- CNN’s MJ Lee doing the kind of accurate reporting we love to see!

The highly suspicious death of Alexei Navalny, which the Russian dissident’s wife calls a “murder,” continues to reverberate throughout the world. 
 

• The U.S. will pursue major sanctions against Russia to hold the Kremlin accountable for the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny last week, President Joe Biden said Tuesday. Navalny died in a Russian penal colony in the Arctic Circle at the age of 47. He was serving a prison sentence of over 30 years on trumped-up charges of extremism and fraud, which he denied. Russian authorities have provided no additional details about the circumstances surrounding his death, only that he “felt unwell after a walk” on February 16. Biden and Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, have placed the blame squarely on Putin.

• The forthcoming package will be announced on Friday. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said that the sanctions “will be a substantial package covering a range of different elements of the Russian defense industrial base,” as well as major sources of revenue for the Russian economy that powers the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine. 
   

• National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the new sanctions are also a response to Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine, which has dragged on for almost two years. He also stressed that one of the most powerful actions the United States could take would be for Congress to pass an emergency spending bill that would provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. President Biden went a step further, saying: “The failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten.”

Washington had previously imposed sanctions over the 2020 poisoning and imprisonment of Navalny, targeting individuals linked to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and other officials. That’s on top of all of the sanctions stemming from the war in Ukraine, so it’s tough to say how much real pain any further sanctions could inflict.

Join us tomorrow, February 21st, for a subscriber exclusive roundtable on the Friends of the Pod Discord. Meet and chat directly with Black Crooked staffers who work across some of your favorite Crooked shows like Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It! If you’re not already a part of the community, sign up now at crooked.com/friends for access.

The Supreme Court of Alabama ruled on Friday that frozen embryos should be considered people and therefore individuals can be held liable for destroying them. The decision threatens to  effectively end in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the state, and could affect hundreds of thousands of patients who depend on IVF and related treatments every year. At least 11 states have broadly defined personhood in their state laws as beginning at fertilization, according to the reproductive rights group Pregnancy Justice. The Alabama case focused on whether a patient who mistakenly dropped and destroyed other couples’ frozen embryos could be sued and held liable for wrongful death. 

The United States vetoed a United Nations resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages on Tuesday in a U.N. Security Council vote. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called the resolution “wishful and irresponsible.” 

Israel Defense Forces ordered two Gaza City neighborhoods to evacuate on Tuesday, even as much of the enclave’s northern cities have been reduced to rubble from months of airstrikes and ground operations. 

The World Food Program announced on Tuesday that it has paused food deliveries to northern Gaza because of increasing chaos across the territory, adding to fears of starvation in an area already under famine. 

Capital One announced on Monday that it would acquire Discover Financial Services in an all-stock transaction valued at a staggering $35.3 billion. FTC, DOJ, u up?

A bill is advancing through the West Virginia state legislature that would make it easier for the state to prosecute teachers and librarians for “obscenity” related to certain books and teaching materials. Teaching children they will burn in hell? Still A-okay!

Former “family vlog” YouTuber Ruby Franke was sentenced to four consecutive prison terms of one-to-15 years each by a Utah district court on Tuesday. She and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt—who received the same sentence—pleaded guilty to second-degree aggravated child abuse after being charged with six felony counts. 

A group of 13 GOP losers in the Senate—among them, obviously are Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Ted Cruz (R-TX)—are pressuring senate minority leader Mitch McConnell to help them force a full impeachment trial for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayoras, and block Democrats from quickly dismissing the whole thing. 

Trump’s former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley declared she will stay in the GOP primary until Super Tuesday even if her former boss continues shellacking her at the ballot box.

The Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to hear a challenge to the new admissions system at a prestigious magnet high school in Northern Virginia that sought to level the playing field for prospective students. Thomas Jefferson High School—often cited as one of the nation’s best high schools—changed its admissions review process in 2020 to consider what some experts call “race-neutral” factors, such as a student’s residential neighborhood and socioeconomic status, and reserved a set number of seats for students from each middle school in Fairfax County. They also did away with the $100 application fee and notoriously-difficult admissions test, but the school still requires a 3.5 unweighted GPA. The first admitted class using this new process saw increases in Black and Latino enrollment, as well as more low-income students, girls, and students for whom English is a second language. The student body’s percentage of Asian American students dropped from 70 percent to 50 percent, which caused some parents of those students to accuse the school of intentionally designing the admissions process to decrease Asian enrollment. (Fairfax County is about 20 percent Asian, according to the Census Bureau.) A lower court ruled that the new admissions review was constitutional, and the Supreme Court’s decision allows that ruling to stand. Fairfax County school board Chair Karl Frisch defended the updated process, saying: “We have long believed that the new admissions process is both constitutional and in the best interest of all of our students…. It guarantees that all qualified students from all neighborhoods in Fairfax County have a fair shot at attending this exceptional high school.”

February is the month for love, so don’t forget to show yourself some love and TLC.
 

One of the best forms of self-love is taking care of your skin so you can feel good on the inside and out. 
 

• Apostrophe is an online platform that connects you with an expert dermatology team to get customized acne treatment for your unique skin. 
   

• Through Apostrophe, you can get access to oral and topical medications that use clinically proven ingredients to help clear acne. 
   

• Simply fill out an online consultation about your skin goals and medical history. Then snap a few selfies and a dermatology provider will create a customized treatment plan just for you. 
   

• Apostrophe offers access to prescription treatments for all types of acne - from hormonal acne to facial acne, and even back, chest, and butt acne. Treat breakouts from head to toe.

Get your first consultation visit for only five dollars at Apostrophe.com/WAD when you use our code: WAD. That’s a savings of fifteen dollars!

The Biden campaign raised $42 million in January, and from the looks of these poll numbers, they’ll need every penny!

Beyoncé became the first Black woman to top the Billboard Top 100 Country charts with her new single “Texas Hold ‘Em.”