As the House prepares to vote on a resolution today that would limit the president's ability to engage with Iran under the 1973 War Powers Act, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said there was "plenty of precedence" to support President Trump's authorization of a drone strike on January 3 that killed top Iranian commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
On Wednesday, Grassley's Republican colleagues Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blasted the president's long-awaited and delayed briefing on the killing.
"Don't get hung up on whether or not we had a proper briefing, which I think we did have a very proper briefing," Grassley told Cheddar Thursday. "Don't get that mixed up with the legality of what happened."
Lee called the briefing, which came five days after the airstrike was carried out, "probably the worst briefing I've seen, at least on a military issue, in the nine years I've served in the United States Senate." He said senators were told they could not dissent or debate, lest division within the government sends a signal of weakness to the Iranians.
He said briefers were asked repeatedly, "What, if anything, would trigger the need for the administration to come back to Congress" for a declaration of war or authorization of military force, to which one of the briefers indicated, essentially, "I'm sure we could think of something."
Grassley said when President Barack Obama had ordered the killing of Osama bin Laden, senators were also not told of the plan prior to the move, though bin Laden was considered an enemy combatant whereas Soleimani was a member of a state government. The Trump administration has said it ordered the strike because Soleimani was "actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region," but has continued to refrain from explaining the intelligence, despite repeated criticism from lawmakers.
In a press conference Thursday, the president focused on Soleimani's violent history, calling him a "monster" who was the "big roadside bomb guy," though Soleimani was a top official in Iran. Other targeted killings carried out by the United States, like that of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October 2019, have struck at extremist leaders without state affiliations.
Many lawmakers argue the president needed Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) from Congress before the strike. On Thursday, Trump seemed to offer some additional information, saying "We did this because they were looking to blow up our embassy. We also did it for reasons that were very obvious." President Trump also said he had just approved new sanctions with details forthcoming.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the dispute over AUMF and the strike against Soleimani during her regular weekly press conference on Thursday.
"The argument would be made that, putting the shoe on the other foot, if the United States had a high-level, maybe second most important person in the country, assassinated, wherever, the U.S. might consider that an assault on our country and the Iranians might as well, even though this took place at the Iraqi airport," she said. "It's foggy."
President Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the fourth time this year. Biden and Putin spoke for two hours about the massing of Russian troops and materials near the Russian border with Ukraine. Various outlets have reported that the U.S. has intelligence that Russia could be planning an invasion of Ukraine in the next few months. Both countries said the call was productive, but the situation remains tense.
Hagar Chemali, foreign policy expert and host of "Oh My World!" on YouTube, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
A recent Wall Street Journal poll indicated that Hispanic voters are up for grabs for the upcoming midterm elections, with 41 percent of respondents saying they would vote for Democrats and 44 percent for Republicans. Bryanta "Bre" Maxwell, a Democratic Strategist, former political director for Jaime Harrison's senate campaign, and principal and CEO of Indigo Consulting, LLC, joined Cheddar to break down the numbers and to dive into what this specific electorate is looking for as the balance of power in Congress hangs in the balance in 2022.
Vice President Kamala Harris received impressive amount of media coverage in January for making history. However, the media attention waned significantly and some are now even saying she has almost disappeared from public view. Reecie Colbert, founder of BlackWomenViews Media, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss more.
If you thought you heard the last of the Mueller report back in 2019, you'd be wrong. While the bombshell report was the biggest story in Washington for years, much of the report remained redacted. Our friends at BuzzFeed News weren't satisfied, so they sued to have certain passages unredacted. They notched another win when a federal appeals court ordered ten passages from the report to be released.
Matt Topic, BuzzFeed's attorney in the case, and Jason Leopold, reporter at BuzzFeed News, join Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The U.S. reported its first confirmed case of the omicron variant in California on Wednesday. Scientists and health officials are racing to understand the variant, with the WHO saying it's still too early to determine whether it's more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to vaccines than other variants. Omicron has pushed members of the WHO to commit to start talks over a "gobal pandemic treaty" for future pandemic preparedness.
Priti Krishtel, co-founder and co-executive director of the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
Wednesday was not a good day for those who believe in abortion rights in this country as the Supreme Court heard arguments on a Mississippi abortion law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The majority of the court appears poised to roll back abortion rights, and the questions from the conservative justices seemed to indicate the law for nearly 50 years is likely to change.
Jessica Mason Pieklo, senior vice president and executive editor of Rewire News Group, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss Wednesday's hearing.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, has been busy since completing his prison sentence in November. He's getting into the NFT space, selling his federal prison badge and the original manuscript of his book "Disloyal" as NFTs. Cohen joined Cheddar to discuss his latest venture and why he thinks there is still much to be revealed about his case.
Jonathan Adler, Law Professor at Case Western Reserve University, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Tuesday's ruling and provide legal context to recent battles over vaccine mandates.
Carlo and Baker wrap up the week talking about the Biden economic boom that no one seems to notice, a verdict in the Jussie Smollett case, the first Starbucks union in America and the pleasures of the "dude nod."
