Saudi Human Rights Abuses Come Into Focus for U.S. Business Leaders
*By Christian Smith*
President Trump's suggestion that "rogue killers" may be responsible for Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance suggests he may let Saudi Arabia off the hook for another violation, said Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch.
"It suggests that what President Trump is hoping for is that we will be able to sweep this under the rug as some great unsolved mystery for which, therefore, no consequences will flow," said Whitson, executive director of HRW's Middle East and North Africa Division, on Monday in an interview with Cheddar.
Following a call with Saudi King Salman ー who vehemently denied any involvement in Khashoggi's suspected abduction ー Trump suggested to reporters on Monday that the kingdom may not be culpable. The president added in a [tweet](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1051814214212485120) that he is dispatching Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "immediately" to meet with the King in person.
Khashoggi went missing on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to obtain a license to marry his Turkish fiancée. Saudi officials have repeatedly denied any knowledge of the journalist's whereabouts, but Turkish officials claim they have evidence to prove the Saudi dissident was killed while inside the consulate.
On Monday, the Saudi government permitted Turkish officials to inspect the consulate almost two weeks after Khashoggi first went missing. Although officials agreed to the investigation, Whitson said that the message from the Saudi government is clear.
"It has yet again shown the world that the Saudi government doesn't care about the law, doesn't care about basic human dignity, basic ethos of protecting people who enter your consulate, much less a prominent journalist," Whitson said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/president-trump-suggests-saudi-journalist-could-have-been-murdered-by-a-rogue-killer).
Student loan collection company Navient agreed to cancel $1.7 billion in debt and paid more than $140 million in other penalties to settle a lawsuit over abusive lending practices. Josh Shapiro, the attorney general of Pennsylvania who led negotiations in the settlement, joined Cheddar to go over the details of the company's predatory lending. "What Navient would do is charge [borrowers] these exorbitantly high rates, even though they knew people couldn't pay them or they would likely default on them," he explained.
The January 6 committee has subpoenaed four tech giants for more information on what they did and didn't do leading up to last year's deadly Capitol insurrection. Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit were asked to assist the investigation in August, but the committee says their responses have been 'inadequate.' Craig Timberg, a national technology reporter at the Washington Post, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell for more details about the subpoenas, why this is happening now, and how it might impact social media companies moving forward.
With the Australian Open set to begin on Monday, Novak Djokovic is once again being threatened with deportation from Australia after his visa was briefly reinstated and revoked again over alleged discrepancies. Djokovic’s team will sit for an Immigration hearing on Saturday.
Makena Kelly, politics reporter at The Verge, joins Cheddar News to discuss what's next for net neutrality as Biden's other nominee for the FCC, Gigi Sohn, awaits votes from the committee and Senate.
Jewell Jackson McCabe, chair of the Keep Love Alive Campaign and founder of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and Marvin Owens, chief engagement officer of Impact Shares and former senior director of Economic Development at the NAACP, join Cheddar News to reflect on racial issues still prevalent in America.
Hagar Chemali, Host of 'Oh My World' on Youtube and Former Spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the UN, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to share her expert insight into what the future of diplomacy could look like as the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepens.
Markets opened higher on the first trading day of the new year as investors continue to watch inflation and the rapid spread of the omicron variant in the U.S. Frances Newton Stacy, Optimal Capital Dir. of Strategy/Market Analyst joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Markets opened lower this morning as investors rounded out a wild 2021. Jay Hatfield, CEO Infrastructure Capital Advisors, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss which sectors and industries to watch in the new year.
Markets opened higher as investors react to positive data on the labor front, with weekly jobless claims falling to 198,000 for the week ending December 25. Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the market open.
