12:30 Report

The Hill’s 12:30 Report — What we know about the cause of the Ohio train derailment

by Cate Martel - 02/23/23 12:30 PM ET

FILE – Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks before the arrival of President Joe Biden at the construction site of the Hudson Tunnel Project, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, in New York. Nearly 50 businesses and nonprofits including rideshare companies Uber and Lyft, industrial giant 3M and automaker Honda are pledging millions of dollars in initiatives to stem a “crisis” in road fatalities under a new federal effort announced Friday, Feb. 3. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

NEWS THIS MORNING

Buttigieg visits Ohio:

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is in East Palestine, Ohio, today to assess the damage of the trail derailment that spewed hazardous chemicals.

Buttigieg tweeted: “This morning I’m in East Palestine, Ohio, to see the site of the Norfolk Southern derailment, hear updates from investigators, and meet first responders. USDOT will continue its work to ensure safety and accountability.”

Photos of Buttigieg visiting Ohio: From The Columbus Dispatch’s Monroe Trombly

Will President Biden visit?: The White House has not yet said.

JUST RELEASED — WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED??:
The National Transportation Security Board (NTSB) just released its initial report on the train derailment.

The gist: The preliminary report tentatively confirms reports that a wheel bearing severely overheated ahead of the accident.

The Hill’s Zack Budryk has a helpful explainer on what’s in the NTSB report on the accident.

See for yourself: Read the report

A FEW HEADLINES ON THE DERAILMENT:

‘Trump Visits East Palestine, Seeking to Draw Contrast With Biden’: From The New York Times’s Jazmine Ulloa, Maggie Haberman and Mark Walker

‘The overlooked message behind Republicans’ response to the Ohio train derailment’: From Vox’s Ben Jacobs

‘Railroad pushback to safety regulations scrutinized amid East Palestine disaster’: From The Hill’s Karl Evers-Hillstrom

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw ‘understands the anger’: “I’ve experienced it as I’ve talked to the citizens of this community over the last two and a half weeks,” Shaw said during a CNN town hall. “It’s important to me that I hear directly from the citizens of East Palestine and what I can do and what Norfolk Southern can do to help the recovery of this community.”

It’s a wildly warm Thursday in the DC-area. Get outside today if you can! I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

💍💔In Congress

Didn’t the US … try this once? And not to be dramatic, but didn’t it start a … war?:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has called for the U.S. to be split into two countries, one red and one blue, irking both parties.

Is that what the kids are calling it these days?: Greene is calling it a “national divorce.”

Greene tweeted: “We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government. Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last policies, we are done.”

How it’s being received: Greene’s comments angered Democrats and have given Republicans an unwanted headache.

Keep in mind about Greene: She is known for making incendiary remarks, but she’s getting a lot more attention now. She sits on the House Homeland Security Committee and has floated interest in jumping onto former President Trump’s 2024 ticket.

More on the political storm Greene has started with her comments, via The Hill’s Al Weaver

REACTION FROM REPUBLICAN SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UTAH):
“I think Abraham Lincoln dealt with that kind of insanity,” Romney said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. “We’re not going to divide the country. It’s united we stand and divided we fall.”

“WHEN MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SAYS ‘NATIONAL DIVORCE,’ SHE MEANS ANOTHER CIVIL WAR”:
From New York Magazine’s Ed Kilgore

MTG EXPLAINED HER RATIONALE ON FOX NEWS:
Greene joined Fox News’s Sean Hannity on Tuesday to discuss her comments.

Excerpt from Greene: “The last thing I ever want to see in America is a civil war. No one wants that — at least everyone I know would never want that. But it’s going that direction, and we have to do something about it.” Watch her full explanation

🎤 In Orlando

How horrible:

The Orlando Sentinel’s David Harris, Amanda Rabines and Jeff Weiner report that “an Orlando TV journalist and a child were shot and killed on Wednesday evening near a crime scene where a woman was found shot to death earlier in the day, in a brutal spate of violence in Pine Hills that prompted widespread shock and grief.” What we know

Spectrum News 13 identified the reporter who died as 24-year-old Dylan Lyons: And Spectrum News 13 photojournalist Jesse Walden was “critically injured.”

Read Spectrum News 13’s story on the incident

Watch an on-air report from Spectrum News 13’s Celeste Springer: Video

This is hard to watch: Here’s a clip from another local reporter’s on-air report

📍 In Ukraine

Friday marks one year of the war in Ukraine:

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

To sum up Year One in one sentence: “The first year of the Russia-Ukraine war has been defined by the resilience of Kyiv’s forces and Moscow’s diminished military power.”

What to expect during Year Two: “The course of the second year will depend largely on forces outside of either country .. Ukraine’s success in routing Russian forces will depend largely on how quickly the U.S. and Europe supply decisive arms like long-range missiles, tanks and jets, while Russia’s hope for retaking momentum hinges on Western unity disintegrating.”

The Hill’s Brad Dress gives a broad picture of where the conflict stands

‘HOW THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR HAS CHANGED CYBERSPACE’:
From The Hill’s Ines Kagubare

‘UKRAINE WAR: TEN PHOTOS TAKEN BEFORE LIVES CHANGED FOREVER’:
From BBC’s Alice Cuddy

OP-ED:
“Is Ukraine the ‘war before the war’?” From Michael Singh of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy

🦠 The COVID-19 numbers

Cases to date: 102.9 million

Death toll: 1,113,254

Current hospitalizations: 19,527

Shots administered: 670 million

Fully vaccinated: 69.2 percent of Americans

CDC data here.

🐥Notable tweets

DC has been showing off this week:

@marthaswilson tweeted a stunning photo of the sunrise at the National Mall yesterday. Photo

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa:

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams tweeted, “Crumbly shortbread cookies in buttery sweet cream. Salty, mouthwatering, conversation-worthy. Biscuits with the Boss — our collab with the show Ted Lasso — drops everywhere 3/2 (noon ET online, noon local time in scoop shops).” Photo of the Ted Lasso-inspired flavor

⏱On tap

The House and Senate are out. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C.