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Today is Wednesday, October 15th. We'll tell you what lawmakers are now doing as the government shutdown drags on and why the truce in Gaza seems to be getting more fragile. Also, we're talking about America's bailout for Argentina and another special honor for conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Plus, what's the one news outlet that's now allowed to keep its Pentagon press credentials, why Consumer Reports is warning about protein powders and shakes and how ChatGPT is expanding to include more X rated content. Those stories and even more news coming up. Welcome. Welcome to the Newsworthy. All the day's news in around 10 minutes. Fast, fair, fun and on the go. I'm Erica. Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. You ready? Let's do this. On Capitol Hill, both Republicans and Democrats are racing for a long government shutdown. As we've told you, Democrats say they won't vote to reopen the government until they can negotiate on health care tax credits that make coverage affordable for many Americans. They are about to expire. But Republicans say they won't negotiate until the government reopens. So the House passed bill to end the government shutdown and extend funding into next month failed in the Senate again yesterday for the eighth time with no Democratic senators changing their votes from the last time. And Republicans need five Democrats to come to their side if they have any chance of getting it passed. Another vote is scheduled for today, but it's expected to turn out the same. House. Democrats also returned to the nation's capital yesterday, hoping to pressure GOP leadership to call the rest of the House into session. But House Speaker Mike Johnson says he has no intention of bringing everyone back together since, quote, I don't have anything to negotiate. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is using the opportunity to restructure the federal workforce for good. Already, the White House says it has cut more than 4,100 employees since the shutdown began. Federal workers unions are suing over those cuts and a hearing on their case is set for today. Separately, hundreds of thousands of federal workers have already missed part of their paychecks and are set to miss a full one next Friday. Many government contractors also are not being paid. And unlike federal employees, they won't receive back pay when the government reopens. It's not just personnel being cut either. President Trump says he'll release a list of more Democrat favored programs slated for cuts later this week. The fragile ceasefire in Gaza is largely holding, but it's being tested starting today. Israel has reportedly imposed new restrictions on aid entering the territory, allowing only half as Many aid trucks in as it originally agreed to. It comes after Hamas delayed handing over the remains of all hostages who had died. Hamas security forces have also returned to the streets, clashed with armed groups, and executed several people they accused of collaborating with Israel. The terror group says it's just trying to restore order in areas where Israeli troops have withdrawn. And this threatens the truce, since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said many times the war will not end until Hamas has been dismantled and disarmed. President Trump also reiterated his demand for Hamas to lay down its arms, saying, quote, if they don't do so, we will disarm them. Still, for now, the US Is counting the ceasefire as a big victory. And even President Trump's political rivals have been congratulating him for his part in striking the deal. For example, former Presidents Biden and Clinton both said the Trump administration deserves great credit for putting the Middle east on a path to peace. The US has struck another small boat accused of carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela. And this time, six people were killed. This is the US Military's fifth deadly strike in the Caribbean in recent weeks. President Trump has told lawmakers he sees drug traffickers as terrorists and unlawful combatants. And he says the US Is in armed conflict with the cartels. Just last week, Defense Secretary, AKA War Secretary Pete Hegseth, unveiled a new task force to, quote, crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe. Meanwhile, Venezuela has requested an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council because of the strikes. As of this morning, though, there's no emergency session scheduled. President Trump hosted Argentina's president at the White House just days after agreeing to a 20 billion doll bailout for the country. Exact details of the deal are still unclear, but Trump said the financial assistance depends on President Javier Milei winning elections later this month. He explained that it's about helping America's neighbors and, quote, just helping a great philosophy take over a great country. Milei is an economist by trade, and as Trump describes him, he's MAGA all the way. A government bailout would typically be handled through the International Monetary fund. And the IMF has given Argentina more than 20 economic support packages since the 1950s, including another $20 billion as recently as this April. But Argentina's economy is still struggling. Unemployment is rising, and corruption scandals are brewing. To be continued. Almost every major news outlet refused to sign the Pentagon's new press policy by the deadline yesterday. And with that, journalists emptied out their desks at the Pentagon full of items that in some cases had built up over decades. They include reporters from the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg and so on. Even right wing outlets like Newsmax and the Daily Caller said no. And broadcast stations like Fox News, abc, cbs, NBC and CNN issued a joint statement denouncing the new regulations. The regulations keep journalists from getting or soliciting information the Pentagon doesn't make available for them, and they say all information will have to be approved for public release, even if it's unclassified. Well, most journalists decided they would rather give up their passes than sign on. One reporter at NPR explained by saying, quote, signing that document would make us stenographers parroting press releases, not watchdogs holding government officials accountable. But War Secretary Pete Hexseth says his department is just trying to make sure national security is respected by the deadline, only one news organization said it would sign the policy, the right wing outlet, One America News. More news is still coming up, but first, a quick break for our sponsor. The Newsworthy is brought to you by Skims. You know that one T shirt you always reach for? The one that's just right every time? For me, that's been my Skims tees. I recently got the Skims Boyfriend T shirt and I love it. It's oversized, incredibly soft and somehow manages to feel relaxed yet polished at the same time. I can wear it around the house or style it with jeans and feel put together and trendy. On the other end of the spectrum is the Skims cotton jersey tee. It's more form fitting but so flattering. I love the short sleeve version for everyday wear and the long sleeve one is perfect for these cooler in between fall days. Both are great for layering as well and every style has that signature Skims quality premium soft fabrics, perfect fits and pieces that just make you feel good in your own skin. So shop my favorite T shirts now@skims.com newsworthy. After you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you. You can select podcast in the survey and choose our show the Newsworthy from the dropdown menu that follows. That's skims.com newsworthy. Now back to the news. The remnants of a typhoon left parts of western Alaska in ruins. Homes were pushed off their foundations and swept away by floodwaters. At least one person was killed and a couple more are still missing. Across the region, more than 1,500 people were displaced. Dozens had to be flown to a shelter. Forecasters warn another storm system moving in now could bring more coastal flooding in some of the same hard hit communities. Meanwhile, a storm system has brought heavy rain to Southern California. In fact, yesterday, Los Angeles recorded more than a month's worth of rain in a day. But as of this morning, it seems the storm has left the region mostly unscathed, and it's actually helped to ease drought conditions. The White House honored conservative activist Charlie Kirk yesterday on what would have been his 32nd birthday at a ceremony President Trump posthumously awarded him with the country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Trump compared Kirk to Socrates St. Peter, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. Erica Kirk accepted the award on her late husband's behalf, and she told the crowd how Charlie Kirk probably would have run for president one day. Shortly after the White House ceremony, the State Department announced it had revoked the visas of at least six foreigners who it said celebrated Kirk's killing in social media posts. The president's legal power to deny or revoke visas based on their speech is said to be an unresolved question. At this point, Trump is promising to keep cracking down on political violence. The latest IMF report is looking a little more optimistic. It says the US and global economies will grow a bit more this year than an earlier forecast had predicted, specifically because so far, President Trump's tariffs have not been quite as disruptive as expected. Most countries haven't retaliated against the US and it's believed a burst of investment into artificial intelligence has helped offset any disruptions for the American economy. Granted, the IMF still says those tariffs pose risks, since it can take time for changes in international trade patterns to play out. And data shows that so far, American importers and retailers are paying most of the tariffs, not overseas companies. So over time, those companies could decide to pass on more price hikes to everyday Americans. Stay tuned. Protein powders and shakes may have unsafe levels of lead. That's at least according to a new investigation from Consumer Reports. The nonprofit group tested samples of 23 products, including a range of dairy, beef and plant based supplements, and it found more than two thirds of them contained more lead in a single serving than what experts say is safe to eat. On average, lead levels in plant based products were the worst, about nine times the amount in dairy based proteins like whey, the report said. One of the worst offenders was Huell's Black Edition. But Huell insists all of its products are safe to consume as they go through rigorous testing in independent labs. Unlike with drugs, the FDA doesn't review, approve or test supplements like protein powders before they're sold. So Consumer Reports launched a petition calling on the FDA to take action once the government shutdown is over. For a full list of the products tested and the results, you can find the link in today's Episode notes on thenewsworthy.com OpenAI is making more deals for starters, it announced a partnership with Broadcom to make its first in house AI processors. OpenAI will design the chips and Broadcom will develop and deploy them starting next year. This is just the latest in a string of massive chip Investments as OpenAI looks for the computing power needed to build the most sophisticated AI systems in the future. Separately, OpenAI announced a deal with the biggest American retailer. Yesterday, Walmart formed a partnership with the company to let shoppers buy its products directly within ChatGPT. It will include almost everything available on Walmart's website except fresh food. ChatGPT already lets shoppers buy some products from Etsy and will soon add some merchants on Shopify's platform too. Speaking of ChatGPT, it's soon going to support more mature conversations for verified adult users, fulfilling requests that have so far been blocked. The company says its erotica offerings will be available later this year, but it's not alone in that. Already, Elon Musk's X AI has launched flirty AI companions that appear as 3D anime models in the Grok app. Well, that's it for the main news today. So now it's time for Work Wednesday when we break down one interesting career or work related news story every Wednesday. But first, a quick break for our sponsor. I still remember when Calm first started showing up on Instagram years ago with those simple posts that had to stop and just take a deep breath. Remember those? And honestly, I did stop. I stopped scrolling, I took a deep breath and I felt a little better. Now using the Calm app feels like that same much needed pause. But for my real life, things can feel hectic and with the holiday season nearing, there are so many things we start to feel like we should be doing. But Calm is a fantastic tool to help release all that stress and find the time to breathe and feel better in your day. It is no surprise to me that Calm is the number one app for sleep and meditation. I personally love guided meditations, the calming music, some short motivational talks, and when needed, a sleep meditation. Calm your mind, change your life. Calm has an exclusive offer just for listeners of our show. You can get 40% off a Calm premium subscription at calm.com newsworthy this is an amazing value. Go to C-A-L-M.com newsworthy for 40% off unlimited access to. Com's entire library calm.com newsworthy and tell Calm you heard about them from me. Okay, now back to work. Wednesday more workers are calling on companies to offer paid menstrual leave. It's an option that lets employees experiencing painful periods to take time off without using their sick or vacation days. There's a short list of American companies already offering menstrual leave, no explanations or paperwork required. For example, the personal finance and career platform called HerFirst 100K. The founder explains the policy by saying, quote, inclusivity means acknowledging the actual experiences of our team, not pretending they don't exist. But some psychologists are actually against these kinds of policies, saying they can imply that menstruating means you can't function or are unfit for the workplace. Yale Medicine says more than half of all women have some degree of pain during their period, and about 15% of women find it to be so severe that they stay home from work or school. Period. Leave is legally protected in other countries, like Spain, which passed Europe's first paid menstrual leave law a couple of years ago. It's also commonplace in countries like Japan and South Korea. Thank you so much for listening today and for sharing the show. If you found it helpful. We'll be back tomorrow with the latest news to know. Until then, have a great day.