Biden delivers State of the Union; LeBron James sets scoring record; US forces returning to Philippines | Hot off the Wire podcast

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On this version of Hot off the Wire:

» The death toll in Turkey and Syria rose Wednesday to more than 11,000, making it the deadliest quake worldwide in more than a decade.

» President Joe Biden has exhorted Republicans in his State of the Union address to work with him to “finish the job” of rebuilding the economy and uniting the nation.

» In the GOP response to Biden, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders leaned heavily into Republican culture war issues and accused Biden of pursuing what she called “woke fantasies.”

» Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is visiting Britain in his first trip to the U.K. since the war began nearly a year ago.

» LeBron James became the NBA’s career scoring leader on a stepback jumper late in the third quarter, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record during his 38-point performance in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 133-130 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

» The United States has been rebuilding its military might in the Philippines more than 30 years after it closed its bases there. Washington has been reinforcing an arc of military alliances in Asia in a starkly different post-Cold War era in which the perceived new regional threat is an increasingly belligerent China.

» In sports, King James stands alone in the NBA history books, Kansas State tops TCU, and Marty Walsh is trading a cabinet position for the ice rink.

From the original version of Hot off the Wire:

» President Joe Biden will deliver his second State of the Union on Tuesday evening.

» U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is expected to leave the Biden administration to run the National Hockey League Players’ Association.

» Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that if the U.S. job market further strengthens in the coming months or inflation readings accelerate, the Fed might have to raise its benchmark interest rate higher than it now projects.

» The House ethics committee is investigating New York Republican Rep. George Santos.

» Search teams and aid are pouring into Turkey and Syria as rescuers working in freezing temperatures dig through the remains of buildings flattened by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake. 

» The Navy has released the first photos of Chinese balloon recovery.

» A blockbuster exhibition at the Netherlands’ national museum of art and history is bringing together 28 works by 17th-century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer.

» An estimated 1 in 5 American adults will make some sort of bet on the Super Bowl, laying out a whopping $16 billion, or twice as much as last year, according to an industry trade group.

» A new study finds that as glaciers melt and pour massive amounts of water into nearby lakes, some 15 million people across the globe are living in the danger zone of a sudden and deadly outburst flood.

» The secrets of a glittering golden Egyptian mummy are being uncovered thanks to CT scans.

» Navy ships are getting fewer steaming hours because of growing maintenance delays and costs, a troubling trend that comes as at time when the U.S. is struggling to keep pace with China’s growing fleet.