President Trump boasted about his record on the economy and doubled down on his harsh immigration policies during his State of the Union address before Congress Tuesday night. At 1 hour and 48 minutes, it was the longest State of the Union in recent history. President Trump ignored the challenges people are facing with the economy, and instead touted the stock market and lower gas prices. Before Trump’s speech, Democratic congressmember Al Green of Texas held up a sign that read, “Black people aren’t apes,” referring to President Trump posting a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. Congressmember Green was removed from the chamber. During the speech, President Trump repeatedly referred to immigrants as “illegal aliens” and commanded lawmakers to stand up if they agreed with his violent immigration crackdown. Democratic lawmakers refused. After Republican applause, Minnesota congressmember Ilhan Omar shouted at President Trump, accusing him of killing U.S. citizens with his immigration policies.

Ilhan Omar: You’re the murderer! You have killed Americans

Trump: They’re blocking the removal of these people out of our country, and you should be ashamed of yourselves

Ilhan Omar: You should be ashamed.
That was congressmember Ilhan Omar shouting “You’re the murderer! You have killed Americans.”

After the speech, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer, gave the Democrats’ response. She criticized President Trump for the cost of living and for his attacks on immigrants.

Abigail Spanberger: They have ripped nursing mothers away from their babies. They have sent children, a little boy in a blue bunny hat, children, to far off detention centers. And they have killed American citizens in our streets. And they have done it all with their faces masked from accountability.

Roughly half of all democratic lawmakers skipped the State of the Union address last night, as well as a majority of the Supreme Court. Several Democratic lawmakers attended a “People’s State of the Union” at the National Mall, including Senators Chris Murphy, Chris van Hollen, and Ruben Gallego. This is Senator Murphy.

Chris Murphy: The true State of the Union is this this union is in crisis right now. Our cities are under attack by lawless law enforcement. Our democracy is wilting under ceaseless attack from a president who wants to be a despot. Millions of Americans are losing their health care because the president has chosen corruption to pad the pockets of his billionaire friends instead of helping average Americans. You’re not going to hear any of that in that speech tonight.

We’ll have more on Trump’s state of the union after headlines and get responses from Democratic Congressmembers Summer Lee and Adelita Grijalva.

Several Republican lawmakers are calling on GOP Congressmember Tony Gonzales to resign, amid allegations that he had an affair with a staffer who committed suicide by setting herself on fire. Congressmember Gonzales is accused of sending sexually explicit text messages in which he asked his staffer–Regina Ann Santos-Aviles–to quote “Send me a sexy pic.” After she declined to provide him with a photo, Congressmember Gonzales then asked about her quote “favorite position.” Congressmembers Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and several other Republicans are demanding that Gonzales resign immediately over the allegations. He’s refused to step down.

The Pentagon is giving the artificial intelligence company Anthropic an ultimatum to allow full access to its models by Friday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly told Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei that the Pentagon is prepared to cancel its $200 million contract with the company and declare Anthropic a “supply chain risk”, and even invoke the Defense Production Act to force the company to tailor its AI model for the Pentagon. Anthropic has stated it’s willing to adapt its policies for the Pentagon, but it won’t allow its model to be used for mass surveillance or to develop autonomous weapons. A Pentagon official told Axios, “the only reason we’re still talking to these people is we need them and we need them now. The problem for these guys is they are that good.” Anthropic’s AI tool Claude was reportedly used in the U.S. military’s operation to abduct former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Mexico’s government has warned of potential legal action against Elon Musk after the tech billionaire falsely linked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to drug cartels. Sheinbaum spoke from Mexico City yesterday.

Claudia Sheinbaum: Well, we’re considering whether to take some legal action. The lawyers are looking into it, but what matters to me is what the people say, honestly.

Musk’s comments came in the aftermath of widespread violence in Mexico between cartels and Mexican forces in response to the killing of the country’s most wanted drug lord, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.”

Reuters reports Iran is close to a deal to buy anti-ship cruise missiles from China, as the U.S. has deployed warships near the Iranian coast, in a military build up across the region not seen since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. It comes as President Trump is weighing a military strike against Iran over its nuclear program. U.S. and Iranian negotiators are set to hold indirect talks in Geneva tomorrow. Meanwhile, campus protests in Iran continued for a fourth-straight day, as demonstrators clashed with pro-government militias. It’s the first major protest, since the Iranian government cracked down on anti-government demonstrations last month, reportedly killing thousands.

A whistleblower is claiming that FBI agents were delayed in arriving to major crime scenes, such as the far-right activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination, because FBI director Kash Patel frequently uses the agency’s private jets. In a statement, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said, “Since his confirmation as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kash Patel has seemingly engaged in what amounts to irresponsible joyriding on DOJ and FBI-operated aircraft at the expense of the American taxpayer and to the detriment of ongoing Bureau operations.” Patel had used an FBI jet to travel to the Milan Olympics to attend the men’s hockey final, where he was filmed chugging beer in the U.S. team’s locker room.

The Trump administration is suing the University of California, alleging that UCLA ignored and failed to report complaints of antisemitism after pro-Palestinian demonstrations erupted on campus. It follows a previous lawsuit in August of last year, when the Trump administration demanded that the University of California pay nearly $1.2 billion to settle civil rights investigations into UCLA over complaints of antisemitism. The federal government also canceled $584 million in research grants to UCLA last year.

President Trump is reportedly considering to issue an executive order that would force U.S. banks to collect citizenship information from customers. That’s according to the Wall Street Journal which reported the measure is under review by the Treasury Department as part of the Trump administration’s widespread crackdown on immigrants. Banks at times collect passport and social security information from customers but they’ve never been charged with verifying a person’s citizenship status. There is also no prohibition on U.S. banks opening accounts for non-citizens.

In Sudan, more than two dozen people were killed as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces raided a town in North Darfur. The attack in the town of Mustariha was reported by the Sudan Doctors Network, which said the town’s sole health care center was destroyed. At least one medical worker was taken by RSF fighters, the network said, condemning the attack as QUOTE “a fully fledged crime and a blatant violation of all humanitarian and international laws.”
This comes as drone attacks by the RSF and Sudanese army have intensified in the Kordofan region, targeting aid convoys, markets, universities and health care facilities. Kordofan is a highly strategic region of Sudan, rich in gold and oil. Meanwhile on Monday, Chad closed its eastern border with Sudan following a series of clashes in the region.

The BBC has apologized for failing to censor the N-word after a Tourette syndrome campaigner in the audience shouted the racial slur at Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo as they presented the award for Best Visual Effects at the BAFTA awards in London Sunday. The BAFTA awards are the equivalent of the Oscars in Britain.

The BBC failed to edit out the word from the broadcast, which aired two hours after the live show, while cutting the phrase “Free Palestine” from an acceptance speech by filmmaker Akinola Davies. They also cut references to President Trump’s crackdown in Minneapolis from the acceptance speech of BAFTA-winning filmmaker David Borenstein, co-director of the documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin. He spoke to Democracy Now on Tuesday.

David Borenstein: I have to say, I also, in my speech, compared the importance of resistance in Russia to the importance of resistance in Minneapolis, and that was also taken out of the broadcast. So it seems that a lot of the political speeches were taken out of the broadcast.

The BBC reported that another racial slur was edited out from the broadcast and that the N-word had aired by mistake.

In South Carolina, as the measles outbreak approaches 1,000 reported cases, the state has enlisted the help of public health experts working outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has significantly altered the agency’s vaccine recommendations and gutted vaccine research. Reuters reports a dozen public health experts are arriving in South Carolina to aid in the measles outbreak, which is the largest in the United States since 1992.

15 states led by Democrats are suing the Trump administration in an effort to reverse a policy by the CDC to reduce the number of vaccines it recommends for children. The lawsuit, announced Tuesday, also names HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and challenges his “unlawful replacement” of officials from a key vaccine advisory committee. This follows another lawsuit filed in January by several public health groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics.

And in Brazil, at least 30 people have been reported dead as homes were swept away by massive landslides due to torrential rains in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. A river burst its banks as record rainfall has battered the region, with firefighting crews still searching for about 40 people who remain missing. This is a survivor.

Sandra Jacqueline: It was terrible, words can’t describe how sad it is, there’s nothing to say, just ask God to find those who survived and to perform a miracle.