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Mother admits to murder of her 5-year-old daughter, police say

October 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A mother allegedly admitted to intentionally killing her 5-year-old daughter before taking her to the hospital where her body was found partially wrapped in plastic and mesh bags, police say.

The incident occurred on Sunday when Melissa Towne drove to HCA Tomball Hospital, located just north of Houston, Texas, at approximately 12 p.m. and asked hospital personnel for a wheelchair because “her daughter’s body was hurting,” according to a statement from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

“An emergency room nurse walked to Towne’s Jeep Cherokee, where she found Towne’s 5-year-old daughter partially wrapped in plastic and mesh bags,” the statement read. “The child was unresponsive and a laceration was visible on the child’s neck.”

The 5-year-old girl was pronounced dead 10 minutes later.

The Tomball Police Department was notified about the death and responded to the hospital where Towne was detained and reportedly told the authorities that she killed her daughter at Spring Creek Park before driving her to the hospital, police say.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office Homicide and Crime Scene Units responded to the crime scene and took over the investigation into the death.

“Towne was transported to the Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit, where she provided investigators with a statement admitting to intentionally killing her daughter,” police said in their statement released to the media. “The Harris County District Attorney’s Office accepted a charge of Capital Murder against Melissa Towne and she was booked into the Harris County Jail.”

ABC New’s Houston station KTRK-TV obtained a statement from the surviving members of the little girl’s family.

“We ask for privacy and respect for [the victim’s] father, James, and our family as we all figure out how to grieve her horrible loss and try to figure out how to go on from here. [The 5-year-old girl] has grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and a father that all loved her dearly and never thought such a tragic event would happen to such an innocent child. She will always hold a special place in all of our hearts. We will always remember her as the sweetest little girl who never met a stranger. She was so full of love and giggles and her bright blue eyes shined so full of curiosity. We are hoping and praying justice will be served and the heartless monster who took our sweet girl away from us pay for the innocent life she took,” the statement said.

The initial probable cause magistrate judge set Towne’s bond at $15 million, according to KTRK.

A spokesperson with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services also released a statement to KTRK regarding the case against Towne.

“Child Protective Services is investigating this tragic death alongside law enforcement. The child’s mother, Melissa Towne, does have prior history with CPS, but specific details of CPS investigations are confidential according to law,” the statement read. “Ms. Towne has three additional children ranging in age from 2 years old to 18 years old, who are safe and have been living with other family members.”

It’s unclear if there were any potential witnesses, according to authorities.

The investigation into the alleged murder is ongoing.

Female athlete represents Iran without hijab at overseas climbing competition

October 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — A female athlete from Iran did not wear a hijab at an international competition over the weekend in open defiance of her country’s mandate, amid fierce protests against the Islamic Republic’s restrictions on women’s dress.

Iranian sport climber Elnaz Rekabi, 33, was seen competing without the Islamic headscarf at the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s Asian Championships in Seoul on Sunday. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women are required to wear a hijab in Iran. They must also abide by the mandatory rule outside Iran when they are officially representing the country abroad.

Rekabi is believed to be one of the first Iranian female athletes to disobey the hijab requirement — a move that was widely praised by observers on social media as “historic,” “daring,” “courageous” and “powerful.”

Sadaf Khadem, 27, was bare-headed and wore shorts when she became the first female Iranian boxer to win an overseas fight in 2019. Khadem had intended to return to Tehran after the competition but was forced to stay in France, after Iranian authorities reportedly issued an arrest warrant over her violations of the strictly enforced Islamic dress code. Iranian women who don’t cover up in public are routinely arrested by the country’s morality police.

Rekabi got to the final round of the weeklong annual Asian Championships and finished in fourth place on Sunday. The Iran Mountaineering and Sport Climbing Federation announced the result on its website alongside an undated image of Rekabi wearing a hijab.

Rekabi did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on Monday, while telephone calls to the Iran Mountaineering and Sport Climbing Federation went unanswered.

Large-scale protests have swept across Iran in recent weeks, sparked by the death of a young woman who was detained by the morality police for breaching the dress code. Mahsa Amini, 22, died in police custody in Tehran on Sept. 16, three days after she was arrested over allegedly wearing her state-mandated hijab too loosely. Iran requires women to don the garment in a way that fully covers their hair while in public.

Iranian police have denied that Amini was mistreated. They said she suffered a heart attack at the police station and died after being in a coma for two days.

Female protesters in Iran have been seen taking off their headscarves and cutting their hair to show solidarity with Amini. The movement has garnered global attention, with people around the world taking to the streets in support of the Iranian protesters.

The widespread demonstrations in Iran have been met with a brutal crackdown by authorities, who are disrupting internet access and allegedly using both excessive and lethal force. Nearly 8,000 protesters have been arrested and at least 240 have been killed, including 32 children, according to U.S.-based rights monitor HRANA.

BTS to serve in South Korean military amid heated debate over their exemption

October 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(SEOUL, South Korea) — After a heated debate in South Korea on whether to change laws to exempt members of K-pop band BTS from serving their mandatory military duty, their management company, BigHit Music, made a surprise announcement that BTS will enlist after all.

“The members of BTS are currently moving forward with plans to fulfill their military service,” starting with the eldest member, Jin, who is turning 30 this year, BigHit Music told ABC News Monday.

Almost all South Korean men are required to enlist for up to two years when they’re between the ages of 18 to 28.

Jin was able to request delayed conscription until the end of this year, thanks to a revised law passed in 2020 in favor of BTS. That law allowed pop culture artists to postpone the draft if the president of South Korea awarded them an Order of Cultural Merits. BTS members were the only male K-pop artists to receive that honor.

Monday’s surprise announcement came during a heated debate about whether to change the current conscription exemption laws to include pop artists like BTS. All South Korean men are required to serve in the military for at least 18 months, with an exception for global award-winning athletes and classical musicians recommended by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to replace the military duty with alternative services.

Military service duties have been one of the biggest hurdles for South Korean male idol groups because each member is of different age and they do not have a choice as to exactly when they will serve. For example, popular K-pop groups like Super Junior had to halt their music performances at the height of their popularity to serve military duty and recently came back as a complete group after 10 years.

“The conscription requirements naturally lead to uncertainty of the members to come back in one complete team [for boy band groups], but BTS seems to have evolved beyond that concern,” columnist Kim Hern-sik told ABC News.

Lawmakers have been discussing a bill revision for over a year, prompting the National Assembly’s Defense Committee to conduct a survey on how South Korean people feel about conscripting BTS. A majority of 60.9% said they are in favor of exempting the group members from military service while 34.3% opposed the idea. But there has been strong opposition, especially from young men.

BigHit Music made it clear on Monday that all seven BTS members will take responsibility for their military service regardless of the results of future bureaucratic decisions.

“For now, this is the last concert scheduled for us. I am not sure when I would be able to be in a concert again, so I’m thinking I should cherish this moment,” BTS leader Jin told a crowd of 50,000 during a concert last Saturday, hinting at the possibility of their decision to enroll as required.

BigHit Music’s announcement on Monday explained that Jin will follow the enlistment procedure as soon as he finished his solo release at the end of October. Other members of the group will carry out their military service according to their individual plans.

“Both the company and the members of BTS are looking forward to reconvening as a group again around 2025 following their service commitment,” Bighit Music added in their announcement via their official social platforms.

Cancer vaccine may be ready by 2030, say founders of COVID vaccine makers BioNTech

October 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — The world could be only a few years away from a cancer vaccine, according to the couple behind the Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine.

“We feel that a cure for cancer or to changing cancer patients’ lives is in our grasp,” professor Ozlem Tureci told BBC News in an interview over the weekend.

Her husband, professor Ugur Sahin, with whom she cofounded the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech, said he thought cancer vaccines could be widely available “before 2030.”

The husband-and-wife duo founded BioNTech in 2008 originally to develop and produce treatments for individualized cancer immunotherapy, using mRNA technology. But when the pandemic hit, they adapted this technology to create one of the first and most effective COVID-19 vaccines.

Scientists have been working on a cancer vaccine for decades. One approach is to teach the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells — ideally preventing cancer from growing in the first place. Further along are other types of vaccines designed to treat people who already have cancer, including one Food and Drug Administration-approved cancer vaccine for people with advanced prostate cancer.

“From the very beginning, our focus has always been on exploiting the full potential of the body’s immune system to successfully help address cancer and infectious diseases,” the company’s website says.

In this recent interview, the two professors explained that their experience of developing the COVID vaccine could help accelerate their work on a cancer vaccine as it launched the mRNA technology into the mainstream.

“What we have developed over decades for cancer vaccine development has been the tailwind for developing the COVID-19 vaccine, and now the Covid-19 vaccine and our experience in developing it gives back to our cancer work,” Tureci said, explaining that “mRNA acts as a blueprint and allows you to tell the body to produce the drug or the vaccine … and when you use mRNA as a vaccine, the mRNA is a blueprint for the ‘wanted poster’ of the enemy — in this case, cancer antigens which distinguish cancer cells from normal cells.”

“The development of several COVID vaccines in record time showed the possibilities of mRNA vaccine technology, which could one day become an effective treatment to help beat cancer,” Dr. Sam Godfrey, research information lead at Cancer Research U.K., said.

“Just as science was our route out of the pandemic, science is our route to beating cancer. We’re optimistic that, in the future, we will see mRNA technology and other exciting vaccine approaches giving doctors more treatment options to help beat cancer,” Godfrey added.

Many other pharmaceutical companies, including vaccine maker Moderna, are also working on mRNA vaccines to target specific cancers.

“Using vaccines to treat cancer is an exciting emerging field,” Godfrey said. “We’ve already partnered with Vaccitech to trial one of the world’s first therapeutic vaccines for lung cancer, and we are funding cutting-edge research learning how virus and vaccine technology might activate the immune system against cancer.”

This approach is not without roadblocks. For example, the BioNTech vaccine needs to be custom-designed for each person. However, a preliminary study in pancreatic cancer suggested the vaccine might help delay cancer reoccurrence, though more research is needed.

“Every step, every patient we treat in our cancer trials helps us to find out more about what we are against and how to address that,” Tureci said, before adding a note of caution: “We are always hesitant to say we will have a cure for cancer. We have a number of breakthroughs and we will continue to work on them.”

What to know about the Iranian kamikaze drones Russia is using to attack Ukraine

October 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A wave of kamikaze drones struck Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Monday morning, killing at least four and wounding several others, after one blew apart a residential building in the capital and other drones targeted thermal power stations across the country.

The attacks appeared to be the largest drone assault unleashed by Russia on civilian targets since the start of the war. Russia launched 43 drones and Ukraine successfully shot down all but six, Ukraine’s Air Force said.

The attack highlighted how Russia is increasingly turning to using attack drones built and supplied by Iran to bolster its failing war effort in Ukraine. Russia has ordered hundreds of military drones from Iran’s government, according to western and Ukrainian officials, as it seeks to fill gaps in its own drone arsenal and as it runs short of long-range missiles.

Ukraine’s government said the drones used in the attacks were mostly Iran’s Shahed-136s, large so-called loitering munitions, which Russia is employing like slow, small cruise missiles.

Iran’s government has denied it is supplying drones to Russia to use in Ukraine but their deployment has already been widely documented since September. Ukrainian troops regularly post images of their wreckage and the drones’ distinctive wing shape makes them easily identifiable.

The 11-foot-long, propeller-powered drones are relatively unsophisticated, according to defense analysts, but still pose a serious threat, particularly if Russia receives them in large numbers.

The Shahed-136 relies on a small civilian motor and commercially available GPS systems, making it vulnerable to jamming and relatively easy to bring down, Samuel Bendett, an expert on Russian unmanned aerial systems, told ABC News. Russian troops have taken to nicknaming these drones “mopeds” because of their loud whine, he said.

While vastly slower than Russia’s advanced cruise missiles, they are still able to fly hundreds of miles, capable of reaching almost anywhere in Ukraine. Slow and low-flying, they can also be difficult for some air defenses to detect and intercept. Their 50-kilogram payload is also relatively limited, but as Monday’s attacks show, the missiles can still sometimes cause significant damage.

The drones’ greatest advantage, experts said, is that they are cheap compared to conventional missiles.

“The whole point of using these Shaheds is to send them in waves. To stress Ukrainian air defenses, to have them expend ammunition, to keep people on edge,” Bendett said. “It’s not about all of them making it through, it’s about just some of them making it through.”

Russia appears to be using the Iranian drones to maintain a campaign of aerial terror aimed at sapping Ukrainians’ will to fight, some experts said. In particular, Russia is targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, hoping to damage it as winter closes in. Monday’s attack again struck critical energy facilities, cutting hundreds of settlements off from the electricity grid, Ukraine’s prime minister said.

The supply of Iranian drones is significant because Russia increasingly has insufficient missiles to keep up a daily campaign against civilian targets, according to Ukrainian and western officials. Most independent experts agree that Russia is unable to manufacture large enough numbers to replenish its stocks. But Iran’s drones may allow Russia to fill that gap, letting it continue its terror campaign and to degrade Ukrainian infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week said Russia is seeking to acquire 2,400 drones from Iran.

The Washington Post reported over the weekend that Iran has agreed to increase its supply of attack drones to Russia, citing officials.

Iran’s weapons supplies to Moscow are also fueling tensions with Israel. Following The Washington Post report, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai publicly said it should start sending military aid to Ukraine.

Israel has so far resisted calls from Ukraine to provide its vaunted “Iron Dome” anti-missile defense system and Israel’s government on Monday did not confirm it would send weapons.

But Russia reacted furiously to the possibility, with former President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday warning that it would “destroy all interstate relations” between Russia and Israel.

A senior adviser to Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak, blamed Iran for Monday’s attacks, writing on Twitter it was “responsible for the murders of Ukrainians.”

Most experts said they did not believe the Iranian drones would be capable of fundamentally altering the military direction of the war, but that they could inflict daily death and destruction on civilians.

Perhaps the biggest threat the drones pose currently is to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

“Even if it’s a 50 kilogram warhead flying in at a very high speed and it hits an electric power station, it can cause very significant damage. So I wouldn’t downplay that at all,” said Bendett.

But even such strikes seemed unlikely to break Ukrainian’s determination to fight, he added.

“The cost could be substantial but it’s probably not going to change Ukrainian resolve,” Bendett said.

Two college wrestlers ambushed in gruesome grizzly bear attack while hunting

October 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Two Wyoming college wrestlers have been seriously injured when they were ambushed in a gruesome attack by a grizzly bear while hunting over the weekend.

The incident occurred on Saturday in Cody, Wyoming, when the two men encountered the bear at close range while they were in heavy cover antler hunting west of the Bobcat Houlihan trailhead on the Shoshone National Forest, the Wyoming Game & Fish Department said in a press release detailing the incident.

One of the men said he jumped on the grizzly to try and get him off his friend, Brady Lowry.

“I grabbed and yanked him hard by the ear,” Kendall Cummings told Cowboy State Daily.

“I could hear when his teeth would hit my skull, I could feel when he’d bite down on my bones and they’d kind of crunch,” Cummings continued.

The two men were somehow able to break free from the attack and call 911 which elicited an immediate response from both Park County Search and Rescue and personnel from the Wyoming Game & Fish Department.

“With the assistance of a hunter in the area, a local resident and other members of their party, the two men were able to reach the trailhead where they met search and rescue and were transported from the area,” said the Wyoming Game & Fish Department.

One of the victims was flown by helicopter to a local hospital while the other was taken by an ambulance, authorities said.

Both men, wrestling teammates at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming, reportedly underwent multiple surgeries after sustaining major lacerations to the body and face. Lowry has a broken arm, reports said.

“Special thanks to Park County Search and Rescue and the Park County Sheriff’s office for their quick response and coordination of the rescue,” said Dan Smith, Cody Region wildlife supervisor.

An investigation into the attack is ongoing but authorities say this just appears to be a “sudden, surprise encounter with a grizzly bear.”

Officials added that there has been “an abundance of bear activity at low elevations” throughout the region in the last few weeks and urged people to use a lot of caution in the area where the attack took place.

“In the vicinity where the attack occurred, reports from landowners and hunters indicate there may be six to 10 different bears moving between agricultural fields and low elevation slopes,” Smith said. “Game and Fish will continue to monitor bear activity in the area and work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to make management decisions in the best interest of public safety.”

“This is a sad and unfortunate situation, we wish both victims a full and speedy recovery,” Smith added.

For now, however, both Lowry and Cummings are counting their blessings and consider themselves lucky to have survived the attack at all.

“I don’t know what I’m going to pay him back, I don’t. I owe him everything, Brady Lowry told the Cowboy Daily Press regarding Cummings’ quick actions that potentially saved his life. “We’ll be best friends for the rest of our lives.”

Monkeypox cases in US fall, hit lowest level since June: CDC

October 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Monkeypox cases are continuing to decline in the United States as the outbreak keeps showing signs of receding.

As of Oct. 12, the U.S. recorded a seven-day average of 60 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is the lowest average recorded since June 29, which is right around the time that infections began climbing. It’s also down from the seven-day average of 443 cases recorded in early August, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows.

Trends seen in cities across the country mirror those nationwide.

In New York City — the epicenter of the outbreak — the seven-day average has fallen to 2 as of Oct. 11, according to the city’s Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. This is a sharp decline from the peak of 73 recorded in late July and early August.

Similarly, in Los Angeles, the seven-day average sits at 5 as of most recent data from Oct. 3, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which is the lowest since early July. It’s also a marked drop from the peak of 41 in late August.

Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, told ABC News the outbreak has fallen for a few reasons, one being behavioral changes.

The outbreak has primarily been concentrated in men who have sex with men, a group that includes people who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender and nonbinary, although health officials have said anyone — regardless of sexual orientation — is at risk if they have direct contact with an infected person.

Surveys have shown that high-risk groups listened to public health advice and made changes such as reducing the number of sexual partners and anonymous sexual encounters.

“There were really substantial changes among men who have sex men,” Doron said. “High proportions said that they had made significant changes in their behavior.”

Another reason, she said, is vaccines. As of Oct. 11, more than 906,000 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine — the only vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent smallpox and monkeypox disease — have been administered across the U.S., according to the CDC.

To increase the number of JYNNEOS doses available, the FDA authorized a new strategy in August to inject the vaccine intradermally, just below the first layer of skin, rather than subcutaneously, or under all the layers of skin, allowing one vial of vaccine to be given out as five separate doses rather than a single dose.

Doron, however, said it’s too soon to claim victory over the outbreak and added that it’s important for those who are at high-risk to keep taking precautions.

“As we have learned and seen with COVID, case numbers have a certain shape and what goes down can come up again,” she said. “So, we can’t rest on our laurels and think that’s it over.”

“The public can relax to a much greater extent than public health officials and hospital officials,” she added.

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Wave of drones strikes Ukraine’s energy infrastructure

October 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin in September announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Oct 18, 5:09 AM EDT
Russia targets Ukraine’s energy infrastructure

Air raid sirens went off in Kyiv for more than three hours on Tuesday, as Russia launched a wave of strikes targeting energy infrastructure across Ukraine.

At least three incoming strikes were confirmed by the authorities in Kyiv. A power plant on the city’s left bank was hit, knocking out power for some residents in that area. Some locals said they didn’t have running water.

Kyiv officials did not say whether there were casualties. It was also unclear whether the plant was hit by a missile or a drone — both types of weapons were reportedly heading towards Kyiv, but some were shot down.

Russian missiles and drones struck other targets across Ukraine on Tuesday, officials said.

Russia struck energy infrastructure in both Zhytomyr and Dnipro, knocking out power and running water for some residents, officials said. There was “serious damage,” Dnipro’s governor said.

Russian forces launched eight missiles on Kharkiv from Belgorod, Russia, this morning, according to the governor. They hit several districts of the city, the official said.

Zaporizhzhia was attacked by Russian drones last night, the governor said. One infrastructure object was damaged, along with a warehouse. No casualties were reported.

Oct 18, 3:42 AM EDT
Russian missile strikes apartments, killing one

Russian missiles struck targets in Mykolaiv that included a residential building, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday.

“A person died,” Zelenskyy said on Twitter. “There was also a strike at the flower market, the chestnut park. I wonder what the Russians were fighting against at these peaceful facilities?”

Oct 17, 5:55 AM EDT
Zaporizhzhia plant disconnected from power grid

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was disconnected from the power grid after Russian shelling on Monday, Energoatom said.

The plant’s diesel generators were started after a “short-term voltage drop,” the energy company said.

“We once again appeal to the international community to urgently take measures for the demilitarization of the ZNPP as soon as possible,” Energoatom said in a statement.

Oct 17, 3:50 AM EDT
Two trapped under rubble after drone strikes, Kyiv mayor says

Eighteen people were rescued and two were trapped under rubble after a Russian drone struck central Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Air raid sirens started blaring in the capital at about 6:30 a.m. on Monday, accompanied by at least three explosions from drone strikes.

A non-residential building in the Shevchenkinskyi district of the city was on fire, Klitschko said. At least one residential building had also been struck, Kira Rudik, a member of Ukrainian Parliament, said on Twitter.

“Critical infrastructure severely damaged. Ruined buildings,” Rudik said. “We have no time for statements about support. We need air defense asap.”

Oct 17, 3:38 AM EDT
Ukraine shoots down 37 drones, military says

Ukrainian forces shot down 37 Russian drones and three cruise missiles overnight, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said.

Oct 17, 1:39 AM EDT
Drones strike Kyiv, mayor says

Multiple blasts struck Kyiv on Monday morning, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Air raid sirens were sounding in the capital, he said. He asked people to shelter in place.

Klitschko shared a photo on Twitter of what he said was the wreckage of a Kamikaze drone.

Biden officially launches student loan forgiveness application

October 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Monday officially launched the application for student loan relief, after the test version of the site went live this weekend — a long-awaited first step to fulfilling one of his campaign promises just weeks before the midterm elections.

“Today marks a big step among others that my administration is taking to make education a ticket to the middle class,” Biden said.

“A new student loan application is now open. If you have federal student debt please visit student aid.gov. It’s easy, simple and fast. And it’s a new day for millions of Americans all across our nation,” he said.

Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said after the Monday briefing that over 8 million borrowers have already applied for loan forgiveness through the “beta” — or test — version of the application, launched on Friday.

The rollout is a much-anticipated move to accomplish Biden’s August announcement that individuals with student loans making less that $125,00 can apply for up to $10,000 of debt relief, or as much as $20,000 for eligible borrowers who were also Pell Grant recipients.

Borrowers who submitted their applications for the student debt relief program during the beta test period won’t need to reapply now that the application is officially launched, according to a department spokesperson.

“As millions of people fill out the application. We’re going to make sure the system continues to work as smoothly as possible so that we can deliver student loan relief for millions of Americans as quickly and as efficiently as possible,” Biden said on Monday.

“My commitment was, if elected president, I was going to make government work to deliver for the people. This rollout keeps that commitment, just as I’m keeping my commitment to relieve student debt as borrowers recover from this economic crisis caused by the once in a lifetime pandemic.”

Biden also acknowledged the Republicans who are seeking to block the new relief.

“The Biden bailout is not only unfairly punishing Americans, but it is a political loser for Democrats this November. While Biden gives the wealthy a handout, his agenda has slammed families with rising gas prices, sky-high grocery bills, and tax hikes,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Nathan Brand said in a statement after Biden’s Monday announcement.

The policy has been challenged multiple times in court, largely by conservative organizations and states that argue that the Biden administration doesn’t have the authority to cancel student loan debt — that it’s up to Congress.

“Republican members of Congress, Republican governors are trying to do everything they can to deny this feat, even to their own constituents. As soon as I announced my administration’s student debt plan, they started attacking it, saying all kinds of things. Their outrage is wrong, and it’s hypocritical,” he said.

So far, none of the lawsuits has halted the program, which the Biden administration argues is on firm legal footing under the HEROES Act — an act that provides broader-than-usual authority to the Education Secretary during emergency periods, such as COVID. Biden said it’s his administration’s legal judgment that the relief program will not be blocked.

Biden noted that many of the GOP members who have opposed the policy have benefited from other COVID-related relief programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program or American Rescue Plan loans.

“As soon as I announced my administration’s student debt plan, they started attacking it, saying all kinds of things. Their outrage is wrong, and it’s hypocritical. I will never apologize for helping working Americans and middle class people as they recover from the pandemic,” he continued.

“I don’t want to hear from Republican officials again, who heard who had hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions of dollars in pandemic relief loans, PPP loans, but who now attack the work the middle class Americans are getting relief,” Biden said.

The federal student loan forgiveness plan will cost $400 billion over 10 years, according to a revised estimate in late September from the Congressional Budget Office, which is a lower number than from one leading outside estimate.

“In total, more than 40 million Americans can stand to benefit from this relief, and about 90 percent — 90 percent of that relief is going to go people making less than $75,000 a year,” Biden said. “Let me be clear: Not a dime will go to those in the top 5 percent of the income bracket. Period.”

Biden said on Monday that the country is “on track” to reducing the federal deficit by $1 trillion this fiscal year, along with reducing it by another $300 billion over the next ten years because of a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that allows Medicaid to now negotiate drug prices with corporations.

“We’re able to afford this student loan relief,” Biden claimed. “It’s because of our historic deficit reduction that Republicans voted against.”

He also said there would be federal income from the borrowers who do not qualify for the loan forgiveness program who will need to begin paying their loans when the payment pause discontinues this January. “That means billions of dollars a year will start coming into the U.S. Treasury,” Biden said.

“My administration’s plan is economically responsible.”

ABC News’ Mariam Khan contributed to this report.

White House blasts what it calls Trump’s ‘antisemitic’ comments

October 17, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The White House on Monday blasted former President Donald Trump for a weekend post on his social media platform telling American Jews to “get their act together.”

“Donald Trump’s comments were antisemitic, as you all know, and insulting, both to Jews and to our Israeli allies. But let’s be clear for years, for years now, Donald Trump has aligned with extremist and antisemitic figures,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. “It should be called out … just like we called out our Democratic friends and colleagues last week and we will condemn and call this out as well.”

“We need to root out antisemitism everywhere it rears its ugly head. We need to call this out,” she said. “With respect to Israel, our relationship is ironclad. And it’s rooted in shared values and interests. Donald Trump clearly doesn’t understand that either.”

The rebuke comes after Trump knocked Jews on Truth Social over a perceived lack of loyalty to Israel, hitting on an antisemitic trope of dual loyalty that has plagued Jews across the world for centuries.

“No President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.,” Trump wrote.

“Those living in Israel, though, are a different story – Highest approval rating in the World, could easily be P.M.! U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel – Before it is too late!” Trump added.

The comment led to other criticism, including from the Jewish Democratic Council of America, which called the post “more unabashed antisemitism from GOP leader Donald Trump.”

“His threat to Jewish Americans and his continued use of the antisemitic dual loyalty trope fuels hatred against Jews. We will not be threatened by Donald Trump and Jewish Americans will reject GOP bigotry this November,” the council tweeted.

“We don’t need the former president, who curries favor with extremists and antisemites, to lecture us about the U.S.-Israel relationship. It is not about a quid pro quo; it rests on shared values and security interests. This ‘Jewsplaining’ is insulting and disgusting,” Anti-Defamation League’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt also said Sunday.

“When the president says, ‘before it’s too late,’ it sounds like a threat in an environment where Jews already feel threatened,” Greenblatt added on CNN Monday. “It is bewildering that President Trump, who has Jewish children and Jewish grandchildren, continues to evoke age-old antisemitic tropes.”

Monday was not the first time Trump faced criticism over his comments on Jews.

He sounded a similar note in 2019 when he said Jewish people who back Democrats are disloyal.

“I think Jewish people that vote for a Democrat — I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office in response to policies from some Democrats to curtail aid to Israel.

“There’s people in this country that are Jewish — no longer love Israel. I’ll tell you, the evangelical Christians love Israel more than the Jews in this country,” he added in an interview released in December.

“It used to be that Israel had absolute power over Congress. And today, I think it’s the exact opposite,” Trump said. “And I think Obama and Biden did that. And yet in the election, they still get a lot of votes from Jewish people, which tells you that the Jewish people, and I’ve said this for a long time, the Jewish people in the United States either don’t like Israel or don’t care about Israel.”

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Monday’s White House rebuke.

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