The biggest political star of the new year is the hypothetical lawmaker, "Senator Mitt Romney." The Grio's Todd Johnson joins Cheddar to evaluate the former governor's chances if he chooses to run for Senator Orrin Hatch's (R-UT) seat. The managing editor thinks Romney's immense popularity in the state would be enough to carry him to a victory.
Then, we look back at the former GOP presidential candidate's relationship with President Trump. Johnson walks us through the frenemies' history, from their infamous Jean Georges dinner, to Romney calling the president a "phony" and a "fraud." We consider Hatch's decision to retire after the president asked him to remain in the Senate.
Finally, we recap two of the president's most-talked-about tweets. Johnson explains how the media can cover Trump's fake-news awards without promoting it as a legitimate awards show. Then, we put the president's North Korea "button" comments in the context of his larger foreign-policy approach.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
The Supreme Court is allowing Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now.
