Rep. Joaquin Castro: Trump Gave Russia 'Green Light' to Meddle With Midterms
*By Christian Smith*
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) is calling on Donald Trump and Congress to pass legislation after the President's controversial summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week.
"We really need a law that establishes a basic level of election security protections so that the American people can have complete faith that our election systems are not being interfered with," Castro told Cheddar on Tuesday.
His comments came a day after the summit in Helsinki, Finland, where President Trump broke with the American intelligence community. During a press conference, he said he believed Putin's claims that Russia did not intercede in the 2016 U.S. election. The Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, has since released a statement reiterating the intelligence community's view that Russia did, in fact, interfere in the election.
In a rare moment of bipartisanship, the President's comments drew the ire of both Democrats and Republicans. With the near-universal outcryーand serious pressure from Washington aidesーTrump issued an unusual retraction on Tuesday, claiming he misspoke at Monday's presser.
“While Russia’s actions had no impact at all on the outcome of the election, let me be totally clear in saying — and I’ve said this many times — I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place,” Trump said. “Could be other people also. A lot of people out there.”
Still, Trump's original words, Rep. Castro said before the retraction, present a real danger for future elections in America.
"Donald Trump has given Vladimir Putin a green light to interfere with the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 presidential elections," Castro said.
U.S. federal law has no precedent for election security, which Castro says should be a priority for both the president and Congress ーotherwise election tampering will continue.
"If Russia thinks that there's no cost to interfere with our elections, then they're probably going to do it again," Castro said.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/rep-joaquin-castro-weighs-in-on-president-trumps-summit-with-putin)
Face to face for just over two hours, President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin squared off in a secure video call Tuesday as the U.S. president put Moscow on notice that an invasion of Ukraine would bring enormous harm to the Russian economy.
Ahead of Instagram head Adam Mosseri's congressional hearing on the mental impact of the social platform on teens, the company announced a number of updates aimed at teen safety.
Troubled Chinese real estate giant Evergrande is once again nearing the brink of collapse. Shares of Evergrande sunk to a new record low on Monday, closing down 20 percent, as debt default fears resurfaced. Drew Bernstein, co-chairman at consultancy MarcumBP, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss. He said U.S. investors have to understand that "there is no company in China that's too big to fail, that's for sure," and that the Chinese government will be prioritizing the social welfare of the populace. Bernstein did note that it would be a managed collapse in some form.
Joan Greve, a politics reporter at The Guardian US, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to break down the implications of the Biden administration announcing a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing games in response to allegations of human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims. She noted the significance of the move, assessing the already frayed relationship between the U.S. and China. "The Chinese have said that a boycott would be politically manipulative, and now they are actually threatening countermeasures," she said. "And that will certainly have an impact on the spirit of the games at the very least."
The Biden administration has reached an agreement with the Mexican government to resume the "Remain-in-Mexico" policy under court order. By reinstating a Trump-era border policy, asylum-seekers will be forced to stay in Mexico until their U.S. immigration court date. The program is set to resume on Monday. Ryan Devereaux, a reporter for The Intercept, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
The U.S. announced it will not send any official representation to the upcoming Beijing winter Olympics. Cheddar's Hena Doba speaks with East Asia expert Michael Swaine about the reasons behind the diplomatic move.
COVID-19 is still battering the nation's criminal justice system, causing a massive backlog in cases and delaying verdicts for months on end. This, combined with the fear of crowded prisons during a pandemic, has prompted many defendants to plead guilty in exchange for time served or probation. Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of the Criminal Defense Practice, joined Cheddar to discuss the court backlog, the rise in plea bargains, and why this was an issue long before the pandemic.
With so many high-profile court cases taking over the media, from the trial over the murder of Ahmaud Arbery to the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse to the ongoing Elizabeth Holmes trial, Cheddar took a look at these cases and why there is such a big interest in them. Rachel Fiset, a white collar criminal defense lawyer and partner with Zeiback, Fiset, and Coleman, and Bryan Hance, attorney-at-law, professor, and academic program director of the pre-law and paralegal studies program at National University, joined Cheddar for a roundtable discussion on why there is so much public interest in so-called courtroom drama.
Carlo and Baker discuss the sweeping new vaccine mandate in NYC that will target all private businesses. Plus, Trump's media venture gets its CEO and more.
