1. Kevin McCarthy drops out — The House Majority Leader, who stumbled during an interview with Fox News this week, shocked reporters when he announced Thursday he would not seek the position of Speaker of the House in the wake of John Boehner's resignation. "If we're going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to do that," he said. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
2. South Carolina flooding destruction — Catastrophic flooding related to the offshore Hurricane Joaquin claimed 13 lives and destroyed thousands of homes across the state, however the torrential rains did start to let up this week. Rep. Mark Sanford said the cleanup effort will be "unprecedented," as a number of bridges and roads were damaged during the storm. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
3. Ben Carson's media push — The retired neurosurgeon made a strong showing this week with interviews at Newsmax, Fox News, and more. He garnered headline after headline with his comments on President Barack Obama, the Second Amendment, and the Holocaust, pushing him toward Donald Trump's top slot at the GOP frontrunner. (Newsmax)
4. Trump's biggest fan — The GOP frontrunner welcomed Myriam Witcher, an immigrant from Colombia, on stage during a Thursday campaign rally in Las Vegas. She bounced up and down, shouting "I am Hispanic, and I vote for Mr. Trump! I love Mr. Trump!" while waving a copy of People magazine, which featured the whole Trump family on its most recent cover. (Isaac Brekken/Getty Images)
5. Rupert Murdoch's "real black president" tweet — The 84-year-old media billionaire raised hackles this week when he seemed to suggest on Twitter that Obama was not truly black. Praising Ben Carson, he wrote, "What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide?" He soon issued an apology, writing, "Apologies! No offence meant. Personally find both men charming." (AP Photo)
6. El Chapo issues a bounty on Donald Trump — Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman may have put a $100 million bounty on GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, according to Teleservtv reports. Chapo took issue with Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants in July, shortly after escaping from a maximum-security prison. (AP Photo; Getty Images, files)
7. "Joe, run" — The vice president politely telegraphed via his staff that, while he appreciated a TV ad crafted by The Draft Joe Biden Super PAC, he thought it prudent to keep it off the air. The video, which features a speech he made before the death of his son, Beau, would in fact be scrapped, the PAC soon announced. (DraftBiden2016.com)
8. The search for El Faro ends — The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for the Puerto Rico-bound, 790-foot vessel that went missing during Hurricane Joaquin last week. Authorities believe it likely sank Oct. 1 after losing power and taking on water. Altogether, searchers covered 183,000 nautical square miles off the Bahama coast while looking for El Faro. (Bruce Lipsky/Florida Times-Union via AP)
9. Paris train hero Spencer Stone stabbed in California — Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone, one of three American heroes who stopped a likely terrorist attack on a Paris-bound train over the summer, is in stable condition after being stabbed in the torso outside of a Sacramento bar early Thursday morning. Sacramento Police said it did not appear to be related to terrorism or Stone's heroic act in France. (Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images)
10. Hillary Clinton on "Saturday Night Live" — The Democratic frontrunner got the kid-glove treatment when she appeared on "SNL" last weekend. She got to play "Val," one of her supporters, while her longtime parodist Kate McKinnon took the liberty of playing Clinton. Earlier in the night, Taran Killam and Cecily Strong parodied Donald Trump and his wife Melania.
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