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Officials say dozens injured, including children, in strike on Ukraine as US-Russia talks resume

March 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Dozens were injured, including children, in a Russian strike on Ukraine, officials said Monday, as American and Russian negotiators meet again in Saudi Arabia in the White House’s continued push for a ceasefire and eventual peace deal to end Moscow’s three-year-old war on Ukraine.

A proposed pause on strikes targeting energy infrastructure is expected to be among the topics of discussion, with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy having already indicated their support — at least in principle — for the plan.

Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported that the American and Russian teams began the behind-closed-doors talks in Riyadh on Monday morning. After more than eight hours, they were still ongoing, Russian state media reported.

President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff — who has been central to talks with both Moscow and Kyiv — expressed hope for progress on Sunday, telling Fox News that the president’s “philosophy of peace through strength brings people to the table to clear up misconceptions and to get peace deals done.”

“I’m not sure how anyone would expect an end to a conflict when you’re not communicating,” Witkoff said.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, said this weekend that “there are difficult negotiations ahead.” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television, “We are only at the beginning of this path.”

On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said proposals to ensure the safety of Black Sea shipping would be among the topics discussed in Saudi Arabia, suggesting the idea came from Trump and was agreed to by Putin.

The U.S.-Russia meeting on Monday comes on the heels of a meeting between the American and Ukrainian teams in Riyadh on Sunday. Zelenskyy said Sunday evening he had been briefed on the “quite useful” discussion by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who took part.

“But no matter what we’re discussing with our partners right now, Putin must be pushed to issue a real order to stop the strikes — because the one who brought this war must be the one to take it back,” Zelenskyy said, referring to Moscow’s continued missile and drone attacks across the country. Ukraine has also continued its own long-range drone strikes into Russia.

Witkoff remarks spark concern

Other remarks made by Witkoff over the weekend again piqued concerns in Ukraine and elsewhere that the Trump administration is aligning itself with false or misleading Russian narratives about its decades-long campaigns of meddling and aggression in Ukraine.

Discussing the Ukrainian regions partially occupied and claimed annexed by Russia since 2022 — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — plus Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, Witkoff told conservative media personality Tucker Carlson, “They are Russian-speaking, and there have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule.”

Witkoff did not acknowledge that the supposed referenda held in those territories — whether in 2014 in the case of Crimea or 2022 in the other regions — were widely dismissed by Western powers, human rights organizations and international bodies as fraudulent and illegitimate.

In September 2022, then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. “does not, and will never, recognize any of the Kremlin’s claims to sovereignty over parts of Ukraine that it’s seized by force and now purports to incorporate into Russia.”

Witkoff also touted the apparent warm relationship between Trump and Putin, telling Carlson that the Russian leader claimed to have prayed for “his friend” Trump after the assassination attempt against the president in July 2024. Putin also gave Witkoff a portrait of Trump as a gift, he said.

“This is the kind of connection that we’ve been able to reestablish through a simple word called communication, which many people would say I shouldn’t have had because Putin is a bad guy,” Witkoff said. “I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy.”

Witkoff’s latest remarks have deepened concerns in Ukraine as to the Trump administration’s approach to the nascent peace process.

“What he has said is absolutely unacceptable,” Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the chair of the body’s foreign affairs committee, told ABC News. “Listening to his interview I thought to myself: ‘Who is he? The American president’s envoy or Putin’s envoy?'”

Witkoff, Merezhko added, may have fallen for “Russian propaganda” or may be trying to win Putin’s support for Trump’s ceasefire proposal.

Regardless, Merezhko urged Trump to disavow what he called Witkoff’s “dangerous statements.”

Strikes continue

Meanwhile, deadly cross-border drone attacks continued through the weekend. On Sunday night into Monday morning, Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 99 drones into the country, of which 93 were either shot down or lost in flight without causing damage. Russian air defense shot down 28 drones fired into Russian territory by Ukraine, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Dozens of people, including 13 children, were injured in a Russian missile strike on Sumy, the city’s health department said Monday. A school building was partially destroyed in the strike, according to the Emergency Service of Ukraine.

“Moscow speaks of peace while carrying out brutal strikes on densely populated residential areas in major Ukrainian cities,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.

“A few hours ago, another horrific Russian bombing of Sumy’s city center injured dozens [of] civilians, including many children,” Sybiha said. “Instead of making hollow statements about peace, Russia must stop bombing our cities and end its war on civilians.”

ABC News’ Yuriy Zaliznyak, Victoria Beaule, Anna Sergeeva and Guy Davies contributed to this report.

Trump admin asks Supreme Court to block reinstatement of fired probationary employees

March 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court for an emergency stay of a district court judge’s order that 16,000 terminated federal probationary employees across six agencies and departments be immediately reinstated.

The request is the latest challenge to a nationwide preliminary injunction issued by a federal district court judge in response to Trump’s executive actions reshaping the government.

Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris argues in the filing that the labor unions and nonprofit groups that challenged the mass firings lack standing, saying they have “hijacked the employment relationship between the federal government and its workforce.”

She claims the judge’s order also violates separation of powers.

“This Court should not allow a single district court to erase Congress’s handiwork and seize control over reviewing federal personnel decisions — much less do so by vastly exceeding the limits on the scope of its equitable authority and ordering reinstatements en masse,” Harris wrote.

Harris said the executive Office of Special Counsel and the Merit Systems Protection Board are the proper venues for plaintiffs challenging their terminations.

The Supreme Court is already weighing the administration’s request for emergency relief in three cases over Trump’s executive order ending Birthright Citizenship.

Disputes over the Alien Enemies Act and over the dissolution of U.S. Agency for International Development and freezing of aid payouts are also likely bound for the high court in the coming weeks and months.

School choice programs divide Republicans as Trump moves to eliminate Department of Education

March 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) —
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to reduce the Department of Education to its essential functions. The directive tells what’s left of the agency to prioritize sending money to school choice programs across America.

These programs — which are also referred to as school vouchers and school freedom — allow parents to take tax dollars allocated for their children to attend public schools and, in most cases, use that money to send them to private schools.

The argument supporting this movement is that private schools often provide a better education for children.

In Tennessee, where supporters of the programs refer to them as scholarships, State House Rep. Todd Warner is a proud product of rural public schools. He’s a self-described “die-hard Republican,” but told ABC News that he believes what some conservatives are currently trying to do to education is wrong.

“Public schools are the backbone of the community,” Warner said. “On Friday nights, Friday night lights, the football game. It’s where everybody comes together. It’s where we tailgate and see each other’s family before the game. It’s where we cheer each other’s children on.”

For the past four years at the Tennessee Statehouse, Warner represented what he refers to as “country folk” from counties so red that Confederate flags continue to fly over a few homes and monuments.

“I’m in favor of reducing the Department of Education on the federal level,” Warner said. “I would love to see President Trump send more money back to the states. I’m good with that, but I don’t want to see that go to the private sector. I want to see it help our public schools.”

But in February, Gov. Bill Lee signed Tennessee’s universal school choice program into law. It joined at least 29 states that allow some form of school vouchers, including about 15 states that do not consider parental wealth.

Warner is currently working to limit the number of vouchers in Tennessee.

He may have a life size Trump cutout in his office and hang his red hat on the wall above a dead buck, but Warner told ABC News that he doesn’t mind being called a sellout in Nashville because he knows that at home in the district he represents south of the city, his constituents know that isn’t who he is.

“You know, the best memories in life that I have,” Warner said. “Some of them are in the public school, in high school, you know, with those teachers, with those coaches. And it’s that way in a lot of rural Tennessee. I mean, it’s the public school or it’s nothing.”

Florida man arrested after driving car into protesters at Tesla dealership: Police

March 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(PALM BEACH, Fla.) — A Florida man was arrested after driving a car into a group of protesters at a Tesla dealership on Saturday, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

The suspect, 44-year-old Andrew Dutil, “drove his vehicle, jumping the curb onto the sidewalk at a slow rate of speed into a crowd of protestors,” police said in a statement.

Police received “numerous calls” regarding a black Nissan SUV driving “up on a curb in front of the Tesla dealerships almost striking multiple pedestrians,” according to police.

The protesters moved out of the way to avoid being struck by Dutil’s vehicle, police said.

When police arrived on the scene, Dutil’s car was parked on the curb in front of the dealership with multiple people surrounding it, authorities said.

Dutil was arrested and transported to the Palm Beach County Jail “without incident,” police said.

There were no reported injuries among the protesters, police said.

Karen Holland, who was participating in the peaceful protest, told police that Dutil’s vehicle “drove by earlier in the day and was yelling at all of the protestors,” officials said.

When Dutil returned and started driving up on the curb toward protesters, Holland said she was “in fear for her life and believed she was going to get struck by the vehicle,” police said.

Dutil was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent, police said.

The incident Friday comes as many Tesla vehicles, dealerships and charging stations have suffered vandalism, arson attacks and protests since CEO Elon Musk began his role with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Additional protests occurred at Tesla dealerships in Colorado Springs, Boston, Memphis and Milford, Connecticut, over the weekend. In Boston, demonstrators were seen holding signs that read, “This ends here,” and “Recall Elon.”

In a public announcement on Friday, the FBI said incidents targeting Teslas have been recorded in at least nine states since January, including arson, gunfire and graffiti.

“These criminal actions appear to have been conducted by lone offenders, and all known incidents occurred at night,” the FBI said. “Individuals require little planning to use rudimentary tactics, such as improvised incendiary devices and firearms, and may perceive these attacks as victimless property crimes.”

Another recent Tesla incident occurred in Fargo, North Dakota, where fire crews found a “small fire in wood chips at the base of the electric vehicle chargers in the parking lot” early Friday morning, according to the Fargo Fire Department.

Officials said the fire is considered “suspicious” and the cause is under investigation. It is unclear whether the fire damaged the chargers, authorities said.

The New York City Police Department is also asking for the public’s help in identifying two men who spray-painted a swastika on a Cybertruck on Thursday.

A spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Trump appoints Alina Habba as US attorney for New Jersey

March 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday named Alina Habba, his personal attorney-turned-White House counselor, to serve as the next interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.

“Alina will lead with the same diligence and conviction that has defined her career, and she will fight tirelessly to secure a Legal System that is both ‘Fair and Just’ for the wonderful people of New Jersey,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Habba vowed to “end the weaponization of justice, once and for all” in her new position.

“I am honored to serve my home state of New Jersey as Interim U.S. Attorney and I am grateful to President Trump for entrusting me with this tremendous responsibility,” she posted on X. “Just like I did during my time as President Trump’s personal attorney, I will continue to fight for truth and justice. We will end the weaponization of justice, once and for all.”

Trump said Habba would replace the current interim U.S. attorney, John Giordano, who he will nominate to be the ambassador to Namibia.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Usha Vance, US officials to visit Greenland as Trump pushes for US ownership

March 24, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Second lady Usha Vance will be part of a delegation traveling to Greenland this week, after President Donald Trump’s repeated statements that the U.S. should own and control the semiautonomous Danish territory.

Vance’s office announced the trip on Sunday, describing it as one dedicated to learning about Greenlandic culture with stops at historical sties and its national dogsled race.

But White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright will be joining her, the National Security Council confirmed to ABC News.

“The U.S. has a vested security interest in the Arctic region and it should not be a surprise the National Security Advisor and Secretary of Energy are visiting a U.S. Space Base to get first-hand briefings from our service members on the ground,” National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede, in a statement to Greenland’s Sermitsiaq newspaper, called the upcoming visit part of a “very aggressive American pressure against the Greenlandic community” and called for the international community to step in to rebuke it.

Trump reintroduced his first-term suggestion for U.S. ownership of Greenland, the world’s largest island and a semiautonomous territory within Denmark, during the presidential transition. It again prompted Greenland officials to emphasize the island territory is not for sale.

His son, Donald Trump Jr., visited Greenland in early January, weeks before the inauguration. Trump Jr. said it was a personal visit and that he was not meeting with officials, though the president still celebrated it and alluded to a “deal” that he said “must happen.”

At one point, he notably declined to rule out military force to acquire Greenland.

Trump officials have pointed to Greenland as a key interest for national security as China and Russia ramp up activity in the Arctic. Greenland is also rich in valuable minerals, including rare earth minerals — the accession of which has become part of Trump’s foreign policy agenda.

In his joint address to Congress earlier this month, Trump said his administration needed it for “international world security.”

“And I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” Trump said.

Trump’s interest in Greenland comes as he’s pushed similar land grabs of Canada and the Panama Canal. Amid a trade war with Canada, Trump has called for America’s northern ally to become the 51st state, though his nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to Canada has noted that it’s a sovereign state.

Ahead of her visit to Greenland on Thursday, second lady Vance released a video saying she was going to “celebrate the long history of mutual respect and cooperation between our nations and to express hope that our relationship will only grow stronger in the coming years.”

The National Security Council said Waltz and Wright “also look forward to experiencing Greenland’s famous hospitality and are confident that this visit presents an opportunity to build on partnerships that respects Greenland’s self-determination and advances economic cooperation.

“This is a visit to learn about Greenland, its culture, history, and people and to attend a dogsled race the United States is proud to sponsor, plain and simple,” the National Security Council said in its statement.

But Greenland’s prime minister, in a Facebook post, said Vance’s trip “cannot be seen only as a private visit.”

Egede added, “It should also be said in a bold way that our integrity and democracy must be respected, without any external disturbance.”

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie and Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.

Usha Vance, US officials to visit Greenland as prime minister blasts ‘aggressive American pressure’