Biden and 3 former presidents descend on New York City

Family wants answers after pregnant mother found dead in Kansas City park

The family of a 26-year-old Black, pregnant mother of four found dead near a Kansas City, Missouri, park wants to know why the police investigation into her mysterious death has stalled.

Elaysha Gilliam was found in a field near Dunbar Park shortly before midnight on Feb. 19, according to the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department.

Details regarding her homicide are murky, and so far no arrests have been made.

The department hasn’t released many updates about the 5-week-old case, not even to Elaysha’s family.

“I want closure, we need answers,” said Clydetta Gilliam, 46, Elaysha’s stepmother who raised her since infancy. “The police are dragging their feet, but I need to go out here and solve the case myself. They aren’t giving us anything.”

Elaysha’s death comes as the city has struggled with homicides in recent years.

The city experienced its deadliest year on record last year, with 182 murders, according to police. The previous record of 176 homicides was set in 2020, police said. NBC affiliate KSHB reported last year that Missouri has the highest homicide rate in the country for Black women in recent years.

murder victim — Elaysha Gilliam.Courtesy family

Officers were called to the scene on the night of Elaysha’s death and found her in a field near Dunbar Park. She appeared to be suffering from “bodily trauma,” and emergency crews pronounced her dead, police said.

She died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to a death certificate.

The lack of information from police has only frustrated Clydetta, who said many of her questions regarding the death are unanswered.

“Are there any fingerprints from shell cases? What was found around her? Did she have clothes on when she was found?” Elaysha’s stepmother asked.

Detectives said they are making progress toward identifying a person of interest but have also asked for the public’s help with gathering information, and are offering a reward of up to $25,000.

“That case remains under investigation as a homicide,” the department told NBC News in an email.

As the days move forward, family members say they’re trying their best to stay together.

Brandon Gilliam, 18, last saw his older sister two weeks before she was killed, when he changed her flat tire and filled up her gas tank.

He, too, questions what caused his sister’s death.

“We’re still at a loss for words. We don’t know what to think,” Brandon said. “Death happens, but the wrong person was taken from us.”

Life hadn’t been easy for Elaysha, a pregnant mother of four whose children range in age from 2 to 9.

One of her children has sickle cell anemia and another eats through a feeding tube, family said.

“She had a lot of stress trying to take care of a lot of people,” Clydetta said.

But at 12 weeks pregnant, family members said, Elaysha couldn’t wait to bring her fifth child into the world.

“She had been shopping for baby clothes,” her father, Ed Gilliam, said.

He said Elaysha’s biological mother moved into her apartment the week she was killed, and that one of her sisters periodically stayed there as well.

He said Elaysha’s mother told him that Elaysha left home on the night of her death possibly to see her boyfriend. She left her kids at home with her mother, who was supposed to watch the children until Elaysha returned. But she never did. Elaysha’s mother couldn’t be reached for comment.

Relatives said Elaysha was in the midst of starting over. She had accepted a job at a car wash, which would serve as a temporary place of employment until she could open a hair salon.

Elaysha was also getting a new car and an apartment in a better part of town. She planned to put her kids in a different school, the family said.

Meanwhile, family members are looking back on Elaysha with fond memories.

Ed said his daughter brought joy and looked out for everyone, even at her own expense. She could be dramatic, but in a humorous way, family said. Her smile was part of her charm. And she had a knack for fashion.

“She could take a $4 outfit and make it seem like it costs $2,000,” Clydetta said. “You could see her smile all the way down the street.”

Those are just some of the traits her family will miss.

“I want my baby to get justice,” her father said. Other family members said they have to keep fighting.

“I’m not gonna let them sweep this under the rug. I want every single person charged,” Clydetta said, adding that she’s considered spending $2,000 on a billboard advertisement to drum up tips and interest in the case.

“People are starting to forget about her,” she said.

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Welsh rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit turns to NFL and signs with Kansas City Chiefs

Louis Rees-Zammit, the wicked fast Welsh rugby star and fan favorite, has made an extraordinary crossover to American football, signing a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, the team announced Friday.

The 23-year-old Welshman announced in January that he was departing from his sport and homeland for his long-shot dream at the NFL — much to the dismay of fierce rugby fans in the U.K.

And it looks like his efforts paid off as the 6-foot-3, 212-pound star known for his ferocious speed has minted a deal with the Super Bowl’s latest winners, the Chiefs.

Rees-Zammit path across the pond started with the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program, or IPPP, a bid from the NFL to increase the league’s player base beyond North America and attract around-the-world talent. In January he flew to Florida for 10 weeks of intense training capped by a March showcase day before NFL club scouts.

A daunting task to change sports and country, Rees-Zammit said he had to do it.

“It’s definitely a narrow chance of success,” he told NBC News in January. “Boys in America play the sport when they are 5 years old, they go through the ranks in high school and college, and they get to know the game from pretty young.”

“For me, I’ve got to try to learn the game at 22 years old,” he said, weeks before his 23rd birthday on Feb. 3. “Obviously the odds are against me.”

The star said he “came to the real realization that, if I don’t do it now, I’ll probably regret it for the rest of my life.”

Wales' wing Louis Rees-Zammit is tackled by Argentina's flanker Marcos Kremer during the France 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final in Marseille, France, on Oct. 14, 2023. — Wales’ wing Louis Rees-Zammit is tackled by Argentina’s flanker Marcos Kremer during the World Cup quarter-final in Marseille, France, on Oct. 14, 2023.Christophe Simon / AFP – Getty Images file

It’s a major feat for Rees-Zammit, who is one of the world’s top young rugby stars, as successful rugby-crossovers are very rare. Perhaps the most prominent success prior to this was Jordan Mailata, who left Australian rugby to join the Philadelphia Eagles as an offensive tackle.

In his rugby career, Rees-Zammit — often cheekily referred to by fans as “Rees Lightning” — has played as a winger for Wales, as well as the English club side Gloucester, and international super team the British & Irish Lions.

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Woman suspected of kidnapping and killing girl is beaten to death by mob in Mexican tourist city

A mob in the Mexican tourist city of Taxco brutally beat a woman to death Thursday because she was suspected of kidnapping and killing a young girl, rampaging just hours before the city’s famous Holy Week procession.

The mob formed after an 8-year-old girl disappeared Wednesday. Her body was found on a road on the outskirts of the city early Thursday. Security camera footage appeared to show a woman and a man loading a bundle, which may have been the girl’s body, into a taxi.

The mob surrounded the woman’s house Thursday, threatening to drag her out. Police took the woman into the bed of a police pickup truck, but then stood by – apparently intimidated by the crowd – as members of the mob dragged her out of the truck and down onto the street where they stomped, kicked and pummeled her until she lay, partly stripped and motionless.

Mexico Violence — A woman chants the Spanish word for “justice” during a demonstration protesting the kidnapping and killing of an 8-year-old girl, in the main square of Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2024. Hours earlier a mob beat a woman to death because she was suspected of kidnapping and killing the young girl.

Fernando Llano / AP

Police then picked her up and took her away, leaving the pavement stained with blood. The Guerrero state prosecutors’ office later confirmed the woman died of her injuries.

“This is the result of the bad government we have,” said a member of the mob, who gave her name as Andrea but refused to give her last name. “This isn’t the first time this kind of thing has happened,” she said, referring to the murder of the girl, “but this is the first time the people have done something.”

“We are fed up,” she said. “This time it was an 8-year-old girl.”

The mayor of Taxco, Mario Figueroa, said he shared residents’ outrage over the killing. Figueroa said a total of three people beaten by the mob – the woman and two men – had been taken away by police. Video from the scene suggested they had also been beaten, though The Associated Press witnessed only the beating of the woman.

The state prosecutors’ office said the two men were hospitalized. There was no immediate information on their condition.

In a statement issued soon after the event, Figueroa complained he did not get any help from the state government for his small, outnumbered municipal police force.

“Unfortunately, up to now we have not received any help or answers,” Figueroa said.

The Good Friday eve religious procession, which dates back centuries in the old silver-mining town, went off as planned Thursday night.

People crowded Taxco’s colonial streets to watch hooded men walking while whipping themselves or carrying heavy bundles of thorns across their bare shoulders in penitence to emulate the suffering of Jesus Christ carrying the cross.

But the earlier flash of violence cast a pall over the already solemn procession, which draws thousands to the small town.

Many participants wore small white ribbons of mourning.

“I never thought that in a touristic place like Taxco we would experience a lynching,” said Felipa Lagunas, a local elementary school teacher. “I saw it as something distant, in places far from civilization … I never imagined that my community would experience this on such a special day.”

Mob attacks in rural Mexico are common. In 2018, two men were torched by an angry crowd in the central state of Puebla, and the next day a man and woman were dragged from their vehicle, beaten and set afire in the neighboring state of Hidalgo.

But Taxco and other cities in Guerrero state have been particularly prone to violence.

In late January, Taxco endured a days-long strike by private taxi and van drivers who suffered threats from one of several drug gangs fighting for control of the area. The situation was so bad that police had to give people rides in the back of their patrol vehicles.

Around the same time, the bullet-ridden bodies of two detectives were found on the outskirts of Taxco. Local media said their bodies showed signs of torture.

In February, Figueroa’s own bulletproof car was shot up by gunmen on motorcycles.

In Taxco and throughout Guerrero state, drug cartels and gangs routinely prey on the local population, demanding protection payments from store owners, taxi and bus drivers. They kill those who refuse to pay.

Cartel violence in Guerrero has continued unabated this year.

In February, investigators in Guerrero said they confirmed the contents of a grisly drug cartel video showing gunmen shooting, kicking and burning the corpses of their enemies. Prosecutors said they had reached the remote scene of the crime in the mountain township of Totolapan and found five charred bodies.

In January, an alleged cartel attack in Guerrero killed at least six people and injured 13 others.

The U.S. State Department urges Americans not to travel to Guerrero, citing widespread crime and violence. “Armed groups operate independently of the government in many areas of Guerrero,” the U.S. advisory says. “Members of these groups frequently maintain roadblocks and may use violence towards travelers.”

Residents said they have had enough, even though the violence may further affect tourism.

“We know the town lives off of Holy Week (tourism) and that this is going to mess it up. There will be a lot of people who won’t want to come anymore,” said Andrea, the woman who was in the mob. “We make our living off tourism, but we cannot continue to allow them to do these things to us.”

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Biden and 3 former presidents descend on New York City

Biden and 3 former presidents descend on New York City – CBS News

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President Biden and three former presidents are all visiting New York on Thursday. CBS News political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns has the details.

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China built a mock-up of key area in Taiwan’s capital city at a desert training site, satellite images show

Satellite images show China’s mock-up of Taiwan’s presidential office at a desert training site.
It is not the first time China has built such mock ups, which indicate a readiness to use force.
China has also built mock ups of US warships in the desert for apparent target practice.

Out in the desert at a military training site, China has built a mock-up of a key area of Taiwan’s capital city where the presidential office and other government buildings are located, satellite images show.

The mock-up, like others before it, seems to indicate China’s intentions and focus, though its use is uncertain.

China often engages in aggressive and coercive behavior that alarms its neighbors, is pursuing a significant military build-up and modernization effort, and has never renounced the use of force as an option for achieving unification with Taiwan.

Images of the mock target, located in the desert in the Alxa League area of northern China’s Inner Mongolia, began circulating on social media earlier this week. Taiwanese defense analyst Joseph Wen posted the satellite image, as well as a map comparison of the real area in Taipei, on Monday.

Wen noted that while China had previously created a replica of Taiwan’s president’s office building at another area, specifically Zhurihe, this mock up covered much of the office’s surrounding area and was located at what appeared to be an aerial bombing and gunnery training range.

When compared to an actual map of the area, the mock-up looks relatively realistic, with the roads and the presidential office’s surroundings closely resembling the real place in Taiwan’s capital city, Taipei.

Satellite images provided by Planet Labs to Business Insider show the site, which is still there, has been there since at least December 2022.

A satellite image showing Chinese mock up of Taiwan's presidential office. — Satellite image dated December 2022.Image © Planet Labs PBC

It is unclear though when exactly the mock-up was built, but it’s not the first.

Making Taiwan’s presidential office and US warships in the desert

Back in 2014 and 2015, satellite images showed the other mock-up of Taiwan’s presidential office at Zhurihe, also in Inner Mongolia, and a video broadcast by CCTV in July 2015 captured Chinese troops practicing an assault on the fake building, The Diplomat reported at the time.

The office mock-up was a convincing replica. Imagery from China-based web portals showed troops entering the building conducting some sort of raid.

A general view of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.Walid Berrazeg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

When asked by reporters on Wednesday about the images of the Bo’ai Special Zone mock-up that surfaced this week, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said that any country could imitate another’s facilities and area, adding that Taiwan’s military could also conduct military exercises in simulated locations.

Indeed, this kind of training isn’t necessarily unusual, but it nonetheless signals intent.

China has also been documented building mock-ups of US aircraft carriers and other warships at training sites, likely to test and improve its missiles.

Experts have long warned about the increasing stockpiles and capabilities of its Rocket Force and what role those assets would play should the the US and China go to war, be it over Taiwan or for some other reason.

Fresh worries about a Chinese invasion of Taiwan

The images of the mock-up at Alxa League have surfaced at a time of renewed concern about possible Chinese aggression against Taiwan.

Amid China’s assertiveness at sea and in the air, demonstrated by unpredictable military drills, fiery run-ins with Philippine boats, and close calls with US aircraft, there continues to be concern about a potential invasion of Taiwan.

Just last week, US Navy Adm. John Aquilino, the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, told the US Armed Services House Committee that China was building its military up at a scale not seen since World War II and was on track to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027.

People watch a video about China's military advancements at the Military Museum in Beijing on March 3, 2024. — People watch a video about China’s military advancements at the Military Museum in Beijing on March 3, 2024.GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images

China often employs economic, diplomatic, and militarily aggressive and coercive tactics toward Taiwan, such as pressuring countries that interact with the island or routinely flying fighters and bombers around it, forcing a response.

In response to Taiwan’s election earlier this year, China has turned up the pressure, and ongoing military drills in Taiwan have prompted warnings from China.

Taiwan elected a new president, the Democratic Progressive Party’s Lai Ching-te, the current Vice President, in January. It’s a historic win for the DPP, which has now been in power for three consecutive terms. It was also China’s worst case scenario.

The DPP has navigated a tricky situation since gaining power in 2016, trying to preserve status quo with Beijing while maintaining Taiwan’s autonomy. Though China is generally opposed to the elections, Beijing would have preferred the Kuomintang’s Hou You-ih, who is not pro-Beijing but has an outlook on relations with China that is softer than DPP’s.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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Biden’s New York City fundraiser to bring in over $25 million

President Biden is expected to raise over $25 million at a star-studded fundraiser in New York City on Thursday with former Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

The campaign has billed it the “most successful political fundraiser in American history.” By Mr. Biden’s recent standards, that is true. For example, during a swing through Texas earlier this month, the Biden campaign raised a combined $7 million from three separate fundraisers. A fundraiser for Biden in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday raised $2.3 million.

Mr. Biden’s largest single-day haul prior to Thursday came in the 24 hours after his State of the Union address earlier in March, when he raised $10 million, according to his campaign.

But Thursday’s staggering sum is a new record for the campaign, and it further illustrates the growing cash gap between Mr. Biden and his presumptive general election opponent, former President Donald Trump.

Trump raised $20 million in the whole month of February and $8.8 million in January. He’s also been dogged by legal bills and payments, with his campaign and the political action committees supporting him spending over $10 million in legal fees this year.

Biden’s campaign committees have more than double the cash on hand of Trump’s equivalent groups, $155 million for Biden and $74 million for Trump as of late March.

“Unlike our opponent, every dollar we’re raising is going to reach the voters who will decide this election — communicating the President’s historic record, his vision for the future and laying plain the stakes of this election,” said Biden-Harris campaign co-chair and Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Trump’s campaign sent out two fundraising emails Wednesday mentioning Mr. Biden’s Thursday fundraiser, with one calling on “one million Trump supporters to donate to beat the “Obama-Clinton cartel” and the other reading, “We can’t lose to Obama!”

Thursday’s New York City fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall will be hosted by actress Mindy Kaling and will feature performances by several musical guests and artists, including Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele. The event will end with a discussion between Mr. Biden, Obama and Clinton moderated by “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert.

More than 5,000 tickets have been sold for the fundraiser.

Aaron Navarro

Aaron Navarro is a CBS News digital reporter covering Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign and the 2024 election. He was previously an associate producer for the CBS News political unit in the 2021 and 2022 election cycles.

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Video does not show ‘expulsion of Chinese citizens from Indonesian city’

An old video has been reshared in 2024 alongside a false claim it shows Chinese citizens being expelled from a city on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The video has circulated in social media posts since 2023 about a demonstration against a mining company on Sulawesi island, in eastern Indonesia.

“The expulsion of Chinese citizens in Pakan Baru started today, so that other areas are to follow as soon as possible,” reads the Indonesia-language caption of this Facebook post published on March 8, 2024.

“Pakan Baru” refers to Pekanbaru, a city on Indonesia’s Sumatra island.

The 51-second video shows a group of people shouting angrily and turning vehicles over in a compound surrounded by trees.

“Come on the cities of Padang, Medan, Jambi, Lampung, Palembang don’t just stay still without unity!!!!” the caption continues, referring to major cities in Sumatra.

<span>Screenshot of the false post captured on March 19, 2024</span> — Screenshot of the false post captured on March 19, 2024

Government data shows Chinese workers comprise the majority of foreign workers in Indonesia, with around 76,000 Chinese workers recorded in Indonesia as of November 2023 (archived links here and here).

Similar false posts shared the footage on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and on video-sharing-platform SnackVideo, racking up more than 27,000 views.

However, the claim is false. The original video has circulated online since September 2023 in posts about a protest at a gold mining company on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

There are also no credible reports about Chinese citizens being expelled from Pekanbaru on March 8, 2024.

‘Protest against mining company’

A combination of Google reverse image and keyword search on Facebook found a longer version of the video published on Facebook on September 22, 2023 (archived link).

According to the caption of the 45-minute, 30-second video, thousands of gold miners protested at PT PETS, in Pohuwato regency, Gorontalo province.

PT Puncak Emas Tani Sejahtera (PETS) is a gold mining company located in Gorontalo, Sulawesi island (archived links here and here). The company manages the Pani Gold Project mine (archived link) .

On September 21, 2023, local media reported that protesters vandalised and burned PT PETS’ office during a demonstration to protest the company’s activities that allegedly had negatively impacted the environment (archived link).

AFP also reported on a protest on the same day in Pohuwato. Several arrests were made, police said.

The clip in the false posts corresponded with the scenes seen in the 2023 video from its seven-minute and 37-second mark.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the video in the false post (left) and the original video (right):

<span>Screenshot comparison between the video in the false post (left) and the original video (right)</span> — Screenshot comparison between the video in the false post (left) and the original video (right)

AFP found another report about the protest with corresponding footage, published by local broadcaster Kompas TV Gorontalo (archived link).

In its report, Kompas TV Gorontalo said that a protest at a mining company in Pohuwato regency ended in chaos on September 21, 2023.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the video in the false post (left) and the Kompas TV Gorontalo video (right), with similarities circled by AFP:

<span>Screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the Kompas TV Gorontalo video (right)</span> — Screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the Kompas TV Gorontalo video (right)

AFP previously debunked false and misleading claims about foreign Chinese workers and citizens in Indonesia here, here, here and here.

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Longtime Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader Krystal Anderson dies after giving birth

A longtime Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader who was passionate about women’s health died after giving birth.

Krystal Lakeshia Anderson died shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Charlotte Willow, who was stillborn, according to an obituary.

A GoFundMe established to cover Anderson’s medical expenses, memorial services and establish a “legacy fund” said that Anderson, 40, had been diagnosed with sepsis during her pregnancy. According to the GoFundMe, Anderson “sought out hospitalization during her 21st week of pregnancy.” After delivering her daughter, Anderson experienced organ failure and was placed on life support. She underwent three surgeries “but the source of infection remained elusive,” the GoFundMe said. Anderson died on March 20.

Anderson is survived by her husband, Clayton William Anderson, her parents, and several other family members, according to the obituary. She was preceded in death by her infant son, James Charles.

Anderson cheered for the Chiefs for the 2006-2011 seasons, and again for the 2013-2016 seasons, the cheerleading team said in a social media post. The squad said that she attended the Pro Bowl in 2015 and visited troops in the U.S., Iraq and Kuwait. Anderson also served the team in an alumni role even after she left the cheerleading team.

“She was loved and adored by her teammates, fans, and strangers who were never strangers for long,” the team said on social media.

Anderson also worked at Oracle Health as a software engineer, where she made “significant contributions to improving healthcare,” according to the obituary. She was awarded a patent for developing software that assesses the risk of postpartum hemorrhage. Anderson also advocated for Black women in STEM and for women’s health.

Anderson’s obituary said she “radiated joy and laughter” and described her passion for philanthropy.

Sepsis is a condition that occurs when the body does not respond to an infection properly and the organs begin to work poorly, according to Mayo Clinic. Maternal sepsis is the second leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths, according to University of New Mexico Health. The odds of developing the condition can be increased by things like prolonged labor, C-section birth, and exposure to someone with an infection, according to UNM Health.

In the last two decades, maternal deaths in the U.S. have more than doubled.

Black mothers are at the highest risk of dying in childbirth, as CBS News previously reported. A 2020 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women in the U.S. was 55.3 deaths per 100,000 live births — roughly 2.9 times the rate among non-Hispanic White women.

U.S. maternal mortality hit six-decade high in COVID, highest in Black women

05:24

Dr. Henning Tiemeier, the director of Harvard’s Maternal Health Task Force, called the high rate of maternal mortality among Black women “essentially one of the biggest challenges of public health.”

“We see that as a top of the iceberg of poor health in women and poor health in Black women,” Tiemeier said in an interview on “Face the Nation” in 2022. “And there are several reasons, there seems to [be], from poverty to discrimination to poor care for this group of women.”

In May 2023, Olympic champion sprinter Tori Bowie died from complications of childbirth at age 32.

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New York City congestion pricing, first in the nation, is approved at $15 and up for vehicles

A majority of the MTA board voted Wednesday in favor of New York City congestion pricing, green-lighting the controversial plan that will charge cars $15 to enter Manhattan below 61st Street and hit trucks with even higher tolls starting in just a few months.

Only one of the 12 board members opposed the proposal. The no vote was Nassau County board member David Mack.

The approval, essentially a rubber stamp of “clarifications” like exemptions, given the plan itself was approved last year, means congestion pricing can begin following a 60-day public information campaign and a concurrent 30-day testing period.

How does congestion pricing work?

Congestion pricing will impact any driver entering what is being called the Central Business District (CBD), which stretches from 60th Street in Manhattan and below, all the way down to the southern tip of the Financial District. In other words, most drivers entering midtown Manhattan or below will have to pay the toll, according to the board’s report.

All drivers of cars, trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles would be charged the toll. Different vehicles will be charged different amounts — here’s a breakdown of the prices:

Passenger vehicles: $15

Small trucks (like box trucks, moving vans, etc.): $24

Large trucks: $36

Motorcycles: $7.50

The $15 toll is about a midway point between previously reported possibilities, which have ranged from $9 to $23.

The full, daytime rates will be in effect from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m. each weekday, and 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. on the weekends. The board called for toll rates in the off-hours (from 9 p.m.-5 a.m. on weekdays, and 9 p.m. until 9 a.m. on weekends) to be about 75% less — about $3.50 instead of $15 for a passenger vehicle.

Drivers will only be charged to enter the zone, not to leave it or stay in it. That means residents who enter the CBD and circle their block to look for parking won’t be charged.

Only one toll will be levied per day — so anyone who enters the area, then leaves and returns, will still only be charged the toll once for that day.

The review board said that implementing their congestion pricing plan is expected to reduce the number of vehicles entering the area by 17%. That would equate to 153,000 fewer cars in that large portion of Manhattan. They also predicted that the plan would generate $15 billion, a cash influx that could be used to modernize subways and buses.

Can I get a discount?

Many groups had been hoping to get exemptions, but very few will avoid having to pay the toll entirely. That small group is limited to specialized government vehicles (like snowplows) and emergency vehicles.

Low-income drivers who earn less than $50,000 a year can apply to pay half the price on the daytime toll, but only after the first 10 trips in a month.

While not an exemption, there will also be so-called “crossing credits” for drivers using any of the four tunnels to get into Manhattan. That means those who already pay at the Lincoln or Holland Tunnel, for example, will not pay the full congestion fee. The credit amounts to $5 per ride for passenger vehicles, $2.50 for motorcycles, $12 for small trucks and $20 for large trucks.

Drivers from Long Island and Queens using the Queens-Midtown Tunnel will get the same break, as will those using the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Those who come over the George Washington Bridge and go south of 60th Street would see no such discount, however.

Public-sector employees (teachers, police, firefighters, transit workers, etc.), those who live in the so-called CBD, utility companies, those with medical appointments in the area and those who drive electric vehicles had all been hoping to get be granted an exemption. They didn’t get one.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew, one of the lead plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit again congestion pricing, said following the MTA approval that now it’s the courts’ job to step in.

“Now that the MTA board has voted, it is going to be up to the courts to prevent the huge environmental injustice that threatens families outside the Manhattan congestion zone, including communities that are already suffering some of the worst air pollution and asthma rates in the country,” Mulgrew said.

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Sacramento declares itself a sanctuary city for transgender people

The Sacramento City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to declare the California capital a “sanctuary city for transgender people.”

The resolution, which takes effect immediately, ensures that no city resources will be used to criminalize trans people seeking transition-related care or to cooperate with jurisdictions seeking to enforce laws that criminalize the care elsewhere.

It comes as conservative lawmakers across the country have enacted laws to limit both surgical and nonsurgical forms of gender-affirming care for minors — including puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy — within the last handful of years. Twenty-four states limit gender-affirming care for trans youths, according to LGBTQ think tank Movement Advancement Project.

“California has been a leader in protecting the rights of transgender individuals to access care, but many states across the nation are moving in the opposite direction,” the resolution reads. “In preparation of future legislation that may criminalize those providing or seeking gender-affirming care and given the Council’s stated values of equity and inclusion, it is important for the City of Sacramento to be proactive in reiterating our commitment to transgender rights and equal protections for transgender people by declaring ourselves a sanctuary city and a place of safety for transgender people.”

Proponents of the measure applauded the council’s unanimous vote.

“By affirming our commitment to supporting our LGBTQ+ community and ensuring that no city resources or staff time will be used to help enforce these harmful laws in other jurisdictions, the City has taken a step beyond state law and sent a powerful signal to everyone in our community that we are a safe place for everyone,” Sacramento Councilmember Katie Valenzuela, who introduced the resolution, wrote on X. “Tonight’s testimony in support of this resolution was a powerful reminder of the resiliency and passion in our community to protect our transgender neighbors. I have never been prouder to represent this incredible city I call home.”

Opponents slammed the vote, arguing that gender-affirming care can be harmful to children.

“We cannot be giving children cross-sex hormones. We can’t give them surgeries to change their sex,” Beth Bourne, a member of a Sacramento chapter of Moms for Liberty, conservative group focused on school curricula, told NBC affiliate KCRA of Sacramento. “This sanctuary city is saying that we will promote the idea that people can be born in the wrong body.”

As debates over whether such care should be prohibited continue in state legislatures, major U.S. medical associations — including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association — have repeatedly come out in support of transition-related care, including for some minors. The AMA and APA have both deemed it medically necessary.

The Sacramento City Council is not the first governmental body to pass such a measure aimed at safeguarding trans rights and gender-affirming care in particular. In recent years, 14 states and Washington, D.C., have passed legislation to protect access to gender-affirming care, commonly referred to as “shield laws,” according to MAP.

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