GMDC: Biden Urges Americans To Leave Ukraine Immediately

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*All this and more ahead!

Good Morning DC!

It’s Friday, February 11, and the US inflation rates have reached a 40-year high. Since last year in January, prices on average went up by 7.5%.

“Violent crime in the majority of big cities across the US and Canada remains high and, compared to 2019, homicides in the US increased over 36%,” according to the Major Cities’ Chiefs Association, an organization consisting of 79 Chiefs, Commissioners, and Sheriffs representing the largest cities in the United States and Canada.

CNN POLL SHOWS 58% DISAPPROVAL OF JOE BIDEN 

According to the latest CNN poll conducted by SSRS (January 10 to February 6) indicates 58% disapproval rating for Joe Biden. Only 41% of Americans approve. 

BREAKING OVERNIGHT

Biden tells Americans to leave Ukraine, as the State Department confirmed that the US “will not be able to evacuate US citizens in the event of Russian military action anywhere in Ukraine.”

THE END OF PANDEMIC?

As the world eases up its reaction to the pandemic, with the UK leading the way, the Governor of Nevada, Steve Sisolak, has scrapped the mask mandate.

“Given all of these updates and the tools we have, now is the appropriate time for me to announce that Nevada will rescind our mask mandate, effective immediately,” Sisolak announced on February 10.

Following Sisolak, New York state did the same a few hours shortly after. 

The US government has purchased 600,000 treatment courses of a new monoclonal antibody treatment that data shows works against the Omicron variant, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Lavrov made fun of Luz Trust’s knowledge of Russia in front of the whole world and said that he felt like he was talking to a deaf person during their diplomatic talks in Moscow. “You recognize Russia’s sovereignty over the Rostov and Voronezh regions, don’t you?” Lavrov did not spare his British counterpart for saying that the UK would never recognize Russia’s sovereignty over regions that are not part of Ukraine but Russia.

“I think today, 10 February, 2022, we stand on the edge of a precipice, and things are as dangerous as I have seen them in Europe for a very, very long time,” said PM Boris Johnson yesterday.

NATO’s Jens Stoltenberg did not have any better news to share, stating, “The number of Russian forces is going up. The warning time for a possible attack is going down.”

ON THIS DAY

Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa. He was imprisoned for 27 years.

In other news…

THE WHITE HOUSE

Yesterday in Virginia, President Biden delivered a speech on lowering the costs of prescription drugs and healthcare, in general. “I’ve long said health care should be a right, not a privilege, in this country,” Biden affirmed.

On the same trip, Biden did an interview with NBC News’s Lester Holt at Germanna Community College in Culpeper. The interview is Biden’s first sit-down interview this year and the majority of it will be aired during NBC’s Super Bowl LVI Pregame Show on Sunday.

Biden spoke on his search for a Supreme Court nominee and revealed that he has a short list of “about four people,” to replace Justice Breyer. 

At the meeting with the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Oval Office the senators insisted on the “historic” importance of this Supreme Court nomination process and most of them expressed their “hope” that it will get bipartisan support.

Biden reiterated that, having chaired the Judiciary Committee and been involved with many confirmations, he has a unique appreciation for the significance of decisions about Supreme Court nominations. Biden says that he welcomes the perspectives of Democrats and Republicans during the search process. 

DIGITAL ASSETS

Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange company, is making a $200 million strategic investment in Forbes media.

McDonald’s to enter Metaverse with virtual restaurants. The company has filed 10 trademark applications to offer “a virtual restaurant featuring actual and virtual goods,” Josh Gerben shared the news on Twitter.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Ben Wallace, Britain’s defense secretary is in Moscow today. 

Across the pond, in the UK, in a speech delivered at the Institute for Government, former UK Prime Minister John Major attacked the credibility of PM Boris Johnson and made his stance clear that the Prime Minister has broken the law by attending parties during the lockdown. “If trust in the word of our leaders in parliament is lost, then trust in government will be lost too,” said Major.

London police chief Cressida Dick has been pushed out after the London mayor Khan said that he wasn’t convinced she could root out the racism, sexism, and other problems that still exist within the force.

Vaccine passes and face coverings in certain venues will be scrapped in Wales later this month.

The United States will be the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

And that’s a wrap for this Friday morning, February 11, 2022. Good Morning DC will be back on Monday to bring you the latest first. 

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