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

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

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Speaker 1: noon and five pm Eastern on Applecarcklay and Android Auto

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Speaker 1: with the Bloomberg Business App. Listen on demand wherever you

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

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Speaker 2: Watching shares of home depot rising up about two dollars.

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Speaker 2: Not so great for lows, it's down a fraction as

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Speaker 2: both have trouble keeping the shovels and the salts in stock.

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Speaker 2: Everyone's making a big run on stores like these. I

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Speaker 2: haven't even mentioned the grocery stores at least here in Washington, DC.

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Speaker 3: We're seeing empty shelves and a lot of locations.

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Speaker 2: So there's a big economic impact here when it comes

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Speaker 2: to this storm. Companies are moving things around the country,

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Speaker 2: and of course preparations are being made on the federal

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Speaker 2: and state local levels here to deal with whatever Mother

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Speaker 2: Nature throws at us. A lot of this could include ice,

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Speaker 2: and in a place like Texas, that's a big problem.

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Speaker 2: This is a problem anywhere in the states that are

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Speaker 2: most well equipped for storms, but in Texas it's a

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Speaker 2: big challenge.

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Speaker 3: And knowing that the state's.

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Speaker 2: History is a difficult one here with an independent grid

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Speaker 2: that failed severely in the last Ice storm. There are

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Speaker 2: big concerns about whether the enhancements that have been made

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Speaker 2: will be enough. This is why we wanted to spend

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Speaker 2: some time with Bloomberg Energy reporter Josh Saul with the prospect,

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Speaker 2: as you can see on the screen on TV or YouTube,

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Speaker 2: now that we're looking at the potential for massive blackouts

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Speaker 2: across the Southern States. Josh Saul covers energy for US

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Speaker 2: and is with us now from New York. It's great

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Speaker 2: to see you, Josh. How difficult is this storm going

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Speaker 2: to be, for instance, in the state of Texas.

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Speaker 4: A couple things that are unusual about this storm just

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Speaker 4: how big it is. It stretches across the entire country,

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Speaker 4: and Texas specifically going to see real challenges Monday morning.

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Speaker 4: The amount of demand that the co is going to

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Speaker 4: place on the grid as people try to keep their

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Speaker 4: houses warm makes it really difficult for the state's power

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Speaker 4: system to keep up with that. We could see a

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Speaker 4: record in energy demand and that's going to be tough

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Speaker 4: for the grid, just like we saw back in Winter

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Speaker 4: Storm Muri.

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Speaker 3: Really interesting.

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Speaker 2: It's forty seven degrees right now in Dallas, it's going

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Speaker 2: to be twenty seven degrees by the beginning of the

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Speaker 2: day tomorrow. It looks like, if I'm reading this correctly,

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Speaker 2: when we consider tempts like these, the impact of ice

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Speaker 2: and so forth, should we be concerned about more than Texas.

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Speaker 2: This is going to be wreaking habit across a lot

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Speaker 2: of Southern states.

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Speaker 4: Up to one hundred and seventy million Americans affected by

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Speaker 4: this storm. It's going to stretch all the way from

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Speaker 4: Texas up to New York City, where we're expecting a

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Speaker 4: huge amount of snow on Monday. And that cold weather

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Speaker 4: which is pushing down a polar vortex kind of pushing

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Speaker 4: down from the Arctic, pushing cold temperatures down to places

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Speaker 4: like Texas and even New York that don't normally experience

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Speaker 4: temperatures that cold that has the potential to freeze power lines,

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Speaker 4: damage trees that drop into power lines. It could shut

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Speaker 4: off power in many places across the US, So utilities

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Speaker 4: have thousands of workers standing by ready to deal with

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Speaker 4: those I was happy to hear you mention shovels and

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Speaker 4: salts flying out of stores as people prepare, because we

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Speaker 4: really would urge people across the United States to take

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Speaker 4: this seriously and prepare for both bad weather when the

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Speaker 4: storm hits, and because of the continuing cold weather, snow

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Speaker 4: that will snick around, stick around for days, snarling traffic

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Speaker 4: and flights and all kinds of travel for days after

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Speaker 4: the storm hits.

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Speaker 3: How much ice does it take to tear down power lines?

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Speaker 4: You know, it depends. You have different kinds of power lines,

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Speaker 4: from local distribution lines to the big transmission lines. But

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Speaker 4: when ice builds up, it's really heavy and that can damage,

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Speaker 4: take out, a takeout, or even tear down, even drag

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Speaker 4: to the ground power lines. And what we're seeing is

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Speaker 4: we're getting a lot of moisture coming up from the

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Speaker 4: Gulf and that combined with the cold air coming down

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Speaker 4: from above. Moisture plus cold air, that's how you make

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Speaker 4: That's how you make snow, That's how you make freezing rain,

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Speaker 4: that's how you make ice. And all that together has

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Speaker 4: the potential to snarl travel and make things really difficult

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Speaker 4: and even potentially deadly for just a historically large amount

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Speaker 4: of the US.

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Speaker 2: When a power grid goes down like we saw in

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Speaker 2: Texas during that last massive ice storm, what happens to

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Speaker 2: the infrastructure, and how difficult is it to bring it

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Speaker 2: back up.

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Speaker 4: Well, Utilities do a lot of work to make sure

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Speaker 4: that they're keeping lights on, keeping power flowing to critical infrastructure.

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Speaker 4: That would be hospitals, places like emergency response response centers,

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Speaker 4: but homes are going to be left out a lot

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Speaker 4: of those equations if the light, if the power goes off,

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Speaker 4: so people are going to be on their own dealing

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Speaker 4: with anything from during that winter storm, winter Storm Muri,

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Speaker 4: we were talking to people who were using generators, people

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Speaker 4: who were sleeping with their dogs, people doing kind of

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Speaker 4: whatever they could to keep warm, especially in places like

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Speaker 4: Texas where the houses and the people and the infrastructure

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Speaker 4: isn't set up set up for that extreme cold that

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Speaker 4: can that can be really really difficult and even dangerous.

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Speaker 4: So people should start thinking about those preparations now as

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Speaker 4: turning as far as turning back, turning the grid back on,

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Speaker 4: you're right, it's very complicated sending electrons flowing back onto

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Speaker 4: systems that have been de energized, very complicated. Grid operators

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Speaker 4: take a lot of time to make sure that they're

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Speaker 4: doing that right, and it's not as simple as turning

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Speaker 4: the lights back on in a room that's gone dark.

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Speaker 3: Boy, this is gonna be something quite a weekend ahead. Josh,

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Speaker 3: thank you.

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Speaker 2: I'm sure you're going to be working overtime. This is

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Speaker 2: winter storm Fern. As I mentioned, I was looking at

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Speaker 2: the storm. I don't know how we're already on f

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Speaker 2: Gianna comes next, followed by Hernando. Start looking down the line.

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Speaker 2: Some of these are interesting we could have if we

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Speaker 2: have a tough enough winter.

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Speaker 3: Be looking at winter Storm Wolfgang. As we make our

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Speaker 3: way through the alphabet.

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Speaker 2: It's not just Texas, as we mentioned, it's a big

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Speaker 2: swath of the country, and it's going to go as

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Speaker 2: far north as New York and even creep into New England.

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Speaker 2: Here and some of the forecasts that we've been seeing

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Speaker 2: from New York or severe up to sixteen inches, one

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Speaker 2: of the most red stories on the terminal in just

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Speaker 2: the last twenty four hours. And of course this is

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Speaker 2: a big test for New York City and for its

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Speaker 2: new mayor. So Ron Mamdani, who held a news briefing

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Speaker 2: earlier today to talk about preparations.

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Speaker 5: Here he is this weekend is going to be cold,

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Speaker 5: it is going to be windy, and above all else,

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Speaker 5: it is going to be a weekend where your city

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Speaker 5: is prepared. Across every single level of government, we are

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Speaker 5: working together to ensure that our streets are being kept clear,

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Speaker 5: that New Yorkers are safeguarded, and that the most vulnerable

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Speaker 5: among us are being connected with shelter. While we are

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Speaker 5: still waiting to make a final decision on whether school

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Speaker 5: will be in per or virtual, we will communicate that

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Speaker 5: decision to families by at noon on Sunday. That is

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Speaker 5: going to be a decision between in person learning and

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Speaker 5: remote learning. I have to apologize to the students that

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Speaker 5: we're hoping for a different answer for a traditional snow day.

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Speaker 2: That will not be the case. Wow, snow days are canceled.

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Speaker 2: That might be the biggest headline we have so far

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Speaker 2: out of New York. As we add the voice of

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Speaker 2: Dan Chris will, the former administrator of FEMA, the US

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Speaker 2: Federal Emergency Management Agency, probably has a jacket.

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Speaker 3: Like the one that the mayor was just wearing. There.

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Speaker 2: Dan, it's great to have you back on Bloomberg TV

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Speaker 2: and radio. Could just give us a sense the scale

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Speaker 2: of this storm is incredible. When FEMA is facing something

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Speaker 2: that's impacting this many states, how much of a challenge

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Speaker 2: is it to get material and equipment in place before

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Speaker 2: it arrives.

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Speaker 6: Joe, You're right, this is a gigantic storm. And when

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Speaker 6: I look at the maps, it covers seven of FEMA's

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Speaker 6: ten regions, right, that's two thirds of all of the

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Speaker 6: FEMA regions are going to be impacted by this, close

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Speaker 6: to two hundred million people, you know. And that's where

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Speaker 6: FEMA has the ability to have these centralized stockpiles of

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Speaker 6: equipment ready to move out to states as they identify

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Speaker 6: any needs. And so the goal here is to pre

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Speaker 6: position where you can, especially areas that are going to

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Speaker 6: get a lot of snow, because once the snow comes in,

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Speaker 6: it's going to be harder to move those in. But

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Speaker 6: they only do that at the request of the state.

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Speaker 6: And as the states are putting their plans in place,

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Speaker 6: they can request these resources from FEMA, they can move

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Speaker 6: those in. These are things like generators because it is

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Speaker 6: going to be a prolonged power outage, but things like

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Speaker 6: blankets or food and water to help stock some of

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Speaker 6: the shelters. All of that activity is happening right now,

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Speaker 6: and they'll continue to work through the weekend with each

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Speaker 6: of the states that are impacted to get them what

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Speaker 6: they need.

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Speaker 2: We're watching shares of GENERAC and CAT both head lower today,

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Speaker 2: interestingly knowing that there's going to be massive demand for generators.

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Speaker 2: We've been having a specific conversation about Texas, of course, Dan,

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Speaker 2: for good reason. And you know a lot about what

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Speaker 2: happened in Texas in two thousand and one. As we

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Speaker 2: remind everybody, that took place shortly before you were sworn

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Speaker 2: in as FEMA administrator in April of twenty one, so

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Speaker 2: you essentially had to help clean all of this up.

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Speaker 2: I'm wondering what recommendations you made to Texas and if

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Speaker 2: they were received, knowing that Texas has an independent grid.

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Speaker 6: Yeah. One of the biggest things is first helping to

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Speaker 6: educate the public, right, and I think you heard a

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Speaker 6: lot of that already with your last speaker. Right, how

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Speaker 6: do you get people to understand what is going to

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Speaker 6: happen to them and that this is going to be

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Speaker 6: a prolonged power outage so they can take the steps

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Speaker 6: right now to make sure that they can keep themselves

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Speaker 6: and their family safe. But then the second part of

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Speaker 6: that is how do you harden that grid? How do

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Speaker 6: you put mitigation measures in place to reduce the impact.

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Speaker 6: You're not going to get rid of the impact completely.

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Speaker 6: And I know that we worked with Texas and we

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Speaker 6: worked with the power companies to work through through the

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Speaker 6: different programs that the Department of Energy has or that

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Speaker 6: FEMA has, and which ones are eligible to create systems

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Speaker 6: that can protect those exposed power lines during a storm

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Speaker 6: like this. But you're never going to stop it completely,

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Speaker 6: and so they have to work hand in hand those

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Speaker 6: private utilities with the local emergency management, the state emergency management,

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Speaker 6: so they can do everything they can to get the

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Speaker 6: power restored to those critical infrastructure facilities first and then

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Speaker 6: get everything else back online. But it does take time,

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Speaker 6: and that's why people need to act today, and they

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Speaker 6: need to act now to make sure they have what

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Speaker 6: they need.

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Speaker 2: I have to ask you about manpower at FEMA, and

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Speaker 2: I don't want to get too political with you here, DM,

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Speaker 2: but the fact the matter is the Federal Emergency Management

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Speaker 2: Agency had to halt planned terminations of some temporary disaster

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Speaker 2: relief workers because of the storm. I don't know if

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Speaker 2: these people will be let go after the storm, but

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Speaker 2: following the changes that we've seen at FEMA since the

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Speaker 2: Trump administration came back into Washington and knowing that There's

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Speaker 2: been a lot of push and pull over the role

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Speaker 2: that femas should be playing versus the states.

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Speaker 3: Does the agency have the people it needs?

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Speaker 6: Well, they certainly are down staff, right They've already lost

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Speaker 6: several thousand people, and that creates a strain on the

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Speaker 6: existing personnel that are still there. You have people that

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Speaker 6: are stationed at headquarters that are working in the National

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Speaker 6: Response Coordination Center right now preparing for this storm, working

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Speaker 6: with our federal partners like the Department of Energy, the

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Speaker 6: Department of Defense and others, it's and others. But you

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Speaker 6: also have personnel in the regions. And these folks in

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Speaker 6: the regions are the ones that are connecting directly with

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Speaker 6: the state directors.

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Speaker 7: But with the loss of staff, it just makes it harder.

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Speaker 6: It makes it harder to keep up with the demand,

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Speaker 6: with the requests and helping to support those communities. And

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Speaker 6: I think as we continue to see potential changes in

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Speaker 6: the emergency management enterprise and more financial responsibility going to

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Speaker 6: state and locals, you know, then I can see you

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Speaker 6: could start scaling back some of the staff at FEMA.

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Speaker 6: But I'm hopeful that what they saw with the onset

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Speaker 6: of this storm is not going to be any different

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Speaker 6: than maybe an onset during hurricane season. Is that until

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Speaker 6: all of those changes are made and more responsibility financial

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Speaker 6: responsibility is assumed at the state and local level, you

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Speaker 6: still need those federal people to help implement those programs,

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Speaker 6: and so it just takes time to make those kind

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Speaker 6: of changes. And when you indiscriminately don't renew some of

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Speaker 6: these contracts without understanding the role that they play, it

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Speaker 6: just makes longer recoveries, longer support for the American people

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Speaker 6: that need help when they need it most.

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Speaker 3: Well, that certainly makes sense.

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Speaker 2: FEMA lost more than three thousand, seven hundred employees, about

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Speaker 2: fourteen percent of the agency last year thanks to the.

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Speaker 3: Federal workforce cuts.

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Speaker 2: The ones we're talking about here on call response recovery

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Speaker 2: employees core the cadre of on call response recovery employees.

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Speaker 2: Some have multi year contracts where we see more contractors

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Speaker 2: as full timers are shown the door.

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Speaker 6: Well, I think it's kind of a misnomer and I

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Speaker 6: just want to clarify there. So this cadre of on

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Speaker 6: call response employees, they are on two year or four

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Speaker 6: year appointments. These are federal employees, just through a different

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Speaker 6: hiring authority. They're not contractors in the sense where you

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Speaker 6: see private sector firms coming in, and so typically they're

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Speaker 6: on for two years or four years, and every two

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Speaker 6: years or four years then that appointment gets renewed. If

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Speaker 6: you continue to not renew those appointments, you're losing critical staff.

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Speaker 6: These are the people that make up the core, the

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Speaker 6: heartbeat of the disaster, no stetial quarters directly in the

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Speaker 6: field with a state or a local jurisdiction or in

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Speaker 6: a regional office. When you lose those personnel, you lose

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Speaker 6: not just numbers, but you lose knowledge, You lose institutional knowledge,

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Speaker 6: you lose expertise, and all of that takes time to rebuild.

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Speaker 6: And so as they continue to lose those you can't

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Speaker 6: replace them with just hiring new new cadrevon call core employees,

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Speaker 6: right because it'll still take time to get them up

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Speaker 6: to speed, and you certainly can't replace them with private

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Speaker 6: sector contractors to come in. But there's a different difference there,

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Speaker 6: and I just want to make sure that was clear,

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Speaker 6: and this is it's really going to impact FEMA's ability

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Speaker 6: to support communities before, during, and after disasters if they

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Speaker 6: continue to lose those those disaster employees.

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Speaker 3: I really appreciate you clearing that up. Dan, It's great

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Speaker 3: to see you.

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Speaker 2: Dean Chriswell, former FEMA administrator, with us ahead of the

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Speaker 2: big storm winter Storm Fern live on Bloomberg take a

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Speaker 2: quick swing with our political panel. We'll have more time

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Speaker 2: with them later in the hour, but Bloomberg Politics contributors

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Speaker 2: Jeanie Schanzano and Rick Davis are with us right now. Rick,

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Speaker 2: there's been a lot of question about the cuts that

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Speaker 2: have taken place at agencies like FEMA fourteen percent of

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Speaker 2: the workforce. We're talking about the test that mayor Mom

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Speaker 2: Donnie will face, that Governor Abbott will face, up with

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Speaker 2: the test that the federal government is about to face.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's a really good point.

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Speaker 8: You know, we tend to focus on local mayors and

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Speaker 8: governors and what their reaction is, but a lot of

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Speaker 8: the resources they have are federal. You know, big warehouses

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Speaker 8: with equipment, generators as you heard earlier, you know, snow

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Speaker 8: moving equipment, you know, even aid packages, things that people

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Speaker 8: may need, medical supplies, food, water. All that happens in

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Speaker 8: the court in the case of a big winter storm,

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Speaker 8: just like it does you know, in hurricanes, and so

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Speaker 8: I think I think it will be a test. Maybe

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Speaker 8: that's why Donald Trump is sticking around the White House

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Speaker 8: this weekend to oversee the federal response. Wouldn't surprise me

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Speaker 8: because FEMA is a shadow of its previous self. You

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Speaker 8: could argue that it's had a lot of inefficiency in

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Speaker 8: the past, but that has been fired out and now

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Speaker 8: we're going to see whether or not they can perform

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Speaker 8: on really an epic storm that's occurring this weekend.

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Speaker 2: Only got thirty seconds. Genie, I apologize in advance. Well,

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Speaker 2: the Feds regret these job cuts.

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Speaker 7: They could.

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Speaker 9: I mean, I thought Miss Chris will Wade a great point.

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Speaker 9: You know, institutional knowledge of this kind matters. These federal

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Speaker 9: employees matter, and we as citizens count on them during

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Speaker 9: times of crisis and weather related issues like this.

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Speaker 2: Today, well, we'll be tracking the brain drain along with

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Speaker 2: the storm. Genie and Rick are back with us straight

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Speaker 2: ahead here on Balance of Power only on Bloomberg TV

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Speaker 2: and Radio.

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Speaker 3: Stay with us on Balance of Power. We'll have much

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Speaker 3: more coming up after this.

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

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

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Speaker 1: Apple Cockway and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app.

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Speaker 1: You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our

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

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Speaker 2: Good Luck finding a shovel. I'm guessing it's the deal

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Speaker 2: in New York, just like here in d C. Just

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Speaker 2: had a little birdie telling me they're all sold out

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Speaker 2: at Low's. It's watching the tip sheets this morning. You

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Speaker 2: can't get groceries either, depending on where you are. The

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Speaker 2: Capitol Hill Trader Joe's and the one over on fourteenth

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Speaker 2: Street empty shelves reminded me of the old Soviet Safeway

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Speaker 2: on seventeenth Street they call it. They still call it that,

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Speaker 2: and probably not. We're in an age of abundance after role.

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Speaker 2: But look, this is for real, and we're watching the

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Speaker 2: social media account here the Washington d C Snowball Fight Association.

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Speaker 2: If you're not following them, you're missing missing out a lot.

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Speaker 2: The dcsfa's War Council I'm reading right from the post

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Speaker 2: on X is getting closer to a call on a

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Speaker 2: season kickoff battle this Sunday.

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Speaker 3: If you want to be there for the fight, likely

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Speaker 3: in the late morning.

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Speaker 2: Before the sleep begins, keep you posted where do you

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Speaker 2: want a big snow ball fight to be in DC?

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Speaker 3: They're asking, let us know here, Capitol Weather Gang is

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Speaker 3: apparently involved in this as well.

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Speaker 2: I'm going to dispatch producer James to head on down

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Speaker 2: to that snowball fight to get some scoop for us

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Speaker 2: on Monday, all the while natural gas prices are up

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Speaker 2: more than sixty percent this week. Or if you're cool,

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Speaker 2: like they say in the Financial News, it's natgas.

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Speaker 3: You have to call it nat because it takes too

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Speaker 3: long to say natural gas.

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Speaker 2: And I'll note as well, as we all wait for

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Speaker 2: this storm to come crashing through Dallas to DC ice snow,

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Speaker 2: frigid cold temps. It is currently eighty degrees in Miami

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Speaker 2: feels like ninety, reminding us that Mike McLoone is smarter

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Speaker 2: than most of us. The commodities analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence

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Speaker 2: is with us right now and it's great to see

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Speaker 2: in Mike, Happy Friday.

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Speaker 4: Nat gas.

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Speaker 2: I'm going to say it like the cool guys is

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Speaker 2: so urging right now, And I'm just curious why exactly

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Speaker 2: because we're supposed to be swimming in natural gas, we're

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Speaker 2: exporting it around the world. Is this because we need

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Speaker 2: more pipe or we need more supply.

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Speaker 3: What's happening.

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Speaker 10: The main issue right now is the weather, and the

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Speaker 10: real cool guys is just say natty, But I'm not

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Speaker 10: real cool, so we'll say natural gas. The key thing

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Speaker 10: is we had a sick There you go, natty, it's

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Speaker 10: natural gas. And for crew they say WTI which is

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Speaker 10: or they just say which is really cool?

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Speaker 3: So what's a major cold spell?

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Speaker 10: So obviously you're talking about major cold spell. The markets

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Speaker 10: front run that. But here's the key thing about natural gas.

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Speaker 10: That was a bit of a surprise. So much for

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Speaker 10: global warming with these winters getting very much colder. But

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Speaker 10: the bottom line is natural gas on the screen right

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Speaker 10: now is right around five dollars per mmbtu. This time

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Speaker 10: next week it'll be three sixty because we're.

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Speaker 3: Going to switch to that March contract.

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Speaker 10: March starts thinking about tulips popping up pretty soon, and

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Speaker 10: you know what happens that the man cools down. The

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Speaker 10: key thing to think about natural gas is we have

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Speaker 10: to ask ourselves the question is that the last tice

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Speaker 10: of supply every time he gets in their five hours

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Speaker 10: per m NB to you for almost twenty years going

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Speaker 10: to go away. I think it's going to be stronger

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Speaker 10: than ever and push it back lower later in here.

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Speaker 10: So we get to this point next year, we'll be

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Speaker 10: priced and we'll be working worried about a colder than

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Speaker 10: normal winter. The market will price for it, inventories will

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Speaker 10: build up for it, and supply should come on to

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Speaker 10: plan for it. And then the problem will be we

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Speaker 10: better get that colder than normal winter or prices we'll

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Speaker 10: go back down to two.

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Speaker 2: Fascinating producer James thinks you're drinking natty ice down there, Mike,

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Speaker 2: So we want to be careful. The President sounds like you.

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Speaker 2: He just put on social media record coal wave expected

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Speaker 2: to hit forty states.

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Speaker 3: Really seen anything like it before?

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Speaker 2: Could the environmental insurrectionists please explain whatever happened to global warming?

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Speaker 2: I do not have an answer on that, But what

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Speaker 2: could this look like post storm? Will we see a

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Speaker 2: little relaxation here or are the shorts going to take over?

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Speaker 3: Well, that's a key thing.

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Speaker 10: The front contract, that February contract got overcome with some

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Speaker 10: short covering. We squeeze them all out. It expires next

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Speaker 10: week and it's gone. The rest of the futures. Yeah,

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Speaker 10: there's so much short, but they're still hanging in those

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Speaker 10: lower levels. The bottom line is the weather has to

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Speaker 10: stay that demand pull of cold and normal weather's heating

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Speaker 10: degree days has to stay there, and the supply has

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Speaker 10: not come on. You have to mention President Trump because

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Speaker 10: his bias is lower energy prices. We've seen what he

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Speaker 10: did in venezuel and we've seen his methods. And by

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Speaker 10: the way, we can bring on more natural gas rather quickly.

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Speaker 10: We do every time it goes up. So I'm not

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Speaker 10: worried about the key thing to remember those if I'm

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Speaker 10: wrong and it stays above five that his implications for

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Speaker 10: bond yials. One thing that also happened this year that

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Speaker 10: bond yield bumped up to round five percent four ninety four.

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Speaker 10: If natural gas stays higher, memory, it's the number one

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Speaker 10: measure of heat, electricity, and fertilize in this country. That's

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Speaker 10: going to be inflationary. And what I think mister Trump's

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Speaker 10: not going to like that. So I think there'll be

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Speaker 10: ways for it to do what it normal does a

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Speaker 10: revert lower.

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Speaker 3: Okay, great, it's great to see you, Mike. Eighty degrees. Huh.

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Speaker 3: You can take a little walk after this and feel

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Speaker 3: bad for us.

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Speaker 10: Oh yeah, well, I'm lucky, lucky Brinkkels allowed to come here.

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Speaker 3: So still the smartest guys in the room.

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Speaker 2: Bloomberg Intelligence Miami, Mike mcglohan, we do appreciate it. Drinking

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Speaker 2: the natty light with producer James Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodities strategists,

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Speaker 2: and so you know, we get now to the big test,

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Speaker 2: the snow test for politicians. This is real, whether you're

440
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:23,800
Speaker 2: Governor Greg Abbott in Texas or your mayor Zorn Mam

441
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:26,360
Speaker 2: Donnie in New York. You might have seen the headline

442
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:29,320
Speaker 2: this morning in the New York Post kind of says

443
00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:32,919
Speaker 2: it all. Mom Donnie says, New York kids can forget

444
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:36,879
Speaker 2: snow days. I'm not sure this is a good start.

445
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,359
Speaker 2: He did have a briefing earlier on preparations in the city.

446
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:41,720
Speaker 2: Here's Mayor, Mom Donnie.

447
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,280
Speaker 5: This weekend is going to be cold, it is going

448
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,040
Speaker 5: to be windy, and above all else, it is going

449
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:50,159
Speaker 5: to be a weekend where your city is prepared. Across

450
00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:53,200
Speaker 5: every single level of government, we are working together to

451
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,560
Speaker 5: ensure that our streets are being kept clear, that New

452
00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,600
Speaker 5: Yorkers are safeguarded, and that the most vulnerable among us

453
00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,840
Speaker 5: are being connected with shelter while we are still waiting

454
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:05,440
Speaker 5: to make a final decision on whether school will be

455
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,040
Speaker 5: in person or virtual. We will communicate that decision to

456
00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:11,800
Speaker 5: families by at noon on Sunday. That is going to

457
00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:15,040
Speaker 5: be a decision between in person learning and remote learning.

458
00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:17,359
Speaker 5: I have to apologize to the students that we're hoping

459
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,680
Speaker 5: for a different answer for a traditional snow day. That

460
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:20,600
Speaker 5: will not be the case.

461
00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,160
Speaker 3: WHOA, what's going on around here? There's no more snow days?

462
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:26,800
Speaker 3: Is this just New York?

463
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,480
Speaker 2: Remember they said this would happen during COVID since we

464
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,960
Speaker 2: can all clearly get on Zoom and do remote learning

465
00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:38,480
Speaker 2: or whatever. But I feel for the kids in New York.

466
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:41,439
Speaker 2: We assemble our political panel for their thoughts on all

467
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,040
Speaker 2: of this. Rick and Jennie are both here. They're brasen

468
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,400
Speaker 2: for the storm too. Bloomberg Politics contributors Genie Shanzano Democracy

469
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:51,200
Speaker 2: visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center. Rick Davis Partner,

470
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:53,920
Speaker 2: Stone Court Capital or Republican strategist. It's great to see

471
00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:56,600
Speaker 2: both of you. Genie, you're an educator, I mean will

472
00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:58,959
Speaker 2: remind everybody you're a professor at Iona College.

473
00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:01,600
Speaker 3: Is what is the mayor thinking.

474
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:05,600
Speaker 7: He's disappointing those young people.

475
00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,240
Speaker 9: But i'll tell you, Joe, he learned the first lesson

476
00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,560
Speaker 9: about governing New York City, which is, do not go

477
00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:14,280
Speaker 9: on vacation when there is a pending storm.

478
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:18,280
Speaker 7: So he's starting off right. Yeah, the kids may be.

479
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:22,080
Speaker 9: Disappointed with this new technology that allows remote learning, but

480
00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,560
Speaker 9: the most important thing is that he cleans up those streets.

481
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:31,920
Speaker 9: And we've seen politicians of all stripes go down, you know,

482
00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:36,240
Speaker 9: Mayor Lindsay famously in New York City, but we've also

483
00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:40,240
Speaker 9: seen it benefit people don't remember, like Mike Ducaucus. You're

484
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:42,040
Speaker 9: from Massachusetts, Mike Ducaucus.

485
00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:43,159
Speaker 7: He made his.

486
00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,840
Speaker 9: National name on the seventy eight storm. So there's good

487
00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 9: and bad here, Joe. A lot of politics and your

488
00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:54,120
Speaker 9: future when you're a politician depends on your ability to manage.

489
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:55,320
Speaker 7: The response to the weather.

490
00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 3: Well, that's absolutely right, Rick way In.

491
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:00,639
Speaker 2: By the way, I don't know what you think of

492
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,399
Speaker 2: the mayor with the sharp emergency management jacket, but he

493
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:08,080
Speaker 2: seems like he's in action here. How carefully, how brutally

494
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:09,640
Speaker 2: might he be graded on the response?

495
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,879
Speaker 8: Well, he certainly looks like an establishment figure, so I

496
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:16,639
Speaker 8: don't know if that's what he was working for.

497
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:18,240
Speaker 7: But I think it's great.

498
00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,640
Speaker 8: He is teaching every young child in New York City

499
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:22,639
Speaker 8: to hate socialists.

500
00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:24,000
Speaker 3: I think it's a good start.

501
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:29,359
Speaker 8: So you know, from my perspective, ideologically, he's right right

502
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:31,440
Speaker 8: right there where you want to look.

503
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,080
Speaker 3: It is going to determine his his.

504
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,960
Speaker 8: His administration's first year as to how they respond to

505
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:44,800
Speaker 8: this snow. Certainly he's hoping for the lightest weather he

506
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:47,960
Speaker 8: can get, but it happens to everybody. There's not a

507
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,919
Speaker 8: New York mayor who can escape it. There's always going

508
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,960
Speaker 8: to be in your term of office some kind of

509
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:58,040
Speaker 8: winter storm where people who don't get their garbage picked up,

510
00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:00,840
Speaker 8: people who don't get their streets plaid, people who have

511
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:05,120
Speaker 8: no shops to shop in, are going to blame the mayor, most.

512
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 3: Important job in America.

513
00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:07,120
Speaker 8: We'll see how he does.

514
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:08,360
Speaker 3: Well.

515
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,040
Speaker 2: That's right, we're getting the we got the storm footage out.

516
00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:13,800
Speaker 2: Now CEC's got the salt trucks getting loaded up. Here

517
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:16,880
Speaker 2: is getting pretty exciting, Genie. It's not just the mayor

518
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,560
Speaker 2: of New York. As I mentioned, this storm could have

519
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,000
Speaker 2: a very different impact for the governor of Texas. Remembering

520
00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:26,159
Speaker 2: what happened to the grid in Texas last time there

521
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:28,600
Speaker 2: was a major ice storm. They're not really built for this,

522
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:31,879
Speaker 2: of course in the lone Star state. Although big enhancements

523
00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,399
Speaker 2: have reportedly been made, well not reportedly, they have been

524
00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:36,520
Speaker 2: made and invested in the grid. The question is what

525
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:38,960
Speaker 2: will it be able to withstand. Texas is about to

526
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,040
Speaker 2: find out, Genie, how big of a deal is this?

527
00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:44,720
Speaker 7: For Greg Abbott, it's enormously important.

528
00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:47,399
Speaker 9: And of course to my vacation point, Joe, that was

529
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,200
Speaker 9: one of the times when Ted Kruz got hit for

530
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:55,520
Speaker 9: not being in Texas. So politicians storm coming, you're away,

531
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,960
Speaker 9: don't be Marryon Barry or Chris Christy, go home or

532
00:26:59,080 --> 00:26:59,640
Speaker 9: stay home.

533
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:00,440
Speaker 7: That's the rule.

534
00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:03,560
Speaker 9: And then of course the infrastructure. You got to keep

535
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,560
Speaker 9: that grid up and running. That's going to be a challenge.

536
00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:10,040
Speaker 9: They have made improvements in Texas, but it is enormously

537
00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:13,480
Speaker 9: important for Governor Abbitt, but also let's not forget for

538
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:18,679
Speaker 9: Donald Trump, for Christy Nome, whose department is now heading FEMA.

539
00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 9: And we understand that amongst the many people they fired

540
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,440
Speaker 9: this year, the notices that went out were halted in

541
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,440
Speaker 9: the last few days because they saw this storm coming

542
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,440
Speaker 9: and they realize, hey, we need these people on the ground.

543
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 9: You know, Rick is you know, sort of messing with

544
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,399
Speaker 9: our mayor here mom Donnie saying the kids aren't going

545
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:39,880
Speaker 9: to like a socialist. I'll tell you the parents will

546
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,760
Speaker 9: like it. The kids will be occupied. But you know

547
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,439
Speaker 9: what people really aren't going to like is if Donald

548
00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:49,080
Speaker 9: Trump and Christy Nome don't have people in FEMA on

549
00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:52,960
Speaker 9: the ground to address the situation. Government matters. You can't

550
00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:57,240
Speaker 9: just fire public workers. Willy nilly, Yeah, that's right.

551
00:27:57,960 --> 00:27:58,280
Speaker 5: I did.

552
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:00,240
Speaker 2: By the way, we were just looking at at the

553
00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:02,320
Speaker 2: plows and that footage there. We had this on the

554
00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:03,920
Speaker 2: late edition there because they're going to get hit in

555
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,640
Speaker 2: Tennessee as well. A lot of southern states are trying

556
00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:08,600
Speaker 2: to sort of figure out how to manage this. The

557
00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:12,479
Speaker 2: dolly ploutin plot. They all have cute names on them.

558
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:14,760
Speaker 2: Stuck out, stuck out there, it is if you're with

559
00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:19,280
Speaker 2: us on YouTube, Rick, Texas is one thing. Then there's

560
00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:22,760
Speaker 2: the White House. Of course, President Trump not in Palm

561
00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 2: Beach this weekend. Do you think it's because of the storm.

562
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,639
Speaker 2: Would he get some blowback for playing golf this weekend?

563
00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:30,479
Speaker 3: Well, just a note on Texas.

564
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:32,280
Speaker 8: I think I read this morning.

565
00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:34,480
Speaker 3: That Ted Cruz has taking a trip, so I mean,

566
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:39,920
Speaker 3: like some people just learn the Yeah, you know, like

567
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,600
Speaker 3: I said, there's got to be something keeping the president

568
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:43,320
Speaker 3: in the White House.

569
00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,080
Speaker 8: I mean, you know, he's normally down in the winter

570
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,280
Speaker 8: White House in mar Lago on the weekend. I can't

571
00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,880
Speaker 8: imagine that he can't monitor the storms in forty states

572
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,160
Speaker 8: from there. Maybe it's because Florida is going to be

573
00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:59,760
Speaker 8: cold too, and you know, nobody if the greens are frozen,

574
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:00,680
Speaker 8: you can't tee off.

575
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,280
Speaker 3: So why not stay at home? Or I mean maybe he's.

576
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:09,920
Speaker 8: Doing something related to the new ballroom. I mean, maybe

577
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,000
Speaker 8: he's got to get in there and make sure that

578
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:13,360
Speaker 8: the basement's doug right.

579
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,240
Speaker 3: I don't know. I mean he's a developer in his heart.

580
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:22,239
Speaker 2: But Gone and Beach, that's where Ted Cruise is going. Rick,

581
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:24,920
Speaker 2: you know it's southern California pretty well. Does that matter, Jeanie,

582
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:26,600
Speaker 2: we're just about out of time. If you stay in

583
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 2: the US, is it still a problem.

584
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:31,520
Speaker 9: It's a problem because he's out of his own state, Joe,

585
00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:33,920
Speaker 9: Ted message, get back to Texas.

586
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:34,560
Speaker 7: He's got to go.

587
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:39,600
Speaker 2: Okay, we'll meet you. We'll meet you at Laguna Beach

588
00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:41,200
Speaker 2: for the weeken it sounds pretty nice to me. As

589
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:43,360
Speaker 2: a matter of fact, I guess that's better than the

590
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 2: Dominican Republic. I'm Joe Matthew.

591
00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:48,160
Speaker 3: This is Bloomberg. Stay with us on Balance of Power.

592
00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:49,880
Speaker 3: We'll have much more coming up after this.

593
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,800
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch

594
00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:01,320
Speaker 1: us live weekdays at noon and fight etern on Apple

595
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,360
Speaker 1: Cocklay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. You

596
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:07,880
Speaker 1: can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship

597
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:08,680
Speaker 1: New York station.

598
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:11,880
Speaker 3: Just say Alexa Play Bloomberg eleven thirty.

599
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:16,720
Speaker 2: We're talking about an epic storm, winter Storm Fern that's

600
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,160
Speaker 2: bearing down on a good chunk of the country here,

601
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:21,560
Speaker 2: and we've been spending a lot of time talking about

602
00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:23,240
Speaker 2: the challenges facing Texas.

603
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,040
Speaker 3: New York is going to have its own never mind

604
00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:27,080
Speaker 3: DC for a moment.

605
00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,760
Speaker 2: The drominal's telling us we've got sixteen inches potentially coming

606
00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:35,360
Speaker 2: to Manhattan with a newly minted mayor and a big

607
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,680
Speaker 2: test when it comes to handling the storm in the

608
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,520
Speaker 2: biggest city in the world. Congresswoman Nicole Malia Takas knows

609
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:44,560
Speaker 2: all about it. The Republican from New York joins us

610
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:46,880
Speaker 2: right now to talk about this the future of her

611
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,440
Speaker 2: district and politics here in Washington.

612
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:51,720
Speaker 3: Congresswoman, it's great to have you back. Is New York

613
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:52,240
Speaker 3: ready for this?

614
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,120
Speaker 11: I hope so, and I believe we will be New

615
00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:58,560
Speaker 11: York's type of city that in many ways can run

616
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:03,440
Speaker 11: on autopilot. But I do believe that you have enough individuals,

617
00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:05,920
Speaker 11: particularly the rank and file men and women who go

618
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,800
Speaker 11: out there every day to keep our city safe and clean.

619
00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:12,000
Speaker 11: They're going to be the ones really running the show

620
00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,120
Speaker 11: on the ground, and I have full faith that they'll

621
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:15,520
Speaker 11: be able to do it.

622
00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,920
Speaker 2: I saw the briefing earlier from Mayor Mom Donnie who

623
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:25,240
Speaker 2: says school days are canceled. This could be fraught politically, Congresswoman,

624
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:28,160
Speaker 2: But I'm just wondering if you buy into this media

625
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,320
Speaker 2: narrative that this is the big test, that this is

626
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 2: do or die for New York's new mayor.

627
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:37,120
Speaker 11: Look, I think nothing upsets people more than if they

628
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:38,920
Speaker 11: come out of their house and their streets are not

629
00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:39,960
Speaker 11: plowed properly.

630
00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:43,400
Speaker 7: We saw this before with definitely Deblasio.

631
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:45,800
Speaker 11: A lot of people were very upset about the way

632
00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:47,560
Speaker 11: they mishandled snowstorms.

633
00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:50,120
Speaker 7: So I think, you know, there's no Republican or democratic

634
00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:50,480
Speaker 7: way to.

635
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:53,320
Speaker 11: Take out the garbage, they say, And I believe that

636
00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:56,360
Speaker 11: same thing when it comes to shovel in the snow

637
00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:59,720
Speaker 11: so and plowing the snow so, I think it is

638
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:00,080
Speaker 11: a toy.

639
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:00,480
Speaker 5: It is.

640
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,440
Speaker 11: He'll definitely get the heat if it's not cleaned properly,

641
00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:06,520
Speaker 11: and he certainly probably won't get the credit if it

642
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:07,240
Speaker 11: is done well.

643
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:08,880
Speaker 7: It'll go to the men and women on the ground.

644
00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:11,160
Speaker 7: So it's like a no in situation for politicians.

645
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:14,160
Speaker 3: Wow, well, that's even handed analysis.

646
00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:17,040
Speaker 2: I guess whether you're Zoron Mamdani or Greg Abbott, this

647
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,520
Speaker 2: is a very real test. As a lot of people

648
00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:22,120
Speaker 2: are hunkering down here, I've got to ask you, Congresswoman,

649
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,720
Speaker 2: what it's like to wake up in the morning and

650
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:28,880
Speaker 2: hear from a judge that your workplace should no longer exist.

651
00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:32,840
Speaker 2: I'm referring to the ruling that we discussed on Bloomberg

652
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,080
Speaker 2: and I know that you have some I'm sure pretty

653
00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,040
Speaker 2: strong thoughts about this. This is your first national interview

654
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:43,120
Speaker 2: since a judge rule that your district should be redrawn.

655
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:47,440
Speaker 2: You're no stranger to redistricting in New York, and I'm

656
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,080
Speaker 2: wondering what will be your recourse.

657
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:52,640
Speaker 11: Look, we fought this battle in twenty twenty two and

658
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:56,360
Speaker 11: twenty twenty four successfully. Here we are again, third time

659
00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:58,760
Speaker 11: running for reelection, and it's the third time we're having

660
00:32:58,800 --> 00:32:59,480
Speaker 11: a fight.

661
00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:00,920
Speaker 7: Over the district map.

662
00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:03,760
Speaker 11: And this is because the Democrats simply can't beat me

663
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:05,720
Speaker 11: on merit, on policy, on debate.

664
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:07,560
Speaker 7: In twenty twenty the seat was.

665
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:10,200
Speaker 11: Represented by a Democrat and the people of Staten Island

666
00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:12,560
Speaker 11: Southern Brooklyn fired that individual because he was doing a

667
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:15,000
Speaker 11: bad job. They hired me a Republican. I am the

668
00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,800
Speaker 11: only Republican who represents US City in Washington. But the

669
00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 11: bottom line here is that it was the people's choice.

670
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:23,440
Speaker 11: Now you have a Washington law firm who's basically saying,

671
00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:25,840
Speaker 11: we don't care what the people of Staten Island say

672
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:29,280
Speaker 11: how they vote. We want to be able to fix

673
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:33,440
Speaker 11: this map so they can never elect a Republican ever again.

674
00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:35,440
Speaker 11: They're going to get stuck with the Democrat that we

675
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:38,120
Speaker 11: say is going to be the one to run there,

676
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:41,040
Speaker 11: and that is very unfortunate. That is certainly not what

677
00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,240
Speaker 11: you expect from the people who call themselves the defenders

678
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:46,800
Speaker 11: of democracy. And we're going to fight it tooth and

679
00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:48,400
Speaker 11: nail and if we have to take it all away

680
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:51,040
Speaker 11: to the US Supreme Court, we will because we need

681
00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:54,200
Speaker 11: to fight to protect the voices of this group of

682
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,200
Speaker 11: constituents that I represent, who have spoken.

683
00:33:57,040 --> 00:33:59,680
Speaker 7: Very loud and clearly in the last few elections.

684
00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:04,360
Speaker 2: Well, this, if I understand the case, the court ruled

685
00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:07,880
Speaker 2: the boundaries of your district the eleventh year unfairly dilutes

686
00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:10,120
Speaker 2: black and Latino voters.

687
00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:11,960
Speaker 3: What would be your message to those voters.

688
00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:17,200
Speaker 11: Well, I'm the first Hispanic half Cuban to represent this district,

689
00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:20,319
Speaker 11: the first minority. So that's kind of interesting that they

690
00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:24,520
Speaker 11: would claim that. But what's even more ludicrous is their solution.

691
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:27,960
Speaker 11: The proposed solution of the plaintiffs is to put Staten

692
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:33,080
Speaker 11: Island with Lower Manhattan, which would add more white voters

693
00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:33,680
Speaker 11: to the district.

694
00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,800
Speaker 7: So it really absolutely makes no sense. Is it is

695
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:37,920
Speaker 7: completely meritless.

696
00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:40,640
Speaker 11: The only reason it got anywhere, quite frankly, is because

697
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:43,880
Speaker 11: the judge was the chief of staff and council to

698
00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:46,040
Speaker 11: Governor Kathy Hochel.

699
00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:47,960
Speaker 7: You know, you can't just go to your friends on

700
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:48,520
Speaker 7: the bench and.

701
00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:52,160
Speaker 11: Expect like whatever political outcome you want, because you can't

702
00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:55,760
Speaker 11: win at the ballot box. That's not the way democracy works,

703
00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:58,560
Speaker 11: and I think it's wrong when Republicans do it as well.

704
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:02,040
Speaker 11: I've been very critical, right, I have been very consistent

705
00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:06,000
Speaker 11: on this issue. Politically, political jerrymandering is wrong because it

706
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:09,080
Speaker 11: should be the people who elect their representatives, not the

707
00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:09,960
Speaker 11: other way around.

708
00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:14,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, your consistency is noted a congresswoman.

709
00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:17,359
Speaker 2: You were the first i think Republican on our air

710
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:21,920
Speaker 2: to oppose the Texas redistricting. That of course created a

711
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,880
Speaker 2: national movement on both sides of the isle. But this

712
00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:28,400
Speaker 2: idea of putting Lower Manhattan into your districts? Could a

713
00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:30,320
Speaker 2: Republican win in Manhattan?

714
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:33,640
Speaker 7: Look, I think the idea here.

715
00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 11: Their idea is to make it so difficult where a

716
00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:39,440
Speaker 11: Republican can never win, and it's not just a Republican

717
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:40,920
Speaker 11: winning you know my district.

718
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,360
Speaker 7: This would mean that New York City would no longer have.

719
00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:49,960
Speaker 11: Any competitive districts, right, not one competitive seat, and New

720
00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:53,000
Speaker 11: York City will never have another Republican representing our city.

721
00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:56,880
Speaker 11: In Washington, I believe bipartisan representation of our city is

722
00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:00,719
Speaker 11: incredibly important, particularly now where you have a Democrat mayor

723
00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:02,120
Speaker 11: you have a Republican president.

724
00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:06,440
Speaker 7: I think I've done a good job of protecting our city.

725
00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:09,400
Speaker 11: I went to President Trump when DHS was going to

726
00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:13,880
Speaker 11: cut Homeland security counter terrorism funding to our NYPD, we

727
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:15,239
Speaker 11: worked to get that money back.

728
00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:17,600
Speaker 7: When they were going to cut World Trade.

729
00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:21,680
Speaker 11: Center Healthcare Program employees that serve our first responders who

730
00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:24,840
Speaker 11: are still battling illnesses from nine to eleven, I fought

731
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:28,080
Speaker 11: DOGE and I got those employees hired back with my colleagues.

732
00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:30,239
Speaker 11: And so what I would say is it is incredibly

733
00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,759
Speaker 11: important that we have bipartisan representation in Washington, and what

734
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:36,400
Speaker 11: the Democrats are trying to do here is ensure that

735
00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,600
Speaker 11: they'll never be another Republican representing our city on the

736
00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:40,400
Speaker 11: federal level.

737
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:45,040
Speaker 2: I'm glad you mentioned DOJE the story today on the

738
00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:49,520
Speaker 2: Bloomberg Terminal that FEMA has halted planned terminations of some

739
00:36:49,719 --> 00:36:53,160
Speaker 2: temporary disaster relief workers in advance of the storm that

740
00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:56,480
Speaker 2: we've started our conversation on here knowing that over the

741
00:36:56,600 --> 00:37:01,960
Speaker 2: last year, some three thousand and seven hundred FEMA employees

742
00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:06,120
Speaker 2: have been cut, which is fourteen percent of the agency.

743
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:10,359
Speaker 2: Do you worry about the impact on the federal level

744
00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:12,560
Speaker 2: here that worker cuts.

745
00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:14,080
Speaker 3: Have had when it comes to storm preparedness.

746
00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:18,080
Speaker 11: Well, look, I think that a lot of these agencies

747
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:22,440
Speaker 11: do have bloat, there is bureaucracy, there is some savings

748
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:24,160
Speaker 11: to be had. I also think that we need to

749
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,640
Speaker 11: be targeted and use precision when doing this, Like you know,

750
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:31,600
Speaker 11: we can't just fire employees that are needed. So I

751
00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:34,040
Speaker 11: haven't been able to look at exactly what FEMA has

752
00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:37,040
Speaker 11: announced here, but certainly I will be very vocal if

753
00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:39,840
Speaker 11: it's going to be something that would impact my district,

754
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:42,200
Speaker 11: as I have when it came to the World Trade

755
00:37:42,239 --> 00:37:46,600
Speaker 11: Center employees or other areas of our federal government. But

756
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:50,040
Speaker 11: certainly everybody knows there's a lot of bloat bureaucracy in Washington.

757
00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:54,000
Speaker 11: When we can find efficiencies to not only bring our

758
00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:58,040
Speaker 11: debt down but to also protect the taxpayers, which we

759
00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:02,040
Speaker 11: have our fiscal reiduc are your responsibility to do, then

760
00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:03,359
Speaker 11: we need to take that action.

761
00:38:04,719 --> 00:38:07,840
Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate your joining us today, Congresswoman. We'd like

762
00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:10,360
Speaker 2: to stay in touch as you bring your case to

763
00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:12,239
Speaker 2: the courts, and we wish you luck with the big

764
00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:13,080
Speaker 2: storm this weekend.

765
00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:14,200
Speaker 3: We'll see you on the other side.

766
00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:18,399
Speaker 2: Nicole Monyatakas Republican absolutely from New York with us live

767
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:19,239
Speaker 2: on Bloomberg.

768
00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:20,560
Speaker 3: So let's get down to business.

769
00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:20,759
Speaker 5: Here.

770
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,200
Speaker 2: We've been looking forward to talking to Julie Fine because

771
00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:27,200
Speaker 2: I've been mentioning Texas just about every time we have

772
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:30,480
Speaker 2: a conversation about the storm. And you know that there's

773
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:34,400
Speaker 2: a disaster declaration in Julie Fine's state. Of course, our

774
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:38,200
Speaker 2: Texas Bureau Chief, we heard from Governor Greg Abbott about.

775
00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:38,879
Speaker 3: This a short time ago.

776
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:43,880
Speaker 12: Listen, because of the severity of this storm right now,

777
00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:48,920
Speaker 12: I am making a disaster declaration covering one hundred and

778
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:51,719
Speaker 12: thirty four counties across the state of Texas to make

779
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:55,719
Speaker 12: sure that every possible resource can be made available to

780
00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:58,960
Speaker 12: them so they can respond quicker, faster and better. Don't

781
00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:01,960
Speaker 12: begin getting prepared late tomorrow or I think you can

782
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:03,520
Speaker 12: get around and doing it on Saturday.

783
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:04,960
Speaker 3: It's going to be too late.

784
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:08,840
Speaker 2: It's going to be too late, he says. Taking a

785
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:12,280
Speaker 2: look at the weather right now in Dallas forty seven degrees.

786
00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:14,359
Speaker 2: Looks like it started raining, and that rain is going

787
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:17,000
Speaker 2: to turn to ice soon. Julie finds right in the

788
00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:19,319
Speaker 2: middle of it. Our Texas Bureau Chief is with us

789
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:22,680
Speaker 2: live on Bloomberg. Julie, we can let everybody know we

790
00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,280
Speaker 2: were actually planning to do some shows together in Dallas

791
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:27,759
Speaker 2: next week. We've had talked about that right here on

792
00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:29,480
Speaker 2: the air last time you were with us on balance

793
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:32,719
Speaker 2: of power. That's clearly not going to happen. How ready, though,

794
00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:34,799
Speaker 2: is Texas for winter storm firm?

795
00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:38,920
Speaker 13: I think Texas has learned some lessons. As you heard

796
00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:42,600
Speaker 13: the governor say, they're already disaster declarations, so that will

797
00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:45,880
Speaker 13: mean that resources are available if people need them as

798
00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:48,680
Speaker 13: soon as possible. The governor has said that the grid

799
00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:51,520
Speaker 13: is ready and the grid can handle this. I mean

800
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:54,080
Speaker 13: that is a big statement. You have to feel pretty

801
00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:57,440
Speaker 13: comfortable saying that after what happened here in twenty twenty one.

802
00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:00,320
Speaker 13: I lived here in twenty twenty one. Anyone that was

803
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:04,960
Speaker 13: here remembers what that was like. So right now, like

804
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:06,759
Speaker 13: you said, it's forty seven degrees, I mean, you're just

805
00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:09,839
Speaker 13: getting the rain. It's when it starts to be freezing rain.

806
00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:12,200
Speaker 13: You know what we count on here to clean things

807
00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:14,840
Speaker 13: up is the sun, and it's not going to be

808
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:18,920
Speaker 13: over freezing probably until Monday. So you know, we obviously

809
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:21,440
Speaker 13: they can retreat the streets, but we don't have plows

810
00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:23,759
Speaker 13: like you do. You know, we're not nearly We don't

811
00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:26,160
Speaker 13: have the equipment that you do, so, really you have

812
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:26,600
Speaker 13: to wait.

813
00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:27,799
Speaker 5: But when you talk about the.

814
00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:31,520
Speaker 13: Power grid, Joe, there's also power lines. The grid can

815
00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:33,879
Speaker 13: be prepared to handle everything. But if you've got ice

816
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:35,640
Speaker 13: on the lines, I mean, that's a whole different that's

817
00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:38,880
Speaker 13: a whole different animal, and those could be local outages.

818
00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:41,000
Speaker 13: So the bottom line here is you definitely have to

819
00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:41,560
Speaker 13: be prepared.

820
00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:45,439
Speaker 2: Well, there's a lot that you just said there, of course,

821
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,160
Speaker 2: and you're right when it comes to making a statement

822
00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:50,359
Speaker 2: like that, you will be judged if things don't work

823
00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:55,720
Speaker 2: out so well. But are other states surging equipment into Texas?

824
00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:57,440
Speaker 2: To your point, I know you don't have a fleet

825
00:40:57,960 --> 00:40:59,320
Speaker 2: of plow trucks waiting.

826
00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:01,719
Speaker 3: Around all year. So when something like this happens, are

827
00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:03,160
Speaker 3: neighboring states able to help?

828
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:06,840
Speaker 13: I think that our state has requested the resources that

829
00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:10,000
Speaker 13: it believes that it needs. Neighboring states, I mean, we're

830
00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:13,280
Speaker 13: right by Oklahoma, but Oklahoma could be in worse trouble

831
00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:15,800
Speaker 13: than we are. Neighboring states have all their own problems

832
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:18,360
Speaker 13: to deal with. Sure, I would imagine what they have

833
00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:20,960
Speaker 13: been doing. And the governor talked about this yesterday, is

834
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:24,160
Speaker 13: reading absolutely everything that we have to go.

835
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:25,160
Speaker 7: And then I think.

836
00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:28,960
Speaker 13: I think they will try to pull from neighboring states

837
00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:31,480
Speaker 13: if need be, if neighboring states have anything.

838
00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:31,799
Speaker 7: To offer us.

839
00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:36,560
Speaker 2: Where's the governor going to be for the storm? How

840
00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:39,600
Speaker 2: does he normally operate through times like these? I know

841
00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:40,680
Speaker 2: it doesn't happen too often.

842
00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:44,320
Speaker 13: It doesn't happen often. Generally he's right by the emergency

843
00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:47,399
Speaker 13: Operations Center and he is in Austin, so generally that's

844
00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:49,799
Speaker 13: where you will see him. And I guess it will

845
00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:52,439
Speaker 13: depend on where the major problems are where he will

846
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:55,960
Speaker 13: go eventually. As you know, with these storms, things can

847
00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:58,879
Speaker 13: change ever so slightly, and that can change the area

848
00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:02,040
Speaker 13: where there are the most problems. I mean, Dallas is

849
00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:05,280
Speaker 13: really supposed to get it bad, so if people are smart,

850
00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:07,759
Speaker 13: you can't be on the roads. It's just because you

851
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:10,120
Speaker 13: have a big car does not mean it will do

852
00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:12,960
Speaker 13: well on the ice. It's not like snow, so you

853
00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:15,920
Speaker 13: know people have to also, you know, heed the warnings

854
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:18,279
Speaker 13: and get ready as well. But the governor will be

855
00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:20,680
Speaker 13: in Austin, I would imagine, as he generally is in

856
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:22,200
Speaker 13: the emergency operations Center.

857
00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:26,440
Speaker 2: Interesting, I'm sure you've been outside and it probably doesn't

858
00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:27,319
Speaker 2: feel great right now.

859
00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:29,640
Speaker 3: By the way, it's eighty degrees in Miami. You still

860
00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:30,399
Speaker 3: have time to get.

861
00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:33,520
Speaker 2: There, Julie, I guess, and Florida is going to start

862
00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:36,600
Speaker 2: getting pretty cold as well. Is the biggest concern power

863
00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:37,839
Speaker 2: outages at this point?

864
00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:39,040
Speaker 7: Yeah.

865
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:41,799
Speaker 13: I think the biggest concern is power outages because if

866
00:42:41,840 --> 00:42:43,960
Speaker 13: you have been there and you remember what it was

867
00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:47,120
Speaker 13: like years ago when people didn't have as many generators

868
00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:50,040
Speaker 13: as they have now, hotels were booked, and even if

869
00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:52,120
Speaker 13: you were in a hotel. I was in a hotel

870
00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:54,000
Speaker 13: because I was working at local news at the time

871
00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:57,800
Speaker 13: and they had us strategically placed around the city. My

872
00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:00,680
Speaker 13: hotel lost power, so that doesn't even have either. So

873
00:43:01,360 --> 00:43:03,600
Speaker 13: that is the major Yeah, I said, I'm going home.

874
00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:05,359
Speaker 13: If I'm going to have to be cold, it's going

875
00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:07,839
Speaker 13: to be in my own bed. But that's a good

876
00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:12,080
Speaker 13: ice you really, yeah, you really, you really. That is

877
00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:15,960
Speaker 13: the biggest concern here is if people lose power and

878
00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:19,160
Speaker 13: again the grid. Even if the grid holds, the real

879
00:43:19,239 --> 00:43:22,279
Speaker 13: concern is the localized power outages with ice.

880
00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:26,960
Speaker 3: Never snows on landman, Julie, maybe they'll.

881
00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:27,200
Speaker 7: Have to worry.

882
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:28,759
Speaker 13: Never snows on landman.

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00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:29,239
Speaker 9: I know.

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00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:33,319
Speaker 2: Join us on the late edition so we can keep

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00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:35,919
Speaker 2: tabs on what's happening Julie find Our, Texas Bureau chief

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00:43:36,239 --> 00:43:37,520
Speaker 2: hunkering down for Fern.

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00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:42,600
Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to the Balance of Power podcast.

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00:43:43,239 --> 00:43:46,360
Speaker 2: Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, at Apple, Spotify,

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00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:49,040
Speaker 2: or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find

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00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:51,919
Speaker 2: us live every weekday from Washington, DC at new Time

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00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:53,839
Speaker 2: Eastern at Bloomberg dot com.