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Moderna says its COVID booster increases antibody levels against omicron variant

December 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Moderna announced Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine booster increases antibody levels against the omicron variant within a month of getting the shot.

In a lab study, the company gave 20 fully vaccinated participants a 50-microgram booster — the current dose authorized by the Food and Drug Administration — and another 20 received a higher dose of 100 micrograms. After 29 days, the volunteers gave blood samples, which were analyzed.

Results showed people who received the 50-microgram booster saw their levels of neutralizing antibodies increase by 37-fold compared to pre-boost levels, while those given a 100-microgram booster saw their antibody levels rise 83-fold.

Side effects after the booster doses were similar to those seen after the initial two doses, but the 100-microgram booster was slightly more likely to cause adverse reactions than the 50-microgram dose, the company said.

The results come as the omicron variant continues to spread around the world and shows an ability to — at least partially — evade the protection offered by vaccines.

In a statement on Monday, Moderna’s CEO, Stéphane Bancel, said the findings are “reassuring.”

“The dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases from the omicron variant is concerning to all. However, these data showing that the currently authorized Moderna COVID-19 booster can boost neutralizing antibody levels 37-fold higher than pre-boost levels are reassuring,” he said.

“To respond to this highly transmissible variant, Moderna will continue to rapidly advance an omicron-specific booster candidate into clinical testing in case it becomes necessary in the future,” he continued.

A spokesperson for the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company told ABC News it will be up to federal regulators to decide whether to authorize the 100-microgram dose of Moderna’s booster or keep it at the currently-used 50-microgram dose.

Because participants were only followed up for one month after getting the booster, it’s unclear if antibody levels remain high or if the increase quickly wanes.

Additionally, the tests were conducted in a lab and are not indicative of how well the booster, at either dose, stops the spread of omicron or reduces the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death in people who get breakthrough infections in real-world settings.

Moderna said that, given how quickly the variant is spreading around the globe, the company will focus its “near-term efforts” on delivering as many doses of its authorized booster shot as possible.

The firm is also currently working on developing a booster specifically designed to combat the omicron variant, with clinical trials expected to begin early next year.

“Moderna is going to continue to evaluate an omicron-specific booster in early 2022, given the concerning immune escape features demonstrated by this variant of concern, as part of a more midterm strategy to address the ongoing pandemic,” the company’s president, Stephen Hoge, said on a conference call on Monday morning.

Earlier this month, health officials, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, had suggested that developing an omicron-specific booster is not necessary.

However, Hoge said he believes it is “prudent” that Moderna’s scientists continue their work on creating a variant-specific booster due to fears that omicron could mutate even further.

Kim Potter trial updates: Jury begins deliberations

December 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The trial of former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter charged in the death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man who was fatally shot during a traffic stop, continues with Potter taking the stand to testify in her own defense.

Potter, 49, is charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11 incident. She has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

The maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is 15 years and a $30,000 fine and for second-degree manslaughter, it’s 10 years and a $20,000 fine.

Wright’s death reignited protests against racism and police brutality across the U.S., as the killing took place just outside of Minneapolis, where the trial of Derek Chauvin, a former officer who was convicted of murdering George Floyd, was taking place.

Latest headlines:
-Closing arguments begin
-‘I didn’t want to hurt anybody,’ Potter testifies
-Prosecution questions Kim Potter on training
-Potter describes fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright
-Kim Potter takes the stand
-New body-cam footage shows Potter moments after shooting Wright
-Brooklyn Center police officer contradicts defense statement
-Daunte Wright’s mother recalls final phone call with son
-Prosecution hammers Potter’s training

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Dec 20, 2:04 pm
Jury deliberations begin

Judge Regina Chu has read the instructions to the jury and they will now deliberate on the charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter against former Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter.

Included in the instructions are reminders of unconscious bias: “We all have feelings, assumptions, perceptions, fears, and stereotypes about others,” Chu read to the jury. “Some biases we are aware of and others we might not be fully aware of, which is why they are called ‘implicit’ or ‘unconscious biases.'”

“The law demands that you make a fair decision, based solely on the evidence, your individual evaluations of that evidence, your reason and common sense, and these instructions,” Chu read from the instructions.

Dec 20, 1:47 pm
Prosecution, defense spar on Sgt. Mychal Johnson’s testimony

In closing arguments, the defense said that Kim Potter was within her rights to use deadly force against Daunte Wright because he could have hurt another police officer with his car.

The defense claims Wright could have driven off, dragging Sgt. Mychal Johnson.

“What would have happened to Johnson? The worst would be death if he took off like he did — like a jet,” defense attorney Earl Gray said.

“[Potter] said she saw Johnson, that she saw him and he had a look on his face she’d never seen,” Gray added. “That was right before she said ‘Taser, Taser.'”

The prosecution argues there is no evidence that shows Potter was using force for Johnson’s protection or that Johnson was afraid for his life.

“Johnson was clearly not afraid of being dragged,” said prosecutor Matthew Frank. He never said he was scared. He didn’t say it then. And he didn’t testify to it in court.”

Prosecutors said Johnson wasn’t halfway into the car at the time of the shooting, and that he was “all the way over to the passenger side securing Mr. Wright’s right arm.”

Prosecutors also pointed to Potter’s reaction after the shooting, when she sobbed on the ground and said she would be going to jail in the body camera footage.

“When Sergeant Johnson said ‘he was trying to drive away with me in the car,’ which isn’t even true, but he offered that to her and she didn’t even bite on it,” Frank told jurors. “She was so caught up in recognition of the wrongfulness of her own conduct.”

Dec 20, 12:57 pm
Defense tells jury that state has the burden of proof

Defense attorney Earl Gray told the jury to remember that “your constitutional duty is to presume Kim Potter innocent. And before you can find her guilty, you must find each and every element of the charges is proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

It is on the prosecution to prove Potter is guilty. It is not the responsibility of the defense to prove her not guilty, according to Gray and prosecutor Erin Eldridge. Gray argued throughout the trial that it was within Potter’s right to use deadly force against a fleeing subject.

“The state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant’s use of deadly force was not authorized by law,” Gray said. “You must presume that she had a right authorized use of deadly force, that she had a right to do it.”

“This is the most important affair in the client’s life,” Gray said.

Dec 20, 12:49 pm
Defense argues that Wright caused his death

Defense attorney Earl Gray said that Daunte Wright, who was fatally shot during a traffic stop, caused his own death. Officers tried to arrest Wright, but he attempted to get back in his car to flee, police said.

“Wright realizes there’s a warrant for his arrest, and he knows what he knows,” Gray argued. “So within seconds, he all of a sudden breaks away. That’s the cause, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. That’s what caused this whole incident.”

Wright was being arrested for an outstanding warrant on a gross misdemeanor weapons charge, according to authorities.

“Daunte Wright caused his death,” Gray said during closing arguments Monday. “Everything the officers did, they did to try and restrain him try and stop him from leaving.”

Three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery appear in federal court for pretrial hearing

December 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery appeared in federal court on Monday for a pretrial hearing. They will be tried on federal charges of hate crimes and attempted kidnapping early next year.

Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was shot and killed while jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood of Brunswick, Georgia, in February 2020.

The men, Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael, and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, were convicted by a Georgia jury on Nov. 24 for killing Arbery.

Travis McMichael, who shot fatally shot Arbery, was convicted on all nine charges, including malice murder and four counts of felony murder. Gregory McMichael was found not guilty of malice murder but was convicted on the remaining charges, including the felony murder counts. Bryan was found guilty of three of the felony murder counts and a charge of criminal intent to commit a felony.

The McMichaels and Bryan are set to be sentenced on Jan. 7 and face a minimum of life in prison. A judge will decide whether or not the men will have the possibility of parole.

In April, the three men were also indicted on federal charges. The McMichaels were charged with separate counts of using firearms during a crime of violence. All three men have pleaded not guilty to all of the federal charges.

The federal trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 7, 2022.

ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.

East Coast may get a warm Christmas, California braces for flooding

December 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Along the East Coast, residents are waking up to the coldest morning of the winter so far.

The wind chill — or what temperature it feels like — plunged to 16 degrees in New York City, 7 in Boston, 17 in Philadelphia and 24 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The Northeast will stay cold through Tuesday morning, with temperatures 5 to 10 degrees below normal, before the region warms up for the rest of the week.

Some models predict Christmas Day temperatures reaching 52 degrees in Chicago, 60 in Washington, D.C., and 51 in New York City.

Meanwhile, the West Coast is bracing for a series of storms. Up to 10 feet of snow is expected in the Sierra Nevada mountains while flooding will threaten a large swath of California, from the Bay Area to Los Angeles.

The heavy rain is expected Tuesday through Thursday, which could cause flash flooding, mudslides and debris flow, especially in the wildfire burn scar areas.

By Christmas Day, the Sierra Nevada mountains will have 5 to 10 feet of fresh snow.

Mom reunited with daughters, newborn for Christmas after 100 days hospitalized with COVID-19

December 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(CHICAGO) — When Autumn Carver was in her darkest days fighting off complications from COVID-19, which she contracted while pregnant with her third child, she said she still had hope she would make it home to see her kids and husband.

Now, the 35-year-old is savoring every moment of being home with her family after being discharged from the hospital in time for Christmas.

“We have a lot to be thankful for, for Christmas and celebrating the birth of Jesus and us being together,” she told Good Morning America. “It’s not so much about the presents and all that jazz, we’ll just be happy to be able to be all together for Christmas.”

Carver, of Indiana, was hospitalized in August with COVID-19 and gave birth on Aug. 27 in an emergency C-section while 33 weeks pregnant.

Her son, Huxley, was born healthy, but Carver would not meet him for the first nearly two months of his life.

Shortly after giving birth, Carver was placed on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, machine, which removes carbon dioxide from the blood and sends back blood with oxygen to the body, allowing the heart and lungs time to rest and heal.

She spent around two months on the machine, and was only taken off of it in late October, when she was also finally able to meet her son for the first time.

“That day was precious,” she said, recalling the day she met Huxley.

Several weeks later, on Dec. 1, Carver left Northwestern Medicine in Chicago and returned home for the first time in 100 days.

It was the first time she was able to see her older daughters, ages 5 and 4, since being hospitalized, and it was the first time ever the Carvers were together as a family of five.

“It’s been awesome, better than expected,” said Carver, adding that her daughters were “shocked” to have her home. “The kiddos are still young enough that they’re resilient, but it’s taking them some time still to adjust,” she said.

Carver’s husband, Zach, spent nearly all the past 100 days of her hospitalization by her side while both sets of grandparents took care of their three children.

“Having my whole family under one roof for the first time was, I don’t have words to put on that,” he said. “Happy and joyful, they don’t compare to what I really feel. We’re just all so happy to be together, especially right before Christmas.”

The Carvers said they are especially grateful for every day that Autumn Carver is at home because of all the near-death moments she faced during her battle with COVID-19.

Carver’s husband said he was told multiple times over the 100-day journey that his wife may not make it. Just weeks ago, the couple said they were preparing for Carver to undergo a lung transplant.

“We would just pray together and use that to stay motivated,” said Carver. “We would look forward and we were just taking one day at a time.”

When Carver was discharged on Dec. 1, she was able to walk out of the hospital on her own and did not need oxygen support.

“I think using the word ‘miraculous’ is a very appropriate word,” said Dr. Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern Medicine, who treated Carver. “She’s not going to get her lung function back to where it was before COVID hit her, but she’ll be able to lead a normal life.”

Carver’s lung capacity is currently at 40% due to the damage done by COVID, according to Bharat.

“Even though her recovery has been miraculous, she’s still 40% and that’s significant,” he said. “It’s a reminder that this virus can affect anybody, whether you’re young or healthy, and you cannot take this lightly.”

Carver had no preexisting conditions and was doing CrossFit workouts right up until she started feeling COVID-19 symptoms. She said she hopes to be strong enough to workout again at some point, but her focus is getting strong again for herself and her family.

“We just totally have a renewed outlook on life,” said Carver. “As much as nobody wants to get up in the middle of the night [with kids], it’s easier for us to just count it as a blessing.”

Speaking of how it’s changed them as parents, she added, “We just take the time and sit down and do whatever they want us to do because we missed that so much for so long.”

Carver said her experience has also changed how she lives her own life daily, noting that she gives more hugs to the people she loves and tells them she loves them.

“I tell our girls every morning to be kind and to make somebody smile,” she said. “Our world could use a lot more kindness and forgiveness and joy.”

COVID-19 updates: Moderna says booster increases omicron neutralizing antibodies

December 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 806,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 61.4% 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 20, 5:15 am
Moderna says booster increases omicron neutralizing antibodies

Moderna on Monday said its current vaccine booster increased neutralizing antibodies against omicron within a month of getting the shot.

“The dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases from the Omicron variant is concerning to all. However, these data showing that the currently authorized Moderna COVID-19 booster can boost neutralizing antibody levels 37-fold higher than pre-boost levels are reassuring,” Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna, told ABC News. “To respond to this highly transmissible variant, Moderna will continue to rapidly advance an Omicron-specific booster candidate into clinical testing in case it becomes necessary in the future. We will also continue to generate and share data across our booster strategies with public health authorities to help them make evidence-based decisions on the best vaccination strategies against SARS-CoV-2.”

Moderna’s current booster approved by the Food and Drug Administration is a 50-microgram dose. A 100-microgram dose would increase neutralizing antibodies by 83 times, the company said on Monday.

COVID-19 live updates: Dr. Jha on omicron surge, his prediction for next year

December 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

About 61.4% 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 20, 9:16 am
Dr. Jha on omicron surge, holiday travel, his prediction for next year

The omicron surge is so dangerous due to a combination of higher transmissibility and the variant’s ability to make vaccinated people mildly sick from the disease, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said on “Good Morning America” Monday.

While there are still a lot of unknowns about omicron’s severity, Jha said cases with this latest variant’s surge are “doubling in numbers about every two to three days.”

“That’s unlike anything we’ve seen,” he said.

Jha said, “I do think lots of people are going to get [omicron].”

“It’s an incredibly contagious variant. I think people should understand that the goal cannot be to avoid infection at all cost — that’s an unrealistic goal,” he said. “The goal should be: prevent deaths and severe illness, which vaccines will do, [and] keep our hospitals from getting crushed, which again, vaccinations and testing can help with. This is very contagious. Lots of Americans will end up getting it. Let’s just make sure that they don’t get very sick from it. “

For people traveling over the holidays, Jha said airplanes are pretty safe, but he recommended wearing a high-quality mask because airports don’t always have great ventilation.

Looking forward, Jha said, “I think we’re going to be in much better shape next year.”

Dec 20, 5:15 am
Moderna says booster increases omicron neutralizing antibodies

Moderna on Monday said its current vaccine booster increased neutralizing antibodies against omicron within a month of getting the shot.

Moderna’s current booster approved by the Food and Drug Administration is a 50-microgram dose. A 100-microgram dose would increase neutralizing antibodies by 83 times, the company said on Monday.

Jury to begin deliberations in Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes’ trial

December 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(SAN JOSE, Calif.) — A jury of eight men and four women will begin to deliberate on Monday in the criminal fraud case against fallen Silicon Valley CEO Elizabeth Holmes.

The jurors will be tasked with weighing the 11 fraud charges leveled against Holmes following weeks of witness testimony from insiders who worked at the blood-testing startup, and patients and investors who prosecutors say were defrauded by the Theranos founder once lauded as the next Steve Jobs.

Holmes, 37, is charged with nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She could face decades in prison if convicted.

Holmes’ fate was handed to the jury on Friday, after defense attorneys concluded their closing arguments and prosecutors wrapped up their rebuttal.

In the last minutes of his closing remarks, Holmes’ lawyer, Kevin Downey, doubled down on his team’s central defense: that their client did not intend to defraud the alleged victims — something prosecutors must show to secure a conviction.

Even as the company was thrust into turmoil, Downey said, Holmes stayed on as the company’s leader and never cashed out a single share of her Theranos stock, once worth billions.

“You know that at the first sign of trouble, crooks cash out, criminals cover up, and rats leave a fleeing ship,” he said, his voice rising to a crescendo. “She didn’t do any of those.”

“She stayed the whole time and she went down with that ship when it went down,” he added. “You don’t need more from me to know what her intent was.”

But in his rebuttal argument, prosecutor John Bostic reframed Holmes’ propensity for hard work and company success as a motive for the alleged crimes.

“The defense holds that out as a reason to doubt Ms. Holmes’ intent to defraud in this case,” he said. “But in fact that was her motive.”

“She committed these crimes because she was desperate for the company to succeed,” he added.

Theranos was the brainchild of Holmes, who dropped out of Stanford University at the age of 19 to pour herself into building a diagnostics company which she vowed would revolutionize health care. And just a few years later, when she was 26, prosecutors contend, she knowingly made false statements to investors and others to get money.

The “rosy” picture of her startup, which promised its technology could run a full range of blood tests from a tiny sample, among other claims, was never real, Bostic said.

“It never existed,” he told the jury at the top of his rebuttal, adding that this version of Theranos did exist in the minds of the investors and patients who believed Holmes.

But Downey said that some of the allegedly false statements Holmes made about her company to investors arose from information she obtained from her Theranos team.

Her perception of the number of tests that could be run by her marquee miniature analyzer — which she dubbed the “Edison” or “miniLab” — was provided by scientists and engineers, according to Downey, and the hefty financial projections Theranos had shared with investors were prepared by Holmes’ ex-boyfriend and company COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani.

It was also not until the fall of 2015 that she began to hear about the issues that beset her lab, and would be later uncovered in a federal audit, he added.

But in their two days of closing arguments, the defense did not utter a word about the bombshell abuse allegations Holmes had brought against Balwani during her seven-day stint on the stand — claims that Balwani has firmly denied.

The government, on the other hand, offered the jury a framework to judge Holmes’ accusations against her former boyfriend.

“In the absence of any evidence linking that experience to the charged conduct, you should put it out of your mind,” Bostic said.

Rapper Drakeo the Ruler fatally stabbed at Los Angeles concert

December 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — A Los Angeles music festival abruptly ended Saturday night when police were called to quill a backstage brawl in which rapper Drakeo the Ruler was fatally stabbed, a high-ranking law enforcement source told ABC News.

The mayhem erupted around 8:30 p.m. local time at the “Once Upon a Time in L.A.” festival, which was set to feature Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent, at Exposition Park near the Banc of California Stadium, officials said.

Drakeo the Ruler was a 28-year-old West Coast hip-hop artist whose real name was Darrell Caldwell.

Live Nation, the promoters of the festival, issued a statement to the Los Angeles Times, saying, “There was an altercation in the roadway backstage. Out of respect for those involved and in coordination with local authorities, artists and organizers decided not to move forward with remaining sets so the festival was ended an hour early.”

The incident is being investigated by the California Highway Patrol because Exposition Park is a state land in a part of Los Angeles patrolled by the CHP.

The violence came just 43 days after 10 people, including a 9-year-old boy, were trampled to death at the Astroworld Festival in Houston, during a performance by rapper Travis Scott. That concert has prompted more than 300 lawsuits from people who say they were injured.

The Los Angeles fire marshal ordered Saturday’s concert shut down after the man was stabbed and taken to a hospital, the Los Angeles Police Department told ABC station KABC in Los Angeles.

The episode drew a massive response from the LAPD and California Highway Patrol.

No arrests in connection with the stabbing were announced.

Dozens of high-profile artists were scheduled to perform on the concert’s three stages, including Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, YG, Ice Cube, The Game, Cypress Hill and famed R&B singer Al Green.

ABC News’ Alex Stone, Izzy Alvarez and Zachary Ferber contributed to this report.

Manchin says he’s a ‘no’ on Biden’s Build Back Better social spending plan

December 19, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., seems to have sealed the fate of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill on “Fox News Sunday,” when he announced that he is a “no” on the legislation.

“I’ve always said if I can’t go home and explain it to the people of West Virginia, I can’t vote for it. I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can’t. I’ve tried everything humanly possible. I can’t get there,” Manchin said.

Despite working “every day” for five months with different members of the party to get there on the legislation, Manchin said his concerns about inflation and the cost of the program still stand.

“You’re done? This is a no?” host Bret Baier asked.

“This is a no on this piece of legislation. I have tried everything I know to do,” Manchin replied, adding that Biden worked “diligently” and was “wonderful to work with” but knew he had concerns.

Manchin’s comments effectively end Democrats’ hopes of passing Biden’s $1.75 trillion social spending plan, which passed the House last month, with Democratic votes alone. Manchin is the crucial 50th vote needed to get the bill across the line.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has issued a lengthy statement that Manchin’s bombshell announcement Sunday is “at odds” with what he indicated in private negotiations earlier this week — confirming the White House was caught off guard by Manchin’s news, and unleashing on the senator for the “sudden and inexplicable reversal of his position.”

“On Tuesday of this week, Senator Manchin came to the White House and submitted—to the President, in person, directly—a written outline for a Build Back Better bill that was the same size and scope as the President’s framework, and covered many of the same priorities,” Psaki said Sunday. ” If his comments on FOX and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate.”

While Manchin recognized that the party had negotiated down from Sen. Bernie Sanders’ initial proposal of $6 trillion, he felt shortening the timelines of the “aspirational goals” included in the bill was not a genuine answer to the issue.

“The thing that never changed Bret, was basically the same amount of things that they’re trying to accomplish by just changing, if you will, the amount of time that we can depend on it,” Manchin said Sunday on Fox. “So if you’re going to do something and do it, pick what we’re apprised priorities are like most people do in their families, or their businesses, and you fund them for 10 years and you make sure they deliver the services for 10 years,” Manchin argued.

Manchin argued COVID-19 and inflation should be where the country is focusing its fire, rather than dragging out the negotiations further.

“I’ve tried. I mean, I really did and the President was trying as hard as he could. He has an awful lot –A lot of irons in the fire right now — more on his plate than he needs for this to continue when I’m having the difficulties I’m having and basically the challenges we have from different parts of our party basically pushing in different ways,” Manchin said.

Manchin also said it was “not right” that he was getting all the attention for his concerns over the bill, but said he wasn’t going to speak for other Senators who also might have concerns with the mammoth legislation.

It was just Thursday that Biden put out a statement that the negotiations with Manchin would continue this week.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has been one of the senators leading the charge on the Build Back Better bill in Senate, responded to Manchin’s no vote on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“Well, I think he’s gonna have a lot of explaining to do to the people of West Virginia,” Sanders said, ticking through the benefits the bill would provide like lowering prescription drug costs, expanding Medicaid and helping to pay for childcare.

“I would have hoped that we could have had at least 50 Democrats on board who have the guts to stand up for working families and take on the lobbyists and the powerful special interests,” Sanders said on CNN. “We have no Republicans, not one Republican in the United States Senate or the House for that matter is prepared to stand up to the drug companies or the insurance companies or wealthy.”

Sanders was not shy about telling Americans who are concerned about losing their monthly Child Tax Credit payments to blame Sen. Manchin.

“If Mr. Manchin Votes no, those $300 tax credits that have gone a long way to reduce childhood poverty in America- they’re gone. That’s over. We cut childhood poverty by over 40%, an extraordinary accomplishment. Manchin doesn’t want to do that, tell that to the struggling families of West Virginia and America,” Sanders said.

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