Speaker 1: Now from our nation's capital. This is Bloomberg's sound on
Speaker 1: for Everything. There is a season. I will not seek
Speaker 1: re election to Democratic leadership. In the next Congress. We
Speaker 1: will be in the majority and Nancy Pelosi will be
Speaker 1: in the minority. Nancy Pelosi has been fired Bloomberg Sound
Speaker 1: on Politics, Policy and Perspective from DC's top Name. Hey, Arizona,
Speaker 1: carry Lake here. I wanted to reach out to you
Speaker 1: to let you know that I am still in this
Speaker 1: fight with you. Are the cats are Nada? Bloomberg Sound
Speaker 1: On with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. Nancy Pelosi gives
Speaker 1: up the gabbl Welcome to the fastest hour in politics.
Speaker 1: On a big day in Washington. Is the first woman
Speaker 1: to be speaker, announces her decision on the House floor
Speaker 1: after Republicans clinched control of the House. Will discuss the
Speaker 1: leg to see and the future with Congresswoman Sherry Bustos,
Speaker 1: who was on the floor today with Pelosi and with
Speaker 1: a Democratic Senate still intact, We'll talk with Jim Kessler
Speaker 1: of Third Way, former policy director for Senator Chuck Schumer.
Speaker 1: Former Congressman Joe Crowley joins us, as well as the leadership,
Speaker 1: rebuilds in the future, and as a group of House
Speaker 1: Republicans moved to stop US funding for Ukraine, will run
Speaker 1: all these stories by our signature panel with Bloomberg Politics
Speaker 1: contributors Jeanie Chanzano and Rick Davis. They're here for the hour,
Speaker 1: the end of an era here in Washington, or, as
Speaker 1: Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today on the House floor, for everything,
Speaker 1: there is a season. This I will continue to do
Speaker 1: as a member of the House, speaking for the people
Speaker 1: of San Francisco, serving the great state of California, and
Speaker 1: defending our constitution, and with great confidence in our caucus.
Speaker 1: I will not seek re election to Democratic leadership in
Speaker 1: the next Congress, ending in a store run as Democratic
Speaker 1: leader for the Better Party to get decades, including the
Speaker 1: first woman to be elected Speaker. And we're going to
Speaker 1: bring you perspective from a range of voices over the
Speaker 1: course of the hour, beginning with Congresswoman Sherry Bustos, Democrat
Speaker 1: from Illinois, with us now, Congresswoman, welcome back to sound On.
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me. I saw you on the floor
Speaker 1: of the House embracing Nancy Pelosi immediately after her announcement.
Speaker 1: What did she tell you well she was. Everybody was
Speaker 1: in line to give her a quick hug and tell
Speaker 1: her thank you for her many, many years of service.
Speaker 1: I I told her it was actually a very personal moment,
Speaker 1: even though there were people all around. UM. I told
Speaker 1: her a line that my father always said to me
Speaker 1: at the end of many of our phone calls, which was,
Speaker 1: I love you, I respect you, and you've helped the helpless.
Speaker 1: And UM, you know, I have a beautiful relationship with her.
Speaker 1: I led the political arm of House Democrats for the
Speaker 1: previous two years before this cycle. Um, and as part
Speaker 1: of that, every every time we flew back to Washington,
Speaker 1: I met with her one on one for half an
Speaker 1: hour for two straight years. And UM, so we're I
Speaker 1: just have a great amount of respect for how great
Speaker 1: she has been to this nation. And so yeah, so
Speaker 1: that was our conversation. Well, I appreciate your sharing that.
Speaker 1: I know it's a personal moment. Did you expect the
Speaker 1: announcement today that was certainly buttoned up right until she
Speaker 1: walked out? You know, I my guest, and I can't
Speaker 1: verify this because only Nancy Pelosi could, but I guess
Speaker 1: as only her immediate family knew maybe before this and
Speaker 1: then probably her staff just before the announcement. But she
Speaker 1: is a she's a steel traps, as they say, as
Speaker 1: far as if you tell her something incompetent, she's not
Speaker 1: going to repeat it. And she is not one who
Speaker 1: would go around sharing what her h what she was
Speaker 1: going to do as the next step in her career.
Speaker 1: Will it be strange to serve with a congresswoman Nancy Pelosi?
Speaker 1: I guess you still call her speaker, right? Well, I
Speaker 1: mean I think she's forever the speaker, you know, and
Speaker 1: you think about the historic nature for the first and
Speaker 1: only woman ever to hold that position. Um, And when
Speaker 1: I think about her, she's not only the the strongest
Speaker 1: woman I've ever known, She's the strongest person I've ever known.
Speaker 1: You think about all she's had coming at her for
Speaker 1: for not just you know, a few months or even
Speaker 1: a few years, but for decades now. She's been in
Speaker 1: a leadership position for two decades. And um, she on
Speaker 1: on the folks on the other side of the aisle
Speaker 1: love to hate her. And so she's probably the most
Speaker 1: recognizable Democrat outside of Joe Biden because she's been on
Speaker 1: attack ads for for many, many years, to the tune
Speaker 1: of hundreds of millions of dollars. Uh, you know, the
Speaker 1: Republicans like to tie every Democrat in a tough district
Speaker 1: to Nancy Pelosi. That was their big attack. Well, I
Speaker 1: wonder what you think of that. I mean, she's a
Speaker 1: pioneer in politics, a pioneer in Washington, a hero of
Speaker 1: yours clearly and of Democrats. But seen is very visive
Speaker 1: by Republicans. Why has she been so controversial with the right? Well,
Speaker 1: as I said, they've loved to hate her. She's Uh,
Speaker 1: first of all, she's a female, the only the person
Speaker 1: only as I said, first, only a woman Speaker of
Speaker 1: the House in the history of our our nation, you know,
Speaker 1: obviously well over two hundred years of our of our nation.
Speaker 1: And she has just been a target. She's from San Francisco,
Speaker 1: which if you're from the center part of the country
Speaker 1: where we're perhaps a little more moderate and a little
Speaker 1: more reserve. Um. They like to call her a San Francisco,
Speaker 1: San Francisco Liberal. They had all these little names for her,
Speaker 1: and I just really did their best to vilify her,
Speaker 1: you know, how to give it back to though. I'll
Speaker 1: never forget her tearing up that speech after Donald Trump
Speaker 1: delivered you know, She's iconic in so many ways. You know,
Speaker 1: you think about her wearing that burnt orange coat when
Speaker 1: she came out of the meeting with Donald Trump after
Speaker 1: he was the president. She's the only woman in the room,
Speaker 1: and she can hold her own in any situation. And
Speaker 1: I do mean in any situation. I remember when I
Speaker 1: invite her her to Illinois. Um, and it was when
Speaker 1: we were negotiating the the redoing of our trade agreement
Speaker 1: and what ended up being the U. S m c A,
Speaker 1: the US Mexico Canada trade Agreement and the farmers in
Speaker 1: my region and we're just really anty to get that
Speaker 1: done because farmers rely so much on trade. So I
Speaker 1: asked her she would sit down with some farmers from
Speaker 1: the state of Illinois and uh, because they wanted to
Speaker 1: be heard. And she said absolutely. She didn't. She didn't
Speaker 1: want for once think, oh, you know, I'm a liberal
Speaker 1: from San Francisco. I'm not going to do that. She
Speaker 1: sat down in this this room was about ten farmers.
Speaker 1: It was an intimate group. She listened to them, She
Speaker 1: looked each of them in the eye and um, and
Speaker 1: they what they wanted to send her away with the
Speaker 1: sense of urgency around getting this done, and it was
Speaker 1: only a matter of months later that we got it done.
Speaker 1: And she went back to Washington and was quoting the
Speaker 1: farmers saying how there had to be a sense of
Speaker 1: urgency around this and we had to we had to
Speaker 1: do right by them. Um. So yeah, again, I have
Speaker 1: never seen her not hold her own in any meeting.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know that there's a lot to be
Speaker 1: said for a person who can do that. Well, So
Speaker 1: a tough act to follow here, I said earlier, it's
Speaker 1: the worst kept secret in Washington that Hakem. Jeffreys will
Speaker 1: be the next Democratic leader. Is that the way you
Speaker 1: see it? Um? You know, look how Kim is very
Speaker 1: well respected, uh and well liked. I just think the
Speaker 1: world of him. I'm I'm a fan of his. I
Speaker 1: think he's going to be outstanding. Well, it's a big day, Congresswoman,
Speaker 1: and I want to congratulate you as well on seeing
Speaker 1: the Speak Out Act past. I know that was a
Speaker 1: follow up to your own ending Forced Arbitration for Sexual
Speaker 1: Assault Act. That that gets to this issue of nondisclosure agreements.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that's something that you were glad to see
Speaker 1: here towards the end of this session. Yeah, it's it's monumental.
Speaker 1: It's it's been dubbed um one of the most important
Speaker 1: labor legislation, pieces of labor legislation this century. We passed
Speaker 1: the four st Arbors Ending Forced Arbitration Act, and now
Speaker 1: we passed the elimination of nondisclosure agreements, and uh, that
Speaker 1: second part of it will be signed into law here
Speaker 1: very shortly. Well, we always enjoy the conversation. Congresswoman, I
Speaker 1: appreciate the time as ever. Representative Sherry Bustos, thanks for
Speaker 1: being back with us on Bloomberg. Thank you for everything.
Speaker 1: So it's on a rebuilding leadership majority leaders Stanny Hoyer
Speaker 1: is also retiring from the leadership now, as we learned today,
Speaker 1: and we bring in someone who has been inside the
Speaker 1: family here, inside the House Democratic leadership spent a number
Speaker 1: of years. In fact, I'm glad to say Joe Crowley
Speaker 1: is with us, a former Congressman from New York who
Speaker 1: was chair of the Democratic Caucus. Joe, thanks for coming back.
Speaker 1: I'm sure this is a big day for you as
Speaker 1: well to see the Speaker make this announcement. Uh, what's
Speaker 1: the motivation? And I know that you're gonna tell me
Speaker 1: she loves serving the people. But why hang around after this?
Speaker 1: Isn't life going to be a little bit weird for
Speaker 1: everybody when you know, you go from the head of
Speaker 1: the table to sitting with the leaves. Yeah, that's that's
Speaker 1: that's a great question. Um. I really hadn't contemplated that
Speaker 1: in terms of that, because I think, you know, I
Speaker 1: do think she has a great deal to offer in
Speaker 1: terms of experience. We know that these really are these
Speaker 1: three Kim Jeffries, Catherine Clark, and Pete Aguilar. They're They're
Speaker 1: very capable of people. Um, but I do think that
Speaker 1: she has something to offer. Uh. It may have to
Speaker 1: do with the fact that she was just re elected.
Speaker 1: She's not someone who wants to pull the wool over
Speaker 1: anyone's eyes, including your unstitents. Maybe give those who might
Speaker 1: contemplate running an opportunity to the field themselves, including our
Speaker 1: daughter Christine so I who's also were which to be
Speaker 1: interested in running for her seat. So I really I
Speaker 1: don't I don't have a perfect answer for that. But uh,
Speaker 1: why is Steady Hoyer stay for the same reason they begin?
Speaker 1: So is this the start of the team Jeffreys era,
Speaker 1: I certainly hope. So I have been a big fan
Speaker 1: of hat Kim's Uh. You know when I when I
Speaker 1: left Congress, um uh, he replaced me as the chair
Speaker 1: of the caucus. Uh, and I was. I I oversaw
Speaker 1: that election. In fact, that was one of the last
Speaker 1: official acts I was part of, and I saw how
Speaker 1: he handled himself. He's a great orator, he has great skills.
Speaker 1: He's very smart, um and Uh. I think he knows
Speaker 1: how to build coalitions. And that's what's so critical about
Speaker 1: being Congress. You have you know, the person could be
Speaker 1: an island in Congress. If you are, you never to
Speaker 1: be successful. And Hakim was how to knows that he's
Speaker 1: a legislator, but he's also a great paul. So what's
Speaker 1: life like when you're in the minority? Democrats have been
Speaker 1: used to run on the show for a minute, here,
Speaker 1: do you become the opposition party just by the nature
Speaker 1: of it? Or is the minority uh so greater? I
Speaker 1: guess I should say the majority so slim here when
Speaker 1: it when it comes to math that you're gonna have
Speaker 1: Democrats and Republicans at the table, Yeah, there's no doubt.
Speaker 1: I mean there's gonna be opportunities. I think for Democrats
Speaker 1: to be a part of important decision making because we
Speaker 1: still control the White House and certainly the Senate, and
Speaker 1: so I think the White House will be looking to
Speaker 1: Hakim in his leadership to keep the the Democratic Caucus
Speaker 1: together as best that can happen. And um, you know,
Speaker 1: it's not gonna happen on every vote. Um, but there
Speaker 1: may be opportunities as well. The Republicans are going to
Speaker 1: need Democrats in the House to pass um, you know,
Speaker 1: spending bills for instance, the dead feeling that I'd be
Speaker 1: able to do that before the new Republican conference takes
Speaker 1: control of the speakership. Um. There may be other issues
Speaker 1: that come up as well that I think it's gonna
Speaker 1: be so tight that McCarthy is gonna need to I
Speaker 1: think turned to Hakim Jeffreys on the health Democratic U
Speaker 1: Caucus for assistance in getting must pass legislation. Yeah right, Well,
Speaker 1: it's been reported that Congressman Jefferies is not a fan
Speaker 1: of this man, the man who would be speaker. Can
Speaker 1: you wake up tomorrow? We will be in the majority
Speaker 1: and Nancy Pelosi will be in the minority. That was
Speaker 1: Kevin McCarthy over a week ago. It took a lot
Speaker 1: longer than he thought it would to get to this point,
Speaker 1: and his his caucus is going to be his membership
Speaker 1: a lot smaller than he anticipated. But these two have
Speaker 1: not been friends, right, Is this going to be a
Speaker 1: confer intational relationship. Well, I think there's a big difference
Speaker 1: between running for office and running for speaker and running
Speaker 1: to win the majority and not some of the something
Speaker 1: to actually to govern. And I think I think how
Speaker 1: Kim is a big boy. Um. I think he will
Speaker 1: be cordial. I think he'll be professional. Uh. They may
Speaker 1: not agree, you may not even like each other, but
Speaker 1: I don't think it's gonna stop Akim from doing what
Speaker 1: he thinks is the best interest of the American people.
Speaker 1: And I think that is paramount there. I don't think
Speaker 1: Kim is not about himself. He never has been. He
Speaker 1: represents some largely an already African American district in Brooklyn, UM,
Speaker 1: and I think that he is. He's not selfish in anyway,
Speaker 1: shape or form. Uh, And he will work in the
Speaker 1: best interests of American people. There's something else, of course,
Speaker 1: looming out there, and it's apparently a long list of investigations. Uh. Confersman,
Speaker 1: this is James Comer. Uh. The parent Chair imminent Chair
Speaker 1: in waiting here of the Oversight Committee held a news
Speaker 1: conference today with some of his colleagues to give us
Speaker 1: a sense of what was coming. Committy. Republicans have spoken
Speaker 1: with multiple whistleblowers from humorous schemes involving the Biden family,
Speaker 1: reviewed Hunter Biden's laptop and received documents of previously previously
Speaker 1: unknown transactions. What we found our business plans aimed at
Speaker 1: targets around the world based on influence peddaling, including with
Speaker 1: people closely tied to foreign governments like China and Russia. Wow,
Speaker 1: so we're still doing Hunter Biden's laptop. All this has
Speaker 1: yet to transpire. How how do you do business with
Speaker 1: the majority party that's pursuing all these leads and a
Speaker 1: potential impeachment hearing. Yeah, that's a great question. How do
Speaker 1: you do that? I think if Republicans continued on his
Speaker 1: path of a personal attack of the president, Listen, there
Speaker 1: was an open FBI and criminal investigation into Hunter Biden.
Speaker 1: That's already there. There's no need for the time was
Speaker 1: to do that. But this is all showmanship. That's not
Speaker 1: to say that every person is perfect. Every family has
Speaker 1: had issues in their lives. Uh, and I think that
Speaker 1: that's uh, you know, let's not new what I think
Speaker 1: if they're going to be successful, they need the American
Speaker 1: people are tired of this. You know, they've demonstrated that
Speaker 1: in these elections. This is part of their this is
Speaker 1: part of their election strategy, strategy, and they didn't work.
Speaker 1: They didn't they didn't win all those seats they said
Speaker 1: they were going to win. So there really is nothing
Speaker 1: they're compelling this to happen except pure partnership and the
Speaker 1: most basic, basic kind of that. I think the American
Speaker 1: people want to see that the members of the the time,
Speaker 1: we're working together, working with the White House on behalf
Speaker 1: of the American people, and let's the Justice Department to
Speaker 1: which work that's not the work of Congress. Can anything
Speaker 1: get done? Though with this division that it was clearly
Speaker 1: surviving the mid term elections, this is the lame duck
Speaker 1: might be more productive than the next two years. You think, well,
Speaker 1: there are certain things that have to get done. And
Speaker 1: if they can't come to an agreement that a death
Speaker 1: ceiling in the in the lame duck, and it's the
Speaker 1: talk is they won't be may not be able to
Speaker 1: do that. They will have to pass a death ceiling
Speaker 1: at some point that has real perfect points that they Yeah,
Speaker 1: if they failed to do it will have real consequences. Um,
Speaker 1: they were gonna be spending package bills that have to
Speaker 1: there will have to be done. Um, you know. So
Speaker 1: this is not somewhere where you know. And I also
Speaker 1: I will suggest that now they had taken control of
Speaker 1: the House representers and they have responsibility for for ruling,
Speaker 1: in for governing. If they failed to meet that challenge,
Speaker 1: if they failed to meet those responsibilities, they will pay
Speaker 1: a price to that in at the post as Democrats
Speaker 1: did here the perception that they weren't doing enough that
Speaker 1: we ended up been losing the House, but narrowly m Republicans,
Speaker 1: it's it's no, it'll be it's the divided government now,
Speaker 1: it's no, it's no longer one government, one party will all.
Speaker 1: And I think Republicans would pay a price if they
Speaker 1: don't accomplish something. Great insights from Joe Crowley. We always
Speaker 1: appreciated former Congressman Democratic Caucus Chair. He's been there and
Speaker 1: now he's watching this along with us, and great to
Speaker 1: have the insights here on Bloomberg Sound Off for May
Speaker 1: the hours come for a new generation to lead the
Speaker 1: Democratic Caucus that I so deeply respect, and I'm grateful
Speaker 1: that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this
Speaker 1: awesome responsibility. And there it is. The doors opened for HOCKEYM. Jeffreies,
Speaker 1: Catherine Clark, Pete Aguilar and company. We also have to
Speaker 1: add the panel. Let's assemble our signature panel back together
Speaker 1: tonight with Rick Davis and Jennie Chanzano, Bloomberg Politics contributors. Jennie,
Speaker 1: it's a big day for Democrats here. HOCKEYM. Jefferies apparently
Speaker 1: is the leader in waiting. Is that how you also
Speaker 1: see it? It is? And and that would put two
Speaker 1: New Yorkers in charge of the Democrats in the Senate
Speaker 1: and the House. And and it's hard to remember a
Speaker 1: time when that happened. I don't think it has happened
Speaker 1: in the past, but you know, I think we should say,
Speaker 1: Kim Jeffrey has huge stilettos to fill. He is going
Speaker 1: to have big heels to fill. I would argue that
Speaker 1: Nancy Pelosi may go down as one of the most
Speaker 1: memorable speakers, one of the best speakers in American history.
Speaker 1: There's been very few who he remember. We remember James
Speaker 1: Polk because he became president Henry Clay Sam Rayburn. Nancy
Speaker 1: Pelosi has broke them old, not just with her gender,
Speaker 1: but with the way that she negotiated through a polarized
Speaker 1: Congress almost evenly divided for two decades. And I think
Speaker 1: it's you can arguably say she's been one of the
Speaker 1: most effective. Even her opponents have to agree. She is
Speaker 1: a formidable force. Rick, you spent enough time on Capitol
Speaker 1: Hill to have encountered Nancy Pelosi. Can you imagine life
Speaker 1: without her? Uh? Can imagine life without her? It's going
Speaker 1: to be different, Yes, I can imagine a life without her.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, look, I mean when she was
Speaker 1: first speaker, you know, she had a ten year period
Speaker 1: between then and when she became speaker, you know, four
Speaker 1: years ago. So, um, she's she's she's a survivor, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, like that is an incredible, tenacious woman. Who
Speaker 1: can you know, weather that amount of political time and
Speaker 1: still be as relevant ten years later after being speaker
Speaker 1: first to to the terms she's had now. So and
Speaker 1: I don't counter out as a you know, force of
Speaker 1: nature within the Democratic Party. I mean this gives her
Speaker 1: freedom and uh so you know it'll be interesting to
Speaker 1: see what role she carves out from here. Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: I still can't quite figure out what that vision is,
Speaker 1: you know, for the next two years of walking in
Speaker 1: without the gavel, without the big office. Why so controversial
Speaker 1: or divisive among Republicans? Rick, What was it about Nancy
Speaker 1: Pelosi that drove Republicans crazy effectiveness? I mean, we like
Speaker 1: ineffective Democratic speakers. I got it. And uh, and look,
Speaker 1: I mean you have to have somebody to run against
Speaker 1: right in in in for a lot of the twentieth century,
Speaker 1: it was Ted Kennedy. Now didn't mean Ted Kennedy was
Speaker 1: a great a senator, he was, but like he was
Speaker 1: a big name, and and and Republicans spent tens of
Speaker 1: billions of dollars, you know, saying, you know, we gotta
Speaker 1: vote against the liberal Washington establishment that's run by Ted Kennedy. Well,
Speaker 1: the only other person who's really filled those shoes is
Speaker 1: Nancy Pelosi, where tens of billions of dollars has been
Speaker 1: spent in TV ads over her career, putting her as
Speaker 1: the most powerful Democrat to oppose in in Washington. No
Speaker 1: matter what district you're in, what states you're from. And
Speaker 1: so I know, from just having been around the hoop
Speaker 1: a few times. That's a great honor for people like
Speaker 1: Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy, right, I mean, like you
Speaker 1: know they see that is like, bring it on. If
Speaker 1: I'm going to be the subject of the Republican Party's
Speaker 1: attacks on government, Uh, so be it. Let's let's go
Speaker 1: to war. I don't know what this new era with
Speaker 1: Kevin McCarthy holding the gavel will be. Like Genie, but
Speaker 1: he he today was was speaking with Fox I think
Speaker 1: was the Fox Business channel, Uh, suggesting that Nancy Pelosi
Speaker 1: is resigning right now so she will not have to
Speaker 1: hand him the gavel should he become speaker. What do
Speaker 1: you make of that? Well, classy Kevin McCarthy again, you know,
Speaker 1: he doesn't go to her speech today, which was by
Speaker 1: any you know measure, a moving moment and a bipartisan moment.
Speaker 1: You saw many Republicans there, including Steve Scalise. You know
Speaker 1: when when Stenny Hoyer stepped down, she gave him a
Speaker 1: special office. We'll see if Kevin McCarthy does the same.
Speaker 1: I doubt it. Um, you know, and look at how
Speaker 1: Washington has changed since she's been there. As she said
Speaker 1: today twelve women in the House. That's at twelve when
Speaker 1: she came into office and eight seven ninety plus today.
Speaker 1: It's still not enough, but it's getting there. And she
Speaker 1: has led that charge. And I would say we should
Speaker 1: all go back and watch that January six footage of
Speaker 1: her trying to maneuver through what was an attack on
Speaker 1: the Capitol and ensured that the electoral electoral vote count occurred.
Speaker 1: She that's who she is. And so you know, Kevin
Speaker 1: McCarthy can say she's frightened to turn over the gavel.
Speaker 1: We've never seen Nancy Pelosi frightened about anything. Reck The
Speaker 1: call came last night, Republicans Take the House. The statement
Speaker 1: from Nancy Pelosi's spokesperson came out a very short time later.
Speaker 1: They were waiting for that moment. I just wonder how
Speaker 1: much it had to do with losing the majority, as
Speaker 1: opposed to the attack on her husband Paul Pelosi for
Speaker 1: really getting her to this point of saying, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm done. Yeah, I wouldn't venture to guess. Obviously
Speaker 1: pretty horrific personal circumstances that she had to go through
Speaker 1: at an incredibly difficult time round around elections. Uh, And
Speaker 1: so I'm sure that everybody gives her a pass on
Speaker 1: what her rationale is. But look, all things good things
Speaker 1: must come to an end, and she's had an incredible tenure,
Speaker 1: So I don't think anybody is going to second guess
Speaker 1: the motivation. Uh. And I would say, Uh, she's going
Speaker 1: out at a time when she's kind of defied history. Right.
Speaker 1: This election cycle, which she was responsible for, Um, you know,
Speaker 1: is going to be uh, probably a footnote in history
Speaker 1: that says, at a time when the economy was so bad,
Speaker 1: president was so unpopular, the Democratic party in power did
Speaker 1: not lose the historic number of seats that typically happens.
Speaker 1: And that's that's that's going to be in the history books.
Speaker 1: More messaging from the incoming majority. I've referenced James Comer earlier,
Speaker 1: the Hunter Biden laptop investigations brewing separately in another room
Speaker 1: inside the House today, Marjorie Taylor Green joined with a
Speaker 1: few colleagues. Matt Gates was there, the congressman from Florida,
Speaker 1: among others, to call for an end to funding for
Speaker 1: the war in Ukraine. Here in the news, we're just
Speaker 1: finding out about the situation with f t X and
Speaker 1: the cryptocurrency. So is American people's taxpayer dollars going to
Speaker 1: fund aid in Ukraine, but yet it's really funding something
Speaker 1: else that's happening, maybe ending up in Democrat donor's pockets.
Speaker 1: Was that helping Democrat campaigns? That's a long walk here, Jeanie,
Speaker 1: but that that was the suggestion today that this was
Speaker 1: a money laundering operation without accountability for where the money
Speaker 1: is going. Matt Gate says he will not vote for
Speaker 1: one more dollar. Is this the beginning of a real
Speaker 1: debate or is this a fringe argument? You know, I
Speaker 1: didn't know if I could follow her better or herschel
Speaker 1: walker on the Vampire. It is very, very tough to
Speaker 1: follow that logic, and I think it is a sign
Speaker 1: of what's to come in a divided Washington with the
Speaker 1: Republicans and control of the House at least this faction.
Speaker 1: It's going to be theater and the idea that you
Speaker 1: would look at what happened in the Ukraine in the
Speaker 1: last seventy two hours and come to the conclusion it's
Speaker 1: now time to cut funding. That's that's really hard if
Speaker 1: you're a Republican or Democrat to wrap your head around. No,
Speaker 1: we're not done talking about this yet. I presume Rick Davis,
Speaker 1: Jeannie Schanzano stay with us our signature panel on the
Speaker 1: Fastest Hour in Politics. More voices to add, including Jim Kessler.
Speaker 1: I always look forward to talking with the co founder
Speaker 1: of third Way Democratic Strategist, former longtime insider on Capitol Hill.
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg. Question I have today about the U. S.
Speaker 1: Senate and specifically the Republican minority in the Senate is
Speaker 1: what happens if you try but you fail to kill
Speaker 1: the king. That's why I wanted to talk to Jim Kessler,
Speaker 1: in part, the co founder of third Way Democratic Strategist.
Speaker 1: He has been their former legislative policy director for Senator
Speaker 1: Chuck Schumer, who has had a lot to smile about
Speaker 1: over the last week. It's great to have you back here.
Speaker 1: Jim wouldn't want to be Rick Scott right now. First,
Speaker 1: you're responsible for achieving a majority in the Senate. Didn't
Speaker 1: make that happen. Then you challenge Leader Mitch McConnell for
Speaker 1: the leadership position and you lose. Is he on an
Speaker 1: island now for the next couple of years. It's an
Speaker 1: island called Hutzpah. I mean, how can you have he
Speaker 1: runs the National Republican Senate Campaign Committee really underperforms and
Speaker 1: then says, I want to promotion, I want to be
Speaker 1: leader of the party. You know, the reality of the
Speaker 1: Senate is that if you're the leader, like Mitch McConnell,
Speaker 1: you can only I slate your foes within your party
Speaker 1: so much. You need their votes. So in the House
Speaker 1: it's a lot easier to banish people who run against you.
Speaker 1: But in the Senate, you know, you need to unify
Speaker 1: the caucus all the time. So I think Rick Scott
Speaker 1: and the nine or so who voted with him, you know,
Speaker 1: they have a future in the Senate under Mitch McConnell.
Speaker 1: McConnell will not be there forever. They'll survive, They'll get on. Uh.
Speaker 1: Chuck Schumer, as I mentioned, seems to be a pretty
Speaker 1: happy guy. Can you explain to our listeners the difference
Speaker 1: between fifty and fifty one, Well, it's a huge difference.
Speaker 1: So one of the differences is on committees. Right now,
Speaker 1: when it's fifty the committees are divided completely even between
Speaker 1: the parties. When you're at fifty one, the Democrats can
Speaker 1: add another member in the party. The other is, you know,
Speaker 1: you can things like Judge is and legist um and
Speaker 1: other places where the Senate acts alone. You don't need
Speaker 1: the House White House appointments. You can afford to lose
Speaker 1: one vote. So there was a situation where Near Attendon
Speaker 1: was going to be, you know, appointed to a position
Speaker 1: that needed Senate confirmation. Joe Manchin came out against her,
Speaker 1: and now you know in this case she would get confirmed.
Speaker 1: So it's a big difference. Pretty remarkable to consider this
Speaker 1: based on the expectations that we had a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago, Jim, we talked in advance of these mid terms,
Speaker 1: how much credit, uh, does Chuck Schumer take here, if any,
Speaker 1: in maintaining this majority. He deserves a lot of credit.
Speaker 1: And they had some risky strategies here, and one was
Speaker 1: they said, we're going to help Republicans nominate people who
Speaker 1: are outside of the mainstream. And that was a high risk,
Speaker 1: high rewards strategy because if they managed to to win
Speaker 1: the general election, you'd have extremists in the Senate. It
Speaker 1: was very controversial, but in nearly all cases those candidates
Speaker 1: lost and Democrats kept the majority, so it turned out
Speaker 1: to be a good beat. It's all on a Georgia. Now,
Speaker 1: of course, that will decide whether it's fifty or fifty one. UM,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you have an opinion on how
Speaker 1: this goes or how Democrats, since you are a democratic strategist,
Speaker 1: might seize the moment here. But I've been listening, as
Speaker 1: many have, to herschel Walker, and we've been familiar with
Speaker 1: Raphael Warnick. He's been in he's the incoment, he's been
Speaker 1: a senator for a couple of years. Here we hear
Speaker 1: him speak a lot. Herschel Walker's approach has been evolving,
Speaker 1: and I've been hearing some interesting things from him on
Speaker 1: the campaign trail. Listen to this from a speech yesterday.
Speaker 1: I've gotten better because I've been to a hospitalcast today.
Speaker 1: I can see the light before I was in the
Speaker 1: darkness before. I probably wouldn't be here because I can
Speaker 1: guarantee you one thing. If I'm not going to a hospital,
Speaker 1: I would a kill my wife. I can guarantee you
Speaker 1: I would have killed my wife now. And really, you know,
Speaker 1: he's talking about his rehabilitation. But there's been a great
Speaker 1: conversation about candidate quality here. Jim who's writing these speeches.
Speaker 1: Why I imagine he's going off on his own on
Speaker 1: these things. I mean, look, if you're gonna bet on this,
Speaker 1: I would bet on Warnock and give the points here.
Speaker 1: Does he sees on this kind of stuff or just
Speaker 1: let herschel Walker keep talking. I imagine they're gonna seize
Speaker 1: on it um and and run ads. Neither candidate will
Speaker 1: have a shortage of money on this. I mean you
Speaker 1: talked about candidate quality. I've never seen a race, a
Speaker 1: midterm race, in which candidate quality there was such a
Speaker 1: difference between the two parties. And exhibit A is the
Speaker 1: Georgia race like such a huge gap between war Knock
Speaker 1: and Walker. The fundamentals really benefit the Democrats here, particularly
Speaker 1: since control of the Senate is not at stake, so
Speaker 1: that could depress some vote on the Republican side. I
Speaker 1: think war Knock is in the driver's seat here, and
Speaker 1: he knows how to win runoffs. He's done it once before.
Speaker 1: He's got experience. Jim, thank you for coming to see us.
Speaker 1: Jim Kessler, co founder A Third Way. He spent time
Speaker 1: as legislative policy director for Senator Chuck Schumer. He's seen
Speaker 1: this movie before, but the question is, have you seen
Speaker 1: the vampire movie? This happened too, as herschel Walker rig
Speaker 1: gales and outdoor crowd with his late night TV viewing habits.
Speaker 1: The other night, I was watching this movie, watching this
Speaker 1: movie called Friday Night for et Night and some kind
Speaker 1: of night, but about vampires. I don't know if you
Speaker 1: knew vampires and cool people are they not? But I'm
Speaker 1: will tell you something that I found out where I
Speaker 1: wolf to kill a vampire. Did you know that? I
Speaker 1: never knew that. So I don't want to be a
Speaker 1: vampire the more I want to be a were wolf.
Speaker 1: But in anyway, well you know who could blame him.
Speaker 1: This story went on for over two minutes, talking about
Speaker 1: being up at one o'clock in the morning watching a
Speaker 1: crazy vampire movie and so I wouldn't want to make it.
Speaker 1: Sit through the whole thing. It was fine that these
Speaker 1: kids had a vampire in that at it at that house.
Speaker 1: So they were watching that TV. No, I'm watching my TV.
Speaker 1: They're watching that TV. Or they see the vampire killer
Speaker 1: on that TV. So they win this contest to bring
Speaker 1: this actor. Now, y'all gotta stay with me, bring this
Speaker 1: actor who's a vampire killer from that TV to get
Speaker 1: rid of his real life vampire. And they added the
Speaker 1: whole thing. I look, I don't I'm lost, but it
Speaker 1: does have to do with faith. And they jumped behind
Speaker 1: that hero. The guy jumped in front of this whole
Speaker 1: a word, threw it on the vampire forehead. He covered
Speaker 1: his eye and he took his hand away. He started laughing,
Speaker 1: and he said that don't work. He took the carls
Speaker 1: he put it on the vampire forehead and the vampire
Speaker 1: didn't even do anything. He said that this was Fright Night. Right,
Speaker 1: this was the movie Fright Night. You guys, remember this
Speaker 1: virtual walker at one o'clock in the morning. What do
Speaker 1: you do with that? On the campaign trail? And bring
Speaker 1: some of the post Rick Davis, Geenie Chance, this is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg. You sound on with Joe Matthew
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Radio, the fastest hour in politics. And gosh,
Speaker 1: I haven't even had a chance to get to Arizona yet.
Speaker 1: So much to talk about today in Washington. As Nancy
Speaker 1: Pelosi says she's putting the gavel down, the Republican leadership
Speaker 1: comes together, Mitch McConnell in place, Kevin McCarthy and waiting,
Speaker 1: we have a better sense of things. And you know,
Speaker 1: I thought the governor's race in Arizona had been called.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure it has told you about that. Katie
Speaker 1: Hobbs wanted the Democratic secretary of State. But we heard
Speaker 1: from Carrie Lake last night. You know. We thought, well, geez,
Speaker 1: maybe it'd be of a concession and it's it's one
Speaker 1: of these videos with the blurry background. It's coming to
Speaker 1: you from heaven and it opens up like a hey,
Speaker 1: we're checking in on vacation. Just want to make sure
Speaker 1: you're good. But it does and keep going there. Hey, Arizona,
Speaker 1: carry Lake here. I wanted to reach out to you
Speaker 1: to let you know that I am still in this
Speaker 1: fight with you. For two years, I've been sounding the
Speaker 1: alarm about our broken election system here in Arizona, and
Speaker 1: this past week has confirmed everything we've been saying. When
Speaker 1: we called for Katie Hobbs to recuse herself over a
Speaker 1: year ago, they ridiculed us. It turns out we were right.
Speaker 1: The fox was guarding the hen House and because of that,
Speaker 1: voters have been disenfranchised. Okay, so we're not conceding. We
Speaker 1: are fighting though. Yes, she's she's lawyered, up, rest assured.
Speaker 1: I have assembled the best and brightest legal team, and
Speaker 1: we are exploring every avenue to correct the many wrongs
Speaker 1: that have been done this past week. I'm doing everything
Speaker 1: in my power to right these wrongs. My resolve to
Speaker 1: fight for you is higher than ever. I love broadcasters,
Speaker 1: and it sounds like we're listening to an industrial documentary.
Speaker 1: Let's reassemble the panel, Rick Davis and Jeanie Schanzano back
Speaker 1: with us. As you would hope in a moment like this.
Speaker 1: There's been a tough couple of weeks in Arizona, RIC
Speaker 1: going back to before the election, with you know, armed
Speaker 1: masked people's stalking drop off boxes. I guess we should
Speaker 1: not be surprised by this. A couple of days later,
Speaker 1: there had been no concession. What's this gonna look like
Speaker 1: over the next couple of months or years. Well, as
Speaker 1: you say, we shouldn't be surprised. In an interview prior
Speaker 1: to the election, uh, you know, the reporter asked carry
Speaker 1: Lake if she would accept the results of the election,
Speaker 1: and she says, if I win, I also accept them.
Speaker 1: I mean in essence paraphrasing, but uh, that's exactly what
Speaker 1: she's doing. She's only going to accept the results if
Speaker 1: she wins. So Uh. You know, look, I mean she's
Speaker 1: gonna do whatever she can do. She's gonna hire lawyers.
Speaker 1: That's fine. You know, she won't be the first candidate
Speaker 1: in Arizona that ever hired a lawyer to do a
Speaker 1: recount or something like that. But at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, it really doesn't matter because probably on Monday,
Speaker 1: the governor of Arizona Republican is going to certify the election.
Speaker 1: And and like Donald Trump's two year war to try
Speaker 1: and decertify a presidential election, Carry Lake can spend her
Speaker 1: wheels for years and and and have the same outcome.
Speaker 1: You know that that Katie Hobbs won Farren Square and
Speaker 1: election in Arizona, close but good, and and she'll be
Speaker 1: governor and she'll get sworn in in early January. And
Speaker 1: there's there's not a lot they can be done. Look,
Speaker 1: these were close elections. Even today the attorney general's races flipped.
Speaker 1: Uh it may or may not stay this way, but
Speaker 1: you know, we got more ballots in from Arizona and
Speaker 1: there happened to be heavily Republican, and that's an incredibly
Speaker 1: close race. And so the reality is so far she's
Speaker 1: the only one that I've heard in Arizona claim you know,
Speaker 1: mauthfeasance of any kind, and yet she doesn't even lay
Speaker 1: out what that is video at least, you know, good
Speaker 1: luck prosecuting your case. Car She says she's got the evidence.
Speaker 1: She did say that, Genie. Uh, And it was nice
Speaker 1: to listen to and nice to look at with the
Speaker 1: foggy background of the whole thing. But just imagine if
Speaker 1: Mark Finchham had won. Uh. You know, things came actually
Speaker 1: pretty close to being a lot different in Arizona than
Speaker 1: they they did. And you've got to give her credit
Speaker 1: for consistency. She's sticking to her guns. Here she said
Speaker 1: she's not going to accept a loss, and here she's not.
Speaker 1: But the bad news for her is you had both
Speaker 1: the Democrat and Republican county Board of Supervisors in Amercopa
Speaker 1: County come out with a joint statement and say that
Speaker 1: we have the technology in place to catch any of
Speaker 1: these problems. And it was all it was all in
Speaker 1: place that day. So if on occasion you had a
Speaker 1: failure of technology, they have the backup. And so you know,
Speaker 1: she is, you know, absolutely able to hire lawyers and
Speaker 1: to pursue this, but the reality is probably we're going
Speaker 1: to see the election certified, and a judge say that
Speaker 1: there's nothing here here and she's going to have to
Speaker 1: go back to mari Laga, where she's been spending a
Speaker 1: lot of her last few days and enjoy the golf course.
Speaker 1: A judge or judges, does this disqualify her somehow from
Speaker 1: being Donald Trump's running mate? Rick? Well, now, it may
Speaker 1: actually qualify her because she's doing exactly what he's doing,
Speaker 1: denying another election, and he seems to like that. In fact,
Speaker 1: she flew off to marl Lagos, I understand today to
Speaker 1: be with him and revel in their anti democracy points
Speaker 1: of view. Well, you know, let's hear it for the
Speaker 1: pro democracy folks in Arizona. This has been a hell
Speaker 1: of a time for members of the Maricopa County Board
Speaker 1: of Supervisors, along with a lot of different elections workers
Speaker 1: and volunteers. We spoke with Bill Gates here, who made
Speaker 1: it clear to us that he's the chair of the board.
Speaker 1: His family has been under threat. This is wild stuff
Speaker 1: and they so they had their first meeting since the
Speaker 1: election yesterday, this yeah, Wednesday, before the Maricopa County Board
Speaker 1: of Supervisors came about two dozen people who spoke at
Speaker 1: this meeting. Most of them just railing, screaming and railing
Speaker 1: against the way the election was handled. Um, some of
Speaker 1: them got pretty wild. I don't know if you guys
Speaker 1: have seen this guy with the dreads. The board has
Speaker 1: to sit there, listen quietly, just listen to all of this.
Speaker 1: None louder or stranger than a man named Matt Baker
Speaker 1: who screamed from the podium with a head full of dreadlocks.
Speaker 1: He's wearing a green T shirt with a picture of
Speaker 1: the Statue of Liberty. And I want you to hold
Speaker 1: onto something if you're not sitting down. This is what
Speaker 1: it sounds. And then you look into your own soul
Speaker 1: and you look back at yourself in the mirror, and
Speaker 1: I realized that you are the cats are that is
Speaker 1: tearing this nation. Wow, good dame, thank you our next speaker.
Speaker 1: Now I love the calm reply, Thank you, and and
Speaker 1: Mr Baker's formality. Good day. He clearly watched Will They
Speaker 1: Want when he was a kid. You stole fizzy lifting drinks,
Speaker 1: you bumped into the ceiling, which now has to be
Speaker 1: washed and sterilized, so you get nothing you lose. Good day, sir,
Speaker 1: Good day, sir, Just another day. In the chocolate. We're
Speaker 1: talking about politics in Arizona, there possible for you, Rick,
Speaker 1: So how does it end? Uh? Multiple court trials? What
Speaker 1: happens to all these people who were railing before the
Speaker 1: Board of Supervisors? They're not going away. I was hoping
Speaker 1: you'd go to Genie after that. Uh yeah, Look, I
Speaker 1: mean it's a lot more stable than you've just represented.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, these guys are all showing up
Speaker 1: in a public hearing and making their voices. O. That's
Speaker 1: democracy and its purest form. Well, it sure is. But look,
Speaker 1: as I said, I mean, the election is going to
Speaker 1: be certified next week, and this is over and and
Speaker 1: once you have a certified election, the transition and begins
Speaker 1: and people start to move towards the next administration and nobody,
Speaker 1: nobody's gonna look back there. There's not gonna be a
Speaker 1: tear drawn for those people who are whining and crying
Speaker 1: about losing a perfectly good election. So, um, look, sore
Speaker 1: losers are well known throughout history, and it's just unfortunate
Speaker 1: that in Arizona we're still talking about a sore loser today.
Speaker 1: She did call out Katie Hobbs. What was it the
Speaker 1: smokey and the headhouse or something like that, because she's
Speaker 1: secretary of Stage Junie. How does Katie Hobbs get over
Speaker 1: this as a brand new governor. Katie Hobbs just focuses
Speaker 1: on getting into office and her next role as governor
Speaker 1: of Arizona. And I could listen to the umpa loompa's
Speaker 1: all day long. And Matt Baker, bless his heart, there's
Speaker 1: another statement he says in there. He says, heavens no,
Speaker 1: for that would make me a terrorist, wouldn't it. I mean,
Speaker 1: the whole thing is is wonderful and it is a
Speaker 1: democracy at work. And you know, I'll give him the
Speaker 1: he showed up and you know, one of what only
Speaker 1: a couple dozen, and and good for him. More people
Speaker 1: should show up at these hearings. And good for the
Speaker 1: board for holding their cool and being so professional about it.
Speaker 1: They have to have, you know, a number of these hearings.
Speaker 1: This isn't gonna end. Does this actually get to be
Speaker 1: a security risk, Rick, or is it in fact glorious democracy? Well,
Speaker 1: we we do worry about the security. As you pointed out,
Speaker 1: um uh, there have been threats against poll workers and
Speaker 1: election officials. Um we've seen assassination attempts in Arizona against
Speaker 1: members of Congress. Uh. Look, it's something we have to
Speaker 1: continue to have a dialogue. We talked a lot about
Speaker 1: that going into this election, about the violent political violence
Speaker 1: that seems to be grabbing our nation, and we need
Speaker 1: to continue to have that conversation because it has to
Speaker 1: be unacceptable. How do you continue that conversation with election deniers? Genie.
Speaker 1: I realized that that this was a rebuke for election
Speaker 1: deniers on election night a week and change ago. But
Speaker 1: there are still millions of people who are following Donald
Speaker 1: Trump and are following Carry Lake. Yeah, yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1: And I think you know the way that you do
Speaker 1: that as you keep speaking about the truth. You allow
Speaker 1: them to make these legal challenges, and you allow them
Speaker 1: to lose at every turn, and hopefully they get tired
Speaker 1: of losing and they look to go to the ballot
Speaker 1: box and win, because quite frankly, there's been very little
Speaker 1: evidence legally that these elections have been unsafe or that
Speaker 1: they have been you know, somehow um corrupted or corruptible,
Speaker 1: and so you just got to keep doing it that way.
Speaker 1: And it's a hard argument to make two people, but
Speaker 1: the process itself is you know it should be fairly clear.
Speaker 1: And you look at the Maricopa Board of Supervisors and
Speaker 1: they're doing a very good job and they're bipartisan. We
Speaker 1: need to get Bill Gates back on the program and
Speaker 1: check in with him. Rick Davis and Jeannie Chanzano thank you,
Speaker 1: as always the best panel in the business, our signature
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Speaker 1: What the world will happen tomorrow? I mean we ask
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