Speaker 1: Now from our nation's capital. This is Bloomberg Sound On.
Speaker 1: What we've been clear about is the need for energy
Speaker 1: supply to meet demand, and we've done our party. I'm
Speaker 1: doing all I can to increases supply for the United States.
Speaker 1: From Bloomberg Sound on Politics, Policy and perspective from DC's
Speaker 1: Top Names. We've had four looters that were arrested. Three
Speaker 1: of the four are illegal alien and there will be
Speaker 1: plenty of time to discuss differences between the President and
Speaker 1: the governor, but now is not the time. Bloomberg Sound
Speaker 1: On with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. OPEC cuts production
Speaker 1: and breeds new life into nopeck. Welcome to the fastest
Speaker 1: hour in politics. With an historic snub from Saudi Arabia
Speaker 1: and its oil producing allies, including Russia, OPEC plus threatening
Speaker 1: to send prices higher, and vibe legislation here in Washington
Speaker 1: that would allow the US to sue will be joined
Speaker 1: by former Deputy Secretary of Energy Mark Menzies. Later, we
Speaker 1: talked with the Republican nominee for governor in Massachusetts, Jeff Deal,
Speaker 1: endorsed by Donald Trump and one of the bluest states
Speaker 1: in the nation, and President Biden shares a podium with
Speaker 1: Governor Rhonda Santis in Florida. We'll see how they got along.
Speaker 1: We'll talk optics with our signature panel Bloomberg Politics contributors
Speaker 1: Rick Davis and Jeanie Schanzano with us for the hour.
Speaker 1: The news from Vienna this morning was something OPEC plus
Speaker 1: agreeing to make a larger production cut than most expected
Speaker 1: to keep oil prices high. The White House is not happy,
Speaker 1: as the move was defended by ministers from the producers
Speaker 1: group as necessary to protect the oil industry and their
Speaker 1: own economies, but they also risk causing a global slowdown,
Speaker 1: if not worse. Saudi Arabia's Energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salmon,
Speaker 1: sounding very pleased with the agreement they reached earlier. Here
Speaker 1: he is, we have proven naturally we are colleagues, and
Speaker 1: we had a just a band of brothers that would
Speaker 1: continue shred of our because our countries, our people, OPEC
Speaker 1: plus a band of brothers. As I see the headline
Speaker 1: on a great column Bloomberg opinion from our own Javier
Speaker 1: Blast Saudi Russian oil axis snubs Biden with cuts. It
Speaker 1: was not that long ago, of course, Joe Biden was
Speaker 1: in Saudi Arabia asking for additional production, and we'll get
Speaker 1: to that reaction today though. From Washington, the State Department,
Speaker 1: here's Anthony B. Lincoln. What we've been clear about is
Speaker 1: the need for energy supply to to meet demand. That's
Speaker 1: what we've been working on across the board, and we've
Speaker 1: done our part. Um United States oil production is up
Speaker 1: by more than five thousand barrels a day. As you know,
Speaker 1: we have tapped into the static poem reserve as well.
Speaker 1: We've done our part, he says, but breaking with tradition
Speaker 1: as again, Javier Blass reminds us in its history, OPEC
Speaker 1: and its new incarnation OPEC plus has never caught out
Speaker 1: books so much so quickly, while Brent crude was still
Speaker 1: flirting with a hundred dollars of barrel and it looks
Speaker 1: like New York crew will be close behind. This is
Speaker 1: where we begin our conversation with Mark Menzie's former deputy
Speaker 1: Energy secretary during the Trump administration. Mark, it's great to
Speaker 1: have you with us here. Just to first understand, I
Speaker 1: know it's difficult to connect the dots between oil production
Speaker 1: and gasoline prices here in the US, but after what
Speaker 1: ninety eight straight days of declines. It feels like the
Speaker 1: honeymoon is over here for the Biden administration. Well, thank you, Joe,
Speaker 1: thank you for having me, and it's a pleasure to
Speaker 1: be with you and your listeners this afternoon. Um. Well,
Speaker 1: to be sure, Um, the price at the pump typically though,
Speaker 1: is tied to the global price of oil. That's not
Speaker 1: a surprise. And so you know, retailers typically looked for
Speaker 1: the price of replacement of particular tank, so we've known historically. Indeed,
Speaker 1: the retail prices track the global price of oil. So
Speaker 1: when you hear the president policymakers saying we're trying to
Speaker 1: drive down the price of oil, it's because they know
Speaker 1: that ultimately it will flow through the prices when you
Speaker 1: have you know, refining bottlenecks and you have seasonal blends there,
Speaker 1: I realize there are a lot of different things that
Speaker 1: can go into this. The point is, though, five weeks
Speaker 1: before the midterms, this is not good news. Well it's not.
Speaker 1: And indeed all presidents are always concerned about the price
Speaker 1: of gas and running up to elections because it never
Speaker 1: fares well for the part again power when you're paying
Speaker 1: large amounts of money, unexpected money that you haven't budgeted
Speaker 1: to fill up, you know, your truck or your car.
Speaker 1: Um It was interesting. So listening to the comments of
Speaker 1: the Saudi Arabian minister reminded me of when and I,
Speaker 1: representing the US government, attended an international conference and the
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabian minister then and the Russian energy minister took
Speaker 1: glee in announcing that they were going to continue to
Speaker 1: reduce production to keep prices up. And so what did
Speaker 1: the United States do at that time? You might remember
Speaker 1: that what the past administration did was to encourage US production.
Speaker 1: We had achieved breakthrough technologies in uh in the shale play,
Speaker 1: and we became the number one producer of oil and
Speaker 1: natural gas in the world. Well, this is something we
Speaker 1: talked about, you know, every day here on Bloomberg, and
Speaker 1: we've been tracking very closely, this dysfunctional relationship between the
Speaker 1: Biden administration and drillers who found themselves holding the bag
Speaker 1: right prices got so low they said, we're not going
Speaker 1: to invest in doing this again because you're gonna pull
Speaker 1: out the rug from under us. But now that we're
Speaker 1: down two million barrels a day here, the Biden administration
Speaker 1: has very few options, right, I mean, you can't just
Speaker 1: turn as we've learned, you can't just turn on the spigot,
Speaker 1: especially when something like COVID shuts it down. Well, to
Speaker 1: be sure, it takes time to come online, but to
Speaker 1: be to be clear about it, we have capacity in
Speaker 1: the United States that were this administration to simply turn
Speaker 1: to the US producers and say, look, we want to
Speaker 1: work with you and support your production. We will grant permits,
Speaker 1: we will protect your investments, we will allow a return
Speaker 1: on your investment. But please help us out of this.
Speaker 1: Help us increased production. They did it before they came online.
Speaker 1: In the US led the world in oil production. Indeed,
Speaker 1: just last year, your your listeners, uh might be surprised
Speaker 1: to know that in the US was the leading producer
Speaker 1: of US oil increase. Well, the increase the increase game
Speaker 1: where from the Permian basin. The Permian based in Texas,
Speaker 1: beyond the reach of federal regulators. So when you look
Speaker 1: at where the US production increase has come that Secretary
Speaker 1: Blinkin was taken credit for, it's it's really Texas and
Speaker 1: Ainsville Play, Louisiana. That's where the production has come. It
Speaker 1: has not come from the areas that really produced during
Speaker 1: the past administration to really make up for the reduced amount.
Speaker 1: From Saudi Arabian reaction from the White House to the
Speaker 1: statement was blistering. Uh. And just a portion here. This
Speaker 1: is a quote I'm reading from the statement. The President
Speaker 1: is disappointed by the short sighted decision by OPEC PLUST
Speaker 1: to cut production quotas while the global economy is dealing
Speaker 1: with the continued negative impact of Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Speaker 1: The political side of this is really something mark when
Speaker 1: you consider h our own column here from Javier Blass
Speaker 1: referring to the Saudi Russian oil axis, is this actually
Speaker 1: what's going on here, that that that Saudi Arabia has
Speaker 1: decided that the war in Ukraine and and the police
Speaker 1: from the United States are less urgent than it's maintaining
Speaker 1: a relationship with Russia. Well, what their concern is is
Speaker 1: that the global prices, unless it's propped up, they can't
Speaker 1: fund their government. So Russia can't fund its totalitarian regime,
Speaker 1: and Saudi Arabia and the OPEC countries can't fund their mind.
Speaker 1: That's the thing, right, I mean, Brent is near a
Speaker 1: hundred dollars of barrel mark where it's already. Really the
Speaker 1: prices are historically high. Is so they must be assuming
Speaker 1: there's a recession looming and that these can't cannot be sustained.
Speaker 1: Is that your view? Well, what they what they're presuming
Speaker 1: is that the Body administration will not call on the
Speaker 1: US producers to increase production like the last UH administration did.
Speaker 1: And so they're they're basically betting that President Biden will
Speaker 1: be hamstrong running up to the mid term elections, not
Speaker 1: calling for an increase in production other than and calling
Speaker 1: on the US producers to reduce prices and talking about
Speaker 1: a global price UH. And so that's where Russians out
Speaker 1: of Arabia are united and saying that this current administration
Speaker 1: won't do anything. The thing is, we know the Biden administration,
Speaker 1: the Biden administration has been begging for more production. We
Speaker 1: we've heard the poleas coming from the White House. You're
Speaker 1: I want to go a step deeper than that. What
Speaker 1: is the difference though, between the way the way you
Speaker 1: incentivize drillers and the way that this White House is
Speaker 1: it about? Is it about promising to your point earlier
Speaker 1: that we will support your investment. How do you convince
Speaker 1: oil companies to drill shale when you're begging them and
Speaker 1: and they don't trust you. They're appending permit applications that
Speaker 1: have been fully vetted um and have satisfied all environmental
Speaker 1: concerns that this administration is delaying or sitting on. They're
Speaker 1: simply not acting on them. You don't read about it
Speaker 1: in the press. Yeah, they're telling a very different story.
Speaker 1: We hear about the nine unused leases right right, well,
Speaker 1: and that's and that's really a misrepresentation about the process
Speaker 1: that it takes to get the permits to drill and produce.
Speaker 1: So if this administration simply stops issuing moratoria on offshore
Speaker 1: production and encourages and grants permits, let me tell you
Speaker 1: what will happen is that these price signals will be
Speaker 1: sent to the global markets and there will be immediate
Speaker 1: downward pressure. Increased production will drive those prices down. This
Speaker 1: administration has tried it with the release of the Strategic
Speaker 1: Patroleum Reserve. They have done that that has had minimal value.
Speaker 1: What surprising to me is that the President is offering
Speaker 1: to OPEC countries as an inducement not to reduce production,
Speaker 1: that he will buy Opec oil to put in our
Speaker 1: own strategic petroleum reserve. Imagine that, and we were in office,
Speaker 1: we put bids out to feel our sprow as it's called,
Speaker 1: what us produced oil. Uh, well, we were just it's
Speaker 1: just a big disconnect between an obvious solution right there
Speaker 1: that I think most Americans would expect the President to say,
Speaker 1: you know what, we don't need OPEC. We don't We
Speaker 1: can produce as much oil that flows through the strait
Speaker 1: of hard moves on any given day. Well, we'd like
Speaker 1: to see it happen if that's the case, because we're
Speaker 1: gonna have to refill that thing. Mark, thank you for
Speaker 1: being here. Mark Menzies, the former Deputy Secretary of Energy,
Speaker 1: with a very different view than what you're hearing from
Speaker 1: the White House, certainly and even from the Middle East,
Speaker 1: or I guess I should be more specific to save
Speaker 1: Vienna today, we're going to assemble the panel next to
Speaker 1: get their take because, as I mentioned, this movement on
Speaker 1: Capitol Hill, the no Peck Bill would allow us to
Speaker 1: sue OPEC nations. Is that the right course? I love more? Next,
Speaker 1: I'm Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg. You're losing name to Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: Sound on with Joe Matthew on Bloombird Radio. I'll tell
Speaker 1: you July seems like so long ago, the big visit
Speaker 1: to Saudi Arabia, And of course at that point the
Speaker 1: President was taking heavy duty criticism for shaking hands, remember
Speaker 1: shaking hands with MBS in the name of oil. And
Speaker 1: he didn't leave with, you know, a promise for anything specific.
Speaker 1: They said it was about more than that. But listen
Speaker 1: to the discussion. More energy security and adequate oil supplies
Speaker 1: to support global economic growth, and that will begin shortly.
Speaker 1: And uh, and I'm doing all I can to increase
Speaker 1: the supply for the United States of America, which I
Speaker 1: expect to happen. The Saudis shared that urgency, and based
Speaker 1: on our discussions today, I expect we'll see further steps
Speaker 1: in the coming weeks. Fast forward to October five, and
Speaker 1: it is looking and feeling a lot different now. Of
Speaker 1: course again, gas prices down ninety eight days in a row.
Speaker 1: Things have changed, and there is a greater expectation for
Speaker 1: an economic downturn, if not a full on recession here,
Speaker 1: which would have a major impact on oil prices. So
Speaker 1: everybody's looking out for number one. Let's assemble the panel.
Speaker 1: Rick Davis is here in Jennie Chanzano Bloomberg Politics contributors
Speaker 1: make up our signature panel on sound on Genie, how
Speaker 1: bad does this hurt? You saw the statement today from
Speaker 1: the White House that they're just flat out angry. They're
Speaker 1: flat out angry, and I think the sign of how
Speaker 1: bad this hurts and how bad they knew it was
Speaker 1: gonna hurt. As we heard talk just before this meeting
Speaker 1: that the White House was panicking that they were trying
Speaker 1: to lobby members of OPEC to see if they could,
Speaker 1: you know, in some way encourage them not to take
Speaker 1: this step. And you were just talking about some of
Speaker 1: the ways in which they tried to dangle, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, we're willing to buy the oil to restock
Speaker 1: the reserves over here. They tried desperately. They even we
Speaker 1: even heard they reached out to Janet yelling to get
Speaker 1: the Treasury to do some lobbying. It all fell flat.
Speaker 1: And despite that, you know, fist bump heard around the world,
Speaker 1: you know, just a few months ago and now some
Speaker 1: people in the White House have said this is a
Speaker 1: total disaster. Five weeks to go, when let's let's be honest.
Speaker 1: One of the things we've said Uh, particularly on the
Speaker 1: democratic side that Biden has done well. Is oil prices
Speaker 1: had been going down or gas prices going down a
Speaker 1: hundred that's the one thing they had going for. It
Speaker 1: was one positive sign and it could reverse itself at
Speaker 1: the very worst time for them. So what's your view
Speaker 1: on this, Rick? Obviously the saudiast could have taken any
Speaker 1: number of courses here and and to go this far
Speaker 1: for for a cut of of this magnitude is is
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia siding with Russia? Is it as simple as that? Well,
Speaker 1: there's no question that Saudi Arabia has given a lot
Speaker 1: of a comfort to Russia during the attack on Ukraine.
Speaker 1: You know, they haven't said a word that would be
Speaker 1: considered helpful to Ukraine or the United States or the
Speaker 1: access of supporting Ukraine. Uh. And if anything, you know,
Speaker 1: we heard it from them directly. They see each other's brothers.
Speaker 1: This is a cartel, right, I mean, like, what when
Speaker 1: did we ever think of cartel was a good thing.
Speaker 1: We're the other guys. We think cartels are bad. And
Speaker 1: what I can't figure out is why anybody thought this
Speaker 1: wasn't going to happen. I mean, you know, when you
Speaker 1: look at what Biden didn't get when he went over
Speaker 1: there to suck up to NBS and try and get
Speaker 1: a reduction in price of oil, increasing supply, he didn't
Speaker 1: get in. He got a hundred thousand a day, and
Speaker 1: that was a drop in a bucket. Uh, And he
Speaker 1: got lucky, and prices went down and and then in
Speaker 1: in the period of time since then, there's been all
Speaker 1: out war against Russia and their oil production out of Europe. Right,
Speaker 1: we're talking about price caps and trade limitations with Europe
Speaker 1: on Russian oil. This is their friend, their brother at
Speaker 1: OPEC plus and and even on our own side. You know,
Speaker 1: we've been talking about ways of sanctioning people doing business
Speaker 1: with the Russian oil trade. So why we didn't think
Speaker 1: it was going to come back to haunt us is
Speaker 1: a surprise to me. I mean, I think the White
Speaker 1: House protests too much. They should have seen this coming.
Speaker 1: We knew there was going to be a bump up
Speaker 1: in price anyway because of the fall you know, winter
Speaker 1: months coming in. But right, this is this is shocking
Speaker 1: that it was shocking. Yeah, you wonder if if the
Speaker 1: statement makes us look uh, you know, more helpless. Genie.
Speaker 1: The statement today a tweet from Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut.
Speaker 1: I thought the whole point of selling arms to the
Speaker 1: Gulf States, he writes, despite their human rights abuse is
Speaker 1: nonsensical Yemen war working against US interests in Libya, Sudan, etcetera,
Speaker 1: was that when an international crisis came, the Gulf could
Speaker 1: choose America over Russia and China. So it does feel
Speaker 1: like we have an answer to that question. And maybe
Speaker 1: that shouldn't be a surprise, Genie, But I wonder if
Speaker 1: people like Chris Murphy you're gonna warm up to this
Speaker 1: idea of the note Peck legislation that would allow the
Speaker 1: US to actually sue OPEC nations. Maybe this is just
Speaker 1: a pipe dream, but is this the next conversation we're
Speaker 1: going to have in d C. Yeah? And I mean
Speaker 1: this is a conversation we've been having, what for twenty
Speaker 1: years on and off in d C. We've seen these
Speaker 1: bills come forward, We've seen you know, pushed back on them,
Speaker 1: um from a variety of of sectors. UM, some people saying,
Speaker 1: you know, just because you're angry at a time of crisis,
Speaker 1: you shouldn't go this far. You know, another country can
Speaker 1: turn this around on us visa the agriculture or something
Speaker 1: else there. But I do think that is going to
Speaker 1: be one of the conversations. Remove their immunity shield, allow
Speaker 1: for these antitrust suits to go forward. But the reality
Speaker 1: is that is, you know, in my view, at least
Speaker 1: addressing you know, addressing sort of the ramifications and not
Speaker 1: addressing the cause of the problem. And we need to
Speaker 1: address the cause of the problem. We cannot be reliant
Speaker 1: on OPEC for our energy needs, and so this is
Speaker 1: where the conversation has to go. So as much as
Speaker 1: I appreciate the frustration and should we sue them in
Speaker 1: the aftermath, I don't think that that is quite answer
Speaker 1: that we should look for from our public officials. And
Speaker 1: you know, I do agree with Rick to the extent
Speaker 1: that I can't believe the administration would be surprised after
Speaker 1: his trip and what happened in the aftermath that this
Speaker 1: is where we are today. Unless there's something behind the
Speaker 1: scenes we weren't privy to when promises were made that
Speaker 1: weren't kept. It does look like the White House is
Speaker 1: open to it. Part of that statement goes on to write,
Speaker 1: in light of today's action, the Administration will also consult
Speaker 1: with Congress on additional tools and authorities to reduce OPEX
Speaker 1: control over energy prices. Our signature panel will be back
Speaker 1: Rick and Genie. I'm Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg. It
Speaker 1: was only about a month ago, early September, when Jeff
Speaker 1: Deal won the Republican nomination for governor in Massachusetts to
Speaker 1: run against the States Democratic Attorney General Moura Healey, the
Speaker 1: Democratic nominee. He spoke to supporters in Boston, so we've
Speaker 1: got to empower also parents to keep that political agenda
Speaker 1: out of the classrooms. And I believe schools teaching the
Speaker 1: a VCS in the one two three's are important for
Speaker 1: parents to be leading more heally more heally believes in
Speaker 1: a different type of education. W O. K. All Right
Speaker 1: endorsed by Donald Trump. He was, in fact Donald Trump's
Speaker 1: state campaign chair back in made an unsuccessful run for
Speaker 1: Senate against Elizabeth Warren and now he's seeking the corner
Speaker 1: office in Massachusetts and joins us now on Bloomberg Sound
Speaker 1: on Jeff Deal, Welcome back to Bloomberg Radio. He thanks, joy,
Speaker 1: appreciate the time. So five weeks to the election here,
Speaker 1: I don't I'm sure you don't need me to tell
Speaker 1: you and I'm sure you're seeing the same polls that
Speaker 1: I see. The latest from Suffolk University has more a
Speaker 1: Heli up by twenty six points. Five thirty eight shows
Speaker 1: the twenty five point lead the real clear poll of
Speaker 1: polls where the twenty two points spread. Jeff Deal, are
Speaker 1: you planning to stay in this race? Of course? Look
Speaker 1: think three days after my primary win, we saw a
Speaker 1: pull from Emerson College that put us ahead with Independence,
Speaker 1: which is of the electorate in Massachusetts, by sixteen points
Speaker 1: over more Heally when it comes to the economy, and
Speaker 1: of course, I think we know right now it's very
Speaker 1: much about the economy, right, That's that's where the focus
Speaker 1: I think in the midterms is going to be in Massachusetts. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: of course Maria Healey says that you would like to
Speaker 1: ban abortion if you were elected. She's obviously seeing that
Speaker 1: as a major issue as well. Is she wrong? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean abortion is not on the table for this state.
Speaker 1: The Row Act was passed about a year year and
Speaker 1: a half ago, um and it basically codifies Rov. Wade
Speaker 1: into law before the Supreme Court even struck it down.
Speaker 1: You know, my job as governor is to execute law
Speaker 1: and protect people's health care choices. Um that includes I
Speaker 1: think healthcare choices where people were fired because they didn't
Speaker 1: get the vaccine and they state jobs, they were required
Speaker 1: to leave those jobs, or and a lot of them
Speaker 1: took early retirements. So look, whether it's you know, honoring
Speaker 1: the fact that the legislature has has passed Rob Wade
Speaker 1: and women have the right to abortion, or whether it's
Speaker 1: again protecting people's healthcare choices when it comes to the vaccines.
Speaker 1: I think this is you know, it's it's an issue
Speaker 1: that is no longer on the table. From Massachusetts, the
Speaker 1: polls I mentioned, you mentioned that number from Emerson College
Speaker 1: or do the others have it wrong? And if they don't,
Speaker 1: how do you close that spread in five weeks? No,
Speaker 1: I mean you're always going to see a Republican down
Speaker 1: in the polls in Massachusetts. You're always going to see
Speaker 1: a Republican you know, on the wrong end of fundraising
Speaker 1: numbers because you know, we're always in this state, I
Speaker 1: think are underdogs. But at the same time, Scott Brown
Speaker 1: one in two thousand ten, and he was down significantly
Speaker 1: with only weeks to go before his US Senate win
Speaker 1: in two thousand and ten, and then uh, the other
Speaker 1: thing is Charlie Baker also down to the polls before
Speaker 1: he ended up winning his governorship. You know, it's typical
Speaker 1: for Massachusetts to have a Republican that runs for U
Speaker 1: s in it like I did in two thousand and eighteen.
Speaker 1: You make an introduction for yourself. I received almost a
Speaker 1: million votes in that election cycle, and then, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: once people know who they are and trust the message,
Speaker 1: you can win as governor. So it's it's something that's
Speaker 1: happened before, and I think we're gonna Well, you're a
Speaker 1: little bit of a different Republican though, right of course.
Speaker 1: I remember meeting you in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention,
Speaker 1: Jeff Gill. You were the only elected Republican from the
Speaker 1: state who showed up to support Donald Trump as his
Speaker 1: state campaign share. Do you consider yourself a mega Republican
Speaker 1: as the President refers, I'm a working class Republican. My
Speaker 1: wife and I own a small business. We Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I used to be a Democrat fourteen years ago. Uh.
Speaker 1: For me, I've been in office since I served first
Speaker 1: in two thousand ten through two thousand nineteen, so I
Speaker 1: was six years into office before President Trump came into play,
Speaker 1: and the fact the matter is, I've always tried to
Speaker 1: put the working folks of our my state ahead of uh,
Speaker 1: you know, those special interest groups on Beacon Hill. I
Speaker 1: think that's what President Trump at the time was trying
Speaker 1: to do, which was make sure that Washington trying to
Speaker 1: drain the swamp. I mean, there's a lot of special
Speaker 1: interest money that seems to override the will of the people.
Speaker 1: So you know, what he did while he was in
Speaker 1: office was give us a robust economy. He was able
Speaker 1: to bring troops back from foreign engagements that no longer
Speaker 1: served a national interests, and he also wanted to talk
Speaker 1: about making sure we secured our borders so that we,
Speaker 1: you know, could make sure immigration was done correctly. Well,
Speaker 1: I ask you that because a year ago October you
Speaker 1: said publicly election was rigged and you called for a
Speaker 1: forensic audit of Joe Biden's victory in Massachusetts. Do you
Speaker 1: still believe that. So what I think is that, first
Speaker 1: of all, I have a trouble with the mail in balloting.
Speaker 1: I think that even in Massachusetts, we've seen ballots request
Speaker 1: mailed out to people who no longer live in apartments
Speaker 1: that they've been there. In fact, I have too in
Speaker 1: my possession that showed that, you know, request was sent
Speaker 1: out to people who hadn't lived there for a while.
Speaker 1: That's a problem. Wisconsin is banned mail in balloting. That's
Speaker 1: a problem. But rigging, to me is beyond just the
Speaker 1: balloting itself. Rigging is the fact that when President of
Speaker 1: Trump was first elected, you know, the FBI was investigating
Speaker 1: him based on dossiers that were provided by the Clinton
Speaker 1: administration and used to basically wire tap his campaign and
Speaker 1: then his transition offices. You know, and from the day
Speaker 1: he was elected, the media has been trying to bring
Speaker 1: him down. The FBI continues to try to bring him down,
Speaker 1: and the media media itself suppressed any information about the
Speaker 1: Hunter Biden laptop. The d by the media is what
Speaker 1: you're saying, Well, I think it's there was an effort
Speaker 1: by everybody to stop somebody who was trying to end
Speaker 1: the games down in Washington, d C. You know, I
Speaker 1: think he faced unprecedented levels of coordination against him, and
Speaker 1: I mean to the point where the vaccines were held
Speaker 1: back before you know, they were available in October, but
Speaker 1: weren't made available to the public, uh, you know, just
Speaker 1: to try to make it look like he wasn't successful
Speaker 1: in getting them rolled out. Everything that he did clearly
Speaker 1: was questioned by the by the media. And yet he
Speaker 1: had again low unemployment. He had, you know, I think
Speaker 1: a robust economy where the stock market was taking off.
Speaker 1: So you know, I don't need to rehash the last
Speaker 1: four years the four years before. But we've had two
Speaker 1: years now of President Biden, and you see, you know,
Speaker 1: very little scrutiny about the foreign policy that is now
Speaker 1: allowed Russia to invade Ukraine. You've seen very little talk
Speaker 1: about how the inflation and mortgage rates are rising and
Speaker 1: making our holes all we talk about here. Actually, but
Speaker 1: Donald Trump endorsed you for governor the day after you
Speaker 1: made that statement that the election was rigged. Is that
Speaker 1: what you need to say to get his endorsement? No, Look,
Speaker 1: I mean he and I had a discussion about it.
Speaker 1: I hadn't really thought too much about the election cycle
Speaker 1: itself until he explained to me what what he had
Speaker 1: felt had gone wrong there, And so you know, that
Speaker 1: was really just an extension of talking to him. Following
Speaker 1: the events of January six? Do you think that he
Speaker 1: should be allowed to be president again? Would you? Would
Speaker 1: you endorse him? Again or or share his campaign. Well,
Speaker 1: if obviously he decides to run again, you know, we'll
Speaker 1: see if there's any competition out there. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: and I think de Santus obviously has made the case
Speaker 1: that he might be one of the contenders out there. So, um,
Speaker 1: whether it's to Santis or whether it's Trump, I'm more
Speaker 1: likely to support a Republican over Joe Biden for sure.
Speaker 1: Ronda Santis did not encourage an insurrection at the capital though,
Speaker 1: that's not That's not a difference maker to you. You know,
Speaker 1: I have a difference of opinion on that. I don't
Speaker 1: think that that's exactly what she inspired. Those of media
Speaker 1: again tries to make it out to be that he did.
Speaker 1: I think that he in fact tried to encourage capital
Speaker 1: to be protected by National Garden that was turned down.
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, I have a totally difference of opinion
Speaker 1: that you mentioned, Rhonda Santis. Joe Biden is down in
Speaker 1: Florida today a meeting with the governor here. What's your
Speaker 1: thoughts since you brought him off? You approved the Santis
Speaker 1: shipping migrants to Martha's Vineyard and what apparently was a
Speaker 1: move to embarrass liberals in the State. I think what
Speaker 1: you know, Governor of Santis was doing was highlighting the
Speaker 1: problem we have with immigration in our country and the
Speaker 1: fact that certain states seemed to be burying the burden
Speaker 1: from the other states about the overflow people into the country.
Speaker 1: And you know, certainly these people were tricked though right
Speaker 1: they were lied to. Some laws apparently may have been
Speaker 1: broken because of that. Well, I think that there's is
Speaker 1: looking into that, but I do believe they were also
Speaker 1: given waivers to sign off on. So you know, again,
Speaker 1: I don't know exactly what happened, but I guess that'll
Speaker 1: be litigated, Jeff Deal. Governor Charlie Baker succeeded in drawing
Speaker 1: support from across the Aisle. Uh. He's leaving office with
Speaker 1: some of the highest approval ratings of any governor in
Speaker 1: the country. A lot of your supporters and indeed the
Speaker 1: state Republican Party called Charlie Baker Rhino, are they right?
Speaker 1: Look I l I supported Charlie back in two two
Speaker 1: eighteen when he ran for re election each of those
Speaker 1: two times ran for election in fourteen and re election
Speaker 1: in eighteen. The fact of the matter is Charlie Baker
Speaker 1: has done the best that he can with a very
Speaker 1: left leaning legislature that has delivered driver's licenses for illegals,
Speaker 1: and he vetoed that they over wrote him anyway. You know,
Speaker 1: that's the mentality that he's been having to fight for
Speaker 1: a long time, and I think he's done the best
Speaker 1: that he could. Obviously, there's some challenges still with the
Speaker 1: m B t A. There's some challenges. I disagreed with
Speaker 1: him on the vaccine mandates that forced people out of
Speaker 1: their state job. We're going to return those people back
Speaker 1: on day one. And I think there's you know, it's
Speaker 1: okay to be have difference of opinions with governors. But
Speaker 1: I think he's done the best that he could in
Speaker 1: the time he served. He's the Republican nominee for the
Speaker 1: Massachusetts gubernatorial election, running against Mora Healey, currently the Attorney General,
Speaker 1: Jeff Deal. We thank you for being with us again
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg. Thanks. I appreciated fascinating conversation for candidate who's
Speaker 1: clearly in a very difficult fight here, and you know,
Speaker 1: I was asking the questions, he was answering them. You
Speaker 1: tend to get the pivot to inflation and some of
Speaker 1: the other stories that have been working well for Republicans
Speaker 1: on the trail instead of well what you just heard,
Speaker 1: let's reassemble the panel. Rick Davis and Jeannie Chanzano are
Speaker 1: here Bloomberg Politics contributors. Fascinating. Rick, I don't know how
Speaker 1: you would have advised Jeff deal for a conversation like that.
Speaker 1: But this is not a race for governor in Texas.
Speaker 1: He's running in Massachusetts to replace one of I think
Speaker 1: we could argue one of the most moderate Republican governors
Speaker 1: and popular, by the way, in the country. How does
Speaker 1: that square with what you just heard. Uh, I don't
Speaker 1: know what he was running for. Um. She talked more
Speaker 1: about Joe Biden than he did about Mourra Heally, I
Speaker 1: think if I were twenty two points down, I'd be
Speaker 1: focused on my opponent, not the president. UM. If he
Speaker 1: thinks he's going to get a round swell support with
Speaker 1: that kind of an act, you know, I I suggest he,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe head down to the keys or someplace
Speaker 1: and play golf and enjoy himself because he'll be unemployed,
Speaker 1: you know, come November. UM. I really don't think those
Speaker 1: messages are going to work in a state like Massachusetts.
Speaker 1: Defending Donald Trump the way he just did, Yeah, what's
Speaker 1: your take on this, genie. If you're more a heally,
Speaker 1: this is what you want to hear, right, very very happy.
Speaker 1: She's not only up by double digits, but the path
Speaker 1: is very narrow for for Jeff Deal unfortunately. You know,
Speaker 1: when you we're talking to him, I was thinking about
Speaker 1: the debate between Abbot and O'Rourke the other day. Abbott
Speaker 1: mentioned Joe Biden forty times. You know who he didn't
Speaker 1: talk about. He didn't talk about Donald Trump, even down
Speaker 1: in Texas, because it's Democrats that talk about Donald Trump.
Speaker 1: Donald Trump is not a winning discussion item for Republicans
Speaker 1: across the country. They talk inflation, they talk prices of gas,
Speaker 1: they talk the economy, and you know what, if you're
Speaker 1: gonna win a Republican governorship in Massachusetts, you are going
Speaker 1: to be described as a rhino. And that's okay. That's
Speaker 1: how you get a Bill Weld or Charlie Baker or
Speaker 1: Mitt Romney. That's right, those are the names you just
Speaker 1: rolled out there. Rick. You know the legacy of Republican
Speaker 1: governors actually being quite successful. Now, granted, moderate Republicans being
Speaker 1: successful in Massachusetts has seen as kind of a checker
Speaker 1: balance to what is typically a very liberal legislature. There's
Speaker 1: like five Republicans or something in the house. Um, that's
Speaker 1: the way it goes there. But but for for Morea Healy,
Speaker 1: I don't know, you remember the Scott Brown race, I'm sure,
Speaker 1: and he had been counted out and the story was
Speaker 1: one of complacency. Do is more Heally actually have to
Speaker 1: be out knocking on doors when you're thirty five points ahead.
Speaker 1: For sure, she shouldn't take anything for granted. She should
Speaker 1: feel good about where the state of the race is
Speaker 1: as far out and and yet, um the thing, you've
Speaker 1: got to be impressed by voters in Massachusetts. They listen, uh,
Speaker 1: their their will attuned to politics and and the issues,
Speaker 1: and if you make a case to them, they'll consider you.
Speaker 1: And that's how you've had those three Republican governors in
Speaker 1: a laws you know, three decades who've been able to
Speaker 1: to succeed in a predominantly democratic state. So um uh,
Speaker 1: fair play uh and and make a good case. And
Speaker 1: more Heally has an opportunity to to become governor based
Speaker 1: on her appeal and how hard she works, and it's
Speaker 1: all set up there for her. Um Uh. Look to
Speaker 1: use an overused phrase, I know Charlie Baker, and deal
Speaker 1: is no Charlie Baker. Well, fair enough, uh, Rick, that's
Speaker 1: why you're here. And Jennie, you know, I don't know
Speaker 1: if you're putting more a Healey out at tea, stops
Speaker 1: to shake hands and so forth. She's got a lot
Speaker 1: of money, she's got name recognition after many years as
Speaker 1: attorney general. But I thought it was noteworthy that she
Speaker 1: thanked Charlie Baker in her acceptance speech, almost acting as if, uh,
Speaker 1: she was closer to Baker in the other party than
Speaker 1: the nominee we just heard from. That's right. I mean,
Speaker 1: she wants to show her moderate bona fide. She wants
Speaker 1: to show that she can reach across the aisle. She
Speaker 1: certainly doesn't want to repeat of Republicans winning as they have.
Speaker 1: What is it, out of the last six governorships in Massachusetts,
Speaker 1: five of them, if I had my numbers right, have
Speaker 1: been Republican. So she's smart to do that. And you
Speaker 1: see the party in her campaign. The ads are tying
Speaker 1: her opponent to the you know, the the legitimacy of
Speaker 1: the election issue, to his praise of Supreme Court justices.
Speaker 1: Trump's named to the issue of abortion. So this is
Speaker 1: where they're going, and she's got a smart team behind her,
Speaker 1: and she's got a double digit lead in quite frankly
Speaker 1: a year that should be a little tougher for Democrats.
Speaker 1: Jennie Chanzano when Rick Davis our signature panel, we're gonna
Speaker 1: turn to the visit to Florida. This is what everyone's
Speaker 1: been waiting for us to talk about, right Biden to
Speaker 1: Santis sharing a podium. I'm not going to tell you
Speaker 1: if there was a hug or not. They papered over
Speaker 1: their tensions as I read on the terminal, what would happen?
Speaker 1: What could have gone wrong? Knowing that this was a
Speaker 1: little dicey for both Joe Biden and Rohn De Santis.
Speaker 1: The big visit, the presidential visit today to the state
Speaker 1: of Florida, following, of course, Hurricane Ian, and we discussed, Look,
Speaker 1: there's lots of this great history of pitfalls here, asked
Speaker 1: Chris Christie, asked Charlie crist Who's to be running against
Speaker 1: Rhonda Santis. But things seem to go fairly well here.
Speaker 1: I don't know what the fallout will be for Rond
Speaker 1: Santis necessarily, but everybody was cordial. Everybody was careful, and
Speaker 1: I'll tell you now there was no hug. The Kayla
Speaker 1: Gardner with the byline on the terminal Biden to Santist
Speaker 1: paper over tensions. In visit to Ian ravaged area, the
Speaker 1: President toured with the press pool from a couple of helicopters,
Speaker 1: came back down, got a briefing with the Santis, and
Speaker 1: then held a news conference series. We're one of the
Speaker 1: few nations in the world that, on the basis of
Speaker 1: a crisis we face, we're the only nation that comes
Speaker 1: out of it better than we went into it. And
Speaker 1: that's what we're gonna do this time around, come out
Speaker 1: of it better because we're this is the United States
Speaker 1: of America, and I emphasize united. This is after he
Speaker 1: was warmly greeted not at the airport, but but but
Speaker 1: in person by for this event. Rhoda Santis, big open
Speaker 1: hand handshake. Mr President, thank you for coming. Here's what
Speaker 1: he had to say. We were very fortunate to have
Speaker 1: good coordination with White House and with FEMA from the
Speaker 1: very beginning of this. We declared a state of emergency
Speaker 1: last Friday, September. This wasn't even this was a disturbance
Speaker 1: out there by Columbia. And then the next day we
Speaker 1: got a major disaster declaration approved by the President and
Speaker 1: we really appreciated that. So how does that hit you?
Speaker 1: After all the silliness and the political theatrics frequently on
Speaker 1: both sides of the aisle, it reminds us that so
Speaker 1: much of it as an act. Let's reassemble the panel,
Speaker 1: Jeannie Schanzano, when Rip Davis are back with us, how
Speaker 1: they do today? Rick? Is that the way you would
Speaker 1: have advised both sides here? Yeah? No, this was just
Speaker 1: a good day for both leaders. Um. You know, so
Speaker 1: much of this kind of event can result in self
Speaker 1: inflicted wounds. I'll George W. Bush going to Katrina. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, it wasn't the situation that caused the problems.
Speaker 1: He caused himself a problem. And so the fact that
Speaker 1: President Biden acted presidential, said all the right things, Governor
Speaker 1: to Santis, led the state and appreciated the federal assistance.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is what it's supposed to be like.
Speaker 1: So no, no self inflicted wounds and a good day
Speaker 1: for the United States of America. Yeah, So, how silly
Speaker 1: will they look when they go back to spitballing at
Speaker 1: each other? Jennie, Well, we will remember back to this
Speaker 1: rare moment of bipartisanship immunity. Only a hurricane could bring
Speaker 1: Republicans and Democrats together in the US. UM. But here's
Speaker 1: what I'm gonna do, Joe. I'm going to keep watching
Speaker 1: Truth Social because Donald Trump was out today talking about
Speaker 1: a nation in decline, the fact that we're a failing nation,
Speaker 1: attacking Biden. He didn't name the Santists by name yet,
Speaker 1: but I think that's one of the issues that the
Speaker 1: Santists may face, is a question of whether Trump attacks
Speaker 1: him for the collegiality. And I think and I agree
Speaker 1: with Rick, that they were right to act this way,
Speaker 1: that they were being the adults in the room. So
Speaker 1: we'll see if Donald Trump comes back and attacks to
Speaker 1: Santis for this cooperation with the Biden administration, because we
Speaker 1: know that he's bothered by Rhonda Santis right that that
Speaker 1: you know, Trump would love to find an opening here, actually,
Speaker 1: wouldn't he, Rick, Uh, you know, Trump looks for an
Speaker 1: opening and everywhere, get it, everything is about Donald Trump.
Speaker 1: He would actually see somehow that this is about him.
Speaker 1: Uh makes no sense, but uh so much of what
Speaker 1: he does doesn't m I think you got to keep
Speaker 1: focused on the fact that this is going to be
Speaker 1: a herculean effort to get the west coast of Florida
Speaker 1: back on its legs. It's gonna take hundreds of billions,
Speaker 1: tens of billions of dollars and a combined federal state
Speaker 1: initiative with the commercial UH industry coming to the table
Speaker 1: to really uh get that state back on track. And
Speaker 1: and I think the ASTI here is whether or not
Speaker 1: George or whether or not Donald Trump UH is happy
Speaker 1: about it or not? Who cares? Well, that's right. I
Speaker 1: just wonder if there are midterm implications here, Jeanie. Is
Speaker 1: that just a wash today or do Democrats actually get
Speaker 1: good marks for showing up And by that I mean
Speaker 1: the administration of course showing up in Florida and and
Speaker 1: and being adults. You know. I'm not sure there will
Speaker 1: be mid term implications directly because we're only five weeks out, um,
Speaker 1: and so I think a lot of it depends on
Speaker 1: what happens in the many many months, if not years
Speaker 1: going forward. Is this recovery effort continues. I do think
Speaker 1: it has given the governor an opportunity to show that
Speaker 1: he is competent, that he is an executive that he
Speaker 1: can handle a crisis, not just to people in his
Speaker 1: own state, but as he thinks about twenty four two
Speaker 1: people around the country who may not be as familiar
Speaker 1: with Round de Santist or who may only know him
Speaker 1: as a guy sending you know, asylum seekers uh to
Speaker 1: far from places. So all of a sudden, he's got
Speaker 1: to be less political, if you will, and more the
Speaker 1: governor and the person who knows how to deal with
Speaker 1: a crisis and and and address the needs of his citizens.
Speaker 1: So that's potentially good for him. Of course, a lot
Speaker 1: of it depends on what happens going forward. Um, there's
Speaker 1: so many issues that impact the midterms, everything from infrastructure
Speaker 1: to housing, to insurance to issues of energy and green issues.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure those will resonate directly in this race, though,
Speaker 1: because so many other things are at play. It's interesting
Speaker 1: when you think of how many of those connects to
Speaker 1: climate as well. Um, but did you guys both see
Speaker 1: the boots. You see the white rubber knee high boots
Speaker 1: that he was wearing. He tucked the jeans into them.
Speaker 1: Am I the only one who saw this? Because somebody
Speaker 1: on the campaign has got to be advising they should
Speaker 1: have Rick, they should have held up a picture of
Speaker 1: Michael Ducoccus. Now, well, he wasn't wearing a funny helmet,
Speaker 1: that's for sure. And I don't know if I would
Speaker 1: characterize his boots selection is off color. But but look,
Speaker 1: I mean, just picking up where Jeanne left off, this
Speaker 1: was a really good day for Rhonda Santis. You know,
Speaker 1: like he got to look like he was cutting deals
Speaker 1: with the federal government in the president of States and
Speaker 1: helped in the state of Florida. This isn't a great
Speaker 1: day for Charlie christ you know. I mean when you
Speaker 1: talk about the implications, you know, there are a lot
Speaker 1: of expectations that he could put a run together, and
Speaker 1: this is you know, it's not gonna have been a
Speaker 1: week since anybody even heard his name. So that's not great.
Speaker 1: You know, four weeks out from an election. Well that's
Speaker 1: real political fallout. Would you wear boots like that, Genie yourself?
Speaker 1: And I'm guessing though I probably wouldn't myself. I don't
Speaker 1: think anybody would need to see me in those boots.
Speaker 1: But you know why, you got you can pull them off.
Speaker 1: I feel like you could pull them off. Of course, absolutely,
Speaker 1: Rick and Jennie for just a couple of more moments.
Speaker 1: You know, we like to feel good about things sometimes,
Speaker 1: and the silver lining so frequently comes from the same source. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll send you a picture of the Boots Rick that
Speaker 1: sources NASA and by extension SpaceX in many cases. We
Speaker 1: had a big launch today and there was something very
Speaker 1: special involved. All right, let's wind it up, let's listen. Yes,
Speaker 1: it clears the pad beautiful launched for the International Space
Speaker 1: Station masis. I love listening to these guys in the
Speaker 1: control They'll get to the space stations Thursday after that
Speaker 1: launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. That, of course, yes,
Speaker 1: stage one propulsion. You heard it and saw it of
Speaker 1: course on Bloomberg. They'll come back to Earth in March.
Speaker 1: But for the first time in twenty years, a Russian
Speaker 1: cosmonaut went from the United States launched from the US
Speaker 1: here to space. Japanese uh astronauts were also alongside. But
Speaker 1: the fact that Russia's lone female cosmonaut, Anna Kakina, if
Speaker 1: I'm saying it right, Jennie, makes us realize sometimes that
Speaker 1: we're just people. It right, that's right. And another you know,
Speaker 1: a moment of cooperation following on the one we're just
Speaker 1: talking about, but this one international at a time when
Speaker 1: there's been so much tension in the space program as
Speaker 1: a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, you know,
Speaker 1: it is really good to see that this happened. And
Speaker 1: of course we've also got a female commander, Nicole Man,
Speaker 1: who's an absolutely, you know, astonishingly an impressive woman when
Speaker 1: you look at her background, and the first Native American
Speaker 1: to fly in space and I think the first female
Speaker 1: SpaceX flight, so you know, to command to SpaceX flight.
Speaker 1: So what a day to day to see them all
Speaker 1: go up and Joe her pilot call sign is Duke,
Speaker 1: so there. You know, it's pretty great stuff. Rick, and
Speaker 1: our remaining seconds. NASA has a way of e racing borders. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the world is all one border to them, and I
Speaker 1: think that's important that we keep some level of UH
Speaker 1: cooperation regardless. Bloomberg