The Daily Signal - Rep. Jordan Loses In Third Speaker Vote, Biden Delivers Oval Office Address on Israel, Heritage Seeks Answers on DHS Hire Who Worked as PLO Spokeswoman | Oct. 20

Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm Samantha Sherris, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Friday, October 20th. Here are today's headlines. After three rounds of voting, there is still no Speaker of the House, and now there isn't a GOP nominee. Our colleague Mary Margaret O'Lehann reports that during a secret ballot today, House Republicans reportedly voted to remove Republican Ohio Representative Jim Jordan as the GOP nominee for Speaker of the House of Representatives. Republicans held the closed-door vote this afternoon after Jordan failed to win enough support in a third vote, Fox News reported. According to Punch Bulls, Jake Sherman, Jordan lost in a 112-86 vote. And shortly after, Kevin Hearn of Oklahoma announced that he is seeking the leadership role. Republican Representative Jack Bergman of Michigan also expressed openness to the role, according to Axios.

Starting point is 00:01:11 The congressman posted on X this afternoon. House Republicans shouldn't be leaving town for the weekend. We need to lock ourselves in a room and elect the 56th Speaker of the House. Minnesota Republican Representative Tom Emmer, who is currently the majority whip, also said he will run for Speaker, Punch Bowles, Jake Sherman also said. Sherman also posted to X that Kevin McCarthy, the former House Speaker, has endorsed Tom Emmer for the position. The Hills Emily Brooks posted to X that Florida Republican Representative Byron Donald's is also running for speaker.

Starting point is 00:01:49 Brooks noted in a separate X post that the new GOP candidates must file by Sunday at noon. A GOP candidate forum will be held on Monday at 6.30 p.m. And there will be an internal GOP vote Tuesday morning at 9. During the third round of voting this morning, Jordan obtained 194 votes from Republican. House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had 210 votes from Democrats, and 25 Republicans opted to vote for candidates other than Jordan. Before the vote, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy nominated Jordan for House Speaker, praising him as a leader, a listener, and a fighter. Stay tuned. We are approaching the two-week mark since Hamas launched an attack against Israel

Starting point is 00:02:37 on October 7th. The Wall Street Journal reports that since then, over Over 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and Hamas officials have said upward of 3,700 Palestinians have been killed. Today, President Joe Biden requested $14.3 billion in aid for Israel. The request includes funding for air and missile defense, military financing, and embassy support, according to NPR. NPR reports that Biden also requested $9.15 billion in humanitarian aid that includes support for Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine. With regard to some positive news relating to the war, two Americans who were being held hostage by Hamas have been released. Fox News reports that the mother and daughter who were being held hostage have been identified as Judith and Natalie Renan. We will keep you updated as the

Starting point is 00:03:31 war between Israel and Hamas continues. In related news, President Biden compared Hamas to Russian President Vladimir Putin and stressed America's interest in supporting both Ukraine and Israel as the two nations are under siege during a primetime Oval Office speech on Thursday. That's according to reporting from our colleague Fred Lucas. Biden said Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common. They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy, completely annihilate it. The president added, Hamas's stated. purpose for existing is the destruction of the state of Israel and the murder of the Jewish people.

Starting point is 00:04:15 Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. Hamas uses civilians as human shields. And innocent Palestinian families are suffering greatly because of that. Biden moved on to talk about Russia continuing war with Ukraine. Let's take a listen to some of his comments via the White House's YouTube. Meanwhile, Putin denies Ukraine has or ever had real serious. statehood. He claims the Soviet Union created Ukraine. And just two weeks ago, he told the world that if the United States and our allies withdraw, and if the United States withdraw our allies will as well, military support for Ukraine would have, quote, a week left to live, but we're not withdrawing. Biden twice in the speech stressed that U.S. troops would not be sent abroad for the conflicts

Starting point is 00:05:01 and that providing weapons and financial assistance to the countries will keep the United States out of conflicts. You can check out Fred's full article in today's show notes. Our colleague Tyler O'Neill reports that the Heritage Foundation's oversight project is requesting any documents sent or received by Nejwal Ali, a former spokeswoman for the Palestinian liberation organizations now defunct U.S. delegation in her official capacity at the Department of Homeland Security. DHS put Ali on leave Thursday after the Daily reported on her history with the PLO, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist group and her social media post reading F Israel. Ali serves as an adjudication officer at the United States

Starting point is 00:05:51 Citizenship and Immigration Services Department. The Oversight Project filed a Freedom of Information Act request Wednesday demanding all communications, including emails, text messages, and messaging app chats sent or received by Neshwa Ali with specific terms related to Israel and Palestine. Heritage Oversight Project Director Mike Howell told the Daily Signal Thursday, Our asylum system is an international embarrassment and a key driver of the mass importation into the United States of individuals who do not belong here. It's not a surprise that is the case when you have a pro-Hamas individual in a decision-making capacity.

Starting point is 00:06:36 Howell asked, who knows who she left through the cracks. DHS did not respond to the Daily Signals request for comment by publication time. You can check out Tyler's full report in today's show notes. And for our final story today, Gallup reported that media confidence in the U.S. is on par, with record lows from 2016. A recent poll, which was conducted September 1st to September 23rd, revealed more Americans have no confidence in media at all than the percentage with a great deal or fair amount of trust. Looking at partisan lines,

Starting point is 00:07:14 Gallup found the Democrats' trust in the media has fallen 12 points in the last year alone. 58% of Democrats have a great deal or a fair amount of trust and confidence in mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly, while only 29% of independence and 11% of Republicans hold this view. These findings are on trend with previous Gallup polls that have recorded low trust in the federal government, as well as in the honesty and ethics of journalists in the mass media. You can check out Gallup's full findings in today's show notes. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for listening to the Daily Signals Top News. If you haven't had the chance, make sure you check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed where we interview lawmakers,

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The Daily Signal - Rep. Jordan Loses In Third Speaker Vote, Biden Delivers Oval Office Address on Israel, Heritage Seeks Answers on DHS Hire Who Worked as PLO Spokeswoman | Oct. 20

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