Speaker 1: Now from our nation's capital. This is Bloomberg Sound On.
Speaker 1: We had a good discussion on ensuring global energy security.
Speaker 1: We just heard from Jamaal Ka, Shogi's wife. I was
Speaker 1: straightforward and direct in discussing it. I made my view
Speaker 1: crystal clear. Bloomberg sound On Politics, policy and perspective from
Speaker 1: DC's top name. They don't seem to have many answers.
Speaker 1: If not a nuclear agreement which is not going to
Speaker 1: satisfy Israel, then what Russian and Chinese are lambing hard
Speaker 1: throughout the g c C to find friends and and
Speaker 1: extend their influence. At Bloomberg Sound On with Joe Matthew
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Radio, it was the fist bump heard round
Speaker 1: the world. Welcome to the fastest hour in politics. As
Speaker 1: President Biden makes his way to Saudi Arabia at last
Speaker 1: fist Bumps, MBS talks shog but does not get very
Speaker 1: specific about oil. We'll have a lot more on the
Speaker 1: trip coming up. As Senator Joe Mansion back home puts
Speaker 1: Democrats reconciliation hopes on ICE and the Chip Act. They
Speaker 1: move all on its own now we'll discuss it all
Speaker 1: coming up with Congressman John Katko Republican from New York
Speaker 1: and with our panel al modern democratic strategist, joined by
Speaker 1: Rick Davis, of course, Bloomberg Politics contributor partner at stone
Speaker 1: Court Capital. Later on we turned to COVID cases surging
Speaker 1: in cities around the country thanks to a new sub variant.
Speaker 1: I spoke earlier today with Dr Anthony Fauci, and later
Speaker 1: we will discuss the return to work here in New
Speaker 1: York with Sally Bakewell of Bloomberg News. That President wrapping
Speaker 1: the trip to Saudi Arabia, at least almost He arrived
Speaker 1: in Jettah today. This is a four day trip abroad
Speaker 1: to the Middle East, and says he expects further oil
Speaker 1: supply increases from Saudi Arabia after meeting today with the
Speaker 1: kingdom's rulers. Yes, that included MBS. People were breathless as
Speaker 1: the two met on the red carpet and a fist
Speaker 1: bump happened. I'm hearing more about the fist bump, though,
Speaker 1: than the policy. When it comes to energy, Let's hear
Speaker 1: it from the president's own words. He did speak and
Speaker 1: take questions from reporters. A short time ago. We had
Speaker 1: a good discussion on ensuring global energy security and adequate
Speaker 1: oil supplies to support global economic growth, and that will
Speaker 1: begin shortly and uh, and I'm doing all I can
Speaker 1: to increase the supply for the United States of America,
Speaker 1: which I expect to happen as Alreadys shared that urgency,
Speaker 1: and based on our discussions today, I expect we'll see
Speaker 1: further steps in the coming weeks. So that's it, though,
Speaker 1: no three million barrels in the back of Air Force
Speaker 1: one as he flies back. The whope here is I'm
Speaker 1: guessing what we've been hearing, and that is creating a
Speaker 1: bit of a stir and submergency underneath the next OPEC meeting.
Speaker 1: This is where we start our conversation today with Congressman
Speaker 1: John Katko, Republican from New York, ranking member on the
Speaker 1: House Homeland Security Committee. It's great to have you back, Congressman.
Speaker 1: There's a few things I'd love to talk about with you.
Speaker 1: Starting with this trip is the president's journey to Israel
Speaker 1: and now Saudi Arabia. One that makes a man a
Speaker 1: safer well, I don't know if it makes Americas safer,
Speaker 1: but what it does is at least gives them, uh
Speaker 1: some attention, which is critically important as we all know
Speaker 1: the Middle East is a hornet's nest of issues, some positive,
Speaker 1: some negative. Of course. On one hand, unfortunately now that
Speaker 1: we're a net import of oil again as as opposed,
Speaker 1: I'm that export like we were in the previous administration
Speaker 1: in the way some more important. So Saudi raid is
Speaker 1: actually a very important partner. On the other hand, there
Speaker 1: are human rights. The record is abysmal, and we have
Speaker 1: to deal with that. And showing some love and recognition
Speaker 1: to Israel is always good. There are they're they're the
Speaker 1: bastion of democracy in the Middle East, and that's a
Speaker 1: very very important thing to do as well. So lots
Speaker 1: of thorny issues about any time we go over there.
Speaker 1: I think it's a good thing. Okay, this is uh,
Speaker 1: that's a good place to start when you start talking
Speaker 1: about remaining you know, spare capacity. Though there are a
Speaker 1: lot of questions about what Saudi Arabia or or the
Speaker 1: UAE would be even capable of doing, and then of
Speaker 1: course what we might be able to do here. Congressmen,
Speaker 1: we we haven't taken a refinery off mothballs in a
Speaker 1: long time. If we suddenly got an influx of oil,
Speaker 1: would be able to refine it. Well, it depends on
Speaker 1: the type of crude. Of course, there's different types of crude,
Speaker 1: like crude, sweet crude, and and that that's that's the problem, right.
Speaker 1: But the bottom line is and and this is the
Speaker 1: fact that I'm saying this through the lens of being
Speaker 1: the most bipartisan member the past four terms in Congress,
Speaker 1: but the fact that I'm early on in this administration,
Speaker 1: the the emphasis was not on domestic oil production, and
Speaker 1: that's kind of caused us to be in a situation
Speaker 1: right now, and we need to get back to that.
Speaker 1: But we also need to have better relationships with our
Speaker 1: international partners. And this is going to Strabe is never
Speaker 1: going to be a bad thing. Going to Israel is
Speaker 1: never a bad thing. They need to know that we
Speaker 1: know from we have mutual interests and that is fighting
Speaker 1: back against the RAND and whatever Ran is trying to
Speaker 1: do with the nuclear capabilities, and very important, I'm sure
Speaker 1: solidarity with some of our friends in the last Is
Speaker 1: it a sign that that's working When you hear that
Speaker 1: Vladimir Putin is going to Tehran next week, well, it's
Speaker 1: certainly go see anti for uh Iran and the run
Speaker 1: should steal the heat from us together, togetherness that we're projecting.
Speaker 1: That's a very important thing because Iran really is a
Speaker 1: very dangerous and destabilizing element of Middle East. And let's
Speaker 1: not forget not so long ago there was there was
Speaker 1: some bombings of oil your founderies by Iran and Saudi
Speaker 1: Reda for not mistake, and so uh, there's there is
Speaker 1: the constant threat. And the more that the folks in
Speaker 1: Middle East that are our friends uh and allies, more
Speaker 1: they don't feel like we have their backs, the better
Speaker 1: alfare gonna be a long term allel of us collectively.
Speaker 1: Cogress from Katko, you mentioned Saudi Arabia's human rights record.
Speaker 1: This is another big part of the trip. And whether
Speaker 1: the president or how the President was going to speak
Speaker 1: about the Kashoki murder. He did get to this even
Speaker 1: in his opening remarks, and he was asked about it
Speaker 1: quite a bit. I'd like for you to give a
Speaker 1: listen to what he said. I raised it at the
Speaker 1: top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought
Speaker 1: of it at the time and when I think of
Speaker 1: it now, and it was exactly. I was straightforward and
Speaker 1: direct and discussing it. I made my view crystal clear.
Speaker 1: I said very straightforwardly for an American president to be
Speaker 1: silent on an issue of human rights? Is this consistent
Speaker 1: with inconsistent with who we are and who I am?
Speaker 1: How did he do with that? How is the wording?
Speaker 1: How is the post? And did you believe him? Um? Well, listen,
Speaker 1: of course I believe he's a president. I'm going to
Speaker 1: give him a credit. But he's saying it is the
Speaker 1: truth of what he said. But the bottom line is,
Speaker 1: what are we supposed to do? I mean, human rights
Speaker 1: violations are are if we call him on it and
Speaker 1: say this is wrong, it's got to stop. And we
Speaker 1: pushed them. That's a good thing. Um. Should we turn
Speaker 1: a blind eye to it? Of course not, and we
Speaker 1: should never do that, and it doesn't sound like he did.
Speaker 1: But in the end, we gotta put that into the
Speaker 1: total mix. Like I said at the beginning, it's a
Speaker 1: very very complicated place in the Middle East, and you know,
Speaker 1: you got to take that into consideration with everything else
Speaker 1: we're working. He said, NBS told him he didn't do it. Congressman,
Speaker 1: what's that he said that MBS told him that he
Speaker 1: did not kill because showed you that it was not
Speaker 1: him and that he brought those who were responsible to Justice. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm sure that Challengance Committee he knows otherwise, but take
Speaker 1: what it's worth. We're spending time with Congressman John Katko
Speaker 1: of New York. There's been quite a couple of days
Speaker 1: on Capitol Hill. My goodness, the back and forth between
Speaker 1: Joe Manson, Democrats, Mitch McConnell, and Republicans with regard to
Speaker 1: a reconciliation bill versus a China Competes bill has become
Speaker 1: basically exhausting. Congressman. There is a bipartisan plan, though, to
Speaker 1: get the China Competes Bill, which includes the Chip Act past.
Speaker 1: You've got a version of the House, there's a competing
Speaker 1: version in the Senate, and there's a great worry that
Speaker 1: they're going nowhere fast now, especially as Mitch McConnell threatens
Speaker 1: it's a pull Republican votes in the face of a
Speaker 1: reconciliation built by Democrats. Do you like this idea of
Speaker 1: just chipping it, should say, passing the Chip Act as
Speaker 1: a standalone. Listen, we gotta take a look at this
Speaker 1: by by order of priority right and by order priority um.
Speaker 1: Bringing back chip manufacturers in the United States. There's got
Speaker 1: to be a huge priority. God forbid, if China decides
Speaker 1: to go with this Taiwan tomorrow and takes over Taiwan
Speaker 1: and then gets as triangle hold on that high end
Speaker 1: chip manufacturing, which is about of the market. If I'm
Speaker 1: not mistaken worldwide, If we don't domesticate some of that
Speaker 1: stuff to guard against that hup the possible eventuality, we
Speaker 1: are we are not being smart and so read re
Speaker 1: shoring or bringing back some of that domestic chip production
Speaker 1: and incentivizing it is a good idea. But let's not
Speaker 1: forget it's a relatively smaller investment you compared about to
Speaker 1: consider how much money going to be put in the
Speaker 1: chip manufacturing nationwide. It's a small investment because I'll give
Speaker 1: an example, uh in searchus A contemplating a possible possible
Speaker 1: chip by manufacturing plan. It would be a hundred billion
Speaker 1: would it be a hundred billion dollar investment in Syracuse,
Speaker 1: New York over a ten year period and would create
Speaker 1: fifteen to twenty thousand jobs at an average a hundred
Speaker 1: sixty thousand pop immediately that's just one location. We need
Speaker 1: those all over the country. That's what they're complaints. So
Speaker 1: providing the seed money would be an excellent investment and
Speaker 1: from a natural security point, well, that's where I was going.
Speaker 1: As the ranking member on Homeland Security. Do you tell
Speaker 1: your your colleagues how important this is from a national
Speaker 1: security standpoint or do they know this already and this
Speaker 1: is bogged down by everything else. I always say, economic
Speaker 1: security is national security. We don't have economic security with
Speaker 1: respect to chip manufacturing, and that's one of the central
Speaker 1: components of modern manufacturing. Now it's in vehicles, it's in
Speaker 1: your refrigerators, it's in your microwaves, it's in every device
Speaker 1: you have. And if we don't, if we don't have
Speaker 1: a good handle on that, and the bad act of
Speaker 1: like China decides to go with the time on which
Speaker 1: is highly likely at some point we are really being fooled.
Speaker 1: So the sooner we get this done, the better. And
Speaker 1: I couldn't. I couldn't supported enough. I heard about an
Speaker 1: issue that that you were trying to get your arms
Speaker 1: around today. They had to ask you about because it
Speaker 1: was hard to believe at first that that that the
Speaker 1: Department of Homeland Security will not provide information on terror plots,
Speaker 1: not not attacks, but things that have been plotted until
Speaker 1: Congress gets waivers from accused non citizens. First of all,
Speaker 1: am I am I representing that accurately that we need
Speaker 1: the accused to sign a waiver for us to know
Speaker 1: what they were intending to do. Yes, well with our job,
Speaker 1: our central job and Homeland Security, and I'm the ranking
Speaker 1: member for Homeland Security. Our central job is conduct oversight
Speaker 1: of Homeland Security Committee and also to ensure that we
Speaker 1: do everything to kind of keep the country safe. You
Speaker 1: can only do that if information is flowing back and forth.
Speaker 1: Information is the lifeblood of national security and homeland security.
Speaker 1: And so we asked for information about two things. One
Speaker 1: is the attempted assassination of President Bush, former President Bush,
Speaker 1: which was done by a criminal alien who was going
Speaker 1: to utilize the poorer southern border to bring more people across.
Speaker 1: That was one. The other one was two illegal aliens
Speaker 1: in the United States who are plotting to have a
Speaker 1: mass shooting and a Virginia Fourth of July celebrations. So
Speaker 1: we asked Homeland Security, as they always do, Hey, what's
Speaker 1: going on? Give us a background in this, and they said,
Speaker 1: We're not going to give any background unless you get
Speaker 1: waivers from the accused. I'm like, okay, we want to
Speaker 1: get waivers. From people accused of territing that our American citizens,
Speaker 1: which we never had to do before, which is insane.
Speaker 1: I don't think isis is in the business of signing
Speaker 1: waivers that one on from July four? Is that the
Speaker 1: the the attack or the attempted attack from Richmond, Virginia
Speaker 1: that was foiled. Yes, we talked to the mayor about
Speaker 1: that today. As a matter of fact, How the heck,
Speaker 1: How the heck can you uh figure out where the
Speaker 1: threats are if you're not even getting briefings on them
Speaker 1: and this has never happened before, it's my knowledge. Is crazy. Congressman.
Speaker 1: I don't want to sneak up on you because only
Speaker 1: have thirty seconds left. But you're a former prosecutor. You're
Speaker 1: also one of ten Republicans who voted for impeachment. Should
Speaker 1: the January six committee refer what it knows for criminal
Speaker 1: charges against the former president, whether whether they do so
Speaker 1: officially or not, they're they're essentially doing it in the
Speaker 1: court of public opinion, and so then is such the
Speaker 1: property justice to make our decisions. So we'll see what
Speaker 1: happens with that. Send it to d O J. It
Speaker 1: sounds like, Congressman, thank you. I think someone's calling. John
Speaker 1: Katko of New York with us on the Fastest Hour
Speaker 1: in Politics. We've set the baseline. Now we assembled the panel.
Speaker 1: Rick Davis coming in along with Al Motor today on
Speaker 1: Bloomberg This. He's Bloomberg sound on on Bloomberg Radio. President
Speaker 1: Biden has already heard from Jamal Ka show gis fiance
Speaker 1: via Twitter. At least it came up during his news conference.
Speaker 1: Not good this after he brought it up with m
Speaker 1: B s as he said he would kind of. He
Speaker 1: had demurred on questions about whether he would raise the
Speaker 1: killing directly, but he sure did today as we've already
Speaker 1: gone through. But the response was remarkable. He didn't include
Speaker 1: this in his opening remarks. It was in the questions
Speaker 1: and there weren't too many of them. Questions and answers
Speaker 1: with reporters after what was the reaction from Mohammed Ben Solomon,
Speaker 1: here's the president. He basically said that he, uh, he
Speaker 1: was not personally responsible for it. I indicated I thought
Speaker 1: he was. He said he was not personally responsible for it,
Speaker 1: and he took action against those who were responsible. And uh,
Speaker 1: and we heard from as I mentioned fiance, this came up.
Speaker 1: It was one of the NBC reporters brought it up
Speaker 1: in a question, was here here you go. We just
Speaker 1: heard from Jamaal Ka, Shogi's wife, who said, after this visit,
Speaker 1: the blood of MBS next victim is on your hands.
Speaker 1: What do you say to Mrs Kashoki. I'm sorry she
Speaker 1: feels that way. I was straightforward back then. I was
Speaker 1: straightforward today what I this is a meeting not I
Speaker 1: didn't come here to meet with the Crown Prince. I
Speaker 1: came here to meet with the g c C and
Speaker 1: nine nations to deal with the security and and the
Speaker 1: needs of the free world and particularly the United States,
Speaker 1: and not leave a vacuum here which was happening as
Speaker 1: it has in other parts of the world. I've been
Speaker 1: talking about that vacuum quite a bit lately with our panel.
Speaker 1: Let's assembled the panel right now. Rick Davis joins us
Speaker 1: for the Friday edition Bloomberg Politics contributor, joined today by
Speaker 1: Al modern democratic strategist and partner at Brownstein Hyatt. Al,
Speaker 1: Welcome back, Rick. Always great to have you. We've talked
Speaker 1: Rick a lot about this trip leading up to it.
Speaker 1: In his final arrival today in Jetta, how did he
Speaker 1: do you know? Look, I mean, he got through the day.
Speaker 1: He did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Uh.
Speaker 1: I actually thought he gave us more insight into the
Speaker 1: meeting with MBS than I thought he was going to. Uh.
Speaker 1: It would have been very easy to say that uh,
Speaker 1: um that you know MBS gave him a response and
Speaker 1: he's not you know, you preferred not to go into
Speaker 1: the handling. You know. Look, I mean he's a fourth
Speaker 1: right guy. He loves to talk to the media and
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, it is who he is. This
Speaker 1: is a brand of Joe Biden that you get all
Speaker 1: the time, and so it has its pluses and minuses.
Speaker 1: It obviously had a negative reaction from Kashogi's fiance, which
Speaker 1: you would expect, right, I mean, family members would not
Speaker 1: want this meaning to ever take place. But there are
Speaker 1: higher priority for this administration and I think, you know,
Speaker 1: filling that vacuum, ensuring that Russia and China do not
Speaker 1: take advantage of us in UH this period of time
Speaker 1: UH in the Middle East, and in securing a stronger
Speaker 1: relationship that can result in in in more hydrocarbon's is
Speaker 1: what his task was and it sounds like that got done,
Speaker 1: although we're not sure, right he says, well, we'll see
Speaker 1: in a couple of weeks what we get out before
Speaker 1: we start getting into some of the other issues. How
Speaker 1: did the President comport himself? How did how did you
Speaker 1: how did the wording work for you on on the
Speaker 1: specifically the Kogi issue. Sure, well, I should just disclose
Speaker 1: to your listeners. I do do some work with the Kingdom,
Speaker 1: so I need to say that upfront. But I thought
Speaker 1: the President was as Rick said, he is always forthright,
Speaker 1: he was resolute. He expressed his disgust and disappointment apparently
Speaker 1: in person, which reflects what his position has always been,
Speaker 1: and frankly, the US position has always been. And so
Speaker 1: I give the President credit for that. I think what's
Speaker 1: important coming out of this are the myriad substantive accomplishments
Speaker 1: that were named Israel flying directly into the Kingdom, an
Speaker 1: expanded piece fire in Yenen. I can go on, but
Speaker 1: the President listed five or six major subption of accomplishments,
Speaker 1: and I think, as Rick said, uh, it's terrific for
Speaker 1: the region and as terrific to the United States interests.
Speaker 1: Did he need to be more specific about energy? Rick,
Speaker 1: he's talking about energy security is more of a concept
Speaker 1: and saying that in a couple of weeks time, will
Speaker 1: we'll see more. I mean he is he waiting for
Speaker 1: the next OPEC meeting. Well, let's let's be clear. In
Speaker 1: the last OPEC plus meeting, they increase production that has
Speaker 1: helped to start bring down energy prices in the United
Speaker 1: States already, right, and so you could argue that this
Speaker 1: trip was as much a thank you to that effort
Speaker 1: to get us to where we are today as it
Speaker 1: is to encourage even more in the future. The bottom
Speaker 1: line is we're getting a bigger flow from OPEC, uh,
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia and others. Uh. It is not without its cost,
Speaker 1: which was today's meeting, and UH ensure, Yeah, I think that. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, we've already seen a pretty precipitous drop in
Speaker 1: the last dirty days for gasoline prices in the United States,
Speaker 1: and that's what we hope to see continuing for the
Speaker 1: month of July and August. So, um, by the time
Speaker 1: he gets a labor day, if the price of gas
Speaker 1: is reduced by a dollar dollar and a half from
Speaker 1: it's high, Uh, he'll be able to declare victory specific
Speaker 1: about that. Yeah, should you have been more specific about
Speaker 1: the energy agreement Yeah, I mean just to quickly point
Speaker 1: out to particularly those who are progressive who really didn't
Speaker 1: want the President to make this trip at all. In
Speaker 1: addition to the oil expansion, the United States and the
Speaker 1: Kingdom agreed on a significant partnership on green technology. So
Speaker 1: if you care about the global environment and global economy
Speaker 1: being more green, this meeting result will result in that.
Speaker 1: And so that's a tremendous accomplishment. The takeaways diplomatically, Rick,
Speaker 1: we talked a lot about the Abraham Accords and how
Speaker 1: it could potentially be expanded to include Saudi Arabia. Was
Speaker 1: the foundation laid for that? Yeah, there's been a lot
Speaker 1: of work to date. UM and AL would know probably
Speaker 1: a lot more about it than I do. But UM,
Speaker 1: I think there's optimism that that um Saudi Arabia would
Speaker 1: take the same steps that Morocco and and and Ua
Speaker 1: and others have taken. UM and and and it is
Speaker 1: the interest UH of MBS to modernize his country. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's done a lot in the sort of domestic realm
Speaker 1: that we don't talk about because we have so much
Speaker 1: anxiety about what he's done his foreign policy. Al, could
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia join the Accords? In our lifetimes. I think
Speaker 1: it's certainly possible. Um, you look at what they just
Speaker 1: did with respects those islands of the North Red Sea,
Speaker 1: allowing Israeli tourists coming in. You look at what they did.
Speaker 1: Guess anything is possible with some of the takeaways that
Speaker 1: we heard al Modern Stay where you are, Rick Davis,
Speaker 1: our panel for the hour on Sound On. This is Bloomberg,
Speaker 1: broadcasting live from our nation's capital, Bloomberg to New York,
Speaker 1: Bloomberg eleven, Frio to Boston, Bloomberg one, O six one
Speaker 1: to San Francisco, Bloomberg nine six to the country Serious
Speaker 1: x M General one and around the globe, the Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Business app and Bloomberg Radio dot Com. This is Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Sound On with Joe Matthew. Have you started shaking hands again?
Speaker 1: Are you still fist bumping like the President has been
Speaker 1: trying to do on this trip of the Middle East.
Speaker 1: I actually asked Dr Anthony Fauci about it earlier today
Speaker 1: on Balance of Power here on Bloomberg. Along with the
Speaker 1: drive to get people back in the office. Just as
Speaker 1: this new sub variant takes hold, we'll start to get
Speaker 1: into this coming up next with Bloomberg's Sally Bakewell, who
Speaker 1: covers the banking industry in Wall Street, has of course
Speaker 1: had a patchwork of policies on this. We'll see if
Speaker 1: any of them are working. Interesting conversation with Dr Anthony
Speaker 1: Faucci that we're going to discuss with Sally Bakewell in
Speaker 1: just a moment about interactions. I have to ask you, Sally,
Speaker 1: first of all, thanks for coming in. You cover banking.
Speaker 1: How did you end up with me here? This is
Speaker 1: but it's there's actually a method to the madness because
Speaker 1: Wall Street was really kind of leading the curve on
Speaker 1: getting people back to work right the post COVID return,
Speaker 1: and I want to ask you about that. Having discussed
Speaker 1: a lot of this with Anthony Fauci today, starting with
Speaker 1: the fist bumps, are you shaking hands justin with people?
Speaker 1: Here's what the doctor said, Well, I'm not going to
Speaker 1: talk about what the president should be doing or not.
Speaker 1: He is quite protected, he's vaccinated. About the rest of
Speaker 1: us very carefully. My own self is that if you
Speaker 1: are in a situation where you you don't know the
Speaker 1: status of an individual, you should do what you can
Speaker 1: to avoid contact that might be spreading infection. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't want to be on record saying you shouldn't
Speaker 1: be shaking hands. That becomes a sound bye. See he
Speaker 1: didn't want to go there, I guess, Sally, thanks again
Speaker 1: for being here. Is everyone shaking hands where you are
Speaker 1: when you're covering Wall Street or you're putt in the
Speaker 1: elbow up? You know. I was just about to say,
Speaker 1: I did shake hands earlier today and it felt a
Speaker 1: little bit awkward. Um, but I'm going to try and
Speaker 1: shake more hands, is okay? Yeah? Did you like run
Speaker 1: and wash it right away? Was it an awkward thing? No?
Speaker 1: I didn't. I just felt the mood shift a little
Speaker 1: bit as I did. And the other thing I was
Speaker 1: going to say is that when we talk about Wall
Speaker 1: Street and return to office, I wanted to start by
Speaker 1: talking about what happens when they aren't in the office
Speaker 1: and why it is important if I may, Okay, because
Speaker 1: they're out partying and spreading COVID, they probably are doing that,
Speaker 1: but also, as we all know finance firms, they're required
Speaker 1: to be very scrupulous in how they monitor their communications, um,
Speaker 1: you know, to head off any kind of improper conduct.
Speaker 1: And of course that system has been challenged by the
Speaker 1: proliferation of mobile messaging apps like WhatsApp and so on. Um.
Speaker 1: But when everyone went home, this was further strained, and
Speaker 1: of course people started to use those more and more.
Speaker 1: And now a number of banks are under investigation for
Speaker 1: improper use of unauthorized devices. UM. And we had we've
Speaker 1: had bank earnings. UM. So this is creating more than
Speaker 1: health issues, clearly, and this is another reason why I think,
Speaker 1: you know, being back in the office is important. There's
Speaker 1: a kind of compliance and regulatory layer here. Well, let's
Speaker 1: listen to what Dr Faucci said about it, because you
Speaker 1: look where we work at a lot of other places. Uh,
Speaker 1: the plexiglass is coming down. Not seeing a lot of
Speaker 1: masks sometimes you do. It depends on what workplace you're in,
Speaker 1: of course, what city you're in. But there's a patchwork
Speaker 1: of policies out there and companies are trying to update them.
Speaker 1: This is what Dr Faucci suggested about their attempt to
Speaker 1: do so. Well, it depends on what you mean, Joe,
Speaker 1: buy back into the office. I mean we are. I
Speaker 1: am right now in my office at the National Institutes
Speaker 1: of Health. I'm alone now in this room. But when
Speaker 1: we have people who are coming in and out who
Speaker 1: are here on business. We're wearing masks. So therefore companies
Speaker 1: have no idea what to do. How many Wall Street
Speaker 1: firms or do they all have their own advisors on
Speaker 1: us UM? So I think it's Wall Streets kind of
Speaker 1: divided into two camps here and sort of harsher one
Speaker 1: and a slightly softer one. And you have the likes
Speaker 1: of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, UM Citadel there among the firms,
Speaker 1: and Morgan Stanley there among the firms that have really
Speaker 1: pushed people. They've been at the forefront to try and
Speaker 1: get people back into the office UM. Morgan Stanley's chief
Speaker 1: executive officer, James Colman, he said last year and it
Speaker 1: became quite a famous comment that if you can go
Speaker 1: to a restaurant, you can Johnny Well come into the UM.
Speaker 1: And JP Morgan CEO Jamie Diamond has been one of
Speaker 1: the most vocal critics of remote work. You know, say,
Speaker 1: there's no substitute for spontaneous ideas. Do anything to that.
Speaker 1: We've got be a five Now. I I live in Washington,
Speaker 1: but coming back to New York to do some work here.
Speaker 1: I can see all of the testing tents are back
Speaker 1: on the corners. People are lined up to get COVID tests.
Speaker 1: I just wonder if there's going to be a turnaround here,
Speaker 1: because Eric Adams, it's not just the firms, the government
Speaker 1: as well as telling people to get back on the train,
Speaker 1: go back to work. Even the President is is that
Speaker 1: is there time for pause? Have you seen any indication
Speaker 1: of that? Well, earlier this year, actually, despite that very
Speaker 1: hard stance, there was kind of an indication that some
Speaker 1: of the banks were starting to soften, probably because they
Speaker 1: had had feedback and resistance like a number of companies,
Speaker 1: you know, Apple, Airbnb, a handful of law firms. They've
Speaker 1: resisted some of the stricter policies, and there was kind
Speaker 1: of some evidence that there was softening again. Jamie Diamond
Speaker 1: he said he that he would allow, you know, the
Speaker 1: hybrid model to become a kind of permanent model um
Speaker 1: which you know, is a bit of a sort of
Speaker 1: difference in his very sort of forthright stance at the beginning.
Speaker 1: So I think probably because that softened it a little bit,
Speaker 1: the urgents of you know what, whichever variants, probably they
Speaker 1: now have a little bit more flexibility than perhaps way
Speaker 1: back in September when the push was really on to
Speaker 1: bring people back for all the aforementioned reasons. Is the
Speaker 1: three day work week still a thing? Um? I think
Speaker 1: a citadel for example, I think most staff are back,
Speaker 1: or can we say that everyone's back, that New York
Speaker 1: is back none the traffickers. So I think I was
Speaker 1: reading a stat that nearly half of all office visits
Speaker 1: this year were just once a week. Um, I don't
Speaker 1: think New York is quite back. And indeed, the other camp,
Speaker 1: the non JP Morgan's, the non Morgan standis there's banks
Speaker 1: like City, which is run by Jane Fraser, and they've
Speaker 1: been incredibly flexible and they have, you know, offered this
Speaker 1: hybrid form of working. Um. So when you have that
Speaker 1: kind of approach, slightly different approach, I think, you know,
Speaker 1: we're probably not ever going to get back the numbers
Speaker 1: in on Wall Street that we used to have. That's
Speaker 1: a pretty scary thought. At the same time, it doesn't
Speaker 1: matter what city you're in. At this point, there's there's
Speaker 1: no traffic on Monday or Friday. Right Everyone's stare on
Speaker 1: its zoom, doing their meetings as late as they can
Speaker 1: on a Monday and starting their weekend as early as
Speaker 1: they can. I don't know if that keeps anybody safe
Speaker 1: or not. But to your point, it's kind of a
Speaker 1: new lifestyle. Yeah, I think it is. UM. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, people still sort of complain that they're being
Speaker 1: dragged into the office and then they're still doing these
Speaker 1: zoom calls. And you know, we had we have bosses
Speaker 1: like the chief executive officer of Jeffreyes who kind of
Speaker 1: has made emotional appeals to sort of the mental health
Speaker 1: side of UM their staff saying, you know, we are
Speaker 1: mentally healthier when we are around each other regularly, regularly,
Speaker 1: and you know, for juniors and for mid level partners,
Speaker 1: they need they need the empathetic seniors to help them
Speaker 1: and mental Well, you you're a journalist. You work in
Speaker 1: a newsroom that's supposed to be the ultimate shared environment.
Speaker 1: Are you more effective in the office? I think probably
Speaker 1: in terms of spontaneous deer generation. I think that probably
Speaker 1: happens a bit more when when we're in the office.
Speaker 1: We did, we made it work, did and she's still
Speaker 1: making it work. The US finance team leader at Bloomberg News,
Speaker 1: Sally Bakewell, great to have you on sound Off. This
Speaker 1: is Bloomberg, This is Bloomberg. Sound On on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: So much talk about COVID today in our conversation with
Speaker 1: Dr Faucci, and then monkey pox as well as the
Speaker 1: Department of Health and Human Services moves ahead with securing
Speaker 1: more vaccines for monkey pox. As we reassemble the panel
Speaker 1: with an eye on the money here, that becomes the issue.
Speaker 1: I asked Dr Faucci today about things running out therapeutics, vaccines. Remember,
Speaker 1: they never got the COVID funding that they were looking
Speaker 1: for months and months ago, a twenty two billion dollar
Speaker 1: requests from President Biden. It was whittled down to ten
Speaker 1: billion and then left on the floor. And based on
Speaker 1: what we're seeing following our conversation earlier this hour with
Speaker 1: Congressman Katko, there may not be much room left for
Speaker 1: much more spending on Capitol Hill as we had for
Speaker 1: August recess and then of course midterm elections. Great panel today.
Speaker 1: Rick Davis is with US Bloomberg Politics contributor along with
Speaker 1: Al Modern Democratic strategist and partner at Brownstein Hyatt. Uh Rick,
Speaker 1: what's the reality check on this? If we really are
Speaker 1: going to start running out of therapeutics and vaccines and
Speaker 1: the administration told us that we would already be by
Speaker 1: now and this be a five variant becomes something real,
Speaker 1: we get it. What is it the sixth wave or something.
Speaker 1: Since the beginning of COVID, this administration will be blamed
Speaker 1: for not being ready, right sure, absolutely, they have the
Speaker 1: obligation to use government to support the public health of
Speaker 1: the nation. And nobody's gonna look back and say, wow,
Speaker 1: you know your your building pass and right for I
Speaker 1: can't get my treatments. Uh, They're gonna have to find
Speaker 1: a way to ensure that these things are available, and
Speaker 1: and they're they're doing a good job of actually make
Speaker 1: in the more readily available, in other words, making it
Speaker 1: easier to get them, which means they may likely run
Speaker 1: out sooner than they otherwise would. So, um, I think
Speaker 1: it's a bit of a quantity for the administration. And
Speaker 1: of course the last thing they want to do is
Speaker 1: start focusing their public rhetoric around COVID again, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just the political issue that won't go away. The
Speaker 1: Reconciliation Bill might have been a vehicle for that, al
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's true. It would have been
Speaker 1: as well for Obamacare subsidies. But how how could Democrats
Speaker 1: get to this money? If if it's not through uh,
Speaker 1: you know, through legislation, do we simply run out Now.
Speaker 1: I don't think that will happen, and I think the
Speaker 1: administration will need to be very targeted. And look, it's
Speaker 1: not just Republicans who complain about the money. It's people
Speaker 1: like Joe Manson and Cinema and other moderate Democrats. We've
Speaker 1: overstimulated the economy to a degree with our COVID relief.
Speaker 1: But if they're targeted, the Congress will respond and give
Speaker 1: them the money they need. In my opinion, remember the
Speaker 1: whole issue of clawing back COVID funding from the state's
Speaker 1: al that's what got this thing bogged down to begin with.
Speaker 1: I mean, what kind of accountability should come with the
Speaker 1: spending of extra money. I think there ought to be
Speaker 1: plenty of accountability if that's a perfectly reasonable request to make,
Speaker 1: particularly given the inflationary pressures we have in our country,
Speaker 1: and we have thrown trillions of dollars into our economy.
Speaker 1: So that's a reasona request. The administration ought to be
Speaker 1: okay with that, and I think that, you know, in
Speaker 1: addition to war in Ukraine and gas prices, there's a
Speaker 1: lot there's a reason why we have high inflation in
Speaker 1: this country. So that's fair. Rick. We've talked a lot
Speaker 1: about the congressional agenda, the short timeline. It seems to
Speaker 1: be a little bit different every day. I just wonder
Speaker 1: what your thought is now after Joe Mansion dropped the
Speaker 1: gauntlet on this whole thing last night, reconciliation, Now wait
Speaker 1: till September, we're going to see another inflation report. Is
Speaker 1: that his way of saying that he's out? Yeah. I
Speaker 1: think he made himself pretty clear in the interview he
Speaker 1: did today. Are you certainly out of any conversation it's
Speaker 1: going to massively increase uh this administration's approach the climate
Speaker 1: UH and try to find revenue raisers on wealthy Americans.
Speaker 1: You know, I think that was unequivocal his statements related
Speaker 1: to those two things. On course, those are core to
Speaker 1: this administration's efforts around this latest reconciliation bill. So we
Speaker 1: thought it was a tight squeeze to get something in
Speaker 1: before the recess, and I think he's now made that
Speaker 1: an impossibility. And and so the question is will this
Speaker 1: administration turn and and focus on the Chips Act or
Speaker 1: getting something done around USEKA so that they can at
Speaker 1: least declare victory before the cycle, you know, before the
Speaker 1: recess in UH, in August. Once you come back from August,
Speaker 1: it's a different world out. Could they get anything done
Speaker 1: then or is it too late? It's not too late,
Speaker 1: And this I'm going to disagree with Rick here. I
Speaker 1: talked to the Mansion folks fairly often, and they are
Speaker 1: open to doing a bill in September that includes climate provisions. Uh.
Speaker 1: They just need to see a signal inflation is coming down,
Speaker 1: and they will have a signal whether it's good or
Speaker 1: bad by then. And if it is coming down, he
Speaker 1: will be negotiating on climate in September. Mark my word, Well,
Speaker 1: my goodness, it keeps going up and coming in hotter
Speaker 1: than expected. If that's the case, the deals off. Yes,
Speaker 1: inflation keeps going up, he will not do that. He
Speaker 1: would be willing to agree. I believe to a narrow
Speaker 1: bill that deals with prescription drug prices in the A
Speaker 1: c A subsidies. But that's probably it. Our panel on
Speaker 1: Bloomberg sound On with Al Matter and Rick Davis. We're
Speaker 1: about two thirds of the way through primary season. Here, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: I want to talk about the Senate race that's well
Speaker 1: underway now. In Pennsylvania, as they were earlier on in
Speaker 1: the calendar. This, of course would be the race featuring
Speaker 1: television personality Dr Oz along with John Fetterman, the Lieutenant governor,
Speaker 1: who has had some of his own issues here regarding
Speaker 1: his health and so forth. But this has been essentially
Speaker 1: too close to call. The race as called by five
Speaker 1: thirty eight a toss up real clear has Fetterman at
Speaker 1: fifty odds at forty. These are really close numbers for
Speaker 1: this stage, which must be I'm assuming why John Fetterman
Speaker 1: has gone to the extent of drafting Snooky into his
Speaker 1: campaign these this is real. John Fetterman has remembering that
Speaker 1: Dr Oz memod Oz is from New Jersey. This is
Speaker 1: a race in Pennsylvania. John Fetterman tried to find the
Speaker 1: ultimate troll, and by that I mean trolling to go
Speaker 1: after his opponent. This is just posted on Twitter. Listen
Speaker 1: to this, Hey May, Matt, this is Nicole Snooky, um,
Speaker 1: and I'm from Jersey Shore. I don't know if you've
Speaker 1: seen of it before, but I'm a hot mess on
Speaker 1: a reality show basically, and I enjoy life. Um, but
Speaker 1: I heard that you moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1: To look for a new job. And personally, I don't
Speaker 1: know why anyone would want to leave Jersey because it's
Speaker 1: like the best place ever and we're all hot messes. Um.
Speaker 1: But I want to say best of luck to you.
Speaker 1: I know you're away from home and you're in a
Speaker 1: new place, but Jersey will not forget you. I just
Speaker 1: want to let you know I will not forget you. Um,
Speaker 1: And don't worry because you'll be back home in Jersey soon.
Speaker 1: This is only temporary, So you got this and Jersey
Speaker 1: loves you like kid informed me. Oh and with the
Speaker 1: kiss that no, Snooki is bigger than ever. I guess
Speaker 1: there are clothing lines and all this stuff. But politics,
Speaker 1: Rick Davis, is this a clever move? Absolutely? John McCain
Speaker 1: and Snooky had a relationship on Twitter and everyone was
Speaker 1: scratching her head because they couldn't figure out what the
Speaker 1: connection was. But Snookie loved John mckatt. Means you've spent
Speaker 1: time with She's a player. She gets into the politics
Speaker 1: very well. And uh, is that what this is about? It?
Speaker 1: Does she actually care about who wins? Oh? I think
Speaker 1: I think she probably has a point of view. Uh.
Speaker 1: And it's a carpet back, and it's pretty it's pretty
Speaker 1: entertaining that they go after a moment for leaving New Jersey.
Speaker 1: I mean, like, I think, you know, send him back.
Speaker 1: I guess the message. It's a funny way to get
Speaker 1: to it. Al, I don't know if if you're if
Speaker 1: you're laughing along with us here, But to create this
Speaker 1: sort of the seemingly unknowing, snooky saying hey, it's okay,
Speaker 1: you're going to be back before you know it certainly
Speaker 1: drives home the message, doesn't it. Hey, I love it.
Speaker 1: I mean I saw this on Twitter yesterday and I
Speaker 1: was laughing out loud. I mean, Fetterman is authentic. I
Speaker 1: think that voters like authentic candidates. And he subtly exposes
Speaker 1: Oz for being unauthentic, as he did earlier when he
Speaker 1: pointed out that ODZ actually filmed a campaign message from
Speaker 1: his New Jersey house and so you can't escape facts
Speaker 1: like that. It's not positive for him, and I think,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a it's a great way to expose
Speaker 1: the hypocrisy and help Pennsylvanians understands views on their side.
Speaker 1: So what do you do if your doctor Oz, if
Speaker 1: your moment oz here, Rick Davis do you do you
Speaker 1: get the situation to endorse your campaign. Yeah, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: get anyone from New Jersey to endorse my campidate. But
Speaker 1: but I would definitely be looking for some well known
Speaker 1: celebrity from you know, Pittsburgh that give me a lift up,
Speaker 1: because he needs to approach this with the same level
Speaker 1: of humor that the Feederman campaign approached it. And uh
Speaker 1: and I think that can disarm it a lot. We're
Speaker 1: just looking at his endorsement. P He's got Ted Nugent
Speaker 1: in there, Matt. That's true, right, Ted Nugent can go
Speaker 1: a long way on the campaign trail. I just don't
Speaker 1: know if it is in Pennsylvania. Al what do you think.
Speaker 1: I think if he hires Rick Davis, he might have
Speaker 1: a chance, But otherwise he's in a bit of trouble.
Speaker 1: As long as Fretterment's health rebounds and he gets out
Speaker 1: on that campaign trail. Usually the more positive, optimistic, authentic
Speaker 1: candidate wins in these statewide races, and that's John Fan.
Speaker 1: But this race is too close to call here, Rick.
Speaker 1: I mean, we can be wise guys about snooky, but
Speaker 1: but Dr Roz has the endorsement of Donald Trump, and
Speaker 1: he's been doing incredibly well despite the fact that he's
Speaker 1: coming from New Jersey. Yeah. I mean, look, it's a
Speaker 1: it's a good Republican year, and a lot of Pennsylvania
Speaker 1: politics have been drifting towards the Republican column. Picking up
Speaker 1: support in these white blue collar districts are really giving
Speaker 1: Republicans a much better chance statewide than we used to have.
Speaker 1: And so, uh, this really should be a great opportunity
Speaker 1: to hold the too May seat. But I must say,
Speaker 1: Uh Fetterman has done a good job of being you know,
Speaker 1: Mr everyman. I would say the cloud hanging over Uh
Speaker 1: Fetterman right now is just you know, getting back up
Speaker 1: and into the campaign and and showing voters that that
Speaker 1: he's been able to, you know, get beyond the health
Speaker 1: scare and um and and I doubt if Memo Oz
Speaker 1: is gonna let him move too quickly beyond that. How
Speaker 1: does he shut that down? Now he's going to go
Speaker 1: out there and do push ups in the street or something.
Speaker 1: How does Federman make people feel better about his health? Well,
Speaker 1: he started doing public appearances and that helps a lot.
Speaker 1: And yes, I mean he's a big guy. He needs
Speaker 1: to show he's healthy and vibrant and and that'll come
Speaker 1: um and then once that's behind him, I think it'll
Speaker 1: be a pretty robust race. But look, if if he
Speaker 1: does have lingering health problems, that of course will be
Speaker 1: a concern. It's fair for Oz to wait. Remarkably, how
Speaker 1: about this, none of his former TV show co stars
Speaker 1: endorsing his campaign to be continued on the Fastest Hour
Speaker 1: in Politics. Thanks to Rick Davis, as always an al
Speaker 1: matter for joining us today along with the rest of
Speaker 1: our guests, Congressman John Katko and Sally Bakewell. Great conversation
Speaker 1: to learn a lot this week. I'll meet you back
Speaker 1: here Monday. This is Bloomberg.