Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla. 6th District), a U.S. Army officer, is defending the president's actions in authorizing a drone strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani last week and told Cheddar the president acted in self-defense, which Waltz said means he did not need to consult Congress first.
"Looking backwards, I'm fine with this strike," said Waltz. "I think the president has a duty if he has actionable intelligence that [Soleimani] is going to continue to kill Americans — he's operating in the country where he continues to plot and plan those attacks as he has done for decades — he is a lawful enemy combatant, completely within the president's authority to defend our diplomats and our soldiers."
White House officials have not yet provided any evidence showing a threat, which the president called "imminent," or revealed when an attack was expected. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on the president to release the intelligence.
Waltz, who is on the Armed Services Committee, said he is heading to the White House this afternoon to "take a look at it, myself."
Some Pentagon officials have said intelligence did not show an imminent attack and that the move was part of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's push for aggressive action against Iran.
Waltz echoed remarks from Pompeo this morning, who said Soleimani's "long history of attacking Americans and killing people across the Middle East" led to Trump's decision to authorize the drone strike, at least in part.
The congressman also said the strike came "after a long string of Iranian provocations. This is not an escalation, this is a response, and it's a response designed to stop further escalation," similar to Trump's claim that he ordered the strike to stop war, not start it.
"No one in this administration that I've talked to is talking about a D-Day, Normandy style invasion, boots on the ground of Iran," Waltz said, which would necessitate an Authorization for Use of Military Force from Congress. "Self defense is always within the laws of land warfare and within the commander in chief."
Inflation remains hot as the January PPI has increased by 1 percent, twice what analysts had been expecting with a jump of 9.7 over the year. Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist, for S&P Global Ratings, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rapid pace of inflation alongside higher wages, predicting the Federal Reserve will act quickly and forcefully this year. "They haven't changed their forecast, yet, that's gonna come out soon. But we expect that a March rate hike is basically pretty much baked in the cake," she said. "We think six rate hikes in total for 2022."
For black history month, Cheddar is highlighting black business leaders who are driving the need for representation forward. On February 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted an event called 'Developing the Black-Owned Business Ecosystem.' The virtual event was organized under the lobbying group's two initiatives -- the Equality of Opportunity Initiative, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. The event highlighted the developments needed to develop more black-owned businesses in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of the School of Business at Howard University, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as a speaker at the event.
A newly declassified letter by senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich claimed the CIA. has been conducting a Secret Surveillance Program which has been collecting a bulk of data from American citizens. The letter which was written in April of 2021 urges the CIA to come clean about the kind of data it collects and how many Americans have been impacted. According to these two senators, the program did not have the safeguards of congressional oversight.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and elaborates on the impact higher oil prices stemming from the conflict would have on the market.
Last week, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a a letter airing concerns that the CIA is collecting the data of American citizens without their consent. The lawmakers fear that the program might be exploiting private data. Morgan Wright, the chief security advisor at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ramifications of the letter. "We don't have all the dots in one place to connect them," said Wright, cautioning against jumping to conclusions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that diplomacy is still possible, while U.S. officials warn that an attack on Ukraine is imminent. Cheddar News speaks with James Astill, Washington bureau chief of The Economist on the latest developments in Eastern Europe.
As the number of Russian troops rose to 130,000 along its Ukrainian border, hopes for a diplomatic solution remain among world leaders. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis at Morning Consult, joined Cheddar News to break down the fluid situation. "We saw signs pointing towards an increase in tensions between Ukraine and Russia, whereas today we're seeing some signs that the Russian government may be willing to continue down a path of diplomatic negotiations to try and find some sort of non-military solution," he said.
Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are now planning to amend the stop trading on congressional knowledge act, otherwise known as the 'Stock' Act. This 2012 law governs how members disclose the purchase or sale of stocks and amending it would close a loophole, eliminating the trading of individual stocks by members of congress. Pelosi has consistently opposed a ban on stock trading by lawmakers and congressional staff...so what's changed? Kedric Payne, Vice President of Campaign Legal Center, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for a controversial new version of the Alabama congressional map to remain in place. The lower court had previously ordered that the state must redraw that congressional map because it violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters. Redistricting expert Yurij Rudensky joins Cheddar News to weigh in.
