President Biden delivered his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, with a repeated message: “let’s finish the job.” Members of the GOP vocally objected to moments in the speech, and Biden responded.

• Plus, LeBron James makes sports history.

Guests: Axios' Margaret Talev and Mike Allen, and The Edge of Sports podcast’s Dave Zirin.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Naomi Shavin, Lydia McMullen-Laird, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

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Two earthquakes struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on Monday, and the death toll is well into the thousands. “This earthquake is yet another devastating blow to so many vulnerable populations already struggling after years of conflict," said Tanya Evans, the Syria country director for the International Rescue Committee.

• Plus, immigrant communities in Florida react to the new parole program for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Guests: Axios' Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath and WLRN's Tim Padgett.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

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The U.S. military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that had been flying over the U.S. since last week. China condemned the U.S. move and threatened “further actions.”

• Plus, tribal nations face threats to funding for food security.

Guests: Axios' Hans Nichols and Ayurella Horn-Muller.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

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Rep. Ilhan Omar was removed on Thursday from the Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressional Black Caucus members visited the White House while the House Republicans kicked off their investigations.

Guests: Axios' Stef Kight, Eugene Scott and Emily Peck.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Naomi Shavin, Robin Linn, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

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President Biden’s plan to scale up domestic battery manufacturing for electric vehicles is proving to be popular. But the new incentives may end up costing the government much more than originally planned.

Guests: Axios' Joann Muller and Jeremy Duda.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Naomi Shavin, Lydia McMullen-Laird, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen travelled to Africa last week to deepen U.S. ties in the continent. All of this comes as China is working on how to restructure debt in the region, after loaning around $700 billion to Africa in the last two decades.

Guests: Axios' Hans Nichols and Shawna Chen.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Naomi Shavin, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

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Editor's note: This episode has been corrected to reflect that the roughly $700 billion in outstanding African debt belongs to many countries and institutions, not just China, which has roughly 12%.

Florida last month rejected an Advanced Placement African American Studies Class for its schools. As Black History Month begins, we’re digging into this fight and Florida's own history.

Guests: Axios' Russell Contreras, Michael Mooney and Florida International University's Dr. Marvin Dunn.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Naomi Shavin, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

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Statement from Gov. Ron DeSantis' office to Axios Today:

Here’s why the Stop WOKE Act (Bill name Individual Freedom Act) doesn’t prohibit speech or ideas from free exchange, but actually protects the open exchange of ideas:

The concepts cannot be forced on employees as a condition of employment, etc. meaning there is no choice but for the employee to be subjected to these concepts. Though we greatly disagree with the concepts above, no employer, etc. is prohibited from holding voluntary workshops, seminars, or trainings on them. Nor is the employer prohibited from communicating these concepts to the public. The employer simply cannot subject employees to mandatory training on these concepts where the employer attempts to impose the concepts on the employee.

The concepts are designed to force individuals to believe something. As we have seen so regularly in schools and workplaces tainted with DEI and CRT, these concepts are specifically designed and taught in a manner to convince people to adopt a certain proscribed ideology -- not to think critically about them (as they are certainly not presented with alternatives.) They are designed to influence an individual’s thoughts about themselves and society and delivered by individuals with authority or influence over others (employers over employees, teachers over students). That means this isn’t a peer-to-peer discussion or public discourse, but it is coming from someone with power over another and all of the associated leverages of their position. That said, the law does not prohibit training where the concepts are merely discussed, as opposed to espoused and inculcated. The law specifically provides that it “may not be construed to prohibit discussion of the concepts listed therein as part of a course of training or instruction, provided such training or instruction is given in an objective manner without endorsement of the concepts.”

Finally, the law is designed to prohibit forced indoctrination in these concepts because doing so is discriminatory. This is racial harassment, which is likewise prohibited both by the Florida Civil Rights Act and Title VII. Consider a scenario wherein an employer cannot take adverse employment action against an employee because of his or her race but could inundate its employee with racially hostile indoctrination. If the former conduct is prohibited, the latter should be as well.

Finally, keeping employees or students from being forced to think a certain way upon condition of employment and as directed by those with authority or influence over others (employers over employees, teachers over students) protects freedom of thought. And the concepts as specified in the bill in particular are discriminatory concepts that, if ultimately forcibly adopted by society, will inevitably invite the speech-hating collateral consequences of unbridled, hatred-fueled collectivism

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Jerusalem on Monday, where he weighed in on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans for a judicial overhaul.

Guests: Axios' Barak Ravid and Miriam Kramer

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Naomi Shavin, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

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The United Nations projects India is set to surpass China as the world's most populous country this year, while the U.S. on the other hand needs more people to avoid big economic problems.

Guests: Axios' David Lindsey, Han Chen and Neil Irwin.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Naomi Shavin, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

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The U.S. has been rocked this week by multiple mass shootings. We asked you if fear of shootings is affecting your life and behavior, and we heard from one group more than any other: parents.

• Plus, Germany and the U.S. agree to send tanks to Ukraine.

Guests: Northwestern University’s Dr. Sheehan Fisher

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Naomi Shavin, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

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