Accusations are flying between U.S. and Chinese officials over how each country is handling the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Wednesday that the Chinese Communist Party has a "responsibility to tell the world how this pandemic got out of China and all across the world, causing such global economic devastation.”
The comments came after China Central Television's top evening news program questioned the accuracy of U.S. data tracking of COVID-19 infections, singling out Pompeo for “turning himself into the common enemy of mankind.”
Underlying the heated exchange is an effort by the U.S. State Department to better understand the origins of the outbreak in Wuhan.
"It's not even about the blame game," Morgan Ortagus, a spokesperson for the department, told Cheddar. "It's about us not being able to answer fundamental questions about this pandemic."
She said the agency is focused on "making sure the world has the data and the transparency that it needs, not only from the Chinese Communist Party but also from Iran, North Korea, other places."
Specifically, the department wants to confirm China's claim that the virus originated in a Wuhan wet market by sending in independent scientists to assess the data. Ortagus compared the process to the common practice of getting studies peer-reviewed by a credible source.
"It doesn't matter if it's Americans, by the way," Ortagus said. "We're happy if it's Germans, or French, or British scientists that want to go in, but no one is being allowed to go into Wuhan to investigate."
Other global leaders, including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, have called on China to allow an international investigation into the source of coronavirus.
In addition, the State Department is doing a 60 to 90-day review of the World Health Organization to determine "what information they have and don't have," she said.
"Everything that we're doing right now boils down to this: how do we prevent a pandemic of this scale from ever happening again?" Ortagus said. "We know that we can't answer that question until we get the live virus samples, until we have independent, credible scientists and doctors who are able to go into the Wuhan, into the wet markets, into the laboratories, to understand what caused this pandemic."
U.S. intelligence agencies also revealed that they are following up on speculation amplified by the White House that the pandemic may have spread from a lab accident in Wuhan, while also acknowledging that the virus appeared "not manmade or genetically modified."
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri faced a bipartisan Congressional grilling this week as the Senate inquired about safety practices for protecting the mental wellbeing of young people on the platform. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined Cheddar to talk about the hearing and how she was disappointed in Instagram coming unprepared with relevant information or documents. Blackburn also offered concern that the platform could continue with building a kids-only version despite having drawn significant opposition from the public.
The Great Resignation has shown some signs of slowing in October with the number of those who quit their jobs falling by 4.7 percent to 4.16 million. This comes as worker strikes and calls for unionization ramp up. Jane Oates, president at WorkingNation joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to discuss the implications.
U.S. markets opened lower despite positive jobs data, which saw weekly claims drop to a 52-year low. Kevin Nicholson, Co-CIO Global Fixed Income, RiverFront Investment Group joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the labor market, inflation, and the impact of the Omicron variant on global markets.
A packed Thursday pod: Carlo and Baker cover the latest developments in the Ghislaine Maxwell, Jussie Smollett and Elizabeth Holmes trials. Plus, Dems are losing the Hispanic vote, Boris Johnson in trouble again, and is it possible that Adele has peaked?
Jim Bruderman, Vice Chairman at 1879 Advisors, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors experienced a 'panic attack' last week with the spread of the Omicron variant and the Fed's tapering plans. As a result, he says we're now seeing stocks climb due to a growing comfort level toward both developments.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, faced withering questions on Capitol Hill about the reports the social media app was aware of the severe mental health impacts it was having on teenage girls. Karen Kornbluh, the director of digital innovation and democracy for the German Marshall Fund, joined Cheddar to discuss the rare show of bipartisan outrage on display at the Senate hearing. "The senators came really loaded for bear on both sides of the aisle," she said. Kornbluh explained how senators like Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) set up fake Instagram accounts with teen girl profiles in order to research the effects firsthand.
The Biden administration will not send an official U.S. delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as a statement against China's "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang." Weifeng Zhong, senior research fellow at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, joins Cheddar News to discuss the boycott.
