Talk Business & Politics Daily: The Tom Cotton preview, Insight in Conway, Cleveland to Philadelphia edition

Editor’s note: You can watch the full video of today’s Talk Business & Politics Daily at the end of this report, or download an audio version through the iTunes store under “Talk Business & Politics.”

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Thursday’s Talk Business & Politics Daily features several significant interviews in business and politics.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, is a guest on Sunday’s broadcast edition of TB&P. He’ll discuss Iran, health care, and Donald Trump.

As for the controversial $400 million cash payment to Iran, Cotton contends it was a “ransom payment” largely because he says the ayatollahs characterized it that way.

“I say it was a ransom payment because whatever the President and senior administration officials claim, it was done simultaneously with the exchange of hostages,” he said. “More importantly, it’s not what the President says, it’s what the ayatollahs think. And they have said explicitly that they view it as a ransom payment – that they would not have released those hostages without that $400 million ransom.”

When asked if the Trump campaign is moving in the right direction after a string of controversies ranging from attacking a Gold Star military family, comments on Russia, rigged American elections, and no endorsements of Sen. John McCain or House Speaker Paul Ryan, Cotton said:

“Based on that litany of stories, it’s not. Here’s what we should have focused on in the last week. Last Friday, we had a new economic growth report that confirmed that the Obama era economy will be the weakest economy since World War II,” he said. “On Sunday, Hillary Clinton lied about the lies she told about her email server. And on Tuesday, we learned that the Obama administration had paid $400 million in ransom for hostages.”

“Those are the issues that should be driving debates in the Presidential campaign and in Senate races all around the country. And Donald Trump would be well-advised to get back to the issues that Americans actually care about, not going off on tangents and offending some of the people who have sacrificed the most for this country,” Cotton added.

You can watch a portion of his interview below and the full interview on Sunday’s Talk Business & Politics program, where we drill much deeper into the state of the Presidential race, the $400 million payment to Iran, and new news related to health care reform.

CONVENTION BUSINESS, CONWAY BUSINESS
Reps. Eddie Armstrong and Michelle Gray continue their conversation on the state of the Presidential race. Armstrong, a Democrat from North Little Rock, attended the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. Gray, a Republican from Melbourne, was at the GOP convention in Cleveland.

The two House members exchange their thoughts on how Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are playing in Arkansas and why some of the national vitriol rarely spills into the Arkansas legislature.

Watch their conversation below.

Also, Steve Dodenhoff, Insight US President, was in Arkansas this week to announce his tech company’s expansion into Conway. Insight will take over operations of a line of business from HP, and as a result, immediately employ about 175 workers in the region. A sales operation expansion could add more jobs.

Hear Dodenhoff’s reasons for entering Arkansas, what he hopes the facility and its employees will bring to the company, and how the market space Insight plays in is fundamentally evolving.