(NEW YORK) — When the Volkswagen ID. Buzz goes on sale in the U.S., consumers may be seduced by the microbus’ nostalgic design and electric powertrain. They may also become enamored with its three passenger rows.
“It’s a family hauler, a people mover … a majority of our buyers will probably be coming from mid-size or large SUVs,” Jeffrey Lear, product manager of electric vehicles at Volkswagen of America, told ABC News. “We know this from doing research — families want three rows.”
He added, “Three rows were a necessity.”
Only the U.S. version of the ID. Buzz comes with three rows that can seat seven. Americans have been increasingly asking for larger SUVs that can accommodate their active lifestyles and growing families and carmakers are listening. Many have expanded their lineups to cater to this “supremely important” segment, according to Ed Kim, president and chief analyst of AutoPacific.
“The fact that there are so many three-row SUV entries in the marketplace is really a reflection of millennial consumers needing a large family vehicle,” Kim told ABC News. “Millennials are approaching their peak income years. If you’re not playing in the three-row space, you’re not addressing a huge part of the marketplace.”
Three-row, mid-size SUVs are replacing what families drove years ago — the minivan, according to Tony Quiroga, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver.
“The minivan segment has been declining steadily and that space has been picked up by all the three-row SUVs and crossovers,” Quiroga told ABC News.
German carmaker BMW found new customers when it introduced its three-row SUV, the X7, in late 2018.
“A little more than half of the customers who are buying the X7 are not previous BMW owners,” according to Michael Baxley, U.S. product manager at BMW. “The X7 has been very successful.”
Last month BMW showed off the 2023 X7, which now features a redesigned dashboard and center console, a new curved display and a revised kidney grille. The 48-volt battery-assisted hybrid technology in the new inline 6-cylinder and V8 engines improve performance and efficiency, said Baxley. What hasn’t changed? The capacious cargo space. The X7 offers 33.3 inches of legroom for third-row passengers – “plenty of room for most adults,” he noted.
Three-row variants in the full-size SUV segment total about 70% of sales. Mid-size SUVs with three-rows account for 10% of the U.S. vehicle market, up from 6% in 2016, said Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power. That percentage is likely to rise as capacity constraints from the global chip shortage ease, he said.
“The real truth is that we may not have reached true potential,” Jominy told ABC News. “Three-row SUVs can do everything a two-row can but just much more. It’s a critical segment to be in.”
Land Rover and Jeep have recently launched three-row SUVs to steal sales from competitors. The 2023 Range Rover, Land Rover’s flagship luxury SUV, will now be sold with a seven-seat configuration — an addition specifically designed for U.S. customers.
“The U.S. market will be one of the largest for this seating configuration and addresses the top request from owners and shoppers,” Rob Filipovic, director of product planning at Jaguar Land Rover, told ABC News. “While the U.S. did request a seven-seat variant on the previous generation, the platform did not support the premium expectation of comfort and space expected on a Range Rover. With the New MLA-Flex body architecture, the requirements were designed from the start, resulting in no compromise for all passengers.”
Filipovic said he expects the longer wheelbase Range Rover with three rows to make up 30% of sales. And adults seated in the rear can travel comfortably: The third row easily accommodates a 6-foot-tall individual, he said, and there are HVAC vents, charging ports, heated leather seats and LED lighting.
“When the third row is folded, it provides the largest trunk behind the second row that we have ever had on a Range Rover,” he added.
Jeep now offers three SUVs with seating up to eight: the Grand Cherokee L, Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. Kim of AutoPacific said the move was necessary to stay competitive.
“Given how important three-row SUVs are, it’s actually amazing Jeep has had incredible growth over the last 10 years without one,” he said.
Jeep spokesperson Ron Kiino said the addition of three rows has increased Grand Cherokee owner retention.
“The Grand Cherokee L has boosted Grand Cherokee sales … 2021 was the best sales year in total and retail sales for the Grand Cherokee since 2000,” he told ABC News.
He added, “Customer response has been extremely positive.”
According to Kiino, the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer offer best-in-class overall passenger volume (179.2 cubic feet) and third-row legroom of 36.6 inches.
Adults, however, will have to squeeze, bend, squish and contort their arms and legs to sit in some three-row SUVs.
“There’s a massive amount of variability and diversity in three-row spaciousness,” said Kim. “In the Mitsubishi Outlander and Volkswagen Tiguan — you really couldn’t fit anyone more than 10 years old back there. The Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer L — adults can easily be comfortable in a third row for hours.”
Jominy argued that the third row was designed specifically for young children.
“Most adults would never for a second ride in the third row,” he said. “In a lot of cases they’re temporary or an expansion row. In fact, for many automakers, even if you get leather seats, the third row is vinyl. There is no expectation that an adult will ever sit back there.”
Kia and Toyota are also bolstering their three-row offerings. The third-generation Toyota Sequoia will be available this summer with a twin-turbo V6 hybrid powertrain and a sliding third row with an adjustable cargo shelf system. The feature allows the third row to slide with 6 inches of adjustment range, according to Toyota.
Kia, which has won industry awards for its Telluride SUV, revamped the 2023 model to include two new trim levels, a larger navigation screen and new exterior and interior package colors. Seventy-five percent of Telluride buyers are new to the Kia family, according to the Korean automaker.
Kim said automakers could do even more to boost sales of these prodigious vehicles: Build electric ones. The Vietnamese automaker Vinfast is entering the U.S. market with a three-row EV called VF 9. The only other three-row EV available right now is the Tesla Model X. The ID. Buzz goes on sale in the U.S. in 2024.
“Three-row SUVs are unrepresented in the electric vehicle market,” Kim said. “Young people with families and who are really into tech would be interested in buying an EV.”
Could Americans’ obsession with jumbo SUVs also signal the arrival of four rows?
“If you don’t need a steering wheel [in an autonomous vehicle], you can potentially turn the front seat around and have a couple of rows in between,” Jominy of J.D. Power said. “But I don’t see four rows ever being a thing.”
Kim pointed out that Kia sells a four-row Carnival minivan in South Korea. “That actually exists,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — The move to add new abortion bans “will be swift” if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Sunday, adding that the Senate will do everything it can to codify a woman’s right to choose.
“With this leaked opinion, the court is looking at reversing 50 years of women’s rights and the fall will be swift. Over 20 states have laws in place already,” Klobuchar, D-Minn., told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz.
“I think the question that voters are going to be asking when 75% of people are with us on this, is who should make this decision,” Klobuchar said. “Should it be a woman and her doctor or a politician? Should it be Ted Cruz making this decision or a woman and her family? Where are women’s equal rights?”
On Tuesday, Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed a leaked draft opinion of a Supreme Court ruling indicating that five conservative justices, three of whom were appointed by former President Trump, are poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The bombshell that the high court could soon overturn the landmark 1973 ruling sparked outrage across the country among people, including elected leaders, who support abortion rights.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the Senate would hold a vote Wednesday to codify federal abortion protections by way of the Women’s Health Protection Act, but not enough votes are expected for the measure to pass. To overcome a filibuster, the bill — which passed the House but has stalled in the Senate — needs support from 60 senators.
“If we are not successful, then we go to the ballot box,” Klobuchar said of the bill. “We march straight to the ballot box, and the women of this country and the men who stand with them will vote like they’ve never voted before.”
All House Democrats except for Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, voted for the Women’s Health Protection Act.
Raddatz pressed Klobuchar on whether the Democratic Party should only back members and candidates who support abortion rights.
“Do you believe there should be a litmus test?” Raddatz asked. “The Democrats have several candidates who do not support abortion rights.”
“You have people who are personally, personally pro-life, but yet believe that that decision should be a woman’s personal choice, even if they may not agree with them,” Klobuchar responded. “So I think it’s important to note that we have people in our party that vote to uphold Roe v. Wade that may have personal opinions that are different.”
The Minnesota senator added that the Democratic Party is “clearly pro-choice.”
“That is the position of our party and I think you see in primary after primary, that matters to our voters — certainly now more than ever,” she said.
While she said abortion will not be the “only issue” for Democrats in the midterm elections, noting voters are also focused on the economy and Ukraine, she said “a new generation of women” are seeing their rights pulled back and saying, “Wait a minute, my mom and my grandma are going to have more rights than I’m going to have going forward?”
Raddatz pressed Klobuchar on public polls showing that while a majority of Americans support the right to an abortion in most cases, within the states that would almost immediately ban abortion if Roe is overturned, a majority of adults believe abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, a New York Times analysis found.
“Why should a woman in Texas have different rights and a different future and a different ability to make decisions about her body and her reproductive choices than a woman in Minnesota?” Klobuchar responded. “How can that be in this country, that we’d have a patchwork of laws?”
Klobuchar added that a reversal of Roe v. Wade would disproportionately affect poor women and women of color.
“This is just wrong, and that is part of why Justice [Harry] Blackmun, who is a Republican-appointed justice, no less, made that thoughtful decision, looked at the Constitution and said, the right to privacy includes the right for women to make a choice like this.”
(EXUMA, Bahamas) — An investigation is underway after three American tourists were found dead at a Bahamas resort on Friday, officials said.
The guests were staying at the Sandals Emerald Bay in Exuma, Sandals confirmed.
Resort staff contacted the George Town Police Station shortly after 9 a.m. Friday that a man was found unresponsive in a villa, and while en route it was reported that another man and women were found unresponsive in another villa, police said.
Police found the man in the first villa lying on the ground with no signs of trauma, authorities said. In the second villa, the man was found “slumped against a wall in a bathroom” and the woman was found on a bed, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement.
“Both individuals showed signs of convulsion,” police said. No signs of trauma were found on either bodies.
Police are working to confirm the identities of the deceased.
Bahamas Minister of Health & Wellness Dr. Michael Darville told ABC News that some hotel guests went to a clinic Thursday with nausea and vomiting, were treated and left. Three were later found dead, while a fourth, a woman, was flown to a hospital in New Providence and is in stable condition, he said.
Environmental health scientists, physicians and others are investigating to ensure there was not a public health hazard, said Darville, who called it an “isolated incident.”
“There’s no potential risk to any of the residents on Exuma as well as residents at the resort or any other resort on the on Exuma,” he said.
Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper said in a statement Friday that the cause of death is unknown but no foul play is suspected.
Sandals said it was “actively working to support both the investigation as well as the guests’ families in every way possible.”
“A health emergency was initially reported and following our protocols we immediately alerted emergency medical professionals and relevant local authorities,” the company said in a statement. “Out of respect for the privacy of our guests, we cannot disclose further information at this time.”
ABC News’ Jason Volack, Caroline Guthrie and Alexandra Faul contributed to this report.
(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — Vice President Kamala Harris gave a sobering look at the “unsettled” world students are heading into as she delivered the commencement speech at Tennessee State University on Saturday.
The vice president discussed the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as the looming possibility Roe v. Wade will be overturned by the Supreme Court after a draft opinion leaked earlier this week.
“The world that you graduate into is unsettled,” Harris said. “It is a world where long-established principles now rest on shaky ground. We see this in Ukraine, where Russia’s invasion threatens international rules and norms that have provided unprecedented peace and security in Europe since World War II.”
“We believed that the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity had for the most part prevailed, that democracy had prevailed,” she continued. “But now the certainty of fundamental principles is being called into question, including the principles of equality and fairness.”
The crowd erupted in cheers when Harris remarked that the students were facing an unsettled world where Roe v. Wade may be overturned.
“In the United States, we are once again forced to defend fundamental principles that we hoped were long settled — principles like the freedom to vote, the rights of women to make decisions about their own bodies, even what constitutes the truth, especially in an era, when anyone can post anything online and claim it is a fact,” Harris said.
Harris congratulated the students on succeeding in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Class of 2022, you made it through and it cannot be denied also that your class has traveled a stony road — a pandemic that took away so much of the college experience that you once imagined,” she said.
Shifting to a more optimistic tone, the vice president said that each student is well-equipped to tackle the “biggest challenges of today” by drawing from their lived experiences and personal attributes.
“Most importantly, you have the ability to see what can be unburdened by what has been,” she said, drawing from her stump speech on the campaign trail.
As a fellow graduate of a historically Black college and university, she expressed “there is no limit to your capacity for greatness.”
“I want you all — each and every one of you — to always remember that you are not alone, that you come from people, that you come with people,” she said. “Because I promise you, there will be a time when you will walk into a boardroom or a courtroom or maybe even the Situation Room, and you will walk into the room and find you are the only person in that room who looks like you or has had your life experience.
“At that moment, you must remember you are not in that room alone. Always know that you carry the voices of everyone here and those upon whose shoulders you stand.”
Harris is also scheduled to give the commencement speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on May 18.
(NEW YORK) — 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.
The Russian military last month launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, attempting to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and to secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
May 07, 1:02 pm
All women, children evacuated from Mariupol steel plant, Ukraine deputy PM says
All women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol which has been long besieged by Russian forces, Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said Saturday.
“The president’s order has been carried out: all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal. This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed,” Vereshchuk said in a statement posted on telegram.
-ABC News’ Jason Volack
May 07, 11:46 am
Jill Biden meets with refugees, humanitarian organizations on visit to Romania
First lady Jill Biden met with Ukrainian refugees on Saturday and was briefed on humanitarian efforts from United Nations agencies, nongovernmental organizations and the Romanian government during her trip to Romania.
Biden also visited a Romanian public school, Școala Gimnazială Uruguay, that is hosting Ukrainian refugee students, with Romanian first lady Carmen Iohannis.
Biden spoke with Ukrainian and Romanian educators and met with Ukrainian refugee students and Romanian students in classroom settings.
Biden met with Ukrainian and Romanian children who were making “hands” out of pieces of paper decorated as the Ukrainian and Romanian flags. Some of the children wrote messages on the hands.
Madalina Turza, the senior coordinator of humanitarian assistance for Romania told Biden they are working with the country’s Association of Psychologist to train educators in trauma-informed teaching. She also noted that they are working to make sure that all students are integrated and not segregated from Romanian children, saying that while the refugees may want to stick together at the moment, in time they will need to be with Romanian kids.
Biden also participated in a listening session with Ukrainian educators and mothers.
One mother explained that she escaped Kharkiv with her 8-year-old daughter just two weeks ago and narrowly avoided death when she chose to take one route out of the city over another that was shelled that day. She had been hiding in a basement with her daughter for over a week when they decided to flee.
-ABC News’ Allie Pecorin and Armando Garcia
May 07, 9:05 am
Italy freezes $700 million yacht allegedly belonging to Putin
Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance on Saturday impounded the Scheherazade, a yacht said to be worth $700 million, which allegedly belonged to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The superyacht has been under investigation for months for possible connections to Putin and other Russians sanctioned by the EU. The Scheherazade was being refurbished in the Tuscan port of Marina di Cararra.
The investigation conducted by Italian authorities found significant economic and business connections between the owner of the Scheherazade and prominent people in the Russian government and other Russians sanctioned by the EU.
Italian officials also recommended to the EU Council that the owner of the boat be added to the list of Russians sanctioned for the war in Ukraine.
May 07, 8:41 am
Ukraine war taking heavy toll on some of Russia’s most capable units: UK defense ministry
The war in Ukraine is taking a toll on Russia’s military, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Saturday.
“The conflict in Ukraine is taking a heavy toll on some of Russia’s most capable units and most advanced capabilities. It will take considerable time and expense for Russia to reconstitute its armed forces following this conflict,” the ministry said in a statement.
Adding, “It will be particularly challenging to replace modernized and advanced equipment due to sanctions restricting Russia’s access to critical microelectronic components.”
At least one T-90M, Russia’s newest tank, with its strongest armor, has been destroyed in the fighting, the Ministry of Defense said.
The Russian military has approximately 100 T-90M tanks currently in service, including those in Ukraine, but the system’s upgraded armor “remains vulnerable if unsupported by other elements,” the defense ministry said.
May 06, 7:16 pm
FLOTUS visits US troops, NATO military leadership in Romania
First Lady Jill Biden kicked off the first day of her overseas trip by visiting Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania, where she met with U.S. troops and NATO military leadership.
The U.S. deployed troops to the base, which is about 60 miles from the border with Ukraine, in the leadup to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prior to departing the U.S. last night, the first lady told reporters, “It was so important to the president and to me that the Ukrainian people know that we stand with them.”
Biden drew cheers Friday when she greeted soldiers with a bottle of ketchup in hand — a commodity that has been in short supply on the base, according to her spokesperson.
Wearing a Beau Biden Foundation hat, the first lady helped serve mac and cheese and potatoes and shook hands and took photos with the service members. She also participated in a special story-time with United Through Reading, an organization that connects military families with a deployed service member through video recordings and virtual book readings.
Biden also met with members of the Delaware National Guard before departing the base for Bucharest.
May 06, 6:47 pm
Biden announces new security assistance package
The U.S. has announced another package of security assistance that will provide “additional artillery munitions, radars, and other equipment to Ukraine,” according to a Friday afternoon statement from President Joe Biden.
The U.S. will provide up to $150 million in new security assistance for Ukraine, according to a memorandum from Biden.
“With today’s announcement, my Administration has nearly exhausted funding that can be used to send security assistance through drawdown authorities for Ukraine,” Biden said in the statement. “For Ukraine to succeed in this next phase of war its international partners, including the U.S., must continue to demonstrate our unity and our resolve to keep the weapons and ammunition flowing to Ukraine, without interruption. Congress should quickly provide the requested funding to strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield and at the negotiating table.”
The package includes 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, counter-artillery radars, electronic jamming equipment, field equipment and spare parts, according to Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby.
“Capabilities in this package are tailored to meet critical Ukrainian needs for today’s fight as Russian forces continue their offensive in eastern Ukraine,” Kirby said in a statement.
This marks the ninth drawdown of equipment from Department of Defense inventories for Ukraine since August 2021, according to Kirby.
May 06, 4:11 pm
UNSC adopts resolution supporting ‘peaceful solution’ in Ukraine
The United Nations Security Council has unanimously adopted a statement voicing “deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine,” the first such message issued by the body since the war began.
The statement reminds all U.N. members of their responsibility to “settle their international disputes by peaceful means” and express “support of the efforts of the Secretary-General in the search for a peaceful solution.”
The text was drafted by envoys from Norway and Mexico and was agreed upon by all members of the council, including Russia.
The permanent representative from Mexico, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, said it demonstrated all members of the Security Council were “united” in the pursuit of “diplomatic resolution,” although he acknowledged it took over two months to reach this point.
Pressed on whether he thought Russia was earnestly seeking a peaceful end to the war, Ramón de la Fuente said the country demonstrated “a willingness to move in that direction.”
However, the UNSC’s statement is already drawing criticism from those who say it fails to hold Russia accountable for the violence.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement: “I welcome this support and will continue to spare no effort to save lives, reduce suffering and find the path of peace.”
May 06, 1:30 pm
Zelenskyy to join Biden, German chancellor in G-7 virtual leaders meeting
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will join President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a G-7 virtual leaders meeting on Sunday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Psaki noted that imposing new sanctions on Russia may also be discussed during the meeting.
“They will discuss the latest developments in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the global impact of Putin’s war, showing support for Ukraine and Ukraine’s future and demonstrating continued G7 unity in our collective response, including building on our unprecedented sanctions to impose severe costs for Putin’s war,” she said.
The meeting will happen the day before Russia’s “Victory Day,” a celebration of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany. Western officials have warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin may ramp up his attacks on Ukraine in the lead up to the day and may want to claim a new victory.
Psaki hinted the administration was intentional about meeting before that day.
“I think it should not be lost the significance or –on anyone the significance of when the timeline when his — when this G-7 meeting is happening, which is the day before Russia’s Victory Day, which President Putin has certainly projected his desire to mark that day as a day where he is victorious over Ukraine. Of course, he’s not,” she said.
May 06, 1:18 pm
US shared intel with Ukraine that helped sink Russian flagship Moskva last month, officials say
The U.S. shared intelligence with Ukraine that helped it sink the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, the Moskva, last month, according to two U.S. officials.
The Ukrainians, who have their own intelligence capabilities, had tracked the Moskva independently, though, and the U.S. did not provide “specific targeting information,” according to one of the officials.
“We did not provide Ukraine with specific targeting information for the Moskva. We were not involved in the Ukrainians’ decision to strike the ship or in the operation they carried out,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement Thursday. “We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine’s intent to target the ship. The Ukrainians have their own intelligence capabilities to track and target Russian naval vessels, as they did in this case.”
The U.S. official also noted that: “We do provide a range of intelligence to help the Ukrainians understand the threat posed by Russian ships in the Black Sea and to help them prepare to defend against potential sea-based assaults. Many of the missiles fired at Ukraine have come from Russian ships in the Black Sea, and those ships could be used to support an assault on cities like Odesa.”
NBC News first reported this intel.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday downplayed the role of U.S intelligence.
“We did not provide Ukraine with specific targeting information for the Moskva. We were not involved in the Ukrainians’ decision to strike the ship or in the operation they carried out. We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine’s intent to target the ship,” she said. “The Ukrainians have their own intelligence capabilities to track and target Russian naval vessels, as they did in this case. And I’ve discussed this with both our national security adviser and the President and the view is that, one, this is an inaccurate over-claiming of our role and an under-claiming of the role of the Ukrainians who frankly have a greater level of intelligence and access to intelligence than we do.”
Still, she said that the U.S. is providing Ukraine with a range of intelligence, which they can use in conjunction with their own findings.
“We do provide a range of intelligence to help them understand the threat posed by Russian ships in the Black Sea and to help them prepare to defend themselves against potential sea-based assaults, but they take our intelligence and they combine that with what they have access to. And so on this specific report, it’s just not an accurate depiction of how this happened,” she added.
May 06, 8:28 am
Video shows explosions, smoke at Mariupol steel plant
Video circulating online shows explosions and smoke coming from the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in Mariupol.
The footage was released Thursday by the Azov Regiment, a far-right group now part of the Ukrainian military that was among the units defending Mariupol and is holed up inside the Azovstal plant with others. In a statement alongside the video posted on Telegram, the group said that Russian forces were keeping the plant “under heavy fire,” using “aircraft, artillery and infantry.”
ABC News was unable to verify the date that the video was taken.
In recent days, Ukraine and Russia have offered conflicting accounts of what’s taking place at the Azovstal plant. Ukrainian fighters claimed that Russian forces started storming the plant this week, which Russia has denied and instead claimed that its troops have “securely blocked” the sprawling industrial site.
Hundreds of Ukrainian fighters and civilians are said to be trapped inside the Azovstal plant, the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol as Russian forces declare full control over the strategic Ukrainian port city.
May 06, 7:51 am
Russia says war in Ukraine is ‘going to plan’
Russia’s so-called special military operation in neighboring Ukraine is going according to plan, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“The operation has been going to plan,” Peskov said during a press briefing in Moscow on Friday.
When asked about reports that Putin’s inner circle was not informed about the start of the operation, Peskov told reporters: “As you understand, naturally, information about the special military operation cannot be shared widely the day before it begins.”
“That is because, clearly, such classified information is always shared with a rather limited circle of persons. This is an absolutely normal practice,” he added. “The very essence of this operation does not imply that information about it will be shared widely.”
May 05, 10:49 pm
US shared intel with Ukraine that helped sink Russian flagship Moskva last month, officials say
The U.S. shared intelligence with Ukraine that helped it sink the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, the Moskva, last month, according to two U.S. officials.
The Ukrainians, who have their own intelligence capabilities, had tracked the Moskva independently, though, and the U.S. did not provide “specific targeting information,” according to one of the officials.
“We did not provide Ukraine with specific targeting information for the Moskva. We were not involved in the Ukrainians’ decision to strike the ship or in the operation they carried out,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement Thursday. “We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine’s intent to target the ship. The Ukrainians have their own intelligence capabilities to track and target Russian naval vessels, as they did in this case.”
The U.S. official also noted that: “We do provide a range of intelligence to help the Ukrainians understand the threat posed by Russian ships in the Black Sea and to help them prepare to defend against potential sea-based assaults. Many of the missiles fired at Ukraine have come from Russian ships in the Black Sea, and those ships could be used to support an assault on cities like Odesa.”
NBC News first reported this intel.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
May 05, 9:05 pm
US ambassador to UN calls out countries for remaining neutral
Presiding over her first open meeting of the United Nations Security Council since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield implored representatives still clinging to neutrality to speak out against Russian aggression.
“The truth is well known. Russia is the only perpetrator of this war. So it’s hard to understand why some council members continue to call on all parties to desist,” Thomas-Greenfield said, calling out countries like Brazil, India, and to some extent — China.
“Let’s call a spade a spade. Members should call on Russia explicitly to stop its aggression against Ukraine,” she said.
Speaking in her capacity as the United States’ permanent representative and not as the temporary president of the council, Thomas-Greenfield lamented that Russian envoys had repeatedly used the body to spread disinformation.
“Three months ago, Russian representatives told this council they had no intention to invade Ukraine. Now, Russia claims the attacks aren’t real or never happened,” she said. “Russia even claims that Ukraine is attacking itself, that they bombed their own buildings, attacked their own people and assaulted their own democracy. These lies defy all logic, all evidence and common sense.”
(HAVANA) — At least 18 people are dead, including one minor, from an explosion at a hotel in Havana, Cuba, apparently caused by a gas leak, officials said.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was at the scene of the Saratoga Hotel in Havana with other officials.
Search and rescue work continues to see if people are trapped, according to Luis Antonio Torres Iribar, first secretary of the Party in Havana.
The president’s office said Friday evening that 64 people hospitalized, including 14 minors.
“It wasn’t a bomb or an attack, it’s an unfortunate accident,” Diaz-Canel said, in Spanish, of the explosion.
The hotel, a popular tourist destination in the capital city, had been closed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to its Facebook page. It was currently working to get ready to reopen on May 10.
The five-story building is located in the Old Havana neighborhood and was remodeled as a hotel in the 1930s. It is located just across the street from Cuba’s National Capitol building.
Authorities said a nearby school was evacuated and no children were harmed.
(LONDON) — On May 9, Russia will celebrate Victory Day, its huge national holiday commemorating the anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis during World War II with a military parade through the streets of Moscow.
Reports suggest that, in terms of firepower, it will be a less extravagant display, with fewer tanks and other military hardware set to take part, but this year’s event carries extra significance.
“The original significance of V Day was the same for the USSR as for the other allies,” Catriona Kelly, a professor of Russian and Soviet Culture at Trinity College, Cambridge, told ABC News. “In the 1990s, on the other hand, commemoration became much less important, and was revived again, on an unprecedented scale, in the Putin era.”
What to expect
Under Putin, Victory Day has become Russia’s central national holiday and veneration of the Soviet victory a cornerstone of his regime. Putin revived the military parades marking the holiday, and they have grown in size almost each year since 2014, becoming a showcase of Russian military might.
War commemoration serves as a “basis of an aggressive patriotism based on the perception of an external threat to the country’s survival,” Kelly said.
An estimated 27 million people from the Soviet Union died during the Second World War, an enormous death toll that dwarfs that of other countries, and memory of the war still holds deep personal significance for many Russians.
Putin’s avowed goal to “de-Nazify” Ukraine is directly linked to the Kremlin’s efforts to cultivate that history for its political ends, according to Mark Galeotti, a security expert on Russian affairs.
“Largely the whole point was exactly to try and wrap this war in the mantle of what they call the Great Patriotic War,” Galeotti said. “Remember, Putin expected this to be a quick and easy victory in two weeks. I think this was going to be his kind of claim to historical fame. You know, this is going to be his moment, he wanted it to be comparable to victory over Nazis.”
Ukraine and Western countries, as well as independent experts, believe the Kremlin had hoped to set Victory Day as a deadline to achieve a military victory in the war with Ukraine or at least to declare the conquest of the Donbas region.
But the disastrous course of the war so far for Russia — that has seen it retreat from Kyiv and its current offensive on east Ukraine now stalled — has forced the Kremlin to approach the day differently.
The British armed forces minister recently said that Russia will “probably” use Victory Day as an opportunity to formally declare war on Ukraine, but the Kremlin has denied this.
“That would be a great irony if Moscow used the occasion of Victory Day to declare war, which in itself would allow them to surge conscripts in a way they’re not able to do now,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters recently. “In a way, that would be tantamount to revealing to the world that their war effort is failing, that they are floundering in their military campaign and military objectives.”
Controlling the narrative
During the past ten weeks of war, many analysts have pointed to May 9 as a key marker, a date where Putin will have to show the Russian people a “prize” from the war, which is only referred to in the country as a “special military operation.”
That “prize” could be Mariupol, the beleaguered port city that has been the site of some of the worst fighting and bombing since the war began, though there is no hiding that the war has not gone to plan.
“Any Russian victory that can be proclaimed at this stage will look like an approximation at best, though the onslaught on Azovstal in Mariupol in recent days suggests that complete capture of the city will be represented as a prize” on May 9, Kelly said.
Ukraine’s military has claimed that the streets of the city, where tens of thousands are feared to have been killed under the Russian assault, are being cleared of debris in preparation for a parade there on Victory Day.
Russian intelligence assessments initially said that the capital of Kyiv would fall within a matter of days of the invasion, but stiff Ukrainian resistance and a united front in the West have now changed the kind of Victory Day the Kremlin will be commemorating. Even so, Putin retains a tight control of the narrative around the war, and so far, the impact that could reverberate at home when news of the thousands of Russians killed emerges, has not been felt.
“I’m sure Putin would have loved to have had the victory to announce for Victory Day,” Galeotti told ABC News. “But … when you have all the state media under your control and you’ve squeezed out every element of independent media, in some ways you get to write the narrative, and then the narrative will be that Mariupol is won, that this was never about taking all of Ukraine.”
From the information available, public opinion seems to be narrowly in favor of the war in Russia, though Galeotti said the image projected of the “special operation” in the Russian media has “nothing at all to do with the reality of what’s happened.”
Whatever Putin says in his speech on Victory Day, there has been no suggestion that Russia will be winding down its war anytime soon, even if their war aims have now changed to create a land corridor to Crimea.
“Putin has to ‘win’, or to put it differently, he has no reverse gear,” Kelly said. “That means his only means of reacting to a miscalculation is to fight back. All the evidence suggests that he expected a rapid collapse of the Ukrainian armed forces of the kind that happened in Crimea in 2014. And he didn’t expect pushback from Western countries on the level there has been. Ukraine has been a shock from both points of view and is the biggest challenge of his political career.”
(NEW YORK) — The mother of Gabby Petito has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the estate of Brian Laundrie in the latest legal action stemming from the homicide.
The lawsuit, filed in Florida on Friday, claims that Laundrie intentionally killed the 22-year-old travel blogger, and as a direct result of his conduct, Petito’s mother and father — Nicole Schmidt and Joseph Petito — “incurred funeral and burial expenses, and they have suffered a loss of care and comfort, and suffered a loss of probable future companionship, society and comfort.”
The complaint was filed by Schmidt, the administrator of Petito’s estate, against Barry Spivey, identified in the suit as the court-appointed curator of Laundrie’s estate.
Schmidt is seeking damages in excess of $30,000 and is demanding a trial by jury. ABC News has reached out to Spivey for comment.
This is the latest lawsuit involving the death of Petito, who disappeared last year while on a road trip with Laundrie, her fiance.
In a civil lawsuit filed in Florida in March against Laundrie’s parents, Petito’s parents alleged that Laundrie told his parents he had killed Petito before he returned home alone from their trip and that his parents were trying to help him flee.
Petito’s parents are seeking damages in excess of $30,000 in that complaint.
Attorneys for the Laundries denied the allegations and sought to dismiss the lawsuit. A jury trial in the case is scheduled to begin in August 2023.
Petito went missing in late August while on a trip through Colorado and Utah. Laundrie returned home to Florida on Sept. 1, investigators said.
Two weeks later, Laundrie was named a person of interest in Petito’s disappearance before he was reported missing on Sept. 17.
On Sept. 19, search crews discovered a body in Bridger-Teton National Park in Wyoming that was later determined to be Petito’s. An autopsy found she died from strangulation, officials said.
Search crews combed the Florida wetlands where Laundrie was last seen and found his remains in Carlton Reserve, near North Port, on Oct. 20.
(WASHINGTON) — As a leaked draft opinion of a Supreme Court ruling shows a conservative majority of justices appear poised to overturn federal protections of abortion rights, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday the Senate will hold a procedural vote to begin debate on the Women’s Health Protection Act next week.
WHPA is a bill that aims to codify Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that grants protections for a woman’s right to abortion, at the federal level. The bill prohibits governmental restrictions on access to abortion services, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed Tuesday that the leaked draft opinion that could overturn Roe v. Wade was authentic. He has since ordered an investigation into the draft’s public release.
After narrowly passing in the House last September, WHPA has been stalled in the Senate. Schumer had failed to get the entire Democratic caucus on board when he tried to start debate on the bill in February.
At a press conference Thursday, Schumer expressed skepticism over whether the bill will receive the Republican votes it needs to pass. To overcome a filibuster, the bill needs support from 60 members of Congress.
While a final vote in the Senate needs a simple majority of 51 votes, the filibuster procedural rule requires a supermajority, or 60 votes, to start or end debate on legislation so it can face a final vote. Even if a party has a simple majority in the Senate, it still needs a super majority in order to put a bill to a final vote.
“Republicans will have two choices. They can own the destruction of women’s rights, or they can reverse course and work to prevent the damage. Count me as skeptical that they’ll do the latter. Republicans have been on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of America,” he said.
What’s in the WHPA bill?
The bill would prevent state governments from limiting a health care provider’s ability to prescribe certain drugs, offer abortion services via telemedicine, or immediately provide abortion services when the provider determines a delay risks the patient’s health, according to CRS.
It also prevents states from requiring patients to make medically unnecessary in-person visits before receiving abortion services or forcing women to disclose their reasons for obtaining abortions and related services. WHPA would ban states from prohibiting abortion services before or after fetal viability when a provider determines the pregnancy risks the patient’s life or health.
WHPA also prohibits other governmental measures that single out and restrict access to abortion services, unless a state government can prove the measure significantly advances the safety of abortion services or health of patients and cannot be achieved through less restrictive ways, according to CRS.
It also allows the Department of Justice, individuals or abortion providers to bring lawsuits against violations of the bill, regardless of whether restrictions were put in place before or after the bill becomes law.
The proposed legislation, introduced in the House by Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., last June, was a response to increased attacks on abortion rights over the last decade, according to an abortion rights advocate who spoke with ABC News.
“WHPA is a response to the last decade, where anti-abortion lawmakers and states have passed more than 500 restrictions and bans on abortion care,” Leila Abolfazli, the director of federal reproductive rights at the National Women’s Law Center, told ABC News.
Anti-abortion activists see WHPA as far too sweeping. One anti-abortion advocate said the bill would take down almost all state laws governing abortions.
“What it does primarily is it creates a right to abortion, all nine months of pregnancy [and] it would invalidate pretty much all state legislation that’s been passed,” said Jennifer Popik, a lawyer and director of federal legislation at anti-abortion group, National Right to Life.
She also called it “pretty much the most permissive abortion bill that’s ever been voted on in Congress.” Popik said the bill is as comprehensive as a right-to-abortion bill gets.
“Anything that treated abortion differently than any other medical procedure would be struck by this,” she said.
Abolfazli, from the National Women’s Law Center, instead, said WHPA “comprehensively addresses the web of restrictions and bans that have been put in place to stop people from getting abortions” as well as the attempts to “shame and stigmatize” anyone getting an abortion.
Republicans, aside from Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins who publicly support access to abortion, have sought to roll back Roe v. Wade for decades. But, Collins said she opposes WHPA.
“My goal is to codify what is essentially existing law. That means Roe v. Wade, it means Casey versus Planned Parenthood, which established the undue burden test. And it means keeping the conscience protections which appear to be wiped out by the Democrats’ version. So I’m not trying to go beyond current law or, but rather to codify those Supreme Court decisions,” Collins told ABC News’ Trish Turner on Thursday.
Murkowski and Collins have authored their own legislation proposals to codify Roe that have yet to be put up for vote.
What are the chances WHPA will become law?
Popik, of National Right to Life, said the bill is unlikely to become law given how it passed the House along party lines.
“Not only would they have a hard time getting to 50 votes on this, but they would need to get to 60 votes on this … I would have a hard time seeing the current Congress getting to 60 votes on anything,” Popik said, citing the filibuster.
“Senate Democrats are in control of the floor schedule, but they do not have 60 senators who would vote in support of the Women’s Health Protection Act, or any effort to protect abortion, because, in fact, I think it’s 47 senators are on record asking the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. So it is simply that the numbers are not there,” said Abolfazli, of the National Women’s Law Center.
Abolfazli added, “We have never had the numbers to pass something like this.”
