*By Carlo Versano*
With the clock ticking on a deadline for the FBI to wrap up its investigation into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the Senators who asked for it still don't have an idea of what to expect.
"I don't yet know the scale and scope of the investigation," said. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a member of the judiciary committee who worked with Republican Sen. Jeff Flake in dramatic fashion on a compromise that led to the FBI reopening its background investigation.
Speaking to Cheddar, Coons said that regardless of the outcome of Kavanaugh's confirmation, the fact that the nomination wasn't voted on immediately following last week's emotional testimony would end up being a good thing for the country.
"I think my friend Jeff Flake did something really positive," Coons said. "He got us to hit the pause button for a week."
"It's got to help the country that we're trying to work for more shared facts," the Senator added.
Investigators are under extreme pressure from Republicans to deliver a report in time for a vote on Friday, a deadline Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has demanded. Sources told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin that a report is likely to be delivered to senators Thursday.
CNN reported late Tuesday that the FBI has actually widened the scope of its investigation, adding a specific party from Kavanaugh's calendar to its inquiry.
Sen. Angus King (I-ME) told Cheddar that, even if Kavanuagh is confirmed to the high court, the nominee has revealed himself to be so partisan that it will be difficult for the judge to impartially decide certain cases. King alluded to a portion of Kavanaugh's testimony in which he blamed the allegations against him on a Democratic witch hunt. The Senator called that moment "very disturbing."
"I don't see how he can sit on a case involving partisan gerrymandering, for example," King said.
Meanwhile, President Trump shed all his prior restraint on the topic of Kavanaugh's first accuser, Prof. Christine Blasey Ford. Days after saying he found her to be a "credible witness" and a "very fine woman, he mocked and questioned Ford's testimony at a rally in Mississippi on Tuesday night to roaring applause from the audience. Earlier in the day, Trump also expressed concern that the #MeToo movement had made it "a very scary time for young men in America."
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), a key swing vote in the Kavanaugh confirmation process, said on NBC's "Today" show he found Trump's comments "kind of appalling."
Though FAANG stocks hit an all-time high last week, their gains could be undermined by the Trump administration's trade stand-off with China that could soon widen into the technology sector, says Jason Ware, chief investment officer at Albion Financial Group.
The country's highest court on Tuesday ruled in favor of the travel ban the Trump administration attempted to implement last year. The court rejected the argument that the policy exceeded the president's authority and that it discriminated against Muslims.
Letting women drive will make them "good workers and consumers," says Hiba Zayadin, the acting Saudi researcher at Human Rights Watch. But "the power structures and systems that keep women as second-class citizens" remain prevalent., she tells Cheddar.
Police shootings have persisted in America for the last several decades but now personal video footage is holding officers accountable, says O'Donnell. The MSNBC host is re-publishing his book "Deadly Force" that chronicles the 1975 police shooting of an unarmed black man that was criticized as "basically a murder".
The president's consistent attacks on media outlets like CNN is "very, very good for business." But Trump has avoided directing his wrath at MSNBC since taking the White House, because the network "is much higher rated" and "he would prefer people to watch CNN," which features many pro-Trump speakers, says O'Donnell.
The MSNBC host explains what happened leading up to the moment when his co-worker, Rachel Maddow, broke down in tears on air while covering the border crisis. O'Donnell tells Cheddar that if he had to report the story on tender age shelters, he might have cried too.
Markets plunged on Monday as President Trump escalated already-tense trade relations with China and investors saw the first sign of American manufacturers feeling the impact of the Trump administration’s increasingly protectionist stance.
Melania Trump received a lot of criticism for wearing a jacket with the phrase "I DON'T REALLY CARE, DO U?" scrawled across the back on her way to meet with migrant children at the Texas-Mexico border. The bizarre choice, at such a heated moment, may have been "a very calculated move," said Vox reporter Rebecca Jennings.
Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat weighs in on the backlash over family separation at the border and the need for immigration reform.
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The country's top court on Thursday ruled that states can force online retailers to charge sales taxes on purchases even if they don't have a physical presence in the state. D.A. Davidson's Tom Forte says Amazon may actually end up benefiting from that rule.
