(WASHINGTON) — Warning that a series of court decisions blocking President Donald Trump’s tariffs “disrupt sensitive, ongoing negotiations with virtually every trading partner,” the Trump administration on Monday asked a federal appeals court to block an order last week that found the sweeping tariffs were “unlawful.”
In a lawsuit brought by two children’s toy companies, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., last week ruled that Trump does not have power to unilaterally impose tariffs “to reorder the global economy.”
Issued less than 24 hours after a panel of judges on the Court of International Trade issued its own decision blocking Trump’s tariffs, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras reached the same conclusion about the unlawfulness of the tariffs, but issued a less sweeping order, only blocking enforcement of the tariffs against the two companies that filed the lawsuit.
A federal appeals court subsequently temporarily delayed the Court of International Trade’s decision.
Trump in April announced far-reaching tariffs on dozens of countries in a Rose Garden ceremony that he dubbed “Liberation Day.”
In a filing Monday, the Trump administration argued that Judge Contreras’ ruling was flawed and that it undercuts the president while ” negotiations currently stand at a delicate juncture.”
“By holding the tariffs invalid, the district court’s ruling usurps the President’s authority and threatens to disrupt sensitive, ongoing negotiations with virtually every trading partner by undercutting the premise of those negotiations — that the tariffs are a credible threat,” the filing said.
Lawyers with the Department of Justice also argued that Judge Contreras lacks the jurisdiction to issue the decision because legal disputes over trade policy belong in the Court of International Trade.
Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs viaGetty Images
(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the surprise drone operation over the weekend against Russia was a success that will “continue” if Moscow doesn’t halt its offensive.
Zelenskyy addressed reporters following the next round of U.S.-brokered peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul on Monday, intended to end Russia’s 3-year-old invasion of its neighbor. The talks came just one day after Ukraine launched an audacious drone attack on Russia’s strategic bomber fleet.
Asked by ABC News’ Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz on whether the attacks changed the dynamics of the war or at the negotiating table — and whether they might enrage Russia — Zelenskyy responded, “Russia’s being enraged or not enraged — this is something we’re not interested in,” citing Russia’s attack on Ukraine a day before “at night with over 480 drones.”
“This is happening on [a] daily basis,” the president said.
Zelenskyy called Ukraine’s drone attack a “strategic operation” that “is definitely reducing Russia’s potential, and demonstrates that Ukraine is working on certain steps.”
“Unless they will stop, we will continue,” he said.
Asked whether he was satisfied with President Donald Trump’s administration’s involvement, Zelenskyy told Raddatz, “We are looking for very strong steps on the part of President Trump to support the sanctions and to force President Putin to stop this war, or at least proceed with the first stage of putting an end to this war — that is the ceasefire.”
Monday’s revived talks so far have failed to reach a peace deal, or even achieve a sustained ceasefire, despite pressure on both sides by Trump’s administration. The last meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul in mid-May was the first direct contact between the two sides since spring 2022.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry confirmed to ABC News on Monday morning that talks resumed at Istanbul’s Ciragan Palace, ending just over an hour later. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said the two sides agreed to swap all severely wounded and ill prisoners of war and to exchange the bodies of thousands of fallen soldiers.
They also discussed a meeting between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Umerov.
Ukraine is calling for a full 30-day ceasefire during which time peace negotiations can take place. Russia has refused the request, with Putin and his top officials retaining maximalist war goals dating back to the opening days of the Russian invasion.
Vladimir Medinsky, a Putin aide and long-time member of Russia’s negotiating team, said Russia has proposed a ceasefire lasting two to three days, on separate sections of the front, to retrieve the bodies of fallen soldiers.
Among the Kremlin’s demands are the annexation of four Ukrainian regions — plus the retention of Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014 — Ukrainian demilitarization and a permanent block on the country’s accession to NATO.
Zelenskyy said in a Sunday social media post that Kyiv’s delegation would be led by Umerov.
The president set out Ukraine’s goals for the meeting. “First — a full and unconditional ceasefire,” he wrote. “Second — the release of prisoners. Third — the return of abducted children. And in order to establish a reliable and lasting peace and ensure security, preparation of the meeting at the highest level.”
Zelenskyy and his government have repeatedly accused Putin of intentionally sabotaging peace talks since Trump returned to office in January, having promised on the campaign trail to end the war within 24 hours. Trump’s threat of further sanctions on Russia does not appear to have softened the Kremlin’s war goals.
Zelenskyy and his European backers have pushed Trump to increase pressure on Putin by introducing new sanctions on Russia and providing Ukraine with more military support. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s Ukraine-Russia envoy, hinted at the president’s growing frustration with Moscow, telling ABC News last week that the president has “seen a level of unreasonableness that really frustrates him.”
In a phone conversation with Trump in May, Putin said Russia would provide a “peace memorandum” outlining a possible settlement. Moscow provided the document on Monday, according to Umerov. Medinsky said Sunday that the Russian team had received Ukraine’s version of the peace memorandum.
Umerov said Monday they will take a week to study the documents before deciding on next steps.
Since the last round of talks in Istanbul, Trump has hit out at Putin — calling him “absolutely crazy” — and again criticized Zelenskyy, saying of the Ukrainian leader, “Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament representing Zelenskyy’s party and the chair of the body’s foreign affairs committee, told ABC News, “Russia’s primary goal is to avoid sanctions by pretending that it negotiates.”
“Putin is not interested in negotiations and ceasefire, because he hopes to start an offensive during summer,” Merezhko added.
“On the one hand, he imitates negotiations to avoid Trump’s sanctions and simultaneously to demonstrate that Russia is not politically isolated. Yet, on the other hand, Putin hopes that if Trump will decide to withdraw from the negotiations, he will leave Ukraine without military support, one-on-one with Russia.”
The talks come a day after Ukraine launched one of the most stunning attacks of the war. In what a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told ABC News was an operation one and a half years in the making, operatives used attack drones concealed in containers carried by trucks to attack strategic bomber bases deep inside Russian territory.
Moscow has used long-range bombers and their cruise missile armaments to attack Ukrainian cities throughout the full-scale invasion. The SBU claimed to have hit more than 40 military aircraft in the attacks, which targeted multiple air bases thousands of miles from Ukrainian-controlled territory. Zelenskyy said that 34% of Russia’s cruise missile-carrying aircraft were hit.
Speaking at a summit of the Bucharest Nine and Nordic countries in Lithuania on Monday, Zelenskyy said of Sunday’s drone attack, “Russia must realize what it means to suffer losses. That is what will push it toward diplomacy.”
“This is a special moment,” Zelenskyy added. “On the one hand, Russia has started its summer offensive. But on the other, it is forced to participate in diplomacy. And this is at once a challenge and also a real opportunity for all of us. It is a chance to end this war.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry framed the operation as “a terrorist attack,” claiming that the strikes were “repelled” in three regions, but noting that several aircraft caught fire at airfields during the attacks in Irkutsk and Murmansk — videos of which the SBU published.
Also on Sunday, Russian authorities reported the collapse of two railway bridges and derailment of two trains in regions bordering Ukraine, which they blamed on “explosions.” At least seven people were killed, authorities said.
In an address on Sunday, Zelenskyy called the Ukrainian drone attack a “brilliant operation” and said Russia “suffered truly significant losses.” The president framed the attack as a defensive measure.
“We will defend ourselves by all means available to us,” Zelenskyy said. “Not for a single second did we want this war. We offered the Russians a ceasefire. Since March 11, the U.S. proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire has been on the table. It was the Russians who chose to continue the war.”
“Pressure is truly needed — pressure on Russia that should bring it back to reality,” Zelenskyy added. “Pressure through sanctions. Pressure from our forces. Pressure through diplomacy. All of it must work together.”
Ivan Stupak, a former officer in the SBU, told ABC News that Ukrainians expect a significant Russian response — “probably mass drone attacks on civilians or using Oreshnik ballistic missiles.”
“I think there will be zero impact on peace negotiations,” Stupak added, citing the ongoing Russian ground offensives grinding forward and capturing — even if at great cost — more territory in eastern Ukraine, which the Kremlin will hope to leverage.
Meanwhile, long-range drone and missile attacks continued overnight into Monday morning.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 80 drones and four missiles into the country overnight, of which 52 were shot down or neutralized. The air force reported impacts in 12 locations.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 162 Ukrainian drones over nine Russian regions overnight.
ABC News’ Christopher Boccia, Ellie Kaufman and Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.
(BOULDER, Colo.) — President Donald Trump on Monday responded for the first time to the attack against a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, seizing on the that the suspect was in the United States illegally, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America,” Trump wrote on his conservative social media platform.
“Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law. This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland. My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado!” the president added.
Eight people were injured on Sunday in what the FBI is calling an “act of terror.” Boulder police said the motive for the attack still has not been established.
The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was allegedly heard yelling “Free Palestine” while throwing a “makeshift flamethrower” at a demonstration to raise awareness about the remaining hostages in Gaza, according to authorities.
Soliman has been charged with a federal hate crime, according to court documents. He allegedly told police “he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead.”
The Department of Homeland Security on Monday said Soliman is in the U.S. illegally. He entered the country on a B2 visa, which is typically a tourism visa, in August 2022 and in September 2022 applied for asylum. The B2 visa expired in February 2023.
Soliman was granted a work permit after his B2 visa expired, a senior official told ABC News. That work permit expired on March 28, so he has been in the country illegally since then, the official said.
Trump sought to cast blame over Soliman’s immigration status on former President Joe Biden, criticizing his predecessor’s policies and saying “he must go out under ‘TRUMP’ Policy.”
While Trump seized on the fact that the alleged attacker was in the country illegally, the president did not mention antisemitism in his statement.
Though a White House senior official said Trump was briefed on Sunday, his first public comments came nearly 24 hours after the attack.
Attorney General Pam Bondi also released a statement Monday in which she condemned “vile anti-Semitic violence.”
“The Department of Justice has swiftly charged the illegal alien perpetrator of this heinous attack with a federal hate crime and will hold him accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Our prayers are with the victims and our Jewish community across the world,” Bondi said.
(BOULDER, Colo.) — The man suspected of carrying out an “act of terrorism” during a pro-Israel demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, leaving eight people in the hospital, has been charged with a federal hate crime, according to court documents.
The suspect, 45-year-old Mohamed Soliman, told investigators “he researched on YouTube how to make Molotov Cocktails, purchased the ingredients to do so, and constructed them,” the court documents said.
Soliman allegedly told police “he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,” the document said. “SOLIMAN stated he would do it (conduct an attack) again.”
He allegedly used a “makeshift flamethrower” and threw an incendiary device into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators at a pedestrian mall on Sunday afternoon, according to the FBI. He allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack, the FBI said.
The demonstration was a Run for Their Lives walk, which aims to raise awareness about the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and calls for their immediate release.
Eight victims, ranging in age from 52 to 88, were hospitalized with burns, police said.
Six of the eight have since been released from hospitals, a security source briefed on the situation told ABC News on Monday. Two victims remain in critical condition but are expected to survive.
Soliman was taken into custody and is being held on $10,000,000 bond, according to the Boulder County Jail, which listed a range of felony charges against him, including use of an incendiary device. The posted list of felony charges also appeared to include first-degree murder, although it was not immediately clear whether the charge was attempted murder. According to police, there have been no fatalities.
Soliman is due in court Monday afternoon.
Soliman is in the United States illegally, according to the Department of Homeland Security. entered the U.S. in August 2022 on a B2 visa and he filed for asylum in September 2022, according to Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security.
His B2 visa — which is typically a tourism visa — expired in February 2023, McLaughlin said.
Soliman was granted a work permit after his B2 visa expired, a senior official told ABC News. That work permit expired on March 28, so he has been in the country illegally since then, the official said.
President Donald Trump responded to the attack for the first time on Monday, writing on Truth Social that the crimes will be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law.”
“This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland. My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado!” the president added.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WENATCHEE, Wash.) — Officials in Washington state are searching for three young sisters — ages 9, 8 and 5 — who were last seen leaving home for a scheduled visitation with their father, according to the Wenatchee Police Department.
The girls — 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker — were last seen at approximately 5 p.m. on Friday when they left to be with their father, Travis Decker, on a “planned visitation,” police said.
Decker, 32, is homeless and has been living in his vehicle or at various motels or campgrounds in the area, officials said.
Police said visitation has been a part of the family’s parenting plan, but Decker has “since gone outside the parameters of it which is not normal and cause for the alarm.”
As of Monday, the girls have not returned home and contact cannot be made with Decker, officials confirmed to ABC News.
Police said the current investigation has “not met AMBER Alert criteria,” but they have issued an Endangered Missing Person Alert through the Washington State Patrol.
Decker, who is described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall with black hair and brown eyes, was last seen wearing a light shirt and dark shorts and driving a 2017 GMC Sierra with a Washington license plate number of DC0165C, according to the missing persons’ poster.
Paityn Decker, the oldest of the siblings, was last seen wearing a blue shirt, purple shorts and pink Nikes, and Olivia Decker, the youngest, was last seen wearing a coral and pink shirt. Evelyn Decker, the third sibling, has blond hair and brown eyes, officials said.
Authorities said anyone who recognizes Decker or his children should call 911.
“Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America,” Trump wrote on his conservative social media platform.
“Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law. This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland. My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado!” the president added.
Eight people were injured on Sunday in what the FBI is calling an “act of terror.”
The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was allegedly heard yelling “Free Palestine” while throwing a “makeshift flamethrower” at a demonstration to raise awareness about the remaining hostages in Gaza, according to authorities.
Boulder police said the motive for the attack still has not been established.
The Department of Homeland Security on Monday said Soliman is in the U.S. illegally as his B2 visa — which is typically a tourism visa — expired in February 2023. Soliman had also applied for asylum in 2022.
Soliman was granted a work permit after his B2 visa expired, a senior official told ABC News. That work permit expired on March 28, so he has been in the country illegally since then, the official said.
While Trump seized on the fact that the alleged attacker was in the country illegally, the president did not mention antisemitism in his statement.
While the administration said Trump was briefed on Sunday, his first public comments came nearly 24 hours after the attack.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Price increases could hit canned soup, dishwashers, cars and an array of other products as a result of President Donald Trump’s planned hike of steel and aluminum tariffs, experts told ABC News.
The tariff escalation, set to take effect on Wednesday, ratchets up a tax on all foreign steel and aluminum from 25% to 50%. The move comes alongside a host of other levies, though it arrives days after a pair of federal court rulings cast doubt over the staying power of a large swathe of tariffs.
Trade experts told ABC News the fresh tariffs will likely raise prices for some goods made out of the two metals, since importers of the raw material typically pass along a share of the higher cost to consumers.
“Twenty-five percent tariffs were already high,” Kyle Handley, a professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego, told ABC News. “Fifty percent is incredibly high.”
In a social media post on Sunday, Trump touted the policy as a means of protecting domestic steel producers and safeguarding supply of key materials.
“We’re going to produce our own metal, unleash our own energy, secure our own future, build our Country, control our destiny and we are once again going to put Pennsylvania steel into the backbone of America like never before!” Trump said.
Here are the prices that may increase as a result of the tariff escalation for steel and aluminum:
Cars and trucks
Steel is the top material by weight in a car, accounting for about 60% of its weight, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Once steel imports face stiff taxes, experts forecast the price of steel paid by U.S. manufacturers will rise, meaning higher input costs for automakers. Those companies, they added, are likely to hike prices for consumers as a means of offsetting some of those costs.
William Hauk, a professor of economics at the University of South Carolina who studies international trade, said the new tariff level could raise the price of a car by $2,000 to $4,000.
Trump previously imposed a 25% tariff on cars and car parts, but in April the president said the auto tariffs would not stack on top of steel and aluminum tariffs, meaning levies related to the two metals will count toward tariffs on a given vehicle only once.
Soup, soda and beer
Elevated aluminum tariffs risk higher prices for foods and beverages packaged in aluminum cans, such as beer and soft drinks, some experts said.
Fifty-percent tariffs on steel and aluminum will likely raise the price paid at the grocery store for each can of soup or soda by about 1 cent, Hauk said.
“It isn’t a huge amount on its own but if you think about the number of sodas or beers people have out of aluminum cans in a given year, it adds up over time,” Hauk told ABC News.
The previous set of 25% tariffs on aluminum cost the U.S. beverage industry $1.7 billion between 2018 and 2022, according to the Beer Institute, an industry trade group.
“Paying a tariff-laden price on all aluminum drives up the cost of doing business and makes consumer goods more expensive,” the Beer Institute said in 2022.
Refrigerators and washing machines
Major home appliances — such as refrigerators, dishwashers and washing machines — rely in part on steel, making them vulnerable to potential price increases, Handley said.
“All those things will be even more expensive to produce if the steel and aluminum inputs are more costly, which they absolutely will be,” Handley said.
In the aftermath of steel and aluminum tariffs during Trump’s first term, major appliances showed price increases of between 5% and 10% between June 2018 and April 2019, Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University, previously told ABC News, citing a monthly government data release.
Those price hikes far outpaced an overall inflation rate of around 2%.
Hauk, of the University of South Carolina, said the fresh levies will bring steel and aluminum tariffs to their highest levels since the mid-1930s.
“We haven’t seen tariffs on steel and aluminum this high in a long time,” Hauk said. “We’re kind of in uncharted territory.”
(NEW YORK) — With more than a hundred wildfires burning in Canada, the smoke is bringing potentially dangerous air quality conditions to parts of the northern United States.
As of Monday, there are 181 active wildfires burning in Canada, with 92 of these considered to be “out of control,” meaning fires that are being observed and assessed, but not immediately suppressed, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
The smoke from these flames has been moving through the Upper Midwest over the weekend in rounds, with the next coming through on Monday and Tuesday.
The air quality index forecast on Monday shows conditions labeled as unhealthy for sensitive groups — the third level out of six — for a large portion of Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as unhealthy — the fourth level out of six — in a small area of Wisconsin from Waukegan to Sheboygan, including Milwaukee.
The heavy smoke will begin to appear over northwestern Minnesota on Monday morning and will continue to move through the north and central parts of the state throughout the day. Air quality alerts are in place for the state on Monday, creating hazy conditions that could be unhealthy for sensitive groups.
On Tuesday, the smoke will travel to eastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, also potentially appearing over Minneapolis and Omaha, Nebraska. But an incoming cold front bringing thunderstorms and strong winds could disperse the smoke and make it difficult to predict where it will appear.
As of Monday, the areas of Canada with the most fires include British Columbia with 69 and Alberta with 49.
Last week, the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba declared state of emergencies due to the fires, with around 17,000 residents already evacuated, according to The Associated Press.
The combination of dry conditions and “little-to-no precipitation” will continue to feed the flames and make it difficult for officials to manage the fires, Saskatchewan Public Safety said on Sunday.
Aircraft and dozens of personnel from other Canadian provinces and the United States — including Arizona, Oregon and Alaska — are being sent to help fight the wildfires, according to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.
“We are truly grateful, and we stand stronger because of you,” Moe said Sunday on X.
Moe said last week there has been a “significant lack of moisture” in the northern parts of the province, causing “over 200 wildfires” in Saskatchewan this spring.
(NEW YORK) — Most counties in the United States have seen a decline in childhood measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates over the last five years, according to a new report published Monday.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University looked at data from 2,066 counties across 33 states between 2019 and 2024. They found that 78% of the counties, or 1,614, reported a decrease in vaccination rates over that period.
What’s more, the average vaccination rate fell from 93.92% pre-pandemic to 91.26% post-pandemic, according to the report. This represents a decline of about 3%.
Researchers also found that just four states — California, Connecticut, Maine and New York — had an increase in county-level vaccination rates.
“Measles outbreaks happen within a community, and so it’s really important to understand vaccination coverage at a higher resolution than the state level,” senior author Lauren Gardner, director of Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering, told ABC News.
“You could have a state level average that is around 95%, which looks pretty good and makes it seem like that state is protected but, in reality, you may have a situation where you have a group of counties with coverage around 100% and another group of counties with coverage that’s 90% or below. So, you actually really have a lot at risk,” she continued.
Gardner said this report is the first to examine counties to identify trends in vaccination rates using such a comprehensive dataset, and it mirrors national trends, showing a lag in MMR vaccinations.
During the 2023 to 2024 school year, 92.7% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is lower than the 93.1% seen in the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019 to 2020 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It comes as the U.S. has been facing a rise in measles cases across the country amid outbreaks in states such as Texas and New Mexico.
As of Friday, a total of 1,088 cases have been confirmed in 32 states this year, according to the CDC. This marks the first time the U.S. has surpassed 1,000 cases in five years.
Among the nationally confirmed cases, CDC says about 96% are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.
Three measles deaths have occurred so far this year, two among children and one in an adult, all of whom were unvaccinated.
Measles was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, but declining vaccination rates have led to outbreaks over the last several years.
The Johns Hopkins researchers noted that if vaccination rates continue to decline, the U.S. could be at risk of measles becoming endemic.
“I hope that [the report] sheds light on the importance of vaccination and the fact that we have a problem in this country right now with vaccination rates dropping in a lot of locations, and that this poses a risk to a lot of communities, but that it’s a recoverable problem and something that we can fix,” Gardner said.
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two vaccine doses — the first at 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.
Previous studies have shown that even a small uptick in vaccination could prevent millions of measles cases in the U.S.
“It’s a very preventable problem,” Gardner said. “We have a very safe and very effective vaccine that is available, and so I think I would like people to take away that this is a problem right now, but it’s a problem that we can overcome.”
The report did not look at why MMR vaccination rates are declining, but Dr. Whitney Harrington, an associate professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Washington, who was not involved in the study, said there are likely a couple of reasons, including less exposure to the disease.
“In the case of MMR, historically, we’ve been very close to elimination within the United States, and that makes it hard to understand the rationale for being vaccinated or getting your children vaccinated,” she told ABC News. “And then I think, in combination, as we’ve seen less exposure to these diseases, at the same time, there’s been rising concern about safety of vaccines, and more vaccine hesitancy among parents and families.”
She said that any parents who are vaccine-hesitant should speak with their health care provider about the benefits of vaccination.
“I ask families, ‘What questions do you have?” rather than ‘Do you have questions?'” she said. “I think it’s much more effective to say, ‘Are there concerns that you have, or there are questions that I can answer for you about the safety of this vaccine, or about the disease that that were preventing’ and I think being able to share with family what its he disease that we’re trying to prevent can be really helpful.”
Dr. Keerthana Pakanati is a cardiovascular disease fellow at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
(BOULDER, Colo.) — A Holocaust survivor was among the eight victims in an alleged “act of terrorism” carried out during a pro-Israel demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, according to a Department of Justice official.
The Holocaust survivor, who was not identified, “endured the worst evil in human history” and “came to America seeking safety,” Leo Terrell, the Justice Department official in charge of the antisemitism task force, wrote on social media. “Now, decades later, she’s victimized again.”
“The attack on this survivor reminds me of the horror of October 7, [2023], when Holocaust survivors were murdered and dragged away by Hamas terrorists in Israel,” Terrell said. “But this time, it happened here. In our country. This is all caused by the same type of hatred: antisemitism.”
“Holocaust survivors should not spend the final chapter of their lives experiencing or witnessing this hatred again,” Terrell wrote. “We must fight this terror together.”
The suspect, 45-year-old Mohammed Soliman, allegedly used a “makeshift flamethrower” and threw an incendiary device into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators on a pedestrian mall on Sunday afternoon, according to the FBI. He allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack, the FBI said.
The attack took place during a Run for Their Lives walk, which aims to raise awareness about the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and calls for their immediate release.
Eight victims were hospitalized with burns, including one person in critical condition, police said. The victims’ ages range from 52 to 88, police said.
Soliman has been taken into custody.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Monday, “My wife and I and the entire State of Israel pray for the full recovery of the wounded in the vicious terror attack that took place in Boulder, Colorado.”
“This attack was aimed against peaceful people who wished to express their solidarity with the hostages held by Hamas, simply because they were Jews,” he said. “I trust the United States authorities to prosecute the cold blood perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law and do everything possible to prevent future attacks against innocent civilians.”
The attack comes at a time of heightened violence against the Jewish community.
In April, a suspected arsonist firebombed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s official residence because of “what [the governor] wants to do to the Palestinian people,” according to a search warrant signed by Pennsylvania State Police. The suspect was arrested.
On May 21, two Israeli Embassy staff members were killed as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. When the suspect was arrested, he began to chant, “free, free Palestine,” according to police.
Two days after the D.C. attack, the Department of Homeland Security warned in a bulletin that the Israel-Hamas conflict “continues to inspire violence and could spur radicalization or mobilization to violence against targets perceived as supporting Israel.”
The Anti-Defamation League has documented a dramatic rise in acts of hate targeting Jewish people in the U.S. since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in Israel. In 2024, the ADL said it recorded a record high of 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the U.S., marking a 344% increase over the past five years and a 893% increase over the past 10 years.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
