White House getting boxed in by red lines on Ukraine: The Note
Defining the American response by what it is not has ramifications of its own.
The TAKE with Rick Klein
For all the U.S. has done to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin, the list of what the Biden administration won't do continues to grow: There will be no no-fly zone, no U.S. troops defending Ukraine, no help in delivering planes that Poland wants to get to Ukrainians.
There's likely to be more that Ukraine wants that the U.S. won't give. That figures to be a theme out of the extraordinary virtual speech to Congress that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to deliver Wednesday.
The White House is bristling at questions about "red lines" and hypothetical situations. But defining the American reaction by what it is not and will not be has ramifications of its own.
Asked by ABC White House Correspondent Mary Bruce to detail the promised "severe consequences" Russia might face if it uses chemical weapons, press secretary Jen Psaki said that won't be outlined in advance: "There's no question if Russia were to decide to use chemical weapons there would be a severe reaction from the global community."
Other nations -- think North Korea, Iran and China -- are watching President Joe Biden's actions closely. And Putin himself, of course, has not so far been deterred by the unity and strong actions taken to date by the U.S. in conjunction with other nations.
In outlining midterm messaging for House Democrats on Friday, Biden talked up what he is doing, and also detoured into a revealing a few sentences about what this moment cannot bring:
"The idea that we're going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews, just understand -- and don't kid yourself, no matter what you all say -- that's called World War III," the president said.
The RUNDOWN with Averi Harper
Controversial anti-abortion bills proposed by Republican lawmakers in Missouri include measures that, if enacted, would go even further than Texas' near-total abortion ban.
Missouri's H.B. 2810 would make it a felony to traffic "abortion-inducing devices or drugs" or perform an abortion after a woman is 10-weeks pregnant, punishable by 10 years to life in prison. The bill would also apply to women with potentially life-threatening ectopic pregnancies in which the fetus grows outside of the uterus. The bill's author, Republican state Rep. Brian Seitz, said during House debate that he didn't know what treatment for ectopic pregnancy entails.
"HB 2810 is dangerous. This is what it looks like when uneducated politicians try and legislate our bodies," said Dr. Colleen McNicholas, the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, in a statement. "Ectopic pregnancies, if not treated promptly, become life-threatening. Banning any provision of care related to ectopic pregnancies will put people's lives at risk."
Separately, an amendment to several abortion-related bills creates legal liability for those seeking abortions out of state. It would allow lawsuits against those who aid, abet, perform, or induce abortions "on a resident or citizen of Missouri, regardless of where the abortion is or will be performed."
"If your neighboring state doesn't have pro-life protections, it minimizes the ability to protect the unborn in your state," said Republican state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, who wrote the amendment.
Missouri Senate leadership has said H.B. 2810 has little chance of passage. The amendment that seeks to restrict out-of-state abortions is slated to be debated on the Missouri House floor.
The TIP with Alisa Wiersema
President Biden delivered remarks at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser Monday night in Washington, marking his first in-person fundraising event since taking office.
The event coincided with his party gearing up for a tough midterm election season that in some cases has Democrats navigating intraparty divisions and weighing whether the president's public backing will translate into favorability from constituents. That equation has been recently complicated by polls showing a majority of voters disapproving of Biden's handling of gas prices and inflation.
Although the vast majority of primary contests are still on the horizon, one Democrat who easily clinched a victory in the first midterm primary of the year appears to want the president to steer clear of his race. During an SXSW discussion over the weekend, Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke said he doesn't want Biden to weigh in on the race.
"I don't want Joe Biden or anyone else from outside of Texas, coming into this state to campaign for me or anyone else. This one is on us, the people of Texas. We are going to decide our future, our fortune, our fate," O'Rourke said.
Although Biden has yet to acknowledge his former 2020 primary competitor's bid directly, the comment from O'Rourke is one of the first major efforts by a Democratic candidate to distance themselves from the White House this midterm cycle.
NUMBER OF THE DAY, powered by FiveThirtyEight
4. That's the number of GOP factions FiveThirtyEight contributor Julia Azari identified in her story on how different Republican leaders are reinventing -- or resisting -- Trumpism now that Trump is out of office. As Julia writes, some Republicans have tried to distance themselves from Trump's political style without really rejecting any of his views while others have rejected some of his views without completely severing ties with him. Some have decisively broken with him, while others are now trying to out-Trump Trump. It's still too early to know which faction will prevail in 2024, but read more from Julia to understand the different power centers within the GOP.
THE PLAYLIST
ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. Start Here begins Tuesday morning with Dr. Mark Agness from the Christian relief group Samaritan's Purs on what he's seen from Lviv, Ukraine. Then, ABC's Kayna Whitworth details her exclusive look at how the U.S. Navy operates in the Arctic amid growing geopolitical tensions. And, ABC's Aaron Katersky breaks down the search for a suspect in homeless killings in New York City and Washington, D.C. http://apple.co/2HPocUL
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