(WASHINGTON) — Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle said Sunday that current political divisions play into the domestic threat environment as her agency prepares to protect both parties’ nominating conventions this summer.
When asked by “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos about how “extreme political polarization” feeds “into the threat environment,” Cheatle said threats are constantly evolving but conceded that division plays a role.
“I think it plays into it,” she said. “I think that the environment that we’re dealing with today is certainly different than it was four years ago. I’m sure we’ll see an evolution in the next four years, as well, but it is definitely something that we take into consideration.”
Cheatle added that “there’s nothing specific and nothing credible out there right now.”
Republicans are hosting their convention from July 15-18 in Milwaukee, and Democrats will hold theirs from Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.
Both events will likely tie up a substantial portion of each city’s downtown and require major security presences by the Secret Service and local police.
Cheatle said the Secret Service is monitoring any threats from foreign or domestic terrorism ahead of the events.
“I think we have to make sure that we are assessing the risk for both of those, as well as any other type of threat that may come at us whether it’s a lone gunman, an organized attack or an organized group,” she said.
Both conventions are also likely to draw protesters, especially as liberals continue to object to President Joe Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza, posing a challenge to law enforcement balancing the conventions’ protection and the need to honor demonstrators’ First Amendment rights.
“The Secret Service, as well as Milwaukee Police Department, Chicago Police Department, obviously respect the right for everybody to be able to express their First Amendment rights. Where we have concerns is if those potential demonstrations turned violent, and then appropriate action would be taken. But we certainly welcome people to come out and be able to express their First Amendment rights,” Cheatle said.
She added that “we are definitely preparing in different ways,” noting there aren’t particularly different kinds of threats but that “each city is different.”
Stephanopoulos also asked Cheatle about former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in September of fraud convictions in New York, asking how the Secret Service would protect him in jail if he were to be sentenced to time behind bars — a prospect that legal experts suggest is unlikely.
“We have the responsibility of protecting our folks no matter where they are, and so we will figure out how to strike that balance,” Cheatle said.
(WASHINGTON) — The GOP’s first new platform since 2016 will also be the first truly defined by former President Donald Trump, Republicans who have served on the platform committee say.
In 2016, then-candidate Trump deferred to party operatives to craft the document, according to the platform veterans.
In 2020, the GOP declined to introduce a new platform, merely appending an updated introduction to the same platform from Trump’s first campaign. Now, several veterans of the platform committee predict that the document to be unveiled at the RNC convention in two weeks will reflect a Republican Party united behind the person and policies of Donald Trump.
“I think the dynamic between then and now is totally different,” said Tom Schreibel, the Wisconsin Republican Party national committeeman and a platform subcommittee chair in 2016.
“The campaign didn’t carry as much sway back then,” said Schreibel, who serves on the Committee on Arrangements for the 2024 convention, which will take place in his home-state capital of Milwaukee. “We spent weeks working with House and Senate staff to get their insights on what was happening currently.”
“What were the sensitivities of the House? What were the sensitivities of the Senate? Where were the conferences at at that point? And what was the art of the possible?” said Schreibel, recalling the considerations he had weighed.
James Bopp Jr., an Indiana lawyer who served on every platform committee from 2000 through 2016, called the process that produced the former president’s first platform “quite unusual.”
“The Trump campaign took the explicit and well-circulated position that they were going to be very light-handed in terms of fashioning the 2016 platform,” said Bopp, “and leave it to the platform committee and the delegates to do that.”
While that platform certainly bore Trump’s mark, it also contained positions out of step with the former president. On LGBTQ+ issues, it veered to Trump’s right, affirming a definition of marriage as strictly a union between a man and a woman, something fought for by religious conservatives. And at the convention, then-Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort successfully pushed to dilute the platform’s support for Ukraine — a change Trump later said he was neither involved in nor aware of.
This year, Trump may not be able to say the same.
“I expect this to be Trump’s platform,” said Jesse Law, a 2016 platform committee member reprising his role this year. “I expect the members of the committees to fall in line.”
Schreibel concurred, saying, “Trump has gained control of the Republican Party, being the former president.”
Schreibel, Law, and Bopp each made a version of the same point, though: This platform won’t be Trump’s because Trump has commandeered the platform process — this platform will be Trump’s because Trump has united the party behind him.
“If you have 50 states, and we’re averaging 70% of every state party, every county party being pro-Trump in such a way, you’re going to see this in the makeup of those who are delegates,” said Law, who serves as chairman of the Republican Party in Clark County, Nevada.
Law contrasted this dynamic with the 2016 convention, where “you had the Bible Belt, and you had the northeastern folks, and you had the Midwest folks, and you had the West Coast folks.”
“We didn’t have a lot of cohesion,” he added.
To Law’s point, RNC platform committee membership lists reviewed by ABC News show that only 12 members of the 2024 committee also served on the committee in 2016 — less than 15% of the total. While an ABC News analysis finds that this figure is consistent with the churn from 2012 to 2016, it shows that the 2024 platform will be shaped by a new generation of party leadership.
The three leaders of the 2024 platform committee — who work with policy staff weeks before the convention to decide the drafts on which the broader committee will then deliberate — also come from Trump’s orbit.
Two — Randy Evans and Russ Vought — served in the Trump administration, as ambassador to Luxembourg and Office of Management and Budget director, respectively. The third platform leader, Ed Martin, did not have a role in the Trump administration, but he marched to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and has become a prominent figure in the “Stop the Steal” movement advancing the false theory that Trump won the 2020 election.
Schreibel pointed to a similar dynamic in the congressional considerations that influence the platform, noting that “issues within the House and Senate on X, Y or Z are turned by President Trump and his ideals.”
And, said Schreibel, because Trump was relatively new to politics in 2016, he had less familiarity with the process, causing him to have “a lot of people at the table” working on plans for transition and the administration.
One area where Trump’s influence over the party platform may make all the difference is on the polarizing issue of abortion rights.
Since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022, ruling that there is no constitutional right to abortion, nearly two dozen states have banned or severely restricted access to abortion. This tide of state-level restrictions has become politically toxic for national Republicans, as Democrats have made it a signature campaign theme, attacking the GOP as extreme on the issue.
As recently as a year ago, Trump — who appointed the conservative justices that enabled the overturning of Roe — eagerly took credit for the decision, writing in a post on Truth social, “I was able to kill Roe v. Wade.” More recently, however, the former president has adopted a more muted tone, saying that he wouldn’t sign a national abortion ban and emphasizing his support for leaving the issue to the states.
Trump’s circumspection — along with the news that the 2024 platform will be much shorter than usual — has fueled speculation that the document might only briefly discuss the issue, drawing criticism from some anti-abortion rights groups. The New York Times has reported that a coalition of advocacy groups sent a letter to Trump, asking he “make clear that you do not intend to weaken the pro-life plank.”
But the platform committee veterans who spoke with ABC News were largely unconcerned.
Bopp, who told ABC News he had played an instrumental role in advocating for anti-abortion rights provisions in the platform since 1980, said of Trump’s abortion stance, “I fully embrace it, 100%. I think he’s absolutely right that the focus should be on the states.”
“There is no votes for any national, substantive law on abortion,” said Bopp. “We should not be — nor have I ever been — confused with Don Quixote.”
For Law, Trump’s line on abortion in the first presidential debate augured the approach the platform would take: “He was very concise with his comments the other day. That’s what I would expect.”
“The majority of the Republican base agrees with that,” Law added.
During his debate with President Joe Biden, Trump said he would not block access to the mifepristone abortion pill and stressed that the states should decide the extent of abortion rights, with exceptions for rape, incest, and danger to the life of the mother.
As much as the 2024 platform may bespeak a party remade in Trump’s image, the platform committee veterans interviewed by ABC News stressed that it will remain, at least in part, a document that responds to the needs of the party as a whole.
“This is a document that is worked on and thought about quite a bit by many members. Ensuring that all the parts of the Republican Party are heard and that we hear from the leadership — the elected leadership of the party — is important,” said Arkansas Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge, who chaired a platform subcommittee in 2016. “It will be reflective of the Republican Party as a whole.”
“President Trump is in charge of the Republican Party, and so he’s going to have a bigger voice in what is said,” echoed Schreibel. “But still, at the end of the day, that document’s gonna have to represent House members and also Senate members.”
(NEW YORK) — Chance Dean was alive for just 25 days.
Yet his tragic story has reverberated in hospitals around the country, impacted the stock price of two multinational corporations, and ignited a high-stakes legal clash over a pernicious disease that kills hundreds of babies a year in the United States.
Born two months early and weighing less than four pounds, Chance spent all his days under close medical supervision in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) near his family’s home in Southern Illinois.
His mother, Jasmine Watson, was unable to produce enough breast milk to fully nourish Chance and his fraternal twin brother, Chase. She initially opted to have her sons fed with a combination of her own milk and human breast milk from donor banks.
As Chance and his brother were being prepared for transfer to a hospital where donor milk was unavailable, doctors began transitioning them on Day 12 to a formula designed specifically for premature, low-birthweight infants, in addition to Watson’s breast milk, which was fortified to adequately support their nutrition.
On Day 22, Chance took a sudden turn for the worse.
“He just seemed like he just didn’t feel good,” Watson, 25, said in an interview. “It seemed like he was uncomfortable.”
Doctors diagnosed Chance with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC, pronounced “neck”), a devastating illness of the intestines that primarily affects premature infants. The disease led to three urgent surgeries in an unsuccessful effort to save his life.
At 9:43 p.m. on March 28, 2020, Chance died in the arms of his mother.
“In that moment, I felt like the only thing that I could do for him was be there,” Watson said. “I held him the entire time until his heart stopped beating.”
Chance’s twin, who received the same formula at the same time, did not develop NEC.
Four years later, a photograph of Chance — in a tiny blue knit cap — was displayed for jurors as “Plaintiff’s Exhibit 887” at the St. Clair County Courthouse in Belleville, Illinois. Watson alleged in a civil lawsuit that Chance’s NEC developed because of the switch from donor breast milk to a cow’s milk-based formula made by Mead Johnson, a global pediatric nutrition company.
“The reason we’re here in this courtroom is because Chance Dean never made it out of the hospital,” Watson’s lawyer Sean Grimsley said in his opening statement. “He died because he was given formula manufactured and sold by defendant Mead Johnson.”
Phyllis Jones, a defense attorney for Mead Johnson, stepped up to tell jurors that Watson’s lawyers were unjustifiably pinning the blame for Chance’s death on the formula. “It’s an easy answer, but it’s not the right answer.” Jones said. “It’s not the answer that the evidence will ultimately support in this case.”
“Four different neonatologists at two different hospitals made the decision that preterm infant formula … was the right option for Chance Dean to keep him growing, to keep him developing,” Jones said.
After a three-week trial, the jury decided that the company was negligent and had failed to adequately warn Watson that the incidence of NEC is higher in formula-fed premature babies. The jury awarded Watson $60 million to compensate for her loss and for the suffering Chance endured.
“For good reason, we believe this is the largest compensatory damages award ever in St. Clair County and stands as one of the most substantial in Illinois state history,” Watson’s lawyers wrote in a press release following the verdict.
Mead Johnson , in a statement from its UK-based parent company Reckitt Benckiser, said it was “surprised and deeply disappointed with the verdict” and vowed to “pursue all options” to have it overturned.
“It is important to note that this is a single verdict in a single case and should not be extrapolated,” the statement said. “We continue to believe that the allegations from the plaintiff’s lawyers in this case were not supported by the science or experts in the medical community.”
The company told ABC News that the verdict “sets a dangerous precedent that interferes with the practice of medicine and the patient-doctor relationship.”
‘Warning moms’
The Watson case, which concluded in March, was the first of its kind to go to trial. Interest in the proceedings was so expansive that an overflow courtroom was opened to accommodate all the lawyers from around the country who came to observe.
That’s because there are more than a thousand similar lawsuits in the U.S., involving over 7,000 families whose premature babies died or suffered serious injuries from NEC — with the first NEC case against formula-maker Abbott, Mead Johnson’s chief rival, scheduled to go to trial Monday in St. Louis.
The lawsuits allege the cow’s milk-based preterm infant formulas made by Mead Johnson and Abbott cause or substantially increase the risk of premature infants contracting NEC, when compared to babies who are fed a diet of their mother’s own milk or donated breast milk.
“Our allegation is that these formula manufacturers should be, at minimum, warning moms, doctors, dietitians, nurses, and hospitals of the risk of this horrendous disease that comes with switching preterm infants from a human milk to a cow’s milk-based formula,” said Ben Whiting, a partner at Keller Postman, a national law firm that represents Watson and hundreds of other plaintiffs suing the companies.
Over the past three years, claims against one or both formula-makers have been filed in state courts from Connecticut to California. Hundreds more are pending in federal court. Plaintiffs argue that the companies have long been aware of the risks but have failed to provide adequate warnings to parents and their medical providers.
“We were never given any information about additional risk with formula,” said Brent Rheinecker, whose premature baby daughter Willa died from NEC four years ago. Brent and his wife Elizabeth filed suit against the formula makers in Madison County, Illinois. Their case has not yet been set for trial.
“We never want another family to go through what we did. We never want another child to go through what our baby did. Her life was so short,” Elizabeth Rheinecker said.
In their legal complaints, lawyers for the families suing Mead Johnson and Abbott cite several scientific studies spanning three decades that have reported a higher occurrence of NEC in formula-fed preemies. The magnitude of the risk, however, varies widely in the scientific literature — from no significant difference to as much as three to ten times greater. Still, no study to date has shown that formula causes NEC.
Recent research, published in January in the Journal of the American Medical Association, followed 483 extremely preterm infants and found that babies in a preterm formula group gained weight more rapidly than those fed only with nutrient-fortified human donor milk — but that over twice as many formula-fed babies (9.0% compared to 4.2%) developed NEC compared to those fed only with donor milk. Health care providers say this is not enough to show a conclusive cause, but enough for scientists to continue to study the association. At the same time, some premature babies who were never given formula went on to develop NEC, suggesting that human milk is not completely protective.
“What we’re trying to do is to make sure that moms and doctors have the complete information that they need in order to make the best decision possible that they can for their preterm babies,” Whiting said. “The pain and suffering that these babies go through with this NEC is absolutely enormous. The way that it tears families apart — even if you’re a strong mom like Jasmine Watson — is significant.”
The lawsuits targeting the preterm formulas do not allege that the products are contaminated. The litigation is unrelated to Abbott’s baby formula recalls in 2022, which led to nationwide shortages.
‘An essential part of the medical toolkit’
Mead Johnson and Abbott, direct competitors in business, have been largely aligned in defending their respective preterm formulas, which they describe as “essential, safe, life-saving nutrition products” that have been successfully administered in NICUs for decades, according to court filings. The companies contend the mass litigation is itself “causing fear among parents” and “endangering the relationships” between parents and their physicians.
“No published study has ever concluded that defendants’ products cause NEC,” attorneys for the companies wrote in a joint filing in federal court. “Despite plaintiffs’ recent campaign against these products, NICU medical teams — including in the world’s best hospitals — continue to administer them as an essential part of the medical toolkit for treating these most fragile of patients.”
Amy Gates, a pediatric nutrition specialist who serves as Mead Johnson’s medical director, said in an interview after the Watson verdict that plaintiffs’ attorneys are “taking advantage” of the emotional impact that comes with the loss of a child.
“My fear is that we lose sight of the science and we allow emotion to win. And if that happens, there will be thousands of preemies who will be at risk,” Gates said. “Not every baby can sustain himself on just breast milk. And loss of access to these life-saving products would be a tragedy.”
The two companies have also argued that because their preterm formulas are used almost exclusively under medical supervision in hospital settings, they should therefore be considered by courts in the same manner as prescription medications and medical devices, where a legal principle known as the “learned intermediary doctrine” often applies. The logic of the doctrine is that medical professionals — the learned intermediaries — are best positioned to know the risks and benefits of a particular treatment and to communicate that to patients.
Three courts, however, have rejected that argument, declining to apply the doctrine to preterm infant formula, because – as one judge wrote – “it is not a recognized prescription medication or medical device.”
“At the end of the day, it’s the formula manufacturer — it’s their product. And so they are the ones that actually know the risks of using their own product,” Whiting said.
The presiding judge in the Watson case, in a pretrial ruling, rejected the learned intermediary defense and later instructed the jury — over Mead Johnson’s objections — that the company had a duty to warn “the consumer, like Jasmine Watson, about the dangers of its products,” according to court records.
Mead Johnson contends that jury instruction severely undercut their defense. The company argued at trial that it had no legal obligation to warn Watson or other patients, because the doctors who administer preterm formula already know about the risks of NEC.
“These patients are cared for by highly trained neonatologists and dietitians and clinical staff that know what they’re doing,” Gates said. “They fully understand the risks and benefits of everything they do for these patients.”
But Watson’s lawyers argued that testimony from doctors at trial indicated they did not fully appreciate the degree of risk allegedly associated with preterm formula.
“The doctors in this case talked about how there was a slight increased risk of NEC by switching to the formula, when in fact it’s a significant risk,” Whiting said. “And the doctors, they are not omnipotent. They don’t know everything there is to know about everything that’s out there. And that’s why at the end of the day, the legal duty on the manufacturers is to make sure to do everything that they can to make sure that the mom knows about the risk. And one of the ways they can do that is by giving a better warning to the doctors.”
‘A tragic disease’
NEC is a life-threatening intestinal disease predominantly impacting young neonates born prematurely, though it affects older and full-term babies in less common instances. Many infants recover, but the condition can lead to death or lifelong medical issues in the most severe cases.
“Babies who are born preterm, particularly those that are born with a birth weight less than three pounds, or who are very low birthweight, are at risk of a number of complications related to prematurity. That doesn’t just include NEC. It can also include their lungs and their brain,” said Dr. Ravi Patel, a neonatologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Patel, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Emory University, has been studying NEC for 14 years.
“It involves the sudden development of intestinal inflammation, and in severe cases, it can go on to where the tissue dies, and babies need surgery,” Patel said. “NEC is a tragic disease. But most people have never heard of NEC and don’t know what it is, even though it is a major contributor to neonatal mortality.”
The exact number of infants who have had NEC is unknown, but research shows the incidence of NEC has declined over the last 20 years. One recent study published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery found that on average, there were about 3,000 cases a year from 2006 to 2017. Despite similar declines in mortality rates, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that from 2017-2021, over 300 infants died from the disease each year, on average.
The cause of NEC is unknown, though it is believed to be a combination of multiple risk factors, the most important being premature birth and very low birthweight. Other possible factors include “the makeup of bacteria in the intestines, not enough blood flow or oxygen to the intestines, and an infant’s diet,” according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
“NEC is a multifactorial disease. It’s not just any single factor we can pinpoint to why babies develop NEC,” Patel said. “We know that babies who only get breast milk are still at risk.”
Though a definitive cause of NEC has not been determined, it has been shown that the use of breast milk can be protective.
“One of the best ways to prevent necrotizing enterocolitis is by breastfeeding,” said Patel, who is not involved in any of the litigation related to NEC. “Our goal is to always provide mother’s own milk, but when that’s not possible, the feeding choices involve donor milk as an option. And donor milk has been shown, particularly in recent studies, to lower the risk of NEC.”
An AAP policy statement in 2012 noted that “feeding preterm infants human milk is associated with a significant reduction (58%) in the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis” and recommended that “all preterm infants should receive human milk.” When mother’s own milk is unavailable “pasteurized donor milk, appropriately fortified, should be used,” the statement said.
Donor milk comes from mothers who have pumped more breast milk than they need. That milk is then collected and processed by networks of volunteers. Donor milk and maternal breast milk are typically fortified with extra calories and nutrients to meet the unique needs of premature infants in NICUs. Studies have also indicated that the pasteurization process — which kills bacteria and viruses that might be in the donor milk — may reduce many of the protective components of human milk.
“Overall, pasteurized donor milk is nutritionally suboptimal to a mother’s own milk,” according to an AAP clinical report published in 2021.
The Human Milk Banking Association of North America and its 33 milk banks dispensed nearly 10 million ounces of donor milk to 1,500 hospitals in 2023, the organization announced in February, but added that “the need for donor human milk continues to grow.”
An analysis by the CDC found that donor milk was unavailable for very-low-birthweight infants at 13% of advanced care NICUs, based on data from 2020. “Availability of donor milk at hospitals might be affected by supply from milk banks, cost, and reimbursement, which can vary by state and payment source,” the report said.
“Because donors’ milk is a limited resource, some babies do need formula to provide adequate nutrition,” Patel said. “We want to provide nourishment to babies, to make sure that they grow, that they get bigger, and ideally, that they can go home with their families.
“And those nutrition decisions are made at the bedside between clinicians and families, taking in the context of the unique circumstances of each baby,” he added.
‘Can’t be replicated’
Attorneys for Mead Johnson argued during Watson’s trial that the reason for differences in NEC rates is “not because formula is harmful. It’s because formula doesn’t protect in the same way that breast milk does. It doesn’t include the same protective factors.”
“We at Mead Johnson acknowledge that mother’s breast milk, in particular, is unique in its biologic protections that can’t be replicated,” Gates said. “Not every baby has access to breast milk. And there are many reasons why babies need alternatives and supplements. And we believe that access to safe and nutritious formula is extremely important. And loss of that access could put thousands of preemies at risk.”
The verdict in Watson’s lawsuit propelled the burgeoning legal dispute into international headlines and jolted the companies’ stock prices. Reckitt lost billions in market value following the jury’s decision in March, while Abbott shares dipped about 4% over two days.
Reckitt’s CEO, Kris Licht, told analysts during an earnings call in April that the company had “no plans to stop providing the product, as that would be detrimental to the care of preterm babies and their families.”
“I can tell you that we are spending a lot of time thinking about how to best navigate the litigation; how to prevail in the litigation,” Licht said.
The trial’s outcome also prompted a cautionary public statement from the NEC Society, a nonprofit patient-led advocacy group, urging against abrupt changes to neonatal care based on a single jury’s findings.
“Neonatal feeding decisions should be made at patients’ bedsides, not in courtrooms,” the organization said. “Verdicts like the Watson case may prompt ICUs to reconsider their approaches to feeding neonatal patients, but not necessarily in a way that better protects infants from NEC.”
Peter Pitts, a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration official, in an opinion article published in the Washington Times, argued that the litigation presents “a direct threat to the lives of America’s preterm infants.”
“Once again, tort lawyers, sensing a big payday, have put greed before civic duty by putting at risk one of our most at-risk populations – premature infants,” wrote Pitts, the founder of the nonprofit Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.
‘I would have made a different decision’
Watson said that she could not recall anyone talking to her about an elevated risk of NEC before her two sons were transitioned to formula and transferred to the hospital that did not use any donor breast milk.
“If I had known the risk of giving my children this formula, absolutely, I would have made a different decision,” she said. “I don’t want any other parents to ever have to go through that. I want them to know that you can ask questions. Make sure you understand.”
Two months after the conclusion of Watson’s case, Mead Johnson filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that the judge erred by precluding the company from presenting evidence of potential contributing causes of Chance Dean’s death, including an alleged accidental laceration or abrasion of his liver during the second of his three surgeries. The company also contends the jury instructions “erased the important role of physicians in making decisions for premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit.”
Watson’s attorneys argue in response that the company’s motion is “unfounded, and should be quickly denied so Mead Johnson can be finally held accountable for its actions, and so Chance Dean’s family can finally get the justice and closure they deserve,” according to court records.
“Despite the lengthy adversarial process and the resulting lawful jury instructions, Mead Johnson wants to lay blame for the jury’s verdict at the feet of this Court and not its own negligence or its own failure to warn,” Watson’s lawyers wrote.
The court has set a hearing on Mead Johnson’s post-trial motion for later this month.
Meanwhile, the first NEC case against Abbott is scheduled to go to trial on Monday, with the plaintiff, Margo Gill, alleging that her daughter suffered long-term health consequences from NEC, which she blames on the company’s preterm infant formula. Abbott has denied the allegations.
“These cases seek to advance a theory promoted by plaintiffs’ lawyers that has no basis in science and is not supported by the medical community. The allegations are without merit,” said Scott Stoffel, a vice president of public affairs for the company.
(HAZLEHURST, Miss.) — Police in Mississippi said Saturday they caught two murder suspects who escaped from a jail early Friday morning.
Tyrekennel Collins, 24, and Dezarrious Johnson, 18, were found in an abandoned home Saturday around noon by officers, following a 33-hour manhunt, according to police.
The suspects, who escaped from the Claiborne County Detention Center around 2:20 a.m. Friday, were considered armed and dangerous according to the authorities.
“When you have someone in jail and they are charged with murder, you get them apprehended as quick as possible because we don’t want them to go out and hurt any more individuals,” Jefferson County Sheriff James Bailey said, according to WAPT.
The sheriff’s office live streamed officers putting the suspects away in a police SUV on its Facebook page.
“Early this morning, two inmates escaped from the Claiborne County Detention Center,” said the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department in a statement on social media on Friday. “The escape occurred at approximately 2:20 AM.”
Sheriff Edward Goods said both suspects were caught on camera escaping through the ceiling and leaving behind the outside wall, according to ABC News’ Jackson, Mississippi, affiliate station, WAPT.
Both suspects are charged with murder. Collins was being held for a crime in Copiah County while Johnson, who is from the Natchez area, was being held for Jefferson County, according to the Claiborne County Sheriff Department.
(WASHINGTON) — A second local radio host on Saturday told ABC News that he was provided a list of questions in advance of his interview with President Joe Biden this week.
“Yes, I was given some questions for Biden,” Earl Ingram of CivicMedia told ABC News. Ingram, a prominent host of a Wisconsin radio station, interviewed Biden this week in the wake of his debate performance.
Ingram said he was given five questions and ended up asking four of them.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to ask,” he said.
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Ingram told ABC he didn’t see anything necessarily wrong with the practice. “To think that I was gonna get an opportunity to ask any question to the President of the United States, I think, is a bit more than anybody should expect,” he said.
He continued that he was grateful for the opportunity to interview Biden at all.
“Certainly the fact that they gave me this opportunity … meant a lot to me,” Ingraham said.
“The questions were sent to me for approval; I approved of them,” she said.
“I got several questions — eight of them,” she continued. “And the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved.”
Responding to Lawful-Sanders, Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement that it’s not “uncommon” for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. She noted that Lawful-Sanders was “free” to ask any questions she saw fit. She also noted that it was the campaign who sent over the questions and not the White House as other reports claim.
Lawful-Sanders did note in her interview with CNN that she ultimately “approved” the questions provided.
“It’s not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. These questions were relevant to news of the day – the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he’d delivered for black Americans,” the statement said. “We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners. In addition to these interviews, the President also participated in a press gaggle yesterday as well as an interview with ABC. Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate.”
(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Beryl is targeting the Gulf Coast of Texas after dealing a destructive blow to several islands in the Caribbean and the resort coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
Beryl is projected to re-strengthen into a hurricane before it makes landfall just north of the U.S.-Mexico border late Sunday into Monday morning.
Beryl, the earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in history, killed at least seven people in the Windward Islands — including Grenada and Carriacou — before skirting south of Jamaica, shutting down communications, stranding tourists and delivering storm surge and flooding rain to the island.
Here’s how the news is developing.
Jul 06, 12:33 PM Hurricane watch in effect for parts of Texas
A Hurricane Watch is in effect in Texas from the Rio Grande Valley to San Luis Pass, just west of Galveston Island, with a Storm Surge Watch from the mouth of the Rio Grande northward to High Island, Texas.
Storm surge is forecast to be 3 to 5 feet in Corpus Christi and Matagorda Bay, and 2 to 4 feet in Galveston Bay. These numbers are subject to change depending on the exact track and intensity of the storm as it approaches landfall.
Residents along the Texas coast need to be prepared for a powerful hurricane with life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds, and significant flooding.
Flooding rain is often the most impactful aspect of tropical systems. In terms of rainfall amounts, much of southeastern Texas is looking at 5 to 10 inches, with locally higher amounts up to 15 inches. Most of this rain will fall on Monday and Tuesday.
Jul 06, 12:27 PM Now a tropical storm, Beryl expected to strengthen before hitting Texas
Beryl remains a tropical storm with winds of 60 mph as it churns in the Gulf of Mexico as of Saturday morning, but it is expected to strengthen before hitting Texas on Sunday with potential Category 1 strength.
On Saturday, Beryl may take some time to recover, but is forecast to begin strengthening by the end of the day. The storm is moving into favorable conditions for hurricanes, with warm water and limited wind shear.
The track from the National Hurricane Center takes Beryl towards the Texas coast by late Sunday night into early Monday, likely as a strong Category 1 Hurricane.
Currently, the most likely landfall location is around Matagorda Island, just east of Corpus Christi, but that will likely need to be adjusted as the storm’s track becomes more “fine-tuned” in the next day or so.
(NEW YORK) — Two teenage sisters drowned Friday night after they got lost in the waters off Coney Island beach in Brooklyn, New York, according to police and witnesses.
The unidentified 17- and 18-year-old victims allegedly went back into the water around 8 p.m. after beach crowds headed for cover during a rainstorm, witnesses told WABC.
Police immediately searched the shore on foot and with boats for the girls. They were found around 9:30 p.m. and rushed to Coney Island Hospital where they were later pronounced dead, police said.
Search and rescue teams originally said they were also looking for an adult who reportedly went in the water after the teens but police said Saturday that no adult was missing.
(LOS ANGELES) — The family of a Los Angeles woman who was shot in her vehicle this week and later died is calling for an investigation into her shooting and what they say was a delayed response by a sheriff’s deputy.
Raejonette Morgan, 22, was shot on Tuesday while in her vehicle in a busy intersection in South Los Angeles and died of her wounds at UCLA General Harbor Hospital on Thursday, police said.
At a press conference on Friday, Morgan’s family called for the perpetrators who committed the shooting and the sheriff’s deputy at the scene, who they accuse of calling in a fatality for Morgan and not immediately attempting to assist her, to be held accountable for her death.
“I’m going to demand that justice — she gets justice for what happened to her,” Anginette Morgan, Raejonette Morgan’s mother, said at the press conference. “The officers that were involved. They need to step aside or we need some investigation.”
There have been no arrests made in connection to the shooting at this time and no description of a suspect was released, according to police.
The shooting has garnered national attention due to a Facebook Live video filmed and posted by a bystander, Dionne Leslie-Pullen, who spoke at the press conference Friday.
From Leslie-Pullen’s point of view, the video shows Morgan in a white vehicle with multiple bullet holes in the driver’s seat window. Behind Morgan’s vehicle, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy can be seen in a patrol car, not approaching the vehicle, while Leslie-Pullen asks the deputy to help, eventually breaking Morgan’s car window with her shoe.
“She’s still breathing. Can we help her?” Leslie-Pullen asks the deputy in the video reviewed by ABC News. A response from the deputy cannot be heard.
Leslie-Pullen said on Friday that she ducked into a nearby dispensary when she started to hear shots, then stepped out and began filming after the shots had ended.
“Do you know how that feels? To know that she could have been saved, she was smiling. She fought when she got out,” Leslie-Pullen said at the press conference.
ABC News has not seen the full video.
The Sheriff’s Department said it is conducting a review of the incident to determine if department policies and procedures were followed, according to a statement sent to ABC station in Los Angeles, KABC.
“We are deeply concerned about this incident and detectives are diligently working to solve this heinous murder and bring justice to the family. We extend our sincere condolences to the family of Raejonette Morgan during this tragic time. The Department is unwavering in our commitment to saving lives and protecting our community members in any emergency situation,” the Sheriff’s Department statement said.
The department said it was initially unclear whether the vehicle belonged to the suspect or the victim and the deputy requested assistance, according to KABC.
A spokesperson for the department did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. The name of the responding deputy has not been released.
Ali and Morgan’s family stressed during Friday’s news conference that those behind the shooting must be found and held accountable as well.
“I don’t want her death to go in vain. Even though she’s going to always be here in my heart. That was my only baby,” Morgan’s mother said. “She was only 22 years old and she did not deserve to die like that.”
(WASHIGNTON) — President Joe Biden, in an exclusive interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, acknowledged last week’s debate was a “bad episode” but pushed back strongly against broader questions about his age and mental fitness.
Stephanopoulos, over the course of 22 minutes, pressed Biden repeatedly not only on his debate performance against Donald Trump but also on reports that his lapses have become increasingly common these past few months — and on what he would be willing to do to reassure the American people.
“Are you the same man today that you were when you took office three-and-a-half years ago?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“In terms of successes, yes,” Biden responded. “I also was the guy who put together a peace plan for the Middle East that may be comin’ to fruition. I was also the guy that expanded NATO. I was also the guy that grew the economy. All the individual things that were done were ideas I had or I fulfilled. I moved on.”
“Do you dispute that there have been more lapses, especially in the last several months?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But I’m still in good shape,” Biden said.
Stephanopoulos followed up, asking, “Are you more frail?”
“No,” Biden said, flatly.
Biden’s sit-down with ABC News is his first television interview since the June 27 debate. ABC News reached out to Trump to offer him an equivalent interview opportunity, but his team declined.
The interview is part of a push from the White House and the campaign to recalibrate after Biden’s halting debate performance left some Democrats panicked about his ability to carry out a grueling reelection campaign and a second term.
Looking ahead to a possible second term, Stephanopoulos said the question on the minds of many Americans is whether Biden would be able to serve effectively. If reelected, Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term.
“Do you have the mental and physical capacity to do it for another four years?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“I believe so. I wouldn’t be runnin’ if I didn’t think I did,” Biden said. “Look, I’m runnin’ again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new new level. We’re on our way. We’re on our way. And, look. The decision recently made by the Supreme Court on immunity, you know, the next President of the United States, it’s not just about whether he or she knows what they’re doin’.
“It’s– it’s– it’s not– not about a con– a conglomerate of people making decisions,” Biden continued. “It’s about the character of the president. The character of the president’s gonna determine whether or not this Constitution is employed the right way.”
Stephanopoulos then pressed him, asking if in on a personal level, Biden was being honest with himself about his mental and physical ability to lead for four more years.
“Yes, I am, because, George, the last thing I want to do is not be able to meet that,” Biden said. “I think, as some of senior economists and senior foreign policy specialists say, if I stop now, I go down in history as a pretty successful president. No one thought I could get done what we got done.”
Biden declined to agree to have an independent medical evaluation that included cognitive tests and share the results with the public.
Biden also repeatedly brushed off recent poll numbers that show him behind Trump both in the general election and in specific swing states, as well as concerns voiced by some Democrats that staying in the race is not in the interest of the party or the country.
“If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Donald Trump, will you stand down?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“It depends on — on if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that,” Biden said.
(WASHINGTON) — Despite a drop in multiple polls after his debate performance last week, President Joe Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Friday that he doesn’t believe the numbers and thinks more Americans back him than the polls indicate.
During his first television interview since the debate, Stephanopoulos pressed Biden on recent surveys that show he had lost ground to former President Donald Trump and still had a low approval rating.
A New York Times/Siena College poll released on Monday found that the president had a 36% approval rating among likely voters.
“Mr. President, I’ve never seen a president [with] 36% approval get reelected,” Stephanopoulos said
“Well, I don’t believe that’s my approval rating. That’s not what our polls show,” Biden responded.
Biden didn’t make clear what his campaign’s internal polls show his approval rating to be.
The same Times/Siena College poll showed Trump gained ground with voters after the debate with a 49-41% split. An Ipsos poll released on Tuesday also showed the race was a toss-up with 40% split between both candidates.
ABC News had reached out to Trump to offer him an equivalent platform to Biden, but his team declined.
Stephanopoulos questioned Biden on why the race was a close even though Trump was a convicted felon. In May, the former president was found guilty of 34 felonies in his New York hush-money trial.
“You guys keep saying that. George, do you– look, you know polling better than anybody. Do you think polling data as accurate as it used to be?” Biden asked.
“I don’t think so, but I think, when you look at all the polling data right now, it shows that he’s certainly ahead in the popular vote, probably — even more ahead in the battleground states,” Stephanopoulos responded.
The president acknowledged that some polls show Democratic House and Senate candidates polling better than he does, but added that he’s seen similar scenarios in the recent election cycles.
“I carried an awful lot of Democrats last time I ran in 2020. Look, I remember them telling me the same thing in 2020, ‘I can’t win, the polls show I can’t win.’ Remember 2024 — 2020 — the red wave was coming. Before the vote, ‘I said that’s not going to happen, we’re going to win,'” Biden said.
Stephanopoulos questioned if Biden had heard from some complaints from Democrats who questioned his future and some who have asked him to step down.
When asked how he would respond if congressional Democratic leadership came to him and said they were worried he was bringing other candidates down, Biden responded he would “go into detail with them.”
“I’ve speaken with all of them in detail, including [Rep.] Jim Clyburn, everyone of them. They all said I should stay in the race. Stay in the race. No one said — none of the people said I should leave.”
Stephanopoulos pressed on.
“If you are told reliably from your allies, from your friends and supporters in the Democratic Party in the House and the Senate, that they’re concerned you’re going to lose the House and the Senate, if you stay in, what will you do?” he asked.
“I’m not gonna answer that question. It’s not gonna happen,” Biden responded.
Stephanopoulos brought up the fact that some polling showed the number of people who think Biden is too old to be president has doubled since 2020 and asked the president if he thought it was going to be tougher to beat Trump.
“Not when you’re running against a pathological liar. Not when he hadn’t been challenged in a way he’s about to be challenged,” the president said.
Biden added that the pollsters he has talked to have said the race is a “toss-up.”
“New York Times had me behind before anything having to do with this race, had me hind — behind 10 points. Ten points they had me behind,” he said. “Nothing’s changed substantially since the debate.”
Biden doubled down on his claims and contended that he didn’t believe the poll numbers that showed he was down in the popular vote.
“Is it worth the risk?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be president or win this race than me,” Biden responded.
