August 20, 2020 • No Comments • National News

Kiyoshi Tanno/iStockBy CONOR FINNEGAN, ABC News

(WASHINGTON) — The State Department is appealing a federal judge’s decision that it must recognize the U.S. citizenship of a young girl born via surrogate to a gay couple — prolonging one of many legal fights over its controversial policy that was deemed unconstitutional in June.

Roee Kiviti and Adiel Kiviti of Chevy Chase, Maryland, are legally married and both U.S. citizens. Their daughter Kessem was born in Canada via a surrogate, so the State Department has argued in federal court that she is “born out of wedlock” and not entitled to birthright citizenship.

Specifically, the department’s policy on “assisted reproductive technology” says, “A child born abroad to a surrogate, whose genetic parents are a U.S. citizen father and anonymous egg donor, is considered for citizenship purposes to be a person born out of wedlock.”

If that seems antiquated, that’s because the policy is based in the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, crafted years before in vitro fertilization or legal same-sex marriage. The policy was first developed in the 1990’s to be compliant with that law, although critics have questioned why the Trump administration has so vigorously defended it decades later.

While the Kiviti’s are legally married, the State Department essentially disregarded their marriage and determined that Kessem, born out of wedlock, required a biological connection to a U.S. citizen parent who resided in the U.S. for at least five years in total.

Because Adiel Kiviti, her biological father, had not done so at the time of her birth, she did not automatically qualify for U.S. citizenship, the department ruled.

In June, a federal judge ruled in the family’s favor, calling the department’s policy unconstitutional. But last Friday, the department filed an appeal to fight the decision.

Asked why the State Department is pursuing the case, a spokesperson declined to comment on “pending litigation.”

Through their lawyers at Lambda Legal, Immigration Equality, and the firm Morgan Lewis, Roee Kiviti said in a statement Monday, “It’s sad that we have to continue this legal battle. But we are undeterred. We are doing this not just for our daughter and our family, but so that other families won’t have to.”

The Kiviti’s are not the only family in a legal battle with the department on this issue.

According to Immigration Equality, Derek Mize and Jonathan Gregg, a gay couple in Atlanta, are also awaiting a ruling by a federal judge over their daughter Simone’s citizenship.

The group also represents Allison Stefania and Lucas Zaccari — a lesbian couple fighting for their daughter’s citizenship. She was born to Lucas, an Italian citizen, via in vitro fertilization, so the State Department ruled she was born out of wedlock to a non-U.S. citizen, disregarding Allison’s U.S. citizenship and their marriage. The couple is also awaiting a decision.

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August 20, 2020 • No Comments • National News

domnicky/iStockBy AARON KATERSKY, SASHA PEZENIK and ELLA TORRES, ABC News

(DETROIT) — The state of Michigan has agreed to pay victims of the Flint water crisis $600 million as compensation, both sources and officials confirmed Friday.

The settlement would pay claims from several lawsuits that sought damages for people who suffered illnesses related to the crisis.

The majority of the settlement, about 80%, will go towards minors, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. Settlements for children ages 6 and under amount to 64%, while 10% will go towards children ages 7 to 11 and another 5% will go towards children ages 12 to 17.

It’s estimated that tens of thousands of schoolchildren in Flint were exposed to toxic heavy metals in the city’s water.

Adults and property damages make up 15% of the settlements, while business and economic loss and relief programs make up the rest.

Some 8,000 children are believed to have some level of lead poisoning in the city, while 150 people died from Legionnaires Disease, according to ABC Detroit affiliate WXYZ.

The settlement comes six years after city and state officials allowed lead from old pipes to leak into the residents’ drinking water. Some of those pipes have still not been replaced, with the coronavirus pandemic halting the work for several months.

All owners and renters of residential property in Flint who received Flint water between April 25, 2014, and July 31, 2016, will be eligible to receive compensation. All children “who were minors in Flint at the time they were first exposed to Flint water” during that period will also be eligible.

“Providing relief for the people of Flint and resolving these long-standing legal disputes has been a top priority for me since taking office,” Nessel said. “This settlement focuses on the children and the future of Flint, and the State will do all it can to make this a step forward in the healing process for one of Michigan’s most resilient cities.”

If the settlement receives final court approval, it is likely to be the largest in Michigan state government history, according to Nessel’s office. It was not immediately clear when that final court date would occur.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said that while the settlement will not completely help the families affected and some will still feel “justifiable frustrating … ongoing efforts and today’s settlement announcement are important steps in helping all of us move forward.”

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August 20, 2020 • No Comments • National News

ABC NewsBy MAX GOLEMBO, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Dozens of fires continue to burn in California Thursday as thousands of structures are threatened and many people remain under evacuation orders.

The LNU Lightning Complex Fire, which includes Napa, Sonoma and Lake Counties in California, has burned more than 124,000 acres and is 0% contained. It has already destroyed 105 structures and 125,000 structures are still threatened.

The commander of Travis Air Force base in Solano County, California, has ordered all non-mission essential personnel to evacuate the base due to the LNU Lightning Complex Fire, according to a statement released by the 60th Air Mobility Wing Wednesday night.

“There is currently no lodging available on Travis Air Force Base and members are directed to stay with family or friends, proceed to evacuation centers, or secure commercial lodging outside of the evacuation area,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, the SCU Lightning Complex Fires, which encompasses parts of Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties, is 102,000 acres and is currently threatening nearly 4,00 structures. It has 5% contained.

The SCU fires are made up of 20 different blazes.

In San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, the CZU August Lighting Complex Fires are 0% contained and are currently burning 25,000 acres. More than 6,500 structures are threatened and more than 22,000 people have been forced to evacuate.

A Red Flag Warning continues Thursday morning from California to Montana, where gusty winds near 35 mph could spread the fires.

Record heat has also not been helping the firefighters deal with all blazes, which were sparked by lightning. A monsoon storm and tropical moisture from the Pacific have been creating thunderstorms that produced all the lightning in the last week, but because it’s so dry, most of the lightning comes without rain.

Through the West, the oppressive heat will continue.

On Wednesday, Las Vegas (113 degrees), Death Valley, California, (124 degrees), Salt Lake City, Utah, (100 degrees), Phoenix (115 degrees) and Tucson, Arizona (111 degrees) were just some of the places breaking record high temperatures.

Excessive heat warnings and advisories continue for southern California into Nevada, Arizona and Utah Thursday, when more record highs are possible throughout the Southwest.

Unfortunately for the region, there is not a lot of relief for the Southwest in sight. Temperatures might actually get hotter for some cities this weekend, like Sacramento, California, and Salt Lake City.

This heatwave could continue in the Southwest into next week.

Turning to the tropics, there are three storms worth monitoring in the Atlantic.

One of them has become a tropical depression overnight and is forecast to be named Laura in the next 24 hours as it moves just north of the Caribbean Islands. It moves toward the Bahamas and Florida by the end of the weekend into early next week.

This storm is forecast to stay as a tropical storm through the time period, with winds up to 70 mph as it approaches Florida.

The other tropical disturbance is in the Caribbean now and is forecast to become a tropical depression by Friday or Saturday as it moves over Yucatan Peninsula this weekend.

After that, it will move into the Gulf of Mexico and could bring heavy rain and gusty winds to Texas.

Finally, a third tropical wave is still far away near the African coast, but now has a 40% chance for development into a tropical cyclone. It is expected to move east over the Atlantic Ocean.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

August 20, 2020 • No Comments • National News

CGinspiration/iStockBy MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News

(ATLANTA) — Georgia has one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the United States, according to recent reports on per capita cases — a data point Gov. Brian Kemp pushed back against on Wednesday.

According to the Harvard Global Health Institute’s current model on COVID-19 risk, as of Monday, Georgia had the highest number of daily new cases per 100,000 people in the country. The institute’s recommendation at the state’s risk level is to implement stay-at-home orders.

An Aug. 16 White House Coronavirus Task Force report obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution also found that Georgia had the highest rate of new COVID-19 cases. The number — 216 cases per 100,000 people in the week ending Friday — indicated that the state is in the “red zone” for cases, the report said, and recommended that Georgia do more to limit the spread of the virus, such as issue a mask mandate in counties with 50 or more active cases and limit gatherings to 10 people.

Georgia does not have a statewide mask mandate, and social gatherings are currently limited to 50 people.

By most metrics, numbers are improving in the state. An ABC News analysis of state coronavirus trends found that as of Wednesday, daily new cases, daily current hospitalizations and the daily positivity rate in Georgia were all decreasing.

Kemp focused on those figures Wednesday during a press briefing in which he lashed out at the leaked White House report.

“Right now, our hospitalizations are down 18.8% since our peak on July 30,” the Republican governor said. “That’s the lowest level since July 13. Our seven-day average of new cases reported are down 26% since our peak on July 24, and they’re the lowest since July 8.”

The test positivity rate was down to 9.7% on Tuesday from 14% on July 17, he added.

“If we’re the highest percent per capita in the state right now, that’s because Texas and Florida and Arizona and some of the other states that were peaking a week or two ago are on the downclimb, just like we are,” Kemp said. “But that is not the only number that Georgians need to look at.”

Kemp said that the per capita rate is going up because the state has been focused on testing areas where there is high spread.

“We’re contact tracing where we have outbreaks, and when you do that, your percent positive is going to be higher than if you just test everybody everywhere,” he said.

In an update on COVID-19 trends released last week, the state health department noted several “emerging hot spots” where there was growing or high transmission. One of the areas was northwest Georgia, where the increase was “driven partially by many outbreaks in manufacturing facilities,” it said. Rural areas in the middle of the state, including Bleckley and Appling Counties, also were seeing increased community transmission.

Appling County has the highest infection rate among Georgia counties, based on the Harvard Global Health Institute rankings. The testing positivity rate in Appling is 26.7%, according to the state health department — more than double the statewide rate.

The per capita data comes as Georgia has been a flashpoint in the national debate on reopening schools. In recent weeks, schools starting with in-person learning have had to quarantine students and staff, or have even had to temporarily close their doors again amid new outbreaks of COVID-19. In Cherokee County, over 2,000 students have been quarantined.

Still, some schools in areas with high levels of transmission are continuing to reopen. In Appling County, schools reopened with in-person learning this week.

When asked about Cherokee County, Kemp said that the cases “didn’t happen in the schools for the most part.”

“It happened because people came back to school and they already had the coronavirus,” he said. “So is that the government’s fault? Is that the school’s fault? No, it is not.”

The White House report recommended that the state expand testing, particularly in schools.

“Georgia’s small gains are fragile and statewide progress will require continued, expanded and stronger mitigation efforts, including in all open schools,” it stated.

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August 20, 2020 • No Comments • National News

Los Angeles Police Dept.By KARMA ALLEN, ABC News

(LOS ANGELES) — Police are looking to the public to help identify a man who was captured on video during an apparent assault of three transgender women on Los Angeles’ Hollywood Boulevard this week.

Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department are using video shared on social media by one of the victims to help locate the man who allegedly targeted the women at around 2:15 a.m. Monday, yelling derogatory slurs at them and attacking one woman with a bottle.

Multiple people were implicated in the attack, but police said they are only seeking one man as a suspect in the case, which is being investigated as a hate crime.

The department posted video of the incident that showed the face of the man, but later removed the video due to its disturbing nature. Instead, officials posted screenshots from the video, highlighting the suspect in the hope of tracking him down.

Sources with knowledge of the investigation told ABC News that the department believes it knows the identity of the suspect, and that social media users on Instagram and Twitter have also shared tips on the man’s identity.

The victims said the man first approached them inside a store and offered to buy them some items, but then he refused to pay.

They said the same man later returned and approached one of them.

“He held a crow bar to my face and threatened to kill me unless I stripped my shoes off and gave him my jewelry and all my processions,” Joslyn Allen, one of the three transgender women targeted, wrote in an Instagram post.

“He said if i was trans he would kill me,” Allen wrote. “He then forced me to hold his hand while he looks for my friends to kill them for being trans.”

Police said the suspect led Allen away and they walked together for a short distance before she managed to break free.

Once she escaped, Allen said the suspect stuck her friend, Jaslene Busanet, with a bottle, knocking her to the ground, and then made derogatory remarks about her. The other victims said their purses, cellphones and money were stolen.

“I just collapsed to the floor,” Busanet told Los Angeles ABC station KABC-TV. “There were men saying ‘Oh, she’s dead,’ laughing at me.”

Allen said others gathered around and shouted anti-transgender slurs.

“Meanwhile men and WOMEN screaming that I’m a man and telling him to beat me,” she posted to Instagram. “Please help us find them. PLEASE.”

The group said bystanders watched and recorded for more than five minutes as they pleaded for someone to call 911.

The attack comes amid rising concerns from LGBTQ rights advocates who have accused U.S. law enforcement agencies of being far too lax when it comes to crimes involving transgender victims.

At least 26 transgender or gender non-conforming people have been killed in the U.S. so far in 2020, with transgender women of color making up the bulk of those victims, according to data provided by the Human Rights Campaign.

The group reported 25 killings in 2019 and 29 in 2018, the most it had ever recorded in a year.

The suspect in the Hollywood attack is described as a 25-year-old Black man, about 6 feet tall and weighing 180 pounds. Police said anyone with information should contact the LAPD’s Hollywood station at (213) 972-2934.

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