Wednesday morning news - March 23, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Biden travels to Europe for urgent meetings with allies » President Biden is traveling to Europe today to take part in an emergency meeting of NATO and address the European Council Summit as Russia continues to pound Ukraine.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House…

SULLIVAN: He will have the opportunity to coordinate on the next phase of military assistance to Ukraine. He will join our partners in imposing further sanctions on Russia and in tightening existing sanctions to crack down on evasion …

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday about further tightening the screws on Russia.

She said the EU has acted boldly, adopting “unprecedented and massive sanctions.”

METSOLA: But we can still do more. Europe must show Putin and his oligarchs that his war will come at the largest cost imaginable.

Poland becomes ground zero for Ukrainian refugee crisis » Biden is traveling to Poland this week, which is now ground zero for a refugee crisis.

Andreas Kirchhof is spokesman for the UN’s refugee agency. He explained that more than 3.5 million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries so far. And more than half of them, 2.1 million, are now in Poland.

KIRCHHOF: And that means there is enormous strain on the country. The arrivals each day is the equivalent of the inhabitants of a midsize town.

Polish President Andrzej Duda is asking for more U.S. aid and a stepped up military presence on NATO's eastern flank.

UN chief calls for ceasefire as diplomatic efforts continue » United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said there can be no winner in this war and added that he’s seen progress toward negotiating a ceasefire. Guterres said he believes there is—quote—“enough on the table to cease hostilities now.”

GUTERRES: Continuing the war in Ukraine is morally unacceptable, politically indefensible, and militarily nonsensical.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he is prepared to discuss a commitment from Ukraine not to seek NATO membership. That is if Russian troops withdraw and guarantee Ukraine’s security.

He also repeated his call for direct talks with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.

That has not yet happened. But French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday talked with both Putin and Zelenskyy about the terms of a potential cease-fire.

Macron said they reached “no agreement,” but he will continue diplomatic efforts.

Biden warns of growing threat of Russian cyberattacks » President Biden is urging U.S. companies to step up their cybersecurity due to potential Russian threats. He cited new intelligence that Russia is considering launching cyberattacks against critical infrastructure targets in the United States.

The president told business leaders this week…

BIDEN: The federal government is doing its part to get ready. But under US law, as you all remember, the private sector, all of you, largely decides the protections that you will or will not take.

Biden warned—quote—“The magnitude of Russia's cyber capability is fairly consequential, and it's coming.”

He said the federal government is offering cybersecurity assistance to private companies if they want it.

Republicans grill Jackson on day-2 of Supreme Court confirmation hearing » Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is back in the hot seat on Capitol Hill again this morning for the third day of her Senate confirmation hearing.

On Tuesday, GOP lawmakers voiced their concerns that she may be too liberal and that, from their perspective, she was too lenient on sex offenders as a district court judge. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said he does not question her character or concern for children …

CRUZ: But I also see a record of activism and advocacy as it concerns sexual predators that stems back decades, and that is concerning.

Jackson pushed back on that criticism.

JACKSON: In every case, I did my duty to hold the defendants accountable in light of the evidence and the information that was presented to me.

She also vowed that she will not legislate from the bench but will do her best to interpret the law impartially.

At the hearing today, the committee will hear from legal experts before an eventual vote to send her nomination to the Senate floor.

Storms tear into Texas, Oklahoma then move into Deep South » Tornadoes tore through parts of Texas and Oklahoma on Tuesday, killing at least one person and wounding more than dozen.

The storm partially tore the roof off of a school and heavily damaged homes and businesses.

Scott Haynes is chief of the Jacksboro, Texas Police Department.

HAYNES: We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re a resilient community, and we’re going to bounce back, and everything’s going to be good for us.

The storm continued its destructive path Tuesday into Louisiana,Mississippi, and Tennessee.

High winds uprooted trees in Ridgeland, Mississippi, as a possible tornado passed the Jackson city area Tuesday afternoon.

The storms knocked out power to at least 90,000 customers.

That system pushed into the Southeast this morning. It is now battering parts of the region with strong winds and heavy rain in several states from Florida to Virginia.

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

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