The Hive co-hosts Kristen Scholer and Jon Kelly discuss the top 5 hottest stories in tech and politics. From Melania Trump's appearance at the State of the Union to Mark Zuckerberg's play for local news, The Hive has the latest news you need to know.
Melania Trump broke tradition and rode in a separate motorcar from her husband to the State of the Union Tuesday night... just days after news broke that Trump potentially had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels. Bess Levin of Vanity Fair discusses why Melania can't divorce Trump and how her brand can survive the next three years.
Plus, Jeff Bezos attempts to tackle healthcare. Amazon, JPMorgan, and Warren Buffett have teamed up to fix healthcare within their respective companies. Vanity Fair's Nick Bilton says Bezos typically tries a project on the side before going totally mainstream with it and he thinks this deal is the first step in a larger plan.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
