(WASHINGTON) — A jury on Monday found former New York City police officer Thomas Webster guilty on six charges, including assaulting a police officer, in the first federal assault case stemming from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Webster’s trial marks the fourth time a jury has heard a Jan. 6 defendant’s case, with all four cases resulting in convictions on all charges.
Webster was found guilty of assaulting D.C. Metro Police Officer Noah Rathbun, who testified at the trial — as did Webster himself, who often spoke directly to the jury and called Rathbun as a “rogue cop.”
According to testimony and video of the riot, Webster pushed through a crowd toward bike racks that were acting as a police perimeter. Clad in a bulletproof vest and waving a Marine Corps flag, he arrived at the front of the crowd, yelling “commie mother——-” at the officers, before zeroing in on Rathbun and yelling. “take your s— off!”
“That’s what people say when they want to fight,” Rathbun said during his three-hour testimony. “It’s very common.”
Webster swung a metal flagpole in a downward motion twice before breaking apart the bike racks. As Rathbun backed away, Webster ran toward him and tackled him, then pulled at his gas mask. Rathbun began to choke on his chin strap as Webster pulled at the mask, Rathbun testified.
Video shows that Rathbun hit Webster’s face while trying to push him away, which became a cornerstone of Webster’s defense. Webster, who claimed that Rathbun had provoked the fight, said that he pulled at Rathbun’s mask as a form of self-defense.
“I felt like I was the cop and he was the protester,” Webster said on the stand.
U.S. attorneys said that Webster clearly should have known he was not allowed on Capitol grounds, pointing to the snow fencing, the bike racks that formed a police barrier, and the Metro Police’s riot gear, flash bangs and tear gas. He also should have known, they said, through his 20 years as a New York City police officer.
“Thomas Webster and Officer Rathbun both swore oaths to protect the country. But only one of them actually fulfilled that oath on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol,” a U.S. attorney said. “And that was Officer Rathbun.”
The defense said they wanted the jury to see the “whole truth.”
“When are acts of police misconduct acceptable?” defense attorney James Monroe said. Referring to the flagpole, Monroe said, “Sometimes, a flagpole is all it is. It’s all it was.”
Webster was convicted of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using a dangerous weapon; civil disorder; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; and engaging in an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.
Sentencing is set for September 2. Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Webster does not have to be held in custody prior to sentencing.
(NEW YORK) — New Mexico is expanding a program that waives the cost of child care, an initiative that could make child care free for many families in the southwestern state.
The announcement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last Thursday said the state’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department estimates that over 30,000 more families will be able to take advantage of New Mexico’s Childcare Assistance Program starting this May, doubling the number of families who were already participating.
“Beginning May 1, 2022, all families enrolled in the state’s Childcare Assistance Program will no longer owe copays for child care services, making child care cost-free,” the announcement said.
The New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department announcement notes that the expansion will run until June 30, 2023.
Families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level, or $111,000 for a family of four, qualify to have their child care copayments waived. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determines poverty levels, and for 2022, the federal department set the poverty guideline in the District of Columbia and the 48 contiguous states as $27,750 for a family of four.
The cost of child care in the U.S. is a significant burden for American families.
New survey data from 2019 from the HHS’s Administration for Children and Families shows that many families spend anywhere between 10% to 20% of their household budget on child care, including early child education. Amid the pandemic, many women also stopped working to take care of their kids at home, leading to a slowdown of employees returning to the national workforce.
In New Mexico specifically, think tank Economic Policy Institute estimates that the average cost of child care is approximately $8,617 a year.
Child care workers are also in short supply, and along with the expansion of copay waivers for families, New Mexico will also provide stipends to students who are pursuing higher education in early education.
Eligible students can apply for $2,000 each semester to help pay for their schooling at a New Mexico college or university.
The state is also pledging $10 million in grants to child care establishments to build or expand child care centers in underserved communities.
New Mexicans who are interested in joining the Childcare Assistance Program can visit the state’s “Am I Eligible?” site for more information.
(NEW YORK) — As the country music world mourns the loss of Naomi Judd, the legendary singer is being remembered for the way she spoke publicly about her battle with mental health, opening up about a struggle that is often kept private.
Judd’s death at the age of 76 was announced Saturday by her daughters, Ashley Judd, an actress and activist, and Wynonna Judd, with whom she performed as part of the duo The Judds.
The sisters wrote in a statement that they “lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness.”
“Today, we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” they said in a statement. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”
Naomi Judd, who was to be inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame, a recognition her daughters received on her behalf, told ABC News’ Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts in 2016 about her battle with what she called treatment-resistant depression and anxiety.
“When people meet me, they think, because they see me in rhinestones, you know, with glitter in my hair, that really is who I am,” Naomi Judd said, speaking of her fans. “I’m sort of a fantasy ’cause I want to provide that for them, but then I would come home and not leave the house for three weeks and not get out of my pajamas, not practice normal hygiene. It was really bad.”
The “Love Can Build a Bridge” singer said her battle with depression began six years prior, in 2011, during The Judds’ encore tour and the airing of their reality TV show. Two decades earlier, in 1991, the mother-daughter duo had stopped performing together after Naomi Judd was diagnosed with hepatitis C.
Judd told Roberts she battled a “completely debilitating and life-threatening” depression that led to several stints in psychiatric wards, where she was treated with a heavy regimen of medication and electro-convulsive therapy.
Another part of Judd’s treatment for depression was to confront a difficult past that she said includes being molested by a member of her family at the age of 3.
“Nobody was there for me. In a way, I had to parent myself,” she told Roberts. “I realized that I got a raw deal, OK, now I’m a big girl. Put on your big girl pants and deal with it, and I started in therapy.”
Judd told Roberts her treatment got her to a place where she practiced “radical acceptance” and found joy in her everyday life.
She wrote about her mental health journey in the 2016 book, River of Time.
“I want someone to be able to see that they can survive,” she said. “It’s not just to help the people that have depression. It’s so the people around them can understand this is a disease.”
In addition to her daughters, Judd is survived by her husband of over three decades, Larry Strickland.
He told Roberts in 2016 that his advice for a person with a loved one with depression is to “get ready to walk that path with them because they’re going to need it. They’re going to need you every minute.”
Reading from her own book in the interview with Roberts, Judd spoke about being “still here” after her battle with depression.
“My everyday life is not only manageable, it’s even enjoyable once more. I laugh a lot. I have told my story and you can tell yours. You’re not alone. I am still here,” she said.
In their acceptance speech Sunday at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Judd’s daughters said they were sorry their mom “couldn’t hang on” to accept the honor.
“My mama loved you so much, and she appreciated your love for her. And I’m sorry that she couldn’t hang on until today,” Ashley Judd said through tears while accepting on her mom’s behalf. “Your esteem for her and your regard for her really penetrated her heart and it was your affection for her that did keep her going in these last years.”
“This is the first time I’ve talked since saying goodbye to her,” said Wynonna Judd, describing herself as both “broken” and “blessed.” “At 2:20, I kissed her on the forehead, and I walked away … the last thing we did together as a family with her is…we all gathered around her and we said ‘The Lord is my shepherd…'” before continuing to recite the 23rd Psalm.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. You can reach Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860 (U.S.) or 877-330-6366 (Canada) and The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386.
(WASHINGTON) — The House Jan. 6 committee on Monday requested the cooperation of three more House Republicans linked to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona and Mo Brooks of Alabama were among the group of far-right lawmakers who met with Trump at the White House in December of 2020.
Biggs’ name was also mentioned in connection with an effort by some House Republicans to seek presidential pardons after the riot, according to the committee.
Brooks also recently disclosed that Trump has repeatedly asked him to “rescind” the last election — in a statement made after the former president endorsed his opponent in the Alabama GOP Senate primary.
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, Trump’s former White House doctor-turned-congressman, was mentioned in encrypted communications between members of the Oath Keepers militia group as someone who “needs protection,” according to court records. He also was in the House chamber at the barricade with Capitol Police officers as they held off rioters.
Already, the Jan. 6 committee has requested information and testimony from GOP Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California. All have refused to cooperate.
Committee members say the panel has been reluctant to issue subpoenas to sitting members of Congress to compel their cooperation, given the practical, political and legal ramifications of such an action.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge overnight rejected a lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee against the committee probing the Jan. 6 attack that had sought to block the panel’s effort to obtain fundraising information and other data related to attack on the Capitol.
The decision could impact multiple other lawsuits brought by various allies of former President Donald Trump who have sued to block the Jan. 6 committee from obtaining their records from telecommunications companies.
Judge Tim Kelly, a Trump appointee, rejected arguments by the RNC that the Jan. 6 committee does not have a valid legislative purpose, and further bolstered the panel’s legitimacy by rejecting Republican arguments that the panel’s makeup is flawed.
Referencing the Jan. 6 committee’s request for records from Nov. 3, 2020, to Jan. 6, 2021, Kelly in his decision wrote “that two-month window is plainly relevant to its investigation into the causes of the January 6 attack.”
An RNC official said the RNC will appeal the decision.
“While the RNC strongly disagrees with this ruling, our lawsuit compelled Nany Pelosi’s January 6th Committee to dramatically narrow the subpoena’s scope,” said RNC Chief Counsel Matt Raymer. “Nancy Pelosi’s attempted seizure of her political opponents’ campaign strategy cannot be allowed to stand, and we appreciate Judge Kelly continuing to temporarily block the subpoena. The RNC will continue to fight for the Constitutional rights of Republicans across the country and will appeal this decision.”
The lawsuit, which was brought in March, claims the subpoena unlawfully seeks “confidential information about the internal activities of the Republican Party and millions of its supporters, which is completely unrelated to the attack on the Capitol.”
A spokesperson for the Jan. 6 committee said the information being sought is relevant to the panel’s probe.
“Between Election Day 2020 and January 6th, the RNC and the Trump campaign solicited donations by pushing false claims that the election was tainted by widespread fraud,” Jan. 6 committee spokesperson Tim Mulvey said following the filing of the suit. “These emails encouraged supporters to put pressure on Congress to keep President Trump in power. Claims about a stolen election motivated rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6th.”
The judge gave the RNC until May 5 to appeal the decision, which they indicated they’re likely to do.
(FLORENCE, Ala.) — A manhunt is intensifying in Florence, Alabama, for an escaped murder suspect and a corrections officer who have been missing for days.
A warrant has been issued for Lauderdale County assistant director of corrections Vicki White on charges of committing or facilitating an escape, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said at a news conference Monday.
Vicki White “participated” in the escape with inmate Casey White, the sheriff said, adding, “Whether she did that willingly or she was coerced, threatened … not really sure.”
The employee and inmate — who went missing on Friday — are not related.
The sheriff said law enforcement have no idea where they are, but promised, “They will be brought back to justice.”
On Friday morning, Vicki White allegedly told her colleagues that she was taking 38-year-old Casey White to the Lauderdale County Courthouse for a “mental health evaluation,” though no court appearance was scheduled for the inmate, Singleton said. Vicki White violated sheriff’s office policy by escorting Casey White alone, the sheriff said.
Vicki White also allegedly told her colleagues that she was going to seek medical attention after dropping the inmate off at court because she wasn’t feeling well, but Singleton said his office confirmed that no medical appointment was made.
Vicki White had been talking about retiring for the last few months and turned in her paperwork on Thursday, Singleton told ABC News. Friday — the day the two went missing — was set to be her last day at work, he said.
Authorities are reviewing video to see if she spent an extraordinary amount of time at his cell. She had several opportunities each day to be in contact with any inmate, the sheriff said.
Singleton called Vicki White, a 17-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, “an exemplary employee.”
“The employees are just devastated,” the sheriff said. “Nobody saw this coming.”
Casey White is charged with two counts of capital murder in September 2020 for the stabbing of 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway, authorities said. He could face the death penalty if convicted, the sheriff said.
Casey White previously planned an escape from the Lauderdale County Detention Center in the fall of 2020, but officials thwarted the plot before he could attempt it, Singleton said. When officials got word of the plot, they found a homemade knife in his possession and learned that he was planning to take a hostage, the sheriff said. Casey White was subsequently transferred to a state prison, where he remained until early this year, when he returned to the Lauderdale County facility for court appearances related to the murder charge, the sheriff said.
Marty Keely, U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Alabama, called this a “major case for the United States Marshal Service.”
Casey White is 6 feet 9 inches tall. Anyone who sees them is urged to call 911, Keely said.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering up to $10,000 reward for information leading to their capture, Keely said.
(WASHINGTON) — A unanimous Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the city of Boston violated the First Amendment when it denied a civic group from flying the Christian Flag from city hall flagpoles to mark Constitution Day.
The group — Camp Constitution — had argued that the third of three flagpoles in City Hall Plaza was a public forum, regularly used by private groups to mark commemorations and special events. The city approved more than 280 flag raisings over a dozen years but only rejected one, Camp Constitution’s Christian flag.
The city had argued that allowing the flag would have been impermissible government speech endorsing religion. Two lower courts sided with the city, but all nine Supreme Court justices disagreed.
Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the court, said, “We conclude that, on balance, Boston did not make the raising and flying of private groups’ flags a form of government speech. That means, in turn, that Boston’s refusal to let Shurtleff and Camp Constitution raise their flag based on its religious viewpoint ‘abridg[ed]’ their ‘freedom of speech.'”
Breyer said the city’s “lack of meaningful involvement in the selection of flags or the crafting of their messages” suggested that the displays could not be reasonably considered government speech.
He left the door open, however, for the city to change its policies and restrict access to its flagpoles by private groups.
“Nothing prevents Boston from changing its policies going forward,” Breyer concluded.
In a series of concurring opinions, Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch chided the city for discriminating against the Christian Flag.
“Under the Constitution, a government may not treat religious persons, religious organizations or religious speech as second-class,” Kavanaugh wrote.
Justice Alito argued that a more stringent standard is needed for limiting religious expression in public spaces.
“Government speech occurs if — but only if — a government purposefully expresses a message of its own,” he wrote.
Justice Gorsuch, joined by Justice Thomas, said the court needs to clarify that religious discrimination in public spaces cannot be tolerated.
“Boston’s travails supply a cautionary tale for other localities and lower courts,” he wrote.
Ahead of the decision, Boston suggested it may change its policy to disallow use of its flagpoles by private groups if the court ruled against it. City officials did not immediately respond to request for comment on the outcome in the case.
Hal Shurtleff, founder of Camp Constitution, told ABC News in January that he hoped a victory would allow the group to raise the flag in City Hall Plaza on Constitution Day in September.
(PARKLAND, Fla.) — Jury selection in the death penalty trial of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz is set to resume on Monday after dissolving into disarray last week when the presiding judge admitted she erroneously dismissed prospective jurors and other would-be panelists were cut loose for threatening the defendant.
The 23-year-old Cruz has pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder stemming from the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The Broward County Circuit Court jury being picked for the case will eventually recommend if Cruz, 23, should be sentenced to death or be sent to prison for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole.
Presiding Judge Elizabeth Scherer admitted last week that she made an error on April 5, the second day of jury selection, when she asked would-be jurors if they could follow the law if picked to serve on the case and then dismissed 11 who said they could not.
Scherer acknowledged that she should have allowed attorneys for the defense and prosecution to question the prospective candidates about their answers before dismissing them. She initially ruled that she was starting jury selection over, but then reversed her decision after hearing an argument from the defense.
Scherer’s mistake prompted defense attorneys to file a motion accusing the court of committing double jeopardy and asking that the death penalty phase of the case be declared a mistrial and that Cruz be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In an attempt to remedy her error, Scherer is summoning back to court on Monday the 11 jurors she dismissed to be questioned and possibly be rehabilitated and added to a pool of more than 300 candidates.
For the initial phase of jury selection, questions should have been limited to whether the potential jurors had a hardship that prevented them from serving on the case, which is expected to last four to six months. More probing questions like the one the judge asked should have been reserved for the voir dire phase of jury selection, when prosecutors and defense attorneys are given the chance to grill jury candidates on their answers.
Twenty jurors, including eight alternates, will eventually be chosen to serve on the panel.
The jury selection process hit another snag last week when a potential juror disrupted the proceedings when he entered the courtroom and allegedly mouthed expletives and threats to Cruz, who was seated at the defense table. The outburst apparently inspired other would-be jurors in the courtroom to make similar threats to Cruz and prompted bailiffs to press Cruz against a wall to protect him.
Scherer described that particular group of jury candidates as “belligerent” and dismissed them all.
Cruz pleaded guilty in October to committing the 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre at the Parkland high school. During the hearing attended by loved ones of the 17 he killed, Cruz said he wished it was up to the survivors of the shooting to determine whether he lived or died.
“I’m very sorry for what I did,” Cruz said at his plea hearing. “I can’t live with myself sometimes.”
(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 02, 10:31 am
US Embassy staff back in Ukraine for first time in months
U.S. Embassy staff returned to Ukraine for the day on Monday, marking the first trip back in the country since February.
“We expect to continue to do day trips for the next week or two and we very much hope that the conditions will permit us to go back to Kyiv by the end of the month,” Kristina Kvien, the U.S. chargé d’affaires to Ukraine, said in a statement.
Kvien said, “The message to Russia is: you failed — Ukraine is still standing, the government is still functioning and we are going back to Lviv first and then Kyiv to help the government.”
Kvien continued, “We are listening to the security professionals and when they tell us we can go back we go back. And while we are eager to do so we also want to make sure we are listening to the experts. So, the fact that we are here in Ukraine means that the security officials just said that it is ok and safe to meet here in Lviv and hopefully we will get the clearance to go back to Kyiv.”
May 02, 10:10 am
First group of civilians leave Mariupol steel plant
Dozens of civilians trapped for weeks inside a steel plant in the devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol were expected to reach Zaporizhzhia on Monday, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In a statement posted to Twitter on Sunday, Zelenskyy said a first group of about 100 people were already en route to the Ukrainian government-controlled city, about 140 miles northwest of Mariupol.
“Tomorrow we’ll meet them in Zaporizhzhia,” Zelenskyy tweeted. “Grateful to our team!”
Many more civilians remain trapped at the sprawling Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in Mariupol — the last holdout of Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s bombardment of the strategic southeastern port city — which Russian forces resumed shelling overnight.
“Today, for the first time in all the days of the war, this vitally needed green corridor has started working,” Zelenskyy said Sunday in his nightly address.
May 02, 10:02 am
Two explosions heard in Russian city of Belgorod
A pair of “powerful explosions” were heard early Monday in the western Russian city of Belgorod, about 15 miles from the border with Ukraine, according to the regional governor.
“I woke up to the sound of two powerful explosions half an hour ago. According to the anti-crisis center, there were no reports of casualties or damage. Footage showing flashes in the sky has emerged on social media,” Belgorod Oblast Gob. Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a statement posted on Telegram.
The blasts followed a series of other explosions and fires at industrial and military facilities across Russia in recent weeks. On Sunday, the governor of Russia’s western Kursk Oblast, which also shares a border with Ukraine, said a railway bridge used to transfer Russian troops to Ukraine had partially collapsed. In a video posted on Telegram, Kurk Oblast Gov. Roman Starovoit blamed the incident on sabotage.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Max Uzol, Irene Hnatiuk and Fidel Pavlenko
May 02, 9:55 am
Quarter of Russian units in Ukraine now ‘combat ineffective,’ UK says
Over a quarter of Russian military units committed to fight in Ukraine have been likely rendered “combat ineffective,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Monday in an intelligence update.
“At the start of the conflict, Russia committed over 120 battalion tactical groups, approximately 65% of its entire ground combat strength,” the ministry said. “It is likely that more than a quarter of these units have now been rendered combat ineffective.”
Meanwhile, some of Russia’s most elite units, including the Russian Airborne Forces or VDV, “have suffered the highest levels of attrition,” according to the ministry.
“It will probably take years for Russia to reconstitute these forces,” the ministry added.
On Sunday, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said at least 30 senior Russian military officers have been eliminated in the previous five days.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Max Uzol, Irene Hnatiuk and Fidel Pavlenko
May 02, 9:30 am
Israel lashes out at Russia over Lavrov comparing Zelenskyy to Hitler
Israel on Monday lashed out at Russia over “unforgivable and scandalous” remarks made by its top diplomat about Nazism and antisemitism, including claims that Adolf Hitler was Jewish.
During an interview Sunday with an Italian television channel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was asked about Moscow’s assertion that it invaded neighboring Ukraine to “denazify” the country. Lavrov said the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish does not negate the Nazi elements in his country, drawing a parallel with Hitler, the chancellor of Nazi Germany.
“So when they say: ‘How can Nazification exist if we’re Jewish?’ In my opinion, Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it doesn’t mean absolutely anything. For some time we have heard from the Jewish people that the biggest antisemites were Jewish,” Lavrov said, speaking to the station in Russian, dubbed over by an Italian translation.
Russia does not insist on Zelenskyy’s surrender, Lavrov said, but wants the Ukrainian president to order “neo-Nazi battalions to halt resistance, lay down their arms and let civilian hostages go.” Lavrov alleged that Moscow only seeks to guarantee the security of pro-Russia Ukrainians in the eastern regions.
Lavrov’s comments came at a time when Israel, which was created as a refuge for Jews in the wake of the Holocaust, has sought to remain neutral amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. However, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid condemned the statement made by his Russian counterpart as “unforgivable and scandalous and a horrible historical error.”
“The Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust,” Lapid, the son of a Holocaust survivor, said Monday. “The lowest level of racism against Jews is to blame Jews themselves for antisemitism.”
Ukraine also denounced Lavrov’s statement, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba saying it exposes “the deeply-rooted antisemitism of the Russian elites.”
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Max Uzol, Irene Hnatiuk and Fidel Pavlenko
May 02, 7:18 am
Jill Biden to meet with Ukrainian refugees in Romania, Slovakia
U.S. first lady Jill Biden will travel to Romania and Slovakia this week to meet with American soldiers, U.S. embassy staff as well as displaced Ukrainian families, the White House announced Monday.
Romania and Slovakia are hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine who were forced to flee their homes due to Russia’s invasion.
According to a press release from the White House, Biden will depart the United States for Romania on Thursday evening. On Friday, she will visit Mihail Kogalniceau Airbase in southeastern Romania, where she will meet with U.S. military service members.
On Saturday, Biden will travel to Romania’s capital, Bucharest, to meet with Romanian government officials, U.S. embassy personnel, humanitarian aid workers as well as educators who are helping teach displaced Ukrainian children. She will then travel to Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, to meet with U.S. embassy staff there, according to the White House.
On Sunday, which is celebrated as Mother’s Day in the U.S., Biden will travel to the eastern Slovak city of Kosice and the small village of Vysne Nemecke, the largest of three border crossings between Slovakia and Ukraine, to meet with Ukrainian refugees, humanitarian aid workers as well as local Slovakians who are supporting the displaced families, according to the White House.
“On Mother’s Day, she will meet with Ukrainian mothers and children who have been forced to flee their home country because of Putin’s war,” the White House said in a statement.
On Monday, Biden will meet with Slovakian government officials before heading back to the U.S.
-ABC News’ Armando Garcia
May 02, 5:48 am
Pelosi leads delegation to Poland after visiting Ukraine
A high-level U.S. congressional delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw on Monday, a day after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
“Our distinguished Congressional delegation came to Poland to send an unmistakable message to the world: that America stands firmly with our NATO allies in our support for Ukraine,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Pelosi said their talks with Duda and other Polish officials in the Polish capital “will be focused on further strengthening our partnership, offering our gratitude for Poland’s humanitarian leadership, and discussing how we can further work together to support Ukraine.”
Earlier, Pelosi and the half dozen U.S. lawmakers with her traveled to the southeastern Polish city of Rzeszow, where they met with U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division stationed in Poland to reassure NATO allies and deter Russian aggression.
“These engagements are even more meaningful following our meeting in Kyiv with President Volodymr Zelenskyy and other top Ukrainian leaders,” Pelosi said. “In that profound and solemn visit, our delegation conveyed our respect and gratitude to President Zelenskyy for his leadership and our admiration of the Ukrainian people for their courage in the fight against Russia’s diabolical invasion. Our Members were proud to deliver the message that additional American support is on the way, as we work to transform President Biden’s strong funding request into a legislative package.”
Pelosi, second in line to the U.S. presidency after the vice president, was the most senior American lawmaker to visit Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24. The delegation’s trip to the Ukrainian capital was not disclosed until they were safely out of the country.
-ABC News’ Chad Murray
May 01, 4:57 pm
Russian shelling of Mariupol steel plant resumes: Ukrainian officials
Russian forces resumed shelling the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on Sunday after some civilians inside the facility and in nearby homes were evacuated during a brief cease fire, according Ukrainian officials.
“They are shelling the plant with all kinds of weapons,” said Denis Schlega, commander of the 12th Brigade of Operational Assignment in Mariupol.
Earlier Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations and Russian Ministry of Defense all confirmed that some civilians were evacuated from the steel plant, where a Ukrainian military unit is making a last stand in the port city that is almost entirely under Russian control.
Zelenskyy said about 100 civilians were evacuated from the steel plant on Sunday and were being taken to Zaporizhia, a city under Ukrainian control.
The Mariupol City Council said in a statement that evacuations from Mariupol had stopped Sunday afternoon due to “security reasons.” The city council said the evacuations would resume on Monday.
May 01, 4:13 pm
Civilians killed, injured in shelling of Kharkiv region: Ukrainian official
At least three civilians were killed and eight others injured on Sunday as a result of heavy shelling from Russian forces in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official.
The casualties were reported in the residential areas of Saltivka, Bohodukhiv and Zolochif, according to Oleg Sinegubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
May 01, 12:24 pm
Pope Francis condemns ‘macabre regression of humanity’ in Ukraine
Pope Francis on Sunday described the war in Ukraine as a “macabre regression of humanity” that makes him “suffer and cry.”
Speaking to thousands of people crowded into St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, the pope called for humanitarian corridors to be opened to evacuate civilians trapped inside or near a steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Evacuation of civilians at the Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian forces have been staging a last stand against Russian troops, have started, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Red Cross and the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed on Sunday.
During Sunday’s Vatican service, Francis repeated his criticism of Russia for invading Ukraine.
“My thoughts go immediately to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, the city of Mary, barbarously bombarded and destroyed,” the pontiff said of the Russian-controlled southeastern port city, which is named after Mary. “I suffer and cry thinking of the suffering of the Ukrainian population, in particular the weakest, the elderly, the children.”
In Catholicism, the month of May is dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Francis asked for monthlong prayers for peace in Ukraine.
“While we are witnessing a macabre regression of humanity, I ask you, together with so many anguished people, if we are really seeking peace, if there is the will to avoid a continuous military and verbal escalation, if we are doing everything possible to make the weapons stop? Please, let us not give in to the logic of violence, to the perverse spiral of arms. Let us take the path of dialogue and peace. Let us pray.”
(WASHINGTON) — A unanimous Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the city of Boston violated the First Amendment when it denied a civic group from flying the Christian Flag from city hall flagpoles to mark Constitution Day.
The group — Camp Constitution — had argued that the third of three flagpoles was regularly available to mark commemorations and special events. The city approved more than 280 flyings over a dozen years but only rejected one — Camp Constitution’s Christian flag.
The city said allowing that flag would have been impermissible government speech, but Justice Stephen Breyer and the entire court disagreed.
Justice Breyer, writing for the court, said, “We conclude that, on balance, Boston did not make the raising and flying of private groups’ flags a form of government speech. That means, in turn, that Boston’s refusal to let Shurtleff and Camp Constitution raise their flag based on its religious viewpoint ‘abridg[ed]’ their ‘freedom of speech.'”
