P.M. Edition for July 24. President Donald Trump took a rare step visiting the Federal Reserve. The $2.5-billion renovation to its headquarters has gotten renewed attention this month as Trump has ramped up pressure on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. WSJ White House reporter Meridith McGraw discusses what this might mean for the Fed’s meeting next week. Plus, Walmart has built dozens of artificial intelligence agents to interface with everyone from customers to suppliers. Now the retailer is overhauling its approach; WSJ enterprise technology reporter Isabelle Bousquette explains why. And, for the first time, UnitedHealth Group has confirmed it’s responding to Justice Department probes. Alex Ossola hosts.
Global diamond company De Beers spent decades convincing couples that true love required a diamond. But now, lab-grown diamonds that are identical to naturally-mined ones are flooding the market with cheaper options and reshaping the diamond business completely. WSJ’s Jenny Strasburg takes us inside the showdown in the diamond market, and we speak to a ring shopper weighing her options. Jessica Mendoza hosts.
Despite repeated media claims that “17 intelligence agencies” confirmed the collusion, these documents show that no such consensus ever existed.
Victor Davis Hanson breaks down how this deliberate misinformation campaign damaged Trump’s 2016 campaign, his transition, and his presidency, while undermining U.S. credibility on the world stage on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”
“ There's news about the Tulsi Gabbard release of documents, alleging that Barack Obama and our top intelligence head had conspired to create a false narrative that Donald Trump was, essentially, a Russian asset.
“ But the problem is that, as I'm speaking, there's going to be new information. And these other subordinate intelligence directors that work variously for Clapper or Brennan are going to come forward in saying, ‘We found nothing. Clapper knew it. Brennan knew it.’ And what will Clapper and Brennan say? That ‘we knew it, but we lied,’ or, ‘We knew it and they told us to—Obama told us to lie,’ or, ‘He lied. We lied.’ It's not going to be pretty.”
👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com
00:00 Explosive Allegations Against Obama Intel
00:26 Obama's Response to the Allegations
01:15 Impact on Trump's Campaign and Presidency
01:46 Nunes, Horowitz, and Durham
02:54 The December 9th Meeting: Key Players and Revelations
04:01 Obama's Reaction and the Fallout
05:44 Ongoing Developments and Future Implications
But some large component stocks dragged on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, including UnitedHealth Group. The health conglomerate disclosed that it is cooperating with criminal and civil investigations by the U.S. Justice Department. Plus: Tesla shares slid after Elon Musk’s electric vehicle-maker said car sales continued to fall for another quarter. Danny Lewis hosts.
Matt Frankel, Tom Gardner, Jon Quast, and Jonathan Wilder discuss:
- Earnings disappointments from Tesla and Chipotle
- AI-powered growth from Alphabet and ServiceNow
- IBM's surprisingly strong AI business
- Figma's upcoming IPO
Companies discussed: TSLA, CMG, GOOGL/GOOG, IBM, NOW
Host: Matt Frankel
Guests: Tom Gardner, Jon Quast, Jonathan Wilder
Producer: Anand Chokkavelu
Engineer: Dan Boyd
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Plus: Honeywell International reported higher than expected second quarter results and raised its outlook for the year. And, an American woman has been sentenced to prison for helping North Koreans get jobs at Nike and other U.S. firms. Zoe Kuhlkin hosts.
More Illinois suburbs are cracking down or regulating the use of e-bikes and e-scooters. In Fox Lake, e-bikes and e-scooters are now banned from sidewalks. In Elk Grove, riders must have a driver’s license. And in Hinsdale, children are banned from riding e-scooters altogether.
The patchwork of rules is leaving many potential riders confused on what they can and can’t do.
Reset finds out more about how local municipalities are trying to balance mobility with safety. We chat with Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig B. Johnson, Jim Merrell with Active Transportation Alliance, and Dave Simmons with Ride Illinois.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Have we found Betelgeuse’s ‘Betelbuddy?’ An astronomical mystery seems to be solved as the long-predicted stellar companion to the bright star Betelgeuse has been detected by a team of researchers led by Steve Howell of the NASA Ames Research Center using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii. Steve discusses this breakthrough alongside astronomer Andrea Dupree of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who has discussed the predictions of this star on previous Science in Action programmes.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by the parasite plasmodium that kills more than half a million people each year. George Dimopoulos of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute is using gene editing and gene drive technology to target the parasites as they develop in the guts of mosquito. Can this new method disrupt the malaria parasite life cycle safely and sustainably?
Our gut microbiomes are linked to our brains, but how can the bacteria in our colon communicate with our nervous system? M. Maya Kaelberer of the University of Arizona explains this neurobiotic sense, suggesting that the microbes in our large intestine communicate with specialised sensory cells in the gut. These cells send signals up to our brain and regulate our appetite. So, who really decides when you're hungry? Is it you, or is it your microbiome?
Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Imaan Moin with Alex Mansfield
Production Coordinator: Jana Bennet-Holesworth
(Image: Betelgeuse and Its Stellar Companion in Orion. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Image Processing: M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab))
Republicans’ newly passed tax and spending law makes good on a promise President Trump made over and over on the campaign trail: No Tax on Tips and Overtime. But the change likely won’t have the drastic impact many workers think it will. Marketplace’s Kristin Schwab joins us on the show today to break down the nuts and bolts of how the tax breaks will work and how American workers and businesses could be affected. Plus, Kimberly’s cat Artax makes an appearance.
The one thing Mr. Authenticity was supposed to be was the anti-politician: the guy who would go after the establishment, clean up Washington, and make a booming economy. Now, Trump's acting just like a typical politician trying to cover-up a scandal—and he's vulnerable to a backlash from the manosphere that went all in on him. Meanwhile, he is getting near-Biden polling numbers on the economy, he's trying to make the Fed chair his scapegoat, and he's the best American president the Chinese auto industry ever had. Plus, Newsom's prospects in '28 and the success of 'change' mayors across the board.
