President Trump struck a more positive tone in his first ever State of the Union address to Congress Tuesday night, but did he succeed in uniting a divided Washington? Cheddar's J.D. Durkin and Baker Machado break down all the biggest moments from the president's speech.
The economy took center stage in President Trumps's speech Tuesday night. He took the opportunity to highlight newly-enacted tax reform, one of his most visible accomplishments since taking office. Trump pointed to Apple's recent decision to invest in the U.S. as an example of tax reform's success.
President Trump also laid out his immigration plan and called on Congress to pass legislation. His plan includes protection for Dreamers as well as funding to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. This elicited boos from Democratic lawmakers who have been vocal critics of the border wall.
Erin Delmore, senior political correspondent at Bustle, also joined us to give her take on the president's speech. Even though Trump's last year in office has been divisive, his State of the Union address struck a unifying tone. But Delmore says it remains to be seen whether Trump's message won over skeptical voters.
Cheddar Politics takes a deeper look at the takeaways from the Georgia primary elections on Tuesday. Georgia Public Broadcasting's local and state politics reporter, Stephen Fowler, joins us to discuss the limits of Trump endorsements and break down what the outcome in each race means.
After learning that the suspect in the Uvalde school shooting posted about his intentions on Facebook, activists are urging social networks to make changes. Lena Derhally, a licensed psychotherapist and author of "The Facebook Narcissist," joined Cheddar News to discuss the role social media plays in school shootings. "They're not really invested in taking down hateful content," she said about social platforms."In regards to the shooting, it was 15 minutes before that actual threat. It would be pretty hard for a social media company to trace that threat that quickly. But what they can do better is take down threats and hateful content much faster and more than they're doing now."
Following the mass shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two adults dead, the debate over gun control has been reignited. While studies have shows most Americans agree on some additional regulations, there hasn't been much legislative traction even as gun violence worsens in the country. Brian Lemek, the executive director of Defend The Vote and the former executive director at Brady PAC for gun control, joined Cheddar to discuss reform efforts. "The lawmakers that we have aren't passing these at the federal level," he said. "That's the problem. We have the wrong people in charge."
The crypto industry is still reeling from Terra's recent crash. The company's blockchain was temporarily halted earlier this month after the collapse of its cryptocurrency Luna (LUNA) and its stablecoin TerraUSD (UST), which led to almost $45 billion being wiped from the tokens' market caps within a week. Now, many are left wondering what Terra's struggles mean for the broader crypto market. Reeve Collins, CEO of the NFT platform BLOCKv, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell from Davos 2022 to discuss.
The average city in California has a 38% higher cost of living than the average American city, according to a cost of living index. For many, the general minimum wage of $15/hour just doesn't cut it. Anti-poverty activist Joe Sanberg wants to get the minimum wage changed to $18/hour. He joins Cheddar News to discuss the Living Wage Act of 2022.
