Trump's Nominee Chavez-DeRemer Grilled, RFK Unleashed, Lively-Baldoni Latest： AM Update for 2⧸20
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Summary
Lori Chavez DeRiemer is the latest pick representing a new Republican coalition, but will the Republicans go for it? Science and democracy were born together during the Enlightenment, and they share the same ideals for open as for public access and transparency. As skepticism toward the scientific establishment grows, a new chapter begins at HHS as RFKJ takes the helm, vowing to increase transparency. Elon Musk says he s been given the green light to return the NASA astronauts from space, and the latest in the legal drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
Transcript
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Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Thursday, February 20th, 2025. And this is your
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AM update. This is a negotiation between two fractions of the party saying we're willing
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to work together. President Trump's choice to head the Labor Department takes center stage on
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Capitol Hill. Supporters say labor ally Lori Chavez de Riemer is the latest pick representing
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a new Republican coalition. But will the Republicans go for it? Science and democracy
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were born together during the Enlightenment, and they share the same ideals for open as
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for public access and for transparency. As skepticism toward the scientific
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establishment grows, a new chapter begins at HHS. RFKJ takes the helm, vowing to increase
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transparency. They got left in space. They've been there. They were supposed to be there eight
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days. They're there almost 300. Elon Musk says he's been given the green light to return the
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NASA astronauts from space following a month's long extended journey up there. And the latest
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in the legal drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. All that and more coming up in just a
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Lori Chavez-Daremer front and center before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
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in her bid to head the Labor Department. The nomination ruffled Republican feathers. A former
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representative from Oregon, Ms. Daremer, once co-sponsored a bill protecting the right to
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organize. The bill was lauded by Democrats for strengthening labor protections and expanding
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workers' rights. Republicans lambasted the bill for its provision overturning right-to-work laws,
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which make it illegal to require workers to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of
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employment. These protections exist in 27 states. Republican members of the committee questioned
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Ms. Daremer on her past support for some provisions of this proposed law.
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Do you still support the PRO Act or don't you support the PRO Act?
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I fully, fairly, and support states who want to protect their right to work.
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I have said that to every senator that I have visited with.
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So you no longer support the aspect of the PRO Act that would have overturned state right-to-work
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Do you continue to support the elimination of secret ballots in union elections?
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That was Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and then Maine Senator Susan Collins.
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Ms. Daremer's biggest obstacle? GOP hesitancy. Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne Mullen tried to soften
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GOP resistance when introducing Ms. Daremer prior to her opening remarks.
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Lori represents someone that is uniquely positioned to bring people like Sean and I, who presented
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Lori to President Trump, and said this is someone that we can work together with.
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This is a negotiation between two fractions of the party that is saying we're willing to work
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The Sean Mr. McMullen is referring to there is Sean O'Brien, president of the International
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Brotherhood of Teamsters. Senator Mullen and Sean O'Brien, highly unexpected allies, not least of
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which because of this exchange we saw at a committee hearing back in November 2023, where the two
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In fact, you tweeted at me one, two, three, four, five times. And let me read what the last one said.
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Quit the tough guy act and these Senate hearings. You know where to find me. Any place, any time,
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Sir, this is a time, this is a place. You want to run your mouth. We can be two consenting adults.
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That was Bernie Sanders there, full-time senator, part-time referee. Sean O'Brien telling Fox News
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he is ready to go to the mat to get Mr. Reamer confirmed. Overall, the hearing generally lacked
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many fireworks. Democrats and Republicans both emphasizing the importance of growing
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apprenticeship training. Mr. Reamer agreed. When you're down to apprenticeship training,
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you're in a good place of seeing your nominee confirmed. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine did lay a bit
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of a trap for Mr. Reamer at one point. Should you be confirmed? Would you take those obligations
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to watch out for American veterans seriously? Absolutely. If you became aware that an employer,
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a major employer, was taking actions that disproportionately negatively affected veterans,
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would that concern you? Yes. The mass firing that President Trump is doing within the federal
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government right now, is hitting veterans very, very hard. The civilian workforce is about 3%
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veteran. The federal workforce is 30% veteran. Important context there, the Trump administration
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is not targeting veterans. These are broad cuts designed to lessen the size of government across
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the board. As Senator Kaine himself points out, the government hires a high number of veterans,
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therefore any broad cuts would naturally affect veterans too, but in no way are they being singled
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out. Senate Democrats also used their time at the hearing to target Elon Musk. Will you be a rubber
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stamp for the anti-worker agenda of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and other multi-billionaires who are
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blatantly anti-union? They don't make any bones about it. Will you commit to denying access to Elon Musk or
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any of his representatives to information about labor violations at OSHA?
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It seems like Mr. Musk is getting a big payback from Mr. Trump right in the first month of this
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administration, and that concerns us greatly. Doge's access to federal agencies remains a top issue for
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Democrats. Elon Musk derided by Dems as a private citizen rummaging through federal databases for
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personal gain, a claim that's unsubstantiated. Earlier this week, the White House outlined the
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parameters of Mr. Musk's federal employment status. He is a special government employee serving as a
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senior advisor to the president. Joe Biden had lots of those too. The filing states, like other senior
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White House advisors, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.
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He can only advise the president and communicate the president's directives. Democratic attorneys general
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and other left-leaning groups have launched multiple lawsuits aimed at curbing the president's
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executive authority. One judge even going so far as to demand the White House restore certain web
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pages at the NIH. As has become custom in these hearings, Democrats repeatedly ask what the nominee
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would do if asked to violate the law. Ms. DeRiemer consistent in her response. The president of the
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United States has the power to determine what he's going to do through his executive power.
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I have not been confirmed. I have not been read into all that. I'm asking you, will you follow the
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law? I will always follow the law and the constitution. She added she does not believe the president will
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give her an illegal order. Coming up, RFKJ's first full day as head of HHS and Presidents Trump and
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Zelensky trade barbs as the U.S. leads peace negotiations on the Ukrainians behalf. As President Trump
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begins his new administration, one of the top Democrats in Congress aiming to undermine the
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Trump agenda is Senator Dick Durbin. And according to our sponsor, the Electronic Payments Coalition,
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Senator Durbin has a new scheme, a government takeover of your credit card. Today, Americans
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have thousands of choices in credit cards, but they say Senator Durbin's plan will result in less
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Learn more at guardyourcard.com and consider telling your senators to stop Dick Durbin's
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government takeover of your credit card before it's too late.
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After a highly contentious confirmation process, RFKJ arrives for his first day as head of health
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and human services. HHS is a massive department overseeing an approximately $1.7 trillion budget
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with 11 divisions. As head of the department, RFKJ will oversee public health, social services,
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and medical research. He will be a critical figure in developing and implementing the Trump
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administration's health care policies. This is a department with its work cut out for it.
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From RFKJ's remarks on Tuesday. In the U.S., six out of every 10 adults
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have at least one chronic disease and four in 10 have two or more. Asthma and autoimmune diseases
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are far more common in the U.S. than in any other part of the world. Autism now affects one in every 36
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kids. Our only solution to these issues seems to be more and more pharmaceutical interventions
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that don't seem to be alleviating the problem and in many cases appear to be worsening it.
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Kennedy referencing studies showing 90 percent of health care spending goes toward treating chronic
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illness in this country. He says despite paying two to three times as much for health care,
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Americans are among the world's sickest people. Kennedy says the mission of this department
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now will be reversing the chronic disease epidemic. The reason for most of the controversy about
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Kennedy is his history as someone who is unafraid to question the safety of some vaccines.
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Kennedy's a longtime critic of corporate influence on pharmaceutical companies too,
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especially when it comes to research and development. The former FDA administrator,
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Robert Califf, he estimates approximately 70 percent of clinical trials are self-funded
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by the very drug companies seeking approval. RFK committed to the employees of his new agency that their
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mission will be restoring full transparency and respect of the science without preconceived notions.
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Nothing is going to be off limits. Whatever belief or suspicion I have expressed in the past,
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I'm willing to subject them all to the scrutiny of unbiased science.
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Actor Zachary Levi articulated the feelings of many Americans on the Megyn Kelly show yesterday.
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But I think that these are things that have been long, long, long overdue, long overdue,
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and we deserve it. Everyone deserves this kind of transparency. Like light is the best disinfectant.
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Like just get in there. Just look at it all. Let's have a real coming to Jesus moment. And we need
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to do that with all things. We need to bring the American public in on a lot of these things
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that have been secretive. And no, no, no, we can't tell. I'm like, rip the Band-Aid off.
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Presidents Trump and Zelensky in a war of words as the U.S. lays the groundwork for peace negotiations
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in Ukraine. Their leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, voicing increasing criticism of the Trump administration.
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And there are a lot of different voices around new American administration. And I'm not sure
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that all these voices on on our side. Now we can't rule out the possibility that America might
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say no to Europe on issues that threaten it. It's up to them, but they can discuss everything
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they want, but not about Ukraine without us. All of those soundbites took place within the last week
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At a Tuesday press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump returned some of the criticism.
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Today I heard, oh, well, we weren't invited. Well, you've been there for three years. You should
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have ended it three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.
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I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land,
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everything, almost all of the land, and no people would have been killed and no city would
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have been demolished. Democrats have interpreted that comment as President Trump accusing the Ukrainians
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of starting the war. This is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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President Trump amazingly blamed Ukraine for Putin's invasion. It's disgusting to see an American
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president turn against one of our friends and openly side with a thug like Vladimir Putin.
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The people of Ukraine did not start this war. Vladimir Putin did.
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That sentiment repeated across the cable networks. Mr. Zelensky called a press conference yesterday
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in Ukraine saying he would like to, quote, have more truth with the Trump team because this does
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not have a positive impact on Ukraine. In those same remarks, he asserted the belief that the U.S.
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is helping President Putin, quote, come out of years of isolation. And yet President Trump's remarks
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are very much in line with the many previous times he has said this war was not inevitable.
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Mr. Trump acknowledges the Russians' claims that NATO expansion poses a legitimate threat to their
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national security, but he also believes in Ukrainian sovereignty. In the months leading up to the
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invasion, there were multiple failed diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration to dial back
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the crisis. Mr. Trump lays much of the blame on Joe Biden for strategic blunders along the way.
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National Security Advisor Mike Walls remains adamant that both sides, of course, will have a say in the
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final outcome. This from an appearance yesterday on Fox News. At the era of an endless grinding war
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with death and destruction on all sides costing hundreds of billions and costing hundreds of
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thousands, if not millions of lives, that era is over. President Trump has been very clear he intends
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to bring this war to an end that all sides need to be bought into that. Ukrainian elections were
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suspended earlier this year. The country has been under martial law since the beginning of the
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invasion. The White House's rapid response account posting to X yesterday, quote, in America,
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we hold a presidential election every four years, even during wartime. Before President Zelensky decides
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to lecture the American president again, he should hold an election too, end quote. The president
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clearly warning Zelensky, you're on thin ice. President Trump and Elon Musk announced the two
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astronauts aboard the International Space Station will be brought home in a matter of weeks. Originally
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scheduled for just an eight-day mission, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been in space
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since June. Technical issues with their Boeing Starliner led to an indefinite extension of the trip.
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Don't you hate it when your flight gets canceled? Elon Musk placing blame for the long delay on the
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Biden administration. At the president's request or instruction, we are accelerating the return of
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the astronauts, which was postponed kind of to a ridiculous degree. They got left in space.
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They've been there. They were supposed to be there eight days. They're there almost 300.
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Biden. They were put, yes, they were left up there for political reasons, which is not good.
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The astronauts themselves dispute that characterization. Here they were earlier this week with
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CNN's Anderson Cooper. Do you feel you've been abandoned? We don't feel abandoned. We don't
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feel stuck. We don't feel stranded. I understand why others may think that. We come prepared. We
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come committed. That is what your human space flight program is. It prepares for any and all
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contingencies that we can conceive of, and we prepare for those. So if you'll help us change the
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rhetoric, help us change the narrative, let's change it to prepared and committed.
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The projected launch date for their return, March 12th.
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The latest on the It Ends With Us drama, which seems never-ending, Blake Lively amends her
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complaint against co-star and director Justin Baldoni. In the 163-page document, Lively now
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alleges that multiple women felt uncomfortable on the set as a result of Baldoni's on-set behavior.
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She contends her claims are corroborated by other witnesses, but the actress is not
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naming them, allegedly to protect innocent bystanders rather than exposing them to
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further harm. She claims the witnesses will testify and cooperate with the discovery process.
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Mr. Baldoni's lawyer, Brian Friedman, who happens to be my own lawyer, dismisses the complaint,
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saying it lacks evidence. Mr. Friedman responding that this complaint is filled with hearsay by unnamed
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persons, quote, who are clearly no longer willing to come forward or publicly support her claims.
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Since documents do not lie and people do, the upcoming depositions of those who initially supported
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Ms. Lively's false claims and those who are witnesses to her own behavior will be enlightening.
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Mr. Baldoni is countersuing Blake Lively for $400 million in damages. The trial is scheduled for March
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2026. And that'll do it for your AM update. Thanks for listening, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly.
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Join me back here later for The Megan Kelly Show. We are live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at
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New East and on YouTube.com slash Megan Kelly and all podcast platforms.