A large storm system crossed the Rockies over the weekend. It produced rain and snow in parts of Wyoming and Montana. On Monday it pushed east toward the Plains as a cold front developed along it.
This system will encounter a warm moist area in the center part of the country, helping to support thunderstorm development. Simultaneously, a low pressure will ride along this front, enhancing the storms.
Heavy rain and flooding will be possible with already saturated grounds and swollen waterways. Several weather disturbances will rotate around this larger system this week, keeping severe weather chances in play.
What You Need To Know
The month of May sees a high number of tornadoes on average from the Midwest to the Plains
Severe threat moves to the Ohio River Valley for Tuesday
With unstable air in place on Wednesday, a large severe weather outbreak is possible along the Midwest
With storm fuel in place and the advancing system, severe thunderstorms will be possible from the Plains to the Mississippi River Valley. This will not be a one-day event. Severe weather will be possible from Tuesday through Thursday.
Severe weather potential this week
The severe potential pushes east into Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio during the day on Tuesday. The region is under a level 3/5 for severe weather with all threats possible. Damaging wind, large hail, tornadoes and heavy rain.
Another low pressure develops along the frontal boundary on Wednesday, enhancing the threat for Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and eastern Texas. The Storm Prediction Center already categorized the threat as a level 3/5 with all impacts expected on Wednesday afternoon into the evening. Those impacts include tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and heavy rain.
With the system moving off to the south and east on Thursday, the front will trigger storms for areas from New Jersey south through North Carolina and east-central Texas. While the risk for severe storms exists on Thursday, the threat is lower.
However, there is still the potential for damaging winds, hail and isolated tornadoes in the highlighted regions.
Prepare for storms
Make sure you have a plan for if you are at work or home. Even if you could be driving.
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
A large storm system crossed the Rockies over the weekend. It produced rain and snow in parts of Wyoming and Montana. On Monday it pushed east toward the Plains as a cold front developed along it.
This system will encounter a warm moist area in the center part of the country, helping to support thunderstorm development. Simultaneously, a low pressure will ride along this front, enhancing the storms.
Heavy rain and flooding will be possible with already saturated grounds and swollen waterways. Several weather disturbances will rotate around this larger system this week, keeping severe weather chances in play.
What You Need To Know
The month of May sees a high number of tornadoes on average from the Midwest to the Plains
Severe threat moves to the Ohio River Valley for Tuesday
With unstable air in place on Wednesday, a large severe weather outbreak is possible along the Midwest
With storm fuel in place and the advancing system, severe thunderstorms will be possible from the Plains to the Mississippi River Valley. This will not be a one-day event. Severe weather will be possible from Tuesday through Thursday.
Severe weather potential this week
The severe potential pushes east into Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio during the day on Tuesday. The region is under a level 3/5 for severe weather with all threats possible. Damaging wind, large hail, tornadoes and heavy rain.
Another low pressure develops along the frontal boundary on Wednesday, enhancing the threat for Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and eastern Texas. The Storm Prediction Center already categorized the threat as a level 3/5 with all impacts expected on Wednesday afternoon into the evening. Those impacts include tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and heavy rain.
With the system moving off to the south and east on Thursday, the front will trigger storms for areas from New Jersey south through North Carolina and east-central Texas. While the risk for severe storms exists on Thursday, the threat is lower.
However, there is still the potential for damaging winds, hail and isolated tornadoes in the highlighted regions.
Prepare for storms
Make sure you have a plan for if you are at work or home. Even if you could be driving.
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — NASA and Boeing announced their decision to scrub the maiden launch of the company’s Starliner spacecraft nearly two hours before liftoff due to an issue with an oxygen relief valve.
“NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) are targeting no earlier than Friday, May 10, for launch of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station, pending resolution of the technical issue that prevented the May 6 launch attempt.
The delay allows teams to complete data analysis on a pressure regulation valve on the liquid oxygen tank of the Atlas V rocket ‘s Centaur upper stage and determine whether it is necessary to replace the valve.”
What You Need To Know
The new launch time has not been announced yet
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket will take off from Launch Complex-41
This will be the first time that Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will have a journey to the ISS with people onboard
Find out why the Starliner spacecraft is named Calypso; this will be the second mission for the craft
ULA Launch Director Tom Heter III made the decision that the launch operations would not continue. During a live feed, NASA stated that there was an issue with an oxygen relief valuve. Depending on the severity of the issue, the next launch attempt could be Tuesday, May 07, or later, stated NASA.
“Today’s #Starliner launch is scrubbed as teams evaluate an oxygen relief valve on the Centaur Stage on the Atlas V. Our astronauts have exited Starliner and will return to crew quarters,” NASA stated on X, formerlly known as Twitter.
Scroll down to the graphic to see where the Centaur stage is on the stacked rocket.
NASA astronauts Cmdr. Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams had just gotten into the Starliner spacecraft when the announcement was made at around 8:34 p.m. ET. They were ready to be sent to the International Space Station.
The Crew Space Transportation (CST) 100 Starliner spacecraft named Calypso, while sitting on top of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, will take off from Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, according to NASA.
The 45th Weather Squadron gave a 95% chance of good liftoff conditions, with the only worries being the cumulus cloud rule.
About Starliner and Atlas V rocket
While the Starliner can fit up to seven crew members, for NASA missions it will carry between four to five people.
Each 16.5-foot (5 meter) tall Starliner is designed for up to 10 launch missions and they are made for each assignment, stated Boeing.
The Starliner spacecraft only has two missions under its wide belt: The first Orbital Flight Test in December 2019, which launched well but there was a glitch in the mission-elapsed timer that caused the spacecraft to go into an orbital insertion burn at the wrong time and used too much fuel.
This meant that while it was in a stable orbit, it could not make a rendezvous with the space station.
In fact, the Starliner in the first Orbital Flight Test will be the same one used for this maiden crewed mission. And it is named Calypso after Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s oceanography vessel, RV Calypso, stated NASA.
After the stage separation, the Atlas V booster will fall into the ocean. Unlike SpaceX rockets, Atlas rockets do not land.
The Atlas V rocket, with the Starliner on top, stands at 171 feet (52 meters) tall. It is a bit smaller than a stacked SpaceX Falcon rocket at 229.6 feet (70 meters).
Understanding the mission
After the launch, the Starliner crew will have a more than 27-hour journey to the ISS, where Calypso will dock on the space station’s Harmony module autonomously, stated NASA.
“During its stay, the crew will evaluate the spacecraft, its displays, and cargo transfer systems. Wilmore and Williams will also go inside Starliner, close the hatch, and demonstrate the spacecraft can perform as a ‘safe haven’ in the case one is needed in the future,” NASA explained.
One of the main objectives of the mission is to demonstrate the Starliner’s ability to launch and land. This will be the first time that the Starliner spacecraft will have a journey to the ISS with people onboard.
Former NASA astronaut and former Boeing CST-100 Starliner Director of Crew and Mission Systems Christopher J. Ferguson was explaining to Spectrum News what Wilmore and Williams will experience as the Starliner launches.
🚀@Boeing’s former #Starliner Director and @NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson was explaining to me what Cmdr. #Wilmore and pilot #Williams will experience during liftoff and what went into this maiden launch.
Artemis II mission specialist Jermey Hansen shared his thoughts with Spectrum News about the Boeing mission and what it means for him to go into space for the first time. And his first mission is the Artemis II, where humans will return to orbit the moon.
#ArtemisII Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen was telling me what makes @BoeingSpace’s #Starliner mission special and his thoughts of going to space for the first time and not just the first time but also orbiting the #moon.
“The goal of the program is to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation on space station missions, which will allow for additional research time,” NASA stated.
“In 2014, Boeing was awarded up to $4.2 billion by NASA to build, test and fly the Starliner. The contract includes six service missions, as well as an uncrewed and a crewed flight test to the ISS,” Boeing stated in a-page document.
Both Wilmore and Williams will be at the ISS as part time Expedition 71 members for about a week before they climb back onboard the Starliner and return to Earth.
(ISS expeditions are missions that can last about six months.)
The Starliner will have a “hard landing” in the American Southwest. Its parachutes will slow it down to 4 mph before touching the earth again. The exact location has not yet been disclosed.
Getting to know the crew
Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are seen in this 2022 photo. They will be the first astronauts to crew Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station. (NASA/Robert Markowitz)
The crew for this mission is no strangers to being in space. Wilmore, the commander of the Crew Flight Test mission, became a NASA astronaut in July 2000.
The retired Navy veteran has been on the Atlantis shuttle mission STS-129 in 2009 and two ISS Expedition missions: 41 and 42 between 2014 and 2015.
Williams will be the pilot for this first voyage of the crewed mission. The Ohio native was selected to be a NASA astronaut in 1998 and has been on two ISS missions: Expeditions 14 and 15 in 2006 and 2007. And then 32 and 33 in 2012.
Columbia University has canceled its university-wide graduation ceremony set for May 15 in the wake of pro-Palestinian protests that have spread across college campuses around the country.
Instead, the university said it will hold ceremonies for individual schools, spanning across seven days from Friday, May 10 to Thursday, May 16.
What You Need To Know
Columbia University said it has canceled its university-wide graduation ceremony set for May 15
Instead, the university said it will hold ceremonies for individual schools, spanning across seven days from Friday, May 10 to Thursday, May 16
The cancellation comes nearly a week after police cleared a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the campus and arrested protesters who took over a school building
“We are determined to give our students the celebration they deserve, and that they want. Our Deans and other colleagues who work directly with our students have been discussing plans with student leaders, and, most importantly, listening,” the university said in a statement Monday. “Based on their feedback, we have decided to make the centerpiece of our Commencement activities our Class Days and school-level ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, rather than the University-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15.”
According to the university, the school ceremonies will not be held on the South Lawn of its Morningside Heights campus. The majority of the events will be held at Columbia’s Baker Athletics Complex, the school said.
“These past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for our community. Just as we are focused on making our graduation experience truly special, we continue to solicit student feedback and are looking at the possibility of a festive event on May 15 to take the place of the large, formal ceremony. We are eager to all come together for our graduates and celebrate our fellow Columbians as they, and we, look ahead to the future. We will share more in the coming days,” the statement said.
Anti-war protests began on the Ivy League university’s campus on April 17, when students set up an encampment on the South Lawn. The encampment emerged the same day Columbia president Minouche Shafik appeared before Congress to answer questions about concerns of antisemitism on campus.
Shafik called on the NYPD to remove the protesters a day later, resulting in more than 100 arrests.
Protesters rebuilt the encampment soon afterwards. It remained there until April 30, the day dozens of protesters from the encampment took over Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, saying they planned to remain there until the school agreed to divest from Israel.
Hundreds of NYPD officers in riot gear breached the building that night at Shafik’s behest, clearing the encampment and arresting more than 100 people. Shafik has requested an NYPD presence on campus through at least May 17 to keep students from setting up another protest encampment.
A full lineup of Columbia University graduation ceremonies is below:
There has been some confusion in recent years when a storm receives a name that isn’t a tropical storm or hurricane.
You may have heard, “subtropical storm (insert name) forms in the Gulf,” or something similar to that. If these storms aren’t tropical storms yet, why do they get a name?
It’s because subtropical storms possess some characteristics of a tropical storm, meaning the storm is a hybrid of a cold core storm (typical low pressure over the mainland U.S.) and a warm core low (tropical storm or hurricane).
Subtropical storms can transition into a tropical storm.
Tropical storms and hurricanes are symmetrical in appearance, with the strongest winds wrapped around the storm’s center. The strongest wind with a subtropical storm is away from the storm’s center.
Watch the video above to to learn more about a subtropical storm’s characteristics and how it can form into a tropical storm.
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of U.S. airpower. But the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence, not a human pilot. And riding in the front seat was Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.
What You Need To Know
AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s
It was fitting that the dogfight took place at Edwards Air Force Base, a vast desert facility where Chuck Yeager broke the speed of sound and the military has incubated its most secret aerospace advances
The AI-controlled F-16 is called Vista
Vista flew its first AI-controlled dogfight in September 2023, and there have only been about two dozen similar flights since
AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning for an AI-enabled fleet of more than 1,000 unmanned warplanes to be operating by 2028.
It was fitting that the dogfight took place at Edwards Air Force Base, a vast desert facility where Chuck Yeager broke the speed of sound and the military has incubated its most secret aerospace advances. Inside classified simulators and buildings with layers of shielding against surveillance, a new test-pilot generation is training AI agents to fly in war. Kendall traveled here to see AI fly in real time and make a public statement of confidence in its future role in air combat.
“It’s a security risk not to have it. At this point, we have to have it,” Kendall said in an interview with The Associated Press after he landed. The AP, along with NBC, was granted permission to witness the secret flight on the condition that it would not be reported until it was complete because of operational security concerns.
The AI-controlled F-16, called Vista, flew Kendall in lightning-fast maneuvers at more than 550 miles an hour that put pressure on his body at five times the force of gravity. It went nearly nose to nose with a second human-piloted F-16 as both aircraft raced within 1,000 feet of each other, twisting and looping to try force their opponent into vulnerable positions.
At the end of the hourlong flight, Kendall climbed out of the cockpit grinning. He said he’d seen enough during his flight that he’d trust this still-learning AI with the ability to decide whether or not to launch weapons.
There’s a lot of opposition to that idea. Arms control experts and humanitarian groups are deeply concerned that AI one day might be able to autonomously drop bombs that kill people without further human consultation, and they are seeking greater restrictions on its use.
“There are widespread and serious concerns about ceding life-and-death decisions to sensors and software,” the International Committee of the Red Cross has warned. Autonomous weapons “are an immediate cause of concern and demand an urgent, international political response.”
The military’s shift to AI-enabled planes is driven by security, cost and strategic capability. If the U.S. and China should end up in conflict, for example, today’s Air Force fleet of expensive, manned fighters will be vulnerable because of gains on both sides in electronic warfare, space and air defense systems. China’s air force is on pace to outnumber the U.S. and it is also amassing a fleet of flying unmanned weapons.
Future war scenarios envision swarms of American unmanned aircraft providing an advance attack on enemy defenses to give the U.S. the ability to penetrate an airspace without high risk to pilot lives. But the shift is also driven by money. The Air Force is still hampered by production delays and cost overruns in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which will cost an estimated of $1.7 trillion.
Smaller and cheaper AI-controlled unmanned jets are the way ahead, Kendall said.
Vista’s military operators say no other country in the world has an AI jet like it, where the software first learns on millions of data points in a simulator, then tests its conclusions during actual flights. That real-world performance data is then put back into the simulator where the AI then processes its to learn more.
China has AI, but there’s no indication it has found a way to run tests outside a simulator. And, like a junior officer first learning tactics, some lessons can only be learned in the air, Vista’s test pilots said.
Until you actually fly, “it’s all guesswork,” chief test pilot Bill Gray said. “And the longer it takes you to figure that out, the longer it takes before you have useful systems.”
Vista flew its first AI-controlled dogfight in September 2023, and there have only been about two dozen similar flights since. But the programs are learning so quickly from each engagement that some AI versions getting tested on Vista are already beating human pilots in air-to-air combat.
The pilots at this base are aware that in some respects, they may be training their replacements or shaping a future construct where fewer of them are needed.
But they also say they would not want to be up in the sky against an adversary that has AI-controlled aircraft if the U.S. does not also have its own fleet.
“We have to keep running. And we have to run fast,” Kendall said.
A Georgia business owner who bragged that he “fed” a police officer to a mob of rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced on Thursday to nearly five years in prison for his repeated attacks on law enforcement during the insurrection.
What You Need To Know
Jack Wade Whitton, a Georgia business owner who bragged that he “fed” a police officer to a mob of rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison
Whitton struck an officer with a metal crutch and dragged him — head first and face down — into the crowd on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace
Roughly 20 minutes later, Whitton tried to pull a second officer into the crowd, prosecutors say
More than 1,350 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot; over 850 of them have been sentenced
Jack Wade Whitton struck an officer with a metal crutch and dragged him — head first and face down — into the crowd on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace. Whitton later boasted in a text message that he “fed him to the people.”
Roughly 20 minutes later, Whitton tried to pull a second officer into the crowd, prosecutors say. He also kicked at, threatened and threw a construction pylon at officers trying to hold off the mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters.
“You’re gonna die tonight!” he shouted at police after striking an officer’s riot shield.
Whitton, of Locust Grove, Georgia, expressed remorse for his “horrible” actions on Jan. 6 before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced him to four years and nine months in prison. The 33-year-old will get credit for the three years that he has been jailed since his arrest.
“I tell you with confidence: I have changed,” Whitton told the judge.
Whitton, who pleaded guilty to an assault charge last year, told the judge that he has never been a “political person.”
“I’ve never been a troublemaker. I’ve always been a hard worker and a law-abiding citizen,” he said.
The judge said the videos of Whitton attacking police are “gruesome.”
“You really were out of control,” the judge told him.
Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of eight years and one month for Whitton, who owned and operated his own fence building company before his April 2021 arrest.
“Whitton looked for opportunities to attack: In his three documented assaults, he was either a leader or a solitary actor,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Videos show that contemporaneous attacks on police by Whitton and a co-defendant, Justin Jersey, “ignited the rageful onslaught of violence that followed” on the Lower West Terrace, prosecutors said.
“As Whitton and Jersey commenced their assaults, the tenor of the crowd audibly changed,” they wrote. “Other rioters surged towards the Archway and joined the attack, throwing objects at the officers and striking at them with makeshift weapons such as a hockey stick, a pieces of wood, a flagpole, and a police riot shield.”
Whitton was among nine defendants charged in the same attack. Two co-defendants, Logan Barnhart and Jeffrey Sabol, helped Whitton drag an officer into the crowd before other rioters beat the officer with a flagpole and a stolen police baton.
That evening, Whitton texted somebody images of his bloodied hands.
“This is from a bad cop,” he wrote. “Yea I fed him to the people. (I don’t know) his status. And don’t care (to be honest).”
Defense attorney Komron Jon Maknoon said Whitton traveled to Washington to support his girlfriend because she wanted to “witness an historic event” on Jan. 6, when Trump, a Republican, held a rally as Congress was about to certify his 2020 presidential election loss to Joe Biden, a Democrat.
“While his motives were not politically driven, he does possess a genuine love for his country and shares the desire for a free and fair election, much like any other citizen,” Maknoon wrote.
The judge previously sentenced seven of Whitton’s co-defendants to prison terms ranging from two years and six months to five years and 10 months.
More than 1,350 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. Over 850 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving a term of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.
The difference between a Flood Watch and a Flood Warning can become confusing.
But knowing the difference between the two could help save your life. It doesn’t take much water to sweep you off your feet or move your vehicle, so you should stay prepared.
Watch the video above to learn the meaning behind the two alerts and what you should do when the National Weather Service issues one for your area.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel on Wednesday to press for a cease-fire deal in the Israel-Hamas war, saying “the time is now” and warning that Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to reach an agreement to halt the war in Gaza.
Blinken greeted the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza who were protesting outside a meeting between him and Israel’s president, telling them that setting their loved ones free was “at the heart of everything we’re trying to do.”
What You Need To Know
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli leaders on Wednesday in his push for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas
Blinken, saying “the time is now” for an agreement that would free hostages and pause fighting, contended that Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to achieve a deal
A truce could avert an Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering
The current round of talks appears to be serious, but the sides remain far apart on whether the war should end as part of an emerging deal
Blinken said the deal would also allow much needed food, medicine and water to get into Gaza
Blinken is on his seventh visit to the region since the war erupted in October, aiming to secure what’s been an elusive deal between Israel and Hamas that could avert an Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where some 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering.
The current round of talks appears to be serious, but the sides remain far apart on one key issue — whether the war should end as part of an emerging deal.
Before agreeing to an initial, short-term cease-fire and partial hostage release, Hamas wants assurances that the eventual freeing of all the hostages will bring the end of Israel’s offensive and its full withdrawal from Gaza. Israel has offered only a pause after which it would resume its offensives until Hamas is destroyed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his determination to attack Rafah in talks with Blinken on Wednesday.
Blinken put pressure on Hamas, saying it would bear the blame for any failure to get a deal. Hamas said in a statement it would likely reply to the latest proposal on Thursday.
“We are determined to get a cease-fire that brings the hostages home and to get it now, and the only reason that that wouldn’t be achieved is because of Hamas,” Blinken told Israel’s ceremonial President Isaac Herzog at a meeting in Tel Aviv.
“There is a proposal on the table, and as we’ve said, no delays, no excuses. The time is now,” he said.
Blinken said the deal would also allow much needed food, medicine and water to get into Gaza, where the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis and displaced much of the territory’s population.
Blinken later Wednesday visited the Port of Ashdod, located south of Tel Aviv, where American flour — enough for one-and-a-half million Palestinians — arrived to be transported to Gaza. The United States’ top diplomat hailed the “real, demonstrable progress” made in getting increased aid to the people of Gaza, but said that “given the immense need in Gaza, it needs to be accelerated” and “sustained.”
But Netanyahu’s vow to carry out a military operation in Rafah, which Israel says is the last major Hamas stronghold showed the remaining challenges in the talks.
“The operation in Rafah doesn’t depend on anything. The prime minister made this clear to Secretary Blinken,” Netanyahu’s office said after the two met Wednesday. A day earlier, Netanyahu pledged to move on Rafah “with or without” a cease-fire deal.
The United States has staunchly supported Israel’s campaign of bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza since Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Oct. 7 into southern Israel. But it has grown increasingly critical of the staggering toll borne by Palestinian civilians and has been outspoken against an assault on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has packed in and around the town after fleeing fighting elsewhere in the territory.
Washington says it opposes a major offensive but that if Israel conducts one it must first evacuate civilians.
In Rafah, Palestinians terrified of a potential Israeli invasion clung to hope that, after months of reported near-deals, this time a cease-fire would be sealed. Hundreds of thousands are living in vast tent camps filling the once empty areas around Rafah
Salwa Abu Hatab, a woman who fled Khan Younis, said she wants to go home. “Do you think we like life in tents? We are tired and suffering,” she said. “Every day they say there is a truce and negotiations, and in the end it fails. We hope they will succeed this time.”
“If the invasion happens, we do not know where to go,” said Enas Syam, a woman from Gaza City carrying her child in the camp. “There is no safe place left.”
In his talks with Netanyahu, Blinken urged him to build on what he said has been the “improvement” in the delivery of aid to Gaza over the past month. Bowing to U.S. pressure to increase aid deliveries, Israel re-opened its Erez crossing into the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday for the first time since it was damaged in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Throughout his regional visit, with previous stops in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Blinken urged Hamas to accept the latest cease-fire proposal, calling it “extraordinarily generous” on Israel’s part.
The proposal — brokered by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar — would put a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza up for discussion, according to leaked details confirmed by an Egyptian official and a Hamas official.
The proposal lays out three stages of six to seven weeks each with a detailed timetable of steps. The first phase would bring a pause during which Hamas would release some hostages, particularly civilian women, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Israeli troops would withdraw from a coastal road in Gaza to facilitate passage of aid and the return of displaced people to the north, then the troops would withdraw from central Gaza. In the meantime, talks would start on restoring “a permanent calm,” the Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal negotiations.
The next stage would bring implementation of the calm, including Hamas’ release of all remaining hostages – soldiers and civilians – and a withdrawal of Israeli forces out of Gaza.
The last stage would see the release of bodies of dead hostages and the start of a five-year reconstruction plan. The plan says that Hamas would agree not to rebuild its military arsenal. The details were first reported in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is close to Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group.
The Egyptian official said Hamas wanted the language of the second phase to be strengthened to specify a “complete Israeli withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip” to avoid different interpretations. It also wants clearer terms for the unconditional return of displaced people to the north of Gaza, since the current outline didn’t fully explain who would be allowed back, the official said.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza continued. Late Tuesday, a strike hit a house in Rafah — where strikes have been continual despite the masses of Palestinians taking refuge there — killing at least two children, according to hospital authorities. An Associated Press journalist saw the children’s bodies at Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital as their relatives mourned the deaths.
On Wednesday, Israel’s military said it was operating in central Gaza, where it said jets struck militants, including one said to be setting up explosives.
The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the unprecedented Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Israel says the militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. The war has driven around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.
Being angry is bad for your health. Even a brief amount of anger could negatively impact blood vessels, increasing the risk of stroke and heart disease, according to a new study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
What You Need To Know
A brief episode of anger may negatively impact blood vessels
Blood vessels’ inability to relax increases the risk of stroke and heart disease, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association
The new study bolsters an AHA finding that mental well-being can positively or negatively affect a person’s health
Anxiety and sadness have also been linked with heart attack risk
“Observational studies have linked feelings of negative emotions with having a heart attack or other cardiovascular disease events,” Columbia University Irving Medical Center Dr. Daichi Shimbo said in the journal article accompanying the study results. “The most common negative emotion studied is anger, and there are fewer studies on anxiety and sadness, which have also been linked to heart attack risk.”
For the study, researchers randomly assigned 280 adults to one of four emotional tasks for eight minutes. They either had to recall a personal memory that made them angry, a personal memory that made them anxious or read a series of depressing sentences that evoked sadness or count repeatedly to induce a state of emotional neutrality.
The researchers then assessed the cells lining their blood vessels both before and after the assigned task to determine if the vessels’ ability to dilate was impaired or if it increased cell injury or the cells’ capacity to repair.
The only one of the four tasks that caused impairment to blood vessel dilation was recalling a personal memory of being angry.
“We saw that evoking an angered state led to blood vessel dysfunction, though we don’t yet understand what may cause these changes,” Shimbo said.
Blood vessels’ ability to relax is important for proper blood flow, according to the American Heart Association. Impaired blood vessels may increase the risk of atherosclerosis, of cholesterol building up in the artery walls, which may increase the risk of stroke and heart attack.
The new study bolsters an AHA report from in 2021 that found mental well-being can positively or negatively affect a person’s health.
House Democratic leadership announced Tuesday that their conference will intervene to oppose far-right Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., if put up for a vote.
What You Need To Know
House Democratic leadership said they will vote to kill an effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., if put up for a vote
The effort, led by far-right Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has the support of just two other Republican lawmakers; some in the House GOP appear to be lukewarm about the pospect of plunging the House into the chaos that ensued last year after the ouster of Kevin McCarthy
“We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate the Chair,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said in a statement. “If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.”
In a press conference shortly after the release of the statement announcing the decision, Aguilar argued there was a “distinction” between voting in favor of Johnson and voting to table the motion to oust him.
“None of the discussion that we had in caucus was about saving Mike Johnson,” Aguilar told reporters. “The underlying motion to vacate was not discussed, the motion to table was.”
Aguilar noted that each member of the House Democratic caucus should “vote their district and their conscience.”
“At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction,” the Democratic leaders wrote in their statement on Tuesday.
Greene filed her motion last month after Johnson put forward a bill to fund the government and avert a shutdown. In the weeks since, two other hardline Republican lawmakers — Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar — have joined Greene’s effort, citing the agreements Johnson has negotiated on foreign aid, federal spending and government surveillance.
In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Greene called the decision by House Democratic leadership to table the motion against Johnson an “official endorsement of his Speakership.”
“Mike Johnson is officially the Democrat Speaker of the House,” Greene wrote, going on to question whether he made a “deal” to get their support.
The Georgia Republican went on to say Johnson should “resign” and “switch parties.”
Republicans have largely appeared lukewarm on the prospect of plunging the chamber into the chaos that engulfed the House last year after a group of GOP lawmakers rebelled against then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and forced his ouster over a deal he cut with Democrats and Biden to avert a shutdown.
“She is a legislative arsonist and she is holding the gas tank and Kevin McCarthy allowed that to happen – that’s not lost on anybody,” Aguilar said on Tuesday of Greene. “What we are saying is we don’t need to be a part of that. Let’s turn the page.”
In his quest to win the speakership in Jan. 2023, McCarthy yielded to demands of members of the party’s right flank to allow just one member to force a vote to oust the speaker.
Greene, in her post on X on Tuesday, added she was a “big believer” in recorded votes so that Americans can see what every member of Congress decides.
“If the Democrats want to elect him Speaker (and some Republicans want to support the Democrats’ chosen Speaker), I’ll give them the chance to do it,” Greene wrote, indicating she will not drop her bid to force a vote on ousting Johnson.
Greene has threatened to force a vote on the matter for weeks but has yet to say when she will act.
Johnson on Tuesday said he has not spoken to Jeffries about the prospect of saving his speakership.
“I have to do my job,” Johnson told reporters at a press conference. “We have to do what we believe to be the right thing. What the country needs right now is a functioning Congress.”
“I have to do what I believe is right every day and let the chips fall where they may,” the Louisiana Republican said. “We shouldn’t be playing politics and engaging in the chaos that looks like palace intrigue here.”
President Joe Biden is out to win votes by scoring some laughs at the expense of Donald Trump, unleashing mockery with the goal of getting under the former president’s thin skin and reminding the country of his blunders.
What You Need To Know
In recent campaign stops, President Joe Biden has used mockery with the goal of getting under the skin of former President Donald Trump, his prospective opponent in November’s election
Biden has been testing and expanding his jokes over the past few weeks; it started with jabs about his Republican opponent’s financial problems, now Biden regularly jeers Trump’s coiffed hair, his pampered upbringing and much more
The jokes are the latest attempt to crack the code on how to clap back at Trump, whose own schtick has redrawn the boundaries of what’s acceptable in modern politics
The Republican’s campaign said the insults will only intensify as Biden tries to give them a taste of their own medicine
Like a comic honing his routine, the Democratic president has been testing and expanding his jokes over the past few weeks. It started with jabs about his Republican opponent’s financial problems, and now Biden regularly pokes fun at Trump’s coiffed hair, his pampered upbringing and his attempt to make a few extra bucks by selling a special edition of the Bible.
The jokes are the latest attempt to crack the code on how to clap back at Trump, whose own insult comedy schtick has redrawn the boundaries of what is acceptable in modern politics. Few have had much luck, whether they try to take the high road or get down and dirty with Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
“This is a constant challenge,” said Eric Schultz, a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama. Trump is “not someone who plays by the rules. So it’s up to Biden to figure out how to adapt and play by new rules of engagement.”
So far, Biden has been trying to thread a delicate needle to boost his chances of a second term. He uses humor to paint Trump as a buffoon unworthy of the Oval Office, but the president stops short of turning the election into a laughing matter.
Sometimes he finds that a few jokes can energize an audience even more than a major policy victory and draw precious attention away from an opponent who otherwise commands the spotlight even while stuck in a New York courtroom for his first criminal trial.
The latest example came at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night. After years of Trump constantly needling Biden as “sleepy” and mocking his age (Biden is 81, Trump is 77), Biden lobbed the insult back after Trump appeared to doze off in court. Trump’s campaign disputed that he was asleep, and with no video camera in place and trained on him there’s no way of knowing for sure.
Still, Biden nicknamed his rival “Sleepy Don,” adding, “I kind of like that. I may use it again.”
“Of course the 2024 election’s in full swing and, yes, age is an issue,” he said. “I’m a grown man running against a 6-year-old.”
Trump didn’t seem to appreciate the ribbing, posting on his social media platform that the dinner was “really bad” and Biden was “an absolute disaster.”
But jokes at the annual black-tie affair, which also features a professional comedian (this year it was Colin Jost of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”), are nothing new. The real meat of Biden’s routine comes during campaign speeches in which he devotes a few moments to taking digs at Trump in between recitations of policy proposals and legislative accomplishments.
“Remember when he was trying to deal with COVID? He suggested: Inject a little bleach in your vein,” Biden said Wednesday to a labor union, describing Trump’s guidance from the White House during the pandemic. “He missed. It all went to his hair.”
In Tampa, Florida, the day before, he assailed Trump for the Supreme Court’s ruling that overturned abortion protections — with three justices nominated by Trump voting in the majority of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — and then pivoted to the former president’s hawking of a $60 “God Bless the USA” Bible.
“He described the Dobbs decision as a ‘miracle,’” Biden said of Trump. “Maybe it’s coming from that Bible he’s trying to sell. Whoa. I almost wanted to buy one just to see what the hell is in it.”
Biden rarely references Trump’s court cases, but jokes about financial problems that began soon after the former president was ordered to pay $454 million in a civil case in New York.
“Just the other day,” Biden said at a fundraiser in Dallas last month, “a defeated-looking guy came up to me and said, ‘Mr. President, I need your help. I’m being crushed with debt. I’m completely wiped out.’ I had to say, ‘Donald, I can’t help you.’”
Even when Biden tries his hand at humor, he rarely strays far from talking about policies. He likes to note that he signed a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law — after his opponent failed to do so despite repeatedly holding White House events to drum up support for an idea that never materialized.
“He promised ‘Infrastructure Week’ every week for four years and never built a damn thing,” Biden said this month to a group of laughing union members.
The dilemma is that Trump, who tells voters the whole American political system is hopelessly corrupt, can get away with name-calling that would backfire on other candidates. During his rallies, Trump imitates Biden as a feeble old man who cannot find the stairs after giving a brief speech, and he calls the president “crooked” and “a demented tyrant.”
The Republican’s campaign said the insults will only intensify as Biden tries to give them a taste of their own medicine.
Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, said Biden is “shuffling his feet like a short-circuited Roomba,” referring to the robot vacuum, while failing to address the “out-of-control border” and “runaway inflation.”
Rick Tyler, who worked on the presidential campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2016, said voters have a double standard because expectations are different for Trump, who first became famous as a real estate developer and the star of the reality TV show “The Apprentice.”
“Celebrities don’t really have standards, and Trump is in that lane,” Tyler said. For a politician going up against Trump, “it’s like trying to play a sport with the wrong equipment.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., found that out the hard way in the Republican primary in 2016. After Rubio joked about Trump having “small hands” — suggesting that another part of him was small, too — Trump swung back by saying, “I guarantee you there’s no problem.”
“Nobody has ever beaten Trump by getting in the ring with him,” said Alex Conant, communications director for Rubio’s campaign.
Karen Finney, who advised Democrat Hillary Clinton in her 2016 White House run, said Trump can bait opponents into “communicating on his terms, not your terms.”
“It’s the kind of thing where you have to have a balance,” she said. “You could spend all day just responding.”
But if Trump’s humor is blunt, Biden sometimes tries to get the most mileage by staying subtle. During a Pittsburgh stop earlier this month, Biden spoke elliptically about Trump’s trial, betting his audience was already in on the joke.
Thousands of gallons of jet fuel contaminated the Navy’s drinking water system for Pearl Harbor. Families dealing with health issues are suing, alleging they were harmed by negligence at Red Hill.
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The U.S. military takes pride in protecting its own. That’s why military families we met in Hawaii told us they feel so betrayed.
Two years ago, there was a fuel spill close to the drinking water system at the Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii. Navy leadership assured thousands of military families that the tap water was safe.
But nearly two weeks after the spill, parents learned the truth: the water they drank or used to bathe their kids contained jet fuel.
Tonight – you’ll hear from some of the families who say the jet fuel tainted water made them sick. But first – we’ll go to where the water crisis at Pearl Harbor began.
From the air, the historic naval base is easy to spot. Eight miles from Honolulu… sparkling blue waters host battle gray ships…and memorials to those killed by Japan’s surprise attack in 1941.
What you can’t see is the once secret storage site that provided fuel for the Pacific fleet and its planes for 80 years.
Sharyn Alfonsi: It doesn’t look like much from the outside.
Vice Admiral John Wade: Wait ’till you get inside.
Vice Admiral John Wade led us through the Red Hill bulk fuel storage facility…seven miles of tunnels cut through volcanic rock – built to hold 250 million gallons of fuel.
Vice Admiral John Wade
60 Minutes
Vice Admiral John Wade: So this is one of the tanks.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Oh my gosh.
That black hole is a steel lined fuel tank so deep it’s hard to see the bottom 20 stories below.
Vice Admiral John Wade: To just show you how enormous this is, this tank holds 12.5 million gallons. And to give you kind of a reference point, the Statue of Liberty, not the base, but the statue itself, can fit in here with enough room.
And this is just one of the 20 tanks hidden here.
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, construction was already underway to protect the Navy’s fuel reserves from an aerial attack.
Vice Admiral John Wade: The decision was made to embark on a herculean task to build a bulk storage fuel facility inside a mountain in secrecy.
Sharyn Alfonsi: And how long did that take to do?
Vice Admiral John Wade: It was a little less than three years. At its peak, there were about 4,000 men working here.
But this testament to American resolve became a monumental liability after this…
That’s jet fuel spraying from a cracked pipe. The video was recorded by a worker inside Red Hill on November 20th of 2021.
The fuel…20,000 gallons of it – was trapped in a plastic pipe. The weight caused the pipe to sag…this trolley hit it…
And jet fuel spewed for 21 hours….close to the well that supplied drinking water for 93,000 people on and around the base at Pearl Harbor.
Sharyn Alfonsi:According to Navy investigators, the workers who responded didn’t have the right tools to contain the spill. They also assumed there was no danger to the drinking water. They were wrong. At least 5,000 gallons of jet fuel drained into the tunnel floor and into the navy water system.
The next day the Navy issued a press release about the incident and told the 8,400 families living in military housing “…the water remains safe to drink.” Even though the Navy had not tested the water yet. A week later residents began to notice a problem.
Sharyn Alfonsi: When did you get this sense that there was something wrong with the water?
Brittany Traeger: My husband came into the kitchen and washed his hands and said, “Gosh, the water smells like I just did an oil change like, the water smells weird.”
Brittany Traeger
60 Minutes
Brittany Traeger lived on base…about two and half miles from Red Hill …with her daughter and husband, who is a Navy chief petty officer. Traeger says she began to feel sick a week after the spill.
Brittany Traeger: I had a cough. My tonsils were very swollen. I remember a very distinct moment where I was walking to the car and I had vertigo so bad that I had to hold onto the car.
Sharyn Alfonsi: The smell was that overwhelming?
Brittany Traeger: Uh-huh.
In an email to residents nine days after the spill, the commanding officer of the base reassured residents “…there are no immediate indications that the water is not safe. My staff and I are drinking the water…”
Sharyn Alfonsi: Did you stop using water? Did you stop taking baths?
Brittany Traeger: So, I did, my daughter did…
Sharyn Alfonsi: Just because you had a bad feeling, not ’cause anybody told you to.
Brittany Traeger: Correct. They gave us an email address that we could send an email to if we wanted to have our water tested. So, I emailed those people who then emailed me a phone number that I should call. And I called that phone number for days and it was just busy. They were overwhelmed and inundated with reports.
Ten days after the spill, there were more than 200 reports from six neighborhoods across the base of strong fuel odor coming from kitchen and bathroom faucets. But the Navy said its initial tests did not detect fuel.
Brittany Traeger: It defied logic, you know? Even though there was a leak and even though our water smelled like jet fuel and even though there was sheen on it, they continued to say, ” The tests are coming back negative.”
After 12 days…and four statements assuring residents the water was not contaminated with fuel…the Navy reversed course…on Dec. 2, 2021 it announced more comprehensive tests conducted by the Navy had detected jet fuel in the water.
Three weeks after the spill, tests from Hawaii’s Department of Health revealed jet fuel levels 350-times higher than what the state considers safe.
Richelle Dietz lives on base with her husband, a Navy chief petty officer….and their two children.
Richelle Dietz: Jet fuel’s not something that you would even think could happen to be in your water.
Sharyn Alfonsi: How were people reacting to the news?
Richelle Dietz: I was so sick to my stomach from that news that I actually threw up when I heard.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Because why?
Richelle Dietz: Because my kids had just been poisoned.
Richelle Dietz
60 Minutes
Within a month the Navy set up medical tents for residents. Some complained of stomach problems, severe fatigue and coughing. The military moved more than 4,000 families to hotels.
Small studies of military personnel suggest jet fuel exposure can lead to neurological and breathing problems.
But the long-term impact of ingesting jet fuel is unknown because it’sso unlikely to ever happen.
Richelle Dietz told us days after the spill her daughter’s tonsils became inflamed, and her son started suffering from chronic headaches.
Sharyn Alfonsi: I can hear people saying, “Tonsils, headaches. Kids get that stuff. How do you know it’s related?”
Richelle Dietz: Um, because they never had it before November of 2021. It wasn’t– an issue.
It’s unclear how many got sick. But of 2,000 people who responded to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – more than 850 sought medical care. The water system was flushed over three months…and bottled water brought in.
Brittany Traeger said her 4 year old now suffers respiratory problems which require hour-long treatments…at least two times a day that includes a nebulizer and this vibrating vest to clear her lungs.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Tell me about your daughter’s health.
Brittany Traeger: Thirteen days after the contamination, after our water smelled like jet fuel, my daughter woke up in a hotel with a cough…and it pretty much never went away.
Three months passed before Pearl Harbor’s drinking water was deemed safe again. The Navy’s own investigations into the spill…described quote “cascading failures” and revealed poor training, supervision, and ineffective leadership at red hill that fell “…unacceptably short of navy standards…”
The primary water supply for the city of Honolulu is 100 feet below the Navy complex.
In March of 2022, the secretary of defense ordered Red Hill permanently closed.
Vice Admiral John Wade was brought in to get the 104 million gallons of fuel out of the tanks and move it safely to sites around the Pacific.
Vice Admiral John Wade: We’ve gotta defuel. That’s the imminent threat. There’s ongoing and will be continued long-term environmental remediation to restore the aquifer, the land and surrounding area. And then there’s also a medical component for those that have been impacted.
Sharyn Alfonsi: You view now this thing that was a lifeline for the fleet is a threat.
Vice Admiral John Wade: That’s right. That’s right.
In six months, Wade’s team in Hawaii successfully removed almost all of the fuel. But it took two years before the Navy issued disciplinary letters to 14 officers involved in the spill response…including, five admirals.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Was anyone fired because of this?
Meredith Berger, an assistant secretary of the Navy
60 Minutes
Meredith Berger: At the time that the accountability came through, uh– we had officers that had already retired. And so uh — they had already separated from service.
Meredith Berger is an assistant secretary of the Navy. We met her at the Pentagon in November. She told us the Navy has been accountable.
Sharyn Alfonsi: We’re talking about 20,000 gallons of– fuel leak, 90,000 people had their water contaminated. It looks like people retired, or were reassigned, and no one was fired. How is that accountability?
Meredith Berger: It’s accountability within the system that we have established. And we have heard that this was too long, um and that maybe it didn’t go far enough.
Two thousand military families agree the Navy didn’t go far enough and are suing the government. The Traegers and Dietzs have joined the lawsuit alleging they were harmed by negligence at Red Hill.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Are you angry that it happened? Or are you angry at what happened after?
Richelle Dietz: It’s a little bit of anger, but it’s also this feeling of betrayal.
Sharyn Alfonsi: What do you mean, betrayal?
Richelle Dietz: So my husband has been in for almost 18 years. We have moved our family cross country, cross oceans. We gave so much of our life to the Navy for them to ignore warnings and then we were directly and blatantly lied to about it.
Navy leadership has apologized for the spill but has not said that the contaminated water is the cause of the ongoing illnesses.
The Navy did set up a clinic on base to collect data and treat anyone who believes they have health issues related to the tainted water.
Sharyn Alfonsi: What happens in five or 10 or 15 years? Will those services still be available to these families?
Meredith Berger: So that’s– that is part of why, um, we are making sure that we’re collecting that information to inform future actions and what the requirements are for those types of uh, needs and care.
Sharyn Alfonsi: That doesn’t sound like a guarantee of care in the future.
Meredith Berger: And I wanna be careful, ’cause I don’t do the health care part of things. And so I– I don’t wanna speak outside of, um, of– of where I have any authority or decision.
So we followed up with the Defense Department…which told us it’s reviewing the question of long term health care for military families…including more than 3,100 children.
Two years after the spill, some residents have reported water with a smell or sheen. The Navy is conducting daily tests at Pearl Harbor and says it is confident there is no fuel in the tap water.
Richelle Dietz is still using bottled water. The lawsuit she joined with Brittany Traeger and the other military families is scheduled to go to trial tomorrow.
Sharyn Alfonsi: What is the remedy that you want?
Brittany Traeger: In our family it’s restoring my faith in our nation.
Sharyn Alfonsi: That’s a big thing to say.
Brittany Traeger: There’s a body of government that failed. They contaminated our water, they lied to us, they did not protect us, and they did not intervene. And accountability looks like a lifelong care plan for me, my family, and the people affected. And that will restore my faith in my nation.
Produced by Guy Campanile. Associate producer, Lucy Hatcher. Broadcast associate, Erin DuCharme. Edited by Michael Mongulla.
The Food and Drug Administration said the U.S. milk supply is safe, despite this week’s finding of bird flu fragments in 20% of commercial milk samples.
The majority of milk samples that tested positive for the strain of avian flu known as H5N1 were in areas with infected dairy herds.
What You Need To Know
The Food and Drug Administration said the U.S. milk supply is safe
Testing earlier this week found bird flu fragments in 20% of commercial milk samples
The FDA said pasteurization and the diversion or destruction of milk from sick cows has kept the U.S. milk supply safe
The agency continues to conduct tests
“To date, the retail milk studies have shown no results that would change our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe,” the FDA said Thursday.
The FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture said pasteurization and the diversion or destruction of milk from sick cows has kept the U.S. milk supply safe.
On Tuesday, the USDA said it had found the H5N1 virus in livestock in Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico and Texas.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, also known as bird or avian flu, can be transmitted by wild birds to domestic poultry and other bird and animal species, the FDA said. They do not normally infect humans, though sporadic infections in people have occurred.
The FDA is currently conducting egg inoculation tests to determine if infectious virus is present in milk. Early research from the National Institutes of Health indicates there is no infectious virus in milk sold commercially.
“Positive results do not necessarily represent actual virus that may be a risk to consumers,” the FDA said in a statement on its website. “Additional testing is required to determine whether intact pathogen is still present and if it remains infectious, which would help inform a determination of whether there is any risk of illness associated with consuming the product.”
The Centers for Disease Control has not found any cases of H5N1 beyond the one known case related to direct contact with infected cattle.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level since late November, another setback for home shoppers in what’s traditionally the housing market’s busiest time of the year.
What You Need To Know
The average long-term mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level since late November
The rate rose to 7.17% from 7.1% last week, according to Freddie Mac
A year ago, the 30-year mortgage rate averaged 6.43%
The rate increase is a setback for homeshoppers in what is traditionally the housing market’s busiest time of year
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 7.17% from 7.1% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.43%.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose this week, lifting the average rate to 6.44% from 6.39% last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.71%, Freddie Mac said.
When mortgage rates rise, they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford at a time when the U.S. housing market remains constrained by relatively few homes for sale and rising home prices.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has now increased four weeks in a row. The latest uptick brings it to its highest level since November 30, when it was 7.22%.
After climbing to a 23-year high of 7.79% in October, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage had remained below 7% since early December amid expectations that inflation would ease enough this year for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting its short-term interest rate.
Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including how the bond market reacts to the Fed’s interest rate policy and the moves in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.
Home loan rates have been mostly drifting higher after a string of reports this year showing inflation remaining hotter than forecast, which has stoked doubts over how soon the Fed might decide to start lowering its benchmark interest rate. The uncertainty has pushed up bond yields.
Top Fed officials themselves have said recently they could hold interest rates high for a while before getting full confidence inflation is heading down toward their target of 2%.
The rise in mortgage rates in recent weeks is an unwelcome trend for home shoppers this spring homebuying season. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last month as homebuyers contended with elevated mortgage rates and rising prices.
While easing mortgage rates helped push home sales higher in January and February, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage remains well above 5.1%, where it was two years ago.
That large gap between rates now and then has helped limit the number of previously occupied homes on the market because many homeowners who bought or refinanced more than two years ago are reluctant to sell and give up their fixed-rate mortgages below 3% or 4% — a trend real estate experts refer to as the “lock-in” effect.
“The jump in mortgage rates has taken the wind out of the sails of the mortgage market,” said Bob Broeksmit, CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Along with weaker affordability conditions, the lock-in effect continues to suppress existing inventory levels as many homeowners remain unwilling to sell their home to buy a new one at a higher price and mortgage rate.”
Homebuilders have been able to mitigate the impact of elevated home loan borrowing costs this year by offering incentives, such as covering the cost to lower the mortgage rate homebuyers take on. That’s helped spur sales of newly built single-family homes, which jumped 8.8% in March from a year earlier, according to the Commerce Department.
“With rates staying higher for longer, many homebuyers are adjusting, as evidenced by this week’s report that sales of newly built homes saw the biggest increase since December 2022,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.
Opening statements began Monday in the hush money trial against Donald Trump, the first criminal case against a former president in U.S. history, after a full jury was selected last week. Witness testimony continues Thursday.
Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records around purported efforts to cover up his alleged infidelity with an adult film actress during his 2016 presidential campaign. The former president has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.
The United States’ economy slowed last quarter, growing at an annual rate of 1.6% in a sign that the high interest rates may be taking a toll on borrowing and spending.
Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department said the gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — decelerated from its brisk 3.4% growth rate in the final three months of 2023. Consumers continued to drive growth last quarter but slowed their spending. Growth was also held back by businesses reducing their inventories.
The state of the U.S. economy has seized Americans’ attention as the election season has intensified. Although inflation has slowed sharply, to 3.5% from 9.1% in 2022, prices remain well above their pre-pandemic levels.
Republican critics of President Joe Biden have sought to pin responsibility for high prices on Biden and use it as a cudgel to derail his reelection bid. And polls show that despite the healthy job market, a near-record-high stock market and the sharp pullback in inflation, many Americans blame Biden for high prices.
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.
The U.S. government, in what an attorney says is a “monumental admission,” said last year that it caused injury to thousands of people on the Hawaiian island of Oahu when jet fuel from its storage facility leaked into the drinking water system. On Monday, thousands of military family members and locals are headed to trial seeking financial compensation.
Kristina Baehr, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the case, said her firm has 7,500 clients suing over the leak. Monday’s proceedings kick off a bellwether trial, meaning it’s a smaller consolidation of lawsuits taken from a larger group.
The case dates back to the week of Thanksgiving in 2021, when nearly 20,000 gallons of jet fuel leaked out of the World War II-era Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility and into the water system that serves about 93,000 people near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Oahu. Military officials for days denied there was anything wrong with the water, as seen in recorded testimony and memos sent from that time.
By the time the military acknowledged there was petroleum in the water, people had already begun feeling the health impacts, many of which are still being experienced today — more than 2 1/2 years later.
In May 2023, the government made what Baehr says were “monumental admissions” about the crisis. Along with admitting liability for negligence at the storage facility, she said the government also “admitted that residents on the water line in November 2021 suffered injury.”
In a court-filed joint stipulation dated May 10, 2023, attorneys for the Department of Justice said “the United States does not dispute” that the 2021 spill “caused a nuisance for those Plaintiffs who owned or leased residences” that were eventually subject to a state Department of Health advisory.
The DOJ also says in the document that it “does not dispute that…the United States breached its duty of care to the Resident Plaintiffs to exercise ordinary care in the operation of Red Hill” and that, as a result of the “nuisance,” plaintiffs “suffered injuries compensable under the Federal Tort Claims Act.”
What the Justice Department hasn’t admitted, Baehr said, is the extent of the harm or that the government failed to warn residents.
Baehr told CBS News that many of her thousands of clients experienced the same symptoms at the beginning of the leak: dizziness, brain fog, disorientation, rashes, nausea, vomiting and burning in the esophagus.
Years later, many have spent countless hours in hospitals and are still suffering from the impacts.
Hawaii’s U.S. Rep. Ed Case, right, attends a rally calling for the shutdown of the Navy’s Red Hill underground fuel tanks as a man holds a photo of an infant who had chemical burns after bathing in fuel contaminated water, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022 in Honolulu.
Caleb Jones / AP
Victims of jet fuel exposure say their lives have “forever been drastically changed”
Jamie Simic, whose then-husband was a senior chief petty officer in the Navy when the leak occurred, is one of the three individuals specifically named as plaintiffs in the case. Before it was confirmed the water was contaminated, she said her children refused to brush their teeth.
“My daughter’s teeth were crumbling out of her head. They were saying we couldn’t taste toothpaste anymore… that they were tasting something foul,” she said, adding that the day military officials confirmed there was something wrong with the water, she was “throwing up while cooking dinner” from the fumes and wear.
“I went to the fridge to grab out some ice from my freezer and my ice was pure yellow and it had an oily film,” she said. “I put it up to my nose and I could smell fuel.”
The smell of fuel was on everything that came into contact with water, from dishes to laundry, Simic said. At the direction of the military, she and her family went to Tripler Army Medical Center, but she said that while there, they at first were given only “a piece of paper to write down your symptoms.”
“There was no form. There was no doctor. There was no blood pressure taken. There was nothing,” she said.
Meanwhile, she says she and her kids, now 11 and 10, have experienced issues with their teeth, incontinence and throat problems, while she has also dealt with reproductive issues. In an amended complaint filed in December 2022, attorneys said her family had to make more than 20 visits to doctors and undergo two biopsies and three surgeries. Some procedures her son needed that year “were thwarted because their son was too traumatized to cooperate,” the complaint says.
When CBS News spoke with Simic on Wednesday, she said the number of procedures and visits are now, “well over 300 to 400.” In many of these visits, she said doctors stated the problems she and her family are experiencing are related to the jet fuel exposure.
“We have been diagnosed with chronic hydrocarbon toxicity exposure more than once,” she said. “My daughter’s issues were just recently linked to it with her bowels. ‘To environmental exposure in Hawaii’ is what her records say.”
And the toll isn’t just physical, it’s an immense financial burden. Simic’s grandmother has given the family almost $40,000 to help with related expenses, she said.
“Just tomorrow alone, probably going to be spending $250 to $300 on travel with one specialty appointment, the copay, and then both of my children’s primary care manager appointments.”
Task Force Ohana Soldiers fill containers with potable water for Aliamanu Military Reservation residents (AMR) at a water supply point at AMR on Dec. 15th, 2021 at AMR, Hawaii.
Sgt. 1st Class Richard Lower/DVIDS
Mai Hall, who is Native Hawaiian and a military spouse, lived in military-provided housing with her husband and two kids at the time of the jet fuel leak. Speaking to CBS News in March 2023, she said her family started experiencing symptoms quickly.
“The next day it became apparent with the headaches, the nausea, bloody stools. … The cats were vomiting. I was like, ‘Oh my God, we’re gonna die,’” she told CBS News. “…We knew something was wrong. It was kind of like post-apocalyptic.”
When families first started notifying military officials their water had developed a strange taste and smell, their “concerns were not being heard,” Hall said.
“It must have been a week, six to seven days, before they said, ‘Oh yeah, by the way, there may have been fuel that leaked into the water,’” she told CBS News. “…And it was just an email. It wasn’t even a phone call. It wasn’t a knock on the door.”
Records show that Navy drinking water supervisor Joe Nehl said on Nov. 28, 2021, he received confirmation there was fuel in the water system and said he “called for help” and agreed it was obvious people needed to know of the situation.
However, it wasn’t until a town hall on December 5 that officials first stated publicly there was fuel from the leak in the water. Prior, they had issued statements saying there was “no indication water is not safe.”
A message from December 5, 2021, posted on JBPHH’s official Facebook page, in which Joint Base Commander Erik Spitzer says water testing results showed the water was not safe to drink after jet fuel leaked from the Red Hill Bulk Storage Facility.
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam/Facebook
A November 30 communication plan from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam CBS News obtained shows officials were told to say, “There do not appear to be any indications that the water is unsafe” and, “We have not heard of any injuries.”
“I just have to trust the system,” Hall told CBS News. “And do I trust the system? No, I don’t.”
Baehr and Simic say this ordeal, as detrimental as it has been to those impacted, is also a story of resilience and hope.
“All we can get from the case is financial compensation. But financial compensation is what brings accountability,” Baehr told CBS News. “…These families took on the United States of America and won. And now it’s a question of damages.”
“Our lives have already forever been drastically changed,” Simic said. “…We’re already victorious in the Navy admitting the harm. We just need to be victorious in them admitting the long-term harm so families such as mine can continue to heal and get better and have the quality of life that was taken from us.”
