Tuesday morning news: October 24, 2023

House speaker » At the Capitol, Republicans are expected to vote this morning on another nominee for Speaker of the House.

That’s after the party’s last two nominees failed to corral enough votes overall and dropped out.

Recently-ousted former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says enough is enough.

MCCARTHY: I just know this is not a time to play games. This is embarrassing for the Republican party. It’s embarrassing for the nation, and we need to look at one another and solve the problem.

Republicans gathered behind closed doors last night to hear from eight more candidates for the job.

The House has been without a speaker for three weeks grinding business in the chamber to a halt.

Israel » The Pentagon has flown U.S. military advisors to Israel to help Israeli commanders prepare for a large-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller:

MILLER: We have been engaging on a number of levels. The Pentagon has been engaging in military to military channels about what their operations might look like.

The United States has advised Israel to delay the ground assault to allow more time to negotiate the release of hostages taken by Hamas, including some Americans. But it was unclear how much longer Israel would wait.

Among those US military advisers is an urban combat specialist who will help Israeli commanders figure out how to minimize civilian deaths.

But Miller said it’s extremely challenging, because Hamas intentionally puts people in harm’s way.

MILLER: Hamas continues to put legitimate military targets inside civilian infrastructure and use the civilians of Gaza as human shields.

He said Israeli forces, before launching strikes on residential buildings routinely warn civilians to give them time to evacuate.

Israel/Aid » White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre says the people of Gaza are also victims of Hamas. And:

PIERRE: President Biden has made it a top priority to ensure that the Palestinian people receive urgently needed humanitarian aid.

United Nations spokesman Stéphane Dujarric says at least 20 truckloads of humanitarian supplies rolled into Gaza from Egypt on Monday. But officials say much more is needed.

And Dujarric said the situation at hospitals in the Gaza strip is dire.

DUJARRIC: The Shiffa hospital in Gaza, the largest in the strip, is currently treating some 5000 patients, significantly over its normal capacity of 700.

The UN and humanitarian groups are trying to get fuel for generators and other supplies to hospitals without Hamas militants seizing them.

Drone attack on U.S. troops » U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the United States is not turning a blind eye to Iran’s role in the chaos as the primary backer of Hamas.

And in Syria Iran-backed militias are claiming responsibility for a drone attack against U.S. troops at a base in the country’s southeast.

KIRBY: And we're deeply concerned about the potential for any significant escalation of these attacks in the days ahead. At the direction of President Biden, the Secretary of Defense has ordered the military to take steps to prepare for this, to ensure that we're postured appropriately.

The latest attack follows several recent drone strikes by the same group on bases that house U-S troops in Iraq and Syria.

No U.S. troops were seriously hurt in any of those attacks.

U.S. warns it will defend Philippines » The United States is renewing a warning to Beijing, that it's prepared to defend the Philippines after an incident between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the South China Sea. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: In a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Manilla, the United States said we “stand with our Philippine allies in the face of” China’s “dangerous and unlawful actions.”

And the State Department emphasized America’s commitment to defend the Philippines under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

Chinese ships over the weekend blocked and collided with two Philippine vessels damaging a Coast Guard ship and another boat.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called an emergency meeting with top military and security officials to discuss the latest hostilities.

The Philippines and other neighbors of China have pushed back against Beijing’s claims that it owns virtually the entire South China Sea.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

UAW » Nearly 7,000 more auto workers have walked off the job at a Chrysler plant in Michigan, expanding the weekslong strike to some 40,000 workers.

The United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said Detroit’s big-3 automakers have improved their offers, but not enough.

FAIN: The bottom line is we’ve got cards left to play, and they’ve got money left to spend.

Ford, Stellantis, and GM have made some concessions on pay, but they say some of the union’s demands are impossible to meet.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: The future of right-to-repair legislation. Plus, disabilities in the church.

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