Russia summoned the US ambassador in Moscow to warn that diplomatic relations with the US are “on the verge of rupture” after President Biden called Putin a war criminal.
Hours later, the White House issued a new warning about potential cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure in the US. Watch here.
In a statement, President Biden urged businesses to “harden your cyber defenses immediately.”
Don’t know how to do that? Check out this explainer from the White House.
Report: Russia forcibly deporting Ukrainians to Russia?
The Mariupol City Council says that thousands of residents of the southern Ukrainian city have been deported to Russia against their will.
Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner says they’re taken to "filtration camps" where their documents are seized, then forced to sign papers agreeing to two years of work in Russia.
The US ambassador to the UN calls it unconscionable, but says the reports have not been independently verified.
President Biden, speaking to The Business Roundtable, confirmed Russia has used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine. He warned: “Whenever [Putin] starts talking about something he thinks NATO, Ukraine, or the United States is about to do, it means he's getting ready to do it. Not a joke.”
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says he’s ready to negotiate with Putin, but warns of a “third world war” if those talks fail.
The UN refugee agency says 10 million Ukrainians have been displaced from their homes.
Brutal attacks continue:
President Zelenskyy said the city of Mariupol is being “reduced to ashes." He refused Russian demands that Maruipol surrender.
Russia has launched its biggest strike inside the country’s capital, leveling a mall in Kyiv.
NATO says the war is entering a stalemate with neither side able to dominate.
96-year-old Holocaust survivor Boris Romantschenko was killed by Russian shelling of his apartment building in Kharkiv.
And there are attacks on information, too: A Russian court banned Facebook and Instagram for what it called “extremist activities,” but Meta-owned WhatsApp is allowed to stay (for now, at least).
President Biden is preparing for his trip to Europe later this week, an effort to unite the alliance around a way forward.
In Brussels, he will be meeting with NATO leaders and the European Council. They hope to collectively unveil new sanctions and punitive measures against Russia.
Biden will then head to Poland – which is precariously close to the fighting. Ukraine’s neighbor has taken in more than 2 million refugees since Russia’s assault began.
And in non-Ukraine news:
Confirmation hearings began Monday for President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson. To learn more about her experience and historic nomination, scroll down.
The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission, not the sports conference), proposed new rules requiring companies to reveal the impact of climate change on their businesses and their levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
The head of the Federal Reserve called inflation “much too high” and said he’s prepared to raise rates far more quickly.
As President Biden’s nominee goes through her confirmation hearings this week, we thought we’d provide a helpful guide on who she is and why her experience could bring a new perspective to the court. Cue fun game show music.
Who is Ketanji Brown Jackson (or, as we hope she becomes known, KBJ)?
She has an undergraduate degree from Harvard in government and a law degree from there, too.
She also graduated from the same high school in Florida as Jeff Bezos and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Reunions must be pretty intimidating.
She clerked for Justice Breyer, whom she would be replacing on the Supreme Court.
She would be the first justice that once served as a federal public defender.
This is a unique opportunity for the court. “Having to navigate the criminal justice system on behalf of poor defendants gives a judge an important perspective on how the criminal justice system operates and on the potential unfairness or hurdles within it,” the director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Judiciary Program Washington Post.
Who was the last Justice with extensive experience representing defendants? Thurgood Marshall, the nation’s first Black Supreme Court Justice. He retired in 1991.
Getty Images
What experience does she have?
Jackson has served on the US Sentencing Commission, as has her predecessor, Justice Breyer. It’s a bipartisan agency in the judiciary that aims to “reduce sentencing disparities and promote transparency and proportionality in sentencing.”
She served as a US District Judge and was the presiding judge on former White House attorney Don McGahn’s case.
The Trump Administration tried to prevent McGahn from testifying to House impeachment investigators, but Jackson said very clearly in her ruling “presidents are not kings” and “no one is above the law.”
She represented multiple Guantanamo Bay prisoners. See below for political attacks on her record.
What are members of the GOP saying?
GOP Senator Josh Hawley tried to accuse her of going soft on sex offenders, but even the conservative National Review called the attack disingenuous and “meritless to the point of demagoguery.'”
The RNC attacked Jackson for “defending terrorists." A group of Obama-era national security advisors penned this letter countering that, in our system, all defendants are entitled to a lawyer.
And at her 2012 nomination hearing for US District Court judge, she had some surprising support from the other side of the aisle: Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said “Our politics may differ, but my praise for Ketanji’s intellect, for her character, for her integrity, it is unequivocal.”
Fun fact: They’re also related through marriage.
Three Republicans also backed her nomination last year to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
What’s next?
Jackson needs 51 votes to be confirmed, which is not expected to be a problem given the Democratic majority in the Senate.
Tuesday and Wednesday she will be in the hot seat answering questions, and Thursday we’ll hear testimony from witnesses who know her personally and professionally.
Democrats want her fully confirmed by April 1, and that seems on track.
Want to know more about Jackson’s background compared to others serving on the bench? Check out this breakdown from the Washington Post.
A fleet of volunteer taxis from Spain made a 40-hour trip to Poland and back to bring 133 Ukrainian refugees safely to their capital, Madrid. They funded the trip entirely themselves and with donations. The video is worth a watch.
The convoy of Spanish taxi drivers / Getty Images
The sunflower – an important symbol in Ukraine – has become an international emblem of support for the Ukrainian people. To learn more about the history of how sunflowers ended up there and the overall symbolism of flowers in wartime, check out this piece in The New Statesman.
A rally for Ukraine support in front of the White House / Getty Images
We’ve got it for you. Check out the News Not Noise Podcast: The biggest news explained by top experts. Clear. Smart. And less than 25 minutes. And see our YouTube channel for 5 quick questions with people who know the answers.
🎙️How to talk to kids about war with Dr. Aliza Pressman
🎙️ Putin Under Pressure with expert Fiona Hill
🎙️ The Russia Ukraine Endgame with national security adviser Evelyn Farkas
📺 5 Questions For A Russian Protester with Yulia Zhivtsova
📺 Photographing the war in Ukraine with war photographer Erin Trieb
📺 Life in Ukraine, under attack with a Kyiv resident
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