Morning Headlines - Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023

U.S. and World Headlines

Biden On Gaza Hospital Strike: Looks Like The ‘Other Team’ Did It

U.S. President Joe Biden landed Wednesday in Israel and told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the attack Tuesday night on the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza, in which hundreds are feared dead, appears to have been carried out by the “other team, not you.”

“Based on what I have seen, it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden said. “But there’s a lot of people out there who are not sure. So we’ve got to overcome a lot of things.”

Biden said that he’s “deeply saddened and outraged by the incident,” adding “the U.S. will continue to support Israel.”

Jim Jordan Struggles In Speakership Vote

House Republicans are struggling to elect a Speaker after their latest nominee, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), lost 20 GOP votes on his first ballot effort and fell well short of clinching the gavel.

Plans for a second vote were postponed on Tuesday evening, a possible signal that Jordan risked losing more support if he had quickly gone to the floor for a second time.

At press time, the House was scheduled to hold a second Speakership vote at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

Pentagon Declassifies Videos Of "Coercive And Risky" Chinese Behavior Against U.S. Jets

The Pentagon declassified videos and photos of 15 incidents in which Chinese jets performed "coercive and risky" maneuvers, sometimes within a mere 20 feet of U.S. jets in the Indo-Pacific region.

The photos and video released Tuesday show a subset of what the Pentagon considers part of a "centralized and concerted campaign" by China to change U.S. operations in the region.

There have been more than 180 instances of "coercive and risky" behavior against U.S. jets since the fall of 2021. That's more incidents in the past two years than in the decade before that, Assistant Defense Secretary for the Indo-Pacific Ely Ratner told reporters on Tuesday.

Biden Drafts $100 Billion Foreign Aid Package, Including Money For Israel And Ukraine

The Biden administration is drafting a $100 billion foreign aid package that includes assistance for Israel as well as other top security priorities, according to two people familiar with the details.

Details on the spending request were still being finalized ahead of an official request sent by the White House to Congress this week.

One person told ABC News that the “bulk” of the assistance will likely go toward Ukraine, while others also said that it included $10 billion for Israel. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss details that hadn't been announced yet by the White House.

Here’s Why It’s OK To Hit The Snooze Button

If you’re concerned that by hitting the snooze button multiple times in the morning you could be hurting your sleep, you can sleep easy: For most people, “snoozing” has no impact on sleep quality, a new study suggests.

What's more, for some, hitting the button multiple times over 30 minutes may spark alertness more quickly than sleeping through without a break, according to the study, published Wednesday in the Journal of Sleep Research.

The study found “that snoozing for 30 minutes in the morning does not make you more tired or more likely to wake up from deep sleep,” the study’s lead author, Tina Sundelin, an associate professor in the department of psychology at Stockholm University in Sweden, said in an email. “For those who usually snooze, it might even be helpful with waking.”

Wisconsin Headlines

Wisconsin Assembly Approves $545 Million In Public Funds For Brewers Stadium Work

Wisconsin legislators edged closer to passing a compromise plan to spend more than half-a-billion dollars in public money to help cover repairs at the Milwaukee Brewers stadium, pushing the proposal through the state Assembly on Oct. 17 and on to the Senate.

The chamber voted 69-27 to approve the package. The Senate is expected to vote on the plan in November, but senators may attach amendments and send the measure back to the Assembly, the proposal’s sponsors said. Both houses must agree on the same version before the plan can go to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers for his signature.

“We’ve got to get it done,” Evers told reporters before the vote. “I’m ready to support it as is.”

GOP-Controlled Senate Rejects 8 Appointees, Including 4 Evers Picks For Natural Resources Board

The GOP-controlled state Senate voted today to fire more than half of the guv’s appointees to the Natural Resources Board as Republicans rejected eight appoints in today as part of an unprecedented move.

According to the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Senate has rejected just five executive appointments since the start of the 1981-82 session.

Along with the nominations of four appointments to the Natural Resources Board, the GOP senators also shot down a Dem pick for the state Elections Commission, a guv nominee for the Council on Domestic Abuse, a DATCP appointment to a Livestock Facility Siting Review Board and an Evers selection for the Medical Examining Board.

Wisconsin Senate Gives Final Approval To Bill Banning Gender-Affirming Surgery

Gender-affirming surgery for minors would be banned in Wisconsin under a Republican-sponsored bill that won final approval in the GOP-controlled Legislature on Tuesday.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has vowed to veto the measure that drew dozens of people in opposition to a hearing at the Capitol earlier this month. The Assembly passed the rapidly moving bill last week and the Senate passed it Tuesday.

Democrats were united against it in both the Assembly and Senate, but didn’t have the votes to stop it.

Domestic Violence-Related Deaths Increased In Wisconsin Last Year, Hitting New Record For The State

Wisconsin saw the largest increase in domestic violence deaths in the last two decades in 2022, setting a new record for total number of homicides and suicides related to domestic violence incidents in the state.

That's according to a new report from advocacy group End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin, which has tracked domestic violence deaths since 2000.

Its latest report found 96 deaths related to domestic violence in Wisconsin last year, which includes both victims and perpetrators. That's 20 percent more than the previous year and the largest single-year increase recorded by the group.

Wisconsin Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for PPP Fraud

Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on October 16, 2023, Robert J. Solberg (age: 39) of Crivitz, Wisconsin, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison by Senior District Judge William C. Griesbach.

According to court records, Solberg received $20,833 from the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) after applying to the U.S. Small Business Administration. To obtain the money, Solberg falsely claimed that he was not then under indictment or convicted of a felony. In fact, Solberg had months earlier pled guilty to conspiracy to commit odometer tampering and was awaiting sentencing in federal court.