Discussion about the Murdaugh verdict and trial. Faith Focus Friday, and what is needed to help faith not hurt it. Senator Thom Tillis joins to discuss the upcoming senate vote on the bill to overturn the soft on crime law in DC.

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Vince discusses the U.S. Government tracking Americans gun and ammo purchases through debit and credit cards. The potential collapse of Social Security and new developments in the Murdaugh murder trial.  

Also, more on the fentanyl crisis plaguing the country. 

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The Supreme Court is holding hearings on President Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Program. CBS News reports: 

Ambalika Williams watched the first day of the Supreme Court hearing on Biden's student-loan relief program with a feeling of hope, but also with a measure of anxiety. Williams has almost $10,000 in student loans, and the case will determine whether her entire debt could be erased in one swoop.  

The arguments the justices heard Tuesday represent the culmination of a political and constitutional clash that has left 40 million student loan borrowers in limbo, including Williams, who is the national director of Organizing at Rise, a student advocacy group. If the high court strikes down the program, she worries she will need to delay plans to buy a home.  

"I would have to make pretty hard financial decisions, because I would still have this debt," Williams, 33, of Washington, D.C., noted, adding that she had already whittled down her debt from its original $40,000 balance. 

The pair of cases before the Supreme Court forced a halt in the Biden administration's plan to provide up to $20,000 in student-debt relief per borrower. Before the program was frozen, the administration had approved 16 million applications out of the 26 million people who had applied for relief.  

Without the legal challenges, many of those borrowers would have had their debts forgiven by now, said Melissa Byrne, executive director of the student debt activist group WeThe45Million. 

That and much more on The Vince Coakley Radio Program. 

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The Guardian reports: 

Newly released court documents reveal that Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire owner of Fox News, acknowledged under oath that several Fox News hosts endorsed Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. 

The mogul made the admission during a deposition in the $1.6bn defamation lawsuit brought against the network by the voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems, which has accused Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corporation, of maligning its reputation. In his deposition, Murdoch said that the hosts Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro “endorsed” the false narrative promoted by Trump. 

“I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight,” Murdoch said in the deposition, the New York Times reported on Monday. 

Also, Scott Adams, the creator of the well-known “Dilbert” comic strip, made remarks on Black Americans being a “hate group.” NBC News reports:  

Dilbert comic strip creator Scott Adams on Monday faced continued fallout from remarks that likened Black Americans to a "hate group," with a publisher withdrawing plans for a forthcoming book. 

Portfolio, a Penguin Random House imprint, said in a statement that it would “not be publishing 'Reframe Your Brain' by Scott Adams." 

The book, which was scheduled to be in bookstores and online Sept. 12, was marketed as a self-help title to help reframe one's outlook with focus and repetition. 

Adams, 65, who has said that he's a victim of so-called cancel on Monday tweeted that his book agent is no longer representing him. 

Late Sunday, the distributor of Adams' Dilbert said it was severing ties with the cartoonist. It had previously placed the comic strip, syndicated since 1989, in 2,000 publications based in 65 countries. 

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It’s now being reported that the Covid-19 virus originated from a laboratory Wuhan, China. NBC News has more: 

The Energy Department concluded with "low confidence" that the Covid-19 pandemic "likely" originated from a laboratory leak in Wuhan, China, according to a classified report delivered to key lawmakers on the House and Senate Intelligence committees, two sources with direct knowledge told NBC News. 

Key lawmakers on the intelligence committees were briefed last month by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence about the classified report, the sources said. 

The news was first reported Sunday by The Wall Street Journal. 

However, a source cautioned that the Energy Department's conclusion was not being viewed as hugely significant among the intelligence community because of interagency disagreements about Covid’s origins. 

The classified report maintains the consensus that Covid-19 was not the result of a Chinese bioweapon, a U.S. official said. In its assessment, the Energy Department also described the “likely” laboratory-related leak as an "accident," the official added. 

Plus, an update on the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial. 

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Vince discusses CRT being taught in schools as well as the fentanyl crisis plaguing America. 

Donald Trump visited East Palestine, Ohio yesterday. AP reports: 

Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized the federal response to the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, as a “betrayal” during a visit to the village where residents and local leaders are increasingly frustrated more than two weeks after the disaster. 

The former president, who is mounting a third bid for the White House, wore his trademark red “Make America Great Again” cap as he said the community needs “answers and results,” not excuses. 

“In too many cases, your goodness and perseverance were met with indifference and betrayal,” Trump said at a firehouse roughly half a mile from where more than three dozen freight cars — including 11 carrying hazardous materials — came off the tracks. The fiery, mangled mess near the Pennsylvania state line apparently followed a mechanical issue with a rail car axle. 

Trump appeared with U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Mayor Trent Conaway and state and local leaders — and traveled via motorcade — giving the visit the look of an official presidential visit. 

Plus, Faith Focus Friday.  

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Alex Murdaugh, who was accused of killing his wife and son, takes the stand in his murder trial. NPR reports: 

Alex Murdaugh is testifying in his own defense in a murder trial in which he is accused of carrying out an execution-style killing of his wife and son in June of 2021. 

It's the latest dramatic shift in a case that has drawn attention because of the Murdaughs' status as a wealthy and prominent family — and because the 2021 killings were bookended by two other violent actions: a fatal boating accident involving Paul, and Alex's alleged attempt to have his cousin kill him in an apparent botched suicide. 

The trial had initially been expected to conclude around Feb. 10, but it has sprawled far beyond that mark, as attorneys presented jurors with an array of evidence, including testimony about the millions of dollars Murdaugh is accused of stealing from his former law firm and its clients, his opioid addiction, and the roadside shooting that Murdaugh initially portrayed as an attempt on his life. 

In a crucial ruling, Judge Clifton Newman decided in early February to allow prosecutors to present their account of Murdaugh's alleged financial misdeeds, saying the defense "opened the door" to that facet of the case by asking witnesses about Murdaugh's character — and whether they knew of any potential motive he might have to kill his own wife and son. 

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President Biden made another stop in Warsaw, Poland to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda. The Hill reports: 

President Biden met with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw on Tuesday, following Biden’s surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, the day prior. 

Biden and Duda met at the Presidential Palace, where a band played the U.S. national anthem upon Biden’s arrival. The band then played the Polish national anthem and the two presidents walked through a line of Polish military members before walking into the palace. 

“A year later, I would argue NATO is stronger than it’s ever been,” Biden said in the meeting. “If we keep our head and we are focused, I think we’re in a better position than we’ve ever been.” 

“This is a critical, critical, critical relationship to the United States, and we thank you for all your cooperation and help,” Biden said. 

The face-to-face meeting with Duda comes ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Biden will make remarks from Warsaw on the war in Ukraine later Tuesday. 

Also, the EPA has been slow to respond to the train derailment in Ohio and much more on The Vince Coakley Radio Program. 

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Vladimir Putin has suspended a nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. CNBC reports: 

President Vladimir Putin provided an assessment of Moscow’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine and the impact on Russia’s economy during his state of the nation address Tuesday. 

Putin accused Ukraine and the West of provoking the conflict with the expansion of NATO and new European anti-rocket defense systems. 

“They started the war, and we used the force in order to stop it,” Putin said according to a translation of the speech in Moscow. 

During the address, Putin also said Russia was suspending its participation in the New START treaty with the U.S. that limits the two sides’ strategic nuclear arsenals. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later dubbed the decision “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible.” 

Also, Transformation Tuesday and an update on the Alex Murdaugh murder trial. 

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President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Ukraine and spoke to Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. AP News reports:  

President Joe Biden paid an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Monday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a defiant display of Western solidarity with a country still fighting what he called “a brutal and unjust war” days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion. 

“One year later, Kyiv stands,” Biden declared after meeting Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace. Jamming his finger for emphasis on his podium, against a backdrop of three flags from each country, he continued: “And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.” 

Biden spent more than five hours in the Ukrainian capital, consulting with Zelenskyy on next steps, honoring the country’s fallen soldiers and seeing U.S. embassy staff in the besieged country. 

The visit comes at a crucial moment: Biden is trying to keep allies unified in their support for Ukraine as the war is expected to intensify with spring offensives. Zelenskyy is pressing allies to speed up delivery of promised weapon systems and calling on the West to provide fighter jets — something that Biden has declined to do. 

Plus, Pete Buttigieg has more comments on the recent train derailment in Palestine, Ohio. 

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