Tuesday morning news: January 3, 2023

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

New Congress / McCarthy » The 118th Congress of the United States will be seated today with Republicans claiming the House majority. But one question remains: Who will hold the speaker’s gavel?

California’s Kevin McCarthy won the GOP’s internal vote for the role, but Republican holdouts remain.

Congressman Brad Wenstrup said Monday …

WENSTRUP: Some say they won’t vote for him. You have even more members who say they won’t vote for anybody but Kevin McCarthy. So that puts in kind of a stalemate before we even get going.

To claim the gavel, McCarthy now needs “yes” votes from a majority of all members voting in the Speaker election.

If he doesn’t reach that threshold on the first ballot, members will keep voting until someone wins the majority.

Moscow says Ukrainian rocket kills 63 Russian troops » Rockets rained down on a Russian facility in the occupied eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, killing dozens of invading troops. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The Kremlin rarely admits significant military losses. But Russia’s defense ministry called it one of the deadliest attacks on Moscow's forces since the start of the war.

Ukraine fired six rockets from a HIMARS launch system. Russia says it shot down two of them, but the rest found their mark.

The U.S.-supplied HIMARS systems have enabled Ukraine to hit key targets.

Ammunition stored close to the facility reportedly exploded in the attack … leading to 63 deaths.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Weather » A storm system is taking aim at the Midwest this week after triggering floods in California.

Zeki Abed owns a motorcycle storage facility in San Francisco. He told KGO-TV:

ABED: Within 15 minutes, the garage door busted, cracked, and weather just started pouring in.

Floodwaters also wreaked havoc at the San Francisco Zoo.

Forecasters say that same weather system could drop 6 to 10 inches of snow in places like Minneapolis today and into tomorrow.

Hobbs sworn in as gov of AZ » In Arizona, Democrat Katie Hobbs took the oath of office on Monday, becoming the state’s 24th governor.

She won a close and contentious race over Republican Kari Lake by just 17,000 votes.

Lake never conceded. Last week, she lost her legal fight over the election results.

Hobbs is Arizona’s outgoing secretary of state. She takes over for now former Republican Governor Doug Ducey.

NASA China warning » The head of NASA says the United States is locked in a new space race to the moon—this time with China. WORLD’s Mary Muncy has that story.

MARY MUNCY, REPORTER: NASA administrator Bill Nelson warns that China may claim parts of the moon as its territory if it gets back there before the United States.

He said China might cordon off resource-rich areas of the moon under the guise of scientific research and say, “Keep out … this is our territory."

Nelson, a former astronaut, told Politico that "It is a fact: we’re in a space race."

China established its own space station earlier this year. NASA, meantime, is working on its Artemis series of future lunar missions.

For WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy

Air passenger bill of rights » Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal is among a number of lawmakers pushing for what they call the airline passengers bill of rights. The legislation would require airlines to compensate passengers for the extra costs of disrupted flights like meals and hotel stays.

BLUMENTHAL: The numbers of cancellations and delays has risen by 63%. One out of every four flights in America in 2022 was canceled or delayed.

The renewed push comes after Southwest Airlines had to cancel thousands of flights last week.

The bill would require air carriers to pay at least $1,300 to any passenger denied boarding as a result of overbooking a flight. It would also force airlines to immediately refund baggage fees for damaged or lost bags.

I'm Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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