(NEW YORK) — Even though the U.S. successfully negotiated the release of Trevor Reed from a Russian prison, after nearly three years of captivity, the brother of another detained American isn’t sure that his family member will follow suit.
David Whelan, the brother of Paul Whelan, who’s been held by Russian officials since 2019, gave an update on his sibling’s condition to ABC News on Monday.
Paul Whelan spoke with his parents after Reed’s release and said the news was hard for him, according to David Whelan.
“He asked, ‘Why was I left behind?’ And we still don’t really have a good answer for that,” David Whelan told ABC News.
Paul Whelan was discharged from the Marines for bad conduct in 2008 after being convicted of larceny. He later worked as a global security executive for the auto parts supplier BorgWarner.
He was arrested in December 2018 while visiting Moscow for a friend’s wedding and charged with espionage by Russian intelligence officials.
Paul Whelan and American officials have denied the charges.
Paul Whelan, an avid traveler who has Irish, British and Canadian citizenship, visited Russia numerous times in the 2010s, and previously told ABC News he was intrigued by the country’s the language and culture.
In June 2020, Paul Whelan was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison camp. His family has repeatedly called for his release.
Reed was also arrested in Moscow in 2019 after Russian authorities said he struck an officer. Reed and American officials refuted the charges.
Reed’s parents pushed President Joe Biden to bring him back home with a prisoner transfer. Last week, that request was fulfilled.
Reed was exchanged for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, a convicted drug trafficker.
Joey and Paula Reed, Trevor Reed’s parents, also advocated for Whelan during their discussions with the president and other officials.
David Whelan said now that Yaroshenko has been released to the Russians, he is concerned there are fewer concessions the U.S. can make.
“I think those sorts of negotiations, they take time, and they’re also very sensitive. It’s not just a matter of who’s involved,” David Whelan said. “It’s not really clear what their next steps are going to be.”
Biden has repeatedly called for Paul Whelan to be released and reiterated his commitment to bringing him back last week after Reed was released.
David Whelan said he hasn’t spoken with Biden recently but did talk with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the weekend.
“Hearing President Biden last summer in Geneva say that he wouldn’t walk away from Paul’s case, [and] hearing him this week on Wednesday say that he was still going to be working to bring Paul home to his loved ones, that’s really important for us,” David Whelan said. “That sort of outreach, both in private and in public is huge for us.”
The U.S. has also called on Russia to release WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was arrested in Russia in February, right before the invasion of Ukraine, on drug charges.
David Whelan said he hopes the U.S. can bring back American citizens who are in similar situations.
“Paul is one of dozens and dozens who are arbitrarily detained by sovereign nations around the world. And they’re all very tricky, each one.” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts put out rare, written statements Tuesday to address the leak of a draft opinion showing the panel’s conservative majority of justices is poised to overturn nearly 50 years of established abortion rights.
The statement on behalf of the court said, “Although the document described in yesterday’s reports is authentic, it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”
In a separate statement but released together, Roberts called the leak a “singular and egregious breach” of trust — but defended the court’s workforce and integrity, saying this will not undermine its operation.
“To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected in any way,” Roberts said.
“We at the Court are blessed to have a workforce — permanent employees and law clerks alike — intensely loyal to the institution and dedicated to the rule of law. Court employees have an exemplary and important tradition of respecting the confidentiality of the judicial process and upholding the trust of the Court,” he said. “This was a singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here.”
Roberts said he’s directed the Marshal of the Court — its chief operations and security officer — to launch an investigation into the leak.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Politicians and organizations are reacting to an unprecedented leaked draft opinion suggesting the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide nearly 50 years ago.
While some conservatives were quick to praise the draft opinion, many liberals decried it and people on both sides criticized the extraordinary breach of the covert deliberation process of the nation’s highest court.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., issued a joint statement late Monday, warning: “If the report is accurate, the Supreme Court is poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past fifty years — not just on women but on all Americans.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., however, had not commented as of Tuesday morning.
The 98-page document, obtained by Politico and published online Monday night, was dated Feb. 10, 2022, and labeled a “1st Draft” of the “Opinion of the Court” in a case known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which is challenging Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks.
Politico said it received “a copy of the draft opinion from a person familiar with the court’s proceedings in the Mississippi case along with other details supporting the authenticity of the document.” ABC News has not independently confirmed the draft. A Supreme Court spokeswoman declined to comment.
The draft opinion, apparently written by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., appears to show the court’s conservative majority voted to strike down the 1973 ruling on Roe v. Wade as well as a subsequent decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. That 1992 case upheld Roe’s finding of a constitutional right to abortion services but allowed states to impose some restrictions on the controversial practice. The immediate impact of the ruling as drafted would be to end the federally guaranteed right to abortion and effectively allow each state to decide whether to restrict or outright ban it, according to Politico.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Alito appeared to write in the draft opinion.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he added. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
In the wake of the Politico report and the rare leak, elected officials from both sides of the aisle are speaking out.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., along with a number of congressional Democrats, including Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Patty Murray, D-Wash., as well as Reps. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., all called for Congress to codify Roe v. Wade into law, even if that meant eliminating the filibuster.
If #SCOTUS is going to legislate from the bench and turn back the clock 50 years on #RoeVWade, then the Senate needs to pass my Women’s Health Protection Act, and if we need to eliminate the filibuster to get it done, we should do that too. #WHPA
— Sen. Tammy Baldwin (@SenatorBaldwin) May 3, 2022
We need to fight back with everything we’ve got right now. The right to abortion is on the line, and I’ll never stop fighting to protect it.
— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) May 3, 2022
We must fight. We fight by passing the House-passed Women’s Health Protection Act in the Senate. We fight by getting rid of the filibuster. We can’t go back, we must fight. https://t.co/w1ysGzDrAh
— Rep. Peter Welch (@WelchForVT) May 3, 2022
Gubernatorial Democrats from California to Maine vowed to protect abortion rights in their respective states.
Our daughters, sisters, mothers, and grandmothers will not be silenced.The world is about to hear their fury.California will not sit back. We are going to fight like hell. https://t.co/EhwSWXiZhx
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 3, 2022
Hell no! In Illinois, we trust women. We cannot let their most profound and personal rights be violated. https://t.co/ksvR0vkgw1
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) May 3, 2022
I want to be very clear: unlike an apparent majority of the Supreme Court, I do not consider the rights of women to be dispensable. As long as I am Governor, I will fight with everything I have to protect reproductive rights and to preserve access to reproductive health care. https://t.co/RYSnxxJVb9
— Governor Janet Mills (@GovJanetMills) May 3, 2022
While the co-chairs of the House Pro-Life Caucus had not commented as of Tuesday morning, the leaders of the House Pro-Choice Caucus, Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Co.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), released a joint statement, saying: “Such a move would be an unconscionable rollback of a fundamental right and would have devastating impacts throughout the country.”
Some Republicans, including Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), condemned the leak as an attempt to “intimidate” the court, while others, such as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), hailed the draft opinion.
The Supreme Court’s confidential deliberation process is sacred & protects it from political interference. This breach shows that radical Democrats are working even harder to intimidate & undermine the Court. It was always their plan. The justices cannot be swayed by this attack. https://t.co/S5eMGO0dxd
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) May 3, 2022
The Supreme Court is preparing to overturn Roe—the most significant and glorious news of our lifetime. Join me in praying to God for the right outcome. Life begins at conception. Let’s protect it. pic.twitter.com/SNdb6WUBXO
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) May 3, 2022
If the reports are true about the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming decision, this is a major victory for the pro-life movement.My full statement⬇️https://t.co/QDcy5kyw9K
— Rep. Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyPA) May 3, 2022
Gubernatorial Republicans in Alabama, Arkansas and South Dakota expressed their hope that Roe v. Wade would in fact be overturned.
I have advocated for the reversal of Roe v. Wade all my political career. The leak from someone within the court is reprehensible and should lead to an investigation but I do hope the court returns authority to the states.
— Gov. Asa Hutchinson (@AsaHutchinson) May 3, 2022
If this report is true and Roe v. Wade is overturned, I will immediately call for a special session to save lives and guarantee that every unborn child has a right to life in South Dakota. https://t.co/oIiGibCP7B
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) May 3, 2022
Meanwhile, anti-abortion organizations March for Life and Susan B Anthony List are withholding comment until the final decision is announced; though the latter noted that it would “wholeheartedly applaud the decision” if the leaked draft opinion was the final opinion.
Friends, @March_for_Life will not be providing comment on an official decision of #scotus possible leak until a decision is officially announced.
— Jeanne F. Mancini (@jeannemfl) May 3, 2022
Regarding the SCOTUS leak on Dobbs, SBA List will not be commenting until an official decision is announced by the Court.
— Susan B. Anthony List #ModernizeOurLaw (@SBAList) May 3, 2022
Abortion-rights organizations Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America emphasized that the leaked draft opinion “is not final” and “abortion is still legal.”
Let’s be clear: This is a draft opinion. It’s outrageous, it’s unprecedented, but it is not final. Abortion is your right — and it is STILL LEGAL. https://t.co/s9R7w99n71
— Planned Parenthood (@PPFA) May 3, 2022
The leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is not final. While this leak is unprecedented, it’s important to know that Roe still stands and abortion is still legal. But it’s clear that we need to fight harder than ever before.
— NARAL (@NARAL) May 3, 2022
(LONDON) — An intruder infiltrated the barracks housing the soldiers who protect Queen Elizabeth in Windsor, The Sun newspaper revealed Tuesday.
The man, who was posing as a priest, talked his way into the Victoria Barracks, situated just outside the confines of Windsor Castle. According to The Sun, the man, who has not been named, claimed to be a friend of the chaplain for the Cold Stream Guards — one of the regiments that protects the queen. Soldiers allowed him in without checking for any identification.
The UK’s Ministry of Defense issued a statement saying it’s taking the breach “extremely seriously,” adding “it will be thoroughly investigated as a matter of priority.”
The intrusion took place while the Queen was away at Sandringham. The imposter was reportedly entertained by officers, eating and drinking with them before being offered a bed for the night. The police were eventually called the following morning, April 27.
“We received a report of an intruder at Victoria Barracks in Sheet Street, Windsor, at 9.20am on Wednesday,” Thames Valley Police said in a statement. “Officers attended and removed the intruder from the barracks. No further action was required.”
According to The Sun, which quoted TalkTV sources, “The man was known to local police as having mental health issues.”
An anonymous source told the newspaper: “The guy turned up at the gate, said his name was Father Cruise and claimed to be a friend of the battalion’s Padre, the Rev. Matt Coles. He was invited in and offered something to eat.”
The source added: “It was only later when he started talking about how he had worked as an ejector-seat test pilot and had some organs replaced that the chaps started to get suspicious.”
The incident was not the first security breach in Windsor; a man was apprehended last year on the grounds of the castle with a crossbow, police said.
ABC News Royal Contributor Robert Jobson explained that it’s harder to protect the Queen at Windsor Castle than it is at Buckingham Palace.
“Buckingham palace is like the White House; it has a strong parameter with very stringent security protocols and Scotland Yard officers within the compound,” Jobson said. “But Windsor Castle is more difficult to protect — it’s open to the public and it’s a vast area with many different entrances.”
Jobson added, “But it’s important to note that in this instance the castle grounds weren’t penetrated. That said if this had been a serious terrorist intent on causing mayhem the consequences could have been catastrophic.”
An increase in security ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June is therefore likely as a result of this incident, according to Jobson.
The UK will celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne with a holiday weekend in June. There will be a special Trooping of the Colour, a thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s cathedral and a concert at the palace. The finale to the four days of celebration will be a pageant through the streets of London.
(NEW YORK) — In the sun-baked 66 miles between Tucson and Nogales at the Arizona-Mexico border, there’s only one place that’s able to provide the intensive, hands-on care so many patients need after they leave the hospital: Santa Rita Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
But since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, providing that kind of care has been an uphill battle, Amy Malkin, the facility’s operations chief, told ABC News. Since March 2020, Santa Rita has faced a staffing exodus as scores of employees have gotten sick, burned out, or left to care for their kids or other family members.
Now, as inflation has put the squeeze on staffers’ commuting costs, that exodus has only intensified, Malkin told ABC News.
To fill the vacancies, the facility has had to rely on staffing agencies that charge several times more per worker than what they’d been previously paying — all while insurers’ reimbursement rates have remained all but fixed.
Accordingly, Santa Rita is “losing money every month,” Malkin told ABC News — forcing the facility into a vicious cycle of cost-cutting that prevents it from hiring the staff it sorely needs.
“We don’t make profits anymore,” Malkin told ABC News. “It’s just not sustainable.”
The result: For months, Santa Rita has been forced to turn patients away — leaving them to travel miles away to find the care they need.
Santa Rita is among hundreds of long-term care facilities nationwide — from large chains to mom-and-pop operations — that are fighting for their survival. Many are being forced to close their doors, while others are having to turn patients away in order to survive.
According to the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), which represents more than 14,000 long-term care facilities, more than 75% of operators had to limit admissions in 2021. And more than 300 nursing homes have closed since the pandemic began.
Officials say hundreds more facilities are expected to close this year — and if the federal government’s COVID-19 emergency funding expires in July, advocates say, the situation will only get worse.
AHCA/NCAL calls the current staffing shortages “historic.” The long-term care industry overall was already expected to face shortages of millions of workers before the pandemic, according to PHI National, a nonprofit research organization. And according to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), over 400,000 workers — nearly 10% of the workforce — left the long-term care industry between March 2020 and January 2022.
“It won’t be long until the system is overrun,” April Verrett, president of SEIU 2015, which represents over 400,000 workers in California, told ABC News. “We’re running out of time.”
The human face of shortages
For Fernanda Carley, the staffing shortages aren’t just an abstract number.
Carley, who is Nogales-born and raised, is a certified nursing assistant at Arroyo Gardens, the sister facility to Santa Rita. She long aspired to be a caregiver; at 16, Carley was already taking classes on medical terminology.
But the pandemic tested that calling — and recent months have only pushed Carley further toward the brink. As spring turns to summer, her electricity bill is way up, and gas is costing her upwards of $150 per week. To pay her bills, she’s had to pick up side hustles washing cars.
All the while, she has watched countless colleagues leave for less strenuous, safer and higher-paying jobs at retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target.
“I’ve been doing a lot of life contemplating,” she told ABC News.
In the coming months, she plans to leave her job and return to nursing school.
If and when that happens, “my hope is other great caregivers get hired,” Carley said.
But, she said, “at this point, I don’t see the end of the pandemic or the inflation — and I don’t think either helps the situation. I don’t know when people would be willing to work in this industry anymore.”
The high cost of shortages
Like Santa Rita, many long-term care providers are combatting the workforce shortage by relying on staffing agencies to fill their vacancies.
“Provider organizations are left with few options to ensure they have the staff needed,” said Colleen Knudsen, a spokesperson for LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit aging services providers.
But that approach comes with its own consequences. Labor is the main line-item for long-term facilities, accounting for about 70% of expenses, Christina Crawford, spokesperson for AHCA/NCAL, said in a statement. And agencies are charging two to three times more than pre-pandemic staff rates, according to AHCA/NCAL.
For many facilities, those costs are wholly unaffordable.
Aria Healthcare, which operates three facilities in Wisconsin, simply will not hire agency providers. According to their calculations, in order to fully staff a unit with agency providers, they’d need to keep more beds completely full with patients all day, every day, than is possible based on the number of admissions they get.
“The math just doesn’t work out,” Aneillo Lindsay, Aria’s chief innovation officer, told ABC News.
Similar patterns are playing out across the country.
In Florida, long-term care facilities’ use of employment agencies is up by nearly 300%, according to the Florida Health Care Association. Facilities have seen an increase of $275 million annually in staffing costs resulting from paying overtime, contract labor, and other costs associated with hiring additional in-house staff, Kristen Knapp, spokesperson for FHCA, told ABC News.
And yet, the median pay for certified nursing assistants in 2020 was $14.82 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Robert Oronia, a certified nursing assistant in Los Angeles, says that’s not enough. And while Oronia says some of his colleagues have seen raises after shifting to agency work, those raises often come at the cost of benefits.
Marginally higher wages, in the absence of benefits, are still “un-liveable,” Oronia told ABC News.
“It’s just one vicious, vicious cycle that’s going on now,” he said. “People are just getting tired of it — they don’t want to do this work.”
Forced closures
All this financial strain has taken a toll on facilities across the country. Some, like Aria in Wisconsin, have stayed open at a reduced capacity. During the pandemic, Aria was forced to leave over 100 beds across its facilities empty, Lindsay told ABC News.
Others have been forced to close entirely.
According to a recent AHA/NCAL report, the more than 300 nursing homes that have closed during the pandemic have displaced nearly 13,000 patients.
An additional 400 facilities are projected to close in 2022.
“Ultimately, these staffing and economic challenges are resulting in limited access to care for our nation’s seniors,” Crawford, with AHCA/NCAL, told ABC News.
The situation will likely get worse when Medicare reimbursement rates drop upon expiration of the public health emergency declaration by the Department of Health and Human Services. The emergency declaration is scheduled for expiration on July 15.
The resulting 5% funding loss would put another one-third of long-term care facilities at risk of closing, according to a recent audit by CliftonLarsonAllen, a financial advisory firm. That could leave up to 417,000 patients and families scrambling to find the care they need.
“The financial pressures are just too much,” Malkin, in Arizona, said. “Places are going to close … places are definitely going to close.”
But so far, Santa Rita and Arroyo Gardens are braving the storm, Malkin told ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — Six in 10 Republicans back former President Donald Trump as their party’s leader, slightly more than the share of Democrats who line up behind President Joe Biden’s leadership of their party — a sign of Trump’s lasting strength in his party as the midterm primary season revs up.
Nearly a year and a half after he left the presidency, Trump’s influence is extensive, albeit not monolithic: 60% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the GOP should follow his leadership, while 34% prefer a new direction.
Notably, that slightly exceeds backing for Biden’s leadership within his party, 53-38% in this ABC News/Washington Post poll.
Support for Trump within the GOP, moreover, has held up since he left office: The 60% who favor his leadership now is essentially the same as it was in an ABC/Post poll in mid-January 2021, 57%, shortly after Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. That said, it’s down from 76% in a similar question in February 2018.
Indiana and Ohio go to the polls Tuesday and the spring/summer midterm primary season accelerates from here, with a dozen primaries and a runoff this month. Tuesday’s most-watched race pits Trump-endorsed candidate J.D. Vance in the Ohio Republican primary for U.S. Senate against several other front-runners who likewise have sought to embrace Trumpism.
Jan. 6
Trump holds intra-party support even as a slim majority overall continues to favor charging him with a crime related to the Capitol riot. At the same time, the public divides evenly on the work of the House committee investigating the incident.
Americans split 40-40% on whether the committee is or is not conducting a fair and impartial investigation of the riot; a substantial 20% have no opinion in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates. Partisan divisions on the question are sharp.
More overall, 52%, say Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the riot. That’s similar to results just a week after the attack, when 54% said he should be charged specifically with inciting a riot. Notably, nearly a quarter of those who think Trump should be charged with a crime don’t see the House committee’s investigation as fair and impartial.
Partisans
Evaluations of the House committee’s investigation of the riot divide along party lines. Sixty-eight percent of Democrats think the committee is conducting a fair and impartial investigation; a similar seven in 10 Republicans say it’s not doing so. Independents are split, 39-38%.
Trump-aligned Republicans and Republican leaners — those who say the party should follow his leadership — are among the least apt to see the committee as fair and impartial, with just 10% saying so. That rises to 27% of those who’d prefer GOP leaders go another way.
On the Democrats’ side, those less wed to Biden’s leadership are far less apt to see a fair and impartial investigation, 48% vs. 78% among those backing his direction.
Trump Republicans and Biden Democrats
Beyond the riot, opinions on the standard-bearers split each party along demographic and attitudinal lines.
Trump-aligned Republicans and Republican leaners tend to be older and more conservative than those who’d like the GOP to take a different direction. Six in 10 Trump Republicans are 50 and older, compared with 39% of their counterparts. Sixty-nine percent of Trump Republicans identify as conservatives, including 39% as strong conservatives. That falls to 46% conservatives, and 15% strong conservatives, among those who’d have party leaders follow a different path.
Most in both groups disapprove of Biden’s performance in office, but strong disapproval is significantly more intense among Trump Republicans, 93%, vs. 63% among other Republicans and GOP leaners, one in five of whom in fact approves of Biden’s work.
Age gaps on the Democratic side are more dramatic: Just 20% of Biden-aligned Democrats are younger than 35, compared with 52% of those who’d like to see the party move away from the president. In addition to being older, Biden Democrats are more likely to be moderates, have higher incomes and be more educated than other Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.
Those demographic differences align with a major rift on economic issues between the two. Just 46% of those who want to see the party move in a different direction approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, compared with 81% of Biden Democrats. Biden Democrats also are more apt to say good jobs are available in their community, and are far less apt to express upset about inflation.
Ultimately, Trump Republicans and Biden Democrats share a characteristic that suggests they’ll continue to hold sway: They’re both more likely than others to be registered to vote and to say they’re certain to vote in November.
Methodology
This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone April 24-28, 2022, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 1,004 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 percentage points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 29-25-40%, Democrats-Republicans-independents.
The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates with sampling and data collection by Abt Associates. See details on the survey’s methodology here.
(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, 3:22 pm
Biden to deliver remarks on security assistance while at Javelin missile facility
President Joe Biden will head to Troy, Alabama, on Tuesday to visit a Lockheed Martin facility that manufactures weapons systems such as Javelin anti-tank missiles, which have been key in Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
Javelin missiles “are lightweight, portable, shoulder fired, anti-tank weapons system that can hit targets up to 2.5 miles away,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. “They’re highly lethal, and we’ve sent over 5,500 Javelin anti-armor systems to Ukraine to support the Ukrainian people’s fight for freedom.”
This facility can manufacture up to 2,100 Javelins per year, Psaki said.
She said Biden will also “deliver remarks about the security assistance we are providing, highlighting the urgency of the request to Congress to pass funding quickly to help Ukraine continue to succeed against Russian aggression and to make sure that the United States and our allies can replenish our own stocks of weapons to replace what we have sent to Ukraine.”
Asked if there is any concern about depleting stockpiles if the U.S. keeps up this pace of giving Javelin missiles to Ukraine, Psaki said the Department of Defense ensures that the U.S. maintains enough to defend itself.
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
May 02, 2:14 pm
Russians leaving Mariupol, progress in Donbas ‘minimal at best’: US
Russia’s progress in Ukraine’s Donbas region remains “minimal at best,” with troops slowed by morale problems, supply issues and risk aversion in combat, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday.
“They are not making the progress that they had scheduled to make, that progress is uneven and incremental,” the official said.
The official added, “That’s not just because of Russian planning or lack of logistics — a lot of it is because the Ukrainians have really been resisting quite well.”
And Russia’s gains, particularly east of Izium and in the city of Popasna in eastern Ukraine, have been fleeting, the official said.
“What we saw there in Popasna is not unlike what we’ve seen in other hamlets in the Donbas — they’ll move in and then declare victory, and then withdraw their troops only to let the Ukrainians take it back. So there was a lot of back and forth over the last couple of days,” the official said.
Russian troops have also been leaving the Mariupol area to push north and northwest in recent days, according to the official.
“Largely the efforts around Mariupol for the Russians are now in the realm of airstrikes,” the official said.
Russia is likely pushing these troops north as part of its plan to encircle and trap Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region, according to the official.
More Ukrainian troops are completing training on the U.S.-made M777 howitzer system at multiple sites outside of Ukraine, according to the official. Ukrainians have also completed training on the Phoenix Ghost drone system.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
May 02, 12:37 pm
Top Russian general visited Donbas last week: US
Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, spent several days in Ukraine’s Donbas region last week, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday.
The U.S. believes Gerasimov is now back in Russia, the official said.
The official couldn’t confirm whether the general was targeted by Ukrainian forces during his visit and said the purpose of his trip is not clear to U.S. officials.
“It’s certainly possible that his trip was a manner of oversight and trying to gauge for himself what was going on in the Donbas. But what he came away with, what he learned, what he transmitted to his commanders, if anything, we just don’t know,” the official said.
May 02, 12:29 pm
Ukraine claims it targeted two Russian naval vessels
Valeriy Zaluzhniy, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, said Ukrainian troops targeted two Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea on Monday.
He shared video on his Facebook page that he says shows drones striking the boats.
Russian officials have not confirmed the strikes.
May 02, 11:29 am
School in Luhansk region destroyed in shelling
The Lysychansk Gymnasium, an acclaimed secondary school in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, burned to the ground after coming under fire in targeted shelling, said Serhiy Haidai, the head of Luhansk’s Regional Military Administration. The school was more than a century old.
May 02, 11:23 am
Ukraine regains control over several areas near Kharkiv
Ukrainian forces have carried out an offensive in the country’s Kharkiv region, taking back control of several settlements, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said Monday. This includes the settlements of Verkhnya Rohanka, Ruska Lozova, Slobidske and Prilesne.
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) — Ohioans head to the polls Tuesday to vote in Democratic and Republican primaries, featuring multiple hotly contested races, including battles for governor, secretary of state and U.S. Senate.
The race to replace Sen. Rob Portman, who is retiring, features a crowded Republican primary in which former President Donald Trump’s endorsement powers will be tested.
In the GOP Senate primary, almost all the candidates have centered their campaigns around being a Trump conservative. But it was a “never-Trumper” turned Trump ally, J.D. Vance, who scored Trump’s coveted endorsement, upending the race.
In the days leading up to the Ohio primary, Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group backing Republican candidate and former Ohio treasurer Josh Mandel, released an ad attacking Vance and questioning Trump’s endorsement of him.
The ad features previous comments from Vance criticizing Trump supporters by saying they voted for the former president for racist reasons.
Other notable Republicans vying for the nomination include Mike Gibbons, a wealthy businessman, Jane Timken, former chairwoman of the Ohio GOP, and Ohio state Sen. Matt Dolan.
Unlike his opponents, Dolan has distanced himself from Trump, saying his campaign is focused on Ohioans and that Republicans focusing on the results of the 2020 election are taking the wrong approach.
On the other side of the aisle, three candidates are running in the House Democratic primary. Rep. Tim Ryan, who briefly ran for president in 2020 and has long represented the working class Youngstown area, is the clear frontrunner. The other candidates in the race are Traci Johnson and Morgan Harper.
In the GOP gubernatorial primary, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who is seeking a second term, is favored to win. He faces a spirited faceoff with members of his own party who were disappointed with his relatively strict response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Republicans looking to replace DeWine include former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, former state Rep. Ron Hood and Joe Blystone, a farmer who jumped into the race. Trump has not endorsed in the contest, but Renacci has campaigned on Trumpism and has cited Trump’s support of him in 2018 during his failed campaign for Senate.
Ohio’s secretary of state race has received more attention than in previous election cycles. A greater focus has been placed on the top election position of overseeing and validating election results following the 2020 election. Ohio GOP Secretary of State Frank LaRose faces a primary challenger in John Adams. Adams has expressed unfounded doubts about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election results, whereas LaRose has danced around the issue.
LaRose acknowledged President Joe Biden as the legitimate president, but his campaign borrows Trump’s rhetoric of “protecting elections,” and LaRose has campaigned on fighting voter fraud despite no evidence it is a widespread problem. Trump endorsed LaRose and is considered likely to win and continue on to the general election.
Multiple House races will play out throughout the state Tuesday but the rematch between Rep. Shontel Brown and Nina Turner for Ohio’s 11th Congressional District will be one of the most closely watched of the night. Brown was first elected in a special election following Marcia Fudge’s appointment to serve as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Brown and Turner’s rematch is viewed as a reflection of the divisions between the Democratic Party’s progressive and establishment wings. Progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have endorsed Turner. Biden, however, endorsed Brown on Friday, calling her “an ardent advocate for the people of Ohio and a true partner in Congress.”
Turner and Brown approached the campaign trail from different ends of the Democratic political spectrum. Turner, a former co-chairwoman of Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, has heavily criticized the Democratic Party and Biden in the past and her previous loss to Brown was seen as a win for the Democratic establishment. On Monday night, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leading left-wing voice, threw her support behind Turner.
Over 100,000 votes have already been cast statewide, and 182,000 absentee ballots had been requested as of the end of early voting on April 22, according to LaRose.
“As I’ve visited county boards of elections this month during early voting and spoken with voters, what I’ve seen firsthand are the high standards of accessibility and security which make our state a national model,” the secretary of state said in a statement reporting early voting numbers.
Due to an ongoing redistricting litigation battle still playing out in the state, Tuesday’s primary in Ohio will not feature legislative races for the state House or Senate. Voters will cast ballots for governor, attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, U.S. House and U.S. Senate. A second primary will be held for legislative races, though no date has been set, according to LaRose’s office.
(NEW YORK) — A special grand jury has been seated in Fulton County, Georgia, as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
For over a year, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been investigating whether Trump and other Republican allies broke the law when they pressured state officials to try to switch the results in his favor.
On Monday, 26 jurors were selected in an Atlanta courthouse out of a pool of approximately 200 candidates — a major step forward in the only publicly known criminal investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The selection process took less than two hours.
The special grand jury does not have the ability to return an indictment, and can only make recommendations concerning criminal prosecution — a process that’s expected to take months.
Another grand jury would be needed in order to bring charges.
The move to seat the special grand jury was approved by a group of judges in January, after Willis said it was required because “a significant number of witnesses and prospective witnesses have refused to cooperate with the investigation absent a subpoena requiring their testimony.”
Last week, Willis said in an interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution that “if there’s enough evidence that someone committed a crime … I’m going to bring an indictment. I don’t care who it is.”
Willis officially launched her probe in February 2021, sparked in part by a phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he pleaded with him to “find 11,780 votes,” the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia.
Trump has repeatedly defended his phone call to Raffensperger. In a January statement responding to the news that a grand jury would be seated as part of the investigation, he said the call was “perfect.”
