The Hill's Morning Report: Can Ukraine and Russia make a cease-fire deal?

View Online    MORNING REPORT MORNING REPORT   ©  Associated Press / Turkish Presidency photo | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan leads talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators. Welcome to The Hill's Morning Report. It is Wednesday! We get you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the co-creators. Readers can find us on Twitter @asimendinger and @alweaver22. Please recommend the Morning Report to friends and let us know what you think. CLICK HERE to subscribe! President Biden and other world leaders said on Tuesday they will evaluate Russia's talk of pulling back from attacks on Kyiv by focusing on what Moscow does in Ukraine, not what it says. In the meantime, the U.S. and allies are preparing new sanctions on Russia and shipping additional supplies to Ukraine.   "We'll see," Biden said in reaction to Russia's comments made during negotiations held in Turkey with Ukrainian officials. "I don't read anything into it until I see what their actions are" (The Hill).   Renewed attacks today on the outskirts of Kyiv reinforce the idea that Russia is in no hurry to wind down its war or communicate a pullback to its troops (The New York Times).   Biden spoke on Tuesday with his counterparts in France, Germany, the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Italy.   British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin could still seek to "twist the knife" despite Russia's faltering war efforts after five weeks of ground and air attacks. Johnson's spokesman said the U.K. was looking at "all possible options" to ensure Ukraine obtains equipment needed while avoiding any "escalatory effects" (Irish Examiner).   Secretary of State Antony Blinken, traveling in Morocco, told reporters, "There is what Russia says, and there's what Russia does. We're focused on the latter."   The Pentagon warned that only a small number of Russian forces near Kyiv had pulled back from the fight and that Russia may be "repositioning" troops before launching renewed attacks in Ukraine (The New York Times).   Russia's assertion that it would scale back its offensive near Kyiv was meant to increase trust in the talks with Ukraine after several rounds of negotiations about potential cease-fires and evacuation corridors failed, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said (The Associated Press). Russia was prepared to "reduce military activity" around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv and was ready to set a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once a draft peace agreement was ready, Fomin added in Istanbul.   Zelensky, operating out of a protected bunker in the capital, said Russian forces had been "pushed away from Kyiv" and called the talks with Russia "positive" but said it was "too early to talk about security in this part of our region."   Is Putin second-guessing the costs of making Kyiv his prize in a war he thought would take days, not weeks or months? Some analysts said Russia's new offers were a feint, not a signal of a near-term diplomatic end to the conflict (The New York Times).   The Hill: Ukraine-Russia peace talks fraught with uncertainty.   Reuters: In villages near Kyiv, here's how Ukraine has kept Russia's army at bay.   The Associated Press: Poland said today it will end all Russian oil imports by the end of the year and Russian coal imports by May. Germany called on consumers to conserve energy amid a warning about natural gas supplies.   The Economist: Transcript of interview with Zelensky conducted March 25 in Kyiv.   The Wall Street Journal: Countries turn to Canada as trade with Russia halts.   The Hill: Biden's candor is a dual-edge sword on the world stage. 👉 INVITATION: Join The Hill's Virtual event "Future of Defense Summit" TODAY at 1 p.m. ET. Join Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, former National Intelligence Director James Clapper, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Director Stefanie Tompkins, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Armed Services Committee ranking member Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and more (RSVP today to save your spot). With Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a backdrop, what are the Pentagon's top priorities to meet future needs? What emerging technologies and innovations are essential to securing U.S. strategic priorities?   📨 Introducing NotedDC: The Hill's curated commentary on the beat of the Beltway. Click here to subscribe to our latest newsletter.    LEADING THE DAY CORONAVIRUS: Total U.S. coronavirus deaths each morning this week: Monday, 976,704; Tuesday, 977,688; Wednesday, 978,692.     ➤ Vaccines: As anticipated but perhaps sooner than many expected, the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized another Pfizer or Moderna booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine for people 50 and older who last received an extra dose four or more months ago. The FDA did not wait to consult its expert advisory panel, which was scheduled to meet next month. The next step is up to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is expected to give its approval. The FDA's authorization comes just two weeks after Pfizer and Moderna asked the government to permit a second booster shot based on data from Israel (CNBC).    The CDC on Tuesday recommended that recipients of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine seek out an mRNA booster, if they want a third or fourth dose of protection. J&J's vaccine version was created using a more traditional method, not mRNA (The Hill).   The European Union's drug regulator said Tuesday it has begun an accelerated review process for an experimental coronavirus vaccine booster made by the Spanish company Hipra, which "may be effective" against COVID-19, including the hugely infectious omicron variant (The Associated Press). © Associated Press / Charles Krupa | Pfizer, Moderna vaccines. ➤ Treatments: The stealthy, highly transmissible BA.2 cousin of the omicron variant of COVID-19 is less responsive to the government-approved antibody treatment sotrovimab. That new data has prompted the FDA to pause the drug's shipment to some states and to update the government's authorization of the drug. In a study published in Nature, researchers found that the BA.2 strain was resistant to 17 out of 19 antibody treatments in a laboratory setting (The Hill).    ➤ COVID-19 IN WILDLIFE: The coronavirus has been confirmed in wild animals in at least 24 U.S. states, including Minnesota. Recently, an early Canadian study showed someone in nearby Ontario likely contracted a highly mutated strain from a deer. Scientists, who are testing wildlife with nose swabs in precarious conditions, are concerned that the virus could evolve within animal populations – potentially spawning dangerous viral mutants that could jump back to people, spread and stir yet another phase of the pandemic (The Associated Press). IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES CONGRESS: Can Democrats pull one Senate Republican to their side to pack Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks? That's the main question facing Senate Democrats as they motor toward votes in committee and on the Senate floor in the coming weeks.    As The Hill's Jordain Carney notes, Democrats are homing in on three possible GOP "yes" votes: Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), with all three keeping their powder dry and leaving open the potential to back her when all is said and done.   Romney, who previously opposed Jackson's lower court nomination, met with Jackson on Tuesday. In an interview before the meeting, the Utah Republican said that he was planning a "much deeper dive" compared with his initial vote against her nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last year (The Hill).    Collins once again met with Jackson on Tuesday, having told reporters a day earlier that she had additional queries for the nominee after her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. She said Jackson's responses raised additional questions in her mind.   As for Murkowski, there is more drama surrounding her decision on the nomination because of her political circumstances. She is the only one of the three moderate Republicans up for reelection this year. She faces a primary challenge from a pro-Trump opponent.    According to The Hill's Alexander Bolton, although Murkowski has cultivated an independent track record in recent years, she views Biden's nomination of a liberal judge as a missed opportunity for bipartisanship and says her vote for Jackson to serve on the appellate court last year does not mean she'll follow suit in the coming weeks.    ➤ Budget: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) created more problems for the Biden administration on Wednesday, telling reporters that he does not support the president's newly-released plan to tax the unrealized gains of billionaires, which would set a new precedent by taxing the value an asset accrues in theory before it is actually sold and converted into cash.    "You can't tax something that's not earned. Earned income is what we're based on," he told The Hill. "There's other ways to do it. Everybody has to pay their fair share. …  "Everybody has to pay their fair share, that's for sure. But unrealized gains is not the way to do it, as far as I'm concerned.   Separately, The New York Times "The Daily" podcast on Tuesday described "Sen. Joe Manchin's conflict of interest." Reporting by Christopher Flavelle and Julie Tate, The New York Times: How Manchin aided coal, stymied climate legislation and made a fortune. © Associated Press / Mariam Zuhaib | Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Joe Manchin, March 3. ➤ Thomas troubles: The politics of the Supreme Court are also having implications in right-wing circles as some House Democrats launched a salvo against Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday, calling for him to recuse himself from future cases related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol due to his wife's push to overturn the 2020 presidential election.    As The Hill's John Kruzel writes, battle lines are forming around the senior justice on the court as Republicans defend Thomas and argue that their work can be separate and that Democrats are seeking to unseat him simply because they do not like his legal opinions.    In his 30 years on the bench, Thomas has never stepped aside from a case due to a real or perceived conflict of interest resulting from the political activities of his wife, Ginni Thomas. Notably, he did not recuse himself from any of the pro-Trump legal challenges that contested the 2020 results, having also cast the lone dissenting vote from ruling that cleared the way for the Jan. 6 panel to obtain Trump White House records.   While progressives have started to call for Clarence Thomas's impeachment, most House Democrats have declined to go that far (Politico).   "It's up to an individual justice to decide to recuse himself if his wife is participating in a coup." Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told her members during their weekly caucus meeting on Tuesday (Punchbowl News).   The Hill: Jan. 6 panel loses patience as contempt claims pile up.   Axios: Democrats push Attorney General Merrick Garland to come down on uncooperative Trump allies.   The Hill: Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) says Clarence Thomas should recuse himself from Jan. 6 cases.   ➤ Dropped calls: Internal White House records from Jan. 6 turned over to a House select committee investigating the events of that day show a gap in former President Trump's phone logs of 7 hours and 37 minutes, including the period when the Capitol was under violent attack, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post and CBS News.    The lack of an official White House notation of any calls placed to or by Trump for 457 minutes on Jan. 6 — from 11:17 a.m. to 6:54 p.m. — means the committee has no record of the former president's phone conversations, which some witnesses have otherwise conceded and described (The Washington Post). The committee is working to reconstruct a detailed timeline of events on Jan. 6, including inside the White House.    CBS News: John Bolton says he recalls Trump using the term "burner phones."   Aaron Blake, The Washington Post: Trump asks for Putin's help — again.   The New York Times: New focus on how a Trump tweet incited far-right groups ahead of Jan. 6. © Associated Press / Alex Brandon | Former President Trump. ******   POLITICS: The good news continues to pile up for Republicans in their quest to retake the House, as a new poll showed that they remain in prime position to do so after four years in the minority.    In the generic ballot test — which asks voters whether they would rather elect a Republican or Democrat to Congress — the GOP leads with 53 percent support to 47 percent for Democrats. The results were part of a new Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey released exclusively to The Hill.   The positive news extends to independents, as 59 percent of the bloc sides with the GOP compared to just 41 percent for Democrats (The Hill).   As the party struggles ahead of what could be a troublesome November, some Democrats campaigning in key states, including in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Missouri and Oregon, are shying away from using the term "progressive" to describe their candidacies.    As The Hill's Hanna Trudo points out, a number of progressive candidates are declining to label themselves as such as they make their pitch to voters, marking a change that represents a partial midterm rebranding.    Max Greenwood, The Hill: Confident GOP tells its candidates to not become complacent.   ➤ 😷 State watch: Twenty-one states have filed lawsuits against the federal mask mandate on transportation (The Hill). … One of them is Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the federal mandate that travelers wear masks. The Transportation Security Administration requirement for public transportation and travel hubs in March was extended by one month on the recommendation of the CDC and is set to be lifted on April 18. The federal requirement is opposed by many travel industry organizations and representatives reliant on Florida tourism. … A new poll found that since January, Americans concede they have eased use of COVID-19 precautions, such as masks, outside their homes (The Hill).  OPINION Why do our politicians keep pursuing a losing strategy? by Yuval Levin, contributing opinion writer, The New York Times. https://nyti.ms/3iJxth5   In Ukraine, a ray of hope, by Ahmed Charai, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/3JKDG8h WHERE AND WHEN The House meets at 10 a.m. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis at 2 p.m. will get an update from CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and others about ongoing responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.   The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. and will resume consideration of the nomination of Judith Pryor to be first vice president of the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The Senate Budget Committee will hear testimony at 11 a.m. about the president's fiscal 2023 budget blueprint from Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young. At 3 p.m., senators will receive a classified briefing from the administration about the situation in Ukraine.    The president receives the President's Daily Brief at 10:15 a.m. Biden will have lunch at 12:30 p.m. with Vice President Harris. He will speak at 1:30 p.m. about the status of the nation's responses to COVID-19 and its variants.    The vice president will speak at 11 a.m. at Howard University in Washington about small businesses at an event with  Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Small Business Administration Administrator Isabella Guzman. Harris will have lunch with the president. She will hold a bilateral meeting at 3:50 p.m. with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness.    Secretary Blinken is traveling in Algeria for meetings with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra in Algiers. The secretary will also officially inaugurate the United States at the Algiers International Trade Fair and he plans to meet with U.S. business representatives.   White House deputy national security adviser for international economics Daleep Singh is in New Delhi today and Thursday for meetings with officials in India.    The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 2:30 p.m. with White House communications director Kate Bedingfield.   📺 Hill.TV's "Rising" program features news and interviews at http://thehill.com/hilltv, on YouTube and on Facebook at 10:30 a.m. ET. Also, check out the "Rising" podcast here. ELSEWHERE ➤ CONSUMERS: A Conference Board survey of consumer confidence released on Tuesday showed a slight rebound in March, increasing for the first time this year, even as U.S. consumers remain uneasy. Experts say the first improvement seen in three months was the result of a downward revision in February's initial data (Bloomberg News and Marketplace). … A new Gallup survey shows that rising prices are the No. 1 economic concern for Americans, with 17 percent calling inflation the "nation's most important problem."… Employers are trying to fill 11.3 million job openings, according to the government's most recent report from February data released on Tuesday.    ➤ MICRO UNIONIZATION: A trend in which workers win small unionization elections at local worksites and slowly affiliate with larger organized labor movements is capturing attention. When workers at one of Amazon's Staten Island, N.Y., facilities decided to unionize, they chose that more unconventional path. They are voting this week on whether they want to join the Amazon Labor Union, an organization helmed by current and former employees of the site who are unaffiliated with any larger labor group (The Hill).  THE CLOSER And finally … Excavation work on the inside of the damaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris ended last week with intriguing new discoveries, according to French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot. One was a lead coffin, or ancient sarcophagus, possibly dating to the 14th century and unearthed by archeologists from beneath the cathedral's transept floor, along with fragments of a rood screen, which is a common feature in late medieval church architecture serving as an ornate partition between the chancel and nave (ArtNet has photos). With a tiny camera threaded into a crack in the sarcophagus, the research team was able to detect cloth fragments as well as human and plant remains.   The devastating Notre Dame fire on April 15, 2019, and the resulting restorations have enlivened public interest in the history of the 12th century building. Excavation that revealed the sarcophagus inside the cathedral was a precautionary measure before the installation of scaffolding necessary to restore a high wooden roof ridge that was severely damaged amid the flames (CNN). French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to see the cathedral restored and reopened by 2024. © Associated Press / Thibault Camus | Notre Dame Cathedral, 2019. Morning Report is created by journalists Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver. We want to hear from you! Email: asimendinger@thehill.com and aweaver@thehill.com. We invite you to share The Hill's reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE! 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