Oprah's Political Future, Evan Spiegel's Snap Snafu
Hive editor Jon Kelly, Kristen Scholer, and the VF Hive Panel take us through the five biggest stories of the day in politics, business, and technology. Emily Jane Fox kicks things off with a report on Ivanka Trump's tweet in support of Oprah Winfrey. Ivanka called Oprah's speech inspiring and empowering. The panel discusses the irony of the tweet considering Donald Trump's track record and whether it may have exposed her political instincts.
Maya Kosoff weighs in to discuss the latest woes for Evan Spiegel. She talks about the unpopular update that Snap rolled out this week and the fact that the company's stock is trading at about 50 percent of its IPO value.
T.A. Frank and Tina Nguyen join the discussion to weigh in on a potential Mitt Romney run for Orrin Hatch's Senate seat in Utah. The panel debates a possible presidential run for Romney in 2020.
Frank and Nguyen also report on Steve Bannon's ouster from Breitbart. They discuss the rift between Rebekah and Robert Mercer and Steve Bannon, as well as reports that the Mercers actually soured on Bannon months ago.
Emily Frank returns to round out the Hive Five to talk about Donald Trump and how his trip to Davos will be perceived by his base. T.A. Frank and Tina Nguyen also join in to discuss how Trump's America First agenda may not be so popular overseas.
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.
