Plus: Gabbard confirmed & understanding the SAVE Act

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Good morning,

Do you know a dog who is an escape artist? If so, this story will pull at your heartstrings — or take you back to a state of panic.

A 17-pound mutt in New Orleans named Scrim got so good at escaping, he’s evaded recapture for months — nets and tranquilizer rifles be damned.
- Scrim first escaped from his adoptive family in April. After months of roaming free, he was caught. But by October, a mere weeks later, he was ready for another adventure — this time, jumping from a second story window into the yard and slipping through the fence… don’t worry, it’s all on camera.
During his time on the run, he survived a hurricane and freezing blizzard conditions — becoming a NOLA celebrity along the way.
- Despite that, a vet found Scrim in good shape Tuesday when he was finally caught with help from a cat trap and the animal rescue nonprofit Zeus' Rescues ❤️

Back home, for now.

Lauren
Mo News Producer

PS: Starting next Tuesday, the Mo Newsletter will be delivered to your inbox in the afternoon. Why? We want to help you stay informed all day long. Along with our podcast in the mornings, and coverage on IG all day, now you'll get an afternoon roundup as well. Here’s more from Mosheh on the change.

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📰 ONE THING MAKING HEADLINES

Trump Speaks To Putin, Zelenskyy About Ending Ukraine War

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches its 3rd anniversary, the new U.S. administration is taking a new approach to ending the war: By taking a more neutral approach to the conflict, and forcing the two sides to meet and strike a deal.

President Donald Trump announced yesterday that he had a “lengthy and highly productive call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, and that the two agreed to begin negotiations to end the war in Ukraine immediately. Shortly after, Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who expressed his country’s readiness to work with the U.S. toward peace.

FUTURE FOR UKRAINE
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday gave a window into how negotiations between Russia and Ukraine might look. Hegseth says that it is unrealistic for Ukraine to expect to return to its 2014 borders – before Russia invaded and annexed Crimea and took over regions in the eastern part of the country.

His remarks at NATO headquarters in Brussels reveal that the U.S. is likely to support negotiations between Russia and Ukraine that involve Ukraine giving up some of the territory it lost during the war. This marks a departure from the Biden administration’s focus on the U.S. supporting all-out victory for Ukraine for as long as it will take.

“Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering. We will only end this devastating war — and establish a durable peace — by coupling allied strength with a realistic assessment of the battlefield.”

Pete Hegseth to a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group

Hegseth added that it was also unrealistic for Ukraine to expect to join the NATO alliance as part of peace negotiations. NATO has been talking about adding Ukraine to the alliance as soon as the war is over—to prevent another future Russian invasion. That’s something Putin is vehemently against.

Beyond that, Hegseth says the U.S. will not deploy troops in Ukraine after the war to protect it, and instead, Europe should provide “the overwhelming share of future lethal and nonlethal aid to Ukraine.”

LARGER NEGOTIATIONS
Trump’s calls with the Ukrainian and Russian leaders came a day after the U.S. and Russia engaged in a prisoner exchange that many believed signaled the start of peace negotiations. The Trump administration secured the release of American teacher Mark Fogel from Russian prison after 3.5 years; and in exchange, the White House released a Russian crypto-hacker named Alexander Vinnik.

Next steps: Trump said Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with representatives from Ukraine in Munich, where they’ll be attending the Munich Security Conference later this week.
- Rubio will be leading negotiations to end the war, alongside CIA Director John Ratcliffe, national security advisor Michael Waltz, and special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, according to Trump.

February 24 will mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Neither country has confirmed the number of casualties, but estimates have shown more than a million Ukrainians and Russians have likely been killed or wounded as a result of the war.

MORE FROM AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Hamas indicates it will now followthrough with hostage deal, and free three captives on Saturday (TIMES OF ISRAEL)

📌 Austria’s political crisis deepens as far right pulls plug on coalition talks (POLITICO)

📌 Ten million Indians take holy dip on key day of Kumbh Mela festival (NBC)

🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

Senate Confirms Tulsi Gabbard As Director of National Intelligence

Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed by the Senate – 52 to 48 – on Wednesday as the U.S.'s top intelligence official. In this role, she will oversee the 18 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community and be responsible for the President’s Daily Briefing – a top-secret summary of national security issues. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was the only Republican to join Democrats in voting against her confirmation.

MORE ON THE CONFIRMATION
An Iraq war veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who supported Trump in the 2024 election, Gabbard was viewed as one of Trump's most controversial cabinet picks. During her confirmation hearing in the Senate, she was scrutinized for past comments she made that were seen as sympathetic to Vladimir Putin, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, and NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

Despite initial concerns by several GOP senators, they were ultimately unwilling to break from Trump.
During her hearing, Gabbard argued that "for too long, faulty, inadequate or weaponized intelligence have led to costly failures, and the undermining of our national security and god-given freedoms enshrined in the Constitution," and that the Trump administration would “break this cycle of failure."

Also on Wednesday, Republicans rallied around Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is on track to become Trump’s Health Secretary. The Senate voted along party lines to advance his nomination, with the final confirmation vote expected today.

MORE FROM THE U.S.

📌 Judge declines to block Trump administration's resignation offer to federal employees (NPR)

📌 House GOP releases budget calling for trillions in cuts to taxes and spending (NBC)

📌 White House bars AP reporter from Oval Office because of AP style policy on ‘Gulf of America’ (AP)

🤔 ONE THING THAT NEEDS MORE CONTEXT

The SAVE Act & Who It Might Impact

We have gotten a number of questions on our Instagram page about a new House bill that is causing concern among Americans, especially women, about whether they’ll have the right paperwork to vote in the next election. Here is some background:

Last month, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) re-introduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, HR 22, which would require Americans to provide proof of U.S. citizenship – in person – when registering to vote.
- The move is part of a years-long GOP campaign to target non-citizens who illegally vote in federal elections, even though studies have shown this issue is nearly nonexistent.

Level setting: While it is likely to pass the House, the bill does not appear to have enough votes to clear the Senate – and therefore has little chance of becoming law.

MORE ON THE BILL
Under the SAVE Act, all Americans who are registering or re-registering to vote must provide one of the following documents: a REAL ID-compliant ID that indicates U.S. citizenship, a passport, a government-issued photo ID with a birth certificate, or another citizenship document.

According to a survey conducted by the nonprofit law and public policy institute, Brennan Center for Justice, more than 9% of eligible voters – or 21.3 million people – don’t have a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers readily available.
Rather than deterring non-citizens, groups like the left-leaning Brennan Center and Center for American Progress have warned that this legislation could add significant voting barriers for eligible American citizens – especially for voters of color, those who change their names (e.g. married women), and younger voters.

THE NAME CHANGE CONCERN
Some women have expressed concern that their documentation does not display their married name, and a marriage certificate showing a name change is not listed as an acceptable supplementary document under the proposed legislation. Rather, it appears voters would need to change their name on one of the above documents.

Rep. Roy responded to those concerns in a statement to Axios, saying that the legislation “explicitly directs States to establish a process for individuals to register to vote if there are discrepancies in their proof of citizenship documents due to something like a name change.”

ZOOM INTO VOTING
A study from the Brennan Center suggests that votes cast by non-citizens were below 0.0001% of all votes in 2016. Republican governors and secretaries of state had claimed they were purging thousands of non-citizens from voter rolls ahead of the 2024 election, but investigations found that very few of those cases turned out to be legitimate.

When the SAVE Act was first introduced in 2024, it passed in the House with five Democrats joining Republicans. It is expected to be up for a vote in this new Congress in the coming days or weeks. In the Senate, seven Democrats would need to join all Republicans to reach a filibuster-proof majority – which is unlikely.

⏳ A FEW MORE QUICK HEADLINES

📌 Here's the inflation breakdown for January 2025 — in one chart (CNBC)

📌 Egg prices shot up 15% in January as retailers limit customer purchases (CBS NEWS)

📌 Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker, Cyndi Lauper, OutKast and Phish get Rock Hall nominations (AP)

📌 ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ star Teddi Mellencamp reveals she has ‘multiple’ brain tumors (CNN)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… an AI-generated video of Jewish celebrities wearing shirts flipping off Kanye West (now known as Ye) went viral. The video was in response to the rapper recently posting a flurry of antisemitic tweets and trying to sell swastika shirts online.

One of the issues (besides the obvious): a lot of people didn’t know the video was AI. Also, the celebs did not consent. Scarlett Johansson responded, saying that unchecked AI will only lead to more hate speech and called for legislation regulating it.