Some long-lost Todd Rundgren recordings are finally set to see the light of day in a new box set. Lost Masters and Demos, being released December 2 by Purple Pyramid Records, features music from Rundgren’s ‘60s power-pop/psych project Nazz.
The set features music from the original master acetates of Nazz’s sophomore album, Nazz Nazz, which Rundgren originally conceived as a 26-song double LP. These early recordings never made it on the album, and most of the songs wound up on the band’s third release, III.
Lost Masters & Demos will be released in both a three-CD and four-LP set and will include alternate mixes of Nazz’s debut single, “Open My Eyes,” along with Rundgren’s future hit “Hello, It’s Me.” The first single from the set, “Forget All About Now,” is out now on all digital platforms.
The set also contains a full-color booklet of liner notes written by music historian Michael Armes, along with lots of rare photos.
The Santa Clauses arrives today on Disney+ and Tim Allen promises it answers questions that arose after the first movie hit theaters in 1994.
The six-part mini series picks up 16 years after The Santa Clause 3 and Allen, who returns as Scott Calvin, maintained this installment isn’t a comeback or a send off.
“It’s neither,” he told ABC Audio. “We get to answer questions that have never been answered before. That’s one of the primary reasons why I did it.”
The actor listed some questions that plagued fans for decades: “Why did Santa slide off the roof to begin with? And how did Scott Calvin become Santa?… Why did the elves not seem to care what happened to the other Santa?”
The unanswered questions kept coming. “Where did Santa come from?” he continued. “Is it unusual to have children at the North Pole? What’s Mrs. Claus’ first name? What’s the history of Santa Claus?”
“All of that [gets answered,]” Allen shared. “This is a six-hour movie. I call it chapters of a book [and] it gets really fun.”
Newcomer Kal Penn, who plays potential Santa replacement Simon Choksi, said Allen ensured The Santa Clauses rose to meet fans’ expectations. “He’s not just looking out for whether his lines make sense. He’s making sure that all of the arcs in the script fit well together,” he explained.
Penn added Allen had conversations to ensure the plot and all the characters “made sense based on the previous films” while enshrining “what Christmas is.”
Penn adds he hopes The Santa Clauses series “resonates with every cynic” and reminds them “you’re not dead inside” because the magic of Christmas is “still there.”
The first two episodes of The Santa Clauses are streaming now on Disney+.
(CHICAGO) — Dozens of headstones at a Jewish cemetery have been defaced with swastikas and offensive graffiti in bright red paint, and police are urgently looking for the culprits responsible.
The incident occurred Monday morning when police were called to the Congregation Am Echod Jewish Cemetery in Waukegan, Illinois, after 16 large headstones were found with bright red swastikas painted on them along with 23 more headstones that had been defaced with other offensive graffiti, according to ABC’s Chicago station WLS-TV.
“In the immediate aftermath of the continued escalation of antisemitic incidents, this one hits hard,” David Goldenberg, the Anti-Defamation League’s Midwest regional director, told WLS in an interview following the incident. “What it really represents is this normalization of antisemitism, and that is what we find to be incredibly concerning. We have to remember that this is a fringe element of our society and we far outnumber them. So we got to be smarter than them. We have to be just as aggressive as them and we got to be louder than that. And that’s how you fight back.”
A total of 2,717 incidents of assault, harassment or vandalism were reported nationally to the Anti-Defamation League in 2021 — a historical high against American Jews since the ADL began tracking such data 43 years ago in 1979, the ADL said.
Antisemitic incidents have increased by 430% in Illinois from 2016, when there were 10 incidents reported, to 2021, when there were a total of 53, according to the ADL. There was also a 15% increase in the state from 2020 to 2021 — 46 reported incidents in 2020 compared to 53 in 2021.
“ADL Midwest reported a total of 175 anti-Semitic incidents in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, combined,” the ADL said in a statement published in April detailing the crimes. “This was a 62% increase from the 108 combined incidents reported in 2020 – and 202% higher than the total number of incidents reported just five years ago for 2016.”
This is all part of a disturbing trend happening on a “near daily basis,” said Goldenberg.
Waukegan Mayor Ann B. Taylor issued a statement in the aftermath of the cemetery’s defacement, both offering her support as well as urging accountability for the vandalism.
“I am deeply disturbed and angered by the hateful imagery found spray-painted on headstones this morning in Am Echod Jewish Cemetery,” Taylor said. “Hate does not have a home in Waukegan; when such incidents occur, our marginalized neighbors are victimized, and our entire community suffers. I hope our officers promptly locate the perpetrators of this despicable act and hold them accountable, and I offer my full support to those directly impacted by this vandalism.”
The Waukegan Police Department is urging anyone with information regarding this case to contact them immediately on the Waukegan Police Department tip line at 847-360-9001.
(WASHINGTON) — Control of the Senate will no longer hinge on Georgia.
Nevada incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto defeated Republican Adam Laxalt, giving Democrats at least 50 seats and control of the upper chamber.
Now, the results of Georgia’s runoff election between incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker will determine whether Democrats have a one-seat cushion in the Senate — which would ease Democrats’ control of committees and processes like confirming judges that currently require extra steps to overcome the 50-50 split — or if it’ll be another term of relying on Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote.
Both sides of the aisle agree that Georgia’s Senate runoff still remains important even if the majority no longer hangs in the balance.
“Congratulations to my colleagues, but our message is the same,” Warnock said at campaign stop on Sunday.
“This election is about who’s ready and who’s fit to serve the people of Georgia in the United States Senate. It’s a race about competence and about character and on both of those scores, there’s a world of difference between me and Herschel Walker,” he said. “And so I look forward to prosecuting that case over the next few weeks.”
At a campaign stop in Peachtree City on Sunday, Walker made no mention of the balance of the Senate, focusing squarely on his battle against Warnock and his personal choice to launch a campaign.
“The Lord prepared me to get in his way right now because as I started looking, I said that I’m not — I wasn’t supposed to be running on no politics. You think that I wanted to be a senator? Guys, I was doing OK,” he said. “I was doing alright but I said ‘no, no, no, no, you’re not gonna hurt my family.’ And all of you are my family I don’t care what color your skin is.”
Democrats celebrated their victories over the weekend even though many quickly shifted back to emphasizing Georgia’s runoff, highlighting the party’s legislative struggles this term with a split chamber.
Should Warnock win reelection, it would offer Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., flexibility in the moments that he loses the votes of either Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., or Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., two centrists who have at times disrupted Democrats’ agenda in the upper chamber. And with a full-fledged majority, rather than a 50-50 split, Democrats would be able to move beyond equally balanced committees and take control of major panels, smoothing the party’s path to passing legislation and acting on President Joe Biden’s nominees.
“We will still have a Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin problem. And if Democrats want to continue on our winning streak, we must deliver for Americans — all Americans. We need Sen. Warnock in the senate,” said Hillary Holley, executive director of Care in Action, a nonpartisan group advocating for domestic workers.
Republicans, meanwhile, are working to highlight how a divided Congress has at times worked to their advantage. Walker would only boost that advantage, they said.
“There are senators who have, in certain instances, voted with the GOP on key pieces of legislation. With a victory for Herschel Walker, it takes away that extra vote cushion from the Democrats and makes consensus building and compromise more likely,” Republican strategist Julianne Thompson said.
Warnock, Walker’s runoff campaigns take shape
Operatives are also cautioning voters not be complacent, reminding them of what happened last time Georgia’s Senate race went into a runoff, in 2021 — after the GOP candidates won in the first round — and Republican voters were apathetic, leading to two flips.
“While the majority of the Senate is no longer in question, Georgia Republicans are still salty from losing the two U.S. Senate seats in 2021 and want to regain the seat,” said Eric Tanenblatt, a former chief of staff to Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Heading into another runoff, Warnock’s campaign manager Quentin Fulks said the senator will continue to grow his coalition of support, touting Warnock’s performance in urban and suburban counties where he performed better than Biden did in 2020.
“Reverend Warnock will win the runoff by continuing the strategic investments in paid communication and field organizing, continuing to hold the diverse coalition that has driven Reverend Warnock’s success, and emphasizing that this race is about who is able to represent our state,” Fulks said.
Warnock, on the campaign trail, has distanced himself from the national party, trying to emphasize bipartisanship instead. He often dodges questions about a possible Biden 2024 run, talks about working with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in his stump speeches and only appeared with a couple of surrogates on the campaign trail, mainly his Georgia counterpart Sen. Jon Ossoff.
On the other hand, Walker has garnered support from multiple leading Republican senators who have sought to make the case for a Republican majority, arguing that the road led through Georgia.
Though now unable to frame the election as a fight to retake control of the Senate, Walker will now have to focus on why he is the better person to represent Georgia as his personal history remains at center stage.
“He definitely needs to focus on exactly what he’s going to do if he gets elected. Instead of knocking the opponent, bringing any kind of campaign like that, focus on exactly what his plan is, what his policies would be so people can know what he would do,” Melissa, a Georgia voter who supports Walker, told ABC News when asked how he could appeal to apprehensive Georgians.
Walker will also need to improve his performance in rural and urban communities. In last week’s midterms, he underperformed compared to the rest of the Republican statewide ticket, drawing 200,000 fewer votes than Gov. Brian Kemp, according to the secretary of state’s election results.
Kemp, who won reelection over Democrat Stacey Abrams, is lending his support to Walker’s runoff bid. Kemp’s ground data and analytics operation — including paid door knocking, phones, modeling, absentee ballot program, and tracking — will partner with the Mitch McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), which will fund the operation at a level of “over two million dollars,” SLF spox Jack Pandol told ABC News.
Though runoffs have become a well-known scenario for Georgia, candidates and voters will have to navigate new rules, questions around voter apathy and a political environment that could already be looking ahead to 2024.
New voting rules add a wrinkle
Both candidates kicked off their runoff campaigns on Thursday, hoping to sustain an energized base.
Standing in front of the John Lewis Mural, Warnock continued to frame his battle against Walker as one centered more around morality rather than policy.
“This is not a race about Democrat and Republican. It’s not a race of right versus the left. Fundamentally, this is a race about right and wrong. Who’s right for Georgia and who’s clearly wrong for Georgia,” he said.
“And when it comes to that, the choice could not be more clear between me and Herschel Walker. Some things in life are complicated. This ain’t one of them,” he said.
Walker started his runoff campaign before a crowd of thousands in Canton, where he was joined by Texas Sen. Cruz. He invoked his famed college and professional football career.
“We’re in overtime, that means we got a runoff. Hey, I was built for this,” he said to cheers. “He hung around and got into this runoff and he’s thinking he’s gonna win. We need to prove him wrong.”
Both candidates will have to make the case to their base to turnout despite Senate control being decided, battling the Thanksgiving holiday in the middle of the runoff cycle. Warnock will also have to split his time between campaigning on the trail in Georgia and fulfilling his duties in Washington.
New voters won’t be able to vote in the runoff; they must have registered by Nov. 7.
In 2020, thousands of voters were able to register for the runoff after the general election, leading to a surge in voters who didn’t vote in November but turned out for Democrats the following January. (State Republicans subsequently changed the rules for runoff elections, including by shortening the window when one is scheduled after a general election.)
Walker already stumbled on the voting rules while speaking with voters Sunday.
“I want you to go out and — because you can only vote if you voted in the last time, that’s what they told me. So I want you, if you voted last time, go vote for me again,” Walker said.
The shorter early voting period became even shorter due to the holidays as voters also won’t be able to cast their ballots on the last Saturday of the month. Georgia state law bars early voting within two days of a holiday, and Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday this year.
Warnock and Democratic party officials have now sued to try and require that Saturday of early voting, arguing that the rule about the holiday cutoff doesn’t apply to runoffs.
Counties may choose to have early voting the Sunday after Thanksgiving and potentially the Tuesday and Wednesday before if preparations are completed by then.
In 2020, when Democrats secured two major victories in the state and flipped control of the U.S. Senate, candidates were forced into a nine-week runoff cycle; however, under Georgia’s new voting law, this election will be held four weeks after Election Day on Dec. 6.
“Well there’s no question that they looked at our victory the last time in the runoff, and sought to make it harder. But the people of Georgia pushed through those barriers during the general election. I’m calling on them to do the same thing again,” Warnock told reporters Sunday.
Former President Donald Trump also looms large over the runoff after some Republicans notably blamed his vociferous claims of election fraud in 2020 for a depressed GOP base that cost the GOP two Georgia Senate seats in 2021 runoffs.
Now, Trump is expected to launch a third presidential campaign Tuesday evening, more deeply inserting himself into the national conversation shortly before Georgia voters head to the polls for a second time and sparking handwringing even among allies and voters.
“You know, I’d rather see DeSantis at this point. I love Trump. I appreciate him. But I’ve got some mixed feelings about him coming in. I definitely would prefer that he wait to announce until this until this election is over,” Steve Bolen, a Walker supporter, told ABC News. “I think that would take away attention. We got to put all of our focus on getting Herschel elected.”
Given comments like that, Republican allies and critics alike are suggesting a presidential campaign launch could impede efforts to defeat Warnock.
“Of course, President Trump had said he’d be making an announcement on Nov. 15, next Tuesday. I’m advising the president to hold off until after the Georgia race,” Jason Miller, a former adviser on Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns, said on Newsmax. “Priorities A, B and C need to be about Herschel [Walker] right now.”
“[I]f Pres. Trump announces his run next week, Sen. Warnock raises twice as much money for the Georgia runoff,” tweeted Michael Caputo, a former Trump administration official.
Still, runoffs are historically unpredictable, and Democrats say with such a narrow window to organize before Dec. 6, anything can happen.
Democrats who worked on the 2021 runoffs said the fact that Senate control is already decided could depress turnout on both sides, possibly exacerbating an already anticipated dropoff in turnout.
“If we’re in a world where we already have control of the Senate and this is just icing on the cake, I think that you have to question, is that going to be enough of a motivating factor to get Democrats back out to vote on Dec. 6? I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion to assume that they would,” one senior adviser on Warnock’s 2020 campaign said in an interview before Nevada’s Senate race was called, adding that losing the Senate could be an “energizer” for Republicans.
“I’d say this one is even more unpredictable than the last one,” said a second Democrat who worked on the 2021 runoffs. “A shorter [early vote] period is a challenge for Dems especially. Warnock will need a massive turnout and education game to make sure people vote that week.”
(WASHINGTON) — House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday clinched the Republican nomination for speaker in the next Congress, multiple sources told ABC News, as the California lawmaker succeeded in a key early vote on the path to holding the gavel.
The sources said McCarthy received 188 votes in the GOP’s leadership elections, conducted behind closed doors via secret ballot from the incoming class of lawmakers. That compares to 31 for Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. (Representatives who lost in the midterms couldn’t vote in Tuesday’s leadership elections, but those in still-uncalled races could vote.)
Biggs challenged McCarthy amid frustration from some conservatives over a disappointing midterm cycle for the party.
Top Republicans including McCarthy had boasted of delivering sprawling House and Senate majorities in last week’s midterm elections, but Republicans are instead looking at razor-thin control of the House, while Democrats retained the Senate.
McCarthy only needed a majority of his conference to vote for him to secure the nomination on Tuesday. He will need 218 votes in the whole chamber on Jan. 3 to be elected speaker of the House if Republicans take the majority.
In the days leading up to Tuesday’s vote, some members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus threw their support behind McCarthy despite a former chair of their group, Biggs, mounting a long-shot bid against him.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., backed McCarthy on Steve Bannon’s podcast on Monday, saying she thought it was “bad strategy” for the Freedom Caucus to mount a challenge to McCarthy since Republicans are likely to have a thin majority.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, also told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s vote that he supported McCarthy and is eyeing the chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee.
While Biggs drew nearly three dozen votes of his own, McCarthy’s margin in Tuesday’s vote indicates he is headed for the speakership — though he will have to win back those defections by January’s vote in the House.
“Every five people is essentially a veto now. That means that it’s probably not going to be Kevin McCarthy as speaker, because there are five of us would not want to see him,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said on Charlie Kirk’s show prior to the vote. “It is probably not going to be somebody like Jim Jordan, who I would prefer, because there are probably five people who don’t like him. So, we’ve got to go down the list of the Republicans and see who could actually unite a conference.”
Republicans on Tuesday also rounded out their top three leadership positions during a closed-door vote should they clinch the House majority.
Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the current House minority whip, was elected via a voice vote as Republican majority leader should the GOP take control of the House.
Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, who served as the National Republican Congressional Committee chair for the midterms, won a hotly contested whip race despite Republicans having a lackluster showing this cycle, beating Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Drew Ferguson of Georgia.
(RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany) — At the heart of Ramstein Air Base in Germany, a mysterious new division of military personnel is quietly working to keep America and its allies safe from hostile attacks—in space.
NATO’s Space Centre was created just two years ago in response to satellite threats from Russia and China; and as space becomes increasingly militarized, it is now an integral part of Allied Air Command.
ABC News was given exclusive access to the facility, located at AirCom’s headquarters. Below ground, inside the highly classified Situation Center, space experts from 12 NATO nations—including American Guardians from the U.S. Space Force– are all working to keep an eye on the more than 8,000 satellites currently orbiting the Earth, and sharing their findings across the alliance.
“We look at what is the environment, what’s changed since yesterday? Did something launch into orbit? Was there a fragmentation? Did a satellite hit something?” NATO Space Center Director Lt. Col. John Patrick told ABC News
Russia’s war in Ukraine has made their task more important than ever as Ukraine now relies on satellites for its communications. High-resolution satellite images have also helped with surveillance– showing everything from troop movements, to bodies lining the streets of Russian-held areas.
Watch the full story on “Prime” on ABC News Live.
Russia has responded by threatening to take out the satellites helping Ukraine.
Russia’s senior foreign ministry official Konstantin Vorontsov told the United Nations last month that “quasi-civilian infrastructure may be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike,” and that Western civilian and commercial satellites that helped Ukraine’s war efforts was “an extremely dangerous trend,” according to Reuters.
“Without space-based capabilities to assist, I think you would not see the successes and, really, the heroic actions and defense that you’ve seen from Ukraine,” Deputy Commander of NATO’s Allied Air Command, Air Marshal Johnny Stringer told ABC News.
But it’s not just modern warfare. Nearly every aspect of daily llifenow involves satellite technology: from financial systems, computer data, mobile phone networks, power grids and air defense. And as dependence on satellites increases, so too do the threats to Allied assets in space, NATO officials said.
“We do worry about what, you know, our competitors, true potential adversaries, may have. And we need to make sure that our capabilities at least match, if not exceed. So the importance of space is not lost on anybody,” Stringer said.
NATO officials said space conflict would likely look a lot different than what one would expect. Some of NATO’s concerns have to do with space-based technology capable of targeting our satellites; such as anti-satellite weapons, signal jamming, and lasers.
“So, it’ll be something that’s interfering with systems. It may be nefarious, or may not be. So, we try to investigate, ‘why is that receiver having an issue,’ or ‘what’s going on with that?'” Patrick said.
In November 2021, Russia carried out an anti-satellite test, blowing up one of its own, according to U.S. officials. Some of that debris came dangerously close to the International Space Station, forcing astronauts to shelter in place and adjust their trajectory.
“So, in terms of being irresponsible, that is really high up the list. So anti-satellite launches like Russia did just compromised space for everybody,” Stringer said.
Officers however wouldn’t confirm with ABC News whether NATO allies have their own offensive capabilities in space.
“What I can’t do is talk specifics on that side. But what I can reiterate is the importance of making sure that our access to space is what we need it to be,” said Stringer.
China also continues to be a top concern, officials said. Beijing conducted its own ASAT test in 2007, and was recently responsible for an uncontrolled rocket re-entry, according to U.S. officials.
“We recently were monitoring a piece of a Chinese vehicle that was coming back, and it was not a controlled reentry. And so there was a lot of concern among the NATO nations to know where that reentry was going to happen, to ensure that there wasn’t danger to the population or the environment,” U.S. Space Force Lt. Col. Caitlin Diffley told ABC News.
Satellites even play a key role in nuclear defense. The fear is that a threat—or perceived threat—to nuclear early-warning satellites could escalate conflicts.
“Space-based capabilities are really a vital part of how we understand nuclear capability, not just in Russia, but more globally,” Stringer said.
With space becoming increasingly important to both military and civilian operations, NATO declared in 2019 Space as a fifth operational domain—alongside Air, Land, Maritime, and Cyberspace. It also outlined its space policy; recognizing that attacks to, from, or within space could lead to the invocation of Article 5—which would compel the U.S. and its allies to a military response.
“Essentially, it would be depending on what had been done in the space environment,” Stringer said. “Making sure that our assets are safe and protected up in space is vital.”
Asked whether he believes space conflict is inevitable, Stringer told ABC, “I think actually, because space is such an important domain, we are going to have to aim for that potential, and that requires a raft of capability.”
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Mitch McConnell is confident he’ll have the votes to remain the GOP leader as party finger-pointing continues over the GOP’s disappointing performance in the midterms.
But for the first time in 15 years leading the conference, McConnell is facing opposition as Florida Sen. Rick Scott mounts a historic challenge for the post atop the Republican conference.
McConnell, the stolid Kentuckian currently on track to break a Senate record for longest serving leader in history in 2023, has not previously faced any such defiance. And while McConnell is expected to be reelected to another term, the Scott move, recently pushed by former President Donald Trump, surprised many.
Scott, a McConnell critic of late — who has clashed with the leader over Republicans not putting forward a plan ahead of the midterms for how they would govern if they gained the majority — exhorted his conference both in a speech behind closed doors Tuesday afternoon and in a letter to them to make a change from “the status quo.”
Scott, in charge of the GOP campaign arm this cycle in which the party performed far below expectations, explained why he was the better choice over McConnell.
“Like each of you, I am deeply disappointed by the results of the recent election. Despite what the armchair quarterbacks on TV will tell you, there is no one person responsible for our party’s performance across the country,” Scott wrote.
He added, “Unfortunately, we have continued to elect leadership who refuses to do that and elicits attacks on anyone that does. That is clearly not working and it’s time for bold change. The voters are demanding it.”
And while enough Republican senators could vote to delay the Wednesday morning GOP Conference leadership elections, McConnell minced no words in talking to reporters after the meeting saying it was a matter of when — not if — he would be elected leader.
“I think the outcome is pretty clear, I want to repeat again, I have the votes and I will be elected,” McConnell said during a press conference Tuesday’s contentious conference meeting. “The issue is whether we do it sooner or later.”
Asked to respond to Scott’s challenge, McConnell said: “I don’t own this job. Anybody in the conference is certainly entitled to challenge me. I welcome the contest.”
The GOP conference met for more than three hours Tuesday behind closed doors for what one senator called “a spirited discussion” and another said was “kind of a rhetorical slugfest.”
“It was a really, really, good discussion. People have a desire to be a team and win, but we realize that we’re 50 individuals. The new people (senators) were probably, like, ‘Woah! What’s going on?’ But it was a healthy discussion,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., a McConnell supporter who is in line to be elected conference secretary by her colleagues on Wednesday.
About 15 to 20 senators stood to speak at the marathon conference meeting. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., who spoke second, announced that he would be supporting Scott.
“When you measure how we’ve done in recent elections, especially the presidential ones, swing state Senate races, we got to do better,” Braun, who joined the Senate with Scott in 2018, said. “It’s very clear to me, I ran a business for 37 years, that if you don’t have a master plan, a mission statement, which I don’t think we have as a Republican Party, that it’s not going to work. And I think independents elect the swing state senators and the president and that was on view here in these [midterm] elections.”
“I think that when you keep having the same results, and presidential elections, we’ve won one popular vote since, what, 2004? It ought to cause you to have some deep thought about what you need to do differently,” continued Braun.
Republican senators said McConnell appeared surprised by the Scott move but offered a retort eventually, saying that being leader is not an easy thing.
“He counter-punched a time or two … in just the difficulty of the job, which is true. It’s not like any side has a mandate,” Braun told reporters.
According to Sen. Josh Hawley, who said he plans to support Scott, McConnell also took jabs at Scott’s performance in his current role.
“Senator Scott disagrees with the approach that Mitch has taken in recent years, and he made that clear, and Senator McConnell criticized Senator Scott’s management at the NRSC and I imagine we’ll hear more about that tomorrow,” Hawley said.
As head of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, Scott controls the purse string of the GOP’s campaign arm. Under his leadership, the NRSC rounded the home stretch of campaign season with relatively little cash on hand, opening Scott to severe criticism, including from McConnell whose Super PAC had to pick up the slack. .”If you’re gonna assess blame for election losses, I don’t know how you trade in the leader for the gentleman at the NRSC,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told the Huffington Post.
Multiple GOP senators pointed to the sheer fundraising prowess of McConnell and his aligned Super PAC, Senate Leader Fund, this cycle, as a top reason to keep him at the helm.
“I’m certainly supporting the current leadership team. Mitch raised an extraordinarily large amount of money, used it to help elect Republicans,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.
McConnell’s super PAC, according to AdImpact, raised “a total of $205M pooled across nine Senate races.”
Sen. Joni Ernst, currently a member of leadership and McConnell supporter, said she had no problem with the Scott challenge, but she said the Florida Republican failed to make a substantive case for why he should be chosen.
“I do think that elections are okay, and I think if people want to make challenges or throw their name in, I think that’s fine,” said Ernst, R-Iowa. “But what they have to do is present a real plan on what they want to see for the future of our conference, and I didn’t necessarily hear that coming from Rick Scott. He had a lot of things that he wanted to air out his grievances about, but we haven’t heard a conclusive plan yet.”
But Scott actually did offer a plan for the party in advance of the midterms. In February, he put forward his “12 Point Plan to Rescue America.” It made him no friends on either side of the aisle.
Congressional Democrats and the White House alike lambasted the Scott proposal, quickly turning it into a talking point. McConnell scorched Scott for suggesting that Republicans might raise income taxes.
“Let me tell you what would not be a part of our agenda,” McConnell said in March, shortly after Scott announced his plan. “We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years.”
The public disagreement was the earliest sign that the relationship between McConnell and Scott was beginning to fracture. Trump, who has made his disdain for McConnell public, even nudged Scott to challenge McConnell for his seat, adding salt to the wound.
But while several Trump-aligned senators are expected to support Scott’s bid during the closed-door vote, it’s clear most Senate Republicans are prepared to keep McConnell a top the party.
Asked on Tuesday whether he thought Scott had any chance, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., didn’t mince words: “Not at all. Not at all.”
(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) — The Artemis I rocket is set for launch early Wednesday morning, the latest attempt to send an unmanned capsule near the moon after a series of postponements due to weather and mechanical issues.
NASA pushed back a takeoff scheduled for Monday after Hurricane Nicole made landfall about 85 miles south of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The launch marks the first step in an ambitious plan to establish a long-term presence on the moon for scientific discovery and economic development. Eventually, the Artemis expedition could lead to the first crewed space trip to Mars, according to NASA.
Nov 15, 9:46 PM EST
Leak reported ahead of launch
NASA has reported a “small leak” ahead of the Artemis launch.
“Engineers have paused flowing liquid hydrogen into the core stage because of a small leak on a hydrogen valve inside of the mobile launcher,” NASA said. “A team of personnel called a red crew is being assembled to go to the pad to make sure all of the connections and valves remain tight. The valve is located within the base of the mobile launcher.”
-ABC News’ Gio Benitez
Nov 15, 9:28 PM EST
How to watch the Artemis launch
The Artemis launch will take place early Wednesday morning, unless NASA postpones the takeoff due to weather or other concerns.
If Artemis is declared ready, a two-hour window will open at 1:04 a.m. ET. If needed, the back-up windows are Saturday, Nov. 19, and Friday, Nov. 25.
NASA will broadcast the launch on NASA TV.
Nov 15, 9:24 PM EST
Weather 90% favorable for launch
The weather is currently at 90% favorable for the Artemis launch early Wednesday morning, according to NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems.
Nov 15, 9:02 PM EST
Artemis mission aims to send astronauts to the moon
The Artemis launch on Wednesday kicks off a yearslong expedition that aims to put astronauts on the moon and enable a future trip to Mars.
The Artemis expedition includes four missions, each of which will cost roughly $4.1 billion. In all, the project will cost up to $93 billion by 2025, according to an audit from the NASA Office of the Inspector General.
If Artemis I is successful, Artemis II will take four astronauts near the moon in 2024. After that, Artemis III will take a crewed spacecraft for a moon landing. Finally, Artemis IV will fly to a space station near the moon.
Over the course of the Artemis missions, NASA plans to eventually send the first female astronaut and the first astronaut of color to the moon.
Nov 15, 9:01 PM EST
Artemis mission has suffered months of delays
The Artemis mission has suffered a series of setbacks since an original launch date in late August that was expected to feature Vice President Kamala Harris in attendance among about 100,000 spectators.
NASA called off that initial takeoff, set for Aug. 29, after a defective sensor prevented one of the rocket’s engines from cooling down to a temperature required before ignition.
Days later, a second launch attempt on Sept. 3 was scrubbed after the space agency identified a liquid hydrogen leak.
A third planned launch attempt, on Sept. 27, faced postponement due to Hurricane Ian. The rocket was moved off the launchpad to protect it, as Ian wrought destruction along its path northward from Florida to the Carolinas.
(NEW YORK) — A child under the age of 5 has died due to complications from flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, health officials in California confirmed on Monday.
The California Department of Public Health did not release additional details on the child or their illness, but noted this is the first pediatric death in the state due to RSV and flu this season.
The child’s death comes as cases of RSV and flu have been appearing earlier this year than usual and are on the rise across the United States.
Earlier this month, health officials in Michigan confirmed a 6-year-old died after developing complications from RSV, a contagious virus that can spread from viral respiratory droplets.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 11,000 RSV infections were diagnosed in September 2022 – which rose to over 44,000 for the month of October.
At the same time, positive tests for influenza reported to the CDC by clinical laboratories jumped from 2,083 to 7,504 in October, according to CDC data.
Though cases of RSV are on the rise, death from the virus remains rare, according to the CDC.
There are between 100 to 500 pediatric deaths and 14,000 adult deaths each year related to RSV, with the actual figure likely higher due to undercounting.
Experts told ABC News that a combination of waning immunity to COVID and lack of exposure to other viruses, combined with close gatherings indoors, is fueling a “perfect storm.”
“Mostly the issue is there’s low population immunity and kids are, once again, gathered again,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, and an ABC News contributor. “And this is facilitating rapid spread of viruses like RSV.”
On Nov. 4, the CDC issued an official health advisory in response to the rise in respiratory infections in children.
The health advisory warned that “co-circulation of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza viruses, SARS-CoV-2, and others could place stress on healthcare systems this fall and winter.”
Doctors say it’s possible for people to become infected with two or more viruses at the same time. If this happens, especially in children or people with weakened immune systems, it can lead to a more severe illness.
What parents should know about RSV
RSV is a contagious virus that can spread from viral respiratory droplets transferred from an infected person’s cough or sneeze; from direct contact with the virus, like kissing the face of a child with RSV; and from touching surfaces, like tables, doorknobs and crib rails, that have the virus on them and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth before hand-washing, according to the CDC.
People infected with RSV are usually contagious for three to eight days, but some infants can continue to spread the virus even after they stop showing symptoms, for as long as four weeks, according to the CDC.
Among children, premature infants and young children with weakened immune systems or congenital heart or chronic lung disease are the most vulnerable to complications from RSV.
“Pretty much all kids have gotten RSV at least once by the time they turn 2, but it’s really younger kids, especially those under 6 months of age, who can really have trouble with RSV and sometimes end up in the hospital,” Dr. William Linam, pediatric infectious disease doctor at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, told ABC News last year. “That’s where we want to get the word out, for families with young children or children with medical conditions, making sure they’re aware this is going on.”
In the first two to four days of contracting RSV, a child may show symptoms like fever, runny nose and congestion.
Later on, the symptoms may escalate to coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing.
Parents should also be alerted to symptoms including dehydration and not eating, according to Linam.
“Not making a wet diaper in over eight hours is often a good marker that a child is dehydrated and a good reason to seek medical care,” he said. “Sometimes kids under 6 months of age can have pauses when they’re breathing and that’s something to get medical attention for right away.”
Infants and toddlers can usually recover at home with RSV unless they start to have difficulty breathing, are not eating or drinking, or appear more tired than usual, in which case parents should contact their pediatrician and/or take their child to the emergency room.
At-home care for kids with RSV can include Tylenol and Motrin for fevers, as well as making sure the child is hydrated and eating.
According to Linam, parents can help protect their kids from RSV by continuing to follow as much as possible the three Ws of the pandemic: wear a mask, wash your hands and watch your distance.
Infants who are born prematurely (less than 29 weeks) and are less than 12 months old may benefit from a medication to prevent complications of RSV since they are at increased risk of severe disease, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Infants born prematurely with chronic lung disease may also qualify for medication. Parents should discuss this with their pediatrician.
ABC News’ Teddy Grant and Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump has officially announced he is running for president in 2024, marking his third bid for the White House.
Saying “We are a nation in decline” and “America’s comeback starts right now,” Trump made the announcement Tuesday night in an address from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
The announcement, which Trump had been hinting at for months, comes as the embattled former president faces multiple criminal and civil investigations and as his party is grappling with a worse-than-expected showing in the midterm elections, raising questions about the former president’s power over the GOP.
Trump, who lost his reelection bid in 2020 but did not concede and has continued to spread false claims that the 2020 election was “rigged” and “stolen,” repeatedly teased another run for the White House throughout the last year and told a rally crowd last week to expect a “big announcement.”
The third presidential run for Trump, who transformed himself from a real estate mogul into a reality TV star before becoming the self-described “MAGA king,” comes at an unprecedented point in American history that sees a former one-term president who never conceded his election loss enter a bid to regain power as the frontrunner for his party’s nomination.
Trump’s election falsehoods culminated on Jan. 6, 2021, in a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol that was carried out by pro-Trump supporters, for which nearly 1,000 people have now been criminally charged. The former president has repeatedly downplayed the riot and has vowed to pardon those charged in the attack if he becomes president again.
Trump is the subject of several federal investigations, including the Jan. 6 probe, the investigation into Trump’s handling of documents recovered at Mar-a-Lago, and an investigation into his fledgling social media company, Truth Social.
Some aides have suggested the former president believes that declaring his candidacy will shield him from the probes — but many legal experts say a run will not result in any special protections for the former president.
In addition, Trump’s namesake family real estate business, The Trump Organization, is currently on trial in New York for tax evasion and fraud — charges that would not be affected if he’s reelected president. The company has denied wrongdoing.
Trump, who was twice impeached during his four years in office but was not convicted either time, maintains a tight grasp on his Republican base. Six in 10 Republicans back the former president as their party’s leader, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll from earlier this year.
In the lead-up to the 2022 midterms, Trump’s Super PAC poured millions into key races, and the former president wielded his political power by endorsing hand-picked candidates for major congressional seats, including Senate candidates Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and Herschel Walker in Georgia. The former president ramped up his already busy rally schedule in the final weeks of the campaign, holding multiple events over the weekend leading into Election Day.
But after at least 30 of Trump’s endorsed candidates, including Oz, lost their races, some have begun to question his ability to continue winning elections for the party.
Trump has already taken aim at some potential presidential primary opponents, including possible 2024 rival Ron DeSantis, who on Tuesday cruised to reelection as governor of Florida. In a statement released last week, Trump attacked DeSantis as an “average” governor, saying that DeSantis was “politically dead” until Trump endorsed him in 2018 and griping over DeSantis’ refusal to say whether he’ll run for president in 2024.
“Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that’s really not the right answer,” Trump said, disparaging the Florida governor as “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
Sources close to Trump say he has soured on DeSantis as the Florida governor’s political star has risen and as some in the party have expressed that they would prefer DeSantis to run for president instead of him.
