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| Presented By JPMorgan Chase |
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| Axios AM |
| By Mike Allen ·Mar 21, 2022 |
| 🌸 Good Monday morning, and welcome to the first full day of spring. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,186 words ... 4½ mins. Edited by Justin Green. 🇵🇱 Situational awareness: President Biden will travel to Warsaw, Poland, on Friday. He flies Wednesday to Brussels, Belgium, for a NATO summit. |
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| 1 big thing: Plug-in cars see surge in interest |
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| Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios |
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| Prolonged high gas prices could lower resistance to electric vehicles, Axios Generate co-author Ben Geman writes. - Edmunds, the car-shopping site, says interest in plug-in hybrids and traditional hybrids rose 39% for the week ending March 13 — and was 84% higher than in mid-February.
Why it matters: The last time gasoline prices were this high, electric cars were barely a blip in the market. Now sales are climbing fast, to about 4.5% of the U.S. new car market last year. Automakers are bringing lots of snazzy new models to market. - The new choices feature a variety of electric SUVs and pickups, which are at the heart of the U.S. consumer market.
- Automakers are also pouring more money into advertising EVs, including a bonanza of Super Bowl spots.
By the numbers: Regular gas averaged $4.26/gallon yesterday, per AAA — down 7¢ from a week earlier, but still roughly $1.40 higher than a year ago. Reality check: Gas prices have spiked before — but never enough to reverse the long-term growth in popularity of pickups and SUVs. - High gas prices have also historically been linked to only a modest decrease in the number of miles people drive.
- Automakers have discontinued numerous smaller vehicles in recent years after consumers abandoned them, Axios' Nathan Bomey reports.
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| 2. 🇺🇦 Ukraine becomes war of attrition |
Data: Source: UN Satellite Center, U.S. State Department. Map: AP On the map above, red dots show destroyed/damaged buildings in the besieged strategic port city of Mariupol, Ukraine. - Ukrainian officials defiantly rejected a Russian demand that their forces in Mariupol lay down arms and raise white flags by today, in exchange for safe passage out, AP reports.
Why it matters: Fighting for Mariupol is intense, even as Russian attacks in other areas have floundered to the point that Western governments and analysts see the broader conflict grinding into a war of attrition. 🖼️ The big picture: British military intelligence says Russian forces advancing on Kyiv have stalled, Reuters reports: - The bulk of Russian forces remain more than 15 miles from the center of the capital.
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| 3. 📊 Stat of the day: 10 million displaced |
 Data: UNHCR; Map: Jared Whalen and Will Chase/Axios "The war in Ukraine is so devastating that 10 million have fled — either displaced inside the country, or as refugees abroad," Filippo Grandil, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, tweeted yesterday. - That's nearly one-quarter of Ukraine's prewar population of 44 million, The Wall Street Journal points out (subscription).
3.4 million people have left Ukraine since Russia invaded Feb. 24 (25 days ago) — mostly women and children bound for Poland (map above). - "The flow of people has eased in recent days, but still tops 50,000 refugees a day, according to the latest U.N. figures," per The Journal.
🔭 Zoom out: The UN calls it "the largest humanitarian crisis Europe has seen since World War 2." Go deeper: Axios Ukraine dashboard ... Axios explainers. |
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| A message from JPMorgan Chase |
| A second chance for people with criminal backgrounds |
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| More than 70 million American adults have a criminal or arrest record and as a result, they face barriers to employment. Their untapped earning potential has deep economic and social consequences. Learn how JPMorgan Chase supports an inclusive economy by helping them to re-enter the workforce. |
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| 4. ⚖️ Behind the curtain: Supreme prep |
| Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C., in her chambers on Feb. 18. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP The Senate Judiciary Committee's four-day confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who would be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, begins at 11 a.m. ET. - I'm told the judge's practice sessions in the White House's Eisenhower Executive Office Building, led by the counsel's office, have gone late into the night. Inside and outside lawyers played the role of various senators. Even the lights and a crowded room were simulated.
⚡ Justice Clarence Thomas, 73, was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in D.C. on Friday after experiencing flu-like symptoms that are now abating, the Supreme Court announced last evening: - "He underwent tests, was diagnosed with an infection, and is being treated with intravenous antibiotics," and expects to be released in a day or two.
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| 5. 💡 Big idea: Most dangerous way this war could change the world |
| Satellite photo shows multiple civilian buildings burning amid Russian strikes on Mariupol, Ukraine, yesterday. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via AP "The Ukraine war's creepiest byproduct is its demonstration of the utility of nuclear weapons," The Washington Post's David Ignatius writes in a column about ways the crisis could damage the world irreparably: NATO isn't intervening directly in this war with a no-fly zone because Russia has 4,000 nuclear weapons. It's that simple. And let's be honest: Would Putin have invaded if Ukraine had kept its nuclear arsenal back in 1994, when the United States pressed it to disarm? I doubt it. The lesson won't be lost on Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Korea — go down the list. The bottom line: "This war might prove the greatest stimulus to nuclear proliferation in history." |
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| 6. 🇨🇳 China militarizes islands in South China Sea |
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| Chinese buildings could be seen yesterday on the man-made island on Johnson Reef, in the Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea. Photo: Aaron Favila/AP |
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| China has fully militarized at least three islands it built in the disputed South China Sea, a top U.S. military commander tells AP. - Why it matters: China is arming the islands with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment, and fighter jets in an increasingly aggressive move that threatens all nations operating nearby.
U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Adm. John C. Aquilino said the hostile actions were in stark contrast to Chinese President Xi Jinping's past assurances that Beijing wouldn't transform the artificial islands in contested waters into military bases. Chinese buildings could be seen yesterday on the man-made island on Mischief Reef, in the Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea. Photo: Aaron Favila/AP The buildings — which include missile arsenals, aircraft hangars and radar systems and other military facilities — are part of China's flexing military muscle, Aquilino said. - "[O]ver the past 20 years we've witnessed the largest military buildup since World War II," Aquilino said, calling China's weaponization "destabilizing to the region."
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| 7. 🥃 Covering America: Virginia's annual bourbon lottery |
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| Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year and Van Winkle Special Reserve Bourbon 12 Year are this year's lottery selection. Photo: Virginia ABC |
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| Virginia's annual bourbon lottery returns Wednesday with two types of Pappy Van Winkle, reports Karri Peifer of Axios Richmond (launching soon; sign up here). - Why it matters: Kentucky's celebrated Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery releases its stock only once a year, and there isn't much to go around. So bourbon drinkers across the country snap up the bottles, often to resell at a huge markup.
Since Virginia's booze sales are regulated by the state, it sells Pappy for the manufacturer's sales price — often hundreds or thousands dollars less on the open market. This year's selections: How it works: Anyone 21 and over with a Virginia driver's license can enter the lottery this Wednesday through Sunday. - Last year had the largest number of entries since the lottery began in 2016 ... 302,884.
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| 8. 🏀 Parting shot |
| Photo: Jamie Sabau/NCAA Photos via Getty Images Above: Doug Edert, 22, and the Saint Peter's Peacocks of Jersey City, N.J., celebrate after vaulting into the Sweet 16 by defeating Murray State, 70-60, in the second round Saturday. - Edert and his mustache — which began as a joke and was never meant to be permanent — have stolen America's heart, Kendall Baker writes in Axios Sports.
Cinderella has a 'stache, The Athletic writes (subscription): - "I said, 'Maybe the mustache is giving me powers," Edert said. "And now it's everywhere. I never thought this was going to happen, but it's just hilarious. There's a lot of memes, a lot of pictures online. I'm rocking with it. I love it. It's a part of me now."
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| A message from JPMorgan Chase |
| The power of second chance hiring |
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| Henry Edward's criminal background presented many obstacles, one of which was a lack of access to stable employment and economic mobility. JPMorgan Chase helped him reenter the workforce and contribute to an inclusive economy. Read Henry's story. |
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