Fifty years ago today, on September 9, 1971, the late John Lennon released his classic second solo album, Imagine, which featured his enduring peace anthem of the same name.
Imagine was Lennon’s first solo effort to top the Billboard 200 chart, and it’s gone on to sell more than 2 million copies in the U.S.
Imagine‘s centerpiece, of course, was the title track, which was the only single released from the album. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Imagine” includes lyrics urging people to envision a peaceful world without possessions, without countries that separate us and without religion. Before his death in 1980, Lennon credited his wife, Yoko Ono, with much of song’s lyrical ideas and content.
Other memorable songs featured on the album include “Jealous Guy,” “Gimme Some Truth,” “How Do You Sleep?” and “Oh Yoko!” Lennon wrote “How Do You Sleep?” as a vitriolic response to Paul McCartney‘s then-recent musical and media digs at John and Yoko.
Among the well-known musicians who contributed to Imagine were George Harrison; lauded session keyboardist Nicky Hopkins; bassist Klaus Voormann; drummers Alan White, Jim Keltner and Jim Gordon; and Badfinger members Tom Evans and Joey Molland. Lennon and Ono co-produced the record with Phil Spector.
Of course, hundreds of artists have recorded and performed “Imagine” over the years. Just a few examples: The song was performed as part of the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and at the opening ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, and this year’s 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Visit JohnLennon.com to find out about the various events planned to commemorate the anniversary.
Meanwhile, in the lead-up to the milestone anniversary, a few famous artists discussed their admiration for Imagine and its title track:
John Fogerty: “[Lennon] stated a philosophy in ‘Imagine’ that’s one of those wonderful times where…it’s a really great song, but it’s also got a really great message, you know…The concept of having no borders and everybody is one and that there are many dreamers. And just a completely compelling melody…Yeah, that was a wonderful record, certainly.”
Heart‘s Ann Wilson: “‘Imagine’ [turned] out to be one of the most beloved standards of our culture…I mean, it’s just been done and redone and believed in. What an amazing mantra. And actually, it turns out that…those were Yoko’s words…I think that song probably was the real fruit of [John and Yoko’s] union, creatively.”
Heart’s Nancy Wilson: “The Imagine album was so intimate, more intimate than any Beatles album…would have been able to be, ’cause you would have had a George song, and maybe Ringo song, and Paul and John trading and…doing their Paul and John thing together. But, I think John…was going through a catharsis, like as a human, having been let out of the Beatle pen…and being able to do his own thing with the new love of his life.”
Oscar Isaac plays as an ex-military interrogator turned gambler haunted by his past in The Card Counter, a new crime drama from the man behind such classic films as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, Paul Schrader.
Isaac tells ABC Audio that despite serving prison time for the bad things he’s done, his character, William Tillich — a.k.a. William Tell — can’t seem to shake off the trauma and guilt.
“Even after he’s done his time, he doesn’t feel like it’s enough,” the 42-year-old actor explains. “So he sentences himself to indefinite purgatory by finding the most lonely, kind of miserable existence that he can think of, which is low stakes blackjack, poker, you know, forever.”
Tell is the latest in what Schrader calls his “series of man alone in his room” characters, according to Isaac, who says a role like this was a lifelong goal of his. Films like Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, American Gigolo and First Reformed “are about the pressure of this person in his room and the mystery of what has happened and letting that unravel. So, yeah, I got to do that. I got to be a Paul Schrader anti-hero.”
Tiffany Haddish plays La Linda, a mysterious gambling financier who agrees to back Isaac’s character financially, and recalls it wasn’t Schrader’s iconic films, but an erotic horror film he directed in 1982 that convinced her attracted her to the film.
“I loved him since Cat People,” she tells ABC Audio. “I thought it was shot so beautifully. And I loved the story. And I still love the story.”
“[I said] I want to work with that man! I’ve been saying that for years, and then bam, he called me,” she gushes.
(WASHINGTON) — The White House on Wednesday asked all 18 of former President Donald Trump’s appointees to the boards of the nation’s military academies, including former adviser Kellyanne Conway, press secretary Sean Spicer and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, to resign by Wednesday evening or be dismissed.
Trump had filled some of the positions at West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy, in the final couple months of his presidency. They come with three-year terms, which President Joe Biden is cutting short.
A White House official confirmed the White House sent letters out today and that the appointees had until 6:00 p.m. to resign, or they would be terminated.
The boards of visitors are like boards of trustees who oversee affairs at a university; the president can appoint six people to each, while Congress appoints the rest.
Several of Trump’s appointees were highly political and controversial, and some pushed back on Twitter.
The former director of the White House budget office, Russ Vought, appointed to the board of the Naval Academy, posted the letter he received on Twitter, with the caption, “No. It’s a three year term.”
Spicer, appointed to the Naval Academy as well, tweeted his letter, too, suggesting Biden should focus on Afghanistan.
Conway, meanwhile, appointed to the board of the Air Force Academy, said Biden should resign instead — then suggested she was kidding.
“I will let others evaluate whether they think Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer and others were qualified or not political, to serve on these boards,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. “But the president’s qualification requirements are not your party registration. They are whether you’re qualified to serve and whether you are aligned with the values of this administration.”
Biden wanted “nominees and people serving on these boards who are qualified to serve on them and who are aligned with [his] values,” Psaki said.
Among others being asked to resign are those Trump appointed to the board of the U.S. Military Academy, McMaster and former Gen. Jack Keane, who often appears on Fox News.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — With six days to go until ballots are due, Vice President Kamala Harris returned to the Bay Area Wednesday afternoon to stump for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom ahead of Tuesday’s recall election.
Newsom is facing a two-part question on next week’s recall ballot: whether voters would like to recall him and who they would like to replace him with.
Harris, who appeared with Newsom before President Joe Biden is set to do so next week, told the crowd at a rally with union workers that helping get out the vote for the governor was a priority.
“I came home for one purpose, it was really important for me to come home to stand and speak in support of my dear friend,” she said.
“We want our leaders in California to have a vision of what is possible, to see the opportunity of a moment to inspire and uplift all people. That’s what the people of California have always wanted. And that’s why the Republicans’ recall will fail,” Harris continued.
Harris is the latest big-name Democrat to stump for Newsom. Shortly before the rally his campaign began airing an ad featuring former President Barack Obama, who encouraged Californians to vote against the recall. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have also appeared on the air in support of Newsom, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., rallied with him to get out the vote earlier this month.
Newsom has come under fire from critics and recall hopefuls for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, including recent vaccine and mask mandates in some public settings across the state.
Harris lauded his decision making when it came to the pandemic.
“Gavin stepped up to the moment. Over 22 million Californians have been vaccinated because of the programs that he led and put in place, because he was not afraid. He didn’t say, “This problem is too big for me.’ He didn’t say ‘My state is too big for me.’ No, and he led with courage,” she said.
Newsom and other Democrats have attempted to nationalize the race by highlighting the thin margins in the Senate — and what could happen if a Republican governor is able to make an appointment should Sen. Diane Feinstein’s seat become open.
“What’s happening in Texas, what’s happening in Georgia, what’s happening around our country with these policies that are about attacking women’s rights, reproductive rights, voting rights, workers rights, they think if they can win in California they can do this anywhere, but we’re gonna show them they can’t,” Harris said Wednesday.
So far, according to data collected by Political Data Inc., a firm that works with campaigns in California, 29% of California’s 22 million active voters, who all received ballots in the mail, have returned them. Based solely on partisan breakdown of ballot returns, Democrats and Republicans are returning ballots at similar paces, 33% and 30%, respectively, although the number of Democratic voters in the state is nearly double that of Republicans.
Newsom, during his remarks introducing Harris, painted Larry Elder — the controversial recall candidate who said he believes the minimum wage should be $0 and that women are not as smart as men — as the type of governor Californians should expect if the recall passes and pointed to the risks he believes the state would be in if Elder were to be his successor.
“He said the first thing he’ll do after he gets sworn in — he said the first thing he’ll do before his first cup of tea — is he will sign an executive order, eliminating mask wearing for our kids in public schools and eliminating vaccine verification for health care workers. Consider the consequences of that,” Newsom said.
Although many voters said they are still undecided on who they’d choose as a replacement, Elder, a nationally syndicated conservative radio host, leads most public polling of the recall field.
Newsom also referenced the balance of power in Washington if Elder had been governor last year and appointed a Republican to fill Harris’ seat.
“Would there have been that last stimulus? Would there be Majority Leader Chuck Schumer? Think of the consequences, California. That’s what’s at stake … you have the opportunity to determine the fate and future of this state. And I would argue impact the fate and future of the United States of America. This is a consequential election,” he said.
Every voter in California was mailed a ballot for this election, so there is less pressure on Newsom when it comes to cultivating high turnout in order to defeat the recall. The latest poll from the Public Policy Institute of California released last week showed 58% of Californians opposing the recall.
In that poll, 49% of respondents said that they either will not vote on the second question to choose a replacement candidate or they do not yet know who they’d like to pick.
Newsom also nodded to former President Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican Party and the lies about a stolen election that have turned into a platform for many in the GOP.
“What a remarkable moment it is in American history. But we have a chance, and an opportunity, to make history of our own here in the state of California. By rejecting that — well, that cynicism, rejecting that fear, by rejecting that kind of dismissiveness. California, we are better than that, we have the opportunity by voting no on this recall. We’re better than that,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 650,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 62.3% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Sep 08, 6:45 pm
Kentucky reaches record number of hospitalizations
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced new grim COVID-19 data and said the state has reached a record high positivity rate of 14.1%, and a hospitalization rate of 2,424.
There are 674 residents in ICUs, Beshear said.
In the last 24 hours, 4,468 newly coronavirus cases and 30 new deaths, including that of a young teen, were reported, according to the governor.
“No matter what age you are, this thing is deadly and it’s out there. You need to get vaccinated and you need to wear your mask,” he wrote on Twitter.
Today I am sad to share another tough report in our battle with COVID-19. For Wednesday I am announcing 4,468 newly reported cases and 30 new deaths, including a 15-year-old from Shelby County. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/jMOWZtcT6B
Nearly 94% of all NFL players and 99% of the league’s football-related staff members are at least partially vaccinated, ESPN reported Wednesday.
The season begins Thursday night with a match between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The league has mandated that coaches and staff be vaccinated and has been going back and forth with the NFL Players Association about a requirement for players.
Currently, unvaccinated players are being tested daily and required to follow a series of protocols, while those fully vaccinated are tested once a week. Still, the NFL Players Association has now demanded all players be tested daily, regardless of their vaccination status.
Sep 08, 3:53 pm
Biden to lay out next steps on testing, vaccine requirements, school safety
President Joe Biden will lay out a six-prong strategy to combat the delta variant on Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
“He’s going to outline the next phase in the fight against the virus and what that looks like, including measures to work with the public and private sector, building on the steps that we’ve already announced, the steps we’ve taken over the last few months, requiring more vaccinations, boosting important testing measures and more, making it safer for kids to go to school,” Psaki said Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Sep 08, 2:38 pm
Over 95% of US counties reporting high community transmission
More than 95% of U.S. counties are now reporting high community transmission, the highest level since CDC tracking began, according to federal data.
The average daily case rate (per 100,000) is now higher among children ages 5 to 17 than all adult age groups.
Death rates are continuing to surge with about 1,000 Americans dying from COVID-19 each day, according to federal data.
Americans between the ages of 18 and 49 made up about one-third — 34.4% — of the patients hospitalized as of Aug. 28.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Sep 08, 2:32 pm
Over 95% of US counties reporting high community transmission
More than 95% of U.S. counties are now reporting high community transmission, the highest level since CDC tracking began, according to federal data.
The average daily case rate (per 100,000) is now higher among children ages 5 to 17 than all adult age groups.
Death rates are continuing to surge with about 1,000 Americans dying from COVID-19 each day, according to federal data.
Americans between the ages of 18 and 49 made up about one-third — 34.4% — of the patients hospitalized as of Aug. 28.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Sep 08, 1:30 pm
Fauci: 3rd shot likely going to become standard regimen
In an interview with the podcast “In the Bubble,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told former White House adviser Andy Slavitt that he predicts three doses will become the standard dosing regimen for COVID-19 vaccines going forward.
Fauci cited new data from Israel that vaccine protection against hospitalization dropped in recent months from some 97% to 77% or 78%.
The vaccines still provide extraordinary protection, but the combination of the delta variant and waning immunity with time are causes for concern, he said.
Fauci added that that he thinks it will probably be the end of 2022 or early 2023 before much of the world is vaccinated.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Sep 08, 1:06 pm
Kentucky hospitals on brink of rationing care: Governor
Kentucky is “quickly approaching that point” where hospitals will need to start rationing care, Gov. Andy Beshear warned on CNN.
Over two-thirds of Kentucky’s hospitals have critical staffing shortages, the governor said. FEMA and National Guard teams have been called in and nursing students have been deployed across the state, he said.
“We’ve got one hospital in Morehead called St. Clair that’s closed three operating rooms to expand ICU bed space,” he said. “We had a hospital in Danville, Kentucky, that’s not used to treating really sick patients, that had a morgue for two — and had seven individuals pass away in their hospital over one weekend.”
“We’ve set up tents outside Pikeville Medical Center to triage whether people really need to be in the hospital or not,” Beshear continued. “We’re in a very precarious situation.”
-ABC News’ Brian Hartman
Sep 08, 11:09 am
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade participants must be vaccinated
All participants in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade must be vaccinated and wear face coverings, the department store announced Wednesday. Singers, dancers and musicians may be exempt from wearing face masks.
The number of participants will see a 10 to 20% cut this year and social distancing will be followed, Macy’s added.
Last year, much of the parade was pre-taped due to the pandemic. There were no high school band performances and limited spectators on the street.
The marching band and other specialty group performances that were initially set to perform last year will get to participate in this Thanksgiving’s parade, Macy’s said.
Sep 08, 10:40 am
Supreme Court to resume in-person oral arguments
The Supreme Court will resume in-person oral arguments on Oct. 4 for the first time since the pandemic began.
All arguments will be in person from Oct. 4 through the rest of the year. The courtroom will only have staff, counsel of cases on the docket and hard-pass court reporters there in person, with the court staying closed to the general public.
The court says it will continue to offer a real-time live audio feed of arguments.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Sep 08, 10:03 am
Only 20% of people in low, lower-middle-income countries have had 1st vaccine dose
Just 20% of people in low and lower-middle-income countries have received their first vaccine dose, compared to 80% of people in high and upper-middle income countries, according to the World Health Organization and COVAX, the initiative aiming to provide equitable vaccine access across the world.
“The global picture of access to COVID-19 vaccines is unacceptable,” COVAX said, adding that its ability to reach lower income countries is “hampered by export bans, the prioritisation of bilateral deals by manufacturers and countries, ongoing challenges in scaling up production by some key producers, and delays in filing for regulatory approval.”
COVAX said it expects to have access to 1.425 billion doses of vaccine this year, with about 1.2 billion available for lower income economies participating in COVAX’s Advance Market Commitment.
“This is enough to protect 20% of the population, or 40% of all adults, in all 92 AMC economies with the exception of India. Over 200 million doses will be allocated to self-financing participants,” COVAX said. “The key COVAX milestone of two billion doses released for delivery is now expected to be reached in the first quarter of 2022.”
Sep 08, 6:02 am
US surpasses 40 million cases and 650,000 deaths
The United States has recorded more than 40 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 650,000 deaths from the disease since the start of the pandemic, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. surpassed the grim milestones on Tuesday, as the highly contagious delta variant continued to spread across the nation. The U.S. has reported more COVID-19 cases and deaths than any other country in the world.
Sep 07, 9:56 pm
Pediatric cases reach highest point of pandemic
The U.S. reported 251,781 COVID-19 cases among kids during the week ending Sept. 2 — the highest week of pediatric cases since the pandemic began, according to the weekly report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
After declining in the early summer, new cases among kids are rising “exponentially,” the organizations wrote, with the weekly figure now standing nearly 300 times higher than it was in June, when just 8,400 pediatric cases were reported over the span of one week.
Last week children represented 26.8% of all reported COVID-19 cases. Regionally, the South had the highest number pediatric cases, accounting for approximately 140,000 of last week’s cases.
The rate of pediatric hospital admissions per 100,000 people is also at one of its highest points of the pandemic, up by 600% since the 4th of July, according to federal data.
Severe illness due to COVID-19 remains “uncommon” among children, the two organizations wrote in the report. According to the nearly two dozen states which reported pediatric hospitalizations, 0.1%-1.9% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization. Similarly, in states which reported virus-related deaths by age, 0.00%-0.03% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death.
However, the AAP and CHA warned that there is an urgent need to collect more data on the long-term consequences of the pandemic on children, “including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects.”
About 37.7% of children ages 12 to 15 and 46.4% of adolescents ages 16 to 17 have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Sep 07, 9:50 pm
About 1 in every 500 Americans has died from COVID
The country’s daily death average continues to surge, now standing at more than 1,100 deaths reported a day. This marks the nation’s highest average in nearly six months.
On Tuesday, the death toll crossed 650,000 Americans lost to the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, meaning that 1 in every 504 Americans has died from the virus.
The U.S. COVID death toll is now more than 218 times higher than the number of lives lost during the U.S. attacks on Sept. 11. It is also rapidly approaching the total number of American deaths that were recorded during the 1918 influenza pandemic.
Prior to the Labor Day holiday, the U.S. daily case average stood around 150,000 cases a day. About a year ago, around Labor Day, the country was averaging about 38,000 new cases a day.
Sep 07, 6:36 pm
Tucson pauses vaccine mandate for city employees following AG legal threat
Tucson, Arizona, officials announced a pause on the city’s policy to require its public employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine after Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich called it illegal and threatened to cut funding if the city went through with the plan.
Tuscon City Manager Michael Ortega said in a statement the city council is evaluating the mandate’s legal position.
“Until we have a better understanding of our legal position in relation to today’s report, I have instructed staff to pause on the implementation of the policy,” he said.
Brnovich said Tuscon’s rule violated Gov. Doug Ducey’s July executive order that banned any state or local office from requiring their staff get a vaccine against the coronavirus or any vaccine that has only received an emergency order.
“COVID-19 vaccinations should be a choice, not a government mandate,” he said in a statement.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said in a statement that the attorney general was “prioritizing his political ambitions over his responsibility to objectively interpret the law.”
As of Tuesday, over 606,000 residents in Pima County, Arizona, the county that includes Tucson, have had one COVID-19 shot, according to the Pima County Health Department. That represents roughly 56.7% of the county’s 1.07 million population, according to the U.S. Census numbers.
The county has recorded more than 4,000 new cases since Aug. 5, according to health department data.
Sep 07, 5:57 pm
Idaho hospital officials plead with public to get vaccinated as they run out of beds
Idaho hospital officials are pleading for the public to get vaccinated and take COVID-19 warnings seriously after the state declared a crisis in its standards of care.
Kootenai Health, a northern Idaho hospital, currently has 113 patients with COVID-19, an increase from the 90 patients they had last week, officials said. Administrators had to set up 22 beds in a conference room to deal with the influx of patients.
Dr. Robert Scoggins the chief of staff at Kootenai Health, said the hospital was not built for a pandemic this size. Currently, 39 patients are in the intensive care units and 19 are on ventilators, all on high levels of oxygen, he said.
The hospital said it could see as many as 140 patients in the coming weeks.
“The message that I’d like to send out to people is that we’re near the limit that we can handle in this facility,” Scoggins said in a news conference. “We’ve done a lot of things to expand our care to take care of more patients, but it keeps growing. If we had everyone in the community vaccinated, we would not be in this position.”
-ABC News’ Flor Tolentino and Nicholas Kerr
Sep 07, 4:00 pm
Louisiana hospital reports significant decline in number of patients
In hard-hit Louisiana, the Ochsner Health System is seeing a significant decline in COVID-19 patients, now down to 530 — dropping by nearly 250 patients in the last week, hospital CEO and president Warner Thomas said.
But in the wake of deadly Hurricane Ida, releasing patients from hospitals has been difficult, as some patients have no homes to return to, he said.
Sep 07, 3:30 pm
Oregon hospitals ‘scrambling’ with cases, hospitalizations ‘hovering at or near pandemic highs’
Hospitals in Oregon are “scrambling” to stay afloat with cases and hospitalizations “hovering at or near pandemic highs,” the state epidemiologist, Dean Sidelinger, said at COVID-19 briefing Tuesday.
Oregon saw 16,252 new cases in its most recent weekly report – which is 13 times higher than the reported cases for the week ending July 4, Sidelinger said.
Hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions are “alarmingly high” and hospitals are at a “saturation point” where they aren’t “able to provide care to everyone arriving at their door,” Sidelinger warned.
Sep 07, 3:08 pm
Former NBA player on 10th day in ICU
Former Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers player Cedric Ceballos, 52, tweeted that he’s on his 10th day in the ICU battling COVID-19.
On my 10th day in ICU, COVID-19 is officially kicking my but, I am asking ALL family, friends , prayer warriors healers for your prayers and well wish for my recovery.
If I have done and anything to you in the past , allow me to publicly apologize.
My fight is not done…..
Thx pic.twitter.com/r9QZBpfmEI
Military medical personnel head to Idaho, Arkansas, Alabama
About 60 military medical personnel are heading in three, 20-person teams to Arkansas, Alabama and Idaho to help treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients following a request from FEMA, the U.S. Army North said.
The personnel, including doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists, were sent to hospitals in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Ozark, Alabama; and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Six teams had previously been dispatched to six other hospitals: three in Louisiana, two in Mississippi and one in Dothan, Alabama.
Sep 07, 1:43 pm
Crisis Standards of Care enacted as ‘last resort’ at 10 Idaho hospital systems
A Crisis Standards of Care plan has been enacted at 10 hospital systems in Idaho, which is only done as a “last resort,” Dave Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said in a statement Tuesday.
The hospitals were chosen due to their “severe” shortages in beds and staffing as a result of a “massive increase” in COVID-19 hospitalizations, state officials said.
Crisis Standards of Care “means we have exhausted our resources to the point that our healthcare systems are unable to provide the treatment and care we expect,” Jeppesen said. “This is a decision I was fervently hoping to avoid.”
“When crisis standards of care are in effect, people who need medical care may experience care that is different from what they expect,” state officials said. “For example, patients admitted to the hospital may find that hospital beds are not available or are in repurposed rooms (such as a conference room) or that needed equipment is not available.”
Sep 07, 12:37 pm
75% of American adults have had at least 1 vaccine dose
Seventy-five percent of U.S. adults have now had at least one vaccine dose, Cyrus Shahpar, the White House’s COVID-19 data director, tweeted Tuesday.
Sunday-Tuesday just in: +1.51M doses reported administered over Saturday’s total, including 681K newly vaccinated and 105K additional doses. As usual, lower reporting over the holiday weekend. Just hit 75% of adults with at least one dose!
Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
Sep 07, 10:36 am
Biden to layout administration’s strategy to combat delta
President Joe Biden on Thursday will deliver remarks on his plan to stop the spread of the delta variant and to boost vaccinations, the White House confirmed Tuesday.
Biden “will lay out a six-pronged strategy … working across the public and private sectors,” a White House official said.
On Friday, while addressing August’s disappointing jobs report, Biden said, “there’s no question the delta variant is why today’s jobs report isn’t stronger. … Next week, I’ll lay out the next steps that are going to — we’re going to need to combat the delta variant, to address some of those fears and concerns.”
Part of the strategy Biden referenced Friday is to ask states and local governments to consider using federal funding to extend unemployment benefits in hard-hit areas.
“I want to talk about how we’ll further protect our schools, our businesses, our economy, and our families from the threat of delta,” Biden said Friday. “As we continue to fight the delta variant, the American Rescue Plan we passed continues to support families, businesses and communities. Even as some of the benefits that were provided are set to expire next week, states have the option to extend those benefits and the federal resources from the Rescue Plan to do so.”
Sep 07, 7:05 am
3rd person dies in Japan after receiving contaminated Moderna vaccine
A third person has died in Japan after receiving a dose from one of three batches of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine that have since been recalled due to contamination, according to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The 49-year-old man died on Aug. 12, one day after getting his second shot of the two-dose vaccine. His only known health issue was an allergy to buckwheat, the Japanese health ministry said in a statement Monday.
Two other men, aged 30 and 38, also died in August within days of getting their second Moderna shot. In all three cases, the men received doses from a batch manufactured in the same production line as another lot from which some unused vials were reported to contain foreign substances at multiple inoculation sites in Japan.
The deaths remain under investigation, and the Japanese health ministry said it has yet to establish any casual relationship with the vaccine.
The contaminated lot and two adjacent batches were suspended from use by the Japanese health ministry last month, pending an investigation. Moderna and its Japanese distribution partner Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. ultimately recalled the three lots, containing about 1.63 million doses, after an investigation confirmed the foreign matter to be high-grade stainless steel from manufacturing equipment.
The Japanese health ministry said that, based on the companies’ analysis, it is unlikely the stainless steel contaminants pose any additional health risk.
Moderna and Takeda have yet to release statements on the third fatality, but the companies have previously said there is currently no evidence that the other two deaths were caused by the vaccine.
(NEW ORLEANS, La.) — The nation is still grappling with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, which made landfall Aug. 29 and knocked out power to more than 1 million customers in Louisiana.
At least 82 people have died due to the storm — which hit Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane — as well as the devastation it left across eight states.
In Louisiana, 26 have died due to the storm’s wrath. The Louisiana Health Department confirmed two more storm-related deaths Tuesday in St. Tammany Parish: a 68-year-old man who fell off a roof while making repairs to damage caused by Ida and a 71-year-old man who died due to a lack of oxygen during an extended power outage. On Wednesday, they announced an additional 11 deaths, all in Orleans Parish and nine from heat-related illness due to power outages. The two others died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
In the Northeast, at least 52 have died. The Harrison Police Department in Westchester County, New York, confirmed on Monday the recovery of a woman’s body who went missing during last week’s flooding.
President Joe Biden surveyed the damage of Ida’s remnants in New York and New Jersey on Tuesday.
Biden said that amid the storm’s destruction, there was also an “opportunity” to open the country’s eyes and get people to heed the urgent warnings from scientists, adding, “I think we’ve all seen –even the climate skeptics are seeing — that this really does matter.”
Biden has touted the extreme weather as a critical reason why Congress should pass his infrastructure package.
Recovery efforts continue in the South, where 70% of the 948,000 Entergy utility customers who lost power finally had it restored, the company said Wednesday.
In Louisiana, 301,000 customers remained with outages Wednesday evening, and in New Orleans, 83% of customers who lost power had it restored and 35,000 customers remain in the dark, Entergy said. On Wednesday evening, Entergy said it hoped to have 90% of customers in New Orleans back on line that night.
A team of 26,000 workers is restoring downed and damaged power lines. However, some hard-hit areas, including Lafourche Parish and Plaquemines Parish aren’t forecast to have power restored until Sept. 29, according to the company’s estimation.
In Louisiana and Mississippi, 30,679 poles, 36,469 spans of wire and 5,959 transformers were damaged or destroyed — that’s more than Katrina, Ike, Delta and Zeta combined.
Access to water remains a major problem in the state, with boil water advisories still in place in the parishes of Jefferson, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. Tammany, St. John the Baptist, Plaquemines and Tangipahoa.
Tuesday marked the last day for locals to evacuate to Ida shelters in northern Louisiana.
About 14,000 people in Lafourche Parish were left homeless after Ida razed through and destroyed 75% of the structures there.
“We are working feverishly, as hard as we can to get all people what they need to keep their lives going and to rebuild our community,” Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson said to CNN on Monday.
Nursing home deaths are also a mounting concern in the state.
Among those who died in Louisiana, seven were nursing home residents who were transferred to a warehouse in Independence in Tangipahoa Parish and later died. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has opened an investigation into the deaths. Only five of the seven deaths were confirmed by the state to be storm-related.
The Louisiana Health Department is investigating nursing homes that transferred patients there and ordered all of them to shut down Saturday.
On Tuesday, officials announced they revoked the licenses for seven nursing homes that evacuated to the facility ahead of Ida. Those nursing homes were: River Palms Nursing and Rehab in Orleans Parish, South Lafourche Nursing and Rehab in Lafourche Parish, Maison Orleans Healthcare Center in Orleans Parish, Park Place Healthcare Nursing Home in Jefferson Parish, West Jefferson Health Care Center in Jefferson Parish, Maison De Ville Nursing Home in Terrebonne Parish, Maison Deville Nursing Home of Harvey in Jefferson Parish.
“Ultimately, lives were lost — these were grandparents, neighbors and friends, and we know families are hurting. We as a Department are taking formal regulatory action,” the LDH said in a statement.
On Saturday, during wellness checks at eight New Orleans facilities, five nursing home residents were found dead, the city said in a news release. None of those have been confirmed to be storm-related. In response, the city determined all eight facilities were “unfit” and evacuated nearly 600 residents to hospitals and shelters.
Also in Louisiana, at least four people have died and 141 were treated in hospitals for carbon monoxide poisoning in the wake of Ida, according to the Louisiana Department of Health, prompting officials to urge the public for safe generator use.
Officials advise placing generators at least 20 feet away from a home and assure all air entry points near the unit and home are properly sealed.
ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
Pop-country great B.J. Thomas sadly passed away in May at age 78 after a battle with lung cancer. Now some of the “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” singer’s belongings are available via an online memorabilia sale overseen by his estate.
The items currently available for purchase include Rolex watches, guitars, apparel, signed baseballs, gold- and platinum-record awards, personal letters, firearms and various other collectibles. You can check out all of the items at Rockology-Estates.com.
Among the collectibles with the highest price tags are a Rolex watch, and a baseball signed by Babe Ruth, both priced at $10,900, a Gretsch guitar selling for $4,995, and a tour-used Ovation guitar with $4,975 asking price.
“The hardest thing for me was losing the love of my life, B.J., my honeyman,” says Thomas’ widow, Gloria. “Now, working with a team of people, we are placing items of B.J.’s in museums and are working to keep his legacy and memory alive. Doing this sale will also allow many of his loyal fans the chance to have a piece of history and memorabilia that normally wouldn’t be available to them.”
More of Thomas’ memorabilia will be made available in the coming weeks.
Thomas scored a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 with “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” which was penned by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The tune, which appeared in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, won an Oscar for Best Original Song.
B.J. also topped the Hot 100 in 1975 with “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” and scored a #5 hit in 1968 with “Hooked on a Feeling.”
Ben Gibson/Courtesy of Rocket Entertainment; David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
A brief video clip from what appears to be an ad for UberEats starring Elton John and popular singer/rapper Lil Nas X — which apparently is going to arrive in full tomorrow — has been posted on Elton’s Twitter account.
In the clip, Elton is sitting behind a white piano, while dressed in a pink cowboy outfit similar to something Lil Nas X would’ve worn in 2019 when he was promoting his record-setting number-one hit “Old Town Road.”
Then Lil Nas X walks into the frame wearing one of Elton’s most over-the-top outfits: He’s dressed head to toe in multicolored feathers, with sparkly silver sunglasses and a mirrored leather headpiece. Elton famously wore that outfit while appearing on The Muppet Show in 1978.
As the clip proceeds, Elton looks up from the piano, sees Lil Nas X and says, “B**** stole my look!” Nas starts laughing, and says, “That wasn’t it!,” meaning that Elton delivered the wrong line. But as both he, Elton and the crew off camera crack up, Nas adds, “You know what? Let’s keep it!”
Elton and Lil Nas X have teamed up on a song called “One of Me” that will appear on both Nas’ debut album, Montero, due out September 17, and Elton’s forthcoming collaborative album The Lockdown Sessions, which will be released on October 22.
With Halloween close at hand, Disney+ has rolled out a full listing of all the spooky titles in its catalog. They include classics like Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas, to special spooky episodes of shows like WandaVision and Marvel Studios’ What If… to Wizards of Waverly Place, The Simpsons and That’s So Raven.
Here’s a full list of Disney+’s creepy collection:
LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales (premiering 10/8) Muppets Haunted Mansion (10/8) Under Wraps (10/13) Just Beyond The Nightmare Before Christmas Hocus Pocus The Haunted Mansion Frankenweenie Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad Zombies Halloweentown Twitches Girl vs. Monster Mom’s Got a Date With a Vampire Don’t Look Under the Bed Phantom of the Megaplex Mr. Boogedy So Weird Vampirina
Shorts:
Toy Story of Terror! Lonesome Ghosts Trick-or-Treat Gravity Falls Gargoyles The Simpsons: “Treehouse of Horror I-XXX”
Halloween-themed episodes:
Marvel Studios WandaVision — “All New Halloween Spooktacular”
Marvel Studios What If…Zombies The Muppet Show — “Vincent Price” Behind the Attraction — “Haunted Mansion” Hannah Montana — “Torn Between 2 Hannahs” The Sweet Life of Zack and Cody — “Ghost of 613” That’s So Raven — “Don’t Have A Cow” Wizards of Waverley Place — “Halloween” The Proud Family — “A Hero for Halloween” Lizzie McGuire — “Night of the Day of the Dead” KC Undercover — “All Howl’s Eve”
Travis Barker is headed to the MTV Video Music Awards.
The Blink-182 drummer is among the presenters at this year’s ceremony, along with artists, athletes and celebrities including Billie Eilish, Avril Lavigne, Megan Fox, Hailey Bieber, 50 Cent, Ashanti, Simone Biles, Conor McGregor and Ja Rule.
Barker is also set to perform at the VMAs when he joins Machine Gun Kelly for a rendition of the “Bloody Valentine” rocker’s new single, “Papercuts.”
Other VMA performers include Foo Fighters and Twenty One Pilots. The show airs live from Brooklyn, New York, on Sunday, September 12, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.
