40-mile Russian convoy threatens Kyiv, MLB extends a deadline: 5 Things podcast
On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: 40-mile Russian convoy threatens Kyiv
The latest onslaught comes ahead of President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address tonight. Plus, politics reporter Rick Rouan talks through the U.S. troop plan in Europe, reporter Chris Woodyard talks about the pain of cancelled Spring Training games on businesses, MLB extends a deadline to possibly start the season on time and Happy Mardi Gras!
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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Tuesday, the 1st of March 2022. Today, Biden's next steps for Eastern Europe. Plus progress in Major League Baseball lockout negotiations and more.
Here are some of the top headlines:
- Tens of thousands of Australians have been ordered to evacuate their homes by today. Severe flooding in Queensland and New South Wales has killed at least nine people.
- A man shot and killed his three daughters, their chaperone and himself during a supervised visit at a Sacramento church yesterday. The daughter's mother had a restraining order against him.
- And the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington have announced that school children will no longer be required to wear masks beginning March 12th. There are more than 7.5 million school-aged children across the three states which have had some of the strictest coronavirus safety measures during the pandemic.
It's now day number six in Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a 40 mile convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles is threatening the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv this morning. But nearly a week since invading, Russian forces have been stalled by strong Ukrainian resistance on the ground and a surprising inability by the Russians to dominate the airspace. There were talks between Ukraine and Russia yesterday. The five hour session did not lead to a stop to fighting, but both sides agreed to another meeting in the coming days. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose videos have gone viral in recent days, said yesterday that Ukraine was not prepared to make concessions with Russia when one side is hitting the other with rocket artillery. Ukraine also made a major symbolic move yesterday applying to join the European Union.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy:
[speaking Ukrainian].
Taylor Wilson translating for Volodymyr Zelenskyy:
We appeal to the European Union for Ukraine's immediate accession under a new special procedure. We are grateful to our partners for being with us, but our goal is to be with all Europeans and most importantly, to be equal. I am confident that it is fair. I am confident we have deserved it. I am confident that all this is possible.
Taylor Wilson:
That play by Ukraine could ruffle Russian president, Vladimir Putin's feathers. He's long accused the US of trying to pull Ukraine from Russian influence. While Russian military vehicles are lining up outside Kyiv, video from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second biggest city showed residential areas being shelled and apartment buildings shaken. Authorities there said at least seven people were killed. Civilians like Ekaterina Bebanko are hiding underground.
Ekaterina Bebanko:
[speaking Ukrainian].
Taylor Wilson translating for Ekaterina Bebanko:
It is already fifth day we are here in the basement. We are worried very much and it is very scary. We have small children, elderly people. And frankly speaking, it is very frightening.
Taylor Wilson:
Many from Ukraine have been able to escape and are now refugees abroad. The UN's latest estimate puts that number at around half a million. The UN also says 102 civilians have been killed and hundreds more injured. One of the more successful and devastating parts of Russia's invasion came when they hit a military base between Kyiv and Kharkiv killing more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers. Overall, troop casualties are not clear with both sides listing off huge unconfirmed numbers.
President Joe Biden has vowed not to send the US military on the ground to fight Russia in Ukraine, but he has ordered troops already based in Europe to help reinforce the Eastern flank of NATO allies. He's also sent thousands of other US based troops to Europe. Politics reporter Rick Rouan has more.
Rick Rouan:
In reality, US troops are deployed all over Europe. The US had about 90,000 troops on the continent, even before this conflict started. And the largest concentration of those was in Germany where the US has about 30,000 troops. But while tensions were kind of simmering between Russia and Ukraine before the invasion, the US started moving some of its troops around Europe and this was mostly to help shore up the defenses of NATO allies and the former Soviet block states near Russia's Western border that are getting kind of nervous that Russia won't just stop in Ukraine. Those are countries like Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland. We don't know the exact position of all troops, but we do know that the Pentagon said it moved about a thousand troops from Italy into Romania and it's also sent some additional deployments of about 5,000 and about 7,000 US based troops to Europe recently to help in the effort.
So President Biden so far has said US troops will not join the fighting of Russian forces in Ukraine. When he gave an address to the nation last week, he used the words "totally defensive" to describe the US military posture in Europe and said directly that the US has no intention of fighting Russia. The Pentagon has called the US deployments short term and temporary. So they're giving every indication that there's not going to be US troops fighting in Ukraine. The US forces that are in Europe are there to send the message that the US will, in Biden's own words, defend every inch of NATO territory. So NATO has access to about 40,000 troops in a group called the NATO Response Force. So far that hasn't been activated, but some of the troops have been placed on a heightened alert.
Ukraine isn't a NATO member, so we haven't seen any indications that the response force would be used to fight in Ukraine. And while some NATO member countries have been supplying Ukraine with arms and equipment, NATO itself hasn't done the same thing. So we haven't really seen any evidence yet that NATO would go into Ukraine to aid in the fighting of Russian troops.
Taylor Wilson:
President Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address later tonight.
Well, first it was the pandemic and now the potential Major League Baseball lockout. Some pre-season spring training games have already been canceled and businesses that cater to fans who usually go to spring training this time of year in Florida and Arizona are starting to worry whether they'll face another hardship. Reporter Chris Woodyard has more.
Chris Woodyard:
If you think the baseball labor dispute is tough on players, considering what it's doing to businesses, those businesses in Arizona and Florida where they hold the spring training camps are counting on lots of fans to show up, lots of business to be done. We talked to a pizzeria in Arizona in the Phoenix area where they say, "We always love these guys coming in every year. The fans know us and this year it's not happening." We talked to Florida businesses where one place says, "Our business is going to be out 50% because fans aren't showing up this year because of this delay in the start of the games while this lockout is resolved." This is some big money. I mean, in Arizona alone, one study puts the economic impact of spring training games at $644 million. Down in Florida where the other half of Major League Baseball teams go, it's put at $687 million. This is some big money and it doesn't last for long because pretty soon the regular season will start. Fans will hopefully return to their home cities and we will be saying play ball. But until then, it's going to be tough slugging for a lot of these businesses in Arizona and Florida where the 30 Major League Baseball teams have their spring training.
Taylor Wilson:
There is some good news for baseball fans hoping to avoid a lockout this season. Major League Baseball extended its deadline for reaching a labor deal from last night to 5:00 PM Eastern today. That's the deadline for keeping opening day as scheduled on March 31st, along with a full 162 game season. Players and team owners went through intense negotiations that began yesterday and stretched into this morning before stopping for the night around 2:30 AM Eastern time. And talks are scheduled to resume this morning at 11:00 Eastern. The two sides have reached an agreement on an expanded 12 team playoff pool, but there's still a part on the luxury tax, minimum salary and more. To follow along today, head to usatoday.com/sports and on Twitter, Paste BN baseball writer Bob Nightengale has up to the minute coverage of talks. Find him @BNightengale.
Today is Mardi Gras. The French translation for Fat Tuesday is also called Carnival Tuesday and falls the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the season of fasting for Christians. Celebrations date all the way back to medieval Europe, though Fat Tuesday became an official holiday in Louisiana in 1875. In New Orleans, celebrations have grown out of Catholicism while also weaving in specific elements of French and African cultures and the tradition of wearing masks, throwing out beads, and of course the parades. In addition to New Orleans, Mardi Gras is huge all over the Gulf Coast and in places like St. Louis and Louisville.
Taylor Wilson:
Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us seven mornings a week on whatever your favorite podcast app is. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show, and I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from Paste BN.