memeorandum: Councilman Who Uses a Wheelchair Is Asked to Hoist Himself Onto a Debate Stage (Eduardo Medina/New York Times)

9:30 AM ET, February 20, 2023

Top Items:

Biden makes surprise trip to Ukraine ahead of Russian invasion anniversary — KYIV, Ukraine — President Biden made a dramatic, unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, in a display of strong American support for Ukraine just four days before the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Discussion: Associated Press, USA Today, Outside the Beltway, NBC News, The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller and Breitbart

Associated Press:

Biden declares ‘Kyiv stands’ in surprise visit to Ukraine — 1 of 21 — President Joe Biden paid an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Monday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a defiant display of Western solidarity with a country still fighting what he called “a brutal and unjust war” …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, National Review, Breitbart and The Periscope

New York Times:

Biden Visits Kyiv, Ukraine's Embattled Capital, as Air-Raid Siren Sounds — President Biden took a nearly 10-hour train ride from the border of Poland to show his administration's “unwavering support” a year into Russia's invasion of Ukraine. — KYIV, Ukraine — President Biden …

New York Times:

Live Updates: Biden Departs Kyiv After Surprise Visit — Here is the latest on Biden's visit to Ukraine. — KYIV, Ukraine — President Biden departed Kyiv on Monday after a surprise, hourslong visit during which he pledged the United States' “unwavering commitment” to supporting Ukraine almost …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner and The Gateway Pundit

The White House:

Statement from President Joe Biden on Travel to Kyiv, Ukraine — As the world prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, I am in Kyiv today to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine's democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Hill, Insider, ABC News and CNBC

Jim LaPorta / Rolling Stone:

President Biden Makes Surprise Visit to Ukraine — Biden's first time to the country as president underscores American support for President Volodymyr Zelensky and his war efforts against Russia … Shrouded in secrecy, and coming days before the first anniversary of Russia's invasion …

Discussion: CBS News, NPR, Bloomberg, RedState, The Hill, Liberty Journal and Politico

Peter Nicholas / NBC News:

Biden makes surprise visit to Ukraine nearly one year after Russia's invasion — AMSTERDAM — President Joe Biden made a surprise and historic visit to war-torn Ukraine on Monday, a show of support and solidarity with a democratic nation battling for its survival after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded nearly a year ago.

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, Politico, Fox News, USA Today, HuffPost, The Sun, UPI, Washington Post, Associated Press, Metro.co.uk, Al Jazeera, Forbes, Balloon Juice, New York Daily News and The Hill

Axios:

Biden on surprise visit to Ukraine: “One year later, Kyiv stands” — President Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday — his first visit to Ukraine since Russia's invasion began nearly a year ago. … Biden said in a statement he traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky …

Discussion: The Hill, Fox News, CBS News and Bloomberg

Financial Times:
Poland calls for Nato security guarantees to postwar Ukraine

Discussion: Fox News and UnHerd

Rolling Stone:

Charges Against Trump Lawyer ‘Very Likely,’ Colleagues Warn Donald — As the feds continue to probe the ex-president's handling of confidential documents, his legal team is urging him to distance himself from one of his top attorneys … Some of the former president's lawyers …

Discussion: Raw Story

Natasha Korecki / NBC News:

From the Midwest, progressive J.B. Pritzker launches anti-Ron DeSantis flares — CHICAGO — He's a governor who talks tough about Covid, has pleaded with to the College Board about an AP African American studies course and is outspoken on the issue of abortion.

Discussion: The Hill, The Last Refuge and The Gateway Pundit

Jeffrey S. Solochek / Tampa Bay Times:
4 things to know about Ron DeSantis' idea to slash AP courses in Florida

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Washington Post

Eduardo Medina / New York Times:

Councilman Who Uses a Wheelchair Is Asked to Hoist Himself Onto a Debate Stage — A Denver city councilman who is paralyzed from the chest down said he felt like a “circus monkey” trying to climb onto a stage that was not accessible by wheelchair. — A debate for Denver's District 10 City Council seat …

Discussion: Fox News

Scott Jaschik / Inside Higher Ed:

Professor's Job Endangered for Teaching About Race — Scholar at Palm Beach Atlantic University says he's been accused of indoctrinating students. — (Palm Beach Atlantic U) — An English professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University said his teaching contract has been put on hold …

Washington Post:

Putin, czar with no empire, needs military victory for his own survival — MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin likes to portray himself as a new czar like Peter the Great or Ivan III, the 15th-century grand prince known as the “gatherer of the Russian lands.”

Discussion: Informed Comment and Al Jazeera

New York Times:
One Year Into War, Putin Is Crafting the Russia He Craves

Discussion: Washington Post, Insider, Bloomberg, NPR, CBS News, Daily Mail, Los Angeles Times and The Guardian

Laurence Norman / Wall Street Journal:

Near Weapons-Grade Enriched Uranium Detected in Iran — Diplomats say they had been informed Iran doesn't appear to be accumulating a stockpile of 84% material — United Nations atomic agency inspectors have detected uranium that has been enriched to near weapons-grade in Iran in recent weeks …

Discussion: Al Jazeera

Jonathan Tirone / Bloomberg:
Iran's Uranium Enrichment Hits a New High, Testing Diplomacy

Discussion: Reuters, Haaretz, The Dispatch, The Hill, Al Jazeera, Fox News, Japan Times and TASS

Lachlan Cartwright / The Daily Beast:

Don Lemon Benched on Monday Over Sexist Remark Scandal, Insiders Say — CNN sources told Confider that the network changed its Monday lineup to proceed without Lemon while “conversations about Don's future” are ongoing. … Don Lemon will not appear Monday on CNN This Morning as his future …

Discussion: Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, The Western Journal, New York Post, Variety, Deadline, RedState, Mediaite, The Wrap, TMZ.com, The Hollywood Reporter, Fox News and The Post Millennial, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Biden Drawing Up a 2024 Playbook That Looks a Lot Like 2020's — President Biden's strategy is to frame the race as a contest between a seasoned leader and a conspiracy-minded opposition, while batting away concerns about his age. — WASHINGTON — Forget the Wilmington basement.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, CNN and The Western Journal

Stephen Neukam / The Hill:
Sanders: Biden a more progressive president than he was as senator

Discussion: National Review

Ankit Panda / NK PRO:

North Korea's latest ICBM launch signals new phase of long-range missile drills — Military reportedly launched Hwasong-15 on short notice, as DPRK shifts focus from development to operational exercises — North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch of 2023 wasn't a test; it was an exercise.

Discussion: El País, CBS News, Associated Press, Bloomberg, UPI, WGN-TV, KCNA Watch, TASS, HotAir, Al Jazeera, Reuters, The Hill, Fox News, New York Times, Breitbart, Sputnik News and Japan Times

Garrett M. Graff / New York Times:

What Ford's Pardon of Nixon Means (and Doesn't Mean) for Trump — The release on Thursday of parts of a report from a grand jury in Georgia that investigated election interference by Donald Trump and his allies offers the most recent evidence of his growing legal exposure.

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

As the Pandemic Swept America, Deaths in Prisons Rose Nearly 50 Percent — The first comprehensive data on prison fatalities in the Covid era sheds new light on where and why prisoners were especially vulnerable. — Deaths in state and federal prisons across America rose nearly 50 percent during …

Oliver Milman / The Guardian:

‘Not much time left’: Salt Lake City's mayor on the Great Lake drying up — Former environmental activist Erin Mendenhall leads a fast-growing city threatened by toxic dust from the lake's shrinking water levels — rin Mendenhall was once an environmental activist, campaigning for clean air.

Chris Koseluk / The Hollywood Reporter:

Richard Belzer, Extraordinarily Smart-Ass as a Comic and a TV Cop, Dies at 78 — The stand-up legend and ‘Groove Tube’ actor played Det. John Munch on ‘Homicide: Life on the Street,’ ‘Law & Order: SVU’ and eight other shows. — Richard Belzer, the beloved comedian who began as an edgy stand …