Wednesday morning news: May 24, 2023

Debt limit » Debt ceiling talks are grinding on in Washington with few signs of progress.

Negotiators from the White House and the speaker’s office traded more budget-cutting ideas Tuesday. But Republicans warned of a “lack of urgency” at the White House. Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters there’s no time to waste.

KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, we’re not there yet. So I mean, it’s difficult because you take a couple of days to write the bill. You’ve got 72 hours here and then you’ve got to get the Senate to act.

But White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the notion of a lack of urgency absurd.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: There is a good faith effort here. We just have to continue to do that, and then we can get into a bipartisan reasonable budget agreement.

With barely a week to go before a deadline as soon as June 1, failure to strike a deal would certain to throw financial markets into turmoil.

House Republicans passed a debt ceiling increase last month that would reduce overspending at the same time. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called that bill “dead on arrival.”

McCarthy says he won’t bring forward any bill forward “that doesn’t spend less than we spent this year.”

Illinois Catholic clergy investigation » The Illinois attorney general reports that child sexual abuse in the Catholic church happened far more often than the church admitted.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul:

KWAME RAOUL: It is my sincere hope that this report will shine light on those who violated their positions of power and trust to abuse innocent children and on the men in church leadership who covered up that abuse.

The report names 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers accused of abusing children in the state. That’s over four times more the number reported by the church when the investigation began in 2018.

Surgeon general social media » The U.S. surgeon general is calling for immediate action from tech companies and lawmakers to protect children from the harms of social media. WORLD’s Lauren Canterberry has more.

LAUREN CANTERBERRY: A report released by Dr. Vivek Murthy says a growing body of evidence shows apps like TikTok and Instagram are bad for children’s mental health.

The report says 95 percent of young people ages 13 to 17 use a social media platform, and a third of them use it—quote— “almost constantly.”

Lawmakers have proposed several restrictions, such as banning social media for children under 13, expanding privacy protections, or disabling the most addictive product features for young people.

Critics of this type of legislation argue the platforms provide a community for some young people and restrictions could be harmful.

For WORLD, I’m Lauren Canterberry.

Typhoon » Typhoon Mawar is bearing down on the U.S. territory of Guam where a federal emergency declaration has been issued.

Residents of the island were preparing for a direct hit from a Category 5 storm.

National Weather Service meteorologist Patrick Doll:

PATRICK DOLL: It's not getting a weaken much maybe 5 or 10 miles an hour would be my guess on the sustained winds. About—with that 160 mile an hour sustained near the center, we could have gusts up towards 200 miles an hour if not a little more.

Officials asked anyone not living in concrete homes to seek shelter elsewhere. Many houses on the island are made of wood and tin.

Target Pride Month » Some Target department store locations, particularly in the South, are reportedly minimizing some of their LGBT Pride Month displays to avoid a backlash similar to the Bud Light boycott. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Fox News cited a company source in reporting that corporate leaders placed “emergency” calls to some store managers.

They instructed them to move displays of so-called pride merchandise away from the entrances to smaller spaces near the back of their stores.

The retailer’s June “Pride Month” collection includes products for children, merchandise with pro-transgender slogans and swimsuits designed to conceal a person’s biological sex.

Anheuser-Busch has thus far lost billions of dollars amid a customer boycott after its Bud Light brand partnered with transgender social media star Dylan Mulvaney.

Other major chains including Starbucks, Nike, and Adidas are facing calls for boycotts over their promotion of transgenderism in their advertising.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

S.C. Abortion » A new pro-life bill is headed to South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster’s desk.

The new law restores a state law the South Carolina Supreme Court killed which protected unborn babies after six weeks gestation. The Court ruled that law violated individuals’ privacy.

Current law protects the unborn after 22 weeks.

McMaster is expected to sign the bill which the state Senate approved last night.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Washington Wednesday. Plus, Bringing a service member’s missing remains home to rest.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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