TODAY'S TALKING POINTS 10-23-15

TODAY'S TALKING POINTS

The strongest storm ever recorded is barreling toward Mexico. Hurricane Patricia — a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 storm — could bring 39-foot waves to Mexico's coast and life-threatening flash flooding. Officials declared a state of emergency as millions prepared for the worst.

France just saw its worst road accident in nearly three decades. More than 40 people died today when a bus carrying elderly people collided with a truck in southern France. French President Francois Hollande promised an investigation into the circumstances of the accident.

An American soldier was killed while in Iraq freeing hostages. The service member, who hasn’t been identified, was the first American fighter killed in Iraq since the United States’ withdrawal in 2011. The commando was on a special operations mission to free as many as 70 hostages who were facing “imminent mass execution” in an Islamic State prison. Officials said more than 15 extremists were killed during the raid, which they carefully stressed was a non-combat mission.

Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi hearing kicked off. The Democratic front-runner held a marathon testimony in front of the House Select Committee on Benghazi. Despite Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s statement a few weeks ago that the investigation was a ploy to hurt Clinton’s chances at the polls, Rep. Trey Gowdy told her Thursday that the probe was about collecting evidence on the 2012 Benghazi attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans. "Not a single member of this committee signed up to investigate you or your email," he said.

It was a big day for Rep. Paul Ryan too. After publicly resisting the rolefor some time, he gained enough support to throw his hat in the ring for speaker of the House. The election is set for Oct. 29, and if Ryan wins, he'll be the youngest speaker since 1869.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took a bold step to protect transgender individuals. Cuomo took executive action to expand the state's anti-discrimination law so employers, businesses, housing providers and others can't discriminate on the basis of gender identity. He said the move would make New York the "first state in the U.S. to ban discrimination and harassment of transgender individuals by both private and public entities."

More Americans support legalizing weed than ever before. A new Gallup poll shows that 58% of American adults want marijuana to be legalized, and the number of adults who say they’ve used the drug in the past year has doubled.