*By Carlo Versano*
Google is "missing an opportunity" by not sending a top official to Capitol Hill next week to testify on election interference and censorship, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin on Wednesday.
Facebook and Twitter are both sending C-Suite executives ー COO Sheryl Sandberg and CEO Jack Dorsey, respectively ー to testify in front of both chambers on Sept. 5.
So far, Google has said it will only dispatch its general counsel, Kent Walker.
"We need policy makers, not simply their lawyers," Warner said.
The heads of the top social and web platforms will head to the Hill to answer questions about how they are combating misinformation campaigns from state actors like Russia and Iran ahead of the midterm elections. Additionally, they are expected to face pointed questions about censorship ー a topic that President Trump has been pushing, most recently on Wednesday afternoon when he told reporters, "I think they treat Republicans and conservatives very unfairly" and such handling "may not be legal."
That echoes the sentiment of several Trump tweets Tuesday which suggested that Google News technology suppressed conservative views. Economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the White House would look into the matter, but many questioned Trump's statements on their face.
"The president doesn't really understand how search algorithms work," Warner said, noting that content is ranked in searches as a result of computer calculations, not human action.
The last time officials from Facebook, Twitter, and Google testified together ー last November on the topic of Russian hacking ー the reaction from lawmakers was largely negative. Since then, each company has shown a more proactive approach to the policing of their platforms.
Warner said he hopes next week's hearings will be forward-looking. "We want to look at solution sets" for these complex problems, he said.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren spoke with J.D. Durkin about the accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the response from President Trump that Democrats are engaging in a "con game." She says if the president really believes the accusations aren't true then he must want a full investigation by the FBI. "Have at it, Mr. President," she said.
Stocks were mixed Tuesday, a day after tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports went into effect. Art Hogan, chief market strategist for B. Riley FBR, said investors have been taking the escalating trade war in stride, but whether that can last under these new tariffs will be the question to watch in the weeks ahead.
Hugh Jackman's forthcoming film "The Front Runner" follows former Sen. Gary Hart and his rise and fall in the 1988 presidential election. Cheddar spoke with Jackman about how he approached the role and why it was so important for him to meet Hart.
A year after delivering his "fire and fury" speech that threatened to annihilate North Korea and its "little rocket man" leader, President Trump addressed the annual United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, expanding on his "America First" motto and replacing North Korea with Iran as the major antagonist.
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The newest round of tariffs on China imposed by the Trump administration will be damaging for American farmers, particularly soybean and corn growers, said Kimbal Musk, the restaurateur (and brother of Elon) who founded the Kitchen Restaurant Group. Because farmers can only "innovate once a year" during harvest, what they need most is certainty.
U.S. markets dropped Monday as questions over the future of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein added to investor concerns, which were already heightened by the onset of the latest round of tariffs on Chinese goods. "The political environment seems to be mayhem on a daily basis, and we're just going to have to get used to that," said Jason Moser, analyst at The Motley Fool, in an interview on Cheddar Monday.
From Omarosa to Bob Woodward to Jeanine Pirro, authors are cashing in on the Trump presidency. Brent Lang, a film and media editor for Variety, said that sales of books on the Trump presidency ー regardless of political leanings ー are surging as readers want to make sense of this era.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has left a meeting at the White House with Chief of Staff John Kelly and remains, for now, employed.
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