Thursday morning news: November 9, 2023

GOP debate » Republican White House hopefuls squared off last night in Miami in the third presidential debate of the year.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made his most pointed argument yet as to why the party should nominate him instead of Donald Trump. He noted multiple GOP losses in Tuesday elections

DESANTIS: He said Republicans were going to get tired of winning. Well, we saw last night, I’m sick of Republicans losing.

And he highlighted big wins in Florida in last year’s midterm elections. He also criticized Trump over the billions of dollars added to the debt during his presidency.

Israel, of course, was a big topic. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said she spoke to the Israeli prime minister after the October 7th Hamas terror attacks.

HALEY: The first thing I said to him when it happened, was I said “Finish them. Finish them.” And the reason is, I worked on this every day when I was at the United Nations.

All candidates on the stage were united in the need to support Israel with the exception of businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. He suggested the United States should not involve itself in foreign conflicts.

Blinken post-Hamas Gaza » Meantime, Secretary of State Tony Blinken is calling for a Palestinian-led government for Gaza and the West Bank after the Israel-Hamas war ends. That proposal would be a possible step toward Palestinian statehood.

BLINKEN: What I’ve heard from Israeli leaders is that they have no intent to reoccupy Gaza and retake control of Gaza. So the only question is, is there some transition period that might be necessary.

The Israeli government says after toppling Hamas, Israel will be responsible for security in Gaza for an “indefinite period” of time.

Hearing campus speech » On Capitol Hill, lawmakers in a House hearing sounded alarms about growing antisemitism on college campuses amid the war.

Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler:

NADLER: The steady rise in antisemitism in this country over the past several years has reached a fever pitch. And few places have had to bear the weight of that trend more than our college and university campuses.

One student at the University of Iowa testified that in her view, conservative students face greater challenges in expressing their views on campus.

Mayorkas hearing » And across the Capitol rotunda in the Senate, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was in the hot-seat. Republican members of the Appropriations Committee grilled him on border security.

Senator Lindsay Graham noted that a record number of people on the terrorist watch list crossed the southern border in the last fiscal year.

GRAHAM: Are they out of the country?
MAYORKAS: …are screened…
GRAHAM: Are they out of the country or are they in the country?
MAYORKAS: Senator, they very well may be out of the country.
GRAHAM: But you don’t know! There are people on the terrorist watch list and you don’t know where they’re at!

Secretary Mayorkas appeared before the committee to try and sell members on the need to approve President Biden’s supplemental funding request. The $105-billion-dollar proposal would fund aid for Israel, Ukraine, border security and more, all at the same time.

Testimony on Ukraine aid » That was part of a full court press by the Biden administration at the Capitol.

State Department officials also pitched that plan to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien made the case that Washington must continue to back Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders.

O'BRIEN: This is the wrong time to walk away. Because Ukraine is winning. It's already taken back half the territory Putin seized since February 22. It's opened up the Black Sea Grain Lanes that Putin tried to shut down in July.

But some Republican lawmakers are expressing growing concern about funding aid to Ukraine with unsolved problems at home. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio pointed to border security concerns and the spiraling national debt.

RUBIO: Now obviously we've got to help Israel. We still have to build up our military, because the real risk is China. Why is Ukraine important in that context?

The Biden administration is asking Congress to approve 61 billion dollars of additional funding for Ukraine as part of its larger funding request.

The GOP-led House wants to debate aid for Israel and Ukraine separately.

Hunter, James subpoena » Democrats in the House are accusing Republican members of playing politics after the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed President Biden’s son and brother to testify amid an ongoing impeachment inquiry.

The top Democrat on the committee Jamie Raskin:

RASKIN: They decided to send out a whole bunch of subpoenas, thinking that that would distract everybody from the fact that after nine months, they didn't produce any evidence of a crime, much less an impeachable crime.

House Republicans say they’ve been gathering plenty of evidence that suggests the president had improper connections to his son Hunter’s business dealings.

Actors reportedly reach deal to end strike » They say the show must go on, and it appears it will in Hollywood after actors reportedly struck a deal with studios to end a four-month-long strike.

The actors’ union and studios have reached a tentative three-year deal. It’s believed the deal includes better pay and royalty payments and assurances about the future use of artificial intelligence.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: talking with voters about abortion in Ohio. Plus, the final salute.

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