(NEW YORK) — Reproductive rights are taking center stage in California’s recall election, in a bid to nationalize the stakes of next week’s special election.
Last week, Texas passed the strictest anti-abortion legislation in the nation, effectively nulling Roe v. Wade. The law blocks abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. It also empowers whistleblowers to report and sue anyone aiding an abortion, including doctors and Uber drivers who may have no knowledge of the situation.
Much of the discourse from candidates over the course of this campaign cycle has focused on COVID-19, homelessness and climate change. Though Republican challengers have offered dramatically different approaches to handling these crises, their responses haven’t energized voters as much as Democrats had hoped.
Now, following Texas’ abortion ban, Democrats are turning their focus to the issue, sending a stark warning to voters: California could be next if Gov. Gavin Newsom loses.
“The fight that’s going on nationally, has come to California,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Zohreen Shah during a campaign stop with Newsom. “That’s why this is the moment to vote no on the recall.”
Newsom added, “Imagine the judges a Republican governor will appoint. Imagine the ability to use the line item veto to cut expansions of reproductive rights and health care for women. Imagine a governor from the state of California joining Republican governors on amicus brief supporting overturning Roe v. Wade or using the bully pulpit nationally to advance that cause I think it could be profoundly consequential.”
A reality check on California politics might prove otherwise, though. California has some of the strongest abortion protections in the nation, so if Newsom were to be recalled, his successor would face a variety of obstacles trying to enact a major consequential anti-abortion legislation. Notably, the legislation would have to go up against a heavy Democratic majority in the state legislature and the governor would only have until the end of the term in 2022 to do it.
However, that has not stopped some Republican candidates from taking stances about stripping funding from health services that provide abortions and trying to overturn Roe v. Wade.
During an appearance on CNN’s New Day this week, former Olympian and TV personality Caitlyn Jenner said she supports Texas’ decision because she believes states should have the ability to make their own laws — but she still thinks women should have the right to choose whether or not to give birth.
As it relates to California, Jenner said, “I don’t see any changes in our laws in California in the future.”
Others, aware of California’s political landscape, are calling out Newsom’s alleged strategy of using the issue of abortion to vilify his Republican opponents.
“It’s not that big of an issue in California because California, you know, has constitutional protection,” businessman John Cox told ABC News. “So the politicians are using it. Mr. Newsom is using it to scare people right now.”
Some Republicans, like former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, have complicated Newsom’s alleged efforts to try to paint his Republican challengers as anti-abortion. Faulconer told ABC News, “I’ve been pro-choice … I’ve always been and I will continue to be that way.”
While the effectiveness of Newsom’s strategy will play out at the ballot box on Sept. 14, one thing is for certain: The fight for access to reproductive rights is far from over. Each party appears determined to use the controversial issue to energize their base as the 2022 midterms quickly approach.
(NEW YORK) — Just 49% of Americans see the United States as safer from terrorism than it was before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, down from 64% a decade ago, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll.
Forty-one percent instead say the United States has become less safe since 9/11, reflecting both renewed partisan divisions and the tumultuous withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.
A vast 86% in this poll, produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates, also say the events of Sept. 11 had a lasting effect on the United States. But underscoring the public’s sour mood on this issue, 46%, a new high, say it’s been a change for the worse. That easily exceeds the 33% who see a change for the better, half as many as said so in spring 2002.
See PDF for full results, charts, and tables.
Shifts
Views of the country’s security from terrorism have shifted sharply across the years, given both international developments and partisan U.S. politics. Confidence peaked in 2003 and 2004, fell steeply in 2005 after the London transit bombings, held especially high among Republicans during the Bush administration, plummeted among Republicans two years later under the Obama administration, then rose sharply across groups after the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011.
Ten years later, the latest decline may reflect multiple factors, including pessimism after the fall of Afghanistan and Republican-led dissatisfaction with the Biden administration.
Specifically, compared with 2011, the sense that the country is safer from terrorism now than it was before 9/11 is down 28 percentage points among Republicans, to 41%, compared with a slight 9-point decrease among Democrats, to 57%. It’s down 12 points among independents, to 52%.
The see-saws have been dramatic:
These patterns are mirrored in terms of political ideology, with 59% of moderates and 55% of liberals currently seeing improved safety, versus just 39% of conservatives.
Just 16% of Americans overall say the country is “much” safer from terrorism, again near all-time lows. An additional 33% of Americans call it safer, but just somewhat so. Those who see the country as less safe divide evenly, 21% somewhat less safe, 20% much less. There’s another partisan split here, with 36% of Republicans saying the country is much less safe from terrorism than before 9/11, versus 15% of independents and 11% of Democrats.
Another result shows that 9/11 isn’t unique in its perceived impact. About as many Americans, 82%, say the coronavirus pandemic will change the country in a lasting way as say this about 9/11. And, also similar to current views on 9/11, 50% call it a change for the worse.
Partisan differences narrow when considering the lasting effects of the 9/11 attacks. Thirty-one to 36% of Republicans, Democrats and independents alike say the country has changed for the better, while 43% to 49% say it’s changed for the worse.
But these gaps widen by ideology, with liberals most likely to say the country has changed for the worse, 59%, versus 44% of moderates and 45% of conservatives.
Beyond partisan and ideological differences, 57% of older Americans say the country is less safe from terrorism post 9/11, versus 37% of those younger than 65. Men are more likely than women to say the country has changed for the worse, 53% versus 40%, as are college graduates compared with those without a degree, 55% to 41%.
Methodology
This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 2021, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 1,006 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 percentage points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 30-24-36%, Democrats-Republicans-independents.
The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates with sampling and data collection by Abt Associates of Rockville, Maryland. See details on the survey’s methodology here.
(NEW YORK) — When plus-sized supermodel Tess Holliday opened up this spring about her struggle with anorexia, she also spoke about the backlash she received, saying, “I understand that people look at me and I don’t fit what we have seen presented as the diagnosis for anorexia.”
“I’ve had a lot of messages from folks that are anorexic that are livid and angry because they feel like I’m lying,” Holliday also said.
The negative comments slung Holliday’s way hit close to home for Susie Sebastian, 30, who says she too does not fit the typical stereotype of anorexia.
“The reactions kind of proved my biggest fear in advocating for myself and for the eating disorder community,” Sebastian, of Parkville, Maryland, told Good Morning America. “A big fear I have is that if I speak out about [my eating disorder], people will think this is not real.”
Sebastian’s reaction was also one that rang true for Aja Pryor, 29, of Florence, New Jersey.
“I’ve had the same experience every single time where I was just kind of looked at like there’s really nothing wrong with you because you don’t fit the type for having an eating disorder,” said Pryor. “Because I’m not skinny I’m deemed as atypical, and that’s actually made it harder to recover.”
“It’s made it actually extremely hard to recover, and my story is not uncommon,” she said.
Many of them are medically overweight, or fat as society would call them, yet their weight loss is encouraged, even as it’s caused by the eating disorder.
While less than 6% of people with eating disorders are medically diagnosed as “underweight,” those people are twice as likely to be diagnosed with an eating disorder than people in larger bodies, according to NADA.
Pryor said she started showing signs of an eating disorder at age 12, but did not receive treatment for it for years because of her size.
When she did finally enter an inpatient treatment center, after losing weight and suffering medically because of it, Pryor said she was congratulated on her weight loss.
“Before you go into residential treatment, you have to get medical work done, and the doctor that I saw congratulated me on my weight loss,” she said, adding that at other points in her life when she also lost weight and suffered symptoms like hair loss and low blood pressure, people, including doctors, would tell her, “You’ve lost so much weight. I’m so proud of you.”
Pryor said the cultural stereotypes around eating disorders have even affected the way she thought about herself and her own recovery.
Describing her reaction when she was told she would need residential treatment, Pryor said, “I was shocked because in my mind, I was still over a certain number of pounds. I thought I’m still in a larger body, I’m not skinny by any means, so it just was weird to me.”
Pryor and Sebastian both said they are speaking out now at a time when they know many more people are struggling with eating disorders, the most common of which are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought on a mental health crisis in the U.S., of which eating disorders are a major part.
Throughout the pandemic, the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) has seen a spike of more than 70% in the number of calls and online chat inquiries to its hotline compared to the same time period last year.
The Emily Program, a national network of eating disorder treatment centers, has seen inquiries both online and by phone “fly off the charts” during the pandemic, Jillian Lampert, Ph.D., Emily Program’s chief strategy officer, told GMA earlier this year.
Throughout the pandemic, eating disorders have remained second only to opioid overdose as the deadliest mental illness, with eating disorders responsible for one death every 52 minutes in the U.S., according to data shared by the NADA.
Sebastian said she has had to work hard to overcome the stigma of being overweight and not being able to focus on losing weight because she has an eating disorder.
“Still to this day, I have to remind myself, ‘You were diagnosed with an eating disorder,'” she said. “I know for me mentally that intentional weight loss is not a healthy goal for me, so it is definitely a hard balance to strike.”
Research shows that not only do people who are in larger bodies have eating disorders at high rates, they also suffer similar medical consequences as people who are considered underweight.
Their study also found that patients with atypical anorexia nervosa may carry a heavier psychological burden than those who are underweight, with researchers attributed to “heightened preoccupations with food avoidance and more negative feelings about body shape and weight.”
Anorexia nervosa’s seriousness as a mental disorder shatters another common misconception about eating disorders that they are a lifestyle choice. The misconception is one that is particularly damaging to people who are in larger bodies.
“Society teaches us that if you’re not skinny, you’re bad and you need to lose weight,” said Pryor. “I go through periods still where I don’t think I qualify for an eating disorder just because of the way that I look.”
People who are struggling should be looked at through the lens of their symptoms, and not their body size, according to Samantha DeCaro, PsyD, director of clinical outreach and education at The Renfrew Center, an organization of residential and outpatient eating disorder treatment programs across the country.
“We do a lot of work trying to educate the public but also providers that you cannot look at someone and know what kind of eating disorder they have and you cannot look at someone and know the severity of the eating disorder,” she said. “For people in larger bodies, the eating disorder can get minimized and it can get missed entirely.”
Behaviors to look for in people with eating disorders include isolating, feeling depressed and anxious, eating alone, avoiding events where there is food, avoiding entire food groups, talking excessively about food, calories and weight, exercising even when tired or injured, using the bathroom after every meal or spending excessive time in the bathroom and weighing multiple times a day, according to DeCaro.
In addition to weight loss, physical symptoms for eating disorders can include thinning hair and swollen glands in the face, explained DeCaro.
“There are so many people who have the ability to catch an eating disorder — school counselors, teachers, parents, caregivers, doctors, nurses, dentists, therapists and dietitians,” she said. “We need to focus on the signs and symptoms of eating disorders outside of size and appearance.”
The misdiagnoses and stigma that can accompany people with eating disorders can lead them to not seek medical help, which can delay critical treatment, according to DeCaro.
“People can recover at any stage of an eating disorder and any age, but the longer an eating disorder goes on, the more difficult it can be to treat,” she said. “There are many folks in larger bodies who are just avoiding seeking out medical and mental health treatment because of the fear they will continue to be prescribed that treatment plan.”
If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or NationalEatingDisorders.org.
(RICHMOND, Va.) — A giant statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was removed in Richmond, Virginia, Wednesday, more than a year after the order from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.
The 12-ton, six-story monument on Monument Avenue, erected in the state capital in 1890, was deconstructed nearly one week after the Supreme Court of Virginia cleared the way for the removal following several legal battles.
Northam ordered the removal of the state-owned statue in June 2020, amid nationwide protests against symbols of racism and oppression that erupted following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis while in police custody.
“This is an important step in showing who we are and what we value as a Commonwealth,” Northam said in a statement.
Last week, the Supreme Court of Virginia denied or dissolved injunctive relief sought in two lawsuits challenging the statue’s removal — one filed by a descendant of the former owners of the land where the monument stands, the other by several owners and a trustee of property in the area’s historic district — allowing the state to move forward with its plans.
The removal is “extremely complex,” the state’s Department of General Services said, requiring “coordination with multiple entities to ensure the safety of everyone involved.” The removal process began Tuesday evening with crews installing protective fencing on the streets near the monument.
On Thursday, crews will remove plaques from the base of the monument. The 40-foot granite pedestal will remain for now, with its future still to be determined, the state said.
The statue itself will be held “in secure storage at a state-owned facility until a decision is made as to its disposition,” the state said.
This is the sixth and final Confederate statue to be removed from Monument Avenue.
“We are taking an important step this week to embrace the righteous cause and put the ‘Lost Cause’ behind us,” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said in a statement. “Richmond is no longer the capital of the Confederacy. We are a diverse, open and welcoming city, and our symbols need to reflect this reality.”
Last year, the busts of Lee and eight other Confederate leaders were removed from the Old House Chamber in the Virginia State Capitol building in Richmond. The Fairfax County School Board has also changed the name of the Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield to the John R. Lewis High School, in honor of the late Georgia congressman and civil rights leader.
A great-great-great-nephew of Lee has previously said that taking down Confederate symbols in public spaces is a “no brainer.”
“I see them as idolatries,” Rev. Robert Lee IV told ABC News last year. “They have been created into idols of white supremacy and racism.”
Over 160 Confederate symbols were renamed or removed from public spaces in 2020, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
(PARIS) — France’s long-awaited “trial of the century” began Wednesday in Paris as more than a dozen people tied to the November 2015 terror attacks — the deadliest in the country since World War II — face a panel of judges.
In a matter of hours, nine suicide bombers committed a series of attacks across Paris that killed 130 people and wounded over 400 more. The simultaneous attacks outside the Stade de France during a soccer match, on a number of Parisian cafés and restaurants and inside the Bataclan concert hall during a packed performance were later claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL. At the Bataclan alone, 90 people were killed by terrorists with machine guns after being taken hostage.
Six years after the terror attacks of Nov. 13, 2015, the landmark trial opened Wednesday and will last about nine months. With 1,800 plaintiffs and 330 lawyers, the trial is taking place in front of a specially composed panel of professional judges, instead of a jury of peers.
A historic event and a logistical challenge for the Paris courts, the trial is extraordinary in more ways than one.
For the occasion, the French government spent $9 million on a courtroom specially built in the former courthouse of Paris. The work was completed this summer, making it the largest criminal courtroom ever built in France, able to accommodate up to 550 people.
“All parties wanted the attacks that took place in the heart of Paris to be judged in a unique place, in the heart of Paris,” the French Ministry of Justice said in a statement.
Twenty defendants are being tried, including 14 who will appear before the court. Salah Abdeslam, the only one directly involved in the planning who’s still alive, is among those who will be tried. Of the nine terrorists involved in the attack itself, seven of those died during the attacks and another two were killed in a police raid five days later.
Six defendants will be tried in absentia, including five ISIS officials presumed dead in the Iraqi-Syrian zone.
The witness list is up to par with this historic moment, with a number of high-profile witnesses set to testify, including former French President Francois Hollande — who was inside the stadium when three suicide bombers blew themselves up outside — and a number of his ministers, and the former Paris prosecutor, Francois Molins. Several convicted terrorists will testify via videoconference.
Footage of the trial itself won’t be available for years, as hearings will be filmed only for posterity by the courts themselves. Like the trials of the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher attacks, which took place in January 2015, the archival video will become available to the public and the media when a final judgment has been made and the full course of justice has taken place.
Unlike in the United States, trials are not usually filmed. This is the 13th trial filmed in France since 1985, when the method was authorized by law for historic trials.
The defendants face sentences ranging from six years in prison to life imprisonment. The main defendant, Abdeslam, is appearing for organized murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise and could be sentenced to the life imprisonment. This is also the case for 10 of the other defendants who are on trial for complicity in the murders. France does not have the death penalty.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 650,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 62.3% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Sep 08, 6:02 am
US surpasses 40 million cases and 650,000 deaths
The United States has recorded more than 40 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 650,000 deaths from the disease since the start of the pandemic, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. surpassed the grim milestones on Tuesday, as the highly contagious delta variant continued to spread across the nation. The U.S. has reported more COVID-19 cases and deaths than any other country in the world.
Sep 07, 9:56 pm
Pediatric cases reach highest point of pandemic
The U.S. reported 251,781 COVID-19 cases among kids during the week ending Sept. 2 — the highest week of pediatric cases since the pandemic began, according to the weekly report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
After declining in the early summer, new cases among kids are rising “exponentially,” the organizations wrote, with the weekly figure now standing nearly 300 times higher than it was in June, when just 8,400 pediatric cases were reported over the span of one week.
Last week children represented 26.8% of all reported COVID-19 cases. Regionally, the South had the highest number pediatric cases, accounting for approximately 140,000 of last week’s cases.
The rate of pediatric hospital admissions per 100,000 people is also at one of its highest points of the pandemic, up by 600% since the 4th of July, according to federal data.
Severe illness due to COVID-19 remains “uncommon” among children, the two organizations wrote in the report. According to the nearly two dozen states which reported pediatric hospitalizations, 0.1%-1.9% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization. Similarly, in states which reported virus-related deaths by age, 0.00%-0.03% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death.
However, the AAP and CHA warned 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.”
About 37.7% of children ages 12 to 15 and 46.4% of adolescents ages 16 to 17 have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Sep 07, 9:50 pm
About 1 in every 500 Americans has died from COVID
The country’s daily death average continues to surge, now standing at more than 1,100 deaths reported a day. This marks the nation’s highest average in nearly six months.
On Tuesday, the death toll crossed 650,000 Americans lost to the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, meaning that 1 in every 504 Americans has died from the virus.
The U.S. COVID death toll is now more than 218 times higher than the number of lives lost during the U.S. attacks on Sept. 11. It is also rapidly approaching the total number of American deaths that were recorded during the 1918 influenza pandemic.
Prior to the Labor Day holiday, the U.S. daily case average stood around 150,000 cases a day. About a year ago, around Labor Day, the country was averaging about 38,000 new cases a day.
Sep 07, 6:36 pm
Tucson pauses vaccine mandate for city employees following AG legal threat
Tucson, Arizona, officials announced a pause on the city’s policy to require its public employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine after Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich called it illegal and threatened to cut funding if the city went through with the plan.
Tuscon City Manager Michael Ortega said in a statement the city council is evaluating the mandate’s legal position.
“Until we have a better understanding of our legal position in relation to today’s report, I have instructed staff to pause on the implementation of the policy,” he said.
Brnovich said Tuscon’s rule violated Gov. Doug Ducey’s July executive order that banned any state or local office from requiring their staff get a vaccine against the coronavirus or any vaccine that has only received an emergency order.
“COVID-19 vaccinations should be a choice, not a government mandate,” he said in a statement.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said in a statement that the attorney general was “prioritizing his political ambitions over his responsibility to objectively interpret the law.”
As of Tuesday, over 606,000 residents in Pima County, Arizona, the county that includes Tucson, have had one COVID-19 shot, according to the Pima County Health Department. That represents roughly 56.7% of the county’s 1.07 million population, according to the U.S. Census numbers.
The county has recorded more than 4,000 new cases since Aug. 5, according to health department data.
Sep 07, 5:57 pm
Idaho hospital officials plead with public to get vaccinated as they run out of beds
Idaho hospital officials are pleading for the public to get vaccinated and take COVID-19 warnings seriously after the state declared a crisis in its standards of care.
Kootenai Health, a northern Idaho hospital, currently has 113 patients with COVID-19, an increase from the 90 patients they had last week, officials said. Administrators had to set up 22 beds in a conference room to deal with the influx of patients.
Dr. Robert Scoggins the chief of staff at Kootenai Health, said the hospital was not built for a pandemic this size. Currently, 39 patients are in the intensive care units and 19 are on ventilators, all on high levels of oxygen, he said.
The hospital said it could see as many as 140 patients in the coming weeks.
“The message that I’d like to send out to people is that we’re near the limit that we can handle in this facility,” Scoggins said in a news conference. “We’ve done a lot of things to expand our care to take care of more patients, but it keeps growing. If we had everyone in the community vaccinated, we would not be in this position.”
-ABC News’ Flor Tolentino and Nicholas Kerr
Sep 07, 4:00 pm
Louisiana hospital reports significant decline in number of patients
In hard-hit Louisiana, the Ochsner Health System is seeing a significant decline in COVID-19 patients, now down to 530 — dropping by nearly 250 patients in the last week, hospital CEO and president Warner Thomas said.
But in the wake of deadly Hurricane Ida, releasing patients from hospitals has been difficult, as some patients have no homes to return to, he said.
Sep 07, 3:30 pm
Oregon hospitals ‘scrambling’ with cases, hospitalizations ‘hovering at or near pandemic highs’
Hospitals in Oregon are “scrambling” to stay afloat with cases and hospitalizations “hovering at or near pandemic highs,” the state epidemiologist, Dean Sidelinger, said at COVID-19 briefing Tuesday.
Oregon saw 16,252 new cases in its most recent weekly report – which is 13 times higher than the reported cases for the week ending July 4, Sidelinger said.
Hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions are “alarmingly high” and hospitals are at a “saturation point” where they aren’t “able to provide care to everyone arriving at their door,” Sidelinger warned.
Sep 07, 3:08 pm
Former NBA player on 10th day in ICU
Former Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers player Cedric Ceballos, 52, tweeted that he’s on his 10th day in the ICU battling COVID-19.
On my 10th day in ICU, COVID-19 is officially kicking my but, I am asking ALL family, friends , prayer warriors healers for your prayers and well wish for my recovery.
If I have done and anything to you in the past , allow me to publicly apologize.
My fight is not done…..
Thx pic.twitter.com/r9QZBpfmEI
Military medical personnel head to Idaho, Arkansas, Alabama
About 60 military medical personnel are heading in three, 20-person teams to Arkansas, Alabama and Idaho to help treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients following a request from FEMA, the U.S. Army North said.
The personnel, including doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists, were sent to hospitals in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Ozark, Alabama; and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Six teams had previously been dispatched to six other hospitals: three in Louisiana, two in Mississippi and one in Dothan, Alabama.
Sep 07, 1:43 pm
Crisis Standards of Care enacted as ‘last resort’ at 10 Idaho hospital systems
A Crisis Standards of Care plan has been enacted at 10 hospital systems in Idaho, which is only done as a “last resort,” Dave Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said in a statement Tuesday.
The hospitals were chosen due to their “severe” shortages in beds and staffing as a result of a “massive increase” in COVID-19 hospitalizations, state officials said.
Crisis Standards of Care “means we have exhausted our resources to the point that our healthcare systems are unable to provide the treatment and care we expect,” Jeppesen said. “This is a decision I was fervently hoping to avoid.”
“When crisis standards of care are in effect, people who need medical care may experience care that is different from what they expect,” state officials said. “For example, patients admitted to the hospital may find that hospital beds are not available or are in repurposed rooms (such as a conference room) or that needed equipment is not available.”
Sep 07, 12:37 pm
75% of American adults have had at least 1 vaccine dose
Seventy-five percent of U.S. adults have now had at least one vaccine dose, Cyrus Shahpar, the White House’s COVID-19 data director, tweeted Tuesday.
Sunday-Tuesday just in: +1.51M doses reported administered over Saturday’s total, including 681K newly vaccinated and 105K additional doses. As usual, lower reporting over the holiday weekend. Just hit 75% of adults with at least one dose!
Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
Sep 07, 10:36 am
Biden to layout administration’s strategy to combat delta
President Joe Biden on Thursday will deliver remarks on his plan to stop the spread of the delta variant and to boost vaccinations, the White House confirmed Tuesday.
Biden “will lay out a six-pronged strategy … working across the public and private sectors,” a White House official said.
On Friday, while addressing August’s disappointing jobs report, Biden said, “there’s no question the delta variant is why today’s jobs report isn’t stronger. … Next week, I’ll lay out the next steps that are going to — we’re going to need to combat the delta variant, to address some of those fears and concerns.”
Part of the strategy Biden referenced Friday is to ask states and local governments to consider using federal funding to extend unemployment benefits in hard-hit areas.
“I want to talk about how we’ll further protect our schools, our businesses, our economy, and our families from the threat of delta,” Biden said Friday. “As we continue to fight the delta variant, the American Rescue Plan we passed continues to support families, businesses and communities. Even as some of the benefits that were provided are set to expire next week, states have the option to extend those benefits and the federal resources from the Rescue Plan to do so.”
Sep 07, 7:05 am
3rd person dies in Japan after receiving contaminated Moderna vaccine
A third person has died in Japan after receiving a dose from one of three batches of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine that have since been recalled due to contamination, according to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The 49-year-old man died on Aug. 12, one day after getting his second shot of the two-dose vaccine. His only known health issue was an allergy to buckwheat, the Japanese health ministry said in a statement Monday.
Two other men, aged 30 and 38, also died in August within days of getting their second Moderna shot. In all three cases, the men received doses from a batch manufactured in the same production line as another lot from which some unused vials were reported to contain foreign substances at multiple inoculation sites in Japan.
The deaths remain under investigation, and the Japanese health ministry said it has yet to establish any casual relationship with the vaccine.
The contaminated lot and two adjacent batches were suspended from use by the Japanese health ministry last month, pending an investigation. Moderna and its Japanese distribution partner Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. ultimately recalled the three lots, containing about 1.63 million doses, after an investigation confirmed the foreign matter to be high-grade stainless steel from manufacturing equipment.
The Japanese health ministry said that, based on the companies’ analysis, it is unlikely the stainless steel contaminants pose any additional health risk.
Moderna and Takeda have yet to release statements on the third fatality, but the companies have previously said there is currently no evidence that the other two deaths were caused by the vaccine.
(GUANTANAMO BAY) — After over 560 days of delay, the drawn-out pretrial proceedings of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other detainees accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11 attacks got underway again on Tuesday. But it took only a matter of hours for the hearing to run into yet another speed bump.
Mohammed, the alleged architect of the terror plot, along with Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ammar al-Baluchi and Mustafa al Hawsawi, filed into the courtroom of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base’s “Camp Justice,” which hosts the military commissions, for the first time since the pandemic sidelined the military court.
Seated with their defense teams, the men talked amongst each other and appeared engaged in their cases. Mohammed, known in recent years for his vibrantly colored facial hair, sported a bright orange beard along with thick black glasses. Some of the other defendants wore paramilitary attire.
Each detainee spoke out only once during the hearing, affirming that they understood their rights. Mohammed answered “yes,” speaking in English. Bin al-Shibh also responded in English, while the other three men communicated through translators.
While Mohammed has a reputation for courtroom outbursts, in a twist, it was the judge who became the central focus of the day’s hearing.
As part of his debut on the bench in the proceedings, Col. Matthew McCall — who was named to preside over the case last month — conducted a review of his qualifications, opening himself up for questions from the prosecution and the defense.
One of Mohammed’s attorneys, Gary Sowards, latched on to McCall’s circuitous route to his appointment. McCall was initially selected to oversee the trial last year, but withdrew after prosecutors objected, citing his lack of experience. He was reinstated after completing two years as a military judge, meeting the minimum requirement for the war court.
Sowards questioned McCall on whether the prosecution’s complaints had resulted in undue influence over the judiciary, resulting in his temporary removal from the case. The defense argued that this allowed for another judge to step in and — after a prolonged legal fight — authorize the destruction of a CIA black site, a secret international prison where terror suspects were subjected to “enhanced interrogation tactics” like waterboarding, which many human rights organizations consider to be torture.
During the questioning, McCall remained level, describing the situation as legally ambiguous in his estimation, but went along with the withdrawal to avoid complicating an already very complicated case.
“Why create an appellate issue? There are other judges who could do this case,” he said.
But moments later, the prosecution interrupted, informing the bench of a newly issued Military Commission Review on the exact topic of discussion. It determined that McCall could preside, but that all of the decisions he made before clocking two years of experience would be undone — leaving only the ruling on the destruction of the black site in place.
McCall dismissed the court several hours ahead of schedule to allow both sides to regroup and strategize.
But James Connell, a civilian death penalty attorney representing al-Baluchi, needed little time to process the information.
“One of the most important issues in the case is how the torture of these men is going to ultimately affect the trial and trials mean evidence,” Connell told reporters on the base. “The intentional destruction of evidence takes away from the defense and really the American people, information about what actually happened.”
Connell said the defense plans to appeal the order, but lamented yet another delay in a trial that’s dragged on for nearly a decade.
“This order is one more example of why this process takes so long, because each issue has to be separately litigated,” he continued. “Things come up in this military commission that never come up anywhere else. Where else in the world does the Pentagon issue an order telling a judge how to decide a case? It just doesn’t happen anywhere else except here at Guantanamo.”
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 649,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 62% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Sep 07, 5:57 pm
Idaho hospital officials plead with public to get vaccinated as they run out of beds
Idaho hospital officials are pleading for the public to get vaccinated and take COVID-19 warnings seriously after the state declared a crisis in its standards of care.
Kootenai Health, a northern Idaho hospital, currently has 113 patients with COVID-19, an increase from the 90 patients they had last week, officials said. Administrators had to set up 22 beds in a conference room to deal with the influx of patients.
Dr. Robert Scoggins the chief of staff at Kootenai Health, said the hospital was not built for a pandemic this size. Currently, 39 patients are in the intensive care units and 19 are on ventilators, all on high levels of oxygen, he said.
The hospital said it could see as many as 140 patients in the coming weeks.
“The message that I’d like to send out to people is that we’re near the limit that we can handle in this facility,” Scoggins said in a news conference. “We’ve done a lot of things to expand our care to take care of more patients, but it keeps growing. If we had everyone in the community vaccinated, we would not be in this position.”
-ABC News’ Flor Tolentino and Nicholas Kerr
Sep 07, 4:00 pm
Louisiana hospital reports significant decline in number of patients
In hard-hit Louisiana, the Ochsner Health System is seeing a significant decline in COVID-19 patients, now down to 530 — dropping by nearly 250 patients in the last week, hospital CEO and president Warner Thomas said.
But in the wake of deadly Hurricane Ida, releasing patients from hospitals has been difficult, as some patients have no homes to return to, he said.
Sep 07, 3:30 pm
Oregon hospitals ‘scrambling’ with cases, hospitalizations ‘hovering at or near pandemic highs’
Hospitals in Oregon are “scrambling” to stay afloat with cases and hospitalizations “hovering at or near pandemic highs,” the state epidemiologist, Dean Sidelinger, said at COVID-19 briefing Tuesday.
Oregon saw 16,252 new cases in its most recent weekly report – which is 13 times higher than the reported cases for the week ending July 4, Sidelinger said.
Hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions are “alarmingly high” and hospitals are at a “saturation point” where they aren’t “able to provide care to everyone arriving at their door,” Sidelinger warned.
Sep 07, 3:08 pm
Former NBA player on 10th day in ICU
Former Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers player Cedric Ceballos, 52, tweeted that he’s on his 10th day in the ICU battling COVID-19.
On my 10th day in ICU, COVID-19 is officially kicking my but, I am asking ALL family, friends , prayer warriors healers for your prayers and well wish for my recovery.
If I have done and anything to you in the past , allow me to publicly apologize.
My fight is not done…..
Thx pic.twitter.com/r9QZBpfmEI
Military medical personnel head to Idaho, Arkansas, Alabama
About 60 military medical personnel are heading in three, 20-person teams to Arkansas, Alabama and Idaho to help treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients following a request from FEMA, the U.S. Army North said.
The personnel, including doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists, were sent to hospitals in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Ozark, Alabama; and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Six teams had previously been dispatched to six other hospitals: three in Louisiana, two in Mississippi and one in Dothan, Alabama.
Sep 07, 1:43 pm
Crisis Standards of Care enacted as ‘last resort’ at 10 Idaho hospital systems
A Crisis Standards of Care plan has been enacted at 10 hospital systems in Idaho, which is only done as a “last resort,” Dave Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said in a statement Tuesday.
The hospitals were chosen due to their “severe” shortages in beds and staffing as a result of a “massive increase” in COVID-19 hospitalizations, state officials said.
Crisis Standards of Care “means we have exhausted our resources to the point that our healthcare systems are unable to provide the treatment and care we expect,” Jeppesen said. “This is a decision I was fervently hoping to avoid.”
“When crisis standards of care are in effect, people who need medical care may experience care that is different from what they expect,” state officials said. “For example, patients admitted to the hospital may find that hospital beds are not available or are in repurposed rooms (such as a conference room) or that needed equipment is not available.”
Sep 07, 12:37 pm
75% of American adults have had at least 1 vaccine dose
Seventy-five percent of U.S. adults have now had at least one vaccine dose, Cyrus Shahpar, the White House’s COVID-19 data director, tweeted Tuesday.
Sunday-Tuesday just in: +1.51M doses reported administered over Saturday’s total, including 681K newly vaccinated and 105K additional doses. As usual, lower reporting over the holiday weekend. Just hit 75% of adults with at least one dose!
Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
Sep 07, 10:36 am
Biden to layout administration’s strategy to combat delta
President Joe Biden on Thursday will deliver remarks on his plan to stop the spread of the delta variant and to boost vaccinations, the White House confirmed Tuesday.
Biden “will lay out a six-pronged strategy … working across the public and private sectors,” a White House official said.
On Friday, while addressing August’s disappointing jobs report, Biden said, “there’s no question the delta variant is why today’s jobs report isn’t stronger. … Next week, I’ll lay out the next steps that are going to — we’re going to need to combat the delta variant, to address some of those fears and concerns.”
Part of the strategy Biden referenced Friday is to ask states and local governments to consider using federal funding to extend unemployment benefits in hard-hit areas.
“I want to talk about how we’ll further protect our schools, our businesses, our economy, and our families from the threat of delta,” Biden said Friday. “As we continue to fight the delta variant, the American Rescue Plan we passed continues to support families, businesses and communities. Even as some of the benefits that were provided are set to expire next week, states have the option to extend those benefits and the federal resources from the Rescue Plan to do so.”
Sep 07, 7:05 am
3rd person dies in Japan after receiving contaminated Moderna vaccine
A third person has died in Japan after receiving a dose from one of three batches of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine that have since been recalled due to contamination, according to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The 49-year-old man died on Aug. 12, one day after getting his second shot of the two-dose vaccine. His only known health issue was an allergy to buckwheat, the Japanese health ministry said in a statement Monday.
Two other men, aged 30 and 38, also died in August within days of getting their second Moderna shot. In all three cases, the men received doses from a batch manufactured in the same production line as another lot from which some unused vials were reported to contain foreign substances at multiple inoculation sites in Japan.
The deaths remain under investigation, and the Japanese health ministry said it has yet to establish any casual relationship with the vaccine.
The contaminated lot and two adjacent batches were suspended from use by the Japanese health ministry last month, pending an investigation. Moderna and its Japanese distribution partner Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. ultimately recalled the three lots, containing about 1.63 million doses, after an investigation confirmed the foreign matter to be high-grade stainless steel from manufacturing equipment.
The Japanese health ministry said that, based on the companies’ analysis, it is unlikely the stainless steel contaminants pose any additional health risk.
Moderna and Takeda have yet to release statements on the third fatality, but the companies have previously said there is currently no evidence that the other two deaths were caused by the vaccine.
(PORTLAND, Ore.) — Local lawmakers in Portland, Oregon, are set to vote on an “emergency resolution” on Wednesday to ban the city’s procurement of goods and services from the state of Texas in the wake of its restrictive new abortion law.
The resolution, which will be voted on by the Portland City Council, also seeks to ban city employee business travel to Texas.
“The ban will be in effect until the state of Texas withdraws its unconstitutional ban on abortion or until it is overturned in court,” a statement from Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office said of the resolution.
“City legal counsel is currently evaluating the legal aspects of this proposed resolution,” the statement added. “The Portland City Council stands unified in its belief that all people should have the right to choose if and when they carry a pregnancy and that the decisions they make are complex, difficult and unique to their circumstances.”
Texas’ new abortion law, which went into effect last Wednesday, bans physicians from providing abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected (including embryonic cardiac activity). This can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. While the law prohibits the state from enforcing the ban, it instead authorizes private citizens to bring civil suits against anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion — which can even include a driver taking someone to a clinic.
The Portland City Council added that it stands in solidarity with people who may face “difficult decisions about pregnancy” and affirmed that it respects their rights to make the best decision for themselves.
Finally, the members called on others in office to take similar action.
“We urge other leaders and elected bodies around the nation to join us in condemning the actions of the Texas state government,” the group stated.
A spokesman for the city council declined ABC News’ request for further comment Tuesday on how they will seek to enforce the resolution.
The move comes as public pressure mounts on both the government and the private sector over the Texas abortion law.
Ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft both said last week that they would cover the legal fees if its drivers were sued under the new law while driving for the platforms.
Dating app Bumble, which is headquartered in Austin, announced last week on Twitter that it was setting up a “relief fund” to support those seeking abortions in Texas.
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — With the U.S. military and diplomatic withdrawal now complete after 20 years in Afghanistan, the Taliban has taken over the country, including the Kabul airport, the site of an often-desperate evacuation effort the past two weeks.
But even as the last American troops were flown out to meet President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline, other Americans who wanted to flee the country were left behind and the Biden administration is now focused on a “diplomatic mission” to help them leave.
When President Joe Biden sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House on Aug. 18, he said he was committed to keeping the U.S. military in Afghanistan as long as needed. “If there are American citizens left, we’re going to stay until we get them all out,” he said.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Sep 07, 6:16 pm
Taliban leaders release 1st official statement
In its first official statement since announcing a new caretaker government, the Taliban said their previous 20 years of “struggle and Jihad” had two major goals: to end foreign occupation and aggression and to establish “a complete, independent, stable, and central Islamic system in the country.”
“Based on this principle, in the future, all matters of governance and life in Afghanistan will be regulated by the laws of the Holy Sharia,” according to the statement.
The statement said the Taliban wants strong and healthy relations with all other countries and “We are committed to all international laws and treaties, resolutions and commitments that are not in conflict with Islamic law and the country’s national values. We also call on the countries of the world to value building strong and cordial political, diplomatic and good relations with us and to also cooperate with us.”
“The Islamic Emirate will take serious and effective steps towards protecting human rights, the rights of minorities as well as the rights of the underprivileged groups within the framework of the demands of the sacred relation of Islam,” the statement continued.
Despite suggestions the new regime would be more inclusive, the Taliban appointed no women to any of the interim positions, and even disbanded Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
The statement went on to say that media is an important element of the country and the Taliban said it “will work for the freedom, functioning and improvement of the media quality. We consider it our duty to take into account the sacred precepts of Islam, the national interests of the country and impartiality in our broadcasts.”
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Sep 07, 12:19 pm
Biden admin pushes back on reports Taliban blocking US citizens from leaving
The Biden administration has pushed back on reports that the Taliban is stopping American citizens with proper documentation from flying out of Mazar-e-Sharif, a northern city where chartered planes have sat on the tarmac for a week.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Qatar, confirmed for the first time on Tuesday that there are “a small number of Americans” in Mazar-e-Sharif trying to depart, but he told reporters it was his “understanding that the Taliban has not denied access to anyone holding a valid document … but because all of these people are grouped together, that’s meant that flights had not been allowed to go.”
In other words, in his view, the Taliban is blocking the larger group, and the Americans were unfortunately stopped because they’re alongside others who don’t have valid documents.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki, was also asked about Americans stuck in Mazar-e-Sharif on Tuesday and whether the administration views it as a “hostage situation.”
“No, that is not what we would characterize it as,” she told reporters on Air Force One.
“Our secretary of state is in Qatar right now working on a range of options, including getting flights up and operational and going. And what we have seen is that individuals who have documentation are able to depart,” Psaki added.
Sep 07, 11:47 am
Taliban announce new caretaker government
The Taliban have announced a new caretaker government for Afghanistan on Tuesday, naming Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who is on the United Nations sanctions list and described as “one of the most effective Taliban commanders,” as the interim prime minister, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar as deputy prime minister.
The militant group appointed former Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp detainee Mullah Abdul Haq Waseeq as Afghan Intelligence Chief. The new government also includes two Haqqani leaders with $5 million in U.S. bounties on their heads as ministers.
Along with several other ministers, none of which was a woman, the Taliban announced the disbandment of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs from its new caretaker government.
Sep 07, 4:55 am
Around 100 Americans remain in Afghanistan, Blinken says
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Tuesday that “somewhere around 100” Americans remain in Afghanistan.
“We believe the number of those who have American citizenship — many of them dual nationals — who remain in Afghanistan is somewhere around 100,” Blinken said during a press conference in Qatar’s capital. “We’re in direct contact with virtually all of them.”
“For weeks now, we’ve been working very closely with Qatar, with Turkey to see to it that the Kabul airport could get up and running again to civilian air travel as soon as possible,” he continued. “We’re also working to facilitate overland passage for those who wish to depart when it comes to charters.”
Blinken admitted it’s a challenge without personnel on the ground in Afghanistan but one that “we’re determined to work through.”
“Many thousands of U.S. citizens or permanent residents or at-risk Afghans, who successfully evacuated and relocated from Kabul, have left aboard charter flights. Now, others are working to arrange more such flights,” he said. “We are working around-the-clock with NGOs, with members of congress and advocacy groups, providing any and all information and doing all we can to clear any roadblocks that they’ve identified to make sure that charter flights carrying Americans or others to whom we have a special responsibility can depart Afghanistan safely.”
U.S. officials have been engaging with the Taliban on departing flights, according to Blinken.
“They said that they will let people with travel documents freely depart,” he noted. “We will hold them to that, so will dozens of countries. The international community is watching to see if the Taliban will live up to their commitments.”
“It’s my understanding that the Taliban has not denied access to anyone holding a valid document, but they have said that those without valid documents at this point can’t leave,” he added. “Because all of these people are grouped together, that’s meant that flights had not been allowed to go. We’ve been able to identify a small number of Americans who we believe are seeking to depart from Mazar-e-Sharif with their families.”
Sep 06, 3:07 pm
4 US citizens evacuated over land border
The State Department has facilitated the evacuation of four U.S. citizens across one of Afghanistan’s land borders — the first Americans to leave the country with U.S. government help since President Joe Biden ended the massive, chaotic evacuation efforts that closed the country’s longest war.
Four Americans made their way across land with Taliban knowledge, according to a senior State Department official, who told ABC News they evacuated without Taliban interference.
The official declined to say which country they arrived in but added they were in “good condition” and met by U.S. embassy staff from the local embassy.
While the State Department helped these four evacuate, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said Sunday there were approximately 100 U.S. citizens still trying to escape the country, nearly a week after the last U.S. forces departed.
Among those left behind, there are several Americans in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif ready to board charter flights out that are being blocked by the Taliban, according to several sources. The Taliban has not give permission to the airlines, leaving the potential passengers stuck in the city now for days.
A State Department spokesperson told ABC News Sunday that they could not confirm the manifests of these flights because there were no U.S. personnel or assets in Afghanistan anymore, but added, “We will hold the Taliban to its pledge to let people freely depart Afghanistan.”
Sep 06, 4:53 am
Taliban claims victory over Panjshir, last pocket of resistance
The Taliban claimed victory Monday over Afghan opposition forces in Panjshir province, the last pocket of resistance in Afghanistan and the only province that the Taliban had not seized last month.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement saying Panjshir was under full control of Taliban fighters.
“We tried our best to solve the problem through negotiations, and they rejected talks and then we had to send our forces to fight,” Mujahid later told a press conference in Kabul on Monday.
The Taliban posted photos and videos on social media apparently showing fighters standing at the gate of the Panjshir provincial governor’s office and raising the group’s flag in the provincial capital.
A spokesperson for the resistance group, the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), took to Twitter to deny that Panjshir had fallen.
“Taliban’s claim of occupying Panjshir is false,” the spokesperson tweeted. “The NRF forces are present in all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight. We assure the ppl of Afghanistan that the struggle against the Taliban & their partners will continue until justice & freedom prevails.”
Sep 05, 6:31 pm
Some US citizens unable to fly out of Afghanistan due to Taliban interference
The Taliban is blocking efforts to get U.S. citizens out of Afghanistan on flights, according to a non-governmental organization arranging travel for some passengers.
Marina LeGree, the CEO of Ascend, told ABC News that the Taliban has prevented 600 people from leaving Mazar-e-Sharif by charter plane for six days.
The NGO is helping 100 of those passengers, none of whom are American, to try to fly out. LeGree said she is aware of 19 U.S. citizens who are trying to leave but Ascend is not overseeing their departure.
“Ascend, an organization dedicated to empowering young women through athletics, has members trying to leave Afghanistan,” LeGree told ABC News in a statement Sunday. “We call on the Taliban to honor their commitments and allow these charters to depart immediately.”
The affected passengers are either staying at the airport or at nearby hotels, according to LeGree.
The U.S. Department of State did not confirm whether there are Americans on those flights, but said it “will hold the Taliban to its pledge to let people freely depart Afghanistan.”
