Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced new sanctions against Iran and its economy, including on eight individuals the officials said were involved in missile strikes on Iraqi bases housing U.S. personnel on Tuesday night.
"We will continue to apply economic sanctions until Iran stops its terrorist activities and commit[s] that it will never have nuclear weapons," Mnuchin said.
Adding details to President Donald Trump's announcement Wednesday that he intended to further sanction Iran, whose goods are already heavily sanctioned, Mnuchin said the president will sign an executive order authorizing new sanctions including 17 against the nation's economy and sanctions against individuals he asserted, "advance Iran's destabilizing activities and were involved in Tuesday's ballistic missile strike." Mnuchin, who last announced sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation in September 2019 after suspected attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, said the administration has "100 percent confidence" that "the economic sanctions are working."
"We want Iran to behave simply like a normal nation," Pompeo told reporters in a White House briefing, saying he believed sanctions will help accomplish that goal. He added, "We're striking at the heart of the Islamic Republic's inner security apparatus."
Pompeo was pressed by reporters on the timing of attacks the president initially said were "imminent." The administration has been inconsistent in justification for the drone strike on Jan. 3 that killed Iranian top military commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani. In the past 24 hours, Trump said "they were looking to blow up our embassy," which the administration later explained he was referencing the storming of the Baghdad embassy on New Year's Eve. Though the Department of Defense had stated that the general had been "actively developing plans" to attack Americans in the region, Pompeo told Fox last night "we don't know precisely when and we don't know precisely where."
On Friday morning, Pompeo attempted to clarify the differing accounts, saying "we had specific information on an imminent threat and those included attacks on U.S. embassies. Period. Full stop."
Justification for the drone strike has had lawmakers up in arms for days, exacerbated by the five days it took the White House to brief Congressional leaders, a meeting two Republican Senators had excoriated as unacceptable and had them saying they would vote with Democrats in a war powers resolution.
Pompeo repeated this morning that Soleimani had been planning "a broad, large-scale attack against American interests," including U.S. embassies and bases in the region, and reiterated reports from the U.S. and its allies that the Ukrainian passenger jet that crashed after its takeoff in Iran, just hours after Iran had sent a retaliatory missile barrage at Americans housed in Iraqi bases, was "likely" shot down by an Iranian missile.
"When we get the results of that investigation, I am confident we and the rest of the world will take appropriate action," Pompeo said.
After 40 years of tension came to a head last month with the death of an American contractor, storming of the American embassy in Baghdad, and the killing of Soleimani, lawmakers worried the president had taken the U.S. to the brink of war with the Iran. On Jan. 8, Trump said Iran appeared to "be standing down" after its missile attack response.
Uber Lyft and Doordash are all set to spend $1 million dollars on a campaign and efforts to stop lawmakers from classifying their gig workers as employees. The campaign features TV and online ads highlighting Washington area workers who say they prefer the flexibility of being an independent contractor rather than following the model of a company employee. Professor at NYU. Stern School of Business and author of the sharing economy, Arun Sundararajan, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
President Biden is looking at unlikely partners to buy oil, after banning all Russian energy imports. Among them is Venezuela, a regime that has been sanctioned by the U.S. since 2019. Ariel Cohen of the Atlantic Council explains to Cheddar News why that might not be a bad choice.
Stock trading app Robinhood already has been offering cryptocurrency investments but seems further excited about the asset class following President Biden's recent announcement of an executive order. Dan Gallagher, the chief legal and corporate affairs officer for Robinhood, joined Cheddar News to talk about the White House's tentative vision for digital currency. "I think this executive order firmly states that, yes, crypto is here to stay, which it talks about the important competitive issues around crypto and how the United States needs to be a leader, a global leader, in innovation and technology regarding crypto," he said. Gallagher also discussed having clarity around meme stocks going forward but worried about overregulation slowing down innovation.
As Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the latest inflation report showed the consumer price index rose 7.9 percent — a 40-year high. Heather Boushey, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, joined Cheddar News to discuss what American consumers might be in store for as prices keep rising. "Forecasters at this point believe that the American economy will be resilient," she said. "They’re still predicting that the unemployment rate will continue to be lower at the end of the year than it is today, and we are still seeing folks believe that over time prices will come back down." Boushey did note that it would be dependent on how long the current situation lasts.
Simon Shuster, TIME's Moscow correspondent joins Cheddar to discuss how Ukraine could become part of the EU and what it would mean for politics in Europe.
President Biden has banned imports of Russian oil to the U.S. in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. The president warned of higher prices at the gas pump, leading some analysts to think it could propel the transition to clean, renewable energy. Michael Jones, chairman and CEO of investment solutions company Caravel Concepts, discussed how the ban is hitting green energy stocks as gas prices continue to surge. "I think the 10-year prospects for renewables just got a whole lot better because ultimately this is going to force a transition into renewables," he said.
Amid ongoing tensions in the Russia-Ukraine region, many American travelers are nervous about traveling to Europe.
It comes at a time when international travel was set to make a comeback, but uncertainty surrounding the conflict may delay the overall recovery. Francesca Page, Travel Expert, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is coming for the global food supply. Ongoing tensions in the region are threatening the supply of various agricultural products including wheat, barley and corn. Vladik Rikhter, CEO & Cofounder of Zenput joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss how this could impact food prices overseas.
