Friday morning news: October 14, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kristen Flavin. 

Parkland Reax » Family members of slain high schoolers are reeling after a jury refused to sentence Nikolas Cruz to death. In 2018, Cruz killed 17 people at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Anne Ramsay is the mother of one of the students who was killed.

RAMSAY: After spending months and months, listening and hearing testimonies, and looking at the murderer, his composure, I believe justice was not done. The wrong verdict was given out today.

Tony Montalto’s daughter also died in the massacre.

MONTALTO: And the monster that killed them gets to live another day. This sentence fails to punish the perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law.

Cruz is set to be formally sentenced in November to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Family members will be able to testify at that hearing.

Social Security » Social Security benefits are going up by nearly 9 percent. It is the biggest cost of living adjustment to the program in about 40 years.

Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Kilolo Kijakazi

KIJAKAZI: If you get social security benefits, the higher amount takes effect with your first payment in January 2023.

Recipients could get an estimated $145 more a month, which could mean extra food and gas money.

The Social Security program serves about 70 million people. The annual Cost of Living Adjustment helps it keep up with rising inflation.

The boost will also be combined with slightly lower Medicare premiums.

The announcement comes just weeks before the midterm elections in which the high cost of living is a top issue for voters.

Connecticut Police Shooting » In Bristol, Connecticut, families are mourning the loss of two police officers in a shootout. Authorities are saying a suspect might have lured the officers into an ambush.

State police Sergeant Christine Jeltema.

JELTEMA: When officers arrived they were immediately met with a suspect outside of 310 Redstone Hill Road shots were fired fatally wounding one officer on scene.

The shooting follows multiple instances of violence against police officers over the past two days, including a recent shooting in Philadelphia that wounded three officers.

Bristol Police Chief Brian Gould.

GOULD: To our fallen officers' families we will never forget the sacrifice your loved ones have made. We are here for you and we will continue to be here for you.

54 police officers have died this year in the line of duty, 62 died in total in 2021.

January 6th Hearing » The House select committee on January 6th will subpoena former President Donald Trump to testify.

At a hearing on Thursday, members discussed Trump’s state of mind in the days leading up to the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Congressman Adam Kinzinger…

KINZINGER: At times, President Trump acknowledged the reality of his loss, although he publicly claimed that he had won the election. Privately, he admitted that Joe Biden would take over as president.

Protesters stormed the building on the day Congress met to certify the results of the 2020 election.

In an interview with Fox News Thursday, Trump called the committee’s work a partisan witch hunt.

Inflation » The Labor Department’s inflation report showed that overall consumer prices rose by 8.2 percent in September, year over year. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Consumers are paying higher prices at the pump and the grocery store after the cost of food and energy jumped by almost 7 percent.

The report said inflation rose slightly faster from August to September than July to August.

That sets up the Federal Reserve for another interest rate hike—probably by another three-quarters of a point.

Thursday’s report represents the final U.S. inflation figures before the Nov. 8 midterm elections after a campaign season in which spiking prices have been on voter’s minds.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Ukraine Update » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe agrees that Russia is a terrorist state.

The designation comes after Russia launched missiles and kamikaze drones at targets across Ukraine. Russia says it is taking out Ukraine’s military and infrastructure, but Ukraine says the strikes are hitting civilians.

The United States and other Western countries have promised to provide more advanced air defense systems for Ukraine

ZELENSKYY: [Ukrainian]

Zelenskyy also accused Russia of sending untrained civilians to the front lines as soldiers, saying that Russia was using human beings as “cannon fodder.”

AUDIO: [Russian]

Meanwhile Russian citizens are recounting an attack on the city of Belgorod, Russian state TV says that Ukraine is now firing missiles at the city, which rests on the border between the two countries.

I'm Kristen Flavin. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.

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