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November 18, 2013 | | EXCLUSIVE Looks like grudges stick in the State department. Secretary of State John Kerry doesn't see eye-to-eye with National Security Adviser Susan Rice—and their feud became public as Kerry followed his own agenda during his recent trip to Egypt. "John Kerry doesn't agree with Susan Rice on big portions of our Egypt policy, and he made a deliberate and conscious decision not to mention Morsi in his Cairo meetings," a senior administration official told The Daily Beast. The White House maintains that Kerry and the administration have the same goal: to put Egypt back on track toward functional democracy, and pointed to Kerry calling out the government's crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, even if the Secretary didn't ever say Morsi's name. TRAGEDY Six people were killed when 80 tornadoes ripped through the Midwest on Sunday, leaving homes demolished and thousands without power. Five people, including an elderly brother and sister, were killed in southern Illinois, and another was killed further north in Washington, Illinois. "Weather doesn't get more extreme than this in Illinois very often," said Matt Friedlein, a National Weather Service meteorologist. In Chicago, strong winds tore through the city's streets and caused tens of thousands to be evacuated from Soldier Field ahead of the Chicago Bears game. Friedlein said the severe weather was caused by winter winds coming in above summer moisture levels. "While unusual, when that happens, you're going to have very strong storms that move very quickly," Friedlein said. NO REGRETS Remember when Joe Biden called passing Obamacare a "big f#@&ing deal"? That's because it is—and although President Obama has taken responsibility for Healthcare.gov's glitches and apologized to those who received cancellation notices, he should never be sorry for passing the monumental healthcare law, writes The Daily Beast's Jon Favreau, who previously served as Obama's chief speechwriter. "Obama didn't run for elected office because he needed to be loved," Favreau writes. The politics of the issue may not improve for years, but know this: the law is now bringing affordable healthcare to millions. It's this, and not the numbers in any poll, Favreau writes, that makes Obamacare worth fighting for. BLAME GAME Filipino president Benigno Aquino on Monday blamed local authorities for not preparing adequately for Typhoon Haiyan, which killed thousands when it flattened the city of Tacloban last week. At least 3,974 people died in the massive storm, and another 1,186 are missing while 500,000 have been left homeless. Aquino visited the city of Palo, just south of Tacloban, on Monday, saying "one is tempted to despair, but the minute I despair, then everybody, it cascades down and everybody gets hampered in their efforts." Aquino praised the mayor of Guiuan, where Aquino said the early evacuation had prevented such devastation and only 100 people were killed. Meanwhile, the United Nations said getting relief aid to the isolated islands is a "logistical nightmare." GAMECHANGER Abdul Qadir al-Saleh, the leader of the Syrian rebel group Liwa al-Tawhind, died Sunday of wounds sustained in an air strike last week in Aleppo. Abdul Aziz Salama, Liwa al-Tawhind's political leader, will take over for Saleh. Saleh was meeting with other senior members of the brigade Thursday at the time of the strike, and he and another wounded leader were rushed to Turkey for treatment. But Saleh succumbed to his injuries, and his body has been transferred back to Syria for burial, Liwa al-Tawhind said Monday. Aleppo was once a key battleground for the rebels, but it has fallen under the government's control in recent weeks while the army has also seized power in several strategic bases nearby. | | 
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