Thursday morning news: May 18, 2023

Debt ceiling / Biden trip » President Biden is in Japan this morning for G7 Summit.

It will be a shorter trip than planned. Biden scrapped visits to Australia and Papua New Guinea amid ongoing debt ceiling talks.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan:

SULLIVAN: The work that we need to do bilaterally with Austrailia through the Quad and with the Pacific Islands, whereas the final stretch of negotiations over the debt limit cannot be done at a later date.

Biden will return from Hiroshima on Sunday.

Debt-limit talks shifted into an encouraging new phase Tuesday. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy:

MCCARTHY: Now the president and Leader Schumer have finally backed off the idea that they won’t negotiate.

Those negotiations are mainly over a GOP proposal to reduce overspending while raising the debt ceiling.

Staffers from the White House and the speakers office are continuing talks while the president is away.

Montana TikTok ban » Montana is the first state in the nation to entirely ban the social media video app TikTok. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown reports.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN: In a statement, the governor said “Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.”

US intelligence agencies have warned that China could use the app to spy on Americans or spread misinformation online.

For WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Rubio report / NIH funding » COVID-19 most likely leaked from a Chinese Lab. That’s the conclusion of a new 300-page report published Wednesday by Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Select Intelligence Committee.

The report points to a mountain of circumstantial evidence. Rubio said that in 2019.

MARCO RUBIO: They had a drill at one of their airports where they specifically said we are drilling against a novel COVID pandemic coronavirus, using terminology that wasn’t even familiar to anybody until March or February of the next year.

The report says leaders of the Chinese Communist Party knew about “a serious biocontainment failure or accident” at a lab in Wuhan more than a month before global health officials found out, and that the CCP actively worked to cover it up.

The FBI also firmly believes the virus escaped from the lab, though there is no consensus across U.S. government agencies.

NC pro-life override » In North Carolina, Republican state lawmakers have overturned Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a new pro-life law.

State Representative Kristin Baker:

KRISTIN BAKER- As a mother, as a physician, and as a legislator. I am proud to support Senate Bill 20 with a vote to override the veto. And I urge you to join me in doing so.

The new law protects the unborn from abortion after 12 weeks of gestation, with some exceptions for rape, incest and medical issues.

Meanwhile, Nebraska is also considering a law that protects unborn children after 12 weeks of pregnancy. In South Carolina, Republicans are trying to pass a pro-life “heartbeat” law.

FL help to border » Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to send reinforcements to the Texas-Mexico border, more than 1,100 Florida National Guard soldiers and law enforcement officers.

He said many of the immigration-related problems Florida faces begin at the nation’s southern border.

RON DESANTIS: Last year, 72% of all human trafficking victims were illegal aliens, many coming across the southern border.

Florida will also send planes, drones, and boats.

DeSantis previously sent support to the U.S. southern border in Texas and Arizona in 2021 after requests from the governors of those states.

Ecuador Nat Assembly » Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso has dissolved the country’s legislature. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Lasso had been locked in a showdown with legislators who wanted to impeach him for allegedly not stopping a deal between the state-owned oil transport company and a private tanker company. He denies the accusation.

In disbanding the National Assembly, Lasso made first use of the Ecuador presidency’s nuclear option under the constitution in conflicts with the legislative branch.

The president appeared to have the support of the armed forces but faced opposition from powerful indigenous groups.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: How much authority does a city council have when it comes to discrimination and first amendment rights? Plus, an update on the border crisis.

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