Thursday morning news - March 10, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Russian strike destroys children’s/maternity hospital in Mariupol » A Russian strike hit a children’s and maternity hospital in southern Ukraine on Wednesday.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared a video on social media of the blown-out facility in Mariupol. The sound you hear is that of footsteps on broken glass.

AUDIO: [Sound from hospital]

Officials still haven’t determined exactly how many people were killed or wounded. The attack left many, including children, buried under piles of concrete and steel. Rescuers were still digging through rubble late last night.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters …

PSAKI: As a mother, I know a number of you are mothers yourself, it is horrifying to see the type of barbaric military force to go after civilians in a sovereign country.

Authorities announced new cease-fire agreements on Wednesday for civilians to escape Mariupol, Kyiv, and Sumy. But the Russian military has shelled previous evacuation corridors.

Pentagon rejects NATO nations providing jets to Ukraine » The Pentagon on Wednesday slammed the door on any plans to provide MiG fighter jets to Ukraine, even through a second country.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the intelligence community has assessed that sending the fighters to Ukraine …

KIRBY: Could result in significant Russian reaction that might increase the prospects of a military escalation with NATO. Therefore, we also assess the transfer of the MiG-29s to Ukraine to be high risk.

He also said analysts believe sending the 28 Soviet-era fighters to Ukraine would not make a big difference against Russia’s much larger and more modern, high-tech fleet.

With all of that in mind, the Pentagon says the move just isn’t worth the risk.

Kirby said the United States is pursuing other options that would provide more critical military needs to Ukraine, such as air defense and anti-armor weapons systems.

House passes $1.5T spending bill with nearly $14 in Ukraine aid » The House passed a massive 1.5 trillion dollar spending package last night to fund the government for the rest of the year. It passed in multiple parts.

AUDIO: The ayes are 361. The nays are 69. The first portion of the divided question is adopted.

That was the vote on the defense portion of the spending package. The domestic spending portion passed 260 to 171. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The Senate is expected to take up the spending package by the end of the week.

Lawmakers face a Friday deadline to send government funding to President Biden’s desk or face an election-year federal shutdown.

Adding to the urgency is a measure that will set aside nearly $14 billion to help Ukraine and European allies.

The omnibus package is also stocked with big spending on top priorities of both parties.

For Democrats, it provides $730 billion for domestic programs, almost 7 percent more than last year. And Republicans got nearly $800 billion for defense, an almost 6 percent rise over last year.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Republicans ramp up pressure on White House increase oil output » Republicans are ramping up pressure on the White House to increase domestic production of oil as gas prices continue to surge.

The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded hit $4.25 per gallon on Wednesday, another record high.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that’s due to circumstances outside President Biden’s control.

PSAKI: As we’ve seen over the past year, global events like the pandemic or Russia’s unprovoked aggression in Ukraine can lead to disruptions in global supply chains that lead to higher prices for American consumers.

President Biden this week announced a ban on Russian oil imports, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle support that move.

But Republicans say the president is wrong to ask other oil producing countries to increase output without doing the same at home. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio:

RUBIO: We are producing 1.2 million barrels of oil less a day than we were in 2019. If we just got half of that back, it more than makes up for whatever we were getting from Russia, and it would help lower prices and it would have an immediate impact, by the way, on oil prices.

The Biden administration has shown a willingness to engage with Saudi Arabia and even Venezuela and Iran to help compensate for the loss of Russian oil.

Top administration officials traveled to Venezuela over the weekend for talks.

But Republicans say Biden must take steps to increase oil output here in the United States. And some are calling on the White House to extend the Russian import ban to oil from Venezuela and Iran as well.

Biden signs order on cryptocurrency as its use explodes » President Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday directing the government to take a very close look at cryptocurrency. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The White House said the order outlines the first major government effort aimed at—quote—“addressing the risks and harnessing the potential benefits” of cryptocurrency.

The order directs the Treasury Department and other agencies to study the impact the digital assets have on financial stability and national security.

Biden is also ordering the Federal Reserve to explore whether the central bank should jump in and create its own digital currency.

The action comes amid growing concern that Russia may be using cryptocurrency to avoid some of the impact of sanctions imposed by the West.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

U.S. man who got 1st pig heart transplant dies after 2 months » The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died. Fifty-seven-year-old David Bennett passed away two months after a last-resort experimental surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Doctors didn’t give an exact cause of death, saying only that his condition had begun deteriorating several days earlier.

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

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