Friday morning news: November 18, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Pelosi » It is the end of an era for Democrats.

A standing ovation on the House floor Thursday for Speaker Nancy Pelosi after she announced that she’ll step down from leadership in January.

PELOSI: Now we must move boldly into the future, grounded by the principles that have propelled us this far, and open to fresh possibilities.

The 82-year-old San Francisco lawmaker has led House Democrats for nearly 20 years. Pelosi is the only woman to wield the speaker’s gavel. And while she’s stepping aside from leadership, she will remain in Congress.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries appears to be the frontrunner to replace Pelosi.

GOP senators grill Wray » Also at the Capitol on Thursday:

AUDIO: [gavel] The committee will come to order.

Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security Committee grilled FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Senator Ron Johnson said numerous FBI employees have come forward to lawmakers …

JOHNSON: Blowing the whistle on corruption and some of the highest levels of the FBI. Do you commit that the FBI will not retaliate against whistleblowers?

WRAY: Senator, we will not retaliate against whistleblowers …

Among other things, Republicans allege that FBI officials engaged in a politically motivated cover-up of damaging information about the president’s son, Hunter Biden.

House Republicans have vowed to launch an investigation into Biden family business dealings when the new Congress is seated in January.

Threats to homeland » Wray testified to the committee about threats to the nation. He said China remains a top focus. He cited examples of Chinese operatives in the United States pursuing and harassing Chinese dissidents.

WRAY: We’ve had situations where they’ve planted bugs in Americans’ cars, for example. And one of the things we’re seeing more and more is they’re hiring private investigators here in the US to essentially be their agents.

That comes two days after a panel of experts issued a report to Congress warning about China’s cyber warfare capabilities.

Homeland Security Director Alejandro Mayorkas also testified at the hearing. Republicans pressed him about the border crisis. Ranking Member Sen. Rob Portman:

PORTMAN: Mr. Secretary, is it true that when President Biden took office, is it true that the number of migrants trying to unlawfully enter the United States has increased substantially, yes or no?

MAYORKAS: It has, and there are many different factors that contribute to that.

The secretary said upheaval in Central and South America is largely to blame.

He confirmed a record 2.3 million migrant encounters at the border in the last fiscal year.

Ukraine » President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says 10 million Ukrainians are without power as Russia continues to attack Ukraine’s power grid.

ZELENSKYY: [Ukrainian]

Russian missiles rained down on Ukraine’s energy facilities again on Thursday as the first snow of the season fell in Kyiv.

Ukrainian officials have warned of a rough winter ahead as the government works to fend off ongoing air assaults and repair damage to the power grid.

Meantime, the United Nations on Thursday announced the extension of a deal with Russia to allow the safe export of grain from Ukraine.

Fed rate hikes / Mortgage rate drops » Average long-term U.S. mortgage rate dropped this week, but the Federal Reserve has signaled more rate hikes ahead. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Long-term mortgages tumbled by nearly a half-point, from a little over 7% to about 6.6%.

But that’s still more than double the rate of one year ago.

The rate for a 15-year mortgage also dipped slightly to about 6%.

Mortgage rates could rise again, with the Federal Reserve all but promising more rate hikes in the months ahead to battle inflation.

Two weeks ago, the Fed raised its short-term lending rate by another 0.75 percentage points for a fourth time this year.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

FTX » The man who had to clean up the mess at Enron says the collapse at cryptocurrency firm FTX is even worse.

In a filing by the new CEO of the bankrupt firm, John Ray III says the breakdown of FTX was a “complete failure” of corporate control.

The top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry, agrees.

MCHENRY: It is a malfeasance of regulators to not address the faults and failures and potential consumer harm.

FTX officials allegedly used company funds to pay for lavish lifestyles.

So far, debtors have found and secured “only a fraction” of the group’s digital assets that they hope to recover.

The company valued its assets between $10 billion to $50 billion, with a similar estimate for its liabilities.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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