Friday morning news - March 11, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

U.S. inflation soared 7.9% in past year, a fresh 40-year high » Inflation over the past year surged at the highest rate since 1982 and there’s no end in sight.

A report from the Labor Department released Thursday reflected the 12 months ending in February. That means it doesn’t really include the spike in oil and gas prices that have followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

So Greg McBride, chief analyst at Bankrate.com, says the numbers aren’t likely to look any better in the short term.

MCBRIDE: Those rising oil and gasoline prices, it can filter through to the costs of other goods and services. Everything you buy off of a shelf in a store, it got there either by plane, train, or automobile.

Since Russia’s invasion on February 24th, gas prices have jumped about 62 cents a gallon nationally, to $4.32, according to AAA.

But gas prices were on the rise even before that. And propelled by surging costs for gas, food and housing, consumer inflation jumped 7.9 percent over the past year.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said inflation remains a top priority for President Biden.

PSAKI: But in terms of the strength and stability of the economy, we feel we do continue to be positioned well to deal with the challenges ahead.

Supply shortages have helped fuel inflation. But many analysts say moves by the Federal Reserve, Congress, and the White House to flood the economy with cash are major factors as well.

The Federal Reserve is set to raise interest rates several times this year in hopes of slowing inflation.

U.S. intel officials say they underestimated Ukraine’s will to fight » Top U.S. intelligence officials testified on Capitol Hill Thursday and admitted they underestimated Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.

Lieutenant General Scott Berrier is director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He told lawmakers on the Senate Intel Committee …

BERRIER: My view was that, based on a variety of factors, that the Ukrainians were not as ready as I thought they should be. Therefore, I questioned their will to fight. That was a bad assessment on my part because they have fought bravely and honorably and they’re doing the right thing.

Republican lawmakers have criticized the White House for not providing more weapons or intelligence to Ukraine sooner.

The Biden administration is currently opposed to a Polish plan to donate MiG fighter jets to Ukraine out of concern that Russia may view that as an escalation by NATO.

But the intel officials said Russian strongman Vladimir Putin also underestimated Ukraine. CIA Director William Burns …

BURNS: I think Putin is frustrated and angry right now. He’s likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties.

U.S. intelligence agencies said for whatever they may have gotten wrong, their predictions about Putin’s intention to launch a war were spot on.

Much of the hearing focused on the unprecedented U.S. campaign to declassify intelligence about alleged attempts by Russia to create a fake pretext for its invasion. Some credit that campaign with helping to ramp up support for sanctions against Russia and for pushing reluctant Western countries to give military aid to Ukraine.

U.S. to ease nationwide mask mandate on planes, buses, transit » The CDC is extending its mask mandate on airplanes, buses and other mass transit. But it’s reportedly developing guidance to ease those mandates next month. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The mask mandate, enforced by the TSA, had been set to expire next Friday. But the CDC is extending it by one month till April 18th.

But according to the Associated Press, citing a government official, the CDC is developing a “revised policy framework” to ease those mandates. It will be based on its newly released “COVID-19 community levels” metric.

Right now, more than 90 percent of Americans live in a location with low or medium COVID Community Levels where public masking is no longer recommended.

The CDC says new guidance will also consider the risk of new variants based on the latest science.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Smollett sentenced to jail, probation for hate crime hoax » Actor Jussie Smollett has been sentenced to roughly five months in jail and two and a half years felony probation for staging a hate crime and lying to investigators.

Cook County, Illinois Judge James Linn did not grant the request of special prosecutor Dan Webb. He had asked for Smollett to serve a—quote—“appropriate amount of prison time.”

WEBB: Our recommendation to your honor is that you have the authority to impose imprisonment on one of the five counts that he was convicted of.

Instead, Smollett will serve 150 days in a county jail in addition to probation. He’ll also pay nearly $150,000 in fines and restitution.

The 39-year-old actor was convicted of staging a hate crime in 2019 in Chicago in which he falsely claimed to be the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two white Donald Trump supporters.

Major League Baseball owners, players agree on new labor deal to end lockout » Major League Baseball players will soon play ball! The league and the player’s union came together on a new labor agreement, ending a 99-day lockout. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Players have voted to accept the league’s latest offer for a new labor deal. That will allow training camps to open this week in Florida and Arizona more than three weeks after they were scheduled to on Feb. 16th.

The new collective bargaining agreement expands the playoffs to 12 teams and introduces incentives to limit so-called “tanking.”

The minimum salary will rise to about $700,000 per season. And the luxury tax threshold will increase from $210 million to $230 million.

The agreement means teams will play a full 162-game regular season though it will start a week later than originally planned. Opening Day will now be on April 7th.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

I'm Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.

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