*By Conor White*
President Trump took his latest shot at the New York Times Friday, [calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/07/politics/donald-trump-jeff-sessions-investigation/index.html) to investigate the publication and find out who wrote the anonymous op-ed that rocked the White House this week.
While the president has threatened to take action, legal experts haven't suggested the Times violated any laws in posting the piece, but the question of whether it *should* have remains.
"I think it was ethically fine," Margaret Sullivan, Washington Post media columnist and former Public Editor for the New York Times, said Friday in an interview on Cheddar. "I think they do run up against some issues if they also decide to have reporters reveal the identity."
In most newsrooms, the opinion and news sections operate as separate entities. But they may collide if the Times' own reporters begin to dig for answers, Sullivan said.
"This op-ed piece was published by the opinion section, the news section presumably is free to pursue the story, but whether that separation is really going to be honored and be understood is another question."
The paper should prepare for a legal battle, and the author should ready him or herself for the consequences, Sullivan said. After all, it seems Trump is arming himself for war.
"We're looking at it very strongly from a legal point," the president said to reporters before boarding Air Force One on Friday. "We're going to take a look at what he had, what he gave, what he's talking about, also where he is right now."
Trump has called the writer "gutless," and while Sullivan doesn't agree with that sentiment, she acknowledged that the anonymous nature of the piece is something of a detractor.
"If you're going to say something like this that's so negative and so detrimental, it would be much more important to put your name behind it," she said.
The Times only identified the writer as a "senior official". Many of President Trump's advisers, including Mike Pence, Steve Mnuchin, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Mike Pompeo, and Nikki Haley, have adamantly denied they are behind the piece.
But Sullivan doesn't think the author will be hidden for long.
"I don't think this is going to be a case like Watergate's Deep Throat, where the person, Mark Felt, was a secret for actually decades from almost everyone, I think we're going to know who this person is."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/should-the-new-york-times-have-published-trump-op-ed).
Rumors are flying that Amazon has narrowed down its list of HQ2 contenders. The tech giant is reportedly looking closely at Crystal City, Virginia; Dallas, Texas; and New York City. Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son breaks his silence about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Plus, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci joins Cheddar to talk Trump, miterms, and his new book.
Chris Hurst was a news anchor in Roanoke, Va., in 2015 when his girlfriend, fellow journalist Alison Parker, was shot and killed live on-air. That defining tragedy launched Hurst's career in politics, taking him to the Virginia General Assembly.
For full interview, [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjYwNTY=).
Lime, the popular electric scooter company, is offering its users two free rides on Election Day. Emily Warren, senior director of policy and public affairs at Lime, said the mobility provider wants to reduce the transportation barriers that make it hard to vote.
A progressive, not a moderate, agenda will help Democrats mobilize young voters and win elections, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a candidate for New York's 14th Congressional District, told Cheddar Monday. "There are actually progressive, rising stars all over the country in the least likely places," Ocasio-Cortez said, pointing to congressional candidate Richard Ojeda of West Virginia as one example.
Anthony Scaramucci said Donald Trump's divisive language on immigration is a narrow strategy to turn out his blue-collar base in this week's midterm elections, but whether it will work remains to be seen. "He's tapping on the hot buttons of his base," said the former White House Director of Communications. "We're going to have to see if it makes sense or not." Scaramucci discussed President Trump's campaign strategy leading into the midterm elections with Cheddar on Monday, along with his new book, "Trump, the Blue-Collar President."
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Apple shares plunged after the company reported mixed results in its most recent quarter. Georgia's race for governor is getting heated as midterms are just days away. And Katie Harbath, global politics and government outreach director at Facebook, tells Cheddar how the social media network is cracking down on misinformation ahead of the election.
After months of damaging headlines and privacy mishaps, Facebook may be down, but it's not out ー especially not in the case of the U.S. midterms, according to the company's director of outreach. Katie Harbath, global politics and government outreach director at Facebook spoke with Cheddar's Hope King about fighting fake news from the company's "war room" in an exclusive interview.
Eugene Scott, political reporter for The Washington Post, and Michael Harriot, columnist for The Root, weigh in on Georgia's close race for governor between Brian Kemp (R) and Stacey Abrams (D).
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
