Rep. Frankel Says a 'Pink Wave' is Coming: Trump Is 'Best Recruiter' Democrats Have
*By Max Godnick and Christian Smith*
A [record number of women](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/08/women-rule-midterms-443267) are running for political office, and one congresswoman thinks America has one man to thank.
"The best recruiter we've had, his name is President Donald Trump," Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) said Wednesday in an interview on Cheddar.
"After the election in 2016, we have seen women agitated," she said. "They're raring to go."
Frankel, who has represented Florida's 21st Congressional District since 2013, cited 50 female Democratic candidates running in competitive swing districts, and predicted that her party could have between 25 and 40 new congresswomen in its ranks in 2019.
"Many of these women have never been in politics," she said. "Many are mothers ー they do not want their children growing up in the kind of environment they see that this president is creating."
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) echoed Frankel's optimism in a separate interview on Cheddar Wednesday.
"We're going to elect women in record numbers," Maloney said; America is entering the "decade of the woman," she added.
In total, 257 women won party nominations for the House of Representatives and Senate for this year's midterms ー 235 for the House and 22 for the Senate.
For Frankel, it's not just a matter of winning and losing.
Frankel is the co-chair of the Bipartisan Women's Caucus and has championed legislation for women's rights, including the "Keeping Girls in School Act" and the "Pregnant Workers Fairness Act." But only a fraction of the policy proposals garner support from both sides of the aisle.
The biggest roadblock to bipartisan cooperation among women in Congress might be the lack of women across the aisle.
"Unfortunately for the Republicans they do not really have that many women," Frankel said. There are just 23 Republican women serving in the House of Representatives, compared to the body's 61 Democrats.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/are-women-more-bipartisan-than-men).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed an application for Ukraine's membership in the European Union, pleading with the bloc to accept this request. It comes as Russian forces push further into Ukraine, forcing at least half a million refugees to flee. Benjamin Schmitt, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University and Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, breaks down the latest in Ukraine.
A growing wave of major U.S. companies have taken steps to cut ties with Russia or offer support to Ukraine, as tensions escalate in the region. Exxon, Apple and Boeing are just the latest companies to make the move, following the likes of Google, Meta and BP who have all announced plans to exit the region in response to the conflict. Courtney Vinopal, Breaking News Reporter, Quartz joined Cheddar's Opening Bell for more.
A hospital basement in Ukraine’s coastal city of Mariupol has transformed into a bomb shelter and maternity ward amid shelling during Russia’s invasion.
World leaders are currently dealing with a handful of pressing issues, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inflation, and not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic; but it could be argued that the most pressing issue is one that has experienced its fair share of neglect in the past -- climate change. As tensions escalate between Russia and Ukraine, there is fear the focus on climate will once again be pushed aside. However, the White House appears to be making some effort to prevent that from happening. The White House Office of Science and Technology held a first-of-its-kind roundtable discussion with some of the nation's leading climate scientists on Thursday. Michael Mann, Director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and author of the book 'The New Climate War' joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as one of the climate scientists at the White House event.
Scott Clemons, Partner and Chief Investment Strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses the factors leading to the sell-off on Wall Street today and explains why uncertainty is worse than bad news for the investors.
U.S. stocks rebounded to end higher on Thursday after President Biden announced new sanctions against Russia following the country's attack on Ukraine. The Dow was down 859 points at its lowest point of the session, before ultimately finishing the day in the green. Melissa Armo, founder and owner of the Stock Swoosh, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
People of African and Middle Eastern descent fleeing from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are facing the double trauma of racism at the borders. Professor of law and migration studies at the University of San Francisco, Bill Hing, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss what some are describing as a double standard for other refugees escaping the war. "Those that are from the Middle East and from Africa who just happen to be in Ukraine, for example on a student visa, they are not going to be able to get into Poland or another area of the Schengen area because they are not natural Ukrainian," he said.
Add FIFA to the list of organizations announcing a break with Russia. The world soccer authority has suspended the nation from competing in the 2022 World Cup tournament, while the NHL also announced suspending business relations with Russia. Executive editor and senior writer at Sports Illustrated, Jon Wertheim, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rebukes. "I think a big element of this is, this is a way to really hit at Putin because we know how much this appearance of strength and the victory… often portrayed through sports, how much that means to him," he said. "This will bother him in a way that it might not bother other world leaders."
