Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump predicts 'billions' of dollars of Pentagon fraud in Fox News interview; MS farmers question federal poultry subsidies amid avian flu; Report: OR needs to do more to get Native Americans into higher ed; Report: Military service members pay more for car loans.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, February the 10th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump said he expects Elon Musk to find hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse of the Pentagon during an audit that the billionaire will lead.

That's from Reuters.

Trump added in a Super Bowl interview with Fox News, "I'm going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education.

Then I'm going to go to the military.

Let's check the military."

Meantime, the BBC reports during the Fox interview, Trump was asked about his previous comments, that he wants to make Canada a 51st state and join the U.S.

Quoting Trump, "I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada, and I'm not going to let that happen."

The BBC notes a senior official later clarified to CNN, the $200 billion number was comprised of U.S. defense spending that Canada benefits from, and the rest is from trade U.S.-Canada trade deficit.

And as avian flu outbreaks continue to disrupt poultry farms across the country, Mississippi farmers and advocates question the federal subsidies compensating large poultry corporations for livestock losses.

Critics argue that the current indemnity system, which reimburses producers for a significant percentage of their losses, fails to incentivize biosecurity improvements and places a disproportionate burden on taxpayers.

A veterinarian and industry watchdog, Crystal Heath, highlights how large-scale poultry corporations benefit from federal payouts, even as their profits soar.

Essentially what we are finding is that unconditional indemnity disincentivizes livestock producers to adopt biosecurity because they know that if the disease strikes their system, then they would be indemnified.

Mississippi ranks among the top poultry-producing states in the nation, with the industry contributing billions in the state's economy.

I'm Tramell Gomes.

This story is based on original reporting by Gray Moran at Sentinent.

Next, institutions need to do more to close the higher education graduation gap for Native Americans.

That's according to a new report.

The report notes at just 25 percent, Native Americans have the lowest college-going rate of any racial group in the country.

Cheryl Crazy Bull with the American Indian College Fund, who helped author the report, recommends states set specific higher education goals focused on increasing Native participation.

She adds they should prioritize direct engagement with tribes and schools to provide resources, as well as expanding recruitment practices.

Those practices can often exclude Native students who live in reservation, rural areas, as well as urban Native students.

In 2022, Oregon made public universities free for Native students enrolled in one of the state's nine federally recognized tribes through the Oregon Tribal Stewardship Grant.

The program has been gaining steam over the years, but the graduation gap, made larger during the pandemic, has not closed.

I'm Isabel Charlay.

This is public news service.

Military borrowers pay higher costs and face greater financial risks than civilian borrowers when taking out credit to buy a car, according to a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The report found service members tend to borrow larger sums at higher interest rates over longer terms.

Rosemary Sheahan with the Sacramento-based nonprofit Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety says yo-yo scams are common, where the victim signs an initial contract on good terms, but then the dealer claims the financing fell through.

Then they say, if you don't agree to sign this other contract, where we're charging you for a lot of worthless add-ons and a higher interest rate, then we'll report the vehicle stolen and it'll ruin your career.

The report finds many service members are young and far from family members who might help them negotiate a large purchase.

I'm Suzanne Potter.

And community action agencies in Massachusetts are asking state lawmakers to boost anti-poverty programs.

That, as federal aid, remains in limbo.

Governor Maura Healey chose not to fund the agency's line item in her proposed budget, putting critical services for people coping with food and housing insecurity at risk.

President of the Massachusetts Association for Community Action Pam Keechler says a loss of funding would impact food pantries that families rely on statewide.

Things have not gotten better for folks, and so we'll have to reduce the number of days.

We'll probably have to reduce the amount of food that we're able to distribute.

Keechler says her agency's food pantry in New Bedford helped nearly 14,000 people last year alone.

The agencies are requesting $7.5 million for the more than 600,000 people in Massachusetts they serve.

I'm Catherine Carley.

Finally, groups working to protect Iowa's air and water quality rallied at the state capitol this afternoon against a bill they say would protect pesticide companies from lawsuits if their products make people sick.

Iowa Senate Study Bill 1051, the so-called Cancer Gag Act, provides defense from civil liability tied to the use of pesticides as long as their labeling meets Environmental Protection Agency standards, which can be 15 years old.

Iowa Food and Water Watch organizer McKaylin Mankell says the measure would essentially change the law to protect pesticide companies from accountability in a state that's already facing a public health crisis.

We have rising cancer rates.

We're the only state in the nation where incidents of cancer are increasing, and we rank second in the nation for rates of cancer.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has said that glyphosate is probably carcinogenic to humans, but the EPA says there's no evidence to support that.

I'm Mark Moran.

This is Mark Clifford for Public News Service.

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