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US

New documentary footage reveals Pence reacting to a resolution calling for him to invoke 25th amendment to remove Trump from power

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In a clip of the documentary from filmmaker Alex Holder, which was obtained by CNN, Pence is shown an email by a member of his staff that includes the draft House resolution demanding that Pence invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power, according to the documentary.

Pence tells his aide, “Yeah, excellent” as he is handed the phone with the email. He then offers a pained smirk and asks the aide to “tell Zach to print me off a hard copy for the trip home.” Pence then collects himself for the rest of the interview.

The next clip shows Pence saying, “I am always hopeful about America,” juxtaposed against the backdrop of crews erecting security fencing around the Capitol building.

The footage of Pence’s interview, which has not been previously released, was captured less than a week after pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol in an effort to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election win. Pence had to be evacuated to safety amid calls from rioters to “Hang Mike Pence.”

The same evening that Pence was interviewed, the House passed the resolution calling for Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power and deem him unfit for office. Only one Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, voted in favor of the resolution, which was effectively a symbolic vote taken one day before the House impeached Trump for a second time on January 13, 2021.
After the vote, Pence sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying he would not invoke the 25th Amendment. “Last week, I did not yield to pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our nation,” Pence wrote.

In the short clip of the documentary set to be released by Discovery Plus, which is owned by CNN’s parent company, Pence does not comment on the substance of the resolution. But the video is a small sample of the additional content now in the possession of the committee. However, the documentary states that during his interview, the former vice president declined to discuss anything related to January 6.

Holder, the filmmaker, appeared Thursday behind closed doors for a deposition with the January 6 committee, which likely asked him about what he observed over the course of nearly six months when he had behind-the-scenes access to key Trump figures and even the former President himself.

In one clip from an interview with Trump on March 2021 at Mar-a-Lago, the former President is asked directly about what happened on January 6.

“Well, it was a sad day, but it was a day where there was great anger in our country, and people went to Washington primarily because they were angry with an election they think was rigged,” Trump said.

“A very small portion, as you know, went down to the Capitol, and then a very small portion of them went in,” Trump continued. “But I will tell you they were angry from the standpoint of what happened in the election, because they’re smart, and they see, and they saw what happened. And I believe that was a big part of what happened on January 6.”

Holder’s “Unprecedented” three-part docuseries about the 2020 election will be released on Discovery Plus later this summer. The documentary includes never-before-seen footage of the Trump family on the campaign trail and their reactions to the outcome of the election.

Trump and his allies have yet to react publicly to news that Holder was subpoenaed by the committee or to the revelation of what was said in the interviews now in the panel’s possession.

The documentary includes interviews with Trump as well as three of his children: Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric, according to the clips released by Discovery Plus and obtained by CNN.

Like Trump, his family members speak directly to camera in the footage. The interviews could provide new insight into what those closest to the former President were saying in the lead-up to and after January 6.

In one short clip obtained by CNN from December 2020, Ivanka Trump told the filmmaker, “As the President has said, every single vote needs to be counted, and needs to be heard. He campaigned for the voiceless.”

The clip seems to be from the same interview excerpt, first reported by The New York Times Tuesday night and confirmed by CNN, where Ivanka Trump said her father should “continue to fight until every legal remedy is exhausted” because people were questioning “the sanctity of our elections.”
The interview came days after then-attorney General William Barr publicly stated there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Under oath, Ivanka Trump told the January 6 committee that Barr’s assessment “affected my perspective” and she “accepted what he was saying.”

Those comments appear to contradict the sentiment she expressed in the documentary interview.

The documentary also features Pence talking in detail about the process of Trump selecting him as his running mate. He talks about Trump inviting his family to his estate in Bedminster, New Jersey and playing golf with the then-GOP nominee as part of his vetting process.

The documentary then notes how Trump attacked Pence on January 6 as rioters called for his hanging, before turning to an interview clip from Trump.

“I think I treat people well, unless they don’t treat me well, in which case you go to war,” Trump says.
This story has been updated to include the letter Pence sent to Speaker Pelosi declining to invoke the 25th Amendment.

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US

Miranda rights: Supreme Court limits ability to enforce Miranda rights

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The court’s ruling will cut back on an individual’s protections against self-incrimination by barring the potential to obtain damages. It also means that the failure to administer the warning will not expose a law enforcement officer to potential damages in a civil lawsuit. It will not impact, however, the exclusion of such evidence at a criminal trial.

The court clarified that while the Miranda warning protects a constitutional right, the warning itself is not a right that would trigger the ability to bring a civil lawsuit.

“Today’s ruling doesn’t get rid of the Miranda right,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law. “But it does make it far harder to enforce. Under this ruling, the only remedy for a violation of Miranda is to suppress statements obtained from a suspect who’s not properly advised of his right to remain silent. But if the case never goes to trial, or if the government never seeks to use the statement, or if the statement is admitted notwithstanding the Miranda violation, there’s no remedy at all for the government’s misconduct.”

Justice Samuel Alito, joined by the five other Republican-appointed justices, said that a violation of the Miranda right “is not itself a violation of the Fifth Amendment,” and that “we see no justification for expanding Miranda to confer a right to sue,” under the relevant statute.

Justice Elena Kagan, joined by the other liberal justices, said that the court’s ruling was stripping “individuals of the ability to seek a remedy for violations of the right recognized in Miranda.”

“The majority here, as elsewhere, injures the right by denying the remedy,” she added.

The case involved Terence Tekoh, a hospital worker who was accused of sexually assaulting an immobilized female patient at a local hospital in 2014.

At issue was not whether a defendant must be read his Miranda rights, but whether he can sue an officer for damages if he doesn’t receive the Miranda warning for evidence introduced in a criminal proceeding. Lower courts have split on the issue.

Carlos Vega, a Los Angeles County sheriff deputy, questioned Tekoh, although he failed to read him his rights as required by the 1966 precedent of Miranda v. Arizona, where the court held that a defendant must be warned of a “right to remain silent.” Under that precedent, without the Miranda warning, criminal trial courts are generally barred from admitting self-incriminating statements made while the defendant was in custody.

Tekoh ultimately confessed to the crime, was tried and acquitted — even after the introduction of his confession at trial. Later, he sued the officer under a federal law, Section 1983, that allows suits for damages against a government official for violating constitutional rights.

The parties disagreed on whether Vega used coercive techniques to extract an involuntary confession.

Lawyers for Vega said Tekoh’s statement was entirely consensual and voluntary, and he was not technically “in custody” at the time, while Tekoh’s lawyers contended he was bullied into confessing in a windowless room.

Roman Martinez, a lawyer for Vega, said that Tekoh couldn’t bring his claim because establishing a violation of Miranda does not establish a violation of the Fifth Amendment.

“Miranda creates a procedural rule barring prosecutors from introducing—and courts from admitting—certain unwarned statements as a part of the prosecution’s case-in-chief at a criminal trial,” Martinez argued in court papers.

For Martinez, the Miranda warning is a constitutional rule, it is not a right, and under that interpretation the lawsuit cannot go forward. “Miranda does not prohibit taking unwarned statements; it merely forbids the subsequent admission of such statements at trial,” Martinez argued.

He said an appeals court ruling that went in favor of Tekoh would “saddle police departments nationwide with extraordinary burdens in connection with lawful and appropriate investigative work.” Any police interaction, according to Martinez, could give rise to a private lawsuit “even where the police officer has acted entirely lawfully.”

The Biden administration sided with Vega.

“Because the Miranda rule concerns the introduction of evidence at trial, a suspect may not sue the police officer under Section 1983 for violating that rule,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued in court papers.

Lawyers for Tekoh argued that Vega refused to accept Tekoh’s denials and that “with a hand resting on his firearm,” Vega threatened to report Tekoh and his family members to immigration. Tekoh has a green card, and deportation could lead to persecution in Cameroon.

Paul Hoffman, a lawyer for Tekoh, said that Vega was “the central actor in the chain of events leading directly to the statement being introduced at trial.”

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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World

Russia is gaining advantage in eastern Ukraine as forces learn from earlier mistakes, US officials say

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The US does not expect new weapons systems recently supplied to Ukrainian forces, including the HIMARS multiple rocket launch system, to immediately change the situation on the battlefield in part because those systems are so far being sent with both a limited range and a limited number of rockets to ensure they are not fired into Russian territory. Additionally, Russian forces have been able to destroy some of the new Western-supplied weapons, including M777 howitzers, in targeted attacks.
The US assessments, which increasingly envision a long and punishing battle in eastern Ukraine, come as the months-long war there has reached a pivotal moment in recent days. Ukraine’s military has been burning through Soviet-era ammunition that fits older systems, and Western governments are facing a tough decision on whether they want to continue increasing their assistance to the country.

The US assessments paint a dismal image of the future of the war, with high personnel and equipment losses on both sides. US officials believe that Russian forces plan to maintain intense attacks in the east, characterized by heavy artillery and missile strikes, with the intention of wearing down Ukrainian forces and NATO resolve over time.

Russia’s advancements were brought into plain view in recent days after Ukraine’s defense of Lysychansk — the last city in the Luhansk region it still holds — became a lot more tenuous. In the last couple of days, Russians have advanced into several villages south of Lysychansk, though not without sustaining losses from Ukrainian artillery fire.
In the coming weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will virtually address the upcoming G7 and NATO summits, senior US administration officials have said, with the leader looking to shore up Western support for his country. During the G7, President Joe Biden will unveil steps alongside other leaders to increase pressure on Russia for its invasion. And at NATO, the US will announce measures to “strengthen European security, alongside expected major new contributions from allies,” one official said.

Members of the Ukrainian parliament have told US lawmakers that the Russian military has calculated how much ammunition Western allies have in stockpiles for the Ukrainian military’s mostly Russian-made artillery — and plan to wait for Ukrainian forces to run out over time.

“Putin is not deterred and I don’t think he will ever be deterred,” Rep. Mike Quigley, a Democrat from Illinois who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN.

“This war could last years,” he added.

At home, US and NATO partners are beginning to see the limits of their own supplies of certain advanced weapons, including shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles. These weapons systems have their own complicated supply lines, meaning it could take years to replace the thousands of such missiles already supplied to Ukrainian forces.

Meanwhile, the US Defense Department’s watchdog has opened an evaluation of the department’s plans to restock its own munitions and equipment stockpiles as it continues to supply significant quantities to Ukraine, the agency announced Wednesday.

“The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the DOD has planned to restock its equipment and munitions provided to Ukraine,” the department’s inspector general said in a statement.

CNN’s Devan Cole, Katie Bo Lillis, Barbara Starr, Natasha Bertrand, Oren Liebermann, Tim Lister, Donald Judd and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

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US

House GOP leaders oppose bipartisan gun deal as Senate moves toward passage

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana announced during a closed-door conference meeting on Wednesday that they are both a “no” on the Senate’s bipartisan gun deal, according to a source in the room.

House GOP conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York said in a statement she also plans to vote against the bill, meaning the top 3 members of House Republican leadership are all united in opposing the legislation.

House GOP leaders also plan to formally organize against the Senate’s bipartisan gun bill, according to Republican sources. A formal whip notice is expected to go out on Wednesday.

But even with House GOP leaders opposing the bill, there are already some Republican members who have indicated they plan to vote for it, and the Democrat-controlled House is expected to be able to pass the legislation once it passes in the Senate.

The Senate appears to be on track to pass the measure as early as this week. If passed, it would amount to the most significant new federal legislation to address gun violence since the expired 10-year assault weapons ban of 1994 — though it fails to ban any weapons and falls far short of what Democrats and polls show most Americans want to see.
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales announced on Twitter on Wednesday that he intends to vote yes on the bipartisan gun bill, saying, “As a Congressman it’s my duty to pass laws that never infringe on the Constitution while protecting the lives of the innocent.”

Gonzales represents Uvalde, Texas, where a recent mass shooting at an elementary school shocked the nation and led to public outcry.

“In the coming days I look forward to voting YES on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,” Gonzales said.

GOP Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan also told CNN he’s a “yes” on the bill.

GOP Senate negotiator looks to grow Republican support

The Senate voted to advance the bill on Tuesday evening, a key step toward final passage. And the chamber appears poised to soon pass the legislation after 14 GOP senators voted with Democrats in Tuesday’s procedural vote — more than the 10 required to join with Democrats to overcome a filibuster on the bill. A vote to overcome a filibuster is expected to take place on Thursday.

In a slide presentation Sen. John Cornyn presented to Senate Republicans at lunch on Wednesday, which was provided to CNN by a GOP source, the Texas Republican went through areas where the National Rifle Association got want it wanted — even though the pro-gun lobby is opposed to the deal.

Among the issues Cornyn noted: ensuring the fix to close the “boyfriend loophole” does not apply retroactively to past domestic abusers and only applies to recent relationships. He also noted due process rules for states that implement red flag laws, and a 10-year sunset provision to ensure all enhanced background checks to allow for searching of juvenile records will be “repealed” in a decade. He also promoted $300 million in “hardening schools” and $12 billion in mental health funding as NRA wins.

The effort was part of a sales job to grow GOP support beyond the 14 Republicans who voted to open debate, but a majority of Senate Republicans are still expected to oppose the bill.

Still, the legislation marks the first major federal gun safety measure in a generation, a significant achievement in a highly polarized political environment where gun policy is among the most contentious issues.

The bill includes millions of dollars for mental health, school safety, crisis intervention programs and incentives for states to include juvenile records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check system.

It also makes significant changes to the process when someone ages 18 to 21 goes to buy a firearm and closes the so-called boyfriend loophole, a major victory for Democrats, who had fought for a decade for that.

In contrast to the decision by the top 3 House Republican leaders to oppose the bill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he plans to support it.

McConnell praised the bipartisan gun violence legislation on Wednesday as a “package of commonsense and popular solutions to make these horrific incidents less likely” that will not “touch the rights of the overwhelming majority of American gun owners who are law-abiding citizens of sound mind.”

He said past attempts to pass legislation to curb mass shootings at schools and elsewhere stalled because Democrats tried to “roll back” people’s Second Amendment rights.

“This time is different. This time the Democrats came our way and agreed to advance some commonsense solutions without rolling back rights for law-abiding citizens. The result is a product I’m proud to support,” McConnell said on the Senate floor.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reiterated on Wednesday that he intends to “secure final passage” of the bipartisan gun safety legislation before the end of the week.

“It is my intention now to keep the process moving quickly and secure final passage before the week’s end,” Schumer said in floor remarks.

He pointed to the 64 senators who supported the bill’s advancement on Tuesday night, as “an unmistakable sign of the broad support and momentum behind this bill.

This story has been updated with additional developments Wednesday.

CNN’s Manu Raju, Sarah Fortinsky, Ali Zaslav and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.



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Sports

House Panel alleges Commanders owner Dan Snyder fostered toxic workplace and ‘conducted a shadow investigation’ targeting accusers

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Maloney said that Snyder “fired women but not men who engaged in relationships with other employees, while defending male executives accused of sexual harassment,” according to testimony from former top team executives during the panel’s eight-month probe of the Commanders’ culture and the NFL’s response.

The New York Democrat said Snyder sent private investigators to former cheerleaders’ homes, “offered hush money to buy their silence,” created a “dossier” of communications from journalists, attorneys and former employees who accused the team of harassment, and tried to blame former team President Bruce Allen for the team’s troubles.

“The NFL was aware of his actions, but failed to stop him,” Maloney said.

Snyder declined to testify at the hearing, but Maloney announced she intended to issue a subpoena to compel his testimony next week. A Snyder spokesperson said the hearing was “little more than a politically charged show trial, not about uncovering the truth.”

“It is clear the outcome of the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the Washington Commanders was predetermined from the beginning,” said Snyder’s spokesperson.

Last year, after an internal investigation by attorney Beth Wilkinson, the National Football League fined the team $10 million, and Snyder gave control over the franchise’s daily operations to his wife, Tanya. But the NFL declined to publicly release its findings, sparking the House Oversight Committee’s review in October.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell testified before the panel on Wednesday and said that the Commanders’ culture was “not only unprofessional, but toxic for far too long.”

“It is clear to me that the workplace in Washington was unprofessional and unacceptable in numerous respects: bullying, widespread disrespect toward colleagues, use of demeaning language, public embarrassment and harassment,” Goodell said. “Moreover, for a prolonged period of time, the Commanders had a woefully deficient HR function, particularly with respect to reporting practices and recordkeeping.”

But Goodell maintained that the Commanders’ workplace has changed for the better and that Snyder “faced unprecedented discipline,” including the fine. He said that Snyder has not attended league or committee meetings in the past year, and he noted the Commanders put in place “an entirely new, highly skilled and diverse management team” and “revamped” their cheerleading program and leadership with a coed dance team. In 2020, the Commanders hired Ron Rivera as their head football coach and Jason Wright to be their team president.

Goodell also said that the team had not received a written report from Wilkinson in order to preserve the confidentiality of those who had participated in the internal investigation but could release a “summary of the key findings” in the future “if appropriate.” Illinois Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi suggested that the NFL could release a detailed report with redacted names if necessary.

Republicans said Wednesday that the House Oversight Committee should’ve instead spent its time on more important national issues — like rising consumer prices, the baby formula shortage, record numbers of illegal border crossings, fentanyl overdoses or the tanking stock market — and focus on investigating the federal government rather than the private sector. Maloney said that the committee had the authority to investigate “anything and everything,” leading at least one Republican member to say that they’d remember that next year, when the GOP is favored to take back the House.

“This committee is failing the American people,” said Kentucky Rep. Jim Comer, the top Republican on the panel.

Maloney disagreed, noting that attorneys general in six states had told the NFL in April of their “grave concerns” about allegations of workplace harassment of women and minorities and that the NFL had started a new investigation based on the committee’s work.

The NFL hired former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Jo White to investigate an allegation of sexual harassment against Snyder by former employee Tiffani Johnston, a former cheerleader and marketing manager for the team. Johnston told the congressional committee that the Commanders owner had put his hand on her leg under the table at a work dinner and tried to persuade her to get into his limousine. Snyder has denied Johnston’s allegations.

“Some have argued that protecting women isn’t worthy of this committee’s time. I strongly disagree,” Maloney said. “For more than two decades, Dan Snyder refused to protect the women who worked for him from the toxic culture he created. The NFL has also failed to protect these women. Now I believe it is up to Congress to protect them, and millions more like them.”

Maloney said she had introduced two bills to “ensure that employers like Dan Snyder cannot abuse non-disclosure agreements to silence employees — and cannot film their employees” and use the footage without their consent. Goodell said that he supported the intent of the bills.

“In concept, we certainly support it, and we’d be happy to work with your staff,” Goodell said.

Snyder had been invited to appear before the panel on Wednesday but was out of the country, according to Maloney.

“We also invited Daniel Snyder to testify today. But rather than show up and take responsibility for his actions, he chose to skip town,” said Maloney. “Apparently, Mr. Snyder is in France, where he has docked his luxury yacht near a resort town. That should tell you just how much respect he has for women in the workplace.”

Snyder attorney Karen Patton Seymour said that the Commanders’ owner is willing to cooperate but the committee was not “willing to consider changing the date of the hearing,” according to the four-page letter obtained by CNN.

“The Committee also stated that it is not willing to consider changing the date of the hearing, despite the fact that Mr. Snyder has a longstanding Commanders-related business conflict and is out of the country on the first and only date the Committee has proposed for the hearing,” the letter said. “The Committee instead insisted on a yes-or-no response from Mr. Snyder as to whether he would appear for the hearing at the appointed time.”

Asked by Maloney what “specific steps” the NFL would take to hold Snyder accountable for not testifying, Goodell said, “I do not have any responsibility for whether he appears before Congress. That is not my choice. That is his choice.”

Correction: A previous version of this story gave the incorrect day for remarks made by House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney. It was Wednesday.

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World

Microsoft says Russia has stepped up cyber espionage against the US and Ukraine allies

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American organizations were the top target of the Russian hacking attempts outside of Ukraine, according to Microsoft, but the alleged Russian hacking has spanned 42 countries, and a range of sectors that might have valuable information related to the war, from governments to think tanks to humanitarian groups.

It’s a reminder of the voracious appetite that Russian cyber operatives have for strategic information as the Kremlin is more isolated on the international stage than it has been for decades.

Those hacking attempts have successfully penetrated defenses 29% of the time, according to Microsoft. Of those successful breaches, a quarter resulted in data stolen from networks.

But measuring the “success” of a Russian cyber-espionage is difficult, and Microsoft said it didn’t have a full view of the hacking because some customers stored data on their own systems rather than in Microsoft’s cloud computing infrastructure.

CNN has reached out to the Russian Embassy in Washington for comment. Moscow routinely denies hacking accusations.

Various governments have likely stepped up their offensive cyber activities related to the Ukraine war as they search for insights on how the fighting and the global fallout from it.

Cyber Command, the US military’s hacking unit, has conducted a “full spectrum” of offensive, defensive and information operations in support of Ukraine, the head of the command confirmed this month.

China, too, has trained some of its very capable hackers on targets related to the Ukraine war, according to cybersecurity researchers. Suspected Chinese hackers appeared to try to break into computers linked to officials in the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk, near the Chinese border, according to cybersecurity firm Secureworks.

US officials continue to study Russia’s efforts to supplement its kinetic war in Ukraine with cyber operations.

Significant alleged Russian hacking incidents in Ukraine since the February invasion include a hack of a satellite operator, which knocked out internet service for tens of thousands of satellite modems as the invasion unfolded, and waves of data-wiping hacks aimed at destabilizing Ukrainian government agencies.

Ukrainian officials have also accused the Russians of routing internet traffic in occupied parts of Ukraine through Russian internet providers and subjecting those connections to censorship.

Some of those tactics “may form parts of China’s playbook” in future attempts by Beijing to project power beyond its borders, according to Mieke Eoyang, deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy.

“The cyber dimensions of [what Russia is trying doing in Ukraine] are incredibly important to us, especially in the Defense Department, to understand what the playbook might be if another cyber-capable country were to attempt to do this,” Eoyang said Tuesday at an event in Washington hosted by the think tank Third Way.

NATO members a focus for Russian hackers

NATO, the 30-country military alliance that includes the US, Canada and European allies, has been a particular target for Russia’ computer operatives, according to the Microsoft report.

After the US, Poland — a hub for delivering humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine — was the NATO member targeted the most by Russian hackers in recent months, Microsoft researchers found.

Prospective, and not just current, NATO members have had to keep their guard up for potential Russian cyberattacks. The governments of Sweden and Finland have been vigilant for Russian hacking before and after they announced their intention to join NATO in May.

Swedish officials for months have encouraged critical infrastructure operators to lower their thresholds for reporting suspicious cyber activity to authorities, said Johan Turell, a senior analyst in the cybersecurity department of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, a government organization that prepares for natural and man-made crises.

The Kremlin has warned Sweden and Finland, which shares hundreds of miles of border with Russia, against joining NATO.

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke by video conference with the Finnish parliament on April 8, a cyberattack briefly knocked offline the websites of Finland’s ministries of foreign affairs and defense. The websites quickly came back online. Some digital forensics specialists linked the hack, which did not cause any serious disruption, to Russia.

“We don’t know if this was Russian patriotic hackers or an entity linked more directly to [the] Russian government,” Mikko Hyppönen, a prominent Finnish cybersecurity executive, told CNN. “But I have no doubt that the attack was Russian,” he said after reviewing the technical evidence.

“If Russia is trying to scare us with these attacks, they are failing,” said Hyppönen, who is chief research officer at cybersecurity firm WithSecure.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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Business

American Airlines to stop flying to Dubuque, Islip, Ithaca, Toledo

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American Airlines Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet aircraft as seen on final approach landing at New York JFK international airport in NY, on February 13, 2020.

Nicolas Economou | Nurphoto | Getty Images

American Airlines plans to drop service to four U.S. cities in September, including Dubuque, Iowa, which will lose scheduled commercial air service altogether.

The Fort Worth-based carrier blamed the service cuts on a shortage of regional pilots. American, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have each scaled back service between some smaller cities and their hubs, citing a lack of aviators.

The four cities — Toledo, Ohio; Islip, N.Y.; Ithaca, N.Y., and Dubuque — will each lose service from American on Sept. 7, after Labor Day.

“We’ll proactively reach out to customers scheduled to travel after this date to offer alternate arrangements,” American said in a statement.

The airports were served by American Airlines’ regional airline subsidiaries. Last week, those carriers jacked up pilot wages in an effort to stem the shortfall, which comes after several airlines shed aviators during the pandemic only to be caught flat-footed when travel demand snapped back.

Holly Kemler, spokeswoman for Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport, said the airport staff “are incredibly disappointed” by American’s decision.

“Please note, this decision was made solely by the airline, primarily due to a shortage of regional pilots,” she said. “Unfortunately, we understand this is a current continued trend in the aviation industry.”

Kemler said the airport is still served by sun-seeker-focused airline Allegiant.

American Airlines said the cities will still be served by flights at other airports that are between 45 miles and 120 miles away.

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US

Biden will call for 3-month suspension of gas tax, though officials acknowledge it ‘alone won’t fix the problem’

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Biden will also call on states to take steps removing their own taxes on gas and diesel. And he’ll tell oil refining companies to increase their capacity ahead of their planned meeting this week with administration officials.

Combined, the senior administration officials claimed, the steps Biden will call for could reduce the price per gallon of gas by $1. Yet that figure relies on a number of steps entirely out of the President’s control — not least of which is convincing a skeptical Congress to approve his plan.

The steps amount to Biden’s latest attempt to show he’s taking initiative in reducing fuel prices as Americans grow more frustrated by the financial burden. White House officials had been considering a gas tax holiday for months, but held off until now in part because of concerns at how it might be received in Congress.

Republicans widely oppose lifting the gax tax. Even some Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have been cool on the idea. And in the past, senior Democrats — including President Barack Obama on the campaign trail in 2008 — have cast a gas tax holiday as a “gimmick.”

Yet facing growing anger and the start of the summer driving season, Biden determined that even small steps bordering on symbolic are worth taking.

“In the conditions that we are in today, that’s not a gimmick, that’s a little bit of breathing room for the American people as we get into the summer driving season,” said Amos Hochstein, senior adviser for energy security at the State Department, in an interview on CNN’s “New Day” Wednesday morning.

The current federal tax on gas is about 18 cents per gallon, while the federal tax on diesel stands at 24 cents per gallon. Even if savings from lifting those taxes were passed directly to consumers — which isn’t guaranteed — the savings for one fill-up could only be a few dollars.

Even some Democrats have cast doubt previously on a gas tax holiday, noting that the tax provides an important source of funding for road construction. Officials said Biden would call for using other revenue sources to make up for the shortfall, and he worked to allay some of those concerns on Tuesday.

“Look, it will have some impact, but it’s not going to have an impact on major road construction and major repairs,” he told reporters.

Economists skeptical

Some economists also say that the savings passed along to consumers could be minimal as retailers simply raise the base price of gas to make up the difference.

“Whatever you thought of the merits of a gas tax holiday in February, it is a worse idea now,” Jason Furman, a senior economic official in Obama’s administration, wrote on Twitter. “Refineries are even more constrained now so supply is nearly fully inelastic. Most of the 18.4 cent reduction would be pocketed by industry — with maybe a few cents passed on to consumers.”

Senior administration officials have acknowledged that criticism, but said Biden would pressure companies to pass along the savings.

“The President is calling and demanding that the industry, the companies and the retailers, pass that on to the consumer at the pump,” Hochstein said, without detailing anything specific the President could do to ensure consumers saw the entirety of the savings.

“We would scrutinize it and we would call on the industry to do exactly that, to pass it on,” he said.

Another official, speaking ahead of the announcement, acknowledged that simply suspending the tax “isn’t going to solve the whole problem.”

“It is something that can be done to take a real step to relieve some of that pain at the pump, and we see it as part of a suite of policies that are designed to provide that relief, including policies that focus on the supply side,” the official said.

Yet even there, quick action seems difficult. Refining capacity that was cut during the Covid-19 pandemic would take months to get back online, and refineries now are running at nearly 90% of their capacity.

“We’re certainly approaching it in constructive, actionable, pragmatic ways. I again think the American people would want their leaders to do so,” a second senior administration official said, noting Thursday’s meeting with seven top executives and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Biden looks for scapegoats

The President has turned up the heat on oil and gas companies in recent weeks as gas prices have shot up, with the national average climbing above $5 per gallon at one point last week.

Biden has made Russia’s war in Ukraine his top scapegoat for climbing gas prices but has also called out oil and gas companies, saying they aren’t doing enough to bring down costs and accusing them of profiting off the war. He repeated some of those arguments on Tuesday, saying the country needs “more refining capacity.”

“This idea that they don’t have oil to drill and to bring up is simply not true,” he said.

In response to the President’s criticisms, the oil industry has largely said that it is the Biden administration’s fault that prices are so high because of what they perceive as limits on domestic oil and gas production.

Chevron CEO Mike Worth said in a letter on Tuesday that Biden should stop criticizing the oil and gas industry and called for a “change in approach” from the White House.

“Your Administration has largely sought to criticize, and at times vilify, our industry,” Worth wrote in an open letter to Biden. “These actions are not beneficial to meeting the challenges we face and are not what the American people deserve.”

Biden responded later in the day: “He’s mildly sensitive,” adding: “I didn’t know they’d get their feelings hurt that quickly.”

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US

Primary results from Alabama, Virginia, Georgia and DC

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In neighboring Georgia, though, Republican voters once again rebuked Trump — this time ignoring his endorsements in congressional primary runoffs for safe GOP House seats.

Tuesday’s elections also set the matchups for several key House races in Virginia and Georgia. And in Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser won her Democratic primary and is now poised to win a third term.

Here are four takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries and runoffs in Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and Washington, DC:

Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks had the support of much of Fox’s prime-time lineup, a raft of conservative activists, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, a slew of conservative House members and more in Alabama’s Republican primary runoff to replace retiring Sen. Richard Shelby.

But he’d lost Trump. The former President had endorsed Brooks, only to rescind it later and then ultimately back Britt in the runoff once it became clear she was the front-runner.

And on Tuesday, Britt — and Trump — prevailed, CNN projected.

Britt, a former chief of staff to Shelby who went on to lead the Business Council of Alabama, and Brooks, a six-term congressman and member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, had finished in the top two of the state’s May primary to advance to the runoff.

Brooks’ strong showing last month had been something of a surprise. Trump said the reason he’d rescinded his endorsement was because Brooks had urged Republican voters to move past the 2020 election to focus on 2022 and 2024 — a mortal sin to Trump, who continues to spread lies about past election fraud. But Trump also dumped Brooks while the congressman was lagging in the polls.

Now, Britt is the prohibitive favorite against Democrat Will Boyd in the November election in the deep-red state.

Georgia GOP voters again ignore Trump’s wishes

Weeks after Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger cruised past Republican primary challengers backed by Trump, who is still fuming over their rejection of his lies about election fraud in 2020, Georgia GOP voters rejected two more candidates endorsed by the former President in congressional primary runoffs Tuesday, according to CNN projections.

Rich McCormick, an emergency room doctor and retired Marine, will win the Republican nomination for Georgia’s 6th District, defeating Trump-backed attorney Jake Evans in Tuesday’s runoff for the metro Atlanta district.

And Mike Collins, a businessman and the son of the late Rep. Mac Collins, defeated Vernon Jones, a former Democrat-turned-Republican who had the endorsement of Trump, in Georgia’s 10th District. Jones, a long-time Trump ally, had initially sought to run against Kemp in the gubernatorial primary. Trump engineered his departure from that race, clearing the way for former Sen. David Perdue to become Kemp’s Trump-backed challenger while the former President backed Jones in the House race he lost Tuesday. (Perdue lost his race to Kemp in May.)

Still, while Trump’s preferred candidates lost, his brand of politics won: McCormick ran as a MAGA-style conservative, and Collins embraced Trump’s election lies.

Bowser poised for third term as DC mayor

After winning the Democratic primary Tuesday, Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser is now all but certain to become the first DC mayor to win a third term since Marion Barry did it in 1986. (Barry would ultimately serve four non-consecutive terms.)

Bowser defeated DC Councilmembers Robert White and Trayon White and 2018 mayoral candidate James Butler in a race that focused on violent crime. Bowser said she would increase the size of the DC police force. The nation’s capitol is heavily Democratic, so the party’s primary effectively determines the winner of the mayor’s race.

Matchups set in key House races in Virginia and Georgia

Tuesday’s elections also set the matchups for several competitive House races.

Virginia Republicans chose state Sen. Jen Kiggans to take on Democratic Rep. Rep. Elaine Luria in the Virginia Beach-based 2nd District, setting the matchup for what’s expected to be one of the nation’s most competitive House races, CNN projected. Kiggans, who has establishment support from the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy-aligned super PAC and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s political organization, as well as the National Rifle Association, was the favorite in Tuesday’s primary against far-right businessman Jarome Bell.

The Virginia GOP also selected Yesli Vega, a Prince William County supervisor and an auxiliary sheriff’s deputy who was supported by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in what was a wide-open primary for Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s 7th District seat in northern Virginia.

National Republicans’ hopes in southwest Georgia’s 2nd District, represented for three decades by Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop but seen as more competitive after last year’s redistricting, were on Jeremy Hunt, a 28-year-old graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point and a Black candidate in the plurality Black and rural district. But CNN projected Tuesday that Hunt lost to Chris West, a 38-year-old attorney and former Georgia Air National Guard officer who is White.

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World

Russia and NATO member Lithuania are clashing over Kaliningrad

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A sign reading ‘Kaliningrad’ stands atop the main city’s south railway station. Kaliningrad is a small Russian exclave located on the Baltic Sea and sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland. It has become the center of a spat between Russia and NATO-member Lithuania.

Harry Engels | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

A new front in tensions between Russia and NATO has opened up after one of the Western military alliance’s members, Lithuania, banned the transit of some goods coming from Russia to its exclave Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea.

Russia has vowed to retaliate over what it described as the “hostile actions” of Lithuania, warning of “serious” consequences, while NATO members have reiterated their support for the country.

Here’s a brief guide to what’s going on, and why it matters as the Russia-Ukraine conflict rumbles on in the background.

What’s happened?

Lithuania said last week that it would ban the transit of some EU-sanctioned goods coming from Russia across its territory to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

The government said the blockade would apply to all EU-sanctioned goods coming from the mainland via rail, effectively blocking the transit of metals, coal, construction materials and high-technology products to the Russian sea port.

Lithuania said that its decision was taken after consultation with the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, and that it’s enforcing sanctions on Russia that were imposed following the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Russia responded to Lithuania, a former Soviet republic, by calling the move an “unprecedented” and “hostile” act, with its foreign ministry issuing a statement Tuesday in which it said “if in the near future cargo transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the territory of the Russian Federation through Lithuania is not restored in full, then Russia reserves the right to take actions to protect its national interests.”

What is Kaliningrad?

Kaliningrad is a small Russian exclave located on the Baltic Sea and sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland. It is home to around 487,000 people and covers an area of around 86 square miles.

Once part of the German empire, it was seized by Soviet troops from Nazi Germany in 1945 and has remained in Russian hands ever since, becoming an important sea port for Russia allowing it straightforward access to the Baltic Sea. Indeed, the Kaliningrad Oblast (or province) acts as the headquarters of Russia’s Baltic Fleet.

The fleet holds regular military drills in the Baltic Sea, having completed 10 days of exercises on June 19 that involved 60 warships and 10,000 military personnel. 

A disused border crossing point to Russia is seen on April 15, 2022 in Nida, Lithuania. Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, on the shore of the Baltic Sea, is sandwiched between NATO members Lithuania and Poland and is the Baltic coasts most strategic transport and trade port.

Paulius Peleckis | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Lithuania’s ban on the transit of some EU-sanctioned goods, announced last Friday and implemented on Saturday, prompted panic buying in Kaliningrad. The region’s governor, Anton Alikhanov, insisted Russia would increase the number of cargo ships transiting goods from St. Petersburg to the exclave over the remainder of the year.

What could happen next?

It’s uncertain how Moscow will react to Lithuania’s move.

On Monday, President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, called the move “illegal” and said “this decision is really unprecedented.”

“The situation is more than serious … We need a serious in-depth analysis in order to work out our response,” he added.

Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement Monday saying “the transit of passengers and non-sanctioned goods to and from the Kaliningrad region through Lithuania continues uninterrupted.”

It added that Lithuania “has not imposed any unilateral, individual, or additional restrictions on the transit” and that it is consistently implementing EU sanctions.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, also backed Lithuania on Monday, saying he was worried about what form the retaliation might take while he defended Vilnius’ position. “Certainly I am always worried about the Russian retaliations” he said, but he insisted there was no “blockade.”

“Lithuania has not taken any unilateral national restrictions and only applies the European Union sanctions” he said, saying any reports in Russia that Lithuania was implementing its own sanctions was “pure propaganda.”

Timothy Ash, senior sovereign strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, commented Tuesday that “it’s fair to say that Kaliningrad is a strategic imperative for Russia” noting that defending and sustaining it certainly is.

“Russia will react for sure, the only question is what that will be … [and] what Russia could do militarily,” he noted.

“A land attack to drive a corridor through Lithuania would be a direct attack on Lithuania triggering NATO Article 5 defence. Putin knows this – that’s war with NATO. Can Putin afford that when he is struggling to deliver on even his now much-reduced strategic objectives in Ukraine? He would also have to launch an assault through Belarus, stretching his supply lines, and splitting his forces,” he noted.

Ash suggested that Russia could seek to use its sizeable naval assets in the Baltic Sea to enforce some kind of tit-for-tat blockade on Lithuanian trade although again that would be seen as a huge escalation by both NATO and the EU.  “It would then be a fine dividing line whether that would trigger the NATO Article 5 defence,” however, he noted.

Why does it matter?

Tensions between Russia and NATO are already heightened as a result of the war in Ukraine and the move by Lithuania has ratcheted those up further, potentially putting a NATO country (and the entire alliance) in line for a direct confrontation with Russia.

A key pillar of the NATO alliance is the concept of collective defense: Known as Article 5, it means that if one member is attacked, it is considered an attack on the entire group with all members committed to protecting each other.

While NATO has been helping Ukraine to fight Russia’s invasion, with its members sending a wide range of military equipment and weaponry as well as humanitarian aid, NATO has repeatedly said it will not send troops into the country as it does not want a direct confrontation with nuclear power Russia.

Russia will have to calibrate its response to Lithuania carefully, knowing that any direct attack will be seen as an attack on all NATO members by the organization.

Vehicles of the German armed forces Bundeswehr from the Griffin barracks arrive at the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group Battalion in Lithuania in Rukla, Lithuania on February 17, 2022.

Petras Malukas | AFP | Getty Images

For their part, Lithuania’s NATO allies have said they will stand by the country following the Kremlin’s threats.

“Lithuania is a member of the NATO alliance and we stand by the commitments that we have made to the NATO alliance and that includes of course, a commitment to Article Five that is the bedrock of the NATO alliance,” U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said during a daily press briefing.

“Lithuania has been a stalwart partner, we stand by NATO, we stand by our NATO allies and we stand by Lithuania,” Price added.

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