top fox executive rupert murdoch under oath admitted election lies peddled on his network were simply a business decision, saying, quote, it is not red or blue, it is green. what else did murdoch admit? plus, when winning the battle does not end the danger. cnn treks across a booby tracked land littered with mines in ukraine. but first, the supreme court on the record. hear what the justices said about president biden s plan to cancel billions of dollars in student loan debt, and whether biden even remotely has the authority to do so. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. we re starting today in the money lead in fate of president biden s plan to wipe out $400 billion, that s b with a billion now rests with the supreme court. justices today heard oral arguments in two cases challenging biden s plan. the biden administration argued yeah, they have the power to forgive financial loans in order to protect americans brought in by the covid pandemic. six republican states and
borrowers, as the supreme court decides whether a program eliminating up to $20,000 in debt per borrower can go into effect. to provide a measure of loan forgiveness to make sure that this unprecedented pandemic does not leave borrowers worse off in relation to their loans. reporter: the biden administration is defending their student loan program, arguing it is necessary in the wake of the covid pandemic. but the conservative justices repeatedly zeroed in on the program s $400 billion plus price tag to question whether the president by way of his education secretary has the power to enact this kind of relief. i think most casual observers would say if you re going to give up that much amount of money, if you re going to effect the obligations of that many americans on a subject that s of great controversy, they would think that s something for congress to act on. reporter: the solicitor general responded that federal law allows for the education secretary to waive or modify lo
you know, jake, despite the skepticism, we very clearly hear from conservative justices, white house officials publicly are maintaining the posture that believe they will win the case when it s all said and done. they believe the effort they put in to wipe away $10,000 of student loan debt was well within the authority that they re pursuing here. but the biggest issue that they believe will work in their favor is the issue of standing. they don t believe that two plaintiffs in this case can show they were financially harmed, and they believe there are wider repercussions should the supreme court decide to rule that there is standing here that will play a factor in how this all plays out. now they are very cognizant of the fact of how critical this decision will be, and just how significant it will be for what the president has laid out going forward, potentially, what it will mean for executive actions beyond this, depending on how they rule. however, at this point in time, they main
financial effects of the pandemic justifies the administration s stepping in. without this critical relief for debtors, we are going to have a wave of default across the country with all of the negative consequences that has for borrowers. i think it is precisely the type of context where the executive should be able to implement those emergency powers. reporter: the supreme court has repeatedly struck down programs implemented by the biden administration under covid, including the eviction moratorium and the testing or vaccine mandate for large employers. this student debt program uses the pandemic to justify forgiving $10,000 in federal loans for people making under $125,000, or $20,000 in loans for those with pell grants. about 20 million borrowers could see their remains balances entirely wiped out. but justice neil gorsuch asked whether that undermines basic fairness. what i think they argue that is missing is cost to other persons in terms of fairness, for example, people w
top fox executive rupert murdoch under oath admitted election lies peddled on his network were simply a business decision, saying, quote, it is not red or blue, it is green. what else did murdoch admit? plus, when winning the battle does not end the danger. cnn treks across a booby tracked land littered with mines in ukraine. but first, the supreme court on the record. hear what the justices said about president biden s plan to cancel billions of dollars in student loan debt, and whether biden even remotely has the authority to do so. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. we re starting today in the money lead in fate of president biden s plan to wipe out $400 billion, that s b with a billion now rests with the supreme court. justices today heard oral arguments in two cases challenging biden s plan. the biden administration argued yeah, they have the power to