Need 2 Know: Southern Snow Storm, Trump's Chief of Staff Hunt
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
* **Southern Snow:** More than 300,000 people are without power after a messy snow storm caused havoc in the Southeast over the weekend. The Carolinas, Virginia and West Virginia were the hardest hit with some areas getting more than a foot of snow. Thousands of flights were cancelled and schools are closed throughout the region today. Read more [here](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-weather/winter-storm-kills-one-knocks-out-power-to-310000-in-u-s-southeast-idUSKBN1O80KS).
* **Kelly Out:** President Trump’s chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly, is leaving by the end of the year. The move isn’t a surprise as his departure has been rumored for months. The chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence, Nick Ayers was reportedly the president’s top pick to fill Kelly’s spot but he’s taken himself out of the running. Read more [here](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/09/us/politics/nick-ayers-trump-chief-of-staff.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage).
* **Yellow Vest Protests:** French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to address his nation today, after more than 100,000 people took to the streets Saturday for the fourth straight weekend, protesting an increase in fuel taxes and the high cost of living. More than 1,200 of the protestors were taken into custody. Read more [here](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46499996).
* **Russia Investigation:** Russian nationals interacted with at least 14 Trump associates during the 2016 campaign and into the presidential transition, according to records and interviews made public by the special counsel. In some of those conversations, high-level Russians offered the Trump campaign “synergy” as early as 2015. Read more [here](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/russians-interacted-with-at-least-14-trump-associates-during-the-campaign-and-transition/2018/12/09/71773192-fb13-11e8-8c9a-860ce2a8148f_story.html?utm_term=.d035593bb352).
* **Moonves:** Former CBS chief Les Moonves is threatening to sue CBS over leaked documents given to the New York Times. The report found that Moonves allegedly destroyed evidence and had an employee on-call to perform oral sex. His $120 million severance package is at stake. Read more [here](https://nypost.com/2018/12/07/les-moonves-threatens-to-sue-cbs-over-sex-misconduct-investigation-leaks/).
* **Musk Interview:** Elon Musk gave a revealing interview to 60 Minutes, in which he said Tesla would consider purchasing some of the plants that GM is closing. Musk also said he does not respect the SEC after the settlement over his tweeting, and that no one is approving his tweets. Read more [here](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-the-2018-60-minutes-interview/).
* **Heisman:** Quarterback Kyler Murray of the Oklahoma Sooners is the 2018 Heisman Trophy winner, becoming the second straight QB from Oklahoma to win the top college football award. Shortly after the ceremony, Murray apologized after anti-gay tweets surfaced from when he was a teenager. Read more [here](http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/25490250/heisman-trophy-winner-kyler-murray-apologizes-anti-gay-tweets).
* **Markle vs. Markle:** Thomas Markle claims he’s been “frozen out” by his daughter, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. In an interview, he says he’s dreading this Christmas because he won’t be receiving a card from his daughter. Read more [here](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6475167/Meghans-father-Thomas-Markle-reveals-sweet-cards-proof-did-wedding.html).
* **Top Dog Names:** Max, Charlie and Cooper are the top male dog names of 2018. Bella, Lucy, and Luna are the top three female dog names. The names were compiled by Rover, which found that booze-themed names (like Porter and Guinness) are increasingly more popular. Popular names for 2018 include Cardi B, Harry, and Meghan ー with the latter two up 130 percent. Read more [here](https://www.npr.org/2018/12/09/674596049/origins-of-the-top-dog-names-of-2018-pop-culture-brunch-and-baby-names).
* **End of the Lullaby?:** Lullabies have reportedly lost their luster. Just 38 percent of parents sing lullabies to their kids, according to a new study. Of those who do sing, 70 percent are over 45 years old. Read more [here](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/12/07/end-lullaby-younger-parents-eschew-bedtime-ritual-survey-finds/).
Cheddar's Hena Doba gets into the latest.
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Andrew Cuomo is reportedly planning his comeback. According to the Wall Street Journal, the former New York governor and his aides are considering how to make his first public appearance since he abruptly resigned last August amid sexual harassment allegations. Jake Lahut, politics reporter for Insider, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss Cuomo's potential return to politics.
The pressure is on for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson - after his closest aides handed in their resignations this week.
It comes after a report found that 16 parties had taken place at Downing Street while Covid lockdown protocols were in place in the region. Ari Aramesh, Attorney & National Security/Foreign Policy Analyst joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
President Biden has ordered about 3,000 U.S. troops to Eastern Europe as Russia refuses to back off its pressure on Ukraine. The deployments to Poland, Germany, and Romania are a show of support to NATO allies concerned about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is in addition to the 8,500 troops put on high alert. David Tafuri, former Obama campaign foreign policy advisor and former State Department official, joined Cheddar to discuss what this move means for U.S.-Russia relations.
After tennis player Peng Shuai made an explicit sexual assault allegation toward a former Chinese government official, she disappeared from the public eye. Her recent reappearance with the IOC alongside a Chinese Olympic committee official raised eyebrows and renewed concerns for her safety. Asian affairs expert Gordon Chang, author of "The Coming Collapse of China," joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Peng Shuai's retraction and the various human rights controversies swirling at the Beijing games. "It's clear that the IOC was working with Beijing to make sure that she did not express herself freely," Chang said. "So really this is the IOC being complicit in these mechanisms of control over Peng."
The opening ceremony of the 2022 winter Olympics has kicked off at the Beijing national stadium. 150,000 spectators are in attendance for the games inside the 'closed loop' system separating Olympic personnel from the public. Cheddar News spoke with Brian Cazenueve, Sports Illustrated contributor, to share the highlights you may have missed and much more.
The Biden Administration is set to revise federal rules to address potential security risks from foreign-owned apps, mainly Tiktok. This comes after the White House opted not to pursue a forced shutdown of the Chinese-owned video sharing platform. Under these new rules, federal oversight would be expanded to explicitly include apps that could be used by foreign adversaries to steal or otherwise obtain data. Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Craig Singleton, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Although this week's weather is predicted to be less severe than the 2021 storm, Texans are preparing for the worst - stocking up on supplies and emptying shelves in grocery stores, once again. Some Texans still have not recovered from last year's tragedy, and are heading into the next few weeks with anxiety for what's to come. Leslie Beyer, CEO of the Houston-based energy workforce & technology council, joins Cheddar News to discuss if the Texas grid will fail again.
Student loan debt continues to be a major concern for tens of millions of Americans who collectively owe about $1.7 trillion. Black college students often take on larger amounts of student debt in order to pay for a higher education. In turn, they are more likely to struggle post-graduation with repaying their debt, creating a racial wealth gap divide. Andre Perry, senior fellow at Brookings Institution joined All Hands to help break down the black student debt crisis.
After two NYPD officers were killed with an illegal gun, President Biden made a trip to New York City to speak on the issue of gun violence fed by the "iron pipeline" of illegal firearms that make their way from the South to the Big Apple. Kris Brown, the president of the gun violence prevention organization Brady United, joined Cheddar to discuss what this visit from the president could mean for the future of gun laws in America. "He's asked Congress to pass things like expanding the Brady background check system, but with the filibuster a barrier to so much action right now in the Congress, he's looking at solutions that involve funding at the federal level and really involve enforcement."
