From Hollywood to Capitol Hill, the allegations of sexual harassment against prominent figures in their industries seem to be piling up.
And one policymaker wants to change how claims of harassment are handled in the nation's capital.
“I would like to know how much money was spent [to settle claims of] sexual harassment,” Representative Gregory Meeks tells Cheddar, adding that there’s a lot to be done in terms of changing the prevailing system.
Current policy for harassment claims in Washington doesn’t require that the amount of settlements are disclosed. Meeks says that not only do taxpayers deserve to know when their money is being used as a settlement, but that there needs to be a space that encourages victims to come forward.
The New York Democrat is calling for a “zero tolerance” policy.
Meeks’ statements come after Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) resigned from his position as a ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee amid a wave of accusations. The eighty-eight year old reportedly reached a $27,000 taxpayer-funded settlement in 2015 with a staffer who reportedly refused his advances. While Conyers has denied any wrongdoing, he said he’s decided to step aside to allow the House Ethics Committee to conduct its investigation.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) has also had to respond to allegations that he groped or forcibly kissed women without their consent. In a short press conference Monday, the SNL alum apologized for his behavior and promised he’ll work to regain voters’ -- and women’s -- trust. Franken was recently defended by female co-stars of SNL who called him a family man and stood in solidarity with him.
Then there’s Alabama Senatorial candidate Roy Moore, who’s running to fill the seat vacated by now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The GOP judge has been accused of preying on teenage girls while he was in his early thirties. He has rejected those claims and won the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
Many have called for the politicians involved to step down entirely. Meeks supports an investigation into allegations against Franken and others, but draws a sharp distinction between that and those who have a track record of abuse.
“Roy Moore is a whole different thing, even Charlie Rose, where you see a pattern of consistent and persistent aggression trying to lure someone into bed,” he said. “Or even the words of the current President of the U.S. who said that he felt, because of his celebrity, status to grab women where he wanted to grab them.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, came under fire for her defense of Conyers this weekend. After calling for an ethics investigation against her colleague, the California Democrat went on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and made statements that some perceived as bipartisan or tone-deaf.
In an interview Sunday, before Conyers stepped down from the Judiciary Committee, Pelosi touted his record in support of women and questioned the identity of his accusers.
The school shooting in Texas that left 19 children and 2 teachers dead has reignited the debate over gun control.
The tragedy in Uvalde is the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade and marks the latest in a string of mass shootings in the country. Jared Moskowitz, Broward County Commissioner and candidate for Congress in FL-23, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss why gun control measures are stalled in the Senate, and where legislation can move forward from here.
Police and detectives are still investigating the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 children and two adults. Cheddar News was joined by Kirk Burkhalter, professor at New York Law School and former NYPD detective to gain some insight on what investigators are looking for and what comes next.
Texas authorities say the gunman who massacred 21 people at an elementary school was in the building for over an hour before he was killed by law enforcement officers.
Join Cheddar News as we break down the top headlines for Thursday, May 26 including updates on the Texas school shooting, President Joe Biden's executive order on police reform, and a recount in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary.
Representative Morgan Griffith of Virginia rebuked words from the FDA commissioner that could have been construed as blaming parents for stockpiling baby formula exacerbating the shortage.
Cheddar News reporter Megan Pratz brings the latest from the scene of yesterday's horrific school shooting at a Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Now the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history with 19 children and two adults killed, Pratz goes into comments by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, details about the deceased shooter, and reactions from members of the community.
The Robb Elementary School mass shooting killing 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas pm Tuesday was the deadliest school shooting since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and came just 10 days after the grocery store shooting in Buffalo, New York. Nelson Vergara, the founder and CEO of 360 Protective Solutions, joined Cheddar’s Opening Bell to discuss. "Right now what law enforcement is concentrating on is trying to trace his steps as to what motivated the gunman to act the way he did. What it boils down to just trying to figure out what led to his motivation to do such a horrific act.”
An recently conducted AP-NORC poll found that majorities of the Black and Hispanic populations in the U.S. still find themselves either somewhat worried or extremely worried over the pandemic, while more than half of white Americans responded with either being not too worried or not worried at all. Dr. Chris Pernell, the chief strategic integration and health equity officer at University Hospital, joined Cheddar News to talk about how perceptions of COVID-19 differ between groups of Americans. "We’re still seeing people get infected, and because of the toll of the disproportionate impact, we have concerns among the Black and brown community about whether or not they have an increased risk of exposure because of where they work, because of the use of public transportation, because they live in homes that they may not be able to safely quarantine and or isolate in, and because they have at baseline chronic health conditions that may make coronavirus more severe in those persons," she said.
Judith Enck, a former regional administrator for the EPA and the president of Beyond Plastics, joined Cheddar News to talk about the role of plastics in the climate crisis and California's investigation of ExxonMobil and other oil companies for misleading the public on the ability to recycle plastics. "The reason why petrochemical companies like Exxon have gotten away with selling more and more plastic is that they've lied to the public and told us don't worry about all those negative upstream impacts and downstream impacts of plastics. Just be sure to recycle it. Well, guess what? Plastics largely are not recycled," Enck said.
