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.
Facebook's Vice President for ads, Rob Goldman, tweeted about Russia's disinformation effort. President Trump then cited him. Facebook did not intend for Goldman’s tweets to be quoted by Trump. They thought the tweets would only be seen by a contextually-aware audience of techies and media types who follow Goldman.
Heath believes that the tweeting from Goldman and other execs is part of a carefully orchestrated PR campaign by Facebook to make itself appear more transparent and relate-able through engaged spokespeople on Twitter.
Fintech company Square, led by the now-former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, will undergo a name change to Block as it expands its product offerings and goes beyond just a payment processing platform into blockchain and crypto spaces.
Jill and Carlo discuss what appears to be the beginning of the end of Roe v. Wade, another victim dies following the school shooting in Michigan, Omicron in the U.S., Trump's Covid chronology and more.
Jack Dorsey has stepped down as CEO of Twitter, saying he believes the social media platform is "ready to move on from its founders". The move has many wondering where Dorsey will focus his attention next, as he is still CEO of his financial payments company Square, which is heavily involved in cryptocurrency. Doug Astrop, managing partner at Exponential Investment Partners, joined Cheddar to discuss what Dorsey's resignation means for tech investors, particularly within the crypto space.
Astra founder, chairman, and CEO Chris Kemp spoke to Cheddar's Kristen Scholer about his company's first successful launch into orbit last month, becoming the fastest space company to reach orbit using a privately developed liquid-fueled rocket. He also noted that the company's priority is to "improve life on Earth from space" by rapidly increasing the number of low-orbiting satellites to do everything from connecting people to monitoring weather patterns.
Once again, YouTube is releasing its annual list of the top trending videos and music videos that had people in the U.S. talking. Madeline Buxton, trends expert for YouTube joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Stocks closed at session lows Wednesday as investors grew skittish over the first reported case of the COVID-19 omicron variant in California. Josh Sailar, Partner at Blue Zone Wealth Advisors, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss investor worry over the new variant, the Fed dropping the word 'transitory' to describe inflation and potentially speeding up their asset tapering timeline, 2022 predictions, and more.
