CBS News
60 Minutes witnesses international incident in the South China Sea
For this week’s season premiere of 60 Minutes, correspondent Cecilia Vega and a producing team intended to report on tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. They did not expect to end up in the middle of an international incident themselves, seeing China’s intimidation tactics first-hand.
The plan was for the 60 Minutes team to accompany the Philippine Coast Guard on a routine mission to resupply its ships and stations. Vega and team boarded the Cape Engaño, a Philippine Coast Guard ship, around 8 p.m. and prepared for their trip to Sabina Shoal, an atoll that lies 93 miles west of the Philippine province of Palawan.
Around 4 a.m. the next day, the 60 Minutes team was woken up by a loud bang, followed by an alarm. A Chinese ship had rammed the Cape Engaño, the Philippine crew informed them, telling them to put on life jackets and stay put inside their cabins.
As 60 Minutes producers Andy Court and Jacqueline Williams assessed the situation, several possible scenarios came to their minds.
“Are we taking on water? Are we going to sink out here in the middle of the South China Sea?” Williams recalls thinking. “I’m seeing Coast Guard personnel standing by the door, guarding the door. So we’re thinking, ‘Are the Chinese about to board our ship?'”
On the advice of veteran 60 Minutes cameraman Don Lee, the crew grabbed their passports and made a plan to secure the footage they had been shooting on board, in the event that Chinese sailors did board the Cape Engaño and attempted to take the cameras’ digital memory cards.
“We had to make sure that when we got off that ship, that we had that footage and we could show the world what it was that we were seeing,” Williams said.
Once back on deck, the 60 Minutes crew saw the three-and-a-half-foot hole torn into the Cape Engaño’s hull. As daylight dawned, they also saw how many Chinese ships surrounded the Philippine ship, bows pointed at it. During the standoff, the crew aboard the Cape Engaño was unable to access internet or cell service, and the Filipinos said it was likely because the Chinese were jamming their communications.
“I’ve been working for this show for a long time,” Court said. “I’ve been in a lot of situations that were dangerous and tense in some way. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this vulnerable. You’re completely isolated out there. You’re completely surrounded.”
As the Filipinos tried to negotiate a way out, they were forced to abandon the first stop on their resupply mission.
The incident was one of many between China and the Philippines during increasing tensions in the last two years. An international tribunal at the Hague in 2016 defined the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, a 200-mile area that includes Sabina Shoal and the area where the Cape Engaño was rammed. China does not recognize the ruling and continues to claim sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, through which more than $3 trillion worth of global trade passes annually.
Over the past few months, China has rammed Philippine boats, sprayed them with water cannons, and blocked their safe passage within the Philippine EEZ. The incident 60 Minutes witnessed on the Cape Engaño signaled a movement of the conflict closer to the Philippine shore than ever before.
China has blamed the Philippines for the tense events at sea. Within hours of the ramming of the Cape Engaño, the Chinese publicized their own version of events. It was the Filipinos, they said in a published video, who rammed the Chinese Coast Guard ship. The video highlighted the faces of the 60 Minutes crew on deck, accusing them of being used as part of a Philippine propaganda campaign.
“The idea that the Filipinos at 4 in the morning could think of nothing better to do than to ram a much larger Coast Guard vessel, a vessel nearly twice their size, seems a little implausible to me,” 60 Minutes producer Andy Court said.
According to correspondent Cecilia Vega, the 60 Minutes team was there simply to document what they witnessed and to show the world what the Filipinos routinely experience.
“The intimidation is very real when you see it up close,” she said. “What you also see, and it takes going out there to see this for yourself, is just how volatile this situation is.”
The video above was produced by Brit McCandless Farmer and edited by Scott Rosann.
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Craig Newmark, the founder of online classified-ads site Craigslist, thinks the U.S. has a cybersecurity problem.
The entrepreneur turned philanthropist has pledged to donate $100 million to help safeguard the country from potential future cyberattacks, the Wall Street Journal first reported. Newmark will allocate $50 million to protect infrastructure, like power grids, from cyberattacks, including from foreign nations. The other half of his donation will be put toward educating the general public about how to safeguard their personal information, according to the report.
Newmark, 71, retired from the company he founded in 2018.
“The country is under attack,” Newmark told the Wall Street Journal. He said that cybersecurity experts who are working to protect the country from attack “need people to champion them.”
Today, many households make use of connected appliances or smart devices that can make them vulnerable to being hacked by criminals. At the corporate level, cyberattacks have become increasingly common.
“In the current cyberwar, the fight is on our own shores, and we all need to play an active role for the protection of our country and ourselves,” Newmark writes on his website.
In June, a hacking group took down CDK Global’s software platform, crippling auto dealerships across the U.S. CDK said that hackers demanded a ransom in order to restore its systems. In February, hackers infiltrated payments manager Change Healthcare, paralyzing segments of the U.S. Health care system. They are but two examples of the tremendous repercussions a cyberattack can have on an industry.
As part of his latest commitment, Newmark, who has pledged to give away nearly all of his wealth to charity, is making donations to a project out of the University of Chicago’s public policy school that trains cybersecurity volunteers to strengthen local infrastructure. Child internet-safety group Common Sense Media, is another beneficiary, according to the WSJ report.
The large majority of the $100 million pledge has not yet been allocated, and organizations can apply for donations through Newmark’s philanthropic organization, Craig Newmark Philanthropies.
On the foundation’s website, Newmark says he likes to donate to organizations that he believes in and lets them spend the money as they see fit. “Okay, what I do is find people who are really good at their jobs, and who can tolerate my sense of humor. I provide them with resources, and then get outta their way,” he states.
In addition to cybersecurity, other causes Newmark champions include support for military families and veterans, safeguarding trustworthy journalism and pigeon rescue.
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Borrowers saddled with higher interest rates on everything from mortgages to credit cards received some welcome news on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve announced a half a percentage point cut to the federal funds rate. That brings the range down to 4.75% to 5.00%, a major reduction from the elevated position the range was frozen at for more than a year.
While it will take some time for that reduction to reverberate, it will inevitably make borrowing cheaper in the weeks and months to come. And with other cuts possible for when the Fed meets again in November and December, borrowing could become even more affordable by the end of the year.
That doesn’t mean, however, that borrowers stuck with high-interest-rate debt should wait for relief. There’s a strong argument to be made that these borrowers should take action now instead. Below, we’ll break down why.
Learn how the right debt relief service can help you here now.
Why borrowers shouldn’t wait for rate cuts to fix their debt
While waiting for rate cuts to echo throughout the economy may be tempting, particularly if you’re suffering from high-rate debt, that could be a mistake. Here’s why:
Rates may not fall dramatically
Credit card interest rates have surged in recent years, averaging over 20% right now. But those rates won’t fall as rapidly as they’ve grown. That’s because credit card rates are determined by a series of complex factors, only one of which is the federal funds rate. And even if credit card rates came down by the same half a percentage point that the federal funds rate did, that’s likely to make very little difference in what you have to pay each month, especially if you’re making minimum payments. So if you’re waiting for the Fed to help reduce what you have to pay on your credit card you could be waiting a very long time.
Start exploring your credit card debt relief options here instead.
Your debt will accrue in the interim
Even if you could rely on multiple rate cuts to come, your existing debt will continue to accrue interest and, possibly, penalties and fees if you’re already struggling to pay what you’ve borrowed. And if you can’t make adequate payments right now, it’ll become even more difficult to do so when dealing with a higher debt total (with compounded interest).
Take a multi-pronged approach
There are multiple debt relief options available right now. From debt consolidation loans to debt management programs to credit card debt forgiveness and even bankruptcy in extreme circumstances, there’s likely a path forward for you now. But that doesn’t mean that you still can’t try to position yourself to take advantage of lower rates. Since rate cuts have broad effects, you may be able to consolidate your debt with a debt consolidation loan now, for example, and then refinance it when rates drop later this year or in 2025. Just don’t sit idle, as debt, no matter the form, can quickly become debilitating if not properly addressed.
Speak with a debt relief servicer now who can help.
The bottom line
It’s never a good idea to let your debt accumulate, even if you’re confident that rate cuts on the horizon could help. Rate cuts, instead, will offer gradual relief, not the significant help you may need. Plus, your debt, fees and penalties will compound in the interim. Instead, consider taking a multi-pronged approach by researching a series of debt relief options that can help you now. And keep rate cuts in mind for the future when you may be able to capitalize by refinancing instead.