NBC News Profile picture
Feb 8 5 tweets 4 min read
NEW: Navigating Ukraine, President Biden offers frank assessments of unfamiliar allies in private.

Reporting by @carolelee and @ckubeNBC.

nbcnews.to/3uwdkCd
@carolelee @ckubeNBC While administration officials say the U.S. and its allies are more closely aligned now than even just weeks ago, Biden has riffed during private meetings about some of his counterparts, according to people who have heard him use the descriptions in closed-door sessions.
@carolelee @ckubeNBC German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is no Angela Merkel, Biden has said, according to the sources. He’s described British PM Boris Johnson’s demeanor as blustery, they said. And French President Emmanuel Macron, Biden has said, wants to be Charles de Gaulle, the sources said.
@carolelee @ckubeNBC As for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden has described him as "a guy with nukes and no friends," according to people who’ve heard him use the description.
@carolelee @ckubeNBC The president’s private descriptions of some of his counterparts offer a window into his thinking about some of the headwinds he’s faced while trying to corral a punishing international response to Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine. nbcnews.to/3HCU8GC

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with NBC News

NBC News Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @NBCNews

Feb 1
SPECIAL REPORT: Hundreds of books have been pulled from Texas libraries for review, sometimes over the objections of school librarians, several of whom told @NBCNews they face mounting pressure to pre-emptively pull books that might draw complaints.

nbcnews.to/3ofYlbC
Records requests to nearly 100 school districts in Texas revealed 75 formal requests by parents or community members to ban books from libraries during the first four months of this school year.

For comparison, one challenge was filed during the same time period a year earlier.
All but a few of the formal library challenges sent to Texas school districts targeted books dealing with racism or sexuality, with the majority of them featuring LGBTQ characters and explicit descriptions of sex.
Read 7 tweets
Jan 27
President Biden thinks Russian President Putin will invade Ukraine. Here's why the West is so worried.

@NBCNews looks at what Putin might want from the standoff and how he could be planning to get it. #NBCNewsThreads (1/8) nbcnews.com/news/world/put…
Although Russia has denied its planning to attack the former Soviet state, Putin has issued several security demands that have been dismissed by the West, resulting in a diplomatic stalemate. (2/8)
The current standoff centers on Putin’s demands for security guarantees for Russia that would include a stop to NATO’s expansion eastward, a formal veto to stop Ukraine from ever joining the military alliance, and roll backs of NATO's military deployments in the region.​​ (3/8)
Read 8 tweets
Jan 26
New York City could see between 2 inches and 20 inches of snow this weekend. nbcnews.to/3IwdJbA
There's still high uncertainty in the forecast Wednesday, due to disagreement among forecast models showing two scenarios: A storm that stays offshore enough to bring a few inches of snow to the I-95 corridor or a storm that tracks close enough to produce a crippling snowstorm.
The pieces will start to come together Friday, with a fast-moving storm system moving through the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Meanwhile, another disturbance will move across the southern tier, eventually becoming a coastal low off the Carolina coast.

nbcnews.to/3IwdJbA
Read 5 tweets
Jan 24
Arizona Republicans have put forth two dozen bills this month that would significantly change the state's electoral processes after the GOP's review of millions of ballots affirmed President Biden's victory and turned up no proof of fraud.
nbcnews.to/3rNsCzy
Proposals introduced would add an additional layer to the state's voter ID requirement, such as fingerprints, and stipulate the hand counting of all ballots by default.

Other legislation would require that paper ballots be printed with holograms and watermarks.
Republican legislators argue that the proposals, part an ongoing surge of GOP-led election changes enacted or under consideration across the country, are necessary to enhance election security and prevent fraud.
Read 4 tweets
Jan 20
NEW: Sec. Blinken defends US diplomats who came forward reporting suspected incidents of “Havana Syndrome,” after CIA report cast doubt on the extent of the unexplained phenomenon. nbcnews.to/3GP7KOr
In a letter to all US diplomats, Blinken said interim findings from the intel community had found “plausible explanations for many — but not all — reports of potential anomalous health incidents,” using the Biden admin.’s preferred term for Havana Syndrome.
“These findings do not call into question the fact that our colleagues are reporting real experiences and are suffering real symptoms,” Blinken wrote.

“Those who have been affected have real stories to tell — their pain is real.”
Read 4 tweets
Jan 20
NEW: Conservative activists want schools to post lesson plans online, but free speech advocates warn such policies could lead to more censorship in K-12 schools.
nbcnews.to/3FQ8e5I
Lawmakers in at least 12 states have introduced legislation to require schools to post lists of all of their teaching materials online.

“Florida law should provide parents with the right to review the curriculum used in their children’s schools,” Gov. DeSantis said last week.
Some conservative activists say the effort — which has come under fire from Democrats, teachers and civil liberties advocates — is a strategic move to expose and root out progressive ideas from schools.
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

:(