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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Terrell Jermaine Starr, senior fellow with the Atlantic Council and host of the Black Diplomats podcast joins Cheddar News to discuss Russia's attempt to invade Ukraine.
With an increasing number of teachers and staff calling out sick by the day, the state of Oklahoma is turning to an unusual solution. Republican Governor Kevin Stitt has issued an executive order that permits state employees to work as substitute teachers. Shaily Baranwal, founder and CEO of Elevate K-12, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the stance of the U.S. and its allies should Russia make any forays into Ukraine, a seeming response to President Biden's remarks that should Putin engage in something short of a full invasion, there might be some indecision among allied nations regarding what to do. Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the think tank Atlantic Council, joined Cheddar to discuss the difficulty faced by Blinken wrangling unity as tensions run high in the region. "There'll be a smaller incursion, and the president implied, there'll be a weaker response because our European allies have created this horrible situation where they are dependent on Moscow for their gas supply," Cohen explained.
During a nearly two-hour press conference on Wednesday, President Biden spoke on his accomplishments and challenges from the first year of his presidency, and what his administration hopes to accomplish in the coming year. However, his approval ratings are underwater as COVID remains a big concern for voters — as does inflation, noted Tom Bevan, co-founder and president of polling aggregator RealClearPolitics. "The public thinks [inflation] is priority number one, and the administration is concerned about it, they talk about it, but they're not spending enough time on it as far as the public is concerned," said Bevan.
The drama surrounding tennis star Novak Djokovic continues after he was deported from Australia over the weekend due to the nation's COVID-19 vaccine requirements. Djokovic was forced to leave the country on the eve of what was to be his first match in defense of his Australian Open title after three judges ruled in favor of his removal and revealed their reasoning for doing so. Adding to his woes, a law recently passed in France is putting his chances of defending his French Open title in jeopardy. The director of Marist's Center for Sports Communication, Jane McManus, joined Cheddar to discuss the ongoing fallout.
As the midterm elections get ever closer, candidates have been getting creative with their campaigns to stick out and to connect with voters. Gary Chambers, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Louisiana, has definitely attracted attention with an advertisement featuring him smoking a blunt, making a point about the inequity of anti-cannabis laws. "We wanted to bring the seriousness of the moment," he said of the ad. "But we also wanted to make sure that people understand that there are 19 states that are legal right now but Black people and brown people are being over-incarcerated in mostly Southern and Midwestern states in America for cannabis possession."
If some members of Congress have their way, there might finally be a 'TLDR' on sites' terms of service, introduced by the terms-of-service labeling, design, and readability act – or TLDR for short. With this act, users will actually understand what they're agreeing to or the many ways in which their data is being used before pressing 'accept.' J.D. sat down with co-sponsor of the bill and Senator Bill Cassidy, to discuss.
President Joe Biden's first year in office is wrapping up. What has he achieved, and what else remains on the table while the Democrats have control of Washington? Amid an ongoing pandemic and rising inflation, Biden's approval rating is at an all-time low and his party is plagued by infighting. Will he be able to continue pushing key parts of his agenda? Paul Glastris, former Bill Clinton speechwriter & Editor-in-chief of 'Washington Monthly,' joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the president's achievements in his first year, where he's fallen short, and what he must do in order to get more of his agenda signed into law.
Tech giants Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, and Apple are faced with a bipartisan antitrust legislation effort underway in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The companies stand accused of promoting their own goods and services over smaller competitors on their platforms, holding too much monopolistic power via their app stores and services. Adam Kovacevich, founder and CEO of Chamber of Progress, a technology industry trade group, joined Cheddar to argue that the bills that are being debated currently could end up hurting consumers, rather than helping.