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We bring you 5 stories that will get you up to speed and on with your day. Updates at 6am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm and 6pm Eastern, every weekday.

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6 PM ET: GA record voter turnout, Pentagon grants honorable discharges, Lufthansa fined & more
CNN 5 Things
Oct 15, 2024

Georgia shattered its record for voter turnout on its first day of early voting. One of Hezbollah’s leaders says Israel must choose between a ceasefire or “pain,” as their cross-border attacks continue. The Pentagon has granted honorable discharges to more than 800 service members who were kicked out of the military for their sexual orientation. Germany’s biggest airline received a record fine from the US for discriminating against Jewish passengers. Plus, Americans are more concerned about their mounting credit card debts now than during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Episode Transcript
Ifeoma Dike
00:00:01
'From CNN, I'm Ifeoma Dike with the five things you need to know for Tuesday, October 15th. Georgia election officials say the state is shattering its record for early in-person voting, which kicked off today. Gabriel Sterling with the secretary of state office says 136,000 people cast their ballots on the first day of early voting back in 2020. Now they're on track to surpass 200,000 votes cast. It comes as both presidential candidates are appealing to voters in swing states this week and ramping up attacks about each other's mental and physical fitness for office. Vice President Kamala Harris called on former President Donald Trump to release his medical records after she released her is over the weekend. On Truth Social Trump baselessly attacked the Democratic nominees medical history and claimed he was too busy campaigning to release his records. CNN's Harry Enten breaks down who voters see as more capable in that regard.
CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten
00:00:56
'You look back in July when it was Donald Trump versus Joe Biden. Look at this. Donald Trump crushing Joe Biden 50% to 21%. Jump forward to September. My goodness gracious, Harris -- 54% say she has the better mental physical health to be president, compared to just 34% for Donald Trump. That is the biggest difference now with Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic nominee, health -- either physical or mental. That was so helpful for Donald Trump and his campaign to jump ahead of Joe Biden now is working in the complete reverse. At least if you believe the polling data. And guys, I don't have to tell you, I do.
Ifeoma Dike
00:01:31
Around a fifth of people in Lebanon have fled their homes and about a quarter of the country is under Israeli military evacuation orders. That's according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. Israeli forces say at least 90 rockets have been fired at Israel from Lebanon today, with Iran backed militant group Hezbollah claiming responsibility for some of the barrages. Hezbollah's deputy secretary general called on the Israelis to accept the cease fire in Lebanon or face, quote, pain as the group changes its strategy to strike harder and deeper in Israel.
Hezbollah's deputy secretary general
00:02:03
Since the Israeli enemy has targeted all of Lebanon, we have the right from a defensive position to target any point within the Israeli entity.
Ifeoma Dike
00:02:12
More than 800 records of service members who are kicked out of the military under the don't ask, don't tell policy have been upgraded to receive honorable discharges. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced about a year ago that his department would start reviewing the records of former service members who are discharged because of their sexual orientation. Of the cases reviewed, almost 97% had their discharges upgraded. CNN's Oren Liebermann explains how this will have real impact for these former service members.
CNN correspondent Oren Libermann
00:02:42
The reason that has such a real life consequence is that affects VA benefits, benefits under the G.I. Bill, the ability to get home loans, the ability to get some government jobs. This was a big effort from Austin and from the Pentagon, and now you see it coming to fruition.
Ifeoma Dike
00:02:58
Germany's biggest airline has been fined a record $4 million for discriminating against Jewish passengers. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced today that Lufthansa's penalty is the largest it's ever issued for civil rights violations. The fine stems from a May 2022 incident in which the airline prohibited 128 Jewish passengers from boarding. The D.O.T. said they were denied boarding because of, quote, alleged misbehavior of a few, but the passengers didn't know each other and weren't traveling together. In a news release, the airline said the incident, quote, resulted from an unfortunate series of inaccurate communications, misinterpretations and misjudgments. It added that these actions don't, quote, support any finding of discrimination and the department's findings in this case. Coming up, another round of economic good news, bad news.
Ifeoma Dike
00:03:52
Americans are feeling fairly secure in their jobs and they think inflation isn't getting much worse. That's according to new survey data released today by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Sounds like good news, right? Well, wait until you hear about the credit card debt. CNN's Alicia Wallace has the story.
CNN senior business writer Alicia Wallace
00:04:09
People are getting more and more worried that they might miss a debt payment here in the coming months. In fact, those delinquency expectations hit the highest level since April 2020. Now, credit card balances have been on the rise, and that's a reflection of the strong economy. Shift away from cash and, of course, higher prices. And while many people have the ability to pay off their balances each month, three plus years of high inflation have weighed much more heavily on others.
Ifeoma Dike
00:04:40
That's a wrap. Our next episode drops at 6 a.m. Eastern.