These are the headlines you Need2Know:
* **First Transgender Candidate for Governor:**
Vermont has made history by selecting Christine Hallquist, a transgender woman, to be the Democratic nominee for governor. This is the first time in the U.S. a transgender person has been nominated by a major party for governor. For more on Hallquist's politics, [click here](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/15/christine-hallquist-wins-vermont-primary-becoming-first-openly-transgender-major-party-nominee-for-governor/).
* **Pennsylvania Reports on Church Sex Abuse:**
A grand jury report found that hundreds of Roman Catholic priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses molested more than 1,000 children over decades ー and senior church officials systematically covered it up. The Pennsylvania attorney general says the dioceses kept "secret archives" documenting the widespread sexual abuse. Read the story, [here](https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Pennsylvania-Catholic-Church-Child-Sex-Abuse-Report-Grand-Jury-490837551.html).
* **Twitter Suspends Alex Jones:**
The far-right conspiracy theorist and creator of Infowars has been banned from tweeting and can't produce content on the social platform for seven days. Jones's page won't be taken down, but he can't post, retweet, or favorite others' tweets. Twitter said that Jones violated its rules when he posted a link to a video that called for supporters to get their “battle rifles” ready to use against the news media and other critics. Last week, Apple, Facebook, Spotify, and Youtube took down some of Jones's content. For more, [click here](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/aug/15/twitter-suspends-infowars-alex-jones-abuse).
* **Sarah Huckabee Sanders Apologizes for Jobs Claim:**
The White House Press Secretary said Tuesday that President Trump created three times as many jobs for African-American workers during his time in office than President Obama did in two full terms. Bloomberg News fact- checked her statement with Labor Department data, showing Sanders's claim was way off. She later [tweeted](https://twitter.com/presssec/status/1029536929342214144) a correction and apologized for the inaccurate statistic, but defended the administration for creating 700,000 jobs for African-Americans. For more on the jobs figures, [click here](https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/14/politics/sarah-sanders-african-american-jobs-trump-obama/index.html).
Cheddar's Jill Wagner gets into the latest.
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Matt Hayden, vice president of govtech solutions at Exiger and a former assistant secretary of cyber at Department of Homeland Security, joined Cheddar to discuss the surprise phone call initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin to President Joe Biden, ahead of January security talks about the rising tensions over Ukraine. "We're hoping to hear that we're able to talk about the aggression and the leadup of the Ukrainian militarization," Hayden said. "But we're also looking to hear is how the Kremlin leveraged their talking points to try to test their negotiation stance with the United States leading into this January 10th meeting."
The No Surprises Act begins implementation on January 1, 2022. The legislation is meant to curb the practice of unexpected billing for care from providers the patient was unaware were out-of-network from their insurance. Patricia Kelmar, director of health care campaigns for U.S. PIRG joined Cheddar to describe the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars charged to unsuspecting patients and how things will change under the new law. "If we are picking an in-network doctor and an in-network hospital, we should not see those added costs from anesthesiologists, radiologists, scrub-in surgeons," she said. "The other area it protects you is in air ambulances — not ground ambulances, unfortunately — but the helicopters or the airplanes you might need to transport you in an emergency situation."
President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladmir Putin are expected to have another conversation surrounding escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Ariel Cohen, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, joined Cheddar's Ken Buffa to discuss the ongoing tensions and why Putin's request for a conversation with Biden comes now. "This is very serious. This is the worst security crisis we had since the collapse of the Soviet Union," Cohen told Cheddar.
Stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, but two indexes - the Dow and the S&P 500 - ended the session with a new record. Akshata Bailkeri, Equity Analyst at Bruderman Asset Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she says there is a consensus for robust consumer spreading in 2022, especially as the Omicron variant is proving to be milder than other COVID-19 strains.
John Quelch, Dean of Miami Herbert Business School, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the retail giant is acting in accordance to President Biden's new law banning goods from China's Xinjiang region. Quelch also elaborates on the importance of China in Walmart's overall strategy.
