Friday morning news: March 8, 2024

AUDIO: Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States. 

State of the union / Gaza port » President Biden walking to the podium last night before what was — in the words of some observers — a State of the Union address unlike any other.

Republicans and Democrats alike abandoned the traditional decorum of the event.

The president’s address sounded at times a lot like a campaign speech, repeatedly jabbing former President Trump  without mentioning him by name.

SOUND (Montage): Now my predecessor … and my predecessor … my predecessor and some of you here …

Republican lawmakers sometimes interrupted the president with boos or shouts.

BIDEN: My predecessor failed in the most basic presidential duty that he owes to the American people, the duty to care. 

MEMBER: Lies!

While Democrats occasionally interrupted him with chants of four more years.

AUDIO: Four more years! For more years! 

President Biden, of course, touched on a wide range of topics from underscoring the need to provide more military aid to Ukraine — which drew applause from both sides of the aisle— to abortion, which did not.

For reversing the Roe v Wade decision, he scolded conservative Supreme Court justices seated at the front of the chamber, who sat stone faced, as they must.

The 81-year-old president also tackled concerns about his age.

BIDEN: I know it may not look like it, but I’ve been around a while.

He said the important thing for a leader is not his age, but having new ideas.

SOTU Republican response » Alabama Sen. Katie Britt delivered the Republican response. The 42-year-old lawmaker described the president’s speech this way:

BRITT: The performance of a permanent politician who has actually been in office for longer than I’ve been alive.

During his speech, Biden laid the blame for the border crisis at the feet of Republicans for rejecting a Senate border security bill. But Senator Britt shot back:

BRITT: minutes after taking office, he suspended all deportations, he halted construction of the border wall, and he announced a plan to give amnesty to millions.

While the president said the state of the union is strong and growing, Britt argued that it is less prosperous and less safe as a result of Biden’s policies.

Laken Riley Act » Hours before the president took to the podium, the House passed a bill aimed at forcing a crackdown on migrant crime.

AUDIO: On this vote, the yeas are 251. The nays are 170. The bill is passed.

Nearly 40 Democrats joined all Republicans in backing the bill.

GOP Congressman Tom McClintock said the bill,

MCCLINTOCK: Would require this administration to detain illegal aliens who commit theft, burglary, larceny, or shoplifting, something simply refuses to do.

The bill is known as the Laken Riley act in honor of a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was murdered last month while on a morning run.

The suspect in that case was in the country illegally. He was arrested for illegal entry, but then released inside the United States.

Sweden officially joins NATO » It was once thought unthinkable, but Sweden has officially joined the world’s largest military alliance.

The Nordic nation has been known for its longstanding neutrality since World War Two, but on Thursday Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said it was time to choose a side on the world stage.

KRISTERSSON: Sweden is, as was mentioned now, leaving 200 years of neutrality and military non-alignment behind. It’s a major step, but at the same time, a very natural step.

Like its neighbor Finland…Sweden moved to join NATO after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just over two years ago.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken praised the move and offered his congratulations:

BLINKEN: This is a historic moment for Sweden. It’s historic for our alliance. It’s historic for the transatlantic relationship.

Finland joined NATO last year.

Uvalde report » A new report on the Robb Elementary School shooting put no blame on local police officers.

Officials in Uvalde, Texas presented the findings after a monthslong investigation ordered by the city.

Former Austin police detective Jesse Prado worked on that investigation and pointed to a lack of communication and training.

PRADO: I don’t believe they’ve ever been to any extensive breaching classes. I don’t believe — well, they had not practiced since before COVID.

The report defended the actions of city police despite acknowledging a series of rippling failures during the response.

But Kimberly Mata-Rubio, the mother of a 10-year-old victim, said officers put their own safety above that of the students.

RUBIO: You said that it was best, that there was no way to go in. It was for their safety. It was not for the safety of children. How dare you?!

Several family members of victims walked out in anger midway through the presentation.

The 2022 mass shooting left 19 children and two teachers dead.

Disney proxy fight » A proxy battle at Disney is heating up with strong culture war implications.

Investor Nelson Peltz and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo are vying for seats on Disney’s board of directors. And they’re making their pitch to anyone with Disney stock ahead of the annual shareholder meeting next month.

The pair fielded questions during a Q&A Thursday with one shareholder asking about restoring safe, family-friendly content at Disney. Rasulo said when he was the company’s CFO,

RASULO: People saw the Disney name on a movie, they never asked the question that the shareholder’s asking — Can I take my family to this movie, and are they going to have a good time, and am I not going to have to go home and explain what was going on?

Over the past couple of years, Disney shows and movies aimed at kids have contained overt pro-LGBT themes including a lesbian kiss in 2022 Buzz Lightyear movie.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has conceded that the company’s activism has become too overt. But Peltz says it should go away entirely.

PELTZ: When people go into a movie, they want to escape. You don’t want to hear about all of the issues of the day.

Peltz and Rasulo also expressed concern that Disney parks are overpriced, and that executive pay is not aligned with the shareholder returns.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, this month’s Word Play.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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