Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Top U.S. intelligence agency officials on Tuesday offered a sobering assessment of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s objectives in Ukraine, and how the invasion could affect the safety and security of the United States.

“The [Intelligence Community], as you know, provided warning of President Putin’s plans, but this is a case where I think all of us wish we had been wrong,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the House Intelligence Committee at its annual hearing on worldwide threats.

Russia’s failure to rapidly seize Kiev and overwhelm Ukrainian forces has deprived Moscow of the quick military victory they probably had originally expected would prevent the United States and NATO from being able to provide meaningful military aid to Ukraine.”

Adding that the U.S. is seeing an “ill-constructed plan, morale issues and considerable logistical issues” among Russian troops, Haines said it is “unclear” whether Russia will pursue a plan to capture all of Ukraine, but that it’s already loosening its rules of engagement.

“Russian forces are at the very least operating with reckless disregard for the safety of noncombatants, as Russian units launch artillery and airstrikes into urban areas as they have done in cities across Ukraine and near critical infrastructures such as the nuclear plant, and the IC is engaged across the interagency to document and hold Russia and Russian actors accountable for their actions,” she said.

“We assess Putin feels aggrieved. The West has not given proper deference and perceives this as a war he cannot afford to lose,” Haines said.

CIA Director William Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow who has studied Putin for years, concurred that the Russian president is “angry and frustrated” by the situation in Ukraine, and will likely step up his efforts.

“He’s likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties,” Burns testified. “He has no sustainable political endgame in the face of what is going to continue to be fierce resistance from Ukrainians.”

“Putin has commented privately and publicly over the years that he doesn’t believe Ukraine’s a real country,” Burns continued. “He’s dead wrong about that — real countries fight back. And that’s what the Ukrainians have done quite heroically over the last 12 days.”

“I think he’s been unsettled by the Western reaction and allied resolve particularly some of the decisions the German government has taken. I think he’s been unsettled by the performance of his own military,” he said. “The big countries don’t get to swallow up small countries just because they can.”

He called Putin’s actions in the past two weeks “premeditated and savage.”

Asked about Putin’s mental state, Burns did not answer directly, but did say Putin’s views on Ukraine have “hardened over the years.”

“I think he’s far more insulated from other points of view and people who would challenge or question his views in but in my opinion that doesn’t make him crazy, but it makes them extremely difficult to deal with because of the hardening of his views over time and a narrowing of his inner circle,” he said.

National Security Agency Director Gen. Paukl Nakasone said the U.S. had gamed out scenarios for a Russian cyberattack.

“We have to get better , we have to harden our infrastructure and have ability to be resilient,” he said.

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(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — The Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by LGBTQ activists, has now been passed by both the Florida Senate and House. The bill would limit what classrooms can teach about sexual orientation and gender identity.

Under this legislation, these lessons “may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

The bill would also allow parents to sue schools or teachers that engage in these topics.

If the bill is ultimately signed into law, it would go into effect July 1. Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he supports the bill, though he hasn’t explicitly said he will sign it if it crosses his desk.

LGBTQ activists and advocates slammed the decision to move the legislation forward, saying it will harm queer youth by shunning representation and inclusion from classrooms. They also say erasing the presence of the LGBTQ community from lessons implies students should be ashamed or should suppress their gender identity or sexual orientation.

In a recent interview on ABC News’ podcast “Start Here,” Florida state Rep. Joe Harding defended the bill, which he introduced. He said the bill would not prohibit people from talking about gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms, as the bill once stated, but that it would ban curriculum and lessons.

“What we’re preventing is a school district deciding they’re going to create a curriculum to insert themselves,” Harding said.

He said the decision to talk about these topics should be left to the parents.

“Families are families,” Harding said. “Let the families be families. The school district doesn’t need to insert themselves at that point when children are still learning how to read and do basic math.”

The Biden administration has denounced the bill as anti-LGBTQI+.

“I want every member of the LGBTQI+ community — especially the kids who will be impacted by this hateful bill — to know that you are loved and accepted just as you are,” President Joe Biden said in a Feb. 8 Twitter post.

Similar bills have been seen in several other states including Tennessee, Indiana, Oklahoma and Kansas.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. will ban imports of Russian oil and other energy products, but will not be joined in doing so by many European allies and partners.

The move is expected to trigger sharply higher gasoline and other energy prices in the U.S. and worldwide.

Speaking from the White House, he said it means “the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.”

The decision was made in “close consultation” with U.S. allies, some of whom he said would not be “in a position” to do the same but he stressed the alliance remained united.

Biden has been under growing political pressure from both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill to go forward with a ban even though the White House initially resisted, saying it wasn’t in the U.S. “strategic interest” to limit the world’s energy supply and drive up gasoline prices.

On Monday, top lawmakers announced they had come to a deal on bipartisan legislation that would punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, by banning the import of Russian oil and other energy products — as well as suspending normal trade relations with Russia and a House vote was expected this week.

Biden’s announcement is likely to cause gasoline prices in the U.S. — already at record highs — to soar even higher.

“I’m going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike here at home,” Biden said.

About 8% of U.S. imports of crude oil and petroleum products came from Russia last year, according to preliminary U.S. government data; 3% of U.S. oil came from Russia.

White House officials also say the impact on Russia, which sent just 1% of its oil exports to the U.S. in 2020, would not be great — especially when its oil and gas sector is already “de facto sanctioned” because of harsh restrictions on Russian banks.

There is less appetite in Europe for a ban on Russian oil and gas imports, since European nations rely heavily on Russia for their energy needs — nearly half of Russian oil exports go to Europe, according to U.S. government figures — and analysts say a ban would raise Europe’s energy prices significantly.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act, which would make lynching a hate crime under federal law, now heads to President Biden’s desk.

The Senate unanimously passed the bill on Monday.

Congress has failed to pass anti-lynching legislation over 200 times. The bill is the first legislation of its kind in more than 100 years that has a chance at being signed into law.

“While this will not erase the horrific injustices to which 10s of 1000s of African Americans have been subjected over the generations, nor fully heal the terror inflicted on countless others, it is an important step forward as we continue the work of confronting our nation’s past in pursuit of a brighter and more just future,” said Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor.

Lynchings were used to murder and terrorize the Black community in the U.S., predominantly in the South, from the 1880s to 1960s, the NAACP states. The Equal Justice Initiative, a racial justice advocacy and research organization, has documented nearly 6,500 racial terror lynchings in America between 1865 and 1950.

An offense can be prosecuted as a lynching when the offender conspires to commit a hate crime that results in someone’s death or serious bodily injury under this bill. This includes kidnapping and aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to kidnap, abuse, or kill.

A perpetrator can be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for lynching alone, raising the maximum sentence by 20 years from previous versions of the legislation.

The act is named after 14-year-old Emmett Till, who was kidnapped, beaten and lynched in Mississippi in August 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman.

His death remains a symbol of racism and brutality against Blacks in the U.S.

“If Emmett Till was still with us, his family might call him granddad,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said in a tweet. “Tonight, after decades of delay, Congress passed the bill named for him. When President Biden signs it, lynching will become a federal hate crime. I’m thinking of our ancestors and our babies tonight.”

Black Americans remain the most targeted group in the U.S. when it comes to reported hate crimes. They made up 2,871 of the 8,263 reported hate crimes in 2020 — or 34% — according to the FBI.

“By passing my Emmett Till Antilynching Act, the House has sent a resounding message that our nation is finally reckoning with one of the darkest and most horrific periods of our history and that we are morally and legally committed to changing course,” said Rep. Bobby L. Rush, D-Ill., after the House passed the bill.

ABC News’ Rachel Scott contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will announce as early as Tuesday that the U.S. will ban imports of Russian oil, a source told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega.

The White House said Tuesday morning that Biden has added a 10:30 a.m. event to his schedule about “actions to continue to hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine.”

He has been under pressure from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress to go forward with a ban.

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(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Demonstrators gathered in front of and inside the Florida State Capitol on Monday to stop the legislation that has been dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

“We say gay,” they chanted, the sound echoing throughout the halls as they anticipated a vote on the bill expected Monday.

Speeches and chants were held throughout the day as the Florida Senate debated the legislation. However, the crowd fell silent when a youth organizer read off a list of names of LGBTQ people who have died by suicide after experiencing anti-LGBTQ hate.

“When you come to our schools to instill hate, bigotry, and fear, we will stand up, speak up, and fight back,” Maxx Fenning, founder of the LGBTQ youth advocacy organization PRISM, said at the protest. “Our passion knows no distance and we will never be silenced!”

The bill would limit curricula on sexual orientation and gender identity in some classrooms and would allow parents to take legal action against school systems if they violate this policy.

In protest, walkouts statewide have taken students out of school and onto the street.

“We will get up, stand up, wake up every single day to fight for you because your lives matter,” Democratic Florida Rep. Carlos G Smith said at the protest on the steps of the Capitol.

Florida House Republicans have already advanced the bill and the governor has expressed his support.

Proponents of the bill, including the bill sponsor Republican Rep. Joe Harding, said he wants families to be able to play a role in how and when they introduce these topics to their children.

“Families are families. Let the families be families, and the school district doesn’t need to insert themselves at that point when children are still learning how to read and do basic math,” Harding told “Start Here,” an ABC News podcast.

While the bill would ban lessons concerning gender or sexual orientation in classrooms from kindergarten to third grade, it would also not allow them when it is age-inappropriate or not in line with state standards.

However, standards on gender and sexual identity have yet to be carved out, according to Harding.

ABC News’ Tony Morrison contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Calls mounted Monday for the U.S. to ban the import of Russian oil, but while President Joe Biden’s administration signaled a new openness to doing so, the president faced the tough decision of taking a step that would raise the price Americans pay at the gas pump.

Top Republicans and Democrats in Congress announced they had come to a deal on bipartisan legislation that would punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, by banning the import of Russian oil and other energy products — as well as suspending normal trade relations with Russia.

The White House said Biden had not yet decided whether to impose a ban. But an official with the White House’s National Security Council told ABC News that the Biden administration was considering doing so even if Europe did not also impose a ban — which would mark a departure from Biden’s strategy of imposing sanctions in lockstep with European nations.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that he had spoken with Biden and other Cabinet members the day before about a potential U.S. ban.

“We are now talking to our European partners and allies to look in a coordinated way at the prospect of banning the import of Russian oil, while making sure that there is a still an appropriate supply of oil on world markets,” he said during an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“That’s a very active discussion as we speak,” Blinken added.

In Congress, Democrats and Republicans in both houses have in recent days increasingly called for a ban. A bipartisan group of senators last week proposed legislation that would impose a ban, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, too, said she supported the move.

As the pressure to act mounts from both sides of the aisle, Biden faces a political quandary.

After nearly two weeks of placing crushing sanctions on Russia in concert with Western allies, not moving to ban Russian oil imports, too, could appear as it he is not doing all he can to inflict pain on Russia’s economy and its president, Vladimir Putin.

But around 7% to 10% of U.S. oil imports come from Russia, and a ban would raise energy prices, including the cost of gas, analysts say.

The White House has cited that cost to Americans as a reason Biden has not taken that step. It has been looking for alternative

White House officials also say the impact on Russia, which sent just 1% of its oil exports to the U.S. in 2020, would not be great — especially when its oil and gas sector is already under “de facto sanctioned” because of harsh restrictions on Russian banks.

But in an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll last week, 69% of Americans said they supported economic sanctions on Russia even if they resulted in higher energy prices in the U.S.

Biden has also said a priority of his is to keep the West united in imposing penalties on Russia for its invasion.

There is less appetite in Europe for a ban on Russian oil and gas imports, since European nations rely heavily on Russia for their energy needs — nearly half of Russian oil exports go to Europe, according to U.S. government figures – and a ban would raise Europe’s energy prices significantly, according to analysts.

The Democratic chairmen of the Senate and House tax-writing committees and the most senior Republicans on those committees said Tuesday that they had come to an agreement on legislation that would not just ban the import of Russian energy products but that would also suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, which has aided Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

The legislation would also provide Biden with the authority to increase tariffs on products from Russia and Belarus and aim to suspend Russia’s participation with the World Trade Organization.

The House could vote on the legislation as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday.

ABC News’ Mariam Khan contributed to this report.

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(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Despite widespread support for pediatric COVID-19 vaccinations from the nation’s top health officials, Florida will become the first state in the country to advise against vaccinating healthy children for COVID-19, the state’s Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, announced on Monday.

“The Florida Department of Health is going to be the first state to officially recommend against the COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children,” Ladapo said at the end of a 90-minute roundtable discussion in West Palm Beach, Florida, hosted by Gov. Ron DeSantis, aimed to close the curtain on the “COVID theater once and for all.”

Just prior to the announcement, Ladapo, alongside a group of physicians, made the case that the COVID-19 vaccines may not be necessary in children.

Ladapo pointed to a study released last week out of New York, suggesting that new data showed that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine protection waned relatively quickly in children between the ages of 5 and 11 years old, as compared to older children.

“Already the rates were low. So, we’re kind of scraping at the bottom of the barrel particularly with healthy kids, in terms of actually being able to quantify with any accuracy and any confidence, the infinite potential of benefit,” Ladapo said Monday.

Although the study, which has not been peer-reviewed, suggested immunity waned faster in young children relative to older children, researchers said the vaccine still dramatically reduced the risk of hospitalization.

Scientists also said it might be important to study “alternative” vaccine dosing for young children to bolster efficacy.

Following the announcement, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Florida’s decision was “absolutely not” a good policy.

“Let me just note that we know the science. We know the data and what works and what is the most, what the most effective steps are protecting people of a range of ages from hospitalization and even death,” Psaki said during a press briefing on Monday.

“It’s deeply disturbing that there are politicians peddling conspiracy theories out there and casting doubt on vaccinations, when it is our best tool against the virus and the best tool to prevent even teenagers from being hospitalized,” she added.

Many health experts across the country have also vehemently pushed back on claims that vaccines may not be necessary for children, urging the importance of vaccines for all eligible children to protect against severe illness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have also been vocal in their support of pediatric COVID-19 vaccinations, stressing to parents that real-world data has demonstrated that vaccines are safe and effective at protecting children against severe disease, as well as against potential long-term consequences from the virus.

“Vaccines are safe and effective in protecting individuals and populations against infectious diseases,” physicians from the AAP wrote in a policy statement last month.

DeSantis also questioned whether children should be getting the shots, touting the state’s recent efforts to ban vaccine mandates in schools.

“We have this issue in terms of COVID-19 vaccinations with respect to children. And in Florida, we prohibited mandating COVID vaccines for children, so they can go to school and it’s a parent’s decision,” DeSantis said. “A lot of parents have come up to me, and they’re just like, ‘yeah, thanks for not mandating, we want to make the decision,’ but they have mixed feelings about whether they should do that even if it is their choice.”

Since the onset of the pandemic, more than 12.6 million American children have tested positive for COVID-19, according to data collected by the AAP and Children’s Hospital Association. In addition, federal data shows that nationwide, more than 115,000 COVID-19 positive children have been admitted hospitals, while more than 1,500 children have lost their lives to the virus.

Alongside the Governor, Ladapo has been vocal about his stance to end COVID-19 mitigation measures in an effort to promote personal freedom.

Last month, the duo announced that the state would advise against the use of face coverings to protect against COVID-19.

ABC News’ Sony Salzman, Armando Garcia, and Isabella Murray contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Sen. Marco Rubio, vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine amid Russia’s unprovoked invasion could lead to the “beginning of World War III.”

“I think people need to understand what a no-fly zone means … it’s not some rule you pass that everybody has to oblige by,” Rubio, R-Fla., told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. “It’s the willingness to shoot down the aircrafts of the Russian Federation, which is basically the beginning of World War III.”

In a Zoom call with U.S. lawmakers that Rubio participated in Saturday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his request for the West to implement a no-fly zone over his country. But if that can’t be done, Zelenskyy asked for planes instead, several members of Congress said after the call.

Stephanopoulos asked Rubio about a potential deal with Poland to supply aircraft, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is “actively looking at.”

“How about this provision of fighter jets? We would provide the fighter jets to Poland, other Eastern European nations, they would send the jets they now have to Ukraine, do you support that?” Stephanopoulos pressed.

“I do. If that can be done, that would be great,” Rubio answered. “I do have concerns about a couple of things. And that is sort of, you know, can they actually fly them given the amount of anti-aircraft capability that the Russians possess and continue to have deployed in the region? … But generally speaking, it’s something I’d be supportive of.”

Bipartisan support to ban Russian oil imports continues to grow among U.S. lawmakers, but the White House has yet to back it.

“The president has resisted banning Russian oil imports, of course, that would send gas prices soaring even more here in this country. Do you support that?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“I do and I don’t think — you know, I think that’s something that you can construct a plan to phase that in pretty rapidly,” Rubio said. “And you could use reserves for the purposes of buffering that. But we have more than enough ability in this country to produce enough oil to make up for the percentage that we buy from Russia.”

Rubio said the Biden administration’s unwillingness to stop importing barrels of Russian oil each day is simply “an admission that this guy, that this killer, that this butcher, Vladimir Putin, has leverage over us.”

“Why would we want that leverage to continue,” Rubio asked. “Why would we have someone like him to have the power to raise gas prices on Americans which is basically if he cuts us off, what would happen in the reserve?”

“So I think we have enough that we should produce more American oil and buy less Russian oil or none, actually, none at all,” he added.

When asked whether it was “responsible” for Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to suggest in a tweet that someone should assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin and “take this guy out,” Rubio did not condemn the comments, as others, like Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, did.

“Well, look, people are watching what’s happening in Ukraine and what this man is doing to these people, what this monster is doing to human beings, and they’re very angry about it,” Rubio said, adding that “at the end of the day I do think Vladimir Putin is going to face some problems internally in Russia.”

“How the Russians seek to take care of it is up to them,” Rubio continued. “I’m not sure he was calling for a U.S. action in that regard. I think what he was basically trying to say, at least my reading of it is, I wish someone would take this guy out and remove him from power one way or the other. I think the whole world wishes that.”

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(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield is standing by the White House and NATO allies’ opposition to implementing a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

“President Biden has been very, very clear that American troops will not be put on the ground or in the air to escalate this war and make this an American war against — against the Russians,” she told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos. “But we’ve also been very clear that we will support Ukraine in every other way possible.”

Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. will continue to support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “in every other way possible” after Zelenskyy angrily denounced NATO’s refusal to impose a no-fly zone and blamed the West for “all the people who will die from this day.”

In a Zoom briefing with members of Congress on Saturday, Zelenskyy said if a no-fly zone couldn’t be implemented, Ukraine needs fighter jets to defend itself against Russia’s invasion. The White House told ABC News the administration is working with Poland to transfer Soviet-era jets from that country and looking into possibly repaying Poland for them.

Asked by Stephanopoulos, “Is that on the table, is that going to happen?” Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. is in “close consultations” with the Polish government and NATO allies.

“We have not in any way opposed the Polish government providing these — these jets to — to Ukraine and we’re working, as you noted, to see how we can backfill for them.”

Pressure is growing from Democrats and Republicans for the White House to impose tougher sanctions on the Kremlin, including a ban on oil imports from Russia, but Thomas-Greenfield reiterated the White House’s hesitation to do so.

“The president has been clear with President Putin that the consequences of his actions in Ukraine will be felt and it will be felt by the Russians. At the same time, we’re trying our best to minimize the impact on our own country, on our own energy security, as well as the energy security around the world.”

She said Biden remains in discussions with NATO partners and his closest advisors on how to address energy issues while adding that sanctions imposed by the U.S. and allies have already had an impact on the Russian economy.

“The ruble is worth less than a penny right now. The Russian Central Bank is — is not being — not functioning completely, the stock market has been closed. So the sanctions are having the impact and Putin is feeling the results of those sanctions.”

Biden said last week it was still “too early” to determine if Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine, even after the targeting of civilian areas and a nuclear power plant. When Stephanopoulos pressed her on evidence of shelled kindergartens, orphanages and hospitals, asking, “Isn’t that a war crime?” Thomas-Greenfield said, “any attack on civilians is a war crime.”

“We’re working with partners to collect and provide information on this so that we could investigate this and have it ready in the event that war crimes are brought before this government.”

When asked by Stephanopoulos “what kind of incentives can the United States and the West offer” Putin to move forward with a negotiated peace treaty, Thomas-Greenfield said a return to negotiations is “still on the table.”

“Putin has made the decision that he wants to continue with confrontation, with escalation with attacks on civilians and to move forward with this war that Russia is feeling as much as anyone. We’re seeing that hundreds of Russian troops are being killed every day. Russians are demonstrating in the streets against this. So clearly President Putin is feeling the consequences of his actions, but I can’t explain why he’s — he has continued to move forward in the aggressive way that he’s continuing to do in Ukraine.”

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