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MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, February 22

by Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch

Biden, Putin clash head-on; China in the wings

President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin faced off in the global arena Tuesday with dramatic speeches that cast war in Ukraine as an epic throwdown for the future of world order (The Hill).

Biden, fresh from a bold appearance in war-torn Kyiv, spoke in Warsaw to restate Western backing for Ukraine and to predict that Moscow's invasion, now nearly a year old, is destined for failure.

Hours earlier, Putin addressed Russian parliamentary and military leaders in a cavernous, flag-filled hall to present a nationalist narrative that portrays the U.S. and NATO as aggressors and threats to Russia's security.

Putin on Tuesday suspended the New START nuclear arms treaty with the United States, forcing both nations into a more volatile era of engagement on weapons of mass destruction. The threat of a nuclear conflict, which Putin has repeatedly raised in the past year, is gauged by analysts to be low. But the latest nuclear saber-rattling from the Kremlin is another sign that Putin is all-in to capture Ukrainian territory, outmaneuver the West and achieve what he sees as reclamation of Russia's past glories (The Hill).

Reuters analysis: Putin's nuclear treaty move raises stakes over China's growing arsenal.

Putin chose this war," Biden said from Warsaw's Royal Castle Gardens.

The president denounced his Russian counterpart for what he called Putin's "craven lust for land and power," which the U.S. maintains has backfired while uniting democracies around the world (The Hill).

A transcript of Biden's speech is HERE.

The war in Ukraine has become a defining chapter in Biden's presidency, reports The Hill's Brett Samuels. Ukrainian pleas for military aid have put Biden's belief in bipartisanship to the test. Russia's aggression has challenged the president's insistence that democracies must stand together to push back against autocrats. He returns again and again to his boast that the world welcomes the United States in a leadership role.

At home, Biden faces lawmakers who are second-guessing Uncle Sam's open wallet for Ukraine ahead of the 2024 election cycle amid domestic economic jitters (The Hill). But China's reported interest in helping Russia with weapons and supplies against Ukraine could unite members of Congress in their shared antipathy for China's aggressive posture with the United States and with Taiwan.

In an apparent swipe at the U.S. and NATO on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said Beijing is "deeply worried" that the Ukraine conflict could spiral out of control. He called on countries to stop "fueling the fire" (Reuters), a phrase that repeated Putin's assertion during his Tuesday address that the West was responsible for "fueling the Ukrainian conflict."

China sent top diplomat Wang Yi to Moscow, where he met Tuesday with Putin's top security aide, Nikolai Patrushev. "I want to reaffirm our invariable support for Beijing on the Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong issues, which the West is exploiting to discredit China," Patrushev told Wang, according to the Interfax news agency (The New York Times). Wang said days ago that China will release a "position paper" by the end of February about ending the war in Ukraine.

China-Russia relations are "rock solid and will withstand any test in a changing international situation," Wang told Patrushev in remarks aired on Russian state television. Patrushev called for greater cooperation with China to resist pressure from the West (NBC News).

MarketWatch: Five GOP members from the House Foreign Affairs Committee met Tuesday in Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss Ukraine's weapons wishlist.
The Washington Post: A year of war has shaped Zelensky's view that victory is Ukraine's only answer to Putin's aggression.
The Washington Post opinion by Michael O'Hanlon, Constanze Stelzenmüller and David Wessel: These charts suggest peace isn't coming to Ukraine anytime soon.
Defense News: Republicans push Biden to seek more Taiwan military aid in the next budget.
ABC News: U.S. lawmakers met this week with the head of Taiwan's legislature as part of a five-day visit to the self-ruled island during a tense period of U.S.-China relations.

The Hill: The United States next year will host NATO members to celebrate 75 years of "the strongest defensive alliance in the history of the world," Biden says.
CNN: The U.S. military is investigating a leak of emails from a Pentagon server.
Bloomberg News: 🚨Retirees will have to be more reliant on their own savings, which, according to a survey of worldwide investors, need to be at least $3 million. Comfortable retirement is increasingly the domain of the privileged.

Leading the Day

➤ POLITICS

The special grand jury that investigated election interference by former President Trump and his allies in Georgia has recommended indictments of multiple people on a range of charges in its report, most of which remains sealed. Forewoman Emily Kohrs did not say who specifically the special grand jury recommended for indictment, since the judge decided to keep those details secret when he published a few sections of the report last week (The New York Times).

Asked whether the jurors had recommended indicting Trump, Kohrs said: "You're not going to be shocked. It's not rocket science," adding "you won't be too surprised."

NBC News: Georgia grand jury forewoman speaks out on Trump investigation.

When former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, she highlighted her heritage. She also rejected "identity politics" as divisive.

"I was the proud daughter of Indian immigrants," Haley, born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa Haley to Sikh parents, said during her campaign unveiling. "My mom would always say, 'Your job is not to focus on the differences but the similarities.'"

Haley has a delicate balancing act, write The Hill's Cheyanne M. Daniels and Sarakshi Rai, one that shows she clearly wants to highlight the importance of her upbringing — a tactic Democrats are known for employing as they push their party's diversity — without undermining her appeal to conservatives.

Haley kicked off her run with events in Iowa, where Niall Stanage is reporting from the campaign trail as the 2024 presidential race gets underway.

Vice President Harris will travel to Haley's home state on Monday to speak about the administration's efforts to expand affordable high-speed internet nationwide (The Post and Courier).

Des Moines Register: Haley begins Iowa caucuses courtship, tells those considering Trump to "look forward."
Politico: Older voters balk at Haley's competency test; it's one of her hallmark proposals since launching her campaign. It's also not going over universally well with a key voting constituency.
USA Today: In her 2024 run, Haley touts her role as the first woman of color to serve as governor. She shares the title.

During an appearance on "Fox & Friends" on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) blasted the Biden administration's aid to Ukraine as a "blank-check policy" and downplayed the threat that Moscow poses to NATO member countries in Europe, calling Russia a "third-rate military power."

As The Hill's Max Greenwood reports, DeSantis is wading deeper into foreign policy as he prepares for a likely 2024 presidential run, signaling an effort to broaden his reach beyond the culture war issues he's known for. The 2024 Republican presidential primary — which consists so far of Trump, a former U.S. president, and Haley, a former U.N. ambassador — will include candidates with far more global experience than DeSantis.

The Atlantic: The 2024 U.S. presidential race: a cheat sheet.
CNN: DeSantis's use of government power to implement agenda worries some conservatives.
NBC News: DeSantis tramples over Trump turf with his outreach to law enforcement.
The Washington Post's The Fix: DeSantis and Haley highlight 2024 chasm on Ukraine.

👉 For Virginia, it's history-making: State Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D) late on Tuesday was projected to defeat Republican Leon Benjamin in the special election for Virginia's 4th Congressional District, becoming the first Black woman to represent the commonwealth in Congress (The Hill).

And speaking of Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) flipped the governorship from blue to red in 2021, capitalizing on voter interests in school choice and parental rights, and potential GOP presidential hopefuls eyeing the 2024 contest are interested in his political success on themes around education.

Democrats say their public education platform reaches voters, but concede they need to work on messaging to ensure Republican "misinformation" doesn't define 2024 candidates, writes The Hill's Lexi Lonas. Democrats have long been vocal advocates of the public education system, defending school budgets and counting on reliable support from teachers' unions. But Republicans, reacting to COVID-19 restrictions and school closings at the outset of the pandemic, are working to tell concerned families that the GOP supports parental involvement in education, opposes mandates and frowns on curricula focused on LGBTQ identity, racial equity and Black history.

2024 Senate: Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) officially announced her Senate bid on Tuesday, as expected. She is the third House Democrat to officially seek to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who says she will retire at the end of her term (Roll Call).

CNBC: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) urges the Federal Election Commission to require campaigns to send illegal contributions to the Treasury Department.

➤ ADMINISTRATION

Safety & recovery: The Biden administration is stepping into Ohio's toxic chemical controversy in East Palestine as ferocious GOP criticism and the blame game take root.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, accused by conservatives of not doing enough to attend to the nation's freight railroads, said he will visit the site of the release of toxic chemicals following a train derailment earlier this month (CNN). On Tuesday, he called for freight rail reforms, urging Norfolk Southern, whose train was involved in the incident in East Palestine, and other freight rail companies to deploy new inspection technologies; phase in new, safer tank cars; and notify state emergency officials in advance if hazardous gas is being transported through their state.

The department will also begin a series of inspections of routes over which trains with large amounts of hazardous material travel and advance a new rule requiring that at least two railroad staff be present for most operations (The Hill).

"Profit and expediency must never outweigh the safety of the American people," Buttigieg said in a statement. "We at [the Department of Transportation] are doing everything in our power to improve rail safety, and we insist that the rail industry do the same — while inviting Congress to work with us to raise the bar."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency already is on the ground there, as is the Environmental Protection Agency. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent a team to Ohio this week and plans to launch a probe, Politico reported. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said last week during a visit to East Palestine that he was "very frustrated" with the CDC.

"We've been going back and forth with them for a couple of days, asking them, 'What are the acceptable levels of contamination here before this becomes endangering to human health?'" Vance said. "We have not yet gotten a good answer, and it's something we're going to keep hammering on."

CNN: Ohio governor drinks the tap water as the EPA demands Norfolk Southern manage all cleanup of a toxic train wreck — or face consequences.
NBC News: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) says his office made a criminal referral in the East Palestine train derailment.

Taxes: The IRS has been given $15 million to produce a report on a free online tax filing system, potentially changing the way millions of Americans file their taxes. The complex tax code has enabled a cottage industry of tax preparers, meaning the US tax system could be in for a major shake-up. As Americans weigh in about what they want, The Hill's Tobias Burns breaks down what the new free IRS e-filing tax return system could look like.

Immigration: Asylum seekers who cross the U.S. border illegally face a new Biden rule (The Washington Post).

In Focus / Sharp Takes

➤ INTERNATIONAL

As of Sunday, the thousands of international and domestic rescue workers in Turkey and Syria's earthquake zone were winding down the hunt for survivors after weeks of effort. Then on Monday night, the same region experienced another powerful quake, sending rescuers rushing to newly collapsed buildings where tenants had returned. Rescuers kicked back into action as more buildings collapsed in or near Antakya and at least eight people were killed (The Guardian).

"It's hard to have hope," Ahmet Aydanbekar, a volunteer rescuer with the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, a Turkish aid group, told The New York Times. "The first 72 hours are the most important to find people alive. All the people we've found alive after 72 hours are a miracle."

The Feb. 6 earthquake killed more than 41,000 people in Turkey, destroyed more than 100,000 buildings and left more than a million people homeless, according to government officials. In neighboring Syria, more than 5,000 people died, according to the United Nations.

NPR: In quake-ravaged Turkey, lentil soup comes to the rescue.
Reuters: Turkey offers economic support in earthquake zone.
Forbes: Three things that went wrong in Turkey's earthquake response.
The New York Times: "Equality of injustice for all": Saudi Arabia expands crackdown on dissent.
The Washington Post: Brasília, Brazil, celebrates a "Carnival of democracy" in Rio following a COVID-19 break and riot.

Race & Justice Imperative — Wednesday, Feb. 22 | 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT

2023 brings the largest class of the Congressional Black Caucus in its history. As Black Americans break new barriers, what can we expect to see in the fight for justice across politics, society and for achieving the American dream? Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Co-Founder of The Black Lives Matter Global Network Alicia Garza, Adrianne Shropshire Executive Director of BlackPAC and more join The Hill to discuss. RSVP now.

Opinion

How to tell when a presidential candidate is really running for vice president, by Merrill Matthews, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/3IjpvYd
Marjorie Taylor Greene's civil war, by Pete Wehner, contributing writer, The Atlantic. https://bit.ly/3kmefm8

Where and When

📲 Ask The Hill: Share a news query tied to an expert journalist's insights: The Hill launched something new and (we hope) engaging via text with Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack. Learn more and sign up HERE.

The House will hold a pro forma session on Friday at 11 a.m.

The Senate meets in a pro forma session at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.

The president is in Warsaw, Poland, where today he greets staff of the U.S. Embassy. He meets with leaders of the Bucharest Nine, a group of eastern flank NATO allies, and with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Later, Biden will depart Poland and return to Washington.

The vice president will travel to Bowie State University in Bowie, Md., to discuss federal efforts to lower costs for homebuyers, joined at 3:40 p.m. by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is participating in a Group of 20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Bengaluru, India.

First lady Jill Biden is en route to Africa with itineraries through Feb. 26 in Namibia and Kenya.

Elsewhere

➤ SUPREME COURT

© Associated Press / Alex Brandon | Beatriz Gonzalez, the mother of 23-year-old Nohemi Gonzalez, a student killed in the Paris terrorist attacks, and stepfather Jose Hernandez, speak outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Supreme Court justices on Tuesday grappled with the scope of a liability shield for internet companies known as Section 230, at times expressing confusion about arguments to narrow the tech giants' protections when it comes to internet content and potential impacts from proposed changes under law (The Hill).

For nearly three hours, the nine justices peppered attorneys representing Google, the federal government and the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, an American student killed in a 2015 ISIS attack in Paris, with questions about how the court could design a ruling that exposes harmful content recommendations to liability while still protecting innocuous ones.

How — or if — the court draws that line could have significant implications for the way websites choose to rank, display and promote content to their users as they seek to avoid a litigation minefield (CNN Business).

Among the takeaways on Tuesday: Some justices are concerned about a potential wave of lawsuits and unintended consequences with a ruling against Google (CNN).

➤ STATE WATCH

🌨️ A massive winter storm is poised to bring a mix of heavy snow, rain and gusty winds to much of the West and North of the country this week, putting more than 40 million people across 22 states under winter weather alerts as of Tuesday. But across the Southeast and up into part of the Midwest, it'll feel more like early summer, as nearly 150 million Americans will see a high above 70 degrees this week. The winter alerts stretch from the West Coast through the Midwest and to the New England coast. The main impacts Tuesday are expected to be in the West and Upper Midwest (CNN).

NPR: A huge winter storm is about to plague the U.S., even as some areas see record high temperatures.

💡 Physical attacks on the U.S. power grid rose 71 percent last year compared with 2021 and will likely increase this year, The Wall Street Journal reports. Ballistic damage, intrusion and vandalism largely drove the increase, according to a division of the grid oversight body known as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. It also determined physical security incidents involving power outages increased 20 percent since 2020, attributed to people frustrated by the onset of the pandemic, social tensions and economic challenges.

➤ HEALTH & PANDEMIC

More than 60 percent of 20-something men are single, nearly twice the "unpartnered" rate of young women, signaling a larger breakdown in the social and romantic lives of American males. The Hill's Daniel de Visé reports that voluminous research suggests young men are much more likely than young women to be unattached, friendless, sexually dormant and lonely. Scholars say that an era of gender parity in the home and office has left young men unfocused and adrift, unsure of their place in the world.

After receiving HIV-resistant stem cells through a bone marrow transplant intended to treat leukemia, a man in Germany who had been diagnosed with HIV has been declared free of the virus. According to research published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, the man was monitored for more than nine years after the 2013 transplant, and there is now "strong evidence" that he has been cured.

While the treatment is unlikely to be used with noncancer patients because of its high risks, the research offers further confirmation that unlike once thought, HIV is not entirely incurable, and offers hope for a future without daily medical treatment for those with the condition (The Washington Post).

The New York Times: Mpox (monkeypox) often leads to severe illness, even death, in people with advanced HIV.
Time magazine: What the Ozempic obsession misses about food and health.
Vox: The pandemic took young people's present. What will it do to their future?

America has lost the war on drugs. Here's what needs to happen next, writes The New York Times's Editorial Board.

Information about the availability of COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots can be found at Vaccines.gov.

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,117,838. Current U.S. COVID-19 deaths are 2,838 for the week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The CDC shifted its tally of available data from daily to weekly, now reported on Fridays.)

The Closer

And finally … Earlier this month, distracted by balloons and asteroids, we were gazing up. This week, headlines in the capitals of the U.S. and the U.K. sent us looking at the history that lies beneath.

In Washington, D.C., the National Park Service plans construction of a nearly $69 million tourist exhibit space under the Lincoln Memorial, to be completed by 2026 (WUSA9). In the early stages of examining the 15,000 square-foot "undercroft" space, planners uncovered doodles and cartoon figures, including a lively donkey, rouge-cheeked woman smoking a cigarette and a man in a top hat, likely drawn by original workmen among a tall grid of concrete columns holding up the famous monument to the nation's 16th president. See photos (WTOP).

"This was built during World War I — coming out of the shadow of the Civil War," Jeff Reinbold, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, told reporters during a recent tour. "It's a memorial to unification right as the world is kind of pulling apart."

In London, foundations of a Roman amphitheater founded in A.D. 74 and upgraded about a half century later were discovered in 1988 beneath what is now known as the heart of the city under Guildhall Yard. For centuries, no trace of the massive structure was found until a spot check by excavators under the town hall revealed secrets buried 20 feet beneath thousands of years of accumulated urban rubble.

National Geographic, in its latest issue, describes a trapdoor still visible fronting the chambers that once held beasts and gladiators, gleaming green and purple marble, a 23-foot-entryway for the show's combatants and tiered seating for the ancient audience.