Everyone, from experts to average voters to even President Trump himself, has graded the federal response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The president's grade for himself is invariably optimistic and self-congratulatory: a 10 out of 10.
Experts have been harsher, with grades ranging from B-minus to D-minus.
Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif. 7th District), a doctor himself, added his voice to the chorus of experts on Monday, giving the commander-in-chief a C-minus.
"That might be generous," Bera he told Cheddar.
The main criteria Bera used in making his judgment was the lack of widespread diagnostic testing for the coronavirus, something that experts have routinely pointed to as a necessary component for re-opening large swaths of the economy.
"There's no way we can start to lift the stay at home orders until every community has abundant diagnostic testing," Bera said.
Confusion and mistakes in the federal bureaucracy reportedly delayed the federal testing effort for weeks early on in the outbreak, and while the administration has recently touted the number of tests reaching four million, that still represents just over 1 percent of the U.S. population.
The White House faces increasing calls from governors for federal help on testing, while the administration insists governors can do more on their own.
"To try to push this off, to say that the governors have plenty of testing and they should just get to work on testing — somehow we aren't doing our job — is just absolutely false," said Gov. Larry Hogan (R-Md.) on CNN on Sunday. "Every governor in America has been pushing and fighting and clawing to get more tests, not only from the federal government but from every private lab in America and from all across the world, and we continue to do so."
Bera emphasized the importance of deferring to governors when it comes to things like testing.
"I would listen to the governors," he said. "They're closer to what's happening in their states."
Getting into the politics, the congressman also contrasted how the president has responded to the crisis with how he estimates former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, would handle it. Bera endorsed Biden in December.
He predicted that the electorate in November would judge the president harshly for his coronavirus response.
"I think we're going to look at the incumbent, Donald Trump, and recognize that he got us into this mess," Bera said. "He didn't create the virus, but his lack of ability to get ahead of this, his lack of ability to prepare the country. He wasted and squandered time."
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.
Rebecca Walser, President of Walser Wealth Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she discusses the factors behind Monday's surge on Wall Street and explains why investors will likely experience volatility in the market throughout the month of December.
Cheddar's Chloe Aiello joined "Closing Bell" to break down the progress of the SAFE Banking Act in Congress as cannabis businesses operators struggle to find financial institutions that will service them. Banks face steep federal penalties, including the risk of losing a bank charter, if found to be servicing marijuana businesses even if their state has legalized operations. Aiello reported that while there was some bipartisan support for the measure in the Senate, the bill faces some opposition from conservatives with "longstanding concerns" about cannabis and progressives who prefer a more comprehensive approach to reform.
