Speaker 1: Now from our nation's capital. This is Bloomberg Sound On.
Speaker 1: There's a locomotive heading toward Donald Trump, and it's called
Speaker 1: the indictment. Cannonball that he had documents in and of
Speaker 1: itself isn't a concern. We're just not going to comment
Speaker 1: on the investigation. Bloomberg Sound On, Politics, Policy, and perspective
Speaker 1: from DC's top names. The political reality is the more
Speaker 1: Donald Trump is in the news, the better for Democrats.
Speaker 1: These are the things that will turn voters in our direction.
Speaker 1: Talking about Donald Trump is not going to help that construct.
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Sound On with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. But
Speaker 1: water gets hotter around mar A Lago. Welcome to the
Speaker 1: Fastest Hour in politics, as the Justice Department reveals more
Speaker 1: information about the search and the documents they found, with
Speaker 1: new accusations that someone may have tried to conceal them
Speaker 1: from the FBI. We're joined by Donald Air, former US
Speaker 1: Deputy Attorney General, with his expertise on what we learned today.
Speaker 1: President Biden heads back to Pennsylvania tomorrow for a primetime
Speaker 1: address to the nation. But can he help Democrats running
Speaker 1: in the state or around the country for that matter.
Speaker 1: Bloomberg opinion columnist Julianna Goldman says it may not matter.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about her piece today on the terminal, and
Speaker 1: we'll hear from our signature panel Bloomberg Politics contributors Rick
Speaker 1: Davis and Jennie Chanzano back together. You've probably seen the
Speaker 1: picture by now. You've seen the photograph of classified documents
Speaker 1: strewn across the floor at Mara a Lago. Cover sheets
Speaker 1: on at least five sets of papers marked Top secret
Speaker 1: s c I Sensitive Compartmented Information filing makes the accusation
Speaker 1: that somebody may have tried to remove the papers are
Speaker 1: concealed them somehow before the FBI visited mar Lago in June.
Speaker 1: Former Assistant US Attorney Jeff Robbins telling ABC News Today
Speaker 1: he believes the former president will face criminal charges. There's
Speaker 1: a locomotive heading toward Donald Trump, and it's called the
Speaker 1: Diepmond cannonball. Robin says it's not just Donald Trump, though,
Speaker 1: who could end up in trouble. The lawyers face suspicion
Speaker 1: by the Department of Justice of having uh engaged potentially
Speaker 1: in an instruction of justice conspiracy, violation of the Espionage
Speaker 1: Act lying to the FBI. Okay, now, add the Bloomberg
Speaker 1: headline that broke midday today, d o J likely to
Speaker 1: wait past mid terms to reveal any Trump charges, which
Speaker 1: would be consistent with long standing department policy, as I understand,
Speaker 1: and let's get into it right now with an authority
Speaker 1: on this, Donald Air, former US Deputy Attorney General, former
Speaker 1: Deputy solicitor General now Georgetown Law School is with us
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Radio. Donald, thanks for being back. What is
Speaker 1: the d o J policy on not interfering with an election?
Speaker 1: Is it? Is it specifically written out? Well, each each
Speaker 1: administration has put out a memo on the subject, and
Speaker 1: they they're they're very similar, and they're they're not ironclad,
Speaker 1: and there's not a mechanical rule. But bos idea, uh
Speaker 1: is you try not to interfere with an election if
Speaker 1: you can. But there's a lot of other things you
Speaker 1: have to think about. Seeing that photograph today brought this
Speaker 1: home for a lot of us in a way that
Speaker 1: reading about the documents in the affidavit on Friday could not. Uh.
Speaker 1: You saw that today the cover the cover sheets top secret, uh,
Speaker 1: some of them uh, potentially containing the most important secrets
Speaker 1: in in the United States. Arsenal here along with a
Speaker 1: Time magazine with Donald Trump's picture on the cover. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's just you know, kind of perfect the way the
Speaker 1: whole thing played out. But what did you see in
Speaker 1: that photograph that got your attention? Well, what I mean
Speaker 1: clearly that these are these are classified documents of a
Speaker 1: very important sort of course, we're not able to know
Speaker 1: and can't know specifically what they're what they are, um,
Speaker 1: But the volume is incredible. I mean, we have criminal
Speaker 1: cases where Sandy Burger, for example, was procest you an
Speaker 1: in connection with one or two documents. Um. So this
Speaker 1: is a high volume of very sensitive stuff and the
Speaker 1: idea that it could be the basis of a prosecution,
Speaker 1: I think is very real. The difficulty for those of
Speaker 1: us on the outside is that we don't know all
Speaker 1: the specifics. All we know are the are the things
Speaker 1: that the Justice Department has found it appropriate and necessary
Speaker 1: to say in ongoing interactions with the court that Donald
Speaker 1: Trump ultimately stimulated. That's the great irony about it. We
Speaker 1: wouldn't be hearing any of this stuff if Donald Trump
Speaker 1: had announced the search and be brought this motion for
Speaker 1: a special Master that the Justice Departments now answering, and
Speaker 1: if yes, if it weren't for that attempt to get
Speaker 1: the special Master, we would not have had the response
Speaker 1: filing last night. Correct, this has really been directed by
Speaker 1: Donald Trump's legalty. Well, it's been directed in the sense
Speaker 1: that they've made a request in the department has to
Speaker 1: answer it. So maybe not intentionally yet. So we heard
Speaker 1: from Trump today on Truth Social terrible. He writes, quote,
Speaker 1: this is a direct quote terrible. The way the FBI
Speaker 1: during the raid of Marlago through documents haphazardly all over
Speaker 1: the floor, perhaps pretending it was me that did it.
Speaker 1: Let's stop right there with what you understand, Donald, in
Speaker 1: terms of the way a field team like this would
Speaker 1: be conducting business. Is that normal to see evidence strewn
Speaker 1: on the floor. There's a two A card that they
Speaker 1: put there to identify the items. Well, I think you know,
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't know exactly how this occurred, but
Speaker 1: that the idea that they were laid out in a
Speaker 1: way they could all be saying doesn't strike me as
Speaker 1: peculiar at all. And and and the idea that that
Speaker 1: there's anything that there's a raid here when you look
Speaker 1: at the basis for this affidavit and for this search,
Speaker 1: and it's perfectly clear that they were as as as
Speaker 1: patient as they could possibly be, and they finally reached
Speaker 1: the point where they felt they had to go in
Speaker 1: on the judge of greed or there was a risk
Speaker 1: that the documents would be destroyed or diverted. He goes
Speaker 1: on to write that in that same post, thought that
Speaker 1: one of them kept secret even though we cannot seeing them.
Speaker 1: Lucky I declassified exclamation point. That last point there has
Speaker 1: been debunked many times on the air. Donald what's your
Speaker 1: view on the president's ability to declassify information well without
Speaker 1: telling anyone about it. Well, there there's no way you
Speaker 1: can do that, and there's absolutely no indication that any
Speaker 1: process was ever set up that would allow him to
Speaker 1: do it. There's not a record of anything. It's complete nonsense.
Speaker 1: It's just one more lie by Donald Trump trying to
Speaker 1: spend the story in a way that's contrary to the facts.
Speaker 1: And the facts are real clear at this point. And
Speaker 1: I think this interaction with the court has told all
Speaker 1: of us pretty clearly what's going on here, and and
Speaker 1: the Justice Department has done it totally appropriately because they
Speaker 1: had to make these filings in court. You do see, though,
Speaker 1: the base for a criminal case here. You said that earlier, Right, Well,
Speaker 1: I said, yes, I do. I mean, I say, I
Speaker 1: think clearly the possession of these documents, if it's wilful,
Speaker 1: and it clearly appears to be willful, is a possible
Speaker 1: basis for a criminal action. Now, I think, you know,
Speaker 1: we all have to be patient and wait and see
Speaker 1: what the Justice Department decides to do, because bringing a
Speaker 1: prosecution is a judgment call um. And the thing is
Speaker 1: that we we don't know anything but the the broad
Speaker 1: outlines of the facts. We don't know what else is
Speaker 1: going on there. We don't know about the interactions with
Speaker 1: other people at mar Lago in connection with it. We
Speaker 1: have a statement in the in the filing last night
Speaker 1: that appears that there was obstruction and and and the
Speaker 1: documents were moved. Um, well, there's a story there, and
Speaker 1: the story there, I think is an important part of
Speaker 1: whether they decide to go forward and on what schedule
Speaker 1: and likely would bring in other parties. Right, we're not
Speaker 1: just talking about Donald J. Trump. It could be his lawyers,
Speaker 1: it could be staff from mar Lago. Well, they could be.
Speaker 1: It certainly could be others. And of course there's a
Speaker 1: story that's been well reported of his lawyer who signed
Speaker 1: an affiday, but who specifically saying I think after the
Speaker 1: January third visit, they gave it all to the documents,
Speaker 1: We gave it all to you, you've got it all. Well,
Speaker 1: they didn't have it all, not even close. In fact,
Speaker 1: they go back with the search for it and they
Speaker 1: find more than they have gotten up to date. So um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think there is that real possibility. Look, I do
Speaker 1: want to just restate to everyone that we do not
Speaker 1: know what is in the documents. We have to be
Speaker 1: honest about this. There's a lot we do not know.
Speaker 1: But after that story we started with uh, Donald air
Speaker 1: the idea that the d o J will not file
Speaker 1: charges if they could before the mid terms, that does
Speaker 1: not mean they cannot after the mid terms. Do you
Speaker 1: have a sense though, of this type of case could
Speaker 1: go on for months and months if if not talk
Speaker 1: about this before November twenty four, Are we gonna be
Speaker 1: talking about this before the presidential election? I think we
Speaker 1: will be. But I also think there's another big issue here,
Speaker 1: and the other big who is is the rest of
Speaker 1: what Donald Trump did, which, of course is the main
Speaker 1: thing that Donald Trump did, which was trying to steal
Speaker 1: the election, and so the Justice Department has got to
Speaker 1: be They are clearly focusing on that issue, which is
Speaker 1: really the big the biggest thing that he did. I think,
Speaker 1: although you can argue this is this is awfully big.
Speaker 1: So they had a lot to think about in terms
Speaker 1: of putting cases together that are ready for trial, and
Speaker 1: also how you would combine charges like that, and also
Speaker 1: the timing on which they want to do it. I
Speaker 1: would say that there is getting to be a premium
Speaker 1: on moving with some dispatch because the process of trying
Speaker 1: a case like either one of these is going to
Speaker 1: take a while. And I think, you know, I think
Speaker 1: we're at a point now with halfway through almost the
Speaker 1: administration where you know, we don't know where we're headed electorally,
Speaker 1: and the idea that it's getting to be somewhat urgent
Speaker 1: to proceed, I think is something that deserves a lot
Speaker 1: of consideration. Fascinating. Uh, you know, the the first name
Speaker 1: that came up when a lot of people heard the
Speaker 1: headline today, it was James Comey. I wonder how much
Speaker 1: his actions regarding Hillary Clinton's emails ahead of a whole
Speaker 1: different presidential election informed the caution that we're seeing now
Speaker 1: with the d o J or was that a one off?
Speaker 1: Was Was that the exception to the to the rule? No?
Speaker 1: I think that was I think that was the exception
Speaker 1: to the rule. I think you know, many many people
Speaker 1: watching that at the time knew he was off the
Speaker 1: reservation when he was doing that. That's not something that
Speaker 1: that the Attorney General, let alone ahead of the FBI,
Speaker 1: has any business doing talking about facts in a case
Speaker 1: where there are no charges being brought from But I
Speaker 1: think that, I mean, I think this Justice Department is
Speaker 1: proceeding in just the right way and I and I
Speaker 1: think the leader of this Justice Department, Merrick Garland, is
Speaker 1: totally clear about what's at stake here, and I think
Speaker 1: he is. He is very concerned to proceed in a
Speaker 1: way that any reasonable person will view as even handed
Speaker 1: and fair, but to proceed vigorously and to deal with
Speaker 1: the fact that something has got to be done. Are
Speaker 1: we going to see him in front of a podigum again?
Speaker 1: Will will he hold a news conference when enough pressure builds,
Speaker 1: or have we heard what we're going to hear from
Speaker 1: the Attorney General? Well? I think I think when charges
Speaker 1: are filed, assuming charges are filed, at some point, I
Speaker 1: suspect that he'll be in the middle of that. Whether
Speaker 1: there's going to be a reason for him to come
Speaker 1: forward before that, I think a lot depends upon this
Speaker 1: process that we're in the middle of with back and
Speaker 1: forth with the court in connection with this warrant. I
Speaker 1: mean he got involved in speaking about it because Donald Trump.
Speaker 1: Donald Trump decided to announce that his house had been searched,
Speaker 1: and so at that point this all became public and
Speaker 1: Merrick Garland came forward and explained what was going on.
Speaker 1: Imagine imagine if we still didn't know. Imagine if Donald
Speaker 1: Trump didn't tell us that day, would we still not know?
Speaker 1: Donald Ayre great conversation. Always, we learned a lot from
Speaker 1: the former US Deputy Attorney General, just like now he's
Speaker 1: with Georgetown Law School and giving us a clinic today
Speaker 1: on what we have learned. Will assemble the panel next.
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg you sound on
Speaker 1: with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. Still no comment on
Speaker 1: any of this by the White House, and we keep
Speaker 1: asking one of the first questions at every news briefing
Speaker 1: at the White House since the FBI searched Tomorrow Lago
Speaker 1: Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre going through the motions again today.
Speaker 1: We're just not going to comment on the investigation, antything,
Speaker 1: any underlying pieces of the investigation, any content of the investigation.
Speaker 1: This is an ongoing, as you all know, investigation that
Speaker 1: the Department of Justice and independent investigation of the Department
Speaker 1: of Justice is doing. We are not going to politically interfere.
Speaker 1: We are not going to comment on anything connected to
Speaker 1: the investigation. And uh, we're just going to keep it there.
Speaker 1: Do you think they're not going to comment. She'll be
Speaker 1: asked again tomorrow and the day after that as well.
Speaker 1: The question an answer will likely remain the same. The
Speaker 1: only person who has answered questions about this Joe Biden.
Speaker 1: Actually right, Remember he said he was not tipped off
Speaker 1: zero when he was asked at a completely unrelated event.
Speaker 1: He also uh made a gesture that rolled his eyes.
Speaker 1: Thought it was absurd about declassifying all these documents without
Speaker 1: telling anybody. Let's assemble the panel. We haven't had a
Speaker 1: chance to talk to Rick and Jeanie since the filing
Speaker 1: last night. Of course, our signature panel is back together.
Speaker 1: Rick Davis, Genie Chanzano, Bloomberg Politics contributors. Rick, when you
Speaker 1: saw that picture, it just seemed different than reading about
Speaker 1: it in the affidavit on Friday. Yeah. I mean I
Speaker 1: was lucky enough to serve in the White House where
Speaker 1: I got to see those covers from time to time,
Speaker 1: and the reality is that I kind of thought that's
Speaker 1: what they were looking at, and see that picture, I thought,
Speaker 1: holy smokes, it's true. I mean, this guy literally just
Speaker 1: brought stuff home from the office and took it down
Speaker 1: to a resort. So, uh, he said he had it.
Speaker 1: He said he declassified it, which you know is the
Speaker 1: big question. But the fact that he's admitted to having
Speaker 1: something that doesn't belong to him is the basis for
Speaker 1: I think this entire investigation. He's admitted that he had
Speaker 1: these documents. What's your take, Jennie, Having learned as much
Speaker 1: as we have over the last twelve hours or so,
Speaker 1: there was more information really in that photograph than we
Speaker 1: had read so far in in any other of the
Speaker 1: sort of news dumps, whether it was the War end
Speaker 1: or the affidavit that we had a chance to read.
Speaker 1: Even the Time magazine just adds the perfect cherry on top.
Speaker 1: That's right. You know, when Merritt Garland said some time
Speaker 1: ago in his press conference that he was going to
Speaker 1: speak through his court filings. I don't think any of
Speaker 1: us did manage and how much he meant that and
Speaker 1: how well they were going to do that, and the
Speaker 1: fact that they asked for more pages. And this thing
Speaker 1: reads something more of like a you know, a story
Speaker 1: or a script or a narrative than it does a
Speaker 1: legal court filing. And they spoke through their words, they
Speaker 1: spoke through the pictures. Certainly you can't get enough of
Speaker 1: that Time magazine framed covers um and it it speaks
Speaker 1: volumes and that the the you know, absurdity of this
Speaker 1: is that Donald Trump has once again done this to himself.
Speaker 1: And I seldom quote Steve Doocey from Fox News, but
Speaker 1: he said it when he said, you know what, why
Speaker 1: did he have all this stuff there? It can't be
Speaker 1: declassified and nobody knows about it. I mean, these are
Speaker 1: people who are supporters of Donald Trump saying this, so
Speaker 1: you know, it is bad. He has stepped into it,
Speaker 1: and there's literally no defense. A private individual which the
Speaker 1: president is, cannot have these documents and he has no
Speaker 1: legal or factual defense for it, as this filing shows
Speaker 1: reaction from publicans. And granted we're here in the last
Speaker 1: week of August as nobody in town, but reaction has
Speaker 1: been pretty quiet. You know, we were Lindsay Graham has
Speaker 1: been doing his best to stand up for Donald Trump.
Speaker 1: Mitch McConnell was asked about it today in Kentucky. How
Speaker 1: about short and sweet here, I don't have any observations
Speaker 1: about that, all right. Uh. Ken Buck is the other
Speaker 1: extreme Republican from Colorado. He's on Fox News. Listen to
Speaker 1: the way he gets to this. I don't have any
Speaker 1: observations about that. Here's ken Buck. I understand that that
Speaker 1: former president's former Secretary of States may very well have
Speaker 1: classified information. He may be writing a memoir, he may
Speaker 1: be writing an autobiography. Uh. And the fact that he
Speaker 1: had documents in and of itself isn't a concern. How
Speaker 1: he treated those documents, um and what negotiations occurred with
Speaker 1: the archivist, we just don't know at this point. The
Speaker 1: Congressman doesn't think it's it's even a concern, uh Rick
Speaker 1: to have these documents in his possession. The cover sheets
Speaker 1: would argue with that, Yeah, this is a fact that
Speaker 1: is not debatable. Trump had national defense intelligence material in
Speaker 1: his home. It is criminal to have national defense intelligence
Speaker 1: material in a non federal facility period. That's the law.
Speaker 1: So he maybe ought to take a civics course before
Speaker 1: he runs for office. He is in possession of these documents,
Speaker 1: that's a fact. That's illegal. He put them into the
Speaker 1: hands of people potentially who are not authorized to hold them.
Speaker 1: That's illegal. So I mean, like, when you start really
Speaker 1: peeling back this layer, it's really not as complicated as
Speaker 1: its as it seems. And and one of the documents,
Speaker 1: potentially more may have the identity of foreign agents in it.
Speaker 1: That's like the crown jewel of government secrets. That's illegal. Right, So, um,
Speaker 1: do we hear nothing to Republicans just stop talking about
Speaker 1: this because there was a chorus defending Donald Trump about
Speaker 1: a week ago. Yeah. Look, I think that Mitch McConnell
Speaker 1: represents the vast majority of Republicans who actually have their
Speaker 1: head screwed on, right. I mean, ken Buck Christie know
Speaker 1: him today? All the fetes planted this material. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's insane. Nobody's gonna believe them. They're gonna lose
Speaker 1: their credibility and it makes the party look bad. So
Speaker 1: if you have those kinds of views. Just shut up.
Speaker 1: So how about how about democrats Genne do they shut
Speaker 1: up too, because we still don't know what these documents are?
Speaker 1: And is it better just to keep your hands off this? Yeah?
Speaker 1: And can I just add to what Rick said, that's
Speaker 1: all true. Even if you want to write a book,
Speaker 1: you can't use that as a memoir, not not a defense.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think democrats the White House are
Speaker 1: right to stay out of it. When your enemy is
Speaker 1: clearly shooting themselves in the foot, you don't step into it.
Speaker 1: So I think they should be quiet. The most important
Speaker 1: thing I think that this filing did last night was
Speaker 1: it completely demolished what were Trump's only real defenses, which
Speaker 1: was the defensive privilege and declassification. Both have been shown
Speaker 1: to be untrue. Boy, that's the take from Rick and
Speaker 1: Jennie here on Bloomberg. Sound on. We're going to bring
Speaker 1: in Julianna Goldman as Joe Biden heads back to Philadelphia tomorrow.
Speaker 1: It's next. This is Bloomberg. We were all of course
Speaker 1: on data here at Bloomberg. It's Bloomberg, and so polling
Speaker 1: is part of our coverage when it comes to politics.
Speaker 1: So there might be one number though that just may
Speaker 1: not be worth obsessing over any longer. It's not like
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. But as Julianna Goldman points out today,
Speaker 1: Democrats in Congress and the one in the White House
Speaker 1: for that matter, would love to see the president's approval
Speaker 1: ratings break back above water right heading into the midterms.
Speaker 1: Then again, she says, it might not matter. Is this
Speaker 1: the new normal? Is the question, and she joins us
Speaker 1: now Bloomberg opinion columnist Julianna Goldman, welcome back. Your point,
Speaker 1: I guess is that this country is so divided that
Speaker 1: it's impossible to get a real read on that number. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that's structurally present. We may be in a
Speaker 1: period or an error now where presidential approval ratings are
Speaker 1: just going to be underwater. They're going to be low
Speaker 1: because the country is so divided. And we love data.
Speaker 1: So in this piece, UM, I dug into a lot
Speaker 1: of data, both looking at historical trends and UM presidential
Speaker 1: approval UH poll polls showing Biden's approval ratings you know,
Speaker 1: over the past several months, UM interesting poll recently from Gallup.
Speaker 1: So on the one hand, Biden's approval rating, UM, you
Speaker 1: know has ticked up. It's now at forty. I think
Speaker 1: it was at thirty nine percent or below forty earlier
Speaker 1: in the summer. You know, that's still historically you know,
Speaker 1: not that's bad territory for president to be in with
Speaker 1: his party heading into midterm elections. Um. But that was
Speaker 1: the increase was driven by independence so of Democrats. Um. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know that was from of Democrats. Four percent of
Speaker 1: Republicans approved. That was unchanged from June. So when we're
Speaker 1: talking about Biden's approval ratings kicking up, it's coming from
Speaker 1: independent voters. Democrats are not going to say you know,
Speaker 1: Democrats might say that they disapprove of Biden, but it
Speaker 1: doesn't mean they're going to go and vote for a
Speaker 1: Republicans um down ballot and Republicans UM. It's pretty rare
Speaker 1: um like four percent as we see here, that they're
Speaker 1: going to say that they approve of the job of
Speaker 1: the Democratic president. Right. Well, this is fascinating because the
Speaker 1: narrative recently has been about this shifting landscape right going
Speaker 1: into the mid terms that it's been advantage Democrats most recently,
Speaker 1: and while Dems may lose the House, it won't be
Speaker 1: by as much and they likely stand a chance to
Speaker 1: actually add to their majority in the Senate. So what
Speaker 1: are you learning about the Democratic brand in your research
Speaker 1: here democratic candidates versus looking at that presidential approval number. Well,
Speaker 1: so the important thing for for Democrats right if you
Speaker 1: if you look at what why the president's party tends
Speaker 1: to lose in mid trim elections, it's because there's damp
Speaker 1: and enthusiasm um the party, the president. Voters of the
Speaker 1: party and power just aren't as keen and excited to
Speaker 1: go uh to go to the polls. But what's happening
Speaker 1: here is that in many ways we're seeing the same
Speaker 1: choice that voters faced in UM when there was when
Speaker 1: we saw historic numbers going to the polls. So if
Speaker 1: Democrats have enthusiasm, if they can get more more of
Speaker 1: their voters uh to turn out, that is good for
Speaker 1: Democrats and it helps UM. You know, it bucks the
Speaker 1: historical trend that we've seen tying presidential approval ratings to
Speaker 1: how Democrats, how the president's party is going to do. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, beyond the structural challenges and the divisions that
Speaker 1: we just talked about, you've got criminal investigations into a
Speaker 1: former president. Um, you got far right and extreme extreamist
Speaker 1: candidates on the Republican side. Abortion is a major major
Speaker 1: driver pat for Democrats right now. And guns and so
Speaker 1: as long as Democrats can be having a conversation about
Speaker 1: this and these issues that drive the choice rather than
Speaker 1: this being a referendum on the president. And you see
Speaker 1: this the coupling between the presidential approval rating UM and
Speaker 1: and how Democrats are doing very clearly in some of
Speaker 1: the key Senate races. So, for example, you mentioned Pennsylvania
Speaker 1: were Bating is heading tomorrow. Um. You know he's he's
Speaker 1: not great there, He's at thirty nine all um. But
Speaker 1: John Fetterman is at Fort mement Oz is at for um.
Speaker 1: So that that historical correlation is not there. You can
Speaker 1: see that in Wisconsin and in North Carolina. And so
Speaker 1: this is why John Federman doesn't show up in Wilkes Barry, right.
Speaker 1: It's not going to help him to have Joe Biden
Speaker 1: rub off on them on a stage. He's already doing
Speaker 1: better than Joe Biden, that's right. Yea. How much is
Speaker 1: that going to be the case across the country based
Speaker 1: on the numbers you're looking at, is that going to
Speaker 1: be a trend where Democratic candidates just would really prefer
Speaker 1: the president's stay at the White House. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think that's probably fair to say, Um, you know, they
Speaker 1: don't need Biden there to be you know, to be
Speaker 1: generating support from UM support from Democratic voters. Right, Democratic
Speaker 1: voters aren't looking to Biden to turn out. It's not
Speaker 1: the same way that like, um, uh, you know, a
Speaker 1: Bill Clinton in uh in. But he's the one with
Speaker 1: the big list of accomplishments. I thought Joe Biden had
Speaker 1: a story to tell. Infrastructure, the ship Bill we got done,
Speaker 1: where my goodness, the Inflation Reduction Act. He's the one
Speaker 1: to take the victory lap, right he does. But you
Speaker 1: know what, he's not on the ballot this year, and
Speaker 1: we're still talking about these um, these deep, deep seated divisions. UM.
Speaker 1: I thought it's interesting also, uh few research just came
Speaker 1: out with a report really showing that Biden isn't a
Speaker 1: factor UM for for voters in particular, like he has
Speaker 1: a sixty disapproval rating UM but Republican voters of Republican
Speaker 1: voters say Biden is not a factor and that's up
Speaker 1: from March eleven points. So yeah, I mean, I think
Speaker 1: I think you'll be seeing UM in in areas where
Speaker 1: there's strong Democrats support UM. Sure be great for the
Speaker 1: president to come and tout the accomplishments. The exception. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's exception, not the rule. It's great work, Juliana,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for sharing it with us. I'll
Speaker 1: point everyone again to the column on the terminal. Biden
Speaker 1: is unpopular, but Democrats aren't. You can put O P
Speaker 1: I N go in the terminal and you'll find and
Speaker 1: the list of columns, including Julianna's Bloomberg opinion columnist with
Speaker 1: us on the Fastest Hour in Politics. Helps a lot
Speaker 1: to add a bit of data, and it will help
Speaker 1: more to add the panel as we reassemble our signature
Speaker 1: panel next Rick Davis and Genie Chanzano or with us,
Speaker 1: we'll check traffic and markets on the way. This is
Speaker 1: sound On. I'm Joe Matthew and Washington. This is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg sound On on Bloomberg Radio. Just got
Speaker 1: details on President Biden's speech for tomorrow. When we say primetime,
Speaker 1: we mean it. He's gonna be talking at eight pm
Speaker 1: Eastern Time, a primetime speech on what the White House
Speaker 1: is calling the continued Battle for the soul of the
Speaker 1: Nation Independence National Historic Park, Philadelphia. It's not his first
Speaker 1: time speaking there. It'll be quite a backdrop, and apparently
Speaker 1: the networks are going to be taking uh this address.
Speaker 1: Bloomberg certainly will at a certain point. You know, presidents
Speaker 1: can run out of favor, but there haven't been too
Speaker 1: many prime timers. Let's reassemble the panel. Jennie Schanzano is
Speaker 1: back with us Rick Davis our signature panel on sound On.
Speaker 1: We heard President Biden yesterday in Wilkes Barry Genie. We
Speaker 1: talked about it as a potential dry run or address
Speaker 1: rehearsal for what we're going to see tomorrow. How does
Speaker 1: he best use this time in a primetime address. It's
Speaker 1: just different. People are not used to sitting down at
Speaker 1: eight o'clock necessarily listening uh to Joe Biden go on
Speaker 1: and on. How efficient does he need to be and
Speaker 1: how bipartisan will his message be? You know, I thought
Speaker 1: his speech yesterday was particularly strong for Joe Biden. I
Speaker 1: think the message is an important one as we you know,
Speaker 1: transition to the general election. UM. I do think he
Speaker 1: is going to try, just like he did yesterday, to
Speaker 1: make case that is um something that is, you know,
Speaker 1: not directed at one sort of group in the Democratic Party,
Speaker 1: say the Progressives, but to try to make a a
Speaker 1: argument that is more appealing across the board. And that's
Speaker 1: going to be one that makes the case that democracy
Speaker 1: is under threat from many quarters, which is appealing to Democrats, um,
Speaker 1: but also to some moderates and independents who are very
Speaker 1: very scared about what we're seeing across the country as
Speaker 1: you move from January six, some of these Mari Lago
Speaker 1: searches and in otherwise he is going to have to
Speaker 1: be careful to not you know, cross too far into
Speaker 1: the attacks. But he was strong yesterday and I think
Speaker 1: we'll see more of that in you can't talk about
Speaker 1: the battle for the soul of the nation without essentially
Speaker 1: criticizing the other party here right. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you saw this speech yesterday, Rick, He's really he seems
Speaker 1: like he's really gearing up for this thing. And it
Speaker 1: was a side of Joe Biden where he starts raising
Speaker 1: his voice that we haven't really mean or heard a
Speaker 1: lot since the campaign trail. In this case, he's talking
Speaker 1: about the victims of families from you've all remembering he
Speaker 1: went down to meet with them when I was recently
Speaker 1: in you've all d me almost as they just say
Speaker 1: that some of the kids are there, you know, some
Speaker 1: of the parents had to do supply DNA. Supply DNA
Speaker 1: is there a fifty just rips the body apart, could
Speaker 1: not identify, could not identify the body a twenty year old. Ka,
Speaker 1: you can walk in and buy one DNA to say
Speaker 1: that's my baby? What the hell is the matter with us?
Speaker 1: You can hear a pin drop there, Rick. You know
Speaker 1: that Joe Biden, you've worked with him over the years.
Speaker 1: Does that play at a national audience tomorrow? Yeah? I look,
Speaker 1: I think if he can um connect with that kind
Speaker 1: of passion and spirit, um, he can't go wrong. Right.
Speaker 1: The biggest gripe about Joe Biden as a speechmaker is
Speaker 1: that he kind of, you know, just babbles along and
Speaker 1: gets off script and you know, you lose your way
Speaker 1: along the path of the speech. And this was really
Speaker 1: clear and really forceful and and and even the rhetoric,
Speaker 1: as grizzly as it was, it did leave an impact.
Speaker 1: As you say, not a not a you can hear
Speaker 1: a pin drop, so um, it'll be interesting to see
Speaker 1: if he can muster that the last guy who gave
Speaker 1: this speech was Barack Obama at his nominating conference convention
Speaker 1: when he said that our democracy was at risk in
Speaker 1: this election. And I suspect he'll take some of the
Speaker 1: themes that Barack Obama had at the time when when
Speaker 1: I think most commentators thought, wow, that's kind of over
Speaker 1: the top, is it really? And we've learned yeah, maybe
Speaker 1: it is so um so, I I think it'll be interesting.
Speaker 1: It's it's obviously a different venue. It's hard to have
Speaker 1: that kind of passion, you know, speaking from the White House.
Speaker 1: It's usually much more formal and uh, and yet I
Speaker 1: think that's probably Joe Biden as best. Yeah, wow, Jennie.
Speaker 1: To Rick's point, a lot of people have made fun
Speaker 1: of this president, criticized him for the sort of you know,
Speaker 1: the low tones in which he speaks. Sometimes the microphones
Speaker 1: have trouble picking him up. Sometimes he gets lost in
Speaker 1: his own words. Uh, he goes off script with the
Speaker 1: ad libbings, coughing. It brings up questions about his age
Speaker 1: and his competency. Who's this guy? I mean, is this
Speaker 1: a matter of napping or is it a matter of
Speaker 1: actually being passionate about what he's talking about you know,
Speaker 1: I think it's it's a matter of being the authentic
Speaker 1: Joe Biden, who we you know, many people saw in
Speaker 1: the election, who seemed to sort of, you know, be
Speaker 1: a little bit off track in that first year to
Speaker 1: a certain extent. And because these are things that Joe
Speaker 1: Biden has long talked about and actually believes in. And
Speaker 1: so I think it's, you know, it's an issue of
Speaker 1: passion here, right, he does get off track, he goes along,
Speaker 1: he you know, he banters, and he's got to be
Speaker 1: careful about that. But he's also got to rely on
Speaker 1: his team for that. And I think this is a
Speaker 1: big test for him. This is going to be a
Speaker 1: peek into the closing argument that the Democrats are going
Speaker 1: to be making as they move into this really, really
Speaker 1: tough election year in which they're likely going to lose
Speaker 1: the House and may in fact lose the Senate, but
Speaker 1: they're you know, giving it a really good try. And
Speaker 1: he's going to be leading that charge. Did I say
Speaker 1: the wrong thing with napping? I could use a nap,
Speaker 1: but you know, I mean like a good nice rest rick.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not kidding, I mean, don't you He's
Speaker 1: getting up there in age, we can Okay, Look, it's
Speaker 1: always hard on the president to keep his stamming up
Speaker 1: because he's always over scheduled, and he's always in demand,
Speaker 1: and and and and it's and it's it's hard. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's hard to be president. Nited states absolutely. That being said,
Speaker 1: these are big moments. They tend to be scripted well
Speaker 1: in advance. You know, the schedule running up to them
Speaker 1: will ensure that he's a maximum performance. Right. I mean
Speaker 1: that's the job of the staff to know, don't overpack
Speaker 1: his schedule that they before and so forth. Right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think the performance side of this, you know,
Speaker 1: we're gonna we're gonna know soon you know whether or
Speaker 1: not he was up for this. But I think what's
Speaker 1: really interesting about this is he's stepping away from the accomplishments. Right,
Speaker 1: What ran up his numbers in the last couple of months.
Speaker 1: It's the successes that his administration has had legislatively, by
Speaker 1: and large, And the reality is he's kind of stepping
Speaker 1: away from that and picking a fight with the MAGA
Speaker 1: agenda by saying, you know, there's a better way to
Speaker 1: do public safety my way, there's a better way to
Speaker 1: do democracy my way. I mean, you know, there's a
Speaker 1: way to maintain the rule of law, and and MAGA
Speaker 1: isn't it. And so if this is gonna be a
Speaker 1: big contrast between the Soul of the Nation and MAGA,
Speaker 1: I really I'm curious how he'll weave in what has
Speaker 1: actually been successful. I think if you want a speech
Speaker 1: to give on the eve of the fall election, you
Speaker 1: you talk about what you've been able to accomplished that
Speaker 1: people actually are giving you credit for. I'm guessing we're
Speaker 1: not going to hear in the Battle for the Soul
Speaker 1: of the Nation about the ship acts tomorrow. Genie, Am
Speaker 1: I wrong? No, You're right, And it's a really important
Speaker 1: point Rick makes. I mean, it doesn't sound at least
Speaker 1: what we're hearing like they're going to be stressing this
Speaker 1: list of of really important accomplishments. That said, I think
Speaker 1: what has struck me is the fact that he, you know,
Speaker 1: at for a long time he was sort of trying
Speaker 1: to ignore Donald Trump. Now we see Joe Biden in
Speaker 1: the administration saying, Okay, he's taking up the oxygen. We're
Speaker 1: benefiting from it, and we're going to use it to
Speaker 1: our advantage. We're going to tell you how extreme he
Speaker 1: and his followers are, and how we represent the all
Speaker 1: important middle. And I think we're seeing the Biden administration
Speaker 1: embrace Trump, much to the dismay of Republicans who want
Speaker 1: to win in these purple districts. And so I'm curious
Speaker 1: to see how they keep making that case. We saw
Speaker 1: it last night. I think we see it in Philadelphia
Speaker 1: again over you know on Monday, is primetime a good
Speaker 1: move here? Rick? Just in general? Eight o'clock at night.
Speaker 1: Is that the way you talk to the American people
Speaker 1: these days? We asked the same question ahead of the
Speaker 1: prime time January six hearings. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean it's
Speaker 1: still the best way to get you know, an act
Speaker 1: of odd without the filter of the media, right. I
Speaker 1: mean you give a speech during the day, and the
Speaker 1: media filters it, and by the time anybody sees it,
Speaker 1: you're reading about what the media thought about the speech,
Speaker 1: not the speech itself. And so, yeah, he wants to
Speaker 1: go direct to the public, and and it's a way
Speaker 1: to create some excitement. In the past, a lot of
Speaker 1: networks haven't carried these speeches, and so there hasn't been
Speaker 1: a reason to do it, because, you know, if you're
Speaker 1: not gonna go on TV and do it then then
Speaker 1: maybe not. But I guess what I'm hearing is he's
Speaker 1: gonna get coverage. He's gonna get coverage from the networks. Indeed,
Speaker 1: I have to admit, Jennie, I was surprised to hear that.
Speaker 1: I thought this would be a cable news event tomorrow night.
Speaker 1: But he hasn't worn out his welcome yet. I don't
Speaker 1: know how many of these you get before they start
Speaker 1: pushing back on the White House. But with that in mind,
Speaker 1: you don't want to wear out your welcome. Does this
Speaker 1: need to be half an hour or less? How does
Speaker 1: he deal with the time has been given. I think
Speaker 1: he needs to make his point. I need to think
Speaker 1: he needs to, you know, be very careful about the time.
Speaker 1: That is the staff's issue. And you're right, you know,
Speaker 1: there's also the line that that he has to be
Speaker 1: careful that this is a presidential address and not a
Speaker 1: campaign speech. Um, you know, yeah, And I just also
Speaker 1: have concerned you know, we just started the semester. I
Speaker 1: speak to students, Um, you have a son. These young
Speaker 1: people don't watch a lot of TV. So in the past,
Speaker 1: you know, primetime speech has got tons of eyeballs I'm
Speaker 1: not so certain if you're trying to reach younger people
Speaker 1: in particular, they're watching that much TV anymore, even worse
Speaker 1: than what Rick said. You know, instead of having the
Speaker 1: media talk about it and sound sound bites for us
Speaker 1: old people, they're gonna have it cut up on TikTok
Speaker 1: by the time Uh. He's back in Washington. Rick. That's
Speaker 1: a whole other problem for campaigns to deal with, not
Speaker 1: that this is a campaign speech, but that's part of
Speaker 1: the issue when you're trying to communicate. Yeah, it's create
Speaker 1: the event and reprogram it for every audience, son of
Speaker 1: the son. Most people will actually see this on their phone.
Speaker 1: And yes, and and so those moments within the speech
Speaker 1: are really critical, right. And then the moments are what
Speaker 1: he's going to have to deliver on like he did
Speaker 1: with that clip that you just played a little while
Speaker 1: ago on Vivaldi. So uh, that's all part of this performance. Uh.
Speaker 1: And the technicians will you know, cutting paces thing and
Speaker 1: breys social media. Uh. Forum in the world. And and
Speaker 1: by the way, the world is going to be listening
Speaker 1: to this speech because they see crazy stuff happening here
Speaker 1: in the United States. I mean, Donald Trump claims you're
Speaker 1: gonna retake the presidency next week, and and foreign leader
Speaker 1: scratch her head and go, what the heck is going
Speaker 1: on over there? And so it's not just a political
Speaker 1: audience that he's trying to address, but he wants to
Speaker 1: make sure that when he shows up at the G twenty,
Speaker 1: people don't like get close to him and say, hey,
Speaker 1: have you guys gone completely crazy? Wow? These are incredible
Speaker 1: times we're living in. Wouldn't you be wanting something without
Speaker 1: Rick and Genie. They help us make sense of it all.
Speaker 1: Our signature panel on sound On. We'll meet back here
Speaker 1: tomorrow right before the speech. I'm Joe Matthew. This is
Speaker 1: Bloomberg