Within the hallways of the U.S. Capitol, there is growing confidence by GOP Senators that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can whip his caucus to block a vote on witnesses Friday.
While returning to the chamber after a short break Thursday, Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) told Cheddar he's "feeling good" about tomorrow's expected vote.
Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told reporters during the break that Republicans have the "momentum" to move to end the trial tomorrow without witnesses. "If we're able to say no [to witnesses] and go right to final judgment, we'd move in that direction and stay here until that work is decided and completed Friday evening. That's where all the momentum is now."
Still up for debate is what, exactly, happens, if the Republicans vote to end the debate on witnesses quickly.
Meanwhile, back in the chamber, lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff said witness depositions could be limited to just one week and said that the trial should not be rushed just because the State of the Union is Tuesday.
After the break, Senators asked two bipartisan questions, both of which were from senators who may still be undecided on the issue of whether to allow witnesses. First, Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) asked the defense team if the president would assure them that private citizens would not be directed to conduct foreign policy unless formally designated by the president and the State Department.
Murkowski and Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) submitted the second bipartisan question, asking if any action a president takes is inherently political and where the line is between permissible political actions and impeachable political actions.
In President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial, there was only one bipartisan question asked, which Sen. Collins had signed onto at the time.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren spoke with J.D. Durkin about the accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the response from President Trump that Democrats are engaging in a "con game." She says if the president really believes the accusations aren't true then he must want a full investigation by the FBI. "Have at it, Mr. President," she said.
Stocks were mixed Tuesday, a day after tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports went into effect. Art Hogan, chief market strategist for B. Riley FBR, said investors have been taking the escalating trade war in stride, but whether that can last under these new tariffs will be the question to watch in the weeks ahead.
Hugh Jackman's forthcoming film "The Front Runner" follows former Sen. Gary Hart and his rise and fall in the 1988 presidential election. Cheddar spoke with Jackman about how he approached the role and why it was so important for him to meet Hart.
A year after delivering his "fire and fury" speech that threatened to annihilate North Korea and its "little rocket man" leader, President Trump addressed the annual United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, expanding on his "America First" motto and replacing North Korea with Iran as the major antagonist.
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The newest round of tariffs on China imposed by the Trump administration will be damaging for American farmers, particularly soybean and corn growers, said Kimbal Musk, the restaurateur (and brother of Elon) who founded the Kitchen Restaurant Group. Because farmers can only "innovate once a year" during harvest, what they need most is certainty.
U.S. markets dropped Monday as questions over the future of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein added to investor concerns, which were already heightened by the onset of the latest round of tariffs on Chinese goods. "The political environment seems to be mayhem on a daily basis, and we're just going to have to get used to that," said Jason Moser, analyst at The Motley Fool, in an interview on Cheddar Monday.
From Omarosa to Bob Woodward to Jeanine Pirro, authors are cashing in on the Trump presidency. Brent Lang, a film and media editor for Variety, said that sales of books on the Trump presidency ー regardless of political leanings ー are surging as readers want to make sense of this era.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has left a meeting at the White House with Chief of Staff John Kelly and remains, for now, employed.
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