Ban on Russian oil imports, Hall of Fame for Tiger Woods: 5 Things podcast

On today’s episode of the 5 Things podcast: Biden announces ban on all Russian energy imports

White House correspondent Courtney Subramanian has the latest as the West continues to isolate Russia. Plus, expected evacuation efforts fail in much of Ukraine, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act will be signed into law, NFL reporter Mike Jones recaps a busy offseason day in the league and Tiger Woods will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Buenos dias. I’m Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Wednesday, the 9th of March 2022. Today, a ban on Russian oil imports, plus failed evacuation efforts in Ukraine and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

1. US officials are putting Americans on alert for Russian cyber attacks amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Intelligence officials said as much to Congress yesterday after the Biden administration last week sought emergency funding to help Ukraine’s cyber defenses.
2. Venezuela has freed two jailed Americans, as it looks to improve relations with the Biden administration, amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. Oil executive Gustavo Cardenas was among those freed after a secret White House trip to Venezuela over the weekend. It was the first such trip to the country in two decades.
3. And the price of gas keeps rising, the national average as of this morning is a new record, $4.25 a gallon.

♦

President Joe Biden yesterday ordered a ban on all Russian oil imports into the United States. Russia has been slammed with sanctions by much of the West after the country’s invasion of Ukraine, but oil had been a glaring omission. As part of his announcement, Biden also had his latest public comments toward Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

President Joe Biden:

Russia may continue to grind out its advance at a horrible price, but this much is already clear, Ukraine will never be a victory for Putin. Putin may be able to take a city, but he’ll never be able to hold the country. And if we do not respond to Putin’s assault on global peace and stability today, the cost of freedom and to the American people will be even greater tomorrow.

Taylor Wilson:

After the announcement, Britain followed up, saying it’ll phase out Russian oil imports by the end of the year. So what does this mean for the US economy? For starters, probably higher gas prices, even as they’re already soaring. White House correspondent, Courtney Subramanian has more.

Courtney Subramanian:

The president’s announcement that he’s implementing a ban on Russian oil is certainly going to cause a bit of a headache for American consumers and prices at the gas pump. The president did acknowledge today that his decision would have a cost here at home. And he pointed out the price of gas has gone up to 75 cents since Putin began his military buildup at Ukraine’s border. It’s important to note that the US doesn’t actually import a lot of Russian oil. In fact, in 2021, Russian oil was just under 10% of our overall imports of oil, but it was a third of Europe’s imports. So this is likely to have a bigger effect on the Russian economy. But certainly, we’ll see some of these prices arise as we already have here in the US.