(NEW YORK) — The U.S. economy grew much faster than expected over three months ending in June, accelerating from the previous quarter and defying concerns about a possible slowdown.
U.S. GDP grew at a 2.8% annualized rate over three months ending in September. That figure doubled the annualized rate of growth undertaken over the previous quarter.
The fresh data could complicate the path toward a widely expect interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve in September. Until the most recent quarter, the economy had been cooling.
Price increases have slowed significantly from a peak of more than 9%, though inflation remains more than a percentage point higher than the Fed’s target rate of 2%. An outright drop in prices in June compared to the month prior marked a major sign of progress in slowing inflation.
If the Fed cuts interest rates as the economy is heating up, however, the central bank risks rekindling rapid price increases.
The chances of an interest rate cut at the Fed’s meeting in September stand at more than 80%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
(NEW YORK) — Infant mortality rates in the United States increased by 3% in 2022, according to a new federal report published early Thursday morning.
Researchers from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics looked at linked birth and death data sets — information from the death certificate linked to the information from the birth certificate — from the National Vital Statistics System.
Data showed the rate increased from 5.44 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021 to 5.61 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022. This equates to a total of 20,577 infant deaths reported in 2022, up 3% from 2021.
Although the rate is lower than the 7.57 per 1,000 recorded in 1995 — the first year the linked birth/infant death file was available — it marks the second straight year of increases.
“It is concerning that the rate bumped up by 3% compared to ’21,” Dr. James Greenberg, co-director of the Perinatal Institute at Cincinnati Children’s and co-founder of Cradle Cincinnati — a non-profit working to improve infant mortality rates in Hamilton County, Ohio — told ABC News.
“The overall trend for the last many decades has been, in general, a downward trend, but the United States infant mortality rate is still much higher than almost every other developed country in the world,” he continued. “So, when we see an uptick like this, it’s certainly a cause for additional concern.”
The report found that the overall mortality rate increased for infants born to American Indian/Alaska Native women, white women and Dominican women in 2022 while other racial and ethnic groups did not see significant increases from 2021 to 2022.
Meanwhile, infants of Black women had the highest mortality rate at 10.90 per 1,000 live births in 2022 followed by infants of American Indian/Alaska Native women and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander women.
Greenberg, who was not involved in the report, said the data is further evidence of the racial and ethnic disparities seen in infant mortality rates when it comes to minority women.
“This has been a rather intractable problem in the United States…and the disparities between white and non-Hispanic, Black infant mortality and white and American Indian/Alaska Native infant mortality are quite striking and continue to be very, very troubling,” he said.
Greenberg called the Black infant mortality rate “extraordinary” and said it was “on par with some parts of the world that have very limited resources.”
The report also found that infant mortality rates were highest in the South and Rust Belt middle America and lowest in the Northeast, Northwest and West, which Greenberg said is in line with where rates are traditionally higher and lower.
Data from the report showed in 2022, the five leading causes of all infant deaths were the same as those in 2021 including congenital malformations, disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), unintentional injuries and maternal complications.
Greenberg said preterm birth is the actual leading cause of infant death based on research conducted by his team, but there’s not a single code for a death certificate that covers preterm births.
“It’s a reflection of the way coding around cause of death is done. The problem is that the causes related to preterm birth are subdivided, so you have to actually add them up in order to get the whole impact of preterm birth,” he said. “It’s not congenital malformations, certainly not to denigrate that, that cause, but preterm birth is where it’s at.”
Greenberg said other factors that may have played a role in the bump in 2022 include an RSV and flu season in 2022 that began much earlier than usual after COVID-19 pandemic mitigation measures began to be lifted. Another role may have been the impact of a COVID-19 infection in pregnant women, which may have forced some to deliver early and, in turn, raised the risk of infant mortality.
Another factor contributing to the bump may be the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, which led to anecdotal reports of women forced to carry to term babies that would die upon being born or shortly after birth.
He said it’s too soon to tell if any of the other three factors played a role, but anecdotal evidence suggests this may be the case.
Greenberg has actively been involved in working to reduce infant mortality rates in Hamilton County, where Cincinnati is located, as a co-founder of Cradle Cincinnati.
He said the county has seen a steep decrease in infant mortality since 2013 from being 70% above the national average to being right around the national average in 2023 by focusing on reducing infant mortality related to pre-term birth and improving Black infant mortality.
Efforts include promoting smoking cessation and getting pregnant people into early prenatal care by eliminating barriers in vulnerable communities.
“Our experience in Hamilton County suggests that it is possible to accelerate the reduction in infant mortality, and that it’s worth doing because infant mortality is really a signal for overall health and well-being of the whole country,” he said. “It’s not just babies. It’s a reflection of our health care system, and our ability to deliver health care effectively. It’s our reflection of our ability to do it in a way that people everywhere value and can embrace.”
(NEW YORK) — The Border Patrol has made fewer than 1,800 apprehensions per day over the past week, a major decline following the implementation of new asylum restrictions that significantly cut humanitarian protections for those who cross the border illegally.
Migrant encounters along the southern border are down 55% since the restrictions took effect seven weeks ago, according to new data from the Department of Homeland Security.
The Border Patrol made 83,536 apprehensions in June, the lowest number since Biden took office in Jan. 2021.
DHS officials credit a dual-track approach that balances increased enforcement measures along with the expansion of new options for legal migration. The measures, announced at the beginning of last month, all but banned asylum for those who crossed into the U.S. illegally. Meanwhile, at U.S. ports of entry, the administration continues to admit a limited number of pre-screened migrants for asylum processing.
“So it’s the kind of culmination of a yearslong effort to build up both of those things, and I think that we are really seeing that pay dividends,” one senior Customs and Border Protection Official said.
“We’ve been kind of building up both enforcement at the border and access to lawful pathways since, since we started here,” the official added.
The official said the White House has been directly involved in this effort, including Vice President Kamala Harris herself, to craft the strategy that has brought illegal border crossings down dramatically.
“I think we’ve, we’ve got some real positive impacts here, and we’re also continuing to work to maximize them, and to double down on these efforts, both ourselves and in coordination with our foreign partners, to not only maximize enforcement at our border, but to disrupt the way that people are moving up and getting to our border,” the official said.
DHS continues to engage in an aggressive deportation effort, removing or voluntarily returning 65,000 individuals to more than 125 countries, with more than 200 international repatriation flights in recent weeks, according to DHS. The number of people released into the U.S. pending deportation proceedings has declined by 70%, officials say.
The San Diego region continues to see the highest level of migrant encounters compared to other border regions, but those numbers have reduced by 60% in recent weeks, according to a senior CBP official.
“So we’re really now, just now, starting to see the full impact out there,” the official told ABC News. “And I think that’s definitely an indication of success, and also something that we continue to work to even see if we can achieve further results.”
(NEW YORK) — In early July, a man wearing a gator face mask, sunglasses, and camera equipment attached to a vest walked into the elections building in King County, Washington, and began to take videos and photos of the employees and their surroundings.
The man, according to a video obtained by ABC News, approached a counter and began harassing the election workers as he recorded them with his equipment.
After he left, the man posted a video of the interaction on YouTube and published some of the staff’s names, emails, and phone numbers, which officials said resulted in “dozens of calls and emails” to election workers.
The incident, which left King County employees feeling uneasy, is an example of the ongoing harassment and threats election workers are facing as they prepare for November’s election.
Experts and election workers say the threats began after baseless claims of election fraud proliferated following the 2020 election, and they have not slowed down. And with the potential misuse of artificial intelligence and the threat of deadly opioids being mailed to election offices, election workers ABC News spoke with said they are feeling even more unnerved.
The concerns from election workers come months after former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss won a $148 million judgment after a judge found former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani guilty of defaming them. In an interview with ABC News’ Terry Moran in 2022, the mother and daughter described how threats of violence, both online and in person, temporarily drove Freeman from her home and drove them both from their work as election officers.
“Election workers are still dealing with a lot of lies that are being told about the elections, and are in many ways bearing the kind of the consequences of those lies with harassment, abuse and sometimes threats,” said Lawrence Norden, senior director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a bipartisan public policy think tank.
Stocking up on Narcan
Last August, when King County received an envelope with a suspicious substance in the mail, it also came with an unsettling message: “Enjoy some complimentary WHITE POWDER! Not saying what it is but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ASKING AROUND FOR A NARCAN!”
“There must be: NO MORE ELECTIONS!” the letter said.
After law enforcement confirmed the envelope contained traces of fentanyl, election officials in the county implemented robust safety protocols and stocked up on Narcan — a drug that’s sprayed directly into the nostrils of someone experiencing an overdose by touching or inhaling an opioid, which blocks the effects of opioids and can quickly restore breathing.
Two months later, the county was targeted again with another letter in an envelope that was also laced with the deadly opioid.
“It was terrifying,” said Julie Wise, the director of elections for King County.
After election offices in four other states received envelopes with fentanyl and other dangerous substances last year, election workers added Narcan to the safety measures they’re implementing heading into the election.
In Washoe County, Nevada, interim registrar of voters Cari Anne Burgess told ABC News the county has 35 kits of Narcan.
“We absolutely have our Narcan kits,” Burgess said. “We’ve all been trained on it and we’ve also been trained on ‘Stop the Bleed.'”
“Fentanyl is of big concern these days,” said Josh Zygielbaum, the clerk and recorder for Adams County, Colorado. “We now have Narcan everywhere, and have changed our mail-opening processes due to some concerns that we could be a target for potential biological or chemical threat.”
Zygielbaum said that since the 2020 election, he has worn a bulletproof vest to work every day — an extreme measure he felt he had to take to feel safe.
“It’s sad, but I love what I do,” Zygielbaum said. “Without having safe and secure elections, we don’t have a democracy. And so it really is the front line of the fight to preserve democracy.”
Fighting the threat of AI
While election officials work to combat physical threats, experts say artificial intelligence could potentially pose an even greater danger to the electoral process.
In January, AI-generated robocalls that appeared to impersonate the voice of President Joe Biden targeted voters in New Hampshire to discourage them from voting in the primary.
“The threat from AI is potentially a change in the degree of what [election workers] have seen before,” Norden from the Brennan Center told ABC News.
Zygielbaum, who said he is increasingly concerned about AI, said his county has been working with local schools that have STEM programs to learn more about the technology and how to make voters more aware of its dangers.
In King County, Wise told ABC News that AI has been a boon to the county’s election operation — but she’s still concerned about its misuse.
“AI has allowed us to save at least $100,000 in taxpayer dollars to use towards translation services,” Wise said. “So there’s certainly pros and cons to this technology and it’s definitely been a big conversation in the election community nationwide.”
At the same time, Wise, said, “We’re poised really well to react to any mis- or disinformation that can result from AI.”
Wise and other officials told ABC News that the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is working with election workers across the country to teach them about AI and how to identify potential threats and disinformation created with the technology.
According to a report from the Brennan Center, AI has the potential to threaten election security not only by more effectively spreading disinformation, but also by more easily exploiting cyber vulnerabilities in election systems.
“The misinformation, the threats, the attempts to intimidate election officials — that all existed before,” said Norden. “It’s just that now, AI makes it easier to do at a larger scale and in a more sophisticated way.”
(NEW YORK) — United States and Canadian fighter jets intercepted four Russian and Chinese bombers that were flying in international airspace near Alaska on Wednesday, officials said.
This marked the first time that Chinese military aircraft had been intercepted in that area.
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement that it had “detected, tracked, and intercepted two Russian TU-95 and two PRC [Peoples Republic of China] H-6 military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on July 24, 2024.”
NORAD said that American and Canadian fighter jets conducted the intercept and noted that the Russian and Chinese remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian airspace.
U.S. territorial airspace and waters extend at a distance of 12 nautical miles from the shoreline, but the ADIZ is a zone that stretches out 150 miles from the U.S. coastline, where the U.S. requires aircraft to identify themselves.
It is not unusual for Russian bombers flying through the ADIZ to be intercepted, as was the case in February and March.
But Wednesday’s joint Russian and Chinese flight was the first such occurrence in that zone and was notable for being the first intercept of Chinese military aircraft near Alaska.
NORAD stressed that the flight “is not seen as a threat” and that it will continue to monitor activity near North America “and meet presence with presence.”
The joint Russian and Chinese flight reflects the growing military ties between the two nations.
Earlier this week, a top Defense Department official noted China’s growing military interest in the Arctic region and cooperation with Russia as the Pentagon unveiled its latest Arctic Strategy.
“Melting Arctic ice caps are opening new shipping lanes and attracting increased interest and activity from both the People’s Republic of China and Russia,” said Kathleen Hicks, the deputy secretary of Defense.
“More troubling, we’ve seen growing cooperation between the PRC and Russia in the Arctic, commercially with the PRC being a major funder of Russian energy exploitation in the Arctic and increasingly militarily with Russia and China conducting joint exercises off the coast of Alaska,” she said.
Another top official said that in recent years the U.S. has seen China’s military operating “more regularly” in the region noting the presence of several Chinese warships off the coast of Alaska a few weeks ago and in recent combined exercises with Russia in the same area.
“We’re keeping a watchful eye on how they’re developing their capacity for operating in the region,” Iris Ferguson, deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for Arctic and Global Resilience, told reporters Monday.
“As we say in the department, you know, they are our long-term pacing challenge. And I think that includes in the Arctic,” Ferguson said.
The Boeing company logo (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Department of Justice and Boeing have finalized their plea agreement — the manufacturer will plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay a fine of $243.6 million, according to a court filing.
Boeing will also serve a three-year term of organizational probation; invest $455 million in compliance, quality and safety programs; and the board of directors will meet with the families of victims of the two MAX crashes. An independent compliance monitor will also be appointed.
This is not a done deal until it is approved by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas, who can either approve the deal or reject it.
According to court documents, “the plea agreement will not provide Boeing with immunity for any other conduct, including any conduct that may be the subject of any ongoing or future Government investigation of the Company.”
In a statement, Boeing said, “Boeing and the Justice Department have filed a detailed plea agreement in federal court, which is subject to court approval. We will continue to work transparently with our regulators as we take significant actions across Boeing to further strengthen our safety, quality and compliance programs.”
Lawyers representing the families of MAX crash victims have voiced their displeasure to ABC News.
Paul Cassell, who represents 15 MAX crash victim families, said: “The proposed plea has all the problems in it that the families feared it would have. We will file a strong objection to the preferential and “sweetheart” treatment Boeing is receiving within seven days with Judge O’Connor. We will strongly urge him to reject this proposed plea.”
Mark Lindquist, who also represents victim families, said: “Most importantly this plea agreement fails to acknowledge that the charged crime of Conspiracy to Defraud caused the death of 346 people. This is a sore spot for victim families who want accountability and acknowledgment.”
Boeing was accused of misleading the Federal Aviation Administration about aspects of the Max before the agency certified the plane for flight. Boeing did not tell airlines and pilots about the new software system, called MCAS, that could turn the plane’s nose down without input from pilots if a sensor detected that the plane might go into an aerodynamic stall.
Max planes crashed in 2018 in Indonesia and 2019 in Ethiopia after a faulty reading from the sensor pushed the nose down and pilots were unable to regain control. After the second crash, Max jets were grounded worldwide until the company redesigned MCAS to make it less powerful and to use signals from two sensors, not just one.
(NEW YORK) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau authorized the Canadian Armed Forces to respond on Thursday to wildfires raging in Jasper National Park in Alberta.
More than 25,000 people were ordered to evacuate from the park and areas nearby, officials said. The town of Jasper and Jasper National Park in Alberta have closed and are being evacuated due to active wildfires, the park said Tuesday.
Trudeau said he was sending “resources, evacuations support, and more emergency wildfire resources to the province immediately — and we’re coordinating firefighting and airlift assistance.”
“Alberta, we’re with you,” he added.
The evacuation impacts 15,000 people who were visiting and staying in the park when the order was issued, as well as about 10,000 people in the town of Jasper, including seasonal workers, according to the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
“The Town of Jasper and Parks Canada’s priority is the safety of our staff, residents and visitors,” Jasper National Park said in a statement on Tuesday. “We acknowledge this is a stressful time and appreciate patience as this is an evolving and complex situation.”
Thousands of residents and visitors already evacuated overnight, as multiple wildfires burn in Jasper National Park, the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, the park said.
Parks Canada is mobilizing additional firefighting resources and aircraft to assist in battling the blazes, according to Jasper National Park.
“Our priority is to protect the town and community of Jasper, limiting wildfire growth towards town, Highway 16 and critical infrastructure,” Jasper National Park said.
Reservations through Aug. 6 in Jasper National Park have been canceled. A reopening date has not yet been announced.
Alberta is experiencing “extreme wildfire conditions,” with more than 170 wildfires burning across the province, according to the government of Alberta.
(LAS VEGAS) — A tourist from Belgium has been hospitalized in Las Vegas after suffering third-degree burns to his feet while walking on sand dunes in Death Valley, officials said.
The 42-year-old man was wearing flip flops when officials from the National Park Service said that they either broke or he lost them in the sand last Saturday at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
Air temperatures were 123 degrees at the time, but park officials say that the sand temperatures would have been much hotter.
“The man’s family called for help and recruited other park visitors who carried the man to the parking lot,” according to the NPS statement. “Park rangers determined the man needed to be transported to a hospital quickly due to his burns and pain level.”
Mercy Air’s helicopter was not able to safely land in Death Valley due to extreme temperatures which can reduce rotor lift so park rangers initially transported the victim by ambulance to a landing zone at a higher elevation, which was 109 degrees. From there, the Belgian tourist was taken by Mercy Air to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas where he is being treated for his injuries.
“Park rangers recommend that summer travelers to Death Valley National Park stay within a 10 minute walk of an air conditioned vehicle, not hike after 10 a.m., drink plenty of water, eat salty snacks and wear a hat and sunscreen,” said the National Park Service following the incident.
(NEW YORK) — A man shot three tree workers while they were clearing trees for a power company before being shot himself by police officers during his arrest, police said.
The incident began near Murphytown, North Carolina, located in the Green Mountain area of Yancey County, when local resident 36-year-old Lucas Wilson Murphy confronted contract workers clearing the right of way for the power company, according to a statement from the Yancey County Sheriff’s Office released on Wednesday.
“Mr. Murphy was armed during the confrontation with the tree service workers, and subsequently, three workers were shot,” authorities said in their statement. “All three victims sustained serious injuries and were transported to area hospitals where they are receiving medical treatment.”
Yancey County Deputies immediately responded to the scene and began to exchange gunfire with Murphy as they attempted to arrest him.
“During this exchange, an officer-involved shooting took place, resulting in Mr. Murphy sustaining an injury,” police said. “He was then immediately taken into custody. Murphy was transported to an area hospital, where he is being treated for his injury.”
Authorities did not release any possible motives in the case but the Yancey County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation confirmed that they are conducting a thorough investigation into the incident.
“I want to start out by saying that my thoughts and prayers are with the Asplundh victims of today’s shooting for a speedy recovery. I am so proud of my incredible deputies and dispatchers! They did an awesome job responding and getting the situation under control quickly,” said Yancey County Sheriff Shane Hilliard in a post on social media following the shooting. “I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Heritage EMS, the out-of-county EMS departments, fire departments, rescue squad, and the other law enforcement agencies that sent personnel to assist.”
The conditions of the three workers are currently unknown and additional information will be released as it becomes available.
(NEW YORK) — A 70-year-old man is in “good spirits” after being found nearly a week after going missing while on an off-road trail in California, authorities said Wednesday.
Warren Elliott got lost after walking away from his group while on the Rubicon Trail in Placer County Friday afternoon, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.
Following a dayslong search in tough terrain, Elliott was found “safe and uninjured” Wednesday morning at Hell Hole Reservoir, the sheriff’s office said. A person texted 911 at approximately 8 a.m. PT that they were with a missing person who was determined to be Elliott, the sheriff’s office said.
Elliott was camping in Rubicon Springs with a group doing trail rehab ahead of an upcoming event dubbed the Jeepers Jamboree when he got lost after going out for a walk, the sheriff’s office said. He was familiar with the area but upon returning from his walk he went in the wrong direction, according to the sheriff’s office.
Elliott managed to drink water from a river and ate a “handful of berries” while lost, the sheriff’s office said.
He was found roughly nine miles from the point where he was last seen though had walked much farther than that over the past five days, the sheriff’s office said.
Elise Soviar, a spokesperson for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, said Elliott was airlifted out of the area by helicopter. The remote region, located west of Lake Tahoe, is accessible by road, though a helicopter was the quickest way to evacuate him, she said.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter transported him to the command post at Homewood Mountain Resort, where he was “greeted by cheers and clapping” and reunited with his family, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office released a video of Elliott’s emotional return, in which he could be seen in the now-tattered shirt he was wearing when he went missing.
“This is a tremendous relief for Mr. Elliott’s family and friends,” the sheriff’s office said in a social media post. “A heartfelt thank you to all the search and rescue teams who tirelessly assisted from across the state.”
The sheriff’s office said they were also “immensely grateful to Jeepers Jamboree,” which provided food, drinks and a place to camp overnight amid the search.
Dozens of searchers from 10 agencies across the state were involved in the search, which also used drones and dog teams, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Rubicon Trail is an approximately 22-mile-long route near Lake Tahoe that features a popular off-highway vehicle trail.
“Tears of joy are flowing this morning,” the Jeepers Jamboree said on social media after Elliott was found. “All of us at Jeepers Jamboree are so incredibly relieved to have Warren found! We can’t express the appreciation we have for everyone who has been a part of finding Warren!”
