Trump hush cash trial: Michael Cohen testifies

Michael Cohen, former attorney for Donald Trump, arrives at court in New York City, March 13, 2023.

Eduardo Munoz | Reuters

Michael Cohen testified Monday he feared there would be a “catastrophic” effect on the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump if porn star Stormy Daniels went public with her claim of having sex with the billionaire real estate mogul a decade earlier.

Cohen said Trump was very angry to learn that Daniels was again shopping around her account, five years after his then-personal lawyer and fixer Cohen first notified Trump about the potential story becoming public.

” ‘I thought you took care of this,’ ” Trump said, Cohen testified Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court at Trump’s criminal hush money trial. ″ ‘I thought this was under control.’ “

Trump then said, ″ ‘This is a disaster, a total disaster. Women will hate me,’ ” the 57-year-old Cohen testified.

” ‘Guys will think it’s cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign!’ ” Trump fumed, according to Cohen.

Cohen noted that at the time that he learned Daniels might sell her story of a one-night stand with Trump, the then-Republican nominee Trump “was polling very poorly with women.”

“And this, coupled with the previous Access Hollywood tape” made Trump upset, Cohen testified, referring to the infamous recording that captured Trump boasting of kissing women and grabbing their genitals without prior consent.

Michael Cohen is questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger as former U.S. President Donald Trump sits with his eyes closed during Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S. May 13, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. 

Jane Rosenberg | Reuters

Earlier Monday, Cohen testified that Trump had warned him that “just be prepared, there’s going to be a lot of women coming forward,” once he announced that he was running for president in 2015.

Cohen also testified about secretly recording Trump during a meeting about reimbursing the publisher of The National Enquirer for making a $150,000 hush money payment to a Playboy model to buy her silence about an alleged affair with Trump.

Pay with cash,” Trump says on that recording. The publisher ended up not being reimbursed.

Cohen’s revelations came on his first day of testimony at Trump’s New York criminal hush money trial, where he detailed efforts to protect Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 from being harmed by salacious disclosures.

Once slavishly devoted to Trump, Cohen is now his avowed enemy and could be the key witness against him in the case.

Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 shortly before the 2016 presidential election, in exchange for her silence about Trump.

When a prosecutor asked him if he would have paid Daniels without getting a “sign-off” from Trump, Cohen said no.

“Because everything required Mr. Trump’s sign-off,” said Cohen, who also said, “I wanted my money back.”

Trump said, “Good, good,” when Cohen informed him he had paid Daniels, Cohen testified.

“Don’t worry, you will get the money back,” Trump also said, according to Cohen.

Trump’s reimbursement of Cohen for that payoff while he was serving in the White House is the basis for the Manhattan District Attorney’s case against the ex-president.

The Trump Organization reported the Daniels-related reimbursements, which ended up totaling $420,000 over 12 months, to Cohen as legal expenses.

But District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges that this constituted a crime — falsification of business records — committed by Trump to hide the fact that the hush money had protected his then-wobbling presidential candidate at a key moment.

Trump, who denies having sex with Daniels, says the felony charges are bogus. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee calls them an effort by a Democratic prosecutor to damage his chances to win the upcoming election against President Joe Biden.

Trump’s lawyers have suggested he had Cohen pay off Daniels because he was worried about the effect on his family, particularly his wife Melania, if the adult film actress went public with her story about having sex with Trump months after Melania Trump gave birth to the couple’s son Barron.

Cohen testified that at one point during discussions about the hush money situation he asked Trump “How things gonna go upstairs?” a reference to Melania Trump.

Donald Trump replied, “Don’t worry. How long do you think I’ll be on the market for? Not long,” Cohen testified.

In addition to making the payment to Daniels, Cohen was closely involved in the arrangement of the other hush money payment that is a key element of the case, to Playboy model Karen McDougal by the publisher of the National Enquirer in 2016 in exchange for her story of an affair with Trump.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump sits with his eyes closed and New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg watches as Michael Cohen is questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger during Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S. May 13, 2024 in this courtroom sketch.

Jane Rosenberg | Reuters

Cohen testified that as Trump moved to announce in 2015 that he would make a run for the White House, it became clear that the married real estate mogul factored in his secret personal life.

“Did Mr. Trump express any concerns about negative stories about his personal life?” assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger asked Cohen, as Trump sat at the defense table.

Cohen replied, “Yes.”

“What did he say?” Hoffinger asked.

Cohen answered that Trump said, ” ‘You know that when this comes out, meaning the announcement, just be prepared, there’s going to be a lot of women coming forward.’ ” 

As Cohen began testifying Monday, telling jurors about his personal and professional background, Trump listened with his eyes closed, in the same way that he had done when other witnesses in the case took the stand.

“During the time you worked there for Mr. Trump, how often would you say you met with him or spoke with him,” Hoffinger asked Cohen.

Cohen replied, “Every single day, and multiple times a day.”   

Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 13, 2024 in New York City. 

Spencer Platt | Reuters

He told the prosecutor that working for Trump over a decade “was an amazing experience in many ways.”

“There were great times and some not great times, but for the most part, I enjoyed the responsibilities given to me, I enjoyed my colleagues, the Trump children,” Cohen said, as Trump’s son Eric Trump stared intently at him from the courtroom gallery.

“It was a big family.”

Cohen later detailed how he used to encryption app Signal to communicate with David Pecker, the then-CEO of American Media, the publisher of the National Enquirer, and Pecker’s lieutenant Dylan Howard.

Cohen said he used Signal when it “was a sensitive matter we wanted to keep private.”

He testified that in August 2015, Trump and Pecker met, and “What was discussed was the power of the National Enquirer being at the cash register of so many supermarkets and bodegas that if we could place positive stories about Trump that would be beneficial and if we could place negative stories about some of the other candidates, that could be beneficial.”

Cohen said that Pecker offered to alert Trump to any potentially negative stories about Trump so that he could stop them from being published.

In June 2016, Pecker and Howard alerted Cohen to the fact that the Playboy model McDougal was interested in selling her account of an affair with Trump to news outlets, Cohen testified.

Cohen said the impact from McDougal going public with her story could be “significant,” and that he “immediately” notified Trump after hearing from American Media about it.

“She’s really beautiful,” Trump said of McDougal when Cohen told him what Pecker and Howard had said.

“OK, but she’s shopping a story,” Cohen replied, according to his testimony Monday.

Trump then asked his fixer to see that McDougal’s account was not published, Cohen testified.

Cohen then substantiated Pecker’s previous testimony in which he told Trump it would cost $150,000 to “control” McDougal’s story.

“No problem, I’ll take care of it,” Trump told Pecker, according to Cohen.

But Trump did not pay back Pecker, which angered the publisher, Cohen testified.

During one restaurant meeting, Pecker told Cohen, “I need my money back,” Cohen testified.

“I said, ‘Mr. Trump said he will pay you back and he will pay you back,’ ” Cohen testified.

Cohen said he later told Trump he was concerned about a file American Media had on Trump.

“And one of the concerns that I had, that I expressed to Mr. Trump, was that if he [Pecker] goes, there’s a series of papers there that relate to you,” Cohen testified.

Hoffinger asked: “Was Mr. Trump concerned about that?”

“Yes,” Cohen replied.

He then said he recorded a conversation with Trump in September 2016 about buying the rights to McDougal’s life story.

More news on Donald Trump

Cohen said he secretly taped Trump “so I could show it to David Pecker, and that way he would hear the conversation, that he was going to be paying — that he was going to be paying him back.”

“And I also wanted him to remain loyal to Mr. Trump,” Cohen testified.

The recording of Cohen and Trump’s conversation was then played for jurors.

“What I was doing, I was doing at the direction of and for the benefit of Mr. Trump,” Cohen said of his involvement in getting Amerian Media to buy McDougal’s story.

Pecker and Howard also ran negative stories in the Enquirer about Trump’s GOP primary opponents, the senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and about Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016.

“Some of the negative ones that I received from David or Dylan was Hillary Clinton wearing thick glasses allegations that she had a brain injury, Ted Cruz photo of his father with Lee Harvey Oswald claiming he was involved in the assassination of JFK, articles about Marco Rubio in swimming pool with several men, that he was having a drug binge of some sort,” Cohen testified.

“AMI [American Media] would send over the cover story and I would show it to Mr. Trump and he knew David was loyal and on board and doing everything that he said he would do at the August meeting and he was actually doing it.”

Hoffinger asked Cohen if he recalled Trump’s reaction to those stories.

“That’s fantastic, that’ unbelievable,” Trump said, according to Cohen.

Cohen, who in the past has said he had a “blind loyalty” to Trump while working for him, is expected to testify for several days.

After Hoffinger finishes her first round of questioning, Trump’s defense lawyer Todd Blanche will cross-examine Cohen.

Blanche is expected to hammer away at Cohen’s self-admitted history of lying — often in the service of Trump — and his federal criminal guilty plea to tax crimes and campaign finance violations in connection with the Stormy Daniels hush money payment.

Todd Blanche, attorney for former US President Donald Trump, sits in the courtroom at Manhattan criminal court in New York, US, on Thursday, May 2, 2024. 

Jeenah Moon | Reuters

“He’s a convicted felon. And he also is a convicted perjurer. He is an admitted liar,” Blanche said in his opening statement about Cohen at the start of the trial.

A number of prominent Republican supporters showed up at court Monday to support Trump, including two U.S. senators, J.D. Vance of Ohio and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, and two state attorneys general, Steve Marshall of Alabama and Breanna Bird of Iowa.

“What’s going on inside that courtroom is a threat to American democracy,” Vance told reporters

On Friday, Blanche asked Judge Juan Merchan to slap a gag order on Cohen, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump. The former president is subject to a gag order about witnesses in the case.

Merchan did not agree to gag Cohen, but he did tell Bragg’s prosecution team to let Cohen know that the judge wanted him to stop making public statements about Trump or anything else in the case.

This is developing news. Check back for updates.

Novavax inventory jumps on Sanofi Covid vaccine deal

A vial labeled “Novavax V Covid-19 Vaccine” is seen in this photo taken Jan. 16, 2022.

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

Shares of Novavax closed nearly 50% higher on Monday as Wall Street cheered the company’s new multibillion-dollar deal with French drugmaker Sanofi that sparked a dramatic turnaround for the struggling vaccine maker.

Novavax’s stock almost doubled on Friday after it announced the licensing agreement with Sanofi. Novavax on Friday said the deal allows the company to remove its “going concern” warning, which it first issued in February 2023 due to major doubts about its ability to stay afloat.

“It really does help our business. It keeps us well capitalized, it takes the going concern off, it gives us the chance to pivot our strategy more toward what we’re best at — to bring additional value to all of our stakeholders, including our shareholders,” Novavax CEO John Jacobs told CNBC in an interview. 

Under the agreement, Sanofi will take a less than 5% stake in Novavax. The deal also entitles Novavax to an upfront cash payment of $500 million and future payments contingent on certain milestones, as well as royalties. 

Sanofi, one of the world’s largest vaccine makers, will co-market Novavax’s Covid vaccine in most countries starting in 2025. The deal also allows Sanofi to use Novavax’s Covid shot and flagship vaccine technology, Matrix-M adjuvant, to develop new vaccine products. The shots include combination jabs targeting Covid and the flu. 

A logo on the Sanofi exhibition space at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, on June 15, 2022.

Benoit Tessier | Reuters

In a note Sunday, Jefferies analyst Roger Song said the deal will provide significant capital to Novavax and support the company’s growth. 

“Economically, the deal is highly lucrative and impactful,” Song wrote. 

He said the upfront payment helps remove investor worry about Novavax’s going concern warning, and that milestone payments are “significant and relatively near-term” for the company since they are not tied to sales. Meanwhile, royalties will provide a steady revenue stream each year, Song said. 

He added that the deal “validates” the company’s protein-based vaccine platform. 

Novavax’s shot is the first Covid vaccine to use protein technology, a decades-old method for fighting viruses used in routine shots against Hepatitis B and shingles. Health officials view the vaccine as a valuable alternative for people who do not want to take messenger RNA jabs from Pfizer and Moderna.

In a note on Sunday, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger said he is interested to see how effective Sanofi is at raising consumer awareness about how the side effects of Novavax’s Covid vaccine are easier for patients to tolerate compared to competing shots from Pfizer and Moderna.

Risinger noted that consumer hesitancy around Covid boosters has come in part from fears about the fatigue and discomfort associated with Pfizer’s and Moderna’s shots. 

The firm expects Sanofi “to drive greater commercial success of [Novavax’s] vaccine starting in 2025, due to its commercial scale and contracting abilities, but it is difficult to predict the magnitude of impact,” Risinger wrote. 

He added that there could be “further upside” for Sanofi and Novavax if they develop a combination Covid and flu vaccine that has advantages over the mRNA combo shots being developed by Pfizer and Moderna. 

Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PRO

Jenn Tran Named Star of The Bachelorette Season 21

Status: Split

On The Bachelorette’s season 17 finale in 2021, Katie got engaged to Blake Moynes. The pair first declared their love for one another during their overnight date, which involved a paintball excursion, a cowboy tub and a conversation under the stars.

Getting down on one knee, Blake told Katie, “You deserve the world, and I’m excited to support you and be there for you every day moving forward.”

Three months after the proposal aired, the couple announced their split. They explained in matching statements, “We are so grateful for the moments we shared together and the entire journey that has unfolded this year, but we ultimately have concluded that we are not compatible as life partners, and it is the most caring choice for both of us to move forward independently.”

A majority of America’s enterprise house owners assist minimal wage enhance

People hold signs as they attend a press conference at City Hall Park on April 10, 2023 in New York City.

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

As we enter an election year, Americans’ perceptions of economic health matter more than ever. Small business owners are often seen as a bellwether given how acutely they feel changes in policy, and understanding their concerns around inflation and the cost of doing business can shine a light on how voters will respond in November. 

Many states and cities have recently raised or are in the process of raising their minimum wage, with some setting higher requirements than the federal minimum wage to match the local cost of living. New data from the Q1 2024 CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey shows that the majority (61%) of small business owners support raising the minimum wage in their state, even while half (50%) believe it could make it difficult to afford the workers critical to their businesses.

The survey, fielded among more than 3,000 self-identified small business owners in the U.S. from January 22 to February 1, 2024, highlights an interesting paradox, with small business owners expressing both support and concern over an increase in minimum wage.

Differences among generations, industries, and politics 

In recent months, some business owners have expressed support for minimum wage increases in the hopes that higher salaries in their communities will give potential customers more spending money, raise tax revenue that can be used to improve the local community, and increase employee satisfaction by meeting cost-of-living demands. Yet another faction of business owners worry that a wage hike will hurt profitability — especially for businesses where profits are already razor-thin — and reduce their ability to hire entry-level workers. 

In the CNBC|SurveyMonkey study, the groups most likely to support minimum wage increases are business owners who are women, Black, under 45 years of age, Democrats, or work in the arts/entertainment or non-profit industry. Younger small business owners are also more likely to believe that a minimum wage increase will help their business.

The groups that are least likely to support minimum wage increases are men, over the age of 45, white, Republicans, and/or who work in manufacturing or agriculture.

Small business owners with unfilled job openings within the last three months at their company are split on their support for minimum wage increases: slightly more than half (54%) support increases, while under half (45%) oppose. Two-thirds (68%) also express concerns over their ability to hire new employees as a result of wage increases. 

Widespread worry over the potential impact on their business

Overall, small business owners are split on whether a minimum wage hike will affect their ability to hire new employees. Half (50%) believe an increase will make it harder to hire, while just under half (49%) do not expect any impact. Notably, twice as many small business owners with unfilled job openings within the last three months believe that a higher minimum wage will mostly harm instead of help their business (51% vs. 25%). Even proponents of a minimum wage increase worry about its impact on their bottom line, with business owners who are women (45%), younger (58%), and Black (46%) expressing concerns about worker affordability despite being the groups most likely to support such policies. 

Despite the overall support for increasing the minimum wage, small business owners seem uncertain about how that may impact their own businesses. Just one in five (19%) small business owners believe that a higher minimum wage will help their business, a striking stat considering nearly two-thirds (61%) support it. In fact, 38% believe that an increase would harm their business.

These conflicting feelings among small business owners showcase the nuanced nature of this discussion. For more than a decade, the Fight for $15 movement has advocated for higher minimum wage laws around the country, and many local communities are grappling with high costs of living. As more states and cities move toward a higher minimum wage, it will be interesting to watch how Main Street sentiment continues to evolve.

NBC/MSNBC Hires Trump Mouthpiece Ronna McDaniel

NBC News hired former RNC Chair and Trump defender Ronna McDaniel to appear as a commentator on NBC and MSNBC.

The New York Times reported:
Ronna McDaniel, who stepped down as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee this month, is joining NBC News as an on-air contributor, the network said on Friday.

The hire adds a reliably conservative voice to NBC’s stable of political analysts. Ms. McDaniel is also expected to provide commentary on MSNBC, NBC’s left-leaning cable cousin and a network that former President Donald J. Trump and his allies often accuse of being an arm of the Democratic Party.

Why NBC would think that MSNBC viewers want to see or hear from Ronna McDaniel is a question that deserves answers. The reality is that the first time McDaniel appears on MSNBC channels will be changed from coast to coast.

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

McDaniel has been a mouthpiece for Trump for years, and only lost her job at the RNC because Trump wanted to take over the Republican National Committee and raid it to pay his legal bills.
NBC is pandering to Trump voters before the election, and trying to win favor with Trump in case he returns to the White House.

McDaniel’s hiring is a reminder that corporate media, no matter how they are branded, by nature will always look to appeal to Republicans.

Ronna McDaniel conspired with Trump to overturn the 2020 election, and soon she will be appearing on some of your favorite MSNBC shows.

A Special Message From PoliticusUSA

If you are in a position to donate purely to help us keep the doors open on PoliticusUSA during what is a critical election year, please do so here. 

We have been honored to be able to put your interests first for 14 years as we only answer to our readers and we will not compromise on that fundamental, core PoliticusUSA value.

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

Falling fertility charges pose main challenges for the worldwide financial system

Terry Vine | Getty Images

Falling fertility rates are set to spark a transformational demographic shift over the next 25 years, with major implications for the global economy, according to a new study.

By 2050, three-quarters of countries are forecast to fall below the population replacement birth rate of 2.1 babies per female, research published Wednesday in The Lancet medical journal found.

That would leave 49 countries — primarily in low-income regions of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia — responsible for the majority of new births.

“Future trends in fertility rates and livebirths will propagate shifts in global population dynamics, driving changes to international relations and a geopolitical environment, and highlighting new challenges in migration and global aid networks,” the report’s authors wrote in their conclusion.

By 2100, just six countries are expected to have population-replacing birth rates: The African nations of Chad, Niger and Tonga, the Pacific islands of Samoa and Tonga, and central Asia’s Tajikistan.

That shifting demographic landscape will have “profound” social, economic, environmental and geopolitical impacts, the report’s authors said.

In particular, shrinking workforces in advanced economies will require significant political and fiscal intervention, even as advances in technology provide some support.

“As the workforce declines, the total size of the economy will tend to decline even if output per worker stays the same. In the absence of liberal migration policies, these nations will face many challenges,” Dr. Christopher Murray, a lead author of the report and director at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, told CNBC.

“AI (artificial intelligence) and robotics may diminish the economic impact of declining workforces but some sectors such as housing would continue to be strongly affected,” he added.

Baby boom vs. bust

The report, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, did not put a figure on the specific economic impact of the demographic shifts. However, it did highlight a divergence between high-income countries, where birth rates are steadily falling, and low-income countries, where they continue to rise.

From 1950 to 2021, the global total fertility rate (TFR) — or average number of babies born to a woman — more than halved, falling from 4.84 to 2.23, as many countries grew wealthier and women had fewer babies. That trend was exacerbated by societal shifts, such as an increase in female workforce participation, and political measures including China’s one-child policy.

From 2050 to 2100, the total global fertility rate is set to fall further from 1.83 to 1.59. The replacement rate — or number of children a couple would need to have to replace themselves — is 2.1 in most developed countries.

That comes even as the global population is forecast to grow from 8 billion currently to 9.7 billion by 2050, before peaking at around 10.4 billion in the mid-2080s, according to the UN.

Already, many advanced economies have fertility rates well below the replacement rate. By the middle of the century, that category is set to include major economies China and India, with South Korea’s birth rate ranking as the lowest globally at 0.82

Meantime, lower-income countries are expected to see their share of new births almost double from 18% in 2021 to 35% by 2100. By the turn of the century, sub-Saharan Africa will account for half of all new births, according to the report.

Murray said that this could put poorer countries in a “stronger position” to negotiate more ethical and fair migration policies — leverage that could become important as countries grow increasingly exposed to the effects of climate change.

U.S. rejects China’s declare to Arunachal Pradesh, says it is part of India

A tableau of Arunachal Pradesh state during the Republic Day parade along Kartavya Path in New Delhi, India, on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. India’s Republic Day marks the anniversary of when the country’s secular constitution came into effect in 1950. 

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The U.S. has rejected China’s “unilateral attempts” to advance its territorial claims, weighing in on a spat between New Delhi and Beijing after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a tunnel in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

It is the latest in an escalating dispute between neighboring India and China, which share a 3,500 kilometer border.

China, which refers to the territory as Zangnan, claims Arunachal Pradesh is part of southern Tibet. India rejects those claims, stating Arunachal Pradesh has always been a part of India.

On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department weighed in on the matter.

“The United States recognizes Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory and we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by incursions or encroachments, military or civilian, across the Line of Actual Control,” spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

The LAC is a demarcation that separates India-controlled territory from that controlled by China.

“I see this statement as a reflection of consistent U.S. efforts to fully align itself with India in its competition with China,” Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center told CNBC.

Kugelman pointed out that the U.S. typically refrains from commenting on some Indian border disputes, such as the one with Pakistan over Kashmir. But in this case, Washington is signaling its solidarity with New Delhi — “in the same way that it has made efforts, including through intelligence-sharing, to help India deter Chinese aggressions on its northern border.”

Earlier this month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the “Sela Tunnel” — the world’s longest bi-lane tunnel  built at an altitude above 13,000 feet, which is located in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, triggering sharp responses from Chinese officials.

Border tensions between India and China have risen in recent years. In a major escalation in 2020, a clash between the two sides killed 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops. Last year, China renamed 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, a move strongly opposed by India.  

Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, deputy director general of the Information Office of China’s Ministry of National Defense said in a statement days after the road tunnel inauguration that “China never recognizes and firmly opposes India’s illegal establishment of the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh.'”

Last week, China’s defense ministry reiterated its claim over the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

India’s foreign ministry this week responded to Zhang’s comments, saying Arunachal Pradesh “was, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India.”

Randhir Jaiswal, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson said in an official statement that the Chinese Defense Ministry made “absurd claims” over the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh and “repeating baseless arguments in this regard does not lend such claims any validity.”

On the U.S. standing up for India, Harsh V. Pant, vice president for studies and foreign policy at Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank, said: “It shows how far India-U.S. relations have come.

“Even when it comes to the matter, which has been very sensitive, such as the India China border dispute, the U.S. today is openly standing with India,” he told CNBC.

— CNBC’s Naman Tandon contributed to this story.

DeVon Franklin Is Noticed With A Thriller Lady (PHOTOS)

DeVon Franklin is seemingly moving forward almost two years after finalizing his divorce from Meagan Good.

RELATED: Meagan Good Says She Contemplated Going Back To Celibacy After “Devastating” Divorce From DeVon Franklin

Here’s What Happened With DeVon Franklin

Paparazzi captured photos of Franklin and a mystery as they popped out to enjoy a meal at an undisclosed restaurant on Tuesday, March 19.

Additionally, the pair’s outing appeared casual as they each rocked sweatpants attire. Franklin sported a two-piece gray sweatsuit and New Balance sneakers. Meanwhile, his mystery woman donned an oversized blue T-shirt, gray sweatpants, and sneakers.

It’s unclear what preference the couple had for their meal. However, one thing’s for sure — they didn’t fail to make their affection clear.

Scroll below to see photos of the pair.

*EXCLUSIVE* West Hollywood, CA – Meagan Good’s ex-husband DeVon Franklin is pictured out on a date and holding hands with a mystery woman as Meagan Good reportedly declares she’s in love with Jonathan Majors.
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The Photos Arrive As Meagan Good’s Boo Jonathan Majors Faces More Legal Trouble

According to Variety, Meagan Good’s boyfriend, Jonathan Majors, was hit with a defamation lawsuit on Tuesday, March 19. Additionally, the lawsuit was reportedly filed by his ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari.

The outlet adds that Jabbari is accusing Majors of assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Furthermore, Jabbari is also reportedly accusing Majors of “malicious prosecution.”

The outlet adds that Jabbari’s suit stems from Majors repeatedly denying assaulting her during his previous criminal trial and interview with ‘Good Morning America.’ As The Shade Room previously reported, during the interview, Majors maintained that he did not assault Jabbari in March 2023, despite being convicted of assault and harassment against her by a jury in December 2023.

According to Variety, Majors is scheduled to face sentencing for the criminal conviction next month.

As The Shade Room previously reported, Meagan Good most recently gushed about her romance with Majors while they appeared at the NAACP Image Awards this past weekend.

The actor declared that she’s happily in love with Majors. Additionally, she shared how she coped throughout his criminal trial.

“I’m in love, I’m transitioning, I’m healing, I’m growing [and] I’m getting excited about what’s next… I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time,” she said. “I keep my eyes on God… And I stay true to myself, and I stay authentic. I know what I know that I know. And in time, everything else just catches up with what you know if you’re true to yourself and you’re authentic.”

DeVon Franklin Previously Spoke On His Ex-Wife’s Romance With Jonathan Majors

Furthermore, in June 2023, DeVon Franklin shared his thoughts about his ex-wife’s romance with Majors. At the time, Franklin explained that there were nights he cried himself to sleep trying to move past his and Good’s split.

However, he was ultimately “happy” to see his ex-wife move forward, per The Shade Room. Additionally, Franklin noted that his and Good’s love for one another didn’t go away; it just “changed forms.”

Lastly, Franklin made it clear he had no “hate” or “ill-will” toward Majors.

RELATED: DeVon Franklin Says It Doesn’t “Upset” Him Seeing Ex-Wife Meagan Good With Jonathan Majors: “She’s Happy. That’s A Blessing” (Video)

UAW says VW staff at Tennessee plant file for union election

A Volkswagen EV ID.4 crossover at the Volkswagen of America plant in Chattanooga, Tenneessee, on June 8, 2022.

Michael Wayland | CNBC

DETROIT — Volkswagen workers at a plant in Tennessee have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for a vote to join the United Auto Workers, the union announced Monday.

The filing comes after a “supermajority of Volkswagen workers have signed union cards in just 100 days,” the union said, marking a major milestone in the labor group’s organizing drives of nonunionized auto plants in the U.S.

The UAW has previously failed to organize foreign-based automakers in the U.S. Most recently, plants with Volkswagen and Nissan fell short of the support needed to unionize. In 2019, VW workers at the Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant rejected union representation in an 833-776 vote. 

The Chattanooga plant is VW’s only U.S. assembly plant and employs more than 4,000 autoworkers who would be eligible to vote for union representation.

VW confirmed receiving a notice that the UAW has filed a petition with the NLRB to hold an election. The company said it respects its workers’ right to a democratic process and to organize.

“We will fully support an NLRB vote so every team member has a chance to vote in privacy in this important decision. The election timeline will be determined by the NLRB. Volkswagen is proud of our working environment in Chattanooga that provides some of the best paying jobs in the area,” the company said in an emailed statement.

VW production workers at the plant earn between $23.40 per hour and $32.40 per hour, with a four-year grow-in period to top wages, according to the company.

VW’s hourly wages are lower than those the UAW negotiated last year with the Detroit automakers, which this year range between about $25 an hour and $36 an hour for production workers, including estimated cost-of-living adjustments, or COLA. By the end of the UAW contracts, top wages are expected to surpass $42 an hour for production workers.

VW is one of 13 nonunion automakers in the U.S. that the UAW set its sights on late last year after securing record contracts with the Detroit automakers.

The drive covers nearly 150,000 autoworkers across BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.

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Senate ought to transfer swiftly on TikTok invoice

TikTok creators gather before a press conference to voice their opposition to the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” pending crackdown legislation on TikTok in the House of Representatives, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 12, 2024.

Craig Hudson | Reuters

White House national security adviser John Kirby said Sunday that the Senate should swiftly advance a bill that would force Chinese technology company ByteDance to sell TikTok. The bill passed in the House with overwhelming bipartisan support.

“We’re glad the House took it up. And we urge the Senate to move swiftly on this,” Kirby said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“We want to see divestiture from this Chinese company because we are concerned, as every American ought to be concerned, about data security and what ByteDance and what the Chinese Communist Party could do with the information that they can glean off of Americans use of the application.”

The White House’s call to action comes as the Senate slow-walks the bill, requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to an American company or face a ban in the U.S.

The bill passed in a 352-65 House vote on Wednesday. President Joe Biden, currently on TikTok for his reelection campaign, said he would sign the bill if it passed Congress.

Fueled by the momentum in their chamber’s vote, eager House members want the bill to move forward more quickly.

“Mike [Gallagher] and I have had conversations, very positive ones, with different members of the Senate, who are very interested in this bill and who were very surprised by the size or the margin of the overwhelming bipartisan support in the House,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Il., who co-chairs the special House committee on China relations with Wisconsin Republican Rep. Gallagher, on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

However, the Senate has a busy week ahead as Capitol Hill scrambles to negotiate a budget resolution for the remaining six appropriations bills that are due to expire on Friday, which would trigger a partial government shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has made clear that he is in no rush on the TikTok bill. He said that he “will review” the text without committing to a vote timeline. Schumer has previously expressed support for selling TikTok to a U.S. company.

Plus, some upper chamber lawmakers have dragged their heels over the bill rather than wholly embracing it.

For example, senators like Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Ben Cardin, D-Md., have offered tentative support for the measure but hesitated to commit to a yes vote.

“I’m certainly sympathetic to it. Let’s see how it goes through the Senate process. But yes, I think we need to put guardrails in regards to the ownership of TikTok,” said Cardin in a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The TikTok bill has also sparked debate outside of Capitol Hill. GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has voiced his opposition to a potential TikTok ban, a reversal from his stance years ago when he was advocating for the ban when he served as president.

“Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” Trump said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence reiterated Sunday that Trump’s opposition to the TikTok bill is the primary reason why he decided not to endorse his former boss for president in the coming election.

“The president’s reversal just in the last week on on TikTok, following an administration where we literally changed the national consensus on China is the reason why, after a lot of reflection, I just concluded I cannot endorse the agenda that Donald Trump is carrying into this national debate,” Pence said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”