President Trump thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a joint press conference Wednesday afternoon for working closely with the U.S. on several Middle East issues while noting the "challenges" created by Turkey's purchasing of Russian military equipment.
Among the topics the two leaders discussed at the White House was Turkey's decision to purchase a Russian missile defense program and its attacks on Kurdish forces in Syria.
The meeting comes at a low point in Turkish-U.S. relations, particularly in terms of Syria following Turkey's offensive against Kurds in the nation who had been solid allies of the U.S. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported the existence of U.S. drone video evidence of Turkish-backed gunmen targeting civilians in October.
Turkey began launching attacks in northern Syria, almost immediately after Trump announced the U.S. would pull out remaining troops. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle condemned Erdogan's actions in Syria as well as Trump's decision to pull the troops.
"I want to thank his partnership as we work to build a safe and prosperous Middle East," Trump said Wednesday. "I'm a big fan of the president."
Erdogan called Turkey the "most reliable partner in the region" for the U.S.
While Trump and Erdogan met, lawmakers spent more than six hours in the first of public impeachment hearings on Capitol Hill. President Trump said he was "too busy" to watch but also tweeted about the events happening down the street.
When questioned about the impeachment inquiry, Trump called it "a sham" that "shouldn't be allowed."
Trump said he will be releasing a second call related to the impeachment inquiry tomorrow, which he said predates the July 25 call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
He added, "I'd much rather focus on peace in the Middle East."
Fox News' John Roberts asked the president about the phone call between Trump and U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland that Ambassador Bill Taylor recounted in his testimony earlier today.
"I know nothing about that," Trump said. "I've never heard it [...] not even a little bit."
Taylor testified today that his staffer accompanied Sondland to a restaurant on July 26, heard Trump ask Sondland about "the investigations" and, after the call, Sondland told the staffer that "President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden."
Trump joked "only friendly reporters" from Turkey could ask questions.
Claudia Rosenbaum, freelance reporter for Vanity Fair, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss the race for Los Angeles mayor.
Rick Caruso, a billionaire real estate developer, forced a runoff with the longtime Democratic Rep. Karen Bass, who had been the favorite in the race until an ad blitz from Caruso leaning on the city's issues with crime and homelessness.
Survivors of Larry Nassar, including Olympian Simone Biles, are seeking $1 billion in damages from the FBI due to its failure to investigate the former gymnastics team doctor convicted of committing years of serial sexual abuse of minors. Jack Queen, a senior reporter at Law360, joined Cheddar News to break down the legal grounds of this case. "This is one of the biggest black eyes that the Bureau has faced in generations, quite frankly, and the FBI has taken full responsibility and admitted that it completely botched this investigation," he said. "So, there's a lot of pressure to settle."
The House has passed some of the most aggressive gun-control measures in years, including raising the minimum age to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 and banning high-capacity magazines. Daniel Webster, Co-Director of the Center for Gun Violence Solutions, explains why this legislation has little chance to pass in the Senate, and what else can be done to curb gun violence in this country.
We are already starting to feel the effects of summer. Heat waves in Texas and California are already sending temperatures soaring. That could spell trouble for the nation's power supply. there are new concerns about outages in many areas of the country. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier explains the two main causes of blackouts, and what states are doing to keep the lights on and the air conditioning running.
If you have been on the road this past year, you've probably seen more accidents on the road than you ever have. You're not wrong. Traffic fatalities are not only increasing they are hitting historic highs. Almost 43,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2021. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier investigates - and finds out why.
U.S. stocks close Tuesday at session highs after a subpar start to the trading day. Tim Chubb, Chief Investment Officer at the wealth advisory firm, Girard, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. 'We're starting to see the moderation of three core things -- we've seen the moderation of prices, we've seen the moderation of wage growth we've seen in the labor market, and we've also seen a moderation of job openings,' he says.
Catching you up on the stories you need to know this morning, mass shooting victims testify on Capitol Hill, the White House outlines its plan to vaccinate kids younger than five years old, and we break down how to protect yourself from monkeypox.
A lot has changed since the pandemic began back in march 2020. COVID-19 caused a huge disruption in the U.S. labor force that is just beginning to normalize. As of last month, about 96% of jobs lost in the pandemic have returned. Still, where people work now looks very different from two years ago. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier looks at where the jobs are now and where they aren't.
Getting you caught up on the stories you need to know this morning: Matthew McConaughey lends his voice to the gun control fight in congress, at least 30 people were injured in Germany after a car plows into a crowd, and a new weight loss drug shows promising results.
