*By Conor White*
After President Trump's unflagging defenses of Vladimir Putin this week, many in Washington fear that Russia may have "Kompromat," or compromising information, on the commander-in-chief.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) is among the concerned.
"I'm not generally prone to conspiracy theories," he told Cheddar on Friday. "But I have to say, this week has been a real shift, myself personally and a number of really serious, responsible people who I trust, who were always resisting that explanation up until this week, because it's just so bizarre, the behavior President Trump exhibited while standing side-by-side with Vladimir Putin."
Trump had ample chances to support the near-universal theory that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election. But during his controversial co-presser with Putin on Monday, the president denied any foul play. The next day at the White House, Trump reversed his stance.
Boyle lamented that he should be used to this type of behaviorーbut he still doesn't have to like it.
"Eighteen months into this presidency I should probably stop being surprised, and yet I still am surprised when something as glaring as an American president on foreign soil, standing side by side with a Russian dictator, sides with the Russian dictator over the U.S., FBI, and U.S. intelligence agencies."
Trump's latest actions have alarmed several other republican lawmakers, including Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Ben Sasse (R-NE).
Rep. Boyle reiterated that this president is unlike any other.
"There was really no difference from Harry Truman to Barack Obama in terms of the idea of supporting NATO, that we were strongest when we stood together, that we were strongest in resisting first Soviet and then Russian expansionism and aggression. Donald Trump comes in and completely throws that all out."
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/trumps-attitude-towards-putin-has-dems-seeing-red).
During a Wednesday press conference, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said social distancing will be key to making sure state hospitals can handle the apex of cases expected in late April.
Tal Cohen, executive vice president and head of Nasdaq's North American Markets, told Cheddar Wednesday that the markets are beginning to grasp how to function during the outbreak.
Sabine Altendorf of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations warned that while so far the impact of the rapidly evolving crisis on food supply has been limited, it could change drastically.
Coronavirus stimulus checks are going to be distributed in the next three weeks, the Internal Revenue Service said Monday, and offered a little bit more clarity on how people can actually get their payments.
Stocks are sinking again on Wall Street as more signs piled up of the economic and physical pain being caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned Americans to brace for a “rough two-week period” ahead as the White House released new projections that there could be 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the U.S. from the coronavirus pandemic even if current social distancing guidelines are maintained.
As some see promising returns from California’s early shelter in place orders, Governor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday a growing number of cases and hospitalizations in the state as a record number of Californians file for unemployment.
Senator Amy Klobuchar told Cheddar on Tuesday that Americans need cash from canceled flights to provide immediate relief, but airline executives have not responded to the call.
Parsing the data from around the world is showing a stark difference in how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting mortality and socioeconomic suffering along gender lines.
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is pushing forward with his proposal to provide a $10,000 payoff to all federal student loan borrowers in the next round of stimulus funding.
