(NEW YORK) — For decades, the aviation industry has carried the reputation of being overtly male and white. At least 95% of the roughly 158,000 pilots employed in the United States are men, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“This is a very male-dominated industry,” said Dana Donati, a former pilot with Republic Airways.
Donati recalls being one of two females in her college aviation courses and during her early officer training.
At the height of summer travel, as airlines brace for a pilot shortage on one side and recent protests from current pilots on the other, some airlines are making efforts to attract the next generation of pilots who have been historically excluded from the industry — women and people of color.
Donati, who now serves as the CEO of United Aviate Academy, is one of those aviation professionals trying to change the system. Founded by United Airlines, the academy is a 12-month program in Phoenix, Arizona, that aims to diversify the cockpit.
The program offers a 12-month training footprint, in which students complete several certificates on private piloting, commercial piloting, instrument operations and more.
“It’s about time the industry looks at how they have historically operated,” added Donati.
The figures are stark — there are only about 200 Black women pilots in the U.S., accounting for less than 1 percent of the profession, according to Sisters of the Skies, an organization advocating for Black women pilots.
Flying has traditionally been an “elitist” profession, according to Theresa Claiborne, the first Black woman pilot in the U.S. Air Force and a United Airlines pilot.
“They did not make any provisions. So, it’s been perpetuated,” said Claiborne, who holds the rank of captain, the highest rank for commercial pilots.
Claiborne attributes flight costs and generational and economic disadvantages as significant contributors to the lack of pilots of color.
Adding the total costs for an aspiring pilot to obtain all licenses and complete 1,500 hours of flight training required by the FAA to become an airline pilot are estimated to cost nearly $100,000.
“That’s a lot of money. And financial institutions are not jumping at the bit to loan that kind of money to an aviation student,” Claiborne said. “We don’t have these long generations of pilots in the family.”
Other commercial airlines are also pushing efforts toward diversity, including Delta Airlines, which launched the Delta Propel Career Path Program. The program offers an accelerated path to the flight deck for selected students across 13 universities around the US.
“Delta’s commitment to developing a diverse workforce that is reflective of the communities we serve domestically and around the world is unwavering. This includes removing barriers and broadening recruiting funnels to help create a diverse pipeline for qualified and talented pilots to join us,” a Delta airlines spokesperson told ABC News.
In 2008, JetBlue launched Gateway University, the airline’s first pilot development program for prospective pilots and aircraft maintenance technicians.
“JetBlue is addressing the uncertainty that prevent many from pursuing their dreams and can very well meet the growing need for aviation professionals while also opening the door to underrepresented communities, including women and people of color,” a JetBlue spokesperson added.
Donati said the makeup of pilots hasn’t changed in over 20 years. “It’s time that we think differently about how we’re approaching our communities and supporting students entering this career,” she said.
Eighty percent of the inaugural class of future pilots at United Aviate Academy identify as women or people of color. In that number is Abby Awosanya, a 25-year-old first-generation Nigerian-American from Maryland. Awosanya recently obtained her private pilot license and is working to become a 787 captain for United Airlines.
“I probably would have gotten involved in aviation sooner if there was some sort of representation,” Awosanya told ABC News.
After completing her first solo flight in April, Awosanya says she’s proud to be part of the inaugural class. She says she looks forward to “changing the way the flight deck looks to better reflect the passengers who are in the cabin.”
(NEW YORK) — Some of the operational deficiencies that helped trigger the massive shutdown of Abbott Nutrition’s infant formula plant earlier this year have also been found at some other companies’ factories, according to an ABC News investigation of some of the other formula makers that have stepped in to help fill empty American grocery shelves in the midst of the critical nationwide shortage.
The pathogen that prompted those concerns, Cronobacter sakazakii, can be widely found in the environment — but in infants, it can be deadly.
Its discovery inside Abbott’s Sturgis, Michigan, plant prompted a massive voluntary formula recall in February, after four babies who had consumed Abbott’s formula contracted a Cronobacter infection. Two of the infants subsequently died, although Abbott maintains there has not been conclusive evidence that its formula caused the infant illnesses, since none of the Cronobacter strains found at their plant matched the two samples genetically sequenced from the sickened infants.
Ultimately, it was the combined findings of Cronobacter inside Abbott’s plant — along with a pattern of serious operational deficiencies and consumer complaints — which led to its closure.
Abbott’s shutdown ricocheted across the country, exacerbating the supply shortage and forcing families to scramble for alternatives in the hyper-concentrated formula market. In the wake of Abbott’s recall, other companies jumped in to ramp up manufacturing to help mitigate the strain.
Yet within the last five years, those companies — Reckitt’s Mead Johnson, Gerber, and Perrigo’s PBM — have also not been immune to operational and even contamination-related concerns.
Nearly a decade’s worth of FDA inspections obtained through the regulatory intelligence company Redica Systems and reviewed by ABC News have found the presence of Cronobacter in environmental sampling, in critical and high-hygiene areas, and even in finished product from some of these formula manufacturers’ American plants.
In some cases, investigators found crucial equipment in a state that could nurture the spread of potentially dangerous pathogens, according to inspection reports.
‘Rigorously managing the environment’
Cronobacter is exceptionally hardy, experts say. It is also “fairly common” in places like soil — but that’s exactly why “rigorously managing the environment” in formula factories and “taking proactive steps to prevent pathogens from creeping into our foods” are particularly important, food safety expert Scott Faber told ABC News.
Akin to a restaurant health inspector, the FDA performs no-notice inspections of U.S. manufacturing facilities to ensure companies are complying with manufacturing and cleanliness standards; they also perform inspections when alerted by a company that product contamination has been found — or when consumer complaints prompt a for-cause probe into whether the company is upholding an acceptable standard.
ABC News has reviewed FDA inspection documents for the three other domestic companies which, along with Abbott, have been responsible for roughly 90% of the country’s formula market.
The right set of circumstances can compound a perfect storm of risk factors for potentially dangerous pathogens to survive, experts say — and that’s especially worrisome when a contaminant like Cronobacter lurks where food is made for babies, who are among those most vulnerable to that germ.
“Especially for sensitive populations, that quality control is so important. You don’t want contamination to rise to a level where it becomes a problem,” Dr. Amy Edwards, a pediatrician and associate medical director for infection control at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Ohio, told ABC News. “That’s why inspections are meant to be incredibly invasive — we have to get close enough to zero contamination levels to be safe.”
Mead Johnson
In August 2021, FDA investigators made a routine visit to Mead Johnson’s plant in Evansville, Indiana, where it has operated for more than a century. An inspection report notifying the company’s management of objectionable conditions, called a Form 483, was issued, after investigators found the plant’s data wasn’t recorded frequently enough to ensure proper sterility of their product.
FDA investigators said that company records indicated Cronobacter was found in one of the plant’s rooms, and that the area was subsequently sanitized. A plant operator was observed not washing his hands between glove changes, and not changing his gloves between touching non-food and food contact surfaces.
The employee was subsequently retrained, Mead Johnson told the FDA, according to inspection documents. But it was not the first time investigators had flagged concerns at one of Mead Johnson’s plants.
In late 2017, seven investigators visited Mead Johnson’s plant in Zeeland, Michigan, after the company had alerted the FDA that two finished batches of Enfamil formula — batches that had already been exported from the country — tested positive for Cronobacter. An FDA inspection revealed that Cronobacter had been found “in critical and high hygiene areas of the processing environment on 26 occasions” between mid-January and late August of 2017, documents obtained by ABC News show.
FDA investigators also said they found Cronobacter specifically in areas that risked leading to “potential contamination” of “food contact surfaces.”
The potential problems the FDA discovered at the plant were addressed in time for later inspections — but food safety experts told ABC News these issues can become a serious problem if not immediately dealt with.
“Cronobacter is an environmental pathogen — it’s everywhere,” food safety attorney Bill Marler said. “But it’s really, really bad to have it in infant formula.”
Mead Johnson’s plant had “multiple wall leaks,” nonconformity reports reviewed by the FDA said, as well as “equipment condensation” in areas where positive Cronobacter samples were later found.
“Leaks are the bane of infection control,” Edwards said. “Water is life; if you’re not controlling your water, then you are not controlling your bacteria.”
The Zeeland facility submitted a corrective action plan, promising “increased frequency of cleaning the areas where positive results were identified, evaluation and inspection of equipment” and “repairs to equipment and the facility as needed.”
FDA investigators followed up with the Zeeland plant in spring 2018. The facility had retooled its sanitization procedures, implemented dryer inspections, and made repairs to flooring, water infiltration, and caulking.
Returning in March 2019, investigators noted the plant’s environmental monitoring program had identified and mitigated several instances of Cronobacter in various areas of the plant.
In a statement to ABC News, Reckitt, of which Mead Johnson is a division, maintained that the company manufactures their formula “using the highest standards for quality and safety,” adding that whenever the FDA finds an issue they “immediately develop and implement an action plan to address the issue.”
Reckitt said they “regularly review and enhance” their facilities’ manufacturing processes “and invest in new technologies and equipment,” adding that their “robust operating protocols meet or exceed the highest regulatory standards,” which they employed while “safely” increasing infant formula amid the shortage.
An FDA spokesperson, when asked for comment regarding their investigators’ findings of Cronobacter at multiple formula companies’ facilities, said the agency “takes its responsibility seriously” to ensure the rigorous safety of American foods, and that the agency is reexamining whether more can be done.
Based on a “close look at recent and historical findings” from inspections, the FDA spokesperson said, “We will be looking at what additional strategies could be employed to better prevent microbial contamination during the production of powdered infant formula,” adding the agency is “conducting an evaluation” of their response to the formula crisis “to determine what additional steps should be taken to ensure the maximum effectiveness of agency programs and policies related to infant formula and medical food.”
Nevertheless, said the spokesperson, “It is important to note that it’s a firm’s responsibility to ensure the consistent quality and safety of the products they produce.”
“We are most interested in how aggressively a firm addresses and responds to potential contamination,” the FDA spokesperson said.
Steven Lynn, the former director of the FDA’s pharmaceutical Office of Manufacturing and Product Quality, told ABC News that manufacturers’ oversight “must be robust to assure no adulterated product reaches the vulnerable infant population they serve.”
“It sounds easy, but it’s not,” said Lynn, an expert on good manufacturing practices. “Problems can and do occur. That’s a fact of life.”
Lynn, who reviewed the inspection documents obtained by ABC News, noted that there appear to be “problematic similarities” among some of the formula manufacturers’ lapses in quality control, including “issues with inadequate process controls, including cleaning, sampling and ultimately controlling the production environment to assure there is no microbial contamination,” he said.
Lynn said that FDA investigators did what they were supposed to do: identify deficiencies for the companies to fix.
“The key is making sure the issues are thoroughly investigated, and then implementing robust solutions to correct and prevent them from reoccurring in the future,” in order to ensure that “safe formula is on the market,” Lynn said.
Gerber
In August 2021, FDA investigators made a routine visit to Nestlé Nutrition’s Gateway facility in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, which makes Gerber products. They found “dirty scoops used during the previous production day” lying on a stainless steel table in one of the raw material rooms, and “debris” on the floor.
It was determined that some cleaning activities were resulting in water getting “trapped in cracks in the floor” and “onto equipment located on lower decks.”
In addition, Cronobacter was detected in an in-process powder sample of infant formula.
The finished lot of that product was immediately destroyed.
FDA investigators discussed their findings and suggested remedies with management, but did not issue a Form 483 at that time, according to inspection documents reviewed by ABC News.
A Gerber spokesperson told ABC News that their infant formulas go through up to 500 quality and safety checks, “many of which are above and beyond regulatory requirements.”
“If we find Cronobactor or any other contaminant in the product, that is when we take the most extreme reaction,” Scott Fitz, Vice President of Technical & Production for Gerber told ABC News.
“All the product in that batch is blocked, and all the batches around that product are blocked,” he said, adding that the company thoroughly investigates the contaminant’s origins and destroys any impacted product.
“Given the sensitive consumer we’re dealing with, we can’t take the chance of it getting to shelf,” Fitz said. “This isn’t about regulation, it’s about doing what’s right.”
PBM Nutritionals
After a routine visit in August 2019, the FDA issued a Form 483 identifying a cold storage temperature regulation deficiency at the Milton, Vermont, plant of PBM Nutritionals, a subsidiary of Perrigo, which makes store-brand formulas for retailers like Walmart and Amazon.
Investigators found that some of the facility’s data was not specific enough “to ensure there is no significant growth of microorganisms of public health significance” in their storage tanks. Documents provided by the company to the FDA noted a recent roof leak had overwhelmed the drainage system, and that, upon inspection, environmental sample swabs tested positive for Cronobacter before additional cleaning.
In a statement to ABC News, Perrigo said they are “proud” of their compliance track record, adding that the Cronobacter within the plant had been found by their own self-monitoring, rather than by FDA investigators.
“Our facilities in Vermont and Ohio are in good regulatory standing and remain compliant with all FDA processes and procedures,” they said.
Perrigo said they had hired independent experts “a few years ago” to “enhance” their manufacturing processes and protective measures. The company said the experts found their “aging equipment could lead to concerns in the future,” so they invested approximately $110 million in improving formula plant quality, and hired an additional 100 quality and sanitation personnel.
Perrigo said that they had addressed the FDA’s observation regarding cold storage.
“Our quality control process is a continuous improvement process, and any concerns found are promptly addressed,” the company said.
“Everybody knows what the persistent problems are that cause bacterial contamination in product,” said Marler, the food safety attorney. “It’s cracks, water, old equipment. It’s when companies stop realizing they’re producing food that is going into the bodies of babies and they start thinking about it as a widget, as a commodity.”
Patrick Stone, a former FDA investigator, says factories that make infant formula should be held to a higher quality-control standard than other mass market food products. But too often, he said, “it actually takes an outbreak or something to happen before people wake up and say …. ‘Why is this happening?'”
Abbott Nutrition
After inspecting Abbott’s Sturgis facility earlier this year, FDA chief Dr. Robert Califf described the “shocking” and “egregiously unsanitary conditions” investigators had found.
“Standing water; cracks in the key equipment that present the potential for bacterial contamination to persist, particularly in the presence of moisture; leaks on the roof; a previous citation for inadequate hand washing,” Califf testified before Congress in May. “Many signs of a disappointing lack of attention to the culture of safety, in this product that is so essential to the lives of our most precious people.”
Investigators discovered five strains of Cronobacter from environmental sampling of Abbott’s plant, and Abbott ultimately agreed to shutter the facility and recall the formula.
Food safety experts ABC spoke with emphasized the importance of establishing — and adhering to — a proactive protocol for rooting out risk factors, before they snowball.
“You don’t wait for the accident to happen before you build a stoplight,” said Faber, the food safety expert. “You probe your factory for where pathogens could be lurking, and then adopt critical controls to eradicate them.
“If we’re seeing any of the conditions found at Sturgis in other plants, we need to ask whether that philosophy has been sufficiently embraced,” he said.
“Abbott has a zero-tolerance policy for Cronobacter in our plants, which is why we took the steps we did at Sturgis,” an Abbott spokesperson said. “Our highest priority is getting babies safe, quality formula they need.”
Further complicating the matter is that Cronobacter infection is listed as a reportable illness by only one U.S. state: Minnesota, where the first of the four infants was reported infected after consuming Abbott’s formula last September.
Because there are no national requirements that Cronobacter be reported, doctors and labs are not required to report cases to their local health department — which leaves the FDA to rely on consumer complaints and health care providers for on-the-ground data regarding infections.
“Until you increase that oversight, you’re going to limp from mini-outbreak to mini-outbreak,” Marler said.
A ‘stringent enough’ system?
In August 2017, a few months before the FDA found Cronobacter inside Mead Johnson’s Zeeland plant, a two-week old infant from Illinois was declared brain dead after being diagnosed with a Cronobacter infection. The infant had consumed “multiple lots of Enfamil Newborn Premium ready-to-feed liquid milk product at the hospital, and some product was sent home with the parents,” FDA inspection reports say.
But FDA sampling of the available formula was negative for Cronobacter.
Reckitt told ABC News they “cooperate fully with the FDA to investigate consumer complaints,” underscoring that their formula had never conclusively been proven as the cause of an illness.
In the case of Abbott, too, no conclusive causation has been proven between the Cronobacter found at the Sturgis plant and infants’ illness or death. Nevertheless, FDA chief Califf noted in congressional testimony that “we cannot rule it out either, as the confluence of events is highly unusual. There is no dispute that the facility was unacceptably unsanitary.”
“There is some room for human error, but not for persistent human error,” said Edwards. the pediatrician. “You have to have your process in place. And you have to have a process for monitoring your process to make sure it’s always being followed.”
When several controls fail at once, it risks prompting an unfortunate domino effect and “raises important questions about whether our current regulatory system is stringent enough,” Faber said.
The FDA spokesperson told ABC News that the agency is assessing whether their annual surveillance inspections of formula facilities should include more environmental sampling going forward, albeit in a way that “minimizes any disruptions to the supply chain.”
In June, ABC News was first to report that the Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General had launched an audit into how the FDA responded leading up to the recall and closure of Abbott’s Sturgis plant.
The CDC says Cronobacter infections are rare, but serious in infants — noting that powdered formula can be contaminated at a processing facility, or at home. Because Cronobacter can survive so well — on kitchen counters, on sinks, or in a manufacturing plant — the CDC recommends that families using formula wash hands frequently around infants, thoroughly clean bottles, and safely store any powdered formula, or, if possible, use liquid formula.
“There are babies out there whose lives depend on formula. So what happens when the thing that you’re giving your baby is actually the thing that makes them sick?” Edwards said. “That is incredibly scary. For parents, for all of us.”
ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As the federal government aims at expanding protections for LGBTQ people, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and state agencies are vowing to dodge those safeguards.
In a memo from the Florida education department on Thursday, the agency told state schools to ignore nondiscrimination guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Agriculture.
The federal guidance stated that schools cannot discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity under Title IX, as the definition of “sex” includes such categories.
Several federal agencies have issued similar guidance.
DeSantis’ office expressed its support in the education department’s memo in a statement to ABC News.
“The governor’s office fully supports the Florida Department of Education in its position on these proposed rule changes and stands with Commissioner Diaz in refusing to allow the federal government and the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture to hold vulnerable students hostage to their political agenda,” said the governor’s office.
The news comes as Florida’s Agency for Healthcare Administration proposed a ban on Medicaid coverage for puberty blockers, hormones, sex reassignment surgeries, and “any other procedures that alter primary or secondary sexual characteristics.”
The AHCA is debating whether gender-affirming care falls under the “Generally Accepted Professional Medical Standards” for trans Medicaid recipients.
Simultaneously, the state’s health department has asked the Florida Board of Medicine to restrict transition-related care for transgender minors, a letter obtained by NBC News read.
The federal government is trying to fight such restrictions. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently proposed a rule that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability in certain health programs and activities.
Health experts and activists applauded the move, as it includes protections for LGBTQ identities.
“What we’re seeing happening in the states right now is an attempt to codify discriminatory attitudes towards LGBTQ people, particularly transgender people, in state law,” Kellan Baker, the executive director of the LGBTQ health advocacy group Whitman-Walker Institute, told ABC News.
“There’s nothing unusual about health care for transgender people. They all came from procedures, interventions, medications, and services that had been provided to cisgender people for a long time,” he added.
Research has shown that gender-affirming care can be life-saving for transgender people, and will improve the physical and mental health of those who receive it.
These ongoing battles come amid a growing list of instances in which DeSantis continues to spark debate against LGBTQ identities. Just a few weeks earlier, the Parental Rights in Education law, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law, went into effect.
It bans classroom instruction on “sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” according to the law’s language.
DeSantis and supporters of the law say it will give families more input in what their children are learning in schools and that children should not be learning about gender identity and sexual orientation at a young age.
Critics of the law said they believe it would set back the progress made by the LGBTQ community in the last few decades, and make children feel as though LGBTQ identities should be silenced or not spoken about. They say topics involving gender identity and sexual orientation are not inherently sexual, inappropriate or shameful.
More than 6 in 10 Americans oppose legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school, a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll found.
Instances of vandalism and threats against gay bars, drag shows and drag queen story hours continue to be reported, with activists blaming anti-LGBTQ legislation and political rhetoric.
(NEW YORK) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order Friday in response to the growing monekypox outbreak in the state and declared it to be a “disaster emergency.”
“After reviewing the latest data on the monkeypox outbreak in New York State, I am declaring a State Disaster Emergency to strengthen our aggressive ongoing efforts to confront this outbreak,” Gov. Hochul said. “More than one in four monkeypox cases in this country are in New York State, and we need to utilize every tool in our arsenal as we respond. It’s especially important to recognize the ways in which this outbreak is currently having a disproportionate impact on certain at-risk groups. That’s why my team and I are working around the clock to secure more vaccines, expand testing capacity and responsibly educate the public on how to stay safe during this outbreak.”
According to data by the Centers Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New York has the highest reported cases of monkeypox.
There have been 1383 reported cases of monkeypox in New York, according to state data and almost 5,000 in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the executive order will allow the state to respond more quickly to the monkeypox outbreak and enable health care workers to help get more New Yorkers vaccinated.
Hochul’s declaration came a day after monkeypox was considered an “imminent threat” to the public health by New York state’s health commissioner, Dr. Mary Bassett.
Commissioner Barrett said in a statement that the designation meant that “local health departments engaged in response and prevention activities will be able to access additional State reimbursement, after other Federal and State funding sources are maximized.”
Monkeypox is primarily spread from person to person contact through close and physical contact. A fever, muscle ache, chills, headache and fatigue are some of the symptoms. Sores and painful rashes also develop on a person’s body.
Most cases in the U.S. have been reported among the gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men community and related to male-to-male sexual contact. Though health officials have repeatedly stressed that the virus can affect anyone who has close contact with people who have monkeypox. Those with weakened immune systems, pregnant people and children under the age of 8 may be at heightened risk for severe outcomes, according to the CDC.
“Every American should pay attention on monkeypox,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters Thursday. “Monkeypox is not COVID, but it is contagious. It is painful and can be dangerous.”
The World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern last week.
ABC News’ Matt J. Foster and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn, said publicly that he would not support President Joe Biden in 2024 amid a slew of new polling reflecting Democrats’ desire for a new presidential candidate.
The White House on Friday dodged probing by ABC News’ Molly Nagle into what the administration thought about the House Democrat’s comments.
“Look, I’m going to stay where I am,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told ABC News. “The President intends to run in 2024. We are ways away from 2024. We are going to continue to focus on doing the business of the American people by delivering for families by lowering costs for families.”
Phillips on Friday called for a “new generation” of leadership on Friday in the White House in an interview on the Twin Cities-based radio show WCCO-AM.
“I think the country would be well-served by a new generation of compelling, well-prepared, dynamic Democrats who step up,” Phillips said.
“I think it’s time for a generational change,” said Phillips, who told host Chad Hartman he expects more Democrats to start speaking out about their concerns. “And I think most of my colleagues agree with that.”
President Biden is experiencing heightened levels of doubt from inside his own party, with a New York Times/Siena College poll earlier this month showing 64% of Democratic voters saying they would prefer a new standard-bearer for a White House bid in 2024. His job-approval rating remains at 33%, according to the same poll.
“I have respect for Joe Biden, I think he has — despite some mistakes and some missteps, despite his age — I think he’s a man of decency, of good principle, of compassion, of empathy and of strength,” Phillips added.
Biden and other White House officials have attempted to defend his electability in recent weeks, however.
Biden fired back in early July at ABC News reporter Ben Gittleson, who asked about Democrats who’d prefer he didn’t run again.
“Read the poll,” Biden said, referring to the NYT/Siena College poll. “92% said if I did [run again], they’d vote for me.”
Jean-Pierre also cited the 92% figure when asked to react to the poll– which, administration supporters were also quick to note, did show him winning a hypothetical rematch with former President Donald Trump.
“You know, there’s going to be many polls,” she said. “They are going to go up and they are going to go down. This is not the thing that we are solely focused on.”
Polling data also shows that a majority of Americans would not prefer the former president seek another White House term either.
Trump has teased, but has not officially confirmed a plan to run for another White House term, while Biden has said multiple times that he will seek reelection.
“When you have such a sour, negative political environment, voters in general are looking for change,” GOP pollster Robert Blizzard told ABC News earlier this week. “They’re looking for new voices, new people.”
(DECATUR, Ga.) — The family of a Georgia woman who died after she was taken into custody and fell out of a moving police patrol car earlier this month is demanding answers in her death.
Brianna Grier, 28, was taken into custody on July 15 after two Hancock County Sheriff’s Office responded to her home in Sparta, Georgia, authorities said.
Her mother had called 911 because her daughter was having a mental health crisis, according to civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family.
While being transported to the sheriff’s office, Grier fell out of a patrol car and sustained “significant injuries,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), which is investigating the death, said in a statement.
Grier suffered brain trauma and was in a coma before she died on July 21, according to Crump.
“Yet again, we have another African American citizen killed in just an unbelievable way while in the custody of the police,” Crump said during a press briefing Friday.
The briefing comes two days after GBI released new details in the incident.
According to GBI, Grier was placed in the backseat of the patrol car while handcuffed with no seatbelt on. The rear passenger side door was never closed before they drove away, GBI said.
Before the deputies placed her in the car, Gier was on the ground “refusing to get in the patrol car” and “made a statement that she was going to harm herself,” GBI said.
Both the rear driver’s side door and rear passenger side door were open while the deputies put Grier in the backseat, but they only closed the rear driver’s side door before leaving the scene and driving a short distance, GBI said.
“The investigation shows that the deputy thought he closed the rear passenger side door,” GBI said. “Body camera footage reveals the deputies had no other contact with Grier from the time she was placed in the car until she fell out of the moving car.”
The family is calling for more transparency as they try to make sense of what happened, including the release of the body-camera footage.
“We’re trying to get answers of what really happened, that’s all we want to know,” Grier’s father, Marvin Grier, said during Friday’s press event. “We want to know what happened.”
“That was my child,” he continued. “That was my child.”
The incident is still under investigation by GBI.
Hancock County Sheriff Terrell Primus told protesters gathered outside the sheriff’s office on Wednesday that he plans to release body-camera footage of the incident once GBI’s investigation is completed, the Union-Recorder reported.
“A lot of people have already drawn their own conclusions,” he said, according to the publication. “Some people already feel as though we have things to hide. But we do not have anything to hide. The video footage will show evidence based on what has been stated already.”
Crump said his team plans to perform an independent autopsy once her body is released from GBI, and that they will investigate what led to Grier, a mother of 3-year-old twin daughters, falling out of the car while it was moving.
“That’s what we are primarily for — is to get answers and demand justice,” Crump said. “What this is really about is those 3-year-old little babies [who are] going to have to grow up without their mother.”
Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, joined the family on Friday and called for accountability.
“To the Hancock County sheriff, it’s time to be transparent. It’s time to be accountable,” he said. “To the GBI, it’s time for y’all to meet with this family. To the governor, it’s time for you to recognize, again, that Georgia has a police accountability problem.”
“Georgians of all color deserve to feel protected in the custody and control of law enforcement,” he said.
Måneskin has premiered the video for the band’s cover of the Elvis Presley song “If I Can Dream.”
The clip features the Italian rockers recording at Memphis’ famed Sun Studio and touring Elvis’ Graceland museum. It also features footage from the new Elvis movie, for which Måneskin originally recorded the cover.
You can watch the “If I Can Dream” video streaming now on YouTube.
Elvis, which was directed by Baz Luhrmann and stars Austin Butler in the title role, premiered in theaters in June. Its soundtrack also includes Jack White, Tame Impala and Stevie Nicks.
The deluxe CD version of America co-founder Gerry Beckley‘s latest solo album, Aurora, was released Friday. Coinciding with the disc’s arrival, a capsule collection of T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts showcasing the singer/songwriter’s photography is now available.
Beckley partnered with New York-based fashion designer Todd Snyder to create the limited-edition apparel collection, which features three T-shirts and three hoodies, each boasting a different photo taken during Gerry’s travels. The pieces can be purchased now at ToddSnyder.com and select retail stores.
Beckley is a longtime photography enthusiast, and while touring, he began snapping a photo each day and emailing it to family and friends. Some of Gerry’s photos are included in the packaging of the physical versions of Aurora.
“Gerry is this total style maven — cars, clothes, eyewear. He’ll email me out of the blue to suggest a classic item we should make, and his photographs are an extension of this unique point of view,” says Snyder, who’s a longtime friend of Beckley’s. “He makes normal things look artful, and his pictures are modern takes that get us to reconsider places we might otherwise take for granted.”
As previously reported, Aurora is an 11-song collection that Beckley recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic at his two home studios — in Sydney, Australia, and Venice, California. The album’s tracks include tunes that began as unfinished demos and scratch recordings that date back as far as the early 1970s, as well as new songs written during the past two years.
One of the tunes, “Tickets to the Past,” was co-written by Gerry’s co-founding America bandmate Dewey Bunnell, who also sings on the track.
Aurora was released on digital formats last month, while a deluxe vinyl version is due at a later date.
If their hearts are true, grab a pal or a confidante and head The Golden Girls pop-up restaurant, which opens for business in Los Angeles on Saturday — which is National Golden Girls Day.
Fans of the beloved sitcom can live like Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sofia in their Shady Pines apartment, thanks to the new, full-service restaurant experience called The Golden Girls Kitchen.
The eatery is presented by the events company Bucketlisters and was the brainchild of Derek Berry, the guy who brought to life interactive experiences based on Breaking Bad, Saved by the Bell and other fan favorites.
For $50, you can sample items like The Dorothy: A Miami Style Sandwich, Sophia’s Lasagna, Blanche’s Georgia Style Cookies, Rose on Rosé and, as was often eaten in the girls’ kitchen, cheesecake.
Of course, there are plenty of Instagram opportunities to fill your feed, like a replica of the Girls’ iconic kitchen, and their relaxing lanai.
If you can’t swing it to L.A., the experience will be headed to New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and, appropriately for the Florida-set show, Miami through next Spring.
Neil Young has made available a live version of his 1995 song “Throw Your Hatred Down,” recorded with his backing group Promise of the Real while on tour in Europe in 2019, as an advance digital track from his upcoming album Noise & Flowers.
“Throw Your Hatred Down” originally appeard on Mirror Ball, Young’s 1995 collaborative album with Pearl Jam.
As previously reported, Noise & Flowers will be released on August 5 on audio and video formats. The album and film, which were recorded during Young’s nine-date 2019 European tour with Promise of the Real, are dedicated to Neil’s longtime friend and manager Elliot Roberts, who died at age 76 just a couple of weeks before the trek was launched.
Noise & Flowers, which can be preordered now, will be available on CD, as a two-LP vinyl set, via digital formats and as a deluxe CD/two-LP/Blu-ray collection featuring the film on the Blu-ray disc. In addition, a standalone Blu-ray can be purchased exclusively at Young’s Greedy Hand Store. The film was co-directed by Young and his wife, actress Daryl Hannah, under their Bernard Shakey and dhlovelife pseudonyms.
Those who purchase Noise & Flowers at the Greedy Hand Store will receive a high-res digital download of the album from Young’s Xstream Store at his Neil Young Archives website.
Here’s Noise & Flowers full track list:
“Mr. Soul”
“Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”
“Helpless”
“Field of Opportunity”
“Alabama”
“Throw Your Hatred Down”
“Rockin’ in the Free World”
“Comes a Time”
“From Hank to Hendrix”
“On the Beach”
“Are You Ready for the Country”
“I’ve Been Waiting for You”
“Winterlong”
“F***in’ Up”
