Zephyr Teachout: New York Politics Is on the Verge Of Big Change
*By Christian Smith*
Zephyr Teachout isn't scared of bringing cases against Donald Trump. And if elected New York Attorney General this fall, she'll be "pretty damn aggressive" in handling the President and his organization.
"New York Attorney General is the single most important legal office in the country for taking on Donald Trump's business interests and his foundation interests," Teachout said Monday during an interview on Cheddar.
Teachout is one of four candidates for the Democratic nomination for New York Attorney General. Her campaign is focused on filtering out corruption in New York politicsーwhich she traces, in part, back to the state's real estate industry and the Trump Organization.
Teachout was a member of the team of lawyers who brought the first emoluments lawsuit against Donald Trump just three days after he was elected president in 2016. The lawsuit alleged that Trump violated the U.S. Constitution by accepting money from foreign governments while in federal office. The lawsuit, still pending, is under appeal within the Southern District of New York.
Before announcing her candidacy for Attorney General, Teachout was the treasurer of Cynthia Nixon's gubernatorial campaign. She left her position to run for office when former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman resigned amid accusations of physical abuse by [four women](https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/four-women-accuse-new-yorks-attorney-general-of-physical-abuse).
Teachout is no stranger to New York state elections: she challenged Andrew Cuomo in the 2014 governor's race, earning 34 percent of the vote. The campaign put Teachout's name on the map in New York state politicsーattention she hopes will yield electoral success when voters head to the polls for the primaries.
Primary elections for New York's state and local races take place Tuesday, September 13.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/how-zephyr-teachout-plans-to-take-on-corruption-if-elected-new-york-attorney-general)
2021 saw markets continue to be impacted by the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic -most recently in the form of the Omicron variant- in addition to the global supply chain shortage, and increased inflation. But it wasn't all bad news, as crypto soared throughout the year, and meme stocks continued to have a moment. With the year coming to a close, investors are keeping an eye out to see if they should expect more of the same in the new year. Chris Vecchio, Senior Analyst, at DailyFX tells us what market trends to be on the watch for in 2022.
Matt Hayden, vice president of govtech solutions at Exiger and a former assistant secretary of cyber at Department of Homeland Security, joined Cheddar to discuss the surprise phone call initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin to President Joe Biden, ahead of January security talks about the rising tensions over Ukraine. "We're hoping to hear that we're able to talk about the aggression and the leadup of the Ukrainian militarization," Hayden said. "But we're also looking to hear is how the Kremlin leveraged their talking points to try to test their negotiation stance with the United States leading into this January 10th meeting."
The No Surprises Act begins implementation on January 1, 2022. The legislation is meant to curb the practice of unexpected billing for care from providers the patient was unaware were out-of-network from their insurance. Patricia Kelmar, director of health care campaigns for U.S. PIRG joined Cheddar to describe the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars charged to unsuspecting patients and how things will change under the new law. "If we are picking an in-network doctor and an in-network hospital, we should not see those added costs from anesthesiologists, radiologists, scrub-in surgeons," she said. "The other area it protects you is in air ambulances — not ground ambulances, unfortunately — but the helicopters or the airplanes you might need to transport you in an emergency situation."
President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladmir Putin are expected to have another conversation surrounding escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Ariel Cohen, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, joined Cheddar's Ken Buffa to discuss the ongoing tensions and why Putin's request for a conversation with Biden comes now. "This is very serious. This is the worst security crisis we had since the collapse of the Soviet Union," Cohen told Cheddar.
Stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, but two indexes - the Dow and the S&P 500 - ended the session with a new record. Akshata Bailkeri, Equity Analyst at Bruderman Asset Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she says there is a consensus for robust consumer spreading in 2022, especially as the Omicron variant is proving to be milder than other COVID-19 strains.
