President Donald Trump is working overtime to shed doubt on the election results with a barrage of tweets accusing Michigan and other battleground states of allowing voter fraud.
This has placed Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in the position of defending her state's vote-counting process, which she insists has been transparent.
"What this is really about is more of a political strategy or partisan effort to sow seeds of doubt amongst our voters about the integrity of our election's process," she told Cheddar. "But the bottom line is we've got 1,500 clerks all throughout the state, at the city, and township level who worked tirelessly for months to ensure every strict protocol that we've got in place under the law here in Michigan was met."
While the Trump campaign is demanding access to vote-counting sites in the state, poll watchers from both parties are already present. Shortly after Cheddar spoke with Benson, a Democrat, on Thursday afternoon a Michigan judge denied a suit over the issue brought against her by the Trump campaign
Benson noted that despite record turnout the state was able to tabulate results in less than 48 hours and that the process has been "methodical" and "secure."
"We saw record numbers of people voting in this election, record numbers of people voting absentee, and through that process, our clerks rose and met every challenge," she said.
The state's top election official sees the rhetoric coming from Trump as one of the biggest threats to the security of the voting process, but not one that took her by surprise.
"The bottom line is no one should be surprised that this is happening," Benson said. "Disappointed? Yes. Surprised? No."
The state has asked residents to submit any evidence of misinformation concerning the election to misinformation@michigan.gov.
Going forward, Benson expressed pride in the clerks who pulled off this election but would like to see greater support from the legislature
"In terms of regrets, I wish our state legislature had done more to partner with us and our local clerks to provide more resources and support as we entered this really momentous, historic election," she said.
Almost a decade after facing a parent's worst nightmare, the families of the young students killed in the Sandy Hook School shooting reached a settlement with gun manufacturer Remington, makers of the Bushmaster AR-15 used in the crime. David Pucino, deputy chief counsel, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence joined Cheddar News to discuss the families' case and how its strategy brought about the legal settlement. "They built a really great case showing the way that Bushmaster developed its advertising to drive sales using those toxic messages.
A new analysis reveals that for more than two decades, the West has been the driest it has ever been since 800 A.D. The drought which began in 2000 has brought more devastating wildfires and draining water reserves well below healthy levels. Climate Scientists and Adjunct Associate Research Scientist at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University,Benjamin Cook, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Inflation remains hot as the January PPI has increased by 1 percent, twice what analysts had been expecting with a jump of 9.7 over the year. Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist, for S&P Global Ratings, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rapid pace of inflation alongside higher wages, predicting the Federal Reserve will act quickly and forcefully this year. "They haven't changed their forecast, yet, that's gonna come out soon. But we expect that a March rate hike is basically pretty much baked in the cake," she said. "We think six rate hikes in total for 2022."
For black history month, Cheddar is highlighting black business leaders who are driving the need for representation forward. On February 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted an event called 'Developing the Black-Owned Business Ecosystem.' The virtual event was organized under the lobbying group's two initiatives -- the Equality of Opportunity Initiative, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. The event highlighted the developments needed to develop more black-owned businesses in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of the School of Business at Howard University, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as a speaker at the event.
A newly declassified letter by senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich claimed the CIA. has been conducting a Secret Surveillance Program which has been collecting a bulk of data from American citizens. The letter which was written in April of 2021 urges the CIA to come clean about the kind of data it collects and how many Americans have been impacted. According to these two senators, the program did not have the safeguards of congressional oversight.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and elaborates on the impact higher oil prices stemming from the conflict would have on the market.
Last week, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a a letter airing concerns that the CIA is collecting the data of American citizens without their consent. The lawmakers fear that the program might be exploiting private data. Morgan Wright, the chief security advisor at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ramifications of the letter. "We don't have all the dots in one place to connect them," said Wright, cautioning against jumping to conclusions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that diplomacy is still possible, while U.S. officials warn that an attack on Ukraine is imminent. Cheddar News speaks with James Astill, Washington bureau chief of The Economist on the latest developments in Eastern Europe.
