.By Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., stepped aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday after the FBI served a search warrant for his phone as part of an ongoing insider-trading investigation tied to the coronavirus pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the move, saying he and Burr had agreed it was in the Senate's best interests.
FBI officials showed up at Burr's home with the warrant on Wednesday, marking a significant escalation into the Justice Department's investigation into whether Burr broke the law with a well-timed sale of stocks before the coronavirus caused markets to plummet,
The Justice Department declined to comment. His attorney did not respond to phone and email messages, but said last month that the law is clear that any senator can participate in stock market trading based on public information "as Sen. Burr did."
Cheddar speaks with two Congresswomen about what, if anything, will move the needle on gun reform after the Parkland school shooting. In tech news, Apple is reportedly working on new AirPods. Twitter alienated conservatives by accidentally freezing their accounts. Plus, we're joined by Olympic luger Chris Mazdzer who recently became the first American to medal in the men's singles luge event.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) tells Cheddar how the state is coping with the most recent mass shooting in Parkland, FL. She speculates about how this tragedy will influence the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential election.
New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney discusses the future of gun reform in the U.S. following the Parkland school shooting. We talk about the students who marched on the Florida State Capitol and how they're changing the conversation around guns.
Kristin Koch, digital director of Seventeen.com, discusses why the Parkland school shooting has remained in the public's consciousness while others have faded. The students who survived the attack have played a huge role in keeping the conversation going.
Apple is reportedly working on new AirPods. Twitter alienated conservatives by accidentally freezing their accounts.
The Florida Congresswoman told Cheddar that the upcoming midterms will send a definitive message on gun reform. She says that, if current legislators can't get laws passed to protect this country, we need to elect people who will.
Even with the President's support of stricter background checks and a ban on bump stocks, the Congresswoman says there are so many other laws on the books that prevent comprehensive gun reform.
House Democrats are calling for Equifax to extend its promise to give customers free credit monitoring from one year to three years. Ariel Evans, CEO of Innosec, joins Cheddar to discuss what this means for the company and the consumer.
The indictment of 13 Russians for interfering with the Presidential election has intensified the pressure put on Facebook, which uncovered about three-thousand Russian-linked ads on its platforms before and after November 2016. Cheddar Senior Reporter, Alex Heath, breaks down the the latest developments.
Uber has a new, cheaper feature. Tesla gets hacked. A polar vortex is bringing record weather across the country. Students across the nation push for gun control, while President Trump holds a listening session with survivors and families of mass shootings. Apple looks to buy cobalt directly from miners.
