93-3-3-WMR Audio on Demand presents the Preston and Steve show podcast.

And now, Preston and Steve's news update with Kathy Romano.

Today is Wednesday. It's March 2nd. Good morning, Kathy.

Good morning in the news this morning. Only a little more than a week ago, President Joe Biden's

first state of the Union address was focused largely inward, looking at the economic and public health

woes besetting the United States. But Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war that has ensued changed

all of that. The speech and the war in Ukraine gave Biden both the platform and the reason to talk

about the fight between democracy and autocracy,

not as an abstraction, but as an urgent reality. He dismissed those on the left of his party who

have advocated for reducing funding of police in the midst of the national reckoning of policing

in black communities. We should all agree the answer is not to defund the police. The answer is

to fund the police with the resources and training they

need to protect our communities. After months of Republicans beating up on immigration, he allowed

that we need to secure the borders and fix the immigration system. Even as he appeals to the higher

ideals of democracy, Biden believes that many Americans would process the war through prices at the pump instead

of geological risks.

Biden said the country has moved beyond the pandemic, even if it still needs to stay vigilant

against mutations.

His big argument is that the country can't change its past divides, though it must address

the pandemic with a united front.

He noted that most of the country can now be mask-free. Most Americans are vaccinated and more vaccines are available if needed.

The word count says a lot about where Biden's frame of mind is right now.

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