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In our news wrap Wednesday, Boeing reported a $6 billion loss for the latest quarter as striking union workers vote on a new contract, American Airlines was fined $50 million for the carrier’s mistreatment of disabled passengers and wheelchairs and freshman enrollment at college campuses declined this fall for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Geoff Bennett:
And we start today’s other headlines with the ongoing troubles at Boeing. The plane maker reported a $6 billion loss for the latest quarter, even as striking union workers vote on a new contract. The company’s CEO, Kelly Ortberg, announced plans today to turn Boeing around by improving company culture and boosting airplane production.
But that can’t be done until some 33,000 striking machinists return to work after nearly six weeks on the picket line. They’re voting on a new contract today, with results expected tonight. Ortberg said today that he’s hopeful about the outcome.
Kelly Ortberg, CEO, Boeing:
The vote is important. It’s more important in terms of our long term, getting back to building airplanes, delivering good airplanes. And so we have worked really hard to find that overlap where we have got a deal that the employees can feel good about, and the company can be successful going forward.
Geoff Bennett:
The deal offers bonuses and a 35 percent wage increase over four years. It stops short of restoring a pension plan that was frozen a decade ago.
The U.S. government is finding American Airlines $50 million for the carrier’s mistreatment of disabled passengers and their wheelchairs. The Transportation Department says the company failed to provide assistance to passengers with disabilities and damaged thousands of wheelchairs between 2019 and 2023.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the company’s conduct was not just undignified, but unsafe. Authorities say that American will only need to pay half of the fine because it’s getting credit for money spent on improving its handling of wheelchairs and for compensating those affected.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken touched down in Saudi Arabia today, his second stop of his latest visit to the Middle East. In Riyadh, he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for two hours, during which the two discussed their — quote — “common efforts” to end the war in Gaza.
Today, the Israeli army says it arrested some 150 suspected Hamas militants in Jabalia in Northern Gaza and forced more than 20,000 Palestinians to evacuate. Blinken and the crown prince also talked about the fighting in Lebanon, where health officials say 28 people were killed in the past 24 hours.
Israel ordered residents in the port city of Tyre to flee hours before unleashing a new wave of strikes.
Wael Farraj, Lebanon Resident (through interpreter):
We took the children, grabbed what we could and fled. We came back and looked, and our house had collapsed. Are there weapons? There’s only a small bed for my son. What could there possibly be here?
Geoff Bennett:
The U.N. children’s agency says the fighting in Lebanon has forced 1.2 million people out of their homes, including more than 400,000 children.
Here in the U.S., freshman enrollment at college campuses declined this fall for the first time since the start of the pandemic. A preliminary report out today shows the total number of first-year students nationwide was down by 5 percent. The drop was even steeper at four-year colleges that serve low-income students, which saw a 10 percent fall.
Despite that dip, overall college enrollment was up 3 percent. Experts say it’s hard to pinpoint a reason for the freshman declines, but they acknowledge that it’s the first such report since the troubled rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FAFSA.
The Justice Department has reportedly warned billionaire businessman Elon Musk’s political action committee that its million-dollar sweepstakes may be illegal. Last weekend, Musk announced a lottery-style giveaway of a million dollars each day until Election Day and has already given away at least three prizes.
But, to qualify, you have to sign a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments and you have to be a registered voter in one of seven highly contested swing states. Federal law prohibits paying people to register to vote. A DOJ official declined to comment to the “News Hour.”
On Wall Street today, stocks ended sharply lower on the day. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 400 points, its biggest loss since early September. The Nasdaq fell nearly 300 points, or more than 1.5 percent. The S&P 500 ended lower for a third straight day.
And baseball is mourning the loss of Los Angeles Dodgers great Fernando Valenzuela. He died last night in Los Angeles.
William Brangham looks back at how Valenzuela’s meteoric rise helped elevate America’s national pastime.
Announcer:
The youngest Major League opening day starter since Catfish Hunter 15 years ago.
William Brangham:
In 1981, this 20-year-old Mexican-born lefty sent the city of Los Angeles and the broader baseball world into Fernando Mania.
Fernando Valenzuela pitched a shutout that opening day,the first of his eight straight wins, five of them shutouts. Known for the rare screwball pitch, Valenzuela earned rookie of the year and the Cy Young Award that season, the only pitcher ever to be so honored.
That year, he helped lead a stacked Dodgers team to a World Series championship. They called him El Toro, The Bull, and he made the All-Star team six years in a row, winning awards for both his fielding and hitting.
Born into a Mexican farming family, the youngest of 12 kids, Valenzuela was especially beloved by California’s Latino community, who flocked to see him at Dodger Stadium.
Man:
I love him. The Dodgers are number one, all right!
William Brangham:
In 1990, his last year with the team, he left Dodger fans a particularly sweet parting gift.
Announcer:
Fernando Valenzuela has just pitched a no-hitter.
William Brangham:
After a 17-year big league career, Valenzuela served as color commentator for the Dodgers’ Spanish language radio broadcasts. Last night, after his death, Dodger Stadium’s scoreboard was alight with his memory.
Major League Baseball said it will pay tribute to El Toro Friday night in Los Angeles before game one of the World Series between the Dodgers and the New York Yankees. Fernando Valenzuela was 63 years old.