friday, we’re gonna be able to say., I’ll announce to you that we’re having meetings at a higher level, not just with us, but with at least four of our major NATO allies, and Russia to discuss the future of Russia’s concerns relative to NATO writ large, and whether or not we can work out any accommodations as it relates to bringing down the temperature along the Eastern Front.”
And before walking away, Biden said “I am absolutely confident he [Putin] got the message.”
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, will face lawmakers Wednesday for a hearing about the potential harms of social media use for young people.
The Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security will convene the hearing at 2:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, and it will mark the first time Mosseri has testified before Congress.
“After bombshell reports about Instagram’s toxic impacts, we want to hear straight from the company’s leadership why it uses powerful algorithms that push poisonous content to children, driving them down rabbit holes to dark places, and what it will do to make its platform safer,” subcommittee Chair Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in a statement.
“I appreciate Mr. Mosseri voluntarily coming to the subcommittee and hope that he will support specific legislative reforms and solutions, particularly in its immensely potent algorithms,” Blumenthal added. “My conversations with parents have deeply moved me to fight for such reforms and demand answers that the whole nation is seeking.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), ranking member of the subcommittee, added, “Instagram’s repeated failures to protect children’s privacy have already been exposed before the U.S. Senate.”
“Now, it is time for action,” Blackburn said. “I look forward to discussing tangible solutions to improve safety and data security for our children and grandchildren.”
The hearing comes amid mounting controversies for Instagram and its parent company, Meta, after a whistleblower alleged blatant disregard from company executives over the potential harms of the social media platform for young users. Documents leaked to the Wall Street Journal earlier this year by whistleblower Frances Haugen cited the company’s own internal research that reportedly said Instagram made body image worse for one in three teenage girls.
On Tuesday, just ahead of the hearing, Mosseri announced a slew of updates to Instagram that aim to protect teens and young users on the app. Among them is the “Take a Break” feature — which encourages young users to take a break from Instagram if they have spent a long time scrolling — and a hub of tools for parents and guardians set to roll out early next year.
In late September, Instagram announced plans to pause development of its “Instagram Kids” platform meant for children under the age of 13 in the wake of the Wall Street Journal investigation.
“While we stand by the need to develop this experience, we’ve decided to pause this project,” Mosseri said in a statement at the time. “This will give us time to work with parents, experts, policymakers and regulators to listen to their concerns and to demonstrate the value and importance of this project for younger teens online today.”
Wednesday’s hearing is the fifth in a series led by Blackburn and Blumenthal specifically related to social media companies and the potential dangers children face online. The hearing will be live-streamed on the Senate commerce committee’s website.
