Questions loom about TikTok as Trump’s cabinet comes into shape

(NEW YORK) — The 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade may be an attractive target for both foreign and domestic terroristic violence, according to a joint threat assessment obtained by ABC News.

Among the most significant threats facing the nation’s largest Thanksgiving celebration “stems from lone offenders and small groups of individuals seeking to commit acts of violence,” according to the report put out by multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and New York Police Department.

There is not a “specific, actionable threat,” but the document raises a particular concern about vehicle ramming, which “has become a recurring tactic employed by threat actors” looking to target crowded pedestrian areas. The NYPD will have sanitation trucks and other so-called “blocker vehicles” deployed along the route, the report states.

The 98th annual parade steps off at 8:30 a.m. on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and proceeds along a 2 1/2-mile route toward Herald Square.

The parade is expected to draw 2 million spectators and 10,000 participants.

There are 17 featured character balloons, 22 floats, 15 heritage and novelty balloons, more than 700 clowns, 11 marching bands, 10 performance groups and, of course, Santa Claus to close it out. There are six new featured character balloons, including Disney’s Minnie Mouse and Marvel’s Spider-Man.

“Though the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade event will provide a broad set of potential soft targets for an attack, congested areas where the largest amount of people gather — particularly designated viewing areas — are likely the most vulnerable spots for a mass casualty attack,” the assessment said.

After pro-Palestinian protesters glued their hands to the pavement along the parade route last year, law enforcement agencies said they “remain concerned that malicious actors may seek to engage in public safety disruptions, including attempting to block ingress and egress paths and roadways around the event and major transportation locations.”

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(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is set to return to the White House after winning Tuesday night’s election.

As of Wednesday morning, Trump surpassed the 270 electoral votes need to secure the presidency, and that could mean major changes to the health care landscape.

During his campaign, Trump vowed to make the Affordable Care Act “better” and to protect “women.” He also suggested that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would shape the public health agenda of his administration.

This is what a second Trump term would mean for health care policies including health insurance and reproductive rights.

Future of the ACA and Medicare

Trump has been inconsistent on what his plans are regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the landmark law signed in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama.

During his first term, Trump tried several times to repeal the ACA but was unsuccessful. In November 2023, he also vowed to replace it in a post on his social media planform, Truth Social.

Since then, he has shifted course. In March, Trump said is “not running to terminate” the ACA but said he wanted to make it “better” and “less expensive,” in a post on Truth Social.

During the September presidential debate, he said he had “concepts of a plan” and said it would be “better health care than Obamacare,” but offered few details.

There could also be changes to Medicare, a federal health insurance program for people aged 65 or older and younger people with disabilities.

Trump has promoted Medicare Advantage, which is run by commercial insurers. What’s more, Project 2025 — a plan of conservative policy proposals proposed by the Heritage Foundation and not endorsed by Trump — has proposed Medicare Advantage be the default option for Medicare coverage.

Experts have said this could privatize the program and prevent people from receiving care from doctors and hospitals that don’t accept Medicare Advantage.

Also at risk are those with pre-existing conditions. Under the ACA, insurers cannot charge more or deny coverage to someone or their child because of a pre-existing health condition. However, Vice President-elect JD Vance has suggested placing people with chronic conditions into separate risk pools, which could raise premiums for those with pre-existing conditions.

Kennedy vows to remove fluoride from drinking water, vaccine review

During a charity dinner last month in New York City, Trump pledged that Kennedy would “go wild on health.”

Kennedy, an environmental lawyer with no public health or medical background, has been vocal on certain health policies he would like to tackle including fluoride in drinking water and review of vaccines.

In an interview with NPR on Wednesday morning, Kennedy doubled down on his promise that the Trump administration will recommend that local governments remove fluoride from their water supplies.

He has claimed that fluoride in drinking water affects children’s neurological development and that other countries which have removed fluoride from their water supplies have not seen an increase in cavities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says fluoride prevents cavities and repairs damaged to teeth caused by bacteria in the mouth. Fluoride also replaces minerals lost from teeth due to acid breakdown, according to the agency.

Additionally, Kennedy told NPR he would work “immediately” to increase research into the safety of vaccines, though he insisted, “We’re not going to take vaccines away from anybody.”

“We are going to make sure that Americans have good information,” he said. “Right now, the science on vaccine safety, particularly, has huge deficits in it. We’re going to make sure those scientific studies are done, and that people can make informed choices about their vaccinations and their children’s vaccinations.”

Top U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials have said that FDA-approved vaccines are “high quality, effective, and safe.”

In an interview with NBC News, he also suggested firing many workers at the FDA’s nutrition department.

Uncertainty about the future of reproductive rights

Although Trump has taken credit for ending Roe v. Wade — which was overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 — he was hesitant during his campaign to state his stance on abortion.

During the presidential debate in September, he said he believed in exceptions for rape, incest and to save the mother’s life but declined to say if he would veto a national ban.

However, in October, he wrote on the social platform X that he would not support a federal abortion ban, and said abortions laws are up to the will of the voters in individual states.

Trump told CBS News in August he would not use the 150-year-old Comstock Act to ban mail delivery of medication abortion pills, which drew rebuke from some conservatives and anti-abortion advocates.

In September, during a rally in Pennsylvania, he said he would be a “protector” of women and that they “wouldn’t be thinking about abortion” if he were elected. He doubled down on these claims last month during a rally in Wisconsin, with Trump saying he would “protect” women “whether the women like it or not.”

He has not offered specifics on what being a “protector” means in this capacity.

ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.

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(PENSACOLA, Fla.) — A NASA astronaut who experienced a “medical issue” following the successful Space X Crew-8 mission has been released from the hospital, NASA officials said Saturday.

“After an overnight stay at Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola in Florida, the NASA astronaut was released and returned to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston Saturday. The crew member is in good health and will resume normal post-flight reconditioning with other crew members,” NASA said in a statement.

NASA has not publicly named the astronaut.

NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps and Russian astronaut Alexander Grebenkin were in the SpaceX Dragon capsule when it splashed down on Earth on Friday, NASA said.

After a medical evaluation, three of the crew members departed from the facility and arrived at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, NASA said.

One remaining astronaut remained in the hospital and is in stable condition and is under observation as a precautionary measure, NASA said.

Recovery of the crew and spacecraft went without incident, according to NASA.

An additional medical evaluation of the astronauts was requested out of an abundance of caution, NASA said.

The crew completed a 235-day mission into space.

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