Axios

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a CNN interview Tuesday that the Republican Party will "stick with" Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker amid fallout over allegations that he paid for an abortion.

Why it matters: GOP leaders including former President Trump have doubled down on their support for Walker since a woman came forward accusing the former football star — who believes abortion should be illegal, including in cases of rape and incest — of paying for her to get the procedure in 2009.

Tiffany Smiley, the Republican challenging Democratic Sen. Patty Murray in Washington state, has raised $6 million in the third quarter, and has $2.5 million in cash on hand, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Republicans have insisted all year that the Senate contest in Washington, typically a bastion of blue, could be a sleeper race. Smiley could make it competitive with Murray, a five-term senator, if the money came in.

Embattled L.A. City Council member Nury Martinez on Tuesday said she would take a leave of absence after resigning from her position as president in the fallout of leaked audio from a meeting where she and two other councilmembers were recorded making racist remarks, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The latest: Protesters interrupted the City Council's Tuesday meeting with chants of "Resign now!" The Times also reported Tuesday that Martinez used derogatory language and stereotypes to refer to Jews and Armenians in the same leaked recording.

President Biden believes that all three Los Angeles City Council members revealed to have made racist comments in a leaked audio recording should resign, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.

Driving the news: The audio published by the Los Angeles Times revealed that then-City Council President Nury Martinez referred to a white council member's child, who is Black, as "ese changuito," or that little monkey.

The Justice Department on Tuesday said President Trump's appeal for the Supreme Court to weigh in on the ongoing Mar-a-Lago probe should be denied.

Driving the news: Trump's legal team previously asked in a filing to the Supreme Court for the special master be allowed to review the near 100 documents marked as classified that were found at Mar-a-Lago.

President Biden said in an exclusive CNN interview Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "rational actor who has miscalculated significantly" in his invasion of Ukraine.

Why it matters: Debate over whether Putin remains rational has reignited for the first time since Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Biden's comments come after Russia launched deadly missile strikes in Ukraine on Monday and Tuesday.

President Biden called on Congress Tuesday to pass the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, which aims to provide more help and resources for sick federal firefighters.

Driving the news: Biden, who spoke virtually at the Summit on Fire Prevention and Control, said the act could provide compensation and benefits for federal firefighters who become sick from firefighting.

Baltimore prosecutors on Tuesday dropped charges against Adnan Syed, whose conviction for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee was vacated last month based on new evidence discovered after his case became the subject of the first season of the hit podcast "Serial," an attorney for Syed confirmed.

Why it matters: Baltimore's State’s Attorney’s Office was deliberating whether to dismiss Syed's case or attempt to retry him over Min Lee's death after his life in prison sentence was overturned.

Capitol Police are investigating the origins of a letter containing what it called "concerning language" reported by staff at the office of the House Jan. 6 select committee chair.

Driving the news: The USCP gave the all-clear on Tuesday after briefly locking down the hallway around the office of Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). After screening the letter, police said it didn't contain a dangerous substance or powder.

President Biden on Tuesday hailed an agreement to end the maritime dispute between Israel and Lebanon as a "historic breakthrough."

Driving the news: Israeli and Lebanon earlier Tuesday announced they had accepted a U.S.-mediated agreement on the maritime border between the two traditional enemies.

Outgoing Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), a fierce critic of former President Trump and election deniers within his party, revealed Tuesday that he is backing both Democrats and Republican candidates in a slate of upcoming state elections.

Why it matters: Kinzinger's Tuesday endorsements are the latest sign of the lawmaker's break with the GOP and are necessary "to preserve our nation’s democracy," he said in a statement.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided against hearing a case on whether fetuses are entitled to constitutional rights in the aftermath of the court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June.

Driving the news: The court turned down an appeal by a Catholic group and two women who challenged a 2019 state law in Rhode Island that codified abortion rights, deciding to punt on another potentially contentious case.

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal Tuesday from Dylann Roof over his 2015 death sentence conviction for killing nine people in a South Carolina church.

The big picture: Roof was found guilty of murder for killing nine members of a Black congregation in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. He had asked the court to decide how to handle evidence related to mental illness, challenging his conviction, per AP. The court upheld his death sentence.

Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard announced Tuesday that she is leaving the Democratic Party.

Driving the news: "I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers who are driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue and stoking anti-white racism," she said in a video posted on Twitter.

Democrats are pouring millions into Facebook ads about reproductive rights leading up to this year's midterms, according to new data, while Republicans are focused on the economy and Donald Trump.

Why it matters: Abortion rights have proven to be a hot-button issue for Democrats down-ballot, helping the party rally voters amid attacks about inflation and the economy.

Officials in Israel and Lebanon announced Tuesday they have accepted a U.S.-mediated agreement on a maritime border between the countries. 

Why it matters: Once signed, the historic deal between the two traditional enemies will allow the beginning of natural gas exploration in the disputed area in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and reduce the threat of regional war. 

After a week of turmoil for Georgia Senate GOP hopeful Herschel Walker — one that began with the bombshell allegation he paid for an ex-girlfriend's abortion in 2009 — national Republicans are not backing out.

What's happening: Senators Rick Scott (R-Fl.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) will join Walker at an event in West Georgia Tuesday afternoon, a campaign stop branded "Huddle with Herschel." Scott is chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which confirmed its financial commitment to Walker last week.

Six months after Jan. 6, 2021, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy claimed former President Donald Trump didn't know his supporters were attacking the Capitol, according to a secret tape from former D.C. police officer Michael Fanone detailed in his new book.

Driving the news: McCarthy made the comments in a meeting with Fanone and another cop who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The mother of a third officer who died after the attack, was also present. Fanone describes the meeting in "Hold the Line," out Tuesday.

If history is any guide, the areas devastated by Hurricane Ian will be rebuilt even bigger than before — but probably with storm-inspired improvements to local infrastructure and building codes.

Why it matters: Ravaged communities face increasingly tough decisions as climate change exacerbates natural disasters.

A conservative group run by former top Trump officials is proposing a formal U.S. declaration of war on Mexican cartels and a mechanism to shut down legal ports of entry based on estimates of undocumented crossings.

Why it matters: The controversial proposal — which would have major military, diplomatic and human rights implications — is being unveiled in a policy paper by the Center for Renewing America one month before the midterm elections, as Republicans seek to put President Biden on the spot and steer voters' focus from abortion rights to immigration and crime.

Two major Democratic groups are partnering to pour millions into state legislative races across Arizona, Colorado, New Hampshire, Michigan and Pennsylvania in the last four weeks before the election.

Why it matters: Their TV and digital ads in five battlegrounds will target races with thin margins where the late spending could be key. The push is driven by concerns about Republican outspending, legislative gains, and further restrictions on abortion and voting rights ahead of 2024.

Larry Summers — who spent the last year-and-a-half warning about easy money and inflation — is calling on the World Bank to loosen its lending limits to combat climate change and think in the "trillions not the billions."

The big picture: Summers wants the U.S. to increase its capital contribution to the bank by $5 billion. With a total of $30 billion in new capital from across the globe, along with a revamped financial model, Summers argues that the bank could lend some $100 billion per year, with much of it directed towards energy projects.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced plans Tuesday to tackle climate change, including a requirement that farmers pay levies from 2025 for emissions from such sources as cow burps.

Why it matters: "The proposal, as it stands, means New Zealand's farmers are set to be the first in the world to reduce agricultural emissions," said Ardern at a news conference at a dairy farm on New Zealand's North Island Tuesday.

President Biden promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the U.S. would "continue providing Ukraine with the support needed to defend itself, including advanced air defense systems," during a phone call on Monday, the White House said.

Driving the news: Biden "expressed his condemnation" during the call "of Russia's missile strikes across Ukraine, including in Kyiv, and conveyed his condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured in these senseless attacks" during the call, per a White House readout.

A Florida open-government group filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to compel state Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration to release records about migrant flights from Texas to Martha's Vineyard.

The big picture: This is the third lawsuit brought against DeSantis' office in connection with the two charter flights of some 50 Venezuelan migrants to the Massachusetts island last month.