Speaker 1: Now from our nation's capital. This is Bloomberg Sound On.
Speaker 1: We will win back the House, went back the Senate
Speaker 1: and re elect Governor Brian Champ for four more years.
Speaker 1: It's something that we have to win. We want to win.
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Sound On Politics, Policy and Perspective from DC's top names.
Speaker 1: Kemp has been telling voters throughout the state that listen,
Speaker 1: let's focus on what's going on here. The Republican governors
Speaker 1: met recently in Arizona and said they're tired of this
Speaker 1: vendetta tour and they're gonna take a position against Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Sound On with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. Welcome to
Speaker 1: Primary Day and the fastest hour in politics, as we
Speaker 1: explore the issues today driving voters to the polls, from inflation,
Speaker 1: two jobs, and an important conversation ahead with the man
Speaker 1: who helped orchestrate Barack Obama's re election, Jim Messina, with
Speaker 1: us today, the CEO of the Messina Group, and with
Speaker 1: decision day in Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, and Yes, Texas. Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Elections expert Gregorow is going to join us later on
Speaker 1: several high profile Trump endorsements on the line Tonight, we
Speaker 1: have analysis from the sound On panel with Bloomberg Politics
Speaker 1: contributors Geenie Chanzano and Rick Davis with us for the hour.
Speaker 1: Welcome to another primary day. The rallies are over, the
Speaker 1: closing arguments have been made. Voters right now are deciding
Speaker 1: on issues. It's a magic moment for any campaign operative
Speaker 1: and a very stressful one depending on the day. As
Speaker 1: Jim Messina would tell you, the former campaign manager for
Speaker 1: President Obama's re election, former deputy chief of staff in
Speaker 1: the White House, now CEO of the Messina Group, joins
Speaker 1: us with his view on the issues and the campaigns
Speaker 1: that are driving this cycle. Several states in play today,
Speaker 1: and Jim, thank you for being part of this. You
Speaker 1: were known as the fixer in the Obama White House.
Speaker 1: Famously a white House that included a man named Joe Biden,
Speaker 1: with inflation and surging, with the pandemic still underway, a
Speaker 1: domestic agenda that has been severely challenged, Joe Biden's approval
Speaker 1: ratings depending on where you look, low forties, maybe on
Speaker 1: a bad day, upper thirties. Democrats, Jim, as you know,
Speaker 1: are bracing for rough mid terms. How would you tell
Speaker 1: Joe Biden to fix it. Well, a couple of things.
Speaker 1: The party in power loses an average of three and
Speaker 1: a half Senate seats from twenty six House seats in
Speaker 1: the last fifty years, so the Democrats kind of come
Speaker 1: to this, uh, you know, with some real challenges. And then,
Speaker 1: as you say, Joe, inflation is now the number one
Speaker 1: political issue. And so what the President needs to do
Speaker 1: is stay very focused on making sure voters understand he
Speaker 1: gets the inflation issue, he cares about it, he's working
Speaker 1: on it, and there's showing progress. And then he needs
Speaker 1: to draw a very sharp contrast between his party and
Speaker 1: the Republicans in these mid term elections, because if he doesn't,
Speaker 1: the mid term elections will be a referendum on the
Speaker 1: incumbent and usually income at rather than to lose those Well, this,
Speaker 1: you know, follows months in which the administration called inflation transitory.
Speaker 1: The President now and as advisors are pointing to the
Speaker 1: war in Ukraine and COVID as the drivers and who
Speaker 1: could have expected the war to breakout? Of course, but Jim,
Speaker 1: people know, but in inflation has been a problem since
Speaker 1: last year. We were talking about this way before Ukraine.
Speaker 1: The war made things worse does the administration need to
Speaker 1: acknowledge that? Look, I think what's clear is that, you know,
Speaker 1: I have twelve presidents and prime ministers around the world
Speaker 1: is my clients, and everyone is dealing with this issue.
Speaker 1: It's not just the United States because of you know,
Speaker 1: action or inaction of the Fed or the President or anything.
Speaker 1: What is true is what voters want is the president
Speaker 1: to give them some very clear objectives about what he's
Speaker 1: going to do and how he's going to take these steps.
Speaker 1: And so that's what voters want. I think they want
Speaker 1: less about the blame game and more to say, hey,
Speaker 1: what are we doing to make people's lives better? I
Speaker 1: get that part, but when we start hearing about the
Speaker 1: putin price hike, you know, in in terms like this,
Speaker 1: it doesn't seem to acknowledge the whole story, and it
Speaker 1: can I'm across as disingenuous. No, well, look that is
Speaker 1: a piece of it, right. It's clearly the war in
Speaker 1: Ukraine made things different, more difficult to supply. Chain is
Speaker 1: a very big issue out there, and again it's not
Speaker 1: just the United States. Everyone is having these problems around
Speaker 1: the world and trying to blame. You know, one action
Speaker 1: by the president is really. The White House has adopted
Speaker 1: the term ultra maga to describe, I guess the right
Speaker 1: wing of the Republican Party. I'm not sure if you
Speaker 1: can really even draw the lines on this the Trump wing. Uh,
Speaker 1: but also the economic proposals put forward by Senator Rick
Speaker 1: Scott of Florida. He chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee,
Speaker 1: which might be part of the reason they're The administration though,
Speaker 1: decided to make him the foil. He spoke last weekend
Speaker 1: Jim at the Lincoln Reagan Dinner in Newport, New Hampshire.
Speaker 1: Love for you to respond to what he said. Here
Speaker 1: he is. Romando is running commerce. She came antified about
Speaker 1: two weeks ago. I said, what are you doing for inflation?
Speaker 1: She said, it's not my fault, it's all the Federal Reserve,
Speaker 1: Sectuary Transportation. Bootage came and testified. He said, what are
Speaker 1: you doing about the supply chain? I said, you've only
Speaker 1: been out to the Port and California one time since
Speaker 1: you've been in office. And by the way, Bootage as Ormando.
Speaker 1: The last time they testified inflation was one point four percent.
Speaker 1: I think it was, but they took no responsibility. So
Speaker 1: he's turning this into a competency issue, Jim, much like
Speaker 1: Republicans are with the baby formula shortage. As a campaigner,
Speaker 1: how do you answer that, knowing the amount of time
Speaker 1: you have between now and November. I think you don't.
Speaker 1: I think what you do is say, here's what we're
Speaker 1: doing to make things better. I think you don't get
Speaker 1: a tip for tat. I think you don't want to
Speaker 1: be on the defensive as a campaigner. What you want
Speaker 1: to do is move an offensive argument. When I run
Speaker 1: presidential campaigns, I always talk about you have to win
Speaker 1: the economic argument, and the winner of that argument wins
Speaker 1: the election. And so I think that's what I would
Speaker 1: stay very focused on if I were the What are
Speaker 1: your thoughts on Joe Biden, having been as close to
Speaker 1: him as you were in the Obama administration to see
Speaker 1: him at the helm now as a much older man
Speaker 1: and one who's dealing with a very different political climate. Yeah, Look,
Speaker 1: you know, at some point, you know it's the old
Speaker 1: Chinese curse. May you live in interesting times when the
Speaker 1: challenges in front of him, the challenges, so you know,
Speaker 1: leaders around the world are really really difficult right now,
Speaker 1: and you know you combining COVID a war, inflation. These
Speaker 1: are really big challenges. And the thing that I think
Speaker 1: is good is you've got a pretty steady guy who
Speaker 1: understands the challenges, has been through every single crisis, um,
Speaker 1: and it's gonna not panic and not do dumb things
Speaker 1: and attempt to just get the policy right, because that's
Speaker 1: what presidents have to do. You have to get the
Speaker 1: policy right. Spending time with Jim Messina uh here on
Speaker 1: Bloomberg sound On, I mentioned the primaries Jim big Ones today,
Speaker 1: especially in Georgia. I'm sure you're watching along with everyone
Speaker 1: where we've seen a split between in the Republican Party
Speaker 1: between Trump Nation or I don't know, Ultra Maga and
Speaker 1: establishment Republicans, certainly in the gubernatorial primary, uh where Mike
Speaker 1: Pence actually campaigned in person for the incumbent governor, Brian Kemp.
Speaker 1: Early voting turnout has tripled since eighteen and thanks to
Speaker 1: your governor, it is easier to vote and harder to
Speaker 1: cheat than ever before in Georgia history. And that's not
Speaker 1: that's the opposite of what Donald Trump is saying, as
Speaker 1: we heard last evening in a Teletown hall for his candidate.
Speaker 1: Of course, the former Senator for it's something that we
Speaker 1: have to win, we want to win, and we have
Speaker 1: a governor that's done the worst job of any governor
Speaker 1: in probably decades on election integrity. Getting to this story
Speaker 1: from the other side, Jim, how did Democrats exploit the fissure? Well,
Speaker 1: first of all, Georgia is now the most competitive state
Speaker 1: in America. There's more spending in Georgia Senate race and
Speaker 1: the governor's race and any other state. Georgia is now
Speaker 1: the the kind of center of American politics. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's amazing to see Pence campaign against Trump's candidate. I
Speaker 1: guess he's one thing you can say about Pences. He's
Speaker 1: stabbing Trump in the front, not the back. Um. But
Speaker 1: it's something we have just never seen. Democrats are the
Speaker 1: beneficiaries of this. They love this brutal, ugly primary because
Speaker 1: they have a very strong nominee in Stacy Abrahams and
Speaker 1: she's waiting for the winner here. And you know what
Speaker 1: we saw in the in the runoff elections in December
Speaker 1: of last year when Democrats won two cents. These people
Speaker 1: didn't think that they would is there was depressed turnout
Speaker 1: by Republicans because of some of the Trump problems, and
Speaker 1: so the question for Democrats is going to be coming
Speaker 1: out of tonight, how many Republicans actually voted here and
Speaker 1: are the people who lose are they going to be
Speaker 1: pissed and not stay with the Republican nominee in the
Speaker 1: in the general election? Is that something that Democrats should
Speaker 1: hope for. Absolutely? And it's difficult of a year. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, a turnout of one or two points less
Speaker 1: by the Republicans could give the Democrats the Senate seat
Speaker 1: and the governorship. Jim has seen a great opportunity to
Speaker 1: spend some time with you on a primary day. Thanks
Speaker 1: for being with the CEO of the Messinic Group with
Speaker 1: us on the fastest hour in politics. I'm Joe, Matthew
Speaker 1: and Washington. Welcome to Sound On. It is the Tuesday edition,
Speaker 1: and we're dealing with some terrible breaking news that I
Speaker 1: want to mention and something that we're going to be
Speaker 1: touching on with our panel in just a moment. But
Speaker 1: there's been a terrible mass shooting today. It happened in
Speaker 1: an elementary school in a rural community in Texas. This
Speaker 1: is right outside San Antonio, remembering as well, by the way,
Speaker 1: they're voting there today, that is that's uh, that's uh
Speaker 1: not far from the Quare district here, which goes from
Speaker 1: San Antonio down to the Rio Grand Governor Greg Abbots
Speaker 1: is fourteen students and a teacher were killed gunmen fatally
Speaker 1: shot by police. This is some thing that is unfolding
Speaker 1: right now, and I want to urge you to remember
Speaker 1: we've we've been through stories like these before. Just a
Speaker 1: grain assault in the opening moments here as we get
Speaker 1: actual numbers, because sometimes these things can change. Governor Abbott
Speaker 1: did identify the shooter as an eighteen year old student.
Speaker 1: Uh at the high school, of all the high school
Speaker 1: is where this happened. If we can bring in the
Speaker 1: panel quickly on this, it's something that I'd like to
Speaker 1: be able to hear from Rick and Genie about Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Politics contributors Rick Davis Jeannie Chanzano. Rick, I didn't plan
Speaker 1: to be talking about this. You didn't either. But this
Speaker 1: is a story, obviously that brings up a lot of
Speaker 1: issues here when we think about our security, the availability
Speaker 1: of guns. A lot of campaign issues are driven by
Speaker 1: these shootings. They just they don't always seem to drive
Speaker 1: people to conclusions at the polls. Is this the type
Speaker 1: of thing that that informs someone's decisions at the polls. Well,
Speaker 1: Joe um our show is interrupted it on a more
Speaker 1: and more frequent basis, it seems by these kinds of
Speaker 1: shootings that just rock the communities. And our our prayers
Speaker 1: go out to the people of Vivaldi. I know this
Speaker 1: is an incredible shock to them and and frankly should
Speaker 1: be a shock to every person in the world to
Speaker 1: have this kind of heinous crime occur. And and it
Speaker 1: reminds us that there are issues that revolve around um
Speaker 1: guns and violence in our communities, crime that will be
Speaker 1: a major factor in this year's election. And we talk
Speaker 1: a lot about inflation, we talk a lot about the economy,
Speaker 1: even the war in Ukraine, but but more and more
Speaker 1: people are starting to talk about this kind of needless violence,
Speaker 1: access to weapons, and especially by young people like this
Speaker 1: perpetrator who reports are was eighteen years old and uh
Speaker 1: and and in the crime that has spun up, you know,
Speaker 1: in a lot of our major cities and here in
Speaker 1: a very thought rural area. Rick and Genie back with
Speaker 1: more from our panel. This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: You sound on with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio as
Speaker 1: we changed course with breaking news. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 1: A terrible story that is unfolding from Texas. As you
Speaker 1: read on the terminal, fourteen kids, one teacher killed in
Speaker 1: mass Texas school shooting. We heard a short time ago
Speaker 1: from Governor Greg Abbott. There are families who are in
Speaker 1: mourning right now, and instead of Texas is in mourning
Speaker 1: with them. I want to warn you that this is
Speaker 1: still in the early going here, but the governor does
Speaker 1: say that the shooter kill fourteen students and one teacher
Speaker 1: using a handgun. An eighteen year old shooter Valdi High
Speaker 1: School shot and killed by officers. Two officers were hit,
Speaker 1: according to the governor, not hurt seriously. And as we
Speaker 1: were just discussing with Rick Davis, Jennie Schanzana was with
Speaker 1: us as well our panel. There are a lot of
Speaker 1: different ways to get to this, but a lot of
Speaker 1: it feeds, of course, the controversy around crime here in
Speaker 1: this country. If you flip the coin on that, it
Speaker 1: also feeds the debate around access to guns. Genie, I'd
Speaker 1: like to get your take. We had a moment with Rick,
Speaker 1: but I didn't get to hear from you on this.
Speaker 1: You know, we're supposed to be talking about primary day here,
Speaker 1: and these are big issues that will last through this
Speaker 1: cycle and likely straight through that's right. I mean, it's incomprehensible,
Speaker 1: and I think the government that the governor put it right.
Speaker 1: Horrific and incomprehensible. Fourteen elementary school kids, those are babies
Speaker 1: and their parents are supposed to be uniting with them
Speaker 1: after school. Reportedly Thursday was their last day of this
Speaker 1: school year, and they will never go home. It is
Speaker 1: reminds all of us of Sandy Hook. But this is
Speaker 1: These are not isolated incidents, obviously in the United States,
Speaker 1: and that's the problem. Gun violence in the US has
Speaker 1: surged beginning in This is a continuation of what was
Speaker 1: a horrific weekend, the shootings and Buffalo. But when you
Speaker 1: see this impacting kids and babies, people in school who
Speaker 1: are supposed to be learning, it speaks to everything from
Speaker 1: guns to violence to mental health. A young man apparently
Speaker 1: eighteen year old dead now who did this? Um So
Speaker 1: you know, by every stretch this is something that is
Speaker 1: going to play into these primaries, into these elections, but
Speaker 1: it has going back decades in the United States. We've
Speaker 1: made very few strides at the national level. Great strides
Speaker 1: at the state and local level, but at the national level,
Speaker 1: very few strides. When it comes to either gun control
Speaker 1: or mental health. It has to be addressed, and it
Speaker 1: hasn't yet been, and that is shameful for all of us.
Speaker 1: We're hearing from the White House now. The President has
Speaker 1: been briefed on this as you would suspects. Rick Uh Karine.
Speaker 1: Jean Pierre, the Press Secretary, says his prayers are with
Speaker 1: the families impacted by this awful event, and he will
Speaker 1: speak this evening when he arrives back at the White House.
Speaker 1: Is that the right move? Sure? This will be something
Speaker 1: that I think every American wants to um talk about,
Speaker 1: to grieve for the people uh in you double you
Speaker 1: Uvaldi Texas, and and and and I think it's the
Speaker 1: job of the President to try and put some kind
Speaker 1: of focus on this um UM. I think having Joe
Speaker 1: Biden UH and his ability to UH empathize with the
Speaker 1: American public around this, this troubling event, UM is actually
Speaker 1: a really good use of this president's time and attention
Speaker 1: right now. There are so many other crisises that he
Speaker 1: has had to deal with but none probably more important
Speaker 1: than the health and safety of our own people, you know,
Speaker 1: in the country here and and there are so many
Speaker 1: things to unpack from this, so many issues that have
Speaker 1: gone along too long, uh, that haven't been addressed. And
Speaker 1: I think his tone and tenor tonight would be a
Speaker 1: good time to start that discussion and and plan to
Speaker 1: have it throughout the course of of the balance of
Speaker 1: this year at least, because um, we have to find
Speaker 1: solutions of this that that people can sign onto, regardless
Speaker 1: of their ideology or their geography. What are those solutions, Genie?
Speaker 1: I mean, are we going to start talking solutions tonight
Speaker 1: or is it too early for that for this president?
Speaker 1: You know, it's never too early to start talking solutions
Speaker 1: because this is not again an isolated incident. This change
Speaker 1: of politics could backfire. It can backfire. But you know
Speaker 1: what that should be nobody's concern, and particularly this president's.
Speaker 1: We have babies in the United States being killed on
Speaker 1: a daily basis. We have the largest number of mass
Speaker 1: shootings that we've had, and this is going on and on.
Speaker 1: It has to be address. The problem is how is
Speaker 1: it going to be addressed? Can you move anything like
Speaker 1: this through the US Congress today, and sadly the answer
Speaker 1: is no. I mean I sat on television after Sandy
Speaker 1: Hook and said, it is incomprehensible that we will not
Speaker 1: see federal action after you see twenty six babies murdered
Speaker 1: in their school, and yet we saw no federal action,
Speaker 1: much to the dismay of there then President Obama and
Speaker 1: much of the rest of Congress. But that is the
Speaker 1: reality of a Senate in which you have a filibuster
Speaker 1: that was used to stop action, which, by the way,
Speaker 1: large majorities of Americans support common sense gun control. It
Speaker 1: is not a hard thing to pull on or find
Speaker 1: that it's different about this time though. What's different Rick
Speaker 1: from Newtown? Uh, the numbers were even more horrid the stories,
Speaker 1: uh were mainstream people promise change and we're still talking
Speaker 1: about it. Yeah, I think it's it's time. First of all,
Speaker 1: I think that we should have a higher expectation by
Speaker 1: Congress than thinking that this has anything to do you know,
Speaker 1: with with um you know, getting fift more than fifty
Speaker 1: one votes, we should have a hundred votes in the
Speaker 1: United States Senate for change. Right, people have to understand
Speaker 1: that continuing ignorance of this issue, ignoring what is happening
Speaker 1: in our own country, with violence UH significantly increasing over
Speaker 1: the last few years. Needs a direct and and and
Speaker 1: massive attack, massive approach to fixing this problem. It's not
Speaker 1: just hardware, it's also mental illness, and I think all
Speaker 1: those things need to be taken into consider. Another redefining
Speaker 1: story in two. This is Bloomberg broadcasting live from our
Speaker 1: nation's capital, Bloomberg to New York, Bloomberg eleven Frio to Boston,
Speaker 1: Bloomberg one O six one to San Francisco, Bloomberg nine
Speaker 1: sixty to the country, Serious XM General one nine and
Speaker 1: around the globe, the Bloomberg Business app and Bloomberg Radio
Speaker 1: dot Com. This is Bloomberg Sound On with Joe Matthew.
Speaker 1: Another mass shooting changes the conversation in America, this time Texas,
Speaker 1: where fourteen kids and one teacher were killed at the
Speaker 1: hands of an eighteen year old. We're gonna have the
Speaker 1: latest for you. This took place just outside of San Antonio,
Speaker 1: and of course Texas is voting today on this primary
Speaker 1: day with runoffs that will be pivotal in some cases.
Speaker 1: Here was an incumbency on the line not far from
Speaker 1: where this happened. We'll have a conversation next with Elections
Speaker 1: reporter Greg Duro. We're all also going to reassemble the panel.
Speaker 1: Rick and Jenier with us to help make sense of
Speaker 1: this as the news comes in. We're learning more as
Speaker 1: we go through the hour. We got the latest information
Speaker 1: from the governor Texas. Governor Greg Abbott want you to
Speaker 1: hear this in his words, Uh, an eighteen year old
Speaker 1: mal who resided in Uvaldy is believed that he abandoned
Speaker 1: his vehicle and entered into the rob Elementary School in
Speaker 1: New Valley with with a handgun, and he may also
Speaker 1: had a rifle, but that is not yet confirmed. According
Speaker 1: to my most recent report, UH, he shot and killed horrifically,
Speaker 1: incomprehensibly UH fourteen students UH and killed a teacher. UH.
Speaker 1: Mr Romos the shooter UH he is he Uh he
Speaker 1: himself is deceased. UH and is believed that responding officers
Speaker 1: killed him. It appears that two responding officers were struck
Speaker 1: by rounds but have no serious injuries. UH. The Uvality
Speaker 1: Consolidity Independent School District Police Department is the investigating agency
Speaker 1: and we will provide them and the City of u
Speaker 1: Vality substantial investigative and patrol assistance when the process of
Speaker 1: obtaining detail to background information on the subject, and of
Speaker 1: course we'll bring to you more as soon as we do.
Speaker 1: That's Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaking just moments ago with
Speaker 1: reporters about this, giving us the latest news. And it's
Speaker 1: terrible if you're just joining us. Another terrible school shooting,
Speaker 1: this time in elementary school in Texas, Greg Abbott. By
Speaker 1: the way, the governor is currently scheduled to speak at
Speaker 1: an n r A conference this week in Houston, Texas,
Speaker 1: at which Donald Trump will be the headline speaker. And
Speaker 1: of course, look, that's a point of pride for Texas Republicans.
Speaker 1: Brian Kemp. If we can move to Georgia here for
Speaker 1: a second. Also, one of the biggest endorsements that he
Speaker 1: was promoting for himself was that of the n r A.
Speaker 1: I mentioned this because of course he's in his primary
Speaker 1: today and in Georgia they're voting in both states. Brian
Speaker 1: camp talked about it just a couple of days ago
Speaker 1: here in his effort to keep the job, which it
Speaker 1: appears he will do with a commanding lead over former
Speaker 1: Senator David Purdue. Here he is as George's governor. I've
Speaker 1: been grateful for their support and partnership, and as a
Speaker 1: gun owner in life long member, I'm proud to receive
Speaker 1: their endorsement as we continue to fight every day for
Speaker 1: the constitutional right of all of Jordan's let's bringing Greg Darrow.
Speaker 1: He's been covering the campaign trail UH with abandoned this
Speaker 1: primary season and if you want to know what's happening
Speaker 1: today in a series of states, it's not just the
Speaker 1: three primaries got runoffs in Texas always breaking it down
Speaker 1: by congressional district with great context. Bloomberg Elections reporter Greg Jarrow,
Speaker 1: Thanks for being here. Greg. We didn't think we'd be
Speaker 1: talking about this, but it is important to note that
Speaker 1: this is a major issue here. There are a couple
Speaker 1: of them tied into this in the midterm election cycle.
Speaker 1: Crime as a potential liability for Democrats, but also access
Speaker 1: to guns. There's nothing more effective than wrapping yourself in
Speaker 1: an n R A indorsement as a Republican candidate. But
Speaker 1: where does that lead the greater conversation about public safety?
Speaker 1: That's a good question. Can and get another terrible tragedy
Speaker 1: and other mass shooting and the fact that it was
Speaker 1: at an elementary school just makes it sadly reminiscent of Newtown.
Speaker 1: It seems like it just seems like every time this happens,
Speaker 1: every time we have a mass shooting, all two common
Speaker 1: in our country that you know, it does reignite conversation
Speaker 1: about access to guns and who should have them, but ultimately,
Speaker 1: you know, nothing really happens in legislatures. So I'm I'm
Speaker 1: sure we'll go through this cycle again where it will
Speaker 1: be um, you know, I think recovering from the tragedy. Um.
Speaker 1: But I'm just not sure that it's going to lead
Speaker 1: to any real policy changes. Well, and why would you
Speaker 1: It's never happened if Newtown wouldn't do it. These numbers
Speaker 1: are not as great, and it's a very different political
Speaker 1: climate now. I wonder, though, is you consider the way
Speaker 1: the debate has changed, the conversation has changed on the
Speaker 1: campaign trail within the cycle here Greg we added Roe v.
Speaker 1: Wade a couple of weeks go. We're bringing public safety
Speaker 1: back again here in a big way. We have the
Speaker 1: shootings in New York. Now this, uh, you can't predict.
Speaker 1: It's just a reminder that you cannot predict what is
Speaker 1: going to decide elections. This could balloon into something much
Speaker 1: bigger between now and November. Yes, I think that's right.
Speaker 1: I mean, typically we've got you know, three or four
Speaker 1: major issues that tend to decide elections of the economy
Speaker 1: and jobs. Inflation is really spiked up, um. But you know,
Speaker 1: public safety I think is certainly um an issue that
Speaker 1: has gotten a lot more attention. We are about mass shootings,
Speaker 1: but also attacks on public transit areas like New York
Speaker 1: City and other another jurisdiction. So I think this will
Speaker 1: be certainly a recurring issue and one that will may
Speaker 1: get more attention than otherwise would another election years. This
Speaker 1: took place in Valdi taxes, if I'm saying it right Valdi,
Speaker 1: I think is what I want to say. That congressional
Speaker 1: district is adjacent, I believe, to the one where Henry
Speaker 1: Quare is fighting for his life, going from that kind
Speaker 1: of San Antonio area down to the border. Can can
Speaker 1: we assume that there was voting happening in this area? Right? Yeah?
Speaker 1: So you've all day is about eighty miles west of
Speaker 1: San Antonio, which is a major population center for the
Speaker 1: district where Congressman Henry Choire is in a tough runoff.
Speaker 1: Election against Jessica Cisneros. Most of the vote in Texas
Speaker 1: has cast earlier absentee, but there's still you know a
Speaker 1: number of people in that district runs from San Antonio,
Speaker 1: sub little radio that are certainly still voting. Voting goes
Speaker 1: on until eight o'clock Washington time, and so um. Certainly,
Speaker 1: once news is filtering out, it's going to be weighing
Speaker 1: on the minds of people as they go to the polls.
Speaker 1: This historically, Greg, before you leave us, do issues like
Speaker 1: gun control? Does the issue of gun control change minds
Speaker 1: or galvanize existing opinions When we have a story like this,
Speaker 1: I think it's more of the ladder. I mean, there
Speaker 1: are you look at public opinion polls and you know,
Speaker 1: you see an overwhelming majority of people who support background
Speaker 1: checks for for guns. But it's not a singular voting issue,
Speaker 1: at least not for people on the majority side. But
Speaker 1: it tends to be um an issue that the more
Speaker 1: single issue voters are those who probably more on the
Speaker 1: n r A side than on those who support stronger
Speaker 1: restrictions on gun ownership. Thanks for being with us as always,
Speaker 1: Greg Dree, Elections reporter with Bloomberg Governments. This is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg. You sound on with Joe Matthew
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Radio. The Fastest Hour in Politics takes a
Speaker 1: bit of a turn here with the horrible news. Charlie
Speaker 1: was just talking about as we try to understand some
Speaker 1: of the issues that could come from this, particularly in
Speaker 1: a midterm election season. I just saw a tweet from
Speaker 1: Representative Henry Quare, who, as we discussed a few moments
Speaker 1: ago with Greg Darrow, is up for very important primary today.
Speaker 1: Is incumbent see is on the line. This is a
Speaker 1: neighboring congressional districts that stretches from San Antonio to the
Speaker 1: Rio Grand Henry Quay are the last, the last pro
Speaker 1: life Democrat in the U. S. House. He tweets, I
Speaker 1: am heartbroken over the mass shooting at rob Elementary School.
Speaker 1: Fifteen families, the South Texas community, and the entire nation
Speaker 1: are in mourning. Let us pray for peace, Let us
Speaker 1: come together, he writes, for our neighbors that need support,
Speaker 1: and let us remember the bright lives we lost today.
Speaker 1: He's up against a more progressive Democrat named Jessica says Narros,
Speaker 1: who happens to be celebrating a twenty nine birthday on
Speaker 1: this primary day. As we reassemble the panel. Rick and
Speaker 1: Jeanie have been with us from the beginning here as
Speaker 1: we first learned about this UH at the beginning of
Speaker 1: the program Bloomberg Politics contributors. When you hear a statement
Speaker 1: like that Rick on a on a primary day, is
Speaker 1: it too much to connect the dots between a story
Speaker 1: like this? Do Does this motivate people to vote, not
Speaker 1: one way or the other, but to just have a
Speaker 1: say in the process today? Yeah, sure. I think these
Speaker 1: are the kinds of issues that galvanize the public around
Speaker 1: being more active in politics. They want to they want
Speaker 1: to have an impact in their community. They want to
Speaker 1: see change, UH and many times it's because they don't
Speaker 1: see the change coming from their elected officials, and so
Speaker 1: they do become more active. Today is actually certainly a
Speaker 1: good day in regards to what we're seeing as far
Speaker 1: as public participation in elections. Massive increases in voting in
Speaker 1: in Georgia, even after arguments were made on the Democratic
Speaker 1: side that the new laws would UH stifle voting. New
Speaker 1: early voting laws that that caused such concern two years
Speaker 1: ago are are producing the greatest um off your election
Speaker 1: turn out that they've ever seen. So with regard to
Speaker 1: the shooting though, Rick and And as a Republican specifically,
Speaker 1: you know the talking points here. Republicans say Democrats relied
Speaker 1: on crime, Democrats say Republicans are irresponsible when it comes
Speaker 1: to guns. How do you win that argument? It's it's
Speaker 1: a game of tic tac toe have as we've proven. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's part of the polarization that we have, not
Speaker 1: just with people's ideology but also UM on on issues
Speaker 1: like this, where if that's the only way you frame
Speaker 1: the debate, then you're never going to find a solution
Speaker 1: to that debate. And UH, twenty years ago, UH, this summer,
Speaker 1: I produced a television commercial that John McCain started in
Speaker 1: that we aired in movie theaters all around the country
Speaker 1: that encouraged parents to lock away their guns now that
Speaker 1: their children were going to be home for this for
Speaker 1: school after school, so that we could create more gun safety,
Speaker 1: something simple that nobody could argue with. Uh. And it
Speaker 1: was the first time a advocacy UM commercial was shown
Speaker 1: in movie theaters. Now that's pretty much all you see.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, what we found
Speaker 1: places where we could get people of the people agree that,
Speaker 1: of course that's an important thing to have a gun
Speaker 1: lock on your gun at home if your kids are
Speaker 1: going to be home for summer. Is that a commercial
Speaker 1: Republican could make today, Jeanie, It is, and they should
Speaker 1: be making it. You know. Unfortunately, what we're looking at
Speaker 1: today is you know, Rick's talking about twenty years ago,
Speaker 1: but let's just look at the numbers. Since two thousand,
Speaker 1: gun production in the United States has tripled. This includes huge,
Speaker 1: huge numbers of these ghost guns, these privately manufactured guns.
Speaker 1: And the report just out the other day by the
Speaker 1: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms showed that rise to
Speaker 1: eleven point three million in three point nine million. So
Speaker 1: we've had both a rise in horrific math shootings and unfortunately,
Speaker 1: you've all day is going to be added to that
Speaker 1: horrible list Columbine, Newtown, Buffalo. It just keeps adding up.
Speaker 1: And yet at the same time you've seen this rise
Speaker 1: in manufacturing, this rise and purchase and there is no
Speaker 1: effort at the federal level to address this. And Rick's
Speaker 1: talking about a common sense approach. There's a many ideas
Speaker 1: out there, and yet they cannot push it through a U. S.
Speaker 1: Senate at this point that has a filibuster, and that's
Speaker 1: the reality of the situation. So all of the action
Speaker 1: that's happened, and action has happened, has been at the
Speaker 1: state and local level, at the hands of organizations and
Speaker 1: people who have gotten animated on this issue. But it's
Speaker 1: not enough because guns go over state lines. This is
Speaker 1: starting to come through Washington now. People are are learning
Speaker 1: about this, and it's actually Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat from Connecticut,
Speaker 1: speaking about it emotionally on the Senate floor. Listen to
Speaker 1: him for a moment. What are we doing? Why do
Speaker 1: you spend all this time running for the United State Senate?
Speaker 1: Why do you go through all the hassle of getting
Speaker 1: this job, of putting yourself in a position of authority.
Speaker 1: If your answer is that as this slaughter increases, as
Speaker 1: our kids run for their lives, we do nothing. What
Speaker 1: are we doing? Why are you here? These are questions
Speaker 1: Rick that probably deserve answers. Uh, but I'm not sure
Speaker 1: we're going to get any You understand, of course, why
Speaker 1: this country is so jated. You have never seen progress
Speaker 1: on this Yeah, and uh, and and and it's partially
Speaker 1: because of the rhetoric that are our lawmakers take where
Speaker 1: they they insulate themselves by creating an action forcing event
Speaker 1: that nothing can happen, and it would actually be a
Speaker 1: good signal, you know. And this is this is actually
Speaker 1: something I think American public would expect and and it
Speaker 1: doesn't cost anybody anything for the congressional leadership, both Republican
Speaker 1: and Democrat UH to get together and have a summit
Speaker 1: on this to find out ways that we can bridge
Speaker 1: some of these gaps. No guarantees that there's any outcome.
Speaker 1: In fact, arguably, um, maybe there won't be. But but
Speaker 1: it's a shared problem, right. It's one of those things
Speaker 1: that that both Republicans and Democrats in powerful positions, as
Speaker 1: as Senator Murphy says, who's got a sworn obligation to
Speaker 1: protect the country, UH, could get together and have a
Speaker 1: conversation about this where where at least they're talking about it.
Speaker 1: I mean, like part of this is that this is
Speaker 1: not even a dialogue anymore. Nobody wants to talk about
Speaker 1: it because they feel like some demagogue is going to
Speaker 1: argue with them. Uh. It will be interesting to see
Speaker 1: how some of the other leaders and and you know,
Speaker 1: we talked about Donald Trump all the time, someone who
Speaker 1: has used the gun issue as a way to divide
Speaker 1: the public, both along economic lines and geographic lines. Um,
Speaker 1: you know what he says today, because it's it's it's
Speaker 1: up to people who are seen as leaders to start
Speaker 1: answering some of these questions, which is, what are we
Speaker 1: going to do about this? Sometimes you don't get a statement,
Speaker 1: which is always interesting with the decisions coming out of
Speaker 1: the Trump camp here. But Jennie, this is why the
Speaker 1: vitriol is such a problem. Right, Look, if you have
Speaker 1: no relationships with people across the aisle, whether you're the
Speaker 1: Biden administration or the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill, how
Speaker 1: are you going to get together on this? If you
Speaker 1: can't figure out baby formula without attacking each other, how
Speaker 1: are you going to deal with something so important and
Speaker 1: so tragic today? It's stunning because again, this is something
Speaker 1: that massive majorities of Americans agree on. You know, you know,
Speaker 1: people do have a strong affinity for Second Amendment rights.
Speaker 1: They believe that people should be allowed to own and
Speaker 1: purchase guns, but they also believe that there should be
Speaker 1: limits to that, and that has been you know, common
Speaker 1: Son's gun control. As we like to say is not
Speaker 1: not something that is looked down at by the vast majorities.
Speaker 1: In fact, they support it. And you know, I would
Speaker 1: just go back to there was a time when kids
Speaker 1: in this country in school, we're preparing for a nuclear attack.
Speaker 1: You know what our kids are preparing for today. Just
Speaker 1: what happened. And you've you've all the we all know it.
Speaker 1: They all go through these lockdown drills. They all know
Speaker 1: what to do if this happens. That is a sad
Speaker 1: commentary on where we are. And by the way, you know,
Speaker 1: as a New Yorker, I will just say we are
Speaker 1: waiting not just for a Supreme Court decision on abortion
Speaker 1: and row, but also on New York State's tougher gun
Speaker 1: control law that is going to be decided by the
Speaker 1: Supreme Court any day now. So there are decisions being
Speaker 1: made at this moment in all areas of the federal level,
Speaker 1: and in the Supreme Court case, we suspect that they
Speaker 1: will likely overturn this New York law. So the federal
Speaker 1: government is taking exactly the wrong approach when it comes
Speaker 1: to making all of us and our kids safe in
Speaker 1: their schools. Well, I know that this is you're coming
Speaker 1: from academia, uh, in in your tenure now, and I
Speaker 1: own a college, Genie, I know this really hits home
Speaker 1: for you as a parent. Any of our our our
Speaker 1: parent listeners know what this means. I can remember the
Speaker 1: first time I got that email from school letting me
Speaker 1: know that they had an active shooter drill, and and
Speaker 1: I remember hearing about this from my child, how they
Speaker 1: hate in the corner while the bad man was going
Speaker 1: down the hall. That kind of stuff is that that's
Speaker 1: that's just sad to think about your kid going through that,
Speaker 1: And it's something that the President is going to need
Speaker 1: to get to Tonight. We just learned, by the way,
Speaker 1: from the White House eight p m. Washington time, the
Speaker 1: President will deliver remarks on what happened today in Texas.
Speaker 1: You can expect to hear his remarks right here on Bloomberg. Rick,
Speaker 1: thank you for the insights today, Jennie, thank you too.
Speaker 1: These things are not easy to talk about, but we're
Speaker 1: awfully lucky. I am, and just like to to be
Speaker 1: surrounded by some of the smartest people, not just smart though,
Speaker 1: great human beings soof helped us get through some tough
Speaker 1: stuff this year. We got another one today and we'll
Speaker 1: have the latest for you ahead on the situation in Texas.
Speaker 1: Meet you back here tomorrow. I'm Joe Matthew. This is
Speaker 1: Bloomberg