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."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed an application for Ukraine's membership in the European Union, pleading with the bloc to accept this request. It comes as Russian forces push further into Ukraine, forcing at least half a million refugees to flee. Benjamin Schmitt, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University and Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, breaks down the latest in Ukraine.
A growing wave of major U.S. companies have taken steps to cut ties with Russia or offer support to Ukraine, as tensions escalate in the region. Exxon, Apple and Boeing are just the latest companies to make the move, following the likes of Google, Meta and BP who have all announced plans to exit the region in response to the conflict. Courtney Vinopal, Breaking News Reporter, Quartz joined Cheddar's Opening Bell for more.
A hospital basement in Ukraine’s coastal city of Mariupol has transformed into a bomb shelter and maternity ward amid shelling during Russia’s invasion.
World leaders are currently dealing with a handful of pressing issues, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inflation, and not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic; but it could be argued that the most pressing issue is one that has experienced its fair share of neglect in the past -- climate change. As tensions escalate between Russia and Ukraine, there is fear the focus on climate will once again be pushed aside. However, the White House appears to be making some effort to prevent that from happening. The White House Office of Science and Technology held a first-of-its-kind roundtable discussion with some of the nation's leading climate scientists on Thursday. Michael Mann, Director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and author of the book 'The New Climate War' joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as one of the climate scientists at the White House event.
Scott Clemons, Partner and Chief Investment Strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses the factors leading to the sell-off on Wall Street today and explains why uncertainty is worse than bad news for the investors.
U.S. stocks rebounded to end higher on Thursday after President Biden announced new sanctions against Russia following the country's attack on Ukraine. The Dow was down 859 points at its lowest point of the session, before ultimately finishing the day in the green. Melissa Armo, founder and owner of the Stock Swoosh, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
People of African and Middle Eastern descent fleeing from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are facing the double trauma of racism at the borders. Professor of law and migration studies at the University of San Francisco, Bill Hing, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss what some are describing as a double standard for other refugees escaping the war. "Those that are from the Middle East and from Africa who just happen to be in Ukraine, for example on a student visa, they are not going to be able to get into Poland or another area of the Schengen area because they are not natural Ukrainian," he said.
Add FIFA to the list of organizations announcing a break with Russia. The world soccer authority has suspended the nation from competing in the 2022 World Cup tournament, while the NHL also announced suspending business relations with Russia. Executive editor and senior writer at Sports Illustrated, Jon Wertheim, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rebukes. "I think a big element of this is, this is a way to really hit at Putin because we know how much this appearance of strength and the victory… often portrayed through sports, how much that means to him," he said. "This will bother him in a way that it might not bother other world leaders."
