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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.

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Speaker 2: Catch us live weekdays at noon Eastern on apocarplay and

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Speaker 2: enroun Oo with the Bloomberg Business App. Listen on demand

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Speaker 2: wherever you get your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube.

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Speaker 3: We have a lot to catch up on, unpacking four

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Speaker 3: days of news here and what was in fact a

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Speaker 3: very busy Thanksgiving weekend in the world of politics, culminating

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Speaker 3: with the announcement last evening by Joe Biden offering a

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Speaker 3: full and unconditional pardon to his son Hunter. This is

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Speaker 3: something that of course came late yesterday and has been

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Speaker 3: driving the news ever since, following word earlier in the

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Speaker 3: weekend that Donald Trump was tapping Cash Patel to be

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Speaker 3: the next director of the FBI, even though we already

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Speaker 3: have a director of the FBI, and potentially connecting some

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Speaker 3: of the here might be part of our job today.

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Speaker 3: Knowing that retribution and the dismantling of the agency that

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Speaker 3: he has been tapped to run is part of the charge.

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Speaker 3: If Cash Betel is in fact confirmed, want to start

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Speaker 3: though our conversation on this pardon from Joe Biden, who

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Speaker 3: has just touched down in Africa, as a matter of fact,

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Speaker 3: on a three day trip. He left the country shortly

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Speaker 3: after issuing this unconditional pardon. Wendy Benjamins in Bloomberg's Washington

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Speaker 3: senior editor is with us helping to drive our political

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Speaker 3: coverage from Washington. Wendy, it's great to have you. The

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Speaker 3: scope and breadth of this pardon is what is making news,

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Speaker 3: almost as much as the fact that Joe Biden essentially

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Speaker 3: changed his mind on this, turned on his pledge to

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Speaker 3: never issue a pardon to Hunter Biden, what changed.

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Speaker 4: You know, We've seen some It's hard to tell, Joe,

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Speaker 4: but we've seen some reporting that suggests that the family

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Speaker 4: got together over Thanksgiving and talked it out, and the

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Speaker 4: President just decided to throw everything he has said, his

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Speaker 4: tradition of upholding institutions, his tradition since he was a

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Speaker 4: twenty nine year old senator, of coloring within the lines,

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Speaker 4: and pardoning his son for a number of felonies related

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Speaker 4: to gun and tax charges. It was really a stunning

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Speaker 4: reversal of everything we've known Joe Biden to stand for.

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Speaker 4: And then literally moments later, an hour later, maybe he

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Speaker 4: leaves for Africa. You can really tell this guy has

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Speaker 4: done with his job.

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Speaker 3: I guess things are winding down, Wendy, and knowing that

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Speaker 3: there will likely be more pardons to follow, we keep

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Speaker 3: our focus on this one.

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Speaker 1: Hunter.

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Speaker 3: Biden was facing two separate sentencings this month on the

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Speaker 3: convictions that we've already discussed, some gun charges here, three

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Speaker 3: felony gun charges, as well as the federal tax crimes

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Speaker 3: that he pleaded guilty to. There was a thought, Wendy,

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Speaker 3: that there might be more where these came from, because

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Speaker 3: the pardon covers more than just these.

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Speaker 4: Well, that is the indication that there might have been

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Speaker 4: more coming. This pardon covers everything he might have done

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Speaker 4: in the decade between twenty fourteen and twenty twenty four

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Speaker 4: and so it's who knows what those you know, other

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Speaker 4: charges might have been or might not have been. There

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Speaker 4: might have been nothing, and he just wanted to keep

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Speaker 4: it very tightly wrapped. But it was an unusual pardon

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Speaker 4: for even for presidents who pardon a lot of people,

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Speaker 4: including Donald Trump, who has pardoned a number of friends

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Speaker 4: and relatives in his first term.

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Speaker 5: That's true.

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Speaker 3: The Kushners and Steve Bannons of the world however, don't

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Speaker 3: seem to match up to this because of the full

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Speaker 3: throated nature of the pardon and the fact that Joe

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Speaker 3: Biden said he would never do it. Some Democrats aren't happy.

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Speaker 3: It's not just Republicans raising eyebrows here. Wendy the governor

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Speaker 3: of Colorado. Jared Poulus, who by the way, was a

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Speaker 3: surrogate for the Harris campaign, called it quote a bad precedent,

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Speaker 3: could be abused by later president cidence and will sadly

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Speaker 3: tarnish his reputation unquote pretty tough stuff. Greg Stanton, the

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Speaker 3: first Democratic lawmaker from the House of Representatives to speak up,

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Speaker 3: said Hunter committed felonies is when and was convicted by

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Speaker 3: a jury of his peers. Remembering that Joe Biden ran

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Speaker 3: on the fact that no one was above the law.

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Speaker 3: It was what was supposed to make him different than

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Speaker 3: Donald Trump. What does this tell us now about the

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Speaker 3: way he'll be remembered.

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Speaker 4: Well, it couldn't have been a bigger gift for Donald

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Speaker 4: Trump if he had wrapped it up and put it

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Speaker 4: under the tree.

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Speaker 6: And it's it.

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Speaker 4: Gives Donald Trump every political avenue to say. See, even

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Speaker 4: Joe Biden says.

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Speaker 6: His doj is weaponized.

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Speaker 4: You know, and look he's favoring his son. It was

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Speaker 4: a really, you know, a really strong political decision to

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Speaker 4: just sort of drop this grenade and walk out of

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Speaker 4: the presidency because it's a message to people who have

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Speaker 4: drug addictions and have gone to prison who do not

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Speaker 4: get pardoned by the president. It is a message to

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Speaker 4: tax evaders that they can get away, that they can't

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Speaker 4: get away with it, but the president's son can. And again,

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Speaker 4: just a real gift to Donald Trump and his team.

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Speaker 4: Didn't waste a moment last night coming out and saying

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Speaker 4: exactly that.

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Speaker 3: To take from Wendy Benjamins in Bloomberg's Washington Senior editor, Wendy,

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Speaker 3: it's great to see you and appreciate the insights as

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Speaker 3: we add a voice of experience. Have been looking forward

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Speaker 3: to the conversation with Nick Ackerman, the former federal prosecutor,

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Speaker 3: former assistant special Watergate prosecutor, former assistant US attorney is

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Speaker 3: with us. Nick Ackerman, great to see you and welcome back.

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Speaker 3: Wendy just described this pardon as a grenade, How would you.

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Speaker 7: Well, I think you have to really look at what's

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Speaker 7: going on here. To me, it's not so much a

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Speaker 7: grenade I think what President Biden realized was that Hunter

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Speaker 7: Biden was going to be in the target of Donald

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Speaker 7: Trump's wretch and if he went through the criminal justice

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Speaker 7: system and continued was sentenced to prison, which he very

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Speaker 7: well could have been sentenced on the tax case for

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Speaker 7: a period of time, he then would be at the

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Speaker 7: mercy of Donald Trump's Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons,

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Speaker 7: and this would have given Donald Trump the opportunity to

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Speaker 7: do what they did to his former attorney Michael Cohen,

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Speaker 7: where they put him in solitary confinement, where when he

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Speaker 7: was released to go home because of the COVID epidemic,

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Speaker 7: he was put back into prison again despite to keep

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Speaker 7: him from publishing a book. So I think what's really

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Speaker 7: going on here is if Joe Biden had actually won

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Speaker 7: the not Joe Biden, but Harris had won the election,

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Speaker 7: I don't think there would be a pardon. But I

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Speaker 7: don't think he really trusts a justice department that's headed

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Speaker 7: by Pam Bundy, donald Trump's two defense lawyers from New York,

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Speaker 7: and Cash Patel, who is going to be the FBI director,

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Speaker 7: to give anybody a fair shake in the system. And

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Speaker 7: for that reason, I think that is why he ultimately

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Speaker 7: decided to pardon his son.

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Speaker 3: Well, okay, so you're answering one of the questions that

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Speaker 3: I have been asking Nick Ackerman. It's these appointments that

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Speaker 3: made the difference. When the Biden family sat down for

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Speaker 3: Thanksgiving on Nantucket, they had the big family conversation, That's

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Speaker 3: what was different. And then you add Cash Patel over

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Speaker 3: the weekend and Joe Biden started writing this pardon. Is

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Speaker 3: that how it went in your mind?

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Speaker 7: Yeah? I think so. I mean, look, what would you

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Speaker 7: do if it was your son and you knew that

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Speaker 7: the guy who was going to be president next had

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Speaker 7: already threatened di rectribution against you and your son? The

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Speaker 7: very son that Donald Trump sent Rudy Giuliani across halfway

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Speaker 7: across the world to Ukraine to try and dig up

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Speaker 7: dirt on him and absolutely got nothing, but went to

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Speaker 7: those lengths and has already threatened retribution against the Bidens.

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Speaker 7: You know, what would you do under these circumstances, knowing

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Speaker 7: that the Justice Department was going to be totally manned

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Speaker 7: by political hacks who are answerable to Donald Trump.

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Speaker 3: I'm going to ask you about some of these appointments

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Speaker 3: because I'm really curious to get your take, Joe Biden wrote, though,

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Speaker 3: and I just want to get your take as a

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Speaker 3: former prosecutor. He wrote in his statement, no reasonable person

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Speaker 3: who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach

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Speaker 3: any other conclusion that Hunter was singled out only because

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Speaker 3: he is my son, and that is wrong, he said,

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Speaker 3: And trying to break Hunter. They've tried to break me. Now,

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Speaker 3: clearly this is personal for Joe Biden. But what is

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Speaker 3: the prosecutor in you say when you read that.

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Speaker 7: Well, there's a little bit of truth here. First of all,

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Speaker 7: as to the arm the gun violation, no one is

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Speaker 7: ever prosecuted for that by itself. It's always in connection

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Speaker 7: with something with drugs or some other act. When you

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Speaker 7: have something here where Hunter Biden had the gun for

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Speaker 7: only ten days, never did anything with it. It really

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Speaker 7: does raise a question as to whether or not he

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Speaker 7: would have ever been prosecuted but for the fact he

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Speaker 7: was the son of the president. As to the tax violations,

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Speaker 7: even that raises some issues. Don't forget during that period

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Speaker 7: of time where he didn't report income he was a

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Speaker 7: drug addict. He later paid back all of the tax.

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Speaker 7: It was doe and owing pretty unusual for the Department

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Speaker 7: of Justice to prosecute somebody under those circumstances, not totally

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Speaker 7: though out of the ordinary. But again it does raise

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Speaker 7: a question as to whether or not if he were

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Speaker 7: not the son of the President, that he would not

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Speaker 7: have been prosecuted for these tax violations. So there is

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Speaker 7: some truth to that. We don't really know the answer

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Speaker 7: to it, but it's not off the wall. Put it

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Speaker 7: that way.

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Speaker 3: I want to ask thank you about the aforementioned Cash

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Speaker 3: Pattel on some of the other appointments that we have

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Speaker 3: learned about the past few days. In the wake of

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Speaker 3: Matt Gates withdrawing his name for consideration as the next

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Speaker 3: Attorney General, Patel is the most recent to be the

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Speaker 3: next FBI director, and the reaction that we've heard from

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Speaker 3: even just the Republican side of the aisle has been remarkable,

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Speaker 3: not so much about patel Nick, but about the man

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Speaker 3: who has the job now, the FBI Director, Chris Ray.

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Speaker 3: Chuck Rassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee in Coming,

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Speaker 3: said on x Chris Ray has failed at fundamental duties

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Speaker 3: of FBI director. He's shown disdain for Congressional oversight and

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Speaker 3: has not lived up to his promises fast forward to

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Speaker 3: Sunday Morning television. Mike Browns, Republican Senator, said this about

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Speaker 3: mister Ray.

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Speaker 8: Chris Ray, who the President nominated the first time around.

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Speaker 8: And I think the President picked a very good man

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Speaker 8: to be the a director of the FBI when he

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Speaker 8: did that in his first term. When we meet with

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Speaker 8: him behind closed doors, I've had no objections to the

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Speaker 8: way that he's handled himself, and so I don't have

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Speaker 8: any complaints about the way that he's done his job.

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Speaker 3: Right now, Nick Ackerman, what do you make of this?

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Speaker 3: And is Chris Ray suddenly going to resign? Can Donald

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Speaker 3: Trump fire him? I ask you this because you have

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Speaker 3: real memories of the Saturday night massacre.

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Speaker 7: Oh, of course no, he could resign, but I don't

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Speaker 7: think he would, and he shouldn't. I think he should

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Speaker 7: hang in there. The whole point behind Chris Ray being

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Speaker 7: appointed to a ten year term. Congress changed that a

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Speaker 7: few years back in order that the FBI director would

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Speaker 7: be out of the politics of the situation. The idea

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Speaker 7: was that he'd be appointed by a president could be

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Speaker 7: removed only for misconduct. Certainly, there's been no misconduct on

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Speaker 7: his part. Everybody says, except for a few partisans that

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Speaker 7: he has done a good job and there's no reason

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Speaker 7: to fire him. The whole idea is you want somebody

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Speaker 7: as director of the FBI who is independent, is not

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Speaker 7: beholden to the president, and handles his job in a

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Speaker 7: way that makes the public feel that he's doing the

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Speaker 7: right thing and he's not doing it for politics. Certainly,

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Speaker 7: Chris Hay Christopher Ray cannot be criticized for doing anything

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Speaker 7: that was political. He's done it by the book. He's

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Speaker 7: been a good director, and I think putting somebody in

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Speaker 7: who again is a total political hack, has no experience

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Speaker 7: in this area whatsoever, other than to carry out Donald

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Speaker 7: Trump's retribution is really reprehensible.

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Speaker 5: Well, this is a ten year term, right.

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Speaker 3: That was the whole point is that they would outlast

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Speaker 3: any particular president. I believe that comes from Watergate, which

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Speaker 3: you are intimately familiar with.

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Speaker 5: Here, does Chris.

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Speaker 3: Rages hold the line?

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Speaker 5: What if he doesn't leave?

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Speaker 7: Well, I think he should hold the line and he

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Speaker 7: forced Donald Trump to fire him. If that's what Donald

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Speaker 7: Trump is going to do. I mean, the president does

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Speaker 7: have the right under the statute to fire the FBI director,

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Speaker 7: but the reason that he's doing it is really reprehensible.

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Speaker 7: The idea that he wants somebody in office that's going

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Speaker 7: to act to carry out his retribution against his political

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Speaker 7: enemies is not the kind of person that you want

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Speaker 7: as director of the FBI.

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Speaker 3: Well I mentioned Chuck Grassley. He may not be a

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Speaker 3: Chris Ray fan, but he's a big Pam Bondi fan,

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Speaker 3: and he is walking her through the halls of the

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Speaker 3: Senate today and this week ahead of her confirmation hearings.

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Speaker 3: What is your thought on an Attorney General Bondy and

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Speaker 3: the change that she would bring to the Justice Department.

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Speaker 7: Well, again, she is somebody that is not going to

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Speaker 7: have any independence whatsoever. She's going to do whatever Donald

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Speaker 7: Trump asked her to do. She was involved in his

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Speaker 7: past two political campaigns and runs for president. Before he

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Speaker 7: ran for president, Pam Bondi was investigating Trump University, but

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Speaker 7: after she got a twenty five thousand dollars contribution from

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Speaker 7: Donald Trump for her campaign, she suddenly dropped that investigation.

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Speaker 7: So again, we're looking at somebody who is not an

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Speaker 7: independent actor, who is really going to be just an

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Speaker 7: arm of Donald Trump's retribution campaign and is not going

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Speaker 7: to instill a lot of confidence in our justice system.

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Speaker 7: Being meeted out equally and fairly to everybody.

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Speaker 3: But after Matt Gates, now Cash Bettel, some of the

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Speaker 3: others that I could mention, she suddenly looks like captain

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Speaker 3: of Team Normal right next she gets confirmed.

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Speaker 7: Well she may, but I think if the Senate does

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Speaker 7: their job, they ought to be looking at this issue

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Speaker 7: of independence. Are the people in the Department of Justice

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Speaker 7: acting independently from the president as all of these attorney

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Speaker 7: generals have done since time of Watergate, that has been

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Speaker 7: the standard, that has been the norm. Instead, what Donald

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Speaker 7: Trump has done is he's installed in the attorney general,

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Speaker 7: He's installed a deputy Attorney General that was his criminal

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Speaker 7: defense lawyer, his aid, it was the other criminal defense lawyer.

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Speaker 7: And now you've got Cash Patel. What you have are

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Speaker 7: all political appointments that are beholden to Donald Trump that

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Speaker 7: will essentially do whatever Donald Trump asked them to do.

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Speaker 7: And why that is so dangerous is because Donald Trump

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Speaker 7: has promised to perpetrate retribution on his political enemies and

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Speaker 7: the place that he can do it from and do

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Speaker 7: it most easily is the Department of Justice.

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Speaker 3: Nick, we've only got a minute left. We started with

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Speaker 3: the pardon of Hunter Biden. How many more will we

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Speaker 3: hear from Joe Biden.

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Speaker 7: Oh, I don't think you're going to get much more.

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Speaker 7: That was it. I mean, I think he came to

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Speaker 7: the realization that he was putting his son in real

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Speaker 7: jeopardy to leave him in the confines of the Justice

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Speaker 7: Department that is going to be run by Donald Trump

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Speaker 7: with those four or five appointments. I wouldn't trust anybody

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Speaker 7: to get a fair shape from that department.

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Speaker 3: Nick Ackerman, founder of the Law Office of Nick Ackerman,

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Speaker 3: former Watergate prosecutor. It's great to see you, and welcome

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Speaker 3: back Nick to the conversation. I'm Joe Matthew in Washington

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Speaker 3: on the Fastest Show in Politics with much more on

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Speaker 3: the pardon and the transition. We'll get into these names

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Speaker 3: that we heard over the weekend, including Cash Bettel, with

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Speaker 3: our signature panel coming up. Rick Davis and Jeanie Shanzano

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Speaker 3: are with us right here on the Fastest Show in Politics.

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Speaker 3: I'm Joe Matthew and Washington. Thanks for being with us

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Speaker 3: on Bloomberg TV.

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Speaker 9: At radio, you're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power

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Speaker 9: podcast kens Just Live weekdays at noon Eastern on Applecarplay

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Speaker 9: and enroyd Oro with the Bloomberg Business App.

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Speaker 2: You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our

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Speaker 2: flagship New York station. Just say Alexa, he Bloomberg eleven.

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Speaker 3: Thanks for being with us on Balance of Power here

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Speaker 3: on Bloomberg TV and Radio. It's the Monday edition and

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Speaker 3: we're glad to have you with us here as we

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Speaker 3: unpack four days worth of news, not only the Hunter

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Speaker 3: Biden pardon, but much more news when it comes to

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Speaker 3: the transition of the incoming Trump administration, much of which

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Speaker 3: we were just talking about with Nick Ackerman. This White

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Speaker 3: House has made pretty clear and in the statement written

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Speaker 3: by Joe Biden reinforced today by Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre,

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Speaker 3: that this pardon may not have happened if Donald Trump

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Speaker 3: had not been elected. Nick Ackerman said that flat out

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Speaker 3: just now here on Bloomberg, the former Watergate prosecutor making

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Speaker 3: it clear that if Kamala Harris had won, we wouldn't

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Speaker 3: be having this conversation today. And it has everything to

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Speaker 3: do with Donald Trump's approach to the Department of Justice,

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Speaker 3: says Nick Ackerman, and the people he's choosing to run it,

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Speaker 3: and agencies like the FBI that was a big moment

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Speaker 3: over the weekend when Donald Trump tapped Cash Patel be

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Speaker 3: the next FBI director, a critic of the deep state,

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Speaker 3: a loyalist at mar A Lago, and one who could

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Speaker 3: bring real change here to the nation's pre eminent law

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Speaker 3: enforcement agency.

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Speaker 5: Of course, depending on who you.

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Speaker 3: Ask, not everybody loves this idea. Some Republicans are concerned

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Speaker 3: about Patel his potential to run the agency. They're also

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Speaker 3: concerned about the fact that we already have an FBI

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Speaker 3: director and Christopher Wray, who would either have to resign

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Speaker 3: or be fired by Donald Trump. Questions to Republican senators

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Speaker 3: who will have to confirm so many of these names,

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Speaker 3: including Bill Haggerty, the Republican Tennessee was asked about Patel

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Speaker 3: on Meet the Press yesterday.

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Speaker 10: Listen, President Trump is entitled to name his appointees. That

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Speaker 10: is exactly what he's doing, and I'm going to support

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Speaker 10: this appointment. Cash has worked in national security, he's worked

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Speaker 10: at the Department of Justice, and he's somebody that has

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Speaker 10: been willing to uncover the wrongs at the FBI. He's

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Speaker 10: the one that uncovered for the American public what happened

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Speaker 10: with Russia Gate. He's the one that can see through

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Speaker 10: the fix.

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Speaker 5: Here this is where.

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Speaker 3: We begin our conversation with our signature political panel, Rick

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Speaker 3: Davis and Genie Shanzano, or with us Bloomberg Politics contributors. He,

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Speaker 3: of course partner at Stone Court Capital. She is political

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Speaker 3: science professor at Iona University, and great to have both

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Speaker 3: of you with us year following what I hope was

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Speaker 3: a great and long weekend for both of you. Rick Davis,

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Speaker 3: your take on this latest naming of names by Donald Trump.

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Speaker 3: Washington has moved on from Matt Gates. We're talking about

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Speaker 3: Pam Bondi now running the Department of Justice, but at

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Speaker 3: Cash Bettel, who has vowed to dismantle the FBI, would

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Speaker 3: mean what for the agency?

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Speaker 11: Yeah, look, I think this is Donald Trump making good

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Speaker 11: on his campaign promises. He said he was going to

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Speaker 11: disrupt the FBI. He felt like the FBI has waged

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Speaker 11: a eight year war against him, starting with the Russia hoax,

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Speaker 11: as he puts it, and going all the way through

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Speaker 11: the Biden administration. You can call it wanting to disrupt

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Speaker 11: the government, bureaucracy, or retribution, whatever your whatever makes you tick,

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Speaker 11: but I think it is important. The clip you played

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Speaker 11: of Senator Haggerty, because Haggerty is a loyalist with Donald

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Speaker 11: Trump in the United States Senate. But he's a reasonable,

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Speaker 11: thoughtful guy, and the fact that he's willing to stick

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Speaker 11: his neck out to blaze a trail for Cash battel

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Speaker 11: in the Senate means more likely that he is going

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Speaker 11: to get through a confirmation hearing, assuming, as you point out,

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Speaker 11: that there's a vacancy because Donald Trump appointed the current

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Speaker 11: FBI director and he'll have to probably fire him in

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Speaker 11: order to get a vacancy for Cash Patel. All of

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Speaker 11: that is yet to be done and obviously can't happen

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Speaker 11: until he takes the oath of office.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and the dismantling of Christopher Ray is apparently going

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Speaker 3: to precede the dismantling of the agency. Look no further

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Speaker 3: than Chuck Grassley Genie Shansey, No, the incoming head of

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Speaker 3: the same Judiciary Committee who's walking pan Bondi through the

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Speaker 3: halls of the Senate here on X quote, Chris Ray

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Speaker 3: has failed at fundamental duty as of FBI director. He's

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Speaker 3: shown disdain for Congressional oversight and has not lived up

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Speaker 3: to his promises. It's time to chart a new course

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Speaker 3: for transparency accountability at FBI. That's a pretty stark reaction

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Speaker 3: when we hear the likes of Mike Rounds, for instance,

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Speaker 3: saying that Christopher Ray, I believe he said a very

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Speaker 3: good man. He said, picked a very good man to

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Speaker 3: be director when he did it in the first term.

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Speaker 3: This was a Trump appointee. What did Christopher Ray do

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Speaker 3: to deserve being fired?

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Speaker 12: Yeah, it's very unclear. And you hear that statement by

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Speaker 12: Chuck Grassley, you'd like to know exactly what he's speaking

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Speaker 12: to beyond the fact that Donald Trump doesn't like him

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Speaker 12: now even though he appointed him. And you know, if

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Speaker 12: you take what Chuck Grassley is saying at his word, Okay,

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Speaker 12: somehow Christopher Ray has failed to be fired. Who is

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Speaker 12: he appointing but Cash Puttel, who has almost no experience

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Speaker 12: and certainly doesn't have the temperament. This is somebody who

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Speaker 12: has been going around talking about QAnon conspiracies and the

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Speaker 12: fact that people in elected office and celebrities are engaged

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Speaker 12: in a massive child sex trafficking arrangement, and that the

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Speaker 12: deep state is trying to dethrone Donald Trump. You know,

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Speaker 12: Joe he writes children's books when he gets out of

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Speaker 12: the White House, and these children's books are worth looking at,

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Speaker 12: if just because they're stunning to the point of being comical,

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Speaker 12: if he wasn't being appointed to the FBI. They're talk

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Speaker 12: about trying to.

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Speaker 6: Steal the deep state, to steal King.

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Speaker 12: Trump's crown, and they have villains like Hillary Clinton and

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Speaker 12: Adam shiff. I mean, the ridiculousness goes on and on.

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Speaker 12: And it's not just bad writing. It's what he's talking

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Speaker 12: about in these children's books and in the adult books

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Speaker 12: that he writes. And so you know, Chuck Grassley, Okay,

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Speaker 12: you don't like Chris Ray. What are you talking about

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Speaker 12: in terms of cash Battel that makes him at all

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Speaker 12: qualified temperamentally to do this job and to be in

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Speaker 12: charge of our national security. It's mind numbing to hear.

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Speaker 7: This kind of.

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Speaker 3: The plot against the king. At least one of the

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Speaker 3: children's books you reference, Genie cash Battel vowed quote, We're

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Speaker 3: going to come after the people in the media who

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Speaker 3: lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential

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Speaker 3: elections unquote. I'll read another quote to you, Rick Davis,

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Speaker 3: Charles Kopperman, who supervised Patel in his role in the

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Speaker 3: first Trump administration says he is quote absolutely unqualified and untrustworthy,

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Speaker 3: and goes on to say, quote it is an absolute

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Speaker 3: disgrace unquote for him to even be considered. What are

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Speaker 3: these confirmation hearings going to be like?

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Speaker 11: Yeah, well, I have the utmost respect for Charlie Kupperman.

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Speaker 11: He's a long time national security official, you know, Republican

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Speaker 11: and knows what he's talking about. And look, this is

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Speaker 11: what you get when you get Donald Trump. Elections have consequences.

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Speaker 11: Donald Trump made it clear this is what he was

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Speaker 11: going to do. Cash Bettel is just a you know,

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Speaker 11: an operative who will do Trump's bidding. I mean, anybody

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Speaker 11: who thought this was going to be otherwise at the

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Speaker 11: Justice Department didn't listen to Donald Trump every single day

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Speaker 11: of the campaign. He's made all of his intentions clear.

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Speaker 11: It's not clear when cash Bettel says he's going after

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Speaker 11: people in the media what he means by that, what

437
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,800
Speaker 11: rules have been broken, what laws are been broken. He's

438
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:45,080
Speaker 11: still got a professional prosecution team in the Justice Department

439
00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:47,880
Speaker 11: run by Pam Bondi, who is will be run by

440
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,920
Speaker 11: Pam Bondi, who who had eight years as a state

441
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,160
Speaker 11: attorney general and has a real track record behind her,

442
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:57,959
Speaker 11: So there is an adult at the gate, so to speak.

443
00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,840
Speaker 11: But the reality is the American people chose Donald Trump

444
00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:04,480
Speaker 11: because he said he wanted to declare war on the FBI,

445
00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:08,959
Speaker 11: and Cash Battel is the operative who will do his bidding.

446
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,880
Speaker 11: And by the way, if it's not Cash Btel, it'll

447
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:14,840
Speaker 11: be somebody just like Cash Btel. And I think that's

448
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,000
Speaker 11: what the Republicans and the Senatives started to figure out.

449
00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:22,320
Speaker 11: They got a hide by opposing, you know, Matt Gait

450
00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,320
Speaker 11: for the job as Attorney General, but now I think

451
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,080
Speaker 11: they're in the position of probably taking anybody he puts

452
00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:28,639
Speaker 11: on the list.

453
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,040
Speaker 3: Incredible, Just one more minute left here, Genie. When you

454
00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:37,080
Speaker 3: consider the news over the weekend about RFK Junior New

455
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,840
Speaker 3: York Times referring to his drug addiction, compulsive sexual behavior

456
00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:44,040
Speaker 3: and deep dives into conspiracy theories or what we heard

457
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,919
Speaker 3: about Pete Hegseth from the New Yorker, from the Wall

458
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,760
Speaker 3: Street Journal and his own mother, Penelope hegg Seth, you

459
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:53,960
Speaker 3: see this wrote the letter talking about him as a womanizer.

460
00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,760
Speaker 3: Pam Bondi is just cruising to confirmation with all the rest.

461
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:02,440
Speaker 12: Of this going on here, right, Yeah, She and Marco Rubio,

462
00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,360
Speaker 12: you know, no questions asked. Yeah, the email by Penelope

463
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:10,000
Speaker 12: Headset is just utterly devastating to read, and I'm trying

464
00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:12,880
Speaker 12: to just wipe out of my memory. RFK Junior, did

465
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,520
Speaker 12: you see him in the shower, Joe behind his wife

466
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,080
Speaker 12: while she was hawking her goods and there he popped up?

467
00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:21,800
Speaker 6: I mean, you couldn't write this as.

468
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,159
Speaker 12: A made for TV movie and anybody would believe it

469
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 12: or buy it, and yet here it all is. And

470
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,280
Speaker 12: of course Jane Mayer and The New Yorker a really

471
00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:31,200
Speaker 12: devastating piece on heagset.

472
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:32,919
Speaker 2: You said it.

473
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,399
Speaker 3: Yeah, another topless workout video I guess from RFK Junior

474
00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:37,040
Speaker 3: over the weekend.

475
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:38,040
Speaker 5: What is he seventy?

476
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:43,480
Speaker 3: James, He's seventy. I'm not putting any of those videos up,

477
00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:47,280
Speaker 3: GENNI thank you, Rick Davis, Genie Shanzeno our signature panel

478
00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:49,280
Speaker 3: here on the Monday edition of Balance of Power.

479
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:51,960
Speaker 5: To think we're talking about all this stuff? Can we

480
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:53,480
Speaker 5: get to the markets?

481
00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,280
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast just

482
00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:03,760
Speaker 1: live weekdays at noon Eastern on Apocarplay and then Rouno

483
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:05,280
Speaker 1: with the Bloomberg Business app.

484
00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,520
Speaker 2: Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts a watch

485
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:12,920
Speaker 2: us live on YouTube.

486
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:16,000
Speaker 3: As we continue our conversation here with an Ion geopolitics.

487
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:20,360
Speaker 3: What's unfolding right now in Syria could have very important

488
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,240
Speaker 3: side effects for the future of the balance of power

489
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,560
Speaker 3: in the Middle East. What's happening in Syria, specifically in

490
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,960
Speaker 3: Aleppo over the weekend caught a lot of people off guard.

491
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:37,399
Speaker 3: Rebel fighters pushing southward after taking over Aleppo and what

492
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:43,080
Speaker 3: is being framed as the most serious challenge to the

493
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:50,160
Speaker 3: Alasad regime, which has been undergoing some very difficult times here.

494
00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:52,760
Speaker 3: So it's saying a lot. To be specific, Hyatt Terrier

495
00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:57,640
Speaker 3: Al sham HTS, the Islamist rebel group based in northwestern Syria,

496
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,119
Speaker 3: is driving this effort against Bishar Ala Sad and we

497
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:03,720
Speaker 3: wanted to spend some time with Hagar Shomali to talk

498
00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,120
Speaker 3: about this a bit more. This is a real expert.

499
00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,080
Speaker 3: You know her of course as the founder of Greenwich

500
00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,080
Speaker 3: Media Strategies. We talk a lot about Midia's policy, but

501
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,600
Speaker 3: Hagar served as director for Syria and Lebanon as part

502
00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:16,720
Speaker 3: of the National Security Council in the White House, and

503
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:17,760
Speaker 3: it's great to have you back.

504
00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:18,520
Speaker 5: Hagar.

505
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,959
Speaker 3: How has this happened so quickly and how real a

506
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:24,120
Speaker 3: threat is this to the Asad regime?

507
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:27,680
Speaker 6: Sure well joke. First of all, thank you for mentioning

508
00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:29,440
Speaker 6: that I was director for Syra and Lebanon, because it's

509
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:31,919
Speaker 6: really relevant to what we're talking about today, because I

510
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:33,439
Speaker 6: was there at the White House during the first two

511
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:35,880
Speaker 6: years of the Syria crisis, and this is a group

512
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,880
Speaker 6: I know fairly well. So first of all, we were

513
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,000
Speaker 6: all completely shocked. As you said, this is not something

514
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,520
Speaker 6: that was on the twenty twenty four Bingo card. It

515
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:47,640
Speaker 6: is a reaction to the weakness you're seeing on the

516
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:51,880
Speaker 6: part of Iran, Hasbella for sure, and Russia. These are

517
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,479
Speaker 6: all Bashar Lasa's allies. These are not only his allies,

518
00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:59,200
Speaker 6: but these are the governments and groups that propped him

519
00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,680
Speaker 6: up through throughout Syria's civil war. In twenty fourteen, it

520
00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:05,680
Speaker 6: looked like Bashar Alasad was really close to losing because

521
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:09,200
Speaker 6: of the efforts of the opposition, and because Russia stepped in,

522
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,000
Speaker 6: first Iran and then Russia and Hezbala. That is what

523
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,120
Speaker 6: ultimately propped him up and allowed him to retain power.

524
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:18,200
Speaker 6: And so the calculation on the part of HCS was

525
00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:22,720
Speaker 6: clearly they see that his allies are all weak. Russia's distracted,

526
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:25,760
Speaker 6: Hasbala has been the head's been cut off, and so

527
00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 6: now it would be a good time to launch this

528
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:32,479
Speaker 6: surprise offensive. And that's what you saw happening. But I

529
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,240
Speaker 6: had this reaction when I saw it happen. My reaction

530
00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,080
Speaker 6: and analysis remains the same even though several days have passed,

531
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:40,959
Speaker 6: which is that I believe this will be temporary. And

532
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,440
Speaker 6: the reason for that is that, first of all, Aleppo

533
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:47,360
Speaker 6: is a very important city to Bashar Alasad, to the

534
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:50,720
Speaker 6: Syrian government. It is Syria's second largest city. It is

535
00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:54,280
Speaker 6: also one of the more religiously diverse ones in Syria.

536
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,880
Speaker 6: It includes quite a large Christian group as well. Many

537
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,160
Speaker 6: of those Christians some support us AD, some don't. Most

538
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,160
Speaker 6: of them just want protection from what they view as

539
00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:08,400
Speaker 6: Sunni Islamist groups, and so it's an important city. It

540
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:10,640
Speaker 6: also has an international airport. By the way, this is

541
00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:12,920
Speaker 6: a city that is important for Busha LASA to retain

542
00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:15,160
Speaker 6: control of the reason they were able to take it

543
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:18,680
Speaker 6: was because of the surprised nature of the assault. But

544
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,320
Speaker 6: very quickly you saw Russia step in and start bombarding

545
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,640
Speaker 6: a strongholds in northern Syria called Idlib. That's where this

546
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,160
Speaker 6: group has its stronghold, where they control the area. And

547
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:33,280
Speaker 6: I don't think that they're going to step back even

548
00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:35,680
Speaker 6: when they're when these dictators and allies are weak, they

549
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:40,120
Speaker 6: are stronger together and ultimately, the Syrian government, the Russian government,

550
00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,120
Speaker 6: and Iran they have airplanes and these guys don't, and

551
00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:47,040
Speaker 6: that is what is going to ultimately, I believe, not

552
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:51,400
Speaker 6: allow this group to retain control, to maintain control over

553
00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,680
Speaker 6: this newfound territory that they've recently attacked.

554
00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:01,640
Speaker 5: Aside reportedly flew to Moscow following this new challenge to

555
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:05,960
Speaker 5: his regime, Hagar, Are you surprised to learn that? And

556
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:06,920
Speaker 5: what will he bring home?

557
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,480
Speaker 6: I'm not surprised to learn that. It's like he's visiting

558
00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:13,680
Speaker 6: his big brother. Frankly, Russia has been there for Syria

559
00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:17,440
Speaker 6: since the very beginning. They share historical ties. Those ties

560
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,920
Speaker 6: go back decades. The Syria and Russia used to have

561
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:24,360
Speaker 6: cultural and student exchanges. It's a relationship that is very

562
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:27,200
Speaker 6: long in the making. And back when the Sirious Civil

563
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:31,080
Speaker 6: War started, the Russian government was there for Bashar Lassat

564
00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:35,560
Speaker 6: and in twenty fourteen actually stepped in with significant military

565
00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:40,960
Speaker 6: support with airplanes, with air supporting them from the top

566
00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:43,960
Speaker 6: and bombarding what they said was a counter terrorism effort

567
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:46,680
Speaker 6: to target ISIS. But they weren't just targeting ISIS. They

568
00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 6: were also targeting the Syrian opposition. And so for Bashar

569
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:52,160
Speaker 6: Lassa to fly to Moscow is for him to go

570
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,080
Speaker 6: there and say, hey, I need your help to wrap

571
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:57,880
Speaker 6: this up quickly. I can't fall back on Habela back

572
00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:00,000
Speaker 6: when when the serious civil war was at its peace.

573
00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 6: Husbella and Nozrella the leader are now dead. Leader of

574
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:07,280
Speaker 6: Hasbella sent in his top men into Syria. Those top

575
00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:09,760
Speaker 6: men don't exist anymore, and there's no leadership to even

576
00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:14,320
Speaker 6: make that decision. Husbela at this point is reeling from

577
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:16,920
Speaker 6: the attacks by Israel, and so there are no position

578
00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:18,680
Speaker 6: to go into Syria and help. And so Basha is

579
00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:21,720
Speaker 6: going to kiss Putin's ring right now to ask for

580
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,520
Speaker 6: as much help as Putin can offer. And although Putin

581
00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:28,520
Speaker 6: is distracted and Putin himself is relying on other dictators

582
00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 6: like Kim John Gunn and Iran to support his effort

583
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:35,840
Speaker 6: in Ukraine when they while they might be weaker alone,

584
00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:40,520
Speaker 6: when these dictators unite, they are genuinely stronger together. I

585
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:42,720
Speaker 6: hate to admit that I wish it weren't true, but

586
00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:44,680
Speaker 6: it is, and so I do believe Putin is going

587
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:46,920
Speaker 6: to do what he can to support his body. And

588
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:48,200
Speaker 6: at the end of the day, the thing you have

589
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:53,320
Speaker 6: to remember is that USAID is proof that if you

590
00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:57,320
Speaker 6: bulldoze your own people he killed. The estimates are between

591
00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:00,320
Speaker 6: three hundred thousand and five hundred thousand people killed, three

592
00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,200
Speaker 6: hundred thousand, almost half a million of his own people,

593
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:07,120
Speaker 6: and he's still maintained power, He's not arrested. He lives

594
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:09,800
Speaker 6: in the lap of luxury in Damascus, and so he

595
00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:12,320
Speaker 6: has no reason not to pursue that kind of strategy

596
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:15,120
Speaker 6: again with Russia behind him, and that's what he's going

597
00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,280
Speaker 6: now to go do in Moscow. Is planned that.

598
00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,000
Speaker 5: Strategy incredible stuff.

599
00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,440
Speaker 3: The role the US plays in this is what Knowing

600
00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,120
Speaker 3: that Joe Biden is winding things down, in fact, he

601
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:29,520
Speaker 3: just landed in Africa for a three day trip. You

602
00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:31,920
Speaker 3: seem to think this is temporary. Will it be resolved

603
00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:33,960
Speaker 3: by the time Donald Trump takes office.

604
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:37,440
Speaker 6: Well, the US, the interests are a bit different because

605
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:39,760
Speaker 6: for the United States, our main interest is supporting the

606
00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,960
Speaker 6: Kurds in northern Syria, ensuring that nothing happens to them.

607
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:47,200
Speaker 6: The Kurds were our strongest ally encountering ISIS. In particular,

608
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:51,080
Speaker 6: they're a key reason why ISIS has not popped up

609
00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:55,560
Speaker 6: again in northern Syria. The US, though, has had an

610
00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,160
Speaker 6: inconsistent relationship, if you will, with HTS, with this group

611
00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:03,720
Speaker 6: in particular that has has pushed into a lepo and

612
00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 6: is now moving more south. HTS at one point was

613
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:10,000
Speaker 6: santioned as a terrorist group. It was viewed back when

614
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,440
Speaker 6: I was in government. It was viewed as Al Qaeda

615
00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,600
Speaker 6: in Iraq, but in Syria, and they have since changed,

616
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:18,280
Speaker 6: and so I don't want to paint them that way entirely.

617
00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:21,000
Speaker 6: I also don't want to sugarcoat it for you. This

618
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:26,080
Speaker 6: is a group that has very conservative Islamic views. They

619
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:28,560
Speaker 6: say that they won't impose Sharia law, but they are

620
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:33,200
Speaker 6: a very conservative Islamic group. But they have since disavowed

621
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:37,360
Speaker 6: support for terrorism. They have disavowed their ties to terrorist groups,

622
00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:41,880
Speaker 6: and many experts believe that maintains I don't trust them

623
00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:43,120
Speaker 6: as far as I can throw them. I'm gonna tell

624
00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:45,160
Speaker 6: you that now because that is my experience in the

625
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,640
Speaker 6: US government. But that said, that the US does have

626
00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:51,400
Speaker 6: a relationship with this group. Turkey in particular has a

627
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:53,800
Speaker 6: strong relationship with this group and has given them a

628
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,600
Speaker 6: lot of international assistance, which is what has allowed them

629
00:34:56,600 --> 00:35:00,040
Speaker 6: to maintain control over the north of Syria. And so

630
00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:02,840
Speaker 6: the United States at this effort, at this point, especially

631
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,920
Speaker 6: at the end, during this time, when you're wrapping up

632
00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:12,600
Speaker 6: a presidency, President Biden is traveling in Africa, you have

633
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:16,720
Speaker 6: Almos Hokstein who's trying to broker another ceasefire deal in Gaza.

634
00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:19,080
Speaker 6: That's going to be their focus when it comes to Syria.

635
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:22,280
Speaker 6: The only thing they're going to be able to maintain

636
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:25,720
Speaker 6: is to try and to argue that the Kurds remain safe,

637
00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:31,160
Speaker 6: that nothing happens to the Christian communities in Syria, and

638
00:35:31,239 --> 00:35:33,880
Speaker 6: also that this group is aware that they might that

639
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:36,440
Speaker 6: they shouldn't bite off more than they can chew, because

640
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:38,920
Speaker 6: what could happen is that US had only retaliates with

641
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:43,000
Speaker 6: Russia and he run behind him to crush civilians once again, and.

642
00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:45,880
Speaker 3: That is likely what he will do in our remaining

643
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:47,000
Speaker 3: couple of minutes here.

644
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:48,160
Speaker 5: Then Hagar.

645
00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:51,200
Speaker 3: Turn the page to the next administration.

646
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:53,239
Speaker 5: What does a d N I.

647
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:56,880
Speaker 3: Tulsey Gabbard inside the White House mean, then for the

648
00:35:57,040 --> 00:35:58,439
Speaker 3: US relationship with.

649
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:00,879
Speaker 5: Syria, that's a good question.

650
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:04,360
Speaker 6: I had a hard time maintaining a straight face. Elsea Gabbard,

651
00:36:04,719 --> 00:36:08,000
Speaker 6: for viewers who don't know, traveled to Syria back during

652
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:11,400
Speaker 6: the Syria Civil War, said that Bashar Lasad was not

653
00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:13,839
Speaker 6: an enemy of the United States. So then she tried

654
00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:18,920
Speaker 6: to retract that, and she also rejected intelligence assessments that

655
00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:22,840
Speaker 6: confirmed with high confidence that US had used chemical weapons

656
00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:24,960
Speaker 6: against his own people. I can tell you again, having

657
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:27,240
Speaker 6: been on the other side of that when those chemical

658
00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:31,040
Speaker 6: attacks happened, that the bar that the intelligent community must

659
00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:34,280
Speaker 6: reach to make that assessment, and to make that assessment

660
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:36,960
Speaker 6: with high confidence, is a very high bar. So to

661
00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:41,200
Speaker 6: have somebody who has publicly rejected the assessments of our

662
00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:45,160
Speaker 6: intelligence community to now be leading that position, and on

663
00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:48,640
Speaker 6: top of it, to have shown a desire to be

664
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:51,840
Speaker 6: cozier or to look at Bashar Lasad through rose colored

665
00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:54,920
Speaker 6: glasses is concerning because that position is the one that

666
00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:58,440
Speaker 6: briefs the president every day in the Presidential Daily Brief

667
00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:02,120
Speaker 6: and briefs the president on our biggest threats, and so

668
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:06,840
Speaker 6: you don't want that person viewing President asad in any way,

669
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:10,719
Speaker 6: as a rosy person, as somebody who ensures stability, And

670
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:13,759
Speaker 6: you also don't want that person just blatantly rejecting the

671
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:17,640
Speaker 6: assessments of our intelligence analysts, who who truly serve at

672
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:20,160
Speaker 6: the pleasure of the president, who are not partisan, and

673
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:22,239
Speaker 6: who do remarkable work. And so that's my concern with

674
00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:23,319
Speaker 6: Tulsea Gabbert at the top.

675
00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:26,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, I can tell Higar, we're out of time. But

676
00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:28,520
Speaker 3: do you think she'll be confirmed with everything.

677
00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:28,759
Speaker 5: You just said?

678
00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:32,680
Speaker 6: I think it would be tenuous, But I just don't

679
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:36,840
Speaker 6: think she's the most concerning for some of the other candidates,

680
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,640
Speaker 6: and I believe that that's where you're going to see.

681
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,200
Speaker 6: I don't know, it's hard to say. It's hard to say.

682
00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:46,239
Speaker 6: It's hard. She could pass. She could pass, but there

683
00:37:46,239 --> 00:37:51,239
Speaker 6: are others I think would would not pass muster before her.

684
00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:54,000
Speaker 5: So we'll see too many plates spinning at once.

685
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:56,840
Speaker 3: Tigar Shamali, thank you so much for the insights and

686
00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:58,880
Speaker 3: great to have you back here on Bloomberg with Greenwich

687
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:06,080
Speaker 3: Media Strategies Forward Director Syria Lebanon on the National Security Council.

688
00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:09,480
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast.

689
00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,840
Speaker 2: Can Just Live weekdays at noon Eastern on Applecarplay and

690
00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:15,440
Speaker 2: then roun Oo with the Bloomberg Business app. You can

691
00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:18,719
Speaker 2: also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New

692
00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:23,719
Speaker 2: York station, Just Say Alexa Play Bloomberg eleven thirty.

693
00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:26,920
Speaker 3: We wanted to focus on this this Monday, as the

694
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:29,799
Speaker 3: Trump transition picks get all the attention along with the

695
00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:34,319
Speaker 3: Biden pardon. This is critically important and we're joined now

696
00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:36,960
Speaker 3: by an expert. He's just back from a trip to

697
00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:39,520
Speaker 3: Europe where he spent time with political and business leaders

698
00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:41,640
Speaker 3: and he's all ours at least for now. Brett Ruin,

699
00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:44,160
Speaker 3: President and CEO of the Global Situation Room.

700
00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:45,439
Speaker 5: Brett, it's great to have you back.

701
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:46,440
Speaker 1: Of course, as a.

702
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:48,799
Speaker 3: Veteran diplomat, I know your eyes are on Syria and

703
00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:50,680
Speaker 3: this is an area of the world that.

704
00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:52,120
Speaker 5: You've dealt with in the past.

705
00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:55,440
Speaker 3: How is this happening so quickly and what does it

706
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:57,120
Speaker 3: mean for Bashar al Assad?

707
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:00,840
Speaker 13: Well, the short answer, Joe is there's an imbalance of

708
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:04,759
Speaker 13: power and I think what has transpired in Lebanon as

709
00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:09,200
Speaker 13: well as regionally with Iran, and listeners will know that

710
00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:12,800
Speaker 13: Bashar Assad gets most, if not all, of his support

711
00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:16,399
Speaker 13: from Tehran and the hits that they have taken through

712
00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:20,759
Speaker 13: their proxies Hamas Hezbollah are starting to hurt. And there

713
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:24,160
Speaker 13: are I think a number of actors hts as you

714
00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:27,600
Speaker 13: mentioned before, one of them that smell blood in the

715
00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:30,160
Speaker 13: water and feel like this is a moment to strike,

716
00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:33,240
Speaker 13: and clearly they struck with great effectiveness.

717
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:36,920
Speaker 5: Are they right so far? It seems they are.

718
00:39:38,239 --> 00:39:40,400
Speaker 13: They are, And I think the key question that is

719
00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:43,640
Speaker 13: looming over Damascus at the moment is whether or not

720
00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:47,839
Speaker 13: Assad's forces will be able to regroup. Now they do

721
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:52,080
Speaker 13: have an air advantage. It isn't, however, the air advantage

722
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:56,000
Speaker 13: they enjoyed earlier about you know, ten years ago when

723
00:39:56,080 --> 00:40:00,800
Speaker 13: first there was an uprising across the Syrian landscape. Now

724
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:06,040
Speaker 13: there are drones, there are other unmanned air capabilities that

725
00:40:06,080 --> 00:40:09,719
Speaker 13: the rebel forces can use. There's obviously also just a

726
00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:13,640
Speaker 13: very different power dynamic in the region. And on top

727
00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:18,080
Speaker 13: of this, Russia plays a big part in supporting ASAD.

728
00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:22,960
Speaker 13: They've got their own hardware problems in Ukraine. The Ukrainians

729
00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:26,280
Speaker 13: are upping their efforts as Trump looks to take power

730
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:29,360
Speaker 13: here in Washington again. So this isn't a good situation

731
00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:32,920
Speaker 13: for Asad. I would give his odds, you know, better

732
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:36,800
Speaker 13: than fifty to fifty at this point, but it's still,

733
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:39,480
Speaker 13: you know, quite frankly, a bit of an unknown.

734
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:43,640
Speaker 3: Let's talk a bit about Russia and Iran then, because

735
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:46,160
Speaker 3: it's pretty easy to connect the dots here, as you

736
00:40:46,239 --> 00:40:47,040
Speaker 3: are doing when it.

737
00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:48,160
Speaker 5: Comes to Iran.

738
00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:52,600
Speaker 3: The potential here for the dismantling of its proxy network

739
00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:55,520
Speaker 3: that we've talked about so much with regard to Israel

740
00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:59,040
Speaker 3: is great. What will we see happen to Tehran if

741
00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:01,680
Speaker 3: Bishar al Assad falls well?

742
00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:06,520
Speaker 13: And what's interesting here, yes, if Asade falls, who steps

743
00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:11,879
Speaker 13: into this void? HTS formally was the extension of al

744
00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:16,680
Speaker 13: Qaeda in Syria. They have moderated their position over the years.

745
00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:19,680
Speaker 13: They've tried one just to appeal to a Syrian population

746
00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:24,800
Speaker 13: that doesn't necessarily take well to some of those extremist ideologies.

747
00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:27,120
Speaker 13: But on the other hand, I think what you're seeing

748
00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:32,720
Speaker 13: is shifting in some of these groups. It isn't something

749
00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:35,640
Speaker 13: that is static. There's obviously different rebel groups and they

750
00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:40,360
Speaker 13: join forces and sometimes they're fighting against one another, other times,

751
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:43,520
Speaker 13: as now they're fighting together. You know, what we don't

752
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:46,200
Speaker 13: want to see, Joe is a Libya scenario where we

753
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:49,960
Speaker 13: end up seeing a fall of a leader like Kadafi

754
00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:53,520
Speaker 13: and into the void come a whole lot of warring factions.

755
00:41:53,520 --> 00:41:56,560
Speaker 13: And so what's really important here is that the international

756
00:41:56,560 --> 00:42:02,520
Speaker 13: community start to step up now and preserve some you know, coalition,

757
00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:07,000
Speaker 13: preserves some semblance of stability, and hopefully get a plan

758
00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:09,080
Speaker 13: in place for how we're going to handle this thing,

759
00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:11,840
Speaker 13: potentially post a SOD.

760
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,920
Speaker 3: Wow, give us the view from Moscow. Then, of course

761
00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:19,560
Speaker 3: Vladimir Putin is stretched thin in Ukraine. Does he have

762
00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:21,520
Speaker 3: any influence left here?

763
00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:26,400
Speaker 13: Well, he has some, and you saw Russian air assets

764
00:42:26,719 --> 00:42:30,360
Speaker 13: deployed in defense of Syrian troops. And yet at the

765
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:33,680
Speaker 13: same time he hasn't got a lot Joe. He will

766
00:42:33,719 --> 00:42:36,480
Speaker 13: have a small presence in Syria. He doesn't have a

767
00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:39,480
Speaker 13: lot more to give. So when Asad's you know, nervously

768
00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:42,239
Speaker 13: picking up the phone and calling Moscow, the other end's

769
00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:43,960
Speaker 13: going to say, well, good luck, but we don't have

770
00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:45,239
Speaker 13: much more to send you.

771
00:42:47,120 --> 00:42:50,400
Speaker 3: As Bloomberg is reporting here, as Aleppo fell to rebels

772
00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:54,800
Speaker 3: over the weekend, the Syrian president flew to Moscow.

773
00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:56,040
Speaker 5: What does that tell us.

774
00:42:56,960 --> 00:43:00,759
Speaker 13: Well, we have long known that a SOD would essentially

775
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:07,040
Speaker 13: an asset of Moscow and an extension of Iran, and

776
00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:09,520
Speaker 13: so he is going, you know, to make that personal

777
00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:12,600
Speaker 13: plea and to try and to push to get whatever

778
00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:16,320
Speaker 13: he can to defend against these rebel troops. But again

779
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:20,120
Speaker 13: there isn't much, especially as Russia is worried about what

780
00:43:20,200 --> 00:43:22,760
Speaker 13: the next month month and a half has in store

781
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:26,319
Speaker 13: for Ukraine. Zelenski is going to push to get the

782
00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:30,279
Speaker 13: best possible negotiating position he can with Trump coming in

783
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:33,440
Speaker 13: and talking about this big deal that he has in

784
00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:33,920
Speaker 13: the works.

785
00:43:35,120 --> 00:43:38,720
Speaker 3: What does this all mean for the Biden administration? Brett

786
00:43:38,719 --> 00:43:40,759
Speaker 3: Bruin Joe Biden, of course abroad right now. He just

787
00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:43,920
Speaker 3: touched down on Angola a short time ago, but actually

788
00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:48,399
Speaker 3: had the wherewithal to announce a ceasefire with Hesbolah last week,

789
00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:51,400
Speaker 3: is reportedly working on one in Gaza. Does this White

790
00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:54,600
Speaker 3: House have any influence about outcomes in Syria or is

791
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:56,040
Speaker 3: this about the Trump administration?

792
00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:02,480
Speaker 13: Well, look, Biden's influence is certainly, and they're trying to

793
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:07,320
Speaker 13: make a good effort to secure something with the Moss

794
00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:13,560
Speaker 13: before the clock ticks midnight on January twentieth. But at

795
00:44:13,560 --> 00:44:16,400
Speaker 13: the same time, I think, you know, quite Frankly, a

796
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:20,040
Speaker 13: lot of these leaders know that Biden is old news,

797
00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:24,120
Speaker 13: that he is no longer able to yield and wield

798
00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:26,560
Speaker 13: the kind of power. And so you're going to see

799
00:44:26,560 --> 00:44:28,279
Speaker 13: the Net and Yahoo's. You're going to see even the

800
00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:31,160
Speaker 13: Putins try and hold on for Trump to come in

801
00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:32,399
Speaker 13: and hopefully to get a better deal.

802
00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:36,439
Speaker 3: You know, we're having this conversation, Brett. We haven't mentioned

803
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,840
Speaker 3: the name Tulsei Gabbard yet, and I'm not sure that

804
00:44:39,920 --> 00:44:43,239
Speaker 3: we should. But she's facing a confirmation, hearing to be

805
00:44:43,440 --> 00:44:47,560
Speaker 3: the nation's top spy, essentially knowing of her dalliances with

806
00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:52,720
Speaker 3: Bashar al Assad, her opinion of the veracity of his regime,

807
00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:55,719
Speaker 3: her essentially her support if I can call it that,

808
00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:59,080
Speaker 3: for him. How does this color the way Senators will

809
00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:02,040
Speaker 3: look at this matter when it comes time for confirmation?

810
00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:05,759
Speaker 13: Well, this is unfortunate timing if you're Tulsa Gabbert, because

811
00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:08,000
Speaker 13: it is going to bring to the four both what

812
00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:12,720
Speaker 13: Asad did in the past dropping chemical weapons on civilians

813
00:45:12,880 --> 00:45:16,880
Speaker 13: in Syria, but it also, quite frankly, is likely to

814
00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:20,799
Speaker 13: bring more atrocities, and Gabbard is going to have a

815
00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:24,200
Speaker 13: tough time explaining why in the midst the height. In fact,

816
00:45:24,320 --> 00:45:27,720
Speaker 13: Joe of some of those atrocities. She went without any

817
00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:32,319
Speaker 13: clear diplomatic mission other than to provide legitimacy, other than

818
00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:37,000
Speaker 13: to provide a propaganda point for Asad to use. So

819
00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:39,640
Speaker 13: is this the kind of person that you want making

820
00:45:39,719 --> 00:45:44,080
Speaker 13: those major decisions about US intelligence and how to deploy

821
00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:47,080
Speaker 13: our intelligence assets. I think a lot of senators will

822
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:48,000
Speaker 13: have those questions.

823
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:49,799
Speaker 5: You better believe it.

824
00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:52,719
Speaker 3: This is someone who has said that Asad is not

825
00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:55,279
Speaker 3: the enemy of the United States. They're going to have

826
00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:59,239
Speaker 3: images video of her with him that is shown in

827
00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:00,000
Speaker 3: these confirmations.

828
00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:00,640
Speaker 5: Hearings no.

829
00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:04,319
Speaker 13: Well, and it raises the question, you know, in terms

830
00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:08,120
Speaker 13: of vetting, you normally, in a normal transition, would want

831
00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:11,400
Speaker 13: to have checked these sort of things. Did that happen? Maybe,

832
00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:15,720
Speaker 13: but quite frankly, it's just a bad split screen for Trump.

833
00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:19,120
Speaker 13: He's going to have to justify why this person who's

834
00:46:19,160 --> 00:46:25,000
Speaker 13: had some pretty unsavory dalliances with both Bashar al Assad

835
00:46:25,080 --> 00:46:30,560
Speaker 13: as well as even with Moscow and Moscow's propaganda. You know,

836
00:46:30,719 --> 00:46:33,160
Speaker 13: this is the person that's going to keep us safe

837
00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:35,719
Speaker 13: and Joe, at the end of the day, that's what

838
00:46:35,760 --> 00:46:37,359
Speaker 13: the job's about. And I think you know with some

839
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:41,040
Speaker 13: of these national security positions. It's really really important. Fine,

840
00:46:41,400 --> 00:46:44,840
Speaker 13: you know, you want to offer up some party favors

841
00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:48,600
Speaker 13: to the donors or others who supported you, political allies

842
00:46:48,680 --> 00:46:51,200
Speaker 13: like Gabbert, But do you really want to put them

843
00:46:51,360 --> 00:46:54,320
Speaker 13: in that sensitive position that keeps us all safe?

844
00:46:56,280 --> 00:46:58,520
Speaker 3: Brett, While you're with us here, we're looking at Joe

845
00:46:58,520 --> 00:47:01,319
Speaker 3: Biden's step off Air Force one in Angola. He did

846
00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:04,200
Speaker 3: promise to visit Africa before he left the White House.

847
00:47:04,239 --> 00:47:07,319
Speaker 3: He's making good on that promise with just weeks to

848
00:47:07,360 --> 00:47:12,480
Speaker 3: go here. Does this administration play a role internationally from

849
00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:15,480
Speaker 3: here on out between now and January twentieth, Does he

850
00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:18,560
Speaker 3: in fact have any influence as we wait for Donald

851
00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:19,520
Speaker 3: Trump globally?

852
00:47:19,719 --> 00:47:21,640
Speaker 13: Well, you know, it's interesting. You know, he's going to

853
00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:26,440
Speaker 13: Angola in part to celebrate US investment in the country,

854
00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:32,120
Speaker 13: in the infrastructure, and as a play against Beijing to

855
00:47:32,160 --> 00:47:37,120
Speaker 13: try and reassert American relevance. Quite frankly on the continent.

856
00:47:37,200 --> 00:47:41,040
Speaker 13: I served half my diplomatic career in Africa, and we

857
00:47:41,080 --> 00:47:43,880
Speaker 13: are losing the game when it comes to influence, not

858
00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:46,560
Speaker 13: just against China, but even you know, going back to Russia,

859
00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:51,440
Speaker 13: Russian Wagner forces have been deployed across this hell in

860
00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:56,279
Speaker 13: West Africa with great effect, forcing out peacekeepers, forcing out

861
00:47:56,520 --> 00:47:59,640
Speaker 13: even some of our diplomatic missions. So Biden is showing

862
00:47:59,719 --> 00:48:03,520
Speaker 13: up in an African continent that is radically different than

863
00:48:03,520 --> 00:48:07,160
Speaker 13: when he took office, and Joe, I think, unfortunately, it

864
00:48:07,239 --> 00:48:12,279
Speaker 13: illustrates how ineffective a lot of his diplomatic initiatives have been.

865
00:48:12,600 --> 00:48:15,799
Speaker 13: Even as well intentioned as they are, you can't look

866
00:48:15,800 --> 00:48:19,160
Speaker 13: at Africa today and say they are a stronger ally

867
00:48:19,239 --> 00:48:21,439
Speaker 13: of the US than they were four years ago.

868
00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:23,799
Speaker 3: Well, I think we're going to have a lot to

869
00:48:23,800 --> 00:48:27,719
Speaker 3: talk about for the remainder of this administration, the confirmation process,

870
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Speaker 3: and whatever the next Trump administration brings here internationally. So

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00:48:31,880 --> 00:48:34,440
Speaker 3: thank you for the insights today, and let's stay close

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Speaker 3: on all these issues.

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Speaker 5: Brett Ruin is President's.

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Speaker 3: CEO the Global Situation Room, a veteran of foreign policy

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Speaker 3: and diplomacy here in Washington, d C. And a perfect

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00:48:42,719 --> 00:48:44,920
Speaker 3: voice for US today as we keep our eyes on

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Speaker 3: what is happening in Syria. Remember we have this conversation,

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00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:51,800
Speaker 3: This one is not over yet. These rebel fighters continue

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00:48:51,840 --> 00:48:54,520
Speaker 3: their way southward and we're still waiting, of course for

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00:48:54,640 --> 00:49:02,000
Speaker 3: resolution in Gaza. Thanks listening to the Balance of Power podcast.

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00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:05,759
Speaker 3: Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, at Apple, Spotify,

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Speaker 3: or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find

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00:49:08,480 --> 00:49:11,720
Speaker 3: us live every weekday from Washington, DC at noontime Eastern

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Speaker 3: at Bloomberg dot com.