While no criminal charges have been filed in the October 21 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Alec Baldwin film Rust, authorities say charges can’t yet be “ruled out.”
That’s the word to The New York Post from Juan Rios, the public information officer for the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office. “[H]onestly if people have information, they need to bring it to us…so we can check into that,” Rios said.
Given the number of witnesses, Rios added that the investigation into the incident last Thursday, during which Baldwin fired a live round toward the camera, fatally striking Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza, will be “going on for a while.”
“We need to be diligent…should there be charges ultimately filed that they are able to uphold those in court,” said Rios.
Baldwin and assistant director Dave Halls reportedly told investigators they didn’t know the revolver Baldwin fired contained a live round.
Meanwhile, the film’s gaffer, or set electrician, Serge Sventoy, took to Instagram to post what he said was among the last photos of Hutchins alive — inside the church where the crew was setting up the scene prior to the fatal shot. Sventoy said he was standing “shoulder-to-shoulder” with Hutchins when the shot rang out.
“I was holding in her my arms when she was dying,” he said, adding that the accident was “the fault of negligence and unprofessionalism.”
“The negligence from the person who was supposed to check the weapon…did not do this,” said Svetnoy. “The person who had to announce the loaded weapon was on the site did not do this.”
Hannah Gutierrez Reed was the armorer on the Rust set. Dave Halls is said to have announced that the gun apparently containing a live round was “cold,” meaning safe, before handing it to Baldwin.
“And the DEATH OF THE HUMAN IS THE RESULT!” Svetnoy said.
Meanwhile, ABC News has learned that Rust producers have hired their own legal team to conduct a separate investigation into the events and circumstances leading up to the fatal shooting. The film’s cast and crew were notified of the news Tuesday night in a note that declares, in part, “We know that reliving this tragedy will be hard, but your participation is important for all of us to be able to fully understand what happened, and we encourage you to share your perspective.”
(NEW YORK) — As colder temperatures begin to settle in for many parts of the nation, schools are set to lose critical tools to keep students and staff safe from coronavirus spread, such as extended outdoor time and open windows.
Despite this disadvantage, medical experts and physicians say elementary and middle school administrators can still limit the spread of the virus during the next couple of months as the vaccine rollout begins for younger age groups.
“Hopefully this year will not lead to the surge we saw last winter,” Dr. Anne Liu, clinical associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at Stanford Health, told ABC News.
Liu and other experts said the best thing schools can do is to maintain masking indoors, consistent testing, proper hand-washing practices and social distancing where applicable.
While not all schools will have up-to-date ventilation systems, masking indoors will ensure that the virus doesn’t spread among students, she said. Testing will also help keep any potential cases and outbreaks from spreading, according to medical experts.
Dr. Allison Bartlett, associate professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Chicago Medicine, told ABC News that schools have already gotten into the habit of implementing these measures and, most importantly, kids have become accustomed to wearing masks.
“We now have months of experience in the real world in school settings in terms of COVID transmission and how effectively masking in schools works,” she said.
Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, noted that mass rapid testing has also helped schools stop the spread and will be essential to keeping schools open during the winter.
“This allows kids that may have had an exposure to test and stay in school as long as they have daily negative test results,” Brownstein said.
Bartlett and other medical experts who have been studying pediatric coronavirus cases said the best tool against coronavirus spread in schools during the winter will be the approval of COVID-19 vaccines for younger students.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted Tuesday to allow the Pfizer mRNA vaccine to be used for 5-to 11-year-olds. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are slated to vote on approving the vaccine for that age group as early as next week.
The Pfizer vaccine has been available to anyone over 12 since the spring after it was given an emergency use authorization. The FDA fully approved the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and older in August.
Liu, who reviewed the data Pfizer sent to the FDA last week on 5- to 11-year-olds, said the clinical trials have shown the vaccine to be very effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths among that age group, so as more kids receive their doses, the safer classrooms will be in the winter.
Although it will take about five weeks for a student to be fully vaccinated from both doses, including the two-week period to build immunity after their second dose, Liu said that young students will be in a better place the minute they start their vaccination process.
“One shot alone provided strong protection based on that data,” she said.
Bartlett, who has three sons, two of whom are under 12, said that if the vaccines are approved in November, it would ensure that students have that protection preceding the holidays when they are likely to be celebrating indoors with large groups of people.
Coming back from winter break, schools will be able to mitigate any loss of outdoor space and or decreased ventilation if more of their students are vaccinated, Bartlett said. And the vaccinations could help ease class interruptions in another way, she said.
“We’ll hopefully be able to manage vaccinated children in a way that they could probably stay in school if exposed to someone with COVID and not have that disruption in their learning,” she said.
Bartlett warned that it will take a while before schools can start rolling back masking requirements because that will depend on vaccination rates among students.
“As eager as I am to get kids out of masks, I’m really in the mind to go slow,” Bartlett said. “Kids are doing an amazing job dealing with wearing masks and getting our kids able to get vaccinated will be a big motivator to get the pandemic under control.”
Bartlett added that parents must also be aware of the overall COVID-19 transmission rates within their community during the winter, because it will impact the number of cases in schools.
“I think it all could be enough, but the major contributor among kids in schools is what goes on outside the schools in the community,” she said. “If we don’t do a good job in controlling transmissions for adults it will bleed into the schools.”
Christopher Polk/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Gwyneth Paltrow shared a little-known story about giving birth to her daughter Apple and revealed she “almost died” during the difficult delivery.
Speaking on Dax Shepard‘s Armchair Expert podcast, the Oscar winner opened up about the traumatic labor, which she said lasted 70 hours.
“I had two caesareans. My daughter was an emergency,” said Paltrow, 49. “It was crazy, we almost died. It was like not good.”
The Iron Man star declined to go into details over the complications she suffered and instead reflected on how the pregnancy physically changed her.
“Anyway, there’s a big scar across your body, and you’re like, ‘Oh, wow, that didn’t use to be there,'” Paltrow remarked. “And it’s not that it’s bad, or you want to judge it, but you’re just like, ‘Oh, my God.'”
The actress said she is thankful she became pregnant before the rise of social media and reflected on how the internet pressures new moms to snap back into shape.
Said the mom of two, “Thank God there wasn’t Instagram when I had babies because now it’s like — if I see someone, ‘Oh, I just gave birth two weeks ago and I have a completely washboard stomach,’ and I’m like, ‘Wow that’s not what I [had!]'”
Paltrow, who attested she was not shaming other women or their bodies, expressed concern that this mentality is pitting moms against each other by making birth an unnecessary competition.
“It’s past perfectionism,” she remarked. “It’s like, ‘I can do this gargantuan task that’s superhuman’… And why? For what?”
Paltrow shares Apple, who is 17, and 15-year-old Moses with ex-husband Chris Martin.
Ed Sheeran’s album isn’t here quite yet, but that didn’t stop him from giving fans a taste of what to expect.
During an impressive NPR Tiny Desk Concert, which premiered on Tuesday, the British singer-songwriter previewed an unreleased song titled “Overpass Graffiti.” The song, which is set to appear on his upcoming album, = (Equals), is set to an upbeat, bouncy beat while the lyrics tell a story of someone who will always have fond memories of his previous lover, despite their break up.
“I will always love you for what it’s worth/ We’ll never fade like graffiti on the overpass/ I know time may change the way you think of us/ But I’ll remember the way we were,” Sheeran sings in the chorus.
Sheeran also performed “Visiting Hours,” “Shivers” and “Bad Habits,” his hit singles that preceded the album, in addition to a surprise cover of Foy Vance‘s “Make it Rain.”
(WASHINGTON) — Jessica Rosenworcel is in line to make history as the first woman to head the Federal Communications Commission, after President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday his intent to officially nominate her as a commissioner and designate her as chair of the agency tasked with regulating telecommunications technology.
Rosenworcel has served as acting chair of the FCC since January, but would need to be confirmed by the Senate to assume her new role as chair in an official capacity. She has been a commissioner since 2012.
Her nomination could also mean the end to Trump-era clampdowns on net neutrality, as Rosenworcel has been a fierce advocate for an internet that is “open and available for all.”
“The internet should be open and available for all. That’s what net neutrality is about,” Rosenworcel said in an October 2020 statement. “It’s why people from across this country rose up to voice their frustration and anger with the Federal Communications Commission when it decided to ignore their wishes and roll back net neutrality.”
She added that she views the rollbacks to net neutrality as a way to “make it easier for broadband companies to block websites, slow speeds, and dictate what we can do and where we can go online.”
During her brief stint as acting chair, Rosenworcel has focused on closing the digital divide at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an abrupt dependence on internet access for millions of Americans in order to go to school or do their jobs.
Rosenworcel’s policy approach and the historic nature of her nomination has also been lauded for representing the needs of women in a sector where they remain underrepresented in leadership positions.
“Every issue is a gender issue, even broadband access,” Rosenworcel wrote in a July op-ed she co-authored with Valerie Jarrett, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama.
The op-ed cited how 31% of women have worried about paying their broadband bill during the pandemic, and delved into the issues working mothers especially faced when schools shuttered for in-person learning. The piece promoted the Emergency Connectivity Fund, which aims to support students who need internet access at home in order to participate in virtual schooling during the health crisis.
The White House also recognized her inclusive approach to telecommunications policy, especially for low-income communities, in a statement Tuesday.
“During her time at the agency, she has worked to promote greater opportunity, accessibility, and affordability in our communications services in order to ensure that all Americans get a fair shot at 21st century success,” a statement from the White House announcing her nomination Tuesday said. “From fighting to protect an open internet, to ensuring broadband access for students caught in the Homework Gap through the FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund, to making sure that households struggling to afford internet service stay connected through the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, she has been a champion for connectivity for all.”
She has also led a fight against illegal robocalls, the statement added, and worked to enhance consumer protections.
Rosenworcel previously worked as a senior communications counsel for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and before that practiced communications law after graduating from the New York University School of Law.
The mother of two is originally from Hartford, Connecticut, but currently lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband.
In addition to announcing Rosenworcel’s nomination, the Biden administration said Tuesday that it plans to nominate fellow net neutrality advocate Gigi Sohn as an FCC commissioner. If both the new nominees are confirmed, it would give the FCC a Democratic majority. If their confirmations are delayed until Rosenworcel’s term expires at the end of the year, Republicans would hold a majority on the commission — setting up a potential political showdown over their confirmations.
(WASHINGTON) — A Senate panel on Tuesday grilled executives from YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat on what the social media companies are doing to ensure young users’ safety in the wake of revelations about Facebook’s practices and allegations the platforms need to do more to prevent potentially harmful effects on kids.
“They have deepened America’s concern and outrage and have led to increasing calls for accountability, and there will be accountability,” Senate Commerce subcommittee Chair Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in his opening remarks regarding the newly exposed details on the inner workings of social media giants.
“We’re hearing the same stories of harm” caused by YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat, Blumenthal said, calling this, “for Big Tech, a Big Tobacco moment.”
“This time is different,” he said.
The subcommittee is seeking information from executives at TikTok, Snap Inc. and YouTube on how critics say algorithms can magnify harm to children, with the goal of passing legislation aimed to protect kids.
“You’re parents,” said Ranking Member Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., to the witnesses in her opening statement. “What would you do to protect your child?”
Tuesday’s hearing comes as the subcommittee expands its scope after hearing from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen earlier this month. She alleged that executives blatant disregarded concerns when they learned their platforms could have harmful effects on foreign democracies and the mental health of children.
The hearing also marked the first time TikTok and Snapchat have testified before lawmakers, while Facebook has been called to more than 30 congressional hearings through the years and YouTube executives have already appeared in front this Congress earlier in the year.
The social media executives on Tuesday vigorously defended how their platforms protect children from inappropriate content.
Here are some key takeaways:
Tech companies blasted for alleged lack of transparency
Different from a normally polarized Washington, senators on both sides of the aisle came together to drill the social media executives on transparency and focused on whether they’d allow access to independent researchers to study their algorithms, which some allege have exposed kids to harmful behavior and fueled eating disorders in young girls.
All three platforms said they have studied the potential negative impacts on children’s mental health.
Blumenthal asked, “If an academic researcher comes to you on child psychology and wants to determine whether one of your products causes teen mental health issues or addiction, they get access to raw data from you without interference?”
Jennifer Stout, vice president for global public policy of Snapchat parent Snap Inc., said her company’s algorithms “operate very differently” from those of the other platforms under scrutiny, but ultimately signaled a willingness to support outside researchers, as did TikTok’s executive.
“Yes, senator, we believe transparency for the average is incredibly important. We’re one of the first companies to publish publicly, a deep dive in how our algorithm works,” said Michael Beckerman, a TikTok vice president and head of public policy for the Americas.
Leslie Miller, vice president for government affairs and public policy of YouTube’s owner Google, skirted the question and said that outside research “would depend on the details” — an answer that frustrated Blumenthal.
“I’m going to cite the difference between your response between Mister Beckerman’s and Ms. Stout’s, which indicates certainly a strong hesitancy if not resistance,” Blumenthal said to Miller.
Overall, the executives defended what senators deemed was a lack of transparency.
Stout said in her closing statement that the protection of children is the “highest priority,” and Miller also said at YouTube there “no more important thing than the safety of kids online.”
But Tiktok appeared to be most willing for congressional oversight with Beckerman saying squarely in his closing statement, “We support stronger privacy rules to be put in place.”
Push for privacy legislation
While millions of young users log into the platforms every day, the bipartisan panel of senators appeared to agree that not enough is being done to protect them from harmful content.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., used the moment to push the companies to say whether they support his proposed privacy laws banning the use of targeted ads on kids and other potentially harmful features.
One piece of legislation he’s introduced, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, would prohibit internet companies from collecting personal information from anyone under the age of 13 without parental consent.
“Do you support it or not?” he asked the Snap executive.
“I think, senator, we’d love to talk to you a bit more about this,” Stout said.
“This is just what drives us crazy,” a heated Markey responded. “We want to talk, we want to talk, we want to talk. This bill’s been out there for years, and you still don’t have a view on it?”
“We like your approach,” Beckerman, from TikTok, said. “However, I think a piece that should be included is a better way to verify age across the Internet across apps rather than the system that is in place now. And I think with that improvement, it would be something that we’d be happy to support.”
Miller said wouldn’t commit on the record but said executives at YouTube have had “constructive” conversations internally.
He also pressed them on the Kids Internet Design and Safety Act, or KIDS Act, another piece of legislation he’s introduced to stop online practices such as manipulative marketing, noting the impact of social media influencers on children.
“They’re inherently manipulative to young kids who often cannot tell that they’re really paid advertisements that their heroes pushing that the hero is getting a monetary kickback,” Markey said. “Should we make it illegal?”
Miller said they would “need to stare at the details of such a bill” to which Markey, again, noted,” It’s been around for a while.”
The TikTok executive said they agree that there should be additional transparency and additional privacy laws, which Snap mirrored, but added the caveat, “We would be happy to look at them.”
After Miller said YouTube executives “support the goals of comprehensive privacy legislation,” when Blumenthal raised the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies, or EARN IT, Act, which has bipartisan Senate support, he said back, “This is the topic that we’ve seen again and again and again, and again. ‘We support the goals, but that’s meaningless unless you support the legislation.”
Focus on potential real-world harm on kids
With the momentum of the findings from the Facebook hearing, the panel argued that social media platforms have been allowed to promote and glorify dangerous content, and it especially harms the nation’s most vulnerable: children.
While executives defended their platforms and listed actions that they’ve taken internally, senators on the committee highlighted several examples of inappropriate content slipping past those safeguards and getting in front of children.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said his staff opened an account saying it was for a teenage girl, and when they opened the “Discover” page with its default settings, found concerning videos.
“They were immediately bombarded with content that I can most politely describe as wildly inappropriate for a child, including recommendations for among other things an invite to play an online sexualized video game, tips on why you shouldn’t go to bars alone,” he said, waving his hands with concern.
The Snap executive said guidelines prevent sexual content to 18 and above, “so I’m unclear as to why that content would’ve shown up for an account that was for a 14-year-old.”
Senators reminded the witnesses that Snapchat’s speed filter allowed users to add their speeds and it took eight years for the company to remove the filter following catastrophic car crashes associated with the app.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., pressed Snapchat over the use of illegal drugs being used on its platform in an argument for greater liability on tech companies, citing the case of Devin Norring, who authorities said died in Minnesota after taking Percocet laced with Fentanyl from a drug dealer on Snapchat.
“They can get on your platform and just find a way to buy it, and that is the problem,” she said. “Are you going to get drugs off Snapchat?”
Stout said it was a “top priority” and that it’s happening on other platforms, too.
“I think there are other ways to do this too as creating liability when this happened, so maybe that’ll make you work even faster, so we don’t lose another kid,” Klobuchar replied.
Citing a recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal which found that Tik Tok algorithm can put young users into content glorifying eating disorders, drug violence, Klobuchar asked blankly, “Have you stopped that?”
Beckerman said it’s something they’ve taken action on are “constantly working on” and repeated their support for the Children and Media Research Advancement Act or CAMRA Act.
Blumenthal pressed TikTok on its effects on teens, saying his staff created TikTok accounts intended for dance videos and within a week those accounts were flooded with content of suicidal ideation, self-injury, sex and eating disorders.
Beckerman suggested some of those challenged are overblown by the press and said that’s “not the typical TikTok experience.”
“We found pass-out videos,” Blumenthal said, pausing for dramatic effect. “We found them, so I have a lot of trouble crediting your response on that score.”
“This is stuff occurring in the real world,” he added later.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 4.9 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 738,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 67.2% 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:
Oct 27, 3:41 am
Australia to lift ban on citizens leaving the country
After more than 18 months, Australia announced Wednesday that it will lift a ban on its own people from leaving the country without permission.
Starting Nov. 1, citizens and permanent residents of Australia who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will no longer require an exemption to travel abroad. Australia has imposed some of the world’s strictest border rules amid the pandemic, which Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said has kept the country “free from widespread COVID transmission.”
“The easing of these restrictions is possible thanks to our impressive national vaccination rates, and I thank all those who have done the right thing and rolled up their sleeve,” Andrews said in a statement Wednesday.
While Australian citizens and permanent residents are currently the “first priority,” Andrews said, more travel restrictions — including for some foreigners — will be relaxed as the national vaccination rate “continues to climb.” As of Wednesday, nearly 75% of people aged 16 and over in the country are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data posted by the Australian Department of Health.
“I look forward to further easing restrictions over coming weeks and months as more and more Australians become fully vaccinated,” Andrews said. “Before the end of the year, we anticipate welcoming fully vaccinated skilled workers and international students.”
Oct 26, 8:53 pm
Immunocompromised may need 4th dose: CDC
Immunocompromised people may need a fourth dose of the vaccine, according to newly issued guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Those patients may end up needing an additional shot six months after their third dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, the CDC said. The fourth dose can be of any of the three available vaccines, according to the agency.
This is in line with what the CDC has said before regarding immunocompromised adults. A third shot is considered necessary to establish vaccination for those patients and a boost would need to come six months later, according to the agency.
Oct 26, 4:26 pm
FDA panel greenlights vaccines for kids
An advisory panel at the Food and Drug Administration voted Tuesday in support of the Pfizer vaccine for kids 5 ages 11.
Seventeen people voted “yes” and one person abstained.
Next, the FDA will make a decision. Then, the matter heads to the CDC’s independent advisory panel to deliberate and vote next week, and after that, the CDC director is expected to make the final signoff.
The earliest shots could be in arms is the first week of November.
Oct 26, 2:37 pm
Biden administration to ship vaccines for children as soon as FDA approves them
The Biden administration will begin shipping vaccine doses for kids ages 5 to 11 as soon as the Food and Drug Administration gives the green light in coming days, White House officials told governors on a private phone call Tuesday.
Doing so will allow children to begin receiving shots as soon as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off, which is expected around Nov. 4.
Jeff Zients, the White House coordinator on the federal response to COVID-19, said one big concern is the shorter shelf life for pediatric doses. In trying to make the vaccine easier for pediatricians to handle, the doses for kids 5 to 11 can be kept for only 10 weeks, compared with six to nine months for adult doses.
“We don’t want to have wastage, so we encourage you to build flexibility into your distribution systems you can move around within your state or territory,” he told the governors. Audio of the call was obtained by ABC News. “Just order what you need. We have plenty of supply. We can always get you doses on short notice.”
(ARLINGTON, Va.) — Headlining a rally Tuesday evening, President Joe Biden was the latest national Democrat to campaign in Virginia for gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe, joining a long list of prominent figures in the party who’ve descended on the commonwealth to mobilize voters against Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin.
“You all know the stakes,” Biden told a crowd of supporters at the Virginia Highlands Park in Arlington, just outside the nation’s capital. “You don’t have to wonder what kind of governor Terry will be because you know what a great governor he was. It wasn’t just because of what he promised, it’s what he delivered.”
This marked the president’s second time stumping for McAuliffe; he first campaigned with him in late July.
Always falling the year after a presidential election, Virginia’s off-year elections, in particular the gubernatorial race, are considered a bellwether for politics heading into the midterm elections. Virginia trended increasingly blue over the four years of Donald Trump’s presidency, but this election will be the first measure of how lasting that rebuke of the GOP is in what used to be a presidential battleground. A loss for McAuliffe, or even a narrow win, will also serve as a warning shot for Democrats in Washington that an unpopular president and stalled agenda defined by intraparty differences could cost them their slim majorities in Congress next year.
Biden’s approval is not only underwater nationally, but also in Virginia, where a Monmouth poll out last week showed more than half of voters disapprove of the job he is doing as president.
Trump endorsed Youngkin after he secured the Republican nomination in May, but he has not done any events with the candidate. He called into a rally in support of the statewide GOP ticket where attendees pledged allegiance to a flag said to be carried at the rally preceding the Jan. 6 insurrection, but Youngkin was not there and denounced the pledge as “weird and wrong.” The Republican has had to toe the thin line between being too pro- or anti-Trump so as not to alienate voters on either end of the political spectrum, and he’s fired back at McAuliffe’s Trump attacks by reminding his opponent that Trump is not on the ballot, trying to keep the focus on Virginia-specific issues.
The state rejected the former president twice (and by a 10-point margin in 2020), Democrats flipped the state legislature in 2019 and Republicans haven’t won statewide office in over a decade — all indications Trump is politically toxic in Virginia. McAuliffe and other Democrats have tried to use Trump’s toxicity to drag down Youngkin, tying him to the former president at every opportunity.
But during Tuesday night’s rally, Biden borrowed McAuliffe’s playbook, closely tying Youngkin to the former president.
“How well do you know Terry’s opponent? Well, just remember this, I ran against Donald Trump. Terry is running against an acolyte of Donald Trump,” Biden said, claiming Youngkin has embraced Trump’s “bad ideas and bad record.”
The president also comment on how Youngkin hasn’t done any campaign events with Trump, claiming the GOP nominee “won’t allow Donald Trump to campaign for him in this state.”
“What’s he trying to hide? Is there a problem with Trump being here? Is he embarrassed?” Biden rhetorically asked the crowd.
Despite the race tightening over the last few weeks, McAuliffe is confident he’ll once again break the so-called “Virginia curse” of candidates losing Virginia’s off-year gubernatorial race if they have the same party affiliation as the current occupant of the White House. He broke it in 2013 when Barack Obama was president.
Barred by Virginia law from seeking a consecutive term, McAuliffe is vying for a comeback eight years after first winning the governor’s mansion, and despite Democrats’ recent gains, he’s locked in a tight race with Youngkin, a former private equity executive running his first campaign for political office. According to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average, the McAuliffe’s lead is under two points one week out from Election Day — down from a nearly eight-point peak over Youngkin he had in early August.
Biden touted McAuliffe first term in office, even saying he’s “taking a page” from the Democrat’s book by including an expansion of pre-K in his Build Back Better bill that Congress and the White House are still negotiating. Biden also plugged McAuliffe’s record on the economy and creating new jobs, saying, “If you’re looking for someone who’s going to keep your economy going and growing, the man behind me’s the guy to get it done.”
Calling in help from national politicians is in line with how McAuliffe and other Democrats have nationalized the stakes of this race.
“This election is about the next chapter of Virginia — and our country,” McAuliffe said at a rally in Richmond with Obama Saturday.
“What happens here, I promise you is about people in these state and the people of our country,” Vice President Kamala Harris said at a rally in Prince William County Thursday.
In addition to Obama and Harris, who will be back in the state Friday for a concert rally in Norfolk with Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams, McAuliffe has had first lady Jill Biden, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Stacey Abrams and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms campaign for him. Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., are campaigning for him in Northern Virginia Wednesday night.
Youngkin has taken a different approach as the campaign ends, touting his 10-day, 50-stop “Win with Glenn” bus tour around the commonwealth and mocking his opponent for relying “on big name surrogates to draw paltry, apathetic crowds.”
“Nobody’s coming to campaign with me,” Youngkin told CBS last week. “I mean, this is a race about Virginians and about the Virginia challenges.”
Polls show Republicans are more enthusiastic about participating in this election than Democrats. How heavily Washington’s woes weigh on McAuliffe, and whether enough Virginia voters buy the Democrats’ attempts to paint Youngkin and Trump as one in the same, and in turn, vote against him in this race, won’t be known until the votes are counted.
Mark Rozell, dean of George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, told ABC News Tuesday that the number of national surrogates stumping for McAuliffe is indicative of Democrats’ concerns.
“I think a lot of that has to do with the McAuliffe campaign being worried that the Democratic base is asleep right now, that the Democratic brand right now is suffering because of the declining popularity of the president, what happened in Afghanistan, the perception that the party just can’t get it together in Washington to get things done,” said Rozell, who’s covered this race in the Washington Post’s opinion section.
McAuliffe himself has acknowledged the president’s falling support in Virginia.
“We got to get Democrats out to vote. We are facing a lot of headwinds from Washington, as you know. The president is unpopular today, unfortunately, here in Virginia, so we have got to plow through,” he said during a virtual rally on Oct. 5 that was clipped by the Republican National Committee and posted on social media.
In a statement ahead of Biden’s quick trip across the river, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said McAuliffe knows the president “is failing Virginians.”
“With an unprecedented amount of Republican enthusiasm, Virginians are ready to reject Terry McAuliffe and Joe Biden this November and turn out for Glenn Youngkin and Republicans up and down the ballot,” she said.
This weekend, Nashville’s legendary Grand Ole Opry marks its 5000th Saturday night show — a feat that would take more than 96 years to repeat.
So what does it take to become the world’s longest-running radio show? Jeannie Seely — the Grammy-winning Opry legend who’s been a member since 1967 — has a theory.
“It’s not like anything else,” she tells ABC Audio. “Quite often there are three generations on the stage, and three generations in the audience. You don’t see that. You may see three generations in the crowd at a sporting event, but you don’t see them on the field.”
“I think that is one thing that knits [the Opry] together,” she explains. “One generation gets to know the one before, and the one after.”
It’s a phenomenon the “Don’t Touch Me” hitmaker demonstrated backstage, as she and Ashley McBryde visited about the recent Opry induction of Carly Pearce, Ashley’s duet partner on “Never Wanted to Be That Girl.”
“I’m in [dresssing] room 18 tonight, [themed] ‘The Women of Country,'” Ashley said, “And we walked in, the first thing I did was walk over to [Carly’s] picture and take a selfie, and I was like, ‘She looks so beautiful!'”
“It was such a whirlwind for her, and I knew that…” Jeannie reminisced. “We live in the same hood and I get to be around her now that she’s a little Opry sister — Little? You know, that I look up to,” she added.
Saturday night, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Darius Rucker, Chris Young, Vince Gill, Connie Smith, Dustin Lynch, Chris Janson and many more, will help Jeannie and the Opry mark the milestone.
“After all these years, I can’t even explain what that extended family means to any artist that’s here,” she reflects.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
Atlanta 6 Houston 2 (Atlanta leads series 1-0)
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
New York 112, Philadelphia 99
Golden State 106, Oklahoma City 98
Dallas 116, Houston 106
LA Lakers 125, San Antonio 121 (OT)
Utah 122, Denver 110
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Tampa Bay 5, Pittsburgh 1
Calgary 5, New Jersey 3
Vegas 3, Colorado 1
Nashville 3, San Jose 1
Minnesota 3, Vancouver 2
Seattle 5 Montreal 1
Winnipeg 4, Anaheim 3
