The Countdown: Making sense of whirlwind day of politics
In this edition of 'The Countdown,' we dig deeper into a whirlwind day of politics, within a whirlwind week.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of documents with classified markings found at President Joe Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at an office in Washington.
Meanwhile, Long Island House Rep. George Santos remained defiant saying he would not resign despite a growing number of Republican colleagues calling for him to step aside.
Kean University Provost David Birdsell joined our show to help us dig into these ongoing narratives.
Here are the other headlines from Thursday's show:
Inflation numbers
We dug deeper into the latest inflation numbers from the federal government. The Consumer Price Index shows prices were 6.5% higher in December compared to a year ago, which was right in line with expectations, and overall inflation has decreased for six straight months now. Inflation actually ticked up a bit month over month in the New York City metro area, though it is still down compared to the peak over the summer. Looking back on how inflation affected the fridges of folks in our area throughout 2022, cereal saw the biggest increase while fruits, veggies and dairy were also up significantly over the course of the year.
Still, the trend in the data has been promising, and we discussed that Thursday with White House economist Jared Bernstein.
NYC nurses strike ends
Thousands of nurses at two New York City hospitals ended a three-day strike Thursday after reaching a tentative contract agreement that union officials said offers better working conditions, in addition to pay raises.
NYC budget
New York City Mayor Eric Adams released details of his $103 billion proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins in July. He warned about a perfect storm of fiscal challenges ahead for the city. Adams' proposal keeps spending for city agencies mostly flat, but some members of the City Council claim it will lead to cuts in essential services.
You can watch 'The Countdown' live Monday-Friday at 6:30 p.m. on ABC7NY.com or our ABC7NY app on Roku, FireTV, Apple TV and Android TV.
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