ABC/Mike Rosenthal(LOS ANGELES) — Grey’s Anatomy star Camilla Luddington and her husband Matthew Alan have a new addition to the family — a baby boy.
On Tuesday, alongside a photo of the 36-year-old actress cuddling her newborn, she shared, “After what felt like a year long third trimester… it finally happened!! Matt and I are SOOO happy to announce the birth of our sweet baby BOY Lucas, otherwise known as my little lion ?? (shoutout to Leo’s!).”
Lucas is the second child that Luddington and Alan share. They already have a 3-year-old daughter together named Hayden.
Despite having gone through the child birthing process already, though, Luddington admitted toPeople that this go around was “much more stressful” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I absolutely had more daily anxiety,” she explained. “Not only did I have concerns over contracting COVID and what that could potentially mean for my pregnancy, I was also worried about things like my husband not being able to be present with me during the birth.”
At the end of the day though, the couple is just happen to finally meet their son.
“Our bubble feels complete now that he’s here,” Luddington said.
“Loved it,” he is heard telling a fellow moviegoer in a 34-second video posted to the actor’s Twitter page.
Cruise also enjoyed being able to catch a movie in a real theater on a big screen for the first time in a long while.
“Here we are, back to the movies,” a masked Cruise says in the clip, while being driven through rainy London en route to the theater.
“Great to be back in the theater, everyone,” he tells the crowd as he’s leaving.
Tenet, which opened overseas this past weekend, is due in U.S. theaters on September 3.
Incidentally, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson had the opposite declaration about Tenet — though it referred to the dangers of spreading COVID-19, not a review of Nolan’s film. “Don’t go see Tenet or any other movie in a theater,” Derrickson posted. “There, I said it.”
He later clarified he was speaking to moviegoers in the States, not overseas, where theaters in many regions have been open for business.
Cruise’s Mission: Impossible 7 isn’t due out until 2021.
The superstar’s other major release,Top Gun: Maverick, which had already been bumped from its June 26th release date to December 23, will now fly into theaters on July 2, 2021.
Scott Clarke / ESPN ImagesBy KENDALL KARSON, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — NBA superstar LeBron James is wading further into the fight over voter suppression, with his voting rights organization, More Than A Vote, launching a multimillion-dollar campaign to fortify the number of poll workers in vulnerable Black communities.
The group, which bands together James, other star athletes, state election officials and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, is partnering to draft young activists to work at polling locations for November’s general election across the southern and battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and Texas.
“There are a lot of people who grew up in the inner city who are afraid to vote,” James, the star of the Los Angeles Lakers, told reporters last week while wearing a “More Than a Vote” T-shirt inside the NBA’s quarantined campus in Orlando, Florida. “We’re giving everyone the tools, outlets.”
Some of the states at the center of the effort were some of the sites of this year’s most chaotic primaries. Georgia was one of the largest states to struggle with running an election during the COVID-19 pandemic — but it is not alone. In early April, Wisconsin wrestled with similar challenges — and saw similar scenes of long lines and voter confusion — in what could be an unnerving preview of November if the virus persists.
In Georgia, hours-long lines were compounded by problems with voting equipment and poll worker shortages, particularly in Atlanta’s populous Fulton County.
In Wisconsin, the delays were due in part to nearly 60% of Wisconsin municipalities reporting a shortage of poll workers, and 111 jurisdictions reporting they could not staff even one polling place. Milwaukee, the state’s largest city, only had five polling locations, a fraction of the 180 that typically operate on election day.
The new initiative seeks to confront the shortage of election volunteers, particularly in communities of color. Atlanta is majority Black, according to U.S. Census data, and Milwaukee County is home to 69.4% of Wisconsin’s African American population, according to the most recent data cited by state’s Department of Health Services.
More than a Vote, which emerged in June amid demonstrations against the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, will focus on recruiting younger poll workers in order to shield older poll workers from the threat of the virus, organizers said. The effort will utilize corporate partnerships and paid advertising on digital, radio and TV to cast a wide net for volunteers.
The campaign, which was first reported by the New York Times and confirmed to ABC News, seeks to elevate the battle over voter suppression using the cultural influence of dozens of athletes and artists, along with the NAACP’s resources, a spokesperson for the group said.
More than a Vote is also working to transform sports arenas left vacant by the pandemic into massive polling locations — a model that was used in Kentucky’s primary elections in June with relative success. So far they’ve joined forces with sports teams in Atlanta, Cleveland, Charlotte, Detroit, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
The nonprofit also committed in July to help pay outstanding fines and fees for former felons in Florida seeking to vote in November.
James’ political involvement previously included endorsing Hillary Clinton in 2016 and appearing at a campaign rally. But his decision to launch More Than a Vote is perhaps his most consequential foray into the political arena.
“We know how important November is, but more importantly even past November because it doesn’t stop,” James said last week. “We don’t want it to stop. We want to continue to put our foot on the gas and continue to learn and continue to educate ourselves, because when we don’t it trickles down to the next generation — because knowledge is power and when you don’t have knowledge the kids that come after us, they don’t have it and it trickles down from generation to generation to generation. So I want create mental wealth for generations to come.”
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesBy WILLIAM MANSELL, ABC News
(KENOSHA, Wis.) — Protests following the police shooting of a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, continued for a third night Tuesday into Wednesday as police deployed tear gas, flash bangs and rubber bullets upon protesters and erected a fence around the local courthouse.
At least three people were shot during the protests overnight in Kenosha, some 40 miles south of Milwaukee, and two of the victims died from their injuries, according to the Kenosha Police Department. The third gunshot victim was taken to a hospital with “serious, but non-life-threatening injuries,” police said.
The Kenosha Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are still investigating what led to the shooting.
As curfew began in Kenosha at 8 p.m. local time, police could be heard warning people to move away from the Kenosha County Courthouse where demonstrators had gathered.
A state of emergency was approved by the Kenosha Common Council on Tuesday afternoon, which will remain in place until Friday, according to Milwaukee ABC affiliate WISN-TV.
The protests were in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake Jr., a 29-year-old Black man who remains hospitalized in serious condition.
Cellphone video taken by a witness on Sunday evening showed three Kenosha police officers following Blake around his SUV and at least one of them is seen shooting Blake multiple times in the back as he opened the driver’s side door and entered the vehicle, where his three young children were still inside.
The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave and their names have not been released. The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation is leading the probe into the incident.
Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth warned protesters Tuesday night that they would not allow for destruction to continue. He also said that while many are peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights, people from “outside” the community are coming in looking to loot and cause destruction.
“If you want to protest peacefully, by all means go out and do it. It’s your right. But don’t be a part of this destructive force that’s burning our community. That’s not a productive path to justice,” Beth said in a statement. “We are not sitting idly, watching the destruction of our community. We’re making every effort to make it stop, and I hope you will too.”
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers also declared a state of emergency Tuesday while increasing the number of Wisconsin National Guard members activated to help local authorities.
“We cannot forget the reason why these protests began, and what we have seen play out over the last two nights and many nights this year is the pain, anguish and exhaustion of being Black in our state and country. But as I said yesterday, and as I’ll reiterate today, everyone should be able to exercise their fundamental right—whether a protester or member of the press—peacefully and safely,” Evers said in a statement Tuesday. “We cannot allow the cycle of systemic racism and injustice to continue. We also cannot continue going down this path of damage and destruction.”
The Kenosha County Board of Supervisors sent a letter to the governor on Tuesday requesting more National Guardsmen and other assistance from the federal government.
“We are respectfully requesting that you contact President Trump and solicit a least an additional 2,000 National Guardsmen to supplement our Kenosha law enforcement agencies,” board members wrote in the letter. “In addition, please request President Trump help Kenosha by enacting additional tools, such as low interest SBA loans and FEMA funds, to help rebuild local businesses hurt by the domestic terrorists.”
The protests over Blake’s shooting haven’t been confined to Wisconsin. In Georgia, Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB-TV reported demonstrations turning violent there Tuesday night when protesters allegedly threw fireworks at police officers and spray-painted a police precinct. Officers in riot gear dispersed the crowd in Atlanta after things turned violent according to WSB.
During an emotional press conference in Kenosha on Tuesday afternoon, where Blake’s mother, father and three sisters were in attendance, one of the family’s attorneys, Patrick Salvi Jr., said Blake was shot seven times at point-blank range in the back. Salvi said at least one bullet tore through his spinal cord and other shots damaged his kidney, liver and arm.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who’s also representing Blake, said his client was attempting to de-escalate a domestic incident when police drew their pistols and stun guns on him. Crump said Blake was walking away to check on his children when police shot him.
“His three sons — his 8-year-old, his 5-year-old and his 3-year-old — are absolutely devastated,” Crump told ABC News in an interview Tuesday on ABC’s Good Morning America. “You can only imagine the psychological problems that these babies are going to have for the rest of their lives.”
Blake’s family said he is currently paralyzed from the waist down but that there’s hope the paralysis is temporary.
“I’m not a doctor but what they’re saying is that the inflammation was challenging to his mobilization, being mobile, and that they’re hoping that when the pressure reduces and things go back to normal within his body that he will be able to move again with his lower legs,” Justin Blake told ABC News in an interview that aired Wednesday on Good Morning America.
Justin Blake said he hasn’t been able to see his nephew yet, as only the parents have been in the hospital room. He said he spoke to Blake’s mother recently who reported that he is still in “a lot of pain” as he had just come out of surgery and isn’t out of the woods yet but is “doing better.”
Despite his condition, Blake has been the one trying to comfort family from his hospital bed.
“That tells you what kind of man he is,” his uncle said.
Blake’s shooting has attracted a wave of national attention and has become part of the sustained wave of civil unrest protesting police brutality and systemic racism in the United States, which was reignited by the death of George Floyd in May.
Following Tuesday night’s win over the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers discussed why unarmed Black men continued to be shot by police.
“What stands out to me is, just watching the Republican convention, they are spewing this fear. All you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear. We’re the ones getting killed,” Rivers said, speaking with reporters after the game. “We’re the ones getting shot. We’re the ones that were denied to live in certain communities. We’ve been hung, we’ve been shot, and all you do is keep caring about fear.”
“It’s amazing why we keep loving this country and this country does not love us back,” he said, fighting back tears. “It’s really so sad.”
Rivers said police need better training and police unions need to be “taken down,” but he said that doesn’t mean he hates police or that they should be abolished.
“My dad was a cop. I believe in good cops,” he added. “We’re not trying to defund them and take all their money away. We’re trying to get them to protect us, just like they protect everybody else.”
(TEMPLE, Texas) — Authorities in Texas believe a body found Tuesday is likely that of missing Fort Hood soldier Sgt. Elder Fernandes, who was last seen on Aug. 17.
Responding to a medical call Tuesday, police in Temple, Texas, located a deceased person near some railroad tracks. Police said identification found at the scene suggests the body is Fernandes’, however, there has been no forensic confirmation yet.
At this time, Temple Police said there is no indication of foul play.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Fernandes family during this challenging time,” Temple Police Chief Shawn Reynolds said in a statement Tuesday night.
Fernandes’ mother, Ailina Fernandes, and brother, Elton Fernandes, told ABC News last week that he had reported being sexually harassed in the months leading up to his disappearance.
“It was an ongoing investigation for two months that will never get closure,” his mother said. “And there’s a lot more that I don’t know; only Elder will be able to tell us, when we find him.”
The 1st Cavalry Division confirmed there is an open investigation into alleged abusive sexual contact involving Fernandes to ABC last week, saying that he was moved to a new unit and steps were taken to shield him from retribution.
Fernandes’ disappearance is just one of several this year from Fort Hood. The murder of Vanessa Guillen sparked nationwide outrage and at least three soldiers from the base died in July.
Officials believe Fernandes, 23, left Fort Hood on his own accord.
“Information gathered from fellow soldiers indicate Sgt. Fernandes left on his own accord,” the 1st Cavalry Division said in a statement over the weekend.
A 1st Cavalry Division official confirmed that Fernandes was hospitalized from Aug. 11 to Aug. 17.
According to police, Fernandes was last seen by his staff sergeant on the afternoon of the 17th, who dropped him off at a residence in nearby Killeen, Texas, police said.
Police said the investigation is ongoing and that next-of-kin has been notified.
ABC/Mike Rosenthal(LOS ANGELES) — Grey’s Anatomy star Camilla Luddington and her husband Matthew Alan have a new addition to the family — a baby boy.
