Hey there,
Welcome to cheddar news wrap it is thursday february 17th
2022 I am ken buffa in new york city,
Hannah has the night off, but I'm glad to see that you're with me now coming up,
tensions between Russia and the west reached a boiling point over Ukraine.
A congressman joins us to break down the situation.
Also, national guardsmen step in to fill the teacher gap during the pandemic
and a bit later vaccine makers share updates on when
we could see a covid shot targeting the omicron variant.
That's all ahead right here on the news wrap. Okay, so first up
tensions along the Ukrainian Russian border are continuing to mount as the U.
S warns Russia has added an additional 7000 troops to the region.
Now,
this news comes despite the Kremlin declaring its
forces are pulling back from the border.
According to Western estimates,
more than 150,000 Russian troops have surrounded Ukraine to the east,
north and south of the country.
The Wall Street Journal reports, Russian back separatists and authorities of Kiev
are exchanging accusation over ceasefire violations on the front line.
Things are getting spicy
joining me now to break this all down as California congressman
Ami Bera and Congressman,
the west warns that Russia has added more troops as I mentioned.
While Russia maintains it has reduced
the number of troops.
So why is there discrepancy,
you know, when, when I was in,
Ukraine a couple of weeks ago and we were
talking with the Ukrainian leadership with President Zelensky,
they said we ought to approach Vladimir Putin as though he was a poker player?
So this could be one of those head fakes where he's saying one thing and doing
another thing and I think we we have
not been briefed on any evidence of truth withdrawals
and in fact the administration and intelligence
community have said the exact opposite.
The other thing that has this worried is, you know,
this escalating tension rhetoric between Ukrainian forces
in the Donbas region and Russian separatists.
That's exactly the type of thing that Vladimir Putin
would use as an excuse to go in and
you know, at least moved troops into the Donbas region. So
I think we're still on pretty heightened alert right now.
Now we've been talking about diplomacy, there's always room for diplomacy.
There's still room for diplomacy, but adding troops to the border.
Does that make that the whole diplomacy word kind of just fade away?
You know, diplomacy is still always an option.
I think Mr Putin was surprised at how strong the biden administration reacted,
how strongly all of the european union came together along with the United States.
And you've even seen other democracies around the
world like Japan and others come together and
really stand up to this autocrat in Russia
and I think that surprised him. I thought he probably felt he could divide us and
the exact opposite has happened.
Now you met recently with the Ukrainian president, can you tell us how that went?
You know, we did, we met with President Zelensky, his foreign minister,
his defense minister,
you know, with a good meeting and again, I recognize that, you know,
he's being cautious, he doesn't want to create panic in his country.
He doesn't want to further negatively impact the economy of Ukraine,
which has been impacted by this.
Um that said they're very matter of fact they're preparing to defend their country.
You know, when you talk to um just regular Ukrainians, you know,
they're signing up for the military there.
They know they can't defeat the Russian army,
but what they can do is fight an insurgency and
they have no intention of going back under Russian rule,
they've tasted freedom.
You know,
it's our obligation as the world's oldest democracy
to stand with this young democracy in Ukraine.
Speaking of our obligation, how do you think the U. S.
Administration has been dealing with this crisis overall?
You know,
I actually think the biden administration has been very strong in its response.
Again, rallying the european union,
rallying NATO taking very decisive moves in moving some of our troops that are
already stationed in europe to shore up the countries that are closer to Ukraine,
but also getting further obligations. So if Russia's
whole goal was to
um forced NATO to withdraw from eastern europe.
He's accomplished the exact opposite.
I also think, you know, the sanctions package that we've been briefed on and that,
you know, they've also alluded to would be devastating to the Russian economy.
Again,
we'll see if Mr Putin's bluffing,
if he decides to fold his hand or at least walk back where he's at.
But he strengthened us and strengthen our result
now when it comes to
the invasion, what does it seem eminent?
Or do you think that there is still time to kind of talk it over and
get these troops back home and Ukraine and the rest of the world feeling better?
Do you think that it's just that window
just getting smaller and smaller and smaller?
You know, I think there's time to um
hold off the invasion of troops.
Now,
do I think we'll continue to see actions like the
cyber attacks that are already taking place on Ukraine?
That probably continues, You know,
we probably have to work with the Ukrainians to think
about what are proportional responses should these continue to escalate?
Um but I don't think there's anything any going back at this point.
You know,
we're continuing to fortify and help Ukraine with its own ability to defend itself.
And we've seen the threat to other NATO
allies in eastern europe and the balkan countries?
I think we will continue to work with them to fortify their defenses as well.
Is there any situation where all sides win, and what would that situation look like?
You know, I think the situation where all sides win is, you know, if we,
you know, reassure Russia on some of its security concerns.
You know, when Russia talks about Ukraine joining NATO,
the president President biden has been very clear that there's no attempt for,
you know, any imminent joining of NATO.
But that's ultimately up to the NATO nations in Ukraine.
And President Zelensky said, you know, maybe that's off the table.
So you know Russia could walk away and say okay we gotta win.
Ukraine start joining NATO.
I think we could get a win by saying, okay, how do we deescalate tensions
and then, you know, Russia wants to reduce the nuclear threat in europe. Well that's
a bilateral negotiation where Russia also has to reduce its nuclear weapons.
That would probably be a good thing.
Congressman barry.
You've been incredibly wise,
thank you so much for taking the time and joining us
on their show and shedding some light on this issue sir,
I appreciate your time.
Thank you again.
Alright, so now let's take a look at a few global coronavirus headlines.
The World Health Organization is calling for an enhanced the role
in order to strengthen global health security.
Now this came as Washington proposed a new global pandemic prevention fund.
The U. S. Is the biggest donor to the W. H. O. U. S.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged G-20 member nations to
back the proposed fund which would focus on prevention and
preparedness. Some things that we could use
a new model estimates 73% of Americans are immune to the omicron variant
for now
and that number could rise to 80% next month.
So millions of Americans immune systems now recognize the
virus and are ready to fight it off.
With half of eligible citizens receiving boosters.
Many health experts believe we're getting to the endemic stage of Covid.
Earlier this week.
CDC CDC director dr Rochelle Walensky discussed the ultimate goal here.
Take a listen,
we all share the same goal
To get to a point where COVID-19 is no longer disrupting our daily lives,
a time when it won't be a constant crisis.
Rather something we can prevent, protect against and treat.
Moving from this pandemic will be a process led by science and epidemiologic trends
and one that relies on the powerful tools we already have including vaccines,
boosters, testing and treatment.
Now.
However,
the coronavirus remains dangerous infecting more
than 130,000 Americans every day.
Moderna says an omicron specific booster could be ready by august.
The company began clinical trials for a targeted booster
last month but initial results from studies in monkeys
showed the omicron booster may not offer
stronger protection than Moderna's existing vaccine.
Moderna is targeting a combination flu and Covid vaccine by august 2023
and sticking with vaccines,
biontech says it's omicron targeted vaccine is developing with visor
is being delayed,
the delivery delay is several weeks and due to a slower than expected.
Data gathering process
once it's ready though, the company will decide whether it's still needed.
The vaccine was originally slated to launch by the end of March
switching gears.
Now Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says
the protests that blocked border crossings and cap
in the capital of Ottawa are a threat which hurts ties with the United States.
Hear from him right now
the blockades
and occupations
are illegal.
There are a threat to our economy
and relationships with trading partners.
They're a threat to supply chains and the
availability of essential goods like food and medicine.
Is there a threat
to public safety?
Now,
Ottawa police are stepping up security ahead of its crackdown on
the nearly three week protests against COVID-19 restrictions earlier this week,
Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act giving the government
a wide range of additional temporary powers.
He strongly warned the Ottawa protesters to leave or face consequences.
And reverend Al Sharpton spoke at the funeral of a mir lock,
a black man who was fatally shot by Minneapolis
police as officers served a no knock search warrant
in a homicide investigation earlier this month. Take a listen,
if you understood the story,
you understand why we're here today with a meal
because Amir was not guilty of anything but being young and black in America.
Now, Sharpton also said in Minneapolis had passed a ban on no knock warrants.
The 22 year old would still be alive locks, death was
well locke's death has provoked an outcry against
no knock warrants with a push by his family
and others to ban them in the state and beyond.
And the Department of Education says it will cancel federal student
loans for at least 1800 students who attended Devry University,
once one of the nation's largest for profit college change.
Now,
the department says it's because derived fraudulently lowered applicants for
years with vastly inflated claims about their career prospects,
officials say. Between 2000 and 2015,
the school advertised that 90% of its graduates found
work in their field of study within six months,
but in reality only felt 58% did.
The former students will have nearly $72
million dollars in loan forgiveness for that
and residents of the Golden state could be paying
even more for gas in the near future,
experts warn, some americans could be paying as much as five bucks a gallon
in a matter of months or
maybe sooner.
Gas in California just hit a record high of four
bucks and 72 cents a gallon on average on Wednesday.
The US national average is currently $3.51
Prices have soared in recent years due to
costs related to California's transition to renewable energy,
but it is not the only state feeling the burden.
Gas prices were up 6% nationwide in just
the last month and it hurts
every time
And the 15 year old Russian figure skater is out of medal contention
after falling twice during her free skate program at the Winter Olympics,
Vassileva fell following two separate quad jumps,
causing her to finish fourth in the metal event.
The IOC previously said it would not hold the medal ceremony if
she earned a spot among the top three in the competition.
The Russian athletes at the center of a
doping scandal after testing positive for a banned substance
but was still allowed to compete in a controversial decision.
And a special programming note.
Cheddar news has you covered with the latest from the Beijing Winter olympics?
From who's going home with gold? To
the trending moans from the Games, tune in our special business of sports.
The Beijing winter olympics 2022 tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. Eastern.
Right here on cheddar news.