Senators began submitting questions as the next phase of President Trump's impeachment trial opened Wednesday. Officials will have 16 hours over two days to ask questions that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will read aloud from index cards. Impeachment managers and the president's defense team will then have the chance to answer.
Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), on behalf of herself and colleagues Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah), asked a question about how, if the president had mixed public and private motives for withholding aid to Ukraine, should the Senate consider that fact?
Patrick Philbin, one of the president's defense attorneys, said a mixed-motive does not matter as the charge is not impeachable. He said the House's case rests upon proving the that president's request for investigations was solely for personal reasons and once there is a "legitimate public interest," the managers' case "fails."
Though GOP leadership is still trying to whip enough Senators to block witnesses, public sentiment seems to be shifting. A new Quinnipiac University poll yesterday found 75 percent of registered voters say witnesses should be allowed to testify, including 49 percent of Republicans.
"I don't think we should [feel pressure to hear witnesses], I think we should get this over with," Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C. 11th District) told Cheddar just before the start of today's session.
As questions roll in, it appears Senators are looking to clarify conflicting stories that have been argued back and forth. Both sides can be seen whispering and passing notes while scrambling to come up with quick answers.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif. 28th District), leading the House Managers, clarified to Senators that the House did ask John Bolton to testify, but were refused. "When we subpoenaed Dr. Kupperman, he sued us, took us to court. When we raised a subpoena with John Bolton's counsel, the answer was ‘You serve us with a subpoena and we'll sue you too,’" Schiff said. Charles Kupperman was a former national security advisor to the president and Bolton's deputy.
A new report by the Foreign Correspondents Club of China warns that press freedom in the most populous country in the world is declining at an alarming speed. Cheddar News speaks with Steven Butler, Asia Program Coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, about the hardships journalists face in China.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C. 1st District) joined Cheddar to discuss her cannabis legalization bill, the States Reform Act, and the prospects for gaining bipartisan support for a bill that has garnered the endorsement of e-commerce giant Amazon. This legislation is supported by businesses large and small, Amazon obviously being the most recent and largest business to support it," Mace said. "They don't want to sell pot. But what it does do is it affects their working employment pool." She stated that 10 percent of eligible new hires for Amazon are affected by restrictive marijuana laws. The representative also explained that the bill leaves equity provisions up to the states rather than mandating them on a federal level.
After a number of tragic subway incidents, the MTA is facing increased pressure to install subway platform screens to help prevent injury or death. However, according to an earlier report from the MTA, installing these prevented measures isn't feasible. New York City Council Member Keith Powers, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Across the country, states are working to redraw their congressional lines in what is often known as gerrymandering. These news lines are expected to determine the balance of power between Democrats and Republicans within the next decade. Senior Counsel for the Brennan Center's Democracy Program, Michael Li, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
The state of California is officially planning to close its death row in the next two years. That state's governor Democrat Gavin Newsom says the plan is now to move all condemned inmates to other prisons and turn it into, as he calls it, a positive healing environment. Former U. S. Assistant Attorney and Legal Analyst, David Katz, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Anthony Saccaro, Founder and President of Providence Financial, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he elaborates on why he is excited that the market is beginning to rebound and believes February has the potential to be a good month after a turbulent January.
Cryptocurrency is expected to become a part of our daily lives — but what sort of environmental impact does it have? As the U.S. becomes the crypto mining capital of the world, climate advocates are worried about mining companies reopening old coal plants, using massive amounts of energy, wasteful hardware, and more. Congressional Democrats led by Senator Elizabeth Warren are demanding answers from mining firms about their electricity use and waste levels. John Belizaire, CEO of Soluna Computing, joins Cheddar Climate to discuss the congressional letters, how crypto mining can become a green industry, and more.
The Supreme Court will reconsider race-based affirmative action in college admissions. The court will examine admissions policies at Harvard University and The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, which count the race of applicants as a factor in admissions. The court has upheld affirmative action policies in the past, saying it helps to create more diverse student bodies. However, the conservative Supreme Court could be skeptical and even possibly hostile to such policies. Nick Anderson, Higher Education Writer, Washington Post joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
