Kristen Scholer, Hive editor Jon Kelly, and the VF Hive panel discuss the top five stories of the week in technology, politics in business. Nick Bilton reports on his story about Donald Trump's threats to devalue the social media platforms that gave him his rise.
Nick also weighs in on early Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya's assertion that social media is tearing society apart. Scholer, Kelly and Bilton discuss whether that's true, and whether Facebook and Twitter will reach an inflection point.
Hive panelist Bess Levin talks about the latest trouble in Trumpland, with commerce secretary Wilbur Ross being accused of insider trading. Abigail Tracy reports on her story about Nikki Haley's potential political ambitions in 2020.
T.A. Frank winds up the Hive 5 with his analysis of the recent Senate Special Election in Alabama. Frank and the panel discuss Roy Moore's defeat and unlikely victory for Democrat Doug Jones. They cover the potential for future Democratic victories in Alabama, as well as Charles Barkley's message to the state prior to the election.
The two companies tout their deal as necessary for innovation and claim that it doesn't decrease competition in the field. Those arguments will be difficult to prove, says Eleanor Fox, an antitrust expert at NYU Law School. The third and fourth largest mobile networks in the U.S. announced a $26.5 billion merger Sunday that they claim will help develop a 5G network and create jobs. The deal still needs approval from regulators, who have expressed antitrust concerns in the past.
Rather than exiting the political fray, the former Secretary of State is campaigning for Democrats in this year's midterm elections and reaching out to women's groups. "I think she's earned the right to do whatever the hell she wants," says Amy Chozick, a writer-at-large for The New York Times and author of "Chasing Hillary."
New Jersey could become home to more innovation with hands-on support from lawmakers, says Aaron Price, founder and CEO of Propelify, an innovation festival in Hoboken, NJ.
The White House Correspondents' Association responded to the annual event saying, "the entertainer's monologue was not in the spirit" of the group's mission. However, it's actually the journalists insulted by her jokes who are "not doing their jobs," says Emma Vigeland, a host and producer of the TYT Politics Show on The Young Turks.
The agreed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint aligns with President Trump's policy priorities, the T-Mobile CEO John Legere says in an interview with Cheddar's Hope King. He says the president's tax policies have "added a great amount of value in this deal," and the merged company can help create a fast 5G network vital to the country's digital infrastructure, another priority for Trump.
The congressman said that, though the historic summit between the two Koreas was a positive, the U.S. should take North Korea's denuclearization promises with a grain of salt. "As President Reagan used to say, trust, but we need to verify," he told Cheddar.
The comedian, who plays a right-wing commentator on his Comedy Central show "The Opposition," has high hopes for this year's "Nerd Prom" thanks to host Michelle Wolf. "I'm just excited to sit back and watch her kill it," Klepper told Cheddar. The White House Correspondent's Dinner takes place on Saturday, and President Trump has decided to skip the event for the second year in a row.
Maintaining diplomatic momentum after the historic meeting Friday between the North Korean leader Kim Jung-un and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea will likely fall on the shoulders of President Trump, who will have his own summit with Kim next month.
Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci tells Cheddar that, since he was fired last year, he has spoken to President Trump about a dozen times to talk about both political and personal issues.
Anthony Scaramucci, who only lasted 11 days as the White House Communications Director, tells Cheddar one of his biggest accomplishments last year was letting cameras back into White House briefings. That, and hiring a hair and makeup artist.
