Piers Morgan: Trump and Media Should 'Take a Chill Pill'
*By Conor White*
Piers Morgan may count Donald Trump among his friends, but that doesn't mean he believes everything the president tells him.
After the journalist sat down with President Trump aboard Air Force One for the commander-in-chief's only UK interview, Morgan admitted to Cheddar on Monday he took many of Trump's comments with a grain of skepticism.
"He's very self-aggrandizing, he wants everyone to feel he's doing a great job," Morgan explained. "Now that he's president, he's making America great again, everything is brilliant. You have to cut through the hyperbole and try to get to reality, and reality is often not as great as President Trump would have us believe."
During his interview, Morgan aired some of his grievances against the president, including Trump's repeated claims that the mediaーand CNN, in particularーare plotting against him.
"I worked at CNN for four years, they're not a fake news network. I think they make mistakes like other media organizations, and when they do he's perfectly entitled to call them out for itーbut you can't call whole networks 'fake news,' and I wish he wouldn't do that. I don't think it's right and I think it's dangerous to call any sanctions of the press 'enemies of the people'."
But Morgan also admitted there's plenty of blame to go around.
"There's a very toxic atmosphere and relationship between Donald Trump and the American mainstream media in particular, which no other president has been subjected to. And no other president has taunted the media in this way either. So, it seems like a bit of a mutually abusive relationship."
Policy disagreements aside, Morgan noted he's interviewed Trump more than 35 timesーand he sees no reason to stop now.
"I've known him a long time, I like him personally; I don't really agree with much of his politics, but he's a great, interesting guy to interview. He's the most powerful man on earth, and right now he's doing some very, very interesting stuff."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/piers-morgan-discusses-relationship-with-potus)
Inflation remains hot as the January PPI has increased by 1 percent, twice what analysts had been expecting with a jump of 9.7 over the year. Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist, for S&P Global Ratings, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rapid pace of inflation alongside higher wages, predicting the Federal Reserve will act quickly and forcefully this year. "They haven't changed their forecast, yet, that's gonna come out soon. But we expect that a March rate hike is basically pretty much baked in the cake," she said. "We think six rate hikes in total for 2022."
For black history month, Cheddar is highlighting black business leaders who are driving the need for representation forward. On February 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted an event called 'Developing the Black-Owned Business Ecosystem.' The virtual event was organized under the lobbying group's two initiatives -- the Equality of Opportunity Initiative, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. The event highlighted the developments needed to develop more black-owned businesses in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of the School of Business at Howard University, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as a speaker at the event.
A newly declassified letter by senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich claimed the CIA. has been conducting a Secret Surveillance Program which has been collecting a bulk of data from American citizens. The letter which was written in April of 2021 urges the CIA to come clean about the kind of data it collects and how many Americans have been impacted. According to these two senators, the program did not have the safeguards of congressional oversight.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and elaborates on the impact higher oil prices stemming from the conflict would have on the market.
Last week, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a a letter airing concerns that the CIA is collecting the data of American citizens without their consent. The lawmakers fear that the program might be exploiting private data. Morgan Wright, the chief security advisor at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ramifications of the letter. "We don't have all the dots in one place to connect them," said Wright, cautioning against jumping to conclusions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that diplomacy is still possible, while U.S. officials warn that an attack on Ukraine is imminent. Cheddar News speaks with James Astill, Washington bureau chief of The Economist on the latest developments in Eastern Europe.
As the number of Russian troops rose to 130,000 along its Ukrainian border, hopes for a diplomatic solution remain among world leaders. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis at Morning Consult, joined Cheddar News to break down the fluid situation. "We saw signs pointing towards an increase in tensions between Ukraine and Russia, whereas today we're seeing some signs that the Russian government may be willing to continue down a path of diplomatic negotiations to try and find some sort of non-military solution," he said.
Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are now planning to amend the stop trading on congressional knowledge act, otherwise known as the 'Stock' Act. This 2012 law governs how members disclose the purchase or sale of stocks and amending it would close a loophole, eliminating the trading of individual stocks by members of congress. Pelosi has consistently opposed a ban on stock trading by lawmakers and congressional staff...so what's changed? Kedric Payne, Vice President of Campaign Legal Center, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for a controversial new version of the Alabama congressional map to remain in place. The lower court had previously ordered that the state must redraw that congressional map because it violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters. Redistricting expert Yurij Rudensky joins Cheddar News to weigh in.