Friday morning news: October 13, 2023

Scalise drops out » It’s one step forward and one step back on Capitol Hill as Republicans continue their search for the next House speaker.

SCALISE: I never came here for a title, and it’s much bigger than me, and it’s much bigger than anybody else.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise dropped out of the speaker’s race, just one day after he won a closed-door secret-ballot vote among Republicans.

Despite that victory, he was still short of the 217 GOP votes he would need to win an election on the House floor. A small group of Republican holdouts kept Scalise from reaching that threshold.

SCALISE: There are some folks who really need to look in the mirror over the next couple of days and decide, are we going to get it back on track or are they going to try to pursue their own agenda. We can’t do both.

Scalise said he still believes Republicans will come together soon.

Israel/Iran » Republican lawmakers continue to call on the White House to hold Iran partially responsible for Hamas attacks in Israel.

Congressman Mike Turner:

TURNER: The roads to Iran. Hamas is a franchise from Iran. They train them, they arm them with rockets, with weapons.

Many Republicans are calling on the Biden administration to freeze $6 billion dollars of Iranian funds set to be released to Iran as part of a recent prisoner swap.

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott says he’s pushing a bill that would go well beyond that $6 billion.

SCOTT: And in addition to that would allow us to then go beyond that and look at every account we can find where Iran has more than $5 million dollars.

Israel » The death toll in Israel from Hamas attacks now tops 1,300.

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken:

BLINKEN: If you look at this in proportion to the size of Israel’s population, this is the equivalent of 10 9-11s. That’s how big and how devastating this attack has been.

At least 25 Americans are among the dead with at least 14 US citizens missing, possibly being held hostage by Hamas.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan:

ERDAN: They declared a war on the civilized world. They want all of us. They want to annihilate all of us. 

And Israel could be close to sending ground troops into enemy territory.

The Israeli military this morning ordered residents of northern Gaza to evacuate the area within 24 hours.

But more than a million people live in the region, and a UN spokesman said one day isn’t enough time … “warning of a devastating” civilian toll.

Social Security cost-of-living increase » Social Security recipients will get a bump in the size of their payments next year, but not as big as this year. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Beginning in January, Social Security checks will grow by 3.2%. Roughly 66 million retirees will get an extra $50 dollars or more to help cover rising prices. That adds up to a monthly average income of just over 1,900 dollars.

With inflation cooling, the increase is less than half of the 8.7% cost-of-living increase announced a year ago.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Abortion pregnant workers » Pro-lifers this week stood up against a proposed pro-abortion rule from the Biden administration.

The rule would use the recently-passed Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to force employers to provide a “reasonable accommodation” for abortion.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops formally said the rule would “introduce the abortion issue into a law that says nothing about abortion.”

The Biden administration will look to finalize the rule in late December.

Hawaii 911 » Newly released 911 calls from a deadly August wildfire in Hawaii reveal the desperation of residents as the flames closed in.

AUDIO: I left my kids. I went down to the store. I left my kids in the house, and they don’t have any way to evacuate.

DISPATCH: OK, what is your address?

A nearby storm whipped the fire into a frenzy on the island of Maui. The blaze incinerated nearly the entire town of Lahaina, killing roughly 100 people.

Officials are still investigating the cause of the blaze.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, Classic romance films turning 30 this year.

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