Wednesday morning news: February 8, 2023

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR:

State of the Union Address »

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

President Biden addressed the nation last night … delivering his second State of the Union speech.

As expected, he led with the economy.

BIDEN: We’re not finished yet by any stretch of the imagination, but the unemployment rate is at 3.5%, a 50-year low.

He noted that while inflation is still quite high, it has grown more slowly each of the past several months.

Biden said he’s working to slash the deficit … though the federal government is still on track to overspend by about a trillion dollars this year.

The president criticized GOP leaders for demanding spending cuts before raising the nation’s debt ceiling, and he drew a chorus of Republican groans with this remark:

BIDEN: Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans, some Republicans want Social Security and Medicare to sunset.

And the room remained starkly divided when Biden called for nationwide abortion rights.

BIDEN: Congress must restore the right that was taken away in Roe v. Wade and protect Roe v. Wade.

He also called for more gun control and police reform.

On the global stage, he vowed to protect the nation from Chinese threats … and to continue backing Ukraine in its fight against Russian invaders.

SOTU response » Moments later, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered the GOP response. She pulled no punches, charging that Biden has been weak in responding to China … and has abandoned the US southern border to a state of chaos.

SANDERS: President Biden is unwilling to defend our border, defend our skies, and defend our people.

Sanders said President Biden has steered his administration all the way to the left, forcing Americans to fight for basic First Amendment rights.

SANDERS: We are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn’t start and never wanted to fight. Every day, we are told we must partake in their rituals, salute their flags, and worship their false idols … all while big government colludes with big tech to strip away the most American thing there is, your freedom of speech.

She said Republicans want to restore fiscal sanity, rein in inflation … and provide school choice to all American families.

Earthquakes update » Rescue teams from around the world are frantically digging through debris in Turkey and Syria … as the staggering death toll from Monday’s earthquakes continues to rise.

At least 7,200 people are now confirmed dead.

Freezing temperatures have set in, complicating searches and threatening thousands of survivors who are without shelter.

MOS: Can’t go home

This woman says her family has nowhere to go after their homes were destroyed … they are staying in a tent city with only a bonfire for heat.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken said Tuesday:

BLINKEN: We’ve deployed now 150 search-and-rescue personnel to Turkey. USAID, the agency for international development, is in the lead of our efforts. We have U.S helicopters that are supporting Turkish response efforts in very hard-to-reach areas.

The U-N has released $25 million in emergency funding.

Trade deficit with China » The U-S trade deficit with China grew for a second straight year. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JS: The U-S Census Bureau reports that the country’s annual trade deficit with China climbed to $380 billion dollars in 2022.

The U-S imported more than $530 billion dollars worth of goods from China… But exported only a little more than $150 billion to China.

The U-S trade deficit with China was roughly $350 billion for 2021

In 2020 the U-S trade deficit with China dropped by about $30 billion from the year before.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

James becomes NBA all-time scoring leader » LA Lakers superstar LeBron James just made history … with a stepback jump shot in the third quarter of last night’s game against the Thunder.

AUDIO: LeBron James a shot at history, and there it is!

The call there from TNT Sports. With that shot, James became the NBA’s all-time scoring leader. His career total now stands at 38,388 points. He broke a record that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held for nearly four decades.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.