How to survive political talk at Thanksgiving dinner
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(NEW YORK) — It’s Thanksgiving, you’re enjoying your favorite foods at the dinner table, when a family member brings up who they voted for in the 2024 presidential election.
Arguments ensue.
The food doesn’t taste as good.
And now everyone’s a politician.
In a contentious election year, conversations about politics at the dinner table are inevitable.
But Elaine Swann, a lifestyle and etiquette expert, has some tips on how to best handle these conversations this Thanksgiving.
“One of the things that I recommend for any host to do is set aside time and or space for people to talk politics,” Swann told ABC News. “This means you set the rules and you tell folks, listen, when you come here, here’s when we’re going to talk politics.”
Swann suggests chatting about the election is done before or after dinner. And move people to a different room for dessert to express themselves, she said.
Although talking politics is normally discouraged in settings like this, Swann said she believes people are really passionate about the past election. She wants these conversations to bring people together rather than drive them apart.
“It’s important for us to have these conversations in order to bring folks together,” she said. “But keep in mind, the purpose is not to convince one person of anything. It’s also to bring the family together and help people understand your own perspective and views.”
Swann encourages everyone to follow her three core values of etiquette, which are respect, honesty and consideration. She also said “to let folks know, look, you’ve got one chance, two chances, or three chances, and then you’re out.”
If conversations are getting a bit out of hand, Swann recommends changing the subject. In addition, she said to have a slideshow of family photos displayed on the TV or have a mediator to instill some control in these conversations.
Finally, Swann asks hosts to “bring that holiday vibe into their homes.”
“As a host, be present, be aware and also be an advocate for those who feel like they’re being beat up on,” Swann said.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — A former Memphis police officer testified Thursday at the federal trial of three ex-officers facing charges related to the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols that he believes he panicked during the encounter.
“I lost my composure,” Desmond Mills Jr., who pleaded guilty to charges connected to the beating death of Nichols, said when he was asked about accidentally pepper-spraying himself during the encounter, according to WATN, the ABC affiliate in Memphis covering the case in the courtroom. “I felt like I was panicking.”
Justin Smith, Demetrius Haley and Tadarrius Bean were charged on Sept. 12, 2023, with violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid. These charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The officers have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Mills and Emmitt Martin III, the two other officers who were also charged in this case, have pleaded guilty to some of the federal charges.
Mills pleaded guilty to two of the four counts in the indictment — excessive force and failing to intervene, as well as conspiring to cover up his use of unlawful force, according to the DOJ. The government said it will recommend a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, based on the terms of Mills’ plea agreement.
Martin pleaded guilty to excessive force and failure to intervene, as well as conspiracy to witness tamper, according to court records. The other two charges will be dropped at sentencing, which has been scheduled for Dec. 5, according to the court records.
On Wednesday, Mills reiterated his testimony from the day before that he was angry he sprayed himself with pepper spray, and therefore used excessive force on Nichols, according to WATN.
“I was angry because I just [pepper] sprayed myself in the face,” Mills said on Tuesday, according to WATN. “I didn’t give him a chance to give me his hands.”
Judge Mark Norris told the jury on Wednesday to disregard the emotional part of Mills’ Tuesday testimony, when Mills was asked who used excessive force in the police body camera footage from the night of Nichols’ beating, according to WATN. Mills did not answer the direct question, instead breaking down in tears on the stand.
“I wish I would’ve stopped the punches. It hurts to watch. It hurts inside so much,” said Mills, who cried during his testimony, according to WATN. “It felt bad every time the picture is on the screen to know I’m a part of that. I made his child fatherless. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know ‘sorry’ won’t bring him back, but I pray his child has everything he needs growing up.”
“We’re praying for everyone involved,” Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney representing the Nichols’ family, said during a prayer vigil Wednesday morning outside the courthouse when asked for his response regarding Mills’ emotional testimony.
Crump said this trial was one of the most emotional trials he has ever attended, a sentiment shared by Antonio Romanucci, his co-counsel.
“In my career, which is now over 40 years,” Romanucci said, “I have never seen such testimony as I did yesterday — police officer who had such contrition,” Romanucci said. “[Former] Officer Mills, without knowing it, just talked about why we’re here, and that’s for accountability.”
The prosecution told ABC News earlier this month that they will not have any statements until after the trial. The defense attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
“The first time I watched the video with my attorney, I couldn’t hold it anymore,” Mills said on Thursday when the prosecution asked him why he pleaded guilty, according to WATN. “I want to make it right.”
Mills agreed with Martin Zummach, Smith’s attorney, during cross-examination on Thursday when he asked if the handcuffs, which were secured to one of Nichols’ wrists at one point during the encounter, could be considered a deadly weapon and could lead to deadly force being authorized by police, according to WATN. The ex-officer also consented that “necessary force” can be very ugly and violent.
Defense attorneys asked Mills on Wednesday about the use of his baton on Nichols, which Mills said on Tuesday he used to hit Nichols three times the night of their encounter, according to WATN.
Mills claimed that he didn’t use the baton to hit Nichols in the head, but admitted that he used it improperly since it’s only meant to be used in self-defense, according to WATN. He said it was the first time he ever used his baton or used excessive force on a suspect.
Mills noted that the use of his baton was not because verbal commands weren’t working on Nichols when asked by the defense, according to WATN.
Mills disagreed with Bean’s attorney when he asked Mills if he was the only one who could intervene to stop the beating, since Mills didn’t have his hands on Nichols that night, according to WATN. The ex-officer claimed that the other officers could have moved Nichols away from the strikes and punches while they held his hands.
Mills admitted to the defense that the reason he changed his statement about what happened that night was because he took a plea deal from prosecutors, according to WATN. He said he lied in earlier statements.
Mills told prosecutors that when he told Lt. Dewayne Smith, his former supervisor, that the arrest was done “by the book,” he only said that to hide what really happened, according to WATN. The ex-officer claimed that there was a mutual understanding that their off-camera conversations would go unreported.
“I needed this job for my wife and kids,” Mills said when the prosecution asked why he was not initially truthful about the encounter. “This job has good insurance. I have children with special needs. I needed this job for my family. I let them down.”
Mills was asked about response to resistance forms from the incident, stating they weren’t accurate and that Nichols, “was not aggressive at all,” according to WATN.
Mills said that Haley asked him if Mills’ body camera captured him during the encounter with Nichols.
“I hope I’m not on there,” Mills said Haley told him.
Body-camera footage shows that Nichols fled after police pulled him over on Jan. 7, 2023, for allegedly driving recklessly, then shocked him with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him.
Officers allegedly then beat Nichols minutes later after tracking him down. After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition.
“I was going along, either way, [with] the cover-up,” Mills said. “Hoping for the best that Mr. Nichols would survive and this whole thing would blow over.”
Nichols, 29, died in the hospital on Jan. 10, 2023. Footage shows the officers walking around, talking to each other as Nichols was injured and sitting on the ground.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said she has been unable to substantiate that Nichols was driving recklessly. The incident triggered protests and calls for police reform.
After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition. The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Nichols showed he “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma,” the district attorney’s office told Nichols’ family in May 2023.
The five former officers charged in this case were all members of the Memphis Police Department SCORPION unit — a crime suppression unit that was disbanded after Nichols’ death. All of the officers were fired for violating MPD policies.
“As an officer, I respond to scenes where the victim looks like Mr. Nichols [did after he was beaten],” Mills said. “This was the first time I was a part of it.”
Mills’ cross-examination ended Thursday, according to WATN.
ABC News’ Deena Zaru and Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Inflation has fallen over the final months of the presidential campaign, carrying potential implications for a tight race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
More than half of adults list inflation as a top issue for the country, making it the highest-ranking concern by a wide margin over issues like immigration, crime and abortion, according to an Ipsos poll conducted late last month.
Price increases nationwide have largely returned to normal. However, the presidential race is widely expected to hinge on the results in seven closely contested battleground states, placing importance on where inflation stands in those key locations.
An analysis by ABC News found that inflation rates vary significantly across four major cities situated in battleground states: Detroit, Michigan; Phoenix, Arizona; Atlanta, Georgia; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In each of those states, the average polling margin between the two candidates is no more than two percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Here’s what to know about what inflation looks like in swing-state cities and what that means for the election:
Detroit, Michigan
Consumer prices rose 3.5% in Detroit over the year ending in August, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That figure stands a percentage point above the national average and marks the highest inflation rate of the four cities examined by ABC News.
The surge in prices has stemmed in large part from rapidly rising housing costs, Gabriel Ehrlich, an economist at the University of Michigan, told ABC News. The trend marks a recent turnabout from sluggish housing prices that had taken hold in the city in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession.
Back then, a crisis in the auto industry caused rising unemployment, an exodus from Detroit and diminishing demand for homes. As Detroit has since improved its economic performance, however, the population has begun to grow and housing prices have started to soar. Housing costs climbed 6.2% in Detroit over the year ending in August, which stands more than a percentage point higher than the national average.
Even if the improved economic performance has contributed to the rise in housing prices, that silver lining offers little solace for city residents paying high costs, Ehrlich said.
“That’s a hard sell,” he added.
Phoenix, Arizona
In Phoenix, the inflation rate clocks in at 2.3%, according to BLS data for August, the most recent month on record. That pace of price increases is slightly lower than the national average.
Like Detroit, housing prices play a significant role in the dynamic behind costs in Phoenix – but it’s for the opposite reason. Housing prices there are rising at a pace of 3.5%, well below the national average of more than 6%.
The moderate pace of current housing price increases in Phoenix marks welcome relief after a bruising stretch of skyrocketing costs, Lee McPheters, director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at Arizona State University, told ABC News. Since 2017, housing prices in the Phoenix area have doubled, he added.
The price increases have slowed, however, as Phoenix has made a concerted effort to ramp up home construction and address its dearth of supply.
Phoenix is expected to build roughly 20,000 apartments in 2024, granting it the fourth-highest apartment construction rate of any U.S. city, a RentCafe study in August found. That total would amount to a 88% increase from the apartment construction rate achieved two years prior, according to the Maricopa Association of Governments.
“There’s of course been the same housing shortage issues in Phoenix that you see across the country,” McPheters said. “The difference here is that Arizona responded.”
Atlanta, Georgia
As of August, the inflation rate in Atlanta stands at 1.7%, which clocks in nearly a percentage point lower than the national average and is the lowest pace for any of the swing-state cities examined by ABC News.
Prices in Atlanta have risen at a slower pace than the national average for a range of essential products, including housing, meat, poultry, fish and eggs.
Gasoline prices have dropped nationwide over the past year but they’ve fallen even more in Atlanta. The same trend applies to the price of new and used cars, the latter of which has fallen a staggering 11% over the past year.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Consumer prices in the Philadelphia area climbed 3.4% over the year ending in August, BLS data showed. The city’s inflation rate registers nearly a percentage point higher than the national average.
In Philadelphia, prices for many food and beverage products are rising faster than the national average. Over the past year, prices for meat, poultry, fish and eggs have climbed at more than twice the national average pace. Cereal and bakery products have surged 2.5% over the past year in Philadelphia, even though prices for such goods have fallen by 1% nationwide.
The prices for nonalcoholic beverages in Philadelphia have climbed more than six times faster than the national average over the past year.
Erasmus Kersting, a professor of economics at Villanova University, said the sharp increase in prices for some food items may owed to a lack of competition among grocery stores in Philadelphia. In the absence of fierce competition, grocery stores retain the latitude to raise prices without fear of a rival offering a better deal on comparable products, Kersting explained.
Two supermarket chains, Giant and ShopRite, accounted for 56% of the local grocery market in 2022, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.
“Grocery store prices have gone up a lot,” Kersting told ABC News. “Some of this has to do with market structure. How many competitors do grocery stores have?”
(NEW YORK) — A massive plume of moisture from the Pacific called an atmospheric river will hit the West Coast on Tuesday afternoon and last into Friday.
The storm is expected to become a bomb cyclone — which means the pressure in the center of the storm will drop 24 millibars within 24 hours.
The storm could be so strong that it even drops close to double that rate — meaning more than 40 millibars in 24 hours.
Numerous alerts for snow, flooding, high wind and high surf have been issued along the West Coast, from the San Francisco Bay area to Oregon to Washington.
Rain totals could surpass 1 foot in Northern California and southern Oregon. More than 3 feet of snow is possible in the higher elevations.
Wind gusts could reach 85 mph along the coast and waves could climb to 34 feet.
By the weekend, some of the rain from this system will make its way to Southern California.
