The World and Everything in It: January 10, 2023

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Political concessions led to Kevin McCarthy’s taking the gavel as speaker of the House. What’ll it mean now?

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also, yet another COVID variant is making the rounds. We’ll hear what to watch for.

Plus, adopting embryos.

And reminders of God in everyday things.

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, January 10th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

REICHARD: Now the news with Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: House rules package » Lawmakers in the House approved a rules package last night that will govern how they conduct business for the next two years.

AUDIO: On this vote, the yeas are 220. They nays are 213. The resolution is agreed to.

The rules include numerous concessions Speaker Kevin McCarthy was forced to make to earn the backing of conservative Republicans in last week’s speaker election. Georgia Congressman Andrew Clyde was one of those 20 holdouts.

CLYDE: Of the many victories we secured for the American people, the Thomas Jefferson motion to vacate the chair is the most important to me, as it holds the speaker accountable to the people.

That means any single member of the House can call for a no-confidence vote on the speaker.

Other agreed-to provisions include more committee seats for members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, more time to review bills before voting on them, and barriers to congressional spending.

Mexico City summit » AUDIO: [Ceremony] 

Sounds from a greeting ceremony for President Biden and first lady Jill Biden in Mexico City. Biden paused for a photograph with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador before remarks by Jill Biden.

J.BIDEN: Together, the United States and Mexico imagine a world with these shared values. Together we will build it.

Biden and Lopez Obrador are meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to talk about trade, manufacturing, and immigration.

Separately, Canada on Monday announced a deal to purchase nearly 90 U.S. F-35 fighter jets at a price tag of more than $14 billion. It’s Canada’s largest investment in the Royal Canadian Air Force in more than 30 years.

Brazil » Brazil’s president is vowing to punish those involved with storming the nation’s highest seats of power over the weekend.

DA SILVA: [Portugese]

WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised to punish not just those who stormed the government buildings, but anyone who may have financed their travel to the capital of Brasilia.

Supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro invaded and vandalized Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace, claiming the recent election was stolen from Bolsonaro.

Da Silva called the rioters “fanatic fascists.” He said the riot was “unprecedented,” and suggested it was worse than the sins of the past.

He said, quoting here—“It’s important to remember that the left in Brazil has had people tortured, had people killed, it’s had people disappeared,” but he added never has anyone on the left invaded top government buildings.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Ukraine » The White House says Russia may not be the only party guilty of war crimes in Ukraine.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan says Iran shares the blame.

SULLIVAN: Their weapons are being used to kill civilians in Ukraine and to try to plunge cities into cold and darkness.

He said that means Iran may be contributing to widespread war crimes.

And State Department spokesman Ned Price says if the United States is able to determine …

PRICE: That the Iranian government as a whole or that senior Iranian officials are complicit or responsible for war crimes, we will work to hold them to account as well.

He did not specify what that accountability might mean.

Grand Jury in ATL area finishes » A special grand jury in Georgia has finished its probe into whether former President Trump and allies illegally interfered with the state’s 2020 election. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has that story.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney dissolved the grand jury on Monday. The panel has presented its findings, and it will now be up to Democratic District Attorney Fani Willis whether to pursue charges.

McBurney said the special grand jury recommended that its report be made public. He scheduled a hearing for Jan. 24 to determine whether to release part or all of the report.

The district attorney’s office and news outlets will be able to make arguments at that hearing.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

NYC nurse strike » Thousands of nurses went on strike Monday at two of New York City's major hospitals after contract talks stalled over staffing and salaries.

Union chief Pat Kane said nurses are still waiting for a fair contract …

KANE: That recognize the job they have to do, the dignity and respect that they deserve.

New York State Nurses Association, said members had to strike because chronic understaffing leaves them caring for too many patients.

As many as 7,000 nurses at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan walked off the job.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: how changes to rules in the House of Representatives could impact how Congress conducts business.

Plus, embryo adoption.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 10th of January, 2023.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. First up, changing the rules of the House of Representatives.

Before the newly configured House could get down to business, it had to elect a new speaker. It took 15 rounds of voting over four days until the House finally elected Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Friday evening. He had to make some political concessions that will change how the House conducts business in the 118th Congress.

REICHARD: Here to explain is WORLD Washington reporter, Leo Briceno. Hi, Leo!

LEO BRICENO, REPORTER: Hey, Mary. Great to be speaking with you.

REICHARD: Leo, what happened in the House of Representatives last week? Why did it take so long for Kevin McCarthy to be voted Speaker?

BRICENO: Well, in a nutshell, Kevin McCarthy didn't have the votes, you need a majority of the House, which is 218 votes, to become speaker and a group of Republicans were blocking McCarthy's path to that number by voting for alternative candidates, other Republicans, so nothing else could happen until the House appoints a speaker. Representatives can't even be sworn in. So it's been like 100 years—since 1923—since the speaker election has seen a delay like this, since it's gone to multiple rounds of votes.

REICHARD: How big of a group are we talking?

BRICENO: That group of Republicans was, at its largest, 20 Republicans strong.

REICHARD: So, not a really large group.

BRICENO: Well, you're right. It's not, really. Twenty is a small block in a chamber that has 435 seats, right. But there's a tiny Republican majority in Congress, so it was a big enough number to keep the speakership and the majority out of McCarthy's reach. So he could really only afford to lose four to five votes depending on the round to gain the majority and the speakership. So a group of 20 that was more than enough to keep it out of his grasp.

REICHARD: So why did this group of Republicans oppose McCarthy as speaker?

BRICENO: Well, they wanted something. They wanted a number of changes to the House of Representatives and the way that it works. And they wanted to get that via a couple changes to the House rules. So these rules aren't laws, but they're guidelines that dictate the way the chamber conducts business. And so to make a long story short, what they wanted to do was implement a new set of rules or some changes to the rules that would substantially weaken that leadership of the speaker, of Kevin McCarthy.

REICHARD: Well, now, why would they want that if it weakens their own party, in a sense?

BRICENO: You're right, yeah. Well, some people definitely perceived it that way. And many in the GOP saw it that way. But what the group wanted was greater participation on behalf of individual members in Congress. Most people assume that every bill that goes through Congress gets reviewed by the House of Representatives and that there's debate on each bill, that they get ample opportunity to read and research and debate. Well, that's largely not true. By and large, leadership makes the vast amount of decisions. And so the way the bills are negotiated, the way they're brought to the floor, how the party is organized, these are largely all up to leadership. And this opposition to McCarthy, they weren't necessarily frustrated with McCarthy himself—although some of them were, some of them personally despise McCarthy and didn't didn't want to vote for him—but more broadly, they were frustrated by the concentration of power in the speakership, a saturation and insulation of power and authority there.

REICHARD: I see—so this is really about the power a Speaker has in the U.S. House of Representatives, so that’s what we’re talking about.

BRICENO: That’s exactly right.

REICHARD: Okay... well, McCarthy is Speaker now. What did he do to get those 20 Republicans to change their minds?

BRICENO: Well, first, he held out for 15 rounds of votes. That's a long time. He was originally hoping to make little to no concessions. But then the first day went by and the second day went by and it was 13, 14 rounds votes. And it became clear that this group was not going to budge without him meeting some of their demands. So he began to negotiate. So one of the concessions he made, for example, now any Republican can initiate a vote of no confidence against him. Originally, that number was going to be like five but now it's down to one. So any one member of the GOP can start a motion to vacate the chair. So that's an enormous concession because now any one member can can call for his job and then he would have to win another round of votes to continue filling the role.

REICHARD: What does that mean for the 118th Congress?

BRICENO: That remains to be seen. So, it depends on what the party chooses to do with these concessions—and there's a number of them. So opponents of the concessions say, look, these changes make the House a harder place to act on legislation that's important to the party. It makes it more difficult to pass bills. The convenient thing about consolidated power is that decisions happen quickly. There's more of a streamlined process. You have less people in that process of negotiation. That means more bills, more specific goals being met. But that's one side. Supporters of the changes—this group of 20 Republicans—say that these changes will put some power back in the hands of individual representatives. They want to have a say in the big decisions that the party makes. They want to have more say in some of these larger spending bills. So this might give them more say and the opportunity to influence what happens in the chamber and so that's kind of what they were after. And that's what they're hoping to see.

REICHARD: Leo Briceno is WORLD’s reporter in our Washington, D.C. bureau. Thanks so much, Leo.

BRICENO: Of course. Thanks for having me.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: the latest mutation of COVID going around.

Many health officials say this omicron offshoot is the most infectious one yet. It’s officially called XBB.1.5, but the nickname is more easily remembered as the Kraken variant.

NICK EICHER, HOST: While we have seen something of a holiday surge in new cases, it has only been a small fraction of the tremendous spike in cases we experienced at this time last year.

But the subvariant is on the rise. So what should we know about this latest strain?

Here now to help us answer that question is Zach Jenkins. He is a pharmacist and pharmacology professor at Cedarville University, a Christian college in Cedarville, Ohio.

REICHARD: Zach, good morning.

ZACH JENKINS, GUEST: Good morning!

REICHARD: First of all, how widespread is the so-called “Kraken” variant now? And how contagious is this subvariant as compared to previous strains?

JENKINS: So this subvariant is very contagious. There's actually a mutation that occurred on the ACE2 binding region of the virus. And so what that really means is that it has an easier time getting into cells. So that's actually what's making it evade host immunity in some cases, because it has a much easier time getting to where it needs to be. To put it in perspective, it's kind of like a two to one growth ratio. So for every person that's infected, they're going to infect probably two other people. Typically, onset is like the first couple of days following exposure. So it's hitting rapidly. And where it started here in the U.S. is it was really strong in the Northeast and then it's starting to move south. And now it's hitting the Midwest and West hard. And so we're expecting it to peak probably in February at this point.

REICHARD: And in terms of symptoms, what are we most commonly seeing with this strain?

JENKINS: So it's an Omicron subvariant. And so that means what we've seen with Omicron, it's really true in this case. We've not seen any major deviations there. So it's all the upper respiratory processes you'd be familiar with like sore throat, cough, runny nose, sometimes the cough is dry, sometimes it's productive. And then on top of that, you have chills and some people—and we haven't heard of this one for a while—are actually losing their sense of smell as well.

REICHARD: I have heard that this strain is very good at getting around existing immunities. Can you speak to that? And how effective are existing vaccines effective against this strain?

JENKINS: So, as far as previous immunity through exposure through vaccination, this is definitely more capable of evading those things. It's changed just enough, again, because of that ACE2 mutation, that it's really finding ways to circumvent, really, that previous immunity. A way to think about it is it's almost like it's more sticky. It has an easier time of sticking to people, getting where it needs to be than before compared to the other variants that you're thinking about. So what that means for us is if you previously had an infection probably beyond three months or more ago, you could potentially be at risk for induction again.

REICHARD: I know some health officials that new variants could emerge from China, with the country reopening after having isolated the population for so long. Do you share that concern?

JENKINS: So, I guess the way I would term it is it's possible that you could see something like what we experienced with India where during some of the religious holidays in India, we saw Delta really emerge. And that was a new novel strain. We haven't actually had a new strain of COVID in a year. So it's been over a year, really, since we had a new strain. That's important to note. Everything you hear about, it's all like a sublineage. It's a subvariant. So they're so similar that there aren't too many concerns, as far as increasing severity of disease and that sort of thing, or maybe our therapeutics are still effective is a good way to think about it too. But the concern I think they have is if it's able to move rapidly, and it seems to be doing so—I've actually read a report not too long ago—that as a whole province that's been 90% infected in a place that had zero tolerance for COVID before. They basically had the floodgates open so everyone's getting it now. So it's possible. Probable? Probably not. And the reason I would say that is because we have exposure in so many places across the world right now to COVID, it's not like it was with Delta. And the same is true in China. Everyone's getting hit with it right now. So it's unlikely that it's probably going to produce a new very significant strain

REICHARD: We talked recently about a trio of viruses straining some health systems—COVID, flu, and RSV. Are we seeing a slowdown at all with flu and RSV cases?

JENKINS: Well, the good news is we've actually seen a decrease in RSV. It seems to have peaked in November and it's starting to drop off. So that's really encouraging news, especially for our young kids who are at a big risk when it comes to RSV. Infants, in particular, may be hospitalized with RSV. So that tends to be a big problem in kids. With the flu, it seems to have peaked in the fall. So it hit early this year, which is unusual. And there were, I mean, just to put it in perspective, this is a record high respiratory illness season. Really the first in like the past decade that we've seen these numbers. With COVID added into the mix, we don't know where that's going to end up because again, we're kind of expecting that to peak in February.

REICHARD: We’ve been talking with Dr. Zack Jenkins who has an active case of covid right now! Thanks so much!

JENKINS: Sure, not a problem.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Well, bird watchers may already know that the Pink Footed Goose is a common sight in parts of Europe, Greenland, and Iceland. But it’s uncommon in Kentucky.

So when American twitchers heard of the first-ever sighting last November, they flocked to the Bluegrass State to see for themselves.

One sighting had the goose swimming in a pond on a farm. But when birdwatchers convened, it was already gone. Then a member of the Audubon Society spotted the bird in a neighborhood close by and sent word out. And the happy gaggle of humans finally got their chance to see the rare Pink Footed Goose.

REICHARD: Sounds like a wild goose chase that ended well.

EICHER: Or how about this? “what’s good for the goose is good for those who gander at the geese …”

REICHARD: Good grief...

EICHER: It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, January 10th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: a different kind of adoption.

Every year in the United States, families adopt 130,000 children. Only a few are adopted as infants. And even fewer are adopted as embryos.

EICHER: When a woman goes through in-vitro fertilization trying to become pregnant, she often has embryos left over. Those tiny lives are frozen until their biological parents decide what to do with them.

WORLD’s Whitney Williams met one couple who chose to adopt some of those frozen embryos.

AUDIO: “My Place in this World” (1992) “The wind is moving, But I am standing still, A life of pages, Waiting to be filled” 

WHITNEY WILLIAMS, CORRESPONDENT: In 1992, Michael W. Smith’s “Place in this World” won Song of the Year at the 23rd annual Dove Awards.

MUSIC: [My Place in this World]

That same year, five children came into this world via in vitro fertilization. Those children would remain frozen in the embryonic stage for the next 30 years, waiting for the adoptive parents God had planned for them to, well, grow up a little.

Philip and Rachel Ridgeway were just five and three-years-old at the time.

In 2022, all grown up and married, the couple adopted those five embryos. Sadly, though the Ridgeways wanted to give all five a chance at growing up, three of the embryos didn’t survive the journey.

But this past November, the family’s story gained national attention when Rachel gave birth to two of those 30-year-old embryos: Timothy and Lydia.

AUDIO: Robin Roberts, GMA: “Now to the record setting twins born from embryos frozen 30 years ago …”

Occasionally, between diaper changes, feeding, and homeschooling their four older children, the Ridgeways will scroll through online comments, just curious about what people have to say. Some remarks bring chuckles:

PHILIP: Like, welcome to the 21st century tiny time travelers and it's kind of what they are.

Other comments aren’t so funny.

RACHEL: I think the one for me is people going well, there's a reason they were frozen for that long, like somehow they're, that there's something wrong with them. Like they're 30 years old, they should have just stayed frozen … kind of that idea.

But, in a way, the idea that something might be quote unquote “wrong” with the embryos is actually what drew the Ridgeways to them to the National Embryo Donation Center’s “special considerations” category.

PHILIP: When we adopt children on this earth, we are imaging what what God does, in rescuing sinners. And so having Lydia and Timothy has really been a way of, of talking with our, our other children and demonstrating with actions, not just words, what it means to love God and to love others and, and what adoption looks like, lived out. And that that love towards those who are those who are needy, and, and helpless.

Embryos flagged “special consideration” by the NEDC have known potential for genetic or other abnormalities. Timothy and Lydia’s biological father passed away from Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS. According to ALS.org, approximately 5-10 percent of cases are due to genetic mutations and are inherited from a family member.

RACHEL: So it's possible they could have that it's possible that they won't have that. But because of that history, they had to be put into that category. People don't look at those categories. They don't look at those kids that aren't perfect.

PHILIP: And it was really heartbreaking because they said we have we have donor parents that will call periodically and ask, Hey, has anybody adopted our embryos? Has anybody looked at their profile? And they have to say no. And so that's one of the reasons probably why they were waited so long, is because they were they were looked at as inferior to other embryos.

The Ridgeways’ adoption was anonymous, so the couple knows very little about Timothy and Lydia’s origins …

PHILIP: And that's, that's brings up an important point, which is that it's sometimes easy to think what awful parents did create these children, then just put them up for adoption, not raise them themselves. But you have to remember, you don't know the circumstances of the donor parents. So, you know, love tells us to believe all things, hopes, all things believes the best about a situation. And it's important to do that, even when thinking about the donor parents, but in this case, knowing he's passed away, we're thankful to God that he gave up these children for adoption. And that was the best decision he could make for them.

The Ridgeways agree that it’s sad, the way many people go about IVF, treating little lives as commodities, as a means to an end. But for the roughly one million embryos currently on ice in the United States, their stories aren’t over. Hope is not lost.

PHILIP: It's important to remember that conception, that creation of life is, is something that God and God alone can do. And so, all these embryos that have been created, they've only been created because God has ordained before the foundation of the world, that they would come into existence, and that he is the one who is who has not only allowed them to be created, but he has allowed them to be frozen and preserved, which which also is a is a kindness of him in that he's made a way for these children to be saved.

RACHEL: He could have chosen any family in that 30 years. And instead, he chose our family. God wanted us to be their parents.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Whitney Williams in Dallas, Texas.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, January 10th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. WORLD commentator Steve West now on one of the simple reminders of God that you can find in Creation.

STEVE WEST, COMMENTATOR: In the manicured lawns of my neighborhood, it’s difficult to find a small, smooth stone. I don’t mean the stones and rocks used in landscaping but the ones that were here before–the unowned, the non-possessed, the ones hiding from the civilizing influence of mowers and rakes and even backhoes. These, I imagine, are the ones Scripture says “cry out.” The others just whimper.

Near the creek stretched so thin that it can’t be said to run, one of them cries out to me. I stoop and pull it from the earth, brush away the dirt that clings to it. Its shape bears the memory of water, smooth and cool. A homely stone. “I have been looking for you,” I say. It warms in my hand. I put it in my pocket and keep walking. I take it out and hold it as I deliberate.

I went looking for a stone because I wanted to be reminded today that God is real and present with me. Beside me. In front of me. Behind me. So as I walk I hold my stone in hand, reminded by its insistent otherness that God is present.

“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away?” writes Jeremiah, and the stone in my hand says, quietly if boldly, “I am at hand. I am here. Hold me tighter.” And I do. “My presence will go with you,” says God to Moses (Exod. 33:14), but I am frail and near-sighted, a poor listener, and God hasn’t spoken aloud to me. So I carry this neglected stone to picture God’s presence. It is a faint window to a radiant God, and it becomes in my hand a metaphor for God. My Rock. My Redeemer.

Holding this little stone, it takes meaning as I consider where it points. It’s a signpost of the Lord’s unchanging character, a promise of His love, a guarantee of His salvation. I know, that’s a lot to put on a little stone.

Back home I place it on my desk and examine it. There, it looks even less significant or remarkable–not special but common and ordinary. Still, it’s here. On the corner, at the periphery of my vision, it beckons: “I’m here.” The Lord is here.

Poet Denise Levertov wrote a poem about the importance of physical symbols for an invisible God. It reads,

people so tuned

to the humdrum laws:

gravity, mortality ---

can't open

to symbol's power

unless convinced of its ground,

its roots

in bone and blood.

That poem echoes the Psalmist when he writes, “‘Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?,’ says the Lord; ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’” (Ps. 139:7-8). My heart nods in assent, yet to ward off doubt, I reach out a finger and touch the stone–my Rock, my "bone and blood."

I’m Steve West.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: we’ll meet a couple whose experiences as child immigrants help newcomers adjust to life in New York City.

And, our weekly roundup of international news on World Tour.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio.

WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says: God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. (Genesis 1:16-19 ESV)

Go now in grace and peace.

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