| | | Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell splits with Republican leadership to call the Capitol riot a “violent insurrection.” French President Emmanuel Macron gets mixed messages over Russia’s plans for Ukraine. Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” keeps delivering chaos in Ottawa. And the Oscar nominations are out, but not everyone is feeling like a winner. All this and more in today’s PDB. | | |
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| IMPORTANT | | | 1 - Mitch Steps Out of Line Senate GOP Leader at Odds With Republican National Committee Last week the RNC censured House Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for participating in the Democrat-led investigation of the Capitol riot, describing the Jan. 6 attack as “legitimate political discourse.” Yesterday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell disagreed with that decision, calling the attack a “violent insurrection ... to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.” His surprise opposition highlights a rift within his party: Should Republicans rally their base with talk of January 2021, as former President Donald Trump is doing, or should they take on the Biden administration ahead of the November midterms? McConnell, at least, seems to have made up his mind. (Sources: AP, The Hill) |
| 2 - Lost in Miscommunication French and Russian Leaders Offer Differing Accounts of Ukraine Talks French President Emmanuel Macron may have been too quick to count his chickens. Yesterday he confidently told reporters that before his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he “secured an assurance there would be no deterioration or escalation” from Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any such deal, saying any suggestion of a guarantee was “not right.” That kind of miscommunication is concerning given the tenuous nature of unity among Western allies in the face of Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine. As for Zelenskyy, he says he’s looking beyond words in favor of “concrete steps” from Russia. (Source: BBC) |
| 3 - Still Trucking Canada’s ‘Freedom Convoy’ Vaccine Protests Escalate and Expand The Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit, Michigan, to Windsor, Ontario — one of the busiest border crossings between the U.S. and Canada — was shut down temporarily on Tuesday by truckers’ protests over vaccine mandates. Meanwhile, Canadian capital Ottawa remains under a state of emergency after nearly two weeks of demonstrations against pandemic restrictions. Dozens of protesters have already been arrested and police have set up a hate crime hotline in response to concerns about racist abuse, harassment and violence. Authorities estimate as many as 25% of the vehicles involved with the protests contain children, who could be at risk during operations. (Sources: BBC, Axios) |
| 4 - Crisis Averted? US House Aims to Avoid Shutdown With Stopgap Funding U.S. government funding is set to expire Feb. 18, but yesterday the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan stopgap bill to extend that deadline to March 11. The bill — one of many short-term fixes Congress has passed while trying to reach a bipartisan full-year funding agreement — must be approved by the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden to become law. House leadership was optimistic yesterday about reaching a funding agreement by the week of March 7, and both parties agree that amid the pandemic and with tensions with Russia on the rise, a fully funded government is crucial. (Source: CNN) |
| 5 - Briefly Here are some things you should know about today: Families of the victims of last month’s Bronx fire sue building owners. They allege “reckless disregard” for safety rules after the blaze killed 17 people. (Source: Al Jazeera) Second gentleman Doug Emhoff evacuated from high school over bomb threat. Emhoff was visiting Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., for Black History Month when the school was evacuated. (Source: NBC News) Deadly landslide strikes Colombia. At least 14 people were killed and dozens are hospitalized while rescue workers search the mud for survivors. (Source: BBC) |
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| | | Catch the Newest Episodes of The Carlos Watson Show, Season 4
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| INTRIGUING | 1 - Oscars Out Meet the Nominees for the 94th Annual Academy Awards Leading the pack for this year’s Oscars is Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, a western drama that garnered 12 nominations. Close behind was Dennis Villeneuve’s Dune with 10 nominations — though none in directing or acting categories. West Side Story, Belfast and King Richard were also highly nominated, though the Academy shied away from blockbusters like Spider-Man: No Way Home and No Time to Die. Lady Gaga fans criticized her snub for her role in House of Gucci, while Denzel Washington extended his record as the most-nominated Black actor in history. The ceremony returns March 27 after last year’s disruption. (Sources: Variety, Hollywood Reporter, People) |
| 2 - Varsity Blues Study Suggests College May No Longer Provide Leg Up For low-income families, a college degree has long been touted as the key to escaping the cycle of poverty. But sociology researcher Byeongdon Oh at Portland State University has released a new study that suggests college graduates from low-income families are more likely to shoulder higher student loan debt than their peers from higher-income families. Oh argues that policies like one-time student loan forgiveness that have been considered by the Biden administration would have little impact because the rising cost of college tuition will just saddle low-income families with more debt later on. (Source: The Hill) |
| | | 3 - Bitcoin Bandits Behind Bars New York Couple Arrested, $3.6 Billion in Cryptocurrency Seized In 2016, a bitcoin exchange market called Bitfinex was hacked and $71 million in cryptocurrency was stolen. Since then, the value has skyrocketed to $4.5 billion. Justice Department prosecutors believe the cryptocurrency was deposited into a virtual wallet belonging to Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein. He and his wife, Heather Morgan, allegedly laundered the money through a series of small, complex transactions online. Federal agents arrested the couple Tuesday in Manhattan. The $3.6 billion seizure — the largest ever by the DOJ — is a direct result of the newly created national cryptocurrency enforcement team that specializes in addressing crypto crimes. (Source: NPR) |
| 4 - Uphill Climb Struggling Peloton Axes Jobs, Ousts CEO John Foley, who co-founded the exercise company and served as chief executive for the past 10 years, is stepping down to become executive chair. He’ll be replaced by former CFO of Spotify and Netflix Barry McCarthy. Peloton, under pressure from activist investor Blackwell Capital, also plans to cut 2,800 jobs, 20% of corporate positions. It’s sobering news for a brand that ballooned during the pandemic, only to bust as sales tapered off and publicity turned negative. In January 2021 Peloton was valued at $50 billion: Today it stands at $9 billion — and that’s after a boost amid speculation of a takeover. (Sources: The Guardian, WSJ (sub)) |
| 5 - Chen Again US Figure Skater Nathan Chen Dominates Beijing Short Program At the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Chen was a favorite to win gold but buckled under the pressure and fell during his short program. This year in Beijing, there’s no sign of his old nerves. On Tuesday the 22-year-old set a record for the highest short program score in figure skating history at 113.97 when he flawlessly executed two quadruple jumps and a triple axel. Now only Thursday’s free skate program — and Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno of Japan, ranked second and third after the short program — stand between Chen and Olympic gold. (Source: ESPN) |
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