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."
It's a mixed bag for the November jobs report. Hiring slowed last month as employers only added 210,000 jobs, massively missing the estimate of 550,000. But there was one bright spot: the unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, with the number of unemployed people dropping to 6.9 million. Both of those numbers are considerably down from their highs at the end of the 2020 recession. Heather Boushey, a member of President Biden's Council of Economic Advisers, joined Cheddar to discuss the report and the state of the country's ongoing economic recovery.
As the U.S. continues to face supply chain shortages, President Joe Biden is reassuring U.S. consumers that the supply chain is in "very strong shape" ahead of the all-important holiday season. As supply bottlenecks start to show signs of improvement, the industry may be faced with yet another challenge: the Omicron variant. Rob Caucci, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Fillogic joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Markets rebounded Monday morning after Friday's deep sell-off that saw the Dow suffer its worse day since 2020. It comes as investors continue to react to the impact of the omicron variant on the broader reopening. Eddie Ghabour, Co-Owner at the Key Advisors Group joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Markets bounced back this morning with travel leading the gains after plunging on Monday as the first case of Omicron was detected in the U.S. Jimmy Lee, CEO, Wealth Consulting Group joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
The market saw investors react to comments by the World Health Organization's chief scientist, who suggested existing vaccines are likely to offer protection against the new variant. According to Thomas Hayes, chairman of Great Hill Capital, the next two weeks will be crucial as the markets watch for not only the effects of the Omicron variant, but also the Fed's decision on a taper.
It's Friday at long last. Jill and Carlo cover the latest on Omicron, including a possible superspreader event in NYC. Plus, previewing the November jobs report, a new Zoom feature no one asked for, and when it's no longer a good idea to eat Thanksgiving leftovers.
Following the Mississippi abortion case, the fate of Roe V. Wade is at stake. A decision is expected next summer, right around the time midterm candidates will be making their cases to voters. Laura Packard, executive director of Health Care Voter, joins Cheddar News to discuss how the ruling will impact upcoming elections.
Stock markets around the world continue to be impacted by fears of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant. President Biden today reiterated his stance that the new strain is cause for concern, but not cause for panic. Wells Fargo Investment Institute Global Equity Strategist Scott Wren joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
