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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. You're listening to the

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch us live weekdays at

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Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for being with us on the Thursday edition on

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Speaker 2: Bloomberg TV and radio.

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Speaker 3: Markets.

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Speaker 2: Chugging along here despite great uncertainty when it comes to geopolitics,

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Speaker 2: and that's where we begin our coverage this hour. I'll

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Speaker 2: let you know that Senator Ted budd is going to

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Speaker 2: be with us a bit later, along with Congresswoman Nicole

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Speaker 2: Mallia Takis of New York. Before we get that far,

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Speaker 2: the news involving Iran is what did not happen last night.

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Speaker 2: There were no strikes as some anticipated. There were headlines

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Speaker 2: as we remember the Drudge Report yesterday saying simply twenty

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Speaker 2: four hours knowing as well that Americans were being evacuated

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Speaker 2: from our massive air base in Cutter and US allies

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Speaker 2: were told to leave Iran. Enter President Trump in the

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Speaker 2: Oval Office at an unrelated event yesterday saying the killing

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Speaker 2: has stopped, suggesting there may not be a need for strikes.

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Speaker 2: The President has been warning Iran not to execute protesters,

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Speaker 2: even though some reports suggest more than three thousand have

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Speaker 2: been killed. Here's what the President said last evening.

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Speaker 4: We've been told that the killing in Iran is stopping,

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Speaker 4: and it's stopped and stopping, and there's no plan for

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Speaker 4: executions or an execution or execution.

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Speaker 5: I'm sure if happens will all be very upset. We're

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Speaker 5: going to watch it and see what the process is.

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Speaker 5: But we were given a very good, very good statement

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Speaker 5: by people that are aware of what's going on.

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Speaker 2: The President suggesting the violence has stopped or is stopping.

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Speaker 2: Unclear which are true, But Lindsey Graham is taking issue.

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Speaker 2: This is, of course a close ally of the president.

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Speaker 2: The Republican from Seuth, Carolina on Twitter, writing, every indication

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Speaker 2: that I've seen says the Iranian regimes killing of protesters

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Speaker 2: is still very much in full swing. The death toll,

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Speaker 2: he writes, is mounting by the hour, hoping that help

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Speaker 2: is on the way, referring to a post from Donald

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Speaker 2: Trump himself on Tuesday, when he wrote in all caps,

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Speaker 2: help is on the way. Tyler Kendall Bloomberg Washington Correspondent

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Speaker 2: with US. Now, with the latest on this and the

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Speaker 2: other geopolitical reverberations at the White House, Tyler, are we

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Speaker 2: to believe that strikes are off the table?

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Speaker 6: Well, this marks a shift in the messaging from President Trump,

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Speaker 6: but to your question, the potential for military strikes still

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Speaker 6: do remain on the table.

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Speaker 7: Though.

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Speaker 6: His comments that you just heard there, along with this

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Speaker 6: being paired with comments from a top Iranian official appearing

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Speaker 6: to rule out the potential to carry out executions, seemed

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Speaker 6: to narrow this window that a US attack on Iran

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Speaker 6: was imminent. But of course, as you outlined, this came

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Speaker 6: just one day after President Trump urged Iranians to continue

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Speaker 6: protesting and also said that help was on the way.

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Speaker 6: So our analysts at Bloomberg Economics say that perhaps this

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Speaker 6: could be strategic ambiguity. At this point, it's just too

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Speaker 6: early to rule anything off the table, and there's a

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Speaker 6: few different signs that were watching. You mentioned one of them.

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Speaker 6: The US did redeploy troops in Qatar and other American

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Speaker 6: military bases in the region as tensions escalate, and we

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Speaker 6: know that President Trump has been briefed every day this

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Speaker 6: week unpotential options in Iran from airstrikes, to cyber attacks,

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Speaker 6: to maybe diplomacy, though President Trump earlier this week, in

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Speaker 6: a post on truth Social said he was canceling all

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Speaker 6: meetings between US and Iranian officials. Now, of course, President

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Speaker 6: Trump's threats have been heightened over the past week on

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Speaker 6: the heels of the US operation in Venezuela capturing Nicholas Maduro,

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Speaker 6: but also the fact that reports have shown that the

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Speaker 6: death toll has been rising. Statistics cited by Bloomberg News

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Speaker 6: from the Iran Human Rights Group estimate that at least

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Speaker 6: thirty four hundred protesters have died, making this one of

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Speaker 6: the deadliest crackdowns in the country in decades.

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Speaker 3: Joe, I want to ask you quickly, Tyler, about Venezuela.

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Speaker 2: We have quite the guest at the White House today,

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Speaker 2: Maria Karina Machado.

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Speaker 3: She could be in the building.

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Speaker 2: It's hard to tell because press not invited to the lunch.

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Speaker 2: This is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, the

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Speaker 2: opposition leader in Venezuela. The timing is remarkable, having heard

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Speaker 2: from the President in that same Oval Office conversation, Delsi Rodriguez,

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Speaker 2: the acting leader of Venezuela, is a quote really terrific

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Speaker 2: person unquote to be a fly on the wall today, right.

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Speaker 6: I mean, this is a high stakes meeting considering the

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Speaker 6: backdrop here that the Trump administration has opted to work

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Speaker 6: with those that are remaining in the government left behind

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Speaker 6: by Nicholas Maduro instead of urging for this quick transition

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Speaker 6: to democracy, and that cordial relationship that you just outlined

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Speaker 6: could pros problematic for Machado and complicate things considering that

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Speaker 6: the White House has suggested that she may not be

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Speaker 6: a viable leader for the country. Now, she's seeking to

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Speaker 6: mend ties with the president. The foreign pooler and the

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Speaker 6: notes that we get ahead of this visit from the

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Speaker 6: White House indicated that she's going to be very complimentary

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Speaker 6: of President Trump. She's going to urge him to release

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Speaker 6: political prisoners, and she's basically seeking to mend ties here.

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Speaker 6: As a poll conducted for Bloomberg News finds that fifty

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Speaker 6: one point six percent of Venezuelans living in the country

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Speaker 6: think that she should be the one to assume power.

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Speaker 6: But Joe, as you all know, this administration often talks

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Speaker 6: about the need to get Venezuela on more sound economic

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Speaker 6: footing before they can talk about setting any potential election dates,

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Speaker 6: and our reporting indicates that there are that there are

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Speaker 6: advisors that feel that Delci Rodriguez may be a better

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Speaker 6: pick for a gradual transition away from the hardline Maduro

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Speaker 6: government instead of Machado assuming power. So we'll see where

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Speaker 6: this goes. But a high stakes meeting today importantly behind closed.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see if they open things up, and of

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Speaker 2: course we'll bring in the room if they do. Tyler,

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Speaker 2: thank you as always. Tyler Kendall, Bloomberg Washington correspondent with

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Speaker 2: some really interesting reporting as we get back to the

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Speaker 2: matter involving Iran before we're joined by Heather Conley NBC

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Speaker 2: reporting that the president is unconvinced by the military options

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Speaker 2: he's been presented.

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Speaker 3: As Tyler said, He's been briefed every day this week.

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Speaker 2: Trump's advisors not able to guarantee to him that the

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Speaker 2: regime would quickly collapse after an American military strike.

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Speaker 3: Remembering, as we discussed yesterday, the.

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Speaker 2: USS Jerry Ford was redeployed from the Mediterranean to the

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Speaker 2: Caribbean because of all of this business with Venezuela. Maybe

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Speaker 2: that made a difference here with concerns that we do

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Speaker 2: not have all the assets in the region that would

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Speaker 2: be needed to guard against an aggressive Iranian response. Let's

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Speaker 2: bring in Heather Conley, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the AEI,

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Speaker 2: former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of

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Speaker 2: European and Eurasian Affairs.

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Speaker 3: Look forward to your being with us, Heather. Thank you

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Speaker 3: for joining.

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Speaker 2: Strikes appear to still be on the table, but less likely.

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Speaker 2: Is that how you're looking at this?

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Speaker 8: Yeah, really unclear.

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Speaker 9: I think the last twenty four hours we got very

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Speaker 9: close to making a decision, at least twenty.

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Speaker 2: Four hour away. Reports were popping around this time yesterday.

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Speaker 3: That was your thought as well.

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Speaker 8: They really were, particularly.

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Speaker 9: Because we were making decisions to evacuate or non essential

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Speaker 9: personnel from basis that usually is preparation for something, and

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Speaker 9: certainly European as well as Israeli intelligent sources we're saying

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Speaker 9: this is imminent, it's coming, and then it stopped, and

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Speaker 9: it feels like we're unrolling it a little bit. Some

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Speaker 9: sources close to President Trump for suggesting this pause is

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Speaker 9: because there's a bigger plan. I don't know if that's

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Speaker 9: true or not, but clearly there's a couple of factors here.

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Speaker 9: Number one, just our military capabilities in theater. As you mentioned,

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Speaker 9: I think our golf allies have pressed very hard to

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Speaker 9: think very carefully before we do this. And I said,

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Speaker 9: I think the President does need to think very carefully

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Speaker 9: about this decision because it could unleash some really significant

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Speaker 9: regional instability across them at least.

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Speaker 4: Well.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and we heard these stories as well last summer

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Speaker 2: when the first strikes were conducted. There's been reporting that

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Speaker 2: we're moving another carrier strike group from the Pacific. I

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Speaker 2: don't know if that's the Lincoln or what would end

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Speaker 2: up in the Mediterranean. Might we be waiting for.

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Speaker 9: That, yeah, I mean, and they are different. Is reported

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Speaker 9: it's the Lincoln. We don't know that for confirmation, you know,

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Speaker 9: and carriers take anywhere between two to three weeks potentially.

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Speaker 9: It certainly took when we moved the USS forward out

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Speaker 9: of the Eastern med into the Eastern Caribbean it did

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Speaker 9: take up to fifteen twenty days. So certainly they would

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Speaker 9: want more strike capacity and more protective capacity, particularly against.

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Speaker 8: An Irani encounter strike. Whether they'll wait or not, we

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Speaker 8: don't know.

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Speaker 2: Endgame, I guess remains a question here as well. How

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Speaker 2: far are you planning to go. When you're talking about strikes,

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Speaker 2: are we talking about eliminating the supreme leader? I mean

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Speaker 2: this would create a power vacuum the likes we haven't

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Speaker 2: seen in modern.

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Speaker 9: Time, right, And I think this is where understanding what

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Speaker 9: is the strike? Are we talking about the Iran a

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Speaker 9: Revolutionary Guard Corp, the leadership, the hierarchy, Iyotola himself. But

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Speaker 9: then it gets in sort of the split screen of

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Speaker 9: what's happening today with the president's lunch with the Venezuelan

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Speaker 9: opposition leader.

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Speaker 8: There is not an easy answer here.

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Speaker 9: After you remove the top echelon of the Iranian government,

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Speaker 9: and there is a variety of ethnic groups within Iran.

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Speaker 9: Everyone has competing interests, so it's not going to be

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Speaker 9: as easy as the Venezuela operation appeared, which we know

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Speaker 9: it was not easy, but it seemed easy.

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Speaker 2: Why isn't Maria Machado sitting somewhere in Caracas running the

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Speaker 2: country of Venezuela.

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Speaker 9: Well, again, this is the decision about when you remove

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Speaker 9: the top individual, the system remains. You have to remove

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Speaker 9: the system, and I think that is still there. The

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Speaker 9: White House, really, I think made a calculated decision that

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Speaker 9: it was more important for them to have control over

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Speaker 9: the situation and to give Delsi, Rodriguez and Opera, you know,

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Speaker 9: to control this so they could achieve their aims, which

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Speaker 9: is obviously control over the Venezuela energy sector.

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Speaker 2: We've just got a breaking story here, and I'm not

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Speaker 2: trying to sneak up on you, but you're you're going

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Speaker 2: to be fascinated by this. New York Times scoop Benjamin

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Speaker 2: Nett and Yahoo called Donald Trump yesterday and asked him

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Speaker 2: to postpone any plans for an American military attack on Iran.

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Speaker 2: Cutter Saudi Arabia, Oman Egypt have also been asking, as

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Speaker 2: you just referred, the Trump administration not to attack.

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Speaker 3: Why would net and Yahoo be in that crowd.

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Speaker 9: Yeah, it's been really curious, and there's been some very

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Speaker 9: good reporting Prime Minister net now, who's been very quiet,

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Speaker 9: which is unusual because we come to think that really

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Speaker 9: one of the key goals of Israel has been exactly

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Speaker 9: regime change, to completely transform Aroan away from uh, you know,

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Speaker 9: obviously building nuclear weapons and an attacking annihilating Israel.

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Speaker 8: Well, but it's strange. I mean, we can only suppose.

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Speaker 9: We need to hear from the Israeli government itself, but

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Speaker 9: I think again it's just regional instability. Look, the Israeli

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Speaker 9: government is stretched and military Gaza, Syria, South Lebanon, and

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Speaker 9: we blew a lot of our missile interceptors and our

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Speaker 9: defensive needs during the twelve Day War. We have to

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Speaker 9: make sure that we are prepared for an Iranian countertack.

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Speaker 8: So that could be one explanation. But again, you'd think.

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Speaker 9: The Twelve Day War was a real boon in some

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Speaker 9: ways to the Prime minister. It unified Israeli society, he

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Speaker 9: got a popularity bump.

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Speaker 8: He's looking at an election this year.

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Speaker 9: But I mean that sends a message that when the

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Speaker 9: leaders are saying we're not ready for this or we

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Speaker 9: want you to wait.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's a week not to believe reports that Netta

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Speaker 2: who asked Trump to strike Iran again when he was

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Speaker 2: last in town.

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Speaker 9: Well, this was their meeting in mar Lago at the

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Speaker 9: end of the year. Was they were completely on the

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Speaker 9: same age. So yes, I think we don't quite understand

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Speaker 9: what's underneath this. It could be military preparedness, just need

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Speaker 9: to wait a little bit. It could be take some

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Speaker 9: time to plan for this. You're not ready for this.

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Speaker 9: If you do decide to take.

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Speaker 2: Maybe there's new intelligence. In other words, you made a

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Speaker 2: great point. Though we expended a lot of hardware in

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Speaker 2: the Twelve Day War, we also destroyed a lot of

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Speaker 2: hardware in Iran, and the idea that this window would

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Speaker 2: not be open forever having pounded their air defenses, is

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Speaker 2: that still the case?

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Speaker 9: So I think there's a high degree of confidence that

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Speaker 9: Iran has not had an opportunity to rebuild its air defenses.

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Speaker 9: And yes, the Israelis did really decimate that, but they

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Speaker 9: haven't eliminated the missiles from Iran. And this is where

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Speaker 9: we've seen, even at the end of twelve days, some

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Speaker 9: of the Irani missiles were beginning to have some impact

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Speaker 9: against Iron Dome. And this is exactly why the administration

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Speaker 9: has really tripled the increase of Patriot batteries. I mean,

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Speaker 9: the demand is so great in Ukraine, in Taiwan, in

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Speaker 9: the Middle East. This is where our defense production capacity

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Speaker 9: has got to meet.

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Speaker 3: This moment, you just threw down Ukraine and Taiwan.

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Speaker 2: So I have to ask you if you buy the

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Speaker 2: conventional wisdom now that President Trump's actions in Venezuela, Iran,

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Speaker 2: maybe others Colombia seems to be off the table. For

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Speaker 2: now embold in China when it comes to Taiwan, and

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Speaker 2: in bold in Russia when it comes to Ukraine. Is

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Speaker 2: it as simple as that or more complicated.

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Speaker 8: It's much more complicated.

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Speaker 9: And I would say the Chinese believe they are on

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Speaker 9: their own time schedule, that this doesn't necessarily impact their decision.

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Speaker 9: And in fact, the Chinese have been you know, there's

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Speaker 9: been some blows to their international posture in Venezuela and

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Speaker 9: potentially Iran and elsewhere. I think for the Russians, and

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Speaker 9: I'm glad you mentioned it because there are reports that

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Speaker 9: Special Envoy wit Coough and mister Kushner may be heading

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Speaker 9: towards Moscow at the end of this month. And we

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Speaker 9: had a back with President Trump again saying that the

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Speaker 9: Ukrainians are in President Selensky is the impast to peace.

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Speaker 8: That's absolutely not the case.

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Speaker 9: There is a peace plan that his negotiators have helped create.

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Speaker 9: Vladimir Putin is not interested in that.

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Speaker 8: If anything.

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Speaker 9: We just heard from Russian Foreign Minister Leverock yesterday saying,

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Speaker 9: actually we are we have bigger plans and they're thinking

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Speaker 9: about even greater territorial acquisition, even beyond what they recommended

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Speaker 9: in the first twenty eight point piece plan. So we

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Speaker 9: are a bubble in fifteen days into this year, Joe.

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Speaker 9: So we're going to have a lot of conversations.

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Speaker 3: About this boy. Heather, thank you. It's great to have

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Speaker 3: you back with us.

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Speaker 2: Heather Conley at the AEI, the American Enterprise Institute. At

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Speaker 2: another dangerous moment in time, I want to take a

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Speaker 2: quick pass with our panel on everything that we just

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Speaker 2: talked about. Bloomberg Politics contributors Rick Davis and Janie Shanzano

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Speaker 2: are with us. Rick is partner at Stone Court Capital

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Speaker 2: Republican strategist. Rick is the president just playing a bit

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Speaker 2: of a shell game here. I remember the last time

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Speaker 2: he told us we'd have two weeks, the bombing started

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Speaker 2: within twenty four hours.

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Speaker 10: Yeah, I think that you could be seeing a psyops

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Speaker 10: kind of effort, you know, to distract what's going on

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Speaker 10: on the ground, buy some time to get you know,

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Speaker 10: various troops in position. And that's certainly been the case

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Speaker 10: in the past, as you mentioned. But also it's kind

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Speaker 10: of hard to tell what's happening on the ground. We're

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Speaker 10: not getting good information. The communications have been jammed by

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Speaker 10: the regime, and so you know from the outside looking in,

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Speaker 10: it's awful hard to tell what kind of situation exists

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Speaker 10: on the ground and whether or not attacks may put

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Speaker 10: protesters even in more harms way. So I think we've

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Speaker 10: got to just wait and see on this one. And

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Speaker 10: I don't think you want to spend a lot of

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Speaker 10: time chewing on the news, because a lot of that

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Speaker 10: is propaganda coming out of Iran, and probably a little

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Speaker 10: bit of propaganda coming out of the United States.

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Speaker 2: Well, and apparently there's something coming out of Israel now

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Speaker 2: if you're just joining us. Benjamin NETTNYA, who, according to

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Speaker 2: The New York Times, spoke with Donald Trump yesterday and

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Speaker 2: asked him to postpone plans to strike Iran. We'll have

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Speaker 2: more with Genie Shanzano and with Rick Davis. Our panel

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Speaker 2: is with us for the hour, and coming up our

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Speaker 2: conversation with Senator Ted Budd, the Republican from North Carolina.

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Speaker 2: With much to discuss here on the congressional agenda, government funding,

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Speaker 2: and healthcare. It's all straight ahead on Balance of Power

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Speaker 2: on Bloomberg TV and Radio. Stay with us on Balance

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Speaker 2: of Power. We'll have much more coming up after this.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch

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Speaker 1: us live weekdays at noon and five pm Eastern on

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Speaker 1: flagship New York station, Just Say Alexa played Bloomberg eleven thirty.

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Speaker 2: Here on Bloomberg TV and Radio. Thank you for joining

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Speaker 2: us on the Thursday edition of Balance of Power. It

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Speaker 2: was just a couple of days ago we spent some

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Speaker 2: time with Senator Roger Marshall, the Republican from Kansas, was

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Speaker 2: brought back to life by this idea of capping interest

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Speaker 2: rates on credit cards after the President went on Truth

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Speaker 2: Social to push this idea. That was Marshall's legislation and

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Speaker 2: he's putting it back together to make good on this

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Speaker 2: cap on credit card interest rates ten percent for one year,

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Speaker 2: which has been very controversial with some in Washington, knowing

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Speaker 2: of course that the likes of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie

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Speaker 2: Sanders preferred such an idea, the banks and some Republicans

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Speaker 2: not so much. I spoke earlier today, in fact, with

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Speaker 2: the face of American Banking, Rob Nichols, who leads the

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Speaker 2: American Bankers Association.

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Speaker 3: His thoughts on this idea.

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Speaker 11: Listen, I think the administration wants to help people here.

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Speaker 11: They're concerned about affordability. I respect that. Unfortunately, as you

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Speaker 11: learn the details of a rate cap, but actually harm

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Speaker 11: the people the administration are attempting to help. Tens of

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Speaker 11: millions of Americans would lose their credit cards. That would

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Speaker 11: have spillover impacts on airlines, on restaurants, on retailers, on hotels,

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Speaker 11: that would create negative and negative economic downward spiral in

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Speaker 11: the economies.

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Speaker 2: This is where we start our conversation with Senators Heed. Bud,

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Speaker 2: the Republican from North Carolina, is back with us live

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Speaker 2: from Capitol Hill on Bloomberg TV and Radio.

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Speaker 3: And Senator it's great to see you.

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Speaker 2: We spend some time with your colleague Tom Tillis last evening,

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Speaker 2: and it's great to make this whole Now for the

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Speaker 2: state of North Carolina, I'm wondering your thoughts on capping

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Speaker 2: credit card rates, knowing you've got some pretty big banks

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Speaker 2: in your state, the likes of Bank of America might

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Speaker 2: not love this idea, do you.

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Speaker 12: Well, It's not about the big banks, it's about helping folks.

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Speaker 12: And I think Rob was right. The folks that they

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Speaker 12: are trying to help right now, this actually would hurt.

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Speaker 12: You've got about three point six trillion dollars of our

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Speaker 12: economy going through credit cards right now, it's about twelve

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Speaker 12: percent of our GDP, and ultimately you're going to have

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Speaker 12: about you're going to have one hundred million people. You're

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Speaker 12: gonna have a lot of people that will not have

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Speaker 12: access to credit if they cap this, because remember these

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Speaker 12: are risk adjusted rates, and if all of a sudden

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Speaker 12: you cap it at ten, there's a lot of folks

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Speaker 12: that don't fit under that. I don't want to encourage

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Speaker 12: consumer debt. I don't want somebody to finance a pair

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Speaker 12: of sneakers, But there are a lot of people that

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Speaker 12: have pop up medical expenses or a quick home repair

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Speaker 12: that they don't have any other avenue to And if

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Speaker 12: you cap this, you're going to move a lot of

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Speaker 12: people off of this, and then if they need money

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Speaker 12: for an emergency, they're going to end up going to

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Speaker 12: loan sharks. So I think the people that you're trying

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Speaker 12: to help, it actually doesn't and it's a bad idea.

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Speaker 3: Okay, well, not mincing words there.

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Speaker 2: You know, we heard from the CFO at JP Morgan

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Speaker 2: Chase when the earnings report hit earlier this week. Senator

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Speaker 2: in pretty interesting take, Jeremy Barnum said, our belief is

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Speaker 2: that actually this will have the exact opposite consequence to

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Speaker 2: what the administration wants. That's basically what you're saying. Have

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Speaker 2: you delivered that message to the White House.

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Speaker 3: I have.

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Speaker 12: I've been very consistent on this. I mean, this idea

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Speaker 12: just keeps coming up like a zombie every few years.

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Speaker 12: Long before I was ever in Congress, I was just

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Speaker 12: trying to manage a young family and I had a

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Speaker 12: debit card that actually got airline points years and years ago,

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Speaker 12: and that's how you know we would travel as a family.

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Speaker 3: But I was using a debit card.

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Speaker 12: But after the first Durban Amendment went through, which dealt

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Speaker 12: with the interchange fees on debit cards, again, these debit

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Speaker 12: cards went they lost all the rewards, and then it

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Speaker 12: moved people. It's fine with me, but it moved some

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Speaker 12: people that didn't need to be on credit products into

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Speaker 12: the credit world, thus encouraging some consumer debt. Again, I

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Speaker 12: just say, let the market handle this. You're trying to

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Speaker 12: help people with affordability. Let's do permitting reform. There are

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Speaker 12: so many things we can do on this other than

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Speaker 12: this Durbin amendment. I think it's a bad idea, and

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Speaker 12: there's so many good things that we could be doing well.

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Speaker 2: You know, we talk about affordability, and healthcare premiums fall

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Speaker 2: into that category, which has been a raging debate on

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Speaker 2: Capitol Hill. As you're getting ready to leave here to

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Speaker 2: get back to the home district for some time, I'm

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Speaker 2: just wondering how you're looking at the Moreno bill and

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Speaker 2: other attempts to revive has expanded Obamacare subsidies. The open

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Speaker 2: enrollment period is closing right now, Senator. Is it too late?

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Speaker 2: Are we giving up the ghost on this? Will you

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Speaker 2: be up with a new plan?

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Speaker 12: Look, love, Bernie Marino. I don't agree with them on this,

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Speaker 12: but I do think we need to help folks have

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Speaker 12: high quality healthcare at a reasonable price. We've got all

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Speaker 12: the levers in this economy and in this country to

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Speaker 12: do so. We have the best quality healthcare, but again,

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Speaker 12: it's very expensive, and I really think that what Obamacare

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Speaker 12: did sixteen years ago, Remember that didn't pass by breaking

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Speaker 12: a fillbuster. That passed with sixty Democrats. It was a

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Speaker 12: high water mark for them, but a low water mark

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Speaker 12: for the individuals. That are subject to Obamacare. They broke

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Speaker 12: Obamacare in two thousand and nine. They figured out it

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Speaker 12: didn't work, so they propped it up with subsidies. Then

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Speaker 12: they set dates for those subsidies to expire, and that's

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Speaker 12: up with right now. It's what we're up against right now.

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Speaker 12: So I don't think you need to keep propping it up.

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Speaker 12: I think we need to get something that doesn't give

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Speaker 12: all this money to insurance companies.

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Speaker 3: And by the way, if you.

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Speaker 12: Look at their stock prices over the last fifteen years,

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Speaker 12: that's fine if they want to be a great company

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Speaker 12: and create a great product for people. But we sent

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Speaker 12: all these federal dollars to them and steered it away

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Speaker 12: from the individual. So they've lost consumer choice and people

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Speaker 12: have lost their options. And they said, if you want

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Speaker 12: your doctor, you can keep your doctor, but that wasn't true.

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Speaker 12: I think we need to give people more choice, more options,

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Speaker 12: and put money in their pocket.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 2: I've also been looking at stocks in defense contractors Senator,

439
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,760
Speaker 2: which have been cranking lately with just so much business

440
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,199
Speaker 2: and now the new prospect of a fifty percent increase

441
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:30,600
Speaker 2: to a trillion and a half dollar defense budget. According

442
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,640
Speaker 2: to Donald Trump, you're on Armed Services. You're on Intel,

443
00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:36,400
Speaker 2: and I'm deeply curious to hear your thoughts about what's.

444
00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:38,160
Speaker 3: Going on or not right now in Iran.

445
00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,320
Speaker 2: The President last evening said the killing has stopped some

446
00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,480
Speaker 2: softer rhetoric when it comes to the mass protests there.

447
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:48,159
Speaker 2: Caroline Levitt just now in the briefing room says Donald

448
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,399
Speaker 2: Trump warned Iran of consequences for protest or deaths, grave

449
00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:56,239
Speaker 2: consequences if Iran killings continue. He spoke with Benjaminette now

450
00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:59,720
Speaker 2: who last evening who reportedly asked him to postpone attacks.

451
00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,480
Speaker 3: Do we need to strike Iran again? Senator?

452
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,040
Speaker 12: Is that much we want to do this. Anything we do,

453
00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,040
Speaker 12: we want to do it in conjunction with our allies.

454
00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,159
Speaker 12: We don't want to be a sole actor there. But again,

455
00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:12,800
Speaker 12: we want to support the Iranian people who've been oppressed

456
00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:14,240
Speaker 12: for the last fifty some years.

457
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:15,920
Speaker 3: It's been absolutely.

458
00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:20,399
Speaker 12: Heartbreaking what's been going on since nineteen seventy nine with

459
00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,439
Speaker 12: the Ayatola in the regime there. It's not the people,

460
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:26,239
Speaker 12: it's the regime and anything we can do, whether it's

461
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:29,000
Speaker 12: sanctions which he's placed on there. And again, I don't

462
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:31,760
Speaker 12: think after forever wars in the Middle East that the

463
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:34,400
Speaker 12: people want boots on the ground, We want an effect,

464
00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:37,120
Speaker 12: but we don't want to be there forever. I think

465
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:39,080
Speaker 12: we love our young men and women in uniform too

466
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:41,120
Speaker 12: much to send them over there, especially on a long

467
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:43,480
Speaker 12: term basis. But what you did see is a very

468
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 12: precision strike in Iran back in June, and then more

469
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,119
Speaker 12: recently you saw a very precision operation in conjunction with

470
00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,000
Speaker 12: law enforcement on Maduro. So we get in, we get

471
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,720
Speaker 12: the effect done, we get out, no boots on the ground.

472
00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,280
Speaker 2: You want to see a carrier strike group back in

473
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:01,440
Speaker 2: the med report, The Lincoln is on its way?

474
00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:02,600
Speaker 3: Is that how you understand it?

475
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:05,280
Speaker 12: Well, we always want to be ready, and it's better

476
00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,199
Speaker 12: to be prepared than to be behind the curve on this,

477
00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:10,639
Speaker 12: and I think that's what President Trump's thinking. He's always

478
00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,879
Speaker 12: ahead of the curve on these and I'm grateful for it.

479
00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,280
Speaker 3: It's great to have you back, Senator. We appreciate the insights.

480
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,200
Speaker 2: Ted Bud, Republican from North Carolina, with us live from

481
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:22,440
Speaker 2: Capitol Hill as we reassemble our political panel. Bloomberg Politics

482
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:27,800
Speaker 2: contributors Genie Shanzeno and Rick Davis are with us. That

483
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:31,800
Speaker 2: was really interesting to hear from Senator Ted budd when

484
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:35,480
Speaker 2: it comes to credit cards and interest rates. Genie, you've

485
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,400
Speaker 2: obviously got a Republican in this case, as I mentioned,

486
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,159
Speaker 2: Bank of America is in his state in North Carolina.

487
00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:43,720
Speaker 2: But it gives us a sense that some of the

488
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,639
Speaker 2: opposition the President might run into with this credit card issue.

489
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,640
Speaker 3: Is this doa on Capitol Hill.

490
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:53,200
Speaker 13: It depends.

491
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:57,240
Speaker 14: I think if the President can pull together some populist Republicans,

492
00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:00,960
Speaker 14: match them with some populist Democrat and get enough there

493
00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 14: we can see though, And I think that was really fascinating.

494
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,040
Speaker 14: He described it as sort of a zombie that keeps

495
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,840
Speaker 14: coming up, a bad idea that keeps coming up. But

496
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,639
Speaker 14: the fact is it is a bad idea for the

497
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,719
Speaker 14: big banks. It's not a bad idea for American consumers

498
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:20,520
Speaker 14: who need immediately, immediate and significant relief. And for the

499
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,679
Speaker 14: big banks have got to find better ways to lend money.

500
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,840
Speaker 14: They need better models because what they're doing is they

501
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:31,159
Speaker 14: are getting profit out of small consumers and that is

502
00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,240
Speaker 14: what is driving the enormous debt that Americans are feeling.

503
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,199
Speaker 14: So I think Donald Trump's on the right side of

504
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:37,120
Speaker 14: the politics here.

505
00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:38,359
Speaker 13: But whether he can.

506
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:40,840
Speaker 14: Push this through the big banks have a big lobby,

507
00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:42,879
Speaker 14: and we're seeing the pushback from Republicans.

508
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:46,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, what are you hearing about this, Rick? Big banks

509
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,520
Speaker 2: are pretty good at quashing moves like these. They've certainly

510
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,280
Speaker 2: been undefeated on this score so far. Are Republicans going

511
00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 2: to support this or is Ted Budd speaking for the

512
00:25:58,680 --> 00:25:59,760
Speaker 2: Republican led Senate.

513
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:01,600
Speaker 7: Yeah?

514
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,239
Speaker 10: I think what makes this different is that you're going

515
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,080
Speaker 10: to have a you have a Republican president actually running

516
00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 10: high cover for the Democrats, you know, and that the

517
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:15,040
Speaker 10: banks were unprepared for this debate when the President brought

518
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:21,080
Speaker 10: it up, So banks cot flat footed. A Republican president

519
00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:23,239
Speaker 10: with lots of stroke in the House of Representatives at

520
00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:27,359
Speaker 10: least and a lot in the Senate is giving oxygen

521
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,760
Speaker 10: to a debate that otherwise would do in a straight line,

522
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:34,200
Speaker 10: party line vote, which meant in this Congress it wouldn't succeed.

523
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:35,920
Speaker 7: So I don't think you can count it out.

524
00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:40,000
Speaker 10: As I've said before, I think that you you win

525
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,040
Speaker 10: more than you lose if you bank on the banking

526
00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:44,200
Speaker 10: lobby in Washington.

527
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:46,119
Speaker 7: They're extraordinarily effective.

528
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:51,400
Speaker 10: Is you just saw Ted Budd articulating the big commercial

529
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,960
Speaker 10: banks position on this, So I think You're gonna have

530
00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:57,359
Speaker 10: a lot of wood to chop on this before it's

531
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:01,000
Speaker 10: done because of the President's willingness to lobby on behalf

532
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 10: of the anti back, anti bank coalition in Congress right now.

533
00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:09,320
Speaker 10: And that's something we've never seen.

534
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:10,800
Speaker 7: So this is different.

535
00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:17,159
Speaker 2: Genie, are you losing optimism in a revival of Obamacare

536
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,240
Speaker 2: subsidies after what you just heard from the senator, this

537
00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,359
Speaker 2: seem to have some momentum. I'm not sure where we

538
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,360
Speaker 2: are now. Everyone's going home tonight, Yeah, I.

539
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:27,399
Speaker 14: Mean, it's just hard to believe that once again they

540
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:30,320
Speaker 14: are going back home and nothing has been done, and

541
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:34,040
Speaker 14: of course the clock has been ticking. It's pretty much

542
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:37,840
Speaker 14: already run out for the millions of people. And I

543
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:41,359
Speaker 14: again do not understand the politics of this. From the

544
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:45,480
Speaker 14: Republican's perspective, millions of people in their states and their

545
00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:49,200
Speaker 14: districts are suffering. This is the very type of thing

546
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:53,640
Speaker 14: that can turn the House and potentially the Senate Democratic

547
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,280
Speaker 14: in the fall. So I don't understand the politics of this.

548
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,280
Speaker 14: I think it's an enormous mistake, but I don't have

549
00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:01,760
Speaker 14: faith it's going to they're going to be able to

550
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,960
Speaker 14: push this through Democrat Wow.

551
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:06,880
Speaker 2: Well, I guess we got another flyout day, at least

552
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,760
Speaker 2: for the Upper Chamber. Jeanie Shanzano and Rick Davis, thank

553
00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,680
Speaker 2: you as ever Bloomberg Politics contributors. We'll have a lot

554
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:16,200
Speaker 2: more ahead, including our conversation with Congresswoman Nicole mally Osakis,

555
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,719
Speaker 2: the Republican from New York. Stay with us on Balance

556
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:20,920
Speaker 2: of Power. We'll have much more coming up after this.

557
00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:29,760
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch

558
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:33,240
Speaker 1: us live weekdays at noon and five pm Eastern on Apple,

559
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,680
Speaker 1: Cocklay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. Listen

560
00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,840
Speaker 1: on demand wherever you get your podcasts, or watch us

561
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,200
Speaker 1: live on YouTube.

562
00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,560
Speaker 2: Nice day on the markets, as we argue about plastic

563
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:50,240
Speaker 2: here in Washington, d C. Not the material, but the

564
00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 2: credit cards and specifically interest rates. After Donald Trump went

565
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:57,600
Speaker 2: on social media to suggest that all credit card interest

566
00:28:57,640 --> 00:28:59,920
Speaker 2: rates be capped at ten percent for the next year.

567
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:04,960
Speaker 2: This has caused some angst in the banking industry and

568
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 2: on the Republican side of the aisle. As we just

569
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,719
Speaker 2: discovered in our conversation with Senator Ted budd We're going

570
00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:14,240
Speaker 2: to be talking momentarily with Republican Congresswoman Nicole Malia Takas,

571
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 2: and we'll take her temperature on this idea with legislation

572
00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:20,760
Speaker 2: now being codified on Capitol Hill to make good on

573
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:24,160
Speaker 2: what President Trump is asking for, legislation that you might

574
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:26,920
Speaker 2: more closely associate with the likes of Elizabeth Warren or

575
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:31,600
Speaker 2: Bernie Sanders than a Republican on Capitol Hill. I talked

576
00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:36,800
Speaker 2: about this whole idea earlier with the face of American Banking,

577
00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:40,840
Speaker 2: as we already told you, the President and CEO of

578
00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:45,240
Speaker 2: the American Banking Bankers Association, Rob Nichols, joined us earlier

579
00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:50,400
Speaker 2: today here in our Washington Bureau for his take on this. Listen, Lee,

580
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:53,240
Speaker 2: what are you hearing from members of both sides? Yeah,

581
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:54,720
Speaker 2: we're hearing Republicans.

582
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:54,720
Speaker 3: Sign on to this.

583
00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:57,640
Speaker 11: Well, I've seen what the interest is you mentioned Republicans

584
00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:02,960
Speaker 11: Speaker Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Chairman Frendshield of

585
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,280
Speaker 11: the House Financial Services Committee, and Chairman Timscott of the

586
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,960
Speaker 11: Senate Bank Company all four have said this is really

587
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,160
Speaker 11: bad policy. I've also seen Democrats make those same points

588
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:13,400
Speaker 11: as well, so we've seen, Yes, there's one or two

589
00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:15,520
Speaker 11: people on the Hill who think it's good public policy,

590
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:19,160
Speaker 11: the overwhelming majority of folks in both parties on Capitol

591
00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:24,760
Speaker 11: Hill realize government price caps, government price controls don't work.

592
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,360
Speaker 11: They won't work here, they haven't worked in the past,

593
00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:29,720
Speaker 11: and so we're going to continue to make our voice

594
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 11: heard that there are other ways to help the American people.

595
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:34,040
Speaker 11: This is not a good one.

596
00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:35,800
Speaker 2: We're going to play this to Senator Ted budd a

597
00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,040
Speaker 2: little bit later on. He's got Bank of America obviously

598
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:40,520
Speaker 2: in his state, and is one of the Republicans who

599
00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:41,479
Speaker 2: did sign on to this.

600
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:44,440
Speaker 3: We're speaking to the consumer impact here.

601
00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:46,440
Speaker 2: What would it mean for the banking business to be

602
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 2: capped at ten percent?

603
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:49,880
Speaker 11: Yeah, so, well, first of all for the American people

604
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:52,200
Speaker 11: would be terrible. So many tens of millions of people

605
00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,760
Speaker 11: would lose their credit cards, so that's not good. And

606
00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:57,440
Speaker 11: then obviously it would impact the banking sector as well.

607
00:30:57,440 --> 00:30:58,640
Speaker 3: That's a secondary matter.

608
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,200
Speaker 11: We're more concerned about the US economy than the profitability

609
00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:02,560
Speaker 11: of banks.

610
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,280
Speaker 2: Okay, I want your broader view on what's happening here

611
00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:07,760
Speaker 2: in the banking sector and what some have forecast a

612
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:11,520
Speaker 2: golden age. You look at a chart of Goldman Sacks

613
00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:13,440
Speaker 2: or even some of the money center banks, they look

614
00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:16,880
Speaker 2: like AI stocks. Recently and I know we're grinding through

615
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:21,560
Speaker 2: some earnings reporting this week that is putting some noise

616
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:23,680
Speaker 2: around the banks. But I'm just wondering what you see

617
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 2: in the year ahead when it comes to deregulation, when

618
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,440
Speaker 2: it comes to crypto, the IPO pipeline, this is bloomberg.

619
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:34,080
Speaker 2: Of course, from an institutional standpoint, is the Golden Age

620
00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:34,920
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six?

621
00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:36,920
Speaker 11: Well, I'd say a couple of things, Joe. Number one,

622
00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:40,520
Speaker 11: the regulatory direction of travel. The right sizing that the

623
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,960
Speaker 11: new regulatory executives have been.

624
00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:44,320
Speaker 3: Doing is really welcome.

625
00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:46,720
Speaker 11: So I want to praise the administration for particularly the

626
00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:49,160
Speaker 11: appointees they put at the FED, the UCC, and the FDIC.

627
00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:51,920
Speaker 11: I think understand the really important role banks play to

628
00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:54,440
Speaker 11: spur and grow the US economy. So that's number one.

629
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:56,680
Speaker 11: Number two on the M and A side that you

630
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,280
Speaker 11: alluded to, Yes, I think there's going to be more

631
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:01,440
Speaker 11: of an opens towards M and A.

632
00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:03,480
Speaker 3: I don't think every deal gets done, and that's fine.

633
00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:06,360
Speaker 11: They should all be scrutinized, every application should be scrutinized.

634
00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:09,600
Speaker 11: But I think under the previous administration there was a

635
00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:15,440
Speaker 11: reluctance to allow these important partners and these important institutions

636
00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 11: to get together when there was a geographical or a

637
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 11: cultural reason that made a lot of sense for banks

638
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:22,120
Speaker 11: to merge. So I think there's an openness towards M

639
00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:24,760
Speaker 11: and A, which is great. The regulatory right sizing in

640
00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:28,560
Speaker 11: the direction of travel is great, and so I do

641
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,280
Speaker 11: think there's a positive path forward for the US banking sector.

642
00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:36,880
Speaker 11: Earnings have demonstrated that. The FDIC in the recent quarterly

643
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:41,440
Speaker 11: Banking Report said that the sector looks resilient, credit quality

644
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:44,440
Speaker 11: is strong. We are in a really good place to

645
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,840
Speaker 11: help spur and booy economic growth through the United States,

646
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:50,840
Speaker 11: and we're working with a group of regulatory stakeholders who

647
00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,920
Speaker 11: get the important role that banks can play to be

648
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,360
Speaker 11: that cardiovascular system of the US economy.

649
00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:00,600
Speaker 2: In you losen any sleep over this investigation into J Powell.

650
00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:03,880
Speaker 2: Does that bring just in its own essence, systemic risk?

651
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:05,800
Speaker 3: I would say that is certainly noise.

652
00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:09,400
Speaker 11: And I would say this FED independence is incredibly important

653
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,480
Speaker 11: for a free market economy. That's something the ABA is

654
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,920
Speaker 11: believed in forever and we will continue to as well.

655
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:17,959
Speaker 11: I will say this, I've known Chairman J. Powell for

656
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,600
Speaker 11: a long time. He is a man of integrity, he

657
00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:25,280
Speaker 11: is a public servant and has spent many, many years serving.

658
00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:25,720
Speaker 7: The American people.

659
00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:28,240
Speaker 11: We may not agree on everything, sure, from a monetary

660
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:31,920
Speaker 11: policy standpoint or a regulatory standpoint, but I would say

661
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,280
Speaker 11: this FED independence is incredibly important for free market economy.

662
00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:36,320
Speaker 3: For dollar sovereignty.

663
00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:40,200
Speaker 11: I'm not in a position to comment on the investigation itself,

664
00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:44,760
Speaker 11: but FED independence now and going forward is incredibly important.

665
00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:45,800
Speaker 3: Yeah.

666
00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:47,959
Speaker 2: All right, There you have it from Rob Nichols, President

667
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,080
Speaker 2: CEO of the American Bankers Association. Spent some time with

668
00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:53,640
Speaker 2: us to talk about a number of issues, including this

669
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:56,720
Speaker 2: effort to cap credit card interest rates. It's not the

670
00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 2: reason why we invited the congresswoman to join us, but

671
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:01,760
Speaker 2: we'll take our tempure on this along with a number

672
00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:05,120
Speaker 2: of issues that are popping on Capitol Hill. Nicole Malia Takis,

673
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,000
Speaker 2: Republican from New York, is with us in studio in Washington,

674
00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:09,680
Speaker 2: and it's great to have you back on Bloomberg TV

675
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,960
Speaker 2: and Radio. Is this a Republican or a conservative concept?

676
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,400
Speaker 2: The idea of capping interest rates on credit cards is

677
00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:17,719
Speaker 2: something that you're comfortable with?

678
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,560
Speaker 15: Well, I think in general, a lot of Republican members,

679
00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:24,520
Speaker 15: including myself, have expressed concerns with any type of price controls, right,

680
00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:28,440
Speaker 15: that's not something that we generally believe in. We applaud

681
00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:31,680
Speaker 15: the President for trying to address this issue of affordability,

682
00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:34,759
Speaker 15: and quite frankly, twenty nine percent is a little bit ridiculous, right,

683
00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:36,399
Speaker 15: I mean, you know, I can go to a loan

684
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:38,640
Speaker 15: shark in down the block from in my district and

685
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,680
Speaker 15: basically get a better deal. The issue I think is

686
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,840
Speaker 15: city now. And of course we don't just joking but

687
00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:48,520
Speaker 15: freend to stat Island. But the reality is is that,

688
00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:50,800
Speaker 15: you know, how can we address this. I actually was

689
00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:53,279
Speaker 15: speaking to somebody who represents a credit union the other

690
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:56,480
Speaker 15: day and they are capped at eighteen percent, So maybe

691
00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:58,479
Speaker 15: maybe eighteen percent should be more of what we're looking

692
00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:01,080
Speaker 15: at for a one year year to kind of bring

693
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:03,759
Speaker 15: it in par But I think this is going to be

694
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:06,399
Speaker 15: a real big discussion on Capitol Hill, because I can

695
00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:09,280
Speaker 15: tell you I was a remember the Main Street Caucus,

696
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:13,560
Speaker 15: which there's more center right, members of our conference, a

697
00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:17,399
Speaker 15: lot of them have expressed concerns about this in our

698
00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:20,000
Speaker 15: last meeting, which took place on Monday, And so I

699
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:24,040
Speaker 15: do believe that this is really really going to be

700
00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:25,640
Speaker 15: something that he's going to get a lot of opposition

701
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:26,520
Speaker 15: to on the hill.

702
00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:30,000
Speaker 2: This falls into the whole affordability category. You can come

703
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:32,160
Speaker 2: at this from a lot of different ways, whether it's housing,

704
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:37,600
Speaker 2: whether it's pharmaceuticals. Obamacare subsidies is one that we have

705
00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,680
Speaker 2: been talking about a lot. And as the Senate prepares

706
00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:44,440
Speaker 2: to go home today, there are some saying that this

707
00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:47,759
Speaker 2: Bernie Moreno bill is going nowhere, that it's time for

708
00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:49,640
Speaker 2: a new plan, open enrollment is closing.

709
00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:50,960
Speaker 3: Where are we in this debate?

710
00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:52,120
Speaker 14: Yeah?

711
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:54,560
Speaker 15: Look, I think that the President just a little while

712
00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:58,880
Speaker 15: ago came out with his Great Healthcare Plan and we're

713
00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,080
Speaker 15: currently reviewing that it does hit on a lot of

714
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:02,680
Speaker 15: the points. I mean, I think one of the big

715
00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:06,680
Speaker 15: issues where we see some opportunity is pharmaceuticals. Right, he's

716
00:36:06,719 --> 00:36:10,440
Speaker 15: proposed his most favored nation. He wants to pay Americans

717
00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:13,240
Speaker 15: to pay the same price that many other countries are paying.

718
00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:15,880
Speaker 15: Why are we subsidizing the research and on top of

719
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:18,919
Speaker 15: it paying the highest prices. So he has a point

720
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:23,360
Speaker 15: with that, But I think the bigger issue is PBM reform.

721
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:26,359
Speaker 15: If we want to rein in those PBMs that are

722
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:30,960
Speaker 15: those middlemen between the insurance companies and the pharmacies, and

723
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:34,800
Speaker 15: in some cases is vertical integration where the insurance company

724
00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:37,600
Speaker 15: is the PBM and the pharmacy, and that is I

725
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,440
Speaker 15: think a real problem because we're seeing them put small

726
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:43,319
Speaker 15: moment pop pharmacies out of business. They're dictating what their

727
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:48,080
Speaker 15: competitors are making, and they are have no transparency in

728
00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:51,440
Speaker 15: terms of what's going on in the middle in between

729
00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:54,160
Speaker 15: phase and how much they're profiting. So, in fact, our

730
00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:55,960
Speaker 15: committee next week, Ways and Means is going to be

731
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,319
Speaker 15: having these health insurance executives that do also own these

732
00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:03,400
Speaker 15: PBMs come before us, and the question is it's going

733
00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:06,040
Speaker 15: to be interesting, especially when we ask them, you know,

734
00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:08,280
Speaker 15: about the two hundred and thirty percent increase in profits

735
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:12,160
Speaker 15: and the premiums increasing at the same time despite those

736
00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:16,279
Speaker 15: taxpayer subsidies. That's going to be a big topic, i

737
00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:19,520
Speaker 15: think in the next couple of weeks, and we'll see

738
00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:21,480
Speaker 15: where that goes. But I'm hopeful that we're still going

739
00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:24,800
Speaker 15: to get something done to bipartisan way, if not through reconciliation.

740
00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:27,920
Speaker 15: What the President proposed today could be done through the

741
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:32,120
Speaker 15: reconciliation process, which means only Republicans are needed to pass this.

742
00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:32,439
Speaker 3: Wow.

743
00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:35,640
Speaker 2: Interesting, So reconciliation two point zero is real for you.

744
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:37,759
Speaker 2: I think it's a possibility.

745
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:41,520
Speaker 15: I think, look, our margin keeps getting slimmer and slimmer,

746
00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:44,560
Speaker 15: but I think that's very well possible.

747
00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:47,160
Speaker 13: Maybe as it relates to healthcare.

748
00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:51,799
Speaker 15: And housing, there's a lot of discussion surrounding housing and

749
00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:52,960
Speaker 15: affordability there.

750
00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:54,759
Speaker 3: I think, I think one of the biggest things we

751
00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:55,440
Speaker 3: also need to do.

752
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:57,560
Speaker 15: And I think as it relates to credit card companies,

753
00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:01,880
Speaker 15: financial literacy is so important, right teaching young people about

754
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:05,640
Speaker 15: what it means to take on debt and you know

755
00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:08,439
Speaker 15: what's behind the actual dollar. And I think that that's

756
00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:10,239
Speaker 15: something we need to get back to the basics. In

757
00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:11,360
Speaker 15: our education system.

758
00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:13,680
Speaker 3: You need to get a Bloomberg terminal in every classroom.

759
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:15,560
Speaker 3: I didn't really say that.

760
00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:19,440
Speaker 2: I want to ask you about immigration because the conversation

761
00:38:19,719 --> 00:38:24,000
Speaker 2: that we had so frequently throughout the campaign has evolved.

762
00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:29,080
Speaker 2: Following the ice raids, we saw the deadly shooting in Minneapolis.

763
00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:32,239
Speaker 2: You can't wake up in the morning without the doom

764
00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:34,440
Speaker 2: scroll on your phone and seeing somebody pull out of

765
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:37,719
Speaker 2: a car, pulled out of their home. President actually, if

766
00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:40,440
Speaker 2: you go back and listen to his rhetoric on the campaign,

767
00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:41,760
Speaker 2: trail actually set in an interview.

768
00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:44,719
Speaker 3: This could be difficult for some people to see. Is

769
00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:45,800
Speaker 3: this what you expected?

770
00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:46,799
Speaker 6: Look?

771
00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:49,680
Speaker 15: I think I think what we really wanted and needed,

772
00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:53,359
Speaker 15: particularly my district, was the President to once secure the border,

773
00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,879
Speaker 15: which he's done. We now zero crossings and number two

774
00:38:56,920 --> 00:38:59,000
Speaker 15: to port the criminals, right, and I think that in

775
00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:03,360
Speaker 15: many ways they've been very successful. We are seeing thousands

776
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:06,279
Speaker 15: of criminals that have committed real serious crimes deported. Those

777
00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:09,120
Speaker 15: migrant shelters that were popping up all over New York

778
00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:12,799
Speaker 15: City being funded by the taxpayer are now closed. But

779
00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:16,200
Speaker 15: we also see that there are areas where they've gone

780
00:39:16,239 --> 00:39:19,600
Speaker 15: too far. And we've had a real discussion about this

781
00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:22,200
Speaker 15: with the Speaker and with the White House because we

782
00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:26,480
Speaker 15: want to see some type of balance here. I think

783
00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:29,000
Speaker 15: that's what the American people want. So you secured the border,

784
00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:31,800
Speaker 15: you're deporting the criminals. But when it comes to these raids,

785
00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:35,480
Speaker 15: I think they are problematic. But I think the other

786
00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:38,680
Speaker 15: issue is that the municipalities are not cooperating to deport

787
00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:41,040
Speaker 15: those criminals. So if they're not turning over these people,

788
00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:43,200
Speaker 15: which in New York City recently there was an article

789
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:47,440
Speaker 15: saying seven thousand individuals including murderers and rapists, were released

790
00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:49,560
Speaker 15: back onto the street instead of turned over to ice.

791
00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:52,400
Speaker 15: And so when you have a situation where the local

792
00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:56,000
Speaker 15: government is not cooperating to enforce the laws of our nation,

793
00:39:57,480 --> 00:39:59,799
Speaker 15: these raids happen because now they've got to go in

794
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:02,799
Speaker 15: there and find those criminals. And the problem is you're

795
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,879
Speaker 15: putting public at risk, you're putting those officers at risk.

796
00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:08,279
Speaker 15: And so we really do need to see a cooperation,

797
00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:11,440
Speaker 15: some common ground. They're going to focus on those criminals,

798
00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:14,919
Speaker 15: but we need these local governments to cooperate with us.

799
00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:17,920
Speaker 15: And then the second part of this is obviously immigration reform.

800
00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:21,480
Speaker 15: You know there's a group of US Hispanic Republicans who

801
00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:24,400
Speaker 15: met with a speaker recently. We've been also pushing for

802
00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:27,319
Speaker 15: a meeting with the President himself to talk about the

803
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:30,400
Speaker 15: need for immigration reform. I represent a district where we

804
00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:33,880
Speaker 15: have a very diverse population and even you know this

805
00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:37,840
Speaker 15: Ukrainian parole program that's now when people have to renew

806
00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:40,640
Speaker 15: for that, it's taking a very long time and these

807
00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:43,440
Speaker 15: people are here legally and working and they end up

808
00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:47,760
Speaker 15: losing their jobs because they can't get their parole renewed.

809
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:50,800
Speaker 15: And we're seeing the same thing with work authorizations and visas.

810
00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:54,120
Speaker 15: People who are here doing the right thing, followed the rules,

811
00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:56,920
Speaker 15: they're working hard, they're paying taxes, and you know what,

812
00:40:56,960 --> 00:41:00,759
Speaker 15: they lose their legal status and then they lose their job.

813
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:04,080
Speaker 15: And fortunately we need to figure out a system that

814
00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:09,520
Speaker 15: improves that and also gives more employers opportunities to hire

815
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:13,920
Speaker 15: foreign workers for jobs that they cannot fill with Americans.

816
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:16,160
Speaker 3: Well, that was a comprehensive answer, and I only have

817
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:16,839
Speaker 3: a minute left.

818
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:20,719
Speaker 2: I want to just see your thought on the discord

819
00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:25,520
Speaker 2: over these ICE raids impacting the budget for DHS.

820
00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:28,600
Speaker 3: Could this hold up funding at the end of the month.

821
00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:31,600
Speaker 15: Quite Frankly, I think the Democrats are playing politics here

822
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:33,920
Speaker 15: with this. I think that first of all, we just

823
00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:38,680
Speaker 15: gave billions of dollars to our ice to be able

824
00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:42,799
Speaker 15: to carry out these deportations in the reconciliation bill, where

825
00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:45,360
Speaker 15: you're going to see some impact if they choose to

826
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:47,880
Speaker 15: take this route. Coast Guard, for example, is going to

827
00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:51,439
Speaker 15: get hurt. These are serious other federal law enforcement. They're

828
00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:54,560
Speaker 15: the ones that are going to get impacted. Counter terrorism, cybersecurity,

829
00:41:54,840 --> 00:41:57,680
Speaker 15: our coastline, those are the areas we're going to see

830
00:41:57,840 --> 00:41:59,960
Speaker 15: some impact if they don't work with us to get

831
00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:01,720
Speaker 15: the job done and fund the government.

832
00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:04,120
Speaker 2: Even some Democrats tell us they don't have an appetite

833
00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:06,640
Speaker 2: for another shutdown, so we'll find out together. Congressoman Nicole

834
00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:08,920
Speaker 2: Malia Takis from New York, thank you so much. As always,

835
00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:11,520
Speaker 2: this is Bloomberg. Stay with us on Balance of Power.

836
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:13,279
Speaker 2: We'll have much more coming up after this.

837
00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:21,080
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch

838
00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:24,600
Speaker 1: us live weekdays at noon and five pm Eastern on Apple,

839
00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:27,680
Speaker 1: Cockley and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. You

840
00:42:27,719 --> 00:42:31,200
Speaker 1: can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship

841
00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:35,160
Speaker 1: New York station Just Say Alexa played Bloomberg eleven thirty.

842
00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:38,600
Speaker 2: I'm guessing there into lunch by now. I don't know

843
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:42,040
Speaker 2: if if we know that they've started here. This is

844
00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:46,000
Speaker 2: of course on the president's schedule. Maria Coriina Machado, Yeah,

845
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:49,480
Speaker 2: the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, which she indicated

846
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:50,920
Speaker 2: he might want to share with her.

847
00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:54,000
Speaker 3: I don't know that the Nobel folks see it the

848
00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:54,479
Speaker 3: same way.

849
00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:58,239
Speaker 2: Sitting down for lunch in what, at least until now,

850
00:42:58,320 --> 00:42:59,960
Speaker 2: is a closed press meeting.

851
00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:01,680
Speaker 3: We're not going to see the video.

852
00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:04,640
Speaker 2: Unless the White House provides it later of these two

853
00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:07,960
Speaker 2: sitting down to eat, and you're kind of, i mean wondering,

854
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:12,160
Speaker 2: what's the vibe in the room, what are they eating,

855
00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:13,959
Speaker 2: what are they serving? What's coming out of the White

856
00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:16,680
Speaker 2: House mess that you put in front of a Nobel

857
00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:22,960
Speaker 2: Peace Prize winner. The Agriculture Secretary has a thought on this.

858
00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:26,080
Speaker 2: In fact, she was talking about this a bit yesterday

859
00:43:26,480 --> 00:43:28,960
Speaker 2: in the Oval office and then again in an interview

860
00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:32,799
Speaker 2: on TV what the Independent is referring to as the

861
00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:37,120
Speaker 2: Depression meal. I want you to get your head around this,

862
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:40,520
Speaker 2: because lunch is cheaper than you thought. The depression meal

863
00:43:40,600 --> 00:43:43,840
Speaker 2: a lunch that will only cost you three dollars. This,

864
00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:47,000
Speaker 2: of course, is in the spirit of affordability, the issue

865
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,440
Speaker 2: that's driving the American voter. Listen to what Brooke Rolins

866
00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:51,319
Speaker 2: said on News Nation.

867
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:54,120
Speaker 16: Are we asking them to spend more on their diet?

868
00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:56,799
Speaker 16: And the answer to that is no. We've run over

869
00:43:56,880 --> 00:44:00,759
Speaker 16: one thousand simulations. It can cost around three dollars a

870
00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:03,880
Speaker 16: meal for a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli,

871
00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:08,400
Speaker 16: corn tortilla, and one other thing. And so there is

872
00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:11,560
Speaker 16: a way to do this that actually will save the

873
00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:13,640
Speaker 16: average American consumer money.

874
00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:19,359
Speaker 3: Begging the question what's the other thing?

875
00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:23,120
Speaker 2: By the way, A thousand simulations and that's what we

876
00:44:23,239 --> 00:44:29,040
Speaker 2: came up with. A piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli,

877
00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:33,600
Speaker 2: not even the crown, it's the piece of a corn tortilla.

878
00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:38,200
Speaker 2: And one other thing. I'm pretty sure that's not a

879
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:40,960
Speaker 2: prime rib although if you look at the upside down

880
00:44:42,560 --> 00:44:45,840
Speaker 2: food pyramid, you might expect that to be on the menu.

881
00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:50,360
Speaker 2: A ribbi for everyone. Now, if you're the president, you

882
00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:52,360
Speaker 2: might be splurging today. And this is where we're getting

883
00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:55,080
Speaker 2: back to our lunch with Donald Trump, because the Health

884
00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:57,680
Speaker 2: Secretary even weighed in on this, what do you think

885
00:44:57,719 --> 00:45:01,520
Speaker 2: the president is eating? RFK Junior did Katie Miller podcast,

886
00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:03,560
Speaker 2: and yeah, we're going back.

887
00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:04,359
Speaker 3: To McDonald's on this.

888
00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:05,880
Speaker 2: When we talk about it a lot, we ought to

889
00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:09,000
Speaker 2: ask them to sponsor the program, to be perfectly honest.

890
00:45:08,719 --> 00:45:10,520
Speaker 3: With you, knowing that what's an extra value meal?

891
00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:13,240
Speaker 2: You get a big Mac meals eight bucks ten bucks

892
00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:14,520
Speaker 2: at this point.

893
00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:17,680
Speaker 3: And one other thing.

894
00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:22,800
Speaker 2: I want you to hear the Health Secretary who yesterday

895
00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:27,640
Speaker 2: was talking about the importance of eating real foods right,

896
00:45:27,719 --> 00:45:31,520
Speaker 2: not processed foods, real foods to stay healthy and keep

897
00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:36,280
Speaker 2: our cognitive health where it needs to be. The president

898
00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:39,440
Speaker 2: is an exception. According to RFK Junior, listen.

899
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:43,000
Speaker 17: Oh, you know, the interesting thing about the president is

900
00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:48,799
Speaker 17: that he eats really bad food, which is McDonald's and

901
00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:54,120
Speaker 17: then you know Kathy and dive coke. But he eats

902
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:56,160
Speaker 17: to drinks to die coke all times. He is a

903
00:45:56,160 --> 00:46:00,200
Speaker 17: constitution of a deity. I don't know how he's alive.

904
00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:00,680
Speaker 6: But he is.

905
00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:05,840
Speaker 2: I don't know how he's alive, but he is, is

906
00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:10,680
Speaker 2: the official statement from the Health Secretary. Forget the diet

907
00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:13,279
Speaker 2: coke button. Did you see the jug of milk on

908
00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:17,880
Speaker 2: the resolute desk yesterday? Maybe we're getting confused in our messaging,

909
00:46:18,719 --> 00:46:21,160
Speaker 2: so we assembled our political panel to help us straight

910
00:46:21,160 --> 00:46:24,880
Speaker 2: things out. Bloomberg Politics contributors Rick Davis and Jeanie Shanzeno

911
00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:26,040
Speaker 2: are with us.

912
00:46:26,840 --> 00:46:28,080
Speaker 3: Thank you both for humoring me.

913
00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:31,200
Speaker 2: Rick is Republican strategist partner at Stone Court Capital and

914
00:46:31,239 --> 00:46:34,480
Speaker 2: a smiling Genie Shanzeno democracy visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy

915
00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:37,600
Speaker 2: School's Ash Center. Genie, if I gave you three bucks,

916
00:46:37,719 --> 00:46:39,440
Speaker 2: now you think you could buy lunch with it?

917
00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:40,919
Speaker 3: And what is that other thing?

918
00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:45,840
Speaker 13: There's a lot to chew on here. Joe Matthew pun intended.

919
00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:49,919
Speaker 13: It's like a good joke. I think, thank you.

920
00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:52,760
Speaker 14: You know, it feels like in both of these cases,

921
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:56,680
Speaker 14: these are cabinet secretaries run amok. First of all, it's

922
00:46:56,840 --> 00:46:59,640
Speaker 14: very confusing because you and I talked the other day

923
00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:02,960
Speaker 14: and did an RFK put cheeseburgers at the top of

924
00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:05,000
Speaker 14: the food pyramid at this point, So.

925
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:06,480
Speaker 13: Now, what's wrong with it?

926
00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:11,120
Speaker 14: I'm with Donald Trump on this and who wants you know,

927
00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:13,000
Speaker 14: it would be one thing if Donald Trump was, you know,

928
00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:15,880
Speaker 14: in his fifties or sixties, but as he approaches his

929
00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:19,160
Speaker 14: eighth the decade, maybe he doesn't want cabinet secretaries going

930
00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:21,640
Speaker 14: out and saying I don't know, but he seems.

931
00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:24,120
Speaker 13: To be alive despite it all. So you know, I

932
00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:26,040
Speaker 13: think somebody in the PR.

933
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:29,840
Speaker 14: Shop's got to get these cabinet secretaries and both sides contained.

934
00:47:30,080 --> 00:47:32,239
Speaker 14: They are out of control and off message.

935
00:47:33,160 --> 00:47:36,880
Speaker 3: Wow, James's is pointing me in the right. I guess McDonald's.

936
00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:39,279
Speaker 2: If you get the McDonald's app, Rick, you can get

937
00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:41,560
Speaker 2: a free big Mac with your first purchase of a

938
00:47:41,640 --> 00:47:45,560
Speaker 2: dollar or more. Wow, that's better than the three dollar

939
00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:46,440
Speaker 2: piece of broccoli.

940
00:47:47,480 --> 00:47:47,680
Speaker 3: Rick.

941
00:47:47,719 --> 00:47:51,120
Speaker 2: They're comparing this to when Jimmy Carter told people to

942
00:47:51,120 --> 00:47:53,360
Speaker 2: turn the heat down and wear a cardigan sweater. Is

943
00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:55,880
Speaker 2: this the message of abundance you expected from the Trump

944
00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:56,400
Speaker 2: White House.

945
00:47:58,080 --> 00:48:01,279
Speaker 10: Yeah, it's hard to swallow the Secretary of Health saying that,

946
00:48:01,440 --> 00:48:04,440
Speaker 10: you know, we've got a president who can barely make

947
00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:06,279
Speaker 10: it through the day because of the bad food that

948
00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:09,360
Speaker 10: he eats, especially the same month that he reports a

949
00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:13,520
Speaker 10: brand new food pyramid. So sorry for the pond, Genie.

950
00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:16,799
Speaker 10: Can't get away with it without me trying. But it's

951
00:48:17,560 --> 00:48:21,239
Speaker 10: almost like there's a conspiracy in this administration's cabinet to

952
00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:25,239
Speaker 10: fuel late night talk show hosts with materials so that

953
00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:27,160
Speaker 10: they can expand their audience.

954
00:48:27,200 --> 00:48:27,480
Speaker 7: Share.

955
00:48:29,040 --> 00:48:31,560
Speaker 10: You almost wish you were a writer for those guys,

956
00:48:31,640 --> 00:48:33,239
Speaker 10: because it writes itself.

957
00:48:34,600 --> 00:48:37,280
Speaker 7: I don't know. First of all, I like chicken and broccoli.

958
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:38,520
Speaker 7: I think it's a really good idea.

959
00:48:38,800 --> 00:48:41,600
Speaker 10: It wise, whether or not I want to suggest that

960
00:48:41,640 --> 00:48:46,320
Speaker 10: I've run simulations a thousand times to advise American public

961
00:48:46,360 --> 00:48:49,120
Speaker 10: on our eating habits. That's just a little bit too

962
00:48:49,200 --> 00:48:53,600
Speaker 10: much use of a computer. So I look out of touch,

963
00:48:54,840 --> 00:48:57,640
Speaker 10: you know, not being empathetic with people who only have

964
00:48:57,920 --> 00:49:00,600
Speaker 10: three dollars for food. I mean like, I just think

965
00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:03,279
Speaker 10: tone deaf may be the answer of the day for

966
00:49:03,360 --> 00:49:04,120
Speaker 10: this one.

967
00:49:05,160 --> 00:49:10,360
Speaker 2: CC's got an idea here, Genie CC's favorite is the

968
00:49:10,400 --> 00:49:12,640
Speaker 2: singular corn tortilla. You don't get to you get one

969
00:49:12,719 --> 00:49:15,319
Speaker 2: corn tortilla. That's how we get it down to three dollars.

970
00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:17,080
Speaker 2: Is are we supposed to put the chicken in the

971
00:49:17,080 --> 00:49:19,920
Speaker 2: broccoli in the tortilla. I guess this is my question here.

972
00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:22,440
Speaker 2: Maybe that one extra thing could be, you know, some

973
00:49:22,640 --> 00:49:26,239
Speaker 2: sour cream. But Genie, just hold on and go back

974
00:49:26,320 --> 00:49:31,800
Speaker 2: to what RFK Junior said. I don't know how he's alive,

975
00:49:32,920 --> 00:49:36,480
Speaker 2: but he is. Imagine if the Secretary of Health and

976
00:49:36,560 --> 00:49:39,640
Speaker 2: Human Services in the last administration said that about Joe Biden,

977
00:49:39,680 --> 00:49:40,520
Speaker 2: what would have happened?

978
00:49:41,960 --> 00:49:42,200
Speaker 13: Joe.

979
00:49:42,280 --> 00:49:45,239
Speaker 14: First of all, I'm not sure that they christ in

980
00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:48,120
Speaker 14: sour cream for you, so I think you're really stepping

981
00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:49,520
Speaker 14: out there the sour cream.

982
00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:51,200
Speaker 13: Pull it back through, Matthew.

983
00:49:51,239 --> 00:49:55,200
Speaker 14: You're getting one tortilla, one pizza broccoli, and one pizza chicken.

984
00:49:55,560 --> 00:49:58,000
Speaker 14: My advice is, don't like put it all in one

985
00:49:58,120 --> 00:50:00,480
Speaker 14: because if you want to spread it out, eat them separately,

986
00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:02,520
Speaker 14: because you're not getting that sour cream.

987
00:50:02,600 --> 00:50:07,239
Speaker 13: Joe A thousand simulations. That's all you get, three pieces? Yeah,

988
00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:09,920
Speaker 13: can you can you imagine?

989
00:50:10,120 --> 00:50:14,640
Speaker 14: And on Katie Miller's podcast, nonetheless, where all of magas

990
00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:18,120
Speaker 14: seems to be going these days, he has that to say.

991
00:50:18,719 --> 00:50:21,640
Speaker 14: We thought for a moment that this was sort of

992
00:50:21,680 --> 00:50:25,000
Speaker 14: an outlet of the administration, that they could go there.

993
00:50:25,040 --> 00:50:27,040
Speaker 14: It was a safe place to sort of let their

994
00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:30,280
Speaker 14: hair down and share. But I'm not sure anybody wanted

995
00:50:30,280 --> 00:50:34,040
Speaker 14: them to share this much. So, yeah, you wouldn't say.

996
00:50:33,880 --> 00:50:36,080
Speaker 13: It about Joe Biden. If you're in that administration, you

997
00:50:36,080 --> 00:50:36,719
Speaker 13: shouldn't say it.

998
00:50:36,719 --> 00:50:36,879
Speaker 3: Now.

999
00:50:36,960 --> 00:50:40,080
Speaker 14: Again, Donald Trump is going out there saying I'm healthy

1000
00:50:40,120 --> 00:50:40,680
Speaker 14: as a horse.

1001
00:50:40,719 --> 00:50:42,480
Speaker 13: I'm you know, cognitively the best.

1002
00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:45,600
Speaker 14: You know, my test wouldn't be better, And his health

1003
00:50:45,640 --> 00:50:47,680
Speaker 14: secretary is saying he can't believe he's alive.

1004
00:50:49,560 --> 00:50:53,399
Speaker 2: Butt in mouth for time, drinking diet coke all day.

1005
00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:55,880
Speaker 2: I could use a refill on the diet coke here

1006
00:50:55,920 --> 00:50:57,920
Speaker 2: in a minute. But you know, by the way RFK

1007
00:50:58,040 --> 00:50:59,640
Speaker 2: Junior described at the beginning of this, I don't just

1008
00:50:59,680 --> 00:51:01,759
Speaker 2: watch the highlights, guys, I watched that whole thing. He

1009
00:51:01,880 --> 00:51:06,080
Speaker 2: told Katie Miller about his affinity for sour kraut Rick.

1010
00:51:06,120 --> 00:51:09,279
Speaker 2: He actually brings sour kraut with him when he goes

1011
00:51:09,320 --> 00:51:11,600
Speaker 2: out to restaurants. You know, some people might have a

1012
00:51:11,640 --> 00:51:14,680
Speaker 2: little hot sauce in their bag or something. He's got

1013
00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:17,200
Speaker 2: sour kraut, which I don't. I just can't imagine what

1014
00:51:17,320 --> 00:51:21,120
Speaker 2: that's matching with. But I'll go back to this idea

1015
00:51:21,120 --> 00:51:23,279
Speaker 2: of the health of the commander in chief. There have

1016
00:51:23,320 --> 00:51:26,359
Speaker 2: been big questions about cognitive health. People have asked about

1017
00:51:26,400 --> 00:51:29,000
Speaker 2: the bruising on Donald Trump's hands, the swollen ankles, all

1018
00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:32,640
Speaker 2: that kind of thing, But we don't always know what

1019
00:51:32,719 --> 00:51:36,440
Speaker 2: motivates these questions. Rick, do Americans actually care about the

1020
00:51:36,480 --> 00:51:37,440
Speaker 2: health of the president?

1021
00:51:39,280 --> 00:51:41,920
Speaker 10: Oh, sure they do, Joe. I mean, Americans want and

1022
00:51:42,040 --> 00:51:44,759
Speaker 10: vital president. They want a president who they feel like

1023
00:51:44,800 --> 00:51:45,279
Speaker 10: wakes up.

1024
00:51:45,239 --> 00:51:46,560
Speaker 7: Every morning ready to go to work.

1025
00:51:47,440 --> 00:51:52,040
Speaker 10: And obviously any health effects that they might have would

1026
00:51:52,400 --> 00:51:56,839
Speaker 10: distract them from their duties and roll as commander in chief.

1027
00:51:57,120 --> 00:51:58,240
Speaker 7: In president United States.

1028
00:51:58,239 --> 00:52:01,680
Speaker 10: So yeah, I mean America, Look, they want they want

1029
00:52:01,719 --> 00:52:04,560
Speaker 10: their president to be vital. They want the president to

1030
00:52:05,000 --> 00:52:08,120
Speaker 10: shoulder the weight of the responsibilities they've got, and obviously

1031
00:52:08,160 --> 00:52:10,560
Speaker 10: having health problems makes that more difficult.

1032
00:52:11,440 --> 00:52:13,720
Speaker 7: But uh, it's it's.

1033
00:52:13,600 --> 00:52:18,120
Speaker 10: It's a little odd that this administration sort of allows

1034
00:52:18,239 --> 00:52:22,239
Speaker 10: these cabinet members, as Genie was saying, to go on

1035
00:52:22,320 --> 00:52:27,040
Speaker 10: these podcasts, to do these interviews and uh and expel

1036
00:52:27,080 --> 00:52:28,080
Speaker 10: all this word vomit.

1037
00:52:28,200 --> 00:52:30,480
Speaker 7: It's almost the only way you could describe it. It's

1038
00:52:30,520 --> 00:52:32,520
Speaker 7: not public policy. Uh.

1039
00:52:32,680 --> 00:52:37,480
Speaker 10: And and and especially RFK Junior, who seems obsessed with

1040
00:52:37,520 --> 00:52:38,839
Speaker 10: the president's diet.

1041
00:52:38,920 --> 00:52:41,960
Speaker 7: Which I get. I mean, he doesn't need any of

1042
00:52:41,960 --> 00:52:42,400
Speaker 7: this stuff.

1043
00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:44,359
Speaker 10: But the next time I go to a restaurant, bring

1044
00:52:44,440 --> 00:52:46,640
Speaker 10: something with me, it's going to be a bordo, not

1045
00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:47,480
Speaker 10: sour craft.

1046
00:52:48,440 --> 00:52:52,040
Speaker 2: All right, well done, b Yob. Just check the corkage fee.

1047
00:52:52,120 --> 00:52:52,400
Speaker 3: Genie.

1048
00:52:52,440 --> 00:52:56,840
Speaker 2: I don't know where you are on fermented vegetables, But

1049
00:52:57,040 --> 00:53:00,959
Speaker 2: how loud could this conversation about the residents health get?

1050
00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:04,640
Speaker 2: And what kind of marks will Donald Trump's administration get

1051
00:53:04,680 --> 00:53:09,160
Speaker 2: when it comes to maha, we're making America healthy again.

1052
00:53:10,160 --> 00:53:11,319
Speaker 3: Who's this resonating with?

1053
00:53:12,600 --> 00:53:13,399
Speaker 13: Well, Joe, I.

1054
00:53:13,360 --> 00:53:16,160
Speaker 14: Want to say, I'm very happy that our health secretary

1055
00:53:16,200 --> 00:53:19,600
Speaker 14: is bringing sourcore out and not dead beer was a

1056
00:53:19,600 --> 00:53:22,400
Speaker 14: bear carcass that he killed in New York and dubbed

1057
00:53:22,400 --> 00:53:28,160
Speaker 14: its rectial car of his own admissions, very lean. I've

1058
00:53:28,200 --> 00:53:31,359
Speaker 14: never had it, but there you go, they're not going

1059
00:53:31,400 --> 00:53:33,799
Speaker 14: to get very high marks because what are we hearing out?

1060
00:53:33,840 --> 00:53:37,680
Speaker 14: The Senate is leaving town today without any deal on

1061
00:53:37,719 --> 00:53:43,080
Speaker 14: the healthcare subsidies. Prices have skyrocketed for millions and millions

1062
00:53:43,080 --> 00:53:46,919
Speaker 14: of Americans if they can get healthcare. So, yeah, make

1063
00:53:46,960 --> 00:53:50,000
Speaker 14: America healthy again, but you've got to make it affordable,

1064
00:53:50,480 --> 00:53:53,880
Speaker 14: and that means addressing things like big Pharma not telling

1065
00:53:53,920 --> 00:53:56,399
Speaker 14: people that they are do one piece of broccoli, one

1066
00:53:56,440 --> 00:53:58,360
Speaker 14: piece of chicken, and one tortillo.

1067
00:54:00,320 --> 00:54:03,520
Speaker 2: CC says, that's the steak on the pyramid. I it's

1068
00:54:03,560 --> 00:54:06,400
Speaker 2: all wrong. That's a bear steak at the top of

1069
00:54:06,440 --> 00:54:09,960
Speaker 2: the Look at the ribbi on that bear idle.

1070
00:54:10,040 --> 00:54:11,359
Speaker 3: Boy. You know, I guess that's true.

1071
00:54:11,440 --> 00:54:13,879
Speaker 2: Bear meat, I suppose would be would be a lot

1072
00:54:13,920 --> 00:54:17,520
Speaker 2: more affordable than beef. This is the weirdest conversation we've

1073
00:54:17,560 --> 00:54:20,960
Speaker 2: probably ever had with our friends Rick and Genie. Does

1074
00:54:20,960 --> 00:54:24,080
Speaker 2: the Maha movement moham moms as they call them, Rick,

1075
00:54:24,200 --> 00:54:25,720
Speaker 2: actually amount to votes.

1076
00:54:27,920 --> 00:54:29,799
Speaker 10: Well, first of all, the first thought I had was

1077
00:54:30,040 --> 00:54:32,080
Speaker 10: it's two o'clock in the morning in Tokyo and I'm

1078
00:54:32,080 --> 00:54:33,319
Speaker 10: talking about hamburgers.

1079
00:54:34,440 --> 00:54:37,359
Speaker 7: So, to be honest with you, it's a little hard

1080
00:54:37,360 --> 00:54:41,320
Speaker 7: to consume. But look, the Maha movement is actually a

1081
00:54:41,440 --> 00:54:42,680
Speaker 7: legitimate political movement.

1082
00:54:43,239 --> 00:54:46,319
Speaker 10: And and and the reality is Americans do have a

1083
00:54:46,320 --> 00:54:47,080
Speaker 10: horrible diet.

1084
00:54:47,719 --> 00:54:49,480
Speaker 7: You know, we too much process food.

1085
00:54:49,600 --> 00:54:51,719
Speaker 10: It's it's it's fun to make light of it, but

1086
00:54:51,840 --> 00:54:56,440
Speaker 10: it is a health issue. And and and frankly, this

1087
00:54:56,520 --> 00:55:00,200
Speaker 10: is one of the things that RFK was able to

1088
00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:01,719
Speaker 10: connect with voters on.

1089
00:55:01,800 --> 00:55:03,920
Speaker 7: It made him a valuable cabinet pick.

1090
00:55:05,400 --> 00:55:07,120
Speaker 3: What are you doing up at three in the morning,

1091
00:55:07,200 --> 00:55:07,800
Speaker 3: Rick Davis?

1092
00:55:07,880 --> 00:55:10,560
Speaker 2: My god, this is the man just never stops working

1093
00:55:10,640 --> 00:55:14,920
Speaker 2: live in Tokyo. Amazing. It's almost breakfast time, cue the

1094
00:55:15,000 --> 00:55:21,480
Speaker 2: bear meat. Thanks for listening to the Balance of Power podcast.

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Speaker 2: Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, at Apple, Spotify.

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Speaker 3: Or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Speaker 2: And you can find us live every weekday from Washington,

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Speaker 2: DC at noontime Eastern at Bloomberg dot com.