Kroger follows Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods in becoming the third major retailer to impose tighter regulations on gun sales. Up until now, Kroger sold guns at 43 of its Fred Meyer locations in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Both companies recently released statements saying the tightening of gun restrictions is in reaction to the Parkland school shooting that left 17 people dead. Kroger and Walmart both stopped selling assault-style weapons a few years ago.
NBC Universal will cut the number of ads it airs in primetime by 20%. The media giant owns networks such as NBC, Telemundo, USA, MSNBC, E!, and others. Linda Yaccarino, chairman of advertising and client partnerships, says this is a necessary move to retain customers who are increasingly turning towards streaming platforms. The changes will go into effect by the fourth quarter.
Hope Hicks, one of President Trump's closest aides, is out as White House communications director. Her resignation comes a day after she told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that she tells "white lies" for the president. Ben Dreyfuss, senior editor at Mother Jones, says while the timing of this seems suspect, many reports claim Hicks had been considering leaving the White House for months now. Dreyfuss also weighs in on the latest with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mueller is reportedly interested in President Trump's efforts to push Attorney General Jeff Sessions out last summer. The president has been attacking Sessions on Twitter in recent days.
Congressman John Delaney (D-MD) joins us to discuss the future of artificial intelligence. He's created a bipartisan A.I. Caucus in Congress that will focus on harnessing this technology for good. Too often people are scared of A.I. technology because they fear robots will take their jobs, but Delaney believes it's important to work with the private sector to incorporate A.I. into the business world.
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.
