Monday, March 18, 2024

3/18 WAKE-UP CALL: Guess Who Won The Russian Election

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed his preordained electoral victory Sunday as a sign of the country's "trust" and "hope" in him, and after stifling any real attempt at unseating him, felt confident enough to refer to late opposition leader Alexei Navalny by name.  Despite several opposition protests across Russia, Putin easily claimed another six-year term by getting 87% of the vote with 80% of the precincts counted, election officials said. Other candidates languished below 5%. Putin has been in power since 1999, and the predetermined victory will allow him to surpass Josef Stalin's 29-year tenure, making the former KGB agent the longest-serving Russian leader in more than 200 years even though the country has been engaged in a costly war in Ukraine for more than two years. The turnout of 74.22% was higher than the 67.5% recorded in 2018.

➤BIBI CALLS SCHUMER'S COMMENTS TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE:  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday denied claims that he is an obstacle to peace in Gaza and dismissed as "totally inappropriate" Sen. Chuck Schumer's call for Israelis to hold elections to vote Netanyahu from power. "It's inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership," Netanyahu said. "That is something the Israeli public does on its own, we're not a banana republic." Schumer, D-NY, the nation's highest-ranking Jewish elected official and long a supporter of Israel, said last week that "nobody expects Prime Minister Netanyahu to do the things that must be done to break the cycle of violence, preserve Israel’s credibility on the world stage and work toward a two-state solution.”

➤TRUMP TALKS THE ABORTION DEBATE: Former President Donald Trump weighed in on the abortion debate, which has been a politically fraught subject for Republicans.  Reports claim Trump has discussed having a ban on abortions after 16 weeks of pregnancy with three exceptions: rape, incest and the life of the mother.  “Pretty soon, I’m going to be making a decision. And I would like to see if we could do that at all. I would like to see if we could make both sides happy,” Trump said on “MediaBuzz” Sunday.

Trump was vocally pro-life throughout his presidency, but he drew backlash after telling MSNBC in September that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ six-week ban on abortion was “a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.” While he has not officially announced his recommendation for abortion, his stance on the issue illustrates the changing attitudes and strategies among Republicans.

“If the Republicans spoke about it correctly, it never hurt me from the standpoint of elections. It hurt a lot of Republicans,” Trump told host Howard Kurtz. “But I tell people, No. 1, you have to go with your heart. You have to go with your heart. But beyond that, you also have to get elected, and if you don’t have the three exceptions, I think it’s very, very hard to get elected.”

➤LEFT LOSES ITS MIND OVER 'BLOODBATH' DECLARATION: Former President Donald Trump’s declaration that if his second attempt at securing a second term in the White House fails then it will result in a “bloodbath” was taken entirely out of context by the Biden team and the media, according to his campaign. 

Trump was speaking from an airfield in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday during a rally in support of Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, when the former president seemed to suggest another electoral loss would lead to widespread violence in the United States. “If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” Trump said.

President Biden’s campaign was quick to call out the 45th president’s rhetoric, declaring Trump’s statements a further piece of evidence that his public cozying up to authoritarians like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is not just politics as usual, but a sign of his own authoritarian leanings.

According to Trump’s campaign, the “bloodbath” comment is being taken out of context from a larger speech. The former president was not indicating any sort of violence, they say, but was instead referring to the impact Chinese auto manufacturing will have on U.S industry and job markets, his team said.

➤MAN SHOOTS 3 FAMILY MEMBERS:  A man faces multiple charges in Pennsylvania and New Jersey after suspected of killing three family members, including a 13-year-old girl, and carjacking vehicles in both states, authorities said Sunday. Andre Gordon Jr., 26, was charged in Bucks County, PA, with three counts of first- and second-degree murder, aggravated assault, robbery and other charges, according to court documents. In New Jersey, Gordon was charged with first-degree carjacking and weapons offenses, the state Attorney General's Office said in a news release Sunday. "The string of violent acts that took place yesterday, allegedly at the hands of a single armed individual, alarmed and terrorized communities in Bucks and Mercer counties."


🏀SELECTION SUNDAY, WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT: Men’s college basketball launches fully into March Madness 2024 as the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament was announced on the Selection Sunday. UConn, which won the national championship last year, will enter the tournament with an even bigger target as the No. 1 overall seed. The Huskies will play in the East Regional, and they are joined as a top seed by Houston in the South, Purdue in the Midwest and North Carolina in the West. Get more details:  HERE.

🏀GREG GUMBEL TO MISS ACTION: As the 2024 men's NCAA Tournament kicks off, a familiar face in March Madness coverage will be missing. CBS studio host Greg Gumbel will not be part of this year's coverage because of "family health issues," the network announced Sunday, just before the bracket reveal. Taking over his duties will be Adam Zucker. The rest of the crew – Clark Kellogg, Jay Wright and Seth Davis – all wished Gumbel and his family well before the bracket was announced. 

🏀WOMEN'S MARCH MADNESS BRACKETS REVEALED: Undefeated South Carolina earned the top overall seed and is in the first Albany Region. Iowa and Caitlin Clark, poised for another Final Four run after her landmark season where she broke the all-time scoring record, earned the No. 1 seed in the second Albany Region. USC and Texas are the top seeds in the Portland 3 and Portland 4 regions, respectively. LSU's Angel Reese, Stanford's Cameron Brink, Connecticut's Paige Bueckers and South Carolina’s Te-Hina Paopao are hoping to stand in the way of Clark's first national title. See the complete women's bracket here. Read USA TODAY Sports' full breakdown and analysis of the women's bracket. Catch up on all the Selection Sunday results, bracket updates and more below.

🏈BEARS DEAL FIELDS TO STEELERS: The Chicago Bears have traded former first-round pick Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the teams announced Saturday night. The Steelers are sending the Bears a 2025 sixth-round pick that could become a fourth-round pick. Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, the pick becomes a fourth-rounder if Fields plays 51% of the offensive snaps this season. The trade comes one day after the Steelers traded 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles. That move appeared to pave the way for free agent pickup Russell Wilson to start, but the Fields addition brings added intrigue to the Steelers' offseason.

➤MONDAY'S WEATHER MAP:



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