As day six of the impeachment trial headed into the evening hours, Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas told Cheddar his experience as a judge and lawyer tells him "in every trial, there are sort of twists and turns, things we can't expect to be answered instantaneously, but will be answered by the time the trial will come to an end."
"I expect to give both sides an opportunity to put this in context. We don't even know what this book says," he said, referencing a book written by ex-national security advisor John Bolton. So far, President Trump's lawyers had yet to bring up Bolton's book in today's session, the manuscript of which was leaked over the weekend and left Republican senators reportedly "blindsided."
Sen. Cornyn added that though he believes The New York Times is biased against the Trump administration, he "frankly would like to see the book itself, but I'm sure the parties will have a chance to answer that." Bolton denied that he, his publisher, or his literary agent coordinated with the Times.
The president's defense team, which had 22 hours left in the trial schedule at the start of today's session, focused on what they described as the threat of the increased use of impeachment, questions of due process, and the ability of the president to withhold information from Congress through executive privilege. Across the way, the White House reportedly prepared for a split in the party that could lead to a request for testimony from Bolton.
Republicans did not bring Bolton up in the first five hours of the day. Defense lawyer Jane Raskin did spend time on the president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and warned senators not to be "distracted" by how Democrats portrayed his involvement.
Executive privilege was brought up continuously throughout the afternoon as defense lawyers underscored the president's reasoning for barring aides from testifying in the name of "immunity."
At times, Senators appeared inattentive through the early portions of the day's sessions. Democratic Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Cory Booker of New Jersey had their hands clasped under their chins for much of the time.
Some remained engaged throughout the session, such as Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who, at one point, asked her neighbor Senator Chris Coons of Connecticut for what looked like a pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution, which she read from as the former independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton, Ken Starr, read from the preamble of the document. Most senators at the center of the debate for adding witnesses took down pages of notes, like Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.
As the day wore on, the White House defense team focused on Hunter Biden, whose work in Ukraine was central to Trump's fateful July phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
But the reverberations from the John Bolton manuscript remained the day's main storyline with two Republican Senators, Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, saying that the disclosures could spur other Republicans to seek new evidence and hear witnesses, like Bolton.
If that happens, the fast acquittal that Donald Trump was hoping for will be much slower to arrive, and the president could face the prospect of delivering the State of the Union address with the threat of a trial still hanging over his head.
The two-week COP26 climate conference has now ended with leaders reaching a deal, but so far the deal is getting mixed reviews from climate experts across the globe. Chloe Demrovsky, president and CEO of Disaster Recovery Institute International, explains that while the agreement is a step forward in some ways, the world still has much more to work on in order to keep warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.
Jill and Carlo cover the latest with the infrastructure bill, the growing state rebellion over boosters, Trump's dereliction of duty on the pandemic, Taylor Swift's reign of cultural domination and more.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse joined Cheddar to discuss the latest push to get rid of Daylight Savings Time. A practice where several say can cause havoc on one's sleeping schedule and cause disruptions to our economy.
The past decade or so has been a has seen massive change-- usually good-- for the LGBTQ+ community. Same-sex marriage has seen broader acceptance, and there's been increased conversation about the reality of gender identity. Now, folks who don't identify as male or female can travel while staying true to their more authentic self.
The Biden administration has issued the first passport with a gender-neutral designation "X." the passport was issued to Dana Zzyym, an intersex activist from Colorado, after a long legal battle with the state department in which Zzyym argued they shouldn't be required to lie about their identity on their passport. Advocates for such changes have applauded the move, saying it will allow people who don't identify as male or female to travel the globe in a more safe and visible way.
Paul Castillo, counsel at Lambda Legal and Zzyym's attorney in this case, joins None of the Above to discuss.
The Biden Administration has announced its latest plans to support veterans who had been exposed to toxic chemicals from burn pits. According to several veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, a number of them were exposed to hour-long periods of burn pits. As a result, many of them say they have suffered from severe life-long side effects. Co-founder at Burn Pits 360 Le Roy Torres, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Ballots have been sent to workers at three different Starbucks locations in Buffalo, NY to decide whether they will unionize for the first time ever. Wilma Liebman, former Chair of the National Labor Relations Board and Michelle Eisen from the Starbucks Workers United Organization, which is behind this vote, joined Cheddar to discuss.
The parent company of North Face, Vans and Supreme, VF Corp, released its fourth annual "Made for Change" sustainability and responsibility report. It details the company's ongoing efforts to tackle social and climate related issues. This comes as climate experts continue to warn about the dangers of fast fashion and its impact on global CO2 emissions. Sean Cady, Vice President of Global Sustainability, Responsibility and Trade at VF Corporation, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
A jam-packed Freitag pod with Carlo and Baker: new Covid hotspots, Kyle Rittenhouse trial, Belarus making trouble for Europe, red-hot housing market, and how to manage a PR crisis the right way.
Damian Mason, a farm owner, Agricultural Economist and Author of 'Food Fear,' joined Cheddar to discuss the rising prices of food as we approach the holiday season.
