Jan 8, 2019 - Economy & Business

Networks to air Democratic response to Trump's prime-time speech

Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images

NBC, CBS and CNN announced they will air a Democratic response to President Trump’s prime-time speech on the border and ongoing government shutdown from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday, reports NBC News.

The big picture: Networks debated Monday whether they should air Trump's speech — which could be deeply political — given that many skipped a 2014 speech by President Obama on immigration over partisan concerns. However, the decision to air a response from the president's opposing party is not without precedent, as the Washington Post's Dave Weigel notes that networks aired a response from Speaker John Boehner to an Obama debt limit speech in 2011.

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Oriana Gonzalez
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20 Republican former U.S. attorneys endorse Biden, call Trump "a threat to the rule of law"

Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Twenty Republican former U.S. Attorneys on Tuesday endorsed Joe Biden while saying that "President Trump's leadership is a threat to rule of law" in the U.S., the Washington Post reports.

What they're saying: In the letter, the former prosecutors criticize Trump's use of the Department of Justice, saying the president expects the DOJ to "to serve his personal and political interests."

  • "He has politicized the Justice Department, dictating its priorities along political lines and breaking down the barrier that prior administrations had maintained between political and prosecutorial decision-making," the letter says.
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Axios
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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

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  3. Business: Winter coronavirus threat spurs new surge of startup activity.
  4. Media: Pandemic causes cable and satellite TV providers to lose the most subscribers ever.
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Orion Rummler
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Ted Cruz defends GOP's expected return to prioritizing national debt

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told "Axios on HBO" on Monday that he wishes reining in the national debt was a higher priority for President Trump.

Why it matters: Trump pledged during the 2016 campaign to reduce the national debt and eliminate it entirely within eight years, though he also deemed himself "the king of debt" and said there were some priorities that required spending. In the fiscal year that ended in September, the deficit reached a record $3.1 trillion.

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