Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound on podcast. Catch us
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Speaker 2: It's so much happening every day. Now the lawmakers are back,
Speaker 2: we start with the matter of impeachment. That's been all
Speaker 2: the talk this morning, as Kevin McCarthy emerged once again
Speaker 2: to defend his decision to as we told you around
Speaker 2: this time yesterday, launched an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
Speaker 2: It's not only questions about where is the evidence, whether
Speaker 2: this is appropriate right now, how it's going to be done,
Speaker 2: but also without a vote. This is something that of
Speaker 2: course Speaker McCarthy criticized Nancy Pelosi for heavily back in
Speaker 2: twenty fourteen when she did the very same thing, and
Speaker 2: he tried to explain his rationale earlier.
Speaker 3: Today, Let's listen, Nancy Pelosi changed the president of this House,
Speaker 3: and that was this does a preclude from it.
Speaker 4: Nancy Pelosi changed the president of.
Speaker 5: This House on September twenty fourth.
Speaker 4: It was withheld and good enough for.
Speaker 3: Every single Democrat here.
Speaker 4: It was good enough for the judge.
Speaker 2: Why do you would it have to be different today? Okay,
Speaker 2: September twenty fourth, this is exactly what he said on
Speaker 2: that day back in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 3: Our job is to legislate, not to continue to investigate
Speaker 3: something in the back when you cannot find any reason
Speaker 3: to impeach this president. She cannot unilaterally decide we're in
Speaker 3: an impeachment inquiry.
Speaker 2: So it's kind of hard to rationalize these two at
Speaker 2: the moment. Then there's the question of evidence. James Comer
Speaker 2: and other leaders in the Republican Party held forth earlier
Speaker 2: today in a briefing to try to make the point
Speaker 2: that they had the goods though it's been difficult to
Speaker 2: connect the dots here, and they will be holding a hearing.
Speaker 2: According to Comber, where he chairs the Oversight Committee this month.
Speaker 5: We plan on having a hearing in September that will
Speaker 5: kind of evaluate some of the things that we believe
Speaker 5: have happened from the Biden family that are in violation
Speaker 5: with our law. So what I said in January holds
Speaker 5: true to today. We are following the money and we
Speaker 5: will see where that leads.
Speaker 2: To following the money, and not every Republican believes that
Speaker 2: there is a case here. Ken Buck remains a thorn
Speaker 2: in everyone's side on all this. The Republicans spoke about
Speaker 2: it on CNA.
Speaker 6: I have not seen any of it in some links
Speaker 6: President Biden to Hunter Biden's activities. At this point, I
Speaker 6: will be getting a briefing later in the week. I'm
Speaker 6: looking forward to understanding more of what the Oversight Committee
Speaker 6: has uncovered, but at this point I have not seen
Speaker 6: that evidence.
Speaker 2: All the while, at least de fon It called it
Speaker 2: the biggest corruption scandal she thinks in the history of
Speaker 2: the nation. This is where we begin, of all places,
Speaker 2: with Stephanie Murphy, I didn't think this is what we'd
Speaker 2: be talking about today. The former congresswoman from Florida is
Speaker 2: with us, of course, a former member of the January
Speaker 2: sixth Committee. It's great to have you back in Washington
Speaker 2: and at the table here. Thanks for joining us on
Speaker 2: sound On. This is not the only issue I want
Speaker 2: to talk to you about. But you, of course served
Speaker 2: through the two impeachments of Donald Trump. You remember that
Speaker 2: back in September of twenty nineteen, when Speaker McCarthy laid
Speaker 2: out that rationale does Nancy Pelosi deserve the blame for this.
Speaker 7: You know, I think we should all brace ourselves for
Speaker 7: a lot of hypocrisy in the days coming forward, where
Speaker 7: positions were held when the other side was using techniques
Speaker 7: that they now employed today and aren't critical of that.
Speaker 7: And I think the impeachment inquiry without a vote is
Speaker 7: one situation. McCarthy clearly is doing it because he doesn't
Speaker 7: have the votes to take it to the floor to
Speaker 7: get it passed. It's a four vote margin for him,
Speaker 7: and so this is a way for him to theoretically
Speaker 7: protect his vulnerable members, the eighteen who are in Biden
Speaker 7: one districts. But once you open this impeachment can of worms,
Speaker 7: you're not gonna be able to put it back. And
Speaker 7: inevitably this is likely to lead to an impeachment and
Speaker 7: he won't be able to protect his members from that vote.
Speaker 7: And so it's just an interesting play to see how
Speaker 7: it'll play out.
Speaker 2: Well, that's the truth. I mean, an election year, he's
Speaker 2: going to put at least eighteen people in the line
Speaker 2: of fire because of that vote. To your point, right,
Speaker 2: Republicans who won in Biden districts, if we can call them,
Speaker 2: that could be in great peril.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and I think those Republicans are more moderate Republicans.
Speaker 7: They want to be focused on the economy. That is
Speaker 7: actually a political point that they could win on because
Speaker 7: the American people, based on the polling, are pretty unhappy
Speaker 7: with the Biden administration on its handling of the economy,
Speaker 7: and they want to be talking about the economy where
Speaker 7: the Republicans have a strength, and instead all of the
Speaker 7: error in the room is going to be sucked out
Speaker 7: by the impeachment proceedings.
Speaker 2: Well, so let's try to read between the lines here
Speaker 2: a little bit. You know how this body works more
Speaker 2: than most people. It's been suggested that this might actually
Speaker 2: help the keep the government open, that members of the
Speaker 2: Freedom Caucus wouldn't vote for a continuing resolution, or from
Speaker 2: what I'm hearing, they still won't unless they got the
Speaker 2: impeachment and where Marjorie Taylor Green wanted to connect the
Speaker 2: two at one point, it's been suggested that the speakers
Speaker 2: concerned about a motion to vacate he might get fired
Speaker 2: if he doesn't launch an impeachment inquiry? Is it all
Speaker 2: of the above?
Speaker 7: You know this Congress, It really has seemed that Speaker
Speaker 7: McCarthy is playing by live to fight another day. So
Speaker 7: he handles each crisis in that moment, buys himself some space,
Speaker 7: hoping that the dynamics change by the time the next
Speaker 7: decision has to be made, right, and so, you know
Speaker 7: they should be focused on funding the government, but you
Speaker 7: know they've decided to open this impeachment inquiry. Does it
Speaker 7: change some dynamics in his caucus? Maybe, But when you
Speaker 7: don't link to things in legislatively, there's no guarantee that
Speaker 7: you've bought anybody's vote for it. You know, because he
Speaker 7: did this doesn't mean that the far right is suddenly
Speaker 7: going to support funding the government.
Speaker 2: Sure, yeah, you know what it's like to investigate something.
Speaker 2: In fact that it was I believe, the largest investigation
Speaker 2: in the history of the Congress January sixth Committee. We're
Speaker 2: about to see the over side Committee, Ways and Means
Speaker 2: and Judiciary embark upon this. The Department of Justice is already,
Speaker 2: of course investigating Hunter Biden. There's a special council there.
Speaker 2: Can they match the work of the DOJ what's about
Speaker 2: to happen internally with an investigation like this launching well?
Speaker 7: I also served on the Ways and Means Committee, where
Speaker 7: we use Section sixty one oh three to get the
Speaker 7: president's of the former president's tax records, which I expect
Speaker 7: to see the ways and means Committee do this time
Speaker 7: as well. But I think there are limits to the
Speaker 7: investigative ability of Congress because a lot of folks on
Speaker 7: when we asked them to pure before January six chose
Speaker 7: not to. Although with Peter Navarro being convicted of contempt
Speaker 7: of Congress, maybe that changes people's minds and they'll be
Speaker 7: more willing to cooperate with do OJ When they issue
Speaker 7: it's not a request, you know, and they have the
Speaker 7: full force of the law behind them and are able
Speaker 7: to secure information and testimony in a way that we
Speaker 7: didn't always see with Congress.
Speaker 2: Did you hear from the Special Council as a committee member,
Speaker 2: to what extent was there ever cooperation or was that
Speaker 2: a black box for you across the street. You didn't
Speaker 2: know what was happening inside.
Speaker 7: It was a black box, and at times, very frustratingly
Speaker 7: a black box because initially they were just prosecuting the
Speaker 7: low level participants in the January sixth insurrection, and so
Speaker 7: as a member of the January sixth elect Comantee, I
Speaker 7: wondered when were they going to get to the people
Speaker 7: who masterminded all of.
Speaker 2: This to that end, And I want to ask you
Speaker 2: more about shut down politics here because you can probably
Speaker 2: shed some light on what's about to happen. But what
Speaker 2: went through your head when you saw the list of
Speaker 2: the indictments roll out in Georgia, followed on that unsealed
Speaker 2: recommendation by the Special Brand jury that brought in names
Speaker 2: like Ruy Giuliani, Michael Flynn. You must have had flashbacks
Speaker 2: from your own investigation.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 7: I wasn't surprised to see those folks named. But I
Speaker 7: want to remind the American people that it wasn't a
Speaker 7: prosecutor who did this. This was a grand jury of
Speaker 7: American citizens, average Americans who did their jury duty, who
Speaker 7: saw the evidence presented to them and thought that there
Speaker 7: was enough evidence to move forward. And they're the ones
Speaker 7: that handed down that indictment.
Speaker 2: Should Rudy Giuliani have been included in those indicted, you.
Speaker 7: Know, I am always let the legal system make the
Speaker 7: decisions that they think they can support beyond a reasonable doubt,
Speaker 7: And you never know who's cooperating in the background and
Speaker 7: what kinds of inside deals are going on there.
Speaker 2: Oh true, As we spend some time with Stephanie Murphy,
Speaker 2: the former congresswoman from Florida. If you were still in
Speaker 2: the building, what would you be preparing for here? It
Speaker 2: looks like there might be a stopgap solution. Budgets hawks, though,
Speaker 2: seem to be off the rails unless something major changes here,
Speaker 2: not only between the House and the Senate, but between
Speaker 2: Republicans in the House. Democrats don't have a lot of
Speaker 2: power over what's about to happen. Right, do you think
Speaker 2: that we'll avoid a shutdown?
Speaker 7: It looks like we're barreling headlong into a shutdown. And
Speaker 7: I think if I were still a member, I'd be
Speaker 7: preparing for some long nights and maybe weekends in Washington.
Speaker 7: As shutdowns happen, they try to They usually try to
Speaker 7: time the shutdown for like a Friday, and then use
Speaker 7: the weekend to negotiate through it so that the impact
Speaker 7: is muted on the federal government and federal workers, and
Speaker 7: hopefully by Monday morning you have a solution. But we
Speaker 7: are dealing with people who don't believe in government, the
Speaker 7: far right. A shutdown isn't a bad thing for them.
Speaker 7: That's actually what they members are calling for calling for.
Speaker 7: So I think this could be a protracted standoff.
Speaker 2: Goldman Sachs says, two to three weeks for a possible shutdown.
Speaker 2: Is that real in your view?
Speaker 7: Because we have they have defanged the shutdown, so it
Speaker 7: isn't you know, it's viticating, not a total shutdown. It
Speaker 7: allows shutdowns to drag on for a little bit longer,
Speaker 7: and so I think buckle up. This fall is going
Speaker 7: to be an interesting one.
Speaker 2: Well, it's an interesting world we're in when we consider
Speaker 2: depriving members of the military their paychecks. And I realized
Speaker 2: those would be restored after the fact, But that's happening
Speaker 2: at the same time as a loan senator from Alabama
Speaker 2: conducts this blockade on military promotions. Senator Tommy Tubberville, in fact,
Speaker 2: joined us yesterday here on Bloomberg on Balance of Power.
Speaker 2: On Bloomberg TV. I asked him about readiness. You used
Speaker 2: to work for the Department of Defense, and you have
Speaker 2: a sense of what we're talking about here more than
Speaker 2: those of us who have not served. Here's what the
Speaker 2: senator said, and I'll be curious to have you respond.
Speaker 8: They have no clue of what this policy is. They
Speaker 8: just wanted to change it to let the American people know, Hey,
Speaker 8: we can do what we want to, and I'm not
Speaker 8: going to allow him to do it. Now. If they
Speaker 8: continue to do it, we're going to have the same
Speaker 8: people in place as admirals and generals. Again, there's no
Speaker 8: readiness problem. We got people in place that are doing
Speaker 8: their jobs.
Speaker 2: His point is that if this continues, and by the way,
Speaker 2: we're at nine months or something at this point, military
Speaker 2: families and temporary housing waiting for confirmations. We don't know when,
Speaker 2: but he says, hey, we've already got good generals and
Speaker 2: officers in place. What's the difference if they hang on
Speaker 2: a little longer. How does this impact readiness in your viewer?
Speaker 2: Doesn't it?
Speaker 7: I think it impacts not only readiness, but morale in
Speaker 7: leadership within the Department of Defense and within the military broadly.
Speaker 7: And it's actually really ironic that the party who wraps
Speaker 7: itself in the flag and in the military is the
Speaker 7: one that is harming military families and the US military's
Speaker 7: readiness at a time when our adversaries are challenging our
Speaker 7: leadership in the world. You know, one of the first
Speaker 7: areas that gets cut is training, and that goes directly
Speaker 7: to readiness. We don't let our pilots, you know, fly,
Speaker 7: they don't use live ammunitions and training. Those are ways
Speaker 7: and which the military can reduce its spending. And it
Speaker 7: goes right to the readiness piece. But on the leadership piece,
Speaker 7: the Joint Chief of Staff, he has a deadline where
Speaker 7: he cannot continue to serve. And so we're going to
Speaker 7: let our military go without a military leader because one
Speaker 7: senator wants to be obstructionist.
Speaker 2: We're going to speak a little bit later in the
Speaker 2: broadcast with Michael McCall, one of your former Republican colleagues,
Speaker 2: chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He called this paralyzing
Speaker 2: to our military. Is it going to take more Republicans
Speaker 2: like Michael McCall to bring this to an end? What's
Speaker 2: the off ramp here for Tommy Tuberville.
Speaker 7: I think the Senate Republicans own this one. And Mike's
Speaker 7: a great guy, and I'm glad to hear him using
Speaker 7: his voice. He's reasonable, he understands the debilitating nature of
Speaker 7: what is happening, and he cares about the military and
Speaker 7: the families, and so I'm glad that hear him speaking out.
Speaker 7: But Senate Republicans need to make life very uncomfortable for
Speaker 7: the senator who's holding up all of these confirmations.
Speaker 2: Should the White House or should the Administration threaten federal
Speaker 2: funding for programs in Alabama? How do you make them uncomfortable?
Speaker 7: Well, I don't think that we should weaponize government because
Speaker 7: you're just really punishing people who live in Alabama if
Speaker 7: you were to threaten that. But you know, his senate
Speaker 7: colleagues need to put pressure on him, find out what
Speaker 7: it is that he needs and give him half of
Speaker 7: that half of a loaf and then move on. But
Speaker 7: this is playing with our national security and it's hurting
Speaker 7: the very people who have stepped up and decided to
Speaker 7: serve this country.
Speaker 2: Well, one thing we know is he's not getting space
Speaker 2: commands in Alabama. Maybe that's the beginning of the pressure. Right.
Speaker 2: I'm so glad you could come to see us whenever
Speaker 2: you're in Washington. I hope you will do that very thing.
Speaker 2: Stephanie Murphy, thanks for talking with us. As always, great
Speaker 2: to hear on Blomberg Radio and on YouTube. I'm Joe
Speaker 2: Matthew and Washington. Thanks again to the former congresswoman and
Speaker 2: a fascinating conversation that will bring to our panel next.
Speaker 2: Rick Davis and gd Shanzano only here on sound On.
Speaker 2: This is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound On podcast. Catch the
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Speaker 2: As we find the headline on the terminal, GOP hardliners
Speaker 2: stall military funding, raising shutdown risk, and we add the
Speaker 2: voice now of Michael McCall, the Congressman from Texas who
Speaker 2: chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, it's great to
Speaker 2: have you with us on Bloomberg. Thanks for coming back,
Speaker 2: and now that we're getting back into the swing of
Speaker 2: things here in Washington, indeed, we'd like to ask you
Speaker 2: about a few issues. But with regard to this latest
Speaker 2: development here, did that make a government shutdown more likely?
Speaker 9: Well, as I understand if the rule has been postponed,
Speaker 9: I think they're working out details with the Defense of
Speaker 9: Corporations Bill, so not try to read too much into that.
Speaker 9: I'm still hopeful that we will have, you know, a
Speaker 9: rule vote this evening and move forward with the defensive
Speaker 9: Corporations bill, you know, possibly as early as tomorrow. So
Speaker 9: I don't see that shutdown as imminent as maybe you're indicating.
Speaker 9: You know, frankly, I'm not a big fan of shut down.
Speaker 9: I've never seen a shut down work very well, especially
Speaker 9: for my party. Republicans always tend to lose when the
Speaker 9: government shut down. So I think the American people want
Speaker 9: us to govern and they want us to get things done.
Speaker 9: I think the Speaker is trying to do that, and it's,
Speaker 9: as you noted, very difficult under the circumstances. But you know,
Speaker 9: he's always been underestimated every time, and he seems to
Speaker 9: be able to pull, you know, a rabbit out of
Speaker 9: a hat, you know, in prior legislation that we've had.
Speaker 9: So I still remain optimistic.
Speaker 10: Comes And what we're talking about here is that hardline
Speaker 10: House Republicans didn't even vote to allow defense spending to
Speaker 10: be baited. This is in the House. In the Senate,
Speaker 10: we still have Senator Tommy Tuberville holding up more than
Speaker 10: three hundred military nominations. What do you say to American
Speaker 10: people who look at both the House and the Senate
Speaker 10: and say, the Republican Party is potentially hurting the US preparedness,
Speaker 10: military preparedness, and it can cause national security concerns.
Speaker 9: I share those concerns and I voice those on CNN
Speaker 9: Stay of the Union on Sunday. But you know, I
Speaker 9: think it's important to put into context the Biden administration
Speaker 9: for the first time used taxpayer dollars to fund this
Speaker 9: abortions within the military. That's never been done on the
Speaker 9: National Defense Authorization that in fact, we cured that in
Speaker 9: the House with our NBA bill that will be conference
Speaker 9: with the Senate. So my whole point was that I
Speaker 9: don't think one senator blocking all these nominations is really
Speaker 9: the more productive route. I think the best route is
Speaker 9: to deal with this in the conference committee that we
Speaker 9: will have House and Senate to ensure that taxpayer dollars
Speaker 9: not being used for abortions in the military. I think
Speaker 9: holding up these nominations. I've talked to a lot of
Speaker 9: you know, brass at the Pentagon, and what I just
Speaker 9: worry about is that it will impact our national security.
Speaker 9: There's a debate about that, but I don't see how
Speaker 9: you can have all these openings unfilled without having some
Speaker 9: impact on the ability of the military to be ready.
Speaker 2: We were actually joined around this time yesterday by Senator
Speaker 2: Tommy Tubberville himself. He made the case to us that
Speaker 2: this does not impact readiness, that the rank and file
Speaker 2: will be just fine, and we have too many generals anyway,
Speaker 2: you've called this paralyzing to the military, Congressman, what message
Speaker 2: does it send to China?
Speaker 9: Well, if we don't have top key positions in the
Speaker 9: Pentagon filled, I think it's a sign of weakness. I
Speaker 9: think it projects weakness, and that's always very dangerous and
Speaker 9: invites aggression. I know that Schumer does have the ability
Speaker 9: to put these nominees forward, and I would hope they
Speaker 9: can come to a consensus over there, But just holding
Speaker 9: up these nominations ad infinotum, I think is dangerous. It's
Speaker 9: well intentioned. I think he and I both agree that
Speaker 9: being center of Tuberville and I both agree that taxpayer
Speaker 9: dollars should not be used for abortions in the military.
Speaker 9: We fix that in the House. We're going to conference
Speaker 9: with the Senate, and I feel very confident that that
Speaker 9: will be not be a part of the final package.
Speaker 9: But you know, it's all about the method and how
Speaker 9: you want to achieve the same goal. And I think
Speaker 9: holding up these nominees in key positions at the Pentagon
Speaker 9: does not send a very good message.
Speaker 10: When you look at when you look at China, we
Speaker 10: have to ask you what you make of Huawei coming
Speaker 10: out with this phone that looks like they use technology,
Speaker 10: the exact technology that they're export controls on China and
Speaker 10: Chinese companies CSM I see and also Huawei both on
Speaker 10: the entities list to make sure that China actually doesn't
Speaker 10: have these capabilities yet a phone arrives. Do you think
Speaker 10: the export controls that are on China right now are working?
Speaker 9: They're not being enforced. Schmick has American component parts. This
Speaker 9: seven nanometer chip is a very advanced chip, and it's
Speaker 9: now in Huawei's five G smartphone. This is very disturbing
Speaker 9: in a major violation of our export control laws. I
Speaker 9: sent a letter today to Secretary Romando, and I have
Speaker 9: jurisdiction over BIS, which is a Bureau of Industry and
Speaker 9: Security in charge of export control because this was not
Speaker 9: enforced and now they've got this very advanced technology seven
Speaker 9: nanimeter chip.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 9: You know, when you look at the hypersonic program that
Speaker 9: was built on the back going of American technology when
Speaker 9: it comes to the seven NANIMETERI chip, and you look
Speaker 9: at the like AI and the future of warfare which
Speaker 9: will involve this kind of semiconductor chip. That is what
Speaker 9: is most disturbing to me is that now China they're
Speaker 9: they're very good. They don't really invent things, they're very
Speaker 9: good at stealing our technology. And this is another good example.
Speaker 9: And you know the timing, Amory, this is announced the
Speaker 9: day that Secretory Tormando left Beijing with a real slap
Speaker 9: in the face that hey, now we got your technology,
Speaker 9: we got your most advanced semi conductor chip. We got
Speaker 9: to stop doing this. We've got to stop selling to
Speaker 9: China our most advanced technology that they then turn that
Speaker 9: will turn and use against us if God forbid, we
Speaker 9: have a conflict in the Pacific.
Speaker 2: Well, so the Congressman, is your committee working up sanctions
Speaker 2: on SMIC or should we be talking about a total severing,
Speaker 2: a total cut off of our technological relationship with China
Speaker 2: at this point?
Speaker 9: No, we can't cut all trade, but I would argue
Speaker 9: that with respect to certain sectors. Yeah, like the advanced
Speaker 9: semiconductor chips like AI, like quantum computing. This is something
Speaker 9: I've talked to the Commerce Department about making it more
Speaker 9: rather than companies specific, because China will change the name
Speaker 9: of the companies. But if you make it sector specific,
Speaker 9: to me, that's a better way to handle this. That way,
Speaker 9: all exports regarding ai cannot be export to China, all
Speaker 9: exports regarding quantum and advanced semi conductor of chips, and
Speaker 9: that way you deal with it in a very I
Speaker 9: think a blot, you know, broader blanket that I think
Speaker 9: would apply. And we're gonna have commerce with China. They're
Speaker 9: a big market for the United States and we buy
Speaker 9: a lot from them, but when it comes to national
Speaker 9: security supply chain like semiconductors like critical minerals, rare minerals,
Speaker 9: and medical, we need to start pulling that supply chain out.
Speaker 9: The reason I introduced the Chips for America Act and
Speaker 9: got it passed was Secretary Pompeo came to me and
Speaker 9: so we got to pull supply chain out of Taiwan.
Speaker 9: Because TSMC controls ninety percent of the advanced semi connector
Speaker 9: manufacturing for the world. So imagine the scenario where China
Speaker 9: invades Taiwan with a blockade and cutting the sea cable.
Speaker 9: Then they either own or break ninety percent of the
Speaker 9: world's advanced semi connector chip manufacturing.
Speaker 10: When you look at what happened this week, we saw
Speaker 10: Kim jongoon make his way to Russia to meet with
Speaker 10: President Putin. The individual who could probably put the pressure
Speaker 10: on both those two leaders those dictators would be Shijingping.
Speaker 10: Do you think it's wise the administration still seeks a
Speaker 10: meeting with Hijingping to try to make sure at least
Speaker 10: they're putting pressure on Beijing to then put more of
Speaker 10: a pressure on both its neighbors in Russia and in
Speaker 10: North Korea.
Speaker 9: Look, I think it's it's always good to have meetings
Speaker 9: and have conversations, but you don't concede certain things that
Speaker 9: I think, you know, we saw like a certain export
Speaker 9: controls were pulled back prior to these meetings. You don't
Speaker 9: you don't make concessions before just to have a meeting
Speaker 9: in and of itself.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 9: You have to negotiate out of strength and leverage, not
Speaker 9: out of weakness. And that's my concern about, you know,
Speaker 9: the meanings that took place. I don't think China's gonna
Speaker 9: ever talk Kim John neum down because you know, Chairman
Speaker 9: Chi is a direct ally of Putin. I mean they
Speaker 9: made this unholy alliance at the Beijing Olympics just weeks
Speaker 9: before the invasion into Ukraine, and the idea that they're
Speaker 9: not joined at the hip is absolutely false. I mean
Speaker 9: this is an alliance of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
Speaker 9: North Korea is gonna start putting their stuff in the
Speaker 9: Iran's already putting their drones into Ukraine. We're even seeing
Speaker 9: you know, Mercy Mary's from Cuba, you know, going into
Speaker 9: Russia and into the Ukraine fight. So this is really
Speaker 9: playing out very dramatically between these dictators and the rest
Speaker 9: of the free world. And that's really what's at stake
Speaker 9: right now.
Speaker 2: These are dangerous times and we're glad to have you
Speaker 2: with us, mister Chairman Michael McCall. Thanks to you, Congressman
Speaker 2: from Texas to cherish the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Don't
Speaker 2: be a stranger. We'd like to stay in touch with
Speaker 2: you on these issues.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Sound on podcast. Catch us
Speaker 1: live weekdays at one Eastern on Bloomberg dot Com, the
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Speaker 2: The headline on the terminal Republicans kickoff Biden impeachment push
Speaker 2: on uncertain grounds. It gets to the fact that the votes, well,
Speaker 2: they may not be there. And that's maybe why Speaker
Speaker 2: McCarthy is launching an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden without
Speaker 2: calling a vote, knowing that he he demonized Nancy Pelosi
Speaker 2: for doing the very SAE thing back in twenty fourteen,
Speaker 2: and here we are again. I guess that was twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2: Forgive me the twenty fourth of September, as he reminded
Speaker 2: us today, and this is what he said at that moment.
Speaker 3: Our job is to legislate, not to continue to investigate
Speaker 3: something in the back when you cannot find any reason
Speaker 3: to impeach this president. She cannot unilaterally decide we're in
Speaker 3: an impeachment inquiry.
Speaker 2: But there could be some other issues here. The call
Speaker 2: is coming from inside the House. Look no further than
Speaker 2: Matt Gates, the congressman from Florida, who took to the
Speaker 2: floor of the House yesterday to express his great disappointment
Speaker 2: in mister Speaker. Impeachment inquiry or not.
Speaker 11: No continuing resolutions, individual spending bills or bust votes on
Speaker 11: balanced budgets, and term limits, subpoenas for Hunter Biden and
Speaker 11: the members of the Biden family who've been grifting off
Speaker 11: of this country, and the impeachment for Joe Biden that
Speaker 11: he so richly deserves. Do these things or face a
Speaker 11: motion to vacate the chair.
Speaker 2: Motion to vacate none if Marjorie Taylor Green has anything
Speaker 2: to say about it, though, the congresswoman from Georgia talking
Speaker 2: about it on Newsmax, laying it down for Eric Bowling
Speaker 2: last night.
Speaker 12: I think that we need to give Kevin McCarthy credit.
Speaker 12: He's doing the right thing and he's actually leading the
Speaker 12: House and opening the impeachment inquiry that I've been demanding, Eric,
Speaker 12: and I'm thrilled about it, and I really want this
Speaker 12: to happen, and I don't want anyone to stop it.
Speaker 12: And so that's why I've been saying, we don't need
Speaker 12: a motion to vacate. We don't need to be the
Speaker 12: party of chaos. We need to diligently do our work,
Speaker 12: continue with the impeachment inquiry.
Speaker 2: And it's riot if you're looking at the Twitter or
Speaker 2: the ex Marjorie Taylor Green retweets Matt Gates, who, as
Speaker 2: you just heard, not happy with Speaker McCarthy. He says,
Speaker 2: remember when Kevin McCarthy makes his announcement in moments, this
Speaker 2: is yesterday morning that I pushed him for weeks. Marjorie
Speaker 2: Taylor Green retweets, saying, correction, my friend, I introduced articles
Speaker 2: of impeachment against Joe Biden for his corrupt business dealings
Speaker 2: on his very first day in office. And so this
Speaker 2: is going well so far in the first twenty four hours.
Speaker 2: Let's assemble the panel. Genie Shanzano and Rick Davis Bloomberg
Speaker 2: Politics contributors are with us. Genie, you can't buy this
Speaker 2: kind of entertainment, certainly not in Hollywood at the moment.
Speaker 2: How is this going to play out for Kevin McCarthy
Speaker 2: in the next couple of days. He's being asked about
Speaker 2: a double standard or a shifting message on whether to
Speaker 2: hold a vote for an impeachment inquherre. He's not even
Speaker 2: making his own Republican members like Matt Gates happy. So
Speaker 2: what happens next?
Speaker 13: Yeah, and by the way, I'm going to vote for
Speaker 13: Marjorie Taylor Green and the Marjorie Taylor Green Matt Gates
Speaker 13: contest over who's most responsible. I am calling this the
Speaker 13: Halibate diet Coke impeachment, because that is what the Times
Speaker 13: of recording she and Trump were eating last Sunday night,
Speaker 13: two days before Kevin McCarthy. Yeah, it makes you hungry, right, Joe?
Speaker 13: Two days before I.
Speaker 2: Must be well done, HALLI it. I'm guessing.
Speaker 13: Two days before we heard from Kevin McCarthy that, indeed,
Speaker 13: forget what he said thirteen days ago, he was marching
Speaker 13: forward with his impeachment inquiry with no vote. And you know,
Speaker 13: the reality is is Kevin McCarthy is in a very
Speaker 13: very difficult position, and this is a reflection of that.
Speaker 13: You know, Stephanie Murphy represented Murphy just talking about the hypocrisy.
Speaker 13: Get ready for it? Well, here it is. It is
Speaker 13: on full display with what he did yesterday. I am
Speaker 13: somebody who famously was not in favor of Trump's first
Speaker 13: impeachment on Ukraine for the very reasons Nancy Pelosi said
Speaker 13: initially before she turned around. Nor am I in favor
Speaker 13: of this. They are diminishing what impeachment was intended to
Speaker 13: do by the framers, and there is no putting the
Speaker 13: Genie back in the bottle. Now, this is what we
Speaker 13: are going to have to live through. And look at
Speaker 13: the media coverage yesterday, a bleep on this, and then
Speaker 13: people just moved on because this is just to become
Speaker 13: sort of par for the course where it never should
Speaker 13: have been and never was when you go back, you
Speaker 13: know a few years ago.
Speaker 2: What do you think of the language so far? It's
Speaker 2: been just twenty four hours. Rick the uprising inside the
Speaker 2: Freedom Caucus where the chip Roys and Andy Biggs say
Speaker 2: we're not changing our tune on a shutdown or a
Speaker 2: cr because of this, Matt Gates is yelling back and
Speaker 2: forth with Marjorie Taylor Green, and journalists are asking about
Speaker 2: a changing tune on a vote. Did Kevin McCarthy just
Speaker 2: do the wrong thing? Was this self preservation or did
Speaker 2: he actually hurt himself with this announcement?
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, look at it.
Speaker 14: I mean he did this arguably to satisfy you know,
Speaker 14: the Freedom Caucus and its fringe groups you know, around it,
Speaker 14: and what has happened.
Speaker 4: They've sort of turned on themselves.
Speaker 14: You know, and so maybe that was part of his strategy,
Speaker 14: is just create chaos on the right flank and try
Speaker 14: to get some work done, you know, in the House
Speaker 14: of Representatives with everybody else. I doubt if he's got
Speaker 14: that sophisticated of a strategy. He tries to make these
Speaker 14: people happy. These are performance artists. They're not members of Congress.
Speaker 14: They don't really care about legislating or you know, doing
Speaker 14: work of government. They they care about, you know, their
Speaker 14: their number of Twitter hits and how many.
Speaker 4: Clicks they get.
Speaker 14: And that's why you have these kinds of outbursts, and
Speaker 14: they're non productive.
Speaker 4: And uh and and Kevin.
Speaker 14: McCarthy has just sort of given him something to chew
Speaker 14: on for a couple of days. We got to constantly
Speaker 14: remind ourselves inside the beltwegh here. You know, the vast
Speaker 14: majority of people in this country pay absolutely no attention
Speaker 14: to this because they see it for what it is.
Speaker 4: You know, it's it's it's as as you.
Speaker 14: Know, Stephanie Murphy said, you know, we are now watching
Speaker 14: the heights of hypocrisy enter the House of Representatives.
Speaker 4: I mean, and she.
Speaker 14: Knows something about that, you know, the time that she
Speaker 14: spent there. And and and I don't think Kevin McCarthy
Speaker 14: has done himself any good. He hasn't moved the ball forward.
Speaker 14: He isn't going to get anywhere on this impeachment. He's
Speaker 14: got over thirty House members who won't even vote for
Speaker 14: ultimately an impeachment, and we know won't go anywhere in
Speaker 14: the Senate. So I think he's just unleashed, you know,
Speaker 14: the crazy caucus again.
Speaker 4: And we'll see you if they can get anything done.
Speaker 14: Because what's really important, you know, is getting a budget passed,
Speaker 14: getting a CR pass so they can get the work
Speaker 14: done in the House, get some of these corporations skills done,
Speaker 14: and by the way, and fun the Ukraine resistance to
Speaker 14: the Russian invasion and make sure that you know our
Speaker 14: country is helping out these communities that have been devastated
Speaker 14: by horrible weather disasters. So I mean, they have things
Speaker 14: to do and they got to get they ought to
Speaker 14: get off of Twitter and get on with their business.
Speaker 2: Well here here, Rick, did does this at least make
Speaker 2: a shutdown less likely, Jeanie? Or did it not change
Speaker 2: anything in the standoff on the budget?
Speaker 13: You know, I think Kevin McCarthy was hoping it might.
Speaker 13: But we heard from Matt Gates and you played the clip.
Speaker 13: He is demanding total compliance, and so you know, Kevin McCarthy,
Speaker 13: I think believed that he was handing them something, going
Speaker 13: to sort of distract them, which has been his strategy
Speaker 13: since he became speaker. Distract them by giving them something
Speaker 13: and hope that they don't see what's going on here,
Speaker 13: which is he needs to do the basic basic tasks
Speaker 13: of governing, which is keep the government open, stop it
Speaker 13: from being shut down. But look at what he's facing.
Speaker 13: The House has passed just one appropriations bill to the Senate,
Speaker 13: who has passed all of them. He knows that, he
Speaker 13: knows he doesn't have a leg to stand on here.
Speaker 13: They've got to do that. It's like a mayor who
Speaker 13: doesn't shovel the sidewalks after you have a terrible, terrible snowstorm,
Speaker 13: you're going to be in political trouble. Kevin McCarthy knows
Speaker 13: he's in trouble with this, so he's trying to distract them.
Speaker 13: But Matt Gates told us yesterday he's on to Kevin
Speaker 13: McCarthy now and he's going to make sure to hold
Speaker 13: his feet to the fire. So I don't think this
Speaker 13: is going to help Kevin McCarthy in the way he thought.
Speaker 13: He is literally buying hours of his time in his
Speaker 13: job and hoping to stave off this motion to vacate,
Speaker 13: but it's gonna come as will to shut down. And
Speaker 13: by the way, the impeachment inquiry vote, he's saying, you know,
Speaker 13: to his nineteen members and Biden districts, you don't have
Speaker 13: to vote for that. Well, you know, I'll be the
Speaker 13: hypocrite and I'll let you vote. They're gonna have to
Speaker 13: vote for that because this train is out of you know,
Speaker 13: it's left. They're gonna have to vote on it.
Speaker 2: Well, if, certainly, if you believe it's going to be
Speaker 2: an impeachment that follows the inquiry, listen Rick and Genie
Speaker 2: to eleast Dephonic of course, in the Republican leadership in
Speaker 2: the House held a news conference today alongside James Comer,
Speaker 2: who's spearheading this impeachment inquiry on the Oversight Committee. Listen
Speaker 2: to the language she used to describe the charges where
Speaker 2: she believes are full on crimes charges against Joe Biden.
Speaker 15: Speaker McCarthy announced House Republicans intention to pursue an impeachment
Speaker 15: inquiry of Joe Biden. This is about transparency and answers
Speaker 15: for the American people and ultimately accountability for what I
Speaker 15: believe will uncover the biggest political corruption scandal in our
Speaker 15: nation's history.
Speaker 2: The biggest public corruption scandal in our nation's history would
Speaker 2: have to that would be something you're.
Speaker 1: Listening to The Bloomberg Sound On podcast. Catch the program
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Speaker 1: You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our
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Speaker 2: I'm used to listeners and viewers telling me how to
Speaker 2: do my job, but the White House is a different level.
Speaker 2: A memo out to US news media organizations in the
Speaker 2: wake of Speaker McCarthy's announcement that he is launching an
Speaker 2: impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The subject line, It's
Speaker 2: time for the media to do more to scrutinize House
Speaker 2: Republicans demonstrably false claims that they're basing impeachments on It's
Speaker 2: reassimilar panel. Rick Davis and Genie Shanzano joined Bloomberg Politics
Speaker 2: contributors as we consider the reaction from the White House, Rick,
Speaker 2: I don't know your thoughts on this. The memo goes
Speaker 2: down to the first series of bullets. Here refers to
Speaker 2: Representative ken Buck, the Republican from Colorado, has been doing
Speaker 2: a lot of work for the White House last couple
Speaker 2: of days on cable news. He talked about it again
Speaker 2: on CNN said he sees no evidence. This is a
Speaker 2: familiar refrain from ken Buck. But should the White House
Speaker 2: be digging in like this or laughing it off right now?
Speaker 14: Well, it's obvious this is a reaction to the coverage
Speaker 14: from the last couple of days where I think they've
Speaker 14: got a chip on their shoulder and they think that,
Speaker 14: you know, people like Marjorie Taylor Green and Macatcher getting
Speaker 14: way too much attention in the mainstream media because all
Speaker 14: they're talking about is a process argument. They're not answering
Speaker 14: any questions about what the real issue is here, and
Speaker 14: that the media is giving them more tension than the
Speaker 14: people who in the Republican Caucus are actually saying they
Speaker 14: don't see the connection between Biden and these charges.
Speaker 4: So, you know, and I kind of get that.
Speaker 14: I actually do think that the media has been chasing
Speaker 14: sort of the crazy end of the caucus, you know,
Speaker 14: a lot more than it does everybody else. I mean,
Speaker 14: they're you know, I think the bigger story is they're
Speaker 14: probably over thirty Republicans who don't support the Speaker on this,
Speaker 14: which is why he had to unilaterally open.
Speaker 2: Up a probe.
Speaker 14: So I think they're I think they're they're they're they're
Speaker 14: a little bit taken aback that the media isn't doing
Speaker 14: their job for him, and this memo basically says, Hey,
Speaker 14: you should be embarrassed by the fact that you're really
Speaker 14: not giving these guys more attention.
Speaker 4: The irony is they're.
Speaker 14: Using quotes in the media to make the case to
Speaker 14: the media that the media isn't doing enough. And so
Speaker 14: I think, if I'm a reporter who are writing on
Speaker 14: these things, I think that they were kind of over
Speaker 14: inflating this.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, if the memo is just going to
Speaker 2: get leaked by the media, White House telling the media
Speaker 2: how to be better at the media, genie, is there
Speaker 2: a point in sending it?
Speaker 13: You know, I think this is something that could backfire
Speaker 13: on the White House. I think putting out the facts
Speaker 13: is one thing, putting out their position is one thing.
Speaker 13: But trying to tell the media how to do their job.
Speaker 13: We all know no, White House likes the media. But
Speaker 13: the reality is, if the media starts to exhibit some
Speaker 13: criticism of the Republicans and what they're doing in terms
Speaker 13: of impeachment, You're going to hear right back, Oh, this
Speaker 13: is just the media doing the bidding, the liberal media
Speaker 13: doing the bidding of the White House. So I'm not
Speaker 13: sure how this helps the White House at all. I
Speaker 13: think more important is to keep focused on number one,
Speaker 13: doing the business of the American people. Number two putting
Speaker 13: out the facts, and let the craziness in the house
Speaker 13: play out. It speaks for itself. I don't know why
Speaker 13: they are trying to get in front of it. If
Speaker 13: you and make themselves the story.
Speaker 2: Well, Rick, the craziness in the House, I guess extends
Speaker 2: to the craziness in Washington, as we have a breaking
Speaker 2: headline here that reminds us of the world that we're in.
Speaker 2: Mitt Romney is just now announcing in a Twitter video
Speaker 2: that he will not seek reelection in the Senate. I
Speaker 2: wonder your reaction to that news.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I mean it's kind of expected. You know.
Speaker 4: Mitt is never really been a feature of the Senate.
Speaker 14: You know, he's had a stellar career as both governor
Speaker 14: presidential candidate, and I think he was looking at the
Speaker 14: sort of future trajectory the Republican Party. And you know,
Speaker 14: I think he's kind of the outlier, right, he's more
Speaker 14: in the McCain wing of the Republican.
Speaker 4: Party than he is in the Trump or or what
Speaker 4: not wing, And and.
Speaker 14: He's pretty isolated in the caucus because of that. That
Speaker 14: being said, I think he's enjoyed being the Senator, but
Speaker 14: politics at home also so is very difficult. He'd have
Speaker 14: to run a probably very competitive primary, spend a lot
Speaker 14: of money, raise a lot of money, and those kinds
Speaker 14: of things they take you away from your family and
Speaker 14: the work of the Senate.
Speaker 4: Which is what he really enjoys. So I'm not surprised
Speaker 4: but disappointed.
Speaker 14: You really hate to see a competitive seat like this,
Speaker 14: you know, thrown open to whatever sort of you know
Speaker 14: is lurking around Utah. But you know, he's he's served
Speaker 14: his country well and I'm sure he has big plans for.
Speaker 4: His life after the Senate.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do wonder what they'll include. But Jeanie, Democrats
Speaker 2: love moments like these. This is when you're supposed to
Speaker 2: tell me that the party has moved away from Mitt Romney,
Speaker 2: not the other way around, right.
Speaker 13: Yeah, except I think it's a loss for all of us.
Speaker 13: I mean, Mitt Romney is one of the grown ups,
Speaker 13: so to speak, in the room. We need more people
Speaker 13: at this point like Mitt Romney and Washington. Hard to believe.
Speaker 13: I didn't think it's several years ago i'd be saying that.
Speaker 13: But he does come with, you know, telling it like
Speaker 13: it is and speaking truth to the powers that be
Speaker 13: in the Republican Party today. So I think it's a
Speaker 13: loss for all of us, not just for the Republican Party,
Speaker 13: but for Suore. Democrats are happy with what has transpired
Speaker 13: and they would like to have a shot at that seat.
Speaker 2: He's not going to run for president again, I'm assuming Rick,
Speaker 2: although that story seems to crop up every four years.
Speaker 2: What is in store for someone like Mitt Romney. Where
Speaker 2: could he be of service?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 14: Look, I mean I think that obviously he has a
Speaker 14: point of view on democracy.
Speaker 4: He has been.
Speaker 14: Trist crossing the country talking about how important it is
Speaker 14: that our democratic institutions, elections and whatnot are reinforced and
Speaker 14: really fortified against the attacks that the Trump administration and
Speaker 14: campaign waghs against them. So I wouldn't be surprised that
Speaker 14: he devotes more of his time time to really.
Speaker 4: Trying to cement.
Speaker 14: Our democratic institutions around the country and crisscross the country
Speaker 14: talking about how important that is. He was generous enough
Speaker 14: with his time to come to the McCain Institute Sedona
Speaker 14: conference and gave a similar speech.
Speaker 4: And was very passionate.
Speaker 14: It's probably one of the best speeches I've ever seen
Speaker 14: Mitt Romney given. Believe me, I've seen a lot of
Speaker 14: Mitt Rodney speeches over the years, and this is an
Speaker 14: area I think he's very passionate about.
Speaker 16: This is from the video just posted on the next
Speaker 16: generation of leaders must take America to the next stage
Speaker 16: of global leadership. While I'm not running for reelection, I'm
Speaker 16: not retiring from the fight. I'll be your United States
Speaker 16: Senator until January of twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: Mitt Romney announcing today he is not seeking reelection. This
Speaker 2: is Bloomberg. Thanks for listening to the sound on podcast.
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