News Brief: CDC Reports Dramatic Increase in Whooping Cough; 3 Takeaways From Harris’s Fox News Interview; Biden Cancels $4.7 Billion in Loans

An undated image produced by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a whooping cough, or pertussis, bacteria cluster. US CDC

Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.

A federal agency warns of a dramatic increase in a dangerous respiratory illness, Vice President Kamala Harris faces tough questions from Fox News, and President Joe Biden cancels billions of dollars of student loan debt for thousands of public service workers.

Also, millions of Americans are drowning in credit card debt, and Israel says it’s killed the top leader of Hamas, one of the people responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre.

We have a great deal to get to today and we begin with this. Cases of a highly contagious respiratory tract infection are climbing nationwide, the numbers are alarming, and here’s what you need to know.

CDC Reports Dramatic Increase in Whooping Cough

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that cases of whooping cough, formally known as pertussis, are dramatically on the rise across the United States.

Earlier this month, the CDC reported nearly 18,000 cases of the illness, substantially more than last year at this exact time.

By the way, the CDC says that the United States generally sees around 10,000 cases of pertussis each year. The number of whooping cough cases dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now it’s trending up again.

The CDC says that childhood vaccines are the best way to prevent the illness, but some doctors point out that in certain people, vaccine-related immunity can wear off over time.

You should know that children generally get the DTaP vaccine, which is a series of shots for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, and that adults can also receive a vaccine targeting the same illnesses.

One doctor says that people who contract the highly contagious infection often feel like they’re dealing with a cold for a week or two before developing a really forceful cough, and that children under the age of 1 can even stop breathing due to the illness.

Whooping cough also can cause a low-grade fever, difficulty sleeping, breathing problems, and even rib fractures due to severe coughing. The CDC points out that some people who contract the illness say that it’s the worst cough of their lives.

We’ll segue over to the political stage now, and during an interview on Fox News earlier this week, Vice President Kamala Harris was questioned on immigration, foreign threats, and a variety of critical topics. More now on that interview.

3 Takeaways From Harris’s Fox News Interview

On Wednesday night, anchor Bret Baier grilled Harris in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, and during the exchange, Harris raised her voice, the two spoke over one another, and they argued about a number of important issues.

Baier began by asking Harris if she knew how many illegal immigrants had been released into the country over the last three and a half years, and Harris told him that the country has “a broken immigration system that needs to be repaired.”

The Fox News host then mentioned that at least 6 million people had been released into the country after crossing the border during that period. He also pointed out that President Joe Biden had rescinded a number of executive orders issued by former President Donald Trump regarding the detention and deportation of illegal immigrants.

Harris said that the administration’s focus has been on “fixing a problem,” and she pointed to the government’s efforts to restrict asylum access, increase funding for the Department of Homeland Security, and offer immigrants new pathways to citizenship as evidence.

She also criticized Trump for opposing the bipartisan border bill that failed to pass in Congress earlier this year.

Baier then pressed Harris about her comment last week that nothing came to mind regarding what she would have done differently than Biden during his term, and Harris answered by saying that her presidency would not be a continuation of Biden’s. Harris also said that she would bring fresh ideas and a new generation of leadership to Washington.

At the close of the interview, Baier questioned Harris about her stance on Iran, which she recently called the number one foreign threat to the United States. The anchor pointed out some people think that the Biden administration’s relaxed sanctions on Iran gave the country more money to fund terrorism.

Harris responded by saying that she’s spent time in the Situation Room working with the country’s military leaders to support and defend Israel from Iran and its terrorist proxies in the region, and she said that her commitment to continuing to do that is “unyielding and unwavering.”

As we continue, tens of thousands of public service workers have had their federal student loans forgiven by the Biden administration, and the price tag is astonishing. More now on that story.

Biden Cancels $4.7 Billion in Loans

The Biden administration has just forgiven another $4.7 billion in student debt for more than 60,000 teachers, first responders, nurses, service members, and more.

One senior administration official said that these public service workers had been promised student loan forgiveness after a decade of public service and 10 years of making payments under a 2007 program, but that the program failed to live up to its commitment.

That official attributed the problems with the program to administrative errors.

It’s worth mentioning that the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program was started under President George W. Bush in 2007, and that prior to Biden taking office, only 7,000 public service workers had gotten relief under the program.

This new debt relief brings the amount of student loan forgiveness for public service workers to more than $73 billion for more than 1 million borrowers.

By the way, over the past three years, the Biden administration has tried to forgive $175 billion in student debt for almost 5 million Americans, or about $35,000 each. However, the Supreme Court has blocked the relief effort multiple times, saying that the administration has overstepped its authority in attempting to forgive hundreds of billions of dollars in loans.

Biden says that yesterday’s announcement is part of the substantial progress his administration has made over the past three years for students and borrowers. Additionally, a senior administration official said that a significant part of Biden’s legacy will be his commitment to deliver relief to millions of Americans who’ve struggled with the burden of student loan debt.

Let’s stick with finances, and sometimes, to get by, you have to charge it, but for too many people, their cards are maxed out, the interest rates are staggering, and some folks are feeling distressed.

Increasing Numbers of Americans Getting Trapped in Credit Card Debt

A new report says that rising prices and higher interest rates are trapping many Americans in expensive credit card debt.

Yesterday, a survey released by a financial analytics firm called Bankrate showed that in the last two and a half years, around 37 percent of American credit card holders have hit the limits on their charge accounts.

A Bankrate analyst told The Epoch Times the survey results are a sign that a large number of consumers may be feeling some distress, and that they’re probably higher than you would expect to see in an economy with low inflation.

According to the survey, more than half of the respondents who had gone deep into credit card debt blamed inflation, which has reduced the value of the U.S. dollar by more than 20 percent in the last few years.

The report also found that 38 percent of respondents attributed their increased credit card debt to unexpected emergency expenses.

By the way, U.S. labor data remains generally positive, and unemployment is still relatively low.

However, those national averages don’t always capture the plight of people who are struggling. Earlier this year, a credit-rating company called TransUnion reported that the credit card debt held by Americans exceeded $1 trillion for the first time ever, a 13 percent increase from the year before.

Additionally, one consumer finance company says that people who resort to credit cards will typically pay interest rates of almost 25 percent, making it very difficult for those who have gone deeply into debt to climb their way back out of it.

The Bankrate analyst also says that consumer distress can be a red flag for the economic health of the country. She points out that when people max out on their credit cards, they’re also likely behind on paying their other bills, including heat, water, and electricity.

A change of venue now, and on the international stage, Israel confirms that its troops have killed Hamas’s top leader. Here’s more now on that story.

Israel Confirms Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar Killed in Gaza

Israel’s military has just verified that the country’s troops in Gaza have killed Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year’s attack on Israel that sparked the region’s current war.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that its soldiers, along with the Israel Securities Authority (ISA), eliminated the leader of the Hamas terrorist organization two days ago, in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip.

The 61-year-old Sinwar was seen by Israel as the mastermind behind the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion, during which Hamas-led terrorists launched a massacre across southern Israel that left around 1,200 people dead, over 250 captured, and thousands more wounded.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sinwar’s death “an important moment in the war.” He also says that Israel will continue its campaign with all its might until each of the country’s remaining hostages is returned.

Yesterday, President Joe Biden reacted to the news, calling it “a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world.” Biden said that Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people from over 30 countries.

The IDF says that Sinwar, who was born and grew up in the Gaza Strip, had been hiding behind the civilian population of Gaza and in the Strip’s network of underground tunnels for the past 12 months.

The Hamas leader had topped Israel’s most-wanted list for just over a year. Sinwar was one of the first people to join Hamas when it was formed in the 1980s, and he had been the organization’s top regional leader for about seven years.

By the way, Hamas has not yet confirmed the death of its leader, and it remains unclear who will take Sinwar’s place at the top of the organization.

And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Friday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.

Just a reminder, you can reach out to us anytime via email, and we’re at [email protected]. You can also leave comments for us on the Epoch Times app, which you can download for free.

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And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from the legendary Paul McCartney, who said: “One of my biggest thrills for me still is sitting down with a guitar or a piano and just out of nowhere trying to make a song happen.”

And he certainly wrote more than his fair share of incredible songs. If you have a favorite Paul McCartney song as a solo artist, or with Wings or the Beatles, tell us about it at [email protected].

For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.

The Epoch Times News Brief program was written today by David Ross.

Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.

Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for the Saturday edition (the weekend edition) of The Epoch Times News Brief.

For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.