As Mickey Guyton prepares to release her new album, Remember Her Name, next month, the powerhouse singer has a new song to share off the project.
“All American” is a soaring and sweeping celebration of all the different strengths and experiences that lend themselves to living the American dream. “We got the same stars, the same stripes/ Just wanna live that good life /Ain’t we all, ain’t we all All American,” Mickey sings in the chorus.
“I wrote ‘All American’ with my dream team of incredible female writers,” notes Mickey, whose co-writers on the song are Victoria Banks, Emma-Lee and Karen Kosowski. That’s the same writing team that produced “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?,” Mickey’s searing ballad from spring 2020, which kicked off the album cycle that would ultimately lead up to Remember Her Name.
“This song embodies everything that makes America special,” Mickey continues. “From a Texas sky to New York City lights and Daisy Dukes to Dookie braids, despite all our differences, we are all American.”
Remember Her Name arrives in full on September 24. The track list also includes Mickey’s previously released, powerful rallying cry for equality, “Black Like Me.”
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Chaos has enveloped Kabul after Afghanistan’s government’s collapsed and the Taliban seized control, all but ending America’s 20-year campaign as it began: under Taliban rule.
On Thursday, protests broke out in Kabul with Afghan men and women waving the nation’s flag in defiance of the Taliban on Afghanistan’s Independence Day.
The U.S. has evacuated approximately 9,000 people since Aug. 14, according to a White House official, with 3,000 people evacuated Thursday and double that number slated to be flown out Friday. Pentagon officials have said their focus remains on maintaining the airport perimeter and increasing the number of evacuees out of Kabul.
President Joe Biden returned to Washington from Camp David on Wednesday and sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House, the president’s first interview since the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He is expected to address the nation on evacuation efforts Friday.
The Pentagon has said that 6,000 U.S. troops have been deployed to the country’s capital as the military races to evacuate people. Despite criticism, the Biden administration is sticking by its decision to withdraw troops from the country, though Biden told Stephanopoulos troops might stay beyond the original Aug. 31 date if it takes longer to get all Americans out of the country.
Here are some key developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 20, 3:52 pm
Pentagon says evacuation flights ‘steadily increasing’
There’s been “steady progress” on evacuations in Kabul, John Kirby, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said at a Friday press conference.
Officials stressed that the airport is secure and that evacuation flights are “steadily increasing” after they stalled for several hours on Friday due to capacity limits at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which is processing and housing Afghan evacuees. Flights from Kabul were paused for about six or seven hours, said Army Gen. William “Hank” Taylor.
“Flight operations have resumed,” Taylor added. “We are looking at additional locations for these initial flights to land. We are grateful for our allies, including Germany, where flights land today, who are cooperating with us in this global effort.”
Taylor said fewer than 10,000 people were affected by the backlog of flights.
Taylor said that 16 C-17s and one C-130 left Kabul over the last 24 hours, carrying some 6,000 passengers and a “couple of hundred” American citizens out of the country.
About 5,800 U.S. troops remain on the ground in Kabul.
Aug 20, 2:02 pm
Biden addresses the nation, says ‘Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home.’
President Joe Biden, in an address to the nation Friday amid the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, touted “significant progress” in evacuation efforts, saying the airport in Kabul has been secured.
“Let me be clear, any American who wants to come home, we will get you home,” he said.
He said the U.S. is still working to get a “strong number” of how many American citizens are in Afghanistan and where they are.
Biden noted more than 18,000 people have been evacuated since July and approximately 13,000 since the military airlift effort began Aug. 14th.
Biden has faced fierce criticism for the withdrawal from Afghanistan and has defiantly defended his decision to withdraw all troops by Aug. 31.
“The idea that somehow, there’s a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don’t know how that happens,” Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.
During that sitdown, he also said he’s committed to getting every American out of Afghanistan even if it means potentially extending the mission beyond the deadline he set.
Meanwhile, the situation in Afghanistan remains dire, with crowds clamoring to get out from the airport in Kabul and reports of Afghans being targeted by the Taliban
Aug 20, 1:14 pm
Reports of Afghans targeted by Taliban
“Taliban fighters massacred nine ethnic Hazara men after taking control of Afghanistan’s Ghazni province last month,” according to a press release posted Thursday by Amnesty International.
“On-the-ground researchers spoke to eyewitnesses who gave harrowing accounts of the killings, which took place between July 4-6 in the village of Mundarakht, Malistan district. Six of the men were shot and three were tortured to death, including one man who was strangled with his own scarf and had his arm muscles sliced off,” the group wrote on its website.
Meanwhile, a private Norwegian intelligence firm also sent evidence of the Taliban rounding up Afghans on a blacklist of people who worked for the Afghan government or with U.S. and NATO forces, according to a U.S. official and a source familiar with the report.
The U.N. provided the report to the U.S. and other countries Thursday, according to the U.S. official.
But the source familiar with the report noted that the U.N. did not commission the report and cannot verify its authenticity.
Aug 20, 1:12 pm
No US airlift flights out of Kabul for hours due to Qatar capacity
For several hours Friday, there were no C-17 evacuation flights out of Kabul’s airport because the evacuee facilities at the Al Udeid Air Base near Doha, Qatar, are at capacity due to the number of Afghan evacuees being processed and housed there, according to a U.S. official.
A White House official has now confirmed that the commander on the ground at the Kabul airport has issued an order to recommence evacuation flights.
Flights will begin traveling with U.S. citizens and Afghan allies to Uzbekistan, according to a State Department official.
It will be one of many new countries that the U.S. will now send flights to.
Aug 20, 12:14 pm
‘Dissent cable’ warned of Afghanistan government collapse
U.S. diplomats at the embassy in Kabul warned Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the department’s leadership that the Afghan government was at risk of collapse as the Taliban offensive swept across the country, a source familiar with the cable confirmed to ABC News.
The dissent cable, as such classified memos are called, was sent July 13 and called for the Biden administration to begin an airlift operation immediately for Afghans who helped the U.S. and to use sharper language to condemn Taliban atrocities, according to the source. The cable was immediately brought to Blinken’s attention, according to the source, who said Blinken responded.
The source declined to detail what he said, beyond encouraging use of the dissent cable channel — but told ABC News that the “thoughts of the drafters reflected much of the thinking at the department,” which is why the State Department started relocating Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants and families in late July.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price issued a statement about the cable, declining to comment publicly, but saying Blinken reads every dissent, approves the replies and welcomes and encourages the channel’s use.
Aug 20, 11:45 am
White House tries to spin Kabul airport, embassy evacuation as successful planning
White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield defended the government’s response to the Afghanistan crisis and touted the airport evacuations as a success.
“We have taken control of the airport. Flights are leaving regularly. I would say that’s not something that happens without planning. That’s not something that just happens,” she said on MSNBC Friday morning.
“The president planned for multiple contingencies, that’s why he prepositioned troops in the Gulf who are able to move in immediately after Kabul fell, take control of the airport and begin to set up flights to get people out of the country,” she added.
Bedingfield also touted the fact that the U.S. Embassy was cleared without loss of life, despite the fact that crucial documents for Afghan allies, like passports, were destroyed, according to a Democratic lawmaker’s office. The destruction of passports could make it more difficult for Afghan allies to get evacuated, putting them in even more danger.
“48 hours after the fall of Kabul we evacuated all of our embassy personnel to the airport without a shot fired,” Bedingfield said. “That’s not something that just happens, that requires foresight and planning and that’s what President Biden and his team did.”
Aug 20, 11:29 am
DHS personnel deployed to Qatar to help processing Afghans
Agents from Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and officers from Transportation Security Agency have been deployed to Doha, Qatar “to conduct processing, screening, and vetting, with the goal of bringing to the United States Afghans who have worked for and on behalf of the United States and other eligible vulnerable Afghans in coordination with Department of Defense and Department of State,” a CBP spokesperson told ABC News on Friday.
Aug 20, 11:10 am
Pentagon requests to ‘reprogram’ $400M to pay for transport, housing of Afghan refugees
The Pentagon submitted a request to the House and Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday to “reprogram” $400 million to pay for the transport and housing of Afghan refugees.
A House Armed Services Committee aide confirmed the news, which was first reported in Punchbowl News.
“The Committee has received and is in the process of reviewing the reprogramming request from the Department,” HASC spokesperson Monica Matoush told ABC News in a statement.
This request comes on top of the $1.1 billion already approved by Congress in the security supplemental package for the “Special Immigrant Visa” program.
“Chairman Smith has been following the developments in Afghanistan very closely and continues to believe that our current focus must be the rapid evacuation of U.S. personnel, Afghan nationals that have supported the military, as well as their families, and other Afghan nationals that may be in danger due to their work on humanitarian or human rights issues. The Committee will keep this priority in mind as the reprogramming request is evaluated,” Matoush added.
Aug 20, 10:33 am
Biden to brief nation Friday as 6,000 slated to be evacuated from Afghanistan
As chaos continues to unfold in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden will address the nation at 1 p.m. on evacuation efforts amid mounting pressure to get Americans and Afghans who have supported the U.S. out of the embattled country.
After about 3,000 people were evacuated Thursday, the State Department said another 6,000 are slated to be evacuated on 20 flights Friday. Between 5,000 to 7,000 people will have to be evacuated daily to beat the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline, Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Wednesday.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with their national security team to be briefed on the evolving situation on the ground in Afghanistan on Friday before Harris departs on a foreign trip to Asia in the evening, and the House and Senate will also receive unclassified briefings at 2 p.m. and 3:15 p.m., respectively.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby will also hold a briefing with Maj. Gen Hank Taylor at 2 p.m.
Aug 20, 9:08 am
Biden administration grapples with slow Afghanistan evacuations
Members of Congress will get more details on the state of affairs in Afghanistan in unclassified briefings Friday amid bipartisan calls for Americans and Afghan allies to be evacuated from Kabul faster after the Taliban takeover.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley will speak with members of the House of Representatives. Senators will also receive a briefing.
The briefing comes after another chaotic day at Kabul’s airport. The State Department said Thursday that 6,000 people were cleared to be flown out on 20 flights on Friday — the max capacity for each.
The number evacuated will have to be 5,000 to 7,000 per day to beat the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline, President Joe Biden Wednesday.
In order for that to happen, though, those looking to flee the ravaged nation need to be able to access the airport and there is currently no clear plan to resolve that. State Department spokesman Ned Price had a sobering message for those hoping for a safe route.
“At this point, we don’t have the resources to go beyond the airport compound,” Price told reporters Thursday.
While talks continue with the Taliban about allowing safe passage to the airport, no resolution has yet been reached.
Aug 20, 1:25 am
US evacuated about 3,000 people from Kabul on Thursday
The U.S. evacuated approximately 3,000 people from the airport in Kabul on Thursday as thousands clamor to get out of the country in the wake of the Taliban taking over the government.
The White House confirmed the latest number of evacuees early Friday, among them nearly 350 U.S. citizens. The others on the 12 C-17 flights were family members of U.S. citizens, special immigration visa applicants and their families and vulnerable Afghans, a White House official said.
The official said 9,000 people have been evacuated since Aug. 14 and 14,000 since the end of July.
Not included in those totals were 11 charter flights facilitated by the U.S. military, the official said.
President Joe Biden is scheduled to discuss the evacuations from Afghanistan in an address Friday afternoon.
Aug 19, 8:13 pm
Consular surge will only be as high as 40 people total: Sources
The State Department announced earlier this week that it is “surging” staff to the international airport in Kabul to assist with the massive efforts to evacuate as many as 15,000 U.S. citizens and tens of thousands of Afghans who helped the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.
But the total number of consular officials who will help process people will only be as high as 40 people in total, according to two sources familiar with the plans — raising questions about whether that is enough staff to process the tens of thousands left to evacuate.
The State Department declined to confirm how many consular officials would be based at Kabul airport, but referred questions to spokesperson Ned Price’s comments earlier on Thursday.
“We’re always going to be evaluating what we could be doing differently, what we could be doing more effectively. If it turns out that we need additional consular capacity in Kabul, we won’t hesitate to do that, but right now we are confident that … with the additional reinforcements, we’ll have what we need,” he told reporters.
In comparison, there are more than 5,200 U.S. troops on the ground, securing the airport and evacuating Americans and Afghans on military cargo aircraft. The military is able to airlift between 5,000 and 9,000 people per day, Gen. Hank Taylor told reporters Thursday, but they have not had that many evacuees ready to go.
Crowds are unable to access the airport, blocked by massive congestion and Taliban fighters beating back crowds. U.S. forces have also deployed tear gas and fired into the air to disperse crowds. Over the last 24 hours, Taylor said, only 2,000 passengers were taken out.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 623,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.3 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 59.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing Friday. All times Eastern:
Aug 20, 3:54 pm
US sees highest daily case total in nearly 7 months
The U.S. reported the highest single-day COVID-19 case total in nearly seven months overnight, with just under 158,000 new cases, according to federal data.
The daily case average in the U.S. has surged to approximately 133,000 a day, up by nearly 14% in the last week and more than 1,040% in the last two months, an ABC News analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.
The South has the highest case rates in the country, led by Mississippi and followed by Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
The national case total now stands at nearly 37.3 million, which means one in approximately every eight Americans has tested positive for the virus.
The U.S. is also experiencing its steepest increases in COVID-19-related hospitalizations since the winter of 2020. More than 93,000 patients are now hospitalized across the country with COVID-19, according to federal data.
The country’s average daily COVID-19 deaths stands at 640, an increase of 233% in the last six weeks and the highest in four months.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Aug 20, 3:05 pm
University of Virginia disenrolls over 200 students who did not meet school’s vaccination policy
The University of Virginia has cut 238 students from its rolls after they failed to comply with the university’s vaccination policy, school officials confirmed to ABC news.
“We first announced this vaccination requirement on May 20 and the deadline for compliance was July 1,” Brian Coy, a spokesman for the university, told ABC News in an email.
“Since then, students received multiple reminders about this policy and the need to either be vaccinated or request a medical or religious exemption. Students who remained out of compliance after the deadline received multiple communications in the form of emails, texts, phone calls, and in some cases phone calls to their parents. The University’s vaccination policy was also covered extensively on our digital platforms, our daily news product, the student newspaper, and local media all over Virginia.”
The university has given the students until Aug. 25 to comply or they won’t be allowed to come back school in the fall.
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Aug 20, 11:39 am
200 million people have received at least 1 COVID vaccine dose, White House says
Two hundred million Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the White House announced Friday. That figure includes more than 1 million doses administered in 24 hours on Thursday, 534,000 of which were first doses.
“Today we hit a milestone: 200M people w/ at least one dose!” Cyrus Shahpar, the White House’s COVID-19 data director, wrote on Twitter. “On avg., over 33,000 people have gotten their first dose, every hour of every day since mid-Dec 2020. Keep it up!”
Aug 20, 11:26 am
Boston indoor mask mandate goes into effect next week
Boston will require face masks in all indoor public settings beginning Aug. 27 at 8 a.m., Mayor Kim Janey announced in a Friday statement.
“We know that masks work best when everyone wears one,” Janey said. “Requiring masks indoors is a proactive public health measure to limit transmission of the Delta variant, boost the public confidence in our businesses and venues, and protect the residents of our city who are too young for vaccination.”
Aug 20, 10:48 am
Unvaccinated Black people ‘biggest group’ driving COVID spike: Texas Lt Gov
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham that “African-Americans who have not been vaccinated” are the “the biggest group in most states” driving the spike in COVID-19 cases, during a Thursday interview.
Patrick doubled down on his comment, adding that “over 90% of them vote for Democrats and their major cities and major counties.”
“It’s up to the Democrats to get — just as it’s up to Republicans to try to get as many people vaccinated,” he said. “In terms of criticizing the Republicans for this, we are encouraging people who want to take it to take it, but they are doing nothing for the African-American community that has significant high number of unvaccinated.”
NAACP President Derrick Johnson pushed back in a statement: “Lt. Governor Dan Patrick lives in an alternate reality, where facts don’t matter,” Johnson said.
“He’s delusional. Black Texans are not the driving force behind the surge of COVID cases in Texas. His statement is not only baseless, it’s racist. Falsely casting blame on the Black community is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and we expect better from an elected official.”
Aug 19, 5:57 pm
Mississippi’s only pediatric hospital sees record COVID-19 patients
Children’s of Mississippi, the state’s only pediatric hospital, reported a record number of patients Thursday.
There are 28 children, all unvaccinated, with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, the highest since the start of the pandemic, the hospital said on Facebook. Among those, eight children are in the intensive care unit, including five not yet old enough to receive the vaccine, the hospital said.
“The best way to protect ALL of Mississippi’s kids from COVID-19 is for everyone age 12 and up to get vaccinated,” said the hospital, which is part of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Nearly 43% of Mississippi residents ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data, one of the lowest rates in the country.
Badflower has released a third track from the band’s upcoming sophomore album, This Is How the World Ends.
The latest cut is titled “F**boi,” and is available now as a digital download and via streaming. As its title suggests, the tune explores frontman Josh Katz‘s dark sense of humor, as heard on previous Badflower songs, including “30” and “x ANA x.”
This Is How the World Ends also includes the previously released songs “Family,” and “Don’t Hate Me.” The album, which can be pre-ordered now, arrives September 24.
Badflower will launch a headlining tour in support of This Is How the World Ends on September 21 in Charlotte, North Carolina. They’re also playing a number of festivals this fall, including Rocklahoma and Inkcarceration.
Destiny’s Child fans were whipped into a frenzy earlier this week believing a group reunion was coming. However, their manager says no, it’s not going to happen.
DC followers sent Twitter on fire with hopes of a reunion Wednesday after social media pages for the group updated their profile photos. But TMZ reports that the trio’s manager, Mathew Knowles, tells them there are no immediate plans.
When Beyoncé recently told Harper’s Bazaar, “Yes, the music is coming,” Destiny’s Child fans believed that meant there was a chance of new tracks by the trio. However, Knowles says the music she referred to is likely solo.
And as for the new pics on the Destiny’s Child media pages? Just a routine refresh by the record label, Knowles reportedly told TMZ.
Destiny’s Child split in 2006. Their final album, Destiny Fulfilled, featuring “Soldier” and “Lose My Breath,” was released in 2004. They famously reunited in 2018 for a set during Beyoncé’s headlining performance at the Coachella festival.
Has Justin Timberlake found his new calling as a Target employee?
In a video posted by TikTok user Douglas Anthony — and no, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you — the superstar is captured behind the register at the popular retail chain. Looking casual in a hoodie and beanie, Justin rings up the customer’s order that includes Icebreakers, a portable speaker and a beverage.
“What else did you want?” the singer inquires. Douglas requests a pack of gum that Justin scans, but then curiously puts it back on the shelf.
According to Billboard, Justin’s NYSNC bandmate Lance Bass commented on the video, “This guy looks oddly familiar. I can’t place it.”
Days before, Douglas posted another video — tagged with #colorado — that shows him and the “Sexyback” singer dancing in the parking lot of a strip mall where snowcapped mountains are visible in the background.
The “Man of the Woods” seemingly confirmed the video’s legitimacy, sharing the clip via his Instagram Stories on Friday, writing, “Haters Gonna Say It’s Fake…”
While their relationship has been as stormy as the name of their first daughter, Page Six reports Kylie Jenner is pregnant with her second child with Travis Scott.
The tabloid says the family of the 24-year-old social media superstar and entrepreneur — and mom to 3-year-old Stormi — is “thrilled” with the news.
Incidentally, Caitlyn Jenner was thought to have spilled the beans on Thursday, according to TMZ, when she announced she was expecting her 19th grandchild, but Caitlyn was referring to the third child of son Burt Jenner and girlfriend Valerie Pitalo, the gossip site later clarified.
Angelina Jolie has joined Instagram, and while most celebrities do so to sell products or post selfies taken in picturesque locations, the Oscar winner is using her new platform to speak for the voiceless in Afghanistan.
“I’ve come on Instagram to share their stories,” the actress and United Nations Humanitarian Special Envoy for Refugees said.
Jolie posted a letter from a young girl living in the country, now overrun by the Taliban amid the ongoing U.S. pull-out. “We all had rights, we [were] able to defend our rights freely, but when they came, we are all afraid of them, and we think all our dreams are gone,” the hand-written note from an Afghani girl declares.
While the Biden Administration is communicating with the Taliban and the group is taking a moderate tone on social media, the girl is skeptical of their behavior. “Some people say the Taliban’s changed, but I do not think so because they have a very bad past,” she writes in the letter Jolie posted.
“We all had rights, we [were] able to defend our rights freely, but when they came, we are all afraid of them, and we think all our dreams are gone,” she continued.
For her part, Jolie added, “I was on the border of Afghanistan two weeks before 9/11, where I met Afghan refugees who had fled the Taliban. This was twenty years ago.”
She continued, “It is sickening to watch Afghans being displaced yet again…” adding, “To spend so much time and money, to have blood shed and lives lost only to come to this, is a failure almost impossible to understand.”
Jolie concluded, “I will not turn away. I will continue to look for ways to help. And I hope you’ll join me.”
The Slipknot frontman revealed the news in a video message posted Friday by the Michigan pop culture convention Astronomicon, which he was supposed to take part in this weekend.
“I woke up today and tested positive, and I’m very, very sick,” Taylor says in the clip. He adds that he’s vaccinated, and that he “should be OK.”
“I’m not worried,” he says. “But I certainly wouldn’t want to spread it to anyone else.”
Taylor just wrapped up a solo tour in support of his 2020 album, CMFT, on Thursday in Denver.
James Bay, Alesso and Marshmello are “Chasing Stars” in their dreamy collaboration.
The EDM-infused bop finds lead singer James reflecting on a lost love, reliving the memories of “chasing stars across county lines” and affirming that it’s “better to have had than not at all.” The heartfelt lyrics are elevated by the cinematic production efforts from EDM producer Marshmello and Swedish DJ Alesso.
“@Alesso and @marshmellomusic came to me with the idea for this song and I had a great time working on it with them and everyone involved. I’m so excited for you to hear it now!” James professes on Twitter.
“Chasing Stars” follows the release of Marshmello and Alesso’s latest albums, Shockwave and Progresso Vol. 2, respectively.
