With former President Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial set to begin next week, Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich. 14th. District) said she wants Americans to understand just how real the threat against the government and its elected officials was on the day of the Capitol insurrection.
"I'm from Detroit. I'm a strong Black woman. I understand survival. But to have the police come in, lock the doors, and tell us to seek shelter, then to tell us to put on gas masks, and then to hear this mob just banging on the door and yelling, and I'm sitting there going 'Oh my god, am I going to die today?'" she told Cheddar.
The congresswoman recalled the day of the attack as the building was overrun right before she was set to defend Michigan's electoral votes for President Joe Biden. For Lawrence, not only was living through the experience life-changing but seeing the aftermath on television reinforced her stance on holding Trump accountable.
"If we had not been exited out of that room and they were able to bust through those doors, what was the plan? And people died that day, and so to say, 'Just look over this. Let it go. [Trump's] gone.' No," Lawrence said.
"We have on record a President of the United States assembling and directing an army of people against our government. That is unacceptable and accountability must be had."
It's a similar sentiment among Democrats on the Hill: deal with the insurrectionists and get COVID relief to Americans. However, for Lawrence, she's taking initiatives a bit further in asking to address "disparities in health care," particularly when it comes to Black and brown people.
Now that Biden has assumed his role in the White House, Lawrence said she is confident that the issues around inequality in health outcomes will get handled. While Democrats have said they would like a bipartisan agreement on relief efforts, Lawrence noted that the party will not wait for Republicans to get on board.
"I know they talk about the collaboration and working together, but we're in a crisis," she said. "We will get relief to the people, and we are not going to be held hostage and not respond to the cry from the communities to get this country back on track."
Anu Gaggar, global investment strategist for Commonwealth Financial Network, joined Cheddar News to discuss how global supply chains could be disrupted even further by an armed conflict in Ukraine.
Solid-state battery maker Factorial Energy recently raised $200 million in a Series D round led by Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. Factorial says the funding will be used to accelerate commercial production and deployment of its solid-state battery technology, which the company says is safer, and offers up to 50% more driving range than current lithium-ion technology. Factorial also has joint development agreements (announced in late 2021) with Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Hyundai, three of the top 10 global automotive manufacturers, to commercialize its batteries. Factorial CEO Siyu Huang joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
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.
