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Speaker 3: It's three up and three down for Jim Jordan. Welcome
Speaker 3: to the fastest show in politics, as the Republican from
Speaker 3: Ohio fails by his widest margin yet in the race
Speaker 3: for Speaker of the House. We could be in for
Speaker 3: a long weekend, and we'll bring you up to date
Speaker 3: in just a moment with the latest from Capitol Hill,
Speaker 3: and we'll have a conversation with Congressman Dan Kilde, the
Speaker 3: Democrat is fresh off the floor in the middle of
Speaker 3: all this and with us here on sound On for
Speaker 3: his take on this day after President Biden's Oval Office
Speaker 3: address on Israel and Ukraine. We have analysis from our
Speaker 3: signature panel Bloomberg Politics contributors Rick Davis and Genie Shanzano
Speaker 3: are with us for the hour. So let's get to
Speaker 3: it now. After a third round of voting, it just
Speaker 3: wrapped up a short time ago. Jim Jordan falls short again.
Speaker 4: That's by surname.
Speaker 5: A speaker has not been elected pursuing to Clause twelve
Speaker 5: A of Rule one, the Chair declares the House and
Speaker 5: recess subject with the call of the Chair.
Speaker 3: There you have it, Like I said, three up and
Speaker 3: three down. This time he did lose more votes than
Speaker 3: he has yet, having started with twenty than it was
Speaker 3: twenty two, now it's twenty five. The question is will
Speaker 3: he continue, and it sure sounds like it, having been
Speaker 3: asked in a news conference this morning, if he plans
Speaker 3: to grind through the weekend.
Speaker 5: Here's Jim Well, y'all said that we're going to live
Speaker 5: between the first one and the second vote. You all
Speaker 5: said we're going to lose ten to fifteen votes. We
Speaker 5: stayed the same. We picked up a few, we lost
Speaker 5: a few. I think the ones we lost can come back.
Speaker 5: So look, there's been multiple rounds of votes for speaker before.
Speaker 3: We all know that.
Speaker 5: I just know that we need to get a speaker
Speaker 5: as soon as possible so we can get to work
Speaker 5: for the American people.
Speaker 3: All right, let's bring in Meghan Scully, Bloomberg Congress team leader,
Speaker 3: who is been an awfully busy person these past couple
Speaker 3: of days. Megan, it's good to see you, and thanks
Speaker 3: for making time for us here on sound on. Is
Speaker 3: that what we're thinking now, that we're going to keep
Speaker 3: grinding through the next three four days, however long it takes,
Speaker 3: he pointed in that answer to Kevin McCarthy, of course
Speaker 3: took fifteen rounds.
Speaker 6: Yes, So right now, Republicans are huddling in a large
Speaker 6: room in the Capital behind closed doors, trying to figure
Speaker 6: out exactly the answer to that question.
Speaker 2: What's next.
Speaker 6: Do we give Jim Jordan another go? Do we stick
Speaker 6: in through the weekend. There's some serious concerns members are airing,
Speaker 6: particularly Republican members, that they aren't going to have lawmakers
Speaker 6: here this weekend, that many have family and other obligations
Speaker 6: and they want to get out of here, especially if
Speaker 6: it means staying in for more failed rounds of Jim Jordan.
Speaker 3: Does that mean we're going to have attendance issues this
Speaker 3: weekend that could potentially change the math for him.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, So one Republican I was just talking to
Speaker 6: reporters outside the House chamber suggested that now I don't
Speaker 6: think this would happen. I think that Patrick McHenry, the
Speaker 6: acting Speaker, is probably too he's too politically astute for this.
Speaker 6: But if Republicans didn't show up in numbers. There's certainly
Speaker 6: the possibility that the Democratic leader Hakim Jeffries could become
Speaker 6: Speaker of the House. Again, I don't think that's going
Speaker 6: to happen. They would not hold a vote if they
Speaker 6: felt like they had such an attendance issue. But that's
Speaker 6: just kind of encapsulates the absurdity of where we are
Speaker 6: right now.
Speaker 3: Well, gosh, I've been hearing that word from time to time. Megan,
Speaker 3: thank you. It's great to see you, and we appreciate
Speaker 3: your analysis here on this Friday that saw a third
Speaker 3: failed vote for Jim Jordan. And we bring in the
Speaker 3: congressman from Michigan, Dan Kildey. The Democrat, of course, is
Speaker 3: with us because he's not in that Republican conference meeting,
Speaker 3: and it's good to see you. Representative kilde Welcome back
Speaker 3: to Bloomberg. Can you just for starters, give us a
Speaker 3: sense of what it was like to be on the
Speaker 3: floor for this. I heard a lot of Democrats start
Speaker 3: laughing when Kevin McCarthy introduced Jim Jordan as an effective legislator.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, Jim Jordan is a lot of things,
Speaker 4: but he's not known as a legislator that's been able
Speaker 4: to produce legislative results. There are different kinds of members
Speaker 4: of Congress here. We have them on both sides of
Speaker 4: the oul. To be honest with you, we got folks
Speaker 4: who you know, put their head down, get the work done,
Speaker 4: deliver actual legislation that positively affects the lives of the
Speaker 4: American people. And then we've got people who make a
Speaker 4: lot of noise and make a lot of clamor. And
Speaker 4: you know, I've been in Congress eleven years. Jim Jordan's
Speaker 4: been in the latter category the whole time, and so
Speaker 4: you know, I just think he has seen his role
Speaker 4: as being a different role and is not considered to
Speaker 4: be one of those real legislative achievers.
Speaker 3: Well, so where do you think we're going. I know
Speaker 3: that you're not inside the Republican conference, but you've been
Speaker 3: doing this for a minute. The conventional wisdom in Washington
Speaker 3: is that Jim Jordan loses more votes with each round.
Speaker 3: How many can he affec before this is done and
Speaker 3: we're onto another name.
Speaker 4: Well, he's going in the wrong direction. He's losing votes
Speaker 4: every time. And you know this is not without consequence.
Speaker 4: The American people have needs that ought to be met.
Speaker 4: We have global challenges that need to be met. So
Speaker 4: while this looks like a struggle sort of a civil
Speaker 4: war within the Republican Party, it's not without a consequence.
Speaker 4: We need to take action. We need to make sure
Speaker 4: that we secure a spending plan, there's a bipartisan plan
Speaker 4: so that the needs of the American people are being met.
Speaker 4: If we don't do that because of this civil war
Speaker 4: within the Republican Party, there's a consequence of the American people.
Speaker 4: I only say that because very often it looks a
Speaker 4: lot like palace intrigue. This is a real serious issue
Speaker 4: that could affect Americans in a really negative way.
Speaker 3: Freeze, Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 4: Now, I was gonna say my view is the same
Speaker 4: view that we offered when Speaker McCarthy was facing the
Speaker 4: motion to vacate. We want to see a bipartisan path forward.
Speaker 4: We have very narrow margins in the House, we have
Speaker 4: divided government. We offered a Speaker McCarthy when he was
Speaker 4: Speaker facing the motion of a Kate a bipartisan path forward.
Speaker 4: He said no, that he had it covered. We now
Speaker 4: are offering the same thing to our Republican colleagues. Let's
Speaker 4: we know they're in the majority and they're going to
Speaker 4: name a Republican speaker. We're not fooling ourselves in that regard.
Speaker 4: But that doesn't mean we can't come together to get
Speaker 4: I don't I'm certainly not Jim Jordan. He's the least
Speaker 4: bipartisan member of Congress that I know. But we can
Speaker 4: come together, even if it's to make the Speaker pro
Speaker 4: Tem McHenry the Speaker ProTem for a fixed period of
Speaker 4: time so that we can get the business of the
Speaker 4: American people done. I'm open to that.
Speaker 3: Your leader, Hakim Jeffreys called Jim Jordan a clear and
Speaker 3: present danger in a conversation with reporters in the hallways
Speaker 3: earlier today, and Jim Jordan, I'm not sure exactly what
Speaker 3: he meant by that. You can weigh in on it,
Speaker 3: because there are questions about the role that he played
Speaker 3: on Anuary sixth and helping Donald Trump attempt to overturn
Speaker 3: the results of the twenty twenty election. Jim Jordan was
Speaker 3: asked about that at his news conference earlier today. This
Speaker 3: is his answer. I'd love to hear you respond to it. Congressman.
Speaker 3: Here's Jim Jordan.
Speaker 5: I think there were all kinds of problems with the
Speaker 5: twenty twenty election. I've been clear about that. My intention
Speaker 5: with in forwarding the email was an argument made by
Speaker 5: former Inspector General for Donald Rumsfeld, accomplish lawyer who laid
Speaker 5: out an argument from the Federalist papers I forwarded onto them.
Speaker 5: That was all it was.
Speaker 3: Congressman, did Democrats consider Jim Jordan to be an election denier?
Speaker 3: And if so, what would that mean if he became speaker?
Speaker 4: Well, he is an election denier. I mean, it was
Speaker 4: a cute answer that he gave when pressed on this question.
Speaker 4: He was intimately involved in supporting the effort to stop
Speaker 4: the election from being certified. He was actually quite proud
Speaker 4: of that until now being challenged on those statements. In
Speaker 4: the longer view of history, he looks foolish. But there's
Speaker 4: no denying, even by him at the time, that he
Speaker 4: was a part of the effort to stop the certification
Speaker 4: of the election. He was in conversation with former President
Speaker 4: Trump during that day on several occasions, and you know,
Speaker 4: the facts are just very clear in this regard. You know,
Speaker 4: I don't deny him the right to his opinion. He
Speaker 4: just needs to stick to the opinion that he had
Speaker 4: then that was a threat to the United States, that
Speaker 4: was a threat to our democracy. Jim Jordan was a
Speaker 4: part of it, and he can't deny it.
Speaker 3: I think he's going to drop out.
Speaker 4: I don't know. You know, some people around this town, again,
Speaker 4: this happens to be on both sides of the aisle.
Speaker 4: From time to time, some people fall in love with
Speaker 4: their noble defeats, or what they view as a noble defeat.
Speaker 4: Jim Jordan has not been a person who's ever gotten
Speaker 4: a lot of policy enacted. But he's often very critical
Speaker 4: of the policies that are enacted, and so he doesn't
Speaker 4: have a lot of experience with success around here, and
Speaker 4: so I don't know if he knows how to get there.
Speaker 4: I don't believe he does. He's going in the wrong direction.
Speaker 4: But I also don't know that he has it in
Speaker 4: him to drop out. But it shouldn't be up to him.
Speaker 4: There are plenty of reasonable people in that Republican conference,
Speaker 4: friends of mine, that I hope will finally come to
Speaker 4: him and say, Jim, it's done, it's over, We're going
Speaker 4: to move on.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, you're known for working across the aisle. I
Speaker 3: know that you have Republican friends, What do they tell
Speaker 3: you when guys like me are not around. You're obviously
Speaker 3: hearing I guess from centrist Maybe these are main street Republicans.
Speaker 3: What do they tell you about a potential path forward
Speaker 3: in which Democrats and Republicans might be able to work together.
Speaker 4: Well, we've actually had some pretty serious conversations between Democrats
Speaker 4: and Republicans on this possibility of empowering Speaker pro Tim
Speaker 4: McHenry for a month or two, just so that we
Speaker 4: can get the pressing business of the American people to
Speaker 4: the floor of the House and over to the President's desk,
Speaker 4: making sure we have a budget, dealing with the challenges
Speaker 4: in Israel and Palestine, dealing with what's going on.
Speaker 3: In conservative and say hell no to that, though right.
Speaker 4: They seem to, But you know what, they don't maybe
Speaker 4: get to call the shots all the time. We shouldn't
Speaker 4: have extreme members dictating the questions that come before Congress.
Speaker 4: When we have over three hundred members that have already
Speaker 4: once this year come together around a compromised budget plan.
Speaker 4: We got to just go back to those agreements and
Speaker 4: remind ourselves that while we have our differences, we can
Speaker 4: find common ground if we allow that common ground to
Speaker 4: be taken to the floor of the House. Right now,
Speaker 4: Republicans are preventing it.
Speaker 3: Spending time with Congressman Dan Kildey, who's with us live
Speaker 3: on Capitol Hill, and I'll remind everyone, Congressman that you
Speaker 3: serve on the Budget Committee, you serve on the Ways
Speaker 3: and Means Committee. In less than a month from now,
Speaker 3: this government is going to shut down unless something happens.
Speaker 3: Is Patrick McHenry the only way to avoid a shutdown
Speaker 3: at this point.
Speaker 4: I don't know if he's the only way, but he's
Speaker 4: a certain way. If we were to come to agreement
Speaker 4: to empower a speaker ro Tem McHenry to bring up
Speaker 4: the resolution that we enacted in a bipartisan fashion on
Speaker 4: May thirty one, we'd get I assume the same number
Speaker 4: of votes that we had in May this month, and
Speaker 4: that would stop a government shut down. So that's one way.
Speaker 4: If they've got another name they want to offer that,
Speaker 4: we'll be willing to bring up that bipartisan agreement. I
Speaker 4: think it would be good for the American people, and
Speaker 4: it would allow the Republican Conference to continue to have
Speaker 4: their argument about who should be their permanent speaker, but
Speaker 4: not hold the American people hostage in the process.
Speaker 3: If you're planning to work the weekend, what's the message
Speaker 3: that you're hearing.
Speaker 4: You know, I'll be here ready to vote. We don't
Speaker 4: know what the Republican leadership will do in their conference meeting.
Speaker 4: There's a chance they send us home and we come
Speaker 4: back Monday. My view is, let's get this done. Whatever
Speaker 4: the ultimate result is, let's get it done sooner rather
Speaker 4: than later.
Speaker 3: Glad you could join us as always. Congressman Dan Kildey,
Speaker 3: the Democrat from Michigan, Good to see you, and thanks
Speaker 3: for thanking the insights today on another wild day in Washington.
Speaker 3: If you're just joining us, Jim Jordan fails in round three,
Speaker 3: and we still do not have a Speaker of the
Speaker 3: House or apparently a path to get one. We assemble
Speaker 3: our panel now. Rick Davis, Bloomberg Politics contributor in Genie
Speaker 3: Shanzano with us on this Friday. I'm glad to say, Rick,
Speaker 3: here we are again. This is this is starting to
Speaker 3: feel like Groundhog Day. What does a third and bigger
Speaker 3: loss for Jim Jordan mean for any potential future rounds?
Speaker 7: Well, you know the difference in groundhog days. You learn
Speaker 7: along the way. They don't seem to be learning anything along.
Speaker 8: The way here.
Speaker 7: You know, it's just it's an exercise and stupidity. How
Speaker 7: many times you have to vote and keep losing votes
Speaker 7: to find out that you're not going to be the speaker.
Speaker 7: The Jordan thing is a real case study because it
Speaker 7: shows that it's more important for him to keep fighting
Speaker 7: than to actually accomplish anything. He's not going to be
Speaker 7: Speaker of the House of Representatives. It is not baked
Speaker 7: into the vote. I've spent a lot of time counting
Speaker 7: votes on Capitol Hill, and it's pretty obvious that the
Speaker 7: or he votes, the more he is going to ostracize
Speaker 7: himself in his own caucus. And so the fact is
Speaker 7: this meeting that's being held right now needs to result
Speaker 7: in some new ideas. Patrick McHenry isn't making it easy
Speaker 7: for people because he doesn't want to be speaker, and
Speaker 7: he's made it very clear. But you know, this may
Speaker 7: be draft day, and I think that at this stage
Speaker 7: Republican leaders, and he's one of them, need to salute
Speaker 7: and do what's right for the country and quit worrying
Speaker 7: about their own political ambitions.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: Genie Shanzo, Happy Friday. It feels a lot like Thursday,
Speaker 3: which felt like Wednesday. I guess my question here is,
Speaker 3: you know, look, it's Jim Jordan we're talking about. He's
Speaker 3: a wrestler. We've certainly heard a lot about that recently,
Speaker 3: and sometimes you have to get into that third or
Speaker 3: fourth round before you get the upper hand. Do you
Speaker 3: even see him having that bone in his body to
Speaker 3: back down?
Speaker 9: You know, I don't know how he is feeling and
Speaker 9: what he is thinking. He seems to be prodded on
Speaker 9: by members, and this to me is really a fight
Speaker 9: between something we have seen in the Republican Party writ large,
Speaker 9: which is the populist Maga Trump wing of the party
Speaker 9: versus the institutionalists. And the institutionalist I think many on
Speaker 9: the Trump side we're pretty confident we're going to cave,
Speaker 9: and that hasn't proven to be the case. They have
Speaker 9: stood strong and their numbers are slowly increasing as we
Speaker 9: look at this latest vote, and so Jim Jordan is
Speaker 9: going to have to realize that they need to find
Speaker 9: a consensus candidate. But you know, to me, what has
Speaker 9: been so striking is listening to and you mentioned this
Speaker 9: when you were talking to the representatives these nominating speeches
Speaker 9: are fascinating, you know, Kevin McCarthy calling Jim Jordan a
Speaker 9: legislator and getting a chuckle and a laugh, and then
Speaker 9: Kevin McCarthy suggesting that people who put their names on
Speaker 9: bills are somehow to be looked down upon. Well, if
Speaker 9: you're not signing bills and not passing legislation and not
Speaker 9: trying to do the number one job that you're elected
Speaker 9: to do, how is it that you can be thought
Speaker 9: of as a leader in this party. But that is
Speaker 9: what Kevin McCarthy was suggesting. So you know, between that
Speaker 9: and Tom Pulled the day before nominating Jim Jordan, and
Speaker 9: his basis renomination was Jim Jordan is going to attack
Speaker 9: social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. This is where they
Speaker 9: are and it is not a selling point for the
Speaker 9: party or for voters. So keep it up, guys. It
Speaker 9: is a losing proposition.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: I think maybe he will wrestle the entitlements to the ground.
Speaker 3: Genie Rick, the stories from inside the Republican Conference meeting.
Speaker 3: I can only imagine what's going on right now as
Speaker 3: we speak. Are wild people yelling at each other, f
Speaker 3: bombs being thrown? The Five Families kind of ganging up
Speaker 3: on each other. Matt Gates shouted down, told to sit
Speaker 3: when he stands. If it continue, we use to deteriorate
Speaker 3: like this. Where are we in a week or two
Speaker 3: from now when a shutdown appears more likely?
Speaker 8: Yeah?
Speaker 7: Look, I mean every day that there's not a speaker
Speaker 7: in that chair, a shutdown is one more day to
Speaker 7: being likely, probably less than twenty working days between now
Speaker 7: and when the shutdown would occur. It's panic time today, right,
Speaker 7: I mean, we don't have time to panic next week.
Speaker 7: We should be panicking today. In addition to that, the
Speaker 7: President just submitted a significant funding bill, you know, for
Speaker 7: our allies and distressed democracies around the world. That is
Speaker 7: incredibly important, and I would say almost as important as
Speaker 7: funding the federal government itself. Because without these kinds of
Speaker 7: funds flowing to these places, good democracies will go by
Speaker 7: the wayside. And so this group has to get off
Speaker 7: the pot and do something. And the reality is, you know,
Speaker 7: it only seems to get worse. I mean, now, the
Speaker 7: crazy Eights, the gang that threw McCarthy out of the
Speaker 7: chair for actually passing bills, is offering a willingness to
Speaker 7: be punished. They if the rest of the caucus just
Speaker 7: supports Jordan. That's the strangest offer I've ever heard in politics. Hey,
Speaker 7: we totally screwed up and we're.
Speaker 3: Willing to be part Davis. We've got more of our
Speaker 3: panel coming up next. This is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound on podcast. Catch the
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Speaker 3: We've got a red headline on the terminal about Israel,
Speaker 3: and it is not the ground invasion. Quite the contrary.
Speaker 3: I read US presses Israel to delay Gaza invasion to
Speaker 3: win hostage release. Did you see the President last night?
Speaker 3: Did you listen on Bloomberg TV or radio? Joe Biden
Speaker 3: from the Oval Office, only the second time he's used
Speaker 3: the Oval Office as a venue to reach into Americans' homes,
Speaker 3: went live at eight pm Washington time, and he spoke
Speaker 3: to the cause behind not only funding Israel, but also Ukraine.
Speaker 10: Not earlier this morning, I returned from Israel. They tell
Speaker 10: me I'm the first American president to travel there during
Speaker 10: the war. I met with the Prime Minister and members
Speaker 10: of his cabinet, and most movingly, I met with Israelis
Speaker 10: who had personally lived through horrific car of the attack
Speaker 10: by Hamas on the seventh of October. More than one
Speaker 10: three hundred people slaughtered in Israel, including at least thirty
Speaker 10: two American citizens, scores of innocence, from infants to the
Speaker 10: elderly grandparents. Israelis Americans taken hosta as. I told the
Speaker 10: families of Americans being held captive by a Mons, We're
Speaker 10: pursuing every avenue to bring their loved ones.
Speaker 3: Home, which brings us to the supplemental buzzet request that
Speaker 3: will apparently amount to one hundred billion dollars. The President
Speaker 3: did detail some of that last night. We've done more
Speaker 3: reporting on how it breaks down, with a good chunk
Speaker 3: of that sixty billion of it for Ukraine. Now, there
Speaker 3: was a lot of reporting here. As we bring our
Speaker 3: panel back in, Rick Davis and Genie Shanzano are with us.
Speaker 3: There was reporting that this invasion could come at any
Speaker 3: point following the President's visit. It is not begun yet,
Speaker 3: And Genie, I wonder your thoughts on whether you think
Speaker 3: it will actually happen. What are they waiting for? Is
Speaker 3: this about rescuing hostages or is it more than that?
Speaker 9: You know, first of all, such good news to hear
Speaker 9: that there's this potential hostage release. I think this is
Speaker 9: what everybody has been hoping for and praying for. So
Speaker 9: provided those accounts are true, that is very good news.
Speaker 5: All.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we should detail that, Genie. That's the other most
Speaker 3: important headline is that Hamas says it released two US
Speaker 3: citizens on humanitarian grounds, but there are still dozens left. Genie,
Speaker 3: what's your thaw that?
Speaker 9: Yeah, hundreds, I mean over one hundred, one hundred and
Speaker 9: fifty potentially that we hear, So, you know, I think
Speaker 9: it this is the fine line that we've heard the
Speaker 9: president in the administration walking for some time. And you know,
Speaker 9: it was stunning to see a US president sitting in
Speaker 9: the war cabinet of another country. I mean, if you
Speaker 9: had told me a week ago, two weeks ago that
Speaker 9: we would ever see that, that was a stunning development.
Speaker 9: And you know, we are looking at a government in
Speaker 9: Israel which has not just a Benjamin Nettan Yahoo. But
Speaker 9: this council, this war council, made up of three and
Speaker 9: what we do here is there has been some division
Speaker 9: amongst those three of when and how to go in.
Speaker 9: One of those divisions being do you go into Gaza
Speaker 9: as a one front of war or do you go
Speaker 9: in as a two front to try to head off
Speaker 9: some attack from the north by Hesbealah and others. And
Speaker 9: then of course this question of how extensive the invasion is,
Speaker 9: and now as you couple that with the US asking
Speaker 9: them to put it off when they go in, so
Speaker 9: a lot of questions unanswered. I do think we get
Speaker 9: a ground invasion, but I don't think we can say
Speaker 9: right now whether that is going to be at two front,
Speaker 9: one front, extensive or more limited. But if their goal
Speaker 9: is to wipe Hamas out, how can they do that
Speaker 9: in a limited invasion on the ground. Very very difficult
Speaker 9: to imagine that being accomplished. And you know, that's really
Speaker 9: what we are left with, and that's why they are
Speaker 9: hearing mixed messages from the rest of the world on this.
Speaker 3: President said a short time ago at the White House
Speaker 3: Rick that within twenty four to forty eight hours, the
Speaker 3: first aid will be en route to Gaza. I've been
Speaker 3: asking which will happen first, Will the AID arrive or
Speaker 3: will the ground invasion begin? What do you think?
Speaker 8: You know?
Speaker 7: I think it's disconnected. I don't think that the Israeli
Speaker 7: military are considering the release of AID as a prerequisite or.
Speaker 8: Not.
Speaker 7: They have their own goals and objectives militarily that are
Speaker 7: focus on the northern part of Gaza. That is not
Speaker 7: where the AID is going to come in. A lot
Speaker 7: of good agencies are working hard to bring AID in.
Speaker 7: You and I think those two things are relatively disconnected.
Speaker 7: I do not think that the hostage situation is disconnected
Speaker 7: from the pause of military activity going into Gaza. Obviously,
Speaker 7: everyone's top priority of the US and Israel is to
Speaker 7: get their hostages out, and the fact that Cutter is
Speaker 7: playing a constructive role in trying to facilitate that. We
Speaker 7: have to remind ourselves that the entire political leadership of
Speaker 7: Hamas is in Doha Cutter. It's where they live and
Speaker 7: where they operates. A Faucian bargain that these things are
Speaker 7: allowed to happen because then we need the cutteries when
Speaker 7: this kind of thing happened. So the reality is that
Speaker 7: we hope that this solves some of that problem, and
Speaker 7: then Israel will make whatever military decisions that are in
Speaker 7: their best interests.
Speaker 3: Yeah, apparently it was a mother and her daughter released
Speaker 3: with the help of to your point, Rick Cutter, which
Speaker 3: helped to negotiate the release of these hostages. Bloomberg says
Speaker 3: it was not immediately possible to verify claims by Hamas
Speaker 3: or identify the two Americans, So I suspect that we'll
Speaker 3: be learning a lot more about this. You've got to
Speaker 3: take that as good news, I'm guessing, Genie, and I
Speaker 3: think you already made that reference. If hostile rescue operations
Speaker 3: are slowing a ground invasion, we call that progress.
Speaker 9: Right absolutely, and you know, you hope that this is
Speaker 9: a precursor of what is to come, that there is
Speaker 9: an agreement struck to get that humanitarian aid in to
Speaker 9: the degree it needs to be in safely, and then,
Speaker 9: of course, more importantly, those hostages released. And this is
Speaker 9: you know, sort of a one positive sign at a
Speaker 9: very very difficult moment. So absolutely good news. And I
Speaker 9: think you know, this is what the President has been
Speaker 9: talking about, is you know, trying to be circumspect and
Speaker 9: trying to keep the emotion out of it as much
Speaker 9: as possible and try to get these steps done of
Speaker 9: aid and the hostages released and this. So this, you know,
Speaker 9: is sort of building on what he said last night,
Speaker 9: But of course how Israel responds militarily, and of course
Speaker 9: what happens elsewhere. Let's not forget. We had the missile
Speaker 9: attack yesterday that the US struck down for the Huthis.
Speaker 9: We've had Hesboalah on the fringe. So all of those
Speaker 9: players and the proxies of Iran still out there, and
Speaker 9: how they respond to all of this is going to
Speaker 9: be critically important.
Speaker 3: It does feel different today than it did even yesterday.
Speaker 3: And in this case, another rapidly developing story, Rick, with
Speaker 3: reports of attacks on US military installations in Iraq and Syria,
Speaker 3: the fact that the US intercepted cruise missiles shot by
Speaker 3: a terrorist group in Yemen toward Israel. How concerned are
Speaker 3: you about this becoming a wider war?
Speaker 7: Well, I actually think it started as a wider war.
Speaker 7: You know, I thought it was naive that we spent
Speaker 7: a lot of time debating what Iran's role in all
Speaker 7: this was on the heels of the attack from Hamas
Speaker 7: into Israel. Look, I mean, Iran has been fomenting instability
Speaker 7: and violence in the region. Their malign influence is well
Speaker 7: documented and known. And all of these groups, the Hooties,
Speaker 7: the Hmas, the others, the Syrians, they all are funded,
Speaker 7: they are all equipped. Where do you think they get
Speaker 7: the missiles? You know, this is an Iran play to
Speaker 7: try and destabilize the region, the same way the Russians
Speaker 7: are doing in Europe and the Chinese are doing in Asia.
Speaker 7: These are axis of evil that that George Bush only
Speaker 7: dreamed of. I mean, this is this is what the
Speaker 7: speech that President Biden made.
Speaker 3: It's all about this. I want to hear from both
Speaker 3: of you about the President's address. We're going to do
Speaker 3: that next. And of course it all ties back into
Speaker 3: what's happening or not happening here in Washington. With a
Speaker 3: speakerless house, it doesn't matter what the president asks for.
Speaker 3: You can't get action on legislation unless someone has the gavel.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound on podcast. Catch us
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Speaker 3: It was only his second Oval Office address as President.
Speaker 3: Joe Biden last evening, taking to air at eight pm
Speaker 3: from behind the Resolute Desk to make the case for
Speaker 3: funding Israel and Ukraine, painting this as a very dangerous world.
Speaker 10: I know these conflicts can seem far away and snaps
Speaker 10: will ask why does this matter to America? So let
Speaker 10: me share with you why making sure Israel and Ukraine
Speaker 10: succeed is vital for America's national security. You know, history
Speaker 10: has taught us that when terrorists don't pay a price
Speaker 10: for their terror, when dictators don't pay a price for
Speaker 10: their aggression, they caused more chaos and death and more destruction.
Speaker 3: The president last evening in the Oval Office. He has
Speaker 3: since commented on the situation, as we mentioned, suggesting that
Speaker 3: humanitarian aid in the next twenty four to forty eight
Speaker 3: hours will be arrived in Gaza. Let's reassemble our panel's
Speaker 3: talk about this and a lot more. Genie Shanzano and
Speaker 3: Rick Davis are here on the Friday edition of Sound
Speaker 3: On Rick, what did you make of the speech itself,
Speaker 3: the writing of the speech, but also the delivery by
Speaker 3: this president.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I thought it was best best speech the president
Speaker 7: has given since his term of office. It was substantively
Speaker 7: exactly what the American people needed to hear that the
Speaker 7: world is a competitive place and there are those who
Speaker 7: want to undermine our values in our system of democracy
Speaker 7: around the world. He was able to use effectively. I
Speaker 7: thought Ukraine and Israel as two examples of what's happening
Speaker 7: around the world in that regard, but there are more,
Speaker 7: and he alluded to that with Taiwan and China, and frankly,
Speaker 7: there are.
Speaker 8: Even more than that.
Speaker 7: So I think he finally took it to the American people.
Speaker 7: I wish you'd done it on Ukraine earlier to help
Speaker 7: build American support for that, but I thought it was
Speaker 7: well done, and hopefully we'll result in a little stuff
Speaker 7: or backbone and some of the isolationists in Congress to
Speaker 7: get going and help support those countries that mean so
Speaker 7: much to us.
Speaker 3: Well, that's the question, Jeanie. Did the President change any
Speaker 3: minds last night, whether it was people watching at home
Speaker 3: or lawmakers in Washington.
Speaker 9: You know, he's sorry, Joe. He had an almost impossible
Speaker 9: task ahead of him, and the reality is is that
Speaker 9: when you were speaking to that many audiences and chriss
Speaker 9: crossing the world, the way he was trying to do.
Speaker 9: It was a very very difficult hill to climb. So
Speaker 9: I give him credit for coming out. I think he
Speaker 9: needs to do that more. But I put myself in
Speaker 9: the perspective of somebody who's not following this as closely
Speaker 9: as you do. Rick does and I do. And if
Speaker 9: you are sitting somewhere working all day, you come home,
Speaker 9: you turn on the TV, or you turn on Bloomberg Radio,
Speaker 9: you're listening. You're thinking, why is he talking about taking
Speaker 9: trains to Ukraine, flying in and out of Israel? You know,
Speaker 9: what does this have to do with me? I'm having
Speaker 9: trouble paying my marriage, all of these things. And so
Speaker 9: from that perspective, it was a difficult task and he
Speaker 9: did an okay job. Nothing against the president, but is
Speaker 9: it going to change minds in the US? Probably not
Speaker 9: when it pertains to funding of the level he's talking about.
Speaker 9: So I understand why he's asking for one hundred billion.
Speaker 9: He only needs. He can only do this once, given
Speaker 9: the state of Congress and facing an election year. But
Speaker 9: are you telling me that people sitting at home looked
Speaker 9: at that and said, yeah, that's right. Probably not, And
Speaker 9: that's the problem the president has.
Speaker 3: I think it's interesting he convinced the Republican here more
Speaker 3: than the Democrat. Rick. Does the Oval Office address have
Speaker 3: the same weight or impact that it once had now
Speaker 3: that we're not in a three network TV world anymore?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, you won't have had that many eyes
Speaker 7: on it last night, but the social media aspect of it,
Speaker 7: the chopping up of that speech and the complete saturation
Speaker 7: of that speech around the world, is.
Speaker 8: Going to have a big impact.
Speaker 3: We've got something cooking on Capitol Hill that I've got
Speaker 3: to bring the conversation back here, guys. This Republican conference
Speaker 3: meeting that's underway right now is apparently going to generate
Speaker 3: a vote on whether Jim Jordan, in fact, they're taking
Speaker 3: this vote now, whether Jim Jordan will remain the Republican
Speaker 3: nominee for speaker. If you're just catching up here, Jim
Speaker 3: Jordan law a third round of voting today and lost
Speaker 3: by the most he has yet. They then went behind
Speaker 3: closed doors, and it looks like we're going to have
Speaker 3: a sense here in the interim. Let's see if we
Speaker 3: get the votes counted and whether the results are accepted,
Speaker 3: where we may be without even a speaker designate. What
Speaker 3: kind of strategy is this, Rick, They're eating their own now.
Speaker 7: Yeah, this is phenomenal. If it weren't so important, it'd
Speaker 7: be entertaining an upper down vote on Jim Jordan. I mean,
Speaker 7: normally you would have somebody who would say, no, no,
Speaker 7: I'll contest this, I'll be I want to be the
Speaker 7: Republican nominee. But you don't even have anybody will stand
Speaker 7: up and say, hey, I want the job. So an
Speaker 7: upper down vote on Jordan will likely mean Jordan wins
Speaker 7: that vote. I mean, it's awful hard to lose majority
Speaker 7: vote when you've just gotten one hundred and ninety votes
Speaker 7: on the floor. So the reality is that it's just
Speaker 7: another way of toy spinning themselves up and hopefully I
Speaker 7: guess the Jordan folks think that'll give them some momentum.
Speaker 8: It makes no sense to me, Frankly.
Speaker 3: We'll let you know, of course, what we learn out
Speaker 3: of this. We're going to have to give us a minute.
Speaker 3: But Genie, I don't know if if Jim Jordan is
Speaker 3: not the speaker designated by the end of the day,
Speaker 3: here are we moving closer to a Patrick McHenry speakership
Speaker 3: or a Hockey and Jeffreys speakership.
Speaker 9: You know, yesterday I thought maybe Patrick McHenry, but the
Speaker 9: Republicans balked at that. I mean, this is the conference
Speaker 9: that just can't accept a yes and to move forward. So,
Speaker 9: you know, let's just also reflect on some of these
Speaker 9: horrific voicemails that we have been hearing that Republicans who
Speaker 9: voted against Jim Jordan have been getting and have been
Speaker 9: releasing and their spouses and their families threatening them in
Speaker 9: the worst language. And so this is where the conference is,
Speaker 9: and we understand that. Kevin McCarthy was just asked if
Speaker 9: it's a broken conference and he said, we're in a
Speaker 9: bad position or a bad place. Well, that's the under
Speaker 9: statement of the century. They are in a horrific place
Speaker 9: and there doesn't seem to be anyone to lead them
Speaker 9: out of it. And that is what we are seeing,
Speaker 9: and what an embarrassment for the party, And to Rick's point,
Speaker 9: it is a shame for us and the rest of
Speaker 9: the world because they have important business to do, so
Speaker 9: they've got to get behind somebody who can lead this conference.
Speaker 3: I'm glad you mentioned it because the death threats, the
Speaker 3: voicemails are horrifying and it might be the undoing of
Speaker 3: Jim Jordan, if it hasn't already been. Never mind the
Speaker 3: emails from Sean Hannity's producer, My god, you want to
Speaker 3: talk about pressure, Rick and Jeanie with us as we
Speaker 3: try to get to the bottom of this. It's happening
Speaker 3: as we speak on the hill. This is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound On podcast. Catch the
Speaker 1: program live weekdays at one Eastern on Bloomberg Radio, the
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Speaker 3: Welcome to our two of Bloomberg Sound On. I'm Joe
Speaker 3: Matthew alongside Kaylee Lines in Washington, where we have breaking news.
Speaker 3: I've said that just about every time I've come near
Speaker 3: a microphone today. Kaylee's just back from Capitol Hill. Thanks
Speaker 3: for making time as always, because we've now got a
Speaker 3: red headline on the terminal. It's not the first one
Speaker 3: that we've seen today in the speaker's race, but Jim
Speaker 3: Jordan is out.
Speaker 11: Yeah.
Speaker 12: Granted, when I was at the Capitol earlier. He had
Speaker 12: just lost his third vote attempting to get the speakers Gattle.
Speaker 12: Twenty five members of the Republican Conference voted against him.
Speaker 12: They all went into a room did another secret ballot
Speaker 12: to decide whether or not Jordan should remain the speaker
Speaker 12: designate for the Republican Conference, and they decided no. The
Speaker 12: margin Joe pretty large, one twelve to eighty six.
Speaker 3: That's a pretty loud result, and there's clearly no path
Speaker 3: for him. So everyone's going.
Speaker 12: Home again, Yeah, until Monday.
Speaker 3: That's a real headline too here right, all the members
Speaker 3: were told. So everyone's in a national airport as we speak.
Speaker 12: According to Congressman Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia, they're going
Speaker 12: to come back and at six thirty pm Monday night,
Speaker 12: they're going to have another candidate for him to try
Speaker 12: to pick someone else. So Kevin McCarthy's out. Steve Scalice
Speaker 12: tried and failed, and now Jim Jordan has tried and
Speaker 12: failed too. And we'll see what other names pop up
Speaker 12: over the weekend.
Speaker 3: Joe, this is like a game show. Now, this is survivor, yes,
Speaker 3: and no one can get off the island. Lie no,
Speaker 3: or maybe it's the opposite. We're Mike Rogers, Jody Errington,
Speaker 3: what Kevin Hearn? Are we down to sort of the
Speaker 3: third run? Now, well, that's a good point. Weeks ago
Speaker 3: Emmer was seen as a real contender and he hasn't
Speaker 3: gone near this thing because he's probably smarter than that.
Speaker 3: There are others in the leadership. I suppose does Steve
Speaker 3: Scalie come back around or Kevin is watching?
Speaker 12: Well, yeah, there's the McCarthy question as well, and there's
Speaker 12: that Mick. Then there's also the Mick Henry factors. I
Speaker 12: have to consider a number of members that were speaking
Speaker 12: to reporters on the steps of the Capitol earlier today,
Speaker 12: when asked about that idea that Patrick mcchenry could see
Speaker 12: his powers as pro tem expanded. A number of them
Speaker 12: said he could just run for speaker, that that would
Speaker 12: be the better path forward than expanding some feel as unconstitutional.
Speaker 12: I don't know that he wanted the job.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, maybe that might be just the way
Speaker 3: to get the job the way things are going here.
Speaker 3: But we'll keep you posted on this pretty remarkable day
Speaker 3: in Washington again. Jim Jordan no longer in the running.
Speaker 3: I suppose anything could happen, but I wouldn't hold your
Speaker 3: breath today as lawmakers pack up the office, locked the door,
Speaker 3: and head for the airport to go home. Now, this
Speaker 3: has consequences, of course, Kayley, as we've discussed getting closer
Speaker 3: to a November seventeen government shutdown. There's no kind of
Speaker 3: real path here. But also the President spoke to Americans
Speaker 3: from the Oval Office last evening to make the case
Speaker 3: for a one hundred billion dollar supplemental budget request for Israel,
Speaker 3: for Ukraine, Taiwan and border security here kind of a
Speaker 3: national security package, as he put it, which is worth
Speaker 3: nothing until there's a speaker.
Speaker 12: Well exactly, it can't be acted on. And we were
Speaker 12: speaking earlier with Congresswoman Nicole Mally talkas outside the Capitol,
Speaker 12: and she said funding for Israel is really important, but
Speaker 12: the longer the House goes on without a speaker, they
Speaker 12: lose their leverage to try to address these funding questions separately,
Speaker 12: specifically Ukraine, which we know is a huge problem for
Speaker 12: House Republicans. But to your point, Joe, whether they're addressing
Speaker 12: them separately or whether they are addressing them at all,
Speaker 12: need a speaker of.
Speaker 3: The House to do that. That's true, but we have
Speaker 3: to talk about what's going on in the Middle East
Speaker 3: today with headlines beyond funding, and it's important to talk
Speaker 3: about this after an Oval Office address, only the second
Speaker 3: one we've seen and heard from Joe Biden with news now.
Speaker 3: As we just mentioned, Hamas says it's released two American hostages.
Speaker 3: The White House is looking for some time here. They're
Speaker 3: urging Israel to delay a ground invasion so more hostages
Speaker 3: might be saved. And that's where we start our conversation
Speaker 3: with General Ben Hodges, former Commanding General US Army Europe
Speaker 3: back with us on Bloomberg. General, it's great to see
Speaker 3: you and thanks for your patients. As we grind through
Speaker 3: some breaking news here, we're getting it on both sides
Speaker 3: of the Atlantic today. What's your thought on this ask
Speaker 3: from the White House? Does it matter what the administration
Speaker 3: says and is it possible for Israel to balance a
Speaker 3: ground invasion along with the hostage rescue mission?
Speaker 11: Well, I think it was important that the President last night,
Speaker 11: first of all, spoke to the nation how important this
Speaker 11: is and to explain why this matters to all of us.
Speaker 11: But also I was impressed and glad to see him link.
Speaker 11: What's happening in Ukraine to what's happening in Israel. These
Speaker 11: are link I am sure because of the relationship between
Speaker 11: Putin and Iran, those are the two closest allies. Russia
Speaker 11: is benefiting from this Hamasa tack on Israel more than anybody.
Speaker 11: It distracts attention, resources, energy away from Ukraine, which of
Speaker 11: course is what the Kremlin needs. So the President, I
Speaker 11: think correctly, has linked these things and talks about us
Speaker 11: getting organized, working with allies. This is how we're going
Speaker 11: to defeat Russia, defeat Hamas, deterred to Iran and also
Speaker 11: to deter China from thinking that they could find opportunity
Speaker 11: and all of this as well well.
Speaker 12: And that's something we've repeatedly heard from the President and
Speaker 12: others in his administration, like Secretaries Austin and Blinked In. Basically,
Speaker 12: anyone trying to take advantage of this crisis, don't do it.
Speaker 12: How great do you think the risk is of that happening? Though,
Speaker 12: despite what the President says from the Oval Office, despite
Speaker 12: requests he made. As Joe and I were just discussing,
Speaker 12: it's going to be a while probably before Congress can
Speaker 12: actually act on this, and we're seeing a lot of
Speaker 12: division here at home that I'm sure they're paying attention
Speaker 12: to internationally.
Speaker 11: Well, Kaylie, you're right, our foreign policy depends a lot
Speaker 11: on having strong domestic policy and being unified at home.
Speaker 11: And so the President is doing what he should do,
Speaker 11: which is to try and galvanize American support, congressional support
Speaker 11: for or this these threats, all of which are against
Speaker 11: all the stuff, all the things that we care about,
Speaker 11: as well as for our allies. Now it is a
Speaker 11: major problem not having a functioning House of Representatives right now.
Speaker 11: This is a problem, and of course all of our
Speaker 11: adversaries can see this. That's why they've been going after
Speaker 11: our resilience as an American society for so long, to
Speaker 11: cause us to lose trust and confidence in our institutions.
Speaker 11: And so this chaos now in the House plays right
Speaker 11: into that. But I also think it's useful to point
Speaker 11: out that the Department of Offense has done what they
Speaker 11: should have done, which is to put the two carrier
Speaker 11: strike groups in the Eastern Mediterranean to do other things
Speaker 11: to These are prudent steps to convey to Iran. Do
Speaker 11: not make the terrible mistake of thinking that you could
Speaker 11: escalate this because they'll play a big price. And this
Speaker 11: is prudent planning by the Department of Defense.
Speaker 3: You talked to us about the invasion at hand. General,
Speaker 3: you have a better sense of this than most. The
Speaker 3: longer time goes by allows Hamas to reinforce its positions,
Speaker 3: hide things, create new tunnels. Is it getting more dangerous
Speaker 3: by the day for the Israelis?
Speaker 11: Yeah, for sure, there is a There is a pressure
Speaker 11: on the Israeli leadership right now. With each passing day,
Speaker 11: tunnels get a little bit deeper. The Hamas is able
Speaker 11: to prepare, that's a part of it. But then a
Speaker 11: forces pressure on the Israeli leadership because of the impact
Speaker 11: on their economy. I mean to pull three hundred thoughts
Speaker 11: to call up three hundred thousand reservists, that's three hundred
Speaker 11: thousand people, most of whom are normally in the workforce somewhere.
Speaker 11: So there's a there's a dynamic there, and there's also
Speaker 11: a psychological pressure on these soldiers. I mean, you can
Speaker 11: only stay in a crash for so long and so
Speaker 11: at some point have to move forward, which is why
Speaker 11: I think. I don't know this, but the fact that
Speaker 11: two hostages were released today, Thank goodness for those two
Speaker 11: and their families. But you can almost imagine how the
Speaker 11: Hamas might look to trickle things out to delay if
Speaker 11: we are all thinking that maybe if we wait a
Speaker 11: little bit longer, we might get more hostages.
Speaker 12: So do you think that is a mistake, general, for
Speaker 12: that to be something that the US is pushing for.
Speaker 9: No.
Speaker 11: I mean, we have to get those hostages out, but
Speaker 11: there is a point somewhere where you know these things
Speaker 11: you have to find the right balance between are we
Speaker 11: doing everything that we can to get hostages? I am
Speaker 11: absolutely sure that we are and the Israelis will be
Speaker 11: very effective at doing this, and there's probably all sorts
Speaker 11: of pressures, some different directions trying to get hostages released.
Speaker 11: But at the same time, these other pressures are there
Speaker 11: as well, And so I think this is time for
Speaker 11: some really strong, clear out assessment of what's going on.
Speaker 11: Constantly weighing risks, and I think the Israeli as well
Speaker 11: as with US and British and other leadership are weighing
Speaker 11: all of these possibilities. Key will be making sure this
Speaker 11: does not get that this does not escalate beyond Gazo.
Speaker 3: General, I need to ask you about Ukraine as well.
Speaker 3: That was a big chunk of the speech, and in
Speaker 3: fact will be a much larger chunk of money than
Speaker 3: Israel receives out of this one hundred billion dollar request.
Speaker 3: One of the things that has not made headlines in
Speaker 3: the crazy world that we've been dealing with in the
Speaker 3: news cycle recently is the fact that the US quietly
Speaker 3: delivered attack ems to Ukraine, something that we held on
Speaker 3: held out on for some time, long range ballistic missiles.
Speaker 3: Not only has their delivery been confirmed by the Ukrainians,
Speaker 3: but they've already been used in the battlefield, President Zelenski
Speaker 3: saying they were used against Russia and executed very accurately.
Speaker 3: How important is that development? And with another sixty billion
Speaker 3: dollars coming, what else do they get?
Speaker 11: So the delivery of some attacks at last is important
Speaker 11: because as you just described, Joe, that's a real capability.
Speaker 11: The Ukrainians have destroyed, by different reports, probably somewhere close
Speaker 11: to twenty Russian helicopters, as well as the maintenance facilities
Speaker 11: for those helicopters. That is quite a blow That would
Speaker 11: be damaging for US if we lost that much. Secondly,
Speaker 11: the Russians are continuing this really meat grinder sort of
Speaker 11: tactic attacking against Ukrainian defenses around on a place called
Speaker 11: Avdika Avdifka, and they've lost over a thousand soldiers killed
Speaker 11: every day for about the last seven days in a row.
Speaker 11: So this is I don't see any bright lights on
Speaker 11: the horizon for Russia. They will only continue doing what
Speaker 11: they're doing. So the attackles that were provided, or the
Speaker 11: type with the cluster munition, it's very effective against these
Speaker 11: kinds of attacks. But I have to say, while I'm
Speaker 11: glad that the US has finally delivered some attackings, the
Speaker 11: main thing that's missing from the President's speech last night
Speaker 11: was these still cannot say we want Ukraine to win.
Speaker 11: If he says we want Ukraine to win, that it's
Speaker 11: our interests that they win, not not just that they
Speaker 11: avoid losing, but that they win, that they eject Russia
Speaker 11: back to the nineteen ninety one borders, then you would
Speaker 11: see all the other things that are needed that would
Speaker 11: really make a difference. The attacks that have the range
Speaker 11: of three hundred kilometers that could be used to make
Speaker 11: crime untenable for Russian forces. That's what would really make
Speaker 11: the difference.
Speaker 3: And maybe those are coming if this money gets approved.
Speaker 3: I don't know, General but there was of course a
Speaker 3: big debate about whether they should get them at all.
Speaker 3: Now they are there. The concern at that time, though,
Speaker 3: when it was a debate, was moving this battle of
Speaker 3: this war beyond the borders of Ukraine, that it would
Speaker 3: give Ukraine the ability to strike within Russian territory. Is
Speaker 3: that the only way to win this.
Speaker 11: No, And to be honest, I think those were excuses
Speaker 11: that the administration was used in because they did not
Speaker 11: want to provide attackings, not because they were worried because
Speaker 11: they might use them inside Russia, which of course maybe
Speaker 11: Kiev would have done that, but because they are not
Speaker 11: committed to Ukraine actually winning, to defeating Russia on the battlefield.
Speaker 11: If they if they were committed, then there'd be no
Speaker 11: question about providing the three hundred kilometer range attackings. We
Speaker 11: would have started F sixteen training over a year ago.
Speaker 11: There'd be no questions about how much fuel and abrams
Speaker 11: tank burns. Those were all excuses Now the Ukrainians, by
Speaker 11: the way, Ukrainians have said, hey, if there's a restriction
Speaker 11: on US launching attackers into Russia in order to get them,
Speaker 11: we won't. We won't do that. We've got enough targets.
Speaker 11: The Ukrainians have enough targets inside Russian occupied Ukraine that
Speaker 11: they don't have to launch attackers against targets inside of Russia.
Speaker 11: The French and the British were satisfied this more than
Speaker 11: two months ago. I don't understand why our administration continues
Speaker 11: to hold back on delivering capability. We continue this incremental
Speaker 11: drip drip of aid versus helping Ukraine win. That's the
Speaker 11: quickest way to end this, boyt.
Speaker 3: I only have a minute left, General, in fact a
Speaker 3: little bit less. If I'm reading you right, then Ukrainians
Speaker 3: need longer range attackers. Israeli's need replacement missiles for the
Speaker 3: Iron Dome. Are those the two priorities for each.
Speaker 11: I think those are very You've nailed it. Those would
Speaker 11: be the two things I would say. The key is capability.
Speaker 11: I try to stay away from specific platforms. I talk capability.
Speaker 11: Ukraine needs the capability to make Crimea, the most important
Speaker 11: part of this war, untenable for the Russian Black Sea
Speaker 11: Fleet in the Russian Air Force. Israel needs the capability
Speaker 11: to protect their populations from endless rocket attacks.
Speaker 3: He speaks because he knows. General Ben Hodges, retired Lieutenant
Speaker 3: General US Army former Commanding General US Army Europe. So
Speaker 3: great to see you and welcome back. As always, thanks
Speaker 3: for sharing your insights. I'm Joe Matthew in Washington. We've
Speaker 3: got two new victims. Two people raise their hands for speaker.
Speaker 3: We'll have it next. This is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound on podcast. Catch the
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Speaker 3: All right, we have another and another, I said victim
Speaker 3: a moment ago. Kaylee. I don't know if that was fair,
Speaker 3: but at this point, if you're actually breaking into jail
Speaker 3: and entering the race for Speaker of the House right
Speaker 3: now as a Republican, you're in for some fun.
Speaker 12: Yeah. It's I'm hard pressed to see why anyone really
Speaker 12: wants the job when it's so hard to get and
Speaker 12: clearly very hard to keep, as Kevin McCarthy will tell you.
Speaker 12: And yet the fact of the matter is someone's got
Speaker 12: to do it. For this House of Representatives and for
Speaker 12: Congress as a whole to function and do the work
Speaker 12: it needs to do, someone has to have the gabble.
Speaker 12: So it's kind of like taking one for the team,
Speaker 12: even if the team mostly is against you.
Speaker 3: Kind of this is Kevin McCarthy.
Speaker 2: We are in a very bad place right now.
Speaker 3: Yet we're in a very bad place right now. So
Speaker 3: enter Kevin Hearn. Yes, and who else is raising their hand?
Speaker 12: Jack Bergman, the general Okay, Austin Scott, remember.
Speaker 3: So we have three now?
Speaker 10: Yes?
Speaker 1: Wow?
Speaker 12: And of course there had been a lot of buzz
Speaker 12: even going into the boat today that Jody Errington the
Speaker 12: Firm Texas.
Speaker 3: So by the time this candidate's forum happens on Monday,
Speaker 3: that's another thing we learned. We could have a whole
Speaker 3: new stage full holy Republican debate.
Speaker 12: And then I assume we'll go through everything we went
Speaker 12: through the first two times around Joe where they do
Speaker 12: the secret ballot, they try to figure out who was
Speaker 12: the support.
Speaker 3: Maybe they should bring Brett Baer put it on TV
Speaker 3: this time, make people behave a little more. I didn't
Speaker 3: think we'd be talking about this with Max Bacchus, the
Speaker 3: former Senator former ambassador to China joins us now as
Speaker 3: we do effort a conversation about geopolitics. But mister ambassador,
Speaker 3: it's great to see you. Welcome back to Bloomberg. I
Speaker 3: just I go back to two thousand and eight and
Speaker 3: I remember the role that you played in negotiating around Obamacare,
Speaker 3: which was the beginning of a lot around here. The
Speaker 3: tea party, the political blow, the role that the internet
Speaker 3: was playing, and it has gone nuclear ever since. Do
Speaker 3: you recognize this Washington anymore?
Speaker 8: Well, it's very different, no question about it, one Master Member.
Speaker 8: There's a kind of unique quality to the House of Representatives.
Speaker 8: I served in the House for two terms as well
Speaker 8: as in the Senate. When I was in the House,
Speaker 8: it just struck me that there are little bands of
Speaker 8: groups that form in the House. That's not really a
Speaker 8: collective majority party, but there's lots of small little bands
Speaker 8: in groups. And that's I think that's partly because when
Speaker 8: you're in the House, you really, for most districts, don't
Speaker 8: have to compromise very much because you're in a safe district.
Speaker 8: And that means that House members tend to be I
Speaker 8: think a little bit nearrow minded. They don't have to
Speaker 8: compromise very much, unlike senators, because when you're a senator,
Speaker 8: generally your states so much larger, you have lots of
Speaker 8: different interests to accommodate. Not so in the House. So
Speaker 8: I'm not surprised to this phenomenon. But as some of
Speaker 8: your commentators said, we're at a real bad place, and
Speaker 8: I frankly think that the soul, the better soul of
Speaker 8: the Republican Party is going to start to emerge and
Speaker 8: they're going to find finally somebody is going to take
Speaker 8: that job, as difficult as it is, as difficult as
Speaker 8: to keep it well.
Speaker 12: Ambassadors, Joe and I sit here talking about how this
Speaker 12: feels like a reality TV show, maybe even a game show.
Speaker 12: Doesn't even really feel like reality, if I'm being honest,
Speaker 12: And that's how we're viewing it here in Washington, and
Speaker 12: how I'm sure the constituents of the individuals may be
Speaker 12: watching things too, But how do you think this is
Speaker 12: viewed abroad, especially given the geopolitical challenges the world is
Speaker 12: facing that we're going to speak with you about in
Speaker 12: just a moment. Does this make the United States look weak?
Speaker 8: It does, no question does. And then clearly companies like
Speaker 8: China are going to play this up. It's good propaganda
Speaker 8: for China. Frankly, the Chinese really do feel that they
Speaker 8: have a superior former government than we the and I
Speaker 8: was serving over there, Wang Deter, who is one of
Speaker 8: the top people, would explain to me why they're superior.
Speaker 8: Why are they superior because they have a former government
Speaker 8: which allows them to make things happen very quickly pointing
Speaker 8: out that the last forty years, had they been a democracy,
Speaker 8: then they never would have grown as much as they
Speaker 8: as they have. And second, they think they have a
Speaker 8: much better process for choosing leaders that if their leaders
Speaker 8: are per reviewed over time, someone bubbles up the top
Speaker 8: and that's the person they select. And then he said
Speaker 8: over there in your country, anybody could be president. So
Speaker 8: they do feel superior, and then they're going to use
Speaker 8: this This is a house failure to elect a speaker
Speaker 8: is example how dysfunctional America is, and it's going to
Speaker 8: really help that position themselves within the within Chinese people.
Speaker 3: I'm curious your thoughts following this visit by Vladimir Putin,
Speaker 3: who Joe Biden was talking about last night in his
Speaker 3: address to the American people with regard to Ukraine. But
Speaker 3: he had quite a meeting with his friend, his dear friend,
Speaker 3: as he called him, President She in Beijing. President She
Speaker 3: outlining his vision of a new world order as they
Speaker 3: spent time together, touting the benefits of Belton Road and
Speaker 3: the weakness of the West. This is the backdrop for
Speaker 3: the conversation that the President had with the country last night.
Speaker 3: How worried are you about these two getting ever closer?
Speaker 8: I'm quite concerned. Essentially, all countries will pursue their own
Speaker 8: national interests. We do as Americans, the Chinese do, and
Speaker 8: the Chinese are going to use their relationship with Russia
Speaker 8: as well as with Iran and some other countries to
Speaker 8: try to gain as much influence as they can in
Speaker 8: the world, and especially appeal to the South countries, that is,
Speaker 8: to the South Asian, to African and South American countries
Speaker 8: and developing countries. They do believe that they're the leader
Speaker 8: of developing countries as opposed to developed and they have
Speaker 8: a former government. It's going to help those countries progress
Speaker 8: much more quickly than if they were if they were, say,
Speaker 8: a Western democracy. So and add to that, unfortunately, is
Speaker 8: the tragedy unfolded in the Mid East. Because that that tragedy,
Speaker 8: combined with the visits of Putin to an example, to
Speaker 8: Russia as well as the Egyptian president recently to Russia
Speaker 8: to it to China, really is starting to cause the
Speaker 8: world tectonic place to shift a little bit. And we're
Speaker 8: approaching a kind of a real deep division on the
Speaker 8: one hand between the United States and Western allies leading
Speaker 8: the world beacon of hope and democracy. On the other hand,
Speaker 8: the group of countries led by China is appealing much
Speaker 8: more to the South countries, and it's very unfortunate. We're
Speaker 8: in a very difficult position. I don't know if we're
Speaker 8: a tipping point, but we're in a very difficult position
Speaker 8: in the world where US influence versus China's influence is
Speaker 8: going to be very important to see who's going to
Speaker 8: carry the day.
Speaker 12: And how influential is what happens in the Middle East
Speaker 12: to that Invessador.
Speaker 8: I think it's it's quite influential because China again appeals
Speaker 8: to the South countries, and the South countries have a
Speaker 8: very deep affinity to the Palestinians and other Arab countries.
Speaker 8: And let's not forget it's a bit of a change
Speaker 8: of subject here, but we are here in significant respect
Speaker 8: because of the decisions made by Western Powers at the end
Speaker 8: of World War One, at the breakup of the Ottoman Empire.
Speaker 8: At the end of World War one, when the Automan
Speaker 8: Empire is broke it up, there were no countries in
Speaker 8: Mid East like Jordan or Lebanon. Western Powers created those
Speaker 8: company countries and place them right in the middle of
Speaker 8: Arab Mid East and Palestinians and so and then put
Speaker 8: Israel in the Midia. So the tension has been building
Speaker 8: up in Mid East basically since the end of World
Speaker 8: War One, and it's just getting worse and worse. There's
Speaker 8: been no resolution between Israel and the Palestadians. Will there
Speaker 8: be a two state solution or not. President she is
Speaker 8: in China is advocated, but that's kind of still born.
Speaker 8: I think that's going to happen. We're in a mess.
Speaker 8: We're in a real mess. And add to that is
Speaker 8: the form of a war is going on in the
Speaker 8: House Republicans because they can't get their ACTI.
Speaker 3: Unbelievable. We're in a mess. This is something we all
Speaker 3: agree on at home and abroad. Max Bauchus, former Ambassador
Speaker 3: to China. Of course, former US Senator from the great
Speaker 3: state of Montana. It's good to see you, sir, and
Speaker 3: thanks for the insights. If you were with us on YouTube,
Speaker 3: and you can do that now by searching Bloomberg Global News,
Speaker 3: you would have seen the Max backdrop he had going there,
Speaker 3: which was excellent.
Speaker 8: I have to admit I liked it very much.
Speaker 12: I want a backdrop that just says.
Speaker 3: Kayley, that's right. This seems like the very not personalized
Speaker 3: situation here. We're going to work on that. If if
Speaker 3: you are just joining us, it's been an interesting day
Speaker 3: around here. Jim Jordan is no longer the speaker designate.
Speaker 3: Everybody's going home. As Kaylee has been reporting, we have
Speaker 3: three at least candidates now who are ready to jump
Speaker 3: in the pool. We're going to have a candidate's forum
Speaker 3: on Monday, uh speaker's vote presumably on Tuesday.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 12: Patrick mccannery says, Tuesday.
Speaker 3: Is the Tuesday, so that puts us.
Speaker 12: Four days away. That will be three full.
Speaker 8: Weeks that we have.
Speaker 1: Wow.
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