Author: CNN

US House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing international criticism over his lack of swift action on Ukraine aid, which is ratcheting up pressure to make a critical decision that will not only have massive implications for his rookie speakership but also for Ukraine’s ongoing war effort against Russia.

So far, Johnson has resisted calls to bring a Senate-passed aid package up for a quick vote — a move that would require Democratic support and almost certainly spark a revolt from his right flank, something Johnson is eager to avoid. The speaker has said the legislation, which includes over $60 billion in assistance for Ukraine, would not pass in its current form, and privately told Republicans during a closed-door meeting last week there is “no rush” to address the issue, with Congress since having left town for a nearly two-week recess.

The stakes of the high-profile debate — and Johnson’s pivotal role in a legislative response — came into even greater focus over the weekend. Global leaders gathered at the annual Munich Security Conference just as news broke that Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny had died in prison, while Ukraine suffered a significant setback to Russian forces on the battlefield.

Those developments have injected a new sense of urgency for Congress to act as the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches this weekend and as the Ukrainian military warns it is running out of resources to resist.

While there is a contingent of House Republicans who support additional Ukraine aid and it has majority support from the chamber as a whole, Johnson has to manage a rambunctious right flank that is deeply resistant to additional aid. Further complicating matters, the Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has also injected himself into the debate, urging Republicans to oppose Ukraine funding and continuing to rail against NATO.

Here’s more about the House speaker and Ukraine aid.

CNN
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Here’s a look at the life of investor Carl Icahn.

Birth date: February 16, 1936

Birth place: Brooklyn, New York

Birth name: Carl Celian Icahn

Father: Michael Icahn, cantor and teacher

Mother: Bella (Schnall) Icahn, teacher

Marriages: Gail Golden (1999-present); Liba Trejbal (1979-1999, divorced)

Children: with Liba Trejbal: Michelle and Brett

Education: Princeton University, Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, 1957; Attended New York University Medical School, 1957-1960

Military Service: US Army

Did a brief stint in the Army after dropping out of medical school.

Was close to his uncle M. Elliot Schnall, who loaned him $400,000 to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.

Has been sued and investigated numerous times for issues ranging from corporate debt payment to possible federal securities violations.

Has been referred to as a “corporate raider” amid accusations of utilizing a strategy known as greenmail: forcing targeted companies to repurchase their own shares at higher (premium) prices.

Oliver Stone met with Icahn while working on the 1987 film “Wall Street.” Icahn supplied character Gordon Gekko’s line, “If you need a friend, get a dog.”

Has held positions in numerous corporations, including: RJR Nabisco, Texaco, Phillips Petroleum, Western Union, Gulf & Western, Viacom, American Can, USX, Marvel, BEA Systems and Time Warner.

Funds Foundation for a Greater Opportunity, which developed the Icahn Charter Schools in New York City.

Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York is named after him.

1961 – Joins Dreyfus & Co. as a broker.

1963 – Joins Tessel, Patrick & Co. as an options manager.

1964-1968 – Runs the options department at Gruntal & Co.

1968 – With help from his uncle, starts Icahn & Co., serves as chairman and president.

1978 – As the largest shareholder of Tappan stock, Icahn precipitates a proxy fight. Tappan is later sold to Electrolux, and stock prices double.

1979 – Becomes chairman of the Bayswater Realty & Capital Corporation.

1985 – Attempts an unsuccessful $8 billion buyout of Phillips Petroleum. Icahn earns a reported $50 million selling his shares back to Phillips.

1985 – Purchases Trans World Airlines (TWA).

1988 – Icahn, the largest shareholder in Texaco Inc., threatens a proxy fight to fill five seats on the company’s board. He loses, but continues to purchase more stock in the company.

1988 – Icahn takes TWA private and controls 90% of the stock. He earns $469 million for the deal. The airline remains $540 million in debt.

January 1989 – After negotiations with Texaco, Icahn signs a seven-year agreement to neither buy more stock nor make a takeover bid. His stake in shares is worth $2.2 billion.

1991 – In a deal with American Airlines, Icahn sells half of TWA’s valuable London routes for $445 million.

1992 – TWA declares bankruptcy.

1993 – TWA emerges from bankruptcy. Creditors, including Icahn, own 55% of TWA. He resigns as chairman of TWA, with the airline owing him $190 million.

1995 – TWA and Icahn settle on the Karabu ticket agreement, which states that for eight years, Icahn can purchase any ticket through St. Louis for $.55 on the dollar and resell at a discount.

2000 – Makes multiple bids for Nabisco Group. Philip Morris Co., the parent company of Kraft Foods, wins, but Icahn still comes away with $600 million for himself and his investors.

2004 – Icahn begins raising $3 billion to start the hedge fund, Icahn Partners.

September 17, 2004 – Icahn discloses he holds an 8.9% stake in Mylan Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company which is in talks to buy rival King Pharmaceuticals.

October 14, 2004 – Icahn files a proxy statement with the SEC, claiming Mylan’s acquisition of King would be too expensive.

October 28, 2004 – King Pharmaceuticals announces it may have to restate its finances.

November 11-26, 2004 – After Blockbuster, Movie Gallery and a buyout firm all make unsolicited bids to buy Hollywood Entertainment Corp., Icahn spends two weeks buying an 8.4% stake in Hollywood Entertainment.

November 19, 2004 – Icahn makes a public bid for full ownership of Mylan Laboratories for $4.9 billion (for a total of $5.4 billion), to keep it separate from King Pharmaceuticals.

December 2004 – Icahn says he supports a merger between Blockbuster and rival Hollywood Entertainment.

February 27, 2005 – The deal between Mylan and King is officially off.

2005 – Buys 10 million shares of Blockbuster, becomes the largest shareholder with a 9.7% stake, and launches a proxy fight.

July 2005 – Icahn drops his bid to buy Mylan Laboratories and is expected to sell back 94% of his shares, making about a 14% profit.

October 2005 – Icahn sends a letter to Time Warner shareholders, pushing for new directors and stressing that the stock is undervalued.

February 7, 2006 – Icahn announces his desired plan for Time Warner: split up into four different companies and a $20 billion share buyback.

February 17, 2006 – After a six-month proxy fight, Time Warner and Icahn reach an agreement. Time Warner increases its share buyback amount to $20 billion, agrees to appoint two independent directors to the board and the company remains intact.

March 2010 – Icahn sells a majority of his shares in Blockbuster for a loss of $180 million.

March 2011 – Announces he will return outside investors’ money from his hedge funds.

October 2012 – Icahn’s funds have acquired about a 10% stake in Netflix.

August 13, 2013 – Icahn announces he has a “large” stake in Apple, and that the company is “extremely undervalued.”

October 2013 – Icahn sells more than half his stake in Netflix, gaining more than $800 million while still holding a 4.5% stake.

October 23, 2013 – Icahn sends a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, proposing Apple conduct a $150 billion share buyback.

February 10, 2014 – In an open letter to Apple shareholders, Icahn drops his campaign for pushing the company toward a higher buyback plan.

October 9, 2014 – Icahn, in an open letter to Tim Cook, states that Apple stock is undervalued and once again pushes the CEO to increase its stock buybacks. Icahn owns about 53 million shares.

May 18, 2015 – Although Apple has already announced plans to increase its share repurchase plan from $90 billion to $140 billion, Icahn releases an open letter to Tim Cook, calling for a much larger buyback.

December 21, 2016 – President-elect Donald Trump’s transition office announces that Icahn has agreed to serve as a special adviser on regulatory reform.

February 7, 2017 – States he won’t invest the $100 to $200 million needed to reopen the shuttered Taj Mahal Casino, but will sell it instead. Icahn closed the casino in 2016, after failing to reach a labor agreement with its union employees.

August 18, 2017 – Announces he has stepped down as a special adviser to President Trump.

November 3, 2017 – In a company filing, Icahn Enterprises says it is cooperating with a request from the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, which is seeking information relating to Icahn’s role as an adviser to President Trump.

May 26, 2020 – Icahn sells his 39% of Hertz shares at a $2 billion loss after the rental car company filed for bankruptcy.

January 3, 2021 – Herbalife Nutrition announces it is buying back roughly $600 million worth of shares from Icahn. Icahn is also giving up his firm’s five board seats.

February 15, 2022 – “Icahn: The Restless Billionaire,” a documentary exploring the life of Icahn, debuts on HBO.

October 17, 2023 – Icahn sues the board of directors of Illumina, Inc., a biotechnology company, for breach of fiduciary duties.

With the Iowa caucuses in the rearview mirror, the 2024 presidential election continued on Wednesday with GOP candidates hitting the trail in New Hampshire ahead of the state’s primary election Tuesday.

Donald Trump won Iowa by a wide margin Monday and the two other remaining GOP candidates – former Gov. Nikki Haley and Gov. Ron DeSantis – are looking to blunt some of the former president’s momentum.

Here is what happened so far today:

Trump ups his attacks on Haley: Trump went after Haley while referring to her by her first name, Nimarata, in the latest example of Trump using racist dog whistles to attack his GOP presidential rival. He misspelled Nimarata as “Nimrada” as he attacked her in a new post on his social media platform Truth Social. Those comments came after he recently amplified a post that falsely claimed Haley was ineligible to run for president because her parents were not US citizens at the time of her birth.

Haley town hall: CNN will host a GOP presidential town hall with Haley tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET from New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, hosted by CNN’s Jake Tapper. She was set to host a rally this evening in Rochester alongside Gov. Chris Sununu, who has endorsed her. She had flown to South Carolina last night to visit her hospitalized father, who has since been released and is doing well, a source close to Haley told CNN.

DeSantis super-PAC lays off some staff: Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting DeSantis, let go of an undisclosed number of paid staff, a source with knowledge of the political operation told CNN. The layoffs include the organization’s Super Tuesday operation, some key senior staff and the team focused on Nevada, according to a source close to the group.  

DeSantis focuses on South Carolina: The DeSantis campaign is moving a majority of its staff to South Carolina, according to a senior campaign official, reflecting the campaign’s increased focus on the state. He planned to fly back to Florida Wednesday night, return to New Hampshire on Friday, and campaign in South Carolina on Saturday and Sunday.

Trump busy in court: Trump, meanwhile, was in New York attending the contentious second day of his civil defamation trial to determine how much, if any, damages the former president must pay to E. Jean Carroll for his 2019 defamatory statements about Carroll’s sexual assault allegations. He was expected to fly to New Hampshire for a rally later this evening.

The post was updated with details about Haley’s trip last night back to South Carolina.

Israel has proposed that Hamas senior leaders could leave Gaza as part of a broader ceasefire agreement, two officials familiar with the ongoing international discussions told CNN.

The extraordinary proposal, which has not been previously reported, comes as Israel has struggled to achieve its stated goal of completely destroying Hamas. Despite its nearly 4-month war in Gaza, Israel has failed to capture or kill any of Hamas’s most senior leaders in Gaza and left around 70% of Hamas’ fighting force intact, according to Israel’s own estimates.

Though it would give safe passage out of Gaza for top Hamas leaders who orchestrated the October 7 attack, draining Gaza of its leaders could weaken Hamas’ grip on the war-torn area while also allowing Israel to continue tracking down high-value targets abroad.

Senior Hamas officials are known to live in Doha, Qatar, and the Lebanese capital Beirut, among other places outside the Palestinian territories. An Israeli airstrike earlier this month killed a top Hamas commander in Beirut.

Israel’s suggestion that Hamas leaders could leave Gaza, though unlikely to be accepted by Hamas, has been discussed as part of broader ceasefire negotiations at least twice in recent weeks — once last month in Warsaw by Israel’s intelligence chief, Mossad Director David Barnea, and then again this month in Doha with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to one official familiar with the discussions.

Read more details about the offer

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CNN
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Thousands of airline passengers across Europe woke up this morning at the wrong destination – and even in the wrong country – after Storm Isha caused havoc with flights, with dozens of cancelations, diversions and go-arounds in western Europe.

It’s usually the quickest way of getting from A to B for long journeys, but for those traveling to and from Ireland and the UK last night, flying became an odyssey. Airports in Ireland and the UK were badly hit by the storm, with gusts of up to 90 mph slicing across the runways.

Many aircraft heading west diverted to safer landings in continental Europe, often having flown to the destination before failing to land. Ryanair was especially affected, since its base is Dublin, where a whopping 166 inbound and outbound flights were canceled on Sunday, according to Kevin Cullinane, group head of communications at daa, the operator of Dublin Airport.

The airport also saw 36 flight diversions and 34 go-arounds – where planes abandon landing mid-process and decide to ‘go around’ for another try.

The numbers explain the extraordinary scenes that unfolded as aircraft attempted to complete their flights to and from Ireland.

A Ryanair flight from Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, to Dublin made it almost as far as the Irish capital, before turning around and diverting to Bordeaux, France, without attempting to land.

Another Ryanair flight, FR555, was meant to make a quick hop from Manchester to Dublin. After circling nearby in a holding pattern, it attempted to land at Dublin but made a go-around and diverted to Paris Beauvais. What’s usually a half-hour flight became two-and-a-half hours.

Another Manchester-Dublin flight went back and forth between the UK and Ireland for over three hours, appearing to circle but abandon landing at Dublin, attempt to get on the ground at Belfast (where it made a go-around) and circling over Glasgow before landing in Liverpool – just 31 miles away from the departure airport.

A third, FR816, due to make the hour-long flight from Shannon to Edinburgh, flew all the way to Scotland and then diverted to Cologne, in Germany. It was heavily delayed, too: due to depart Dublin at 3.35 p.m. it arrived in Cologne around midnight.

A Lufthansa flight from Munich to Dublin was forced to do a go-around and return to Munich.

Cork, in Ireland, saw 13 cancelations on Sunday, as well as six diversions and seven go-arounds.

The UK was also badly hit. There were over 100 go-arounds at UK airports, according to NATS, the UK’s air traffic control operator.

“Isha made its presence felt in the south of England and Ireland, where the winds were gusting 70-75 mph, south-westerly which meant crosswinds at our major airports in the south, with wind shear and turbulence adding extra challenges for flight crews,” Steve Fox, head of network operations for NATS, wrote in a blog post.

“And in the north of the country, the winds were even more fierce, with gusts of more than 90 mph creating problems not just for aviation but the whole of the transport infrastructure.

“As UK airfields started to fill up with aircraft either unable to depart or diverted, throughout the evening we monitored the situation as aircraft diverted from Dublin to Deauville, Edinburgh to Cologne and wherever in the UK was least affected and space still available at the pilot’s critical decision point.”

There were 44 cancelations at Edinburgh, according to a spokesperson for the airport, who called Sunday’s operations “challenging.” Eight flights were diverted.

Manchester saw 14 cancelations, but fewer go-arounds than other airports because of the direction of the gusts, according to a spokesperson. “We did see some diverted flights leaving Manchester and some diverted to Manchester because of conditions at other airports, particularly Dublin,” they said. A domestic carrier, Loganair, canceled all its flights yesterday at the airport.

London’s Gatwick airport saw 22 diversions, but was able to take five flights diverted from other airports, according to a spokesperson for the airport. Stansted, northeast of London, was less affected, with nine cancelations but receiving 31 diversions.

An easyJet flight from Antalya, Turkey, to Manchester, made all the way to the UK before turning around and making a safe landing in Lyon, France.

One aircraft even attempted to land in the UK instead of continue its route. Ryanair flight 718 from Manchester to Budapest was seen descending to 1,200 feet at Stansted before ascending again and continuing to Budapest.

Flight tracking websites lit up with bizarre routes and swirls, as planes circled, waiting for a safe window to land – then turned around to divert somewhere in another country.

By Monday morning, the knock-on effects were showing, with aircraft out of position scattered across Europe. There were 29 cancelations at Dublin by 8.30 a.m., said Cullinane. Passengers affected by the storm will have additional parking charges waived, he added. There was just one cancelation at Cork today.

As is becoming customary when there’s a storm in the UK, aviation streamer Jerry Dyer of Big Jet TV was at Heathrow, watching the planes come in during the afternoon.

Although the winds hadn’t reached their peak – Dyer stopped the feed when it got dark – he caught on camera aircraft struggling with the wind and making hard landings – such as an Aeromexico flight from Mexico City, that started “oscillating” as it landed, tipping from side to side.

“It’s like driving a vehicle in heavy winds, you’re counteracting everything,” he told CNN.

“It’s very controlled, they know what they’re doing.”

Over 350,000 people have watched his footage of the Isha landings.

“People watch for entertainment value but are also secretly watching to see if anything happens – they want drama, like a go-around,” he said.

Another streamer compiled footage of every go-around at Birmingham Airport.

One pilot who landed at London Heathrow in the late afternoon told CNN that they battled winds of almost 90 knots (104 mph) at 3,000 feet, which dropped to 35 knots (40 mph) at ground level.

“Getting the aircraft onto the ground safely is a huge team effort in circumstances like yesterday and not all of that team is piloting the aircraft,” said the pilot, who wished to remain anonymous because their airline does not allow them to speak for it.

“This presents significant challenges for not only the pilots but the air traffic controllers that vector the aircraft onto their final approach. The wind was so strong yesterday we had a groundspeed that would have, in less extreme conditions, seen us overtaken by a helicopter.”

They added that dealing with situations like this are normal.

“Whilst it may be exciting and sometimes stressful for passengers, and even entertaining when narrated by Jerry from Big Jet TV, it’s all part of a day’s work for an airline pilot. We train for these extreme events and plan for success, but also consider our contingencies in great detail. Yesterday we allowed sufficient fuel for an additional approach if needed, extra holding, and even a diversion to an airport where the wind wasn’t so acute,” they said.

“Safety isn’t an accident, it’s all about planning and having options when a landing isn’t assured at your destination.”

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Saturday questioned Donald Trump’s mental fitness after he appeared to confuse her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when talking about the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

“Last night, Trump is at a rally and he’s going on and on mentioning me several times as to why I didn’t take security during the Capitol riots. Why I didn’t handle January 6 better. I wasn’t even in DC on January 6. I wasn’t in office then,” Haley said.

“They’re saying he got confused. That he was talking about something else. That he was talking about Nancy Pelosi,” the former South Carolina governor added.

Haley told a crowd of voters in Keene, New Hampshire: “The concern I have is – I’m not saying anything derogatory, but when you’re dealing with the pressures of a presidency, we can’t have someone else that we question whether they’re mentally fit to do it.”

Her comments come after Trump said at a campaign rally in New Hampshire, “By the way, they never report the crowd on January 6. You know, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley … did you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it? All of it, because of lots of things, like Nikki Haley is in charge of security, we offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, national guards, whatever they want. They turned it down.”

A senior Trump campaign adviser on Saturday addressed the former president’s remarks confusing Haley with Pelosi in a post on X Saturday.

“Nancy ….Nikki ….its a distinction without a difference,” Chris LaCivita posted.

Beyond confusing Haley with Pelosi, Trump’s contention that the speaker of the House is responsible for US Capitol security is not accurate, as CNN previously fact-checked.

At least five people have been killed in a missile strike on a building in Damascus, Iran’s English-language state media outlet Press TV reported Saturday evening.

This follows reports earlier Saturday that four Iranian military advisers and several members of Syrian forces had been killed in what was deemed an Israeli missile strike, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, which cited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 

Syrian state TV, which also accused Israel of the attack, said earlier that several people were killed and injured in Saturday’s missile strike in the Mazzeh neighborhood, home to several diplomatic missions including the Iranian embassy. 

The IRGC named the four military members as Hojatollah Omidvar, Ali Aghazadeh, Hossein Mohammadi and Saeed Karimi. 

“The Supreme Leader and Commander in Chief offered condolences and congratulations to the families of the great martyrs and to the fighters and commanders of the Islamic resistance front,” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing the IRGC. 

Syrian civil defense teams were searching for people they believe are trapped under the rubble, state TV reported, and that a number of surrounding buildings and nearby vehicles were also damaged in the strike.

The Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the strike, telling CNN on Saturday: “We do not comment on foreign reports.”

Escalating tensions: The reported strike comes as fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East continue to grow.

Along with northern Iraq, Syria was the target of ballistic missile strikes launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Monday at what the organization said was “anti-Iran terror groups.”

On Friday, the US conducted its sixth reported strike on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

This post has been updated to reflect the latest death toll provided by officials.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Friday took the opportunity to highlight a new Marist College poll of New Hampshire that shows President Joe Biden leading former President Donald Trump among the state’s registered voters in a hypothetical November matchup, 52% to 45%, with 3% undecided.

“We can’t lose again in November,” the former South Carolina govenor said during a campaign. 

Notably, the poll finds no clear leader in a hypothetical contest between Biden and Haley, with Haley taking 47% and Biden 44%, and another 9% undecided.

Haley continued by pitching her electability argument to attendees, again pointing to a Wall Street Journal poll from December that showed her leading by 17 points in a head-to-head matchup with Biden.

Haley ended her day on the trail with a rally in Manchester, again disputing claims from Trump’s recent attacks.

“What I’ve seen is through these temper tantrums, Donald Trump is telling a whole lot of lies. But if he’s going to lie about me, I’m going to tell the truth about him,” she said.