THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2022

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNERS:
Matthew Chance

CNN’s Matthew Chance gave a jarring report outside of Kyiv Monday, revealing the immediate devastation Ukraine has endured in its defense from Russia’s invasion.

Chance reported from a bridge northwest of the Ukrainian capital, explaining that “right within the past few hours, there has been a ferocious battle here on the outskirts of Kyiv.” While the quality of the footage was shaky throughout the report, Chance began by walking past the husks of several Russian military vehicles destroyed in the fighting.

“I was crouching down right by a grenade. I didn’t see that. Let’s move away from that,” he said. He continued with his report by saying the Ukrainians “have been able to really cause the Russians a significant amount of pain,” with the military assistance they are receiving from other countries.

Last week, Chance had to interrupt a live report in order to don flak jacket and helmet as explosions could be heard in Kyiv.

Like so many journalists on the ground in Ukraine, Chance has brought the conflict into American living rooms with compelling, even shocking reporting and footage. Professional and informed, these reporters have made the dangers faced by Ukrainian civilians all too real.

On Tuesday, Chance took that on-the-ground reporting to an even more in-depth and up-close level, interviewing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in one of the Kyiv bunkers from which the gov't is forced to operate.

Chance and his colleagues like Clarissa Ward are exemplifying that breaking, on-the-scene reporting on which CNN built its reputation, and to which new CNN chief Chris Licht has promised renewed focus.

There is a lot of great reporting out there on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, from a lot of brave journalists. Matthew Chance stands out for his this week.

MEDIA LOSER:
Rob Schmitt

Newsmax host Rob Schmitt interviewed former Donald Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton and got a crash course in being prepared and informed.

Schmitt's premise was that Trump had been incredibly tough on Russia, and that it was for this reason that Vladimir Putin chose not to attack Ukraine during Trump's administration. To support the claim, Schmitt had a bullet point list of steps he thought the administration had taken, including claiming Trump "sanctioned Nord Stream 2."

"I mean, he took a very tough stance against Russia. I’m surprised you don’t think that he would have handled this better than Joe Biden,” he said as the list was on screen.

"No he didn't," said Bolton to Schmitt's saying Trump took a tough stance. "He did not. We didn't sanction Nord Stream 2. We should have."

"In almost every case the sanctions were imposed with Trump complaining about it, saying we were being too hard,” said Bolton. "The fact is he barely knew where Ukraine was."

"He once asked John Kelly, the second chief of staff, if Finland were part of Russia," Bolton continued. "It's just not accurate to say that Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians."

Bolton said that Putin simply didn't feel his military was ready, and added that, so far in the invasion, it appears they still aren't.

Schmitt toward the end tried to resolve the interview by arguing credit is due and that Trump was the first to warn Europe about relying on Russian gas and oil.

“You’re absolutely wrong,” Bolton corrected him once more. "The first person to tell the Europeans not to rely on Russian oil and gas was Ronald Reagan."

"Fair enough," said Schmitt.

A painful performance.

The A-Block

UKRAINE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a passionate speech to the European Parliament in defiance of Russia’s ongoing invasion of his country on Tuesday. His words were so moving that the English translator can be heard choking up in the clip.

Zelensky remotely gave his speech to Parliament on Tuesday as an extension of his call for Ukraine to be granted immediate membership with the European Union. In his address, Zelensky condemned Vladimir Putin as he invoked the Russian military convoy approaching Kyiv, plus the news that Russia has launched rocket attacks against civilian areas in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

“This is the price of freedom,” Zelensky said. “We’re fighting just for our land and for our freedom.”

The translator became audibly emotional as he took Zelensky’s promise that “Every square today, no matter what it’s called, is going to be called Freedom Square, in every city of our country.”

GET OUR LATEST UKRAINE COVERAGE HERE

At the U.N. today, diplomats walked out of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s address before the Human Rights Council in a stunning and dramatic display.

Austrian Ambassador to the UN Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger shared the video of the massive walkout in Geneva. “This morning in the UN Human Rights Council more than 140 diplomats refused to listen to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s futile attempt to justify unacceptable military aggression. Watch them leave the Council Chamber,” she wrote.

“Envoys from Syria, China and Venezuela were among delegations that stayed,” reported Reuters.

It is, as we have seen several times during this conflict, a dramatic, real-time historic moment unfolding on video that immediately spreads on social media.


In Other News...

Marco Rubio Called Out for Saying He Can't Go to SOTU Because He Doesn't Have Time for Covid Test

Ukrainian National In Tears as She Goes OFF On Boris Johnson: 'NATO is Afraid of World War III, But it Has Already Started!'

Florida GOP State Rep Says 'Don't Say Gay' Bill 'Does Not Go Far Enough', Dismisses Critics as Making Up 'Straw Man' Arguments

RATINGS: Watters Scores Top Show on Cable in Demo

WATCH: Five Different Reporters Ask Psaki if Our 'Punishing' Actions Will Make Putin Do More War Than He's Already Doing

Must See Clip

Stephen Colbert Bids Heartfelt Goodbye

Stephen Colbert gave a glowing goodbye to his outgoing showrunner Chris Licht, who is set to replace Jeff Zucker as chairman and CEO of CNN Global.

“Our own Chris Licht, right over there at that podium, is leaving this show to take over CNN,” Colbert said on Monday’s The Late Show, adding, “I trained the next president of CNN, so I believe legally CNN now stands for the Colbert News Network.”

"Here’s the thing. There are bosses, and then there are leaders. Bosses tell you what to do. Leaders work as hard as you do to do what needs to be done. And that’s what you did," said Colbert.

"He earned the respect of all of us here who live in the clown car."

Links We Like

Disney’s New ‘Star Wars’ Hotel Includes A ‘Tricked Out’ Suite That Costs Up To $20k
- Alexandra Steigrad, New York Post
Paramount Pulls Upcoming Russia Releases Including ‘Sonic 2,’ ‘The Lost City’
- Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter
Ukraine Pushes to Unplug Russia From the Internet
- Kat Bouza & Noah Shachtman, Rolling Stone
Can The ‘Nintendo Generation’ Survive Bootcamp? The Pentagon Isn’t Sure.
- James Clark, Popular Science
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