Twenty-six questions into day one of questioning, senators have largely directed inquiries to their own sides, assisting respective legal teams in poking holes in the opposition's case.
During the first break of the day, nearly three hours after questioning began, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told Cheddar she plans to ask a question about absolute immunity. The president has argued he has absolute immunity to bar testimony, though a federal judge ruled in November that former White House counsel Don McGahn must obey a subpoena compelling him to testify. The judge wrote at the time "with respect to senior-level presidential aides, absolute immunity from compelled congressional process simply does not exist."
The president's defense team has repeatedly sought to portray the president as needing the freedom to speak candidly with his advisors. However, House Managers have emphasized the president is not able to exercise blanket immunity.
"Some of the questions were planned ahead, but you can always adjust them," Klobuchar said. "I have one question that I want to focus on, on the absolute immunity issue, but if it's fully asked, maybe I'll switch to another one. You're not bound into what your question is. And then there's other questions that I have — you'll see that Senator Whitehouse is going to ask one of them. He and I shared the same question so he's asking on his behalf and my behalf."
Throughout the first portion of today's session, some senators appeared to have pre-written questions on cards while others, like Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) exited the room to presumably discuss a question before posing one jointly. Others still, like Senators Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) seemed to have empty cards on their desks.
Senators must submit written questions to the Chief Justice and, alternating between parties, a Senator stands, asks Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to hear his or her question, and a high school page carries the card to Roberts, who is facing the Senators from the elevated seat usually reserved for the Vice President. At one point Roberts paused while attempting to read a question from Republicans, as it seemed he was having trouble reading the hand-written question.
The Senate Press Gallery sits above the Republican side of the chamber, which allows better access to see the Republican Senators than the Democrat officials.
Alan Dershowitz, an attorney for the defense who came to today's session to answer questions about his testimony earlier this week, said anything a sitting president does to stay in power is in the national interest, emphasizing a very expansive view of presidential power. Lead House Manager and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif 28th District) answered the final question of the early session pushing back against Dershowitz's argument and attempted to portray the president as believing himself to wield broad powers, accusing Trump of being a "president who identifies the state as being himself."
Concerns over inflation have become one of the biggest worries for executives. A survey from The Conference Board shows that more than 900 CEOs consider inflation a top tier concern, a major shift from last year's survey that had it as a low-level concern. Rebecca Ray, Executive Vice President, Human Capital, The Conference Board joined Cheddar's Opening Bell for more.
Jordan Zakarin, Media Producer at A More Perfect Union, joined Cheddar News to break down the latest from Colorado, where at least 8,700 Kroger employees walked off the job in demand of increased benefits and wages.
With the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing rapidly approaching, clouds of controversy continue to swirl around China's treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority population, its surveillance state, and security for visiting athletes. Phelim Kine, China correspondent for Politico, joined Cheddar to break down the big storylines surrounding the Beijing Games and highlight what he saw as the complete disregard by top corporate sponsors like P&G, Airbnb, Intel, Visa, and Coca-Cola, for the controversies. "They spend $100 million for every Olympics that they sponsor, and they have frankly shown absolute willful indifference to any type of entreaty to essentially be more vocal about their concerns about human rights in China," he said. Kine also touched on the data privacy fears for athletes as visiting contingents are being told to carry burner phones to avoid security risks.
Texas's six-week abortion ban remains in effect after a federal appeals court ruling on Monday. The U.S. court of appeals for the fifth circuit temporarily transferred the case to the Texas Supreme Court, which is expected to leave the dispute in limbo for months to come. Katie Barlow, attorney and media editor of SCOTUSblog, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Hugh Odom, founder and president of Vertical Consultants, shared his expertise on telecommunications with Cheddar on the safety issue raised about 5G deployment by airlines. The installation was partially delayed again on Tuesday as the airlines warned of potentially catastrophic delays in a letter to the Biden administration. Later, both Verizon and AT&T relented and put a pause on some of the implementations. "The first thing the Biden administration needs to do is get everybody in the room and say, look, aviation industry, identify the problem — wireless industry, come up with a solution," said Odom.
Dave Levinthal, deputy Washington Bureau chief at Insider, joins Cheddar News to discuss Gallup's new survey that reveals more Americans leaned Republican by the end of 2021.
Women's March ATX rally, Saturday, Oct., 2, 2021, at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas. An expected decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming year to severely restrict abortion rights or overturn Roe v. Wade entirely is setting off a renewed round of abortion battles in state legislatures. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman, File)
Inflation in the U.S. is only getting hotter. The 12-month inflation rate for December 2021 was the highest in nearly 40 years - continuing the trend seen at the close of 2021.
The Consumer Price Index increased 7% in the 12-month period ending in December, marking the fastest increase since 1982. Scott Wren, Senior Global Market Strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, joined Cheddar's Movers for more.
If President Biden runs for re-election in 2024, he may not have anyone to debate. The Republican National Committee sent a letter to the commission on presidential debates, saying the RNC will require candidates to pledge not to participate in those general election debates. Paris Dennard, RNC national spokesperson, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
