Kelly Weill, reporter for The Daily Beast, and Peter Van Voorhis, reporter for Red Alert Politics, discuss Trump's Saturday tweet and whether it could implicate him in obstruction of justice.
After speaking with reporters Saturday and adamantly proclaiming that there was "no collusion" with the Russians, Trump took to Twitter. The president said that he fired Flynn for lying to Vice President Pence and to the FBI - the latter statement could implicate Trump in obstruction of justice. Van Voorhis adds that the conversation around the tweet may be overblown. If Michael Flynn does not say that Trump told him to speak to the Russians, he may have nothing to worry about.
Kelly discusses what Michael Flynn's collaboration with the FBI and special counsel Mueller might reveal about the investigation. She expects more to be revealed as the two work together. She also weighs in on why President Trump's attorney John Dowd claimed to have dictated the tweet, and what that means for Trump's legal team as a whole.
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.
