Laura Coates Live

A massive earthquake has triggered multiple tsunami alerts all across the Pacific region, including Alaska, Hawaii, and the entire United States West Coast. The 8.8 magnitude quake hit off Russia’s east coast just before 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. This is the strongest earthquake on the planet since 2011, when a 9.0 earthquake struck Japan and triggered a devastating tsunami.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Four people, including a New York Police Department officer, were killed in Midtown Manhattan, authorities said. The officer, Didarul Islam, 36, was a three-and-a-half-year veteran of the department and an immigrant from Bangladesh, Mayor Eric Adams said. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Donald Trump denied again today that he was briefed on his name appearing in files tied to the Jeffrey Epstein case, despite reports by CNN and other outlets on the briefing. The administration remains dogged by public criticism over its handling of the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said he will continue his interview with Ghislaine Maxwell for a second day Friday after meeting with her Thursday. Blanche and Maxwell met at the US attorney’s office in Tallahassee, Florida, as President Donald Trump continues to face backlash over the Jeffrey Epstein saga. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bryan Kohberger has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murders of four University of Idaho students. Kohberger declined to speak during the hearing and the victims’ families remain in the dark about his motive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Department of Justice said Tuesday it has reached out to Jeffrey Epstein’s former associate Ghislaine Maxwell for a meeting amid backlash over the administration’s handling of files related to Epstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Trump administration has released records of the FBI’s surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. The release involves more than 240,000 pages of records that had been under a court-imposed seal since 1977, when the FBI first gathered the records and turned them over to the National Archives and Records Administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Trump administration’s chaotic handling of the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files continued Friday as the Justice Department asked a federal judge to make public years-old grand jury testimony made behind closed doors against the convicted sex offender. In its filing, the department justified releasing the heretofore secret evidence as “a matter of public interest.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A collection of letters gifted to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 included a note bearing Donald Trump’s name and an outline of a naked woman, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor in Manhattan and the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, has been fired from her job in the Southern District of New York, according to people familiar with the situation. Comey was a prosecutor in the case against accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and more recently against Sean “Diddy” Combs. The reason for her firing was not immediately clear. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices