Monday morning news: October 9, 2023

SOUND: [Israel]

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Israel » Israel is at war.

SOUND: [Netanyahu]

Israel officially declared war against the Hamas terror group Sunday after suffering a massive coordinated terror attack.

ERDAN: This is Israel’s 9-11.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan:

ERDAN: What we are witnessing are war crimes, blatant, barbaric war crimes. Slaughtering civilians, abusing hostages, taking babies from their mothers. There are no words to describe such savagery.

Hamas militants also reportedly fired thousands 3,500 rockets into Israeli cities, killing hundreds and injuring thousands of people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said all of the places Hamas is hiding in or acting from—quote—“we’ll turn them into rubble.” He warned citizens in those places to—his words … “get out of there now, because we're about to act everywhere with all our force."

Israel reaction » Israel’s Western allies are pledging steadfast support. President Biden declared over the weekend:

BIDEN: In this moment of tragedy, I want to say to them and to the world and to terrorists everywhere that the United States stands with Israel.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said said Israel has the right to defend itself—in his words—against "this barbarious attack."

And British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Sunday:

SUNAK: Now is not a time of equivocation, and I’m unequivocal. Hamas and the people who support Hamas are fully responsible for this appalling act of terror.

The biggest support of Hamas is Iran.

Afghanistan earthquake » The Taliban says more than 2,000 people are dead in western Afghanistan after powerful earthquakes flattened villages and buried residents under rubble.

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks also wounded scores of Afghans. Officials have set up beds outside of a hospital in the village of Herat to help treat a flood of victims.

If the death toll is confirmed, it would be one of the worst natural disasters in the country’s history.

Mayor Adams wraps up Latin America trip » New York City Mayor Eric Adams is calling for illegal immigrants to have a “right to work” within the United States.

ADAMS: Nothing is more humane and nothing is more American than your right to work. And we believe that’s a right we should extend.

Adams heard there speaking from Colombia, his final stop on a 4-day tour of Latin America. The country has received millions of Venezuelans who have fled across the border in recent years.

He also traveled to Mexico and Ecuador to deliver the message in person that his city is at its breaking point, urging migrants not to come to New York.

ADAMS: This is a humanitarian crisis that we are facing.

The mayor wants migrants to be able to work and pay for their own housing. He says his city has absorbed more than 100,000 migrants over the past year at a cost of $10 million dollars a day.

Governors on migrant crisis » New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is also sounding alarms about the migrant crisis saying the federal government must do more to secure the border.

HOCHUL: It is too open right now. People coming from all over the world are finding their way through simply saying they need asylum, and the majority of them seem to be ending up in the streets of New York.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker also called on the White House to step up.

PRITZKER: We need as logistical support that is help deciding where these folks ought to go because they can't all go to Chicago and New York and DC. They need to go in places where there's even more help to offer

Pritzker recently called the migrant surge “untenable.”

Amid a growing chorus of criticism from Democratic mayors and governors the Biden administration announced a stunning reversal last week, saying it will build 20 more miles of border wall in south Texas.

MUSIC: [Disney intro]

Disney poll » The world’s most iconic family entertainment company may have an image problem.

A new poll suggests only half of Americans still view Disney favorably.

After a string of box office bombs, falling Disney-Plus subscriptions, and slumping park attendance, Disney stock last week hit its lowest level in nearly 10 years.

Publicly, CEO Bob Iger has dismissed the notion that Disney’s political and LGBT activism has damaged its brand.

IGER: No. No, we see no sign of that at all.

But a new Rasmussen Reports survey of well over a thousand adults found that just 51% still have a favorable view of the company. While 40% now view it unfavorably

Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to view it unfavorably.

Just two months ago, Disney hired a male transgender social media star to model Minnie Mouse clothing.

ALTMAN: The bow with the dress and the shoes really sealed the deal.

Recent animated children's movies featured things like a gay teen romance and a lesbian kiss.

AUDIO: To infinity and beyond.

And last year, the company waged a public battle against parental rights legislation in Florida at the urging of LGBT activists.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: arguing over small words on the Legal Docket. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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