In this handout, the mug shot of Jeffrey Epstein, 2019. (Photo by Kypros/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A group of Jeffrey Epstein survivors are set to speak at the Capitol on Wednesday morning.
The 10:30 a.m. ET news conference comes as a bipartisan pair of lawmakers push to force a vote on the House floor on releasing the Epstein files.
Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie defended the effort he and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna’s are making, emphasizing late Tuesday that all eyes will be on hearing the survivors of Epstein’s sexual abuse and alleged trafficking speak out.
“I think what’s going to change everything is tomorrow at 10:30, when we have the survivors testifying in public, some of whom have never spoken publicly, and they’ve already met with the Oversight Committee, and it was allegedly a very emotional meeting, and that’s all behind closed doors. But it’s going to be open to the public tomorrow,” he said Tuesday.
Massie accused the White House of not wanting to release the files.
“Look, if my legislation were redundant, why would the White House be trying to stop it? It’s not redundant. There are things that the White House doesn’t want out there that my legislation would cause to be released.”
Asked to respond to President Donald Trump calling the Epstein investigation “a hoax,” Massie said, “I hope he doesn’t say that after tomorrow when 10 of the survivors testify, that would be very disrespectful.”
So far, four Republicans have signed the discharge petition — a procedural tool to bypass GOP leadership and force a vote on a measure to compel the Justice Department to publicly release the Epstein files. Those signers include Massie, Reps. Nancy Mace, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. If all 212 Democrats sign the petition, only two Republicans are needed to reach the 218 needed force a vote on the House floor.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, after an hourslong meeting with Epstein survivors on Tuesday, said Republicans were committed to transparency on Epstein, but reiterated his opposition to Massie and Khanna’s petition.
“It does not adequately protect the innocent victims, and that is a critical component,” Johnson said.
Massie also weighed in on the Epstein document release on Tuesday from the House Oversight Committee, which included tens of thousands of pages, saying he still plans to move forward with his discharge petition.
“I haven’t had time to look at all the documents that have been released by the Oversight Committee, but I think the scope of their investigation is such that the things they requested aren’t even going to include all the things that we need, and the few documents that we have been able to view are heavily redacted to the degree that they wouldn’t show us anything new,” he said.
Massie added, “Somebody needs to show us what’s new in those documents, to know whether it’s moot or not.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said the pages released by the panel on Tuesday were “already mostly public information.”
“To the American people — don’t let this fool you,” Garcia said. “After careful review, Oversight Democrats have found that 97% of the documents received from the Department of Justice were already public. There is no mention of any client list or anything that improves transparency or justice for victims.”
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and charged in a federal indictment with conspiracy and child sex trafficking. He died in custody a month later, while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging.
Chinese President Xi jinping (R) shows the way to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025 at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Centre on September 1, 2025 in Tianjin, China. (Photo by Suo Takekuma – Pool/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump took to his social media platform as Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared together in Beijing for China’s largest-ever military parade on Wednesday.
Trump accused Xi of “conspiring against” the United States as they attended the parade, which marked the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.
“May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration. Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America,” Trump wrote on social media as the parade was underway.
Trump referenced America’s involvement in World War II in his post on, saying, “The big question to be answered is whether or not President Xi of China will mention the massive amount of support and ‘blood’ that The United States of America gave to China in order to help it to secure its FREEDOM from a very unfriendly foreign invader.”
“Many Americans died in China’s quest for Victory and Glory. I hope that they are rightfully Honored and Remembered for their Bravery and Sacrifice!” the president wrote.
In his remarks at the parade, held in front of the Tiananmen Gate, Xi hailed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army as a “heroic force” and spoke of nations and treating each other as equals.
“The Chinese nation is a great nation that does not fear violence, and that stands independent and strong,” Xi said. “In the past, when confronted with a life-or-death struggle between justice and evil, light and darkness, progress and reaction, the Chinese people stood united, rose up in resistance, and fought for the survival of the country, the rejuvenation of the nation and the cause of human justice.”
Yuri Ushakov, a top aide to Putin, dismissed Trump’s conspiracy allegations.
“I want to say that no one organized any conspiracies, no one was weaving anything, no conspiracies,” Ushakov told Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin, who is close to the Kremlin and has previously interviewed Putin. “Moreover, no one even had that in their minds, none of these three leaders had that,” Ushakov said.
“Everyone understands the role that the United States, the current administration of President Trump and President Trump personally play in the current international arrangements,” Ushakov said in a video posted by Zarubin to his Telegram channel.
Kim, Xi and Putin gathered for the military parade amid Ukrainian and Western concerns over the collaboration of the three nations in bolstering Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ongoing since February 2022.
Putin sent an invitation to meet with Kim on the sidelines of the military parade, according to Putin’s top foreign policy aide. The two leaders met after the event, according to a Kremlin readout published Wednesday.
Putin thanked Kim for sending North Korean troops to fight Ukraine’s incursion in Russia’s western Kursk region last year. “I would like to emphasize that your soldiers fought valiantly and heroically,” the president said, according to the Kremlin’s readout. “We will never forget the sacrifices made by your armed forces and the families of your military personnel.”
In response, Kim said, “As I said during our previous meeting, if there is anything we can do to help Russia, we will certainly do that, and we will regard this as our fraternal duty. We will do everything in our power to assist Russia.”
After the meeting, Putin and Kim hugged in front of reporters, with the Russian leader inviting Kim to visit Russia. “Come back again,” Putin said.
The North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a Wednesday statement that Kim was “enveloped in an atmosphere of the warmest friendship and enthusiastic welcome” on his arrival in Beijing.
Ukrainian and Western governments have accused North Korea of supplying significant amounts of ammunition and troops to support Russia’s war, while Kyiv and its NATO backers have identified China as Moscow’s prime source of materiel and a vital economic lifeline.
ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova, Somayeh Malekian and Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — More than a year after a Secret Service counter sniper team killed a would-be assassin targeting President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, a report from the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General found the team faces “chronic understaffing.”
“The United States Secret Service’s (Secret Service) Counter Sniper Team (CS) is staffed 73 percent below the level necessary to meet mission requirements,” the inspector general’s report says. “Failure to appropriately staff CS could limit the Secret Service’s ability to properly protect our Nation’s most senior leaders, risking injury or assassination, and subsequent national-level harm to the country’s sense of safety and security.”
The Secret Service does not have an effective process to hire counter snipers, the IG found; all the while, the demand for them increased 151% from 2020 to 2024.
It takes about three years from the time a uniformed Secret Service officer joins the agency to when they can join the counter sniper team, according to the IG.
Counter snipers who missed mandatory weapons training supported 47 of the 426 events (11%) attended by protectees in calendar year 2024, the inspector general found.
Those events included events attended by then-President Joe Biden, including the wake for Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson in Dallas on Jan. 8, 2024, a campaign reception in New York on Feb. 7, 2024, and when he delivered remarks in Manchester, New Hampshire on March 11, 2024.
The United States Secret Service has 344 protectees and supported 5,141 protective visits (4,723 domestic, 337 foreign, and 81 U.S. territorial), and its budget is about $1.2 billion to support protectees, according to the IG.
While the number of total counter snipers was redacted, the IG found that during the 2024 campaign, the Secret Service would sometimes rely on other components’ counter snipers. For example, when the president is visiting a site, a Secret Service counter sniper team would automatically be assigned, but if it was for another protectee, the Secret Service might assign another component’s team or rely on state and local support because of the staffing issues, the IG found.
In an August 2024 letter, the acting deputy director of ICE asked for Homeland Security Investigations Special Response teams to be embedded with the counter sniper teams to better cover residences in Palm Beach, Florida, and Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
The Secret Service agreed with the inspector general’s assessment of the counter sniper team and are working on hiring more officers to become counter snipers.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday again took aim at Chicago as he suggested federal intervention is needed to combat crime.
Trump pointed to gun violence in the city over Labor Day weekend, as eight people were killed and more than 50 injured.
“Chicago is the worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “Pritzker needs help badly, he just doesn’t know it yet. I will solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in DC. Chicago will be safe again, and soon.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, is set to hold a news conference at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday afternoon to address residents amid reports of federal deployments to Chicago.
Pritzker and local Chicago officials have rejected Trump’s desire to send National Guard troops to the city. Pritzker, during an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, said such a move would be “un-American.”
“National Guard troops, any kind of troops on the streets of an American city don’t belong, unless there is an insurrection, unless there is truly an emergency. There is not,” Pritzker said. He said if troops are sent to the city, it would amount to an “invasion.”
On Monday, Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson led a chant of “no troops in Chicago” at a Labor Day march.
“No federal troops in the city of Chicago, no militarized force in the city of Chicago,” he said in fiery remarks. “We’re going to defend our democracy in the city of Chicago. We’re going to protect the humanity of every single person in the city of Chicago.”
Violent crime in Chicago dropped significantly in the first half of the year, according to official data released by the city. Shootings were down 37% and homicides have dropped by 32% compared to the first half of 2024, while total violence crime dropped by over 22%, according to the crime statistics.
A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News last month that planning was underway at the Pentagon for the potential use of National Guard troops in Chicago — an area Trump has repeatedly singled out as he mulled sending the Guard to other major American cities following his federal takeover of Washington.
Trump then appeared to back off somewhat, saying he preferred cities ask for his administration’s assistance.
But over the weekend, referencing recent crime, Trump warned Pritzker to “straighten it out, FAST, or we’re coming!”
Meanwhile, the administration is preparing for a surge in increased immigration enforcement operations in Chicago as soon as this week, sources told ABC News.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the intention was for more resources to be sent to Chicago but did not divulge details.
“I won’t disclose the details because they are law enforcement and investigative folks that are on the ground there, and I want to make sure we keep their security our number one priority,” Noem said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “But we will continue to go after the worst of the worst across the country, like President Trump has told us to do, focusing on those that are perpetuating murder and rape and trafficking of drugs and humans across our country, knowing that every single citizen deserves to be safe.”
ABC News’ Luke Barr, Michael Pappano and Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
DHS police and Marines guard the Federal Detention Center on Thursday, July 17, 2025 as people protest against immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, CA. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration’s use of federal troops in Los Angeles to conduct law enforcement operations is unlawful, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued an order prohibiting troops from engaging in security patrols, riot control, arrests, searches and crowd control. The order does not take effect until Sept. 12 to allow the Trump administration to appeal.
Breyer said the use of federal troops effectively created a “national police force with the president as its chief” and violated the Posse Comitatus Act.
“The evidence at trial established that Defendants systematically used armed soldiers (whose identity was often obscured by protective armor) and military vehicles to set up protective perimeters and traffic blockades, engage in crowd control, and otherwise demonstrate a military presence in and around Los Angeles. In short, Defendants violated the Posse Comitatus Act,” Breyer wrote.
The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act limits the military from being involved in civilian law enforcement unless Congress approves it or under circumstances “expressly authorized by the Constitution.”
One exception is the Insurrection Act, a 218-year-old law signed by President Thomas Jefferson.The Insurrection Act states, in part: “Whenever there is an insurrection in any State against its government, the President may, upon the request of its legislature or of its governor if the legislature cannot be convened, call into Federal service such of the militia of the other States, in the number requested by that State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to suppress the insurrection.”
Another provision states it can be used “whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings.”
Breyer issued his decision after holding a three-day trial last month featuring testimony from military leadership about the ongoing operations in the Los Angeles area.
In June, Breyer also ruled President Donald Trump lacked the authority under the Insurrection Act to federalize the National Guard, concluding that the immigration protests in the city failed to meet the criteria of a “rebellion.”
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Siavosh Hosseini/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was injured in a vehicle accident Saturday evening in New Hampshire, his security chief said in a statement on Sunday.
A source familiar with his condition told ABC News on Monday that Giuliani is now out of the hospital and in good spirits. He remains in New Hampshire, the source added.
Giuliani’s security chief, Michael Ragusa, said on Sunday that Giuliani was taken to a nearby trauma center after the accident, where he was diagnosed with “a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg.”
Before the incident, Ragusa said Giuliani was flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident and that he rendered assistance and contacted 911. He remained on the scene until responding officers arrived to ensure her safety, Ragusa said in a statement.
After the incident while traveling on a highway, Giuliani’s vehicle was struck from behind at high speed, Ragusa said. His business partner and medical provider were contacted and arrived at the hospital to oversee his care.
Ragusa later said in a statement on X: “He sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously. Thank you for the prayers & support.”
He later followed up on his post, saying, “This was not a targeted attack. We ask everyone to respect Mayor Giuliani’s privacy and recovery, and refrain from spreading unfounded conspiracy theories.”
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge on Sunday blocked the Trump administration from deporting 76 unaccompanied Guatemalan children from the United States to Guatemala.
A judge had temporarily blocked the administration from removing the minors and set an emergency hearing for 3 p.m. Sunday, but U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan moved the hearing to 12:30 p.m. after the court was notified the Guatemalan children were “in the process of being removed from the U.S.”
“The Court ORDERS that the Defendants cease any ongoing efforts to transfer, repatriate, remove, or otherwise facilitate the transport of any Plaintiff or member of the putative class from the United States,” Sookananan wrote. “The putative class includes all Guatemalan unaccompanied minors in Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement custody as of 1:02 AM on August 31, 2025, the time of the filing of the Complaint, who are not subject to an executable final order of removal,” the order said.
All of the children had been deplaned and were in the process of returning to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement Sunday evening, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign said.
The government will notify the court when the transfer of all of the children is confirmed, he said.
Attorney Efrén Olivares had asked the judge to keep the hearing going until all of the children were deplaned, saying there have been several instances where “allegations of confusion and misunderstanding have resulted in irreparable harm.”
The hearing on Sunday is reminiscent of an incident in March when several Venezuelan migrants were deported to the CECOT prison in El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act, despite a judge issuing a temporary restraining order barring the removals.
This time, however, Ensign said that the flight he believed might have departed had returned and that he expects the children to deplane because of the judge’s order.
Sooknanan expressed skepticism during the hearing over the legality of the administration’s attempt to repatriate the children. She said she received notice of the complaint at 2 a.m. Sunday and that she personally tried to reach the U.S. attorney’s office, leaving a voice message at 3:43 a.m. saying that she wanted to hear from the government before she issued her temporary restraining order
“We are here on a holiday weekend where I have the government attempting to remove unaccompanied minors from the country in the wee hours of the morning on a holiday weekend, which is surprising, but here we are,” she said.
Ensign argued that the Trump administration was removing the children in accordance with the law and at the request of the Guatemalan government and the legal guardians of the children.
“The government of Guatemala has requested the return of these children and all of these children have their parents or guardians in Guatemala who are requesting their return, and United States government is trying to facilitate the return of these children to their parents or guardians from whom they have been separated,” Ensign said.
Olivares strongly disagreed with that argument.
“Some of the children do not have either parent, some of the children have fear of returning to Guatemala so have not requested to return, do not want to return,” he said.
The National Immigration Law Center believes more than 600 Guatemalan children could be at risk of being returned to their home country.
Sooknanan appeared to question the validity of the government’s argument.
“I have conflicting narratives from both sides here on whether what is happening here is an attempt to reunite these children with their parents or just return these children to Guatemala where they face harm,” she said.
Sooknanan read declarations from some of the children submitted in court filings, including one from one child who said their parents had received a “strange phone call” notifying them that the U.S. government was trying to deport them to Guatemala along with other minors.
“Every one of these 10 declarants who are named plaintiffs speak about being afraid of going back to Guatemala,” she said, adding that some of the children had faced abuse and neglect from some of their family members.
In earlier court filings, attorneys accuse the Trump administration of attempting to repatriate more than 600 unaccompanied Guatemalan minors in coordination with the Guatemalan government in violation of laws that prevent such moves without giving them the opportunity to challenge the removals.
Unaccompanied minors are migrants under the age of 18 who have come to the country without a legal guardian and do not have legal status. The children in question in the lawsuit are all reportedly in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
In a statement, the National Immigration Law Center, which filed the lawsuit, said the Trump administration is denying the Guatemalan children from being able to present their case before an immigration judge.
“It is a dark and dangerous moment for this country when our government chooses to target orphaned 10-year-olds and denies them their most basic legal right to present their case before an immigration judge,” said Olivares, vice president of litigation at the NILC. “The Constitution and federal laws provide robust protections to unaccompanied minors specifically because of the unique risks they face. We are determined to use every legal tool at our disposal to force the administration to respect the law and not send any child to danger.”
In another court filing, NILC said that after it attempted to inform the government that it had filed a motion for a temporary restraining order, it learned shelters in South Texas had been “notified to prepare Guatemalan children in their custody for discharge.”
“Upon information and belief, ICE agents and their contractors have started attempting to pick up Guatemalan unaccompanied children from shelters in South Texas to transport them to the airport for potential removal from the United States as soon as the early morning of Sunday, August 31, 2025,” NILC said in the filing.
The lawsuit was filed on Sunday after legal service providers received notices from the Office of Refugee Resettlement that children in their program have been identified for reunification. In the notice, the agency said that court proceedings for children identified by the agency “may be dismissed.”
“ORR Care Providers must take proactive measures to ensure UAC are prepared for discharge within 2 hours of receiving this notification,” the notice said.
In one of the notices submitted in court filings, ORR has informed certain attorneys for unaccompanied minors that the “Government of Guatemala has requested the return of certain unaccompanied alien children in general custody” to be reunited “with suitable family members.”
In the statement, NILC said that because most Guatemalan children in U.S. custody are indigenous and many speak languages other than English or Spanish, they are more vulnerable to “being misled by officials looking to deport them.”
One of the children represented in the case is a 10-year-old indigenous girl who speaks a rare language.
“Her mother is deceased and she suffered abuse and neglect from other caregivers,” the complaint says.
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge on Sunday blocked the Trump administration from deporting hundreds of unaccompanied Guatemalan children from the U.S. to Guatemala.
A federal judge had temporarily blocked the administration from removing the minors and set an emergency hearing for 3 p.m. Sunday, but U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan moved the hearing to 12:30 p.m after the court was notified the Guatemalan children were “in the process of being removed from the U.S.”
“The Court ORDERS that the Defendants cease any ongoing efforts to transfer, repatriate, remove, or otherwise facilitate the transport of any Plaintiff or member of the putative class from the United States,” Sookananan wrote. “The putative class includes all Guatemalan unaccompanied minors in Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement custody as of 1:02 AM on August 31, 2025, the time of the filing of the Complaint, who are not subject to an executable final order of removal,” the order says.,
In an ongoing hearing, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign said it is “possible” that one flight has taken off but has returned. However, he said all of the children covered in the lawsuit are still in the custody of the United States and that planes on the ground will not take off in light of the order.
An attorney representing the children said that he’s aware that the children have not been deplaned and are in Harlingen and El Paso, Texas.
In court filings, attorneys accuse the Trump administration of attempting to repatriate more than 600 unaccompanied Guatemalan minors in coordination with the Guatemalan government in violation of laws that prevent such moves without giving them the opportunity to challenge the removals.
Unaccompanied minors are migrants under the age of 18 who have come to the country without a legal guardian and do not have legal status. The children in question in the lawsuit are all reportedly in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
In a statement, the National Immigration Law Center, which filed the lawsuit, said the Trump administration is denying the Guatemalan children from being able to present their case before an immigration judge.
“It is a dark and dangerous moment for this country when our government chooses to target orphaned 10-year-olds and denies them their most basic legal right to present their case before an immigration judge,” said Efrén C. Olivares, vice president of litigation at the NILC. “The Constitution and federal laws provide robust protections to unaccompanied minors specifically because of the unique risks they face. We are determined to use every legal tool at our disposal to force the administration to respect the law and not send any child to danger.”
In another court filing, NILC said that after it attempted to inform the government that it had filed a motion for a temporary restraining order, they learned shelters in South Texas had been “notified to prepare Guatemalan children in their custody for discharge.”
“Upon information and belief, ICE agents and their contractors have started attempting to pick up Guatemalan unaccompanied children from shelters in South Texas to transport them to the airport for potential removal from the United States as soon as the early morning of Sunday, August 31, 2025,” NILC said in the filing.
The lawsuit was filed on Saturday after legal service providers received notices from the Office of Refugee Resettlement that children in their program have been identified for reunification. In the notice, the agency said that court proceedings for children identified by the agency “may be dismissed.”
“ORR Care Providers must take proactive measures to ensure UAC are prepared for discharge within 2 hours of receiving this notification,” the notice said.
In one of the notices submitted in court filings, ORR has informed certain attorneys for unaccompanied minors that the “Government of Guatemala has requested the return of certain unaccompanied alien children in general custody” to be reunited “with suitable family members.”
In the statement, NILC said that because most Guatemalan children in U.S. custody are indigenous and many speak languages other than English or Spanish, they are more vulnerable to “being misled by officials looking to deport them.”
One of the children represented in the case is a 10 year old indigenous girl who speaks a rare language.
“Her mother is deceased and she suffered abuse and neglect from other caregivers,” the complaint says.
(NEW YORK) — Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) immunizations chief Dr. Demetre Daskalakis said Sunday that he’s concerned with the direction the agency is going and worried about public health going forward.
Daskalakis, who served as director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, submitted his resignation from the CDC on Wednesday in protest following the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) removing CDC Director Susan Monarez from her position. In his resignation letter, Daskalakis denounced HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s leadership of both the HHS and the CDC.
“From my vantage point as a doctor who’s taken the Hippocratic Oath, I only see harm coming. I may be wrong, but based on what I’m seeing, based on what I’ve heard with the new members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, or ACIP, they’re really moving in an ideological direction where they want to see the undoing of vaccination,” Daskalakis told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz.
Daskalakis disagreed with changes to recommendations on who should get the new COVID-19 vaccine this fall, with the new dosage has been approved only for people aged 65 and up and children and adults with underlying health conditions that put them at high risk, creating confusion and uncertainty for people who want the latest vaccination who don’t meet these parameters.
Daskalakis said there is now no separation of political ideology and science with Kennedy leading HHS.
“I didn’t think that we were going to be able to present science in a way free of ideology, that the firewall between science and ideology has completely broken down. And not having a scientific leader at CDC meant that we wouldn’t be able to have the necessary diplomacy and connection with HHS to be able to really execute on good public health,” Daskalakis said in explaining why he resigned.
Former acting CDC Director Dr. Richard Besser, now president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, told Raddatz he’s heavily concerned amid the major shakeup at the CDC.
“The difference is going to be profound. The CDC is an absolutely critical piece of the protection for Americans from any public health threat. Now, with the director being removed, senior leadership leaving, I have great fears for what will happen to this country the next time we face a public health emergency, whether it’s a massive earthquake, a new infectious agent or, unfortunately, the next pandemic,” Besser said.
Besser also has concerns on how Kennedy’s opposition to vaccine mandates is going to impact public health.
“When I think about mandates, I think about children going to school. I think about young parents who are sending their children to school and want to know that their children are safe, and the way children are safe from vaccine-preventable diseases is by getting vaccinated themselves. But no vaccine is 100%. And so you count on the other children in that classroom being vaccinated. I think with this secretary, we are on a path to it being largely parental choice, and that is going to put at risk those people for whom the vaccine didn’t work and children who may have medical conditions where they can’t get vaccinated. That is a major step backwards for public health,” Besser said.
(BALTIMORE) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore defended his rhetoric against President Donald Trump over crime in his home city of Baltimore amid an escalating feud between the two leaders.
“I have no interest in fighting with the president, but I have an interest in fighting for my communities and fighting for our people,” Moore told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz in an interview that aired Sunday.
Earlier this month, Trump offered to send the National Guard into other cities across the country after his law enforcement surge into Washington, D.C., calling Baltimore “so far gone.” Moore responded by formally inviting the president to join him and Baltimore officials on a public safety walk.
After the two continued to trade barbs on social media, Trump rebuked the invitation and renewed his threat to send the National Guard into Baltimore, calling the city a “hellhole” in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
“Wes Moore was telling me he wants — ‘I want to walk with the president.’ Well, I said, ‘I want to walk with you, too, someday. But first you’ve got to clean up your crime,” Trump said.
Baltimore, like most of the U.S., has seen a drop in crime and homicides in recent years, but remains one of the country’s most violent cities. It had the fifth highest rate of violent crime and fourth highest murder rate per capita in cities with at least 100,000 people last year, according to recent FBI data.
While Moore acknowledged there is still “work to do there,” he touted the progress the state has made and called out the president’s comments.
“It would just be great if we could have a president of the United States to actually understand that this is one of the great American turnaround stories that’s happening right now, and we would love the help to be able to continue to do that work instead of this — arrogant criticism and cynicism that he continues to introduce into the conversation,” Moore said.
Moore said while he “would love more federal support,” he called the National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C. “performative.”
Raddatz pressed Moore on the reduction in crime in Washington since the increased federal presence that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser cited this week.
“You’ve heard Mayor Bowser say [they’ve seen an] 87% reduction in carjackings, robberies cut by half. Why wouldn’t you want that here, if that is actually helping?” Raddatz asked.
“If the president of the United States were to have a serious conversation with me and say, what can we do — particularly when you look at the cost of the National Guard of well over a million dollars a day?” Moore responded. “I would tell him things like, we need to make sure we’re increasing funding for local law enforcement.”
“Asking me to deploy my National Guard, people who are not trained for municipal policing, is just not a serious approach,” Moore added.
In posts on his social media platform, Trump has also resurfaced a controversy over Moore’s military record. The New York Times reported last year that Moore falsely claimed to have been awarded a Bronze Star in a 2006 White House application. During his 2022 campaign, clips of Moore being introduced as a Bronze Star recipient and not correcting the interviewers in 2008 and 2010 surfaced.
Moore had been recommended for the medal but did not receive it until last year and has called it an “honest mistake.”
In response, Moore called Trump “President Bone Spurs” in a post on X, referencing Trump’s medical deferment from the Vietnam draft.
Moore said about his post: “When the president wants to attack my military record as someone who’s actually a decorated combat veteran, as someone who actually has served overseas, as someone who has defended the country, I just think that if the president wants to have a real debate about public service and about the sacrifice for this country, he should really sit that debate out. I’m not the one he wants to have it with.”
Asked why he put the Bronze Star on his 2006 application, Moore told Raddatz he “didn’t think about it” since his commanding officers told him to include it.
“I think it’s pretty common knowledge or common belief that when your, when your commanding officers, and your superior officers tell you, ‘Listen, we put you in, and we’ve gone through everything, so as you’re going through your application, include it.'” Moore said. “I included it, and I didn’t think about it.”
Pressed on why he didn’t correct the interviewers when they wrongly introduced him, Moore said “Even at the time of those interviews, it wasn’t something I thought about.”
“Now I’m thankful that the military, after they found out that the paperwork was lost and didn’t process [it], that they came back and awarded me the Bronze Star,” Moore said. “So I do have a Bronze Star that I earned in Afghanistan and a Combat Action Badge that I earned in Afghanistan. So I’m proud of that, but that’s not why I served.”
“But do you regret not correcting when you were introduced that way?” Raddatz asked.
“I don’t regret not going back and consistently looking over my service records. I don’t. I’m thankful for the service I did. I’m grateful for the fact that I had the opportunity to lead soldiers in combat, what a small fraction of this people of this country will ever understand,” Moore responded.
Moore’s national profile has risen from his public clash with the president and some have drawn comparisons to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s brash style.
Asked how Democrats should approach taking on Trump, Moore said the party should “move with the kind of aggression that is necessary.”
“The Democrats don’t have a messaging problem, there’s a results problem. The Democrats have to deliver results and stop being the party of no and slow and start being the party of yes and now because the frustration that people have, it is real,” Moore said.
While speculation mounts about his future presidential ambitions, Moore said he’s focused on delivering results for Marylanders.
“You’ve got to focus on protecting your people right now and the issues that the people in our states are facing, and that’s where I know my focus is,” Moore said.
