News from around the nation.

Trump says Americans are doing great, even as views on the economy sour; Truth Initiative expands GA 'quit smoking' support to Celebration Bowl; AL could face setbacks after loss of digital equity funds; New report claims Michigan taxpayers could foot the bill for Line 5.

Transcript

The Public News Service Wednesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Trump Tuesday night gave the first of a series of speeches intended to alleviate Americans' concerns about the cost of living, but spent most of the time mocking the term "affordability" and insisting that Americans were doing better than they had ever done before.

That's the take from the New York Times.

They note speaking to an enthusiastic crowd in the Poconos, the president repeatedly confused slowing inflation down with bringing down prices, which would be deflation with its own risks.

Later, Trump said inflation is stopped.

His own Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that as of September, inflation was running close to 3 percent, almost exactly where it was at the end of the Biden administration.

Meantime, as thousands of HBCU students, alumni and fans head to Atlanta for this weekend's Celebration Bowl, public health leaders say it's also a timely moment to raise awareness about tobacco addiction and health equity in black communities.

Nonprofit truth initiative is expanding its quitting resources and educational outreach during bowl week aiming to counter decades of targeted tobacco marketing and offer culturally relevant support to people who want to quit truth initiative.

Vice president Kendrick Dardis says the event creates a powerful space to meet communities where they are.

So today we know that 45,000 black Americans die from smoking related diseases each and every year.

Black Americans have the highest prevalence of smoking compared to other racial and that includes Chantia Hudson reporting.

And the sudden loss of Digital Equity Act funding is disrupting programs that help people in Alabama get online and build their digital skills.

Angela Seifer who heads the National Digital Inclusion Alliance explains what the gap will mean for those who depend on those services.

The cancellation of the Digital Equity Act means that there will be grandmas who get scammed, veterans who can't talk to their doctors, and people who can't apply for jobs.

The support has been used for organizations that train digital navigators who work directly with residents of rural counties and small towns where broadband access is still limited.

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance has filed a lawsuit to try to restore the funding, arguing the program is lawfully and urgently needed.

This story with original reporting from Sarah Jane Tribble for KFF Health News.

And a coalition of environmental and business groups say, Michigan taxpayers could end up paying billions for the Line 5 tunnel, four-mile underground passage Enbridge wants to build to contain its aging pipeline between the Straits of Mackinac.

A new report from Oil and Water Don't Mix and Clean Water Action claims the project could shift billions of dollars of financial risk onto the state.

Report co-author Sean McBarrity says the agreement means Enbridge builds the tunnel but Michigan will own it.

That means that Michigan taxpayers could be responsible for the catastrophic cleanup, water system repairs, tourism losses, public health emergencies if something goes wrong.

Enbridge disputes the report saying Michigan is fully indemnified and taxpayers won't pay for any incident.

This is public news service.

Christmas is coming early this year for some families in Los Angeles County as letters arrived this week letting people know their medical debt has been forgiven.

Some 363 million dollars in medical debt owned by 171,000 people has been permanently erased since the county's medical debt relief program began last year.

Allison Sesso is president of the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt which is administering the program for the county.

There is no action an individual can take to buy this debt on their own and there's nothing anybody has to do to get this relief.

They just have to receive a letter and know that that debt has been relieved and they're free and clear of it.

She says this current round of debt relief will eliminate 180 million dollars of debt held by 39,000 Los Angeles area residents.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

And as a legal appeal to force a farms to disclose hazardous emissions continues to play out.

Environmental advocates are calling attention to a new Trump administration rule that could limit reporting on those same farms.

Advocates are appealing a federal court's decision to uphold a policy exempting factory farms from publicly disclosing hazardous emissions.

Those same groups are now raising alarms as the Trump administration ends the greenhouse gas reporting program, reducing federal oversight of factory farm emissions.

Ryan Mehar with the Center for Biological Diversity says that many factory farms already have exemptions from that program, but ending it would place even more limits on emissions reporting.

This move by EPA essentially eliminates responsibilities for industries to report.

There will be some state-level reporting still, but this is the cornerstone of understanding what's happening with greenhouse gas emissions and EPA is doing away with it in large part.

The Trump administration has said ending the rule would save businesses an estimated $2.4 billion in regulatory costs while still complying with the Clean Air Act.

I'm Zamone Perez.

Finally, each year, billions of chickens, cows and pigs are raised, slaughtered and fed to people in Wyoming and across the US.

But a recent survey by Finalytics found that a strong majority of voters actually care a lot about the conditions these animals endure.

For example, chickens are routinely kept in cages so small they can't even move.

Research director Allison Troy says 61 percent of voters surveyed across party lines said they would support candidates who work to improve animal welfare and reduce the number of animals in factory farms.

The candidates who adopted these kinds of pro-animal welfare positions not only were more popular in terms of they received more support, but they also were perceived as being more likable, more competent, and more empathetic.

A majority of conservatives, liberals, and moderates surveyed also said they would not vote for a candidate who promised to increase government subsidies to meat companies or remove animal welfare protections.

Proponents of factory farming have long argued that it's the most efficient way to produce large quantities of affordable food.

I'm Eric Galatas.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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