Tuesday morning news: October 22, 2024

Israel documents leak » The White House says it has launched an investigation into how classified documents showing Israel's preparations for a potential attack on Iran were released online.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby:

JOHN KIRBY: We're deeply concerned, and the president remains deeply concerned, about any leakage of classified information into the public domain. That is not supposed to happen, and it's unacceptable when it does.

The documents, which were marked top secret, were meant only to be seen by intelligence officials in the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Instead, White House officials say they were posted to the messaging app Telegram on Friday. Kirby said it's not yet clear if the documents were hacked or leaked.

But GOP Sen. Tom Cotton says he’s betting it’s the latter.

TOM COTTON: We shouldn't be surprised that we've seen from this administration more than a year's worth of leaks hostile to Israel. From the very top to the very bottom, they're packed with people who are hostile to Israel and sympathetic to Iran and its terror networks.

Israel has promised retaliation after Iran’s recent large-scale rocket attack against Israel.

Israel-Hezbollah » Meanwhile…

SOUND: [Explosions over Beirut]

Israeli airstrikes rocked Beirut overnight. Israel's military says those strikes were on sites used by the nonprofit Al-Qard al-Hassan, an organization Israel says is involved in funneling money to the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari:

HAGARI: One of our main targets last night was an underground vault with millions of dollars in cash and gold. The money was being used to finance Hezbollah's attacks on Israel. This vault was deliberately located under a residential building.

Hagari said Hezbollah is largely financed by Iranian oil sold in Syria as well as suitcases of cash and gold flown by Iran into its embassy in Beirut.

Trump in N.C., Cooper reaction » With Election Day now just 2 weeks away, Donald Trump visited the storm-ravaged Asheville, North Carolina area on Monday.

But it’s safe to say, he was not there at the invitation of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

COOPER:  Here in Western North Carolina, we don't need the election process to hurt recovery efforts.

Cooper accuses Trump of spreading misinformation about the response to Hurricane Helene while Trump accuses the Biden administration of dropping the ball in its storm response. The former president told storm victims:

TRUMP:  I'm with you and the American people are with you all the way. On January 20th, you're going to have a, I think a new crew coming in to do it properly and help you in a proper manner.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell also spoke in Asheville Monday, vowing that her agency will remain in western North Carolina until the recovery is complete.

Harris, Trump campaigning » Later in the day, Trump rallied supporters in eastern North Carolina.

TRUMP: Thank you very much, and a very special hello to Greenville!

We’ll hear from some of those North Carolina voters the candidates are hoping to persuade later in the program.

Vice President Kamala Harris, meantime, blitzed several swing states on Monday, including Michigan and Wisconsin, telling voters that pro-life protections violate women’s rights.

HARRIS:  You don't have to abandon your faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling women what to do with their body.

She also took aim at Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.

HARRIS: The consequences of him being President of the United States are brutally serious.

In an average of recent polls, Trump currently has at least a small lead in every major swing state. And the five most recent national polls, conducted within the last 10 days, suggest that Trump now enjoys a 1-point advantage now in the popular vote.

Musk giveaway » Meanwhile, a high profile political ally of Donald Trump, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is giving out a $1 million dollar prize every day until the election. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports:

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Musk says any registered voter who signs his political action committee’s petition supporting Constitutional rights — specifically, the First and Second Amendments, will be entered to win one of those million-dollar prizes.

Some Democrats, though, say it’s a violation of federal law to link a cash handout to signing a petition that also requires a person to be registered to vote; even though the giveaway rules don’t require entrants to actually cast a ballot.

Musk says a new winner will be drawn at random every day through November 5th.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Georgia dock collapse » In coastal Georgia, newly surfaced eyewitness video reveals the moment a gangway collapsed at a dock, killing seven people.

Irwin Jones was one of the survivors.

JONES:  I felt it start to slide, like going backwards. So I leaped and jumped. The two girls behind me, they fell in, the whole ramp fell and collapsed. I looked around, and they was floating.

A crowd was leaving an island festival on Saturday when the accident occurred.

Walter Rabon is commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

RABON:  Approximately 20 people fell into the water at the marsh landing dock. Guests were in the process of loading the ferry, the amory, which was tied up to the dock.

Video shows bystanders jumping into action to rescue those who plunged into the water.

I'm Kent Covington.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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