SAVE America Act Showdown, Vaccine Shakeup Halted, Kouri Richins Found Guilty： AM Update 3⧸18
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Summary
The Senate kicks off a high stakes fight over election integrity, moving the Save America Act one step closer to passage as Democrats line up in opposition. A federal judge blocks the Trump administration s sweeping changes to childhood vaccination schedule, a high-level counterterrorism official resigns over the Iran war, a verdict in the Corey Richens murder trial, a Utah mom of three who allegedly poisoned her husband and then self published a children s book she says helps her children grieve. All that and more coming up on your AM Update.
Transcript
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Good morning, everyone. I'm Mark Kalperin, host of Next Up, filling in today for Megan
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Kelly. It's Wednesday, March 18th, 2026, and this is your AM update.
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I think it's an important debate to have because it is an issue that is at the very core of
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The Senate kicking off a high stakes fight over election integrity, moving the Save
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America Act one step closer to passage as Democrats line up in opposition. A federal
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judge blocks the Trump administration's sweeping changes to the childhood vaccination schedule.
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When somebody is working with us that says they didn't think Iran was a threat,
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we don't want those people. A high-level counterterrorism official resigning over the
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Iran war and a verdict in the Corey Richens murder trial, the Utah mom of three who allegedly
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poisoned her husband and then self-published the children's book she says to help her children
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grieve. All that and more coming up on your AM Update.
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The Senate voting yesterday almost entirely along party lines to advance debate on the
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Save America Act, clearing a key procedural hurdle in a 51 to 48 vote. Senator Lisa Murkowski of
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Alaska, the lone Republican, to join Democrats in opposing the motion, while Senator Tom Tillis of
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North Carolina, who previously expressed opposition to the bill, did not vote. The Save America Act
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passed in the House last month requires proof of U.S. citizenship to vote, mandates photo ID to
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vote, and imposes new requirements on mail-in ballots, including submitting identification
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or requesting and casting absentee ballots. President Trump weighing in on True Social
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yesterday morning, quote, the Save America Act is one of the most important and consequential
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pieces of legislation in the history of congress and america itself i will never ever endorse anyone
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who votes against save america debate on the bill expected to stretch through the weekend
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some republicans calling for eliminating the filibuster which would allow the senate to pass
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the measure with a simple majority as opposed to the 60 vote threshold the legislation needs to end
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debate and trigger a final vote senate majority leader john thune however rejecting that approach
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instead planning a marathon debate session to generate public support and call attention to
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Democratic opposition. I think it's an important debate to have because it is an issue that is at
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the very core of elections in this country. And I think this is something that the American people
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care about. So whether how it ends remains to be seen. There will be a point at which it will end
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and there will be a series of votes that come with that. And but I'm at the end of the day,
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I just don't know how you defend a position that you need to be a citizen in this country,
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not only to register to vote, but also to be able to show an ID when you vote.
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And we'll see how long the Democrats want to defend that position.
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And maybe maybe none of them will be won over at the end.
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But I think that the having the fight, having the debate on the floor of the Senate is important.
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Democrats mounting a unified opposition, suggesting the bill would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters by making it unnecessarily burdensome to vote.
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Here, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, yesterday from the chamber floor.
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It could disenfranchise over 20 million American citizens.
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The most common ID forms for anyone to register are rejected in the SAVE Act for the first time in just about every state.
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Senate Democrats will never let this rotten bill
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The debate unfolding as polling finds voter ID laws continue to draw broad public support.
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A recent Harvard-Harris poll finding 81 percent of voters supporting voter ID and 71 percent in favor of the overall Save America Act.
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A federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily blocking the Trump administration from implementing a sweeping overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule.
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Under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the department rolling out major changes to federal vaccine policy.
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Last May, Secretary Kennedy announcing the COVID vaccine would no longer be recommended for children and pregnant women.
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Six medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, suing in response, arguing the new guidance is unscientific and harmful.
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The following month, Secretary Kennedy dismissing all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, also known as ACIP, replacing them with hand-picked medical professionals, including Dr. Robert Malone, one of the original inventors of early mRNA technology.
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ACIP is the federal body setting vaccine guidance.
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In December, the newly formed panel voting to drop the decades-old recommendation that every newborn receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.
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Also in December, the president ordering a fast-track review of the childhood vaccine
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schedule. Then in January, HHS issuing a memo adopting sweeping changes to the vaccine schedule
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reduced the number of targeted diseases from 17 down to 11. According to the Trump administration,
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this updated vaccination schedule aligns the U.S. more closely with nations like Denmark.
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Even under the revised guidance, the vaccines would still be available after consultation
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with the doctor. As those changes took shape, the lawsuit was expanded to challenge them.
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Biden appointed District Judge Brian Murphy for the District of Massachusetts on Monday,
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siding with the medical groups in a preliminary injunction blocking the new vaccine policies
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from taking effect. Judge Murphy finding the administration's vaccine decisions were, quote,
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arbitrary and capricious, concluding officials broke from the long-established scientific review
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process and undermined the credibility of their own actions. Judge Murphy also concluding the
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new ACIP panel was likely unlawfully appointed, blocking those members from serving and postponing
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plan meetings today and tomorrow on COVID vaccines and how federal recommendations are set. HHS
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spokesman Andrew Nixon issuing a statement to the New York Times, quote, HHS looks forward to this
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judge's decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration
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from governing. The Supreme Court last year blocked two rulings by Judge Murphy in a case
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involving the Trump administration's third country deportations, where an illegal immigrant
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is deported to a country other than his own. Judge Murphy's decision Monday puts the Trump
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administration's vaccine policies on hold, but any final decision won't be made until a full trial
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is held in the case. Coming up, President Trump's top counterterror official quits,
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alleging outside pressure pushed the U.S. into war with Iran. A fast verdict in a high-profile
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murder case, we break down what likely swayed the jury and what comes next to the now convicted mom
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of three, Corey Richens. Our sponsor, the Electronic Payments Coalition, says Washington
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politicians are always getting in your wallet, and now they're messing with your credit card.
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They say your credit card and the security it offers are under attack and that Senators Dick
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Durbin and Roger Marshall want to change the nation's payment system to benefit corporate
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megastores like Walmart and Target at the expense of everyday Americans. Credit cards can keep your
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payments secure and provide rewards that families use to help make everyday purchases more affordable.
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The Electronic Payments Coalition says the Durbin-Marshall mandates would let corporate
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megastores cut corners on credit card processing, routing transactions over cheaper untested networks
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and consider telling Congress to guard your card.
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Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent,
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The Counterterrorism Center is responsible for tracking
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Kent yesterday, posting a letter to the president
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on social media, stepping down from the Senate,
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confirmed role. Quote, I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no
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imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from
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Israel and its powerful American lobby. Kent is an Army Special Forces combat veteran deploying
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11 times the Middle East and other high-threat regions, according to his biography. During his
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service, Kent earning six Bronze Stars for actions in combat. Kent's wife, Navy Senior Chief Petty
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officer Shannon Kent killed in 2019 by an ISIS suicide bombing in Syria. While expressing support
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for President Trump's past foreign policy approach, including taking out Iranian Quds Force leader
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Qasem Soleimani and defeating ISIS, Kent now accusing Israeli officials and pro-Israel voices
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in the U.S. of misleading the administration and steering the U.S. into war with Iran.
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Press Secretary Caroline Levitt pushing back on that claim on X, saying Iran had been rapidly
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expanding its missile capabilities in ways that could threaten global security levitt calling the
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allegation that president trump was influenced by others quote absurd insulting and laughable
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president trump himself responding from the oval office i always thought he was a nice guy but i
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always thought he was weak on security very weak on security i didn't know him well but when i
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read his statement i realized that it's a good thing that he's out because he said that iran was
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not a threat iran was a threat every country realized what a threat iran was the question
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is whether or not they wanted to do something about it and many people many of the greatest
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military scholars are saying for years that presidents should have taken out iran because
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they wanted a nuclear weapon they were if we didn't do the attack or if i'll go a step further
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if i didn't terminate the iran nuclear deal given to us one of the worst deals ever made
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by Barack Hussein Obama. If I didn't terminate Obama's horrible deal that he made, the Iran
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nuclear deal, you would have had a nuclear war four years ago. So when somebody is working with
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us that says they didn't think Iran was a threat, we don't want those people. Fox News reporting,
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a senior administration official said Kent was a known leaker and had been removed from
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intelligence briefing months ago, adding he was not involved in Iran planning. According to Fox,
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The White House complained to the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, several
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times before about Kent, but did not specifically request that he be fired.
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DNI Gabbard, who expressed opposition about military intervention in Iran before joining
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the administration, posting to X, quote, after carefully reviewing all the information before
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him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent
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threat, and he took action based on that conclusion.
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Director Gabbard set to testify in front of the Senate Intel Committee later today.
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Utah mother Corey Richens convicted Monday evening of the March 2022 murder of her husband, Eric Richens.
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The jury finding the 35-year-old guilty on all five counts, aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder,
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two counts of life insurance fraud, and forgery.
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The case drawing national attention after Richens was arrested just weeks after self-publishing a children's book,
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which she said was meant to help her three young sons cope with the loss of their father.
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Prosecutors alleging that Richens spiked her husband's Moscow Mule cocktail
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with nearly five times a lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City.
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According to court records, Richards handed Eric the drink in their bedroom,
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then left to comfort one of their sons, returning hours later to find him unresponsive in their bed.
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Over several weeks of testimony, prosecutors arguing Richens,
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who was millions in debt due to her real estate business was motivated by access to her husband's
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assets and life insurance payouts jurors also hearing evidence of an alleged affair with
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iraq war veteran robert josh grossman with text messages showing richard's disgust leaving her
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husband securing millions and starting a new life with him the jury also finding richard's guilty
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of attempting to poison her husband weeks earlier on valentine's day by spiking his sandwich with
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drugs. Eric became seriously ill at the time, but ultimately surviving. A housekeeper testifying
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she helped obtain pills for Richens, telling her she could get fentanyl and later purchasing
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illicit pills for Richens after she asked her to do so. In closing arguments, prosecutor Brad
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Bloodworth pointing to Richens' internet search history. This one's the most insightful. If someone
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is poisoned, what does it go down on the death certificate as? She didn't search if someone
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accidentally ODs. She doesn't search if somebody is dead for unknown reasons. She searches if
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somebody is poisoned because that is what happened. The defense suggesting Eric had an addiction to
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painkillers asking his wife to purchase them for him. Richen's legal team also emphasizing
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investigators found no fentanyl residue on drinking glasses or straws inside the home,
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raising questions about how the drug was administered. The defense moving for a mistrial
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following closing arguments. Your Honor, at this point, we'd like to make a motion for mistrial and
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make a proffer on it. First of all, at multiple points in the prosecution's closing,
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he made efforts to dehumanize the defendant, in fact, calling her a black widow, comparing her
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to a deadly spider, calling her a narcissist when there's been no evidence introduced to support
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that, no expert testimony, nothing of the nature. Furthermore, it's completely improper for the
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prosecution to comment on her demeanor while she sat at counsel table. That's a comment on her
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failure to testify, asking the jury to take into consideration facial expressions, which in his
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opinion may or may not have happened. I don't know what he's basing that on, but it's improper.
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That motion denied. After about three weeks of trial, the jury deliberating for less than three
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hours before returning a guilty verdict. Richen's now facing 25 years to life in prison with
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sentencing set for May 13, 2026. She also faces a separate case involving more than two dozen
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additional charges related to financial fraud. We spoke to MK true crime contributor Dave
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Ehrenberg about the trial. He says the prosecution's case was built on a death by 1,000 paper cut
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strategy. It just was so compelling, all the pieces that came together. I mean, she had means,
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motive and opportunity. I mean, the motive could not be clearer. Sometimes jurors can get confused
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over motive. And even though motive is not a required element of a murder case, jurors always
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want to know the why. But here, the why was easy. She wanted the money. She was deep in debt and she
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hated her husband, and she had a lover on the side. And the fact that she previously tried to
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do it through poison and failed just made it so simple to get that she was the one who gave him
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this huge amount of fentanyl that killed Eric Richens. Ehrenberg reacting to how quickly the
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jury was able to deliver a verdict. The fact that the jury came back after a multi-week trial with
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a quick guilty verdict tells you that the jury right away knew that she was guilty and this
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they just had to pretty much cross their t's dot their i's we asked erinberg for his prediction
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on the sentencing well because there's premeditation here and you had a prior
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attempt on valentine's day just a couple weeks before the murder i think she's getting life
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without the possibility of parole i mean there was pecuniary motivation here meaning she was doing it
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with a monetary objective and that makes it worse for her so the the sentencing is going to be
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in mid-may and ironically the date is set on may 13th which would have been eric's 44th birthday
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and that to me is justice it's not full closure for the family because they'll never get eric
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back but at least there's gonna be justice that'll do it for your am update i'm mark
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Calper and host of next up catch the Megan Kelly show today live on Sirius XM's
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the Megan Kelly channel one 11 at noon East or on youtube.com slash Megan Kelly