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Texas officials: Teacher didn’t leave door propped open before massacre
Four days after saying that the gunman who massacred children in a Uvalde, Tex., elementary school had gotten inside through a door“propped open by a teacher,” the state agency investigating the massacre now says the educator had closed the door.
The teacher shut the door behind her, but it “did not lock as it should,” Travis Considine, chief of communications with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said in a brief telephone interview Tuesday. “And now investigators are looking into why that was.”
Bipartisan discussions on “red flag” laws make progress as Sens. Graham, Blumenthal revise gun control proposal
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, are making progress as they hammer out details of revised “red flag” legislation that they both hope can win sufficient GOP support to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, according to four people familiar with the discussions who were not authorized to speak publicly.
Graham and Blumenthal later confirmed in statements to CBS News that their discussions are making progress.
Justice Department asks court to reverse order lifting airplane mask mandate
The Justice Department on Tuesday asked a federal appeals court to overturn a U.S. District Court judge’s April orderthat declared the government mandate requiring masks on airplanes, buses and in transit hubs unlawful.
Hours after the federal judge in Florida declared the mandate unlawful, the Biden administration said it would no longer enforce it.
The Justice Department told the appeals court that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention order issued in January 2021 was “within” the agency’s legal authority.
Texas school police chief hasn’t responded for days to state investigators about Uvalde shooting
A local police chief in Uvalde, Texas, hasn’t responded for a follow-up interview in a state investigation into the law enforcement response to an elementary school massacre that left 19 children and two teachers dead, an official said Tuesday.
Peter Arredondo, the police chief of Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, participated in an initial interview but has not yet answered requests for follow-ups made two days ago, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
DPS spokesman Travis Considine said that “Uvalde and Uvalde CISD departments have been cooperating with investigators,” but added that Arredondo has not responded to requests for additional interviews.
Trudeau Proposes Bill to ‘Freeze’ Handgun Sales in Canada After Uvalde Massacre: ‘We’re Capping the Market’
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has introduced a bill that would ban the sale, transfer and importation of all handguns nationwide.
Lawrence O’Donnell shared the news on MSNBC Live Tuesday evening. He aired remarks from a press conference, in which Trudeau said Canadians have no business carrying firearms without the explicit intent to hunt with them, or use them for sport.
“Two years ago, our government banned 1,500 models of assault-style weapons,” he said, before he listed off numerous weapons which are now banned in the country.
Biden to meet Fed chair as inflation bites pocketbooks
President Joe Biden will meet Tuesday with Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell as soaring inflation takes a bite out of Americans’ pocketbooks.
The meeting will be the first since Biden renominated Powell to lead the central bank and comes weeks after his confirmation for a second term by the Senate.
The White House said the pair would discuss the state of the U.S. and global economy and especially inflation, described as Biden’s “top economic priority.” The goal, the White House said, is a “transition from an historic economic recovery to stable, steady growth that works for working families.”
Biden points to assault weapons ban as a ‘rational’ option for gun control
President Joe Biden, pressed on potential avenues for gun control in the wake of the devastating school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, pointed to an assault weapons ban Monday morning.
“It makes no sense to be able to purchase something that can fire up to 300 rounds,” he told reporters outside the White House after traveling from Delaware. “The idea of these high-caliber weapons — there’s simply no rational basis for it in terms of, about self-protection, hunting and I guess — and, remember, the Constitution, the Second Amendment was never absolute. You couldn’t buy a cannon when the Second Amendment was passed. You couldn’t go out and purchase a lot of weaponry.”
Grief-stricken Uvalde starts tough task of saying farewell to shooting victims
On the day the nation sets aside to remember those killed in war, Uvalde began saying farewell to the 19 children and two teachers who were massacred in a shooting at their elementary school.
The visitations for Amerie Jo Garza, 10, at Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home, and for Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, 10, at Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary Inc., were the first services to be held Monday, which was Memorial Day.
Family members and friends mourned and prayed the rosary, keeping out the omnipresent cameras and reporters drawn to the rural Texas community that has been thrust into the nation’s conscience.
Charlie Pierce: There Were Good Guys With Guns and It Didn’t Matter
What the old city editors used to call the “tick-tock” on the massacre at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas is emerging, and it is emerging in such a way that doesn’t cover local law enforcement with glory. From the AP:
“Go in there! Go in there!” nearby women shouted at the officers soon after the attack began, said Juan Carranza, 24, who saw the scene from outside his house, across the street from Robb Elementary School in the town of Uvalde. Carranza said the officers did not go in.
The Rude Pundit: Can We Please Talk About Crazy Motherf***ers Like They’re Crazy Motherf***ers?
I’ve been trying to articulate for the last week this feeling of things spinning off their axis. I’m in the UK right now, a place I now end up spending about a month a year, and I was talking about politics with a young man from Northern Ireland. He had supported Brexit, yes, because he had believed the Conservatives’ utter garbage about how much funding would go to the National Health Service. Now that Brexit is so obviously the clusterfuck of regulations and shortages that the Stay coalition had said it would be, as well as there being no benefit at all to having left the EU, Donal is, to say the least, done with Boris Johnson and the Conservatives.
I pointed out to him that at least politicians in the UK don’t pander to religion quite as blatantly or quite as regularly as American politicians do. “You don’t see anyone here talking about how God wants them to do something,” I said.
“No, they don’t,” Donal said. “Everyone would look at them as if they’re quite mad.”
Husband of teacher killed at Texas elementary school shooting dies
The widower of a Texas elementary school teacher killed in a shooting has died of a heart attack days just days after his wife was killed.
Joe Garcia, the husband of Irma Garcia, suffered a fatal heart attack on Thursday, two days after his wife died in a mass shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the couple’s nephew, John Martinez, and a close family friend confirmed.
Gun owners, protesters and Donald Trump converge on Houston for NRA event
Thousands of gun owners, throngs of protesters and some prominent Republican politicians are expected in Houston for the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting Friday, just three days after 19 children and two adults were shot to death at an elementary school in South Texas.
The event, which is being held in the George R. Brown Convention Center and will last through Sunday, “will showcase over 14 acres of the latest guns and gear,” the NRA said on its website, describing it as “a freedom-filled weekend for the entire family.”
As timeline emerges, police criticized for response to school massacre
The new details of how 18-year-old Salvador Ramos was able to kill 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Tex., on Tuesday, together with cellphone videos and witness accounts of police outside tackling or handcuffing desperate parents who tried to rush into the building, called into question earlier claims by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) that a “quick response” by law enforcement had saved lives.
Jan. 6 panel is told that Trump indicated support for hanging Pence during insurrection
The account of Meadows’s comment characterizing Trump’s reaction to his vice president was provided to the committee by at least one witness, according to people familiar with the investigation — but those people did not describe the tone with which the comment was made. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to be more candid about a sensitive topic.
A grisly checklist and a sickening rampage: Inside the Uvalde massacre
The gray Ford pickup truck veered into a ditch with such force that people who live on the block assumed it was an accident and rushed over to help the driver.
Instead, according to witness and police accounts, Salvador Rolando Ramos emerged wearing tactical gear and carrying an AR-15-style rifle he bought this month, just after his 18th birthday. Bystanders scattered as Ramos hopped a fence, exchanged gunfire with a school police officer and entered through a side door to Robb Elementary. Inside, he embarked on a deadly rampage that brought the national scourge of school shootings to a fourth-grade classroom in this southern Texas town.
Beto O’Rourke interrupts a news conference by his opponent, Gov. Greg Abbott, accusing him of ‘doing nothing.’
Former Representative Beto O’Rourke interrupted a news conference held by Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on Wednesday to accuse Republicans of “doing nothing” to address gun violence in the aftermath of a shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde.
Mr. O’Rourke, the Democrats’ nominee for governor, stood in front of a stage at a Uvalde High School auditorium during the news conference and shouted that the killings were a “totally predictable” result of lax state and federal gun laws.
When Mr. Abbott’s allies saw Mr. O’Rourke step forward, they began yelling at him.
Democrats Hit Pause on Gun Control Vote, Hoping for a Compromise
Just shy of a decade after the Senate’s failure to respond to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Democrats are again trying to transform outrage over the gun deaths of children into action by Congress to curb gun violence in America.
But with the Republican position more intractable than ever, calls for negotiations to find some response to the recent horrors in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y., left few lawmakers with much hope that Congress would produce anything meaningful.
“Please, please, please, damn it, put yourselves in the shoes of these parents for once,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, pleaded with his Republican colleagues, as he made the case for at least expanding background checks on gun purchasers.
‘I am sick and tired of it,’ Biden says after Texas school shooting
President Joe Biden on Tuesday called once again for Congress to take action on gun control legislation, urging lawmakers to stand up to the gun lobby, after a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school.
“I am sick and tired of it. We have to act, and don’t tell me we can’t have an impact on this carnage,” Biden said.
“As a nation we have to ask when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?”
Trump Influence Mixed: 3 key takeaways from Tuesday’s primary elections
Historic early turnout meant knockout political races in Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama and Texas primary and runoff elections. With the backdrop of another massacre in which at least 18 schoolchildren and two adults were gunned down in a Texas elementary school, voters took to the polls to sign off on the candidates they believe best meet this political moment.
Here are some key takeaways from Tuesday’s pivotal races:
‘Spare me the bullsh**’: Sen. Chris Murphy rips GOP colleagues after Texas shooting
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., took to the Senate floor after Tuesday’s deadly school shooting in Texas and pleaded with his Republican colleagues to take action against gun violence, saying what happened wasn’t “inevitable.”
“I’m here on this floor to beg, to literally get down on my hands and knees and beg my colleagues. Find a path forward here. Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely,” said Murphy, who was elected to the Senate just weeks before the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which left 20 children dead.
Murphy said the shooting deaths of 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday was a uniquely American problem.
At least 19 children, 2 teachers killed in Texas elementary school shooting
At least 19 children and two teachers were killedTuesday when a gunman opened fire in a Texas elementary school, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The suspected shooter, who might have had a handgun and a rifle, was also killed when law enforcement confronted him at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, about 83 miles west of San Antonio, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference.
“It is believed that he abandoned his vehicle, then entered into the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde with a handgun, and he may have also had a rifle,” Abbott said.
Pfizer covid shot 80 percent effective in younger kids, early data shows
Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, said Monday that an early analysis showed their three-dose coronavirus vaccine regimen triggered a strong immune response in younger children, proving 80 percent effective at preventing symptomatic infections in children 6 months to 4 years old.
The results, along with other recent developments, signal that the long and frustrating wait for a vaccine for the youngest children, the last group to lack access, could be over within weeks.
Biden: US would intervene with military to defend Taiwan
President Joe Biden said Monday the U.S. would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan, declaring the commitment to protect the island is “even stronger” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It was one of the most forceful presidential statements in support of Taiwan’s self-governing in decades.
Biden, at a news conference in Tokyo, said “yes” when asked if he was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if China invaded. “That’s the commitment we made,” he added.
House ethics panel opens Cawthorn probe over cryptocurrency, ‘improper relationship’
The House Ethics Committee said Monday it is investigating whether scandal-plagued GOP Rep. Madison Cawthornof North Carolina may have improperly promoted a cryptocurrency and engaged in a relationship with a congressional aide.
The panel announced it had unanimously voted earlier this month to establish a subcommittee to look into whether Cawthorn “improperly promoted a cryptocurrency in which he may have had an undisclosed financial interest, and engaged in an improper relationship with an individual employed on his congressional staff.”
A string of Southern primaries today will see the GOP battle itself — over election lies, more
National attention turns next to the South as Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Texas voters head to the polls on Tuesday, rounding out a consequential string of May contests.
Months-long, sometimes contentious battles to be governor, attorney general, secretary of state and for U.S. Senate and House seats will come to a head. The results should give more insight into the strength of former President Donald Trump’s endorsement with the Republican base as well as conservative voters’ appetite for election lies.
The most-watched races will be in Georgia, an emerging battleground state, with primaries for governor and the Senate that will preview closely fought races come November’s midterms.
Charlie Pierce: The Flying Monkeys Came Screeching For the Head of the Disinformation Governance Board Immediately
In 2009, a man named Daryl Johnson worked for the Department of Homeland Security. His job was monitoring the potential of white-supremacist violence in the country, chatter that intensified in response to the election of a Black president. Johnson put together a report that was supposed to be sent exclusively to law-enforcement operations around the country. Unfortunately, it leaked, and Republican politicians went predictably bananas, largely because the report referred to “right-wing extremism.” They called for DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to rescind the report. Napolitano caved and, as we have seen, the years subsequent to her surrender have demonstrated that white-supremacist conservative violence has completely petered out.
We had something similar happen this week. On April 27, DHS announced that it was creating something called the Disinformation Governance Board which, according to the DHS announcement, would “coordinate countering misinformation related to homeland security.”
Giuliani meets with January 6 committee for more than 9 hours
Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump‘s onetime personal attorney and a lead architect of his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, on Friday met with the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, two sources told CNN.
Giuliani’s original deposition with the committee had been postponed after the former New York City mayor asked to record the interview, with both audio and video. At the time, Giuliani’s attorney Robert Costello said the committee rejected that request.
Biden: Monkeypox threat doesn’t rise to level of COVID-19
President Joe Biden sought Monday to calm concerns about recent cases of monkeypox that have been identified in Europe and the United States, saying he did not see the need to institute strict quarantine measures.
Speaking in Tokyo a day after he said the virus was something “to be concerned about,” Biden said, ”I just don’t think it rises to the level of the kind of concern that existed with COVID-19.”
Monkeypox is rarely identified outside of Africa. But as of Friday, there were 80 confirmed cases worldwide, including at least two in the United States, and another 50 suspected ones. On Sunday, one presumptive case of monkeypox also was being investigated in Broward County in South Florida, which state health officials said appeared to be related to international travel.
Military aircraft arrives in U.S. with baby formula from Europe amid shortage
The first flight of baby formula from Europe arrived in Indiana on Sunday as the White House tries to address a crushing shortage.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack greeted the arrival of a military aircraft carrying about 78,000 pounds of formula flown in from Germany in what the government has dubbed Operation Fly Formula. President Joe Biden authorized the program to import formula from abroad last week.
This shipment contains specialized formula for children with allergies who can’t take regular formula, and there’s enough to provide for 9,000 babies and 18,000 toddlers for one week, Vilsack told reporters in Indianapolis after the plane landed.
Biden says U.S. will defend Taiwan militarily if China invades
President Joe Biden said Monday that the United States would be willing to intervene militarily if China were to invade the self-governing island of Taiwan, again sowing confusion over American policy in the region.
Speaking during a news conference in Tokyo alongside Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden said Beijing was already “flirting with danger” with its recent decision to hold military drills near Taiwan, which China views as its own territory.
The question came up in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Rude Pundit: The “Grooming” Bullsh**… They’re Coming Up With Excuses to Murder Us
I have lived through a whole lot of rhetorical fuckery in my exhausting time dealing with the American right. I’ve seen us called every -ist that they found scary: Marxist, communist, socialist, anarchist (as if those are bad things). I’ve watched us be called demonic and anti-Christian and, heavens forbid, atheists (as if that’s a bad thing). According to conservatives, we on the left hate the country, hate the troops, hate the flag, hate the police, love terrorists, love socialism (that one again), love taxes, love drugs, love perverse sex (as if that’s a bad thing), and love killing babies. Specific Democrats have been baselessly accused of murder, and a couple of those specific ones are specifically Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Biden arrives in South Korea with worries growing over possible North Korean missile test
President Joe Biden arrived here Friday on a mission to reaffirm a key alliance at an uncertain moment in East Asia.
Even as the war in Ukraine has preoccupied Washington — and took up the first half of Biden’s day before he departed for Asia — provocations from North Korea have intensified and China continues flexing its economic and military might.
Biden wants to show his top partners here he can focus both eastward and westward, and that the United States has resources to help uphold democracy and sovereignty around the world.
Monkeypox cases detected in US, Europe, but experts caution against comparing it to COVID-19
Countries in Europe and North America are continuing to report more cases of monkeypox, but experts say the disease so far does not pose a serious risk to the public.
At least 17 infections of the rare disease have been confirmed in non-endemic areas such as the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden and Italy, and dozens of possible cases are under investigation in those nations as well as in Canada and Spain.
Most cases occur when people encounter infected animals in countries where the virus is endemic — typically central and western Africa as occurred with the outbreak’s first case, reported in England on May 7 among a person who had recently traveled to Nigeria.
Jan. 6 committee seeks info from Georgia Republican about pre-riot tour of Capitol
The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot asked Thursday to meet with a House GOP lawmaker about a Capitol tour that took place a day before the attack last year.
Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., asked Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., to meet with the Democratic-controlled panel to discuss events shortly before the riot.
“We believe you have information regarding a tour you led through parts of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021,” Thompson and Cheney wrote to Loudermilk.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn Vows ‘Dark MAGA’ Revenge For His Election Loss
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) has threatened retaliation for his primary election loss earlier this week.
Rather than take responsibility for a series of political stumbles that tanked his race, Cawthorn took to social media to target Republicans who failed to “have my back”:
Details of what “Dark MAGA” might do were hazy, but apparently it could involve the revelation of embarrassing secrets and, ominously, “numbered” days.
“We are coming,” he warned..
House passes bill to aid fight against domestic terrorism after Buffalo supermarket shooting
In the wake of the Buffalo, New York, supermarket shooting that left 10 Black people dead, the House on Wednesday approved a measure to beef up federal efforts to combat domestic terrorism and white supremacy.
The vote was 222-203, with Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, voting with all Democrats in favor of the proposal.
The bill from Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Illinois, would create new offices within the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation to “monitor, analyze, investigate, and prosecute domestic terrorism.”
Oz, McCormick remain optimistic as Pa. Senate primary vote counting continues
The wait is on in Pennsylvania, where a slugfest of a Republican Senate primary remained too close to call Wednesday.
The leading candidates, celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund executive Dave McCormick, are each projecting confidence that they will prevail when all votes are counted.
But a clear result could be days — if not weeks — away. Pennsylvania law requires an automatic recount if the margin of victory is within a half-percentage point. At noon Wednesday, with 96 percent of the expected ballots tabulated, Oz led McCormick by about 2,400 votes, or about two-tenths of a percentage point.
Biden invokes Defense Production Act to address national shortage of baby formula
President Joe Biden on Wednesday invoked the Defense Production Act in a major step to boost the supply of baby formula.
The announcement means the federal government will prioritize key ingredients for formula production and compel suppliers to provide the needed resources to formula manufacturers ahead of other customers ordering those goods.
In addition to invoking the 1950 law, which allows the government to direct manufacturing production for national defense, Biden also launched a program that will use U.S. military aircraft to import formula from abroad.
A Third Of U.S. Should Be Considering Masks, Officials Say
COVID-19 cases are increasing in the United States — and could get even worse over the coming months, federal health officials warned Wednesday in urging areas hardest hit to consider reissuing calls for indoor masking.
Increasing numbers of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are putting more of the country under guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that call for masking and other infection precautions.
‘I know you are worried’: Jill Biden speaks about baby formula shortage in new PSA
First lady Jill Biden is speaking out about the nationwide baby formula shortage in a new public service announcement.
In the PSA released Tuesday, Biden and the U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, touch on parents’ frustrations about the lack of formula and how President Joe Biden and his team are “working around the clock” to get them what they need.
“Becoming a mom or dad means falling in love deeper than you ever thought possible,” said Jill Biden, 70. “And in those first few months of sleepless nights of endless diapers and dirty dishes and worrying about every little danger, your love can feel like the only thing that keeps you going.”
Biden labels Buffalo shooting ‘domestic terrorism’ after visiting scene
Assuming his role as consoler in chief, President Joe Biden traveled to Buffalo, New York, on Tuesday to visit a community in mourning and call out the dangers of white supremacy on the national stage following Saturday’s racially-motivated mass shooting at a supermarket that left 10 Black people dead, three wounded and others fearing for their lives.
Biden wanted to meet with victims’ families to “try to bring some comfort to the community, particularly to those who lost loved ones” and “grieve with them,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.
Finland, Sweden apply to join NATO
Nordic neighbors Finland and Sweden jointly submitted their applications to join NATO on Wednesday, as Russia’s war in Ukraine reshapes European security.
The boost to the Western military alliance — assuming Turkish objections to the pair joining can be overcome — is a major setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin on the global stage. It takes place even as his forces gain full control of the key port city of Mariupol after the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance surrendered.
Pennsylvania G.O.P. Senate Race Is Deadlocked; Cawthorn Falls to Defeat
Dr. Mehmet Oz and David McCormick are narrowly separated in the Republican Senate primary in Pennsylvania and possibly headed for a recount. Madison Cawthorn lost his primary in North Carolina.
Complete results from yesterday’s primaries are at The New York Times
2022 Midterms: 5 States Hold U.S. House Primaries Today
After years of irking his colleagues, a longtime moderate Democratic congressman faces his stiffest primary challenge yet in Oregon.
In North Carolina, a rising Republican star beset by personal and professional scandals is looking to eke out a win in his GOP-leaning district.
And across the U.S., an exodus of House Democrats has put a half dozen congressional seats up for grabs.
The outcomes of House primary contests held in Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania are not likely to offer hints of which party will control the chamber next year. But they will offer insight about the direction in which each party is headed after two years of unified Democratic control of Washington.
Fox News’ Tucker Carlson under fresh scrutiny after Buffalo mass shooting
Fox News personality Tucker Carlson is facing intense scrutiny from extremism experts, media watchdogs and progressive activists who say there is a link between the top-rated host’s “great replacement” rhetoric and the apparent mindset of the suspect in the weekend’sdeadly rampage in Buffalo, New York.
The white suspect accused of killing 10 people and wounding three others Saturday at a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood apparently wrote a “manifesto” espousing the white supremacist “great replacement” conspiracy theory — elements of which Carlson has pushed on his weeknight show.
Document appears to show Buffalo shooter’s planning including March trip to supermarket
An online document obtained by ABC News appears to chronicle how Payton Gendron carefully planned out his attack at least two months before he allegedly shot and killed 10 people at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, according to law enforcement sources.
According to the document, Gendron, on March 8, drove to Buffalo and visited the supermarket, where he was questioned by a security guard at the store as he was compiling detailed plans of the location.
The 589-page document, which is separate from the 180-page hate-filled screed Gendron is alleged to have posted online just before the massacre, includes sketches of the supermarket, including the makeup of different aisles, with notes on how to navigate around quickly.
FDA, Abbott agree on plan to resume production of infant formula at Michigan plant
In a move to ease a nationwide shortage of infant formula, the Food and Drug Administration on Monday said it has agreed with Abbott Nutrition on a plan to reopen the company’s manufacturing plant in Sturgis, Michigan, after it was shut down following the discovery of a deadly bacteria inside.
The FDA also announced Monday it would make it easier for global manufacturers to sell their product inside the U.S. so long as they meet certain criteria.
Charlie Pierce: Our Out-of-Control Political Moment Has Been Joined to Our Insane Attraction to Firearms
Do not be alarmed, but I suspect that the Tree of Liberty is dangerously close to being overly refreshed, and not with the blood of patriots and tyrants, either, but rather with the blood of ordinary folks celebrating a basketball game, or people going to church on Sunday, or some just stopping in to pick up last-minute provisions for Sunday dinner. Ordinary people, living ordinary lives, until they weren’t anymore.
Milwaukee: None dead, 21 wounded.
Laguna Hills: One dead, five wounded.
Buffalo: 10 dead, three wounded.
And how was your weekend, America?
McConnell leads GOP delegation to meet with Zelenskyy in Ukraine
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., led a Republican congressional delegation to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Saturday in Kyiv.
After leaving Ukraine, McConnell said in a statement that the group witnessed firsthand the “courage, unity and resolve of the Ukrainian people,” and that they “only ask for the tools they need for self-defense.”
Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, John Cornyn of Texas, and John Barrasso of Wyoming were among the delegation.
Clarence Thomas says abortion leak has changed Supreme Court
Justice Clarence Thomas says the Supreme Court has been changed by the shocking leak of a draft opinion earlier this month. The opinion suggests the court is poised to overturn the right to an abortion recognized nearly 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade.
The conservative Thomas, who joined the court in 1991 and has long called for Roe v. Wade to be overturned, described the leak as an unthinkable breach of trust.
“When you lose that trust, especially in the institution that I’m in, it changes the institution fundamentally. You begin to look over your shoulder. It’s like kind of an infidelity that you can explain it, but you can’t undo it,” he said while speaking at a conference Friday evening in Dallas.
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen says he suffered ‘minor stroke,’ is hospitalized
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., was hospitalized this weekend after suffering a minor stroke, he said Sunday.
He was admitted to George Washington University Hospital after experiencing lightheadedness and acute neck pain while delivering a speech in western Maryland, the senator said in a statement.
An angiogram Sunday indicated he had “experienced a minor stroke in the form of a small venous tear at the back of my head,” Van Hollen said, adding that he has been told there are no “long-term effects or damage as a result of this incident.”
Read the rest of the story at ABC News
Buffalo Shooting Suspect Bought AR-15 Legally But Modified Gun With Illegal High-Capacity Magazine: Report
The 18-year-old man who allegedly opened fire in a Buffalo, New York grocery store on Saturday purchased his weapon legally, passing a background check, but altered it with a high-capacity magazine that is illegal under New York law, according to several media reports.
Payton Gendron, a resident of Conklin, New York, lived several hours away from the Tops Friendly Markets grocery store where the shooting occurred. He is alleged to have posted a 180-page manifesto online that contained racist and anti-Semitic views, including voicing support for the conspiracy theory that immigrants are “replacing” America’s white population, and to have targeted this specific store because of its location in a heavily Black neighborhood.
The Rude Pundit: A Case for Letting Trump Back on Twitter: I Know, But Listen…
I know, I know, I fucking know. I remember that tense feeling, somewhere between shit-yourself anxiety and stroke-inducing rage, of wondering what deliberate, fuck-up-your-day provocation Donald Trump had tweeted. Of course, if you’re of a devolved or brain-damaged or cynical mindset, you looked forward to the Trump tweets like they were worms disgorged from Daddy Bird’s beak into your hungry, squawking throats. And then the rest of us would get extra rage jolts from the idea that all the greedy-mouthed baby birds were loving this whole situation.
So I’m not here to tell you that Donald Trump should be allowed back on Twitter because of free speech or censorship or whatever. Twitter is not a government entity. Trump wasn’t banned for being conservative. He was banned for being a lying dick. His First Amendment rights weren’t violated. No one is passing a law saying he should be punished for being a lying dick. He’s free to be a lying dick in lots of places, and, well, he totally is. So, no, I don’t actually give a fuck about Trump being banned. I’ve been tossed from shitty bars for being less of a dick and I wasn’t a whiny bitch about it. I just figured it was the bar owner’s prerogative and went to the next bar.
Biden orders flags to half-staff as US records 1 million COVID deaths
President Joe Biden on Thursday addressed the U.S. reaching the milestone of 1 million coronavirus deaths.
“One million empty chairs around the family dinner table,” Biden said in a pre-taped video message. “Each irreplaceable, irreplaceable losses. Each leaving behind a family or community forever changed because of this pandemic. Our heart goes out to all those who are struggling.”
Biden has ordered flags be flown at half-staff at the White House and all federal public buildings and grounds until sunset on May 16 in remembrance of those who lost their lives to the virus.
White House announces measures to address baby formula shortage
The White House announced a series of measures Thursday to address a shortage of baby formula across the U.S. after President Joe Biden met with key retailers and manufacturers.
The steps include an effort to reduce red tape and to speed formula production and to make it easier to import formula from abroad, as well as a plan to crack down on price gouging nationwide.
“We know families are concerned,” a senior administration official said on a call with reporters. Biden held a “productive” virtual meeting with the heads of Gerber, Reckitt, Target, Walmart and other companies about increasing supply and availability.
Rand Paul blocks quick passage of $40 billion Ukraine aid package
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul defied leaders of both parties Thursday and single-handedly delayed until next week Senate approval of an additional $40 billion to help Ukraineand its allies withstand Russia’s three-month old invasion.
With the Senate poised to debate and vote on the package of military and economic aid, Paul denied leaders the unanimous agreement they needed to proceed. The bipartisan measure, backed by President Joe Biden, underscores U.S. determination to reinforce its support for Ukraine’s outnumbered forces.
Jan. 6 committee subpoenas Kevin McCarthy, other Trump House allies
The committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol took the unprecedented step Thursday of issuing subpoenas to five Republican congressmen, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California.
The Democratic-controlled committee previously had asked the congressmen, who also include Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Mo Brooks of Alabama and Andy Biggs of Arizona, to sit for voluntary interviews, but all had refused.
Biden says US farmers can help in inflation fight as food prices continue to soar
President Joe Biden hit the road Wednesday to talk about the role American farmers can play in alleviating global food shortages caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At O’Connor Farms, a family-run farm in Kankakee, Illinois, Biden outlined steps his administration is taking to help farmers ramp up domestic production.
“Right now America is fighting on two fronts,” Biden said. “At home, it’s inflation and rising prices. Abroad, it’s helping Ukrainians defend their democracy and feeding those who are left hungry around the world because Russian atrocities exist.”
Finland’s Leaders In Favor Of Applying For NATO Membership
Finland’s president and prime minister said Thursday they’re in favor of applying for NATO membership, paving the way for the alliance to expand amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The dramatic move by Finland was announced by President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin in a joint statement. It means that Finland is virtually certain to seek NATO membership, though a few steps remain before the application process can begin. Neighboring Sweden is expected to decide on joining NATO in coming days.
Republicans Block Bill To Codify Roe v. Wade Once Again
Legislation aimed at safeguarding abortion rights across the country failed in the Senate for the second time this year as a conservative majority on the Supreme Court prepares to strike down its landmark 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade.
The Women’s Health Protection Act would create federal protections for providing and accessing abortion services. The House already passed the bill, but Senate Republicans blocked it from advancing earlier this year.
Supreme Court Justices To Meet Today For 1st Time Since Roe Draft Ruling Leak
The Supreme Court’s nine justices will gather in private Thursday for their first scheduled meeting since the leak of a draft opinion that would overrule Roe v. Wade and sharply curtail abortion rights in roughly half the states.
The meeting in the justices’ private, wood-paneled conference room could be a tense affair in a setting noted for its decorum. No one aside from the justices attends and the most junior among them, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is responsible for taking notes.
Biden highlights efforts to fight inflation, attacks ‘ultra-MAGA’ GOP
President Joe Biden on Tuesday continued his sharpened attack on what he’s now calling the GOP’s “ultra-MAGA” agenda as he pitched his plan to tackle inflation.
His remarks came as the national average price of a gallon of gas hit a record high of $4.37 a gallon, AAA said.
“I want every American to know that I am taking inflation very seriously,” Biden said from the podium in the South Court Auditorium. “It is my top domestic priority.”
Read the rest of the story at ABC News
Trump-backed candidate loses Nebraska governor’s primary
Donald Trump failed to deliver a victory Tuesday in a Nebraska GOP primary for a gubernatorial candidate accused of groping multiple women, NBC News projects, handing the former president his first loss of this year’s election season.
University of Nebraska Regent Jim Pillen won the party’s nomination after a heated contest, defeating a state senator and self-funding businessman Charles Herbster, whom Trump campaigned for last week even after eight women — including a Republican state senator — accused Trump’s favored candidate of inappropriately touching or kissing them against their will.
Pillen, boosted by support from term-limited Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, who bankrolled an outside group, appears set to finish with a comfortable lead over Herbster.
Senate to vote today on nationwide abortion bill ahead of Roe decision
The Senate is set to vote Wednesday on advancing a Democratic-led bill that would enshrine broad protections for legal abortion nationwide, a move triggered by a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that indicates Roe v. Wade will likely be overturned.
The vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act, which has passed the House, is all but certain to fail, with just 49 senators expected to support the measure, below the 60-vote requirement to defeat a Republican filibuster.
Biden: Vladimir Putin May Have No Way Out Of Ukraine War
President Joe Biden believes Russian President Vladimir Putin may not know how to end his brutal ongoing invasion of Ukraine after failing to achieve his objectives in the first two months.
“We’ve rallied the world to keep Putin in place… I’m confident that Putin believed he could break up NATO, that he believed he could break the European Union,” Biden said at a Monday night fundraiser for the Democratic Party. But now that those goals seem elusive, Biden said, he worries that the “very calculating” Putin is unsure of what to do.
Biden touts expansion of discount internet program for low-income households
As he seeks to close the nation’s digital divide, President Joe Biden announced on Monday new commitments from 20 internet service providers to expand discounted, high-speed internet access to tens of millions of low-income Americans under an existing federal program.
“It’s going to change people’s lives,” Biden said from the White House Rose Garden. “From rural Appalachia to Brooklyn, to the Black Belt families who have struggled to get internet.”
Senate passes bill to boost security for Supreme Court
The Senate passed legislation Monday to beef up security for Supreme Court justices, ensuring they and their families are protected as the court deliberates abortion access and whether to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.
The bipartisan bill, which passed by voice vote with no objections, did not provide additional funding, which could come later. But it aims to put the court on par with the executive and legislative branches, making certain the nine justices are provided security as some protesters have gathered outside their homes. The bill now moves to the House for its consideration.
Average US gasoline price jumps 15 cents to $4.38 per gallon
The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline jumped 15 cents over past two weeks to $4.38 per gallon.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the current price sits just a nickel below the highest average price in history — $4.43, set on March 11.
The average price at the pump is $1.36 higher than it was one year ago.
Jill Biden crosses into Ukraine, meets first lady
First lady Jill Biden traveled Sunday into war-torn Ukraine, where she met with her Ukrainian counterpart in a Mother’s Day show of solidarity for women fleeing Russia’s invasion.
After she crossed the Slovakian border, Biden traveled to the western city of Uzhhorod, where she met Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first lady, at a school.
“I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine,” Biden said.
Putin marks Victory Day with Moscow military parade, speech
Russian President Vladimir Putin marked Victory Day, celebrating the Soviet Union’s World War II triumph over Nazi Germany with a grand display of military might and an address from Moscow’s Red Square.
The Russian leader linked his war in Ukraine with that historic struggle in a speech that blamed the West for the conflict but contained no new escalations.
Progress in Ukraine has eluded Putin, with Russian forces devastating but far from defeating the country in a war that has ground on for more than two months. With his military failing to secure the gains Putin may have wanted in order to declare success, analysts have speculated about whether the Kremlin may use the occasion to further intensify its struggling campaign.
Protesters Target Supreme Court Justices’ Homes Following Leaked Draft Opinion
Activists protesting against the Supreme Court’s expected ruling gutting Roe v. Wadegathered outside the homes of two conservative justices over the weekend and plan to do so again later this week.
Close to 100 protesters chanted and waved signs Saturday evening outside the Maryland house of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, then marched to the nearby home of Chief Justice John Roberts. Police eventually ordered them to disperse when they returned to Kavanaugh’s house.
“The time for civility is over, man,” protest organizer Lacie Wooten-Holway told Bloomberg. “Being polite doesn’t get you anywhere.”
The Rude Pundit: Men Are Mostly Responsible for the End of Roe, So F*** Up Their World, Too
The Supreme Court case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a draft decision on which was leaked this week, centers on a law passed by the Mississippi legislature in 2018 and signed by its governor. That law banned all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. It was struck down by lower courts because it patently violated what the Supreme Court allowed in the Roe v. Wade decision. And now we know that a majority in the Supreme Court is willing to shitcan Roe in order to drag the nation into becoming a Christian theocracy.
U.S. Intelligence Has Reportedly Helped Ukraine Kill Russian Generals
The United States reportedly shared intelligence that has helped Ukraine target and kill Russian generals during the Kremlin’s ongoing invasion of the country.
According to The New York Times, senior American officials said the U.S. had provided real-time battlefield intel to the Ukrainians, including the location of Russia’s mobile military headquarters. Ukraine then used that knowledge, as well as its own intelligence, to conduct artillery strikes and attacks to kill Russian officers.
Hillary Clinton Has Ominous Warning About What’s Next If Roe v. Wade Is Overturned
Hillary Clinton cautioned that the leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade could be just the start of rights being rolled back for other groups nationwide.
“This opinion is dark. It is incredibly dangerous and it is not just about a woman’s right to choose. It is about much more than that,” the former secretary of state told CBS’ Norah O’Donnell in an interview that aired Thursday.
“Any American who says, ‘Look, I’m not a woman, this doesn’t affect me. I’m not Black, that doesn’t affect me. I’m not gay, that doesn’t affect me’ — once you allow this kind of extreme power to take hold you have no idea who they will come for next,” Clinton continued.
‘Dancing Monkey’ Lindsey Graham Performs For Donald Trump In ‘Extraordinary’ New Audio
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) sucks up to former President Donald Trump just weeks after the deadly U.S. Capitol riot in new audio released by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns.
Graham initially condemned Trump’s incitement of the violence on Jan. 6, 2021.
But the audio that Martin and Burns shared on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” on Thursday shows how his denunciation of Trump had a “pretty fast expiration date,” said Burns.
Biden names Karine Jean-Pierre as White House press secretary
President Joe Biden on Thursday named Karine Jean-Pierre as the new White House press secretary, succeeding Jen Psaki. Jean-Pierre will be the first Black woman and the first openly gay person to hold the position.
“Karine not only brings the experience, talent and integrity needed for this difficult job, but she will continue to lead the way in communicating about the work of the Biden-Harris Administration on behalf of the American people,” the president said in a statement. “Jill and I have known and respected Karine a long time and she will be a strong voice speaking for me and this Administration.”
The White House is looking for actions it can take to protect abortion rights
But in marathon meetings and phone calls among White House officials, government lawyers, outside advisers and federal agency officials, a sobering reality settled in: There’s little the White House can do that will fundamentally alter a post-Roe landscape. While officials have spent months planning for the possibility the court would overturn the landmark ruling, the leaked document caught the White House off guard. Officials are discussing whether funding, whether through Medicaid or another mechanism, could be made available to women to travel to other states for an abortion, according to outside advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions, but many doubt whether that is feasible.
Fed Makes Biggest Interest Rate Increase Since 2000 as High Inflation Persists
The Federal Reserve ramped up its attack on rapid inflation on Wednesday, approving its biggest interest rate increase since 2000, detailing a plan to shrink its massive bond holdings and signaling that it will continue working to cool the economy as it tries to tamp down the fastest price increases in four decades.
Yet investors found a reason for relief. While the Fed raised interest rates half a percentage point and its chair, Jerome H. Powell, said similarly large increases would be “on the table” at the Fed’s upcoming meetings, he shot down the idea that policymakers were considering an even larger move, as some investors had feared.
Donald Trump Jr. testifies before House panel probing Jan. 6 riot
Donald Trump Jr. testified Tuesday before the House committee investigating last year’s attack on the Capitol, a person close to the former president‘s oldest son said Wednesday.
Appearing by videoconference for two hours, Trump Jr. spoke to the panel voluntarily, the source said, adding that the discussion was “pretty uneventful.”
A spokesperson for the committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump Jr., through a spokesperson, declined to comment.
Secretary Of State Antony Blinken Tests Positive For COVID-19
Secretary of State Antony Blinken tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday afternoon, according to the State Department.
Blinken is fully vaccinated and boosted, the department said in a statement, and he is experiencing “mild symptoms.” He had tested negative on Tuesday and again on Wednesday morning.
The secretary of state attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday evening with some 2,600 other attendees — including President Joe Biden. However, the State Department said Biden isn’t considered a close contact of Blinken, as they have not seen each other in person in “several days.”
Oklahoma Governor Signs Texas-Style Ban On Most Abortions
Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a Texas-style abortion ban on Tuesday that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court will uphold new restrictions.
Stitt’s signing of the bill comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation’s high court that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nearly 50 years ago.
Trump appointee twice delayed report on Russian election interference, federal watchdog says
A top Trump political appointee delayed a report on Russian election interference in the 2020 election in a way that created the perception that intelligence was politicized, according to a new report by the Department of Homeland Security watchdog.
The DHS inspector general report also found that employees of DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis made changes to the analysis of foreign election interference “that appear to be based in part on political considerations, potentially impacting I&A’s compliance with Intelligence Community policy.”
JD Vance wins Ohio GOP Senate primary after Trump endorsement
Buoyed by former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, J.D. Vance prevailed in Ohio’s competitive Republican Senate primary Tuesday and will face off in November against Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, NBC News projects.
In the gubernatorial contest, incumbent Republican Mike DeWine secured the nomination in his bid for re-election, NBC News projects, while former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley won the Democratic nod.
Emotions run high outside Supreme Court as demonstrators weigh future of abortion
The plaza outside the Supreme Court is once again ground zero for demonstrators on both sides of the abortion debate, but the tensions and emotions this time around far exceed those of previous protests.
Thousands of protesters gathered after a leaked draft opinionpublished Monday night by Politico suggested that Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established abortion rights nationwide, could be overturned this summer. Some came from in and around Washington, while others had traveled from other parts of the country.
Jeffrey Toobin Warns Same-Sex Marriage Is ‘Certainly’ in Jeopardy After Opinion Overturning Roe v. Wade Leaked
CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin reacted to a leaked draft of a Supreme Court majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade on Monday night, warning the same-sex marriage could be next.
Toobin appeared on Don Lemon Tonight, where the eponymous host asked, “What other cases have been decided based on these precedents that could now be in jeopardy?”
Toobin didn’t hesitate.
“Same-sex marriage is, certainly,” he replied. “This came up a lot during the confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson – that it is quite clear that the Republican majority–the Republican politicians, at least, think this is the time to roll back a whole series of opinions that were passed when the Supreme Court had a very different majority.”
Putin may soon officially declare war on Ukraine, US and Western officials say
Russian President Vladimir Putin could formally declare war on Ukraine as soon as May 9, a move that would enable the full mobilization of Russia’s reserve forces as invasion efforts continue to falter, US and Western officials believe.
May 9, known as “Victory Day” inside of Russia, commemorates the country’s defeat of the Nazis in 1945. Western officials have long believed that Putin would leverage the symbolic significance and propaganda value of that day to announce either a military achievement in Ukraine, a major escalation of hostilities — or both.
Jan. 6 committee seeks info from GOP Reps. Ronny Jackson, Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol is requesting interviews with three Republican members of Congress, including one whom members of the Oath Keepers militia group are alleged to have said they needed to protect because he had “critical data.”
Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., contended in letters sent Monday to Reps. Ronny Jackson of Texas, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Mo Brooks of Alabama that the trio have information that could be helpful to the panel’s investigation into “the facts, circumstances, and causes of the January 6th attack.”
A draft Supreme Court opinion indicates Roe v. Wade will be overturned, Politico reports in extraordinary leak
In what would amount to an unprecedented leak in modern times, Politico on Monday night published what it said was a draft opinionindicating the Supreme Court would overturn the abortion rights enshrined in Roe v. Wade in a pending case later this year.
The document, reportedly authored by Justice Samuel Alito and circulated in February, suggests at least five justices side with Mississippi in its case before the court challenging the landmark 1973 abortion ruling.
NBC News has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the document, and the Supreme Court declined to comment.
Charlie Pierce: Mike Esper Didn’t Think Voters Deserved to Know That Trump Wanted to Turn D.C. Streets Into My Lai?
I’m beginning to believe that book contracts are a genuine threat to democratic government. Once again, someone who worked at Camp Runamuck is cashing in big time revealing information now that it would have been nice to know at the time. This time around, it’s former Secretary of Defense Mike Esper.
Kinzinger says he “would love” for Pence to testify before January 6 committee
GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said Sunday he “would love” for former Vice President Mike Pence to voluntarily appear before the House select committee investigating the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Pence played a crucial role in the congressional proceedings on January 6, rebuffing pressure by then-President Donald Trump to reject electoral votes from key battleground states he lost and ultimately reaffirming President Biden’s win. While some of his aides have answered questions from House investigators, Pence has not done so.
Asked whether he would like to see the former vice president come forward and meet with the select committee, Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the panel, said he “would love to see that.”
White House Correspondents’ Dinner returns with president in attendance
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner made its grand return Saturday night, two years after the pandemic shut it down and six years since the last time a commander-in-chief attended the event.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden attended the charity event at the Washington Hilton, the first sitting president to do so since 2016. Former President Donald Trump vocally snubbed his three invitations during his time in office.
Biden referenced his predecessor during his speech and said, “We had a horrible plague followed by two years of COVID.”
Civilians evacuated from Mariupol steel plant; Pelosi meets Polish president
Civilians are finally being evacuated from the bombed-out steel plantwhere hundreds have been sheltering in the last Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol, the key city that is otherwise under Russian control after months of siege.
The rescue operation in the southeastern port, which also includes other areas of the city, comes after weeks of failed efforts with Russian forces bombarding Mariupol as they battle to make progress in their new offensive in the region.
The United States and its allies have stepped up their military support for Kyiv, with the surprise weekend trip to the Ukrainian capital by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic lawmakers the latest signal of growing Western backing.
American killed fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in Ukraine
An American citizen, Willy Joseph Cancel, was killed fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in Ukraine, members of Cancel’s family confirmed to CNN.
The 22-year-old was working with a private military contracting company when he was killed on Monday. The company had sent him to Ukraine, and he was being paid while he was fighting there, Cancel’s mother, Rebecca Cabrera, told CNN.
Cancel, a former US Marine, according to his mother, signed up to work for the private military contracting company on top of his full-time job as a corrections officer in Tennessee shortly before the war in Ukraine broke out at the end of February, Cabrera said. When the war began, the company, according to Cabrera, was searching for contractors to fight in Ukraine and Cancel agreed to go, Cabrera said.
Trump Finally Posts Second Message On Truth Social As Elon Musk Twitter Competition Looms
Former President Donald Trump finally posted his second message on Truth Social on Thursday — 10 weeks after his first — in the face of massive new competition from a Twitter platform owned and operated by billionaire Elon Musk.
“I’m back!” Trump posted on his problem-plagued social media platform.
He inexplicably followed the greeting with the hashtag “COVFEFE,” a nonsensical word that he apparently typed accidentally in 2017 when he was president, and which was widely derided as the product of a confused leader of the nation.
That tweet — referring to a “press covfefe” — was later deleted by Trump, who initially challenged people to decipher the word.
Moderna asks FDA to authorize Covid vaccine for children under 6
Moderna asked the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday to expand the use of its Covid-19 vaccine to children ages 6 months to 5 years.
The drugmaker’s request will now be considered by the FDA, which is expected to make a final decision in June.
The agency is expected to seek the advice of its advisory committee, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.
McCarthy defends himself to Republicans after leaked Jan. 6 recordings, receives standing ovation
House Republicans on Wednesday rallied behind Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as he defended himself over audio recordings surfaced of him blaming former President Donald Trump for the Jan. 6 riot and suggesting that some GOP lawmakers were inciting violence and should be kicked off social media platforms.
In the first closed-door GOP meeting since the New York Times released recordings of a Jan. 10, 2021, leadership call in which McCarthy was sharply critical of Trump and some hard-right members of Congress, the California Republican argued that he was speaking hypothetically and walking through various “scenarios” following the attack on the Capitol as Congress met to certify the 2020 election results.
Biden blocked from winding down Trump-era border policy
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Department of Homeland Security to halt its efforts to dissolve a coronavirus-related border restriction initiated in 2020, potentially derailing the Biden administration‘s goal of rescinding the Trump-era policy by late May.
U.S. District Judge Robert R. Summerhays of the Western District of Louisiana, who said Monday he intended to issue the injunction, barred Homeland Security from taking steps to wind down the policy known as Title 42 over the next two weeks. He also set a May 13 hearing date to determine whether the pause should be extended beyond May 23, when the administration aims to fully rescind the rule, which was initiated by former President Donald Trump.
Biden to ask Congress for new Ukraine aid package today
President Joe Biden will request Congress fund a new supplemental aid package for Ukraine during remarks from the White House Thursday morning, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
The extra funding is intended to last for the next five months, through the end of the fiscal year, the sources said.
Administration officials earlier described the amount of the request as “massive” but would not provide a specific dollar amount. Some details were still not finalized, the officials said.
Fauci says U.S. is transitioning out of ‘pandemic phase’
Dr. Anthony Fauci expressed optimism about the state of the pandemic in the U.S. this week.
“We are certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic phase,” Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told “PBS NewsHour” on Tuesday.
He later told The Washington Post that the U.S. had entered the “control” stage of the pandemic, as the coronavirus is causing far lower levels of hospitalizations and deaths than during the winter surge of the omicron variant.
Russia says Ukraine war could go nuclear if West keeps sending weapons
Russia’s Foreign Minister said Tuesday that if the U.S. and Ukraine‘s other Western allies continue to arm the country as it battles Moscow’s invading forces, the risk of the war escalating into a nuclear conflict “should not be underestimated.” In an interview with Russian TV, Sergey Lavrov said that by providing weapons, NATO nations were “pouring oil on the fire” and risking “World War III.”
He said the ongoing arms shipments to Ukraine meant NATO was “in essence engaged in war with Russia” already.
The veteran Kremlin diplomat issued his latest warning as U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met in Germany with NATO allies, urging European nations to increase their military aid to Ukraine. Germany’s defense chief announced Tuesday that the country would start sending self-propelled armored anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn cited for having loaded gun at Charlotte airport
Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., was cited Tuesday for having a loaded 9 mm handgun at a security checkpoint at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, the second time he has been stopped with a firearm at an airport since he took office last year.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said the incident occurred just before 9 a.m., when it was notified that Transportation Security Administration agents had found a firearm, ammunition and a magazine in Cawthorn’s belongings at a security checkpoint, according to a police report.
Kamala Harris tests positive for Covid
Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for Covid on Tuesday, her office said.
At the time of the test result, Harris was not exhibiting any coronavirus symptoms, said her press secretary, Kirsten Allen. An adviser to the vice president later said Harris’ physician prescribed the therapeutic drug Paxlovid, a Covid antiviral pill from Pfizer that has been cleared for use in people at high risk for developing severe illness.
Advisers have not said whether Harris, 57, is now exhibiting symptoms.
In new audio, McCarthy worried comments by certain GOP lawmakers could incite violence after Jan. 6
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., feared that remarks by fellow Republican lawmakers could jeopardize the safety of other GOP members of Congress after the Jan. 6 riot, according to new audio recordings from just days after the attack on the Capitol.
The recordings from a Jan. 10, 2021, call obtained by The New York Times shine a new light on the intensity of McCarthy’s private concerns about members of his own caucus at a time when his public appearances downplayed those worries.
In the newly released audio, McCarthy and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., name several Republicans in Congress whom they saw as potential threats to other GOP lawmakers.
N.Y. judge holds Trump in contempt for failing to produce documents in attorney general probe
A New York state judge on Monday found Donald Trump in civil contempt of court and ordered him to pay $10,000 a day until he turns over documents that have been subpoenaed by the state attorney general’s office.
Attorney General Letitia James had sought the fine as a way to force the former president to turn over documents her investigators say they need as part of their civil probe into the Trump Organization’s business practices.
In a pair of tweets, James hailed Justice Arthur Engoron’s ruling as “a major victory.”
Judge plans to hit pause on Biden effort to end Trump-era Covid restriction at border
A federal judge said Monday he intends to temporarily block the Biden administration from lifting the coronavirus border restrictionknown as Title 42.
It would be a victory for Republican-led states and some led by Democrats that sued to keep the immigration policy, which was initiated in the Trump administration.
U.S. District Judge Robert R. Summerhays of the Western District of Louisiana announced his intention to grant the motion in a virtual status conference Monday.
New Texts Reveal Jan. 6 Discussions Between Mark Meadows And Trump Backers
CNN has obtained thousands of text messages exchanged between Mark Meadows and Donald Trump’s high-profile supporters, revealing never-before-seen conversations about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and other efforts to stop Joe Biden from taking office.
Meadows, who served as White House chief of staff under Trump, provided the log of texts to the House committee investigating the insurrection in December, shortly before he stopped cooperating with the probe.
The committee has previously released some of those messages to the public, but CNN reported Monday that it had obtained the 2,319 messages that Meadows had turned over, all of which were sent and received between Election Day 2020 and Biden’s inauguration seven weeks later. Meadows declined to give the committee about 1,000 other text messages, the panel said in a court filing.
Elon Musk Reaches Agreement To Buy Twitter And Take It Private
Elon Musk reached an agreement to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion on Monday, promising a more lenient touch to policing content on the social media platform where he — the world’s richest person — promotes his interests, attacks critics and opines on a wide range of issues to more than 83 million followers.
The outspoken Tesla CEO has said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks it’s not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.
Musk said in a joint statement with Twitter that he wants to make the service “better than ever” with new features while getting rid of automated “spam″ accounts and making its algorithms open to the public to increase trust.
Charlie Pierce: Who Was Mike Pence’s Secret Service Detail Working for on January 6?
I first got interested in politics through paranoia. (As the years have gone by, I’ve found that this was the best kind of introduction I could have had.) I devoured political thrillers about dark doings in Washington, D.C. Seven Days in May was my gateway drug. There was Night at Camp David, about a president who went crazy, and Vanished, about a secret peace conference, and the self-explanatory The President’s Plane Is Missing, about another secret peace conference. There was Fail-Safe, the classic about an accidental nuclear exchange. If you dig deep enough, you find that my politics were formed as much by Fletcher Knebel as by anyone else. However, this early reading has become increasingly relevant in recent weeks as we steadily discover that we actually had a half-mad president* who plotted to overthrow the government. Air Force One, I presume, is still where it’s supposed to be.
Covid was third-leading cause of death in U.S. once again in 2021
For the second year in a row, Covid was the third-leading cause of death in the U.S., according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Friday.
Covid was the underlying cause of more than 415,000 deaths in 2021, or 13 percent of the national total, the report found. That’s an increase from 10 percent in 2020. Per capita, Covid death rates increased among every age group in 2021 except those 85 and older.
In both 2020 and 2021, the only conditions that killed more people than Covid were heart disease, which caused 693,000 deaths last year, and cancer, at 605,000 deaths in 2021. The data is provisional, though, so the numbers could change as the CDC collects more information. The Covid tally also doesn’t include 45,000 deaths for which the coronavirus was a contributing factor rather than an underlying cause.
Meadows was warned Jan. 6 could turn violent, former White House official says
A former White House official warned Mark Meadows, who served as former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, that the events of Jan. 6, 2021, could turn violent, according to a court filing from the House panel investigating the Capitol riot.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a special assistant in the Trump White House, said Meadows received information before the day of the attack that “indicated that there could be violence,” according to transcripts contained in the 248-page filing late Friday.
To Europe’s Relief, France’s Macron Wins But Far-Right Gains
French President Emmanuel Macron comfortably won a second term Sunday, triggering relief among allies that the nuclear-armed power won’t abruptly shift course in the midst of the war in Ukraine from European Union and NATO efforts to punish and contain Russia’s military expansionism.
The second five-year term for the 44-year-old centrist spared France and Europe from the seismic upheaval of having firebrand populist Marine Le Pen at the helm, Macron’s presidential runoff challenger who quickly conceded defeat but still scored her best-ever electoral showing.
Blinken Says Russia Is Failing In War Aims, Ukraine ‘Succeeding,’ After Kyiv Visit
American Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday after a secrecy-shrouded visit to Kyiv that Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy is committed to winning his country’s fight against Russia and that the United States will help him achieve that goal.
“He has the mindset that they want to win, and we have the mindset that we want to help them win,” Austin told reporters in Poland, the day after the three-hour face-to-face meeting with Zelenskyy in Ukraine.
Austin said that the nature of the fight in Ukraine had changed now that Russia has pulled away from the wooded northern regions to focus on the eastern industrial heartland of the Donbas. Because the nature of the fight has evolved, so have Ukraine’s military needs, and Zelenskyy is now focused on more tanks, artillery and other munitions.
Biden to issue Earth Day order to safeguard old-growth forests
President Biden will sign an executive order on Friday in Seattle laying the groundwork for protecting some of the biggest and oldest trees in America’s forests, according to five individuals briefed on the plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was not yet finalized.
Biden will direct the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to define and inventory mature and old-growth forests nationwide within a year, three of the individuals said. He will also require the agencies to identify threats to these trees, such as wildfire and climate change, and to use that information to craft policies that protect them.
Philadelphia ending mask mandate days after it was restored
Philadelphia is ending its indoor mask mandate, city health officials said Thursday night, abruptly reversing course just days after city residents had to start wearing masks again amid a sharp increase in infections.
The Board of Health voted Thursday to rescind the mandate, according to the Philadelphia health department, which released a statement that cited “decreasing hospitalizations and a leveling of case counts.”
The mandate went into effect Monday. Philadelphia had ended its earlier indoor mask mandate March 2.
Biden commits additional aid to Ukraine as Russia declares ‘success’ in Mariupol
President Joe Biden said Thursday that the U.S. would give another $1.3 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine but that additional funding will soon be needed from Congress to maintain the flow of weapons.
Biden said the latest aid would include $800 million in heavy artillery weapons, including 72 howitzers and 144,000 rounds of ammunition, along with 121 tactical “ghost” drones. The U.S. also plans to provide another $500 million in humanitarian and economic assistance.
McCarthy said he would urge Trump to resign after Jan. 6, new audio reveals
Just days after the Jan. 6 riot, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy told a fellow Republican lawmaker that he would recommend to then-President Donald Trump that he resign, according to audio of a call shared with MSNBC and aired Thursday night.
In the Jan. 10, 2021, call, McCarthy can be heard telling Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., that he planned to tell the president he should step down following the violent attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters.
McCarthy, R-Calif., also indicated that he thought impeachment would succeed in the House and possibly the Senate.
Baseball pregame show prompts brief evacuation of U.S. Capitol
A pregame performance at a Washington Nationals baseball game featuring the Army’s Golden Knights prompted a brief evacuation of the U.S. Capitol.
Capitol Police evacuated the building Wednesday but then said there was no threat in a series of messages to staff members and journalists who work there.
“The Capitol was evacuated out of an abundance of caution this evening. There is no threat at the Capitol. More details to come,” police said in a statement.
Trump releases audio that appears to refute claim he walked out of interview over 2020 questions
An audio recording obtained by NBC News appears to show that former President Donald Trump’s highly publicized interview with Piers Morgan did not end with Trump storming off the set, as edited promotional video clips suggest.
Instead, according to the recording, which was provided by Trump’s spokesman, the two men thanked each other and laughed at the conclusion of the interview for Talk TV, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
Putin Tells Forces Not To Storm Ukraine Stronghold In Mariupol
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged city of Mariupol on Thursday but instead to block it “so that not even a fly comes through.”
His defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said the rest of the city beyond the sprawling Azovstal steel plant where Ukrainian forces were holed has been “liberated” — as Russian officials refer to areas of Ukraine they have seized. Putin hailed that as a “success.”
Justice Department appeals ruling lifting transit mask mandate after CDC request
The Department of Justice has moved to appeal a ruling that struck down the federal mask mandate on planes, trains and transit systems after a request by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC said in a statement Wednesday that “at this time an order requiring masking in the indoor transportation corridor remains necessary for the public health,” adding that it has asked the Justice Department to proceed with an appeal.
The Justice Department said that it has filed a notice of appeal “in light of today’s assessment by the CDC” in a statement late Wednesday afternoon.
Trump pushes back against New York attorney general’s contempt effort
An attorney for Donald Trump hit back Tuesday at an effort by New York Attorney General Letitia James to have the former president held in contempt, claiming he doesn’t have documents demanded by James.
James’ office asked a state judge on April 7 to issue an order of contempt against Trump, saying he failed to comply with a previous ruling requiring him to turn over documents by March 31 as part of an investigation into his company’s financial practices.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene appeals judge’s ruling to allow challenge to re-election bid
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Tuesday appealed a ruling by a federal judge in Georgia who said a lawsuit challenging her qualifications to run for re-election can move forward.
U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg denied Greene’s request for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to block the suit Monday. Free Speech for People, an election and campaign finance reform organization, filed the lawsuit last month on behalf of a group of Georgia voters, alleging that Greene facilitated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Aiming To Secure A Win In Donbas, Putin Hits Ukrainian Cities, Pours More Troops Into War
Russia hurled its military might against Ukrainian cities and towns and poured more troops into the war, seeking to slice the country in two in a potentially pivotal battle for control of the eastern industrial heartland of coal mines and factories.
The fighting unfolded along a boomerang-shaped front hundreds of miles long in what is known as the Donbas. If successful, it would give President Vladimir Putin a victory following the failed attempt by Moscow’s forces to storm the capital, Kyiv, and heavier-than-expected casualties.
Justice Dept. to appeal decision lifting mask mandate on planes, trains if CDC deems rule necessary
The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will appeal the ruling that lifted the federal mask mandate on planes, trains and transit systems, pending a decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the order is still required for public health.
The Justice Department will not, however, ask the court to stay the decision, meaning passengers will be able to continue traveling maskless while the decision is litigated.
In the day since a federal judge in Florida struck down the CDC’s requirement, numerous airlines and public transit systems have announced that masks were optional.
Russia begins long-awaited offensive in eastern Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
Russian forces have since retreated from northern Ukraine, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. The United States and many European countries accused Russia of committing war crimes after graphic images emerged of dead civilians in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv. Moscow is now said to be refocusing its offensive on the eastern Donbas region, as it attempts to capture the besieged port city of Mariupol.
Former MSNBC Contributor Malcolm Nance Reveals He Joined Ukraine’s Foreign Legion to Fight Russians: ‘I’m Done Talking’
Former MSNBC contributor Malcolm Nance revealed Monday he is fighting alongside Ukrainian soldiers as part of the country’s foreign legion.
The network’s former national security analyst has been absent from MSNBC’s coverage of the war in recent weeks. On Monday’s The ReidOut, he revealed why.
Nance, who spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy, told host Joy Reid he left the U.S. just a few weeks into Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine after he had seen enough carnage.
Kimberly Guilfoyle Meets With Jan. 6 Committee
Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiancée of former President Donald Trump’s eldest son, met with the House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection Monday — more than a month after she abruptly ended a voluntary interview with lawmakers — according to a person familiar with the matter.
Guilfoyle, 53, arrived Monday morning at the federal office building on Capitol Hill where the committee has been conducting its virtual and in-person interviews to sit down with lawmakers, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss private testimony.
Airlines Begin Dropping Mask Mandates Following Court Ruling
Multiple airlines and other transit providers announced Monday they’ve ended their mask requirements, responding just hours after a federal judge voided a recently extended mandate.
Most of the major air carriers in the United States announced that, effective immediately, they will no longer enforce mask-wearing rules, which have been federally enforced on public transportation since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Airlines making the change include Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Jet Blue, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.
Charlie Pierce: No State Official Is Doing More Damage to This Nation Than Greg Abbott
Good ol’ Tate Reeves, governor of Mississippi, is all down for the heritage, y’all. From the AP:
The Republican governor signed a proclamation without fanfare Friday. It does not mention slavery — the defense of which was Mississippi’s stated reason for trying to secede from the U.S. In response to a question at a news conference Wednesday, Reeves said he issued a Confederate Heritage Month proclamation “in the same manner and fashion that the five governors that came before me, Republicans and Democrats alike, for over 30 years have done. And we did it again this year,” Reeves said. “Didn’t think this was the year to stop doing it.”
Well, that’s some barnyard poultry droppings right there. But do go on, Your Caucasianess.
Mar-a-Lago Machine: Trump as a Modern-Day Party Boss
On any given night, Donald J. Trump will stroll onto the patio at Mar-a-Lago and say a few words from a translucent lectern, welcoming whatever favored candidate is paying him for the privilege of fund-raising there.
“This is a special place,” Mr. Trump said on one such evening in February at his private club. “I used to say ‘ground zero’ but after the World Trade Center we don’t use that term anymore. This is the place where everybody wants to be.”
For 15 months, a parade of supplicants — senators, governors, congressional leaders and Republican strivers of all stripes — have made the trek to pledge their loyalty and pitch their candidacies. Some have hired Mr. Trump’s advisers, hoping to gain an edge in seeking his endorsement. Some have bought ads that ran only on Fox News in South Florida. Some bear gifts; others dish dirt. Almost everyone parrots his lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
Trump Rages in Easter Message to ‘Radical Left Maniacs’ and ‘Racist’ Attorney General Letitia James
The former president wound up sending another statement out, this one wishing “Happy Easter to all including the Radical Left Maniacs who are doing everything possible to destroy our Country. May they not succeed, but let them, nevertheless, be happy, healthy, wealthy, and well!”
Covid infections rise, but hospitalizations remain low
The Covid-19 pandemic, having shaken the world for the past two years, has entered a new phase, one driven by a combination of fear, apathy and uncertainty. In some parts of the country, masks have become rare sights, and the assumption is the pandemic is over. But in other places, masking is back as concerns rise about a new variant and the potential for another spike in cases.
Last week, Philadelphia announced it was reinstating an indoor mask mandate until rates drop again. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed course and said masks will continue to be required on commercial flights until at least May 3. That mandate had originally been set to expire Monday.
Blasts rock Lviv in the west as Mariupol fights ‘to the end’
Explosions rocked Lviv early Monday in a rare and deadly attack on the western Ukrainian city — a safe hub for refugees, Western officials and the media — that came as the world braced for a major Russian offensive further east.
At least 6 people were killed in the Russian missile strikes, local officials said, with Russian forces striking areas across Ukraine while readying a new ground offensive in the east.
Blasts also hit the central region of Dnipropetrovsk. The capital, Kyiv, and Kharkiv in the northeast were targeted over the weekend.
The Rude Pundit: Tucker Carlson Has an Orgasm… A Fantasia
Tucker Carlson is checking the strength of his belts. He’s putting them over the reinforced bar in the closet in his office and pulling with both hands, sometimes even seeing if he can lift himself off the ground. He knows from experience that it’s not the belt’s ability to hold his weight briefly but for two or three minutes. That’s key to the whole thing. He thought he only bought the best, toughest leather, but last time, the belt snapped, and he ended up hitting the ground, pantsless, almost jamming a wingtip into his asshole in the process, which is not an unpleasant thing, just one you want some anticipation for. Luckily, he hadn’t passed out, so when his assistant knocked on his door to ask if he was okay, he could gasp out, “Fine. Fine. Just doing some pull-ups.” That’s why he told the Fox News execs he needed the bar: because he’s so into fitness that he might want to do pull-ups before he hits the set. Although, truth be told, they knew exactly what it was for because Sean Hannity has it. O’Reilly had one. It’s almost as if it’s a requirement in order to be a male host on Fox.
Russia Vows To Ramp Up ‘Scale Of Missile Attacks’ On Kyiv
Russia’s Defense Ministry on Friday promised to ramp up “the scale of missile attacks” on Kyiv in response to Ukraine’s “diversions on the Russian territory.”
The statement comes a day after Russian authorities accused Ukrainian forces of launching airstrikes on residential buildings in one of the country’s regions on the border with Ukraine, in which seven people sustained injuries.
According to Russian officials, some 100 residential buildings were damaged in Thursday’s attack on the Klimovo village in the Bryansk region. The Defense Ministry said that the Russian forces in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region shut down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter that was allegedly involved in the attack on the Bryansk region.
As Covid cases rise, here are the latest CDC guidelines for testing and isolation
A wave of cases of the BA.2 omicron subvariant appears to finally be hitting the U.S.
Although the country’s Covid hospitalizations are at an all-time low, average daily case numbers have risen by 9 percent in the last two weeks, according to NBC News’ tally. Many experts agree that the true scale of the virus’s spread is far larger, because infections are being undercounted.
BA.2 accounts for around 86 percent of U.S. cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But some of the agency’s guidelines about masking, testing and isolation have changed since the big omicron case wave earlier this year.
Brooklyn subway shooting suspect Frank James had ‘stockpile’ of weapons, prosecutors say
The man accused of opening fire on a rush-hour New York subway car did so with “premeditated” intentions and had access to a “stockpile” of weapons, prosecutors said Thursday.
Frank James, 62, made his initial appearance in a federal courtroom accused of committing a terrorist attack on mass transit, a federal charge that could bring a life sentence if he is convicted, prosecutors said.
James picked up a U-Haul van Monday in Philadelphia and went to New York City with violent plans, according to a memo filed by the government.
GOP Abandons Presidential Debate Commission
The Republican National Committee voted Thursday to pull out of the Commission on Presidential Debates, the group that has organized debates between the leading candidates for president for every presidential election since 1988.
“Debates are an important part of the democratic process, and the RNC is committed to free and fair debates,” Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “Today, the RNC voted to withdraw from the biased CPD, and we are going to find newer, better debate platforms to ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people.”
Mask mandate on planes, trains extended 15 days, CDC announces
The Biden administration is extending the mask mandate for travelers on airplanes, trains and other transit systems into May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.
The current requirement that all travelers wear face coverings had been set to expire next Monday, but the Transportation Security Administration will now extend the requirement for an additional 15 days, through May 3, the CDC announced.
Russia evacuates flagship after suffering major damage in Black Sea blast
Ukrainian officials said their forces launched a successful missile attack on the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, forcing the crew to evacuate the vessel.
The Russian defense ministry said the Moskva warship had been “seriously damaged,” but blamed the incident on a fire.
NBC News has been unable to verify what happened on the ship, but its loss could prove a significant setback in Russian forces’ efforts in Ukraine’s south and east, where a fierce battle for Mariupol is ongoing.
Mark Meadows removed from voter rolls by North Carolina State Board of Elections
Former President Trump’s White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has been removed from North Carolina’s voter rolls by the State Board of Elections “after documentation indicated he lived in Virginia” and voted in Virginia last year, WRAL first reported.
The Board of Elections notes that if North Carolina residents move to the metro Washington, D.C., area to work for the government, they aren’t considered to have lost their residence — unless they also cast a vote there.
Frank James, suspect in Brooklyn subway shooting, arrested in New York
The suspect in Tuesday’s violent rampage in New York City’s subway system was arrested Wednesday, authorities announced. Police had been looking for Frank James, 62, since tying a U-Haul van they say he rented to Tuesday’s subway shooting.
Ten people were shot and wounded in the attack, and over a dozen more suffered other injuries. James is facing a federal terrorism charge and a possible punishment of life in prison, authorities said. Police are still investigating the motive behind the attack that happened during Tuesday morning’s rush hour.
Tens of thousands feared dead in Mariupol as Russia renews assault in eastern Ukraine
Tens of thousands of civilians could be dead in Mariupol, the city’s mayor said, as analysts warn that Russia is regrouping for a renewed assault on eastern Ukraine.
The streets in Mariupol are “carpeted” with bodies, Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of Mariupol, said Monday.
While there is no confirmed number of casualties, the mayor suggested the number of dead could be well over 10,000 in the coastal town, the site of some of the worst bombardment since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.
Trump ‘authorized’ assault on Capitol, Jan. 6 defendant argues at trial
An attorney for a man who took a coat rack and a bottle of liquor during the U.S. Capitol attack argued to a jury Tuesday that former President Donald Trump “authorized” the assault on the building on Jan. 6, 2021, by convincing “vulnerable” people like his client that the election had been stolen.
Dustin Thompson, 38, of Ohio, is the third Jan. 6 defendant to face a trial by jury after the convictions of Guy Reffitt and former police officer Thomas Robertson. Thompson faces six charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding and theft of government property. His co-defendant, Robert Lyon, pleaded guilty last month, admitting that he and Thompson traveled to Washington together and saying stole the coat rack and fled from police when they were confronted on the grounds of the Capitol.
Biden says Russia is committing ‘genocide’ in Ukraine
President Joe Biden on Tuesday said the atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine amounted to “genocide,” marking the first time he has leveled the accusation against President Vladimir Putin.
“More evidence is coming out about literally the horrible things that the Russians have done in Ukraine,” Biden told reporters during a trip to Iowa. “And we’re going to only learn more and more about the devastation. We’ll let the lawyers decide, internationally, whether or not it qualifies [as genocide] but it sure seems that way to me.”
‘Person of interest’ named in NYC subway shooting that wounded 10, injured 13
New York City police named a “person of interest” in the shooting Tuesday morning aboard a subway train in Brooklyn.
Ten people were shot and 13 others were injured after a man wearing a gas mask threw two smoke canisters and then opened fire aboard a subway car on the N train as it approached the 36th Street Station in Brooklyn during the morning rush hour, authorities said.
New York Police Chief of Detectives James W. Essig said at a news conference Tuesday night that Frank R. James, 62, rented a U-Haul van, the keys of which were found at the scene of the shooting in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood.
Fears for Mariupol as fighting set to escalate in the east of Ukraine
With fighting in eastern Ukraine expected to intensify, the fate of Mariupol is once again in the spotlight.
Ukrainian forces have held out for weeks in the besieged port city, but fears are growing for the civilians trapped without basic supplies as Russian troops appear poised to mount a major new offensive. The strategic city’s beleaguered defenders have raised the prospect that Russian forces had used chemical weapons, an escalation the West has long feared but which remains unconfirmed.
White House says it expects inflation to be ‘extraordinarily elevated’ in new report
The Biden administration is bracing for Tuesday’s key consumer inflation report to show that the prices Americans pay soared in March, as Russia’s assault on Ukraine caused energy prices to jump.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that the Labor Department’s previous report — which showed prices rising at a dramatic ratein February — failed to include the majority of the jump in oil and gas costs caused by the Kremlin’s unprovoked invasion.
“We expect March CPI headline inflation to be extraordinarily elevated due to Putin’s price hike,” Psaki told reporters.
Biden looks to boost ethanol to lower gas prices
The Biden administration said Tuesday it plans to help boost the production and sale of ethanol-blended gasoline to alleviate pain at the pump as inflation skyrockets.
President Joe Biden will announce that the Environmental Protection Agency expects to issue an emergency waiver that would suspend a summer ban on the use of a specific blended fuel, senior administration officials told reporters on a call.
Biden will make the announcement during a visit to a bioprocessing plant in Menlo, Iowa, a state that produces a significant part of the country’s ethanol.
Philadelphia Restores Indoor Mask Mandate Amid New Wave Of COVID-19 Cases
Philadelphia is restoring its indoor mask mandate as the number of COVID-19 cases rise across the region.
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health announced the reinstatement of the mandate on Monday, giving residents and businesses a “one-week educational period” to prepare for the change.
COVID-19 rates are rising in Philadelphia, with an average of 142 cases per day within the last two weeks and a 4.5% increase in positive COVID tests, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.
Charlie Pierce: Don Junior Was Claiming the ‘Moral High Ground’ in His Overturn-the-Election Texts
They were all crooks and they were crooks for the working day. From CNN:
In the text, which has not been previously reported, Donald Trump Jr. lays out ideas for keeping his father in power by subverting the Electoral College process, according to the message reviewed by CNN. The text is among records obtained by the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021. “It’s very simple,” Trump Jr. texted to Meadows on November 5, adding later in the same missive: “We have multiple paths We control them all.”
And Sluggo’s mouthpiece is trying out some new material.
Aaron Rupar: RIP Eric Boehlert. His voice will be missed.
I had something else written and ready to go for today’s newsletter, but in a strange twist of fate, it drew significantly from what would turn out to be Eric Boehlert’s last piece. So it feels appropriate to instead write a few words about why I think his voice will be sorely missed, especially at this time.
If you haven’t heard, Boehlert passed suddenly late Monday at age 57. The terrible news was announced Wednesday afternoon on Twitter by Soledad O’Brien, who said he died in a bike accident. While details remain scant, reports later emerged
Russia appoints general with cruel history to oversee Ukraine offensive
Russia’s reported appointment of Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, a man with a history of targeting civilians, to take over operations in Ukraine marks what some military analysts see as an indication that Russia intends to terrorize civilians as the war progresses.
Dvornikov, who most recently oversaw Russian troops in Syria, was chosen as the new ground commander in Ukraine, a U.S. official and a Western official confirmed.
72 people at high-profile D.C. dinner test positive for Covid
Seventy-two people have tested positive for Covid-19 after having attended the Gridiron Dinner in Washington last weekend, including members of the Biden administration and reporters.
Gridiron Club President Tom DeFrank said Sunday that the group had reported 72 cases out of the hundreds of people who attended. New York Mayor Eric Adams, who was also at the dinner, tested positive Sunday. It was the first Gridiron Dinner since 2019, before the pandemic, and guests were required to show proof of vaccination, DeFrank said.
Biden scheduled to unveil new steps on gun violence
Amid growing concern about gun violence and untraceable “ghost guns” that can be 3D-printed at home, President Joe Biden was scheduled Monday to introduce new policy measures on firearms.
Biden’s announcement will most likely rely on executive orders on gun control, ghost guns and other facets of firearms regulation as part of an approach to rein in the pandemic wave of firearms-related attacks, two people with knowledge of his remarks said.
Jan. 6 panel has enough evidence to refer Trump for criminal charges, Cheney says
The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has enough evidence to refer President Donald Trump for criminal charges, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Sunday.
“It’s absolutely clear that what President Trump was doing — what a number of people around him were doing — that they knew it was unlawful. They did it anyway,” Cheney, the vice chair and one of two Republicans on the committee, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” when host Jake Tapper asked her whether the panel had enough evidence to make a criminal referral for Trump. Cheney said the panel has not made a decision about moving forward with the referral.
The Rude Pundit: Democrats Should Go on the Offensive By Celebrating Accomplishments
A couple of things really stick in my craw from the last couple of years, and those are that we’ve been denied celebrating as a nation some pretty remarkable accomplishments. And while that denial is led by Republicans, quick to stomp any hints of optimism or hope like they’re cockroaches, Democrats should have and still can embrace amazing things and turn it into a story that the nation is not failing. Rather the opposite. It offers a counter-narrative to Republican gloom, doom, and pedophilia. It massages the part of the lizard brain that is often used to getting dopamine hits of hate and rage.
I mean, everything’s not even in the neighborhood of perfect, but, c’mon, look at this:
Russian forces need ‘at least a week’ before redeploying, UK says
Russian forces in northern Ukraine have now fully withdrawn to neighboring Belarus and Russia, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Friday in an intelligence update.
“At least some of these forces will be transferred to East Ukraine to fight in the Donbas,” the ministry added. “Many of these forces will require significant replenishment before being ready to deploy further east with any mass redeployment from the north likely to take at least a week minimum.”
New wave of Covid cases hits U.S. officials, rattles Washington
A fresh wave of Covid-19 cases swept through the nation’s capital this week, striking officials at the highest levels of government and disrupting business just as President Joe Biden and other political leaders are urging a return to normalcy.
“Well, I think the tendency is that Covid-19 is totally behind us, but it isn’t,” said a maskless Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., who represents the San Francisco Bay Area with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who tested positive Thursday.
Ketanji Brown Jackson Makes History As First Black Woman On Supreme Court
The Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court on Thursday, making her the first-ever Black woman and former public defender to serve on the nation’s highest court.
Jackson, 51, was confirmed in a 53-47 vote. Every Democrat voted for her, along with three Republicans: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine) and Mitt Romney (Utah). When the vote was over, the Senate chamber erupted with cheers and applause from the balcony.
Jackson’s confirmation seals a promise by President Joe Biden, who vowed as a candidate to pick a Black woman for the Supreme Court.
Congress Votes Overwhelmingly To Suspend Russia’s Trade Status And Ban Oil
Congress voted overwhelmingly Thursday to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and ban the importation of its oil, ratcheting up the U.S. response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine amid reports of atrocities.
House action came after the Senate approved the two bills with 100-0 votes. The measures now go to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
Lawmakers overwhelmingly support the substance of the two bills, but they had languished for weeks in the Senate as lawmakers worked to hammer out the final details.
Senate poised to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court
The Democratic-controlled Senate is poised to make history on Thursday by confirming Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
She is all but guaranteed to win confirmation, with 53 senators having indicated their support in a procedural vote this week. The total included all 50 Democratic-voting senators, along with Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah.
U.S. And Allies Ramp Up Sanctions On Russia Over Bucha Atrocities
The Biden administration on Wednesday announced new sanctions on Russia, including on dictator Vladimir Putin’s adult daughters, following new evidence of war crimes by Russian soldiers in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The sickening brutality in Bucha has made tragically clear the despicable nature of the Putin regime,” a senior administration official said Wednesday morning on condition of anonymity. “Today, in alignment with [wealthy Group of Seven] allies and partners, we’re intensifying the most severe sanctions ever levied on a major economy.”
House Refers 2 More Top Trump Aides For Criminal Contempt Of Congress Charges
Two more top aides to former President Donald Trump could face as much as a year in jail after the House referred them to the Justice Department on Wednesday for refusing to honor subpoenas from the Jan. 6 committee.
The chamber voted on a near party-line vote, 220-203, that trade adviser Peter Navarro and social media director Dan Scavino should be prosecuted for their refusal to turn over requested documents and testify about their roles in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Eric Boehlert Dies: Media Critic For Media Matters & Salon, Founder Of Press Run Newsletter Killed In Bike Accident At 57
Eric Boehlert, a media critic devoted to calling out right-wing misinformation through his writing at Media Matters for America, Salon, Daily Kos and most recently as the founder of the Press Run website, died Monday in a bike accident. He was 57.
His death was announced on Twitter today by journalist and friend Soledad O’Brien, who called Boehlert “a fierce and fearless defender of the truth.” Boehlert was struck by a train while biking in Montclair, New Jersey; Montclair police reported yesterday that a man riding a bicycle was struck and killed by a New Jersey Transit train in Montclair on Monday evening.
Secretary of Defense Throws Down With Matt Gaetz Over ‘Wokeism’ in Military: I’m Sorry ‘You’re Embarrassed By Your Country’
Sparks were flying between Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at Tuesday’s House Armed Services hearing where the Florida Republican accused Austin of overseeing a military force that is being overrun by “wokeism.”
Gaetz kicked off his time at the hearing by asking Austin about a speaker invited to the National Defense University named Thomas Piketty. The event was called “Responding to China: The Case for Global Justice and Democratic Socialism” and was held last month. Gaetz claimed the talk promoted “socialism as a strategy to combat China.”
NATO ministers to meet; U.S. and E.U. to toughen sanctions
NATO foreign ministers will gather in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss support for Ukraine after the discovery of slain civilians in Kyiv’s suburbs spurred Western promises to punish the Kremlin.
Ukrainian leaders say the grim killings in Bucha are not the exception. The withdrawal of Russian forces in other parts of the country has revealed looted homes, torture and shootings of civilians, they said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded that world powers do more, despite internal divisions in NATO over the extent to which Russia poses a direct threat to the alliance.
Zelenskyy: Russians Committing ‘Most Terrible War Crimes’ In Ukraine Since World War II
Addressing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council remotely on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the alleged atrocities uncovered in recent days as Russian troops moved out of areas in northern Ukraine.
“The most terrible war crimes we’ve seen since the end of World War II are being committed,” Zelenskyy told the council assembled in New York City, later arguing that “Russia wants to turn Ukraine into silent slaves.”
Ivanka Trump Testifies Before Jan. 6 House Select Committee
Ivanka Trump, former President Donald Trump’s daughter and one of those closest to him during the insurrection at the Capitol, is testifying before the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee’s chairman, said Tuesday afternoon that she had been answering investigators’ questions on a video teleconference since the morning and was not “chatty” but had been helpful to the probe.
“She came in on her own” and did not have to be subpoenaed, Thompson said.
The Rude Pundit: The Only Thing Disney Is Grooming Your Kids for Is to Buy More Disney Shit
Of all the weird shit I’ve seen from the nutzoid Christian right (which, to be fair, is really just “the right”), the attacks on the Walt Disney Company over their criticism of Florida’s “Fuck You for Being Gay or Trans” bill and the state’s slimy, squamous governor, Ron DeSantis, as well as its declarations that its going to be friendlier to LGBTQ kids and adults in its parks and media, is some of the weirdest. I mean, it’s conservatives have bitched about pop culture for a long time, but this is just fucking weird.
It’s not like Disney World is gonna feature “Baloo’s Buggering Boat” ride or “Ariel’s Muff-Diving Adventure” or “Goofy’s Groomin’ Gang” show. What Disney did was say that they would work to repeal the cruel law after they were criticized for not speaking out before its passage. It’s essentially what every single corporation does all the time with legislation. Oil companies try to overturn laws that want to do some small thing about climate change, which, you know, is way, way more important than whether or not a teacher tells his 1st graders about happy gay penguins.
Gap in Trump call logs on Jan. 6 ‘suspiciously tailored,’ Raskin says
The gap in phone logs in the official White House records on Jan. 6, 2021, is of “intense interest” to the House select committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Jamie B. Raskin said Sunday.
In an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” Raskin (D-Md.) noted that a 7½-hour gap in the phone logs for President Donald Trump’s communications that day covers the period when the Capitol assault was taking place.
Zelenskyy makes appearance from Ukraine at Grammys
During music’s biggest night, John Legend and the Recording Academy took time to honor victims of the current war in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to crowd in a pre-recorded message from Ukraine, where he told the crowd the importance of music and ongoing support for Ukraine.
“The war doesn’t let us choose who survives and who stays in eternal silence,” Zelenskyy said in the pre-taped message “Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos. They sing to the wounded in hospitals. Even to those who can’t hear them. But the music will break through anyway.”
California Governor Decries ‘Scourge’ Of Gun Violence After 6 Killed in Sacramento
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) described a deadly mass shooting in Sacramento as a “horrendous act of gun violence” in a statement issued hours after six people were killed and 12 injured in a downtown entertainment district Sunday.
The massacre, which took place in the early hours of the morning, occurred in a section of the city filled with bars and restaurants, Sacramento news station KXTV reported. By Sunday evening, only one victim had been named by a relative, but no official identifications had been made.
Newsom said his administration will “continue to work closely with local and state law enforcement as we monitor the situation.”
Images of dead civilians in Ukraine shake the world
“This is genocide.”
That’s how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the shocking images of at least 20 civilian men’s bodies strewn across the street in Bucha, northwest of the capital of Kyiv, following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the area.
Biden says Putin appears to be “self-isolated”
President Biden said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be “self-isolated” and “there appears to be some indication he has fired or put under house arrest some of his advisers” amid the war in Ukraine. But, Mr. Biden added, “I don’t want to put too much stock in that at this time because we don’t have that much hard evidence.”
A U.S. official said Wednesday that U.S. intelligence officials had determined that Putin was being misinformed by his advisers about the poor performance of Kremlin troops in Ukraine. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Wednesday that recently declassified intelligence indicated that Putin is aware of the situation on information coming to him, and there is now persistent tension between him and senior Russian military officials.
House Passes Bill to Limit Cost of Insulin to $35 a Month
A bill to limit the cost of insulin to $35 a month for most Americans who depend on it passed the House on Thursday, raising Democrats’ hopes that the party could take at least one step toward fulfilling its promise of lowering drug costs.
The bill attracted unanimous support from Democrats who voted, as well as from 12 Republicans, making it a rare piece of bipartisan policy legislation.
Senators close in on $10 billion COVID relief deal
Top Senate negotiators have said they are close to striking a deal to approve $10 billion in additional COVID relief funding with just a handful of days remaining before Congress heads off for a two-week recess.
The Senate is expected to consider the legislation as soon as next week.
The renewed effort to pass additional funding to address the coronavirus pandemic comes after negotiators were forced to strip $15.6 billion in aid from a government spending package earlier in March over disagreements about how the bill would be paid for.
Biden to release 1M barrels of oil a day from reserves in ‘wartime bridge’
President Joe Biden said he will release roughly 1 million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for about six months in an effort to drive down record oil prices in what he called a “wartime bridge.”
The move could free up as much as 180 million barrels of oil, the largest release of U.S. reserves in history, with the first barrels coming on the market in May. The U.S. consumes more than 7 billion barrels of oil a year.
New Attacks Hit Northern Ukraine, Where Russia Had Vowed to Ease Its Assault
A day after peace talks yielded hope for an easing of Russia’s assault on Ukraine, local officials reported new attacks on Wednesday on the outskirts of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, two areas where Russia had vowed to sharply reduce combat operations.
The continuing attacks signaled that Moscow was in no hurry to end its war, now five weeks old, despite claims that it would de-escalate its operations after hours of talks on Tuesday with Ukrainian representatives in Istanbul.
Biden signs bill named after Emmett Till making lynching a hate crime
President Joe Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act on Tuesday, making lynching a federal hate crimeafter more than a century of failed efforts in Congress to pass similar legislation.
The bill is named after Till, a 14-year-old Black teenager from Chicago who was abducted, tortured and shot in the head in 1955 after a white woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, said he whistled at her and touched her in a Mississippi store.
Trump asks Putin to release any info about Hunter Biden
Amid widespread criticism of his praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin, former President Donald Trump publicly called on Putin on Tuesday to release any dirt he might have on Hunter Biden, the president’s son.
Trump, in an interview with Just the News, seized on an unsubstantiated claim about Biden’s obtaining a hefty payment from Elena Baturina, the former wife of the late former mayor of Moscow, and asked Putin to provide details.
“She gave him $3.5 million, so now I would think Putin would know the answer to that. I think he should release it,” Trump said. “I think we should know that answer.”
Trump probably broke the law in an effort to obstruct Jan. 6 proceedings, judge says
A federal judge presiding over a civil suit involving the House committee investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol found Monday that then-President Donald Trump “likely attempted to obstruct the joint session of Congress” on Jan. 6, 2021, which would be a crime.
“The illegality of the plan was obvious,” U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote of Trump and lawyer John Eastman’s plan to have then-Vice President Mike Pence determine the results of the 2020 election.
Jan. 6 Committee Refers Criminal Contempt Charges For 2 More Trump Aides To House
The House of Representatives’ Jan. 6 committee on Monday recommended that the chamber refer criminal contempt charges for two more aides to former President Donald Trump to the Department of Justice for prosecution.
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of two Republicans on the committee, said Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino played key roles in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and needed to provide information to the committee. “We have learned that President Trump and his team were warned, in advance and repeatedly, that the efforts they undertook to overturn the 2020 election would violate the law and our Constitution,” she said. “They were warned that Jan. 6 could and likely would turn violent.”
Joe Biden: ‘No Apologies’ For Saying Putin ‘Cannot Remain In Power’
President Joe Biden on Monday stood by his belief that Vladimir Putinshould not be president of Russia, telling reporters that he made “no apologies” for his unscripted remarks.
“I’m not walking anything back,” the president said..
“I was expressing moral outrage, and I make no apologies,” he added.
Will Smith Apologizes Publicly To Chris Rock For Oscars Slap: ‘I Was Out Of Line’
Actor Will Smith apologized Monday to Chris Rock and everyone who witnessed his assault of the comedian at the Oscars on Sunday night.
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally,” he wrote in an Instagram statement
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
Virginia Thomas urged White House chief to pursue unrelenting efforts to overturn the 2020 election, texts show
The messages — 29 in all — reveal an extraordinary pipeline between Virginia Thomas, who goes by Ginni, and President Donald Trump’s top aide during a period when Trump and his allies were vowing to go to the Supreme Court in an effort to negate the election results.
Biden Meets With NATO, G7 and E.U. as War Enters Second Month
President Biden arrived at NATO Headquarters on Thursday to begin a day of back-to-back summits in an effort to keep America’s allies united against Russia’s war in Ukraine. The president smiled as he was greeted by Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO. But he faces steep challenges as the allies seek new measures to punish President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for the war.
Madeleine Albright, First Woman to Serve as Secretary of State, Dies at 84
Madeleine K. Albright, a child of Czech refugees who fled from Nazi invaders and Communist oppressors and then landed in the United States, where she flourished as a diplomat and the first woman to serve as secretary of state, died on Wednesday in Washington. She was 84.
The cause was cancer, her daughter Anne said.
Enveloped by a veil of family secrets hidden from her for most of her life, Ms. Albright rose to power and fame as a brilliant analyst of world affairs and a White House counselor on national security. Under President Bill Clinton, she became the country’s representative to the United Nations (1993-97) and secretary of state (1997-2001), making her the highest-ranking woman in the history of American government at the time.
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Ketanji Brown Jackson Weathers a Final Bruising Day of Questions
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson emerged on Wednesday from two grueling days of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee having weathered escalating Republican attacks on her record but leaving Democrats confident that she would become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.
Questioning of President Biden’s nominee by Republicans grew increasingly hostile as they stepped up their criticism of what they portrayed as a pattern of leniency in her sentencing of child sex abusers and tried to paint her as a liberal on issues of race, gender, guns and abortion rights.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki tests positive for Covid
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she tested positive for Covid on Tuesday and will not accompany the president on his coming trip to Europe.
Psaki disclosed her infection in a series of tweets, saying she had two socially distanced meetings with President Joe Biden and adding that “he is not considered a close contact as defined by CDC guidance.”
Biden tested negative by PCR test Tuesday, Psaki added.
Biden Plans Sanctions on Russian Lawmakers as He Heads to Europe
President Biden will announce sanctions this week on hundreds of members of Russia’s lower house of Parliament, according to a White House official familiar with the announcement, as the United States and its allies reach for even stronger measures to punish President Vladimir V. Putin for his monthlong invasion of Ukraine.
The announcement is scheduled to be made during a series of global summits in Europe on Thursday, when Mr. Biden will press Western leaders for even more aggressive economic actions against Russia as its forces continue to rain destruction on cities in Ukraine.
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What to Watch For on Day 3 of Jackson’s Confirmation Hearing
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is headed into a final round of questioning in her Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Wednesday after a relatively straightforward two days before the Senate Judiciary Committee that offered few surprises.
When the hearing begins at 9 a.m., the last two of the committee’s 22 senators will conduct their initial 30-minute rounds of questioning before each senator will then have a follow-up 20-minute questioning period.
But as senators prepare for their final opportunity to formally interview Judge Jackson, there appeared to be little ground left to tread in scrutinizing her background after a hearing that stretched across 13 hours on Tuesday.
Zelenskyy says trapped Ukrainians will ‘fight till the end,’ Pentagon says Russians have been ‘flummoxed’
Ukraine has rejected an ultimatum to surrender its besieged port city of Mariupol to Russian forces. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Eurovision News that ultimatums won’t work as trapped Ukrainians will “fight till the end.”
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said Ukrainian forces — including civilians — have put up a strong resistance against Russian forces, and the Kremlin is struggling to achieve its goals in Ukraine. “I think what we’re seeing here is the Russians have been flummoxed, they’ve been frustrated,” said Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby.
Russia may target U.S. businesses with cyberattacks, Biden warns
President Joe Biden urged U.S. businesses Monday to take added precautions amid “evolving” intelligence that Russia could target American companies with cyberattacks.
“The magnitude of Russia’s cyber capacity is fairly consequential, and it’s coming. The federal government is doing its part to get ready,” Biden said while speaking to the Business Roundtable CEO quarterly meeting in Washington.
He called on companies to invest “as much as you can” in beefing up technological capacity to guard against potential attacks.
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Ketanji Brown Jackson faces 4th Senate grilling as Republicans preview attacks
For Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, the easiest part of a Senate confirmation hearing is over. Next come the questions — 19 hours of them over two days.
Jackson, 51, was sworn in Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivering an opening statement and reintroducing herself to the nation.
“I hope that you will see how much I love our country, and the Constitution and the rights that make us free,” she told the senators who will vote on her historic nomination.
Charlie Pierce: The Senatorial Speeches at the Beginning of Supreme Court Nomination Hearings Should Be Sh*tcanned
‘If I were king of the forest, I would pass a rule for the Senate by which every opening statement by any senator in a confirmation hearing would be sent in writing to the committee chairman and entered into the record as written. That way, the first day of the hearings would consist of the nominee’s opening statement and then everybody could go home for the day. I came to this conclusion while watching the beginning session of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing into the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. Herewith, my evaluation of the pros and cons of such a change.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas hospitalized with flu-like symptoms
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been hospitalized with flu-like symptoms, the court said in a statement Sunday.
Thomas, 73, was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, part of the Johns Hopkins Health System, on Friday night, court officials said.
Tests showed he had an infection, and he has been receiving intravenous antibiotics, according to the court’s statement.
Senate to begin historic Supreme Court hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson
Senate hearings are set to take place this week in a historic confirmation battle over the first Black woman ever nominated to serve on the Supreme Court.
President Joe Biden’s pick, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, goes before the Democratic-led Judiciary Committee on Monday for a high-stakes showdown to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer and win a lifetime appointment to the country’s highest court.
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Ukraine rejects Kremlin’s call to surrender Mariupol amid intense street fighting
“Ukrainian armed units and foreign mercenaries will be able to leave the city without weapons and munitions along a route agreed with Ukraine from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Moscow time,” said the chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, Mikhail Mizintsev, according to Moscow’s official news agency, Tass.
Eric Boehlert: The media’s reckless “no-fly zone” coverage
On the eve of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to Congress on Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked no fewer than six times at the daily press briefing if the Biden administration would grant Zelensky’s military request of creating a “no-fly zone” over the bombarded country.
Ever since Russia invaded, the administration has made clear there’s no chance that the U.S. or NATO is going to create a no-fly zone, because that would mean direct warfare with a nuclear power inside Russia.
“First thing that we would do in order to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine would be to send the U.S. military to attack military units inside Russia–the anti-aircraft batteries that are there, the anti-aircraft artillery,” Democratic Congressman Jim Himes recently explained. “United States Air Force planes would be killing thousands of Russian military members inside Russia.”
Read the rest of Eric Boehlert’s piece at and subscribe to PressRun Media
The Rude Pundit: Everything Is There for Democrats to Wreck Republicans in the Midterms and Beyond
As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, Rick Scott, GOP Senator from Florida and the last thing you see before you’re dropped into Dip, put out a pamphlet of conservative fantasies that was essentially spanking material for Federalist interns. In it, he proposed that “All federal legislation sunsets in 5 years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.” Now, you might read that and think, “So…no one can plan anything for more than five years out because shit might just get shoved back up Congress’s ass and we all have to deal with it?” You might also think about laws that needed to be renewed that weren’t or were delayed, like the assault weapons ban or the just-reauthorized (after a dickish delay) Violence Against Women Act.
Moderna asks FDA to authorize second booster for adults
Drugmaker Moderna asked the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday to authorize a fourth shot of its Covid-19vaccine as a booster dose for all adults.
The request is broader than rival pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s request earlier this week for the regulator to approve a booster shot for all seniors.
Russian attacks hit near Lviv in western Ukraine
Ukrainian cities remained under siege Friday as Russian attackscontinued for the fourth week, pushing farther west in Ukraine. Local officials said that several missiles destroyed buildings at an aircraft repair facility near the airport in Lviv, which is about around 40 miles from the border with Poland.
President Joe Biden is expected to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday morning amid ongoing efforts to distance China from Russia. U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed concern that China could come to the aid of Russia, which is increasingly isolated from global markets amid harsh sanctions from the West.
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US sets the stage for contentious Biden call with China’s Xi today
Blunt US rhetoric heading into President Joe Biden’s call with Chinese President Xi Jinping suggests that a meeting of the minds on Russia’s brutality in Ukraine is unlikely, and reflects the current bitter tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Biden and Xi are due to speak at 9 a.m. ET Friday, with the US setting the stage for a stern warning that Chinese firms would pay a serious price if the Beijing government heeds Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pleas for military and economic aid. The call will find the US surmounting one of its deepest-set foreign policy fears — risking an open clash with China while simultaneously facing down Russia — in another extraordinary geopolitical shuffle triggered by the Ukraine war. It also puts Biden in the odd position of seeking the tacit cooperation of the nation seen as America’s most powerful rising foe to suppress its historic Cold War rival of the second half of the 20th century.
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Irish leader tests positive for COVID during visit to DC
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin learned he had tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday evening while attending an event with U.S. leaders, including President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to a senior administration official.
Martin — also referred to as Ireland’s taoiseach — was attending the Ireland Funds 30th National Gala at the National Building Museum in Washington when he tested positive, ahead of planned St. Patrick’s Day celebrations Thursday with U.S. leaders.
Russia bombs theater where hundreds sought shelter and ‘children’ was written on grounds
A theater where hundreds of people had taken shelter in Mariupol was bombed on Wednesday, according to local authorities, as hundreds of thousands of people remain trapped in the coastal Ukrainian city that has been encircled for weeks by Russian forces.
Mariupol City Council, who shared an image of the destroyed building, said Russian forces had “purposefully and cynically destroyed the Drama Theater in the heart of Mariupol.”
“The plane dropped a bomb on a building where hundreds of peaceful Mariupol residents were hiding,” it said.
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Biden calls Putin a ‘war criminal,’ commits to new military aid to Ukraine
President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced an additional $800 million in military support for Ukraine after its president pleaded with Congress to do more to help it defend itself against the military onslaught from Russia.
Speaking at the White House, Biden said the new aid package would drastically increase the amount of military support going to Ukraine to include 800 anti-aircraft systems, 9,000 anti-armor systems, 7,000 small arms like shotguns and grenade launchers, as well as drones and other military equipment.
Senate votes to make daylight saving time permanent
The Senate approved legislation Tuesday that would make daylight saving time permanent in the U.S. starting next year.
The bill, called The Sunshine Protection Act, was passed by unanimous consent, meaning no senators opposed it. If it is enacted, Americans would no longer need to change their clocks twice a year.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff tests positive for Covid
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff tested positive for Covid on Tuesday, prompting Vice President Kamala Harris to skip an evening event “out of an abundance of caution,” her office said.
Harris tested negative Tuesday, her office said.
“Earlier today, the Second Gentleman tested positive for COVID-19,” Sabrina Singh, Harris’ deputy press secretary, said in a statement. “Out of an abundance of caution, the Vice President will not participate in tonight’s event. The Vice President tested negative for COVID-19 today and will continue to test.”
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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to plead for more US help in virtual address to Congress
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to deliver a historic, virtual address to Congress on Wednesday to plead with the U.S. to do more to help stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Although it’s unclear whether Zelenskyy will pressure President Joe Biden by name to have NATO impose a no-fly zone, Biden will be watching Zelenskyy’s address at 9 a.m., White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, and will also give an address of his own afterward, detailing what the U.S. is doing for “Ukrainian security assistance.”
Employee bursts onto live Russian state TV to denounce war: ‘They are lying to you here’
A woman burst onto the set of Russian state TV’s flagship evening news program Monday, chanting “stop the war” and denouncing government “propaganda” — a striking moment of public protest as the Kremlin cracks down on any criticism of its invasion in Ukraine.
OVD-Info, a human rights group that tracks protest activity and detentions in Russia, identified the woman as Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor and producer with the broadcaster, and said she has been detained. Before storming the set of Channel One, Ovsyannikova recorded a video message in which she said, “What is going on in Ukraine is a crime.”
COVID spike in Europe could signal increase in U.S.
Coronavirus cases are once again surging in several European countries, potentially signaling that the U.S. will soon experience another spike as well.
Between the lines: Several factors are likely at play, including relaxed mitigation measures, the spread of the B.A.2 variant and waning vaccine protection, tweeted Scripps Research’s Eric Topol.
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Latest talks went ‘pretty good,’ will continue tomorrow, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy updated the status of negotiations with Russia in his latest address Monday, saying the latest talks went “pretty good” and will continue tomorrow.
Zelenskyy also addressed Russian troops, telling them they would be treated “decently” should they surrender.
“On behalf of the Ukrainian people, I give you a chance — chance to survive,” Zelenskyy said. “You surrender to our forces, we will treat you the way people are supposed to be treated. As people, decently.”
Charlie Pierce: Now Trump Wants to Ruin the Legacy of ‘The Dude’
El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago, the leader of the Republican Party and its presumptive presidential nominee, held another wankfest over the weekend, this one in South Carolina, the home office of American sedition. It was the usual bag of rhetorical horrors, albeit cut a bit short because the weather was lousy. However, he rang a change that was frankly quite ominous.
Pentagon’s John Kirby says latest airstrike indicates Russian forces are ‘broadening their target sets’
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Russian forces are “broadening their target sets” after rockets hit a Ukrainian military base near the Polish border overnight.
“Look, this is the third now military facility or airfield that the Russians had struck in western Ukraine in just the last couple of days,” Kirby told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz, on Sunday. “So, clearly, at least from an airstrike perspective, they’re broadening their target sets.”
Russia and Ukraine Set to Meet After Brutal Weekend of Fighting
The two sides expressed cautious optimism ahead of talks on Monday. Russia expanded its range of attacks, killing 35 at a base near Poland’s border. Moscow asked China for aid for the war, U.S. officials said.
Barack Obama says he tested positive for COVID-19
Former President Barack Obama said Sunday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is “feeling fine” other than a scratchy throat.
Both the 60-year-old Obama and his wife Michelle Obama are fully vaccinated and boosted, the former president said. Michelle Obama has tested negative.
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MSNBC’s Glenn Kirschner Says on “Stephanie Miller”: ‘We Have Enough Evidence’: Time for DoJ ‘To Step Up’ And Prosecute Trump Criminally
Former federal prosecutor and current MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner told SiriusXM host Stephanie Miller that the other branches have taken the lead for too long and it’s “time for the Department of Justice to step up” and prosecute former President Donald Trump.
On Thursday’s episode of The Stephanie Miller Show, the popular liberal host connected the current situation in Ukraine with the events that led to both of Trump’s impeachments, and asked Kirschner if he thinks the former president will ever be held accountable.
Glenn Kirschner: ‘We Have Enough Evidence’: Time for DoJ ‘To Step Up’ And Prosecute Trump Criminally
Former federal prosecutor and current MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner told SiriusXM host Stephanie Miller that the other branches have taken the lead for too long and it’s “time for the Department of Justice to step up” and prosecute former President Donald Trump.
On Thursday’s episode of The Stephanie Miller Show, the popular liberal host connected the current situation in Ukraine with the events that led to both of Trump’s impeachments, and asked Kirschner if he thinks the former president will ever be held accountable.
Eric Boehlert: Murdoch hounded by lawsuits that could cost Fox News billions
Rupert Murdoch for years has enjoyed a Trump-like ability to avoid responsibility for the avalanche of lies he promotes. That all may be changing thanks to a pair of billion-dollar defamation lawsuits surrounding Trump’s Big Lie campaign — Murdoch appears powerless to stop the looming legal reckoning.
This week, Justice David Cohen of State Supreme Court in Manhattan issued a stinging rebuke of Fox News. Denying the network’s attempt to dismiss a $2.7 billion lawsuit filed by Smartmatic, the election technology company that Fox smeared as part of Trump’s Big Lie offensive following the 2020 campaign, Cohen waved off Murdoch’s attorneys.
Read the rest of Eric Boehlert’s piece at and subscribe to PressRun Media
The Rude Pundit: Democrats Need to Embrace Abortion Rights Because Republicans Want to Kill Women
If there’s one thing that you can count on, it’s that crazy-ass GOP motherfuckers who are elected to GOP-majority state legislatures will propose crazy-ass motherfucking legislation that sounds like something conjured by a sweaty Heritage Foundation intern who’s trying to impress the boss. You can count on a bunch of people getting upset about the crazy-ass legislation and you can count on it not passing or even making it out of committee because there are enough semi-rational Republicans to tell them to fuck all the way off with that distraction.
