White House Says Trump Will Meet With Rosenstein Thursday
*By Christian Smith*
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein reportedly offered his verbal resignation to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Monday but was told to wait for the president. As of Monday evening, he still has a job ー for now.
Rosenstein's undetermined fate will have consequences for Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, said Jonna Spilbor, a former prosecutor.
"I think it is going to affect the Mueller investigation in a good way for all of those who think that this investigation has been one long run-on sentence that we need to put a period at the end of," Spilbor said Monday in an interview on Cheddar.
Several reports suggested Rosenstein would either resign or be fired Monday ー following an explosive piece in The New York Times last week that he had considered secretly taping conversations with the president and discussed soliciting cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment, which would start impeachment proceedings. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that Trump will meet with Rosenstein on Thursday after the president's return from the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In the event that Rosenstein is fired, a replacement might re-invigorate the Russia probe, Spilbor said.
"The replacement for Rod Rosenstein will say, 'Ok, you've got 30 days,' ー let's pick an arbitrary number ー 'Give me my report because at the end of that 30 days, I'm going to decide if you live or die,'" Spilbor said.
The Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel on May 17 of last year to lead an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Multiple Trump campaign officials have pleaded guilty to charges ranging from bank fraud to obstruction of justice, but no charges related to Russian collusion have been filed ー which is why Spilbor believes the investigation is dragging.
"The investigation has been going on far too long and with far too few results. Why do we keep it going?" Spilbor said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/how-rosensteins-possible-doj-departure-could-impact-the-russia-investigation).
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for COVID-19, her spokesman says. That's a day after the 82-year-old Democratic leader appeared unmasked at a White House event with President Joe Biden.
JetBlue made an unsolicited offer to buy low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, potentially jeopardizing the original offer from Frontier Airlines. Several analysts sounding the alarm on JetBlue's proposed $3.6 billion merger, saying the deal doesn't quite make sense. Jim Corridore, Senior Insights Manager at Similarweb joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
The Biden administration is once again extending the pause on federal student loans payments — this time, through the end of August. In a statement, President Biden cited a recent analysis from the Fed that if the payments were to resume, millions of student loan borrowers would face significant "economic hardship, delinquencies, and defaults that could threaten America's financial stability." Sarah Foster, an analyst at Bankrate, breaks down the impact of the extension on borrowers, the economy, and the future of student loan forgiveness. "I think this is just an instance of the federal student loan forbearance program kind of creating additional uncertainty for borrowers, especially in the sense that these past four extensions from the Biden administration have kind of come at the 11th hour here," she said.
Thousands of cryptocurrency enthusiasts are gathering in Miami as the city builds its reputation as one of the key locations to develop the blockchain technology despite its underdog status.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 7, 2022, with updates on Ukraine urging NATO for military aid for their war with Russia, the SEC investigating Amazon, microplastics being found deep inside human lungs for the first time, and more.
President Biden is trying to help Americans at the pump by tapping into U.S. oil reserves in an unprecedented way. He also announced several steps to punish oil companies. Lisa Whalen, automotive and mobility analyst at Morning Consult, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
U.S. markets closed higher to end Monday's session, with tech stocks leading the advance. Gene Goldman, Chief Investment Officer at Cetera Financial Group, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the potential future of the major U.S. indexes, and how factors like policy moves from the federal reserve and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war could impact volatility.
Prices at the pump have soared in recent months, and House Democrats pointed the finger at Big Oil on Wednesday during an adversarial congressional hearing.
