| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | BREAKING: Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN has ordered the country's nuclear deterrent forces to be on high alert or "a special regime of duty." — Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY agrees to peace talks. Statement after his phoner today with the President of Belarus, ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO: "We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River. "Alexander Lukashenko has taken responsibility for ensuring that all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory remain on the ground during the Ukrainian delegation's travel, talks and return." (Translation via Google) (The latest from our team in Brussels) DAY FOUR: Kyiv remains under Ukrainian control. HAGUE SUIT — Zelenskyy tweeted Ukraine has filed suit in the Hague against Russia : "Ukraine has submitted its application against Russia to the [International Court of Justice].," he tweeted. "Russia must be held accountable for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression. We request an urgent decision ordering Russia to cease military activity now and expect trials to start next week." Reuters has the latest. NEW SANCTIONS — The U.S., the EU and allies made it official Saturday night: "Selected Russian banks" are now banned from participating in SWIFT, the international payment system. In ajoint statement , the US, the European Commission, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy promised to "hold Russia to account," adding "As Russian forces unleash their assault on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, we are resolved to continue imposing costs on Russia that will further isolate Russia from the international financial system and our economies." — The leaders are also restricting the Russian Central Bank from (1)"deploying its international reserves," (2) blocking the sale of "golden passports" to people with links to the Russian government, (3) creating a task force to begin "identifying and freezing assets" of any sanctioned companies, officials and oligarchs and (4) working on ways to boost the fight against disinformation campaigns. — The Central Bank sanctions are the biggie here. The president of the EU Commission put it this way: "We will paralyze the assets of Russia's central bank. This will freeze its transactions. And it will make it impossible for the Central Bank to liquidate its assets." — The former Deputy Head of Central Bank of Russia called the central bank sanctions "a kind of financial atomic bomb." — WaPo's Ellen Nakashima, Paul Sonne, Jeff Stein and Tyler Pager report "the White House didn't immediately release details on how the moves against the central bank would be implemented. Steps short of freezing Russia's reserves held in all the major Western economies could have a lesser impact on its central bank, which is Russia's equivalent of the Federal Reserve." — POLITICO's Lili Bayer, Ben Lefebvre and Alex Ward dig into the possible impacts of new sanctions. "Even as they announced their move, allies were still working to find ways to limit its impact on energy prices," the trio writes. "If removing Russian banks from the financial payments service prevented the country from selling oil and natural gas, prices could jump as European customers scrambled to find alternative sources." — David Frum has a good piece on the potential impact of aggressive CBR sanctions. INVASION LATEST — Russia failed to capture Kyiv again Saturday, but a major bombardment continued apace (as in other areas). Ukraine's armed forces (and volunteers) are targeting Russian supply lines while Russia continues to try to capture Kyiv and Kharkiv. — "Enemy troops, deprived of timely replenishment of fuel and ammunition, are stopped," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement at 6 a.m. on Sunday. "The personnel of the occupying forces, the vast majority of whom are young conscripts, are exhausted by previous military exercises and have low morale." More from the NYT. — Russia has now invaded Ukraine with a majority of the 150,000 troops it had amassed along the country's borders, the U.S. assessed Saturday, per Paul McLeary and Ward. That means "the main thrust still appears to be on the horizon." — In the face of fierce Ukrainian opposition, Russia has had to "commit a bit more logistics and sustainment capability, like fuel specifically, than what we believe they had originally planned to do this early in the operation," a U.S. defense official said. — Before Russia invaded, hackers stole tons of data from a crucial Ukrainian law enforcement agency — which could give them "potentially valuable insights into the communications and movements of people inside the country before Russian troops began their assault," Bloomberg's Jordan Robertson and William Turton report. — LIZ TRUSS, Britain's foreign secretary supports people from the UK who want to go to Ukraine and fight. She told the BBC that Ukrainians are fighting for freedom, "not just for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe because that is what President Putin is challenging."
| | | | A message from Amazon: Amazon offers fully funded college tuition to front-line employees. As of January, hundreds of thousands of hourly employees who pick, pack, and ship Amazon orders are eligible for fully funded college tuition. The company pays for classes, books, and fees as well as high school diplomas, GEDs, and English as a Second Language (ESL) proficiency certifications. Amazon employees are eligible for the benefit after just 90 days on the job. | | | REFUGEE CRISIS — The UNHCR says 368,000 people have fled Ukraine during the fighting to nearby countries and the total "continues to rise." The organization's spokesperson said "up to 4 million people may flee Ukraine'' by the time it's all said and done. — The Department of State says the US will be sending millions more in assistance to Ukraine. In a statement, Secretary ANTONY BLINKEN said, "It is with the welfare of ordinary Ukrainians in mind that we are announcing the provision of nearly $54 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by Russia's further invasion. This funding includes nearly $26 million from the Department of State and $28 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development." THE REACTION FROM THE WEST … — "Pentagon wants Moscow back channels to prevent nuclear escalation," by Bryan Bender — In a major policy shift, Germany will send weapons to Ukraine and allow allies like the Netherlands and Estonia to follow suit where Berlin had previously blocked them, David Herszenhorn, Lili Bayer and Hans von der Burchard report. The move Saturday alters Germany's "historic policy of never sending weapons to conflict zones," following weeks of pressure from Ukraine and other Europeans. — The U.S. and others are seeking a full U.N. General Assembly vote to urge Russia to withdraw, following Russia's veto of a similar measure on the Security Council, per WSJ's William Mauldin. THE LEADERS AND THE STAKES — NYT's Peter Baker takes a step back to look at this moment for Biden and Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN, both children of the Cold War who have interpreted its end in radically divergent ways. "Not since JOHN F. KENNEDY and NIKITA S. KHRUSHCHEV squared off over Berlin and Cuba have an American president and Russian leader gone eyeball to eyeball in quite such a dramatic fashion." The moment, he adds "holds enormous consequences for the world order that may be felt for years to come." YOUR DAILY CRY — "At the Ukrainian border, a mother brings a stranger's children to safety," by Reuters' Anita Komuves in Beregsurany, Hungary Further reading: "'Weapons to anyone': Across Ukraine, militias form as Russian forces near," WaPo … "Putin Seems to Sideline Advisers on Ukraine, Taking a Political Risk," NYT … "3 years ago Zelenskyy was a TV comedian. Now he's standing up to Putin's army," NYT
| | | | A message from Amazon: Amazon is America's top job creator, so free skills training for employees makes a positive impact on hundreds of thousands of families across the country. | | | Good Sunday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels , Ryan Lizza. SUNDAY BEST … Ukrainian Ambassador OKSANA MARKAROVA on ABC's "This Week": "We know it's our job to defend our country. It's our home and we will defend it. But we need more defensive weapons. We are grateful for everything that is there already and that is about to come. And we need more. Because we are defending our country against a very strong enemy. We also need sanctions, more sanctions. And we need Russia to clearly see that and feel that it's not OK in the 21st century to attack another country, a sovereign country, without any reason. … It's time to take sides and it's time to take the Ukrainian's side because we are defending our home." U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD on continuing Russian sanctions on NBC's "Meet the Press": "The Russians can be assured that we will continue to put more and more sanctions as they continue to press more on the Ukrainian government." PROGRAMMING ALERT — CEA Chair CECILIA ROUSE will join Morning Money author Kate Davidson at noon Monday for a Women Rule interview. The conversation will cover Biden's economic agenda as he prepares to deliver his first State of the Union and what it will take to elevate more women to leadership ranks in the U.S. economy. Register here to watch live BIDEN'S SUNDAY — The president has nothing on his public schedule. VP KAMALA HARRIS' SUNDAY — The VP has nothing on her public schedule.
| | | | HAPPENING MONDAY: A WOMEN RULE INTERVIEW: Join Cecilia Rouse, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, and Morning Money author Kate Davidson for a conversation exploring President Biden's economic agenda, the administration's plans to tackle financial losses women suffered during the pandemic and what it will take to elevate more women to leadership ranks in the U.S. economy. SUBSCRIBE HERE. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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A child says goodbye to a relative looking out the window of a train carriage waiting to leave for western Ukraine at the railway station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on Sunday, Feb. 27. | Andriy Andriyenko/AP Photo | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | THE WHITE HOUSE POLL OF THE DAY — Crazy bad news all around for Democrats in the latest ABC/WaPo poll: The GOP has an almost 20-point lead on the economy, Biden is underwater on Ukraine, and twice as many Americans say they're worse off under his presidency than better off. Inflation remains one of the biggest drivers of discontent. The president's approval rating is at 37%, his lowest ever, with a 30% rating among independents. And registered independents prefer a Republican for Congress to a Democrat by 14 points. Much more from ABC's Gary Langer HISTORY LESSON — "When JOE BIDEN walks out to the House chamber on Tuesday evening to deliver his first State of the Union address, it will come amid a cacophony of major domestic developments and geopolitical crises. An escalating war in Ukraine, the nomination of a historic justice to the Supreme Court, the lingering Covid pandemic, and a stalled-out domestic agenda will all serve as dramatic backdrops. And yet, it still may not qualify as the strangest context for a State of the Union address in modern memory," Eugene writes. In a rollicking oral history, Eugene takes you behind the scenes 23 years ago as former President BILL CLINTON delivered a State of the Union address exactly one month after he was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice in the wake of the MONICA LEWINSKY scandal. ALL POLITICS ON THE GROUND AT CPAC — Meridith McGraw writes from Orlando that despite the Republican Party's heartburn over DONALD TRUMP , "there was little sense that the former president was anything other than the center of attention" — even with a lineup full of 2024 hopefuls like MIKE POMPEO, Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS, South Dakota Gov. KRISTI NOEM, and Sens. TED CRUZ (R-Texas) and JOSH HAWLEY (R-Mo.). — And our colleague Natalie Allison also writes from Orlando: The halls of CPAC are choked with Senate candidates like Pennsylvania hopeful MEHMET OZ . Why? Because in the modern GOP, half the battle is nationalizing your race. — CPAC's focus Saturday wasn't on Ukraine or SCOTUS, NYT's Reid Epstein and Astead Herndon report. Instead it was the usual for Republicans in 2022: DONALD TRUMP, cultural grievances "and the widespread sense of victimization that have replaced traditional conservative issues." The mini-mes: "Every speaker emphasized personal connections to Mr. Trump, no matter how spurious, while others adopted both his aggrieved tone and patented hand gestures." — And Trump hinted anew that he's moving toward a 2024 run. His CPAC speech was "a sprawling tirade that stretched for over an hour," per The Hill's Max Greenwood , as the former president lied about the 2020 election and slammed Democrats. 2022 WATCH — "The banners and big red video screen all said Dr. Oz, the host gave a rousing introduction and in strode the candidate, MEHMET OZ, to take up the microphone and become the center of attention for more than an hour," reports AP's Marc Levy from Newtown, Pa. "Welcome to Oz's campaign for U.S. Senate, where the celebrity heart surgeon and former host of daytime TV's 'Dr. Oz Show' is making his way around Pennsylvania in town hall-style settings that seem very much like the TV studio where he once presided. Even his campaign logo looks just like his TV show logo." WHERE ARE THEY NOW — The activist who virally confronted then-Sen. JEFF FLAKE (R-Ariz.) in an elevator in 2018 over BRETT KAVANAUGH is jumping into the New York lieutenant gubernatorial race, Bill Mahoney reports from Albany. ANA MARIA MARCHILA is expected to get the Working Families Party's backing.
| | | | A message from Amazon:   | | | JUDICIARY SQUARE BEHIND THE JACKSON CHOICE — Among the key factors that led Biden to select Judge KETANJI BROWN JACKSON as his Supreme Court pick were her relationship with outgoing Justice STEPHEN BREYER and her history as a public defender, Laura Barrón-López and Chris Cadelago report. Jackson is starting to prepare for hearings this weekend, with visits to the Hill beginning this week. They also report that the vocal advocacy from House Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.) and Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM for Judge MICHELLE CHILDS backfired: "there was a sense inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. that if Biden were to select Childs, it would be seen as acting for political reasons." — "She has real character," Biden said in an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen. "I think character matters. And I think background, and being able to understand perspectives about other people in the country, matters as well." — MORE BACKSTORY ON THE PICK: "Inside Biden's pick of Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court," by Seung Min Kim, Sean Sullivan and Tyler Pager. "While the White House sought to portray a deliberative process, few in Washington expected the president to choose anyone other than the appellate court judge." — NYT's Charlie Savage takes a look at Jackson's work as an assistant public defender for two and a half years, including for Guantánamo Bay detainees and other criminal defendants. It's an experience that shaped her perspective on the law (and posed some political vulnerabilities in past hearings). Of particular note to some members of the Playbook team is Jackson's love of the TV show "Survivor" — she "would talk about the strategy of the various contestants," one former colleague tells Savage. THE CONFIRMATION PROCESS — The Congressional Black Caucus has had a "war room" to advocate for Biden's Supreme Court pick since shortly after Breyer announced he'd retire, WaPo's Marianna Sotomayor reports. Now they're preparing to advocate for Jackson and defend her: "If Jackson comes under attack, members are encouraged to respond individually and meet the attacks where they are by responding in-person, through statements or via tweets. Staff will also watch how Jackson is discussed in the media, especially among conservative outlets." — But Senate Republicans are signaling it won't be a big fight, per WSJ's Natalie Andrews : They know Democrats likely won't need their votes, and they'd rather focus on the midterms. Besides, they've already muscled their way to a two-thirds dominance of the high court. JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH LATEST DETAILS — The House Jan. 6 committee is looking into a dispute between different rally organizers the morning of, report WaPo's Jackie Alemany, Josh Dawsey and Beth Reinhard, who also have new details on what happened. Disagreements involving KATRINA PIERSON, CAROLINE WREN and others escalated to the point that the Park Police were called for a "possible disorderly." "I almost had Caroline Wren escorted off the property," Pierson texted then-White House chief of staff MARK MEADOWS. She later told him, "I was able to keep the crazies off the stage." MEDIAWATCH THE NEW CNN — CHRIS LICHT's plans for the network entail more news and less partisanship, Axios' Mike Allen and Sara Fischer report. "Ratings are secondary to credibility" for DAVID ZASLAV, who wants a less liberal primetime lineup, they report. "Taking on a second hallmark of the [JEFF] ZUCKER regime, the incoming Discovery team has expressed skepticism about the roster size for CNN+." POLICY CORNER WHAT ELON MUSK IS READING —WSJ: "U.S. Bets on Faster-Charging Battery in Race to Catch Energy Rivals" THE PANDEMIC ORIGIN STORY — Two major new studies released Saturday said the novel coronavirus most likely originated at a market and "they found no support" for the alternative lab-leak theory, NYT's Carl Zimmer and Benjamin Mueller report. The reports constitute "a significant salvo in the debate." But they also haven't yet been peer-reviewed for a scientific journal, and scientists on the other side of the debate weren't swayed.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed ignorance after speaking at a white nationalist conference — and Republicans are now facing new calls to expel her from the House GOP conference. Ewww: Donald Trump gave a shoutout to Ronny Jackson at CPAC, saying "he knows every inch of me" and thinks it's "a beautiful sight." (h/t Gabby Orr) IN MEMORIAM — "Demetrios Papademetriou, Top Immigration Scholar, Dies at 75," by NYT's Katharine Seelye: "He was perhaps best known for his central role in designing what came to be called the 'grand bargain' on immigration issues between the United States and Mexico in 2001, when he was director of the international migration policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace." MEDIA MOVE — Lisa Allen will be the new VP and general manager of Washington operations at Gray Television. She most recently was EP of "Full Court Press." TRANSITIONS — Aja Hill is joining Hilton as a diversity, equity and inclusion associate. She previously was a comms coordinator at WaPo. … Jen Curt is joining the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice as director of government affairs. They previously were a policy adviser for Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.). HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) … Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) … Chelsea Clinton … Ralph Nader … Greg Speed … Robbie Aiken … Sasha Johnson of United Airlines … Rebecca Sinderbrand … Gary Knell … David Baumann … David Merritt of America's Health Insurance Plans … Jill Chappell Adly … Fox News' Ashley DiMella … Julie Merz … Dan Hull … SBA's Kate DePriest … Trevor Kolego … Mark Blumenthal … Massachusetts state Sen. Eric Lesser … Maria Koklanaris Bonaquist … former Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.) … Nils Bruzelius … POLITICO's Mike Irwin, Kelsey Wessels and Kirsten Messmer … Adrienne Morrell … Truist's Nora Carrillo Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross.
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