Atlanta, GA
Nonprofit bringing injured Palestinian children to metro Atlanta halted by new refugee policies
The Trump administration is restricting the number of refugees admitted annually to the United States from 125,000 to 7,500 — mostly white South Africans.
It’s a dramatic drop that changes America’s traditional role as a haven for people fleeing war and persecution.
The decision is affecting Palestinian families from the Gaza Strip, including one that recently traveled to metro Atlanta to care for a 12-year-old boy who lost his legs during the Israel-Hamas war. Heal Palestine, the nonprofit that’s helping the boy, asked CBS News Atlanta not to use the family’s last name due to safety concerns.
After almost two years of waiting for permission to travel to the United States for emergency medical treatment, Yassin and his family received a warm welcome over the summer at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
“I look and see them and say, ‘I’m good,” Fadwa says.
The mother and son traveled from the Gaza Strip to Atlanta with the help of Heal Palestine, which was founded in 2024 to deliver urgent relief to Palestinian children and families.
“He had surgery here in Atlanta with good doctors and good teams, and now he have therapy,” Fadwa said.
Heal Palestine Atlanta volunteer Ghada Elnajjar said that Yassin was hit by an air strike and lost both legs, which had been amputated without anesthesia.
“When a family like Fadwa’s is evacuated and a child like Yassin is seeking help in the United States, there are communities that come together and help support the child,” Elnajjar said.
The U.S. organization is helping 63 Palestinian children across the country. Several, including Yassin, are in metro Atlanta.
“We take the child, treat them medically and mentally, so we provide mental health wellness, and continue to provide their education through online resources,” Elnajjar said.
The family lived in Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza that saw heavy shelling during the Israel-Hamas war.
Fadwa says she worked as a quantum physicist before coming to America.
“I lose my husband, I lose my house,” she said.
“As a mother, this is so difficult for Fadwa, having to be torn between finding treatment for her 12-year-old and leaving behind part of her heart in Gaza,” Elnajjar said.
Yassin, his brother, and two of his sisters are living in Alpharetta with their mother while he receives physical therapy and treatment for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. His older brother and sister are still in Gaza, unable to travel to the United States because of visa restrictions.
“I’m cooking Palestinian food. I’m talking about Palestine. That’s my country. And if the war destroys everything, I still love this country,” Fadwa said.
A home she loves and hopes to return to once Yassin heals.
Heal Palestine also provides food, water, and supplies for people who are still living in the Gaza Strip and are still working to evacuate more injured children.
You can learn more about the organization here.
Atlanta, GA
Video shows person of interest in deadly Atlanta shooting, police say
Atlanta shooting clip shows person of interest
Atlanta police released surveillance video of a person of interest after 37-year-old Joseph Williams was found fatally shot inside a crashed vehicle Monday night, according to police.
ATLANTA – New video released by the Atlanta Police Department shows a person of interest in the deadly shooting along Joseph E. Boone Boulevard NW earlier this week.
What we know:
It happened at 7:41 p.m. Monday in the 900 block of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard NW. According to the Atlanta Police Department, officers found a man in a car that had been involved in a single-vehicle accident about 0.5 miles east of the location.
The man, later identified as 37-year-old Joseph Williams, had been shot. He was rushed to an area hospital in critical condition, where he died.
What we don’t know:
The identity of the person of interest shown in the released video remains unknown.
Investigators have not yet determined the motive behind the shooting.
Additionally, police have not disclosed whether any suspects have been identified or if a weapon has been recovered.
What you can do:
Anyone with information about whom the person of interest in the video may be or who may have information about the shooting should call the Atlanta Police Department’s Homicide Unit directly at 404-546-4235 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the Atlanta Police Department, who explained how we got it by releasing surveillance video and investigative details, as well as Crime Stoppers.
Atlanta, GA
Keisha Lance Bottoms says Georgia voters care more about costs than
Former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms captured the Georgia Democratic gubernatorial primary with 56% of the vote on Tuesday, surpassing the majority threshold needed to avoid a runoff and positioning herself as the Democratic nominee heading into the November general election.
“We have a very powerful campaign that’s ready to take on whoever comes out of this Republican primary in November,” Bottoms said in an interview with CBS News “The Takeout” following her victory.
Bottoms said the margin was no accident. Her campaign ran as if it were trailing throughout the race, and she said she believed internally they would clear 50%.
“We always said that we were going to run like we were 30 points down and not 30 points ahead,” she said.
On the Republican side, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and businessman Rick Jackson are headed to a June 16 runoff after neither cleared the majority threshold in Tuesday’s primary. Bottoms did not draw much of a distinction between the two.
“Just in terms of their running toward Trump’s MAGA agenda, they’re equally awful in that regard,” she said. “That’s not what the people of this state want to hear. They want to hear how we are going to address these everyday issues that are impacting their lives: cost of living, access or lack thereof to healthcare, education, access to jobs.”
If elected in November, Bottoms would make history as the first African American woman ever elected governor of Georgia and, she believes, the first in the entire country. She said the historical significance of that milestone is not what is driving her campaign.
“I don’t go around thinking about the label of being a Black woman,” she said. “What I’m thinking about right now is just how I’m going to deliver for the people across the state. It’s just about how will you make my life better and why should I vote for you.”
Bottoms also noted that the governor’s race is an open seat; Gov. Brian Kemp is not on the ballot, which she said gives Democrats an advantage heading into November.
“There are some inherent challenges when you go against an incumbent,” she said. “The fact that it’s an open seat gives us an even better opportunity to pick up the seat.”
On policy, Bottoms outlined several priorities she said she would pursue on day one as governor. She said she would extend the current gas tax suspension to provide relief at the pump, and pledged to expand Medicaid, a move she said would reverse the closure of nine rural hospitals and stop Georgia from leaving federal dollars on the table.
“Half our counties don’t even have OB-GYNs and pediatricians,” she said. “People are having to travel sometimes upwards of an hour or more to receive specialized care.”
Bottoms also called for increasing the state’s average starting teacher pay from $43,000 to $60,000 a year and eliminating state income taxes for teachers. On housing, she pledged to work with builders who specialize in affordable and workforce housing through low-interest loans and grants for homeowners.
Atlanta, GA
Flash flood warning issued as heavy rain falls across Atlanta
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Heavy downpours in the city of Atlanta has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a flash flood warning and had closed all lanes of the Downtown Connector.
The rain caused several issues on roads. There are also reports of flooding along North Avenue in the city.
>> First Alert Radar
An Atlanta News First viewer showed video of a Waymo, an autonomous car, stuck in the flooded waters along North Avenue near Piedmont Avenue.
>> Latest Forecast
The northbound lanes of the Downtown Connector were closed between Freedom Parkway and Peachtree and Pine streets exits since after 5 p.m. Shortly after 6:30 p.m., traffic started moving again.
The National Weather Service is expected to upgrade the flood warning to “considerable.”
Some areas in Downtown Atlanta saw more than 2-inches and up to 3-inches of rain fall in a short period of time, according to First Alert Meteorologist Patrick Pete.
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