Thursday morning news: October 19, 2023

Biden/Israel » President Biden is back in Washington this morning after a historic wartime visit to Israel.

At a joint press conference in Tel Aviv Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the president …

NETANYAHU: Your visit here is the first visit of an American president in Israel in a time of war. It is deeply, deeply moving.

For his part, President Biden declared …

BIDEN: I come to Israel with a single message, you are not alone. You are not alone.

He also said he asked Netanyahu and other leaders to allow life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza, and Israel agreed. It will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of aid to the Gaza Strip.

And Biden told reporters on Air Force One, he did not have to twist the prime minister’s arm. .

BIDEN: I got no pushback, virtually none.

Israel/hospital » He also said U.S. intelligence believes it was not an Israeli airstrike that leveled a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday.

The United States says evidence points to a possibly errant rocket fired by Palestinian militants.

At least 500 people died in the explosion. And Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner said Hamas is trying to use their deaths against Israel in its propaganda war.

LERNER: Hamas cannot be trusted. This is an organization that will butcher babies in their bedrooms. They’ll have no problem lying to you.

Israel released a flurry of video, audio and other information that it said showed the blast was instead due to a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, another militant group operating in Gaza.

Israel ambassador » Back in Washington, Republican Senators on Wednesday grilled President Biden’s pick to be the next US ambassador to Israel.

Jack Lew told lawmakers …

LEW: I will do my utmost to end the horrific attacks by Hamas and ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself.

Lew is a former chief of staff to President Barack Obama. And some Republicans are wary of the nominee over his role in helping craft the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

GOP Senator Jim Risch:

RISCH: Not only will you need to support Israel as it responds to these attacks, but also as it can, as it contends with the enduring and indeed existential Iranian threat, which I think is an underlying and foundational issue here. I have reservations about your ability to do that.

Lew vowed that he’ll be fully committed to efforts to deny Iran nuclear weapons.

Democrats are calling for his quick confirmation to show support for Israel.

Speaker » Meantime, across the Capitol Rotunda …

AUDIO: [Gavel Banging] The House will come to order.

More than 400 members again cast their votes for speaker of the House …

AUDIO: Of which the honorable Jim Jordan of the state of Ohio has received 199.

That’s one vote fewer than Jordan received on the first ballot the day before.

He needs 217 yes votes to claim the gavel.

Trump v Biden polls » While former President Donald Trump continues to dominate the Republican primary race, polls suggest a hypothetical rematch between Trump and President Biden would rest on a knife’s edge.

Pollsters released three new polls this week pitting Trump against Biden. The incumbent president leads by 2 points or less in two of those polls while the Republican challenger leads in the other by 4 points.

An average of all recent Trump-Biden polls shows a virtual tie.

Amazon RX drones » Amazon is expanding its delivery fleet, but not with more trucks. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown explains.

SOUND: [Drone buzzing]

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN: No, that’s not a swarm of bees…that’s the sound of an Amazon delivery drone.

The company says customers in College Station, Texas can have many over-the-counter medications delivered by drone within just an hour of ordering.

The drones will literally drop off the orders on customers’ doorsteps in a specially padded package.

The drones fly about 13 feet off the ground.

Amazon is planning to announce more locations eligible for drone deliveries later this year.

For WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Iran’s role in attacks on Israel. Plus, Running for federal office to get pro-life ads on TV.

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