It’s Monday, February 28th – and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Delegations from Russia and Ukraine were planning to hold talks at the Belarus border and the United Nations planned two separate meetings to discuss the crisis as fighting Monday entered a fifth day in Ukraine.
The Security Council gave a green light Sunday for the first emergency session of the General Assembly in decades. It will give all U.N. members an opportunity to speak about the war Monday and vote on a resolution later in the week that U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said would “hold Russia to account for its indefensible actions and for its violations of the U.N. Charter.” President Vladimir Putin over the weekend continued to escalate tensions with the West, ordering Russian nuclear forces on high alert, while the U.S. warned its residents in Russia to leave the country and the European Union and Canada closed off Russian flights from their airspace.
No. 2 - South Florida’s Russian connection extends from businesses to real estate and that could be directly impacted by sanctions imposed on Russian assets in the U.S.
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Ed Patricoff, partner at Duane Morris Law Firm, says these types of sanctions have taken place before against countries like Venezuela. Wealthy Russians that can be linked to the Kremlin could have their assets frozen in the U.S. and that could have a trickle effect. In Sunny Isles, where about eight percent of residents speak Russian as their first language, realtor Jose Lima said he noticed a transaction that took longer than normal, a wire transfer for an $18,000 a month rental. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6’s Cristian Benavides.
No. 3 - Friends of the man who died after a car drove into a dining area outside a Miami Beach restaurant Thursday are speaking out days after the tragedy.
67-year-old Gary Prince was enjoying a meal outdoors with friends at Call Me Gaby restaurant when he was fatally struck. Police say a woman was trying to parallel park when she reversed her Bentley into the restaurant, hitting seven people including Prince. Among those hospitalized were the 3-year-old who suffered what were described as minor cuts and bruises. Three had been released from the hospital as of Friday afternoon, while the child and two others remained hospitalized in stable condition. Dr. Naaman Abdullah and Jeremy Ruccio spoke exclusively to NBC 6 about the accident. Abdullah was there during the tragedy. He was also hurt. Click here for their emotional words in a report from NBC 6.
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No. 4 - Volunteers with the nonprofit group Florida Moms Demand Action hosted several events across the state, including in Miami, to raise awareness about gun violence and to call on the Florida legislature to take action on gun safety measures.
Though nothing will bring their children back or stop the heartbreak they feel every day, they’re channeling their efforts to support the Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action. Volunteers from the nonprofit hosted events in 10 different cities across the state. They say they’re hoping the message is heard in the state capital to consider common sense gun safety measures. On Sunday, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava was being presented with a donation to go toward the county’s Peace and Prosperity Plan, which was created to address the underlying cause of gun violence in the county.
No. 5 - South Florida could have a spot on the United States Supreme Court with the nomination of Miami-raised Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
President Joe Biden nominated Jackson, who currently serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, on Friday. Born in Washington D.C., Jackson was raised in Miami and attended Miami Palmetto Senior High School, graduating in 1988. During a news conference Friday, Biden spoke about Jackson's time in Miami and at Palmetto High, where he said she was president of her class. Jackson's parents, Johnny and Ellery Brown, still reside in South Florida. Both had worked as educators in the public school system. Click here for their emotional reaction to the news in a report from NBC 6’s Steve Litz.
No. 6 - Ten years ago this past Saturday, Trayvon Martin took a trip to a convenience store in a Sanford, Florida neighborhood to buy Skittles and a drink. It was a trip that ended his life and helped spark a fire that ignited the Black Lives Matter movement.
Hundreds of thousands of people across the country – including Martin’s parents – protested and pleaded for justice after a neighborhood watch volunteer killed the unarmed 17-year-old boy. Charges were brought against the shooter, George Zimmerman, but he was later found not guilty. A lot has transpired over the course of 10 years - from Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin to Benjamin Crump to BLM. Click here for more on how his spirit lives on, and a look at the people involved in the tragedy that took place on February 26, 2012, in a report from NBC 6 anchor Jawan Strader.
