Morning rundown: Biden, Putin on Ukraine war; Ohio plant explosion

KARAH RUCKER: TOP STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING – AN INDUSTRIAL PLANT EXPLOSION SHAKES THE OUTSKIRTS OF CLEVELAND OHIO. UNITED AIRLINES CHANGING THEIR SEATING POLICY TO BENEFIT FAMILIES AFTER BACKLASH. AND A BABY FORMULA IS RECALLED.

BUT FIRST — PRESIDENT BIDEN WILL BE RALLYING EUROPEAN ALLIES FROM POLAND TODAY – ONE DAY AFTER HIS SURPRISE VISIT TO UKRAINE.

AS BIDEN PREPARES HIS SPEECH — RUSSIA’S PRESIDENT VLADYMIR PUTIN IS ALSO ADDRESSING HIS COUNTRY AND ALLIES.

THIS IS STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS. UNBIASED. STRAIGHT FACTS.

BIDEN, PUTIN DELIVER SPEECHES ON THE WAR

PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS ARRIVED IN POLAND — SET TO DELIVER A SPEECH TO NATO ALLIES AS THE WAR IN UKRAINE NEARS ITS ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY.

THE WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCED AN ADDITIONAL 460 MILLION DOLLARS IN AID TO UKRAINE IN HOPES IT RALLIES OTHER COUNTRIES TO OFFER MORE AID AND SUPPORT.

PRESIDENT BIDEN: “Putin thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided. As you know, Mr. President, I said to you at the beginning, he’s counting on us not sticking together. He was counting on our inability to keep NATO united. He was counting on us not to be able to bring in others.”

MEANWHILE PUTIN DELIVERED HIS STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS TO HIS OWN PARLIAMENT THIS MORNING – SAYING UKRAINE AND ITS WESTERN ALLIES **STARTED THIS WAR AND BLAMED THE U.S. AND THE WEST FOR NO RESOLUTION.

PUTIN ALSO ANNOUNCED RUSSIA IS SUSPENDING ITS PARTICIPATION IN THE LAST REMAINING NUCLEAR TREATY WITH THE U.S.

THE “NEW START TREATY” WITH AMERICA LIMITED THE TWO SIDES’ STRATEGIC NUCLEAR ARSENAL.

IT CAPS THE NUMBER OF STRATEGIC NUCLEAR WARHEADS THAT THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA CAN DEPLOY. WHICH RUSSIA HAS THE LARGEST STOCKPILE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN THE WORLD.

INDUSTRIAL PLANT EXPLOSION NEAR CLEVELAND

VIDEO TAKEN AT THE SITE OF AN INDUSTRIAL PLANT EXPLOSION OUTSIDE OF CLEVELAND OHIO SHOWS THE EXTENSIVE DAMAGE DONE.

A WALL OF THE “I. SCHUMANN AND COMPANY” PLANT IS FULLY EXPOSED, MOLTEN METAL AND DEBRIS WENT FLYING FOR A FEW HUNDRED YARDS, AND A SMOKE PLUME COULD BE SEEN ABOVE THE SITE FOR MILES. 

ONE PERSON DIED AND MORE THAN A DOZEN OTHERS ARE INJURED.

AUTHORITIES ARE UNSURE WHAT CAUSED THE PLANT FIRE TO BREAK OUT AS THEY INVESTIGATE FOR A CAUSE.

THE OHIO INDUSTRIAL COMPANY PRODUCES COPPER, BRASS, AND BRONZE METALS.

THE EXPLOSION WAS ABOUT 70 MILES NORTHWEST OF EAST PALESTINE, OHIO, WHERE A TRAIN LOADED WITH TOXIC CHEMICALS DERAILED EARLIER THIS MONTH

TREMOR STRIKES TURKEY AGAIN

RESCUERS ARE ONCE AGAIN SEARCHING FOR PEOPLE TRAPPED UNDER RUBBLE IN TURKEY AFTER ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE HIT THE COUNTRY, KILLING AT LEAST SIX PEOPLE.

A 6.4 MAGNITUDE TREMOR STRUCK NEAR THE BORDER WITH SYRIA, THE SAME AREA WHERE MASSIVE QUAKES DEVASTATED BOTH COUNTRIES TWO WEEKS AGO.

IT’S THOUGHT THE DEATH TOLL HAS BEEN RELATIVELY LOW THIS TIME BECAUSE THE EARTHQUAKE STRUCK IN AN AREA THAT WAS LARGELY ALREADY EMPTY IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE FEBRUARY 6TH EARTHQUAKES.

THE DEATH TOLL HAS SURPASSED 46 THOUSAND IN TURKEY’S WORST NATURAL DISASTER IN DECADES.

UNITED’S NEW FAMILY SEATING POLICY

UNITED AIRLINES HAS ANNOUNCED A NEW “FAMILY SEATING POLICY” WHICH WILL ALLOW PARENTS TO SIT NEXT TO THEIR CHILDREN ON FLIGHTS WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY THE EXTRA FEES ASSOCIATED WITH ASSIGNED SEATING.

US AIRLINE CUSTOMERS HAVE LONG COMPLAINED ABOUT SEATING THAT SEPARATES YOUNG CHILDREN FROM THEIR PARENTS ON FLIGHTS.

IF FAMILIES WANT TO SIT TOGETHER, THERE ARE ADDED COSTS TO PURCHASING SEATS.

IT’S SOMETHING PRESIDENT BIDEN DISCUSSED IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS EARLIER THIS MONTH.

SAYING HIS ADMINISTRATION WOULD BE CRACKING DOWN ON “HIDDEN” OR “UNNECESSARY” FEE COSTS.

SAYING BAGGAGE FEES ARE BAD ENOUGH — BUT AIRLINES CAN’T TREAT YOUR CHILDREN LIKE A PIECE OF LUGGAGE.

BABY FORMULA RECALL

RECKITT — ONE OF THE MAIN FORMULA MANUFACTURERS IN THE U.S – IS RECALLING TWO BATCHES OF ITS BABY FORMULA – BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE CROSS-CONTAMINATION WITH THE BACTERIA “CRONOBACTER” WHICH CAN BE DEADLY IN INFANTS.

145,000 CANS OF ITS ENFAMIL PROSOBEE SIMPLY PLANT-BASED INFANT FORMULA IS THE BRAND SAID TO BE EFFECTED.

THE RECALL IS BEING CONDUCTED OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION – THE COMPANY SAYS TESTS HAVE BEEN NEGATIVE FOR THE BACTERIA AND NO ILLNESSES HAVE BEEN REPORTED.

FIRST-GENERATION IPHONE SELLS FOR $63,000

A FIRST-GENERATION 2007 IPHONE SOLD FOR MORE THAN $63,000 IN AN ONLINE AUCTION. A PHONE THAT ORIGINALLY COST 599 DOLLARS.

THE “FIRST EDITION” DEVICE BY AUCTIONEER LCG AUCTIONS SAID THE BOX HAD NEVER BEEN OPENED BEFORE.

THE PHONE HAD AN 8 GIGABYTE STORAGE AND HAD NO APP STORE. IT RAN ON A 2-G NETWORK EXCLUSIVE TO AT&T.

THERE WERE 27 BIDS ON THE DEVICE…WITH THE TOP BIDDER BEING SOMEONE IN THE UNITED STATES WHO BADLY WANTED THE NOW-VINTAGE CELL PHONE.