*By Conor White*
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday contradicted claims by President Trump, the man who appointed him to the position, that Russia is no longer targeting the United States with cyberattacks.
At the Aspen Security Forum Wray remarked, "The intelligence community’s assessment has not changed, my view has not changedーwhich is that Russia attempted to interfere with the last election and continues to engage in malign influence operations to this day."
For Reason.com reporter Eric Boehm, Trump's repeated denial of Russia's activities can only mean one thing.
"The President clearly has personal interests, or some sort of interests, that are separate from what the U.S. intelligence community has when it comes to Russia," he told Cheddar on Thursday.
During a briefing this week, Trump denied that Russia poses any threat to Americans, simply responding "no" when asked about the danger.
Boehm explained that Trump may have reason to doubt American intelligence agenciesーbut that still doesn't explain his unwavering defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"It's possible to believe that well, maybe we should trust everything that the head of the \[Office of the Director of National Intelligence\] or the director of the CIA or the head of the FBI tells us," he said. "At the same time Trump's behavior still doesn't really make sense."
For the full segment, [click here.]( https://cheddar.com/videos/trump-contradicts-fbi-director-on-russian-meddling)
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri faced a bipartisan Congressional grilling this week as the Senate inquired about safety practices for protecting the mental wellbeing of young people on the platform. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined Cheddar to talk about the hearing and how she was disappointed in Instagram coming unprepared with relevant information or documents. Blackburn also offered concern that the platform could continue with building a kids-only version despite having drawn significant opposition from the public.
The Great Resignation has shown some signs of slowing in October with the number of those who quit their jobs falling by 4.7 percent to 4.16 million. This comes as worker strikes and calls for unionization ramp up. Jane Oates, president at WorkingNation joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to discuss the implications.
U.S. markets opened lower despite positive jobs data, which saw weekly claims drop to a 52-year low. Kevin Nicholson, Co-CIO Global Fixed Income, RiverFront Investment Group joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the labor market, inflation, and the impact of the Omicron variant on global markets.
A packed Thursday pod: Carlo and Baker cover the latest developments in the Ghislaine Maxwell, Jussie Smollett and Elizabeth Holmes trials. Plus, Dems are losing the Hispanic vote, Boris Johnson in trouble again, and is it possible that Adele has peaked?
Jim Bruderman, Vice Chairman at 1879 Advisors, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors experienced a 'panic attack' last week with the spread of the Omicron variant and the Fed's tapering plans. As a result, he says we're now seeing stocks climb due to a growing comfort level toward both developments.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, faced withering questions on Capitol Hill about the reports the social media app was aware of the severe mental health impacts it was having on teenage girls. Karen Kornbluh, the director of digital innovation and democracy for the German Marshall Fund, joined Cheddar to discuss the rare show of bipartisan outrage on display at the Senate hearing. "The senators came really loaded for bear on both sides of the aisle," she said. Kornbluh explained how senators like Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) set up fake Instagram accounts with teen girl profiles in order to research the effects firsthand.
The Biden administration will not send an official U.S. delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as a statement against China's "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang." Weifeng Zhong, senior research fellow at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, joins Cheddar News to discuss the boycott.
