need2know-afternoon-edition-102023

Here are the headlines. You need to know we'll begin with the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. A Hamas leader said two American citizens being held hostage are being released today. The group says a mother and daughter are being released on humanitarian grounds after negotiations with Qatar, the White House and Israel have not confirmed the potential release. The Israeli defense forces said earlier today that the majority of the roughly 200 hostages being held by Hamas are still alive. The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza however remains closed despite reports it would open for humanitarian aid. Today, workers began repairing the road leading to the crossing yesterday, President Biden said he expects shipments to begin crossing into in the next 24 to 48 hours when those repairs are complete. Gaza is dangerously low on water, food and power but the Palestinian Health authorities say seven hospitals in the territory are out of service this morning. The United Nations called for an immediate humanitarian cease fire in Gaza. The Un Secretary General spoke from the Egyptian Gaza border. So these trucks are not just trucks, they are a lifeline. They are the difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza and to see them stuck here makes me be very clear what we need is to make them move, to make them move to the other side of this wall to make them move as quickly as possible. Palestinian authorities said the oldest church in Gaza City, it's a Greek orthodox church where hundreds of people were sheltering was hit by Israeli airstrikes late yesterday. The IDF says its strike on a neighboring compound damaged one wall of the church. The Palestinian health authorities said more than 4100 people have been killed since the war began. 400 Israelis and 32 Americans have also been killed. President Biden urged Americans to Israel and Ukraine in an address from the oval office last night. The president said the US will defend every inch of its NATO allies comparing the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7th to the 20 month long war in Ukraine after Russia's invasion calling both conflicts vital for American national security. Here's the President, American leadership is what holds the world together. American alliance is what keep us America safe. American values are what make us a partner that other nations want to work with, to put all that at risk. If we walk away from Ukraine, we turn our backs on Israel. It's just not worth it. That's why tomorrow I'm going to send to Congress an urgent budget request to fund America's national security needs to support our critical partners including Israel and Ukraine. The White House is requesting $105 billion in funding from Congress today that includes 60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel $10 billion in humanitarian aid. This comes as a US navy warship in the Middle East shot down missiles potentially headed for Israel and multiple drone attacks were aimed at us bases in Iraq and Syria in the past several days, the Pentagon has not yet confirmed who launched those attacks. Biden said in his address, he does not have plans to send American troops into Russia earlier this week. National security officials said there are also no plans for us troops to combat in Israel. Now to the latest on the efforts to elect a house speaker, we have an update for you. According to the house majority leader, Steve Scalise the house will quote start over on Monday in their effort to name a speaker. This comes after Republicans dropped Jim Jordan as a nominee this afternoon. Jordan once again fell short in his bid to take the speakership in the third round of voting that took place earlier this morning. Jordan told reporters he thought he could flip more votes in his favor today, but he went on to only pick up 194 of the required 217 votes this afternoon. That's down from the 199 votes he received Wednesday the 200 votes he received on Tuesday, former Trump lawyer Kenneth Chessa bro pled guilty today to a charge in connection to Trump's 2020 Georgia election interference case as part of the plea deal, Chessa bro pled guilty to conspiracy to commit filing false documents. Prosecutors dropped Chessa Brough's other charges. This comes a day after co defendant Sydney Powell pled guilty to six misdemeanor charges. Powell and Chesa bro. both received probation and will have to testify in future proceedings. Chesa Bro and Powell are among 19 co defendants including Trump who are accused of violating the state's racketeering statute to keep the former president in office. Chessa bro is accused of working on a plan to get 16 Georgia Republicans to sign a certificate that would have falsely declared Trump as the winner of the state's election. An army private who crossed the border into North Korea in July has been charged in military court with eight offenses including desertion us. Army private. Travis King is also accused of hitting other officers unlawfully possessing alcohol, making a false statement, soliciting and possessing Snapchat video of a child engaged in sexual activity. King was detained for two months in North Korea before being expelled from the country. He then came back to America on September 28th. A spokesperson for his family said he is being held at a civilian jail just outside of Fort Bliss. That's near El Paso, Texas. Canada has removed 41 of its diplomats from India as tensions rise between those two nations. This comes after India's government said it would revoke the Canadians diplomatic immunity. Canada has accused India of being involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen. India denied involvement. Calling it absurd and has in turn accused Canada of harboring separatists and terrorists. 21 Canadian diplomats will stay in the country for the time being because their immunity is not being threatened.