1 Tragedy At Travis Scott's "Astroworld" Event
Officials say eight people are dead and hundreds were injured in the tragedy that occurred at the third annual Astroworld concert in Houston on Friday night. An estimated crowd of 50-thousand attended the concert, which was organized and headlined by Travis Scott. SZA, Master P, Yves Tumor, Toro y Moi, Roddy Ricch, and Lil Baby performed that night before Travis took the stage at around 8:45pm and brought out surprise guest Drake. The trouble reportedly started after 9pm. According to Houston Fire Department Chief Samuel Peña, “The crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage and that caused some panic and started causing some injuries. People began to fall out and become unconscious and that created additional panic.” Peña said that a “mass casualty” incident was triggered at 9:38pm. His team transported 17 people to the hospital – 11 of whom were in cardiac arrest at the time. While there was a medical tent on site, the festival staff was quickly overwhelmed by the situation, which led his team to dispatch as many 50 units. Videos shared on social media show chaos all night. Before the main tragedy, hundreds of concertgoers toppled steel barricades and stormed through security to access the concert. During the actual event, medical personnel can be seen carrying young people out on stretchers and attempting CPR on others. One clip shows Travis still performing while several in attendance try to inform security guards of the emergency. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner – who’d noticed attendees “going down” – said authorities were investigating reports of suspicious activity in the crowd, including a security officer who said he felt a prick in his neck during the chaos and lost consciousness while being examined by first responders. He was revived by the opioid antidote Narcan.
2 Massive Infrastructure Bill Heads To Biden’s Desk
President Biden is taking a victory lap – and praising Friday's passage of the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill. Speaking at the White House, Biden called it "a monumental step" and said "we're just getting started." The bill includes over 550-billion dollars in new funding for U.S. infrastructure, including investments in bridges, roads, airports and broadband. Biden said he will hold a signing ceremony soon, but didn't say exactly when. While he cheered the passage as a win for Democrats and the country, it may not be getting him the result he wants. A new poll shows Biden's approval rating has fallen to a new low. The poll conducted by USA Today and Suffolk University shows the president's approval rating has sunk to 38%, while Vice President Kamala Harris sits even lower at 28%. Nearly half of those surveyed responded saying Biden has done a worse job as president than they anticipated, and nearly two-thirds say they hope he doesn't run for a second term in 2024.
3 United States Opens Land Borders
The international travel ban is over…as long as you’re vaccinated Airlines are expecting a surge as the U.S. reopens to visitors with a COVID vaccine. Delta alone has already seen a 450-percent increase in bookings over the last six weeks in anticipation of the opening. The borders have been closed for nearly 20 months from several countries including Brazil, China, India, the U.K. and much of Europe. Passengers must show proof of vaccination and submit a negative test before flying. As for driving, only those vaccinated can enter from Canada and Mexico.