October 7th: One Year Later
Plus, millions of Americans set to evacuate ahead of another major hurricane; Trump & Harris target male voters with alternative media in final election sprint
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Good morning,
All eyes are on Hurricane Milton as the storm rapidly intensifies and makes its way across the Gulf of Mexico. The storm is expected to make landfall Wednesday afternoon on the west coast of Florida as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane.
The latest models have landfall for the eye somewhere between Tampa and Sarasota.
Florida is preparing for what could be the largest coastal evacuation in a decade, with the governor warning of possible “life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts” for the state’s west coast starting as soon as Tuesday evening.
It comes less than 10 days after Helene made landfall along Florida’s Big Bend region and then ravaged Tennessee and the Carolinas, where it caused devastating flooding. At least 230 people have been killed from the storm across six states, and nearly a hundred are still missing.
Milton is on track to hit a much more populated area in Florida than Helene.
We’ll be posting updates all day on Mo News Instagram.
Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren
PS: Don’t forget to refer friends & family to subscribe to the Mo Newsletter… you could get free Mo News merch — DETAILS at the bottom of this newsletter!
📌 STATE OF THE MIDDLE EAST ONE YEAR SINCE HAMAS OCTOBER 7 ATTACK AND ISRAELI RESPONSE
One year ago today, Hamas terrorists launched a massive attack by ground, sea and air on Israel, setting off the largest war in modern Israeli-Palestinian history. The terrorist group killed 1,200+ people and took 251 more hostage, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Israel estimates about 101 hostages are still in Gaza, half of which are likely alive. That includes four American citizens.
Israel subsequently launched a war on Hamas in Gaza aimed at eliminating Hamas. It has decimated the terrorist group– which has run Gaza since 2007. But the Gaza Strip–home to 2.4 million people— is a humanitarian disaster, and lies in ruins following a year of fighting. Nearly all civilians who call Gaza home are displaced. The death toll in Gaza is now at just over 40,000— just over ⅓ Hamas, and about ⅔ civilians based on our best estimates when you look at Hamas claims and Israeli estimates.
WHAT NOW?
The war in Gaza continues at a low grade as Israel continues to look for the hostages, and take out remaining Hamas fighters, along with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. There is no sign of any ceasefire anytime soon.
Hamas is unwilling to agree to a hostage deal unless Israel completely pulls out and allows the group to keep running Gaza. Israel is looking to keep control of the Gaza border with Egypt and remove Hamas from power.
BEYOND GAZA
Meanwhile, the war has expanded beyond Gaza in the last year. In the days following October 7, the Hezbollah terror group from Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen joined in the attack on Israel to support Hamas. They’ve fired rockets and missiles at Israel for months. All the groups are supported by Iran, which has fired directly on Israel twice in the last year (more on that below).
HEZBOLLAH
In recent weeks the war in the north between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated. Israeli air attacks battered suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon that are known as Hezbollah strongholds over the weekend in the most intense bombardment of the Lebanese capital in years.
For days Israel has bombed the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh - considered a stronghold for Hezbollah but also home to thousands of ordinary Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian refugees.
Over the last few weeks Israel has been taking out numerous Hezbollah leaders–including killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27.
They also appeared to have already killed the man set to take over the role from Nasrallah late last week. Hashem Safieddine has been out of contact since Friday, after an Israeli airstrike on Thursday targeted him.
THE GOAL
Israel says it won’t stop until Hezbollah pulls back from the Israeli border and stops firing on Israeli civilians. Nearly 100,000 Israelis have been displaced from their homes for the last year. Hezbollah says it won’t stop until war in Gaza ends. With fighting escalating in Lebanon, more than one million Lebanese have now been displaced.
FIGHT AGAINST HEZBOLLAH
After a year of low grade back and forth fighting, Israel intensified their assault on Hezbollah in recent weeks, and continued to zero-in on targets over the weekend.
ULTIMATELY IT’S IRAN
Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis are funded and armed by Iran. Last week, Tehran fired 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, in response to recent Israeli assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. It was the second time in less than six months (and in the history of the two modern countries) that Iran, instead of its proxies, became directly involved in the fight.
Both attacks left minimal damage in Israel thanks to air defense systems and help from allies. Israeli PM Netanyahu, however, vowed Tuesday to make Tehran “pay” for the “big mistake.”
🚨 All eyes are now on how Israel will respond, what they target and what Iran will do in response. The US and others are trying to minimize the potential for the back and forth to turn into all out war.
Eurasia Group Founder Ian Bremmer said Israel’s recent success against Hezbollah and weakening of Iran has shown Israel’s “offense and defense, intelligence and technology” dominance in the Middle East.
US RESPONSE
President Biden’s efforts for another hostage-for-ceasefire deal since the beginning of the year have largely failed. Four Americans are still held hostage by Hamas, while five American hostages have been killed.
In April, Congress approved $14 billion in military assistance to Israel, along with $9.5 billion in humanitarian aid for conflict zones including Gaza.
Antisemitism in US
Anti-Defamation League data reveals a 200% increase in antisemitic incidents from October 7, 2023 to the end of September 2024, with more than 1,200 incidents on campuses and over 2,000 at Jewish institutions. Jews make up 2% of the US population but account for more than 60% of religious hate crimes in the country.
And while the last year has been one of the most traumatic for Jews in recent memory, the New York Times reports that “across the country, rabbis report a rise in the number of new congregants. Longstanding members are engaging more in services and activities. Jewish schools and camps are welcoming an influx of new families. Philanthropists see a rise in giving not just for needs in Israel, but also for Jewish education and identity in America.”
📌 TRUMP VS. HARRIS MEDIA BLITZ STRATEGIES
With less than 30 days until the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris is ramping up her media appearances, including on media platforms that are not typical fare for Harris.
ON THE AGENDA
Harris, who has largely avoided interviews, has a busy week of interviews lined up, including sit downs with Howard Stern, Alex Cooper of ‘Call Her Daddy,’ Stephen Colbert, ‘60 Minutes’ and 'The View.’
‘Call Her Daddy’ is one of the most popular podcasts in the world (it was Spotify's second-biggest podcast last year) and the most listened to among women. The conversation, released Sunday, focused on reproductive rights.
Meanwhile, Howard Stern’s audience is ¾ male. Harris is currently underperforming Biden among men in polls.
Trump has also been strategically choosing alternative media outlets including Adin Ross, ‘This Past Weekend w/Theo Von’ and the ‘Lex Fridman Podcast,’ which are popular with young men.
The bottom line: Both candidates are micro-targeting key voting groups via mainly friendly new media platforms.
‘60 Minutes’ Drama: Harris and Tim Walz will appear tonight on a special edition of ‘60 Minutes,’ the highest-rated news program on TV, which for decades has interviewed both major party’s candidates ahead of the election.
"This year, both the Harris and Trump campaigns agreed to sit down with 60 Minutes,” the broadcast said, but Trump pulled out in the last week. Trump’s campaign said it was due to CBS’s plan to fact check the conversation.
END OF THE ELECTION BLITZ
Harris is spending about three times as much money as Trump on the campaign, however. Trump’s team argues that he makes up the difference in paid advertising with earned media (aka free attention) through news coverage and social media.
Former President Obama will begin on-the-ground campaigning for Harris this Thursday across several battleground states, starting in Pittsburgh. It's unclear if Harris will appear with him.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 Melania Trump speaks out about pro-choice abortion views(CNBC)
📌 Entire Chicago school board resigns amid tensions with mayor (FOX NEWS)
📌 Trump makes a dramatic return to Pennsylvania shooting scene (AXIOS) Elon Musk makes his first appearance at a Trump rally and casts the election in dire terms (AP)
📌 Hospitals worry of IV shortage after Helene shuts down key North Carolina facility (USA TODAY)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 More than 900 people crossed the English Channel in small boats in a day (BBC)
📌 Chinese hackers access US telecom firms, worrying national security officials (CNN)
📌 Climbers rescued after being stranded for 3 days in Himalayas (GUARDIAN)
📌 Russia launches attacks on Kyiv and Odessa, Ukraine says (POLITICO)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Frontier Airlines jet appears to catch fire while landing at Las Vegas airport, FAA and NTSB investigating (ABC NEWS)
📌 Google’s grip on search slips as TikTok and AI startup mount challenge (WSJ)
📌 As America’s marijuana use grows, so do the harms (NY TIMES)
📌 Boeing, striking union to return to negotiations on Monday (REUTERS)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 Dolly Parton donates $1 million to Hurricane Helene relief efforts (CBS NEWS)
📌 The Menendez brothers' murder case is getting a fresh look (NPR)
📌 Four college volleyball teams forfeit against San José State over possible trans player (NBC NEWS)
📌 Lonely Island reunites on ‘SNL’ for first digital short in six years (DEADLINE)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: OCTOBER 7
1931: The first infrared photograph was taken at Eastman Kodak Research Laboratories in Rochester, New York. Most of the subjects were landscapes because of how long it took to capture the photos.
1964: ‘The Giving Tree’ by Shel Silverstein was published.
1977: Queen released ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are the Champions.’
1996: Fox News Channel launched. t soon became the dominant US cable news network.
The ‘O’Reilly Report’ (later ‘The O’Reilly Factor’) and ‘Hannity and Colmes’ also debuted, making opinion programming the network's primary draw.