Monday morning news: December 11, 2023

Israel war latest » The Israeli Defense Forces continue to carry out airstrikes on its shared border with Lebanon.

SOUND: [Airstrike]

That’s the northern border of Israel, where another Iran-backed terror group, Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israeli forces. And there is growing concern that Israel may soon be fighting a war on two separate fronts.

Meantime, in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to the west. The IDF says it just carried out more than 150 airstrikes in a 24-hour period.

NETANYAHU: [Speaking Hebrew]

And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a message for militants fighting under the command of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar:

NETANYAHU: [Speaking Hebrew]

His words: “It is the beginning of the end of Hamas. Don't die for Sinwar. Surrender – now.”

With a growing humanitarian crisis for civilians in Gaza, Israel continues to face mounting pressure from some global leaders to agree to a prolonged cease-fire.

But U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken counters:

BLINKEN: When it comes to a cease-fire in this moment, with Hamas still alive, still intact, and again, with the stated intent of repeating October 7th again, and again, and again, that would simply perpetuate the problem.

Blinken on ammo sale to Israel » Back in Washington, Secretary Blinken is also defending a move to sidestep Congress in selling thousands of rounds of tank ammunition to Israel.

BLINKEN: We want to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Hamas. A small portion of what has been requested is going through on an emergency basis.

And what has been requested is more than $100 billion dollars to pay for aid to Israel and Ukraine, among other things.

Blinken again warned that funds for aid to Kyiv are running low. And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with President Biden tomorrow at the White House to underscore the need for more help.

Border security package » But the purse strings are controlled a couple miles away on Capitol Hill. And Republicans are clear about what it will take for them to grant the president’s funding request. Sen. Roger Marshall:

MARSHALL: The border situation is getting worse every day; record days, 10,000, 11,000, 12,000 people crossing our border every day. Since Joe Biden became president, 10 million people have crossed the border illegally.

They want major policy shifts on the border, including changes to asylum rules.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said last week that’s a hill they will die on.

And many Democrats say they’re open to those changes. Sen. Chris Murphy told NBC’s Meet the Press, they won’t consider any kind of total freeze on asylum claims, but …

MURPHY: We are willing to talk about tightening some of the rules so that you don’t have 10,000 people arriving a day.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is asking for a half-billion dollars in federal aid to help deal with the border crisis in her state.

Hunter Biden » Attorneys for Hunter Biden are crying foul over his indictment last week on felony tax charges. But GOP Congressman Byron Donalds is pushing back, telling Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures:

DONALDS: His attorney Abby Lowell, the only reason why he got indicted is because his last name was Biden. No, Abby, the only reason that it took so long for him to be indicted is because his last name is Biden.

Hunter Biden is scheduled to appear before Congress this week for closed-door testimony. House GOP leaders have rejected his request—or in fact, demand—that he be allowed to testify publicly. And they say if Hunter defies their subpoena, they’ll hold him in contempt of Congress.

Tennessee tornadoes/storms » In Tennessee thousands of people are cleaning debris off of their lawns, and some are sifting through rubble where their homes once stood.

Powerful storms spawned a spate of tornadoes over the weekend, carving paths of destruction and killing at least six people.

A Nashville resident says one of his coworkers was among them.

RESIDENT: He was 31. He was 31 years old. He got a ten-year-old boy. And that's the other reason that I didn't sleep last night too. It's not... I'm thankful that we're all alive, but what hurts me more than anything is that he lost his life last night.

The storms also knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses.

Javier Milei inaugural speech » In Argentina, newly elected President Javier Milei delivered his inaugural speech Sunday, bracing the country for difficult days ahead. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: If you think inflation in the United States has been bad, Argentina is currently grappling with 143 percent annual inflation. That’s almost 50 times greater than the current U.S. inflation rate.

That has plunged four in 10 Argentinians into poverty.

The South American nation also has an enormous trade deficit and crushing debt.

MILEI: [Speaking Spanish]

And President Milei did not sugarcoat the country’s predicament.

MILEI: [Speaking Spanish]: No hay plata.

“No hay plata” translates to “There is no money.”

And he added, “There is no alternative” to—in his words “shock treatment.”

Milei warned that the needed spending cuts will be painful in the short term, but it will get better.

The conservative economist-turned-politician won a landslide election victory by vowing to reverse the massive money-printing and big-spending policies that he said caused the crisis.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: The right to trial by a jury of one’s peers on Legal Docket. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat.

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