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Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russian forces accused of chemical attack in Mariupol

April 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian troops invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Russian forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.

In recent days, Russian forces have retreated from northern Ukraine, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, the United States and European countries accused Russia of committing war crimes.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Apr 12, 8:07 am
Nine humanitarian corridors to open in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday

Nine humanitarian corridors are expected to open in eastern Ukraine again on Tuesday to allow civilians escape heavy fighting, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

She said in a statement via social media Tuesday that evacuation routes were agreed upon for those traveling by private cars from besieged Mariupol in the Donetsk Oblast, as well as from Berdyansk, Tokmak and Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast — all of which lead to the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

In the Luhansk Oblast, Vereshchuk said routes were established from the cities of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, Hirske and Rubizhne, leading to the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk Oblast.

The same routes were opened Monday, allowing a total of 4,354 people to evacuate via buses and private cars, according to Vereshchuk. However, Vereshchuk said buses carrying people from Berdyansk, Tokmak and Enerhodar to Zaporizhzhia city were being held up by Russian forces at a checkpoint in Vasylivka for a third day in a row.

Apr 12, 7:26 am
Ukraine investigating alleged chemical attack in Mariupol

Ukraine announced Tuesday it is investigating claims that chemical weapons were used in an attack against Ukrainian soldiers in besieged Mariupol.

The Azov Regiment, a far-right group now part of the Ukrainian National Guard, alleged in a statement via Telegram on Monday that a Russian drone had dropped “a poisonous substance of unknown origin” on its fighters defending a giant metals plant in Mariupol, a southeastern port city in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast that has been subjected to heavy bombardment since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24. The Azov, which did not provide evidence of the alleged attack, said its fighters had suffered minor injuries.

The claims could not be independently verified by ABC News.

Eduard Basurin, a spokesperson for Russia-backed separatist forces in Donetsk Oblast, denied the allegations, telling Russian news agency Interfax that separatist forces “haven’t used any chemical weapons in Mariupol.” However, on the eve of the alleged attack, Basurin appeared to urge their use, telling Russian state media that Russia-backed forces should seize the Mariupol metals plant from Ukrainian soldiers by blocking all the exits and using “chemical troops to smoke them out.”

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Tuesday the government is investigating the claims, adding that preliminary information suggested phosphorous munition had been used.

When deployed as a weapon, phosphorus can inflict excruciating burns and lead to infection, shock and organ failure. Although phosphorus is not classified as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention, its use as an incendiary weapon in civilian areas is forbidden under the Geneva Conventions.

The United Kingdom is “working urgently” to investigate the reports, according to U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who noted that any confirmed use of chemical weapons in Mariupol would be a “callous escalation” of the war.

U.K. Armed Forces Minister James Heappey told Sky News on Tuesday that “all options are on the table in terms of how the West might respond.”

Meanwhile, the United States said it was “aware” of the reports.

“We cannot confirm at this time and will continue to monitor the situation closely,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement Monday. “These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine.”

Man walks one year after being paralyzed in bicycle crash

April 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A 27-year-old New York man can walk less than two years after being paralyzed when he was hit by a car while on a bicycle.

Cory Moses, of Brooklyn, was on his way to meet his then-partner on Oct. 25, 2020, when he said someone in a parked car opened a car door into him, sending him flying into the street, where he was hit by another car.

As a result of the accident, Moses, who had just celebrated his 25th birthday, suffered six fractured ribs, two broken arms and a fractured spine, which caused paralysis.

“I remember not wanting to look down. I thought my lower half had been severed,” Moses, who said he eventually looked down at his legs after a bystander told him he was not bleeding, told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “The lower half of my body was at a weird angle and I definitely knew something was wrong.”

“I felt the feeling drain from my legs,” he said.

Moses said he underwent three surgeries and spent two weeks in the intensive care unit. Before his first surgery, Moses said he was told he may never walk again.

“My first surgeon said she’d stabilize my spine as much as she could but from the damage I probably wouldn’t be able to walk or move my legs again,” he said. “They added two rods and eight screws to my back to stabilize it, which took about 12 to 13 hours in total because of how severe the damage was.”

After the surgery, Moses said he was not able to move his left leg at all but could very slightly move his right leg, which gave him and his medical team hope.

“[The surgeon] said that with that, there was still some connection,” Moses said. “They couldn’t tell me how much of a recovery I’d make, but I’d get something back.”

After his first three surgeries, Moses was transferred to The Mount Sinai Hospital, where he underwent two more surgeries and spent nearly three months recovering.

Moses said he realized how severe and life-changing his injuries would be, but he remained determined to overcome them.

“Within my first week or so at Mount Sinai is when I got myself into a place of peace and an understanding that if I’m going to get out of the hospital and into rehab that my mind and my focus has to be there. I can’t lose that to my feelings or depression,” he said.

Moses, who was working as a contractor for a construction business at the time of his injury, took on his rehabilitation work as a full-time job. He learned how to navigate life in a wheelchair, while also practicing on an exoskeleton program, which is a machine that helps patients with spinal cord injuries relearn how to walk.

“I put a lot of work into making my recovery fun,” he said. “I never wanted it to feel like a chore.”

Even after Moses was discharged in January 2021, three months after his accident, he went back to the hospital several days a week for physical therapy, according to Dr. Liz Pike, physical therapist with the Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance at The Mount Sinai Hospital.

“It takes a lot of time for the body to heal just from a neurological injury and he put in the work and really listened to his body and did all the steps and kind of built the foundation blocks to get to the bigger movements, like walking and balancing,” said Pike. “He took his off time to work on strengthening and stretching and just being healthy in general, like eating well.”

Moses set a goal for himself to be able to walk before the one-year anniversary of his accident. He reached that goal last October, taking his first steps on his own in his apartment.

“I remember feeling really proud of myself,” he said. “It just reassured me that really having a strong mentality makes a difference.”

Dr. Angela Riccobono, rehab psychologist with the Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance at The Mount Sinai Hospital, who worked with Moses, said in her 20-plus years of experience, she’s never seen someone overcome adversity with “such grace and a positive mindset.”

“He understood early on that with the right mindset and the right people around you, there was little that could stop him,” Riccobono said of Moses.

Defying the odds, Moses has progressed to being able to walk as far as 10 city blocks on his own, according to Pike.

“I think they were hopeful he would be able to use some assisted device to do some standing and some activities like that but were unable to say how far he’d be able to walk, like he is now,” Pike said.

Moses still utilizes crutches and leg braces to walk if he is going a longer distance, and relies on his wheelchair at times, too, as he continues to build his strength.

He lives on his own and works at a local school while also working to fulfill his next dream, competing in the Paralympic Games in fencing, a sport Moses said he had always wanted to play as a kid but was never able to because it was not accessible.

After the accident, Moses got a chance to try fencing thanks to his friend, Curtis McDowald, a member of the U.S. Fencing team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, who invited him to a training facility in New York City.

Moses committed himself to the sport and took home two medals in his first competition in January in California.

“The goal is Paralympics,” said Moses. “I’m the type that whenever I do something, I want to do it to the maximum.”

How humanitarian corridors work to offer lifeline to besieged Ukrainians

April 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — For tens of thousands of civilians trapped in active combat zones in Ukraine, the establishment of humanitarian corridors could mean the difference between living and dying, experts said.

At least nine humanitarian corridors are expected to open in war-torn areas of eastern Ukraine this week to allow civilians to escape heavy fighting, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

But the designated passages out of besieged towns such as Mariupol in southeast Ukraine and the separatist-controlled areas of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine can be riskier than sheltering in basements if not done with precision and complete transparency, Crystal Wells, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, told ABC News.

“We see humanitarian corridors, that we refer to as safe passages, as really a desperate measure in dire times,” Wells said.

What is a humanitarian corridor?

Humanitarian corridors are routes for civilians to escape from the most dangerous war zones. The safe passages require Russian and Ukrainian leaders to agree on specific routes and a ceasefire span of time along those thoroughfares to allow civilians a window of opportunity to get out of the crossfire.

Safe passageways during wars date back to World War II, when routes were established to transport 10,000 children from Nazi-controlled countries in humanitarian rescues dubbed “kindertransports.” The Geneva Conventions in 1949 also established rules to ensure civilians had access to humanitarian supplies, including food and medicine, during war.

“It’s important, first of all, to remember that civilians are actually protected under international humanitarian law. Those are the laws that govern armed conflict,” Wells said. “And civilians should be protected from hostilities whether they’re in their homes, in a hospital, in a school or in a so-called humanitarian corridor.”

But Wells said that some humanitarian routes opened in Ukraine had to quickly be closed or not used at all because Russian forces allegedly continued to bomb the passages despite both sides agreeing to a ceasefire.

“It’s not like all of a sudden a humanitarian corridors comes in and it’s a magic wand to ending civilian suffering,” Wells said. “It’s so important that these are agreed on not just in principle but in concrete terms so that it’s not only the people sitting in capital cities who agree. It needs to come down to actionable, concrete, logistical details, and it has to be communicated down the chain of command to the militaries on the ground for these to work safely.”

She said if details of a humanitarian corridor, including the precise routes and ceasefire times, are not conveyed to frontline troops, it could create a dangerous — and deadly — situation.

“It’s not just about the safety of our teams, but it’s to not also lead people or accompany people into something where they could be in harm’s way,” Wells said.

In the absence of humanitarian corridors, Ukrainian civilians have risked their lives trying to flee battle zones on their own. Many have been killed.

“What’s been happening in cities like Mariupol is that in the absence of these concrete agreements, you have civilians leaving, but they’re doing so in a very ad hoc way. They’re making a life-and-death decision to go, and there’s not a ceasefire agreement in place and there’s not specifics about routes and the times and all of that. So, it’s very risky for people,” Wells said.

100,000 people trapped in Mariupol

Much of the focus for humanitarian agencies in recent days has been on Mariupol, a port city of nearly 400,000 people that has been under siege since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24.

Despite reports that thousands have been killed in Mariupol, Russia has denied committing atrocities in Ukraine and claims it is not targeting civilians.

Vereshchuk said in a statement posted on social media Monday that humanitarian evacuation routes were agreed upon for those traveling by private cars from Mariupol.

Wells estimated that more than 100,000 civilians remain in Mariupol.

“For us, Mariupol really remains very much a focus and a priority,” Wells said. “That’s a city that’s been for weeks now without any humanitarian aid. They’ve been for weeks now without really any proper safe passage for civilians out of the city.”

She said ICRC teams have been trying for weeks to deliver humanitarian aid to Mariupol without success.

“We tried again a couple of Fridays ago to access Mariupol, and our teams spent five days and five nights on the road trying to get into the city, and security conditions didn’t allow it,” Wells said.

Successful humanitarian corridors

Wells said the ICRC has successfully used designated safe passages to get civilians out of the hard-hit town of Sumy in northeast Ukraine and between the Russian-controlled city Berdyansk to safety in Zaporizhzhia, a roughly 120-mile journey.

She said an unarmed ICRC convoy from Berdyansk to Zaporizhzhia last week included buses and Red Cross land cruisers clearly marked with the agency’s emblem at the front and rear of the caravan. Wells said many of the civilians who joined the convoy were fleeing Mariupol.

“We had seven buses with seven volunteer bus drivers, and that would allow about 350 people to board,” Wells said. “But then we had private cars starting to join the convoy from Berdyansk all the way to Zaporizhzhia. By the end of that convoy to Zaporizhzhia, they estimated there were about 100 civilian cars, which got us up to about 1,000 people.”

Wells said the evacuation from Berdyansk to Zaporizhzhia took two days. She said a similar mission in Mariupol would likely take longer.

“To think of doing it for 100,000 people, we would really need agreements to hold for not just hours, but days,” Wells said.

No matter how much time is granted to the humanitarian corridors, Wells said some civilians are bound to get left behind.

“What about the elderly? What about people with disabilities? Not everyone is able-bodied to get into their own car or board a bus and leave,” Wells said. “So, that’s where it’s also important that aid needs to be brought into these places as well and that civilians still have to be protected and respected from hostilities.”

Former police officer who stormed Capitol on Jan. 6 guilty on all counts

April 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A former police officer who stormed the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection was found guilty Monday by a jury on all six counts.

Thomas Robertson was found guilty on charges ranging from obstruction of an official proceeding to entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon. This is the second jury case for a Capitol rioter.

Monday marked day five of a trial that spanned hours of Jan. 6 video footage, first-hand accounts from Capitol and Metro police officers and an inside look at how FBI agents handled the arrest of both Robertson and former colleague and close friend Jacob Fracker, who testified against Robertson as part of his own plea agreement for storming the Capitol.

The jury deliberated for about 15 hours in a trial that focused on very specific details of Robertson’s actions — from where he stood to what he was holding.

Robertson entered the restricted area of the Capitol with the goal of obstructing the electoral vote, the jury found. He used a wooden stick to push past an officer, which was ruled it could be used as a dangerous weapon.

“Many people in this country disagreed with the outcome of the presidential election,” a U.S. attorney said during opening arguments last Tuesday. “Many people use, and continue to use, strong language to express their political views. But the defendant, he is not on trial for beliefs — he is on trial for his actions.”

Shortly after he found out about the warrant for his arrest, Robertson destroyed his phone along with Fracker’s, saying in a message, “anything that may have been problematic has been destroyed, including my phone,” prosecutors said during the trial.

That also means he could have corrupted two official proceedings, the jury found — either the Electoral College voting process or his own federal trial, or both.

Robertson’s lawyers said he was invited into the Capitol by an officer, stayed for only 10 minutes and didn’t assault anyone or cause any damage. The defense brought in two witnesses who each took the stand for less than 8 minutes.

“He entered, he retrieved, he departed,” one of Robertson’s lawyers said on day one of the trial. “That’s what this case is about.”

The U.S. attorney’s office brought in nine witnesses, who oftentimes took the stand for over an hour.

One of those witnesses was Fracker, who stormed the Capitol with Robertson. He agreed to testify as part of his plea agreement. He said during the trial he did this in part to lower his sentence.

The jury deliberated for five hours last Friday after closing arguments. Judge Christopher R. Cooper read the decision Monday.

Robertson was found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding; obstructing officers during a civil disorder; entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon; disorderly conduct in a capitol building and obstruction of an official proceeding.

Former Trump lawyer, amid clash with Jan. 6 committee, pushing to decertify 2020 election

April 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Just as he was emerging as a top target of the House committee investigating the Capitol attack, former Trump lawyer John Eastman took a trip to Wisconsin.

Eastman, a right-wing lawyer who drafted a plan for former President Donald Trump to cling to power by falsely claiming then-Vice President Mike Pence could reject legitimate electors during the 2020 presidential election, was part of a small group of Trump allies who secured a private meeting last month to try and convince the Republican leader of the Wisconsin state Assembly to decertify President Joe Biden’s win, multiple sources familiar with the meeting told ABC.

On March 16, Eastman and others spent nearly two hours behind closed doors pressuring Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to nullify the 2020 election and reclaim the electors awarded to Biden, the sources said, which legal experts say is impossible.

Eastman was subpoenaed by the congressional committee looking into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in November. He had been bucking the panel’s request for documents, claiming attorney client privilege, until a federal judge recently ordered most of them turned over.

Eastman in the meeting urged Vos to decertify the election, sources familiar with the meeting said. According to Jefferson Davis, a Wisconsin activist pushing to reverse Biden’s victory who was also in the meeting, Trump’s former lawyer pushed Vos to start “reclaiming the electors” and move forward with “either a do over or having a new slate of electors seated that would declare someone else the winner.”

When reached for comment, Eastman said in a statement to ABC News, “By explicit request from Speaker Vos, that meeting was confidential, so I am not able to make any comment.”

Following the meeting, Vos reiterated his position that the 2020 election can’t be decertified. Vos, however, has pushed claims of widespread election fraud and was held in contempt by a judge last month for failing to turn over documents related to a Republican-led investigation he had launched himself in May 2021 into the 2020 election.

His office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from ABC News.

The Wisconsin meeting is just one instance among many in an ongoing effort by Eastman and other Trump allies who, even 15 months into President Joe Biden’s tenure, have continued to push for the results of the 2020 election to be overturned despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

In February, Eastman also joined leaders of Colorado’s election denial campaign, holding an “emergency town hall meeting” in Castle Rock. The meeting, organized by FEC United founder Joe Oltman, rallied the crowd against Secretary of State Jenna Griswold, falsely accusing her of participating in an election fraud conspiracy.

During the meeting, Eastman boasted about his involvement in election lawsuits in Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin and decried the “attacks” that he and others who push election conspiracies have experienced, calling it “pure evil,” according to a video of the meeting posted by FEC United.

Eastman has said he attended a gathering of Trump supporters at the Willard Hotel on Jan. 5, 2021 and spoke before Trump at the “Save America” rally the next day. Eastman also has said publicly that he, along with other Trump allies, had a so-called “war room” set up at the hotel for several days preceding and on Jan. 6.

Trump has been watching the decertification push closely, saying in a statement last month following the Wisconsin meeting that “Speaker Vos should do the right thing and correct the Crime of the Century—immediately! It is my opinion that other states will be doing this, Wisconsin should lead the way!”

The former president has been in contact with multiple people in Wisconsin working on the effort and has received regular updates from MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, sources said, who has spread wild and baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 vote count.

Lindell, who remains a close confidant of the former president, has participated in the Wisconsin pressure campaign with his own team of people including Douglas Frank, who was prominently featured at the My Pillow CEO’s conspiracy-filled “Cyber Symposium” last August, Army Reserve Lt. Colonel Ivan Raiklin, who has also worked closely with former Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to overturn the 2020 election and Shawn Smith, a Colorado-based activist who has called Lindell an “angel investor” in her organization devoted to “election integrity.”

While Lindell was absent from the March 16 meeting, Frank, Raiklin and Smith attended with Eastman, according to sources familiar with the meeting.

Lindell is currently facing a $1.3 billion lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems for promoting false claims about their voting machines. He traveled to Mar-a-Lago last Thursday to attend a fundraiser for Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake that featured the former president.

As Eastman continues his campaign to overturn the election, he has become of greater interest to investigators on the Jan. 6 committee, the panel has publicly indicated.

Last month, a federal judge ruled that Eastman must turn over most of the documents he has been withholding from the committee. The panel has begun receiving and reviewing the documents, according to sources.

The judge, who reviewed the documents privately, said that Trump “more likely than not” committed felony obstruction in the effort to overturn the election.

Eastman and others continue to push to decertify President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in Wisconsin despite multiple recounts, court filings and audits failing to identify any widespread fraud in the battleground state.

Reviews and audits in other states including Georgia and Arizona, have also failed to substantiate claims about widespread election fraud.

New Russian commander, same ‘depravity and brutality’: Pentagon update Day 47

April 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon has been providing daily updates on the U.S. assessment of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s efforts to resist.

Here are highlights of what a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday on Day 47:

Russia’s new invasion commander

The U.S. assesses that Putin has appointed Gen. Alexander Dvornikov to lead the invasion effort. But the change in leadership can’t erase the logistical and operational problems that have plagued Russian forces, according to the senior U.S. defense official.

“They have high challenges to surmount, and the choice of a general doesn’t mean that they’re poised for greater success,” the official said.

Dvornikov previously led Russian forces in the south of Ukraine.

“He was the commander of the southern military district. And in the early days and weeks of the conflict, the Russians did achieve more success in the south than they achieved certainly in the north. I have no idea that was a factor in his selection,” the official said.

The official noted that Russian efforts in the south are now largely stalled, with no progress against Mariupol since last week, and no success advancing on Mykolayiv.

“If Mr. Putin’s decision to pick Dvornikov was because he had some success, it wasn’t that much,” the official said.

New commander, same ‘depravity and brutality’

The official said it is unclear how Dvornikov’s selection could affect the fighting, but said a pattern of brutality remains a constant.

“What is clear is that the Russians continue to sink to new lows of depravity and brutality, as we saw with the missile strike on the train station last week,” the official said.

The death and destruction in Mariupol is also a concern.

“We’re all bracing for when the rest of the world gets to see what happens in Mariupol, what has happened. I think we’re certainly bracing ourselves here for some for some potentially really, really horrible outcomes,” the official said.

Russians moving troops and supplies toward Donbas

Some of the Russian units that withdrew from the northern Ukraine area are starting to move east toward the Russian cities of Belgorod and Valuyki. A long convoy of Russian vehicles is beginning to head south to Donbas from that area.

“We believe that this line of vehicles that we talked about that are north of Izium came out of the Belgorod/Valuyki region, from there to the south,” the official said.

Last week, the official said the Pentagon assessed Russia would use that region to refit and resupply its battalion tactical groups (BTGs) that have been worn down by hard fighting near Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine. Some Russian units are too gutted to fight.

“At least in the grouping that we’re aware of, it’s not an insignificant number of their BTGs are combat ineffective. And what does that mean? It means a lot of things. It can mean that they don’t have the manpower that they need to effectively conduct a mission, or it could be ammunition and supply. It could be vehicles, depending on what the BTG does — not all of them are just infantry,” the official said.

The Pentagon believes the convoy is still north of Izyim and is an effort to reenforce and resupply their forces in Donbas with command and control elements, armored vehicles, and possibly helicopter and infantry support.

Artillery is also a part of the reinforcement effort.

“We’ve seen evidence that the Russians are beginning to reinforce some of their positions southwest of Donetsk. They’re doing that largely with artillery units,” the official said.

Military aid flowing to Ukraine by air and land

Eight to 10 flights per day are bringing military supplies into the region, and “near constant convoys on the ground” are flowing materiel into Ukraine, the official said.

U.S. intelligence assisting Ukraine

In addition to providing support in the form of missiles, drones and small arms, the U.S. is also giving intel to assist Ukraine in the fight.

“We are providing good intelligence to the Ukrainians to help them with their self-defense,” the official said.

No evidence Russia took out Slovakian S-300 system in Ukraine

While the Pentagon assesses airport infrastructure that was damaged by Russia with an airstrike Sunday, there is no indication that any S-300 surface-to-air systems were destroyed, as Russia has claimed.

“We have no evidence to conclude that they destroyed an S-300 system and we have no evidence to conclude that it was in fact the Slovakian one,” the official said.

Slovakia recently gave its sole S-300 battery to Ukraine.

US considering training more Ukrainians on new weapons

A small group of Ukrainian troops in the U.S. for planned military training in the U.S. when Russia invaded their country just returned home Sunday. The Pentagon took advantage of their presence to train them on the explosive Switchblade drones the U.S. is sending to aid Ukraine. The official on Monday said the U.S. is looking into training more Ukrainians, possibly in the States.

“It kind of follows that the Ukrainians are busy right now and that they obviously will want as many hands on deck there … to fight this war. But there’s been no policy decision that I’m aware of that would prevent them from coming to the United States,” the official said.

But the Pentagon is considering several possibilities.

“As for additional training on systems like the Switchblade, we are reviewing and thinking about and considering a number of different options for how we could manage to get more Ukrainians trained on that system,” the official said. “It’s a small number of systems as you know, but it’s a new system that they’re not familiar with.”

Biden announces rule on ‘ghost guns,’ new ATF nominee

April 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, announced a new measure Monday to crack down on what law enforcement says is the growing problem of “ghost guns” and called on Congress to pass universal background checks.

“They call this rule I’m about to announce extreme. ‘Extreme,'” Biden said at the White House Rose Garden event. “But let me ask you — is it extreme to protect police officers, extreme to protect our children, extreme to keep guns out of the hands of people who couldn’t even pass a background check?”

A “ghost gun” is a firearm that comes packaged in parts, can be bought online and assembled without much of a trace — a point Biden demonstrated with props.

“It’s not hard to put together,” Biden said, showcasing its pieces. “Anyone could order it in the mail, anyone … Terrorists and domestic abusers can go from a gun kit to a gun in as little as 30 minutes. Buyers aren’t required to pass background checks because guns have no serial numbers.”

The new rule essentially expands the definition of a “firearm,” as established by the Gun Control Act, to cover “buy build shoot” kits that people can buy online or from a firearm dealer and assemble themselves. It will make these kits subject to the same federal laws that currently apply to other firearms.

The goal, officials said, is to keep untraceable guns off of the streets and out of the hands of those who are prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.

“We call them ghost guns because they can’t be traced, but make no mistake. They are real. They can shoot to kill, and they do,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “For years criminals have sought out these unmarked guns to murder and to maim. That’s why the attorney general has signed a rule that updates our regulations to keep up with changes in technology.”

With families affected by gun violence invited to the White House Monday, Mia Tretta, a survivor of a 2019 high school shooting in Santa Clarita, California, memorialized two classmates, Dominic Blackwell and Gracie Ann Muelburger, who were killed with a ghost gun, and introduced Biden, whom she called “the strongest gun-sense commander in chief ever to hold office.”

“Starting today, weapons like the one used in Saugus High School and to ambush deputies that are here with us today are being treated like the deadly firearms they are,” Biden said. “If you commit a crime with a ghost gun, expect federal prosecution.”

“This rule is an important step, it’s going to make a difference, I promise you,” Biden added.

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega pressed the White House on this promise at the daily White House briefing.

“Can you say, this administration say there will be fewer shootings, as a result of what the president is doing today?” Vega asked press secretary Jen Psaki.

“That’s always our hope and our objective, right, is to reduce the impact of gun violence as we’ve seen, violence go up. We have seen a huge vast majority of that nearly three quarters as a result of guns and ghost guns, as you said, Cecilia, are used by simply clicking and ordering online, ordering a kit that people can make in their homes,” Psaki said.

Commercial manufacturers of those kits will now have to be licensed and include serial numbers on the kits’ frame or receivers. In addition, commercial sellers will have to be federally licensed and run background checks before selling a kit.

A senior administration official told ABC News, “At its core, this rule clarifies that anyone who wants to purchase a weapon parts kit that can be readily be converted to a fully assembled firearm must go through the same process they would have to go through to purchase a commercially made firearm in short weapon parts kits that may be readily convertible into working fully assembled firearms must be treated under federal law.”

The rule also tackles ghost guns already made and in circulation. The DOJ will require federally licensed dealers that take in any un-serialized firearms to serialize them before selling the weapon. If a licensed dealer acquires a ghost gun, the rule will require them to serialize it before re-selling it.

“This requirement will apply regardless of how the firearm was made, meaning it includes ghost guns made from individual parts, kits, or by 3D-printers,” a fact sheet of the new rule shared with ABC News reads.

“If you can put together an IKEA dresser, you can build a ghost gun,” Tretta, also a volunteer leader with Students Demand Action, told ABC News ahead of Monday’s event. “Unfortunately, it is that easy to get a weapon that has not only changed my life but has done the same thing to thousands of others. Finalizing this rule is a critical step to making sure no one else has to go through what my family has had to go through.”

The rule also updates the definition of a “frame” and “receiver” so that all using split or multi-part receivers are covered under existing gun laws and will be subject to serial numbers and background checks. It also extends the 20-year record retention requirement that all Federal Firearm Licensees must adhere to. Under the rule, FFLs must retain records for as long as the dealer is licensed.

While some gun advocacy groups are threatening to sue over the rule, Psaki said Monday the administration felt confident it would be able to continue to implement it.

Gun Owners of America has vowed to fight the rule it calls “pure gun control,” claiming it “will do far more than the White House is pretending.”

The National Rifle Association tweeted, “Biden’s gun control actions will hearten his wealthy gun control supporters. But, this action sends the wrong message to violent criminals, because this “ban” will not affect them. These violent crime sprees will continue unabated until they are arrested/prosecuted/punished.”

From January 2016 to December 2021, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it received “approximately 45,000 reports of suspected privately made firearms recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigations — including 692 homicides or attempted homicides,” according to the DOJ.

New ATF director

Biden also announced the nomination of Steve Dettelbach as the new director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Steve’s record makes him ready on day one to lead this agency,” Biden said. “And by the way, in 2009, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed him to serve as U.S. Attorney.”

Dettelbach served the Justice Department for two decades, Biden said, ticking through his accomplishments.

A senior administration official said of Biden’s nominee, “He has a proven track record of working with federal, state, and local law enforcement to fight violent crime and combat domestic violent extremism and religious violence — including through partnerships with the ATF to prosecute complex cases and take down violent criminal gangs.”

The official did not specify whether the interim ATF director, Marvin Richardson, will remain in place during the confirmation process.

Psaki couldn’t say on Monday what impact not having a confirmed leader of the bureau since 2015 was having on crime — but put the onus on Republicans to help confirm Dettelbach given concerns over the crime rate.

“He’s received bipartisan support from law enforcement leaders. He was confirmed unanimously when he was nominated to serve as a federal prosecutor. And our view is that if Republicans are about getting tough on crime as we are and keeping our communities safe, they should support a career prosecutor like Steve Dettelbach who can make the ATF more effective in getting guns off our streets and stopping criminals,” she said.

Some gun safety advocacy organizations applauded the pick.

“We applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for doubling down on its commitment to gun safety by taking action to rein in ghost guns and nominating an ATF Director who will end its culture of complicity with the gun industry,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, told ABC News. “Steve Dettelbach will be the strong leader the ATF needs to lead a top-to-bottom overhaul of the agency, and we urge the Senate to swiftly confirm him.”

Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian troops left mines ‘everywhere,’ Zelenskyy says

April 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Latest headlines:
-Russia appoints new general as nation reaches ‘new lows of depravity and brutality’: US
-Mariupol death toll could be over 20,000: Mayor
-Russians still attacking Mariupol, partially blocking Kharkiv: Ukraine
-Over 4.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Apr 11, 6:45 pm
Russian troops left mines ‘everywhere,’ Zelenskyy says

Ukrainian officials are focusing on clearing the mines left behind by Russian forces before they retreated the region surrounding Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in his address Monday.

The Russian troops deliberately left mines “everywhere,” Zelenskyy said, adding that they did so “to kill or maim as many of our people as possible, even when they were forced to withdraw from our land.”

“Russian troops left behind tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of dangerous objects,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian officials are also focusing on procuring more arms. The country is not getting the lethal aid it needs to end the war sooner, he said.

The president also called on the European Union to include an oil embargo in its sixth round of sanctions toward Russia, saying that unless they do, another round of sanctions will be received by Moscow “with a smile.”

ABC News’ Christine Theodorou

Apr 11, 3:45 pm
CEO of World Central Kitchen opens up about ‘catastrophic’ train station attack

Nate Mook, CEO of World Central Kitchen, opened up to ABC News Live on Monday about what he saw in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s attack on a Ukrainian train station that killed at least 57 people.

Mook said Friday was the third day he was spending near the Kramatorsk train station planning food distribution for Ukrainians trying to flee the region.

On Friday, Mook said, “We had just driven by the station, I looked down and saw 1,000 people or so on the platform. And we got about two minutes beyond the station when we heard the explosions happen.”

“We headed over there … the scene was horrific. It was catastrophic,” Mook said. “There was damage both on the platform and in front of the station where innocent civilians were waiting … there was remnants of a rocket on the ground.”

One of the areas that was really hit the hardest was actually a waiting area for seniors,” Mook said. “They had a little waiting area set up, they had chairs, they had a little tent area. And this is right where the rocket landed and why so many were killed.”

Mook added, “I think there was a little bit of shock around this idea that the train station itself, with just innocent civilians, would be targeted, because there’s no strategic value to it — it is just murder.”

Apr 11, 2:32 pm
US considering training more Ukrainians in US

A small group of Ukrainian troops who were in the U.S. for pre-planned military training when Russia invaded their country returned home Sunday, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday. The Pentagon took advantage of their presence to train them on the Switchblade drones the U.S. is sending to aid Ukraine.

The official said the U.S. is looking into training more Ukrainians, possibly in the U.S.

“There’s been no policy decision that I’m aware of that would prevent them from coming to the United States,” the official said.

But the Pentagon is considering several options.

ABC News’ Matt Seyler

Apr 11, 2:23 pm
Russia appoints new general as nation reaches ‘new lows of depravity and brutality’: US

Gen. Alexander Dvornikov has been appointed to lead Russia’s invasion effort, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday. Dvornikov previously led Russians in the south of Ukraine, where they saw the most success.

“In the early days and weeks of the conflict, the Russians did achieve more success in the south than they achieved certainly in the north. I have no idea that was a factor in his selection,” the official said.

But the official noted that Russian efforts in the south are now largely stalled, with no progress against Mariupol since last week and no success advancing on Mykolayiv.

The official said it is unclear how Dvornikov’s selection could affect the fighting but said a pattern of brutality remains constant.

“What is clear is that the Russians continued to sink to new lows of depravity and brutality, as we saw with the missile strike on the train station last week,” the official said.

The official said some of the Russian troops that withdrew from northern Ukraine are starting to move east toward the Russian cities of Belgorod and Valuyki.

“We believe that this line of vehicles that we talked about that are north of Izium came out of the Belgorod/Valuyki region, from there to the south,” the official said.

ABC News’ Matt Seyler

Texas school district to adopt four-day week amid teacher shortage

April 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(JASPER, Texas) — A local school district in Texas has announced plans to reduce students’ school weeks from the traditional five days to four days for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year.

The Jasper Independent School District cited teacher shortage and retention when it announced the change in a Facebook post last month and said it had conducted surveys with parents, teachers and staffers before the change was voted on by its board of trustees.

The change to a four-day school week was motivated, in part, by burnout among current teachers and difficulty recruiting new teachers, according to John Seybold, superintendent of the Jasper Independent School District.

“Teacher burnout has been an issue for a long time, but since COVID, it has seemed to expand, and it’s becoming more and more of an issue,” Seybold told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “The four-day week kind of makes it a little more manageable for them because there’s so much pressure placed on our teachers.”

He continued, “As a school district, ultimately the best thing we can do for kids is put the best possible teacher in front of them every day.”

The school district in Jasper, Texas, a city about 134 miles northeast of Houston near the eastern Texas and western Louisiana border, also plans to give teachers and school staff members a financial incentive if they stay in their positions.

Teachers would get a $3,000 stipend while staff members, such as librarians, would receive $1,500 if they remain with Jasper ISD. The funds allocated would come from the public school district’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) grants, a federal grant program under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

According to Seybold, the school district is now down to just one teacher vacancy. Prior to the changes, he said, open high school science positions “had been unfulfilled for two years.”

“Where we used to post a job and get no applications, now we’re getting multiple applications for every position. So it’s kind of worked so far,” Seybold said.

During the past two years of the coronavirus pandemic, school districts across the country have reported not only a shortage of teachers but also of substitute teachers and school support staff, such as bus drivers.

According to a study conducted last year by the American Federation of Teachers with the Rand Corporation, one in four teachers were thinking about quitting their job by the end of the school year. Teachers were also more likely to report experiencing regular job-related stress and symptoms of depression than the general population, according to the study.

Jasper’s school district serves over 2,230 students in pre-K through 12th grade, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, which also showed there were 175 teachers and 196 full-time staffers in the district.

All students in Jasper’s public school system would be subject to the four-day school week.

Jasper ISD isn’t the only district to have changed students’ school weeks. Other Texas school districts that have adopted four-day school weeks include Devers ISD and Athens ISD, which promotes its “four-day instructional week” on its district homepage.

Other states — including Oregon, Montana, Colorado and Oklahoma — have also implemented four-day school weeks with mixed results.

According to one study from researchers at Oregon State and Montana State University, which examined 2005-2019 test scores from over 341,000 Oregon high schoolers, students’ math test scores appeared to decline on average after switching to a four-day school week in a non-rural district.

In other states, such as California and New Jersey, school districts have prioritized different changes, like starting school later in the day, in a push to address the growing mental health crisis among students.

The conditions of a four-day school week also vary based on a school’s district and state mandates. Some districts have added more time to each of their four days or included more days in the academic calendar.

In Jasper, the next academic year would kick off on Aug. 10 and run through June 1, 2023, but the four-day schedule wouldn’t begin until the week of Oct. 3, according to an academic calendar posted on the district’s website. From October through the end of April, students would report to school only from Mondays through Thursdays, and teachers would use Fridays as professional development days.

“The kids are going to school virtually the same amount of time,” said Seybold. “They’re still getting their required minutes.”

Two of the downsides to a four-day school week are an increased risk of food insecurity among students and that parents and caregivers could find it harder to secure child care with an extended weekend, according to a 2021 study and research compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures respectively.

Seybold said the Jasper ISD is working with a local YMCA to secure additional programming for kids and with a food bank to make sure kids who qualify have food to cover long weekends.

Carrie Underwood brought to tears over fans’ sweet gesture for her late dog, Ace

April 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Carrie Underwood is expressing gratitude toward her fans’ kind gesture in the wake of her dog’s passing.

Last week, Carrie shared that her longtime pet, Ace, had passed away. After fans learned of the news, several pitched in to honor the pup by donating more than $4,000 to the C.A.T.S. Foundation, which was created by Carrie in 2009 as a way to give back to her hometown of Checotah, Oklahoma. The organization provides funding to a variety of causes close to the singer’s heart, including animal welfare.

The monetary donation also came with an e-card signed by each fan who contributed, sharing messages of encouragement and photos with their own pets. The sentiment brought the superstar to tears.

“You guys are honestly the best! When I read this, I immediately started crying…I can’t believe you all pitched in like that!” Carrie professed on Twitter. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And thank you on behalf of Ace and all the little furry babies that you are helping!”

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