Friday morning news - September 24, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Biden admin. under fire from both sides over border crisis » The Biden administration is taking fire from both sides of the aisle now over its handling of the border crisis.

The administration’s special envoy to Haiti, Daniel Foote, resigned Thursday in protest as U.S. officials have expelled thousands of Haitian migrants, flying them back to Haiti.

Some Democrats on Capitol Hill are also blasting the expulsions. California Congresswoman Maxine Waters...

WATERS: I’m unhappy with the administration. We are following the Trump policy.

U.S. officials are expelling the migrants under the CDC’s Title 42 public health rule. But White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki disagreed with Waters’ assessment of Biden’s border policies.

PSAKI: We could not see it as any more different from the policy of the prior administration.

And on that point, Republicans agree with the White House that it couldn’t be any more different. Florida Senator Marco Rubio:

RUBIO: Joe Biden sent a very clear message in his campaign and as president, ‘I am not going to enforce our immigration laws.’

Republicans say Biden’s policies have served as a magnet, triggering an unprecedented surge of traffic at the border. They also note that the Biden administration is now releasing many Haitian migrants from a border encampment in El Paso, Texas inside the United States. Officials are giving those migrants orders to appear in an immigration court in 60 days.

Psaki announced on Thursday that DHS is ordering the Border Patrol to no longer use horses in their patrols of the border in El Paso. That after some mounted agents were accused of lashing at migrants with leather reins.

Jobless claims rise for second straight week » The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose for a second straight week. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The Labor Department reports that jobless claims rose nearly 5 percent from the previous week to about 351,000.

Analysts at Contingent Macro Advisors concluded that technical problems in processing the claims could explain the recent rise in newly reported filings. For now, they said, “the jump in claims in the last two weeks is not yet alarming.”

The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week swings, registered its sixth straight drop — to a pandemic low of 336,000.

Jobless claims still remain elevated: Before the virus tore through the economy in March 2020, they generally numbered about 220,000 a week.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Federal Reserve to taper economic support » The Federal Reserve this week announced plans to fight inflation.

The Fed’s policy-making arm, the Federal Open Market Committee, said economic growth exceeded expectations. And it will start dialing down its pandemic stimulus measures such as monthly bond purchases as early as November.

The committee is also thinking about raising benchmark interest rates next year despite prior projections that it wouldn’t need to do that until 2023.

When the pandemic started, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to close to zero and started buying assets each month to relieve the strain on the economy.

China sends 24 fighter jets toward Taiwan in show of force » China on Thursday sent fighter jets toward Taiwan in a show of force as the United States and its allies mount a more assertive response to a rising China.. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has that story.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: The U.S., U.K., and Australia recently announced a new defense agreement as Western allies build a stronger presence in the Indo-Pacific region.

China has bristled at the moves. But at the U.N. General Assembly this week, President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping chose calming language, saying they don’t want a new Cold War.

Still, China continues to build up its military outposts as it presses its maritime claims over critical sea lanes. And Western allies are growing louder in their support of Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.

On Thursday, China sent 24 fighter jets toward Taiwan after the island announced its intention to join a Pacific trade group.

Today, Biden will host the leaders of Japan, India, and Australia for in-person talks on several matters, including how to keep the Indo-Pacific region—quote—“free and open.”

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

CDC panel endorses Pfizer booster shots for older, at-risk Americans » A CDC advisory panel voted Thursday to give its stamp of approval to a third booster shot of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for many vulnerable Americans.

That would include anyone over the age of 64, as well as high risk individuals.

That vote cleared the way for a quick final approval by the CDC.

No word yet on when or if the panel will vote on booster shots for all Americans.

Pfizer Senior Vice President Dr. Bill Gruber said results from booster shot trials have been very encouraging. He said the antibody response continues to rise between seven days and one month after a third shot and, in his view, that means a booster shot...

GRUBER: Is likely to not only provide protection comparable to what is seen after two doses, but maybe improved protection as well as greater durability of protection.

Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are also testing the response to additional booster shots.

Britain and Israel are already rolling out a third round of shots. The World Health Organization strongly objects, however, complaining that poor countries don't have enough for their initial doses.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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