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Despite security threats, Afghans who US will evacuate have to make their own way to Kabul

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. embassy in Afghanistan has issued its first notifications to Afghans who worked for the U.S. mission and will be evacuated to an American military base in Virginia that flights are set to start next week as the U.S. withdraws the last troops after two decades of war.

But for those Afghans and their families who will be relocated, they will have to find their own way to Kabul, according to a senior State Department official, despite deep concerns about their safety.

The Taliban have waged a summer offensive to seize territory and a psychological victory, as the militant group stalls peace negotiations with the Afghan government.

The top U.S. military officer conceded Wednesday that the Taliban have the “strategic momentum” after winning “a significant amount of territory.”

“There’s a possibility of a negotiated outcome that’s still out there. There’s a possibility of a complete Taliban takeover or a possibility of any number of other scenarios – breakdowns, warlordism, all kinds of other scenarios,” said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The U.S. military withdrawal is 95% complete, but still scheduled to wrap up by Aug. 31, according to the Pentagon. But in the three months since President Joe Biden announced U.S. troops would depart, the security situation has deteriorated, with warnings of all-out civil war or the collapse of the Afghan government.

Before that withdrawal is complete, the Biden administration will evacuate Afghans who have applied for special immigrant visas to the U.S. after working as interpreters, guides and other contractors, a service for which the Taliban have put targets on their backs.

Despite that threat, the State Department said Wednesday it will not be able to provide transportation to Afghans who are approved for evacuation flights but have to make that potentially dangerous journey from home to the capital.

“They would have to get themselves to Kabul. Obviously, we don’t have a substantial U.S. military presence, we don’t have an ability to provide this transportation for them,” the senior official told ABC News.

With the Taliban in control of nearly half of the country’s districts, according to Milley, that risk can be high.

“If they’re, say, in the north of the country and they don’t feel safe staying in Afghanistan, they could go to a neighboring country and finish their SIV application process there,” officials added, using an acronym for the Special Immigrant Visa program.

But the militant group now controls several border crossings to those northern neighbors, leaving it unclear if that journey would be any safer.

So far, the State Department has confirmed that approximately 4,750 Afghan applicants will be relocated, along with their eligible family members like spouses, children and other dependents.

“We owe a great debt to those who have provided valuable and faithful service to the United States, working alongside our military and diplomatic personnel; thereby putting their own lives at risk,” Brian McKeon, the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, who is helping coordinate the effort, told reporters Wednesday.

The first group totals approximately 2,500 Afghans, about 750 applicants and their families, who have already been approved and cleared security vetting, according to senior State Department officials. They will be granted parole to enter the U.S. and be moved to Fort Lee, an Army base in central Virginia, for seven to 10 days as they await the final steps toward receiving their U.S. visa, including a medical evaluation.

An additional 4,000 Afghans, along with their families, will be evacuated from the country to a safe third country or a U.S. military installation overseas, the senior officials said, who declined to say where still, citing ongoing diplomatic conversations with other countries.

That list includes the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, according to two U.S. officials. All three of those locations host U.S. installations. The list also includes Afghanistan’s neighbors in Central Asia, such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

The senior officials declined to provide a total estimate for this group because their own estimations vary widely, but one official told ABC News that each applicant brings on average between three and five dependents, which would put the range between 12,000 and 20,000 Afghans in total.

Approximately 20,000 Afghans have applied for this Special Immigrant Visa, according to a State Department spokesperson. But around half of them have not finished their applications, and the senior State Department official said they are “not in a position to move forward with their case until they do so,” which means leaving potentially 10,000 Afghans and their families behind.

Among the other 10,000 who have finished their application, however, it’s still unclear how many more the administration plans to evacuate beyond the 4,750 applicants and their families.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told ABC News Wednesday that it’s “looking at all potential contingencies” still, neither ruling in or out more evacuations. But for now, “this is the group that we’re speaking to at the moment, the groups that we’re actively making plans for,” he added.

Among other “contingencies,” the administration is also “looking at other options and pathways for people who’ve helped us,” the senior official said, such as development workers, journalists for U.S. media outlets, and prominent women’s rights activists. That could include refugee status, other special visas, or humanitarian parole, which gives a foreign national temporary eligibility to enter the U.S.

While the administration still weighs those options, some critics have demanded they settle on plans urgently, warning of more targeted Taliban attacks against such high-profile targets, especially as they win control of more territory. U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad noted Tuesday that there are “credible reports of atrocities” emerging from Taliban territory, while the top U.S. diplomat in Kabul, Chargé d’Affaires Ross Wilson, warned the Taliban were shutting down media in territory it now controlled and “attempting to conceal their violence in a press blackout.”

According to Milley, the Taliban now control about half of the country’s 419 district centers and are pressuring about half of the 34 provincial capitals. But they have yet to capture any capital, as Afghan security forces prioritize holding larger towns and cities, he said.

The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces are “taking an approach to protect the population, and most of the population lives in the provincial capitals, in the capital city of Kabul, so they are right now as we speak adjusting forces to consolidate into the provincial capitals and Kabul.”

He conceded that the Taliban had seized “a significant amount of territory… so momentum appears to be – strategic momentum appears to be sort of with the Taliban.” But he warned that the group was trying to create the impression of an inevitable victory.

“I don’t think the endgame is yet written,” he told reporters Wednesday.

Half of Puerto Rico could lose health coverage if Congress doesn’t act on Medicaid

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Puerto Rico could lose Medicaid funding in less than two months, putting at risk roughly 1.5 million people — nearly half the island’s population — unless Congress acts quickly.

As COVID-19 continues to batter the island — with at least 2,561 deaths among 141,905 confirmed cases, according to World Health Organization data — several U.S. representatives have teamed up to propose the Supporting Medicaid in the U.S. Territories Act.

“Territories get less funding through Medicaid than states do, and it has led to all sorts of adverse health outcomes, debt and a sub-standard of living in those areas,” Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., told ABC News in an interview. Puerto Rico was getting “far less than many states, and that led to an erosion of their health care system.”

The territory’s annual Medicaid needs are predicted to reach about $3 billion, but due to restrictions in the Social Security Act Section 11108, Puerto Rico has instead only been given roughly $375 million in Medicaid for the year, Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi told ABC News.

Puerto Rico, by statute, is only set to receive 55% of what is needed to fund Medicaid each year from the federal government, according to the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. But since the island’s federal block grant is small and often exhausted, CBPP reports that some years the Medicaid program is funded at less than 20%. Whatever the federal government doesn’t pay for, the island is responsible.

“The funding is not the same we would be getting as a state,” Pierluisi said. “You cannot plan or budget reasonably when you are facing this [Medicaid] cliff every couple of years.”

The new bill states that it would extend the federal Medicaid funding to account for 76% of what is needed for five years, offering much relief during the island’s ongoing economic crisis. Mississippi, the poorest U.S. state, also gets 76%.

But with a 43.5% poverty — more than twice that of Mississippi — and higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, asthma and more, Puerto Ricans need reliable health coverage perhaps more than ever.

Roughly 46% of the island’s population relies on Medicaid, according to the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, and almost 44% of Puerto Ricans live in poverty.

“We need that money to provide good medical and hospital services to our population,” said Jorge Galva, executive director of the Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration. “There is a dire need to provide the full complement of Medicaid services.”

Providing care, Galva added, is made even more difficult as thousands of physicians and other health professionals continue migrating to the U.S. mainland, where they typically receive better pay and enjoy a higher standard of living.

Even with an increased amount of Medicaid funding for Puerto Ricans, Galva said, this wouldn’t be enough to help the island offer some of the federally mandated services, like nursing home care, home health care and nonemergency medical transportation.

“Over the years,” Galva continued, “the gap between the cap on the federal funds for our Medicaid program and the needs of the program grew bigger and bigger and bigger. As a territory, and under the present state of the law, Congress is fully allowed to discriminate and make differences between the treatment to territories and states.”

Local officials are calling on lawmakers to address what’s seen as the U.S. neglecting Puerto Rico because it’s a territory, not a state.

“It’s a matter of fairness and equity that we receive funding in parity with the states and allow Puerto Rico to provide its medically indigent population with all the services they need and deserve,” Galva said.

At least 25 dead after flash flooding in China causes year’s worth of rain in three days

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(HONG KONG) — Rescue efforts are underway as flash floods in China’s central city of Zhengzhou killed at least 25 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of others.

Local forecasters say it is the heaviest downpour they have seen in decades, with nearly a year’s worth of rain coming down in just three days in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, located on the banks of the Yellow River.

The city is home to more than 10 million people and is one of China’s major transportation and logistical hubs, connecting the countryside to the rest of the nation.

The floods are now threatening to disrupt the food security and supply chain in the region, where major roadways have been transformed into riverbanks. Footage from the ground shows cars floating above the muddy floodwater.

Heavy rains overwhelmed some of Zhengzhou’s flood defenses, causing apocalyptic scenes to unfold, including floodwater cascading into subways and a resident being swept away.

More video from the region shows rescue workers at schools, placing kindergarteners in plastic buckets to float them to safety.

Another clip from China’s state television channel shows passengers in a subway car, trapped with water up to their chest. At least a dozen people died in the city’s underground tunnels, with at least seven more still missing. More than 500 people were eventually rescued.

Officials fear the toll from the floods may be much worse than what is known, and they warn that the danger is not over yet as more rainfall is expected over the coming days.

The floods also caused a massive explosion at an aluminium alloy plant in Henan province. No casualties were reported.

Some distressed family members outside of Zhengzhou used social media to try to find their relatives as power lines in the city had gone down.

Officials said the Yihetan Dam in Luoyang, about 90 miles west of Zhengzhou, is in danger of bursting “at any time.” Soldiers have been mobilized to try to prevent the dam from collapsing, blasting part of it to relieve pressure and divert the flooding.

Floods are common during China’s rainy season, but the threat over the years has worsened. Scientists blame the effects of climate change and urbanization.

As recovery efforts continue, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the floods were “extremely severe” and “demanded that authorities at all levels must give top priority to ensuring people’s safety and property,” according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony director fired over Holocaust joke

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — The Tokyo Olympics organizing committee fired the director of the opening ceremony on Thursday over a joke he made about the Holocaust as a comedian in 1998.

A video clip resurfaced online of Kentaro Kobayashi’s performance during a comedy show more than 20 years ago, in which he joked about a game he called: “Let’s play Holocaust.” Criticism of Kobayashi, a former member of the popular Japanese comedy duo Rahmens, quickly spread on social media. Then Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, announced on the eve of the opening ceremony that Kobayashi has been dismissed.

“We found out that Mr. Kobayashi, in his own performance, has used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy,” Hashimoto said during a press conference Thursday. “We deeply apologize for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the country.”

It’s the latest scandal to plague the Tokyo Games. Earlier this year, Hashimoto’s predecessor, Yoshiro Mori, was forced to resign over sexist comments he made suggesting women talk too much in meetings. Hiroshi Sasaki also stepped down as creative director for the opening and closing ceremonies after suggesting Naomi Watanabe, a Japanese actress, comedian and plus-size fashion designer, could wear pig ears at the opening ceremony while performing as what he called an “Olympig.”

“Maybe these negative incidents will impact the positive message we wanted to deliver to the world,” Toshiro Muto, CEO of the Tokyo organizing committee, said during the press conference Thursday.

The organizing committee and the Japanese government have also sparked controversy for pushing ahead with the already-delayed 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, despite public health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic. Recent polls have shown that a majority of the Japanese public want the Tokyo Games to be postponed further or outright cancelled as the capital city and other regions grapple with a resurgence in COVID-19 infections. Meanwhile, Japan’s top medical experts, including some of the government’s advisers on COVID-19, have warned that holding the Games now could help spread the virus both at home and abroad.

The Nomura Research Institute, a Tokyo-based economic research and consulting firm, estimates that cancelling the Games would cost Japan around $17 billion.

At least 91 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at the Tokyo Games so far. Four of those cases are people staying at the Olympic and Paralympic Village in the Harumi waterfront district of Tokyo. Two are athletes, according to data released Thursday by the Tokyo organizing committee.

The Tokyo metropolitan government reported 1,979 newly confirmed cases in the city on Thursday, up from 671 last Thursday.

Earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared another state of emergency in Tokyo due to rising infections. The declaration lasts through Aug. 22, meaning the Olympics, which officially kick off on Friday, will be held entirely under emergency measures. The Paralympics will open on Aug. 24.

Various measures and restrictions, including a ban on all spectators from Olympic venues in Tokyo, are in place during the Games in an effort to reduce the risk of infection.

“We have been preparing for the last year to send a positive message,” Hashimoto told reporters Thursday. “Toward the very end now there are so many incidents that give a negative image toward Tokyo 2020.”

New Commerce grants designed so ‘everyone’s included’ in pandemic recovery: Raimondo

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Whether it is investing in a coal mining community, or in regional tourism, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says new “investing in America” grants being announced Thursday are designed so every community in America feels empowered and included to get back on their feet in the wake of the pandemic.

She said the Commerce Department is making $3 billion in grants available for a myriad of programs, using funds passed as part of the American Rescue Plan.

Interested communities will have to apply for the grants, which exclude businesses.

“It’ll be a nationwide competition to quite literally ‘build back better,'” Raimondo told ABC News’s Karen Travers, using the name President Joe Biden uses for his recovery program. “Building back certain communities from the ground up so that everybody can thrive in the new economy.”

With concerns growing about how long current price surges will last, Raimondo said the Biden administration is watching inflation “very closely.”

“And not, you know, not trying to deny that there’s a link between large fiscal stimulus and inflation,” she said, “but inflation is not the only thing we need to be worried about.”

Raimondo said the kind of funding the Commerce Department is investing in communities can be “quite beneficial” in countering inflation.

“These are investments in productivity. And that’s what we need to be making. Every economist will tell you, you want to invest, to enhance productivity, and that’s exactly what this is,” Raimondo said. “This is investments in infrastructure, investments in skills, education, job training, and those are not inflation creating expenditures of money.”

The grants will be distributed through the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration.

Programs include the “Build back better challenge,” in which regions can apply for up to $100 million to “accelerate recovery and inclusive economic growth by developing new industries or expanding existing ones through planning, infrastructure development, workforce training, innovation and commercialization, access to capital, and more,” the department said.

Those programs include $300 million to invest in communities affected by the shrinking coal mining industry.

“We also need to be there for communities that have been traditionally dependent on coal,” Raimondo explained. “And so that’s what this money is for putting folks to work in those communities, making investments in those communities so they benefit from the transition to renewables, whether that’s retraining, or innovation hubs or building infrastructure.”

Raimondo insisted there would be no political considerations when grants are made to coal mining communities, especially since influential Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin represents West Virginia, a state hit hard by the industry downturn.

“It isn’t just West Virginia. It’s Virginia, it’s West Virginia it’s Ohio with Kentucky it’s you know it’s not about one state it’s about being honest with people and creating jobs for people everywhere,” she explained.

Another program is aimed at getting Americans back to work through investments in worker training and in funding infrastructure projects.

“So, the way it works is pretty simple: a group of companies would come together in a community, they would say, ‘we have 1000 open jobs right now,’ for example, in order to hire people for those jobs. ‘These are the skills they need to have,'” she said. “Then the money that we’re providing would train those people in exactly those skills, and here’s the best part, the businesses have to hire the folks, so that this is not trained, and pray and get a job. This is enroll, train, graduate, get your job.”

The Commerce Department also will focus on providing funds for underserved communities, providing regional tourism grants, and helping communities plan for any potential economic hardship in the future.

Raimondo said the administration is not telling local communities how to invest their money, but rather providing a road map.

“This is bottom up,” she said. “This is not Washington telling any community, how to do economic development. Every community has certain strengths, maybe it’s, a certain talent pool, maybe it’s, I don’t know tourism, maybe it’s a certain kind of skill set, maybe it’s a certain technical know how. So each community wants to build on those strengths, and then use our funds to kind of supercharge those efforts.”

Money will be available almost immediately especially for communities impacted by a lack of tourism because of the pandemic, Raimondo explained.

“There’s so many communities that have lost jobs because of the lack of travel and lack of tourism,” she said. “You need help yesterday and we know that.”

Raimondo also touted the $1.2 billion infrastructure bill being debated in Congress.

In 2016, when she was governor of Rhode Island, she passed “Rhode Works,” a sweeping infrastructure measure targeted at fixing Rhode Island’s roads and bridges, which then were among the worst in the nation. The cornerstone of the program was imposing tolls on truckers to pass through the state in order to fund the project.

“It was none other than Vice President Joe Biden, who traveled to Rhode island with me to stand under a crumbling bridge to say, ‘get behind this governor and let’s make this infrastructure investment happen,'” she said.

She urged Congress to pass the bill, saying that while it might seem controversial now, once communities see money being put into action, it will be seen as favorable.

“It is the right thing to do. And even if it’s controversial at the moment, we got to push it over the finish line is the American people want and deserve better infrastructure,” Raimondo told Travers. “And I promise you, it will be popular once you see the road crews out there making communities better and safer.”

Scoreboard roundup — 7/21/21

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
Kansas City 6, Milwaukee 3
Colorado 6, Seattle 3
NY Yankees 6, Philadelphia 5

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay 5, Baltimore 4
Detroit 4, Texas 2
Boston 7, Toronto 4
Cleveland 5, Houston 4
Minnesota 7, Chi White Sox 2

NATIONAL LEAGUE
San Diego 3, Atlanta 2
NY Mets 7, Cincinnati 0
Arizona 6, Pittsburgh 4
Miami 3, Washington 1
St. Louis 3, Chi Cubs 2
San Francisco 4, LA Dodgers 2
San Diego at Atlanta (Suspended)

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Nashville 0, Columbus 0 (Tie)
New York 1 Toronto FC 1 (Tie)
New York City FC 1, CF Montreal 0
New England 5, Miami 0
Atlanta 1, Cincinnati 1 (Tie)
D.C. United 2, Chicago 2 (Tie)
San Jose 1, Sporting Kansas City 1 (Tie)
Colorado 2, FC Dallas 0
LA Galaxy 2, Real Salt Lake 2 (Tie)
Portland 2, Los Angeles FC 1

Liz Cheney positioned as linchpin for credibility of January 6 findings

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The TAKE with Rick Klein

The talk after Wednesday’s flurry of activity around Jan. 6 investigations was about separate partisan inquiries covering the same subject — a subject leaders of the two parties don’t see, or don’t claim to see, the same way at all.

Then there’s Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. She could perhaps be the only person standing in the way of final Jan. 6 takeaways devolving into wearying and meaningless “both sides-ism.”

Cheney’s decision to stay on the House select committee, and even back Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s rejection of two Republican members who were tapped to serve on it, is about more than a single vote, even a vote that belongs to a former member of GOP leadership.

She is also calling out her own party leader — the man favored to become the next House speaker if Republicans recapture the majority — as offering “disingenuous” rhetoric that should disqualify him from taking over any such job.

“There must be an investigation that is nonpartisan, that is sober, that is serious, that gets to the facts wherever they may lead,” Cheney told reporters.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy outlined questions about security shortcomings at the Capitol that made clear Republicans were looking for an escape that has them aiming at Pelosi in whatever separate probe they launch.

McCarthy and his allies also say the House-approved committee is designed to embarrass former President Donald Trump and his supporters. Trump, who months ago committed to booting Cheney out of office next year, would readily agree.

But when the select committee holds its first hearing on Tuesday, Cheney will be there. As she explores ways to make sure her presence is felt, that fact alone will give an extra dose of credibility — even bipartisanship — to the endeavor.

The RUNDOWN with Averi Harper

The White House is changing its tune on COVID-19 procedures.

The White House will now announce any official who tests positive for COVID-19 if they have had close contact with the the president, vice president, first lady or the second gentleman.

“An email from our COVID-19 operations protocol team has been sent to White House staff informing them of the official policy — that if you are in close contact with a principal, and test positive for COVID 19, your case will be disclosed to press along with any other relevant details,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “We will share the name of the staffer if that individual agrees to do so; of course, we respect their privacy.”

Previously, White House officials said they would only announce cases of “commissioned officers,” or senior staff with “assistant to the President” in their title.

The marked difference came after Psaki confirmed a breakthrough case of the coronavirus in the White House.

Officials have not announced any changes to COVID-19 measures like testing or reinstating masking, but new cases at the White House make the “independence” from COVID-19 that Biden hoped would arrive by July 4 feel even more elusive.

The TIP with Alisa Wiersema

The outlook on what will happen with the national push for federal voting rights legislation is still unclear, but the issue of voter ID requirements remains a fixture in debates across state legislatures.

In a memo circulated Wednesday, Pennsylvania state Rep. Seth Grove — who also serves as the chairman of the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee — said he plans to reintroduce his state’s voting bill, H.B. 1300, which Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed earlier this month. Grove pegs his move on a Philadelphia Inquirer report that quotes Wolf indicating support for voter ID rules, despite previously citing such measures as nonstarters for advancing H.B. 1300.

The Pennsylvania Governor is the latest of several high-profile Democrats to lean into more nuanced positions on voter ID laws. Sen. Joe Manchin included voter ID requirements in his voting legislation compromise last month and was promptly backed by voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams.

Wolf previously voiced support for a handful of other provisions originally outlined in H.B. 1300, but it remains to be seen whether he will be open to renegotiating the bill after already vetoing it.

Supreme Court excessive force ruling could be ‘a big deal,’ lawyer says

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Supreme Court last month remanded a lower court’s ruling that police officers who used excessive force on a 27-year-old man who died in their custody were protected because they didn’t know their actions were unconstitutional.

And it’s a decision that could have lasting effects, according to legal experts including Jon Taylor, an attorney who represented the family of that man, Nicholas Gilbert.

“The Supreme Court has summarily vacated a pro-officer decision by a lower court in an excessive force case,” Taylor told ABC News. “So this is a big deal, not only because of what the Supreme Court said but also because of what it will be for the record going forward.”

Steve Art, an attorney who submitted a brief on behalf of the ACLU for the case, shared Taylor’s sentiments.

“It’s extremely rare for the Supreme Court to summarily reverse a decision finding that police did not use excessive force,” Art told ABC News. “The Supreme Court is sending a clear signal to lower courts that they cannot reflexively decide cases for police officers when they use brutal tactics on restrained citizens.”

Gilbert died in a St. Louis Police Department holding cell in December 2015 after six officers restrained him for 15 minutes, handcuffed him and placed him in shackles, and forced him face down on the ground. Police at the time said they believed Gilbert to be suicidal and said they acted to prevent him from taking his own life. The officers were never criminally charged.

Gilbert’s parents, Bryan Gilbert and Jody Lombardo, sued the officers after his death, and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against them.

The officers pushed to receive qualified immunity — meaning they’d be shielded from personal liability unless proven to have violated clearly established constitutional rights — when confronted with the lawsuit in 2016, and in 2019, that immunity was granted by a federal judge in the 8th Circuit Court who did acknowledge that excessive force had been used.

But the Supreme Court on June 28 remanded the case back to the lower court, ruling that the 8th Circuit Court did not clearly define whether “prone restraint” was constitutional.

“The Eighth Circuit didn’t get to the qualified immunity question because it didn’t find a constitutional violation in the first place,” Elizabeth Beske, a law professor at American University, told ABC News. “By sending the case back, the Supreme Court is signaling to the Eighth Circuit that excessive force cases require a hard look at specific facts and circumstances and can’t be dismissed lightly.”

Part of the ruling stated: “It is unclear whether the court thought the use of a prone restraint — no matter the kind, intensity, duration or surrounding circumstances is per se constitutional so long as an individual appears to resist officers’ efforts to subdue him.”

But the Supreme Court’s decision was not unanimous — conservative justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

Alito wrote the dissent, which included: “We have two respective options: deny review of the fact-bound question that the case presents or grant the petition, have the case briefed and argued, roll up our sleeves and decide the real issue. I favor the latter course, but what we should not do is take the easy out that the court has chosen.”

“That Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Kavanaugh and Barrett signed on to this opinion sends a powerful message that this Court is paying attention and will not brook casual treatment of these serious social issues,” Beske added.

This decision could have a lasting impact and set a precedent for future cases involving excessive force, Taylor, the lawyer for Gilbert’s family, explained.

“I think the Court recognizes this political moment, in particular, that there is heightened attention being paid to these kinds of issues,” Taylor added. “I think that partially explains why the Supreme Court didn’t let this go.”

Art, who submitted the brief for the ACLU, added: “We expect that the Lombardo case will result in juries hearing more cases brought by the loved ones of those killed and hurt by police, rather than those cases being decided by judges before trial.”

This is not the first time the 8th Circuit has weighed in on an excessive force case. It also had jurisdiction over cases involving Michael Brown and George Floyd, who each were killed by police after being arrested for misdemeanors — Brown in 2014 and Floyd in 2020. In 2017, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld, in a 2-1 decision, a lower court ruling that Ferguson, Missouri, police were not entitled to qualified immunity from a lawsuit by Dorian Johnson, who was stopped along with Brown.

“The Court’s efforts in this area are likely responsive to the ongoing racial justice movement and to political pressure on the Supreme Court itself. Calls to ‘pack’ the court will grow if it is widely perceived that the conservative Court is significantly out-of-step with public opinion,” Beske said.

Gilbert at the time was homeless and under the influence of methamphetamines when he was arrested for a nonviolent misdemeanor, police said. After Gilbert died, officers said they believed he was experiencing a “mental health crisis” when he was in his cell, prompting officers to engage and restrain him.

Taylor said Gilbert “was lifting his chest in an attempt to breathe and saying it hurts, asking them to stop, and then he died. An autopsy found the cause of death to be asphyxiation induced by forcible restraint.”

While race-related issues perhaps have been more widely documented in cases where police have been accused of using excessive force, another major factor is mental illness. According to the Treatment Advocacy Center, persons with an untreated metal illness are 16 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement.

The Department of Justice has warned about these risk factors in the past, and law enforcement agencies across the country have been asked to train police on how to properly handle potential mental illness episodes. Officers have been cautioned that persons suffering such an episode, or who may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, are at a particular risk of dying by asphyxiation when held face down because it restricts their breathing.

In a statement provided to ABC News, Gilbert’s mother said her son was “kind and loving” and “the type of young man who gives the shirt off his back. He was bubbly and happy all the time. He was a happy young man and he had plans in life.”

“I want my son to finally have his day in court in front of a jury,” she added. “I want my son’s case to be an example — something that changes the way police treat people.”

PnB Rock, Swae Lee, and Pink $weats to appear on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

PnB Rock, Swae Lee, and Pink $weats are ready to hit the stage tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The three artists will perform their banging new collaboration, “Forever Never,” from PnB’s upcoming album, To Be Honest.

“Forever Never” follows the release of PnB’s April single, “Need Somebody.” Since landing his first solo on the Billboard Hot 100 with 2017’s “Selfish,” the melodic rapper placed several collaborations on the chart, including YFN Lucci‘s “Everyday We Lit,” Meek Mill‘s “Dangerous” with Jeremih, and Layton Greene‘s “Leave Em Alone” with Lil Baby and City Girls.

PnB Rock and Pink Sweat$ are both natives of Philadelphia, yet Pink Sweat$ is known for his pristine falsetto. The R&B singer is still riding the wave of his debut project, PINK PLANET, which featured the fan-favorite “At My Worst” remix with Kehlani.

Meanwhile, Rae Sremmurd‘s Swae Lee is gearing up to present his highly-anticipated solo album, HUMAN NATURE. The Mississippi-bred rapper has released a slew of singles in the last year, including “Someone Said,” “Reality Check,” and “Dance Like No One’s Watching.”

Catch PnB Rock, Swae Lee, and Pink $weats’ appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Thursday at 11:35 p.m EST on ABC, with guest host Anthony Anderson.

It just takes some time: Jimmy Eat World frontman reflects on 20 years of “The Middle”

July 22, 2021 by WDNY Radio

This Saturday, Jimmy Eat World‘s 2001 album Bleed American celebrates its 20th anniversary. The record spawned what would become the Arizona band’s signature song: “The Middle,” now a staple of the early 2000s pop-punk scene, and a favorite of the one-and-only Taylor Swift.

Reflecting on two decades of “The Middle,” frontman Jim Adkins tells ABC Audio that the song’s continued success and relevance feels “pretty nuts.”

“The fact that so long after that initially was released that people are still finding and connecting with it, I mean, it’s the biggest compliment ever, for a musician,” Adkins says. “It’s the highest compliment you can have. I just hope I’m doing right by appreciating it.”

The success of “The Middle” was especially surprising to Jimmy Eat World at that time, especially since it was such a no-hassle song to record.

“That song happened really quickly, without a lot of artistic suffering,” Adkins laughs. “It just seemed, like, ‘OK, yeah, what do we do here? Oh, we do this. Cool, that works. Great! Song’s done!’ Like, ‘It doesn’t need anymore. This is exactly what it should do. Here it is.'”

Twenty years later, Adkins says he’s still “always excited” to play “The Middle” in concert. In fact, the idea of getting sick of “The Middle” has never even crossed his mind.

“Let me break this down for you: Am I bummed out that something I wrote is connecting with thousands of people who are freaking out ’cause we’re playing it?” Adkins says.

“Tell me to stop if that ever happens,” he adds. “What are you doing with your life that you’re bummed out that so many people are freaking out over something you did? I don’t know. I love playing it.”

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