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."
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.
