By MARTHA BELLISLE, Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — The Democratic governors of Washington, Oregon and California announced Wednesday that they have created an alliance to establish their own recommendations for who should receive vaccines because they believe the Trump administration is putting Americans’ health at risk by politicizing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The announcement came the same day that Florida said it will phase out all childhood vaccine mandates. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to curb vaccine requirements and other health mandates that evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic in his state.

The differing responses come as COVID-19 cases rise and as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has restructured and downsized the CDC and attempted to advance anti-vaccine policies that are contradicted by decades of scientific research. Concerns about staffing and budget cuts were heightened after the White House sought to oust the agency’s director and some top CDC leaders resigned in protest.

“The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences,” the governors said in a joint statement.

“The dismantling of public health and dismissal of experienced and respected health leaders and advisers, along with the lack of using science, data, and evidence to improve our nation’s health are placing lives at risk,” California State Health Officer Erica Pan said in the news release.

Washington state Health Secretary Dennis Worsham said public health is about prevention — “preventing illness, preventing the spread of disease, and preventing early, avoidable deaths.”

“Vaccines are among the most powerful tools in modern medicine; they have indisputably saved millions of lives,” Oregon Health Director Sejal Hathi said. “But when guidance about their use becomes inconsistent or politicized, it undermines public trust at precisely the moment we need it most.”

Partnership seeks expert medical advice

The three states plan to coordinate their vaccine recommendations and immunization plans based on science-based evidence from respected national medical organizations, said a joint statement from Gov. Bob Ferguson of Washington, Gov. Tina Kotek of Oregon and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew G. Nixon shot back in a statement Wednesday that “Democrat-run states that pushed unscientific school lockdowns, toddler mask mandates, and draconian vaccine passports during the COVID era completely eroded the American people’s trust in public health agencies.”

He said the administration’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices “remains the scientific body guiding immunization recommendations in this country, and HHS will ensure policy is based on rigorous evidence and Gold Standard Science, not the failed politics of the pandemic.”

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Public health agencies across nation start vaccine efforts

Meanwhile, public health agencies across the country have started taking steps to ensure their states have access to vaccines after U.S. regulators came out with new policies that limited access to COVID-19 shots.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s health department said last week it is seeking advice from medical experts and its own Immunization Advisory Committee on COVID-19 vaccines and other immunizations for the fall respiratory season.

The health department plans to provide citizens “with specific guidance by the end of September to help Illinois health care providers and residents make informed decisions about vaccination and protecting themselves and their loved ones,” Health Director Sameer Vohra said in a statement.

New Mexico said it was updating its protocols to allow the state’s pharmacists to consider recommendations from the state’s health department when administering vaccines rather than just the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

“This order will remove obstacles to vaccination access” when it goes into effect by the end of next month, Health Secretary Gina DeBlassie said in a statement.

Last month, public officials from eight Northeast states met in Rhode Island to discuss coordinating vaccine recommendations. The group included all the New England states except for New Hampshire, as well as New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat who has been critical of federal cuts to public health funding and restrictions on vaccines, said her state was leading the bipartisan coalition.

“We’re going to make sure that people get the vaccines they need – no matter what the Trump Administration does,” she said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Public Health said Wednesday that cross-border meetings “are nothing new.”

“Public health challenges extend beyond state lines, making collaboration essential for effective response and prevention efforts,” the agency said in a statement. Last month’s meetings allowed the states to “share numerous public health best strategies to meet the needs of our states at a time of federal health restructuring and cuts.”

States have come together before

The West Coast Alliance isn’t the first time Democratic-led states have banded together to coordinate policies related to public health.

In the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, states formed regional alliances to gain buying power for respirators, gloves and other personal protective equipment for front-line workers and to coordinate reopening their largely shuttered economies.

Governors in the Northeast and West Coast — all but one of them Democrats — announced separate regional groups in 2020 hours after Trump said on social media that it would be his decision when to “open up the states.”

Associated Press writers Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.

By STEPHEN GROVES, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse made their voices heard Wednesday on Capitol Hill, pressuring lawmakers to force the release of the sex trafficking investigation into the late financier and pushing back on President Donald Trump’s effort to dismiss the issue as a “hoax.”

In a news conference on the Capitol lawn that drew hundreds of supporters and chants of “release the files,” the women shared — some publicly for the first time — how they were lured into Epstein’s abuse by his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. They demanded that the Trump administration provide transparency and accountability for what they endured as teenagers.

Anouska de Georgiou speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

It was a striking stand as the push for disclosure of the so-called Epstein files reaches a pivotal moment in Washington. Lawmakers are battling over how Congress should delve into the Epstein saga while the Republican president, after initially signaling support for transparency on the campaign trail, has been dismissing the matter as a “Democrat hoax.”

“No matter what you do it’s going to keep going,” Trump said Wednesday. He added, “Really, I think it’s enough.”

But the survivors on Capitol Hill, as well as at least one of Trump’s closest allies in Congress, disagreed. Some of the women pleaded for Trump to support their cause.

“It feels like you just want to explode inside because nobody, again, is understanding that this is a real situation. These women are real. We’re here in person,” said Haley Robson, one of the survivors who said she is a registered Republican.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that said he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls. The case was brought more than a decade after he secretly cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida to dispose of nearly identical allegations. Epstein was accused of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them.

Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime confidant and former girlfriend, was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for luring teenage girls for him to abuse. Four women testified at her trial that they were abused by Epstein as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at his homes in Florida, New York and New Mexico. The allegations have also spawned dozens of lawsuits.

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A Trump ally crosses party lines

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is usually closely aligned with Trump, described her support for a bill that would force the Justice Department to release the information it has compiled on Epstein and Maxwell as a moral fight against sexual predation.

“This isn’t one political party or the other. It’s a culmination of everyone working together to silence these women and protect Jeffrey Epstein and his cabal,” Greene said at the news conference.

She is one of four Republicans — three of them women — who have defied House GOP leadership and the White House in an effort to force a vote on their bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to quash the effort by putting forward his own resolution and arguing that a concurrent investigation by the House Oversight Committee is the best way for Congress to deliver transparency.

“I think the Oversight probe is going to be wide and expansive, and they’re going to follow the truth wherever it leads,” Johnson, R-La., said.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., center left, and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., talk to reporters after a closed-door meeting with victims in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

He added that the White House was complying with the committee to release information and that he had spoken with Trump about it Tuesday night. “He says, ‘Get it out there, put it all out there,’” Johnson told reporters.

The Oversight Committee on Tuesday night released what it said was the first tranche of documents and files it has received from the Justice Department on the Epstein case. The folders — posted on Google Drive — contained hundreds of image files of years-old court filings related to Epstein, but contained practically nothing new.

Warnings from the White House

Meanwhile, the White House was warning House members that support for the bill to require the DOJ to release the files would be seen as a hostile act. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who is pressing for the bill, said that the White House was sending that message because “They’ve dug in.”

“They decided they don’t want it released,” he said. “It’s a political threat.”

But with Trump sending a strong message and Republican leadership moving forward with an alternative resolution, Massie was left looking for support from at least two more Republicans willing to cross political lines. It would take six GOP members, as well as all House Democrats, to force a vote on their bill. And even if that passes the House, it would still need to pass the Senate and be signed by Trump.

Survivors speak out

Still, the survivors saw this moment as their best chance in years to gain some justice for what had been done by Epstein. One survivor, Chauntae Davies said that she remembered feeling powerless when she saw how Epstein was connected to some of the most rich and powerful people in the world. Davies said she once traveled to Africa with Epstein on a trip that included former President Bill Clinton and other notable figures.

“He bragged about his powerful friends, including current President Donald Trump. It was his biggest brag, actually,” Davies said.

Lisa Phillips speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Now, the women say it’s time to reveal a full accounting of everyone involved or complicit in Epstein’s behavior. Several of them are compiling a list of people who may have been involved, but are still deliberating whether to release that publicly, fearing potential repercussions.

Bradley Edwards, an attorney who has represented many of the survivors, also refuted the notion that Epstein kept a list of clients, but said others were still involved.

“His scheme was to personally abuse women,” Edwards said. “When they reached a certain age, he did farm a section of them, some of them, out to some of his friends. That doesn’t mean all of his friends.”

Anouska de Georgiou, left, Haley Robson, center, hug Marina Lacerda during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Ultimately, the women said they spoke out in hope that lawmakers and federal officials would act to ensure that abusers like Epstein are not let off lightly or allowed to continue their abuse. They were especially affronted that Maxwell had recently been moved to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.

“Justice and accountability are not favors from the powerful. They are obligations decades overdue” Jess Michaels, a survivor who said she was first abused by Epstein in 1991, told the rally on the Capitol lawn. “This moment began with Epstein’s crimes. But it’s going to be remembered for survivors demanding justice, demanding truth, demanding accountability.”

Scott Hildebrand, who was hired in April to be the part-time city administrator/clerk of Birchwood Village, has resigned at the mayor’s request.

In his letter of resignation, Hildebrand, who also serves as the city administrator in Landfall and Maple Lake, Minnesota, wrote that he was not able to give Birchwood “the proper amount of time and attention” it deserves.

Hildebrand wrote that when he applied for the Birchwood job, “there was much discussion about my other positions” and whether he could devote the necessary time to the city of Birchwood. Instead of offering a full contract to Hildebrand, he wrote, city officials agreed to “try this experiment for a few months to see how things worked out.”

“Things seemed rocky from the start, as I was in the process of completing the financial audit for two cities,” he wrote, adding that he wasn’t happy with his own performance and commitment to the city.

He said after multiple discussions with Mayor (Jennifer) Arsenault, and with city budget work looming, he would honor “Arsenault’s request to resign effective immediately.”

Neither Hildebrand nor Arsenault immediately returned a phone call or an email seeking comment. In his resignation letter, Hildebrand offered his assistance during the transition and expressed regret that “the experiment was not a success.”

City Attorney Alan Kantrud said city officials will be looking at their options for a replacement for Hildebrand and proceed accordingly.

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By KIM TONG-HYUNG

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has brought his young daughter on his most significant foreign trip in years, a trip to China that marks his latest attempt to break out of isolation and bolster his position by balancing between traditional allies Moscow and Beijing.

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The girl is believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and is around 12 or 13 years old. Not much else is known about her.

Since 2022, Kim Jong Un has showcased her at a growing number of major public events tied to his nuclear-armed military, fueling speculation she is being primed as the country’s next leader.

Kim’s daughter’s name and age are unconfirmed

While North Korean state media have described Kim’s daughter as “beloved” and “respected,” they have never called her by name.

The assumption that the girl’s name is Ju Ae is based on an account by former NBA champion Dennis Rodman where he recalled holding Kim Jong Un’s baby daughter during a trip to Pyongyang in 2013.

Ju Ae’s exact age is unconfirmed but South Korean intelligence officials believe she was born in 2013.

In a closed-door briefing to lawmakers in 2023, South Korea’s main spy agency said it believes Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju also have an older son and a younger third child whose gender is unknown.

Kim Jong Un beamed as he stepped out of his family’s iconic green armored train to shake hands with senior Chinese officials upon arrival in Beijing on Tuesday. He was closely followed by Ju Ae.

Dressed in a navy pantsuit with her hair styled in a half-updo, a look reminiscent of her mother’s public appearances, Ju Ae stood in front of senior North Korean officials, including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui.

However, she did not make a public appearance the next day as her father shared center stage with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a massive military parade at Tiananmen Square. The parade demonstrated a deepening alignment between Washington’s adversaries.

She’s being increasingly showcased in her father’s events

Kim Jong Un chose to publicly unveil his little-known daughter at a major military event — a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile — in November 2022.

State media released a series of photos of Kim and his daughter at the event, marking the first time her image was made public. She wore a white coat and red shoes as she watched a soaring missile from a distance and walked hand-in-hand with her father.

FILE – In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center right, and his daughter attend a completion and operation ceremony of Kangdong Greenhouse Farm in Pyongyang, North Korea, March 15, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

The missile test marked the first in a series of major military events where Kim Jong Un displayed his daughter. Her carefully-crafted appearances have included missile tests, military parades, and the launch of a naval destroyer in April, an event hailed as a major step in expanding North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. Kim Jong Un has recently expanded his daughter’s public appearances beyond military events to include some of his most ambitious economic projects and cultural events, including the opening of a beach resort in June.

Her trip to Beijing fuels speculation she is the future heir

Ju Ae’s increasing number of public appearances and presence in state media has led to speculation that she is being primed as her father’s successor. The theory has been further fueled by her first known foreign trip to China.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service issued a careful assessment last year that it views Ju Ae as her father’s likely successor, citing a comprehensive analysis of her public activities and the state protocols provided to her.

However, the spy agency said there are still various possibilities regarding North Korea’s power succession process because Kim Jong Un, 41, is still young, has no major health issues and has other children.

Some South Korean officials and experts initially expressed doubts over Ju Ae as the future heir, citing North Korea’s male-nominated power structure and Confucian influence.

Since its foundation in 1948, North Korea has been successively ruled by male members of the Kim family. Kim Jong Un inherited power upon his father Kim Jong Il’s death in late 2011. Kim Jong Il took over power after his father and state founder Kim Il Sung died in 1994.

North Korea’s state media have yet to make any direct comments on a power succession plan beyond Kim Jong Un. It has also not commented on whether Ju Ae has any siblings.