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--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Thursday, October 19th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Today, the GOP-led House scuttled a plan that would have given broader powers to temporary Speaker Patrick McHenry and instead will hold a third vote for Speaker.
--:-- John Bickley: The former Speaker Kevin McCarthy nominated House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan for his third attempt. Here with more is Daily Wire reporter Tim Peer.
--:-- Tim Peer: This morning, it looked like a decision had been reached to put forth a resolution that would have granted McHenry expanded powers until January 2024. McHenry had been serving as Speaker pro tem for a little over two weeks after the House took the unprecedented step of voting Kevin McCarthy out as Speaker.
--:-- Tim Peer: But that plan received pushback from several members, such as Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida. I'm against Speaker light. I'm against Bud light. I believe it is a constitutional desecration to not elect a Speaker of the House. We need to stay here until we elect a Speaker. And if someone can't get the votes, we need to go on to the next person.
--:-- Tim Peer: Jordan, who lost House votes on Tuesday and Wednesday with at least 20 Republican defectors voting for other members on each ballot, addressed the fluid situation this afternoon and maintained that he is still in the race.
--:-- Jim Jordan: We made the pitch to members on the resolution as a way to lower the temperature and get back to work. We decided that wasn't where we were going to go. I'm still running for speaker and I plan to go to the floor and get the votes and win this race so that we can move forward and begin to work for the American people.
--:-- John Bickley: Attorney Sidney Powell pled guilty today to reduced criminal charges the day before her trial was set to begin in the sprawling racketeering case over the 2020 election in Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Powell pled guilty to a total of six misdemeanor counts regarding election interference. In exchange for the guilty plea, she will now have to serve six years of probation, pay several thousand in fines, and write an apology to the citizens of the state.
--:-- John Bickley: Powell's punishment is dramatically less than what it would have been if she had been convicted of the multiple felony charges that she faced in the initial indictment. She also agreed to testify against any of the other 17 remaining defendants in the case moving forward, which includes Trump.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Multiple countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Saudi Arabia, Canada, and France, have alerted their citizens inside Lebanon that they should immediately evacuate. This comes as the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah ramps up attacks on Israel from Lebanon.
--:-- John Bickley: Israeli officials are concerned that Hezbollah is preparing to launch a full-scale attack on its northern border, opening a new front of its war against Islamic terrorists. Hezbollah is estimated to have approximately 20 militants and 150 rockets, far more than Hamas.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The U.S. State Department announced a worldwide caution advisory for Americans traveling around the globe, telling citizens to be extra vigilant due to the potential for terrorist attacks or demonstrations against U.S. citizens.
--:-- John Bickley: Florida governor and GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis used his executive power to charter flights from Israel to evacuate U.S. citizens stranded after the Hamas terrorist attacks. Several commercial airlines canceled travel to and from Israel.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So far, roughly 500 Americans have made it home safely from the war-torn country thanks to the flights. Critics have pointed out that the federal government is making Americans sign a promissory note pledging to repay flights provided by feds, while quote-unquote "Air DeSantis" is free.
--:-- Ron DeSantis: We've been able to help hundreds of people get back from the war zone safely to the United States, to the state of Florida. We've also put a lot of supplies that have been donated over to Israel, and I know they're really appreciative of it. And we've got another flight coming, most likely tomorrow morning.
--:-- John Bickley: The federal government dragged its feet. A lot of those folks didn't have any options. We stepped up, showed the leadership, and are delivering results.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Republican senators slammed President Biden after his administration announced that it would ease sanctions on Venezuela in exchange for democratic developments backed by socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro.
--:-- Zach Jewell: The Biden administration made the decision to remove the Trump-imposed sanctions on exports of crude oil and refined petroleum after Maduro gave concessions to the opposition unitary platform, agreeing to allow more transparency in the upcoming 2024 elections.
--:-- Zach Jewell: The suspended sanctions mean that the U.S. will allow some Venezuelan oil and gas transactions and the trading of some sovereign bonds. The decision was criticized by Republicans who expressed doubts that Maduro would uphold his promises for transparent elections and hit Biden for restricting domestic oil production.
--:-- John Bickley: Yet another American journalist has been detained and charged in Russia. Alsu Kermesheva, a dual Russian-American reporter with Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Liberty, was arrested in the city of Kazan on Wednesday. She's being charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, a charge that could land her five years in Russian prison.
--:-- Georgia Howe: She had previously been detained in June by Russian authorities at an airport after landing in the country. Her arrest comes after Russia arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges. Both reporters adamantly deny any wrongdoing.
--:-- John Bickley: All right, those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to our latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
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