President Biden meets with Alexei Navalny’s family ahead of major sanctions on Russia: The Morning Rundown, Feb. 23, 2024

PRESIDENT BIDEN MEETS WITH THE FAMILY OF LATE RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY  — AS THE U.S. PREPARES TO IMPOSE HUNDREDS OF SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA.

AND — AT&T REVEALS WHAT WAS BEHIND THE MASSIVE OUTAGE THAT LEFT THOUSANDS WITHOUT PHONE SERVICE

THE MORNING RUNDOWN STARTS NOW.

TODAY IS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23RD.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

I’M LAUREN TAYLOR.

TODAY THE UNITED STATES IS EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE MORE THAN 500 SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA – JUST A DAY SHY OF THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF ITS INVASION OF UKRAINE.

THE SANCTIONS ARE ALSO IN RESPONSE TO THE KREMLIN’S ROLE IN THE DEATH OF OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY.

ON THURSDAY – PRESIDENT BIDEN MET WITH NAVALNY’S WIDOW – YULIA NAVALNAYA — AND THE COUPLE’S DAUGHTER IN CALIFORNIA.

HE SPOKE TO REPORTERS FOLLOWING THE MEETING.

PRESIDENT BIDEN: “This morning I had the honor of meeting with Alexei Navalny’s wife and daughter. As to state, the obvious, he was a man of incredible courage. And it’s amazing how his wife and daughter are emulating that. We’re going to be announcing the sanctions against Putin, who was responsible for his death.”

DAYS AFTER HIS DEATH, YULIA NAVALNAYA SAID SHOULD WOULD CONTINUE HER HUSBAND’S FIGHT AGAINST PUTIN.

ACCORDING TO THE WHITE HOUSE – THE PRESIDENT TOLD NAVALNAYA’s FAMILY THAT HIS LEGACY WILL CONTINUE AROUND THE WORLD THROUGH OTHERS WHO ARE FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY.

BIDEN also TOLD THE FAMILY OF THE MAJOR NEW SANCTIONS COMING TODAY.

A STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TELLING ABC NEWS THE PENDING SANCTIONS ARE QUOTE “CRUSHING.”

U-S OFFICIALS SAYING SOME OF THE SANCTIONS WILL TARGET THOSE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN NAVALNY’S DEATH.

REPORTS SAYING MANY OF THE SANCTIONS WILL BE AIMED AT RUSSIA’S DEFENSE SECTOR.

FOUR FOREIGN NATIONALS HAVE BEEN CHARGED IN CONNECTION TO A U-S RAID LAST MONTH —

THAT CAUSED TWO NAVY SEALS LOSE THEIR LIVES.

ACCORDING TO THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT — THE FOUR MEN — ALL WITH PAKISTANI ID’S ON THEM — WERE ALLEGEDLY TRANSPORTING IRANIAN-MADE WEAPONS ON JANUARY 11TH — WHEN THEIR SMALL, UNFLAGGED VESSEL WAS INTERCEPTED BY THE NAVY IN THE ARABIAN SEA NEAR THE COAST OF SOMALIA.

U.S. OFFICIALS SAYING ONE OF THE SEALS SLIPPED INTO THE WATER WHILE BOARDING THE VESSEL – THE OTHER JUMPED IN TO TRY TO SAVE HIM – BOTH WERE DECLARED DEAD TEN DAYS LATER AFTER AN EXTENSIVE SEARCH.

IN A PRESS RELEASE ANNOUNCING THE CHARGES – DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL LISA MONACO SAYING THE FLOW OF WEAPONS FROM IRAN TO HOUTHI REBEL FORCES IN YEMEN THREATENS AMERICANS AND PARTNERS IN THE REGION, ADDING:

“Two Navy SEALs tragically lost their lives in the operation that thwarted the defendants charged today from allegedly smuggling Iranian-made weapons that the Houthis could have used to target American forces and threaten freedom of navigation and a vital artery for commerce.”

FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP HAS TAKEN SIGNIFICANT LEGAL ACTION — AIMING TO DISMISS THE CRIMINAL CHARGES ACCUSING HIM OF MISHANDLING CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS AFTER LEAVING OFFICE.

TRUMP’S LEGAL TEAM CONTEND — THE CHARGES ARE AT ODDS WITH LAWS GOVERNING PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS AND CLAIM

TRUMP’S PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY SHIELDS HIM FROM BEING PROSECUTED.

PROSECUTORS HAVE CALLED TRUMP’S IMMUNITY CLAIM “FRIVOLOUS” SAYING THE CONDUCT CHARGED IN THE INDICTMENT ALL OCCURRED AFTER TRUMP LEFT THE WHITE HOUSE.

THEY ALSO ALLEGE THE FORMER PRESIDENT ACTIVELY OBSTRUCTED GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO RETRIEVE THE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS.

LAST JUNE, TRUMP PLEADED NOT GUILTY TO 40 CRIMINAL COUNTS.

A TRIAL IS SCHEDULED TO BEGIN IN MAY.

IT WASN’T A CYBER ATTACK BUT A TECHNICAL ERROR THAT CAUSED AT AND T’S MASSIVE OUTAGE ON THURSDAY.

IN A STATEMENT — AT AND T  SAYING THE OUTAGE BEGAN IN THE MORNING HOURS AS THE COMPANY WORKED TO EXPAND ITS NETWORK.

THE OUTAGE AFFECTING THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS IN SEVERAL CITIES —

WITH PEOPLE NOT BEING ABLE TO MAKE CALLS, SEND TEXTS OR EVEN REACH 9-1-1.

WITH THE ONGOING THREAT OF CYBERATTACKS  — BOTH THE FBI AND THE HOMELAND SECURITY WERE INVESTIGATING AS REPORTS CAME IN.

AT AND T SAYS IT WAS ABLE TO RESTORE SERVICE BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

VICE MEDIA – THE DIGITAL OUTLET ONCE VALUED AT OVER 5 BILLION DOLLARS – HAS ANNOUNCED IT WILL BE LAYING OFF SEVERAL HUNDRED OF ITS MORE THAN 900 EMPLOYEES.

IN A MEMO TO WORKERS, VICE’S CEO SAYING THE COMPANY WILL NO LONGER BE PUBLISHING CONTENT TO ITS VICE DOT COM WEBSITE.

THE CHANGES COME LESS THAN A YEAR AFTER VICE FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY AND WAS THEN SOLD FOR 350 MILLION DOLLARS TO A GROUP OF LENDERS.

VICE’S CEO SAYING THE DIGITAL OUTLET WILL NOW LOOK TO PARTNER WITH ESTABLISHED COMPANIES TO DISTRIBUTE ITS CONTENT WHILE PUTTING MORE EMPHASIS ON ITS SOCIAL PLATFORMS.

FINALLY THIS MORNING – FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN A HALF CENTURY – THE UNITED STATES HAS LANDED ON THE MOON.

HERE IS WHAT IT SOUNDED LIKE FROM MISSION CONTROL AS OFFICIALS WITH HOUSTON’S INTUITIVE MACHINES CONFIRMED ITS PRIVATE ROBOTIC LUNAR LANDER TOUCHED DOWN NEAR THE MOON’S SOUTH POLE THURSDAY EVENING.

VOICE OF TIM CRAIN | MISSION DIRECTOR: “All stations this is mission director on IM-1. We’re evaluating how we can refine that signal and dial in the pointing for Odysseus. What we can confirm without a doubt is our equipment is on the surface of the moon and we are transmitting. So congratulations. IM team. We’ll see how much more we can get from that.”

STEPHEN ALTEMUS | INTUITIVE MACHINES CEO: “What an outstanding effort. I know this was a nail biter, but we are on the surface and we are transmitting. And welcome to the moon.”

THE SPACECRAFT ODYSSEUS BECAME THE FIRST MOON LANDER LAUNCHED BY A PRIVATE COMPANY TO SUCCESSFULLY MAKE THE 239 THOUSAND MILE TRIP.

THOUGH – AS EXPECTED – MISSION CONTROL INITIALLY LOST CONTACT WITH THE SPACECRAFT AS IT DESCENDED  – INTUITIVE MACHINES WAS THEN ABLE TO DETECT A FAINT SIGNAL – LATER CONFIRMING ODYSSEUS WAS UPRIGHT AND STARTING TO SEND BACK DATA.

WITH THE TEAM NOW WORKING TO RECEIVE THE FIRST IMAGES FROM THE MOON.

NASA – WHICH PAID THE COMPANY 118 MILLION DOLLARS TO DELIVER SEVERAL EXPERIMENTS – HAILED THE LANDING AS A MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT AS IT LOOKS ONCE AGAIN TO SEND ASTRONAUTS TO THE MOON LATER THIS DECADE.

THESE ARE YOUR TOP STORIES FOR THIS FRIDAY.

UNBIASED. STRAIGHT FACTS. THAT’S STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS.

WE’LL SEE YOU BACK HERE MONDAY.

UNTIL THEN I’M LAUREN TAYLOR. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!