(NEW YORK) — Since the start of the pandemic, in-person church attendance dropped a staggering 45% nationwide, according to an ABC analysis of churches across more than 3,000 U.S. counties from cellular phone data provided by Safegraph.
For the past two years, many congregations have turned to virtual services to stay connected.
“The phenomenon of ‘pancake church’ thrived during the pandemic — eat pancakes and watch church on TV,” said Dr. Brent Taylor, senior pastor at First Baptist Church at The Fields in Carrollton, Texas.
But church leaders suggest that for most, all-virtual services are not sustainable in the long term, because the current situation is draining churches financially and dampening the experience for many. Church leaders tell ABC News people are more likely to donate when at in-person services. Also, the morale of the community is negatively impacted without the human interaction that comes with people physically attending services, they say.
Recently, many churches are starting to bounce back with a hybrid model — a mix of in-person and virtual worship — with some faith leaders seeing congregation numbers growing once again and new parishioners come to their churches.
“Attendance was smaller at the beginning and these numbers have risen to where we currently are to pre-pandemic level but we are still also offering virtual services,” Taylor added.
Faith leaders must grapple with the risks of in-person worship, while also reckoning with the politicization of vaccinates and mask mandates. Many are still struggling, their challenges unique depending on the demographics of their local communities.
“We don’t have a playbook here, we don’t have a precedent,” said Dr. Terence Rhone, national director of pulmonology for the Care More Health Plan and pastor of Mt. Sinai Church of God in Christ near Los Angeles.
Furthermore, the data showed there were differences in attendance within the counties with different predominant religious affiliations. Ten small Southern counties — and the nation’s only predominantly Black Protestant counties — lost 62% of its in-person worshipers during the nearly two-year period. That was the largest attendance loss among counties with a majority of worshippers of a particular religious affiliation.
But at the same time, attendance dropped only 43% in Southern counties where residents were predominantly Evangelical Protestant. These patterns suggest that in addition to regional, cultural and accessibility biases, differences in church doctrine about faith and medicine or church attendance policies may have also been a factor in sanctuary worship during the pandemic.
While some churches are now experiencing more of their parishioners returning to the pews, others have had no choice but to close their doors permanently.
“Pastors are feeling the impact of this pandemic and they’re just being driven to a point of exhaustion, both mentally and emotionally,” said Rhone.
The lack of or limit in attendance cuts much needed revenue to keep churches open, especially those with few members. Add to that the constant debates on which practical and affordable health safety protocols to implement, recurrent case surges and updates to health recommendations creates a crucible of challenges for churches.
“I am seeing pastors quitting ministry because they are exhausted and tired of political fights,” said Taylor.
For those seeking to return to in-person services, new variant-fueled surges are compelling religious leaders to evaluate how to gather safely. Some worship leaders have implemented mandate masks, social distancing and limits on the number of people who can attend in-person. Others have their choir members get tested prior to singing their hymns on Sunday morning and others are installing systems to improve ventilation in their sanctuaries.
These new approaches to attend church in person are being welcomed by some members.
“The COVID mitigation some churches have put in place have made parishioners comfortable,” said churchgoer Latasha Barnes, describing her experience returning to in-person worship. She chose to return to in-person rather than attend virtually, because she wanted to feel more engaged.
“When you first come in you have a mask ready, everyone gets their temperature checked and hand sanitizers throughout the church. We even seat by family to minimize risk and ushers make sure traffic is minimized,” Barnes added.
But church leaders and churchgoers say the return to in-person service can also take an emotional toll, because many members of the congregation have passed away from COVID-19.
“Church is a reminder of people that have died because you don’t see them next to you in the pew,” said Dr. Green, CEO of Family Christian Health Center in Harvey, Illinois.
And church leaders say that due to the ongoing threat, many churches will continue to offer virtual services for their members. The option of worshiping while being in the comforts of one’s own home and remaining safe has been a welcomed alternative for many. This option is becoming more and more popular to the point that some leaders find it as a necessary tool for engagement, especially during the pandemic.
“The future of the church is a hybrid model, I believe, because you’re just going to see more and more people that are following you online, instead of coming to your sanctuary,” said Rhone
Congregation leaders agreed there is a long way to go to determine a “new normal” of worship. Every house of worship will have its specific factors and risks to assess which decisions are the safest. It will take time, but many leaders are still hopeful that public health and science guide decisions that will be made.
Alexis E. Carrington, M.D. is an associate producer at ABC News’ Medical Unit and a rising dermatology resident at George Washington University. Mark Nichols is senior manager of data journalism for ABC News. Dr. Jay Bhatt is an internist, instructor at UIC School of Public Health and an ABC News contributor.
(KYIV, Ukraine) — As Russian troops closed in on Ukraine’s capital Friday and thousands of refugees continued to flee the country, several Ukrainian officials vowed to remain in Kyiv and fight against the aggression.
A defiant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, surrounded by his advisers and wearing combat fatigues, addressed the country while standing outside his office on the streets of central Kyiv.
“We are all here. Our military are here, as are our people and whole society,” Zelenskyy said in a selfie-style video posted to Facebook Friday. “We’re all here defending our independence and our country. And we’ll go on doing that. Glory to our defenders! Glory to Ukraine.”
Hours later, Zelenskyy warned during a televised address that he believed Russian troops would storm the capital overnight.
“The night will be more difficult than the day,” he said, as the sound of shelling and loud booms from airstrikes could be heard over Kyiv.
“We cannot lose Kyiv,” he said.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv and a legendary boxer, also said he will stand and fight for his city alongside his brother Wladimir, also a former heavyweight champion boxer. “I don’t have another choice,” Vitali told “Good Morning Britain” on Thursday.
“Words are followed by missiles and tanks. Destruction and death come upon us. … We will defend ourselves with all our might and fight for freedom and democracy,” Wladimir wrote on Linkedin Thursday.
Several members of Ukraine’s parliament said they were remaining in the city and prepared to defend themselves as Russia’s military continued its attack.
“I’m at the center of Kyiv and I will remain here,” Kira Rudik, the leader of the political party Holos, told CNN Friday.
“I’m a member of parliament and the leader of the party. It is my duty to be here,” she said.
Rudik said she could hear airstrikes as she spoke to CNN, and that she has had to hide in a bomb shelter multiple times since the Russian military launched its attack on Ukraine Thursday morning.
“There is lots of stress and it is not really helping the morale of the people, being under the airstrikes all the time,” she said.
Rudik said she was prepared to “bear arms,” and that she and members of her “crew” had received Kalashnikov assault rifles “so we will be able to resist if Russian forces will come to Kyiv.”
Parliament member Sviatoslav Yurash said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 Friday morning he was “looking at my AK-47 in front of me” as Russian troops closed in on Kyiv.
“We are giving anyone who wants to help Ukraine fight a chance to do that,” he said. “We are arming people who will be taking that fight to the Russians in every way.”
Yurash said the nation of some 40 million people is “not going to just stand idly by,” even as it faces a more powerful military.
“We will fight with everything we have and all the support that the world can provide us,” he said.
A past Ukrainian leader also appeared ready to defend the capital. Former President Petro Poroshenko spoke to CNN Friday from the streets of Kyiv with a Kalashnikov in hand.
He said they didn’t have any heavy artillery, tanks or enough arms for the “long line of people” volunteering to join Ukraine’s civilian territorial defense battalion, but he believed that they could hold out against the Russian aggression “forever.”
“I think that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin never will catch Ukraine … no matter how many soldiers he has, how many missiles he has, how many nuclear weapons he has,” Poroshenko said. “We Ukrainian are a free people with a great European future.”
The businessman served as president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019, when he was defeated by Zelenskyy. Poroshenko returned to Kyiv from Poland last month amid escalating tensions with Russia to face allegations of high treason, which he has denied.
“I will return to Ukraine to fight for Ukraine,” he told reporters last month.
In his latest televised address Friday, Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to “stand firm this night.”
“The fate of Ukraine is at stake right now,” the president said. “Everyone capable of defending — please help our military. Burn down enemy’s tanks and armor with whatever means.”
“The night ahead will be hard, very tough,” he continued. “But there will be dawn after it.”
The warning came as Ukrainian and Russian government officials were working to arrange possible negotiations to end the fighting, a spokesman for Zelenskyy told ABC News.
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell and Fidel Pavlenko contributed to this report.
Grzegorz Galazka/Archivio Grzegorz Galazka/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images
(VATICAN CITY) — The Vatican press office confirmed that Pope Francis made a visit to the Russian Embassy to the Holy See to express his concern about the fighting in Ukraine on Friday morning.
The Russian Embassy to the Holy See is a short distance outside of Vatican City situated on the road leading into St. Peter’s Square, and this was seen by most as a strong personal papal initiative.
Aside from saying the visit lasted just over an hour, the Vatican provided no further information nor distributed any video or photographs. The pope was seen leaving the embassy building seated in the front seat of a small, white car.
Ambassador Aleksandr Avdeyev, the Russian diplomat at the embassy, told Russian media that “the pope personally wanted to ask about the situation in Donbas and Ukraine” and expressed his great concern about the humanitarian situation and conditions of the population. He reportedly urged for the care of children, the sick and the people who were suffering.
The pope’s surprise and unprecedented visit to the embassy took many Vatican watchers by surprise, as it is normal protocol for ambassadors to come to the Vatican to meet with the pope. However, Pope Francis has in the past dropped in to see people in Vatican offices outside the walls of the tiny state when he has urgent matters he wishes to discuss.
On Thursday, Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said in a video statement released after the start of Russian military operations in Ukraine that although the tragic scenarios everyone feared were becoming reality “there is still time for goodwill, there is still room for negotiation.” He said he hoped those who hold the destiny of the world in their hands would have a “glimmer of conscience.”
Commentators have noted that the pope and the Vatican have been careful about publicly criticizing and naming Russia, some say, so as not to antagonize the Russian Orthodox Church.
On Wednesday at the end of his general audience in the Vatican, Pope Francis called on believers and nonbelievers to pray and fast for peace in Ukraine on Ash Wednesday to combat the “diabolical insistence, the diabolical senselessness of violence,” saying that “once again the peace of all is threatened by partisan interests.”
He appealed to those with political responsibilities to do a serious examination of conscience before God and urged world leaders to “refrain from any action that would cause even more suffering to the people, destabilizing the coexistence between nations and discrediting international law.”
Earlier Friday, the Vatican press office announced the pope would not make his scheduled one-day trip to Florence Sunday and would have to skip the Ash Wednesday ceremony in the Vatican at the start of Lent due to a flare up of knee pain. His doctors have told him he needs a longer period of rest, but that did not seem to stop him making Friday’s surprise visit.
(NEW YORK) — Russia’s military launched a long-feared invasion of Ukraine early Thursday, attacking its ex-Soviet neighbor from multiple directions despite warnings of dire consequences from the United States and the international community.
Thursday’s attacks followed weeks of escalating tensions in the region. In a fiery, hourlong speech on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he was recognizing the independence of two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region: the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Russia has blamed Ukraine for stoking the crisis and reiterated its demands to NATO that Ukraine pledges to never join the transatlantic defense alliance.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 25, 5:23 pm
Zelenskyy warns Russia will try to ‘storm’ Kyiv tonight
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in a televised address moments ago that he believes Russian forces will “storm” the capital of Kyiv overnight.
“The night will be more difficult than the day,” he said, as the sound of shelling and loud booms from airstrikes could be heard over Kyiv.
“We cannot lose Kyiv,” he said.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 25, 5:13 pm
Proposed talks of diplomacy come ‘at the barrel of a gun’: State Dept.
The State Department expressed doubts Friday that Moscow-led efforts to set up talks between Kyiv and the Kremlin in Minsk, Belarus, could yield any meaningful results against the backdrop of an ongoing invasion.
“You’ve heard us say before that over the course of several weeks leading up to the events that we’ve seen recently in Ukraine — the assault on Ukraine, its sovereignty, its territorial integrity, and really, its people — that Moscow engaged in a pretense of diplomacy,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said during a briefing. “Now, we see Moscow suggesting that diplomacy take place at the barrel of a gun, or as Moscow’s rockets, mortars, artillery, target the Ukrainian people. This is not real diplomacy. Those are not the conditions for real diplomacy.”
Price added that if Putin were serious about diplomacy, “He should immediately stop the bombing campaign against civilians, order the withdrawal of his forces from Ukraine, and indicate very clearly — unambiguously to the world — that Moscow is prepared to de-escalate. We have not seen that yet.”
When pressed on if the U.S. would still support Ukraine entering into such talks, or if the State Department had specifically advised Ukraine against engaging with Russia, Price largely demurred, but said that the countries were “operating in pure lockstep.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Zoha Qamar
Feb 25, 4:13 pm
Ukraine Railway Company adds evacuation trains from Kyiv to western cities
The Ukraine Railway Company said it’s adding a number of evacuation trains running from Kyiv to cities in western Ukraine.
The company said the trains can hold about 10,000 people per day.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Feb 25, 3:52 pm
US to sanction Putin, Lavrov
The U.S. will join the European Union in sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and members of the Russian national security team, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.
BREAKING: U.S. will sanction Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, and members of the Russian national security team, White House press sec. Jen Psaki says.
Sanctions on Putin and Lavrov were announced earlier Friday by the EU and the United Kingdom.
Feb 25, 3:42 pm
Biden ‘commended the brave actions of the Ukrainian people’ during call with Zelensky
President Joe Biden said during his Friday phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he “commended the brave actions of the Ukrainian people” who are defending their country against the Russian military.
On the call Biden said he “also conveyed ongoing economic, humanitarian, and security support being provided by the United States as well as our continued efforts to rally other countries to provide similar assistance.”
Biden, who met with NATO leaders earlier in the day, said in a statement, “Putin has failed in his goal of dividing the West. NATO is as united and resolute as it’s ever been, and NATO will maintain its Open Door to those European states who share our values and who one day may seek to join our Alliance.”
“I have ordered the deployment of additional forces to augment our capabilities in Europe to support our NATO Allies,” Biden said. “And I strongly welcome the decision to activate NATO’s defensive plans and elements of the NATO Response Force to strengthen our collective posture, as well as the commitments by our Allies to deploy additional land and air forces to the eastern flank and maritime forces from the High North to the Mediterranean.”
Feb 25, 3:08 pm
Classified all-member House briefing set for Monday
Administration officials will provide a classified in-person briefing on the Ukraine crisis to all House members on Monday evening following their return from recess, a senior Capitol Hill official confirmed to ABC News.
Members have had unclassified virtual briefings throughout the week.
-ABC News’ Mariam Khan
Feb 25, 3:01 pm
Ukrainian cyber agency reports mass phishing attempts
The Computer Emergency Response Team for Ukraine said it has seen mass phishing emails targeting government websites.
“Mass phishing emails have recently been observed targeting private ‘’ and ‘’ accounts of Ukrainian military personnel and related individuals,” the agency said in a Facebook post Friday. “After the account is compromised, the attackers, by the IMAP protocol, get access to all the messages. Later, the attackers use contact details from the victim’s address book to send the phishing emails.”
They attribute the emails to officers of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr
Feb 25, 2:57 pm
Over 50,000 Ukrainian refugees have fled
More than 50,000 Ukrainians have fled their country in less than 48 hours, mostly to to Poland and Moldova, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees tweeted.
The U.S. is coordinating with its European allies and partners who will be on the front lines receiving refugees, a spokesperson for the State Department told ABC News. That includes diplomatic engagements “to ensure neighboring countries keep their borders open to those seeking international protection,” the spokesperson said.
U.N. Relief Chief Martin Griffiths said Friday that over $1 billion will be required for humanitarian efforts over the next three months.
-ABC News’ Cindy Smith, Conor Finnegan
Feb 25, 2:39 pm
EU to sanction Putin, Lavrov: Latvian government
The European Union announced Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will be included on its second round of sanctions, according to the Latvian and French governments.
It’s unclear what, if any, financial impact these asset freezes have on either figure.
Hours before the decision was made, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell diplomat said even these EU sanctions on Putin and Lavrov would “certainly” not be enough.
“We are facing a full-fledged invasion of a country by another. It’s not a special forces operations like Russia pretends us to believe — it’s a fully-fledged invasion with bombing, with killing of civilians, with confrontations among two armies,” he told reporters. “This is the worst thing that has happened in Europe, if I may say, since the end of the Cold War, and nobody knows what’s happening afterwards. Nobody knows which are the real intention of Putin.”
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Feb 25, 2:24 pm
Russia restricts Facebook
Russia is restricting its use of Facebook, according to its parent company, Meta.
Nick Clegg, vice president of global affairs at Meta, said in a statement Friday, “Yesterday, Russian authorities ordered us to stop the independent fact-checking and labelling of content posted on Facebook by four Russian state-owned media organizations. We refused. As a result, they have announced they will be restricting the use of our services.”
“Ordinary Russians are using our apps to express themselves and organize for action,” he continued. “We want them to continue to make their voices heard.”
Feb 25, 2:19 pm
Czech Republic, Poland ban Russian carriers from airspace
Poland and the Czech Republic said Friday they are banning Russian carriers from their airspace.
The United Kingdom on Thursday suspended the foreign carrier permit held by Russian airline Aeroflot.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Feb 25, 1:40 pm
Zelenskyy says, ‘We are all here’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has posted a selfie-style video showing himself standing outside the president’s office in central Kyiv Friday night along his defense minister, prime minister and parliamentary leader.
Zelenskyy, in combat fatigues, said to the camera that Ukraine’s army is there and will win.
“We are all here. Our military are here, as are our people and whole society. We’re all here defending our independence and our country. And we’ll go on doing that,” he said.
President Joe Biden held a secure call with Zelenskyy on Friday, according to a White House official.
Feb 25, 1:32 pm
NATO allies must stand ready to do more, NATO SG says
Russia is demanding legally binding agreements to remove troops and infrastructure from NATO allies that joined after 1997, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday.
In addition to the significant sanctions imposed against Russia, NATO allies must stand ready to do more, Stoltenberg said, even if it means “we have to pay a price — because we are in this for the long haul.”
The U.S., Canada and European allies have deployed thousands of more troops to the eastern part of the alliance, Stolentenberg said. Over 100 jets and more than 120 ships are operating on high alert in more than 30 locations, he said.
Feb 25, 1:16 pm
UK’s Boris Johnson announces Putin, Lavrov sanctions
United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson will introduce sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on top of the sanctions package announced Thursday, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
The announcement was made during a Friday call with NATO leaders.
“The Prime Minister told the group that a catastrophe was engulfing Ukraine, and President Putin was engaging in a revanchist mission to over-turn post-Cold War order. He warned the group that the Russian President’s ambitions might not stop there and that this was a Euro-Atlantic crisis with global consequences,” the Downing Street spokesperson said.
“The Prime Minister urged leaders to take immediate action against SWIFT to inflict maximum pain on President Putin and his regime,” the spokesperson added.
If Russia was cut off from the SWIFT — the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication international banking system — it would significantly hinder Russia’s participation in global markets.
Feb 25, 12:55 pm
Russia deploying disinformation campaign to damage Ukraine’s morale: US official
A U.S. official alleges that Russia is deploying a disinformation campaign to damage Ukrainians’ morale through false reports about Ukrainian troops surrendering or through planned threats to kill the family members of Ukraine’s military troops.
“We commend the Ukrainian people for showing strength and determination in response to an unprovoked attack by a significantly larger military,” the official said. “We are concerned, however, that Russia plans to discourage them and induce surrender through disinformation.”
Earlier Friday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed that more than 150 Ukrainian service members “laid down their arms and surrendered,” even providing names and figures for where they say these surrenders took place.
“After the stabilization of the situation in the combat area, all surrendered Ukrainian servicemen will be released home,” the Ministry of Defense said.
Feb 25, 12:41 pm
NATO activates NATO Response Force
NATO has activated its NATO Response Force, marking the first time the alliance has activated the potentially 40,000-person force for “a deterrence and defence” role, according to a NATO spokesperson. This means that the 8,500 American troops put on heightened alert in late January for this mission could soon be ordered to Europe.
The decision follows a meeting of NATO ministers Friday morning in Brussels.
To be activated, the 30 members of NATO must all agree to activate the force, which is under the command of Gen. Told Wolters, the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.
Feb 25, 12:19 pm
Over 50,000 Ukrainian refugees have fled
More than 50,000 Ukrainians have fled their country in less than 48 hours, mostly to Poland and Moldova, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees tweeted.
The U.S. is coordinating with its European allies and partners who will be on the front lines receiving refugees, a spokesperson for the State Department told ABC News. That includes diplomatic engagements “to ensure neighboring countries keep their borders open to those seeking international protection,” the spokesperson said.
Feb 25, 11:54 am
Russians planning multiple simultaneous entrance points into Kyiv: Official
Officials are seeing more signs that Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t interested in a diplomatic solution, a senior U.S. official said.
Russian troops are now resupplied and are planning multiple entrance points into Kyiv that will likely be carried out at once, the official said.
Feb 25, 11:34 am
Chernobyl seeing slightly higher levels of radiation but no threat
After Russian forces seized the area around the Chernobyl nuclear power station, the facilities continue “to operate safely and securely,” Ukraine’s regulatory agency informed the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. Nuclear watchdog said Friday.
There were slightly higher levels of radiation, but they are still “low and remain within the operational range measured in the Exclusion Zone since it was established, and therefore do not pose any danger to the public,” the IAEA said.
One theory why the levels could have ticked up, according to the IAEA, is “heavy military vehicles stirring up soil still contaminated from the 1986 accident.”
The Chernobyl power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, is located about 60 miles north of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The Chernobyl exclusion zone begins almost immediately below Ukraine’s border with Belarus.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said Friday that Russian troops took full control of the Chernobyl plant area on Thursday.
Feb 25, 11:14 am
Russians going ashore in ‘amphibious assault’
A senior defense official confirms that there is a Russian “amphibious assault” underway along the Ukrainian coast from the Sea of Azov. The attack is to the west of Mariupol, which is a coastal city in southeastern Ukraine.
“Indications are right now that they are putting potentially thousands of naval infantry ashore there,” the official said.
The push toward Kyiv is going slower than the Russians expected as they’re meeting more resistance from Ukrainians than they thought, the official said.
“In general the Russians have lost a little bit of their momentum,” the official said.
The official pointed out that no population centers have been taken and the Russians do not have air superiority over Ukraine as Ukrainian air defenses are still working.
The official said more than 200 ballistic and cruise missiles have been fired at targets in Ukraine, adding some have “impacted civilian residential areas.”
The U.S. assesses that “a third of the combat power ” of the 150,000 Russian troops that were amassed on the border are actually dedicated to the fighting in Ukraine, according to the official.
“They have not they have not committed the majority of their forces inside Ukraine,” the official said.
Fighting is also underway at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and dam on the Dnieper River that controls a lot of electrical power to Crimea and southern Ukraine, the official said, adding that there have been cyberattacks against power plants.
Feb 25, 10:31 am
EU moving toward sanctioning Putin, Lavrov: Top diplomat
The European Union is moving toward sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over Russia’s war against Ukraine, the EU’s top diplomat confirmed.
But the decision has not been made and requires unanimous approval by the 27 member states, diplomat Josep Borrell told reporters Friday.
“If there is no surprises and nobody objects — because we require unanimity — yes, Putin and Lavrov will be on the list,” Borrell said.
He said even these EU sanctions on Putin and Lavrov would “certainly” not be enough.
“We are facing a full-fledged invasion of a country by another. It’s not a special forces operations like Russia pretends us to believe — it’s a fully-fledged invasion with bombing, with killing of civilians, with confrontations among two armies,” he said. “This is the worst thing that has happened in Europe, if I may say, since the end of the Cold War, and nobody knows what’s happening afterwards. Nobody knows which are the real intention of Putin.”
Feb 25, 8:57 am
Russia may be reinforcing, resupplying before moving in on Kyiv
There was an eerie quietness across Kyiv on Friday afternoon, as Russian forces closed in on the Ukrainian capital.
A senior U.S. official told ABC News that he believes the pause around Kyiv was due to the Russian military reinforcing troops and resupplying ammunition and food, and that Russia still wants a stranglehold on the city over the next 24 to 48 hours.
The official also expressed great concern about civilian causalities if Russian forces do move in. While there appeared to be a renewed effort at diplomacy on Friday, the United States believes any noise Russia makes about negotiations is simply stalling, the official said.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
Feb 25, 8:35 am
Kremlin claims Zelenskyy has agreed to discuss neutrality
Russia claimed Friday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed to discuss neutrality for his country.
“Zelenskyy stated his readiness to discuss the neutral status of Ukraine,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a daily call. “From the beginning, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin spoke about how the goal of the operation to the [separatist regions], including a path to the demilitarisation and de-Nazification of Ukraine. But that is actually also an essential component of neutral status.”
Peskov added that Putin is prepared to send a delegation to neighboring Belarus to hold talks with Ukrainian officials in Minsk.
If the Kremlin’s claims are true, it would amount to Zelenskyy surrendering to Russia’s demand that Ukraine pledges to never join NATO.
Earlier Friday, Zelenskyy called on Putin to hold talks “to stop people dying.” But he did not mention neutral status.
The comments came as Russian troops reached the center of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and engaged in fighting with Ukrainian troops.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 25, 8:35 am
Kremlin claims Zelenskyy has agreed to discuss neutrality
Russia claimed Friday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed to discuss neutrality for his country.
“Zelenskyy stated his readiness to discuss the neutral status of Ukraine,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a daily call. “From the beginning, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin spoke about how the goal of the operation to the [separatist regions], including a path to the demilitarisation and de-Nazification of Ukraine. But that is actually also an essential component of neutral status.”
Peskov added that Putin is prepared to send a delegation to neighboring Belarus to hold talks with Ukrainian officials in Minsk.
If the Kremlin’s claims are true, it would amount to Zelenskyy surrendering to Russia’s demand that Ukraine pledges to never join NATO.
Earlier Friday, Zelenskyy called on Putin to hold talks “to stop people dying.” But he did not mention neutral status.
The comments came as Russian troops reached the center of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and engaged in fighting with Ukrainian troops.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 25, 8:13 am
Russia claims to have blocked Kyiv from west
Russia claimed on Friday afternoon that its forces have blocked Kyiv from the west, which would begin a partial encirclement of the Ukrainian capital.
According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian forces also have completely blocked the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, about 90 miles north of Kyiv, and now have full control of a key Ukrainian military airport in Hostomel, a town on the edge of the capital. Some 200 Russian helicopters were allegedly used in the attack on the airport.
While ABC News could not independently verify Russia’s claims, the Ukrainian military has acknowledged that it does not have full control of the airport in Hostomel.
The Russian Ministry of Defense alleged that Russian forces are “doing everything possible to prevent civilian casualties” and “will not deliver any strikes on residential areas of Kyiv.” However, fighting is already taking place in residential areas and Ukrainian authorities said homes have been bombed in and around Kyiv.
-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva and Patrick Reevell
Feb 25, 7:47 am
Zelenskyy warns Russian invasion is start of ‘war against all Europe’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold negotiations and cease the deadly attacks on his country.
“Fighting is ongoing all over Ukraine. Let’s sit at the table for negotiations to stop people dying,” Zelenskyy said in a televised address Friday afternoon.
But he did not order Ukrainian troops to stop defending their country, instead telling them: “Stand tough. You’re everything we have. You’re everything that is defending us.”
Zelenskyy criticized Europe’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling it too slow and noting divisions. He also issued a dire warning to the rest of Europe.
“It’s not just Russian invasion in Ukraine, it’s the beginning of the war against all Europe, against its unity, all human rights, against all the rules of coexistence on the continent, against European countries’ refusal to change the borders by force,” he said.
-ABC News’ Julia Drozd and Patrick Reevell
Feb 25, 7:15 am
UN refugee agency estimates 100,000 Ukrainians are displaced
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates some 100,000 Ukrainians have already been forced from their homes due to the ongoing Russian invasion, spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told ABC News on Friday.
Mantoo cautioned that the agency has not confirmed any exact numbers.
“But there clearly has been significant displacement inside the country and some movements towards and across the borders,” she said.
The news was first reported by AFP.
The United States is coordinating with its European allies and partners who will be on the front lines receiving refugees, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State told ABC News. That includes diplomatic engagements “to ensure neighboring countries keep their borders open to those seeking international protection,” the spokesperson said.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Feb 25, 6:42 am
Russia says negotiations will begin after ‘democratic order’ restored
Russia will begin negotiations again once “democratic order” is restored in Ukraine, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said Friday, amid an ongoing invasion of the neighboring country.
“We are ready for negotiations, at any moment, as soon as the Armed Forces of Ukraine respond to the call of our president to cease resistance and lay down their arms. No one intends to attack them,” Lavrov said during a televised meeting in Moscow with pro-Russian separatist leaders from eastern Ukraine.
Lavrov’s comments come as Russian forces attacked Ukrainian troops in Kyiv on Friday morning, as the fighting drew closer to the capital’s city center.
-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva and Patrick Reevell
Feb 25, 6:03 am
Russia claims to have disabled 118 Ukrainian military facilities
Russia claimed Friday that its forces have so far disabled 118 elements of Ukraine’s military infrastructure.
“These include 11 military airfields and 13 command and communication posts of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
Konashenkov also alleged that more than 150 Ukrainian soldiers have “laid down their arms and surrendered during the fighting.”
-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva
Feb 25, 5:43 am
Gunfire, explosions heard within Kyiv as fighting draws near
ABC News’ team in Kyiv saw a large explosion and heard intense gunfire in the distance early Friday afternoon.
The crackles of gunfire appeared to be several miles north of the center of the Ukrainian capital, but still well within the city limits.
Ukrainian authorities have told residents in the northern suburb of Obolon to take shelter and prepare for imminent military action. The area is a 10-minute drive from Kyiv’s center.
The capital remains on edge as Russian forces draw near. Earlier, Ukrainian troops were seen hurriedly moving with ammunition to set up positions in the city center as air-raid sirens rang out.
Thousands of people have tried to leave Kyiv and head west to the Polish border, with some spending hours stuck in long traffic jams.
The Ukrainian military said it has distributed 18,000 assault rifles to territorial defense volunteers in the capital. It has also begun handing out weapons to civilians who want to fight and has called on healthy men over the age 60 to join the defense force, if they wish.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 25, 5:11 am
Ukrainian military claims to have killed Russian saboteurs in Kyiv
Ukraine’s military claimed Friday to have killed an advance group of Russian saboteurs disguised as Ukrainian soldiers during a gunfight in the capital, Kyiv.
The Ukrainian military released video purportedly showing the bodies of men in Ukrainian uniforms and a destroyed truck. The fighting allegedly happened in an area only 10 minutes north of the city center.
Russian forces that crossed into Ukraine from the north on Thursday have been trying to advance south toward Kyiv. Fighting was taking place near a town 20 miles north of the entrance to the capital on Friday morning, ABC News has learned.
(WASHINGTON) — Amid pressure at home and abroad, the White House announced Friday that the U.S. will personally sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, following in the footsteps of a European Union move to freeze their assets, as the West puts on a united front in the face of Russian aggression.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at an afternoon press briefing that President Joe Biden would join European allies, including the United Kingdom, in ordering direct sanctions on “President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov and members of the national security team” and said to expect more details later in the day.
Earlier Friday, Biden called a desperate but defiant President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Russian forces closed in on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and after he publicly pleaded with U.S. and European nations to do more to help, including imposing more sanctions.
Zelenskyy also called on Putin to negotiate, but Putin showed no interest in a diplomatic solution.
He appeared, instead, to call for a coup in Ukraine in a statement Friday, calling on Ukraine’s military to turn on Zelenskyy, who was elected democratically, and terming his government a “gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis that has settled in Kyiv and taken hostage the entire Ukrainian people.”
In an address to his people Friday morning, Zelenskyy called on Putin “to sit at the table for negotiations to stop people dying,” but did not order Ukrainian troops to stop fighting, telling them to “stand tough. You’re everything we have, you’re everything that is defending us.”
Lavrov said Friday that Russia will begin negotiations again once the “democratic order is restored” in Ukraine, suggesting that only once it has forced Ukraine’s government to surrender and conceded to demands, will it negotiate, with the Kremlin claiming Zelenskyy wants to discuss Ukraine’s “neutrality.”
Russia had demanded Ukraine agree to never join NATO before Putin invaded, which Zelenskyy would not agree to, though Zelenskyy wasn’t seemingly close called to NATO membership, at one point calling it a “dream” for Ukraine.
On Russia’s demand that Ukraine be barred from joining NATO, White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said repeatedly that “that is a decision for NATO to make.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price on Friday dismissed Russian talk of negotiations.
“Now, we see Moscow suggesting that diplomacy take place at the barrel of a gun, or as Moscow’s rockets, mortars, artillery, target the Ukrainian people. This is not real diplomacy. Those are not the conditions for real diplomacy,” he said. “If President Putin is serious about diplomacy, he knows what he can do. He should immediately stop the bombing campaign against civilians, order the withdrawal of his forces from Ukraine, and indicate very clearly — unambiguously to the world, that Moscow is prepared to de-escalate. We have not seen that yet.”
As Russian troops got ever closer to the capital, the Ukrainian president reportedly told European leaders in a call Thursday night, “This may be the last time you see me alive.”
“We have information the enemy as defined me as number one target and my family as a number two target,” he said in a video address to the nation Friday. “They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state.”
“I will stay in the capital,” Zelenskyy added. “My family is also in Ukraine.”
Even as Zelenskyy pleaded with Western allies to do more to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s attack, now in its second day, Biden has emphasized that sanctions on Russia will take time to have an impact, but he faced continuing questions as to why not sanction the Russian leader now.
Thousands of Ukrainians forced to flee their homes appear to be running out of time as Russian forces advance on the capital city Kyiv, and U.S. officials express concerns that Kyiv could fall to Russia within days.
Zelenskyy had urged allies including the U.S. to enact sanctions before Russia invaded, lamenting last week that the “system is slow and failing us time and again, because of arrogance and irresponsibility of countries on a global level” — but that, largely, did not happen.
The Biden administration, at first, said that its sanctions were meant to deter war, and once triggered, the deterrent effect would be lost — but under questioning from ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega Thursday, who noted that “sanctions clearly have not been enough to deter Vladimir Putin to this point,” Biden replied, “No one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening.”
However, Vice President Kamala Harris said on CBS Sunday that “the purpose of the sanctions has always been and continues to be deterrence,” echoing language from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and several other administration officials over several weeks — in sharp contrast to Biden’s claim.
The White House official in charge of crafting the sanctions against Russia, Daleep Singh, playing a kind of clean-up Thursday evening, said that the sanctions were never meant to deter war and laid out multiple reasons why the administration didn’t move preemptively.
“Had we unleashed our entire package of financial sanctions preemptively,” he said, “President Putin might have said, ‘Look, these people are not serious about diplomacy, they’re not engaging in a good faith effort to promote peace. Instead, they’re escalating.’ And that could provide a justification for him to escalate and invade.”
“Secondly, he could look at it as a sum cost. In other words, President Putin could think I’ve already paid the price, why don’t I take what I paid for, which is Ukraine’s freedom. So that’s what we wanted to avoid,” Singh added.
But even Democratic lawmakers are calling on Biden to do more to sanction Russia.
“There is more that we can and should do,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Congress and the Biden administration must not shy away from any options—including sanctioning the Russian Central Bank, removing Russian banks from the SWIFT [international banking] system, crippling Russia’s key industries, sanctioning Putin personally, and taking all steps to deprive Putin and his inner circle of their assets.”
Even with Biden set to sanction Putin on Friday, there are still major questions about what more the U.S. and Europe can do to not only punish Russia and Putin, but whether any of the sanctions can change his calculus — or make him retreat from the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Patrick Reevell, Molly Nagle and Shannon Crawford contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — More than 70% of Americans should be able to remove their masks indoors, including inside schools, under new metrics outlined Friday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that represent a seismic shift in how the public health agency plans to measure COVID risk.
Under the new metrics, more than half of U.S. counties, which make up about three-fourths of where Americans live, are now considered to be at “low” or “medium” risk because of a reduced number of new COVID hospitalizations and adequate hospital space. Accordingly, the CDC would no longer recommend that these communities insist on indoor masking.
In a press call with reporters, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky cautioned that COVID was unpredictable and that these conditions could change that put hospitals at risk of once again being overloaded.
“None of us know what the future holds for us and for this virus,” Walensky said. “And we need to be prepared and we need to be ready for whatever comes next. We want to give people a break from things like mask wearing when our levels are low, and then have the ability to reach for them again if things get worse in the future.”
While the updated guidance drops the recommendation of universal masking in schools, the CDC said it is still reviewing a federal requirement that individuals wear masks on public transportation, including on airplanes. Walensky said that a review of that requirement is ongoing and a decision will be made in the weeks ahead.
The new recommendations are a major change in how the federal government is approaching pandemic guidance. Under previous rules, the CDC primarily considered COVID case counts to determine risk. And because case counts remained high, the public health agency had stuck to its recommendation of indoor masking, including inside schools.
But that approach didn’t take into account that vaccinations are now widely available to people over age 5 and that most vaccinated people who tested positive during the omicron and delta waves experienced mostly mild symptoms that did not require hospitalization.
Accordingly, the CDC now says individuals at high-risk of COVID complications should consider taking precautions, such as avoiding crowds and wearing a high-quality mask. But for local health officials and school boards, the CDC suggests a community consider three factors: new COVID hospitalizations; hospital capacity; and new COVID cases. Taken together, an area to be “high,” “medium” or “low” risk.
Based on that risk level, which could fluctuate, a community could opt to remove mask recommendations indoors or pull back on other mitigation measures, such as surveillance testing. If those risk factors climbed, putting a community at “high” risk, the CDC recommends that a community urges its residents to return to masks and step up other precautions.
The CDC guidance is an acknowledgement that hospitalization rates in recent weeks have fallen dramatically and that highly vaccinated communities would be able to withstand an uptick in cases without overwhelming their local hospital systems.
When asked why it dropped its universal masking recommendation for schools, CDC said the lower risk of serious COVID illness with kids was a factor.
“We know that also because children are relatively at lower risk from severe illness that schools can be safe places for children. And so for that reason, we’re recommending that schools use the same guidance that we are recommending in general community settings, which is that we’re recommending people where a mask in high levels of COVID-19” risk, said Dr. Greta Massetti, a senior CDC official.
The new guidance recommends that people who are at high-risk of COVID complications should talk to their doctor about how to stay safe in a community that might have moderate risk levels. CDC has previously recommended wearing a high-quality mask, such as a tight-fitting N95 version and avoiding areas with low vaccination levels.
The updated guidance comes after weeks of pressure from governors and state officials who asked for a clear roadmap at the national level.
A majority of states have already announced plans to drop mask mandates. Still, the new benchmarks could be used by local leaders, school boards and public health officials who are facing vastly different versions of the pandemic even within the same state.
The guidance also is intended to give local officials a roadmap to re-imposing restrictions if another variant pops up, which health experts warn is a possibility.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images/POOL
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the U.S. Supreme Court, elevating an African American woman for the first time to a seat on the high court bench.
At a formal White House ceremony Friday afternoon, Biden said, “it is my honor to introduce to the country a daughter of former public school teachers, a proven consensus builder, an accomplished lawyer, a distinguished jurist, one of the most — on one of the nation’s most prestigious courts.”
“For too long our government, our courts haven’t looked like America,” he said.”And I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications.”
Jackson, in turn, said she was “truly humbled” by “the extraordinary honor” and gave credit to “the grace of God” and her parents for bringing her to this historic moment.
At age 51, Jackson currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to which she was named by Biden and confirmed by the Senate last year with Republican support. The president called Jackson late Thursday to inform her of the decision, a source familiar with the conversation said.
Her nomination fulfills a promise Biden made during the 2020 presidential campaign ahead of the South Carolina primary when he relied heavily on support from the state’s Black voters.
It’s also the first opportunity for Biden, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to help shape a Court that has grown sharply more conservative in recent years, even if his appointment will not alter the current ideological balance.
Jackson, a former clerk to retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, has more than eight years experience on the federal bench, following a path through the judiciary traveled by many nominees before her.
All but four justices appointed in the last 50 years have come from a federal appeals court, including three current justices – Brett Kavanaugh, John Roberts and Clarence Thomas – from the D.C. Circuit.
Born in D.C. but raised in Miami, Jackson comes from an elite legal pedigree as a graduate of Harvard Law School but also has experience representing everyday Americans in the legal system as a federal public defender.
“Public service is a core value in my family,” Judge Jackson testified last year.
She would be the first federal public defender to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and the first justice since Thurgood Marshall to have criminal defense experience.
Jackson has been vetted and confirmed by the Senate three times – twice for appointments to the federal bench, a third time for a seat on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Not since Justice Clarence Thomas was nominated in 1991 has a Supreme Court candidate been scrutinized by the Senate as many times.
“I think she’s qualified for the job. She has a different philosophy than I do, but it’s been that way the whole time,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said of Jackson last year. He was one of three GOP Senators, including Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who voted to confirm Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
President Biden has long admired, respected and helped elevate Jackson, sources say. It was the Obama-Biden administration that first appointed her to the federal bench in 2013. Last year, Biden met one-on-one with Jackson at the White House before nominating her to the D.C. Circuit. The two met again in recent days, sources said.
The president is impressed by her “experience in roles at all levels of the justice system, her character and her legal brilliance,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said this month.
Jackson has won praise from grassroots progressive, civil rights and legal groups, particularly for her work as vice chair of the bipartisan U.S. Sentencing Commission between 2010 and 2014, when she played a key role in major criminal justice reforms.
Jackson joined a unanimous vote to reduce federal sentencing guidelines for some nonviolent drug offenders and make the changes retroactive – moves backed by members of both parties.
“In my view, that of a civil rights lawyer and advocate who is committed to bringing justice, respect, and fairness to this nation, and particularly to my community, that woman is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump told ABC News.
On the bench, her jurisprudence has widely been considered mainstream and measured, legal scholars say. She authored 600 opinions while on the U.S. District Court for D.C.; only 12 were reversed, according to data compiled by the Alliance for Justice, a progressive legal advocacy group.
One of her most high-profile decisions came in the 2019 case of former White House Counsel Don McGahn, who was contesting a congressional subpoena for testimony. Then-District Court Judge Jackson wrote a 118-page ruling ordering McGahn to testify, concluding that “presidents are not kings” and could not assert universal executive privilege over former aides.
Earlier this month, Judge Jackson published her first appeals court opinion – a unanimous decision in favor of a large union of federal government workers contesting new federal labor guidelines that would have made collective bargaining more difficult. Jackson concluded the changes were “arbitrary and capricious” in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
Late last year, Judge Jackson joined a unanimous appeals court panel decision rejecting former President Donald Trump’s attempt to shield his records from review by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. The decision recently affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Jackson’s former colleagues and associates describe her approach as “Breyer-esque,” qualities Biden has explicitly sought to replicate on the bench: moderate, pragmatic, and a consensus-builder.
“She believes the judiciary should be accessible and transparent,” said Sanchi Khare, who clerked for Judge Jackson in 2019. “She really feels that people who come to the court or who interact with the judicial system, whether they are civil or criminal parties, that they feel heard and that the court is considering their arguments.”
Rachel Barkow, an NYU law professor, former Harvard classmate of Jackson and former member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, predicted Jackson could help “dial down the temperature” around the Court if confirmed.
“She is not someone who is a firebrand off on her own, creating and doing new things which I don’t think she should be doing as a lower court judge,” Barkow told ABC. “I think she absolutely on the merits should be a person who appeals to people of all political stripes.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said this week that the nominee will be “respectfully treated and thoroughly vetted.” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Sunday that his party will not engage in “personal slime attacks” but will scrutinize the candidate’s record.
Democrats have the votes to confirm Jackson without Republican support, but President Biden has said he hopes to win over some members of the other party.
During her appeals court confirmation hearing last year, Republicans questioned Jackson on issues of race; ties to progressive legal groups; her rulings against the Trump administration; the impact of sentencing reductions; and her work as a public defender for Guantanamo detainees.
She could also face questions about her affiliation with Harvard University – both as an alumna and member Board of Overseers – ahead of a major lawsuit challenging the school’s use of race-based Affirmative Action in admissions that will be heard by the Supreme Court later this year.
The president’s allies on Capitol Hill and among Democratic grassroots groups have begun mobilizing to promote and defend the nominee, gearing up for a media blitz to mark both the historic nature of the nomination and counter expected Republican attacks, some of which have already been racially-charged.
The White House is expected to highlight Jackson’s personal story as the embodiment of the American Dream.
“Her Miami roots will afford her valuable perspective on the rights and lives of the people who come before the court,” members of the Cuban American Bar Association wrote in a letter to the president this month.
Jackson attended Miami-Dade public schools. Her mother was a public high school principal in the county, while her father was a teacher and later county school board attorney. Her younger brother – her only sibling – served in the military and did tours in combat. Two uncles have been law enforcement officers.
Her husband, Patrick Jackson, is a surgeon in the Washington, D.C., area, where together they have raised two daughters.
“It’s a story of someone who’s always been very hard working, who has not had things handed to her, who has worked for all the things that she’s achieved,” Barkow said.
(WASHINGTON) — Amid an international crisis demanding his attention, President Joe Biden still took time out Friday to introduce to the nation his first high court nominee — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — at the White House, officially following through on his campaign promise made two years ago to the day to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States.
“Today as we watch freedom and liberty under attack abroad, I’m here to fulfill my responsibilities under the Constitution to preserve freedom and liberty here in the United States of America,” Biden began. “And it is my honor to introduce to the country a daughter of former public school teachers, a proven consensus builder, an accomplished lawyer, a distinguished jurist.”
Jackson, 51, currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to which she was named by Biden and confirmed by the Senate last year with the support of three Republican senators — the third instance in which was confirmed by the Senate on a bipartisan basis.
Biden was flanked by Jackson and Vice President Kamala Harris — the highest-ranking Black woman in government — for the historic announcement.
“I’m pleased to nominate Judge Jackson, who will bring extraordinary qualifications, deep experience and intellect, and a rigorous traditional record to the court. Judge Jackson deserves to be confirmed,” he said.
“For too long our government, our courts haven’t looked like America. And I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications. And that we inspire all young people to believe that they can one day serve their country at the highest level,” Biden continued.
A former clerk to retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, Jackson has more than eight years experience on the federal bench, following a path through the judiciary traveled by many nominees before her. If confirmed, she would be the first federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court and the first justice since Thurgood Marshall to have criminal defense experience.
“During this process, I looked for someone who, like Justice Breyer, has a pragmatic understanding that the law must work for the American people,” Biden said. “I’ve admired these traits of pragmatism, historical perspective, wisdom, character in the jurists nominated by Republican presidents as well as Democratic presidents. And today, I’m pleased to introduce to the American people a candidate who continues in this great tradition.”
As the president pitched his nominee to the public for the first time, he also spoke to her personal side, saying Jackson’s parents grew up under segregation, “but never gave up hope that their children would enjoy the true promise of America.”
He said Jackson was a “star student” who fell in love with a law career while watching her own father going to law school at the University of Miami, often drawing on coloring books at the dining room table next to her father’s homework. Jackson went on to attend Harvard Law School herself, despite some cautioning her against setting her sights too high.
Biden said she doesn’t put “her thumb on the scale of justice one way or the another — but she understands the broader impact of the decisions, whether there’s cases addressing the rights of workers or government service, she cares about making sure that our democracy works for the American people.”
“She listens. She looks people in the eye, lawyers, defendants, victims and families. And she strives to ensure that everyone understands why she made a decision, what the law is and what it means to them,” he continued. “She strives to be fair, to get it right, to do justice.”
Jackson appeared at the White House with her husband, Patrick, a surgeon, and one of her daughters, Leila, for the formal announcement and her debut under the presidential spotlight.
“I am truly humbled by the extraordinary honor of this nomination,” Jackson said. “And I am especially grateful for the care that you have taken in discharging your constitutional duty in service of our democracy, with all that is going on in the world today.”
“My life has been blessed beyond measure and I do know that one can only come this far by faith. Among my many blessings, the very first is the fact that I was born in this great country. The United States of America is the greatest beacon of hope and democracy the world has ever known,” she continued.
Jackson also took the opportunity to give a special thanks to Breyer in her remarks, saying that he “not only gave me the greatest job that any young lawyer could ever hope to have, he exemplified every day in every way that Supreme Court Justice can perform at the highest level of skill and integrity, by also being guided by civility and pragmatism and generosity of spirit.”
“Justice Breyer, the members of the Senate will decide if I fill your seat. But please know that I could never fill your shoes,” she added.
She finished by turning to the glass ceiling she is shattering, giving thanks to those who paved the way for her, including Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman ever to be appointed as a federal judge.
“Today, I proudly stand on Judge Motley’s shoulders, sharing not only her birthday, but also her steadfast and courageous commitment to equal justice under law,” she said. “And if I’m fortunate enough to be confirmed as the next associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, I could only hope that my life and career, my love of this country and the Constitution and my commitment to upholding the rule of law and the sacred principles upon which this great nation was founded, will inspire future generations of Americans.”
ABC News’ Devin Dwyer, Sarah Kolinovsky and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden called a desperate but defiant President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday as Russian forces closed in on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and after he publicly pleaded with U.S. and European nations to do more to help.
Zelenskyy also called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate, but Putin showed no interest in a diplomatic solution.
He appeared, instead, to call for a coup in Ukraine in a statement Friday, calling on Ukraine’s military to turn on Zelenskyy, who was elected democratically, and terming his government a “gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis that has settled in Kyiv and taken hostage the entire Ukrainian people.”
In an address to his people Friday morning, Zelenskyy called on Putin “to sit at the table for negotiations to stop people dying,” but did not order Ukrainian troops to stop fighting, telling them to “stand tough. You’re everything we have, you’re everything that is defending us.”
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that Russia will begin negotiations again once the “democratic order is restored” in Ukraine, suggesting that only once it has forced Ukraine’s government to surrender and conceded to demands, will it negotiate, with the Kremlin claiming Zelenskyy wants to discuss Ukraine’s “neutrality.”
Russia had demanded Ukraine agree to never join NATO before Putin invaded, which Zelenskyy would not agree to, though Zelenskyy wasn’t seemingly close called to NATO membership, at one point calling it a “dream” for Ukraine.
On Russia’s demand that Ukraine be barred from joining NATO, White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said repeatedly that “that is a decision for NATO to make.”
As Russian troops got ever closer to the capital, the Ukrainian president reportedly told European leaders in a call Thursday night, “This may be the last time you see me alive.”
“We have information the enemy as defined me as number one target and my family as a number two target,” he said in a video address to the nation Friday. “They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state.”
“I will stay in the capital,” Zelenskyy added. “My family is also in Ukraine.”
Even as Zelenskyy pleaded with Western allies to do more to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s attack, now in its second day, Biden has emphasized that sanctions on Russia will take time to have an impact, but he faced continuing questions as to why not sanction the Russian leader now.
Thousands of Ukrainians forced to flee their homes appear to be running out of time as Russian forces advance on the capital city Kyiv, and U.S. officials express concerns that Kyiv could fall to Russia within days.
Zelenskyy had urged allies including the U.S. to enact sanctions before Russia invaded, lamenting last week that the “system is slow and failing us time and again, because of arrogance and irresponsibility of countries on a global level” — but that, largely, did not happen.
The Biden administration, at first, said that its sanctions were meant to deter war, and once triggered, the deterrent effect would be lost — but under questioning from ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega Thursday, who noted that “sanctions clearly have not been enough to deter Vladimir Putin to this point,” Biden replied, “No one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening.”
However, Vice President Kamala Harris said on CBS Sunday that “the purpose of the sanctions has always been and continues to be deterrence,” echoing language from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and several other administration officials over several weeks — in sharp contrast to Biden’s claim.
The White House official in charge of crafting the sanctions against Russia, Daleep Singh, playing a kind of clean-up Thursday evening, said that the sanctions were never meant to deter war and laid out multiple reasons why the administration didn’t move preemptively.
“Had we unleashed our entire package of financial sanctions preemptively,” he said, “President Putin might have said, ‘Look, these people are not serious about diplomacy, they’re not engaging in a good faith effort to promote peace. Instead, they’re escalating.’ And that could provide a justification for him to escalate and invade.”
“Secondly, he could look at it as a sum cost. In other words, President Putin could think I’ve already paid the price, why don’t I take what I paid for, which is Ukraine’s freedom. So that’s what we wanted to avoid,” Singh added.
But even Democratic lawmakers are calling on Biden to do more to sanction Russia.
“There is more that we can and should do,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Congress and the Biden administration must not shy away from any options—including sanctioning the Russian Central Bank, removing Russian banks from the SWIFT [international banking] system, crippling Russia’s key industries, sanctioning Putin personally, and taking all steps to deprive Putin and his inner circle of their assets.”
Even if Biden did sanction Putin as he’s said is “on the table,” there are still major questions about what more the U.S. and Europe can do to not only punish Russia and Putin, but whether any of the sanctions can change his calculus — or make him retreat from the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Patrick Reevell and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Some 70% of Americans will be able to remove their masks indoors, including inside schools, under new guidance to be released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday, two sources familiar with the plans told ABC News.
Under the new metrics in the updated guidance, more than half of U.S. counties, which make up 70% of where Americans live, will be in areas of low or medium risk and no longer recommended to wear masks, said two sources briefed on the plans but not authorized to discuss them ahead of the official announcement.
A CDC requirement that people continue to wear masks on public transportation, however, will remain in force for now, according to one official.
The official said the new guidance will consider three factors: new COVID hospitalizations, current beds occupied by COVID patients and hospital capacity, and new COVID cases.
It will mark a shift from focusing on daily spread to looking at the overall burden of COVID, with an emphasis on its most severe impacts.
Taken together, the new CDC metrics will consider an area to be “high, medium or low risk.”
Based on that risk level, which could fluctuate, a community could opt to remove mask recommendations indoors.
Schools will not be treated differently under the new guidance as other indoor spaces, according to two officials.
The updated guidance comes after weeks of pressure from governors and state officials who asked for a clear roadmap at the national level.
Though a majority of states went ahead and announced that they will drop mask mandates before the CDC’s guidance was ready, the new information could still aid local leaders and public health officials who are facing vastly different versions of the pandemic even within the same state.
And it will also give states and counties a guide to re-implement guidelines if a new variant pops up, which experts warn is a possibility.
