Author: CNN

CNN
 — 

The same New York City administration to launch a “Rat Action Plan” is back with an “Artificial Intelligence Action Plan.”

Mayor Eric Adams on Monday unveiled a citywide AI “action plan” that pledged – in broad-brushstrokes – to evaluate AI tools and associated risks, boost AI skills among city employees and support “the responsible implementation of these technologies to improve quality of life for New Yorkers,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office.

The city’s 51-page AI action plan establishes a series of steps the city will take in the coming years to help better understand and responsibly implement the technology that has taken the tech sector and broader business world by storm in recent months.

While government use of automated technologies has often courted controversy, New York City’s approach to AI, so far, seems to be focused on laying a framework for future AI use-cases as well as engaging with outside experts and the public.

The first step listed in the city’s AI action plan is establishing an “AI Steering Committee” of city agency stakeholders. The document goes on to list nearly 40 “actions,” with 29 of those set to be started or completed within the next year. The city said it will publish an annual AI progress report to communicate the city’s updates and implementation of the plan.

Also on Monday, city officials said the government was piloting the first citywide AI-powered chatbot to help business owners navigate operating and growing businesses in New York City. The AI chatbot, already available in beta on the official city of New York website, was trained on information from more than 2,000 NYC Business web pages.

The chatbot uses Microsoft’s Azure AI services, per a disclaimer on the tool.

In a statement announcing the AI action plan, Mayor Adams acknowledged “the potential pitfalls and associated risks these technologies present,” and pledged to be “clear-eyed” about these.

The mayor also expressed hope that the action plan will “strike a critical balance in the global AI conversation — one that will empower city agencies to deploy technologies that can improve lives while protecting against those that can do harm.”

New York
CNN
 — 

A nonprofit founded by former Victoria’s Secret billionaire Leslie Wexner and his wife Abigail is breaking off ties with Harvard University, alleging the school has been “tiptoeing” over Hamas’ terror attacks against Israel.

The Wexner Foundation’s decision to end its relationship and financial support for Harvard is the latest fallout amid criticism from donors who were alarmed by the university’s initial response to the attacks and to an anti-Israel statement issued by student groups.

The end of Wexner’s support comes as college campuses across the United States are in turmoil over responses from students, professors and administrations to Hamas’ attack on Israel and the ensuing war. Big donors have pulled money from a number of high-profile universities. Students have protested and some have been publicly shamed for their views. A handful of faculty have been lambasted by students and administrations for sharing controversial views. And university leaders are clinging onto diminishing support as some fight for survival.

“We are stunned and sickened by the dismal failure of Harvard’s leadership to take a clear and unequivocal stand against the barbaric murders of innocent Israeli civilians,” the Wexner Foundation’s leaders wrote in a Monday letter to the Harvard board of overseers.

The Wexners, whose fortune is estimated to be $6 billion, according to Forbes, specifically cite the statement released by a coalition of student groups that blamed solely Israel for the terror attacks by Hamas.

“Harvard’s leaders were indeed tiptoeing, equivocating, and we, like former Harvard President Larry Summers cannot ‘fathom the administration’s failure to disassociate the university and condemn the statement’ swiftly issued by 34 student groups holding Israel entirely responsible for the violent terror attack on its own citizens,” the Wexner Foundation letter reads. “That should not have been that hard.”

Summers, a former economic official in the Obama and Clinton administrations, drew attention last week to the “morally unconscionable” student statement and slammed Harvard leaders for their response.

Citing the “absence of this clear moral standard,” the Wexner Foundation said it has determined the Harvard Kennedy School is no longer a “compatible” partner for its organization.

Last week, Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer and his wife Batia quit a Harvard executive board in protest of how university leaders responded to the Hamas terror attack on Israel.

In a statement to CNN, Harvard reiterated comments by university leadership condemning both the attacks against Israel and terrorism.

“We are grateful to the Wexner Foundation for its very longstanding support of student scholarships,” a Harvard spokesperson said in the statement.

Last week, Harvard President Claudine Gay released a video statement attempting to quiet the growing criticism.

“People have asked me where we stand. So, let me be clear. Our University rejects terrorism — that includes the barbaric atrocities perpetrated by Hamas,” Gay said on Thursday. “Our University rejects hate — hate of Jews, hate of Muslims, hate of any group of people based on their faith, their national origin, or any aspect of their identify.”

Gay added that Harvard “rejects the harassment or intimidation of individuals based on their beliefs” and “embraces a commitment to free expression.”

“That commitment extends even to views that many of us find objectionable, even outrageous. We do not punish or sanction people for expressing such views,” Gay said. “But that is a far cry from endorsing them.”

The Wexner Foundation says its mission is to develop and inspire leaders in the North American Jewish community and Israel through programs and investments in promising professionals. The foundation has deep ties to Harvard supporting a fellowship program at the Kennedy School of Government that allows government and public service professionals in Israel to study at Harvard for a year.

Beyond Harvard’s response to the terror attacks and anti-Israel letter, the Wexner Foundation cited a broader problem where “tolerance for diverse perspectives has slowly but perceptibly narrowed over the years.”

That feeling was amplified by recent events, the letter said.

“Many of our Israel Fellows no longer feel marginalized at HKS. They feel abandoned,” the Wexner Foundation said.

Les Wexner once presided over a business empire that included Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret. In 2019, Wexner apologized for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died by suicide. Wexner stepped down from the Limited Brands and sold his majority stake in 2020.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated on October 17, 2023.

CNN
 — 

The rolling hills of Rwanda produce great endurance cyclists. They might not all be attempting the Tour de France, but perhaps even more impressively, some are able to traverse mountainous terrain with 100 kilograms of fruit on their heads and shoulders.

In this region, where bigger vehicles struggle on the dirt roads, bicycles and motorcycles are a common way for farmers to get their produce to market. But British-Rwandan delivery startup OX Delivers is looking to change that through its electric OX Trucks, which are designed to negotiate dirt roads while carrying up to two tons of goods – roughly 20 times a cyclist’s capacity.

The truck was designed by former Formula One engineer Gordon Murray in 2016, commissioned by a non-profit called the Global Vehicle Trust, which wanted a vehicle that could help provide essential deliveries in developing countries.

The Global Vehicle Trust launched OX Delivers in 2020 and although it’s headquartered in Warwickshire, England, the company describes it as an African-led operation. Rather than selling the vehicles, it rents out delivery space on the trucks, mostly to smallholder farmers and small-scale traders.

It launched a fleet of two trucks in Western Rwanda in April 2021, which has now grown to 24, transporting everything from fruit to livestock, lumber to school equipment. “Before, our clients would take any means of transport that would come around,” explains Rwanda managing director Francine Uwamahoro. “They were taking bikes from their farm … and they would be gone for a long time – around two days.”

The OX Truck boasts large tires and high ground clearance. The company says that parts are carefully selected to reduce breakdown time, and some basic components are interchangeable and easily removed in the event of being damaged by rocks (a regular occurrence on dirt roads).

Customers book space on a truck through a basic “app” designed for 2G feature phones. Since the app cannot yet process payments, drivers negotiate prices and build relationships face to face with their customers. “Our growth is in the hands of our drivers,” says Uwamahoro.

Sub-Saharan Africa has fewer than a quarter of the average paved roads per kilometer of all low-income regions. A lack of roads can mean higher cargo prices and longer transit times, which can make it harder for economies to develop.

“Bananas cost 10 times in Kigali (Rwanda’s capital) what they cost in a village,” says OX Delivers managing director Simon Davis. “You can get good fruit and ship it to Kigali, but the transport will just eat all the cost.”

One solution is simply to build more paved roads, but Davis believes a more sustainable solution is to have more affordable vehicles that can drive on dirt roads.

“What happens when there’s a flood and it washes away a bridge? You can’t pay for a new one because you have no money,” he says. “But if you build a truck that works on the existing roads, we create a bunch of revenue, and ultimately, some of that becomes tax revenue.”

OX Delivers says it charges the same as cargo bicycles – around 50 cents to transport a 100 kilogram sack 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) – but can travel further, and offers a discount for return trips.

The company says it keeps down its costs by owning and streamlining every stage of the supply chain. Its parts, for example, are flown from Britain to Rwanda in flat-pack form, allowing materials for six vehicles to fit into a shipping container that would normally carry just two whole trucks. OX says the truck can be assembled by three “skilled (but not necessarily expert)” people in 12 hours, using an image-based, IKEA-like guide.

Davis says that running on electricity costs 50% less per day than diesel engines. The trucks have a range of 170 kilometers and the company has installed private charging depots – where they can take up to six hours to completely recharge – to make up for a lack of public charging infrastructure in Rwanda.

Fransua Vytautas Rasvadauskas, mobility and cities senior consultant at market research firm Euromonitor, agrees that the off-road delivery market could function as an infrastructure stopgap, but sees its potential in the short-to-medium term. “There is a lot of future potential for sub-Saharan Africa to grow and this would hopefully translate to better road infrastructure,” he says. “But I think for the next 10, 20, maybe 30 years, off-road vehicles stand a good chance in the region.”

Other companies in Rwanda have been trying to fill the gap in food delivery, with Vanoma geared towards last-mile delivery from online sellers to customers’ homes, and Get It mostly transporting food from suppliers to hotels and restaurants. But OX Delivers is aimed squarely at undeserved rural traders looking to get their goods to market.

The company says it has more than 100 employees, including 70 in Rwanda, and has served 1,000 clients. Global Vehicle Trust is its biggest shareholder but it has also taken on for-profit “impact” shareholders and has £8 million ($9.6 million) in seed funding, as well as £20 million ($24 million) in UK government grants. It now plans to further develop its app and deploy a cold-store fitting for perishable cargo.

In theory, the model can be transferred outside of Western Rwanda. “It works in any rural African place where transport is a challenge,” says Uwamahoro. “People depend on agriculture, and products need to be moved around.”

Davis says the company has had offers to expand into other East African countries such as Zambia, Uganda and Kenya. But more than just being an example of growth, the business model is seen as a means of facilitating it.

“It’s about impacting the people who have been left behind,” says Uwamahoro. “OX is giving them power to grow economically.”

Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter which explores what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world.

Hong Kong
CNN
 — 

Chinese tech giant Baidu is officially taking on GPT-4.

On Tuesday, the company unveiled ERNIE 4.0, the newest version of its artificial intelligence chatbot that it directly compared to the latest iteration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

The new ERNIE Bot “is not inferior in any aspect to GPT-4,” Baidu’s billionaire CEO, Robin Li, told an audience at its annual flagship event.

Speaking onstage, Li showed how the bot could generate a commercial for a car within minutes, solve complicated math problems and create a plot for a martial arts novel from scratch. The bot works mainly in Mandarin Chinese, its primary language. It is also able to handle queries and produce responses in English at a less advanced level.

Li said the demonstrations showed how the bot had been “significantly improved” in terms of its understanding of queries, generation of complex responses and memory capabilities.

While coming up with ideas for the novel, for instance, the bot was able to remember previous instructions and create sophisticated story lines by adding conflicts and characters, said Li.

“We always complained that AI was not intelligent enough,” he quipped.

“But today, it understands almost everything you say, and in many cases, it understands what you’re saying better than your friends or your colleagues.”

Charlie Dai, vice president and research director of technology at Forrester, said Baidu is “the first vendor in China” to claim it could perform as well as GPT-4.

“We still need more benchmarking evidence to prove it, but I’m cautiously optimistic that this is China’s GPT-4 moment, giving its long-term investment in AI [and machine learning],” he told CNN.

In contrast to a pre-recorded presentation in March that failed to impress investors, Li demonstrated the bot in real time.

Investors appeared unmoved, however, with Baidu’s shares down 1.4% in Hong Kong following the presentation.

Baidu (BIDU) has been a frontrunner in China in the race to capitalize on the excitement around generative AI, the technology that underpins systems such as ChatGPT or its successor, GPT-4.

The Beijing-based company unveiled ERNIE Bot in March, before launching it publicly in August.

The newest iteration will launch first to invited users, Li said. The company did not specify when it would be made available publicly.

ERNIE Bot has quickly gained traction, racking up more than 45 million users after reaching the top of Chinese app stores at one point, according to the company. ChatGPT, which was released last November, surpassed 100 million users in its first two months, according to a March report by Goldman Sachs analysts.

Baidu faces competition within China, from companies such as Alibaba (BABA) and SenseTime, which have also shown off their own ChatGPT-style tools.

Baidu says its service stands out because of its advanced grasp of Chinese queries, as well as its ability to generate different types of responses, such as video and audio.

By comparison, GPT-4 is also able to analyze photos, but currently only generates text responses, according to its developer, OpenAI.

Baidu is a market leader in China, said Dai.

But the competition in this space “has just begun, and AI tech leaders like Alibaba … Huawei, JD Cloud, SenseTime, and Tencent all have chance to take the lead,” he noted.

Some critics say the new offerings from Chinese firms will add fuel to an existing US-China rivalry in emerging technologies. Li has tried to shake off that comparison, saying previously that the company’s platform “is not a tool for the confrontation between China and the United States.”

But Baidu has previously touted how ERNIE can outperform ChatGPT in some instances, saying its bot had scored higher marks than OpenAI’s on some academic exams.

The Chinese company also announced Tuesday it had updated its suite of services to integrate the latest upgrades from ERNIE. Baidu’s popular search engine is now able to use the tool to produce more specific results, while its mobile mapping app can help users book services, such as taxis, according to Li.

By doing so, “Baidu is also the first Chinese tech leader that has made substantial progress in modernizing the majority of its products” with an AI model, said Dai.

CNN
 — 

Conservative Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio is bringing the House back to the floor Tuesday to vote on whether he will succeed ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy and finally end the chamber’s prolonged paralysis amid deep GOP divisions.

Jordan picked up key support from holdouts heading into Tuesday’s vote, which comes two weeks after McCarthy’s historic ousting, and his allies are bullish that the Ohio Republican can corral the 217 votes he needs to be elected speaker. But it’s not clear whether Jordan can be the one who unifies the fractured House Republican conference, with some lawmakers still opposed.

Florida Rep. Gus Bilirakis will be away from the Capitol on Tuesday for his mother-in-law’s funeral, further complicating the vote math for the Ohio Republican. Jordan can now only lose three votes, instead of four, but this is a temporary drop until the Florida congressman returns. Bilirakis will arrive back in Washington Tuesday evening, his office told CNN.

The slim margin is what led to McCarthy’s removal at the hands of a band of eight GOP rebels – and a small group of House Republicans unhappy with Jordan could block his ascension, too.

But Jordan and his allies have made significant headway over the past several days, with the Ohio Republican pitching skeptical lawmakers one on one – and his allies outside Congress attacking the holdouts and threatening political consequences if they stand against a favorite of the Trump-aligned GOP base.

“We need to get a speaker tomorrow,” Jordan said Monday after leaving a closed-door GOP conference meeting. “The American people deserve to have their Congress, their House representatives, working. And you can’t have that happen until you get a speaker.”

Jordan’s allies believe the number of GOP opponents has shrunk from the 55 who voted Friday against supporting him on the floor to a number in the teens. One GOP lawmaker suggested the remaining detractors totaled fewer than 10.

On Monday, several key holdouts said they would support Jordan, including Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri, who had previously called Jordan a “nonstarter.”

“I feel like he can bring together everybody, from the moderates to the ultra conservatives, and Republicans across the spectrum,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York. “The bottom line is we’ve got to get back to work. We don’t have any time here to waste.”

Even if Jordan doesn’t have the votes on the initial ballot, he could force additional votes, just as McCarthy did in the 15 rounds it took him to be elected speaker in January.

Until the House selects a speaker, it is unable to consider legislation, such as passing additional military aid to Israel or government funding, with the threat of a shutdown just a month away thanks to McCarthy’s six-week stopgap spending deal that prompted the move against him.

Jordan has skeptics who could publicly oppose him, including GOP lawmakers still angry that a small group of Republicans forced out McCarthy and then opposed the speaker nomination of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who initially defeated Jordan inside the GOP conference, 113 to 99.

“I can’t get past the fact that a small group in our conference violated the rules to get rid of Kevin, and then blocked Steve,” said Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska. “You don’t have a process where I play by the rules and these other people can’t and then they get what they want. That’s not American. Americans want fair play and rule of law.”

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida said he planned to continue to support Scalise on the floor. “You can remember we had an election; the guy who won was the guy who I was with,” he said Monday, while warning that any attempts to pressure him would backfire.

Several Republicans – including from districts won by President Joe Biden – declined to say Monday evening whether they would vote for Jordan on the floor.

Jordan’s backers have urged the conference to unify around him – even those who went after McCarthy and opposed Scalise.

Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania argued that those angry shouldn’t take it out on Jordan because he supported both McCarthy and Scalise.

“Feelings are hurt,” Perry said. “But Jim didn’t have anything to do with that. So they need to assign their ire, if you will, to those who they think deserve it – but certainly not Jim Jordan.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN
 — 

Advocacy group Climate Power is committing $80 million in advertising to call attention to President Joe Biden’s climate and environment agenda ahead of the 2024 election, the group announced Monday.

The ad campaign broadly aims to inform voters about the president’s wide-ranging climate and clean energy agenda. As he took office, Biden set ambitious targets to cut the country’s planet-warming emissions. He also presided over the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest legislative climate investment in US history.

Yet even as Biden has directed his administration to prioritize climate change and clean energy, polling this summer shows his message isn’t getting through to voters.

A July Washington Post/University of Maryland poll found that less than a third of Americans polled knew a great deal about the IRA, compared to 71% who had heard a little or nothing about it. But the same poll found respondents broadly supportive of the initiatives in the bill, including tax subsidies to defray the cost of purchasing an electric vehicle, solar panels, or energy efficient heating and cooling systems.

The same poll found 57% of Americans disapproved of how Biden has handled the issue of climate change.

“People overwhelmingly support what President Biden has done to combat climate change — but only if they hear about it,” said Lori Lodes, executive director of Climate Power. “Our campaign plans to bridge the information gap around the clean energy plan by meeting Americans where they are and telling the story of our climate progress.”

Climate Power is launching digital and television ads and plans to continue spending on both platforms heading into 2024, according to a fact sheet provided by the group. It is launching a campaign to mobilize Latino voters on the issue and focusing on digital campaigns to reach young voters on social media. The group is also organizing in-person events in key battleground states including Arizona, Georgia and Michigan.

Climate Power has an ad campaign partnership with Future Forward, whose nonprofit arm helped pay for some of its spots so far this year.

In addition to Climate Power’s new campaign, Biden also received the support of four environmental groups earlier this year: LCV Action Fund, NextGen PAC, the Sierra Club and the NRDC Action Fund jointly endorsed Biden in June, the first time all four groups have done so.

The Biden administration has also received praise from the youth-led climate group the Sunrise Movement after moving to create the first ever American Climate Corps. But the president has also been criticized by environmental groups for green lighting some major fossil fuel projects, including the Willow Project in Alaska and the Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia.

CORRECTION: This headline and story have been updated to clarify the type of ads from Climate Power and to reflect that the nonprofit arm of Future Forward helped pay for some of its ads.

CNN
 — 

Migrant families staying in New York City shelters will be required to leave those facilities after 60 days and reapply for placement, according to a new rule announced by Mayor Eric Adams on Monday.

The move is the administration’s most significant attempt to date aiming to reduce resources dedicated to more than 64,000 migrants currently in the city’s shelter system.

“As the city still seeks further and timely support from federal and state partners, it will begin providing 60 days’ notice to families with children seeking asylum to find alternative housing along with intensified casework services to help them explore other housing options and take the next steps in their journeys,” the administration said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Adams told CNN the new rule will take effect next week and notices would be given out on a “rolling basis” starting with families who have been in the system the longest.

More than 126,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since last spring and the city estimates there are 64,100 migrants currently in the shelter system. A spokesperson for the mayor did not respond when asked how many of the more than 64,000 people currently in the system are families with children.

The 60-day rule is likely to displace tens of thousands of homeless migrant children who are currently enrolled in the city’s public school system and could create new difficulties for families who may be forced to relocate to another shelter not near their children’s school.

As part of the change in policy, the city is also expected to open a new shelter site at Floyd Bennett Field in the coming weeks designed to serve about 500 families with children who are seeking asylum. Floyd Bennett Field, located in Brooklyn, will house families in a “semi-congregate setting,” and provide “privacy dividers with locks.”

The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless criticized the new change over fears how it could, among over things, impact educating migrant children.

“This new policy, along with the City’s announcement that it will place families with children in semi-congregate settings at Floyd Bennett Field, will disrupt access to education, which has provided much needed stability for our newest neighbors and also cause chaos for school administrators. We are also concerned about access to medical care and other vital services,” the groups said in a statement.

As it struggles to keep up with the demand, the city has issued emergency orders that allow it to bypass several rules and laws that govern how it manages the homeless shelter populations and the standards they are required to keep up – such as guaranteeing access to stoves and private bathrooms for families, access to clean linens and beds that are properly spaced out in congregate settings.

Families are not allowed to be housed in congregate settings, nor does the city set a limit on how long a homeless family can stay in a city shelter.

Advocates warned the city is pushing the limit when it comes to following the law and litigation could soon follow.

“Sheltering families with children in cramped and open cubicles at Floyd Bennett Field not only raises serious legal questions, but runs afoul of this Administration’s previous statements to provide safe and appropriate shelter to this extremely vulnerable population,” Legal Aid and the Coalition for the Homeless said in a statement. “Private rooms, not open cubicles, are needed to ensure the safety of families with children and to reduce the transmission of infectious disease, among other obvious reasons.”

It’s not the first time the Adams administration has limited migrant stays in city run shelters.

Last month, the city imposed a new rule forcing migrant adults to leave the shelter system after 30 days. After vacating, adults are sent to the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, which has become a one-stop center for migrants in need of city services. Once at the hotel, adult migrants are required to reapply for shelter, a complicated process that is often long and results in hours-long wait times, which advocates say is disruptive to people who are already struggling to establish themselves in a new country.

CNN
 — 

The super PAC backing Tim Scott’s presidential campaign is canceling its slate of upcoming television ads, according to a memo sent to donors obtained by CNN, as the South Carolina senator’s candidacy struggles to gain traction in the 2024 Republican primary.

Trust in the Mission PAC is pulling the plug on the remainder of its $40 million TV and digital ad reservation first made in July, citing a “stuck” primary field dominated by former President Donald Trump, PAC co-chair Rob Collins wrote in the memo, which was first reported by Politico.

“The Fall Republican primary is stuck,” Collins said. “Donald Trump leads a cluster of statistically tied contenders by a wide margin. Vote share of non-Trump candidates trades up and down, but no campaign has achieved break away velocity. The fundamentals of this race remain unchanged: President Donald Trump occupies a lane to himself.”

Collins added, “So, we are doing what would be obvious in the business world but will mystify politicos – we aren’t going to waste our money when the electorate isn’t focused or ready for a Trump alternative. We have done the research. We have studied the focus groups. We have been following Tim on the trail. This electorate is locked up and money spent on mass media isn’t going to change minds until we get a lot closer to voting.”

The super PAC will continue to spend money on organizing, fundraising, and hosting events – including with Scott as a “special guest” of events hosted by the group, Collins said in the memo, replicating a tactic used by the super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign.

Collins said the shift in strategy will help support Scott as he looks to increase his appeal in early state nominating contests, with Iowa being a particular focus.

“We believe that shifting from a media-centric to a grassroots-focused approach is the best use of our money. This enables us to leverage our greatest asset, Tim Scott himself,” Collins wrote in the memo. “Offering Tim Scott the chance to interact with as many voters as possible as a guest at TIM PAC events across the Hawkeye State will help his campaign build standing with caucus-goers.”

The PAC’s canceling of media reservations comes as Scott’s campaign struggles to break through as a viable alternative to Trump. A Fox News poll released last week found Scott with 1% support nationally among GOP primary voters. Scott has not yet qualified for the third Republican presidential debate in November.

Scott’s campaign is also burning through a once-formidable cash reserve, according to new campaign finance filings. The campaign raised nearly $4.6 million in the third fundraising quarter, but spent $12.4 million, lessening a stockpile he had transferred from his Senate campaign when he launched his presidential bid earlier this year.

Ibrahim Dahman and his family entered the hotel room and looked out toward the blue of the Mediterranean Sea. His two young sons were excited to spot a swimming pool below their window, but this was no vacation.

“But they don’t strike… they don’t strike hotels, right?” Dahman’s 11-year-old son, Zaid, asked nervously, as the family took the elevator down a short time later.

Exchanging an apprehensive look with his 30-year-old wife, Rasha, Dahman replied: “They don’t strike hotels, no.” A gentle white lie from a father trying to reassure his boys as the explosions, once distant, seemed now to be getting closer.

Born and raised in Gaza, the 36-year-old CNN journalist has grown accustomed to war with Israel. Palestinians have watched as Israeli strikes have battered the strip on several occasions in the years since Israeli forces withdrew from the territory in 2005, often in response to Hamas rocket fire. Fighting frequently breaks out between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza, including the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

But for Dahman, this time feels different. While he wants to continue his work telling the stories of people in Gaza, he is now grappling with the reality of keeping his family safe at the same time.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians, including Dahman and his family, have been caught in the escalating crisis. Unlike across the border in Israel, there are no warning sirens, bomb shelters or high-tech Iron Dome defense system to intercept projectiles in Gaza.

Dahman has not stopped working since he was awoken by “the sounds of continuous rocket fire” from Gaza when Hamas launched its initial attack just over a week ago, signaling the start of what US President Joe Biden has called the largest massacre of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust.

After filming the rockets whistling in the skies above his home, he immediately headed to the CNN office.

Situated in the al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City, the office has been something of a safe haven for Dahman. It was in this area he began his career in journalism in 2005 when he covered the Israeli withdrawal from the coastal enclave.

The office building sits in what Dahman called a “beautiful, upscale neighborhood in which all press offices and foreign and international institutions are located.” The neighborhood was considered one of the “quiet areas.”

But by Monday, things weren’t so quiet.

Read more: CNN journalist details his family’s flight south from Gaza City

CNN
 — 

Senate Republican Whip John Thune told CNN there is “a lot of resistance” to the nomination of Jack Lew to be the US ambassador to Israel, a sign that Democratic efforts to push for his quick confirmation could hit roadblocks in the chamber.

Lew, who is scheduled to have a confirmation hearing Wednesday, would need the support of all 100 senators to schedule a quick confirmation vote. But if any one member objects it would force Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to take time-consuming procedural steps to overcome the objection.

Thune’s comments suggest that there could be a fight over getting Lew confirmed to the post. It would require a simple majority of 51 senators to advance the nomination.

“I think it’ll depend a lot on how the process goes, what’s the confirmation hearing look like,” Thune told CNN. “But as you know we’ve got a lot of resistance to it over Iran. And I think that’s, I think that’ll probably play heavily. But I’m sure will be a subject of conversation (Tuesday) at our policy lunch.”

Republicans have been criticizing Lew over his role in the Iran nuclear deal during the Obama administration when he served as treasury secretary. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas told Fox News on Sunday that Lew was bad for the United States and Israel.

“We need to defeat Jack Lew’s nomination to show we have a new approach to Iran,” Cotton said.

Lew’s confirmation hearing is before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday.

On Monday, Schumer called for the Senate to quickly confirm Lew.

“I urge the committee to approve Mr. Lew as soon as possible, without any costly partisan delays, so we can bring him to the floor and confirm him with all due haste,” Schumer said. “Mr. Lew has proven himself a strong public servant, a ferocious ally of Israel. So delaying him would be egregious at a time like this, we must move him quickly.”